Chapter 19 – Long Black Road
"That can't be Pyrrha. Pyrrha died back at Beacon and we were there and confirmed that she was dead. No heartbeat, no pulse and not breathing." Blake said.
"Then explain to me… who am I looking at?" Jaune said. His arms were shaking and his sword that was held so tightly in front of him could not stay still.
"Well… we're needed elsewhere to witness a world event that will go down in history. I am certain that my troops will take care of things here, so I will be on my way. However, Blake… you're coming with me to witness this as well." Adam said. Before Blake could react, Pyrrha ran towards Blake, throwing her shield during the process towards Blake's legs which made her fall to the ground. Adam ran towards the exit and Jaune remained in his spot not moving an inch. Pyrrha used her Javelin to knock Ruby out of the way, but Ruby managed to stop the attack with her scythe. The Faunus troops rushed towards them and Amber had to quickly release a flow of electricity to stun a few of them whereas Ruby had to jump out of Amber's line of sight. Pyrrha used her shield to block the incoming attack and threw her Javelin towards Ruby's hood to pin her against a wall. Pyrrha then jumped towards Blake and used her shield to smash down on Blake, but Blake had used her semblance to leave behind an explosive clone that sent Pyrrha soaring away.
"Jaune! Go after Adam!" Ruby yelled. Jaune didn't move a muscle and it seemed as though he wasn't listening to her.
"JAUNE!" This time he turned to Ruby. He could not comprehend what was going on and was still frozen in fear.
"Jaune listen to me. That can't be Pyrrha. We are positive that she died back in Beacon. You need to snap out of it and catch Adam. If you don't want to fight that fake Pyrrha then we will, but we need you to go after Adam!" Jaune understood what she said and took a moment to regain his composure. Although he still felt uneasy, he ran passed everyone and headed towards Adam's direction. Pyrrha was pre occupied by Blake and Amber, but noticed where Jaune was heading. Pyrrha quickly got back up and used her semblance to retrieve her Javelin back and followed behind Jaune leaving the rest of Jaune's team to fight the White Fang soldiers. Ruby attempted to stop Pyrrha, but was stopped by an intimidating White Fang soldier who blocked the exit. Jaune made it outside and saw Adam get on an airship that was ready to leave. Jaune ran as fast as he could towards the airship and managed to get on the wing by plunging his sword inside the wing. Pyrrha followed behind and used her spear to get on the same wing next to him. The airship hovered in the sky and took off towards the nearby mountains with Jaune and Pyrrha on it. Pyrrha had no problem standing on the ship's wing thanks to her semblance, but Jaune on the other hand was having trouble staying steady.
"Dammit Pyrrha! Why are you doing this!?" After leaving the facility, Jaune could finally sense the aura's inside every person in the airship. Adam and Pyrrha's aura felt very familiar to his own and it was there when he finally realized what was going on. It would explain why Pyrrha's armor was a different color. He finally realized what Adam meant back in the facility about being not able to take out Jaune if they were to meet again. Both of them had a small fragment of the Darkness inside them and that would explain why Pyrrha is acting the way she is. However, Jaune could not explain why she was still alive.
"Listen to me Pyrrha! Don't let the Darkness inside you overpower you! You can control it and stop the things that it is making you do! You don't have to follow Adam's orders! I can help you! Please Pyrrha!" Pyrrha walked closer to Jaune as she readied her Javelin and pointed it towards Jaune's heart. Before she could deliver the killing blow, turbulence hit the airship and caused Pyrrha to lose her aim which allowed Jaune to get up and kick Pyrrha away. Pyrrha ran towards Jaune again and swung her Javelin violently at him, but Jaune was able to avoid all her attacks.
"Pyrrha please stop! I'm begging you!" Pyrrha disregarded what he said and continued her violent attacks. One of Pyrrha attacks went through the wing and managed to destroy one of the airships propellers which made the plane lose a bit of altitude. This gave Jaune an idea which he immediately put into play. He conjured up his black flames and hurled it towards the other airships propellers causing it to burn away. This caused the airship to lose altitude and descend to the ground. Jaune and Pyrrha held on tight as the ship crashed towards the side of the Mountain where the kingdom gets its water from. The ship was covered in flames and the possibility of anyone coming out alive was small. The flames had begun to spread through the forest, but Jaune stayed and tried to move all the rubble to find Pyrrha. He sensed someone approaching from behind and held Crocea Mors tightly in his hands as the two familiar auras were coming from Adam and Pyrrha.
"I think it's time we finish this bothersome fly. Don't you agree?" Adam asked Pyrrha. Jaune looked at Pyrrha's eyes and wondered where he went wrong.
"Adam… how is she alive. Before we settle this once and for all… the least you can do is tell me how you were able to revive her." Jaune said.
"I did my research about the Dark and I found out about the truth that lies within it. Man were originally born in Darkness and found their way out of it. The creatures of Grimm are prime examples of everyone's beginnings. Traces of the Darkness remain inside everyone, but overtime everyone forgot where they came from and soon forgot about it." Adam said. The forest continued to brighten the night sky and cover the surrounding areas with smoke which made it impossible for anybody to see from afar.
"Why didn't Ozpin tell me? There could be more people who are able to use this power as well? Dammit Ozpin." Jaune thought.
"How the hell does that explain how Pyrrha is still alive!?" Jaune yelled.
"Everyone was born in Darkness… so why can't it also bring people back?" Adam asked. Jaune looked at Pyrrha as he noticed a small amount of Dark aura lingering around her body.
"I did my research on you Jaune Arc, where you were from, what school you attended, and the names of your teammates. When I found out Pyrrha Nikos was in your team, well, I had to use her for our experiment, but then I found out she died during the attack on beacon. However, I came up with an idea, an idea that could I use against you specifically. I learned that her body was sent back home and I went to go fetch it and bring it back to perform some experiments. How can we resist not using a young successful girl who is a world renowned fighter?" Adam said.
"You bastard." Jaune said silently.
"Although it did bring her back to life, if her Dark aura were to leave her body… it would return her to how she was when I got her… dead." Adam said. The fire continued to blaze through the forest and around them. Embers continued to fly around, singeing their clothing.
"You're only choice is to kill her if you want to stop me because in a few minutes I will be able to begin the destruction of the Human race." Adam placed his hand onto the handle of his katana and prepared himself for another battle against Jaune, but this time he has someone to help him. Pyrrha readied her Javelin and shield as she glared at Jaune with killing intent.
"And lucky for me… my new semblance will come in handy for our battle." Adam said. His Dark aura shrouded him and made Jaune a bit uneasy. Creatures of Grimm surrounded them and to Jaune's surprise, they stepped in front of Adam and Pyrrha and faced Jaune's direction. It was then Jaune figured out what Adam's semblance was. It was the ability to control or befriend the creatures of Grimm. Jaune held his sword tightly in front of him as several Ursi surrounded him. Jaune released his Dark aura and prepared himself for a battle that he knew could possibly be his last.
"Pyrrha please! Stop this nonsense! I didn't want you to die that night! It should have been me."
Jaune yelled.
The Ursi ran towards Jaune and slashed at him, but Jaune was able to avoid each of their attacks and slash away at them. One came from behind hoping to catch Jaune off guard, but Jaune already felt the Ursa's presence behind him. He turned around and sliced the Grimm's entire arm off. He then proceeded to slice off its legs then its head. He looked back where Adam and Pyrrha stood. Jaune stared at Pyrrha's emerald eyes and pointed his weapon towards them.
"I don't care what happens to me. If I have to fight thousands to save you Pyrrha… I will and in the end… it will be me that will take the killing blow to save you. I will change the past to the way it was supposed to be and I will not stop until I do." Jaune said. He clenched the handle of his sword and pulled it closer to him.
"Three Beowolfs, two Ursi, a King taijtu heading to my location, and a Nevermore flying overhead and it seems like Pyrrha and Adam are going to attack together with the creatures of Grimm. I'm going to need to time my attacks perfectly and make sure not to injure Pyrrha." Jaune planned everything in his head and began his counter attack. He sliced through the first Beowolf that ran towards him and slid underneath one of the Ursi which caused the other to accidentally hit the other. Jaune was now in front of both Adam and Pyrrha and kicked Pyrrha away from him. Adam quickly unsheathed his katana and sliced away at Jaune who was able to block every attack that was thrown at him. One of the Ursi turned around and slashed towards his direction which he anticipated and jumped out of the way which caused the creature to hit Adam instead. Pyrrha threw her shield towards Jaune to which he grabbed and threw it back towards her. She used her semblance to slow down the speed her shield was going and grabbed it again. She got up from the floor and ran towards Jaune with a flying kick which Jaune used his sword to block, but Pyrrha used her semblance to move the sword out of his hands and managed to kick Jaune right in the chest. Jaune was sent sliding back and conjured up his black flames to surround himself as a barrier. He hurled black flames towards the incoming beowolfs which fried both of them. One of the Ursi lunged at Jaune even though he had the black flames to protect him. The slash did its job and Jaune's sword was knocked off his hands. Adam noticed his weapon wasn't in Jaune's hands so he took advantage and attacked him. He swung his katana viciously which Jaune could barely avoid, but was surprised by Pyrrha's Javelin that was thrown, breaking of Jaune's mask. The attack surprised him and that caused him to lose focus on Adam and ultimately led to one of his attacks making contact with Jaune. Jaune's aura managed to absorb some of the damage, but with Adam's new aura it managed to leave a cut deep enough to slow Jaune down.
Jaune jumped back away from the battle to take a breather. The smoke and fire around him made it even more difficult since he started to have trouble breathing. He had to get out of the flames fast if he wants to stand a chance against them. Jaune ran towards his sword avoiding the Ursi attacks then headed towards the direction to where he saw the kingdom's water supply facility. The others followed behind to make sure he doesn't get out of here alive. Jaune place his weapon in front of him and jumped as a King Taijtu slithered towards Jaune from the direction he was running to. He slashed at the snake and continued running, expecting his pursuers to follow him. He made it out of the forest and reached the small facility that was connected with another facility by a large pipe. Jaune knew this would be the perfect place to be able to take on Adam by himself since the pipe is wide enough to hold a single person from each opposite end. The lights and fire lit the area up brightly which showed the beauty of a massive waterfall and Jaune could tell that he was at least 1,000 feet in the air. From out of the woods appeared Pyrrha and Adam ready to finish Jaune off.
"Running away like the pathetic human you are. Before I even kill you, I'm going to take my sweet time ripping every bone of your body for embarrassing me back in Roland." The Nevermore flying around landed next to Adam and allowed him to sit on its back. Things started to go the way they weren't supposed to go. Instead of Adam taking the bait, he hopped on the Nevermore and was now an aerial threat. Pyrrha was the one that Jaune had to also worry about now since she can easily stay on the pipe thanks to her semblance. The Nevermore circled around Jaune and swooped down to hit him with its wings, but Jaune managed to jump out of the way. Pyrrha threw her shield at Jaune causing him to trip over, but not fall off from the pipeline. Jaune had to be very careful where he stood because due to the waterfall being close, it was very slippery and one misstep could lead him to fall from 1,000 feet. Jaune got back to his feet and hurled black flames towards Pyrrha's direction to which she used her shield to block it. She converted her Javelin to gun and shot away at Jaune to which he slashed away at the rounds and jumped back to avoid the 2nd swoop attack from the Nevermore. Jaune at the moment had no idea what to do at that moment and knew if he doesn't come up with something quick, he is going to die. The Nevermore landed on the opposite side of the pipe to allow Adam to get off. With Adam on one side and Pyrrha in the other, it seems that Jaune would need to fight Pyrrha with the intent to kill if he were to have even a small chance of winning. Adam unsheathed his katana and swung away at Jaune rapidly to which he able to avoid and block. Pyrrha used her semblance to pull Jaune's sword away from him and towards her. Now Pyrrha was dual wielding two weapons at the same time while Jaune had nothing to fight back. Luckily for Jaune, he had been sparring with Jay when it came to hand to hand combat to which Jaune was able to excel at. Jaune kicked Adam away and quickly focused on Pyrrha who violently swung both weapons at Jaune and disallowing him an opening. Jaune conjured up black flames from his hand and threw multiple of it towards Pyrrha's direction, but she was able to avoid the attack. She got closer towards Jaune and swung his sword at him angrily to which he ducked and kicked her on the shin which caused Pyrrha to collapse to one knee. Jaune rolled over her and grabbed Pyrrha's shield and threw it towards Adam which managed to hit him across the face. Pyrrha placed her Javelin on her back and used her semblance to retrieve her shield back. She analyzed Jaune's stance and looked for a flaw within it. Jaune allowed her no time to formulate a plan and rushed towards her. She swung his sword towards Jaune to which manage to duck and kick upwards causing Pyrrha to lose her grip on his sword and go for a 2nd kick to push her away. Jaune caught his sword when it came down and ran towards Pyrrha slashing away at her. The two were now swinging and dodging from each other's attacks and neither one was showing any sign of backing down. Images from the past came towards Jaune's eyes as he saw himself sparring with Pyrrha on the rooftop of the school.
"Jaune, you are doing much better than before. If you keep this up, you will probably become better than me." Pyrrha said.
"Oh come on Pyrrha, that's most likely not going to happen." Jaune said. The two were tired from sparring and were now sitting down and looking at the night sky. It was covered with bright stars and the shattered moon was as bright as day.
"Hey Pyrrha…"
"Yes Jaune?"
"When you arrived to Beacon, did you ever expect to be helping someone like me to become a better fighter?" Pyrrha giggled at the question and took a while to respond.
"Well, I never thought that I will be helping out someone who didn't know how to fight." Pyrrha said. This statement saddened Jaune a bit.
"However, I'm glad that I did. It allowed me to find someone who cared about me, not because of the glory I received from tournaments, but for the person who I am. You're the only person who never knew who I was and that made me happy." Pyrrha placed her head towards Jaune's shoulder.
"I'm really happy that I met someone like you Pyrrha." The two continued to gaze at the night sky and feel the cool breeze that blew towards them.
"Jaune…"
"Yeah."
"Do you ever wonder why we're here?" Pyrrha asked, looking towards Jaune.
"You mean on top of the rooftop?" This made Pyrrha laugh a bit.
"No… I mean why are we here… in this world?"
"Honestly… I don't know. I sometimes think we are here to enjoy the life that we were given to us. I mean, we are here to find that something that could give us that answer. Everyone's answer will be different, but when I find that answer… I will be sure to tell you."
Jaune slipped underneath Pyrrha and created a massive black flame blast towards Adam. Adam smiled and used his Katana to absorb the attack. Adam unleashed the powerful blast back towards Jaune to which he stood in front of Pyrrha and used his semblance to send the blast to the dark void. This allowed Pyrrha to go ahead and finish Jaune off while he was absorbing the attack which unable him to do anything. Pyrrha slowly pointed her Javelin towards Jaune's back, her face was covered in tears and her arms were shaking.
"Do it." Jaune said. Pyrrha looked towards Jaune with a surprised look.
"If this is going to help you release all that anger and sorrow, then do it. I only want what is best for you and this is the only way I can do to repent for being weak that day."
"I- I can't control it." Pyrrha said.
"You're Pyrrha Nikos, the girl who everyone looked up to, the girl who I loved and aimed to stand beside." With all her strength, Pyrrha threw her Javelin towards Adam and struck him in the chest which managed to penetrate his aura and get lodged in his body. Jaune turned around towards Pyrrha and held her arms tightly.
"You can do this Pyrrha! You need to fight back!"
"No! I can't! Jaune I can't hold it much longer!"
"Yes you can! Fight it!"
"Jaune! You know what you have to do!" Jaune paused for a moment and didn't want to think about what she said.
"NO! I'm not doing that again! I'm not going to be the reason why…"
"Please Jaune! I want you to do this! If anyone is going to kill me… I want it to be the person who I love!" Black liquid tears ran down Jaune's cheeks. He collapsed onto the pipe and slowly drew his sword hesitantly and placed it in front of Pyrrha. His arms shook, unable to hold his emotion. Everything was getting to him.
"Everything that I've done to bring about a better world is destroying me. Is that a price to pay to bring happiness to everyone? At the cost of your well-being? Who is Jaune Arc? Who does he stand for and for what reason? What gives him the right to decide who lives… and who dies? What exactly is he trying to accomplish?" Jaune's inner thoughts berated him.
"Jaune… no matter what happens, no matter what obstacles comes your way… know this. I will always be with you." Pyrrha said. Jaune placed his left hand onto Pyrrha's right cheek, leaned over to her and kissed her on her forehead. Pyrrha's left hand was also place on Jaune's cheek. She was wiping off the tears that were streaming down Jaune's face.
"I can see your memories Jaune. Protect this world for me and please… please learn to love again after this. Loneliness is…" Pyrrha's eyes were reverting to its dark state and Jaune already knew what was going on.
"And in the end… it will be me that will take the killing blow to save you… Pyrrha." Jaune's sword was now lodged in Pyrrha's heart. Her eyes reverted again back to its regular state. It was now empty with life. Jaune removed the blade from her body and dropped it in front of him. He caressed the lifeless body and cried his heart out.
"This isn't over yet you brat!" Adam was heard yelling across the pipe.
"You may have won this battle, but you will not win the war!" Adam pulled out a switch from his pocket.
"This… this is a dead man switch! If my thumb comes off the button, the reactor will unleash a large dark aura beam into the sky which will attract thousands of Grimm creatures to the kingdom's location. This whole kingdom will be infested with Grimm and it will ultimately destroy this pathetic kingdom." Jaune walked towards Adam's direction without a care in the world.
"You think I won't do it!? I will! The Nevermore landed next to Adam, ready to take him away from Jaune. Jaune aimed his hand towards Adam and his katana went straight towards Jaune. His hand grabbed the Katana from midair and placed it beside him.
"How did you…" Adam said. Jaune then released black flames towards the Nevermore and caught on fire. The Nevermore fell towards the water that was beneath Jaune and Adam from a thousand feet.
"Stay back! I will let go of my thumb!" Adam said. Jaune continued walking towards Adam intent on killing him. Adam released his thumb from the switch and a loud bang erupted from the facility where Ruby and the others were. A black beam could be seen erupting and hitting the sky. A cold chill was felt by Jaune and he quickly stabbed the pipe underneath him to hold him tight. A big force was coming towards them that could be seen from miles away. The force reached them and both managed to hold on tightly and Jaune used his new magnetism ability to keep Pyrrha from falling off the pipe. After the force subdued, Jaune ran towards Adam and managed to take him down. Jaune's hands clasped down on Adam's neck and he started to absorb his aura.
"You're the reason why this is all happening. The attack on beacon, the death of Pyrrha, the disaster that's going to happen in Mistral! You are the main reason why this is all happening!"
Jaune's hands tighten around Adam's neck to which Adam was unable to talk. Jaune grew a smile and enjoyed the violent struggle from Adam. Adam's arms and legs violently flailing, the frightening look that Adam had on his eyes, and the feelings of supremacy excited Jaune. After seconds of struggling, he stopped. Adam was no longer living among this world. Jaune got back onto his feet and kicked off Adam from the pipe. His lifeless body fell from a thousand feet, hitting the water underneath them. Jaune walked over back to Pyrrha and picked up her body. Another Nevermore hovered next to Jaune and with his new power, he was able to befriend the Nevermore and get on its back. He was now heading back to the medical facility where he intends to stop the reactor.
Well damn... Jaune's life is pretty depressing isn't it? It took me a while, but here we are. I really enjoyed making this chapter because listening to music depending on the situation really gets me hyped and it really gives me a vivid picture of what is going on. I'll see you guys on the next chapter!