Chapter 10: Spiders on the Farm
CriticaofRandomness: Yes you were! Melissa's actions in the last chapter were rather brutal, but I wanted it that way because it shows just how angry and hateful she is of Spider and Ms. Malachite.
NinjaFang1331: Indeed!
blaiseingfire: Sweet! you got the reference! as for Melissa... eh, you might be right.
AverageReadingEnjoyer: Yep, she ain't pulling any punches, As for stopping Spider, it might not be possible, after all, can someone like Jaune or Vernal stop one of the biggest gangs in Mistral? Also, I hope you enjoy this chapter because it's a real shocker.
Nice2: Well, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and I know what you're talking about with Archer :). Also, a JauneXIlia story is in the works, but won't be posted for a while, as for your question, I will consider doing a JauneXSienna fanfic.
Update 7:
Shadow the hedgehog is a bitch ass mother fucker
Also, my discord is still open, so if you want to join it's on my profile.
If you're interested, we talk about ideas for stories, talk about other interests, share art and cover art, and other things! So far, besides myself, there are two others and we would love it if fellow writers and readers joined.
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Before Morning came, Melissa, Vernal, and Jaune collected the Spider members and stuffed their bodies in an empty barn room, but they stripped them of any ammo and other weapons for future use. They quickly checked on oscar, who was still very ok, but quite shaken by the shots and the fear of them possibly being the ones shot, but with some reassurance from melissa as well as some encouragement to get some rest, Oscar eventually fell asleep.
Finally, when Morning came, Melissa also wanted to get some rest and urged the two teens to do the same, but they both said they would stay up and keep watch in case of another attack, and Melissa thanked them and headed for her room.
Once upstairs, Jaune and Vernal went to the kitchen to cook whatever they had, and they ate breakfast, and once finished, they cleaned up the dishes they used, finishing up, they then moved to the living room to relax just a little bit and turned on the TV, and as he listened to what was on tv, he began to feel drowsy, the adrenalin had left him, but not wanting to fall asleep, he tried to keep his eyes open and rested on the couch arm, but sleep still was able to take him as his vision blurred and everything went black.
Jaune looked around only to see the house burned down, and he could hear screams from inside.
"Jaune! Jaune Help me! Help me! I-I can't get out!" came the terrified voice of Oscar. Jaune then heard a few loud coughs as Oscar banged on the front door, "J-J-Jaune!"
"Oscar!" Jaune cried.
Jaune tried to run toward the house to save Oscar, but something tugged on his leg and he looked down only to see the hand of a dead gang member grab ahold of it, and the blonde knight tried to shake him off but more hands sprung from the ground and held him back.
"You can't save him!"
"He'll burn because of you!"
"Hahahahaha! It's useless! You can't save him blondie!"
Jaune growled in anger as he looked at the dead, "Get the hell off of me!" he cried.
Jaune tried to break free from the dead, but they were too strong and held him back, and he began to hear oscar scream in pain, and Jaune looked forward in horror as he hear the blood-curdling screams of the younger teen as he was burned alive, and the house eventually fell apart as the flames rose higher.
"NO!" Jaune cried with his arm stretched out and still trying to break free from the dead that held him back.
"Jaune," a voice called out.
Hearing Melissa's voice, the blonde teen turned to his left only to see Melissa on her knees, her face bruised and bloody, tears fell down her cheeks and she looked at the teen, guilt, and sadness on her face.
"I-I'm sorry..." She said she said in a broken tone.
A gun was pressed against the back of her head and the front of her head burst as a shot rang out and she fell forward dead and bloody. Jaune felt the blood on his face and he looked aghast as he saw her death.
"A-Arc..."
Hearing that last voice sent a cold chill down Jaune's spine as he turned to his right and panic coursed through his body as he saw the Beowulf on all fours, its mouth bit into Vernal's neck, tears streamed down her face as blood covered her neck and clothes, she held out her arm for Jaune, but her body went limp and her eyes became lifeless.
Jaune went limp, and the dead began to pull him into the darkness, tears fell from his face like waterfalls. He couldn't handle seeing the death of the three, and he began to cry uncontrollably, and the hands of the deaf gripped and held onto him harder.
"Finally! Finally, we'll drag him with us!"
"To the Void with him!"
"Hahahahaha!"
"You're coming with us! Down, down below!"
Shay appeared in front of him and leaned forward, "This is it Blondie, this is it" Shay whispered into his ear.
Jaune felt a strong pull and he fell backward and the darkness took him...
"Arc!"
"ARC WAKE UP!"
Jaune's eyes quickly shot open and he felt a tight grip around him and tried to free himself from whatever was latching onto him as he looked around frantically with a terrified look on his face.
Vernal saw his scared expression and felt him trying to free himself, but Vernal's hands gripped the sides of his arm tighter, trying to calm him down. "Easy, Arc! Easy!" Vernal cried, "Look at me! Look at me! It's alright! Everything's alright!" Vernal told him.
Jaune began to calm down and looked at her still a bit shocked but now also looking confused, "V-Vernal?" he asked.
Vernal nodded, "It's me, it's me," Vernal told him, looking at him with worry.
"I... wh-what you wake me up for?" Jaune asked, his voice sounding a bit strained.
Vernal's worried expression grew, "Arc, you were crying in your sleep," Vernal told him. She looked at him with a raised brow, "What's going on with you?" She asked.
Jaune took a few quick breaths and shook his head, "Nothing," Jaune told her.
Vernal peered at him, "Bullshit," Vernal replied with a bit of venom, "Don't lie to me Arc, I know somethings going on, so spit it out, what is it?"
Jaune shook his head once again, "Again, it's nothing," Jaune told her once more.
Vernal glared at him, "Don't lie to me!" Vernal cried, "I can see that something is wrong, so talk to me! We're partners Oum damn it, we have each other's backs, and we're here for each other... so talk to me," Vernal told him, her tone now a bit worried.
Jaune looked at her and saw her expression, and while she was still glaring at him, he still saw that her eyes had a pleading look in them, and he let out a heavy sigh. "I-I've been having nightmares," Jaune told her.
Vernal looked at him with concern, "About what?" she asked with a raised brow.
Jaune looked at her with a bleak look, "At first it was Shay and his group, trying to drag me down into the dirt, but now there are the spider members and I saw Oscar, Melissa, and... you die," Jaune told her, his voice breaking down, "They keep saying they'll drag me down to the void, waiting for me to die, happy about it, and you three are begging me to save you but I... I fail," Jaune said, his voice sounding fearful, and slowly, his eyes widened with fear.
"Arc-" Vernal began but cut off as Jaune continued to talk
"A-And that's not the only thing, the Beowulf, the one that I killed, it's been haunting me! Laughing at me! Even when I-I'm awake! A-And I-I just don't know what the F-FUCK IS GOING ONE WITH ME!?" Jaune cried as tears fell from his face and, he finally began to sob. "I-I'm a monster..."
Vernal was shocked as she saw Jaune break down, finally seeing what was going on inside of him, she had forgotten just how much he was still new to this world and how much it all had an effect on people, she knew how to deal with it, or she once thought she did, but with Jaune's help, she learned how to deal with it better, to confront it, and not let it hold her back. It was Jaune who had helped her, and yet, he was holding it all in.
"Ar-... Jaune, what happened, back at the tribe, if that happened to anyone, you did what any person would do if they had the chance, Shay made his bed, he needed to lie in it," Vernal told him, resting her hand on his shoulder, "As for what happened last night, that was the same thing, those people made a choice and they suffered the consequences, it wasn't fate or destiny, or any bullshit like that, it was choices,"
Jaune nodded in response, but Vernal wasn't accepting it.
"Jaune, look at me," Vernal told him.
Jaune slowly turned to her and Vernal gave him a reassuring look, "You did what you had to do," Vernal told him, "You are not a monster, Jaune,"
Jaune looked at her with a surprised face, but he began to calm down and hearing her words, Jaune felt slightly better, he wiped her tears away and smiled at her. "Thank you... Vernal," Jaune told her.
She smiled back at him softly, "Don't mention it," She said, "Seriously, don't, I got a rep to uphold" She said, her smile turned into a smirk.
Both of them laughed at Vernal's joke, and then a realization struck Jaune, he turned to Vernal with a smirk, and when Vernal looked at him still smirking, she still smiled but looked at him with a raised brow.
"What?" She asked him.
"You called me by my first name, you called me Jaune," He told her, still smirking.
She realized what she did, and a light blush graced her cheeks, but she smirked at him, "I don't know what you're talking about,"
Jaune's smirk widened, "No, I heard you call me by my first name! You called me Jaune," Jaune told, his voice sounding joyful, "Twice I think!" He said.
Vernal looked away but still smiled, "Again, I ain't got a clue what you're talking about," Vernal replied.
Jaune began to laugh and then Vernal began to as well, and when the laughter began to die down once again, Jaune looked at his partner with a soft smile, "Vernal?" he asked.
Vernal looked at him, "Yeah?" she asked.
"If things don't go as planned... if they show up here again and it ends tonight, I want you to know that I'm glad you came with me, I'm glad that we spent time together," Jaune told her with a soft smile.
Vernal smirked, "Don't get sappy on me, Arc," She told him, "This isn't going to be the fucking end of us, no way a couple of gangbanging punks are gonna kill us and do you know why?"
"Because we're strong?" he asked with a raised brow and a smiled
Vernal nodded, "Yes, but because we're both survivors, and so are those two," Vernal said, "We, you and I, can be put through the hardest and toughest shit and keep going no matter what, Melissa's the same as us, and its people like us, who'll keep fighting, because that's what we're put on this world to do, to keep pushing onward,"
Jaune thought about her words heavily and they began to make sense to him, he never really thought about it like that.
"You get it?" Vernal asked.
Jaune nodded and smiled, "Yeah," Jaune replied.
With that, they went back to watching TV, and eventually, a little later into the day, Oscar woke up and ate something, and then a little while later, Melissa woke up and joined them for a bit, and when the sun began to set, they began to cook a large but rather normal dinner, which consisted of pork chops, green beans, mash potatoes with gravy, and a drink of water or Soda.
For one of them, it was going to be their last meal...
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That night, around 10:34 at night, two black vans drove down a dirt road that led straight to Melissa's Farm, all of them were a part of Spider, and all were armed and ready to kill.
In one van, a young teen looked at his wallet, and in a clear part of it, was a photo of his family, that was of him, his sister, mother, and father.
One of the members looked at the young teen as he looked at his wallet, "Put that away, bad luck," he told him.
The young teen looked at him with a confused look but did as his fellow gang member told him, and he closed the wallet and pocketed it.
Another turned to him and smiled, "What, you think is gonna happen? You ain't gonna see your family again?" they asked.
The young teen shook his head, "No, I... I just heard that the first 8 Ms. Malachite sent didn't call back in, and well, everyone knows they're dead and that got me thinking... what kind of ex-cop kills 8 people?" he asked
The other laughed, "I don't know Man, but can you fucking believe that? Couldn't even take down a single narc? What a bunch of pussies!"
Another looked at him as if he was stupid, "That old cop gots like two huntsmen with her," They told them, "I'd like to see you take on two people who can kick more ass than most gangs,"
"Whoa! Hold up! If she's got two huntsmen with her, why the hell are we going in with just a few guns?" Asked another.
The other one earlier "Because instead of trying to kill them by breaking in, we're just gonna light the place up, they won't even have time to react, besides, all we need to kill is the ex-cop, and the brat she's lugging around with her, once those two are dead, we leave before the huntsmen can get to us,"
"That's if we can even make it far enough," muttered another.
The one speaking before glared at them, "If we're lucky, we could kill them in the process as well, that Aura of theirs can't last forever," Replied another.
"Well let's hope we kill all of 'em because I don't want to be on the end of a Huntsmen's weapon," Replied the first.
"Same here," replied the younger teen, still worried about the prospect of possibly dying tonight at the hands of an Ex-cop or two Huntsmen.
Finally, the young teen felt the Van begin to slow that, letting him know they were preparing to stop and that they have reached their target. The vans rode right up to the house and stopped, and quickly, the gang members jumped out of the back of the van and pointed their weapons at the house.
One of them looked to the one who was in charge of this whole little operation.
"This better work," said the young teen.
The other looked at him, "Just shoot and it'll work kid," replied one net to him,
The one in charge looked at them and smiled, "Alright now boys and girls, light it up!" they cried.
With that order, the gang members began to fire, unleashing a hailstorm of bullets all over the house, but suddenly, the front door opened and Jaune's shield was right in the doorway, and coming out from behind it was Vernal, both of her daggers in Pistol form and she quickly fired both, managing to headshot one and strike another on the shoulder. Once she fired, she quickly went back behind the shield and the gang members focused their fire on the front door, but with their fire focused on the front door, they failed to notice the barrel of the rifle from the 2nd-floor window pointed down at them.
Melissa aimed down the iron sight and shot one of the gang members in the face, she then quickly turned her gun toward another and shot them in the chest, another she only managed to get in the leg, some of the gang members realized where the shots were coming from and aimed their fire, and one bullet managed to get her right in the arm, she screamed as she fell backward in pain.
"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" Melissa cried as she moved toward the door and out the hallway.
The one who shot Melissa smiled, and turned to one of the gang members "I got her! I fucking-"
His triumph was short-lived when he was shot in the stomach and then in the shoulder, 11 out of the 15 gang members were still alive, though 2 of them were injured and one managed to hide behind a van, while the other managed to reclaim his gun and continue to fire.
Jaune breathed in heavily before he looked at Vernal with a determined expression, and Vernal gave him the same look back and gave him a quick nod, and he gave one back, and with that, Jaune placed one of his hands on Vernal's shoulder and boosted her Aura as much as he could, and feeling very energized, Vernal stepped out onto the porch, Jaune still behind her, and she fired at the gang members. While many shots hit her, due to her aura being boosted, she merely felt the impact on her aura, and while it stung, she didn't let up and continued to fire, managing to shoot one in the throat and also managed to kill the one on the ground.
Jaune then stepped forward and unsheathed Crocea Mors and blocked a few shots with his shield as he slowly stepped forward, Vernal then pushed Aura into the bottoms of her feet, before jumping over him and toward the gang members, Jaune then quickly rushed at a few and bashed one into the side of the van before turning around and stabbing another in the side, he then turned back to the one who he bashed and slashed him across the chest deeply.
However, one shot at him in the back and he stumbled forward, and another rushed at Jaune and tried to disarm him, both fought for the blade as they struggled on the ground and the other tried to get a shot in.
Meanwhile, Vernal shot two more, before landing and shifting her weapons into daggers, she quickly stabbed one in the gut and kicked another away, she took her blade out of the one she stabbed and turned around, and used her 2nd blade to stab another in the eye.
The one she bashed charged at her and managed to slam her into the side of the van, another of the gang members turned to shoot at her, but Vernal slammed her elbow in the back and kicked him away, she then shifted her dagger into its third form, and the blade separated and the barrel was revealed and she quickly shot at the one who was going to shoot her, getting him in the left side of his chest, she then turned around to the one she pushed away and he picked up his gun and aimed it at her, but he has shot in the back and fell forward, revealing Melissa behind him with her six-shooter lowering and her other arm was wrapped in a bandage.
Vernal and Melissa turned their head toward Jaune's direction and saw that the young knight managed to free his sword hand and quickly slashed the man across the face, killing him, but he was shot in the side and stumbled to the side, he turned around to the shooter, but before he could fire again, he was shot in the side of the head and fell to the ground.
Jaune turned to Vernal and Melissa and saw Vernal with her dagger in its 3rd form aimed in the direction of the shooter and he gave the ex-bandit a nod of thanks.
Melissa looked around on the ground at the dead Gang members and then turned back to Vernal and Jaune with a raised brow, "That all of them?" she asked the two.
Jaune turned to her, "I think so, I didn't see any of them run to the back," Jaune replied.
Melissa nodded and told the two of them to collect the ammo so they could take off the bodies, and Jaune and Vernal did so, and she went back on the porch but winced when she made the mistake of raising her shot arm up and resting it against one of the pillars.
Jaune and Vernal walked over to the porch after picking up what they could from the gang members and set the guns and extra clips on the porch and looked at Melissa.
"You ok?" Vernal asked.
Melissa nodded, "Fine, Bullet went all the way through thankfully," She said, "I cleaned and wrapped it up as much as I could, but tomorrow, we may need to go to the hospital just in case,"
Jaune nodded in agreement.
"Aunt Mel!"
They all turned their heads inside the house and saw Oscar run toward them from inside the house. The young farm boy saw the three of them and quickly ran at them Melissa stood in front of him and Oscar nearly tackled her when he hugged her.
Melissa giggled, "We're alright kiddo, we're alright," She said.
Oscar broke the hug and looked at her with a smile but then saw her arm and his expression quickly turned to worry, "Aunt Mel, your shot!" He cried.
Melissa shook her head, "Don't worry about it Oscar, I'm alright, it's not a big deal," Melissa told him, "We're gonna head to the hospital tomorrow and get it checked out," She replied.
Oscar let out a sigh of relief and nodded.
Jaune and Vernal went back to pick up the weapons as Oscar and Melissa stood on the porch, however, the two young huntsmen heard a click and alarms went off, and their heads turned around only to see a figure, the young teen gang member, pop out from behind the back of the van, right behind Jaune, a pistol in the air, but it wasn't aimed at Jaune, but at the people on the porch.
The first person in his line of sight was Oscar.
Vernal quickly went for her daggers hoping to shift it in time, Jaune then dropped the guns he had in his hands and turned around to try and stop him, and Melissa saw the young teen, and her eyes widened in fear.
The young teen pulled the trigger and the bullet flew toward the porch.
Jaune tackled the young teen and pinned him to the ground.
Melissa quickly pushed her nephew to the side just as the bullet struck her, and she fell backward onto the porch.
Oscar watched his aunt fall and looked in horror as she lie still before groaning and crying. Jaune and Vernal also looked at the porch and saw Melissa crying out in pain, both had terrified and shocked looks on their faces
Vernal quickly sheathed her dagger and ran toward Melissa as did Oscar who scrambled and crawled over to his fallen Aunt.
"Aunt Mel! Aunt Mel!" Oscar cried.
Vernal kneeled down and looked at her, "Melissa! Melissa stay with me!"
Jaune's horrified face turned to blinding fury and his head turned back and looked down at the teen who looked scared when he saw Jaune's furious expression.
"I-I'm sorry!" The teen cried as tears welled up in his eyes.
'KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM!' The Beowulf cried as it appeared behind Jaune and rested its front paws on the blond's shoulders.
The teen looked at Jaune and his face was obscured by a shadow, but Jaune's dark blue eyes pierced his soul and the teen began to cry, but he was shut up when Jaune's fist came into contact with the boy's face...
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Yeah. That happened.
One more chapter to go before the Act ends, and things are going to be emotional in the next chapter. Oscar now might lose his Aunt, so what will happen to him next? Will he possibly join Jaune and Vernal? Or could he take his own path?
I want to thank you all for reading and I hope you're ready for the end of this Act and the beginning of the next one because a certain old lady is going to be introduced and she might just have some wise words for our characters!