Beta-ed by xenosaiyan
"Woah," Ruby gaped in awe, Russel, Sky, and Dove's eyes equally wide beside her. "Since when does Jaune have that?"
Pyrrha wasn't entirely sure 'Jaune' did have it.
The redhead had only followed Jaune, Ruby, and Team CRDL (why was Ruby in the forge?!) to the practice arena because she'd hoped that she'd be able to find a way to help her friends get out of whatever mess they were clearly in. Then, when Jaune had started dueling Cardin, she'd silently cheered her partner on from the shadows of the stands, barely able to contain her glee when she saw him play the same Gogogo Golem he'd used to save them at Initiation. He was dueling like she always knew he could! Confident, strategic, everything she knew he wanted to be!
And then he'd summoned it.
The bright glow of Number 39: Utopia was nearly blinding to Ruby and Team CRDL further down in the stands, but to Pyrrha, it invoked less awe and more disappointment. Not the monster itself, the golden warrior was the epitome of a shining beacon of hope, but what it meant severely reversed what she'd thought the situation to be. Despite her care for her partner, she was well aware that Jaune did not currently possess the skill to bring out an Xyz monster in an aura body. Which meant that he was not the one dueling.
Indeed, under the light of Utopia's glow, the redheaded Obelisk Blue was able to glimpse a ghostly outline flickering over her partner's body. The spirit of his key pendant was possessing him, the ghostly being's azure, ruby-embedded armor flashing over the blond boy's Rainbow Kuriboh onesie. Jaune probably wasn't even awake. It was… disheartening.
Still, to think that one of the two Xyz monsters the spirit had mentioned manifesting with was a Number. At the Invincible Girl's hip, she felt a pulsing heat slowly resonate from her Extra Deck box, Utopia's summoning acting as a challenge to its kin.
Pyrrha had once heard it said that duelists with Numbers were drawn to each other, that those chosen to wield the legendary Xyz monsters were destined to battle until only one of them had proven themselves worthy to wield all one hundred cards. Personally, the Invincible Girl found that rumor ridiculous. For one, she knew there were more than a hundred Numbers. But those cards that she had encountered, her own first among them, felt far too noble to ever desire such wanton bloodsport between their duelists.
And yet, in the presence of Number 39, some of her own felt different. Like they were trying to reach out to her, touch her mind in a way that they never had before… in a way she didn't think she wanted them to. They were strangely aggressive, hungry for battle in a way that Pyrrha would never wish to unleash upon a friend.
Fortunately, as she unclasped her deck box, she found that not all her Numbers were so afflicted. Where most of them glowed white, one of the cards, the first one she'd ever made, shielded her with a mighty crimson shine, ensuring her mind remained her own. Though even it felt different than usual, less stoic and guarded and more… elated. Utopia's presence had brought her first Number joy.
That more than anything drew Pyrrha's eyes back down to the duel. What was so special about Number 39 and the spirit that wielded it? And what place did her partner have in its story?
"I attack Battleguard General with Utopia!"
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"You… you…" Cardin stammered, the bulky boy stumbling back from the resplendent golden warrior now hovering before the scrub he'd so often mocked. "You can't Xyz Summon!"
"I must disagree with your observation. I had two Level Four monsters and a Rank Four Xyz Monster in my Extra Deck," Jaune emotionlessly explained. "Therefore, I met all requirements to Xyz Summon."
"You've never been able to Xyz Summon with live aura bodies!" Cardin defied, practically whining. "I can't–"
He bit his lips and cut himself off before he finished that damning sentence. Memories flooded in of his dad laying into him for not being good enough, for his aura control being sloppy no matter how much he tried.
"The world's changing, son. Your tribute boys are already a thing of the past with Synchros. You think you'll go anywhere in life if you can't make a useful monster out of them? A man has to provide for his own! You can't do that if you're weak, boy!"
Cardin hadn't been weak. He'd been near the top of his class at his old duel school. Sure, he was middle of the pack at Beacon, but it was a bigger pond. He'd get stronger, but he was already good. Just… never good enough.
But if Jaune 'bottom of the Slifer barrel' Arc could do with ease what he'd been struggling to do for years, what did that make him? What kind of leader was he for his team, his boys?!
"I attack Battleguard General with Utopia!"
"What?!" Cardin exclaimed, he and everyone but Jaune staring at Utopia in utter confoundment as the golden warrior drew a sword from one of its scabbards. "Are you crazy, Arc? Number or not, my general's got 4000 attack points!"
"I'm aware. Which is why I will then activate Utopia's special ability: Lightwing Shield!" Jaune announced. "By using one Overlay Unit, it can negate an attack by any monster on the field, including itself."
One of the golden lights circling Utopia was suddenly sucked into the sigil on its chest. The Number's armor blazed, its wings whipping out and cutting off its sword swing to the enemy monster. Battleguard General roared with fury at being denied a good fight, but Cardin sent a pulse of aura to his monster to make sure it didn't go off the rails.
"Ha! That might just be the most 'Jaune Arc' thing you've ever done, Jauney boy," Cardin laughed, his boys chuckling from the stands as he pointed mockingly at his opponent. "You just wasted your monster's Overlay Units for no reason."
The blond boy across the way furrowed his brow, the first emotion the wimp had shown all night. He drew a card from his hand and slotted it into his duel disk "Is that so? Then it may interest you to know that this next move was invented by Jaune Arc. Since my monster's attack was negated, I activate Double or Nothing! Utopia! Attack again! Rising Sun Slash!"
"Attack again?" Cardin gasped, the Number charging as Battleguard General let out a blood-curdling howl and swung its massive club for the shining golden warrior. "Why? Even if the spell lets you launch another attack–"
"Another attack with double the attack points."
Cardin's eyes widened. "Huh?"
Utopia's sword suddenly doubled in size (ATK 5000), sunlight bursting from its blade as it expanded through Battleguard General. Its club no longer big enough to reach the Number, the beastial warrior let out a death knell as it exploded into ash, the concussive force driving Cardin to one knee.
Cardin Winchester: 3000 Life Points
Utopia sheathed its sword and leapt back to Jaune's side, the blonde emotionlessly staring down at Cardin from across the arena. "I end my turn."
"Yes! That's what I'm talking about, Jaune!" Ruby Rose screamed, pumping her hands over the stands' rail. "Sock it to him!"
"Boss!" Russel called over, concerned. Dove and Sky's faces were equally worried. "Are you okay–"
"I'm fine!" Cardin shouted, staggering back to his feet. He was their leader. He couldn't let them see him beaten down by this dueling monkey! He wasn't weak! "I draw! I activate Feast of the Wild LV5! This lets me summon Lava Battleguard and Swamp Battleguard from my hand!"
Two new ogres a third the size of Battleguard General manifested in front of Cardin, one green and one red. Their clubs were crude and they lacked the armor of their bigger cousin, but they were plenty intimidating. Or at least, they would be if Utopia wasn't hovering right in front of them, an unclimbable golden wall.
No matter. He'd make a battering ram to knock it down. If Jauney boy could Xyz Summon, so could he.
"I overlay my Level Five Swamp Battleguard and Lava Battleguard!" Cardin roared.
"Oh, not good," Ruby mumbled from the stands.
"The boss can Xyz summon?" Dove whispered in awe.
"Of course he can! The boss is the best!" Russel cheered. "Go boss!"
"Crush that dweeb!" Sky called.
Cardin took a deep breath and threw up his arms towards each of his monsters. The practiced movements helped him channel a bit more aura into his Battleguards' bodies, grasping the energy shells to mold them anew. With Synchro Summoning you had to calibrate the aura just right to tune the materials together, but with Xyz Summoning, you just had to shift the monsters' bodies into enough of a mercurial form that they could properly form the Overlay Network and move through it. On paper, it sounded easy, but in reality?
No, no, no! He couldn't doubt himself! If Arc could do it, so could he!
His Battleguards' bodies melted from physical forms into writhing nodes of red and green energy. But they crackled, far more unstable than those Jaune had produced with his own monsters only moments ago.
Still, Cardin grit his teeth, and a twinkling crimson galaxy opened up in the floor in front of him. He thrust his arms down and his energy nodes swam down to the nexus, sparks flaring over them as they made for the center of the anomaly.
He could do this. He could do this. He could do this!
"With my Level Five Swamp Battleguard and my Level Five Lava Battleguard… I build the Overlay Network," Cardin grunted, sweat pouring down his forehead as his breath became labored. "I… Xyz Summon–AH!"
He messed up. He was putting so much concentration into moving the materials through the Overlay Network that he'd squeezed too hard at the wrong time, just as another crackle of energy had flared up. A chain reaction ripped through the nodes, the twinkling galaxy torn in two.
A massive shockwave rippled out from the ruined nebula and flared across the field. Cardin and Jaune were both sent flying, the boys tumbling across the arena as their auras crackled to protect them. For a second, he even thought he saw some kind of weird ghost go blasted out of Arc by the surge.
"Jaune!" Ruby yelled.
"Boss!" Russel, Sky, and Dove echoed.
Cardin hoped the energy flying around would keep them from seeing his face, tears sliding down his cheeks as he slumped to his knees and bent over the floor. He'd failed. He'd failed, again. He'd failed where the wimp in the Rainbow Kuriboh onesie had succeeded.
The wimp who even now was groaning from where he laid flat on his back across the field.
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"Ooowwww…"
Jaune groaned as his eyes slowly listed open, his mind groggy and clouded. He'd been having the weirdest dream. A blue and red warrior had been fighting, but then walls of white light and black darkness had started closing in from all sides, a bright scarlet dragon championing the light while a mismatched red, yellow, and blue demon chimera thing had led the darkness. The blue and red warriors had stopped fighting, turned to each other, and reluctantly swirled together into… into…
… and, it was gone. Damnit. Jaune had never been great at retaining any memory of his dreams and the weird ones faded fastest. All he could recall now was the new… thing from the red and blue warriors facing down two more dragons made of gold and purple energy and surrounded by grand yellow, red, and blue titans… or something. Honestly even that was barely there anymore.
"Jaune! Jaune! Get up, Jaune! You can't lose because that jerk failed to Xyz Summon!"
Ruby? What was Ruby doing in his dorm room? And for that matter, why did his bed feel like freezing cold metal instead of the fluffy goodness that he'd fallen asleep in… why was Number 39: Utopia towering above him?
Jaune's face blanched white and the scraggly blond boy shot up into a sitting position. His pale blue eyes widened as he saw he was in the combat duel arena, wearing an active Crocea Mors, and Cardin was across from him with two very angry-looking ogres leering in front of him. He'd only just begun processing his horror at his bully seeing him in his Rainbow Kuriboh pajamas when he noticed Ruby and the rest of Team CRDL were in the stands, each yelling at their respective sides.
Unlike most people who went to sleep only to suddenly wake up in the middle of a duel they didn't start, Jaune was pretty sure he knew who was to blame for it. After all, the last time he'd seen Utopia on the field was back during his dad's test duel.
"You possessed me while I was sleeping?" Jaune hissed under his breath, spotting his ghostly associate floating beside him. "That is so not cool, man."
The spirit inquisitively tilted his head. "Observation number–"
"Don't start that," Jaune growled, hoping that he was quiet enough that the spectators wouldn't notice him talking to himself. "Explanation. Now."
"We are dueling Cardin Winchester."
"Why?"
"I challenged him to a duel."
"Again, why?!"
That finally got the spirit to give an actually useful rundown, Jaune going from touched that his ghostly acquaintance had thought to make him new cards, to not as surprised as he should have been that Ruby had already been in the forge, to feeling his heart skip a beat when he was informed of how the duel came about and what its stakes were.
His eyes flickered over to Ruby in the stands, the first friend he ever made at Beacon shouting out endless encouragement to him from the stands. If he lost, she'd have to fork over her best cards to Cardin. He couldn't let that happen!
But… could he win? He'd dueled Cardin a dozen times and lost every single match, even when he didn't have to form aura bodies for his monsters. Now, glancing down at his hand to see his Onomatopeia Gang cards instead of his family's Noble Knight deck… even with a Number on his field, how could he win?
"So… hey… Cardin!" Jaune nervously called across the field, a bit confused why Cardin was still on his knees even after the spirit had talked to him for a good chunk of time. "Good duel. I think we can agree that we both made some neat plays… but, how about we call it a draw? You know, it's late, we got that big Forever Fall Turbo Duel tutorial trip soon, we need to keep our sleep schedules on track–"
"You think you can look down on me!?" Cardin roared, his face whipping up to show tear stains streaked down his cheeks. "You think just because you can Xyz Summon and I can't, that I'm weak? That you're better than me since you can win with your… your stupid kiddie deck?!"
Jaune wasn't sure if he imagined it or not, but he thought he saw Cardin's two Battleguards' glance back at their duelists and sneer dismissively.
"Well, you're wrong! You can only play that Double or Nothing trick once! A Number can't save a third-rate duelist like you!" Cardin desperately shrieked, slamming the last card in his hand into his sleek duel disk. "I activate Monster Reborn and bring back Battlegaurd General!"
"Battleguard what?" Jaune paled.
He didn't have to wait long for an answer, the holographic sigil of Monster Reborn fading away only to be replaced by a bigger, meaner, armored version of the Battleguards already on the field. The new creature restlessly stamped its field, glaring at Utopia and letting out a feverish roar at the stoic Number as Team CRDL cheered from the sidelines.
"Ha! Don't worry, Jaune!" Ruby called. "You already destroyed that thing once! You can do it again!"
Jaune did not share his fellow team leader's confidence, letting out a terrified whine as he stared up at the titanic monster. "Please tell me that this isn't the monster you had to use my Double or Nothing combo to beat."
"The one you invented when we dueled your father?" the spirit inquired. When Jaune weakly nodded, the ghost returned the gesture. "Yes, it was."
"Aw, man."
"I activate Battleguard General's special ability and tribute my Lava and Swamp Battleguards so it can attack two more times this turn!" Cardin shouted, his general smashing its compatriots apart without a second thought. "Attack, Battleguard General! Your Utopia only has one more Overlay Unit, so it can only block one attack."
Jaune squeaked. Cardin was right. Glancing down at Crocea Mors, he only had 1200 life points left, so if all three attacks went through, he'd lose!
But wait! He had Gagaga Gardna in his hand! If he let Utopia be destroyed, he could summon the new monster in defense mode to stop the direct attack, using Gagaga Gardna's ability to keep it from being destroyed in battle while only taking five hundred points of damage! He just had to take the blow–
"Ah! Boss!"
"Huh?! General, what are you doing?! Stop! I said stop!"
Jaune's head whipped up, only for his eyes to widen in horror.
Battleguard General, overly hungry for a fight with Utopia, had taken an utterly enormous swing with its club, wide and powerful. The problem was that, since the students were using the arena after hours and hadn't wanted their match recorded, the stadium's protective energy shields weren't turned on. Which meant there was nothing to protect Ruby and Team CRDL as the massive club hurdled towards them in the stands.
Ruby, speedy as always, activated her semblance and tackled Russel (Jaune wasn't great with names, but he'd never forget such a distinctive, awesome mohawk) out of the weapon's path. Unfortunately, she could only carry one at a time and even her speed wouldn't let her get back in time to get the other two CRDL boys to safety. Cardin called out to his monster, desperately trying to save his team, but it was no use. For some reason, his monster no longer cared for its duelist's opinion.
Fortunately, just as it seemed like Dove and Sky would be smashed to pieces, an orange blur leapt out of the shadows of the stands. The blur, a familiar redhead, planted herself in front of the CRDL boys and thrust out her arms. Miraculously, a dark sheen suddenly formed over Battleguard General's club, the metal weapon's path ceased in midair even as its master furious attempted to complete its swing.
"Pyrrha!" Ruby cheered, pumping her arms into the air.
"What are you doing here?" Jaune asked his partner. "Shouldn't you be in the room–"
"Jaune, stop talking and do something!" Pyrrha shouted, her teeth grit as sweat poured down her face. "My semblance isn't perfect on aura body metal and this thing is heavy!"
"Oh, right!" Jaune squawked, looking down to his duel disk. "I activate Utopia–"
"No, wait!" The spirit exclaimed beside him. "The trap card! Use the trap card!"
"What?"
"I laid Half Unbreak facedown," the spirit explained. "Use it instead of Utopia's special ability."
"Why? We'll take more damage," Jaune argued. "Utopia'll survive, but without Double or Nothing–"
"I have a plan," the spirit insisted. For a moment, something like panic and despair crossed its ghostly features. "Ruby told me something in the forge, something I think might be able to get my other Xyz monster working, maybe even restore some of my memories. But I need your help to do it. Please, Jaune. Trust me!"
Trust him? Trust the guy that had possessed him while he was sleeping and gotten him into this mess in the first place?
"I activate my trap card, Half Unbreak!" Jaune shouted, the holographic card flipping over in front of him. "For this turn, Utopia can't be destroyed in battle, and all damage I take from its fights is halved!"
Trust him. Trust the guy who'd gotten him into Beacon even when he hadn't deserved it, who'd used a kiddie Onomatopeia Gang deck to win against his dad, the best duelist Jaune had known before coming to Beacon. Trust the guy who'd continued to try to help him even when Jaune had failed to live up to his end of their bargain.
Trust the spirit… because the spirit was a better duelist than him. Probably better than he'd ever be.
Half Unbreak spewed a barrage of giant bubbles that knocked Battleguard General back from the stands, Pyrrha finally able to sink to one knee and catch her breath. The giant monster's rage-filled gaze never left Utopia though and even as the bubbles hindered its swing from threatening the bystanders again, it brought its club down on the golden warrior.
SMASH!
Jaune Arc: 950 Life Points
SMASH!
Jaune Arc: 700 Life Points
SMASH!
Jaune Arc: 450 Life Points
"Gah!" Jaune wailed, the shockwave of the last attack throwing him to the floor, his aura crackling as he banged against the metal.
However, the sparks of that crackling scattered down to his Extra Deck box, drawn into one of the cards within. A soft golden glow began to emanate from the compartment, one that prompted the spirit to crack a victorious smile.
"It worked," he said.
"What?" Jaune groaned. "What worked?"
The spirit pointed to the Extra Deck and Jaune peered into it, pulling out the glowing card, which Jaune now realized was the second card that the ghost had appeared with along with Utopia. Only now, the picture, effects, and even its name began to fill in as it shined.
"Number C39…?" Jaune muttered. "What's 'C' mean?"
"Chaos."
Jaune whipped around in surprise, only to find the spirit's eyes glowing, one blue and one red, while each of the crimson jewels on his armor hummed with scarlet light. "Creation, Light, Order. Destruction, Darkness, Chaos. The six elements of The Code. Chaos built upon Order to gain the strength to stop the Light and Darkness. Through the code at the peak of reality, through a ZEXAL of gods… Barian… Astral… Astral T… ugh…"
The extra glows faded from around the spirit, the ghostly being clutching its head as it floated down to touch the ground. Amazing, its spectral limbs actually touched the ground, the lithe figure falling down to his knees.
"Hey, dude," Jaune worriedly inquired, crawling over to him. "You alright?"
"I… I think," the spirit murmured. "I received… flashes. Images. Scattered words. I'm not sure what they are."
"Your memories?" Jaune suggested. "You did think that finishing the card would start restoring them–"
"Jaune!"
The blond boy and the spirit both looked downrange at the Cardin. Jaune winced at his opponent's focused stare. "Uh… yeah?"
Cardin's eyes darted away as soon as Jaune responded. If the blond didn't know any better, he'd say his bully was… nervous?
"You saved my boys," the muscular duelist said, almost ashamed.
"Um, well, technically," Jaune admitted. "I mean, Pyrrha did most of the work–"
"You said you wanted a draw," Cardin said. "That still true?"
Jaune blinked. "Yes! I mean, you're not gonna take any of our cards or tell on us, right?"
Cardin bit his lower lip, but nodded. "If you want to end it here, then it'll be like we all stayed in our rooms tonight."
"Boss?" Russel softly queried from the stands, Dove and Sky gazing at their leader with equal confusion.
"You cannot trust him to keep his word if we do not defeat him," the spirit cautioned Jaune. "And we can defeat him. He has no cards left in his hand. If we summon this new Utopia, this Chaos Number, it will easily be powerful to crush his Battlegaurd General."
Jaune didn't doubt that. He'd read the thing's effect. With the spirit to help summon it and Gagaga Gardna to attack afterward, he could definitely win this duel the next turn. He could crush and humiliate his bully, be the kickass duelist his team deserved, that he'd always wanted to be!
Except, he caught Cardin's eyes furtively darting towards the stands, towards his scattered team. And that brought his own gaze towards Pyrrha and Ruby, the former still trying to collect her breath as the latter helped her stand back up.
Cardin was scared, but not that he was going to lose. He couldn't control his Battleguard General properly and it had nearly gotten his team hurt. The giant monster was snarling, hungry for another clash with Utopia. Jaune could summon the Chaos Number and he'd crush the ogre, but with no energy barrier to shield the arena, there was no guarantee that his friends would be safe from the backlash in the audience. And that was assuming that he and the spirit could control the newly finished, completely unknown, but probably stupidly powerful Chaos Number and keep it from freaking out like the Battleguard General. His ghostly visitor's apocalyptic rambling hadn't exactly be… reassuring
"I need your word as a duelist," Jaune shouted, rising up to his feet and glaring across the field. "I need your word as a duelist that you'll leave my friends alone and you won't mention this to the teachers."
The spirit frowned beside him.
"No, Jaune!" Ruby yelled. "Kick his stupid face in!"
Cardin ignored the red-hooded Slifer and nodded at Jaune. He placed his hand around his deck. "You have it."
Jaune returned the nod and placed his hand around his own deck. With their stares met, he thought he reached some sort of understanding with the other boy. He didn't like him. He was a jerk and a bully. But… he thought that he got him better than he did before this duel. Got how scared he was of not being strong enough, of not being the leader his team deserved. And if Cardin of all people was willing to give up everything he could gain from the duel to keep 'his boys' safe, who was Jaune to continue it so that he could have some sort of power trip?
Both boys removed their decks from their duel disks, the devices' letting out computerized voices.
"Duel Cancelled. No Result."
Jaune opened his deck box and replaced his Onomatopeia Gang deck into it, withdrawing his Noble Knights and putting them into Crocea Mors.
It was weird, but for the first time, he felt a warm aura of approval emanating from the cards.
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"I don't know why you settled for a draw, Jaune," Ruby declared, rolling her eyes as she, Jaune, and Pyrrha walked back down the halls to their rooms. "His hand was empty. If you took out Battleguard General, he would have had no way to recover."
"Heh, maybe. If I could have taken it out," Jaune nervously chuckled. "3000 attack points isn't exactly an easy wall to climb."
"Please. You totally could have handled it," Ruby snorted, arriving at her door and waving at the Team JNPR members. "Well, there's always another day to kick his butt. You should really use your Onomatopeia Gang deck more often. You were making him play right into your hand."
"Yeah, totally," Jaune said, his eyes darting away towards the spirit frowning at his back. "I totally had him dancing to my tune."
"Totally," Ruby grinned, slipping into her room. "Night guys!"
Jaune and Pyrrha waved goodbye to their friend and reentered Team JNPR's dorm room. Nothing was different from when they left, Nora still snoring up a storm and Ren was somehow still sleeping serenely through it. Pyrrha walked over to her nightstand, opening up a drawer.
"Well… uh, night. I guess," Jaune mumbled.
"Night?" Pyrrha prompted, shutting her drawer with a large thud. "No, Jaune. Not yet."
The Invincible Girl whirled around to face, her emerald eyes hard as she stared him down with her deck in her hands. "We're dueling."
"Dueling?" Jaune squeaked. "Pyrrha, I just finished a duel, and you just held back a giant ogre club with… your semblance? What kind of semblance can do that?"
"Polarity. But don't change the subject," Pyrrha said, striding over to him as her dark Obelisk Blue uniform mixed in with the dark room. She glanced at the spirit. "You were the one dueling Cardin to start, weren't you? The one who had him 'dancing to your tune'?"
"There was no dancing, but yes." The spirit nodded. "Do not blame Jaune. He was asleep when I took control of his body. It was I who challenged Cardin." The ghostly figure's eyes narrowed at Jaune. "Perhaps it would have been better if it was I who'd ended the duel."
"I can't say I agree with that theory. But still, I want to see what you can do, Jaune. Using a deck you're not trying to force," Pyrrha said. She sat down on the floor and beckoned him down as she placed her cards on the carpet. "No aura bodies. No training holograms. No moves from our spirit friend here. Just cards and strategy. Show me what you can do. And if I win, you tell me how you really got into Beacon."
"Woah, what?!" Jaune exclaimed, thankful that Nora's snoring prevented his outcry from waking her or Ren. "If this is about me calling off the duel with Cardin, then I'm sorry. I know it was cowardly, but–"
"The fact that you think it was cowardly is the exact reason we need to do this," Pyrrha declared. "Do you accept, or not?"
"I… I do," Jaune shakily answered, not really sure what Pyrrha was getting at. He took his Onomatopeia Gang deck out of his deck box and sat down across from his partner. "Can I use Utopia and the Chaos Number?"
"Chaos Number?"
"I used Jaune's aura in a moment of crisis to crystalize the second card I appeared with," the spirit revealed. "Ruby informed me it is not uncommon when forging cards."
"It's not unheard of," Pyrrha said, looking back to Jaune as she drew her hand. "You can use whatever you feel is necessary to win. I will do the same."
Jaune Arc: 4000 Life Points
Pyrrha Nikos: 4000 Life Points
"I summon Heroic Challenger - Double Lance. It lets me special summon another one from my hand," Pyrrha said, placing the two Double Lances on the carpet before stacking the card on top of each other. "I then overlay them to summon Heroic Champion - Gandiva." (2100 ATK / 1800 DEF).
Jaune gulped as Pyrrha took the black-bordered card from her Extra Deck and placed it atop her material cards before pushing it up into the Extra Monster Zone. An Xyz Summon on her first turn was hardly unusual for the Mistral Champion, but it was a sobering reminder of how out-of-his-depth he was against his partner. She laid two cards facedown and gestured to him to pass the turn.
"Alright, I summon Gogogo Golem in attack mode," Jaune said, placing the monster card on the field (1800 ATK / 1500 DEF).
He caught the spirit cocking a dismissive eyebrow at his move, but Jaune knew he was still sore about him calling off his duel with Cardin instead of busting out the Chaos Number. And he should be glad! Him, Ruby, and Pyrrha all harped on him for being a coward for backing down against Cardin. Now, they'd get to see what he could do when he didn't have to worry about giant monsters bashing his friends apart, he'd show them exactly what he could do, even with a kiddie deck.
"I activate Blustering Winds, raising Gogogo Golem's attack points by 1000," Jaune said, placing the spell card on the field. "Then, I attack your Heroic Champion."
"And you activate my trap card, Battleguard Howling," Pyrrha said, flipping over one of her facedowns to reveal her signature trap. "Your golem is sent back to your hand and you take damage equal to its original attack points."
Jaune Arc: 2200 Life Points
Jaune's face slumped down, pulling his golem back to his hand. "Oh."
"You walked right into that," the spirit scorned him. "You're eager to fight when you're in a poor position yet you refuse to fight when you're in a strong position. Curious. And foolish."
"Enough," Pyrrha chastised the ghost. "Jaune, is that your turn?"
"Uh, yeah," Jaune said, placing a facedown in his back row. "One facedown and I pass."
"Very well," Pyrrha replied, drawing to bring her hand to two before placing both monsters on the field. "I summon Heroic Challenger - Assault Halberd and then special summon Heroic Challenger - Morning Star by its own effect. Morning Star's effect then lets me add a 'Heroic' spell or trap to my hand. I choose Heroic Call. Then, I attack you directly with Heroic Champion - Gandiva."
"Then I activate the effect of Gagaga Gardna in my hand. Since I was attacked directly, I can summon it in defense mode," Jaune announced, placing the shieldbearer on the carpet in the sideways position (1500 ATK / 2000 DEF).
"You plan to use its ability to survive battle to hold off my warriors. It won't work," Pyrrha declared, pulling an Xyz material out from under her champion. "I activate Gandiva's ability. By removing an Overlay Unit when you special summon a Level 4 or lower monster, I can destroy that monster."
"She used that monster's effect during her duel with Yang," the spirit mocked. "Or did you forget?"
Jaune anxiously scratched his neck. "Well, the thing is… I didn't."
Both the spirit and Pyrrha blinked in surprise at that statement.
Jaune flipped over his facedown, the trap Guard Go! "When a Gagaga, Dododo, or Gogogo monster on my field is destroyed by battle or card effect, I can special summon it, along with up to two of those kinds of monsters from my hand in defense mode. But I've only got Gogogo Golem, so I'll bring him back to the field."
Pyrrha smiled as he placed both Gagaga Gardna and Gogogo Golem on his field in defense mode. "You planned a way to use my monster's effect to take you from no monsters to two. Nice move. Gandiva attacks Gagaga Gardna."
"I discard one card to make it unable to be destroyed by this battle," Jaune said, discarding the only card in his hand, Gagagadraw.
"Assault Halberd attacks Gogogo Golem," Pyrrha smirked. "Though your monster's effect prevents its destruction, Halbard can deal piercing damage."
"What?" Jaune squeaked.
Jaune Arc: 1900 Life Points
"It also lets me add a Heroic card to my hand. I choose Heroic Chance," Pyrrha added. "Your move."
Jaune trembled. He'd anticipated her moves, and she'd still managed to deal damage and get a search out of the battle. How was he supposed to compete with that? Her Heroic Challengers just kept getting stronger, swarming the field, and all he had to defend from them was a bunch of kid show flunkies–
"Are you going to try to fight back or smash yourself against her shield?"
Jaune's head whipped up to the spirit, whose glare had not abated. "Hey, you can't help me, remember?"
"Not true," the spirit replied. "I am not allowed to make any moves for you. There was nothing said about me being unable to offer advice without planning your plays for you." The ghostly being glanced at Pyrrha. "I assume that loophole was intentional?"
Pyrrha nodded. "It was."
"Impressive. You are an intelligent conversationalist as well as an exceptional duelist," the spirit remarked, before turning his gaze, once more scathing, towards Jaune. "You on the other hand keep trying to play your deck like Noble Knights or Battleguards instead of what they are."
"What are you talking about?" Jaune shot back.
"You chose to boost your Gogogo's attack in a foolhardy head-on approach instead of fortifying your defenses. Even your great contribution to my strategies, the combo of Utopia and Double or Nothing, is all about launching as large an attack as possible," the spirit lectured, gesturing to the Guard Go! trap on top of Jaune's graveyard pile. "You disparage your own deck despite the fact that you're clearly capable of utilizing its strengths. You just choose not to because you have some foolish nonsense in your head about what a strong duelist is supposed to be. Yet, when help is offered to let you play out your fantasy, you cast it aside. And you wonder why the Noble Knights have no faith in you."
Jaune had no response, his baby blue eyes wide. He looked down at his Onomatopeia Gang cards and then glanced at his Noble Knight deck, still lodged in Crocea Mors. Was that really why his family's ancestral cards felt him unworthy? Because he disparaged his own cards? But…
"They're just a kiddie deck. Based on a kid show," Jaune glumly intoned. "Everyone always said so."
The spirit sneered.
Pyrrha sighed. "Jaune, I believe you made the correct choice when you agreed to Cardin's offer for a draw. There was nothing to be gained anymore and continuing the duel would have just been a matter of hollow satisfaction. But I am concerned about why you chose to do so. Was it to prevent any further damage from the duel continuing? Or because you didn't have faith in your deck?"
"The first part!" Jaune insisted.
"Then prove it," Pyrrha gestured to his deck. "No matter what anyone says, a great duelist wins with the cards at their disposal, so long as they honor those cards and their opponents."
Jaune grit his teeth and drew. He had two monsters that weren't strong enough to take on his opponent's field and no other cards, so this draw would be his only chance.
Fortunately, it wasn't a bad one.
"I activate Graceful Charity. I draw three cards and then discard two," Jaune said, his eyes widening at what he pulled. "I… I discard Gagaga Magician and Gagaga Mancer. And then, I overlay Gogogo Golem and Gagaga Gardna."
"For Utopia?" the spirit guessed.
"No," Jaune revealed, pulling out a monster he'd had since long before he ever set eyes on Number 39. "I Xyz Summon Gagaga Cowboy."
He stacked his golem and gardna as Overlay Units in the Extra Monster Zone and placed his the shiny gunslinger's black-bordered card on top of them (ATK 1500 / DEF 2400).
"A secret rare foil promo," Pyrrha observed, cracking a pleased smirk. "How'd you come by that?"
"My… my mom got it for me," Jaune admitted with a blush.
"Aw, how sweet."
"Heh. Thanks," Jaune embarrassedly said, pulling Gagaga Gardna out from under his cowboy. "I activate Gagaga Cowboy's special ability. Now, when it attacks one of your monsters this turn, it gains 1000 attack points and your monster loses 500 attack points. I attack your Gandiva!"
"I activate my facedown Defense Draw," Pyrrha responded, moving her Xyz Monster to the graveyard. "I take no damage and draw one card."
"Then I'll activate the card in my hand, Gagagadraw," Jaune countered. "By banishing three Gagaga monsters from my graveyard, I draw two cards."
The spirit narrowed its blue and red eyes. "So your goal with your cowboy's effect was not truly to attack, but to get your Gagaga Gardna in the graveyard by detaching it as an Overlay Unit."
"Clever," Pyrrha complimented.
"Thanks. Glad you think so," Jaune replied, drawing his two cards and hoping they were good ones.
After all, Pyrrha had a clear Extra Monster Zone and two Level Fours. He had a feeling he knew what was coming next.
"I place two cards facedown and end my turn."
"My move. I draw," Pyrrha proclaimed. "I overlay Lever Four Heroic Challenger - Morning Star and Level Four Heroic Challenger - Assault Halbard to Xyz Summon Heroic Champion - Excalibur!"
Even though it was just one card being placed on top of two other cards, Jaune found the arrival of Pyrrha's renowned ace monster as intimidating as when he'd seen it manifested with a full aura body back in the Emerald Forest (ATK 2000 / DEF 2000). Only now, instead of protecting him, it was after his life points.
And he didn't have many left.
"I activate Excalibur's effect and use two Overlay Units to double its original attack points," Pyrrha said, before placing down a spell from her hand. "Then I'll activate Heroic Chance from my hand, which doubles my Heroic Champion's attack points again."
"Wait, what?" Jaune exclaimed. "But 2000 doubled twice is… carry the two…"
"8000 attack points," the spirit summarized.
"And I attack your Gagaga Cowboy with all of them," Pyrrha declared.
Jaune wondered what she'd expected him to do then. More than a few people had wet their pants facing down her Excalibur and most of them hadn't seen the real thing cleave a giant Deathstalker in two. It had more attack points than Cardin's Battleguard General could ever dream of and Gagaga Cowboy was hardly Utopia.
Whatever she'd expected though, he doubted it was for him to smirk and then play the very same card he had when Number 39 had been on the field before.
"I activate my trap card," Jaune announced. "Half Unbreak!"
"Half Unbreak? You can't be serious," the spirit dourly complained. "Even if you reduce the damage by half, it'll still wipe out the rest of your life points. Excalibur is too powerful for such a meager defense."
Was that a note of disappointment Jaune detected? It seemed good old ghosty might still be smarting from not getting to try out his new toy, but he still wanted Jaune to succeed.
He was like Pyrrha in that way, the Mistral Champion grinning at Jaune's move. And eagerly eyeing his second facedown.
Well, Jaune would hate to disappoint.
"I activate my other facedown, Mirror Mail," he said, flipping over the trap which pictured a warrior in insanely reflective armor. "Now, Gagaga Cowboy's attack points become equal to Heroic Champion - Excalibur's attack points. 8000. But because of Half Unbreak's protection…"
"-it can't be destroyed in battle this turn," the spirit realized, his eyes widening. "Which means–"
"Excalibur is destroyed," Pyrrha smiled, picking up the Xyz Monster and putting it in the graveyard. "Well done."
"Thanks, I… holy crud," Jaune muttered, his eyes widening as he realized what he'd just done. "I just took down your Excalibur! How many Pro Duelists have you taken down with that thing in tournaments?"
Pyrrha winced, skittishly glancing away. "Oh, you know… a few."
"Yang said she was worried about it when she learned you were gonna duel. And I beat it! Me!" Jaune raved, completely unbelieving of what he'd accomplished, destroying the Invincible Girl's ace. "And because Mirror Mail's attack boost is permanent, my Gagaga Cowboy's got 8000 attack points! You've already used Heroic Chance, so there's no way you can get out another monster with that kind of power."
Pyrrha and the spirit both stared at him for a long moment. The ghostly figure sighed and shook his head while Jaune's redheaded partner facepalmed.
"Jaune, a great duelist wins with the cards at their disposal. Raw power and clashing head-on is not a requirement," Pyrrha groaned. She plucked two cards from her hand. "Allow me to demonstrate. My turn isn't over yet. I normal summon Heroic Challenger - Night Watchman and then activate Heroic Call to revive Heroic Challenger - Assault Halberd from my graveyard."
Jaune gulped, his rampant cheer immediately extinguished. "Two Level Fours? You're going for your Number, aren't you? The one that took down Yang's dragon?"
"You're half-right," Pyrrha revealed, pulling a new monster from her Extra Deck, one from the very bottom that had seemingly seen the least use. "I overlay my two Level Four monsters in order to Xyz Summon my final monster of this duel: Number 101: Silent Honor ARK!"
"101?!" both Jaune and the spirit exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Yes, Ren," Nora gurgled in her sleep between snores. "101 pancakes and counting. Keep'em coming. Keep'em coming."
Jaune and the spirit ignored Nora's sleep cravings and both leaned over to get a closer look at Pyrrha's new monster, the water attribute creature completely different from the rest of her deck.
"This isn't a Heroic monster!" Jaune observed, perhaps obviously. "It's not even a Warrior-Type!"
"No, it's an Aqua-Type. Before I settled into my Heroic Challengers, I grew up playing with many water attribute monsters. My hometown, Argus, is an important port city, so they're quite popular," Pyrrha explained, smiling down at her new, or rather old, monster. "Silent Honor ARK was actually the first monster I ever forged. But most of my opponents never made it past Excalibur, let alone my other monsters, so I haven't used him in… well, forever it feels like."
"Fascinating," the spirit murmured. "However, I am more concerned with this monster's designation as Number 101. I was under the impression that there are only one hundred Number monsters."
"There are!" Jaune insisted. "I asked dad and Saphron about it to make sure!"
"That's my understanding of it as well," Pyrrha replied. "I did a lot of research into the matter when I was younger, but in the end I couldn't find anything. I suppose Silent Honor ARK is just… unique…"
The redhead's words stumbled off as her monster card suddenly began to glow a soft red hue. As the spirit edged closer, the shine began to intensify as the ghostly figure reached out, his fingers grazing over the card.
"Okay, that's not normal, right?" Jaune nervously inquired.
"Continue the duel," the spirit requested, transfixed by the Xyz monster. "It wants to finish the duel before its own business."
"Um… okay," Pyrrha said, looking through the translucent figure to Jaune across the floor. "I activate Silent Honor ARK's special ability. By using two Overlay Units, I can turn a Special Summoned Attack Position monster on your field into an Overlay Unit for it."
"You can what?" Jaune gasped, horrified as Pyrrha plucked his Gagaga Cowboy away and placed it under her own card. His 8000 ATK monster, gone in an instant.
"I end my turn," Pyrrha said. "You have one draw, Jaune. Make it count."
"I will!" Jaune declared. If he'd learned anything from his deck from his last move, it was that it was more capable than anyone in his hometown, even he, had been willing to give it credit for.
He pulled his card and grinned. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."
"My move," Pyrrha said, drawing her card and briefly looking at it before stowing it in her hand. "I attack directly with Silent Honor ARK."
"And I activate my trap card, Sakuretsu Armor!" Jaune countered, flipping over his last card. "I know it's a common utility card, but do you know what it does?"
"It targets an attacking monster and destroys it," Pyrrha replied, her smile indulgent and just a bit pitying. "However, Silent Honor ARK has another effect. When it would be destroyed, I can detach one Overlay Unit from it instead."
"Huh?" Jaune squeaked, Pyrrha removing Gagaga Cowboy from under her Number. "But that means your attack goes through, and that means…
"You lose," the spirit bluntly stated.
Jaune Arc: 0 Life Points
Winner: Pyrrha Nikos
He lost. He lost and his partner didn't take a single point of damage. Pyrrha really was The Invincible Girl.
The crimson glow of Number 101: Silent Honor ARK's card suddenly blazed as it struck the final blow. The spirit pressed his fingers down into the card, the spectral limbs actually touching the shining dust paper.
When his fingers made their impossible contact, the scarlet glow surged off the card and snaked its way up around the spirit's arm to his chest, flooding into the crimson jewels embedded in his armor.
The azure ghost floated in midair, stock still. For several long seconds after Number 101's glow faded, the spectral figure numbly blinked.
"You okay, buddy?" Jaune worriedly inquired. "Ghosty?"
"Astral."
"Huh?"
"My name. Or at least… part of it?" the spirit elaborated, his brow furrowed like he'd put together a few more puzzle pieces but still had a long way to go until he'd assembled the entire jigsaw. "Yes… Astral. Not 'ghosty'."
"Oh. Well… hello again, Astral," Pyrrha greeted, putting on her best friendly smile. "It's nice to properly meet you."
"Likewise, Pyrrha," the newly christened Astral responded. He floated back to a standing position away from the field, but his eyes remained on Silent Honor ARK. "I hypothesize that this unique Number is the reason why you alone can perceive me other than Jaune."
"Great," Jaune shrugged. "Any reason why it didn't give you great prophecies of doom like the Chaos Number did?"
Astral pursed his lips, raising his hand to thoughtfully stroke his chin. "The Chaos Number granted… quantity. An overwhelming reservoir of information that I suspect may only be a fraction of my true memories. Number 101 provided… clarity. Enough to comprehend at least a portion of the knowledge currently within my mind."
"Well, that's something. I guess," Jaune remarked. "Still, I'm glad you got a bit of what you were looking for, man."
"Thank you, Jaune," Astral replied, all anger from the draw with Cardin vanished from him. "You may have falsified your transcripts to get into Beacon, but you have never faked our partnership. And for that, I thank you."
Jaune bit his lip with a hiss. "I love you too, dude… but man, whatever memories you got back did not improve your social awareness."
Astral tilted his head in confusion. "But you lost? You would have told her the truth anyway. After all, an Arc always keeps their word."
Jaune sighed, turning back to Pyrrha with a resigned, but not pitiful look. "That we do."
"You forged your transcripts?" she asked.
"That I did," he confirmed. "You feeling 'morally obligated to dissolve our partnership' yet?"
"Not at this moment. You didn't win, but if you've got your head out of your butt, you've got the makings of a true duelist," Pyrrha coyly smiled. She picked up Number 101 and stowed it back in her Extra Deck. "And I admit, I'm rather curious about what connection my unique Number has to the spirit that lives inside your ancient pendant from a Mistral tomb."
"Yeah, that's definitely weird."
"Undoubtedly a curiosity."
"Then we'll see if we can figure a bit more about that tomorrow," Pyrrha yawned, recollecting her cards. "But in the meantime, I think this night has gone on long enough, don't you think?"
Jaune rounded up his Onomatopia cards and compiled them back into a proper deck and frowned. "Yeah. But, I've got one more thing I need to do."
He grabbed Crocea Mors and pulled his Noble Knight cards out of the duel disk. He set them and his Onomatopia deck side by side on his knees.
Then, he bowed to them.
"You didn't think I was worthy. And you were right. I was so obsessed with what I thought I had to be that I disrespected what I had," Jaune said. He looked up and smiled upon Pyrrha and Astral. "I've made mistakes. But… with my friends… I think I might be able to be more than those mistakes. I understand if you don't believe me, but if you're willing to trust me… I won't waste another chance."
After that, he loaded his Onomatopia Gang deck into his duel disk. Then, he placed Crocea Mors and his Noble Knight deck onto his nightstand. He was pretty sure he spotted Pyrrha smiling at him as he hopped back into bed (unlike her who had to change back into pajamas, he'd never gotten out of his Rainbow Kuriboh onesie).
Though as he closed his eyes and prayed that he got nice happy dreams about Weiss agreeing to go on a picnic with him instead of weird cosmic ones that he could barely remember, he couldn't help but recall that Astral was hovering above him, finally named, and Utopia and the Chaos Number, newly forged, were sitting in his Extra Deck. Sometimes he wondered if anyone else was experiencing the same kind of wacky stuff he dealt with.
Nah! He doubted crazy supernatural stuff was that common.
RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYYUGIOHYUGIOH
"I cannot believe you! A live aura body duel after hours with no protective energy barrier?" Weiss shrieked. "You and Arc could have gotten yourselves killed! Or worse, expelled."
Ruby raised an eyebrow. "How is that worse?"
"You can die with dignity, but only shame awaits the expelled."
Ruby rolled her eyes, regretting having disclosed the truth of where she'd been to the awake members of her team. "What are you even doing up so late anyway?"
Weiss huffed and whipped away from her partner. "I was conducting key research into–"
"She was watching Onomatopia Gang episodes on her scroll," Blake yawned. "In the bathroom."
Weiss's face went stark white as a gloating smirk spread across Ruby's lips.
"So, how far'd you get?" the silver-eyed girl teased, snuggling up to the heiress. "Season four? Five?"
Weiss crossed her arms and pouted. "I couldn't get past season four's midseason finale. There was an episode missing."
"Ah, yeah. The lost episode," Ruby sagely nodded. "Featured the Gagaga Gang going to the Lagune Center of Mistralian Culture… and then the White Fang bombed the real thing two days before the episode was supposed to air. The networks pulled it from the schedule and only the most dedicated of fans can track it down."
Weiss sagged. "Another thing those animals have taken from me."
"Ugh," Blake groaned, whirling around back to her bed as Yang blissfully snored above her. "I'm going back to sleep."
"Wait!" Ruby called, pulling out her new card. "You haven't even seen the monster I forged."
"I'll see it tomorrow," Blake refuted without turning around, taking off her slippers and pulling back her sheets.
"Let me see that," Weiss insisted, leaning in and narrowing her eyes at the card. "I've… never seen a card like this before. This was your first time using a Paladin Arc-VI. Are you sure you did it right?"
"Please. I know how to forge," Ruby snorted. "Dust bonding and aura infusion all went perfectly. It still needs a spark to crystalize, but it's perfectly ready for it. The purple border just means it's a fusion monster."
"A what monster–"
THUD!
"Gah!" Blake gasped, hopping back one foot. Ruby and Weiss immediately rushed to her side, balancing their teammate.
"Are you okay?" Weiss worriedly asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Fine," Blake hissed. "I stubbed my toe on my bedframe."
"You did?" Ruby curiously replied. "But don't you have aura? And Shadow Clones?"
"Ruby!" Weiss chastised, helping Blake hop over to her bed. "Hold on, I'll get you an ice pack."
"No, no, it's fine," Blake insisted. "I just need to get some sleep. So if you're going to prattle on about Fusion monsters, do it quietly."
The black-haired girl curled under her covers and turned away from her teammates.
"Fusion monsters?" Weiss remarked, cocking an eyebrow. "What in the world is she talking about?"
"They're a kind of Extra Deck monster," Ruby revealed, her brow furrowing as she rubbed her chin in thought. "I'm surprised Blake knew about them. I'd never heard of them until Jaune told me about them."
"Jaune? Jaune Arc?" Weiss incredulously echoed. "Jaune Arc has a Number and knows about an Extra Deck monster type that I, in all my studies, have never even heard of?"
Ruby nodded. "He said they're usually summoned by a spell card."
"A spell card?!" Weiss exclaimed, one of Yang's snores sounding as her eyes widened. "But… but if it's summoned from the Extra Deck… it potentially has all the strengths of a Ritual Monster with none of the weaknesses. We should investigate this further! This monster type could be an untapped wellspring of strength for humanity!"
"Leave it."
Ruby turned towards Blake, whose hardened voice wasn't impaired at all by the fact that she hadn't turned to face them.
"If you know what's good for you, leave it alone," the dark-haired hunting duelist growled. "Nothing good will come from those cursed monsters. Just stuff that thing in your Extra Deck, forget it's there, and go to sleep."
Ruby blinked in surprise. She'd never heard Blake talk so passionately about anything. Even when she'd called out Weiss about her family company's shady business dealings the day they'd all met, she'd had an eerie air of precision about her.
There was none of that now. Just fire and passion, the kind Ruby herself had spoken with during her duel with Weiss. But with a tinge of vehemence. A tinge of fear.
Weiss scowled. "Well, it is late. Some shuteye will do us all good. Night."
"Night," Ruby muttered, watching her partner head for her bottom bunk. The silver-eyed girl quickly ascended into her own bed, but she didn't lie down, instead sitting back against her pillow and bringing out her new card.
Her lips broke out into a wide grin as she looked down on her purple-bordered beauty and thought a silent apology to Blake. An entirely new kind of Extra Deck monster? She drooled at all the potential new amazing archetypes and monsters she could discover. Besides, she'd forged this card with her own aura. How bad could it be? It had such a badass name!
"Starving Venom Fusion Dragon," Ruby grinned. "I think you and I are gonna be the best of friends… as soon as I figure out how to summon you."
…
"Seriously, two dark attribute monsters on the field are the materials, but what spell am I supposed to use?"
…
"Really? No hints? Oh well. I'll ask Jaune."
So, originally, I had planned to have Jaune and Cardin's duel play out to its end and have that be it. But as I was writing this, it didn't quite feel right for Jaune's arc of learning not to be so obsessed with seeming mature and thinking he had to do a certain way. In the end, I'm really happy with how it turned out, as his and Pyrrha's old-school duel was a really fun sequence to write.
Next chapter we get back to Team RWBY, as Ruby and Weiss's search for how the heck Fusion monsters work runs afoul of Blake's... issues. Stray Arc time!
Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!
Go Forth and Conquer!