A/N: Phew! 10 Chapters! Anyways, usual disclaimer of not owning characters except a couple of OC. Special thanks to furaiz for reading/editing. I tried to not make this too graphic, I'm not really a good 'ruler' for that kind of stuff.


Touma gulped as Goodwitch's emerald eyes surveyed him, it was the first 'supplementary lesson' to his training schedule and from what he saw in combat classes, she was very strict and demanding. With a quick glance at her scroll, she stated, "Touma, the purpose of these supplementary lessons is to ensure that you are capable of surviving combat situations at any point. Unlike any other huntsman, your aura still remains suppressed… thanks to your… semblance. Therefore, we will go into an advanced course that will surely help you in mitigating the dangers of your situation."

The boy nodded nervously, the words 'advanced course' suggested something he was a little afraid to delve into. Goodwitch then strode to an area, several metres away from Touma and then faced him, her eyes sharpened as if ready to fight, "This course was designed for huntsmen that find themselves in critical combat conditions. In this case… when their aura is depleted. All you have to do… is to avoid any form of attack by any means necessary, whether by dodging, parrying or any other means you can devise. Are you ready?"

"W-wait… uh…" Touma's hand was raised as Goodwitch tilted her head with a raised eyebrow and lowered her crop, "Uhm, do… you have any tips?" Touma asked, it wasn't like he had never been in a fight before, but being able to avoid every single attack was a bit of a tall order, especially from someone as intimidating as Goodwitch.

"... I'm sure you are intelligent enough to understand that unlike aura depleted huntsmen, you still have access to your semblance. I'd suggest watching your opponents and using it as a key part of your defence or a decisive part of your attack," Goodwitch replied with narrowed eyes and Touma could only grin sheepishly, it felt like the professor was expecting him to know this already. Goodwitch's glare intensified as the atmosphere around her seemed to chill, her aura flared and the Touma could've sworn that the dust on the very floor seemed to escape from her, "Now, are you ready?"


Touma's heels dug into the ground as hard as he could, his right hand pushing against this green light. He didn't feel anything but some form of resistance like wind blowing him back, yet hissing filled his ears and his right arm vibrated from the sheer force of the attack. It wasn't like any other semblance, Grimm or dust attack, it persisted in pushing back against him and Touma felt a sudden clutch in his heart, was his semblance not good enough? Eventually, it all stopped, steam rose from his hand yet not a scar or burn was visible. He clutched and relaxed his hand multiple times, it was surreal yet his hand was the same as ever like it never acknowledged what happened just then.

"...Impossible, her semblance should be able to melt almost everything…" Harumi muttered from behind him and Touma sighed in relief, thankful that his Imagine Breaker had probably saved his life from being vaporised.

"Increasing output…" the girl stated and once again a green ball of light buzzed into life on her palms, but it was larger than before and even though Touma had managed to fend off the last attack, he still stepped back as sweat trickled down his face from the anticipation.

"Oi… you might want to get back," Touma suggested, panic seeped into his voice and within the next second, green light filled his vision, his right hand reflexively reaching out towards it and his legs bracing themselves once again. Touma grunted as his right arm shook, his left hand gripping onto his right arm for more support as hissing filled the room once again.

Touma had no idea how he managed to stay on his two feet, but when the beam stopped, he stumbled forward and scrambled to stay upright, panting as he watched the Faunus's eyes observing him dispassionately.

"H-how are you doing this?" Harumi asked from behind him, "You… I… we should've been dead the moment she fired!"

"Um… my semblance can stop other semblance and aura… and stuff," Touma answered, his eyes still stuck on the girl, he didn't want her to leave his sight at all. The girl stood like a statue, only her eyes followed Touma as he backed up slowly.

"Wait… did you say it can stop other semblances?" Harumi asked, disbelief rife in her voice but she couldn't deny what she saw, especially since it happened twice. Touma couldn't blame her, he had almost doubted that his hand could stop the attack when it didn't dispel immediately.

"Well… I think?" Touma replied as his mind struggled to figure it out while regretting that he should've paid more attention to class. The whole relationship with semblance and aura still confused him, and without Weiss, Blake or Pyrrha here, he was completely lost on how to articulate that knowledge.

"You think or you know?" Harumi's voice was etched with impatience and Touma wouldn't blame her, after all, the girl started walking slowly towards him, at least she wasn't using that green beam thing anymore.

"Uh…" Four's movement started to speed up and Touma retreated just as fast, "I know! I know!" Touma desperately hoped that Harumi can think of something to deal with this girl who seemed to terrify him.

"Changing offensive strategy…" the girl stated and she sprinted straight at Touma, with him firing off a concussive round but she twisted her body, completely avoiding the projectile and continued charging without skipping a beat.

Touma ducked as the girl charged in with a sweeping kick, then he backpedalled, ducking and weaving amidst the relentless assault the girl was dishing out with her kicks. His mind clicked, wasn't this position what he wanted? At this range, he could use his Imagine Breaker to suppress her aura and win. With newfound confidence, he ducked another sweeping kick before lunging at her with a right straight, only for his arm to be knocked away when her own arm swatted it and Touma found himself bouncing on the floor a few times before lying spread out in pain.

She had countered him with a kick to his left arm and if it wasn't for Retterhand, he was pretty sure that arm would be broken from that attack. Touma slowly rose from the floor, a little unsteady on his feet as he rotated his left arm a few times and it seemed to be okay apart from the throbbing pain. Touma scowled grimly to himself, that tactic certainly didn't work and he almost had his arm broken for his trouble.

The girl wasn't done, her hand was enveloped in green light and it quickly shot out at Touma, who reflexively brought his hand to defend himself. It was faster than her other beam-like attacks but Touma didn't even have to brace himself as his right hand seemed to just grip onto the beam without a problem. Eventually, the hissing sound died out and Touma lowered his hand, breathing heavily not from defending the beam attack, but the intense adrenaline of the fight in general.

"If you can cancel semblances than you just need to get her head! Gin's using Misaki as a relay for his own semblance so if you can cancel it out, just get her head!" Harumi shouted but Touma only frowned, not really understanding what she was saying and who was Misaki? Still, he got the gist of what he had to do, but at the same time, it was pretty much the same thing he was trying to do for the past couple of minutes.

Four charged again and Touma backstepped with a yelp as she struck out, forcing him to avoid her once again. She was fast, perhaps just as fast as Goodwitch and Touma never thought he would be thankful for that hellish training until now. He had noticed that the girl's shoulders, hips and other parts of the body moving slightly for the next attack and he, in turn, would prepare to avoid it by any means necessary.

At the back of his mind, he noticed her attacks started to get easier to avoid, it was as if she had a set pattern of attacks. The girl shot her leg out for a sweep as Touma closed in, his left arm blocking, Retterhand groaning from the powerful impact and his bones underneath his arm popping, sending him stumbling away into the ground. Bolts and metal bits clattered on the ground around him and his eyes widened as his arm seemed strangely numb, but his weapon looked like it was crumpled, with bits and pieces missing.

"Damnit! Okay… guess that didn't work," grunted Touma as he pulled himself up, his left arm hanging limply beside him, his face scrunched up as the pain steadily started to throb from it.

The Faunus girl leapt forward, her feet outstretched and once again, Touma dove to the side, but it wasn't like before. He felt sluggish and unbalanced, the weight from his left arm sent shocks of pain through his body every time he moved. The girl's attacks started to feel more oppressive as Touma scrambled to avoid getting hit, each kick and punch getting steadily closer to hitting their mark and he could feel the ghost of the next attack as his heartbeat started to thunder into his ears.

Touma reflexively raised his hand to block the foot aimed at his torso, stopping it in its tracks and his eyes widened. While his right arm shook slightly from the impact, it wasn't as brutal as taking it with his left arm. It was at this moment, Touma instinctively shoved at the girl back as she stumbled and then he cocked his fist back, harshly slamming it into the girl's left cheek, sending her sprawling to the floor with a fleshy impact. Touma watched the girl lay silently before him, mouth ajar as it dried out from all the air passing through, he gulped his non-existent saliva as he relaxed his stance.

"Shizuri!" Harumi ran to the fallen girl, gently cradling her head and Touma tilted his head in confusion. As the girl started to stir, Touma's hand tightened to a fist, a little on edge but she opened her eyes and they were different from before. It wasn't as lifeless, in fact, it reminded him a lot more of a normal person that just woke up.

"...Doc? What's… where am I?" the girl quietly asked, her hand rubbed to her left cheek and then to her forehead as her eyes shut tightly. Touma blinked and released a breath he didn't realise he held, she wasn't robotic and seemed far more life-like.

"You're safe… everything's alright now," Harumi assured, her lips curved slightly upwards, "... Misaki doesn't have a link to you anymore…"

Touma slowly approached them, wincing a little at every step he made, "Looks like she's back to normal."

"Yeah… she's alr- your arm!" Harumi's eyes widened as Touma grinned humourlessly. Shizuri watched Touma with a half-lidded stare while struggling to sit up.

"Just a fractured arm… ugh… she kicks hard," Touma muttered as Harumi scampered to him while her eyes were still on his arm. He tried to transform Retterhand to its inactive form, before tapping it with his free hand and shaking it only to shudder in pain once again, "And… my weapon is busted… great…"

"Here, I'll help you take it off," Harumi offered. Touma stared blankly at her, then at his hand and sighed resignedly. It couldn't be any worse than the pain he felt and he held out his hand with a determined nod. Harumi grabbed onto Retterhand gently and slowly pulled, Touma flinched the moment he felt the tugging sensation and gritted his teeth, his breath hissing through them as he attempted to alleviate the pain somehow through his rapid breathing.

Eventually, his sweaty hand met the cool air but the burning sensation from his arm still had Touma wincing. Immediately, Harumi tossed Retterhand to the side, much to Touma's ire and took off her armour. She quickly set to work on his arm, setting a makeshift splint with a cool metal rod and some strips of clothing from her own sleeves.

"There…" Harumi wiped her brow before heading back to Shizuri, who had her eyes on Touma throughout the whole time. Touma stared back and immediately, Shizuri turned her attention to Harumi chatting to her quietly.

Shizuri seemed to feel a lot more human-like and Touma glanced at his Imagine Breaker, it had to be his semblance that knocked her out of that creepy robot thing that the girl had going on before. If that was the case, Touma's hand curled into a fist and turned his attention to where Gin and that girl left.

"If you're going after them… You need to free Misaki first," Harumi's voice took Touma's attention as he whipped his head to the professor, perplexed on how she knew he would be going. "It's literally written all over your face," Harumi answered his unspoken question blankly.

"Oh… but uh… who's Misaki?" Touma asked sheepishly.

"It's the blonde girl, if you use your semblance on her as you did to Shizuri…" Harumi answered as she rubbed her chin, "Then maybe… just maybe you can break her link with the others."

"Break her link huh…" Touma muttered, he glanced at his broken weapon, dented and unable to transform, then to his arm bounded by a splint. Fighting Shizuri was already a challenge in itself, and if this Misaki girl was anything like Shizuri, he gulped at the likelihood of his well being in that encounter. Still, he couldn't let Gin walk away with this, if Misaki and other children were suffering under the doctor, then he'd do everything in his power to stop it. Touma raised his head, his eyes set in grim determination and marched towards the door Gin had left through.


Frenda flipped back, electrical discharges dancing in the area she was standing moments before as she recovered and charged again, her tonfas colliding into the girl's face. Yet the girl's head only snapped to the side before turning back to face Frenda again. There wasn't a pained expression, or a bruise or any other acknowledgement that the chestnut-haired girl received a tonfa to the face. Still, Frenda pressed on, her tonfas finding their target at the face, chest and torso, each blow pushing back the girl that she couldn't even respond.

With one powerful blow, Frenda sent the girl sprawling, but the downed girl's body had static dancing around her body and as she reached out her hand, Frenda cursed, diving to the side as a flash of light and crack of thunder blasted past where she stood. Her tonfas converted to her rifle and with a flare of her aura, she fired a short burst at the girl, each round exploding and suppressing her.

Frenda rushed forward, her rifle changing back to her tonfas and with a swift uppercut, the girl found herself being launched into the air, with Frenda jumping after her with a frantic grin. The Atlesian soldier flipped, axe kicking the girl straight at the torso. As Frenda landed, her weapon transforming to its dormant state and she could've sworn that under the girl was a slight dent to the floor as she laid there unmoving.

Frenda straightened up, stretching her arms and neck, she hadn't taken on someone this tough in a while, even though the girl was just basically someone with a lot of power and no training. Regardless, she grinned, feeling refreshed that she managed to exercise her capabilities with little impunity. She saw the rising and falling of the girl's chest so the girl was likely to be injured at most.

As Frenda approached the girl to finish off her mission, the girl suddenly started to stir and like a doll, sat up without a single smudge or scratch upon her. Frenda grinned humourlessly and muttered, "Geeze, ready for more?"

The girl stood up and electricity started to crack around her, louder and flashier, her hair raised as the sounds of zapping started to fill the room. "Increasing output…" despite the rising intensity, the girl's voice remained as flat as ever, her eyes were dull yet Frenda had a sinking suspicion that this girl was going to be a completely different ballpark.

The girl charged, slamming into Frenda and she was sent flying, crashing into a machine, leaving a sizable dent with her lying in the middle of it. Frenda grunted, every positive feeling she had minutes before disappearing as she glared at the girl. She stood up, brushing her hair to the side and spat at the floor as her weapons clicked into the pair of tonfas.

"Okay, that's it! Basically, you pissed me off!" Frenda rocketed to the girl, her tonfas leading the charge. However, the girl backstepped and shot her leg forward, forcing Frenda to roll to the side to avoid it. The two clashed, Frenda aggressively throwing strikes whereas the girl took each strike, recovering quickly to respond with her own. Frenda ducked and weaved while thrusting her tonfa at the girl's torso, but each blow to the girl only knocked her back yet she would quickly advance with an attack of her own.

"You, damned Bitch! Just stay down!" Frenda grunted, punctuating each word with a hook and the last one knocked the girl down. However, as if manipulated by strings, the girl rose and pounced at Frenda, blowing her away despite bracing for impact. Frenda's bones shook and her aura flared, worst of all, her weapon groaned at the impact as she anchored her feet to the ground to prevent herself from losing ground.

At first, Frenda had the clear advantage of dictating the pace of the battle, but each time she engaged and took down the girl, the shorter haired girl would only rise again while Frenda was slowly growing frustrated at the increasing uselessness of her attacks.

Frenda growled before shaking her head and sucked in a deep breath before exhaling, this fight was far more annoying that she had expected. She nodded to herself, as her eyes darted from the girl to the surrounding area, littered by blackened metal parts and smouldering machines. She shot towards the scattered machinery, her aura flaring as she charged her semblance, kicking the first debris at the enemy, exploding on impact. Frenda didn't wait to see if it had any effect, she continued dashing into the next debris and kicked it straight to the girl, all the while powering each projectile with her semblance until explosions and dust were covering the girl like a smokescreen.

The room shook for each explosion Frenda caused and soon the room filled with broken machinery was quickly replaced with blackened spots. Once Frenda stopped, she bent over, gasping for breath as she felt her aura diminished from her barrage of attacks, but as the dust clouds slowly settled, electrical crackling filled her ears and Frenda's mouth bared her teeth in as a low growl escaped her throat. The girl stepped out of the dust cloud, crackling static dancing in the air and the lights of the room flickering. Frenda's eyes glanced at the ceiling above her, the lights blinking in and out with increasing frequency and as she turned her attention to the girl, the room blacked out, a loud beep ringing in the room as the whole room was quickly lit up like it was painted by a dark red glowing paint.

Frenda's heart started hammering in her ears, as she felt her breath hitch a little, her feet slowly stepping back from the girl as she felt static zapping very close to her feet. The girl's body illuminated in an icy blue light, as lightning cracked around her more violently. As she raised her hands, Frenda watched as she fell on her back as she felt the one thing she thought she had left behind long ago, fear.


Winter slowly peeked out from the machine she hid behind, the boy she had trapped steadily scanned the room, slowly walking from one point to another. So far, this whole scenario was turned into a game of hide and seek, but of all things considered, it was the best situation Winter could take.

Everything she threw directly at the boy had no effect, it was either repelled or dissipated, no matter the nature of her attack. That very capability had Winter on the backfoot and even resulted in her weapon being missing. However, she wasn't out of the fight, not if she had anything to say about it.

A sudden burst of flames shot out at the boy from the ground, as if he had suddenly combusted, the flames swirling around him before it was snuffed out. The boy's body was once again, completely unharmed and Winter's eyes narrowed that her surprise attack was fruitless. Her observations throughout this fight or lack thereof had only proved Project Revolution had managed to surpass her expectations so far.

However, Winter wasn't done as her aura flared and glyphs around the boy started to hum to life and within a second, fire, ice and lightning crashed into him and the same result occurred, leaving Winter's jaws to tighten. She had almost no idea how to bypass that strange ability of his, perhaps it was time to retreat for now.

A glyph hummed to life in front of her and an icy blue shape of a large Grimm Ursa began to form, immediately charging towards the boy the moment Winter finished the summons. As the ice construct charge, the boy simply held his hand at the Grimm summon and it was sent flying. Despite this, Winter wasn't disappointed at all, she had dashed to another closer to the door, careful to avoid the line of sight from the boy as her diversions took the hit, and as the Ursa crashed into the door, Winter sprinted out of the room and continued leaving the room.

As she ran through the doorway, another glyph hummed underneath her boots and a rush of wind flew to her cheeks, zooming through the hallway. Winter couldn't shake off the prickly feeling behind the back of her neck, she suddenly heard a crash from behind her and immediately she swerved as something whizzed by her, smashing into the door she was heading to.

Soon, debris of metal scraps, chunks of machines and other objects were flying like bullets to Winter and she immediately flipped back, twisting and ducking like a dancer as each object flew passed her. The boy that she had thought she escaped stepped out of the room, his hand held high and reported, "Target spotted…"

He charged forward, striking his fist out and Winter weaved around it, countering it with and elbow of her own, but it bounced off, spinning her as she lost her footing. Winter hopped back as she recomposed herself, her frown adorning her face. She wasn't a slouch in unarmed combat, but that interaction had certainly put a quick stop to her momentum.

The white-haired boy stared at Winter and the debris around him started to shake. At the corner of Winter's eyes, the machines and metal scraps zoomed towards her, she immediately jumped back and slid underneath one of the flying machines, hopping over the next one but a dull thunk blindsided the Schnee as she felt her aura weakly flaring before fizzling out. Feeling suddenly weakened at the absence of her aura, she collapsed to the floor with a groan.

She heard footsteps, each one getting louder and as she looked up to see the boy's lifeless eyes, she released a breath, resigned at her defeat. As the boy's figure steadily grew, his hand stretched towards her, emitting a humming sound accompanied by a deep thumping sound but Winter felt that it echoed far away rather than from the boy.

The boy's aura flared and Winter closed her eyes as Weiss's face flashed in her mind, and Touma. He was under her charge, his whereabouts and status completely unknown, she quietly gave out a silent apology as she prepared to take her last breath.


Saiai had a lot of confidence in her capabilities as an Atlesian soldier, in fact, she was known as 'Superwoman' simply because she could handle anything thrown at her. Whether it was a hail of dust bullets, a strong semblance or a high yield explosive, her semblance was extremely sturdy that it could handle all of it without a problem. However, the situation she was in was definitely not super.

A boy, probably no older than an Atlas Academy student seemed to be blasting white substance from his hands accompanied with a vicious hissing that drowned out other sounds and Saiai couldn't describe it any more than that. It was grainy yet it was smooth, it was viscous yet fluid and it was rough but smooth, however, it carved through the steel bunker wall like a knife through warm butter. It was all that was needed for Saiai to never challenge that white substance thing this boy was using.

Half her team were at another entrance and her partner, Caramel was left unconscious from the boy's surprise attack. So far, Saiai had been pretty much dodging, heading steadily away from the breach hole of the bunker wall. She just had to hold out until reinforcements arrived, but now, she was hopping and sprinting away from anything white coming out of the boy.

She aimed her bazooka and fired a fire dust rocket at the boy, but the same response for the same attack was made. The white substance quickly formed a wall and instead of an explosion, it was simply swallowed as if it was just snuffed out.

"This… is totally not super!" Saiai groaned as she launched herself to the side, avoiding a mass of the strange substance that quickly left a crater of dirt as it subsided. She heard a rush of hissing sound immediately continued rolling, she didn't know where but the next thing she knew her vision was filled with white, her aura flared once. Now, she felt the relatively cool grass on her face, weakened from her aura being depleted by a single attack. It was just simply too fast, too flexible and Saiai couldn't answer it at all.

As she pushed against the ground, she saw the boy slowly walking towards her, his hand held high above his head as a swirling mass of white hissed violently yet his dispassionate glare was all she saw on his face. The boy stood before her, barely a metre away and Saiai closed her eyes and lowered her head, she was done.

BOOM!

Saiai screamed, her ears ringing as she clamped at the sudden sound, she felt dirt sprinkling on to the back of her neck and without warning, she felt hands grip underneath her shoulders and roughly hoisted her to her feet. The boy was nowhere to be seen and replaced by a large imposing figure dressed in a white uniform. The figure turned to reveal his face, the one person that everyone she knew respected most, General Ironwood.

The man's mouth opened, his free hand pointing at various places while the other, which held his revolver, was trained at the crater. Saiai peeked around her and noticed AP-290's slowly approaching the bunker, while a couple still had their guns aimed where the crater was.

Saiai was then dragged away, her legs felt more like jelly then trained legs of a soldier, and she saw more Atlas mechs, some soldiers both robot and human approaching the hole, a couple of them carried a young woman out and Saiai felt herself relax, they had managed to pull her partner out.

It wasn't over, however, just as she was about to lose sight, she saw a torrent of white mass shot out from the crater, Saiai craned her neck to peek what was happening but soon enough she was laid down and as the medics worked on her, she could only wonder how the General would handle the boy that was so monstrously strong.


Choice, the one word Gin had always used to justify his actions. Everyone had made a choice, the Atlesian council and top brass made a choice, the politicians had made theirs and so, he had made his choice. Dr Kiyama's words rang true to him, he knew what he had done could never be forgiven. Experimentations on orphans, children no less, was one of the most despicable things any man or woman of science could do.

Unfortunately, circumstances had demanded that more drastic measures to be taken, and if the Atlesian council refused to help him, then he would help himself. The cost of hundreds of lives of orphans was going to be rewarded with millions of lives saved and Gin was willing to pay that cost, even if he had to hear the tortured screams or the gibbering descent of his subjects before they expired.

Furthermore, when he had witnessed and heard stories about the supposed huntsmen that failed to do what they were tasked to do, he knew it was a path he had to take. Touma Kamijou was one of the few huntsmen Gin had come to respect a little, while he certainly seemed naive to what this world was actually facing, Gin saw the genuine spark in that boy's eyes, but it wasn't enough for him.

Now that the Atlesian military had invaded the bunker, he had no choice but to flee, he had almost succeeded in a small number of successful subjects and with that knowledge, he could begin anew so long as he escaped. As he and the blonde girl stepped into an office he immediately rushed to the lone ornate wooden desk and started pulling out drawers. He placed the metal case on his desk and opened it, and tossed documents, papers and scrolls into the case, not bothering to even glance at the content. However, he took out a black pistol from the very back of the drawer and paused, it had been years since he had used a weapon like this, but his situation doesn't allow him to take any concessions. With a slight pause, he shoved the pistol at the back of his trousers with a purse of his lips.

"Doctor… Mental link with Four has ceased," the girl reported and Gin's head whipped towards her, disbelief etching itself onto his face.

"What? How?" Gin hissed, as he approached the girl, almost knocking the case over. There was no way that Four could have been defeated and the link shouldn't be broken by any other means. His own semblance and the blonde girl's should be able to have a permanent hold on every subject.

"... Unknown, last feedback was when Touma Kamijou attacked Four and all links ceased," the girl said and Gin's face twitched, unable to figure out what kind of emotion he felt. He knew that most huntsmen from Atlas were combat oriented, at least on the field. While Touma was certainly not someone who looked like he was employed by the Atlas Special Operations Unit, Gin was well aware that there were a lot of quirky huntsmen in that group.

Gin shook his head, if Touma has the capability to sever the links of the blonde girl, then he can't afford to risk the other subjects at all. "Tell One, Two and Three to finish things up by the minute, if they can't, disengage and rendezvous at sector Z…," Gin ordered, he couldn't risk any of the subjects now, and while losing Four was a major setback, it wasn't the end yet.

The blonde girl nodded and her eyes glowed, "...Done." Gin nodded and the two of them dashed through the hallways, his eyes and ears strained to make sure that no one would have the jump in on them. Their footsteps echoed through the empty halls and Gin would peek around the corners before hurriedly proceeding to the next room, filled with lab equipment and bedding. Gin scanned the room and jogged to a bed.

His fingers flew across the nearby terminal and tapping filled the silent room until he heard the smooth sliding of the door behind him. He whipped around to see Touma Kamijou breathing heavily as he stepped in, he noticed that the left arm of the boy was bound with a splint. While the blonde girl had certainly mentioned that Four had lost the link, he still couldn't believe that the boy had managed to come out on top. While Project Revolution doesn't necessarily make warriors armed with experience, Gin knew full well that they were essentially juggernauts, equipped with extensive aura reserves and semblances capable of laying a huge amount of destruction.

"Dr Gin!" Touma shouted and immediately the blonde girl stood before the older man, but he stopped her and stepped forward, "Stop… stop all of this…" The boy's face was drenched with sweat and his body was slightly hunched over, but he straightened up, his eyes glaring straight at the man.

"... You are in no position to make demands of me," Gin replied narrowed his eyes as he observed the boy, with an arm bound by a splint and sweat present on the body, it was likely that his aura was depleted. Even then, a hunstman with low or depleted aura was still a significant threat, Gin glanced at the girl, then back at Touma.

Touma shook his head and said, "Dr Gin… you have to turn yourself in, someone like you can use their mind for the betterment of everyone else. If you release Misaki and everyone else, I'm sure there can be a way-"

"Don't even try, boy, you couldn't convince me then, you can't convince me now," Gin answered venomously, he suspected that Dr Kiyama had told Touma of the girl's true name, but that was no longer important, "In fact, I should warn you, leave or I'll have you removed."

The boy maintained his stance, if anything, it seemed that his eyes hardened and his right hand tightened to a fist, showing no signs of moving at all. While Misaki wasn't intended to be a fighter, she was still capable of combat and even if Touma had defeated Four, he shouldn't pose a significant threat.

"...So be it, Five… take over him," Gin ordered.

"Commencing Mind hijack," Misaki droned and her eyes glowed as she raised her hand at Touma, her aura spiking and Touma's back foot slid backwards, ready to brace himself for whatever was going to happen. The three of them stood there for several seconds and Gin frowned when Touma's stance didn't change at all, he should be going to a relaxed state from Five's powers. "...Mind hijacking… failed," Misaki announced and lowered her hand.

Gin gaped as he attempted to figure out the head or tail of this situation, Touma should be subjected to Five's ability and by extension, his own semblance. However, the boy slightly relaxed after he saw the girl lowering her hand but didn't look like any had happened to him. Who was Touma Kamijou, or better yet, what was Touma Kamijou? He had to be some kind of preliminary Atlas experiment, there was no way he should be able to resist Five or Four's powers at any capacity.

"How… no… what… what are you!?" Gin spluttered and Touma's frown deepened. The boy started approaching him and Gin let loose a humourless snort, "No… you… you are too risky to be left alive… Five!"

"Engaging," Misaki immediately charged at Touma, stopping his approach as she leapt to him with her knee taking the lead. Touma rolled off to the side, now his stance more ready as he could be with his injuries. Misaki slowly approached him and Touma took a step back, his lips set in a grim determination, Gin inwardly grinned at the sight that he had nothing to worry about as the girl clearly had the advantage.

Misaki shot her limbs forward like a rhythmic machine, the boy ducking and hopping away from her attacks as gasps left his mouth and twitches on his face for each dodge he made. However, as the fight continued, Gin's elated feeling steadily died down as he saw Touma's eyes carefully watching Misaki despite being in pain and on the defensive. Something screamed in Gin's mind, even if he hadn't been on the field for a long time, someone in Touma's position should be pressured, but instead, the boy showed nothing but focus. As Misaki lashed out her left fist, Touma's right hand shot out, grabbing the girl's fist and the sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the room. Touma flung the hand away, and Misaki stumbled, Gin's lips parted at what was happening as Touma tackled the girl and that very sound of shattering glass echoed once again.

Misaki shouldn't be on the ground, not ever and as Touma slowly stood up, Gin continued to watch Misaki as he whispered, "Get up… get up!" Touma panted as he rubbed his left arm gingerly but his glare was set on Gin. His took his first step, and then another, Gin's eyes darted to Touma then back at the girl, "GET UP!" Misaki remained motionless and Touma's footsteps started to gain tempo, Gin gritted his teeth as his hand flew to the back of his trousers and he pulled out his gun, "STAY BACK!" Touma didn't stop as he rushed with a roar.

Gin's hand squeezed, but the next thing he knew, he felt his head jerk to the right, his feet leave the ground and his body slamming into the nearby bed before collapsing, his aura did nothing to soften the punch at all. He opened his eyes, his head swimming in some strange double or triple visions. He shook his head in an attempt to clarify his sight as he saw Touma on the ground gasping a few metres away, clutching his lower torso and Misaki still motionless as Touma had left her. However, he saw his case and gun lying close to where Touma was and the boy didn't seem to acknowledge their existence.

The doctor scrambled to his feet, he still could get out of this, he still can continue his great work for the greater good. If he could just get rid of the boy and collect Five, then all should be okay. He stumbled towards the weapon, a little surprised how hard the punch affected him and Touma was still gasping, his right hand was trickling with blood as it tried to staunch the flow. Gin outstretched his hand, ready to grab the gun but suddenly the back of his jacket was tugged hard and he tumbled back onto the floor.

"Ouch… first mission and you get shot on the line of duty, eh, Kami-yan? Good thing it didn't hit anything vital," That voice, there was only one person who spoke like that.

"Misaki!" Dr Kiyama's voice rang out, Gin had to be hallucinating, Four should've disposed of her, but if Touma was the reason Four couldn't then…

"Eh… doc? Kami-yan's sorta bleeding here, just get that girl to carry the blonde chick out, and help him out. Kami-yan? I need you to get out of here, can you walk?" Gin opened his eyes and saw Touma being helped up to his feet by Harumi as he groaned in pain, while Motoharu was simply standing there with his hands shoved in his pockets, "Okay, doc, there should be some Atlesian soldiers at the breach site, just tell'em I sent ya and it should all be good."

"Are you going to do this?" Harumi glared at Gin but Motoharu shook his head.

"Yep, Atlas wants him alive so uh… just remember what to say," he answered.

"... But wouldn't-"

"Sorry, that's what the clients ordered," Motoharu stated firmly, Harumi just stared at him before nodding in resignation and helped Touma leave, whose eyes were clenched in pain. Four had Five in her arms, she followed the other two without a single glance at Gin.

Motoharu sighed, spun on his heel and strolled to Gin, clicking his tongue all along the way. Gin didn't even bother to move, he knew he had lost, "Fine… you win… do what you want." For all he knew, he'd be in Atlesian prison, only to be let out if they need his expertise.

"Ah… I don't think it's gonna go how you think it's gonna go," Motoharu answered as he knelt down so that the two were close to eye level, "I must say, while the Atlesian SpecOps were engaging your pet project, I had an interesting find." Motoharu stated and held up his scroll, showing what looked like a file open, "Great read… almost a hundred dossiers of Project Revolution. Aura capacity, semblances and oh! Here's an interesting one," Motoharu's finger tapped the screen a few times as his grin grew wider, "Semblance development and interactions… a fascinating read, you even managed to develop a way to pick out candidates. So… care to explain?" Motoharu's voice didn't hold any mocking at all, it was completely impressed.

Gin stared at Motoharu, the huntsman's mouth was twisted into a grin and his eyes hidden behind those shades. The doctor then sighed, there was no point trying to hide anything, "... During my research… we have reason to believe that if given the foundation, we can improve semblances… whether by giving the subject more aura or other physical altercations and mental manipulations."

Motoharu nodded and replied, "I see… so that's why you had that mental link with uh… Misaki was it?" He tapped on his scroll a few more times, "Right, yes Misaki, the original Project Revolution, she was perfect for spreading the network of mental manipulations, especially with that mindcrafter semblance of yours. You could actually make a huge difference with this project."

"I could, but don't you see?" Gin argued as if he gained a second wind, "Atlas would only use them for itself, never for the Four Kingdoms or the other settlements. They would only use them for their… war chest!" He had to try, he had to hope that this huntsman in front of him could see it from his point of view that Project Revolution shouldn't fall to just one kingdom.

"Oh, I do… trust me, I do," Motoharu replied, his grin stretching out even further, "But no matter what, Atlas will gain custody of Project Revolution, including you." Gin closed his eyes as his chest burned, not in anger, just defeat, the worst possible outcome had been decided, "...and I agree with you, there's no guarantee that Project Revolution would cease, especially if they gain custody of you."

Gin opened his eyes, did Motoharu actually agree with him? Was there a chance that this outcome be circumvented? Unfortunately, Motoharu's grin was anything but reassuring, in fact, it looked more predatory if anything.

"I can't kill you here, would cause more trouble than it's worth," Motoharu stated with slight sadness, but Gin felt no reprieve from that, instead fear started gripping his limbs in place.

"Wait.."

"Unfortunately for you, there were a few outcomes that could've happened, and you got the worst one. Had you not shot Kami-yan, you might've gotten relatively lucky," Motoharu continued as his hand waved around frivolously.

"Hey!"

"If you ran into one of the Atlesian squads, you might've got arrested, but you'd still be in a relatively protected state, but there was no way I could let that happen especially if you consider the other parties. Lucky for me, they ran into your… projects and surprisingly they survived, so that's nice I guess," Motoharu said as he tilted his head in thought before shrugging.

Gin could only watch Motoharu rattle off as if he was talking to himself, but every point he made, the doctor wanted to leave, to run, but his body refused as Motoharu's cold leer seemed to hold him in place.

"Which… comes to the last outcome… me! You see, can't kill you, Ironman would be pretty mad at me… which is a good thing I got those dossiers," Motoharu said as he wiggled the scroll in front of Gin, "Apart from me, no one knows the full extent, capabilities and possibilities of the Project Revolution children other than you…" suddenly his voice no longer held a lofty tune, and Gin could hear a creeping menace in the blonde huntsman's voice, "The thing is, I can live with the fact that Atlas will get all five successful subjects, they didn't even reach their full potential and even with the other doctors, it's unlikely they'll reach that point. The problem is… who can help them?" Motoharu's grin dropped as he reached for his shades and took them off. His eyes were closed, but at the same time, Gin could still feel that stare coming from him and he swallowed a lump.

"You… you can't kill me, you know that I can be useful to Atlas-"

"You forgot, I'm not part of Atlas, what I want is very different from what they want," Motoharu cut in, "and for the best outcome for me and… other parties, I need you removed. You are right that I can't kill you… at least physically. After all, I can just say that Misaki's semblance caused feedback… wouldn't ya say?"

With all the choices Gin had made, was this where it led to? Had he surrendered to the boy, could it have been prevented? Gin could only regret that he would no longer be part of something that could help the world, but only a footmark in Remnant's history. Motoharu's eyelids cracked open and the last thing Gin saw were two piercing blue eyes that swirled with nothing but oblivion.


Frenda gaped as the girl suddenly collapsed, plunging the room into a dark red light. She gripped her chest, then her face, she was almost convinced that she'd be fried to death right there and then. Her lips twitched upwards as she clumsily stood up and approached the girl, unable to believe what happened.

A laugh escaped from her lips, then it blew into a full-blown cackle and Frenda kicked the unconscious girl as she howled, "That's right! Hahh… hahh… basically, you had that coming!" She didn't care about the orders anymore, she'd want nothing more than this girl dead. As she was about to reach for her tonfas, she heard a door slide open and she whipped around to see her teammate, Steph and more Atlesian soldiers rushing in with their rifles raised.

"Boss!" Her teammate cried and bolted into her for a crushing hug, Frenda squirmed before giving up and let herself get squeezed out by her teammate, having no aura absolutely sucked. At the corner of her eyes, she saw the soldiers surrounding the unconscious girl, their rifles aiming at her.

"How's Rust and Tundra?" Frenda murmured, Steph released the hug but gripped her leader's arms.

"Um… They're alive… but..." Steph's eyes were avoiding Frenda's and something in the leader of FRST froze.

"Steph… answer me… what's wrong?" Frenda asked and Steph's grip tightened as she lowered her head.

"They aren't waking up, the medics said they might be in a coma…" she answered, Frenda gawked her mind ticking as she tried to understand what her subordinate said. Half her team, in a coma? She couldn't believe it, she never had a loss this big in her career and Frenda closed her eyes as she tried to endure the burning sensation in her chest.


"Ma'am!" Winter whipped her head to her right and suddenly a salvo of dust rounds forced the boy in front of her to hop away as he aimed his hand at the intruders. Several soldiers and at least four AP-290's came charging in firing with pinpoint precision at the boy. Winter's eyes widened as she saw the very dust bullets seemingly halt right in front of the boy and with a flare of aura, the bullets seemed to rewind back in time, straight at the soldiers with whistling velocity.

Some of them cried out in surprise and in pain, collapsing from the counter the boy had made. Winter wasted no time and rolled out of the way, she was a liability if she was in the line of fire. The remaining soldiers and mechs stopped firing, noticing that it had little effect on the boy, but their weapons remained aimed squarely at him. As they circled him, one of the soldiers dashed to Winter, saluted and immediately reported, "Specialist Schnee, we are the reinforcements under General Ironwood, we're here to get you out."

Winter nodded, while she was glad that she got out of her potential death, she was worried that the reinforcements will only add to the casualty list, "Don't fire at him, he seemed to deflect attacks of any nature," Winter replied. The soldier jerked back a little, his face etched in confusion but nodded.

Winter turned her attention to the boy whose eyes didn't seem to focus on anyone here, but his hands were held around him. The objects started to scrape on the floor and Winter's eyes widened, as she was about to stand and yell at everyone to duck for cover, the boy suddenly collapsed face-first onto the floor.

The soldiers, mechs and Winter just stared at what happened to the boy, none of them moved and when it became apparent that the boy didn't even budge, some of them started to approach the boy. One of the soldiers cautiously poked the boy with his foot, but there was no response, the soldier then turned the boy to his back and within the second, Winter heard the soldier announce, "He's out!"

Winter fell on her knees as if the strings that held her to stand were cut, she was relieved that she managed to get out alive, but there was still one more thing that nagged at the back of her head.

"Schnee? Are you okay?" The nearest soldier asked as she knelt down to get a good look at the tired huntsman.

"I'm okay, what about the others? What about Kamijou?" Winter asked.

"Don't worry, the other teams are looking for them right now, I'm sure they'll be fine," the soldier replied in an attempt to reassure her. Winter stared at the soldier, before lowering her head and slowly stood up. She had no choice but to put her faith in the Atlas soldiers, and she hoped that her actions did not put Touma's life in jeopardy.


Touma felt like hell, his eyes were blinded by his tears, a sharp pain stabbed him in his torso and his left arm felt like it was dipped in fire. He panted hard and repeatedly as if it was the only way to mitigate the pain he was going through. He had no idea what was happening, first, he felt himself being dragged around, next he was on the ground and felt something making contact with his body, one even tried to drag his hand away from the wound he had on his torso. He tried to resist but eventually, he couldn't compete and his arm was wrenched away.

He felt lighter, the pain was slowly subsiding and his panting began to slow down, was he dying? Touma's body started to relax, as if it was slowly being coddled by something warm and pleasant and his vision while blinded, started to white out and all he could do was to let go.