Multiplayer

by NeoShadows

Life is a game. In an attempt to save a friend during the Breach, Jaune Arc died. Brought back to life with powers of a Gamer, he must now attempt to beat the game called life. He's not alone though. Every win or lose ends in a Reset, so how will he beat a game that never ends?

14. Definition of Will

Guess who? It's your boy, NeoShadows! Back from despair, bitches!

So, before we get started, let's talk about the elephant in the room. As you all know, two weeks ago I had talked about my poor health and mood, caused by my little dog, Princess's health. Sadly, I was too late. That very morning, I had to do the responsible thing and, well, say good night to her one last time. I was there with my sister who loved her just as much as the doctor put her to sleep.

It was hard, having to see her off to that rainbow bridge in the sky. I've dealt with a lot of shit in these twenty-one years on earth, death of family and friends, near deaths, the works, but these last nine years, where I began to shed my ugly habits, I had Princess. Always there to wag her tail and jump happily after me every time I opened the door. She helped me learn how to smile. So you can all guess how devastated I was in her passing. I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to smile again.

Until a week ago when I left the shower. (Looks flatly at his bedside with a twitching brow, finding a small tail wagging and his toe being nibbled on ruthlessly by sharp teeth.)

That is Baylee, our now ten week old Pointer/Labrador puppy. And she is as adorable as she is chompy. Thanks to my sister's boyfriend, who I dislike less as of lately, we now have a dog again. And despite my reluctance, the little girl has wormed her way into the hole in my heart. It's thanks to her that I'm able to write again.

I want to say thanks to all of you for your support and kind words. My little Princess is in a better place, and I know my big sister is playing with her after many years of being apart from her dog. The pain's still there, every time I open my laptop to see her picture on my screen, but it's a good hurt, because it shows me just how much she meant to me and how much I loved her. But I still have my friends and family to get me through the day, along with little Bayl to drag me out of my funk. By force. Literally, she won't stop gnawing on my feet, dammit.

October is coming in hot! RWBY Volume 4 is almost here, and its trailer will air on RoosterTeeth on the 3rd. So we have much to do before we get there! Now I just have to put down Monster Quest: Fragments of a Forgotten Past, and get to the next chapter! Damn RPG's, sucking me dry. And not the good kind. Wink, wink.

Yup, I'm back alright

Now, this chapter took a long time to finish. And it's my biggest ever, coming in at 23,000+ words in actual story! There's a lot going on here, and by the end of it, questions will be asked. The final chapter to the FoF is coming next week. Just how will it end?

Guess what? Review Time!

Heads up, I want to thank every reviewer that wished me well and supported me. I'd thank every last one of you if it didn't sound so repetitive.

TalonIbnLaAhad: Dude, been a while, huh? It's no problem if you ran out of ideas, happens to the best of us at times. I know I struggles sometime when I'm trying to come up with ideas for DLC's. You just need to look out for inspiration. The Sick Days DLC came to me because I was sick myself, funny how real life can inspire you like that. Besides, the one you've written is crazy enough. Jesus, it's long. Too bad you don't write, you got some crack stories on ya, hermano. I think I got an idea coming along, thanks to you.

BlackRoseFire: Yeah, I always hated how they wrote off Cardin as some one dimensional bully in fanfiction. There's so much to flesh out with his character, it's a shame to make it go to waste.

SonicFanFlame: Eh? You wanna go, bro? I'll take you on right now with my Pokemon, I'LL THROW DOWN! Ha, it's good to find another Pokemon fan like me. Love to battle you when the games come out. I'm sure you'll be theorizing at the end of this chapter.

Wandai: Thanks. . .ya bastard. Glad you like my fight scenes, they're always my favorite to write. Wish I knew how to animate, that would be sweet. And the struggle with Cardin's right and wrong was a bit of a challenge, but it seems to have worked out. And, seeing as you're one of my best theorist reviewers, I'm sure you'll be trying to understand some of the things popping up in this chapter. Trust me, they're a dozy. . .ya bastard.

King of Plot Bunnies: . . .It's not easy, huh? I know I'm still haunted from time to time. But, we must move on. And find our smiles again. I know I found mine again. I hope you did too, friend. Even despair won't keep this bastard down!

TheNakeFlame: Stop? This? Ha! The only thing capable of stopping me from writing again, is another truck running me over! Which hurts like hell if you don't know. Don't worry, this story is far from over with, as am I.

The Foxy Man: Glad to hear. The Gamer stories are fun, and enjoyable, but what I hate about them is all the wall of texts describing things. I feel all that information just pads the story. I wanted more, so I made sure to lighten on the gaming info and focus on the story and events more. Which I feel I've done pretty well with.

A Fan1204: Huh. You hit the Arc pretty well at its bull's eye. While this Arc is focused on Jaune, and other things dealing with him as we go along, it's also about Cardin, and his change of character. Oddly enough, I always liked Cardin as a character for some reason. I was once a bully, long ago, so I know that such attitude comes from a dark and sad place. And I wanted to expand on that, making him more fleshed out. And don't worry, I ain't done with him after this Arc. No, he's actually got a big part in this story down the road. As do other characters. Holt is a tough bastard, makes you wonder how he'll be defeated. Will it be by random power up, or something more unexpected? You won't know till the last chapter. And boy, will it be shocking.

That's it for reviews. Again, I want to thank all of you who took the time to review, especially with words of encouragement and hope. You all helped me out in my depression, ever last one of you. It's only right that I keep writing this through to the end. And trust me, we really do have a whole lot ahead of us.

Now, let's get to reading!

---

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to RWBY, they belong to RoosterTeeth. I swear, if I hear another person talk about Harambe this week, I'm going to lose my mind here. It's those goddamn memes, man! They won't leave me alone! And it doesn't help that my little brother is a meme lord. Jokes on him though, as an Admin on Amino, he has to sort through all the dirty filth that people like me post. Stuck flagging and looking at porn.

. . . . .Maybe I should be an Admin too?

---

Chapter 14: Definition of Will.

"I'm beginning to think every morally questioning organization owns a shed or warehouse in this town." Naragami's brow twitched as he huffed on a cigar. Three of his men followed after him in a warehouse not unlike their own. Even the damn layout of the top level was the same! He was going to have to have a word with Holt about their base of operations when this was all over with.

With the town caught up in their attacks on the hidden nest of White Fang, Naragami and his troops were able to easily sneak into what he believed was the main hideout of the White Fang. Meaning that the head of the little group of radical faunus dwell within.

Adam. That wasn't a name he had heard in a long time. Not since his days in the White Fang. Naragami closed his eyes at the memories the name brought.

---

(Flashback.)

Pain, so much pain. Naragami's eyes fluttered, wincing as he struggled to move his body up. He laid on the gravel of the once peaceful town square in a beaten, singed gray tank top and ripped jeans, his red bandanna torn around his neck with blotches of blood running down his temple. Aura had been the only reason his body was still in tact, same couldn't be said for many of the people laid around him. Disfigured burned bodies littered the square, crawling with flames and shrapnel. Human, Faunus, it was hard to distinguish the two from one corpse. What had once been a nice sunny day without a cloud in sight had quickly fallen to hell on earth. The smoke of the bombings blocked the sky, painting it black as the fire of the explosions continued to rage with no end in sight. Naragami's fingers dug into the earth as he shut his eyes in horrified grief.

Why? Why did this happen? This was suppose to be a small step towards equality! Not bloodshed. How could such a bright peaceful evening devolve into such hell?

"Alive? Impressive. Seems you're much more then a plain old grunt."

That voice. With a grunt of labor, Naragami inched his chin up, turning his eyes up to the cloaked stranger standing in front of his downed body. From the height of the stranger and the sound of the voice, the stranger was no older then him and male. He sounded familiar. If only that damn hood over the boy's head wasn't in the way, all he could make out were the shadows blocking his face.

But the horns sticking out caused Naragami to grit his teeth in a snarl.

"Adam, what are you doing here?" He rasped. The little brat made it pretty clear he didn't want anything to do with the festival planning. All he ever did nowadays was stay back from the activities and watch like a creepy little ghost, eying every little detail with scrutiny. He didn't even join them for the festivities, choosing to run off Oum knows where. Made him wonder why little Blake idolized such a savage child he had become.

Behind the veil of shadows, Adam smirked. Naragami. The man was an interesting NPC. Most of the future White Fang came to idolize him and his views on humanity, following after him with every playthrough. But not the man laying at his feet in burns. His green eyes were full of wariness towards him, and even hope for the two species coming together. Troublesome. That was the only word to describe the man. Who knew one man could cause him so much trouble? Naragami alone had made it difficult to slowly turn the White Fang into freedom fighters. He gave the faunus hope that they could put aside their differences with the humans and come together as one. It was no wonder he was the leader's right hand in this timeline.

But that would end today. Change was in order, even if it was a few years ahead of schedule.

Right now, Adam was dressed in a black cloak hiding his identity from others to see. Couldn't have them finding out he was responsible for all this. Yet. Poor little Blake, she wouldn't take this well. Using a quick Scan, he was able to find her on the map. Her Aura had taken a small hit, but it looked like she was fine. Good, he sighed in a small moment of relief. He had already sent one of the White Fang for her, she would be safe soon.

'I wonder how she'll take it this time. Springing this up at her age isn't bound to yield any positive results.' Then again, when did any of his plans to wipe out humanity ever sit well for her? Blake wasn't even in her preteens yet. Looked like this would be another world he would have to lose her.

Looking down at the wounded faunus glaring daggers at him, Adam nodded his head resolutely. That was fine. He wouldn't stop till both his dreams aligned in the same reality.

Adam knelt down to closer to Naragami's face, showing off the grimm mask hiding his eyes, "Naragami, why am I not surprised to see you still breathing? I would have thought the bombings would be enough to kill you."

"You little shit!" Naragami spat venomously, wincing as his tried to raise his body up. The hell was he talking about? Did he plan all this? How!? The little creep didn't raise a finger to set all this up. "What kind of foul shit are you spewing now? Are you telling me you did all this!?"

"All of this? No, not just me." Adam smiled smugly, "Those who understand the kind of world I'm trying to bring had helped me. Those who are ready to shed off the shackles of oppression the humans have chained us to listened to me. Those who understand that peace will get us nowhere and believe humanity has no right to the earth are not laying dead around me. All except you. The lone weed that has stood against the fallen flames of revolution."

Poetic little whelp. The brat always had mouth on him. Forcing himself with all his strength, Naragami stood back up, thanking the life force cladding his being as it healed his wounds as best it could. His bloody fingers twitched as he eyed the familiar sheathed blade tied to the boy's waist. If there was one thing had had learned from watching the boy it was that he was a monster in combat. Sad to say he could probably kill him if he really wanted to. Sadder that it had never been like that long ago.

Scoffing, Adam shook his head with a small laugh as he eyed Naragami's alert fingers, "What do you think you're doing? There is no one who will stand at your side, all those who oppose such justice have been lost to the flames along with the foolish humans. I have to thank that stupid woman who reached out to us to help in the planning, made it the perfect cover to announce my message."

Naragami sneered at the young teen, buying time for his aura to heal whatever it could. "Message? And what kind of message do you hope of sending?" He growled.

"A message of revolution. The time of man is over. We're done playing nice." Adam smirked cruelly.

"And what of the boss? I know for a fucking fact he would have never approved of such a plan!"

"The leader's stepped down, ahead of schedule. And in his place I've appointed myself leader of what remains of the White Fang. So you'll do well watching your tone with me."

Naragami's muscles tensed, his fingers cracking before releasing his sharp claws from his fingertips. "Ahead of schedule? Were you planning on taking over this whole time!?" He yelled, charging head on with his claws swinging wildly. In his swift strikes one of his claws managed to knock back Adam's hood, revealing the haunting grimm mask on his face. A gushing red line stretched across his face in retaliation by Adam's red blade. Having had enough of dealing with the feral faunus Adam bashed his elbow into Naragami's face, sending him skidding back on his feet. He sheathed his chokuto, the slits for his eyes gleaming red.

"Riddle Fang."

With blistering speed, Adam sheathed and unsheathed his blade, firing blades of red energy like gunfire from his sheath. Lacerations opened up along Naragami's body, spilling his blood onto the ground. A large gash tore at the side of his ribs, sending him falling onto his knee's.

Naragami panted in labored breaths, struggling through the pain to keep his eyes open. The damn bastard was a monster, he didn't even see him swing his blade. Already a pool of blood began to gather underneath him.

"Are you so blind as to throw your life away for the humans? Look around you. What you're seeing is justice for all the hate, the ridicule, the oppression that they've thrown at us. We tried living in peace with them but look how that turned out. All we've done is paint a picture of weakness on our kind. Well that ends today." With a click of his blade, Adam ceased his attack. He walked past the traitor to look out at the hellish scene he had created with a proud smirk stretching across his lips.

"The world will reap what they sowed. And faunus will walk the earth free of human blight. Starting today."

A slight movement in the rubble of the center of the square caught Adam's attention. Breaking free of the burning debris, the form of a horribly burned brunette woman greeted him. She laid on her stomach, clutching desperately onto something for dear life. It made him grin.

Adam's form vanished in a blur, reappearing next to the deathly wounded human woman. He unsheathed his blood red blade, hovering its point over the woman's body with an ominous glow. He looked back to Naragami with a cold expression, inching his chokuto closer to her exposed burned back.

"Consider this one of many sparks to come."

"NOO!"

Ignoring his own wounds, Naragami forced his body to intercept the diving blade. His aura clad claws swung out for the head of the redheaded traitor, only inches away from lobbing it off. A single red line flashed before his eyes.

Red gushed out of upper ends of his arms, everything below it diced to finely cubed meat slabs by unseen slashes. Naragami's mind couldn't even comprehend the pain coursing his body as he fell in front of the human before Adam's feet. Only a chilling numbness greeted him.

Then the pain followed.

Shaking his head, Adam felt no sympathy for the screaming man at his feet. He had his chance to walk away. Now he could stay in the flames of revolution spreading across the ignorant town.

"Look at you. This is the cost of trying to save a human. Unimaginable suffering." Adam flicked his chokuto, flinging the blood running along its blade into the fires crawling around them. He turned his eyes back to the woman, raising a brow seeing her reaching her trembling bloody hand to the amputated man. He stabbed his blade into the back of her hand mercilessly, pinning it to the ground. He waited for the human to start wailing, to cry out for mercy and beg him to spare her pathetic life. Just like many of his kind had once done. And he would ignore it, just like they had done.

But nothing. The woman refused to scream, to cry, to beg, to show any weakness. Instead, she raised her head to him, her eyes filling with tears as she smiled sadly at the boy. The drops falling from her cheeks made him pause his hand, scoffing as he dug his chokuto out with a ruthless pull.

"Pathetic." Sheathing his blade, Adam's attention went back to the armless faunus. Killing him now would be a kindness. Something he was not known for as he was. No, a harsher punishment was in order. "If you truly believe that this dying human is worth saving, then so be it. Live the rest of your life with the scars of a worthless sacrifice, as little time as it is. Die achieving nothing."

Both Naragami and the woman wouldn't live long to matter anyways. They were both crawling at death's door in their conditions. A swift death would be pointless, leaving them to suffer and reflect their foolish actions would be better. It was time to leave anyways. In the distance he could already make out the sounds of sirens and airships nearing closer. He was pretty sure his message was clear now, no need to stick around any longer. The only real problem he was going to have to deal with was Blake, she was one of the few who had no idea of what they had been planning this whole month. There was no doubt she wouldn't handle all this well. She never did.

Flicking the blood off once more, Adam walked away from the scene, his back turned to the horror he had created. All in the name of revolution.

It wouldn't be the first time he left such a scar on the world.

Naragami's face was twisted in deep pain, his weary eyes blinking rapidly to fight off whatever awaited him the moment he closed them for good. Somehow his aura had been bypassed, leaving it to struggle to heal his wounds. All it was doing was stopping the bleeding. He'd be lucky to survive with what little blood remained in his veins. He chuckled breathlessly as he looked at the sky clouded with smoke. Guess he deserved it. Even if he had no idea of what they had been planning, he still had a hand in the bombings that ruined what was suppose to be a peaceful event of unity. Now it looked like Oum had punished him for his sins, taking away his arms as payment. It was what he deserved in a just world.

"T-Thank y-you."

His eyes spun to the brown haired woman laying behind him, her grateful teared smile causing him to look away in shame. He hadn't done anything to deserve such thanks. It was the actions of him and his kind that had lead to the hellfire consuming her comfy little town.

The combination of the searing pain and the numbness battering his body became too much for Naragami. His eyes fluttered, slowly shutting as his mind began to slip from his fingers. With the last of his strength, he looked back to the woman with a blood stained apologetic smile before losing consciousness.

Unaware of the small body unscathed by the explosions held closely to her chest.

---

Naragami's clenched fists shook, his eyes narrowing the further they walked into the bottom level of the warehouse.

It had been so long since he had lost his arms and his belief in his own kind. He wasn't even a faunus anymore, being only faunus for his animal claws and sharp canines. Like it mattered to him, he had soon realized that they were truly savage animals after that day so long ago. He had little sympathy for the treatment of his people who abandoned him in the flames. Not while they followed after a man like Adam.

He had little faith in what they were doing as well. An animal was still in animal despite what they looked like. He could see Cardin's reasoning in hating the faunus with a passion. Made him sympathize with the whelp, if only a bit.

No, the true reason he followed his master's cause other then repaying him the dept of his new arms and skills, was to topple the White Fang. If peace between the two species ever had a chance to become reality, then the genocidal savages would need to be eliminated first. And he would do whatever it took to burn their organization down to the ground. Just like they had done so long ago.

Reaching the bottom of the hideout, Naragami's eyes snapped overhead. Four steel shurikens slipped out of his robotic arms, falling into his twitching fingers. With a simple fling of his arms, the skilled ninja sent them flying to their targets. The bodies of four White Fang grunts dropped from the metal beamed rafters, their foreheads gushing red from the metal star disks embedded in their skulls.

"Rats. Keep your eyes out for the shadows. If anyone one of you find a White Fang, kill it." Naragami grunted. This wasn't a humanizing mission. This was a slaughter.

The bottom level of the warehouse looked to be a storage facility. Metal crates stamped with the Schnee emblem were nicely stacked around them and on conveyor belts still running. Little lamp lights hung over the rafters, dimly lighting whatever work they were up to. It was pretty creepy. Fit Adam to a T.

One of his men nodded, tapping his standard issued HF sword, "Understood, Bos-"

A clean red line painted itself on the grunt's neck. Eyes fading, the man's head rolled off the top of his body, followed shortly by the rest. No blood was spilled by the unseen swing.

Now on guard, the two men by Naragami's quickly reached for their blades in response. Multiple red lines phased their bodies before they so much as gripped their hilts.

Naragami's eye twitched as their bodies were torn from the gashes littering his men. They fell dead before they touched the ground. "You haven't changed a bit, have you?" He scoffed, twirling a kunai from his side to block the single red energy blade aiming to bisect him. The force of it tore a gash behind his body, leaving his back smoking lightly. Still he showed no sign of being affected by the pain. His green eyes were steeled as he reached for another ninja knife and blocked the many unseen blades flashing around him. Not one of them were able to cut him.

Red met the crossing mamba black of Naragami's kunai's as Adam appeared in front of him. His deadly chokuto blade ground against his flimsy knives, the redhead's grin just as savage as ever.

"Naragami. How unexpected." Adam said with an impressed tone. And here he thought the wolverine man had died in the flames of Canterbury. It explained why he hadn't received the EXP for his kill. Should have questioned that. Oh well, he shrugged as he broke the kunai's to pieces after applying a bit more strength. Nothing would stop him from rectifying the lose end.

Dodging the bullet fire like stab to his chest, Naragami went on the defensive. Blush's rifle fired after him, missing him as he vanished in after images. Charging after Adam in a zig zag of after images, Naragami activated the lighting Dust within his arms. Sparks ran along his entire arm as talon like claws popped out of his fingers, glowing with sparks.

'WARNING! Naragami, Asura Forgotten, Incoming. Get Ready!' Boss status? Adam smirked as he withdrew Wilt to its sheath. From lowly Grunt to Boss, that was a major improvement. Hopefully it wasn't for show. Digital code trapped them within the lower level, preventing any hope of escape. That was more then fine for him, he needed a challenge after so long.

'Fight!'

"Scan." Jumping back from the electrocuted claws, Adam scanned his opponent to gauge his strength.

'Naragami, Asura Forgotten.

25,000HP/25,000HP.

Species: Wolverine Faunus/Cybernetic.

Aura Type: Azure.

Semblance: Lightning Coat.

Weakness: None.

Hints:?'

How interesting. Adam danced around the lashing lightning fused claws with an impressed nod. Seemed that Naragami had certainly grown stronger these last few years. In the past he had a weakness for Lightning and Speed themed attacks. And the cybernetics were an interesting little add on too. His Scan couldn't even hand him any hints on taking the ninja on. Looked to be a fun fight.

In his mad swings, Naragami kept his eyes honed on Adam's weapon. Of all the things to be feared, the bull faunus red blade was at the top of the list. Seeing him stop his dodging, the ninja grinned as he noticed Adam reach for the hilt of his chokuto. Blue lightning ran along his entire body in response before his image faded away.

Zapping claws struck Adam's face before he could even form a thought. Naragami appeared out of thin air gripping his face with a wide cruel grin before sending him flying off his feet with a clawed palm strike. The attack didn't stop there as Naragami zipped behind his flying form and slammed his elbow into his spine. Again and again he bounced him back and a forth like a pinball with every hit. 'Adam Taurus, Body of the Gamer, 30,000HP/32,000HP. 300MP/300MP.' Like it mattered. Even as he was being struck around like a rag doll, Adam didn't show a sign of registering pain. He simply reached his hand for his sheath, firing off the hilt to strike Naragami as he appeared in a blur of lighting with an outstretched palm strike. The hilt slammed into his forehead, breaking the skin as he stumbled back with a bleeding forehead.

Adam ran for his blade, smirking as he snatched it from the air. Its gleaming point aimed for the flinching ninja as a dark red cross hair hovered over his mask's right eye slit, "Running of the Horns!" His sword arm blurred with blistering jabs, breaking the sound barrier to fire sonic boom like stabs as bladed gunfire. Naragami's body phased by the stabs, dodging them in after images clad in lightning. Everything behind him was punctured by Adam's attack like heavy machine gun fire, breaking apart the crates past him.

"What's wrong, Adam? Getting sluggish already? Looks like you peeked years ago!" Naragami smirked. Seeing a stab go for his forehead, Naragami caught the red blade in his mechanical hands, ceasing the flurry of stabs. Air rushed by him as he stared down the man who had diced his arms to pieces created by the cease fire.

"Look who's talking? Can't fight without cybernetics, can we? How pathetic." Letting go of Wilt, Adam kicked his feet upward for a rising uppercut, sending Naragami stumbling back. The ninja let go of his blade, allowing him to snatch it back and deliver a swift sword combo. Naragami blocked each swing with his claws. Catching his chokuto in a lock again, Naragami kicked both his feet into Adam's chest. The blow sent him skidding back with a grunt.

'800 damage? Tch, annoying.' Blush's barrel aimed back for the charging cybernetic wolverine, glowing a pale green light, "Homing Barks." With a howling whine, Adam fired off ten rapid shots from his rifle. Each bullet streaked around the air following after the dodging ninja, clad in green wolf headed auras. It didn't matter how fast Naragami was, his magical bullets would follow him to hell and back. But the wait would be a bore. Vanishing from sight, Adam appeared in a gale behind the running Naragami and dug his barrel into his back, stabbing him forward along with a shot.

Naragami bit back yell as his back was torn by the bullet colliding against his aura. His back would have been severed by the bullet if he hadn't had it unlocked. Unfortunately the attack left him wide open for the homing bullets. He could only raise his forearms up as they fell onto him, engulfing him in the explosive cutting winds detonating against him. Through the tearing winds, Naragami stretched his hand out, firing it off to dig into one of the metal crates around them. The metal chains connecting the robotic claws pulled back as the winds died down, dragging along the crate packed with Dust.

"Take this!" Naragami shouted, swinging the metal container for the red headed faunus.

"Sever." Adam calmly swung his glowing chokuto for the plowing crate rushing towards him, cleanly slicing it two as the pieces flew past him. The Dust within were sparked, exploding into flames, sparks, gales, and ice along with a few untampered crystals showering behind. A loose fire Dust crystal fell onto his shoulder as he strode toward the ninja. He was ready to flick it off only for a kunai to fly towards him and hit the Dust. Flames blossomed from the explosion soon after, dropping his HP by a thousand.

"I ain't done yet!" Spreading his arms apart, Naragami reeled in two more crates full of Dust and slammed them against both sides of the traitor. Multicolored explosions blew up soon after, slightly blowing back Naragami from the massive colored plume of elements. Jumping from the deadly explosion, Naragami spread his arms widely, releasing two odd black curved blades from within. The hilts were adorned like kunai and long as katanna blades.

That wouldn't be enough to finish off Adam. The man was monster that wouldn't fall to some measly boom. Several bullet like red blades pierced the multicolored fiery veil aimed for him. He swung one of his curved blades in front of him, unfolding it to form a demon like shuriken larger then his chest to spin in a blurring windmill. The energy blades were shattered by his blocking fan shuriken.

From the explosion, Adam dashed out with his chokuto grinding against the floor in trailing sparks. Flames ignited along his blade as he slashed the air, sending a flaming edged blade for Naragami. The ninja leaned to the right, missing the burning edge fly past him by a hair. Again Adam slammed into his defending shuriken blades folded back. Sparks lit up the airspace around them as they clashed blades back and forth in a frenzy.

"You're full of surprises. Didn't think you'd last much after our first bout." Adam smirked, swiping the slashing swing for his jugular. Another swing came for his chest, blocking it with Blush and firing off three bullets for his head. Naragami spun his shuriken blade to defect the gunfire, stopping its rotation to lob off the bastard's head. Wilt's blood red steel met it in a clang, fighting it as its brother slammed into it to overpower it.

Naragami scoffed, skipping back as Adam's arm blurred, slashing the spot he had stood with twelve unseen swipes, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger they say. And I've surpassed what a normal human or faunus is capable of, thanks to you. So I guess I should thank you for leaving me to die!" He roared, crossing his shuriken blades over his chest before releasing an azure crossing bladed pattern after Adam.

"You sentenced yourself to such a fate by siding with the humans." Sheathing Wilt halfway, Adam blocked the attack, causing its blade to glow darkly. 'Absorbed. Magnify?' A smirk lit up his face before nodding his head, "Counter Burst!" His body glowing red, Adam swung his chokuto and unleashed from its edge the crossing blades double the size, dyed dark red, faster then Naragami could dodge.

"Siding? We were suppose to try and come together for a better future! Not kill them off!" Enduring his own attack ramming into him, Naragami's body lingered with smoke. A large tearing X ripped his chest, leaving him to grit his teeth as he glared hatefully at the traitor, "Canterbury was suppose to be a step towards equality, no matter how small it may have been! But instead of helping them, you bomb the square? Just to take over for your own fucked up agendas!? Who's the real animal!?" He yelled as he shot off his feet, swinging his body around to spin his blades like a wheel.

Adam danced on his feet to counter the swings, "You're right, I am an animal. That's what makes us faunus! If humanity sees us as savage animals, monsters no good then the Grimm, then we'll give them what they want! I won't let my people continue being oppressed any longer and if that means the genocide of an entire species unworthy of living, then so be it!"

"The reality we live in, where faunus are seen beneath humans, will never change. That I can assure you."

With a burst of speed, Adam skipped back from the spinning blades and jumped for the pyramid of metal crates to avoid the flying kunais. Missing, the ninja knives blew up along the crates, shaking their foundation. Naragami followed after the bull horned man, his hand twitching before the fingers formed a V. Gear whirls escaped as his shuriken blades fell in between the space of the fingers, attaching themselves as a rod from the side of the metal fingers slipped in the hole of the hilts. His hands shifted, separating to the middle to allow the large shuriken to spin madly like a saw attatchment. Adam smirked as he watched the ninja detach both his hands to swing the chains connecting the spinning blades after him. The man was a living breathing weapon. He dodged the sawing chained shurikens, hopping around the crates as each missed swing stuck the unstable contents within. Pale blue Dust crystals flew out of one of the gashed crates as he sidestepped the large tearing disk passing him by. He grabbed a handful of the cold mineral before chucking them at Naragami. Deadly icy spines erupted around the ground as the Dust impacted around the ninja's dodging form.

'IceDust(x1.+7Elemental Damage/7%Freeze). Equip?' With one cold Dust left in his hand, Adam pressed the stone against the side of Wilt, creating a rush of cold air as the two fused. 'Wilt(+17 Attack, +20 Speed, +7 Ice Damage, 7% Freeze). A sword died by the blood of revolution. The flint to the fires of sinners and monsters.(Equip able only with the Passive Skill Iaido active.)' Cold red mist trailed off Wilt's frosty edge as several kunai cut through the air after him. With a simple swipe of the misty blade, a cold gale met the knives and sent them tumbling down in blocks of ice.

"What you're doing is pointless. Why can't you see that?" Adam said with a sad shake of his head. He continued to dodge the sawing shurikens, blasting cold gales after Naragami, "You were once part of a great movement, one where we saved our brothers and sisters from the evils of man and strive for a better future for our people. But what do you do? You abandon us for a terrorist group that wishes to humanize your kind by amputation! And you dare call me an animal? Then what does that make you!?"

Naragami reeled his hands back, shifting them back to their normal forms before sparks ran along his arms once again, "The hell are you talking about? You left me to die! All I wanted was peace for everyone, that was the goal of the White Fang! But you and your toxic ideals tainted what were once white ideals and bleed them dark red! What happened to you, Adam?" Flames sprouted from the heels of his feet, sending him firing off with his blades glowing with electricity. Lighting and ice blew against the other as elemental steel clashed. Naragami hovered in the air as he fought to break the infernal chokuto. The cold numbness created by the misty blade was nothing, he endured worst at the hands of this man.

"You were once a happy little boy who hoped for the same peace. You believed in what we were striving for! What happened? What happened to the little boy who couldn't even wield a sword in self defense!?"

Long ago, before all the chaos that was slowly creeping up on the world, Adam was once a simple faunus boy. Brought in when he was just a homeless boy living on the streets his eyes were once full of hope and joy. He was so charismatic, a natural born leader that the old leader of the White Fang had placed all his hopes on. In a way, he was the future of their kind.

Until the day those hopeful eyes had filled with hate and anger that didn't belong on the face of a child. Like a switch the smiling little boy had been replaced with the aura of a beast. He grew colder and sullen, changing his peaceful ways and studying the ways of the sword to fight back. And he had proved to be a quick learner, as if he had been swinging a sword his entire life. The little boy who wished for peace now wished for genocide.

Adam grunted as the lighting running along Naragami's shurikens jumped onto him, shocking his body and dropping his HP bit by bit.

It never seemed to change. With every Reset the younger version of himself always stayed the same. Hopeful, smiling, willing to work alongside the humans for a better future. The picture perfect example of a hero in the making. Made him sick to his stomach every time he was dropped back into his younger body at the Reset Point.

Those memories didn't belong to him. They belonged to a boy too stupid to understand what the world really was. Ignorant. Naive. Foolish. This was what he truly was, a monster lost to the bloodshed. No use making up any type of excuse for the many cruel things he had done in the past. He would slaughter millions every world he was respawned into to reach The End on his terms. God, Oum, nothing would change the ways he played this game. He wasn't going to follow some petty being's script. If it wouldn't accept the ways he won The Game then he would continue to defy it with every playthrough till it accepted his ways.

And if it continued to resist? He grinned savagely as his body was surrounded by a twisted red aura around his body, lashing everything in sight.

He would just have to break The Game. And see if God could die.

"He woke up." Muscles tensing, Adam sent Naragami flying back on his rocket feet with a roar. Steadying himself in the air, the ninja commanded the lightning around his body to erupt in a beacon of sparking energy as he roared.

Playtime was over with it seemed.

"I am a disgrace. I have accepted that long ago." Naragami whispered softly, his eyes glowing blue as his body released an electrical pulse spanning the entire room. Adam raised his hands up to defend, only to be surprised as his HP remained untouched. Three red dots appeared on his HUD's Map, signifying three new enemies. Enemies had previously killed.

At that he frowned in confusion. Now that he thought about it, why didn't he receive any EXP for his kills?

Rising from the ground, the dead FoF grunts forced their tattered bodies on their feet, even the decapitated man. Strangely no blood leaked their bodies. Their heads twitched, lolling forward as their arms spread apart before they were ripped off by the pulse and flew towards the ninja.

Naragami's narrowed eyes glared back at Adam, his hair rising by the electricity surrounding him. His pony tail was undone, flowing wildly around him annoyingly before he grabbed it and chopped it off without a care with his shuriken blade. "I am not human. I am not faunus. I have abandoned my own legs to modify myself beyond the limit Oum has placed upon me. Truly I am a disgrace. But I would abandon the last that makes me a living a being if it means riding this world of people like you and my own master." he spat viciously. The arms reached him, floating around him before plunging themselves deep into his shoulders by the prongs popping out of their ends. They twitched, clenching their fists as Naragami spread his six arms out and released the four shuriken blades from within to wield.

Holt had given him a second chance long ago. The man had somehow stumbled onto him when he had escaped the clinic he was locked in years ago. He was the reason he could fight again, why he could live again, why he could walk with purpose again. But he was just another charismatic lunatic with his own agenda. No matter how much he owed the kind man, he wouldn't stand by and let another Adam rise up. Not again. Never again! He would betray the very man who saved him to protect the prosper of peace. A bitter smile made its way to his face.

In the end he was no better then them. A traitor. That's all he was. Unfit to live with either humans or faunus. And he was fine with that. When this was all over with he would continue to play the loyal follower until the time was right to take his master's life. For the good of all.

"Whatever it takes. I will stop you. Even at the cost of my pathetic life." Naragami said resolutely.

"You have resolve. I can respect that." Adam nodded as he snapped his fingers in the air. Several menu options were displayed for him in red and black bars, scrolling through them before finding what he was looking for. His stats were displayed for him along with another option, Soul Points.

'Adam Taurus Lvl53,Body of the Gamer.

20,103HP/32,000HP. 210MP/300MP.

Current Form: Iado Flash.

Strength:59.

Defense:28.

Speed:64.

Intelligence: 38.

Wisdom: 17.

Luck: 22.

Soul Points: 100SP.'

He tapped his Form, swiping its current option for a new one to equip, 'Dual Cruelty(SP Cost: 35SP). Equip?' Dropping the necessary points into the option, he grinned widely as his aura wrapped around his entire body in a swirling vortex.

From the vortex Adam cleared it away with a wave of his Chokuto, revealing the cruel fanged edge of the once finely sharp weapon. Along with the second Wilt and Blush strapped to his waist and change of wardrobe. He now wore a black tattered open collard vest and red bandages wrapped around his chest, weathered black robed pants with a white sash tied around his waist, black bandages wrapped around his hands and the omega symbol stamped on the back in red, and wooden sandals. Two fine red and white scabbards were tied to the back of his waist along with his symbol stitched at the back.

"Let us stop wasting energy on pointless babble, shall we?" Adam smirked, unsheathing his second Wilt as Naragami lowered himself back on the ground. He jumped down, meeting his sight as they readied their blades.

"Tch, if words could reach you, then we wouldn't be having this fight." Naragami nodded as he commanded four of his arms to unfold the blades into spinning fans of electrical steel.

No words needed to spoken any longer. Only the sounds of their blades needed to be heard.

---

In the chaos stretching across the streets of Vale, Ruby speed by all the FoF grunts in a blur of roses, the wounded form of Ren hanging on loosely to her neck. Crescent Rose's blade cut down any who got in her way, tossing them aside like rag dolls in her mad sprint.

Jaune had somehow found the location of Blake and Velvet. It was odd that he had found it so quickly, but she wasn't going to question. Her mind had already memorized the location on her scroll before using the full power of her semblance to head for her friends. Didn't look like the Friends of Faunus had too many members, their numbers looked to be dwindling as the sun began to set. All that was left was to save her friends and they could return to Beacon like nothing ever happened.

A single red eye pierced her thoughts, the last sign of humanity leaving it as it dulled, leaving nothing to stare back at her hauntingly.

Ren frowned over the buffet of wind smacking into his face as he noticed Ruby lightly sniff, rubbing her eyes of whatever bothered her. He closed his eyes.

Ruby Rose. A child destined for great things. She was the main character of sorts. While some NPC's behaviors would change from time to time, the little red hooded girl's never wavered from her innocence. He would say it was annoying if it wasn't for the fact that her simple soul was like a breath of fresh air with every Reset. The girl could transform into Death incarnate, walking the Remnant, reaping souls like some unseen specter. That was her future, one of many to come. But despite it all, despite the bloody road ahead of her, the little redhead could still smile so brightly it could blind even a man like him.

Destiny had its eyes on the silver reaper. She would triumph over evil and darkness again and again without his help. Sometimes. If he had to guess, it was Good: 65 and Evil:43. Just a guess, he stopped counting long ago.

Sad that no matter how many times she and her friends saved the world at The End, it would be set back to nothing. As if their efforts, their blood and tears, their turmoil and growth, was for nothing.

How would she handle it? Her life turning into a game overnight. Would even she slowly wind up like him? Or would she follow in Adam's bloody footsteps?

It's why he was hesitant in Jaune joining The Game. Despite his own petty hate towards the blonde knight, Jaune was as close to a brother he could ever have. Pyrrha's death was not his fault, it was destinies and The Game. Made him wonder if that was Pyrrha's only purpose in the grand scheme of things. To make Jaune stronger. That's how his hate towards his best friend had grown. If Jaune never existed in the first place, then Pyrrha's destiny would never lead her to death with every world.

Would Jaune eventually turn out like them, the current Players? The soul was a fragile thing. And Jaune was a caring person with dreams of heroism. His attitude wouldn't last long in The Game. So what would that leave behind if you took away the caring, heroic, dorky, traits that made him Jaune?

Well, he was certain of one thing. Jaune would never turn out like the last of their group. Player One, the reason he had given up on winning The Game long ago. The very first of them to gain the power of The Gamer and playthrough the endless Resets. You'd think a man who's lived for so long would be an empty shell of their former selves. Not in his case. Lived life to the fullest of his skills. And ignored The Story in favor of his own fun and games.

Guess you shouldn't think much of a man with the power to change his Class on whim.

Opening his eyes, Ren caught the faintest of tear drops fly by his face. Killing Cross in front of her eyes must have been traumatic. Poor girl was doing her best to be strong for her friends.

'Crying over the death of a master sniper? You truly are innocent.' He sighed through his nose. Now that he stopped to think about it, Ren never interacted much with Ruby in all the worlds he completed and failed. He always acted like a side character, less hassle when dealing with The Story. Even in the early days of discovering his curse and taking charge to win The Game, he never really stopped to talk to her as a friend. Pointless seeing as she was nothing more then an NPC, however important she was.

Weird how a random thought like that passed you by in the chaos.

Hesitantly, his hands patted the younger girl's head reassuringly. Her silver eyes looked back at him, blinking away the wetness in confusion to his small smile.

"Everything's going to be alright. Now is not the time to be thinking about what we could have done differently back there. Our friends are waiting for us. So lets save our strength," Ren said softly, turning his eyes to the road ahead with a steel gaze.

"For them."

Ruby gazed at the sight of the normally cold demeanor huntsman in a moment of awe. He seemed so different compared to the man who killed Cross like it was nothing but a chore. His eyes were strong, no hesitation could be found dwindling in his pink orbs. Was that what a huntsman was suppose to look like? She smiled as she turned back, doubling her speed as a sonic like boom bellowed from her next step.

"You know Ren, you aren't such a bad guy after all. You should smile more, I think you look happier that way."

Inwardly Ren scoffed, 'Duh. That's what a smile signifies.' What a kid. Good to know his little speech worked.

What did he expect though? He dug it out of the many speeches she spouted in the worlds after them.

---

'Fighting with one hand and carrying a girl is not as easy as the heroes in TV and comics make it out out to be.' Jaune thought tiredly, slapping away a vibrating blade aimed for him with Crocea Mors.

Just like any game he had ever played in his life, the path to his destination was filled with enemies and obstacles alike. The main hideout for the FoF was like a dungeon! Each level he passed by had its share of grunts and even Grimm locked up in cages ready to break out and tear him limb from limb. Some of the rooms he went though were even locked, only accessible by knocking out a certain enemy carrying a Key Card. Not to mention the puzzles to some of the doors. To add an extra challenge to his struggles, he still carried Ann over his shoulders. Making it all the more difficult when he had to do everything with one hand. If his life was a game, the he needed to look for a Perk, Skill, or Ability that granted him ambidextrous.

What was he suppose to do? Leave her in the aftermath of their fight? They would take her away like some criminal. As long as she was with him, then he could weave some story on how she was an informant of his that helped him out on gathering his information. Church would vouch for him and her sentence could be drastically cut back. She wouldn't have to be locked up at all!

Intelligence. How he underestimated the Stat. Felt liker he was growing smarter and smarter with every rise in Level. If only it wasn't a pain to grind it.

Kicking the side of the grunt's knee, Jaune swung the flat of his sword for his head as he went down. With one knocked out, he gathered his magic into his blade before turning back to the three charging FoF members behind him, "Crescent Blade!" The wide brilliant arc of magic struck all three of the grunts, knocking them out with a Critical Hit.

Discovering Crescent Blade was a miracle. The Ability had a high Critical Hit rate, 20%! Helped in taking out a lot of the grunts in each room.

"That's the last of them." Jaune sighed in relief. Bodies of the FoF lied around him, sleeping peacefully after the beatings he dished out to them. He scanned the room for anymore in hiding, glad to see none in his HUD pop out.

Each room looked like someone had surrounded the metal white interior with rocks. It was originally designed for the train leading to Mountain Glenn, so some things were left in tack the underground city. Railways and mini bridges were suspended above him along with metal house like structures on the ground. They had modified the place by adding turrets and trenches for attacks. Cargo and supplies were also kept within, something he thanked as he sheathed his weapon and looked around for a crate. Finding one close by standing out from the others, he knocked on the top of the case, grinning as it popped open with a musical jingle.

'Small Aura Potions(x2)! Fire Dust (x3)! Large Aura Potion!'

While he wasn't able to receive loot from defeating enemies, he was able to find loot by going through crates and other treasure like holdings. Pretty cool.

Sending the small loot into his Inventory, Jaune went back to the entrance behind him. It was a massive locked gate. Didn't look like he needed a Key Card, a small pedestal with a touch screen grid greeted him as he stood in front of it. The insignia for the FoF lit up the screen, vanishing in flames as he tapped it.

'Welcome to the Friends of Faunus Terminal. We are currently on lock down in this area. Please, if you need to pass through, solve the schematic puzzle to enter.'

A little puzzle took over his HUD, displaying token like crystals blocking the screen along with a timer. He scratched his head as the timer began dropping, leaving him with two minutes to clear the screen of the crystals. Reminded him of a game on his scroll. Made it a bit easier to work through the puzzle as his fingers feverishly swiped the crystals to their proper groups of three or more. The only hard part was clearing every single crystal from the screen, leaving nothing behind otherwise he would trip an alarm releasing Grimm to attack him.

'Clear! Please, proceed with caution.'

With a fanfare jingle, Jaune unlocked the gate as he cleared the screen. 34 seconds remained on his HUD before disappearing to the sight of the gate lowering to the next room. From the looks of his Map, it looked like this would be last room to clear. An elevator lead to the next one, one that would take him to the massive arena above where the others were being held. It wouldn't be long now.

He readjusted Ann over his shoulder as he stepped through the gate to the final room, swallowing his nervous wits and readying his sword. No telling what would greet him this time.

"Huh?" Jaune blinked as the gate closed behind him to leave him standing in a comfy bright white room. The walls were free of wear or tear, no enemy was in sight, and another massive door stood before him. Reminded him of a save room in video games. Then again his life was a game, which meant only one thing.

Boss time. A major one at that. Did that mean he'd been fighting nothing but mini bosses the entire time? That was a scary thought.

Bright light suddenly blinded him as a beacon of light erupted in front of the gate. From the beacon, a man in weathered traveler's cloak and pants stepped out. He was unlike any other person he had ever seen. Over his head he wore a paper brown bag with a smiley face crudely drawn on in yellow, odd little trinkets hanging over his cloak, a dirty red bandanna tying over his neck, old brown boots, and a beaten burgundy wizards hat on top of his bagged head. The odd man spread his arms out in a welcome, revealing the old blood stained bandages wrapped around his hands.

"Welcome Little Player to a Moment of Respite!" The traveler greeted happily as Jaune stepped forward.

"Moment of Respite?" Jaune frowned in confusion before his eyes widened in shock, "Wait, Player? You know I'm a Player? You know this is a Game?"

"Of course! How else would I sell my wares? I'd be poorer then dirt! . . .If dirt was capable of understanding currency or even earning Lien." The traveler shrugged, "Names Husk, Merchant and Traveler of the Will. One of the three beings you'll be meeting in your playthroughs that understands how this new reality works. And the this little room is as I told you, A Moment of Respite. A place where you can relax, stock up on items, and equip the necessary Skills and Abilities for the big fight ahead of you. And trust me," Husk chuckled darkly, the crudely drawn smile stretching to a toothy grin, "You'll need all the help you can get for what awaits you behind this nice old gate."

Jaune stared at Husk in confusion. Ren had never mentioned anything about other beings that knew that their lives were part of some game. Seemed to be something to mention during their talks. Then again, Ren had never said he was going to reveal to him everything he knew, only saying that he himself would have to find out on his own. Still, it was kinda weird to know their were beings that knew what was going on to them and the world. Almost like whimsical gods.

His eyes suddenly widened at the lack of weight over his shoulders. Ann was missing, vanishing from his sight like a ghost. When the hell did that happen?

"Ann? Ann! Where are you!?" Jaune shouted in panic, eyes moving around the modest room.

"Sorrym Little Player, but no one other then those who've inherited the power of The Gamer may reside in this room. Don't worry though," Husk waved his hand dismissively as Jaune's blue eyes glared at him, "You're little NPC is in what I like to a call a state of suspended animation. Once you cross this door, she'll be back on your shoulder. So no need to fret, I'd advise in stocking up on Potions and buying some Dust for the fight ahead. A wise Player knows when to prepare when they have the option."

Jaune felt his muscles relax at the news. Good, as long as she was okay then their was no need to fight. And a moment of peace sounded nice. His HP was gradually filling back up in this safe space, quicker then it ever did. Now he wouldn't be wasting Potions, already ran out of his Everybody Loves Grape Soda and only had four Small Aura Potions and his Ambrosia. Restocking was a smart move to make now that he had the option.

He nodded his head, receiving a wider grin from the odd man, "Well, seeing as I have the free moment, might as well see what I can stock up on."

"Thadda Playa! I got the best wares in all the multiverse! So, take a look!" Husk chirped happily as Jaune's HUD was replaced with a neon green screen of available items to purchase, "Little Hint: We got a sale on Flash Dust, might come in handy in the Shadows."

'Husk Wares and Other Random Junk!

Items: Price:

Small Aura Potions. 500L(x1).

Large Aura Potions. 850L(x1).

Small Mana Drink. 700L9(x1).

Large Mana Drink. 950L(x1).

Flash Dust. 300L(x1).

Fire Dust. 500L(x1).

Lighting Dust. 600L(x1).

Recipes:

Fury Burst Recipe. 2,000L.

Refresh Recipe. 2,500L.

Demon's Vein Recipe. 2,300L.

Abilities:

Giga Impact. 2,000L.

Avarus Mors. 77,777L.

Toxic Vent. 1,500L.

Round Table. 1,000L.

Counter Force. 3,700L.

Special Items:

AP Boost. 20,000L.

Health Boost. 15,000L.

5,050Lien. Finish? Yes/No.'

Jaune whistled at the wares on display. Where the hell was Husk when he was fighting the other bosses? A lot of this stuff would have come in handy. The Lien he had earned from fighting below the UGC had been gathering, only being spent on comics and random junk. Time for it to be of use.

'Small Aura Potions(x2), Large Mana Drink, Flash Dust(x2).'

Recipes was a new concept, but seeing as he had no idea what they were he ignored them for now. The abilities section looked more interesting. Clicking on a few of them, he frowned as he read over the descriptions. Avarus Mors was too rich for his blood, Giga Impact required a high Strength Stat, Toxic Vent required a Poison Material, and Counter Force needed his Friendship Lvl with Yang at 6. The only thing he could equip was Round Table.

'Round Table: With a Mana charged spin slash, The Player is able to release a round shock wave stretching around their body that revolves three times to slash foes. Traps the enemy in place and has a 10% chance to inflict Daze. 15MP. 2AP.'

Jaune tapped the ability and added it to his purchase with a grin. Sweet! Might just come in handy for whatever awaited him beyond the gate. Clicking 'Yes', Jaune finished stocking up as his items magically stored into his inventory. And it only cost him 3,850Lien. Which was a lot if it wasn't for the fact his life made it easier to earn money.

There was just one thing that was bothering him.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Little Player!" Husk grinned as he rubbed his stained hands together, "Even beings such as yours truly needs to eat. If there's anything else you need from me, don't be afraid to ask. Fair warning, I won't answer anything dealing with deep subjects such as The Game, Will, or etc."

"That's fine. I was just wondering what AP is. I've never seen that on any of my Abilities before." Jaune asked.

Husk tilted his head, his creepy drawn eyes blinking, "Eh? AP? What do you mean you've never seen it before? Crying out loud! How else are you able to equip your astounding Abilities without Ability Points?"

"I just do." Jaune shrugged, scratching his head as Husk continued to stare blankly at him, "Nothing has ever stopped me from equipping all of them without a cost."

Husk rubbed his bagged forehead, sighing as his shoulders dropped. That didn't make any sense. All Players were limited with AP to keep them from equipping all their Abilities, other wise they were free to use all their powers without any care. It was the most common thing in gaming mechanics! The hell was Will doing? And It was the responsible one of the trio.

"Not anymore." Husk frowned, snapping his fingers. A red glow enveloped Jaune from out of nowhere, wrapping black chains over him before fading harmlessly into him. "Boom. You are now restricted from equipping every single Ability you receive. Consider yourself Nerfed early."

Jaune pouted, feeling some of his abilities unequip. Spoil sport, should have kept his mouth shut. Opening his Game Menu with his scroll he found his abilities with AP Costs by their names. 'Looks like I only have 25AP. Damn, going to have to equip the abilities I know best for right now. Why the hell does this have to happen before a big boss fight? I could use every advantage in my hands. Especially since I have Ann with him.' Nothing he could do about it now. It was nice to rest, but he had things to do. Didn't matter what awaited him past the gate, he had people waiting for him. He equipped Teres Mors, Power Strike, Air Slash, Crescent Blade, Smash Guard, and Round Table. The rest couldn't be used with Ann in his grip, had to focus on his sword work with one hand.

"Wait." Jaune blinked suddenly, "Nerfed early? What are you talking about?" That didn't sound good. He heard that word before in comics and it spelled bad things. And nerd rage.

"You're milking your Respite, Little Player." Husk drummed his fingers over his crossed chest in annoyance, "You can save your questions for your buddy with the pink eyes. There's a Story waiting for you and a fight ready to start. And while I like company here and there, my job's done. The Event is just about over with here, so finish it." He grinned disturbingly wide, chuckling darkly as his body slowly vanished in dying green embers.

"I hope to see you beyond the flames of despair, Little Player."

No signs of the embers were left behind as Husk disappeared, leaving Jaune alone in the comfy room.

Creepy. That was the only word he could think of to describe the vendor. Sold him some cool stuff, but the guy had an odd vibe to him that chilled his soul. Shaking away the feeling, Jaune turned his eyes back to the large gate in front of him. His knuckles cracked as he took a deep breath. Now was the time to steel his nerves. He had a guess who was waiting for him if the Event Trial by Fire was coming to an end.

Ann's freedom, Cardin's redemption, Blake and Velvet's safety, and the safety of the faunus in this city lied past this nightmare. He couldn't fail here. He was stronger then he had ever been in his original life, there was no excuse to fall here. Too many lives were at stake this time.

Releasing the breath, Jaune pressed his hand against the intricate gate. It fell down in a loud crash, revealing the dimly lit massive room. An arena just like the others he had been fighting in. Holt really had an obsession with them to build so many below. Stepping forward, the gate snapped back up, sealing him within as a familiar weight fell into his arms. Despite the blood and dirt covering her face she still looked at peace as she slept. Brought a small smile to his face.

"Don't worry, Ann. I won't let them take you." He said to himself sternly, gripping her closer to his chest as he walked across the arena's dirt floor for the gray elevator door at the end, "I promise, you won't have to live in the shadows anymore."

"What kind of dribble are you babbling on about now, kid?"

The dimly lit arena grew darker with the sound of the amused voice bouncing around the walls. From a few feet away from Jaune, a geyser like fountain of shadows erupted from the ground. Jaune grit his teeth at the sight, moving Ann back over his shoulders to reach for Crocea Mors.

A tendril of shadows shot out of the dark geyser in blistering speeds, snapping onto the back of the blue haired girls combat dress. As fast as it came the tendril retreated, dragging Ann from Jaune's grasp easily with little effort. Jaune shouted in alarm, running after Ann as her green eyes fluttered, his reaching hand being the last thing she saw before darkness once again took her over. He broke through the fountain of shadows, looking down at his hands in frustration as the shadows began to disperse.

"She doesn't belong to you, she belongs with her family. In the shadows where she was born." Holt grinned as he stood behind the blonde knight.

'WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! Boss Incoming! Holt Delmos, Shadow of Anubis, Scale of Souls. Get Ready!'

Jaune's shoulders straightened, grinding his teeth angrily at the smug voice.

All of this. This whole twisted Event was because of him. Because of his warped belief of equalizing the two species by amputating the lower population. A man who could grin joyfully at blood sport. A man who dragged Ann into the underworld of the criminal world without a care. The nightmare plaguing Vale stood past him, only a sword swing away.

"Where is she?" Jaune hissed, turning his blazing blue eyes to the smug leader, "Where the hell did you take her?"

"Back to my quarters, out of your hands. She's my little Ann after all. I know what's best for her."

"Just like you know what's best for the faunus, because you're their friend? Weird how that doesn't fill me with confidence."

Holt's fingers flexed madly at the blue eyes meeting his own. Cheeky little punk. He was surprised he still had pants with the size of the boy's balls. It had been a long time since he felt his blood boil so. Almost forgot how good it felt to have such adrenaline pumping though his veins.

"Such talk coming from a filthy sewer rat like yourself. Where do you get off talking to me about my little orphan Ann? Don't tell me the spy fell for his objective? How heart warming!" Holt roared.

"I should be pissed that a little punk like you has basically sold us out to the law, I should be furious that you've probably lead them to our location as we speak, but the fact that you've used my precious Annabel for your own means, MAKES ME FUCKING LIVID!"

From the pool of shadows below his feet a spiked knuckle hilt rose to his waiting right hand, dragging out an odd large weapon. The blade's shape was cleaver like, completely wrapped in worn out bandages, dulling its edge that nearly towered his body as he hefted it across his shoulders. An odd rattle could be heard from within the bandaged weapon, shaking its frame as he grinned savagely at Jaune.

"Let's see if you're as tough as you make yourself out to be, boy. Death Rattle has been itching for a good fight!" he roared, dashing forward with a wide swing of his long weapon.

A white glow engulfed Crocea Mors in return as Jaune charged with a swing of his own. He had all the time he needed to ready himself, it was time he ended this madness!

'FIGHT!'

"Power Strike!" A heavy clang erupted from the two blades meeting head on, blowing back both blondes hair in the rush of pressure. They openly snarled at another, digging their feet to overpower the others weapon.

"You got some muscle under that sweater, how surprising." Holt grinned cruelly, kicking Jaune's kneecap to drop him on one knee. He then swung Death Rattle into the side of his wincing face, sending him flying with a bleeding bruise.

'Jaune Arc, 4,100HP/5,000HP. 80MP/85MP.' Jaune righted himself in his flight, skidding his feet to a stop. He held the left side of his face, flinching from the intense pain.

Nine hundred damage with a simple swing? That was nearly one-fifth of his Health! 'Scan!' The white cross hair over his eye inspected Holt as said man jumped high into the air, spinning himself in a somersault as he fell at him like a blunt saw.

'Holt Delmos, Shadow of Anubis, Scale of Souls. 23,000HP/23,000HP.' That was a lot of health! A small orange bar overlapped the blue health. Skipping back a few steps, Jaune avoided the hammer swing of Holt's blunt weapon. The ground shattered with his miss, kicking up in front of the man like shrapnel. Gave him an idea. Twisting Death Rattle for its flat side, Holt batted the air borne rubble in a mighty swing. The earthly shrapnel cut through the air as they shot for a wide eyed Jaune. Crocea Mors shield rose up, blocking the rubble exploding against the steel and dropping his HP by four hundred. He grunted, staggering back a bit before biting his lip in pain as Holt ran in to slam his mummified blade into his guard. Pushing back the dull blade, Jaune pulled his sword back as he channeled it with MP, "Round Table!" Three lashing shock waves spun around his body like a top with his round swing, only to be blocked by Holt's large weapon held in front of him.

"Nice move. Now," Holt chuckled darkly, swinging his bandaged blade up to slap away Jaune's Mana Power Strike and counter the several after. Sidestepping an over head swing, he swung his massive blade behind Jaune's feet, kicking him off his feet before several shadowy bandages shot out from his wrapped weapon to wrapped around his ankles, "It's my turn."

Spinning on his feet, Holt swung his fellow blonde around like a twister by the bandages. Made his face go green as his stomach contents slushed around wildly. 'I think I'm going to hurl!'

Holt released Jaune from his hold before falling into his shadow and chasing after the soaring knight. Trailing below him, Holt jumped out with an upward stab, cracking Jaune's spine with a sickening crack. The blow sent him higher in the air only to be caught again by the bandages snatching him from the air and slamming him down like rock.

'Dammit!' Jaune gasped in pain, his back flaring with an intense pain, A look at his HP warned him of his health creeping closer to the red. Struggling back up, Jaune did his best to block another wide swing as he reached into his inventory. No time to fuse a better item, he grunted as Holt rained more blows into his dwindling HP. A Large Aura Potion fell into his hand, gulping it down greedily as he spun a Power Strike to counter the smashing blade aiming to crack his skull. Another rush of pressure hit him as the blades clashed.

He needed another potion. His HP was out of the red, but it still wasn't enough. Damn, didn't think he would be using his recovery items so early into the fight. Holt truly was a monster.

"Come on, kid. Where was that vicious spunk I've seen when you're fighting in the coliseum, hmm?" Holt questioned with a smirk, pushing Jaune's own sword against his breast plate, "I know you're more capable of this with a simple knife. Or are you holding back against me because of little Ann? Don't worry about that, I'm sure she'll understand why I had to mangle her little Blondie. It's all in the name of equality after all!" he laughed before headbutting Jaune.

"Hyper Blade!" Ignoring the trickle of blood running down his face, Jaune disappeared in a blur, rushing at Holt in after images. But even with such speed, Holt was able to block against his lighting fast sword strikes.

"Surely you understand all that I'm trying to do? You seem like a righteous person, can't you see the good that I'm doing?" A falling chop from above was blocked by facing the flat of Death Rattle above, moving it quickly to his side as the image of Jaune vanished to blur to his side with a stab. Like before the image faded as several more strikes rained from every side of him. Holt himself became a blur as he countered each swing of the weathered blade, "The faunus are always ridiculed for their curse, denied jobs, left to fend for themselves, and ignored and left to die like the animals they are! My organization wishes to fix that! All we're trying to do is make them human like us! Is that so wrong!?"

"Smash Guard!" Moving away his sword, Jaune smashed his aura knuckled fist into Death Rattle, cursing as his ability failed to break Holt's guard. Even his Defense was high! His MP dropped to zero with the difference failing to beat the dirty blonde's. Looked like he was going to have to fall back to swordplay. With Hyper Blade fading, Jaune had to use his strength without the aid of Power Strike to defend as Holt slammed his blunt blade overhead.

The ground under his feet cracked like spiderwebs as Holt used his aura to amp the force bearing onto his sword, "You're forcefully cutting off what makes them faunus! Like they were sport for your sick games! Of course it's wrong. Only an idiot would think what you're doing is right." Jaune ground out, wincing as his wrists felt like they were snapping under the pressure.

"Amputation is a small pain compared to the hate directed at the faunus. They simply don't know the kindness I'm doing for them. One day they'll thank me from freeing them from their cur-"

"SHUT UP!" Jaune snapped angrily, ignoring the large chunk of HP dropping as he threw back Holt's Death Rattle. He panted from the exertion as he held his sword wielding wrist.

"All you talk about is how being a faunus is a curse, using it as an excuse to hurt innocent faunus for their own good. What would you know what's right for them? If anything, you're no better then the White Fang. So stop trying to make yourselves out to be the good guys!"

"At least I'm trying to fix the problem!" Holt spat as his shadow grew larger. Opening his battle coat wide open, Holt revealed odd red canned grenades with the glowing number 76. He grinned as he threw a few in the air, dropping them into the large puddle of darkness. They rippled as they disappeared. "Now let's dim the lights!" A small slim silver magnum slid out of his right sleeve, aimed high above his head for the lights overhead. Pulling the trigger he shot enough of the headlights to darken the arena further to the point they could barely see another.

Little orange glowing lights popped out in veil of darkness around Jaune, blinking rapidly as his eyes widened.

"Die in the shadows!"

Good side to being faunus despite the curse was the night vision. Aiming his gun for the incendiary grenades gathered in a circle around Jaune, Holt fired a shot to create a chain reaction of licking flames.

"Reflect!" Jaune yelled just as the bullet hit the first grenade. The magical dome fought against the explosive force threatening to break apart his shield. Above his reflect, Holt jumped high into the air to drop down swinging Death Rattle in a somersault. Shattering his glass dome of pixels with the impact and drowning him in the corrosive like flames.

'Shit!' Jumping back from the cloud of fire, Jaune downed two small potions from his inventory to heal his wounds. He panted as sweat ran down his face, gritting his teeth as he blocked a forward stab, missing the grenade in between his shield and Death Rattle. Along with the powerful impact, the explosive force of the grenade devoured Jaune in the burning smoke as he struggled to stand against the attack. Holt cleared away the flames and smoke with a wave of his blade, grinning savagely at the state of the blonde knight.

Jaune's armor was warped by the ember licking around his clothing, burns stained his skin visible with the smoking patches in his hoodie, and a large smear of blood and dirt stained the right side of his face. His knee's trembled, fighting the weakness and damage he had sustained. The only thing missing from the scene was the look of fear in his face. Steel blue eyes strained to glare at him as Jaune breathed heavily, his open hand gripping an empty clear bottle desperately.

"Tell me, what are you doing to make the world a better place?" Holt slammed his large blade for Jaune's head, scoffing as the little brat still had enough energy to dodge his attack. Death Rattle lashed out for his side, only to clang against the annoying white shield. "Are you willing to dirty your soul for a better world? To abandon your species to usher in equality for all? Spill the blood of one life to save a thousand more? Are you willing to become a monster and be seen as evil incarnate for a brighter tomorrow?" With Jaune busy stopping the blunt instrument he was defenseless for Holt's large hand snapping for his face. His eyes flew open in agony as the man increased his grip over his face to the point a crack could be heard.

"Teres Mors! Uproot!" Calling on his blood red short blade, Jaune shot the elegant vine whip below, stabbing Holt through his arm with a white spear from the ground.

Holt's aura resisted the spine, shattering the attack as the vine wilted. "Pathetic. You remind me of an animal who can only struggle instead of a human. Too wounded to put up a valiant fight anymore. And I've yet to stretch the muscle that is my semblance." A guttural shout escaped Jaune's mouth as he increased his grip.

"P-Power Strike!"

"You never answered my question." Holt said dully, not even bothering to block the amplified sword swing striking his ribs. Didn't even hurt, "Are you willing to judge another for trying to change the world for the better if you aren't willing to blacken your own soul?"

Blacken his own soul? What kind of crap was he talking about now? "If it means turning out like you, then I would rather die then see a future created by someone like you!"

So that's a no then. How unfortunate.

"And Ann fell for an idiot like you?" Holt shook his head in disbelief, "The girl needs to learn to choose her friends better."

"Like you have any right to say anything about her."

Holt narrowed his eyes, a vein on his forehead throbbing as he continued to increase his grip, enjoying the sound of the boy's bones cracking, "I do. I saved that little girl when the world left her out to die. I treated her like my own daughter, clothed her, fed her, trained her to fight-"

"To deal with criminals, to spy on others, to kill if need to, and distrust everyone as if they had hidden motives." Despite the pain of his skull slowly being crushed in like a can, Jaune weakly glared at Holt through the space of fingers, "If you truly thought of her as your daughter, then you would have left her out of your mess. Because of you she's wanted like some criminal when she could have been living like some normal girl. You ruined her future!"

Not the best choice of words. With a growl Holt tossed Jaune across the room, diving into his shadow to zip after him and jump out swinging his blade. Again and again he repeated the attack, smacking him around like a pinball and dropping Jaune's health into the red.

"I saved her life!" He roared, batting his bandaged cleaver for his stomach, then his back, his side, and so and so on. He became a shadowy blur as he beat Jaune around like a rag doll, "I taught her how the world truly works! It's not some sunshine reality where everything will go your way, it's a dank reality fit only for the strong and wealthy. The only way to change such reality is by force! Alongside me, we will change this world for the better!"

'I need to fight back.' Jaune gasped as a powerful strike to his head nearly knocked him out then and there. With one final wide swing, Holt struck him out of the arena and into the coliseum seats, breaking them apart in a cloud of debris. 'Jaune Arc, 504HP/5,000HP.' His vision was becoming blurry, slightly blinded by his own blood running down his face. If he didn't start actually fighting back then he would be done in the next few minutes. His inventory was running low and it looked like even his best abilities wouldn't do more then close to a hundred points of damage to Holt's health. But what could he do against Holt's shadows and strength?

'We got a sale on Flash Dust, might come in handy in the Shadows.'

That's right! Long ago, Jaune had no idea how to use Dust with his weapon, Dust was never much of an important item in his early life, but after reading over the pamphlet his Snow Angel had slapped into his face and finishing it, he had learned how to use Dust with his Gamer ability. Opening up his Inventory, Jaune reached in for one of the Dust's he had bought. 'Flash Dust: Fusing together the Elements of Fire and Lighting just right along with a bit of Earth, Flash Dust is created! This little Element is harmless in damaging foes, but it's capable of creating a powerful blinding flash when struck. Great for distractions. Inflicts Blind, Daze, and Confusion. Chance of inflicting Status Ailment: 15%.' The crystal glowed with a bright white hue. Just looking at it hurt his eyes.

'Augment with Teres Mors? Yes/No?'

Struggling to stand back on his feet, Jaune dusted the debris off his torn clothing as he tapped on his scroll. The Flash Dust jumped out of his hand, floating in front of his face brilliantly. It spun, twinkling suddenly before splitting in half and flying for his short sword and shield.

Jaune wiped the smear of blood around his chin with his burnt sleeve, reaching into his stock of healing items for a warm treat to replenish his wounds. Velvet's Carrot Cake muffing fell into his hands, still as fresh as the day she had given it to him with a smile. Holt tilted his head curiously at him, watching as Jaune scarfed it down with gusto.

With the simple treat, Jaune's health was completely restored with an added 200HP permanently tagged on, including the other bonuses that came along with it.

"All I hear are excuses." Jaune said firmly as the bruises on his face began to fade. Taking out his sword from its shield, he aimed its now dazzling blade at Holt's narrowed eyes.

"You think your way will change anything? All you're doing is making the hate between everyone grow stronger and deeper. I bet even Ann knows that, it's why she wishes to run away from such a world one day, to escape people like you."

"People like me saved her for the better. And I know my little Ann would never leave me. I would keep her with me for all eternity against her will if that's what it would take. Only I can protect her and her future." Holt glared.

"You don't run away from family after all."

"Then I'll take her away from you, by force. Because that's what a real friend would do."

"Careful there, boy." Holt seethed, his aura surrounding him in wisps of shadows, "Them dying words."

"Then consider these my last words!" Jaune shouted, "Crescent Blade!"

A blinding arc of bright white shot out from Jaune's swing, whistling in the air as it closed in on Holt. Raising Death Rattle to defend his body from the attack, Holt was caught by surprise as the lunar like arc of energy exploded in a blinding flash of white. The pupils of his eyes shrunk, burned by the light crashing onto him. "Motherfuc-!"

"Gale Speed!"

In a twinkle of light, Jaune dashed towards Holt in his daze. He swung his bright sword across his chest, slashing him repeatedly in frenzy. He couldn't waste one second now that he had an opening. Each swing dropped Holt's HP by 77points. As little as it was it was still something. Had to take whatever damage he could deal.

Growling hatefully, Holt caught one of Jaune's swings with his hand. He rammed the knuckled hilt of Death Rattle into the side of his face, sending him back a few spaces. From his sleeves he slid out his magnum and fired off a few Dust rounds after Jaune. The blonde boy moved quickly on his feet, evading each bullet while sending bright blades of light firing after him in return. Knowing what one would do if he made contact with it, Holt began dodging. The two danced around another in their projectile barrage.

Fed up, Holt reached into his coat for an incendiary grenade before throwing it into the air. The bandages on his blunt cleaver rustled, suddenly coming loose to snake the deadly explosive. He then swung his blade towards Jaune, whipping the bandages to toss the bomb after him.

Two could play that game. "Teres Blade: Coil!" Pointing the tip of the dark blade at the incoming bomb, Jaune fired the vine after it. It coiled safely around it before he began to whip it around himself. Gathering enough momentum he swiped his blade to swing the whipping vine at Holt, the can like bomb glowing a deep orange.

Dropping back to the ground, Holt dived into his own shadow just as a black silhouette copy took the blow, swallowing it in the burning smoke and fire now carpeting the ground. Crocea Mor's shield snapped open as Jaune turned around to move in front of him. Just in time to block the heavy swing from Holt rising from his own shadow. Bright light flashed from the impact, blinding the leader of the humanizers as he shouted in pain. "Power Strike!" Another flash blinded Holt created by the amp slash, disorienting him further.

Damn little brat! Where the hell did that come from? Did the boy use Dust to create a flash? Jaune truly was full of surprises. And he didn't like surprises.

Blinking his eyes furiously, Holt regained his vision to side step the rushing stab aimed for his chest. He then slapped the flat of his blunt cleaver at Jaune's back, wrapping his shadowy bandages around him as he stumbled forward and flung him high in the air. He took out his magnum, loading a fresh cartridge before firing at his airborne form before he could shield against the bullets.

'Critical Hit!' Falling back to the ground, Jaune ignored the immense pain of several bullets digging into his flesh as he jumped back up on his feet. Holt held his large blunt weapon in a reverse grip, dragging its flat tip against the ground to send a shadowed blade chasing after Jaune. The blonde knight countered, firing off an Air Slash. Black and white clashed as the blades met, exploding in an eruption of light and shadows. Panting lightly, Jaune shook his head to rid himself of the weariness.

Healing himself again and again was draining on his stamina. Even if he had an endless supply of healing items in hand, it wouldn't rid him of the pain and toll it took on his body. And they were only getting started. Holding back a groan, Jaune dashed after Holt, slashing the air to fire another flashing Air Slash. Holt rolled out of the wave of the blinding blade, sweeping his large weapon against the ground to kick up a dust cloud. With the dust clouding his body from sight, Holt opened his coat to take out the last of his grenades. He grinned as he threw them in the air, prepared to use the bandages of Death Rattle to swing them around and burn the boy alive.

"Crescent Blade!"

The whistling arc blade of white magic cut through the cloud of dirt, missing Holt completely as it went for the six incendiary grenades above. Along with the bombs detonating over head, another blinding white flash stunned Holt, keeping him from escaping as the clouding flames fell over.

'Holt Delmos, Shadow of Anubis. 19,709HP/23,000HP.'

Jaune bit his lip at the HP bar in his HUD. Holt was taking everything he threw at him like a wall. No wonder Husk had appeared to him before fighting him. If only he knew, he would have bought better items and abilities with what he had. Oh well, he sighed. He would just have to whittle his Health down till-

At the thought Jaune frowned, also noticing the light around his weapons begin to dim.

What was he suppose to do? All this was to free Ann, stop Holt's mad plans to hurt faunus and make them human, and save his friends. To do that, Holt needed to be stopped, obviously. Every Boss fight since he had woken up to this reality had either ended in him winning or meeting some unknown requirements to pass. The Grimm bosses died, the Atlesian Spider was destroyed, Cross was a test of strength, and Ann was knocked out to stop her after she calmed down. So this fight would be no different. Right?

A deep chuckle escaped out of the veil of flames roasting Holt. His silhouette could be seen in the flames, a dark purple glint piercing the flames from his eyes as he grinned widely.

"What's wrong, boy? Now would be a perfect time to go crazy and try to kill me. That's what you're here to do, right? Kill me to stop my madness, that's what you're sworn to do."

A strong gust of wind cleared away the raging flames and hot smoke from within, revealing Holt lightly burned by his own grenades. Due to the flames, the bandages wrapped around Death Rattle had been burned to ash. The cleaver was black in color, composed out of bladed segments with orange red fanged teeth lined against its edge. It's point was flat with a fanged blade slicked back like a sickle to point the opposite way. Honestly, it was surprising to see Holt wield the thing with one hand, a testament to his strength. The blades rattled like a hissing snake, releasing a light steam as its teeth burned deeply.

'Kill?' The thought never came to mind in all his life. Killing another human being. Driving his blade into their flesh to stop their breathing. Just like the White Fang Lieutenant had done to him.

Holt smirked at the sight of hesitation in Jaune's blue eyes. Just like a rat, he didn't have it in him to dirty his hands. And he called himself a huntsman. In training, but the fact remained.

"You don't have it, do you?" He laughed, pressing a small button on the hilt of his weapon. The long blade slackened, allowing him to spin it around like a chain at his side like a buzzing saw.

"The instinct to win, to stop others, to do whatever it takes to met your goal at whatever the cost. The instinct to kill, to main, to slaughter, to rend the flesh of those in your way from their very bone. And leave nothing behind. No flesh, no bone, no ash!"

Gathering enough momentum from his spin, Holt swung his chain cleaver, extending its segments for a wider reach. On instinct, Jaune raised his shield to block the attack, only to be stunned as the snaking blade angled itself to fly around the shield and strike his unguarded side, scrapping against the edge of his shield as its flat tip burned through his hoodie and cut a scalding gash onto his skin. He jumped back from the smoking blade, holding his side with a grimace as he watched Holt retract Death Rattle. "Crescent Blade!" Ignoring the new wound for a moment, Jaune fired off another whistling crescent blade, scowling as he noticed it lacked its blinding light. Looked like he needed to augment Teres Mors again. On that note, the deep red short sword was wrapped in light, dispersing in wisps as he lacked the necessary MP to hold its form any longer. Crocea Mors it was then.

Holt fell into his shadows, zipping by the streaking blade to chase after Jaune. From his shadow, the tip of his cleaver poked out, firing out to stab at the boy by angling itself in confusing patterns. Left with no other tricks but attack and defend, Jaune skipped back a step, missing the deadly snaking blade stabbing into him only to growl as it bounced off the ground and followed him. He side stepped it, jumped over it, and flipped out of the way it as it stabbed after him in the air. With whatever strength he possessed, Jaune swung heavily at the side of the shooting segments of its blade, disrupting its flow and sending it back to the shadows. The shadows that lurked below. As he descended for the ground, Jaune struggled to weave through the rain of gunfire raining from the pool of shadows. One of the bullets struck true, piercing his right shoulder and splattering his blood below as he held back a shout of pain. At least it didn't hit his bone, that was a good thing, right?

Shielding his body with his shield, Jaune blocked the sudden rising uppercut dealt with the hilt of Death Rattle. The force of which unfortunately sending him flying back in the air for another barrage of bullets. He spun in the air, dodging the rounds as he flipped to land on his feet. The zipping pool of shadows followed, firing another snaking whip to strike. But just before it made contact with his shield it paused, hanging in the air with its burning tip smoking. Jaune frowned. What the hell was going on?

A deep chuckled tickled the back of his neck, his heart nearly stopping as he swung his head around to meet the barrel of a magnum poking his forehead. His eyes widened in horror as he watched Holt grin widely with a savage expression.

"Die."

Blood splattered Holt's face as the image of Jaune vanished in an afterimage. Stumbling back at the far end of the arena, Jaune clutched his heavily bleeding forehead with a death grip. Gale Speed had just saved him from a taking a Critical Hit that would have left him auraless. The bullet had just pierced the skin and scratched the bone of his skull before he escaped with a burst of desperate speed. 'Jaune Arc, 201HP/5,000HP.' Shit, his health was in the red again. One more hit and he'd be open for a death blow. And he was down to one Large Aura Potion, two Small MP Drinks and his two Ambrosia's. With that in mind, Jaune reached for the last of his potions and the small mana drink, fusing them together despite the lack of MP. The action would drop his recharge rate, but that wouldn't be a problem with the item he was creating.

'Small Ether, Synthesized!' +700EXP!

Like a man out in the scorching dunes of the deserts, Jaune greedily chugged the small green decorative bottle topped with a lunar moon. Half his HP was replenished and his MP was charged back up with a ding. He wiped his mouth of the lemon-lime taste with a pant. He was down to his last leg, all this fighting and pain was becoming too much. His stamina was just about empty. It wouldn't be long till he could no longer pick himself back up. The gash on his forehead struggled to mend, leaving behind a bullet like scar on his skin.

Pyrrha was not going to like that.

Popping out the empty mag in his gun, Holt smirked smugly at the tired form of the blonde boy sagging as he did his best to stand on his own two feet. The boy was a tank! Soaking in all the damage he dealt and fighting on despite how under leveled he was. What did the boy expect? That he had the power to defeat him? A man who had been fighting for decades and evolving his semblance to a new level of capabilities? As if. This wasn't some fairy tale where the hero always came out victorious. He reached his hand out, calling on Death Rattle to rise into his hand before whirling it around by his side like a chain.

One would walk away, victorious. The other would lay dead in the ashes of defeat. That was the way the world worked.

"Did you see that, Jaune?" Holt asked sternly, dropping his amused attitude, "That there was killer instinct. I was ready to splatter your brains out the back of your head with one bullet, with no hesitation lurking in my eyes. That is what you lack, the will to kill another in your way, to end things permanently. If all you do is knock another person out, lock them up, even disable them, then you are truly not ending things. You use a sword after all, don't you know what a duel with blades means?" he scoffed as he lashed his blade out in front of him, firing a whipping blade of flames after Jaune.

"It means that you fight another with the intent to kill, never stopping till one of you lies in a drenching pool of their own blood. The fight is never over with till one of you dies by the others blade, that is what a fight with swords means!"

Raising his shield, Jaune was pushed back against the wall of the arena by the force of the lashing blade along with the many others slamming into his defense. Nonstop he was slowly being crushed by the heavy flames slapping into his shield, drenched in sweat once again by the assault of flames. What was it with the FoF and fire? With one final blade smacking against him the barrage ceased, allowing him to drop his shield arm tiredly. His weary eyes watched Holt closely, his sword arm trembling as he awaited the next trick he would throw at him.

Holt shook his head at the sight. This boy had derailed his plans? "Pathetic. You can barely stand at this point. You had me going with those flashy attacks before, but it seems the Dust you were using to blind me has worn off. As you are now, you have no hope of killing me."

"I'm not going to stoop to your level." Jaune growled. "I'm not some bloodthirsty monster! I'll beat you without killing you, and you'll answer for your crimes! I won't take the easy way out." he said firmly, raising his sword and shield in the stance Pyrrha had drilled into him long ago.

"The easy way out? You think all that I do, all that I've done, has been the easy way out?"

"What else would you call amputating faunus to make them look like humans as? Do you think that will change them? Their faunus at their heart, and there's nothing wrong with that! Hurting others and forcing their ideals on them is easy, but working with them, accepting them for what they are and what they look like, is harder! But the work is what makes it all worth it. The easiest path is never the right one." What the FoF were doing was simply taking an easy way out of accepting the faunus. Using cruel methods and making them believe that they were doing them all a favor, such acts will never work. And the world will know that when Holt's beaten and taken in for the crimes he's done and encouraged.

"Yet look at humanity. They all would rather take the easy way out, choosing to ignore the faunus instead of accepting them. What I'm doing is making them realize that we are all the same, we are all equal! By amputating their animal appendages, the humans will one day begin to see them as their brothers, realizing their was never any need for all the hate! And when that day comes, the faunus will no longer have to be amputated. It will be long and arduous process, but they'll come to understand the good I am doing for them, even if it costs a small handful of lives compared to the many I'll be saving."

"That's your end game?" Jaune said in disbelief. That's what the result of his plans, that humans would accept faunus because they can no longer tell them apart from themselves in the far future? And come to accept them in the future? "That will never work. You're insane!" he shouted, taking a moment to augment Crocea Mors with another Flash Dust. He then fired a Crescent Blade to daze the dirty blonde.

Holt dodged the whistling blade of flashing light, firing his own back, "Yet it's the best solution we have! It's not easy, but it's worth all the trouble to bring in equality for all! Humans pay good money for plastic surgery, I'm doing this nice little service free of charge. A little snip never hurt anybody!" He laughed.

With Death Rattle's teeth burning a deep orange, Holt stabbed it into the shadowy ground with one hand. And from the shadows all around them, he repeatedly stabbed its hissing blade upward from Jaune's shadow. Leaving the boy to jump back from the snaking teeth following his every step. Adding his magnum to fire after him didn't hurt either.

"Hyper Blade!" Beginning to huff from all the dodging and weaving, Jaune disappeared from sight, an afterimage taking his place as it was cut in half by the flat sharp edge of Death Rattle stabbing him from below.

That wasn't going to work anymore. Holt reeled in his chain cleaver from the shadows before closing his eyes. He took a deep breath, calming his breathing as his ears twitched. While he no longer had his old jackal ears to heighten his hearing, that didn't mean his humans ears were anything to scoff at either. After losing his animal ears he trained to enhance his normal hearing. Time to see how well he did. The boy's flashy attack emitted an odd little sound when he appeared.

Lights danced around Jaune as he appeared in front of Holt like a blur. He swung his flashing sword for his chest only to be blocked by the large blade swinging against his attack. A bright flash enveloped them both that unaffected him, only to frown as he nearly had his head chopped off by a swing for his head by a grinning Holt. If he didn't duck then he wasn't sure his aura would have had the strength to fight it. With Hyper Blade still in affect, Jaune began to wildly swing his blinding blade at the dirty blonde in hopes of leaving him in a daze from all directions. But again and again Holt was able to deflect his attacks without ever opening his eyes.

Holt sighed. This was getting boring. All they were doing was dragging out a fight that would have ended if he had taken this seriously. Truth was he wanted to get a read on the boy, see what made him tick. Ann was smart despite coming from the streets, she should have known better then to trust some random strangely. How was it that Jaune was able to get her to open up so easily? It had taken him years to crack open her shell and tell him her past. Yet the sappy idiot had done it in a few weeks? That didn't add up. He had potential, he would give him that. But it was wasted on him if didn't posses a killer instinct. He would never achieve his full potential with such a week will. It was time to put him out of his misery. Ann would understand, the blonde boy wasn't worthy of crying over.

"Power Strike!" Skidding to a stop a few feet away from Holt as Hyper Blade died away, Jaune charged in with a heavy swing with a two handed grip.

Opening his eyes, Holt focused all his strength in his next swing. He didn't aim for his exposed chest, his legs, or even his head. What he aimed for was the weak grip on his weathered sword. He slammed the toothed edge of Death Rattle against Jaune's gripping hands just before he swung downward, cutting through his brown gloves as blood hissed against the burning steel.

Jaune shouted in agony as he dropped Crocea Mors from the pain of his skin being burned deeply. He skipped back clutching the back of his palm against his chest, flinching from the feeling of his skin practically melting. Did he just break his hand?

Dammit, Crocea Mors was out of his reach. Holt smirked darkly at him as he walked over to his family's blade, stepping over it before kicking it even further from his grasp. But that didn't mean he was weaponless. Reaching for the back of his waist, Jaune unsheathed the large hunter's knife kept just in case. His right hand was useless, still smoking from the burns he was doing his best to ignore, looked like he was going to have to fight left handed.

"No, we're done here."

The image of Holt in his sight vanished in black purple wisps. From behind the man rose up from his silhouette, not giving him a second to turn around and try to block his attack as he grabbed a fistful of his hair and dragged him into his shadows.

The two disappeared from the arena, leaving only the aftermath of their fight behind. In another larger area of the hideout, a shadow bleed from the ceiling. A few of the FoF grunts guarding the place tilted their heads at the sight, some even raising their weapons at it from their positions on the railways of the storage garage. But before they could take any action towards it, a blonde blur shot out of the shadows, breaking through several of the rails as he fell for the bottom. The unknown object crashed atop a metal shipping crate with a boom, causing the grunts to rush for the bottom and see what had fell through. A familiar laugh stopped them before any of them got close to the object, their eyes turning back to the shadow above as their boss jumped out.

'Nope.' They all collectively nodded before making their way out of the place. None of them were going to deal with the boss's fun. The man could turn into a wild animal when he got like that.

Blood seeped from Jaune's lips as his vision began to blur again. His body was wedged into the metal of the crate, trapping him still. Like he could move after falling through all those rails. It was surprising that his body could even break through the steel. Each one had chopped off a chunk of his HP as he fell, bruising his back and even cutting through his armor and clothing. It felt like his skeleton had been cracked.

'Jaune Arc, 199HP/5,200HP.' He was basically out of potions, save for his Ambrosia. Thank god for Professor Ivy. Reaching into his inventory, Jaune weakly smiled as the golden intricate bottle with a crystal blooming bud cork fell into his hands. All he needed was a drink and he'd be ready to go.

The heavy booted feet of Holt had something to say about that though. Crashing down onto his stomach with a double foot stomp, Holt had shattered his aura to nothing before he could recover it. He shouted loudly in a guttural voice, spitting blood against the man's sadistic expression. His arms fell to his sides limply, his strength leaving him as he panted from the pain all over his body.

'Jaune Arc, -2,100HP/5,200HP.'

"Aww, don't tell me you're done after that? And here I was actually hoping you would shrug it off like a champ." Holt chuckled, patting the boy's bloody cheek. He quirked his brow noticing him try to raise his wounded right hand up. "What's this?" he grinned, grabbing Jaune's wrist and moving it closer to his face. A little golden bottle greeted him. How nice, a gift. "What a thoughtful kid, giving his elders a drink for all the trouble he's caused him. I was feeling a bit parch."

'No.' Jaune tried to move up to grab his recovery potion, only to be punched back down. The blow blackened his vision for a moment before his sight came back to him. A simple punch had dropped his health by eight hundred via critical.

Popping open the fancy cork, Holt reared his head back and downed the little drink. Tasted like his favorite meal, steak and mashed potatoes with a side of wine. After he was done with all this, he was going to have to find out where the kid got it. Going to be a bit difficult with him dead, "Now that was surprisingly tasty." he chuckled. His wounds were even healing up faster then normal. Flexing his fingers, he whistled at the feeling of rejuvenation and energy running through his veins. Looked like the little drink had a kick to it. Felt like his strength had gone up bit. How curious.

'Holt Delmos, 23,000HP/23,00HP.'

All that work, all the pain, it was for nothing. Even if Jaune healed all this wounds, he didn't have the energy to raise his sword anymore. His body was exhausted, beaten, and burned. It was too much. And Holt would only shrug off his best attacks as if he was an annoying fly. The Ambrosia he drank also buffed his stats even if he couldn't see how much, making the fight even harder then before. He was done.

Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, Holt cracked his neck before grabbing Jaune by his face and lifting him up from his dent. From the looks of his beaten blue eyes, the boy didn't have the strength to fight back anymore. About time, he had better things to do then maul a kid in over his head.

"Do you now understand how idiotic it was to take me on? You're just a boy training to fight monsters, I'm more then that. I'm what monsters fear." Holt grinned as he added pressure to his grip. "You're fists could never harm me. I carry a weight on my shoulders heavier then anything you could ever posses, granting me strength far beyond your comprehension. You fight for your friends? I fight for the world! For a better future!" he roared into Jaune's bloody face.

"But if you wish to see them again, why not? I would be a cruel man to kill you before seeing them one last time."

---

Cardin grit his teeth, heaving his glowing mace high into the air as his looked on to the rising cloud of rushing rubble coming at him. He was still trying to get a handle on his semblance that had just appeared when he was beating Blake, so it was difficult to understand just how it worked. But after testing it out with the gorilla like Grimm, it looked like he just had to focus on what he wanted to be amplified. Hopefully it applied to Dust as well. With a mighty downward swing, Cardin detonated his own rising flames to meet the kicked up rubble cloud created by the Beringel's fist. Colliding, a cloud of flames and earth blew up in the middle of the ring, blocking their sights of the Grimm.

The Beringel howled lowly, moving its head around for its prey. It's bone platting was scratched and even sported a few gashes here and there. It's left fist was scarred by burns stretching up to its shoulders and it's bone mask was cracked. Scanning for sights of the humans, it pounded its fist on the ground as it noticed a silhouette charging through the heated cloud of dirt. It reared its fist back, ready to break every bone in the human's body. Once it reached a good distance, the Beringel slammed its fist atop the human, only to howl as the human vanished in a shadow. It turned its eyes up, finding the human girl with feline ears springing off another copy of herself like a board. She shot by its face, slashing the side of its cheek and tearing a smoking gash on its skin. It roared in anger and was ready to swing its fists at the girl, only to be stopped by an ax kick for its head. It nearly fell over from the pain splitting its body down the middle.

Jumping off the Grimm's skull, Velvet fell back to Cardin's side, panting tiredly as she gingerly balanced herself on her other leg. Adding aura to amplify her hits was doing damage, but she still felt like she was hitting steel. She'd be lucky if her ankles weren't sprained by the shock.

Leaning on Beaufort for support, Cardin peeked over to his 'ally'. Never in a hundred years did he think he would be fighting alongside faunus like this. And not just one, but two, with the second one having a hand in his mother's death. He shook his head tiredly at the scenario.

Well, at least his mother would be proud of him. Even if he did die.

Blake huffed as she skipped to the side, avoiding the hammer fist falling onto her. Jumping onto its large fist, she ran along it, repeatedly slashing at its arm with her hunter's knife. She then flipped over its swatting hand, switching out with a shadow clone to take its second swing before springing off its fist and stabbing her knife deep into its eye socket.

"If I wasn't still livid about the fact she had a hand in my mom's death, I'd be impressed." Cardin said flatly as he watched the Beringel swing its head around to shake off Blake. The girl was like a cat, she would not let go. Could have sworn she was hissing into its face.

Velvet chuckled weakly, "I'm honestly surprised we've lasted this long without our weapons. When my team had fought our first Beringel it had taken a good half hour to take it out. Seems this one has already been drained of its energy."

A look of disbelief appeared on Cardin's face. That thing wasn't fighting at full strength? The thought sent chills down his spine. He was nearly crushed into a pulp earlier. If it wasn't drained then there was a chance he wouldn't have survived.

Having enough of the girl, the Beringel tore her off its face and threw her off like a ragdoll. Her body skipped along the ground before stopping at Cardin and Velvet's feet. Her uniform was torn and her skin was bruised by the few blows she had suffered. As she was now, breathing heavily as she struggled to get up, she was helpless.

Kill her.

Cardin bit down hard on the inside of his mouth, his grip on the handle of his mace nearly crushing it.

Kill her. Kill her. Kill her.

The voices wouldn't shut the hell up. No matter how hard he tried to shut them up, they wouldn't let stop. And it was growing harder and harder to ignore them.

Scum. Dirty Mother Killer. Faunus trash. Savage.

Killer her. KILL HER.

KILL THEM.

A shadow fell over Cardin's expression as he raised Beaufort across his chest for a swing. His golden aura wrapped itself around the titanium metal, enhancing its durability and strength. Feeling a sudden spike of pressure around her, Blake turned her eyes up to Cardin. Her eyes widened as he swung his mace, flinching as she awaited the pain.

'Please,'

Bouncing off the ground, the Beringel spun around the air to gather momentum for its raging fist. The air around its fist twisted, ready to break apart the unfortunate soul in its path like a hammer smashing a squash. Its eyes were set upon the weak girl with the cat ears.

Beaufort swung against its fist just before it could slam it down onto Blake, breaking it as the golden aura around it streaked across its skin up to its neck. The streaks of aura cut deeply, splashing its blood onto the floor. A rush of air exploded from the impact, blowing back a cloud past them. Slowly creaking her eyes open, Blake was surprised to see the racist huntsman who had tried to kill her earlier defending her from the Grimm.

'Forgive them.' Cardin's eyes were steel, his resolve solid as diamond. Even as he felt the bones in his mace wielding arm break and pain engulf it he continued to hold his ground.

The voices could continue jabbering on and on but their was only voice he would ever listen to. There was darkness in his heart, raging like a wild beast seeing nothing but red, but he still had a small ray of light in there. And it would continue to guide him past his own hate.

He wouldn't stop hating the faunus, nothing was that simple. And that was fine. Nothing worth achieving was ever that easy. This would be his first step to clearing his heart of all that useless hate. He chuckled at the thought. It was almost like Blake and Velvet were his only hopes to becoming a better person.

'I'm not going to ignore someone in pain, even if they're a faunus. Shit like that shouldn't matter!'

And that damn loud mouth, Jaune. Someone he had begun to consider a friend until that day in the lunchroom. Someone who didn't look at him in disgust or pity for his views. Just disappointment. He'd show him though, he'd show them all. Cardin was a huntsman, a warrior of the people! Even the damned faunus. The blonde headed knight wouldn't be the one saving him today, the one doing the saving was going to be him!

Right after he fixed his arm. Looked like he was going to have to fight with his lesser hand. What a joy that was going to be.

Grunting in exertion, Velvet hopped off her feet and lashed out her legs for the Grimm's face, sending it reeling back as she cracked its mask further. She winced as she landed on her feet again. Yep, definitely had a sprain going on there.

"We got to finish it as quick as possible. I don't think I can keep this up much longer." Velvet said tiredly.

Cardin nodded his head as he watched the bunny faunus help Blake up on her own feet. He gripped his left arm tightly as it hung by his side limply, "I'm on my last leg too. All I have left is one last Dust crystal on me before I'm just smashing the thing with my aura. And even that's starting to dwindle."

Smiling gratefully at Velvet, Blake turned her eyes back to the Beringel. It held its face in pain, slamming its fist down like a fussy child as it howled at them. The sight of its howling form and its wide mouth gave her an idea. It would be tricky to pull off, but even the toughest of monsters wouldn't be able to survive something like it.

"You said you have one last Dust crystal, right?" Blake asked Cardin, smiling as he nodded his head with suspicion, "I have an idea. Do you think you're amplification can work after its left you hand?"

The Beringel snorted, growling hatefully as a chip of its bone mask fell apart. Howling one more time, it charged after the small group of huntsman gathered around another.

Nodding his head at the two faunus girls, Cardin tossed Blake the last of his Dust before slamming his mace down to create a cover from his explosion. The three were hidden by the veil of smoke and flames, confusing the beast as it sniffed after them. From the cover, Velvet leaped out to rain a flurry of high kicks at its face. It tried swatting her away, missing as she acrobatically dodged each of its heavy blows. With two hunting knives in hand, she fell back to stand directly before its chest, her aura coating the small blades before she crossed them over her chest and slashed a bladed X at it. The aura blades carved into its chest, causing it great pain. It raised its fist above the grinning girl, dropping it down like a hammer to pulverize her to mush. Velvet just stood there, winking at it as the open tipped head of Beaufort chomped on the back of her waist.

Sweat dripped from Cardin's forehead as he reeled the girl back with a mighty pull. She landed back to his side with a grateful smile.

"You okay? I know it must be hard to wield your weapon with your lesser hand."

No duh. If he had known he would ever have to fight with his left, then he would have begun practicing with it long ago. "I'll be fine once this is all over with. It's Blake we have to worry about." He said sternly, watching as she dashed around the cloud cover still up to confuse the Grimm.

Velvet looked at Cardin blankly for a moment before her eyes turned gentle. He was full of so much hate before, transformed into a monster no different then the Grimm. The bully who had picked on her relentlessly in the last month was about to cross a line he would never be able to return from. And now here he was, fighting alongside them both, throwing away his hate to work together to survive. He was much different then the boy who hated faunus moments ago.

"Don't worry, we're all in this together." She grinned cheerfully as she laid her hand on the handle of his mace. She nodded her head firmly as she waited for Blake to set up for the finishing blow, her thoughts turning back to blue eyes and blonde hair holding her tightly to his chest earlier.

"We still have one more friend to save after all."

Within the cover, Blake evaded the swinging arm swings. She gripped the brightly glowing red Dust crystal tightly, calming her breath. She needed to time this just right. The more it became distracted with its want to kill her, the better. Velvet said it was smarter then most Grimm. Time to see how smart.

The Beringel had enough of the games. It raised both of its arms up, slamming them back down with a thunder like crack. The earth shattered to bits as a pressurized wall erupted around it to blast away the dust and clear its view. It howled in victory as it found the cat girl stunned by the blast, frozen in fear. It didn't think twice, crushing her body in its grip as it picked her up. So much despair. Her eyes were still in fright, locked up by the sight of the monster ready to bite into her. To which it did.

Opening its mouth wide open, the Beringel chomped down on the girl's fearful face, biting off her head like it was a lollipop.

Cardin smirked, watching as the headless body of Blake faded away like a shadow. Hook, line, and sinker.

Blurring by the two's side with a high burst of speed, Blake held her bruising sides with a wince as she shouted, "GO!"

Hot fire ran down the Beringel's throat into the pit of its stomach. Just before the monster had nearly crushed her within its grip, Blake had switched out with a shadow clone, leaving behind the amplified Dust crystal where her head had been. It's glowing form could be seen glowing through the skin of the Beringel's stomach, waiting to be struck and activated.

Cardin and Velvet nodded their heads before dashing in towards the puzzled Grimm. It growled deeply, eyes turning to the hunter's charging in as they both gripped the deadly mace. It raised its hand to crush them, only to be stopped as it found the cat girl leaping for its face and stabbing its last working eye. Leaving it wide open as it howled in agony.

Skidding to a stop at its chest, Bully and Victim, Human and Faunus, shouted as one as they swung Beaufort together at where the Dust crystal lied within its belly. The Beringel stumbled blindly back from the crushing blow, screeching as it held its stomach as red rays of light pierced through its skin. That probably wasn't a good thing.

Jumping far away from the trembling form of the Beringel, the three Beacon students watched as the dark gorilla raised its head up to howl one last time.

Flames bloomed from within the Grimm, erupting in a tower of orange red flames shining like a beacon. Its entire body was devoured from the inside, leaving nothing behind before it exploded in a dome of burning hell.

And that was that. Not even Grimm could survive being exploded from the inside. Already they could see the black smoke of its remains rise from the flames and return to nothing. The fight was finally over.

Velvet fell on her backside, supporting herself sitting up as she sighed in relief. She cleaned off the dirty sweat and grim on her forehead as she watched the Grimm's ash burn. Things would have been much easier if she had her weapon on her, the Beringel wouldn't have stood a chance. But, she thought as glanced at her little team, watching as Cardin grudgingly steadied Blake against himself with a sour look. She could have done a lot worse.

"Don't think this means anything." Cardin lightly spat as he helped Blake, "We still have a lot to talk about after we save Jauney-boy from that psycho. The idiot's helpless without us right now, so the melodrama can wait."

Blake stared at Cardin, lost at what to say. Tears gathered in her eyes as the very boy who's mother she had helped to kill helped her. She didn't deserve this. All her sins had finally come back to wreck its wrath upon her as justice. She should have died by his mace, not saved by his hands. But, at the same time, she didn't want to die.

Ruby, Yang, Weiss, all her friends at Beacon, they had become her family in these last few weeks. Even if they didn't know about her faunus heritage, that still didn't stop her from beginning to see them as friends. She had a new life at Beacon alongside her friends. She didn't want to give that up so early. Not now, not ever.

She closed her eyes happily, sniffing back her tears as she nodded with a small smile. Cardin was right, they still had one last friend in need of help. There was much to talk about that day long ago, but that would have to wait after they've put all this mess behind them.

"Right. Let's go."

After taking a moment for their aura to heal and Velvet tearing off some of her skirt and sleeve to make a bandage for Cardin's broken arm, the three hunter's began to walk towards the gate leading out of the large arena.

"Incoming!"

Their hearts stopped at the sound of a the cackling voice from above. From a pool of shadows above, something fell down like a star, blurred from recognition by its blistering descent. It crashed down a few feet away from their feet, its impact creating a crater from its thundering crash.

What the hell was that? Cardin waved away the smoke drifting out from the crater as they slowly made their way closer to the object. What could make such an impact?

"J-Jaune?"

Cardin's eyes snapped open in horror as Velvet choked back a sob from escaping her lips as she called out the blondes name.

Lying within the center of the crater was Jaune's near mangled body. His clothing had been torn apart by tears and burns, his skin was burned by second degree burns, littered with heavy bruises on every inch of his skin, and his face was painted with blood, cuts crossing over his face like an animal had clawed it. He looked like he was on death's doorstep. Velvet scrambled down after him, gingerly reaching for his broken body as tears began to fall down her face.

"Jaune! What happened to you!?" Blake shouted in despair. What kind of monster could do such a thing? It didn't even look like he was conscious, let alone breathing. If it wasn't for the slight hitch of his chest she would have thought he was dead.

Another loud crash boomed behind the hunter's, the one who had created it laughing loudly.

Holt tipped his hat with a grin at the hunter's, "Hey there, did ya miss us?"

Cardin glared furiously at his mentor, his knuckles cracking as hefted Beaufort on his shoulders, "You bastard! What did you do?" He hissed lividly.

Holt pointed a finger to himself in false confusion, "Me? All did was have a nice little discussion about equality and such with my little friend here. It's not my fault he couldn't take it." He grinned.

"I'm going to kill you!" Carding roared as he charged in with his mace swinging.

"Finally! Someone with actual balls to try!" Holt laughed as me Cardin's swing head on. Their weapons collided with a resonating clang, struggling to break the others lock. He grinned as he began to add more pressure till he felt something strike against his back. He turned to find Blake's yellow eyes wide with anger, her knife lashing out for his face.

With Blake and Cardin keeping Holt busy, Velvet turned her eyes back to the deathly wounded blonde knight held against her chest. She sniffed at his bloody sight, blood trailing down his face and dripping onto her tattered skirt. "Jaune? Speak to me. Say something." She cried, pleading for any sign that he was still with them other then his barely labored breathing.

"Anything, please."

Voices. Familiar voices. Blurry blue eyes tried to find the source of the voices, struggling to keep their eyes open. Jaune's fingers twitched, the last of his healing items held in his hand for his very life. 'Jaune Arc, -5,159HP/5,200HP.' 41 points of HP. One more hit and he would be done for. His life was hanging by a very thin thread, so weak a gust of wind could snap it off.

Where was he now? Holt had been slamming him through everything in sight, clawing his face with his oddly sharp nails. All he remembered before being slammed through another railing was the savage grin on Holt's face. Then their was excruciating pain, so much that he had blacked out moments ago. Then he heard a voice, one he couldn't put his finger on with his senses blaring with pain. It was female? Was that right?

She called out his name again. Sounded like she was crying. His body was numb to her hands patting his cheeks, trying to get him to focus on her face. His vision was swimming everywhere.

Wait, Velvet? If he had the strength, he would have frowned in confusion as she held his head closer to her chest, the sound of her beating heart soothing the mess that was his thoughts. She was alive. Even with his poor vision, he could still make out what looked like her bunny ears dropping. She was safe, safe and breathing. Thank god. The sounds of battle caught his attention, reminding him of the other voices he had heard. Was that Blake and Cardin? Fighting together? Just how hard did Holt hit him?

Twenty HP suddenly dropped from his health as he felt his heart begin to slow down. His breathing slowed down considerably as he felt his body go cold. The feeling wasn't a stranger to Jaune anymore. He chuckled deathly low, his eyes turning to the outside of the crater where he caught a blurry glimpse of what looked like Cardin and Blake dodging the whipping burning blade of Holt's Death Rattle.

They would do better against the man then him. They were all trained to fight, making it into Beacon for their incredible skills. Compared to his odds, Cardin, Blake, and Velvet would make it out of this no problem. Jaune was out of steam, his body was broken and lost too much blood. Death was reaching out to him again.

The feeling of death was haunting, its dark fingers wrapping around his heart to snuff out the last of his life once again. At least he knew this wasn't the end. He'd wake back up with his aura unlocked by Pyrrha, ready to take on The Game fully aware of how it worked. And everyone would be safe and sound, smiling at him just as his first life. So it was okay to die, it was just a game after all.

That's right. Dying doesn't matter. You would come back to life anyways. Just let go.

Die.

Die.

Die.

Jaune smiled sadly up at Velvet as he felt his heart go by its last beats. Why did she have to cry? He would see her again and they could be friends again. Like nothing ever happened. Teardrops fell onto his face, bringing back a sense of deja vu. Just like Weiss.

Just like before. When had left them crying over his dead body, leaving behind a world where his friends continued to live everyday without their friend, as pathetic as he was. The same pain he had promised to never fall onto Ruby ever again after finding her in this world again.

The faded scar on his chest began to burn a tainted red, pulsing angrily.

Die!

Die!

JuSt FUckInG DiE!

NO! The fuck was he thinking? And where was that voice coming from? Sounded like he was talking to himself. Jaune bit back the bile of blood trying to escape his mouth as he tried raising his hand, the bottle of Ambrosia being his last hope of recovering completely. He didn't have much time, he was fighting off death's calling with every passing second. Just one sip, that's all he needed! There was no fucking way he was dying on them again! He still had to prove to Ren that he was strong enough to beat this thing on one life, he would never take him seriously if he died now!

Annabel, he still had to save her! And Cardin seemed to have dragged himself out of the pit of hate he was sinking into, this was the world where he could turn over a new leaf! He would be damned if he left this world as it was now and let it Reset!

DIE!

DIE!

DIE!

FUCKING DIE!

'Not again. I don't care if I'll come back to life again! I'm not leaving them to grieve over my mangled corpse again!' Jaune's heart was ready to give out. He tried bringing the life saving nectar closer to his lip, only to fail as his arm's strength died. Tears ran down his eyes as he stopped trying, his body too beaten to even lift a finger. He wasn't even sure he had the power in him to even drink the Ambrosia.

But it couldn't end this way! It just couldn't!

Hurried fingers suddenly snatched the bottle from Jaune's hands, the sound of the cork popping open bringing his eyes to look up at Velvet's hazy image. What was she doing? He couldn't even drink in his state. What would be the point?

Soft lips opened up his bloody mouth, Velvet's gentle fingers rubbing his throat as she poured the golden liquid into his mouth via her own. His eyes were wide as dinner plates as a healthy blush painted onto his cheeks at the sight of the bunny girl locking lips with his own, her eyes shut with tears running down them.

. . .thump.

Velvet gasped for air as she raised her head for a breath. She had no idea what that bottle was, but it looked like Jaune was desperately trying to drink it for some reason. It must have been some kind of potion, a rare one at that from the looks of it. With his beaten body, she had no choice but to help him, he was too weak to even swallow it. As embarrassing as the action was, Velvet didn't hesitate to pour it into his mouth with her own, she would have spilled the contents if she tried pouring it by the bottle.

Thump.

She sighed deeply, praying to the gods above that the potion would work its magic and at least tear Jaune away from death's door. He was her friend even if they weren't as close as others. She could feel it in her soul, the bond they had created that day in the lunchroom when he had defended her from her bullies. They were friends, her heart would be crushed if she lost him now! So, please-

THUMP!

"Don't die." Velvet sobbed, dropping her head onto his bloody hoodie as she pleaded to whatever force watching over their lives for Jaune to stay, "Please, don't die. You're my friend! I don't want to lose you!"

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!

'Congratulations! A special bond has been created with Velvet Scarlatina! Soul Link, ULW, Unlocked! Passive Skill, ULW Critical, Unlocked and Equipped!'

Velvet blinked away tears in confusion as a rush of light blue light shined from Jaune's body, erupting like a shining beacon to piece the ceiling of the arena. What was going on now?

Ducking under a leg sweep for his head, Holt swung his chain cleaver upward to slice Blake in half, only to hit her copy instead. He growled in frustration as he raised his hand up to block her appearing on his flank with her purple glowing knife, leaving him open for hammer drop of Cardin's glowing red mace. Like he would fall to something like that! He fall back into his shadow, diving in to escape the explosion engulfing his previous spot. All he wanted to do was send the blonde kid off with his friends close by to watch, but nooooo! The kids had to have a fit and attack him. Should have seen that coming honestly. But oh well.

Rising back up far from their positions, Holt smirked as he prepared to attack them with one of his wide rang attacks. Had to wrap things up quickly, Naragami was probably whittling down the White Fang's leader's aura as he fought. He couldn't miss his chance in toppling the annoying organization now.

He blinked, watching as a beacon of bluish light shot out of the crater where he dropped Jaune earlier. The hell was that? Wasn't the boy dead yet? How stubborn.

Jaune didn't know what was happening to him as he looked at his glowing hands, bewildered within the beacon. All he knew was that his wounds had completely healed and his exhaustion had been cured. Was that the power of Professor Antheia's Ambrosia? He looked on in marvel as he watched his clothing begin to waver, slowly morphing into new fabric coated by the new magic running through him. 'I have literally no idea what the hell is going on with me. One minute, Velvet's giving me the kiss of life, the next, I'm having my wardrobe change like I was one of those magical girls on TV. Please, let whatever this is, not leave me standing in a sailor girl's outfit.'

'ULW, Activated! Ready?'

A new power was threatening to burst from deep inside Jaune's being, ready to be unleashed at his command. All he needed to do was step out and fight. He was still alive, still breathing, still fighting! He would not repeat his death at the hands of a lunatic again. Never again! He had the power to win, now was the time to use it!

With a firm resolve, Jaune nodded his head, accepting the new power gifted to him by Velvet. He was going to have to thank her after all this mess for saving his life.

Now what the hell did ULW stand for?

---

And that's a wrap people!

A mysterious voice whispers at death's door, a new power unlocked by a bond born in defeat, and the night is in sight, closing in on a day of chaos and death. The end is coming, but who will be able to watch the sunrise again?

Damn, it's almost midnight. This is what I get for finishing up in hopes of an update ahead of schedule. I got work tomorrow. Let's hope I wake up in time.

Chapter 15 will be the end of The FoF Arc. After that, we've got maybe six chapters left before the end of Volume 1. Then it's break time! Gotta have some time to work on my future profects and soak in Volume 4. I'd say at the end of the new volume, I'll be back posting chapters for this story and heading on to Volume 2. And boy, do we have a whole lot of drama and mystery there.

There's probably more to say, but I need to sleep. I got to work on Chapter 15 tomorrow, and hopefully post my first Writer's Blog on RWBY Amino as well. I go by NeoS for any of you intrested.

Read and Review! It's common courtesy.

NeoShadows fading in and out!