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Thy Rusted Knight will be ramping up soon!
Jaune's blood pounded through his ears as he watched his older self and Professor Goodwitch leave them in the cafeteria.
"What just happened?" He heard Pyrrha whisper incredulously beside him.
"I...uhhh...think we have to fight him now?" Jaune answered unsurely beside her.
"No offense, VB, but we all know that. What we want to know is why!" Yang scoffed and Jaune flinched at the heat in her voice.
He knew the answer and he is sure they already had an idea but he didn't think his older self would react like this.
Sure, Jaune knew he would be mad but he didn't think his older self would react so violently as to want to beat them up.
The answer comes from Pyrrha however when she verbalizes what they were all probably thinking.
"I think we all know why. Jaune is the Rusted Knight." She says resolutely while nodding supportively at him.
Warmth and gratitude fills him as he sees her faith in him. He mouths her a quiet thank you with a smile on his face for her support before looking at their friends.
Silence overtakes them for a moment as everyone does their best to process the words their own way.
"Wow, Pyr. You really believe it, huh? You really think Jaune is the Rusted Knight." Yang whistles as she looked at Pyrrha and Jaune who only nods back.
Weiss however shook her head repeatedly in denial.
"No, no, no, no. He's just mad because you kept pushing it. That must be it. Yes, that is surely the reason why and this is just punishment for starting a fight in the cafeteria." Weiss denied frantically as she aimed a glare at him.
Before Jaune could defend himself however, Blake rounded on her teammate with a glare.
"Are you saying we never should have stopped Cardin from bullying a Faunus?" Blake asked heatedly as Weiss reeled back from her.
"No! What I'm saying is that thinking the Rusted Knight, an inspiration to many heroes, is Jaune Arc's future self is idiotic and pursuing that line of thought is detrimental to us!" Weiss snapped but before their argument could escalate, Ruby piped in between them.
"Uhmm, guys? Don't you think it's weird that he only wanted us to fight him after Jaune-" Ruby begins, earning Weiss' ire who cuts her off.
"I don't wanna hear it, Ruby!"
"Hey! No need to be mean to my sister!" Yang instantly stood between them and that's when Jaune decided to intervene.
CLAP!
"Alright you two, regardless of the reason, we now have to face him in combat. Again." He said gravely after clapping to get their attention.
He knew that would get their attention because all of them flinched at that. They could still remember the Rusted Knight beating them all down yesterday.
Yet something was different from yesterday.
"It might be hard and it might be scary but don't worry. There's eight of us now." He said, nodding to his own team and Team RWBY as his smile hid the worry in his heart.
"Y-Yeah! That's right. There's more of us now!" Ruby cheered from across him as she pumps her arm to hype her team up.
"Alright! I'm liking the spirit guys! Let's break his legs!" Nora yelled enthusiastically causing smiles to appear from the rest of the group even as Ren sighed beside her.
"Nora, I don't think breaking his legs are appropriate. Besides, we could still lose despite our numbers."
"Pshaw, that's defeatist talk, Ren! What's the worst that could happen?"
Jaune laughed nervously at that even as Yang and Ruby cheered beside each other, as Ren sighed resignedly beside Nora, as Blake and Weiss nodded in acceptance while glaring at each other.
Only Pyrrha noticed his nervousness as her hand snuck in to grab his. He should have been embarrassed but the squeeze she gives him was a source of comfort.
They need to remember that this was the guy that took on Headmaster Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch, and the Curious Cat at the same time and won.
More than that however, if Pyrrha believed him, and judging how she supported him earlier, she did, then that means she also believes she was going to die soon if nothing changed.
Yet something did change. His future self was here and they knew something bad was coming. Still, it must have been a distressing notion to think about so Jaune gives her hand a squeeze of his own.
He just hopes his future self was a lot more cooperative than what he was currently being. After all, if it was him, Jaune couldn't think of anything that would want him to not warn his friends of any incoming danger.
He stood still on one side of the arena, clad in full armor with Crocea Mors in greatsword form held downwards in front of him as thoughts run through his mind.
Pyrrha, dead, with only her armor remaining for remembrance.
Yang, missing an arm and almost dying.
Weiss, stabbed through the gut also almost dying.
Those were only some of the scenes running through his mind but it had one commonality with the rest of his thoughts as he waited for the younger versions of him and his friends.
Suffering. So much suffering.
And his younger self wanted to put them through that?
Anger coursed through his veins.
He took a deep breath to calm himself down and closed his eyes as he heard his blood pounding through his ears.
He doesn't hear them enter the arena but his hands clenched Crocea Mors' pummel when he heard his younger self speak.
"Where's Professor Goodwitch?"
He opened his eyes and saw them arranging themselves across from him. He took a moment to watch their movements and already he could notice the similarities and differences between the two teams.
His younger self and Ruby both looked at him warily with Ruby having a more confused expression.
Nora was enthusiastically grinning at him with Magnhild and while Yang tried to copy her, it was obvious to Jaune that the blonde brawler had a lot more uncertainty in her posture.
Ren stoically looked at him together with Blake who had neutral expressions but he could already see their eyes narrowing at him for different reasons. While Ren tried to stand closer to Nora, Blake seemed to be peering at him to see something.
Weiss...well, Weiss frowned at him with a guarded expression on her face. Jaune couldn't blame her. She was probably stressed by what his younger self blurted out and Jaune was sure she was already doimg her best to make sense of things.
The weirdest reaction however came from Pyrrha. She kept glancing at him and behind him so much that Jaune even tilted his head sideways just to see nothing was behind him.
Like he said, weird.
Still, he has probably kept silent for too long since they've started shifting uneasily. He sighs loudly, getting their attention as he takes them all in one more time.
"Professor Goodwitch could not watch over us right now because she has another class to teach.
It was surreal finding out Professor Goodwitch also taught higher years other than theirs but it was just logical and perhaps Jaune didn't just think about it when he was still in Beacon.
It gets the students uneasy however as Ruby pipes up with a question of her own.
"Shouldn't we be in classes too then, Professor?"
He took a deep breatg at that before hardening his heart to what needs to be done. He thought long and hard on what exaactly should he do when he impulsively declared they were going to fight and he decided on one thing.
He was going to teach them a lesson.
Whether they pushed for more answers or not Jaune decided that they needed to learn what lied behind the truth now that his younger self put them on this path.
And you know what they say, experience is the best teacher. It just so happens that the experience they will have is suffering and so suffering will be their teacher.
Jaune shook his head and looked back at Ruby with a hardened heart before chuckling menacingly.
"Oh you are, Ms. Rose. You are specifically in my class." He says gravely
They flinched back and Jaune was about to move when Weiss stepped forward
"W-What about our other subjects? Our grades?" Weiss asked nervously and Jaune couldn't help but break character for a bit even as everyone else looked at her incredulously.
Leave it to Weiss to worry about her grades before receiving a beatdown.
"Seriously, Weiss?" Yang asked out loud to which Weiss snapped to with a blush om her face.
"It's a valid question!"
It is and it deserves a valid answer so Jaune clears his throat and gives her a wry smile even from behind his helmet.
"Don't worry, Ms. Schnee, I'll let Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck know so your grades and attendance will not be affected in their subjects."
"Oh, that would be great, Professor. Thank you." Weiss bowed. She actually bowed and Jaune couldn't help but laugh out loud at that.
His laugh echoed all throughout the arena and he only laughs harder when he sees Weiss shyly blush to herself.
All that work to harden his heart and it was just undone because of Weiss being herself.
He had to remove his helmet just to wipe the tears off of his eyes before giving Weiss a bright smile to everyone's gawking expressions.
"Only you, Weiss. Only you will be worried about your grades in the middle of things."
Weiss gaped at him before shakily pointing her finger at him.
"H-How would you know that?"
Damn. His eyes grow wide at the realization and he has to scramble to think of a believable answer before another voice cuts in.
"I told you he was me from the future."
He stiffened as he heard his younger self smirk.
And just like that, his irritation and anger returns to him. He has never wanted to smack his younger self more than he has right now.
Instead, he slowly but surely put his helmet back on before speaking gravely.
"Again with the jokes, Mr. Arc?" He denies but even he knew it was a weak defense as his younger self only smiled at him.
"It's not a joke and you know it to be true."
This time though, Jaune grips Crocea Mors hard and swings it over his shoulder before opening his mouth.
"Well, what I know to be true is you still have a punishment to go through."
Jaune finds pleasure in the way their eyes widen and they finally get the message as they brandish their own weapons at him.
For one last moment, Jaune closes his eyes and remembers why he was doing this
Pyrrha, dead, with only her armor remaining for remembrance.
Yang, missing an arm and almost dying.
Weiss, stabbed through the gut also almost dying.
And Penny...
No...
No more, they will suffer no more.
He opened his eyes and blue flames enveloped them before he speaks.
"Are you ready?"
"Are you ready?"
Yang felt everything change as the Rusted Knight spoke.
The air felt heavy and cold.
Yang could immediately feel Blake tense beside her and she immediately follows her partner's lead to prepare herself.
"Y-Yeah! We're-OH CHEESE AND CRACKERS! DUCK!"
Everybody immediately hit the floor as they heard Ruby shout in panic.
It was a mistake.
Because just as the Rusted Knight swung a horizontal Aura Slash straight at them, it was too damn high.
A thick horizontal ray of white light flew above their heads but as they all either crouched down or downright threw themselves onto the ground, they all saw the Rusted Knight continue his movement and raise his greatsword up high.
Before they could even get their footing back, the Rusted Knight slammed his glowing greatsword down into the ground.
The floor cracked, the ground heaved, and everything shook as Yang lost her balance.
For one single moment she was weightless before gravity took hold of her again and pulled her back to the ground on all fours.
HOLY...SHIT!
She heard someone puke near her and her mind automatically supplied the source as Jaune but Yang had no time to think about it because-
"No, you are nowhere near ready." His cold voice rang out.
The Rusted Knight was already there slamming the pommel of his sword onto a kneeling Ruby's face in front of her.
Even as Ruby barely managed to burst into petals to dodge, Yang was already seeing red.
"GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!" She shouted as she rushed forward with red eyes and her hair on fire.
Yang led with a right hook, Ember Celica prepared to blow the guy's helmet off when to her surprise, he grabbed her wrist with his hand and ducked over her punch.
"Predictable." She heard him say.
The next thing she knew, she was tumbling over the air before her breathe got knocked out of her when her back met the ground.
It was a perfect throw and Yang found herself staring straight at the ceiling.
She blinked and then-
SNAP!
Someone was shouting and it took her a moment to realize it was her.
Pain. Agonizing pain shot up her body as a glowing boot broke her Aura as well as her right arm.
It changed everything. They weren't just facing Professor Arc who was out to punish them. They were facing the Rusted Knight who personally has it out for them!
"I told you you need to stop being impulsive. Now look at what you made me do." The Rusted Knight said menacingly as he leaned over her downed form. "Next time, I am keeping the arm."
"YANG!" Ruby yelled as she rushed in swinging with Crescent Rose to get the Rusted Knight away from her.
She gasped weakly as the Rusted Knight stepped of her arm and tears gathered in her eyes as Yang gritted her teeth shakily in pain.
Her arm throbbed painfully and she almost blacked out when she tried to move her arm.
Yup, it's broken alright.
"Yang! Are you alright?!" Blake rushed to her worriedly and Yang only shook her head weakly.
"R...uby...help Ruby..." She managed to say through gritted teeth before she gasped in relief when a thin layer of ice appears over her broken arm courtesy of Weiss.
"Come on, Blake!" Weiss yelled frantically, rushing to help Ruby with her sword out.
"Don't worry, Yang. Ruby is going to be okay." Blake nodded firmly before charging in behind Weiss.
Yang only laid on her back, her good arm covering her eyes as tears flowed from her eyes.
"Yang? Come on, I'll carry you." Someone whispers softly beside her.
She didn't even hear them approach but as she removes her arm away from her eyes, she sees blonde hair and blue eyes looking worriedly down at her.
"You've got puke on your mouth." She blurts out and Jaune Arc chuckles wetly at her.
"Well, you look like shit. Now come on, let's get you out of here." He replies as Yang feels him gently put her broken arm over her chest.
She winced at the pain but feels comforted when strong arms slide under her back and carry her.
"Thanks, VB." She murmurs as he carries her bridal style out of the arena.
Vomit Boy was wrong.
The Rusted Knight wasn't him because how can someone dorky and kind like Jaune Arc turn into someone cold and dangerous like the Rusted Knight?!
Pyrrha, dead.
Yang, missing an arm.
Weiss, stabbed through the gut.
Penny...
Atlas, falling.
Beacon, burning.
More scenes overlapped in his mind as he continued to fight.
It hurt him that he had to break Yang's arm but if it teaches them to keep away then he was willing to break her arm again
Besides, there was one other reason to take Yang out early on the fight. She was one of the few people who could probably dent his Aura.
Compared to her, Ruby was fast but only had light attacks.
Light lit up all around him as he let Ruby swing wildly. His Aura taking every single blow and Jaune only had to use his Semblance to keep it topped up.
Yet light as her attacks were, speed wasn't the only reason why Ruby was terrifying to fight in the battlefield.
"Weiss! His legs!"
She also happened to be a great team leader.
"On it!" Weiss yelled as Ruby burst into rose petals right in front of him, distracting him from Weiss.
It was not enough however. He could always feel Weiss whenever she used her glyphs.
He lazily swung Crocea Mors behind him, where Ruby appeared, has him parrying some of her attacks when ice covered his feet.
A quick burst of his Semblance has him enhancing his strength and breaking the ice before it could even encumber him.
"Blake!" Ruby shouted before Jaune could even concentrate on her and that's when a black ribbon from Gambol Shroud wrapped around his wrists.
Smart. They were trying to immobilize and disarm him.
It would have worked on a weaker man but alas, Jaune was no longer a weaker man.
He pulled the ribbon while swinging his sword, warding Ruby away and pulling Blake off of her feet and launching her into a flanking Ren as he clashed with Pyrrha's shield.
Clang!
Team JNPR has entered the fight.
Black light covered Crocea Mors as it gets deflected down to the ground, bursting the arena floor between them.
Damn.
A quick burst of his Aura has him breaking Polarity's hold but it was too late.
"Nora! Now!" Pyrrha shouted as she crouched down.
"Here's Nora!" Nora called out with a grin as she jumped over Pyrrha's shoulder with Magnhild held up high.
Jaune then had to quickly shift Crocea Mors into it's sword and shield form to block Magnhild from above while warding off Pyrrha's attacks with his sword from below.
He grunted as his knee almost buckled when Magnhild slammed into his shield from above while Nora used the momentum to flip behind him.
"Don't forget about us!" Ruby called out.
And just like that, Jaune gets surrounded as Weiss and Ruby jumped into the fray. They weren't stronger than Pyrrha or Nora in terms of physical strength but they were certainly fast.
His world shrinks into a storm of sparks, fury, and steel. Yet trapped as he was, Jaune Arc did not panic.
"Admirable, but not enough." He taunts as they all charge toward him.
His shield deflects Magnhild to tangle with Crescent Rose as Crocea Mors whistles through the air to clang against Miló.
His Aura glowed as he tanked Weiss' attacks with his armor. As fast as she was, her attacks were just too light for him to worry about while he was continuously using his Semblance.
They had no chance.
He was a master at defending with how much he had to go up against those stronger than him before he even fell to the Ever After. Add to that, the Jabberwalker only honed his skills so he could defend the Afterans for years.
Eventually, their attacks get more frantic, more sloppy, more desperate.
And more often than not, one or two of them now had to stop themselves from hitting another of their friends.
They had no perfect rhythm and it felt like everyone was just doing their best to land a hit on him and take him out of the fight.
From time to time, he even sees them flinch when he slips inside one of their guards before another distracts him from capitalizing on it.
It seems like they were deeply affected by Yang's injury.
Especially Ruby who swung at him with wide eyes full of despair.
Sorry, Rubes, but this is for your own good.
With Jaune making sure to focus on Pyrrha and Nora who had the firepower to hurt him, Ruby was surprised when he suddenly turned to her.
He grunted as he felt Nora hit his back but he used the momentum of the hit to run forward with his shield first to bash Ruby.
"Oof!" Ruby squeaked as she was launched backwards onto her back.
"RUBY!" Weiss screamed and Jaune felt glyphs appearing below him.
He jumped before the gravity glyphs even formed to trapped him. Escaping out of the encirclement, he coated both of his feet in Aura and enhanced it with his Semblance to explosively crash beside Ruby who frantically tried to stand.
If he really wanted to hurt her then he would have crashed with both feet on her body but he didn't want to hurt her. Not really.
Instead, bits of concrete and dust pepper her before Jaune finishes her off by grabbing her by the back hood, spinning her around, and throwing her outside of the arena onto a wall before she could even get her bearings.
A loud thud signified her Aura breaking as she crashed onto a heap outside of the arena but Jaune had no time to check on her because Pyrrha was already on him.
Blue eyes look at green as their blades locked together.
"I see you." She whispers and Jaune narrows his eyes at her as he disengages to bash her away with his shield.
Did Pyrrha use strange words to distract her opponents? If so, Jaune never knew it.
She tried to meet him with her own shield but Jaune was stronger.
Pyrrha staggered back as Nora charged in to take her place.
"Hiyaaa!" Nora screamed as she slammed Magnhild into his shield and Jaune skids backward from the force of the blow.
Digging his heels in to stop himself from flying off of the arena, Jaune launches two consecutive Aura slashes to stop Nora and Pyrrha from gaining momentum.
He stumbled however when a black ribbon wraps around his foot and pulls him sideward as the floor gets coated in ice.
""NOW!"" Blake and Weiss screamed and Jaune could see Ren charging towards him.
Letting Stormflower's bullets bounce off of his armor, Jaune instead shifts Crocea Mors back into it's greatsword form and swings sideways.
In an impressive display of agility and flexibility, Ren threw his weapons upward and slid down beneath Crocea Mors' blade. His hands twisted gracefully and Jaune already knew what he was doing.
It was an Aura Strike.
A damned double-palmed Aura Strike that Jaune knew could kill King Taijitus with its explosive strength.
And Ren was intending to use it to launch him off the arena.
Smart, they couldn't beat him in a straight up fight so they aimed to beat him by technicality.
He would have to reevaluate his opinion of them later. Now he sees why Glynda warned him earlier.
Done like this, they would have beaten him if he was using the same rules he applied during their first fight.
This wasn't the first fight however.
This time, Jaune Arc was going all out.
He dug deep inside himself, intending to muster his Aura and Semblance together only to find something else answering his call.
He felt it cover his entire body before the world slowed as his eyes narrowed before Ren swiftly rose up and slammed both palms towards his chest with a roar.
Contact and then-
LIGHT!
TING!
Ren closed his eyes as light suddenly flashed in front of him.
He felt his hands and Aura make contact with something hard but what he saw when he opened his eyes after the light died down shocks him.
Instead of his hand hitting the Rusted Knight's armor, it hit a solid mass of light instead.
The next he noticed was that a crystalline armor of light started covering all of the Rusted Knight's body.
It wasn't just Aura however because it looked more like the result of using Hard-Light Dust.
Ren blinked as he noticed one important thing.
His palms weren't burning.
Hard-Light burns a person in contact yet this armor was not burning him.
More than that however, the light took on his Aura Strike and say what you will but Ren put his all on that. The force still should have launched him off of his feet or at peast pushed him back.
Whatever that light is, it managed to tank his attack and nullified the force.
Which means this was not just Hard-Light.
It was-
"Don't get distracted."
Those were the last words he heard as he almost puked when he felt the Rusted Knight's fist uppercut his gut. His
Aura broke as his feet left the ground.
StormFlower clattered uselessly to the ground where he planned to catch them.
As it was, Ren gets launched backward by the force of the blow before he could even get them.
He felt himself fly through the air before soft arms caught him and laid him gently on the floor.
"Renny!" Nora said worriedly, looking down at him.
"He has Hard-Light armor now?!" Weiss screamed frustratedly and Ren shook his head as they all saw the solid mass of light covering the Rusted Knight like armor.
"N-Not Hard-Light. No burns." He stuttered showing Weiss his palms which weren't burned.
Thud!
They flinched as they heard the Rusted Knight stomp towards them.
"Come on, Renny. Let's get you out of here." Nora said softly and Ren only nodded resignedly.
With his Aura broken, there was nothing more he could do and with everyone flinching back as they watched the Rusted Knight slowly walked toward them, Ren already saw where this fight was going.
It was lost-
"Don't give up!"
Someone shouted and from the corner of his eyes, he saw his leader charging in with a glowing sword.
"Don't give up!" He shouted as he charged towards his older self.
Yang, laying down with a broken arm.
Ruby, crumpled to a heap.
Ren, flying through the air after getting punched.
Older self or not, this guy went too far and Jaune was sure as hell going to get his pound of flesh.
He raised his own version of a glowing Crocea Mors high over his head and he glared as he saw the Rusted Knight do nothing but walk.
Gathering every scrap of Aura and emotion he had, he slashed Crocea Mors downward right towards the Rusted Knight.
It manifested the thickest and strongest Aura Slash he managed to do so far.
Triiiiing!
A high pitched sound of grinding echoed and light flashed as his attack hit the solid mass of light with a point-blank Aura Slash. His Slash explodes and covers the Rusted Knight in smoke.
For one single moment he hoped that was it.
Jaune's hopes are dashed however when the armored man steadily walked through with smoke trailing behind him.
It seems that instead of it giving way or breaking, the Rusted Knight's crystalline armor of light only cracked after it took on everything Jaune had to throw at it.
"Why?! Why are you doing this?!" He shouted angrily as he hunched in over himself behind his shield.
He expected a counterattack but none came. Instead, the Rusted Knight only moved forward. Never even glancing at him as he walked past Jaune.
His eyes widened and he gritted his teeth at that but as he turned around to bash his older self with his shield, nothing happened.
All he did was make the Rusted Knight pause as Jaune bounced backward.
"Look at me!" He shouted again, slashing the knight from behind but the Rusted Knight only continued stomping forward.
His eyes widened when the Rusted Knight suddenly raised his greatsword and Jaune thought he was finally going to attack him. He hid behind his shield again but his heart falls however when the Rusted Knight sends a horizontal arc of Aura Slash in front of him towards Pyrrha, Weiss, and Blake.
It was thick and bright and Jaune could see there was no blocking that kind of strike.
He sees his friends panickedly dodge out of the way. Jumping and sliding over it only for the Rusted Knight to send another and another.
"NO!" He shouted as he desperately sent his own Aura Slashes on the Rusted Knight's back.
They were all weaker than what he managed to do earlier.
Ting! Ting! Ting!
High-pitched sounds rang but no matter how many slashes he sent, the Rusted Knight continued undisturbed.
"AGHHH!" He heard Blake scream as she gets hit by one of the slashes that bursts and launches her out of the arena.
He hopes someone caught her but he had no time to check because the Rusted Knight still sent slash after slash towards Weiss and Pyrrha.
Deciding a change of plans was needed, Jaune instead moved to the front to block any incoming attacks to give the rest some time to breath.
Before he could even plant himself to tank the hits, the Rusted Knight bats him away and Jaune's breath is knocked out of him as he crashes on his back.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha screamed and Jaune rolled out of the way as a glowing boot almost stepped on his stomach.
The ground where he was cracked but he successfully manages to pull his body upward with his shield up and his grip on his sword tight.
"Why are you doing this?" He asked desperately behind his shield.
Unlike last time however, this time, the Rusted Knight turns to him. Fiery blue eyes pin him on his place as he heard the Rusted Knight speak.
"Because you asked for it. Because this is the road you are leading them into."
It wasn't loud by any means but Jaune heard everything clearly and for one moment only the two of them existed in their own world. Two Arcs, one old, one young, faced each other.
"W-What?" He asked dumbly, his heart beating crazy at the incoming pressure from the older man.
The Rusted Knight stayed silent and for one single moment, Jaune saw his crystalline armor dissolve and turn into a fire surrounding the Rusted Knight like a halo.
"You want to involve them so badly? Well this is it!" The Rusted Knight shouted, the fire blazed higher and brighter around him.
Jaune shook at the sight but he stood his ground as the older Arc continued.
"You will face enemies so strong that you would quake in their presence. You will feel overwhelmed and powerless. Most days it would be all you can do to make sure none of you die. And some days...you fail. Someone dies during those days."
The blaze dies down into a simmer but even then, Jaune could feel the intensity of emotion coming from the older man.
"Pyrrha." Jaune whispers with a gulp.
The Rusted Knight froze at that before shaking his head slowly.
"More."
Light flashed from the Rusted Knight's helmet and the next thing Jaune knew he was on his knees.
"NOOOOO!"
His heart broke as the image of Weiss getting impaled by a spear enters into his mind.
The world shrinks to only the two of them and as Jaune slid beside her, all he could think about was the blood.
The blood began to pool on his hands as he embraces her rapidly paling body.
"No, no, no! Not again! Weiss, come on. Please!" He said and as he blinked back the tears, the scene changes.
Green eyes, orange hair, freckled cheeks, and a smile on her face. Those were the only things he took of the woman as she opened her mouth to speak to him.
"Let me choose...this one thing."
Bile gathers at the back of his throat as he sees his own hand grasp Crocea Mors' hilt.
He blinked and then blood was on his sword.
Jaune Arc puked for the second time that day as he knelt there on the stage.
His heart broke.
More?! More people will die?! Weiss?! The strange woman?!
It didn't matter who she was but Jaune could feel it in his bones that she was a friend.
Despair filled his heart as the memories get branded in his mind.
This...This was the future he would have lived through?!
His older self wasn't done however as he suddenly stepped forward and Jaune slowly looked up.
"Now you get how it feels. Watch helplessly as I lay your friends low."
His whole body shook in fear. His breaths became heavy pants. Sweat caked his eyebrows and dripped down his face.
Salvation comes however when a sarcastic voice calls out.
"Well, well, well. Bullying kids now, Rusty? Here I thought you were supposed to be the protector and I, the villain." The Curious Cat called out and beside them was Headmaster Ozpin.
"Professor Arc, I would appreciate it if you avoid bullying our students."
NOTES:
When I wrote the fight scene, I had the image of Madara styling on the Five Kages in my head.
The crystalline armor RK Jaune is manifesting right now is similar to Mana Matter from Moonlit Fantasy. You could also think of it as his own baby Susanoo. It is the crystallization of mana, magic, and soul over the user's body. Think of RK Jaune's as more crystallized like the shields produced by Hard-Light Dust.
If you have any questions or suggestion on how to improve this then let me know.