Ok, gonna keep this AN as short as can be.

First off, watched Sonic! And you know, as far as movies go, it wasn't bad at all. Plot was generic, but that was expected going into it. What mattered to me was whether or not the director and actors could capture the spirit of Sonic and on that front, they did okay, definitely better than what I'd feared. And considering the extremely high possibility now of them making a sequel, I wouldn't mind watching that if/when it's released, heh.

Other than that, not much else that needs to get said. So let's just get on with the chapter!

Chapter 33

The plan to get into Vale had been equal parts easy but risky.

No, to even call it a plan would be generous to start with. It'd been just a simple idea… but often times, simple worked best.

Given the recency of the Breach combined with them airing out Blake's past, public unrest had been the highest it's ever been. Grimm had always been drawn to the kingdom walls, but never to the extent they were being drawn at now.

Thus, with those mindless beasts keeping the forces lined up on the walls fully occupied, it'd been fairly easy for Adam and his forces, riding on the last few bullheads they had around, flew as high as the vessels could possibly go, using the occasional flock of large Nevermores to stay hidden.

And just like that, they'd been able to just fly high over the walls of Vale, the Nevermores that had been oblivious to the idea of looking above them to spot them, serving as a smokescreen even as said avian Grimm were swiftly dealt with by Vale's forces.

However, it hadn't been that easy – bullheads can fly quite high, but even they had limits. Same thing went for Adam himself and his forces, of course. Aura was a wonderfully useful thing, but not even that could suddenly make it easier for them to breathe normally at such ridiculously high altitudes, where the oxygen levels were oh so thin. It would've been so easy for their pilots to pass out and let them all scream futilely as they dropped to their demise.

But that hadn't been the case at all. They'd been able to push through this strain and thanks to the fact that it was that time of the year where the sun set much earlier than normal, they had the slight advantage of darkness on their side, which further helped cover them.

And it'd been just as they'd begun their descent that Adam had given the order.

"Go."

And just like that, the forces that had long since been placed in Vale had sprung into action. Having hidden among the crowds lined up outside city hall, they'd taken off the backpacks they'd been carrying and flung them towards the nearest police cars, after which the bombs inside the backpacks went off with just a simple remote detonation.

The initial explosions did wonders, throwing everyone into panic and taking out some officers right off the bat, much to Adam's delight. That had been when the ground forces drew out their hidden weapons and quickly went to work, using the resulting panic to start attacking wildly.

"In the name of the White Fang!"

"Die, you humans!"

"Glory to Faunuskind!"

These were the kinds of battle cries his forces let out down there as they promptly started swinging wildly. Naturally, this only drew the attention of the huntsmen down there, but that had been expected.

"Get ready to drop!" Adam called out to the brave men and women that were aboard with him, who all cocked their weapons in response.

One would think that the Atlas fleet would've shot them down by now, but that was also something that had been anticipated – most of the airships had been hovering near Vale's walls and at a low enough altitude that their radars hadn't been able to pick up their bullheads as they'd flown far overhead. As for the rest of the fleet, they were mainly stationed around Beacon, which was not quite as close to downtown Vale as some would probably prefer.

But for him and his forces, this was more than ideal.

The bullhead's speed increased for a moment before slowing as they neared ground, whereupon Adam immediately leapt out as did his forces. They were to be the strike team that would slip in through the back of city hall and kill that wretched human council as well as Blake and all else who would dare to stand in their way.

As for the other bullhead…

"We'll take it from here, sir!" came the voice of his gruff lieutenant over their comms channel.

Adam nodded despite the man not being able to see such a gesture. It was more to himself than anything else anyways. "Give it your all, lieutenant!"

The other strike team would be touching down deeper in Vale and stir up enough chaos to force the personnel in front of city hall to have no choice but to divide their efforts. And with any luck, by the time the Atlas forces get involved, there will be too much widespread chaos to risk simply mowing down everyone they saw, lest they risk taking out civilians or those on their side.

This wasn't even getting into the additional number of Grimm this would undoubtedly draw to Vale.

Adam didn't expect all of his forces to come out of this unscathed, much less undiminished… but they all knew damn well going into this that the risk of death was high.

And yet, they all accepted this high risk without question. Such was their resolve for their glorious purpose.

For the sake of the Faunus, blood must be spilled… and he'll see to it personally that his former comrade Blake's blood is spilled as well.

"Let's go!" he called out to his forces as he led the way.

And they followed him eagerly, onwards to city hall.

Despite his obvious shock over what was happening, Jaune was still able to react to the incoming attack, even if it was his body simply moving on its own rather than moving in response to some mental command. Such was the level his instincts were at.

Just as the bladed umbrella was about to jab itself right into his left eye, he tilted his head to his right and the blade missed him by mere centimeters. Too close for him to draw his sword normally, he pulled out in a reverse grip and swung it at an upwards angle.

The woman – the same one that had been with Torchwick, he realized – was able to dodge and she did so using that same enigmatic semblance of hers from before, a copy of her taking the hit while the real one avoided death.

The woman landed in a low crouch just several yards away and her eyes were wide in shock. Looks like she hadn't expected him to be capable of reacting that quickly. But then she glared hatefully and started to move again, dashing towards him at top speed.

She was a fast and nimble little woman. Jaune could remember how tricky it'd been trying to hit her the last time they'd fought.

Unfortunately…

"So, you bear a grudge, hmm?" He muttered out these words to her as he switched his grip on his blade, holding it normally now. His eyes narrowed dangerously and the pressure around him shifted in response. "I can understand that, even when considering your crimes. But that said…"

He still remembered all too well this woman's movements, from the most grandiose flips she could pull off down to even how lightly her muscles would tense with every moment. It was truly unfortunate for this woman – he knew how she moved and would move.

And moreover…

"It's pointless," he said solemnly as pure aura spilled forth from him, golden aura bursting forth like an erupting volcano. It blew back everyone around him and whatever chaos was taking place not so far behind him seemed to quiet down in response too. This was very much intentional on his part – every second he wastes trying to take this woman out whilst worrying over collateral damage would only allow whatever's going on to carry on that much longer. Thus, he would end this quickly as he could, collateral damage be damned.

Buildings could be rebuilt given enough time. But lives once lost can never return.

The woman sensed danger and the hateful look in her eyes turned to shock and even fear. Proving once again how light on her feet she was, she switched from a straightforward charge to a series of twirls in an attempt to dodge whatever he was going to do.

But again – pointless.

Jaune stomped the ground, hard enough to make the entire area rumble. The woman was left with no choice but to jump lest she los her balance and go tumbling.

Then, he flared his aura even more intensely… and in doing so, ended up not only blowing the girl back but also destroying the nearby walls. She no longer had anything she could kick off of to avoid him.

And now that she was oh so vulnerable in midair, Jaune prepared to swing.

Channeling aura into his blade, he started to swing with both hands to unleash a strike that the woman could neither dodge – nor survive.

And that's what should have happened – he should've swung and the woman would've died then and there, one more 'evil' vanquished… except, that's not quite how things ended up playing out in the next split second.

For suddenly, a nearby car started up despite not having a driver and it barreled towards him at surprising speed. But of course, no matter how fast a car is, there's no way it could ever be fast enough to hit him, much less hit him strongly enough to hurt him.

But that was when another familiar face made itself – himself – known. Barreling straight through another wall that was close to the car, the familiar sight of that man from Sol appeared and slammed into the car, applying his immense strength and speed to it.

And just like that, something that Jaune should've been able to avoid or otherwise shrug off ended up striking him and striking him hard. He scarcely had time to process what was going on before the car was lifted up and then slammed into him again, this time being used like some horribly huge and unwieldy baseball bat.

Pain filled Jaune for all of a second, but even then, he still focused. Aura was still concentrated in his blade and he let it loose in a swing that obliterated the car that had then been thrown at him… and of course, he still made sure to aim for the woman. Both of these foes was bad enough, but he had a far better chance of taking her out than he did of taking out the man.

Whether or not he struck true though was unknown, for the man then barreled right into him and landed a powerful uppercut that sent him flying a truly ridiculous distance -.

-Away from city hall and the chaos now continuing outside of it.

Away from his friends.

"Oh my…" Watts muttered as he watched from afar.

Having set up in a nice room close to city hall so that he could better observe things up close without sticking out, he'd wasted no time carrying out his part of the plan.

The plan itself was relatively straightforward – first, that little imp (Neo, he had to remind himself) would go and take out a few of the officers, which would naturally grab the attention of the young Jaune Arc. Then, when he was kept occupied by Neo, Hazel would step in and blindside him and take him well away from the action now taking place around city hall.

From there, Hazel and Neo – the girl had absolutely refused to simply leave things up to the former – would team up to take out Jaune Arc as quickly as possible, thereby ridding them of this blond haired problem for good. And as for Cinder and her two brats? They were to capitalize on this fiasco by infiltrating Beacon properly this time to find that Maiden. After all, with all the hell the White Fang and now the Grimm were raising, it's only natural that the academy would send out their own forces to respond.

Even when accounting for that damnable Ironwood and his own forces, it just wouldn't do at all for Beacon's 'promising' trainees and the students from the other academies to sit on the sidelines.

Again, a straightforward plan.

Or so Watts had thought.

Upon seeing how swiftly Jaune Arc had reacted to Neo and what he would've done to her with that absurdly powerful swing, their side would've lost a semi-valuable asset just like that. It was a good thing then that he and Hazel had decided to step in earlier than usual. With him hacking that car from afar to draw the boy's attention for just a split second, it'd given Hazel the opening needed to remove him from the current battlefield.

Alas… the boy had still swung his blade… and the results had been truly devastating – it was as if a truckload of bombs had gone off. That entire alleyway, which stretched on for a solid half mile had been absolutely obliterated, to say nothing of the portions of the surrounding buildings being taken out as well.

Thanks to all the debris now flying around everywhere, he couldn't ascertain that imp's well-being, but she should've had enough time to recover thanks to Hazel to try avoiding the attack.

No matter, he realized somewhat grimly, what did matter is that now Hazel would finish the boy off.

As things are, no one seemed to truly notice what had just happened. Oh, they all certainly saw and felt that explosive attack just now, but considering the other bullhead the White Fang were clearly using was now dropping bombs and shooting everywhere, the attack was quickly being forgotten about.

"Hmph." Despite how it might have sounded aloud, Watts had humphed out of grim amusement. "It would seem I'd underestimated him, after all…"

He marched towards the window and looked out it dispassionately, as if the sight of carnage was not something out of the ordinary.

Watts made a sound as his scroll pinged – an alert that he'd set up prior to this operation. Checking his scroll, he pulled up the feed of several cameras that watched Vale's main freeway… which is where Hazel had intended to take the boy for their battle.

Working his dexterous fingers, he killed the live feed to whatever fools had been put in charge of such monitoring in the first place. And just like that, he was now the only one around to watch this feed uninterrupted.

It honestly made him feel special in a way.

"Let's see what you can really do," he murmured quietly as the boy and Hazel now glared at one another, seemingly unmindful of the traffic around them being thrown into chaos due to their sudden appearance.

He'd done his part of disabling the cameras and comms around city hall for up to fifteen miles – more than enough to increase the chaos out there tenfold, if he did say so himself. At this point, he would simply act in an auxiliary role as needed, provided any of his allies run into any troubles that would require his technological touch.

Until then, however, he would satisfy his personal curiosity now.

Jaune Arc and Hazel were about to face off – two anomalous existences that possessed power and capabilities clearly beyond the norm ready to clash.

A disgraced scientist he may be, but he was still a scientist nonetheless… and he would truly be lost if he simply skipped out on something like this.

Who knows? Perhaps whatever he will see shall be the key needed for him to finish the research he'd started long ago – and the device he'd created all that time ago that he now desired to get back from Ironwood.

Pandemonium. That was the only way things could be described right now, Jaune thought grimly as he stared resolutely at the man walking quietly up to him.

Having been tossed onto Vale's main highway, the blond was keenly aware of all the cars around him that had grinded to a halt upon his less than graceful landing. Combined with all the noise being made over at city hall and the series of explosions that could be visibly seen even from here, there was no mistaking the terror everyone around him was going through.

"Everyone, get back!" he roared out as he held his sword in an offensive stance. As much as he'd love to – needed to – ensure everyone here got far, far away from here, that wouldn't be possible. He was the only one here, after all… and the foe before him didn't look like he was just going to let him do as he pleased.

The man's muscles bulged as he prepared to fight. His stoic expression quickly gave way to one of barely contained rage… but at what? At who? Jaune could only guess. "Whether they escape with their lives or not, they'll die regardless."

That was all the man said before suddenly charging right at him. The distance between them closed in an instant and Jaune was just barely able to raise his blade in time to deflect the incoming overhead fist. The man was definitely taking this seriously from the start and it showed in how this particular section of the highway shook violently just from the missed strike.

The man's strength was ridiculous, something that really didn't need another mention but had to be mentioned again nonetheless – even with how much stronger he'd gotten since their first battle, Jaune had found it difficult just to ward off that initial strike.

But it hadn't just been his strength that had grown since then – and Jaune immediately took to showcasing this growth.

Though the overhead blow wasn't a move that the man had used against him before, Jaune had familiarized himself with the way the larger man moved. Thus, immediately after deflecting the strike, he was quick to exploit the small opening the man had at his neck.

However, his attack was anticipated, for the man suddenly moved his shoulder up and his neck down at the same exact time, catching his slash in between his trapezoid muscles and chin, looking almost non-plussed.

Normally, something like this would warrant him attacking with his second sword, which was impossible since it'd been broken and yet to be replaced. And yet, this worked to Jaune's advantage actually since using both hands to swing one sword instead of just one hand for each blade meant he could put more strength into his swings.

So, even though the man had caught his blade, it still budged him a bit… and for Jaune, that was more than enough.

Letting out a fierce yell, Jaune promptly twisted at the waist as he shifted his footing. He did this not to try and force his strike through, but to instead flip the man over, which he succeeded in doing. He then lashed out with a blinding fast punt kick, intent on knocking the man off the highway.

But the man let go of his blade and caught his foot, though the impact was still enough to send him back several meters.

Jaune couldn't let up, not like last time, he realized. He needed to stay on the offensive. Though the man didn't show it, he'd probably been taken just a bit off guard by the increase to his strength and speed since their last fight and that was a sense of confusion Jaune needed to exploit.

Charging up a small amount of aura within his blade, Jaune swung his blade and unleashed a very small aura slash, sacrificing power for speed. It cut into the man just as he was recovering from the kick and was forced back even more…

…Towards some of the people that were still gawking at everything going on.

But that was okay; he'd anticipated something like that.

Dashing after the man, Jaune held his blade in one hand and then as he neared, he lashed out with his free hand, specifically his finger as he attempted to jab it right into the man's eye – only for the man to dodge, grunting in annoyance. The man lashed out with a powerful hook, but Jaune raised his blade to once again deflect it even as he was now in midair, the force of the blow lifting him off his feet.

He used this change in his predicament, however, to latch onto the man's arm and twist it, hoping to break it. In this endeavor, he failed, but was able to force the man to take a knee and promptly kicked him right in the jaw.

The man shrugged off the kick and simply got back up – but not before, raising his arm quickly, nearly throwing Jaune off in the process and when that failed, he brought his arm back down in a chop that resulted in the blond being slammed right into the highway.

Once again, the whole thing shook and people screamed and finally started to flee, some doing so in their cars while others fled on foot since their vehicles weren't exactly in positions to easily turn tail in.

Jaune grunted as he ended up losing his hold on the man's arm but retaliated by jabbing his blade into his side. He jabbed it in as hard as he could, but just barely managed to even break past the guy's aura, much less his clothing and skin.

His intention initially had been to force the man to the side so that he could batter him off the highway's closest barrier, but because the man had dodged that initial finger stab, things had gone awry as his current circumstances can attest to.

The man moved back a bit, enough for the sword to no longer be stabbing him and went in for a fast stomp. Jaune rolled out of the way, but still paid for this dearly as the stomp shook the highway again – and this time, the highway began to outright break apart.

"No!" he whispered harshly as deep cracks spread for tens of meters, then even further, not just across the lanes here but to the other side where traffic traveled in the opposite direction.

Back on his feet, he concentrated aura in his blade again and swung upwards this time as the man charged right at him. The man stood his ground even as he unleashed his attack and rather than going flying off into the distance like Jaune had hoped would happen, the man's charge was barely even slowed as he pressed on through.

Though it was slight and extremely quick, Jaune would swear he saw something odd about the man's eyes – it was if they'd been crackling with lightning.

In any case, realizing he couldn't dodge in time, he stood his ground and braced for impact – and what an impact it was.

The man tackled him hard and wrapped his massive arms around Jaune and together the two went barreling down the highway, smashing through cars that had mercifully been empty.

Until they ended up smashing through the barricades that divide the set of lanes and so they ended up going right into oncoming traffic.

Letting loose a mighty roar as aura surged from within himself, Jaune managed to break free of the man's grip through sheer force of will and body and brought up a knee that slammed right into the man's jaw, hitting him so hard that it nearly snapped his head all the way back in addition to slowing his charge.

Due to having to jump up a bit in order to even knee him in the first place, Jaune promptly put the guy in a headlock and did a back-roll, using the still existing momentum of the tackle to flip the guy over and send him flying.

He flew over most of the cars, many of which started to drive like crazy as the drivers within freaked the hell out due to the sudden appearance of them both.

For the most part, it looked like the man would clear to the other side of the highway without issue… until the man's airborne form clipped part of a big truck.

Jaune cursed himself for not seeing that coming and he moved fast, leaping over the panicking traffic in one bound. The man's crash against the side of the truck's trailer had been strong enough to make it start to flip over quickly, but upon landing, Jaune quickly pushed the truck back onto its proper side. As an added bonus of good fortune, the driver had enough sense to smash the accelerator peddle and off the damaged truck went with nary a second even wasted.

But the man, having landed not far away, was already up and even worse, he'd snatched a car right out of traffic and held it over his head as if it were an oversized baseball.

The family inside said vehicle were obviously terrified, the screams of the kids and the parents plenty loud for Jaune to hear. Said screams echoed within him, down to his very soul.

"Don't," he pleaded quietly, feebly. For he knew it would fall on deaf ears.

Sure enough, the man glared at him darkly… but rather than throw the car, he suddenly stomped the ground, making the highway rattle again and cracks to form. But unlike earlier, where their strength had been applied without any real technique, he'd focused his power to a truly terrifying degree as one particular crack shot forth , passing under Jaune's feet and reaching a car that was not far off in the distance. There, the crack opened up a lot more and caught the car's front wheels, making it skid out of control and tip over onto its side, spinning several times before coming to a halt.

Only when this happened did the man's arm tense up as he prepared to throw the car he held and Jaune realized what was about to happen.

Sheathing his blade quickly, he reached out one hand as the man tossed the car right at him and succeeded in catching it, but the sheer force of the throw sent him and the car skidding back and he ended up slamming into the tipped over car, which he held out his other hand to.

Sparks and bits of steel went flying all around him as pieces of the cars broke off from the force. Even he had to take a knee to act as another buffer against the car in front of him. Only then did they all slow to an eventual halt.

Before he could even ask anyone in either car if they were okay, he felt his instincts scream at him that danger was incoming and so he had no choice but to push both cars to the side, out of the way of traffic lest they get caught up in either the battle itself or oncoming cars.

The very instant he did this, the man was already upon him, grabbing him by the scruff of his shirt and suddenly lifted him off the ground and high overhead. Jaune didn't even have time to react as he was slammed into the ground with devastating strength… and consequences.

"Congratulations," the man mocked harshly. "You've saved just a few lives… at the expense of many more."

Beneath them, one of the pillars that held up the highway could be heard and even felt rapidly breaking apart, the several 'quakes' their fight had had so far being more than enough for it to finally give up.

The pillar broke and this section of the highway, spanning for more than ten miles, began to collapse, sending them all plunging to the other highways nearby and below.

The two of them crashed onto one such highway and all around them, dozens of cars fell, the screams of the people within just barely audible over everything else going on.

Jaune was screaming too as a multitude of emotions overwhelmed him. Including one that he hadn't felt in a very long time -.

-Rage.

More and more of his latent power surged from within his soul, more than ever before and the next thing he knew, he launched a punch right at the man's face as he towered over him – and unlike before, where most of his attacks had done nothing to him, this blow really got to him for good.

The man grunted and groaned and was launched off for a solid mile, if not further, breaking the sound barrier in the process.

How far exactly the man ended up traveling and in what direction, Jaune didn't care. What he did care about was the people.

Just like that, his power had grown even more and he quickly put it to use, dashing off in a burst of speed that he's only ever dreamed of as a kid.

Running, he then leapt up and snatched one car out of the air and set it down on the ground and proceeded to do so again. Then again and again and again.

He was like a bolt of lightning, twisting and bending as he kicked off from one location to another to catch cars and place them well out of harm's way.

Before this moment, more than several dozen lives could've been lost just like that, but thanks to his sudden increase in power, he was able to drastically reduce that number…

…But not to zero.

As fast as he now was and as desperately as he was moving, there were just too many cars falling over too wide an area and by the time he'd even started moving, some cars have already ended up completing their fall of more than a few hundred meters to their untimely demises, the lives within perishing on impact.

He couldn't even begin to take solace in the fact that their deaths were quick.

And now, here he stood, all by himself in the middle of another highway as everyone else around him – the people he'd saved – frantically looked over one another, parents tending to their children and lovers making sure the other was still in one piece, the shock of what was going on too much for them to comprehend anything that had just happened beyond the fact that they'd damn well come all too close to death.

And off in the distance, he could still hear the battle raging on at city hall. And further up above, the Atlas fleet was mobilizing now, some of the ships heading for city hall while others flew further out, to the walls of Vale where more and more Grimm were no doubt being drawn here because of this catastrophe.

Jaune stood completely still as his mind tried to process all this. Then, after just several seconds, he tensed up fiercely, every muscle in his body bulging with power and rage. He was enraged. Even though he's been in plenty of situations over the years that would've sent anyone else into a mindless fury, he'd always been able to keep his calm to a degree, enough to focus on what had to be done.

But this?

This was angering him immensely. He knew not what issue that man had nor could he bring himself to care too much anymore.

What did matter to him was that the man seemingly held a grudge of some sort against him, a grudge that he was willing to cause so much harm to others just to fulfill.

This cannot stand. It will not stand.

Drawing forth his blade and circulating aura within it, Jaune turned and faced the direction the man had gone flying off in, glaring in barely contained fury as if he was looking at the man himself.

Before, he'd always struck down 'evil' as a matter of necessity. But this time? This time, he would do so not just because it was necessary… but because now, there would be a not insignificant part of him that would feel better about it.

"Excuse me," he said to some people nearby, specifically a set of parents that was hugging their teenaged son fiercely in relief. "Please, call for any ambulances that are available. As for the police… they'll most likely be wrapped up with something else," he said with a hint of sadness as he focused for the moment on the people.

"O-Okay," spoke the father, his voice naturally shaky given what just happened. "A-And what about…?"

"Don't worry," Jaune said, interrupting the man but not unkindly as the seeds of rage took hold. "I'll be dealing with the one responsible for this."

And with that statement – no, promise – made, Jaune ran off into the distance.

Hazel grunted as he got back up, rubbing his jaw and feeling the blood drippling lightly down his lip.

Unbelievable, that damned slave had managed to draw blood from him.

It'd been one thing for him to be hurt since the boy had succeeded in at least that much during their first fight, but not to this extent.

His strength truly had grown since then, even more so just a moment ago.

"Hmph!" Hazel wiped the blood away and then tore off his coat to expose the plain dark green undershirt he wore beneath.

He then reached into the pockets on his pants, which had remained secure this whole time and pulled out a few of his most prized possessions-.

-Dust crystals.

He looked down at them with just a slight sense of disbelief despite having full well done this consciously.

To think that boy's strength would become great enough to warrant this.

In spite of what just happened, Hazel was certain that he still held the strength, but not to the same extent anymore. Combined with the fact that the boy was also familiar with his usual way of fighting already in addition to now being able to bypass his aura and his semblance, well… now was no longer a time to be restricting himself to brute strength alone.

The man suddenly looked up as he heard a boom – a sonic boom, to be more precise. And it had been from somewhere not too far ahead. Looks like Jaune Arc was coming straight for him.

Fine then, he thought with a growl, let's do this.

His semblance had been given the all too ironic name of Invincible Hero long ago in his past, coined by some of the very first few people that he'd ever helped.

Its function was incredibly simple – it imposed unto him the very concepts of invincibility. No weapon will ever pierce his flesh, no force can ever budge him when he's standing still nor slow him when he's moving. Once he begins an attack, slowing much less stopping it was impossible. He was a true juggernaut and when combined with his combat prowess, he was unbeatable for all intents and purposes.

Or so it would seem in theory. In practice, well, for the most part, it still did exactly that. However, it did have a limit, that being that if struck with enough force, he can be slowed, can be stopped and even wounded. But of course, this defense was separate from the defense provided by aura and he himself was a naturally hardy person, thus the amount of force needed to bypass his semblance, aura, and natural toughness was well beyond anything most could ever output.

That isn't to say there'd never been any force great enough to at least slow him down in the past prior to now, but never to the point of actually harming him. In those cases, it wouldn't surprise him one bit if those people had thought him to merely be immune to pain or something stupid like that.

That Jaune Arc now seemed to possess strength great enough to harm him for real in spite of these three defenses only highlighted his threat level now… and only made Hazel hate the boy more.

To think that such a foolish slave of a boy now had it in him to actually be a threat… it angered Hazel anymore than ever before.

He could not abide the existence of that faker any longer.

He held two Dust crystals in each hand and with out making a single grunt, he jammed them into his forearms. His semblance was a passive one, but through enough concentration, he can forcibly deactivate, just long enough for him to inject himself.

And the effects were immediate as the Dust crystals – lightning in nature – now sent their power through his whole body.

Dust was a truly mysterious thing. No one knew its exact origins, could only ever guess fruitlessly as to why or how it ever formed. But through all the centuries of study, humanity had come to learn how to harness Dust to the point where Dust was an integral part of civilization. It fueled homes and weapons and other miscellaneous things.

But there was a reason why no one ever did what he just did. To simply tap into the power Dust via a conduit such as a weapon of some kind was one thing. To directly take in the power of Dust was another.

In small amounts, injecting or ingesting Dust can provide incredible amounts of power and at no real drawbacks… aside from feeling as though one's blood was replaced with magma. But do so continuously and people could end up crippled for life and with drastically shortened lifespans on top of that… and those who ended up suffering such effects were considered the lucky ones.

Taking in large amounts of Dust would kill a person outright and it would not by any means be a painless death. And by 'large amounts,' the generally agreed upon consensus was two-thirds of an average sized Dust crystal.

And here he was injecting himself with four large Dust Crystals.

The pain he was in was a familiar one – this was hardly the first time he's done this, after all. But even then, he howled in a combination that was equal parts agony and rage. The power it was now providing him contained no sense of euphoria, but only seemed to exacerbate his negative feelings that much more.

In this state, he could no longer really be called a man, not in mindset.

And as that boy finally appeared in his field of view, Hazel let loose another howl, this one of pure undiluted hatred.

"Come!" he yelled, his voice distorted from a mixture of the Dust crystals' effects and the sheer volume at which he yelled it out.

Lightning crackled all around him now, generated by his own body. So great was the intensity that the collapsed building he was in ended up immediately melting whenever a bolt of lightning made contact with the rubble.

This was not by any means an act of intimidation – he knew all too well by now that no such thing would ever rattle his hated target.

But it was nonetheless a declaration of challenge and it was one that was accepted readily.

The boy, who'd been charging right at him this whole time, put on yet another impossible burst of speed as golden aura poured off his form. Even his normally light blue eyes glowed with an unnaturally golden tint.

Hazel reared back a lightning coated fist just as Jaune Arc readied an aura coated blade.

The two launched their attacks at the exact same time and their blows immediately came to a clash.

And with this, their second battle began in earnest.

Cinder moved quickly and quietly, Emerald and Mercury not far behind her. They were taking quite a long route right now, one that led through part of Forever Falls and through the forest Beacon uses for its initiations.

Because the surrounding territory was now somewhat familiar to the raven-haired woman due to her last time here, she was able to move quite nimbly and without pause for anything, be it thick tree roots bursting out of the ground or Grimm.

Overhead, she could clearly see the Atlas airships that surrounded Beacon begin to move out, well, some of them at least. But it more than made a difference. The less ships around Beacon, the weaker their perimeter and the easier they'll be able to sneak in for good this time. That she could also spot some bullheads taking off as well – no doubt carrying some of those foolish students who wished to be heroes – was yet another boon.

It ought to go without saying now that things were going off without a hitch… so far. She was far from superstitious, but somehow she felt wary of being jinxed. Given how many times her plans have been disrupted when she'd thought them infallible, life had gone out of its way to prove her wrong and in one particular form too-.

-That of one Jaune Arc, a blond that should now be dealt with by both Hazel and Neo.

Or so she was hoping, not that she'd ever voice such a thought aloud; even if Watts and Hazel seemed to share her concern over that boy's interference again, she'd rather die than outright say anything resembling worry aloud, not within potential earshot of Watts.

"Ma'am?"

"It's nothing, Emerald. Stay focused."

"Yes, ma'am."

Emerald suddenly calling out to her had naturally been unexpected, but a nice convenience – they were approaching the same path they'd taken up to Beacon's grounds and began to scale it, using the thick shrubbery all around them as cover.

It was risky, doing this so early in the afternoon. Though night was quicker to come around this time of year and it was rather cloudy, she'd have preferred the cover of night in its entirety. Sadly, as she had long since realized, Adam's rather ingenious plan this time around – relative for him, of course – was the perfect cover due to all the chaos it was clearly successful at creating. And besides, even if she tried this at night, she'd still have to be extremely wary due to all the Faunus students and their damned night vision.

At least right now, Beacon itself would be in an uproar, which would make slipping in all the easier.

Approaching Beacon now, she halted in her tracks and motioned for Emerald and Mercury to stop as well. Upon doing so, she then gestured for Emerald to scan ahead.

The girl's semblance was a truly useful one, not only able to implant hallucinations in people's minds to screw with their senses, but also giving the girl something akin to a radar sense for the minds of nearby people. It was far from an absolute detection ability, with the range being very brief and sometimes wonky to paraphrase the girl, but it was enough to get the job done most of the time.

Emerald concentrated for a solid minute before ceasing in this endeavor and nodding her head calmly.

Cinder smirked a bit – good, it would seem the immediate coast was clear.

Climbing up, she was the first of the three to stand once again upon official Beacon grounds and lo and behold, she was not too far off from the path she'd taken last time to just outside Beacon's CCT.

Perfect. The bullhead platforms were roughly on that side as well, which meant however many students and faculty were being sent out to assist in either quelling the White Fang or suppressing the surge of Grimm that the chaos has brought on will be running off to that side rather than here.

This didn't mean this entire section of Beacon was clear, however, for there were people – students, faculty, and Atlas soldiers alike – still around.

Cinder was quick to move to the shadows of the nearest building and her subordinates did likewise, albeit at another building in the opposite direction, whereupon the trio waited in silence as the crowd of people went on their way.

Thanks to the virus Watts had made for her and had been successfully installed in Beacon last time, Cinder didn't concern herself with any cameras watching her – she'd made sure to manipulate said cameras to wipe clean any traces of their presence every few seconds. Assuming, of course, she or her subordinates even allow themselves within line any camera's field of view.

Again, she would never say it aloud, but Watt's handiwork was proving its worth very well. For in addition to providing her just about every file Beacon had in its systems, now that she was this close to the CCT, she could access so many more functions that she wouldn't have been able to use if she'd tried this out in Vale itself.

If she really wanted to, she could switch off all the cameras – which would only be noticed far too quickly and warrant Ozpin and his circle to go on high alert, thus was not an option – or otherwise tamper with the other facilities here. Hell, if she really wanted to, she could override those impractical rocket lockers of the students and send them flying everywhere. But again, much like the idea of fiddling with the cameras too much, doing so was not an option lest she make those pathetic people aware of a threat on campus.

The coast clear, Cinder practically sauntered forth into the nearest building and her subordinates dutifully followed. She wasn't even the slightest bit worried over losing track of where she was going, for she'd made sure to download the blueprints of the entire campus, which naturally functioned as a detailed map.

"So, where do you think they've the woman at?" Mercury asked with a bit of a quirked eyebrow.

Ah, and there was the purpose of all this. While she'd very much have liked to see for herself the demise of Jaune Arc, she was prioritizing the Maiden first – if she hadn't tried this, there was no telling when else would be the best possible time to go looking for her, especially not with what her master had planned soon approaching.

And once more, the control granted to her by Watts' virus had proven to be a massive boon. While there obviously was no hidden files on Amber nor any mention anywhere of possible secret rooms, simply by pouring over the blueprints with a nearly fanatical zeal had allowed Cinder to swiftly eliminate the number of places Amber could be holed up in. Being able to make the 2-d blueprint 3-d and see for herself every single room the structures had had made inferring the number of spots much easier.

But… even without such aid, Cinder had already had an idea of where Amber might be from the very start.

There was no way Ozpin would let the nearly dead Maiden be too far out of his personal reach, not after what had happened to her. Thus, he obviously couldn't have placed her in the care of any hospital nor personal care of any doctor he may know. He would never turn Amber over to Ironwood either; he may trust the man a great deal, but not completely, though that was due less to any of the general's many faults and due more to the many past lives the wizard had already lived through.

"Now, Mercury," she began in an almost teasing tone, this moment of approaching victory making her feel a bit more like her old self, from before her plans had to started to derail. "I'd thought a big boy like you would already have an idea on where to start."

She then motioned to her left, a direction they'd yet to travel in but soon will once they clear this hallway.

She was obviously not referring to any place within this building nor any of the other buildings nearby.

And Mercury picked up on this quickly enough. "…Oh." He smirked. It would seem her mood was a bit infectious. "Right, right. I guess I should have known from the start."

Emerald, also feeling invigored, rolled her eyes at the grey-haired teen. "As if you've ever known anything other than being a punk."

The teen just quietly laughed it off.

Cinder shook her head at what could very well be the start of one of a new argument between her subordinates… but even then, she was smiling in growing delight.

As the panic in Vale spread more and more rapidly by the minute and with Beacon and Atlas alike sending out people to deal with it, Cinder picked up her pace as the coast was clear…

And she wasted not a second longer before making a beeline right for Ozpin's tower.

To address any confusion over Jaune feeling so enraged now, there's actually a number of reasons why this makes sense. First and foremost, pure character growth – in the very beginning of this fic, he was damn near close to a machine in terms of thoughts, if only when it concerned a particular task at hand. But through interacting with others, especially his friends, he was able to slowly begin an admittedly (but intentionally) haphazard transition to a more 'human' mindset.

Additionally, consider this: as he's made aware through conversations with others and through his own narration, he is well aware that the world is far from a perfect place. He's by no means naïve – he knows all too well the sort of atrocities and horrors others can and will commit, be it out of desperation or genuine dark glee.

To him, those that like to throw their weight around and then get furious when they feel slighted is nothing new in life. We've seen characters like this all the time in all forms of fiction. Thus, he's not really bothered by it, even if/when such characters form a beef with him for varying levels of petty reasons and end up carrying out horrific acts in response to their self-perceived slights.

However, in Hazel's case, it's a bit different – you see, Hazel is not like those types of characters, not typically. He has confidence in his strength but doesn't boast of it nor even take much pride in it. He's not going to get murderously and sadistically enraged if someone refuses to acknowledge him or his strength nor is he going to lose his shit over someone bumping into him or whatever. And him ever feeling envious or hateful of others for possessing traits he doesn't (be it good looks or certain skills or whatever) is a truly laughable thought.

Thus, Jaune is supremely confused by the man. Guys like Cardin, now those he's used to. He can understand guys like that, even if he himself doesn't realize some of these people are jealous of him for his looks/strength/whatever (again, this is due to his own warped mentality).

In Hazel's case though, the man hates him for reasons that Jaune himself is only partially aware of and this partial awareness is only because he himself realizes he's a slave to his semblance. That Hazel takes such extreme offense to this and is clearly willing to cause him and others great harm and has made several hate-filled yet insightful comments has really left Jaune feeling rattled.

And now that Hazel has entered his life yet again and this time in the form of intentionally fighting him in the middle of Vale in the midst of the White Fang's attack, well, something within Jaune, that very same part of him that had been left rattled by their first encounter and the other traumas he's been forcibly suppressing as a result of his semblance's mental pollution, is beginning to spill forth.

Now… as to what sort of changes Jaune's psychological state will be undergoing in the immediate aftermath of all this… well, naturally, that's something that shall remain secret for now.

TLDR - Jaune can normally figure out why someone may hate him, regardless if it's valid or not. Can't figure out Hazel though and the fact it's also causing so much harm to others is causing him to mentally 404.

Anyways, sorry for such a longwinded explanation. Just though I should clear that up in case of any confusion. Hope it makes sense and was enjoyable.

Until next time, everyone. Take care!