As much as he hated to admit it, Cinder was gorgeous. Though, he really shouldn't have been surprised. Between the huntresses and the criminals of this city, was there any dangerous woman who wasn't attractive? Like, were women especially dangerous when they were attractive, or did they somehow become attractive because they were dangerous? Anyway, that wasn't the point. Needless to say, however, while Gamer's Mind frantically nullified 'Panic' over and over again, there were one or two 'Lust's to nullify as well.
Unsurprisingly, this room was nothing like the previous storage closets he'd been scouting. High tech equipment- mainly computers- lined the walls, all intercut with poster boards containing snippets of newspapers connected with yarn like a classic conspiracy theory.
There was only one way Jaune envisioned his escape from this situation, and it required him to have a trait he'd needed since first coming to Beacon: Confidence.
"Cinder Fall." Jaune addressed her without a stutter in his voice.
"Your name is Cinder Fall too?" The criminal mastermind asked, confused.
"What? What are you talking about?" Jaune asked, equally confused. In fact, the confusion had taken precedent over his fear, making this whole 'Confidence' thing slightly easier.
"Well, I said 'And who do we have here' then you responded 'Cinder Fall' so I just assumed- Oh nevermind! Who are you?" Cinder cut into her own rambling.
"I'm Jaune Arc, leader of Team Jeweler and professional crime stopper." He stated boldly, puffing his chest and placing a hand on his sword.
"Professional? You look a little young to be a licensed Hunter." The black haired beauty reasoned.
"Well, I'm still in training, but-!"
"Ah, that explains it. You must be with Ozpin then. His sheep get younger and younger every passing year."
"No, I'm not with Ozpin…" Jaune's confusion continued as Cinder offered more and more assumptions.
"You're with Sa-" She cut herself off again. "Nevermind, that was stupid. So, you're on your own? Do you even realize what you're messing with?" At this, Cinder's eyes sprouted flames. Literal flames.
"Of course I do!" Jaune blatantly lied. "I know all of your plans!"
Lie Successful!
[OK]
That was not what he was expecting to pop up in this situation.
"Really? Damn… I thought I had everything under wraps. There was gonna be an awesome reveal and everything…" The flames in Cinder's eyes died off and she just looked… Disappointed? The criminal turned away from him and started typing on one of the computers, leaving Jaune utterly forgotten.
"Uhh…"
"Was it at least hard to figure out? Did my logic puzzles give you some sleepless nights or something like that?" She turned back to him, still typing on her computer. The look of danger that she once gave was now replaced with a burning curiosity- as if she had some desire to learn or the like.
"Something like that…" Jaune offered. Technically, Blake had that effect on her, though she hadn't solved the 'logic puzzles' anymore than Jaune had.
"Well that's good at least." Was he going crazy or was Cinder Fall starting to sound like a normal person? "My Qu- I mean- My former teacher told me the key to being a great villain was through intrigue, so I've really been working on my 'secret plan' skills. You know, intimidation, under the counter deals, all that stuff."
"You've… Done well?" The leader of Team JWLR complimented cautiously.
You've gained a Bond with:
Cinder Fall
Bond LV: 1/200
[OK]
"Thanks. Could you believe that I used to just be one of those 'brute force' types of criminals? Don't get me wrong, I could make that work as well, but this intrigue stuff feels so much more… Fitting." She chuckled to herself. "I'm no Hazel, and I'm certainly no Tyrian. I prefer to have one climatic final showdown than multiple clashes here and there. Am I making sense here?" Cinder looked back to him once again.
"Like a final boss." He offered. Her face lit up.
+1 Bond with:
Cinder Fall
Bond LV: 2/200
[OK]
"Exactly!" She looked back to her computer one more time, hitting the enter key with a dramatic tap, then turned around to face him again. "Which is why I'll give you a choice." The fire had returned to her eyes, needing Gamer's Mind to nullify panic yet again. "Since you already knew about all of my current plans, I figured there was no use waiting for you to go out and ruin them, so I've activated the train filled with dust. You can choose to get a headstart on making it to where the train will blow a hole in Vale- about a mile south from here- bringing a sizable portion of Grimm along for the ride- as well as a sizable amount of innocent casualties- or you can take me on here and now, letting some innocents die for the sake of the greater good. What's your decision?" Her body posture shrieked of megalomaniac, and any semblance of 'normalcy' he'd been picking up from her was now gone.
As for his choice, well, that was made up the moment he decided to go against Neo's plans and raid this base.
"Sun?" He called the detective on his scroll. "We've got a massive problem. I was caught and the White Fang panicked. They've set off a train filled with dust to hit Vale and bring a bunch of Grimm with it. We need to get everyone down a mile south immediately!" Sun responded affirmatively and the plan was changed. He'd call the others, but first, he had to get away from Cinder.
+1 Bond with:
Cinder Fall
Bond LV: 3/200
[OK]
"Very good choice, Jaune." She congratulated him. "Not many heroes I fight nowadays are willing to give up a chance at stopping me for the masses." What she didn't know was that he'd never had a chance at taking her on to begin with, but even if he had, the choice would remain the same. This was his doing, and anyone who was hurt tonight would be his responsibility. "I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but you might have the potential to become my newest Archenemy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to burn this facility to the ground so you don't get any headstarts on my next plans." Her hands filled with fire and she instantly blasted the opposing wall to ash.
Jaune took this as his queue to leave. In the back of his mind, somewhere, he wondered how Cinder was able to control fire like he could, even though his skill took Magic and not Aura, but that wasn't the main concern.
Right now, there were lives to save and mistakes to correct.
His mistakes. And he'd be damned if he didn't fix them like he always tried to fix his friends'.
So, this completely took a turn once I started writing it. Cinder was never planned to act like that, but as I wrote the chapter, it just evolved before I could even realize. Funny how things happen like that sometimes.
In other news, I've managed to completely outline Volume Three now, so that should help me keep my momentum in writing these chapters.
Until next time,
-RMV