A/N: Wow. I am an idiot. I completely forgot to upload this chapter, even though I already had it waiting in the Manager. Smh. Sorry. XD
After a year of training at Beacon, as well as fighting a war against Cinder, Jaune had faced and fought several people wielding dozens of different types of weapons. With the help of his friends and teammates, he improved his fighting style and learned to adapt on the fly. Sure, he still was nowhere close to Pyrrha's level of adaptation, but at least nowadays he wasn't caught off guard because of someone wielding strange instruments of mass destruction. Unfortunately, Pyrrha had never gone over what to expect when Jaune was faced with kitchen knives and cutlery.
A four-pronged fork whistled in the air as it flew towards Jaune's eye, blocked from its trajectory as he raised his shield. The barrier also caught a few other knives, forks, and sharp spoons flying towards Jaune. With a yelp, the knight scrambled backwards and jumped through a window, rolling and slinging the shield onto his back, sprinting through the alleyways. He could feel a few more kitchen implements striking his shield, but none of them were strong enough for Jaune to feel it much.
Crack!
Of course, sniper bullets were way stronger than thrown kitchen tools, and caused Jaune to stumble and lose his footing, making him to crash into the ground. Cursing quietly, he struggled to pick himself up, spitting out some loose gravel that made its way into his mouth.
Jaune, above!
Without thinking, the knight raised his head and shouted "Fus Ro Dah!", blasting a green-eyed Blake backwards, her yowling fading into the distance.
"Uh. Whoops?"
Behind you!
Again, without much time to talk, Jaune spun around, swinging his sword around to meet Pyrrha's shield, ducking under the thrust of her javelin. Then she kicked him, sending him backwards and hitting the wall to the side of him, knocking his out his breath. Gasping, Jaune rolled away from another sharp slice that went through the brick and mortar behind him. I'm too slow to fight against Pyrrha, Jaune thought, which was something that Vedrahgol wholeheartedly agreed to. Deciding that fighting wasn't going to amount to much, Jaune turned and ran, wincing every time Pyrrha sent a shot flying out of the rifle form of Miló. Of course it wouldn't be that simple, as Nora crashed into the ground in front of him, hand gripping Magnhild menacingly. Jaune looked up to see Ren standing on one of the rooftops, which means leaving that route wasn't going to work either. Taking a deep breath, Jaune simply decided that the best way out was through.
Sprinting towards Nora, Jaune screamed, which didn't faze the girl at all. The shield on his back protected him from any shots aimed at the back, his aura taking care of any stray shots that weren't deflected initially. Nora hefted her hammer upwards, and swung hard, aiming to pop Jaune's head like a watermelon.
"Feim Zii Gron!"
And he passed cleanly through Nora, running as fast as he could, lungs unburdened as he stayed in this weightless form. Taking advantage of his current form, Jaune fazed through several walls, losing his friends in the process. It would've been a great success, if he didn't slam into a wall of ghosts standing in front of him, holding up their pitchforks and saw blades menacingly. Jaune stopped in his tracks and turned to the left, only to find the ghosts quickly surrounding him. Gritting his teeth, Jaune raised his sword high into the air as his form bled back into reality. With a fierce yell that sounded more like a panicked scream, Jaune slashed towards the nearest ghost, cutting him cleanly in half.
The last thing Jaune expected was the ghost wailing, and then exploding, ethereal fire spreading across the room, touching nothing but the ghosts that stood inside. They all screamed in pain and dispersed, several fading away completely, while the rest simply fled the scene. Jaune stood there in open-mouthed shock, looking at Crocea Mors with wonder. The simple blade seemed to gleam, almost like it was winking back at the knight.
A cracking sound behind him pulled him back into reality, and Jaune jumped back, the wall behind him crumbling as Cardin stepped through, with Nora and Yang following close behind.
Every single hard hitter, Jaune noted, holding up his sword and swinging his shield around. He collapsed the shield back into a sheath, clipping it back on his belt, holding the arming sword with both hands high up in the sky, an unspoken challenge towards the three of them. The three of them gladly took the challenge, sprinting towards him without a word spoken between them. The blonde boy mentally counted their steps, and when they were close enough, he shouted at them, blasting them back with the simple power of an unrelenting force.
"Fus Ro Dah!"
Once again they were caught off guard, Cardin and Nora blown backwards. Yang on the other hand, managed to side step the blast, path diverted for a brief second before she continued to charge at Jaune. With his sword still ready, Jaune swung it in a downwards arc, slamming it onto the brawlers cuffs as she raised them to block the blade. Jaune readied himself for another shout, but his breath was knocked aside as Yang changed tactics, crouching and tackling Jaune, causing them both to stumble onto the ground.
They struggled back and forth, fists and knees and elbows making contact as they tried to knock the other one out.
I can't kill Yang, Jaune thought desperately. He couldn't kill any of his friends. There had to be another way, any other way that could stop them from attacking him. Vedrahgol answered back just as frantically.
Do you notice something strange about the way they are all moving?
Jaune had a hard time thinking about something like that when Yang was still trying to gouge his eyes out, but with so much practice splitting his focus between inner conversations and outer, Jaune slowly pieced together what Vedrahgol wanted him to realize.
They're slower than usual. Sloppier.
Exactly! This means they are still fighting against the pull of Molag Bal. We simply just need to give them the final push to break free!
Well, I hope you've got something up your sleeve, 'cause I certainly don't. Jaune wheezed as an elbow connected near his stomach, frighteningly close to his jewels. Using his legs, Jaune wrapped them around Yang's hips and spun, landing on top of her and straddling her stomach, pinning her down with his weight.
I do. It's just…
Just what? Tell me already! Jaune leaned left and right to avoid Yang's wide swings, her fists whistling through the air.
You are not ready for this. It may harm you quite a bit if you do not prepare yourself appropriately.
Jaune growled, miraculously managing to grab Yang's wrists and pinning her down completely, although he wasn't so sure he could last against her bucking him so violently for much longer.
Just give it to me!
All hesitation went out the window as Vedrahgol imparted him the knowledge and means to use this power, and Jaune opened his mouth, shouting the words that rippled across the air, causing Yang to scream in pain.
"Gol Hah Dov!"
And suddenly Jaune couldn't see. He couldn't smell, he couldn't touch, he couldn't hear a single thing. Suddenly his body was floating in a black abyss, and he couldn't bring himself to care for anything in the world. All was peaceful. Blissful. Jaune wanted to stay forever.
But he couldn't.
Just as suddenly as he had entered the state of blinding bliss, Jaune was pulled out of it, and every pain that he had suffered, every tired creak of the bones, every pounding headache that he had felt the last few months visited him with a vengeance, and his vision whited out, this time because of the immense pain. It was torture to the highest degree, and Jaune's body vibrated with pain.
Then, a little bit of warmth.
It wasn't much, but it was enough to take Jaune's mind off of the hurt that his body was going through. It flickered like a flame, and Jaune dove into it, letting the fire spread across his whole body. From his lips, to his head, to his chest and all the way through the rest of his being.
Opening his eyes, Jaune saw Yang pull away from the kiss, eyes full of concern.
"Hey there." The knight croaked, feeling like the inside of his throat had been scratched out by sandpaper. Yang smiled a little, but her eyes never changed, still watching him, wondering if everything was alright. He found that his hands were still gripped tightly across Yang's wrists, his whole body locked in place. Releasing his grip made his hands hurt, but he managed to do it, rolling off of her body.
"You alright there?"
Jaune didn't bother lying, shaking his head, wanting to sleep for the next month. The world wasn't so kind, as Nora and Cardin returned, this time accompanied by the rest of their teams, as well as Team RWBY, ready to fight Jaune. The blonde boy felt Yang tug on his arm, strong enough that it pulled him up to his feet, Yang's eyes flaring as she looked at everyone standing in front of her.
"Alright," Yang said lowly, "Running it is." And took off with a sprint, roaring as she blasted a hole through the nearest wall. The others started their chase, no sound being made from them. Gunfire rang out as well, some of them taking potshots at the retreating forms.
Jaune stumbled along as best he could, but his mind was still in shambles, his body still aching from the previous use of the shout.
"Just… leave me… behind." Jaune said slowly. Yang slowed down and turned to look at him, eyebrows arched. "I'll… slow you down… just go…"
"You've got to be kidding me." Yang said dryly, swinging them abruptly into a nearby alley. They stayed there for a moment, not daring to breathe as the their mind-controlled friends rushed past, intent on searching for them. The two of them waited until all was quiet before Yang set Jaune down, a vicious frown on her face.
"You can't possibly think that I'm just going to leave you here."
"Why not?" Jaune challenged, grunting as he struggled to keep himself sitting upright.
"Well for one, what would I even do if I 'go at it alone'?" Yang rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Am I just supposed to go and kill dragons by myself and win the war or something. That's not really my responsibility."
"You don't have to fight." Jaune objected weakly, before getting steamrolled over by Yang.
"Yeah, I kind of do! All of our friends aren't… well, themselves, and you think I'm just going to leave them like that? I know you aren't the brightest bulb around, but I didn't realize you were that burnt out." Jaune frowned at the comparison, but couldn't really think of anything to say back to her.
"Alright then. What do you think we should be doing?" Jaune shot back at her, to which she replied with a smirk.
"We fight. Like we always do. You snapped me out of it, so why can't we do the same for everyone else?"
Jaune shook his head, pointing at himself. "Do you see me right now? I… almost lost it trying to get you free. I don't think I can do this one more time, let alone a dozen more."
"We'll figure something out." Yang said, her tone impatient, insistent. Jaune sighed, resting his head against the wall. His mind was still in shambles, and it hurt just thinking about his Shouts at the moment. But Yang was right. They couldn't stop here.
"Fine. Help me up." Jaune held out a hand, letting Yang pull him up again. Letting go, Jaune discovered his sense of balance again, his legs not giving away under his weight. The boy gave a shaky smile to Yang, who sighed in relief, before closing in and kissing him.
"What was that for?" Jaune asked, stunned at the feeling. Yang smirked and slammed her knuckle together, making a menacingly loud sound.
"Something to draw inspiration from."
Jaune nodded, his mind whirring, finally, and allowing him to think.
"I think I might have just the thing."