Distortion
Jaune was still sitting in the conference room in their base on Vytal. He was looking over all the shocked expressions of the other Knightingale members. He just looked at all their faces as they slowly came to terms with what their leader just said. Eventually, Aaeron was the one to break the silence, "Sic the Beast of Mistral on Atlas? Are you mad?"
Jaune gave a small smirk and shrugged, "Considering what I've been doing as of late, possibly." Aaeron did not look happy with his leader's response. He just sighed, "Look, with Ironwood getting back on his feet, the manhunt will intensify once again. Even if he can't leave Atlas yet, he could leave it in Winter's hands or even the… what are they called? Top Ops?"
"Ace Ops." Aaeron corrected with a hint of disdain. He never really liked any of them when he was still in Atlas. They were honestly just annoying to the spearman.
"Yeah, them." Jaune agreed, almost dismissively. "It's going to get harder for us to move around. Especially if they put out a description for Gil and Onyx since they fought against them before. But, if we can get Valter Moonstone to divert some of their attention, it will help us all in the long run. Especially, if he starts wearing the Sphinx mask. It'll get them to think he could lead them to us directly."
Aaeron just locked eyes with him and the two just stared at each other. "That's if he even would agree to all of this. Or if he didn't just sell us out to Atlas in the first place."
"I highly doubt he would disagree to the first part of that. As far as I can tell, he just wants to find strong and powerful people. And what would be a better challenge than the 'greatest military in Remnant'?" Jaune spoke up. "As for not selling us out, we could see if we can come to some sort of arrangement. If he does disagree or prove to be a risk to all of us, we'll kill him."
There was another silence as everyone digested this information. Gil spoke up after a few seconds, "Say he does agree, what are we going to tell him about our plans?"
Jaune shook his head a bit, "Not much. There is a war of shadows happening and we have our own plans to deal with it. That would really be it. Honestly, unless he proved to be more trustworthy, I wouldn't even think of giving him any additional information."
"The problem is if he does help us and we get our hands on the Branwen's relic." Raven spoke up as she had her arms crossed over her chest. She made eye contact with her husband, "If that were to happen, he could possibly gain the same boon as the other mask holders. And someone like him gaining that kind of power could backfire on us."
Jaune nodded, conceding the point, "True. But we are still missing the key to using the relic properly, if at all. When that time comes around, we will deal with it accordingly. Who knows, maybe he'll prove himself in some way." He closed his eyes and sighed before they kept asking more questions. "Look, we are at a crossroad here. We can either deal with him now and not risk anything by doing so. Or we can take a risk and that could help us keep Atlas distracted. So, what should we do?"
They were all quiet for a while. Each one weighing the options in front of them. Raven and Aeeron were both staring at the table, the former had her arms still crossed over her chest and the latter had his hands clenched on the table. Neo was looking upwards while slowly drumming her fingers on the tabletop. Velvet had a conflicted look in her eyes and she had brought her finger to her mouth and was gently chewing on it.
On the other side of the table, Gil was looking at the far wall and was stroking his beard as he was deep in thought. Onyx was leant back in his chair and his head tilted back so he was staring straight up at the ceiling, if his eyes were open that was. Pyrrha and Ren had turned to one another and were having a near silent conversation with each other.
Meanwhile, Jaune was looking over all of them slowly as his own mind was going over everything as well. He could see the benefits and risks to both, clearly. But he couldn't decide what was the better option. That was the main reason why he had decided to talk this over with as many of the members of Knightingale as he could. He needed as many perspectives as possible before anything was decided.
It was Onyx who broke the extended silence, "I say we do it." They looked at him as he lowered his head and opened his eyes to see that the entire table was staring at him now. "I mean, we're in a bind right now. Even having the possibility to delay Atlas' efforts could be immense right now. And if Valter does betray us or try to attack us himself, we'll have the full weight of Knightingale to bring down on him. And I doubt he'd stand a chance if all the veteran members from the Branwen tribe worked together against him."
Everyone just looked at the bowman before they all slowly looked at one another and Gil shrugged, "He does have a point. Even if we don't work together all that often, the four of us here, plus the other two out there, have near flawless cohesion."
Aaeron sighed while nodding, "The old bear does have a point. Even if we couldn't get ahold of Vincent, I'm sure we could handle the Beast."
Jaune eyed Raven with a raised eyebrow. She just looked at him before she gave a nod, "I trust your judgement and you wouldn't have brought an outsider here unless you were sure you had it handled."
Jaune nodded before he turned to the other three, nearly four, members towards the end of the table, "And what do you four say?"
The four of them looked at him and Neo was the first one to answer, with a thumbs up and a wink. Raven instantly sent a glare at her with the diminutive women just looking back with a smug smirk. Pyrrha gave a more vocal response, "We trust you, Jaune. We wouldn't be following you otherwise." Ren gave a resolute nod in agreeance and Velvet did the same with her usual smile on her face.
Jaune looked at the table as a whole and grinned, "Alright, I guess it's unanimous." Jaune slowly stood from his seat and looked to the left side of the table. "You four just got back, you should rest up and get your energy back." They all nodded or vocally agreed and he could now see the faint traces of exhaustion on their faces. He then turned to his right to look at his wife, "Mind coming with me to talk to our guest?"
She smirked and stood up, "Do you even need to ask?" With that, the meeting was called to an end. Everyone, besides Velvet, picked up their respective masks before filing out of the room. Jaune broke away from the rest of them with Raven. They then began making their way to the holding cell that he deposited Valter in the afternoon before. "How likely is it that he will attack us when that door opens?" Raven asked as they were nearing the door.
"Not very likely." Jaune informed her. "He doesn't have his weapons and his hands are bound with aura cuffs, so no aura or Semblance. So, we should be fine. But just as precaution, I'll be ready with Distortion if it comes to that."
They were soon standing in front of the cell and Jaune pulled out his scroll to unlock the door. Once the electronic tone sounded to alert him that it was unlocked, Jaune reached for the door to open it. That's when they saw Valter. He was sitting on the bed he was laid on the day before. His back was against the wall at the head of the bed. He had one leg over the other and had his mask in his hands. He was looking down at it until he had heard the door and he jerked his head up and locked eyes with Jaune.
The two held their stare down, the Beast's was heated while Jaune's was just cold. Finally Valter spoke without breaking eye contact, "So, have you come to kill me now? If so, you should've done so when I lost."
Jaune raised an eyebrow, "And why should I have done that?"
Valter scoffed, "It would've been honorable, that's why."
The Knightingale leader just tilted his head a bit, "So, you don't care about whether you die or not, but rather how it comes about?"
"Yes." He practically hissed. "There is no greater honor then to die in an intense battle with a worthy opponent. To die before you even hit the ground. That is how any warrior deserves to go." He just looked at Jaune, behind the fury and hatred at being denied his 'honorable' end, there was a hint of respect in them. "Dying by your hand, that would've been as great a death as I could hope for. But you sullied that by bringing me here."
"What if I told you that I didn't bring you here to kill you?" Jaune asked him.
That got him to break his heated glare and it was replaced with one of pure confusion, "That would be weird considering the last two times we met, you were actively trying to end my life."
Jaune nodded and to Valter's shock, Raven spoke up from behind him, "That is indeed true." Jaune stepped into the cell and to the right, he leant against the bit of wall next to the door so Raven was now standing in the doorway. "Several months ago, you killed a member of our tribe. He was a trusted member and a close friend. Worse, you stole the mask that you are holding now. We allowed our emotions to dictate our actions."
Valter just stared at her, "And who the hell are you?"
"The previous leader of our tribe." She responded coolly. "That is before I stepped down to allow Jaune to lead us." She said as she motioned to Jaune with her hand.
"And my wife." Jaune added as an afterthought.
Valter looked between the two but didn't let his guard down, "So, what changed? Why haven't you killed me if you hated me so much?"
"Don't get the wrong idea, I still hate you." Jaune spoke with an even tone. "It's just something remarkable and annoying has happened to make us rethink our plans."
"And what would that be?" the Beast questioned.
Raven motioned to the mask in his hands, "Those masks are a badge of honor to my tribe. Only certain individuals can actually wear them. And I mean that quite literally. After your last fight with my husband, he found out that you are worthy of the mask you originally stole."
He then looked down at the mask in confusion before looking up, "So, what? Does that give me a free pass?"
"Not even close." Jaune spoke up before he sighed to keep his emotions in check. "But it does give you an opportunity."
"And that would be?"
"There is a war hidden in the shadows. And it has been going on for millennia." Raven continued in Jaune's stead. "If it continues the way it has been going, no one will benefit from it. Our group has a way to fight it and win but doing so has us going up against both sides of it. And recently, that has gotten us in Atlas' sights or more specifically, Ironwood's."
He raised his eyebrows, slightly impressed, "Damn. Even after everything I've done, I haven't gotten that kind of treatment from Mistral. Begs the question, 'What did you do?'" He looked from Raven to Jaune.
"A lot." Jaune answered shortly. "But, as you can guess, Atlas is getting in the way of our plans. We need something to distract them from us."
"To be precise, someone." Raven finished as she looked at him meaningfully.
Valter knew instantly what the two were getting at and a bloodthirsty grin stretched across his face. "So, you want me to draw their attention. Now, don't get me wrong, that would be very interesting to do. But if it's only against the more average soldiers and those androids of theirs, that will make it less fun for me after a while. And what do I get out of all of this?"
"Don't worry about that, there is a good chance that you will encounter a good number of Atlas Specialists." Jaune answered. "Possibly even Winter Schnee or Ironwood's elites, the Ace Ops. They could serve as worthy opponents and a possible honorable death you want."
"As for payment." Raven resumed. "We are in a secure facility. All the necessities are here along with ways to repair your weapon and armor. Along with a surplus of Dust that we can allow you to use. If you agree, we can give you a way to communicate with us and myself or Jaune can open a portal for you to come here when you wish." Her eyes narrowed, "That is, if we have your word that you will do nothing to sabotage us."
He turned to lock eyes with her. He held her gaze with a look of interest. "All this sounds very interesting. Honestly, this would be a welcomed change of pace for me. But here's the thing, I don't do well with authority figures." His eyes moved back to Jaune, "You, I could stomach listening to. I respect the power you hold and the fights we've had."
His eyes moved back to Raven, "But I have no respect for you. And as much as you say he is the leader; you still hold a great deal of power in this little group. So, before I consider anything, I want to fight you. "If you can beat me and prove you are as skilled as your husband, I will agree to this… partnership. But, if I win…" That bloodthirsty grin was now back with a vengeance. "Then I get to kill you. Deal?"
Jaune's eyes narrowed but before he could say or do anything, Raven answered, "Fine." Jaune turned to her and she looked cool and collected. "I will retrieve my weapon and your own. Then we'll go to a more suitable place for our fight." She turned from him to the hallway, "Give me ten minutes." She walked away without waiting for his answer.
Jaune followed after her and heard him mutter, "This will be too good." Jaune looked over his shoulder to him with a baleful glare before he locked the door behind him.
The married couple made their way to the locker room in silence. When they arrived, Raven went to her personal one and retrieved Omen. She made sure that none of her blades were too damaged before she was satisfied. "You can't hide your emotions from me, Jaune." She turned back to him as he had a conflicted look on his face. "Why are you so worried? I've fought opponents just as strong before and came out fine. Goodwitch, Winter and Qrow most recently as examples."
He sighed, "I know. But Valter is different than them. He's fanatical and that makes him unpredictable and dangerous."
"I've faced my fair share of fanatics." She stated in a matter of fact way. "I will handle this. I am the one that made you the warrior you are now, remember?"
"I know, I know." He said in frustration. "I'm just worried, even if logically I know you'll be fine." He made eye contact with her again, "If he tries to kill you, I will kill him first."
"That might just be what he wants out of all of this." She said as she walked up to him. She gently held his face in her hands and gave him a tender smile, one very few ever saw. "I appreciate that after everything, you worry about me but don't let him take advantage of that. Remember, we are bound to one another in heart and soul."
He closed his eyes before he gently leant his forehead against her own. They stood like that for a while just taking in each other's presence. He opened his eyes once again to stare into her beautiful red eyes. He gave her a small smile before his right hand went to her chin and raised it just a bit. That was when he gave her heartfelt kiss. She easily returned it. When they slowly pulled away, he said the one thing on his mind, "I love you, Raven."
She smiled at him, "And I love you, Jaune. Now can you please retrieve Valter's weapons? The sooner you do that, the sooner I can show you just how much I love you." Her right hand trailed down from his cheek to rest over his chest and his heart.
Jaune smirked, "You can be insatiable, you know this, right?"
She shrugged, "As you have pointed out many times, our aura recovers quickly when we are close. And making love just makes it so much more gratifying."
He chuckled before he pulled away from her embrace. He walked over to one of the lockers to retrieve Valter's dual daggers. As an additional precaution, he went to his own and pulled his trusted sword and sheathe out before placing it on his back. With that, the two left to go retrieve Raven's challenger. Once they arrived, Jaune reopened the door to see that Valter was now sitting up on his temporary bed with a look of anticipation. "Alright, let's get this over with." Jaune said evenly.
Valter just smirked but didn't say a word as he stood from the bed. He walked out of the cell to join them in the hallway. When he was out, Raven drew her sword and opened a portal. She sheathed her blade and walked through it. Valter looked at Jaune but all he did was motion for him to go through it. He reluctantly did it and Jaune followed closely behind.
On the other side, Jaune saw that they were now standing in a small forest clearing. It was one of several that Raven would take him to train when the Branwen tribe was still around. Raven was still walking and stopped when she was on the other side of the clearing. She turned around and waited for Jaune. Seeing that, he took out his scroll and motioned for the prisoner to raise his hands. He did so and Jaune waved the scroll over the cuff. The dampeners shut off then unlocked. Jaune removed them from his wrists, noticing that a shiver went through him as it happened. It was probably a reaction to his aura returning to him.
Jaune attached the cuffs to his belt before he pulled out the daggers and handed them to their owner. An overjoyed expression came to his eyes as he took his weapons into his hands. With that done, Jaune made his way to the side of the clearing and away from the two combatants. He turned back around and rested his back against one of the trees there. He then resigned himself to watch and only interfere if Valter tried to make good on his promise about his wife.
The two just stared at the other, Valter with that bloodthirsty look while Raven was as calm as ever. They stood like that for a minute or so before Valter used his Semblance to send more of his aura saturated blood into his legs. He leapt forward, shattering the ground underneath him in the process, towards Raven.
Raven didn't bother to move until the very last second, taking a step to her left as she turned and making Valter just miss her because of it. As he was still moving forward, Raven drew her sword and swung at him horizontally. He managed to spin his body and cross his daggers to catch the blade before it hit its original target. He let the force of her swing send him backwards and create some distance between them. He landed feet first and slid slightly before he jumped forward again.
She pulled her sword back and sent aura into the blade, she swung forward and released a torrent of fire at the Beast. He just crossed his arms in front of him to protect his face as the flames rolled over him. When he erupted out of the other side, he quickly spun like a turbine at her. Raven held her blade diagonally and felt the repeated impact of his daggers against it. Valter went past her and landed on his feet before he jumped backwards, shifting Pride and Envy into their revolver modes and firing at her. Raven deflected most of the bullets with Omen before she too jumped backwards.
Valter smirked before he threw his right revolver forward and fired all his Dust as a massive fireball towards her. Raven, ever calm, sheathed her sword and disconnected her usual red blade. The chamber in her sheathe turned until her ice Dust blade was in position and connected to the hilt. She sent aura into her blade and drew it as the fireball was nearly on top of her. A wave of ice and frigid air was released from the swing, cutting the fireball in half and extinguishing the rest of it. The wave of cold and ice kept flying forward and towards Valter, who had charged in behind the fireball to take advantage after Raven dodged the massive attack.
Getting over his initial shock, Valter tried to jump to his right but was just too slow. His left arm got caught up in Raven's counterattack and was frozen completely. He cursed to himself internally but could do little about it since Raven had closed the space between them. She started to deliver her own barrage of sword slashes. He managed to divert the first few but with only a single arm and dagger, he was quickly overwhelmed and took a few slashes before he retaliated. He send more blood into his right arm to increased his strength for one devastating hit.
Raven's blade met his own but with his increased strength, her Dust blade shattered and she caught the punch directly on her chest. She let out a pained gasp as she was flung backwards towards several of the tree that surrounded the clearing. The blood thirsty smirk came back as he raised his frozen arm, aiming his revolver at her. Like he did before, he pulled the trigger and released all the Dust in his revolver, ejecting a massive fireball from the barrel. The heat from it melted the ice about halfway up his arm and the projectile flew directly at his airborne target. She broke the tree line just as the elemental attack slammed into them, erupting and igniting many of the trees.
Valter just kept smirking as he stared at the wildfire he just started. He then slowly turned to Jaune, who was safely on the other side of the clearing, "Sorry about that. Looks like I just made you into a widower." He then laughed cruelly at him, trying to get him to engage him once again.
But to his shock, Jaune didn't seem the faintest bit upset, from his wife's death or his words. "You shouldn't count Raven out yet." He said all too calmly. "She is still alive and very well."
Valter just raised an eyebrow at him, "You must have lost it." He pointed his dagger towards the fire he just started, "Most trained Huntsmen couldn't survive that assault."
He nodded, "True." That was when a knowing grin stretched across his face, "But my wife isn't most Huntsmen." That was when a raven flew behind the Beast a good ten feet or so. Valter turned around as soon as he heard the fluttering of feathers. But by the time he could see, Raven was back in her human form and charging at him.
He tried to jump back but it was too late. Raven drew her sword, now with her gravity Dust blade equipped, while sending aura into it. The blade hit his armor and released a shockwave, sending him flying backwards like he was shot from a cannon. And directly towards an unflinching Jaune. She made another slash in front of her and formed a portal, it's twin appearing in front of her husband. She jumped through and was about to meet Valter head on since he hadn't had a chance to recover yet. She hit him with another aura empowered swing and another shockwave sent him back the way he had come.
He hit the ground at an angle hard enough that he formed a deep trench into the ground. He carried on for a good twenty feet or so before he hit something, either a large rock underground or some roots, which launched him into the air and flip head over heels. He impacted the ground and lost both his weapons as he skipped off the ground. He landed another ten or so feet from that spot and just groaned.
He was about to slowly sit up but stopped when he felt something sharp touch the tip of his nose. He opened his eyes to see that Raven had her sword drawn and pointed at him. He looked up at her and saw her just gazing back at him. "Yield." Her voice commanded.
He just held her gaze for a bit before he closed his eyes with a sigh. When they opened he had a small smile on his face, "I guess I don't have a choice. I'd rather not die on my back like this." Raven just kept looking at him before she pulled her blade away and sheathed it. Valter slowly got himself back on his feet, groaning as he stretched his back. "Gotta say, you are very skilled. If you didn't want me alive, I have no doubt that I would be dead right now."
"Does that mean we have a deal?" The two turned to see Jaune walking over to them.
Valter nodded, "Guess it does. Still don't like taking orders but I can deal with listening to you two for a while. But, I do have one condition."
Jaune narrowed his eyes but Raven spoke first, "And what would that be?"
He just smirked, "If I don't die out there to a worthy opponent, I want one of you two to do it after everything is settled. Deal?"
"Oh, trust me, if we get to that point you won't have to worry. Because I'll be the one to remove your head from your shoulders." Jaune spoke up with a tone of finality.
Valter laughed at that before he held his hand out to him, "Then it looks like we have a deal, partner." Jaune just looked at his hand for a bit, his own hand clenching into a fist at. It soon unclenched and Jaune took the Beast of Mistral's hand, sealing the deal. Many would consider this a deal with the devil but the real question would be: which party would be considered the devil?
A/N- Here it is! After three months Distortion is off hiatus. Now here is what I've decided to do for this story. There has been a halfway point to this story since it became more than just a one-shot, it has been set in stone since then. So, I am going to keep writing until that point, that is where I will end Distortion. After that, depending on how my feelings for this story are and how the rest of you feel, I will write the rest of it as a sequel series to this. If not, I will end. That is my decision on it and it won't be case, this story will have some sort of ending. Best case, I'll be able to write the entirety go it.
Now before any of you who enjoy this story worry, there is still another twenty chapters or so until that point. So, the end is a good ways away. I hope you keep enjoying it until then and I thank you for your patience for this story to return. With that, I'll see you all in the next update!
Before I forget, the Beat Reader for this chapter was Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh. Like i have said ever time before now, go check him out.