A/N: Bet you didn't expect to see another chapter of this so soon, huh? I hope you like it. Next chapter will be out on the first week of April.
The next chapter is already up. Want to see it early? Please consider supporting me in my P a tr eon or subscribing to a tier in ko - fi.
pa tr eon.c o m (slash) MrLightbringer0
He was really liking the extra oomph that he got after travelling back to the past.
Because there was no other reason for him to be able to take on full hunter teams so easily.
Granted, they were first year hunters-in-training but Jaune Arc still should not be able to take on Team RWBY so one-sidedly.
Enchanced strength paired with increased agility while being utilized by improved reflexes was a monster of a combination that allowed him to dodge, weave, and defend against Ruby and Yang's flurry of attacks.
His sensitivity to magic then gave him a surprise discovery.
Weiss' Semblance, Glyphs, had a tinge of magic to them. It might not have been big in the grand scheme of things but it could have helped in making their family Semblance hereditary.
He took full advantage of that sensitivity. Manuevering the whole fight to make it as hard for her to use them without hampering her own teammates.
Eventually, her impatience cost them the match. Her hitting Ruby made it easy for him to throw the younger girl out of the ring. Which in turn made it easier for him to throw Yang out as well.
Weiss made a valiant efoort but if Ruby and Yang couldn't break through his defenses together then she had no chance. By then, it was only Blake remaining whom he only needed to bait by feigning fatigue. And just like that, the spar was over.
He didn't even take into account his overall better Aura in that match. Thicker, bigger, and stronger that it's frankly terrifying how invincible he is becoming. Couple it with his Semblance? Then yeah, that was just going to be plain bullying at that point.
Still, he did put the condition that he would not use his Semblance for this lesson and if he does then he loses.
So that's how he fought Team RWBY. By thinking of it as a lesson and not a real fight. No immediate stakes of life or death or the end of the world. Just a friendly spar to learn something.
Which is how he is also fighting his old team right now. For one single moment when Pyrrha charged, Jaune was worried.
He couldn't deny he froze up when he saw her green eyes charging at him but he shouldn't have been worried. His body moved on its own.
Now this brings back some memories. He thinks to himself.
Jaune Arc has not crossed swords with Pyrrha Nikos in actuality for years.
And yet, to him it only felt like yesterday. He couldn't shake away the feeling even if he wanted to.
Every single day he spent after her death, Jaune clung to training with her in mind. Spending countless hours listening to her voice teach him up until he lost his scroll in the chaos of everything that happened.
By then, he had already memorized her words as he continued to train every single day even in the Ever After.
Slash. Parry. Duck. Bash. Kick.
It felt like clockwork to him which must have really confused Pyrrha. To her, it must have felt like he was reading all of her moves and reacting accordingly.
Yet he needs to remember that he isn't just fighting Pyrrha.
"Here's Nora!"
He might be able to predict Pyrrha's moves, but no one could ever claim to be able to predict Nora except for Ren.
Jaune disengages from Pyrrha just in time to avoid Nora's downward strike from above. He was just about to berate her for making the same mistake as Cardin in announcing her presence when Ren peppers him with bullets from behind.
His Aura flashes for a bit from taking the hits before he manages to move his shield up to block them. This in turn, opens him up to attacks.
Pyrrha, ever the consumnate warrior, does not miss this chance. She charges at him from the other side with her sword to take advantage of the opportunity.
Experience lets him move in position on time to deflect her strikes with his sword. Instinct then tells him something is wrong. He realizes what it is when his sword strays from its intended path.
Only his increased speed allows him to avoid taking the first strike head on. His Aura flashes as Miló grazes the space above his breastplate.
The follow-up attack, he is less able to avoid. She bashes him with her shield, opening his defense up even more. The next few moments are a scramble of Jaune manuevering to put her in Ren's line of fire while doing his best to defend as Pyrrha finishes the combo off with a kick to his chest.
Already unbalanced by her shield bash and the use of her Semblance, Pyrrha's kick sends him stumbling backwards. Only his improved strength keeps him standing up and ready to react.
Planting his feet properly, he braces himself to take anymore attacks she throws his way only to be surprised by her leaping away from him.
He realizes why when he finds himself surrounded and smack dab in the middle of Ren to his left, Pyrrha to his front, and Nora to his right all suddenly aiming guns at him while behind him is the edge of the arena.
Jaune knows who to thank for this predicament. Standing there behind Pyrrha is his younger self smiling nervously. Talk about being your own worst enemy. He couldn't stop the smile from appearing on his face.
Raising his shield to prepare himself for the coming onslaught, Jaune has one last thought before Nora cackles as she starts the carnage with a grenade from Magnhild.
Alright, no more mister nice guy.
He tenses his Aura and pulls everything he has without activating his Semblance. The world slows down and then...he moves.
He does not notice his eyes glow with a silvery blue light underneath his helmet.
Ruby Rose was in awe.
Unlike her own team, Team JNPR moved much more smoothly together against the Rusted Knight. And it was all thanks to her fellow team leader, Jaune Arc.
Unlike her who was perfectly happy to follow Yang's lead earlier without a plan, Ruby watched Jaune direct his teammates.
First came Pyrrha who took the fight to the Rusted Knight masterfully.
They clashed in a storm of steel as Pyrrha gracefully shifts her weapon between sword and spear in a flurry of attacks. The Rusted Knight however almost made it look easy on how he managed to weather Pyrrha's attacks.
Still, Pyrrha succesfully took his attention away from the others and Ruby could already see Ren start to flank him by running to one side of the arena.
Then came Nora who pushed him away from Pyrrha, which in turn opened him up from taking potshots from Ren.
It didn't end there however.
To stop him from singling Ren out however, Pyrrha had to engage the Rusted Knight. And boy was Pyrrha amazing.
Granted, the Rusted Knight wasn't using his busted Semblance and he busy defending himself from Ren but being able to push him back is an accomplishment in itself.
But Pyrrha didn't just push him back. She manuevered him into a specific position.
It took Ruby a moment after Pyrrha backed away to realize what they were doing.
They were herding him and are now about to exploit the Rusted Knight's one obvious weakness. The lack of a ranged weapon.
And she isn't the only one to notice.
Mutters rise out of their whole classroom as everyone starts figuring out Team JNPR's achievement.
"They have him. Holy shit they have him." Yang says in surprise as she looks at the Rusted Knight's position.
Ruby winces at the curse word but she lets her sister have it.
Ever since the Rusted Knight pointed out her impulsiveness and its possible consequence, Yang has been gloomy and a bit too serious for Ruby's taste.
Her sister wasn't the only one with same reaction in her team, albeit towards a different figure, however.
"The dolt actually did it." Weiss looks in shock towards Team JNPR's leader as the chaos begins with gunshots, explosions, and Nora's mad laughter.
And to think this all happened because of Jaune. Not just the current situation but also because of yesterday. No one there would ever forget that the Rusted Knight came out of a tear in reality after Jaune glowed like the sun and shook the world.
Now everyone could see him give out a small but nervous smile towards the Rusted Knight now being hidden in smoke and dust of his own making.
Granted, Jaune hasn't actually fought the Rusted Knight yet, it was still his plan that managed to bring about this situation.
Even the Rusted Knight shouldn't come out of that unscathed.
Ruby winces as she sees Weiss give her a look after that. As if saying why couldn't Ruby be like that. That was perhaps the nicest compliment Weiss has ever given towards Jaune but not even she could deny his results.
Ruby knew the other girl was just being prickly for not being chosen as their leader but that still doesn't mean she should be so hard on her. At least Ruby didn't hit their own teammate. So she settles for pointing her tongue at her.
She sees Weiss bristle but before they could escalate things, Blake snaps them out of it.
"It isn't over yet." She states gravely.
Gasps ring out as everyone sees what happens next.
First there were explosions and gunfire from Team JNPR.
Then a large bright horizontal arc launches out from the smoke with a roar. Aura it was pure Aura blowing straight towards Team JNPR.
It happened so fast that it left not time for any of them to react.
Nora and Ren took it head on and were both blown out of the arena. The only thing that saved Pyrrha from being out of the fight was Jaune leaping out in front of her with his shield up.
As it is, the force of the blow still pushes him backwards straight into Pyrrha, causing the both of them to tumble down.
Ruby gapes at the scene because standing there upright in the middle of the dispersing smoke while looking down at his downed opponents is the Rusted Knight.
His eyes glow a blue color under his helmet as he holds his armaments in its greatsword mode.
She has never seen anything cooler.
He has never seen anything cooler.
Seeing that solid arc of light heading for his partner, Jaune's body moved on its own. He did not stand a chance. He kept his shield up to take the blow but the force still pushed him back into Pyrrha and tumbled them down.
It felt like being hit by a truck not that he has been hit one but he imagines the feeling isn't really that far off.
He looks up just in time to see the Rusted Knight emerge from the smoke looking like a victorious warrior standing over his defeated foes.
Jaune could admit to himself that it looked pretty cool and the image wasn't really that far off from reality. He certainly felt defeated with how hard it feels to breathe right now but there's one important thing he is clutching on to.
"Semblance. You used your Semblance." Jaune calls out breathlessly, getting the Rusted Knight's attention.
Victorious smile adorning his face because even if he's the one struggling to stand with his hands on his knees, they won.
"Semblance? That wasn't my Semblance."
And just like that, victory turns into defeat. It was...
"Bullshit."
The word leaves his mouth and Jaune blushes as even beneath the Rusted Knight's helmet, Jaune could feel his judging stare through his glowing blue eyes.
"I assure you, I did not use my Semblance." The Rusted Knight replies as his greatsword hisses and shifts back into sword and sheathe.
"Then what was that?" Jaune asks back with an uncharacteristically defiant tone, finding the strength to stand up at the injustice. All that effort for nothing.
"That, was an Aura Slash. An advanced application of Aura. You can use it to cut or slam ingo things but it requires that you have a large amount in the first place and fine control over it." The Rusted Knight answers calmly, showcasing the skill by sending out small arcs of Aura that either cuts through or slams down the floor of the arena.
"Ahem!"
The sound cuts through the tension between them and both Jaune and the Rusted Knight turn in surprise to Glynda Goodwitch.
"Mr. Arc! I would appreciate it if you leave my arena intact."
For a moment, Jaune stands frozen in fear before another sound snaps him out of it.
"Sorry, Ms. Goodwitch. I'll be more careful." The Rusted Knight replies, dare he say it, embarrassedly.
Jaune's eyes bulge in surprise at the scene of the Rusted Knight almost nervously rubbing the back of his helmet.
The familiar habit throws him for a loop before he circles back to something important. He can freak out later about the Rusted Knight being an Arc.
"B-but what about your eyes?! They're glowing!" Jaune shouts desperately causing the knight to freeze for a moment before turning towards him again.
"Trust me, this is not my Semblance." The Rusted Knight almost raises his hand to his head before pausing and focusing on Jaune again. "If you are who I think you are, then you should know."
Jaune's face crumples into a complicated expression at that.
Is he implying that as an Arc, Jaune should know his Semblance? Is it hereditary like Weiss'?
Pyrrha has only started on tutoring him about Semblances last night.
At first, it was because they all thought his Semblance brought the Rusted Knight into reality but that doesn't seem to be the case.
When asked how it felt when a tear in reality opened in front of him, Jaune will always the same way.
It felt like his whole body inside and out were being shaken, squeezed, and expanded at the very same time. The closest thing he could describe it to is like he was on a bullhead flying through the sky while being shaken by a giant. It left him weak, confused, and breathless.
Regardless, whether they have the same Semblance or not. Whether its opening tears in reality or not. Jaune does not know the answer.
The Rusted Knight takes Jaune's silence as a response in itself.
"I see you haven't unlocked yours yet." The Rusted Knight sighs disappointedly as if in realization of Jaune's lacking capabilities.
Jaune bristles at that. It felt too much like his father being disappointed in him.
Give him some credit, he only unlocked his Aura yesterday, okay?! Not that he could say that out loud, so Jaune settles for gritting his teeth in frustration as his mind races for any type of reply.
He thinks back to how the Rusted Knight fought yesterday and how he fought today. He notices one thing immediately.
The Rusted Knight took on more hits yesterday no problem unlike today where he had to guard more attacks.
"Durability. Your Semblance makes you more durable." He pipes up gravely.
Knowing the Rusted Knight could be even more durable, Jaune wouldn't want to meet the guy in a dark alley at night. Just the thought of it almost sends shivers down his spine.
The Rusted Knight's chuckles after that really did make him shiver and more.
"Close, but not quite. My Semblance..." and at this moment, Jaune notices everyone leaning closer from the stands to listen intently as the Rusted Knight continues after an amused pause. "...is Aura Amplification. It allows me to amplify any effect Aura has while regenerating it. Speed, strength, durability, you name it."
Everyone's eyes widen at the implication of those words.
"That's..." Jaune starts but pauses as his mind races. From all his words earlier, does that mean the Rusted Knight believes Jaune could have the same Semblance? A Semblance so unf-.
"That's unfair! How could you expect any of us to win?!"
Jaune rears back in his surprise as his partner bursts out from beside him.
The Rusted Knight seems just as surprised as him but perhaps they shouldn't have been.
Jaune might have only met Pyrrha yesterday but he already knows she's kind, helpful, caring, friendly, and many many more.
They shouldn't have forgotten she's also a Four-time Regional Champion as Weiss loves to remind them. The point is that you don't become a badass like her if you aren't competitive. It must have been grating for her to be led on that they could win when they actually couldn't.
Pyrrha must have then realized what she just did as her face takes on an expression of mortification.
"I-I'm sorry!" She squeaks out before covering her mouth with both hands.
Now there's the Pyrrha they all know and love. Jaune would have said its alright if it weren't for the Rusted Knight clearing his throat.
"You're right. It might have been unfair to expect that you could beat me as you are but would you let that stop you from trying?"
The question was asked as if it was a matter of life and death. It certainly felt like it when the Rusted Knight focused his gaze onto Pyrrha.
Not willing to let his partner face this alone, Jaune steps forward and brandishes Crocea Mors once more.
"I-we wont let that stop us." He gulps, staring right back at the Rusted Knight.
"What if it meant your death?"
He falters. Jaune's hands shake as he turns to look at Pyrrha in confusion. Jaune sees her brows furrow in confusion as well but before they could speak, the Rusted Knight continues.
"What if the only thing standing between an innocent little girl and certain death is you? Would you let the knowledge that you would die if you try stop you from saving her?"
Jaune would have loved to say that he answered without hesitation. The truth is he froze. The truth is his heart got stuck in his throat as his vision narrows towards the Rusted Knight. The truth is it was Pyrrha who answered.
"We won't." She answers with no hesitation in her voice.
"Even knowing you would die?"
"I won't die." She forces through, unwavering in her belief.
"What if you do? What if you did? Would you still have went and tried?"
Pyrrha is silent for a moment before she takes a deep breath and lets it all out slowly.
"Even if I do die, I would have died saving someone. I will go." She says slowly, steel ringing in her voice.
Everything goes silent for a moment at the morbid conversation before finally Jaune hears a mutter. It was too quiet to hear but he's sure it came from the Rusted Knight before his glowing eyes found him again.
"What about you?"
"I..." He starts to answer but hesitates. It would be so easy to say that he would do the same but be knew it wouldn't be real.
He originally came to Beacon to prove himself to his parents, to prove himself worthy of his family's legacy but this conversation...It felt wrong to sully this with half-assed words.
Before he could think deeper or say anything about it however, the Rusted Knight continues his line of questioning.
"Would you leave her to face it alone?"
"Of course not!"
The words are ripped right out of his mouth before he could even think about them and Jaune realizes his answer.
He could never leave Pyrrha to suffer such a fate alone. He turns to her just to say it to her face and he...blushes when he sees her approving smile.
Warmth rushes to his face as he tries to say something, anything that could let her know he would never leave her.
"I don't believe you."
And just like that, the Rusted Knight's words cut through them before Jaune could even say anything. It felt like a bucket of cold water was just poured on his head.
Instead of fear however, cold fury born of defiance replaces the warm embarrassment he was just feeling.
"What?" He asks cooly as he meets the Rusted Knight's gaze, this time without any shaking or nervousness on his part.
"You look like the type to be left behind. The type to leave her alone when it matters."
"I'm not!"
"Really? You look weak enough to be a liability."
"You're wrong!"
"Pyrrha would be better off without you."
Just like that, Jaune's self-control snaps. He leaps forward shield first, not hearing Pyrrha crying out for him.
Twin arcs clash against each other as the Rusted Knight meets him with his own shield. Blue eyes bore into glowing blue eyes as Jaune meets his foe's gaze above their shields.
He blinks and the next thing he sees are teary green eyes. Green eyes framed by red hair behind metal bars.
"I'm sorry."
Words whispered by the wind blow past him as suddenly Jaune's vision blurs and the next thing he knows he is staring up at a ceiling.
"Interesting."
The voice snaps him out of it as he sees the Rusted Knight standing a short distance away from him and behind him is Pyrrha. He doesn't know what just happened but what he knows is this ass just put him on his back.
He rushes to stand and he doesn't really know what prompted him to do it but he shouts.
"Pyrrha, stop!"
His partner freezes just midrush and looks at him in confusion.
"Don't interfere!" He adds as he grips his sword and shield tight.
Call it bravado, machismo, or any other word you like but Jaune just wants one thing.
"Take it back." He glares at the Rusted Knight with gritted teeth.
It doesn't need to be said. Jaune refuses to be called a liability to Pyrrha. Sure, it might have started that way but right here, right now, he refuses to be a liability any longer.
The Rusted Knight stares for him for a moment before saying two words that makes Jaune's blood boil as he leaps forward into action again.
"Make me."
A/N: A bit shorter than usual but the next one is pretty long.
The next chapter is already up. Want to see it early? Please consider supporting me in my P a tr eon or subscribing to a tier in ko - fi.
pa tr eon.c o m (slash) MrLightbringer0