A/N: Ruby won EVO! Congrats to Heiho winning with the team of Ruby and Gordeau. Team Scythe FTW! Anyway, some notes about the chapter:
Technically Kanji isn't playable in Episode mode because he's DLC, but screw it, I think him and Jaune would have the best interactions together. Also, for timeline's sake, this takes place after the events of Persona 4 Arena.
To answer a Guest's question from the reviews, only Team JNPR from the RWBY World is in the tournament.
Junes Food Court - Inaba
Jaune didn't know how, but amid him running for what seemed likes miles, he suddenly found himself in a place that looked like a food court at one of the malls he'd visit in Vale. Before he could get any bearings of where exactly he was, he collapsed to the ground, exhausted from all the running he had to do, feeling like he was about to pass out any given second.
"Please let this be all a dream!" thought Jaune. "I'm going to wake up back in my dorm and everything will be back to normal! No Keystones, no crazy people coming after me, and no stupid voice telling me to fight in a tournament!"
Meanwhile, wandering around the empty Junes mall was a high school freshman named Kanji Tatsumi, who wore his school uniform over his shoulders and wore his trademark skull and crossbones shirt, giving off the essence of a thug. Kanji went into every store he could, hoping to come across one of his friends from school.
"Yu-senpai!" said Kanji. "Yosuke-senpai! Is there anyone here?" Kanji kept calling out to his friends but didn't get any kind of response.
"Shit, am I in the Midnight Channel again? I don't remember falling through a TV. The last thing I remember was being in my room working on my dolls, and then suddenly I'm here. Maybe I just fell asleep again? But this feels too real to be a dream-"
Kanji's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he heard what sounded like someone collapsing near the food court.
"What was that? Is somebody out there?"
Kanji ran over to the food court and found a blonde kid around the same age as his friends down on the ground. He was also wearing what looked like armor and carrying a sword sheathed by his side. Kanji flipped the kid on his back and nudged him to wake him up.
"Hey man, you all right?" asked Kanji. Jaune moaned and tried to swat Kanji's hand away. At least Kanji knew he was conscious. "Hey, if can you hear me, wake up!"
Jaune slowly opened his eyes and saw a rough looking kid staring down at him. Fearing he was another enemy, Jaune freaked out and immediately jumped back to his feet, pulling out his sword. Kanji took a few steps back to avoid suddenly getting slashed by this strange kid.
"Whoa!" yelled Kanji. "Relax, man! I'm not trying to hurt you!"
"Stay back!" yelled Jaune. "You're not getting my Keystone!"
"Keystone? The hell are you talking about?"
"You know, the Keystone! I need it to get home and you're not taking it from me!"
"I don't know what you're going on about...but it sounds like you're asking for a fight!"
Kanji grabbed the closest folding chair he could find and held it up high. It wasn't exactly the best defense against a sword, but it was better than nothing.
"I don't like resorting to violence, but when push comes to shove, Kanji Tatsumi is ready to go!"
"Br-bring it on!" said Jaune, holding his sword high above his head to try and look intimidating, although he started to doubt if it was going to work against such a tough looking badass. Before either of them could throw the first punch, something about Jaune's outfit caught Kanji's attention.
"Wait a second," said Kanji, putting his chair down. "What's that under your armor?"
"Huh?" asked Jaune.
"Your clothes. It looked like there was a...bunny logo or something?"
Jaune started to really panic when he realized Kanji was going to see through Jaune's deception.
"If he finds out about my hoodie, he'll surely take it as a sign he can kick my butt! All right Jaune, time to go all Spruce Willis on this guy!"
"It's nothing!" said Jaune, trying to sound serious. "What's it to you, anyway? You think you're so tough because you got those crossbones on your clothes, and that awesome jacket hanging over your shoulders? Well you're...you're just a POSER!"
"What the hell, man?" said Kanji. "I was just curious! No need to put on some damn tough guy act!"
"This isn't an act, MAN! I'm not scared of a LOSER like you!"
"...is that why you're slowly backing away from me?"
Jaune's act was quickly foiled by the fact Jaune was slowly trying to step away from Kanji, clearly showing how scared he was to fight.
"N-n-no!" replied Jaune. "I'm just...strategizing...um..."
"Cut the crap and answer my damn question!" yelled Kanji, losing his patience. "What the hell is that logo on your hoodie?!"
"All right, I'll admit it!" said Jaune, breaking down just from the tone of Kanji's voice. "It's of Pumpkin Pete! He's my favorite cereal mascot! I even have his footie pajamas! I'm not really some badass tough guy! Please have mercy on me!"
Jaune got on his knees and begged for Kanji to not harm him in any way. When he saw Kanji smirking, he was worried it was going to be followed by Kanji making fun of him for being a coward.
"Heh...I think it looks pretty cute!" replied Kanji.
"Wait...what?" said Jaune, standing back up. "You think my hoodie is...cute?"
"Honestly, I'd love to get one of those hoodies for myself, but then people would just make fun of me even more for it."
"People make fun of you? But...you look like the kind of guy who would make fun of others!"
"Because you took one look at me and thought I was some kind of bully that beats up people for fun, right?"
"Well...yes?"
Kanji suddenly opened his folding chair and slammed it to the ground, taking a seat and looking pissed off all over again.
"This is exactly the kind of shit I get back home!" said Kanji. "Everyone thinks I'm some juvenile who loves skipping school and beating people up. What I really like is sewing and cooking, and I never break curfew!"
"So, you pretend to be the tough guy or else people will take you for a wimp?"
"Wimp is putting it lightly, but yeah."
"Wow," said Jaune, grabbing a chair and sitting across from Kanji. "I really had you pegged wrong there. Sorry about that...Kanji, was it? Oh, I'm Jaune Arc by the way."
Jaune held out his hand for a handshake, hoping to make amends with Kanji. Kanji sighed and shook Jaune's hand.
"It's all right," said Kanji. "No big deal. So, where are you from anyway, Jaune? You don't look like someone who lives in Inaba."
"I'm from Vale, currently attending Beacon Academy."
"Vale? Beacon Academy? Is that like in...Europe or something?"
"Huh? What's Europe?"
"You don't know what...on second thought, never mind. I'm already confused as to where we really are."
"You and me both. How did you end up wherever 'here' is anyway?"
"I don't know. I was at home working on a doll and then...I was just here. What about you?"
"I was training with my team when this voice suddenly tells me I'm in a tournament to find Keystones."
"Oh yeah...you were yelling something about a Keystone before. What exactly are these Keystones?"
"Um...promise if I show you the Keystone, you're not going to try and take it from me?"
"I don't steal shit, all right?!" yelled Kanji, angry at what Jaune was implying about him.
"Sorry!" said Jaune, scared of seeing a pissed off Kanji. "It's just I have no idea what's going on and the last thing I want is to lose the Keystone!"
"I swear on my own mother, I am not going to do anything to your Keystone!"
"Well...if you say so..."
Jaune slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out his Keystone, keeping an eye on Kanji in case he wasn't true to his word. Kanji tried to look at all sides of the Keystone, but only seemed bewildered.
"That's it?" asked Kanji. "Does it do anything?"
"I have no clue," said Jaune. "All I know is I need to collect these to find my way home by having to fight other people in this tournament."
As Kanji tried to get a closer look, a shadow suddenly appeared over them and seemed to get bigger. Jaune looked up and freaked out when he saw someone or something falling straight out of the sky towards them.
"Take cover!" yelled Jaune, grabbing his Keystone and jumping out of his seat. Kanji looked up and saw the unidentified object before joining Jaune in taking cover. The two knocked over a table and hid behind it as the unknown entity crashed into the ground with enough force to nearly blow away all the furniture in the area.
Jaune peaked up from behind the table to see what fell from the sky and could barely comprehend what he saw. Standing in the crash area was a huge man with dark red skin and what appeared to be giant metal gauntlets covering his hand and forearm. The only thing keeping Jaune from assuming he was staring down a literal demon was the strange yellow glasses that completely covered the man's eyes.
"Holy Ursa!" thought Jaune. "This guy is even bigger than those two crazy guys I fought before! Maybe if I run away now I can-"
"Hey!" said Kanji, standing up and approaching the demon. "Who the hell are you supposed to be?"
"Did Kanji...just walk up to him and ask who he was? He's either the bravest man in the world or the craziest!"
"My name is Tager," calmly replied the giant red man. "And you have something that interests me."
"Huh? What would I have that you'd want?"
"Not you! Him!" Tager pointed to Jaune, who felt compelled to stand up as soon as Tager pointed to him, shaking in fear at the sight of him.
"Um...is it my hoodie?" asked Jaune.
"That crystal you were just holding. That's one of the Keystones, isn't it?"
"Oh, no! That wasn't a Keystone! It was...a..."
Failing to come up with a good lie, Jaune turned around and tried bolting out of the food court, only to run into what felt like a brick wall and falling on his butt from not paying attention to what was in front of him.
"You okay, Jaune?" asked Kanji, helping Jaune up.
"Where did this wall come from?" asked Jaune.
"Uh, Jaune...you didn't run into a wall."
"Then what did-"
Jaune looked up and realized he had bumped into another monster that suddenly appeared. This one was a giant as well, only he had long white hair on both his head and his chest, and arms that had to be about a hundred feet long - at least by Jaune's estimate - with giant metal claws attached to them.
"This claw monster is even bigger than the red one!" thought Jaune. "His claws are the size of me!"
"This is the one with the Keystone?" asked the giant claw monster. "How did such a pathetic wimp wind up with the stone?"
"Oh God, I'm dead! There's no way I can possibly handle one of them, let alone TWO of them!"
"Hey!" yelled Kanji. "I don't know the who hell you two are, but if either of you are trying to take this guy's Keystone, you're gonna have to go through me!"
"Then it's settled!" said the claw monster as he laughed. "Let us defeat these foes and move on!"
"Now hold on, Waldstein," said Tager. "I want to get more information before we decide our next course of action."
"What more information could you possibly want? We are here to FIGHT, not have an idle chat!"
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. You'd best remember that idiom, Waldstein!"
"I am no fool, Red Devil! I am strong enough to take out both scrawny weaklings by myself!"
"I'd like to see you try, old man!" yelled Kanji, grabbing a folding chair and getting ready to fight.
While Waldstein and Kanji were anxiously waiting to start fighting, Jaune stood there like he was watching his life flash before his eyes, his skin becoming pale as a ghost, which Jaune assumed he was going to be in about one minute. Tager on the other hand simply sighed and adjusted his glasses.
"If you two want to duke it out, be my guests," said Tager. "I'll be discussing important matters with our holder of the Keystone here."
"Talking!" said Jaune. "Yes! That sounds MUCH better than fighting, don't you think so, Kanji?"
"Hell no!" said Kanji. "A real man doesn't back down from a fight, even when it looks like he can be outmatched! So, c'mon then, are you gonna fight me or what?!"
Seeing Kanji showing no fear in going up against him, Waldstein couldn't help but smile.
"I like this boy's guts!" said Waldstein. "He certainly has potential to become a true man! Perhaps we can spare some time before sparring against each other."
Jaune breathed a sigh of relief before he suddenly felt Tager's giant hand on his shoulder.
"Now that cooler heads have prevailed," said Tager, "let's talk about that Keystone."
"You're not going to try and take it from me, are you?" asked Jaune.
"Only if the situation calls for it."
"Well that's not assuring!" thought Jaune, his stomach twisting itself back into knots. "I have to find a way to get out of here without having to fight these guys!"
"For starters, how did you end up with the Keystone in the first place?" asked Tager.
"It was just given to me by that random voice, I swear!" said Jaune, already feeling panicked.
"So, you heard the voice too. Did the voice explain what to do with the Keystone?"
"She said I need all of the Keystones so me and my friends can go back home."
"All of them? Interesting..."
"I have a question of my own!" said Waldstein. "What is it that you two boys do to train your bodies?"
"Waldstein, what does that matter to the situation at hand?"
"Since we're here just talking instead of fighting, I just thought I'd ask."
Tager sighed and adjusted his glasses, losing his patience with his partner. Jaune however saw this as a chance to get on Waldstein's good side to possibly avoid a fight.
"Fighting monsters on a near-daily basis!" said Jaune. "I also have a friend who is a tournament champion that trains me personally!"
"Sounds like quite a regimen, although based on how you look, you clearly have a longs way to go, young boy."
"Of course! I'll keep at it until my arms are as big as yours, Mister Waldstein!"
"As for you?" asked Waldstein, turning his attention to Kanji.
"Well...," said Kanji, "the truth is, I don't really have time to work out between school, helping my mom, and my other hobbies."
"What other hobbies could you possibly have?"
"To be honest, I spend most of my free time sewing and cooking."
Waldstein looked unimpressed by Kanji's response.
"Sewing and cooking?" said Waldstein. "How do you expect to grow your body and fight like a real man when you waste your time with such trivial activities?"
"So?" replied Kanji. "What the hell is it to you what I like to do?"
"Can we get back to discussing the Keystone?" said Tager, sounding annoyed about everyone going off on unrelated tangents.
"And here I thought you had potential to be a real man!" said Waldstein.
"The hell is THAT supposed to mean?" yelled Kanji. Seeing Kanji losing his cool, Jaune realized his chances of escaping unharmed was going out the window.
"Calm down, Kanji!" said Jaune. "Just ignore him!"
"A man who would rather waste his time on such childish hobbies instead of training his body to perfection is not a real man at all! You will never become strong, child!"
Hearing Waldstein says those words triggered some terrible memories from Kanji's past. Jaune could see veins starting to appear on Kanji's forehead as he was grinding his teeth.
"No no no no!" thought Jaune. "Kanji, whatever you do, don't instigate a fight!"
"Was that really necessary, Waldstein?" said Tager.
"If this boy wants to become a man," said Waldstein, "then he-"
"SO YOU DON'T THINK I'M A REAL MAN, ASSHOLE?!" screamed Kanji.
"Oh no!" thought Jaune. "Kanji's totally lost his cool!"
"Being a real man has nothing to do with looking strong or doing masculine shit! Being a real man is all about standing up to adversity and protecting people you love! Yeah, I freaking love sewing and cooking; I love collecting dolls and cute little phone charms; and I don't need freakish looking arms or giant freaking claws to fight like a real man! I'll take looking like a 'scrawny weakling' who loves cute shit over an overgrown piece of dog turd like you any day, you old bastard!"
A long awkward silence followed Kanji's speech as the other three men couldn't believe Kanji's outburst.
"Holy crap, Kanji," muttered Jaune.
"Such language," muttered Tager.
"You may not look like a man," said Waldstein, "but you certainly talk like one." With one swing of his giant arms, Waldstein knocked all the remaining furniture and furiously looked at Kanji. "And I'm going to rip your tongue out for that last remark, BOY!"
"It sounds like our contestants are finally done chatting and are ready to start pummeling each other!"
"Who the hell said that?" yelled Kanji.
"That's the voice behind this whole tournament!" said Jaune. "Um, voice lady? Could you NOT make this a match, please?"
"Sorry, but that's not going to happen! Once we have opposing participants who are truly willing to fight each other, the match becomes official!"
"But I'm not willing to fight! Can't you call it off?"
"Rules are rules, Jauney-boy! Runaway now and I'll have to disqualify you and void your possession of the Keystone!"
"Ooooh..." moaned Jaune. Left without a choice, Jaune unsheathed his sword and got into his fighting stance.
"I guess we don't have a choice," said Tager. "Let's commence our battle."
"Let's see how much a 'real man' you really are, boy!" said Waldstein.
"Bring it on!" said Kanji. "They don't call me the Bloodcurdling Beefcake Emperor for nothing!"
"Beefcake Emperor?" thought Jaune.
"All right! Now this is a hell of a matchup! On one side we have the Mama's Boys, and on the other we have the Big Boys! Gentlemen, to your positions!"
Seeing how they were the two that wanted to fight the most, Kanji and Waldstein took the center stage and waited for the mysterious voice to give the official go ahead.
"Annnnd...FIGHT!"
Kanji wasted no time recklessly rushing towards Waldstein; before Kanji could even get close enough to swing his chair at Waldstein, Waldstein knocked Kanji into the air with an upward swing of his claws, then grabbed him mid-air and squeezed the life out of him with his giant hands before slamming Kanji back to the ground. As Waldstein was about to pick up Kanji, Kanji suddenly threw a dropkick into Waldstein's knees, causing Waldstein to trip over. Kanji immediately followed up by jumping on top of Waldstein and driving his chair into the back of Waldstein's neck.
"How do you like that, huh?" yelled Kanji as he kept trying to beat down on Waldstein with his chair.
"Is that all you've got?" replied Waldstein, grabbing Kanji with one claw and landing a strong headbutt to Kanji's forehead. With Kanji in a daze, Waldstein grabbed Kanji with both claws, trapping him in his iron-tight grip. "Let me show you what real strength looks like, boy!"
Waldstein lifted Kanji up and slammed him down to the ground so hard it caused an indent on the concrete floor. Seeing that indent caused Jaune to cringe, imagining the pain Kanji must be going through. The worst part was Waldstein wasn't even done as he slammed Kanji down again, then somehow took to the air and somersaulted several times before slamming Kanji down again, this time with even more force than before. Kanji lied still in the crater, feeling immense pain course through his entire body.
"Get up, boy!" commanded Waldstein. Kanji tried to get up, but could barely move from the pain he was in.
"If I don't get in there, Kanji's a dead man!" thought Jaune.
As Waldstein picked up the prone Kanji to dish out even more pain, Jaune ran up to Waldstein and slashed him across the back. The slash barely affected Waldstein, but did succeed in getting his attention.
"I guess it's your turn, then!" said Waldstein, tossing Kanji aside like he was nothing.
"Just looking at this guy is going to give me nightmares!" thought Jaune, trembling in fear just by looking at Waldstein's angry expression. "But I need to buy as much time as I can for Kanji! Here goes nothing!"
Jaune frantically swung his sword at Waldstein, who only needed to hold up one of his giant claws to block Jaune's wild swings. Jaune kept swinging until he exhausted himself, allowing Waldstein to use his Wirbelwind technique to slash Jaune with his claws several times; not even Jaune's armor was enough to protect Jaune from Waldstein's strength. Seeing how going on offense was clearly not the best idea, Jaune started backing away from Waldstein while holding his shield to protect himself.
"I should be safe as long as I'm out of his rea-"
Just when Jaune thought he'd be safe from Waldstein, Waldstein suddenly charged towards Jaune and grabbed him, ramming Jaune into the vending machines on the edge of the food court. Without missing a beat, Waldstein then turned around and rammed Jaune into the main Junes building all the way across the other side, nearly knocking down the entire wall. Jaune dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes once Waldstein was through with him.
"HA HA HA HA!" laughed Waldstein. "I haven't even broken a sweat yet!"
As Waldstein mocked how weak Jaune and Kanji were, Tager was simply standing aside and observing the fight. It was clear to Tager that these young men were far outclassed by both himself and Waldstein.
"These kids are brave," thought Tager, "but they're no match for us at all. I almost feel pity for them, but I have to focus on my mission."
With Kanji finally able to get back to his feet, he ran over to Jaune to make sure he was still breathing after taking such a beating.
"Jaune, are you okay?" asked Kanji.
"Not really," said Jaune, feeling his entire body aching in agony. "But I'll live...hopefully."
"I'm sorry, man! This is all my fault! I let that asshole get under my skin and dragged you into a fight!"
Kanji punched the wall behind Jaune, angry with himself for allowing Jaune to get hurt because of his ego.
"Damn it! This would be so much easier if I can use my Persona!"
"Your Persona?" said Jaune. "What's a Persona?"
"It's like a special summoning I have, but only when I'm in the Midnight Channel, and since whatever this place is isn't that, it might as well be useless!"
"Well...have you tried calling it out?"
"Why? I just said I can't use it here!"
"We may not be in this 'Midnight Channel,' but who knows with this place? Maybe if you concentrate hard enough, you can bring out your Persona here!"
"Have you two boys decided to give up?" asked Waldstein. "Or do you wish to continue?"
"I'm not through with you yet, old man!" said Kanji, grabbing his chair and walking towards Waldstein. Kanji held out his arm and tried to concentrate on calling out his Persona. "I'm not sure this will work, but we've got nothing else to lose!"
Waldstein spread his arms wide, then quickly brought them together to crush Kanji within his claws.
"PERSONA!" yelled Kanji just before Waldstein grabbed him.
As soon as Waldstein had Kanji within his grasp, Waldstein suddenly felt a huge amount of voltage surging through his body, forcing Waldstein to let go of Kanji and fall back. Kanji looked behind him and saw his giant beefed up machinal Persona known as Take-Mikazuchi standing by his side.
"Hey, it really worked!" said Kanji.
"Is that your Persona?" said Jaune. "That thing looks so cool!"
"So, you have some latent abilities after all!" said Waldstein. "No matter! You're still a weakling compared to me, boy!"
"Let's kick his ass, Take-Mikazuchi!" commanded Kanji.
Take-Mikazuchi created a blade in the shape of a giant lightning bolt and swung down on Waldstein; Waldstein used his hands to grab the bolt, leaving him open for Take-Mikazuchi to use his other arm to swipe Waldstein's legs, forcing him closer to Kanji. Kanji ran in and struck Waldstein with his chair several times, finishing it off by having his Persona shoulder tackle Waldstein with enough force to push him back. Frustrated from being bested by Kanji, Waldstein decided to attack from the air; despite his size, Waldstein was able to jump several feet high. Waldstein held his chest out, planning to crush Kanji with his sheer size and strength.
"Big mistake, old man!" said Kanji, sending his Persona after Waldstein. Take-Mikazuchi grabbed Waldstein and electrocuted him, then slammed him back down to the ground. While Take-Mikazuchi kept Waldstein busy, Kanji unfolded his chair and placed it in front of him. Once Waldstein crashed to the ground, Kanji got on his chair and jumped high; as Waldstein got up, Kanji tackled Waldstein back to the ground, landing on top of Waldstein's chest. With Waldstein left wide open, Kanji proceeded to unleash every punch he could into Waldstein's face.
"Still think I'm some scrawny-ass pushover?" yelled Kanji. Kanji balled his fists together and was going to knock Waldstein's teeth down his throat when he was suddenly struck by a giant ball of electricity and pushed off Waldstein.
"Are you all right, Kanji?" asked Jaune.
"Nothing I haven't felt before," said Kanji, getting back to his feet. The two of them looked over and saw Tager slowly walking up to them after he had fired his Spark Bolt.
"Did you forget I'm part of this battle, too?" said Tager. "I may not be as hot-headed as my partner, but I am a soldier who knows when it's time to stop talking and start fighting."
"Then show me how much of a soldier you really are!" said Waldstein, deciding to stand back and see if Tager could do more than just talk.
"I've got a bad feeling about this guy!" said Jaune.
"I wouldn't worry about him!" said Kanji. "Look at the way this dude walks; I think he's even slower than the old guy!"
Tager stopped where he was and held one arm across his body as he charged up his gauntlet. Kanji ran in assuming he'd be able to take advantage of a slow Tager when Tager suddenly rushed in at lightning fast speed and struck Kanji with a backswing of his arm. Before Kanji realized what was happening, Tager slugged Kanji with an overhead swing, then picked him up and shocked him with his fingers.
"Still think I'm slow, rookie?" said Tager, holding his arms wide as if challenging Kanji to come straight at him. Pissed off at being taken by surprise, Kanji did exactly that, holding his chair high and ready to break Tager's face with it. As Kanji tried to swing his chair, he suddenly felt himself pushed off into the hands of Tager, who tossed him all the way to the other side of the food court, once again leaving Jaune to fend for himself.
"Did Kanji just let himself get thrown like that?" thought Jaune. "How could he not see how close he was to Tager?"
"Now it's between you and me," said Tager. "Nothing personal soldier, but I can't afford to lose."
"Well neither can I!" replied Jaune.
Rather than try attacking Tager like he did with Waldstein, Jaune held up his shield and backed away as quick as he could until he could come up with a plan. Tager bent down and charged himself up, then tackled into Jaune head-on. Despite trying to distance himself, Jaune felt as if he was somehow drawn towards Tager as Tager tackled into him. Tager kept clubbing Jaune with swings of his giant gauntlets, then knocked Jaune into the air and quickly grabbed him to slam him back down to the ground. Tager expected Jaune to get up and try attacking, but instead Jaune rolled back and continued trying to cover behind his shield.
"You're going to need to attack at some point, soldier!" said Tager, charging up his gauntlets to strike again. Seeing Jaune not wanting to fight, Kanji ran back in and had Take-Mikazuchi block Tager's attack.
"Not to pile on," said Kanji, "but he's right! You need to stand up and fight like a man, Jaune!"
As Kanji and Tager continued their electric duel, Jaune was trying to figure out something that had been bothering him about Tager. Aside from Tager's incredible strength, Jaune could have sworn he felt something was pushing him towards Tager.
"It felt like he was forcing me to get closer to him! In fact, it almost feels like..." Jaune looked down on the ground and noticed some of the metal objects scattered around the food court were slightly moving towards Tager after Tager used some of his attacks. Jaune was starting to put all the pieces together in his head. "He must have some kind of power over polarity like Pyrrha does!"
"Kanji!" said Jaune. "I have an idea!"
"Tell me it involves kicking his ass instead of running away!" said Kanji.
"When I give the signal, throw your chair as hard as you can at him!"
"Just throw my chair? What kind of plan is that?"
"Trust me on this!"
Kanji had no idea what Jaune was thinking, but he did come up with the idea for Kanji to use his Persona, so he decided to place his trust in Jaune. Jaune kept an eye on the closest metal object lying next to Tager. Tager kneeled and was charging up to tackle; Jaune saw a chair falling towards Tager, indicating Tager's magnetic ability was active.
"Now!" yelled Jaune. As soon as Tager charged, Kanji threw his folding chair at Tager; with the help of Tager's magnetism, the chair went flying straight for Tager, nailing Tager right between the eyes and bouncing upward. Seeing the opportunity to follow up, Kanji nailed Tager in the face with a front kick. As Tager staggered back, Kanji jumped up and slugged Tager in the face with a big left haymaker, strong enough to knock Tager down. With Kanji's attack distracting Tager, Jaune ran behind Tager and drew out his sword. Jaune and Kanji nodded to each other to let the other know they were ready for their next attack.
"You just got a Tatsumi-style ass-whoopin'!" said Kanji.
"Is that the best you've got?" remarked Tager.
Just as Tager stood back up, Kanji's chair landed back down on top of Tager's head. That brief momentary distraction was all Kanji needed to begin their team attack. Kanji called out his Persona and had him slash Tager with his blade, while Jaune swung as fast as he could with his. Tager was unable to defend himself as Kanji and Jaune kept attacking him. With Tager staggering on his feet, Kanji picked up his chair and landed the hardest headshot he could on Tager, causing Tager to fall flat on his face. Jaune couldn't believe they were able to take one of them down together.
"That was freaking awesome teamwork, man!" said Kanji, holding his fist up for a bump.
"Thanks, man!" said Jaune, fist bumping Kanji.
While Jaune and Kanji were feeling proud of themselves, Tager felt embarrassed for underestimating what these kids were capable of. Clearly it was now time to stop holding back from his true strength.
"I have to admit you two are a bigger challenge than I thought," said Tager. "BUT THAT ENDS HERE!"
Tager used his electro-magnetism to suddenly draw Kanji towards him. Grabbing Kanji with one hand, Tager spun around and tossed Kanji several dozen feet high.
"THIS TIME I'M NOT HOLDING BACK! SAY YOUR PRAYERS!"
Using his electro-magnetism, Tager flew towards Kanji; Kanji tried to focus and use his Persona to attack Tager, but Tager grabbed Kanji by his shirt, breaking his concentration as they headed back to the ground. Tager slammed Kanji face first into the ground with such force that it created a crater, nearly taking out the entire seating area of the food court; Jaune dodged Tager's incoming landing to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
"I suggest you stay down, rookie!" said Tager, opening his gauntlets to let out some excessive steam as he adjusted his glasses.
"This guy really is a demon!" thought Jaune, scared out of his wits at seeing the combative side of Tager truly come out.
With Kanji lying in the crater, Tager turned his attention to Jaune.
"I may be a soldier," said Tager, "but I'm not ruthless. I can tell from the way you're shaking you know you can't win, so instead of fighting for nothing, I'll let you off in exchange for the Keystone."
"What do I do?" thought Jaune. "He's right! There's no way I can beat him and the claw guy by myself...but if I lose the Keystone, I can't get my friends home!"
As Jaune was feeling torn apart on what decision to make, Tager felt something grab his ankle. Tager looked down and saw Kanji grasping at Tager's metallic legs to lift himself up.
"You still want more after all that?" asked Tager.
"Damn right, I do!" said Kanji, despite the fact he was barely able to stand up straight.
"If you insist!"
Before Tager could put Kanji out of his misery, he suddenly felt a sharp claw grab him by the shoulder.
"Stand down, Red Devil!" said Waldstein. "I still have a score to settle with this boy!"
"Just make it quick," remarked Tager, standing aside to let Waldstein settle his beef.
"I'm not scared of you, old man!" said Kanji. Kanji took one step forward and fell to his knees; no matter how tough Kanji tried to sound, it was clear as day his body couldn't handle any more pain. Jaune realized he had no choice but to step up and fight.
"Hey, old guy with the claws!" yelled Jaune. "Try fighting someone who can fight back!"
"Hmmm?" said Waldstein. "Did you just challenge me?"
"Darn right I did! Unless you're suddenly scared!"
"I can't tell if you're brave or just stupid...but so be it!"
"What the hell are you doing, Jaune?" asked Kanji.
"You can barely walk, let alone fight!" said Jaune. "I'm not going to let yourself get killed over this!"
"And you think you'll do any better? He's going to annihilate your ass, man!"
"Well...it's like you said, Kanji. A real man fights even when he's outmatched...right?"
Jaune held his shield up and ran towards Waldstein. Waldstein simply used one arm to punch Jaune with his claws and nearly send him to the far end of the food court. Despite this setback, Jaune just stood right back up and charged at Waldstein again. Anytime Jaune got within Waldstein's reach, Waldstein would simply knock Jaune down with his giant claws. No matter what Waldstein did to him, Jaune kept trying to attack Waldstein; his slashes to Waldstein barely did any damage, but in Jaune's mind, as long as he kept Waldstein away from Kanji, it was all worth it.
"I've wasted enough time with you!" said Waldstein, grabbing Jaune with both hands and slamming Jaune to the ground. Waldstein then took high into the air with his limbs stretched out, coming down on Jaune with the full force of his body, causing yet another crater in the food court.
Witnessing Jaune get completely crushed under Waldstein, Kanji frantically crawled over to Jaune to make sure he wasn't somehow dead.
"Jaune!" yelled Kanji. "Say something, man!"
"My entire body feels like it broke," muttered Jaune.
"OOOH that was painful to watch! Jaune's aura is just about kaput! I'm afraid he's not going to be able to keep fighting!"
"I really screwed up this time," said Jaune. "I guess my friends and I...aren't going back..."
"Quit saying that shit, man!" said Kanji, trying to hold back his tears. "If anyone screwed this up, it was me!"
Jaune held up his hand and gave Kanji a weak smile.
"Thanks for your help, Kanji. For a guy I just met...you were a cool dude."
Kanji felt bad enough seeing Jaune laying there helplessly, but felt even worse when Jaune called him a "cool dude", even though it was Kanji's temper that got them into this fight in the first place. Kanji grabbed Jaune's hand and wanted to say something about how he'd get Jaune out of here or something - even though he knew it would have been a lie - when he suddenly felt a surge of power rising within himself.
"What the hell?" thought Kanji. "My body feels like...like it's getting amped up! Where the hell is this coming from?"
"Any last words before I put you down for good, boy?" asked Waldstein.
Kanji didn't know what was happening to him, but it definitely felt like he could keep fighting. Kanji let go of Jaune's hand and stood back up on his own two feet, wiping the tears in his eyes.
"My name isn't 'boy'!" said Kanji. "It's KANJI FREAKING TATSUMI!"
Kanji headed straight for Waldstein without an ounce of fear in him. Waldstein swung his arms forward to grab Kanji; suddenly, Kanji jumped over Waldstein's arms and rammed the edge of his chair into Waldstein. Before Waldstein could counter, Kanji went berserk attacking Waldstein with his chair; somehow, the strength of Kanji's chair shots were amplified, causing Waldstein to take actual damage. Kanji swung his chair upward, nailing Waldstein in the jaw and causing him to get knocked down. Frustrated by being overpowered by a weakling, Waldstein got up and tried to grab Kanji; Kanji's Persona appeared and electrocuted Waldstein, causing him to get knocked down again. As Waldstein tried to get up, Kanji got up close and grabbed Waldstein by his thick chest hair.
"Time to end this!" yelled Kanji. Kanji flung Waldstein up high, shocking everyone who witnessed Kanji's unbelievable strength. While Waldstein was in mid-air, Kanji called out his Persona. "Take-Mikazuchi! Crush him to dust!"
Take-Mikazuchi appeared and grabbed Waldstein as he came down, ramming Waldstein into the Junes building and sending thousands of volts of electricity into him. By the time Take-Mikazuchi was done, Waldstein collapsed to the ground.
"Well, that was certainly a 'shocking' comeback from Kanji! I sense Waldstein's energy is too low for him to continue!"
Hearing that voice announce Waldstein was eliminated, Jaune tried to sit up to see what was going on.
"Did...did Kanji really take down that guy?" thought Jaune. Tager was trying to figure out where Kanji's sudden surge in strength came from.
"His power increased the moment he grabbed that boy's hand," thought Tager. "Could it be that boy has a power to strengthen others, or is there another X factor in play?"
"Guess it's just down to you and me, demon!" said Kanji, pointing his chair towards Tager.
"You're quite resilient, rookie," said Tager. "But your luck has run out!"
Tager quickly created a Spark Bolt and fired at Kanji; Take-Mikazuchi electrified Kanji to absorb the bolt as Kanji rushed towards Tager. Kanji threw a dropkick to Tager's legs; Tager ducked down and blocked Kanji's dropkick, then tackled into Kanji to push him back. Take-Mikazuchi swung his lightning bolt blade down on Tager; Tager opened his gauntlets and unleashed his own surge of electricity on Take-Mikazuchi, which in turn damaged Kanji. As Kanji staggered from Tager's Charged Lightning, Tager grabbed Kanji and tossed him upwards, wasting no time in jumping up and grabbing him, slamming Kanji onto his shoulders with a Tager Driver before dropping him to the ground. As Kanji was trying to catch his breath, Tager's gauntlets opened as he charged up to his maximum voltage.
"My Magna-Tech Wheel should be enough to finish you off!" Tager held his arms out and rapidly spun around, creating a powerful electrical force as he crept closer to Kanji.
Take-Mikazuchi stood in front of Kanji to block Tager's onslaught of hits, but eventually had to back off when it became too much. Tager planned to end it with one more powerful punch with his Tera Break technique. Tager stopped spinning to throw his final punch with all his might; despite looking limp, Kanji was able to duck Tager's punch at the last second, leaving Tager open for a counterattack.
"Just what I was waiting for!" said Kanji. "Let's finish this!"
Using his newfound strength, Kanji swung his chair upwards to send Tager flying up to Take-Mikazuchi, who threw his lightning bolt down on Tager, keeping Tager suspended in mid-air. With Tager stuck in mid-air, Kanji and Take-Mikazuchi got ready to use their ultimate team attack.
"This one's for you, Jaune! My ultimate Bro Fist!"
As soon as Tager dropped between them, Kanji and Take-Mikazuchi threw a pair of charged up punches at the same time; the voltage emitting from their punches shining as bright as the sun. Not even Tager's own electric abilities was enough to protect him from the damage he took. Tager was barely conscious by the time he finally landed back on the ground. Kanji himself was feeling exhausted as he can feel his power just about drained at this point.
"Tager is unable to keep battling! So with that, I declare Kanji and Jaune the winners!"
"Wait, seriously?" asked Kanji. "We won?"
"We won!" said Jaune, sitting back up. "Way to go, man!"
"Talk about a major upset! I'm glad I didn't put any money down on this fight!"
"You really pulled through for me, man! I owe you one!"
Kanji smiled and helped Jaune back to his feet. "You don't owe me anything, dude. I couldn't have done this without you."
Before Jaune and Kanji can properly rest, they were once again greeted by Tager and Waldstein. Jaune was worried that the two of them would try to attack them again just like the last weirdos Jaune faced. Instead, Tager simply smiled and gave the two a salute.
"You two fought like true soldiers," said Tager. "Well done, young men."
"To have been defeated by men of such lower stature!" said Waldstein. "I must go off and train my body to make sure such a defeat never happens again!"
Waldstein walked off the nearly destroyed food court, angry with himself for having lost to two random nobodies that weren't even half his size.
"Aren't you going to follow him?" asked Jaune.
"I think it's best we leave him be," said Tager.
"But isn't he like your friend or something?" said Kanji.
"Not really. We just happened to stumble into each other when we were teleported from our worlds."
"He wasn't from the same world as yours?" asked Jaune. "How many worlds are in this tournament?"
"That I have yet to figure out. Now before I take my leave young man, there was something you said before that peaked my interest."
"About what?"
"You said you need all of the Keystones to get back home?"
"Yeah...that's what the voice told me!"
"Then it appears we've been given conflicting information. That voice setting up this tournament told me in order to go home, I needed to defeat anyone holding a stone. She never mentioned anything about 'needing' them, much less 'all' of them."
"Why do you think she'd say such a thing?"
"I don't know, but whatever the case may be, you'd better watch your back. That Keystone makes you a marked man."
As Tager walked off in a different direction than Waldstein, Jaune thought about what Tager said about the Keystones.
"Why would that voice tell Tager something different? I need the Keystones, but he doesn't? What's going on?"
While Jaune was confused about the true purpose of the Keystones, he noticed Kanji looking worried and getting antsy.
"Is something wrong, Kanji?" asked Jaune.
"This tournament has people from all these different worlds involved?" asked Kanji.
"As far as I know, that's the basic gist of it."
"And if my world is one of them...does this mean my friends are involved in this as well?"
"That's a strong possibility."
Realizing his friends could be in danger, Kanji suddenly ran off.
"Kanji, wait!" said Jaune. "Where are you going?"
"I'd like to keep helping you Jaune," said Kanji, "but if my world is involved in this tournament, I have to make sure my own friends are safe! Take care of yourself, all right?"
"Same to you, Kanji!"
Jaune hated to see Kanji suddenly leave but couldn't blame him. Jaune soon left as well to find his friends, hoping they were having better luck than he was.
