Chapter 32: A Certain Magical Index
Time to see something magical again. When science and magic collide. Brought to you buy thegoldenboy2188 Enjoy.
"Time to start a new world." Mayden spoke to his ever dying crowd. "A new story, a new place, one with adventure, love, and misfortune."
"That sounds...nice?" Ruby slowly said. Really not sure what to think of it.
"Let's just hope it isn't crap." Qrow uttered.
"Or one where we're baddies." Nora added.
"Though knowing our luck, we'll see one eventually." How right Ironwood would be.
"Don't worry folks, this is just a simple world starring yours truly, Jaune!" Mayden said with Jaune looking surprised.
"M-me!?" He shouted.
"Yes you."
"But why him?" Weiss wasn't sure why. But she felt a little jealous Jaune got all the attention."
"Let's just say I got this from some guy of the realm called DocX." Nobody could tell if Mayden was being serious or not. And DocX? Wasn't that just something on the internet? Well, with all these crazy worlds they've seen, maybe there is one called DocX.
'Or just as likely he's screwing with us.' Glynda thought.
'Probably a trick.' With Blake and Yang thinking the same thing.
"No more talk." Mayden gave a non-existent grin. "Just watch!" Then like that. The screen turned on.
PROLOGUE
The Tale of the Boy Who Could Kill Illusions.
The_Imagine-Breaker.
"Liking the name already!" Ruby said thinking Imagine Breaker is an awesome name.
"Does sound neat." Jaune agreed.
"Let's see what else comes next." Oscar joined in.
"Ahh! Shit! Shit! God damn it! This is just too much misfortune!"
Even as he realized his cries sounded rather strange, Jaune Arc showed no sign of stopping his tremendous flight.
As he ran through back alleys late at night, he glanced over his shoulder. There were eight of them.
He ran frantically all over for almost two kilometers, but there were still eight of them. Of course, Jaune Arc had no way to win in a fight against that many unless he happened to be a former foreign unit's cook or a cyber-ninja that had survived to the present day. In a fight between high school students, anything beyond 1-on-3 was out of the question. That could be called "impossible" even before taking any skill he might have had into account.
Jaune kicked over a filthy plastic bucket and frightened off a black cat as he continued running.
"Wow…" Weiss said looking at Jaune emotionlessly. "This version of you seems...low-grade."
"I can't even deny that." Jaune admits feeling embarrassed this version of him is running like a coward. Maybe this is a world without aura. Whatever the case, it seems he's about to get his ass kicked.
It was July 19th.
The fault lay in that date. Because summer vacation would start the next day, he was in such high spirits that he grabbed a manga at the bookstore despite a glance at the cover telling him it was no good, entered a family restaurant to treat himself, for once, to a nice between-meals snack, found a middle school-aged girl surrounded by clearly drunk delinquents, and decided that some rescuing was in order.
But, he had not expected more of their comrades to come swarming out of the bathroom.
He had always thought that going to the bathroom in groups was something only girls did.
"Not even remotely true." Winter states.
"I have never even heard of such a thing." Glynda adds to this small talk.
"Maybe Jaune's making it up." Yang added her own thoughts.
"Whatever the case, this guy's in trouble." Qrow chuckled at seeing Jaune in trouble and screaming. Jaune throwing a glare at the old crow, not that the drunk minded.
"Well, maybe Jaune will have some kick-ass ability!" Nora suggests.
"I had to run out before the hellish Goya and escargot lasagna I ordered even arrived. I didn't even get to eat anything, but I'm being treated like a dine-and-dasher. What kind of misfortune is this!? Gyahh!"
"Or not." Ren said causing Jaune to slump in disappointment. Little Nora patting his head.
Jaune scratched his head as he ran out from the back alley and into the moonlit street.
Even if Academy City were as large as a third of Tokyo, he could see nothing but couples no matter where he looked. That was also surely because it was July 19th. It's all July 19th's fault!, Jaune, who was single, shouted in his heart. The three blades of the wind turbines located here and there throughout the area glittered in the pale moonlight and the lights of the city nightscape, making them look like the tears of rich bachelors.
Jaune sliced through the night, tearing couples apart.
He glanced down at his right hand as he ran. The power that resided there would be of no help in the current situation. It would not let him defeat even a single delinquent, it would not raise his scores on tests, and it would not make him popular with girls.
"Uuh…Such misfortune!"
If he escaped the group of delinquents, they would have possibly used their phones to call in reinforcements and bikes. In order to simply run down their stamina, Jaune Arc had been letting them catch occasional glimpses of him as bait so that they would continue to run and wear themselves out.
"Hm? Smart plan." Glynda commented. And she wasn't the only one either.
"Indeed. Using your opponents own strength against them, while also using a dash of strategy." Ozpin complimented. "Not a bad move."
"Quite a smart strategy mister Arc." Ironwood says with Jaune taking the compliments with a smile.
It was akin to letting boxers hit you to weaken them. Jaune's goal was only to save any possible victims.
If he could lose them and have them give up without getting into a fistfight, he would win.
Incidentally, Jaune had confidence in his long distance running. His pursuers, on the other hand, had already ruined their bodies with alcohol and cigarettes, and the boots they were wearing weren't made for sprinting. On top of that, running full speed for long distances without pacing one's self was impossible by its very nature.
"Uh-hu." Ruby nodded in agreement. Liking this Jaune. Seems her friend was good at this running game already. Awsome.
"I suppose he's doing alright." Weiss sourly said.
"Really? I think he's doing fine." Yang waved her hand before looking at Blake. "What do you think?"
"I wouldn't say it's perfect." Blake says, though she then looks at the Jaune on screen, seeing his movements. Not a single one wasted. "But overall, he's doing fine." Jaune looked even more happy.
As Jaune alternated and weaved in and out through roads and back alleys while seemingly simply clumsily running about in a panic, he saw one and then another of the delinquents drop out of the chase, leaning forward with their hands on their knees. He felt his plan was the perfect way of resolving the situation without any injuries.
"D-damn it. Why do I have to waste my youth on this stuff!?"
Everywhere he looked, he saw nothing but couples full of dreams and happiness. Unable to stand it, Jaune Arc felt as if he had somehow ended up on the short end of life. The date need only change and it would be summer vacation and yet he had neither love nor comedy to speak of.
It made him feel like quite the loser.
"True that." Jaune joked with Nora and Ren smirking.
He then heard one of the delinquents shouting from behind him. "Hey! You fucking brat! Stop, you master runner!"
It only angered Jaune more to receive such a violent love call.
"Shut up! You should be thanking me for not turning around and knocking you and your monkey-level IQ out cold!" Jaune shouted back despite knowing it was just a waste of stamina.
(He really should thank me for going this far out of my way to keep him from getting injured)
After another two kilometers of sweaty and teary running, he exited the urban area and came to a large river. A large metal bridge spanned the river, about 150 meters across, and no cars could be seen on it. The sturdy iron bridge wasn't even lit up, just blanketed by an eerie darkness reminiscent of the sea at night.
Jaune glanced back as he darted across the bridge.
He then stopped: at some point, he had escaped all of his pursuers. "Sh-shit. Did I finally shake them?"
Jaune desperately suppressed the urge to sit down right then and there and sighed as he stared up into the night sky.
He had actually managed to resolve everything without having to punch anyone. He wanted to praise himself for that.
"Really now, what are you doing? Do you think protecting those delinquents makes you a good person? Are you some overzealous teacher?"
In an instant, Jaune's body froze over.
"That voice. Sounds familiar." Ruby says rubbing her chin.
"Where have I heard it before." Yang joins in on the chin rubbing. Blake and Weiss also doing the same. The rest just pondering who this newcomer is.
Because the bridge had no lights, Jaune had not noticed the girl standing about five meters ahead in the direction he had been running, a completely normal middle school girl wearing a gray pleated skirt, a short-sleeved blouse, and a summer sweater. Kamijou stared up into the sky and seriously considered collapsing onto his back. The girl before him was the same one from the family restaurant.
"Huh. Weird." Qrow then says looking surprised.
"How come we can't see who this is?" Winter asked Mayden. Everyone can see the clothes, yet somehow they are unable to perceive the girl herself.
"Oh that." Mayden sees the problem. "Let's just say the Creator didn't bother filling in any roles but Jaune. So you'll only see this." Well that's unexpected. Still, they could recognize the voice, they just couldn't tell who it was.
"Wait, so that's why they stopped chasing me?" "Yeah. They annoyed me, so I roasted them."
The zapping sound of bluish-white sparks echoed. Rather than a stun gun, her long ponytail of white hair swayed, sparks flew from it like an electrode.
The moment a convenience store bag in the wind passed by her head, it was blown away by bluish-white sparks reminiscent of an interception device.
"Ugh," sighed Jaune wearily.
July 19th. That was why he had grabbed a manga at the bookstore despite a glance at the cover telling him it was no good, entered a family restaurant to treat himself, for once, to a nice between-meals snack, found a middle school-aged girl surrounded by clearly drunk delinquents, and decided that some rescuing was in order.
However, Jaune had not a single thought about rescuing the girl. Instead, had tried to rescue the boys who had carelessly approached her.
"Huh?" Many in the audience went. Jaune was trying to save them?
"Just who is this girl?" Ironwood asked.
"Probably a bitch." Qrow gives his opinion.
"..You...do realize that's a middle school girl? Right?" Oscar told Qrow. The women of the audience looked at Qrow angrily and disappointed, even Ruby and Yang.
"...Bad choice of words." Qrow muttered.
Once again he sighed. The girl was always like that. He had seen her here and there sporadically for almost a month, but they had yet to learn each other's names. In other words, they were by no means friends.
She was the one always coming up to him all haughty, saying she'd reduce him to a heap of trash, and Jaune's job was to shrug it off. Without a single exception, it went that way and he won every time.
If he actually lost, the girl would likely be satisfied, but Jaune was a terrible actor. He once tried to fake his defeat and she chased him like a demon for the rest of the night.
"…What did I even do?"
"I cannot allow anyone to be more powerful than me. That is enough of a reason."
"Sounds like Weiss." Ruby instantly said.
"Hey!"
"Sure sounds like her." Yang chuckled.
"Why you!"
"I can't deny it." Blake smiled as she gave a teasing stare at her teammate.
"Blllake!"
"I'm sorry Weiss, but this does sound like what the old you would say." Weiss just looked shocked at her sister's words. Worst part was, it was kinda true.
That was how it was with her. He felt that even a character in a fighting game would have a more detailed incentive.
"But you're treating me like an idiot, too. I'm a Level 5. Do you really think I would go all out against a powerless Level 0? I do know how to handle the weak."
This city, unlike others, didn't follow the traditional scenario where street thugs were the toughest. Those delinquents who could not keep up with the esper powers development Curriculum were Level 0s, the powerless.
The truly strong in that city, the top-tier students, were espers.
"Espers?" Jaune looked confused.
"Think of them like aura users." Mayden instantly explained. They don't have aura, but they have Semblances. With some semblances being stronger than others. That girl there is one of them."
"Semblance without aura. Interesting." Ironwood says amazed.
"Yeah, about that, I do understand that you possess a talent that only 1 in 328,571 have. I really do. But if you want to live a long life, you should stop speaking to people so condescendingly."
"Shut up. If you couldn't bend a single spoon after having various crazy things done to you like have drugs injected directly into your blood vessels or have electrodes stabbed in through your ears and into the brain, what could it be but lack of talent?"
"…"
That was indeed the kind of place Academy City was.
The other side of Academy City could be seen in how means of developing the brain had been calmly added into the Curriculum under the name of "documentation methods" or "memorization methods".
However, not all of the 2.3 million students living in Academy City had ceased to be human and became something like a manga protagonist.
Just under 60% of the whole population were utterly useless Level 0s who could only bend a spoon after focusing their brain to the point their blood vessels burst.
"If I need to bend a spoon, I can just use pliers, and if I need fire, I can just buy a cheap lighter. Also, what do I need telepathy for when I have a cell phone? Are esper powers really that great?"
Those were the words of Jaune who had been branded as useless by Academy City's physical examination sensors.
"Ouch. No power." Yang whistled while giving that Jaune a look of pity. "Must suck for him."
"I wouldn't say that." Mayden chuckled. This Jaune was a useless weakling with no flashy power...But, he did have something else going for him. Not just will either, but a power that kinda matched the 'Null' semblance from the world known as Null.
"And everyone's priorities are all messed up. They're all rejoicing over the byproduct we call esper powers, but isn't our real objective something beyond that?"
In response, the girl who was one of Academy City's seven Level 5s twisted the edges of her lips.
"Hahh? …Oh, that. What was it again? Something like, 'Humans cannot calculate god, so we need to acquire a body that exceeds humanity before we can arrive at god's answer', right?" She snickered. "Hah. Don't make me laugh. What is all this about the 'brain of god'? Have you heard about the supposed military Sisters created based on an analysis of my DNA map? It seems to me these lucrative side effects are more important than that objective."
After saying that, the girl suddenly stopped.
In the silence, it felt as if the quality of the air was changing. "...Well. That's what strong people ''would'' say, isn't it?"
"Huh?"
"The strong, the strong, the strong. Those are the fearless and cruel words of a manga protagonist who was born with his abilities and does not understand the pain of arriving there on his own."
The river below the bridge began to make an unsettling amount of noise.
A dark flame could be felt on the grit of her words that hinted at just how much of her humanity she had abandoned to arrive at the position of one of Academy City's seven Level 5s.
"This can't be good." Ruby said worryingly.
"I'm sure our fearless leader will handle this. Right Ren." Ren just gave a small nod to baby Nora.
Jaune denied all of it with just a few words. Not even once did he turn around. He did this by never losing.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Take a look at the results of the annual physical examination. I'm a Level 0 and you're a Level 5. Ask anyone you find out on the streets, and they'll tell you who's stronger!"
Academy City's other face was somewhere that Brain Development—using more palatable names like Mnemonics or Memorization Techniques—was quietly included in the Curriculum.
And yet Jaune Arc could do nothing.
Academy City's measurement instruments had verified a complete ''lack'' of talent in him.
"Zero, you say," repeated the girl as if she was turning it over in her mouth. She stuck a hand in her skirt pocket and pulled out an arcade coin. "Have you ever heard the term Railgun?"
"Hm?"
"Oh boy." Ironwood muttered knowing what that term is. The smarter people also know it through james, science fiction, or even television. And if so, then Jaune here was about to experience some pain. Their Jaune also looked worried when seeing his friends and allies faces.
'I can't help but fear for my-his-my(?) life.'
"It's some sort of battleship weapon that fires metal shells using superpowered electromagnets. The principle's the same as a linear motor train."
The girl flicked the coin up into the air with her thumb. The coin rotated a few times before landing back onto her thumb.
"It's apparently something like this."
Just as she spoke, an orange spear of light suddenly and silently shot passed Jaune's head. It was more like a laser than a spear. He could only tell it had originated from the girl's thumb because the afterimage of light stretched back to it.
Almost like thunder, the noise rumbled in with a slight delay. As a shockwave tore through the air around his ears, Jaune's sense of balance was thrown off. He staggered and glanced over his shoulder.
The instant the orange light struck the road surface on the bridge, the asphalt was blown away like an airplane making an emergency landing on the ocean. Even after travelling a thirty-meter path of utter destruction and stopping, the orange afterglow was still burning the air like an afterimage.
Now that...is OP.
"Even a coin like this can be quite powerful when it's fired at three times the speed of sound. Of course, the coin melts after fifty meters because of air friction."
That bridge made of steel and concrete swayed like an unreliable suspension bridge. Failing metal bolts could be heard occasionally.
"…!"
Jaune felt a chill, as if someone had thrown dry ice in his blood vessels.
He felt like all the moisture in his body had been turned to sweat and evaporated. "Damn you. Don't tell me you used that to drive them away!"
"If she did, then that girl is crazy." Winter stated.
"I'm sure this wouldn't do something like that. Hopefully." Oscar gulps.
"Oh man. Now that's some fire power." Yang admits in awe of such power. Where can she get something cool like that?
"Don't be stupid. I match my methods to my opponent. I don't want to become a homicidal maniac." As she spoke, sparks flew from the girl's brown hair like an electrode. "This was enough for those Level 0s!"
Bluish-white sparks flew from the girl's bangs like a horn and a spear-like line of lightning flew towards Jaune.
There was no way to evade. After all, he was up against a bluish-white lightning spear shot from a Level 5's hair. It was an experience like watching a thundercloud fire a bolt at light speed and then trying to dodge it.
An explosive noise followed after a slight delay.
"That's not any better!" Ruby cries out.
"This girl must be insane." Weiss shakes her head.
Jaune immediately held up his right hand to protect his face and the lightning spear struck it. It rampaged through Jaune's body and sparks scattered in every direction and into the bridge's steel framework.
…Or so it had seemed.
"So, why are you completely unhurt?"
Her words seemed lighthearted enough, but the girl baring her canines was glaring at Jaune.
The high voltage current that had scattered into the surroundings had been powerful enough to burn the steel framework of the bridge, yet, Jaune's right hand had not been blown off by the direct hit. …In fact, it lacked even a single burn.
Jaune's right hand had erased the girl's electrical strike that numbered a few hundred million volts.
"What the, how!?" Jaune and many others went. They all looked to Mayden for an answer.
"You'll find out." Is all he says.
"Honestly, what's with you? That power of yours isn't listed in Academy City's Bank. If I'm a one in 328,571 genius, then you're a one in 2,300,000 disaster," the girl muttered in annoyance but Jaune neglected to give even a single word in response. "If I pick a fight with an exception like that, I might be able to raise my level, don't you think?" 1
"…But you always lose."
'I've beaten her before!?' Okay, Jaune is impressed. Like, by a lot.
He received a response in the form of more lightning that shot from her forehead, well over Mach 1 at that.
However, it scattered in every direction the instant it met Jaune's right hand. It was very much like a water balloon bursting.
That was Jaune Arc's Imagine Breaker.
Now everyone was impressed.
"To have such power…" Ironwood slowly says in awe.
"That's like, the ultimate deal-breaker towards people with auras and semblances." Weiss says unsure how to feel against such power.
"So like...Jaune can beat anyone?" Yang asks more to herself than the others.
"Doubtful." Qrow says to his niece. "That power is good, but not that good."
"Huh? Why?" Ruby wasn't sure why her uncle Qrow would say that. I mean, this power Jaune had was super awesome. How could anyone beat him?
"I get it now." Blake said understanding. "Remember how he was being chased?"
"That's right." Ren realized the same thing. "The power to negate is incredible, and in the wrong hands more so. I can imagine kingdoms fighting for this for their own ends. But it's not invincible."
"Exactly." Glynda pushes her glasses up. "Against those men he was all but powerless. That kind of ability can only work against ability users."
"And even then a highly skilled warrior can just beat Jaune into the ground even without a semblance." Winter could easily trounce that Jaune. After all, it wasn't as if she ignored her own training. Mayden giving a non-existent nod to their words.
'And here I thought it was strong.' Oscar thought.
"Oh it is." Ozpin says to his host. "But if it's to truly shine, then Jaune must train as well. Otherwise against people that can actually fight, then he'd be beaten easily depending on the circumstances."
Good thing 'Null' Jaune is doing that.
Mayden knew that Jaune had a fancy ability like this Jaune. Maybe there's no dragons and whatever, but the Null semblance was strong. Unless of course Jaune met someone like Qrow, Ozpin, Roman, Cinder, and other fighters who didn't over rely on their semblances. Who would then crush him.
Which is why it's a good thing that worlds Adam and Blake are toughining him up.
Esper powers ranged from the ones mocked on TV to the ones established with numerical formulas in Academy City. Anything using that kind of supernatural power, even if it were part of God's system, would be negated without question by that supernatural power of his.2
As it was supernatural in origin, even that girl's Railgun ability was no exception.
However, Jaune's Imagine Breaker only worked on the supernatural power itself. Simply, he could negate an esper's fireball, but he was still vulnerable to the concrete shards broken by the fireball. Also, the effective range was only his right hand and wrist. If the fireball hit him anywhere else, he would be burned.
And yet…
(I really, really thought I was going to die there! Kyaahhh!)
"You really do sound like a girl." Qrow chuckled with another glare at him.
Jaune Arc's calm and composed expression stiffened awkwardly. Even with a right hand that could completely negate those light-speed lightning spears, it was sheer coincidence that they struck his right hand.
His heart was pounding in his chest as he desperately tried to force a mature smile onto his face.
"I guess you could say that was either some misfortune or you're just unlucky." That was how Jaune brought that day, July 19th, to an end.
With just one comment, he seemed to be lamenting everything in the world. "You just really aren't lucky at all."
The scene ends.
"I'll show another part of it at a later date." Mayden explains to the audience. "But for now," A dark air then affected the cast. Worrying them all. "It's time to change the watchers." Then before the cast could say anything, they were all forced to disappear.
You know what this means...Intermission next chapter. New order change, new guests, and ten new chapters afterwards. Or maybe something I've been thinking of. Whatever the case, Until Next Time.