I could just leave. No, no, I'll just wait five more minutes.
Jaune had been repeating the same thought for about an hour.
The boss had ordered his goons to handcuff him and throw him into a dark and empty room. So, he sat in the dark for an hour, he could leave at any time, but he needed to explain himself and buy forged documents. Half an hour later, he decided sitting in the dark wasn't very productive, so he decided to test out his powers.
He activated his abilities to fly and to go invisible and intangible simultaneously. A sudden and inexplicable force sent him tumbling in the air. He needed a few seconds before he found his footing, flying had somehow become harder than before, he had lost his sense of balance. After managing to stay still, he examined his body, he only saw a white glow, the outline of his body was no longer there.
He flew through a wall, hoping to see what he looked like in a brightly lit area, and he went from the bottom corner of a room and into a storage area or sorts. The room did have its lights on so he didn't mind, and he confirmed that he didn't have a body. Right now he was just a mass of energy.
With objects to help him set his axis straight, he went back up then he circled around his room. At his door stood two goons, or well guards at the moment. He flew in front of them, but they showed no reaction to him, he attempted to fly through one, but surprisingly he couldn't even touch their skin, a barrier prevented him from gett8ng closer. He gave up and flew somewhere else.
After flying through the building randomly, he entered an office on the top floor. Inside this room were three people. The girls from last night and the boss. He listened in on their conversation, they talked about The Club for a while, then they talked about a customer called Roman, they seemed to hate him. He listened and learned about them from their conversation, the girls were named Miltia and Melanie, they were twins, and the boss was called Junior, they all seemed close. Melanie was kind of a bitch, but the kind that cared, Miltia was quiet and carefree, both of them would poke fun at Junior, who seemed to appreciate them.
"I can't believe we missed a fight." Melanie said with a huff.
"It wasn't much of a fight, just some punk kid with a big Aura and a lucky Semblance." Junior.
The words weren't new to him, but the way they were used here in a way implied that they meant something else.
"I'm still bored, I want a fight." Melanie moved slightly, she changed her stance like she was about to pounce.
Junior was quiet for a moment. "I wonder who would've won, you or the punk?"
"Uh, Melanie, duh." Miltia answered.
"I would wipe the floor with the punk!" Melanie shouted.
"Do you know what his Semblance was?" Junior asked, using that word again, and without waiting for a response he answered himself. "It was an electrified Aura, he zapped my henchman with enough voltage to knock them out, even though they all had Aura, the only reason he isn't dead is because his electrical field grew from the fight and detonated my missile before it hit him. You wouldn't even be able to touch him, and even if you did, the henchman that came to get me said he willingly took hits and got stronger from them."
A moment of silence passed, he thought about what Junior said about him, a Semblance was another name for a power, and Aura was supposed to stop damage, and now he understood how the fight ended, and how they misunderstand his power.
"I wish you did fight him, might shock some sense into you, then you'll think before you fight." Junior said.
"You don't pay us to think!" Melanie shouted, her heat signature getting redder.
"Who sent him?" Miltia changed the topic.
"Good question." Junior moved towards a door. "I'll go ask him."
The twins followed him, and he joined them. They walked down a few sets of stairs and went towards a room guarded by two goons. Junior waved and the two goons moved, then he kicked open the door.
A moment of silence passed as everyone froze, they were all staring into empty room, with nothing else but a corpse lying in the middle of the room.
"Is he dead?" Miltia asked, breaking the silence.
One of the goons rushed into the room and crouched next to the body, and then he felt something poke his neck.
"No pulse, Boss."
He felt like an idiot, it was his body, so he flew over and then inside his corpse, quickly he felt the world realign as he returned to the normal way to experience the world, and then he jumped started his heart again. His eyes snapped open, the goon felt a static shock and jumped back with a yelp. Jauen cracked a smile and then he looked towards Junior. "Ready to talk?"
"Who sent you?" Junior asked after a second, the room was flooded with light, the goon outside the room had just flipped a switch.
"No one, I'm here for personal business." Jaune said as he sat up.
"You take down ten of my guys for personal business?"
"Well, I didn't intend to, my Semblance went to my head, if I use too much I can't think straight." Jaune said with a slight frown, using the new word.
"Hey." Miltia started, getting Jaune's attention. "Do you have a deaf brother?"
Jaune wasn't the only one to look at her confused.
"What? Doesn't he look like that boy from last night?" Miltia asked Melanie and Junior.
Melanie bent over to get a closer look at Jaune. "I don't see it." She answered.
"Ugh, Melanie! Look at his face."
"Fine. Fine."
"Now imagine that it was covered in dirt."
"Hmm."
"Imagine his eyes were that black and white chromia-thingy."
"Hmm-hmm."
"And change the hair color to black."
"Hmm, hey yeah, he does look like him." Melanie agreed.
The whole thing was confusing for Jaune, apparently his appearance had changed last night, it sounded like he had lost his colors. "I don't think I have any brothers." He tried to get back on track, even if he was relieved the assassin wouldn't recognize him. "Look, I didn't come looking for a fight, or anything like that, I just want to buy some forged documents so I can get into Beacon and become a Huntsmen."
Junior sighed exasperated. "Of course you do, it's what all the kids want these days, you know the others didn't wait until the day before Beacon started to order theirs."
What!?
"What!? It's tomorrow?!" Jaune shouted, it was less panicked and more alarmed.
"Even if you didn't pick a fight with my guys, you wouldn't have got the documents in time, they take days to prepare." Junior informed Jaune.
"What? No! I need to get into Beacon! I need to become a Huntsmen! I'll do anything! Please!"
Junior looked deep in thought, then smiled. "Well, someone hasn't picked theirs up yet, if you want, I can alter it for you, all you'll have to do is surpass what they paid, and do it before midnight, that's when the cut off for enrollment is."
"How much?" Jaune asked excitedly, he would pay whatever the price was to become a Huntsmen.
"This client wanted these documents to pass the highest inspection, so he paid quite a lot, you have to pay double." Junior continued.
"How much?" Jaune asked again.
"40,000 Lien." Junior told him.
40,000 Lien is a lot, way more than what I have, but I need to pay.
"I guess I could rob a bank or something." Jaune mumbled. "Or blackmail a politician, or assassinate one. Maybe a bake sale. Or I could sell a few organs, they don't have to be mine."
A cough brought him back to the present. The goons looked uncomfortable, the twins looked amused, and Junior looked tired.
"Relax kid, you were supposed to come to the realization you can't pay me, I'll cut the price in half in exchange for favors, you'll pay for the other half by doing more favors for me then you'll be forced into a life of debt to me." Junior said flatly.
"Oh, that sounds easier, let's do that." Jaune said with a relieved smile.
Junior stared at him for a minute looking for something, then he deflated slightly. "Follow me." He told him.
While following Junior and the twins, a goon had removed his handcuffs.
"Would you have actually done those things?" Miltia whispered to him.
Would I? I would probably hate myself forever, but-
"Whatever's necessary to become a Huntsmen." He answered with conviction.
"Hardcore. Maybe you aren't as bad as I thought you were." Melanie joined in whispering.
"Thanks, I'm Jaune Arc, by the way."
"Melanie Malachite."
"Miltia Malachite."
"And I'm your Boss." Junior added, speaking at a normal volume. "We open in an hour, six o'clock sharp, unfortunately I can't send you out and since I have to get your documents ready to send before midnight. I can't supervise you, so I have another job in mind."
Four hours later, at nine o'clock, Jaune was dressed in gray overalls and holding a broom.
He had checked in on his belongings to make sure they remained hidden, then he floated from The Club back to the sewing shop next to the laundromat, and he bought the materials needed to repair his onesie, then he went to a different store to buy headphones and sunglasses. He had a lot of spare money since he joined a gang. So he bought some food to eat, but he couldn't taste anything, so it was pretty boring.
At work he was a janitor, and like every other employee in The Club, he was also a Goon. Melanie and Miltia didn't count because they were bodyguards to Junior, and the bosses when Junior was busy. Both of them were in the middle of the dance floor, mingling with customers and keeping an eye out for suspicious behavior, like deaf boys selling drugs.
Jaune was wearing headphones to drown out the music, but he was unable to find a beginner's guide to Aura on the internet, so he was listening to an audiobook about ninja love, he didn't actually read the synopsis, but it was one of the most recommended. He watched from against a wall, through his shades, as people danced and drank. He supposed it should have felt weird watching people move against others suggestively, but it didn't do anything for him.
The audiobook was about two ninjas from different villages hidden in Mistral, accepting the same job and falling in love while disguised, then they learn the other is also ninja and suspect they were sent to kill them, heartbroken and vengeful they start a game of secrets, lies, betrayals and love. Or at least that's what he thought the book was about. It has been playing for two and a half hours and that was what happened in that time, he remembered reading the duration on it, he had picked this one because it wouldn't stop before he was done with his job. It had promised over one hundred hours of ninjas.
He thought some sections used too much description, a lot of fancy sounding words, but he could let it slide because maybe it was a Mistral thing, the flow of action seemed pretty concrete, but the author seemed to enjoy writing how clothes and flesh reacted.
A goon on a balcony waved to him, calling him to clean up a mess, so he grabbed a mop bucket, a wet floor sign and a mop, then he walked up the stairs.
Someone had dropped a glass, luckily it didn't shatter, only broke into manageable pieces, more goons kept the drunk people away. He mopped up the spilled drink and scooped up the glass with his hands, when he was done he put the wet floor sign up. Afterwards he looked over the balcony, it was tall enough that people couldn't lean over it, but low enough they could rest their arms on it.
Jaune saw the Fancy Suit Man from yesterday talking to Junior again. He quickly scanned the front room, looking for the partner, the girl that had beheaded him, he didn't find her, hopefully because she wasn't here and not because she was standing behind him, ready to behead him again. He suddenly spun around, no one was there, the electricity responsible for making sure his heart beated was moving faster than he preferred, it felt like his heart was trying to break out his ribcage.
He closed his eyes, he reassured himself, his heart eventually slowing down, when he opened his eyes, he noticed he was alone on the balcony. He turned around in time to see some goons being blown away by a girl tearing up the dance floor. It was an actual battle, not a dance battle. He watched in amazement as the girl did multiple flips and twirls in a single motion defeating several goons with ease, she was clearly trained to fight, not dance. Things on her wrist were propelling her into faster twists and twirls, she would blow away more goons with every movement. He wondered if she would teach him to move like that, he knew he was pretty good on his feet, maybe he could exchange his knowledge of the waltz with her.
He didn't have a lot of chances to show that off.
When Melanie and Miltia joined the dance battle, Jaune felt like punching himself. His ability to think was being impaired, he didn't know when it started, but he knew that it was making him unable to identify a fight.
He cleared his mind of distractions, he needed to fight the girl, and he couldn't rely on his mind to come up with ideas. He needed to let his body move, it saved him from Death, so maybe it would help again. He pictured his body, somewhere within him was a mindless survival instinct, slowly a cloud of black smoke circled around a glowing red light and made itself known so he handed his body over.
Melanie was knocked to the floor as he jumped into action. He floated up and jumped over the balcony, then he kicked off the railing and launched himself down towards the bad girl, who had managed to turn around in time to block his dive kick with her arms. She was struggling to hold him up, until her hair bursted into flames and he was launched across the room as the girl exploded.
He grabbed onto a rafter and then he swung himself back towards the bad girl, this time she dodged and landed a punch on his face, his sunglasses shattered and headphones had been sent flying off.
The girl, a burning ball of yellow fire swung another fist at his face, her red eyes alight with rage.
It was his turn to dodge, and he swiped his nails across her neck, unfortunately he couldn't pierce her barrier, but with a quick twist of his upper body he was able to slam her into the ground. Reinforced glass shattered and metal bent under the force, and the bad girl seemed unharmed, but now she was angry. He shot his nails downward, aiming for her red eyes, but before he could reach them the bad girl exploded again, the flames leaving scorching licks over his body.
He didn't have to retreat, but if stayed in that spot, he would've been cooked alive. As he stared at his burnt hand, he growled at the burning girl. Since he had lost his set of nails he would have to use his teeth now.
The burning girl roared as she stood up, her entire body was engulfed in flames and her eyes were burning.
He could smell her rage, and his glowing red eyes matched the intensity of his opponent's eyes. She launched herself forward like a missile, and he rushed forwards like a beast. And then a stray strand of electricity escaped his flesh, running across his vision, and he realized that his whole body was warm, everything was being healed, he was destroying his body, if he clashed with the burning girl, he might pass his limit, even if he didn't, his body would still need time to rest.
If he was incapacitated, he would miss the entrance exam for Beacon, he wouldn't become a Huntsmen if he didn't go to Beacon. He was less than a second away from the girl, he couldn't avoid her. So he took control of his body and forced himself to turn intangible.
Pain.
Pain.
Pain.
Pain.
Jaune couldn't think.
Pain.
Pain.
Pain.
Pain.
Jaune could only feel.
Pain.
Pain.
Pain.
Pain.
Jaune was in Pain.
Pain.
Pain.
Pain.
Pain.
Pain was Jaune.
Jaune was Pain.
Pain was Jaune.
Reality was Pain.
Pain was Reality
Time was Pain.
Pain was Time.
Time was an Illusion.
Pain was an Illusion.
Jaune was laid out on his back and he stared lifelessly into the sky, the broken moon was framed by sparkling stars.
The whispers of pain swirled in his mind.
"D-did she kill him?"
Silence.
"Fuck."
A sigh. "Fuck is right, I sold high cost documents to him and now he can't pay me."
"Junior! Some sensitivity, Miltia kinda liked him!"
"She'll get over it, she would've gotten bored of him in a few days, boys like that are common here. They might seem rare to you Mistralian girls, but they're all the same here."
Silence.
"I'll call some guys to clean up the scene, they'll be here before the sun comes up."
Silence.
"May they guide your Soul to rest."
"You were pretty hardcore. I'll murder that bitch next time I see her."
Silence.
Silence.
"Dude, c'mon, I don't want to see him, plus I'm still in pain."
"You have to see this, we got off lucky compared to him."
"Wh-fucking shit! What the fuck!"
"I know, right?"
"Gross, how the fuck did she do that."
"I was told she turned into an inferno, you couldn't even look at her without burning your eyes."
"And he fought her."
"He lasted longer than us, but he still lost."
"He didn't just lose, he was completely roasted."
They continued their back and forth, making jokes and slacking off, then they left.
Silence.
He moved, his body felt heavy, so he floated, his body drifted upwards, he flipped himself over, so he was facing the ground, then he descended near his belongings, and went to sleep.