AN: You know, kinda surprised that only one person commented about Ratko Ivanov to try and guess where I pulled him from. For those who don't recognize him, he's a character I plucked, and am adapting, from the amazing Netflix Castlevania series. I even used several of his lines in Ivanov's little rant last chapter. Another way to look at him is very much in the vein of the original Mass Effect trilogy, Ivanov believes in the Renegade options, in 'the ruthless calculus of war'.

A Personal Favor

Chapter 6

-Jaune-

"Hey Marrow, I forgot to ask yesterday, but why does Ivanov hate Huntsmen so much?" Jaune's leg bounced as he sat with Marrow and the girls in their locker room, waiting for the Urban combat arena to be prepped for their match, his nerves feeling intense at the thought of facing the unnerving older student as he sought a distraction to calm down.

"Remember my brother I mentioned?" Marrow sighed as he finished adjusting the straps for his paintball armor "He was a free-lance Huntsman, using that as a cover to do his assassinations. 'Of course, he travelled a lot and knew how to fight, he was doing contracts as a Huntsman'." Marrow was scowling darkly as he spoke "But, that was the first step in Ivanov developing his world view. Already enrolled in the Prep Academy where combat was the main thing, he began also turning to the history of Huntsmen and the Kingdom's militaries. After all, if a Huntsman had been the one to kill his family, that was when he, and most of our classmates, learned that being a huntsman doesn't automatically make you a good person. He studied more and more about the laws and common patterns of Huntsmen which is what led to him detesting them."

"Yet he talked about war crimes." Ciel frowned as she finished prepping paintball pistols and even a sniper riffle, "And seemed to think those were excusable."

"Yes, Ivanov sees any act done in the defense of his Kingdom and people as warranted." Marrow finished lacing up his boots as the nearby screen showed they had a little over a minute till the match would begin and they'd be let loose into a random place in the Urban arena "That the safety and preservation of Kingdom and Kin are worth the committing of any vile act. Say that tomorrow, Atlas and Mistral got into a disagreement over an island found in between the two continents. He'd not do anything like what he listed yesterday. Now, say that instead Atlas found the island first, set up a village there, and then Mistral tried forcibly taking it which caused death or harm to the Atlesians there, then Ivanov would have no qualms killing any Mistralian in that area. Doing what was needed, sacrificing or destroying what was needed, all to keep his Kingdom safe, alive, and prosperous."

The buzzer rang for them to head out before Jaune could say anything, Marrow's words ringing in his head as they set out to compete against Ratko Ivanov and his pupils. On his wrist, Jaune had a special 'watch' like device that kept track of him and his team, even showed who among the various teams entering into the arena had the higher scores. In the observation booth, there would be the various members of the Atlesian military and huntsmen who ran the arena, making sure that those using the facility weren't violating any rules by using aura or semblances. That if someone took three paint ball hits then they were 'out' and didn't try to keep going. There had been a lot of rules that everyone had to be made aware of and agree to before even entering the locker rooms. It didn't take long for his watch to vibrate, the projected screen showing that some of the other teams that had decided to join the little 'competition' were already being taken out, Ivanov's score jumping with each one he removed.

"Like I said, Ivanov lives for Urban combat." Marrow cracked his neck "Now come on, don't want them getting all the points." With that, Jaune's mentor led them deeper into the urban combat area, making sure they moved quietly as they kept their ears open for any signs of opponents. The only time they ever stopped was whenever they found a suitable vantage point for Ciel to try and snipe at someone, her aim and range helping her get the most points of their group, even managing to tag Lucius Malfoy from Ivanov's group at one point before they rapidly relocated, lest their main opponent find them before they were ready.

Noticing movement ahead of them, Jaune aimed down the sights of his riffle, firing a shot to hit an opponent as they rounded the corner, their shadow cast against the wall having given away their position. "Son of a!" a high-pitched voice, definitely an older girl that he hadn't met before, snapped as his bright yellow paintball splattered against her chest, his friends firing as well to take out her and her remaining teammates as they finished rounding the corner.

"Good eye there Jaune." Marrow ruffled his hair with a grin as their beaten opponents stormed off irritably, armor covered in yellow, blue, green, and grey paint. Tapping his wrist piece, Marrow frowned "Looks like it's just us, a couple lone stragglers… and Ivanov's team. Judging by the scores they've been busy."

-Ivanov-

Reloading his pistol, Ivanov checked his scores, noting they were the highest of all those competing in this round of the Arena. Of those that remained though, all had at least some points to their names apart from Lucius. He'd have to have words with the boy later, especially as he'd made sure to give his students plenty of openings to test their reaction time and aim.

Choir hadn't done as well as he hoped but she was always more of a schemer than one to get her hands dirty herself, likely aiming to become a politician or some other sort of behind-the-scenes prodder and planner after she graduated.

Gran was merciless but his situational awareness and reaction times were terrible. The boy was strong and willing to get things done; but where Ivanov took pride in the thought of doing work that would keep his people safe, in the results of the atrocities he might commit, Gran took joy in the act of violence itself.

Then there was little Lucius, more concerned with his hair than his aim. The boy was a skilled dust mage, old family money and relatives high up in the Schnee hierarchy made sure he had the Lien to afford such an expensive fighting style, but more than that Lucius detested Faunus for being such. A pointless thing, to hate the Faunus for having an extra set of ears, or a tail, or scales, especially when several of those Faunus had traits that made them more dangerous in combat such as wings, venom, or webbing. He might detest Amin, but that was for what the Amin family had done, actions there was no way the dog hadn't known about if he was living with the bastard.

Ears perking up, Ivanov's arm shot up, his pistol firing as his bullet flew through the just opening door to hit the last of the loners on the other side, two more paintballs following the first in rapid succession as they went down, leaving just his team and Amin's left in the game.

"Come." His tone was cold as he ordered the three pupils under his command to follow him deeper into the Urban area, looking for those he still had to best. They moved near silently, his footfalls making no noise while those of the three behind him were soft, albeit still audible to his ears. Even with their silence, he still only had a moment's warning to dodge, shouting a hasty 'Down!' to his pupils as he noticed that Soleil girl with a sniper rifle, her paintball splattering the slow to move Lucius, a second blob of blue paint joining the one already there and the red one they'd gotten from another team, meaning Ivanov was the first to lost a pupil in their little contest, all without Lucius ever getting off a shot.

"Get them!" Gran snapped to Choir, firing rapidly albeit wildly at Polendina, the orange haired girl happily dodging each shot while giggling.

I'm trying t- argh!" Choir looked away from their opponents to snap back at Gran, her distraction proving her undoing as the new boy, Arc, fired three shots in short succession, his face shaken but serious. The blond boy had been terrified of him yesterday, he was still scared now but kept going. Interesting.

Aiming at the blond boy, and hearing Polendina firing back at Gran, Ivanov saw Amin shove the Arc boy aside, dodging Ivanov's shot while returning fire, both of them in their unblemished armor.

Three shots from Polendina and his watch buzzed, Gran was taken out.

"Just you now Ivanov." Amin smirked smugly.

"And you can't use your little parlor trick." Ratko sneered back, leaning to the side to dodge Amin's fire, shooting back and nailing the dog faunus in the shoulder. As he and Amin circled each other, he noticed Polendina and Soleil standing back, the two apparently wanting him and Amin to settle things between themselves.

Arc though, had other ideas, opening fire, not bothering to waste an opportunity. Forcing Ratko to fight on two fronts. Smart. The boy wasn't skilled enough to stop Ratko's three white shots from splattering against him, Arc's scowl of frustration making it clear he'd be working harder to improve himself. He'd have to watch that one.

Unfortunately, the boy had given Amin just enough of an edge that Ratko's armor had three distinct splotches of paint marring it.

"This training session is now over." The PA system for the Arena announced as Ratko grunted, planning on training himself intently later after having lost, "All parties still in the arena please head to the exits." As they spoke, Ratko noticed Lucius stepping out from the corner he'd been hiding behind since taking the third paintball to the chest, the large riffle he was carrying aimed at Amin.

"You filthy Faunus Fuck!" Lucius sneered, apparently wanting to get a hit on their opponent even after the contest was ended, the platinum blond brat a sore loser.

He was clued into this being more than just that when the gun fired, not with the hiss and pop of an Atlesian training paintball gun, but with the sharp crack of a genuine firearm. When Lucius was jerked sharply by the kick of the weapon he wasn't used to wielding. By the sudden scream of pain, the smell of blood as the bullet went wide from the recoil, going into the gut of the Soleil girl rather than Amin. Lucius was already moving to try and fire again when Ratko slammed his face hard into the ground, the PA system blaring to life with alarms, huntsmen and soldiers undoubtedly moving in to try and save the girl.

"Ciel!" Arc screamed, rushing past a stunned Polendina and a shaking Amin to the girl who lay on the ground, clutching a bleeding wound. Aura was useful but a deep wound like that, made when aura was down, wasn't an easy thing to heal with one's soul, especially at how young the girl still was. "No, Ciel stay with me!" Arc's hands were on her stomach even as the girl's aura flickered, struggling to bring itself back up through the pain to be of any help.

"J-Jaune." Soleil choked out, blood seeping from between her and Arc's fingers as tears formed in her eyes at the pain of the gut wound.

"You're not dying!" Arc's eyes were blazing as his aura grew brighter and brighter, "Not you! Not anyone else I care about!" Arc's voice was echoing in the room as his aura continued to brighten, Soleil's seeming to react to the light. "I won't allow it!" As Arc screamed, his aura flared like flames, forcing Soleil's into full shining intensity as the girl gasped, the bullet pushing itself out from her gut as the wound stitched itself closed, motes of flaming light steaming from Arc's hands and down onto Soleil, merging with her aura as the girl's breathing evened out and her eyes closed, passed out but alive.

Beneath his grip, Ratko noted that Lucius was unconscious from having his face slammed into the concrete floor, probably had a broken nose too. Still, it would likely be the least of the fools worries when he woke up. No matter how much money he had, this many witnesses, including one who's family has the ear of the General, would see the boy before a court martial. Arc though, that was one to keep an eye on.