Black and white mixed in his Aura, from the wounds he sported in all his body, darkness crept and cover his body in a shadow cocoon. A second later, Jaune Arc stood, shield and sword ready for battle. But what caught the eye of the Dragon and left Cinder flabbergasted was the colossal figure that floated behind the boy.
It was female, a cuirass carrying knight of brilliant brass colored armor, with a red sash on her hips. In the middle of her chest, the twin golden half-moons of the Arcs, proudly being displayed.
Her red mane flowed freely on the wind and at the top of her closed helmet; only a deep spot of silver could be seen inside the darkness of the eyes; a set of cat-like ears stand proudly. From the cat ears, what looked like living black bows, hanged, twitching in anticipation for the battle.
The knight had six arms, the two upper arms wielded a pink war hammer and a big and nasty scythe, the middle carried a couple of sub-machine guns with daggers under the barrels and the low arms carried a brass shield and a white rapier.
There was nothing from the waist down, just a mist of black and white Aura that emanated from the body under her. The female knight was of a voluptuous figure, however, what surprised Cinder was that she could recognize the elements that confirmed the ace under the sleeve of the Arc.
The armor, hair color, shield and red sash of Pyrrha Nikos, the long mane of Yang Xiao Long, the bow and cat ears of Blake Belladonna, the war hammer of Nora Valkyrie, the scythe and eyes of Ruby Rose, the sub-machine guns of Lie Ren and the rapier of Weiss Schnee. All of them, sporting the accursed golden symbols of the Arcs.
"Now, Fail Maiden"
The voice of the Arc was no longer a human voice, he was speaking in a tone of voice that send shivers down the spine of Cinder, even if she wanted nothing but torture the bastard for his constant mockery.
"Have at thee"
Dragon, Fall Maiden, the young knight, and Knightmare charged at each other at the top of the tower.
The impact shacked the already damaged tower, sending shock waves in all directions and destroying the already wrecked halls of the broken tower. With each strike they send at their enemies, thunders echoed in the night sky, silencing even the sounds of cannons from the Atlas military.
There were gods fighting in the sky and the mortals, Grimm, humans, and Faunus, kept an amazed stare for some seconds, eyeing the explosions and ferocious lights and flames that lightened the night.
The Knightmare and the Dragon charged at each other, flying in a frenzied aerial battle. The twin weapons of the Knightmare was shooting non-stop at the Dragon, whose scales and unnaturally sturdy flesh could barely contain the impacts.
Its body shocked with each impact, as the Dragon summoned more and more Nevermores that there dispersed by the war hammer and the scythe of her upper hands. Those weapons cut the flocks of recently created Nevermores like they were made of paper and her brass shield kept the hundreds of feather projectiles at bay.
The Dragon slammed against the body of the Knightmare, biting hard of the shoulder of the Aura manifestation, but the Knightmare keep punishing the Dragon with bullets, slashing and pummeling with the pink war hammer and dagger barrels of the machine guns. Gashes and dents appeared all over the Knightmare frame, in the zones that the Dragon bit, clawed and slapped with his tail; there was no quarter between the two contenders.
Pretty much like Cinder and Jaune were trying their best to kill each other, several meters below the two titans.
As soon as Cinder charged, she created a couple of flame scimitars and started to attack Jaune in a flurry of strikes that would have chopped an Atlesian Paladin to pieces in less than a blink. But Jaune Arc stood his ground, his shield repelling the savage rain of slashes and cautiously waiting for his chance, sent his own stab or strike into the flaming figure of Cinder.
Cinder moved like a living fire, always on the offensive but never misstep or leaving an opening that Jaune could use. Instead, Jaune was like a mountain, solid in his defense; his shield flowed in combat, blocking the avalanche of fire blades and always keeping Cinder on her toes, forcing her to be very cautious about her attacks. Like snakes, the scimitars changed their attack pattern, looking out for holes in the defense of the shield and the places where Jaune would have difficulties to react to an attack. But Jaunes footwork was superb and always kept his shield in the adequate position.
Cinder changed the pattern of her attacks, seeing that she could not pierce the defense of the bloody knight. After seeing him in Combat class, she knew that Jaune was not a professional, that he had a lot of work to do with his sword and his shield. But this knight in front of her was making her broke a sweat and was nothing like she saw in the Beacon.
He was hiding his strength. Cinder has already deducted that Jaune was not your everyday Hunter. Just that monster he has summoned from his own soul, that female knight that was capable of standing her grounds against a bloody Dragon, was proof enough of the unique quality of the Arc. Salem did tell her about the blood of the Arcs, how they are unique, how they grow, slow but steady, into stalwart bulwarks of Remnant. But this was something she did not expect.
During all the year, she has only seen a buffoon with fake transcripts and now, she was seeing one of the most dangerous pieces of the game she has been playing with Ozpin. If she knew about this wonderful knight, she would have recruited him in a heartbeat. There was something dark in the body; until know, she has only seen his jokester side, once the Knightmare was out, all his demeanor changed into a mountain of relentless power that she can not climb.
Cinder had a very offensive style of fighting and seeing that she could not kill this boy in close combat, she jumped back and call forth her favorite weapon. Cinder was better at long range, especially with her bow and fire arrows. Empowered by the Maiden powers, her arrows would be able to pierce Aura like it was made of paper. Taking aim, she let three arrows fly into the chest, right arm and left leg of Jaune.
Seeing the power that those arrows contained, Jaune opted for dodge them, he had to be extra conservative about his Aura, even if he had Aura to spare, Knightmare was draining him at an amazing rate, and once he drops out of Aura, it will start to feed in his body until the combat ends of Jaune dies. That was why was so convinced that he was going to die. Knightmare was amazing and all, but killing a Primal Grimm and a Fall Maiden? yeah, not very believable. That doesn't mean that he was not going to make his best effort to make this bitch pay for trying to kill all his friends.
Jaune let the arrows pass at his side, ducking and dodging. But before he could charge back into close combat, a hot, piercing sensation appeared in his back, sending him tumbling forward. His Aura has barely protected him from the impact of one of those arrows. Those things had turned around in middle flight and took acceleration, trying to impale him like a bloody fried chicken. Jaune cursed and rolled out the way of another one, raising his shield to slap the third one. Even if he has got rid of the three arrows, Jaune quickly recovered defensive position, before another couple of flaming arrows pierced the floor where he has been not a second ago.
Cinder was smiling at the edge of the tower, as far as she could from him, with her accursed bow ready to unleash more of those fire things. Jaune cursed under his breath, as the battle prolonged, his Knightmare would be weaker and he would start to lost pace, against Cinder that was directly suicidal. This must end quickly, or he would lose any possible chance of killing this bloody woman. After all, he has done, failing to do, one single, bloody thing, would the perfect epitaph for his tomb.
Here lies Jaune Arc. You only had to do one thing, you dumbass.
Yes, that would be perfect from a joke like him, but right now, he was still making Cinder squirm and that was worth the effort.
Thinking, Jaune kept dodging and crushing those arrows with Crocea Mors and its shield. They may be made of fire, but at the end of the day, they are Aura constructs empowered by the mystic mojo of the Maidens. They are breakable, it only needed a shit ton of strength, something that Jaune had in spades now. Good thing the blood of Galahad gave him superhuman strength, even greater than veteran Hunters, right now, he needed every single piece of it. The burns on his back were halfway into healing. Jaune cut short his own Aura healing to focus his Aura in his defense and the feeding of the Knightmare.
Flexing his legs, Jaune rose his shield and started to charge at Cinder, that pointed five arrows in his direction. Her perfect face has already recovered her usual, smug smirk and expression, sure in her victory. Oh, how was going Jaune to rain in her parade…
Meanwhile, the Knightmare and the Dragon were beating the crap out of each other. The Knightmare was unleashing a torrent of attacks, from the brutal pummeling of the pink war hammer to the devastating slashing power of the nasty scythe. The living ribbons over her cat ears were strangling any Grimm that came close to her.
Each time the Dragon was wounded, hordes of Grimm spawned from its blood. The Knightmare was covered by an army of Grimm, but none of them could penetrate her brass and golden armor, the bows kept dealing with those pests as the Knightmare and the Dragon trade blows in mid-air.
The Dragon got the upper position and clawed the chest of the Knightmare, caving the brass armor and sending the Knightmare in a spiraling fall. The Primal Grimm was strong as hell and even for an Aura construct, the kind of impacts that, that claws could produce, hurt like hell. Smashing her entire frame against the side of a tower, the Knightmare crushed dozens of Grimm under her brass and golden Aura mass. Trying to take advantage of the fall, the Dragon, fly straight at the Knightmare, who throw the white rapier in one of her hands at the Dragon.
It was an absurd maneuver, that forced the Dragon to change his fly pattern. Moving right in the path of a descending war hammer that smashed its face and send him against the wall of a wing of Beacon Academy, crushing the entire building under its body. The Grimms that were buried alive, were soon replaced by dozens of black drops that fall from the wounds of the Dragon. Before it could raise from the building, Knightmare was already on top of it. Stabbing, slicing, pummeling and peeling its body with all she carried.
Massive pieces of black flesh evaporated in the air, each time Knightmare down her weapons, bullets the size of cars entered into the corrupt body of the Dragon, destroying flesh and bones, piercing its scales and butchering it from the inside. But a beast like this did not fall that easily, its tail lashed out and caved the damaged helmet of the Knightmare, sending the female Aura to construct flying back. This respite allowed the beast to recover and fly into the air too. Roaring its defiance and domination, the beast charged at the Knightmare.
Claw meet shield, fangs meet scythe, tail meet war hammer, bullets killed Grimms by the hundreds and they continued trying to kill each other. There was something primal on their fight, more than the usual Hunters Vs Grimm romance that everyone knew, this battle was something different. It was ruthless, savage, cruel, without any semblance or mercy or order. Two beasts trying to tore apart each other.
If anything, it was like seeing two massive Grimm fought.
Jaune was sick tired of that bloody fire arrows. Those things hunted him worse than a tax collector and what was worse; Jaune has painfully discovered that Cinder was not a slouch in unarmed combat either. When he has managed to close the distance and stab at her, she has butterfly-kicked his ass several meters back. Such flexibility was to be admired, Jaune only knew two girls that could twist like Cinder has done, Blake and Militia.
Dodging and breaking more arrows with the unbreakable blade of Crocea Mors, really, he just loved the bloody sword, Jaune used his shield to bash some more arrows and cut the distances between him and Cinder. Fighting long range opponents was getting ridiculous, he really should have thought about some long distance weapon. Maybe a gun or maybe he should have taken a page from Coco's book and carry a bloody Gatling-gun around like she does. Coco's weapon was cool as hell, a golden Gatling gun that dispersed high caliber death, capable of piercing Deathstalkers shells like there were not even there.
But no, Jaune has to be a lazy slob and kept Crocea Mors as his only weapon. Now, he really wanted to have even purchased a bloody gun, at last, he could have kept Cinder distracted by the bullets until he got closer. Or could have asked Weiss about how to upgrade Crocea Mors into a weapon similar to Myrtenaster, that revolver rapier full of Dust was as amazing as the girl that holds it. Of course, she was still convinced that he was a dunce and an annoyance. Pity, Jaune really had a crush the size of Beacon on his snow angel; but after the kiss with Pyrrha, finally recognizing the feelings of the girl, it was too late for that ship to sail.
Jaune closed the distance a little more and used his increased and impressive strength to used Crocea Mors as a tool to stab into rocks and throw them at Cinder. Her face at the image of a piece of rubble that weighted a ton, being toss at her like it was nothing, was priceless. If anything, Jaune was quite adaptive and soon thought about alternate solutions to the problems that were presented to him. Unfortunately, there were not a lot of rocks or pieces of the rubble around, that he could use for that purpose, so he had limited ammo. Not like Cinder, that could create those lethal flaming arrows at will and shot at him as faster than he has seen guns being shot.
The battle was getting uphill for Jaune, Cinder was running around, pelting him with her arrows. Meanwhile, Jaune was chasing her like a lost puppy and from time to time, toss a massive piece of the wreckage of the tower at her. The few times that Jaune has managed to cut the distance enough to attempt some quick slashes at her, she has demonstrated a superb martial skill. However, none of them were free of wounds.
Jaune had burns and bruises, healing quickly but not as quickly as he would like. Knightmare was constantly draining his Aura reserves at an accelerated rate, it truly was a one-shot kind of Semblance. Cinder, on the other hand, had her own cuts and bruises to worry about. Jaune was sure that if by some bloody miracle, she managed to survive the night, she will be sporting a lot of new more scars that would marrow her pristine skin. Even if Jaune died tonight, he wanted the Queen to remember that she could have fallen at the hands of a foolish boy that wanted to be a hero.
Speaking of being a hero, Jaune thought that it was time to do something stupid and reckless. It was a good thing, legends are filled to the brim with stupid and reckless idiots that accomplished amazing things, just because everybody else was saying that was impossible.
Altering his position, Jaune start running to Cinder, who smiled and readied more arrows, but instead of what's has been happening the last minutes; Jaune did not raise his shield. Cinder left the arrows to go with a slightly surprised expression on her face. Her expression changed and her eyes widened when she saw how Jaune twirled in mid-charge and imprinting as much force as he could to his left hand, throw his shield like a Frisbee. The shield of Jaune was not designed to this kind of actions, but between his superhuman strength and the amount of Aura he has put in the shield, it became a flying buzz saw that collides with the arrows mid-flight and produce a big explosion.
The explosion was enough to send Cinder flying against a wall, but before she could recover, Jaune jumped over the smoke, Crocea Mors ready to strike. His clothes were burned and his face blackened by the explosion. Cinder knew that the boy would impale her like a butterfly to the wall if he managed to finish that attack. Calling all the flames she could, Cinder became a living torrent of flames for a second, a column of flames that rose to the sky, thundering for the sudden change of heat.
But for Jaune Arc, it didn't matter. With all the might he carried, he stabbed right into the maelstrom of flames. Crocea Mors pierced the flames easily, the flesh behind the trust? not so much. The smell of charred flesh flooded into the nose of Jaune, a second of searing pain before coldness was the last thing he ever felt from his left arm, but he achieved what he wanted. Even if he could no longer felt a thing from the elbow down, the pressure of the tip of the sword piercing something and sticking in there, was all he needed.
Cinders scream of pain and surprise totally made his day. Pity that before he could smile, Cinder channeled at those flames into a torrent, that hit him point blank.
An ocean of orange fury passed over Jaune, that stumbled backward, blind and charred, his yellow hair consumed along with a good part of his face, leaving him with a toothy snarl and half melted flesh in a good portion of his face. It was bad luck that his face has taken the worst part of the desperate attack of Cinder, but his Aura has managed to prevent him to be decapitated by the tsunami of flames that the wounded Fall Maiden has unleashed. On the bad side of things, he was blind now. The flames had melted his eyelids. They were two pieces of melted and blackened flesh, although, behind them, there was only a boiled part of whitey pasty things that once were his eyes.
Searing pain and shock, made Jaune kneel, trembling from the sudden pain and blindness, he stood paralyzed in the wreckage, trying to focus, trying to bear his thoughts out of the pained mist that his entire body was now.
Cinder, pull out the sword of her shoulder, it was just a matter of luck that the accursed Arc has not pierced through her heart with that last stunt he has pull. Bleeding from the wound of her shoulder, a wound that was not healing. She tried to melt the sword in her hand, but for her surprise; Crocea Mors did not melt, not even under the scorching heat that her empowered fire semblance was pulling inside of the blade, did the sword melt. It went white-hot but never lost its shape or form. Dumfounded, Cinder snarled and used it to lash at Jaune who was still in shock.
It was a lame swing that barely cut Jaunes back. However, it served to put back the mind of Jaune into the game. Until now, his mind was still trying to cope up with the sudden blindness and the pain of his charred face. After he was cut, the sudden, cold, sensation of the steel in his flesh, cut through the disarray that was his mind. Jaune reacted by instinct, punching, with all his might, in the direction that he felt Cinder was. Cinder raised the sword and strike again.
With a loud and wet splat; Cinders heart splattered against the wall behind them, dozens of meters beyond them. With a metallic noise, Crocea Mors fall to the ground, accompanied by the fleshy and liquid sound of the left arm of Jaune Arc falling on top of the sword; cut from the shoulder to the hand.
In a twisted and violent parody of a hug; Jaune Arc has his right arm inside of Cinder voluptuous chest, his fist exiting through her back in a crater of broken bones and torn flesh. Cinder arms hanged lifeless, abandoning the handle of Crocea Mors, after her beheading strike became a mutilating swing that cut the left arm of Jaune.
With a loud, pained, roar; the colossal form of the Primal Dragon smashed against the side of the tower. Its head, resting stunned, barely a dozen of meters on where Cinder and Jaune knelt in a macabre parody of a hug. The broken and battered remnants of Knightmare loomed over the Dragon.
Knightmare was not in better shape than its creator. She has lost four arms, was "bleeding" Aura from a hundred of gashes, punctures, and holes in her armor and helmet. Her eyes were spilling some silvery liquid like tears and the sash in her waist was as torn and ragged along the dozen of bows that lifelessly hanged from one of her broken cat ears.
But the construct pushed with all her remaining might. Knightmare was an extension of Jaunes will, his indomitable will to improve himself, given form, feed with all the suffering and self-loathing the poor knight had. That unique blend of Aura and negative energy, along with the unique powers of the blood of Galahad; made Knightmare a powerful and terrifying enemy, to Grimm, Humanity, and Faunus equally.
Both were on their last leg. The Dragon trashed, trying to get back in flight, as he knew that his position was a disadvantageous one. But the Knightmare was faster, extending the damaged, but still functional, the arm of the scythe and trapping the long neck of Dragon between the handle and the sharp, inner, edge of the weapon. If the Dragon was not careful, he would slit his own neck with the edge of the scythe, that only leave him one option.
Just like Knightmare expected.
The Dragon tried to slip his way out of the death grip that the Knightmare has her on. With desperation, it clawed the brass and golden armor of the Knightmare, burying its claws deep into her sides. But the Knightmare ignored the damaged and pushed the scythe back to her. If the Dragon didn't want to be decapitated by the scythe, it was forced to move its head forward, trying to duck under the blade and bite into the neck and head of the Knightmare, crushing her head under its devastating maw.
The Dragon moved its head forward, fangs ready for shredding the throat of the Knightmare. But it was stopped in mid-attack when a pink wall; more concretely, the entire surface of the head of the pink war hammer that the Knightmare carried in her last arm; broke its snout and twist his masked face in cracks and broken, bone-like, splinters. However, the Dragon had not the time to be flabbergasted, stunned or directly pained by the brutal pummeling that its face has suffered. Once his impulse was negated, and the hammer pushed its head back, the Dragon forgot of the very sharp scythed edge that was coming its way.
With all the remaining strength she had left. Her master's Aura was already dropping in a free fall. She used the hammer and the scythe as the blades of scissors, cutting the wide neck of the Dragon in one powerful beheading move and sending the decapitated and broken head, flying over the top of the tower. The strength behind the finishing move was so big, that the head flies over the entire surface of the tower and start to fall on the other side of it. But it disintegrated in mid-fall, in a nauseous black mist, usual stuff for all Grimm, but the mist of the Dragon was thicker and even just seeing it, one could only feel nauseated.
Knightmare didn't last long either. Before she could end the swing, her body was already decomposing in the Aura energy that has given her life, along with all the negative emotions that Jaune Arc holds in his heart. The Aura construct was not exactly sentient or intelligent. But she; as she was capable of determining her own gender; was sentient enough to recognize the negative and positive emotions that confirmed her.
The love of her master for his friends and family, Fatebounds, something that has not been seen in Remnant in centuries. The self-loathing that her master felt for himself, a blazing desire of atonement for being useless, a drag, a fool that failed again and again and again. That was the core essence of Knightmare, a monster created by the positive and negative emotions of Jaune Arc. The boy broke all the bloody molds when he managed to create a Semblance like her at the end of his training.
Jaune Arc was blind, pained and in general, feeling like a shit. Not really a surprise, sixty percent of his body was a charred wreck. It hurts even to think about it. His ears, even with the ringing and the dumbness that comes with having some melted flesh plugging them, were capable of picking up the noise of Cinder coughing blood and the squelching sound of his last arm inside her chest. Right on the heart. Talk about a lucky shot. His superhuman strength and resilience have saved the day. Three Hurrah's for him, he finally did it. He was going to die anyway, but he did kill the bloody bastard.
"I curse you Jaune Arc" spat blood Cinder in the charred face of Jaune Arc. He didn't even notice the wet sensation, his nerves were vaporized in the fire. "In the dawn of my triumph, you managed to destroy everything, but remember, that I am not the only one who serve Salem".
"Too late, Fail Maiden" really, Jaune would have loved to chuckle, but neither his lungs nor lips were for the labor. Mockery was the only thing he had left. "I am already cursed, all my kin is".
"Who are you?". Cinder noticed how the power of the Maiden started to slip past her control. The same fire that she loved and dominated, was now a raging inferno that will consume her, body and soul. But she would take this knight with her. With all the strength she could muster, she hugged the one arm body of Jaune Arc, channeling the few fumes she had left of her Aura into a crushing hug.
"What are you?". She corrected herself, closing her eyes as her body started to glow red and orange, advising of the imminent explosion. Considering the powers involved, the strength and the radius of the explosion will be easily capable of vaporizing the tower and a good chunk of the nearby buildings.
But for both of the dying fighters, it would be something that others had to worry about.
"Very complicated". Almost chocked Jaune in her own blood and bile, trying to answer Cinder. He had nothing left, the only consolation was that the explosion would vaporize both of them and he will have not the time to register his body disappearing in ashes.
The only good side of being charred is that he will not bleed to death. The downside is that he could possibly have a septicemia from the poisoned blood. But those details are for the living, he was a walking corpse right now. He has made it, and that would be more than enough. Hey, perhaps in his epitaph will be something nice, like "At last he did something useful" or "Finally, did something right". Those were not that bad.
"Why are you rushing to your death, my child?".
Now it was official, Jaune was totally out of his mind. Still, He expected to hallucinate way before. The pain and the sudden loss of half of his senses were more than enough excuse for anyone brains to refuge in a corner and cry a river. But, for a hallucination, it was way welcome than his usual, evil, doppelganger that bitch slapped him with all that was wrong in his life. The voice of Lord Galahad was a welcome change of pace for his last moments.
"As amusing as always, Jaune, you really should stop berating yourself like that".
Chatting with his own hallucination. Not a novelty, but at last he preferred to pass his last moments with a friend. Way better, than alone and in this parody of lovers last embrace that Cinder and Jaune were performing in their last moments.
"Sorry, my lord, I have been better". Joked Jaune with the voice of his mind. "I have my ass kicked, all way to Sunday, like a dozen of times, and not even my Ichor could do shit about it".
"Child".
There were amusement and exasperation in that voice. So familiar with the god that awoke his legacy and gave him hope. The last of his kin, the one that had to carry a heavy burden, at the price of amazing power. For Jaune, it was the deal of the century. He has to admit that, Lord Galahads impression of his dying brain was quite accurate.
"Child, riddle me this; what does a knight have, that a witch has not?".
"No bleeding idea". Honestly answered Jaune, and the inner voice laughed. With that thunderous voice that was unique to Lord Galahad. Uh, maybe he was the true one and Jaune has made an ass of himself even in his last moments. Well, all his friends said that he was adorkable, if that was a word.
"Faithful Maidens".
Answered the voice to his own riddle. Jaune laughed, yeah, Maidens. He has killed one, right now. Okay, he mentally chalked her as the Fail Maiden, but a Maiden nonetheless. His burns and cut left arm was proof enough. Although, Jaune was convinced that he could hear the voice of Ruby, crying and screaming at him; calling him back. And of course, he felt the sensation of his body flying, nursed by the Polarity Semblance of Pyrrha. Then the heat come, and a shocking sensation before his entire body felt like it has been smashed, very rudely, against a hard surface.
At last, the darkness comes. Not a minute too soon. But as the final moment of a failed knight; taking down a Fallen Maiden was quite the achievement.
"Are you sure about that, child?".
Unknown location/Vacuo
Well, Jaune was sure, until he awoke.
"Uh, nice room, love the white and blue colors". Was the first thought that Jaune had when he opened his eyes, right before the lights of the room pierced his sensitive, regrown from pasty remnants, eyes.
Jaune groaned from the piercing sensation. The light stung and made his eyes tear. Wait, what kind of afterlife has pain?. Astonished that he was not dead, or at last, seriously hoping he was not. Jaune slowly accustomed his eyes to the dim lights of the room. Judging from the window, it must be afternoon. He didn't recognize the scenery, it was familiar. It was similar to the background that his hometown had, but his hometown had a lot more vegetation. In fact, this room was bigger than his shared room back in what should be left of Beacon after that bloody Dragon and that bitch of Cinder screw with the Academy and the City.
Jaune, then realized, that he was pretty much alive.
He was alive, he has survived the battle against the Dragon and Cinder. He has saved the city, or what's left of it. Before he could realize, he was crying like a baby. With the arm he had left, as there was nothing on his left side, except the phantom sensation of a lost arm, he covered his eyes and cried like a baby. His sobs filled the room, as he could not believe that he was alive. Jaune felt a torrent of emotions inside of him and a hundred thoughts running and tugging in his mind in a hundred different reactions and ideas.
Judging from his sensations, apart from sluggish and like he had run a dozen marathons; Jaune was in general in good shape. His flesh was a bit pale, not really a surprise considering that he should look like charcoal after how Cinder puked a volcano on his face. His hair has grown back, a bit shorter than usual, but he always wanted a cut and never found the time, it has been a bit drastic but he got his haircut. His ears were in the place they should be and do not looking like burned potatoes. His nose was equally good and his lips were not worms over charcoal, there was the adequate number of teeth and his tongue was in his place.
Either he has underestimated the healing powers of his unique blend of Aura and Ichor, or he has been healed somehow into almost perfect health. The empty socket of his pajama spoke volumes of what he has sacrificed for Beacon and his friends, but Jaune knows that he would offer the other arm, with a smile, if it was needed. Jagged and cynical, but Jaune was Jaune at his core and he would face anything to keep his friends and family alive and well. When Galahad awoke him, he left things clear, he was a Knight, and Knights endure.
Still crying, really pondering the possibility that this all was a vivid dream that his dying brain has conjured. Jaune scratched the flesh under the pajama. It was still sensitive, it must have grown back recently and even the sensation of the pajamas annoyed him a little. Speaking of which, like any sane, hot-blooded male, he checked that his other "sword" was in place. It has grown back, much to the relief of Jaune, who really didn't want to become a eunuch.
The twins demonstrated to him what the pleasures of the flesh were, and even if they were nothing but friends with a lot of benefits; Jaune wanted to enjoy nights like that, all the times he could. Sue him, he was a bloody teenager after all. Hormones could do numbers on everybody mind and Jaune was not free of the problems of a common teenager, Aura or Ichor be dammed.
Talk about the devil. His Ichor has kept him alive, but he remembered the sensation of Pyrrhas magnetic touch and Ruby's voice when he thought he was a goner. Maybe they carried him to a hospital?. It was among the possibilities, but that would lead to a conversation Jaune was not prepared at all to face. He would face the music if he needed to. But frankly, he would prefer to beat an Ursa, barehanded, before explaining what he was now.
People like him are unique in more ways than one. The power would grow in him, so will do the adversities that he would have to face and the enemies that will come his way. It was called Fateful Aura. The horrid luck that people like him had, to attract all kind of madness; from hilarious or directly weird situations, to be on the path of a Goliath migration with nothing more than a toothpick and a smile. Although, now that he was crippled, maybe he could step back and enjoy an early jubilation. He has not graduated, but come on, the savior of Vale and Dragonslayer should have some kind of monetary reward no?. There are S-class missions easier than this. Heck, Goliath hunts are way easier than facing a Primal Grimm.
Jaune tried to get comfortable in the unknown bed. He really didn't think this was a hospital, his nose did not pick up the smells that were commonly associated with a hospital. If anything, it was a cozy guest room in someone's house. The decoration was minimalistic and the place did not like it has been used recently, except for his presence in the room. Clearing his tears with the sleeve of the pajama, Jaune sat on the bed and tried to make head or tails about where he was. But first, nature calls.
Dozens of stings and nerve pains came his way when he tried to get out of the bed. The damaged he has suffered against Cinder has torched his nerves and muscles. Now that he was trying to use them again, they were slowly, and very painfully, returning to activity and that hurt like a bitch. Slowly and cursing under his breath the entire way, Jaune managed to stand up in front of the bed.
He raised his arm in victory and realized that he only had one arm. It was a bit awkward. Fortunately, there were no witnesses of his embarrassing moment. Using his right hand to maintain balance, Jaune discovered how hard was to walk with a numb body like he had now. He didn't know how much time has he been out of commission, but even with his healing capabilities, he would bet over a week minimum. In a week, lots of things could change. Especially now that Vale must be in shambles and the Atlesian Military appearing like the joke of the millennium.
Jaune has never been one to keep grudges. But taking the control of the entire Atlesian robot army and unleashing them over innocent civilians was something that he could not forgive. Especially, after Cinder revealed that she had put a virus in Irondicks scroll and controlled everything since the bloody beginning. Seriously, General Ironwoods scroll hacked. Is that even possible?. Jaune suspected that the arrogance of the Atlesian military higher-ups was the responsible behind this. In all, he was relatively happy that it happened in Vale and show them the idiocy of using robots for everything. One single program in a harmless update and the entire metal army will butcher those that were supposedly protecting.
He had nothing against robots. He has destroyed hordes of them during his training and they could be the perfect support for squads of Hunters that had to go deep into the Badlands or has to evac people in hostile conditions. But arming them and using them as the armies of humanity has cost Vale a very high price. And almost his life, but he was convinced that he was going to die against Cinder and the Dragon anyway, so the robot rebellion was a secondary thing in that front.
Making a pause in his way to the bathroom. The white tiles of the floor and the W.C that he was seeing through the door were definite clues about where to go. He discovered that despite looking peachy, he was having tremendous difficulties even for the short walk that was from the bed to the W.C. This could get ridiculous if he was in a hurry.
Robots. Jaune really wanted to believe that Penny has made it. The naive robot with Aura deserved more from life than being a sacrificial pawn to the greed of that junkie bitch of Cinder. Penny was just discovering the joys of life and being torn apart by Pyrrhas Semblance, sure was not in her, to do list. The robot girl wanted to taste pancakes, wanted to have more friends, wanted to go to Beacon with Ruby and the rest of the ladies of RWBY. But Cinders arrogance and greed squashed that dreams, in the name of her own addiction to power and control.
Relieving himself in the W.C. And discovering how difficult it was with only one hand. Jaune washed his hand and look at himself in the mirror of the room, later he will use the shower. He was surprisingly clean from one that should look like a charred hamburger.
In all, he was more or less like he was before he faced Cinder. His skin did look a bit more harsh that he remembered. Like it has been tanned like it was leather, but keeping a healthy pink, if not slightly pale look. His blue eyes were still red and swollen for crying and his facial features look a bit drier and angular; possibly because he has not eaten anything since a couple of hours before that clusterfuck in the top of the tower. And that an amount of unspecified time before he awoke, being more alive than he expected.
Jaune sighed, took a deep breath and slowly, pulled down the jacket of the pajamas he was wearing. He needed to see.
It wasn't that bad, there was a patch of false skin that covered the stump. From the shoulder, Cinder has cut down his left arm with Crocea Mors, from the shoulder. Fortunately, it has not cut into the sides. He did not have enough force of will to remove the patch. It was clear that he has lost his left arm for good. No amount of Aura could heal that. Perhaps if his Ichor grew more powerful, will it regrow, but it was a big If and there was nothing that could give him any guarantees about the matter. For now, he would consider himself a cripple and keep moving forward. He still has his right arm, and he has always been right-handed so he could still swing a sword. It was going to be a pain in the ass to accustom, but nothing that can not be done with practice.
Jaune put his left hand over the stump. He shivered, thinking how easily could it have been his head. Only a fluke, the first and clumsy cut of Cinder, give him a clue of what was going on. He reacted by instinct, hours and hours of tortu...err, training, under the hands of his uncle Zuria gave him that kind of reflexes. He put all he had on that straight punch, piercing the Aura of Cinder, her flesh, and bones, until his fist came out on the other side of her body, surely destroying some vital in his way out.
At that point, he was blind and did not remember well what was going on. Just that he needed to fight. If he had not moved, Cinder would have beheaded him, instead of his head, she took his left arm. It was quite a miracle that he has survived the ordeal, but he was alive so he could freak out as much as he could right now.
Sitting on the W.C, Jaune cried again, hugging his torso with his left arm and clenching the patch of false skin. Gritting his teeth, Jaune was trying to keep his tears at bay and do not wail like a wounded child. He has survived, Oh, Lord Galahad, He has survived!. He could barely believe it.
He didn't know how much time did he stood there, sat in the W.C of a house that he did not recognize and sobbing for the second time since he awoken back to the world of the living. He used his last arm to help himself back up and with some extra difficulties, clean his face and red eyes from the second crying season. What kind of savior he was, crying his heart out?.
Still tumbling a little, Jaune exited the bathroom, just to see how the door of the room opened and Ruby; dressed in some white shirt and black pants, a far cry of her usual style; entered in the room with a lot of medicines in her arms. Seeing that he was not in the bed, Ruby eyes widened, but before she could start looking for him, Jaune was faster and saluted his good friend.
"Hey, Ruby". Greet Jaune to Ruby that almost broke her own neck at the speed he twisted her head to look at him. "Good to see you, how much Tiii…!". The next words of Jaune Arc were lost, when a missile named Ruby Rose, slammed against his midsection and make him fall.
Professional wrestlers would have been proud of that tackle. Unfortunately, the inertia of the tackle made Jaune fall and crush his head against the border of the shower. Blackness took over again, much to the mental groaning of Jaune Arc. Seriously, this kind of shit only happened to him.
The second awakening, however, was a lot more sedated. And filled with questions and accusations.
Jaune was dressed in a borrowed shirt, the stump of his left arm was patently clear for anyone looking at him, still, the boy did not care three fucks about it. Instead, he was looking at Ironwood with an expression that spoke of murder and ill intention.
"Let's be clear here". Coldly said Jaune, treacherously calm. "Are you telling me, that Cinder had control over your bloody scroll, since the night of the Prom, and you had no fucking idea?!".
"Cinder uploaded a virus inside the CCTS". Said Ironwood, as cold as Jaune. "No one knew what was that virus until it was too late".
"Ten frigates". Said Jaune. "Ten bloody frigates, more than five thousand soldiers, among them enough technicians and computers experts to build two CCTS towers". Enumerated Jaune, still not sure about the numbers but pointing out that workforce was not a problem here."Weeks, fucking weeks, analyzing even the deepest corners of the CCTS, knowing that there was something there, knowing that there must be something there; after an intruder kicked your elite troops asses ten ways to Sunday; leaving the bloody icon of the Queen in the fucking screen of the main server of the CCTS of Vale".
Jaune took a deep breath and stared at Ironwood.
"And you had the balls to tell me that no one saw anything?". Jaune was between amazed and angered. "That, even after Ruby and you, made the intruder scamper and see the bloody icon; you updated your fucking scroll; the scroll that had complete control over a bloody army of war machines; directly from the CCTS and did not triple check the safety measures of your own bloody scroll?!".
"General". Jaune sat in the chair that was at his side, tiredness permeating his frame. He was not still recovered from the ordeal. "Are you fucking kidding me?".
"This is not a joke boy". Snorted Ironwood. He wanted to talk to the boy, as he has really saved the day with his amazing victory over Cinder and the Dragon, but he was not going to be called like he was some rookie back at the Atlesians training camps.
"Then explain to me, how on Remnant did this happen?!". Shouted Jaune.
Behind him, the silhouette of Knightmare appeared on his shadow, her silver eyes fixated in Ironwood like the laser sight of a sniper. The promise of painful death that emanated from the boy shut Ironwood for a second, as he did not expect such killer intent from a Hunter in training. No matter how amazing his achievements were.
"General, you are one of the best strategists in the Four Kingdoms". Said Jaune and the pain and betrayal in his voice, surprised Ironwood a lot. "Heck, I read your book; "The Conquest of the Frozen Lands", it was brilliant, I followed your example, I wanted to be as good as you, then, please, just, please, tell me how is possible that a crazy junkie bitch has managed to outsmart you like this". Jaune massaged his temples.
"Is...just...".Jaune was at a loss of words and to be frank, Ironwood was too, like it or not, the boy had a point. Cinder has played with all of them like they were puppets on her hands, and the cost of their failure has been too high.
"Just tell me". Said Jaune massaging the bridge of his nose, this was taking a toll on him too. His emotions were a rollercoaster and he was just lashing at Ironwood when he was not free of guilt either. "Did Penny survive? she was a robot too, no?. She could upload herself into the CCTS buffers and send herself to another body".
Ironwood raised an eyebrow. And for him, it was quite a shocked reaction. Ironwood was more than half-metallic, there was a reason why that drunkard of Qrow called him Tinman. The wounds that he suffered during his career were compensated by cybers. The best of the market, some of them were unique experiments of his friend Polendina, the mastermind behind Penny.
"Yes" simply answered Ironwood and see how Jaune deflated like a balloon, tears of the relief forming in his eyes.
Before any more could be said, the door of the room opened and the youngest daughter of Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long rushed inside, followed by Qrow and another group of teenagers, all alumni from Beacon from what Ironwood remembered.
"Jaune!". Called Ruby worried. "Are you okay, why were you shouting?".
"Yeah, who is messing with our fearless leader?, I will break their legs". Animatedly added Nora.
"Are you okay?" asked Pyrrha in her usual polite tone.
Ren did not need to say anything, just a glance him and Jaune and the martial artist know that the conversation with Ironwood was not precisely good news.
"Well, Jimmy, this is a record, even for you". Laughed Qrow taking a sip of his flask. "You have made the savior of Vale cry, and you own your sorry ass to the boy, who not only has cleaned your mess but saved the lives of your bloody army before the Dragon could chew your pretty ships like they were chewing toys".
"Shut up, Qrow". Grunted Ironwood. The general was not in the mood for dealing with the drunkard antics. He could be one of the top Hunters of the world, but he was rude, undisciplined and a drunkard that cannot raise from the bed without a couple of liters of booze in his system.
Qrow totally ignored the general and instead advanced to get a good sight of the Arc boy.
"Aren't you a tough cookie?". There were humor and concern in the voice of Qrow, he liked the Arc boy. Maybe a little naive, but after being tortured into shape by his uncle Zuria; now that was a man that scared Qrow shitless; he was a lot better and a nice partner to have when the shit hit the fan.
And he was a total chick magnet. The threesome on where he lost his virginity with the twin sexy things that work on Juniors bar was proof enough. That, and the longing glances of the Nikos girl and even if Qrow wanted to trample the body, Ruby had a crush the size of Beacon on him. This Arc really had the fabled Arc charm, even if he was dense as a rock on the matter of the heart.
Jaune tapped the stump of his absent arm and snorted.
"Not that tough". Smiled without humor. "Now, stop being a smartass and toss me that flask, I can smell the Atlas vodka from here, you drunkard". There was no malice in Jaunes voice, in all, it was like he was speaking with an old friend.
"Ha!". Barked Qrow. "Sorry chum, this is all mine, you had your own, you know, the one that, that cute squirrel Faunus girl gave you back in Mystral".
The narrowing of the eyes of Ruby and Pyrrha was all that Qrow need to know that the bloody Arc has done it again. How? how can this blonde bastard be such a chick magnet?.
"It burned". Lamented Jaune with a sigh. "I had it in my jeans when Cinder puked a volcano in my face, it melted along half of my left leg, not sure, I was blind at the time".
It may have looked like Jaune was diminishing it, however, the slight shudder that he tried to hide was visible to all his friends. Jaune was trying his best to hide the phantom pains and cold terrors that he was still experimenting. Like an odd PTSD, Jaune knew has recovered physically, but from time to time, he froze, remembering the soul-searing pain that he endured. And the stump did not help, of course. A constant reminder of what he has lost.
"Ah, shit". Simply stated Qrow with his usual bluntness, but tossed the flask to Jaune.
Catching it with his only arm, Jaune took a long gulp from the flask, much to the amazement and surprise of his friends, who didn't know that Jaune could drink like that. In fact, they have never seen him drinking anything stronger than one of those sodas that he liked.
"Oh, for the love of god, this is like antifreeze". Cursed Jaune, but toss the flask back to Qrow. "How on Remnant can you swig that and do not die of cirrhosis, is something that I would never understand".
"You are young in the way of alcoholism". Laughed or better said, barked Qrow in humor.
"Old man, remember that I put you under the table in Vale". Pointed out Jaune. "You are the one that faints like a little girl after a dozen "Grimm blood" specials of Junior".
"Cocky little bastard". Grumbled Qrow under his breath.
Ruby blinked and the rest of the friends of Jaune blinked too. They were still trying to process the information they had received. Jaune drinks?, drinks so much that he could surpass a drunkard like Qrow, in a drink competition. Qrow, who was a veteran Hunter and like the other Hunters; thanks to his Aura, could drink barrels of alcohol like it was nothing?.
"This is an aspect of you that I would have never believed". Commented Ren, eying his friend, who blinked at his friends and tried to hide his head inside his shirt, like a turtle. Completely embarrassed for those old memories.
"Sorry". Come the faint voice of Jaune, whose face was red as Pyrrhas air.
It was a good thing that Ironwood took that moment to interrupt and channel the conversation back to more productive ways. Otherwise, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ruby would have hugged Jaune to death. For the three girls, it was like seeing a very cute golden puppy, trying to hide his adorable face. In Nora's case, a golden-haired sloth, but for each their own.
"I see you have not changed". Commented Ironwood, with a disdaining glance to Qrow, who ignored it like a pro. It was an old discussion between the two of them and wasn't going to end soon. "But I still need some information about what happened in the tower".
"A direct live feed and you still need more?". Snorted Qrow. "Wow, Jimmy, the Atlesians sure has gotten lazy after they delegated their job in all those tin men, pity how they turncoats and killed hundreds if not thousands of civilians, uh?".
The jab was totally intended to hurt. Qrow was in the middle of the battle, dealing with the clusterfuck that was a Grimm invasion AND the betrayal of the robots. Too many lives lost, the robots were not a serious challenge for Grimms like Ursas or Deathstalkers, but they were more than enough to kill civilians by the dozens. And Qrow saw it happen, dozens of times, as he tried to make a line to the Tower where Amber, the previous Fall Maiden, was supposed to be.
"Enough Qrow, this is not the time for your antics or your clever remarks about what happened". Cut short Ironwood, that really didn't want to lost time in consummated facts, but instead, focus in more important things.
"Mister Arc, when you were fighting Cinder, you demonstrated knowledge about secrets that are not of the public domain". Explained Ironwood, back to the main point of the discussion before Jaune almost bite his head off. "And you claimed that you were in possession of an item that pierced the illusions of the criminal called Emerald Sustrai, an item made of Grimm pieces, is that right?".
"First, I will not say a word about how did I learn about the Maidens or who is the real queen bitch behind all this disaster". Said Jaune looking into the eyes of Ironwood. "As your Cabal had your secrets, the Arc had their own, on the second part, I am afraid that that concrete item, was destroyed during the battle, possibly. I had no idea, I have not seen my things since I awoke this morning".
"About that". Interjected Pyrrha with a sad expression. "We could recover Crocea Mors, but your shield was torn apart, we picked up all the pieces that we could, but the mechanism and a good chunk of its surface, is broken beyond repair".
"Shit" sighed Jaune. "Well, I only had one arm now, if Crocea Mors is in one piece, then I still can fight".
"Mister Arc". Keep pushing the matter Ironwood, he has already dealt with a serious screw up in the information filtering department. He was not going to have a dangerous person like this young Arc running around with secrets of the state in his head. "I will not pry into Arc secrets, you are correct, but you must tell me, who informed you about the truth behind the Maidens and the name you casually toss around".
"Zuria Arc". Said Jaune and secretly enjoying how Qrow almost choked with this alcohol and Ironwood stiffened like an iron bar. "Good luck trying to get something of him" chuckled Jaune, really enjoying the reactions of the adults.
"You know, it would be cool if, at some point, my name could create actions like this" thought Jaune Arc, and he really should have thought twice about that kind of desires. Never tempt Fate, it is always ready for a good challenge.
Private Laboratory of Doctor Polendina/Atlas Capital
In the end, it resulted that he has been out of commission for a week. Jaune was amazed by the healing capabilities of his body, truly the unique blend of Aura and Ichor was a wonder. Of course, only people who had a sliver of connection with the original legends like Galahad had any hope of achieving such transcended status. But even with all of those miracles running through his veins, the battle with Cinder and the Dragon has taught Jaune two very valuable lessons.
One, you are as mortal as everybody else, only harder to kill.
Two, there is always someone stronger, nastier and harder than you out there.
If it weren't for his Semblance, Jaune was convinced that he would not have endured a minute against Cinder and her bloody Dragon pet. And Cinder was a minion, Jaune shuddered to think what kind of monster Salem truly was.
The Battle of Vale has not ended in a positive note precisely. Even if the Dragon and the response of all the mess were arrested, there were thousands of casualties. Not to mention, the awkward moments on where people realized how much of an ass, they have been and how they were turning their backs to the only ones who gave a fuck about them. Of course, there were people that grumbled and nagged like bitches about how the Hunters were to blame for all these. There are always assholes like that. Not to mention how suddenly, any aspirant to the title of Councilor came out of the woodwork, claiming about the incompetence of Hunters, responsibility, damages and all kind of bullshit that has nothing to do with the fact that Cinder has played them like fiddles.
Like it or not; after the colossal fiasco that the robot army resulted to be, Hunters are once more, the last line of defense of Humanity and Faunus against the Grimm. Of course, no Councilor ever approved of the Robot army idea, no, no, they always trusted they, stalwart defenders, yadda, yadda, yadda. Usual political stuff; pointing out fingers in all directions as they hide their own messes under the rug. Truth to be told, Jaune was not all against the Robo initiative. It has sense and at the same time, it was completely idiotic.
Not all machines are like Penny. Penny is unique, a machine with Aura, a machine with a soul. That granted her the ability to tell any program to fuck off; if something suddenly started to upload a "Kill all flesh bags" program in her subroutines. It made her vulnerable to manipulation, although, as she was still a naive girl that knew nothing of the assholery of the Remnant people in general.
Not much after his return to the land of the living, Jaune traveled to Atlas. In a big and comfy Bullhead, pity that Jaune passed more than half of the travel with a vomit-bag in his hand and with his head in the lap of Pyrrha. She really was an angel of mercy. Jaune never understood the stinky eye of Ruby and the triumphant smile of Pyrrha, but he was really busy with his own nausea to ponder that behavior. He could survive to more than half of his body, broken and charred, but he nauseated like a bad thing, on any flying machine. There must be someone up there, that get its kicks with Jaune suffering. Lord Galahad the first of the list, his patron was funny like that.
Atlas was a freezer on this time of the year, but thanks to his powers, it was easy to Jaune to adapt to any climate. The rest of his friends need some extra clothing although, something that granted him some nasty glares from his apparent resilience to everything. JNPR and RY made their entrance in Atlas with two missions on their minds.
The first one would get Jaune and Yang, some new cybernetic arms.
In the beginning, Yang was depressed as hell, as no one has believed her about her innocence until the video of the battle with Cinder came, and Emerald Sustrai was arrested. Coco and Yatsuhashi were less than pleased when they knew about what happened and really wanted a piece of the illusionist thief. But she was soon taken by Atlesian soldiers to a special confinement facility. A place where her illusion will do not good for her.
Jaune took a Yang out of her funk, by calling bullshit to her attitude to her face. Yang punched him to the other side of the wall, but Jaune rose from the ground walked back to the room and continue shouting to the blonde brawler about why she should stop mopping and start looking for the rest of her team. It must be said that Jaune did a couple more flies by punching in the face, but at the end, Yang got the message and accompanied them to Atlas. After they got new and shiny arms, as disturbing as it could sound, and they had accustomed to them. The two teams could start looking for the two lost members of RWBY, namely, Weiss and Blake.
That was the second objective.
Somewhere in Atlas, Blake has been sighted, hunting down a cell of the White Fang and Weiss was with her father, in the Weiss main building, in the middle of the city. Weiss and Blake disappeared in the confusion of the aftermath of the Battle of Vale. After Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha rescued Jaune ass from the explosion that consumed the body of Cinder Fall, Weiss was called by his father, back to Atlas. Blake never forgave herself for what Adam did to Yang. The arrogant terrorist cut one of Yang's arms after he shoved his katana into Blakes' gut.
It was clear to Jaune that both Ruby and Yang were distressed about the fate of their teammates and to be honest, so was Jaune. But he and Yang were useless now, so Jaune cut a deal with Ironwood. The location of Zuria Arc, for two, state-of-the-art, cybernetic prosthesis for him and Yang. Jaune has even sketched the designs and all. Ruby and Nora helped, they were determined to get them, the coolest arms ever. Ironwood accepted the deal and Jaune asked for a very specific doctor. Doctor Polendina, the "father" of Penny. If someone was capable of creating the best cyber arms in existence, was the same man that created the wonder that was Penny.
And Ruby and Penny would be ecstatic to knew that each other was alive and good. The destruction of Penny was a heavy burden between Pyrrha and Ruby, and perhaps seeing the mechanical girl alive would do good to both of them. Or so hoped Jaune Arc, still a foolish child that hoped for the best even after all that happened.
They soon got into the laboratory where the surgery was going to take place. Jaune was a nervous wreck, meanwhile, Yang was surprising okey. The upbeat girl has recovered quite fast from her depression, something that made Jaune happy. Yang was not a girl that should be gloomy, she was, as her name stated, a fiery Dragon. Being all emo in a cave was not the natural state of Yang. Jaune, on the other hand, was not all that sure about all this. He really wanted a cybernetic arm, to be able to be in the field again, but the stars in the eyes of Ruby and Nora and their whispers about hammers, drills, guns and coolest ever, did little to quell his nerves.
Ren took all of this in stride, much like Pyrrha, who was trying to cheer Jaune up. Once they meet Doctor Polendina, it was too late for running, so Jaune prayed to Lord Galahad in his mind, and along Yang, entered into the main lab of the Doctor. There will be the arms that the Doctor has been crafting for them.
They sent the designs to his lab by CCTS and by the time they reached Atlas Capital, the two pieces of tech were ready to be plugged in. For what Jaune know, the doctor has cut all brakes, with the project. Penny even helped with the last touches and the implementation of the defensive and offensive capabilities that Jaune and Yang wanted for their new prosthetic.
Despite Ruby's insistence, Yang didn't want anything extravagant. Ruby was all about putting all kind of weapon options and the sort, and Yang loved to see her sister dorking like that over her weapon, but she was a brawler at heart. The new arm was pretty much a sturdier, Dust empowered version of Amber Celica, her signature weapon. Still, Ruby made the impossible to add an extra feature, that will turn the fist of the arm into a pneumatic hammer, making Yang punch anything dozens of times per second. Jaune shuddered when he imagined how would it be, be on the other side of that smashing machine.
But Jaunes was the jewel of the crown. Jaune commits the grievous mistake of trusting Nora and Ruby with the features of the weapon. The boy only wanted it to have a collapsible shield; made with the pieces of the shield of Crocea Mors; to display the twin golden arcs o the Arcs on it and to be as flexible and unbreakable as it could be. Then Ruby and Nora picked up the sketches and go to town with them. Jaune observed the results and became torn between freaking out and hug Ruby and Nora to death.
In appearance, it was a shadowless steel colored arm, with the twins arcs in the biceps. But the real deal was the features it had.
First, the shield, a perfect replica of his old shield, made from the scraps of the previous but with a Dust empowered system that magnetized it. Jaune could throw it like a bloody Frisbee and use the magnets on his arm, it will fly back to him. Jaune joked with Pyrrha about how they had elevated the game of Frisbee to a new level with that one.
Second, the revolving Dust chamber that he had on his forearm. With a thought, he could display a Dust gun that had four revolving chambers and will use four different effects depending on the quality and nature of the Dust on them.
On the model that Polendina has installed, Jaune could use Fire Dust, turning gun into a flamethrower; he could use Ice Dust, essentially creating a cryo gun; he could use Electric Dust that would become a taser or a devastating electric gun and finally, a mix of hyper-dense metallic pellets with Electric Dust, that would turn the Dust gun of his forearm into a portable rail-gun. About two hundred projectiles before having to reload the cartridge, with the same ammo that the Mecha-shifting Heavy machine guns, Hunters uses daily. All of this doesn't speak of the enhanced strength of the arm, way stronger than the usual Hunters, Aura be dammed, or the hardness of the arms, that would leave titanium as wet cardboard.
Penny´s idea. It has to be, Ruby and her were emailing each other since day one and they crafted this together to turn Jaune into some kind of bloody one armed war-machine. Yang was laughing her ass off, putting a robotic voice and making gestures with her far more comfortable and simpler cybernetic arm. Well, last Jaune was not seeing drills anywhere, that was something. Of course, he would never, ever, tell any of them, that he had stars in eyes too at the image of what his new and shiny arm can do. He would never live it down.
But when they entered the surgery and were anesthetized for the implantation, the last thing Jaune suspected, was that the premiere of his awesome arm was going to be assaulting the Schnee building. Right into a desperate rescue attempt of Weiss and his father from that arrogant asshole of Adam, before he could kill Blake for protecting her friend and advising the Schnee of the assassination attempt.
Fateful Aura, Jaune´s ass.
As Scion of Galahad, the White Knight, he should have known better, that the "adventures" never ends.
However, Jaune was still asking himself...what the hell has happened to his wonderful one-sie?.