A/N: I kind of let loose with the violence in this chapter, be warned
VVVVVVVVVV
Three Years before the 80th Vytal Festival tournament.
"Soaring Ninja Wins!" The game on the screen said, Jaune watched with satisfaction as Jasmine sat there fuming.
"How!?" She exclaimed. "How does that even happen! I needed one more friggin' hit on you! One!"
Jaune shrugged, looking smug, "What can I say sis? You can't leave yourself open to counterattacks."
Jasmine jabbed her left index finger at him. "I call that a fluke!" She picked up her controller again. "One more game! I'm gonna wipe that stupid smirk off your face!"
Jaune smiled, "Bring it on!"
All talking died down as the two young Arcs focused on the fighting game. The only sound that could be heard were their fingers furiously hitting the buttons on their controllers. Jaune had to admit, Jasmine was doing much better this round, but he had put over a hundred hours into this game.
"Oh yeah!" Jasmine cheered, "Say hello to my twelve hit punish combo!"
"Countered." Jaune replied simply. Jasmine looked on in disbelief as the victory she envisioned slipped out of her grasp.
"What!? Those aren't supposed to be counterable!" She shouted.
"Slight lapse on the invincibility frames on the ninth hit." Jaune explained matter-of-factly. "It's the only chance to counter and the timing is difficult, but get it right…."
"Soaring Ninja Wins!" The game said once again.
Jaune's lips curled upwards into a smile, "And you can do that."
Jasmine was rendered speechless for a few moments. Jaune thought she was going to go on another rant, but she actually looked impressed by him. It was a look he was not familiar with.
"You know, you might not have the best skills at the physical aspects of combat, but you definitely got some potential in the tactics part." His sister told him.
He felt his eyebrows raise. "Really?"
Jasmine nodded, "Yeah, you just have to apply what you did to me to your practices."
Jaune shook his head in response, "It feels different though, when I'm playing games like this."
His sister gave him a confused look, "How so?"
He sighed, his shoulders sagging slightly, "I don't know, maybe it's the fact that these are just pixels on a screen rather than real people getting violently beaten to a pulp. Seeing actual people in the real world doing stuff like this, it's intimidating."
For a long moment, Jasmine stared at him. Jaune had the feeling she was mulling over what he had just told her. It was something he hadn't told anyone, not even his father.
"I see." She finally said. "We'll have to work on that."
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Present Day
Ruby Rose circled around to the altered's left, leaving Ren to distract him with gunfire. She had taken over leading the assault on the grimm-hybrid from Jaune and so far the transition had been smooth. She worked well with Ren and Nora and they were chipping away at the altered. However, they couldn't afford to relax, one wrong move could lead to serious injury or even death, these altered didn't mess around. Still, it was strange, Richter was an altered as well, but he never acted this savage. Was he holding back this feral nature the entire time? That must have taken a huge amount of willpower.
She watched as Ren and the altered were facing each other sliding down a hill. Ren was firing his automatic pistols at the grimm-hybrid, who was blocking the shots with his arms. Nora charged in on the altered's right, according to plan. The hammer-wielding huntress executed an overhead swing aiming for the grimm-hybrid's right temple. The altered however reached up with its right hand and caught the top part of Magnhild's handle. He then proceeded to toss Nora into Ren's torso, knocking them both down. Ruby winced, that had not gone according to plan.
The red-cloaked huntress flew in from the altered's left. She lashed out with Crescent Rose in a horizontal swing, which the grimm-hybrid swiftly ducked under. Landing near the altered's right side, Ruby narrowly crouched under a backhand the grimm-hybrid delivered towards her face. She then leapt straight up into the air, as high as her legs and a recoil shot could carry her, avoiding the altered's left fist before he could punch the top of her skull in the process.
Using another recoil shot, Ruby dropped down from the skies like a vengeful red angel. The altered crossed his forearms above his head, blocking Ruby's slash which would have bisected him from head to groin. The clash cratered the ground beneath the grimm-hybrid, but other than that, Ruby's attack had no effect. She growled and used a recoil shot to backflip a safe distance away.
Nora covered her escape by shifting Magnhild to a grenade launcher, firing two of the explosive projectiles at the altered. The grimm-hybrid swatted them away with his hands and two explosions of pink Dust went off on either side of him. While he was distracted, Ren took the opportunity to deliver a nasty diagonal slash to the altered's back, opening him up from right shoulderblade to left hip. The grimm-hybrid grunted and then whirled around with surprising speed to face Ren. Nora quickly took advantage, firing a third grenade that slammed into the altered's back and detonated. Pink smoke plumed forth from the detonation, engulfing the grimm-hybrid.
Ruby motioned for the other two to wait. They no longer had a visual on their enemy, to go in blind would be very unwise. Best to wait for the smoke to clear.
It took a few moments, but the pink smoke finally dissipated, revealing the altered, bleeding heavily from his back. Despite the deep wound he had endured, the grimm-hybrid still looked ready to fight. Ruby frowned at that, this one was tougher than previous ones she had fought.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a teeth-rattling shockwave, coming from where Turthus was. Ruby looked in that direction to see what looked like two spheres of light colliding with each other, one white, one black and red.
"Whoa…" Ruby breathed.
Nora caught sight of the spheres as well. "Looks like Jaune's having fun."
Ren returned his attention to the altered, a look of determination on his face. "We need to hurry and finish things here. I suspect Jaune can't keep up a display like that forever."
Ruby nodded. "Right, let's finish this."
The group dropped into battle stances as the altered scowled at them.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Jaune felt like his legs were on fire as he continued to hold firm against Zenner, who had his spikes pressed into his shield. Their auras flared against each other as they strained, Zenner seeking to run Jaune through and the Young Arc seeking to repel his attack from himself and the village. The pine trees around them swayed even further and one that was closer than the rest started to get uprooted.
The young Arc suddenly felt himself slide back a few inches, then a few more. He felt his determination falter with each inch he lost. The scowl on Jaune's face deepened, why couldn't he do this? Why did he always have to rely on others? Couldn't he take care of a problem himself for once in his life?
Jasmine wouldn't have let Zenner win.
Pyrrha wouldn't have let Zenner win.
Those thoughts caused Jaune's blue eyes to snap wide and he felt the frustration build within him. Turning it into his strength. The young Arc let out a roar of defiance and pushed back with his shield, Gaining back a few inches. Zenner's eyes widened slightly in surprise at this, and then their clashing auras finally destabilized and exploded.
At first, darkness was the only thing Jaune saw, but that quickly gave way to blurry vision and ringing ears. Now on his hands and knees, the young Arc looked up and through the disappearing smoke he caught sight of Zenner's motionless form. The altered was in a kneeling position, a hole larger than his fist in the center of his torso, his eyes were wide with shock.
"How…?" Zenner tried to ask, choking on his blood as some of it trickled down his chin.
"My semblance, I can reflect attacks back onto their user." Jaune explained. "All that power you tried to use to destroy myself and the village, I turned it back onto you."
"Bastard…" Zenner gurgled out. "That is…one hell of a semblance…" The altered spoke no more as he collapsed face-first into the ground, blood pooling underneath his still body.
A little queasiness crept into Jaune's stomach, but he kept his breakfast down. This wasn't the first time he had killed an altered, but it was never easy, to take a life. A grimm was a different story, they were monsters that preyed on people, but the altered, they could speak to you, they bled, they screamed in pain when injured. By all accounts they were a living breathing person, malformed by the experiments Cinder had done on them. Jaune didn't like it, but it had been his only choice in this situation. The altered's life or the lives of the people of Turthus.
It was an easy decision.
Jaune greedily took in lungfuls of air. While his semblance's ability was very useful, it could only be activated for a short amount of time, he could not use it consecutively. It took its toll on him.
Something in the corner of his vision caught Jaune's eye, something familiar. Turning to his right to get a better look, the young Arc spotted something red in the pine trees. A familiar red, not the kind that Ruby wore, but the red of hair.
Pyrrha's hair.
"Pyrrha?" Jaune whispered, still dazed from his struggle with Zenner. Shakily the young Arc rose to his feet. He stumbled after the shade of red he saw. It was Pyrrha's hair, he knew it, he would know those scarlet locks anywhere. He continued westward, past numerous pine trees, and just when he was about to chalk it up to him getting hit in the head to hard, he saw it again, the long flowing scarlet hair. It was a glimpse, just a glimpse, but it was enough for Jaune.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune called out with more confidence. Strength began to return to his legs and he trekked through the woods more steadily. He could hear the brush and branches being parted by someone up ahead. It had to be her.
A clearing approached and Jaune practically threw himself through the tree line. His blue eyes scanning the clearing rapidly, seeing everything, trees, snow, bushes.
And green eyes.
He locked onto those eyes, which belonged to a beautiful face with scarlet hair that ran down to the base of her spine. The armor, the sword, the shield. No doubt about it, this was Pyrrha Nikos. He had found her at last.
"Pyrrha." He breathed, bewilderingly, she didn't look happy at all, there was a sad frown on her lips, her eyebrows were furrowed in melancholy. For a second, Jaune thought he saw her green eyes glow orange, but it must have been the sunlight reflecting off the snow playing tricks on him. Without a word, she turned her back to him and continued into the treeline.
"Wait!" He shouted, dashing after her. No way he was going to lose her after all this time.
A sharp pain suddenly made itself known in Jaune's back. He felt something heavy knock him face-first into the snow, causing him to accidentally get a mouthful of the cold substance. As he lifted his head from the snow and spat some of it out, he found himself looking down the barrel of a rifle and at the other end of that rifle was a member of the White Fang.
"You need to be more aware of your surroundings huntsman." One of the White Fang members spoke. Jaune went to move, but another White Fang took aim with his rifle.
"If you so much as twitch a finger, I'll put a hole through your skull large enough to fit my fist through." The second White Fang threatened. Jaune glared at him, but he complied, besides the two holding him at gunpoint, he counted at least twenty to thirty White Fang surrounding him. All of them were prepared to shoot or cut him down if he tried anything drastic, he was at a serious disadvantage.
"What should we do with him sir?" A White Fang member asked. Jaune watched as their apparent leader stepped into sight, a White Fang that was taller than the rest, wearing a sleeveless tunic that allowed his muscled arms to breathe. Jaune was quick to notice the handle of a chainsaw on the faunus' back. He had heard some of the stronger members of the White Fang, the lieutenants, had more "Unconventional." Weapons to use, this must be one of them.
The White Fang Lieutenant sized him up. "Bring him with us, we could always use more bodies for the experiments."
Jaune immediately became alarmed at the mention of experiments. Before the young Arc could do anything however, he took a riflebutt to the face, causing everything to go dark.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Jaune awoke to find himself being dragged by his arms through the snow, the familiar weight of Crocea Mors at his hip was gone. No doubt the White Fang probably confiscated that and his scroll as well. Without them, escape would be very difficult.
"If you ask me, Adam Taurus has lost it." The White Fang Soldier holding his left arm spoke to his comrade in hushed tones.
"What do you mean? The White Fang is stronger than ever." The White Fang soldier holding his right arm replied in the same tone. With nothing more constructive that could be done, Jaune decided to remain silent and listen to their conversation.
"I don't know about you, but these altered scare the hell out of me, more beast than man. Haven't you heard how they create them?" Lefty asked.
"No, how?" Righty inquired.
"Rumor is they take orphans, criminals, the people the kingdoms won't miss and they inject them with grimm blood! That's what makes them all unstable and crazy. I wouldn't want to go near that stuff, let alone have it in my body."
"That's pretty messed up."
"Here's another thing I heard. You know this alliance we had with Cinder Fall and our group? I hear it fell through and this is why Adam Taurus has taken the initiative. It's why he's been building hidden labs and trying to create altered en masse. Most don't survive the process, but the ones that do? Well, you've seen what they can do."
"I'm much more worried about the grey-cloaked demon."
"The grey-cloaked demon? Come on man, that's just Vale propaganda trying to scare us. He's a myth!"
"I don't know man, I had a friend who was stationed at lab 13. Their last report was sightings of a man wearing a grey cloak. They went dark after that."
"In case you haven't noticed, we're out in the middle of nowhere, communications are almost impossible out here. To us, everyone has gone dark.
"But it's not just us!" Righty hissed. "No one else has been able to get into contact with lab 13. I'm telling you the grey-cloak demon is real. He's attacking our labs, some say he's searching for the souls of those who made him that way, so he can consume them. Like some kind of vampire."
"You're tripping man."
"Whatever."
Jaune soaked in the information he had just heard. While sad he had heard no details about Pyrrha. He could at least bring these rumors about a grey-cloaked demon to Ruby when he got out of this mess. Based on her description of Richter Bremen, he was wearing a grey cloak when she had saw him last and him targeting labs made sense, after all he had been tortured in a lab, it made sense that would be how he retaliated.
Something more alarming though was the fact that the White Fang seemed to be trying to mass produce altered, under this Adam Taurus' direction. So far it sounded like he still had some progress to make, but if he figured out a way to effectively produce altered in these hidden labs of the White Fang, it would mean very bad things for Vale and the other kingdoms.
The young Arc began glancing around, hoping the soldiers holding him would have his weapons, but no such luck. They were wise enough to keep those out of his arms' reach.
Suddenly the men dragging him by the arms stopped. His curiosity getting the better of him, Jaune looked up to see what had caused the halt in progress. By doing so, he had effectively let his captors know he was conscious now, but that seemed to be the least of their worries.
Just a little over a hundred meters in front of them. The pine trees were bending and warping, their bark peeling off like the skin of an orange. At the center of it was a sphere of what could only be described as darkness, which was pretty out of place since it was the middle of the day.
"It's coming right for us!" A White Fang shouted.
"Battle positions!" The White Fang Lieutenant roared. Every member of the faunus terrorist group prepared for battle. The sphere of darkness inched closer to the group, now it was seventy meters away...
Sixty meters...
Forty meters...
Thirty...
It stopped there and to everyone's disbelief, even Jaune's, the sphere suddenly vanished, thin strands of black-colored aura trailed lazily into the air from it's sudden disappearance and then there was nothing. As if the sphere had never existed. For a long handful of moments there was an uncomfortable silence.
"Maybe we scared it off?" One of the White Fang soldiers said with a hopeful tone.
And that's when the snow erupted in front of Jaune.
From the snow leapt a lean, but muscled young man of slightly lower than average height. His hands were covered up to the forearm in grey bandages. In his right hand was a single-edged sword that looked recently constructed. The two most distinguishable features about this man however, was the ivory-white mask that covered the entire front of his face with the exception of his eyes, his medium-length dark hair was in disarray, spiking up all over the top of his head.
The second was the tattered grey cloak that flowed like water behind him.
Jaune quickly realized from the description Ruby had given him that this was Richter Bremen. But seeing him in person was nothing like he imagined. The mask's design made it look like it was a skull more than a mask, and the eyes, they burned an intense orange, almost as if he was looking into the sun. Richter wasn't like any altered he had encountered before.
Still shocked from his sudden appearance, the White Fang that were holding Jaune were swiftly decapitated with one horizontal slash of Richter's blade. The faunus' blood splashed all over the young Arc's face, but he managed to close his eyes just in time to avoid being blinded by it.
Jaune heard the sound of gunfire as he wiped his face clean with his right sleeve as best as he could. He felt the wind tease his blonde hair as Richter passed by him. Realizing he was now in between the White Fang soldiers and their target, Jaune dove to the ground, hearing the bullets whizz by above his head. He caught sight of Richter again, a dozen meters behind him with a sword in a soldier's gut. Jaune watched in disbelief as Richter lifted the faunus terrorist off of his feet and tossed him into a group of White Fang that were shooting at him. They went tumbling in a tangle of arms and limbs. The young Arc was certain he heard some bones break as well.
A few of the White Fang began drawing swords, deftly wielding them as they charged at Richter, the grey-cloaked demon. Jaune watched as his eyes glowed bright for a moment, his sword-arm lashing out in a blur, and then one of the Faunus terrorists was staggering back, clutching his bleeding throat. Two more White Fang took his place, they struck at Richter with speed and fervor, but the grey-cloaked demon easily deflected their attacks, not even moving from his spot.
Richter struck like a snake and one of the White Fang soldiers screamed in agony as his right arm was sliced off at the elbow. The second soldier tried to capitalize, but Richter was too quick, crouching under the stab intended for his neck and slicing the soldier in half at the waist. Before the fallen soldiers' bodies had even hit the ground, the grey-cloaked demon was in the air. He landed in the center of a group of White Fang, placed his left palm on the ground and leapt away. The Faunus terrorists opened fire on him, but he stayed just ahead of their barrage. A moment later, an ash-grey glyph glowed under the White Fang group and then detonated.
Jaune witnessed bodies and limbs being tossed from the explosion. Blood and gore stained the snow as Richter continued tearing the White Fang to pieces. The young Arc almost felt sorry for them, except that they were going to take him in to be "Experimented." on. He didn't want to be treated like a guinea pig.
Jaune continued to watch as Richter earned his nickname. He didn't just kill the White Fang, he brutalized them. At one point breaking a soldier's neck with his left hand and swinging the limp body into one of his comrades. The violent displays proved to be unnerving to the hardened faunus soldiers, some were even shouting "Demon!" in fear. Blood continued to stain the snow.
The sound of a chainsaw revving up, drew both Jaune and Richter's attention. The White Fang lieutenant had his chainsaw out, the blades whirring as he wielded the heavy weapon. Richter turned to face the lieutenant fully.
"So the mythical grey-cloaked demon is real." The lieutenant stated. "You don't seem that scary to me." He sneered. Jaune expected Richter to respond, but the grey-cloaked demon remained silent.
The lieutenant charged in with his chainsaw, moving surprisingly quick for a man his size. He attacked Richter with a downward diagonal slash from his left to his right. The grey-cloaked demon used his sword to angle the chainsaw away from his body. But the lieutenant immediately swung it back in the opposite direction, aiming for Richter's left armpit, seeking to slice off his left arm and his head in the process. Richter leaned heavily to his right and the chainsaw barely missed.
The grey-cloaked demon brought his right elbow forward, crashing it into the lieutenant's left cheekbone, the strength of the blow was so great, it knocked the big faunus off of his feet. Richter swiftly dashed after the lieutenant, but the faunus had managed to turn his crash landing into a backwards roll. He got to his feet just in time to plant his right foot into Richter's sternum. It was the grey-cloaked demon's turn to be knocked back, but he quickly recovered, performing a backwards flip and landing solidly on his feet. The impact sent snow flying, revealing the grass underneath.
As the two combatants glared at each other, a group of White Fang that had survived Richter's onslaught began to take aim at the grey-cloaked demon's right flank. Jaune saw Richter's glowing eyes flick to his right, so he noticed it too. Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, the White Fang lieutenant rushed towards him, this time sweeping the chainsaw low and going for Richter's legs. The grey-cloaked demon stood his ground, his aura pulsed and he knocked the chainsaw away almost casually with the flick of his sword. The lieutenant was actually knocked back a few steps from the force of the parry.
Less than half a second later, Richter brought his blade back to his right side and through dexterous use of his fingers, spun it in a circular motion. The rapidly spinning blade deflected the shots the white fang soldiers threw at him. The lieutenant, now over his initial shock after being blocked so easily, took to the air. The big faunus leapt high, clearing the treetops and then descended upon Richter like a hammer. Jaune grimaced, although Ruby's friend was strong, in his current predicament he was pinned down. If he kept deflecting the soldiers' bullets the lieutenant would slice him in two, but if he went to parry the lieutenant's attack he would be riddled with bullets. In either situation, death was almost absolute, critical damage that would require a hospital at the least, and there were no hospitals where they were at.
To Jaune's surprise though, none of those scenarios happened. Instead, just before the lieutenant reached striking distance with his chainsaw, Richter swiftly brought his right arm forward, gears could be heard shifting as the sword became a revolver. One that was aimed directly between the lieutenant's eyes. Jaune frowned, didn't Ruby say his weapon's gun-form was a pistol? He must have changed it.
Two things happened in that moment, the first was that the big faunus took a bullet right in the forehead. Even with his aura taking a portion of the hit, the bullet still cut into his skin. Blood flowed freely from the wound as the lieutenant was sent sailing away from Richter. The second thing that happened was that Ruby's friend used the recoil of the shot to move himself backwards, effectively putting him out of the line of fire from the soldiers. It was only for a second.
But a second was all the grey-cloaked demon needed.
Richter hastily rushed forward, weaving a complicated pattern of sword slashes in front of him as he ran through the group of white fang soldiers. The grey-cloaked demon sliced the faunus terrorists into pieces, blood drenching his clothes. A single trail of blood ran down the center of his mask and it was at that moment that Jaune began to wonder if there really was a human being left in there, or if a monster had inherited the shell of Ruby's friend.
One of the white fang soldiers had survived Richter's attack. His right leg was a bloody stump as he desperately tried to crawl away from the grey-cloaked demon. Richter quickly put a stop to it by planting his right boot onto the soldier's back, taking aim with his revolver at the back of the faunus' skull.
"Please…!" The soldier begged in a panicked voice. "We were only….!"
"Planning more experiments, more nightmares." Richter interrupted in a distorted voice, pulling the trigger on his revolver. Dots of blood splattered onto his mask, but he remained unaffected by it. He continued on, making his way toward the lieutenant.
Jaune returned his attention to the big faunus, who's mask had been shattered by Richter's near point-blank shot. To the young Arc, he looked surprisingly young. The lieutenant's face was a crimson mask as he crawled on his arms and legs towards his chainsaw, which was embedded in the ground a few meters in front of him. Richter was walking towards him at a brisk pace, but it was questionable if he would reach the lieutenant before he got to his weapon. Jaune's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, Richter could move faster, why wasn't he?
The grey-cloaked demon arrived at the lieutenant's feet just as he grabbed the chainsaw. The big faunus let out a satisfied grunt and with just his hand, ripped the chainsaw out of the ground. The lieutenant twisted around, his right arm fully extended as he swung for the fences, aiming for Richter's waist in a horizontal swing.
Yet Richter stood his ground.
Jaune grit his teeth, mentally berating Ruby's friend, the chainsaw would cut him in half! But that wasn't what happened. Instead, Richter reached out with his left hand and caught the blade of the chainsaw with it. The young Arc saw the muscles in the grey-cloaked demon's left arm flex.
And the blade of the chainsaw broke in half.
The lieutenant had time to be shocked for only a moment as Richter sent him flying backwards with a powerful kick to the abdomen, bouncing him off the trunk of a pine tree. The lieutenant rose to his hands and knees and threw a glare in Richter's direction. The grey-cloaked demon continued advancing towards him at a deliberate pace.
"…You're trembling…." Richter spoke, shifting his revolver back to sword-form, the lieutenant's eyes widened in response and then narrowed into a scowl as he tried to throw a punch at the grey-cloaked demon. However, Richter easily dodged the sloppy attack by sidestepping to his right. The big faunus lost his balance and collapsed face-first into the snow. Jaune watched as Richter reversed his grip on his sword, pointing the blade at the big faunus' spine. "…Are you afraid of me now?"
Jaune cringed as the lieutenant's scream of torment echoed through the woods when Richter plunged the sword into his back.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
A/N: Welp, Richter's back. Pyrrha's being elusive to Jaune, and Ren, Nora and Ruby still have to finish off that altered. The White Fang have a lab hidden near Turthus, what nightmares could it hold? Lots of stuff going on that will be delved into next chapter!
