Distortion

Jaune glared across the river at Valter, who was just smiling with that sadistic smirk on his lips. He had both his daggers in his hands but made no obvious signs of going to attack them. Jaune's right hand was twitching slightly, ready to reach up to Tourmentage Tordu and unsheathe his trusted blade at a moment's notice. Neo and Velvet were just behind him, noticing how on edge Jaune was and ready for a fight. Neo had her parasol ready to draw out her concealed blade while Velvet was slowly reaching back for her camera.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jaune hissed out.

Valter just shrugged nonchalantly, "I was here for the new corpse in the cabin." He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb to the burning cabin, "I heard he was a great bounty hunter, but he just turned out to be another disappointment. But looks like luck is on my side today. Because now I get to fight you once again and you were one of the best fights I've ever had."

"The last time we fought, you ran with your tail between your legs." Jaune spat out.

Valter gave him a minor glare, "A tactical retreat is much different from just running away. Don't misunderstand, I have no qualm with dying in an intense battle with honor. But dying on my back…" he shook his head in disdain. "That is just shameful. But enough of that."

He reached behind himself and pulled out the Sphinx mask to show to them. Neo and Velvet had recollection in their eyes while Jaune just growled in fury. "Hand it over. Now."

Valter just shook his head, "I had a feeling if I held onto this, you'd cross my path again. And since you want it so badly…" He raised the mask and placed it on his face, "You can take it from me." He dropped into his fighting stance with his daggers in a reverse grip. "Let's see if your skills are legitimate or if you were just lucky."

Jaune drew his sword and dropped into his own stance, his anger and hatred were almost boiling over. "Neo, Velvet, stay back. Only attack when an opening comes, be quick and get out. I won't be able to pull my punches in this fight and I don't want you two getting caught up in it."

The two nodded and with that, Valter and Jaune launched off their respective banks with the use of their aura. Daggers and flamberge met in midair before both wielders landed in the center of the flowing river. The two got into a power struggle with the cold water surging past them at their waists. Jaune was failing at trying to overpower his enemy, he could sense his aura, and most likely blood, pooling in his arms and increasing his strength.

Jaune pulled back and Valter went forward with the lack of any resistance. The leader of the Knightingale capitalized on this by driving his left knee into his stomach, although weaker than usual because of the water around them. Seeing how counterproductive the river was being, Jaune released a pulse of Distortion to push the water away. To those watching, the water in a three foot radius around Jaune was pushed away and could now see straight down to the bottom of the river. It also pushed back the off balance Valter and out of the river completely.

The Beast of Mistral landed and slid across the rocks and sand of the bank before he flipped backwards onto his feet. He was about to lunge back towards Jaune but he saw a flash of light on the other side of the river. He looked over just in time to see a salvo of light bullets coming towards him. Moonstone quickly started to deflect the bullets with his daggers while being pushed backwards as numerous bullets got past his defenses and ricocheted off his armor.

Velvet was on the other side of the river and had used Anesidora to create a copy of her former leader's minigun, Gianduja. With her doing that, Neo took a few steps back before she ran and jumped towards Jaune still in the middle of the river. Sensing her aura, Jaune spun with his left arm out. The two locked hands and Jaune threw her the rest of the way through the air to her target. Neo flipped in air while drawing her concealed blade, her intent of driving the blade into his neck through the gap in Valter's armor.

But with Valter's experience, he noticed the flying assassin and quickly twisted to the side. Neo missed her target and the blade sunk into the riverbank. With that, Velvet stopped firing to not risk hitting the diminutive assassin. Valter used that opportunity to spin and try to drive his dagger, Pride, into her skull. As the blade met her head, her image shattered with the sound of breaking glass. He was shocked that his attacker/victim just vanished.

Jaune launched himself from the river with another use of his Negative aura. He pulled his sword to his right with both hands. As soon as his feet landed on dry land, Jaune swung with his full strength at the armored enemy. At the last second, he twisted his body and just managed to cross his daggers to intercept the black and red blade. He stopped the blade but he still slid back a couple feet with Jaune following him.

At that moment, Neo pounced and delivered three kicks to his unprotected side then to the side of his head. With him being disorientated, Jaune channeled Distortion into his left palm and slammed it into his chest, sending him flying up towards the burning cabin.

Jaune turned to the other masked member of his party, "Keep him busy for a bit. I need to swap Semblances." Neo quickly nodded before charging after the flying warrior as Jaune went about swapping Distortion for Telekinesis.

As he was doing that, Velvet landed beside him. She watched as Neo and Valter were heatedly exchanging blows. Although, Valter's build and armor was too much for Neo's acrobatic style of fighting to have full effect. In fact, it looked like he was taking less damage than before. The Faunus quickly turned back to Jaune, "Should I give her a hand?"

Jaune nodded, "Yeah, but stay on your toes. His Semblance allows him to control his own blood and that can give him increased strength, speed, healing and endurance, he's probably using the last one right now. I may be sending in a few things to assist you two, so be ready."

She quickly nodded before she created another weapon, this one being Magnhild. She charged forward before jumping high into the air to do a front flip and slam the warhammer directly onto Valter. He quickly used his Semblance to send blood into his legs and increase his speed to jump back out of the way. Which left Velvet creating a crater where he once stood. At that moment, Valter switched his dagger, Envy, into its revolver mode and fired two shot, that hit either of her shoulders.

As both Velvet and Valter were recovering, Neo cleared the distance as the concealed blade extended from the tip of her parasol. As the blade started to near Valter's throat, his hand snapped up and his dagger knocked the parasol up so it just went over his head so the blade completely misses its intended target. Neo's eyes widened in shock as a chuckle came from Valter, "Time for me to get serious." With that, he drove his foot into her chest with his enhanced strength. The air was knocked out of her as she went flying backwards.

Seeing this, Velvet quickly shifted her copy of Magnhild into its grenade launcher and started to fire light grenades at him. Valter spun to face the barrage, shifting Pride into their revolver mode as well to fire his fire Dust bullets at the grenades. The collisions of the two ammos were creating explosions of bright light and crimson flames. That was when her time limit on her weapon expired and vanished. Valter saw this and sent more blood and aura into his legs to rocket forward faster than with aura alone.

Velvet had no time to call upon another weapon as one of his weapons was back in its dagger form and going towards her face. That was when a stone, the size of a softball smashed into the side of his head causing the dagger to miss her face but scrape across her shoulder. His strength bypassed her aura temporarily and injecting some of his patented poison into the wound.

Before either of them could question this, a second one slammed into his chest and Velvet quickly jumped backwards. She landed besides Jaune, who now had two more stones floating around him with the help of his Telekinesis. She gripped her shoulder in pain as the poison was fighting against her aura and causing it to burn. As she was watching, she saw sand and pebbles raising from the riverbed condensing together to form three more stones. With that, he threw his hand forward and threw all five of them at the Beast.

Valter braced himself and sent more blood into his arms before he knocked two of them aside before to rolled to the side to avoid the other three. As he rolled into a crouch, he aimed his other weapon, that was still in its revolver, at the two and fired several more fire shots at them. Jaune quickly reached down with his Telekinesis before he raised it in front of him, creating a makeshift shield of sand to protect them. Once the last bullet had hit the shield, he whipped his hand forward to send the sand directly at him.

Unfortunately, Valter had already jumped into the air and the blast of sand missed completely. He was already descending on the two with his weapons together now as the spear and ready to run Jaune completely through. That was until he had to rapidly spin it just to his right to try to dissipate the fireball that was just about to collide with him. Although on a closer look, it was not a fireball but a light source shaped like one, curtesy of Velvet now using a copy of Port's blunderbuss, Blowhard.

During that time, Jaune rapidly sheathed his flamberge before pulling the sheathe from his back with the use of his sword. With a click of a switch, Haine was fully deployed and leapt up to deliver a full swing through the flames. The blade slammed into the spear before the force of the swing sent Valter flying backwards, not fully expecting the attack. And as he was flying backwards, two more shots from Velvet slammed into him and threw him through the wall of the burning cabin.

Jaune landed back on the ground, "Don't let your guard down, that didn't finish him." Velvet nodded and Jaune ran towards the still prone Neo. As he got right next to her, he dropped to a knee but kept aright grip on his weapon, "You okay, Neo?"

She looked up at him and nodded slowly as she was gently rubbing the spot of her chest where she was kicked. He was about to help her up when a massive fireball erupted from the hole in the blazing cabin towards the two. Jaune spun and used his Telekinesis to throw Neo a few feet to his left and away from the flames. He used the broadside of his greatsword to give him some protection from the fire but he could still feel the intense heat washing over him.

Valter burst from the same hole with speed that was close to Ruby's level. He looked scorched and had some burns but that smirk was still on his lips. Both his feet collided against Jaune's sword and the impact threw him to the ground. He slid across it with Valter having his full weight on the sword and restraining Jaune. The burns on his face started to rapidly heal from the use of his Semblance and he leveled one of his revolvers at Jaune's eye.

Before he could pull the trigger, Neo jumped onto his back and wrapped her legs around his chest. She threw he arms to the side and her new hidden blades extended from her bracers. With a murderous look in her eyes and rage she has rarely ever had, she jammed both her blades through his armor and into his shoulder blades. Valter gave out a cry of pain and nearly dropped his weapons.

With that necessary distraction, Jaune used his Telekinesis to help pushed his blade up and throw the Beast off him. Neo saw this happen, she quickly pulled her blades free and flipped over his shoulders to land in front of the downed Jaune with her blades still at the ready. Valter managed to stay on his feet after landing five feet away, seeing Neo stand protectively in front of Jaune. That was when another light 'fireball' slammed into his chest to send him skidding backwards across the ground.

His eyes narrowed slightly, in a mix or anger and frustration, as he used his Semblance to heal his shoulder blades enough to fight properly. He threw his revolver into the air before pulling forward the other, which had smoke just billowing from the barrel. He quickly reached to the back of his belt and pulled out a fire Dust crystal that he inserted into the handle of it after the end opened up. His eyes then snapped over to Velvet who was quickly going through her camera for another weapon to use.

He caught his other revolver before leveling a gun at each of the women and started to unload on them. Neo was hit but the image was shattered like glass, revealing that Neo and Jaune were now gone. Velvet looked up when she noticed something in her peripheral and her eyes widened. She tried to roll out of the way of the bullets but halfway through it, a few of the bullets hit her and caused her to collapse to the ground when she tried to get to her feet.

Sensing the weakness in his prey, Valter launched himself at her with another boost from Blood Bond. The force behind it cracked the ground below him. Neo tried to stop him with her concealed blade from above but just missed him as he moved, sinking the blade into the cracked ground. "Velvet!" Jaune shouted, slightly panicked, from ten feet behind Neo. Jaune quickly drew Souffrance Eternelle and quickly fired every bullet in his gun. Most missed from the sheer speed he was moving at while the one or two that did hit, just bounced off his armor.

Velvet tried to get back to her feet, when something landed not two feet from her and kicked up sand all over her, some getting into her eyes. As she was trying to wipe her eyes, she felt a series of fast and powerful slashes across her back, damaging her aura more. She screamed out in pain as the poison was causing the pain to increase while fighting against her aura. Her screams were stopped when a powerful blow, most likely a kick, slammed into her stomach. The air was knocked from her and her aura finally shattered.

That was before an armored arm wrapped around her neck and pulled her to her feet. She tried to struggle but felt a warm blade lay against her cheek, making her go rigid. That's when Valter whispered into her rabbit ear, causing her to shiver uncomfortably, "That's right. Play nice and I may make this painless."

He turned to face his other two adversaries, making sure to keep Velvet in front of him as a human shield. Jaune and Neo were glaring across at him with the former now having Sommeil Eternel pointed at him. Neo still had her concealed blade and looked ready to pounce. "Either one of you move or I get the hint that the little one is using that image thing, and this one is dead."

Jaune growled but did not lower his weapon, "Let her go." He hissed.

"And why would I do that?" he asked. "This was supposed to be an honorable fight. With the two of us trying to beat the other. And you have these two giving you a hand. I thought you wanted to settle this, like warriors. Or was I wrong?"

Jaune knew what he was trying to do. He could see through it all too easily. But if he was being honest, he really didn't care. He wanted to be the one to put down Valter Moonstone. But he was not going to put Velvet in danger for it. "Fine. You let her go and we'll finish this. Just you and me."

"And how do I know you'll actually keep your word." He inquired.

"Because I swear on my title as the leader of the Branwen tribe. And that is the highest thing I can swear upon." He told him seriously.

Valter just analyzed him, "Fine. Lower your gun first."

Jaune did just that. Valter let go of Velvet and she fell to her knees from the pain still running through her body. "Neo." Jaune said and the shorter woman turned to him with inquisitive look in her eyes. "Go to Velvet and help her get out of the way. And do not try to attack him. I need to do this myself."

Neo just gave him a slight glare, "Don't make me order you to do it." He lightly threatened. She stared at him for a bit more before she gave a muted sigh. She then gave him a softer look that was her equivalent of asking him to be okay, to which he nodded.

Neo slowly started to make her way over to Velvet who was still trying to get back to her feet. Her eyes never strayed from the man wearing one of their masks without any right to. When she was beside the weakened Faunus, she helped the girl to her feet and had Velvet use her to support most of her weight. As they were making their way from the would-be battlefield, Velvet just stared at Jaune in concern.

Jaune's eyes however never moved from his enemy. Just making sure he didn't try anything to the girls. As he was doing that, he started to swap his Semblance back to Distortion. He was just above half aura from using Telekinesis repeatedly and he didn't want to risk burning any more unnecessarily. As far as he could tell, Valter was at the same level-wise. It appeared his rapid healing used much more aura than just increasing his abilities so that was what he should focus on now.

Once the two ladies were off to the side, the two of them just stared at each other, unblinking. Jaune had his greatsword in his left hand and heavy revolver in his right. Valter had both his weapons in their dagger modes. The Beast's hand twitched just slightly but that was enough for the Leader of the Branwens to raise his gun and fire a bullet. In response, Valter parried the bullet with his left-hand dagger. Although, the force of the bullet was more than he thought it would be and his arm was thrown painfully backwards. That didn't stop him from shattering the ground underneath him as he launched forward with another burst of speed.

He came up with both his dagger for a cross-slash but Jaune swung his sword overhanded, catching the two blades on his own. The two held that standstill for a second before both pulled back. Jaune sent Distortion through his blade and swung from his left. Valter crossed his daggers to catch it but on impact, he was sent skidding backwards.

Using that brief second, he holstered Sommeil Eternel before following afterwards. Swinging hard from the right, Jaune was ready to bisect his opponent. Valter saw this and crossed his daggers to cushion the blow. As the blades met, Valter let the force of the swing push him to Jaune's left. He spun out of the swing and managed to get just behind Jaune's left side. He spun and stabbed his left dagger behind him and into Jaune's right shoulder.

Jaune grit his teeth in pain and he tried to swing backwards as a retort. Valter leant backwards and fell to the ground on his back, having the greatsword sail right over his head. He then planted an enhanced strength kick into Jaune's chest to send him backwards and create space between them.

Jaune was thrown backwards fifteen feet or so before he dug his massive blade into the ground to bring himself to a stop. As he looked back to Valter, he saw his right dagger in its revolver again and aimed right at him. Jaune quickly drew his heavy revolver and fired at the gun. The bullet struck the side of the gun and threw his arm to the right, just as Valter squeezed the trigger. That was when a massive fireball was released and now aimed directly at Neo and Velvet.

Jaune's eyes widened in fear, he quickly sent his aura into his legs and Distortion into his feet before he literally rocketed towards the two. His Semblance amplifying the already increased speed his surplus aura would give him. He just managed to get a few feet in front of the still shocked girls and between them and the fireball. He didn't have the time to cover his entire form in Distortion so he quickly covered as much of his back as he could and threw his arms out to the side to try to cover them as much as physically possible.

He felt the intense heat of the flames cover his back just before his Semblance pushed most of it backwards. That didn't stop the heat and flames rushing over his legs, arms and head, his aura doing everything it could to protect him but his limbs were still being damaged. When the flames were finally burnt out, smoke and heat started to rise from Jaune's form. He was starting to pant from the exertion but he gained a faint smile under his mask by seeing Neo and Velvet unharmed. Shocked by his actions but fine.

The moment was ruined when Valter crashed into the ground right beside him with another burst of speed. He spun and slammed his forearm into Jaune's stomach, sending him flying backwards. He slammed into the ground twenty feet away, upper back first. The impact caused his sword to slip from his grasp and clatter to the ground a couple feet from him. He let out a gasp of pain before his eyes slowly went to his weapon laying besides him. He slowly reached out for it until a boot slammed into his forearm, pinning it to the ground.

A second boot slammed onto his chest and further pinned him. He looked up to see the masked Valter glaring down at him. "Disappointing" he growled up. He then lowered his left dagger, in its revolver, directly at his head. Before moving it to the side and shooting him in the shoulder causing him to cry out in pain from his weakened aura protection.

Velvet was just staring in shock and fear. Jaune was in a bad place, he had just used a lot of his aura to shield her and Neo. But she knew it was mostly for her benefit. She was out of aura so she was pretty much defenseless. And that made her feel sick. She was always being protected by her team, like she was a fragile piece of glass. And now again, when she finally had a chance to prove her skill and strength to Knightingale, to Jaune above all else, she managed to get in over her head. Jaune had to use himself as a shield to protect her and now she had to watch him being torture by this monster. To prove the point, Jaune screamed again when Valter shot at his other arm.

Before anyone knew it, she was running towards Valter. She was already going through her camera and landed on a picture she swore she'd never lose. Her eyes looked at it for a second before she used it. A hard-light copy of Crocea Mors came to life as she charged forward. 'I will not be dead weight. And I will not lose Jaune, ever again.' she thought to herself.

As she was running, this wave of cold surged through her body that spread out to the surrounding area, grabbing the attention of the three others. Pain shot through her body, making the aches and wounds she already had spike for a second but kept running. Her blood felt hot, nearly scolding but the adrenaline and anger she was feeling dulled it. That was when her brown aura erupted around her before it started to grow into a darker shade. Finally, four lines of black erupted across her hair: one down each lock of hair that framed her face and one up either ear all the way to the tips of her Faunus ears.

Valter turned around just in time for Velvet to reach him. She swung out with her left arm to catch him with her shield, sending him off of Jaune. He landed on his feet a few feet away and she leapt at him with her sword swinging but Valter managed to divert to the side with his dagger before he jumped backwards. Velvet didn't let up and continued to chase after him with sword slashes or bashes from her shield.

Jaune watched in shock as the reality that yet another person had awakened their Negative aura. How was it that no one had unlocked it before but now this was the third person outside of himself to unlock it and with him in the vicinity. Was his Negative aura helping to bring it out in other people? Like a magnet to metal?

He shook his head and pulled himself back to his feet. 'New discoveries later. Ending this fight, now.' He thought to himself. He picked up Haine and quickly split it into Tourmentage Tordu and Désespoir before he charged in to back up Velvet.

Valter just managed to get past Velvet's defense when she overextended for a sword swing. He was about to stab upwards into her armpit. Or he would've if he didn't get shield bashed by a black shield. He was forced back a step or two and Velvet followed his lead by performing her own shield bash, forcing himself further back.

Jaune and Velvet locked eyes and nodded before taking off again. The two of them worked perfectly together with nearly identical weapons. It was like two of the same person teaming up against Valter. Whenever a slash came for them, a shield would meet it. When an opening was presented, one or both blades would capitalize. Valter was forced to keep backing up more and more, along with his aura getting closer to giving out from the onslaught.

Seeing how the scales were slipping out of his favor, he was left with nothing but taking another tactical retreat. He aimed his left revolver, the only on with fire Dust still available, and fired a massive fireball at the two. The two of them placed their shields next to each other and got behind the safety of their shield wall.

Valter used his Semblance again to give himself one last burst of speed and took off away from them. As he was getting closer to the woods, the trees in front of him shattered and in the air in front of him was the diminutive assassin known as Neo. She managed to catch him in the face with a kick packed with aura. He was sent back towards the fight and as he was flying through the air, his eyes widened in realization.

Velvet and Jaune were charging at him and with him helpless in the air, they delivered two identical slashes across his chest. Valter took the impacts but still flew past them now spinning. He landed on the ground before he bounced off it and skid across the dirt. Pride and Envy fell from his hands and the Sphinx mask fell from his face. His black-red aura shattered and Valter Moonstone laid there unconscious.

Velvet and Jaune stood there trying to regain their breath by panting heavily. Velvet's weapons disappeared and Jaune turned to her while removing his mask, "You had that picture for that long?"

Velvet looked to the side, trying to hide the blush on her cheeks, "I didn't want to use it. I wanted to keep something to remind me of you after your apparent... death."

She felt an arm wrap around her and pull her into a gentle hug. Her blush deepened but she gently wrapped her arms around him to return it. "Thanks for having my back, Vel." She just nodded into his chest. They let go and Neo was stomping over to them. Once she was next to him, she punched him in the stomach and crossed her arms over her chest.

Jaune just massaged his stomach, "Okay, I deserved that." He then reached out and gently ruffled her hair, "Thanks for the save there. We owe you one." She eventually relaxed and nodded her head. He then turned to Valter, "Alright, let's get this over with and head home."

Jaune started to walk over to him as he collapsed Désespoir back into a sheathe and placed it on his back. He just glared down at him with his grip tightening on his sword. His eyes then shifted over to the mask beside him. He knelt down beside it and reached out for it. As his hand neared it, the black miasma surrounded it before it lashed out at his hand. Jaune pulled his hand back and his eyes widened in shock, "This can't be right."

Velvet walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "What is it?"

Jaune just kept staring at the Sphinx mask, "It's bonded to him." He said in disbelief. His eyes looked over to the unconscious body, "Valter has become the rightful owner of the Sphinx mask."

Neo was walking over when she heard that. She quickly removed her own mask and just stared in absolute shock. Velvet was just looking between, the now confirmed, three mask wearers. She eventually spoke up, "What do we do now?"

Jaune sighed and ran a hand down his face. "We'll bring him back with us." Shocking the two as he stood up, "We'll keep him detained and we'll discuss this once everyone is back." He looked back at them and they nodded, not sure on what else to say.

He swapped out his Semblance before drawing his sword behind his shoulder and creating a black portal. He sheathed his sword before walking over to Valter and throwing him over his shoulder. He sent some aura into his hand and picked up the mask, giving him slight protection from the miasma. Velvet walked over and picked up his daggers. Then the three members of Knightingale walked through it and back into the Headquarters.

As they arrived in the training room, Jaune looked to Velvet, "Can you put those in one of the unused lockers. Me and Neo will take him to one of the detention cells."

Velvet nodded her head, "Sure. I'll catch up to you in a bit."

She then walked off to one of the lockers while Neo and Jaune left the training area to make their way to the detention center. It was a hallway with a dozen specialized cells on the other side of the facility. Atlas designed them as a holding facility for dangerous persons of interest. They were only able to be opened from one side and were made of steel and concrete. On top of that, there were a few aura cuffs that would suppress ones aura. And this would be the first time that Knightingale would be using them.

After several minutes, they had gotten there and Neo went over to the first cell and unlocked it with her scroll. Jaune walked in as Neo grabbed a pair of aura cuffs from a case right by the lock on the wall. The cell only had a bed, toilet and sink, which Jaune laid Valter on the former. Neo walked over and locked the aura cuffs onto his wrists as Jaune just looked down at the mask in his hand. With a sigh, he left it on the bed beside him.

With that, the two exited the cell and Jaune locked it with the use of his scroll. Jaune turned to see Velvet walking over to them, "I'm going to rest for a bit." He told her and Neo, "That fight took a lot out of me. Once everyone gets back, we'll discuss what to do with Valter. And we'll start your training with Negative aura." He said with a smirk as Velvet's eyes went wide.

He gave a light chuckle as he started to make his way to his and Raven's room. Once he was sure neither of the girls were watching him, he let his facade fade. He gave out a gasp of pain as his arm wrapped around his stomach. He was panting out, "Pushed my Negative aura too far… damn it." He was using his hand to brace himself against the wall on the occasions that he felt light headed.

He eventually got to his room and opened it. As he was walking in, he was taking off his coat and armor and weapons with difficulty. The pain was persistent and wasn't getting any better. He then collapsed onto the bed with another painful gasp. He groaned as he tried to get comfortable, "Hopefully, Raven gets back soon. Before it gets worse." With those words, he blacked out.

A/N- Here is the next one. I'm curious how many of you saw this coming. And I'm going to answer a question I'm sure a few people have. Yes, being around Negative aura does increase the chances of one unlocking their own Negative aura. Although, they still have to fulfill the other three criteria. I hope you all enjoyed and that I'll see you all in the next update!