Distortion

Jaune and Raven were standing directly across from Qrow and Ruby. Both parties had their weapons out and ready to fight. Jaune was the one to break the tense moment of peace by raising his left hand into the air. It was glowing with black energy, activating his Telekinesis. A few dozen shingles started to rise up from the building behind him, he clenched his fist and they started to twist until they looked like long needles. He swung his arm down, pointing his palm at the two scythe wielders and sending the volley at them.

Ruby instantly used her Semblance to move back fifteen feet or so while Qrow spun Harbinger to defend himself and possibly Ruby. With the distraction underway, Raven slashed her sword behind herself, creating a portal. Jaune immediately turned and jumped threw it, his sword arm already pulled back for a swing. He came out the other portal directly behind Qrow. He swung his blade but Qrow spun his body to block the flamberge with the snaith of his weapon. The two got into a power struggle and Raven took the opening to rush in and deliver a horizontal swing for his back. Qrow noticed and kicked Jaune backwards and used him to spin to intercept his sister's attack.

Jaune went with the kick and used the momentum to push him back through the portal Raven created. He landed in a crouch, back where he was standing at the beginning of the standoff. He used his aura to jump into the air and above the sibling Branwens. He held his sword two handed but had to shift his blade to stop the red and black scythe from biting into him.

Cold blue stared into reluctant silver. Before she could do anything, Jaune opened his left hand and she was cloaked in black energy. He swung his arm down and sent Ruby down towards Qrow, her releasing a surprised scream.

Qrow looked up in shock and quickly pushed Raven back before he caught his niece and was sent sliding back a few feet. As soon as he stopped moving, Raven had already started to close the space between them. Qrow had no choice but to toss Ruby to the side as he shifted his scythe back into its sword form. He locked blades with his sister as the young girl barely stayed on her feet. She aimed Crescent Rose at Raven and fired but her bullet never touched her since Jaune got between them with Désespoir already deployed.

Ruby quickly ejected the spent casing and reloaded another shot but she was quickly pulled towards Jaune with his Telekinesis. He used his right leg to deliver a thrust kick, catching the flying reaper right in the stomach. Ruby felt all the air leave her lungs before the kick sent her back and onto the ground. She painfully rolled onto her knees as she doubled over coughing.

Jaune looked down at her before turning his attention back to Qrow. He was their main problem but they only had to hold them off for a few more minutes. With that in mind, he collapsed his shield and placed it on his back once again before rejoining his wife.

A few minutes prior to this, Team RWBY was going to the cafeteria after having a training session in the training rooms. It had been a fairly good training session. After the argument they had gotten into when the rest of JNPR went off to find Jaune, the team had a lot of tension surrounding them. The older women of RWBY decided it was probably best to give their leader some space before they tried to reconcile.

It took some time but she eventually came around. She even apologized for overstepping and bringing up what she did to make a point. The girls accepted her apology and gave one of their own for what they said. Things between them started to go back to normal but they all subconsciously didn't bring up Jaune. They all realized that was a can of worms that none of them wanted to deal with right now.

As they were walking, Yang stretched her arms over her head and hummed in relief, "Man, we haven't had a mock battle go like that in a while. We were on fire."

Weiss nodded, "I have to agree with you. We were almost perfect with our combinations and teamwork."

Blake was gently massaging her shoulder as they walked, "True but I think I overdid it with Yang and my combo. My shoulder is tender."

"Don't worry, Blake. When we get back to our dorm, I'll give you a massage." Yang said with a thumb pointed to her chest.

Blake winced slightly, "Thanks but I think I'm going to decline."

Yang looked confused, "Why?"

Blake looked like she didn't know how to say it so Weiss decided to do it for her, "Your massages have a tendency to make it hurt more in the long run."

Yang looked betrayed, "That's not true!" she then looked to Blake, "Is it?" Blake didn't answer and just looked away and that caused the brawler's jaw to drop. "Ruby, you don't think that, right?" Her little sister didn't say anything and Yang took that as her answer. "I can't believe this! I'm being betrayed by my team and my sister!" Weiss and Blake just rolled their eyes while Ruby didn't respond. "Sis?" Again no response as the young reaper just stared ahead. "Hey. You alright?" Yang asked as she gently grasped her sister's shoulder.

That finally got through to her. She blinked and turned to her older sister, "Huh?"

She just raised an eyebrow, "Okay, spill. What's up?"

Ruby looked from Yang to her other two teammates, who were looking at her in concern as well. Ruby sighed before she decided to answer as they were walking, "Just caught up in some memories. Just reminded me of when we used to do the same with JNPR and we would always have those silly bets of ours." She had a nostalgic smile, "I miss those days."

Yang gently squeezed her shoulder, "We do too, Rubes. But I'm sure it won't be long until Pyrrha and the others come back." She said, trying to console her.

Ruby just sighed before she shook her head, "Maybe but it won't be the same. Not without Jaune."

A tense silence overtook the team with that. Yang looked over to her partner and Weiss, who had the same looks on their faces. "Ruby…" Yang started.

"Don't." Ruby said instantly before she gently pushed her sister's hand off her shoulder. "Just don't." She just kept walking forward, leaving her team to catch up to her.

Not long after that, they all heard a racket, like something crashing into the ground. "What was that?" Yang asked in shock.

Blake's ears twitched under her bow, "I'm not sure but it's not too far away."

"Let's check it out." Ruby told them all and they started to run to where Blake had said the noise had come from. Before they could get far, a grey armored body jumped not even five feet in front of them in a kneeling position. The person stood, revealing to them that they were definitely female. Even with the lower half of her face covered and the black streaks running on either side of her hair, the red hair and emerald green eyes were a giveaway on who it was. The very familiar weapons on her back were also a huge clue. "Pyrhha?" Ruby asked stunned.

She nodded, "It's nice to see you all again. But I'm going to have to ask you to walk away."

Weiss was the one to reply, "Pyrrha, did you not hear that? Someone could be hurt."

"They probably are." She answered coldly, shocking RWBY. "But that was their fault for fighting with Jaune."

"Jaune's here?!" Ruby asked in shock.

Blake narrowed her eyes, "Pyrrha, are you working with him?"

She nodded as she used her Polarity to pull Akouo to her left arm and Milo to her hand. "This is your last chance: Walk away."

"Pyrrha, are you hearing yourself right now?" Ruby asked. "I thought you were going to bring Jaune back, not join him?"

"I was until he opened my eyes to what the Headmasters are trying to hide from everyone. They want to use us as pawns. To play a part before sacrificing us for a war with no end. I probably would've been one of them if Jaune didn't tell me the truth. I will help to save the world." She pointed her blade at RWBY. "Now walk away."

This was not good. After their training session, they were in decent shape but their auras were closer to two-thirds or a half. It would be difficult to fight Pyrrha in that condition if it came down to it. Ruby slowly started to reach for Crescent Rose as a precaution, "We can't do that, Pyrrha."

What happened next, shocked RWBY. Before any of them could flinch, Pyrrha had shifted milo to its rifle and fired dead center of Ruby's chest. The young girl was thrown back from that because of the close proximity and her aura took a big hit. She landed in a heap on the floor.

Yang's eyes turned red and heat shot from her body. Ember Celica deployed and she screamed, "You bitch!" She leapt to try to drive her fist into Pyrrha. The champion pulled up her shield to block it while bracing her body. Yang's fist collided with Akouo, causing a ringing to sound throughout the area but Pyrrha didn't even flinch. She had used her Polarity on her armor to help brace from the impact. She took a small amount of damage to her aura but she easily siphoned some from the blonde.

Yang was distracted by the cold and unnatural feeling of having her aura siphoned so Pyrrha drove her knee into her stomach before shield bashing her backwards. She quickly spun herself to meet Blake's charge, her xiphos locking with the Faunus' cleaver and her shield blocking the katana. Pyrrha quickly headbutted Blake before delivering a slash across her chest. She kicked the cat Faunus back and spun again to intercept the stab from Weiss, who used her Glyph to clear the distance between them.

Pyrrha shifted her xiphos into her javelin before stabbing at Weiss. Lucky for the heiress, she was able to jump back to avoid it but not the shield that slammed into her head when the gladiator threw it. She noticed Yang pull her arm back and recalled her shield to her right arm to attach to her new bracer, blocking the shot from the gauntlet.

That's when the five women heard a gunshot and it sounded familiar to the reaper, who was getting back on shaky legs. "Yang! That was Uncle Qrow's gun!"

The brawler looked over to her sister for a second before looking back at Pyrrha, "Go ahead and check on him, Ruby. We'll deal with Pyrrha."

Ruby looked conflicted but nodded before flying away using her Semblance. Pyrrha watched her leave before looking back to Yang, "You seem confident, Yang. Too bad, you aren't the only one to improve." She raised her left hand and her Semblance activated. Yang felt her right arm, the one she hit her shield with, raise against her will and fire. The shot flew and slammed into the dazed Weiss' back. Causing her to scream.

Yang and Blake just stared in shock before looking to Pyrrha in fear.

During that time, Coco, Fox and Yatsuhashi were making there way to talk to Professor Ozpin. They were going to discuss what to do next with Jaune. Velvet was missing from their group because Ozpin also wanted to discuss what to do with the young woman. When he had found out that she had set up that meet up with Jaune, RWBY and the rest of JNPR, it shook the trust he had in her for this mission.

Could he really risk putting her out in the field again if she was doubting what they were doing? That could put her at risk, if not her entire team. This meeting would also be to decide that and if she was benched, who would they choose to help support them.

"Are we sure this is the best idea?" Yatsu asked his team leader.

Coco just sighed, "I'm not sure Yats. But if Velvet can't bring herself to fight Jaune, that could be dangerous. Last time he left her almost unscathed but who knows what'll happen next time. I'd rather her be angry with us than dead." She turned to the giant, "Don't you agree?"

Yatsu just looked at her for a bit before he closed his eyes and nodded once. Coco then turned to Fox, "You have any objections?" The blindman just shrugged before shaking his head. Coco turned to face forward once again, "Good. It's settled."

They walked for a minute or so and were now at the base of the CCT. They were going to enter and head up to Ozpin's office before they heard the sound of something smashing into the ground. They all turned to the direction the sound came from and Coco raised an eyebrow, "That can't be good. Wanna check it out?" Her two teammates nodded and they all took off towards the area they heard it come from.

That was until Fox stopped and grabbed Coco's arm. She followed his lead with Yatsu following shortly after. She looked at him in confusion but saw that he was focused on a dark gap between two buildings. She knew exactly what that meant. "You better off coming out now. Fox has already picked up on your presence."

A few seconds later, they saw Ren slowly walk out of the darkness with the bottom half of his face covered. His appearance was definitely different but they knew for sure it was him. "Ren?" Yatsu asked. "Is that really you?"

Ren nodded, "It is. Now, I suggest you go on with whatever you were doing and not make me have to do anything I don't want to do." He said coldly.

Coco raised an eyebrow, "Look, I don't know what's going on but we don't have time for this. So-" Before she could finish what she was saying, Ren drew StormFlower and started to open fire at her. Yatsu reacted first and grabbed her and pulled her behind him. He took the attack and used his armored arm to guard himself.

Fox shot off like a bullet to close the space between himself and the ninja. Ren shifted his right arm to fire at him along with his teammates. Fox managed to sidestep the initial burst before using his aura to close the remaining space for a palm strike aimed for his face. Ren started to fall back to avoid it and as he was falling, he delivered a kick to the older man's ribs.

Ren landed on his upper back and reattached his weapons to his thighs before he pushed off the ground and onto his feet once again. Fox had already recovered from the kick and the two martial artists started to engage in close quarters combat. Neither were giving an inch and were doing everything in their power to avoid or deflect the other's aura strikes.

Ren at one point overextended his arm which gave Fox the opportunity to step in his guard and deliver to simultaneous punches to his chest. The force behind them sent Ren sliding back fast. He peered over his shoulder to see that he was moving directly towards Yatsu with his sword at the ready.

Ren didn't stop himself. Instead, he pulled Magnhild from his lower back and deployed it into its warhammer form. He kept it at waist level and fired and explosion, spinning Ren around completely, shocking the swordsman. The hammer hit the middle of the blade, throwing it off course and into the ground a half foot away from Ren. Ren continued the rotation and planted the hammerhead into the ground, using the handle to swing himself to kick Yatsu in the jaw with a roundhouse.

When his feet touched the ground, he pulled Magnhild from the ground and shifted it into its grenade launcher. He aimed at Fox and fired. Fox was still in shock from Ren using Nora's weapon and by the time it all registered, he could only cross his arms in front of him to offer some sort of defense. The grenade impacted his arms and weapons before it exploded, sending him tumbling backwards across the ground.

That's when he picked up on the sound of revving in the air. He quickly turned to see that Coco had her minigun out and aimed directly at him. Ren quickly fired three grenades at the space between them, the explosions kicked up enough dust and smoke to hide himself.

Coco quickly fired into the smoke, hoping she could land a hit on him. She was unlucky though and Ren ran from the smoke on her left. He had StormFlower back up and was releasing a barrage at her. Coco quickly moved her minigun so it would act an impromptu shield.

As Ren was closing the distance, Fox intercepted him and Ren's blades were locked with his weapons. Before Ren could do anything, Fox grabbed a hold of his arms, preventing him from moving. He then saw Yatsu running over with his sword ready for a horizontal swing. Ren could only stare in shock as Yatsu planted his feet and swung with all his might, aiming for the ninja's back.

CFY was shocked when as soon as the blade touched Ren, he shattered like glass, revealing a shorter woman with a Grimm mask standing there in his stead. She easily flipped over the blade by using Fox to jump off of. The blade missed her and hit Fox directly in the solar plexus, making him release her and sending the blind man tumbling across the ground again with his aura barely hanging on.

Yatsu quickly shook himself and turned back to the diminutive woman holding a parasol across her shoulders. She tilted her head slightly and he could see her brown and pinks eyes under them. He got his blade ready but stopped when Ren's voice cut in, "I wouldn't recommend that." He turned to see that Ren had gotten behind Coco and had a dagger to her throat. Coco's eyes held anger and fear in equal shares. Yatsu reluctantly lowered his arm and sword to show he wouldn't attack.

Ren stared at him for a bit before turning to the girl, "Did you get it?" he asked and she nodded at him. Ren carefully used one hand to touch something in his ear before he spoke again, "Neo has the information. Moving to rendezvous."

With that said, he pulled his dagger away and kicked Coco towards Yatsu. Neo quickly moved to his side as Yatsu caught his leader with one arm. She quickly turned and use Yatsu as a brace to fire he minigun at them. But like before, the two shattered revealing that they had gotten away. "Damn!" she shouted.

She stood tall and collapsed her minigun back into her bag, "Let's check on Fox then head to where that commotion was earlier. That may be where he's headed." Yatsu nodded and the two quickly made their way to their third teammate.

Pyrrha was standing tall, her shield and xiphos at the ready as she looked at the three women trying to surround her. Weiss and Blake were exhausted and had burns across their bodies, curtesy of Yang's weapons. Yang had several injuries but was in better shape since Pyrrha was reluctant to give her more fuel for her Semblance. Pyrrha had also removed all their long range attacks from the equation. Every time they tried to fire at her, she would take control of the weapon and have the shot miss completely or even have them cause friendly fire. Meanwhile, she still had no problem using her ammunition.

She was about to engage them, yet again, when Ren's message made its way through her earpiece. She had to wrap this up and quick so they could all regroup to escape. At that moment, Weiss shot towards her again with her Glyph. Pyrrha deflected the lunge with her shield but as she did, Blake's ribbon wrapped around her bracer and pulled it to the side. Yang took the opportunity to go for a hard right hook. Pyrrha flipped Milo in her hand and transformed it into its javelin form but so the end pointed at Yang. When Yang was close enough and Pyrrha discharged an explosion from that end. It slammed the blade into the ground but also caught Yang in the face.

Yang cried out as she was temporarily disorientated from the brutal assault. Pyrrha use that to aim at Blake with Ember Celica before firing. Blake dodged but that caused the ribbon to loosen just enough for Pyrrha to pull her towards herself. Blake slammed into Pyrrha's shield arm and the gladiator tossed her onto the recovering Yang, causing them to fall to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Pyrrha untangled herself from the ribbon and took aim at Weiss with her rifle. The heiress had no choice but to use her Glyph as a defense. With the three women distracted, Pyrrha used her aura to jump back onto the roof she jumped off of and started to run towards the rendezvous.

Weiss quickly dropped her Glyph and ran over to her teammates to check on them. They were already sitting up but Yang was rubbing at her eyes while Blake was asking her, "Yang, are you alright?"

She quickly shook her head and opened her eyes. She was blinking rapidly, "I'm fine." She gritted out. "My head is pounding and my vision is a bit blurry though." She looked around, "Where's Pyrrha?"

"She ran off towards where Ruby went." Weiss informed her.

Yang's eyes widened before she forced herself to her feet, "We have to go after her." Weiss and Blake nodded before following after the champion.

Currently, Velvet was making her way to the cafeteria to meet up with her team. They had said they were going ahead and she said she would be there later. She had to do some usual maintenance on her weapon. Mostly make sure there was no damage done to the camera and refill her supply of hard-light Dust. It wouldn't take too long to do but she would rather take her time with it to be sure it was all done correctly.

As she was walking she couldn't help the question that left her mouth, "I wonder if they will actually be there?" Several times over the last few weeks, her team would tell her they were going to meet her somewhere but when she turned up, they wouldn't be there. They would however show up a ten or fifteen minutes later and apologize to her. She would ask them what happened and they would give her some excuse. Like some underclassmen would ask them for advice or they got caught up talking to one of the professors.

She bought it the first couple of times but now? She was starting to doubt them. She didn't want to think her team would lie to her. They were like a family to her and she trusted them so much. But all of this happening lately had her starting to believe it was a possibility. Especially since they hadn't been asked to meet up with Ozpin since their failed mission to find Jaune.

That was the other issue: Jaune. A part of her wanted to go out there and stop him after he killed Goodwitch. She wanted to be angry with him, hate him. But every time she tried, she just thought about the young man she used to know. The one full of light and happiness. The one that made her feel like she was safe, similar to the feeling she had around her team. The one she had developed a crush on. And then there was that conflicted look in his eyes when they did fight each other.

The whole situation was so hard for her to make heads or tails of. Did she want to stop Jaune? Yes. Did she want to fight him? No. Did she want him back? Yes. But what would it take for that to be a reality? That was the question she had no idea on how to answer.

She was pulled from her thoughts when her ears picked up what sounded like the sounds of combat. She looked over in the direction of where it was coming from with a raised eyebrow, "What is going on?" she asked out loud. She looked over to the direction of the cafeteria before looking back at the direction of the fighting. She finally came to a decision, "No time." She said out loud before running toward the commotion.

Back with Jaune, he was currently locking blades with Qrow. Both stared into the other's eyes. In the background, Ruby was trying to fight Raven. Trying being the keyword. Raven had years of experience beyond Ruby and once she knew how the reaper fought, she was able to predict what she would do next. She was easily tracking her when she used her Semblance and she could easily defend against the bullets from the sniper rifle.

Both Jaune and Raven tensed when they heard Ren's message. They knew what they had to do. The deadlock gave Jaune enough time to switch his Semblance and that was when his black hair started to glow under his hood. Next thing Qrow knew, there was black-light copy of Jaune to his right. The clone had its own sword and the two started to tag-team Qrow, pushing him backwards.

Qrow tried to get the momentum to shift to his favor and went for a heavy slash at Jaune but his clone stepped in at the last second. As Qrow tried to overpower it, Jaune jumped back and the clone detonated. It threw Qrow back as he yelled. Ruby heard and turned to see her uncle laying on the ground. "Uncle Qrow!" she shouted and ran over to him.

With them both distracted, Raven made her way over to Jaune. Both stood ready for whatever would come next. Not even a minute later, Ren and Neo jumped from the building close by and landed beside them. Pyrrha did the same from a similar building not thirty seconds later. "Raven." Jaune said.

She nodded and was about to draw her sword when a familiar voice spoke up, "I would like to know what you all are doing here?" They all froze and turned to see that Ozpin had arrived. He spoke calmly but there was a hard look in his eyes. "Care to tell me, Mr. Branwen?"

The others tensed but Jaune just motioned with his hand to tell them to stand down. He took a step or two forward before he lowered his hood and took off his mask. He looked into the Headmaster's eyes, "I'm sure you can guess."

The two men stared at each other, both gripping their weapons tightly. They were interrupted when they heard a familiar scream, "You bastard!" they both looked to see Yang flying towards the leader of Knightingale with her Semblance in full effect.

Jaune used Via Sun to create another clone that jumped towards her. As the shocked girl's fist collided with it, it exploded and sent her back, shattering her aura. Weiss was able to use her Glyph to slow her down and so she could land on her feet. Blake stood beside her partner and leveled her handgun at them with CFY showing up not that long after with Coco aiming her minigun at them.

Jaune just calmly looked at them all as Ruby rejoined her team and Qrow stood beside Ozpin. He smirked, "Well, isn't this a party."

"It's over, Arc!" Coco shouted. "Give it up."

He chuckled, "Not really. True you could take us in but we could easily take down the CCT if you did." He looked over to Neo, "The burn scroll is still connected to the console?" She nodded and turned back to the nine across from them. "One message and we can upload the same virus to this one that we did in Mistral and Vacuo. I wonder what that'll do to the system as a whole."

None of them wanted to find out and considering what they did prior, they knew he would do so again. There was a tense silence until Blake of all people broke the silence, "Was that Sun's Semblance?"

Jaune looked at her as she stared at him with anger and fear. He nodded, "Yes. It was."

That shocked all of RWBY. "You killed him." Blake said in shock.

Jaune nodded, "It wasn't my intention but yeah. I went to offer Team SSSN a spot in Knightingale, they turned it down. We all could've walked away from that but they decided to try to fight me. I guess you can guess the rest."

"What about Neptune and the others?" Weiss asked in fear.

"They were alive last time I knew. Their deaths would've offered us nothing." Jaune said matter of fact like.

"Guys!" they all looked to see that Velvet was running towards them. She froze and stood twenty feet from both group. "J-jaune?" she asked.

His eyes softened slightly and he nodded, "Good to see you, Velvet. How are your legs?"

"Like you care!" Coco yelled at him. "You were the one that hurt her in the first place."

"And think of the condition you three were in. If I wanted to do any lasting damage to her, I would've. So, I suggest you watch your mouth. I think everyone here knows what I'm capable of." Jaune threatened.

"Miss Nikos, Mister Ren." Ozpin spoke up and everyone turned to him. "What happened to Miss Valkyrie?"

All the students eyes widened when they realized that the bomber was the only one of JNPR not there at the moment. Pyrrha looked to the side while Ren looked down and clenched his fists. "She's gone."

RWBY was stunned silent at that while CFVY just froze with Velvet holding a hand over her mouth. Ozpin's eyes softened, "I'm so sorry."

"Are you?" they all turned to Raven as she stood beside Jaune, mask still on. "How many students have you sacrificed for your plans, Oz? Why would her death effect you? Did you have some role for her to play?"

"Raven, that's enough." Qrow spoke up.

"No, its not, Qrow." She bit back. "He has been getting away with this for too long. And for what? A damned deadlock that all of humanity will lose in time. All the sacrifices have led us nowhere closer to ending this war. Its time for that to change and we will do just that."

"So, you're willing to sink so low to win it? To be just as horrible as her?" Qrow questioned his sister angrily.

Jaune was the one to answer calmly, "How do you expect to fight a war hidden in the shadows without stepping into the darkness yourself?"

This whole talk was going over all the students heads. "What are you talking about? What is all this about?" Yang asked angrily.

"Nothing for you to worry about." Raven said coldly.

"But they are!?" Yang asked angrily to her mother as she pointed at Ren and Pyrrha. "What makes them so special?!"

Jaune smirked, "You really wanna know? Fine." He turned to them, "Show them." They looked uncertain before they nodded and allowed their Negative auras to surface. The air around them grew cold and that shocked the others outside of Knightingale, especially Ozpin. They stopped a couple of seconds later and Jaune continued to speak, "That's what makes them special. They managed to unlock the same power I have. They have proven themselves to me and their loyalty. They risked everything for me to trust them again. On top of that, they were told the truth and have decided to help us fight this war."

Everyone was trying to come to grips with what he said but Ruby spoke up first, "You forgave them, Jaune?"

He turned to the reaper and nodded. "Considering they risked their lives in a test to prove that to me. Yes."

"So why won't you believe me then?!" she shouted at him, stunning everyone.

"I hurt you, Jaune. I hurt you so badly and I've had to regret that every day because of my decision. " Tear started to fall from her eyes. "I didn't want to betray you but Yang had convinced me to distance myself from you for a while, just like her and Blake did. All the hate that was pointed at you also was pointed at us when we were around you. It was so stressful and Yang convinced me to do it. I was always going to come back to you but by the time I did, it was too late. We were convinced you were gone." She collapsed to her knees as tears kept falling, "It was selfish and it broke you. I'm….I'm so, so sorry."

Jaune just looked at her for a bit. He wasn't expecting that of all things. As he looked into her eyes, he could see it was the truth. But, that didn't change this reality. "That may be true, Ruby. But it changes nothing." She looked like something broke inside her with that. "Just because you're sorry, does not mean I'll forgive you so easily. What did you think, I'd break down and see the error of my ways?"

Ruby started to completely break down and he turned away from her to look at everyone, "I have chosen this path. I will not walk away from it now." He looked to Raven, "Let's go." Raven opened a portal and the two teams and huntsmen tensed. "So much as move and we'll upload that virus."

Before any of Knightingale walked through the portal, they were confused when Jaune turned to Velvet. "There is always a spot for you, Velvet."

That floored everyone but Raven. The rabbit Faunus just stared at him in confusion, "W-what?"

He gave her a small smile, "You are the one person, not including the members of Knightingale, that I trust completely. I would prefer it if I didn't have to fight you."

Coco cut him off, "Why should she trust you?"

Ren spoke up, shocking everyone. "Jaune has never lied to her. Unlike you three." He said coldly.

CFY froze and Velvet looked at them, "What does he mean?"

Jaune turned to him, "Ren?"

He nodded, "I overheard them. They were leaving Velvet in the dark as they were going to discuss what to do next with Ozpin. There reasoning was to protect her and it didn't sound like a new thing."

Velvet was staring at Ren in shock before she turned to her team, "Is it true?"

The three just looked away from her and Coco tried to explain, "Vel, listen-"

"No, Coco. Answer the question. Is. It. True?" Velvet hissed as tears started to gather in her eyes.

Coco just stared at her helplessly before she looked away and nodded, "Yes." The betrayal in her eyes hurt her team more than they could've imagined. "Velvet, I'm sorry. But after the last mission, I didn't want to risk you getting hurt."

"They didn't trust you." Jaune said out loud and started to slowly walked towards her. Coco tried to aim her minigun at him but Pyrrha raised her hand. Next thing she knew, Gambol Shroud and Myrtenaster were pulled from the owner's grip and were pointed at her and Fox's throat respectively. Meanwhile Yang's right arm was pointed directly at Yatsuhashi against her will. Qrow looked like he'd try something but Ren aimed his guns at him while Raven and Neo had their weapons ready. No one could do anything while Jaune closed the space between himself and Velvet, who was just staring at him.

"How many times did she tell you to not attack or use your weapon? How many times did Yatsuhashi 'protect' you?" He asked her and she was confused. "Was that because they cared for you or because they didn't trust you? I don't know the answer but what I do know is that I trust you completely."

That shocked her and a tear ran down her cheek. He gently wiped it away, "When I was alone and surrounded in darkness, you were the light that kept me from ending it all. For that, I owe you everything. I don't want to fight you, Vel. So, please, join us. You will be with people who trust you and will have your back for as long as you stand by us. You will have a family."

She just stared at him. 'Is this real?' she asked herself mentally.

"Velvet! Don't listen to him!" Coco yelled. Her eyes never strayed from Jaune's.

"They lied to you for so long, who knows what else they lied to you about? I have never lied to you, Velvet. So, trust me now." He held his hand out to her. "You don't have to accept, I won't force you. But I would prefer if it you were at my side instead of against me."

She looked down at his hand. Was it really this simple? She could have Jaune back, something she had wanted so badly. She looked at her team for a bit before looking back at him, "I don't want to hurt them." She said quietly.

He nodded, "If it can be avoided, I won't ask you to. I do the same with Onyx when it comes to Ruby and Yang. You can trust me."

She could see it now. The Jaune she knew was still in there. It was buried under all the pain he had gone through. But maybe she could help to bring him back. With those thoughts in mind, she reached out and took his hand. He smiled and he started to guide her to the rest of Knightingale.

No one could do anything on Beacon's side but Ruby and Ozpin. Ruby was too distraught emotionally and Ozpin couldn't risk his student's lives. When they were all near the portal, Neo and Ren were the first to enter. Pyrrha was next after she released the weapons her Polarity had under her influence. Jaune walked through with Velvet, leaving only Raven. She looked them all over, her gaze lingering on Yang and their eyes met. She looked away sadly before walking through herself. The portal shut immediately afterwards.

A/N - It's been a long time since I was this excited for a chapter of Distortion and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. The Beta Readers for this chapter, well it should be common knowledge by now, Jauneforever and Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh. Go check them out because their stories are amazing. Feel free to leave a review if you like and I'll see you all in the next update!