Okay. We going for writing without being dragged off for something.


Cover Art: Curbizzle

Chapter 32


Agent was losing.

He knew it, expected it, and yet it was galling all the same. His whole thing, his shtick, was in using tricks and trinkets designed and provided by the VSS. Gadgets. He'd been taught by Oobleck to fight dirty, break the rules and be a master of no one skill, but a jack of all trades. The theory was sound. By being adept in many different weapons and techniques instead of one, he would be best suited to a wider range of enemies, able to bring out the counter to every foe he faced. Every foe except Fate, who was proving himself the worst matchup imaginable.

If he was a jack of all trades, Fate was a master of them. If he knew several obscure styles, Fate had them down as muscle memory. He knew how to fight dirty, but Fate dragged him into levels of shit he'd not thought possible. The worst part was that he kept talking throughout it. Talking in battle was a sin, a waste, and he'd have thought Fate knew better. He probably did. Except that Fate didn't boast, shout or threat – he was talking casually, as if to himself, and it wasn't distracting him at all. Maybe that was just another thing you mastered after however many thousands of repeats.

"Do you have any idea how hard that was for me?"

Fate twisted and flicked his sword into Agent's cane, then stepped in and cuffed his jaw with one fist. Even as he staggered back, the man's foot whistled into the side of his knee. Agent buckled and swore, casting grit towards Fate's eyes. The man already had them closed when his hand moved, however, and the edge of his sword caught Agent across the nose and mouth, splashing aura against his skin. He was sent staggering back, but Fate didn't let him recover. He was on Agent again, driving him ever on.

"I've loved Ruby," Fate went on without once losing focus. "I've been in love with her, wholly and truly. I've died for her more times than I can count. I've sat and held her hand while she dies, then been the one dying while she cries over me."

He wasn't fast per se. In truth, Agent was faster, stronger, fitter, and if it wasn't for all of those factors then he'd have died in the first pass. What Fate lacked in conditioning, he more than made up for with experience. Agent tried to bull through the next attack and put his physicality to the test, but Fate checked him, pushed his hip into Agent's waist and flipped him neatly over his back.

That was how Ren fought. Had he learned and mastered all their teammate's skills? Quite likely. Now that he looked he could see traces of Pyrrha in the way Fate used his sword, but also footwork from Ren, punches and kicks from Yang and then some attacks that he didn't recognise at all. Homebrew or from enemies and allies Agent never met.

"My whole life, my whole existence, is to save them." Fate said. "Having to kill her – I felt like my blood was on fire. I hated it. But I told myself it would be okay, this once, if it meant I could look Ruby in the eye back home and tell her I'd saved them. That I'd finally saved them." Hate tinged Fate's voice and turned it to an ugly hiss. "And then you had to fuck it all up!"

Agent swore and threw himself back, dragging out a gas grenade from his belt. He'd barely brought it forward to release when a gunshot struck it and caused it to explode in his hand, throwing gas all over him. It stung his exposed skin and clogged his nose. Fate fired a second time, then a third, the last two shots perfectly striking his forehead each time. That kind of accuracy was ridiculous. Even Ruby needed time to aim- Another shot hit him, again in the same spot and despite him ducking. Fate wielded his handgun with one hand and perfectly tracked Agent as he zig-zagged his way forward. He took two more hits before closing the distance, only to have Fate catch his cane on the gun itself, between the barrel and the trigger guard. Their faces came close, Agent's smarting from the gas and his eyes red, and Fate's locked in a tense, murderous calm.

"I'm going to have to do it again," he said. "I'm going to have to hunt down someone I love more than I do myself, betray them, and then kill them. Do you have any idea how hard that is?"

"You – guh – could always… not…" Agent strained to bring his weapon down, his other hand grasping Fate's wrist so he couldn't bring his sword in. "You could do this the proper way! Fight with them."

"Against people with powers like Knight and Leviathan?" Fate scoffed. "As if either of us would stand a chance."

He twisted the gun so that Agent's cane fell to the side, angled the barrel into his neck and fired. The impact didn't tear his throat out, but it did rob him of the ability to breathe. He disengaged and jumped back rubbing his throat. He heard the whistle and ducked seconds before Crocea Mors could take his head off. Under Fate's guard for once, he stabbed his free hand into the man's gut, only to have Fate pin it in place with his knee, then drive his elbow down into the back of Agent's. His arm bent at an unnatural angle and snapped with a sound not unlike driftwood cracking apart. Agent sucked in the agony instead of screaming.

"Some of us have no choice but to fight dirty." Fate said. He released Agent's arm but not before grasping his helmet and using it to hold him in place. Crocea Mors bit down into it, cracking through the material and causing bits of glass to rain down on Agent's face. "You know that as well as I do. You and I, we were never expected to win this. These Gods want a show, but if they wanted this to be fair then they wouldn't have stacked the odds so hard."

Slapping the hand away, Agent tried to recover and pushed back. He didn't make it two steps before Fate fired his gun again, two shots in succession into his left shin, knocking it back and leaving him to fall to one knee.

"Knight and Leviathan against people like Barista. What a joke. He didn't stand a chance. I did him a favour."

"T-The bombs." Agent rasped. "Dust smuggled in your lighters. I knew it. But from where-?"

"From all the different teams in Beacon of course." Fate said with a sarcastic smile. "I mean, I was invited into so many different bedrooms, wasn't I? It wasn't hard to siphon a little dust away from my partners after they were asleep. Or did you all think I was nothing more than a mindless manwhore?" He laughed. "Well. It was a little from column A and a little from column B to be honest. I won't say it wasn't pleasurable in itself."

A handful of dust from every woman he slept with, or from each of her teammates, smuggled back in his lighters and later fashioned into explosive devices. Agent would have asked how or with what materials, but Beacon had workshops aplenty to take supplies from, and if anyone knew how to tinker something together, it'd be the guy with thousands of years of collective knowledge in his head.

"Why-?" he asked. "Why Barista? He was no threat to anyone."

"Why my own side?" Fate shrugged and began to reload his gun. "The sides were stacked from the start. How were people like Grimm, Null and Ashari meant to stand up to Knight? Ashari may have won their first fight, but he knew as well as I that it wouldn't happen twice. I needed time to stack the deck in my favour, and that wasn't going to happen if Ozpin's side steamrolled the competition. Someone needed to even things out. Hunter figured it out first," he continued without pause. "He was a paranoid one. A smart one. Or maybe I acted too much like a wild animal and he figured it out. I'd planned his death, too. Clever of him to split."

"No." Agent stood slowly. Weakly. "I asked why Barista. Why someone who was no threat, no net gain, and no competition to you. What was the point in killing him?" It didn't make sense. "There isn't one."

"You're thinking too hard on this. Or stalling." Fate added thoughtfully. "Not that it matters. By now, Ruby is long gone. That Semblance of hers…" He shook his head with an oddly proud smile. "I suppose it doesn't matter if I tell you. You realise you're dying here, right?"

Agent nodded. There wasn't much point pretending otherwise. He was low on aura, Fate was practically unharmed, and he had no answers to so much experience. Even as the new leader of the reformed VSS, he only had about a year and a half of combat experience. Such a length of time was laughable to Fate. Truly laughable. "Tell me. I need to know. It was the one thing I couldn't figure out about you."

"The only one? I doubt that. Well." Fate shrugged, finished reloading his gun and brought it up to point at Agent's face. "It was a warning. Even if I knew I'd betray them, even if I knew I'd have to kill them, a part of me didn't want to. Killing Barista served to give them a chance. A chance to find me, out me and kill me, so that I wouldn't have to do what I'm about to."

"You wanted someone to stop you…"

"Call it my being a big softie." Fate's eyes were anything but. His face was set from rock. "You don't dedicate your entire existence to trying to save them to feel happy about them dying like this." The hammer drew back. "Things would have been a lot easier if they'd paid more attention. Pyrrha especially. Yang came close; she always was the more perceptive one on her team, even if she doesn't act that way."

"You're a monster."

"I'm desperate. I need that wish. You clearly don't or you'd have done more. Killed me in my sleep. Your world must be a fucking paradise."

"It's not terrible." Agent admitted. "People died that I wish I could have saved, that I would have used the wish to save, but not enough to do what you're doing."

"Good for you." Fate snarled. "Would that we could all be so lucky."

The gun kicked in his hand.

Agent saw only darkness.

/-/

"Ruby!"

The second time she heard Jaune shout her voice, she tensed up in panic, whipped Crescent Rose in his direction and flung her aura up as hard as she could. Jaune – as in, the actual Jaune – held his hands up before him, the rest of his team skidding to a stop with wary expressions.

Conversely, Ruby's fell. "Jaune!" she flung herself at him with no regard for Pyrrha's reaction. Her relief was just that much.

"Ruby-? You, wait, are you bleeding!?" Jaune's hands had naturally fallen to her back as she squeezed the life out of him and come away bloody. "What happened? Where is your team?"

"Fate is a traitor!" she snarled out. It wasn't like her to feel so angry, yet there were bitter tears in her eyes as she said it. She hadn't even liked him much, but Yang had, always saying that they were being too harsh on him, and she dreaded having to tell her sister what happened. "Fate stabbed me when I wasn't looking. He tried to kill me!"

Pyrrha looked the worst of it. She shook her head. "He couldn't have. He's on our side-"

"He's on his ownside." The other Jaune in a green raincoat said. He was gripping a bow but hadn't nocked an arrow to it, and from what Ruby remembered of him before he left, he'd been steadfastly against harming people. That probably meant he was safe. "Jinn said the last of us standing would get the wish. Fate needs that to be him."

"Then why kill Ruby?" Nora asked. "He can just fight like everyone else-"

"Against Knight?" Ren stressed the name. Nora winced. "He has to know he doesn't stand a chance against Knight. Ruby is his anchor, though. It's…" He sighed unhappily. "It's a logical course of action for him. Cold but logical. I can't say I'd put it past him from what little we know."

"How did you get away?" Jaune asked.

"Agent – the spy Jaune. He helped me. Told me to run." Her expression said it all and they didn't need to ask what would be happening to the guy. Jaune had only met him the once at the get-together, but he hadn't seemed evil. Then again, neither had Fate. "We have to get outside," Ruby said. "The rest of my team will be there and Winter and General Ironwood. Fate won't face us all if we're there. Where are Magnis and your dad?"

Jaune cringed.

Ruby's stomach dropped. "No…"

"They're not dead." Pyrrha interrupted. "But we were caught by Cinder's entire group. Ashari, Null, Cinder and Adam Taurus all at once. It was an unwinnable battle and J- we made the call to retreat."

"An unwinnable fight we were led to by Fate." Jaune pointed out bitterly. "What are the odds he purposefully brought us right to her? I'll… I'll kill him for this. I'll…"

Ruby had never been good at knowing what to say, so she squeezed him tight before letting go. "We should get to everyone else first, then we can come back and rescue them both." It wasn't likely the fight would still be going on by then. "The sooner we get help, the sooner we can come back."

It was hard to not react to the anguished expression on Jaune's face as they ran in the opposite direction. She imagined it was what she'd have looked like if mom was still alive and she had to abandon her. Jaune's father was a huntsman much like Summer had been, but that didn't mean he was invincible. In truth, she wasn't sure she could have done it, and she didn't know if the fact Jaune could meant he was stronger or weaker than her. When his voice cracked mid-sprint, she had to look away. It was tearing him up inside and she couldn't do anything about it.

No one challenged them on their way outside and Ruby breathed a sigh of relief as they emerged into a world remarkably brighter than inside the halls. It was dark out, especially now with the spotlights turned off, but gunfire and moonlight offered more light than was in the dark halls and corridors of the school.

In an instant, she knew the White Fang were losing. They had the numbers and the advantage of night vision, but they lacked in both quality of training and equipment. Atlas was using vehicles and heavier weapons to cut them down and control the battlefield, while those that did manage to break through were engaged by Beacon's students. Few of the White Fang had anything resembling real training, and those that did found themselves swarmed by multiple teams at once. It's a distraction, she thought. It can't be anything else.

"Ruby!"

Yang saw her, and this time Ruby flung herself into her sister's arms. Much like Jaune, her hands found Ruby's back and the damp splotches of cloth there.

"What-?"

"Fate has turned on us." Jaune answered for her. "He's betrayed us and tried to kill Ruby."

Yang's arms tensed. "No."

"It's true. He must be behind the blackout in Beacon – and probably the murders of Barista and Leviathan as well-"

"No!" Yang said, louder. "You're wrong! He wouldn't-"

"Damn it, Yang, he tried to run Ruby through! He led us into an ambush by Cinder." Jaune's voice rose to match hers. "I had to leave my dad back there fighting Cinder, Adam, Null and Ashari. All because of Fate!" He looked ready to hit Yang for dismissing the idea, but Blake and Weiss showing up forced him back. He bit his lip and said, "We need to go back and help them. Please, we need your help."

"Knight isn't back yet." Blake said.

"You're here." Jaune replied. "And Revolutionary."

"You want us to fight against summoned iterations from other dimensions? Have you seen what they're like?" There was a touch of cynicism to Weiss' words. "What are we meant to do against them? Ashari juggled us all at the same time. Null can shoot through aura. Headmaster and Xiong are in there as well, now with Fate prepared to fight us as well."

Ruby felt the same way. Fighting Grimm was fine, but these people – these alternate versions of Jaune – they were just too strong. Just looking at the chaos they'd managed to wreak over Beacon already was proof of that.

"You're giving up…?" Jaune shook his head. "You can't."

"They're-"

"They're me!" he shouted. "They're versions of me! Sure, they've had different lives and grown up in different ways, but it's not like they're aliens! Are you…? Are you really saying you're that afraid of me? You of all people, Weiss."

"It's not like that. Calling Ashari you is-"

"Accurate." Jaune interrupted. "According to his own words, he went to Beacon as well. He started out the same as me. The same as Magnis. The only difference is time and experience. Null doesn't even have that – he just has a Semblance."

"A Semblance that can rip straight through our aura."

"Then what?" he snapped. "You only ever want to take fights when your life isn't in danger?"

"That's not what I said."

"Jaune-" Ruby tried.

"No." He cut her off. Cut them all off. She didn't think she'd ever seen him this angry. "I hate this!" he said. "I hate this… this attitude everyone has that only the iterations matter, that only they can do anything. The last one standing gets the wish and determines the winner but no one said they have to be the only ones fighting each other. Our world will end if Cinder wins. I'm not talking about it might end or things might get bad. Salem wins, calls in her victory and we are all erased from existence by unfeeling supreme beings. All that, and you want to stand out here and leave it to who? Ozpin? Ironwood? Why are you ready to let them risk their lives and fight but not do it yourself?"

"Because we're outmatched." Blake said simply. "And you are too."

Jaune took several deep breaths. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I know I am. I'm used to it. I'm used to fighting even when I don't know if I'll make it or not." He sneered at them and turned away. "I guess that's the difference. You all stay here and try to look useful. I'm going back in."

"You'll die!" Weiss said.

He didn't reply. Jaune marched away without acknowledging them, even when Weiss shouted out a second time. Pyrrha was the first to turn and follow him, and then Ren and Nora without a single word. The four of them jogged to catch up with their team leader and then walked with him.

Then Revolutionary took a step.

"No." Blake said. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Fighting," he said simply.

"You can barely fight."

"Does that matter? I was brought here against my will for this purpose. If nothing else, Adam is my responsibility." He shook off Blake's hand and broke into a quick jog after Team JNPR. Soon, it was just the four of them, each left feeling helpless, Yang still struggling to come to terms with Fate's betrayal and Ruby dearly wishing Knight would come back already.

It made her feel like a coward.

Waiting for Knight to fix things, expecting him to solve everything. Aren't I a Huntress?

"Yang…"

"Ruby, are you sure? This is… They're not like Jaune, no matter what he says. A little time and a little experience makes a big difference. Saying Ashari is like Jaune is like saying Qrow is as strong as a baby. Sure, the baby might grow into a huntsman but that doesn't make much of a difference now."

Ruby smiled sadly, feeling more than a little embarrassed that Jaune found his nerve before she did. She blamed the shallow wound on her back. If anyone asked, it had messed with her nerves.

"Can we call ourselves huntresses if we back off because things are tough?"

"This isn't our fight."

"Neither was the White Fang." Ruby said in response to Blake. Their teammate winced. "But we all rushed down to the docks to help you with that. If the futures they talked of are true, we'd have had to face people like Cinder eventually. And some even stronger. When is going to be the right time? If not now, with everyone together, then when?"

Yang reluctantly let her go. "Damn it, Ruby."

"Let me ask Winter to come with us at the very least." Weiss said. "If we're doing this, we might as well do it in force." She ran off to do that instead of asking permission. It wasn't a bad idea. "Winter! Winter, a moment!"

Ruby took and released a long breath, gripped onto Crescent Rose tighter than before and looked back to Beacon. Team JNPR were already going back in through the doors, but they wouldn't be doing it alone.

No more relying on Knight, Ruby promised. This time, we'll save the day.

/-/

Things were rapidly spiralling out of control and Ozpin was unused to not having more control over them. The security systems acting independent of him, most of the lights off and the White Fang were clashing against Atlas outside, robbing him of much chance to interact or lead them. To make matters worse, James wasn't answering his calls anymore after going to investigate Warchief. He feared the worst, not just for James and the iteration, but for his students. They were too young for war, too unprepared, but the Gods… ah, the Gods had never cared. They'd always expected too much, demanded too much, and then acted as though humanity were to blame when they could not deliver.

This was getting out of hand either way. Ozpin tried one last time to wrestle control of the systems back under him, but they weren't responding. Worse, his terminal now wasn't either. Whatever attacked it was less hack and more virulent virus, deleting system files en masse until he had an expensive paperweight on his desk. He slammed his fist down into the keys, picked up his cane and stood, ready to go down and take a more active role in the war.

That was when the elevator dinged, and the doors whooshed open. A cane most like his own clicked down onto the tiles, echoed by slow footsteps and the swish of a dark blue coat. The man who stepped out did not need the cane for balance but continued to tap it down either way.

Ozpin's nostrils flared. "Headmaster."

"That would be you, no?" The man chuckled. "That could get old rather fast. You can call me Professor, Jaune, Mr Arc or whatever else you'd rather. I'm used to them."

He strode forward until he was standing on the other side of the desk, and Ozpin was staring back tensely. Then, the man used Ozpin's own cane from another dimension to hook and drag over a chair. He sat, crossing one leg over the other. Ozpin slowly followed suit, eyes narrowing but content to play along for now. An iteration talking was better than one fighting, and both were best in his office than among his students. "What is your game, professor? You clearly have loyalty to neither Cinder nor myself. Did the Gods present you an alternative to our victory?"

"Nothing of the sort. Jinn gave Xiong and I the same message she gave everyone else. You win, or Salem wins, and the last remaining of us is granted their wish. I do believe we were expected to pick a side to throw our lot in with."

"And yet here you are, working independently."

"And yet here I am," he admitted. "But then, can you blame me? These games the gods play. Tell me, Ozpin, have they ever ended well? In your time, I mean. You know them better than any."

He did. And he knew well enough how rarely the Gods did anything without purpose. And how rare it was that humanity didn't suffer. They hadn't always acted specifically to harm humans, but there was a certain… negligence to their actions. It was all too common for something they decided to backfire in ways they hadn't anticipated.

To the Brother Gods, the lives of humans were fleeting, short and all too replaceable. The God of Light had created many things that the God of Darkness had destroyed, and though humanity had survived thanks to the peace they made, it had often felt to Ozma like they were… curiosities. That the Gods did not truly love them, but that humanity was simply another creation, another oddity, that the God of Darkness might destroy one day, or that the God of Light might grow bored of.

It was part of the reason why he had maintained the status quo rather than unite the Relics as the God of Light had so clearly intended. Why bring them together and risk their harsh judgement harming so many innocent people? Life on Remnant was not perfect by any means, but it was life. It was theirs.

"Your silence says more than you ever could." The older Mr Arc spoke slowly and clearly, with the practiced and unconscious gait of a teacher. Expected given his stated profession, but yet more proof if he needed any that this man had been trusted by him in another world.

Ozma decided to risk it.

"What is your goal, Mr Arc? What is it you want?"

Headmaster Arc leaned forward. "I want what any teacher wants, Ozpin. I want the best for my students. In one world… or in the next."


Okay. I wasn't dragged out on any distractions today. That's a new one. Did have to do a little shopping for my parents but not a big deal by any means. My two stray cats are getting a bit entitled though. They want three meals a day and are loud about it, and they've found my office window. They sit on the windowsill and meow at me while I'm working. One lets me stroke it now but the other is still very much against touching.


Next Chapter: 9th July

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