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?

19. With Your Heart in Mind

Guess who's back? Back again, your boy, NeoShadows!

Damn, should have had this chapter uploaded yesterday as promised. I blame my landlord. They've given us two months to vacate due to the fact we're not allowed to have pets, and they found Bailey. Been busy since yesterday to find a new place. Luckily, we found two places, so that's settled my nerves a bit. Got to hate distractions.

On a brighter note, I've finally gotten a Beta! His name's A Fan1204 and he's got some skills in fixing my mistakes. With our combined effort, my fic should finally be up to standards. We're slowly editing the past chapters and I plan on replacing the old ones once we're done.

Finally, after much waiting, the fight between Jaune and Ren will take place! Boy, was this one a dozy. Just a heads up, I haven't added in the descriptions to Ren's abilities yet. Gotta upload this chapter first and finish up that last one-shot in the making for Arc Works before I get to that.

Hmm? Arc Works, you blink in confusion. Why, that's my newest story! Or, stories. More on that at the end of the chapter.

OH! Before we start, Jaune's new outfit will be described here, but I ain't the best in describing outfits. One of my weaknesses I have to work on. It's based on Fire Emblem Fate's Mercenary Class design, so if you need to, picture him in that gear.

Time for some Reviews!

Aeogorm: Drifters? Hmm, I'll check it out sometime. It's definitely on Crunchroll last I checked. As for the Nerfing, you're not the only one to ask that. Technically, it's not really nerfing. It's balancing Jaune to the same standards as the rest of the Gamers. For some reason, he was missing important bits of his coding. Something that will be explained later on.

Remzal Von Enili: Got to love auto-dodge. Don't know who you're talking about, but the black wisp is definitely something ominous to harm an otherworldy being.

GhostHornet: Happy Late Birthday! Glad I could gift you something nice. Overlord? I've heard of it before, I'll check onto my Anime List for future watching. As for Jaune's nerf, it's more like a patch on fixing some data that was left out of him that made him like the other Players. Example, his past ability to equip all his abilities without any cost or limits. I'm also bias on FFXIII despite its bad rep. It was my first, so of course it has a special place in my heart.

Forget4Me: Ah, Weiss and Pyrrha. Don't you worry about them, I have special chapters planned for them. It's all about development, my friend. Can't just have it happen like that. The build up is one of the best parts. And the Nerfs, think of them as a programmer fixing some bugs they overlooked. All Gamers follow specific rules and limits, but it turns out that Jaune had been the odd one out as he was able to do things like equip abilities without any sort of cost or limit. More on that later in the story. As for OC's, I'll be honest, they'll be more in the future. A few major one's and small ones. I was never a fan of them either, but if they're done right they're enjoyable. But they're needed to fill in the story I have in mind. Can't use every available canon character without a good reason. Still, glad you enjoy the story, hope you can stick around. Oh, Erased, man I loved that anime! Gave it a chance a few months ago and I loved it. And I just started watching Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.

Benthino: My boy, you are worthy!

L337 M4n: I have been playing Undertale as of late. Man, it's actually a bit difficult on the Pacifist run. I'll have to check out those FF games at some point. Sadly, I have a mountain of games on my desktop, PS4, and 3DS that I haven't even finished. Just got BlazBlue and am trying to find time to play it.

Pltrgst: At some point I will write about the other Players expertise. Takes some time to touch up their abilities and skills. Husk is the only one capable of freely interacting with the other Players, so he can be a nuisance. The only reason he's been nerfing Jaune is because Jaune is missing important touch ups that balance him out on the same grounds as the others. He had a few bugs he needed fixed.

SonicFanFlame: We must battle once you've reigned as champion! And it's not a regular day if I don't have a boner at some point. Affection is as what you said, a wait and see. It means the potential for strong emotions, basically forming a crush thats strength depends on the type of person. You also don't need Friendship to unlock it. Hell, depending on the person, Affection at its lowest level can still be intense enough for the individual to rope Jaune up and. . .well, I think you get the picture. Fuck, there, I said it! And Jaune's a special case when he was given The Gamer's abilities, things went wrong and they hadn't noticed till later on. Hence the Nerf, or Patch. I don't work for a magazine company. Guess you thought that because of the Sunday piece I was talking about. I was actually talking about a one-shot for fanfiction I had in the making.

Amusebeard: Glad to have you on board. As for the mistakes in my writing, got myself an editor to help me. A Fan 1204 is surely to make it all better. Got to love that bastard.

XenotheWise135: It is about growth. But Jaune's been patched due to some errors and bugs that were overlooked when he was brought in as a Player.

A Fan1204: I can't wait for Season 2! I'm guessing your the Guest with the large comment? The missing memories will definitely be brought up later. And they got some consequences. I would say more, but you're my Beta! You'll come to learn more about this story as we work together. You're going to be seeing a lot more world building in the future.

Alright, time for the show! We got a hell of a chapter for you today.

---

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to RWBY, they belong to RoosterTeeth. Man! The holidays have drained my account this year. I'm low. I blame the tempting games on sale. Only one thing to get me up after this. Just keep scrolling down, I got some things to take care of.

. . . . .What the hell are you all still doing here? I'm busy! I-Ignore the incognito window with the search results Noel Vermillion doujin! Private time is Private time, damn it! It's just research, I swear!

---

Chapter 19: With Your Heart in Mind.

The howls of a beast and bloody screams of its victims filled the air as a little raven haired boy ran for his life. Tears fell from his eyes, the fancy eastern clothes he wore dirtied with drying blood and littered with rips. The boy paid little attention to the quickly disappearing town behind him as he fled the village that was set ablaze, the smoke reaching the heavens and covering it in a thick, black miasma.

'Run! Don't stop running, even when you think you're safe! Get as far away from here as possible!'

Another deafening howl reached his ears, causing him to swallow the sob of grief from slipping past his lips. It hurt, it hurt so bad. Pain stabbed through his heart as he gripped his chest and sniffled.

There was no turning back now. Never again.

As the monster's howls and roars became a distant cry, the boy continued on his path, knocking down a freshly made sign as he ran deeper into the woods.

The sign read 'Oniyuri, 2 Miles away.'

---

Mornings in the team JNPR dorm never changed no matter how many times Ren went through a Reset. Every day, he would try desperately to get another hour of sleep, maybe thirty if he was lucky. But no matter how hard he tried to stay asleep, or didn't try, the world refused to leave him be in the form of one Nora Valkyrie. And her morning cannonballs.

"Bombs away!"

"Nora! What did I tell you about waking Ren up like that? Such a ritual can't be healthy for him."

Pushing off his snickering orange haired partner from his stomach, the cocoon of bedsheets groaned as Ren sat up with a grimace, "It's not, but you try telling her that." he grumbled as he rubbed his sore stomach. Thank Oum for aura.

Pyrrha was still not happy, scowling lightly at Nora as she brushed her long locks of red hair. "Well, she has to learn to treat you gently."

Nora pouted, huffing as she crossed her arms, "It's the only way to get him off his lazy butt! Trust me, this has been the only way to wake him, going all the way back to our days as kids. All other attempts to get him up have failed, the only thing he seems to understand is pain. He has only himself to blame." she nodded firmly. It wasn't her fault that it was the only way he could wake up. Plus, it gave her the chance to practice her cannonballs without the need of a pool.

Sadly, his partner had a point. No matter what they tried back then, he would not rise from his sleep. But that was back then, if she tried to shake him awake, there was a chance he would wake. Maybe. Okay, a thirty to a hundred chance he would. But only if he had nine hours under his belt.

"Maybe we should consider other forms of waking him, now that he's part of a team." Pyrrha suggested, still not liking the method they were using. "I'm sure there's a safer alternative we can try. Maybe Jaune might know a way? He seems to get up from bed just fine even when he's up playing his video games." Still wasn't happy he hadn't kicked the ugly habit. She grumbled to herself as she began to fix her hair, biting onto the scrunchi for her ponytail as her hands went to work.

Last night after they had dined on the food Jaune had brought back from his trip to Vale, she had caught her leader up in the middle of the night, fingers tapping away on his scroll. He seemed intent on whatever game he was playing, almost hyper focused on his screen. When she had found him, she had to wrestle his scroll from his hands to get him to sleep. She blushed remembering his hands had slipped in their wrestling and landed on her breast, groping her accidentally by instinct. Wasn't going to be forgetting that anytime soon.

Speaking of their leader, Ren scanned the room for the awkward blond pain in the ass. "Where is he?" he asked as he peeled off his sheets.

"Taking his turn in the shower." Pyrrha pointed back to the shared bathroom where steam could be seen drifting from the bottom of the door. "We've already gone in, all that's left is you. Luckily, it's only 7:40, so you should have enough time to hop in. We have a big day ahead of us after all." she said brightly.

Right, the trip to Forever Fall was today. Ren sighed as he stretched his arms back.

Today was the day he would have to face off against Jaune. His leader wanted nothing more than to drag him into playing The Game, to waste his time fighting against the odds once again. Should have stayed asleep, he didn't feel like fighting the knight. As weak as he could be, his stubbornness was what made him a difficult opponent to put down.

At least Jaune would leave him alone once he beat him. Seeing as it was Forever Fall, all he had to do was drag the blond with him away from the group and teleport themselves to the Arena hidden in the red forest. The only real question in the air now was that kind of challenge the Arena would pit them against.

"He had better not waste all the hot water." he yawned. Otherwise he was killing him now.

The shower water soon shut off before Jaune followed out the bathroom a few minutes later. He sighed in content as he used a mini towel to dry off his damp hair, grinning as he greeted his now fully awake team in his dark blue towel wrapped around his waist.

"Good to see you awake, Ren. You can take your turn now. Don't worry, I made sure to leave you enough hot water." he said as he walked over to his bed where he had set out his school uniform.

Nodding his head, Ren passed by his leader for the shower. A nice hot shower did sound nice first thing in the morning before a day like today.

Pyrrha gulped anxiously at the sight of Jaune in simply his tower, his toned body glistening slightly from the light sheen of water on his body. While she wasn't happy that Yang had been spending a lot of time with her partner, she had to say that the busty blonde brawler was doing an amazing job working him into shape. But the sight of the ugly scar on his chest always made her flinch. And now he had another scar to accompany it in the form of the one on his forehead.

"Jaune, shouldn't you have changed inside the bathroom?" Pyrrha asked, her eye's glued to his wet form. Never before had she been grateful for coed dorms.

"Don't worry, I'm wearing my boxers' underneath." Jaune shrugged as he dropped his towel. The action alone made Pyrrha pinch her nose and cover her eyes. Full of guilt, her green orbs peeked for the object of her interest, groaning when his black boxers greeted her instead.

'Boo, I really wanted to see it.' she internally cried.

"You may have boxers, but I can still make out your dick~!" Nora sang.

"Nora! Language! . . .And stop staring at my dick!" he shouted femininely, covering his private's with a blush on his face. Nora simply grinned at him, waggling her brows.

Ignoring the bubbly girl's prying eyes, Jaune went ahead and changed into his uniform. Classes were about to start soon, meaning he had History Studies up first, Grimm Studies soon after, and then Field Studies. He had stayed up nearly all night getting his Abilities, Skills, and Perks sorted out into a well-balanced set just for today. No telling what kind of tricks Ren had hidden up his sleeves, so he was going to work with what he knew and what worked out with his current strength.

He sighed as he fixed the tie to his collar. Ever since he had died to the White Fang Lieutenant, his life had become a chore. Couldn't even get his own teammate to work with him without beating him in some fight. Hell, a simple trip out for the latest album of his favorite artist had led into a fight with an organization hell bent on humanizing the Faunus. And The Game had only just begun.

It wasn't going to get any easier from here. He was just going to have to suck it in and do what he always did. Push through and hope not to trip over his own feet.

A knock at their door suddenly drew their attention. Being the closest, Nora swung it open, blinking in confusion as she only found a wrapped set of boxes at the door. Running footsteps could be heard leaving the halls, the owner's not wanting to stick around.

"Who was that?" Jaune frowned as he looked over Nora's shoulder. His nose picked up the whiff of something good, drawing him to what the knocker had left behind.

"I don't know, but I'm about to find out!" Nora grinned excitedly before dashing after the runner. Pink sparks had lit up her body, amplifying the muscles in her legs to quickly catch up to her prey.

Picking the item up, Jaune found the items to be warm. It was wrapped up neatly in a dark purple cloth, almost like some kind of lunchbox.

"Is that a Jubako?" Peeking over Jaune's shoulder, Pyrrha smiled at the familiar set of wrapped stacked boxes. She hadn't seen one outside of Anima since she had left for Beacon.

"What's a Jubako?"

"They're a three-set box lunch that are normally made by the people of Anima with loving care." she said fondly, "I remember my mother would make them for me when I was a little girl before school every day. It's practically an art form, some people make them so elegantly that it's almost a sin to eat them. I wonder what it's doing here?"

Wondering wasn't going to get them anywhere. Careful not to undue the knot, Jaune opened the top case of the first box. A dozen of small handmade rice balls molded into cute little chibi animals were crammed neatly within, made with tiny bits of veggies and meats for their expressions. Just looking at it made his stomach growl.

"Whoever made these has a talent." Jaune said in awe, picking up one of the cute animal rice balls to look over. It was made into the head of a little lion, how adorable. Opening the second box underneath, he found a small steak cut finely into the shape of his shield, Crocea Mors. Mustard was used for its arcs on a bed of fried noodles and mixed fresh veggies alongside fried breaded shrimp. The final box below that one had seasonal fruits cut into floral shapes and heart shaped jello's of multiple flavors.

Just the sight of the tasty art nearly had him dig in right there and now. Jaune fixed the boxes back in place, wrapping them back to its original knot. He still had no idea what it was doing here, so better not to mess with it any further.

A small note poked out of the cloth wrapping. Picking it out, Pyrrha read its writing out loud.

"For my Love, XOXOXO?" she frowned.

Oh, no. Not another woman! Why couldn't they find another oblivious blond to pin after?

"I got an admirer?" Jaune blinked, taken back by the idea. Really?

"I found him!"

"Wait, him?!"

In a gale of whipping wind, Nora skidded to a stop at the door of their dorm. She snickered, fighting horribly to stop herself from laughing out loud at the culprit slumped in her hands. A scowling Helio's Lyre, uniform dirtied from the small fight he had put up by the crazy girl refused to meet eye contact with the two-jaw dropped first years.

Jaune pointed his trembling finger at the scowling redhead, stomach growing weak at the thought of him being his admirer. The guy was an ass! Is this what they called a tsundere?

"This was from you?" he asked, gulping in fear of what Helio would say.

A throbbing vein pulsed on Helio's forehead as he narrowed his eyes dangerously, "Of course not, you idiot!" he spat angrily, his eye twitching at the sickening thought. Even if he was into dudes, which he wasn't, he could do better than some brat! "I was simply delivering the Jubako, I didn't have much of a choice in the matter. As if a star like myself would be into you. Just the thought makes me sick." he stuck out his tongue in disgust as his face grew green.

"Then, who made me the packed lunch box?" Jaune asked as Nora let the teen up on his feet.

Dusting off the dirt from his blazer, Helio scoffed, cracking his neck as he looked away, "Can't say. She would kill me if I said a word." he shivered.

"Tell us who done it!" Nora shouted, grabbing a fistful of Helio's uniform as she shook him around like a rag doll. Dazed, the red haired teen was bombarded by slaps until he confessed.

"Fuck! Alright, I'll tell you who sent me! Just get this crazy bitch off me already!"

"Nora, let him go." Jaune groaned, ashamed that his curiosity got the better of him. No one deserved to be man handled by Nora.

Free from the orange haired girl's powerful grip, Helio rubbed his sore red cheeks with a grimace. God, the girl was a monster in human skin. Eyes shifting back and forth for any sign of snooping ears, the rocker grudgingly gave in.

"The one who sent me w-"

"You have failed me."

A cold presence appeared behind Helio's, sending chills down his spine. He whimpered before his amber yellow eyes rolled to the back of his head from a swift chop to his neck. God dammit.

As Helio slumped from a knockout blow, Jaune, Pyrrha, and Nora were met with the indifferent cold red eyes of his teammate, Tsuki. Like them, she was dressed in her uniform, tailor made for her. . .unique upper body type. She was giving Yang a run for her money in the chest area, that was for sure. They could only stare in silenced shock as they watched the raven-haired girl catch her teammate with one hand by the back of his neck.

"My apologies. I did not mean to inconvenience you." she bowed, her expression as cold as her voice, "I had given him one job. Clearly it was a mistake to trust him with a simple task." her eyes narrowed as said redhead groaned in her hands.

Jaune nodded his head stiffly, too afraid to say anything in face of the terrifying girl.

With her teammate in hand, Tsuki lugged him over her shoulder before her eyes fell on the boxed lunches. He swore he could make out a slight lift in her lips.

"Please, enjoy the food, Love. I want you big and strong for our future child. I will take nothing else." she said sternly before she disappeared in a blink of blood red energy.

Did she just teleport?

"Wait, what was that about a future child?" Pyrrha's eye twitched.

---

Days. It had been days since he had run from his home with nothing but the torn clothing on his back. Finding food had been difficult, he had no experience hunting but he had lucked out on stumbling onto a limping deer. It pained him to drive the sharpened stick into the animal, but hunger had won out. It was just as hard making a fire to cook the meat.

The boy's short raven hair, once neatly combed, was now damaged and dirtied. Sticks and dried dirt stuck to his hair. His green dress shirt was close to rages from the treacherous journey, the blood from his wounds dried as they finally healed. He was lucky none of them had been infected.

Weary magenta eyes focused on ahead of his path, not knowing where his feet were taking him. All he knew was that he had to get as far as possible. Where he would wind up, he had no idea, just as long-

As long as what? The raven-haired boy stopped suddenly, his small shoulders sagging as his body was wracked with silent sobs.

What was he supposed to do now? He had nothing left. No parents, no friends, no nothing. So, what was the point in moving his feet forward anymore?

'Please, run! No matter what, just keep moving-'

Sniffing back his tears, the little raven-haired boy rubbed his eyes before continuing on his way. Little hiccups escaped his lips as he narrowed his eyes in a muster of strength.

Forward. Just keep moving forward. Even if it led him nowhere.

---

"Fallen. Huntsman and Huntresses, and more times than not, civilians lost to their own negativity amid stressful events and despair, usually brought on by fights with the creatures of Grimm or dark times. Nulled by their warm aura's and fallen to the Void of negativity that attracts the Grimm in massive waves."

History Studies went by fairly well as they simply reviewed some of the week's past lessons. Now, Jaune and his team were left with Grimm Studies, meaning they would have to sit through another long drawn out story from the portly man's past. That's how things normally went. Not that there was anything wrong with his tall tales, if you listened closely to them, you would learn some great new ways to fight the Grimm he had fought and their weak spots. If only Professor Port didn't go so in detail with some of his escapades that left him in the buff.

Today, however, the mustached gentleman hadn't gone off in a tale of his whimsical times as a huntsman. In fact, his face was devoid of humor, his brows knitted together as he stood before his class as a professional, a man who had seen his fair share of horrors and more, who had survived the life of a huntsman and lost his share of comrades. Peter Port, the veteran huntsman, was speaking to his class now and they could notice the change of air around him.

Jaune was taken back at the new side of the older man. He couldn't ever remember seeing the professor this serious, he always seemed jolly and playful. To see him so stern was kinda unsettling.

"In the many years on this planet, we have learned much, and yet, so very little about the Grimm. We know they're drawn to the negativity of humans, to our dirty sins. But in the recent decades, we've learned of a terrifying phenomenon, Falling." Professor Port said sternly, his change in attitude keeping his students' full attention on him. For that, he was glad. What he was talking about was nothing to joke at or sleep on.

"As Hunters, we are expected to give our lives to protect the people, that is an ironclad truth you've all accepted as students of our academy. But, so much pressure and bloodshed can strain one's mentality, slowly breaking it as the battles rage on. We wind up asking ourselves, what's the point in fighting a threat that never wavers? Why die protecting those who don't appreciate our sacrifices? Did my friend die for nothing? These kinds of questions will plague the thoughts of every hunter at least once in their life. We may be capable of fighting the monsters and are protected from their attacks by our aura, but we are not immune to the negativity that draws them in. And when all that negativity bottles up within a person, it eventually devours them whole, dragging them into a state of self-loathing and sorrow that visibly colors one's aura in a miasma of darkness. It is known as Falling."

"Falling?" Weiss frowned, confused at the new term she had never heard of till now, "I'm sorry, but in all my studies, I have never heard of such a condition. Is it a recent theory that's now been cemented?" she asked as the class murmured in agreement.

Professor Port shook his head, "Nay, it has been around for as long as huntsman have walked the earth. Back then, it was considered an old hunter's tale, to warn those to keep their spirits up before battle. But as the years passed, it became a silent taboo between warriors to never utter such talk to the future generation until they come of age. Today, the Headmaster had thought it would be a good time to talk about some of the dangers in the path you now walk. And one of the worst dangers is Falling."

Jaune couldn't help but think this was another one of The Game's designs. He never heard of a condition of deep despair affecting Hunters. Just hearing the new term, Falling, sent shivers running down his back.

Raising her hand, Ruby was curious to find out more of the new subject.

"So, what happens to a person who is Falling? What can we do to break them out of their funk?" she asked with wide silver eyes.

An empty chuckle met her answer.

"When a person is Falling, they become a literal beacon of negativity, powerful enough to draw dozens of Grimm from even miles away. They are lost to their darkest thoughts and emotions, becoming useless in aid. More than likely than not, they go berserk, lashing out at those around them as their aura darkens and alters their attacks. When such a thing happens, it is almost impossible to break them out of such a state."

"So, what do we do to save them?"

Professor Port smiled grimly, "You don't. Children, when such a condition happens, it is usually during times of fighting against hordes of Grimm, the seeming less never-ending fighting sparking such a state. And when a powerful enough beacon of negativity is created, the hordes grow even worse, eventually drawing something far worse than a simple pack of Beowolves."

"Deviants." Jaune mumbled, remembering Velvet's story of her team's fight with the intelligent Grimm.

Port nodded as he picked up on what Jaune had said. He was impressed to find out the boy knew about the Grimm when he had yet to talk about them, "Yes, Deviants, Grimm that have survived countless battles with hunters and learned from their experience. If there's one thing to surely draw out a Deviant, it's a Fallen Hunter. Sadly, when such a thing happens, we as huntsman and huntresses are left with only one option during times of danger." he said in remorse.

Blake immediately picked up on what her teacher was implying, growing somber as her eyes fell, "Death."

"Yes," Port nodded stiffly, sighing as he crossed his arms, "Death. While it is not impossible to break them from such a condition, we must think about the safety of the people we're protecting. The longer the beacon of dark emotions is up, the more riled up the Grimm become, drawing even more of the monsters as the minutes tic on. But by snuffing out the origin of the despair, one can cut off the horde from attacking. The sudden cut off from negativity seems to stun them, stopping their attack long enough to push back the beasts and end their invasion."

"But that's wrong! You're saying to protect ourselves, we have to kill our teammates because we don't have the time to save them? That's not right!" Ruby argued, growing angry at the solution.

"You are right, Ms. Rose, but you must remember; You have a job to do, protect the people at any costs." That was their sworn duty. As dark as it may be, they're expected to follow it without question. "In the field of battle, we do not have the leisure to try and snap our friends from their darkness. Every second their Fallen, they're drawing even more beasts to hunt you down, like dropping blood into a pool of sharks. As cruel and depraving as it may be, killing them is your only option if you wish to survive. And as your teacher, I pray that none of you may ever have to suffer through such a decision." he said gravely.

That still wasn't right! They expected them to kill another person who's suffering from their own despair to save themselves? What kind of solution was that? It made Jaune's blood boil. Seeing the strained look on her partner's face, Pyrrha laid her hand on his own, softly smiling at him as she calmed his thoughts.

Weiss laid her own hand on Ruby's shoulder, easing her down as the young dark redhead bit her lip sadly. Like Jaune, she wasn't happy with what she was hearing. It made her sick to her stomach.

"So, what are we supposed to do to stop ourselves from Falling?" Yang asked, rubbing her little sister's shoulders comfortingly. She refused to believe that they were all doomed to such a fate.

At that, Port smiled, "Simple, dear students! Live your life with no regrets! You're Hunters, sworn to fight creatures of the dark. It does not mean that you must live your life as if you're always on duty. Go out to a party some time, stay home and watch a feel-good movie, invest in a hobby, curl up with a good book, play music, find love, or simply hang out with your friends! It's one of the reasons you're all in teams of four. To build trust and friendship. The most important thing to do in our line of work, is it to stay positive. If you live by that, then I have little fear that any one of you will ever Fall." he said joyfully.

Yang grinned back at his words, "I can get behind that! Always knew that partying was its own form of medicine. Now, I got no reason not to go out and go wild on the town! It's instrumental to my health!"

Weiss held her face in her hands. Dear god, they weren't going to hear the end of this. Now the blonde brawler had an excuse for her behavior. Next thing she knows, Yang was going to be handing them a doctor's note allowing her to act up, or worse, make puns.

"Building bonds is very important, students. It is the bonds that we create, that bind us together against the darkness of our world. I assure you, as long as you have something to fight for and have friends to keep you standing, you will never Fall." he said wistfully, happy to see the looming air of depression hanging over his students vanish. "But! If you are ever in danger of Falling, just think of your strapping Professor, Peter Port! And the many adventures of bravery, chivalry, and heroism I inspire to will your spirits back up! My glistening muscles are sure to make you see the light again! Hoho!"

Collectively, the entire class groaned as they could make out the telltale sign of another story coming on. Falling sounded better then what awaited them.

"Why, I remember the time I had come across a young damsel in distress! I was traveling abroad in Anima one day, when suddenly a Beringel had sped out of nowhere with a gorgeous woman in hand. Naturally, it had frozen in fear at the sight of me, and my impressive frame. With the woman in its deadly hands though, I was left with no other form of fighting in fear of harming her or provoking it. Naturally, I was left with no choice, but to rip my clothing right off! And flex my muscles in various poses to intimidate the beast! Picture it, children! The wondrous yet intimidating sight of my muscles bulging in the sunlight!"

Green tinted Jaune's cheeks as his face fell onto his desk. Dear god, he had just begun the story and he was already naked? He could see it all in his head and it was horrifying.

"Where the beast got the flaming barrels from, I have yet to discover. Let alone how we found ourselves in some construction area when we were in the middle of nowhere before. But my impressive jumping abilities made short work of the beast as I jumped over the barrels that the monstrosity tossed down the ladders."

---

Where was he now? The little raven boy had finally found civilization, only to run in fear at the strangers wandering the streets. Not knowing what to do, he had run off to find a spot to hide until he came up with his next move. Unfortunately, he had hidden in an open metal shipping container, locked within minutes later before he was shipped away by Bullhead to another strange land. The trip had taken hours, leaving him to move around the large container and sift through its contents. A large white snowflake emblem stamped every container as he found various Dust elements within and even military grade weaponry. Grabbing what he could, he dashed out of the crate once the Atlesian Knights guarding them opened them up, ignoring whoever tried to stop him.

Still, even with a few small fire arms and close-ranged blades to defend himself with, the little boy had no idea what to do next. He simply wandered into the large grasslands beyond the walls of the city he found himself in. All he knew was that he couldn't stop moving forward. Wherever his feet were taking him, he would know when to stop when he found whatever he was searching for.

Loud gunshots and smoke over the treetops overhead suddenly caught his attention in the corners of the night, alerting him to a familiar danger. He grit his teeth, turning his head for another direction before an ear-piercing cry forced his feet still. Something inside him snapped, causing him to dash forward to the direction of the cry, gripping the two curved military blades in his small hands.

'No more! I'm done running away!'

An odd phenomenon occurred as the little raven ran. His body seemed to. . .glitch for a split second, lining his body with a magenta hue before vanishing from sight.

---

Jaune cracked his neck as every first-year class Professor Antheia taught gathered in front of the cheery orange haired woman before the entrance to Forever Fall. Red leaves carpeted the grounds for miles on end, dancing across the gentle breeze as they awaited their teacher's instructions.

"Alright, class! For today's assignment, you will all be setting up your own camps within Forever Fall where you will set up your own base of operations for the remainder of our stay. From there, your team will go out into Forever Fall to gather the listed items that I've handed out before we departed. You are expected to gather everything on the list and defend yourselves and your camp from the creatures of Grimm. I do warn you all though, the Grimm in this area have recently been acting up as of late, so you must all remember to practice caution." she warned, frowning sternly, "Slip up, or goof off on this assignment, and you will die. If any of you do come across an overbearing force though, just message me on your scrolls and I'll do my best to make it to your locations as quick as possible."

"Sounds fun." Pyrrha smiled as she went through the list of items they were expected to find. She always wanted to try out camping. It sounded nice. Except for the threat of Grimm hanging over their backs.

Weiss nodded with a light shrug, "I suppose. Learning how to take care of one's self in the wilderness is an important lesson to learn. As much as I don't care for working in the dirt, a lesson is a lesson, I suppose."

"Ooooh, I heard that the sap collected from the trees in Forever Fall make the best pancake syrup! We should save a few bottles for ourselves, don't you think, Ren?" Nora asked excitedly to her partner.

"Hmm? You say something, Nora?" Ren said absently, his eyes shut calmly while lost in thought.

The short orange haired Valkyrie pouted, nudging Ren's shoulder to catch his attention, "Renny~! Pay attention! You know what happens when you ignore me?" she said with a wide grin of mischief.

Ren shivered as he snapped his eyes open. So much syrup, he could still feel it every now again like some phantom pain.

"If we have a few spare bottles, we'll save some for later. You'll have to get the okay from Jaune though, alright?" he said sternly, getting a happy nod from the bubbly girl.

"You should save one for us! I always wanted to try out some of Ren's treats. Nora's always going on about your cooking." Ruby pouted as her team gathered by team JNPR. What better way to hang out then a gathering mission? From the looks of her team chatting with their sister team, they seemed to agree. Even Blake was getting into it as she talked with Jaune.

"I still think you should have been excused from this mission. Your arm is still recovering and the Grimm won't go easy on you just because you're handicapped." Blake couldn't help but argue as she helped him adjust his bag. From her spot talking to Weiss, Pyrrha resisted the urge to narrow her eyes in jealousy.

This again? Jaune sighed as he moved Blake's worried hands away. The girl was like his mother, "I'm fine, Blake. Besides, I got my team watching out for me. You won't have to worry about me, I promise you, nothing bad is going to happen to me." he said reassuringly.

Blake's flat stare met him back, "Forgive me, but the last time you made a promise like that with me, you wound up with that broken arm."

"What if I pinky promise this time?"

"It still doesn't reassure me."

Had to give it to her, she was right. What he was about to do would probably leave him in a similar state. But this was something he had to do. If he couldn't talk some sense into Ren, then he would simply have to beat it into him.

"Geez, Blake. What's with you lately?" Yang asked, raising a brow of suspicion at her partner's odd behavior as of late. She understood flirty, but this was starting to borderline mothering. "If he says he's alright, I say, why worry about him? It's not like he's actively going to go out of his way to find a fight today with his condition."

Actually, he was.

"As his friend, I'm just worried about him is all." Blake grumbled, turning away with a small blush on her face. Why was that so wrong?

Clapping her hands together, Antheia brought her class's attention back onto her. She was glad to see them excited for their mission. Too bad she wouldn't be able to follow her darling on his mission unless he was in trouble. As much as she would love that, she would rather he and his team didn't run into trouble.

"Okay! Now, let's head off on our way to our destinations! Once we enter, you all have the freedom to go about your mission with your team, or create a bigger team with others! As long as you all complete your missions by sunset, it's fine. So, let's get started, shall we?" she smiled, getting excited nods from her students.

"Guess we should find a nice place to camp then?" Jaune smiled as he and Ruby began to lead their teams in the vast red forest grounds.

(Page Break.)

It wasn't long till both teams found a nice place to settle down and started setting up their camps next to one another. The girls worked on setting up the large forest green tent for themselves, chatting on about something while sneaking glances back at the two boys standing watch.

"Why do I have the feeling they're talking about us?" Jaune asked, subconsciously fixing his hair and checking his breath. He could feel they're eyes judging him, like some piece of meat. Which also meant that Weiss was gazing at him. Hmm, mixed feelings.

Ren sighed, keeping his eyes ahead, "We're the only males on their teams. You should be use to this by now." Oum knew he was.

Jaune shrugged, turning forwards to the forest, his fists clenching and unclenching at the underlining tension between them. Today was the day he proved his strength to Ren, that he had what it takes to survive this game and beat it. Which meant he would have to fight him, right? How else was he supposed to prove it to him?

At least he had everything dealing with his abilities, skills, and perks set up for a hell of a fight. Thank god for all the levels he had gained in everyone's friendships. Now he felt he could stand a chance.

Unseen to Jaune, Ren was busy mentally messing around with his own abilities. If there was one thing he had come to know about his leader, it was not to underestimate him despite his lack of skills. It was an annoying habit to deal with when you were his enemy.

'Seems everything's in check. My level isn't as high as I would like it, but I should be fine. If anything goes wrong, I still have my Drives.' he mused as he looked over his stats.

'Lie Ren, Mind of the Gamer. Lvl: 29.

9,200HP/9,200HP. 280MP/280MP.

Strength: 49.

Defense:79.

Speed: 55.

Charisma:18.

Intelligence: 40.

Wisdom: 50.

Dexterity: 44.

Luck: 30.'

Not bad for his current level. It would have been better if he had actively gone out to grind and increase his level like the other two Players. It was enough, that he was sure of. For once he would have to put in his all if only to force the idiot to leave him alone like he promised. Well hopefully he would leave him alone, Jaune was a stubborn one that wouldn't let up. But he kept his promises.

In the end, he would have to see how things turned out after their fight. The only thing he was dreading was how awkward everything would be between them after it was all said and done. Oum above, why did the final Player have to be his leader? Every life after this one was going to be a pain.

Mentally moving his Status away, Ren scrolled through his options until his fingers hovered over PVP. It was now or never, he supposed. Better to get it over with then continue dragging things on. He gave a subtle nod to his leader, getting an understanding nod back before turning to the girls.

"Hey, girls! Jaune and I are going to scout the area ahead for Grimm! We'll let you know if we find any gathering spots for the list if we come across any!" he shouted back, catching their attention as Ruby frowned at them with worry.

"You sure? We're almost done with the tents! We're like, eighty percent finished!" she grinned as she patted the girls tent roughly.

Surprisingly, the tent remained fine, earning a relieved sigh from the girls. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the boy's tent. It twitched, collapsing into a heap before bursting into flames. Ruby looked on plainly, nodding as her team panicked and tried putting it out.

"Huh. Guess leaving a combustible Fire Dust crystal inside as a heater wasn't my best idea."

Weiss growled as she used her ice glyphs to freeze the raging fire before grabbing her leader by the shoulders and shaking her, "The hell's wrong with you!? What part of that little brain of yours thought that would be a good idea?!"

"The same one that thought it would be a good idea to do the same with our tent. Only with Ice Dust!" she answered brightly.

"Why!?"

"Because who wants a hot tent?"

Something in Weiss's brain stopped working, her face going blank as their tent suddenly blew up with a cold cloud of frost. Now it resembled an ice sculpted work of art.

Pyrrha nodded her head at Ren, her face sheepish as Yang and Blake fought to hold back the enraged Ice Queen from smacking some sense into the silly grinning redheaded reaper. Nora was busy egging Weiss on, shouting for blood, "I think that's a good idea. Looks like it might take us a while before our base camp is set up to standards. Just be sure to message us if you run into any trouble." she said sternly, getting nods from the two, "I don't want to find you boys in terrible wear because you thought you could take on some Grimm."

"Don't worry, we'll be safe." Ren chuckled before they began making their way further away from the camp site.

Watching them disappear within the red forest trees and foliage, Pyrrha felt some worry.

Something. . .seemed off about the two boys in her team. An odd air between them that felt heavy just by standing near both of them. Was this what Nora had been talking about a few weeks ago?

Unseen by the girls, the moment the two boys stepped away from the camp, their bodies were enveloped by a pillar of white light. Leaving not a trace of them behind.

---

Miles away from the students wandering Forever Fall, two pillars of light appeared out of nowhere in a wide clearing. The only thing around other than the red trees and grass being the rocks sitting around as Jaune and Ren stepped out of the lights.

'Welcome to the Forever Fall Arena! A special ground that allows the Player to fight against strong Grimm or even other Players in matches to test their strength! Unique rewards await the victors, so be sure to beat the crap out of your opponents! Rules pending on Match type.' In between the two Players, a slot machine spinner screen popped out from thin air, displaying several types of matches before spinning, 'Player PVP has been selected! A random match type will shortly be chosen for your fighting pleasure! Please, stand by and await your match.'

Jaune gazed his sights on their battle ground, watching out for any signs of students wandering close by. He had read up in his Gamer Guide about PVP and even though it had said only the Players could enter the battle grounds, he just wanted to make sure.

"Don't worry, only those who've inherited The Gamer will be able to pass onto these grounds. For them, they won't be able to see anything out of the ordinary. So, keep your eyes on your opponent." Ren said as he flexed his fingers in front of him. Said fingers tightened into a claw like gesture, his magenta eyes glaring darkly at his scowling blond leader as Jaune adjusted his bandaged arm, "What do you hope to do with only one arm anyway? You're at a disadvantage like that. You'd be better off giving up now and leaving me alone. You can play this game without me being dragged back into it again."

"Don't worry about me, I've got a plan." Jaune smirked. Well, at least he thought he had one.

Wind bellowed, passing past the two friends, teammates, brothers, and fellow Players, ruffling their hair as they stood their ground.

Glaring at Jaune, Ren couldn't help but sigh as he dropped his arms. Was Jaune seriously going to go through with this? If it weren't for his Gamer abilities, the guy wouldn't have been able to dress himself. Fighting him one handed, did he really believe he could win? Was that arrogance? Stupidity? Or perhaps something else entirely? In the end, it didn't matter.

Knowing Jaune like he did, the idiot didn't care about any of that. He just wanted to save his friend. He never changed.

"Listen, Jaune. Let me tell you a little secret that I hadn't learned of until my tenth Reset." Ren said, his expression serious as he dropped his stance to talk. Jaune didn't know what to make of it, but he seemed like he actually didn't want to fight anymore, "You don't have to play this game. Our lives may be constantly reset whether we win or lose, but The Game doesn't control our lives. We can ignore all these important Events, ignore the Grimm, ignore whatever force is pulling us to jump into action and live normal lives. You can run away from this all and leave it all behind you for a simple, happy life." he smiled gesturing his hand to the wide world past the trees, his other hand resting on his hip.

"Trust me, it would be better that way. Better for everyone."

"Because of my lack training and experience? You're saying that I would do more harm than good if I continued following the Story? That I should just run away?" Jaune asked with a quirked brow.

Ren nodded stiffly, his eyes flashing towards the cruel future that awaited, "Trust me, your lack of will and strength has put many people in danger. And cost them their lives. You're better off doing them a kindness by leaving this all behind."

Jaune shook his head, baffled, "What are you trying to do, Ren? Why are you suddenly trying to make me quit? After all that I've been through, you think I'm just going to run away?" Fat chance of that happening. Too much had happened for him to just drop everything because of the mistakes his past counterparts had made. Whatever mistakes those had been and awaited, he would be sure to correct them. There was a difference between the NPC Jaune Arc and the Player Jaune Arc. He was well aware of his weakness and now had the strength to overcome it.

"If what you say is true, then why are you still following along with The Story? I thought you were tired of playing along? Why haven't you run away to live a simple life?"

"That's none of your business!"

Ren's roaring shout took Jaune back, the raven's face twisted into a look of deep seated anger. It was the first time he had seen the silent huntsman so furious. What he had said had touched a sensitive nerve, one that was enough to break his demeanor easily.

Taking a deep breath, Ren regained his cool, silently cursing that he had lost it for a split second.

"Forget I said anything." he scoffed, returning to glaring at the blonde as the spinner began slowing down, "I try to help you out, and you just can't get past your own stupid ego. Just because you have more power then you did before, doesn't change anything! You've made the same mistakes before, you'll make them again. Because you're destined to fail."

'Do you believe in destiny?'

From his sleeves, Storm Flower's pistols fell out into his hands, his fingers tightly gripping them as a sad smile from a red headed woman came to mind. He aimed the barrels for Jaune's face, glaring into his soul as the blonde got into a stance.

"You can't fight destiny. You'll fail with or without my help."

"I won't be able to believe that until I've tried. I have these powers for a reason, and I aim to find out why! Whether you like it or not, I'm going to try and beat this stupid game! And I'm going to make you see that it's not too late to try, I can promise you that!" Jaune yelled, thumping his chest with his good fist. He couldn't help but grin as the spinner stopped, the world around them echoing with a celebratory ding to signal the beginning of their long-awaited fight.

'Battle of Wills has been selected! Rules of the game, Fight until you can't fight no more! Until the end of this match, Players will be revived upon death until the other Player gives up! But be warned, each Death will exhaust the Player physically, draining them of their stamina as well as using Healing items. It's not about how many kills you have under your belt, it's about making the other surrender to your Will! There's no Restrictions, fight however you want to! Now, Get Ready!'

"And an Arc never goes back on their promise!"

'FIGHT!'

Ren didn't waste a second as the game bell rang. His body vanished in a hazy after image, dashing after Jaune in a bee line. The fangs of Storm Flower glowed an emerald green, elongating into curved guillotine blades nearly a yard long. Jaune readied himself, hefting his shield up with his only working arm for the incoming attack.

Smirking, Ren faded from Jaune's vision just as he swung his weapons for his shield, "False Sentence."

Jaune grit his teeth at the trick, spinning his head back as his senses rang wild. From thin air, the pink eyed huntsman phased behind him before delivering a swift swing for the blonde's exposed neck. He was too slow to block, drops of blood flying as the aura coated blades sliced the skin. Jaune stumbled back, dropping his shield as his hand flew to bleeding neck. Aura was the only reason it wasn't gushing as he grimaced and checked his health.

'Jaune Arc, 3,120HP/5,800HP.'

Looked about right. Jaune was fighting in his school uniform, it didn't offer much protection against attacks. His shield was the only thing offering him any defense. That was fine, he grunted as he blocked several pepper shots from Storm Flower with said shield. He would just have to put up with it for the moment.

Dashing in into his guard again, Ren spun on his feet, revolving in place for a bladed spin. Sparks flew in the clash of steel against steel, dwindling Jaune's HP further. Stopping his attack, Ren slipped his weapons back into his sleeve before rearing his left hand back. His fingers clawed, sparking with pink energy, "Aura Shock!" Slamming the deadly sparking palm into the white shield, Ren watched as the energy crawled up his arm, shocking Jaune's body like a bright light.

Smoke wafted from Jaune's body as he held back a shout. Was this the same attack Ren had used when he found out he was a Player and killed him? The sparks were burning his skin, visibly cooking him alive.

Just a little more! He could withstand it!

Kicking his feet up, Ren sent Jaune skidding back as the sparks died. And still, that annoying shield of his was raised up, glaring at him in defiance.

"Why aren't you fighting back? What's the point in this if you won't even raise your sword!?" he shouted in frustration before slamming a dropping power strike heel against the shield. An unseen force cut through the metal surface, delivering a Critical Hit.

The blow clanged against Crocea Mors, ringing the bones of his arm as he felt something snap under the heavy blow. Not again! His left arm slumped, dislocated as it dangled uselessly. His breath grew ragged, the pain clouding his thoughts as he tried dodging the oncoming gunfire. Bullets bypassed his aura, digging into his flesh as he stumbled back in a daze as his school uniform turned red from his wounds soaking through the light fabric.

'Just a bit more. You can do this, this ain't the first time you've gotten the shit kicked out of you!' Jaune's breath hitched, blood slipping past his lips as he found Ren sprinting with a wicked blade of aura enveloping his knife hand.

'Jaune Arc, 201HP/5,800HP.'

"WHY WON'T YOU PUT UP A FIGHT?!" Ren roared, his face furious as he swung his blade diagonally across his chest. The shell of aura protecting Jaune's body shattered as he felt the blade tear across his body like a hot knife through butter, blurring his vision as more blood flew up in the air. A few drops splashed against Ren's face as he waved his knife hand, calling off the aura as he watched Jaune continue to stumble back. The blond's cry of pain came out as a gurgle as he spat red liquid, falling to his knees with his HP reaching the negative threshold.

Pathetic. All that bravado was all talk. He couldn't even put up a fight for a few minutes. And he thought he could change things like this? Ren shook his head pitifully as he walked over to the deathly wounded knight. It wasn't like he didn't give him the chance to walk away. But no, Jaune had to prove himself the hero.

Loading another fresh cartridge into Storm Flower, Ren raised it to press against the blond's scarred forehead. Jaune gazed at him with hazy eyes, struggling to breath as he panted.

And still, Ren could see the unyielding glint in Jaune's eyes.

"This makes one." Ren said coldly before pulling the trigger.

Jaune smirked with the bang of the gunshot and the sensation of his skull being shattered by the drilling bullet. The metal shrapnel dug into his brain as the shell shot out of the back of his head. The light in his eyes died as he fell forward with a dull thud, his hair matted with blood and bits of his brain and skull.

Just as planned.

Cleaning off the smudges of Jaune's blood from his face, Ren couldn't help but frown at the expression on the blonde face. Why the hell did he look like he won? He was the one who drew first blood and kill. It didn't matter if Jaune would respawn in a second, if he could kill him once, he'd do it again.

At the thought, Ren froze, his body stiffening as a blinding star like cross replaced Jaune's dead body.

Jaune would respawn. At a hundred percent; full health, no status afflictions, and no crippling wounds. The raven-haired Player felt his anger rise, watching as the cross flickered.

That dirty son of a-

"Warp Strike!"

From the respawn sigil, Crocea Mors spun out of the light, intent on striking Ren. He went on the defensive, raising his fangs to block before he was taken by surprise by the body warping just as the simple blade reached him. Two gloved hands gripped the blade before clashing against Ren's Storm Flowers. Jaune grinned, smug as his fully healed arm applied more pressure.

"You want me to fight back? Fine! But don't expect me to go easy on you!" Deflecting the twin fangs down to the side, Jaune slammed his forehead against Ren's, forcing the eastern boy to stumble back as he held his bruised temple.

It was a risky plan, one that relied on the Arena match falling onto a match type that allowed respawning, but it had worked. Jaune knew that the only way he would be able to quickly heal his broken arm was to respawn. Which meant dying, again. And as much as he hated that dreadful feeling of his heart stopping, he didn't have much of a choice if he wanted to fight at his best. Flexing the digits of his once broken arm, Jaune felt reassured as all sense of pain and stiffness vanished.

Watching Ren shrug off the blow with a glare, Jaune straightened up as he called on his inventory. His school uniform wasn't the best combat attire, it was time he tried out Coco's gear. The gifted box materialized onto his open palm with a twinkle before he crushed it into a burst of light.

'Coco's Cross-Eye Gear #1, Equipped! Matching Set Bonus: +200HP and +5AP!'

Slamming into his body, the bits of light switched out his uniform with his new combat gear. His blazer was swapped out for a black colored leather hoodie, dark gray combat pants, black combat boots, and leather combat gloves. A belt of silver bullets tied across his chest and his grandfather's symbol was stamped on his back with a cross eye forming from the inner arc. His vest was stitched by four sided diamonds along with an arc like cross on the front of his hoodie's chest.

"Hmph, looks like you've finally gotten rid of that old hoodie of yours. About time, it never offered any protection against the Grimm or my fangs." Ren said with a wince as he looked over Jaune's new combat gear. It definitely looked better than his old poor excuse of gear. Maybe now he would put up more of a fight.

"Well I had a friend gift me this. Now I can finally look the part of a huntsman. And why I won't lose to you here!" Sliding out Crocea Mors blade from its shield, Jaune readied himself, its metal gray blade glinting.

"You think a change in clothing will do you any good? Even with two arms, you won't be able to do more than flail your arms." Ren scoffed before dashing forward. He went in for a falling chop, missing as Jaune stepped to the side and swung for his head. Storm Flower's fang clanged, blocking the blade. He pushed it back, dodging a series of quick slashes from the weathered blade.

A wide swing made the ninja like huntsman skip back before only to hiss as a rip opened on his chest. Blood seeped from the wound. He actually cut him? Jaune couldn't even land a hit before. It had only been a month since their last fight.

"Air Slash!"

Ren sighed, stepping past the air blade. Jaune dashed in with his blade glowing a familiar white as his attack missed. He swung his Power Strike over Ren's head, smashing the earth to bits as Ren dodged and elbowed his chest. Jaune grit his teeth, ignoring the pain as he raised his shield up to block the blitz of fang strikes. Pushing his shield to break the chain of attacks, Jaune fired another Air Slash, hitting Ren in his stumble.

Again, he hit him again? A barrage of air blades flew after Ren, forcing him to run around to avoid another hit. If he was going to go with a projectile offense, then he might as well follow along.

"Lock On!" Focusing his cross hair on Jaune, Ren charged his SMG's with cold energy before firing every bullet in his magazines, "Hail Storm!"

Streaking pale blue bullets shot after Jaune, twirling in loops in the air as the blond began evading the cold bullet fire. He panted a bit, struggling as the bullets chased after him relentlessly. That was a cheap trick!

"Reflect!" Throwing his hand up, Jaune erected his dome of magical pixels to defend against the homing ice. Small snow clouded explosions blew up against the reflection glass, clouding his vision.

A distraction, just what Ren needed. Blurring in the cloud of snowfall, Ren spun around, continuously slashing his fangs against the dome in a spin. Cracks chipped at Jaune's Reflect, the defensive spell struggling against the attack. It wasn't meant for more than a few hits. Reflect shattered, leaving Jaune open.

'Reaction: Impact Palm. Yes/No?'

Ren's palm enveloped with green energy as he mentally activated the Reaction. Slamming it into Jaune's chest, a wide shock wave ring resonated as he sent his opponent flying. Jaune was sent into the trees, flying past the trunks and bushes as he tried to steady himself. He dug his sword into the red leaf carpet, ripping a trail of earth as he smacked into a tree. Sighing, he turned back to Ren, finding him zipping after him with green energy stars in between his fingers.

Swiping his hands, Ren fired multiple ninja stars of wind, "Wind Shuriken!" The wind blades spun around the air, digging against Jaune's aura as he failed to move out of the way in time.

Small rips tore the blond knight's new hoodie as he grit his teeth at the new pain, finding the stars pinning him to the bark. Coco wasn't going to be happy if he returned with his new gear in rags. He needed to step up his game. Moving his sword up, Jaune was about to summon Teres Mors, only for Ren to blur up to him, smirking as he withdrew Storm Flower.

"Horizon."

The familiar sniper longsword once belonging to Cross Hare materialized in Ren's hand, blowing steam from its vents. Horizon clicked as it was withdrawn, blurring into a red line as the raven phased by the pinned knight to stand behind him. Red bathed the longsword, annoying Ren as he flicked the long reaching weapon to rid Jaune's blood as the tree groaned. It fell back, leaving Jaune to slump forward from the spraying wound nearly gutting his insides.

"I have to thank Cross for such a deadly long blade. If it weren't for the fact he had to die for me to use it." Ren lamented, sheathing the sniper/longsword hybrid. It had taken him a couple days of training to get use to its weight and firing mechanism, but he was now able to wield it well enough to fight.

Fighting the pain of his stomach nearly cut open by the explosive slash, Jaune pushed himself up on his elbows, face livid as he turned to glare at his teammate, "Y-You killed him!? Why!?"

"What do you mean why? He was an enemy that was threatening not just my life, but Ruby's. Not to mention he was ready to blow us up along with a block of the streets." Ren threw his hands up, shaking his head at his leader's soft heart, "Besides, he's nothing but an NPC, one created by the Remix. His life had very little value for an enemy. He was only worth EXP and a new weapon in the grand scheme of things." he shrugged nonchalantly.

"You would have done the same."

Standing back up, Jaune summoned a Large Aura Potion, downing the grape flavored vial to restore a good amount of his HP. "I would have beaten him till he couldn't stand back up, or knocked him out. Life is precious, you shouldn't-"

"Think little of it." Ren scoffed as he unsheathed Horizon repeatedly with his thumb, "I've heard this same dribble countless times before. This isn't the first time you've tried to stop me from killing another person, your past selves have always talked my ear off about your mother's lessons on the value of life. You have no idea how sick I've gotten of hearing your cliché speeches." Pausing the blade, Ren's eye gained a dangerous glint as Jaune moved his sword up for a stance. His HUD displayed another Reaction Command.

'Final Draw. Activate, Yes/No?'

Readying his sword, Jaune was taken by surprise as he found four option boxes replacing his vision. An X marked the top box and O filled the rest before a small hand began to rapidly scroll down the options as they began to shuffle. What the hell was this?

'Draw!'

Confused, Jaune didn't have much choice but to play along. He mentally stopped the hand, landing it on one of the many O's.

Jaune's vision was suddenly replaced to see Ren standing across from him in a dark plane with a bright light shining onto them in a spotlight. Petals danced in the air as he found himself in a drawing stance against his will as Ren mirrored him. The smug look in the magenta eyed raven's face wasn't a good sign.

'You Lose!'

With insane speed, Ren unsheathed Horizon and blurred past Jaune, standing behind him in a swinging motion. They stood still for a moment before Jaune's body was slashed by a horizontal rose colored blade tearing across his chest. His HP fell into the red as he caught himself from falling forward from the pain and shock. He ground his teeth visibly, holding back the bile and blood from escaping his mouth, his eyes wide in agony as his body trembled.

The hell was that? The attack was instantaneous, there was no way he could have been able to dodge it.

"Save your energy on fighting instead of trying to make me see the value of life. There is no value when the Reset resurrects all who have died with no memory of their tragic death. Death is meaningless. The sooner you understand that, the sooner you can come to terms with our curse." Clicking Horizon back into its sheath, Ren turned back to the heavily bleeding blond. He sighed at the defiant blue eyes glaring at him. "I know it's hard to deal with, especially with your bleeding heart, but this is the life we've found ourselves with. If you want to value something, value the time you can spend with your friends before The Game begins to break us all apart."

Jaune laughed, spitting red onto the ground as he held the gushing wound with a grimace, "Sorry, buddy, but I can't give up when I've only just begun. I know all the constant resets have made you cynical and jaded, made you give up on making an impacting difference on the world. I don't blame you or hate you for it, even when you've already killed me twice. God knows how many people have wished to do what you've done. But that doesn't mean I'll fall into the same despair that's taken you." he grunted before grabbing a potion from his inventory. Good thing he had stocked up while he had been out with Velvet.

The wound on his chest quickly mended, leaving only the tear on his new hoodie. White energy wrapped around Crocea Mors sword, shaping the white into the blood red short blade that was Teres Mors. Its barbed vine shot after Ren, missing as the agile huntsman moved out of its way. Again and again, Jaune whipped the vine, leaving Ren to only dodge as each lashing barb came close to stabbing at him.

Ren ducked under the slashing whip, running under it as Jaune retracted it. Drawing Horizon, he dashed into Jaune's guard, intent on slicing open his guts. Crocea Mors' shield blocked the explosive swing, clanging as the two fought to overpower another.

Jaune grunted, moving his sword hand at Ren's face before shouting, "Firebolt!" Flames erupted from Jaune's sword clenched fist, firing a bolt of fire straight for Ren's face. The move was too close, too fast. Hot flames exploded onto Ren's face, stumbling him back as he felt this skin burning.

"Teres Blade: Uprooting Vignes!" With Ren distracted by the fanning fire, it gave Jaune a chance to try out his new technique. In all of the fights he had gone through with the rose themed weapon, he had been gaining experience and eventually leveled it to its second level, gaining a new ability. Stabbing his short blade into the ground, the whip of thorns tunneled below the ground. And from below Ren's feet, the earth trembled before a single glowing white spine lanced through his body.

It didn't end there. One by one, multiple spines pierced the raven's haired Huntsman's body from below. Ren's eyes were wide from the pain and shock of the ruthless attack by the normally timid knight, gritting his teeth as another spine stabbed him through his chest. Somehow, the attack could pierce him without doing any visible damage, spilling not a drop of his blood. What the hell kind of attack was that?

Seeing the confusion in his teammates eyes, Jaune began to explain as he took the moment to down another small potion, "Uprooting Vignes isn't much of a damaging attack but it gets the job down. Its main purpose is to keep my opponent in place for a big attack. And boy, do I got biggie ready to go!" Jaune said with a fired-up grin. From the inside of his left sleeve, several iron wires flew out before stabbing into Ren's still body. Alcohol wafted from the wires, the smell only causing more confusion as he watched Jaune move his wired hands to his mouth and take a deep breath. His pink eye's widened in alarm as a small flame lit the blond's thumb.

"Dragon's Blaze!" With a deep breath in his chest, Jaune blew a stream of roaring orange-red fire to crawl along his ninja wires. They raced forward, dead set on devouring Ren as he could do nothing but watch in the glow of the flames.

The roaring flames hit their mark, devouring Ren in a shroud of a bellowing blaze comparable to a dragon's fiery breath. He could feel his HP drop as he fought back a shout of pain from the blistering heat. The spines keeping him still withered, burning away from the attack as he struggled to bear with the smoldering blaze.

'Lie Ren, Mind of the Gamer.

6,286HP/9,200HP'

A sense of pride hit Jaune at the damage he had inflicted on his teammate. Last month, he had been lucky to drop his HP by a thousand; he had doubled that. Time to triple it, "Crescent Blade!" with a shout, Jaune fired a crescent slash of light after the burning ninja like Huntsman.

"ENOUGH!" Roaring in anger, Ren swung his hands down, both arms enveloped by emerald colored wind, "GALE FORCE!" A shock wave of whipping wind exploded from Ren's body, lashing out at everything within two yards of space. The flames were blown away along with the white lunar blade, ripped to shreds as he slumped forward, panting as sweat ran down his frustrated face.

How? How was someone who was so under leveled able to actually damage him to this point? He grit his teeth as he straightened back up and reached into his inventory to replenish his health. Seeing that, Jaune dashed forward, intent on stopping him from recovering his HP. Annoying, Ren thought as he raised his free hand up.

"Firebolt!"

'What?' Jaune thought in shock as he watched a familiar spell fire from Ren's hand. A bolt of streaking fire shot straight for him, forcing him to defend.

"Reflect!"

Bouncing back the spell with his see-through dome of mirrored pixels, Jaune was taken further back as Ren swung his palm up and summoned the same spell.

"Reflect!"

Firebolt's damage was increased with the counter shield, enveloping it in a brighter white light before it crashed against Jaune's dome. The added boost was enough to shatter his Reflect and drill into his chest, detonating in a plume of flames.

Loading more bullets into Horizon, Ren reared it back for an explosive draw slash. He needed to keep hammering him, not letting him have a second to strategize or think.

"Gale speed!"

In a blink of an eye, Jaune blurred in front of the surprised Ren, swinging his glowing white fist for his wide eyes.

"Power Strike!" Jaune drilled his amplified knuckles deep into Ren's face with an audible smack. Ren's eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head, the force of the blow ringing his head as he flew back, blood spurting from his broken nose.

Something within the raven Player's head shook loose as he righted himself in the air and skidded to a stop. Breathing heavily, his vision began to blur as he readied himself for the blade charging blond.

Seemed he had forgotten just how strong Jaune could become with enough progress.

---

Above the very earth of Remnant, in the heavenly clouds of the blue ocean sky, a massive white airship rode the winds as multiple small explosions lit up its metal body. Smoke lingered from the detonating points, revealing the scorched holes from whatever had created the damage. Smaller airships flew around the armada like ship, firing missiles and bullets onto its frame as they spun around to avoid the gunfire their massive target countered with.

And on the large deck of the ship, two Huntsman could be seen trading lightning fast blows between another, sending sparks flying as they fought. With a thundering echo, the two huntsman locked blades, grinding their blades to overpower another as their clash blew back a rush of air toward another.

On the left of the blade lock stood Lie Ren. A much older version of the raven haired, magenta eyed Huntsman. His traditional clothing had long been left behind, swapped out for a black tailcoat with pink lining over a mesh turtleneck, black pants with metal cuffs, closed metal toed sandals, and worn out bandages covering his fingers to his biceps with strange writing. His long hair had been cut, left short and wavy with the hair over his forehead swept back, the single lock of pink still standing out.

And on the right stood Jaune Arc. As with Ren, the older blond had done away with his old battle gear, replacing it for a more fitting set of clothing. He now sported a white long coat that reached his ankles with blue trimming and metal shoulder pads over a blue turtleneck, white loose fitting pants, silver armored boots that went over his pants sleeves to his kneecaps, and two yellow belts crisscrossing over his waist. He also wore metal vambraces over his arms, designed with several revolving shells of Dust over his wrist. His blond hair had grown to reach his neck, falling over his forehead to his brows.

"I warned you to stop messing with our plans." the deep voice of Jaune growled in annoyance, grinding his sword further against the twin fangs of Storm Flower.

Ren scoffed as he pushed back, "And I told you to leave this all behind you. I gave you my own warning, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't prefer this situation right now. Killing you will tie up the last loose end of my past." he smirked. Having had enough of the blade struggle, Ren kicked the blond in the abdomen, pushing him back with a pained grunt. He then fired several shots at the knight, rolling his eyes as the newly designed shield of Crocea Mors blocked the bullets.

Crocea Mors simple design had changed dramatically over the years. Its' shield had been improved with a special gold metal lining its edge and a familiar crown design at the bottom of its edge. It was the same as every Reset, except for the new addition of a thunderbolt at both sides of the twin arcs. The sword itself is where it had really evolved. Its blade had lost its double edge, left with a single straight edge and what looked like a slim blue revolver at the lower base by its blue hilt. Gold made up its cross guard and a little hammer charm hung from a chain at the end of the hilt.

Jaune flicked the revolver of his blade, stopping as it loaded a fresh Dust shell with a click. Lightning ran along its white blade, becoming a beacon of blue sparks. He stabbed the air, firing a bladed streak of lightning. Ren evaded the deadly azure elemental blade, flinging his twin pistol fangs like shuriken. They spun madly around the air, aiming for the frowning blond. Jaune swung an arc of lightning to meet the green blades, bouncing them back as he charged forward. He swung diagonally at Ren's chest, missing as the raven-haired man skipped back. He then spun around, releasing a sparking shock wave to stun his once teammate. Ren raised his palms up, casting Reflect to guard against the attack. Distracted, the blond missed the spinning fangs above him, falling straight for his head.

Or, so Ren thought. A clang of steel rang out as Jaune simply raised his shield above his head, never taking his cold eyes from the ninja.

Emerald ninja stars appeared in between Ren's fingers as he called on his magic shield before he flung them after Jaune. The stars were nothing as Jaune spun his blade around, blocking the magical wind shuriken like flies. Done blocking the stars, Jaune then stabbed his sword into the metal surface of the ship, sending arcing sparks of lighting to chase after Ren.

Ren wasn't going to stand around to let himself get hit with that. He jumped high above the voltage rush, flipping in the air before bouncing off the very air like a surface. A pink ethereal blade of aura enveloped both his hands, allowing him to slash at the well-dressed white knight. The two traded blows back and forth all while Jaune evaded the laser like beams firing from Storm Flower flying over them by some unseen force.

"Why the hell are you doing this now?! We're finally done preparing for the invading march onto Salem's territory, and you just pop out of nowhere to attack the very vessel that carries the necessary weapons and Dust needed for the assault?! Whose side are you on?!" Jaune roared as he gripped Crocea Mors with both hands. His body trembled as he clicked all the shells of Lightning Dust in his blade into place before stabbing the deck with a barking shout. A pillar of lighting blew out from his body, releasing a ring of high voltage energy that sent Ren's floating pistol fangs back and the ninja jumping back to avoid the deadly attack.

Calling back his weapons, Ren went on to block and counter the flurry of strikes from the long blade of lighting, "I'm on the side that puts an end to this nightmare. Permanently. I have my own plans prepared, and I don't need The United Kingdoms of Remnant to mess up what I've worked so long for! Including you of all people!" Ren barked with eyes wide with anger.

Another thundering clash sent both men skidding back on their feet. They glared at one another, not paying any attention to the state of the ship they were standing on as another explosion rocked its body.

For the moment, Jaune wasn't bothered by the attacks. He had all the personnel evacuated on the emergency ships with whatever they could carry. Weiss was going to be pissed that one of her warships had gone down, but the lives of the ship were more important. And he saved what he could. Wouldn't be the first the Ice Queen chewed him out.

What mattered now, out of all the things going on, was the man who had once been his teammate, his best friend, standing a few feet away from him with the intent of killing him.

That day, when their lives had turned upside down, when they lost Pyrrha to Cinder, and lost their home in the fall of Beacon, Ren had abandoned them. The very next day after the attack, the silent huntsman left them and headed to god knows where, leaving them in the despair of The Fall. As the months passed, and Jaune and Nora had joined Ruby along with Yang on their journey, they met their friend again. But he had changed, attacked them, and warned them to stop their journey if they wanted to live any longer. Since then, Ren had been an off again, on again enemy that got in their way, always threatening to kill them if they didn't listen to him and leave things as they were.

It brought a sad hint to Jaune's eyes, remembering the good times they all had as team JNPR. How things had changed in the past seven years.

"It doesn't have to be this way, Ren. I don't know what plans you have, or what made you leave our team after the fall of Beacon, but I do know that you are not a monster like the ones we've been fighting. Nora misses you." Jaune said solemnly. The look in her beautiful green eyes when her best friend had been marked as a registered criminal high on their capture or kill list always gripped at his heart. The pain, the sadness, the hollowness; it broke his heart.

"She wants you to come back, peacefully. How else are Nora and I getting married without her best man walking her down the aisle?"

The thought of Jaune and Nora of all people engaged to one another always made Ren go wide eyed in disbelief. Guess in his absence, the bubbly orange haired Valkyrie had no one else to turn to but her team leader. And as the two comforted another, a budding affection must have grown until they fell in love. Thinking about the happiness his old partner had found and the family she was probably giddy on making with her future husband, made the corners of Ren's mouth lift.

Which gave him all the more reason to make him want to go through with his plans on reaching The End of The Game. He could feel it, the path he walked was the closest to ending these constant Resets and allowing everyone's lives to continue. This had to be the right End, it just had to!

Ren set his features into a scowl, shaking away the sentiment as he raised his fangs up.

"You and Nora could have lived a peaceful life if you had just listened to me and went on to a normal life. This is bigger than any of you can ever realize. And you'll only get in the way if you all continue to invade the Grimmlands. Consider this your last warning, the final warning before I drop your corpse off to the side of your failing ship. Go home, go back to Nora, and stay the hell away from the Grimmlands!"

Jaune shut his eyes in frustration, clenching his raised fist tightly before sighing in tired defeat. Just like every other time he had tried to bring Ren back, the man always declined for his mysterious plans. But he made a promise to Nora, and even to Pyrrha's grave, to bring back what remained of team JNPR for just one day, their wedding day. And he'd be damned if Ren of all people got in the way of keeping that promise!

The Lightning Dust in Jaune's wrist revolvers spun as he finished loading a fresh set into Crocea Mor's blade before he shot said wrist up to the air. A shell was fired up high into the bellowing sky with a bell twinkling sound, casting dark clouds to envelop the skies as lightning and thunder cackled. Bolts of natural lightning fell onto the deck of the ship, striking everything in sight.

Jaune's eyes were stern, his blue eyes locked on his old friend as his lightning crashed closely around them.

"I'm sorry, Ren, but if you're not going to explain yourself and tell me why you're doing, then I have no choice but to apprehend you for your crimes. Nora will just have to settle with seeing you behind bars, better than the alternative." the blond knight said solemnly as he swung his sword to the left. Attracted by the fine metal, a bolt of lightning slammed into the blade, enveloping it in an aura of sparking blue shaped into a double edged great sword with a cross guard.

"As your leader, and friend, I'm not going to go easy on you from here on out. I think we're done feeling each other up, don't you? Nora will have to forgive me for the wounds I'm about to inflict."

He was going to be sleeping on the couch for the next month for this.

'WARNING, WARNING, WARNING! Boss incoming! Commander of the UKR, Jaune Arc, The King of Lightning. Get Ready!'

A powerful whipping gale surrounded Ren's body as his eyes glowed a deep magenta. He didn't want to fight Jaune like this, he didn't want to kill his best friend. But this game had to end! He was done living this deathless reality! If this was what he had to do, then he had no choice.

'Forgive me, Nora. I didn't want it to come to this.'

The two Huntsman once part of a promising team glared at another, their hands gripping their weapons deathly tight as the dark skies cackled with lightning.

'FIGHT!'

---

Sent flying past the tree lines, Ren wound up rolling down the big hill by another power strike to the face. He grimaced as he righted himself up and skid down the leafy hill. Looking past his head, he could make out the train tracks for the train passing by Forever Fall.

"Hedge Fang!"

From the trees, Jaune barreled after Ren in a sword swinging body roll, appearing as if he was a bladed human saw. He spun madly for the raven-haired Huntsman, grinding against the batting green blades as Ren dodged. Again and again, the two bounced back as they fell downward for the tracks in a rain of sparks. Ceasing his attack, Jaune fell to his feet, skidding down along with Ren before throwing his burning palm after Ren, "Firebolt!" Several salvos of blazing bolts fired toward Ren as he began to dodge the magical flames. Chunks of earth and leaves flew in the craters created from the missed shots. Ren returned fire with his pistols, aiming carefully as Jaune raised up his shield.

'Just need to land a few more hits!' Ren grunted through the sounds of his bullets doing little more than ring as they smacked into Crocea Mors. His Reaction for Shield Breaker would only activate after whatever shield he was hitting had taken a certain number of damage. He grinned as the Reaction suddenly appeared in his HUD.

Dashing forward with incredible speed, Ren's pistol fangs lengthened to cruel blades. Jaune blinked as Ren vanished from sight before a large black-red X appeared over his shield arm. His eyes flew open in agony as the symbol shattered a glass like surface against his shield, dropping his arm to his side uselessly. With the shield out of the way it left Jaune wide open for a swift barrage of aura coated strikes to his body. Each hit dropped his health further as he tried to jump back, only for Ren to grab him by his shirt and pull him in for an elbow strike for his chest.

"Warp Strike!" Huffing from what felt like a bone breaking strike, Jaune tossed up Teres Mors into the air. He warped to the still airborne weapon, gripping it tightly before tucking his body for a spin, "Teres Blade: Coil!" The green vine whipped at Ren's wrist, tightening itself around the skin like a constricting snake, "Hedge Fang!"

Like a yo-yo, the bladed wheel reeled forward along the vine, targeting Ren as Jaune's sword ground against the ninja's waning aura. Caught in the attack, Ren was left with nothing to do but to endure as a gash opened on his chest. "Reflect!"

The magic spell repelled Jaune back, breaking his spin as he fell back to skidding downward. Dammit, he cursed as he watched Teres Mors fade back into Crocea Mors. He was out of MP, the last attack taking the last bit of his magic. He needed to be careful and wait for his MP bar to fill back up.

Coming to a stop below, Jaune went on to evade the bullet fire. His shield arm was still useless, the X stamped on his forearm somehow disabling his ability to block any of his attacks.

'Reaction: Auto-Potion. Activate?'

Ren mentally activated the Reaction as he kept Jaune on his toes, sighing in relief as his body was showered by a sprinkle of lime green energy. When his HP began to dip to 50%, Auto-Potion would automatically use up one of his Potions to heal his wounds without having to manually reach for the item. It's was a useful Reaction when he had his hands busy.

Tired of evading, Jaune charged in a bee-line through the bullets. He swung his blade across Ren's chest, missing as Ren blocked before kicking the eastern styled teen in the chest. The blow stunned Ren, leaving him open as Jaune jumped high in the air above. He spun his body around, lashing a kick for Ren's head that knocked him off his feet and sent him rolling on the ground.

"Did that snap some sense into you, Ren? Or am I just going to have to keep this up?" Jaune said as he leaned on his knees tiredly. Downing another potion, he wiped his mouth of the lifesaving beverage as he watched Ren struggle to rise back up.

The fighting was starting to tire Jaune out. Just before he knocked Ren out of their original battle grounds, the ninja had collapsed several trees around him before casting a fire spell to burn him alive in the wooden prison. He died from that little trap, making it two times that Ren had killed him today. And each death seemed to sap a chunk of his stamina with each revival. It didn't matter if his health would fill back up, if he was too tired to swing his sword it didn't mean a thing.

Pushed up by his arms, Ren turned his glare to Jaune, refusing back down, "Look who's winning. I told you before, I'm done trying to play along like some hero! Even if we beat The Game, it will simply Reset and make us start all over! All the good we did and evil we stopped would have been for nothing, so why bother wasting our time? It's all pointless!" he shouted, standing straight up before flinging his pistols like shurikens. Jaune dodged the shuriken blades, grunting as he found them flying back for him like a locked target. He danced around the targeting spinning blades controlled by Ren's glowing hand.

"Do you think that I've always been this cynical? That I've always been so lazy and unmotivated my entire life? Because I haven't. I was once like you, naive, full of hope, believing that I could save the world from the darkness that you've yet to have even glimpsed! And what do you know? I had managed to beat the Final Boss on my seventh life; I was able to save the world, my friends, from a dark reality, only to be sent back to my Save Point and do it all over again! And again. And again. And Again!"

Dark magenta energy lit up the barrels of Storm Flower before they began to continuously fire a hyper focused beam intent on piercing Jaune.

"It never ends! I've tried everything imaginable to reach the True End with no results. Even the paths where I've turned away from all my friends got me nowhere, making all the sacrifices I've made pointless. Working with the other Players was the same, so what makes you believe that playing along with you will be any different?!"

Jaune moved right to avoid a laser for his chest. He quickly spun back from two aimed at his sides, and ducked low as they flattened in the air and spun, whirling their lasers to cover a wide area to bisect him. Stopping their spin, the two SMG's flew up, striking the ground with their beams before chasing after Jaune, carving the ground in an attempt to slice him in half. His breath grew ragged, flinching deeply as one of the lasers passed by his shoulders.

'Jaune Arc, 3,240HP/6,000HP.'

The sound of a ding made Jaune grin past the pain of the new burn over his scalding skin. With his MP recovered, Jaune cast Reflect to defend against the laser barrage. Safe within his magical defense, Jaune was allowed a moment to breath as Ren's words began to sink in.

How would working with him be any different? If Ren had done everything he could think of to beat The Game and still wound up reset back to his Save Point, how could working with Jaune suddenly fix things? Hell, in the many lives Ren had lived, there were bound to be ones where they were working as one with the rest of their team. Just because Jaune was now a Player didn't mean that they could just find the True End. For him to say that they could suddenly beat The Game when he had yet to live a fraction of what Ren had lived in these many lives sounded arrogant. It was no wonder Ren hated him.

But that didn't mean that Jaune would just stop trying. If there was one thing he had discovered about himself since entering Beacon, it was that he was a decent strategist. He just needed to figure something out to make his friend try again. There had to be some reason Ren still played along despite saying it was all worthless. Why else would he-

The sudden thought snapped Jaune's eyes wide open in realization before his lips fell into a sad smile.

Feeling his MP start to dwindle, Ren called off his attack, drawing Storm Flower back into his hand as Jaune's Reflect faded away. The raven-haired Player knelt for a running start, shooting forward as he equipped Horizon for a drawing slash.

Whatever force had been disabling Jaune's shield vanished, just in time to raise his shield up to block the long reaching blade screeching against the metal of his defense.

"You're right, adding me into the mix probably won't make much of a difference. I can think of several people who would do a much better job at this then me. But I'm willing to try, and that's all that matters!" Jaune shouted, pushing back against the longsword as Ren pushed back, "And I don't believe that you've completely given up! Why else would you still be here?"

"The hell are you talking about? I don't have a choice, The Game will lead us all along onto the story with subtle pushes, activating Events that will force our hand to fall into its game. If I had the choice, I would-"

"Leave everything behind you? But you haven't, you're still here in Beacon with your friends! You say that I can just drop everything and ignore The Game for a simple life, yet you're still fighting as a Huntsman in Vale where all this mess is going to start? If you say that you've given up, then why are still here!?" Jaune asked in a roar.

"I said that it was none of your business!" Ren shouted, moving his blade back before a ramming his elbow into the shield with a boost of Horizon's recoil. The attack broke Jaune's guard, forcing him to trade steel in a flurry of strikes with Ren. He moved back from an upward swing, stepped to the side to avoid a mighty downward swing that unleashed a trail of destruction, and jumped over a sweep meant to chop off his legs.

Seeing another swing meant for his chest, Jaune moved his sword to intercept the swing, "Then how the hell do you expect me to understand you? All I want to do is help, but you keep pushing me away! Why?! Aren't we friends!?" Pushing Horizon back, Jaune stabbed a Power Strike to Ren's chest, sending him skidding back with a shout. Drawing his blade back, Jaune was ready to charge straight in for another stab, only to be stopped by a familiar force.

Activating Final Draw, Ren kept his eyes focused intently on the pointer to fall under the X. This should do enough damage to stun him long enough to deal another fatal blow.

'You Lose!'

"What?!" Ren spat loudly as his pointer failed to land on the target in time. He couldn't block as Jaune continued his dash, phasing through his body to appear behind him in a swinging stance. A large slash appeared on Ren's chest, spilling his blood against the red leaves. He nearly blacked out from the intense attack but forced himself to stay standing as Auto-Potion activated. Wounds healed, Ren turned his furious gaze to the Jaune as he held his mending chest.

Jaune smirked, "It took me a sec to figure it out, but I think I got the hang of your ability. Pyrrha always said I was a quick learner. Seems being The Mind of the Gamer gives you some pretty cool tricks to work with." His eyes softened as he dropped his stance for a moment to try to talk some sense into the glowering Player, "Come on Ren, talk to me. I just want to understand you. I don't want to keep fighting you. I'm not enjoying this, I want us to get along like we did before I was given The Gamer's power. So, help me out here."

For a good minute, Ren stared emotionlessly at his blonde leader. So many conflicting thoughts were going through his head as memories of his past lives replayed. No matter what he said to Jaune or how many times he insulted him and killed him, couldn't deny one simple truth.

Jaune was his best friend. And he would give up his own life to protect him.

---

"Get her out of here! I'll stall for as long as I can, just get her somewhere safe!"

Oniyuri, Mistral's Mountain Glenn. An abandoned eastern city halfway through construction that had been attacked by a single Grimm capable of unimaginable destruction. It was here where team RNJR had been attacked by a deadly Faunus that was capable of taking them out like it was a game for him.

Tyrian smiled widely, his yellow eyes amused as his scorpion tail hung by his head, ready to stab at his opponent gleefully. His eyes were set on the man standing in his way and the stern blue eyes unflinchingly staring back at him. The intensity in those eyes made Tyrian giddy.

Behind Jaune was Qrow, the raven-haired teacher with red eyes and a great sword/scythe. And in his cradled arms was a badly beaten Ruby. A large amount of blood ran down her dress by Tyrian's bladed scorpion claw chakrams shredding her body. But the worst of her injuries were more alarming.

Jaune ground his teeth in fury, his body trembling as he could hear Ruby try to suppress her sobs as she held her face. Or more specifically, her left eye.

"As a certain book once said, 'An eye for an eye'." Tyrian bellowed with sick laughter, doubling over as he held his gut. He wiped his eyes of a tear as he regained control, snorting as he licked his claws of the blood of slashing out the annoying silver eye.

The sight made Qrow's blood boil as he held his niece tighter against his chest. Too late, he was fucking too late to come to his niece's rescue. If only he had left earlier, then he would have made it in time to block the psycho's attack. Instead, he had arrived to watch in horror as the bug bastard took out her eye and aimed to immobilize her with his toxic tail.

Reaching for his great sword, Qrow was ready to beat the bastard into a bloody corpse before tearing him limb from limb with his bare hands, until the blond knight threw back his arm to stop him.

"I said get her out of here! She's already lost the vision in her left eye, we don't need her dying of blood loss! You're the only one here who can get her somewhere safe away from Tyrian and the Grimm, so stop wasting your time glaring at him!" Jaune shouted angrily, a vein in his forehead pulsing visibly with his rage.

"You think you can beat him? He was kicking you and your team's ass just a minute ago! What makes you think you can even stall him and keep him away from Ruby?" Qrow hissed as he lifted Ruby in his arms.

"The old crow's right. What makes you think you can entertain me long enough to keep me away from the little bleeding rose?" Tyrian nodded, standing straight as he tapped his cheek playfully.

"Because you find me interesting. And I can take a hell of a beating from even you. Don't you want to see how long I can keep you from chasing after them?" Jaune said as he raised his shield up.

That did sound fun, Tyrian thought as he looked over the blond knight. And he was curious as to why the boy peaked his interest. Oh, how the curiosity was eating away at him. Maybe if he stabbed him a few times and broke a bone or two, he'd bring out what made the blond interesting. Besides, just how long could the boy survive? It made him grin widely at the thought.

Standing by Qrow and Ruby, Ren could only watch in frustration as he worked on curing the purple seeping wound on his right arm. No matter how much he grinded in preparation for the fight against Tyrian, it was never enough to compete with the killer's skill and aggressive attacks. Unfortunately, fighting Tyrian was part of The Story, so he couldn't lead his team away from the deserted town. They could only ever survive as long as possible until Qrow arrived to save the day.

But this time things were different. Qrow wasn't able to make it in time and Ruby suffered for it. A quick scan on her status revealed that her aura was shattered and her eye was beyond saving. One more hit from Tyrian and she wouldn't survive the next hour. He grimaced as he looked to his left, an ugly feeling of guilt passing him through as he saw his partner knocked out beside him.

Nora had taken a critical hit meant for him and had her head smashed cruelly into the ground. Blood flowed from the gash, her green eyes rolled into the back of her head as she lost consciousness. She needed medical attention and she wouldn't be getting it here.

As much as he didn't want to follow through with Jaune's suggestion, Ren couldn't see any other choice. Ruby and Nora needed healing and Tyrian wouldn't give them a chance on patching them up. Not to mention Ren was low on healing items, so he wouldn't be able to put up a fight as he was now. Jaune was their only hope, which meant abandoning him to fight against a well-trained killer with a sick bloodlust.

Picking Nora up in his arms, Ren nodded stiffly towards his leader, "He's right. Ruby and Nora are more important than fighting. If Jaune says he can stall Tyrian, then I believe him." he tried to smile. The chances of Jaune winning were low, incredibly low. While he had made major progress since The Fall, fighting someone on Tyrian's level would spell death.

Qrow wanted to argue against the plan, but the growing dampness created by Ruby's blood gushing eye stopped him. He lost Summer once, there was no fucking way he was losing her daughter too. At the thought, Qrow smiled grimly. They did say that crows brought bad luck.

Reaching into his pocket, Qrow tossed its contents for Jaune to catch. Opening his hand, Jaune was confused to find a silver flask staring back at him.

"You've graduated to a real Huntsman, kid. Consider this a present from one warrior to another. About time you had your first drink." he said with an empty chuckle.

He was leaving the blond kid to die. The only good thing he could do is give him his first drink. And his last.

"I suppose I can play with you for a bit. Make it a challenge to see how long it takes me to inject you with venom and wait for your body to drop. I can always find the little rose again." Tyrian leered, his eyes passing Jaune for the one-eyed Ruby.

"I won't give you that chance. I won't ever let you touch Ruby again!"

"Well," Tyrian winced as he sucked in a breath before grinning madly, "We'll just have to see about that!"

Seeing the Faunus focus on Jaune, Qrow fixed Ruby in his arms before forcing himself to turn away and run. There was a village not on any of the maps that could take them in. They just needed some time to get there without the bastard following them. Ren followed close, leaving Jaune to fend off Tyrian for as long as he could.

Despite the intense pain of losing her eye, Ruby sniffed as she was carried off farther and farther away from Jaune. "Jaune. . .no, please don't. . .leave him. . .please." she cried.

The guilt made Qrow sick to his stomach. He bit back a foul curse as he cradled Ruby's head closer against his chest. Sometimes you needed to sacrifice your knight to protect your queen in chess. Sadly, this was no different.

Ren snarled, ashamed to have to abandon his leader like that. No matter how much he had come to dislike Jaune because of his fate leading Pyrrha to die in every Reset, he couldn't ignore the ugly mass of shame and guilt at leaving him to die.

With his team far from sight and mind, Jaune turned back to the excited scorpion Faunus. He looked down at the silver flask in his hand, noticing that his whole arm was trembling in fear. It was half full of what smelled of strong liquor as he unscrewed the twist top. Jaune shrugged before taking a deep swig of the bitter tasting beverage.

Well, if he was going to die today, he might as well let the liquor do its magic and dull some of the pain. He always wondered what it felt like to be drunk.

The strong grain alcohol burned down his throat, like fire flowing down his stomach. He couldn't even taste it, the strong liquid fire overpowering whatever flavor it had. Jaune coughed into his fist as he wiped the last trickle of the alcohol from his lips and unsheathed his sword to level it on Tyrian's eyes.

"You took something precious from someone I love. And I aim to repay you the favor." Jaune said with cold fury. He swung his sword to the side, the very force of his swing carving a deep scoring gash into the stone tiled ground with a boom.

"With fucking interest!"

Tyrian clapped his hands in glee at the ferocity in the blond boy's voice. How gallant! Like one of those knights in the old story books he once read. The very image made his blood pump as his shoulders slouched into a stance, his deadly barbed tail hanging over his head ready to strike.

"Then let's stop chatting and start slashing!" he cackled loudly before springing off his feet for a claw stab.

Jaune's feet were pushed back by the very force of the strike as he blocked with his shield. It did little to stop Tyrian as he planted his feet on its white surface and clung onto it with a grin. Tyrian's face was giddy with a face splitting grin as he grabbed a handful of Jaune's hair before repeatedly headbutting the blond like a hammer. Blood gushed as his strikes broke the skin of Jaune's forehead, rattling his brain around as he fought to shake the Faunus off his shield.

Eying the white blade coming for his side, Tyrian kicked off the shield to dodge the slash. Falling back on his feet, he dashed back in to swing his chakrams in a flurry of rapid slashes. Each connecting hit, even the ones blocked by Crocea Mors, chipped away at his aura. Jaune moved his head to the side to avoid the jabbing tail thrown into the mix, grunting as the action cost him a chop to the left side of his face. His aura struggled to fight the blade, waning as it cut into his skin. Falling onto his head, Tyrian displayed great acrobatic skill as he rapidly spun on his head to deliver a windmill of spinning kicks to Jaune's head.

Vision blurring, Jaune swung his sword wide to bat away the kicks. He shook his head, flinching as he tried to steady his rolling vision to fix the odd illusion of three Tyrian's rushing back in.

Hidden barrels slid out of Tyrian's claws. Running circles around the dizzy blond, the scorpion Faunus began to pepper Jaune with bullets. Jaune struggled to block the metal shells, grunting in pain as a few dug into his body. Tired of his attack, Tyrian dashed back to meet the glorious white shield in his way. He kicked up his feet, pumping his leg muscles with blue aura for an added boost as he delivered a double kick stomp into the shield. A visible rippling shock wave erupted from the blow, sending Jaune flying back like a rocket and a shout. With a burst of speed, Tyrian intercepted Jaune's flight as he blurred behind him and rammed his elbow deep into his spine. He grinned widely in sick joy at the sound of something snapping as he sent the blond skidding onto the ground.

"My, my, I do say you were right. You, my blue-eyed friend, can take a good beating." Tyrian praised with a chuckle. He leered at Jaune as the boy struggled to get back up on his feet, "A normal person would be dead by now after that, or at least have their aura shattered. But you seem to keep standing back up, sword gripped deathly tight with a glare that would make a lesser Grimm flinch. I must say, you truly are interesting." he said with an amused lift of his lips.

Jaune's breathing was heavy as he struggled to stand straight. Something in his back had broken, the very sensation of the broken bone made it difficult to breath. The deep bleeding cut on his cheek wasn't doing him any favors either, it almost cut right through his cheek bone.

Still, he couldn't give in to his wounds just yet. He needed to buy as much time as possible for the others to get as far away from the abandoned city as they could. Jaune fought the weakness crawling up his arms as his aura could be seen sending off static in its weakened state. It wouldn't be long till his defense left him.

"I thought you said to cut the damn chatter and start slashing? I'm still standing, I'm still fighting! If you keep babbling like a dumb ass, then don't be surprised when I rip out your fucking tongue!" Jaune spat furiously, panting as he fixed his stance.

"Oooooooh! The vulgar tongue on this one!" Tyrian laughed as he posed his tail up, "Fine, I am starting to tire of those glaring eyes of yours. I might as well see just how much of a beating your corpse can take before I send you to your friends in slabs of ripped meat!" he said in glee.

Dashing back in for another stab at his guard, Tyrian began to channel his aura into his blade to finally shred the annoying aura over the blond's soft flesh. Even the boy's shield wouldn't be able to fully block his strike!

"Lock On! Hail Storm!"

In the distance, several spinning blue streaks of freezing ice intercepted the cackling braided Faunus. The cold metal dug into his chest, stunning him still as he found his body suddenly encased in a block of ice.

'Tyrian, The Mad Instinct of Carnage Lvl 107.

265,666HP/266,666HP.'

Falling into Jaune's side in a gust of swirling leaves, Ren could only frown at the amount of damage he had inflicted with one of his best firing techniques. At least he was able to Freeze him for a moment. No telling how long that would last.

"Ren? What are you doing here?" Jaune was stunned to see his teammate come to his rescue. Wasn't he supposed to be with Qrow?

Turning his head to his leader, Ren answered his question as he called on his inventory to heal his HP, "I handed Qrow Nora when we had made a good distance away from Oniyuri. He should be able to carry both of the girls to the next town safely with no problem. I couldn't leave you to die like a hero." he said softly, his eyes somber as he recalled the last person to do such a thing, "Pyrrha wouldn't be happy to see you so soon after she passed on."

The block of ice trapping Tyrian cracked, shaking visibly as the man began to break out of his icy prison. Jaune and Ren fell into their guarding stances, their muscles tensing as the muffled sound of the blood lusting Faunus chuckling escaped the cracks of the ice.

Smiling gratefully for the odd vial that healed his wounds, Jaune threw back the glass vial as he felt his aura begin to regenerate, "So, what do you think our chance of beating this monster is?" he asked as Tyrian's arms broke out.

"Better than us fighting him on our own. All we can do is hope to survive long enough to deliver a powerful enough blow to send him running." Ren answered. He smirked as he mentally shifted his Reactions and Abilities around for the fight, "Remember our fight with the Deathstalker?"

Jaune was confused at the mention of their first fight together as a team till his eyes fell onto the barbed tail breaking out of the ice. He grinned, his mind buzzing with a plan of attack.

Alone, they were strong. But together, they were a force to be reckoned with.

"Bastion Flower?" Jaune suggested as Tyrian finally shattered the ice encasing him with a bellowing laugh.

Ren smiled, his eyes glowing with energy as he loaded his weapons.

"You're the leader. Let's show him how we deal with scorpions."

Tyrian licked his lips as he brushed off the dust of ice on his shoulder, his eyes locking onto the pink eyed huntsman staring him down, "Another friend? My, how exciting! They do say, the more, the merrier!" he cackled madly before dashing forward.

Jaune and Ren turned their eyes to another, silently passing along a message as they nodded firmly and dashed forward to meet the crazed lunatic.

The chances of them fending him off and making Tyrian retreat were slim. But as long as they worked together, Ren knew that they had a chance.

All they had to do was place their trust in another. And fight as one.

---

The memory of their fight with Tyrian was an old one, one that should have been long forgotten with how many resets it's been since he recalled it. But it was one that Ren had treasured in his darkest of times. Of the bond he couldn't sever no matter how many times he dropped his leader's mangled body to the floor.

A rising flow of pink aura began to flow from Ren's stiff body. He visibly ground his teeth as he lifted his aura veiled hand in front of him. A boxed message hovered before his hand, pulsating with energy.

'Hyper Drive. Activate; Yes/No?'

All this talking and memories dug up was making Ren lose his cool. Frustration and anger seeped into his being as he slammed his hand over the unseen menu box. He was ending this. The sooner he broke Jaune's will, the sooner he would leave him alone!

"I'm done talking. This is where you lose!" Ren shouted as the flowing energy swallowed him in a pillar of pink aura. His ponytail came undone, allowing his long raven hair to flow wildly before dying into a neon pink color. A glowing slit appeared on his forehead, splitting wide open to reveal a burning magenta eye flowing with flames. His own eyes burned with energy lingering from his sight as strange green markings trailed over his skin. Storm Flower vanished from his fingers as he fell to the ground in a beast like crouch, leaving him with nothing but his clawed fingers as his body unleashed a shock wave that crushed the ground under him into a pressurized crater.

"Godspeed; Open, Gate of Hyper Velocity: Hyper Drive!"

A buffeting wind blew back against Jaune as he shielded his face. The hell was Hyper Drive?

A sonic boom rung in Jaune's ears, turning his squinting eyes past the blowing wind to find Ren's burning eyes close to his face in a snarl. Too fast, Ren was too fast to block as the pink flaming Player dug his fist deep into his gut. The punch was so fast, a sonic ring had been created from the velocity.

The blow sent Jaune flying back, grunting as he checked his HP to see how much damage he had been done. 50HP? That. . .wasn't right. Jaune couldn't think much on the damage output as Ren blurred behind him and snapped his feet in a high kick aimed for the back of his head. Again and again, Ren bounced Jaune around the train track yard in a barrage of kicks and punches. Kicking the blond knight high up in the air with an upward kick, Ren flew after him with a trail of energy behind him as his fingers were enveloped in a dragon's claw of aura.

"Velocity Heaven: Dragon's Drill!" Stopping above Jaune's airborne form, Ren clapped his clawed hands together before flipping over to aim for the knight's chest. His long haired wrapped around his body as he began to madly spin, his body transformed into a drill of violent pink energy rushing through Jaune's body. Jaune openly gasped in pain as Ren's body pierced his chest in a thin beam of neon light, causing him to spit out blood.

'Critical Hit!'

Crashing onto the ground, Ren materialized from the beam of light into a crouch. His body flared in a burst of neon flames before spear rushing into the descending blond Player. A series of blinking light beams crossed over Jaune's body as Ren vanished in a sonic boom. Multiple lacerations opened along Jaune's skin, spilling his blood out in the air before Ren reappeared above him again.

"Velocity Heaven: Dragon's Drill!"

Once again, Ren pierced Jaune in a drill rush of light with his claws. The speed of the attack was too much. Jaune crashed onto the ground with a booming thud, the two openly bleeding holes in his chest causing him to lose his breath as he choked on his own blood.

'Jaune Arc.

-5,100HP/6,000HP.'

What the hell just happened? Jaune tried to keep the bile of stomach acid and blood from escaping his mouth but failed as he threw up the burning red liquid onto his ragged leather hoodie. His aura had been shattered with the first drill strike via critical hit and the second one had dealt a fatal wound. Was his lung pierced? The fact that he couldn't breathe properly and the feeling of his lungs drowning said yes, they were pierced.

Calling on his inventory to try restoring his HP, Jaune was ready to bring the large potion to his bloody lips before a lashing foot shattered the vial to shards. Ren stared down at him, his burning eyes glaring into his own as he raised his foot above Jaune's grimacing blood stained face.

Crunch!

A gush of blood exploded as Ren caved in Jaune's face with a devastating curb stomp. Red pooled around his feet, sizzling against his burning aura flowing from his body. His face remained set in a cool glare as the cold body underneath his foot vanished in wisps of pixel light.

Three. That made it three dead blonds. And more to come.

An odd ache stabbed at Ren's head, causing a twitch to develop in his eye. From the overflowing energy around his body a black wisp began to form at the center of his chest. It went unnoticed as he turned his eyes to the resurrection sigil dropping Jaune back onto the battle grounds.

"I really hate the feeling of dying repeatedly!" Jaune hunched over in exasperation, sweating as he felt another chunk of his stamina leave his body. It was getting harder to keep a good grip on his sword! Straightening his back, Jaune raised his shield up just in time to block a claw thrust for his chest. He frowned in worry staring into Ren's glowering pink eyes. "You alright, Ren? You seem a lot more hostile than normal. And that's saying something." he grunted with a chuckle.

"Shut. . .up." Ren struggled to speak, flinching as the stabbing pain in his head grew worse. It felt like someone was taking a jack hammer to his skull. Shaking away the ache, Ren snarled as he pulled back his clawed hands. With blistering speed, he began to ram his clawed hands repeatedly into Crocea Mors shield with gunfire gusto.

'I'm not getting anywhere just defending. I need to up my attack strategy.' Good thing it seemed that Ren's physical attack had dropped. His special attacks were devastating, but it looked like his teammate had exchanged his attack power for insane speed. Thankfully casting all those spells had filled up his Soul Link meter.

"Reflect!" Bouncing the strikes back, Jaune clasped both his hands over the hilt of his sword as he began to activate his trump card. Bluish light erupted in a circle carving the ground around him as he began to chant the activation oath from his bond with Velvet.

"By the Light born by our Bond, I call upon the sword shining the proof of our Link, shedding away the darkness clasping our Souls; Unlimited Light Works!"

From the pillar of light peaking through the sky overhead, Jaune blew away the cladding light with a swing of his light born Crocea Mors as he stepped out in his ULW gear. A blurring claw flew for his face, only to be stopped by the light shield. Four small derringer guns made of light suddenly floated behind Jaune with four barrels stacked by two as he threw his free hand at the speed demon Ren had become, "Lumen Revolver!" The light guns began to revolve in a circle behind Jaune before firing a Gatling of gunfire. Ren dodged with a sonic boom, continuing his evasion as Jaune turned his guns after him. Each blast tore a chunk from the ground with each missed shot.

Dodging another four-point blast, Ren vanished from sight, appearing overhead of the light clad Player. He dove after him, intent on slamming his clawed fists into his opponent. ULW granted Jaune a boost in speed and light feet, so Jaune was able to jump back from the dive as Ren created a rippling pink shock wave with his missed hit. The raven-haired Huntsman continued to repeat the tactic, forcing Jaune to continue jumping back to avoid the diving claws and shock waves.

Timing Ren's dives just right, Jaune created a copy of Cardin's mace and slammed it towards Ren's head as he smashed the ground. Course that meant he had to endure the shock wave, losing about a hundred in HP, "Power Strike!" Ren shouted as his face was bashed by the magical weapon. His eyes went wide as the Dust crystal twinkled, detonating in a plume of brilliant light. 'Critical Hit!'

A large chunk of Ren's HP dropped as he was sent rolling on the ground. Huh, Jaune thought as he dispersed Beaufort to scan Ren's HP. From the single blow alone it looked like Ren was vulnerable to magic based attacks in this form of his. That gave him the advantage. The blow even stunned him as Ren struggled to get back up. Now or never, time to hammer him with everything he's got!

"Lumen Fall!" Summoning light copies of Myrtenaster to float above Ren's stunned form, Jaune dropped his hand, gesturing for the thin rapiers to crash down. The blades stabbed deep into Ren's body, smacking him back down as they pinned him to the ground. Jaune paused his hand for moment at the pained expression on Ren's face, but shook it away as he reached into his inventory. Professor Pitho's lessons had taught him a few new things about Dust and it was time he put those lessons to use. A Lightning Dust crystal fell into his hand that he quickly began pumping full of his light affinity aura. 'Let's see if this works.'

Charged full of aura, Jaune tossed the sparking crystal up above Ren's head just as he broke free from his rapiers. It was too little too late though as a bluish cloud formed over him, sparking wildly before raining down several thunder bolts that were far too fast to avoid. Ren's body lit up like a Christmas decoration; the intense scorching lightning cooking him alive made the teen scream loudly.

Snap. The pain in Ren's head came to an end as his mind grew blank like a white canvas. The lightning stopped, leaving him slouching as his body wafted with smoke and sparked.

Jaune cursed at the damage he had done. Damn, did he go too far? Even if Ren had done worse to him, it didn't mean it gave him an excuse to do the same. Dear god, he could actually smell the ranking odor of his friend's burnt skin. Ready to move over to check on him, Jaune was stopped by the blaring siren going off on his HUD.

'WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! SYSTEM ERROR! SYSTEM ERROR! PLAYER 2'S DATA HAS BEEN CORRUPTED! SUGGESTING CALL TO END PVP!'

Black miasma erupted from Ren's chest, replacing his neon energy with darkness. His eyes grew red as the whites of his eyes blackened and red veins popped around the corners of his forehead. A deep guttural scream bellowed from his being, shaking the very earth around them and cracking the ground.

"Ren! What's going on?!" Jaune shouted over the bellowing scream. It was so loud that his ears were beginning to ring. Port's lesson popped up in his head, causing the blond to look on in horror.

Was he. . .Falling?

'THIS IS NOT A DRILL! END PVP OR FACE DATA CORRUPTION NOW! RUN!'

"You. . .You were always the center of attention."

"What?" Jaune said in surprise as the screaming abruptly stopped. Even with the bellowing ending, whatever dark energy possessing Ren still shook the earth in tremors as he nearly tripped before the powerful shakes. Ren was still slouching, his ruby eyes glaring hatefully with such intensity it made Jaune step back.

"Even when I was cursed with The Gamer's powers. . .I was still nothing more than a side note compared to. . .you. No matter what I did. . . you always out shined me." Bloody tears rolled down Ren's paling face as his face scrunched up in deep seated despair. Horizon suddenly fell into his hands out of nowhere, painted black as the night sky with a red outlining. Falling into a drawing stance, Ren charged forward with a gut-wrenching cry.

"Reflect!" The larger form of Reflect's dome stopped the explosive recoil swing, rejecting Ren back on skidding feet. That did little to pause his attack as he kept charging back to wildly swing his longsword against the rejecting pixels.

"You. . .were always the hero. The one everyone turned to for hope. Even in the lives that you turned your back on us, everyone still reached out to you and... tried to save you." Heaving Horizon overhead, Ren dug in his feet as he slammed it against the magical shield. Energy sparks flew back against him as he fought to break the glass. His blood teared eyes glared deep into Jaune's soul as the blond grimaced over the almost overbearing force hitting against Reflect. "Every life you. . .were chosen as. . .the leader of team JNPR. No matter how strong and skilled I had become upon entering Beacon. . .Ozpin always chose you. And Pyrrha. . ." The tears flowed even more, creating a river of blood falling down his chin as Ren grimaced in anguish, "She. . .would fall in love with you every time! Everyone would! It didn't matter how strong or skilled I would become, I would never compare to you!"

An old memory resurfaced. One of Ren standing with a bent red rose in his hand as he watched Pyrrha finally confess her feelings to a blushing Jaune on the night of the dance. The rose lit up in flames, his face shadowed as he threw the burning flower to the side.

Reflect shattered into shards as Horizon broke through. It continued its path, scoring a deep slash against Jaune's chest. Jaune's hand flew to his bleeding wound, flinching before he grunted from creating a shield to hover in front of him to block a wide swing. Ignoring the deep slash, Jaune forged two straight blades of light into his hands and began to trade swings with Ren's longsword.

"Ren, what are you going on about?! What's happening to you? Please, tell me what's wrong!" Jaune cried out in the flurry of steel strikes clanging in the air.

"You're what's wrong! If you never existed, then I wouldn't have to suffer through the same grief over and over again! My life would be so much easier if you would just crawl up and die! I can't stand the overbearing light you give off!"

Raising Horizon overhead again, a dark mass of vile energy encased the long blade and formed a towering blade of cruel teeth. The very design was curved and its teeth gave off the image of a twisted grinning face with a beady ball of light. Ren screamed in rage as he slammed down the massive blade of darkness, the attack shadowing over Jaune as the blond looked on in stunned silence.

"JUST FUCKING DIE AND LET ME LIVE IN PEACE!"

Jaune ground his teeth as his light feet dashed out of the way. But the swing was surprisingly fast. Jaune's eyes flew open, his breathing hitching as the deadly towering blade fell to his side, lobbing off his left arm. An earthquake like tremble shook the earth as Ren's attack unleashed a massive ripple of dark energy that towered everything in sight in its path of destruction. Jaune's face was twisted in agony, his brow scrunching up as he swallowed back a sob. With trembling hands, he gripped the ripped shoulder of gushing red liquid as he stood beside the massive energy sword.

Pain. So much pain. The feeling of his arm being ripped apart was intense, but it was nothing compared to the agony Ren was displaying. Struggling to continue standing without his sword in hand, Jaune began to trudge his feet towards his anguished friend.

Ren snarled madly, his skin tone now a pale white that would put the very moon to shame, "What do you think you're doing? GET AWAY FROM ME, DAMN IT!" he roared. Black shuriken blades appeared in his hands before he threw them after the blond. Jaune didn't seem to care, taking the hits as the flying bladed stars smacked against his dwindling aura. One of them broke through, stabbing itself in his forehead. It made Jaune stumble and rear his head back. But still, he pushed on with a pained smile despite the energy star's point stabbing into his skull.

They always said he was an idiot. Jaune chuckled hoarsely as another salvo of dark stars dug into his skin. All this time, he had been asking Ren why he wouldn't help him in beating The Game. Never taking his feelings into consideration. He thought it was just a simple matter of trying again. But no, Jaune shook his head regretfully as felt a black focused beam pierce his lungs. A twisted version of Storm Flower floated beside both sides of Ren, firing rapid hyper beams at him.

Ren was broken. All the constant resets had broken his resolve. His friend had experienced heartbreak and loss too many times in what he guessed were hundreds of years gathered together with all his lives. If anything, Ren was an old man torn apart and beaten by the cruel world forcing him to play hero or villain. And it had drained him of everything, leaving behind a husk that wished nothing more than to be left alone.

Yet despite all the torment and agony, Ren still enrolled into Beacon alongside Nora. No matter how many times the green waistcoat huntsman may have abandoned them and even killed some of them in hopes of ending his curse, he would always go back to Beacon to become a member of team JNPR. There was a reason he always came back and Jaune was determined to find out what it was.

"Storm Blades!" Commanding his fanged pistols in mad spin, Ren fired them to tear apart the bloody blond coming ever closer. Jaune's aura had been shattered, leaving little resistance as the green disks sawed right through him, tearing off a chunk of flesh from his shoulder and waist. Anger and disbelief ran though his body as he watched Jaune ignore his fatal wounds and continue walking over.

"Get away!" Ren cried, his bloody tears ceasing as he drew Horizon for a stabbing strike. Jaune smiled weakly at the stance, not deterred in the slightest as he came within stabbing reach.

He wasn't surprised in the slightest as the longsword ran through his chest, puncturing some random organ. No, he simply shook his head with a laugh as he took Ren by utter shock by pulling the dark flowing Player in a one-armed hug.

"I'm sorry."

Ren's breathing stopped. His eyes trembled as his friend's blood began to drench his waistcoat and trickle below their feet. What. . .did he just say?

Tears rolled down Jaune's cheeks as he hugged his best friend tighter, "I'm sorry for ignoring your pain. I've only been thinking about myself and never thought about all the suffering you've had to endure. God only knows how old you really are. And here I suddenly come, attaining the same curse you've been suffering through by yourself. I guess I was really insulting you by believing I could come into this world of yours and fix everything. I really am pathetic." he said with eyes filled with sorrow.

". . .Get away from me."

"But I know we can still find some way to win. And I'll do whatever it takes to save you from your despair!"

"I SAID GET AWAY FROM ME!" Ren shouted, fighting against the surprisingly strong hold on him. He slumped into the embrace, losing his will as the darkness grew thicker. He felt cold. Hollow. Like he was fading away from existence. The thought brought a smile to his face.

If. . .if Ren could just fade away to nothing, then all this pain would finally leave him. He would finally be free.

Jaune smiled brightly, his face heavily bruised with tints of green, purple, and blue along with the slick red paint of his own blood staining his face. Through the fog of darkness devouring them both and even paling his own skin the same tint as Ren, he held on to his dear friend.

"I promise, I'll save you no matter what."

Even if he too faded away to nothing in the process.

". . . . . You. . . .really are something else, Little Player."

Silence fell upon the world, ceasing the earthquake shocks as the darkness erupting out of Ren froze still. Pain vanished, his wounds stopped bleeding, and Jaune's heart began to steadily beat again. Even his breathing had returned to normal despite the punctured lung. A familiar presence fell behind him, turning his eyes to find Husk's brown paper bagged face greeting him.

"Husk? What are you doing here?" Jaune asked in confusion.

The otherworldly being didn't answer. Too focused on what he was witnessing in front of his very eyes.

Corruption. Even with their status as Player's, those who've inherited The Gamer were still vulnerable to their own negativity. They would Fall, just like any other human. And when that happened, their Data would become corrupted by The God of Darkness and lost forever. Many other hosts had lost their souls to data corruption, never allowing them to be capable of housing the power of The Gamer ever again. That was why only powerful souls were suited for the godlike ability. It was a miracle that Will, Remnant, and Husk had been able to even find three souls to last for so long and not have their Data corrupted.

Will must have known that Lie Ren's Data was beginning to become corrupted. With that in mind, the ball of flaming wisps must have had hurriedly found a new host to help ease the corruption in the form of a friend. Which backfired horribly; Will had never been one to understand how Oum's creations worked. The negativity bubbling within Ren's soul grew to a boiling point threatening to break his soul. And now his soul was corrupted, just about ready to lose its ability to ever house The Gamer. Even worse, it was beginning to infect their newest addition like a virus.

So, why was it that the blond Player was still fighting to save his friend who was already lost? Jaune would only lose himself in the trouble. What kind of masochist could put up with all that pain?

Jaune Arc. What an interesting soul.

Husk sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. Couldn't deny the sheer determination in the kids resolve. Only idiots were too stupid to give up.

It made Husk grin widely as he walked to stand next to the still impaled Player.

About time someone stupid played hero.

"You know, it's probably too late to do anything for him. Ren's Data is about 99.9% corrupted. Once it reaches a hundred, his soul will be incapable of housing The Gamer's gift. The Mind will die. And in a way, your friend will be free of his curse. So, don't you think it's better that you leave him to Fall into his own despair?" Husk asked as he gestured to the frozen fountain of darkness that was Ren.

Husk had a point. Wasn't that what Ren wanted? To be free of his curse? Jaune looked back into the bleeding red eyes replacing Ren's magenta pink orbs, the expression of anguish, sorrow, loathing, and pain cementing his decision as he nodded firmly.

"If Ren truly wanted for his soul to die, then he wouldn't have held on for this long. Something's still pushing him to move forward. He still has hope inside there. And I am going to dig it out!" Jaune said with determined shout.

The conviction made Husk's own decision all the firmer. He shrugged as he reached his dried blood stained bandaged hands into his pocket. It was against the rules, but he was sure even Will would forgive him if it meant keeping its game going.

"Guess there's nothing I can do to stop you, is there?" Husk chuckled as he pulled his hand out. Several digital coded circles enveloped his arm in jumbled mess. Spinning the data around in complicated revolutions, the godly merchant nodded as he found what he was looking for. An odd toothed digital key blinked into his hand. Just what he needed.

"Good thing I forgot to give Will its Admin Keys back. If you're so determined to save your friend from losing his memories and wisdom to the darkness, then I would be a complete jackass if I didn't help you out. Still don't understand what makes you believe you can though. He's one percent away from losing it all."

"A chance is still a chance." Jaune said firmly as he watched Husk point the golden key at Ren's chest. A hologram like lock manifested by a swarm of numbers popped open at the key's presence, blinking rapidly before the sound of a lock snapping open could be heard, "Even if it's just 1%, it's more than enough to try and save my friend. I owe him that much for all the pain I've caused him." he said softly.

"Hmm. I guess this is what you humans call 'Hope'. What a weird emotion." Husk said with a tired sigh. Waving his hand around, the key vanished in a burst of pixels. "I've unlocked Lie Ren's Core, the plane within his soul that houses The Gamer's Mind. All the data he's accumulated over the countless years is stored within along with whatever negativity is corrupting his soul. My job here is done, it's up to you to find the source and eliminate it in whatever way you can. All Players are gifted with special traits that grant certain bonuses, it just turns out that having The Heart of The Gamer allows you the special ability to cure others of Falling. I will warn you of this however," he said with a voice of seriousness, "If you die within his Core, you will cease to exist. Not even all three of us godly beings can restore your soul once its lost within a Core that's been corrupted. For all our endless powers, we are incapable of interfering with a soul besides gifting it with a Gamer's trait. So, try not to die in there."

Bright light flowed gently from Jaune's body as he nodded, "I'm done dying here. It's about time I've started pulling my own weight. Whatever it takes, I promise to save Ren. He's my only male best friend! Without him, all the girls would out number me and do god only knows what to me." Jaune laughed as he felt his body transform into light. Slowly, his body began to flow in lingering wisps into Ren's unlocked Core, transferring him within his soul, "I'll find the hope he's been hiding and smack it across his face! About time he got off his lazy ass and began putting his all into this life. Otherwise I'll be forced to figure out a way to drag Nora and the rest of the team with me in there."

The last of Jaune's body began to enter Ren's soul, leaving only his brightly grinning face behind before joining the rest of his body.

"An Arc never goes back on their word. And I plan on keeping my promise!"

Watching the last of Jaune enter the frozen raven haired Player, Husk couldn't help but continue to watch on as he crossed his arms. The kid was in the one place that none of them could ever reach physically or spiritually. Oum had made it one of many unbreakable rules that they could never interfere with their souls in such a way. Leaving the humans true will to follow their own destinies. All except a select few that were permanently locked with certain destinies.

"Let's see just how strong your own will is, kid." Husk smirked as he sat down to wait and see the results.

A bigger battle was about to take place. A clash of hope and despair.

Wonder which one was stronger?

---

One final push! Despair has set in, but it's not too late to bring out the hope buried deep within! People, we are about to go Diving! Quick! Someone play Simple and Clean, we need atmosphere!

As for the lack of DLC today, I'll try to set something up for next week to please ya's. In the meantime, if you're in need of some extra reading, I would suggest my other story published last week. Arc Works, a series of one-shots for future stories in the making. I already have two one-shots already published and one final one that I hope to release tomorrow. If you're a fan of smut, I would wait until tomorrow. The next one is a filthy one. Got some advice from SpookyNooodle on how to write the scenes, so hopefully it'll be up to par with his.

I'll be honest, I'm going to be busy looking for a new place to live for the next month. My writing will suffer, but I will try to write what I can. Hopefully I can finish Chapter 20 next Saturday.

Now, for bed. Been skipping out on sleep lately.

Read and Review. It's common courtesy.

NeoShadows fading in and out.