I've been taking care of sick people all week and becoming increasingly sick myself, so apologies if this chapter has suffered for it
Individual System
"W-What? How? You are… How?!"
"So, that's a no then?"
"Explain!"
xXx
A squad of White Fang grunts went over the Argonaut's cabins one by one. While most passengers were being held hostage in the ballroom, it would be foolish to think everyone had been gathered in one place so easily.
With so many passengers, it was likely some had remained asleep. Maybe a passenger out there panicked too much to leave his cabin. Maybe someone tripped and fell unconscious during the explosion. Maybe there were even some who had realized the White Fang had taken control of the ship.
Right now, the existence of those passengers was an unknown, one that needed to be brought under control as soon as possible.
"Ready?" One of the masked terrorists asked, his hand on the door, ready to open it. Behind him were his comrades, their stances guarded and weapons ready.
"Ready," another replied. The other nodded.
"Go!"
As soon as the door was opened, the grunts rushed in.
"Room, clear."
"Bathroom, clear."
"Bedroom, clear."
"No hostiles here either."
"I can't believe this place is so roomy," said the first faunus as he entered the suite. "I thought ship cabins were supposed to be small or something."
There was nothing small about the cabin they were in. It was spacious in the way only a high-class hotel suite could be. It had fancy sofas, a big-screen TV, and a large bed the faunus knew would never be able to enter his small one-bedroom apartment.
"At least this one only has one floor," another faunus said. "That suite was disgusting. Places like these just make you hate rich people."
"You mean you didn't hate them before?"
"Quiet!" hissed another faunus. He held his hand up as he sniffed. "Do you smell that?"
"What are you talking about?"
"No, he's right." Another frowned. "Smells like… piss."
A shrill gasp cut through the room. The grunts' gazes turned to the spacious bed. The leader motioned for two of them to move it aside.
Underneath it was a young teen with brown eyes and dull blue hair. His clothes were fancy and his haircut fashionable. Had it not been for the terrified expression on his face as he tried to back away from the terrorists only to bump against the wall and the puddle of urine underneath him, he might have been called handsome.
One of the faunus grimaced as he pinched his nose.
"Gross. Do we really need to take him with us?"
"Yes, we do," replied the squad leader, looking at the teen with interest. "He's on the list. You're Marigold's kid, ain't you?"
"P-Please," the boy stuttered out. "D-Don't h-hurt me! You want money? I can give you money!"
"Always with the money." The squad leader's face turned dark. "You people think everything can be solved with money, don't you? That's how your dad got out of that sexual harassment case, ain't it? How about you? Daddy teach you to take advantage of those faunus maids he hires?"
"W-What?" The teen's face went ashen. "No! That's not… I don't…"
"Now see, why don't I believe you?" The terrorist raised his hand to strike the cowering boy.
The wall broke.
Without any warning whatsoever, a white wrecking ball crashed into the suite. It broke through the bathroom walls and bulldozed into the room. Only one of the grunts managed to turn in time to face it.
He received a fist to the face for his troubles.
The next two seconds were a blur of violence. Lightning fast punches and brutal but efficient takedowns. By the end of it all, IXA stood tall over the bodies of the defeated terrorists. The Marigold boy looked at the scene with stunned awe.
"Are you okay, citizen? Do you require medical attention?"
"What?" The words snapped the young teen out of his daze. "I...n-no. They didn't touch me. I'm okay… I think"
"I see." IXA nodded in what the young Marigold thought was a remarkably human way. "In that case, hurry and seek shelter in the lower decks."
On his own? Marigold's face paled at the prospect.
"What about you? Shouldn't you be escorting me?" As soon as he said it, he felt like slapping himself for trying to talk to an android. What was he thinking? It didn't matter if it was the latest in Atlesian technology. A robot was a robot.
To Marigold's surprise, IXA shook its head.
"Negative. First, I must make sure the terrorists are properly incapacitated."
"How are you going to do-" IXA held up a large roll of duct tape. "Oh."
"After that task is done, I shall continue diverting the attention of the White Fang towards myself. You need not worry, citizen. The White Fang will be too busy focusing their attention on this unit to bother looking for you."
Marigold tried to swallow the lump in his throat.
"Can I at least change my pants first?"
xXx
"That has to be the stupidest thing I have ever heard! Why would General Ironwood… Why would Winter… Why you?!"
"You know, my mom always says that if you frown too much, your face will end stuck like that."
"I… that's… No! I refuse to partake in your foolishness. Stopping the White Fang is what's important right now!"
xXx
Weiss Schnee was quietly making her way back to her suite.
Sneaking around was not something she was used to. A Schnee did not hide. A Schnee stood tall and proud in the face of all challenges. Out of the many things her father had taught her, that one was something she wholeheartedly believed in.
However, stealth was what was needed right now, and Weiss couldn't help but wince each time her combat heels made too much noise.
It wasn't as if she had anything to fear from the White Fang. She could handle those animals with ease.
She could handle them with ease… but they'd call for reinforcements.
Weiss knew she was most likely a priority target for the White Fang. The moment they caught wind of her location, they'd send all their men at her, and that couldn't happen because…
Because that was not her role in the plan.
In the distance, she could hear multiple gunshots and walls breaking. Weiss frowned. It meant Jaune was doing his part, but she still didn't like it. The White Fang was an enemy of the Schnee family, and she was the one training to be a huntress.
Yet here she was, letting someone else do the fighting.
The moment she reached her suite, Weiss took out her keycard and went in. Luckily, they still hadn't gone over her belongings. Yet another example of their lack of professionalism. Had they been more than mindless savages, they would have gone to the room of Weiss Schnee first.
Well, she should not complain too much.
Weiss allowed a smile to appear on her face as she took Myrtenaster out from under her bed and secured the weapon at her side. Dust cartridges ready and loaded.
It was time to do her part.
xXx
"Are you crazy? Do you make it a habit of saying the dumbest thing you can think of?!"
"Well, that's just rude."
"And trying to take on every member of the White Fang in the ship by yourself is suicidal!"
"I'm not saying I'll take them all at the same time. I'm just saying I'll make enough noise to get their attention."
xXx
"Boss, we need back up!"
"We can't stop this thing! It's too fast!"
"It's like it's a fucking huntsman!"
The messages came to Adam's Scroll one after another. It had been that way for the past five minutes.
"Trouble?"
Adam did not give Jacques Schnee the satisfaction of acknowledging him. The wealthy businessman along with other passengers of great importance had been moved from the ballroom to a smaller room which Adam was temporarily using as headquarters. He wanted Jacques Schnee where he could see him. Partially because he was wary of what the man may do if left alone. This was his ship, after all. Who knew what security measures he could activate?
The other reason for keeping him close was that he wanted to make sure nothing happened to him. Adam knew the most… volatile among his men were likely to kill Jacques Schnee the moment he turned his back on them.
Adam could understand wanting to kill Jacques Schnee. He would like nothing more than to remove the man's head from his shoulders. However, there was a time and place for such things and now was not it. Jacques Schnee was more useful to them as a hostage.
Unfortunately, the man knew it too.
"It seems to me your men are not doing well. Such a shame. It is all too often that a good idea is ruined by poor execution. Such things are to be expected when dealing with those limited by their natu-"
Adam slapped him.
The strike was quick and delivered with the back of his hand. Adam held back to stop himself from seriously wounding Jacques Schnee, yet it still sent the older man sprawling to the floor. There were panicked cries from the other hostages and cheers from his men, but Adam paid them no mind. Instead, he took comfort in the rush of satisfaction that coursed through his body at that moment.
A rush which faded all too quickly when he spotted the smug smile on Jacques' face.
Adam growled as he realized the man had gotten the reaction he wanted out of him. He had allowed Jacques Schnee to make him lose control, and the man knew it.
He was testing him.
Even held hostage as he was. Even though he knew he could be killed at any moment, Jacques Schnee had probed him to see how far he could push him, and now Jacques Schnee had his measure.
Even as a hostage, he attempted to control him.
He was going to enjoy killing him when the time came.
Turning away as he gnashed his teeth, Adam brought his scroll to his ear. "Security room, report! I want to know what's attacking our men!"
"Sir, we're… not quite sure. Our men are still getting used to operating the security cameras and that thing moves too fast."
Adam's temper spiked, and the man on the other end must have sensed it because he hurried to add, "But some of us think it's that new Atlas bot. That Iggy or something. It's white and everything!"
IXA.
Adam's frown grew thoughtful. They knew it would be on the ship, but Adam had hoped that by catching everyone by surprise, they would have been able to stop the military from activating the machine. In fact, he had sent some of his men to the cargo hold to secure it before anyone could turn it on only for them to report there was no machine there. For a moment, Adam had thought the whole thing had been smoke and mirrors.
However, if the robot was out there and taking down his men, did that mean they had stored it elsewhere? Who had activated it then?
No, that wasn't important right now. Smoothing his features into a mask of stoicism, Adam turned to face Jacques Schnee once more.
"It seems someone activated your new toy," he said, a hand on the hilt of his sword. "It would be in your best interests to tell me how to deactivate it."
Even lying on the ground with a bruise growing on the side of his face, Jacques Schnee smiled.
"I am afraid I must disappoint you. I do not possess the knowledge you're looking for."
"Do you really expect me to believe you allowed that thing into your ship without any failsafe?"
"Whether you believe it or not doesn't matter. Unlike you, faunus, I have nothing to fear from the military or General Ironwood." Jacques' smile grew. "I daresay the only people who would know such a thing are the soldiers from Atlas. Ah, if only they weren't so busy fighting the Grimm above the ship. Well, I suppose you could send your men to help them."
And in doing so reduce the number of men he had controlling the passengers, weakening the White Fang's position and leaving them open to IXA's attack. Not likely.
"You seem remarkably calm about there being a robot attacking everything in sight."
"You are trying to appeal to my sense of self-preservation. Adorable. However, I have nothing to fear from IXA. The robot will only attack the enemies of Atlas. It is a remarkably high-tech piece of equipment."
Adam growled.
If it were a person, this would be easy to deal with. The threat of hostages would be enough to stop them. However, a machine couldn't be reasoned with. It would keep going through the ship, taking down as many of his men as it could. In the worst-case scenario, it would barge into the ballroom without caring about what could happen to the hostages.
It'd be a disaster. Once the bullets started flying the situation would become completely unsalvageable.
Certainly, the death of many of the people here would be a welcome boon to their cause, but it would be short-lived. Companies could replace their CEOs with ease. Shares would be bought and sold. New businesses would open, and the faunus would remain at the bottom.
Adam's lips formed a thin line.
"Do not look so cocky human. Your machine will not stop our plans."
Even if that meant he had to deal with it personally.
xXx
"I'll admit it is not the best plan-"
"It doesn't deserve to be called a plan at all!"
"Look, do you have a better idea?"
"I…"
"You're the one who said this was something only you could do. You don't need me there with you, which means the best thing I can do is draw the White Fang's attention away from you. So again, if you think there is a better way, please tell me."
xXx
To her most profound embarrassment, she hadn't been able to think of anything else.
Weiss frowned as she ran. Contrary to what Arc believed, she knew the map of the ship by heart. Now that she knew which place she was starting from, the way to her destination was clear.
Just who did he think he was!
It went without saying that the members of the White Fang were far from formidable opponents. The organization got by through sheer numbers and cowardly tactics. Weiss Schnee would never lose to any of them!
However, Weiss was someone who had received training from the best tutors money could buy. She was at the top of her class at Pleiades Academy. Her teachers had even said she was better than some graduates. There was no doubt in her mind she was a shoo-in for Beacon.
Jaune Arc was none of those things.
He was just a random person. Sure, he was part of the military, but soldiers weren't huntsmen. It was unlikely his training had been as rigorous as hers, and she doubted a suit of armor would change that, no matter how high-tech it was. Atlas may be the technological capital of the world, but there was a reason why it still tried to get graduates from Atlas Academy to join the ranks of the military.
More importantly, someone fighting in her stead while she skulked around galled Weiss at a fundamental level.
However, this was something only she could do.
Weiss' eyes narrowed as she heard voices up ahead. White Fang. No matter. She wasn't naive enough to think she would encounter no opposition. Judging by the sound, they were just around the corner.
Weiss slowed down, forcing herself to keep her breathing steady. Her grip tightened around Myrtenaster.
There was no need to be nervous, she told herself. She had trained for this. She hadn't lost a spar against a fellow student in over a year.
The moment she turned around the corner, she saw them. Five of them keeping watch over the room. Behind their masks, Weiss could almost see their eyes widening in recognition. In a second or two, they'd get over the shock of seeing Weiss Schnee appear out of nowhere. They'd report her presence to whoever was in charge, and the White Fang would realize what she was trying to do.
Unfortunately for them, Weiss had no intention of giving them even a second. With a motion of her hand, her Glyphs filled the space around them.
The hallways of the Argonaut were narrow. They were not suited for the acrobatics most huntsmen and huntresses preferred.
For Weiss, that didn't matter one bit.
The moment her combat heels touched her glyphs, her body became a streak of white, her path already calibrated to the last millimeter.
The terrorists barely understood what was happening as Weiss Schnee blurred around them. They just crumbled to the floor in a heap after she was done beating them.
Weiss did not allow the momentary victory to make her lose focus. She was still not done with her mission.
Her hand touched the scanner beside the door the White Fang had been guarding. Had she been anyone else, she'd have needed a keycard. However, she was a Schnee. Her biometrics were already keyed to the ship. Her body was the ultimate master key.
The door opened automatically, revealing a room with a group of people tied and huddled in the corner and two White Fang grunts keeping watch of them. A third was trying and failing to operate the security cameras.
Weiss went for the two holding the hostages first.
In a tenth of a second, she was already between them. A slash of Myrtenaster brought one down. The other one she repelled with a Gravity Glyph, making him crash against the ceiling, head first.
Ice froze the last one in place. Weiss used Dust with such precision, not a single one of the machines in the room were damaged.
This time Weiss did allow herself to release the breath she had been holding as she turned to the hostages.
"Are you alright?"
"I… yes!" replied one of them, his face in awe. "That was amazing."
In spite of the situation, Weiss preened a little. Honest admiration was something she enjoyed. It was one of the reasons she liked singing. When the crowd applauded, it was her voice and effort they were praising, not her father's influence.
"Nevermind that." A flick of her sword undid his bindings. "You are the backup crew, are you not?"
And this was the secondary control room.
Most of the Argonaut's systems were calibrated by the ship's onboard computer. That was why the ship's main control room only needed a pilot and a co-pilot. However, should the ship's systems fail, the secondary control room and crew would enter into action.
"Yes, Miss Schnee."
"Good. Untie the others and lock those terrorists somewhere else. I need everyone in their stations."
Weiss stood in front of another scanner and pressed her palm against it. At once, a mechanical voice rang out.
"Weiss Schnee. Recognized. Welcome, Miss Schnee."
"Engage Manual Override. Code WS021413."
"Code Accepted. Override Initiated."
All members of the Schnee family were keyed to the Argonaut's systems and had been granted full privileges. It had been her father's idea, and now, Weiss was grateful for it.
It meant it only took her to completely take control of the ship.
"Start moving," Weiss ordered. "We will be taking this ship to Argus at full speed."
xXx
"Fine! We'll do it your way. However, be warned, things won't suddenly fix themselves just because I take control of the ship."
"But you'll be able to take the ship to Argus and engage the ship's defenses, right?"
"Yes, and that will be useful. I will not deny that, but the ship won't suddenly get to Argus. Even though we're close. It'll take at least half an hour to get there at full speed. Maybe more depending on where we are right now."
"I get it. It's fine. I'll hold on till then."
xXx
Fighting the White Fang was way easier than he expected.
Jaune wasn't sheltered enough to not have heard of the White Fang. He had seen them in the news once or twice, and once he joined the IXA Project, he had heard the name tossed around by the soldiers and by Winter. An organization created to advocate for faunus equality that turned violent.
Guns fired. The bullets bounced off his armor as he took another squad down in an instant.
The way people talked about them, Jaune had been expecting more of a challenge.
In hindsight, the ones he took down with Weiss should have been a big hint, but he thought the element of surprise had something to do with that. Now, Jaune knew the truth.
The White Fang was weak.
The grunts had Aura and knew how to shoot. That was the most he could say for most of them. For the most part, Jaune found them weaker than the robots he fought during his training sessions.
He distantly remembered Ironwood and Dr. Polendina saying the Aura of most people fell between D and C ranks on the Atlas scale. That sounded about right considering how quickly he was going through the terrorists.
A punch here. A kick there. A tackle. Down and down they went. Jaune was pretty sure he could take a number of them even without using IXA.
With it, it was just overkill.
Right now, Jaune was more worried about damaging the ship too much than he was about the White Fang hurting him. Knowing what not to break would be so much easier if Penny were around. Shame he couldn't call her from here.
As he finished taking down another squad, Jaune saw someone running towards him from the other end of the hallway.
The mask identified him as a member of the White Fang. However, the black suit was far different from what the other members wore. Did that mean he had a higher position or that he just didn't want to wear the uniform?
No matter. Jaune dashed towards the red-haired faunus. His sword was still sheathed, so if he was quick, he should be able to-
It happened in a thousandth of a second.
The red blade left the man's sheath and slashed across IXA's chest. Two more slashes followed as the faunus stepped forward, his sheath held in his other hand. He spun it around as it mecha-shifted into a rifle which he aimed at IXA's chest.
Three rounds were fired in quick succession, blowing IXA into one of the suites.
Of course, Jaune was not aware of this. All he knew was that he had suddenly been blown back and that his chest hurt.
As Jaune staggered to his feet, IXA's face recognition put a name to the mask that just kicked his ass. Adam Taurus. It listed him as dangerous, but Jaune didn't need to read that to realize he wasn't dealing with a run-of-the-mill grunt. The only things that had ever really hurt him while in IXA were a mutated-Grimm and Winter when she wanted to make a point.
This man had beaten him in the blink of an eye.
This… was kind of bad.
"You have caught me in a bad mood." Adam advanced towards him, his sword back in its sheath. "Since you are a machine, you won't complain if I take it out on you, won't you?"
"You are within violation of Atlas Law." Jaune struggled to keep his voice even and machine-like. While the speakers of the suit disguised it somewhat, trying to pretend the hits just now hadn't bothered him was not so easy. "Surrender now, and the court may show mercy on you."
That was how robots talked in movies, wasn't it?
Adam snorted. "A sense of humor. How quaint."
Adam dashed towards him. Jaune aimed the gun he had swiped from one of the grunts and opened fire. It was the first time he had to use a gun in combat, but with Adam running in a straight line and no bystanders nearby, hitting the target wasn't exactly difficult.
At least, it wouldn't have been if Adam didn't parry every single bullet with his sword.
Rather than running away, the swordsman kept advancing with confident steps. Jaune's eyes widened as a wave of Aura erupted from Adam sword. He crossed his arms in front of him. The gun broke as he was pushed back, but his suit endured the attack with only a thin slice running through it.
It was only surface damage, but the fact that Adam had managed to do that much was impressive.
"Impressive. It might not have been fully charged attack, but most robots wouldn't have endured that," Adam said, seemingly to himself as if he were re-evaluating the threat posed by IXA.
Meanwhile, Jaune's mind zeroed in on the part where Adam said the attack hadn't been fully charged. Did that mean it could have been even stronger? If so, why had Adam not done so? Had he just wanted to test him? Was it because he needed more time to charge it?
Regardless, Jaune wasn't about to give him any time.
Grabbing a piece of the floor that had come off during Adam's attack, Jaune threw it at him. The moment it got within range of Adam, his sword sliced it to pieces. Jaune expected that to happen.
He threw the bed at him next.
It was no problem for him, but for a time, the large bed obscured Adam's vision, allowing Jaune to come at him from the side, catching the faunus by surprise. He used all his speed to crash into Adam. Jaune roared as he kept going, charging through the wall and taking the faunus with him.
Use your strong points, Winter had told him once upon a time. Right now, that sounded like good advice. If this guy was faster and more skilled than him, then he just needed to turn this into a slugfest.
Taking advantage of his momentarily stunned opponent, Jaune grabbed him by the shirt and delivered a brutal headbutt to Adam's face. His other hand was already reaching for the IXA Knuckle. If he could land a solid blow with it, he could take this guy down. Even if Adam somehow had enough Aura to take the attack, he'd be too damaged afterward.
IXA Knuckle
Jaune roared as he brought his fist down.
Rise Up!
Adam dodged.
Luck. Instinct. Training. Whatever it was, it didn't change what happened. At the last second, the faunus regained his senses and rolled out of the way. Jaune's attack hit the deck, breaking it apart, sending them both down.
And down.
The damage from the IXA Knuckle was only the latest in a long list. The bullets fired by the White Fang, IXA breaking down several walls, all of it added up. Their combined weight was enough to send the two crashing down all the way to the cargo hold.
The two fighters quickly rushed to their feet, Jaune being the one worse for the wear. While Adam managed to get away from the blast in time, Jaune hadn't. A quick look at his Aura brought a measure of calm to him. He still had over two-thirds left. The suit had been the one to take the worst from the blast.
For his part, Adam watched him with wariness. His postured ready to counter-attack at any moment, his sword ready be drawn.
Jaune frowned.
What was the point of putting the sword back in its sheath when it prevented him from using the sheath's rifle form? Wouldn't it be better to keep it out? Was he that careless, or did he just not take him seriously? Neither sounded right. Was it just his fighting style then? It seemed to be that way, although Jaune wouldn't discount a Semblance that made his blows stronger the longer he kept the sword in its sheath. For all he knew, that could be a thing that existed.
He needed more information.
Knowing this was going to hurt, Jaune dashed towards Adam, arms crossed in front of him. As Adam's red blade lashed out again and again, Jaune cursed his lack of ranged weapons.
One. Three. Five.
The moment the shots came, Jaune jumped away. The sword was back in Adam's sheath.
Three more times the pattern repeated itself. Jaune tried to get close only for Adam's sword to keep him at bay with repeated slashes.
Five times. Sometimes six but no more.
Jaune breathed heavily as he checked his Aura meter. Close to half full. Good. He could do this. He had a plan. It was time to put it into action.
Again, he rushed at Adam. The faunus clicked his tongue in frustration.
"Is this the best the might of Atlas can do? A brainless machine without an ounce of fighter's intuition?!"
He was angry. That meant he wouldn't see this coming.
The first two slashes struck his right arm. The next three hit his left, and only one slice touched IXA's chest. The moment Jaune saw the sheath start mecha-shifting, he took a step forward instead of backing away. His foot hit the ground with so much force, it buried itself into the deck, grounding him.
Six shots came in quick succession.
Jaune gritted his teeth and bore the pain. His eyes fully focused on his opponent. Waiting for the right moment.
Adam's sword went back into its sheath.
There!
Jaune roared as he put all his strength into his leg to push himself forward, lunging at Adam like a wild beast.
This was it!
Adam was someone who fought using a quick-draw style. Eventually, his sword always went back to his sheath.
At that exact moment, he was defenseless.
That was why Jaune had attacked so recklessly before. He needed to get a feel for Adam's rhythm to know when to strike. Maybe someone who had trained for years would have been able to do it without getting hit so much, but it was like Winter said, he needed to work on his sense of timing.
Right now, it was perfect.
Jaune's fist was moments away from colliding with Adam's face with all his considerable strength.
Then it wasn't.
The pull of a trigger. That was all it took to change things.
Jaune's reasoning and analysis had been sound. However, he had let himself be carried to the wrong conclusion by assuming Adam needed to draw his sword.
He never once considered he could shoot it.
The hilt of the weapon hit IXA's visor. It didn't hurt much, but it stunned Jaune long enough for Adam to take back the initiative. He swayed to the side to dodge and slammed his elbow against Jaune's chest. The sheath twirled in his hand as if shifted forms before firing right at his jaw.
Dazed as he was, it was a wonder Jaune had enough sense to bring an arm up to block the Aura slice that followed.
Drip.
As the wave of red energy blew Jaune back, something dripped to the floor. Jaune looked down. IXA had been marred by the repeated slashes, and at last, a crack had been left on the suit.
The wound wasn't deep, and his Aura was already taking care of it, but that didn't change what just happened.
His blood had touched the floor.
His blood now stained Adam's sword.
"You," Adam said, looking from the blood on his sword to him.
"You're human."
Jaune flinched. There was nothing he could say to that. How could he deny it when the proof of his humanity was so blatantly displayed?
"So that's how it is. A dog clad in armor. Killing at the behest of his masters."
"Don't call me that!" Jaune snapped at him, no longer seeing any point in keeping up the act. "Besides, isn't that rich coming from a terrorist!"
"I may be a terrorist, but you're the one protecting monsters."
"What does that even mea-"
The mask came off.
Jaune suddenly found himself without words. IXA's visor meant he could see Adam's scars in perfect clarity. Horrible burns that would never go away and had robbed him of one eye to spell the name of his owner.
SDC.
"Jacques Schnee's men did this to me." Adam tapped the side of his face, almost as if it didn't matter, before putting the mask back on. "I was eight when it happened. I may be a terrorist, but you're the one defending a monster."
To that, Jaune had nothing to say.
Adam attacked.
Caught off-guard, Jaune could only stagger back as Adam landed a blow on his chest.
"Tell me, do you think I am the only one? That I'm an anomaly? Will you ignore the hundreds who have suffered in his mines."
Adam's sword lashed out with force. His mind shaken, Jaune could barely bring himself to dodge.
"Do you have any idea what type of people are in this ship?!" Adam shouted as he kept his furious attacks. "James Marigold. Numerous charges of sexual harassment against him have been brought up. They never go anywhere. He has money, and the victims are only faunus!"
The more he spoke, the more Adam's voice became drenched in disdain.
"Dun L'Omino. He has his hands all over the slave trade in Mistral. Most of his victims are faunus. Chrome Whitechapel! Organ trafficking. Do you realize how absurd that is? They'll tell us we're inferior yet take our organs! That's the type of people you're protecting right now! How can you justify it?!"
Each word out of Adam's mouth was a new blow to Jaune's resolve.
He couldn't be telling the truth, could he? Jaune wasn't naive enough to think every criminal was behind bars. He understood there were evil people out there, but… was he fighting to protect that sort of people right now? Were there monsters wearing thousand-lien clothes within walking distance?
He tried to push the thought away.
The memory of those miners looking at him with fear in their eyes kept replaying in his mind.
And at that moment, Jaune hesitated.
Adam's sword struck and pierced through his suit after wearing it down through many repeated blows. Jaune's Aura should have stopped it from wounding him, but it didn't. At that moment, Jaune's Aura wasn't protecting his body. For one precious moment, he had allowed his Aura to fade away.
For Aura was the light of the soul, and how could the soul shine when the mind was so clearly in turmoil?
Adam's sword sunk deep into his body. The swordsman's cold blue eye met his through the visor before twisting the blade inside and pushing him away.
Jaune fell.
His mind struggled to comprehend what had just happened. How was he wounded? Why was he bleeding? Why was everything going dark?
Why was everything so cold?
Was he… was he dying?
No!
He still had Aura. He could still fight! He could feel it! He just needed to let it heal him!
So why wasn't it doing that!
Why did it feel so far away?
The warmth that had accompanied him ever since General Ironwood unlocked his Aura seemed so distant, like light flickering out in the darkness.
No!
Don't fade away!
If it went away… if it faded out… He was really going to die.
Shine!
Shine! ShinE! ShINe! ShINe! SHinE! SHInE SHINE! SHINE SHINE! SHINE! SHINE SHINE! SHINE! SHINE SHINE! SHINE! SHINE SHINE! SHINE! SHINE SHINE! SHINE! SHINE SHINE! SHINE! SHINE SHINE!
SHINE!
Burst Mode! Engaged!
AN:
The moment I heard Henry Marigold may show up in Vol 7, I knew I had to include him in this chapter. I mean, everyone loves Henry Marigold, don't they?
Yep, nothing else important happened.
As an aside, kudos to whoever guesses who Dun L'Omino and Chrome Whitechapel are meant to be based from. Not that they're going to be particularly relevant (in this fic at least), but still. Speaking of, Adam's rant was hard to do for various reasons, the lack of faunus racism proportional to the White Fang's activities not the least among them. Makes me feel I dropped a lot of 'yeah, bad things happen in Remnant' on you guys with not a lot of build up.
Anyway, 'till next chapter!