Knox: What's... I don't...

King: Something wrong, Knox?

Knox: How can... But how... He...

King: You okay?

Knox: I... WHAT?! HOW?!

King: I think he's broken... Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter and your day~

Inspiration: Metal Gear Rising: Revengance.

/\

The next reality was quick to come into form because it started so slowly.

The scene opened to the interior of a limousine. A man in a suit, very clearly a politician rather than a businessman, looked out over the area. "We've come a long way these past years. More than I could have hoped for."

A man next to him nodded, "The mark of a strong leader, sir."

Ironwood sighed, "Kiss ass… damn politicians."

The politician shook his head, "No. The mark of a strong people. And a good advisor."

"Thank you, sir."

"Though…" The politician turned to the seats in front of him, "I suppose we owe that to you as well."

Sitting opposite him was Jaune Arc, dressed in a dark suit as well. Jaune chuckled and waved it off, "I'm happy we were so effective, but we can't take that much credit."

Coco smirked, "Who knew Arc could look good in a suit. I heard he was more the dress type~"

Jaune groaned. He didn't regret wearing it, he gave his word after all and an Arc never goes back on his word. What he did regret, though, was that everyone decided to film the event.

The politician looked out over the city to see an armored transport driving down the street in the distance, "You were able to train our new military far faster than we could have hoped. Now, we might actually have some level of peace." The politician laughed to himself. "And to think, I had my doubts about you and your group. Though, perhaps there might be hope for these… what was it? Private military corporations?"

Ironwood felt his eye twitch. The idea of a privately owned and operated MILITARY group was so foreign to him that it physically hurt him to think about. He imaged what Jacque would do with one and nearly had a heart attack.

Jaune shook his head, "We prefer the term, Private Security Services."

"Well, whatever you call it, you are easily the best we could have…" He was interrupted as the limo skidded to a loud halt with the sound of heavy gunfire. "What's going on?"

Jaune brought his hand to his earpiece, "Report!"

A voice came in over the communication device, "Enemy cyborgs!"

Yang perked up, "Woah! Cyborgs?!"

Jaune cursed under his breath, "What affiliation?!"

"Unaffiliated! Definitely hostile!"

Jaune nodded and smiled to the politician, "Excuse me, sir. I'll take care of this." Jaune calmly opened the door of the limo as the driver burned rubber to escape the area. He took his suit jacket in hand and tossed it aside, revealing his own cybernetic body.

Ironwood's eyes nodded for a moment. If he was honest, he was a little jealous of the sleeker, less steel-shell-like design. Atlassian prosthetics had two types: armor and near-skeletal. But this version looked far more advanced than he'd ever seen.

Jaune also had a long case in hand. As he held it up, the bottom of the case opened up and revealed a sword being held in a magnetic field. As he took his sheathed sword, he slowly removed it from its casing as electricity coursed through the blade.

Nora bounced in her chair excitedly, "So cool! Lightning swords! Can we do something like that with my hammer?!"

Ruby started to think of ways it might, but none of them were safe. But there was something about this blade that wasn't quite right to her. Something she couldn't place.

Jaune tossed the case to the side and placed the scabbard at his side. He lowered his stance, ready for whatever came his way.

Blake, Ilia, and Sienna all blinked once. Twice. Thrice. His stance was rather familiar. It was strikingly similar to Adam's.

A set of three cyborg soldiers approached from in front of him. Each was wearing body armor and tactical vests, wielding shorter blades for the fight at hand. After all, who needs guns when your body is mostly metal. One of them thought it was a good idea to rush attack their cybernetic foe.

Jaune smirked and swung his blade back before swinging the electrified blade through the enemy, who continued to run for a moment as the moment had yet to register for him. After a moment, blood flew out from his back and he fell to the ground in two pieces. Jaune swung his blade toward the ground beside him to toss off the blood that had splattered onto the blade. He started to return his blade to its sheath as the other two began to rush him. When his blade clicked back into its home, his attackers fell passed him in two pieces each.

Everyone was a little… Okay, a lot in shock for three reasons. One, they'd just seen Jaune bisect cybernetic men with a sword. Two, he had done so at a speed too fast to just be called blinding. Finally, he made it look so easy. Not just his lack of physical exertion, but also his emotional state. He looked like a man simply doing a job, not a man that just killed three people.

Jaune stood normally and ran off down the street. As he did, his ear piece rang out again, "Jaune! The Prime Minister's car is under attack!"

Jaune looked around, a small device clicking over his eye giving him access to a mapping system.

Nora chuckled, "Future monocles!"

Ruby's head tilted, "But what's a Prime Minister?"

Ozpin thought for a moment, "I've never heard of one, before… Context would make him similar to a Councilman. Possibly someone in a higher position than that…"

Jaune ran off to the car. Unfortunately, he arrived a little too late. The Minister was being held over the shoulder of a massive cyborg man. From the back, it was hard to tell who he was, but once he turned toward Jaune, he looked very familiar; Gira Belladonna.

Kali blinked for a moment, but her surprise passed soon enough, "Well… that's different."

Gira smirked seeing him, "So you're Jaune, huh?"

"What do you want with the Prime Minister?"

"I want him dead. Nothing personal, of course. Times are just getting too peaceful. Business is drying up as more and more countries move away from their war economies. But some of us happen to like that economy! How's an honest warmonger supposed to make a living?"

"So, this is your answer? Kidnap a politician and destroy a city?"

Roman shook his head, "It would depend on who replaces him if he doesn't make it… If they can force another warmonger or a tyrant, then they get what they want. Otherwise, they're back at square one, presumably unpaid on top of it."

Gira shrugged, not too bothered by it, "So far, at least." Gira turned and leapt off the ground and on top of a building nearby, thanks to his cybernetics.

"Get back here!" Jaune started to run after him.

"Sorry, boy. But you've got bigger things to worry about." Gira snapped his fingers with his free hand and the camera zoomed to the nearby oceanfront.

A large bulge appeared in the water before erupting as a massive beast of 1000 tons of metal sprung out from the water. It landed between Jaune and Gira, blocking his chase.

"Holy crap!" Yang jumped a bit at the sudden appearance of the giant mech. "What the heck is that?"

Jaune growled. Where the hell did they get a Metal Gear Ray?

Winter crossed her arms and thought out loud, "Metal Gear… why does that sound familiar?"

He drew his blade and widened his stance. He didn't have a choice but to go through the mech in his way. As the Ray roared, Jaune started to run toward it.

"What the hell is he doing?!" Mercury almost laughed to himself, very confused by his actions.

Several automatic turrets started to take aim at the incoming cyborg. As they unleashed their flurry of bullets, Jaune would swing his blade to cut or deflect every bullet that came near him. He slid under the mech and to one of its legs, slicing the outer armor like ribbons. Knocking the mech off balance, Jaune leapt up and sliced the turrets apart on that side.

The Ray jumped away from Jaune and its 'mouth' opened to show a system within. After a moment to charge, it fired a massive laser of plasma, ripping the street and buildings apart. As the laser faded, the Ray roared over a scene of burning city.

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines. This thing was terrifying in concept and scale. They remembered the old Metal Gear, but they didn't know that Ray was specifically designed to kill other Metal Gears.

After a moment of silence, Jaune emerged from the smoke undeterred by the attack. As he approached, the Ray reared back one of its wing-like arms to slam a building sized blade onto Jaune's head.

Tai's eyes narrowed, but he kept a grin, "Even something that large can be dodged, especially with how slow it's moving."

Jaune continued his charge, but the Ray was faster than anticipated, bringing its massive blade down on top of him. Jaune brought his blade over his head, holding back the giant mech despite the massive size and weight difference.

Yang started to laugh in that way you do when you see something so ridiculous it loops back around to being awesome. At least to her.

Weiss was having a hard time making any sense of what was happening.

The Ray, despite its modifications (possibly because of them), didn't have the smartest AI, so it just tried to push Jaune down harder. The blonde cyborg adjusted his stance and grabbed the opened hatch panel on the other side of the blade. As seemed to strain for a moment as his body sparked and started to glow slightly. After a moment, he somehow(!) tossed the mech over his shoulder and into the air.

And with that, everyone was more than well aware they were never going to be able to take this seriously.

Jaune leapt up after the mech, slicing at the wing before reaching the primary joint between wing and body. There, he jumped again with his sword raised above his head. As he fell, he sliced clean the entire wing with one move. He landed on the ground with no difficulties and swiped his blade aside again before returning it to its sheath. All the while, the Ray and the pieces of its wing rained down in giant chunks of metal.

Yang jumped to her feet with a raised fist, "That's was so awesome!"

Weiss did not have the same degree of appreciation, "But how?! How is that even possible?!"

Penny smiled, "It's not that strange isn't it?"

Ruby had a eureka moment, "Oh yeah! Penny! Didn't you hold back a ship on your own?"

"At the docks to save friend Blake, yes. Mechanized individuals are often known for being stronger than organic beings. If friend Jaune is a military cyborg, it's possible for him to do what we just saw. Especially with his technologically advanced body."

Jaune started to run off down the street to chase after Gira, only to be blindsided by a massive wing from behind. The Ray wasn't dead yet and it wanted to make Jaune pay for its wing. Ray's 'mouth' opened to roar again as the camera flew off to show Jaune flying spine first into the edge of a building. He rolled over the top, thankful his torso was artificial and strong enough to take that hit without breaking.

Every one of them could feel the impact in their backs at the hit, also thankful it didn't look any worse.

Ray's other arm opened a set of panels to launch a flurry of missiles toward the building. Jaune saw the incoming warheads not as a threat, but as an opportunity.

Blake raised an eyebrow, "How, exactly, would that be an opportunity?"

Jaune leapt off of the roof and onto the top of one of the flying missiles, only to kick off and onto one behind it.

Blake didn't know whether to be impressed or shut down like Weiss was.

Jaune jumped through the other wing and sliced it apart on the way. The Ray seemed to fall over in pain but used the moment to grab Jaune in its 'jaw,' tossing him into the nearby clock tower. But this did nothing to slow him down. Jaune peeled himself out of the cracked brick and ran down the tower toward the mech. He fell upon the mech like lightning, plunging his blade into the Ray's head. Sparks flew out from the wound, a result of the high frequency vibrations running through his blade.

Ruby gasped, "So that's what it was!"

Yang turned to her sister, but also leaning away a bit, "Um… what was it?"

"The vibrations! There was something about the sword I couldn't make sense of at the time, but that's what it was!"

"Okay… But, how is that good for a weapon?"

King appeared again in a bright flickering, "High Frequency blades are capable of severing bonds on a molecular level. It cuts through almost anything if swung hard enough."

Yang was speechless for a moment. The only thing that came out of her mouth was, "Woah…"

Jaune started to run down the length of the spine of the Ray with his blade still buried in its back. As he reached the ground again, he returned his blade to its sheath and the Ray collapsed into two halves.

Tai burst out into laughter. "What the hell even is this?!"

Jaune took off again down the streets. He saw Gira in the distance, surrounded by his soldiers. His target, unfortunately, was lucky enough to have a train passing by. Gira jumped from the street and onto the moving train. Jaune growled to himself, but couldn't just let him get away with the Prime Minister. So, the leaner cyborg started to run along the buildings to the side of the train before leaping off to catch the train.

Blake was seriously getting creeped out now. This was a little eerie considering his fighting style and now the train.

The man on the other end of Jaune's ear piece chimed in again, "He's heading for the front of the train! Catch him! But keep an eye out. An unidentified dropship was spotted in the area."

Jaune charged forward, leaping over cargo boxes until he reached the car with Gira waiting nearby; the Minister chained to the car in front of them. However, he wasn't alone. Sitting between the two was another cybernetic man, Adam Taurus.

Ilia blinked in surprise, "I… don't think I've ever seen him without the mask."

Blake thought back, but also couldn't place a moment.

And neither could Sienna, his boss. Questions for later.

Gira smiled as Jaune approached. "Too little too late. I don't need my shield anymore." He dragged his blade against the underside of the Prime Minister's chin, drawing blood.

Jaune tried to rush toward him, but Adam stood in his way.

Gira turned back to the Minister, "What about all the good things war has done for us?"

"There are good things?" Ruby asked.

Ozpin shook his head, "None I'm aware of."

"Where are your speeches about that? Jobs? Technological advancement? Having a common purpose? Well, doesn't matter for you anymore, does it?" Gira cut him down before holding him up toward Jaune by the back of his neck. "Mission's failed, little man." His blade then ran through the Prime Minister's body like bloody butter.

And everyone was back down from their earlier high. Things went from ridiculous to heavy in the blink of an eye.

As Gira tossed the Minister to the ground, Jaune lunged forward to try to get passed Adam. But Adam was fast enough to stop him and pull him back again. The dropship appeared over the train and picked up Gira with a support line. "He's all yours Adam."

Adam smirked and adopted a true fighting stance. He and Jaune possessed similar fighting style's but their blades were very different. Jaune's was a straighter modern look to combat blades, while Adam wielded a red bladed katana. The two started to trade blows, each parrying the other for a counter attack to be blocked. After a while, their blades clashed with a high-pitched noise and sparks emanating from the point of contact.

Adam nodded, "Self-taught and not too bad. But still…" He broke the stalemate and Jaune tried to push off and over him, but Adam was prepared and swung his body around to slash at Jaune while he was in the air. Adam had taken control of the fight and was pushing Jaune back along the train. As they clashed again, Adam looked like he realized something. "I see now. You deny your weapon its purpose."

Adam tossed Jaune off but didn't follow through. He wasn't taking this seriously anymore. "It yearns to bathe in the blood of your enemies, and yet you hold it back from what it was meant to be!"

Blake sighed and shook her head, "Very Adam…"

Yang took in a sharp breath, "Yikes. I saw the guy was a jerk, but that bad?"

"You'd be surprised what people are capable of… Especially if they feel wronged and out of options." Blake remembered Adam before he had taken his first life.

He was still aggressive and impatient, but always cared for others. The worst he ever got was cutting through a wall because he couldn't find a door. But that day, he finally got results. Humans started treating faunas like people because they were afraid of people like Adam. That galvanized him and made him become more extreme to what he is now. He justified it, as so many had, by saying it was the option he had to achieve equality. Make them fear us if we aren't…

Jaune shook himself back to his senses, "Wrong. My blade is a tool of justice!"

Yang snickered a little, "That was pretty corny."

Adam rolled his eyes. "And that's where you went wrong." Adam was suddenly in front of Jaune and swung his blade up toward Jaune's head, gouging out his still very human eye.

This got people to recoil at the sight. Too soon?

Jaune recoiled, stumbling slightly, but kept himself upright.

Adam stabbed the tank beneath them and ran the blade along the form. Fire started to spit from the metal wound, revealing the contents as fuel, and along his blade. Adam swung with the now flame-covered blade; each attack blocked by Jaune but pushing the blonde back with every hit. He swung the blade down to create a smokescreen as he returned his blade to its sheath, out of view from Jaune. The camera moved close to show a trigger near the top of the sheath. As Adam pulled it, the blade flew out from its casing with the force of a shotgun.

Blake was officially freaked out by this world. There were too many similarities between it and the Adam she knew.

Adam took the blade as it flew and used the momentum to slice through Jaune's arm with little effort. As Jaune flew back, Adam decided to throw his words against him for good measure, "This is why you don't bring a tool to a sword fight."

Jaune caught the edge of the last container of the train, barely holding on. He pulled himself up, but it was difficult to do with one arm. Adam approached, holding his blade toward Jaune. As he raised his blade to end the blonde, they left the tunnel.

Adam laughed a little to himself. "Lucky Devil…"

The camera swung around to show Sun riding along the nearby cliff in an armored transport turret. Sun fired the heavy gun toward Adam, effectively saving Jaune.

Sun pumped his fist in celebration, "Booyah! To the rescue!"

Adam had to focus on the new attacker and deflecting the incoming fire. The dropship appeared again, giving Adam his escape. Jaune could only lie on the container, bleeding from his arm and eye. His mission to protect the Prime Minister had failed. His only solace was he was alive.

Ozpin sighed. Sometimes, people weren't so lucky. In many ways, they had to count every blessing they could ever have.

Jaune fell back in his chair with a heavy breath, "That was a thing… How can something go from serious to crazy and back that quickly?"

Ren shrugged, "In some way, you could consider it pretty similar to life. One moment, everything is calm. Suddenly, everything ends up going wrong."

Coco sighed, "If Yatsu was here, we'd get a philosophical discussion going at this point."

King's body flickered for a moment, appearing to be wearing a blindfold. It was short lived and unnoticed by the viewers.