Source Material: Deck of Heroes by Jauneforever- Chapter 3
The students were all on edge as they just stared at the two black cards in Phoenix's hands. He told them what they would do and they didn't want any part of it. They didn't want to see more of that world. "Hell no." Yang said heatedly with a red eye glare. "We are not watching more of that world."
Phoenix raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry is that world too much for you to handle?" He said mockingly as he stood from his seat. "I though you all were tougher than that?"
That made her seethe more but she didn't say a thing. Phoenix slowly paced in front of them as he spoke, "None of you have any idea on what darkness and horrors exist in many of your possible futures. I may have stopped a few with my interference but there are plenty more out there. So, if you can't bear to watch this…" He said as he raised one of the cards. "Then you'll stand no chance with what may be coming for you."
The students all looked away at those words. The adults wanted to step in but they all knew that he was right. The life of a Huntsman/Huntress or soldier was dark. Especially if you knew about the true evil behind it all. It was good for them to be prepared, no matter how painful it would be.
Eventually, they all looked at each other before turning to him, nodding. Phoenix nodded as well, "All right." He raised the card before throwing it into the screen. It slowly sank in and Phoenix thought, 'I hate being the bad guy but sometimes tough love is the best option.' He sighed as he sat back down and the screen came to life.
Jaune looked around the decaying remains of Kuroyuri, the name sounding familiar for some reason beyond the rumors of an armored Grimm prowling the area around him that he couldn't place. Shrugging it off Jaune moved to the town center.
At the sight of their old home, Ren and Nora froze in shock. Pyrrha picked up on this and looked over to them, "Are you two okay?" she asked in concern.
Ren just kept staring and Nora looked over to their other teammate. She had a downcast look on her face, "We have a history there…"
Understanding quickly came to the champion and she gently brought Nora into a hug. The ginger quickly wrapped an arm around her and her partner. That snapped Ren out of it and gently put an arm around her as well. All just looking for some sort of comfort.
"I don't like this Master, it's too quiet. This is when I'd strike." Jaune took Medusa's words to heart. The fact that no wildlife had sought to make use of the town was telling of how dangerous the Grimm that lived here were.
"Install Rider." Jaune's senses switched focus. Gone was his sight and in exchange everything else skyrocketed. He gripped the two daggers in his hands as he 'embraced' Medusa's presence; calling upon her experience like this. He cocked his head to the side as the sound of a hoof hitting the ground reached him. One, two, closer and closer the sounds came. A breeze kicked up as something swung thought the air, Jaune stuck his tongue out and tasted the metal in the air. Crouching to the ground, his body bending in ways it couldn't before, Jaune readied himself for the assault.
"We haven't seen this one before." Blake reminded them all.
"Isn't she supposed to be the blind one?' Yang asked. "How is he going to fight without his eyes?"
"You learn to adapt." Raven spoke up. "Either that or you die." She added as she took a sip from her tea.
"Like you're one to talk…" Yang muttered after remembering what had happened to her birthmother in this world.
"What was that?" Raven asked, not hearing what her daughter said. Her answer was silence, not from fear but disdain.
"UAAHHHHH!" Jaune stumbled and clutched his ears as a screech assaulted his senses.
That made many of the audience jump, not expecting such a loud sound. Ren and Nora nearly sank into themselves as the sound that haunted their nightmares was heard once again.
Reacting on Medusa's instincts he rolled to the side. The sound of a charging horse justifying the action. Continuing to follow Medusa's lead Jaune performed a backflip, practically feeling the spear that pass through where he once stood. Landing on his feet Jaune through one dagger forward, the sound of flesh tearing letting him know his aim was true. Tugging on the chain to rip the dagger out of his opponent and into his hand Jaune took a leap back to put some distance between him and his opponent. Hoofs crashed against the earth; the wind whistled and Jaune twisted around the spear. A horse's whine combined with the sound of muscles tensing and the feel of mana flowing into the two frontal hooves makes Jaune leap back. The stone on which he once stood was demolished under the force of the horse's reinforced hooves.
"He's doing very well." Ozpin said as he observed. He was impressed that a blind warrior was that adept.
"He's still at a disadvantage though." Qrow observed. "He has no idea what he's fighting or what exactly he can do. Not being able to see is just making that all the worse."
'I can't get a good read on this thing. A spear is being used, armor is worn, yet I can't hear any sound of impact between the rider and the mount.' For a second he considered that it might be the centaur Chiron that Atalanta had mentioned but tossed that thought aside. The Teacher of Heroes would be shooting at him if anything. Jaune dodged to the side once more as the spear went by him only to feel something impact him.
"Gah!" A hand wrapped around him and sent him flying, slamming him into a wall where it began to squeeze. Fighting against the grip his attacker had on him Jaune shoved his daggers into the hand that caught him and with a screech his captor released him. Jaune hit the ground and clutched his ribs, a few more seconds and some might have cracked.
"Master! Use my eyes!" Jaune's hand flew to the blindfold on his face.
"Her eyes?" Ruby asked, nervous for her best friend. She remembered that there was something special about them but couldn't remember what exactly.
"Release; Breaker Gorgon." The blindfold faded away revealing eyes that were not Jaune's own. To call them eyes was perhaps a mistake; rather they were grey orbs that looked to be made of crystal. The pupils were squared, power practically radiating from them. With his sight restored Jaune took in his foe's appearance for the first time.
"Whoa…" Yang said out loud.
"They're so pretty…" Ruby finished her sister's thoughts.
"Breathtaking." Weiss agreed in awe.
Unholy, that was the word to describe what he saw. A twisted abomination of a Grimm, the top half of a humanoid body sticking up from the back of a horse. The head was straight from a horror movie; a mouth taking up most of the space with two horns jutting from the forehead. The arms were abnormally long and thin; in one it held a spear and the other was reeling itself back in from pinning Jaune to the wall. Armor covered both the horse and the chest of the humanoid body. Jaune watched as the horse snorted and began to paw the ground while the other body raised the spear.
"It's worse than the other version we saw." Blake said in barely hidden terror. She didn't want to remember the Dark Multiverse world they had seen before.
Ren swallowed audibly as he witnessed this new and more powerful version of the Nuckelavee. This one empowered by the magic of the Class cards. His eyes then narrowed, "You can do this, Jaune."
Nora's eye widened when he heard his words. That was until a smile overtook her lips, "Of course he can. He's our Fearless Leader after all."
Pyrrha nodded, "On that, we all agree."
'It's resisting Cybele, five minutes till I'm out of energy. Time to bring out a mount of our own.' Jaune raised a dagger to his neck, grimacing as he did so. 'Oum I hate this part.'
"What's he about to do?" Pyrrha asked in worry.
"Relax, Pyr." Yang said, "This is Jaune, he isn't going to do anything too-" she was stopped when she saw his next move.
With that thought Jaune cut his throat, a fountain of blood erupting out and forming a magic circle; his throat healing after the blood was taken. Shooting out from the circle and into the air was Pegasus, the original winged horse. Jaune jumped onto the horse's back and the creature began to fly around the possessed Grimm.
"How did he do that!?" Nora shouted in awe and excitement, trying to ignore the imagery of Jaune slitting his own throat.
Phoenix answered in the most simple way possible, "Magic." That was enough for the Valkyrie.
"Rahhhhh!" the Grimm roared as it's foe danced in the sky around it. In a gut-wrenching display the humanoid body kept twisting its body around, all 360 degrees, as it sent it's stretchable limbs flying out to try and hit it but Pegasus flew around them with ease. Jaune kept Cybele on the Grimm and grinned as it began to slow down, the horse's hooves turning to stone. Whatever resistance the Grimm had held was wearing down.
"It's turning it to stone!" Ruby said in excitement.
Phoenix nodded, "That is what Medusa's Noble Phantasm is. That's why her eyes are usually covered."
Ozpin just narrowed his eyes at that, 'That power is very similar to that of the Silver Eyes. More so than I would've believed.' She thought to himself.
"Okay boy, get me close." The winged-horse snorted in response and turned towards the spear-wielding Grimm. Picking up speed it rushed the creature, the entirety of the horse now turned to stone. With a grin Jaune hopped to his feet, keeping a grip on Pegasus's mane with one hand while forming a noose with the chain connecting his daggers with the other. In a blur Pegasus soared past the creature as Jaune jumping off as the chain wrapped around Grimm's neck. Planting his feet into the Grimm's back Jaune gripped one dagger in each hand and pulled. The Grimm thrashed and spun, desperately trying to shake him off as the chain around his neck tightened. Jaune forced more power to flow through his body, putting more power into his arms so that with one final heave it was finished.
The Grimm's remaining head popped off, crumbling into nothing before it even hit the ground, the rest of its body soon following. Jaune hopped off the rapidly disintegrating carcass and let out a sigh.
"He did it!" Nora cheered.
Ren sighed next to her. This was the second time seeing that Grimm being slain. It was reinforcing the point that it wasn't invulnerable. 'I will be the one to kill it. For everyone it has slain… For my parents.' He vowed to himself.
Raven was fully focused as the fight played out and was now thinking to herself. 'So in this world he has access to magic that changes his appearance and gives him special abilities along with it. It's highly unlikely but I wonder what would happen if a Maiden got their hands on this sort of ability?'
"Ahhh. That wasn't fun." Jaune stretched out a bit, trying to work the soreness out of his body that forcing a strength boost did. Looking to the side he caught sight of a dirty mirror, his reflection barely visible out of it. He went up to it as he began to Uninstall and took in the image. "I always wondered why that goddess was jealous enough to curse you Medusa. The memories I saw never made it clear, you are a beauty but a goddess could match it. Now I know, your eyes are the most beautiful I've ever seen." Until then Jaune had always considered Ruby's eyes as the most beautiful around; even through his crush on Weiss, his subsequent one on Pyrrha, and the destruction of their friendship he had always considered Ruby's striking silver eyes as the most beautiful he had ever seen. Medusa's eyes blew them out of the water, to call them a work of art didn't do them justice.
Ruby blushed a deep red at hearing that, "He… H-he thinks I have beautiful eyes?" she asked quietly.
"I can see it." Nora replied easily. "Jaune thinks the one of the most attractive things about a girl should be her eyes."
Everyone turned to her in curiosity, "How do you know that?" Blake asked.
She shrugged, "Oh, I asked him." By that she meant locked him in their room and refused to let him leave until she told her what she wanted to know. "I was curious what he looked for in a girl. And he went on and on about who they should be, which makes sense, seven sisters and all. But I was curious about what physical thing he liked and yeah, eyes. Go figure."
As they were all taking it in Ruby was still blushing, 'I-if that is true… does that mean he may find me attractive?' She thought to herself. 'People usually overlook me for Yang but is Jaune different?' She quickly shook her head, 'No! What am I thinking? He is my best friend; I can't be thinking about a relationship with him… right?'
" M..mas..ter." Jaune tilted his head as Medusa stuttered, unsure of what made her so nervous.
"Master, I may concede you are better than most of your gender but please keep flirting to a minimum."
"Flirting, I was just speaking the truth. You've seen my life, I can't flirt to save it." Jaune was confused by the squeal that he heard Medusa released. On one hand it suited her yet on the other it didn't fit with the image he had of her.
Qrow chuckled at that, "Looks like he has a fan. Too bad she's only in his head." He then started to prod Tai with his elbow, "He's reminding me of a younger you, Tai? Is it a blond thing?"
Tai shoved him slightly, "Cut it out, Qrow." He said, trying to be serious but having little effect on the other man.
Pyrrha and Yang stared at the screen in jealousy. Only one other person saw Weiss and Ruby do the same before they shook themselves out of it with a look of confusion. Said cheery bomber just smiled mischievously.
"Tch, wasteful. You jumped to soon into using the monster's eyes." Jaune almost jumped at that; Medea had consented to work with him a day after Atalanta did but in the week since then he had heard her only a few time.
"So another one has joined his cause." Ironwood stated. "Considering the power of the ones we've seen so far, I'm glad this version of Arc is among the more righteous. Someone less than moral having that much power is terrifying."
"On that, we can all most certainly agree, James." Glynda nodded.
"Hey, shut it Witch. Don't you…"
"Mordred, she's right. I underestimated that creature since it used a lance and assumed it would fall to Cybele's power. I mean look at this." Jaune picked the card up off the ground to reveal it was a Rider class. "It wasn't even a Lancer like I thought."
"So the power comes from those cards?" Raven asked out loud.
Qrow turned to her, "Right, you weren't here for the first ones. But yeah, more or less." Raven just hummed at that.
"Hmph, of course I'm right and don't you forget it brute. Master needs the guidance of a woman such as myself despite his tactical prowess." Jaune opened his mouth to respond but stopped when Zelretch walked around the corner. Jaune instantly started to consider what brought him to collect the card so quickly, the fastest he had ever arrived before had been five hours.
"What has you here so early." Zelretch didn't respond, merely grabbing Jaune's arm. The knights eyes widened in response. "Oh no you do…" A flash of light and they were gone, the village once more deserted.
"Where'd they go now?" Weiss asked in curiosity.
"We'll most likely find out soon enough." Winter answered her.
Ozpin fought the urge to clean his ears at what he heard.
"I'm sorry could you repeat that." Qrow didn't blame his boss for being confused; no matter how much the Headmaster had seen, what he had just said broke so many fundamental rules.
"Raven's tribe got demolished, good riddance I say, by a Faunus that had two traits and could use Magic. Also Raven is the Spring Maiden, she didn't say how long or how she got the power and I'd rather not ask."
"What!?" Raven shouted from her seat. "How is that possible?"
Qrow was about to explain when a small indigo fireball flew over his head and slammed into her forehead. Her head whipped back as the flames sunk into her head, her eyes glowing that same color for a second as the information was being absorbed into her mind. Everyone looked to see that Phoenix had his right hand up with the index and middle together and pointed towards her. "That should save time."
Raven's head went down and into her palm as another headache racked her mind temporarily. She just stared off in shock, "How..?" he asked quietly. "How did he beat me?"
Phoenix was the one to answer, with a smirk on his lips, "Because he outclassed you." That made her look at him in anger, "He is a better tactician and strategist. With the Class Cards, he has more power and experience. But, at his very core, Jaune is just stronger than you."
"How is that fool stronger than me?" she nearly hissed at the host.
Phoenix just laughed, "I wouldn't expect you to understand it. Because, at your core, you are just a moron and a coward."
Raven stood from her chair as she glared at the Writer. As her anger came forward, her restraint left. She started to pull on her Maiden powers to show him who he was dealing with. Damn the consequences of Oz's little group knowing her secret. Just before the telltale fire surrounded her eyes, an explosion of orange fire erupted in front of her, breaking her concentration. That was when Phoenix surged forward through them, pinning her against the wall behind them, forearm on her throat. To the shock of everyone.
He had an unreadable expression on his face as he leant forward to whisper into her ear, "Every person I brought here was done so for a reason. Yours is for Yang, the daughter you abandoned. You are her closure and as soon as she has it, you will be sent back without your memories. You may think yourself above everything but in reality, you are just a tool. In both senses of the word."
With that he pulled away from her and walked back to his seat. Not even considering her to be a threat. She just glared at the back of his head before she looked down to the ground. Her anger dissipating and an old emotion she hadn't felt in years coming to her. She slowly sank back into her seat as it slowly took root in her.
Ozpin nodded, aware of just how young the Spring Maiden could have been when Raven might have acquired the power. Qrow acknowledged his sister's mountain of faults but there were lines he liked to think she didn't cross, at least directly. "Right now she's still bedridden at Tai's; her arm will eventually heal but it will take a while. Meanwhile if one of the arrows Tai dug out of her back had been a little to the left it would have severed her spine. As it was she needs to take it easy standing up and walking." Qrow grew uneasy, the man taking a big gulp from his flask. "Do I need to bring her in." The part of placing her in the machine downstairs went unsaid.
"Machine?" Pyrrha asked.
"Nothing for you to worry about, Pyrrha." Phoenix answered with a tone of finality. He then looked back to the four adults that knew of the machine in question; a warning in his eyes. Qrow, Ironwood and Glynda all looked away. Meanwhile Ozpin held the Writer's gaze and both beings knew they would have a conversation later.
"No, that won't be necessary. At least with Raven we know she can defend herself once she heals." With all the lines he had crossed, morals he had stomped on, sacrifices he had made, what was letting a woman lacking in morals such as Raven hold onto the Maiden's power. "What of her attacker?" Magic, something that only six people should be able to use at any time. Of those six he was the only male.
"You can use magic?!" Ruby said in excitement as she turned back to look at her Headmaster.
Weiss rolled her eyes, "I doubt it, Ruby. It may be a clear difference of our worlds. Like the Maidens being real."
Ruby nodded, "Guess you're right."
Ozpin just thought to himself, 'Should I reveal everything to them? I'm not sure anymore…'
"Blond, tall, white-skin, lion's ears and tail, fangs as well apparently. Uses a large, black, metal bow and creates the arrows that he can apparently supercharge into, and I quote here, 'a magical artillery barrage'. Green and black color scheme along with black metal gauntlets. Based on what Raven said he shouted at her the guy seems to care a lot about children." The flask was emptied with Qrow's next gulp. "He knows Yang, doesn't like her but he knows her." Ozpin nodded at that. The double-trait issue was easily explained by mutation, rare but he had seen them before. Often the bearer hid one at least out of fear of stronger persecution but this could be an exception. Magic was the thing he was most concerned about.
Yang wilted slightly with that comment. She knew it wasn't her and it wasn't her Jaune. But now that she realized she had a crush on him, it hurt even more than before.
"Have you met with your nieces? Asked them about any lion Faunus they knew from Patch. He might have hid his tail at least." Qrow snorted at that.
"I did and they didn't know any. I told them I was in a town and heard someone claiming he learned from Yang and that I was curious if that was true." Qrow slumped in his seat.
"Qrow?" Ozpin looked at the man, rarely had he seen him so defeated as he did now.
"I'm worried Oz. Raven might actually be staying this time, what happened changed her. She cried, I haven't seen her do that since we were eight. What she did is going to come out and from what you told me my nieces have developed pendulums for moral compasses. Who knows how they'll react to my past. I never told them I was a bandit, just that me and Rav lived in a nomadic tribe before Beacon. Hell, my transcripts had almost as many lies as that Arc kid's." Ozpin held back a snort at that, despite the seriousness of a situation he could still remember how the Branwens' attempts at transcripts. Jaune Arc's might have been mediocre at best but those two had been horrible. Speaking of Jaune Arc.
Tai and Qrow shared a sideways glance. It had been a conversation the two had multiple times over the years but had never come to an answer. The question: Would they accept Raven back into their lives? Especially after everything she has done? Maybe that should be a discussion to have again and finally answer now that everything had been changed thanks to their Host.
"You haven't heard anything about the young Arc, have you?"
"Heard about a blond human that was wandering about Mistral's outer areas but the timeline doesn't fit. Started a few days before the kid might have feasibly gotten from the Emerald Forest to Vale and taken a Bullhead over there. Why the hell were the launch pads still working, I remember you telling me you always tripled checked they were off after someone accidently launched themselves unarmed into the forest.?" Ozpin took a sip of his drink before answering, remembering the terror he had felt when he saw the security camera footage showing Jaune heading to the cliff. Honestly using the launchers was better than him just jumping.
"You let him do that?" Pyrrha, Yang, Ruby and Nora all asked at once.
Ozpin shrugged, "It seems so. But if I remember correctly, Glynda and myself both saw a lot of potential in him, even after his exodus. My other may have thought he needed to prove himself and elected to let him do so. To prove to himself that he was better than your others thought of him."
They all backed down after hearing his explanation and the not so subtle barb of what their other selves had done.
"Maintenance, I was thinking of doing a test for the third years which had them redoing the entrance exam after we herded some more dangerous Grimm into the area. It would test their ability to work with different people out of the blue. I wanted to make sure the things were working properly." Qrow nodded, making a note to tell Tai about the premise as the man might want to add that into Signal's curriculum.
"Right, last bit of business. These new creatures popping up, I've found at least 57 confirmed casualties from them. Almost half of them are from that one in Atlas, why isn't Jimmy doing something?!"
"Those cards are int Atlas too?" Winter asked, trepidation in her tone.
"The card are everywhere." Phoenix answered. "And there is only one Jaune. But it was mentioned before that there were three in the Kingdom but that was quite a while ago, so I can see why it slipped your minds."
"First that one supposedly has another 12 added to the count after a recent slaughter; second James has tried to deal with it, 6 of those casualties were some of his people. Each one either a skilled huntress or a veteran soldier that could fight right alongside them; after that pressure from the Atlesian Council made him drop it as the attacks are occurring in the slums." Qrow scowled at that.
That had a wave of disdain wash over the two Headmasters. The Councils were sometimes shown to be more of a pain than they were worth. Even if Ironwood had two seats, it was still taxing to get anything done that was truly necessary for the Kingdom in the long term. But for most of them, it was just the short term that was important.
"That's horrible." Nora seethed. "You can't just leave people out to dry like that."
"Humanity can be selfish at the best of times, Nora." Phoenix said sadly. "More often or not, the bad overshadows all the good." He had this tired tone that none had heard from him before.
"Experience?" Ozpin asked.
Phoenix gave a sad chuckle, "Both personal and Multiversal…"
"Right, bet the Ice Queen's pops was more than happy for that to stop. Wouldn't want something coming to light with that kind of attention." Qrow's scow deepened as he thought of Winter's sperm donor. He had touched that button once and the sheer hatred with which the Specialist had responded with ensured he never did so again. He also remembered the eight months in which he had branded his 'employees' before the council had shut it down to preserve international relations. It was part of the reason he didn't like Ironwood all that much; the man knew about how horrible Jacques was yet did little more than contain him at best in the name of keeping order.
"I wish I could do more." Ironwood said out loud but mostly talking to Qrow. "I wish I could just throw him in a cell and throw away the key." He sighed tiredly, "But he has too much influence in the Kingdom and anything out of it is hard to point back to him. It's infuriating."
Winter looked to the side in fury while Weiss looked down in sadness. Her teammates looked at her in concern before Ruby turned to the Writer, "Is there nothing we can do?"
Phoenix held her gaze before looking at the Schnee sisters. His hatred for Jacques bled into his empathy for them. He then sighed, "Fuck it." Everyone wasn't expecting him to say that before he raised his hand. Orange and violet fire started to swirl in his palm before they condensed into a black flash drive with his symbol on the side. "Catch." He said as he tossed it to Winter.
The Specialist caught it easily, "What is this?"
"Plug that into any SDC computer and it'll find any and all incriminating files on the SDC servers or off site storage. It'll even restore deleted files. It'll all be saved on the device and you'll be able to lock the son of a bitch up for good." Phoenix informed them. That got him a lot of shocked reactions. "It'll only work once though, so keep that in mind. So, I'd recommend the jackass' personal computer."
Winter wrapped her hand protectively around the drive, "Thank you." She said earnestly.
He shrugged with a small smile, "I've bent the rules once or twice already. What's another instance?"
Something Ozpin said then caught his attention. "Wait, supposedly?" Ozpin nodded.
"As you know the attacker has been cutting out the hearts of their victims, the last twelve still had their hearts but their spines had been cut into and drained of fluid." Qrow felt his stomach squirm.
That made a lot of them feel queasy, "Why would anyone do that?" Blake asked with a hand over her mouth.
"It'll be explained." Phoenix said simply.
"There's two of them, killers like that don't just change such a fundamental part of their process." Ozpin nodded at that.
"I don't think Salem is behind this, she has never had much need for theatrics such as this. Even her most insane followers haven't done anything this extreme; at worst, her symbol has been carved into bodies here and there. No this is most likely a cult, a dangerous one to be sure but not something Salem has a direct hand in." Salem's father had used her to perform numerous rituals and as such she held a disdain for anything similar; when they had acted as gods she had been the one to deny rituals and any living sacrifices in their name. He still had nightmares about the time someone thought they wanted virgin sacrifices and wanted to gut his daughter for them. "Those armored Grimm that rumors have spoken of, those are probably hers. Have any been confirmed?"
"Who's Salem?' Yang asked with a raised eyebrow. She got no answer though. The inner circle just looking at each other, trying to figure out what to do next. Ozpin was very much in his own head at the moment, so he could offer them nothing to help.
"Nope, I've been by a few and they were Geists that got ahold of some metal. I still haven't checked them all yet; been too busy trying to track down Torchwick after he escaped with no luck." Ozpin almost wanted to smack his forehead at that memory; Torchwick had gotten out of Ironwood's grip with practically no difficulty before disappearing. Nothing had been heard about him since. Ozpin looked out the window and sighed; far too much had happened over the past few months that didn't make sense. It was times like this that he wished he had stayed dead.
"Does Torchwick have anything to do with the cards here?" Blake asked.
Phoenix looked up with a thoughtful look, "I don't think that has been elaborated on yet. But it has been a while since I viewed this world personally." He looked back to them all. "Remember, this world is one recorded by a fellow Writer. I only have access to what they have recorded so far. I can't dig any deeper into it."
"….n't!" Jaune realized it was too late as his surroundings had changed. Clamping a hand over his mouth he crouched and held back the urge to vomit; Zelrecth's means of moving about were hell on his stomach, far more than any means of mechanical transportation. His bag landed beside him as he fought his stomach.
Raven couldn't help but smirk at that. Some people had the same reaction when using her Semblance for the first time. Her eyes settled on Tai in particular since he had a very violent reaction. Her smile fell once again as that feeling washed over herself once again. Regret settling into her heart.
"Well at least you didn't puke this time. Up and at them, you got work to do." Jaune glared at the vampire and shivered as a chill set through him. Reaching into his bag he pulled out a long-sleeved jacket that he threw on, buttoning it up and transferring the cards to one of the jacket's pockets.
"Why?" Jaune didn't even care how the man answered, just that he got some. Zelretch didn't speak but instead handed the Jaune a cutout from a newspaper. Jaune snatched from the man and read through it, his eyes widening more with each sentence.
"Yesterday saw the death count at nearly forty bodies. Authorities are unsure who is behind this bizarre string of murders and have only become more confused as a new element has been added. Until recently every victim has had their heart cut out from their body, the flesh around the area practically melted, but the last dozen or so have instead had their spinal cords dug out of the body and cut open, the spinal fluid apparently drained. Is this a new killer or has the culprit merely decided to change their calling card in an effort to confuse the authorities?" Jaune starred at the paper in shock before noticing a timeline stating that this had only been going on for a week and a half. It was then he realized he was holding an Atlesian newspaper. His eyes going into the sky Jaune took in the site of the floating city that was the heart of Atlas.
Despite the grizzly information they had just heard, the students stared in awe at the sight of Atlas. It was something else to those that had never seen it before.
"How did so many die so quickly?" For the first time since their first meeting Jaune saw a serious look come over Zelretch's face.
"I did a bit of digging, at first it was just a mass killing. A bachelor party made up the first two-dozen or so and everyone thought it was a onetime thing; also note that this is all occurring in the slums, this countries elite didn't care and still don't. When the killings continued some soldiers and huntsman were sent in, they died and nothing else was done. Then the second Spirit showed up."
"So the idea it was a second killer was correct."
"Yes, the first Spirit clearly only wanted the hearts, the area with the highest concentration of mana. Despite the people of this world not being able to use magic and magecraft you still have mana inside you, and no its not aura. That is an entirely different matter which I believe your people evolved in response the threat of Grimm. It's quite fascinating, the idea ….." Zelretch began to go into a scientific rant leaving Jaune feeling like he was back in Oobleck's class, if Oobleck ever had gave up caffeine.
"Okay, that explains the hearts." Yang said out loud. "Disturbing but makes sense."
"But what about the spinal fluid?" Pyrrha asked.
"I'm honestly afraid to find out." Weiss added her own opinion to the mix.
"Zelretch! It's cold, you yanked me to a different continent, and I'm hungry. Hurry it up!" Zelretch stared at Jaune for a second before a deep chuckle rang out from the old man.
"Hahaha. You sounded so much like my apprentice right there. Alright, alright." Seriousness returned to the man's face while Jaune sent a prayer to whoever was cursed to study under the vampire. "A second Spirit, most likely Caster class must have possessed someone. That person must also be working with the Spirit." Jaune felt his insides freeze at that.
"What? You said these spirits were incapable of that." A sheepish look came over the man.
"I didn't take into account what would happen if a person shared extreme similarities to a Spirit. My apprentice's lover was actually the one to raise the question, the boy has experience with the multiverse concept as he once had a version of himself from a possible future try to kill him." Jaune stared at Zelretch with shock. "Moving on, if a person shares extreme similarities with a Spirit in a Class Card the possession will be more similar to yours. They won't communicate with the Spirit as you do but they will be enhanced as well as gain compulsions to act like the Spirit does. That is why this Spirit doesn't take the hearts."
"That is terrifying." Glynda spoke up. "These Spirits are formidable when they are just wild and unstable. But to have them become something similar to Mr. Arc…"
"I agree with you, Glynda." Ozpin nodded, "It does not bode well for anyone."
"And the reason for the … uggh, spinal fluid."
"Whoever it is wants to create mages."
"No, what fool would go down such a path." The pit in Jaune's stomach only froze as he heard the shock in Medea's voice, the Caster-class servant wasn't one to have boundaries or a high-level of morals as shown by her attack on Jason's wedding.
"Medea?"
"Mystic Spinal Fluid, a way to temporarily turn an ordinary person into a mage or enhance one's own magecraft. I'm perfectly capable of creating it myself but it's addictive, temporary, and can destroy the body of a non-mage as the temporary Circuits may cook the body depending on how much and often magecraft is used. As a said only fool would waste time on such a concoction."
"Who would even do that?" Ruby asked with a tremor to her voice.
"Some people will do nearly anything for power, Kiddo." Qrow said sadly. "That's what makes those people so much more dangerous."
"I see Medea filled you in, yes that is most likely what the current goal of the Caster is. The other Spirit has most likely reached a level where they can assume a form beyond a mere shadowy cutout."
"You said there were three cards in Atlas, what of the third?"
"Dormant and still is, ignore it for now and focus on these two." Jaune didn't push for more, understanding why the dimension-hopping mage wanted him to focus on the two that were slaughtering people. Picking up is bag Jaune nodded at Zelretch, waving goodbye as he walked towards the ground-based town in front of him.
"I know how powerful he is now but I'm terrified for him right now." Pyrrha said in worry, gripping her armrest subconsciously.
"I'm with you, Pyr." Yang answered, jaw clenched. "I don't wanna see Jaune get his heart cut out…"
"Or spine…." Ruby said nervously and a bit queasy.
"Hey!" Nora shouted. "None of that! Jaune here is amazing! And he has five Spirits at his back! He totally has this!"
Everyone stared at her and Ren grinned before gently gripping her shoulder. She just gave him a megawatt grin and hugged him back.
"This place is an utter hellhole! What the fuck is wrong with the people running this place." Jaune couldn't help but agree with Mordred, not even three hours in and he began to understand why even Velvet, one of the kindest people he had ever met, had nothing nice to say about the majority of Atlas. The slums/mining town Jaune found himself wandering was filthy, smoke-ridden, and filled with people that clearly slept on the streets. The worst part was all the injuries he saw: burns, cuts, dirty bandages, missing appendages, all that and more. Atlesian Drones stood at various street corners, their guns already in a position to fire.
"That's not how it is in our world, right?" Weiss asked. Not having been down to Mantle prior.
Winter sighed, "Not all of it. But there is a section of the Mantle that is very much like this. Sad as it is."
"Please Mordred, you know slums are a fact of civilization. Every society has them and they always will." Medea's opinion rang in Jaune's ears, disturb at how at ease she seemed to be with this sight.
"I know that Witch, even Camelot had them. Yet Father still ensured they had the closest to the bare minimum possible and were protected. This looks like a hamlet that suffered an enemy occupation."
"The children…" Jaune caught sight of what the children Atalanta meant, a group of three small Faunus kids with two of them leading the third. The child's milky white eyes revealing he was blind.
That made all their hearts clench. Blake looked to the side in sadness and disgust for what was happening to her own kind. Tai, Qrow, Winter and Ozpin had a sense of maternal/paternal protection over come them. Wanting to do whatever they could to help them like they were their own. But sadly, they could do no such thing.
"And Atlas wonders why the White Fang demonize them." Jaune might not support the extremes they had gone to but look around him and noting that nearly two-thirds of the population appeared to be Faunus made him understand why Sienna Khan was willing to go to more drastic measures.
"Come now Penny, we must finish checking on the drones in this section by 14:00 in order to report in on time." Jaune's attention was taken by the two girls that walked past him and towards the drone, students of Atlas academy. Jaune recognized the one in a green dress, she had almost been Pyrrha's first opponent in the Finals before she had been replaced. Something about her having a medical apparatus inside her and Ozpin warning Ironwood about Pyrrha's semblance. Not wanting to take a risk the girl had been replaced by her partner, C… something, he didn't really remember her that much. Atalanta's voice dragged him out of his thoughts.
Ruby's eyes widened in shock and fear as she realized just how detrimental that match up could be for her friend. "You alright, Rubes?" Yang asked, concerned about her little sisters reaction.
Ironwood had a similar reaction and turned to Ozpin. The older soul was just raising an eyebrow, asking what was wrong. The General took a deep breath before whispering, "I'll explain afterwards."
Ozpin just nodded as he drank more of his coffee, turning back to the screen.
"Master, someone is following them." It wasn't that hard to figure out what she meant, a canine Faunus of some kind was following behind the two students. A knife in his hand and hatred in his eyes.
"Nothing to worry about." The stalker got close to his target and lunged at Penny, the girl tilting her head back dodging his strike before shoving a palm into his gut. The man flew back a few feet and moaned from his place on the ground. "They're huntresses in training." Beside him another man spun around and leveled a pistol at them, even with his nearly nonexistent knowledge on firearms Jaune could tell the weapon was barely functional from the grim covering it and how old it looked. Reaching out Jaune gripped the gun and sent aura into his hand, enhancing his strength as he squeezed down. When he removed his hand the would-be shooter starred at his crushed weapon with shock. His gaze never leaving it till Jaune slammed an elbow into his jaw, sending him to the ground out-cold. The two girls came up to him, the drone following behind them and pulling a pair of handcuffs from a compartment built into its body.
"Damn." Yang said with a grin, "Jauney got smooth. It was like he did that every day."
"While unnecessary I thank you for your aid. It would have been a waste of time to deal with him as well." Jaune simply nods, finding the girl's monotone voice disconcerting when compared to the girl beside her that wouldn't stop smiling.
"Hey, I know you." Jaune's attention shifted to Penny, the girl pointing at him with a beaming smile on her face. "You are Ruby's friend, Jaune Arc." A frown made its way onto his face, Jaune could already tell this wasn't going to be fun. "Why are you not at Beacon?" Jaune gritted his teeth and started to walk off.
That grin instantly fell form her face, "Not again…" she said sadly. The rest of the students felt the same. It was bad enough knowing what their other selves had done but they didn't need to be reminded of it every time they saw this world.
"Things happened." The girl was in front of him in a second, curiosity on his face.
"What things?" Jaune decided to just rip the band-aid off, if this girl was close to Ruby she'd probably just call the reaper later.
"My team replaced me." He tried to walk around the girl but she stepped in front of him, a frown showing on her face, for the first time a smile wasn't on her face.
"Why would they do that?"
"We keep asking ourselves that…" Blake said sadly.
Phoenix saw this and closed his eyes with a sigh as he thought to himself, 'Just a little longer. Then they'll have an idea of why and maybe that'll lessen their guilt a bit.' He opened them again and took a calming sip form his coffee.
Jaune wasn't the one to answer. "You saw their matches Penny, Mr. Arc was far below their level. Clearly they decided to not take the risk he would hold them back." Jaune fought the urge to punch the girl behind them, knowing it wouldn't end well. Penny's frown only deepened at her classmate's answer.
"Bitch." Yang said angrily.
"That's not nice, Yang." Ruby weakly reprimanded her.
"I know but I honestly don't care right now."
"But why leave Beacon, surely they could have found you another team. Ruby must also be upset that her friend left." That was the last straw, Jaune wasn't going to put up with this girl poking and prodding at him for another second and her classmates attitude set him on edge as well.
"No, she won't. Ruby befriended my replacement and tossed me aside alongside the rest of them. Why would I stay at a place where they would constantly be around me?" Horror filled Penny's eyes at his words.
"Ruby wouldn't do that, she is a loyal and kind friend." Jaune snorted at that, remembering how cookies had been the final nail in the coffin.
"Yeah, until she decides it's time for an upgrade. The next, and better, model came along and so she got rid of the old one. Once version 2.0 showed up I became obsolete in her eyes." Jaune watched as Penny looked completely horrified by the time Jaune was finished and didn't even resist as he pushed her aside. The knight intended to find a place to set up base and ready himself to go hunting that night for the Spirits.
Ruby just looked down with quivering lips as tears fell down her cheeks. She cried to herself as quietly as she could. But Yang heard her all the same. She wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. Ruby didn't fight it and buried her head into her sister's shoulder to cry.
Penny stared at the scroll in her hands as she waited for Ruby to pick up. Jaune Arc's words had stuck with her. He might not have known how literal his choice of words were for her but Penny knew that another model was being made, one that was supposed to be more effective and stronger. What would happen to her once that was done; Ciel and her father hadn't answered while General Ironwood waved it off. Finally her friend picked up with smile on her face.
"Model?" Glynda questioned.
"I don't know." The General said, a half-truth. There were no plans on creating a 'new' Penny. Creating Penny the first time put a lot of strain on Pietro, they couldn't keep doing that to him. Plus, at the end of the day, Penny was his daughter and he would never replace her. That wasn't the kind of man he was.
"Hey Penny, how have things been in Atlas." Penny looked at her friend, taking in how cheerful she was. The android's research into human bonds and emotions had led her to the conclusion that the loss of a friend should lead to a feeling of loss for a considerable length of time yet Ruby showed no signs of sadness.
"Greetings Friend Ruby, I have been well. How have you been since the festival." Ruby smiled at her and began to describe the events of the past few months.
"… and I made a new friend. His name is Alistair and he is so cool. We've been working on improving everyone's weapons and he makes great cookies. We also managed to make some really cool team attacks together." Penny felt like her body was rusting, her faith in Ruby shrinking by the second.
"That is nice, how has your friend Jaune been? He sounded rather nice when you spoke of him." Ruby froze and Penny's fears were confirmed, Jaune Arc had told her the truth. "You actually did it." Ruby looked at Penny in confusion as the robotic girl panic made itself known. "You threw him away for the next model." Ruby's eyes widened at her friends words. "You got an upgrade, is that what you planned to do when my successor was created? Did you plan to just keep me around until she was created?!"
"What!?" Ruby said as she pulled away from Yang to stare at the screen, more tears rolling down her cheeks. "I wouldn't do that! Never! I wouldn't throw Penny away! I wouldn't throw Jaune away! I wouldn't!" Yang gently pulled her back into her embrace. As Ruby buried her face once again to cry, she just said one thing just over a whisper, "I wouldn't…"
"What?! Penny n.." Penny ended the call, unwilling to hear more. Ruby, her only friend when she thought about it, was not someone that would keep her around once a superior option came around.
"Penny, I have a mission for you." Penny was drawn from her thoughts as her father contacted her through the built-in communication device inside her.
Sitting in an abandoned house Jaune had come to a conclusion. Medea was terrifying, plain and simple. Her Installation had the least changes to his appearance, merely giving him her hooded cloak and pointed ears, compared to the destructive might of Mordred and Atalanta or Medusa's chilling abilities one could be forgiven for feeling that Medea was less dangerous. Jaune would call those people fools.
He kinda looks like a character out of a fantasy novel now." Blake mentioned. Thinking of all the books of the genre she had read when she was younger.
"It also doesn't grab attention like his other forms. That could help in some regard. Making someone settle into a false sense of security." Ren added as well.
True, Medea was incapable of handling direct combat but she had access to magecraft that was a city leveling bomb compared to the firecracker that was anything aura or dust could do: skeletal warriors, beams of light, the ability to freeze people in place using the air around them, bending nature to her will. Yes, in Jaune's eyes anyone that underestimated Medea deserved whatever befell them. Currently he was using a scrying ball Medea had helped him create to keep track of the area while wooden dolls he had enchanted prowled around; seeking mana that the rouge Spirits would be leaking.
"The pure versatility that Spirit has…" Winter said in awe. "Arc can't engage directly but with all of that, doe she need to?"
All of that just reminded Ozpin of the before era. When Magic was widespread and commonplace. During that time, it was easy to forget how much power humanity had at their fingertips. But compared to now, that just showed how closeminded people were back then. And how terrifying that sheer amount of power was. Especially in this age.
"Very good Master, even with my help I didn't expect you to do such a good job." Jaune felt pride at that, Installing Medea was far less instinctual than the others. Instead she was a guiding voice in his ear, telling him how to do what he wanted to. Accepting the praise Jaune focused on the orb in front of him, the streets empty. Even the homeless had found a way to get off the streets, all terrified of the killers that stalked the night. A flash of color caught his eye as he flipped between the various viewpoints the dolls provided. It was Penny, carrying the backpack that he remembered holding her weapon.
"What the hell is she doing out here?" Before he could question the girl's mental state in being out alone, a flash of movement caught one of the dolls attention; sending him an alert and switching the orb to its viewpoint. When the orb settled the area was clear and another doll's alarm went off, followed by another, and another. Pulling up a three-dimensional map of the dolls' placements he noticed that the one's going off were in a straight line to Penny. Flipping the orb back to the doll that saw the girl he found her jumping back as two throwing knives embedded themselves in the ground.
The skeletal mask was the first thing to catch his eye, the smoky-grey skin was next. The Spirt was female, wearing a black body-suit with a diamond cutout around her belly. Black, vein-like patterns decorated her skin. Steam rose up from the ground where she stood.
Everyone jumped at that and were offput by this Spirit's appearance. "I can't believe she was able to react in time. That things speed is off the charts." Weiss said in awe.
"Can Penny stand up to it though?" Pyrrha questioned. "We've seen just how powerful these Spirits can be."
"Fascinating, her very body is a powerful poison." Jaune watched and took in Medea's words. He saw the ground begin to melt as the Spirit stood still. Penny sent a blade flying at the Spirit and the masked woman danced around it, running a hand along the blade as she avoided it. Penny retracted the blade but it crumbled into nothing before it even reached her.
"That explains why the victims wounds were slightly melted." Ozpin pointed out but worried for the Huntress-in-training all the same."
"How are they going to fight this thing if she can melt everything they throw at her?" Yang questioned.
"They?" Blake asked.
"Jaune is not going to sit this out." Pyrrha pointed out. "We all know it isn't in him to stand aside if someone is in trouble."
"Shit, time to go!" Jaune hopped out the window, his cloak spreading and forming 'wings' that he used to fly towards the battle. "Medea, thoughts?"
"Long distance is your friend and constructs can only be relied on for momentary distractions. I can already tell her poison will melt even magic with time. Wear her down before trying in kind of magical restraint and don't bother setting up a perimeter; anything you make will be rushed and easily slipped through by this Assassin class servant."
"They have a plan at least." Ren pointed out. "They aren't going in blind. As long as he stays alert, he should be fine."
"You got this, Fearless Leader!" Nora added.
"Got it, let's hope we're not too late." Medea sighed at her Jaune's statement.
"You do understand that the moonlit world is meant to stay secret. If this girl tells people about you ..
"This isn't your world! I'm not going to let someone die just so a few secrets of mine can be kept, I didn't kill any of the people from Shion and I'm not going to start with a girl that wants to become a huntress." Medea didn't speak up so he knew she let the issue drop.
"Well said." Ozpin grinned.
"You have a fine student there, Oz." Ironwood agreed.
"I certainly do." He said whimsically as he looked over all the remaining students of Teams RWBY and JNPR. "I most certainly do."
Penny clutched her arm, the appendage melting away from where her opponent had gotten a grip on her. Seeing the decay spread up Penny commanded one of her three remaining blades to sever the arm at the shoulder to prevent it from spreading to her body.
Everyone froze in shock, expecting blood. But was surprised to see none. They saw circuitry and metal and it all became clear, "Penny is a robot?" Weiss asked in shock.
"An android, actually." Phoenix replied evenly.
Everyone turned to him, "You knew?" Ironwood asked.
He just raised an eyebrow, "Of course. I know most secrets about your world. I just didn't see a point to bring it up sooner."
"I don't get it." Yang spoke up. "She's a robot but she seems so... human."
"She is not just a robot." Ruby pulled away from her sister, her eyes red from crying. "She may be made of metal but she is a person. She has a soul."
Everyone just looked at Ruby, in either shock or awe. Phoenix chuckled, "She is right, you know?" They all turned to him, "Her body may be mechanical but her soul, there is nothing artificial about that." He took a sip from his coffee with a smile. "Her father used his own Aura to bring her to life. His Aura gave birth to her own and her soul. Put that in a biological body, and you still have Penny." He looked at them all with a smile, "There's only one Penny." Ruby positively beamed at the Writer and everyone else slowly came to terms with everything they had just heard and seen.
Her sensors registered the limb falling away and automatically began to recalibrate her body to adjust for the loss of the limb. Sending two blades at the dark-skinned woman she took the opportunity to take a few steps back; aiming to retreat as soon as possible. A knife stopped that plan, the blade tearing into her knee and forcing her to drop to the working one as her legs could no longer sustain her weight.
'Unit's weight can no longer be supported. Initiating emergency beacon.' Despite the beacon going off Penny knew she wouldn't make it through this. She had only one blade left, the two she had thrown as a distraction destroyed. As the assailant silently stalked towards her she brought her final blade into play, hoping to keep the woman back until help could arrive. It was all for not as the sword crumbled away just like the rest of them. Fear filled Penny as the woman reached out towards her, knowing that only one touch was needed to kill her.
"Come on, Jaune!" Ruby shouted. "Get there!"
Light, bright purple light was what saved her. A beam of it smashing into the woman and throwing her back, a cloaked figure landing in front of her.
"Stay behind me and these guys." Penny recognized the voice at that of Jaune Arc but could not see any other people. Instead she only saw Jaune throw some large teeth into the earth before throwing a hand forward and shooting lightning at the woman. Penny's attention was drawn to the ground at four large skeletons, large skeletal mouths taking the place of skulls, crawled up from the ground. Each one held a large blade in their hands that they held at the ready as they took up a formation around her.
"Okay, that was pretty cool." Yang said with a smirk.
"He showed up just like a superhero!" Ruby cheered in excitement.
"It's a bit early to be cheering, girls." Tai pointed out. "He may be there now but he still needs to fight that thing. And Penny is in no shape to help him now." The tension came back to the air around them with the father's statement.
"Come and get some you bitch!" Jaune's cloak snapped open and he took to the air; trying to draw her attention away from Penny. 'A robot, did not see that one coming. No wonder they didn't want her fighting Pyrrha.' Jaune had very much noticed the wires protruding from her arm and the sparks coming from her injured knee.
Realization hit Pyrrha with that. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open, "Oh my…"
"Yeah, that wouldn't have been good." Qrow spoke up. "Even something minimal could've done some major damage to her." Those words made Pyrrha go pale and quickly.
Tai nudged Qrow in the ribs, "Not helping, Qrow." He muttered to the man.
He looked over to the champion before he hissed to himself, "Right. My bad…" he said lamely.
The Assassin followed him, clearly drawn to the amount of energy he was putting out. Holding a hand out he followed Medea's whispered instructions and sent a gout of flame at the Spirit.
"Behind!" Jaune canceled his flight, letting gravity take him out of the way of the knives that were sent at his back before reactivating the magecraft. Jaune spun around to see a grey palm rushing towards his face, a white skull mask practically glaring at him. A slapped together magical shield sprang into existence between him and the Spirit, her touch melting it within seconds. Yet those seconds enabled him to fly around her and slam a chunk of ice into her back. As the corrupted Spirit fell to the ground Jaune created and sent more teeth flying into the ground, the Dragon Tooth Warriors that sprouted rising with their swords already pointed at the enemy. The masked woman was impaled of three blades, each one melting within seconds with the Warriors that held them falling soon after but the damage was done. Energy leaked from her wounds, the severity of which couldn't be ignored even with all the lives she had consumed for fuel.
"Combining Mr. Arc's strategical mind and this Spirit's magical versatility is a deadly combination." Ozpin observed. "Maybe the most powerful out of everything we've seen him do so far."
Three knives were sent flying at Jaune which he knocked out of the way with a staff. When his attention turned back to the Spirit he saw she was making a break for Penny, clearly hoping to drain the girl of energy in order to heal. Purple 'eyes' formed on the inside of his cloak as Jaune called upon Medea's favorite offensive spell, Rain of Light: The eyes glowing brighter with each millisecond. Right as the assassin was an inch from the first Warrior he had guarding Penny he fired, multiple beams of energy slamming into the Spirit and driving her into the ground. Pointing his staff at the air above the spirit a large magical circle formed, with a flick downward the circle fired a larger beam and struck the Spirit. As the beam died down Jaune descended to the crater and snatched up the Class Card as he Uninstalled Medea.
"He did it!" Ruby shouted.
"Way to go, Jaune!" Nora added as well.
"I must say, that was amazing." Weiss complimented with a smirk. "I think he was showing off there at the end though."
Yang chuckled, "If you have it, flaunt it."
"One down." Tucking the card away Jaune made his way back to Penny, finding her right as the Warriors collapsed and dissolved as he stopped feeding them energy. "Are you okay?" Penny nodded, looking at him in shock. A robot, a robot that he knew produced aura. Jaune was having to force himself not to wonder how she had a soul.
"So, do you need … ackh!" Jaune was cut off as a large hand made of stone grabbed him, swinging him around before slamming him into the ground. When his vision cleared he saw that a vaguely-humanoid creature was pinning him down, the entirety of its body was made of stone except for a single purple gem placed at the center of its chest. All the Spirits were shouting at him in concern, he tried to reach for a card but the creature's grip had his arms pinned to his sides. He struggled against the creature's grip but it simply slammed him into the ground again.
The celebration came to a stop instantly, "Jaune!" the students shouted.
"Where did that thing come from?" Pyrrha questioned, panicking slightly.
"There's only one place it could've come from, Miss Nikos." Glynda said in a grave tone.
"The other Spirit." Ironwood said in the same tone as his colleague.
"Jau…" Jaune saw Penny reach out for him from the corner of his eye only for her eyes to go dim and she collapsed to the ground like a puppet who's strings were cut,
"Penny!" Ruby shouted in panic and fear.
"You disappointed me Penny, I had such high hopes for you. I prayed that this desire to be human was just a phase, instead you have become more like them. Such a waste, I'll have to purge you and try again." Jaune looked to the other side to see a man in a lab coat walking forward, a golden helmet covering his head and a remote in his hand. A growl rang out in Jaune's ears that he didn't recognize. "Now you, you interest me. I had hoped to just obtain some more materials for my experiments but it appears miracles can occur. Such a unique specimen in possession of abilities like the ones I have obtained; I look forward to finding out all your secrets." Jaune growled, taking in the man that had merged with a Spirit.
"Sorry, confidentiality clause in my contract." Jaune had the feeling that the man behind the mask was smirking at him.
"I wasn't planning on asking." The last thing Jaune saw was a boot slamming into his head as darkness claimed him.
With that the screen went dark, leaving everyone stunned. They all turned to Phoenix expectantly and he just nodded. It appeared there would be no time for a break. They would have to watch the continuation almost immediately.
AN- I nearly forgot how fun it is to do a reaction for this story. If you are all interested, go to Jauneforever's profile and check out the story for yourselves. Still one of my favorites stories they have posted. Thank you to Jauneforever for letting me use this chapter and for Beta reading it for me. Go show 'em some love. Anyways, hoped you all enjoyed and I'll see you all in the next update! Hopefully it'll be soon!