And another Chapter down, hope you're enjoying the story!

Chapter 12

Roman couldn't tell exactly what he heard in his head but he knew it had to do with Jaune. He guessed it was some kind of touch-based telepathic semblance and decided to stay a few steps away just in case.

He didn't normally hire people with semblances, They were harder to come by and the only ones that would do dirty work were usually terrible at listening to orders. He would need to stay on guard but remained hopeful that he would have another powerhouse like Neo backing him.

"There's a lot of negativity here…" Roman could hear Jaune take a deep breath from under his mask, just like he had been doing when Roman found him. Strange, Roman thought the kid might have had a problem with crowds but there were barely any people around them.

"We're in the center of the city now, at the edge of the residential district, where the city throws its trash." It was the cheapest place to live but also the best place to get a dagger in the back for whatever was in your pocket. Perfect for staying under the radar, so long as you knew where the cops patrolled.

"The poor, injured or abused. Anyone who has a tendency to draw grimm is usually relocated here. "For the safety of all" as the council puts it." Roman snorted callously, the council didn't give a rats ass about the unfortunates of society. They only cared about maintaining their power and keeping grimm away from themselves.

"Wouldn't that just cause people more pain? Why don't they leave?" Jaune sounded confused and Roman had to suppress the urge to sigh, trying and failing to keep the annoyance from his voice, he explained "Of course they want to leave, but there aren't many places people can go. Not without money.". The world revolved around lien and many of the refugees, struggle to find any work upon entering the already overcrowded city.

Leading them inside an unassuming apartment, Roman passed by a few of his men while making his way down the main hallway. he waved them off and continued further into the building, heading towards his office just past the stairs.

Jaune remained silent, his mask hiding any thoughts he might have as they moved to the end of the building, stopping at the last doorway. "I'll be in my office planning if you need me just don't go too far from the apartment, I'll be sending Neo to find you soon."

"You… Don't mind if I leave?" Roman turned back and raised an eyebrow at Jaune "I'm not your babysitter kid, I don't give a damn what you do so long as it doesn't draw attention to us. I only recommend you mind your own business, fight for your own good ya know?" Jaune didn't respond but Roman had other things on his mind, he needed time to think and a quiet place to do it.

"Just go do whatever you normally do, but expect Neo before morning." He opened the door and slipped inside with Neo close behind, the latter of which giving a sweet smile before the door closed.

\-/

Jaune wasn't sure what to think, every question Roman answered just gave him more questions. "Can we trust him…?" Jaune asked Whitback quietly, hoping the sweet smell around them hadn't distracted it. Jaune could smell it too but it didn't affect him nearly as much as it used to, he just needed to focus on something else.

I don't think so… But he isn't wrong either… Whitback spoke slowly, the negativity in the air driving it to slur slightly. It had gotten better at staying lucid around small amounts of anger, fear and other negative emotions that were prevalent in White fang strongholds but neither of them had dealt with such a high population before. It was beginning to mess with their minds.

"Are you alright? Maybe coming here was a mistake…" Jaune wasn't sure what to do, he wanted to help but had no idea how to go about it. Now they were surrounded by the smell that continued to worm its way into their head, not strong enough to overtake their senses but enough to put stress on them.

Don't be foolish, if you want to help people this is the perfect place to be. Whitback seemed to snap back to reality. I'll be fine, just try not to be too scary and we have nothing to worry about. Now let's go find someone to help. Jaune had to smile, he knew Whitback didn't, or perhaps couldn't, care about others but it was trying to help Jaune feel better.

Jaune nodded, Whitback was right; the people around here obviously needed help and just because he didn't quite know how to help didn't mean he couldn't try. At this point it didn't matter if Roman could be trusted, Jaune would find that out eventually no matter what. He would instead focus on helping whoever he could.

With a new game-plan in mind Jaune walked back down the hall and out of the building, ignoring the strange looks from Roman's guards. "Where to start…" Jaune muttered to himself, looking around the darkening neighborhood as street lights started turning on.

Just walk around and listen, I refuse to believe no one is in trouble with so much negativity in the air. Jaune nodded and began walking at a brisk pace, a feeling of urgency quickening his steps even with no destination in mind.

Periodically Jaune would have to pause and take a breath as the sweet scent remained thick in the air. Absentently he wondered if Roman was telling the truth about the city forcing its more unfortunate people into one place. It sounded like a terrible thing for someone to do to another, how could people with the same authority as James be so cruel?

It hadn't gotten too late when he finally heard something out of the ordinary, barely above a whisper but he heard it as clear as day. "... please no… stop..." it was weak but the desperation was clear. "Shut it! No one is coming to help an animal like you." a second voice hissed.

Jaune took off towards the voices, the scent of fear and anger getting stronger as he moved closer before finally finding coming to a dim alley. The sun was gone but Jaune had no trouble seeing the large figure struggling with a smaller figure, a knife in hand.

Without thinking Jaune reach out in desperation to stop the armed attacker, a tendril exploding from his hand in response to his will. Before Jaune knew what was happening it wrapped around the neck of the larger figure and flung him against the opposing wall. With a nauseating crunch the aura-less man was crushed.

Jaune didn't have time to feel guilty as a new wave of negativity hit him, stemming from the Faunus girl he had pullen the man off of. Looking down at the shaking figure Jaune could taste the terror she was radiating.

"...I-I'm sorry" Jaune took a step forward but the girl let out a deafening shriek, reaching for the discard knife and swinging wildly towards Jaune. Whitback, already hazy from the sudden powerful wave of fear, immediately defended against the attack like it would any other and sent thin needles to impale and devour the aggressor.

Jaune wanted to tell Whitback to stop but could do nothing but stare. Why had she attacked him? He had saved her didn't he? He turned numbly to the mangled corpse of the crushshed man that still sat inbedded in the concrete wall, had Jaune really done that? He rarely saw so much blood and sinew, Whitback usually absorbed everything too quickly.

Are you okay Jaune…? Whitback asked after a long silence, its voice cautious as if worried Jaune would suffer another panic attack. "I guess I can control the material." Jaune stated dully while looking at his hand for a few moments before turning and walking out of the alleyway without another word. I'm sorry Jaune…

"It wasn't your fault. She attacked us after all." Did Jaune really believe that? He couldn't stop thinking about the fearful look in that girls eyes, just before she turned to black like countless White Fang before her. Please be honest, I can feel your unrest. I can only help if you talk to me.

"You can't help!" A smash accompanied Jaune's shout, without thinking he stomped his foot down with unrestrained force, cracking concrete and shattering nearby windows. Jaune felt his chest tighten before running straight to Roman's apartment, hoping no one saw it was him who caused so much damaged.

"What the hell was that noise?!" The men standing guard just inside looked completely disheveled but Jaune ignored them, he had to get somewhere quiet. He needed to calm down but the constant negativity in the air kept his nerves on end and it was only getting stronger.

"Hey I'm talking to you!" The man who spoke was clearly angry at being ignore and moved forward to stop Jaune from walking away.

"Move." Jaune didn't notice how his voice reverberated, his head was pounding too hard for him to care and the sweet smell only twisted his thoughts further. Where was it coming from? He knew he was supposed to block it out and focus on something else but he could feel himself slipping.

The stress from what just happened in the alley mixed with the generally negativity that seemed to surround the area was all to much for him. The guard's anger was all it took to push Jaune down a very steep edge.

The man instinctively reached for his weapon, caught completely off guard by Jaune's voice. "What the he-!?" he was cut off as Jaune grabbed and crushed his sword arm in the same instant. The man let out a howl of pain but Jaune couldn't hear over the sound of blood rushing in his ears.

The other guards had enough time to draw their weapons as they witness their coworker dissolve into a shapeless black goo before Jaune brought it into his body. Or had Whitback done that? Jaune couldn't tell and didn't care, in that moment all he cared about was the smell that made his very skin feel alive.

"ehehehe-AHAHAHA! Who's next…?" The remaining guards sweatdropped as Jaune raised a hand towards them, all of them too scared to move an inch. "No one…? Then allow me!" His fingertips sharpened suddenly before extending faster than the nameless henchmen could hope to react. All but one were broken down and consumed to satiate Jaune's growing hunger. The remaining man Jaune flung behind himself, down the hall towards several more henchmen who were making their way towards the commotion.

With yelps of surprise the body hit the small crowd just a second before Jaune followed. They smelled so delectable Jaune couldn't help himself, he needed to devour every single morsel.

More henchmen rushed in from upstairs and Jaune's tendrils became too busy dealing with them to absorb the corpses around him. In response he started using his mouth, letting his mask slip away to start biting into the flesh around him while the tendrils whipped around the entryway, preventing any henchmen from getting away.

"No more…?" Jaune looked around the damaged hallway while his tendrils scoured the immediate area for any biomass it may have missed. "Wasn't there two with Aura…?" Jaune twitched "Doesn't matter… no one here now…" There was no one left in the building but Jaune knew there were others outside.

"Must find more... I need more…" That didn't make sense, why did he need more? Wasn't there plenty here already. "Always more… never enough…" Something was wrong, what was he saying? Never enough what? Why did his head hurt so much?

"I don't… know…" Jaune stared down at his hands, at his sharpened and elongated fingers. "The scent! I need my sweet!" He yelled at the ceiling but that wasn't right either. He was supposed to avoid the scent, not look for it.

He shook his head and a tendril smashed into the wall "I need itt!" more tendrils exploded from Jaune, thrashing around wildly and smashing the walls around him to bits.

He didn't need the scent or the flesh that produced it, it was bad. The more he thought about it the more his head felt like it was splitting in two.

"I. need. I- aahh!" Jaune and Whitback howled in agony as the building collapsed around them.

\-/

For the second time in less than a week, James Ironwood stepped off a bullhead and into the city of Vale. If he was being honest with himself the constant flying back and forth was starting to wear on his patience, at least there was good reason for it. Something had happened with Jaune, something that got him arrested before Ozpin or Qrow could get to him.

A short car ride later and James stood in front of the Vale police station, spotting Qrow waiting outside with a flask in hand. "Oz is waiting inside." The usual sarcasm was gone from his voice, replaced with an exhaustion that spoke volumes of the amount of sleep he had got in the past few days.

"You look worse than I do. Has Jaune been that busy?" James hadn't heard much, just that Jaune had been arrested and Ozpin had changed his mind; observation wasn't an option anymore.

Qrow shrugged "Don't know, he dropped off the map after patch and re-appeared suddenly in Vale yesterday." He let out a sigh and scratched the back of his head. "He hasn't said a word since we found him in the remains of a recently collapsed building. Ozpin is in the interrogation room with him now."

James frowned, they found him in a collapsed building? Had Jaune really gotten into so much trouble in a single day? Even with Whitback's influence James still saw Jaune as a good person, confused and damaged yes, but still just a child doing what he thought was right.

Qrow led James through the station, drawing a few stray stares from the officers curious to why the Atlesian general was in their station. James only glanced at them before continuing with Qrow, Oz would answer any questions they might have.

The room Jaune and Ozpin were in was a basic interrogation room with two sections and a large pane of one way glass separating them. Ozpin was on the side closer to the entrance, simply keeping an eye on Jaune who sat on the opposite side of the glass. A cloak James didn't recognize covered Jaune's downcast face, made from Whitback's material James would guess.

"Thank you for coming James, I apologise for calling you so soon after you left but like I said, I believe I made a mistake." Ozpin looked a little worn out as well James realised, not as much as Qrow but still enough to leave bags under his eyes.

"Observation is no longer a viable route, after last night's events rumors will no doubt begin to spread." Ozpin explained calmly before taking a sip from his mug and asking "I was curious, would you be able to get him to speak? He hasn't said a word and I would like to avoid using any harsher methods."

James nodded, choosing not to dwell on the harsher methods Ozpin referred to and pushing open the door to stand in front of Jaune. From James' new angle he could see the lower half of Jaune's face, covered by a smooth plate. He must have decided to cover his features, at least he understood the need for subtlety, if only vaguely.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" James asked a bit harshly, he didn't want to hurt Jaune but if he insisted in acting like a child and runaway from responsibility he would need to be treated like one.

"You disobeyed me, went AWOL and now I'm told you're refusing to cooperate." Jaune raise his head but the mask prevented James from seeing anything so he continued. "You lost control didn't you? that's why that building was collapsed around you?" Jaune's silence was all the confirmation James needed. "Damnit Jaune I told you that you weren't ready to go into cities!"

Jaune flinched and James saw something drip out from underneath his mask. James realized what was happening a moment later and felt something catch in his throat before he could continue his lecture.

"I-I'm so... sorry…" His voice only served to hammer the spike of guilt growing in James as Jaune's mask slipped off. James could see the increased number of blackened veins but only really noticed the glowing red eyes. Eyes that were drowning in sorrow with tears of blackened midnight streaming from them.

"You were right… I-I…-!" James didn't let him finish before wrapping him in a hug. "It's alright Jaune. I understand." James replied quietly, almost softly. Jaune only sobbed more; he must have had one hell of an introduction to Vale.

\~/

And so Jaune and Whitback go crazy again, this time from all the negative energy that tends to gather in poorer parts of cities and of course a push from a stressful situation only helped to makes things so much worse. He is not the same person when in the frenzied state as you may be able to tell, his mind only able to focus on one thing until the negativity lessens, at least enough for Jaune to snap himself back. Took me a long time to decide whether or not Jaune would spend some time with Roman and Neo but, as a friend reminded me, Roman is coward at heart that would bugout asap if his life was in danger. He would see Jaune bloody eating people and jump out the closest window in my head, But i would love to hear anyone else's thought's! I still believe he is a smart guy if an ass so wouldn't be unbelievable for him to learn from this event and use it against Jaune if found later. (or sooner if something pops up.) like always please don't hesitate to let me know what you think of my story in the reviews! Please have a g'night/mornin if possible!

Thanks for the Review Sm0keyPanda! Hope i didn't disappoint ya and that you continue to enjoy my work!

Artjom435 hope you don't mind the route i took, leaving Roman behind like that. took me awhile to decide to but once I think it was the right choice given the scenario. Jaune wants to be a good person but is having trouble juggling the grimm side that only cares for self preservation and survival. and go crazy around negativity doesn't help him, even with practice he's never had to deal with more than a couple dozen people at once so i thought it would wear on him greatly. I hope you like where I took Jaune and James, poor Jaune is devastated about the previous night! Also hope I didn't make anything seem to forced or anything, thanks for reviewing! hope to hear what you think!