Just want to prefix this chapter by saying I'm moving to a different country in a few weeks. This will impact the next few chapters, obviously.

I apologize in advance, guys. Seriously, I am sorry.

Enjoy the chapter.

Cover art by: Notgustiarp

Chapter 4

Everything was moving too fast.

One minute he was preventing a murder. In the next, he was being chased through an abandoned village by a man who could tank a house collapsing on him. Now he was hiding in an attic waiting for a 'Signal' to tell him to come out and make a getaway. Not to mention said signal would be a massive statue collapsing over said tank.

He didn't want to contemplate the fact this plan's best case scenario was for him to do what he was trying to stop in the first place. After this, he'd become an accomplice for murder.

Stop thinking about that.

Huddling further into the corner of the damp wooden attic clutching his knees to his chest. He tried not to think of his situation, but it was kinda hard with how his heart wouldn't stop pounding in his head. Why was it doing that?

I saw…he's out there. I saw him.

Hazel was out there right now, and Summer was all alone while he was hiding like a coward—

Will you just—

"Shut your mouth!"

Startled by the shout, his focus was shifted to the lone window in the room. Its serene light was juxtaposed by the chaos heard from outside. He mustered up the courage to approach it and peered through.

His vision was mainly taken up by the dubbed Problem Solver or, as it was called by not crazy people, a statue. It was too bad Summer was, in fact, insane.

Though most of his vision was taken up by the figure, he could still peer between its legs. Getting a clear view of Summers hunched back. Looking just slightly higher revealed the lower half of Hazel.

Is she talking to him? What kinda distraction was that!?

With the way he shouted for her to shut up, it seemed it was going just as well as when he tried to talk to him. Not great. So he had a right to be worried. Should he let that worry justify putting their plan at risk? He trusted her to handle this, but it didn't stop his fear from growing.

It's okay to feel scared, so it's okay as long as I trust her.

"—lying. You have to be!"

I-I have to trust her. His hand subconsciously gripped the hilt of the sword on his back. I can't fight, so I can't save her anyway. I-I'm not her hero—

A tremor rattled the building.

Pure white energy flooded out, bathing the attic with its intensity. The sound of glass shattering signified the light escaping, undoubtedly drawing the gaze of the monster down below.

/-/

Jaune wasn't supposed to be here. Not initially at least, and even in the new plan, not now of all times!

The original plan and the one she outlined was for Jaune to escape and try to make it to the nearest village to call for help. It was when asking what her part was that he took…issue with the plan.

Ignoring the fact that she got shut down by a child, they came to a compromise of sorts. She still questioned why he disagreed with the idea of going to a neighboring village so vehemently. Dropping it, they instead went with a revised version of the previous plan modifying his role slightly.

He was supposed to wait till after I dropped the statue for him to come out and carry us out of here.

Instead, here she stood furiously staring at the anxious child, trying his best to not meet her gaze.

If you feel guilty, then why'd you do it in the first place!?

He'd burst out of the building she'd explicitly chosen because it was hidden from where they suspected Hazel would come from. Directly behind the statue, shielded from view by its enormous size, he would have gone unnoticed in Hazel's haste to chase after the supposed fleeing Jaune.

He was now wholly exposed behind her, between the legs on a slightly elevated platform on which the statue stood. There would be no hiding now.

She whipped back around, ripping crimson blossom out of the ground, shifting it, and aiming at Hazel. All in one fluid motion.

Clearly, something had changed from when Ozpin had known him. There was a miss calculation as she was completely lost on how he would react and thus had to assume he would respond violently.

It was a good thing too, as right as she turned to face him, he'd set off. His speed was incredible but not faster than her itchy trigger finger. Letting off a three round volley before he'd even made it halfway to their position. It seemed Hazel had learned his lesson from last time.

Mid charge, he tilted to the right, expertly dodging the first and second shots. Though having to lose much of his initial momentum to do it. He halted with it lost, planting his feet while also crossing his hands to shield his face as the last shot bounced off his Aura.

Successfully stopping him, she racked back another shot, ready to fire. Instincts screaming, she tried to turn around but was too slow.

"Woah!" She yelled as she was lifted off the ground. "Jaune?!"

While dealing with Hazel, he'd apparently decided that they should go back on the run instead of fighting.

"Wait! We have to stay, Jaune!"

"Are you insane?! He'll kill us before we'd have time to knock it down!"

He was panicking again. Still being able to clearly hear the alarm in his voice despite never seeing his expression. That anxiety from earlier seemed to have returned with full force.

"Jaune, we won't be able to escape. We have to stop him here!"

"I won't let you!"

She looked back just in time to see a mass of air pressure barreling towards them. It slammed into them, launching Jaune off his feet while she slipped out of his grasp. They landed with a heavy thump.

They were separated now, she noted while struggling to breathe. She'd slammed into the cobblestone, coming to rest on one of her broken ribs, inches away from her weapon.

Struggling hard, she looked over and watched as Hazel descended on Jaune like an animal. He didn't have much time before he'd be slaughtered like one too.

/-/

They might as well have broken the sound barrier with the speed the situation had worsened.

Move or it won't be the only thing broken!

With that last thought and a panicked burst of speed, he threw himself to the left just in time to barely dodge a downward slam. The fist carved a chunk out of the spot he was just at displaying to him just how close he was to death. It dawned on him that this was not a fight he could survive let alone win.

How right he was as the next set of attacks were faster and more ferocious than the last.

He got back to his feet to see a massive open hand reaching out. Shifting his left foot back and leaning to the right had it sail over him, clutching air. That wasn't the end, however. Hazels remaining hand raced around him, intent on trapping him in a sick parody of a hug. The rest of Hazel's body rushed forward, intent on crushing him into his burly chest.

Instead of ducking, he crouched and leaped over his entire frame. With Hazel charging forward, he didn't bother stopping his attack instead carrying through with the crushing motion. His arms closed so quickly that the air trapped within was instantly turned into a concussive blast.

Midair he couldn't dodge and could only watch the dome like shock wave draw closer with his enhanced senses.

It slammed into his feet first, shooting them higher into the air, off balancing him. Now upside down and wholly disorientated to boot, his eyes closed reflexively. Sailing much further than intended, the sudden stop when striking the ground didn't alleviate the disorientation.

The air was knocked out of him, but that was the extent of the physical damage taken. Unfortunately, a different kind of effect struck him. A wave of nausea unexpectedly flooded him as he tried to stand unsuccessfully.

Now unable to even open his eyes he naturally turned to his emotion sensing ability. That was a mistake. All at once, an intense number of negative emotions crashed over him, drowning any survival instincts he had.

His sense of balance was pushed to its limits, almost toppling him over. Had this guy's emotions always been this intense? Or had they only grown to this level, and he hadn't noticed due to the distance?

The only way to describe it was as an ocean of negativity threating to crush him with its pressure. From what he could tell, pure frustration made up the bulk. The rest was a swirling concoction of negativity.

Only being able to squint right now, this ability was his only way to keep track of the guy. Which is how it was possible to tell that he was attacking again.

Duck!

He threw himself down as Hazel had whipped around and shot off after him. Ducking a straight kick that nearly connected with his skull, yet it only managed to blow his unkempt hair back.

Now fully crouched to the ground and with his eyes still refusing to open, he was at the mercy of the towering mass of hatred above him.

Now that it was right on top of him, he was completely paralyzed. It was like he was being crushed under an immense amount of weight threatening to destroy his very will. He was able to just barely squint his eyes open to register the attack coming.

Hazel's previous straight kick had turned into a crushing overhead stomp.

His body was sluggish to respond, and no matter how much energy surged throughout his body, he wouldn't be able to dodge in time.

Come on!

His legs flexed as his body burned brighter than he had in the last few days. Too little too late. He could hear the wind whistling as Hazel's foot raced to crush his helpless body.

Wait whistling?

"Dammit!" Hazel exclaimed as his foot somehow missed going onto obliterate the ground, inches away.

He tucked in as the shock wave produced sent him careening away. It wasn't a graceful roll, but it did the job to put as much distance between him and Hazel as possible.

Taking the time to catch his breath as he watched the man try to rip his foot out of the ground it had been embedded into. He didn't see what saved him back there, but from the feelings of satisfaction a few paces away, he could make a pretty good guess.

Okay, so running's out of the question, I guess. What now?

He could only hope that Summer could come up with a plan quickly as from how every attack seemed to just get closer and closer, he had a feeling he wouldn't last much longer.

/-/

They had to lead him back into position. It's all they could hope to pull off now. Judging by how their bout was going, it didn't even seem like they could do that much.

Heat radiated from the barrel of Crimson Blossom as she racked the bolt back, ready to take another shot. Sadly, it wouldn't do much but redirect attacks, but presently this was all she could offer in terms of support. They'd have to make do.

Easier said than done, she could only make that shot because of the attack's predictable trajectory. If it wasn't for that, she doubted she could make those types of shots consistently. She had to squint her eyes just to look in the direction of the fight because of Jaunes Semblance.

It was astonishing the intensity in which it shined, especially right before he dodges an attack. She was a little confused about what it was doing at first, but that could be chalked up to the distracting light show. Now she had a pretty good idea of what was happening now. Honestly, it didn't make it any less impressive.

The idea that a basic Aura Enchantment Semblance could put a literal child at a huntsman's physical level was incredible. Let alone one who could keep up with Hazel Rainart of all people was staggering. Maybe basic isn't the right word as she knew firsthand that there was no such thing as a basic Semblance. That had to be the case here as well.

Either way, there was no Semblance out there that could make up for lack of skill or experience, not for long anyway. With every hit dodged, the next would get closer and closer to the mark.

She watched as Hazel finally freed his leg from the ruble, he buried it in.

She readied herself for the coming onslaught watching as the monster's face twisted with an unmistakable frustration. She made sure Jaune was prepared to.

It's sad to admit that she was a little surprised to see that he had taken up a battle stance…well, she figured it was anyway. With how low to the ground it was, he might have well just been fully prone! Along with his poor foot placement—Focus!

Her moment of distraction had the consequence of her missing the initial kick off. He had already descended on Jaune with a flurry of blows by the time she'd leveled her rifle. Tracking every attack and countering each was impossible, so she'd have to wait for a more predictable attack pattern to try and divert.

Usually, that would mean that her shots would be too spaced out to be of much use, but something had changed with the fight. It was just like before.

More like Hazel himself changed. He's more like an enraged beast at this point.

It was unusually easy to predict each attack in advance.

With a quick jab with his left hand, Jaune stumbled back and almost lost footing. A quick sweep would have had him on the ground once again. Oddly instead of pressing that advantage, Hazel chose to attempt an uppercut. Since Jaune was already off balanced, he wisely chooses not to hold his ground and leaped back with Hazel hot on his heels.

Breathing in and out, it was in the moment between breaths that she pulled the trigger. Confirmation in the form of sparks flying off of Hazel's form gave her immense satisfaction. It also gave Jaune some much needed breathing room, though it didn't last long.

This went on for what felt like hours but realistically was only a few minutes.

It was rinsed and repeated. Hazel would close the distance and attempt to bulldoze Jaune. Every time it would look like Hazel had finally corned Jaune, another string of gunfire would give him enough of a window to cheat death.

A cycle that would only ever break when she needed to reload. Though it would need to end soon as she was dangerously low on ammo.

She'd started to contemplate detonating the bomb early but didn't want to waste their only hope just yet. It was in this moment of reflection that she reloaded her final standard round mag and took aim.

Only to be interrupted as a comet came hurtling for her. Instincts almost made her fire, but she held.

A good thing, as Jaune skirted to a stop directly in front of her. Along with his momentum, his Semblance ceased as well and were her eyes ever grateful.

"Is everything alright?!"

If he was here, then that meant...

Whipping back, she expected to come face to face with their attacker but came to view something very different.

It was just like before when he missed that attack so incredibly that he appeared stunned. There he stood, staring at his outstretched hands. They had once again failed to secure him the kill. Stalk still, except for the labored breaths he took in from chasing Jaune around.

Speaking of Jaune...

"Are you okay, kid?"

She didn't let her guard down but shifted focus slightly to make sure he hadn't been injured. The fight wasn't over, and she still would need him when it was all over, of course.

Pulling up beside her, his eyes also never left Hazel. Though they were filled with caution, there was another look accompanying it.

He seems more- well, not comfortable per se but more relaxed with the situation. Which spoke volumes as he had just ended his bout with Hazel. She wouldn't bother pointing out to him that he had failed to throw a single attack during the entire encounter as she probably already knew why.

There was no way that he could have landed any kind of attack anyway. More likely, he would have just been left open from overextending and gotten killed in the process.

"I'm good, but I don't think he is..."

Figuring that he was referring to Hazel, she honestly agreed but couldn't bring up any desire to care either. Even while openly talking about him, Hazel hadn't moved from his spot. His face was the only thing changing, twisting and contorting as his eyes remained locked on his outstretched trembling hands.

He looked like he was searching for answers in his own palms. When those same eyes whipped to face them, it seemed like he had found his answers.

He didn't look pleased.

"He let me go..."

So focused on Hazel, she had nearly forgotten about the boy's presence. So when he spoke up unexpectedly, he instantly gained her full attention.

"What do you mean he let you go?" She asked.

His face tightened as if trying to work out exactly how to explain something even he didn't fully understand.

"When we were fighting—no, even before that, it was exactly the same." He seemed like he was confusing himself with that explanation.

"What's the same? You need to get to the point, Jaune!" She didn't mean to sound so hostile, but she couldn't predict when Hazel would snap and attack.

"I mean that even after all this time, he still hasn't landed a single scratch on me. Isn't that a little...I dunno, weird?"

It was.

"It's because of your speed Jaune."

"I don't think it is. Every time I go to dodge, his eyes would always track me, even when he misses. They never once left me."

"Like I said, your too fast to—"

"Every single time I dodge, he would look at exactly where I was going to be before I'd even moved. He'd predict every step I would take before I'd do it. I could see it in his eyes!"

He'd only attack where Jaune was, not where he was going to be. It was why it was so easy to predict where he'd strike and counter it. She'd noticed it too.

But she couldn't believe it.

"Jaune, it's hard to even look at you when you're shinning so bright from my position, let alone Hazel's. It'd be too bright to accurately keep track of you in battle."

It hurt her eyes just being too close to him, let alone staring directly at him during a fight, so how would—wait...

Looking back at Hazel revealed something she hadn't noticed before. His eyes were thoroughly bloodshot. It made sense with how close he was to Jaune. It should have proved her point that he couldn't have kept track of Jaune with how damaged his eyes would have been.

But that wouldn't have mattered to Hazel, would it?

"No matter how brightly I burned, he never once lost track of me."

No, he wouldn't have. None of that would have mattered to him in the least. His Semblance would have made sure of that.

"Okay, maybe you're on to something..."

He didn't seem happy to be right. Neither was she.

It doesn't make sense. None of this makes sense! Why would he be purposely whiffing his strikes? If his goal was to murder them both, then he should have done so by now.

The fact that someone of Jaune's skill level was still alive should have tipped her off sooner. If his goal was to murder them both, then he should have done so by now. So why?

"Maybe he can't..."

He must have realized how arrogant that sounded as he flushed and quickly amended his statement.

"I-I mean like he can't bring himself to do it!"

Maybe.

"Guess will just have to ask, won't we?"

"Wait, what?!"

Ignoring his disbelief, she cupped her mouth with one hand and painfully sucked air in.

"Hey, ya bastard!"

Hazel's eyes darted from Jaune to her, fully showing the extent of the damage his eyes had taken.

"Oh brothers, we are so dead—"

"That's right, you pig. I know you can hear me! Are you done throwing your tantrum?"

The sheer audacity of her words seemed to bring him out of his funk almost immediately.

"I don't need to hear this from you of all people."

Her eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Scoffing, he seemed to fully calm down. "With how our first conversation went down? I don't think you can criticize others on their rage."

She flinched, realizing he had a point.

"At least, I have the guts to follow through with my resolve!" She retorted, getting carried away again.

"Watch your mouth, Rose." His voice dropped an octave in warning, causing Jaune to tense up. She didn't even register it.

"Face it. You're a coward. I mean, after all you've done, I'm surprised you can't bring yourself to murder a single child."

She took immense satisfaction in how he was at a loss for words. Unable to stop herself from twisting the knife further.

"How far is too far for you, Hazel? Guess even monsters like you have standards, right? Murdering innocent children is the limit, huh?"

She relished being able to talk down to the man before her. Could barely contain the savage grin she sported.

"Innocent... no one aligned with that man can claim innocence."

She scoffed. "There you go again, jumping to conclusions. What? Is that the only way you can justify wanton murder? Ozpin?"

With his head hung low, she could barely make out his shadowed expression. His eyes still cut threw showing clouded vision framed menacingly with the bloodshot look of his eyes.

"The only ones innocent in all this...were those villages..."

That got their attention.

"Villages? What villages?"

It wasn't her that asked that. Jaune had butted in with a sense of seriousness he hadn't shown before. Not knowing what this was about, she chose to remain silent.

She'd come to regret that decision very quickly.

"Stratford... Coltfell..." He listed these names in a trance like state as if pulling from painful memories.

The feeling of dread piled higher and higher with each name, but why?

"Ansel..."

The air seemed to grow heavy around her. Glancing to her side showed just why.

Jaune?

"They all burned. Innocent each one and yet they all perished the same."

Jaunes pupils were like pinpricks lost in the same fog that Hazel was seemingly trapped in.

"It was you?" He'd muttered more to himself.

Hazel's mind, still lost, seemed to respond more out of instinct.

"They all burned. I watched it happen—ordered it. I might as well have killed them all by hand. So why can't I do what must be done now?"

He looked as if the question was tearing him apart. Pulling and tearing at what little sanity the man had left to lose.

That wasn't what she was focused on right now, though.

"Jaune, you need to calm down."

His shoulders were trembling furiously, a prelude to the panic attack that would no doubt follow. Words would have to suffice as she couldn't risk losing focus on Hazel.

"Do you remember Ansel?" Jaune asked.

That seemed to cause a spark of recognition to flash through the older man's eyes. A peaceful smile settled on his lips.

"It was a peaceful town. A quiet sleepy village surrounded by large forests and a beautiful lake at its heart. With a town center that buzzed with life more pleasant and optimistic than most settlements outside those accursed walls would normally allow."

She was taken aback by the almost sentimental recounting of the random village he had laid waste to. That spark of nostalgia filtering into the haze in which he'd lost himself in.

"It also contained a large number of retired huntsmen and thus a relatively small but formidable militia with little in the way for early warning detection of anything more than the odd Beowulf." He listed off handily, never once losing that smile.

Her dread mounted as he went on to describe the security and threat level the peaceful village had. It made her want to unload another shot just to shut him up.

So that's why he knew so much. He'd cased the entire village ahead of his attack...

"Y-you forgot something."

Hazel's eyes gained a bit of light as he regarded Jaune's shaking form.

"And what would that be?"

Finally, lifting his head showed frustrated tears flowing from his eyes as his face was stretched in a hateful visage.

"Y-You forgot about the o-oldest home in the village. A b-big house on a hill overlooking the e-entire settlement." Each word was forced out of his throat, and he choked and hiccupped through it all. "I-It was built and owned by a h-happy f-family."

"Ah." Recognition flashed through his eyes once again. "I remember. It encapsulated the town's beauty into a single structure."

His eyes rolled down and met the boy's hate filled stare.

"And it burned just like the rest."

The cobblestone underneath where Jaune once stood shattered as he all but vanished in a torrent of light. It came out of nowhere, nearly knocking her off her feet and blinding her all at the same time.

Already being used to the high speed combat, it only took her a second to catch up with the action. With only that single dash, he had already covered the entire distance between them and Hazel.

A resounding crack was heard as Jaune had managed to launch himself like a missile at Hazel's sternum. Managing to slightly push back the man's towering form, he'd managed to catch Hazel off guard. After that, Jaune threw his first real attack since the day's start.

Like his initial assault, Hazel didn't react to the very telegraphed uppercut coming his way. Snapping his head back, it cracked his jaw, lifting his body a little off the ground to boot.

This happened in the blink of the eye, and had it not been for her years of experience with this level of combat, she would have missed all of it. The extreme light surging throughout Jaunes body certainly didn't help.

It felt like the entire area was shaking, shattering any old glass in the vicinity with all this going on. It only got worse as the onslaught continued.

Now both midair, Jaune latched onto Hazel's coat with one hand, the other pulled back for a sloppy but powerful downward punch to his face. Slamming into its target had them both changing course midair. Cracks marred the ground as the giant came hurtling down, embedding his body into it.

The boy landed nearby and dashed in for more. Shooting from his spot had him practically fly right above him. With his foot lifted, perfectly imitating Hazel's previous downward stomp. But this time, nothing would interfere.

At the point of connection, Jaunes dazzling form engulfed the man, blocking out the sight of where they connected. The tremor that spawned directly after was all the confirmation she needed as those previous cracks turned into fissures that tore through the ground. A cloud of dust was kicked up, engulfing the entire area blocking out even the harsh light.

Tugging the remnants of her rent cloak to shield her face proved useless as she tumbled to the ground from the shockwave. After a moment of unease as the area seemed to settle, she tried to peer through the smoke, trying to find even a single ray of light piercing through to no avail.

This isn't gonna settle for a while. Which means until this clears...

He's on his own.

/-/

How fitting was it that his vision was blotted out by a haze of debris from a village lost. The only aspect different was the reason this village had fallen in the first place. A mystery to even him that would forever remain one. Thankfully, it wouldn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things to come.

Just like all the rest. Unimportant. Unnecessary.

So why did they all have to burn? Were they not innocent in all this?

They needed to die.

His lungs were being filled with soot as he laid in that crater. There was no pain coursing through his body, and yet he couldn't bring himself to stand.

Yes, if this trap was to work, they needed to remove any hope of speedy reinforcements. That was all that was needed to justify wiping out scores of innocents, wasn't it? A tactical advantage.

His hands clawed at the dirt he laid in, attempting to drag himself up. With more effort than what should have been needed, he managed to sit upright.

If it would guarantee a future for the many, then I'll gladly slaughter the few.

That's what he resolved himself to do.

Then why do you keep purposely missing this boy?

Once again, he hesitated.

A ray of light pierced through the cloud and had him whip his left arm up to block a devastating kick. Throwing it aside had the consequence of stirring up the cloud into a swirling hurricane of smog. Giving him the perfect arena to face his attacker.

Within that swirling vortex, he came face to face with the very eyes of vengeance itself.

Author's Notes:

This was originally a much larger chapter, but I tried my best to keep the chapter more concise. Hopefully, this was better than the last chapter. Which I plan to rewrite eventually.

These are the first action scenes I've ever written, and I feel it warrants me to ask once again for feedback.

See ya next chapter.

Date Published: 2021/03/06