9 - Waves of the New Age

It is succeeded by the boiling of the clouds, and a crash of the heavens, the crowning of a monarch.

The tempest forewarns the kings and rulers of the age.

And rattles their thrones.

- before his beheading on the castle ramparts, St. Raphael Arc

The afternoon was turning gray, and for some reason it compelled Yang's attention. Clouds were forming now, clumping together like soap suds in a hot bath. They got grayer the longer Yang watched, some patches light as new cement, others dark as old concrete. She swore she'd heard a bit of thunder, but the fact that she couldn't be sure meant it was a long way off. Nearby birds sensed this sudden change as well, for they leapt from their perches and flew toward the fading sun, as if trying to catch the last traces of morning before it was gone forever. One of them had lost a feather, and the little thing was carted off by a brisk, earthy breeze. None of it was really much to comment on. Yet it got Yang's mind stirring.

"Storm's coming," Blake commented pointlessly as she hiked a thumb back the way they'd come. "So? What do you want to do?"

Yang opened her scroll and stared at it in thought. It displayed a vague map of the Emerald Forest as well as a few landmarks to allow for some basic navigation. A temporary trace had been set upon two unlucky students not far from Yang and Blake, and due to the notification they'd gotten not long before, plainly the trace was on Jaune and Pyrrha. Goodwitch had put them in an awkward spot alright. With the rules suddenly flipped, it seemed Jaune and Pyrrha were now everyone's targets. She had even made sure to mark the tracker signals with their names so everyone would know who their prey was. Now people would be bolting in their direction like wolves on the hunt, eager to cash-in on the first and only spoon-fed target. Why, though? Seemed pretty extreme to just be a way to keep things interesting, if Goodwitch even cared about that. What was she trying to do?

"Let's head back. Guarantee you the others are on the way."

"What about Ruby and Weiss?"

"We won't be able to stop them here. We'd better move now or they'll beat us to Jaune and Pyrrha. If someone else hasn't already got them. They're gonna need our help."

Blake didn't look surprised by her answer, but even so questioned her. "Sure about backing them up? We could get more points if we play friendly then pull a double-cross. That could be the point of the rule change. A way to dismantle the cooperation of allied groups."

"Dangling a carrot, huh?" Yang mused, "Yeah, sounds like Goodwitch. But there's no point in groups betraying one another. Once they get their scrolls, they can just pass them around and everyone wins."

"Don't underestimate their greed. Scavengers will kill each other just to be first at a half-eaten carcass."

"You don't eat red meat."

"Sharks don't either. They're still predators. And you know how much I love fish."

"Jaune and Pyrrha are pretty tough fish, Blake."

Her partner smirked. "Don't know about you, but fighting two will always be easier than fighting a hundred."

"Call me crazy, but I'll take the hundred." Yang looked at the sky again and saw a few more birds flying away. "Besides, we made a promise. I'd rather stick to it and fail than betray a buddy."

Blake seemed to concede then, giving a single sharp nod. "That tracking signal is most likely temporary so it won't be long before we can't find them using that alone. You should scan ahead. They might be on the move already."

"Aye aye," So Yang engaged her Aura Perception and felt her sight expand.

It was like her eyes had abandoned the normal light spectrum that humans typically saw in for a range with significantly less detail. A plane not of physical things like forestry, rocks, and animals, but rather a ghostly, ethereal plane, where all of nature was reduced to the energy they cultivated. Instead of millions of trees, instead she saw the veins of life energy flowing through the wood and leaves. Instead of the feathers of birds, she saw the circulation of aura in their tiny bodies. Even in the little pebbles and stones at her feet flowed the constant river that was the planet's own aura. When she'd first started using this ability, unaware and unable to filter the differences in signals, the sensory overload had been too much. Now, it only took a second to filter out the aura of all undesirables, cast her projection forward and search for human aura.

It didn't take long for her to find them. Standing somewhere together and seeming unurgent. That would have been a relief, but for Yang then realizing that there were ten other human auras surrounding them. And slowly closing in.

"Shit," Yang cursed.

"Can't find them?"

"More like someone already found them. A whole group's closing in on all sides."

"Are they fighting?"

"Not yet. Jaune and Pyrrha aren't moving. No way to tell if they even know what's going on."

Unfortunately that was a downside of her power. While she could tell where people were, she could not, with certainly, tell their behavior unless they moved or used their aura. Professor Mustard had said her AP was still in an unrefined, early stage. It'd be a while before she could pick out finer details.

"There's no way they don't know." said Blake, "Those two aren't so foolish to let their guard down, especially since they must be aware of the rule change."

"So they're letting themselves be pursued? Playing sitting duck?" Yang saw now that the group had gotten very close, and now Jaune and Pyrrha were reacting to them. Pyrrha rushed over to stand behind Jaune, which seemed really odd for her to do, but maybe she was just surprised. "In any case, we'd better get to them before they lose their scrolls. Blake lets—"

And for a split second, so fast it almost felt unreal, she saw Jaune's aura act strangely. It changed colors for one. Hyper fast like rapid-fire neon lights. But after seeing some matches of his, that was normal when he was activating his semblance. Then, it settled on its normal color, seeming to grow a bit, then shimmered.

An instant later, Jaune's aura vanished.

Yes, vanished. It was completely erased from Yang's aura perception. Something which was plainly impossible unless he'd suddenly keeled over and died. But that wasn't all. Pyrrha's aura was gone too.

And just after that, all the auras of their attackers were snuffed out faster than blowing out a candle.

Yang heard a sound. A crash of thunder far closer than ever before. Shooting through her ear, her nose, her mouth, her eyes, and striking her brain with a vicious shockwave.

And all at once she was forced out of her Aura Perception and felt the powerful need to puke.

Yang's legs gave way and she fell to her knees, then to her hands, suddenly dry heaving like she was having a panic attack. Oh god, her stomach felt like it was in a knot, and the need to throw up became worse by the second. Yang felt a bit of spittle drip off her lip, and it was only by taking in deep breaths that she prevented more coming up. The feeling wasn't exactly painful. Just overwhelming. Like after staying up days in a row due to downing a ton of energy drinks, then feeling the sudden terrible crash.

What the hell was that?

After what felt like a long time, Yang managed to regain her composure, breathing hard and feeling a little woozy, but alright enough to see straight and stand. "Something's happened. Blake, are you—"

When Yang turned to her partner, she'd expected to find her in a similar position to herself. Hit by whatever that sound or force that had been, disturbed, but ultimately unhurt.

Instead, Blake looked like she was taking a nap.

She was sprawled out on her back. Arms, legs, and hair splayed about like she was in a drunken coma. It was only light reassurance that she was breathing, proving that whatever hit her was nothing close to lethal. But the fact remained that this invisible force had knocked Blake clean out.

Yang used her AP again, hoping to see if it was something related to her aura. Perhaps she might get an idea of what caused it. But there was one tiny problem. She couldn't see Blake's aura. Again, an impossibility unless Blake had died, which she clearly hadn't. Which could only mean one thing.

Yang's Aura Perception was no longer working.

Weiss felt a tingling under her skin. A strange sensation that weaseled through her ears, nose, and eyes, and caused her a small headache. She had to stop and rest her forehead on her palm, shaking her head to ward it off like a sudden sleepy spell. No idea where it had come from. Probably just from sleeping outside these past two days.

She heard Ruby come up before she could speak, so Weiss got ahead of her, saying, "I'm fine. Just a dizzy spell."

Ruby paused. "Oh really? I thought it was just me."

"You too?"

Ruby rubbed her brow, eyes squeezed shut in pain. "A little. My head's worse though. Feels like I bumped it on a wall or something. Lost some brain cells."

"You never had much. I wouldn't fret over it."

"You suck, Weiss."

They'd been in pursuit of the tracking signal since the sudden objective change, but now with this sudden shared moment, it halted their progress. Weiss might have been more concerned about losing distance, but decided not to give in to mere impatience. It was an easily exploited weakness and Jaune and Pyrrha were not light marks. Besides, they could not be far off anyway, so it was best to reset for a moment and ward off this annoying sick spell. "Check the tracker, Ruby. I doubt the signal will stay active for long. If Jaune and Pyrrha have started moving, we need to know what direction they are headed."

Ruby flourished a salute, then opened her scroll. Weiss found a nearby stump to sit on, but when she did, she scraped her finger and drew a trickle of blood. Of course. Well, her aura would take care of it shortly.

Weiss watched the small cut. Barely felt it despite the blood, but her aura would repair such a small wound quickly. Any moment.

Her cut did not change.

Weiss blinked at it like it was a machine which had always functioned properly and now of all times was having a slow start. One benefit of having your aura unlocked was that minor everyday wounds were easily forgettable since aura would take care of it. Cut with a knife, stubbed toe, scraped knee, all these things would be healed in seconds.

Except it had now been a full three minutes and her aura still hadn't activated. This had never happened before. This wasn't supposed to happen at all. Even if she were low on aura, her body would naturally use it to repair itself. That was just science. Biology. An incontestable fact. Five minutes now.

Then, so suddenly that it actually surprised her, the cut began to close up. In seconds, the only evidence she'd been hurt was the bit of dried blood left behind. But Weiss did not feel relieved. The fact remained that for some reason, her own aura, her very soul, outright refused to protect and preserve her body. As if it had been afraid to come out. And that thought gave her a chill.

"The heck, man? Weiss, do you know what's going on with this thing?"

Weiss looked up at Ruby. She had turned her scroll around to reveal that the entire screen was a harsh static, as if stuck on a dead channel. Ruby tried tapping at it again. "My scrolls all messed up. Can't even return to the main page or make a call."

"Did you reset it?"

"Twice."

Weiss scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. She pulled out her own scroll and sure enough, hers was on static as well. She tried using commands, even voice activated, and it showed no response. She even reset it. Same turnout. Finally she pulled out the dust battery cartridge and besides it feeling strangely hot, there was nothing wrong with them..

Ruby blew a raspberry. "Well this is lame. I didn't know we could get a bad signal so close to the school."

That was because it was supposed to be impossible. The Emerald Forest was part of the school grounds and well within the strongest range of the CCT On top of that, there were smaller CCT towers all throughout the forest which ensured that no matter where you were, your scroll always had a signal. Even if multiple went down, the proximity to the academy should prevent any disruptions. Weiss frowned, not sure what to make of it.

"Do you remember when we last saw Jaune?" she asked.

"I saw them moving west. They made a pretty sharp turn."

"Then we'll need to get moving. Perhaps we can cut them off if we get off the path and head straight to them."

"What if someone else found them? That could be why they changed direction?"

"They won't go down that easily. I like our chances more than anyone else's." Besides, Weiss had been itching for a fight against Jaune. Not those silly spars which hadn't been nearly satisfying enough. She wanted to fight him when he was serious, when he had something to lose, because that's when his real strength would come out. Weiss wanted it badly. And she wouldn't let the others get in the way of that.

Weiss finally felt her dizziness fade away and stood up. "Let's find them quickly then. We can take their scrolls, get the points, then break their scrolls. That way no one else can get their points."

Ruby tilted her head sideways. "Can we break them? Like, is that allowed?"

"If it was, the Professor would have mentioned it. Very clearly the rules are malleable. No one said we must play fairly."

"Wow, Weiss suggesting cheating?" Ruby shuddered, "Scary!"

"Hush, now let's go." She wanted that fight with Jaune. He'd seen plenty of new tricks of hers already, but he hadn't seen everything, and Weiss had been saving her best for him.

As they reached the last known location, something else stopped them. In a big clearing beyond the high cliff, there was a group of students. Maybe ten in all, spread about in various states of unconsciousness. As if they'd all suddenly decided to take a nap here in the wide open. Perhaps that would have been believable, if not for the fact that some of them were laying in their own vomit.

"What happened here?" Weiss wondered aloud.

Ruby checked a few of them. "Well, they're alive. Just napping I guess."

"Spread around like this? Doubt it."

"Sleeping bomb?"

"Maybe. Though I don't see any scattered shrapnel or a blast mark anywhere. Perhaps it's someone's semblance?"

"No one's semblance in our year can do this." Ruby gave that some thought. "Uh, as far as I know."

There were a lot of weird things going on, and all very close together too. Weiss noticed that one of the students was groaning. A boy sat up against a tree with his head down. Weiss hurried over and kneeled down to him, gently tapped his shoulder. "Hey, what happened here?"

The boy blinked, looking up at Weiss with confusion, a bit of drool hanging off his lip. He nearly dozed off again before Weiss snapped her fingers in his face to regain his attention. "Wake up fool. What happened here? Who did this?"

"Arc," he whispered weakly.

Jaune had done this? "How? What'd he do?"

But the boy could barely answer. He seemed to be trying to explain, but his voice was hoarse and groggy. Weiss huffed but accepted that she wouldn't be getting a full explanation. Not from him, anyway. "Where'd he go? Did you see?"

"West." the boy croaked before passing out.

Good, that meant Ruby's last deduction had been correct. Of course, that begged the question of where Jaune and Pyrrha were headed, and what their plan was against a gauntlet. No doubt they'd use the environment and some hit-and-run tactics to pick their pursuers off, and no doubt that's what happened here.

"Did they really beat all these guys?" asked Ruby, who'd come up beside Weiss.

"Doubtless. You know how capable they are."

"No, I mean, where are their wounds?"

Weiss paused. She looked the boy over and saw no bruises on him, which yes was odd, but easily explained. "Aura, obviously. I doubt they'd be able to reduce all of their aura to zero."

"But there's no dirt on them, either. Their clothes and armor look pretty clean for a recent fight. No damage to the terrain. No bullet casings or dust. Half of these guys didn't even draw their weapons."

Looking around, Weiss saw that it was true, and that gave them both a long moment to think. Somehow, Jaune and Pyrrha had managed to completely defeat a group of ten people, seemingly, without touching them. Something which had to be impossible even for geniuses like them. Not even last year Pyrrha would be capable of such a feat.

"Something odd is going on here." Weiss said, "and it doubtless has to be something to do with Jaune or Pyrrha. Those headaches we suffered earlier? Whatever these students were hit by must have hit us too. Though since we were farther away, the effect was weaker."

Ruby scratched her head. "But what was it?"

Now wasn't that the question. It was hard to say what Jaune and Pyrrha would specifically do in these circumstances. On one hand they were perfectly vulnerable, but she'd seen how they could act when vulnerable and that was when they were the most dangerous. Anyone headed their way could be walking into a trap, or perhaps not. Or maybe the trap was thinking there was a trap at all. Weiss' head hurt just thinking about it. The trouble with clever opponents is that it was tricky to determine how specifically clever they were being.

"Clearly those two have some tricks we haven't seen yet." Weiss had expected no less, but the idea was both times worrying and exciting. She couldn't resist a bit of a smile. Tingling with anticipation. "Well, nothing's changed. Let's follow after." Weiss then conjured a yellow glyph and set in on the grass. It was a new one she'd invented specifically as a base for one of her new techniques. It would likely be needed now. "I'll put the summoning glyph here. If things go wrong, I'll warp us back here."

Ruby nodded. "Any idea what they might be planning?"

"No point in trying to guess." said Weiss, "Best we can do is stay aware and react accordingly. We'd better move fast. Try to keep up, leader."

"I'll jog so you don't feel left behind, partner." countered Ruby with a giggle.

Together, they darted off westward. The anticipation for a much desired battle fueled Weiss's every step.

Nora coasted ahead of Ren in goofy strides while singing a song loudly and badly. This, of course, was normal.

They had left Cardin's group that morning, after accruing three points and finding that more than satisfactory. Ren hadn't expected them to do that well, but then they did have tons of help. He supposed that was the point of the test, to subtly convince the students to form larger groups, thus increasing the rate of success, thus benefiting the group's joint goal — Survival.

Ren didn't often think less of people. In fact, his thoughts tended to lean toward the inverse. That he thought too little of himself. Professor Port had told him that last year, and he hadn't forgotten it. But one aspect of this test that he was certain no one else had considered… was the fact that it was a simulation of life outside the kingdoms.

In the outside world, wild and lawless, there was one thing everyone was striving for — survival. Whether you were a lone vagrant, a band of outlaws, a small village, or growing colony, without the protections guaranteed from the major world powers, survival was entirely in the hands of the people, both individual and communal.

A proper village, helmed by good chiefs, strong pillars, and a cohesive community stood a greater chance at survival against the chaotic wilds. That was just a fact.

This test was more than just some exercise. It was a means of gauging everyone's ability to survive through teamwork.

Ren hadn't realized this going in. He'd only thought about it last night after the trade with Jaune's group, where he'd made a decision Ren found uncharacteristic. Once he'd realized the true test, he'd decided they had to find Jaune and Pyrrha.

He checked his scroll again. The tracking signal was gone, but he'd explored the Emerald Forest extensively in his free time, so he had a rough layout of it based on a few landmarks. He knew where Jaune and Pyrrha were likely headed, and he knew that Yang and Blake would not be enough help against the gauntlet. That was if Yang and Blake didn't betray them.

The truth was… he couldn't wait for them to sort out their problems anymore. They'd be out in the real world soon, facing dangers Ren was all too familiar with but scared him to death all the same. If Jaune and Pyrrha didn't put their heads together, they'd all perish. And suddenly it'd be too late to regret the choices and differences that led them to an avoidable end.

Ren's frown set in deep.

"I'm sure they're fine!" Ren looked up to see Nors standing in front of him, hands on her hips as she grinned up at him. "Get out of that head of yours, silly. You're spoiling the queen's mood!"

Ren chuckled and dipped his head. "I beg your forgiveness, Your Grace. I am your loyal servant." But it was a short-lived distraction. He'd never been good at seeing the sunny side of things, as Nora would say. Perhaps that was why she stuck with him — the sun to his rain. "This new rule is heavily skewed against them. Whatever the purpose, Goodwitch is trying to make things tougher for Jaune and Pyrrha. Which could mean they aren't doing too well." As he'd feared. "Maybe we should have addressed things sooner. More directly."

Nora fell in stride beside him. "Maybe. Too late to know now. They needed their space, especially from one another. If we'd tried to force it too soon, it'd only make them less likely to listen to each other."

Ren had to concede that she was probably right. For how crazy Nora could be, she understood social dynamics and people's emotions better than most. She had that kind of empathic eye that always seemed to spot the root of an issue. Still, that did not relieve him of his worries.

But with missions coming up, he couldn't stay the way he was now. None of them could. He had seen the outside and it had no biases. They might be champions here in the kingdoms, but out there none of that would matter. All the skill and power in the world didn't change the fact that if a Browolf caught you unawares, it could bite your head off in an instant. Ren had seen such things countless times.

He had to be more proactive. It wasn't enough to just let things play out anymore. He had to make an effort in growing his team's strength, with the hope that they'd all survive for as long as possible. If that meant he had to put some sense into his friends, then it simply had to be done. It was better than death. Far far better.

"I've changed my mind, Nora." Ren said.

"What, wanna go join Cardin again?"

"No. I think… We should fight Jaune and Pyrrha ourselves. Try to get their scrolls."

Her eyebrows rose. Though it didn't look like she disagreed. "You sure?"

"I think I want to test myself. And them, too. We'll have missions in a couple weeks and we'll all need to be ready. The stronger we are, the longer we go on, right?"

Nora gave him a look. That one he recognized which showed he had said something that concerned her. "Ren, these aren't the outlands anymore. Don't go back into survival mode. You don't need that. Neither of us need that."

Ren resisted the urge to frown. He knew what Nora meant, but she knew it wasn't that simple. After the things they'd seen, they'd faced, they'd had to do just to get through, what other life could you live but one where survival was everything? But Nora had that ability to adapt to her environment, and he envied that about. But Ren had accepted long ago that he couldn't change like she could. For him, survival was everything. Indeed, it was the only thing.

It's just now he had way more people to be concerned about than just Nora.

"I know, but the future's uncertain. We have to increase our odds somehow. And not just for me. Jaune may have had some valuable training, but neither he nor Pyrrha really know what the outlands are like. We need to be able to protect them. Or you know what'll happen."

"That won't happen."

"What matters is that it can. We need to make it impossible."

Nora stepped in front of him again. Funny how short she was and yet she cut such a strong presence. A wall which could simply get in his path and deny passage. Her expression was kind, but serious. "I'm with you, Renny. I am." and she took his hand, rubbed his palm with her thumb, "Just don't backslide, okay? We don't live that life anymore. Look toward the future."

"That's what I'm always doing."

And Nora wore that face she always did when he said that. One of the few faces of hers he couldn't stand, like she wanted to believe him, but couldn't. Then the expression vanished and she punched him in the shoulder like she'd told a funny one-liner. "Alright well let's find our fearless leader then, eh? Signal was in this direction. Knowing them, they're making out in a cave somewhere."

Ren honestly hoped they were. At least that'd mean they were getting along again.

Nora cracked her neck from side to side as they continued on. "I can't say I haven't wanted to go all out myself! I love you and all, but it's not all that fun kicking your butt all the time."

"I won last time."

"Yeah, now you just need to win a bajillion more times to even it up. So, how are you gonna beat our fearless leader?"

Ren was considering that now. Jaune and he had used to spar a lot in the first year, but not at all recently. So he only knew what he could do from what he'd seen. That might have been a disadvantage, until he considered that this also applied the other way around. "I've got some tricks, I assure you."

"Perhaps I do too, Renny." Nora bragged. Perhaps I do too." Then she sauntered ahead with a maniacal laugh, and Ren couldn't help but chuckle too as he followed.

Yang put up her cheesiest smile as Blake glowered at her. "Damn Blake. Might need to call a repairman or something cuz your AC's busted."

"This isn't funny." Blake huffed.

"It's pretty funny, actually. I mean you faint like a preteen at her favorite boy band concert and now you're sweaty because you have no air conditioning? Geez, girl, how high was your electric bill?"

Blake threw her face into her hands. "Oh my god. You are insufferable!"

Yang laughed, but also waved her partner down to keep the peace. "Okay, okay, I just had to get those out. You know I like making fun of you. Serious mode now. Ain't like I can use my AP right now, either."

"Or aura at all!" Blake growled, showing a scrape scrape on her elbow from when she'd fainted. "My aura isn't healing me. It's like… it feels like it's gone."

It couldn't be gone, because Blake was alive. That was what Yang thought, though she wondered now if she was just trying to rationalize it, when right now she felt just as disturbed. Any attempt to call upon her own aura failed. Not only for her AP, but her semblance, too, and even basic muscle augmentation. Hell, she'd tried hitting herself and bracing with aura but that hadn't worked either. At the moment, Yang was currently unable to call upon her aura for anything.

Whatever that force was that hit them, had somehow halted or prevented their ability to mold aura, and all things associated.

"Our scrolls too." said Yang, showing the static on her scroll. "Whatever happened, it probably messed with the batteries, too."

"I doubt either," said Yang.

"What then?"

"Whatever it is, it came from Jaune's and Pyrrha's direction. Their aura went out too. Maybe they know something we don't. Come on. We'd better find them.

It was perhaps ten minutes later, after scaling the cliff and following the trail back, that Yang began to feel her aura again. Coming back fast as flipping a switch. It was like she'd been suddenly filled with the energy of life again. And that's when she realized she had felt something similar long ago. It was like the day her aura had first been unlocked. The day she'd gone from human to superhuman. When she'd felt the potential of her mind and body ascend to new heights.

Whatever that force had done, it made her feel the opposite. Like all her power, all her potential, was suddenly and forcibly taken from her. It was a terrifying feeling, and the reassurance of having her aura back made the thought of losing again all the scarier.

"Yang? You alright?" asked Blake.

Yang gave a weak smile. "Yeah I'm good. Mind just went off somewhere. Where were we?"

"Well, our power is back. You should see if Jaune and Pyrrha are nearby."

Right. So Yang activated her Aura Perception. Looking about as they darted through the forest. It wasn't long before she spotted a burning white aura far off. Jaune. However…

"I see Jaune," Yang said, "But not Pyrrha."

Blake's eyebrow rose. "Did they split up? That's weird."

Yes it was. Hard to tell what they were thinking. But well, they'd get no answers loitering around. Yang figured it best to get answers from Jaune quickly.

Following the aura signature, they came upon the mouth of a wide cave, overgrown with foliage and shrouded in deep darkness. Though it was dark inside and Yang couldn't actually see Jaune, his aura was there. Probably waiting for Pyrrha to return. Still, something about this felt odd.

"Yo Champion, we're back!" Yang called, "No luck catching Ruby or Weiss. Figured it best we regroup."

But Jaune did not respond. He'd clearly heard them and stood up, but he didn't offer a response nor did he emerge from the cave. Just stood there, in the dark, waiting.

Yang tried again. "Alright look, I know the rules have changed, but our deal hasn't. Blake and me dont want your points. No need to stay in hiding. Come on, let's get moving before the others get here."

"What others do you refer to?"

Coming from the far right end of the clearing, and with unparalleled timing, was Weiss and Ruby. The former wearing her traditional scowl and crossed arms, and the latter waving enthusiastically. Yang smiled and waved back despite herself. In any other situation, this would be no cause for alarm. But Weiss and Ruby were dangerous together and while Yang liked her odds, there was still no accounting for whatever tricks they might have, even if she had seen several of them. After all, they only needed the scrolls to get points.

"Oh great…" sighed Blake.

"Honestly, you two, I'm disappointed. I thought you'd be eager for a challenge. Did you side with Jaune because you thought it'd make things easier for you?"

"Oh I love a fight, Weiss-cream and you damn well know it. Unfortunately, I've gotta save my runback with the champ for another day." Yang deployed her gauntlets with a devious grin. "You and I can square up though."

Weiss drew her rapier, but didn't point it Yang's way. Yet. "I'm afraid you are nearer to the bottom of my list for those I care to beat. That, and you don't currently have anything I'd want to fight you for. I suggest you stand down and let us have Jaune and Pyrrha."

Yang looked at Ruby with a raised eyebrow. Her little sister just shrugged her hands, drew Crescent Rose in its sniper mode, and held it at her side, non-threatening but ready. It was clear enough they wanted to avoid any unnecessary fights, which suited Yang, but with such conflicting objectives, a fight was pretty much unavoidable. Blake knew it too, for she'd drawn her gun and showed no hesitance pointing it at their teammates.

So Yang gave her own shrug for Weiss. "Fraid not, Weiss-cream. Gonna have to kick your ass."

A boisterous laugh filled the air. "Did someone say 'kicking ass'?"

From the other end of the forest, Ren and Nora were approaching. The latter was already toting her grenade launcher and the other with his hands on his gun-blades, ready to draw at the first provocation. His eyes scanned over the area and everyone there, like he was trying to work out a plan to take them all out. A pretty new thing to see on someone normally so disinterested in things combat oriented.

"This party just keeps getting bigger," drawled Blake.

"Goodwitch knows how to throw one," said Nora, pointing at the cave with her gun. "Are our precious teammates in there?"

"Jaune is." said Yang, "Guessing he and Pyrrha split up for some reason. That right, Jaune?" Yang called out. But again no response. What the hell was going on?

Weiss was showing more annoyance now. "Do none of you see the point of this exercise? Do you all mean to help Jaune?"

Strangely enough, Ren was the one to respond, meeting Weiss with a cold seriousness. "If only incidentally. Clearly you want your match against Jaune. But you wont get it this time. We need to have a match with him and Pyrrha both. You'll just have to wait."

Weiss snorted. "You jest."

"I rarely jest."

Nora nodded approvingly. "It's true. We kinda already decided to kick our awesome teammates' butts and get their points. Sorry Weissy."

Well wasn't this a goddamn treat? They were all after Jaune's points, which made helping him far harder now. The only consolation was that Ren and Weiss wanted the same thing, so they wouldn't work together. But that also made things more chaotic. As more factors came into play, the potential outcomes became greater and ever more out of Yang's control.

Yang nodded at Blake. Turned and pointed her gauntlets at Ruby and Weiss, while Blake did the same to Ren and Nora. Soon enough everyone's weapons were loaded and aimed and no one considered backing down. The only choice at hand was who would shoot first, and Yang couldn't say who it'd be.

Yang called out to Jaune one more time. "We could use your help here, Champ! Everyone else is probably headed this way too, you know! You don't have many options but to trust us!"

A long, heavy moment passed. A bead of sweat trickled off Yang's brow. Eyes darting between every opposing party.

That's when Yang heard footsteps echoing from inside the cave, getting louder and closer with every step. It demanded the attention of everyone, and suddenly all weapons but Yang's and Blake's were aimed that way. It wasn't a long wait at all, but it certainly felt like it was. Finally, Jaune entered the dim afternoon.

Except, it wasn't Jaune at all.

It was Pyrrha.

Yang's jaw dropped. "No…" she whispered as she activated her Aura Perception again, praying she had made a mistake. But no. Pyrrha's aura was normally a bright red, but right now it was white as snow. A color Yang had very rarely seen. In fact, she'd only seen this color on one person. Jaune Arc.

Pyrrha had Jaune's aura signature. Something which had to be, should be, impossible. Right?

And as though Pyrrha had heard Yang's thoughts. She adopted a smile. But it was a weird kind of smile. One that was slightly funny looking, but also a bit disarming. As if Pyrrha had suddenly inhaled a gas that made her loopy. That half insane grin. "Well, well, well. I guess my partner's hunch was right!" She pointed a trembling finger at Yang. "You couldn't tell it was me with your Aura Perception. Good to know. Seems Jaune's semblance is a soft counter to your special ability."

Yang gawked. "The hell? What do you mean?"

Pyrrha threw her hands dramatically in the air with a crazy grin. "Dunno! But my guess is that when Jaune uses his semblance to augment your aura, it transfers his aura to you and temporarily replaces your aura signature with his own." She put a finger to her chin in mock thought. "Probably just a side effect, rather than something intentional. Impressive though, isn't it?"

Ruby lowered her gun. "Uh, Pyrrha, are you good?"

"I'm great, Ruby!" Pyrrha squealed, "Ecstatic! How are you? How's your family?"

The resulting silence saw everyone looking at each other with the same confusion, and none of them knew what to do about it.

Ever goal-minded, Weiss chose to ignore Pyrrha's odd behavior and said, "We found the students you and Jaune defeated. We know Jaune did something to them that took them out. Whatever it was, it disturbed our scrolls temporarily too. What was it?"

Yang turned to Weiss. "Your scrolls got messed up, too? You think Jaune did it?"

"I know it. One of the students he defeated told us as much. The only thing he didn't mention was how." Weiss leveled Myrtenaster at Pyrrha. "Go on, explain it to us."

Pyrrha didn't even look like she was listening. She was staring at the sky with this completely lost look, like her mind was floating in the clouds and there wasn't a single thought in her head. She looked… high.

"I don't really know myself, Weissy. Jaune just told me to stand behind him and brace my aura!" Pyrrha tottered forward a little, eyes droopy. "Seems he's still got some tricks we don't know about."

"Is that what this is? Why are you here alone? Is it another one of Jaune's mad plans?"

"Yeah, I think so. I don't… remember. Uh…" Pyrrha squinted her eyes at them, blinked, then jolted upright like she'd been pinched. "Oh yeah! That's right, I'm supposed to distract anyone who finds me! Jaune went to find a good vantage point."

"Vantage point? Where?" asked Ren.

Pyrrha pointed southward. "That big ruined tower!"

Yang looked at Blake, sharing her shock. So he'd run off to that tower? For what? And more importantly, why had Yang not sensed him passing by. Surely her AP would have spotted him.

Unless, somehow, his aura had been turned off too?

"What did Jaune do, Pyrrha? How did he mess up our scrolls? How did he take away our aura?" asked Yang.

"Huh?" Ruby squeaked.

"What do you mean 'take away aura'?" asked Nora.

Yang did not give them a response. She just waited on Pyrrha, who was now giggling like a lunatic. At that, white sparks now seemed to be coming off her body. Like they did when Jaune used his aura. Pyrrha's aura really had essentially shapeshifted into her partner's aura, making it impossible to differentiate from the real source.

"I dunno! Ask him!" Pyrrha said, then her green eyes locked onto Yang. They were practically glowing like little emerald fires. "Besides, I gotta keep up my end of the plan! Want to know something cool?"

Pyrrha held out both hands. Palms held level over one another like she was holding something round between them. All the while, her mouth was stretched into a mad pearly smile. "Have you heard of Semblance Reversal? It's something I'd been working on for a while. A new way to apply my semblance. I never got far with it though. It takes too much aura. More aura than I have, normally. It's basically impossible to do… with only my aura to work with."

Raw red aura started to materialize between Pyrrha's hands. Not only visible, but swirling a spinning like water down a drain. It began to form a ball, a pulsing sphere of pure energy that Yang had never seen done before. She hadn't thought aura could be manifested in such a pure form. And the happy, but disbelieving expression Pyrrha wore inferred quite clearly that even she didn't know that what she was doing was possible until now. Working her hands like she was molding clay, the red aura ball continued to grow.

"You see… my own aura has magnetic properties. I always imagined that despite the connections, aura and semblances are separate things. But it's true what we learned last year, a semblance is an extension of you, your soul, your aura."

The red orb began to grow larger. And now, the air seemed to be getting stale, heavy like gravity had gotten slightly stronger.

"For so long, I used my powers mostly to attract things. It was diverse enough. But then I wondered if I could do something different! When I touch metal, I magnetize it and can draw them to me because my very aura is magnetism itself. Simple, no? Ah, but what if I could change the property of my aura? What if… I could reverse it?"

The ball was getting even bigger now, almost the size of a basketball. Now, The grass and rocks at Pyrrha's feet were getting torn from that ground and scattered away like they were trying to escape. Fleeing from her raw energy output. Yang couldn't help but step back herself, scared and entirely unsure what Pyrrha was planning to do with that thing. What it was even capable of. And from the looks of the others, they were thinking the same thing.

Pyrrha smiled at her creation, hair flapping about her face, wearing a grin that was almost twisted with excitement. Like a scientist that had made a revolutionary breakthrough in his field. "The opposite of magnetism. Hm. I guess it'd be…"

The huge red ball condensed into a small red orb in an instant. Now the size of a golf ball, though it beat and pulsed like a living heart. Pyrrha was sweating now and her arms were shaking as if the thing weighed tons and she was barely maintaining it. Her smile was still crazy, and she turned that crazy look on them. "You all may have gotten stronger, but don't forget who I am. I still don't like to lose. Some habits are hard to kill."

Pyrrha spread her hands out. The ball trembled as she aimed it straight at everyone. The white lightning was coming off her shoulders in waves. Burning the grass and stones and air all around her.

Pyrrha said three simple words, "Semblance Reversal: Repulsion."

And that was enough to make everyone run.

Jaune saw it and heard it from atop the tower. A mighty blast which even from this far away made him wonder if he had given Pyrrha too much aura.

Far off, a section of the forest suffered the felling of hundreds of trees. And the collective crashing was dulled due to distance, but he didn't doubt it was a tiny earthquake close up. Birds scattered from the area and flew off, knowing they wanted no part of it. Part of him wanted to run back and help Pyrrha, but he'd only be a hindrance with his aura in a flux.

That was the rough thing about this power in its current state. It took a long time to charge and an even longer time before being usable again. On top of that, it disturbed his ability to use aura for a short time, and he often needed to meditate in order to get his aura back under control.

But that was the plan. Right now he needed to reach the top of the ruined tower, get his aura back before Pyrrha arrived, and have another Disposition of the King ready for any pursuers. It was a solid enough plan, but didn't raise their chances of victory to a comfortable number.

More than likely, he'd need his fourth mode too. And even that didn't guarantee anything.

He had both their scrolls, just in case the signal put out was constant. It was better for the enemy to eventually reach them, so even if they found Pyrrha, they couldn't steal any points, thus making fighting her pointless.

Yang might be the only one with Aura Perception, but it wasn't worth gambling on whether she'd side with him or not. Whatever their reason, Yang and Blake would find him, and anyone following would find him too. Best to treat everyone like an enemy so as to not be surprised.

So Jaune bolted into the messy maze of the ruined castle, and aimed for its standout tower. In less than twenty minutes, the place would be swarming with enemies.

If he didn't have his aura back by then… well…

Here's to hoping it didn't come to that.

I don't like this chapter. So much exposition and not too many ways to make it interesting. That's a downside of writing a hard magic system I suppose.

You thought I was only Game of Hearts that had JJK references, but it was me, Almost Heroes!

ISA