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"Revenge is a powerful motivator, Master. Good, sharp, and dark enough that the Heart will sing when you call on its powers to aid you in it." Gnarl said when he told him what he'd decided, leading the young Overlord into the bowels of the Tower once again. Raising a finger, the Minion went on, "But, the one downside is rather fatal. While it can keep you focused, it can keep you over focused. You understand how?"
"I focus too much on one thing, another can come up behind me and hurt me." Distractions were fatal, he understood that now. "I've learned that lesson now, Gnarl. I won't make it again, that's a promise."
"Oh boy, well, it looks like we're doing this now. Joy of joys, I do so love teenage melodrama." The Minion sighed and, confused, Jaune came to a stop several stairs above him. He opened his mouth to speak, mainly to explain in various ways how this was not melodrama, but the Minion held up a hand to tell him to wait and cut him off, "Don't argue, Master, you are seventeen going on Overlord, so being dramatic and fatalistic is part of both gigs. And this is most certainly melodrama."
"How?" He snapped, sounding as harsh as he felt with everything going on. "How is this melodrama? I think this is normal drama!"
"And that is?"
"My mistress was almost cut in half, Gnarl! And right in front of me!" He howled, the Minion smirking at something he'd said that, for a second, Jaune missed. The blonde blinked and made a sour face as he realized why, Gauntlet whistling through the air as his hand cut between them and he grunted, "Forget I said that. I meant girlfriend, not… Not that."
"Quite sure I know what you meant, Master." The Minion didn't elaborate on if that was what jaune said or not and instead turned away, headed down towards the Forge once again. "But surely you must know that this is in now way your fault, Master."
"I don't agree with that, Gnarl." He argued simply, crossing his arms over his chest, then realizing that made him look every part melodramatic teenager Gnarl said he was, and then left them there regardless. He was allowed to be a little petty, sometimes, surely. "I wasn't paying attention, I didn't… I didn't have my weapon, or my guard up."
"Oh yes, because you can be expected to live, eat, and breathe paranoia. Right, Master? I'm sure Mistress Rose will love living with that." The Head Minion chuckled darkly under his breath and added in a sarcastic, deprecating and pandering tone, "Evil's sake, he didn't even know what you are. He didn't even want you. He wanted her, and once again, not even for her. Who did he want again, Lordship?"
"Blake." He answered shortly, Gauntlet curling and uncurling on top of his bicep while he thought. While he remembered, trying to recall details after days of sleep and through the waves of emotion. "He wanted kill me, drag Neo to someone named 'Red' something, probably kill her for the Red woman, and then use Ruby to get Blake to come to him."
"Exactly." The Minion turned at the base of the stairs, grinning ferally up at him and asking, "And do you know what that means, beyond that it isn't your fault?"
"No."
"Guess, Master. Humor me and guess." The Minion ordered gently, stepping back so the Overlord could join him at the bottom of the stairs.
"It means… It means that..." He blinked, blue eyes blinking to green as yellow fire flickered through them and hued the irises differently to the Head Minion's amused, satisfied eyes. A gaze Jaune ignored entirely as he explained, "That this bastard doesn't know who I am, or what I am, any more than I know who he is. He doesn't know what he's started a fight with, doesn't know the hell about to come down on his head."
"Precisely, Master. And you have a way to find out everything about him thanks to him spilling about knowing the little kitty cat." The Head Minion seemed to purr the words, wringing wrinkled hands together excitedly and pleasedly, grinning his feral, toothy grin again. "Now, what say we do some preparing to bring that hell down? Hm?"
"How do you suggest we do that, Gnarl?" The little creature always had something in mind, some plane for him to go through to get what they wanted.
"Upgrades, Master. It isn't like you were going to run around in those rags we half assed to get you something to wear forever, after all." The Minion snarked, leading him out onto the Forge floor, the fires around them blazing brightly in their torch holders and braziers. Around the walkway metal flowed, molten and bright but silvery instead of the normal orange and red, and he stopped to look at it.
"This looks different, Gnarl." He called out, waving his ever-armored hand at it meaningfully and joining him on the center of the platform. "What is all this stuff?"
"Atlesian pure platinum grade Seer-Steel, mixed with synthesized Gravity Dust straight out of Atlesian military production factories." The Minion sounded proud and, just off what little he knew of Gravity Dust and platinum grade Seer-Steel, Jaune could understand that pride. And the excitement, too.
"What we can make out of this…" Jaune shook his head and snorted a small laugh, turning to look at the Minion with a raised eyebrow. "Gravity Dust, platinum grade Seer-Steel, that stuff is expensive. When did we get enough Lien to import something like that? And how did it even get here?"
"I had it delivered to Beacon and ser Shaun signed for it in my stead, then the spiders you… Found carried the crates back for me. All rather complicated, I assure you, Master, and you don't need to sweat the details." The Minion bowed at the waist with a theatrical flourish and smile, waving a hand behind himself like a jester. "Such is the life of the Head Minion of the Dark Tower. Holding for applause, as always."
"Uh huh." He didn't clap and stared at him for several seconds until finally, with a suffering sigh, the Minion straightened and Jaune pointed out. "You didn't say how we afforded it though, Gnarl. Where'd that kind of Lien even come from?"
"Well, I mean…" The creature smiled apologetically and shrugged small shoulders, cuckling when Jaune sighed and shook his head. "That old wizard gave us plenty of Lien, and even this didn't make a dent, Master."
"So not the point, Gnarl." The Minion shrugged and didn't argue, knowing what Jaune's point was well enough without needing to ask. And honestly, there wasn't a point in arguing it any more. The metal was more than just here, it was melted down and ready for use. No doubt it was infused with Mana now, too, and he was not about to send that back to Atlas. "Forget it, we have bigger problems. Now, the upgrades you mentioned?"
"An entirely new suit of armor, Master. Better runes, more magic inscribed on the weapon, the works. I even have a few new spell runes you can integrate into your arsenal, though I recommend keeping to what you know against a strong opponent." The Minion fanned his fingers in a theatrical way as he spoke and grinned, "All that is left is for you to… Redesign yourself. A new quest, such as it is, and a new set of equipment to see it through."
"I have just the design in mind, Gnarl." He grinned, leaning on his knuckles against the heavy table in the center of the platform. Mess with the bull… "You get the horns."
"Uh, master, you're talking to yourself." He sighed and turned an unamused gaze on the Minion who waved his hands in surrender and chuckled weakly, "I, uh, apologize, my majestic Master. I suppose I somewhat undercut your moment, huh?"
"A bit." He just rolled his eyes and sighed, "Let's just get to work."
Hours and hours passed as they worked, flying by rapidly while the changes to the armor's design were made, both big and small. The chainmail and plates shined, now, with a silvery hue and with an almost ethereal glow to them. The Mana, he knew, suffusing the metal and reacting when he sent more through it to power the Runes inscribed onto the insides of the plates and inscribed along the leather reinforcements. Hundreds of Runes in both, all doing two things. Reducing the armor's scale of weight, which had it feeling like he was wearing a basic chainmail shirt and little else, and reinforcing the material's durability.
The biggest change he'd demanded was a change to the front of his armor, replacing the light chainmail with heavier, layered plating under the tabard he always wore. A coat of plates set into heavy, thick, durable leather with inscriptions of reinforcement sewn along the insides, over the gambeson he would wear going forward. This one made of rich, soft cotton, layered protectively over it and twice as flexible given its higher quality. The gambeson, too, had runes inscribed into it, boosting his strength higher than any workout routine could take him. Letting him move faster, hit harder, and keep his stamina while he did it.
His helmet had been redesigned too, replaced with a mail coif that fell over his neck and the to of his shoulders. Simple, like before but made of the newer, stronger metal now and set over an arming cap made of soft, padded cloth. The outside of the helmet was designed with a gentle cone shape that ran up the crown of his head and smooth, a smooth, gently sloping with his head back and sides. The front had a simple, gentle 'V' visor and a dozen holes smaller than his pinky - or most bullets, conveniently - to let him breathe. Above the visor, attached to the part that could lift up, were two dark red horns no more than an inch long, colored to stand out from his black armor and make a point over who he was after.
He'd also added a thinner cloak, one he could wear anywhere without worrying about it, with one of the last runes that Gnarl had been allowed to bring back to the Tower.
"Are you sure?" Blake asked quietly, voice cracking a little where she stood across from him, Gambol Shroud in her hand. "I-I don't want to hurt anyone any more than I already-"
"Just do it, Blake." He barked, ignoring what she'd said for the moment and standing ready with his cloak gripped in the talons of his Gauntlet readily, hanging down like curtains. "If this doesn't work against a pistol then I need to damn well know before I go out there to fight people with assault rifles."
"Okay." She nodded, raising the weapon and taking a breath, anxiety vanishing as the weapon leveled itself on the center of his mass. He nodded to her reassuringly, to tell her he knew everything would be fine, and she returned the gesture. "H-Here goes nothing, then, Jaune."
Three loud cracks split the air in the seconds that followed, the rounds soaring straight and true to the center of his cape. He saw them smack into it with all the force of an air pistol, the rounds falling with little clinks along the stone of the Forge and rolling away harmlessly after a few seconds. With his other hand he turned the cape in his hand to look at the other side of the velveteen cloth and grinned, not even a single scar adorning it.
"Perfect, it works just like I hoped it would." And he hadn't even had to get shot testing it, either. He grinned at that, turning to his guest with a wide, toothy grin plastered across his face. "Now I'm ready to fight the White Fang. Or, I'm just about ready, at least. I just need your help."
"My help got Perinius killed, Jaune." She swallowed, returning her weapon to the back of her combat uniform with a grimace. One arm reaching across her, she gripped the other tightly and stared at the bubbling metal flowing around the Forge. "Perinius died for trusting me, Ruby almost died… I'm beginning to think I'm a hazard zone."
"Don't worry, Blake." He offered gently, walking towards the armor table beyond her and stopping to lay a hand on her shoulder, smiling reassuringly, "I'll deal with it. I promise you that, and an Arc never breaks his word, so you can count on it."
"But-"
"I won't tell you not to blame yourself, Blake. That would be hypocritical of me, I can't let go of not being able to protect Ruby either." He added, letting his human hand fall to his side and letting the smile fall with it, looking ahead at his new helmet and new, polished wolf head shoulder-guard. "But that's why you're here, isn't it? The guilt, and me not going to see her yet, I mean. Beyond me sending a Green to ask you to come."
"S-She misses you, Jaune." The woman responded, ignoring his accusation of her feeling guilty entirely.
"I'll go back soon, when I can protect her better." He answered quietly, walking away from the Faunus while she trailed behind. Stopping in front of the table he reached out for his new helmet and asked, running his fingers over the smooth front gently, almost caressing it, "You know who attacked us, right?"
"Yeah, I…" She shivered behind him and sighed, "I told everyone about Adam already, back at Beacon. Your team and mine."
"Tell me about it, Blake." He said quietly, putting the plated helmet on and closing the front before he turned to her, head inclined to show his new horns. "Once I know what I'm up against, I'll solve both our problems. Permanently."
"I… His name is Adam Taurus, he's my- He was my friend." She started, staring down at the bubbling, molten metal while she spoke. A small, wistful smile cracked her strained, baggy-eyed visage, and she went on, "When I was little, I got caught in a protest in Atlas. Bit a soldier, and they were going to… Brand me."
"Brand you?"
"The soldiers were SDC security goons. Thugs with uniforms, rifles and little tin badges that 'supplemented' actual military forces when the Faunus 'acted up'. They call us animals, so they figured they'd… Mark the misbehaving ones." She explained in preamble, turning to see that he'd understood before, with a wan, pained smile, turning back to gazing at the hot metal around them. "Adam saw them dragging me away, just a little girl… He was already with the Fang by then, fourteen years old to my ten."
"He dove in." He guessed, feeling his estimation of his target rise ever so slightly when she nodded. "I see… What happened next?"
"He grabbed a baton one of the soldier's had, rammed his horns into his arm to get it free, and came after me. Broke one's wrist and screamed at me to run." She finished with a small grimace, hands trembling at her side while she paused for breath.
More to steady herself, he could tell by how her eyes closed and shoulders straightened. "I did… Straight through the crowd and to my dad. The last thing I saw of him for days was the soldiers beating him down… I can still hear him screaming and the batons landing."
"Later, after I pressured him, my dad found out who it was for me. And took me to meet him- I wanted to thank him, you know?" He nodded understandingly but didn't speak, afraid he'd break Blake's line of speech and make her clam up.
Something he knew she did, at least from what Ruby said, when she got particularly stressed. And something he couldn't afford. "They'd beaten him so badly, he needed to… Sienna, one of our Huntress allies, she had to unlock his Aura to save his life. And they'd branded him, big letters right over his eye. S. D. C. It blinded him in that eye!"
"Which eye?"
"H-Huh?" She blinked and looked to him before, in a quieter voice, answering, "His left eye. Some of the sight came back, after a couple years, but nothing more than… Shapes and movement, really."
"Hm." It was a sob story, that was definitely true, and part of him pitied the man for it. He'd been through hell, but… "I understand, but I hope you understand that I don't care, Blake. He hurt Ruby, and he will suffer for that."
"I know, even if I still… I know what you're going to do, and I-" She cut off in a small choking sound and swallowed, a tear breaking from one eye before she could turn away from him. "W-Will that be all, Overlord?"
"No." Much as he wished it could be, right now. He hated seeing a pretty girl cry… It had always been a weakness of his. "I need to know how his Semblance works, and how to lure him out so I can kill him."
"His Semblance lets him absorb energy of any kind into his sword and store it, to unleash whenever he wants to." She explained simply, taking a deep breath and turning to look at him. Her eyes were red and he saw tear tracks where her makeup had been made to run, but her eyes were hard amber orbs set into her skull regardless. "And there's only one way to lure him out, Jaune. You need the a trap, and the perfect bait for it."
He didn't like it, and knew Ruby would like it less, but… She was right, he needed a trap to catch the man.
"What's your plan?" He asked simply, watching a half dozen Minions come in from one of the side passages that led into the forge, carrying his freshly reforged pole-axe over their shoulders.
"We'll need someone strong that Adam won't recognize." She started simply, "Someone that could, reasonably, have captured me. He'll recognize your Gauntlet."
"I know just the guys for this, Blake." He nodded, striding past her once more to retrieve his axe from his eager servants, letting the newborn weapon's sharp base bite into the stone below him loudly and meaningfully. "I need to talk to Qrow and Tai."
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"So, what you're saying is, you need us," Qrow grunted, sitting in the upper floor of a bar overlooking the bottom, legs propped up on the table while he sipped from his flask and waved a hand between himself and an agitated looking Tai next to him, "to go behind Oz' back, pretend to want to turn your little Faunus friend over to the Fang for some rumored bounty, so you can get payback for what the fucker did to Ruby. 'Bout right?"
"So we can get revenge." He pointed out, metal claw tapping impatiently on the wooden table between them while Blake stared into a mug of water anxiously. "Other than that, yeah. You have it right."
"You know him?" Tai asked, meeting Blake's eyes when she glanced up at him. The woman didn't speak, instead only nodding curtly, and he settled his Gauntleted hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "We'll have to take him down hard, with a Semblance like that. He almost cut Ruby in half, with her Aura up."
"You go low and front, I go high." Qrow grunted, making a 'snip' motion with two fingers and sneering, "Bird and the Dragon'll meet in the middle, eh? Then our Bull here," Qrow snorted and waved a hand at him, calling attention to his new horns, "comes in to be the muscle behind the attack. He can wait on a roof nearby."
"My Minions will be around too to-"
"Nuh uh." Qrow snapped quickly, waving a finger at him tauntingly, like a parent might at a child. He bristled but held his tongue to see what the man would say, though his Gauntlet slammed down quietly before he could catch it. "Sheesh, kid. Mellow out. Anyway, we don't want your lil' gremlins there. He might catch a whiff of 'em and bolt."
"The Greens don't smell that bad…"
"Metaphorically, John." Tai sighed, arms crossed and glaring at his fellow blonde. Or not at him, rather, and instead through him. Like his mind was elsewhere entirely. "Having a guy on backup in case something gets tried is reasonable, and Qrow can… Blend in. But if he sees your Minions skulking around?"
"He'll run for it." Blake supplied, the blonde grumbling but nodding regardless. "He'll have back up, too. Banesaw's in town, Perinius told me before he… Adam trusts him explicitly. Something like this, he'll be there too."
"Then I take him." Qrow snapped his fingers, then pointed at Jaune, "You get to handle the Bull with Tai until I'm done with him."
"Now we just need to decide how we're taking him down." Tai added, looking at the younger blonde again and raising an eyebrow. "You have any ideas? I don't care as long as the guy that hurt my baby goes down, but you have… Habits."
"I have a few, yeah." He nodded, lighting up a rune carved into the back of his free glove and summing his axe to him with a muted pop sound. Sending Mana through it, he set Mana turned to lightning spark along his weapon. "I'll stun him with this through his Aura, get my hands on him, and then…" He raised his Gauntlet and sent Mana through it, the fangs of his wolf glowing mutedly in the gloom while fire danced along his clawed fingers, "I'll burn the life out of him."
"...Damn, kid." Qrow murmured, taking a swig of his flask and turning to Tai while the flames flickered out and Jaune sighed, "Hey, uh, lookin' at that… Are we the baddies?"
"What? Of course not." The blonde waved him off and stood, shaking his head and asking with a cocked hip, "Why would you think we are the baddies?"
"I mean, just look at us. Look at him!" Qrow grunted, waving a hand at the unamused Arc across from him. "Black, spikes, a trap for revenge… Just sayin', we look like the baddies, Tai."
"When is this going down, kid?" Tai asked, looking to Jaune with the question and raising an eyebrow. "And when are you going to visit Ruby at Beacon? She's sulking, thinks you're mad at her or something."
"When Adam is dead, I'm going to go see her. Once I've made up for my mistake." Tai frowned but must have seen something in his face because he just nodded understandingly and murmured an 'Okay, I got it.' "I want to do this tomorrow night, if that's even possible. Qrow?"
"Sooner the better, yeah." The man grunted and stood, popping his neck, the wet popping accenting his every word as he spoke, "I know a guy, can get the word to him. Probably, I mean. I'll text Tai the meetup spot with the bastard and we'll get him."
Standing and flicking his visor closed, the blonde nodded and grunted, "I'll be waiting, then. Blake, what will you do?"
"I'll wait with you." She answered quietly, "The cave will do, even if it'll be boring. Or the Tower, it's about as far away as the cave, sort of."
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"You know…" Ruby swallowed anxiously and, careful of her still bandaged side, sat down with the tray of food she'd brought. A full pizza for two, split over as many plates and sat on a little steel tray resting on her knees. "You can come out of here, Neo. Yang promised she wouldn't hit you."
Neo blinked at her a couple times, a single eyebrow slowly raising where she sat on the bed opposite her, wrapped in both her dad and Jaune's blankets and surrounded by their pillows.
"A-Again, I mean." Ruby added nervously with a small smile, waving her hands in front of herself warily. "She, uh, she promised to not hit you again. I made her, a-and I'm team leader, so she has to listen to me!"
The other eyebrow rose and Ruby sighed, holding out a plate of pizza for her that the small woman plucked away in dainty fingers instantly. With one hand she tore into the food, the other typing away on her Scroll dexterously, "Where's your boy toy go?"
"He's probably getting ready to go after that guy, Adam." She shrugged, smiling pleasantly while she plucked pepperoni slices off her slice of pizza and popped them into her mouth, "He'll get ready, come up with a plan, and then rip his frickin' head off. Seen him do it a good… Four times, I think?"
"He's killed people?" Neo asked, surprised at the implications of what Ruby had said. That surprise doubled when the girl simply nodded, and she typed out another message, "And you're okay with that?"
"Yep." She nodded simply, smiling around a slice of pizza in front of her mouth. "He kills bad people, I kill Grimm. We're both just… Killing monsters. And once Jaune kills this one, he'll come back to me and we'll go on another date."
Neo blinked owlishly and made a mental note to not piss off 'Jaune' if he somehow managed to kill Adam freaking Taurus. Quietly, she took another bite of her pizza and let the little Huntress wannabe ramble about her classes that day.
Her rambling was boring, but between the blondie and the other blondie, Neo didn't want to upset her. Which was… Probably a good life choice, really.
Instead, she typed out a message and asked, "What about Roman?"
"Ah, he, uh…" She smiled sheepishly and shrugged, tossing another pepperoni int her mouth and grinning brightly at her. "Ironwood said he'd let him know that your letter got through. Now it's up to Jaune what happens, really. Don't worry, I'll put in a good word for you, since we're friends now."
They were friends now? This was the weirdest girl... She shrugged and ignored it, asking, "What's the best case?"
"I make Jaune make Ozpin let you come and live in the Tower. I mean, there's only the one real room, but…" She shrugged, "We'll just build some more for you and Roman to stay in. Since, you know… You're gonna be good guys now."
Both Neo's eyebrows shot up at that and she tilted her head to the side.
"Or," Ruby started with a small, knowing, cocky smile that had Neo pouting in return, "you could go to jail? Er, stay in jail, in Roman's case, I guess. But there you go, if you, you know, prefer that."
She waved her hands in front of her in reaction to that and the other woman laughed brightly at her, shaking her head when Neo sat back and started eating her pizza with both hands.
This girl was ridiculous… But she'd bare with it for Roman's sake, if nothing else. There's nothing she wouldn't do for him, if he asked.
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"Oh hi, Schnee. How are you this… Er, evening? Afternoon? Sorry, time is weird without the sun, you know?" The insufferable, grandstanding thief sneered when his cell door whirred open, the militaristic Schnee daughter standing with a tray of food in one hand and the other behind her waist. "Do me the favor, sweetheart?"
"One, I am not your sweetheart." She grunted simply, turning and giving the soldier standing guard by his cell a dismissive nod. He blinked in surprise, rifle lowering slightly, and she sighed, "The General's orders, Sergeant. I need a private word with him, and he needs to eat besides. Take a walk, get some air."
"Yes, Ma'am. I'll be down the hall, just yell and I can be here in a minute." The soldier snapped a salute and turned, striding away purposefully. Possibly in the hopes that she wouldn't call him back and order him to stand guard more.
"It's cute he thinks that if I could beat you he could do anything." Roman snarked as she stepped into the cell and the door clanged shut, the man leaning back before her bust could brush against him in the confined space and holding his hands up in surrender, leaning back and away from her like she had the bloody plague. "U-Uh, listen, whatever you're doing, I am not into… Well, uh-"
"Shut up before I leave you without your meal, Torchwick." She sighed, pulling the now wrinkled and weathered letter out of a jacket pocket, shoving the tray of potatoes and pork slices into his chest and leaning away from him, against the door. He spared the food a glance and then set it aside, looking at the envelope instead while she spoke, "This was delivered to an… Asset of the god General's, so to speak. Do you know what it is?"
"Well it looks like a letter-"
"If you want to joke around, I will leave, and you will get nothing from anyone to help you." She snapped at him, partially from her anger at even having to approach him like this and partially from needing to be in such proximity. They couldn't talk in the open, after all, where any patrolling soldier might see or hear. "Now I'll ask again, what is this letter?"
"I wrote it to Little Red, told Neo to take it to her. You got that, so guess you know about her…" The woman nodded and Roman sighed, wringing his hands together in sudden anxiety. "Look, I'm a crook. Okay? I steal to get by for a lotta reasons you won't care about."
"Correct."
"But I am not, and I mean this, I am not a damn terrorist." He spoke quietly, bright eyes staring up into the Schnee's own. Pointing to where he thought Vale was, he went on, "I love my Kingdom existing, even if I rob it. And it's where my little girl lives, too, if you don't buy that."
"You have a daughter?" Winter asked, sounding… Surprised for a second before her understanding dawned on her face, "Ah. The girl, Neopolitan. She's your daughter, then? We didn't know you'd gotten a woman."
"Didn't." He shrugged simply, "Not into that kinda stuff, either, before you get any ideas about seven minutes in prison."
"You insufferable-"
"I found her under a bridge a few years back, she was… Well, she didn't know, but I decided on fifteen since she looked it." He shrugged, the Schnee falling quiet at the confession while the criminal watched her. Reading her body movements and reactions, trying to gauge what she thought about what he was saying. "Took her in, explained to her I didn't want her in my bed a few dozen times, and… Adopted her."
"There's no papers…"
"Because I could get an agency to run an adoption for me, right?" He snorted and sighed, lacing his fingers behind his head to relax a bit. She was hard to read but he knew she was listening, even if her military edge held out against his sharp eye. "It's unofficial, yeah, but I trust someone like you understands how little paperwork matters when it comes to family. Right, Heiress?"
"Point made, Torchwick." She answered in a low voice, and he knew that had gotten the reaction he wanted. With a shake of her head she went on in the same strained voice, "I suppose this does mean that the girl isn't making this up after your arrest, to find an excuse to get the General's ally to want to help you…"
"Wait, what is that supposed to-"
"Good day, Torchwick." The woman turned as the door opened, Huntress balance and dexterity preventing her from falling and instead letting her turn it into an elegant, easy turn. She hesitated there, a hand on the edge of the cell door to keep it open, before finally asking, "Do you want me to deliver a message to your daughter?"
"You have her?" He felt his stomach plummet at the implication, and it must have shown on his face because she turned to him and shook her head.
"No, no, she's at Beacon. Safe, secure and under the protection, albeit only implicitly right now, of an ally of Atlas at the moment." She offered him a small smile, somehow seeming more tender than he'd thought possible from the frigid woman, and asked, "So, is there something you'd like to have delivered to her?"
"Nah… Nah, she's fine." He waved her off and, with a curt nod, the woman moved her hand and the door slid shut. Reaching for his potatoes, the man whistled, "So, that's a thing, then… What the hell did you get into, Neo?"
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"You're sure about this, Birdman? It's dark out here, and I can't see in the dark." Tai asked quietly, wearing a thick, dark hoodie with the hood drawn up over his head and one of his hands in the pocket, the other holding the ropes that had been 'tied' around Blake's arms and waist, or at least looked like they were.
In reality, they were just wrapped, and she could pull free easily enough.
"Yeah, 'course you can't. That's why the Fang picked this spot out for the hand over." Qrow answered, somewhere further away while he waited until someone showed. Unlike them, he wasn't even in the industrial district, instead loitering in his hotel room on the balcony until they told him to fly over. "You're blind as can be in the city, but they can see. So you try somethin' and we'll be at a disadvantage."
"I could start a fire for light, if you want." Jaune offered jokingly, Mana surging up and down his body like the Tower Heart's pulse. In sync with his own, and racing like it, as though in anticipation of the coming fight. "Might burn the warehouses down, though."
"No burning down the warehouse district, Goblin Cuddler." Tai sighed, shaking his head tiredly, visible even from where Jaune sat a few buildings back, leaning against an air conditioning unit. "Keep your eyes open as you can, alright? You're my backup, after all."
It was dark like Tai had complained about a few times already and, of course, Qrow's contact had arranged for them to meet in the warehouse district. Apparently, even with as badly as the bastard wanted Blake, the White Fang's leadership still wasn't stupid. Not enough to go wandering off into the forest or Vale on some random person's words, only to get caught up in a police ambush or something, at the very least. Even now, he was sure that they expected police sirens and an Atlesian ambush.
With a small smile, he drummed his fingers along his freshly minted axe.
"I see a car. Birdman, get in the air and head over. Goblin Cuddler, get ready." Tai ordered, the group staying silent instead of responding. Less than a minute passed and a sedan pulled up, turning one side away from the blonde and his 'captive', Blake. The door opened and he caught a glimpse of red hair and scowled, starting to stand before he felt something land on his shoulder.
"Maybe don't do that." He turned to look up at a woman with dark skin covered in intermittent scales that, had they not been glowing an angry red, would have looked like freckles to him. She smiled sourly under her Fang mask and raised her rapier, "Did you think you could hide up here? You're lookout, right?"
"And if I am?" He asked shortly, buying time and surging more Mana through his Gauntlet to prepare. "What happens then?"
"I sit with you, we wait out the handover, you all get paid." She shrugged and gave the group on the ground a nod, Taurus sneering and shaking his head while he looked over Blake and the massive form of what had to be Banesaw lumbered back and forth behind him, huge chainsaw resting on his shoulder. "Not a bad deal, is it, Human?"
"Not if I was here for the Lien, no." He smiled, spinning on his heel before she could react and driving his Gauntlet into her stomach hard enough that her cry of warning came out a strangled grunt instead and she staggered back.
Turning, he brought his axe towards her shoulder and she dove, rolling and coughing across the rooftop for cover, her weapon extending from sword to whip and lashing out before he could blink. The blow caught across his helmet and jerked his head to the side, the rest of the surprised blonde going with it for a short, before he caught a glimpse of movement and felt the woman leap onto him, legs locking around his left shoulder and arms around his Gauntlet, the woman swinging towards the ground and using her weight to drag him down.
Or try to, rather, his enhanced strength making even her weight inconsequential now.
Instead he turned and swung his arm with her on it, slamming her back against the ventilation he'd sat against for so long and caving it in with the loud sound of metal shearing. The woman cried out in shock and pain, Aura flaring at the last second but unable to absorb the force of the blow and negate the feeling of it so late. The blonde hurled his axe back and away, towards where he heard a chainsaw revving, and brought his less armored fist across her jaw once and then twice, splitting her lip and breaking her grip so he could rise.
Unfazed by the blood the woman rolled out of the Faunus shaped dent in the metal and landed at his feet, and then rolled onto her back and launched both her feet up and into his stomach. The hit didn't hurt at all, but the force of it did unsteady him and push him away, which was what the woman wanted. Using the same movement as her kick she rolled onto her hands and pushed off the ground, vaulting up and on top of the ventilation elegantly and wiping the back of her arm across her lip to clear the blood.
Again her whip-sword lashed out, aiming for his left arm, where it coiled around him and electrified. The volts surged up his arm and he cried out, instinctively calling Mana to his Gauntlet and using a concussive burst to make the woman stagger ever so slightly and make her let up on the electricity. Now, connected by the sword, he called on the teleportation rune on his axe and moved them both, the blonde more than used to the nausea and sudden loss of his center of gravity to compensate for it.
The woman, though, dropped from where her perch had been and landed on her knees, gagging on the sudden nausea. He seized the moment and closed with her, Gauntlet wrapping around her throat while he smiled.
"One White Fang down." He murmured happily, before the lightning arced out of is Gauntlet and across her body, the woman screaming shrilly where she hung and spasmed. Sneering, he added in a haughty voice, turning on his side of the street to show the White Fang fighting Tai and Qrow his writhing, captured prize, "Never ambush an Overlord, White Fang! This is the result!"
He threw the unconscious woman to the ground, the electricity too strong to have been blocked by her Aura for more than a second, and raised his axe to bring it down on her neck before he heard Blake call out to him.
"No, Ilia!" He hesitated and met the woman's eyes, wide and glowing in the night, and she shook her head, barely audible over the four other men fighting. "Not her, no, please."
He spared the unconscious woman a glance, fingers curling and uncurling on his axe, and finally snarled, "Ragh! Blake, tie her up, and make the knots tight. She's your responsibility, so get her to the Tower. Understood?"
"Y-Yes, Overlord!" The Faunus took the long way around the fight, back the way she'd walked and then forward, to get to them. He waited until she'd hogtied the woman and then turned towards the fighting proper, smiling while the woman fireman carried her unconscious… Friend away.
"Adam. Taurus." He barked, the sword wielding man ducking back from a hook Tai threw and dancing away, turning to give him a flat look. Jaune levelled his axe at him and bowed his head, showing his fake metal horns, and spoke simply, "I'm going to replace these fakes with the real ones before the night is out."
The man must have been surprised because his mouth gaped slightly before he managed to catch himself and sneer, "Ah, I recognize your gauntlet now. That was a lot of blood… How is your little girlfriend?"
"Just fine." Jaune shrugged, "Your little fireworks show was nothing compared to the power of the Overlord." Levelling his axe at the Faunus, he told Tai, "Help Qrow deal with Banesaw, Tai. This bastard's head is mine."
"Sure, I guess. Long as he eats a fist or three, I don't mind who feeds it to him." The man shrugged, sliding to Jaune's side and using him like a shield to back away and turn to join Qrow against the other man, both holding back and trying not to kill him.
They, at least, weren't out for blood.
"Those two aren't killing, even if they get the chance." Adam observed, slamming his sword into its sheath and turning, hand hovering over the hilt. "They are Huntsman. You, though, were about to take Ilia's head off. What are you?"
"An Overlord." He answered simply, rolling his shoulders and grabbing his axe with both hands, holding it out like a pikeman. "Let me show you the difference."
(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
Dirtrevor :
Jaune has other ways to throw him off. XD
Electrical, burning ways.
Razmire :
Dealing with Roman and Neo is the next set of things to do. For now, the Bull needs to get paid back.
Zenith Tempest :
Adam's Semblance allows him to absorb energy when directed and absorbed, meaning that if Jaune had, say, hurled a stronger wind blast at him and lunged in with his claws, the attack would have been stronger. Instead of fighting a prepared, armed opponent with nothing to protect him, Jaune elected to play it safe.
Teleporting with three people takes more focus and Mana though, hence the wind blast to get space that was meant to let them get away free of danger. The only reason that FAILED is because of his ranged component to his skills.
Which is why in the fight showcased HERE goes so much differently. Adam is a Control fighter, and the way you beat him is to take the control away.
Akuma Heika :
People today don't get the mentality and culture of militaries, and those are important. Ancient religions are misunderstood just as readily. For instance, ask the average American the differences between a Hijab and Burka and, though THOSE are over fifteen hundred years old as is and have OLDER origins, people won't know.
Religions and military culture are the best analogue I have, and so this is my interpretation of how people would perceive them. Apologies if you would interpret differently, just how I chose it here. Also, Jaune is just waltzing around with a heavy metal Gauntlet covered in spikes and claws on.
Also, also, this complaint is valid. Tweaking the arcs going forward to help fix it. Including the Adam arc here, condensed from about eight chapters to just a few counting the one previous this one.
Longer stories, I… Tend not to think about irl time going into getting to things. So I'm very sorry for that.
Reg Furby :
Yep. And he feels shitty for it. You are COMPLETELY right that Jaune was a bit arrogant, thinking a backhanded attack would protect them. It was a mistake of Jaune's.
Earthly Entity :
Jaune's family will be covered at a soonish point.
