LoamyCoffee: HAHAHAAHAHA!
OH YES. This was rather tantalizing. I simply enjoyed their dynamic and the Grimm that appeared in this chapter and of course, references for days~
You did good... real good. Like Weiss, she worked for it and now she has some terrifying minions for future events~
I can't seem to pick a favorite, all are good Grimm.

Re: The dialogue was half the fun, as were the references. But working the Grimm in, now that was a joy in of itself. The scariest Weiss summoned in Canon was that Boarbatusk, maybe the Lancer. The Giant Armor… Frankly, it was used-to-death, which is why I've given Weiss some variety. Frankly, I think the Spartoi will get the most use because they're easy to summon in terms of cost and time. The Dullahan and Blade Fiend would need more of a "windup period". Think of them as her "Final Smash".
I've been playing a ton of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on 2020's Christmas Break when I wasn't writing fanfiction. That aside, I've also put in Smash Bros. characters in as well, as Cameos, with plans for more in the future.

Blaze1992: He has a hidden S side doesn't he, I shudder to think what would happen if he meet either anko from naruto or akeno from HS DxD.

Re: Well, neither are slated as crossovers, so that won't happen here. As for the "Hidden S"… Weiss is easy to tease, and he was leading her around the forest by the nose, sooo…~

TM11: You, my friend, are a genius. I can't say this enough! I mean, Rotom in the last chapter and now Goblin Slayer? Really? Where in the hell do you get these ideas!?

Re: Full transparency; part of it is the Autism. Mind you, "Autism" is an umbrella term for mental retardation, which in of itself is a spectrum. Mine's a "high-functioning" form of mental retardation where I can pass for "Eccentric, but Normal" and people think I'm just quirky; whereas on the opposite end of the spectrum, you have the "short bus kids" who couldn't pass themselves off as "Normal" if their lives… literally counted on it.
On the more-practical side of things, I got so-tired of reading and mis-placing the Naruto crossovers I was reading because they all "looked the same" that I decided to go "off the reservation" and make multi-crossovers with OCs as the lead because it lacked the "predictability" of Naruto crossover/re-skin stories.
So yeah, I like to mix things up because of and regardless-of how I'm "wired".

*NEW WORLD*

"If I knew I was going to be getting rid of a dead body today, I'd have asked for more money," Yang said holding a human-shaped bundle by the ankles.

"Ms. Xiao Long, we are not 'getting rid of' a dead body, we're giving it a burial," Ozpin insisted as he followed after, adjusting his grip on Dr. Sugimori's armpits.

"Don't burials usually come with, oh, I don't know… coffins?!" the blond snapped as she stared at the dead body she was carrying, enrobed in the best linens the linen closet had to offer.

"Dr. Sugimori wanted a natural burial," Ozpin answered as they made their way to the rear of the property where Ruby, Blake, and Arthur were digging a shallow grave in the shadow of the deceased's favorite tree, his litany of possessed electronics watching morosely, now in their "true" forms.

And possibly crying battery acid.

Oh that poor grass.

"Alright, just checking," Yang shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure I wasn't accomplice to a misdemeanor."

"Oh no, if this weren't in his will, this would be a full-on felony," Ozpin returned with a chuckle.

Meanwhile with the grave-diggers…

"Remind me again why we're doing the digging?" Blake asked as she eyed "Golem Rotom" and "Strike Rotom" off to the side.

"Blake! They're his children! Are you really suggesting we ask his children to dig his grave?" Ruby asked aghast.

"Just be thankful a natural burial has such a shallow hole," Arthur stated frankly, down to waist-level.

When Jack told him he'd have a day out with Ruby, this was not what he had in mind.

" . . . Does anyone else find it weird we're just burying him in the clothes he died in?" Arthur asked a short time later as Yang and Ozpin arrived with the body.

"To be fair, Ozpin would be the one to know whether or not his friend wanted to die in his lab coat," Blake answered.

"And besides, what else would we have done? Stripped him down to his boxers and crammed him into a monkey suit?" Ruby asked aloud.

"Sooo… Is this going to be an unmarked grave or what?" Yang questioned as the two came up, body in tow.

Ozpin gesturing for her to put the body down, he walked to the head of the open grave, Yang helping the diggers out. Withdrawing a bronze-colored Dust crystal from his pocket and stabbing it into the soft earth, he then took his cane in hand, twirling it over his head. A green Aura trailing off the ends, he then masterfully thrust the crystal into the ground, his Aura flowing into the Dust Crystal before, in a fit of Nature's Wrath masterfully restrained, a rounded slab of rock smooth on the front manifested.

" . . . Well I guess that answers that question," Yang said simply while Ruby and Arthur gave a round of applause.

*NEW WORLD*

Once the grave marker had been set, Ozpin began the proceedings with what was probably the strangest funerary audience any of the teenagers had ever seen. Of course, since the first time they'd actually seen the deceased was when they'd walked into the room he'd died in, the four of them abstained from participating. The funeral wasn't for them, after all.

"If I took a picture of this, do you think anyone would believe me?" Yang asked aloud.

"Yang, Ozpin said we keep this contained!"

"I'm just saying, even if I did, people would probably think it was a hoax!"

"And what if they didn't?"

"No flash photography," Arthur chided. " . . . Ruby, is something wrong?" he said turning about, his girlfriend unusually reticent.

"This… This is the first funeral I've ever been to. The first one I remember at least."

"At least your family has a grave marker to go to. I don't even have that much, just a crummy, impersonal monument to everyone who died at Mount Glenn, and nowadays, the place is just a den for the local drug-fiends," Arthur huffed. "I can't stand the place because it smells like booze, piss, and vomit. And that's for your senses. For mine, they're much worse."

"So you really don't remember them? Not at all?" Yang asked.

"Nope. All I've got are my auntie's pictures and a few videos up until my first birthday," Arthur answered.

" . . . Hey, Arthur…?"

"Yeah?"

"Is there… Is there any chance she's still out there?" she asked hopefully. "My mom, I mean."

"Um… Well…" Arthur said as Yang shot him a throat-slicing gesture over her sister's shoulder. "Scientifically, Summer would be in a superposition of both states between being alive or dead, sooo…"

"Arthur, don't go giving her hope," Yang stated reproachfully. "Summer's been gone for years. If she hasn't come back then, she won't come back now."

"To be fair, until we find a body, we have no way of collapsing the Wave Function," Blake stated off to the side, earning shocked or confused looks from those involved. " . . . What? I read stuff other than adult literature, you know," she said in an offended tone.

"That's her codeword for 'porn'," Yang whispered visibly into Arthur's rabbit ear.

"It is not!" Blake hissed, hair standing on end.

"Yeah, this is an argument we want to have at a funeral," Ruby chuffed their way.

"Give it a rest, you two. That Roomba's giving us the stink eye!" Arthur hissed their way, the two clamming up as Ozpin continued his eulogy.

*NEW WORLD*

The funeral came to a close, Dr. Sugimori's quasi-living relatives lifting clumps of soil with their phantasmal limbs before tossing them onto the body. As the first of his children lanced his name, date of birth, and death onto the slab of rock, Ozpin waved them back to the house when they made to help with the final burials. With nothing to do but awkwardly sit in the kitchen, the four teens watched as the possessed appliances marched back into the house in single file, some still leaking battery acid while others acted uplifted.

There wasn't anything they could truly say to them that would actually mean anything, so the four of them left Ozpin to stand over the freshly made grave, probably saying his final goodbyes to a lifelong friend. Dr. Sugimori actually looked older than Ozpin.

" . . . You think Oz would be mad if I grabbed a snack?" Yang asked.

*Slap*

"I deserved that," she admitted.

*NEW WORLD*

"Thank you kindly for indulging this old man's lamentation," Ozpin told them after reconvening with them. Whatever he'd had to say must've been at length, because it was quite a while he was standing out there.

"No problem, er, sir," Ruby amended. "You must've known him for a long time, I take it."

"All my life…" Ozpin replied.

There was something hidden in his tone, a slip that only came from a man like Ozpin with the loss of a friend, but before Arthur could comment on it…

"Um… Guys, do you hear that?" he asked aloud, his mind sidetracked.

"Hear what?" Ruby asked as her boyfriend's ears twitched.

"It sounds like… a music box?" he said as a tinkling, sorrowful tone echoed from the upper floors.

"Nope. Nope, I'm so gone!" Yang said making for the door.

" . . . She knows I'm the one with the keys, right?" Blake asked as she pat her pocket, then the other, before frantically frisking herself all over, her face going pale. "Crap, crap, crap, crap…!"

"What is it, Blake?" Ruby asked.

"Jack's keys… They're gone!"

"Hold on… So's my wallet!"

"And my multi-tool!"

"Hey! Who ran off with my fireproofed comb!?" Yang demanded from out front at exactly the right moment for that to be relevant and/or funny.

"Oh dear…" Ozpin sighed tiredly. "I'm afraid I know the culprit."

"It was the Roomba wasn't it?" Ruby asked poignantly.

"I knew those tentacles weren't just fondling us!" Blake hissed.

"Don't worry, I'll get your odds and ends back," Ozpin assured her. "Just… make yourself a sandwich or something. Assuming everything in the fridge hasn't gone bad already," he said while he made his way upstairs.

" . . . Soooooo…" Ruby paused as they stared at the possessed fridge, now returned to its inert state. "Who… wants… to open… that… door…?"

*NEW WORLD*

Good news and bad news.

Good news; Dr. Sugimori had just enough ingredients to make the team of teens some sandwiches.

Bad news; the smell from the rest of the rotten food was enough to wake the dead.

Which took on a whole new meaning when you stopped to consider that there was literally a dead guy buried in the back yard…

Eventually Ozpin returned, the puck-shaped automatic vacuum cleaner masquerading as an ordinary Roomba before Ozpin threatened him with the screwdriver. Regaining its animated state, a dark-orange Roomba with a head-spike and long willowy phantasmal arms, the thing proceeded to empty the contents of its stomach like a cartoon character as it regurgitated in volume more than an ordinary Roomba could carry.

The spoils it regretfully returned included but was not limited to; a myriad of stolen ammo, one fireproofed comb, a discount card for a bakery on Patch, a Tuckson's Book Trade membership card, a laminated picture of Ruby on hers and Arthur's first day of school, a well-worn motorcycle license, and of course, Jack's car keys.

"Shadow Rotom has always been the mischievous sort," Ozpin said chidingly. "I only hope he learns to restrain himself."

"You mean he's coming back with us?" Ruby asked desperately clutching her membership card and multi-tool.

"I hope we aren't taking back too much… I don't' think Jack's car could handle the strain," Blake said worriedly.

"Don't worry, I'll be helping you along. Quick question; who else among you knows how to drive stick?" Ozpin groused.

*NEW WORLD*

After a bit of finagling, some elbow grease, and a ton of bungee cords, Ozpin had arranged for the convoy back to Beacon.

The man himself would lead, since the staggering amount of Aura he possessed would be a deterrent to any Grimm they encountered on their way back. Strangely enough, all he'd chosen to take with him personally was the ornate music box that had sent Yang running for the hills.

In the middle of the convoy, driving Dr. Sugimori's possessed station wagon in its "Inert" form were Arthur and Ruby. "Frost" Rotom in the fridge was strapped to the roof with enough bungee cables to hold a house together, while in the cabin packed together like the kids on moving day were "Heat" Rotom in the toaster oven, "Fan" Rotom in the oscillating fan, "Wave" Rotom in the old radio, and "Shadow" Rotom in the roomba.

In the rear of the convoy were Blake and Yang, and by the look on her face, Yang couldn't get away from the place soon-enough as the Rotom variants who chose to stay behind waved goodbye from the opaque windows; "Strike" Rotom in the sparring dummy, "Wash" Rotom in the washer, "Mow" Rotom in the mower, "Waste" Rotom in the disposal bin, "Dust" Rotom in the old vacuum cleaner, "Golem" Rotom in the automated fountain statue, "Spider" Rotom in the spider-bot drone, and "Wyvern" Roomba in the Pelican.

It was all well and good. Though the estate fell into Ozpin's hands with Dr. Sugimori's passing, it wasn't like the man would begin commuting from there to Beacon, and rumors were already abound to keep the curious-but-paranoid sort away, so at least the Old Chateau wouldn't be undefended.

" . . . I never knew you could drive," Ruby hummed as she found herself alone with her boyfriend; inert ghost-possessed appliance notwithstanding.

"I help with deliveries and catering sometimes," Arthur said as he worked the clutch, though for all intents and purposes, "Car" Rotom could've just as easily driven himself, and it was a tad unnerving for the Rabbit Faunus to have the pedals occasionally depress themselves before he could.

"I see…" Ruby hummed, unsure what to do with her hands other than holding Arthur's Scroll, which was now home to a slumbering "Rotom Prime". "I wonder what Jack and Weiss are up to," she said aloud as she looked at the appliances in the rear over her shoulder, contemplating whether or not she'd be able to tell the skeptical heiress about this.

As far as Jack was concerned, Ruby imagined he would be completely nonplussed about this, giving the Rotom a cursory glance before saying- "Neat." -and going back to whatever he would've been doing at the time without batting an eye at what most people would consider "ludicrous".

"Whatever they're up to, I'm sure they're having an easier time than us," Arthur hummed as they turned onto the main road.

*NEW WORLD*

Elsewhile, back in the Emerald Forest as Jack and Weiss entered into a clearing, Beacon Cliff visible in the distance…

"You see? I told you I hadn't jinxed us!"

"Day's still young, M'lady."

"You can call me 'Weiss', you know. I'd think we're good-enough friends for that."

"Maybe when I'm less cross at you for jinxing us."

"Oh for the love of…! Nothing, happened! Nothing is going, to happen! Nothing-"

*Rustle*Rustle*Rustle*

"You were saying?" Jack asked as the brush across from them rustled loudly, a tall shadow entering into the clearing.

The afternoon light settling upon them revealed the figure to be a man. A tall, broad-shouldered man whose attire looked positively medieval.

On his feet he wore copper-colored armor-reinforced knee-height boots, his diamond-shaped kneepads bearing crosses upon them. His breeches, tucked into the boots, were black, a brown mantle with white fur lining hanging from his waist with numerous scrolls and tool pouches over it. The belt he wore around his waist featured gold lining with spikes, an armored plate featuring a crucifix protecting his abdomen, a ragged strip of white cloth stopping at knee level. Upon his chest he wore a sleeveless white shirt with a black stripe down the center, tight-fitting, a belt with a silver buckle going across his chest and holding a copper-colored pauldron with similar crucifix markings to his left shoulder, a series of plates dangling from it reminiscent of oriental samurai armor. His right was bare, but a large gold-lined brooch of emerald held in place a white fur mantle. His biceps and forearms bore copper-colored guards with spikes, his leather gloves a dark gray with metal-reinforced knuckles, his exposed arms bearing numerous darkened scars of battles long past. His head was wrapped in a white shroud, and upon a face with a strong, squared jaw was a blood-colored mask with deep jowls and sunken eyes, a pair of short devil-like horns protruding from his forehead above each eye, a small crucifix engraved upon his forehead.

By the modern Huntsman benchmark, his attire was far from "exotic". More archaic than anything, functional over fashionable. His armaments also defied typical conventions; upon his back he bore a large shield of dark metal with gold trim whose face couldn't be seen, and upon his hip appeared to be some sort of blade-tipped hand-held weapon, the cross guard featuring spiked crucifixes, and ringed pommel colored the same dark copper as his armor, the handle wrapped in black leather.

"Hello, Jack. Have I come at a bad time?" the devil-masked figure questioned, his voice ancient, yet young, wise, yet arrogant, with just a hint of the rasp of a dagger being drawn. "I can always wait for you in the next clearing if it will help."

"Jack… Who is this?" Weiss asked, a cold shudder going up her spine as she appraised the archaically-dressed man before her.

"Alumon. An old friend from forever ago," Jack answered before turning his attention wholly to the man in question. "Alumon. Why are you here?" he asked as his eyes shifted from verdant green to golden amber.

"I felt… a disturbance," the man answered succinctly.

"And did you find anything?"

"At the moment, there is no need to concern yourself, though as always, I would urge you to remain vigilant."

"Preaching to the choir on that one."

"So…" the grim-faced man said as his eyes drifted to Weiss, the girl shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. "Might I inquire…"

"Weiss. Schnee. My teammate."

"Ah, Nicholas' granddaughter," Alumon said with a tone of familiarity, a smile gracing his lips as he stroked his chin.

"You know my grandfather…?" Weiss asked with widened eyes. "Personally?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes. He and I have been friends since he was a young man."

"But you don't look a day over thirty!" Weiss contested.

Sure, the mask covering the majority of his face made it difficult to ascertain age bracket, but still…!

"When one's Aura is strong, they can remain in the prime of their life for many decades. Centuries even. However, remaining physically and spiritually fit-enough to do so has become so labor-intensive in recent decades, that you almost never see 'immortals' anymore," Alumon returned making air quotes around the word "immortals".

"So then… How old are you…?"

"Old enough," the man answered cryptically.

"Well that isn't infuriatingly-cryptic at all," the heiress huffed.

"So… Seeing as how we're shooting the breeze like this, what do you want from me?" Jack asked.

The next moment and Alumon brought his arms to bear. His hand-held weapon revealed to be a retractable whip on a silver chain, upon the face of the massive shield on his left arm was the ghastly visage of a scowling lion hewn of dark metal, the mouth gaping open and seemingly spitting fire. That and the glow of its eyes lent the bulwark an ominous presence that caused a shudder to run up Weiss' spine.

"I wish to ascertain your current strength," Alumon said plainly, snapping the chain up and giving it a twirl, the links of the chain rattling ominously as it sliced through the air.

"And what if I say 'no'?" Jack inquired.

"Hmmm…" the man hummed as his eyes turned to Weiss, the heiress flinching back under his gaze. There was something… ancient behind those crimson-colored eyes. Something… unnerving. "Then perhaps you are not amply… motivated," he said cryptically, the corner of his lip quirking as he began to step forward, black smoke beginning to rise off of him.

"Alumon…!" Jack growled putting his best foot forward, his hairs standing on end. "Don't you DARE! You HEAR ME!? I'll kill you! I'LL KILL YOU!" he snarled as his lips drew away from lengthening canines, his once golden amber eyes replaced with orbs of baleful red, the air around him rippling from the heat as his claws extended.

"Jack…?" Weiss gasped, the blend of anger with fear in his voice worrying her.

"If you've truly grown since we've last met…" he said as the darkness around him continued to intensify with each step. "Then the wee lass won't have anything to worry about."

By this point Alumon was completely wreathed in darkness, an eerie howl like countless evils sounding on the fell wind as his eyes glowed like flame. In a dark alley he'd look no-different from a possession-type Grimm.

Letting out a blood-curdling- "GRRR!" -as the dark-clad man approached, before Jack could take a step forward, the man threw out his whip toward Jack. The Faunus caught it, but as though the chain had a mind of its own, Jack was soon bound shoulder to thigh in constricting chains that creaked but didn't give, even as Jack's Semblance flared to life and he pushed against them.

"Weiss, don't fight him, RUN!"

The next moment Jack was cast to the right at such speeds the sound barrier broke, followed by the trees that Jack plowed through, a cloud of dust kicked up in the distance where he'd come to a stop.

The man of darkness and flame towering over her, Weiss steeled herself and dashed forward with her rapier, thin blade biting through flesh and slipping between bone before coming out the other side.

Weiss retched at the resisting/not-resisting feel of the blow, but to her horror, the man showed no discomfort from what should've been a punctured lung.

The treeline off to the side exploding as Jack's Semblance poured off of him with greater intensity, erupting doubly-so as he blitzed toward them, before Weiss could fully retrieve her blade and leap back, a strong, cold blow struck her in the sternum, a feeling of wrongness coursing through her as Alumon's armored knuckles dug into her sternum.

Jack's claws finding only air as the man retreated in a puff of smoke, Jack dug his foot into the ground and lunged toward Weiss, cradling her before she could hit the ground.

"No! DAMMIT!" Jack swore as he held her, beholden to the rune etching itself into the heiress' chest, just below the collarbone.

The rune, colored like blood, consisted firstly of a crescent line that ran counterclockwise from 12 o'clock to 4. Slanting from top to bottom was another line thicker at the top, slashing across it from a little below 9 o'clock and slightly upward was another narrowing line, and at the lower-right was a short line cutting upward.

"Weiss! Weiss, speak to me!" Jack pleaded, recognition in his eyes.

"Ja… Jack…?" the heiress muttered, coughing into her fist. "I… I feel cold…" she whimpered as her hand reached out, the Faunus dwarfing it with his own as he brought it to his chest, her slender digits growing cold even now. "What's… Am I dying…?" she quavered.

"Alumon… That sick bastard, he cast Doom on you."

"D… Doom…?" the heiress muttered as the mark burned into her chest, eyes slowly drooping shut.

"Weiss, look at me! LOOK AT ME!" he ordered grabbing her shoulders, the heiress' drooping eyes snapping aware as he shook her. "Look me dead in the eye like your very life depends on it!"

"Wh… Wha…?" she muttered, eyelids fluttering as she hugged herself in chill.

"Through these portals I give of my life unto you, and in doing so stave off the icy fingers of death," he intoned, his absolute focus upon her with such intensity as the heiress had never seen.

The next moment he roughly crashed his lips upon hers, pulling her body against his own.

The heiress' eyes widened at the gesture, staying so as she beheld eyes of a baleful crimson burning with an internal flame as they bore into her. At that instant, the heiress felt an invisible link forming between the two, transcending the limits of their physical bodies.

Suddenly, a rush of power spilled through his gaze and into hers, a taste of heat and life ghosting across her tongue as he pressed his every thought and intention into her, a warmth filling her chest and dispelling the cold as he poured every drop of strength he could into her, her manicured nails clawing at his chest. The rune upon her chest flickering as the Faunus' Aura flared and enveloped her in heat, though her mouth was covered, she felt breath anew filling her, the exhaustion of the day and Alumon's killing stroke dissipating like morning mist.

"And thus I return to you the life you've given me…" Jack finished his evocation as his lips parted from hers, the heiress' body throbbing with joy, sadness, want, and countless other emotions as the Faunus laid her back to a nearby tree, before turning his back on her.

"Jack…" Weiss whimpered as her eyes darted to the side. "…wait…!"

"Weiss. I will save you," the Faunus said with surety as he continued onward. "That's a promise. A Jack Braxton Guarantee."

'Jack… He's defenseless because of me…!' Weiss thought bitterly to herself as she beheld the Scroll that'd fallen from her pocket, hers and Jack's Aura levels on display.

"Weiss' life is on the line. I can't afford to hold back here," Jack muttered to himself as he strode forward, Alumon making no move to retreat nor advance as his dark cloak dissipated.

Snapping his neck from side to side and rolling his shoulders, images of the Senjutsu scroll he'd been given flashed before his mind's eye, and in this moment most dire, everything came into focus.

"You want my full power, Alumon? My undivided attention? Well guess what. YOU'VE GOT IT!" Jack roared as he clapped his hands together powerfully. "SEIMEI KIKAN! KAIJO!" he intoned loudly, the rust flaking away and his heart pounded in his chest. His frame quivering in fear, rage, and anticipation, the psychosomatic trigger of the Senjutsu technique caused his body to flood his system with endorphins to prepare him for the immense amount of physical pain he was about to experience.

Cue Nanatsu no Taizai OST - Sunshine

The hem of his pants rising up his calves as the sound of creaking bones filled the clearing, Jack's muscles began to fill out with the sound of straining cable, great horizontal tears sprouting across the back of the Faunus' hoodie as his chest swelled and his clothes tore. Muscles bulging, arms and fingers lengthening as the Faunus' body changed from that of a bodybuilder to a power lifter, Jack put on inches, then a whole foot and beyond as his body grew, and grew, shoulders broadening as muscles ripped and regenerated over and over, bone breaking and lengthening and mending forcefully.

The Faunus' transformation complete after several pain-filled seconds, pants stressed to their breaking point around his muscular butt and legs, with a single flex, the scraps of cloth desperately clinging to his upper body took flight, the heiress' eyes going wide as she beheld the canvass of scars stretched across his frame, their cause unmistakable.

"Ah, your raw power is as impressive as it ever was," Alumon said as he watched the heat roll off Jack's body like a haze, muscles shifting like tectonic plates. "Though… was it truly so wise to sacrifice so much speed?" he wondered aloud with a knowing tone. "And what of your Aura? Was it smart to give it all away?" the man asked, Weiss' eyes going to the rune on her chest, which had shifted from a part-circle into a coiling spiral, the end slowly vanishing like a fuse, but with so much more to give than before.

"My flesh, and my blood, will be more than enough," Jack said cracking his knuckles; a sound akin to boulders grinding together in an avalanche.

A moment later and the ground exploded at the Faunus' feet. Though his speed was far from its peak, a runaway freight train was still a runaway freight train if it hit you.

Alumon to his credit didn't panic, sidestepping the initial tackle. Despite the man's efforts however, Jack's now-boulder-sized shoulder managed to clip him, bone crunching as the man was sent pirouetting through the air from the force of the impact, the deafening *CRUNCH!* like a man hit by a speeding truck.

"Nngh… Guess I can't think of you as that scrawny teenager anymore," Alumon said as he rolled his creaking shoulder, bone jangling within his flesh like a bag of spare parts before his body knit itself back in place.

"Release her from your curse, and maybe you still can!" Jack offered, if only half-heartedly.

"I think not," Alumon returned, upturning his palm as trickles of blood rose and churned like a lava lamp. "Have at thee," he said clenching his fists around the power before drawing his arm back and punching the ground, wisps of bloody smoke circling him like snakes as a bloody rune like an old-style 4 with tiny slashing accents on the upper right and lower left corners shone above his head. "Blood Frenzy," he intoned, his muscles swelling, but far from matching Jack's own.

Cue Battle Chasers: Nightwar OST – Hearts Beating Like Drums

"HAVE IT YOUR WAY!" Jack roared as he exploded toward Alumon once again. Right fist drawn back and brimming with power, the Faunus brought it forward, his knuckles casting shockwaves in their wake before Alumon raised up his lion-faced shield, a loud *BOOM!* like thunder resounding through the clearing as the unstoppable force met the immovable object, the ground beneath them exploding as the two refused to yield.

Alumon suddenly allowing himself to be pushed back, the aged Devil Hunter sent his whip in an arc through the air, the Faunus raising his beefy arm to block his temple, a spurt of blood flying through the air off his wounded arm. The Devil Hunter's feet meeting the ground, drawing his shield away from his front, with immaculate grace and poise he spun and twirled like a dancer, his bladed whip moving through the air like a gymnast's ribbon. Moving like a thing alive, the bladed whip met Jack's arms and legs as he hunched up to protect his vital areas. The muscle-bound Faunus forcing his way forward even as the grass was stained red, placing his left hand upon his wounded shoulder before whipping it back, the crimson stain marring his hand briefly glowed before he swung out with a cry of- "Blades of Blood!"

A horizontal deluge of crimson blades screaming through the air like sparrows, as Alumon raised his shield in front of himself to weather the storm, the crescents of red breaking harmlessly against it, Jack let his right arm hang, blood running down his arm in rivulets and pooling into his palm before it pulsed. An ominous glow radiating from within, the life-giving fluid whirled into the shape of a sphere bound with fibrous webbing before he let it fly in a curveball, the tendrils in its wake harkening to the image of a jellyfish.

The bubble of blood gurgling as it listed around Alumon's guard, light pulsing, with a shout of- "Owl's Eye!" -the sphere of blood popped and detonated, the aged Devil Hunter moving his shield to intercept, but was half-caught in the ensuing explosion that sent him flying.

Countless decades if not centuries of combat training let Alumon swing his feet underneath him before he hit the ground, bringing up his snarling lion-faced shield. And it was a good thing he did, because as soon as he came to a stop Jack was upon him again in another explosive burst of movement, his fists raining blows upon the bulwark, the sound of cannon fire resounding through the clearing.

It was as Jack was laying down a meteoric barrage of blows that could level a small building, that an old saying Weiss had heard from Sebastian came to mind.

"Beware the fury of a patient man."

Jack had never shied away from being vocal about his loathing toward racists, and most Humans in general; she herself had been on the receiving end of such barbed words. And in retrospect, though he easily matched if not exceeded the vitriol she'd sent his way, only now did she realize how indelibly patient he'd been with her, if this is what it looked like when he truly came to blows. This Alumon fellow, who supposedly knew her grandfather, by placing her life in jeopardy had utterly exhausted Jack's allotted reservoir of patience.

She did not envy the man's position.

Then again, neither did she Jack's. Though his bones didn't break as he attacked the bulwark, Alumon's shield was running red with Faunus blood as skin split and tore. Weiss felt a cold shiver run down her spine as she beheld rivulets of blood trickling around the intricate embossment, granting outlines to the dark metal that glistened ominously.

Thusly, like the real thing, Jack's meteoric barrage couldn't continue forever. After what felt like an eternity Jack fell to his knees gulping air, his hands a mangled mess of ruined skin and twitching fingers.

"What's the matter, Jack?" Alumon questioned as the Faunus filled his lung. "Have you run out of steam-"

Before the taunt could be finished, Jack suddenly lunged low through the empty space between them, his now-massive hand clamping down on his leg like a steel trap. One leg coming forward and raising himself up, Alumon came along for the ride.

Of course, the Devil Hunter wasn't left hanging for long; before the man could wriggle his way free, he was bodily slammed into the ground face-first like a ragdoll in the hands of a flailing child. Blood spurting everywhere as Alumon's body caught rock and tree root, Weiss blinked her eyes only to realize the droplets of blood leaving the man's body were in fact remaining stationary in mid-air, her teammate oblivious to their caging presence.

It was when Jack was about to execute his fifth hulk-sized throwdown that the droplets of blood in the air around him came alive, transforming into needles and assaulting Jack's exposed body from every conceivable angle with an utterance of- "Black Rain!" -from the Devil Hunter's lips, the man combat rolling out of the way as he fell from Jack's slackened grip. Tracing another arcane sigil in the air before him, with an invocation of- "Black Blight!" -, a sudden affliction caused Jack's face to horribly discolor, veins stained black throbbing angrily beneath his skin. The Faunus falling to his hands and knees as the foreign blood took its toll, blood trickling down his cheeks as vessels burst in his eyes. As Alumon looked down on him with a shake of his head, the Faunus' own smoldered dangerously before he extended his claws and raked bloody gashes across his chest with both hands to Alumon and Weiss' shock.

Blood both his own and foreign spilling out from the fresh wounds and onto the ground at an unnatural pace, with a sweep of his hand and a cry of- "Peacock Peak!" -the black-addled crimson shot across the ground like quicksilver before suddenly leaping up at Alumon's feet, changing from liquid to crystalline spines with barbs that perforated his body like a stuck pig, actually lifting the Devil Hunter off his feet as bone and entrails were caught.

Gritting his teeth, Alumon wrapped the end of his whip around a tree branch before wrenching himself free, the spikes that came away with him liquefying, fresh blood of his own spilling from the wounds. The two rising to their feet as they regained themselves, a power that wasn't Aura causing their flesh to knit itself back together, eyes of crimson, one set baleful, one set cold, locked onto one another probing for weakness.

A moment later they charged once more.

As Jack and Alumon continued their deadly dance, claw, fist, and even fang clashing against whip and bulwark, Weiss looked down to the rune placed upon her sternum, a fair portion of the now-spiral mark having disappeared through the course of the battle.

It swiftly occurred to her that if Jack hadn't given her his Aura, the Doom that Alumon had cast on her would've burned though what little had been left.

And she knew for certain that Jack had given her his Aura because there was nothing stopping Alumon's bladed whip from drawing blood. It sickened her, having to be the damsel in distress, but every time she tried to rise to her feet, or lift her weapon to lend aid, her strength would swiftly evaporate, and her time would shorten.

Whatever Alumon had done to her was beyond her comprehension. Clearly an Arcane Arte, which she had no defense against, but Jack was familiar-enough with if he could call it out by name. And watching them use their blood as a medium… It confused her because apart from Alumon, Jack shouldn't have had anything left in the tank.

Another chill throb spreading from her chest, Weiss let out a pained gasp she couldn't hold in.

That gasp in turn carried across the chaotic battlefield and reached Jack's ears, the ache and chill of his own body momentarily leaving him.

'I have to finish this…' Jack thought, blinking the blackness away from his vision. 'IT'S ALL OR NOTHING!'

Cue One Piece OST – I Will Beat You

Leaping away, Jack drew back his arm before unleashing a powerful blow into the earth at his feet, a plume of dirt, grass, and rocks kicked up at Alumon, forcing him to close his eyes.

Opening them once the last of the dirt and rocks pinged off his mask, he saw that Jack was now standing before him with both fists extended, one above the other with fingers facing inward. Alumon recognized the Six Styles technique and made to dodge sideways, but mid-leap Jack swung his head around and called out- "Wing Whip!" -, blood coiling up his body and around his mane of hair before it whipped out like a tail, snaking around Alumon's waist and holding him in place, the Faunus turning at the waist and bringing his arms back to target.

"Grim Covenant! Shadow Wall!" Alumon intoned in two parts as he brought his shield to bear. Blood evaporating from his wounds and transforming life into power, that power in turn was channeled into a horned wall of purple runic markings before his shield, an all-seeing eye at its center.

"Sai Dai Rin: Rokuogan!" Jack roared delivering a devastating two-handed One Inch Punch, the backlash of the Rokushiki's ultimate technique vastly mitigated by his unsealed muscles, but not entirely, blood spurting up from behind Jack's clenched teeth and all his wounds as Alumon's Shadow Wall held. "Rokuogan! Rokuogan! ROKUOGAN!" Jack roared in sequence delivering three more devastating attacks, fresh blood spurting from his mouth and wounds each time.

The first caused Shadow Wall to crack, the second shattering it altogether, and the third snapping Alumon's arm like a dry twig as his shield took the blow full-force. The man's bulwark striking him bodily in the chest with the force of a runaway train without a supporting arm behind it, a deafening *CRACK!* sounded through the air as Alumon was violently thrown backwards, his shield rebounding bodily off his chest and flying off into the distance, a caved-in ribcage and a cracked devil mask left in its wake.

Jack staggering a step back and blacking out, through sheer force of will the Faunus forced that foot back forward before he lunged at the downed Alumon. The first and last thing Alumon saw after pulling away from his own blackout was a bloodied fist punching through his caved-in ribcage, the Faunus standing over him proceeding to wrench out his beating heart.

"Game over."

A sickening *SQUELCH* filling the air as the Faunus crushed the life-giving organ in his grip like rotten fruit, Alumon let out a pained gasp before his body went limp.

END OST

In that same moment, the runic glyph on Weiss' chest evaporated from her skin, warmth flooding her body as life returned to her.

However, that elation would be short-lived as Jack staggered away from his foe before landing heavily on his back. Weiss' eyes going wide, she frantically scampered over to him, uncaring of how undignified the action made her look as she went over to him. Heedless of the blood that now flowed freely, as though before Jack had been holding it in through sheer force of will, the heiress lifted his head up into her lap, looking down at him with quavering eyes.

"Jack? Jack, speak to me!"

"Wei… Weiss…?" Jack wheezed as he stained the heiress' clothes red. "Are you… okay…?" he asked weakly, the color drained from his face.

"You dope! Of course I'm fine!" the heiress snapped, ice blue eyes now shimmering with tears. "You did it! You saved me!"

"Good… That's… good…" he said giving her a weak smile.

*Rustle*Rustle*Rustle*

"I… am really starting to hate that sound," Weiss shuddered as dark forms came into the clearing around them. Instead of more devil-masked Hunters however, they were- "Grimm," Weiss gasped, terrified at the tightening circle of dark creatures surrounding them, drawn by the bloodshed and ill emotion. Beowolves bayed, Ursa huffed, Boarbatusk snorted. Were she at full tank this wouldn't be a problem; but not only was she operating on fumes, Jack had nothing in the tank at all. Oh, and to make matters worse, Jack was in the process of bleeding to death!

"Weiss… Run…"

"No! I won't leave you!" she cried wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Weiss… It's okay… This might be the blood loss talking… but I've led a good life," she said as his eyelids began to droop. "It sucks… but I know Blake will look after Jill for me."

"One; I don't know who that is. Two; look after her yourself!" Weiss hissed as she grabbed her Myrtenaster, chamber ratchetting to red. "Back! HA! Back I say!" she shouted as she sent a wave of fire out in all directions with a twirl of her wrist, the Grimm momentarily bayed.

"Weiss… you can't… fight them all…" Jack said as the Grimm continued to congregate towards them, the shadows of the surrounding forest filling with fire-like eyes.

"I can… and I will!" Weiss argued, Myrtenaster ratchetting to light blue before she stabbed the tip of her blade into the ground, a ring of ice spikes surrounding her like a fence. "Jack, you saved my life, so now…" she said scrunching her brows in concentration, a powerful-looking Glyph manifesting beneath them. "I'll take what you've given me… AND RETURN IT TWICE OVER!"