A/N: Here we go.
"Fucking hell…"
Ebony glared at her scroll as she tried to convey how much she was pissed at her brother for leaving her alone without notifying her.
"Hello, Jaune Arc here. I'm not available at the moment, leave me a message!"
She closed the scroll, sighing. He'd probably met with his team and gone back to Beacon now. Maybe he just forgot to call her.
"…"
She grimaced as she stared at the sea through the window, the sun slowly falling down the horizon.
She'd busted back in his life like she always did, not leaving him much of a choice. Maybe she'd come off a little too forceful.
Ebony sighed again as she looked around at her spacious house.
Looks like she'll be alone for the weekend.
Meanwhile
"The White Fang is not evil!"
"The White Fang is pure evil!"
Those two points were what Yang had been hearing all day.
Weiss and Blake had been fighting over that ever since they met Jaune's sister.
And Yang had tried to do her best to mediate the conversation.
However, it had been no use. There was just no point they could agree on.
All she could do now was stare at the two of them back and forth, helpless.
"How could you side with a gang of thieves and murderers?!"
"They are none of these things, they are just misguided!"
Ruby coughed from Yang's right. "Well…" She shifted adorably, "I need to go my team now, it's getting late…"
She had been kind enough to stay by her side as her teammates were fighting, seeing as Jaune was currently off doing god knows what.
"Noooo!" Yang grabbed her baby sister and dramatically hugged her to death. "D-don't leave me alone with them!"
"Uuugh, get off!" Ruby scowled and pushed her away ruthlessly. "It's getting late, I need to go back to my team now! I'm sure it'll be okay, Yang…"
"I know…" Yang sighed and Ruby left the room discreetly.
I hope so… Yang thought as she turned back to her teammates, worried.
This was really getting out of hand.
But what could she say to alleviate the situation? She knew nothing about the White Fang!
Suddenly, there was a silence. Yang blinked, having missed what had been said.
"I…" Blake's eyes widened in fear before she dashed out the window.
"Huh?" Yang blinked again and stood up, looking into the night.
Blake was gone. Just like that.
"I can't believe this," Weiss's voice cracked, sitting down on her bed. "This… All this time, Blake was White Fang?"
Huh, what?
No, no, no… What was she saying.
"Wh-why…" Yang mumbled, "Blake ran away…?"
"She…" Weiss gulped. "It would appear so. I thought she was just a Faunus sympathizer... not a former terrorist...! Of course, she'd flee when her secret is found out..."
"She… abandoned us?" Yang muttered.
"She... ran away." Weiss breathed.
Yang breathed heavily, shaking her head as she kept staring into the night. "No way… I don't believe that. There has to be an explanation…!"
"Sit down," Weiss said gently, pushing her down the bed. "I'm calling Jaune…"
Jaune…
Where was he, why wasn't he here either?
Why was everyone running away? She was getting tired of it.
Yang shook the thought out of her head, closing her eyes.
"Hello, Jaune Arc here. I'm not available at the moment, leave me a message!"
Yang's heart clenched as Weiss let out a sigh of frustration. "That dolt…! This is really not the time."
"Where are…" Yang cut herself, and asked helplessly, "What are we going to do?"
"I don't know," Weiss muttered quietly and sat beside her. "But hey… I'm still here. Jaune will come back tomorrow and we're going to figure this out."
Yang calmed down a little as Weiss give a friendly pat on her arm.
"We'll decide what to do tomorrow," Weiss said. "We need to sleep on it… It's not good to make important decisions when overwhelmed by emotions. Okay?"
Yang suddenly felt helpless. Why was Weiss talking to her like she was a child?
She let herself fall on the bed, digesting the fact that her partner was a former terrorist.
The day after
Jaune awoke to a splash of water on his face.
"Bwargl!"
He gasped in panic as he tried to move his body.
He immediately felt a pain in his left wrist.
He looked up to his arms.
They were enchained to the wall, and he was hanging from the metallic chains, his knees almost touching the ground but not quite. His clothes had been taken off except for his boxer.
His right arm, he noticed, was a lot more chained than the other. That was to be expected, he supposed.
"Finally awake?" A familiar voice asked.
"Yeah…" Jaune groaned, turning his head to Adam. "I figured I'd wake up when I felt the water splash on my face, you know."
"Hmph…" He smirked. "Let's see you maintain that attitude through our little session."
Jaune frowned as he took a look at his surroundings.
The space he was hanged in was relatively small. The walls were made of rock, he was in some kind of cave.
Metal bars were keeping him locked away in his cell and seemed solidly set in the rock. Outside the cage were crates and barrels, and he could hear a rat squeaking in the dark.
Yes… He didn't think it was possible, but…
"This is worse than the Malachite's apartment." Jaune decided, nodding to himself. "No, even Beacon's infirmary is better."
"Heh…" Adam chuckled. "Well, it isn't meant to be comfortable. We have other uses for it."
Jaune focused his attention back on the man, suddenly worried. There wasn't any table with a display of torturing tools or anything like that.
It seemed they were not intending on torturing him to death. Thinking about it a little, Jaune figured there was no reason to. It wasn't like he knew some secret piece of information they needed.
However, there was a big guy with a chainsaw next to Adam.
Jaune started sweating nervously as he eyed the dangerous weapon.
"Not to worry," Adam grinned maliciously, "As much as I want to kill you, I need you alive…"
"Why do you want to kill me?" Jaune complained, "I didn't do anything."
"You are in Blake's team," Adam smirked. "That alone is a good enough reason. That applies to everyone Blake has befriended."
"Wouldn't that include a lot of White Fang members?" Jaune pointed out.
"No, just the Schnee and the other blonde."
Jaune's eyes narrowed, feeling a spike of anger go through his body, jerking his arms. The metallic chains clinked.
"Red eyes…" Adam commented, approaching him. "Indicator of negative emotions… fear, anger, hatred."
"…" Jaune stayed quiet, doing his best to hold his anger down.
Adam suddenly drew his sword. Jaune's eyes widened and did his best to hold back his Aura as Adam's arm moved to stab his left arm, causing Jaune to cry out in pain.
"Good!" Adam smiled, "I shall not hurt you too much, but this still feels really satisfying."
Jaune paid him no attention, focused on holding back his Aura, in order to save it for later.
If he let his Aura protect him now, Adam would just continue until his reserves emptied completely.
It was best to save it for later, in order to accelerate the healing of his wounds.
As he was concentrating, Adam extracted his blade and proceeded to stab his legs and slash slowly across his chest.
"This way, there is no risk of you escaping." Adam declared as he continued to cut Jaune's legs here and there.
Jaune gritted his teeth at the pain surging from limbs before the red blade slowly started cutting through his chest diagonally.
Adam repeated the movement three times, and Jaune cried out in agony, not able to contain himself. At the same time, his blood was boiling and he started thrashing around, attempting to free himself in order to stop the man causing such pain.
Jaune insisted on his chains from his right arm, but Manus wouldn't help him.
The madman took a step back to admire his handy work. He nodded to himself. "Not too bad…"
The other man took a picture with a scroll.
"What do you think?" Adam asked his henchman.
"It's nice, like the traces of a claw. Looks like the White Fang symbol. It's perfect."
"That was what I was aiming for," He nodded, satisfied. "It will send a message. Now send it to Blake."
"Yes."
Jaune groaned weakly in protest as the man did what he was told.
They must have gotten the phone numbers from Junior's information…
"That's all for now," Adam smiled at him. "I'll come back tomorrow… Enjoy your stay."
"That's all?" Jaune raised an eyebrow. Really?
He didn't even hurt him that much. None of these injuries were deadly.
Even if his body was burning in pain, it honestly felt a bit underwhelming. But Jaune wasn't going to complain.
"I have no interest in torturing you." He shrugged, cleaning his sword and sheathing it. "Although I found it enjoyable to watch you squirm in pain, I'd rather do that when Blake is here to witness it with her own eyes. I'm reserving myself, you see."
Jaune blinked, confused. "…Is Blake really into that kind of play?"
Adam barked a loud laugh and turned away, leaving him alone in his cell.
…And he thought Neo was a psycho? This man was on a whole other level.
What Blake did to turn this scary man into such a Yandere, Jaune wasn't sure, but he'd have to ask her. Bad memories or not, she needed to explain herself.
"All right… He's gone." Manus declared from under his chains. "Try to heal yourself with your Aura."
"Urgh…"
Jaune released his Aura free and focused on his chest, arm, and legs. The wounds glowed and evaporated in a strange white smoke.
It was ironic, really. Most people would need a certain level of concentration to engage their Aura. For Jaune, it was the reverse. He needed to focus to keep his Aura from protecting his body.
After a minute, the peculiar white smoke disappeared and Jaune was fully healed, with no scar left, drained of what little Aura he had left.
"Okay… I'm pretty sure that you shouldn't be able to heal so fast." Manus said, "No matter how much Aura you have…"
Jaune coughed, a vague of fatigue hit him.
"I'm out of Aura…" Jaune groaned.
"Again?" Manus asked. Jaune's head ducked down. "Zone?"
Jaune fell unconscious again.
Meanwhile
"So you're White Fang?"
The blond Faunus sat in front of her asked.
Sun, his name was. A student of Haven, and the one that successfully escaped from Jaune's sister right under her nose.
He had approached her as she was leaving Beacon, and now he was treating her to food in a café.
"I was," Blake admitted. "I left the organization."
"Your team, too," Sun said.
Did I? Blake frowned. Am I going to run away again?
She shook the thoughts out of her head. She was still a student of Beacon, technically, and hadn't missed a single lesson yet.
Then again, Weiss probably hated her now. Yang was most likely confused or even worried, and Jaune… didn't answer his scroll.
Why did he have to disappear now of all times… He knew about her past and accepted her, he could have talked to Weiss and Yang, he could have -
Faced them in my place?
I'm such a coward…
Still, Weiss was wrong.
"When the former leader stepped down to let Sianna Kohn take over, I thought it was good for the organization." Blake began, "A new, more aggressive leader to protect the Faunus rights, she wouldn't hesitate to strike back in self-defense."
She smiled weakly. Her past-self had been quite naive.
"But instead of rescuing Faunus, we started to attack SDC ships to take innocent people hostage."
"Why not leave back then?" Sun asked.
"It was not that simple."
She presented it as a change of leadership, but in truth, it had been gradual. Blake's friends convinced her to look away when it became ugly, to make 'exceptions', and sometimes to do things she was not proud of.
But the exceptions became the rule.
The White Fang… had become a terrorist organization.
That was fact. There was no denying that, as much as it pained Blake to admit.
"However… Never…. They would never work with someone like Torchwick! On that, I am sure that Weiss is wrong, that Jaune's sister was wrong."
"Jaune's sister?"
"Jaune's my team leader. His sister leads the police investigation on the recent dust robbery at the docks."
"Oh, her." Sun grimaced, no doubt recalling the taser shot.
He leaned back and scratched his chin with his tail. He pointed his fork at her. "What if Torchwick and the White Fang really are working together?"
"Impossible…" Blake shook her head stubbornly. "They'd never-"
"Why not make sure of it? If you're wrong, you'd have left your team over nothing." Sun pointed out and grinned. "If you're right, you can rub it in your team's face. What will you do if we catch them together with Torchwick?"
"Then I'll stop them from committing more crimes." She answered immediately.
Sun sighed, finished his cup of coffee and stood up. "You'll need back up, then. I'll go with you."
Ting!
Blake's scroll ringed again. Probably another message from Yang…
Sender unknown.
Hm?
"Anything new?" Sun asked, glancing at her scroll.
Blake opened the message.
She gasped and dropped the scroll on the table, horrified.
On the screen, a picture was displayed.
It was Jaune, enchained in a cave, covered in his own blood. The lighting was so bad she couldn't see if the wounds were severe.
"Who… Who's that?" Sun asked worriedly.
"J-Jaune… It's Jaune, my team leader…" Blake's voice shook.
"…Shit!" Sun cursed, picking up the scroll. "Just a picture? Why…?"
It's Adam, Blake realized. But the White Fang didn't verse into torture… Or maybe they did?
She didn't know them anymore...
Either way, the message was specifically addressed to her scroll. Which meant it was a message of personal vengeance from Adam.
"What are we going to do?" Sun asked, voice filled with worry and concern.
"This…" Blake stood up and grabbed her scroll. "We have to find the White Fang now, Torchwick or not. Before Jaune dies!"
"Wait!" Sun stopped her, grabbing her shoulder. "Why would they send that picture to you of all people?"
"That's not important!"
"It is!" He insisted, "It could be a trap to lure you there!"
It is a trap, Blake realized. Guilt filled her heart. It's my fault… Jaune was captured because of me.
She'd been so foolish, thinking she could run away from her past.
"Th-there's no other choice." Blake voice shook, whereas, at the same time, newfound determination surged up in her mind. "We have to save him!"
"You don't want to tell your team?"
"And get them captured too? No, I have to do this by myself. I'm sorry, Sun."
"Oh no!" Sun exclaimed, "No, no, no. And by no, I mean, HELL no! You don't get to run away after I just treat you some food. Where are your manners! I'm going with you."
Another innocent involved? Adam would come after Sun, too.
"Sun… You can't-"
"Nope! I don't wanna hear it!" Sun shook his head, covering his ears. "I'm going with you, that's final! You have the choice to come after them, I understand that... Well, I also made my choice, and I'll have your back!"
Sun took her hand and led her out of the café in a rapid walk.
"I just happen to know about a huge shipment of dust coming from Atlas, so there you go." He grinned.
Blake's heart clenched as she let herself be dragged by her new friend. He was right, she needed that information and some backup…
Just this once. She told herself. Then I'll leave for good.
Hold on, Jaune. I'm going to save you.
Later
"Blaaaaaaaake.! Where are youuuuu!" Yang shouted.
"Yes, come out and surrender, Blake!" Weiss called.
She received a glare from Yang.
"...What?"
"You're not helping…"
"Well, why don't we call Jaune's sister? She could help to-"
"You're not helping!"
"It was just an idea!" Weiss raised her hands defensively.
"A bad one…" Yang groaned. "Calling the police, are you kidding me."
How else are we going to find her? Weiss thought to herself. Ugh.
They had been searching for hours now, and even with team RPNN to help them find both Blake and Jaune, they hadn't gotten any result. Weiss was at a loss as to what she was supposed to do.
Not that she didn't want to find Blake.
Weiss wanted explanations. Why wasn't Weiss killed in her sleep, for example? That made her shiver. She thought she'd be safe from the White Fang at Beacon...
She shook her head. Obviously, Blake hadn't wanted to kill her, otherwise, she'd be dead.
They needed to find Blake, and once she was in front of them to answer their questions, they would decide what to do.
"And Jaune…" Yang groaned.
"I don't know where he is…" Weiss sighed.
To decide what to do, they needed to find Jaune. The doofus had chosen to disappear somewhere without giving any word to his relatives, and Weiss really didn't need the extra worry added to the complete mess that was her emotions.
They had called Ebony too, but it seemed Jaune wasn't at her house either. They had dropped by to Junior's and Tukson's, but they didn't have more information.
Jaune was last seen at Tukson's bookshop, and apparently sent a message to his sister, saying that 'something came up' and he wouldn't be long.
Blake took priority, for now, considering the circumstances, but it really wasn't like Jaune to disappear like that without any notice...
Yang took a deep breath, blinking rapidly. They had been searching for hours now and didn't found Blake or Jaune, so it made sense that she would be tired.
"We need a break," Weiss said, to which Yang glared at her. "We should eat something, and rest a little. Maybe Blake and Jaune are back to Beacon, we should check if they have returned, and at the same time get some food at the cafeteria."
"Ah... You know what, that sounds good." Yang agreed reluctantly. "Sounds like them to prank us like that."
No, it doesn't, Weiss wanted to say but kept quiet. Instead, she nodded and shared a weak smile with her teammate.
Later
A man entered the White Fang camp, making his way towards the storage area.
"Anything new?" He grunted one of his friends, Perry.
"Brother Taurus caught a blonde kid. Don't really know why," Perry shrugged. "But hey, who cares. he's the boss."
"That he is," The man shared a laugh with Perry, before becoming serious again. "Nice sword you've got there."
Perry smiled, drawing the sword out of its scabbard, which transformed into a shield. "Yeah, the kid was decently equipped. That's good steel right there. You want it?"
"I might take you up on that offer." The man smirked.
"Didn't take you for a swordsman," Perry said, before shrugging. "I'll be volunteering for this evening's operation, but you can drop by the storage and take what you need, I guess."
"Thanks." The man grunted. "You said you wanted to see me?"
"Nah, it can wait. I haven't gotten my hands on the info you wanted yet, you're too early."
"Ah, I'll come back during the week then." The man sighed. "I'll say hello to the others."
"Take care, brother."
"You too, brother."
The man left Perry and made his way to the small house. He entered through the front door.
"- I'm just saying, you can't do as you want. This is my home, and..."
"Are you willing to betray your brothers?"
"No! Of course not-"
The man tuned out the conversation, passing in front of the living room and opening the door discretely, revealing stairs leading to an underground basement.
He closed the door softly behind him and descended in the basement.
It was more of a cave, actually.
The man looked around at the crates and barrels and spotted a cage with metallic bars at the far end of the cave.
The blonde kid was hanged in the cage by the arms, enchained. The man dashed towards the cage.
"Jaune! Jaune!"
Tukson tried to wake up the kid, gripping the bars of the cage. It was no use.
"Dammit… You can't stay asleep now, kid!"
"He won't wake up." A voice said.
"Waaah?!" Tukson jumped, frightened. "Wh-who's there?"
The man looked around, suddenly scared of being found out.
No one.
He frowned, narrowing his eyes. The voice had come from inside the cage and had seemed strangely muffled. Was the person hidden behind a rock?
"Show yourself," Tukson called.
"I can't." The voice said. "You should leave. I will handle it, don't worry."
Tukson frowned. "How do I know you will help Jaune?"
"You don't... Tukzon." The voice declared.
"It's Tukson." The man grunted irritably.
"Tukzon."
"Tuk-SON!"
"That is what I said." The voice replied, amused.
Tukson shook his head, deciding not to argue with the voice over some mispronunciation. "... How do you know my name?" Tukson asked cautiously.
"Zone talked to me about you."
"Zone?" Tukson repeated, "You mean Jaune!"
"Zone, yes." The voice confirmed.
"..."
Does he think he's funny? Tukson thought as he growled in annoyance. He had to do it on purpose.
"Go back to your shop." The voice advised. "We will handle it. I'm a friend of Zone, the White Fang doesn't know I'm in here."
"But Jaune-"
"-will be fine with me." The voice resonated in the cave, "You are close to finally getting away from the White Fang's influence. Don't screw it all up now."
Tukson stayed quiet, torn between listening to the voice and leaving. He looked back to Jaune.
It was painful to admit, but... it seemed he couldn't do anything for Jaune. The keys were probably kept by Adam himself.
He looked at the stairs, worried. Anyone could come down to check on their prisoner too… He shouldn't linger too long.
"He won't wake up." The voice repeated, reading his thoughts. "He needs to rest before even attempting an escape. You should leave. There is nothing you can do."
Tukson ducked his head. "Dammit…" He walked back to the exit. Just before leaving, he turned back.
"The keys… Brother Taurus must have kept them on himself." Tukson declared, "I can try to fetch them for you."
"You will get found out." The voice replied. "Don't do that."
"Then I will at least inform his team of his situation." Tukson insisted, "Or his sister."
"That would reveal you as a White Fang member." The voice pointed out. "And I know they already have their sights on you. There is no need for you to risk yourself. You're already risking a lot just by staying here... Do not linger. Don't worry, I will save Zone by myself."
"You… you will?" Tukson asked, desperately wanting to believe the voice. "Fine... Then, I will at least retrieve his weapons."
The voice paused. "Can you do that while remaining safe?"
"Yes, I know someone." Tukson nodded, surprised that the stranger cared so much.
"Then yes... it would be convenient. Escaping without having to search for Jaune's weapons would be a lot easier."
"I see…" Tukson sighed in relief. "I hope you know what you're doing… I will trust you, but please be careful, the both of you. What's your name?"
"…"
There was a silence, and Tukson could sense a hesitation as he looked back in the dark cage.
"…Manus." The voice finally said. "My name is Manus."
"...Minus?" Tukson paused.
"MA-nus!"
"Yes, Minus. That is what I said," Tukson smirked, and left the cave.
Later, with Ebony
"Sergeant! Sergeant Arc!"
"Huh?" Ebony blinked, surging up from her thoughts.
"I've found a correlation with a couple past robberies of dust shops. Should I look up the files?"
"Sure, go ahead."
The man nodded and hurried away with a pile of paper, all excited.
She wasn't really focused on the investigation right now, after receiving a call from Jaune's partner.
Apparently, her brother hadn't come back to Beacon, and had not given any news to anyone since then.
She took out her scroll and tried to call him again.
"Hello, Jaune Arc here. I'm not available at the moment, leave me a message!"
"If nothing happened and you just enjoy making me worry, I'll kill you." She groaned in the scroll and closed it. "Dammit…"
Even if he was probably getting some time on his own, Ebony was getting quite worried. She didn't want to be another overprotective parent and raise hell to find him, he would be very annoyed with her.
"…I'm just overreacting…" Ebony groaned shaking her head.
Just one more… She would give Jaune another day, just to see if he showed up for class.
Hours later
Jaune blinked repeatedly as he slowly awakened.
It was complete darkness.
"You're awake," Manus said. "Finally. Humans sure take their time to rest."
Jaune groaned pitifully as he tried to move. A sound of metallic jingling resonated in the darkness.
"Aouch," He whined as a pain surged up in his left wrist.
Right… He was still enchained to the wall. His shoulders were starting to hurt.
"How long was I…?"
"Hours. I think it's night already."
"I see…"
"No, you don't see. It's pitch black, Zone. You can't see."
Jaune scoffed and narrowed his eyes, trying to distinguish any shape in the darkness.
Manus was right, it was no use. It was too dark.
He had to find a way to lit up the room to get a good sense of his surroundings.
Suddenly, Jaune had an idea.
He engaged what little aura he had recovered from his nap.
His body started shining in a white light, lighting up the room.
"So you told me you had a plan, Zone." Manus declared, "What is it?"
"Escape." Jaune groaned.
"That's your plan?"
"What's better, trying to get ourselves killed when we're surrendered by dozens of White Fang members? Or let ourselves be captured, and quietly sneak away while no one's looking?"
"I suppose it would be easy for us to escape, but… There's probably guards upstairs, Zone." Manus pointed out.
"We'll just have to make do," Jaune mumbled. "Come on now, Manus. Let's go."
Pshhhhhhhh…
Jaune's arm started emitting black smoke. It was slowly reducing in size, Jaune realized.
"Isn't it funny that you emit black smoke, while my Aura emits white smoke?" Jaune wondered, watching the chain lose their grip.
"Yeah, I don't know what's up with that, Zone."Manus grumbled as he was working on his arm, "Aura shouldn't evaporate in white smoke like that."
Soon, the chains holding his right arm fell off, revealing a small skinny arm.
Zzzzzzuuu...
The arm swelled up and returned to normal.
"Now, the other…" Jaune mused as he examined the chains around his left arm.
"I can't break that," Manus said.
"Says you," Jaune smirked and put a foot on the wall, grabbing the chain with his right arm. At the same time, Manus increased his muscles size to max.
"Haaa!" Jaune pushed again his foot and arm at the same time, pulling on the chain with all his strength.
The metal started whining as the screws holding the support of the chain to the wall slowly started going off.
"Zone… Stop."
"Wh-what…" Jaune panted.
"Here." Manus moved Jaune's arm and increased his hand's nail's size. He approached the screws with the peculiar nail and… well, he unscrewed them.
The small metallic pieces fell on the ground, dropping the chain from the wall, allowing Jaune to free his arm.
"Aaah, much better," Jaune sighed in relief as he waved his arms around, his shoulder still sore.
He also checked his chest and legs.
But no, there was no pain or any scar remaining from Adam's visit.
"What now?" Manus asked.
"Let's see…" Jaune mused before he got another idea.
Jaune switched off his Aura, restoring the complete darkness. Then he concentrated on his left hand.
Slowly, the palm of his left hand lit up. Soon, it was like his palm was a flashlight. It was more effective, not blinding for his eyes and more cost-efficient for his Aura than emitting light with all his body.
"Neat," Jaune commented, moving his hand around to lit up the room. "Looks like meditation paid off, I'm finally able to do something with my Aura."
"…I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be able to do that, Zone." Manus commented, "That's impressive..."
"No, I just focused Aura in my hand." Jaune said, "It's nothing exceptional."
"It is. I looked up the books." Manus replied, "Your hand shouldn't shine like that, especially not with so little Aura."
Jaune frowned, looking at his shiny hand. Manus continued: "Your white smoke healed your injuries very fast too, in just a minute. And remember your fight with Adam? How his blade bounced back off your leg? You should have lost that leg, Zone."
"Where are you going with this?" Jaune frowned and checked his leg, just to be sure.
"I'm thinking it may be your semblance, Zone!"
"What?"
"Some kind of super Aura that greatly enhances its basic properties. Light, healing, protecting..."
"You think?" Jaune wondered before he shook his head. "Well, we'll talk about that later," Jaune said, even if he was very interested in the matter.
"Right… Let's not linger." Manus agreed.
"We need to open this door." Jaune mused, approaching the metal gate which was keeping them shut off the rest of the cave. "I'm guessing we can't break it either?" He asked as he tested the bars strength.
"No. What about the lock, Zone?" Manus asked, moving Jaune's hand to the keyhole. "It doesn't seem very strong."
"Think you can break it?" Jaune asked.
Click!
The door opened.
Huh, what?
Manus raised Jaune hand. "See?"
On top of his index finger, a bone had extended outside the skin and taken the shape of a key.
"Woah..." Jaune breathed, watching the bone retract back in his index. "How did you do that?"
"I just felt the hole with my tentacle and then filled it with my bone."
"…"
Jaune did not comment on that sentence and definitely did not think of anything perverted. Nope.
They stepped out of the cage.
The cave was filled with various barrels and crates, and he opened one of them to check if it was filled with the stolen dust from the store.
But no, it was just some food stock.
Jaune's stomach rumbled hungrily.
"I'm hungry," Jaune groaned and started to eat what was there.
Mostly vegetables like carrots, cucumbers, leeks or potatoes.
When he was back at Beacon, he was going to have a nice pancake contest with Nora.
As he was thinking that, Jaune and Manus suddenly heard a door open upstairs. Jaune immediately switched off his Aura and waited quietly in the dark.
"Zone, they have night vision!" Manus hissed.
"Crap-"
He stumbled in the dark as his feet got caught on a crate's side, which caused him to fall to the ground.
"…What?" They heard the man groan at the noise, approaching cautiously. "Hey, you…!"
Jaune lit up his Aura.
As soon as there were light, Manus extended Jaune's arm into a tentacle, at the end of which a bone blade appeared. He moved in a flash to the other side of the room and-
Slash!
The Faunus dropped dead on the ground, his throat slit, a puddle of blood widening beneath him.
Zzzzzuuuu.
Manus returned his arm to its normal state.
"Wh-wha…" Jaune's voice trembled as he stared at his arm and the dead body. "Y-you… you killed him…!"
"Yeah…" Manus sighed dreamily. "Finally, a kill."
Jaune shook his head desperately and ran to their victim. He lit up his face with his hand-light.
He didn't wear a mask. The face was familiar. It was a spider Faunus.
"Th-that… was the boy's father." Jaune realized. They looked so much alike, there was no mistake possible.
"So?" Manus asked, unperturbed. "I'm not letting ourselves get caught again. We're not getting another chance like this."
"You killed him!" Jaune repeated, staring at his arm which was stained by the man's blood.
"What was I supposed to do?" Manus protested.
"Oh I don't know, knock him unconscious?!"
"You think I had time for that? It's easier to just kill!"
"You can't kill humans! Or Faunus! I thought we were clear on that!"
"Well, I did!" Manus snapped. "Get over it, Zone. He was our enemy. It was a matter of life or death, and I'll kill as many as I have to in order to survive!"
"You… You…" Jaune kept staring at his arm.
His arm.
It was his arm. He might as well have killed the man himself.
An angry red eye spawned in his palm, followed by a mouth. His index finger transformed into a small arm, and soon it was like he was holding a mutant puppet in his right hand.
The small puppet slapped him with one of its little arms like an angry baby.
"Zone!" The puppet talked, "We can't linger, we must escape now before they find the body!"
"R-right… Right, right, right… yes…" Jaune mumbled to himself, still staring at his strange hand and at the dead body.
"Goddammit, Zone!" Manus groaned and moved again like a tentacle. He picked up the body, dumping him in a crate with the vegetables.
Jaune stared at the scene of his arm cleaning the murder scene, still shocked, not sure what he was supposed to do.
Manus is right, Jaune tried to convince himself. There was no choice. It was him or us. There was no choice, there was no choice.
Manus closed the crate, and pushed another one on top of the blood puddle, covering all the traces.
Soon, it was like nothing happened.
Like nothing happened.
…Nothing happened.
"Zone!" Manus called again, "Snap out of it!"
"Right," Jaune shook his head and focused back on their main concern: escaping. He felt a pit of coldness grow in his heart, overwhelming his feelings of regret. "Right… Of course. Now that we're out of the cage, let's get out of here."
"O...kay?" Manus agreed hesitantly, surprised by the sudden change. "Good..."
Zzzzuuu.
His hand returned to normal and Jaune took the stairs, slowly making his way to the door at the top.
"People are guarding the house," Manus informed, sensing the White Fang members negative emotions. "Four are on the first floor, no one second floor."
Jaune nodded silently, slowly opening the door.
The house was messy. The door opened on a small corridor, in which was a large entrance giving on a living room. Voices were coming from there.
"-e leaving soon, I promise."
"I sure hope so," Someone else grunted. "My house isn't a refuge for White Fang activists. All the tents will attract attention, you need to keep moving or this position will be compromised-"
Jaune tuned out the conversation, examining his options.
The entrance of the living room was right in front of the exit, so he couldn't pass through without getting seen.
As he looked through the windows, he saw it was night.
There were several tents built around the house. This was truly a White Fang base.
The only option to escape unnoticed was the second set of stairs.
Jaune carefully stepped into the corridor and closed the door behind him.
"Lock it," Jaune whispered.
Manus raised Jaune's hand and applied his finger to the door's lock. Jaune felt his finger melting as his flesh filled up the keyhole.
The lock clicked softly and Manus took out his finger, a key-shaped bone extending from his index.
That little trick sure was useful, Jaune thought as he moved to climb upstairs.
"I need to find some clothes…" Jaune muttered, still in his boxers. "It's getting cold."
Cold, yes… Inside and outside, literally and figuratively. It was an accurate description of what he was feeling.
"We should have taken the clothes of the guy we killed in the cave." Manus pointed out.
"… They were covered in blood." Jaune said quietly.
"Ah, good point, Zone."
Jaune entered a bedroom and searched for some clothes. After some search, he found his size: a tank-top, some black pants and a leather jacket that went down below his knees, as well as shoes too big for his feet.
"Perfect…" Jaune muttered, looking at himself through the mirror.
"You still need to hide your face," Manus said.
Jaune put on the jacket's hood.
"Good enough for now." Manus decided.
Jaune nodded absently and looked through the window.
The house was surrounded by a dozen tents. How was he going to get out?
"Should we get my scroll and weapons back?" Jaune wondered.
"We can't risk it." Manus refused.
"But, Crocea Mors... And they have my civilian consultant badge too."
"Tukzon came by, Zone. He retrieved it for you."
"...Tukzon?" Jaune repeated, blinking.
Jaune's right hand twitched weirdly. "...Sorry. I meant Tukson."
"Tukson came?"
"Yes, but he couldn't find a way to open the cage."
"...And so he left? Just like that?"
Manus hesitated. "...I convinced him to leave."
Jaune paused. "You convinced him."
"Yes."
"... YOU. Convinced him." Jaune repeated, not impressed with the Grimm parasite.
"He didn't realize anything, Zone." Manus sighed. "You have nothing to worry about. I handled it perfectly, without getting discovered."
Did he?
"Okay..." Jaune accepted eventually. There was no time to question Manus. "Well, that does make our escape plan much simpler." He recognized.
Yes. He'd have to thank Tukson for his help, this man was really too nice to him.
He didn't deserve it at all.
Jaune hurriedly focused back on the White Fang base through the window and hummed as he analyzed the different ways he could take to escape. The best was probably to disguise himself and leave quietly.
He noticed a tent clearly bigger than the others.
Jaune widened his eyes as he discerned Adam and his henchman enter the big tent with… Torchwick.
"So they're really working together…" Jaune mumbled, not really surprised.
"Zone, we have to go," Manus reminded him, "Before someone realizes the guy we killed is missing."
"We have to learn their plans first. This is a unique opportunity! We could catch both Torchwick and Adam!"
"This is too risky, Zone."
"Ebony would definitely give us the Magnum if we pull it off," Jaune said, knowing Manus wanted the gun badly.
"I'd rather save my life, Zone."
"Well… too bad I'm the one with the legs," Jaune decided.
Manus grumbled to himself. "Don't be surprised if we have to kill someone else, Zone..."
Jaune felt a stab of guilt to his heart.
That… that was true… But still, that chance was too good to pass up, wasn't it?
How many people could he save by uncovering their plans?
...It was the least he could do. That was the job of a Huntsman, of a civilian consultant to the Police.
Jaune quietly opened the window, which was conveniently positioned above a tent.
He jumped down and landed behind the tent.
"No one inside,' Manus muttered quietly.
Jaune nodded and stepped under the canopy.
There wasn't much in the tent. Just a bunch of sleeping bags on the ground and a side table with a candle.
"We need a mask." Jaune groaned.
"Let's kill someone else then," Manus suggested eagerly.
"No!" Jaune refused immediately. He lowered his voice, "We'll just knock him unconscious. Understood?"
"...Yes, Zone..." Manus sighed obediently.
They waited a while in the tent. After a long time, someone finally entered the tent.
Manus swiftly hit him behind the head, and the man fell down, unconscious.
Jaune took his mask and positioned the body on one of the sleeping bags, to make it seem like he was sleeping.
"Now…Let's hope it'll work." Jaune said, putting the mask on his face below his hood. "I don't want to risk waiting any longer. Should we take his clothes too?"
"Some Faunus will be able to smell his scent on you." Manus pointed out. "Those we have now come from a dress-robe so they don't smell much. I suggest we keep our clothes, even if your skin is still stained with your dried blood."
"Good idea…"
Dammit, White Fang members sure were hard to deal with, between night-vision, Faunus mutations and a better sense of smell.
Jaune took a deep breath, straightened his back and stepped outside, trying his best to look confident, ready to run as fast as possible at any sign of recognition.
He walked rapidly through the camp, receiving odd looks as he wasn't wearing their standard uniform.
However, no one stopped him.
Maybe they weren't so hard to deal with after all. He just had to wear the mask and everything would be fine.
Jaune made his way to the side of the giant tent, finding a nice quiet hidden spot, and tried his best to listen to what they were saying.
"- be a little longer." Torchwick was saying. "This isn't just a random dust shop, so I'll need a few more hands. I was provided with four bull-heads this time."
There was a silence, and someone stepped out of the tent. It was Adam's lieutenant, the one with the chain-saw. He started asking around for volunteers, so Jaune cautiously retreated behind the tent.
"Anything else…?" Adam demanded. He didn't seem to enjoy Torchwick's presence.
"Nothing much… Of course, I'd appreciate it if your men didn't trash the whole place this time…"
Suddenly something poked Jaune's shoulder. He spun around, Manus ready to strike.
Mismatched eyes stared back at him.
"Neo…?" Jaune hissed, panicked. "What are you doing here, this is dangerous!"
She tilted her head to the side and looked him up and down.
She clapped her hands, having apparently recognized him, and grabbed his arm, trying to lead him out of his hiding place.
"Hey, no!" Jaune protested and jumped away from her, "I'm not a White Fang member, they captured me. I'm escap-" Jaune cut himself, a thought suddenly occurring to him. He frowned, "You're not… working with the White Fang, are you?"
She shrugged and made to grab his arm again.
Jaune took a step back.
"You are…" Jaune realized after watching her reaction. She grimaced in response, and his right arm started pulsing dangerously, Manus preparing for a fight. "You're working with them…!"
Neo paused and frowned, her mouth pouting distastefully.
Jaune gulped and flexed his legs, preparing himself for the worse.
She seemed to think for a moment with an annoyed expression, holding her chin, apparently displeased with the turn of events.
Then suddenly her eyes lit up, apparently making a decision.
At this moment, everything happened quickly.
Neo dashed towards him.
Manus took that as a declaration of war.
A bone blade suddenly spawned from Jaune's hand, several bone spikes sprung out of his arm, and Manus sent a punch towards Neo, extending his arm in a black tentacle.
A lethal blow, that would kill any normal person. There was no doubt about Manus's intentions.
Just as it hit, Neo shattered into a million pieces.
"Huh?" Jaune breathed, panicking. "Dammit... You can't seize every opportunity to kill someone, Manus!"
Furthermore, she had seen the spikes in his arm. She knew his arm was not normal, she knew it was some kind of strange mutation.
Zzzzzzzzuuu.
His arm returned to normal. "Where is she? Where?" Manus asked urgently, no doubt wanting to kill Neo for witnessing the changes in his arm.
"I don't know, she vanished!" Jaune replied, looking in every direction.
Another sound of glass shattering coming from just behind them reached their ears.
Jaune spun around just to find the remnants of shatters disappear.
Fear shot through Jaune's gut as he widened his eyes, dashing towards another hiding place.
She'd been there all the time?! That meant... She probably even heard Manus talk!
"Crap..." Jaune dashed to yet another hiding place, getting away from the big tent. Neo would raise the alarm any moment now.
"This is bad, Zone." Manus groaned, equally worried. "Look."
Jaune looked at the direction Manus pointed at.
There was a bullhead, in which several White Fang members were climbing in. Torchwick was sat in the pilot's seat, having finished his short meeting with Adam.
Neo was there too. She took a cautious look around and took the seat next to Torchwick.
"Crap…" Jaune cursed. "She works with Torchwick, seriously?"
"I was against it before," Manus groaned dangerously, "But now that we're discovered, we have no choice but to silence her, Zone."
"By killing her?" Jaune asked, feeling his heart clench. "But, she didn't raise the alarm..."
"Yes, by killing her," Manus stated, categorically. There was no place for discussion.
Jaune felt sick to the stomach. There had to be another way, surely? She was mute. How could she talk?
He'd have to figure out a way to convince Manus. For now, they needed to act before the bullhead were full.
"So we volunteer, we apprehend Neo, and then we stop Torchwick's plan?" Jaune summarized.
"Two humans with one claw," Manus confirmed. "Literally."
"Not funny!"
Jaune went back to the tent where they knocked down one of the members. They stripped him and put on his clothes, the true White Fang uniform this time. This way, even Neo wouldn't recognize him, which would give them the advantage of surprise.
Jaune took a deep breath and stepped out of the tent towards the lieutenant.
"You volunteer?" The White Fang lieutenant grunted to him, looking him up and down.
He nodded to the man in front of him, fearing he could recognize his voice.
"Get on, then." He grunted and left him.
He walked to the bullhead, pausing by the front seats. Neo was sat there, and she raised an eyebrow at him. She couldn't see who he was, with his mask.
Jaune quickly continued his walk to the back of the bullhead. He exhaled slowly.
"Calm down, Zone." Manus hissed, having raised his hand to Jaune's ear.
"She knows…" He groaned anxiously. "What are we going to do?"
"She can't talk. And she's crazy." Manus reassured, "No one will believe her."
Right... She was mute and crazy.
Of course!
She would have trouble communicating, and no one would believe her story! And she was a criminal so she couldn't go to the VPD or call any Huntsman.
So they didn't need to kill her!
Just as he was about to tell that to Manus, the other White Fang members helped him to climb in the bullhead, offering their hands.
"Nervous, huh?" One of them chuckled. "You'll see, we may be working with a human, but it'll be worth it!"
"... It's my first time," Jaune said hesitantly.
"Aaaah, those are always the best!" The man laughed, putting his arm around Jaune's shoulder. "It'll stay all your life, brother. I'm Perry! If you have any questions, just ask me!"
"Thanks." Jaune nodded to the terrorist. "I'm, uh… I'm Manus."
Jaune's right hand twitched in annoyance when he said that.
"Perry!" Torchwick called, looking back at his crew. "Everyone ready?"
"Yeah, yeah!" Perry shouted back, annoyed. "Fucking human." He whispered.
"Damn animals." Torchwick echoed back.
Jaune frowned as he stared at the two criminals sat in the front seats.
It seemed like Neo didn't inform anyone that Jaune had escaped. Not even Torchwick... Why? It couldn't be just because she was mute?
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are leaving now~!" Torchwick announced, starting the engines.
The bull-head rose in the sky and departed.
"I feel like I've forgotten something." Jaune wondered.
"A weapon?" Perry asked, eyeing him up and down. "Don't worry, we have some spare in the back."
"No…" Jaune paled, his stomach protesting. "Oh no…"
Bullheads and Jaune... They didn't mix at all, he completely forgot!
"Hey, you good, brother?" Another asked him. "You don't look great."
"Brgl..."
"H-hey. Don't!"
Unfortunately, Jaune couldn't contain it any longer. He began repainting the bullhead's inside with regurgitated vegetables, and everyone started shouting and jumping away from him in panic.
A/N: Thanks for reading.
So much happened in this chapter, dammit. I'm not used to dealing with so many things at once. I've reviewed the chapter and edited it many times, this is what came out of it. Hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.
Next chapter: in two weeks.