Welcome back (or Just Welcome for new readers). Aki here again with another chapter and ohh goodness, this one's gonna be good. I also like tto announce that I just settled with the narrator but he's not sure when to resume yet. So until he does, I'll be doing the narration for this one myself. Just expect the unexpected is all. Oh, and quick tip, ignore the quotes underneath this. They're quite unrelevant but if you feel like reading them, be my guest. Off with the intro, and into Chapter 8.
"A bad plan... is better than no plan at all." -Hawkman (Doc. Aki: Is it, really?)
Time... Just skip to night time. 4AM
Night at Vale. Most of the shop owners had closed up and headed home long ago. The streets were almost empty with only few people passing by every now and then. It was the time for people to sleep and rejuvenate their lost energy for the next morning BUT... when you're a half-demon martial artist with an addiction for perfection, even sleep dares not pose a barrier to your true goal. Deeper in the Emerald Forest, in the middle of the destroyed trees and scattered grimm dust, was the self proclaimed Supreme Master of the Fist in nothing but his torn gi's trousers and the top handing from his waist, revealing his bare upper body. It had only been a day since his arrival here and in all honesty, the challenges here could do better than the grimm. He hadn't encountered one of those creatures in what seemed like an hour but knew that if he waited, more would come. They were attracted to him like moths to a fire and when those 'moths' got too close, the fire would strike, claiming their lives. The fighting never did much to actually solve his problem but he sure did itch for one. In the meantime, he meditated. The improvement of the mind and spirit was more crucial to him than his physical body at the moment.
In the air not too far from where Akuma trained, Cinder, Roman, Neo, Emerald, Mercury and just about 15 Fang members were airborne in a bullhead. "Land here. We shouldn't get to close to Beacon grounds" Cinder told the pilot and the pilot followed suit, dropping them off at where Cinder had pointed out. As they got off, Torchwick asked "Are you sure this is a good idea? If this were a negotiation, then why so many of us?". Cinder walked to him before answering "Let's just call it... backup".
"Now we're here, how do we find him?" Mercury questioned his boss. "Over here" One of the White Fang goons called out. He gestured to a broken tree. Upon further inspection, there was the shape of a fist engrained on the bark of the tree at the point of impact. "He punched this down" Emerald stated. "That's not the only one" Mercury alerted them to the many other trees that were destroyed. The goons quickly moved in to inspect them as this would give them a better idea of what they were dealing with. "This one's burnt" A White Fang member said, pointing to the tree in front of her. "This one has a heel here. Kicked, most likely" Another member said. "This one was just uprooted" Another said. It didn't help that most of the trees as well as the ground was covered in grimm dust. "Damn, he really got to work here." "Follow the trees and dust." Cinder ordered everyone with her.
For about ten solid minutes, they walked, following the trail of broken trees and grimm particles. There were times where grimm footprints would just abruptly end, followed by a high concentration of their particles. At the end of the trail, there was a small clearing where they suspected Akuma to be. "Keep quiet, take cover and don't move. I'll talk to him. Wait until I say so before coming out" Cinder whispered more commands to everyone else. As she said this, some went to take cover behind the trees. Others, like Neo used their semblances to make themselves unsightable. They peeked into the clearing only to find Akuma in the center but instead of the rigorous training that most of them expected him to be undergoing, he was simply meditating with his Kanji glowing red behind his back. Now Cinder had already prepared to speak to him in his language if the need arose, which it definitely did. Until then, they stayed back and observed him.
'Multiple energy dissturbances. Alive..' Akuma thought as he meditated. Calmly, he halted his mind-healing process and stood up, opening his eyes to reveal his crimson red pupils. His kanji dissipated into small energy particles that floated away from him. "Hiding like cowards will do you no good." He shouted into the air at his company. "We've been discovered" Cinder whispered. This left her no choice but to leave the comfort of her cover and join Akuma in the center of the clearing. "State your purpose!" Akuma, visibly enfuriated, said to Cinder. Cinder raised her arms and said in her sultry tone "We mean no harm. We just want to discuss.". Now Akuma might as well die since he had seen it all. Someone, a random stranger no less, wanted to converse with him.
"Hmph" Turning to his left, he began walking slowly around Cinder, who stood in the center. "We want to present an offer for a partnership." She said. "You work with us, and we give you anything you ask for. We'll even help you defeat your enemy and his associates." They made an interesting bargain, but that did not cut it. "I am not interested, now leave!" Akuma barked, his rage now present in his voice.
"Give it a thought. We might be of help to you" Cinder attempted to persuade Akuma into going with her. "It would better help the both of us if you leave." Akuma said, asking them to leave yet again. Cinder and her crew refused to leave, instead, they made the stupidest decision of trying to forcefully take Akuma with them. "Now!" She yelled. Multiple armed White Fang soldiers, as well as Emerald, Mercury, Neo and Roman emerged from their hiding spots and surrounded Akuma, every last one aiming his/ her weapon at him. "You will go with me.. or else.." Cinder commanded Akuma, thinking that she had the upper hand with her higher numbers.
Remember the quote I left at the top? If you do.. Excellent! 10 out of 10! This is one of the times where that quote is seriously wrong. Akuma, instead of moving instantly, let out a silent chuckle. He had grown tired of fighting grimm and itched for a better fight and then these fools present themselves before him. Cinder summoned her sword before walking to join her associates. "I asked you to leave and you foolishly refused." Akuma started "I asked again, yet you did not comply. I am Akuma and I will show you.." He slammed his foot onto the ground, creating a gust of wind and sending small stones flying while he assumed his battle stance "The true meaning of pain!" He finished, now ready to convey a beatdown to his unlucky opponents. Cinder waved her hand, signaling the goons to attack Akuma, which they did. They went all at once in an attempt to overpower him.. An attempt that failed woefully. Before one of them could even get close enough to attack, Akuma had already dashed past him and delivered a palm strike to his back, breaking his spine and sending him flying into another goon. The both of them hit the ground so hard, that the both of them were knocked unconscious (one may be dead as well but until Doc does the report, we don't know yet). Another one swung her sword at Akuma but was easily parried by Akuma's elbow before she got hit with the same elbow, sending her unconscious body into a broken tree that went through her shoulder.
Not even hesitating, he unleashed a not-so-heavy Tatsumaki Zankukyakuu, yelling out the name of his move while he performed it. He spun five times in the air like a helicopter blade, leaving his right leg outstretched before he hit the ground. He hit three goons that got too close with one spin, two on the second, two on the third, and one on the fourth and fifth. This got the rest of them scared and they decided to resort to long-ranged weapons like their guns to hit him, but two could play that game. The Fang members unleashed magazine upon magazine of bullets on Akuma. Akuma used the Ashura to phase right through most of their bullets then stood perfectly still for the last few. They kept their fire up for about 20 seconds straight. Once they were satisfied, they stopped shooting. The smoke that their fire fest had created cleared up to reveal Akuma, completely unscathed. He stretched out his fist and unclenched it, dropping the rounds that he caught. His gaze was altered to face those that shot him. He was done playing games with them, besides, the real fun would come when it was the turn of those five that watched.
He dashed one last time at them. Before they could even get a chance to attack, he had delivered a palm strike to the torso of one and a kick to another's head. He grabbed one by the throat and threw him, charging up and releasing a light Gohadoken at the airborne body which propelled it with so much force, that it knocked him out on contact and left serious burn marks in the chest. "Pathetic!" He said as he clenched his fist. As if the fact that he had taken them all down wasn't unsettling enough, he did all that in 40 seconds, and that includes the 20 seconds of fire he had to withstand.
Once he had finished with the Fang members, some unintentional kills included, he turned to face the remaining five that stood behind him while reassuming his battle stance. It was time for the bigger fish of the group. "I think I'll sit this one out" Roman said while stepping backwards, leaving Neo, Emerald, Mercury and Cinder to finish off Akuma or the other way round. "All at once, don't give him any chance to attack or even recover" Cinder called out the new play to the rest. This only had one problem that they would come to figure out later in the fight.
Emerald and Mercury took the lead with Neo using her semblance of illusion to attempt sthealthier approaches. Cinder also pushed forward, summoning her sword while she rushed. This could have served as the perfect opportunity for Akuma to master one of his newer moves, the Rakan stance, which he had used against Asura. Mercury flipped into the air first, attempting a kick which Akuma blocked by raising his arm up. Emerald followed, sickles in hand as she swung repeatedly, aiming her attacks to hit Akuma's vitals such as his neck, head and chest. She was still too slow as before she could land her attacks, Akuma had flung Mercury off his arm while taking steps in different directions to dodge her sickles. When the two realised that they couldn't gain leverage, they gave way to Cinder. Cinder went in for an attack across Akuma's chest but what shocked her the most was that instead of dodging, he just caught the sword in the palm of his right hand like it was rubber. Cinder pulled and pulled, trying to free her sword from the iron grip of Akuma and maybe cut him in the process.
Seeing Akuma occupied with holding Cinder's sword, Neo saw this as her opportunity and lunged at Akuma with her parasol blade from behind. Of course, she thought she had him but Akuma sidestepped and quickly grabbed Neo's parasol, holding it just as she held Cinder's sword. "You can mask your appearance but your life energy will forever be the same." He said to Neo, explaining why her trick did not work. Cinder let go of the sword and charging up her powers, she summoned fireballs and released them continuously at Akuma. While this happened, Mercury and Emerald had decided to move in yet again on the Master of the Fist. Raising the arm he held Cinder's sword with, he blocked the fireballs but Cinder kept the stream coming. "You got him!" Roman yelled from the sidelines. Akuma's face instantly changed from the look of one in struggle to a more relaxed yet feral grin.. It was at this moment that realisation dawned on them... He had been holding back, a lot.
In one swift and smooth motion, he snatched Neo's parasol, Hush, delivering a kick to the abdomen of Neo and dropping her, then threw Hush at Cinder which destabilised her for just long enough for Akuma to throw her sword back at her with enough force to knock her down. He changed his focus back to the two charging him and attacked first this time. He threw a quick punch at Emerald, who dodged him and directed her sickles downwards to get his leg while Mercury jumped in an attempt to attack the head. An overhead attack and a low one, one must have surely hit him. Out of experience, Akuma threw his right leg back, making sure that Emerald's sweep would only target his left leg. He also raised his arm not to block Mercury, but to redirect his leg and more importantly, the barrel he felt, away from him. As Emerald was about to hit, Akuma raised his left leg up, allowing Emerald's weapons to easily go underneath his heel. As for Mercury, he allowed Mercury to hit his wrist only to instantaneously throw him upwards again and redirect the barrel behind himself, making Mercury to miss all his shots from his concealed weapon.
"Goshoryuken!" He cried out, black and red energy waves flowing around his right clenched fist. He jumped into the air, delivering a Medium Goshoryuken uppercut to Mercury's jaw that shattered his aura, knocked him out and broke his jaw. As he descended, he cried out yet again "Misogi!" The same waves of red and black ki waves flowed round his left elbow and he drove it on to Emerald's back with little force, not even remotely close to that of a normal Misogi before she even got up from her sweep, effectively knocking her out as well. At this point, Cinder was managing to get back up to her feet, knowing fully well that she had been seriously injured, she refused to fight any more. "Yield, woman! Take your army and leave me be." He said one last time gesturing to the bodies in the clearing. The number of deaths would have been maximised if not for his 'Moral Code' that prevented him from killing those that were not worth dying by his hand. "Ro..man, clear..up" She managed to say with a shaky voice before dropping again.
Akuma turned to leave the area that was now littered with several bodies. He nudged Neo with his foot as he walked away, making Neo to wake up since she had not received any serious damage. "What happened, Roman?" She typed on her scroll, nothing but a sharp pain and the bodies around to jog her memory. "Neo, I'm glad you're okay. Help me clear up and I'll explain." Roman let out a sigh of relief before proceeding to clean up the bodies with help from his short friend, Neo.
'So he finally stopped' Asura thought. He could sense the energy disruptions, despite the distance and if that was not obvious enough, the extremely faint sound of painful screams gave him away. He couldn't bother because by the time he got up to investigate, the screams had already died down and there were no signs of a fight anymore. Hence, he just sat back down and continued his meditation process.
"We lost?" Neo had typed this into her scroll before displaying it to Roman. Roman looked back at Neo and replied "It was quite brutal.". By now, they had slowly, albeit successfully cleared the forest of their comrade's bodies to avoid leaving any tracks that they were there. "I did call this. This was a bad idea from the start but did they listen? No.. Now they're out cold here and injured, and they didn't even touch him!" Roman began mumbling to himself, stating that if they had listened to him and not attempted the plan, this wouldn't have happened. But looking on another side, he did manage to capture the fight on his scroll for future reference.
It felt utterly relieving, like a weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. His soul had yearned for a fight ever since Asura left and even if it was not as thrilling as Asura, he would have to make due with what he got. As he ran with impeccable speed in some random direction, he began to try his thoughts but instead, he had flashbacks of Oni while he fought Mantra Asura. Oni was a beast that if tamed, could give way for more powerful forms and if he could achieve that before Asura came back, then he might finally have the upper hand.
After a while of running, he realised that he may have run too far. What gave that away, you ask? He ran so far that he emerged out of the forest and one large leap later, he was in Vale Capital. Opportunity, opportunity... He looked down at his gi, which had been half brutalised after the battle with Asura. While he was here, he might as well fix his gi before continuing his training in the forest but this was when problem arose. He had no knowledge of where to find a tailor and to add to that, he had no money. Contrary to what others may think, he was not an evil person and he was no thief. Dare it be said, one could get along just fine with him if they refrain from doing anything that may annoy him. Once he got into Vale, he glanced upwards. 'Dawn arrives' he thought, before leaping onto the roof of a random building, or simply the first one he saw, to continue his meditation.
Just Two Hours Later
Asura was finally done meditating on the cliff. He had been doing it for so long that one might as well consider it his form of sleep and now that he was awake, he had to stretch his body a bit. What better way to do that than going into the forest, outside of Akuma's former location, and battling some grimm before coming back to Beacon to start his study. This might even help Beacon and ease his work tomorrow during their trip.
Inside Beacon Dorms, precisely team RWBY's room. The four members were still sleeping. At this time, the students were meant to be awake and begin preparations for school but Ruby, Yang, Weiss and Blake were still asleep. Their overdue relaxation did not last much however, since they were suddenly awoken by a 'boom' sound from far in the forest (Asura landing in the forest).
"Brothers! What was that?" Yang yelled while she jumped out of bed. "Take a guess" Blake sarcastically replied before getting out of her bed as well. "Asura or Akuma, isn't it" Ruby sheepishly asked. The WBY of the team just responded with a silent nod. A quick glance at the clock showed that they had awoken early enough today, so they quickly prepared themselves before leaving their room and heading off to their classes for the day.
The Forest w/ Asura an hour later
'So they get bigger, hmm?' Asura thought as he dived right to avoid the stinger of a deathstalker before catching the fist of a Beringel, picking it up and slamming it against the ground. Taking a quick glance behind him, he caught sight of a two headed snake grimm trying to lunge at him. Not too different from how he handled the Beringel, he grabbed the white head of the Taijitu and and mounted it. When the black head opened its mouth and lunged, the demigod forcefully put the white head in the way of the black head, makin the two to collide before grabbing each one by a fang and throwing it at the Beringel and breaking one fang of each head of the King Taijitu in the process. With the two stacked together, Asura leaped into the air then fell towards the area where the King Taijitu and Beringel laid with extreme speed and his fist cocked back. 'BOOM!' Another loud boom echoed across the forest, followed by a gust of wind so strong that it uprooted a few bushes and some trees close to him. Jumping out of the carnage, Asura figured that his punch had cut the serpent Grimm in two as well as left a hole in the chest of the gorilla-type one. While he observed the damage, he was hit on the back by the claw of the last deathstalker. The impact pushed him forward a bit but he quickly regained his composure and turned around to face the last one alive. He was going to make this one suffer for its little move.
He charged at the giant scorpion, dodging it's attempts to sting him as he moved. The scorpion raised his left claw, thinking that he would fall for the same attack twice. Asura saw the claw coming towards him, so he simply caught it with both hands and completely ripped it off. The deathstalker let out a loud screech most likely in pain, before taking another attempt to hit him with a sting. Just like the claw, he dodged the stinger and ripped the entire tail off while the stinger was still half buried. The scorpion let out more loud screeches of pain before collapsing but the Rage Deity was not done yet. He walked up to the scorpion's other claw and completely amputated it too before walking around the crippled beast, using its own claw to break off every of its legs and eliciting a screech of pain for every leg that Asura shattered. Completely hopeless, Asura grabbed the scorpion by the head and with a tug, he ripped it off, putting the grimm out of its misery.
One quick look at the sun and Asura realised that he would have to go back to Beacon's library to start his study. Hence, he began his run back to Beacon cliffs. About ten minutes later, he had reached his destination. 'Now to find...' The miracle that helped him remember their names was fading but didn't completely disappear '...Glynda' He suddenly remembered. From the cliff, he walked through Beacon to get to Ozpin's office. He had walked for some time when he spotted one of the classrooms. The blonde kid, Jaune, was standing with Pyrrha wrapping her hands around her eyes to signify... binoculars, perhaps? Or maybe goggles? It wouldn't matter since it was none of his business. He walked past the class and after a little walking and an elevator ascent. He was at the entrance to the office. He walked into the door to meet both Ozpin and Glynda in the office.
"Asura.. I assume you're here for the Library?" Ozpin stood up while he asked. Asura responded with a small affirmative nod. "Glynda" Ozpin called for his assistant, who was still skeptical of Asura's presence. "Please show Asura to the library and give him the book.." He gave Glynda beside him a piece of paper with the location of a book in the library written on it "here" Ozpin completed his reed of her. Glynda emerged from where she stood beside Ozpin, adjusted herself a bit, then walked to the door. "Follow me" She said in a calm tone, but the little stress in her voice did not go unnoticed by Ozpin. Ozpin turned back to Asura. "Follow her." Ozpin said, gesturing to Glynda with his cane. "Thank you" Asura showed his appreciation for Ozpin before turning around and following Glynda out of the office and into the elevator. After yet another tense descent with Asura, Glynda led Asura out of the elevator and they began their walk to the Library. While they walked, Glynda began to reason more about Asura. He had proven his strength numerous times and from the little conversations he had with the students, he didn't seem all that bad. No matter what he did now, she still couldn't help not trusting him completely but for the sake of the others, she would put her doubts aside and cooperate with Asura. By the time she was done, she and Asura had already reached the library. She opened the giant doors and walked in along with Asura. The demigod took a look around the place. For a place that was meant to train children in combat, there were a lot of books present. Asura stood and waited for Glynda to return from where she was.
After some time, Glynda came back with a large-ish book in her hand and presented it to Asura, who looked at the title. The title read 'English For Beginners' in Japanese/Mistrilian. Judging by the size and his supernatural learning capability, this would only take an hour, give or take. He took the first empty seat he saw and immediately got started on the book. 'This better be worth it' He thought as he turned to the first page.
This Timeskip is brought to you by our sponsor... Raid Shadow Le. Do you want to be beaten again? ...No
It had taken almost a whole hour of studying but he had finally done it. He had learnt the language, or maybe just enough to hold his own in a simple conversation. It would take a little while longer before he could truly learn it to an advanced level but until then, he would manage this progress (which trust me, is a lot for a first time learner). "That should be enough" He said to himself in a low voice. He got up from his seat and left the library through the door. He planned on leaving the school for now until he heard a little scream. Letting out a sigh of forced but completely voluntary obligation, he traced the scream to the cafeteria.
"Please stop. It hurts" A young girl with rabbit ears complained. She was surrounded by Cardin and his team and Cardin seemed to be pulling on her rabbit appendage. On one of the tables sat teams RWBY and JNPR, who were eating. They were talking about Cardin and how much of a bully he was. Jaune, of course, protested against them doing anything to stop him. "Hasn't he been bullying you too?" Pyrrha asked. Jaune denied, saying that they were just having 'fun'.
"Like that time he launched you in your locker out?" Weiss asked. As she said this, the rabbit eared girl let out another shriek. ""You see. She's a freak" Cardin said to his lackeys before laughing with them and pulling on her ears some more. Pyrrha, having enough of Cardin's bullying was about to go back and give Cardin another beating until...
"If you still like having two arms, then let go of her ears" Asura said all the way from the cafeteria entrance. He gave Cardin a stare that would kill him nine times over if looks could kill, then walked over to where she was being bullied. "Or else what?" Cardin didn't even botheer to look at whoever said that. Asura didn't bother to talk more, so he grabbed Cardin's wrist, making Cardin to let go of the ears, then pulled his whole arm behind him.
"This is actually.. fun" Asura said as he pulled on Cardin's arm putting emphasis on the last word. "You'll break it" Cardin yelled out loud. True to his word, if Asura was to apply more force, he would snap the arm right off and that would only add one to the number of limbs he had amputated today only. "Then say you'll never do it again" Asura said and just like the last two, he said it in English, exhibiting his newfound knowledge of the language. "Fine! Fine! I'll never do it again" Cardin yelled, tears dropping from his eyes.
"Now let go." Cardin said. Asura complied and let go of Cardin's arm while adding just a little force to drop Cardin to the ground. Immediately he got up, Cardin and his lackeys left the cafeteria. The demigod turned his head to now face the rabbit eared girl. "And you..." Asura said in a lower voice. "Thank you, sir. It's Velvet, Velvet Scarlatina" She said then bowed her head a bit to show her appreciation. "Velvet. You must be able to defend yourself against people like him." Asura gestured to where Cardin and his team went towards. "There will not always be people here to help you" He concluded while stretching his right hand towards Velvet's ears on her head. The faunus feared what was coming but instead of a tug to her ears, she got a pat to her head, then another. Asura was patting her head and if he was to be honest, it was relaxing, kind of like his meditation.
Asura's action also shocked everyone in the cafeteria. "Wait, he just spoke our language" Weiss said, surprised that Asura had just learnt the language in a day. 'Someone like him could actually respect the faunus.' Blake thought as she observed 'Maybe there might still be hope' the hidden faunus continued. Now that he had done what he needed to do, Asura turned back towards the entrance with the intent to leave, which he quickly tried to do but stopped when he remembered what he planned on asking them. "You.." He said, pointing presumably at Weiss. "Me?" Weiss asked, confirming Asura's call. "Yes Weiss, you" Asura responded.
Weiss reluctantly got up, before walking towards Asura and stopping right in front of him. Her team followed behind. "Where can I find a tailor?" He asked, much to the surprise of the heiress. "There is one place I know.." She began but was cut off by Ruby "Please if you're going clothes shopping, can we come too?" She pleaded. His original idea was to decline but he accepted for no reason he could think of at the moment. "Cool. We can go later if you want" Yang stated. The others agreed to meet up with Asura at the cafeteria before going off to Vale later.
Later in the Day
Team RWBY along with Asura left the cafeteria and headed for the bullheads. It was a relatively short walk to them. "Are you coming with us?" Ruby asked. While they got into the bullhead, Asura waited behind for a little while, staring into the sky. Asura didn't answer, he just stood. He was remembering Gara, more specifically his family in Gaea; Yasha, Durga and Mithra. He had freed them from Chakravartin and now he was here, preparing to help fight another war. While he was still thinking, the bullhead containing the kids took off in the direction of Vale. He immediately jumped off and took off, following the bullhead into Vale.
The bullhead that team RWBY took had just landed in Vale. The team got off and walked into the city. "Was leaving him behind really necessary?" Yang asked her teammates. " 'sstillinBeacon?" Ruby began speaking really fast but was silenced when she saw Asura in front of the building that stood beside them. "So where might this tailor be?" He asked, his stern look still being displaed on his face while he walked. "Just over there" Weiss answered, pointing to the building where the tailor was located.
Once they reached the entrance to the tailor, Asura halted them. "There" He pointed in a random direction. Out of said random direction, the Supreme Master of the Fist himself emerged, having completed another wave of meditation and intent on getting his gi fixed. For just above five minutes, these two stared at each other, not one word being said between them. Their glares had done more talking than was needed and if not for the surrounding people and buildings, their fists would have too. "I never expected to see you here, Rage God" Akuma spoke first in his native language. He had regained enough of his soul and sanity back through his meditation to withhold his instinct to fight. "Nor did I" Asura replied.
The four huntresses-in-training backed away into the store, not wanting to get involved in the bout. "I thought he was still in the Emerald Forest" Ruby whispered. "Well clearly, he's not." Yang replied, gesturing over to the figure of Akuma outside. "Good afternoon, what can I help you with?" The store attendant asked the four young ladies. It was then that Asura and Akuma, both in tattered clothing and without shirts, walked into the store. Their sudden visit scared the attendant. Not just one, but the both of them from the news, that could tear grimm like paper, level hills as well as destroy a portion of the forest was here. Other people in the store didn't hesitate to 'gently' leave the area for the fear of what was to come, which never came.
Akuma simply walked in front of the desk, stretched out his right hand and presented the top of his gi to the attendant. "I want this fixed by sundown by the end of the week." He said before turning around and leaving. The store attendant, still shaking a bit out of fear asked the students what he said but since they could not provide an answer, Asura stepped in. "He wants you to fix it before the sun sets" He translated it to the attendant.
"Thank you. And what can I do for you sir?" The attendant asked, turning back to face Asura. "Completely new clothes" He replied. He was guided to the back so that he could get measured for his new outfits. "Is there anything you need in particular?" She asked while she measured his arm. He had something in mind that would be functional as well, so he opted for a vest with a hole in the back. "And a cape" He finished. The hole would be present in case he needed to summon more arms and the cape was simply to cover the hole, nothing much. The request was absurd to the attendant but he probably had his reasons for asking for such. The two returned to the front desk.
Asura further told her that he needed three of them. "We will have it ready two days from now" She replied. Asura thanked her, then left with the four huntresses-in-training. "You can still pick something up for now before you leave" The attendant added, gesturing over to the shelves of clothes in the store. Asura really didn't want to do this but after a little persuasion from the students and the attendant, he let out a groan then walked around the store and grabbed the largest sizes of very random articles of clothes from the shelves. After, he went into the changing room of the store and changed into whatever had turned out to be a red t-shirt, a pair of brown trousers, some sandals and a beanie. They felt comfortable but uncomfortable as well as unnatural on him since he was not used to wearing these types of clothes.
"Nice..." Ruby commented, nodding in approval. "He looks okay" Blake added. Asura walked past them with his former clothes packed into a bag for him. He planned on leaving yet again but remembered that he still had to pay. "I'll pay for these when the order is ready." He finally said before walking out of the store. He needed to get back to Beacon as well as find a way to pay for the clothes. Before team RWBY could even exit the store to look for Asura, he was already gone, most likelyy to Beacon. "And he's gone..." Yang said while they looked round for him. "Knowing him, we'll probably see him again soon." Blake said. "And Akuma..?" Ruby asked. They had just sighted one of the most powerful beigns in the city and hence, they had to so something.
Weiss' first instinct was to report his prescence to the police or to Ozpin but the other three contested her. "He hasn't done anything wrong yet." Blake said. "Besides, even if we did report him for doing nothinng, I dunno if there's anything that can be done" Yang added. "You saw it yourself. He took down some Nevermores and two Deathstalkers on his own. after fighting Asura with six arms" Ruby admitted. Despite Akuma being innocent for now, he was also extremely strong. The four walked off in the same direction as Asura to get back to the bullhead that would take them back.
Running and jumping across the forests and roads was okay and complately doable by him but for the sake of not destroying his new clothes, he decided to stroll down the streets of Vale, almost unrecognizable due to his new outfit, back to the spot where the bullheads were parked. Asura got into one of the bullheads heading for Beacon and occupied one of the seats in the vehicle. Not too long after he had taken his seat, his impromptu guides rushed into the bullhead and claimed seats for themselves. They had almost missed it because Ruby was occupied withenjoyingher cookie ice cream.
"Next time, you get only one." Yang said, panting in between words. "It was just too good, sis.." Ruby replied, trying to defend herself and justify her actions with the dreaded sweetness of ice cream. "Asura in a bullhead.. That's a first." The ever-observant Blake pointed out, leading to the others to finally look at their fellow passenger. As this happened, the doors closed up and the bullhead took off. "We almost didn't notice you there" Yang said. Asura commended Ozpin for his little trick. If they couldn't easily notice him in the bullhead, then his disguise/ new outfit must definitely be working. He still didn't reply, he merely placed his palms on his thighs where he sat and bowed his head a bit, entering his mindscape. It would look to them as if he was sleeping but he was meditating, still fully concious of his surroundings. "Shush, he's asleep" Weiss whispered to her teammates and thus, the silent ride back to Beacon began.
One bullhead trip later, their ride had finally arrived back at Beacon. Yang stood up to wake Asura but recoiled once the formerly still demigod moved first and stood up on his own. Being the pillar of manners he is, Asura waited for the four girls to step out first before he got off and parted with them for the day. He walked down the halls in his new disguise but as he was close to the cliffs, he almost bumped into another girl. The girl had brown eyes, sported black hair and wore a pair of black sunglasses. "Hey, wait up! It's you" She said to Asura. Asura was completely confused. He had never seen this girl nor met her, so how would she know him? He turned back to face her.. "State your name and purpose." He said to her in a calm voice. "Oh! I'm Coco Adel" She replied. Asura ran through his memories and found that he had heard no such name. "And your purpose.?" He asked back "You helped Velvet fend off those bullies, earlier today.. I'm one of her teammates and I want to thank you for that. We keep telling her to stand up for herself but she keeps saying it's alright." Coco replied.
Immediately Asura remembered what he did. He just waved Coco off "Don't thank me. Just be there when she needs it" He said as he walked away. "And.. Nice clothes" Coco complimented Asura on his new clothes. Asura just walked away. After some time, he finally arrived at his new meditation spot, Beacon cliff. He decided that it would be better to change back into his old clothes since the new ones were not needed now so he did just that, packaging the new ones into the bag that formerly housed his old ones. It had beeen a long day, starting from Akuma's fight to the bullies to the shopping trip and the appretiation from Coco. Speaking of Akuma, his location was now a mystery to Asura as a quick scan proved he was no longer in that part of the forest for now, but he woud worry about that later. After sitting and assuming his meditation position, he summoned his six arms, controlling his mantra to avoid a burst before closing his eyes and re-entering his mindscape.
Definitely not sponsored Timeskip to the Night... "Now you're talking!"
The ability to control and harness his Wrath Mantra was no joking matter. While some might think that his strength came from raw power amd speed alone, Mantra control played a crucial part to his prowess and this was the reason why he could have meditation sessions that could last hours at a time or maybe even days. He had been meditating since the afternoon and now, it was night. He would continue if not for the faint sound of familiar voices that he heard coming from the roof of the dorms. 'Here, at this time?' He asked mentally, wondering what they were doing here late at night, except... No, that couldn't be it. He stood up to get a better listen to their conversation without interfering.
"Jaune, I saw that you've been struggling in class and.. I want to help you We can train up here, after classes where no one can bother us." He heard the voice of Pyrrha. Going by the name she mentioned, he could assume for the better that it was Jaune with her. Asura had no real way of knowing if Pyrrha's words were true, but he listened further anyways.
"You think I need help, really?" Jaune asked his teammate in a low voice. Pyrrha put her hands in front of her "No. No. I don't think so, far from it actually." She replied. Jaune, reluctant to believe her, pressed his teammate further "But you just said it, something about me needing help" He said.
Pyrrha wore a look of concern on her face "What I meant was.. we all need a little push from time to time, even me, Jaune. It doesn't mean you're no different from the rest of us. You've already made it into Beacon and that speaks volumes of what you're capable of." She said to her leader. The demigod that listened in knew that this was true. If Beacon was as prestigious as he thought it was, then Jaune's entrance had proven all that he needed to prove to everyone.
Jaune hesitated before replying, "I'm sorry Pyrrha but you're wrong" He let out a sigh "I don't belong here." He said as he looked down in defeat. Pyrrha, while moving closer to comfort her partner replied him "That's a terrible thing to say." Before she could go further, her partner turned around with aggresion "No I don't... I wasn't really accepted into Beacon" He confessed. Pyrhha looked at Jaune with disbelief in her eyes, "What do you mean?" She asked. Jaune let out another sigh before turning away from her "I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any of tests, I didn't earn my spot at this academy... I lied.. I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied." He responded.
Pyrrha could not believe what he just said. Asura on the other hand, could believe but saw stupidity in the boy's actions. If he couldn't get better, he would eventually end up getting himself killed in the line of duty. "Wh.. But why?" Pyrrha asked the same question that was on Asura's mind. Jaune turned back to face Phyrra, "Because this is what I wanted to be. My father, my grandfather and his father before that, they were all warriors.. They were all heroes, and I wanted to be one too.. but I just wasn't good enough.". 'A foolish yet definitely honorable reason' Asura thought 'but a hero can be no hero if he lies six feet below'.
Pyrrha reached out to Jaune and touched his shoulder "Then let me help you", but Jaune freed himself of her touch "I don't want any help, I don't want to be the damsel in distress. I want to be the HERO." He declared. "Jaune.." Phyrra was about to speak but was cut off by Jaune "I'm tired of being the lovable idiot stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives. Don't you understand? If I can't do this on my own, then what good am I?" He said aggresively.
Pyrrha tried to reach out to Jaune again but Jaune stepped away. "Just... Leave me alone" He requested. Pyrrha, not wanting to push the conversation any further turned around "If that's what you want." She finally said, sounding as well as looking quite heartbroken as she left. Jaune stood alone on the roof but he soon received company when he heard a familiar voice call out from behind him. "Jaune". Jaune, shocked by the familiar voice turned back, only to be met with the sight of Cardin. "Cardin!" He said out of shock. "I couldn't help but overhear you two from my dorm room..." Cardin spoke "Snuck into Beacon, eh? I didn't expect you to be quite a rebel." He continued.
At this point, Asura decided to drown out the conversation with his meditation. He couldn't bother himself with listening to the rest as he had heard what he needed to hear and honestly, he knew that he shouldn't step in until the situation required him. They were mature and reasonable and hence, should be able to handle their matters like mature people. He closed his eyes and slipped away from reality into his mindscape yet again.
AWHHHH YEAH YEAH...! A beating hard enough to put Cinder and he rest out of commision for a while and some progression in the plot? Oh boy, this is getting good. Speaking of the beating, I did promise an analysis on it, didn't I? I told you I would give you the results of what happened? Good...! Anyways, everyone excluding Neo and Torchwick left with a broken... something. I'm a lazy doctor (and also not a liscenced one) so I won't go much into detail about that. Three casualties total and a lot of injuries.. Ouch! If there's anything more, just ask and you shall receive. Until then, this is The Doc... signing off.