I decided to post this one early; I fired my editor and decided to do all the work myself cause it's faster and I'm too impatient to wait.
Looking up at his teammates, Jaune gave them a look that was damn near unreadable to the two and laid Weiss gently on Pyrrha's lap, just before taking Pyrrha's sword and unsheathed his own he walked toward Cole.
"Jaune what are you- "Pyrrha said but froze mid-sentence and stopped when his eyes met hers and in his eyes was a maelstrom of emotions; rage for his hurting friend, arrogance thinking he could fight Cole and win, and sad that it came to this.
While Nora was well known for her strength and power she was not strong enough to restrain Cole, even Ren had to used his aura to strengthen himself to keep Cole in place who fought their grip on him with everything in their power but knew he wasn't going down without a fight, but both hoped Ruby could calm him down and fast. Otherwise, it would get messy.
"Cole, please stop! Weiss is your girlfriend -our friend, we are all your friends. Please talk to us- "
"HEY!" Jaune yelled, cutting her off before she could end it peacefully.
Everyone in the room froze at the outburst and turned to see him in full battle armor, two swords, and a bone to pick with Cole (who still fought to get out of their hold)
"Jaune shut up and let me handle this!" Ruby yelled, to watch as her words had gone right over his head and was ignored entirely.
"Cole, as leader of team juniper I challenge you to a one-on-one fight right here, right now; you've gone too far this time!" He said coldly flourishing his swords, what Jaune said posed a fundamental problem because Cole was only kept in place because of Nora and Ren, but even they were losing their grip because of his power and strength.
"You hurt my friend, and I'm going to find out why before I kick your ass up and down this arena, you sadistic- "
Cole smirked at the accidental opening he had created for him and broke free of their hold throwing them to the ground, dodging past Ruby to grab the mech-sword as well as unsheathing his long sword that looked just like jaune's but black, silver, and red around the grip of the handle "this coming from the guy that can't last longer than a minute against me" he said clashing his long sword into dulitas until jaune pushed back enough to lock blades with him.
Jaune tried to push back but knew that he had no chance in that, so he tried talking "spoken like the unhinged monster you always were, never showing mercy to people you fight in and out of the jobs you take; Weiss for example didn't deserve that scar you gave her"
Those not-so-final words made Cole's restraint shatter like a mirror with a bullet hole in the center.
With a hard shove, he threw jaune back arms wide open and received an 10.5 boot to the chest knocking some wind out of him making him cough harshly.
Grabbing his scroll, he clicked 'initiate' and in came a suit of armor that opened and swallowed Cole in, but the helmet was retracted halfway so his mouth was covered by an amplifier, so it made his voice clearer.
Everyone looked over to ruby with the look of disbelief and unbridled frustration. "We will talk about you building that for him later you damned gear head!" Yang hollered glaring at her sister.
Ruby just laughed in embarrassment and scratched her hair, She definitely loved her machines too much.
As if nothing had happened, Cole spoke. "You all say that I am evil, unhinged, or too dangerous to be around? But you are all SORELY mistaken if you think I had wanted that." Cole said lowly, seething with rage, "you of all people would know that I wasn't asked what it took to drag me down this far!"
Pulling out crestfallen he pressed a button and out sprang a thin three-and-a-half-foot blade "especially seeing as no one ever gave me any other way of being seen" he added after he pushed jaune back and charged forward aiming for his head. When their blades continued to clash, Jaune was forced to be on the defensive, pushing him to the ground crouching on one knee straining with everything he had. Sparks flew from the power Cole radiated and gave Jaune a chance to see how screwed he was.
For the first time Jaune was terrified of someone apart from his parents and the beacon staff, Cole saw Jaune for what he truly was, and it was hilarious to say the least. "C-Cole li-listen to me, wh-whatever you did can be forgiven if you just calm down and think this through-"
Without uttering a word Cole started chuckling hard, and chuckling like that quickly turned into a fit of hysterical laughter at Jaune and threw him back a few steps back and slashed at him, breaking Pyrrha's blade in half while chipping clades in a few places.
"You have no idea how dumb that sounds...do you?" Cole said in a faint voice before a scoff escaped his lips when he slashed upwards and shot a bolt into his chest.
"You think those words will work when you just challenged me to a fight?!" He answered the question with a strong push kick to Jaune's ribs, breaking a few of them. "I knew you arcs were arrogant and idiotic, but this?" he laughed mirthfully, almost enjoying jaune gasps for air and tears rolling down his agony ridden face switching the flow of the conversation, Cole decided to fire at everyone's direction (figuratively speaking) and punctuated it by charging up and let all of him run wild no longer precise as to where or who got it.
"This is a whole new level of stupidity, and after everything you and your friends put me through?" flourishing his swords Cole could finally let loose and just fight, not a care in the world for holding back this time he put crestfallen away and locked the two halves of Dulitas to his vambraces and let his mother's training show by letting his emotions fly.
"Pretending to be beacons of hope, yet you carelessly kill Grimm without thinking about the casualties and environmental damage in the towns and cities you are supposed to 'protect.' But you only focus on the Grimm. And the worst thing is that you have all acted like a bunch of sniveling children; hypocrites and pretenders" of course he did not include Ruby because she had proven she was a good person and a competent woman with a decent moral code to keep him on the straight and narrow...well, until now anyway.
"He deserved better than this, we need to make it right!" a memory of Nora's voice yelled in his head. 'Fucking hypocrite' he thought as he pushed the memory out of his head, shaking his head.
Cole paused to grab jaune by the front of his chest plate and glared hoisting him up off his feet "but you specifically..." He shook him violently "you became the disgrace you sought to never be, you let your arrogance inflate your ego because of your aura's raw potential, and when you and the others 'stopped' that breach last year, you all didn't think twice about the innocent people THAT DIED THAT DAY!" He let him go and struck the center of his chest forcing his vision to almost black out and stars danced around in his sights. When he hit the ground with a cracked chest plate, Jaune choked and coughed as he rolled to his side.
"Countless buried their loved ones while you children went about your lives, like it was just another adventurous moment. But you know what the worst thing about you is?" He asked with resentment and venom dripping from every word he spoke, before grabbing jaune Cole smiled sarcastically and threw him in the air to punch him so hard in the chest it sent him five feet away with a cracked sternum and dented the piece of armor, forcing blood through his mouth and nose all over himself and the floor, "you had the audacity to call me your friend, pretended that I mattered only for you stab me in the back!"
Cole was blacking out with rage and would kill everyone in there if he weren't stopped, and they needed to stop him, and soon.
'h-how is he hurting jaune when he's got so much aura left!?' they all thought, watching jaune twitch and gasp on the floor like a dying fish, involuntarily crying out in pain.
Ruby interrupted the fight and asked in desperation to make him stop, "how do you know this much about us, how do you know about the breach!?" Her voice sounded forced and showed every ounce of dread she felt for the man. "What's happened to you"
Those three big questions made him stop for a moment but only for that moment, he paused for what felt like an eternity but merely went by in a few seconds and slowly turning to his left he looked her in the eyes and said, "because I was there when my mentor was taken from me...she was the closest person I had to a MOTHER"
His voice taking on a guttural hiss with a trace of despair and anguish, and they all had the feeling he was keeping his murderous intent in check for Weiss and ruby's sake. As he turned his hauntingly vibrant blue and green eyes toward Blake he seethed in rage, "she was a white fox Faunas with ears and two tails to match," his rage swelled and flashed in his eyes and lightning made them light up like a blazing inferno.
"She was worth the world to me...AND THAT BITCH WATCHED HER DIE" he bellowed firing bolt after bolt into her body only throwing her vision out of focus and caused her body to convulse around like a fish on the floor 'there's some irony in that though' he mused in his head while he savored her screams and smiled sardonically.
Everyone in the room was powerless against the force that Cole had, and it was obvious that he had been holding on to this pain tightly and worst of all they could have stopped it, but it was too late now.
In the control room*
The mystery woman chuckled with satisfaction as she initiated the upload. She then hurriedly left the room to regroup with the others. She sent a message, "Sir, the package was successfully delivered; the show's about to start, so don't be late," before swiftly making her escape using the rooftops.
As impressive as Cole was, there were moments when his desperation for control was terrifying. He needed to focus, like a laser in a hyperlinked lens. "I just hope he doesn't take this too hard," she muttered to herself before disappearing into a courtyard bustling with people.
Back to the fight*
Remembering that fateful day was a painful ordeal, but it needed to be addressed. Lightning crackled and leaped from every inch of Cole, a testament to his overwhelming fury.
His inability to contain his rage was evident as his immense power manifested in bursts, akin to gold and blue sentient needles.
Addressing Blake, he lashed out, "You froze, Blake! Her arms held the creature's maw open, and I was bleeding in the snow just FOUR FEET FROM HER, begging for your help. But you JUST STOOD THERE!" Tears streaked down his cheeks, evaporating into steam as they fell. "You watched her get torn apart, her screams turning to gurgles of blood!" He punctuated his rant with a powerful kick to her stomach, causing tears to flood the floor.
The pressure Cole emanated sent small shockwaves through the room, causing the ground to rumble and electronics to malfunction or break down completely.
During his time at Beacon, no one had anticipated Cole's combat prowess when he unleashed it. He had mostly held back and avoided harming others if possible.
Every blow he struck reverberated like thunder, shaking them to their core. As they rallied and charged forward to confront him, Cole met them halfway, plunging them into a maelstrom of chaos.
As he shouted, "You're going down!" and lunged to his left, Ren widened his eyes when Cole struck him in the throat with his hand, following up with a stinging slap on the back using the flat of his long sword. In the midst of the battle, Cole decided it was time to reveal the reasons behind his anger. "No point in holding back anymore," he thought.
Cole assessed his targets and focused on his first victim: Yang. He swiftly delivered a small bolt to her stomach, causing her to double over in pain. He followed up with a knee to her nose and a cruel grip on her hair. His wicked smile widened as he taunted her, "Let's just see how much this really means to you." He chopped off half of her hair and roundhouse-kicked her to the ground. To top it off, he discharged lightning, incinerating her loose hair and filling the room with the smell of burnt peach shampoo.
Next on his list was Pyrrha. She barely had time to react before she felt the pommel strike her gut, knocking her to the ground, where she lay, silently enduring pain and shock.
Cole hesitated for a brief moment, almost regretting what he was about to do. But he knew he had crossed a line at the beginning of the fight, and there was no turning back now.
He turned towards Weiss and Ruby, his voice wavering with remorse as he began, "Weiss, Ruby, for what it's worth, I'm truly sorry to both of you, but I-"
"NORA!" Ren's scream interrupted him, punctuated by coughing fits.
Seizing the moment of hesitation, Nora attempted to attack with her hammer, but Cole sensed her presence and rushed her mid-swing.
"Thanks for the warning dumbass!" he said mockingly. Cole forced his lightning into Nora's weapon, draining her power with a smile. Then, he changed tactics, gripping the middle of her hammer and lifting it to her throat. The room fell silent except for Nora's choking, her wide eyes reflecting sheer terror.
Everyone watched helplessly as Nora struggled to breathe. It seemed as though Cole was subjecting her to a slow and terrifying near-death experience.
Weiss was the only one who attempted ranged attacks, but Cole swiftly swung Nora around, freeing her grip on the weapon, and hurled her into Weiss. "Just like them, you still blame me for what happened, despite my apologies, my attempts at reconciliation, and the fact that I stayed by her side, nursing her back to her feet. You all STILL hold it over my head and won't forgive me."
With a battle cry, Cole charged toward Jaune, intensifying his electrical charge. But as he swung his weapon inches from Jaune's head, Ruby intervened, stepping in front to protect Jaune. Cole halted, struggling to catch his breath, and feeling mortified by what almost transpired.
From Ruby's perspective, Cole was unhinged, driven by a deep-seated anger and betrayal. She realized he had lost control, and there was no going back. He had snapped.
"Please stop... I am so sorry I... I was not a better friend," Ruby struggled to say, her voice filled with remorse and hiccupping sobs. Weiss tried to speak, but the pain in her body silenced her.
"I know, Ruby," Cole replied softly. He gently hugged her and ran his fingers through her hair. "You did everything you could. Tell Weiss I'm so sorry."
After letting go of Ruby, he kissed her forehead and then hurried toward Jaune, who looked up just as Cole seized him by the throat. The vice-like grip tightened around Jaune's windpipe.
With a tremendous force, Cole slammed Jaune into the wall, and amid panting breaths, he growled, "You, and the others... on the other hand? Not as redeemable." He followed it up with a punch to Jaune's mouth. "You all talked about me as if I were already a convicted criminal walking into prison, without even knowing or caring if I were in the room." He then flung Jaune overhead into Yang, who had just managed to get back on her feet, both lay still and had very much broken somethings.
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