Jaune bent back when the leader slashed at him before jumping away, glaring at the man.
"What? Not happy to see me," he asked with a snicker.
"How the hell are you still alive, Callows? Qrow killed you!"
The man snickered before laughing madly, taking off his hood, showing an older, gray haired, wrinkled Tyrian. "It truly is comical how people believe you can die after being stabbed in the abdomen and dropped into a bottomless canyon in the Vaccuo deserts. Well, I do apologize for being the bearer of bad news, but I am very much alive."
Jaune never took his eyes off of Tyrian as he raised his arm and flexed his fingers to pop his joints. "I'll fix that soon enough."
"Oh? You're going to kill me?"
"You're too dangerous of a monster to let live. Besides, Qrow would beat me to a bloody pulp if he knew you were alive and I just let you live."
Tyrian snickered. "Oh, how I've wanted to fight you again. It's so nice to see how much you've grown. You were interesting before, and now that I finally know why, you are so much more... beautiful."
"Creepy thing to say to a guy."
Tyrian merely smirked before lunging at Jaune, activating his Semblance. Right as he swiped at Jaune, the Vale Knight countered by punching Tyrian's hand with his own Semblance, the force pushing Tyrian away, making him skid back to Lurid. Tyrian looked at his hand in shock before looking at Jaune's still glowing hand. "You... still have your Semblance."
Jaune smirked as he raised his hand. "Surprise."
Argent jumped out of the way of Raudan's fist, her punch crushing the stone street around them.
"STAND STILL, YOU LITTLE BRAT!"
"Oh, yeah. I'll gladly stand still for the large woman literally trying to punch a hole through my face. I mean, kids are supposed to listen to their elders, right," Argent asked sarcastically.
"Why you little- I'LL KILL YOU," she roared as she tried to stomp on Argent.
He jumped out of the way just in time. "Man, you're angry. You're like Aunt Yang when something scratches her motorcycle, except unlike you, my aunt is pretty."
Meanwhile.
"Hm?"
"Something wrong, Yang?"
"It's nothing, Blake. I just really feel like hugging Arie for some reason. Hey, Verde-"
"Not gonna let you hug me, mom."
"Oh, come on, honey," Yang said as she got up from the couch.
"Hey, hey, hey! Argent is the one with the tough body! I'm a stealth type like mom!"
"And you're also just as huggable as your mom! Come here!"
"Gyaah!" After the scream, the sound of the mother and daughter laughing was heard throughout the house, Blake smiling at her family.
"I'LL USE YOUR SPINE FOR FLOSS!"
"Creepy," Argent said as he kept avoiding each of the large woman's punches.
He then saw an opening. He turned Crocea back into a shield and blocked one of the woman's larger punches. As she stumbled, he proceeded to slash her several times before holding his shield forward and bashed into the woman's stomach, sending her skidding as he rolled back to his feet.
She groaned and coughed up some spit before glaring at the boy.
"That all you got," Argent asked behind his shield, but you could tell by the look in his eyes that he had a confident smile.
The woman began to snarl, her nostrils flaring, veins pulsing in her head and arms, the stone around her starting to crack. She then roared in rage.
"Uh-oh. Maybe I went too far."
The woman then stomped, making the entire ground wave like water, a powerful quake occurring, buildings outside of the wall beginning to crumble.
Argent laughed nervously. "Yup. Definitely went too far." He took his stance. "I might be over my head here." He then looked to see his parents were having problems of their own. He then shrugged. "Well... time to use up my Aura, I guess," he said as his body began to glow, getting ready to take a huge gamble.
Nimueh was dodging the slashes of both Al-nun and Isaz, not wanting to get hit. The more damage she takes, the more her Aura gets depleted. She can't afford to revert back to a sword now.
Still, it was a simple task to avoid these two for her. She was a spirit, after all. She even found a chance to grab Al-nun when she tried to attack her from behind and throw the assassin at Isaz.
The icy warrior merely jumped over his flying comrade and tried to slash Nimueh with his axe.
However, Nimueh was able to grab the axe by the handle, slam it into the ground, then punched Isaz away from his axe.
Isaz felt his Aura flicker a bit as he looked at Nimueh, who was pointing a finger at him, the tip glowing with Aura.
Isaz smirked before he held out his hand.
Nimueh raised an eyebrow in confusion before she felt the axe cut past her arm, the weapon back in Isaz's grasp.
Nimueh glared at where the axe hit her before looking back at the smirking cultist. "Gravity Dust."
"Ooh, you're smart. Skilled warrior without a weapon, intelligent, interesting Semblance. Yes, this is the kind of fight that gets me excited," he said as he took his stance.
Nimueh glared at him before she moved her neck in a way that popped her joints, before taking her stance. "Don't enjoy it too much."
Nimueh glared at the laughing cultist before glancing to see Al-nun walking in more shadowed areas, not making a sound. Though Nimueh could see her as clear as day, even in the dark of night with a black wall covering everything, she still had a disadvantage against the assassin with the lack of sound. She had another disadvantage.
'Low on Aura and time. A few good hits or ten minutes tops, I'm a sword again. I NEED to take these fools down before that happens. . .'
"Bring it," she said confidently.
"You have your Semblance. You HAVE your Semblance," Tyrian said with his head down, eyes shadowed by his hair.
Jaune chuckled. "Glad to see you so disappointed, Callows."
"Disappointed?" Tyrian began to chuckle before he cackled maniacally. "I'M EXCITED!"
"What? A Semblance is proof of a soul! Proof that I still have my humanity! I'm not like your precious Salem! I am NOT my ancestor!"
Tyrian shivered... in excitement. "Hearing you call my goddess your ancestor is oddly stimulating. Still, this is for the best. It means I still have a role."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Tyrian chuckled evilly as he began to pace around, Jaune matching him. "Don't you see, Arc? You and I have a destined bond."
"I ask again: What. The Hell. Are you talking about?"
"You and I are perfect opposites. The perfect coin. You, the human; and I, the Faunus."
"Is that it?"
"Oh, not even close. The hero and the serial killer. The savior and the destroyer. Even our Semblances are opposed to each other. You amplify the Aura of others, saving lives and protecting those weaker than you. While MY Semblance DESTROYS Aura. Disrupts it, allowing me to TAKE lives! You heal while I kill. You and I were always opposing forces. It's as if fate itself decided we should be enemies. Then, fate decided to give us a chance to be friends."
Jaune glared at Tyrian before looking down at his arms... and the rest of his body.
"You realize it, too, don't you? Yes, the gift of the goddess. Her blood flowing through you. You becoming her successor. You... becoming the new god. I exist for the sake of the goddess. Now that she is gone, I thought my time was over, until I dreamed a beautiful sight. The world overrun by Grimm. Death, destruction, and misery as far as they eye can see. And leading the Army of the Dark was a being standing above all, worthy to be called God! I thought it was the goddess, but now that I think of it, it looked nothing like her; and I can recognize her easily. Now, I know who my dream was about. I know who I prophesized."
"You think I'm going to destroy the world?"
"I know it. In fact, I can make it happen." Tyrian then stopped, holding out his hand. "My prince... My king... My master, come with us. Let us take you to the Land of Darkness, to Evernight, so that we may rid you of the weakness of humanity... AND MAKE YOU INTO GOD!"
Jaune looked at Tyrian's hand before looking at the murderer. "Tyrian, you said we were total opposites... and you're right. Everything you said was true. You described the two of us perfectly."
"Mmm," Tyrian purred with a smile.
"But what you failed to realize... was that all I heard... was that I was the one meant to stop you." Tyrian's smile twitched. "Not Ruby. Not Robin. Not even Qrow himself. You and I are total opposites." Jaune then grew out his claws and a pair of Nevermore wings, his claws glowing with his Aura. "Meaning that one of us needs to fall, and I don't plan on losing."
Tyrian stared at Jaune before he began to chuckle. Then, he laughed madly. "A FIGHT?! HOW EXCITING! Honestly..." He threw off his cloak, the scar from Qrow stabbing him clearly visible, his tail fully in view, and his Queen Servants glowing purple along with his eyes, showing he activated his Semblance. "I'VE WANTED TO HAVE A PROPER FIGHT WITH YOU THE MOMENT I MET YOU!"
"WISH GRANTED!"
The two charged at each other at great speeds, Jaune with his wings and Tyrian with his natural speed, Jaune's claws colliding with Tyrian's Servants, a flash of gold and purple illuminating the area.
After the flash, Raudan's fist clashed with Argent's shield, the two creating a shock wave that caused the ground beneath them crumble.
The force pushed the two away, Raudan roaring in anger while Argent was still composed. He was about to charge when he saw something. What looked like a Dust grenade was thrown over the black wall. When he realized that, he channeled his Aura into his ear to enhance his hearing and heard various voices giving orders or giving out suggestions to deal with the black wall, followed by gunshots, explosions, slashes, and surprised yells followed by melting metal.
Argent saw this as his chance to do major damage to the large, berserk woman.
Channeling his Aura into his legs, he sped towards the woman, who was preparing a counter punch. She was surprised when her fist missed after Argent slid beneath her, which would have torn up his feet and pajama legs if not for his Aura. Argent then jumped towards the grenade, and with Crocea Mors in its sheath mode, struck the grenade like it was a baseball. When Raudan turned around to follow Argent, the grenade bounced right off her breasts.
As she looked at the bomb in what felt like slow motion to her, it went off right in her face, the cultist screaming as she was engulfed in an explosive, white light that made the area shake from its sheer power.
When Argent landed, he was panting from exhaustion. Just because his Semblance enhances his body doesn't mean he has limitless stamina. He still gets tired pretty quickly, a flaw he hopes to work out in the future. He looked at the smoldering, smoking spot before letting out a sigh of relief, thinking he won.
He noticed that he could see his breath and looked to see that parts of the ground were frozen. He followed the ice to see Nimueh kick Isaz's axe, making him stumble before she landed a roundhouse. She then spun in time to avoid Al-nun's back stab, grab her wrist, stab her sword in the ground, slam the assassin's head into the ground next, then throw her away like she was a piece of garbage.
"That's my mom," Argent said proudly before he prepared to run and help her.
Then, Raudan roared in blind fury, getting Argent's attention.
He looked towards the smoke, only to be grabbed by the neck at great speeds, the enraged woman lifting the ten-year-old high off the ground, her Aura sparking, eyes bloodshot, and snarling with rage.
"I. Will. BREAK YOU!"
Jaune and Tyrian clashed, claws pushing back against blades, when Jaune heard the scream. He looked to see Raudan grabbing Argent by his throat. "ARIE!" Jaune then bent back to avoid Tyrian's tail.
"YOU SHOULDN'T BE SO DISTRACED, MY LIEGE!"
Jaune kept moving his head to avoid Tyrian's tail, getting angrier as he did so. His eyes even began to literally glow with anger, a sight Tyrian thought was beautiful. Then, what Jaune did excited Tyrian beyond words.
Jaune bit Tyrian's tail, his teeth now turned into fangs. Tyrian guessed Jaune's bite was that of an Ursa, judging by how much his metallic tail was crushed beneath the force of his bite.
Jaune then grabbed Tyrian's wrists, claws digging into Tyrian's arms, greatly damaging the killer's Aura, before angrily throwing Tyrian towards the Black Wall.
Tyrian looked worried before he stabbed his tail into the ground just in time, stopping before his back could so much as graze the wall. He sighed in relief, snickering a bit before sensing danger.
He looked up to see Jaune lunging down towards him, claws extended and ready to slash. Tyrian bent at just the right time and angle before flip kicking Jaune in the head and trying to kick him away. However, Jaune caught Tyrian's leg, surprising the murderer before Jaune slammed him into the ground, Tyrian gasping in pain.
Jaune was about to stab him with his claws, only for Tyrian to point his Queen's Servants at him. Tyrian cackled as he fired, only to laugh even harder when Jaune used his wings to protect himself, Tyrian's bullets literally bouncing off of the steel hard feathers.
Jaune then extended his wings with such speed and force that he created a whirlwind that sent Tyrian bouncing away. When Tyrian jumped back and slid to his feet, he saw Jaune flying towards him at great speeds. Timing it just right, Tyrian was able to bend back to avoid Jaune's slash and land a kick to Jaune's chin, sending his head upwards before spin kicking Jaune away.
Jaune was able to recover and land... on the Black Wall. However, he just glared at Tyrian, looking angrier.
'It's not affecting him. If he was a mere mortal, that should be attacking him as viciously as any other Grimm, tearing him to pieces faster than even his Aura could respond. It doesn't see him as a threat, nor as prey. It sees him for what he is... a Grimm,' Tyrian thought gleefully.
Jaune then roared, but his roar sounded... darkly familiar. He sounded like Salem.
Tyrian then... cried. "Music. Beautiful music. The most beautiful in the world," he said through his tears.
Too enraged to hear any of what Tyrian said, Jaune lunged at Tyrian at great speeds due to changing his legs into that of the hind legs of a horse, punching Tyrian with the strength of a Beringel. Jaune then slashed Tyrian hard enough to make him float before slashing down. Before Tyrian's face could slam into the ground, Jaune caught his face, lifted him, and slammed him before throwing him.
Tyrian slammed into one of the few lamp posts in the area, his Aura close to breaking, but he didn't care.
'He's exclusively looking at me. His anger is pointed at me alone. His ATTENTION is on me alone,' Tyrian thought. He then looked to see Jaune walking towards him, white hair flowing as his face was shadowed, two red orbs glowing within the darkness. 'So dark. So sinister. So... beautiful.'
Tyrian chuckled before he cackled, raising his weapons in time to block Jaune's attempt to grab him.
"YES! YES! THIS RAGE! THIS FURY! THIS DARK INTENT! JUST A BIT MORE, AND YOU WILL BE WORTHY! YOU WILL TRULY BE HER SUCCESSOR! YOU WILL HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE KING!" Tyrian cackled at the angry Jaune, not caring that he might be killed.
Jaune was brought back to his senses when he heard Argent yell in exertion, his son's roar followed by quakes.
Moments before
Raudan began to tighten her grip on Argent's throat, grabbing it with both hands. Her grip was iron tight, Argent actually beginning to gag from the sheer pressure of her grasp.
"I don't care that you're the goddess's descendant! I don't care if you have value! You're just a damned brat! We have the Heir, so we don't need you! Blame yourself for making me this angry, boy!"
Even though he had his Aura, that wouldn't prevent him from being choked. Nothing can protect you from lack of air in your lungs or your body being crushed. Argent even began to lose his grip, the world getting hazy.
"You may be the descendant of the goddess, but in the end, you're just a worthless mortal. May the Queen have mercy on her pathetic grandchild."
Argent's eyes then shot open as he grabbed Raudan's thumbs, the woman raising an eyebrow.
"Stop... calling... me... that."
"Huh?"
"I'm... not the descendant... of anyone. I'm... a son."
"The son of the Heir!"
"NO!" Argent's hands then began to glow, Raudan realizing it was easier to choke him, but felt a pressure on her thumbs. "I'm... the son... of Remnant's greatest hero... and the strongest spirit. I'm... Argent Arc... the son..." Argent's eyes then practically shinned with determination. "OF THE VALE KNIGHT!"
Argent then cried out in exertion as he dislocated Raudan's thumbs, shocking the large woman as she watched her thumbs hanging limply like they were rags.
Argent then reeled back both of his legs, his feet now glowing, before smashing them into the woman's chin. He knocked out her two front teeth, her eyes bulging out of her skull, and her Aura completely shattered.
As Argent was airborne, he grabbed the woman's head with both hands and slammed the back of her head into the ground, creating a quake and crushing the street below her. The woman coughed up blood as she was floating from the impact.
Argent, still holding onto her head, began to spin. He spun faster and faster before he stomped his foot down, crushing the street beneath his sole. Then, with a mighty roar, he threw the massive woman out of the area, not seeing how a part of her face grazed the Black Wall, her body vanishing past the horizon, but not without a loud, distant boom being heard.
Argent was panting, still in his throwing position, as his Aura shattered. He then fell to his knees with an exhausted sigh, wincing in pain before looking at his hand to see blood on it after he accidentally placed it on a sharpened rock from his fight.
He sighed as he was now on all fours, panting from absolute exhaustion. "I... won," he barely said.
"My, my. That is impressive."
He looked up to see Lurid standing over him, a sword in hand. She then snapped her fingers; a small sound shield being made before she expanded it to where it was the size of his shield.
"Let's see how well you fair against me, boy."
"Oh, come on," Argent groaned.
Argent was exhausted, barely able to get onto his feet, stumbling a bit. As he was panting, he looked up and barely avoided Lurid's stab. But he wasn't able to avoid the strike from her Sound Shield. He rolled across the ground, his ears ringing as he got up and shook his head. He noticed that he was lucky enough to roll next to Crocea Mors. He didn't hesitate to take out the sword and ready the shield, taking his stance.
"Such a brave little boy," Lurid said as she walked towards Argent, snapping again to make sure her shield was still up. "I would expect no less from the descendant of the goddess."
"I'm the son of the Vale Knight, not your goddess's great-great grandkid."
"Yes, being the son of the Heir is quite noteworthy, but still not as grand as having the goddess's blood flow through you. Perhaps we can awaken it the same way your father was awakened. A quick dip in the Grimm Pools would make you the prince you were born to be, and a few years of training could possibly have you surpass even he."
Lurid appeared in front of Argent and swung downward. Argent blocked with his shield and tried to slash back, only to be blocked by Lurid's sound shield, the power of the shield making it feel like Argent's entire skeleton was shaking, even feeling some of his muscles tear. Lurid then kicked Argent in the chest, the boy dropping Crocea Mors as he fell to the ground, coughing violently.
"Hm, yes. You are in need of far more training. Impressive for a ten-year-old, but still nothing more than an exceptional child." She walked towards Argent, sheathing her sword, and actually wrapping the Sound Shield around her fist. "Don't worry. You're just going to take a short nap. When you awaken, your training with the Servants of Salem shall begin, next Hand of the Goddess."
She then got ready to punch Argent as he glared up at her defiantly. She blushed and smirked with excitement. "Such a beautiful expression. It's a shame those horrid eyes are the only flaw on you. What a waste for the next Head Servant, to have those accursed eyes. Though, they may be useful, somehow, someway." She then prepared to punch Argent.
She was stopped by the sound of a booming strike and something flying past her and Argent. She looked to see what it was.
"Al-nun?"
The assassin struggled to get back up, only to fall, her Aura shattering.
Another strike was heard, Isaz flying past and slamming into the Black Wall. He then began to scream in anguish as he got off. His back was covered in darkness, the ooze actually sizzling. As Isaz screamed in anguish, he put his hand on his back and actually froze it, the darkness beginning to fade away. But as it faded away, so did his Aura, the man falling to his knees before falling onto his face.
Lurid was shocked to see him down before she sensed death. She turned around and held up her shield just in time to block a kick that made her skid to be in between her comrades. She now saw before her a pissed off Nimueh.
"Get the hell away from my kid."
Lurid felt a chill run down her spine, now terrified of the woman before her. She then took a deep breath and sighed. She then noticed that parts of Nimueh were... transparent. "You're... not human." Nimueh glared at the chuckling villainess. "I see. That explains it. You're the Relic of Destruction, the Heir's legendary sword. It's been said that his tremendous amount of Aura and that powerful Semblance of his gave you a human body. Interesting to see that it's true. However, since you run on Aura, your time seems to be almost up. Do you and the boy think you can beat me before you're nothing more than an unbreakable sword on the ground?"
Nimueh glared at the woman as Argent back on his feet, stumbling to where he grabbed onto his mother's leg. She looked down before standing protectively in front of him, keeping him behind her.
Argent gritted his teeth before he heard the sound of more Huntsmen behind the wall. He then had an idea. "Mom, those walls. Are they Grimm?"
Nimueh looked surprised before quickly glancing down at the boy. How did you know?"
"It's just a guess but look at what it did to that guy's back. No way Dust could do that. Plus, it's so creepy. I can actually FEEL the evil from it. It makes my eyes... my eyes. . . A trial by fire."
Nimueh knew what her son was talking about. "Argent, this isn't the time."
"This might be the only time. If it doesn't work, we might be in trouble, even with dad with us."
Nimueh thought about it and sighed. "Don't make me regret this."
"I hope I don't regret it either." Argent closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. He remembered what Ruby told him about his eyes. How every time she activated her eyes, she wanted to protect her friends. Argent had the perfect thing to want to protect: his parents.
He thought of all the happy times he had with his dad, training, fishing, camping, or even gaming. The delicious food he would cook, sometimes with Uncle Ren. How he would train with his dad, arm wrestle with him, or even playfully wrestle with him.
He then thought of the happy moments he had with his mom. How Nimueh would pick him up and jump high enough for the two to see most of Vale. How they would go swimming through the lake deep in the forest behind their house. He especially remembered his personal favorites times when he and his dad would tickle his mom.
He remembered how much fun he would have with his parents, how much he wanted to be like them, how he wanted to be strong enough to protect even them, and how he didn't want these crazed cultists to destroy his family.
Then, he felt it.
"DAD, COVER YOURSELF, NOW!"
"Wha-" Jaune went as he looked towards his son before realization hit him. He then headbutted Tyrian and kicked him away before covering himself with his wings. Tyrian looked confused, even more so when Jaune grew a second pair of what looked like wyvern wings, covering himself with those.
Tyrian then looked towards Argent, his eyes widening. "NOOO," he screamed.
Argent then opened his eyes, the area now flooded with blinding light.
