AN: This fic is the rewritten version of I am the Knightmare, it has been cut in two chapters to make it easier to read.
Thanks to all who took their time to favorite/follow/review.
Tower of Beacon/ The Battle of Vale
Having a Dragon the size of a football camp after your ass, was never a good thing.
But Jaune Arc just sighed and continued walking to his execution. He was not deluding himself about the possibility of winning the day, Cinder Fall has kicked Ozpins ass all the ways to Sunday and the old Headmaster of Beacon was leagues above Jaune. But, Jaune knew something that Cinder did not, it was not a comforting thought, but it gave him hope and angered him at the same time.
Grimm feeds in negative emotions and right now, Jaune was a massive beacon of barely contained anger, fury, hate, and sadness.
His aura rolled in ways over his form, slowly illuminating his way into the collapsed halls of the destroyed tower of the Headmaster of Beacon Academy. There were a lot of good memories in this place, generations of Hunters; he preferred that term to the usual Huntsman and Huntress. That grew and learned how to fight the Grimm in this same halls. A lot of shady business run inside these walls too, it was logical, the Headmaster or Headmistress of an Academy like this was entitled to a lot of bullshit, finding its way into their desks.
Not the first time Jaune pondered how on earth did Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch manage to run this Academy without slitting their own throats at the paperwork that was needed daily. Jaune had the nagging suspicion that it has something to do with the eternal mug that Ozpin always carried on his person, any mortal who drank so much coffee or anything of the sorts, would be dead by the month.
But Ozpin, idiosyncrasies apart, the old man was a constant in the lives of the young hunters of Beacon. The all-knowing Headmaster that always knew what to do.
But somehow, Cinder Fall has managed to pull a fast one in front of their noses, with anyone, being the wiser, about the shitstorm that was coming their way. Jaune has recently being told, that the fall of the mightiest empires always started with little things, inconsequential things.
Like the proverbial pebble that unleashed an avalanche. It all started with hundreds of Dust stores being robbed, suddenly Dust was stolen even from the small shops that covered Vale, especially in the city nearby of Beacon.
It was not a surprise, Beacon was home of hundreds of young Hunters, they used Dust in their weapons, armors and even Semblances; and they had to buy it from the nearest store. Opening a Dust shop in front of an Academy of Hunters was always a sure business, however, Dust is expensive, and one has to have a very keen business mind to make a profit of the material that practically was the blood of all the Four Kingdoms.
Jaune weapons did not use Dust, Crocea Mors was only a sword. Unbreakable, never dull, always sharp, sword; that only had a mecha-shift mechanism to turn its sheath into an equally sturdy shield with the Arc symbol proudly displayed on it.
Ironically, it was not even his own weapon, Jaune took it without permission when he ran from home, determined to be a Hunter or die trying. Right now, Jaune would have taken his youngerself by the balls and smash his head over a sturdy surface, until all his delusions vanished from the head trauma.
The young Hunter has already learned a valuable lesson. Learned in blood, tears, and sweat:
There is no free meal.
Mark this phrase, put into a pedestal and make your god of it.
Jaune came into Beacon being little more than a common boy, not precisely talented, carrying a sword that he knows nothing about how to handle and with the head in the clouds about to become a hero. The reality, soon bitch slapped him; hard, long and without lube.
Jaune really hit rock bottom those days; a miracle that he did not turn to drugs or alcohol. Only his friends showed him a silver line on those dark days, but even with their help, Jaune knew that he was nothing but dead weight for them.
There is a saying that states that once one has hit rock bottom, you can only climb up. For Jaune was something similar, he did hit rock bottom; face first and smashing his head against all the rocks on the way down; until something come and kick his sorry ass into gear.
Horrible summer vacations those, horrible, horrible vacations where he suffered beyond belief but that Jaune would repeat; as many times necessary; with the eyes closed and with a hand tied to his back. No pain, No gain; another lesson carved into his skull through the constant torture that was the training made by one of his strangest relatives.
The Arcs are a unique bunch, anyone who has met one of them could testify that. But few understand how deeply unique were the Arcs. All the family could trace their lineage to an age of wonder that occurred way before the moon shattered and the Grimm haunted the humanity. Jaune was not different, however, he has not trained, nor prepared to be a Hunter.
His parents, loving as they were, and his seven sisters, perhaps doted the boy too much. He was the youngest of the Arc children, all of them already Huntress or in important places in all the Kingdoms.
Jaune did not hate his parents nor his sisters, for filling his head with adventures and tales of the heroic deeds of the Hunters all over Remnant and never allowing him to train to be one of them. The life of the Hunter is not easy, is hard, nasty and full of sacrifices that no one would ever recognize or even remember.
Dozens of unknown heroes sacrifice their lives every day, for the Kingdoms, dying at the hands of the Grimm or the White Fang or all the criminal elements that plague the Kingdoms.
After meeting a Councilor of Vale, Jaune was sure that humanity was doomed. They are not incompetent, no, no; that was not the problem. They are quite competent in the management of resources, but unfortunately, that´s all.
They did not care a Beowolf shit about the people that are under their charge. They worry about the economy and how to keep their asses on their chairs. A village that has been overwhelmed by Grimm? sure they will lament the loss, but not the loss of the people but the food and the money that the farms, mines or whatever, that village generated.
After his hellish training, Jaune has grown a lot more jaded with the world in general. Seeing how idiotic humanity could be, has cut short a lot of his positive image of Remnant. But at the same time, it made people like Ruby or Nora, stand like beacons in the middle of an ocean of bitterness and darkness. Ruby, that cute red riding hood reaper was still a child at heart; much like him, don't get him wrong; but seeing her smile always cheer Jaune up.
Well, Jaune would always be an adorkable; adorkable, is that even a word?; well, if the shoe fits; knight that will put his boot in his mouth several times a day, even if he just wanted to be polite. However, and that made his day, Weiss said that his new clothes were a bit more respectable.
Jaune abandoned his old and torn hoodie, instead, he wore a white shirt, a sleeveless blue vest with the golden Arc symbol over his heart, a blue tie and his usual jeans and sneakers, along with black fingerless gloves.
Weiss said it suited him, and for once, it was without any sarcasm. Coco insisted on him wearing black glasses or a hat, but Jaune, although appreciated that a girl like Coco gives him the time of the day, didn't really felt like wearing those accessories.
That made his day, but sadly, Jaune was not going to enjoy it much longer. He was walking right at his own death sentence. Facing Cinder Fall at the peak of her powers and a Primal Grimm like that bloody Dragon that was sweating hordes of Grimm, was not precisely helping to his survival probabilities. Alas, he has to do it. He has lie to Pyrrha, shoving her into a weapon locker and sent her flying into Vale, following the coordinates of the rest of JNPR scrolls.
On a side note, the lips of Pyrrha did taste as amazing as he always mussed they would taste. Jaune was still smiling like an idiot after the long kiss he had with the Invincible girl. Sue him, even after all the shit he has gone through, he was still a teenager, and Pyrrha was hotness incarnate.
Now, he was alone in the tower, well, not entirely true. After his training, Jaune has developed a lot of extra tricks that a lot of Hunters would have sold their souls for. Among them, enhanced senses that allow him to perceive the presence of Auras and Grimm.
There was an old flick that he saw once, a movie that told the tale of Immortal Hunters that has to kill each other until there was only one left. They could sense each other, that how they found each other all around the world. In a sense, Jaune could do something similar, but with Auras and Grimm.
Cinder Fall, the queen bitch of all this monster show, was a red flaring blaze that crowned the tower. Mercury Black was a sliver of quicksilver that flows and twirled under the flame and Emerald Sustrai was a mirage of colors, dulled and covered in darkness and sadness. Grimm on the other hand, are like nails in the head, pieces of black spots that appeared from nowhere. Except for the Dragon, that was putting his head into a tar pit.
They were at the top of the tower, possibly gloating about their success. And if Jaune was reading right, the Aura of Cinder, she was expecting something, possibly Pyrrha.
Taking the scroll of his jacket, Jaune checked the device, sighing with relief at the data displayed on the screen. Pyrrha´s weapon locker has already arrived at the position of Ren and Nora. Boy, Pyrrha is going to be mad for this stunt, fortunately, he was not going to live to suffer the wrath of the redhead goddess of war, neither Nora will have the possibility of breaking his legs, so he would not do something as stupid as this, again.
With a snarl of disgust, Jaune saw how Cinder was broadcasting the entire destruction of Vale. The images would plunge the entire population into despair and make the Grimm appear by the hundreds, attracted by the negative emotions that the survivors must be suffering right now.
Emotions are the quintessence of human weakness and strength at the same time, they gave them the will to face the darkness and at the same time, feed that same darkness. Gods had a nasty sense of humor, Jaune know well, he met one.
It bugged Jaune how was possible for Mercury to be standing and recording all the disaster down there, if, what he was seeing was life and not previously recorded from somewhere. Judging from the point of view and the explosion that he saw from the windows Jaune passed by, Mercury must be on the top of the Tower, same place where he was sensing Mercury´s aura.
After, how Yang broke his leg in such a brutal way, he should be recovering, not even Aura could heal broken bones that fast, well, Jaune could, but that was his little secret. He was an Arc after all.
Now that he was on the butt side of the joke, Jaune frowned and as he walked, keep thinking about how have things turned up so bad, so quick. This has not happened suddenly; it was impossible. Too many coincidences and events, so conveniently happening; that Jaune has to think about foul play.
Suddenly all the robots of Atlas turning against them?, yeah sure, unless they had a Semblance that allows them to control tech, something still to be seen, there must be another trick. Only Ironwood had access to such level of control and he was not a traitor. He was fighting down there, as the rest of the Hunters so he could not be responsible for turning his own robots against him.
Not to mention, he would never sacrifice Penny like that. No matter what everybody and their mother said, Pyrrha has not killed Penny voluntarily. There was something amiss in all the tournament, it started with Coco and Yatsuhashi. Jaune knows both, thanks to his friendship with Velvet, speaking of which, he could see her unleashing hell over the Grimm with that copy Semblance of hers.
"Give them hell, you beautiful bunny" laughed Jaune in his mind, passing through a broken window and eyeing the fires of the night.
The senses of the young knight were already on superhuman levels thanks to his Aura, bigger than even veteran Hunters. The addition of the legacy of the Arcs only may it even more exceptional. If he forced his sight a little, he could even see Pyrrha and the rest of the crew in the distance. He preferred not to do, seeing her in tears would have broken down his resolve and made him think twice, about the stupidity he was about to do.
Perishing those thoughts, Jaune thought about when everything started to annoy him.
Coco and Yatsuhashi, year two seniors with a lot of mission on their backs. All their acting in the tournament seems odd, however, Jaune chalked it to the Tournament nerves, the situation, and the unknown semblances and tricks their enemies had. Mercury was capable of going toe to toe with Pyrrha and Emerald has been seen butchering Grimm with insulting easiness.
Then, when the one on one battles took place, Yang broke Mercury's legs for the heck of it. She swore that Mercury has attacked her and she reacted. A phenomenal brawler as Yang would react instinctively to any attack, it was bread and butter for any Hunter. So, why broke the legs of an enemy she has already defeated?, Jaune was not that close to Yang, but the girl wore her emotions in her sleeves and she was not the kind of person that would have done something so ruthless and cruel without any good reason.
Another chalk into Jaune´s mental chalkboard; he really should have seen all this before. It was confusing and directly odd, how come no one has seen it?. Jaune knew that people booed Yang and the personnel of Atlas took the blonde brawler into custody.
It was sad, to see such a vibrating person as Yang, dragged in cuffs like that. Not really counting that funny adventure in Junior's bar, poor man, she trashed the place for good, along with the twins that work there as bouncers.
Jaune knew the Malachite twins. A week after he ended his training with his relative, that relative dragged him and an old friend of him called Qrow; later Jaune discovered he was Ruby and Yangs uncle; into Junior's bar, to celebrate Jaune´s end of the training.
Jaune drank with them and the next morning, he awoke in the middle of the twins, naked and in the middle of a trashed apartment that reek of sexual activities. To say he felt embarrassed and oddly proud of himself at the same time, would be the understatement of the year. Not that the Malachite twins were not beautiful on their own, they were exceptionally beautiful women that Jaune got to know better latter...and sometimes doing an encore.
They were friends with benefits, nothing more, but even then, Jaune worried about them and Junior. The bearded man can be a Yakuza bastard but he was another soul trying to make a living, and he was one of the most tolerable evils that Jaune has met so far.
After Pyrrha fought Penny and practically torn her apart, everything went to hell in a handbasket. There was little time to think about anything that wasn't survival. The Dragon, the Grimm, the robots turning on the humans; it was a bloody mess. Jaune and the rest of the crew, JNPR and RWBY the teams that were crafting quite the good reputation in Beacon, had to fight teeth and nails to gain some respite from the constant attacks of robots and Grimm and the occasional idiot that wanted to took advantage of the mess to settle the numbers.
Jaune saw Pyrrha run back to Beacon, frankly, Jaune didn't understand why was she running, but when he accompanied his redheaded partner and was made part of the Maiden tale and see the pod of Amber; Jaune knew that the shit has hit the fan. Truth to be told, if he has seen it before his training, he would have been there, observing the pod dumbfounded and not understanding what on earth was all this about.
But after his training, Jaune was not the same boy. He had changed, mentally and physically, in just three months and enough suffering for several lifetimes, the bumbling fool that was Jaune Arc, became another type of bumbling fool.
Power and the shit can only take you so far; its how do you use that power what reveals what kind of person you were. A lesson that his relative show him, in a very painful manner; he was convinced that the pain taught better than anything else.
But at the end, Jaune knew a lot of things that very few people in the Kingdoms knew. Among that knowledge, the Legend of the Maidens and the Old man. Boy, if only Ozpin knew, Jaune was sure that he could have helped Amber, unfortunately, keeping the secret was a need.
Not Ozpin, not Jaune knew that the other could have helped each other, perhaps even stopping this nightmare and the deaths that, inevitably, are going to occur before all of these stops, for good or bad.
Secrets are secrets for a reason. Ironically, it only helps the cause of the Grimm. However, there are things like the Maidens and where do their powers come from, that should be kept in a circle as little as possible. People would come to them in droves, waiting for the solution to all their problems, like they were bloody walking miracles that can solve anything with magic.
They can use magic, but they are not omnipotent beings, that would be preposterous, not even the gods were omnipotent, neither their parents the Titans. They can die, the consequences are disastrous, but they can die.
The Maidens, the Silver eyed warriors, the Arcs, all the secrets are kept by those that are designed to be worthy of them. Sometimes, like the Battle for Vale, it ended in a very bad note. Shit happens, the alternative; a world totally controlled by entities that are crazy as hell and believe themselves over all; is way worse.
See the previous note about how Jaune was jagged a lot since his training.
There is a saying that Ignorance is bliss; false, Ignorance is bloody multiple orgasms. Knowledge, there are people that sought it during all their lives, and it was a good thing, but there is a knowledge that should be forgotten or torched as soon as they came to light.
Jaune wanted to be stronger for his team, for his family and for himself. Now that he was stronger, stronger than he could possibly believe and wiser than he liked to be; did he start to think that he should have been a baker, back in his hometown.
But Jaune was an Arc, they are quite the late bloomers in the hero department. There is no Arc that has not smashed his head against a wall and finally discovered what he really wanted. They had fought too much for so little, that they soon learned to take things in stride and keep going.
Unfortunately for Jaune, he was going to die tonight, maybe he could take a monster down with him, but he was pretty much convinced that this, was his last night.
As, everybody else, Jaunes life has had his ups and downs. From his family to JNPR and the adventures he lived with the people of Beacon. Truth to be told, Jaune was starting to realize how idiotic his travel into Beacon, truly was.
A civilian, with a basic understanding of how to handle a sword without chopping his own arm and without Aura unlocked, entered into one of the most prestigious Hunter Academies of the Four Kingdoms. It looked like a joke line, lamely, the joke was on Jaune. He survived, thanks in great part, to the help of his team, JNPR and his partner, the Invincible girl, Pyrrha Nykos.
What on earth did he do in a past life to gain the friendship of such a wonderful lass?. He has no idea, but it was good for what it lasted. Approximately fifteen seconds, ten of them invested into a french kiss that curled their toes.
Well, at last, he would die without being a virgin, gods bless those naughty glorious minxes of the Malachite twins. Jaune truly prayed for their safety, they were good fighters, of that he was sure, however, against a horde of Grimm it was a matter of endurance.
Stand your ground against hordes and hordes, until you killed them all. Like dealing with a plague, you kill, and kill, and kill until there is no plague left. Grimms are even worse, as you kill thousands of them and there are still millions left.
The system was fucked as hell, but those are the cards that Remnant has dealt with the humanity and the Faunus. Speaking of which, Jaune saw how the White Fang was attacking any no-Faunus in the streets and he just wanted to bash their skulls against the mask of an Ursa, to see if they finally awoke of their bloody delusions and realize that there is no Us against Humanity, but Together against the bloody Grimm.
Blake must be having it the hardest of all, she was White Fang since day one. One of the older sisters of Jaune was a cat Faunus, exactly like Blake. It was easy for the youngest Arc to put two and two together after he saw the bow twitch a couple of times.
The Faunus were nothing but another bunch of sorry sods, that had to deal with even worse cards than the rest, although, Jaune has always envied their enhanced senses and other perks that came with their races. Even now, that he was way over a common human, Aura enhancements be hax yo, he still considered the extra capabilities of the Faunus unfair.
That was something that he never understood, Faunus are just humans with extras. What did it matter that your partner has rabbit ears?, frankly, if Pyrrha had a set of fox ears and a fluffy tail, Jaune would have had enormous difficulties to even spoke to her. Jaune was a teenager, porn with Faunus was not as rare as one would like to believe, and Fox girls has always been his favorites.
As Jaune walked into an open space inside of the tower, he found a bunch of Beowolves and Creeps stumbling around the corridors. Jaune ignored completely the Grimm, looking for something that could jog his memories as he was sure that he has seen the room before.
It didn't take long for him to notice that he was in the Ballroom. The place where he wore a dress and danced with Pyrrha, so good memories those. Anyhow, seeing the place wrecked and overwhelmed with Grimm, pissed Jaune more than he thought.
The metallic cry of his weapon exiting his sheath called the attention of the Grimm, who roared and snarled at Jaune before they charged over the crumbled stones and wreckage of the room. What was a very nice and luminous place, has become a lair for shadowy and obscure things that were hunting for their next prey. But this prey counterattacked, he was an apprentice Hunter, after all, a Hunter in training, if one wanted to be specific.
In the past, Jaune would have been scared shitless of what was charging at him. A quartet of Beowolves, Creeps and several Boartucks, but the Jaune Arc that was alone, that was sure that was going to die; had nothing to lose, ergo, he could go all out and reveal what he has learned in the three months of hell that his relative has put him through.
Jaune was strong now, strong enough to crush this Grimm like ants, however, he was not so free to do it, in front of his friends. That would lead to some awkward answers and truths that they were not ready to face. Neither was Jaune, but they have shoved down his throat; literally in a case; and then the truth was revealed to him. There has been no rest for the wicked since that moment.
The first to reach his position was a Boarstuck, not even giving a second glance to the boar Grimm thing, Jaune stomped his foot on his mask, crushing it and sprawling the black flesh of the Grimm all over the floor. Next, he swung his sword in a wide arc and cut a snarling Beowolf by the jaw, the beast had in open, so Jaune beheaded the beast. Crocea Mors decapitated the thing like it was made of butter.
Recovering from the swing, Jaune rose his sword and cut another Beowolf in half from the snout to the crotch. Letting the eviscerated carcass pass at his side, as he stepped forward, with his free hand, punched the third Beowolf in the chest. The strength of the punch was more than enough to create a hole in the body of the Beowolf, from where all its internal organs exited from its insides, in a shower of black pieces of flesh.
Kicking the already decomposing carcass, Jaune gave another step forward and jumped over the bunch of Creeps, landing right in the middle of them, with enough force to create a crater in the stone floor of the tower. The impact sent the half a dozen Creeps into the air, letting Jaune cut them all in a circular swing that sends pieces of Creep flying, into the walls of the Ballroom.
Without even looking at the chopped Creeps, Jaune moved again, dodging the attack of the fourth Beowolf. The tall Grimm has jumped at him, claws first and jaws open. Jaune duck and when the Beowolf was passing over him, he threw a demolishing uppercut that sent the Beowolf against the ceiling of the Ballroom. Thirty feet over them. The Beowolf crashed against the ceiling, all its inner organs exploded from the pressure, as he left a crater of the already damaged ceiling of the battered tower.
Sighing, Jaune sheathed back Crocea Mors and jumped over the edge of the crater he has made in the middle of the room. Smiling to himself, he even made a silly dance, imitating the improvised dance that JNPR made during the Prom.
If anything else, his team were great dancers and soon picked up the Tempo of the dancing, not really a surprise the video went viral as soon as it hit the CCTS net. They were quite good at dancing, and no matter what anyone says, Jaune definitely rocked the dress.
This Grimm was nothing but cannon fodder. That bullshit Dragon of Mount Glenn that Cinder has managed to summon by provoking massive negative reactions, was really pissing off Jaune. It should be illegal to create Grimm that fast and in so many quantities.
But the Dragon was nothing but a relic of a bygone era, that thing should have died eons ago. Somehow Cinder and the puppeteer that really hold her strings managed to awoke the bastard and toss him at Vale. With the ability to create unlimited Grimms and its own massive size. Easily dwarfed a football camp. The bloody Dragon was a danger that none in Vale expected.
Still, Jaune was sure that all the honored Councilors would have already evacuated to the secure Airships of Atlas, full to the brim with cannons. Enough cannons to keep the Griffons and the Nevermores at a distance, and keeping the Dragon with an eye on them.
Even for the Primal Grimm, being shot by such a number of Airships was dangerous. For the moment, the Dragon was happy with tearing the tower apart and sweating horde after horde of lesser Grimm to deal with all the people on the ground. The same people that were keeping the Airship to bomb everything to kingdom come and get the hell out of there.
Even if Jaune did not personally meet Ironwood, his relative has already told him that Ironwood´s heart was in the right place, but his methods and mind, not so much. Jaune really hoped that Ironwood did not get fed up with the situation and just call a bombardment over the tower. Jaune had the nagging suspicion that only the absence of intel was preventing the general of taking that route, still thinking that Amber, the Fall Maiden, was in the tower and that Pyrrha was in her way to become the next Maiden.
Honestly, Jaune did not like it at all; the responsibilities of the Maidens were bigger than they believed. The revealing chat he had with his relative was more than enough to made Jaune know that the power of the Maidens was way more serious and dangerous than the people believed.
Not really a surprise, not much was known of either the Silver eyes and the Arcs, just legends and rumors. None of them true and yet, all of them with a sliver of truth hiding inside. Usually, legends are like that, hiding the truth behind a wall of lies.
The stairs to the next level were broken and Jaune cursed loudly, he didn't really want to climb all the way up barehanded, that would be a complete drag. But, beggars can be choosers and putting his headphones in his ears, he rolled down the selections of songs of his scroll into some training music and started to climb the wreckage.
It was easy as hell for his bare hands, to pierce stone, burying his hands, a digit deep, into the hard stone and concrete. It was not as preposterous as one could think, any veteran Hunter had enough strength to pull such a stunt.
Aura strengthened the body to inhumane levels, it was bread and butter for any Hunter, from novices to veterans with decades of service. With a careful application of Aura you can even jump so far that would look that you are flying. And that was without taking Semblances into consideration.
Jaune´s unique Semblance was lost during the time he trained with his relative. It changed, it became something different, something else. Jaune wanted to be strong, in his heart, deep, hidden between layers and layers of self-depreciation and self-loathing, was the heart of the knight. His relative dig; one beating at a time; that diamond and polished it into something that left the two of them completely dumbfounded.
It was cool as hell though. He was desiring to show Cinder how much damaged he can do with his Semblance now. Jaune would possibly die in the conflict, the power of the Maidens was still Leagues above his newborn trick, but he was ready to make her broke a sweat. If not, he was going to pull all brakes off and go at full throttle against the accursed bitch. She has caused enough damage and causes so many deaths, that she would be granted the death penalty, in any court of law of the Four Kingdoms.
Climbing like this was boring, but it was the faster route to the top of the tower, where Cinder and her suckers may possibly be gloating about the shit they have done; If only they knew, what they have truly done. Jaune really wanted to understand why, a person like Cinder, capable of pulling this shit out of her sleeve under the nose of Ozpin, would be doing something like this.
She must be a clever girl, If that's the case, why on Remnant was she being such an asshole?. How can Cinder not see the horrors that she was unleashing?. Or, she didn't really give two fucks about it and stole the Maidens powers because she was addicted to the power and was a control freak?.
Somehow, Jaune suspected it was going to be the latter more than any other explanation. You can't reason with crazy, they will drag you down to their craziness and beat you there, where they had way more experience than you.
Although, Jaune was expecting some more reasonable or at last more developed arguments beyond the "I am the Queen of the Castle" routine. That would be stealing Nora´s thunder and Jaune really liked the hyperactive Valkyrie, she was a nice girl, crazy as cuckoo, but with her heart in the right place. Not many can say something like that.
Remnant was not a happy place, there were lots and lots of assholes everywhere, whose emotions only called more and more of the Grimm to them, putting the rest of the population in danger. That's what Hunters are for, to face the Grimm and send them whimpering back to their master, speaking of which, the master of the Grimm must be gloating as hell right now too. Vale has always been a thorn in her side, Ozpin especially, so she must be doing a victory dance by now. Jaune really wanted to rain on her parade.
Another floor, seven more to go. Jaune cursed in his mind, even if he was climbing quite fast, it was taking a lot of time that he did not have. At this point, Pyrrha must be already with the rest of JNPR and RWBY and the professors must already be being informed of the failure of the power transfusion and how Ozpin has possible fallen.
That means that, unless something drastic happens, Ironwood was going to toss all the papers over his shoulder and call in for a bloody artillery bombardment that would leave Beacon as a smoking crater in the floor. With Jaune inside of it.
It was a good thing that he had his scroll in incognito mode; meaning, he could send but not receive any call. If any of his friends managed to get a hold of him right now, Ruby, Pyrrha or Snow angel and just beg him to stop, he would cry like a child and run back to their side.
Jaune was not a bloody hero, he would like to be, but he was not. He was a cowardly lion of golden mane and blue eyes. Instead, he was way more dangerous than that. He learned, the hard, bloody, beating, suffering way; that he was not any kind of chosen one or hero, he was, simply, a knight.
Its almost disturbing how truth can make one free. He was a knight, not a hero, not a leader, just a knight. Knights endure, fights and protect, it is in their job description, and that was exactly what Jaune pretended to do.
Not to mention that going at full throttle is going to be fucking awesome. Even since he got back from his training, he has been holding himself down, he was dangerous to his fellow Hunters in training. If he got careless and used too much Aura or his new found strength and abilities, he could cripple or worse, kill, any of his sparring partners.
Do not get him wrong, he was sure that if he fought Yang, the blonde Dragon could still, smash him against the wall repeatedly, or Snow angel could freeze him until he screamed uncle. However, they lacked the unlimited stamina and sturdiness that Jaune had now.
Pyrrha already discovered it, Jaune was a freaking Aura monster, his reserves were bloody humongous, now, those same reserves allow him to be like a living, walking tank. And of course, it was the matter of his Semblance, oh, how was Jaune going to enjoy the faces of the three stooges of the roof once he unleashed it on their faces.
He would never use it against his friends, it would be reckless, stupid and potentially lethal. Not to mention that would lead to some relentless teasing from Yang and some awkward questions about it that would lead to a very heartfelt confession that he was not precisely ready to face. Even with all his powers, Aura, Hunter training and all that jazz, Jaune was still a teenager, and that means that he had all his hormones in ebullition, back and forth, with his emotions and feelings.
The tower shackled and Jaune lost hold of the wall, cursing in loud voice. The Dragon has started to tear apart the place, inch by inch. His enhanced senses were telling him that the bloody lizard was chewing the intricate clockworks that composed the insides of the tower.
Ozpin had a theme running on the tower with all that clockwork devices and mechanism, and pretty sure they were there for something more than decoration. Unfortunately, right now, they were nothing but the chew toys of a Grimm Dragon that seems to be bored and had nothing better to do, that chew the bloody tower around.
Jaune fell into an open space and quickly rolled and got up. Jaune was into what looked like an office; possible one of the multiple offices that the personnel used to deal with the bureaucratic nightmare that must be a Hunters Academy. From the space of the offices, several Grimm heads started to rise. Jaune just huffed and taking Crocea Mors again, he charged against the first Grimm in his path.
The poor Ursa, even with all his body mass, was slammed against the opposite wall of the office, and with another push, Jaune used the broken body of the Ursa to punch through the wall, sending both of them tumbling; or better said, rolling in a very inelegant manner, as the corpse of the Ursa disappeared in black smoke; into another office. Equally, filled to the brim with more Grimm.
And the lazy tip of the tail of the Dragon, through one of the outer walls. The beast has taken a position, clawing his way into the walls of the building and right now he was coiled around the building. Jaune grew a wicked smile and clenching Crocea Mors harder in his hand, scanned the room for the total number of menaces.
Not really wanting to give the Grimm the initiative, Jaune moved and slashed at the nearest Grimm. Cutting the beast in half with a backward cut, he twirled the sword into an ice-pick grip; Jaune pierced the chest of an Ursa that tried to claw him. Taking the sword out of the chest of the dead Grimm, Jaune used all the momentum to cut another Grimm from the shoulder of the hip.
Raising the sword, he pointed the tip to a charging Boartusk and let itself impale against the unbreakable sword. The boar reached the handle before it vanished into a black mist, that Jaune crossed, twirling the sword back into a normal grip and cutting another Beowolf in two with a single strike, from head to crotch. Jaune rose an eyebrow at how easy it was now to cut this low-level cannon fodder. Back in the day, he had all kind of problems to even cut the skin of a baby Bewolf.
Turning around, Jaune ducked and performed a reverse roundhouse kick, followed by a middle roundhouse and high reverse roundhouse kick that broke the knee of an Ursa, made it kneel so Jaune could kick its face and finally put enough strength in the weakened mask to cave its head inside its shoulders.
Recovering the position, Jaune did not have time to wonder about the kind of strength that he had now if he has managed to crunch the head of an Ursa inside its own shoulders. It was needed a lot of strength, of that, he had no doubt.
As the Grimm started to react, the tail of the Dragon continue spawning more and more monsters, it was not even moving and somehow, the bloody beast knew that they need reinforcements. Jaune just huffed in annoyance and prepared his sword for the fight.
Charging into the fray, he cut and stab anything in his path, never stopping, never standing in the same position for more than a second, for the Grimm to took advantage and counterattack or swarm him like they used constantly on all kind of Hunters. He pierced the chest of a Beowolf and used his body as battery ram until it dissolved into black mist.
Once he got his sword free, he swung it like a baseball bat, cutting anything in its way and using the momentum to throw himself at one big Ursa, an Alpha, that appeared near the tail of the Dragon. Using the inertia gained, he twirled in mid-air and punched the under jaw of the Ursa with all the might he could muster from such position.
Truth to be told, Jaune freaked out as much as the rest of the Grimm, when the head of the Ursa disappeared in a shower of black gore, along with a good part of his chest and shoulders. Jaune did not know he was capable of putting so much juice behind his punches, never has he such an absurd amount of strength, it was more Yangs or Nora territory to be juggernauts.
But it was more than welcome, considering the kind of shit he was neck deep into. It was a good thing that he still acted like a half-assed Hunter when he sparred with his fellow Hunters in training, otherwise he could have killed one of them.
He was not a murderer, a killer maybe, but not a murderer. Big difference between those two. He really wanted to beat the crap out of Cardin for being an asshole, but the lad has changed a lot after that clusterfuck in Forever Fall, and Jaune was all about second chances.
If he had one, everybody else could have one. Except for the three stooges in the roof, those three fuckers were beyond any chance of piety from him. They could have killed Pyrrha, they had made Yang look like a bloody criminal, they had killed Ruby´s robot friend, they are responsible for thousands of deaths down there. They are going to die, simple as that. But Jaune knew that it would a battle for the ages, and even after what he has achieved, he still had a lot of doubts.
But doubts were something for the living, dead men walking like him, never had to worry about that useless things. Jaune knew that he has put himself into practically a suicide mission. Being brutally honest, better him than any of the others. They were people with a bright future ahead, him? uh, after what his relative has done and has told him? not so much.
Oh, sure he could have ducked out and let Pyrrha die against Cinder, ignoring everyone and its grandmother and made a run for the Arcs home. Yeah, Jaune knew that's not going to happen. He was a foolish knight, and right now, he had a bloody Dragon to slain and a nasty witch to kill.
Taking a deep breath, Jaune grabbed a Creep by the head and crushed his skull with his bare hands, snarling back at the Grimm that surrounded him. This was getting ridiculous, this cannon fodder was making him lost precious time.
Smashing and slashing at anything that comes close to him he started to open a path. It felt good, it felt so good, not to be the butt of the joke, to be strong, to be what he always wanted. Pity the price was always so high, otherwise, this would have been great, but the prize has been paid and now Jaune would have to live with the consequences.
Not that he was going to live much longer; he was very close to his final destination and possibly the battle of his life against a monster that has stolen the power of a legend. Wow, now that Jaune thinks about it; this was exactly like an arc of X-ray and Van. Such a childish thought made him laugh in the middle of the carnage, as he kept chopping the Grimm like they were fresh meat to the slaughterhouse; he laughed hard.
It was liberating.
Crocea Mors was singing like it has never sung for the last decades. For the weapon, a sword made with a single purpose; Kill; feasting in the flesh and blood of the Grimm, was the peak of its existence. The sword echoed with its holder, when Jaune cut, the sword cut, when Jaune parry, the sword parry.
It may sound redundant but it means that the action was completed. The sword did not stop, no matter how sturdy the flesh and bone of the Grimm where the claws and fangs of the Grimm rebound against the edge of the sword, they did not break his guard.
There was not mid-step, not a failure, not incomplete action. Once Jaune strike, the sword killed a Grimm, bone armor be damned. Together, the steel and the Hunter cut a bloody and gruesome path among the hordes of Grimm that kept surging from the tail of the Dragon.
Stomping over the head of a wounded Ursa, smashing its head against the broken floor of the office. Jaune used the corpse of the Grimm to impulse himself and setting the sword downwards, he stabbed with all his might, the black and thick, scaled appendage that rested lazily against the tower of Beacon.
Crocea Mors pierced the impossible hard scales and flesh like it was butter, burying itself till the hilt. Jaune smiled madly until the Dragon roared in pain and surprise and set flight, carrying with himself a very stressed Jaune Arc, that hated flying with a passion.
"Motherfucker!" screeched Jaune, grabbing the hilt of Crocea Mors for his dear life as he was dragged into the top floors by the wounded Dragon.
It has to be said that when Mercury was recording the fall of Vale and Beacon, the last thing he expected was for the Dragon to roar like something has stabbed him in the balls and set flight. Abandoning his post, much to the anger of Cinder, who believed had the beast completely under her control, and leaving the trio of persons on the top of the tower wondering what has happened, until, they eared the cursing voice that was latched to the Dragon.
A veritable rain of Grimm keep falling from its bleeding tail to the floor, several meters below, and among those Grimm, a human figure was hugging for his dear life to the tail of the Dragon, screeching and cursing like a sailor. At some point, the figure seems to slip, leaving a nasty gash on the tail of the Dragon that roared in pain again and suddenly turned down into a low flight, sending a lot of Grimms into the open space in the top floor of the tower.
But the thing that surprised the three of them more than anything else, was the cursing boy that landed, very harshly, over one of the Grimms that the Dragon has dropped like blood tears in the open space of the roof, crushing the Grimm with his shield, smashing it against the floor, until he was enveloped in the black mist of a Grimm dying.
Coughing and wheezing, Jaune Arc exited the black mist, sheathing his sword back into its scabbard; he waved the black smoke like the nasty thing it was and kept cursing under his breath, as he tried to recover from the ordeal. He was afraid of heights, not even his traumatizing training cured him completely of that bloody malady. Air sickness seems to be his bloody kryptonite.
Noticing that he was not alone and that he has finally reached the top of the Tower, Jaune cursed loudly and cracked his neck to the sides, stretching his body for the battle that was coming his way. Cinder was smiling amusedly. Not really a surprise, for her, Jaune was as dangerous as a mouse with boxing gloves and equally worrying. Jaune bets on that kind of thoughts if he wanted to catch her with her panties down.
"Uh, you know, I wanted to reach the top floor" spat Jaune to the side, with the aftertaste of the Grimm mist still lingering in his mouth. "Never did I expect I was going to reach it by grabbing a Dragon tail and be dragged around like a dog toy".
"Well" purred Cinder, this was unexpected for her, but alas it stroked her ego, to know that she has cornered Vale so far, that they had sent the most useless Hunter she has ever know to face her, even if he was an Arc. "I must confess, that I was expecting someone of bigger caliber than you, little Arc".
"Honestly?, me too" cut short Jaune, not really appearing all worried or impressed by Cinder, and that made her rose an eyebrow.
Mercury cut the recording, Cinder may use names and for the most part, they were still unknown for all the intelligence agencies of the world, all that happened now will be wrapped under shadows. Emerald for her part, just stared at the Arc boy with a mix of amusement and pity.
"So, you are the Queen, uh?" eyed Jaune, Cinder, with indifference. "Not bad, seen better though" now that made the trio on the roof stiff a little, did the Arc boy insulted Cinder at her face?.
"Now, that it is clear that I am going to die horribly" Jaune, dusted his vest and adjusted his tie, like it was the most normal thing in the world, really throwing the trio of evildoers a bit off balance "do you mind, If I ask you a couple of things that have been bugging me since the tournament?".
"Even if he is a joke of a Hunter, he had balls of steel" chuckled Mercury that was seeing how the sweet smile of Cinder was slowly forming. When she had that smile, someone was going to die, horribly and screaming until nothing was left but ashes.
"He is a buffoon and an idiot" dismissed Emerald the walking corpse.
"I am to please" smirked Jaune to the other two "but excuse me if I do not pay attention to the background noise, adults are speaking here so, please, hush" dissed out Jaune the two companions/minions of Cinder.
"Did he just dissed us out?" asked Mercury astonished and Emerald narrowed her eyes.
"Has the presence of the Dragon turn you mad, little Arc?" smiled Cinder.
"Not really" shrugged Jaune without a care in the world. "It is amazing how, knowing that you are going to die, it made wonders with your boldness; for example, I am in front of the Fall Maiden and I am more worried about how on Remnant did you managed to take control of the Atlesian robot army".
"That poor tin man" mocked Cinder. "A simple virus in the CCTS, a virus that uploaded itself into his scroll the next time he needs to check up the status of his toys and voila, my personal and amusing, tin man to play".
"Seriously?" Jaune was astonished. "Are you telling me that Ironwood, General in the Atlesian army, the most bloody technologically advanced Kingdom, did not have countermeasures against hacking in his own bloody scroll?" practically Jaune screeched. "This is nuts, but I can see it, you got that assholes scroll, you could order around the Atlesian army...included a very, very humane robot called Penny".
Cinder clapped in a mocking manner.
"Bravo," she chuckled. "But, in truth that would be the actions of my own little illusionist, Emerald dear, was it hard to fool everybody?".
"Not really" she smiled widely "all Valesians are fools that would believe anything they saw on T.V".
"Illusions" Jaune observed Emerald and facepalmed himself. "Fucking obvious, after being sucker punched by that bloody midget of Neo, I should have known better. What do you see, that is not real? a bloody illusion".
Jaune then turned to Mercury and eyed him in a way that made the assassin very uncomfortable. For a supposed doofus, there was something steely on those eyes that made him very, very nervous. Emerald and Cinder noted too, but chalked to the adrenaline of the battle, this useless knight did not have precisely the most stellar record in combat class, neither a brilliant performance in field missions, being more a drag than an asset to his team.
"You" Jaune eyed "they took you on a stretcher, even if you did attack her and no one saw it, your leg was busted" Jaune suddenly shut up and snarled "cybernetic legs, Goddammit".
The trio was a bit shocked, how has the discovered that little piece of info, nothing of the conversation pointed out to that deduction.
"In all, I got to admit" Jaune bowed to the Fall Maiden in respect, something that amused and flattered Cinder, the Arc was not so foolish "for a little piranha trying to swim with the sharks, you have done an astonishing work".
Cinder was beyond flabbergasted, did this child insulted her?. With a frown, she created a fire lance and tossed at the Arc, that raised his shield in a second, hiding behind the sturdy material and dodging the scorching projectile.
"Whoa, easy there, Fall Maiden" chuckled Jaune, slowly showing his face over the edge of his shield "I was complimenting you, no need to get violent".
"What I wanted to say was that I am amazed that you still believed no one is going to hunt you like the rabid bitch you are, and put you down, for good" explained Arc with surprising bluntness. "Come on, you are a brilliant mastermind, you must have thought about the consequences, of screwing with three Kingdoms at the same time and general Irondick".
The boldness of the Arc, and that mix of bluntness and logic, flattery and insult was off-putting to say the last, and for the first time in ages, Cinder was feeling confronted thoughts, she wanted to burn the Arc to ashes, but at the same time, he has surprised her with his acumen, discovering things that he should not have known or discovered.
"And pray I tell, foolish knight, who are they going to hunt?" asked Cinder.
Jaune stared at her for a second, then turn to Mercury and Emerald and to the Dragon and snorted loudly.
"Ah, yeah, you don't exist" smiled Jaune shocking his head. "Cinder Fall, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black are not the names of the students of Haven." Put extra tone into the name of the Academy that the three in front of him, used as cover to get into the Vytal Festival.
"Okay, you got me there, no one is going to look for you, when they will be very busy with that overgrown lizard" pointed Jaune to the flying Dragon over them. "And pointing all of this disaster to those poor cretins of the White Fang, speaking of which, I know for good, that Adam is a tremendous asshole with no love for humans, so...how did you convince that rabid fanatic?".
"Poor Adam is a good warrior, but a lame leader" laughed Cinder with little respect for the Taurus Faunus "I convinced him that this was going to be a strike to the heart of the humans he hated so much, and I did not lie".
"No, you did not" conceded the point Jaune. "Pity, the Grimm will kill everybody, Faunus and Humans alike, but you did promise that you will help him to deal a nasty strike to the heart of Vale, killing hundreds of Faunus at the same time, uh, so much for the Faunus freedom fighters, eh?, bunch of wankers" sighed Jaune and Mercury had to admit that he liked the Arc, he seems to be quite different from what the reports about him said.
"So, let me recap a little, please" raised his hand Jaune to Cinder.
Whom observed him amused and a bit tired of all this charade, at the beginning it was funny but this was getting ridiculous. She discretely signaled Emerald and the thief vanish in her semblance, ready to strike the Arc from an illusion as he would never suspect a thing.
"You have fucked up the CCTS, to hack into a scroll that would turn the robots against everybody. You had incited the bloodlust of the White Fang up to a point where innocent Faunus are going to die in the crossfire between bigots and assholes. You have blamed an innocent Huntress to make the public opinion turn against their protectors, awakening an incredible monster in the process. You have put an entire Kingdom upside down, altering the Four Kingdoms balance...All for the power of the Fall Maiden, a poor, defenseless woman that you have killed like you were a bloody junkie that would have done anything to get her dose". Resumed Jaune with deadpanning expression.
"I don't know if you are a bloody genius or the most stupid bitch I have ever encounter".
That made it, Cinder snarled. No stupid boy would ever insult her like that and went his merry way.
"Salem must be sorely disappointed in you".
Cinders brain screeched to an alt, Mercurys brain screeched to an alt, Emerald's brain screeched to an alt. In the skies, the Dragon roared at the mention of its true master. For several seconds, no one dared to utter a single word. Meanwhile, Jaune cleaned up the sooth on the surface of his shield, it was still uncomfortably hot.
"How?" finally hissed Cinder, flames already enveloping her. This Arc has uttered a name that he should not know about.
"How what?" asked Jaune back.
A rain of flame lances befalls upon Jaune who jumped to the side and covered himself behind the shield that comes with Crocea Mors. The metal soon heated up to a point that his Aura was overworking to kept the burns at bay.
"How do you know of that name?" demanded Cinder, it really grinds her gears that in her hour of triumph there was still this big loose end. How come has she not seen the Arc for the menace he was? he was a bumbling fool! this was not how it should be.
"Salem?" shrugged Jaune, extending his shield and sword and keeping them in a relaxing position. "My relative, I think the rest of the world know him as Zuria Arc, told me about her".
Mercury stiffened even more. The assassin knew everyone in the profession and the name that Arc has just toss around like it was nothing; carried a ton of weight in the underworld. Everyone was terrified of the White crusher. He had crushed, literally, more shady organizations that anybody else in Remnant and he has done it just by the laughs or because he considered them, unworthy. Supposedly, he retired two decades ago.
"He meets her once, fought her and made her run to the Badlands" explained Jaune. "She is fast on her feet, he would give her that; way faster than my uncle Zuria".
Cinder remembered something along those lines when her true master spoke about her mission. After her defeat, Salem took refugee in the Badlands, no one in his sane mind goes there, is practically a death sentence.
"So, another Arc messed with our plans" snarled Cinder creating a massive fireball in her hands, the heat was overwhelming. "Your kin is a bloody plague".
"We have been told," said Jaune, with a smirk. "But you should be careful with that," said Jaune before extending his hand, the one with the shield expanded in his arm, and grabbed Emerald from the neck, crushing her throat and starting to choke her. "You could hit this little illusionist".
The Emerald that was standing at the side of Mercury vanished like she was made of smoke, as the real one appeared under the crushing grip that Jaune had on her swan neck. Jaune did not like to hurt his enemies more than he needed to win, but in this case, he was going to make an exception.
Emerald was panicking, never has anyone escaped her illusions, it affected the brain, all the senses at once. Unless you knew you were in an illusion, you can't discern truth for lies. And this Arc has pierced through her illusion like it was nothing, how on Remnant has he managed to do that?.
"Now, tell me Fail Maiden" laughed Jaune, keeping the body of Emerald, who was starting to choke for the strangling grip the Arc had in her neck and she couldn't break, no matter much strength did she put in the effort. "What's going to be? this is a hostage situation, will you wait or will you bargain for the life of this cute, chocolate skinned thief?; come on, we are alone in this tower".
There was steel in Jaunes voice, a steel that Cinder has never felt before. He was different from all the buffoons that she has met so far. The student of Beacon was nothing but teenagers, she had half of them eating from her hand, at a week of being there. Ozpin was an old fool, who believed he was always in control, Qrow, as terrifying the Hunter was, was a drunkard. Roman was a diva, Adam was a mad bull with anger issues; everyone had a weakness and was easily manipulated.
But this Arc has appeared from nowhere was different. All the information they have about him was totally wrong. He was not a failure, he was not a bumbling fool that knows nothing of Aura and who was unable to win a single match during combat class. He was the meat shield of his team, a childish knight with a shield whose only redeeming quality was his big Aura reserves, that he used to shield everybody from harm. Noble, but idiotic.
But that was nothing like Cinder was seeing now. He was brutal, clever, and had a ruthless side that Cinder found quite of her liking. Pity, if he was like this since the beginning, Cinder would have tried to recruit him, it was much better than the silver-haired assassin that she had to put up with.
Speaking of whom, he has already moved and covering the distance that separated them in a quick stride, launched himself in the air with a devastating flying kick to the head of the Arc. The Arc saw him coming and letting Emerald go, he surprised Mercury; by grabbing his foot with the same hand he has been holding Emerald; the shield hand. They skidded a lot of meters for the force behind the kick. Mercury cybernetic legs were a top-notch prosthetic that holds a lot of tricks and pure mechanical strength.
Before Mercury could recover the position and kick the Arc with an extra power from the jets on his legs; Jaune moved and pierced the calf of the assassin. Crocea Mors easily cut into the mechanical leg and skewered the piece of technology. Twirling the weapon inside the of the cybernetic leg, Jaune ripped the piece off his socket, making Mercury screamed in pain from the sudden and mind-shattering nerve backlash of the destruction of the nerve connections.
As the Mercenary falls to the floor, gritting his teeth in pain and shock. Jaune stood there, eyeing the sparking piece of technology skewered in his sword.
"Uh; Ixion´s tech, should I have known, only a bastard like him, would provide tech to a scum like you" kicked Jaune the fallen Mercury, with enough force to send him flying to the side of the recovering Emerald, who was rubbing her neck.
If it wasn't for her Aura, her neck should have been squeezed like the neck of a chicken. It has been too close for her liking, and she wasn't entirely sure that Cinder would not have torched her along the Arc with her fireball. The Arc was now running for his life, Cinder has taken advantage of how has Mercury moved the Arc off Emerald and tossed a fireball at him when he was kicking Mercury.
Jaune barely dodged the fireball. Rolling out of the way, as his shield was now in the floor along the recovering Mercury and Emerald. He really should have kept it, but he needed to keep the assassin quiet for enough time to rip his bloody fake leg off. Let's see how much did he kicked and dicked around without a leg and with all the nervous system screaming bloody hell in his head.
If Jaune was right, cybernetic implants may be cool and all that jazz but they are a complete pain in the ass to deal with. Maintenance, phantom pains, expensive replacements. There was an entire underworld dedicated to the cybernetics; his uncle Zuria show him a Chop-Shop as they called the cybernetic clinics and Jaune just never, ever, see a prosthetic the same way since then. Hopefully, he would die torched to ashes, and he could just scatter in the wind, back to home.
He really should have visited home one last time. He really missed his family, even if he was embarrassed for running away from home and stealing Crocea Mors, not that he did not like the amazing sword and shield combo. But he really would have liked to have more options in battle. Like a hidden dagger, some extra mid and long-range options, things like that. Mecha-shift weapons were amazing, just look at Ruby´s Crescent Rose, now, that was a badass piece of weapon.
A veritable rain of fire arrows come his way and Jaune cursed under his breath. Running like a madman, he used his trusted sword to deflect and parry some fire projectiles, but even with his amazing swords skills, it was too much. In three months that has felt like thirty years for Jaune, he has improvised laps and bounds. He slept grabbing the hilt of Crocea Mors, suspecting a sneak attack from his uncle Zuria. Crocea Mors and he were way more connected now, Jaune understood that the sword was more than an eternally sharp piece of metal. It carried the lineage of the Arc and the duty of being the bane of all Grimm.
The fire licked his face, charring a piece of his cheek; Aura be dammed; along with his right arm, left leg and back. It could have been worse, those were superficial burns, nothing Aura could heal or his body regenerates quickly. Since his uncle Zuria awoken his Arc blood, Jaune was way over the common Hunter; it was a secret that he kept for himself.
If everybody drinks from the same wheel, it would inevitable dry faster. His flesh started to mend slowly, increasing the pace as his Aura joined the healing effort, from the outside view, it was like his wounds were closing and healing at an amazing rate, even for the Hunters.
Taking cover behind a solid piece of rubble, that was soon besieged by dozens of red hot arrows; Jaune sighed and took a deep breath. His ace under his sleeve was still not ready, it was not something that one could call, as easily as he dialed for a pizza.
It was needed a specific mindset, it was needed a specific kind of memories and desires to awoke. Semblances are like that sometimes. There were people that could call them at will, like Ruby who could run at terrific speeds at will, and others that need a specific emotion, like Yang, who need to get angry for using her Semblance.
Jaune was way worse in that sense. His Semblance awoke when he hit rock bottom when he was at his lowest and can only see darkness. When he named it, his uncle Zuria smiled and said it was fitting as hell, surprisingly, it was the candle in the darkness, the bounds that made Jaune grow during Beacon Academy were the thing that made his Semblance one of the few things in Beacon that could make Cinder broke a sweat.
Feinting to the left, Jaune made a run to his shield, as the fire arrows ripped apart the place where he has been hiding not a second ago. Not even the solid stones and metals of the tower could endure for long, the punishment Cinder was dishing.
She really was as dangerous as everybody suspected. Despite all her appearances, Cinder was nothing but an addict.
She took a taste of the powers of the Maidens and she desired more. The hunger for it, make her, plan all this madness. Helped by that monster of Salem, of course. As any other addict, she needed another dose of the power of the Maidens. But as it happens with all addicts, the high will end and then she would notice that the power of the Fall Maiden was not enough, she will hunt another Maiden. She will always hunt for more until she finally broke apart with an overdose of a power that was neither for her, neither something she understands shit about.
Such a catastrophe; the Battle of Vale; for the needs of a greedy asshole that wanted vengeance against everything and was hooked to the power of the Maidens.
If it wasn't so tragic, Jaune would have been laughing his ass off. Even when he was nothing but a deluded fool, Jaune would have found all this mess a complete madness and would never understand the necessity for it.
Not that he understood what exactly the Maidens are or how did they fit with the revelations that his uncle Zuria dished to him during his training. It was so complex that it went right over his head, what he understood, however, was how all this mess was completely unnecessary.
Salem wanted to corrupt the Maidens, in a sense. If Cinder was the new Fall Maiden, and she was loyal to Salem, that means that she could start to act more openly and sending stronger and nastier Grimm to the Kingdoms.
With the loss of the Silver eyes, the Arcs dispersed and weakened, the Maidens under Cinder´s control and other-other dozens of shits wrapped or killed. Salem would conquer the world, easy as pie. It would start the Age of the Grimm, something that sent shivers down Jaune´s spine.
Running for his shield, he grabbed the handle of the solid piece of metal and roll out of the incoming fireball. Mercury and Emerald were not that lucky. The fire exploded like a grenade, just in the place where Jaune has been not a second ago, Emerald was just fast enough to jump out of the explosion, Mercury was not that fortunate. The assassin was tossed like broken doll against a pile of rubble, bleeding, charred and broken with his remaining limbs, bent in impossible angles.
"You should treat your toys better, Fail Maiden" mocked Jaune, strapping firmly the shield to his arm and adoption a guarding pose, he was going to make her sweat for the victory.
"Silence, mongrel, this charade has lasted long enough" growled Cinder, calling forth more and more fire arrows. Sending them against Jaune, in a shower of fire constructs. She was not even using Dust, anybody else would have needed a good chunk of fire Dust and a shit ton of Aura to do something similar.
Jaune stood his ground, took cover under his shield, and endured the rain of fire.
With a nerve wrecking hammering sound, the arrows fell against the surface of the shield. Jaune gritted his teeth and endured, in the few places where the shield could not cover, the arrows did hurt him, but it was nothing. The pain was welcome, the pain was something that he knew very, very well. An old friend that has accompanied him since the first day. Not physical pain, although there was a lot of those too, no, it was a different, worse kind of pain.
The pain of the heart, emotional pain; now that was something totally different.
Persons can heal from a wound, the pain passes, the wound heals, and that's all. You may even get a cool scar to show off about, but when the pain is in the heart. Now, that takes a lot, lot more time to heal, and even then, it will still be there, always ready to remind you what you lost or what you suffer.
That was the kind of pain, the one that Jaune knew so intimately. Since day one on Beacon, a fool deluding himself, thinking that he could stand along people that have been training all their lives, that were trained to be Hunters. Him, a cretin with fake transcripts and a dream of being worthy of the Arc name. An idiot that could have killed any of his team with his half-baked strategies and pitiful combat performance.
He, that has been dragging down people like Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Coco, Velvet, Yatsuhashi. People that deserved the title of Hunters much more than a failure like him, who was all hot air and would have wounded himself with his own sword, if it wasn't for Pyrrhas training.
Jaune´s heart drummed in his chest, his head was ringing in echo with the constant punishment that he was suffering, his wounds, charred and healing, where sending pain signals to his brain. He was losing, he was losing again, he was nothing but an idiot that deluded himself thinking he was something special.
Perfect.
As usual, his Semblance awakens inside of him, answering to the negative emotions that swarmed his heart.
Like a warning of what was about to come, a loud, ear-shattering roar, filled the night. The Dragon was a Grimm, and as any Grimm, he was sensitive to the emanations that Jaune Arc was experimenting right now. But as a Primal Grimm, the Dragon was intelligent or at last, clever enough to know that there was something odd with the flesh bag down there.
The Dragon surrounded the tower and with the last beat of his wings, it landed in the open space of the top floor. Cinder saw the beast coming, and seeing that the Arc was beaten and smoking from all the impacts that he foolishly endured; she turned her attention to the beast. Her master, even if Cinder despised to think like that, has offered her quite the pet. One of the Primal Beasts that roamed the land in the ancient times and was born from the malice and negativity of the hunted humanity and Faunus.
The Dragon lowered its head, standing at the same level as Cinder, who eyed him and clicked her tongue, speaking in a forgotten tongue that made the Dragon calm a little. However, the influx, almost intoxicating miasma that the flesh bag was generating made him raise his head, ignoring Cinder and eyed the flesh bag with renewing interest.
Cinder was slightly surprised and tremendously annoyed that the accursed Dragon was ignoring her. This was not how things were supposed to happen. The Dragon should be her submissive pet, however, the ancient beast was looking at the fallen Arc boy with something akin to interest and curiosity. What was so interesting in the little fool?.
"You know," said the voice of Jaune."I should have known that I am sorely unprepared for facing both of you".
"A little late for stopping being a fool" chuckled Cinder, sending a fire wave to Jaune, that blocked it, but was sent against a rock behind him, crashing in pain against the hard surface and cracked it.
"Yeah, talk bad timing" nodded Jaune, spitting some blood. "That can't be good, well, no pain, no gain, as uncle Zuria uses to say".
"Your determination is admirable," said Cinder, still worried about the sudden interest of the Dragon in the boy "stupid, childish, and is going to be the death of you, but I can admire your stubborn mindset".
"Thanks," said the Arc, groaning in pain for the ribs that were reconnecting themselves and a dozen other bones that were not in a better state. He stopped suddenly, turn his face to the side and grabbing a stone from the floor turned his face to Cinder.
"Excuse me for a second, please, I need to take care of something," said Jaune, before testing the weight of the stone and throw it in what looked like a random direction. It hit something and suddenly, Emerald appeared in mid-air and dropped to the floor like a puppet that had its strings cut.
"Goddammit, minted chocolate cutie, be a dear and sleep for a little, would ya?, I need you alive and arrested" groaned Jaune. His wounds were a little too much, and he has been accumulating them one after another, he needs time to heal and that was a luxury he did not have.
"It is the second time you managed to pierce Emerald illusions" raised an eyebrow Cinder, notably impressed "before I end you, you are going to tell me how". It was a clear order, Cinder was in no mood for games. Pity, Jaune was all about annoying the hell out of this bitchy junkie.
"Blame your adored Grimm for it," said Jaune. He slowly took out of his sleeveless vest, a little bag of leather. "You know the big guy and the fashionista lady that she messed up with during the tournament?" asked Jaune, getting the bag back to the inner pocket of his vest. It was trended with Aura thread, way better than his old armor.
"Yatsuhashi is from a little island of the east" explained Jaune. "There, they have a unique series of Grimm, and along those oddities, there is one that had a unique skill that has come quite handy. Nekomatas are cat-like Grimms of two tails, they had the unique skill of see through any illusion or transformation".
"That's impossible, no Grimm would help you" scoffed Cinder.
"True" nodded Jaune and he grinned wickedly. "But there is more than one way of skin a cat and for people like me, it is possible".
Jaune felt the pull of his Semblance, it was ready, it was starting to push out of its slumber, deep down the soul of Jaune. As his Semblance awoke, his Aura flared, a white Aura that, like a mist, spread all over his feet, arms and back. It appeared as he was sweating a dense white mist.
"One last effort, eh?" rolled her eyes Cinder, really wanting to end this spectacle, the Arc has already cost her enough time and resources, wounding Mercury and Emerald like this.
Jaune knelt and stabbed his sword on the hard surface, his shield forgotten at his side.
"Kneeling for mercy, once again, too little, too late" laughed Cinder.
"You don't get it" sighed Jaune with his eyes closed and tiredness in his voice. "There is not an ending on where you triumph and there is a throne waiting for you" Jaune sighed. "You have fucked too many people and screw with too many dangerous people to walk away unscathed".
"Boy, the blood loss is affecting your brain, has not been clear by now that no one knew who I am?" smiled triumphantly.
"Who is going to chase after ghost?" asked Cinder laughing, gloating in her triumph. "Atlas?, they don't even know of the virus that I put in their systems and how I had access to Ironwoods scroll at will; The White Fang? useful pawns, Adam bloodlust made them useful cannon fodder, they were so blinded by their own bigotry that they will take the blame for the Battle of Vale; The Hunters?, Beacon is in ruins, the people were so easily turned against their protectors, so easily did they betray those that protected them that it would take generations to start to mend bridges. And by that time the Grimm will be the Apex of the food chain and I will be hunting the next Maiden".
Without open his eyes, Jaune sighed and pointed out at something behind him, somewhere at his left.
"Man, you really love to gloat, smile at the camera junkie bitch. Now shut up, I am praying" said Jaune clapping his hands together and calling forth the name that Zuria revealed to him and could resume the pure essence of the origins of the Arcs.
Cinder smile froze in her face when she listened to the boy, praying? how cute, but then the camera word entered into her brain like an ice pick and made her look at the direction the boy was pointing. Only to see the glass of a scrolling camera, trapped between some rubble.
Recalling the battle to see when has the Arc had time to plant that, seriously hoping it was a blunder, Cinder realized that, that place was where the Arc has landed initially, in the middle of the black mist that was the disappearing corpse of a Grimm.
The bloody Arc has hidden that camera within the mist and during all the time, he has been fishing for information, he has transmitted to everybody her name, her real appearance. Heck, she has even confessed a lot of the things that she has done to get the powers of the Maiden. She was busted and she knew it.
Rage filled her thoughts and snarling like a beast, her beautiful face marred with a twisted snarl; she turned to the Arc, already preparing a bow and arrow of her stronger flames. She was going to torch the Arc to ashes, but before that, she was going to burn him alive, inch by inch, torching his flesh, bones, and blood in an agonizing manner.
Then a cold wave passed over her and her entire body freeze in the spot. It was impossible! that power was impossible, it was not the Maidens, it was not like the cold, soulless presence of the Grimm. It was different, purer and shocking like a lightning in a clear night.
Pure power erupted from the kneeling boy, and when he rose his head, Cinder realized that she was looking at something that was part of the legends. An Aria chanted from the lips of the boy, whose eyes were the most beautiful azure eyes Cinder has ever seen.
"For I am of the blood of Galahad".
"For I am of the Strength of Arthur of the Many Blades".
"As the darkness tainted me, I call forth what stalks the Nightmares".
"I am the Knightmare".