Location: The Prison Realm
Slowly ascending the stairs to the top of the tower, Shredder carried an unconscious Jaune right to where he was supposed to bring him.
Slowly but surely Jaune began to open his eyes. Seeing only the dark and gloomy stairs he was being dragged upon. He tried to recall what had happened. It had been an ambush. Shredder had attacked them out of nowhere, Kara was glowing orange and her eyes where on fire and then everything had become dark.
"Where…where am I…let me go…"
Shredder didn't listen until he was at the top of the stairs and entered the chamber where he violently threw Jaune on the ground and stepped on him to keep him pinned as the young warrior screamed out in pain.
"Where…where is my daughter…" was the first thing he breathed out. But Shredder offered no response, instead removing his helmet and holding it under his arm.
"I said…where is my daughter…" Jaune repeated, causing Shredder to dig his food deeper into Jaune's chest.
"Don't know, don't care. I was only told to bring you here boy" Shredder replied with a condescending grin.
"Why not just kill me?" Jaune asked.
"Because we need you alive Mr. Arc" a soft feminine voice spoke.
Shredder withdrew his food and Jaune stood up, reaching behind his back only to come to the realization that Crocea Mors was not there. Instead the armored man grabbed him by the collar and forced him onto his knees.
"I got him for you as you wanted" Shredder declared viciously.
"Very well done Mr. Saki, you where back so fast" the voice spoke again.
At this point Jaune finally looked up to see the origin of the voice. It was a woman dressed in a simple getup, an unassuming white shirt and tie with black pants and a long black coat. Her hair was a shade of red and put in a ponytail. She would be a very unassuming woman if not for her most distinguishing feature; her golden irises.
Jaune felt an intense and dominating aura coming from this woman. Like her mere presence was almost keeping him stuck on the ground. She walked up towards him from the platform they where standing on, which seemed to be hovering over a seemingly endless abyss. Everything completely black and the window only showing the continued dusk that the realm provided.
She stopped right in front of him and Jaune looked up at her. Her expression was unreadable but now he fully recognized her.
She was the Control Devil.
"Jaune Arc. We meet at last" she said simply, getting down on one knee to be on face level with him.
"You know who I am?" he asked curiously.
She flashed him a smile, but he knew immediately it wasn't a genuine one. "Well yes I do. You're the one that Weiss always talked about. The one that died in battle, yet here you are, very much alive."
Jaune recalled Kara mentioning how she was involved with the Collective but he didn't know to what extent. "You knew Weiss?" he asked.
"Oh yes I did. Bit of a drama queen sometime but she was my superior's daughter so I had to play nice. Oh my apologies I haven't even introduced myself…I am…"
"I know who you are," Jaune interrupted "you're the Control Devil."
The Control Devil sighed and rolled her eyes "I never liked that name. Please call me Makima" she said extending her hand, which Jaune refused to shake.
Makima stood back, no angry emotion to be seen on her face. "I'm curious Jaune. How can you be here if you are supposed to be dead."
Before Jaune could respond it was Shredder who gave her the answer "I can explain that to you. This isn't the Jaune that the Schnee girl was talking about. Just a doppelganger from an alternate reality stuck in here with another girl."
"Girl?" Makima responded curiously "what kind of girl?"
But Shredder just shrugged his shoulders. Claiming not to know who she was, so instead Makima simply looked over at Jaune again, who was still on his knees on the ground.
"Who are you here with Jaune?" she asked.
But Jaune remained silent. So Makima instead pointed her finger at him, and a chain burst forth from it, seemingly materializing out of thin air and wrapped around Jaune, tightening around him.
"Don't make me ask again Jaune please…"
Jaune tried to fight the chain but it was impossible, he felt his strength draining the moment it wrapped around him so he said.
"My daughter…she's mine and Weiss's daughter!"
The chain evaporated immediately upon his confession and Makima looked with a beaming and enthusiastic smile.
"You and Weiss had a child. My, my I've been gone for a very long time it seems. This will make things so much easier."
Jaune slowly stood up from the ground, finding his feet. He wanted to rush at her but he knew it was pointless. Her superior power was evident and with Shredder waiting in the wings. He knew he stood no chance.
"What do you want? And why did you have your lackey bring me here."
Shredder scowled and made a step forward but Makima gestured for him to stay back. She then stepped forward and made slow steps towards Jaune.
"Well that should be obvious. I want to get out of this place. I've been stuck in here for way too long. I figured the Collective would come for me after Gojo stuck me in here but they never did."
She walked past him, placing an arm on his shoulder.
"I need to get out of here Jaune. I despise this place. It's monotonous and never changing, filled to the brim with revolting creatures. Devils, Cursed Spirits and more. I need to get out, and luckily your arrival has made that all possible."
"How? From what I gathered this place is completely inescapable" Jaune responded.
Makima grinned, her hand now softly and gently pulling at Jaune's hoodie.
"That's what they said. But I found a way, a secret gateway out of here, a hidden door that can be opened however it does require something…"
Jaune felt tension rise up inside of him as Makima now stood in front of him. He felt frozen as she grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close, observing his face with her piercing golden eyes. She leaned in close and whispered in his ear.
"The doorway requires a sacrifice."
Jaune's body tensed up as she spoke. She retreated backwards and let go of him, stepping backwards to create distance between them.
"And as you can imagine no inhabitant is willing to risk their life if freedom is not guaranteed. It's clever, very paradoxical. That is why I was stuck in here for so long, but now we have a sacrifice to get out. And once I get out, I will take my revenge on both the ones that imprisoned me, and the ones that left me in here to rot."
Jaune didn't know how to respond as he looked at her. She was basking in what seemed to be her self-assured victory. She looked at him and smiled.
"And you have made it all possible Jaune. Without you we would never be able to get out of this revolting lawless place!"
Jaune clutched his fist, he was furious at how she spoke. He had heard the stories about her, that the prison realm was only the way it was because of her interference and her desire for control.
"You did that…" he muttered angrily.
Makima raised her eyebrow "what?"
Jaune took a step forward, defiantly pointing his finger at her "YOU DID THIS!" he shouted "you turned this place into what it is! You did that when you slaughtered the guardian wolves keeping order in this place!"
"What are you talking about? I did no such thing" Makima responded calmly.
"Yes you did. I know what you have done here. When you where locked up you created this place and slaughtered the guardian wolves that kept this place peaceful. They where here to keep order and peace and you slaughtered all of them!" Jaune shouted with venom in his voice.
Makima however seemed unfazed, instead giving him a look of confusion. She turned her head away and rubbed her temples as she sighed before returning to look at him.
"You're not making any sense. There are no guardian wolves in this place, there never where…" she responded.
"LIAR!" Jaune shouted.
"I do not lie…" Makima said calmly but firmly "there where never any guardian wolves in this place Jaune Arc. For as long as I've been here I've only seen one wolf…" she stepped forward, looking straight at Jaune.
"And that creature…is about the most dangerous being in this place…."