Beta: ShadowMeister234
Jaune pulled the poncho he had "borrowed" from his dad tighter as he navigated the half-flooded city. Water sloshed around his ankles and rain pounded his back. Every step took ten times the normal effort and despite not even being noon, it was dark enough to be midnight. Honestly, it was incredible how different a place, even one you grew up in, could look when it was colored in darkness.
The one blessing this artificial storm provided was the absence of wind. The water droplets fell straight down like miniature bombs. It sucked but at least he didn't have to worry about them being blown back into his face. Still, Jaune didn't know how anyone was supposed to fight in these conditions. He specifically was at a disadvantage since the chalk he normally used to draw his etches was useless in this weather. To improvise he had taken a deck of cards from the house and any color of marker or pen he could find. Thankfully, Mauve had come through on that front with her large collection, but even so, Jaune knew it was going to be awkward drawing his etchings on playing cards with his mismatched art supplies.
Perhaps this was a bad idea. Perhaps he should just turn back. He didn't. He just kept trudging to his destination like a beaten dog.
Arthur had said that it wouldn't be hard to find him, and he was right. The clouds above twisted and turned in a way that pointed towards a center. For someone not in the know, it probably would have been impossible to notice, but for Jaune it was a perfect map.
Following the path to the "center" of the storm led him to the back of the village where the creek first entered through the wall. There weren't many houses back here which was a good thing for the residents but a bad thing for Jaune since there wasn't much cover. Cover he was probably going to need since someone was standing on the other side of the creek that wasn't Arthur, and if it wasn't Arthur, there was only one other person that'd be out in this storm.
For an ancient agent of chaos, the Mad Hatter looked surprisingly normal even if he was abnormally tall rising to at least eight feet. His attire was also dated being dressed in a slightly tattered greenish-brown suit complete with gloves and a tailcoat. He would have fit in quite well as a Schnee butler had the colors been adjusted, the tears sewn up, and the splotches of mud washed away. It was only above the shoulders that there was an indication that this person wasn't quite right.
First, there was the unnaturally purple cat resting on his shoulders almost lazily. Moving up, the Mad Hatter's face was covered with white powder. Powder that Jaune remembered learning that old nobility used to wear. However, the powder the Mad Hatter was wearing was applied so thickly that it appeared he didn't have any lips. Curly blond hair, which was so dull it looked pink, completely covered his eyes drawing the focus even higher to the hat the man got his title from. Jaune couldn't really say why. The Mad Hatter's hat wasn't especially strange. It looked pretty much like a normal top hat albeit in an odd dark green color and with two white feathers seemingly stuck on the front. Though, with the real eyes covered those slanted feathers did sort of give the impression that they were the Mad Hatter's real eyes.
They might well be for all Jaune knew.
The storm continued to rage pounding the both of them with rain. The Mad Hatter didn't seem to care despite being soaked through. Actually, the Mad Hatter didn't seem to care about much of anything. Jaune had been staring at him for the last two minutes, and he wasn't reacting at all. In fact, the cat seemed more interested, staring back at Jaune with a wide grin. (How could a cat grin?)
The two of them were in a deadlock with the Mad Hatter as still as a statue, and Jaune not wanting to make the first move. Who knows how long they would have stayed like that had the third participant not shown up?
"Welcome back to the unknown world. I figured you couldn't stay away for long." Arthur strolled onto the scene remarkably calm despite a bandage wrapped around his head and a slight limp to his stride. He allowed Jaune to share the space under his umbrella when he got close enough.
Jaune could have made his position clear, but potentially bickering with his only ally in front of the Mad Hatter would have been a stupid thing to do. Better to let Arthur think that he was back to being a caretaker for good. "What now?" Jaune asked instead.
"Have you not been paying attention? We kill him, of course."
"I know that. I just—I thought he'd be more aggressive." Jaune wasn't really comfortable starting off with violence when the Mad Hatter didn't even seem to be hostile. What evidence did Jaune have that the person in front of him was even the Mad Hatter? Just a stranger's word.
"What? Have you gotten cold feet?"
"He hasn't done anything." Jaune made his concerns known.
"Does he need to? His existence alone will drive this town to madness if we allow it."
"You say that, but forgive me for being cautious. I don't want to end up doing the Grimm Queen's dirty work."
"Ah, so that's it. You think this is some kind of trick. A fair worry, but rest assured you won't be questioning yourself for long. The Mad Hatter is about as bad as it gets." Arthur rubbed his palm like he was trying to dig something out of it.
"Then why isn't he doing anything?"
"He's probably wondering the same about us. Curious why two people would brave a storm just to stare at him."
"Shouldn't he already know? You did fight him last night, didn't you?"
Arthur shrugged. "Of course, but he's probably already forgotten about that."
Jaune's eyes squinted in frustration. "How could he forget?"
"Madness is defined by suffering from a disconnect with reality. A lost continuity of time is a common trait among the afflicted. I assume the Mad Hatter suffers the same; though, the possibility exists that he is simply scatterbrained. Would you believe that last night's fight was concluded because he wandered off?"
It wouldn't be the strangest thing Jaune had heard. "So, he's waiting for us to make the first move." Hard to believe when the Mad Hatter had barely moved this entire time. Just creepily watched them from across the creek. Jaune wondered what his eyes were like under that hair. Were they full and erratic or dead and empty? Did he even have eyes?
"I believe that's exactly what he's waiting for. Give it your best shot."
"Me! Why do I have to start? He's your hunt."
"True, but I started the last time. I believe it's only fair that you start off this time."
What arrogant garbage, but it wasn't like Jaune could force Arthur to act. "I'm still not exactly comfortable attacking someone unprovoked."
"If that's how you feel, perhaps you'd like to try and communicate with him. I promise I won't intervene."
Jaune didn't need to be told that trying to chat with the Mad Hatter would be a disastrous idea, so with little other way to break the stalemate, Jaune took a single step forward and held out his hand. The Mad Hatter's only response was to tilt his head slightly. Jaune felt his skin burn hot as he fired one of his tattoo lines at the Mad Hatter naively hoping that this one attack could put an end to this.
The Mad Hatter didn't even try to dodge the light spear, and it looked like it was going to hit him square on, but the cat on his shoulders swiped his paw at the spear like it was playing with a toy. The spear flew in the direction the cat slapped it in, completely ignoring Jaune's will as he tried to change its course. It hit the village wall tearing a hole right through it as it continued to travel into the forest beyond before dissipating.
"What an annoying creature," Arthur huffed.
The Mad Hatter still wasn't moving even after the assassination attempt, but something had certainly changed. The storm had grown somehow softer despite not changing in intensity, and well, Jaune wasn't sure how to explain it. The Mad Hatter didn't look right anymore. Nothing had changed about him physically, but it was like Jaune was now looking at him through a television screen.
That unexplainable perspective change only got worse as the Mad Hatter finally moved forward.
"Prepare yourself, this is it." Arthur pulled a yellow, robotic orb from his coat and threw it in the air where it began to float beside him like a stringless balloon. Jaune didn't have anything nearly as unique and simply held up his shield.
The Mad Hatter approached the creek that divided them, and for a moment Jaune thought he would walk over the water as if it were just more land, but when he stepped onto the water, he fell in just like anyone else. The purple cat shrieked as it too was carried under the water's surface. The only part that remained visible was the hat peering out of the water like a crocodile getting ready to pull its prey down with it.
The sight didn't faze Arthur, and he wasn't about to let this lucky opportunity go to waste. "Venus, superheat!" The fist-sized orb flew to the creek's surface and dipped itself into the water. Instantly the water bubbled and steam spouted from along the creek. Dead fish rose to the surface, their scales literally melting off. Even from where Jaune was standing it felt like he had his face over a campfire and was swallowing the smoke. He couldn't imagine how hot the water must be.
But neither of them really believed something like that would be enough to stop the Mad Hatter, and they were proven right when the water suddenly flowed upward defying gravity to create an elevated pool. It was only a small section of the creek that was affected, so on one side water flowed up to the pool, and on the other side, it poured down in a waterfall. The canopy of free-floating water would have been beautiful had it not revealed an unscathed Mad Hatter standing in the newly created trench. He clumsily climbed the embankment to their side looking as unconcerned as ever.
Then he snapped his fingers.
The force that had been holding the creek up let go causing the water to fall back down to Remnant. In exchange, the world lost all its color. Suddenly Jaune could only see in greyscale as if he had been transported to a pencil-drawn world.
Arthur scoffed and tossed out another metallic orb. This one was a lot bigger than the previous one and probably a different color too, but in this gray-scale world, Jaune could only tell that it was slightly lighter. "Saturn, restrain!" Saturn didn't fly off like Venus. Instead, three rings surrounded the Mad Hatter pinning his arms, legs and hands together. He went down like a bag of rocks and fell face-first into the mud. The cat jumped off his shoulders just in time and landed on his back.
Jaune used his tattoo to fire three more spears and guided them so they came at the Mad Hatter from different directions. "Meow," with incredible speed the cat hit one spear with its tail, dashed to hit the second with its paw, and used the Mad Hatter as a springboard to headbutt the third. All the spears scattered against Jaune's will with one coming dangerously close to hitting him.
Once Jaune's attack was dealt with, the cat turned to the rings restraining its master and began chewing on one. The ring didn't disappear or crack, but the orb that had created them began to spark and smoke. "Saturn, Release!" The rings around the Mad Hatter disappeared and as they did Arthur pulled out a fancy-looking revolver and took a few shots at the cat which it dodged with remarkable ease.
"What is that thing?" Jaune asked once Arthur had given up.
"A pesky obstacle. If the Mad Hatter is capable of casting any type of magic, then that thing is capable of disrupting any type of magic. In a way, it's even more dangerous than the power of the silver eyes which can only destroy magic."
Jaune wasn't given too much time to process that horrifying knowledge since without even bothering to get up, the Mad Hatter snapped his fingers again.
The world returned to color, but in exchange for the removal of that slight inconvenience cracks formed in the ground and up bubbled a brown slimy substance. As it quickly spread, the grass it touched wilted and then turned to dust like it was being aged a thousand years a second. Jaune panicked knowing that that slime would be devastating if it reached the town proper.
He grabbed one of his playing cards and drew an etch on it as fast as he could. Once it was completed, the ground surrounding the slime and Mad Hatter rose up trapping the two in a sort of bowl and preventing the slime from spreading any further.
"Venus, explosion! Maximum level." The Venus orb dove into the dirt bowl and in a detonation, that no doubt alerted the entire town, sent dirt and rocks flying out like an erupting volcano.
Among the objects sent skyward was the Mad Hatter himself. His clothes were singed and his skin was blackened. He landed outside the bowl crumpling like a ragdoll. The drop would have killed any normal person let alone the explosion before, but the Mad Hatter survived thanks to the shimmering light that shielded him when he hit the ground
Jaune almost choked on realizing that the Mad Hatter had aura. Having aura meant having a soul and that just wasn't something Jaune could easily reconcile with the being in front of him.
"Don't lose your nerve now!" Arthur shouted. "This is our best shot."
Jaune blinked a few times before noticing what Arthur meant. The cat was missing. The Mad Hatter's best defense was gone. Jaune quickly fired two more light spears, but before he could fire the third, the Mad Hatter snapped.
Jaune wasn't where he was before. The Mad Hatter and Arthur were missing and instead of wet grass, Jaune was standing on cobblestone. He was on one of the many small streets that ran through Anvil Creek with buildings caging him in on both sides.
At least he hoped he was still in Anvil Creek. It seemed likely since the buildings looked familiar and a horrible storm was still raging above. Still, if he had been teleported there was no telling where he truly was. He might not even be on Remnant. What if the Mad Hatter sent him to an alternate dimension? In a slight panic, Jaune patted down his poncho where he was holding all his magical items until he found his transdimensional plate. Thankfully, all the disks were in the right order, so he knew he was in the correct dimension.
That just left finding a landmark to confirm to himself that he was actually in Anvil Creek. The alleyway he was in looked too much like every other backroad for him to tell. After that he would meet back up with Arthur. Either only Jaune had been teleported away and Arthur was fighting the Mad Hatter on his own, or both of them had been teleported and he was somewhere else in the city. No matter which it was, Jaune could use the clouds to guide him.
But, before he could take a single step, someone snapped their fingers.
Something he couldn't see slammed into him and carried him all the way to the alley's wall. He tried to escape the force that was pinning him but this invisible wall didn't seem to have an end, at least not one he could reach. Worse, it was hardly done with him as it kept pushing him into the building behind him in an attempt to flatten him.
With his arms restrained, Jaune couldn't use his etches so the only option he had left was to fire one of his last remaining spears. It was dangerous to use them at point-blank range and the resulting explosion proved that, but thankfully it worked. The invisible wall dispersed although he couldn't tell exactly how.
For the moment, it didn't matter as Jaune fell to his knees, ears ringing, eyes spinning and worried he had cracked a few ribs. Aura could only do so much when your whole body was being bulldozed.
It was a chore to get back to his feet, and it certainly didn't help to see the Mad Hatter watching him as if he had always been there. The cat was back as well, firmly on the Hatter's shoulders, still grinning.
Jaune was down to his last light spear, but in truth even if he still had all eight that stupid cat would still probably find a way to block them all. He needed a subtler approach. Jaune pulled a playing card from his pocket and stood so it was blocked from view as he started drawing an etch.
However, The Mad Hatter was no longer content with just waiting around and snapped his finger once more.
Jaune braced himself for whatever ordeal the Hatter whipped up this time, but surprisingly what came forth wasn't harmful at all. Bulbs of light no bigger than fireflies hovered in front of the Hatter like the stars in the night sky.
The cat pawed at one causing it to flicker out, but other than that they didn't do anything. If anything, they were calming to look at. Jaune wondered if that's what they were for. Trying to get him to drop his guard, but why bother? A snap of the fingers was the only clue Jaune was ever given and the Mad Hatter seemed capable of anything. Actually, maybe not. There had to be some limit to the Hatter's power otherwise Arthur and he would have died on the first snap. Arthur had said the Mad Hatter could make two plus two equal anything from zero to infinity, but maybe he couldn't go as far as making it equal to "Z".
Of course, that was under the assumption that the Hatter wasn't just playing with his food before his meal.
Whatever the case, the Hatter seemed to agree that the light orbs weren't very effective and readied another snap, but Jaune finished his etch. A sudden explosion appeared in front of the Hatter, large enough to knock him off his feet and interrupt his snap.
Or at least, that's what was supposed to happen. Instead, that damn cat seemed to sense the magic before it even fully formed and swiped at it. The explosion didn't go off, the card in Jaune's hand tore itself into pieces, and the snap still happened.
It was Jaune blown off his feet instead. Felt like he had been uppercut in the jaw as the entire world spun. He didn't even get to see what hit him before the Hatter snapped again. Without any sense of direction, Jaune rolled along the street just hoping to avoid whatever was coming for him this time. He half succeeded in rolling into a pile of white bird feathers. Getting back to his feet, the feathers were all along the street and more floating down from the sky complimenting the rain, but just like the orbs, the feathers appeared to be harmless.
The Mad Hatter was definitely just playing with him, but this did present a valuable opportunity. That cat might be able to disrupt magic, but Jaune had seen from Arthur that it couldn't protect against the more mundane ways of attack, so Jaune gripped his sword and rushed the Mad Hatter abandoning subtlety for all-out aggression.
The cat did back away a bit, but the Hatter treated Jaune's charge with the same empty inattentiveness as always. That should have been a sign for Jaune to call off his strike, but he was too far into it to back down now.
The Mad Hatter blocked Crocea Mors with his arm, his aura shimmering under the pressure, but it was Jaune who faced the consequences. There was an ear-deafening snap. The blade broke apart turning into a swarm of colorful butterflies, but it didn't stop there. The effect traveled down to the hilt, then his finger, then his arm, then to all of him.
There was barely any time to scream as Jaune felt himself being ripped apart into a thousand flying insects. Though, that didn't stop the panic from setting in as he ran (flew?) away from the Mad Hatter. If he still had lungs he would have been hyperventilating, but as it was the group of butterflies that once made up his chest only flapped their wings faster.
He didn't know how he knew that. He didn't know how he could still see. He didn't know how he could even still be alive. Brothers, what was he going to do? How could he live like this? How long did butterflies even live for?
Before Jaune could have a complete mental break over his new existence, the Mad Hatter snapped his fingers and Jaune collapsed onto the cobblestone road, his body back to its normal fleshy self. Jaune could have cried and likely would have if the Mad Hatter wasn't still right behind him.
Jaune didn't waste any time putting his guard up and slowly backing away absolutely terrified to touch him again. Thankfully the Hatter didn't seem all that interested in approaching him. Instead, he was looking to the sky like something had caught his attention, and Jaune wasn't about to interrupt him.
The respite did give Jaune some much needed time to think. It seemed obvious now that the Mad Hatter could only cast one spell at a time and casting a new one caused the previous one to become completely undone no matter how absurd the change was. It was only the secondary damage left over. Like a burn still remaining even after the fire had been put out.
But, why didn't the Hatter just leave him as a swarm of butterflies? Sure, technically it hadn't killed him, but he wasn't exactly going to be a threat in that state. Was it because the Hatter still needed to deal with Arthur, but if that were the reason then why bother with the butterflies in the first place? Why not get it over with? It was almost like—!"
Jaune had a horrifying epiphany. The greyscale perspective, feathers and all the other odd decisions suddenly made a whole lot of sense if you considered that the Hatter wasn't in complete control. When Arthur had explained the Mad Hatter's power, Jaune had assumed that the Hatter had just created a system far beyond even a caretaker's comprehension, but that wasn't it at all. There was no system. There were no rules. Whenever the Hatter snapped, he was spinning an infinite roulette wheel where not even he knew which space he would land on.
That was…
That was…
That was madness.
Jaune booked it down the street as fast as he could. There was no point in worrying about protection or cover anymore. The Mad Hatter wasn't playing with strategy or reason. He was just going to keep spinning the wheel until he won, and eventually he would get a lucky hit.
Jaune needed to find Arthur. They had to make a plan. Jaune didn't know what that plan would be; he was depending on Arthur for that. He just knew they needed one before the Hatter rolled a spell that destroyed the entire town, or the entire planet.
Jaune looked behind him to see how much distance he had put between him and the Mad Hatter, and to his shock the Hatter was keeping up with an absentminded stroll. It was like space was compressing so they wouldn't get too far apart. Was this the effect of the new spell, or was this just normal for him?
Jaune rounded a corner and lost sight of the Hatter, but the snap of his finger was still audible through the splashing of the rain. A quick scan of his surroundings didn't reveal anything amiss, but that was hardly any comfort. Literally anything could be happening and even if nothing was, the next danger was only a snap away.
Jaune put every effort into losing the Mad Hatter, but no matter how fast he ran, or how many twists and turns he took, he could always hear the sound of splashing footsteps not far behind. Eventually, he had to slow down to catch his breath. He just didn't have a choice.
He had ended up in the city square which was nothing more than a cobblestone courtyard. Good news since he knew where he was and he'd be able to see the Mad Hatter approaching. Bad news because it left him wide open and very visible. Worse news, there was someone else with him.
She was standing there in a raincoat one size too big. Bright blue eyes stared at him through round lenses. "There you are, Jaune. I've been looking for you," his sister said.
Jaune's mind whirled. This didn't make sense. Crystal should have been safe and sound at home. What possessed her to come out in this storm?
"Well, don't just stand there. Say something. Why did you leave?"
Maybe this wasn't Crystal. Maybe this was just another spin of the roulette wheel. An illusion or a mimic that would devour him the moment he got close.
Shit, the footsteps were getting closer. The Mad Hatter would be here soon.
And now Crystal was walking towards him too.
He had to make a decision and fast.
Screw it. He would rather die to a trick thinking he was protecting his sister than be wrong and leave her behind.
Jaune quickly approached the girl that may have been his sister and grabbed her arm. "Come with me."
Crystal resisted and held her ground for a moment before Jaune forced her forward, earning a yelp of pain as he yanked her arm. "What the hell Jaune!"
"Be quiet and do what I say." Jaune snapped.
Crystal's face froze mid-retort. Never before had Jaune been so harsh with any of his sisters, so it probably came as quite the shock to her to see him this way. He didn't feel bad; this was life or death.
Glancing behind him, he saw the Hatter had reached the courtyard seeming to take a slight interest in the new addition. Did that mean Crystal was the real deal, or was it possible the Hatter didn't even know?
"Who's that?" Crystal asked, having looked back along with Jaune.
Jaune pulled her harder, almost causing her to slip and fall. "Don't look at him. Just follow me, and tell me why you're out of the house."
Crystal whimpered under his strong grip but wasn't trying to fight against him. "Jaune what's going on?" She looked scared.
He was too.
"Just answer the question." Behind them the Mad Hatter snapped, proving that Crystal was the real deal and made protecting her from the Hatter's random barrage all the more important. This time it was a buzzing sound that he didn't like hearing, but thankfully wasn't painful.
"I saw you leave the house," Crystal shook her head as if trying to dislodge the buzzing noise. "When you didn't come back, I went looking for you."
A pit opened in Jaune's stomach. "What about the rest of the family? Are they looking for me too?"
"No, it's just me."
Thank the Brothers for small miracles. "Listen to me. You have to go back home right now. Run as fast as you can and when you get there lock the doors and stay put. No matter what, don't leave until morning. Maybe not even then if it's still stormy."
"But—"
"Don't argue with me! Just do what your big brother says."
They were almost out of the courtyard and then Crystal would be able to use the side streets to escape, but just as they approached an entrance to one, the Mad Hatter snapped and suddenly he was in front of them.
Teleportation again? No, this was—"
Jaune didn't have much time to think about it since another snap dropped him without mercy. "Jaune, what's wrong!" Crystal cried as she watched her brother convulse on the cold wet ground.
It felt like someone was reaching into his chest and crushing his heart and lungs. He struggled for air that his body just wouldn't accept. He tried to tell his sister to run but his lips refused to move. All he could do was look at her tear-stricken face and the Mad Hatter standing behind her.
"Mars, rupture!"
The road behind the Mad Hatter bubbled up and then popped, sending rocks in every direction like machine gunfire. Crystal cried as she was hit by a few stray shots, but the majority struck the Hatter. It didn't do much against his aura, but the cat completely freaked out, after all the rocks weren't magic, and leaped away from the Hatter.
"Vulcan, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn; orbital bombardment!"
Five spheres of various shapes and colors circled the Mad Hatter like a tornado, and with the cat out of reach there was nothing between the Hatter and the beam of light that came down from the heavens. Jaune felt his body return to his control as the Mad Hatter snapped in an attempt to protect himself.
Jaune wasted no time grabbing his sister and hurling both of them as far as possible just as the light beam barred down on the Mad Hatter. Even with his eyes shut, Jaune thought the light might blind him, but luckily it only lasted for a couple of seconds.
"Crystal, are you okay?" Jaune hauled the both of them to their feet. His vision was still blurry so he couldn't really tell what had happened to the Mad Hatter, but he could still make out the details on Crystal. She was soaked, bruised, covered in pebbles, and her glasses were cracked. Definitely worse for wear but nothing serious.
"Jaune, please tell me what's going on?" she begged.
Jaune held her shoulder. "Now's not really the time for explanations. Run back home and do exactly what I said. Don't tell anyone what's going on out here." The last thing he wanted was for their dad to come running out to save him.
"That's not fair. I—"
"Saturn, restrain!"
The same rings that had bound the Mad Hatter now appeared around Crystal, and she would have crashed onto the ground had Jaune not caught her.
"This is none of your concern," Arthur said, having walked up behind them. "Run along home now." The orb known as Saturn floated in front of Arthur and a panel opened up on its side that contained a screen and a small keyboard. Arthur quickly typed something in and closed it again. "My friend will guide you."
"Wait!" but before Crystal could say another word, Saturn sped off like a racecar carrying Crystal, suspended in the air, behind it. Jaune watched her go feeling a weight being lifted off his shoulder as she disappeared from view.
"Eyes sharp," Arthur yelled, "the Mad Hatter isn't done with us. In fact, I dare say, we've finally woken him up."
Jaune could see what Arthur meant as the Mad Hatter pushed himself off the ground. The last attack had done some serious damage which was saying a lot considering the Hatter had tanked everything else with little worry. Now rising from the ground with charred clothes and blistered skin, Jaune could tell he was angry. His lipless mouth was peeled back in rage, his eyes, still hidden behind his hair, glowed a concerning purple, and the feather's stuck on his hat twisted and wiggled like vicious parasites, but all that was just supplementary.
The real concern was the Mad Hatter's hands. He had brought them together in front of his chest and rubbed his palms together like he was about to partake in a grand feast.
Then he began to clap.
It would be impossible to describe everything that happened after the clapping began. Unlike the snaps where the Mad Hatter was willing to wait between beats, the clapping was constant. Thousands of torments had been summoned and Jaune would have died a hundred times over had the spells stuck around long enough to finish the job. He was pretty sure the universe had even been squashed flat at one point. If the Mad Hatter slowed down even a little this fight would be over. As it was, this was a horribly inefficient way of trying to kill someone, but maybe he wanted it that way. Honestly, death would probably be a mercy at this point.
He had felt his bones disappear, his skin turned to marble, the world inverted, a fourth dimension, and so much more. They had all only lasted a moment but they stuck with him, and even if they hadn't done much actual damage, Jaune was spent. His body ached as he stared up at the stormy sky, from his spot lying on the ground, listening to the single-man band clapping away, thankfully entering a string of mostly harmless spells. It wouldn't last long, so Jaune wanted to enjoy it.
It wasn't like there was anything else he could do. His strength was gone, his last light spear had been ineffective, and it was impossible to draw etches under these circumstances. (Something nibbled at his finger, probably trying to eat him before quickly disappearing.) Even if he could find enough uninterrupted time to make one, the cat would just destroy it. There wasn't any point. Jaune was finished.
Arthur was still hanging on, but Jaune doubted it would be for much longer. One of the orbs, Vulcan Jaune believed, was broken into three different pieces, and Mars was barely functioning, smoking and sparking something awful. (Jaune vomited three striped billiard balls. Probably would have been more but the claps never ceased.) Not like it would have mattered even if they were brand new. None of their attacks had gotten anywhere close to hitting the Mad Hatter since the clapping began. All they could do was wait until the Hatter finally landed on an instakill, and he would, sooner or later.
Jaune knew he was going to die here. He accepted it with a strange calm. Maybe if his current situation wasn't so horrendous, he would have felt different. (A coffin formed around him plunging him into complete darkness for the briefest moment.) He had plenty of regrets, about how he left Beacon and Emerald chief among them. What he didn't regret was challenging the Mad Hatter with Arthur. (The sky cracked and shattered before immediately being restored.)
Obviously, it hadn't ended favorably, but hopefully Crystal would be able to warn the rest of their family and have them evacuate. Maybe they could even convince the rest of the town, but even if it was just his family it would be worth it. There was some small comfort in knowing that trying, even though he failed, had been the right decision. Hiding away in the house would have surely led to all of them being consumed by the Hatter's maddens.
Maybe he was already there.
"ARGHH!" Jaune's eyes nearly popped out of his skull as he saw Crystal come running out of nowhere. No, no, no! What was that idiot thinking? Why had she come back?
Crystal ignored his soundless screams and continued her charge right into the Mad Hatter who didn't even acknowledge her existence. "Leave my brother alone!" It might have been called a tackle if she had worked out a day in her life, but against her small frame, the Mad Hatter barely moved. What Crystal had done, however, was pin one of the Hatter's arms between his body and hers.
For the first time in what felt like an eternity, the clapping stopped. What he and Arthur kept failing to do, Crystal had accomplished with one surprising move. It wouldn't last though. The Mad Hatter was already trying to shake her off. Feeling strength he knew he didn't have a moment ago, Jaune got to his feet and rushed to save his sister, pulling out a playing card and a pen as he did.
Crystal had a surprisingly strong grip and wasn't being shrugged off so easily, but the grinning cat atop the Mad Hatter's shoulders had enough of all this commotion. It readied its claws and unleashed them on Crystal's face. She cried as five deep red gashes ran across her nose. Still, she held on, so the Mad Hatter lifted his free hand, fingers ready to snap.
Jaune wasn't close enough and he wasn't done with his etch. He could only hope that this snap would lead to something harmless.
It turned out he needn't bother because the snap never came. Instead, the badly damaged Mars shot itself at the Mad Hatter's free hand. It didn't actually cause any real damage, but it did knock his hand away disturbing his fingers so he couldn't snap for a few seconds. That was all the time Jaune needed.
His etch was complete, and as the purple cat went to take a swipe at it, Jaune deployed his shield and swung it around like a club. Instead of getting hit the cat decided to evade, but that allowed Jaune's etch to properly cast.
The Mad Hatter found himself with his hand and arm up to his elbow encased in ice. The cat immediately started to chew on it to free its master, but unfortunately for the feline the ice itself wasn't magic. With so much rain there was plenty of water to freeze and it was thick enough that the Hatter wouldn't be breaking it anytime soon, and with his hand frozen solid, he couldn't move his fingers at all.
The Mad Hatter seemed to realize this as he opened his mouth in a silent scream of horror. It wasn't silent for long though. The sounds that came from the Mad Hatter's throat weren't comprehensible. Not in a way where a different language was incomprehensible. No, the very noise was alien. It felt like someone had stabbed needles into Jaune's eardrums and he could feel liquid dripping from them. A look at Crystal's ears revealed that the liquid was blood.
It was too much for Jaune's dear sister. Her eyes rolled back as she passed out leaving Jaune to rush in to catch her. He managed to get to her before she cracked her head on the ground, but now the Hatter's arm was freed.
"Venus—!"
Whatever command Arthur had in mind didn't get said as the Mad Hatter used his finger, not to snap, but to draw something in the air at ridiculous speed. There weren't any actual lines being drawn, just the conceptual path of the Mad Hatter's finger, but Jaune still recognized it immediately. It was an etch.
Despite not having a physical drawing the etch still worked. The Venus orb was run through and destroyed by numerous icicles materializing in the sky and Arthur had to do his best to evade and block the ones coming down on him. Then the Mad Hatter turned his attention back to Jaune. Jaune couldn't even get to his feet in the time it took the Hatter to draw another etch. It was too fast for Jaune to read and even if he could, the lack of color meant he couldn't predict what it would do. About all he could do was tuck Crystal close to his chest and turn his back to offer her some protection.
However, that left him wide open as something impacted his back, burning like hell, and sending him skidding along the ground like a tossed pebble. Jaune had to helplessly watch as his playing cards, pens and everything else he was carrying with him fell to the ground and scattered every which way.
He stopped, dropped, and rolled, discarding the burning tatters of fabric that had once been his poncho. It felt like he had been punched by a volcano and his aura wasn't doing a thing to alleviate the pain. Eventually, he smothered whatever was burning him and collapsed face down on the cobblestone, just letting the rain soothe his aching back.
He was exhausted. The bout of energy he had gotten from seeing Crystal in danger had left him, and what did he have to show for it? He was back where he started except in an even worse state with even fewer options. Of course, he couldn't forget that his sister was now here to die right alongside him.
He didn't want that. He clenched his teeth so hard in denial that his gums bled, but what else could he do? He was out of tricks, and he doubted he had the strength to carry Crystal away even if the Mad Hatter would let him. How badly Jaune wished he had just one more chance.
Then he noticed it.
It must have fallen out of his poncho along with everything else, but it had landed just in front of him, hardly visible under the pounding rain. The glass knife was transparent after all.
Jaune reached out to grab it. The glass knife shouldn't have been that important. It's only previous use to Jaune was to talk with Whitley outside of CTT range, but Jaune remembered that he had been given a prophecy.
A prophecy from a sad, lonely girl trapped in an endless library. She had refused to take it even though it could have connected her to the outside world. She had refused it because she said one day it would save his life. Well, if it was going to save him then now was the time.
Jaune wrapped his fingers around the knife. It didn't feel any different, but Jaune trusted Alice. If she believed that this knife would finally put an end to her horrible father, then he believed it too.
He forced himself to his feet one more time and watched as the Mad Hatter used an unseen etch to melt the ice restraining his other arm. There wasn't any way for Jaune to cover the distance between them to stab the Hatter, so channeling all his remaining willpower, Jaune swung the knife in front of him as if the slash might travel all the way to his foe.
It did not, but when Jaune swung, the blade caught on something. A moment later Jaune was cutting a gouge through the very fabric of the world, and from that tear emerged a creature. It was inky black with six legs, four eyes and two mouths. It was not concerned with its new surroundings or how it got here. It just went after the first thing it saw which was the Mad Hatter.
The Mad Hatter, for the first time displayed an expression that may have been shock, and quickly used etchings and snaps to defend himself. The creature continued its reckless charge unfeeling.
Jaune examined his knife in awe. He knew that the glass it was made from could transport things through worlds, but the assumption had been that its capability was determined by its surface area. Whitley had said molding it into a knife had failed to turn it into a useful weapon, but it would appear they had both been focusing on the wrong application and missed what should have been obvious from the start.
The Mad Hatter felled the four-eyed creature, but Jaune cut another tear in the world and this time a flying serpent sprung forth to greet the Mad Hatter. Then Jaune did it again to give the Mad Hatter more company.
Suddenly the Mad Hatter was on the back foot. Every time he killed one creature a new one was there to take its place. He could snap and clap as many times as he wanted, but even if he had infinite spells, Jaune had an infinite number of creatures. Some would die before doing anything, some would only get a single scratch, some would get an entire bite, some would do something just as devastating as any of the spells the Mad Hatter could cast. It didn't much matter because in this test of endurance one man gone mad couldn't win against the horde.
The end was apparent to all when the grinning cat, recognizing the hopeless situation, jumped from the Mad Hatter's shoulder and ran away. There were a few more desperate snaps from the Mad Hatter as he tried to cast something that would save him, but luck wasn't with him and he came up empty.
His aura broke and the horde descended.
It was a violent end, but a brief one as he was devoured until not even a shard of bone remained. Then having completed their meal, the horde moved their heads, or head substitutes, as one looking for their next. It was then Jaune realized that he might have unleashed something far worse on the town than the Mad Hatter.
"Earth," Arthur stood in front of the horde unafraid, "unnatural disaster!" A green and blue orb fell from the sky. The storm clouds came with it, obligated to follow their creator. Within seconds, the storm that had been covering the entire city condensed itself on top of the horde of creatures in a tornado of water and lightning. The smaller creatures were thrown aside, the larger ones bore the full force of the whirlwind as their flesh was ripped from their bodies. When everything was over the horde was no more and the sky was clear as far as the eye could see.
It was a beautiful day.
"Kind of anticlimactic if I must say. I was expecting more from the legendary Mad Hatter."
Considering the number of times he had nearly died, Jaune was going to disagree with Arthur on that. It was unfathomable to Jaune that the good doctor could just sit at their street-side table and eat a café bought pastry like nothing had happened. Even worse was that Jaune was doing the same.
Not even 24 hours had gone by, most of which Jaune had spent sleeping, since the Mad Hatter's defeat, yet Anvil Creek had returned to normal like the despair that had been infecting the town had been snapped away. Despite the devastating battle because of the way the Mad Hatter's power worked there was little lasting damage. Of course, the explosions and terrain modifications he and Arthur had made were still present, but those could be explained away by the storm and people weren't too keen to look any deeper. It seemed that most were just happy to be out and about.
"Speaking of," Arthur said, continuing a thought Jaune hadn't listened to, "if you could use that knife of yours to pull off such a trick then why didn't you do so earlier? Could have saved us a lot of trouble."
"I only just discovered it could do that too."
"I see, yet you recklessly made use of it to summon numerous beasts. What would you have done had I not disposed of them?"
"I had a plan," Jaune lied.
"Hmm," Arthur looked at Jaune with an unbelieving gaze as he took a sip from the blackest coffee Jaune had ever laid eyes on. It was like the man had somehow added negative milk to his beverage.
"Enough with your questions," Jaune said after he couldn't handle the stare any longer. "I have some of my own to ask you."
Arthur sighed like this was going to be the biggest headache of his week. "I suppose it's only fair since you did help me with my request. What would you like to know?"
"You know what happened at Beacon, don't you?"
"I do."
"Then you know about Sulfur."
"I'm vaguely familiar with the man. He is the one that killed Cinder."
"Cinder?"
"My co-worker or ex-coworker I guess you could say. She's the one that set everything that happened at Beacon into motion. Funny how quickly the tables were turned on her. I did offer to provide her assistance against any magical tampering, but that arrogant girl was convinced she could handle everything on her own. Look where that got her."
Arthur must have been talking about the woman in red who had threatened Emerald. Honestly, he was happy to hear she had died, but less thrilled to know that she had been working for the Queen of Grimm and that Sulfur was apparently good enough to take her out. "What do you think about Sulfur?"
"Unassuming. Wasn't even in my periphery until his display at Beacon. Still wouldn't know anything about him if his actions hadn't had a direct impact on my work. Good on him for getting rid of Cinder though. That girl was unbearable and we can certainly find better. Perhaps I should send Sulfur a gift basket as thanks."
Jaune slammed his fist on the table. "Not that! I'm asking what you think he's planning."
Arthur waited for Jaune to calm down before answering. "I can't claim to know what he's thinking, but judging from his brief actions, I would assume he is after the same thing Cinder and my employer are. He wants the Relic of Choice."
Jaune's eyes narrowed. "I've heard about those. The relics left behind by the Brothers, but what would he want the Relic of Choice for? From what I've read, at least compared to the others, the Relic of Choice seems kind of useless. Seeing a choice you'll have to make in the future honestly seems like a disadvantage."
"You're thinking too narrowly," Arthur chastised. "It's true that the Relic of Choice on its own isn't very helpful, but think about what it must do to present that future choice. In order for that choice to come to fruition certain events leading up to that choice must happen. The Relic must create a path to that choice no matter how absurd. It locks in a path from Remnant's infinite possibilities. In order to give the user their choice it takes the choice away from everything else. Some may call it fate. I doubt it's too difficult to use some other magic to do a bit of tinkering with the relic to force a desirable future even if not completely accurate. It's how Ozma gets his preferred students to choose Beacon instead of any other school. In essence, the user gets to decide the course of the world and there's nothing anyone else could do about it since the relic has destined it as fate."
Jaune was reminded of what Sulfur said at the top of Beacon tower. "He's trying to create a world of chaos and he wants the relic to do it. All because he's a psychopath who finds it interesting."
"That's very possible."
"That will ruin the world."
"It very well could."
"He has to be stopped."
"Almost certainly."
"So, you'll help me."
Arthur laughed. "Oh, goodness no."
"What!" Jaune yelled. "But he's threatening to destroy the world."
"Him and about fifty other things at any given time. If I went chasing after everything like that, I'd never get any sleep. Besides, unlike you, I have a job to get back to."
"Don't you think this is a little more important than your job!"
"I do not. Listen, you might be a hotshot rookie, but you lack experience and are prone to blow things out of proportion. People like Mister Sulfur aren't rare. They pop up from time to time wanting to unleash the unknown world instead of containing it. In my experience, they burn bright and flicker out quickly. Even should he succeed, the world won't end. It will simply be changed."
"For the worse," Jaune argued. "You can't seriously sit here and do nothing."
"Why not? Sulfur is not my responsibility and neither is he yours. If anyone should stop him it really should be Beacon and their staff."
"They won't. They don't even know what's going on."
"Then are you putting yourself forward? I thought you quit being a caretaker."
Jaune didn't dignify that with a response as he got up and turned his back to Arthur. If no one else would step up then Jaune would.
He pulled out his scroll and dialed Whitley's number. The call was answered almost immediately.
"Finally ready to discuss your rehiring?"
Memories of the past
From the moment she was born Hazel Rainart swore he would always protect his sister. He thought he had been doing a pretty good job until one day she awoke to strange powers that she could not control. The thought of accidentally hurting someone she loved terrified her.
Hazel could do nothing on his own so he took her to the only place he knew that might have some answers. He went to Beacon and approached the headmaster. Thankfully the headmaster knew exactly what was happening. His sister had somehow become one of the four maidens and had been granted the power of magic. The headmaster assured them that here at Beacon, they could teach her how to control those powers although it would take some time, but once she had them under control, she'd be free to live her life as normal.
Hazel was naïve. He truly believed that the headmaster was doing this for their own good.
How wrong he was.
Hazel joined Beacon as a regular student while his sister underwent training. He didn't particularly want to become a huntsman, but he did want to become stronger. Strong enough to protect his sister from anything.
Months passed and Hazel grew concerned. He had seen his sister's progress and to him it seemed she had a good grasp on the maiden powers, but the headmaster kept insisting she needed more time. He had her do things that seemed unnecessary. He pushed her limits to have her bring out more power.
His sister was a kind and peaceful girl. Even with the power of a maiden, she would never be a fighter. Hazel knew this and made it clear to the headmaster many times. The headmaster didn't care. He didn't see a young girl unfit for the power she obtained. He saw a weapon that he could mold as he saw fit. So, it was little wonder that one day he pushed her too hard and those powers consumed her.