Author's note: WHAT'S THIS? Another chapter? Heh, going back to the whole ordeal of me saying I wanted to give something to hold yall over…I hope these chapters do. Figured I ride out the momentum for this one before I have to pick it up again later…metaphorically speaking. Also an attempt to sped up the story progression. That being said…enjoy!
Chapter II
"AAAAHHAHAAHAHAA!" Nora laughed at the top of her lungs. Yet another streak of lightning flickered out from the clouds and through the pouring rain, striking down to the tips of her outstretched pinky finger. She felt the sheer electricity from the lightning bolt surge through her muscles and veins, invigorating and boosting her strength by who-knows-what amount. The rain that pelted her and soaked her clothes and skin only made Nora more conductible. Sparks and shock discharges cackled around her fists as her semblance converted it into power. Raw power.
Beaming a viciousness grin, Nora braced her footing against the rooftop and channeled a miniscule amount of energy into her legs.
"WEEEEE!" the girl exclaimed as she kicked off from the rooftop and into the air, travelling dozens of meters within a few seconds. Harsh winds battered against her and rain assailed her entire body as she 'flew' upwards. All of the electricity that she absorbed and flickered out from her made Nora glow amid the darkened sky. Reaching the highest point of her trajectory before gravity began to tug on her, Nora concentrated all of her newly absorbed strength into her arms and hands. The voltage of natural lightning converted into force equated to –
"SMASH!" Nora cried at the top of her lungs and gave a single clap.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!
The thunder-like soundwave blasted throughout the air, over the entirety of Beacon, and heard from the city of Vale. It was so powerful that its rippling shockwaves flung the girl higher into the sky. Ignoring the white ringing noise in her ears, Nora giggled as she plummeted back down towards the rooftop. Despite the added boost and the wind and rain obscuring her path, she could see the outline of the rooftop as she plunged downward. Seconds pasted before she finally touch downed.
"Oof!" Nora squeaked as she landed on her rear.
Picking herself up from the fractured rooftop floor, she dusted the debris off of her drenched cloths.
"I wish Ren could've seen that…" she pouted.
After she, and Ren, rescued Weiss's bellhops from exploding from all the new grenades she had bought for Magnhild for the Vytal Festival, they all sorted their luggage and unpacked; Team RWBY even joined in too with their own bags.
It was later when they were done unpacking and Nora took off her headphones did she realize the pouring thunderstorm that was raging outside dorm and blackening the whole sky. Obviously, her first instinct was to go out and sing in the rain, but then as more and more lightning bolts lit up the clouds, she hatched the clever idea of playing with lightning. Electricity was a part of her semblance after all.
Sadly, she found herself playing out in the thunderstorm on the roof top alone. Ren decided to spend some relaxing time in the library to catch up on a few books. Even though she really wished he was out here watching her wield the power of lightning, she was pretty sure that his books weren't waterproof by any means. Plus they did spend the whole summer together; she reasoned that some alone time was warranted.
Jaune and Pyrrha took off for some sparring practices. Their team leader had initially been reluctant, but thanks to Pyrrha reminded him about the Vytal Festival Tournament ahead of them, and her own enthusiastic "coaxing", Jaune relented and took off with Pyrrha. Nora had initially invited them to join her on the rooftop since they often held their training sessions on a different area on the rooftop, but they weren't too fond with getting drenched by the weather and decided to train in the gym.
She rolled her eyes at the thought of those two lovebirds. How could Jaune be sooo oblivious and Pyrrha be sooo timid?! If they didn't get together-together by the end of this semester she would absolutely take matters into her…
Nora turned and stared up at the rainclouds above them. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped at what she sensed. Her dealings with electricity have taught her not only how to channel it into her energy but also how to detect electrostatic buildups and potential discharges in the atmosphere. She could practically smell the ozone! If she could align herself with its trajectory and absorb all of its voltage and convert it into strength…
The girl's maniacal giggles were a mixture of giddiness and insanity as she clamored to the highest point on the rooftop. She reached her destination, stood tall and proud, and pulled Magnhild out into the air. That lightning was going to be hers!
Out from the darkness came the discharge. Nora's eyes gleamed with excitement. The tremendous lightning bolt lash down from the sky and…..completely flew over her and Magnhild. Nora immediately spun her head around and watched the lightning streak off into the sky and struck somewhere off in the distance. Judging by the general location, the massive lightning bolt struck somewhere in Forever Falls, a place being concentrated by lightning strikes for some odd reason.
"Awww." Nora cried and slumped her Warhammer/grenade launcher. She was really looking forward to catching that massive lightning bolt. That oddly aligned…powerful… and the slowest trackable lightning bolt she had ever seen.
"Oh well." Nora bubbled and went back to conducting.
"Reverse time, save the future."
Her voice echoed throughout his mind. He could feel the hot sensation of prickling needles begin to dissipate all over his body and fade away into the air along with the heaviness of his limbs. Scans indicated that he was still in one piece and his shield and sword were still with him.
His nerves slowly began to detect the surroundings. He could already tell that his knees and hands were dug deep into dirt while high levels of ozone surrounded him, rain pattered against his frame and hair, and reality returned all around him. All systems were nominal. Finally, he opened his eyes and laid sight upon his armored fingers protruding from charred dirt.
Jaune pulled his hands out from the ground and rose. Steam hissed off from his armor as the rainfall attempted to cool him down. His readings showed optimal functionality and his power still flowed through his body. The cybernetic knight switched to night-vision and took in his surroundings. Aside from the scorch marks on the trees surrounding the clearing his arrival had made, he could see the red leafs of the forest everywhere.
'Forever Falls.'
He turned his head to the south and could see the coastal city of Vale in the distance. If Vale was intact, then that meant…
Jaune slowly shifted his gaze to the east. There in the distance shined the green glow of the CCT, located right in the heart of Beacon Academy. Jaune let go a sigh of utter relief.
Project: Continuum was a success.
Warnings suddenly flashed across his vision. Turning his head to the source, Jaune quickly spotted a Grimm emerging from the forest and approach. Identifying the protruding spikes and claws, Jaune turned and faced the massive Ursa Major. His memory suddenly flashed back to an all-too-familiar situation so very long ago; tree sap, a bully, and his first Grimm kill ever. Being the newcomer from the future and all, it appeared that an Ursa Major was going to serve as his first kill yet again.
More scans detected increased movement and his eyes caught sight of several other Ursai approaching. So the circumstance had changed but the situation remained the same. He had to get to Beacon by dawn. If his memory served correct, then he would definitely find means of discrete transport within the city of Vale and would have to travel without attracting too much attention. He would just have to get there right after he took care of these Grimm.
Jaune drew his massive sword and equipped his shield. He really should've taken the time to fixed his shield beforehand. The Ursa Major roared its challenge and the others readied their claws. Something felt strangely off to him though, almost if he was missing something.
Realizing what it was, Jaune glanced down at his right shoulder and discovered that his cloak had vanished completely. It must've burned up during the whole time-travelling process. Damn.
The Ursa Major bellowed a mighty roar; a roar that immediately died when Jaune's blade decapitated its head off. The other Ursai proceeded with caution as they spread out and encircled their foe and their fallen. Abandoning all caution, the sleuth of Ursai lunged forward. Less than a minute lapsed before they lay lifeless on the charred ground.
Rhythmic beats from the speakers reverberated throughout the red monochromatic club. Few had shown up during the night due to the horrible storm occurring outside of the club's walls. What was meant to be an exclusive V.I.P party event turned into a night of sullen business.
Junior leaned his elbow on the bar and observed the dance floor. All of the few dancers on the dance floor were his uniformed henchmen on break. He had half a mind to reprimand them and put them back to work to keep to business, but there was no business to speak of. He'd reasoned to give them this night for slacking. He knew that somewhere in the club were the Malachite twins, but he was pretty sure they were off finding something to do and wouldn't show up unless something or someone decided to wreak havoc.
The silver lining to all of this? Nobody was there to cause a hassle. No cleanup would be needed afterwards; no troubles would be caused; and he was pretty sure that a specific blondie wouldn't be showing up either to cause property damage. Content, Junior reached beneath the bar and took out a bottle of his favorite alcoholic drink.
All of a sudden he heard commotion coming from the front. The club owner glanced across the dance floor and saw two of his henchmen barging through the massive twin doors and rush to close them shut. Junior grunted in irritation as he set aside his bottle and hopped over the bar. Just when he thought he could close early tonight.
"What's going on?" Junior called out to them. One of the henchmen that ran inside quickly made his way over to him. His uniform suit was disheveled and his red shades were cracked.
"S-sir he came down from the rooftops!" the poor henchman stuttered in his terrorized state. "The guys in front tried to throw him out b-but he j-just-"
A metallic bang resonated from the front doors.
Everyone in the club stopped what they were doing and stared at the intruder. The intruder stood in the middle of the entrance threshold with one armored hand raise, no doubtingly the same one he used to force the doors open.
Junior sized up the man armored in white from afar. Was he a robot? No, half of the man's helmet was missing and revealed a very human face. A human face with an eyepiece over a blue eye and wavy…blond…hair. It was obvious that this guy wasn't on the V.I.P. list either.
"Why are you idiots standing around?" Junior barked and motioned his henchmen forward, "Deal with him!"
The mob of henchmen drew their weapons and rushed forward. The intruder's eye narrowed as they drew close.
Junior watched in utter incredulity as his men were launched and thrown all over the place. He had to duck to avoid two of them being thrown him. He watched in dread as henchmen were flung into the wine import storages, shattering unopened bottles and knocking over entire wall-sized storage racks. Several henchmen were sent crashing into the floor and left trenches upon their skidding impacts. A few were tossed through the decorative glass columns and shattered them. One was tossed all the way over at the DJ, effectively taking the two of them out and destroying the music system. If the sound behind him pointed anything out it was that they henchmen he had dodged had crashed into the bar and breaking a ton of glassware and wood. Junior turned and nearly choked at what he saw: the two henchmen were sent through the bar! Junior immediately ran off to get his weapon.
Jaune sent the last of the henchmen crashing through another glass column. He hadn't wanted to resort to this, but it was the only way he was going to get in and obtain what he needed. Thankfully he had no need to use his sword against these men, as evident as their unconscious bodies were strewed throughout the club. All of this could have been avoided if they had just let him in.
He took a few steps forward before he was confronted by the two twins dressed in white and red respectively. If his memory served correct: Melanie and Militia Malachite. His eyes glanced back and forth between the two of them as they spoke.
"So like, who's the cutie?" Melanie drawled and readied her heel blades.
"I have no idea Melanie, but he's, like, being bad." Militia replied and flashed out her claws.
"We should totally punish him for causing a mess."
"Totally."
Melanie leapt forward and slashed her left heel-blade to his face. Militia darted forward with her right claw aimed to stab his torso. Jaune reacted faster than they could see. Both of the twin's eyes widened when his sidestepped their attacks and countered. His armored hands clamped down on Melanie's ankle and crunched around Militia's claws. Less than a second later and the twins were yanked from midair and swirled around. Jaune swooped his right arm upward and released Militia flying into the light set above while coming around in his momentum and flinging Melanie across the club. The girl in white crashed into the wall next to the bar. The twins let out a groan before their vision faded to black.
Everywhere throughout the club spread the carnage of battle. Glass shards lay scattered amongst the bodies that broke them. Hundreds of wine bottles were shattered from the tipped over racks and gallons their alcoholic contents seeping everywhere. The dance floor itself was covered with unconscious bodies and ploughed out troughs from the henchmen he threw into the ground. Walls, speakers, the DJ platform, lighting system above, and the bar; all smashed to pieces.
The henchmen laid unconscious everywhere, Militia dangled haphazardly from the broken lights above, and Melanie slipped out of the wall she crashed into and dropped to the floor.
He reverted his attention back to his target: the burly man stepping over the remains of the destroyed bar counter hefting a bazooka-bat weapon.
From the looks of it, it had just recently been fixed too.
"You come into my club uninvited, beat up my men, destroyed all of my drinks, and destroy my club." Junior snarled, "You're going to down, party crasher."
Jaune watched as the man fired a scatter shot of miniature rockets. His scanners immediately detected all the incoming explosive projectiles converging on him. He didn't even need to rely on his system's readings to calculate a counter response. Jaune braced his legs and jumped through the narrow opening.
The rockets struck behind him and he erupted out of the explosion, bounding forward and landed within an arm's length from his target, who had already anticipated his movement and swung his bazooka bat from overhead. Jaune merely flashed out his hand and caught the weapon on its descent. He tightened his hold on the weapon and shattered its bulk with a crunch before lashing out with his other hand and seizing Junior's throat. The sudden jolt of pain and choke forced the club owner to drop his once again broken weapon.
Fear dilated Junior's eyes as he was raised into the air. Breath began to slip from his lungs and his hands shot up to pry himself from the metallic clawed hand to no avail. If his broken weapon indicated anything it was that he shouldn't struggle while his throat was being gripped by being who broken his weapon with his bare hand. He painfully shifted his gaze and looked the stranger in the eye.
"What…do…you…want?" Junior grunted through gnashed teeth.
Jaune stared in silence at the ruffled man struggling in his grasp.
"I need a Bullhead," he replied and lowered the club owner to his eye level, "and I need one now."