Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jaune Arc was hungry. He was hungry, tired, and a myriad of other things as he trekked through the forests outside of Ansel. But despite the various ailments currently afflicting him, he chose to carry on. After all, he wanted to be a hero, and what kind of hero would let something as minor as an empty stomach stop him part way through his journey?

Grumble…

Obviously Jaune's stomach didn't feel the same way. He sighed, regretting not raiding his family's pantry for more snacks before leaving. He had chosen to err on the side of stealth and caution as he slipped away in the early morning hours, not wanting to risk alerting his parents with too much noise.

They already didn't think he was fit to be a huntsman, and they would have grounded him for eternity if they caught him stealing Crocea Mors as he snuck out to go join Beacon. Sure they were probably right, as he might have had to forge his transcripts to get in, but darn it he was dedicated to prove them wrong!

It was now somewhere around noon, and Jaune had been walking for several hours already. Normally the trip from Ansel to Vale would take a few hours by car on the highways that drove around Vale's various Eastern mountains. Instead, he was walking a more direct path through, what he was hoping was not-grimm infested forests. Shorter the distance, but at a much slower pace. By the calculations he made the day before he left, he should reach Vale by sunset, where he'll go rent a nice, cheap motel, then fly to Beacon the next day by airship.

Dust, he hoped he wouldn't puke on an airship again. The last time he rode on one was during a family camping trip to Anima, about 6 or 7 years ago. He's sure he must've outgrown his motion sickness by now.

But, that was neither here nor there. Right now he just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other. All he had to do was keep heading West and keep his chip up. Confident! He had to focus on all the things he was going to achieve! Not the fact that he might've lost track of West with the Sun at high noon, the fact that he had no food, no reception on his scroll, and oh Dust and Grimm he was going to die out here.

Nope! Can't think like that. No negative thoughts, no sirree. Gotta stay positive, confident. One foot in front of the oth-

CRACK.

The sound of a branch snapping echoed through the air. Begrudgingly, Jaune looked down. There were no sticks or twigs beneath him. He didn't make that noise.

Growwlll…

Jaune froze as he heard the guttural snarl from behind him. Slowly he turned, cranking his neck as far back as he could, and that's when he saw it out of the corner of his eye. A beowolf, larger than any he'd seen in books, with several white bony spines protruding from its arms.

"Ohhhhh sugar honey iced tea that's a big grimm." Jaune felt his heart sink. His knees became weak, his palms sweaty, he wanted to vomit out the leftover spaghetti he ate for breakfast.

Okay Jaune, think! How do you get out of this? Uhh… movement, right? A grimm's vision is based on movement? At least that's what that one movie about a grimm theme park said. And movies wouldn't lie, right?

The 17 year old boy stood completely still, save for the pounding of his heart. To his surprise, the beowolf seemed to stop as well, tilting its head to side as if confused. However, Jaune's relief then turned to sheer panic as the beowulf instantaneously lunged forward, charging straight for Jaune.

To his credit, while Jaune never actually had any combat training, he at least considered himself reasonably fit. Fit enough that he was able to turn, sprint, and keep a solid distance from the grimm as he ran for his life.

Curse you movies! Why would you lie to me!?

----

5 minutes. Jaune had been sprinting as fast as he possibly could for the last 5 minutes. His legs burned, lungs hurt, but his body ignored all of it as he was completely overtaken by his flight instincts.

Taking a quick peek behind him, he saw that the beowolf alpha was still hot on his tail, rampaging through the forest for its next meal. Jaune swore under his breath. He couldn't keep this up and he knew it. He was getting too tired, and if he didn't change strategies, he was going to die.

Part of him thought about drawing Crocea Mors and trying to take down the grimm, but its sheer size and apparent age shot down that idea quickly. While Jaune wanted to be a hero, he was realistic enough to know when he was outmatched.

He glanced around, looking for anything he could use to get the advantage. That's when he felt a pull to his left. Not a physical, grabbing pull, but something in the back of his mind telling him to look that direction. Deciding to trust this gut instinct, he turned toward the direction and saw a cave. Not a large, gaping hole in a mountain, but a small crack in the stone, tight enough for him to just barely fit while the Grimm would have no chance of entering.

Seeing that was his best chance of survival, Jaune pivoted, dashing for the crag. The beowolf dug its claws into the ground to redirect its momentum and keep pace with the more nimble human.

"AHHH please stop being so smart!" Jaune cried out as he beelined for the cave.

Jaune pushed forward as the grimm gained ground behind him. As the last of Jaune's energy left him, he dove into the crack, ignoring the cuts and scrapes he received as he shoved himself deeper and deeper in. He heard a terrifying crunch behind him as he saw the beowolf had caught up and tried to force its way after him. It continued to slam its skull and claws against the stone, desperately trying to break the mountain open for its next meal.

With a whimper, Jaune kept pushing further and further through the crevice. After several terrifying seconds Jaune squeezed himself out of the fissure and found himself in a much larger cavern. The teenager let out a brief sigh of relief as he was no longer in danger of getting pinned by some rocks and starving to death. And the idea of cutting a limb off to escape like in that one movie 172 Hours really didn't appeal to him. Roars and slams against the stone drew his attention back to the entrance, but they sounded distant and muted enough that he believed he was safe.

Catching his breath, Jaune allowed himself to relax. All he had to do was rest, wait until the grimm lost interest, and he would crawl his way back through the crevice and continue on his journey to Beacon. A little bit of a rough start, he had to admit, but what kind of hero's journey wouldn't start off with a bit action and terror?

Resting his back against the stone wall, Jaune reached into his pack and pulled out his canteen, greedily gulping down some water. Now safe, Jaune took the time to examine his surroundings. The cavern was relatively small, only five, maybe six feet in diameter, with a tunnel on the far end that continued further underground. There were a few low hanging stalactites, but luckily the red lighting of the cavern was bright enough in here he could see them and avoid bashing his head open.

Jaune froze for the second time today. Having been so focused on not dying, he didn't seem to notice that the entire cavern had a red tinge to it, illuminated by an unknown source. Caves were not supposed to be red. Where did all this light come from anyway? Jaune was both annoyed that he no longer had the opportunity to build the torch he wanted, but also scared of unknown source of power.

Curiosity taking the better side of caution, Jaune followed the light, pushing further into the cavern. It only took a short amount of time for Jaune to reach the end of the cave, as it was not very deep. At the end, he found the source of the strange light. It was a strongbox, not unlike ones he'd seen his dad used to store weapons, or those magazines he didn't want his mom to find.

The strongbox itself had some kind of screen or something where the lock would normally be. The screen fizzled in and out, leaving the strongbox unlocked and continually giving off the red hue that tinted the cavern. The box itself was covered with moss and rust. Jaune surmised that this thing must have been here for a long time.

Jaune knelt in front of the box, placing both hands on the lid. The more rational part of his brain screamed at him to stop and walk away, but the curious, adventurous side urged him onward. With a slight motion, Jaune pushed the lid upward, opening the strongbox. With a click followed by a depressurizing hisssss, the lid slowly rose, revealing its contents.

It was a mask. Simple in design, yet pristine in condition. The mask had the appearance of the top half of a human skull. Blood red rectangles marked the areas above the eye sockets, and mask was bisected vertically by a metallic band.

Jaune found the mask haunting, but beautiful in a way. The design was rather morbid, and the coloration reminded him a little too much of the grimm, but something about it drew him in anyway. He wondered if this was supposed to be a grimm mask, like the ones the White Fang used.

That train of thought sent a wave of panic through him. Was this place some kind of White Fang safehouse or cache? Jaune moved to close the container, ready to leave the mask behind. He did not want to get involved with a group of terrorists before his first day of school.

Strangely enough, Jaune found himself unable to leave the mask to its fate. He looked deep into the eyes of the mask. He felt something deep inside. Deep inside… he knew it would be a waste to leave this mask here. He felt compelled to take it, like a voice in the back of his head telling him that he needed it.

After all, looking at the condition the container, this place hadn't been visited in years, maybe decades! Whoever left this mask here obviously didn't need it anymore. So why shouldn't he take it? And if the mask really did turn out to be White Fang, then… then he would just turn it into the police! He would tell them where he found the mask, they'd investigate, and maybe catch some bad guys. That made complete sense! Jaune felt pride welling up inside of him. Not even starting Beacon yet and he was already making plans to catch criminals. Jaune knew that huntsmen needed to trust their guts, and his instincts told him that he should take it. So, Jaune reached into the box and grabbed a hold of the mask.

Almost immediately, Jaune felt a jolt of electricity surge through him. Jaune flinched and closed his eyes, thinking he had sprung some sort of strange trap. Like the ones he'd seen in those movies about the whip-wielding archaeologist that searched for ancient artifacts during the Great War. But instead, he felt nothing but a warm embrace. He opened his eyes, and found himself enveloped by a yellow-white glow. Unbeknownst to him, the mask had awakened Jaune Arc's aura.

"Woah, trippy." was all Jaune could say as he examined the glow of his palm, then the back of his hand, before the light receded. Jaune thought that reaction was weird, but ultimately decided to ignore it. He could investigate what just happened later, when he wasn't in a spooky cave in the middle of a grimm infested forest.

Jaune took one last look at the mask, staring intensely into its eyes, eyes that despite being empty, drew him in deeper and deeper. Jaune shook his head. He thought that his adrenaline must finally be wearing off as he started to feel woozy. Quickly, Jaune opened up his traveling pack and threw the mask inside. Closing it up, he returned to the crevice where he entered the cavern.

Listening carefully, Jaune could no longer hear the grimm outside. Realizing that it must have lost interest, Jaune quietly moused his way through the crag once again. Soon enough he popped out of the fissure, once again able to breathe in the open air and take in the afternoon sun. Jaune scanned the area around him, and saw no signs of the grimm that was chasing him, nor of any others.

Satisfied with the safety of his surroundings, Jaune took a look at his scroll. He only lost about half an hour with this whole debacle. If he power walked instead of taking a leisurely pace, he should be able to make up for lost time relatively quickly.

So with a nod, a smile, and a never ending sense of optimism, Jaune continued to make his way towards Beacon, having unknowingly become the newest owner of the mask of Darth Nihilus.

Chapter Text

Jaune Arc felt sick to his stomach. 6 years. He had 6 dust-damned years to get over his motion sickness, but nooo, apparently his body just wanted to say "Fuck you Jaune, you don't get to be happy."

Come on Jaune, just focus, you're almost there. Just act like you're one of those Mistralian monks. Peace, calm, tranquility. Peace, calm, tranq- HRRGK.

Jaune's internal mantra was interrupted by a wave of nausea. Both hands flew to his mouth in a vain attempt to keep the bile in. Luckily, the bullhead he had been riding neared its destination, Beacon's airdocks.

Gurgle...

His stomach would not wait that long. Rising from his seat and sprinting for the rear of the bullhead, Jaune shoved some random, attractive, busty blonde out of the way as vomit was literally spilling between his fingers. He could vaguely hear the cries of said girl as he ran for the nearest trash can and emptied his stomach.

Not the best way to start off the day… Jaune mentally groaned to himself.

----

As the bullheads loading ramp opened up to release its passengers, Jaune Arc once again found himself shoving his way passed random students to empty his guts.

His stomach now empty, Jaune relaxed as he placed both hands on sweet, sweet, solid ground. It was only the last dregs of his pride that stopped him from kissing the concrete then and there.

Reaching into his bag, Jaune pulled out his canteen and washed out his mouth, hoping to remove any after taste and smell. As he finished, a small explosion rocked the ground. Jaune dove to the side with a very clumsy combat roll, thinking that they were under attack or something.

Standing up, he scanned the surroundings, and instead of seeing some hostile force he saw a cloud of smoke rising from two girls. The first girl, laying on the ground, looked younger than him, with black dress with red trims that matched her hair and corset. Her most distinctive feature was the flowing crimson hood. The second was a beautiful, noble looking woman, with a silver white pony tail, and the most awe striking pale blue-white dress trimmed with a snowflake pattern as mesmerizing as she was.

The duo began arguing, probably over the explosion, which only ended when a raven haired beauty interrupted them. The mysterious amber-eyed interloper seemed to say something to anger the white haired snow angel as she then stormed off. The third woman left as well, leaving the red riding hood alone on the ground, dejected.

Jaune felt a pang of sympathy in his heart. The girl reminded him of one of his younger sisters, Amber. The girl would always lie down on the ground when their parents wouldn't give her something she wanted, usually cookies. Jaune would always make sure to smuggle her some after her tantrum.

Big brother instincts taking control, Jaune sauntered up to the younger huntress. Shouldn't be hard to talk to her. He just needed to be confident! Jaune stood over the girl, his shadow covering her face and getting her attention.

Extending his hand, Jaune tried to think of something cool to say, but only blurted out, "Hey… I'm Jaune."

Red Riding Hood took his hand and politely responded, "Ruby." as she pulled herself off the ground. "Hey aren't you that guy who threw up on the ship?"

Jaune let out a very unmanly groan.

----

"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!" Jaune tried to defend himself as he and Ruby walked through one of Beacon Academy's several gardens.

Ruby failed to stifle a laugh. "Look, I'm sorry! Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind."

Indignantly, Jaune crossed his arms, it was time to go on the offensive. "Oh, yeah? What if I called you Crater Face?"

That seemed to strike a nerve with Crater Face. "Hey, that explosion was an accident!"

"Well the name's Jaune Arc! Short, Sweet, rolls off the tongue - ladies love it!" Jaune had practiced that line in the mirror at least a dozen times. He was sure he got the delivery right.

Ruby raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Do they?"

Jaune's playboy facade instantly broke down. "They will! Well, I-I hope they will. My mom always says that… Never mind." Jaune mentally kicked himself. Who brings up their mother in their first conversation with a girl?

The silence was pregnant with twins, so Ruby decided to open up another topic of conversation.

"So… I got this thing!" the little red reaper pulled out a massive weapon, a crimson mecha-shift scythe that Jaune had no idea how he missed.

"Whoa! Is that a scythe?" Jaune cried out.

"It's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!" Ruby glowed with pride.

"A-wha…?"

"It's also a gun." Ruby explained, smirking as she cocked her baby.

"Oh! That's cool!" Jaune actually thought so. He'd never actually seen a weapon like that before. All of the weapons in his family's home were… regular weapons he supposed. Axes, halberds, swords, that kind of stuff.

"So what've you got?" Ruby asked, trying her best to contain her lust for weaponry.

"Oh! I got this sword!" Jaune proclaimed as he drew Crocea Mors.

"Oooooh!"

"Yeah, and I've got a shield too!" Jaune plucked the scabbard off his belt, planting it onto his arm and expanded the shield.

"So, what do they do?"

"The shield gets smaller, so when I get tired of carrying it, I can just, put it away."

"But… wouldn't it just weigh the same?" Ruby was… confused to say the least.

"Yeah, it does..." Jaune let his arms fall to the ground, dejected.

"Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons, sooo… I guess I did go a little overboard when designing it." Ruby timidly rubbed the back of her head.

"Wait- you made that?!"

"Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons! Didn't you make yours?"

"It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war." The weight of that fact never really hit Jaune until he just stated it. He could feel the amount of bloodshed this blade wrought, hear the terror in the cries of its victims. Wait, what? Jaune had no idea where such dark thoughts came from. Though thinking about it, Jaune felt as though he should give his ancestral blade more reverence. Calling it a hand-me-down seemed insulting to the spirits of those slain by it.

"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me!" Ruby laughed trying to bring the spirits of her new friend up. "Well, I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."

Jaune sheathed his sword, a little unsettled. "Yeah, the classics…"

As the duo picked up the pace once again, Ruby couldn't help but feel her curiosity get the better of her. "So, why'd you help me out back there? In the courtyard?"

Jaune just shrugged. "Eh, why not? My mom always says, 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.'" Jaune cursed in his head as he realized he brought up his mom again.

Luckily Ruby didn't seem to notice. "Hmm." Ruby stopped, and realized she had no idea where they were. "Hey, where are we going?"

"Oh, I don't know! I was following you."

Jaune thought that this beginning sounded about right with his luck.

----

After unintentionally touring around campus, Ruby and Jaune finally found the auditorium. The blonde that Jaune bumped into previously seemed to recognize Ruby and called out to her.

"Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!" the Yellow one yelled over the crowd.

"Oh! Hey, I gotta go! I'll see you after the ceremony!" Ruby quickly spoke before abandoning Jaune.

"Ah, great. Where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to!?" Jaune couldn't help but feel like he was being watched as he complained and despondently walked over to the back of the auditorium.

Jaune felt the full force of both being alone and too awkward to strike up a conversation with someone new as he stood by himself within the crowd. Instinctively, Jaune turned and looked back at Ruby's group, as he heard voices being raised in that direction. The snow angel from earlier had appeared once again, and seemed to be talking about him! He heard something about blonde hair and she pointed at him! Obviously she must've been stricken by his dashing good looks and natural charisma.

Jaune was going to walk over and break the ice when he was interrupted by a figure walking out on stage. An older man, Jaune assumed one of the professors, with silver grey hair and a cane stood in front of a microphone next to a woman that both terrified and excited Jaune in equal parts. Even from this distance, Jaune could feel power radiating off this man. It made him feel… wary. This man would have to be watched, kept at a distance, he could be a possible threat.

Jaune shook his head, clearing that strange train of thought out of his mind. He didn't even know this man, why would he be a threat? Oh! Maybe it's that hunter's instinct he's heard about finally coming into maturity. Where seasoned huntsmen and huntresses are able to identify and assess dangers just from a glance! Oh having a skill like that would be so cool.

The man cleared his throat and spoke. "I'll… keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction." The students began whispering amongst themselves at the uplifting speech. "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." The man then simply turned and walked away.

As the man left, his blonde assistant stepped forward. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

The trio of girls continued to talk as the professors left, and Jaune thought it was the perfect time to introduce himself.

Moving in from behind, Jaune slickly slid up behind snow angel and said, "I'm a natural blonde, you know."

Snow angel face palmed.

----

Later that night, Jaune found himself nestled in the ballroom between two overly hormonal male teenagers that decided to display their superiority by flexing shirtless. He didn't need any of that, because he would be sleeping in comfort and style as he threw on his favorite onesie pajamas. He saw Yang, who he now knew as Ruby's older sister, look over so he gave her a friendly wave. She seemed to groan and look away. She must still be upset about the shoes.

Well he'll just give her some space and hopefully that'll all be water under the bridge. Jaune nuzzled up under his sleeping bag and quickly let sleep embrace him.

----

Jaune awakened to the sensation of wind on his face and the sun beating upon his closed eyes, neither of which made sense since he was sleeping indoors in the ballroom. Jaune moved his hand to reach for his blanket to throw over his face, but found himself only grabbing a hand full of grass instead. That woke Jaune right up.

Shooting up, Jaune looked around to see just where in the name of grimm he was. All around him, he saw amber waves of tall grass. It was a plain. A plain with rolling hills that he'd never seen before. A plain that he shouldn't be in because he should be in Beacon's ballroom. How in the name of the Brothers did he get here?!

"Tell me [unintelligible], what do you think of the plains of Dantooine?" A voice called out behind Jaune.

Jaune immediately spun around towards the source. The speaker was a man. An exceedingly tall man that easily towered over Jaune. He wore a form fitting black uniform that had orange bracers, boots, and pauldrons layered over it. His torso had a strip of orange fabric that extended down into a long loincloth. He had a stern face and strong jaw, with a shaved bald head that had two blue squares tattooed onto it.

"Da-Dantooine?" Jaune sputtered out. "Where the Grimm is that!? Why am I here!?"

The man only seemed to ignore Jaune as he walked right passed him.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Jaune cried out and he tried to put his hand on the man's shoulder to stop him.

To Jaune's shock, his hand only seemed to pass through the man, as if he were made of smoke.

"Wha-" was the only word Jaune's overloaded mind could muster.

"It is peaceful." Another voice called out, deeper and raspier than the first. Jaune looked, and as if appearing out of nowhere, another figure sat upon the nearby hill, eyes closed, meditating. The newest speaker was a dark skinned human, with long black hair tied into a series of dreadlocks. His clothes were simple, long flowing robes of dark brown with no design or ornamentation.

"But sometimes, it's too peaceful." the man spoke again, before opening his eyes and looking to the first speaker. "Isn't that why you sought me out, Alek?"

The now-identified Alek smiled. "Indeed. I was hoping you would honor me with a duel? We must not let our martial skills dull while on this world."

The dreadlocked figure rose from his spot, and out of his sleeve, a metal cylindrical tube appeared. With a nod, Alek drew a similar pipe from his own belt. Both duelists pressed a button on their handles, and to Jaune's shock, blades of pure energy apparated.

"Laser swords! Oh man Ruby would be freaking out if she was here!" Jaune exclaimed as he backpedaled a few feet away from the upcoming fight.

The two figures stared each other down for but a brief moment before the first move was made. Alek dashed towards the dreadlocked figure and swiped with a horizontal slash. The man easily parried him, deflecting the sword before releasing a quick flurry of counterattacks. The cuts were fast and aimed at Alek's limbs, the figure was aiming to debilitate Alek.

Alek was forced to backpedal, deflecting the oncoming attacks, but the dreadlocked man kept pressuring him, increasing the speed. Seeing this exchange as lost, Alek instead retreated with a leap that Jaune didn't think was possible.

Chasing his prey, the dreadlocked figure leapt 30 feet in a single bound, simultaneously bringing his sword down on Alek's head. To stop this, Alek extended his off hand, and suddenly his opponent was blasted backwards by an unseen force. Tumbling into a backflip, the dreadlocked figure landed on both feet, staring Alek down once again.

Both fighters decided to change strategy with the pause in battle. Both of them took a new stance, raising their swords high above them with both hands. With a twirl, they both charged once again. The strikes were now completely different. Instead of light, precise jabs and cuts, these attacks were heavy, powerful, and wide. Jaune could feel the weight behind each attack, and it looked as if both fighters' laser swords threatened to fly out of their hands with each exchange.

Parrying a slash, Alek was able to shift his opponent's momentum to his side, leaving him open for a full-contact punch to the jaw. The strike connected, the power of it causing the dreadlocked figure to turn and stumble. However the man would not go down quietly, and used the momentum of the turn to move into a spinning back kick, slamming right into Alek's gut.

If Jaune didn't know any better, he would've thought he was watching a choreographed performance rather than a fight. Each attack was beautiful and graceful, and neither fighter had actually landed a blade strike yet, as each attack would be expertly blocked and parried.

Then Alek went for a low sweeping cut to the legs, his opponent reacted by doing an aerial flip over the blade. Landing behind Alek, the figure struck him in the spine with his knee, before pushing him forward with that unseen force Jaune saw before. Alek stumbled forward, falling to one knee. Jaune nearly called out as Alek's opponent went to strike him from behind, but Alek seemed to sense this coming. At the last second, Alek turned and blocked his opponent's leaping strike.

As their blades locked, Alek glanced to his side and saw several small rocks. Alek's eyes seemed to glaze over, as the rocks began to levitate and fling themselves towards the dreadlocked figure. Several of the rocks pelted him, and forced the figure to retreat once again.

Alek smiled as that exchanged ended in his favor. The smile faded when he watched his opponent deactivate his lightsaber, and instead extend both palms outward. Alek's eyes widened at this, as he then mirrored the same motion. At first Jaune was confused. The two fighters seemed to be like mimes, pushing forward with both hands, struggling against an invisible wall.

That's when Jaune saw it. Like a fallen rock that sent ripples through a still lake, the grass around them pulsed outwards as telekinetic energy overflowed from them. Jaune watched the tall grass bent over, struggling to get away from the contest of wills. Both fighters struggled as sweat dripped down their brows. Every painful step they took towards the other seemed to cause the ground to shake. Jaune thought they were going to destroy the entire landscape until a voice cut through the air.

"Enough!" The voice shouted, commanding and authoritative.

Alek and the dreadlocked figure both stopped, dropping their arms as they and Jaune all looked to the newest arrival. This figure wore full brown robes, his face fully obscured by a hood.

Alek was the first to bow to the man. "Revan." He spoke reverently.

"Alek, [unintelligible]." this Revan spoke, his voice now much calmer. "While I appreciate your enthusiasm, I would prefer it if you didn't destroy the countryside with your duel."

"Of course, our mistake." Alek apologized.

"Yes we were merely attempting to pass the time as we wait for the Council, nothing more." The dreadlocked figure added on.

Revan gave a non committal nod before turning around. "Well your wait is now over. Come. The Council will see us now to hear our petition. With luck, they have seen reason and will chose to intervene in this senseless war."

As the three figures walked away, Jaune's vision began to blur and darken, until he was completely overtaken by darkness.

----

Once again, Jaune shot out of his dreamstate, this time back in Beacon's ballroom. He was panting hard, and looking down, he saw he sweat through his favorite onesie. Jaune let out an annoyed sigh as he got out of his sleeping bag.

As he disrobed his mind was racing at a thousand miles per hour. He'd never heard of a place called Dantooine in any of his classes. And who were those figures he saw? How could they do all of those crazy moves? All of that seemed so real for some reason. Coming to Beacon must've really scrambled his brains to have a dream so vivid and imaginative.

Folding his onesie up, Jaune opened up his traveling pack to put it away. Looking into the pack he paused as he saw the mask he found in the forest, laid out at the bottom of the bag, staring back up at him.

Hmm I should probably store this thing in my locker in case anyone goes through my stuff. Was all Jaune thought has he layered his onesie over the mask and went on to begin his next day at Beacon.

Chapter Text

"Ridiculous!" Jaune cried out as he passed through Beacon's locker room, lost despite the map in his hands. "There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday! I would've remembered having to count that high! Why does this have to happen today?"

A confused Jaune continued to walk through the maze of lockers, passing by his new friend Ruby and her sister Yang, as well as a pink haired manic girl talking a million miles per hour and her green suited victim.

Soon enough, Jaune found his locker, and would you look at that, his snow angel Weiss and a new red haired vixen were standing in front of it talking. Jaune smiled. Obviously the fates were looking down on him today.

"So, Pyrrha, have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual such as yourself!" Weiss complimented. She was obviously trying to butter Pyrrha up, a fact that was not missed by the red headed huntress but completely missed by the blonde dork of a knight.

"Hmm… I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may." Pyrrha responded in a practiced, neutral tone. Polite, but vague enough to not give an actual answer.

"Well… I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together." Weiss pressed, not wanting this opportunity to fail due to miscommunication.

Pyrrha winced and looked to the side. She did not want to say no and potentially hurt Weiss's feelings, but she didn't want to be on her team even more. "Well, that sounds grand!" she forced out behind a fake smile.

Weiss was elated. "Great!" She then seemed to fall into some kind of internal monologue, creating a lull in the conversation that allowed Jaune to very casually interrupt.

Sliding between them, Jaune put his playboy face on once again. "You know what else is great? Me. Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you."

"You again?" Weiss hurriedly said.

Jaune jumped on the inside. She's excited to see me! He thought as he completely misread her enunciation and body language.

Pyrrha, thankful for the interruption, moved to speak to Jaune and hopefully get out of her previous conversation. "Nice to meet you, Jaune!"

Dang it Red, you're messing up my mojo right now! Jaune thought as he was rudely interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah." He brushed Pyrrha aside as he focused in on Weiss, puffing his chest out. "So, Weiss, couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Weiss exasperated, palming her face.

Aw that's so cute, she's embarrassed I heard! Jaune once again misread.

"Don't worry! No need to be embarrassed!" he tried to assuage her. "So, been hearing rumors about teams! I was thinking you and me would make a good one! What do you say?"

Pyrrha once again rudely interrupted his flirtations with Weiss. "Actually, I think the teams are comprised of four students each so-"

That's when Jaune understood. She kept interrupting because she wanted his attention! Oh sweet merciful dust only the 2nd day here and women are already throwing themselves at him. As such, Jaune decided to lay it on thick for his newest potential partner.

"You don't say. Well, hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team." Jaune confidently offered, stepping forward into Pyrrha's personal space.

Weiss was not about to let this blonde doofus harass Pyrrha, so she stepped in to separate them. "Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

Jaune leaned in closer. "Not in the slightest, snow angel."

Weiss let THAT comment slide in order to get her point across."This" she emphasized, "is Pyrrha."

"Hello again!" Pyrrha greeted with a wave.

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum!" Weiss explained, hoping to dissuade Jaune with that fact.

"Never heard of it." He simply replied, blind to the scorn.

Weiss scoffed. "She's won the Mistral Region Tournament four years in a row! A new record!"

"The what?" Jaune was now officially confused.

Weiss flailed her arms in anger, drawing on something he'd know about Pyrrha. "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!"

Jaune gasped with the sudden realization. "That's you?!" Jaune could now visualize a cereal box behind Pyrrha. "But they only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

Pyrrha was suddenly embarrassed by the sudden attention drawn to her fame. "Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you."

Now that he had an idea for how important Pyrrha was, Weiss went on the attack. "So, after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?"

Jaune, finally realizing his inadequacies in comparison, hung his head in shame. "I guess not… Sorry…"

Pyrrha, who was internally overjoyed by having found someone who didn't know her, stepped up to make Jaune feel better. "Actually, Jaune, I think you'd make a great leader!"

Practically swooning, Jaune brightened back up. "D'oh, stop it!"

Weiss flatly as ever said. "Seriously, please stop it. This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!"

Confidence renewed, Jaune stepped up to Weiss. "Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick! Now, I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I could pull some strings, find a place for you. What do you say?"

Weiss was now actually getting creeped out by how forward and close Jaune was getting. "All right, that's a bit too close! Pyrrha, a little help please?!"

Jaune suddenly felt himself get thrown backwards as a javelin pierced his hood and pinned him to a locker, all while Pyrrha cried out, "I'm sorry!"

Just then, Professor Goodwitch's voice rang out over the intercom. "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

Weiss and Pyrrha made their way passed Jaune, the former giving a small huff, while Pyrrha withdrew her spear from Jaune's hood.

"It was nice meeting you!" Pyrrha weakly said as she left with Weiss.

"Likewise…" Jaune groaned out as he further slumped against the locker.

Before Jaune could stew in his emotions any longer, Yang and Ruby came to his rescue. Ruby offered up a hand to Jaune, which he graciously accepted.

"Having some trouble there, ladykiller?" Yang joked as Jaune pulled himself up.

"I don't understand. My dad said all women look for is confidence! Where did I go wrong?" Jaune exclaimed.

" 'Snow Angel' probably wasn't the best start." Yang explained as she gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Come on, Jaune, let's go." Ruby led Jaune out of the locker room, supporting his damaged body and spirit.

----

Soon enough, Jaune found himself standing upon Beacon Cliff, overlooking the Emerald Forest, standing on some strange silver platform along with many other potential students. Standing in front of all of them, was the ever coffee-drinking, mug holding Professor Ozpin, and his assistant Professor Goodwitch, looking over a tablet.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin began as Jaune nervously adjusted his collar.

Glynda now spoke up. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… today."

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Ozpin explained.

Jaune heard Ruby groan in the background.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Ozpin finished

Ruby's cry of "Whaaat?!" could be heard over the whole crowd while the pink girl followed up with a "See? I told you!"

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the Northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path… or you will die." Ozpin's warning shot a wave of concern through the students. This was it, the real deal. No more safety nets. Do or die.

Jaune was nervous, gulping loudly. Save for that one grimm that attacked him on the way here, he'd never been in any combat situation like this. Part of him considered just walking away, then and there. But he stayed. He made a choice to become a hero, and he was not going to back out now.

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" Ozpin finished.

Jaune raised his hand. "Yeah, um, sir?"

"Good! Now, take your position." Ozpin ignored the blonde.

Everyone around him drew their weapons, standing in some sort of combat stance. Jaune still raising his hand, moved to get Ozpin's attention.

"Uh sir? I've got a question. So this landing… strategy, thing... Uh, what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?" Jaune nervously asked, ignoring the students behind him getting flung into the forest.

"No. You will be falling."

"Oh, uh, I see… So like, did you hand out parachutes for us?" Jaune did not like the way this conversation was going. He has a really bad feeling about this whole thing.

"No. You will be using your own landing strategy."

"Uh-huh yea." Jaune, so focused on the headmaster, continued to miss students getting launched from the platforms. "So, what exactly is a landing strategYYYY!" Jaune cried out as his platform hurled him into the blue sky, starting his initiation.

----

"AHHHHHHH!" Jaune could only cry out as he tumbled through the air

Jaune had no idea where he was flying, how to straighten himself, or how he was going to survive this in general. He was going to die, he knew it. Everything he did to get here was for nothing, all just to wind up as a red stain somewhere in the forest. He'd never see his family again, he'd never get the chance to finally get a girlfriend, he'd never become the hero he wanted to be. Fear gripped his heart. And from fear, comes anger. From anger, power.

----

Pyrrha held Akoúo̱ out in front of her, protecting herself as she slammed through tree after tree to slow her descent. Her momentum slowed enough, Pyrrha landed on a branch and immediately drew Miló, looking through the scope of her rifle for her target.

And there he was, the scraggly, dork of a blonde named Jaune Arc. While she may have told Weiss that she would let the chips fall where they may, Pyrrha had learned long ago that one had to make their own luck. And having finally found someone who did not know who she was, that treated her like a normal person, she was not going to let him get away.

So as Jaune flew through the air, Pyrrha readied Miló, preparing to throw it and spear Jaune's hood like she did just prior in the locker room. But before she could make the throw, something happened.

Jaune, helplessly flying through the air, extended both hands in front of him. He screamed a cry of fear, anger, and desperation, and that's when it happened. Something came out of his hands. It was like an impulse, an invisible force. She did not know what it was, but it was not only powerful enough that she could feel the aftershocks where she was, but powerful enough to both slow Jaune's descent and destroy part of the terrain beneath him. The unseen explosion ripped trees from the ground, stripping them of their leaves, and sent a cloud of dust into the air, all while slowly bringing Jaune onto the ground.

Pyrrha was agape. Never before had she seen such a display of raw power. Never before had she so completely misread someone! From their previously interaction, she saw Jaune a funny, nice guy, but didn't give off much of an aura in terms of being a fighter.

Pyrrha shook her head. Now was not the time to think about that. Such a display of a semblance would have surely drained Jaune of his aura. So with a change of strategy, Pyrrha dashed off of her perch and made her way for Jaune's position.

----

Jaune was on his hands and knees hyperventilating, his everything was shaking. He didn't even have the strength to curl his fingers into a fist.

What… What the dust was that!? Jaune mentally screamed. I'm… I'm alive! Oh thank the Brothers I'm alive, but what was that!?

Jaune's mind was no longer able to process what was going on. This had probably been the most intense and insane minute of his life, and he just need a minute to let his adrenaline drop and take everything in. A minute to absorb the fact that not only did he just almost die, but something just happened to make him not dead.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he did not seem to notice the beowolf creeping up behind him, attracted by the noise and his panicked state. The grimm made its way behind the distracted knight, and raised one powerful claw up, ready to strike down its prey.

Jaune was snapped out of his torpor by a loud BANG as a familiar red and gold javelin flew passed him. Jaune screamed and scrambled out of the way, turning to see an impaled beowolf pinned to a tree. Standing up on weakened legs barely able to support him, Jaune then heard a voice call out to him.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried out, rushing to his position as she recalled her weapon to her. "Are you alright?"

"Pyrrha!" Jaune responded, finally getting his bearings as the redhead entered the scene. "Uh, yeah, just a little shaken, not stirred, haha." Jaune tried to bring back some levity, but the joke sounded weak even to him.

Pyrrha scowled. "Jaune, are you ok?" She asked, her voice more serious.

Jaune sighed before nodding his head. "Yeah… yeah I think I'm good. Just needed to process what just happened. Thanks for the save though." Jaune meant it. If Pyrrha hadn't shown up when she did… he'd rather not think of the alternative.

"It's nothing. I'm sure you would've done the same for me." Pyrrha replied with a smile, before looking at the devastation around her. "But still, you must have a very powerful semblance to do all of... this." She gestured to the broken trees around them.

"A sem-what?" was all Jaune had to say to that.

"A semblance, Jaune."

"Gesundheit."

That made Pyrrha smirk a bit. "Jaune, you don't know what a semblance is, do you? What about aura?"

Jaune, wanting to save at least some face, lied through his teeth, avoiding eye contact and waving off the question. "Pssh! Of course I do! Do you know what they are?"

Pyrrha smiled again. "Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts. Have you ever felt you were being watched without knowing someone was there?"

Jaune felt like that was happening a lot more recently "Yeah… yeah I have."

"With practice, our Aura can be our shield. By baring your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. All of our tools and equipment are conduits for Aura. You protect yourself and your soul when fighting."

"So this aura… is it kinda like some sort of, glow you get around you?" he asked.

Pyrrha nodded. "Indeed, such a light does appear, typically when unlocking your aura, or when you project it." Pyrrha projected her own, enveloping her in a dark, crimson red aura.

"So that's what it was!" Jaune practically screamed out, causing Pyrrha to tilt her head in confusion.

Jaune decided to explain his outburst, "See when I was on the way here, I was attacked by a beowolf. And not just any beowolf, but the mother of all alphas. And then I…" Jaune paused, to think upon what he was about to say. "And then when I was running, I hid, and my body just started glowing like that." Jaune thought about mentioning the mask, but he and Pyrrha just met... It didn't really seem necessary to share that information with her, at least not yet.

Pyrrha seemed to think on this for a second before giving her opinion. "Yes, that does sound like you unlocked your aura. Typically, you would have another person unlock your aura for you, but I have heard about how high stress situations can force you to unlock your aura on your own. Stories of mothers unlocking their auras to lift cars off their children are the archetypal example of that.

"Meanwhile a semblance is more of a projection of our Aura into a more tangible form. This usually comes in the form of some sort of power. For example…" Pyrrha paused to levitate her sword with her semblance "my semblance is polarity, the ability to manipulate magnetism. Each person's semblance is unique, and can be trained and focused as well." Jaune let out a bewildered ohhh.

"And that's what you think I did here." Jaune responded, gesturing the destruction as well.

"Indeed. I believe that you must have some sort of powerful, telekinetic semblance." She surmised.

"Teleki-what?"

"Heh, Telekinesis Jaune. The ability to move things with your mind. I know professor Goodwitch has a similar semblance, or it could be considered a more robust form of what I do, as I can only move metal with my mind." Pyrrha released her magnetic hold on her weapon and gripped it once again.

"Ahh, I get it." Jaune didn't get it, but he understood enough that he was finally getting some answers. The white-yellow glow in the cave was his aura, and that massive energy wave he made was his semblance.

Their talk was then interrupted by the sounds of gunfire echoing throughout the forest.

"Did you hear that?" Jaune asked, once again a bit nervous.

"Gunfire." Pyrrha stated as she readied her own weapons. "It seems some of our comrades have encountered the enemy. We should get ready to move, Jaune. After all we do still have an initiation to complete."

Jaune smiled, drawing Crocea Mors. "Alright, let's get going, partner?" Jaune felt like he had to ask.

Pyrrha nodded and smiled in return. "Partner."

And so the two huntsmen in training began to make their way North.

----

Soon enough, Pyrrha and Jaune found themselves outside the mouth of a cave, on its side were paintings of men fighting against a giant armored scorpion.

"Think this is it?" Jaune asked his partner.

Pyrrha brought her fingers to her chin in thought. "Hm, I'm not sure it is, but we could always go inside and check."

Jaune thought on this, staring into the darkness of the cave. Something about the cave made his stomach uneasy, and not in the way the airship did.

"I don't know Pyr. This… I've got a bad feeling about this place." Jaune shook his head. He knew he sounded paranoid, but he really didn't like this cave.

Pyrrha put a hand on his shoulder. "Then let's avoid it. If we keep heading North we may be able to find evidence of where we're supposed to go."

Jaune nodded, and quickly the two retreated from the cavern entrance and continued on North. Unbeknownst to them, shortly after the duo left, two new figures approached the cave's entrance.

"Ahh! A cave! What do you think Renny? Do you think there's a secret treasure inside? Maybe the lost artifact of a mysterious, sinister intergalactic cult?" Nora, the pink-haired bomber asked her partner.

Ren only sighed at both his nickname and his partner's example. "No Nora, I doubt there's any treasure inside, intergalactic or not."

"Well there's only one way to find out! Tally ho!" Nora cried out as she drew Magnhild and charged into the cavern.

"Nora! Wait!" Ren called in vain as he lost sight of Nora within the cave. Ren could only sigh again as he followed his childhood friend into the unknown.

----

Eventually, both Pyrrha and Jaune found their way to the Northern ruins. Currently standing there, Jaune could barely make out the figure of Yang, along with the black haired, amber eyed girl he saw help Ruby yesterday.

"Hey Yang!" Jaune called out as he and Pyrrha made their way over the final stretch of land.

Yang turned to their direction, and gave a big smile and wave back. "Hey Jaune! You guys made it!"

"Yeah, wasn't too hard to find this place." Jaune said as the four students now stood together. "Oh by the way, this is Pyrrha, my partner!"

"Hello there!" Pyrrha gave a small wave to the bumblebee duo.

"Hey, nice to meet you!" Yang greeted back. "I'm Yang, and this is my partner Blake!"

Blake however didn't respond, but instead seemed to be focused on something in the sky.

"Blake? C'mon don't be rude, say hi." Yang tried to get her introverted partner's attention.

"Heads uuuuuuuuup!" a high pitched voice all to familiar to Yang called from above as her sister Ruby was currently falling towards the ground.

"Ruby!" Yang and Jaune both cried out at once.

Yang cocked Ember Celica, ready to launch herself upwards to save her sister. But before she could launch herself up, Ruby's descent began to slow down.

"Wha-" was all Yang got out before she heard Pyrrha call out Jaune's name

Turning to her fellow blonde, she saw Jaune had one of his hands extended and a look of pure, focused determination. As he slowly lowered his hand, Ruby was slowly dropped lower and lower, until she eventually plopped onto the ground, ungracefully landing on her butt.

"Ow my tush." Ruby mumbled out as Yang ran up and hugged her. "Ow hey, Yang, I'm fine!"

"Yeah you better be." Yang said, ruffling her hair.

"What happened?" Ruby asked, confused by the landing strategy placed upon her.

"I think vomit boy over there saved your butt." Yang pointed a thumb over at Jaune, who had his hands on his knees, exhausted from the telekinetic display.

"Jaune!" Ruby rushed up to him and Pyrrha "You saved me? Oh was that your semblance?"

Jaune wheezed. "Wheeze, yeah. Apparently I'm a Terrakinetic."

"Telekinetic, Jaune." Pyrrha quickly corrected.

"Yeah, that."

"Wait Ruby, why did you just fall out of the sky?" Blake cut in. "As a matter of fact, where's your partner?"

"Uhh."

Before Ruby could answer, several crashing noises were heard coming from the forest. Riding on the back of a giant deathstalker, Nora was currently having the time of her life.

"YEEEE-HAAAAW!" She cried out as she drove the deathstalker forward, while her partner Ren was currently holding onto its tail for dear life.

With a quick flick of its tail, the deathstalker flung Ren towards the rest of the teenagers, causing Nora to hit it with a quick grenade, stunning it so she could chase after her friend.

Ren groaned as Pyrrha helped him up. "Nora, don't ever do that again. Please." Ren looked for his partner, but she was already within the ruins, picking up a golden rook singing "I'm queen of the castle!"

"Did they just ride in on a deathstalker?" Blake asked, not believing what she was seeing.

"I…" Yang had no words.

"Weiss!" she then heard Ruby call out. Turning, the group could all see Weiss, hanging of the talon of a massive Nevermore flying above them.

"How could you leave me?!" Weiss cried out to Ruby.

"I said Jump!" Ruby shouted back.

"She's going to fall." Blake flatly said.

"She'll be fine." Ruby was pretty sure of that.

"She's falling." Ren added on.

As Weiss began to plummet from the Nevermore, Jaune finally regained his stamina and could contribute to the conversation.

"Hey guys, what I miss?"

"Jaune!" Ruby called out. "Weiss is falling! You have to save her too!"

"Wah? Oh no!" Jaune saw Weiss's falling form and extended his hand once again. Alright, he thought, just gotta, slow her down. Slowwwww dowwwnnn. Jaune continued on that train of thought to no avail.

"Jaune?" Ruby asked concerned as her partner was still plummeting

"I… I don't know how I did that before!" Jaune came to the horrifying realization. "I kinda just did it to save you! I don't know how to do it on command!"

Ruby's eyes went wide, but Pyrrha was the one to step in front of him first.

"Jaune! You need to focus! What were thinking when you saved Ruby? Hurry!" She commanded, giving a quick help session on his supposed-semblance.

"I… I was afraid. I was scared that Ruby was going to get hurt." Jaune said as he locked eyes with Pyrrha.

Ruby, for her part, blushed a bit and rubbed the back of her head. "D'oh well, I mean, I'm sure I would've been fine."

"Focus Jaune!" Pyrrha called out again. "Think back on that fear. Remember that feeling, and use it! You're the only one that can save her." That was a bit of a lie on Pyrrha's part. She could probably slow Weiss down by pulling on her rapier, or Weiss could also use her glyphs, but this was too perfect an opportunity for Jaune to gain more control of his semblance.

"Right, ok… remember the fear." Jaune thought back on how terrified he was when he saw Ruby falling. How terrified he was when he was falling. The fear that drove him forward, that kept him from dying, that drove him to protect his friend. He didn't want to see Weiss get hurt! He will save her!

And with that surge of emotion, Weiss felt an invisible grasp coil around her, slowly bringing her down to the ground. Gently, Jaune placed Weiss on the ground on her knees, and he gave her smile behind his sweaty, exhausted expression.

"Just… dropping in?" he flirted, before promptly collapsing on the ground from exhaustion. Weiss had to admit, she was… not dissatisfied with her rescue.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out as she moved to help him.

"Great! The gang's all here! Now we can die together!" Yang cried out, exasperated by the whole situation.

Ruby, taking a look at the incapacitated Jaune, who saved her and her partner, felt the resolve within her strengthen. "Not if I can help it!" Ruby let out a mighty battle cry and charged for the Deathstalker.

"Ruby wait!" Yang called out, but unfortunately, Ruby's speed was her strong suite.

To Jaune's horror, he watched as Ruby was tossed about like sandbag by the Deathstalker, easily overpowering her. He watched as Yang tried to make her way to save her sister, only to be blocked off by a series of feathers from the Nevermore, which also pinned Ruby's cape.

Jaune wanted to run there and help. To save his new friend, but his body wouldn't listen to him, he was far too exhausted from using his supposed-semblance. He could hear Yang call out for Ruby again as the Deathstalker made its way over to her, ready to bring down its stinger on her.

Anger welled up inside of Jaune. Anger and hate. Towards himself for being too weak, towards Ruby for rushing in like an idiot, towards the grimm for simply existing. Jaune felt the anger build up inside of him, ready to explode. If that stupid scorpion did anything to Ruby, he was going to rend it from existence!

But before the anger could erupt out of him, Ruby was saved by a white blur as Weiss dashed forward to save her partner, encasing the Deathstalker's stinger in ice.

"Oh thank the Brothers." Jaune muttered as the anger and adrenaline left his system, physically deflating him.

Ruby and Weiss seemed to talk for a bit and come to an understanding, despite still being within striking distance of the Deathstalker. When they returned Yang gave her sister a big hug, which was interrupted by the Nevermore's roar.

"Guys? That thing's circling back! What are we going to do?" Jaune asked as his energy returned to him.

He was starting to understand his semblance now. It seemed to run off a different well of energy than his aura. He could use his telekinesis for some crazy stuff, but too much use, and it would physically exhaust him for a few moments, before it would replenish itself relatively quickly.

Weiss was the first to respond. "Look, there's no sense dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us." She said, motioning to the relics.

"She's right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs." Ruby agreed, nodding at Weiss. "There's no point in fighting these things."

"Run and live - that's an idea I can get behind!" Jaune may have super powers now, but he needed to figure out their limits. Preferably in a gym, with a nurse on standby. Not in a deathmatch against two probably ancient grimm.

Jaune ran for the ruins, grabbed the golden rook, and took off with the rest of his companions.

----

The eight teenagers continued to run for the cliffs, reaching an abandoned series of ruins built over a deep gorge. The Nevermore was still on their tail, so they chose to conceal themselves behind some of the stone blocks as the Nevermore perched upon the ruins, blocking their path.

"Well that's great!" Yang let out an annoyed grunt.

Jaune felt his sixth sense tingling, and turning his head, saw that the Deathstalker had caught up, bursting through the forest behind them.

"Aw, man, run!" He called out.

The group scattered, ditching their cover and running straight for the ruins. The Nevermore, now having regained line of sight on the students, rose up in the air and began its attack.

"Nora, distract it!" Ren yelled.

With a smile, Nora ran of cover, nimbly dodging the feathers launched towards her. Drawing Magnhild from her back in grenade launcher form, she fired several pink 40mm grenades at the Nevermore, forcing it away.

As she kept firing, the Deathstalker approached from behind, hoping to score an easy kill with the distracted Nora. However before it could close the distance, Ren and Blake cut into its carapace with a simultaneous strike, stopping its advance. Just as quickly, Weiss landed next to Nora, and with a glyph enhancing her leap, jumped away with her.

As the group made their way over the first bridge in the chasm, running towards a solitary tower, Pyrrha yelled at them to go as she turned around and fired several rounds at the Deathstalker, slowing it down enough for Ren and Blake to make their escape.

As they were crossing, the Nevermore began its next run. Swooping down, the Nevermore crashed straight into the bridge that the teens were running on, bisecting it, forcing Yang, Ruby, Nora, Weiss, and Jaune on one side, and Pyrrha, Blake, and Ren on the other.

Jaune stood up and saw that Pyrrha, Blake, and Ren were being pushed back by the Deathstalker.

"Man, we gotta get over there! They need help!"

Nora ran up beside, grenade launcher drawn. "Let's do this."

Jaune looked down over the edge of the broken bridge. His immediate thought was something along the lines of, there's no way he can make that jump! But then Jaune let out calming breath, focus, like Pyrrha said. He thought.

Then he remembered. The dream! He had forgotten about it in the chaos of the initiation, but in his dream, he saw both Alek and the dreadlocked man make leaps like this look easy! Looking down into the chasm, he felt the fear of falling grip his heart once again. Use it! Feel the fear, let it drive you forward! He mentally yelled at himself.

"Jaune?" Nora asked, confused as the knight seemingly froze in place.

Drawing Crocea Mors, Jaune's countenance hardened. Seeing his friends fighting he thought to himself, I won't let them get hurt! I will protect them!

"Let's go!" Jaune cried out as he ran straight for the broken gap, surrounding himself in his invisible force once more, and easily making the leap from bridge to bridge.

Nora gave a devilish smile at Jaune's fearless attitude. Not wanting to be outdone, she mecha-shifted her weapon into its hammerform, stepped on its head, and fired a grenade that launched her towards the battle.

The velocity of the explosion allowed Nora to reach the Deathstalker first, coming in with a flipping hammer strike right down on the Deathstalker's skull. The grimm seemed to shrug the blow off, and aimed for a piercing counterattack. To avoid it, Nora fired another grenade, blasting her backwards, and accidentally into Blake, knocking her off the bridge.

Jaune bit back a curse, and peered over the edge to look for his friend. Luckily, Blake was able to grab hold of the ruins with her weapon and swung her way back up to the others. As they battled the Nevermore, he, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren all faced down with the Deathstalker.

The Deathstalker, seeing that they were all on a precariously supported bridge, stabbed its stinger into the ruins, causing it to collapse.

"Move!" Jaune called out as the four ran forward, rushing the grimm.

The Deathstalker threw a heavy claw at Pyrrha, but she deflected the attack with her shield, and hit it back with a spinning backwards slash. It moved to strike with its other claw, but Jaune jumped and parried the strike with his sword, giving Pyrrha the opportunity to leap over him and land another strike.

The deathstalker than attempted to spear him once again with its stinger, but Jaune sensed its intentions. As the stinger moved in, Jaune leapt in the air with a beautiful butterfly twist, flowing like water over the attack as it whiffed.

Jaune decided to continue to push forward. As Ren let loose a volley of shots that pounded the Deathstalker's face, Jaune ran underneath it. Instinctively using the technique he saw the dreadlocked figure do, Jaune held Crocea Mors low, and let loose a series of rapid fire cuts and thrusts, aimed for the Deathstalker's joints. Each cut drew black blood, and while he couldn't cut off a limb, he did wound it, significantly reducing its mobility. As he ran passed the rear of the scorpion, Jaune looked up and saw Ren get tossed backwards by the grimm, slamming him onto a stone pillar.

Jaune frowned as he realized he wasn't able to do enough damage to the grimm. He looked down as his weapons. His shield… his shield was slowing him down. The size and weight of it felt too awkward in his hands, and it was throwing him off. Not only that, but using his shield prevented him from using both hands on his blade to strengthen his attacks. So, Jaune deactivated his shield, placing it on his belt, and gripped Crocea Mors with both hands, sword raised high above his head.

As Nora pummeled the grimm with grenades, Pyrrha spun and threw Miló, slipping right through its claws and into one of its eyes. That was all the distraction Jaune needed as he looked up and saw that Ren was able to wound the stinger with his pistols.

With another telekinetic leap, Jaune gracefully twirled through the air, almost hovering by the damaged stinger as he then unleashed a vicious spinning attack, severing the appendage. As he fell, Jaune used his semblance to guide the stinger down into the carapace of the Deathstalker, impaling itself in the head.

Jaune landed with a roll and called out to Nora. "Nora, nail it!"

"Heads up!" Nora cried out as she jumped on Akoúo̱, the combined force of Pyrrha's leap and Nora's grenade sending her soaring into the air. Like a witch, Nora rode her hammer with a bright smile before twirling and slamming her hammer down onto the stinger, driving it through the Deathstalker's head and destroying the bridge.

Jaune watched with satisfaction as the Deathstalker fell into the canyon as his allies all gathered around him.

It was only in the moment of momentary peace that Jaune was able to ask himself one important question. How the dust did I just do all of that!?

While Jaune had a relieved smile on his face from the victory, he couldn't help but scream on the inside. Again, too many questions were running through his mind. His father barely gave him any sword training, let alone gymnastics training! He should not have been able to do anything he just did. No… the moves he used were all based on the dreadlocked man's moves from his dream, that much he could tell.

But that only raises further questions! Who was that man, how was he able to copy his techniques, what the grimm is Dantooine!?

"Look!" Nora yelled, breaking Jaune out of his internal musings.

Snapping out of his stupor, Jaune watched as Ruby had caught the Nevermore's neck with her Scythe, and was running up Weiss's glyphs up the side of the cliff, firing her rifle for added speed. With one final shot, Ruby burst upward, decapitating the grimm, and landing on top of the cliffs.

"Wow…" was all Jaune could say, as he and his friends watched the execution in amazement.

----

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by… Cardin Winchester!" Professor Ozpin announced.

Applause could be heard as the four armored students walked off the stage as four new students replace them. Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, and Jaune stepped forward as their faces appeared on the screen.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR." Ozpin declared as Nora gave Ren a big hug. "Led by… Jaune Arc!"

"Huh? L-led by…?" was all Jaune could sputter out.

Ozpin nodded. "Congratulations, young man."

Pyrrha walked up to him grinning, and gave him friendly love tap on the shoulder, which easily knocked down the exhausted knight.

Afterwards, Ruby and co were brought to the stage for their team naming.

"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by… Ruby Rose!"

Both Ruby and Weiss were in shock while Yang ran over to hug her sister.

Jaune smile, that was a position he thought she easily deserved.

And so, surrounded by thunderous applause, the newly formed teams RWBY and JNPR finished their first steps on their journey to become huntsmen.

Chapter Text

"A lightsaber - any weapon- only achieves worth in how it is wielded - in the effort, the struggle of the one who holds it." - Kreia

Chapter 4: Victory

It's been one week since Jaune started his new life at Beacon Academy. And other than a small spat between Ruby and Weiss on their team, things were going great! Sure classes were pretty fast paced and sometimes… weird, but he could (kinda) keep up and was at least passing, which was was good enough for him.

But most importantly his team was great! Ren was quiet and always tired, but easy to get along with, and always willing to give some sage advice when needed. Nora was… well Nora, but she never meant any harm with her eccentricities and Jaune was just glad to have her on his side. And Pyrrha was the best! Not only was she super awesome at pretty much everything she did, but she wasn't stuck up about it! Plus she's always more than happy to help out, whether it's Jaune with his homework or that one time Nora got stuck in a vending machine.

The first night together, was a bit… awkward but they got over it soon enough. The room itself was nice, albeit a bit spartan. It was a single room with not too much decor, and four beds lined up side by side. The beds took up a lot of space, but luckily all four of them had opted to bring the bare essentials only, each only having enough to fill up a single backpack and maybe a suitcase or two. Had they all brought more luggage they might've had to resort to something more drastic, like bunk beds.

The worst part was arranging who was sleeping where. Jaune, like any sane person would, suggested that the boys stay on one side and the girls on the other, maybe even throw in a privacy curtain just in case. But Nora would not have it. Nora would not sleep anywhere not next to Ren, whom Jaune just learned was her childhood friend. So instead, he and Pyrrha took the left side of the room while Ren and Nora took the right. That resulted in a sleepless night or two for Jaune, who despite his new found powers, skills, and leadership potential, was still a hormonal teenage boy with an overactive imagination. But such problems faded with time as the newly minted team JNPR quickly fell into the routine.

And the icing on top of the cake was that when he finally did sleep, he wasn't having anymore of those strange dreams. In his spare time, Jaune would sometimes go to the library to research the names Alek, Dantooine, and Revan, but he found absolutely nothing, making him think it was probably just a one off dream caused by the stress of initiation or something. So, he was more than happy to put that weird dream, vision, thing behind him and focus on enjoying his time here at Beacon.

That night Jaune had a vision. Once again, Jaune went to sleep snug in his bed, ignoring the snoring of Nora from across the room. And once again, Jaune woke up in a strange, alien landscape, with no knowledge of where he was.

Waking up, Jaune found himself lying on a field, but not a lush, amber-green field of tall grass. He was instead surrounded by miles of mud, worn down and well traveled by what looked like thousands of footsteps. Rain constantly downpoured around him, which to his annoyance, he could feel even though it was a dream.

Aw shit, here we go again. Jaune thought to himself as he awoke. Soaking wet and covered in grime, he lifted himself out of the mud, and took the time to observe his surroundings. While the natural terrain was nearly all muddy flatland, it was the man made structures that stole his attention.

On the horizon, he could see a city. But it wasn't like Vale or Mistral, or any other place he'd seen images of. Instead of modern concrete, brick, or drywall buildings with glass windows and street lights, there were massive stone structures, towers and pyramids that looked more like ancient ruins from those archaeologist Indigo Jones films he was a fan of.

That's when behind him, he heard a familiar psssh of a laser sword activating. Turning around he was greeted with the familiar sight of the dreadlocked man. He looked... different. His robes were changed from brown to black, his previously calm, peaceful demeanor was replaced with one contempt and disgust.

And he was not alone either. Around him were a dozen other robed warriors, each with their own, glowing laser sword of blue, green, or yellow. Majority of them were human, but among them were a few… faunus?

The first was a female… squid faunus? She was an attractive, athletic woman, with blue skin, and instead of hair, had two long tentacles that started on the crown of her head and draped down her shoulders. Did squid faunus have blue skin? Was it racist of him to not know that?

The second, Jaune guessed, was some kind of male bull faunus. He had sandy, tan skin, and instead of two large horns, he had several short, stubby horns protruding from his forehead. Behind the group of laser sword warriors, were hundreds of soldiers in orange and black armor, wielding a variety of firearms, all with grim, hateful expressions.

The dreadlocked warrior stood at the front of the group, and raised his laser sword high. "For the Republic! For Revan!" he cried as he and the others charged forward.

Jaune immediately spun and ran perpendicular to the army, hoping to get out of their way and avoid being trampled. But his retreat was cut off by a rocket explosion. Jaune looked at where the rocket originated from, giving him a good view of the opposing army.

Charging them were an army of warriors wearing full suits of battle armor with, what Jaune thought was really cool looking helmets with T-shaped visors. "For Mandalore! For glory!" These warriors cried as they advanced.

Their armors were of various colors, red, blue, yellow, and other combinations as they both ran and flew with jetpacks towards their opponents. Rockets and red laser bolts flew between the two armies, and fighters immediately started dropping like flies.

Jaune shoved the excitement of seeing laser guns and jetpacks down as he ran between the colliding forces. Diving on the ground, he watched in awe as the dreadlocked figure danced and weaved through the armored enemies. With savage precision the man cut through the armored warriors, leaving a path of blood and limbs in his wake.

Suddenly three armored figures landed in front of him, intent on stopping his rampage. Raising their laser rifles at him they depressed their triggers and unleashed all they had on the dreadlocked figure. But it was to no avail as the figure began to twirl his own laser sword, and with inhuman accuracy reflected the laser bolts back at the attackers.

As the lasers deflected off of their armor, the dreadlocked figure then extended his off hand. Like in the previous vision, the man launched an invisible, telekinetic wave from his hand, slamming into two of the armored soldiers and knocking them down.

The dreadlocked figure then clenched his fist and dragged it to him, gripping the 3rd warrior and similarly pulling him in front of him. The armored warrior was completely in the grasp of the dreadlocked man, flailing as he was suspended in the air. That's when Jaune felt it. He felt… everything. He felt the fear pouring off the armored warrior. It was… intoxicating. He knew the dreadlocked warrior felt it too, as all he radiated joy and excitement, drawing some kind of sick satisfaction as the warrior of Mandalore was powerless to resist.

With a single flick of the laser sword, the dreadlocked man decapitated the armored warrior, the single slash slicing through a chink in the armor located at the neck. The two who were on the ground were still stunned and disoriented, struggling to get up, when they too began floating in the air. They were raised several feet before accelerating downwards, reaching an insane speed as they impacted the ground. Jaune could hear the crunch of bones as they impacted the ground, but their armor prevented the attack from killing them outright.

But the dreadlocked man did not give any respite, for as soon as they hit the ground once again, he strode forward, and with a cut of his blade felled both prone warriors with ease. Though the dreadlocked man, didn't know if they should even be called warriors after such a pathetic showing.

The dreadlocked figure charged forward once again, hacking and slashing his way through the mob without mercy or hesitation. Such ideas were meaningless, they didn't deserve either. Dashing in front of another armored warrior, a swift upwards slash immediately cut off the warrior's arms. The crippled warrior fell to her knees, her body entering shock as the dreadlocked man aimed his sword at her throat, ready to execute.

Suddenly the dreadlocked man felt a searing pain in his back as a laser bolt slammed into it. Sending him stumbling forward. A new armored warrior moved to aid his comrade as the dreadlocked man seemed not to move. As the new warrior bent down to lift his companion up, he froze, his body shaking and unable to move.

The warrior slowly brought his hands to his throat as he was unable to take in any air. Jaune turned back to the dreadlocked man, rising from the mud snarling, his hand raised, miming a crushing motion as he Force Choked the armored figure. With a gasp and a gurgle, it only took a few seconds before the warrior fell to the ground, dead at the deadlocked figure's feet.

The new warrior dead at his feet, Jaune watched in horror as the dreadlocked figure didn't even take a second to execute the wounded female warrior, who was still stunned on her knees. Surrounded by the dead, with the battle still raging around him, the dreadlocked figure raised his laser sword into the air, and gave a shrill, soul shattering war cry.

To the outside observer, it would look like as if the dreadlocked man was trying to rally his forces. But Jaune, Jaune could feel the man's emotions, his motives. The man was… enjoying himself, reveling in the wholesale slaughter. And the sadistic pleasure of the man only served to make him stronger. Jaune could feel the dreadlocked figure's power, it bled from him, echoing across the battlefield it. And it terrified Jaune.

"Jaune! Jaune wake up!" Pyrrha shouted as she shook him awake.

"Wah-wah Ah!" Jaune cried out as he was so startled he fell right out of his bed and onto the ground. "Ow… what? Pyrrha, what's going on, why are you shaking me like that?"

"What?" Pyrrha asked, genuinely confused. "Jaune… you were thrashing in your sleep. Pretty violently as well, so I thought it was best to wake you up. Are you ok?"

Jaune shook his head to clear the morning sluggishness out of his mind. "I… yeah no I'm good, I think. Sorry if I worried you guys, I was just having a really, really weird dream."

"Seemed more like a nightmare from the way you moving." Nora chimed in from the bathroom, in the middle of brushing her teeth.

"Right well sorry anyway. Must've been something I ate last night." Jaune weakly lied as he then checked his scroll for the time, it was 8:45 am "And oh my dust why couldn't you have woken me up sooner? Our first class is at nine!" Jaune shot up and ripped his pants off as he moved to get ready for class.

"We were trying to earlier, but you wouldn't get up!" Pyrrha countered as she turned away from the pantless Jaune, slightly red. "Anyway, hurry up and get changed, we don't want to be late for Professor Goodwitch's class!"

Combat class. In another time, in another universe, Jaune Arc would've dreaded attending combat class, where his lack of training would've made him a bottom of the barrel laughing stock. But right here, right now, Jaune Arc was dominating.

Standing on his side of the arena, Crocea Mors held in one hand Jaune stared his opponent, a heaving and tired Cardin Winchester, down with a smug grin on his face. While a part of him felt a little bad for making an absolute mockery of the Winchester boy, a larger, much more vocal part of him was having far too much fun.

"Go Jaune!" Jaune could hear Pyrrha and Ruby call out from the auditorium seats, waving small, team JNPR flags hand made by Blake.

"Yeah fearless leader, break his legs!" Nora bellowed over everyone else, cackling maniacally.

Cardin grit his teeth at his situation, and charged at Jaune, swinging his mace down with a mighty blow. Jaune didn't even have to fully block it, instead simply parrying it to the side, redirecting the attack while he spun around behind Cardin, hitting him with a cut to the back.

Roaring, Cardin went for a swinging backfist, desperate to break Jaune's nose. Jaune bent over backwards, easily dodging the attack, before gaining more distance with a one handed back handspring.

As Cardin fully rotated to face his opponent, Jaune dashed forward faster than he could react. Crocea Mors connected on Cardin's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and taking a good chunk of his aura. Snarling Cardin swung his mace once again, this time in a wide horizontal swing visible from a mile away. Jaune simply leapt over the attack, over Cardin, adding in a flip for style, and landed directly behind him.

Let's see if I can do this correctly. Jaune thought to himself as his focus skyrocketed. Thinking back to the dreadlocked man in the dream, Jaune focused his semblance into his hand, opening his palm. Extending his off hand forward, Cardin was instantly knocked 5 feet backwards by the Jaune's invisible telekinetic abilities, ungracefully falling to the ground.

"Yes I did it!" Jaune congratulated himself, taking his eyes off Cardin and looking at his now-clenched fist with joy.

While Cardin was an ungraceful lout, he was still a huntsman in training, and could recognize opportunity when it presented itself. Swiftly standing while Jaune was still distracted, Cardin raised his mace high and smashed it to the ground, pulling the trigger of the weapon, activating its red Dust crystal and sending a series of explosions towards Jaune. Jaune was so absorbed in his accomplishment that he didn't see the attack until it was too late. The explosion knocked him back, shredding his aura, and sending him to the ground in return.

An exhausted Cardin slowly sauntered up to the prone Jaune, raising his mace up high once again. "This is the part where you lose." Winchester smugly spoke as he prepared the finishing blow.

That single comment. That single comment ignited a fire and rage inside of Jaune that he never knew existed. How dare he. How dare this worm think he is strong enough to defeat him. He is nothing! He is insignificant! Jaune was going to show him what it means to lose.

As Cardin was about to bring his mace down, Jaune extended his hand once again, but this time instead of an open palm, he was making a cupping gesture with his fingers. A second passed as neither fighter moved from their stance. Everyone in the crowd was confused as Cardin seemingly stopped his attack for no reason.

The confusing was only amplified when Cardin's mace fell out of his hands and he brought said hands to his throat. Cardin backpedaled a few staggered steps, tears starting to form at the corners of his eyes.

Glynda Goodwitch, the professor in charge of the combat class, was initially just as confused as the rest of the class. But her keen, analytical eyes honed over a career as a huntress saw what most her students failed to see. The flesh around Cardin's neck moved, compressing as if it were being constricted by an invisible force. Her eyes then flashed to Jaune, who's hand was perfectly shaped to mime strangling a helpless victim. That, combined with his telekinetic semblance, it did not take her long to put two and two together.

"Mr. Arc! That's enough! Release him!" Professor Goodwitch shouted, causing several students to flinch with her sudden outburst.

Several students looked to each other, confused as to what was going on. Meanwhile Jaune did hear her, but didn't care enough to stop. He didn't need to stop. What he needed to do was crush this weakling, this worm, beneath his boot.

Jaune was so focused on crushing Cardin that he did not notice as his body began to glow with a purple aura. In an instant, Glynda had wrapped Jaune up with her own semblance, and flung him out of the ring, hard. With a resounding SMASH Jaune flew over the other students, slamming into the marble walls of Beacon, the impact sending spiderweb fractures throughout the wall. Jaune's aura shattered immediately, and his concentration on the Force Choke, broken.

Everyone was stunned into silence at what just happened. No words were traded, only confused and concerned glances between the students. The only noise in the room was that of Cardin Winchester, on his knees, wheezing, as Jaune laid on the ground next to the wall, unmoving.

Chapter Text

"Apathy is death. Worse than death. Because at least a rotting corpse feeds the beasts and insects." -Kreia

Chapter 5: Responsibility

"Jaune!" "Cardin!" The respective teams called out simultaneously to their downed leaders.

The RDL of team CRDL rushed to their leader helping him up and checking on his breathing. Meanwhile Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren all shot out of their seats as well, running towards the back of the amphitheater where their leader lie.

They were halfway across the hall when a familiar purple glow enveloped them, lifting them up into the air. Ren and Pyrrha were shocked, but realized what was happening and begrudgingly stopped resisting Professor Goodwitch's semblance. Nora however, twisted and howled, trying to break free to no avail. The trio were placed back in their seats as Glynda Goodwitch made her way towards the young Arc, the sharp clicks of her heels silencing everyone in the room.

Jaune had made it up to his knees by the time Goodwitch arrived beside him. "Mr. Arc. You will see me after class, is that understood?" Glynda's authoritative tone brooked no argument. She was far less than pleased with how this spar turned out.

Mr. Arc did not respond. That only further served to aggravate Glynda. She stepped forward to further discipline the boy when she noticed something. Jaune did not look unruly or delinquent, something she'd expect a person that would ignore the rules of the arena and Glynda's own orders.

Instead, she saw that Jaune was shaking, struggling to even support himself, tears formed at the corners of his eyes, and his mouth failed to even form the most basic of words. This was not the face of someone who would abuse his powers for sadistic pleasure. This was the terrified face of a child in shock of what he had just done.

Glynda looked down at the boy, and understood he needed help right now, not later. "Team CRDL!" She shouted, getting the boys to all look at her with both respect and fear. "Take your leader to the infirmary. Ensure that there was no permanent damage." The boys all nodded and quickly left with Cardin, both Sky and Bronze supporting him on their shoulders.

Glynda then turned her attention to everyone else in the class, who immediately clammed up to avoid drawing Goodwitch's ire. "Everyone, I am sorry to say that class is dismissed early. You are free to do as you like for the remainder of this period. As for you, Mr. Arc." Glynda slowly turned her head towards the boy, who fearfully looked up at her. "You will be coming with me to my office. Now."

Before Jaune even had the chance to respond, he was coated in the professor's semblance, causing him to float directly behind Goodwitch as she left the arena.

Jaune found soon found himself placed upon a rather comfortable chair, it was an oak chair with velvet upholstered seat cushion, fancy. The comfort of the seat was overtaken by the discomfort of the room he was in. Behind her desk, Glynda Goodwitch sat in her chair staring directly at him. Jaune thought the office itself was rather Goodwitch-esque, in that it was only furnished with two fully filled bookcases, her desk which contained her computer and a stack of paperwork, and a printout of her huntress license displayed behind her.

Jaune couldn't meet Professor Goodwitch's gaze, he looked down sullenly, his lips pursed into a thin line. Jaune didn't know what was going on, or what he was feeling. A large part of him felt ashamed for attacking Cardin like that, another was confused as to where such feelings of anger came from.

Glynda sighed. Despite her public persona of a no-nonsense, domineering educator, she was only ever strict with her students because she wanted to build them up and prepare them for the terrors of the huntsman's life. Seeing students break was not something she found pleasure in.

Telekinetically, Glynda brought an electric kettle and some tea to her desk. As the water began to boil, she floated two porcelain tea cups and a teapot before Jaune and herself. Jaune watched in confusion as his professor started steeping the tea within its pot, before pouring the two of them a cup.

Jaune's gaze apprehensively flickered between her and the tea cup, before he muttered out, "Thanks." and started reaching for the cup.

Before Jaune could grab the teacup however, Glynda placed her riding crop on the top of his hand, stopping him. "No. Lift the cup with your semblance, as so." The teacup in front of Glynda glowed purple, hovering for a few seconds before gently being placed back onto the table.

Nodding, Jaune began to focus on the teacup. Jaune understood the basics of moving things with his mind without having to resort to funneling his emotions, but he'd never done anything as delicate as this. Wrapping the cup in his invisible force, the teacup began to shake and teeter as it slowly rose inch by inch. Tea spilled from its container as the teacup shook violently. Jaune's frustration only grew as he was unable to stabilize the cup, boiling over until the tea cup rocketed upwards, shattering upon the ceiling and raining glass and tea upon the two of them.

Jaune closed his eyes and ducked, hoping to avoid the shards. But Glynda created a glyph above them, blocking the shattered remains of the glassware. Silently, she then lifted the pieces, as well as the tea itself, and deposited them into a trash bin. Jaune cringed as he heard the glass land at the bottom of the container.

Glynda only sighed again. "Mr. Arc, how long has it been since you unlocked your semblance and aura?"

Jaune felt like he was punched in the stomach by that question. Jaune had lied on the transcript, embellishing his skills and grades in combat school, so he would've had to have his aura unlocked for a while. On the other hand, he was pretty sure Glynda would be able to spot any lie he would attempt to breathe out and then defenestrate him with her semblance.

His only choice was to go for the vague, general response that could maybe answer the question. "You know, I heard that there was this scientist up in Atlas, who says that time is actually a relative phenomenon. So from a certain perspective, the amount of time that I may or may not have had my semblance would be considered a while..." Jaune's asshole was jealous of the pure shit coming out of his mouth.

Glynda however, was not amused by his rambling and slammed her riding crop against the desk, the resounding THWACK immediately silencing the boy. "Mr. Arc, stop dancing around the question and answer me. Now."

Jaune immediately sat up straight. "I unlocked my aura right before coming to Beacon, and found my semblance during initiation, ma'am!"

Glynda's stern, neutral face morphed into a frown. "Mr. Arc, you have a powerful semblance, much like my own. However, telekinetics like us must train twice as hard at the usage of our semblances, not only for the potential benefits it can provide, but because of the potential harm we can do. You have been gifted a great power, and as such a great responsibility. You are far too inexperienced with your powers. If you cannot learn to control them, it is only a matter of time before you hurt or possibly kill someone. "

Jaune felt the weight of every word Professor Goodwitch was saying. He'd been getting through with his semblance thus far, but that's all been luck and instinct. What if he accidentally hurt Ruby or Weiss in initiation because he couldn't properly grab them? Too much force and he could've crushed them to death. Not enough and they would've broken through his semblance and fallen to the ground.

Jaune was snapped out of his introspection as Glynda continued her speech. "You will either come work directly with me to gain control of your powers, or you may look to your partner and team to aid you in this endeavor. I do not care which path you choose, so long as a choice is made. You must get your powers under control. Is that clear, Mr. Arc?"

Mr. Arc nodded his head furiously. "Yes, Professor Goodwitch. Crystal."

Glynda gave a small nod, accepting his response. "Good. Now then you may return to friends."

Jaune sat up from his chair and immediately made for the door. While on an intellectual level he could understand that Professor Goodwitch only wanted to help him, she still intimidated the daylights out of him and he wasn't going to stay here for any longer than he needed.

Exiting the professor's office, Jaune gently closed the door and was about to make his way towards the dorms. He stopped when his sixth sense alerted him that he was being watched.

Snapping his head towards the source of this disturbance, Jaune let out a relaxed breath as he saw both the rest of team JNPR and all of team RWBY poking their heads around a corner. As soon as they were made, all of his friends rushed to Jaune's side and began bombarding him with questions.

"Jaune what did you do in the arena?"

"Are you ok? Were you injured?"

"Did Professor Goodwitch touch you anywhere?"

Jaune was so overwhelmed by the questions that he didn't even know who was asking what.

"Wait, what?" Jaune blurted out as his brain processed the last question. "No, guys I'm fine, everything is fine. I'll tell you what the professor and I talked about. Just… not here, in front of her office." Jaune felt his stomach rumble. "In fact, how about we go to the cafeteria. I'll fill you all in over lunch."

"So! There we were, in the middle of the night…" Nora's voice rang out over ambient noise of the cafeteria.

"It was day." Ren deadpanned.

"We were surrounded by Ursai…" Nora hissed out to an uninterested crowd.

Ren took a sip of his tea. "They were beowolves."

"Dozens of them!" Nora cried out as she jumped up onto the table.

Majority of the listeners were unimpressed by the display. Blake and Weiss had no reservations at completely ignoring Nora, too invested in their book and nails respectively. Ruby and Pyrrha were politely listening, but not really invested, while Jaune absent-mindely pushed the remains of his food around his plate. Yang seemed to be the only one who actually cared about the story.

"Two of them." Ren added on.

"But they were no match… and in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!" Nora finished, sitting down with a proud look of accomplishment on her face.

Ren sighed. "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."

Ruby and Pyrrha shared a glance with each other before looking at the currently morose Jaune.

Pyrrha was the first to speak up. "So Jaune, now that that aside is over, can you tell us what Professor Goodwitch said?"

"Huh? Oh yeah sure, I did say I was going to tell you." Jaune sighed as he put down his fork. "The gist of the conversation was Professor Goodwitch hammering me for not having control over my semblance, saying that I could really hurt someone if I don't get it under control. And she's right. I don't have that much control over my semblance really, especially since I pretty much just unlocked my aura." Jaune hung his head in shame. "That's the reason I almost hurt Cardin in class today. She pretty much told me I need extra training to get it under control, either doing extra classes with her or with someone else."

That confession got everyone's attention. Most of them didn't know Jaune had only recently unlocked his aura, especially with how skillfully he fought. And the idea of doing extra classes with Professor Goodwitch did not sound appealing to anyone.

"Well I'm sure we'd all be happy to help train you Jaune!" Ruby cried out, puffing her chest out in a stereotypical leader pose, speaking for her whole team without their consent.

"Indeed, Jaune. We are all here to help you, all you need to do is ask. There is no shame in needing to train a new skill, Jaune. Especially something as complicated as a semblance, many could train for years and still struggle with controlling their powers." Pyrrha added on.

Weiss gave a small cough, trying to cover up her internal embarrassment at Pyrrha's comment. Despite training for years, the young heiress still did not have as much control over her glyphs as she would like.

"Yeah Jaune, believe me I totally sucked when I first unlocked my semblance!" Ruby added on. "I didn't know how to really slow down when I started, and would always wind up crashing into a bunch of walls and doors and stuff." Ruby laughed as the memories came back to her.

Jaune nodded his head, before turning to the rest of his team, as well as the rest of team RWBY. "What do you guys think?"

Weiss put down her nail file. "Additional training will never be a bad thing, Arc. As someone who is also heavily reliant on their semblance in combat, training our minds and auras are just as important as Yang training her gorilla muscles."

"Hey!" Yang let out an indignant cry.

"Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom." Ren sagely added on. "You cannot expect to grow as a person and a huntsman if you do not master who you already are."

"That makes sense, I think." Jaune replied. "Yeah thanks for the talk guys, I'll-" Before his train of thought was interrupted by a cry of pain.

"Ow! That hurts!" an unknown voice cried out. "Please, stop…"

"I told you it was real!" They all heard Cardin's voice boom over the cry of pain.

Everyone turned to the source of the noise. There, they saw Cardin Winchester and his team of lackeys surrounding another student, a rabbit faunus with long hazel hair. Everyone scowled at the blatant display of bigotry.

"Atrocious. I can't stand people like him." Pyrrha hissed out.

Blake meanwhile stared daggers at the boy. "He's not the only one…"

Jaune felt a myriad of emotions, primarily those of pity and disgust. He pitied the young woman being harassed, and felt only contempt for Cardin. Jaune glanced as his friends, and realized that none of them seemed poised to intervene. That only caused Jaune to steel himself further. If no one else wanted to say something, he would. It's what a hero would do.

"Don't you think that's enough, Cardin?" Jaune called out, causing everyone at his table to look at him.

Cardin, having heard the challenge, looked at the source of the voice and saw Jaune. He immediately snarled and let go of the girl's ear. Cardin stood up and walked towards Jaune and co. The rest of team CRDL glanced between one another, before also standing to support their leader. The faunus girl took the opportunity to quickly flee the scene.

Nora, Yang, and Pyrrha all rose, shifting into slightly defensive stances in case anything went down. Cardin continued his stride towards Jaune, and looked down on the seated Arc, anger radiating off of him.

"Cardin, just drop it man. It's not worth it." Jaune neutrally spoke, unfazed by the Winchester's attempt at intimidation.

Cardin's eyes were fixed on Jaune for a moment, and for the briefest of moments glazed over before he grunted and turned around. "Come on boys, let's drop it. This isn't worth it." As Cardin walked away, the rest of his team gave some small acknowledgements and left as well.

Everyone else in the table was shocked that Cardin would give up so easily. They turned to face Jaune, eyes wide, and he only shrugged.

"Guess he must be more scared than angry over combat class today." was the only conclusion that came to Jaune's mind as he took a sip from his juice box.

"Damn, vomit boy must really have a silver tongue." Yang commented. Seeing that Jaune was currently drinking, she knew she had the perfect opportunity for some teasing. "I wonder what else that tongue can do." she purred out loud enough for everyone to hear.

Jaune squeezed his juice box hard at the comment, sending fruit juice out his nose as he choked on the liquid. Yang grabbed her stomach, bellowing with laughter as her sister berated her for her disgusting innuendos. Pyrrha meanwhile blushed red while grabbing tissues for her leader to cover up his shame.

Chapter Text

"Direct action is not always the best way. It is a far greater victory to make another see through your eyes than to close theirs forever." -Kreia

Chapter 6: Control

Following lunch, teams JNPR and RWBY were faced with one of their greatest challenges, Dr. Oobleck's class. Now, Jaune had never considered himself a poor student, nor a slacker. At his previous school, he passed with straight B's, and never found himself lost in class. Right now however, Jaune desperately struggled to keep his eyelids open as the good Doctor zipped around the front of the classroom, espousing his knowledge to the classroom full of learners.

"Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution-more popularly known as the Faunus War…" Dr. Oobleck was currently teaching the class about the final battles of the Faunus War. And while Jaune would normally find such a subject fascinating, the speed at which the Doctor was talking made it difficult for him to retain anything he was hearing.

As Jaune's eyes slowly closed, he didn't notice the resident bully Cardin folding a paper football behind him. Jaune let his head rest in his hands, as the paper football was kicked, aimed straight for the back of Jaune's head. It was then that Jaune's sixth sense kicked in. Sensing something behind him, Jaune immediately tilted his head to the side, flawlessly dodging the paper triangle. Cardin watched in horror as the football sailed through the air, passed Arc, smacking right into Dr Oobleck's chest.

Everyone froze as the football hit the Doctor, falling to the ground with a light pat. As the good Doctor bent down to pick the football up, his gaze fell upon the trajectory of the projectile, leading him right back to Cardin. The entire class turned and stared at Cardin, with various gawking expressions of disbelief.

"It, uhh… wasn't me." Cardin weakly fibbed.

"Yes, and I suppose this papyrus pigskin just seemingly apparated out of thin air? That must be quite the useful semblance, if true, Mr. Winchester." Dr. Oobleck quickly jabbed.

"Uhh…" was all Cardin had to respond with.

"Detention!" Dr. Oobleck shouted out as he threw the paper football back at Cardin. The folded paper spun like a shuriken, buzzing through the air as it embedded itself in the wood with a heavy thud behind Cardin, who ducked with a terrified expression. "Now then, back to the lesson! Mr. Arc! What advantage did the Faunus have over General Lagune's Forces in the Battle of Fort Castle?"

Jaune mentally cursed. The lecture was so boring that he barely paid attention to it, and Dr. Oobleck was enough of an expert on the subject matter that his bullshit detector was state of the art.

"Uhh…" Jaune glanced around him, looking for anything on the board or in his notes that might give him the answer.

Then from behind him, he heard a quiet voice whisper out. "The answer is night vision, Jaune." He quickly identified it as his partner, Pyrrha.

Jaune took a quick peek over his shoulder, and saw his partner giving him a binocular like gesture, raising both her hands in circles over her eyes. Jaune gave a quick eyebrow raise to her, before swiftly turning back to the Doctor, who was still awaiting his answer.

"Uhh… night vision?" Jaune more asked than answered.

Dr. Oobleck stared Jaune down, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly, before immediately shooting up, yelling, "Correct! General Lagune was not aware that the Faunus had natural night vision capabilities. His inexperience led him to attempt to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. This, obviously, was a mistake, leading to his army being outmatched, and the General himself being captured. Now! Moving on..."

As the Doctor continued on with his lesson, Jaune glanced back at Pyrrha again, and gave her a small thumbs up. Pyrrha nodded with a smile, before returning to her notes.

As they were dismissed, the students began to go on their separate ways as classes were done for the day. Team RWBY broke off to return to their dorm and rest their tired brains, waving goodbye to their JNPR comrades.

"So, what's the plan now?" Nora asked, kicking her legs down the hallway with her arms behind her head.

Jaune glanced at Valkyrie, then at his partner. Bringing a hand to his chin, he had an idea. "Hm, I think I'll go get something from the vending machines. You want to come with Pyr? My treat, as thanks for helping me out in class."

Pyrrha smiled. "Sure. I won't be one to question a gift."

Nora's eyes lit up as she saw an opportunity for her two teammates to have some time alone. There were few people in the world she shipped as hard as her fearless leader and invincible teammate.

"I could also use a refreshment." Ren blankly said at the head of the group.

With a speed that rivaled Ruby, Nora flashed right up to Ren and elbowed him in the ribs. Jaune and Pyrrha swore they heard a crack as Ren collapsed then and there.

"Oh Ren, are you tired? Hey why don't you guys go on ahead. I'll take Renny here back to the room." Nora pet Ren's head as she ran away with his unconscious body.

"Should… should we be worried about that?" Jaune asked, turning to face his partner.

"I… don't think so? They do have their together, but not together-together relationship after all. Perhaps this is normal." Pyrrha shrugged.

Jaune shrugged as well as the duo left to go get their refreshments. After a quick trip to the nearby vending machine, Jaune had purchased both of them cans of People Like Grapes soda.

"Just wanted to say thanks for the help in class Pyr." Jaune said as he popped open his soda. "It's not that I don't like history, but I'll be honest, Doctor Oobleck's class is the worst."

"It's no problem Jaune, partners are supposed to help each other out. I'm just glad you were able to decipher my hand gestures." Pyrrha gave a slight smile while she sipped on her own soda. She didn't indulge in sugary drinks often, so she was taking her time.

Jaune shot Pyrrha a confused look. "I… thought you whispered the answer to me."

Pyrrha's brows furrowed. "I didn't do anything like that."

"Huh, that's weird." Jaune thought back on the class. He was sure that Pyrrha was the one who told him the answer.

"Perhaps someone else whispered it?" She suggested.

"Maybe." Jaune looked down, confused, before turning back to Pyrrha with a joking smile. "Ha maybe I came up with the answer on my own and it was just your voice inside of my head."

Pyrrha went a little red at the suggestion. But before she could respond a shoulder bumped into Jaune, shoving him forward. Jaune stumbled forward and Pyrrha moved to catch him. Looking up, the duo saw that it was none other than Cardin Winchester, having just left his one on one talk with Dr. Oobleck, that so rudely shoved Jaune.

As they watched Cardin turn the corner, Jaune felt his anger well up inside him. Not wanting to directly hurt the boy, Jaune directed his anger anywhere else. The result was a grinding crrrrunch as his semblance crushed his mostly full can of soda, spraying purple liquid all over himself.

Jaune and Pyrrha looked in shock at his ruined beverage, then at his sticky self. Jaune let out an exasperated sigh as he let his semblance go out of control again.

Quickly, Pyrrha pulled out a handkerchief and started drying off her partner. "You know, I really will break his legs." she whispered to Jaune. Looking her dejected partner up and down, Pyrrha resolved herself to do whatever it took to help him, even more so than before. "I have an idea! Come with me!"

Pyrrha grabbed Jaune by the arm and dragged him through the corridors of Beacon.

The JN of team JNPR soon found themselves on the rooftop of Beacon's first year dormitory. Jaune took in the view. He could see the glowing, green orbs of Beacon's central tower contrast against the setting red-orange sun. It was a beautiful sight, he had to admit.

"Quite a view." He mumbled. "So Pyr, why'd you bring me all the way up here? You finally get tired of my leadership, and come to claim it for your own?" He jokingly asked.

Pyrrha however, was horrified by the suggestion. "What!? No I would never do something like that!"

Jaune internally chuckled but kept a straight face. "You sure? Could take me down in hand to hand, then throw me off the roof. Could say it was a suicide. The fall would cover up the injuries. Not a bad plan if I do say so myself."

Pyrrha walked up to Jaune, and smacked him on the side of the head. "No Jaune, I am not here to assassinate you and I'd rather not discuss such a morbid topic. Jaune, I brought you up here because I think we could train your semblance together here. Just like Professor Goodwitch suggested." Pyrrha then grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the edge."Your swordplay is at a high level already, so I think we could focus on your mental and semblance training."

Jaune nodded his head. It made sense, and Pyrrha did have a relatively similar resemblance to him. "Yeah, I suppose…" he drawled out.

Pyrrha frowned. "You seem unsure."

Jaune paused for a moment, thinking about his words. "I… think the Professor was only partially right about my problem. I think it's less about my inexperience with my semblance, but more of my lack of control over my emotions."

"How do you mean?" Pyrrha tilted her head.

"You remember how during the initiation, I had to use my fear to save Weiss and Ruby from falling?" Jaune asked.

Pyrrha nodded her head.

"Well, I think that my semblance is somehow directly tied to my emotions. When I saved the two of them, it was fear that I felt. When I attacked Cardin, or when I just crushed the can, it was anger. The more anger or fear I feel, the stronger my abilities are, but the less control I have over them." he explained.

Pyrrha thought about this. "Well Jaune, that's not wholly uncommon with semblances. Yang's semblance seems to be fueled by anger, while I can also lose control of my semblance if I get too emotional." She then placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder. "It's not a weakness to get angry, Jaune. It's human."

Jaune pulled away from her touch, causing her to frown.

"That's… not it." He mumbled. "It's not that I'm ashamed that I have to use my anger to get stronger. It's more that… that I'm scared of what I can do with this power."

"What do you mean by that?"

Jaune sighed. "Before I explain, I want you to promise me something Pyr. Promise that you won't think I'm crazy."

Pyrrha's frown deepened. "Jaune, what are you talking about? What's going on?"

"Please Pyr! I need to hear you say it!" Jaune pushed.

Pyrrha felt Jaune's desperation, and so she resolved herself, adopting a serious demeanor. "Jaune, I promise on my name that I will not think you are crazy."

"Thank you, really." Jaune whispered, before slapping himself in the face to get ready for his confession. "I've… I've been having dreams. Dreams or memories or visions or something, of someone. Of someone that I don't know, that I've never met, who has the same semblance that I do. It's only happened a few times, like before initiation, and before my fight with Cardin. And I watch this person fight, he's terrifying but amazing at the same time. I could feel what he feels during the dream, how he feeds off his anger and cruelty, his semblance becoming stronger as he hurts people. And the thing is, whatever this man does in my dreams… I seem to be able to do as well."

Pyrrha's mouth hung open. Her initial reaction was sheer disbelief. But she immediately recalled her promise to Jaune, and kept an open mind.

"How… is that possible?" was all she could ask.

"I don't know! Pyr, listen, I shouldn't even be at Beacon. I had to forge my transcripts and lie to get in." Jaune confessed.

"What? But you're an amazing fighter! Why would you have to forge your transcripts?"

"That's another thing! Pyrrha before initiation, I held Crocea Mors, two, maybe three times. Ever! I never actually learned how to fight!" Jaune yelled.

Pyrrha was now seeing the pattern, "If that's true, and if you can do whatever you see the man in your dreams do, then all of your combat skills are also copied from this man?"

Jaune nodded. "Yep. Against the deathstalker, against Cardin. All of those moves were moves I stole from the man whose memories I've been watching. No training, no practice. It's like I was just given all these abilities as soon as my aura awakened."

"And you're afraid of becoming like this man?"

"Yeah. I mean, he's a great fighter, but at least in the last dream, he was cruel… sadistic. I want to be a hero, not, whatever it is he was." Jaune felt only anger at his situation. Anger at the lack of control he was having over his life, over his lack of knowledge of who this man was. It made him feel helpless and emasculated.

Pyrrha pondered all of this information dumped on her. "Perhaps… perhaps your semblance is actually some sort of reincarnation? Giving you the talents and abilities of a past life?" Pyrrha couldn't believe what she was saying. It sounded like something out of a science fiction comic.

"Is that even possible?" Jaune was flabbergasted.

"All honesty, I have no idea. But it does fit. Aura and semblances aren't exactly a hard science." Pyrrha shook her head before grabbing Jaune's face with both her hands. "But listen Jaune. It doesn't matter if your semblance, or your skills were from a past life or not. They are your abilities now, and you are responsible for them.

"I thank you for telling me this, for trusting me with this explanation. But it doesn't change your situation. You need training. If you don't want to become like the man in your dreams, then you have to gain control of your emotions. If you don't, we may not be able to trust you on the battlefield. So let us help you get that control." Pyrrha practically begged. This was too important for Jaune to just shrug off and deal with alone.

Jaune nodded his head. "Yeah... yeah I know. Thanks Pyr, I really mean it. You're right. I can't do this alone. You'd really be willing to help me?"

Pyrrha smiled and hugged her leader. "Of course Jaune. And I'm sure Ren would be more than happy to help as well. Emotional control is sorta his thing." Pyrrha then let go of Jaune and gave him a serious look. "That all being said, if Ren and I are to focus on helping you control your emotions, I think it would be best if you take up Professor Goodwitch's offer on training as well."

Jaune grimaced. "Aww do I have to?" Professor Goodwitch still intimidated the Hell out of him.

"Yes Jaune, I believe you do. While we can help you manage your emotions, Professor Goodwitch is still the best person to teach you the intricacies of telekinesis. We can help keep you from exploding and losing control, but she can teach you advanced techniques and maneuvers that you might not have thought possible." Pyrrha argued.

Jaune hung his head like a scolded child and mumbled, "Alright fine, I'll go see Professor Goodwitch about extra lessons."

Pyrrha had a satisfied smirk and gave Jaune a pat on the head. "Good. Now come on, let's head back. We'll need to talk to Ren about a lesson plan for your training."

Jaune looked out over the horizon, the Sun had set and the evening sky was now a dark purple. "Why don't you go back ahead Pyr, I'll stay up here for a bit to clear my head."

Pyrrha smiled and nodded, going back to the dorm ahead of her leader. Jaune stood alone on the rooftop, staring at the rising shattered moon, contemplating his situation.

"Oh, Jaune…" a voice called out, laughing all the while.

Jaune's head snapped to the source of the voice, and to his shock, he saw Cardin climbing up onto the roof. "I couldn't help but overhear you two from my dorm room. And I have to say I am surprised. I didn't know you were both crazy and a liar. Insane hallucinations. Cheating your way into Beacon. Didn't know you had it in you."

"Cardin…" Jaune growled out.

"Now, now, now. No threats." Cardin held up his scroll. "Don't want me to send this recording I took to the headmaster, do you?" A smug grin appeared on Cardin's face, he thought he had Jaune by the balls.

But there was no sign of fear on Jaune's face. No desperation to keep his secret hidden. Only pure, unadulterated rage.

"Cardin. You will delete that recording, forget everything you just heard, and NEVER bother me or my friends again!" Jaune snarled. He would give Cardin this one chance to turn around, despite how much he wanted to eviscerate the fool then and there.

Cardin's smug expression fell, becoming one of dumb acceptance, as he deleted the recording. "Yeah, uh, I didn't hear anything, and I won't bother you or your friends anymore." Cardin then backed off, climbing back into his window as if he was never there in the first place.

Jaune nodded with a smile, believing he had successfully intimidated Cardin into backing off. It felt good to see Cardin run away with his tail between his legs like that. Having had enough of this location, Jaune turned around and started to make his way back to his dorm.

As he made his way back, Jaune paused. Thinking on the memories, on the series of events that led him to his current predicament, Jaune thought about the mask. He had thrown the mask into his locker at the start of classes, and hadn't interacted with it since. He couldn't understand why, but he wanted to see it now. He needed to see it.

Making his way to the locker room, Jaune made his way down to locker 636 and inputted his code. The locker popped open revealing Crocea Mors, and Jaune's travelling pack. Opening up the bag, Jaune dug through his supplies, and at the bottom found the bone mask.

Despite what Jaune said, about not wanting to become like whoever once wore this mask, he knew he couldn't forsake it. Despite his resolutions, his declaration, he couldn't tear himself away from it. It's allure was too strong, and the young Jaune Arc did not have the strength to resist its call. The Mask did not want Jaune to limit himself, to limit his emotions. It needed Jaune to be stronger.

Lifting the mask up in front of him, he whispered, "It's yours, isn't it? The memories? The powers?" Jaune reverently raised the mask, as if expecting a response. "What are you?"

As expected, Jaune heard nothing. But that wouldn't deter him. There was something more to this mask, and he knew it. That night, Jaune did not return to his dorm. Instead he found himself alone in an empty classroom. And until the light of the next day shone through the windows, he stared deep into the Mask of Darth Nihilus, desperate to unlock its secrets.

Chapter Text

"My warning to you is this - do not rely on your companions to compensate for your weakness in skill. There will be times they will not be there to help you when needed." -Kreia

Chapter 7: Leadership

Monday...

"Focus Mr. Arc. Project your will over the chalk." Professor Goodwitch commanded.

"I.. am… focusing." Jaune grunted out through grit teeth as he focused his semblance over a single piece of white chalk.

After classes were finished, Jaune had gone to his first after school lesson with Professor Goodwitch. As he entered the classroom, he could feel both the pitying looks of students who thought he was a deadman walking, as well as the jealous glares of the Professor's secret admirers.

To his surprise, the extra lessons were relatively normal. The Professor had given Jaune a simple task for his first test, to use chalk to draw basic shapes on the blackboard with his semblance. At least, Jaune thought it was simple until the first stick of chalk he mentally grabbed onto exploded in a cloud of white powder.

It took Jaune two more failed attempts before he was able to correctly dial in the amount of force to grab the chalk and lift it up. But that was only step one. Figuring out the correct amount of pressure to apply to the chalk against the blackboard proved similarly irritating. Too much, and the chalk would be crushed against the board, too little and he would barely be able to write anything. In all honesty, it was an interesting problem and a creative use of his abilities. But it would be far less aggravating to do if he wasn't so fucking tired.

Jaune's eyes had dark bags underneath them, and he had the classic headache and irritability that came with pulling an all-nighter. Last night, Jaune had snuck out of his dorm in the middle of the night in order to further study his mask. It had become an obsession of his recently, one that he knew his team wouldn't understand.

The possibility of understanding what was happening was too much for him to just ignore. So Jaune used every minute possible, pushing his body to its physical limits to study the mask. As such, an exhausted Jaune Arc was in his first private lesson with Glynda Goodwitch feeling half-dead and woefully unprepared.

The chalk slowly creaked up the blackboard, forming an unsteady line as Jaune dragged it up. Several seconds of desperate struggle later and soon Jaune had created a poorly drawn triangle that looked like something his younger sister would've drawn with crayons.

Jaune dejectedly sighed. The drawing looked like crap and it only made him feel like crap. Suddenly, he felt a reassuring pat on his shoulder. He turned to see that it was Professor Goodwitch attempting to comfort him.

"Despite how it looks, Mr. Arc, this alone shows improvement. Remember, this is not a test of your artistic skill, but to work on your fine control without having to resort to your emotions." Jaune had also told Glynda how he believed his powers were connected to his emotion. As such, Glynda decided to have the boy learn how to use his abilities without having to resort to such a volatile method.

"Yeah, I know, professor." Jaune sighed once again. "It's just, frustrating. Using my semblance like this, it… it just feels weird or wrong. I'm not entirely sure how to explain it." Jaune shook his head. Trying to use his powers without feeding on his emotions was like trying to swim without using his hands. It was possible, but exceedingly difficult.

Glynda put her thumb and index finger to her chin in contemplation. "Well then perhaps we are approaching this the wrong way. Can you explain to me, step by step, the process in which you are currently using your powers?" Her idea was that by having Jaune explain it in specific details, one of them would be able to pick apart whatever inefficiency was holding him back.

Jaune paused for several seconds, trying to figure out how to verbalize what he was actually doing. "I know I have to... stretch out my feelings, if that makes sense. I feel that the chalk is there, even though I'm not actually touching it. Once I have it, I sorta tell it what to do. I think go up, and the chalk lifts up, I think lighter grip, and the strength of my semblance's hold slackens."

"So you have to actively think on each step of what you're trying to do?" Glynda asked.

Jaune nodded his head. "Yeah pretty much, since I'm trying to do this logically rather than emotionally."

Glynda tapped her chin. "Hmm, that does seem rather inefficient." She paused for a moment, until inspiration struck. "Have you tried using your abilities visually, rather than sequentially?"

Jaune tilted his head in confusion."What do you mean?"

Immediately Glynda switched into lecturing mode. "Your current process allows you to focus on what specific action you are doing, but it also causes tunnel vision. You focus so much on what you are currently doing that you do not see the bigger picture. If you can only think about lifting the chalk, you can't also think about pressure and angle as well.

"So rather than thinking of what the next step you need to do is, try to imagine the action as a whole, to feel your way through the drawing, letting your unconscious mind control the small details, rather than rationalizing and controlling everything." The Professor finished.

Jaune rubbed the back of his head, confused to say the least. "Uh… I'm still not sure if I get it."

Glynda did not sigh, nor was she disappointed that Jaune did not immediately understand her. She was, after all, first and foremost an educator. "Think of it this way. When you are running, do you specifically think about how your heel falls onto the ground first? Then do you have to think about how your weight rolls over your foot, followed by thinking about pushing off with the ball of your foot? At the same time, do you have to think about breathing harder to get more air, or swinging your arms to be more efficient? No, but you are able to do these instinctively. You may have to think, 'I want to run,' but the action of running itself is automatic. So instead of taking it step by step, controlling each small action, think about what you want to draw in its entirety, visualize it in your mind, then simply do it."

Jaune nodded his head. The analogy helped make things clearer for him. So taking a deep breath in, Jaune cleared his mind and extended his senses. He closed his eyes and focused on nothing but the chalk. Inside of his mind he visualized an image of himself, drawing on the blackboard. He drew several shapes, a square, then a triangle, followed by a circle, and finally a smiley face.

Opening his eyes, Jaune was able to fully appreciate his work. Now decorating the chalkboard was a drawing of a simple square house, with a triangle roof, and a circular sun in the sky with a smiley face in its center. It was still a bit of a childish drawing sure, but darn it, it looked great! Straight lines, a perfect circle for the sun, Jaune felt like he might as well drop out of Beacon now and go to art school he thought it looked so beautiful.

"Impressive… most impressive, Mr. Arc." Glynda congratulated.

Jaune smiled. Positive reinforcement was always rare for him, so he'd take it whenever he could. "Thanks. Your advice helped a ton." And Jaune meant it. There were many possible applications of this exercise. Having the ability to reliably use his semblance without relying on his emotions would limit the risk of him going out of control.

"Indeed it did, but I was not the one drawing. It was your determination that saw this through. Though I must ask, a smiley face?" Glynda raised an eyebrow.

Jaune meekly laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I just thought it was cute…" he murmured.

Glynda's face remained impassive. "Quite. Well Mr. Arc, I believe that this is where we can stop for now. There is such a thing as overtraining, after all."

Jaune nodded his head. "Alright, well thanks for everything professor. I guess I'll see you next week." He turned heel face and made his way for the door with a spring in his step.

"Oh, and Mr. Arc." The Professor called out as he left.

"Hmm?" Jaune stopped and turned.

"Do try to get more sleep. Our field trip to the Forever Fall forest is this Friday, and it will not do to have you exhausted in the field." Glynda's neutral teaching face shifted into a commanding glare.

Jaune immediately gulped and turned his head, avoiding eye contact. "Yeah, of course professor, no problem!" The young Arc turned and got out of that room as fast as he possibly could.

Tuesday…

Jaune felt a cramp in his hip as he sat cross legged on the dormitory rooftop. It wasn't a severe pain, but annoying enough. He wondered if this was a sign that he should start adding in some mobility exercises to his training routine, after all…

"Jaune, are you paying attention?" Ren called out, sitting in front of his team leader in the same stance. Pyrrha sat next to Jaune as well, mirroring them while Nora dozed off by the door.

"Yeah, of course." Jaune wasn't, but he didn't want to lose face.

If Ren saw through his lie, he didn't mention it. "Remember, close your eyes and breathe naturally, no need to control it."

Jaune silently grumbled. He wasn't thinking about controlling his breathing before, but now that Ren mentioned it, he was completely aware of it and was now breathing manually.

Ren continued on with his lesson. "As you begin to meditate, let your mind drift. As wandering thoughts and sensations enter your mind, do not judge or think deeper on the thought, but simply be aware that it is there. This type of meditation will help bring you a deeper awareness of the world around you, and help you control your reaction to them."

When Jaune and Pyrrha brought up the issue of his dreams and lack of control to Ren and Nora, they were not judgemental or skeptical, something Jaune was eternally grateful for. Ren was more than happy to volunteer his services to help Jaune take control of his instincts, and as such began teaching him the basics of mindfulness meditation. The focus of the meditation was to have Jaune practice experiencing the present without judgement or emotional reaction.

Which of course, was far easier said than done. All honesty, Jaune found meditation beyond boring. But he knew that Ren was doing this for his best interest, so he promised he'd try his hardest. And an Arc never goes back on their word.

Jaune cleared his mind, and extended his senses outward, letting him feel the world around him. Unbeknownst to him however, due to his connection with the Force, his senses extended far beyond what would normally be possible.

The young knight could sense Ren and Pyrrha beside him. Despite his eyes being closed, he could see the burning magenta and crimson of their auras. He could even see the pink of Nora off to the side, albeit dulled in her sleeping state. Jaune smiled, grateful that he had such a great team who'd go so far for him. However, in order to stay true to the exercise, he flushed the thoughts out of his mind. He simply acknowledged that he could sense his team, and moved on.

As his mindscape returned to blackness, Jaune let his mind drift again. Soon the sensation of color was then replaced with buzzing. It was faint, so Jaune willed himself closer. Within his mind he could see a swarm insects on Beacon's ground level, several stories below him. The bugs flew in a cloud beneath an amber-leafed tree, landing on a recently deceased bird, no doubt making the most out of their surprise meal. At first Jaune felt pity for the black-feathered bird, but he strangled that reaction down as well.

Jaune simply acknowledged this as part of the circle of life, and left the scene. Before Jaune could pull himself out of this meditative state, he felt a final pull on his senses. Jaune's mind turned back to the school, back to the locker room, into a specific locker all too familiar to him.

The mask. It was calling to him. Pushing passed the locker door, through his bag, Jaune saw the mask lying at the bottom of his bag. As soon as the ivory artifact appeared, everything else vanished from his sight. It was just him, and the mask. Jaune held back any reaction and simply thought, Ok the mask is here. He then tried to leave, but found himself unable. Before, he could simply banish the thoughts of what he was sensing and wait for the next sensation, but he couldn't here.

In the void of his mind, Jaune sat alone with the mask. He didn't know for how long he was there, but he felt the mask peering into him, through him. It was overbearing, suffocating. Jaune felt as though the gravity was turned up by a hundred, crushing him within his own mind. It was in this suffering, that Jaune swore he heard the mask whisper.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried out as she shook Jaune out of his trance.

"Huh, wha-?" Jaune slurred out as he was violently pulled out of the meditation. It took him a few seconds to recognize he was back on the roof, with both Ren and Pyrrha standing beside him with looks of concern. "What's going on guys?"

Ren and Pyrrha shot each other a glance, before Ren answered. "Jaune, we finished the meditation session a full minute ago, but you didn't open your eyes. Pyrrha called out to you and you didn't react either. What happened?"

Jaune pondered on what he just experienced. "I was meditating, I think? I got super in depth with it, focusing on the world around me, seeing it even though I'm not there." Jaune shrugged. "Or I might've fallen asleep. To be honest, I'm still a little confused with the way this all works." Jaune weakly chuckled.

Pyrrha frowned a bit while Ren's face remained impassive. "Well if that's true, then congratulations. Achieving such a deep meditative trance on your first try is impressive."

"Is it?" Jaune genuinely asked as Pyrrha grabbed his hand and pulled him up. Ren nodded, so Jaune flexed his bicep and sarcastically gloated, "Well that just goes to show how badass I am, getting it on the first try. It's also getting pretty late, so why don't we all head back?"

Ren and Pyrrha were unsure of their leader's answer, but would not push the topic if Jaune didn't want to talk. They respected his privacy too much. So the team moved to awaken their slumbering valkyrie and returned to their dorm.

Wednesday night…

Ren stirred in his sleep. Despite being perpetually tired, Ren was actually a rather light sleeper. Such a thing was a necessity when living with a young Nora, whose penchant for violent pranks forced him to always be vigilant.

Something was moving in his room. Ren creaked an eye open, and could see a male figure in the darkness. Quickly he was able to place the silhouette to Jaune's body. Ren watched as his leader stealthily crept out of the room, silently opening the door and exiting. Part of Ren wondered what Jaune was doing, but it was far too late in the night for him to care. So Ren went back to sleep, leaving Jaune to do whatever business he needed to do.

Meanwhile, Jaune was quietly making his way through Beacon's empty hallways. He knew that the school didn't have security cameras from his previous expeditions, but he still needed to be stealthy. After all, he didn't want to accidentally alert any fanus students. He didn't want anyone, especially his team finding out about his nightly trips. If they found out they might think he was crazy. Or even worse, they might try to take the mask away! This was his secret, and his alone.

So as he had done previously, Jaune covertly arrived in the Beacon's locker room. And as he had done previously, he retrieved the mask and spirited himself away to an empty classroom.

Jaune placed the mask on the ground and kneeled in front of it. When he did his meditation with Ren yesterday, Jaune swore he heard something from the mask. He was finally hearing something. He was close, and he knew it. So close to finally getting some answers. So Jaune carefully held the mask up, as if it were made of glass. Jaune then closed his eyes and began to meditate.

Once again Jaune projected himself into the void of his mind. This time he was alone, with no mask.

"Please, show me more!" Jaune cried out internally. There was no reply. "You're listening aren't you!? You're there, I know it! What are you!?"

Jaune needed to know. He needed to see more memories. He needed to learn how the man fell. If he could learn what happened to him, he could learn how to avoid becoming like him. Jaune continued to scream into the void to no avail.

Jaune's eyes shot open as he left his meditative trance. Despite having the mask in his hands, he heard nothing. Jaune's grip on the mask tightened as he felt his anger rise. The boy snarled as he threw the mask in fit of rage. The artifact flew out of his grip and smacked against the marble wall, falling to the ground completely undamaged.

"Fine! Keep your secrets!" Jaune roared out. The wooden benches and desks around him groaned as telekinetic pressure was forced upon them. "I don't need them! I won't become like you because I'm stronger than you! I am going to be a hero, not a monster!"

Jaune slammed the door open and turned to leave. As he did he stopped. He heard something. Jaune peered over his shoulder and looked back at the mask. It was a quiet, unintelligible murmur, but he knew he heard the mask whisper. Silently, Jaune turned around, and picked the mask up again.

Thursday…

Jaune felt the sweat drip down his brow as the afternoon sun beat down on him. Sword held high, the young Arc faced down his partner Pyrrha, who stood wielding her own xiphos.

"Again Jaune, begin!" The champion called out as she stepped forward to attack.

Pyrrha stepped forward with an arcing vertical slash. An attack that Jaune easily parried and dodged by stepping off to the side. Twisting his blade, he moved to counter attack with a horizontal swing to Pyrrha's torso. This was in turn blocked by Pyrrha, who then spun into a low spinning kick, aiming to sweep Jaune off his feet. Arc saw this coming and jumped in the air, but as he did, a dull thud sounded out from behind him.

As Jaune landed he turned and saw that the medicine ball he was telekinetically holding up had fallen to the ground. Jaune sighed as he realized the grip he had on the eight pound ball was disrupted.

Jaune and Pyrrha were not actually sparring, as Pyrrha had said that she felt his skills in swordplay were good enough already. Instead what they were doing was a drill that Pyrrha's coach had taught her in order to learn how to use her own semblance during the stress of combat.

Like all of the training Jaune had been subjected to this week, the exercise was simply in theory but difficult in practice. Jaune and Pyrrha were in fact performing a choreographed set of strikes and counters, all while Jaune had to hold up a weighted medicine ball up with his semblance. The drill was physically and mentally draining for Jaune, and splitting his attention between the combat and his semblance was particularly difficult.

Despite Jaune's dejected mood, Pyrrha smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "There's no reason to look so down, Jaune. You made it up to the third strike on the first day of this training. That is quite remarkable."

Jaune smiled and put his hand over her's. "Thanks Pyr."

Pyrrha blushed slightly and pulled back. While she didn't know if she'd say she liked Jaune yet, she would at the very least say she was intrigued by him. Sure, it was his lack of knowledge on who she was that attracted her in the first place, but his good natured attitude and confidence that kept her looking. Pyrrha always felt insecure about talking to others due to her celebrity status and lack of experience just talking to people. But Jaune was always more than eager to jump into a conversation with faux bravado that was more cute and humorous than anything else. If anything, she was a little bit jealous of Jaune's ability to form new relationships so easily.

And Pyrrha thought that the fact that Jaune had a firm butt didn't hurt either as she subtly eyed him up and down. Jaune's already athletic build was only becoming more sculpted as he spent his time at Beacon training. Even with his uniform on she could see more muscular development. Something else then caught her eyes however, and it wasn't Jaune's cute butt or broadening shoulders.

It was his face. His face was… paler than normal. Jaune was always light skinned, but the color in it seemed to have faded. And beneath his eyes, were dark bags. Even his stance seemed shakier than normal.

Pyrrha asked with concern. "Jaune, are you doing ok?"

Jaune raised an eyebrow, as if he was confused as to where the question was coming from. "Yeah? I mean, I guess I'm a little tired."

"Have you had anything to eat yet?"

Jaune paused to think. He spent lunch meditating, trying to reach out to the mask from his dorm. "No I had to skip lunch. But it's fine, I'm not hungry"

Pyrrha frowned. "That's not good Jaune. Our bodies need fuel if we are to push them. We're ending practice here and going to the cafeteria."

"But-" Jaune tried to argue.

"No buts!" Pyrrha was now in coach mode. "Either you come with me to eat now, or I knock you out and force feed you. Understood?"

Jaune felt a shiver of fear through his spine. He stood up ramrod and saluted. "Yes ma'am!"

Pyrrha nodded with a victorious smirk and the duo left for the cafeteria.

Once there, it didn't take long for either of them to get their food, as it was still a little early for dinner. As they met up, they heard a voice call out to them.

"Jaune! Pyrrha! Over here!" They looked over and saw that both Ruby and Weiss were also enjoying an early meal in the cafeteria.

The Arkos duo made their way to the White Rose and sat down with them.

"You uh… watching your weight their Jaune?" Ruby asked with a chuckle.

Pyrrha was confused at the question, until she looked down at Jaune's tray. It consisted of only a small salad and a single piece of buttered bread. Hardly a hardy meal.

"No, just not that hungry." Jaune shrugged "So what are you guys doing here so early?"

Ruby smiled and wrapped an arm around Weiss's shoulder saying, "Well me and my BFF Weiss here..." Weiss groaned at the descriptor, "have been coming up with some training regimens! Different combo attacks we can do, areas each of us can improve, stuff like that."

"That's wonderful." Pyrrha responded. "We ourselves have just been going through some of Jaune's semblance training."

"Oh and how's that going?" Ruby asked as she stuffed her mouth full of food.

"Don't talk with your mouth full you barbarian!" Weiss scolded.

Pyrrha ignored their spat and continued. "Very well. Jaune is a wonderful learner. In all of our lessons, as well as the lesson with Professor Goodwitch, he's been excelling quite well." Pyrrha beamed with pride for her partner.

Jaune smiled and put on his confident, faux-bravado face once again. "Yep, it's not easy being a prodigious hot-stuff like myself." Jaune joked, "Speaking of hot-stuff though…" Jaune's gaze then shifted to Weiss.

"Oh my god…" Weiss grumbled out. While Weiss did not have an initially negative view of Jaune Arc after initiation, his constant attempts at flirtation quickly worked to lower her opinion of him. She was here to learn and train, not start a relationship, and this was something that Jaune couldn't seem to comprehend.

Meanwhile Pyrrha felt the fork in her hand bend for some reason.

"You wanna head out into town this weekend, Snow Angel? A new Sylver Stallone film just came out, Rainbow: Last Blood. Thinking we could go see it, maybe get some dinner beforehand…"

Weiss felt the migraine she had from the beginning of the term returning. Normally she would chew Arc out for these repeated annoyances, perhaps sic her family lawyers on him, but seeing as he was Ruby's and Pyrrha's friend, she'd be diplomatic about it.

"No." Weiss flatly responded before returning to her meal.

"Aww." Jaune groaned as he hung his head in shame, his playboy facade once again broken.

Ruby, sensing the awkwardness of the situation, decided to ungracefully shift topics. "So uh... you guys ready for the field trip to the Forever Fall Forest tomorrow? I know we are, ha-ha." Ruby let out a weak laugh as no one else at the table seemed to respond.

Jaune shrugged, his head still hanging low. "Sure, but I mean it's just a field trip. What's the worst that could happen?"

Ruby groaned and threw her hands back. "Jaune, why would you say that!? That's bad luck."

Weiss cut in to stop her partner's antics. "Oh please, that's superstitious nonsense."

"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck." Jaune added on.

Ruby gave Jaune shocked expression at his betrayal, while Weiss had a satisfied smirk at winning the conversation, even if it was with Jaune's support.

Thursday night…

Jaune once again crept out of his dorm in the middle of the night. As he closed the door however, something unexpected occurred.

"Jaune? What are you doing out here?" a voice called out behind him.

Jaune's head immediately snapped around, and he saw Ruby in her pajamas, a black tank top with a heart-shaped beowolf head, and white pants decorated with pink roses, holding a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. That caused him to raise an eyebrow.

"Midnight snack?" He asked, pointing at the treats.

Ruby flushed red and put her snack down. "Yes, I mean no, I mean… I asked you first." She pointed at him accusingly.

Jaune gave a weak laugh and lied. "Just going for a walk."

Ruby didn't say anything for a second. "Does your team know you're out?"

That question caught him off guard. "Uhh, maybe?"

Ruby frowned, and that hurt Jaune's soul. His big brother instincts always told him to protect her, not make her sad. Ruby then walked up to Jaune and sat against the wall, motioning him to sit as well. Jaune sighed and sat beside her.

"Jaune, do you know what it means to be a leader?" Ruby asked, her pure silver eyes looking right into him.

"Uhh is that a rhetorical question?" Jaune tilted his head in confusion.

"Nope!" Ruby responded, popping the 'P'.

Jaune then took the time to think upon the question. "A leader is someone who gives orders and that everyone else follows."

Ruby shook her head. "Anyone can just give orders Jaune. But only leaders can inspire, to make others want to follow. But to do that, leaders need to communicate with their teams, not hide away in the dark."

Jaune felt his anger rise up a bit at the accusation. "I am not hiding!" He hissed out with more force than he realized.

Jaune cursed at himself internally. Ruby was someone he never wanted to hurt, never wanted to direct his anger towards. How could he ever even think of yelling at her? Anger was quickly replaced by shame.

Ruby however, wasn't fazed. "Then what are you doing out here alone?"

Jaune opened his mouth to respond, but found nothing coming out. He couldn't think of a good answer to tell her.

As Jaune failed to come up with a response, Ruby sighed and stood back up, making her way to her dorm. "Good night Jaune, I'll see you tomorrow."

As Ruby retreated back into her room, Jaune found himself alone in the darkness of the hallway. He looked down the hall, towards the lockers, towards the mask, and then back at his dorm where his team lay sleeping. Jaune rested his head on his knees, frozen by his own indecision, not knowing what to do.

Chapter Text

"A culture's teachings, and most importantly, the natures of its people, achieve definition through conflict. They find themselves, or find themselves lacking." - Kreia

Chapter 8: Fear

Thursday Evening…

Following the end of their early dinner, Jaune and Pyrrha bid their farewells to Ruby and Weiss as they split up to return to their teams. The RW duo left for the gymnasium where Blake and Yang were training, while Jaune decided to go back to the rooftop to do his meditations. This left Pyrrha to return to the dorms alone.

Opening the door to her room, the champion was greeted with the sight of Nora jumping on her bed, bouncing in the air while Ren was cleaning his pistols.

As Pyrrha walked in, Nora turned to her and called out, "Hey Pyr. Where's Jaune? I thought you guys were training."

"We were. But we stopped early for dinner. Afterwards he wanted to go do his meditations, so I returned ahead." Pyrrha replied as she took a seat on a short bookcase by the window.

"Ugh all Jaune does now is his boring meditations. I wish you hadn't taught him that Ren." Nora complained mid jump.

"They are for his own good Nora." Ren gently chided while polishing his weapon. "However, Jaune does seem to have become rather scarce ever since we began his training."

"Well he just wants to become the best huntsman he can be. And such a goal can only be achieved through hard training." Pyrrha defended her partner's absence.

"Hmm." Ren silently contemplated. "There is such a thing as overtraining however. And his habit of sneaking out at night will not help him recover."

"That's weird. Doesn't he know we need our rest! We do have our field trip tomorrow!" Nora proclaimed as she tucked in the air, somersaulting and safely landing on her bed back first.

"He does what!?" Pyrrha exclaimed, the volume causing Ren's hand to slip off his pistol.

Ren and Nora quickly shared a glance as Pyrrha stared at them dumbfounded.

"Pyrrha, Jaune has been sneaking out all week." Ren said plainly as the champion's jaw dropped.

"What? How have I not noticed!?" Pyrrha practically shouted.

"Well, all cards on the table Pyr, you're kinda a heavy sleeper." Nora somewhat bashfully said as Pyrrha immediately went red. "As in like, every night you clock out like a rock. All honesty, it wouldn't surprise me if it took a grimm attack to wake you up you're such a deep sleeper-"

"Ok, thank you Nora, I understand." Pyrrha cut her off before sighing. The champion knew that she was a heavy sleeper, hours of constant training in her youth taught her to get what sleep she could whenever she could, but she never knew it was that bad. But right now the conversation was not about her sleeping habits, but about her partner. "Do you have any ideas as to why Jaune would sneak out?"

Nora shrugged. "Maybe he's going out for midnight snacks? I know I do that sometimes to make pancakes when Ren refuses to." Ren could only sigh at his partner's casual confession.

Pyrrha thought on this, but then immediately dismissed the notion after remembering the meal her and her partner just shared. "Perhaps, but I don't believe that is it. In fact, have either of you noticed what Jaune's been eating for his meals?"

Nora gave the champion a confused look, while Ren thought for a moment, but was similarly unable to come up with an answer.

"Jaune told me that he's skipped some meals, and when we went to dinner he barely ate anything. Just a salad and some bread." Pyrrha worriedly explained.

"Hmm. Loss of appetite, lack of sleep. Those are worrying signs." Ren added on. "Is he ill, or perhaps suffering from depression?"

"What!? Jaune's depressed!? We can't have that!" Nora cried out as she leapt out of her bed, immediately ready to rush to her leader's aid.

"Wait Nora! We don't know anything yet!" Pyrrha intervened, stopping the valkyrie from doing anything drastic and seating her back down. "Jaune… We don't have any proof that Jaune is depressed. But, I do feel as though he's hiding something. There's something going on with him and he's keeping us at arms length." Pyrrha dejectedly admitted, hanging her head.

"Pssh well silly the way we solve that is easy!" Nora waved off her concern. "It's obvious we don't know what's going on inside of Jaune-Jaune's head, so we just have to crack it open and see what goodies are inside!"

Pyrrha looked at Nora horrified, before looking to Ren for an explanation.

"She means that we should confront Jaune directly about this." Ren translated

Pyrrha's eyes widened. "Nora we can't just ask him! This… seems personal to him. Everyone is allowed to keep things to themselves." Despite her desire to help Jaune, Pyrrha knew the dangers of pushing and prying into someone's personal business. One wrong move and they risk insulting or hurting Jaune, causing him to become even more withdrawn than he already was.

"Then your plan is to say nothing, hide away your worries, and hope that Jaune can resolve his inner turmoil himself?" Ren deadpanned with a raised eyebrow.

"What? No… but I…" Pyrrha didn't actually have a better alternative. "Alright, fine you make a good point." the huntress acquiesced.

"Alright then let's go ask him!" Nora once again stood out of bed.

"Wait!" Pyrrha cried out again as she grabbed Nora's wrist and yanked her back. Nora tried to resist and escape, but the champion twisted her teammate and threw her onto her bed. She then jumped atop the pink bomber and pinned her down.

"Ugh what is it now!?" Nora complained as Pyrrha brought her full weight down on her.

"I… need some time to think. To prepare myself for this conversation. So how about tomorrow. We can ask him while we're on the field trip." Pyrrha tried to bargain.

Nora's eyes narrowed on the red head. She then glanced at Ren, who met her gaze and only responded with a shrug.

"Fine. We wait until tomorrow. But you better not chicken out, or I'll let Jaune know that you like to stare at him during Professor Oobleck's class." Nora threatened.

Pyrrha immediately went red. "How did you know about that?!" Her gaze often found itself on their fearless leader during class, but she had thought she was subtle enough that no one would notice.

A mischievous grin appeared on Nora's face. "I didn't. Until now that is."

Pyrrha's mouth gaped like a fish, trying to form a response to the extraordinary chess move Nora just outmaneuvered her with. It was then that the door swung open, and the topic of the conversation entered the room.

"Hey guys, what's with all the ruckus?" Jaune called out as he was greeted with the sight of a red faced Pyrrha currently pinning Nora down onto her bed while Ren watched.

The silence that followed was physically painful.

To his credit, Jaune kept most of his composure, save for the reddening of his own face as he slowly moved to close the door. "You know, I don't mind if you guys want to, do stuff. But at least like, put a sock on the door or something."

"This isn't what it looks like!" Pyrrha cried out as Nora burst out laughing while Ren could only sigh.

It was going to be a long night for team JNPR.

Friday…

Teams RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL all sat in a single bullhead as the airship made its way over the Forever Fall Forest. Sitting in the front of the cabin was Jaune, who was currently trying to meditate and focus on anything else besides his motion sickness. Pyrrha was patting his back from a seat away, vomit bag in hand just in case.

Team RWBY along with Ren and Nora sat in the middle of the cabin, casually chatting, while Team CRDL sat in the rear, alone but docile. Their advisor, Professor Goodwitch sat in the cockpit along with their pilot, a woman named Ash.

As Nora and Ruby chatted about the types of grimm they hoped to see, Yang noticed her partner Blake sneaking peeks at team CRDL behind them. Team CRDL's bigoted, bullying attitudes were well known, and Yang knew that Blake at least sympathised greatly with the faunus.

"Everything going alright there, Blake?" Yang called out, getting her partner's attention.

Blake's head snapped to the yellow brawler. "Hm? Yeah I'm all good. Just keeping an eye on team testosterone over there. I want to make sure they don't do anything stupid." Blake smirked.

Yang grinned at her partner's joke. Blake was normally quiet and reserved, so jokes from her were a rare commodity. "I get what you mean, those guys are real blowhards." She shrugged. "But at least they seem to have calmed down recently."

Much to the surprise of team RWBY and PNR, after Cardin and Jaune's spat in the cafeteria, team CRDL stopped nearly all interaction with the two teams. Previously, in some vain effort to prove their superiority, team CRDL would often try juvenile tactics to either intimidate or harass their teams. But for reasons unknown to them, CRDL had become far more passive, even going out of their way to ignore them now.

"Yeah, small victories I guess." Blake agreed. "They even stopped their harassment of the faunus students. Normally I'd say this is a good thing, but this was so sudden that I don't know if I believe it."

"Well, vomit boy did put the fear of the Brothers into Cardin during their duel." Yang said, pointing her thumb at Jaune, who groaned near the front of the aircraft. "Good thing too. Because if he didn't I would've. Those guys are creeps."

Blake smiled at her partner's supportive, albeit violent demeanor. "I know you would've. I don't know, maybe I'm overthinking this."

Yang smirked. "I mean, that is kinda your thing."

Blake rolled her eyes and gave Yang a light punch on the arm. "Oh shut up."

As the two laughed at the small argument, back in the front of the plane Jaune felt his stomach lurch. He bent over, and felt a supportive pat on his back.

"Are you ok Jaune? Do you need the bag?" Pyrrha brought the paper bag to his face.

"No, no I'm good." Jaune laughed off the wave of nausea as his head rocked back and forth with the turbulence.

Pyrrha looked at Jaune's face and saw that the dark bags under his eyes were still there, combined with an expression of more tiredness than sickness. She frowned, knowing that she had to confront him about these self-destructive habits.

Suddenly the bullhead lurched downward and began its descent into the Forever Fall Forest. This time Jaune did need the bag as the sudden movement disrupted his meditations. Pyrrha then decided she would definitely wait to ask until they were outside, in the fresh air, after Jaune had a few minutes to waft the smell away.

A creature stirred in its burrow. It had not moved for years, for it did not need to. Unlike the inferior creatures that lived above, it did not require food or air. And so it simply waited, hibernated.

But it had awoken now. Strange. It extended its senses through the ground, and felt a disturbance.

There was something here. Something that it hadn't sensed in many centuries. It's favorite prey, a Force-user. A Force-user so powerful in the dark side that it could awaken the creature from its slumber.

And so the creature began to dig its way out of its burrow. The temptation of killing this prey and feasting upon its flesh was too much. As it burst its way out of the underground and into the scarlet forest, it turned its head to the East, and began to make its way towards the group of unsuspecting students.

"Yes, students, the forest of the Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so." Professor Goodwitch called out to her students from the front of the pack.

All three teams were walking through a beautiful forest with ever crimson leaves that gave it a fantastical atmosphere. Every student carried their own mason jar as they naturally separated into their own teams.

Stopping to face them, Professor Goodwitch held a jar full of red sap. "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at four o'clock. Have fun." She deadpanned.

And so the teams broke apart and began stabbing their nozzles into the trees, letting the red, viscous liquid slowly fill their jars. Unsurprisingly, team CRDL went off on their own, disappearing into the treeline to no doubt lollygag the day away.

As teams RWBY and JNPR continued to fill their individual jars, with double the amount for Nora as she continued to eat the sap as they collected it, Pyrrha stood and made eye contact with Ren. Ren caught the gesture and nodded, stopping Nora's snacking and making their way to their teammates.

"Jaune, do you have a moment?" Pyrrha called out to her leader.

Jaune, who was in the middle of filling his jar, looked up to his partner and smiled, "Yeah, what's up?"

"Would you mind if we talk for a bit? Just us?" Pyrrha asked, gesturing to Nora and Ren behind her as well.

Jaune glanced at his team, his eyes narrowing and the smile falling off his face. "Uhh, yeah sure. Don't see why not, ha-ha." Jaune's voice was wavering and shaky.

Normally he would trust his team with his life, but the unexpected ambush instantly set his paranoia on edge. He had no idea what his team wanted, or why they wanted to talk away from team RWBY, but he didn't like it.

As team JNPR walked off, their exit elicited curious glances from team RWBY.

"What's going on with them?" Yang asked no one in particular.

"I don't know." Weiss said, crossing her arms. "Whatever it is, it is their team's problem, and we shouldn't butt in."

"Yeah I suppose." Yang shrugged and went back to filling up her jar with the others.

Meanwhile Ruby watched Jaune and his team leave, and a small pit in her stomach formed. She hoped that he would be able to work out whatever was going on between him and his team.

Once team JNPR believed they were out of earshot of the other teams, they stopped and faced their leader.

"So, what's going on?" Jaune asked, the jovialness normally in his voice now gone.

Ren, noticing the increase in hostility of Jaune's tone, stepped forth first. "Relax Jaune, we're only here to talk."

"About?" Jaune curtly replied.

"Jaune, what's going on with you?" His partner Pyrrha asked as she stepped forward. "You've been staying out late, not focused in class, you've barely been eating and sleeping. Jaune, please, if something's wrong, let us help." his partner begged.

Jaune scowled and turned away from them. "I'm fine! I've just been training. There's nothing wrong with me."

"If there was nothing wrong, you wouldn't be sneaking out of our dorm at night." Ren flatley dropped.

Jaune's eyes widened at that revelation. He'd been seen! Damn it he should've been more careful, of course Ren would notice him leaving. Jaune cursed his own stupidity as he realized his team would not be giving this up, not when they had proof of his odd behavior.

"Alright…" Jaune finally relented. "It's the memories." he confessed.

"The ones you've been seeing in your dreams?" Nora asked, remembering the Jaune's explanation of the dreams he'd been having when he asked them to help train.

Jaune nodded. "Yeah those. Look, the meditations are helping me. Like, a ton. They're helping me understand this power I have now, helping me understand the man whose memories I'm seeing." Jaune knew he was close. So close to finally having an understanding. He couldn't stop now. "That's what I've been doing instead of sleeping, instead of eating. I've been meditating so I can finally understand what's happening to me."

"Perhaps you are close. And while understanding is good, knowing the root of your own powers won't do anything to help you if you die from exhaustion." Ren sagely countered.

Jaune shot Ren a glare. What Ren said made sense, but… but he could be lying. He could be jealous of his powers, and doesn't want Jaune to fulfill his true potential as a warrior. Ren wanted him to fail!

Jaune felt his anger rise up, boiling inside him. He almost felt like he was going to reach for his blade and strike at Ren when he turned back and saw the looks on his team's faces. They were worried, scared expressions, not for themselves but for their leader. Jaune then shoved his anger back down inside of him.

No, Ren wouldn't do that. Ren is my friend. Jaune thought to himself. They're all my friends, and just want to help me.

"I… you're right. I'm sorry guys, I guess I have become a little obsessed with this. I promise I'll take better care of myself, you know, actually eating and sleeping." Jaune promised.

The rest of his team gave a big smile at this, and Ren nodded his head in approval. "That's all we ask."

With a blinding speed, Nora then wrapped up the rest of her team into a bone crushing group hug while crying out, "And team JNPR is back together!" The rest of her team, unable to breathe, responded with pained smiles while she continued. "Now that all that junk is out of the way how about we-"

"HELP!" a voice cried out from deeper in the forest.

Immediately team JNPR broke apart and drew their weapons, scanning for the source of the noise. From deeper in the forest they saw three familiar figures running for their lives, Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark.

"What's going on!?" Jaune called out as his grip around Crocea Mors tightened.

"A monster!" Russel screamed as he sprinted. "Huge one! And it's after Cardin!"

Turning to the direction where team CRDL was running from, team JNPR saw the braggart of a leader Cardin running from the most terrifying creature they had ever seen.

It did not have the classic black flesh and white bone armor that grimm had. Nor was it the shape of any grimm that they had seen in professor Port's class. The creature was tall, somewhere between 3-4 meters in height, bipedal but with short stubby legs and two extremely long forearms that it used to walk on all four limbs. It had a brown, almost insectoid like carapace, covered with spines, and on the edges of its arms were 4 massive claws larger than any ursa claw. It's head was long and flat, protruding backwards with a frill that gave it the appearance of a three pronged kite shield. The image was completed with a maw of razor sharp teeth, and two sharpened tusks in the side of its mouth.

Team JNPR froze. None of them knew what this creature was. The beast was terror incarnate, a vicious killing machine that made any of the grimm they've faced so far look cuddly. Jaune felt a primal fear grip him. This thing they were facing was a predator, and he was its prey.

Jaune did not know where he drew his next words from nor did he know what they meant, but he spoke them with a mixture of fear and respect. "A terentatek…"

The rest of his team looked at Jaune, confused as to what he just said, before Cardin's scream brought their attention back to the fight. Meanwhile Jaune was conflicted on what to do. It was no secret that Jaune fucking hated Cardin. And he would lose no sleep if he watched the bully die a painful death.

But Jaune… Jaune wanted to be a hero, and that meant going in and saving everyone he could, regardless of how he felt. And so Jaune stood still, frozen by his internal conflict and indecision.

Unable to come to a choice, soon a choice was forced upon Jaune. In his panicked running, Cardin fell, tripping over a root as the terentatek caught up and raised a mighty claw to finish him. And it was at that moment, Jaune did not think. He did not think on his hatred of Cardin, nor his fear of the beast. Before he realized what was happening, his body moved off of instinct.

With a semblance enhanced leap, Jaune shot forward. Focusing his power in both his hands, he extended his left hand and pulled Cardin away from the beast as he landed between them. In his right hand, he charged up all the power he could muster, focusing on blasting the beast away. He extended his palm and the most powerful torrent of telekinetic energy he had ever used blasted right for the creature.

The trees behind the terentatek buckled and cracked under the force, and anything not rooted to the ground was blown away by the attack. Everything but the terentatek, who seemed to be unaffected by the Force-based ability.

Arc's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. His most powerful attack, and the creature shrugged it off like it was nothing. The terentatek's terrifying eyes focused on Jaune, and he swore he saw it grin.

Jaune didn't feel what happened next, as it was too fast. Almost immediately Jaune was launched in the air as the terentatek's claw slashed him across the chest, sending him flying. Arc's body ragdolled and smashed into a tree, nearly snapping his back as he then fell to the ground.

"JAUNE!" he heard Pyrrha cry out in the most terrified scream he'd ever heard.

Jaune tried to push himself off the ground, but found that all his strength was gone and his vision hazy. Looking at the dirt, it was stained red by an ever growing puddle of blood. Jaune sputtered out a muted cry as he looked down and finally began to register the pain.

The terentatek's claw strike not only shattered his aura in one hit, but sliced through both his armor and his abdomen. A jagged cut was torn through the length of his torso that poured blood and other bodily fluids. Jaune swore he saw chunks of intestines falling out as well.

"Oh that doesn't look good." Is what Jaune wanted to say, but as soon as he opened his mouth, blood poured out like a fountain, resulting in a garbled gurgle.

As the pain set in, Jaune found himself unable to move. His body stopped responding, the slightest twitch sending mind breaking pain through him. He felt a burning, sizzling pain as his blood began to clot, coagulated by the teretatek's poisonous claws. Jaune could only focus one thing, the sheer terror at the realization that he was going to die here.

"NOOO!" He heard Nora cry out as she charged the creature with her hammer.

Pyrrha, who wanted nothing more than to run to her partner then and there, instead turned to Ren. "Ren, get Jaune! Now!" Before she then turned to join Nora. Yes, Pyrrha wanted to save Jaune, but she knew that between her and Ren, she was the far superior fighter, and their chances of survival would be much higher if she was the one in battle.

The terentatek was able to take two steps towards their leader before a massive hammerhead smacked it on the side of its face. The explosive slam forced the beast to stop, but didn't seem to really hurt it. Nora took a step forward to hit it once again, but she was then yanked backwards by Pyrrha, who took several shots fire dust shots at the creature's face.

Ren dashed for Jaune, his semblance working overdrive to keep him calm. Reaching his leader's unmoving form, he flipped Jaune over and his face fell at the damage. The monster had all but eviscerated Jaune, tearing through his stomach, destroying several organs, and causing the boy to lose liters of blood.

Immediately Ren tore off his sleeve and began wrapping it around the wound. He then pressed both hands on it to try and stem the blood flow.

"Nnn-" Jaune groaned as Ren pressed down on the wound.

"Don't talk Jaune. Save your strength, we'll handle this." Ren said as much to calm himself as well as his leader.

"N-Nora." Was all Jaune could whisper as he then pointed a single finger to the sky.

Ren's eyes widened as he realized what his leader was trying to say. "Nora! Fire your grenades into the sky! Now!" Ren yelled.

"What!?" Nora called back, confused at the seemingly random request given their situation.

"Just do it!" Ren cried out, his normally calm demeanor completely gone.

Nora nodded, transforming Magnhild to its grenade launcher for and fired off 2 grenades into the sky. They exploded with two pink clouds above their position, creating makeshift flares for the others to find them.

Jaune saw the trailing pink explosions in the sky and hoped it would be enough of a signal for help. He then felt a tugging on his collar as Ren began to drag Jaune away from the battlefield, giving Arc a full view of the fight.

Having seen the damage that the terentatek had outputted, destroying Jaune's aura in one hit, even Nora was forced to play it safe. Pyrrha danced between the monster's strikes, using her superior agility and battle sense to stay in close quarters, while trying to cut and thrust her way through the chitinous armor to no avail. At the same time Nora would circle around, staying on the creature's backside repeatedly firing grenades at it as Pyrrha distracted it.

Jaune watched this all occur, and felt pathetic. He was an idiot for trying to save Cardin, or at least an idiot for assuming his powers would knock the terentatek back. It was a stupid, amateur mistake that nearly killed him. The frustration and anger at his own mistakes welled within him. It mixed and melded with the sheer pain and agony he felt. Fueling something within him.

Meanwhile, Pyrrha continued to battle like a warrior goddess as she hacked and slashed at the monster. Rage and lust for vengeance fueled her strikes, while discipline and training kept her from overextending. However, such a style of combat would always be in the favor of the terentatek, as a single mistake would be lethal for the red headed huntress.

And such a mistake would come. Pyrrha retreated a step, narrowly dodging a powerful strike as the terentatek's claw stabbed into the ground. It's hand stuck, both Nora and Pyrrha dashed forward with weapons raised high to capitalize on the situation. But before their strikes could land, the monster pivoted, turning its spike covered back to the huntresses. The girls separated, dashing to the side to avoid impaling themselves, but the monster seemed to have predicted their evasion.

With a mighty swing of its arm, the monster aimed its claw right for Pyrrha. The champion was barely able to raise her shield in time as the terentatek savagely clotheslined her, sending her right into the ground. Pyrrha felt the air get knocked out of her lungs as she landed on her back, stunning her and taking a chunk out of her aura. The terentatek however, would not give her the time to recover. Raising its claw up, the beast speared Pyrrha's position to the cries of Nora and Ren.

But to its surprise, it once again impaled the dirt. This time however, the ground was covered with rose petals. The monster's momentary confusion was broken as a large chunk of ice crashed onto its head, shattering on impact. The beast turned to direction of the attack, and was met with a new batch of prey.

Standing between Jaune and the Terentatek, team RWBY stood defiant, weapons drawn and ready to fight. Ruby carried Pyrrha in her arms, having swiftly saved the champion from certain death using her high speed semblance. Beside them, the clicks of heels could be heard as Professor Glynda Goodwitch entered the fray as well.

The terentatek carefully eyed the new students and professor. As powerful as it was, such numbers would be dangerous.

Glynda took one look down at Jaune's bleeding form and her normally disciplined glower turned into a hateful scowl. The professor was furious that her student and new apprentice was wounded like this.

"Jaune!" Ruby cried out as she helped Pyrrha up. Her face panicked and marred with worry over her friend.

"Focus Miss Rose!" Glynda commanded. "We are in the middle of a battle! Miss Nikos, what is this creature?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "I don't know, it came out of nowhere and attacked Cardin. Jaune saved him but was hurt. Professor, this thing is strong, it cut through Jaune's aura in one hit." Pyrrha grit through her teeth, emphasizing her leader's name.

Glynda knew the implication. Jaune's aura reserves were massive, even larger than her own. Destroying that in one hit meant it would kill any of the students here in one strike as well.

Immediately, Glynda began barking out orders, dropping the use of surnames to save time. "Yang, join Pyrrha and Nora in distracting the beast. Do not let it touch you. Blake, Weiss, and Ruby, focus on ranged and hit and run tactics while it is engaged with the others. Ren." She looked over to the Mistralian boy and her own apprentice. "Get your leader out of here."

"Roger!" all of the students shouted back.

With a nod acknowledging them, Glynda called upon her semblance and raised hundreds of stones into the air. The stones coalesced, shifting together to form a massive stone spear that she then hurled right for the beast. With a resounding explosion of stone, Glynda was not able to kill the beast, but drew first blood as she pierced the creature's side. The professor shot the creature a baneful glare. Glynda was pissed. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and there were very few women on Remnant like Glynda Goodwitch.

After the professor's first strike, all of the students burst into action. Yang, Pyrrha, and Nora charged into melee. With thrusts, punches, and hammer swings, the trio tried to bring the beast down to no avail. They would only get one or two hits in each before being forced to retreat by the monster's counter attacks.

Meanwhile Ruby, Weiss, and Blake kept their distance. The Ruby repeatedly fired rounds into the terentatek's back, hoping it would fall, while Blake would launch sneak attacks with her katana whenever she saw an opening. Simultaneously Weiss focused on launching large ice rocks to stagger the beast when possible, while Professor Goodwitch launched powerful telekinetic strikes as well.

All the while Ren continued to put pressure on Jaune's wounds. Ren would not let his leader die here. He's lost too much already to lose Jaune as well. That's when Ren realized that the blood flow out of Jaune was slowing. His eyes went wide as he realized this meant that Jaune had more blood around them than within him.

Tears formed in the corners of his eyes as he pressed down harder. "No Jaune! Stay with us!"

Suddenly a hand gripped Ren's forearm. To his shock, his leader grabbed his wrist with surprising strength, lifting his hands off of the wound. Ren looked at his leader in awe, as Jaune's face was not that of a weak, dying man, but instead that of a hateful warrior seeking vengeance.

Ren watched as the blood flow stemmed not because Jaune was running out of blood, but because his wound was healing. Jaune's yellow-gold aura flared around his stomach, focusing and amplifying as flesh began to knit itself. The wound did not regenerate properly, but instead fused and twisted together, stopping the blood flow wherever possible while reforming muscle. Ren watched as a separate, black and red aura fused with Jaune's own golden-yellow aura, further accelerating the healing.

The pain Jaune felt was immense. Far beyond anything he thought was possible to comprehend. The healing that Jaune was doing was not a comforting, soothing healing that his aura normally provided, but an agonizing perversion. Flesh and bone knit because he forced it to, moving in unnatural ways that his body did not understand. Every inch of new sinew and scar tissue that formed sent waves of pain through him. But this pain and agony only served to fuel him further, strengthening his dark healing.

"Jaune…" Ren muttered, horrified at what he was seeing. "What are you doing?"

Through grit teeth and excruciating pain, Jaune responded. "Using my semblance to force my wounds closed." Jaune didn't know how his semblance was doing this, or why his aura seemed to amplify as well, further increasing his healing, but he wasn't going to question it this very moment. "Go Ren! I'll be fine. Help them fight!"

Ren looked at the battle, which was not going well in favor of the huntsmen. Despite their numbers, they seemed to lack the power to bring the beast down. He then looked back at his leader, who writhed on the ground in sheer agony.

"Go!" Jaune snarled at him.

Nodding, Ren stood up, drawing Stormflower and moving to join Blake in her hit and run strikes. With Ren gone, Jaune continued to focus on his pain, muscle and skin rebuilding in a misaligned fashion, but he was no longer in danger of simply bleeding to death.

Suddenly a large crash beside him briefly took his attention as he watched Yang Xiao Long get punched through the same tree he hit. Looking her over, Yang was now heavily wounded. While she was able to block the attack with her right arm, the strike shattered the limb instantly, as well as breaking her aura. It was only thanks to her semblance that she survived, but even her glowing yellow hair turned back to normal as the monster dealt more damage than she could absorb. She was effectively taken out of the fight.

She glanced over to Jaune, saw that he was conscious and moving, but was also swimming in a pool of his own blood.

"Hey Jaune, how you doin?" She asked through a pained groan and small smile.

Jaune actually laughed at the absurdity of the question. "Oh you know, not bad. Just bleeding to death. How about you?"

Yang grimaced. "Bastard hits hard. Broke my arm and my aura in one hit." She glanced at her twisted limb, then at the severe wound on Jaune's chest. She glared at the terentatek with renewed determination. "But I'll be fine. Just hold on tight vomit boy, we'll get you out of here."

Yang grabbed her broken arm and yanked it hard, resetting the bone. Through the pain she stood, staggering off to the side, firing shotgun blasts from her left arm to support the others.

Back to the battle, Pyrrha had disengaged from close quarters, having narrowly escaped death too many times. She retreated beside Ruby, and the two peppered the beast with dust rounds.

As the terentatek moved towards them, Ren and Blake shot forward, rushing it from behind and digging their weapons into its ankles. The strike actually seemed to wound the monster, as it stumbled forward before trying to hit them with a lumbering swing. The two ninjas were able to jump back and retreat, dodging the clumsy attack.

As the terentatek turned around to swing at them, both Glynda and Weiss smashed it with a boulder and ice rock respectively. The attacks broke upon its chitin, stunning it

All of the huntsmen and huntresses were exhausted, breathing heavy as their auras and physical bodies were pushed to the absolute limit. Meanwhile the terentatek still stood strong. They were chipping away at it, but this was a creature of the dark side whose very flesh could deflect blaster bolts.

It was then that the students heard a new combatant enter the stage. The engines of the bullhead that had brought them here roared above them, as the airship's chin-mounted machine gun and wing-mounted missile pods were activated.

"This is bullhead Four-Seven-Niner, contacting Professor Goodwitch. Did somebody call for fifteen tons of badass?" The pilot called in to Glynda over her scroll.

Professor Goodwitch smiled. She had contacted the bullhead for emergency support after she saw Nora's grenades in the sky.

"Ash, it's good to hear you." Glynda called out over speaker. "We have a high priority target on our position and need immediate fire support."

"Roger that Glynda. Danger close salvation coming your way." The pilot cooly said the rotors on the bullhead's chaingun spun up.

The terentatek looked up as the bullhead's weapons opened fire. With a deafening BRRRRRRT the monster was slammed with hundreds of 20mm dust rounds per second. Even the terentatek had to raise its arms to protect itself as the high caliber rounds began shredding away. Missiles then fired from the wings of the airship, high yield explosions further rocking the beast.

"Now students! Hit it with everything you have!" Glynda roared out as she called upon the last of her aura to raise as much earth as she possibly could.

The students surrounded the monster, weapons all in ranged form, as they repeatedly fired all of their ammunition. Dust rounds, fireballs, and pink grenades all combined fire with the sole purpose of destroying this creature.

Meanwhile literal tons of stone and earth was lifted by Glynda Goodwitch as sweat dripped down her brow, straining under the load. Suddenly, she felt the weight lessen, even though more stone was still being lifted. She glanced to her side, and saw that Jaune limped his way beside her, and was now levitating several tons of stone as well.

With a shared nod, they combined their powers to form the largest stone spear they had ever seen. The jagged javelin of earth flew forward, impaling the terentatek in with an avalanche of granite.

The terentatek stumbled backwards and huntsmen continued firing. Even after the beast fell to the ground, they kept firing, the overwhelming and unrelenting attacks pulverizing the entire area. Dust and poisonous green blood shot through the air as the terentatek cried in its death throes.

As the cries stopped and the dust settled, the huntsmen waited with bated breaths to see if they were victorious. When the smoke dissipated, all they saw that remained of the monster was a mangled corpse, dead and mutilated by their attacks.

The students dropped to the ground in relief upon seeing their foe defeated. The adrenaline fading from his system, Jaune then collapsed completely, his consciousness quickly fading as he professor and all of his friends rushed to his side.

The last thing he remembered seeing before passing out was their worried faces and the bullhead descending from above.

Chapter Text

"It was nothing more than a slaughter. A slaughter caused by one of my creations. Blame lies with me, for creating it. The situation forced your hand, anger forced mine. You realized that unless action was taken, the fleet would be destroyed, and the Republic would fall. None of us realized the magnitude of what we unleashed." - Bao Dur to the Jedi Exile Meetra Surik

Chapter 9: Malachor

Darkness. All around Jaune, he could only see darkness. None of his senses worked. He could see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing. Suddenly, his hands felt a new sensation. He rubbed his palms on what felt like dirt and stone. It was cold and hard, covered with grit.

Next, he smelled something in the air. Tasted it as well. It was… burning. A combination of overcooked meat and electrical ozone. Then came the screams. Explosions rocked the ground, followed by cries of pain and terror. Jaune's eyes shot open. He was no longer in the Forever Fall forest, but now on a dark, grey mountain range. It was the middle of the night, but he could see fine as all around him fires burned, illuminating the sky with a blood-red hue.

In the sky above him he could see massive, orange, hammerhead style airships battling against opposing dreadnaughts, shelling each other with missiles and massive laser bolts as smaller fighters danced around them. On the ground, crashed ships and burning vehicles highlighted the chaos around him.

Once again, he realized he was within the memory of the man of the mask. Standing on a rocky, barren battlefield littered with corpses, the dreadlocked man led an army of grizzled warriors and soldiers. With eyes filled with hate and desperation the soldiers of Revan engaged their opponents, the armored warriors of Mandalore. The two sides were already trading fire, dozens of men and women cut down instantly by the hail of laser bolts, their screams drowned out amongst the cacophony of battle.

The Republic's laser sword warriors then moved up. Deflecting shots and hacking their way through the Mandalorians. The dreadlocked warrior moved at the head of the group, driven by hate. He cut through two Mandalorians with ease, slicing their limbs off and sending their lifeless corpses falling to his feet. He then lifted a third in the air, causing him to implode as he crushed him with telekinetic prowess.

The battle was brutal beyond anything Jaune had seen before. The sheer violence of it terrified Jaune, but he couldn't tear himself away. The Mandalorians fought back with equal fanatical fervor. They would use everything possible to bring the laser sword warriors down. They used flamethrowers to overwhelm them, the laser sword warriors unable to deflect the blazing inferno as they were consumed. Jaune even watched as one Mandalorian, wounded by a laser sword, activated a grenade and leapt towards his attackers, martyring himself to kill them.

The dreadlocked man watched as his allies died in droves to the Mandalorians. The blood spilled only served to fuel the man's rage, which in turn fueled Jaune's rage. How dare these savage barbarians do this? How much pain and suffering has been caused by their lust for battle? The dreadlocked warrior would personally see to it that the Mandalorians be erased from existence.

The man howled, his cry, echoing through the night sky. Mandalorian warriors around him grabbed their ears, trying to block out the scream as blood poured from the sides of their heads. Then the man charged. He cut through the warriors who were still too stunned to resist, his laser sword flowing between the chinks of their armor, severing limbs and flesh with ease.

But then something occurred which gave the entire battle pause. A low rumble spread across the ground, starting subtle but growing in frequency and amplitude. The rocking became violent, forcing both sides of the battle to stop combat and grab a hold of anything. Jaune stumbled over to the ruined husk of a downed airship and grabbed onto some exposed rails.

Jaune looked up to the sky and saw something he could barely find words for. It was like an orb, a swirling sphere of pitch blackness that no light shone through, like a hole in the sky. The air around the orb distorted, and Jaune watched as ships and men alike began to drift into it. Those that came too close were crushed into oblivion, turned into infinitely tiny balls of flesh and metal.

It was terror. It was death. It was something that Jaune only knew of in science fiction and theory. It was a singularity. A gravitational vortex that absorbed everything around it. He knew such a thing should be impossible. Not even with a mountain of gravity dust could such a feat be accomplished. But there it was above him, a mass of generated shadows that sucked in both orbiting fleets without prejudice, sending thousands straight to oblivion.

Jaune turned his gaze back to the ground. Around him Republic soldiers, Mandalorian warriors, and the laser sword monks all began to drift upwards. Green lighting, generated by the unnatural phenomenon, struck the planet in an unending barrage, leaving charred remains of those unlucky enough to be struck. The planet itself groaned and cracked, mountain sized chunks of land were ripped from the ground and sent skyward.

The dreadlocked warrior was on his knees beside Jaune, fingers digging into the dirt. He held onto the ground below through sheer force of will, feeling the thousands and thousands of deaths around him. The pain and death sent ripples through the air, and as if he was subjected to the worst possible wound, the man began to scream. Scream as he felt the death around him, using their deaths, feeding on it to strengthen himself in order to survive.

The pain and suffering was unbearable. And as the dreadlocked warrior experienced it, as did Jaune. Jaune could only scream as he felt what the dreadlocked man felt. He felt the death, he felt the pain, he felt the lesson of Malachor. He screamed until all he saw was darkness.

Beep… Beep… Beep

That was the first sound that Jaune was able to register as he slowly came to consciousness. The slow, rhythmic beeping of a cardiac monitor. Jaune's throat felt incredibly parched, like he hadn't drunk in days, and as his heavy-lidded eyes slowly opened, he was blinded by bright, sterile white lights.

His vision still blurry, he could barely make out the figure of someone, a woman, moving around him. The woman was a fair bit older than him, probably in her 30s, wearing a plain white nurses outfit with a skirt a bit too high and a shirt zipped just low enough for him to get a glimpse of her cleavage.

The woman didn't appear to notice him stir as she continued to move around Jaune's bed, doing her duties. She checked his IV, replacing the bag with a new container of saline, before moving to his right side and replacing a wilting bouquet of yellow flowers with a set of new ones.

Jaune wanted to call out to her, get her attention, but was too weak, his body unable to respond to orders he was giving it. Suddenly, the woman stopped beside him. For a brief second, Jaune thought his prayers were answered and the nurse had noticed him. But instead of checking on him, the nurse leaned her body over his face, moving to adjust his pillow. A now fully awake Jaune was face deep into her bosom, his body not listening to his struggles as he felt his heart starting to pound.

As she leant in closer, Jaune's cardiac sensor began to beep faster and faster, finally getting the nurses attention. The nurse stepped back and looked at the sensor in surprise, shocked by the spike in activity. Upon seeing the jagged movements of Jaune's increased heart rate, she bent down to look at his face, pulling out a flashlight and forcing Jaune's eyes wide open.

"Can you hear me?" she asked as she shined the light on his eyes, his pupils contracting as she did.

"Uggh" was all Jaune could groan out.

The nurse's eyes went wide as she realized that Jaune was awake and could hear her. "Hold on, I'll go get the Doctor." She turned and hurriedly rushed out of the room.

Jaune spent the next minute alone as he felt his strength slowly return. Starting at his fingers and toes, working his way up his limbs, Jaune regained use of his body. The numb feeling of nothingness was soon replaced by dull pain and the pricking of pins and needles.

Soon enough, the nurse returned with another woman, whom Jaune presumed was the doctor. She was an elderly woman, probably in her 60s, with greying-pink hair, wrinkled skin, and a small hunch that shrunk her already diminutive 5 foot stature. Jaune immediately recognized the woman as Professor Thumbelina Peach, the teacher of Beacon's Plant Science class as well as its resident M.D.

"You're awake… How 'bout that." Professor Peach spoke in her rather raspy voice.

As Jaune saw her enter, he moved to sit himself up to face her. The sudden movement sent a wave of nausea through him, blurring his vision.

"Whoa easy there, easy. You've been out cold a couple of days now." Peach warned as she rushed to his side, arm out to support him.

"I… what happened?" Jaune asked as he got his bearings.

"Well Mr. Arc, you gave all of us quite the scare." Peach began. "Do you remember being wounded by that monster during Friday's field trip to the Forever Fall?"

Jaune's mind immediately flashed back to the terentatek, the terrifying beast that nearly killed him. "Yeah, yeah I remember… Wait a minute, Friday? What day is it now?" Jaune felt himself panic. How long was he out for?

Peach patted him on the shoulder. "Relax Mr. Arc, it's only been a few days. Three, to be precise. It is currently Monday, and you spent the whole weekend unconscious. It was over that period of time we were able to get most of your treatment done."

"Treatment?" Jaune parroted as his hand instinctively moved towards his abdomen. There, he felt a series of bandages wrapped around his torso, and could feel heavy stitching underneath. "I thought I was able to heal myself during the battle?"

Professor Peach frowned at his response. "I don't know what I would call whatever it is you did yourself, Mr. Arc, but I would not call it healing." Jaune winced like a scolded child at Peach's remark, causing her to sigh. The professor then reached for a folder and revealed several pictures to Jaune. They were MRI scans of his abdomen, Jaune could tell that much at least. "When you were brought in the first thing you required was an emergency blood transfusion, which was easy enough to do. The wounds on your abdomen however, were extensive to say the least.

"Yes, your wounds stopped bleeding, saving you from dying of shock, but it came with a series of other complications. Instead of accelerating the normal healing process as Aura normally does, your Aura instead regenerated your flesh in the most efficient way to reattach muscles and stop bleeding." Peach explained.

"And I'm guessing that's a bad thing?" Jaune meekly commented.

Peach nodded. "The regeneration ignored the way your organs were supposed to heal. So to prevent you from living in constant pain with no appendix and only half of your intestines, we had to do emergency surgery."

Jaune gulped. "Surgery?"

The professor leaned in and began checking Jaune over while talking, placing a stethoscope to his chest, listening to his breathing. "Indeed. While you were unconscious, I had to manually reopen and stitch together the majority of your wounds. It took several hours to correct the damage done to your organs, but now that it's done your Aura should be able to handle repairing the rest."

"So I'm all better then?" Jaune asked with a hint of optimism.

"Unfortunately no. Sorry, but you'll need to stay for a few more days. Even with its regenerative capabilities, it will still take time for your Aura to finish healing you." The professor apologized while she took off her stethoscope then moved to test Jaune's blood pressure.

"Can I at least see my team?" Jaune practically begged. This had been a lot to process in a short period of times. After nearly dying, and the vision he had just awoken from, he wanted to see their faces more than anything. "Where are they anyway?"

The professor gave Jaune an empathetic smile, having some understanding of how alone the boy must be feeling right now. "Unfortunately, your friends were a bit too… rambunctious in the infirmary and we had to limit their visiting privileges. In addition, I was told to contact the Headmaster and Professor Goodwitch as soon as you woke up so they may speak with you. They're on their way down now. Afterwards, I'll let your team know you are awake."

Jaune could only sigh, thinking about what kind of shenanigans Nora probably did to get them banned from visiting an unconscious patient. "That… sounds about right. So what does the headmaster want?"

As the professor pulled the blood pressure monitor off, she only shrugged at Jaune's question. "Only Ozpin knows what Ozpin wants. Even to me, that man is an enigma." As she spoke a light knock was heard against the infirmary door. "Ah speak of the devil and he shall appear. Enjoy your chat with the Headmaster, Mr. Arc. I will contact your team."

"Thanks professor." Jaune gave a weak smile as Professor Peach moved to the door.

"It's what I am here for, Mr. Arc." Professor Peach gave a warm smile in return. She then opened the door to the infirmary, revealing the visitors. "Ah Professor Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch, good to see you two. I trust you won't cause my patient any undue stress?"

Professor Ozpin, with his ever present mug and cane in hand, dismissed Professor Peach's question with a laugh. "Thumbelina, a pleasure as always. And don't worry, I would never do such a thing. I'm far too afraid of both you and Glynda to try anything."

"Very good then. I'll leave you to it." Professor Peach nodded and walked out of the room.

As Professor Peach left, Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch took her place at Jaune's side. Jaune could feel the relief eminatting off of the two of them, mostly Glynda, despite any real emotions being hidden behind stoic, professional facades.

"Well then, Mr. Arc, I am glad to see that you seem to be doing better." Professor Ozpin began as he took a sip from his mug. "You've been through quite the ordeal."

"So I've been told." Jaune muttered.

Instinctively, Jaune avoided meeting Ozpin's gaze. He didn't know why, but Jaune always felt… weird around the headmaster. Ever since he saw him during initiation, Jaune felt wary around Professor Ozpin, feeling like he was some kind of threat. Jaune knew Ozpin had to have been powerful to become the headmaster of Beacon, but there was something else about him that set Jaune on edge. Something that Jaune couldn't put a finger on. As such, he's always avoided him whenever possible.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Arc?" Glynda asked in a tone more caring than Jaune had ever heard before.

Jaune shrugged. "Well I'm not dead, so it could be worse."

"On that we can agree, Mr. Arc. And don't worry about any costs for your treatment or your stay. You were wounded on a Beacon trip, so Beacon will pay the bill." Ozpin added on as he put his mug down and reached for his scroll.

"That's good, I guess." Jaune apathetically responded, trying to appear disinterested in speaking with the headmaster.

"Indeed it is. But we do however have some lingering questions about the incident Mr. Arc, and we were hoping you would be willing to help us." Ozpin opened up his scroll and began to play a video.

Jaune watched as images of the battle in the Forever Fall appeared on screen. The video is of a bird's eye view of the battle, and Jaune realized that it's footage from the bullhead that supported them in the fight. Jaune watched as the terentatek, in all its terrifying glory, roared at the bullhead as a torrent of bullets and missiles hammered the monster. The assault continued on for several seconds as teams RWBY, JNPR, and Glynda all joined in. As the smoke cleared, revealing the creature dead on the ground, the video ended.

"So, Mr. Arc." Ozpin began. "I was hoping you could shed some light onto what this creature is."

Jaune raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Why would I know what it is?"

"After the incident, we interviewed everyone who was involved, and your team specifically reported that you knew this creature's name. A terentatek, if I am not mistaken." Ozpin immediately countered.

"No, no you're right." Jaune bit his lip. He knew his next words were going to sound crazy but he didn't have many options. "Yes, the creature is called a terentatek, but I don't know why it's called that."

Professor Goodwitch immediately frowned with his answer. "Mr. Arc, that doesn't make any sense. Are you saying that was simply a name you made up on the spot for it?"

Jaune shook his head. "No, it's not. Look I'm telling you, all I know is that's what it's called. I've never seen it before, never learned about it, but that is its name!" Jaune technically didn't lie, as he had never seen or heard of it, but he wasn't telling the truth either. He had an idea of why he knew the creature's name, why he recognized it. The mask. The mask knew what it was.

Professor Ozpin stared at Jaune, his impassive countenance analyzing Jaune's words. "Mr. Arc, please calm down. We are on your side. This creature, this terentatek, is unknown to all of us, and proved to be as deadly as some of the oldest of grimm. We need to know more about it if we are to properly deal with this threat. You can trust us with the truth."

"I am telling the truth!" Jaune snarled. Only a few seconds into the conversation and Jaune was already having enough of the headmaster. He wanted to see his team, not deal with the old man. Glynda scowled at Jaune raising his voice at them, while Ozpin remained unmoved. Jaune closed his eyes, took a deep, calming breath before looking at them and speaking again. "I don't know what you want me to tell you. Really. Please, just let me see my team!"

The headmaster and student stared each other down for what felt like minutes, before Ozpin relented with a sigh. "Alright, Mr. Arc. You have been through quite the harrowing ordeal, and if you truly do not know what this creature is, there is no reason for us to put undue stress on you. Come, Glynda. We've separated the boy from his friends long enough."

Glyda's eyes widened with surprise as the headmaster turned and made to leave. Normally the headmaster would attempt some roundabout manipulation or word play to try and get answers out of Jaune. But as he was now her apprentice, she was also glad that the headmaster would not pressure the boy into compliance. Ozpin seemed content to let sleeping dogs lie, so Glynda fell in step behind him.

Before leaving however, Glynda did turn back to Jaune and said, "Mr. Arc, do not forget that once you are discharged, our training sessions will continue. So do not slack off on your mental drills. Your teammates will bring you any assignments and notes from your classes as well, so you do not fall behind."

"Yes ma'am." Jaune internally groaned. Even being checked into a hospital wouldn't get him away from homework.

As the two professors made their leave, they were almost bulldozed as a pink and orange blur ran passed them at lightning speeds. They turned and saw that Nora Valkyrie was already latched onto Jaune's side crying tears of joy that her leader was awake. Immediately running after her were Lie Ren and Pyrrha Nikos, who all similarly joined in on the group hug, tears in their eyes.

Both Glynda and Ozpin allowed themselves a small smile as they made their leave. Meanwhile, Jaune grabbed his team back tightly, tears streaming down his face. After all he had been through, all he had seen, it was good to have his friends by his side

It took almost 15 minutes for the tears to stop flowing between the team. As Ren pulled Nora off of Jaune, Pyrrha remained sitting on the edge of the bed beside her partner. The Arc found himself resting his head on Pyrrha's shoulders, unwilling to leave the comfort of her embrace. Pyrrha did not seem to mind however, as she gently stroked his head.

"So Jaune, how are you feeling." Ren began as emotions were reigned back in.

"All honesty, like I just died." Jaune muttered out.

"Well you didn't. That monster is slain, and you're safe with us." Pyrrha pulled him into another hug. "But Jaune, what happened out there? What was that monster? How did you survive its blow?"

During the battle with the terentatek, while everyone had seen Jaune be crippled by the monster, only Ren saw what Jaune had done to save himself. The dark, twisted, healing that knit his flesh and mended his bones. It was a haunting experience for Ren, one that he did not tell anyone else about, sans the rest of his team.

Jaune gave a tired sigh. "I… kinda have an answer, but you guys aren't going to like it."

"The memories?" All three of his teammates responded at once.

Jaune winced. "That obvious, huh?" Another lie by omission. Jaune still couldn't bring himself to tell them about the mask. The thought crossed his mind to confess everything, but something inside of him told it was a bad idea. A quiet voice that compelled him into silence.

"Well whenever something crazy happens with you, that's usually the reason why." Nora quipped. "So what happened?"

"I don't have a clear answer for you. The man's memories I've been seeing. He knew what a terentatek was, but all that I could come up with was a name. I don't know any details." Jaune shook his head. "It's the same with the healing. A lot of what I'm able to do, a lot of what I know, I get by instinct, not conscious thought. When I was… dying, using my powers to force my body to heal just made sense. It was familiar, like I had done it before."

"But how does telekinesis heal your body like that?" Ren contemplated.

"Well, we don't know if Jaune's semblance really is telekinesis." Pyrrha remarked. "We theorized it could be some kind of reincarnation, but then that begs the question of just how powerful was the man in your dreams. And why you specifically are seeing his dreams."

Jaune maintained an empty gaze forward, contemplating what he was going to say. "I'm not entirely sure it matters anymore."

His team exchanged worried glances with one another, before Pyrrha spoke out. "What do you mean?"

Jaune sighed. Part of him didn't want to talk about this, but he knew he had to. "I had another vision. I think I watched how the man in my dreams died."

And so Jaune explained the vision of what he saw. The final battle between the Republic and the Mandalorians, the massive airships in the sky, the dreadlocked warrior cutting down all in his path, and finally the destruction caused by the final singularity. A tense silence filled the room as Jaune concluded his story, his team unsure what to make of it.

"I've… never heard of such a battle ever occurring in Remnant's history." Pyrrha began. "Not even during the Great War were such weapons available."

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Nora spoke up, waving her hand. "Maybe this battle wasn't on Remnant! Maybe it was a long, long time ago, on a planet far, far away, with aliens and technology beyond anything we have!"

Everyone looked at Nora like she had three heads.

"Nora, that doesn't make any sense. I mean I saw faunus there too so it had to be Remnant." Jaune said as he unintentionally misidentified the twi'leks and zabrak he saw.

"To be fair, none of this makes any sense." Pyrrha remarked as she still held onto her leader.

"No, no it doesn't." Jaune sighed, placing his face in his hands. Surrounded by the comfort of all his friends, all of the frustration he had been feeling over the past few weeks came to the surface. Jaune felt tears starting to form at the corners of his eyes once more as he meekly whispered out, "I just want things to be simple again."

Immediately Pyrrha wrapped her arms around her partner. "I know Jaune, I know." she cooed. "Whatever is happening, we'll face it together. As a team."

As they embraced, Ren and Nora joined in as well. They didn't know what the future held, or what they would face. But for now, they could at least take comfort in the arms of their friends.

Chapter Text

"There is no strength in the hunger he possess… And the will behind his power is a primal thing. And it devours him as he devours others- his mere presence kills all around him, slowly feeding him." -Kreia

Chapter 10: Hunger

One week. Jaune had spent an entire week in the infirmary, a week of constant check ups and boredom. Luckily, his friends were once again allowed to visit him, on the caveat that he could only have up to two visitors at a time. Both his team and team RWBY would come in and out of the hospital periodically visiting him, regularly delivering news and classwork.

The biggest surprise during his forced tenure was that team RWBY wound up having a confrontation with Roman Torchwick and the White Fang. Jaune had been a little more than annoyed that he couldn't help them, especially since they had come to his aid in the Forever Fall, but was happy that Blake returned to her team safe and sound. Of course this didn't stop him from calling them all idiots for confronting a known criminal and terrorist organization with little backup. The fact that Blake was both a fanus and a former member of the White Fang was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one, as being told that meant that team RWBY truly trusted him and his team.

And so, a week of nothing but resting, watching television, and studying his friends' notes slowly came to a crawling end. By the time Jaune was out of the infirmary, their first term at Beacon had ended, and classes were out for an additional 2 weeks of vacation.

Majority of the students decided to return home for the break, with team RWBY choosing to visit Yang's and Ruby's home on Patch, while all of team JNPR conversely stayed on campus. Ren and Nora didn't exactly have a home outside of Beacon currently, and both Pyrrha and Jaune didn't want to return home just yet. Pyrrha, having finally escaped the massive crowds of overbearing fans, was hesitant to give up the new freedom she found at Beacon, while Jaune still wanted to put off the conversation about his running away and stealing of Crocea Mors with his parents.

And so Jaune and his team spent the next two weeks staying within the confines of Beacon Academy. As the break neared its end, Professor Peach gave Jaune the all clear to begin training once more.

The second Jaune was able, he immediately asked for a sparring session with Pyrrha. His partner was less than enthused with the idea of Jaune training so soon after being injured, but Jaune said he had spent so long resting that he felt like he was going to explode if he did not do something physical.

"Guys really, I'm fine. Peach gave me the greenlight and everything." Jaune attempted to convince his team.

"Jaune, you were nearly disemboweled, a little bit of extra rest will not do any harm." Ren retorted.

"It will do harm if I go insane from boredom." Jaune fired back.

"You don't even have your combat gear anymore." Nora added on, as Jaune's hoodie and armor were completely destroyed during the battle with the terentatek.

"I'll just wear my school uniform then. It's just training anyway, and my aura will protect it."

"You going to get a new set?" Nora asked.

Jaune thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Maybe. I can go out into town later and get something. I've been thinking of changing up my style too, so we'll see."

Pyrrha looked her partner up and down, assessing his physical status. Having been under the constant supervision of Professor Peach and the nurses, Jaune had returned to a normal sleeping and eating schedule. His skin had its color back, and the dark bags under his eyes were gone. She was also there when the bandages were removed from Jaune's torso. Other than a dark scar that ran the length of it, there were no lingering afflictions from his injury.

"If you truly think you are capable, then a single session wouldn't hurt." Pyrrha relented.

So team JNPR found itself once again on the dormitory rooftop. And once again, Jaune and Pyrrha faced off, weapons in hand. Unlike their previous bouts, which were set kata drills, the two partners were now set to do a full on spar. Ren stood between them to referee, while Nora sat off to the side watching. Pyrrha wore her normal combat gear, while Jaune wore his school uniform.

Pyrrha, still unsure of his condition to battle, decided it would be best if she took it easy on him to begin with. She would start with probing attacks to judge Jaune's condition and best determine how hard to fight. Ren glanced between the two of them hand raised in the air, ready to signal their start.

With both fighters in their stances, Ren chopped his hand through the air as he backed up yelling, "Begin!"

Before Pyrrha could even think about her first testing strike, Jaune leapt towards her with a semblance enhanced jump, sword aimed directly for her head. The sheer athletics and speed of the attack caught Pyrrha off guard. She was barely able to raise her shield up in time to block the attack, but as she did Jaune dropped low and spun on the ground, cutting into her armored thigh with a backwards spinning slash.

Pyrrha winced as the dull pain of the strike reverberated through her body as she retreated. Okay, can't take this easy then. She thought to herself as Jaune seemed to be going all out from the get go.

Shifting her blade into a spear, Pyrrha dashed forward as well with a rapid thrust aimed for Jaune chest. Jaune parried the blade, but Pyrrha spun quickly and smacked the side of his leg with the shaft of her spear, mirroring Jaune's own attack on her.

Jaune grumbled in pain as Pyrrha pressed the offensive, bashing him in the chest with her shield, forcing him to retreat. Gripping Crocea Mors with both hands, he advanced and unleashed a flurry of powerful attacks against her. Pyrrha raised her shield up to block, but each hit was heavy, straining her arm and even draining aura as he hammered away at her. She was shocked at how fast each slash while having such overwhelming brute strength as well.

Jaune was relentless. Every strike was followed up with another, an unending chain of rapid slashes that gave Pyrrha no time to think. The redheaded champion could only react solely off of instinct to combat him, attempting to throw counter thrusts between Jaune's swings. But Jaune would not stop his advance. Every attack Pyrrha would throw Jaune would parry and then flow into another counter attack, advancing all the while.

As Pyrrha continued to retreat from Jaune's avalanche of attacks, she felt her shield arm almost collapse in pain as she realized that Jaune's were actually getting stronger. Stronger than she thought his frame and aura would allow. It was only her years of battle experience and honed senses that let her realize what was going on. Jaune was using his semblance to increase the weight and strength of his attacks, telekinetic force added to each swing.

One of Jaune's attacks knocked Pyrrha's shield out of the way, giving him an open avenue for a finishing blow. Jaune thrust his sword forward, blade hungry for victory. This however, was all a deliberate feint by Pyrrha. The redhead spun as Jaune advanced, dodging his attack and grabbing onto his sword with her semblance. She pulled Crocea Mors towards her, causing Jaune to overextend and lose balance, while kicking her leg towards Jaune's boots, tripping him. Jaune fell hook, line, and sinker for the maneuver, and found himself tumbling to the ground face first.

Before Jaune could even attempt to stand, he felt a cold blade on the back of his neck as Pyrrha now had him at her mercy.

"Yield." Jaune grunted out.

Immediately Pyrrha pulled the blade back, giving her partner room to turn over. Jaune sat up, rubbing the dirt off his face when he heard his partner's voice call to him.

"You did well, Jaune. You almost had me there." Pyrrha complimented, extending her hand.

Jaune grunted as he grasped it and pulled himself up. "Right well, I'll get you next time I suppose."

"That was quite the technique you used. A subtle use of your semblance to increase your attack power. If I didn't use my own semblance to subtly augment my defenses, I probably wouldn't have noticed."

"Yeah, it's another technique of the man, I think. Again, something that my body knows, but my mind doesn't." Jaune said. Unknown to him Jaune was actually drawing upon the lightsaber combat form of Djem So, an aggressive and powerful style of lightsaber combat that used the Force to augment lightsaber attacks. "Makes me wonder what else I can learn."

"Jaune…" His partner warned.

"I know, I know. No meditating for now." Jaune raised his hands, placating his partner. "So what's the plan?"

"Lunch?" Nora threw out. "Team RWBY just got back so we might be able to catch up with them."

Jaune shrugged. He was getting pretty hungry from all this training, hungrier than he's been in a while. "Sure sounds good to me. To the cafeteria!" Jaune raised his fist into the air with a rallying cry.

Nora joined in without reservation, while Pyrrha hesitated and slowly raised her fist with a small cheer as they marched back inside. Ren simply smiled and shook his head as he followed the rest of his team.

To team JNPRs surprise the cafeteria had been far busier than it had ever been. The return of the current Beacon students combined with all of the transfer students attending the upcoming tournament resulted in the dining hall being filled to the brim with bodies. It had been weeks since team JNPR had been surrounded by this many people.

As soon as Jaune entered the cafeteria, he felt his hunger spike. The sudden burst of ravenous hunger actually caused him to stumble as he clutched the side of his head.

"Jaune!" He heard Pyrrha cry out as he leaned on a wall to support himself. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah… yeah I am." Jaune grunted out as he pulled himself off of the wall. "Just a bit of a headache. I think I just need to get some food into my body."

Pyrrha sent him a worried glance, and assisted him in getting his meal. In a strange inverse, where Jaune had once been barely eating small salads with pieces of bread, now he had 4 extra large slices of supreme pizza with mozzarella sticks on the side. He could already feel himself salivating with the hearty meal of junk food in front of him. Together, Jaune and his team sat on a long cafeteria table, all sitting on one side across from team RWBY who claimed another table for themselves.

From his periphery, Jaune could see Ruby pick up a massive binder and slam it onto her team's table. She started some speech about having fun or something but in all honesty Jaune couldn't care less. All he wanted to do was dig in the glorious meal in front of him. Picking up his first slice, gooey cheese dripping off the side, Jaune took one ravenous bite into the pizza and was ready for the explosion of grease and flavor.

And it was delicious. Oh dust and grimm it was so delicious. Jaune almost moaned in satisfaction from the combination of meat, cheese, and bread within his mouth. He scarfed down the whole slice, and… weirdly enough, he was still starving. Jaune raised a confused eyebrow as he went for his second slice. He tore into it like a wild animal, shoveling it down, taking bites of his sides while his mouth was still full of pizza. But as he swallowed the food, it did nothing to sate his hunger. The empty feeling inside of him persisted, regardless of how much food he was physically eating.

Ren and Pyrrha were awestruck and Jaune's glutinous display. They were so distracted that they paid no attention to the fruit flying between Nora and Yang as they flung grapes at each other.

"Jaune, slow down you're eating like Nora on international pancake day." Ren tried to chide.

But Jaune would have none of it. He continued to down bite after bite, demolishing his slices in seconds. This whole situation was way too weird. He hadn't felt this hunger before, so it couldn't have been an after effect of the surgery. As he ripped apart chunks of food, some eventually went down the wrong pipe and sent him into a coughing fit. As Pyrrha started hitting him in the back to help clear his airways, a pie flew from Nora's hands and smacked Weiss right on the face.

Everyone froze as they turned to Nora, who tried to pass the buck to Ren. Jaune, no longer choking, temporarily forgot about his satiation issue as his sixth sense kicked in, immediately warning him of danger.

Even at this distance, Jaune could feel the emotions radiating off of his snow angel Weiss. It was rage. Pure unadulterated rage that both scared and aroused him. Scaroused one could say. Wiping some filling off her eyes, Weiss slammed her heel onto the table, sending a bottle of ketchup flying into her hand.

No one made any sudden movements, but everyone slowly inched towards one of two things, the exit on the farside of the cafeteria, or the closest piece of food.

Behind Jaune, someone yelled the two words no one ever should in a school cafeteria. "FOOD FIGHT!"

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" Nora sang as she stood atop her castle of cafeteria tables on one side of the dining hall, the rest of team JNPR standing alongside her.

On the opposite side of the cafeteria, Ruby stomped on a table pointing at their rival team, with a milk carton in her off hand. "Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful!" She then crushed the milk carton as she crescendoed. "It will be delicious!"

The rest of her team rallied behind her.

"Off with their heads!" Nora commanded, as Ren and Pyrrha rushed to start a watermelon artillery barrage.

An inordinate amount of watermelons flew towards team RWBY as Yang and Blake ran up first, intercepting the volley with turkey fists and baguette swords. Stopping the barrage, the bumblebee duo then ran to engage Pyrrha, who to their surprise was more than able to handle a 2 on 1 with them.

Knowing his partner would be more than fine, Jaune, armed with a baguette himself, broke off and circled around the perimeter. He wanted to take out Weiss and Ruby to cut off their ranged support. As the Whiterose duo saw Jaune approach, they shared a glance and nodded, already knowing what to do. Weiss kicked up a swordfish into her hands and moved to duel Jaune while Ruby picked up some lunch trays and ran to support Yang and Blake.

Immediately Weiss and Jaune were upon each other. Holding his breadblade high, Jaune went for a series of sweeping slashes that Weiss easily deflected. After parrying one of Jaune's attacks, Weiss took a small retreat to gain distance and unleashed a series of rapid fire thrusts.

Jaune had to give credit to snow angel, if there was one thing she was good at, it was control and speed. Each thrust was perfectly aimed, and the unrelenting pace of the attacks combined with the greater reach of Weiss's weapons forced Jaune into a defensive position. Jaune focused on parrying and blocking the attacks as he began to backpedal and lose ground.

Jaune needed a new strategy. Understanding he couldn't out-fence Weiss, he called on his semblance to levitate several slices of bread. The bread began to spin in the air, turning into mini buzzsaws that he then flung at the ice queen. Weiss saw the attack coming and leapt backwards to avoid the sliced bread shurikens.

But this gave Jaune the breathing room he needed to focus and shift gears. Instinctively Jaune changed stances, moving from his relatively square stance with the lightsaber above his head, to holding the blade with one hand pointed down and turning his body sideways, standing in a fencing stance similar to Weiss.

Weiss scowled, thinking that Jaune was only copying her style to annoy her. Jaune moved forward first, and instead of the wide, sweeping slashes he used previously, he shifted to smaller, precise cuts and thrusts as well. Weiss's eyes widened as she realized that Jaune wasn't imitating her, but was in fact fencing an expert level as well. With rapid thrusts Jaune continued to probe Weiss's defenses. When she would parry and riposte, Jaune would do the same in return, resulting in a stalemate as each duelist waited to capitalize on the mistake of the other.

Weiss could only wonder where Jaune had learned this fighting style. While she knew Jaune was no slacker when it came to swordplay, he usually only fought with an aggressive and acrobatic two handed style that overwhelmed his opponent with powerful attacks. A useful style when fighting against grimm or more direct fighters like Cardin, but one that she could counter with poise and technique.

Instead he was now fighting far more conservatively, with no wasted movements or overcommitments on attacks. And to her annoyance it was working. Before she could easily block and counter Jaune's attacks. Now it was a contest of skill and technique of the highest level.

On the other side, Jaune had an idea of where his new fighting style came from. This was another style of the man in his dreams. And Jaune was correct, as he began to draw on the second lightsaber form Makashi to out duel Weiss. Of course Jaune wouldn't look this gift horse in the mouth, and could only smile as he pushed Weiss back as his skill as a fighter only increased. His grin only caused Weiss to scowl further.

Dust, she is pretty when she looks at me like that. Jaune thought to himself. He then idly wondered if he had some weird, masochistic kink, but pushed the thoughts out of his mind as he focused back on the fight.

Pressing his advantage, Jaune lunged forward once more. Their aura-infused foods met the two crossed swords, allowing Jaune to get close and trade words with the heiress.

"You know, you're pretty cute when you're angry." Jaune teased, blurting out his inner monologue in the heat of the duel.

Weiss's face flushed red with what Jaune thought was embarrassment. Oh yeah, still got it. He congratulated himself.

However it was not embarrassment that Weiss was feeling, but pure unadulterated rage at Arc's constant flirtation. She was here to learn to be a huntress dust damn it, not to be courted and hounded like some street harlot.

On Jaune's end, he was expecting Weiss to counter with a slash of the swordfish, or maybe a sausage whiplash. What he wasn't expecting was for Weiss to rear her leg back and kick it upward, slamming her shin right between Arc's legs.

Jaune's flirtatious grin immediately shifted to a countenance of pain and shock as his knees buckled. With Jaune unable to move from the sudden destruction of his family line, Weiss back flipped to gain distance, grabbing a bottle of ketchup mid jump. Flipping the ketchup nozzle down, Weiss stabbed the bottle into the ground and sent a shockwave of explosive condiments towards Jaune, knocking him onto his back.

For a few minutes that felt like an eternity of agony, Jaune writhed on the ground as he collected himself. As he did he watched from the sidelines as the rest of his team combated team RWBY. The battle went back and forth, with members of both teams dropping out of the fight. Ren was taken down by Yang, but Nora was able to remove both Weiss and Xiao Long from the fight.

As Jaune finally stood, his aura nullifying the pain and removing any permanent damage, a maelstrom of soda cans stormed above him as Pyrrha bombarded Blake, taking the secret faunus out of the fight.

Ruby, seeing that she was the only one on her team left, decided to go for one final move, a coup de grace that would leave only 1 team standing. Charging forward, Ruby ran fast. Faster than she had ever run before. Transforming into a burst of petals, Ruby flew forward, the air displaced by her semblance picking up food, cans, and cutlery, sending them trailing after her. Soon the entire cafeteria was gathered up behind her and flying right for team JNPR.

Jaune glanced at Ruby as she flew passed him, then turned back and saw the vortex of victuals that threatened to suck up both him and Ren. Focusing his semblance into his hands, Jaune knew he only had one chance to stop this attack. Extending both palms forward, Jaune launched all of his telekinetic fury against this flood of food. The sonic boom crashed against the invisible wall at what was at least mach speed. Jaune grit his teeth as he met the challenge head on, refusing to fall.

Arms shaking from the strain of his momentous task, Jaune knew he wasn't strong enough to hold back this torrent. At least not with his normal abilities. And so, Jaune forced himself to draw upon his darkest emotions, shedding the emotional control Ren was imparting to him and instead letting them run wild. Jaune REFUSED to bow down and break here, to suffer the humiliation of defeat once more. He was not weak, not anymore. As Jaune let his anger and fear well inside of him, he unleashed the strongest Force wave he'd done since initiation.

The telekinetic shockwave met Ruby's vortex head on, detonating in a single, explosive climax. All of the windows of the dining hall shattered, exploding outwards as Ruby's unstoppable sonic boom met Jaune's immovable barrier. Tables, benches, and chairs were all blown apart, rocketing out side and even through the roof, crashing against the pillars and walls. One pillar even shattered and collapsed to the ground.

Both Ruby and NPR were blasted back by the attack as well, sending them flying for the far wall, through Nora's makeshift fortifications, and into the wall. The impact hit them with a ridiculous amount of force, creating a large crater that sent spiderweb fractures through it. The only one left standing was Jaune Arc, lord of the Cafeteria, with one arm raised clutching his baguette in victory.

Jaune won, as he should. He was powerful, and his power brought him victory. Only he stood amongst the countless piles of dead (unconscious) students for only he was worthy of victory. And through his victory, the chains of his past are broke-

Click Click Click

Jaune's internal monologue was cut off as he heard a familiar set of terrifying heel clicks. Turning his head, Jaune's face fell as professor Glynda Goodwitch slammed the doors to the cafeteria open, sporting a reserved scowl that barely hid the unrestrained fury she was eminanting.

With a few waves of her riding crop, Glynda used her semblance to move tables back to their positions, sent the used food to the trash, and somehow even completely repaired the broken stonework and windows. For a brief moment Jaune wondered if Glynda was somehow using her semblance to repair the molecular bonds between the stone and glass, when her gaze snapped to him, causing him to freeze.

"Children…" she hissed out. "Please, do not play with your food."

As Glynda repaired all of the damage with her semblance, she saw some of the extreme destruction that occurred near the end of the battle. The destruction of the pillar and damage to the walls created tons of rubble and threatened the structural integrity of the entire building. Not to mention the explosion of glass that occured could've been deadly for anyone without an aura near the building. Had this been a real battle in an urban environment, this reckless display of power would have resulted in dozens of civilian casualties with millions in lien of damage.

As the food stained students recovered and gathered up, Yang doing so by crashing back through the roof, Glynda spoke once more, her voice immediately nixing any conversation that sprouted.

"Mr. Arc, I thought I've been teaching you to maintain better control over your powers. Would you mind explaining to me what happened here?"

Immediately whatever delusions of power Jaune had faded. He no longer felt like a badass warrior king who could break the world with his mind. Instead he was a scared student not wanting to get his balls busted by the biggest ball buster of Beacon. Unfortunately for Jaune, he had no good excuse for what just happened. In order to win, he had to lose control, but he knew professor Goodwitch wouldn't accept that. So instead he relied on instincts gained by years of being an older brother.

"The explosion was Ruby's fault." Jaune immediately pointed to his fellow leader as he tried to shift the blame.

Horrified, Ruby brought her hands to her mouth "Lies! Deception! Besides, Nora was the first one to throw a pie!"

As Nora began her retort, Glynda felt herself literally shake with rage. The rage only dissipated when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Let it go." Ozpin's forever calm voice said.

Glynda sighed, the stress leaving her body. "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world."

"And they will be, but right now they're still children. So why not let them play the part." Ozpin turned around and began to walk away. "After all it isn't a role they'll have forever."

It was the middle of the night, and all of Beacon was sleeping save for a single lovable dork of a leader that snuck out of his dorm room. This wasn't the first time Jaune had snuck out, no he was a repeat offender of that crime. But before, Jaune would sneak out to go study the mask, letting the obsession over it consume his entire life.

But Jaune promised his team he would stop obsessively meditating on his own like that. And even with what felt like a deteriorating mindset, Jaune kept his promise, like a true Arc would.

No, right now Jaune had a different objective. Instead of sneaking his way into the locker rooms, Jaune stealthed his way into Beacon's cafeteria. Unlike before he wasn't awoken by an obsessive compulsion to meditate upon the mask. To gain more power. Instead he was awoken by a deep, ravenous hunger. His heavy meals during lunch and dinner barely sated him, the food fight only bringing temporary relief as the adrenaline of combat pushed the hunger out of his mind.

Making his way into the kitchen, Jaune opened up the pantry and saw his goal, boxes on boxes of various chips, crackers, cookies, and confectioneries Beacon kept on hand. Immediately Jaune got to work, tearing open bags of snacks and binging on the contents.

Jaune was voracious. Bag after bag of snacks piled up around him as he continued to eat. But it wasn't enough. None of this was enough. Over a dozen bags of snacks later and he still felt no satiation to his hunger.

It was at this point Jaune decided to cut his losses and leave. Even if he didn't feel satisfied, he was sure that the food was still physically there in his stomach, and it would do him no good to start vomiting all over Beacon's kitchens. So after binning all of the wrappers, Jaune stealthily crept on all fours back to his dorm room, his team hopefully none the wiser.

Crawling into his bed, Jaune clutched his stomach as he curled into the fetal position beneath his covers. As the gnawing hunger set in, Jaune could feel his body turn against itself. Once again Jaune would encounter a sleepless night, kept awake by his weakening mind, desperate for any form of relief.

The mask of Darth Nihilus sat in Jaune Arc's locker, alone and unused, piled under Jaune's gear. While Jaune still had the willpower and spirit to willingly set the mask aside, the mask would not be ignored. It would not let Jaune escape its grasp.

Jaune's connection to the dark side of the force continued to grow, as did the boy's abilities. But it wasn't enough. And so the mask continued to corrupt Jaune, tearing open a wound within him much like its original owner's. The mask needed the boy to be stronger in order to fulfill its designs. The mask needed Jaune to feed...

Chapter Text

"You.. you are the darkness in which all life dies, milord. All life… exists to feed your power, and my life… my life is yours. I beg you… please… let me die…" - Visas Marr

Chapter 11: Satiation

Jaune's foot bounced up and down, easily betraying the amount of agitation he was feeling. Jaune, along with Nora, Ren, and all of team RWBY were sitting upon the stadium seats of Beacon's sparring arena. Below them in the battlefield itself, team CRDL loitered about, as they and Professor Goodwitch waited for Jaune's partner Pyrrha to enter.

"Again." Jaune growled out. "Again, you four took on Torchwick and White Fang without us. Tell me, are you all just that arrogant in your abilities, or do you just not trust us?"

Apparently telekinesis wasn't all Jaune was learning from Professor Goodwitch, as his glare caused the four women to shrink in their seats. At least the four of them, even the sleep deprived Blake, had the decency to look guilty and remorseful.

"It's not that we don't trust you." Blake was the first one to speak in her team's defense. After all, it was her idea to go after the White Fang in the first place. "But we were breaking a lot of rules and going against hardened criminals! We didn't want to get all of you in trouble if we failed."

"Which you did." Jaune venomously spat, causing the girls to wince. "Torchwick got away again, a highway was nearly destroyed, and the White Fang has gone underground. Blake, did you not even think about what the Fang would do to you if you had gotten captured? Regardless of whatever lust for vengeance or answer you have, you four are not enough to take down a terrorist organization."

"Hey we had back up!" Ruby countered.

"Yeah, Sun and Neptune were there to help us out." Yang added on.

Jaune's eyes narrowed. "And you could've had six huntsmen backing you up rather than two if you had asked us as well."

The fact that they had gotten Neptune to help wasn't helping Jaune's mood. While he hadn't spoken two words to the blue haired boy, he was at least somewhat aware that he was also courting Weiss. And to make matters worse she was more receptive to him! While Jaune wouldn't admit it, he was basically jealous of Vasilias.

Even after their physical confrontation during the food fight, after all aura healed a kick to the groin fast enough, Jaune still pined over the Schnee. There was something about her cold hearted demeanor and arrogance that was beautiful to him. And her resistance to him only amplified his desire. It would be so beautiful when he breaks that facade, and breaks her. What? Jaune shook his head, clearing the dark thoughts from his mind. He meant, break her out of her shell. Yeah, that's it. Weiss is only mean because of the way she was raised. He's sure that he could fix her, get her to stop the Ice Queen personality. But that was neither here nor there.

"They came in on their own. We didn't ask them!" Ruby tried to justify. "Like Blake said, we didn't want you guys to get hurt or in trouble."

"That…" Jaune leaned forward and jabbed a finger towards his fellow leader. "Is exactly the kind of thinking that will get you killed. Holding back out of concern for your friends will only limit you. A warrior should be able to use all tools available to them."

Ruby looked down and muttered to herself, "You guys aren't tools." Even if she felt that Jaune was acting like one.

Yang, seeing Jaune continually berate Ruby, felt her irises go red as she moved forward to defend her sister. "Hey back off vomit boy!" She growled back. Jaune's eyes narrowed on her, before he leaned back. Content that Jaune was sufficiently cowed, Yang's eyes shifted back to purple and she continued. "Besides, it all ended well. Torchwick got away but none of us got hurt, and we know where to go next. So what's the point of getting upset?"

Jaune massaged his temples, hoping to ease his headache. The hunger was still there, and it was causing a painful migraine that was not helped by all of this stress and arguing. "Right. It's already happened, so there's not much point in debating it anymore. So how about we just, watch Pyrrha's match and move on."

No one in team RWBY seemed inclined to argue against that as they focused on the battlefield, happy that Jaune's roast of them was over. It was around the time that they finished their argument that Pyrrha exited the locker room, full armed and armored. She gave a brief wave to her friends as she got ready to fight the entirety of team CRDL.

It wasn't even a fight. While team CRDL were a bunch of idiots, they were still huntsmen in training, and possessed a solid level of skill and agility, performing strikes and flips no normal human would ever attempt. But it didn't help them because Pyrrha was just on a completely different level. Without even going into the yellow, Pyrrha took down the four brutish members of CRDL, either through breaking their aura or by a ring out.

As Cardin collapsed on the ground, muttering out some vain comment in an attempt to salvage his pride, Professor Goodwitch spoke to Pyrrha. "Well done, Miss Nikos. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament."

"Thank you, professor." Pyrrha gave a small bow.

Glynda began tapping on her scroll, calling out the students seated above. "Now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match. Any volunteers? " Glynda scanned the students, pausing her sight on a certain sleep deprived secret faunus. "Ms. Belladonna? You've been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don't you-"

"I'll do it." A voice cut in, interrupting her. It was a silver haired transfer student, laying back with a cocky attitude and smirk to match.

Glynda quickly pulled up the boy's profile. "Mercury, is it? Very well, let's find you an opponent."

"Actually," the boy interrupted again. "I want to fight her." Mercury pointed at Pyrrha.

"Me?" Pyrrha replied.

Jaune immediately glared at the boy. This Mercury, there was something off about him. He could feel the boy's deception like one could feel an icy breeze. It radiated off of him, as did some kind of nefarious intention. He was up to something, and it involved Pyrrha.

"I'm afraid Miss Nikos has just finished the match. I recommend you choose another partner." Professor Goodwitch sternly retorted. This boy was already on thin ice with her by cutting her off, and now he was making demands.

Pyrrha on the other hand, tried to wave off the professor's worry. "No, it's fine! I'd be ha-"

"No! You will not fight!" Jaune yelled as he stood up from his seat. The eyes of everyone around him went wide with surprise at Jaune's blatant, aggressive interruption, as Jaune looked at his partner. "You will not be fighting him."

Mercury, who like everyone, was taken aback by Jaune, quickly recomposed himself. "Hey man, it's just a spar. No need to get angry or anything." Mercury needed this blondie to back off. He had a job to do and needed to get info on the champion.

Pyrrha tried to talk Jaune down as well. "Jaune, really it's fine. Team CRDL didn't do much to me, so my aura levels are still high."

"That's not what this is about Pyr!" Jaune snapped at her. Pyrrha visibly flinched at Jaune's words, immediately causing regret to surge through his system. But he shoved that feeling down, right now there was a possible threat in front of him.

Jaune then turned to the Professor as he refused to relent. "Professor, as the leader of team JNPR, it is my duty to look out for my team's welfare. I refuse to let Pyrrha exhaust herself unnecessarily." Jaune's voice was stern and left no room for argument. "But for the sake of this class, I will take her place in the spar." Jaune's head then snapped to Mercury, staring the boy down, who looked horrified at the demand.

Professor Goodwitch stared her apprentice down for a few seconds. She also looked to Mercury, who had already annoyed her with his interruptions and arrogant attitude. It didn't take long for her to come to a decision. "Mr. Arc is right. As a professor, I cannot, in good consciousness, put my students at unnecessary risk. As such, Mr. Black, you will be fighting against Mr. Arc, that is final." Glynda's commanding voice shut down any response from Mercury or his cohorts, causing the boy to nod and go get ready.

Meanwhile Jaune made his own way to the locker room to get ready with a vicious smirk on his face. This was a good turn of events. This kid obviously had some malintent with Pyrrha, so he could break him and protect his partner, as well as get a chance to blow off some steam. This was going to be a good fight.

Fully equipped, both Jaune and Mercury stared each other down in the arena. Mercury was doing some warm up side lunges to stretch, while Jaune stood completely still, sword in his hand but unraised, glaring at his opponent.

"Man that's quite the glare you got there blondie." Mercury quipped as he stood up, finishing his stretches. "Anybody ever tell you that you're like, weirdly possessive and controlling? I mean, talk about toxic, amirite?"

Jaune did not deign to reply as Mercury threw his insults. He didn't even bother to take his stance when Glynda asked if the fighters were ready, only giving the slightest hint of a nod.

"Begin!" Glynda chopped her hand through the air signalling the start of the fight.

Mercury crouched down, ready to pounce forward when he was immediately blasted back by a telekinetic wave. Jaune didn't even move or make a single gesture as the wave emanated off of him. The attack sent Mercury backwards into the air, forcing him to backflip to regain balance and land on solid ground.

But as Mercury's toes touched the arena, Jaune was already upon him. Jaune let out a flurry of cuts, each fueled by his internal anger. Unlike the time he fought with Pyrrha, where he used his semblance to strengthen his blows, instead he used his emotions to strengthen them, maintaining a more stoic exterior while his feelings raged within. It was a paradoxical state of being that came with using lightsaber form VII, Juyo, as Jaune sought to completely and totally eviscerate his silver haired opponent.

Mercury doesn't even have the chance to play around like he planned. Jaune's attacks immediately put him on the defensive, pushing him to his limits in order to avoid getting maimed or stabbed. To his annoyance, every counter attack that Mercury threw was either countered or parried in return.

Swinging his blade right for Mercury's neck, Jaune sought to decapitate him. Mercury ducked, and as he crouched down, twisted his body, balancing all his weight on one hand on the ground for a breakdancing L-kick. It was an unorthodox, dance-martial arts hybrid move that tended to catch most people off guard.

The move didn't faze Jaune as he casually deflected the shotgun blast kick. Scowling, Mercury tried to spin on his hands, to build up the momentum for a second kick, but Jaune wouldn't give him the chance. Reaching out with his semblance, Jaune grabbed onto Mercury's hand, and slid it horizontally. Mercury's balance was broken and he was sent tumbling to the ground.

As he fell, Mercury fired off two rockets, one aimed for Jaune's face and the other for his legs, hoping that he would be distracted by the head aimed rocket and not notice the one going for his lower body. Jaune however jumped, and flipped into a beautiful butterfly twist, his body going parallel to the ground as he spun, the two rockets completely missing him. By the time Jaune landed, Mercury was back on his feet, both of them ready to keep going.

Jaune dashed forward and went for a low, cutting attack at Mercury's knee, no doubt meant to cripple him. Mercury raised his leg to block the strike. Crocea Mors pinged off Mercury's metallic shin to Jaune's surprise, and Mercury then jumped up and fired off a jumping spinning kick aimed right for Jaune's face. Jaune easily ducked underneath it however, and as Mercury landed Arc shoved his fist into his stomach, hitting him with a devastating uppercut.

Mercury tumbled backwards at the hit, the strike almost making him lose his lunch despite his aura. Using his backwards momentum to roll and gain distance, Mercury fired off several tracking rockets from his boots that swarmed around Jaune. Dozens of rockets threatened to crash into him at all angles, several of which were placed in Jaune's blind spots. Mercury smirked as he thought there was no way that Jaune could defend against all of the missiles, but as they flew forward to hit their target, they froze in place.

His face falling at the sight, Mercury couldn't believe what he was seeing. Jaune had apparently used his semblance to stop every rocket in mid air, even those he couldn't see. The missiles shook and vibrated, straining under the pressure as their engines pushed them forward, but Jaune's semblance held them in place. With a single glance from Jaune, all of the missiles then rotated in place, aiming right for Mercury.

"Aww crapbaskets." Mercury mumbled out as Jaune let go of the missiles, which all flew right for the incognito assassin.

In an impressive display of athletics and acrobatics, Mercury dodged, dipped, dived, ducked, and dodged his way through the volley of missiles. Running around the perimeter of the ring, he would flip and twirl, dodging two missiles that flew out and crashed into the hardlight barrier, before landing, pivoting, and dashing forward to dodge another missile that crashed into the ground. Mercury continued this pattern until there were only two missiles left on his tail. As the rockets turned and chased him down, Mercury instead ran right for Jaune.

His plan was simple, run right for Jaune, and at the last second, dodge and let blondie take the hit from the rockets. Seeing Mercury approach, Jaune took a stance, leveling his blade parallel to the ground, ready to run him through. As Mercury got closer and closer, Jaune's body tensed and moved to slash at him. With a smirk, Mercury used his boots to shoot into the ground, enhancing his jump with both his aura and recoil.

However, Mercury made it all of 5 feet off the ground before he felt a force latch onto him and yank him back down. Grabbing onto Mercury with the Force, Jaune slammed the boy into the ground, bouncing him off the marble, before lifting him up and using him to block the incoming rockets. The missiles exploded across Mercury's back, causing him to scream out in pain as Jaune held him still. Not finished, Jaune then slashed him across the chest, knocking him down to the ground again as he released his telekinetic grip.

Mercury groaned and looked at the scoreboard. That single combo took his aura down by 30%. He was now solidly in the yellow while Jaune was pretty much untouched. His eyes then shifted to Jaune, who was now above him with his sword raised.

As Jaune slashed downwards, eager to maim the boy, Mercury cried out. "I surrender!"

Crocea Mors stopped millimeters above Mercury's head, the blade shaking with disbelief as through grit teeth Jaune whispered out, "What?"

Mercury took the pause to back up, stand, and turn to Glynda. "Yeah I surrender! I was here for a spar, but obviously blondie here has some sort of grudge against me, and all honesty? I don't need that."

"RAAGH!" Jaune snarled as he raised his sword up, only to be cut off by Glynda.

"Mr. Arc that is enough! Your opponent has surrendered, and you are victorious. Now return to your team." Glynda snapped out, eyes focused on Jaune, hand on her crop just in case. There was a beat as Jaune glared at Mercury, before scoffing and sheathing his sword.

"Fine." Jaune snarled out as he walked out of the Arena.

As Jaune did so the alarm bell rang out, indicating that the class was over.

Another incident avoided, Glynda then turned to the rest of the students to make her final announcements. "Now that is all for today. Remember, the dance is this weekend, but you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses."

As the students began to filter out of the arena, Mercury looked up to Cinder and Emerald, and saw that Cinder did not look happy. Mercury sighed, knowing that the next conversation was not going to be fun.

Mercury, Emerald, and Cinder all sat in their temporary dorm room, Cinder on the bed, looking down on her two subordinates on the ground. Both Emerald and Mercury respectfully kneeled before Cinder, not wanting to risk her anger after the botched espionage opportunity.

"There is no need for that." Cinder spoke in a voice that did not portray anger and disappointment, but rather curiosity.

Emerald and Mercury shared a quick glance, both wondering if this was some kind of test, before accepting Cinder's offer, shifting to a much more comfortable sitting position.

"While it's unfortunate that we couldn't test the invincible girl, we have enough footage from her many fights, as well as testimonials from her opponents to estimate her abilities. However, that partner of her's is both a surprise, and a potential threat. And I don't like either of those things." Cinder's voice became harsh at the end, causing both her subordinates to flinch.

"Believe me boss, I feel the same way." Mercury replied rubbing the new bruises he sported. "And did you guys see the way he acted? He was like a possessive, abusive boyfriend that doesn't let his girl do anything without him. A real creep I'll tell you what."

Emerald raised an eyebrow at him. "Says the literal assassin?"

Mercury scoffed, taking offense to his collegue's comment. "Hey I may be an assassin, but I'm also a professional. And professionals have standards, not feelings. Blondie over there? He's the type of guy who'll bludgeon his wife to death with a golf trophy, believe me."

"Enough!" Cinder snapped, breaking up the banter between her subordinates. "Mercury, what's your opinion on the boy?"

Mercury immediately lost the attitude he had with Emerald and was instead deep in thought. "He's good. His semblance is strong, some kind of telekinesis that lets him move anything with his mind. And he can use it well. Combined with his sword skills he was able to keep me off balance the whole fight." Mercury's then narrowed, as he recalled more specifics of the fight. "There was something else though. Something he did during the fight. It was subtle but I could tell." Mercury paused, for dramatic effect if anything.

Cinder raised a curious eyebrow at what Mercury was referring to, while Emerald scowled and impatiently said, "Well?"

"Everything I threw at him, he was able to block or dodge. Even dirty attacks or ones that went straight for his blind spots and he shouldn't have seen. It was like he had a sixth sense to block all of the attacks, and an inhuman reaction time as well." Mercury revealed.

"Are you sure he's not just that much better than you?" Emerald asked with a smirk.

To her surprise, Mercury didn't take the bait and bite back. Instead he only shook his head. "No, no one's that good. Not even the invincible girl would've been able to stop some of those attacks. No, there was something else about him. Like he could just see every attack happening before it happened."

Mercury's serious response warranted Emerald to take the situation seriously as well. "A dual semblance perhaps? Telekinesis and precognition?" She asked. "It wouldn't be the weirdest thing we've seen."

Cinder nodded. "Perhaps. But we won't know for sure without more evidence. Regardless of how interesting his abilities are, he is still a potential threat. Add him and that partner of his to the list."

"I still think you should be able to take him though." Mercury added on.

"It's not about overpowering the enemy." Cinder admonished. "It's about taking away what power they have. And we will, in time."

Jaune was immediately beset by the rest of his team when he left the locker room, a myriad of emotions around on their faces. Pyrrha had a look of worry over what just occurred, Ren maintained his usual stoic demeanor but carried traces of concern as well, while Nora smiled happily at the beating Jaune put on Mercury.

"Jaune, what happened there?" Pyrrha was the first to ask.

"What happened!?" Nora interjected. "I'll tell you what happened. Jaune put the beat down on that silver-haired schmuck like it was nobody's business! And you were so close to breaking his leg, you were this close." Nora made a very small space between her thumb and index finger to accentuate her point.

"Nora, I think what Pyrrha is asking is why Jaune chose to intervene, and not about the specifics of the fight." Ren chided his friend before turning to Jaune. "A question that I would like to know the answer to as well."

Jaune scowled at all of them. He was already annoyed by team RWBY's actions, annoyed that he couldn't finish off Mercury, and now he was getting annoyed by their questions.

"I had a bad feeling about that guy." Jaune simply explained. "I felt it in my gut. He wanted to do something to Pyrrha, something bad, and I wasn't going to let that happen."

"Something bad?" Pyrrha asked, confused at the new information. "But I've never met that man before today. I think his team knows Ruby, but that's it. Why would he want to do something to me?"

"And also, how do you know he wanted to do something?" Ren added on.

"How? What do you think? It was my dust-damned powers!" Jaune snapped at his team, startling Ren and causing Nora to glare at him at his outburst towards her Renny. Jaune sighed. "Sorry, sorry. It's my emotions again. They're getting harder to control right now and I haven't meditated in a while. To answer your questions, I think my power gives me some kind of sixth sense. It's happened a few times already, and kicks in when something bad might happen. I got that exact feeling when Mercury challenged Pyrrha to a fight. As to why he did it? No clue. But whatever his reason, I wasn't going to give him any chance to hurt you."

Pyrrha actually flushed a bit at her partner's protective declaration, but put the feeling down as she brought her hand to her chin in contemplation. "Perhaps he wanted to test me? Scout out my abilities? It wouldn't be the first time someone has tried something like that."

"Maybe. Whatever it is, we can either keep an eye on their team, or just avoid them all together." Ren interjected before looking at Jaune. "But right now, we should get you to the rooftop for some meditation."

"Yeah, yeah I'd like that." Jaune just shook his head, trying to stabilize his emotions within.

It was evening as on the dormitory rooftop, Ren and Jaune were meditating, while Pyrrha and Nora patiently waited (in Nora's case, slept) for them to finish. So often did team JNPR come up here to train and meditate that they actually began placing folding tables and chairs that were unused by the custodial department.

Jaune, kneeling on the ground, was extending his senses to the world around him. The spar with Mercury had left him emotionally unbalanced and he felt it. Not being able to put the little shitstain in his place only served to aggravate him further. A frustrating, teasing sensation that left him unable to release his inner emotions.

Focusing on the present, Jaune tried to empty himself of emotion, shoved what he was feeling out of him in exchange for inner peace. Unintentionally, by doing this he opened himself to the Force, allowing it to push and influence him. And it was beautiful. Jaune could see the vibrant colors of all the students around him, how they echoed and reverberated through the Force.

As Jaune continued to meditate deeper and deeper, Pyrrha was the first to notice something strange happening.

"Uhh Jaune, is everything alright?" she tentatively called out, her voice getting the attention of both Nora and Ren, their eyes widening at the spectacle before them.

But Jaune didn't seem to register her voice as he was too deep in meditation. He didn't seem to notice that while he was meditating, he began to reach out with the Force and levitate the chairs around him. Three metal folding chairs hovered off the ground, orbiting around him as if they were his satellites. Even the table and loose stone and gravel around them began to shake. So strong was Jaune's connection to the Force that he was unintentionally affecting the world around him to such a degree.

This action calmed Jaune down, helping him focus himself. He could feel his anger that developed over the past day leaving him, dissipating into the void. Meditating, he could actually feel at peace with both his powers and himself.

Grumble…

And there it was. That nagging hunger. Pain coursed through his whole body as the gnawing appetite took hold. A voracity that could not be sated, for he knew not what to feed it. As the pain shot through his body, his calming focus was replaced with anger, causing the Force within him to shift from a still pond of balance to a violent typhoon of emotion.

The rest of team JNPR all flinched as the loud crrunnchh came out of nowhere as Jaune telekinetically crushed the chairs floating around him. Jaune fell forward as he was thrust out of his meditations, his breathing now wild and out of control.

"Jaune!" his team called out to him as the hunks of metal fell to the floor, no longer under his command.

"I'm good, I'm good." Jaune tried to reassure both himself and his team as Pyrrha and Nora helped him stand.

"Jaune, what happened there?" Ren was the first to ask, examining the crushed folding chairs.

"Yeah my bad." Jaune groaned out. "I was just… no, I am hungry. The hunger pain threw off my focus, made me do… that." Jaune winced as he looked at the chairs.

"You destroyed school property because you got hangry?" Nora asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"I'm not hangry I'm just… ok yes maybe I am hangry." Jaune hung his head in defeat.

"Jaune…" Pyrrha said with a concerned tone that seemed to be her default when talking to her partner. "While I'm glad that you're eating again, there is such a thing as overeating." Ever since Jaune had gotten out of the hospital and the new term started, he flip flopped his diet and for every meal has eaten a buffet's worth of food. "You'll need to be careful with the amount you eat lest you put on too much body fat." And that was a crime that could not happen.

Jaune couldn't help but laugh at that. "Ha, I don't even know what an overweight version of me would look like."

"It is strange though." Ren commented. "You haven't put on any weight despite your dietary changes. With the amount you've been eating there should've been more physical changes, whether muscle or fat gain."

"Oh! Maybe Jaune-Jaune's powers require lots and lots of energy to use, so it all gets burned off!" Nora theorized.

"That… actually makes a lot of sense." Jaune was a bit surprised that Nora spouted off an actually plausible theory, rather than her usual rants about aliens or intergalactic cults. Jaune then shook his head, trying to clear out his hunger induced thoughts. "Anyway, I think I'm going to go for a walk. Clear out my head and all that. I'll see you all in the room?" Jaune didn't even wait for a response before he started heading out and off the roof.

Pyrrha raised her hand as Jaune turned his back to them, wanting to call out. Ultimately, she held her tongue as Jaune disappeared down the stairs. Pyrrha let her arm and head drop, adopting a rather upset expression as she failed to ask her leader again.

"Not saying anything again, Pyr?" Nora asked with a frown, placing one hand on her hip and cocking her head.

"Despite all of our leader's talents, he is not a mind reader." Ren added on, standing beside the champion.

"I know… I know." Pyrrha sighed. She then gave her friends a weak smile. "Next time. I'll ask him next time." She resolutely declared. "... probably." She whispered on after.

Nora could barely suppress a laugh while Ren only shook his head.

As the Sun finally set and the streetlights took its place illuminating the walkways, Jaune made his way through Beacon's gardens hunched over with one hand on his stomach. The hunger was getting worse. He felt light headed, his body was sore, every step he took felt like it threatened to throw him to the ground and pass out.

"Gods above, why?" Jaune strained out, now leaning on a school building wall next to him. "Why am I so fucking hungry?"

Jaune stumbled forward as his vision began to blur, then double. "Please, what do I have to do to make it go away?" he begged to any deity that bothered to listen to him.

…

You must feed...

Jaune's head snapped up, as he heard a voice call out to him. He looked behind him and saw no one. Looking all around him he saw no signs of anyone nearby.

"Who's there?" He called out, slightly unnerved. Either someone was hiding, stalking him and whispering to him, or he was starting to hear voices inside of his head. Both options were not appealing. "Man, I must really be getting delirious. Hearing things now."

As the words left his mouth, Jaune heard a rustle in a nearby bush. The young Arc froze, staring at the shrubbery with suspicious eyes.

Guess this means that I'm not hearing voices, only that I have a stalker… great. Jaune thought to himself as he crouched down low, ready to leap on whoever was within the bush.

Slowly, Jaune moved forward. Shifting inch by inch closer to the bush. When it was within his reach, Jaune shove his hands forward into the leaves and parted them to get a glimpse at his would-be shadow. To his surprise, Jaune didn't see anyone, only a pair of brown bunny ears as a small rabbit was nibbling on the grass beneath the bush.

"Aww a cute bunny rabbit." Jaune cooed. "Are you what's been making all that noise little guy?" As Jaune moved his hand to go pet the rabbit, another hunger pain struck him, this one far more violent than the last.

Jaune felt his hands shake and his vision start to dark as the overwhelming pain shot through him. The last thing Jaune saw before blacking out was the bunny rabbit, curiously hopping over to him to see what was happening.

…

When Jaune came to, he found himself on a nearby park bench, alone beneath a streetlight. Immediately he reached into his pocket and fished out his scroll to check the time. 7:45pm. He had been out for about 5 minutes.

Rolling his neck, Jaune realized that he must've fainted, and either someone placed him on the bench, or he was able to get there in his blacked out state. Looking around, he saw no evidence of any other visitors nearby, so he assumed it must've been the latter. While looking around he also saw no signs of the bunny rabbit. That made him a bit sad, but he was sure that the rabbit was probably hoping its way back to it's burrow. Speaking of which, Jaune needed to do the same thing, lest he worry his team again.

Standing up, Jaune quickly realized that he felt fine. No hunger, no headaches, nothing. Huh, weird. Guess I just needed a quick power nap? Not wanting to look this gift horse in the mouth, Jaune was just glad that the pain was now gone and began to happily make his way back to the dorm.

As Jaune walked away, he failed to notice that within a nearby bush, a rabbit lay motionless. It's body was emaciated, drained of all life, leaving it a husk of skin and bones, unknowingly killed by the nascent Lord of Hunger.

Chapter Text

"Be careful of charity and kindness, lest you do more harm with open hands than with a clenched fist." -Kreia

Chapter 12: Dance

Jaune steadied himself precariously on a rope suspended balance beam, hanging high above the Beacon's training floor. These floating obstacles were normally used to train balance and agility on unsure, elevated footing, as huntsmen often found themselves in strange terrain such as collapsing buildings or high up on tree branches.

With his enhanced senses, Jaune would normally find such a task simple. His hunger pains even seemed to have receded after he passed out in the courtyard, so he had full control over his powers and emotions once more. Gone were the spikes of ravenous hunger which made his control over his powers tenuous at best. But the task was made far more difficult due to the fact that he was currently levitating two kite shields while being telekinetically pelted by rubber balls. Jaune dodged another orange ball that flung passed his head while moving one of the shields to his flank, blocking a barrage of rubber. Glynda had called this pressure testing, seeing if he could use his abilities on multiple objects, while on precarious footing, all while under attack.

It was difficult, even with his increase in control over his powers. While he could easily levitate the shields now, the combination of constant, rapid attacks and poor footing eroded his concentration. It was like his mind was getting pulled in 4 different directions, each requiring his attention. Sensing an attack coming from behind, he moved one of the kite shields to deflect the rubber ball, only for a second to fly from his blindspot and hit him across the face.

"Focus on the present, Jaune." Glynda called out from ground level. "Were that a rock or weapon, that hit could have been lethal, or at least broken your aura."

Jaune sighed as he rubbed the red mark on his face. His emotional state shifted from annoyance to anger as he then levitated the two shields up once more, blocking another volley of rubber balls. However as he did so, Jaune leaned too far forward, forcing him to look down and regain his balance. That caused him to miss a third wave slamming into him from behind, staggering him and almost knocking him off the beam completely.

Grunting, Jaune knew he had to change strategies. Thinking of his fight with Mercury the day before, the missiles he was able to stop followed the same principle as these balls. They would come in fast and at odd angles, but his sixth sense allowed him to detect them. But the balance beam was throwing him off, distracting him and blinding him to his other senses.

That's when the realization dawned on him. He was thinking too much. Just like it was with the chalk and the chalkboard during his first lesson, he was spreading his mind too thin. He was trying to look down and maintain his balance on the balance beam, while focusing on the shields with his telekinesis, all while searching for attacking rubber balls and defending himself. It was a sensory overload that completely overwhelmed him. So he needed to stop thinking, stop relying on his sight to register every single problem, and instead allow his sixth sense to guide his actions. His sixth sense hasn't failed him before, and he doubted it would start now.

And so to Glynda's surprise, Jaune closed his eyes. It was not at all rare for huntsmen to use their Aura as a kind of extra-sensory perception, to allow them to sense danger before it happened. One merely had to watch Mr. Lie Ren to see what a high aptitude in that field looked like. But when Jaune closed his eyes, he took it to another level. No longer limited by his sight, Jaune instead felt the world around him, felt the Force despite his ignorance of its very existence.

When the next volley of orange balls shot out, aiming to pelt him from behind, Jaune jumped and flipped, expertly dodging the attack. Landing back on the balance beam with practiced ease, maintaining balance no longer an issue, he then felt three more hostile presences. Coming from his left, right, and above, telekinetically levitating balls charged forward ready to pummel him.

With nowhere to go on the balance beam itself, Jaune instead took a step back and let gravity take him, falling off the beam as the three swarms missed their targets. As he fell, Jaune then extended his hands and grabbed on to the balance beam, using his momentum to flip himself around and back onto it.

Glynda felt her jaw drop at Jaune's display of acrobatics. While such a move was plausible for huntsmen to do, it would normally be from more agile fighters such as Blake Belladonna and Lie Ren, not the more straightforward Jaune Arc. Not to mention he did the entire thing with his eyes closed! Glynda was all honesty not sure if he was doing it to focus his semblance or if he was just showing off.

"Very well done, Mr. Arc." Glynda spoke as she lowered her ammunition. "While this was technically supposed to be more training for your telekinesis, I'm glad that your Aura perception is so well developed." Glynda felt pride at her student's growth.

Jaune leapt off the balance beam and used his telekinesis to slow his fall, gently landing on the ground. "Wasn't too hard to do, once I blocked out all the distractions."

"A lesson I hope you will take to heart not only with your powers, but in all aspects of your life." Glynda spoke, always looking to impart some wisdom. "Speaking of distractions though, are you prepared for the upcoming dance this weekend?"

Caught off guard by the question, Jaune went a little red and rubbed the back of his head. "Oh yeah I'm definitely excited, and all that." Jaune trailed off a bit while breaking eye contact.

Glynda's own eyes narrowed on her apprentice. "Mr. Arc, do you have a date yet?"

Jaune looked like he was gut-punched by Glynda's blunt question. Getting even redder and more embarrassed, Jaune murmured out, "Uh… no, not yet."

Sighing, Glynda made Jaune look her in the eyes. "Jaune, while I know you will have more dances in the upcoming years, you shouldn't take them for granted. You need to ensure that you enjoy your youth, lest it pass you by too quickly and you become an old man with too few happy memories."

"Is that what happened to you?" Jaune muttered under his breath.

Glynda's hawkish glare snapped onto the boy once more. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Jaune's face mimicked a deer in the headlights as he realized he said that out loud. "OH, hey, I think I hear Nora getting caught in the vending machine again, so I have to go take care of that okthanksforthelessonbye!" Jaune immediately took off running, hoping to put off his punishment for the back talk.

Shaking her head, Glynda only sighed once more. "I swear, that boy will be the death of me."

Jaune paced back and forth in his room, unsure of what to do. For someone who feeds off his emotions so heavily like Jaune, he felt anxiety and stress twice as hard as a normal person, similar to how he felt rage and anger twice as hard. Anxiety led to worry, worry led to paranoia, and paranoia is what led him to walking around his dorm room in circles, muttering to himself like a mad man.

"I could just go and knock on their door and ask, but there's no way Weiss would just accept that! She's a woman of class and culture, she'll never accept something as basic as that!" Jaune debated with the air in front of him. The only other person in the room was Nora, who was on her bed wearing headphones and reading a book, desperately trying to ignore her leader's ramblings.

The boy continued his one person dialogue. "Hmm… I could borrow a guitar from the music room, put those lessons I got in middle school to use." That actually seemed like a good idea to him. A romantic serenade. What better way to ask out a girl! But soon afterwards he felt a prescient wave of discomfort flow into him, warning him that it was a bad idea. "Or maybe not."

It was at this moment that the door to JNPR's bathroom opened up, and from the steam a half naked Ren walked out, clad only in his pink towel. Ren sighed with contentedness, not tiredness, as he was able to get through his long, relaxing shower without any incident.

That is however, until Jaune ran up to him and grabbed him by the arm. "We need to talk!" Jaune barked out, not waiting for a reply as he pulled Ren aside.

As Jaune dragged a half-naked Ren over to his bed, a series of confusing scenarios were running through his mind, each more alarming than the next. Ren just really hoped his leader wasn't trying some kind of strange, aggressive tactic to hit on him. While he would've been flattered by such affections, and he thought people should love who they want without judgement, his heart was set firmly on women, one orange-haired pinkette childhood friend who was still in this very room in particular.

Sitting Ren down on his bed, Jaune sat down beside him. Jaune seemed to be mulling over something internally, while Ren never felt more awkward and uncomfortable in his life.

"Ren… I'm just gonna say it." Jaune said as Ren thought this conversation was not getting off to a good start. "You are one of my best friends. I feel like we've really bonded." To Ren's surprise, the conversation only seemed to be getting worse as he started mentally preparing a rejection for Jaune.

Jaune continued, ignorant of Ren's thoughts. "Even though you don't talk much. I mean you're really quiet. To be perfectly honest, I don't know that much about you, personally, but darnit, I consider you to be the brother I never had!"

Ren glanced down at his pink towel, the only protection to his privacy and his innocence. He wanted nothing more to just get up and walk away right now. But he still respected his leader, and gave a polite, albeit strained smile and nod. "And I you." He then glanced at his outfit hanging on his closet door.

"Which is why I wanted to get your advice on… girls." Jaune finally admitted.

Ren felt an immediate wave of relief hit him, followed by one of surprise. Why was Jaune asking him for girl advice? He wasn't some kind of casanova.

"Girls?" Ren's surprise was evident in his voice.

Jaune began to stumble over himself, trying to find the right words for such an obviously delicate subject. "I guess what I'm asking is… well how did you and Nora, you know…"

Swiftly Ren's head snapped to his leader, his mouth moving but no sounds other than "uh" coming out.

"Ahem." A familiar voice cut in. Both boys turned their heads and saw Nora, headphones off, bashfully looking at them and laughing nervously. "We're not actually 'together' together…"

"NORA I SAID HEADPHONES ON!" Jaune embarrassedly yelled back.

"Epp!" Nora squeaked out and obeyed the command.

Satisfied that he was safe, Ren then turned to his leader. "Jaune… what is this all about?"

Jaune let out a long sigh before responding, staring at the floor. "It's Weiss. I want her to pay attention to me but she won't even give me a chance. She's cold, but incredible. Every time I've tried to get her attention, she's stonewalled me hard. I just want her to take me seriously, so I can tell her how I feel without messing it up."

"Then do it." another new voice cut it. This time it was Pyrrha, entering their dorm room, giving an encouraging smile to Jaune.

"What?" Jaune mumbled out in surprise.

"Tell her exactly how you feel. No ridiculous pick lines, no faux bravado. Just… be honest."

"But what if I-"

"Jaune." Pyrrha smiled at her leader's dorky insecurity. "What happened to the courageous leader who led us during initiation? Or the man who charged head first against that monster to save Cardin? You are brave, honorable, and so many other things, and have more than proven yourself to be worthy of affection. Just tell her the truth."

Mulling over Pyrrha words for a few seconds, Jaune decided she was right! He needed to be direct. In a rare moment of self reflection for him, he could actually see how some of the lines he used on Weiss could be seen more as smarmy than romantic.

Standing up with renewed confidence Jaune looked to his partner. "You're right. Thanks Pyrrha!" He took two steps towards the door as he looked over his shoulder and called out to Ren. "Good talk, Ren!" And just like that Jaune was out looking for Weiss, closing the door behind him.

With their leader gone, Pyrrha let herself deflate, losing the mask of confidence she had put up for her leader as she trudged over to her desk. A concerned Nora watched her sit, and could only sigh and shake her head.

"Practice what you preach, Pyrrha." She spoke under her breath.

Jaune stood outside of team RWBY's door for what felt like the longest 10 seconds of his life. Taking a deep, meditative breath, Jaune readied himself and knocked on the door.

"Coming." He heard a voice call out from inside.

The door swung open to reveal a slightly surprised Weiss Schnee. The two stared blankly at each other for a few seconds before Jaune spoke up first.

"Weiss."

"Jaune."

Steeling himself once again, Jaune was committed to seeing this through. "Hey I don't suppose we could talk, you know, in private." Jaune peered into Weiss's room and saw Yang and Ruby desperately trying to appear like they weren't listening into their conversation.

Weiss turned around as well, and when she did Ruby grabbed a magazine and pretended to read it, even though it was upside down, while Yang just turned her head sideways and started whistling.

Sighing, Weiss nodded her head. "Sure. Lead the way."

Jaune kept a straight face, but was internally bouncing off the walls. Eventually, the pair made their way to one of the several empty gardens that decorated Beacon's exterior.

"So Jaune, what did you want to talk about?" Weiss asked in a practiced neutral tone, but she had an idea of what Jaune wanted. With the dance coming up this Sunday, Jaune asking to speak with her alone, it didn't take a genius to come to the conclusion that he was going to ask her. She mentally readied her stern rejection. While Jaune wasn't bad per say, he just wasn't her type and his constant hounding was getting tiresome. Not to mention she already had Neptune in mind to go with.

"Weiss…" Jaune stared deep into Weiss's pale blue eyes. "Will you accompany me to the dance on Sunday?" It took all of his will power to get that question out. He looked at Weiss and found he was unable to discern how she had taken the proposal.

Fear and anxiety welled within him again. She was going to shoot him down, he knew it. The very idea of it terrified him. So he began to pray. Pray to the Brothers, to the Spirits, to any god out there willing to listen. Please say yes Weiss. Please say yes. Say yes!

"Yes." Weiss flatly replied, her eyes glazed over.

Jaune unintentionally flinched at the expected rejection. Oh well, at least he got it off of his chest. Maybe he could ask Ruby- wait what?

"I beg your pardon?" Jaune dumbly asked.

Weiss resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I said yes, Jaune. Now, if you are going to be accompanying me to dance I have a few orders of business. First, I will be wearing a white dress with silver straps, so you will need something that matches. Something like a white suit, with silver or blue trimmings to compliment. Perhaps an Atlesean style." Weiss quickly pulled out her scroll and sent a message to Jaune. "I just sent you the address of my tailor in Vale. Go there and find something that meets those specifications. Just tell them to put it on my tab."

"Uhh…" Jaune wordlessly pulled out his scroll and checked the address.

"In addition, I will have to be at the ballroom a few hours beforehand due to my position as organizer, so I will not be able to enter the hall with you. I do however expect you to be there on time, none of that 'fashionably late' business, am I clear?"

"I… uh…" Jaune sputtered out while Weiss's eyes narrowed on him. "Uh yeah! Totally! As clear as ice dust."

Weiss nodded her head. "Good. Now I have to return to my room and continue organizing the dance, so I'll leave you to your preparations. If you need any assistance, don't hesitate to call me however. Good night, Jaune." Weiss immediately turned around and started walking away.

"Oh yeah, good night!" Jaune called back. His reaction was rather meek and tame, but on the inside he was doing backflips. Turns out just being confident really did work! With a hop and a skip in his step, Jaune began making plans for a trip to Vale tomorrow as he made his way back to his own room.

When Weiss re entered her room, she was immediately beset by an excited Yang who grabbed her shoulders and started shaking her. "So what happened between you and vomit boy? What did you say? Gimme the deets!"

Weiss tried to break Yang's grip on her shoulders, but the blonde brawler's grip was far too strong. "Dust dammit Yang, let go of me and I'll tell you."

"Oh my bad, haha." Immediately Yang let go, and sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "But you didn't answer my question! What happened?"

Weiss sighed and rubbed her eyes at her teammates's antics. "For your information, Jaune called me out so he could ask me to this weekend's dance. I said yes."

Yang gave a bright smile and threw her arm around Weiss's shoulders. "Hey congrats! About time too. Been pretty painful to watch Jaune keep chasing after you like that."

Meanwhile Ruby's brow furrowed a bit. "Hm that's good for you guys. But what happened to Neptune? I thought you wanted to go with him?"

Weiss thought on this. She had been rather excited to go ask Neptune, so why did she say yes to Jaune? She drew a blank and shrugged. "I don't know, just seemed like a good idea to say yes at the time."

"If anything, is Vasilias's fault for being too slow." Yang added on. "Besides, Jaune is a great guy, emotional issues notwithstanding. I'm sure he'll treat you right, Weiss."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Yes I'm sure it'll be a night we'll all remember." She sarcastically remarked as she escaped from Yang's grip and made her way to her bed.

It was Saturday morning, and team JNPR was getting ready for an outing to Vale. The night before, Jaune had rushed into his room to proclaim his success to his team. His team all congratulated him on the success, rather ambivalently, though Jaune didn't notice. When he told them that he was going to head out to a tailor to get his tuxedo, Nora decided to make it a team bonding trip, since they all needed to get their dresses and suits as well. Jaune wasn't against the idea, and thought he could even use this trip to replace his still ruined combat gear. He still had his sleepwear, and Beacon provided enough uniforms that he could use it in combat class, but now was as good a time as any to get a replacement.

So the next morning, after a quick shower, Jaune threw on a fresh school uniform, while Ren and Nora were dressed in their usual combat gear. Pyrrha on the other hand… all honesty if Jaune didn't see Pyrrha change right in front of him he would've called campus security on her.

Pyrrha was wearing an all black hoodie with the hood up, a pair of loose fitting cargo pants, a large pair of aviator sunglasses, and a medical mask over her face. The disguise completely obscured who she was, but also made her look like some kind of deranged stalker.

"You uh… preparing for some kind of pandemic Pyr?" Jaune joked as he looked his incognito partner up and down.

Pyrrha sighed. "I'm sorry. I know this must look… strange, but it's a necessity. Were I to go out in uniform or my gear, fans would harass us non-stop through Vale."

"It's really that bad?" Jaune questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Before initiation, I was stopped almost a dozen times on my way to Beacon. I almost missed the last bullhead because of that." Pyrrha nodded in return.

"Wow. That… sounds awful. I'm sorry." was all Jaune could really say. He felt a strange mix of emotions, primarily pity for Pyrrha but also shock at how he had no idea of who she was when they first met.

"Yes well, hopefully with luck people won't identify me. Now come on, we don't want to miss the bullhead." Pyrrha cheerfully moved on, exiting the dorm as her team followed.

The trip to Vale was a quick, empty bullhead ride to the city. Normally, the bullheads would be filled with students looking to waste away their days amongst Vale's restaurants, clubs, and other attractions. But as usual on an early Saturday morning, most teenagers had opted to spend their time sleeping in.

But once team JNPR got to Vale, things shifted dramatically. The Vale itself was busy even by its normal standards. Businesses were out, hanging out flyers and posters, advertising for the upcoming Vytal festival, while multitudes of tourists and visiting students also crowded the sidewalks.

It didn't take long for the team to find the store they were looking for, Adel Attire, a rather high-end fashion shop in Vale's commercial district. Pyrrha was surprised that this was their destination, as apparently this company had helped her and many other huntsmen and huntresses find their individual styles. Many skilled tailors and fashion designers around the world sought to work for this company and its many branches.

The way her old manager explained it, was that huntsmen and huntresses were not only expected to fight the grimm physically, but also be a symbol for the civilians to rally behind. And no one would want to rally behind someone who looked like a bum, regardless of how good of a fighter they were. Pyrrha didn't exactly believe in her manager's words, but had to admit she enjoyed how stylish her combat outfit was.

Entering the store, Jaune couldn't help but feel intimidated. He was used to shopping at Gold Navy and other such discount stores for his clothes. Here however, everything from the clothes to the carpeting bled bourgeoisie. Instead of tables of piled clothes and racks packed to the brim, there were full mannequins with sharp suits, display racks that only showed off a single item, even the employee was dressed far better than what he normally wore. Dust, he even saw a pair of jeans that cost 500 lien. In what world would a piece of denim cost that much?

"Excuse me, do you need any assistance?" The store clerk asked as he walked up to team JNPR. The clerk was a young man with a handsome face, probably a little bit older than them, with dark brown hair and a slim fitting black suit.

"Yes actually." Pyrrha spoke up, removing her hood and mask at the same time pulling out a black membership card. "My teammate here is looking for a suit and some new combat gear and we wanted to see what you had available." Pyrrha gestured to Jaune.

The clerk took a look at the card and gave a professional smile. "Ah Miss Nikos, my apologies I didn't recognize you in your current… attire, though I suppose that was intentional. If you all follow me we have some of the latest styles from Atlas to Menagerie available for you to parouse." The clerk led them to another section of the store dedicated to combat outfits. Various suits of armor, paramilitary style clothing, and much more were proudly put on display. The clerk looked at Jaune, eyeing him up and down. "Is there any specific style you are looking for?"

Jaune was completely caught off guard by both his question and the entire situation he was currently in "Uhh you know, I was more or less just planning on window shopping, just seeing what was available."

The clerk maintained a professional smile, but Jaune swore he could feel slight annoyance radiating from him. "Yes well this area of the stores is yours to explore. Just let me know if you need any more assistance."

"Oh actually, I should probably get my suit for the dance done first. I need a suit, white, preferably Atlesean style. I'll be going there with Weiss Schnee so probably something that compliments her family's colors?" Jaune felt a little bad about name-dropping Weiss here, but she did recommend the shop and she was going to pay for the suit.

"Is that so!" The clerk replied, now smiling and seeming keen to follow Jaune's every command.

Internally, Jaune could feel the emotions from this man do a 180. Before, he could sense the well-hidden disdain at seeing some random plebeian walking into his store, now it was both happiness and self-serving profiteering. Jaune scowled a fraction. This man was an egotistical worm with no actual power to back his arrogance. But Jaune swallowed his distaste in order to just get this done.

The clerk continued his rant. "Well, one day is far too soon to have something custom made, but we do have some of the latest Atlesean fashions in stock. I am sure nothing but the finest will be suitable for Miss Schnee's date."

Jaune didn't even need psychic powers to see what this man was trying to do. He wanted to lead Jaune to purchasing the most expensive item, most likely gaining a rather large commission for himself. By the time the clerk introduced the third, exceedingly expensive suit, as well as the accompanying payment plan, Jaune snapped.

"Enough! I do not require such frivolities! You will find me a suit of reasonable price that is within my specifications while I examine your combat equipment. And this will be for rent, not purchase."

The clerk's eyes seemed to glaze over. "I will find you a suit of reasonable price within your specifications for rent." He then gave a quick bow and left to do that very task.

Satisfied at having successfully cowed the man, Jaune smirked and turned around to the awestruck expressions of his teammates. In response, Jaune only shrugged and recited the lesson he learned with Weiss. "Just gotta be confident."

With that Jaune moved to explore the combat apparel. First he looked over the sets of armor they had here. They were apparently commissioned by some famous blacksmiths, and exotic and beautiful craftsmanship attached with a significant price tag. Jaune shook his head at the ludicrous costs and walked away. He didn't really think he wanted armor anyway. His fighting style relied on him dodging attacks rather than tanking them, so he needed something light and more mobile.

Passing through the light armor and clothing section, Jaune walked by a large menagerie of gear. Kevlar and dust weaved clothing, ballistic vests, even various types of leatherworking, ranging from biker jackets to fantasy styled ranger armor.

However, there was one mannequin that caused Jaune to stop. Adorning the figure was a set of black clothes. The base of the outfit was a pair of loose fitting, dark grey pants and matching long sleeve shirt. Two black, knee high leather riding boots adorned its legs while two long, black leather gloves covered the hands and extended down the forearms. The suit was completed with a sleeveless, hooded, split-tailed trench coat that extended down to his lower thighs.

Jaune gave a low whistle at the outfit. Now this was pretty much exactly what he was looking for. Light, so it wouldn't slow him down, and a good combination of stylish and intimidating to boot. In fact it even reminded him of the robes he saw the man in his dreams wear. Nora saw Jaune was staring at the clothes and walked over.

"Not going with armor again, Jaune?" She asked as she began inspecting the outfit as well.

Jaune shook his head. "No, felt too slowed down by it. This however, I think would work well."

Putting two fingers to her chin in contemplation, Nora examined the clothing even closer. "Hmm. That's a lot of black though. You going for an edgy, assassin look?"

"Funny you should mention that." The clerk called out once more, returning with a few more modest white suits, as well as a tape measure for Jaune's sizes. "This set of robes is actually a modernized design of robes used by an ancient sect of Valean monk assassins."

"Monk assassins?" Nora parroted.

The clerk spoke as he began taking specific measurements of Jaune. "Indeed. They were a group of 'shadow monks', so to speak. A death cult that worshipped the Brother of Darkness, from the religion of the Two Brothers. They saw death and destruction as the perfect way to honor their dark god, and would hire themselves out as mercenaries and assassins, doing all sorts of evil deeds. Fortunately, their order was destroyed during the Great War, but a few records of their attire and history survived those turbulent times. The designer used those records as the basis for this outfit, for use by stealthy huntsmen who would wish to inspire fear as much as hope." The clerk finished both his necessary measurements as well as his impromptu history lesson.

"That's… dark." Pyrrha mumbled out.

"And perfect!" Jaune grinned. "I'll take it!" Of course Jaune was going to use his own money for this purchase and not burden Weiss with any unnecessary and unauthorized expenditures.

Grabbing the price tag, Jaune had to fight the urge to dry heave. Top designer clothes or not, this price tag was… steep. Jaune thought he was lucky then that the clerk seemed to be wrapped around his finger.

"Good sir." Jaune called out with a fake, plastic smile that covered his own distaste for the clerk. "I believe the price on this outfit is rather absurd, and I think you should give my friends and I a discount."

The clerk froze. His face showed that his mind became an internal battlefield, fighting on whether or not he should obey Jaune's command. Seeing this, Jaune narrowed his eyes on him, glaring, and unknowingly increased the pressure of the Force. The man flinched under Jaune's gaze, before his tumultuous thoughts once again became calm, and with a blank stare he replied, "Yes the prices are rather absurd. I will give you the preferred family and friends discount on all of your purchases and rentals today."

Jaune nodded in satisfaction, and moved on. He picked a rather modestly priced, white suit based on an Atlesean naval officer dress uniform, of course lacking insignias, rankings, or commendations of any kind. It was actually reminiscent of the uniform he'd seen General Ironwood wear, and gave an air of class and authority that he thought would complement Weiss well.

As the clerk retreated to check out the purchases and prepare to adjust the fit for Jaune, the rest of his team also got their own dance attire. Pyrrha picked a long, turtleneck, sleeveless crimson gown that left her back exposed. Ren went for a more standard, black tuxedo, while Nora got a pink strapless dress with a white skirt that tapered into a v, giving her top the appearance of a heart. While they were all appreciative of the discount Jaune was able to get them, his apparent intimidation of the clerk unnerved them somewhat.

Regardless, the rest of the interaction went smoothly. Clothes were purchased and rented, sent to be fitted the same day and delivered to Beacon Sunday morning. After a quick pit stop to get some lunch, team JNPR returned to Beacon, where at least 1 of their members was excitedly waiting for the dance to come.

It was Sunday evening, and to say Jaune was rather ecstatic would be an understatement. Jaune felt rather dapper in his sleek, Atlesean suit as he stared at himself in the mirror. So self-absorbed in how good his days have been going recently, so bubbling with joy, that Jaune did not notice the various looks his teammates had.

Pyrrha, now dressed in her gown, tried to hide her feelings of depression behind her professional smile. While Nora was less than subtle at shifting between disapproving glares at their leader and sympathetic looks towards the champion. Ren on the other hand, just seemed tired and was working overtime to keep Nora in line.

But Jaune noticed none of this as he adjusted his hair for the 4th time tonight. "Hey you guys think Weiss would like my hair more parted to the left, or to the right?"

Nora not so subtly rolled her eyes and groaned to the admonishment of Ren, while Pyrrha put on a strained smile and said, "Jaune, I think Weiss will like your hair regardless of how you make it."

"Yeah, I guess so." Jaune finally stepped away from the mirror, and looked at his scroll for the time. "Well we should probably all get going. Don't want to be late for tonight!"

"Yeah wouldn't that be a tragedy." Nora spat out, earning a quick poke from Ren to keep her quiet.

The bile in the words was completely missed by Jaune. "Indeed it would, so let's go."

Jaune happily sauntered out of the door, followed by Pyrrha, who had to take a few moments to collect herself before moving. Nora walked up right beside her, never letting Pyrrha out of her sight, while Ren silently trudged on behind them.

The dance itself was all things a generic school dance should be. Teenage students awkwardly hung around the edges of the dance floor, schmoozing and idly chatting with one another. Many chairs, tables, and punch bowls were set along the perimeter of the hall, giving many students an area of refuge to avoid being sucked into the social danger zone that was the dance floor.

After scanning the crowds for his date, he saw Weiss standing over by one of the tables, arranging a vase of flowers, desperately trying to make one whiterose stand that kept wilting. With no hesitation Jaune abandoned his team to their own devices and made his way towards Weiss. When the rose failed to stand on its own for the third time, Weiss let her head hang in defeat.

"You know, they say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Jaune called out behind her.

Weiss jumped a bit and turned. Her expression initially unreadable, the heiress gave a small smile when she saw Jaune's attire. "Well then, you must truly be the master of the insane." Weiss lightly jabbed, referencing his many attempts at courtship.

Jaune shrugged, "Hey at least I eventually got a different result." Jaune then extended his hand out for Weiss to take. "Now come on. You've been so busy preparing this party that you haven't been able to enjoy it. You could use a dance."

Weiss glanced at Jaune, then his hand, then back to Jaune, before blankly looking at him and replying. "Yes, I suppose I have been too busy and been unable to enjoy the party. I could use a dance." Weiss shook her head a bit, shaking away a strange lightheadedness, before taking Jaune's hand. "And good job with the suit by the way. You do look rather sharp."

"Well I like to think I clean up pretty well." Jaune laughed as he led Weiss to the dance floor, grabbing her right hand with his left and wrapping his right hand around her waist.

"Do you know how to lead?" Weiss asked what she thought was a very fair question.

Jaune however, scoffed as if she had just insulted his entire family line. "Do I know how to lead? Weiss, prepare to be stupefied, mesmerized, and otherwise amazed!" as Jaune began to lead her all across the dance floor.

And Weiss was amazed. Not only did Jaune know how to dance, but he was actually an amazing dancer. Weiss, having been classically trained as a member of upper class society in many forms of dance, from waltzes to ballet, actually found herself struggling to keep up with the skill and ferocity of Jaune's dancing. A small crowd actually separated around them, giving the pair a wide berth to continue their dance uninhibited, but also unintentionally making them the center of attention.

Together they spun and twirled, pirouetted and whirled, gliding across the dance floor unrivaled by any other pair. As the song crescendoed, so too did their dancing. And when the song was finally over, both Jaune and Weiss stood, breathing heavier and slightly sweaty, still within each other's grasp. That's when the clapping began. The raucous applause immediately brought Weiss and Jaune back to reality, causing them to look around to see what all the commotion was.

All around them students clapped at their performance. Yang gave a few loud whistles, and even Sun, Blake, and Neptune gave approving nods and applause. Suddenly the White Knight duo felt a flush of embarrassment, and became red. Giving a few gracious nods and thanks, the two then quickly retreated to the perimeter of the dance floor.

"I have to say, Jaune." Weiss said while slightly flustered. "I had no idea you were such a good dancer."

Jaune, similarly disheveled, simply smirked and shrugged. "Things like that happen when you grow up with seven sisters."

"Seven sisters!?" Weiss guffawed. "Do your parents not have a hobby?"

Jaune laughed at her extreme response. "I think that is their hobby."

Weiss couldn't help but burst out laughing at the ridiculousness. Meanwhile Jaune was on cloud nine. This night was going perfectly! Him and Weiss were getting along great and having a blast. All he needed was for Weiss to give him a chance to show her what he's like. He felt himself inflate with pride. Once their laughing fit was over, Jaune felt particularly parched from the whole ordeal.

"Hey Weiss, you want to get us something to drink?" He innocently asked, merely because Weiss was closer to the punch bowl.

The smile on Weiss's face immediately fell, adopting a more neutral expression. She blankly stated, "I want to go get us something to drink."

"Awesome." Jaune gave two thumbs up as Weiss left to go to the punch bowl, completely ignorant of the shift in her attitude.

Weiss returned with two drinks and the two of them took their seats along the ballroom wall. Eager to make sure the night didn't fall to awkward silence, Jaune struck up a new conversation.

"So Weiss, what was your home like? Must've been crazy living as the heiress to the SDC." Jaune asked.

Weiss gave a somewhat sad chuckle. "Crazy is a word to describe it, yes. Parts of it were good, and I was never lacking in material things. Although it could get hard when your father is an overbearing megalomaniac." she sighed.

Jaune winced. "Hm that's rough. My parents have also been, overbearing, I guess you could say, but I can't imagine living with your dad was easy."

"No it was not." Weiss shook her head. "He wanted to control every aspect of my life growing up. To mold me into being his perfect successor. Failure was not something he tolerated, and I learned quickly so I would not become one. What was wrong with your parents?" Weiss wanted to get away from the topic of her father, and Jaune seemed like he didn't have reservations talking about it.

Jaune did grimace a bit. "They were kinda controlling like yours, but in a different way. They were the ultimate helicopter parents. Overprotective. Over-invasive. It's like they were afraid I'd disappear if they weren't watching me."

"I can see how that would quickly become suffocating." Weiss sympathetically said.

"Suffocating is a word to describe it, yes." Jaune mirrored Weiss's statement. "They had no intention of letting me become a huntsman, so I had to take matters into my own hands and run away to Beacon."

Weiss's eyes widened in surprise. "You're a runaway?"

Jaune nodded. "Yep. Had to hike my way through a grimm infested forest just to get to Vale. But what about your Dad? I doubt he liked the idea of you coming to Beacon."

"No he did not." Weiss shook her head once more. "It took months of pleading for me to convince him to let me attend here. But it was worth it, just to get far away from his... toxicity."

Jaune chuckled a bit and raised his glass. "To crazy parents?"

Smirking, Weiss raised her own drink. "To striking out on our own."

The two clinked plastic cups and drank their punch.

The rest of the night continued in a similar pattern. Jaune and Weiss spent a lot of time just sitting down and talking, getting to know each other. Since Weiss never really gave Jaune a chance, they were never able to learn that much about each other, find out if they had common interests and similarities. And to their surprise they did.

Besides their overbearing parents, both of them had a shared love of music. While dancing and singing were something Weiss's father had forced onto her, she found that she greatly enjoyed both as an expressive outlet. Meanwhile Jaune pursued music as a hobby, having picked up the guitar, and was forced to learn to dance by his sisters so he, in their words, "wouldn't be a complete dork".

Soon enough, their conversation was cut off by the DJ. "Alright boys and girls, huntsmen and huntresses. The night's coming to a close soon, so I wanted to get one last dance for all the lovebirds out there." The lighting of the hall went to a calming blue, and he put on a slow song, one that caused many of the more intimate pairs to close up and begin slow dancing, and sent the pairs that were just friends scurrying away.

Feeling a sense of passion and romance like never before, Jaune stood up, and extended his hand towards Weiss once more. "How about it Weiss? One more dance." Unbeknownst to Jaune, the Dark side fed on passion and pleasure just as much as it did anger and fear.

Weiss's eyes glazed over and blankly said, "Sure, one more dance."

She stood, taking Jaune's hand and the two made their way to the dance floor. Holding onto each other tightly, Jaune had never been happier. As their bodies slowly swayed back and forth to the music, Jaune found the courage to take it one step further.

"Weiss, would you like to kiss me?" Jaune hesitantly asked, cursing internally at the awkward wording of the question.

Weiss however, didn't seem to mind, and with a blank look on her face simply said, "I would like to kiss you." Weiss closed her eyes and puckered her lips as she went in for a kiss.

Scratch what Jaune thought before. NOW is the happiest Jaune's ever been. Jaune closed his eyes as well and moved his head forward, when something broke him out of his blissful state.

"And then that dork said-" a familiar, boisterous voice boomed near him, drawing Jaune's attention.

Jaune opened his eyes and glared at the source, one Cardin Winchester, who was standing by the side of the auditorium, speaking with his team. Of course, leave it to Cardin to almost ruin the best night of Jaune's life. Jaune turned back to Weiss, lips still puckered, and thought to himself, Just ignore him. Just be glad that he stopped harassing you and your team after you… after you told him… after you told him to stop.

…

Oh no...

"We-Weiss." Jaune choked out, "Weiss stop."

Immediately Weiss's face returned to normal, and she looked at him with a blank expression.

Ok, not too bad, anybody would stop if you asked them like that. He needed definite proof.

"Weiss, let go of me and take two steps back." He commanded, not asked this time.

Without hesitation Weiss let go of Jaune's hands and took two small steps backwards, then stood still, as if awaiting a new order.

Why is she being so subservient? The Weiss I know would question this, or call me an idiot for asking her to do such strange things.

This wasn't looking good, but in Jaune's defense, maybe she was just humoring him. He needed something more extreme. Something that Weiss would never normally do.

"Weiss, spin around three times, and then bark like a dog." She would never do this. She was going to call him an idiot and smack him across the head, or kick him in the shin, and he would go back to his dorm and feel like an idiot for screwing it up with Weiss.

To Jaune's absolute horror, Weiss stepped back, did 3 beautiful pirouettes, and when she finished she squeaked a cute, "Arf!"

Now people were starting to whisper. Attention was being brought to both of them as Weiss seemed to just spin around and bark like a dog for no reason. Amongst the viewers, the rest of team JNPR merely watched the spectacle in confusion. Yang, beside Blake, couldn't help but laugh while Blake looked on in concern, wondering what was happening.

Meanwhile Jaune felt like his whole world was crashing down around him. He… he had been manipulating Weiss this whole time! How!? Why!? For how long!? Jaune's throat became dry, all color drained from his face. Weiss continued to stare at him, confusion now entering her expression as revelation after revelation rushed into Jaune.

If he somehow mind controlled Weiss, and he also mind controlled Cardin… Was there anyone else!? Anyone whose lives he could've accidentally ruined with this. Going through his memories, he came to another realization. The store clerk. Jaune had forced the store clerk from the tailor into following his orders as well.

Looking back to Weiss, Jaune was forced to ask himself one final question. What did he almost do to Weiss? Jaune… Jaune realized he's a monster. He almost committed some kind of crime by essentially forcing Weiss to kiss him. Dust, if he didn't realize what he was doing, how far would this have gone? Dust, he wanted to go further! Jaune felt like he was going to throw up.

Does it matter?

A voice within Jaune's mind spoke.

What? He thought back.

The girl is now yours, take her. Break her. No one else would know.

No! That's not right. He fought back. I… I would never do that! This was just a mistake! All of it! I didn't mean for any of this to happen! Jaune felt tears starting to form in the corners of his eyes.

Jaune shunted the dark thoughts out of his mind. He knew that this was all his fault. His fault for not controlling his powers, for really understanding them. He… he didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to fix this. Never before did Jaune feel so helpless, afraid that anything he did would end up in hurting those he loved.

"Weiss…" Jaune managed to stammer out, tears now freely flowing down his face. "I'm so sorry just, just go back to your team, and enjoy the rest of your night."

Jaune didn't even wait to see if Weiss would follow that order as he turned and started sprinting for the door. Violently shoving and pushing his way through several students, Jaune escaped into Beacon's halls and ran, not knowing where he was going.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out and immediately took after him.

Meanwhile Weiss, rather confused and befuddled by this whole situation, simply walked back to Blake and Yang, who were staring at her, mouths agape.

"Weiss." Yang started, not believing what she just saw. "What did you do to him?" Sure her and Jaune weren't the closest, but they fought and bled together. She was more than happy to consider him a friend, and would never want to see him so… broken. Ice queen must've literally torn his heart out and stepped on it.

"I… don't know." Weiss honestly said, puzzled by everything going on. She shook her head again, clearing it of a foginess that was within it. "I'm not entirely sure why Jaune left like that."

"And why did you spin around and bark like a dog?" Blake asked, not wanting to lose sight of that strange episode.

"I'm not sure either." Weiss seemed perturbed by her confusion "It… it just seemed like a good idea at the time."

Yang and Blake both gave Weiss incredulous looks, but the heiress did not have any answer for them.

"By the way, where's Ruby?" Weiss questioned. Normally their airhead of a leader would go chasing after Jaune as well.

"I think she snuck out earlier." Yang answered. "Dances really aren't her thing."

"Apparently it's not a lot of people's thing." Blake remarked as General Ironwood and a squad of Atlesean soldiers rushed into the hall, calling for an end to the dance.

Jaune's legs burned as he continued to run as hard as he could. His face burned as tears flowed freely, emotions exploding within him. Bursting through one of Beacon's side exits, he paid no attention to the voice calling out after him, no attention to the lockers that were flinging open and objects sent flying by his rampant powers. So blinded by his rage and grief that he paid no attention to a small cobblestone that stuck out from the walkway. Jaune clipped his foot on said cobblestone, and with his emotions in such turmoil he couldn't stop himself from falling flat on his face.

Grunting as his face slammed into the stone ground, the pain and sudden stop forced him to take a second to collect his thoughts. As he did a voice called out behind him.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried as she finally caught up to her partner.

She immediately moved to kneel beside him and check on him. He was uninjured, but his once pristine white suit was now dirtied and torn, while tears and snot poured down his face.

Jaune turned up to see his partner next to him, and he instantaneously latched onto her waist with a hug, crying into her dress. Pyrrha swiftly returned the hug, patting his head and his back.

"Shhhh, Jaune… it's ok, I'm here." She tried to comfort him. After a few seconds like this, Jaune finally calmed down, so Pyrrha pulled him off of her and asked, "Jaune, what happened? What's going on? What did Weiss do?" She swore if Weiss broke Jaune's heart she was going to kill that harlot.

"No." Jaune choked out, shaking his head. "It wasn't her, it was me. It's all my fault. I'm a monster and I almost hurt Weiss."

Pyrrha's heart bled for Jaune, seeing him like this, but her face hardened. She needed to find out what happened. "What did you do Jaune?"

"Do… do you remember, back last term, when Cardin was harassing me?" Jaune seemingly asked out of nowhere.

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, after I met with you on the rooftop, Cardin confronted me. Apparently he lived in the dorm beneath the rooftop, and heard the whole conversation." Jaune admitted.

Pyrrha was aghast. "What!? What did he do?"

Jaune sighed. "He wanted to blackmail me. Recorded the whole thing and said he was going to tell Ozpin I lied to get in if I didn't do what he said."

"Is that what happened here? Did Weiss find out about your transcripts?" Out of everyone, Pyrrha thought that Weiss was probably the worst one to find out about the transcripts. She had too much respect for authority and the rules.

Jaune shook his head however. "No, because the thing is, I told Cardin to delete that recording, and never bother us again."

Pyrrha was now even more confused. "But, that's a good thing, right?"

"No Pyrrha, you don't understand! Cardin didn't have to do anything, he had me by the throat. But I made him do it. I controlled him, forced him to delete the recording and leave us alone even though he didn't want to. Just like I made Weiss go to the dance with me." Jaune hung his head in shame.

"Wha- what?" Pyrrha stammered out.

"I don't know how, and I don't know when, but somehow, my semblance allowed me to manipulate their minds, to persuade them and force them to do things they wouldn't normally do."

Pyrrha… Pyrrha didn't know what to say, didn't know how to feel. Shocked was the first word that came to her mind. Shocked that Jaune's powers were growing still. Shocked that he could use them in such a dangerous way. Pyrrha shook her head to clear herself of those thoughts. Right now, her partner and team leader was having a breakdown in front of her and she needed to help him.

"Jaune." Pyrrha whispered out, cupping his face in her hands. "Jaune listen to me. You are not a monster. You didn't have control over your powers, and once you realized what was happening you stopped before you did anything… irreversible." Pyrrha didn't even want to go down that dark train of thought.

Refocusing on her leader, she continued speaking. "Jaune, we are going to figure out a way to fix this. To train your powers so this never happens again." She then took a deep breath, and looked Jaune right in the eyes. "But first, you're going to have to go to Weiss tomorrow and explain everything to her."

Jaune was horrified at the idea. "Everything? But she'll kill me!"

"Jaune!" Pyrrha scolded. "This may have been an accident, but you still manipulated her. You NEED to clear the air of this, otherwise no one, especially team RWBY, will ever be able to trust you again."

Jaune nodded his head, silently accepting his responsibility. After a few moments of silence, Jaune found the strength to mutter out one more phrase. "Thanks Pyrrha. For everything, for being there for me."

Pyrrha said nothing as she immediately wrapped Jaune up in the tightest hug she's ever given in her life.

Chapter Text

"If you care for others, then disperse with pity and sacrifice and recognize the value in letting them fight their own battles. And when they triumph, they will be even stronger for the victory." -Kreia

Chapter 13: Breach

The morning after the dance...

Jaune stood outside of Team RWBY's dorm room once more, a turbulent storm of anxiety raging within him. The terrifying dread within his body nearly paralyzed him. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to have to do this. But he had to. End of story.

And so Jaune raised his hand up and knocked. A muffled response yelling, "Coming!" could be heard as after a few seconds, Ruby opened up the door. Ruby's eyes widened in surprise, obviously not expecting to see Jaune so early in the morning.

"Oh, hey Jaune. You uh… want to talk to Weiss I'm guessing?" Ruby asked, obviously a little uncomfortable after hearing about what happened last night after she left.

Jaune took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled to calm his nerves. "Actually, I wanted to talk to your whole team."

Ruby raised a single brow, a bit confused. "Uh yeah sure. We're all here I guess." She then opened the door wide to let Jaune in as she turned to her team. "Hey guys, Jaune's here. Said he wanted to talk to us."

Team RWBY had just finished their morning routines, as they were already fully dressed in their combat gear, ready for today's mission selections. Jaune felt supremely uncomfortable as four women were now staring at him in varying degrees of confusion, or at least in Yang's case, pity.

Yang was in fact the first to speak up as Jaune entered. "Hey Jaune, how you doing buddy?" Yang held back on her teasing remarks for now, instead attempting to go for a more older sisterly, if not a bit patronizing approach.

"Yes I'd like to know if you are alright as well." Weiss added in after, her still pushy attitude drawing a grimace from Yang. "I'd also like to know why you left in such a dramatic fashion last night. I thought we were having a good evening together."

Jaune's face distorted in pain as Weiss twisted the proverbial knife in his heart. "No… being honest everything is not alright. I… I need to confess something." The girls of team RWBY all gave him concerned looks as Jaune mulled over what to say. With their focus on him completely, Jaune bit the bullet and said, "Weiss… you didn't actually want to go with me to the dance."

Weiss scowled at the Arc, her countenance covered in confusion. "What are you talking about, I said yes. I chose to go with you."

Jaune bit his lip hard enough that he tasted blood at Weiss's words. Being here was physically painful for him. Every fibre of his being was telling him to just turn around and walk out. To just never bring up what happened and just let Weiss and the others continue on in blissful ignorance. But he promised Pyrrha he'd tell the truth. Despite how much of a coward he wanted to be, he'd do it. He had to.

"That's…" Jaune struggled to get out. "That's only because I forced you to say yes." he finally admitted, his tongue already regretting the action as anxiety began to crush his heart.

The reactions of team RWBY weren't much better. Weiss and Ruby, the two members of the team more inexperienced with the opposite sex, only gave him bewildered scowls while Yang and Blake were immediately set on edge. Yang shot up, and not so subtly interposed herself between Jaune and Weiss.

"What do you mean by that?" Yang asked, her voice devoid of any mirth.

Jaune looked at Yang in the eyes, and could feel the flurry of emotions radiating off her. Suspicion, anger, confusion. Yang's feelings bled off her and Jaune felt like he was going to be overwhelmed by them. The similar feelings he sensed from Blake were not helping either. As Jaune was about to explain what was happening to him, he paused as he had a startling realization.

He never told team RWBY what was going on with his powers, their supposed source or their evolution. They knew that he was struggling to control his telekinesis, but anything more than that he kept within his team. Jaune internally kicked himself, as he had even more to explain now.

"Ok wait look." Jaune held his hands up defensively in case Yang decided to deck him right there. "You guys remember how, in the beginning of the year, I didn't really have any control over my powers?"

Anger gave way to confusion as the members of team RWBY glanced at each other. "Uhh, yeah?" Yang responded, unsure of what that had to do with anything.

"Well the thing is, while I have control of my telekinesis that's not the only power I have now." Jaune explained, eliciting surprised reactions from the all-girl team. "My powers are, growing, I guess you could say. It started off as just telekinesis, but in the Forever Fall I gained the ability to heal myself, beyond what Aura is capable of, and I also gained an expertise in sword techniques despite not having any actual training in it."

"What, you have like a dual semblance?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Try triple or even quadruple." Jaune weakly chuckled. "And I thought I was getting control of my powers, I really did. My team and Professor Goodwitch have all been really helping me train. But the thing is, I don't know what all of my powers are. And I realized last night, that I could affect people's minds as well."

Weiss's jaw dropped and her eyes widened in horror as she realized what he was saying. "Wait, are you telling me that... that you mind controlled me!"

Jaune winced as Weiss yelled out. "Yeah, yeah I did. But I didn't mean to! I didn't even know that I could do it, I swear! And it wasn't even just you, I accidentally mind-controlled Cardin as well! That's why he's been leaving our teams alone!"

Silence reigned throughout the room. None of the girls knew what to say. They could only stare at Jaune wide-eyed.

Ruby was the first to regain her bearings and speak. "So that's why Weiss went with you, even though she wanted to go with Neptune…"

Feeling himself choke as Ruby said that, Jaune took a step towards Weiss and said, "Weiss I am so sorry. I didn't know any of this would happen. Please, I would never do anything to hurt you like-"

SMACK.

Jaune Arc's cheek hurt a lot, as did his ears as Weiss started to yell at him. But most importantly his heart hurt, having broken the trust of someone important to him.

"Get away from me!" Weiss cried out as she stumbled back away from Jaune, her face etched not with anger but with fear. She was terrified of Jaune. "But… that means, that means everything last night happened because you wanted it to?"

"I… no I didn't! I mean… yes, I did want it to happen, but I didn't want to force it to! Please, this was all just a terrible mistake! I stopped as soon as I realized what I was doing!" Jaune exclaimed, reaching out for Weiss's hand to try and stop her from retreating.

"Don't touch me!" Weiss screamed out, backing away even further.

Weiss couldn't stop herself from shaking. She felt… violated. Part of her could rationally understand that Jaune didn't mean it, and that he did stop as soon as he realized what he was doing. But the primal, instinctive part of her id was screaming at her to get away from him. To be afraid of him. It was like… it was like her father only worse. To have no control over herself, her actions, her future. It was her worst fear.

Jaune worked his mouth open, but no words came out. What could he even say to try and fix this?

To his surprise, Ruby came to his defense. "Weiss… I know this is bad, but Jaune didn't mean it. And he is sorry."

"Sorry!? You think being sorry is good enough!?" Weiss was borderline hysterical now. As she realized she was screaming, Weiss closed her eyes and took a deep breath, clenching her shaking fists. As she tried to regain some semblance of self control, she turned to her partner. "Ruby, I know Jaune didn't mean it. But I just... can't accept it. I can't forgive him."

Weiss's gaze fixed on Jaune, eyes starting to water. "I can't forgive you, because I can't hate you for what you did! Something inside of me won't let me. I still feel what I felt last night! Our friendship that could've gone even further." Weiss didn't know what she felt. She felt betrayed by him, but still couldn't fight the feeling that she was drawn to him, attracted to him. As if they had some sort of Bond that transcended their relationship. "And how much of this my own feelings, and how much is just… manipulation!?"

Jaune couldn't respond. He made no attempt to even try to defend himself anymore. This was all his fault. Ruby looked like she was going to say something else to try and defend Jaune, when Blake cut her off.

"She's right, Ruby." Blake almost whispered out, barely loud enough for everyone to hear. "You don't understand what it's like to be manipulated. To be lied to and controlled. To not know if what you're thinking is your own thoughts, or something implanted by someone else." While it wasn't the same situation, Blake couldn't help but think of Adam, her toxic ex-lover who more than easily gaslighted her everytime he committed some terrible crime for the Fang.

"They're both right." Jaune slowly exhaled. "I don't expect you to forgive me. I wouldn't. I just… thought it was best that you knew the truth." Jaune let his head hang in shame.

"Just… just stay away from me." Weiss choked out as she walked passed Jaune and out of the room.

Yang and Blake looked at each other, and with a nod both decided to go after the heiress. Blake didn't bother saying goodbye to Jaune, while Yang placed a single conciliatory hand on Jaune's shoulder before leaving as well. This left Jaune, still looking at the ground in shame, alone with Ruby, who was still trying to figure out what to say.

"Ruby…" Jaune sighed, exasperated. "I'm so sorry for everything."

"I know…" Ruby trailed off. "You did the right thing by telling us. And hey, it could always be worse. At least Weiss doesn't seem like she's going to sue you, or use her family connections to make you disappear or something." Ruby weakly joked.

Jaune let out an equally weak chuckle. "Yeah that's a real silver lining."

Seeing the amount of pain and shame Jaune was in, Ruby did the one thing she knew could possibly help. She walked forward and gave Jaune a hug. Jaune was startled that Ruby would even be willing to get this close to him, but soon found himself returning the embrace.

"Give Weiss some space and time, and I'm sure she'll come around." Ruby comforted, before looking him directly in the eyes, her own silver orbs somber and solemn. "But that's only if you're able to get these new powers of yours under control."

Jaune returned the look with his own steeled gaze. "I will. I'll definitely learn to control them. Arc's promise."

"I'll hold you to that." Ruby smiled as she let go of Jaune.

Relieved that at least one of his friends didn't hate him, Jaune decided to shift to a less agonising topic. "What about you? I heard about what happened last night in the CCT. You ok?"

Ruby shrugged. "Physically yeah. Emotionally, I'm annoyed that I let the bad guy get away, or bad girl I should say."

"Think she's related to all this White Fang business you guys have been investigating?"

Ruby nodded her head. "Well we don't have any actual evidence connecting them, but I feel it in my gut. I leaked some info to Professor Ozpin about some possible White Fang base locations, so hopefully we can take the fight to them when we go out on our mission."

"Makes sense. Speaking of which we should probably go catch up with our teams. Don't want them picking our missions for us." Jaune sighed as he exited the dorm room. "Hopefully this will go better than our last field trip."

Ruby facepalmed as she exited as well. "Jaune! Why would you say that!? That's bad luck! You did the same exact thing last time and you were nearly killed!"

When both leaders arrived at the amphitheater, they separated and went in search of their own respective squads. It didn't take long for Jaune to find his teammates, loitering in the back of the auditorium along with the rest of Beacon's students. In fact it was almost too easy, as he felt that he could even sense where they were when he entered. He sighed, chalking up that development to his ever growing list of powers.

Another development caused him to pause as he approached his team. Jaune felt pain in his stomach once more. Pain and hunger. Jaune's eyes went wide. He thought the hunger had gone away, why was it back? Dust, it even felt worse than before. Being in a room with so many others only seemed to amplify the feeling. Seeing Jaune pause in the crowd, the rest of team JNPR met him half way.

"Hey Jaune." Nora called out as their leader approached. "How'd the talk go."

Jaune didn't say anything, and only showed them the bright red handprint on his cheek.

Nora winced. "That bad, huh?"

"I probably got off light." Jaune weakly commented, stifling down the ravenous hunger afflicting him.

"Don't worry Jaune, we'll figure out what to do about this." Pyrrha comforted as she stood next to him placing a hand on his shoulder with a smile.

Jaune smiled and placed his own atop of hers. "Thanks Pyr. But all honesty, I'd rather think of anything else right now. Let's just… listen to what Ozpin has to say and pick our mission."

Pyrrha's smile faltered for a brief second as she pulled back her hand and stood next to Jaune at attention. It was at that moment that Professors Goodwitch and Ozpin had taken the stage. Ozpin began some kind of speech to encourage the diversity and individuality of the students from around the world. But Jaune honestly couldn't care less. Between everything that just occurred with Weiss, his constantly evolving abilities, and his resurgent hunger, he had far too much on his mind.

When the headmaster's speech was finished, the audience of students began to break apart, each going to different holographic screens to choose their missions.

Taking a deep, meditative breath to regain control of himself, Jaune turned to his team with a forced smile. "So, any suggestions for what to do?"

Nora gave a noncommittal shrug, just happy to go somewhere where she can blow up grimm, while Pyrrha seemed more than content to simply follow the rest of the team's lead. Ren on the other hand, seemed to be mulling something over before speaking up.

"If possible, I would like to take a mission that goes to one of the border villages." Ren spoke up, earning a somewhat conflicted look from Nora. "Such villages tend to be lower priority for huntsmen as they typically lack funding, and I think it would be good for us to help them."

Jaune could tell there was something more to that statement, even without his semblance telling him so. But, if Jaune was entitled to more than a few secrets, so were his team. If Ren didn't want to talk about what was bothering him, Jaune wasn't going to push.

"Sounds like a good idea. If there's no objections, let's go check the boards." Jaune said as he tried to maintain some semblance of normalcy.

It didn't take long for them to find such a mission. Shadowing a sheriff of the village of Blackford. It was a medium sized village, not a tiny hamlet nor a sprawling metropolis the size of Vale. Located a decent distance South of Vale, so they would have to take a bullhead to travel there in good time. Villages such as Blackford had defenses such as walls and watch towers, along with a local garrison of guardsmen or police. Normally these were enough for small grimm incursions, but any large scale attacks from bandits or grimm typically required them to call for the aid of professional huntsmen.

With a flick of his finger, Jaune signed them up for the mission. "And done. Says we're scheduled to leave tomorrow morning though, so I guess we have today to ourselves." Jaune turned to the rest of his team. "Anybody have anything they want to do to kill time?"

"It seems that team RWBY will be leaving for their mission today." Pyrrha brought up, before wincing as she saw Jaune's red slap mark once more. "Though it may not be the best idea to say goodbye to them right now."

"Yeah I can only take so much emotional damage in one day Pyr." Jaune weakly laughed.

"Well all things considered then, I would like for all of us to talk in private, as I think I may have a better idea of Jaune's semblance now."

The rest of team JNPR stared at the champion wide eyed at her declaration. They quickly made their way back to the dorms where they could speak in private.

"So Pyr, what's your theory?" Jaune asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, as you say this is still only a theory. But after the events of last night, I believe Jaune's semblance, or I should say the semblance of man that Jaune dreams of, is control."

"Control?" Nora parroted. "What kind of vague power is that?"

"It was the best name I could think of." Pyrrha huffed. "Regardless, it aptly describes what Jaune can do. Whenever Jaune uses his abilities, he is exerting his will over something. For example, his telekinesis is him exerting his will over an object, controlling it."

Ren, now getting what Pyrrha was talking about, nodded his head. "In the Forever Fall. When you healed yourself Jaune. You said you were using your semblance to force your wounds closed, exerting control over your own body."

"And last night, what you did to Weiss." Pyrrha continued as Jaune whined at the reminder. "That is an example of you exerting your will over someone else."

Jaune sighed, running his hand through his unkempt hair. "That all makes sense. But there's still more questions we don't know. How many more powers do I have, how can I control the ones that I know of? How can I even train to not accidentally mind control someone!?" His frustration was reaching a boiling point as the hunger was brought to the forefront of his mind.

Pyrrha flinched when Jaune raised his voice. "Sorry, I don't have the answers for any of those questions. I just wanted to let you all know of my theory."

Jaune's anger quickly faded to guilt as he saw Pyrrha shrink in front of him. Dust she's only trying to help him and he starts yelling. What was wrong with him?

"No, Pyrrha, don't apologize. You literally did nothing wrong. I'm just being a jerk again." Jaune sighed. "No this is a step in the right direction. We already know that my powers are tied to my state of being. It's affected by things like my emotions and the amount of focus I have. When I… controlled Weiss, I let my emotions run rampant. I was afraid she was going to reject me, then elated when we were together in the dance. And when I controlled Cardin, it was anger, rage, dust even hate. Both times I was hyper-emotional while telling them to do what I wanted them to."

"Then that means at the very least, your powers of manipulation are done when you attempt to exert your will over someone else while feeding off of the power of your emotions." Pyrrha surmised, having already instantly forgiven Jaune's outburst. "I hate to say it, but this seems like it will require experimentation. If you can learn how to use this mind control power on command, you by default learn how not to use it."

Jaune grimaced. The idea of going out of his way to learn how to mind control people was hard for him to accept morally. But Pyrrha's point made too much sense. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't he supposed. "I don't want it to, but your point makes too much sense. I don't like the idea of trying to mind control any of you though."

"As long as you don't try to make us do anything untoward, I don't see an issue Jaune." Ren responded. "And if all of us are there, and you only control one of us, the rest can make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Yeah! Besides, think of all the good ways you can use this power Jaune! If Ren doesn't want to make us pancakes you can just tell him to! Or you could convince Professor Ozpin to share his coffee stash with the rest of the students!" Nora beamed.

"Nora, I don't think either of those would be a responsible usage of Jaune's powers." Pyrrha admonished.

"Yeah Nora. No offense, but the last thing we need is you running around caffeinated. Who knows what would happen if you ever got your hands on some coffee." Jaune shook his head with a small laugh as he imagined Nora trapezing through the multiverse thanks to a caffeine fueled powerboost. The laugh instantly faded as the pain of his hunger roared once more.

"Jaune? Are you alright?" Pyrrha worriedly asked, noticing Jaune's change in demeanor.

"Yeah… yeah I'm good." Jaune regained himself. "I think I just need to meditate for a while, be prepared for tomorrow's trip. You guys want to come with?"

"Sure. I believe some meditation will be good in order to prepare us for tomorrow's mission." Ren responded, while the others voiced their desire to attend as well.

And so team JNPR left for the rooftops, with Jaune silently praying he could somehow get the hunger under control before they left for their mission.

Later that night…

In the wee hours of the early morning, Jaune twisted and turned in his bed, only barely within the realm of dreams. It was not often that Jaune could sleep as he currently was, his rest plagued by memories or interrupted by hunger. But somehow he was able to put himself to sleep in order to prepare himself for the oncoming trials of their mission.

His sleep was far from restful however, as all he saw were nightmares. He saw himself, standing on Beacon's airdocks, but there was something wrong. Soon smoke filled his lungs and brought water to his eyes while he could feel the heat of fire on his skin. Beacon was burning. Through the tears he could barely see the destruction around him. Bodies of students and Atlas soldiers littered the gardens and walkways, while grimm roamed free. Jaune tried to move but couldn't, his body not reacting to his commands. He pushed to raise Crocea Mors, to fight to defend his school, when the sound of music and a bright glow woke him up.

Eyes fluttering open, Jaune saw that he was within his dorm room. Groggily, Jaune reached out for his scroll which was producing the disturbance. Grabbing it, he scowled a bit as he saw that he was receiving a call from Ruby.

Answering the call, Jaune brought his scroll to his ear. "Hello?"

Garbled noise was the only response he got before the call disconnected.

"Ruby?" Jaune asked, confused as to what was going on.

Jaune had a bad feeling about what just happened, and weighed his options. Ruby wouldn't call unless something was wrong, but it could also have just been a butt dial given the lack of actual dialogue. Also, according to the texts he traded with her earlier, Ruby's team was off in Mt. Glenn, and the only way they'd be able to get there would be by bullhead, which were all closed down for the night. Not to mention his team still required their own rest for their mission.

Looking at the time, it was about 5am, earlier than he'd normally get up. It would be easy for him to just go back to sleep and catch another hour or two of rest, but his unease prevented him from doing that. The paranoia from the nightmare he just had wasn't helping either. It didn't seem like it was a memory of the dreadlocked man that he had seen before. It was definitely of Beacon, but he didn't know what it meant. Did the dreadlocked man see Beacon get destroyed, or was this something else? He didn't have any answers.

Slowly getting out of bed, Jaune decided that he'd get ready and wake up his team as well. They'd be annoyed but they'd have to deal with it. He'd try and get in contact with Ruby again. Best case scenario, it was just an accidental call and he and his team would just be leaving for Blackford early.

It was a little bit after 6 am as team JNPR slowly made their way to the airdock in the dawn's morning light. They were less than happy at having to get up so early, but followed their leader's command nonetheless. After some quick showers to wake up, and a moderate breakfast to fuel their day, Jaune tried to call Ruby once more but couldn't get through. He was starting to get worried.

"Jaune, I'm sure they're fine." Pyrrha tried to assure her leader.

"You think?" He asked unconvinced.

"It was probably a butt dial…" Nora added on, the normal spring in her step gone as she was still tired in the early morning.

"Team RWBY has always performed exceptionally in the field. We should be focusing on our own mission." Ren tried to ease Jaune's worries as well.

Jaune frowned. Something still felt off to him. Like the time he and Pyrrha almost went into that cave in the Emerald Forest during initiation. "I don't know guys. I just have a bad feeling about this whole thing. And those feelings are usually right."

Pyrrha frowned. "Jaune I-"

KABOOM!

A thunderclap was heard in the distance, a loud explosion coming from Vale. Smoke could be seen rising from within the city, as distant alarms began blaring. Soon, Beacon's own warning klaxons rang out. Jaune resisted the urge to groan as his feelings were proven right. The alarms were for a breach in the city.

Looking at the bullhead they were going to take to the village, Jaune began barking out orders. "We're changing our mission. Everyone on the bullhead, we're going to support team RWBY!"

With silent acknowledgements, the members of team JNPR moved to follow their leader's orders. As Ren passed Jaune into the VTOL, Jaune stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Ren, we'll make it to that village another time."

Ren only returned a silent nod. He knew that they couldn't ignore a breach within Vale, and he would do his job to stop the grimm.

Satisfied that Ren was on board both physically and mentally, Jaune called out to the pilot. "Take us into the city! Straight for the breach!"

The bullhead pilot acknowledged the orders and team JNPR was on their way.

Jaune could feel the terror in the air as they approached the combat zone. Somehow, there had been a breach in downtown Vale. From the bullhead, team JNPR could see dark clouds of smoke contrasting against the early morning orange sky. Vale was burning. Part of Jaune couldn't help but remember his dream, of seeing Beacon burning around him. Was it some kind of prediction of today? Was the grimm incursion going to be so bad that it'd reach even Beacon? Jaune shook the thoughts out of his head. No, he won't let that happen. Whatever it takes, he'd stop this attack here and now.

"ETA one minute! Get ready to drop!" Jaune heard the pilot call over the radio. "Hope you kids are ready for this, once you go down there air support won't be able to pick you up until the situation on the ground is under control!"

"We'll be fine." Jaune calmly stated as he opened the bullhead's sidedoor.

Jaune closed his eyes and took a deep breath, taking the fear and negativity into him much like a grimm would. He could tell it was affecting his powers. Whenever Jaune metitated, he could always feel those around him. He saw the colors of their auras, and saw how everything they did rippled out through the darkness, affecting him and everything around him. It was like floating in a still pond, feeling the motions of other swimmers, letting the water flow over him and push him.

But now the water was a torrent. It became a violent hurricane as those beneath him screamed and cried out in terror. Jaune growled as he felt this surge threaten to consume him as well. The fear around him brought a rise of righteous anger within Jaune, strengthening his powers. He would make the grimm bleed for every soul they took today, for every life destroyed. And in the recess of his mind, he felt a twisted sense of joy. Jaune's been having a hard day, and he was looking forward to blowing off some steam by killing grimm.

"Nora." Jaune commanded as he opened his eyes, the dropship now in position. Below he could see team RWBY fighting off a massive horde of grimm by a hole in Vale's street.

Nora grew a savage grin and leapt out of the bullhead screaming, "NORA SMASH!"

Crocea Mors telekinetically flew out of its sheath and into Jaune's hands as the rest of team JNPR jumped out as well.

Soaring through the air, riding atop her warhammer Nora Valkyrie made a dynamic entrance as she spun and brought Magnhild down onto the head of a King Taijitu, caving in its skull and killing it instantly. Gracefully, Nora back flipped off the grimm and landed on city street, where her three teammates landed beside her, weapons drawn.

"Go." Jaune gave another one word command that his team would follow to the letter.

Nora and Ren rushed out first, focusing on the smaller creeps and beowolves, Nora's long reach crushing several grimm with each swing, while Ren danced around and above the slower grimm, using his martial arts to score kill after kill. As Renora thinned the horde Arkos focused on higher priority targets.

Quickly spearing through two creeps, Pyrrha spun and threw Miló into the torso of an approaching ursa, killing it instantly. Seeing that she was temporarily deprived of her weapon several surrounding creeps charged her, only to be chopped down by a flash of steel as Crocea Mors flew through the air like a buzzsaw before returning to Jaune's hand. Recalling her own weapon with her polarity, Jaune and Pyrrha went back to back as they scanned for their next target.

And the next target would quickly unveil itself to be a massive deathstalker charging through the breach, easily as big as the one they had fought in the Emerald Forest. Despite the raging battlefield around him, Jaune could only smirk. His powers had grown much since the last time he fought a deathstalker, and he was excited to test the difference.

"Pyrrha, immobilize it. I'll take it down." Jaune ordered.

"Roger!" The champion charged forward without a moment's hesitation.

As Pyrrha closed the distance, the deathstalker gave a wide swing with its armored claw, intent on bisecting her completely. Not slowing in the slightest, Pyrrha dropped into a slide, the claw completely missing her as her greaves and shield sparked against the concrete, getting her beneath the grimm. Once underneath, Pyrrha kicked herself back up, and with the momentum thrust her spear into the joint of the front-right leg of the scorpion. She then pulled the trigger of her mechashift weapon, giving her the added speed to completely cut the limb off.

The deathstalker fell forward, collapsing at the unexpected maiming. The stumble was more than enough distraction for Jaune to leap into the air and land on the deathstalker's back without worrying about the stinger, not that it would've hit him anyway. Not wasting a second, Jaune threw his sword, his powers guiding the blade to cut deathstalker's stinger right off its tail. Reaching out with his telekinesis, Jaune then grabbed onto the stinger, and mirroring their tactics from Initiation, drove the stinger right into the armored thorax of the deathstalker. As the grimm began to spasm when its own poison started to course through its body, Jaune leaped into the air and with a telekinetic push, forced the stringer through the deathstalker, impaling and killing it.

Jaune landed beside his partner, and joined her in helping thin the horde of lesser grimm. But they were quickly losing ground. Sometimes, it was easy for Jaune and the other huntsmen-in-training to forget how terrible the grimm were when they could wipe out dozens in seconds. The true strength of the grimm wasn't in their individual strength, though there were exceptions to that, it was that the grimm were a flood. The fact that one huntsmen could take down hundreds of grimm didn't really matter when their enemy was literally limitless.

After decapitating another beowulf, Jaune took a second to survey the battlefield. They were losing, that much was clear. Team RWBY looked exhausted. He had no idea how long they'd been awake for but it appeared like they'd been battling nonstop for hours. Team JNPR was doing work, but they were only four people. Grimm were getting passed them and into the civilian population. Jaune could sense the individual life forces being snuffed out by the grimm, crying out in terror as they were forever silenced.

Gritting his teeth, Jaune knew he had to put a stop to this. "Cover me!" he called out as Jaune dashed for the breach itself.

Without a question, the rest of team JNPR rallied behind Jaune, killing creeps, beowolves, and ursa by the dozen as he ran towards ground zero. Even with just a cursory glance, Jaune could see that the damage was extensive. The breach itself was a massive sinkhole on one of Vale's streets, connecting to some kind of underground tunnel system. A subway, Jaune surmised based on the fact that there was a train car sticking out of the hole. The initial explosion damaged several nearby buildings as well, mostly stores and apartments, best Jaune could tell, and he could see a multitude of corpses within the ruins, killed either by the explosion or by the following grimm.

Grimacing at the sight, Jaune ignored it and focused back on the breach. Sheathing Crocea Mors, Jaune extended out both his hands and began to focus. All around him, rocks, asphalt, and other debris began to slowly twitch, then drag, then float as Jaune reached out with the Force. Quickly Jaune began filling the hole, hoping to stem the tide of grimm that continued to pour through. Just as quickly Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha formed a triangle around Jaune, killing any grimm that came near to prevent them from breaking his concentration.

Progress was going well. Jaune worked fast to fill more and more debris into the breach, the smaller grimm unable to get through the literal tons of stone. In the distance he could hear the engines of dozens, if not hundreds of airships as the Atlas military was on the way, droids and huntsmen coming to reinforce them. But the noise was all muted for Jaune, as his tunnel vision was solely focused on repairing the breach.

Suddenly, the ground shook. It was like the grimm zoo movie he saw, where every time the tyrant grimm took a step off screen, it was more felt than heard. His team and team RWBY felt it as well. Even the lesser grimm around them seemed to cow and back down from whatever it was that was coming.

Jaune's danger sense spiked, and he barely had enough time to drop his telekinesis and yell to his teammates, "Get back!"

Not a moment later the breach exploded once more. Tons of stone and concrete flew into the air, smashing through nearby stores and apartment buildings. Jaune fell to his knees, not only from the shock of the explosion, nor from having his concentration disrupted like that, but from the fact that he felt so many lives around him die in an instant. Dozens of civilians who were hiding in those buildings were crushed by the debris.

But there would be no respite for Jaune to recover, as from the wreckage of the breach, a massive, muscular, black furred and armored arm burst through. The limb was huge, easily 20 feet long, and as the grimm it was attached to burst through, two burning red eyes could be seen through an uncomfortably human like grimm-faceplate. It was a beringel. And not just any Beringel, but a King Beringal, an ancient alpha grimm that was at least 30 feet tall, and reinforced with spikes and heavy armored plates. And the King Beringel just reopened the breach like it was punching through tissue paper, lesser grimm flooding out behind it.

"Brothers damn it, Nora!" Jaune commanded, knowing she was probably the only one with the raw power to do damage to the elder grimm.

"On it!" Valkyrie cried out as she slammed her hammer into the ground, propelling her forward and directly towards the ape-like grimm.

With a resounding CRACK Magnhild exploded upon the grimm's chest, a cloud of pink suffusing the elder grim in smoke. After a few seconds of silence, Nora turned back to her team with a savage grin, having just dealt a killing blow to an elder grimm, in one hit. It was then that a pair of massive arms shot out of the cloud and wrapped around the huntress. Nora didn't have a chance to scream before the burly arms began crushing her. Constricting around her, Nora could feel her bones cracking as the grimm increased the pressure, overpowering the young woman.

"Nora!" Ren cried out, charging right for the elder grimm with reckless abandon.

The Mistralan boy had no chance as a pair of beowolves lunged at him, tackling him to the ground as he focused on saving his friend.

"AHHHH!" Nora screamed as her aura broke under the gorilla's grip, no longer protected by the projection of her soul.

Jaune's eyes went wide as he saw Nora's own went white, foam forming at her mouth as the grimm was breaking her in two. That thing was going to kill Nora and it was all his fault. His orders, his team, his responsibility. The feelings of fear quickly gave way to burning anger. That Brother's damned grimm was not going to hurt Nora! Not while he still drew breath! Anger took physical form as he gathered his semblance in his hands, crackling with power.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!" Jaune roared as he extended both hands. But instead of simple telekinesis, a storm of lighting burst from his fingertips, striking both the grimm and his teammate, the smell of ozone filling the air.

Jaune didn't know where the lightning came from and he didn't care. All he needed to do was save Nora. Lightning continued to stream from his fingers, burning and blowing away chunks of black flesh and white bone from the grimm, the King Beringal roaring in pain.

"AAAHHHH!" Nora screamed as the lightning hit her as well. A scream which turned to maniacal laughter as her aura levels started rising, and her eyes shot back to life. "AHHHHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHA! POWER!" Supercharged, Nora headbutted the beringal, cracking its facemask while she broke out of its grip. "UNLIMITED POWER!" Nora cackled as she grabbed the beringel by its fur on its collar and head butted its face, again, and again, and again.

With one final headbutt the beringel fell backwards, its face a pile of blackened meat and bone, dissolving into fine mist. Jaune soon fell as well, his body completely exhausted. It was a familiar feeling he was experiencing, but not one he had felt in a long time. It was the exhaustion from using up the entirety of whatever well of energy his powers drew from. Jaune knew he'd be fine in a few minutes, but right now he was helpless.

Pyrrha ran up to the immobile Jaune, standing over his body with her weapons raised. Jaune could faintly hear her cries of concern, muffled by both his exhausted state and the rage of battle around them. Glancing up, Jaune saw that Nora had run off, her hypercharged state causing her to berserk through the hordes of grimm. Meanwhile Pyrrha continued to protect Jaune as grimm began to surround them.

With a twirl she would spear two creeps, then shield bashing a beowulf, the raw power behind the blunt strike killing the grimm. She became a blender, a tornado of blades and dust that shredded anything that approached her or her partner. In the distance, Jaune could see a cluster of creeps fly through the air, batted away by a swing from Nora's hammer still high off her lighting boost. Ren, having freed himself from the two beowolves, trailed behind his childhood friend, desperately trying to keep from getting overwhelmed as they continued to hack their way through the horde.

Jaune wanted to stand and call them back, but found himself lacking the strength to do so. They were spreading too far apart, and as the distance between them was being filled with grimm so they'd be unable to retreat and give each other any meaningful cover. The pit in Jaune's stomach increased further as he knew something bad was going to happen, his prescient danger sense blaring in the back of his mind.

His premonition came to pass when another wave of massive grimm lumbered through the breach while he was still unable to move. Ancient deathstalkers, beringels, King Taijitus, and more crawled their way out, further increasing the breach in size. Jaune could feel the hearts of his allies around him sink at the entrance of the grimm reinforcements. Reinforcements that couldn't have come at a worse time as Nora's lightning high had run its course, her injuries and exhaustion now catching up with her. All while Jaune was still unable to move. Helpless like a newborn babe, and the feeling sickened him. All of his training, all of his power, and he was still weak.

Team RWBY made the first move. Launching themselves from their respective positions to try and take out the largest of the grimm, killing a beringel as Weiss's ice froze its legs and Ruby took off its head. But the retaliation for that strike was instantaneous. A flock of nevermore grabbed Ruby before she even had a chance to land, flinging her into a building, while the unending flood of beowolves enveloped Weiss. Yang and Blake moved to relieve her, hacking their way through the lesser grimm, when a two headed King Taijitu slammed into them and knocked them back, cutting Weiss off.

Pyrrha moved next. With a throw backed by superhuman strength, Pyrrha flung Akoúo̱ at the grimm jumping on Weiss, bisecting several of them and most likely saving the heiress's life. But unfortunately Pyrrha didn't have time to recall her shield before a massive pincer slammed into her. The deathstalker, moving forward unabated, hit Pyrrha from behind with its claw and flung her right into a nearby building. The impact of the claw alone shattered Pyrrha's aura, while the hit against the building knocked her unconscious. Pyrrha's body ragdolled as she fell to the ground, unmoving as the deathstalker continued to approach her, looking to finish off its prey. Jaune tried to scream, to do literally anything to save his partner but his body wouldn't obey.

A group of piercing screams to his right stole his attention for a brief second, as he saw a pair of griffons breaking down a storefront where a small group of civilians were hiding. Locking eyes with one of the civilians, a terrified male deer faunus clutching a pair of similarly middle aged humans, Jaune could see the faunus was begging him to help, regardless of how helpless Jaune was as well. Jaune couldn't avert his eyes as the group of civilians were mauled by the grimm, limbs, organs, and other viscera thrown into the air as the monsters tore apart their meal. Tears starting to flow downs his cheeks, Jaune could only grit his teeth and clench his fists and the sight.

Jaune failed them. He let them die because he wasn't strong enough to stop the grimm. He wasn't strong enough to control his own powers. He wasn't strong enough to get up and save his own partner, the person who cared for him the most. He hated everything about this. He hated the grimm for causing all this destruction. A small part of him hated team RWBY for kicking whatever hornet's nest caused this whole situation. A much larger part of him hated himself. For being so weak, for being unable to protect anyone or anything, for having to be protected. He despised being weak almost as much as he despised himself. He needed to be stronger. He wanted to be stronger. But now he'll never have the chance.

As Jaune buried his face in the dirt, wallowing in angst and self-loathing, he almost didn't notice as the sounds of battle around him ceased, the cries of death and desperation silenced into nothingness. Realizing something was wrong, Jaune looked back up, and saw that he was surrounded by darkness, much in the same way he was surrounded by the void when he meditated. Glancing around as much as his immobile body would allow, Jaune caught sight of a figure approaching him.

Jaune sucked in a sharp breath as he watched a tall, black robed figure, wearing the very same bonewhite mask he still had within his locker. The figure strode up to Jaune, looking down upon him, and despite his masked visage Jaune could sense he wore a sneer across his face, similarly disgusted by Jaune's weakness.

"Wha- What?" Jaune sputtered out, not understanding what was happening.

The masked figure spoke, and Jaune understood nothing. It sounded like a garbled mess of words and sounds, compressed and distorted by audio static and white noise. The noise grated Jaune's brain, and then he felt a pressure, as if it was pushing something into his skull, which continued until the words soon became intelligible.

"You seek what you already have." The voice spoke, mostly monotone with a hint of condescension. Jaune quickly recognized the voice. It was the same voice that told him he needed to feed. The same voice that told him to break Weiss at the dance.

'I… I don't understand." Jaune whispered, afraid of what this figure wanted.

"Power. You have the power to save your friends already, but you are simply too afraid to use it. Because you are too much of a coward." The masked spectre replied, annoyed at having to spell out his point for Jaune.

Jaune felt an indignant rage at the masked figure's accusation that superseded his fear. "What are you talking about!? If I had the strength I would be using it! I… I just didn't have enough time to learn how to control my power!"

"Your excuses are as pathetic as you are." The figure spat out. "What you call control is just suppression. You have not tamed your power, merely run away from it. You have allowed yourself to fight with one hand, blinding yourself to the possibilities of the Force."

The figure waved his hand and Jaune began to levitate, constricted in a familiar telekinetic grip and he brought Jaune eye to eye with him.

"Do not reject your emotions, your desires, your hunger. To do so will merely leave you weak and helpless, as you are now." The figure finished.

Jaune reflected on the masked figure's words. He… he knew at the very least he was right. Jaune was always at his strongest when he embraced his emotions. When he was falling in initiation, when he choked out Cardin, when he fought the terentatek, and even when he dueled Mercury. There was power in his darkest emotions, of that there was no doubt. But then Jaune recalled the dreadlocked figure in his dreams, and the unrepentant cruelty he exuded. Was this power worth becoming like that? To see everyone around you as nothing more than worms to be stepped on?

Sensing Jaune's indecision, the masked figure spoke once more. "You must embrace it. Embrace your power, your Dark Side. For it will grant you the power to protect those you love. If you don't, you and your friends will merely become more corpses for the grimm to feed on, and my time spent on you will have been wasted."

The figure's words struck Jaune like a hammer. What was he hesitating for? The masked figure was offering Jaune a way to save everyone from death, why shouldn't he take it. If it's to save everyone else, Jaune would be more than happy to shoulder the burden of this Dark Side. That's what a hero would do.

"I'll do it." Jaune resolutely spoke. He needed the power to save everyone. He'll do whatever it took to save them. Pay any cost. He will never be weak again. Nothing he loves will ever be hurt again.

"Then rise, young Arc." The masked figure stepped back, releasing his grip on Jaune causing him to fall back onto the ground. "Rise, and let the hate flow through you. Let your hunger drive you. Do this, and you will have power the likes of which Remnant has never before seen!"

With that declaration, the noise and chaos of battle resumed around Jaune, as he found himself back in Vale, lying on the ground unmoving. Jaune could begin to move again, but it was still nowhere near his full power. Straining to push himself off the ground, Jaune heard a growl as a young beowulf stepped forward, lips curling up in a savage snarl.

The beowulf lunged, eager to sink its teeth into the huntsman's flesh, but was stopped with a yelp as Jaune shot his arm out, physically grabbing the beowulf by the throat. The grimm struggled and kicked, trying to flail its way out of his grasp, when it found itself surrounded by crackling red and black lightning.

For the first time in its life this creature of grimm, a predator of darkness, felt fear as the black and red energy began to course through it and it began to feel weaker and weaker. The powerful, muscular limbs of the grimm began to wither and shrink, pristine bone plates became dull and cracked, and the bright, blood red glow of its eyes began to dim as Jaune Force Drained it.

Jaune stood as he lifted the beowulf into the air by its throat, the grimm now hanging limp as it dissolved into dust. The grimm, a creature of pure darkness, a creature of pure Dark Side energy, fed Jaune as he absorbed its very essence. Jaune felt his energy return and his hunger start to sate, but it wasn't enough. He was hungry and he wanted more. Jaune grew a savage grin as he realized what he needed to do. He needed to feed.

All around Jaune, a crowd of beowolves and creeps slowed their approach, unsure and somewhat fearful of what the young huntsman just did. Jaune would not give them a chance to collect themselves. Extending out both hands, black and crimson lighting shot forth as he called forth his Force Drain, siphoning the pure dark side energy of the grimm and taking it into himself. As the grimm around him collapsed and died, Jaune not only felt his hunger sate, but felt his own body strengthening. He felt his strength increase, his senses sharpen. It was an elated high that he'd never felt before.

Jaune's danger sense blared once more, stealing his attention away from his jubilation. His head snapped towards the sense, where he saw the deathstalker still approaching the unconscious Pyrrha. Jaune smiled as he wondered what the scorpion tasted like.

With a telekinesis powered leap, Jaune appeared right on top of deathstalker, preventing it from advancing any further. Before the scorpion could even have a chance to bring its stinger down on the young Arc, Jaune focused his telekinesis into his fist, strengthening it as he punched through the chitinous bone armor and into the blackened interior. The deathstalker squealed as Jaune broke through its defenses, flailing and snipping towards him.

Reaching out with his powers, Jaune then began to drain the grimm from the inside. The deathstalker's coloration began to shift from its pitch black to a lighter and lighter grey as it shriveled and died. Meanwhile Jaune's powers were kicked into overdrive as he absorbed the deathstalkers essence, years if not decades of cruelty and darkness entering his form. As the sheer amount of Dark Side energy threatened to overwhelm him, Jaune extended his off hand and aimed it towards a nearby group of grimm. Letting his hate and disgust for the grimm flow through him, a massive storm of lightning burst from his fingertips, bolts of lightning disintegrating dozens of grimm in an instant. Simultaneously shooting lightning from his left hand while draining the deathstalker with his right, Jaune never thought he'd have this kind of power in the palm of his hands. He couldn't help but laugh as he charred grimm after grimm, each howling and yelping as they died a painful death.

As the deathstalker finally expired beneath him, Jaune ripped his fist free and moved to his partner. Pyrrha was thankfully still alive, but unconscious. Luckily she showed no other obvious wounds, so she wasn't in danger of bleeding out. Looking around him, Jaune saw that the immediate area was clear of grimm, all turned to ash by his storm of lightning. Jaune knew he couldn't just leave Pyrrha here to get swarmed again, but he couldn't stay here and let the rest of the city get overwhelmed.

Extending his senses, Jaune felt hundreds of presences nearby, many radiating feelings of burning vengeance or hardened discipline. The huntsmen of Vale and the army of Atlas were finally there, and soon a squad of Atlesian soldiers airdropped beside him, scanning the area for threats.

Grabbing the nearest blue tinted by the shoulder, Jaune said, "Soldier! New orders. You and your team are to protect this huntress and bring her to safety!" Jaune bent this soldier's mind with his powers, no longer caring about the morality of such an action. He wanted his partner safe and didn't care if he had to sacrifice a thousand Atlesian soldiers to do so.

The soldier gave a blank look at Jaune, before twisting and looking at the unconscious Pyrrha, then nodding and saying, "Yes sir! We will defend this huntress and bring her to safety!"

Satisfied that the enthralled soldiers would get Pyrrha out of there, Jaune turned and made his way back to where the combat was thickest. Jaune could sense several familiar auras as he approached. Team CFVY and SSSN had joined the battle, while both Professors Port and Goodwitch were also blasting their way towards the breach. Jaune just grunted at their appearance and hoped they'd just stay out of his way. He wanted to let loose with his powers and would be annoyed if he had to hold back to prevent collateral damage.

As Jaune continued to move forward, he spotted another squad of Atlesian soldiers hiding behind some rubble, pinned down by a flock of Nevermores and Griffons shooting feathers down from above. Jaune resisted the urge to roll his eyes. These soldiers had training, aura, and all of the technological superiority of Atlas and they were still fucking worthless. Jaune had half a mind to just leave them there so he could focus on saving actually useful warriors.

Ultimately Jaune decided to intervene. Worst case he just had another opportunity to test his powers. As the nevermores flung another volley of feathers, the Atlas soldiers hunkered down, hoping they wouldn't be skewered. As they hid, eyes clenched shut in fear, they waited for the inevitable impact and screams of pain from whatever casualties would be inflicted. After several seconds passed with no impact however, the soldiers opened their eyes and saw all of the feathers frozen in mid air as Jaune intercepted them with his telekinesis.

With a flick of his wrist, the feathers turned around and flew for the grimm. Caught off guard by the reflection of their own attack, half of the grimm were impaled by their own feathers. Immediately the survivors began evasive maneuvers, quickly identifying Jaune as the closest target and probable source of the attack. The surviving griffons and nevermores dive bombed, dropping straight down to tear Jaune apart.

They would never get the chance however, because as they flew down they froze in mid air, caught within Jaune's telekinetic grip. The grimm then clumped together as Jaune smashed them together. Effortlessly he broke their forms, snapping limbs, spines, and other bones, contorting them as he crushed them into a single ball of black ooze and broken body parts. Jaune then called upon his drain to siphon the darkness before it had the chance to dissipate.

Jaune then heard a call of cheers as the Atlesian soldiers waved to him in thanks. Jaune scoffed and rolled his eyes. He didn't need the thanks and admiration of such weaklings. Without a second look Jaune turned and performed a telekinetic leap away. As he arched his way through the air, he spotted a familiar black and yellow duo currently locked in combat with a two headed King Taijitu.

Blake and Yang were exhausted to be sure. Their movements were sluggish, their breathing heavy, and they both sported a series of cuts and bruises that meant their aura was probably low. Jaune knew that Yang had a tendency to bite off more than she could chew, but this was just getting asinine. He didn't know how long team Ruby had been battling for, but considering the timing of his previous call, it must've been at least for several hours straight. The stupidity of the team was never more apparent to Jaune, as they still haven't chosen to fall back, needlessly putting themselves at risk.

Jaune silently landed behind the King Taijitu, Blake and Yang not noticing his arrival. As Yang rolled to the side, clumsily dodging a lunging bite from the white snake, Blake leaped forward and cut into the snake's head with her sword, knocking it back. The white snake recoiled in pain, retreating beside its black counterpart. Blake and Yang took their stances, preparing themselves for the retaliatory strike, when the King Taijitu froze in place.

Bumblebee dropped their guard slightly in confusion as the Taijitu stopped moving. The confusion was dispelled as the grimm began to float into the air revealing Jaune Arc behind it, both hands extended as he levitated it with his semblance. In a single motion, Jaune pulled apart his hands, tearing the snake in twain, split apart directly in the middle where the two monochromatic sides met. The two halves of the grimm flailed uselessly as they bled black ooze, falling dead within seconds. The two girls felt their jaws drop at the brutal display of power. Dropping the grimm corpse to the ground, Jaune casually walked up to Yang and Blake, a scowl adorning his face.

"Fall back to the Atlas defensive lines. You're in no condition to keep fighting." Jaune ordered.

Yang took particular offense to that order and snapped back, "We're fine! We can keep going, there's still civilians out here who need help!"

Jaune let out a low growl. How could Yang be this stupid? He's out here, trying to make sure that they don't die, and she wants to keep risking her life from some random strangers? Jaune knew that their bleeding hearts would get them killed, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Waving his hand, Jaune laced his words with the Force and mind tricked both Yang and Blake. "You want to fall back to the Atlas lines and get some rest."

Yang scowled, but didn't immediately react. Her face contorted in confusion, her overwhelming strength of will naturally fighting back against the Force persuasion. Blake, on the other hand, seemed far more malleable to outside influence as her eyes glazed over with dumb acceptance. Considering her former position as a cult lackey, it didn't surprise him she was more easily affected.

As Yang struggled internally to accept the orders, Blake grabbed onto her hand and said, "Come on Yang, we have to fall back to the Atlas lines, we need to rest."

The coaxing from her partner was all Yang needed to fully accept the mind trick and follow the order. Without hesitation, the two women began to fall back, moving behind the lines of Atlas droids currently suppressing the grimm. As they did so, a second surge of huntsmen and soldiers pushed forward. Jaune saw that Glynda was working to repair the breach itself, which meant that they just needed to clean up any remaining grimm and the battle would be over.

Seeing that the battle was close to over, Jaune leaped onto a broken building to get a better vantage point. He was looking for the largest concentration of grimm, as breaking that would crush any further resistance the grimm could put up. It took him little time to locate his intended target. A beringel surrounded by a pack of beowolves that were currently rampaging through Atlesian droids.

Smirking, Jaune performed another telekinetic leap, jumping across the battlefield and into combat with the grimm. As Jaune landed, he brought Crocea Mors down with him, slashing and killing a beowulf as he entered the fray. The older, and more experienced beringel immediately assessed Jaune to be a major threat, and threw its fist at him, hoping to catch him before he had a chance to guard.

Before the strike hit however, Jaune merely waved his hand and a beowulf he telekinetically grabbed onto flew to intercept. Jaune's grimm meatshield literally exploded from the force of the beringal's punch, creating a fine mist of darkness that served to cover Jaune's movements.

The beringel swung wildly once more, bringing both its arms above its head and smashing downward, breaking the concrete as Jaune sidestepped the attack entirely. With a flash of his blade, Jaune countered by severing the gorilla's arm, Crocea Mors easily slicing through the thick muscle and bone of the grimm. The beringel stepped back, roaring in pain as it lifted its stump into the air, bleeding dark miasma. And Jaune would give it no time to recover.

As the grimm stumbled back, Jaune flung his sword right for the monster. The tip of Crocea Mors skewered the beringel's jaw, exiting out the back of its neck. But Jaune wasn't finished yet, as letting the grimm simply bleed to death would be too merciful. So Jaune then leaped into the air once more, landing atop the beringel's shoulders. Gripping Crocea Mors with his right hand, Jaune then sent a torrent of lightning into the weapon, turning it into a lightning rod that cooked the inside of the beringel.

The beringel spasmed and shook as the electricity coursed through its body. Nearby beowolves were tentatively backing away from the display of power, when the beringel's body exploded. The grimm's form, no longer able to contain the energy within, burst like a balloon as arcs of electricity shot outward, striking all of the nearby beowolves, killing them all instantly.

Jaune fell down to the ground, surrounded by dissipating corpses as the combined forces of Vale and Atlas surged forward while the grimm were in full retreat. The battle was all but over, and continuing to chase down the smaller bands of grimm was a superfluous action. He had stopped the grimm attack, and could help but close his eyes and smile as he successfully protected his friends. Standing amongst the pile of dissolving corpses, Jaune couldn't help but feel... fulfilled.

"Jaune!" a high pitched voice called out that could only belong to Ruby Rose.

Jaune had lost track of the younger huntress during the battle, but it seems that she was ok despite being worse for wear. Like her teammates, she was covered in small injuries and her outfit rather disheveled, but she seemed to ignore her state as she ran up to Jaune while Atlas continued to secure the area.

"Jaune, I saw that beringel explode! Are you ok?!" Ruby asked, worried for her fellow leader's state.

Jaune let himself take in the atmosphere of the battle for a few more moments first, before slowly turning to Ruby with a smile, his eyes opening to reveal now sickly yellow-tinted irises. "Ruby, I have never felt better in my life. "

Chapter Text

"It is such a quiet thing to fall… but far more terrible is to admit it." -Kreia

Chapter 14: Aftermath

Day of the Breach…

"Ozpin?" the voice called out from the computer screen. "Ozpin!" it called out once more when there was no response.

Professor Ozpin, who had been aloofly gazing out of his window, surveying the damage of the Breach, slowly turned to face his desk. "Yes, Councilman?"

On his computer screen, Ozpin saw the faces of the Valean council, along with that of his friend General Ironwood.

"You've left us no choice! The Vytal Festival tournament cannot be broadcast, let alone held, if we are unable to ensure the safety of the citizens! Therefore, we have decided to appoint General Ironwood as the head of security for the event."

Ozpin said nothing, only sipping his coffee, while James responded. "Thank you Councilman. Our Kingdom is happy to lend as many troops to ensure that the festival runs as smoothly as possible."

"And we thank you, General. As for you Ozpin, we're going to have some serious discussions about your position at Beacon Academy once the festival comes to a close. General Ironwood's reports over the last few weeks have left us concerned." The councilman attempted to sound intimidating, but to Ozpin's ears, it was only hot air.

As the councilmen all began disconnecting, only Ironwood's video remained as he and Ozpin stared at one another in silence.

"This is the right move, Ozpin. I promise, I will keep our people safe, you have to trust me." James tried to assuage his age old companion before disconnecting himself.

With the call now over, Ozpin sighed once more. Massaging the side of his head as today's headache seemed to never end, the elevator going into his office pinged and professor Glynda Goodwitch strode in. While Ozpin would never be so uncouth to say it to her face, Glynda looked tired. Heavy bags under her eyes, worse than normal posture, all telltale signs she was overworked and exhausted. Not that he could blame her. The woman had been working non-stop since the Breach occurred, organizing both the defenses and the following rescue efforts.

"Professor Ozpin." Glynda curtly said. "You wanted to talk?"

Ozpin took a sip of coffee to let his assistant cool off for a brief moment so they may have a more productive meeting. "How many?" Ozpin simply asked, forgoing any pleasantries that Glynda currently had no patience for.

Sighing, Glynda pinched the bridge of her nose, collecting herself before responding. "33 fatalities, and over 100 injured, and that's just civilians. Luckily we lost no huntsmen. I know James' forces took some casualties, but they haven't reported how many. We haven't even begun to calculate the costs in damages either."

Ozpin internally grimaced at the number, but kept a straight face. There would be time to mourn later. "And about the other issue?" he asked, barely above a whisper.

Glynda remained silent, but her face looked like she had just sucked on a lemon. Glynda pulled out her tablet and began pressing buttons, causing a video to appear on Ozpin's computer screen. It was grainy footage from a traffic security camera, overlooking one of Vale's many intersections. It was footage from the Breach itself, as the streets were filled with lesser grimm. After a few seconds of the grimm rampaging about, a black-clad figure dropped into frame.

It was Jaune Arc, one of his most promising students of the year, and Glynda's own personal apprentice. Ozpin watched as Jaune hacked his way through the grimm, and when the battle reached its climax, Jaune released a torrent of electricity from his fingers that wiped out all opposition. The footage then cut to Jaune fighting another group of grimm, telekinetically levitating them, before using black and red lightning to literally drain the grimm of their lifeforce.

"We were able to get access to all of the local security cameras before the Council shut us out." Glynda said. "All footage of Jaune's… episode should only be on our servers now."

Ozpin nodded slightly. While Ozpin did in fact trust Ironwood to do what he thought was right, he knew the General's bullheaded nature would only cause the situation surrounding Jaune to deteriorate. The General would want to go in guns blazing and arrest the boy, crucify him for being a possible enemy. It wasn't a baseless suspicion, but Ozpin felt that it was inaccurate nonetheless.

"You've never seen Mr. Arc use abilities like this before?" Ozpin asked, neutral to ensure he didn't unintentionally accuse his assistant of anything.

Glynda shook her head. "No, never. In the weeks that I've been training him, his semblance had only shown itself to be high level telekinesis. That…" Glynda gestured to the video. "Is something I've never seen. It looks so much like…"

"Like a maiden." Ozpin finished for her.

Sighing, Glynda slowly nodded her head. Glynda, through the usage of dust, would be able to create a similar lightning effect, such as when she summoned a storm of ice spikes against the bullhead the first time she met Ruby Rose. But Glynda was someone who prepared such things beforehand by implementing dust into her riding crop. Jaune's outfit and weapons weren't designed for concealed carrying of dust, nor did he overtly use any dust during the Breach. That doesn't even touch whatever he did to drain the grimm of their life.

"But… there was something else I noticed over my time training with Jaune." Glynda added on. Ozpin simply inclined his head, gesturing for her to continue. "While his semblance is telekinesis, he has shown… other abilities. During some of our sessions, I've noticed that Jaune has developed an extremely powerful auric perception, stronger than anyone I've ever seen. He can sense danger and attacks so quickly that it's possible to classify it as precognition. And then there's… whatever he did in the forest to heal himself when that monster attacked." Glynda shuddered at the memory.

Ozpin pursed his lips as he collected his thoughts before speaking. "I would be lying if I said that some of his abilities don't remind me of the magics from long ago."

Ozpin thought back to his first life, as Ozma the hero. Back when magic was a common skill, a gift to humanity from the God of Darkness, back when the Two Brothers walked amongst man. Jaune's abilities were similar, as telekinesis, elemental manipulation, and healing were all within the purview of magic.

Multiple scenarios began to run within Ozpin's mind. Could Jaune be the first of a resurgence of magic on Remnant? Did the God of Darkness decide to stealthily return and give Jaune power? The most uncomfortable theory he had was that Salem mirrored Ozpin's own actions, and gifted some of her magic power to be used by someone else.

"Do you think he may be a spy?" Ozpin asked. He wouldn't put it past Salem to attempt to infiltrate his school with subverted teenagers.

Glynda shook her head. "None of the talks I've had with him have tipped me off as such. And most importantly…" Glynda tapped on her scroll and upon Ozpin's screen, the scene of Jaune saving Nora with a burst of lightning played. "This specific scene is what casts my doubt on Jaune being a spy. A spy wouldn't have broken cover to a teammate like this. If anything, he would've let her die in order to garner more sympathy and privacy from others."

Ozpin watched the scene replay over and over. Eventually he paused the video on when Jaune first summoned the lightning, focusing on Jaune's expression of genuine anguish and rage.

"If he is not a spy, then what is he?" Ozpin had to ask.

Glynda had no answer.

Ozpin sighed. "I'm going to be forwarding all of this, along with all of Jaune's records to Qrow. Perhaps he may be able to uncover something we have missed. Meanwhile, you should speak with your apprentice, Glynda. See if you can get him to open up to you and explain what's going on."

Glynda nodded her head, determination reinvigorating her posture. "Don't worry Ozpin, I'll get to the bottom of this."

Day of the Breach...

Cinder stood atop the rooftop of an abandoned Vale apartment, overlooking the same townsquare that just a few hours ago, was a bloody warzone. Silently, she gazed intensely down at the abandoned streets, absent-mindely snapping her fingers to produce a small flame, before letting it die out. Mercury and Emerald stood behind her, neither of them willing to speak first, lest they attract their mistress's wrath.

"Today…" Cinder hissed out, causing her subordinates to nearly jump as they stood straighter. "Today, should be called a success. But I can't do THAT!" As she spat out the last word, a ring of fire burst around her, causing her Emerald and Mercury to jump back.

"Is it because of the Arc boy?" Mercury dumbly asked as Emerald gaped at him, subtly stepping away.

Cinder spun towards the assassin, with a surprisingly calm face. "No, it's because it's a little humid," she then exploded in another torrent of flames, "YES IT'S BECAUSE OF THE ARC BOY!"

Mercury flinched, wisely deciding to shut up as Cinder was practically hyperventilating. It took a few seconds for her to slow her breathing, allowing the flames to recede.

"We knew that Jaune Arc was strong. But this!? What the Hell was this!?" When her subordinates didn't respond, she snapped at them once more. "That was NOT a rhetorical question!"

"Well the kid was flinging around lightning the same way you throw fire. Not to mention whatever he did to drain those grimm." Mercury stammered out, causing Cinder to glare at him again. "I mean we already thought he had two semblances. Does this kid have three semblances, four? Or is it something else that we're not considering." Mercury knew it was dangerous to imply that Arc was possibly a Maiden, especially to such a temperamental Cinder, but someone had to say it.

"It shouldn't be possible." Cinder hissed under her breath. "Unless he's actually a she, and is an incredibly convincing crossdresser, it shouldn't be possible for him to have magic." Cinder brought her hand to her chin in contemplation.

"I mean, if you eliminate the impossible, what's left, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." Mercury shrugged.

Cinder's head snapped to the silver-haired teen once more. "Thank you, detective." She grit though her teeth, voice dripping equal parts sarcasm and venom. "Your insight is SO deeply valued." Cinder was about 5 seconds away from tearing out Mercury's throat.

Mercury held up his hands in surrender, and strangely enough it was Emerald who spoke to pull his ass out of the literal fire.

"Regardless where his powers come from, ma'am," Emerald cut in, briefly sucking in a breath when Cinder faced her. "he's gone from being a potential threat, to a very real problem. What are we going to do? Should we try and eliminate him before he interrupts our plans any further?"

Cinder bit back a snarl at the mint-haired girl's audacity, as she did have a point. She paused to think for a moment on what to do. "No… it's too risky to try and kill him now. With Roman captured, we're too close to our goal to go off script now. Jaune Arc is an unknown. We don't have any idea what his powers are. Worst case scenario, we kill him but alert all of Vale to our fight. And we cannot attract any undue attention right now. The last thing we need is for the General to cancel the Festival, or for Ozpin to get on our tails."

"So we just leave the potentially magic, drinker of grimm alone?" Mercury had to ask.

Cinder sighed, now more tired than anything else. "No Mercury, we don't. We will watch him, monitor him, learn as much as we can over the course of the tournament. And as soon as our plans are set into motion, he will be the first target we eliminate. I don't care what powers he may have, there's no way he can stand against the strength of a true maiden." Cinder then whispered to herself, "It has to be impossible. It has to..."

The day after the Breach…

"... and despite the unfortunate loss of life, without a doubt I can say that the forces of Atlas and the huntsmen of Vale are wholly dedicated to the protection of the people of Vale, and are working to ensure that such a tragedy will never occur again." General Ironwood finished his address.

Immediately questions from reporters began to bombard the general, asking about the source of the grimm invasion, the rumored White Fang involvement, and whether or not the Vytal festival was going to be cancelled.

Pyrrha sighed as she laid on her hospital bed. Silently, she reached over and grabbed the remote, changing the channel on the TV from General Ironwood's press conference to an episode of X-Ray and Vav.

"Oh hey awesome I haven't seen this episode yet!" Nora smiled as she raised her own hospital bed so she could sit up and watch.

Meanwhile, Ren was content with simply sitting in his bed and reading a book. The NPR members of team JNPR were all currently laid up at Vale General Hospital, which had been the primary medical center taking casualties from the Breach. Despite their protests, the 3 huntsmen in training were forcibly checked in by Beacon's staff to ensure a speedy recovery.

Both Ren and Pyrrha weren't too badly hurt, but were both knocked unconscious during the fight. It was only thanks to the actions of their respective partners that kept them from getting torn apart by the grimm while they were helpless. And despite their protests, they were forced to stay in case of concussions and other possible brain injuries sustained from the fight.

Nora however, had taken the worst of the damage. She had multiple broken ribs and internal bleeding from when the King Beringal nearly crushed her to death. And the injuries she sustained after were even worse. Pyrrha didn't know what Jaune did to summon his lightning, and she definitely didn't know how she felt about it. One the one hand, without a doubt it saved Nora's life. On the other, Nora was not the same when she had gotten hit by that lightning. Usually when Nora is exposed to electricity, she becomes even more manic and energized than normal, running at 200% power, but is still in control of herself. During the Breach however, she went completely berserk, hacking her way through grimm with zero regard to her own safety. Some of the worst wounds she sustained she got because she simply ignored the injuries in her fugue and kept on fighting. Pyrrha didn't know if that was simply Nora going crazy during the battle, or if it was at Jaune's, possibly unconscious, influence.

She prayed it wasn't the latter.

As if summoned by her thoughts, Jaune walked into their room, wearing a black hoodie and dark jeans. He was looking paler than normal, but despite that his dirty blonde hair and blue eyes was a comfort for Pyrrha to see. However, her blonde leader's usually smiling face was marred by a deep set frown.

"Jaune." Pyrrha perked up at seeing him, cheer coloring her voice. At that both Ren and Nora looked at their leader as well.

"Jaune!" Nora all but leapt onto her leader, despite being hooked up to both an IV drip and a heart monitor. "Please! You have to get us out! The food here is awful! It's all baked chicken, vegetables, and apple sauceeee-uwaaaa!" Nora's complaints devolved into blubbering tears as she latched onto Jaune.

Taken aback by his teammate, Jaune hesitantly patted Nora on the back saying, "I mean… applesauce is good?"

This only caused Nora's wails to intensify, until Ren pulled her off their leader. Pyrrha chuckled at her teammates' antics, a nice refresher after yesterday's events. Jaune laughed with her, but it was a weak, hollow laugh.

"So, how is everyone?" he hesitantly asked, radiating worry.

"All things considered, we're fine." Nora responded first, her food depression already forgotten. "They only want us to stay in case there's any complications from our injuries. Thanks to our aura we'll be out by tomorrow."

Nora saying that while still covered in bandages only caused Jaune to grimace. "If you were fine then you all wouldn't be here."

"Jaune, none of us are really all that hurt." Pyrrha tried to calm him.

"But you could have been!" Jaune snapped at her, causing her to flinch. Seeing Pyrrha jump, Jaune sighed, taking a moment to collect himself. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect all of you. To keep you from getting hurt. This is my fault." Jaune's head hung in shame.

His team shared a look of confusion and concern together.

"No, it isn't." Ren started. "Jaune, you may be our leader, but it's not your job to keep us from getting injured."

"And it's not like we didn't know the risks when we signed on." Nora added.

"That doesn't matter!" Jaune was indignant. "The fact of the matter is, if I was stronger, I could've stopped the breach. None of you really saw just how strong I got once I let go. Once I stopped holding back!" Jaune started smiling. "I am so much stronger now than I was even a day ago! I have the power to protect all of you! To make sure none of you ever get hurt again!"

Pyrrha's jaw dropped, and she was sure her teammates mirrored the action. What… What the Hell was Jaune talking about? Jaune's smile was wide and almost manic. And to be honest, it scared her. "Jaune, what do you mean by that? What happened?"

"I… came to a realization during the Breach. Everything that we've been doing, the mediation, the training, it's been doing more harm than good. We've been suffocating my powers. All I needed to do was embrace them, let the power flow through me, and it gives me the power to do… anything." Jaune trailed off, lost within the confines of his own fantastic power.

For a brief moment, Pyrrha felt a jolt of pride that Jaune was becoming even stronger, but that feeling quickly gave way to horror as she recalled what Jaune told her the first time he confided in her about the memories. About how the man in his dreams, the man whose powers Jaune now has, turned into a monster that became more powerful as he fed off of the pain and cruelty he inflicted. And how Jaune told her he was scared to become like him.

"Jaune… you can't do this." Pyrrha moved to the edge of her bed as she begged. "You don't know what taking in this power will do to you! Remember what it did to the man in your dreams! Accepting this… shortcut isn't the path to being the hero you want to be!" Pyrrha turned to Ren, silently begging for him to speak up as well.

Ren, similarly caught in a state of shock at Jaune's words, caught Pyrrha's gaze and spoke up as well. "Jaune you know how volatile your powers make you. Using them without thinking of the consequences will bring nothing but trouble."

Jaune recoiled as if he was struck at their words. The smile on his face faded, replaced by a slight scowl and pursed lips, the manic edge in his voice now replaced by spiteful conviction. "No, why can't you understand? I am becoming more powerful than any huntsman that has ever existed, and I'm doing it to protect all of you."

"We don't need protection Jaune!" Pyrrha cried out. She couldn't believe this was happening. None of this made sense! They were making so much progress, and Jaune was so afraid embracing his cruelty. What changed in the few hours she was unconscious!? "We don't want you to do this! We want you to let us help you, to help you control your powers!"

"What do you know!?" Jaune snapped, his scowl contorting into a full snarl. "What do any of you know about what kind of help I need!? This is MY power! MINE! What right do you have to tell me what I can do with it!?"

As Jaune yelled, his anger rising, Pyrrha noticed something strange. His eyes… his eyes changed color, shifting from his normal blue to a sickly yellow. There was no way that was a good sign. "Jaune I-" Pyrrha moved the leap out of her bed, tubes and cables be damned, when Jaune raised his hand to cut her off.

"No, that's enough." Jaune said, his voice flat but barely constraining anger.

Suddenly Pyrrha didn't want to get out of her bed anymore.

"Obviously, you don't understand what I'm doing." Jaune paused to think for a moment, Pyrrha not sure what he was talking about. "No, I think you refuse to understand. Even so, I will do what I must, and perhaps one day you'll see what I do. But until then…" Jaune waved his hand in front of his face as Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora all felt light headed. "We will not speak about my powers anymore. You will forget we had this conversation."

Any anxiety and panic Pyrrha was feeling was replaced by a wave of relief. What was she so worried about?

"Uggh." Pyrrha shook her head, waving away a strange haze, before looking up and seeing her partner. "Oh Jaune. Are you here to visit?" that was nice of him.

"Just wanted to stop by to see how you all were." Jaune said with a smile. Pyrrha was glad Jaune was smiling. He'd been so down the past few days that seeing a genuine smile like that was rare. "But I think I'm going to head out now. You guys focus on recovering."

As everyone said goodbye to Jaune as he left, Pyrrha couldn't help but feel a pang of regret in her chest, but she wasn't sure why. As if she was forgetting something. Oh well. If it was important she wouldn't have forgotten it in the first place. Hopefully Jaune would visit again before they were all discharged. It would be nice to get him to wait on her like a nurse while she's injured.

Chapter Text

"From such small things, from such critical points, the universe and its masses may be moved… that is why you must be careful in all you do, and in every choice you make." -Kreia.

Chapter 15: Vytal

Dressed in his black and grey assassin's uniform, Jaune walked through the many stalls of Beacon's fairgrounds with his team in tow. While he honestly felt that time spent on such frivolities like this festival was time wasted, he knew that he had to maintain some semblance of normality around his team. Mind tricking them while they were in the hospital had only temporarily assuaged their worries, and Jaune could feel their concern trickle back in whenever he did not act like his former, weak willed self.

While he could completely break their minds and dominate their wills so they would never question him again, Jaune had no desire to do so, as destroying his friends was literally the opposite of what he wanted to accomplish. And continually mind tricking them was too risky, as they may wise up or others may catch on that something was wrong. Jaune wanted to protect his friends, even if they didn't want to let him do it. This meant he now had to play a strange balancing act with them, where he would push his powers in order to grow stronger, but somehow keep it hidden from his team and team RWBY.

"Oh, a hammer strength game!" Nora called out. "Be right back, I'm going to go win Ren a stuffed grimm!"

"No Nora wait, we already have too many!" Ren ran to stop his partner despite knowing the futility of the action.

"We should make sure they don't get into trouble." Pyrrha smiled at Jaune, grabbing his arm to pull him along.

Jaune's instinctual reaction was to scoff and let Nora run off to fulfill whatever childish desire she sought, but he knew that was the wrong move. He could feel the cautious hope and fear within Pyrrha, silently asking that Jaune act like his normal self.

So to not arouse suspicion, Jaune plastered on a fake smile and said, "Yeah that sounds like a good idea."

Following his partner, Jaune moved to Nora's position as she accosted the poor student running the strength testing game. As he stood back and watched, he felt his hand slip into his jacket, grabbing onto the bone mask for comfort. Ever since the Breach, Jaune began carrying the mask on his person, looking to it for strength and certainty when needed.

Eventually, Ren was able to pull Nora off of the terrified looking student, and team JNPR was on their way once more.

Pyrrha, the most eagle eyed of the team seemed to catch sight of something as she called out, "Hey, I see team RWBY over by that ramen stand."

As she said that the NPR of team JNPR winced a bit, remembering the last encounter Jaune had with the all-girl team.

"I'm fine with seeing them." Jaune shrugged. "Weiss and Blake may have an issue with me being there, but at most they'll probably just ignore me."

"At the very least, we should congratulate them for their victory over team ABRN." Pyrrha said, trying her best to smile. Jaune could tell she was just trying to bridge the gap and help him reconcile with their fellow team.

As they approached, they could hear Weiss yell out, "What!? How can my card be declined? I was barely into my monthly allowance!"

Sensing an opportunity, Pyrrha stepped forward, pulling out her own card. "Maybe I could help?"

Team RWBY greeted them with a lukewarm response. Weiss barely acknowledged their existence, while Yang and Ruby gave some uncomfortable waves and smiles. Blake looked conflicted between having her large tuna-filled wok paid for in full, and interacting with Jaune.

"You don't have to Pyr." Yang said, trying to give them an out.

"No please I insist." Pyrrha pushed. "I think you all earned it after that battle."

Yang and Ruby looked to the rest of their team. Weiss only huffed and looked away, while Blake's eyes kept darting between her food, JNPR, and Weiss.

"Well if you're fine with it." Yang relented as team JNPR took their own seats at the stand. Wisely, Jaune decided to sit at the furthest stool away from the monochrome duo.

As they sat down, the shopkeep returned RWBY's food to them while sliding JNPR four oversized bowls of noodles as well. Nora happily dug in while Ren and Pyrrha politely began working through their own meals. Jaune slowly ate as well, but it was a show to maintain appearance, nothing more. As he slurped down the noodles, he tasted nothing but ash along his tongue. He knew that regular food wouldn't sustain him, wouldn't nourish him.

It had been days since the Breach, where Jaune first used his new powers to feed upon the grimm around him. It was then that he discovered what his hunger truly was. It was not a physical hunger, but a desire to drain and absorb with his powers. Feeding upon the grimm not only sated the hunger he felt, but temporarily strengthened him, increasing his power more and more with each grimm consumed. However, as the days passed, so did his hunger slowly return, ebbing away at his consciousness.

Jaune wondered if he could figure out a way to get off campus and perhaps sneak into one of the nearby forests to search for grimm to eat. But slipping out now would be far more difficult with the influx of random exchange students currently filling the halls of Beacon. If he couldn't get his hands on some grimm anytime soon… Jaune wondered what else he could possibly drain. Could he drain grimm because they were soulless creatures of darkness? Does it only work on grimm, or would living creatures work as well? How would his drain affect someone with aura?

"Jaune?" a voice called out, snapping him from his musing.

"Huh?" the blonde replied, looking around to see his friends all looking at him in varying degrees of confusion.

"I asked how are you doing, Jaune." Ruby said. "You're kinda looking paler than usual… again." Ruby then leaned in, over the counter, squinting as she got a closer look at Jaune's face.

"Uh… Ruby? What are you doing?" Jaune gave a nervous chuckle as the younger girl invaded his personal space.

"I just wanted to get a closer look at your eyes." Ruby casually stated. Yang snorted a bit at the flirtatious comment despite it being delivered completely platonically. "I could've sworn they were yellow last I saw them."

Jaune smiled at her, but in truth he grit his teeth underneath it, kicking himself for not making Ruby forget what she saw during the Breach. Jaune intrinsically understood that the more he used this Dark side energy to strengthen his powers, the more it altered his appearance. He knew that his continually paling skin and occasional yellowing of his eyes were only going to be the beginning.

However, Jaune had also already decided that if getting the power to save his friends meant he had to physically mar himself, it was a price he was willing to pay. But he couldn't let Ruby or anyone else know about that. And there was no way he could convince them he was ok when there was physical evidence he wasn't, not without resorting to more powerful mind control.

"Yellow? What are you talking about Ruby? My eyes have always been blue." Jaune calmly responded.

"Yeah, but I swore they were yellow before. Are you sure you're ok? Have the doctors checked you out since then?" Ruby continued to push the way a true friend would.

Jaune brought a cup of tea to his mouth while he very casually waved Ruby off with his off hand, subtly using his powers. "I'm sure you were just seeing things. Everything was kinda, orange, during the fight, what with the fires and sunrise."

While Jaune was physically stoic, he carefully examined everyone else to see if there was any reaction to his wording, to see if anyone caught on to what he was doing. He wasn't even sure if it had worked on Ruby, as she seemed to consider him for a while longer.

As Ruby seemed to be lost in thought for several seconds, causing a single bead of sweat to drop down Jaune's brow, she said, "Hm yeah maybe I just did see things." she shrugged and went back to her seat.

Crisis averted, Jaune moved to shift topics. "Yeah. Anyway, is it really a good idea for us to eat all of this before our match?"

"Of course! It'll give us energy!" Pyrrha happily responded.

"So, you think you guys are ready for your match?" Ruby asked as she hopped in her seat.

Nora was happy to answer. "Of course! I mean, all honesty, between the powerhouses that are Jaune and Pyrrha, the fact that Ren is a ninja, and I can bench five of me, who can actually take us on?"

"Somebody's acting confident there." Yang raised a challenging eyebrow. "Don't get too cocky, otherwise you'll be getting a bad case of freezerburn." Yang triumphantly declared as she wrapped an arm around Weiss's shoulders, much to the latter's dismay.

"Booo." Nora deadpanned.

"Hey that was actually a good one!" Yang fired back.

Before things could devolve into a food fight part two, Professor Port's voice crackled over the intercom, "Would team JNPR please report to the battlegrounds immediately!"

"Well it looks like that's our cue." Jaune said as he stood with his team and began to walk away.

"Break a leg!" Ruby called out to them as they left.

"Don't worry Ruby!" Jaune turned and shouted back, before facing forward and mumbling to himself, "I intend to do far worse than that."

"Team JNPR of Beacon versus Team BRNZ of Shade!" Professor Port announced over the raucous cheers of the crowd.

The two teams found themselves standing in the center of Amity Arena, staring each other down as they waited for Port to call the match. As they engaged in their pre-fight intimidation, Jaune sized up his opponents. The three men of the opposing team, Brawnz, Roy, and Nolan all looked to be close quarters fighters, using clawed gauntlets, buzzsaws, and a cattle prod respectively, while May looked to be the teams only long ranged support with her sniper rifle. Jaune was confident in Pyrrha's and Nora's ability to take on the enemy boys, so he decided May would be his first target.

As the battle moved closer and closer to its start, the holographic projects around them spun, revealing the selected terrain for this battle. On Team BRNZ's side, the forest terrain was selected, while on Team JNPRs side was mountains. Jaune knew that if a sniper like May could reach the treeline, then she would become a far worse problem.

"I'll take the sniper. Hold the rest off until I can come support." Jaune ordered, his voice hushed to keep team BRNZ from hearing him.

"Roger!" the rest of his team responded.

Professor Port's voice boomed over the speakers once more. "Three, two, one, begin!"

Immediately both sides burst into action. As Jaune expected, May instantly turned and began sprinting for the treeline while the rest of her team rushed to meet JNPR in combat. With a semblance-empowered leap, Jaune dashed ahead of his own team and over the boys of team BRNZ. Roy tried to intercept him, buzzsaw spinning along his gauntlets.

With two swings of his arms, Roy actually flung the buzz saws off his arms and right for the blonde. It was a bit of a surprising maneuver Jaune had to admit, but nothing he couldn't handle. With a flick of his wrist, Jaune telekinetically grabbed onto the buzz saws and flung them into the sky and out of the ring, effectively disarming the poor boy.

Roy watched in dismay as his weapons flew out of range for him to immediately recall. He was so distracted by it he didn't seem to notice Pyrrha coming in with the slide tackle, taking Roy off his feet. As he fell Pyrrha kicked herself back up right, and used Miló to slam him into the ground.

As the rest of team JNPR began a melee with their opponents, Jaune was free to run after May. Roy's distraction was enough to buy May enough time to set up a sniper perch in the tree branches. Immediately she began taking shots at the approaching Jaune, hoping to take him down before he could close the distance.

But as Jaune's powers continued to grow, so did his perceptions. He didn't even need to see the dust rounds to feel them coming. Twirling Crocea Mors as each round approached, Jaune deflected each shot that May took at him. The sniper's jaw dropped at how casually Jaune nullified her attacks. The shock turned to fear as Jaune reached her position and was all but on top of her. Shifting her sniper into its axe form, May turned and hooked the axe head along the branches, swinging from limb to limb, hoping to keep her distance until one of her allies could help her.

Taking a quick peek over her shoulder, May could tell the battle wasn' going well for the rest of her team either. Pyrrha was easily able to take on both Brawnz and Roy at the same time, dodging and deflecting their attacks with contemptuous ease as she mercilessly beat into them.

Meanwhile the cattle prod wielding Nolan dueled with Ren, and the two were relatively evenly matched. As Ren swung his bladed pistols, Nolan would slip the attacks, dodging and then retaliating with his own baton strikes. However Ren would use StormFlower to block and hook onto the baton, before counterattacking with precise but relatively weak kicks.

While the two were locked up in combat, this allowed the pink bomber Nora to close the distance. Seeing Nora approach, Ren was able to spin Nolan around while pulling the baton with his bladed pistols to bring the cattle prod down onto Nolan's throat and start choking him out.

As the two grappled, Ren called out to his partner, "Nora!"

"Here's momma!" Nora cried out as she swung her massive hammer.

Nolan, now seeing the pink bomber approaching, struggled to try and break Ren's hold on him. But Ren would not relent, and soon Magnhild slammed into Nolan's torso, destroying a huge chunk of his aura and sending him flying as Ren simultaneously released him.

May winced as she saw her teammate soar, and picked up her pace so as to not join him. Hooking her axe around a tree branch, May swung herself for the next foothold. But as she floated between trees, the sniper soon felt her momentum slowing as she found herself frozen in mid air.

From the corner of her non-covered eye she could see Jaune, hand extended and telekinetically gripping on to her. May didn't even have time to scream as Jaune then telekinetically threw her downwards, slamming her into the ground. The impact knocked the wind out of her lungs, and as she tried to stand, May felt a boot connect with her jaw, snapping her head back as Jaune kicked her in the face.

Recoiling from the hit May tried to quickly stand, but Jaune would give her no respite. Before the sniper could escape, Jaune's telekinetic grip focused on her once more, lifting her into the air and yanking her towards him. Jaune smirked as a terrified May flew towards him. He then dropped his sword. Jaune smelled that abhorrent trait known as weakness, and he wasn't going to give her the mercy of a quick elimination.

When she was right in front of him, Jaune released his hold on her body. As soon as May realized she was no longer constrained, she grabbed her sniper by the barrel and shifted it into its axe form, swinging it right for Jaune. But it was painfully obvious the girl focused more on her shooting talents rather than her melee skills, as the attack was slow and clumsy.

Jaune easily caught the weapon with his left hand as he reared back his right, fist sparking with lightning. The Arc's electrified fist connected with May's stomach in a vicious uppercut, shocking her while sending spit and air flying out of her mouth. Before the girl could even try to recover, Jaune's left fist smashed into her jaw with a hook. May immediately dropped to the ground, the hit obviously rocking her brain.

May dropped to her hands and knees, unable to move as a boot then met her ribs. She felt the bones crack from the pressure of the kick despite the protection of her aura, which was rapidly depleting. Raising up a shaky hand, May wordlessly pleaded for mercy. Jaune paused, pondering on what to do with her. It would be so easy to break her, physically and mentally. But that's not what the old Jaune would do, what a huntsman in training would do. And while it irked him to no end to bow to the whims of others, he knew that feeding into his desires here would merely draw unnecessary suspicion upon him.

And so, rather than crushing the girl beneath his foot, Jaune merely restrained her with his telekinetic abilities once more. Satisfied that she wouldn't be able to escape, Jaune then lifted the girl into the air and flung her out of the arena, eliminating her from the match completely.

With her gone, Jaune turned to the others and surveyed the rest of the battle. Nolan was already out, his aura broken by the tag team of Ren and Nora. Meanwhile Pyrrha did an amazing job dueling against both Brawnz and Roy. Pyrrha could probably eventually defeat the duo, but it would be a rather slow and arduous process as the champion would have to wait for openings to exploit. No, that wouldn't do. This match needed to have an explosive finish, so that all of the other teams knew of their power.

"Nora!" Jaune called out as he left the forest, and the valkyrie looked at him. "Lightning Storm." Jaune said with a savage grin as once more electricity crackled around his fingers.

Nora's face matched Jaune's as her leader called out the team attack name. Immediately she took off in a sprint towards the two surviving members of team BRNZ. Jaune moved as well, taking up a position behind her. Pyrrha, catching sight of her two approaching teammates, wisely chose to back off to the confusion of team BRNZ. Jaune then let loose a burst of lightning into Nora's back, hyper charging her with Dark side electricity.

"KILL! MAIM! BURN!" Nora let loose a terrifying warcry as she charged right for the duo.

Brawnz and Roy turned at the screech, and saw the berserking Nora charging right for them.

"Oh god not the face!" was all Brawnz could yell out before Magnhild hit him and his partner, knocking them both out of the ring in one home run swing.

"And with that, it appears Team JNPR wins by knockout!" Port boomed over the PA system.

As the crowd cheered for their victory, the Dark side lightning dissipated from Nora's system, returning her to her normal mental state. She gave a big grin as Ren walked up beside her, and the two bowed to the applause. Pyrrha gave a duelist's salute, while Jaune merely looked at the crowd impassively, head tilted slightly up. He had given enough to these crowds already. They did not deserve any more courtesy from him.

However, there were two faces amongst the crowd that were not cheering at team JNPRs display. First was Cinder Fall, who grit her teeth at the showing, chewing on her thumb nail in frustration. While the skills that Jaune Arc showed today were nothing she didn't know of, what worried her was how he fought. The brutality that he showed, the lack of mercy, it would make fighting him even more difficult. She knew a sociopath when she saw one. Her time on the streets and with Tyrian taught her that.

Jaune was clearly showing signs of becoming one, if he wasn't already. He would not be held back by the morals and restraints that most huntsmen would should they come into conflict. Yet this gave her an idea. She could possibly turn this to her advantage, get Ozpin and his fools to focus on their attention on Jaune. Yes… that could work. Let the boy become a red herring, and she will be free to enact her plans. Cinder allowed herself a small smirk. It was all finally coming together, and she would not let Ozpin or Jaune or anyone stand in her way.

The second face not cheering at the display was that of professor Glynda Goodwitch. That… was not her apprentice down there on the stage. Jaune never fought like that in class, nor in their training together. This was like the way he fought in the footage she saw of the Breach. Cruel, callous. Were such attitudes only limited to the grimm, Glynda could have overlooked it. But against his fellow students? No, this could not be allowed. She was going to get to the bottom of what was going on with Jaune, whether he wanted it or not.

Team JNPR left the ring and returned to the locker room, feeling a mixture of elation and confusion at what just happened. Confusion from Ren and Pyrrha, elation from Nora, and indifference from Jaune. None of the members of team JNPR were there to see Jaune's actions in the forest, but at the very least his team attack with Nora was a cause for concern.

"Alright guys! That was an awesome first round! Team JNPR is heading for the semi-finals!" Nora beamed.

"Yes… but Nora are you, ok?" Ren asked, his voice heavy with concern. "You acted rather… strangely when you defeated the rest of team BRNZ."

"Strangely? Nah, that's just my semblance taking me into super valkyrie mode!" Nora flexed her bicep.

Ren's eyes narrowed. "Your semblance doesn't make you so… frenzied." He then turned to Jaune. "Are you sure your lightning is safe for her to use?"

Jaune shrugged in actual ignorance. How could he know whether it was safe for her to use it or not? "Should be fine. It's just lightning."

"Perhaps this is something we should test when we have the chance." Ren didn't seem convinced, so Pyrrha moved into mediate. "After all, team SSSN is about to go on, and we should go cheer them on."

"Sounds good to me." Jaune was happy to have an out of this conversation.

Ren didn't look happy about it, but relented. "Fine. But we will talk about this later." the Mistralian was not going to let this go.

Jaune was about to snap back at him, when suddenly his scroll began ringing. Pulling it out, he saw a call. from Glynda Goodwitch

"Professor?" Jaune answered.

"Jaune, good you picked up. Are you free to speak with me in my office now? There are some things I would like to discuss with you." Glynda succinctly asked.

Jaune briefly glanced at his team before responding. "Sure, I can be there now."

"Good. I will see you there." Glynda immediately hung up without even saying goodbye.

"Looks like you're not the only one who wants to have a talk." He grumbled out as he put away his scroll.

"Jaune? Is everything alright?" Pyrrha worridley asked.

"It's just professor Goodwitch, she wants to talk with me. Why don't you guys go on ahead and watch SSSNs match, I'll meet up with you when I can."

Jaune turned and made his way for the door before his team had a chance to respond. He was done with that conversation and didn't want to deal with an angry Ren right now.

Jaune hoped his conversation with Glynda would go better, but he had a feeling that wasn't going to be the case. Even through the call alone, he could sense Glynda's emotions. Suspicion and worry. That was annoying. If Glynda had her suspicions, that meant that Ozpin was privy to them as well, meaning Jaune was definitely on the headmaster's radar.

This sent Jaune's mood into an even worse state. The last thing he needed was for the Headmaster to put him under more scrutiny. Luckily Jaune's foul mood seemed to permeate even to his stance, and no other students seemed interested in bothering him as he made his way to Glynda's office. Once he finally reached his destination, Jaune could sense the professor through the door. Jaune sighed as he mentally prepared himself for whatever inane conversation he was going to have with her now.

Opening the door, Jaune saw Glynda sitting behind her desk, working through some paperwork. "Professor." he casually greeted.

"Jaune." Glynda nodded. "Thank you for meeting with me. I apologize if it seemed rather sudden."

"Not like I was really doing anything." Jaune shrugged.

"Regardless, the thanks are still there." Glynda pushed. "So Jaune, how have you been? Congratulations to you and your team for making it past the first round of the tournament."

Allowing himself a small smirk, Jaune said, "I mean, between me and Pyrrha was there any real doubt?"

Glynda's eyes narrowed on her apprentice. "Careful Jaune. Overconfidence is a slow, and insidious killer. I would hate to see you fail because you thought you could handle a situation when you could not."

It was Jaune's turn to narrow his gaze upon his teacher, irritation building once more. Who was she to question what he could or could not do? She did not understand the power he now wielded.

"Right." But Jaune saw the futility in causing a scene over what Glynda obviously saw as a harmless piece of advice. "Anyway, was there actually a reason as to why you called me here, professor? If it's about the semblance training, I think you and I can both agree that I don't exactly need it anymore. My skill in that is some of the best in the year now."

"Believe it or not Jaune, I actually agree with you there." Glynda nodded to Jaune's surprise. "Your skills have grown immensely, and any personal training would all honesty be unnecessary. You no longer need my guidance to master your semblance, and my time could be better spent on those students who still need my help. However, the reason I called you here was not because of that."

Glynda put away all of the paperwork on her desk and focused solely on Jaune, giving him her undivided attention. "Jaune, I will tell you that as a student and a huntsman I do respect you. You have grown wonderfully, and I have been proud to watch you grow. And it is because of this respect that I am going to be frank with you." Glynda adjusted her glasses as she prepared her next words. "I would like you to tell me what happened during the Breach. I want you to tell me what your powers are, because they are obviously more than just a semblance."

Jaune growled a bit under his breath. Of course it was about the Breach. It was always about the Breach. Why couldn't everyone just leave him alone about that?

"Why does that matter?" he asked with more than a little venom in his voice. "I am becoming stronger, becoming a better huntsman. Why should what happened at the Breach matter if it made me more powerful?"

"Because Jaune, being a huntsman is more than just a pursuit of power. It is being a paragon of virtue for others to look up to. The war we fight is as much about inspiring the people as it is about killing grimm. And it matters because I am worried for you Jaune, and I know your team and friends are as well." Glynda's stern face softened. "You are acting different Jaune, you must have noticed it. There is something going on with you and I only want to help you. We only want to help."

"I don't need help." hissed Jaune. What Hell was this, an intervention?

"I don't believe that Jaune. And more importantly, Professor Ozpin doesn't believe that either. Jaune, the headmaster is aware something happened during the Breach, and I cannot help you against any actions he may take unless you tell me something." Glynda was on the verge of pleading with the boy.

Brothers damn it this was some kind of intervention. "How many times do I have to say it!? I don't need help! You underestimate my power! I am strong now. Stronger than any of the students! Hell, I'm probably even stronger than you and Ozpin!" Jaune was sick of it. Sick of people still acting like he was weak, like he still needed help. He had power and it was HIS! And he was not going to give it up. "I don't need your help, and I don't need you." Jaune spat out his venomous final words.

The ever stoic and professional Glynda Goodwitch visibly recoiled at Jaune's words. Jaune could tell his words hurt her. Just like he wanted them to. Just as quickly as Glynda's face fell from her former apprentice's harsh words, her stone faced facade rebuilt itself, now far colder than it was before.

"If that is truly how you feel, then so be it." Glynda's words were ice as they left her mouth. "Regardless, even if you choose not to accept my aid, you still have yet to answer my question on the source of your new abilities."

Jaune snorted. "Fine, you want to know where my powers come from? I'm possessed by the spirit of an ancient, magic warlord that got turned into a grimm." Jaune spoke what he believed to be the truth, but had no inclination that Glynda would believe him.

Jaune's eyes widened a fraction as he didn't sense pure disbelief, but instead shock followed by acceptance from Glynda. What in the name of the grimm did that mean?

Despite Glynda's tumultuous internal feelings, her face remained impassive as she said, "Mr. Arc, if you are not going to take this seriously, then I believe this conversation is over and I am going to ask that you leave. But remember, even if you don't trust us with the truth, it will come out eventually." Glynda stood up, strode to the door, and opened it up. "Enjoy the rest of the Festival, Mr. Arc."

Jaune stared at his former mentor. She was lying… he could sense that much. She knew something and was keeping it from him! He could call upon his powers to try and force her to tell him, but would that even work? From the few times he used it, Jaune could tell that a person's willpower directly influenced whether or not they could resist his mind tricks. People with disciplined minds like Ren or dogged determination like Yang took far more effort for him to enthrall and those like Blake and Nora. And Glynda was a woman made of pure willpower. Not to mention that he didn't know if Ozpin would be able to know what he did. The headmaster was an enigma, even to Jaune, and one as experienced as Ozpin may catch on to Jaune if he did try something.

As Jaune stood, he placed his hand into his jacket, feeling the soothing and sedating presence of the mask. The mask was a comforting presence that guided him whenever he needed it. He could sense the mask's feelings as well, however small they were. The mask felt… apathetic to Glynda and machinations. Like whatever she and Ozpin were planning, whatever they knew, were ultimately insignificant.

Taking that as a sign, Jaune walked out of the office, not even bothering to give Glynda a goodbye.

As Glynda watched her student walk away, she could feel her conflicting emotions inside of her. Sadness, anger, guilt, even a little self-loathing were all present. But she shoved all of those aside as she focused on Jaune's words. To anyone else, Jaune's statement about being possessed by an ancient spirit would just be seen as a juvenile response borne out of disrespect.

But for Glynda, who had knowledge of both the Maidens and of Ozpin's true nature, of how she saw the man that was once Ozpin merge with the ancient spirit that was reincarnated into his body. There were far too many parallels for this to be merely coincidence. No, there was something else at work here. She feared it was something sinister, and that it held Jaune Arc at the center of it all.

Chapter Text

"He's right. It's… all the death you've caused to get here. You feed on it, and you grow stronger. You're like Malachor… it's in you, it's what you are now. You must have noticed as you've fought across all these planets, killing hundreds - only to become more and more powerful. Why do you think that was?" Jedi Master Zez-Kai Ell to the Jedi Exile Meetra Surik.

Chapter 16: Gnawing

Professor Glynda Goodwitch sighed as she rode the elevator to the top of Ozpin's tower. Even a few floors away she could hear the argument between Qrow, James, and Winter Schnee. It wasn't long after her talk with Jaune that she heard of the incident between Qrow and Ms. Schnee at the airdock, and she was less than pleased with it. This was very much the last thing she needed right now.

"You've been out of contact for weeks! You can't just go dark like that in the field!" She heard James's voice yell out.

"I'm not one of your special operatives, Jimmy!" Qrow snapped back.

"General." Winter Schnee hissed at him.

"Enough!" Glynda roared out as the elevator doors opened, all four heads in the room snapping to her. "Tell me, are we here to discuss the safety and freedom of our kingdoms, or are we here to bicker and argue like immature school children!?"

Glynda was not having any of this right now. Despite already being a fully graduated specialist, the much younger Winter Schnee immediately snapped to attention at the verbal berating, military training kicking to keep her from going against such an authority figure. Qrow and Ironwood recoiled at the venomous anger that was behind Glynda's words, and wisely chose to cool their own tempers lest they attract her ire. Even Ozpin seemed to be taken aback by the amount of emotion his normally cool and collected second in command was exhibiting.

James was the first to respond, coughing into his fist to try and clear the air. "Perhaps we were getting off topic. Qrow, what do you have to report?"

"Before that…" Qrow drawled out, but lacking the previous spite, "Is this a conversation we want to have with all those present?"

Winter raised her brows in surprise, but before she could retort Ironwood cut. "Schnee, unfortunately this is above your paygrade. Return to the ship. We'll discuss the incident there."

Winter looked as if she wanted to say something, and even looked to Qrow, who surprisingly gave her a sympathetic shrug. "Yes sir." She saluted, turned about face, and headed for the elevator, giving Glynda a small nod as she did.

"So, what have you found Qrow?" James asked as Winter exited the room.

"That infiltrator you had? The one from the dance? They're the one responsible for Autumn's condition." Qrow took a solemn drink from his flask.

"What?" Glynda gasped. "You're sure?"

Qrow nodded his head. "Yeah. I read the report on the incident. All of the abilities showcased by your little infiltrator match what the woman who attacked Amber was capable of." Qrow then took another step into Ironwood's face. "They are here and you flaunting around your army is exactly the opposite of how we should have responded! We operate in the shadows to keep the world safe from threats they don't know about. And your army isn't exactly what I would call discreet!"

"I am here with my army because discreet wasn't working! We were discreet and we still lost Amber. We were discreet and they still infiltrated the CCT. We were discreet and the Breach still occurred! Damn it Qrow, do you think I do this out of some kind of misguided chauvinism? I am doing this because I think this is the best way to protect the people!" Ironwood's voice

"Gentlemen!" Glynda snapped, cutting both men off. "Stay. On. Topic." She hissed out before turning to face Qrow. "What about the other task you were assigned?"

"Other task?" Ironwood asked.

Ozpin cast a quick glance at Glynda, surprised that she was the one to broach the topic of Jaune in front of Ironwood, but responded nonetheless. "Following the Breach, concerns were raised about one of our students, a freshman named Jaune Arc displaying abilities that some would consider... unnatural."

"You mean magic." Ironwood's eyes went wide.

"Possibly. And it was because of that possibility, we asked Qrow to see what he could uncover about Jaune's past."

Qrow shrugged. "And unfortunately, I found bupkis. He's had about as normal a childhood as anyone. Had some overbearing parents, but there's little chance he ever possibly met up with Her." Qrow took another swig from his flask. "Only thing strange I found was that there was a one week period where Jaune Arc ran away from home, right before he joined Beacon. According to both his records, and those I interviewed in Ansel, before Beacon he had no aura, no semblance, and especially no magic. Hell, the kid never even went to combat school, just his local public one. But from what I hear, he was one of the stronger candidates during this year's initiation."

"That was in fact the case." Glynda nodded her head. "In terms of pure combat ability as well as the destructive capability of his semblance, Jaune was in fact flagged as a contender for his year's top student."

"One does not become a soldier or warrior of worth over the period of a single week." James murmured, concerned. "We should not ignore this. This Jaune character sounds far too suspicious. If there's the slightest chance that he's connected to Salem, we should bring him in for questioning."

"Except, I do not believe that Jaune is connected to Salem." Glynda cut James off once more as she looked at Ozpin. "I have just spoken with Jaune. And he has become… different." A flash of sadness crossed her face before her countenance hardened once more. "His personality has shifted in comparison to the start of the year. He has become aggressive, confrontational. As if his personality is being overwritten, or merged with something new at the same time as getting these new abilities."

The eyes of all three men in the room widened in recognition of what Glynda was alluding to.

"You think he's like Oz?" Qrow whispered out.

"When I asked for an explanation of his powers, he said and I quote, 'I'm possessed by the spirit of an ancient, magic warlord that got turned into a grimm.' While his intent may have been to throw me off with an obviously ridiculous statement, his change in personality, access to new abilities, and potential usage of magic? It all makes too much sense."

As they pondered this, James turned to the headmaster and asked, "What do you think Ozpin? You would be the most knowledgeable on this subject."

Ozpin was silent for a beat as he thought this over. "In all honesty, I do not know. But it wouldn't surprise me if Jaune was telling the truth."

"Really?" Qrow asked, bewildered. "You think there's someone else out there like you? And they got turned to a grimm? And you don't think they'd be on her side?"

"As far as I know, Salem does not have the capabilities to gift such abilities. And if she did, why would she bother taking the time to hunt down the Maidens if she could bequeath equivalent power herself? No, I have a feeling Jaune is something else. And while I have never heard of a fairy tale of a man becoming a grimm, it would not surprise me if such a thing existed." Ozpin silently wondered if the Two Brothers were involved in this, as this is almost sounding like a combination of both his and Salem's backstories.

"Regardless, we should take him in." Ironwood pushed. "If he is not allied with Salem, then he will make a powerful ally in our fight against her."

"I don't believe Jaune would respond well to such pressure. Any attempt to force him will end in violence. And I have seen some of what he is capable of, James, we do not want to start that fight without good reason. Not unless you are ready to willingly consign dozens of your men to death." Glynda shook her head. "He has become fiercely independent, believing only in his team and himself."

"Speaking of his team…" Qrow drawled out. "I know that we're in need of a new host of Autumn. And I know that we were decided on the Nikos girl, considering the fact that she's by far the best fighter in Beacon right now. But do we really want to risk it if Arc is a spy or a nega-Ozpin or something."

"A nega-Ozpin? Really?" Glynda raised a brow at her colleague.

Qrow shrugged. "If the shoe fits…"

"Regardless, out of everyone, I still believe Miss Nikos would be the best candidate for the Fall Maiden." Ozpin spoke to everyone's surprise. "If Mr. Arc's power truly is magical in nature, then we will need someone with magic in return to counter him. But Glynda, from what you've said, it seems unlikely that two would ever come to blows, correct? From what I understand, the two have become extremely close, more so than most partners tend to."

Glynda brought her hand to her chin in contemplation. "Hmm. Yes, from what I've seen Jaune is viciously protective of his partner. His actions in class and during the Breach would suggest so. I don't believe that there is anyone who would fight so hard to protect Miss Nikos as Jaune would. And I don't believe that there would be anything left of anyone who attempts to harm her."

James was the first to connect the dots and understand Ozpin's idea. "So instead of coercing him directly, by making Miss Nikos a Maiden, you would enlist his help by forcing his hand in order to protect his partner." Ironwood nodded his head. "Rather underhanded for my taste, but it makes sense. And it's discrete, as you so obviously value." He said as he cast a sideways glance at Qrow.

Qrow surprisingly decided to ignore the clumsy jab at him. "And like you said, if the worst does happen, I'd rather have a magical invincible girl on our side to take him down than a non-magic one."

"Then we've come to an accord." Ozpin declared. "Following their next match, we will bring Miss Nikos here, and seek to make her our guardian. And with luck, Jaune will become her guardian in turn."

Jaune's nose twitched as the smell of ash and ozone struck him, causing him to immediately wake up. Following their victory over team BRNZ and his subsequent talk with Glynda, Jaune returned to his dorm to rest along with his team. So for him to smell the stench of fire and lightning meant only one thing. As Jaune opened his eyes, his suspicions were confirmed as he found himself on the same ruined planet his last vision of the dreadlocked man had placed him. He was on Malachor.

Picking himself of the cold granite beneath him, Jaune looked around to get his bearings. He was in some kind of valley of shadows and death, surrounded by the corpses of both airships and soldiers. A green misama drifted slightly above the ground, further obscuring his vision. That's when Jaune sensed it. A disturbance. A series of pin pricks on the back of his neck warning him of danger.

Jaune turned his head, facing one of the ruined carcasses of a massive hammerhead Republic airship. In the wreck, out of a gaping wound carved out of its side, Jaune saw a figure emerge. It was a tall male figure, shrouded in a long, black cloak that faded into the shadows. His face was obscured by his hood, but Jaune didn't need to see it in order to identify him. The anger, the hate, the hunger, Jaune could sense it all. Despite lacking the bone grimm mask Jaune had come to identify him with, Jaune knew that this was the dreadlocked figure of his dreams, the man who taught him to embrace his emotions and power.

It did not shock Jaune that the dreadlocked figure had survived the "death" that Jaune had seen previously. But he was not the being of raw terror and hunger that Jaune saw during the Breach. Instead he seemed… lesser, emaciated and weak, as if he were barely clinging to life. As was the norm with these visions, the figure did not seem to take notice of Jaune as he left his ramshackle home.

The figure hobbled forward, unsteady and ready to keel over at any moment. He ignored Jaune as he walked passed, making his way further into the valley. Jaune watched as the figure approached one of the corpses on the ground. No… Jaune realized that was not a corpse, but the still living body of a Republic Soldier, skeletal and pale, but still alive. The soldier barely reacted when the cloaked figure approached him, and he made nothing more than a groan as the figure extended his hand towards him.

Out of the cloaked figure's fingers, black and red lightning shot out, crashing into the soldier. Jaune watched as the soldier shriveled more and more, becoming nothing more than a desecrated corpse as the cloaked figure drained all of the lifeforce out of him. As he continued to drain, Jaune watched as the cloaked figure physically became stronger. He stood up taller, became more stable, and Jaune could even sense that he had more of a metaphysical presence than he had before. And this had also confirmed one other thing for Jaune. That he could drain other people, not just grimm, and it would strengthen him all the same.

As Jaune pondered the consequences of learning this, a new voice spoke out behind him and the cloaked figure.

"It is such a curious thing, isn't it? To have such power, but to be chained by it." It was the voice of a woman, crackly and old, backed with condescension.

Immediately both Jaune and the cloaked figure turned. The cloaked figure had no weapons to speak of, but had both of his hands raised, ready to strike out if necessary. That's when Jaune saw the speaker. It was an old woman, as he surmised, wearing simple black robes. She had deep set wrinkles engraved in a face that was framed by wispy white hair. What stuck out the most to Jaune were her eyes, glazed over milky white, no doubt resulting in blindness, but alive and aware nonetheless. However, despite her apparent fragility, Jaune knew this woman was dangerous. Despite only being here for a few minutes, even Jaune knew that only the strong and deadly could survive on this graveyard world. This woman held power.

Beside her was a man, or what was left of one. Between a stance that just dripped confidence, and his well built physique, Jaune could tell the man was a mighty warrior. But that's now what stuck out to Jaune. What stuck out was the fact that every inch of the man's body was covered with scars, cracks, and decomposing flesh. He looked more like a corpse than a living thing, and Jaune had no idea how he wasn't currently screaming in agony as he radiated pain.

"Who… are… you?" The cloaked man asked, every word he wheezed out a struggle.

"I… am the one who heard your call." The old woman spoke out once more. "Heard the echo of what has happened here. And I am here to help you."

The cloaked figure tilted his head incredulously. "Help..." he rasped out. "What… help… could… you… give me?"

"What I can give you is knowledge. And knowledge is power." The elderly woman began to approach, ignoring the cloaked figure's defensive posture. "Tell me, do you know what is happening to you? Why you hunger so?"

Both Jaune and the cloaked figure recoiled at the words. This woman… she knew what he was. What his hunger was. He needed the answer.

"What… is happening… to me?" The cloaked figure asked the question in Jaune's heart.

"What is happening to you is the will of the Force." The woman stated plainly.

"THE FORCE!?" The cloaked figure roared, anger overriding the pain he was feeling. "Why!? I… gave everything up for the Force! What…" the figure fell forward coughing. "What… what is it doing to me?"

Despite the obvious pain the cloaked figure was in, neither the old woman nor the scarred man moved to aid him. Jaune even saw the slightest hint of smirk on the scarred man's face.

The old woman remained impassive as she responded. "The battle on this world resulted in far more than the deaths of the many thousands that now orbit it. The war the Mandalorians wrought has corrupted this place, a corruption borne of the Dark Side of the Force, a corruption that has suffused your very being."

Jaune could see the cloaked man shaking on the ground. "But... that means…"

"Yes." The woman confirmed with no comfort in her voice. "You are a wound in the Force. A void in that celestial parasite that controls all of what occurs. That controls all of us." The woman sneered. "Through you is the death of all things connected to the Force, leeching the very life from those you kill, taking their connection to the Force and adding it to you own, albeit temporarily."

"Can… you help me control it? Can you… heal me?" the cloaked figure wheezed.

"Heal you?" The woman scoffed. "I cannot and would not provide such comfort. What I can provide is knowledge, teachings in the old ways to appease your hunger, hone it into a fine blade. But it will be up to you to your own strength of will to see whether you will control your power, or if it will control you."

"You wish… to make me an apprentice? Into… a Sith?" The cloaked figure spat out the last word.

"That…" the old woman snapped at him. "Is a mere label that limits what you can potentially become. I see much within you, of what you can possibly accomplish, should you shed the archaic preconceptions the Jedi have indoctrinated you with."

The cloaked figure thought for a moment, conflicted on all aspects. But then he looked at his hands, rotted and decayed, then felt his throat, failing and eroded. He knew the hunger was consuming him as much as he consumed others. If he did not act, if he did not learn how to control it, the power would destroy him.

"I… accept… my Master." The cloaked figure bowed his head. "I pledge myself… to your teachings."

"Good." The old woman said tersely. "I am Traya, and this is your fellow apprentice, Sion. We shall need a name to call you as well."

"My… name is…" the cloaked figure rasped before Traya cut him off.

"No. Who you were is irrelevant. That person died on Malachor, another unknown casualty in a war that killed millions. Henceforth, you shall be Darth… Nihilus."

"Thank you… Master." the newly named Darth Nihilus bowed once more.

"Rise." Traya commanded and Nihilus did so. "Come. I have begun the construction of an… academy of sorts upon this graveyard world. There we shall begin your teachings."

As the triumvirate left, Jaune sought to follow, to learn of these abilities as well, but soon found himself surrounded by darkness, caught in the muck of shadows, unable to follow. The shadows then spread, overtaking Jaune's entire body, till he saw nothing but black.

When Jaune awoke, he found himself on his bed, sweating profusely. Quickly turning his head, he looked and saw that the rest of his team was asleep. Jaune then laid back down, and reached underneath his pillow, where he kept the Mask of Darth Nihilus.

Jaune knew what he had to do. He had to feed.

"And with that, Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos of team JNPR claim victory over Teera and Seera Sun of team TWSN (Twin Suns)!" Professor Oobleck cheered as the Arkos duo stood over the twin fighters from Haven.

It was the next day, and the Amity Festival continued as planned. After their overwhelming victory in the first round, team JNPR moved onto the doubles round where they fought against team TWSN of Haven.

Teera and Seera Sun were a beautiful pair of squid faunus from Mistral, clad in skin tight leathers, wielding a pair of dual scimitars and pistols respectively. While the femme fatale team would prove troublesome to most teams, neither of the would-be huntresses could stand against the power of Jaune and skill of Pyrrha. With their opponents defeated and their place in the finals secured, the Arkos duo left the arena and made their way to the locker room.

Despite the overwhelming victory however, neither the champion nor the knight seemed to be in high spirits. Jaune's brows were creased in frustration and anger. He was hungry, the desire to feed and drain magnified by combat. It would've been easy, so easy to simply drain one of those leather clad whores of their life force. But even as his desperation increased, he knew that trying to drain his opponents in front of an entire audience of thousands while on live broadcast was most likely a bad idea.

Meanwhile Pyrrha couldn't take any joy in the victory as well. Not only could she sense Jaune's discontent and frustration, but his actions during the battle were a cause for concern. Jaune was brutal in his decimation of the twin faunus, far more vicious than was necessary and Pyrrha's worry was reaching its limit. She's been trying to help Jaune, to get him to open up, but how could she help someone who so adamantly doesn't want it?

As she thought on this, Pyrrha jumped a bit as Jaune slammed his locker closed, putting his weapon away. Pyrrha stared at her partner's face from the side, his skin pale, eyes circled by dark bags. No, she had to do something, regardless of what Jaune wanted, his foolish pride be damned.

"Jaune…" Pyrrha meekly began, "are you ok?"

Jaune's head snapped to the redhead, eyes boring into her. Pyrrha almost jumped back at the suddenness of the movement, but she shoved any reaction down.

"I'm fine." Jaune growled out before turning around and making his way for the exit.

No! Pyrrha was not just going to let him walk away again!

Striding forward with a scowl of her own, Pyrrha caught to up Jaune and forcefully grabbed his shoulder. "Jaune! I know something is wrong. I am not blind!" She snapped back at her partner before adopting a softer tone. "It's not a sign of weakness to need help! It's human to need help from others!"

Jaune felt his scowl start to evolve into a full blown snarl. First Glynda, now Pyrrha! Who were these people to think that they knew better than him! What gave them the right to try and control what he does with his powers!? Fools, all of them! Jaune felt himself instinctively begin to reach out with the Force. He should just go into her mind and tear out her memories again. It would make things so much easier.

But before Jaune could do anything of the sort, he caught sight of his partner's eyes. Emerald green orbs drilled into him, naked in their desire to help him. The same emerald eyes that had helped him every step of the way during his time at Beacon. The eyes of the partner who had always watched his back. The eyes of the woman for whom he would destroy the world for. And he wanted to tear apart her mind like it was nothing? What was wrong with him?

For the briefest moment, Jaune felt his anger ebb. A crack formed in the facade of rage and anger that had driven him forward. And from behind the anger, the hate, and the fear, Jaune could feel something, something he hadn't felt in weeks, sorrow. Sorrow and regret.

"I…" Jaune stammered out the certainty he once had now fading. "I'm just… tired, Pyr."

"Tired?" Pyrrha asked, careful not to show her excitement that Jaune was finally opening up. "Of what?"

Jaune let himself stagger back, leaning against a locker. "I'm just... tired of everything. All of this is too much. I feel like, there's just so much going on around me, pulling me and controlling me. These memories, these powers, it's like I've lost control of my own life, and I don't know what's going on anymore." Jaune let himself slide down the locker until he found himself sitting on the ground.

Pyrrha wasted no time to sit down beside him, but was unsure of what to say. Instead she silently put one arm around him in a comforting hug.

"I know his name now." He began after a beat of silence.

"Of the man from your memories?"

Jaune nodded. "Yeah. His name is Nihilus."

"Hmm." Pyrrha mulled the name over for a second. "Nihilus. Nihil. Means nothingness. Seems fitting, I guess."

"Yeah." Jaune let out a small chuckle before the smile fell away from his face.

"And the memories. You've been having more of them?" Pyrrha asked.

Jaune nodded. "Yeah, but it's not just memories. It's emotions, feelings. At least I think they are. It used to be when I was in danger, or when I would get angry, I would feel my emotions amplify, and that would make me stronger. Now though, fear, anger, hate…" hunger, but he couldn't bring himself to say that part. "I feel them all the time, and I don't know if it's my own emotions or his. If it's my personality or his."

"Is he always there?"

Jaune nodded. "I think so. Most of the time he's not presenting himself, but I know he's watching, listening. Waiting in the back of my mind, whispering to me when I need it."

"I'm… I'm sorry." Pyrrha didn't know what to say in response to that utterly terrifying statement. "But Jaune, that's why you need to let us help you. If he's really… taking you over… we need to stop it. Stop him." Pyrrha's mind absently wandered to a memory of a certain book that Blake had read about a man with two souls, each fighting for control.

"But that's the thing Pyr. I don't know if I want to stop." Jaune felt himself shrink as he sensed Pyrrha's shock and dismay at what he said. "He's the one that pushed me to embrace my darkness, but I don't need him to tell me anymore to do it. Like I said, the emotions give me power. And channeling all of that...darkness, it changed me. It's more than just power, it's like… can you imagine what it would be like if tomorrow, you lost your aura? How… impotent it would make you feel? Not using anger is like losing my aura. It makes me feel... incomplete."

While Pyrrha didn't want to admit it, she could actually see where Jaune was coming from. Aura had given her so many blessings, and despite all of the drawbacks of becoming a champion, she couldn't imagine a life without the superhuman strength and agility that aura gave her. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to just be normal again.

When she didn't respond, Jaune continued. "But I should be able to control it. I should be stronger than this, better than this. I am not the same weakling who vomited on the bullhead. I want to be able to resist, but at the same time I don't."

"Jaune I've watched you grow ever since the start of the year. I know just how strong you are, and I am proud of how far you've come." Pyrrha wrapped her arms around her partner even tighter. "But you don't have to be stronger. You don't have to prove yourself to anyone. You're strong enough already. And together, we can stop him."

Jaune felt himself curl up at Pyrrha's words. Almost desperately, Jaune's arms wrapped around his partner as well, clinging to the warmth of her embrace. "Please Pyrrha…" Jaune begged. "Please don't leave me."

"I won't." She whispered to him. "I promise you, I won't leave and I will do whatever it takes to protect you."

Jaune and Pyrrha didn't know how long they stayed there on locker room floor, the only noise was the muffled cheers of a far away crowd. It was the most peaceful scene Jaune had for many days, that is until the noise of a scroll message broke the calm.

Pyrrha's head, which had been resting upon Jaune's shoulder immediately snapped up, slightly red with embarrassment. "Oh, sorry. I thought I had left it on silent." Pyrrha opened up her scroll and began to read through the message. Whatever the content of the message was however, it seemed to put Pyrrha on edge.

"Everything alright?" Jaune asked.

"It's the headmaster." Pyrrha mumbled out. "He's saying he wishes to speak with me in his office." Pyrrha couldn't help but wonder why. Did it have to do with Jaune, or was she in trouble for something else?

Jaune sensed Prryha's internal conflict and said, "You don't have to see him if you don't want to."

Pyrrha thought on this for a few minutes before ultimately saying. "No, I don't think the headmaster would try to contact me unless it was important." She then turned to Jaune. "But I think we made good progress here Jaune. I know this must be hard for you, but as long as you're willing to change, willing to get help, we can get through this." Pyrrha then placed her hand on top of Jaune's.

"Thanks Pyr." He said, his voice carrying traces of sad indignation as he squeezed Pyrrha's hand.

Pyrrha felt a flash of heat go through her face as Jaune gripped her hand. The small, insidious part of her mind told her that this was the perfect opportunity to just pull him in for a kiss. Or at the very least tell him how she felt. A sense of connection, longing, and protectiveness for him that she believed were feelings of love. The words were on the tip of her tongue, desperate to be let loose. But in the end, any type of confession died before it could leave her mouth. Jaune was too vulnerable right now, too confused. It wouldn't be fair of her to make his life even more complicated by throwing teenage romance into it as well.

And so, with feelings buried, Pyrrha stood and dusted herself off. "Well, I suppose I should be off to see the headmaster." She then turned to her partner who stood as well. "Jaune, while I'm gone I don't want you to hide away and brood in our dorm."

"What? I don't brood." Jaune denied, but the look Pyrrha gave him in return was so flat that he had to avert his vision. "Ok, fine. I guess I could… go to the fairgrounds, or something."

Pyrrha smiled. "Good… good." She then gave him another tight hug. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Just… try to enjoy yourself, for me?"

Jaune forced himself to give a weak smile in return. "Yeah, I'll try. Don't worry about me. You go find out what the headmaster needs."

With that, the Arkos duo split up. True to his word, Jaune began to make his way to Beacon's fairgrounds. Local shopkeeps from all across Vale had set up temporary stalls along Beacon's campus for selling to both the visiting students as well as all of the tourists here to watch the tournament. It was no secret that the Vytal Festival was an economic boost for the hosting kingdom in addition to being a celebration meant to bring the kingdoms together.

But Jaune was not interested in the celebrations and general merriment that went on around him. As he approached the fair, Jaune felt something lurch within him. The hunger, the pain returned once more. Quickly, he realized that coming here was a mistake.

While he was with Pyrrha in the locker room, the hunger he had been feeling was soothed, sedated. It was as if her very presence alone helped assuage the void within him. But here, alone within a crowd of strangers that numbered in the hundreds, the voracious hunger returned with a vengeance.

Jaune bit his lip hard to try and focus on anything but the hunger, tasting blood as he did. Pushing himself through the crowd, Jaune trudged forward till he found a spot where he could seclude himself, a tall tree whose leaves had turned a dull red as they fell to the whims of autumn. His body wracked with pain, Jaune steadied himself along the tree as he slowly sat down alongside it.

As his butt hit the ground, Jaune took in a deep breath to try and calm himself. He closed his eyes, and threw his hood over his head to try and block out everyone and everything around him. He focused inward and attempted to meditate, but it was to no avail. Even within the sanctity of his inner mind, the hunger was overwhelming, overpowering. Amongst such a terrifying, omnipresent force, what hope could Jaune have to try and fight against it? What was the point of even trying?

Withdrawing from his internal self and returning to the physical world, Jaune watched in annoyance as the various students and visitors walked by him. Just one. If he could drain just one of them, he could possibly sate his hunger. His eyes darted from teenager to teenager, till his gaze fell upon the familiar sight of a brown-coated bunny-eared faunus. Jaune watched as Velvet, the upperclassman he had helped earlier in the year walk the grounds alone, trepidatiously exploring the stalls as she avoided the looks of Atlas students.

Jaune idly wondered how easy it would be for him to corner Velvet. He could probably call out to her, get her to follow him somewhere secluded, then drain her of everything she has. While the two of them haven't had much interaction since the cafeteria incident, she seems to have some implicit form of trust in Jaune since he both talked down and beat down Cardin. As the basic framework of his ambush began to appear in his mind, his vision flashed back to the sorrowful face of Pyrrha back in the locker room. Jaune shook his head, angrily clearing the thoughts of attacking Velvet out of it. Velvet was a friend, and he wouldn't hurt her. He refused.

But… but why should that matter if she's his friend or not? She can sate his hunger. Or perhaps, he could find someone that was universally hated to feed on. He doubted that anyone would really miss Cardin if he led him to a dark alley and ripped his soul from his body.

"Hey Jaune, everything going alright?" A new voice called out to his side, snapping him out of his inner monologue. "You're looking kinda broody."

Jaune turned to the voice and saw Ruby, hands behind her back and eyebrow raised at Jaune's current brooding.

"I'm fine." He sighed. "And I don't brood."

"Really?" she incredulously asked as she took a seat beside him. "Because you look like Zwei after that one time he accidentally ate grapes. No offense"

"Heh, you know you're probably right about that." Jaune snorted, laughing off the comparison, before sighing once more as his smile fell off his face.

"Is this about your powers again?"

Jaune hesitated for a moment, before relenting and said, "Yeah, yeah it is." Jaune ran his hand through his unkempt hair. "I'm stronger than I have ever been. But it's coming at a cost. I know it is. I feel like I'm losing myself."

Ruby frowned. "Well, I can't exactly give any advice on mysterious powers, but if you're really struggling you don't have to do it alone." She put one hand on his shoulder. "Me, your team, my team." she paused to think, before adding on, "Maybe not my team. But regardless we're all here to help you out. So you don't need to be hiding around the fairgrounds alone like some creepy stalker."

The pure, unadulterated innocence and wholesomeness that radiated off of Ruby almost blinded Jaune. Even though he wasn't feeling particularly happy, he forced a smile to his face and said, "Thanks Ruby." he wrapped his arms around her in a hug before he felt the urge to say, "And regardless of what happens from now on, I'm glad you're the first friend I made here."

Ruby returned the hug with a tight embrace as she berated him. "Jaune you really need to stop saying dark stuff like that. You know how bad your luck is."

Chapter Text

"You were deafened."

"At last you could hear."

"You were broken."

"You were whole."

"You were blinded."

"And at last, you saw."

-The Jedi Council and Kreia to the Jedi Exile Meetra Surik.

Chapter 17: Destiny

Pyrrha nervously twiddled her thumbs as she rode the elevator up to Professor Ozpin's office. She wasn't sure why, but Pyrrha felt nervous, much like she did before her first ever tournament fight. As the elevator opened up she spotted Professor Ozpin sitting behind his desk. On the right side of the room she saw a man she had never seen before, a disheveled man with spiky black hair and crimson red eyes. On the left was Professor Goodwitch and General Ironwood. Pyrrha caught Glynda's eyes as she entered, and the professor gave her a comforting nod and smile which Pyrrha returned. The office itself was tinted with a dull, orange haze as the many open windows gave a majestic view of the currently occurring sunset.

"Ah Miss Nikos. Please, take a seat." the headmaster greeted with a smile as he gestured to the open chair in front of his desk.

Pyrrha gave another small smile in return and took a seat. She glanced at the stranger standing there, but he made no motion to introduce himself, instead opting to take a drink from his flask. The action somewhat disconcerted Pyrrha, but Ozpin didn't seem to mind his presence so she decided to ignore him. Meanwhile Professor Goodwitch and the General were content to let Ozpin do the talking.

"I'm sorry to have called you up so suddenly, Miss Nikos." Ozpin began. "I hear your match in the semi-finals went well. I assume your team is sending you to the finals?"

Pyrrha gave an awkward chuckle, "Well we still need to talk about that. We weren't sure who to send, myself or Jaune."

"Sure, sending an attack dog to the finals is a real good look." Qrow snarked.

Turning at the interruption and rude insult at her teammate and leader, Pyrrha stood and glared at the stranger, an action that was mirrored by Glynda. "I'm sorry, who are you?" she asked, voice devoid of its usually politeness.

"The name's Qrow." he growled back.

"Qrow is a trusted colleague of mine." Ozpin intervened before any incident could occur between the two of them.

Pyrrha maintained her glare on Qrow for a beat longer, before returning to the headmaster. "Professor, why did you call me here?"

Still smiling, Ozpin said. "Please take a seat." And when Pyrrha did so, he continued. "Tell me, what is your favorite fairy tale?"

Pyrrha stood nervously in the elevator as she rode it down surrounded by Ozpin, Qrow, Glynda, and Ironwood.

"Where are we going?" Pyrrha apprehensively asked.

"The vault, under the school." Ozpin responded calmly.

The elevator dinged open, revealing a massive, underground tunnel lined with dim, green lights.

"So these Maidens…" Pyrrha began as she exited the elevator with the professors, taking in all of the sights around her. "You say I can be next in line to take their powers, but how does the power choose?"

"Through a series of bullshit rules." Qrow drawled out.

"Qrow." Glynda snapped, before turning to Pyrrha. "As we understand it, when a Maiden dies, whoever is in her final thoughts is the first candidate to inherit her power."

"Unless it's a dude or an old hag. Then it goes to someone random." Qrow chimed in once more. "Then our job gets a whole lot harder." As Qrow finished speaking, he turned back ahead as they had arrived at their destination.

And that's when Pyrrha saw her. The Fall Maiden, her beautiful dark skin burned and scarred, currently held in some sort of stasis pod connected to a large machine, with a second pod on the opposite side.

"Is that…" Pyrrha whispered out as she hesitantly stepped forward.

"The current Fall Maiden. Amber." Ozpin sighed and let his head hang at his failure to protect her.

Pyrrha watched in abject horror as Amber's chest slowly rose up and down. "And she's still alive?"

"For now." Ironwood answered. "We're using Atlas technology to keep her stable, but there's a lot about this situation that's unprecedented. Normally when she passes, the power would transfer over to the next host. But it's not uncommon for the last thoughts of the slain to be of their attacker. And to make matters worse, her power has been split, it's more than possible it will seek out her other half."

"Which her assailant has." Pyrrha connected the dots.

"And none of us want that." Ozpin added on. "The worst case scenario is someone who would abuse this power becoming or controlling a Maiden. It's why our organization hid the Maidens away, letting them fade into legend hundreds of years ago. In doing so we prevent war and panic the mere existence of the Maidens would cause."

"And you want me to inherit this power." Pyrrha murmured to herself more than anything.

Such a power offered was terrifying, as was the responsibility that came with it. But regardless of how they tried to hide it, Pyrrha could tell that Ozpin and the others were desperate for her aid, her abilities. If she had the capability to do good, was it not her duty to do so? But such power, what would it do to her?

Seeing her internally struggle, Ozpin felt compelled to tell her one more piece of information. "Yes, but that is not all. Given Amber's condition, you cannot inherit her powers naturally. But General Ironwood believes he has a solution."

"We in Atlas have been studying Aura from a more scientific standpoint; how it works, what it's made of, how it can be used. We've made significant strides, and we believe we've found a way to capture it." The general answered. "Capture it and transfer it into something, or someone else."

Pyrrha's face fell at that revelation. "That's... wrong!" she cried out.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." James countered. "But there is a catch. We can't transfer Amber's power to you, but we can give you what those powers are bound to."

Pyrrha's sense of dread deepened. "... Her Aura."

"Her life…" Ozpin added on. "Would become intertwined with yours. Fusing your soul with hers. The question is..."

"What's that going to do to you?" Qrow finished.

As the gravity of the choice weighed upon her, Ozpin nodded and said. "And even then, there is no guarantee the transfer will work. And if it does, there's no telling if you will be the same person after."

That's when the parallels of this situation clicked in Pyrrha's head. Everything they talked about sounded similar to what was happening with Jaune. His constantly growing abilities, his drastic change in personality. Jaune's power made him far stronger than anyone else, but it changed him for the worse.

"That…" Pyrrha held her tongue for a brief second, wondering if it was her place to tell them about Jaune.

She looked the faculty over, and while she did not know either Qrow or the General enough to properly read them, she could tell at least professor Goodwitch and Ozpin were sympathetic to her plight. She also knew that Jaune was closer to professor Goodwitch more than any of the other faculty member. And despite all of her words, Pyrrha didn't really know how to help Jaune other than being there for him.

Resolving herself, Pyrrha spoke. "That sounds ominously familiar." The teachers had a small look of surprise, but didn't interrupt as she kept speaking. "Jaune… he's been having… dreams. Memories even, of another man he's never seen before. A warrior that Jaune believes gave him his powers. And not just his power… Jaune, he thinks the man's memories or personality may be overriding or merging with his own. Anyone could tell that Jaune is different now. He's..." Pyrrha's mouth dried as she said the next words. "He's becoming dangerous, both to himself and to others.

It hurt Pyrrha's heart to speak of this, to reveal the secrets of someone so close to her without their permission. But Pyrrha said she would do what she had to to make sure Jaune got help. The teachers all glanced at each other, their faces a mixture of concern and alarm, however muted.

Glynda stepped forward towards Pyrrha and said in a hushed tone, "I noticed something similar, Pyrrha. While I was not aware of the dreams, Jaune did imply something about this happening to me. That combined with his newfound abilities…"

"Yeah the power to shoot lightning from his fingertips and drain the life force out of Grimm ain't exactly natural." Qrow grumbled out, earning another glare from Glynda.

"Drain Grimm of their life force?" Pyrrha parotted, confused.

Glynda cast her a sympathetic look. "He didn't tell you." she whispered more to confirm it to herself than to inform the redhead. "During the Breach, Jaune displayed the ability to, as Qrow put it, drain the life from the Grimm, leaving them withered husks. Ever since then we have become aware of Jaune's changes. We believe that Jaune may have undergone a similar process such as this, most likely between the time he left home and when he arrived at Beacon."

"Do you know what will happen to him?" Pyrrha pleaded with the teachers.

Glynda bit her lip, unsure of what to say, causing Ozpin to step forward, "That we are not entirely sure about. We are dealing with powerful, ancient magics that go beyond our current scientific understanding. What is currently happening to Jaune may be more of a contest of his individual will than anything else. He may be able to wrest control from this spirit, or he may be absorbed by the spirit, disappearing into its subconscious." A fate that befell many of Ozma's hosts. "And should he fail to contain this other soul he is fighting, then a being of similar power may be the only thing capable of stopping him."

Pyrrha opened her mouth to protest, saying that Jaune wouldn't lose, but she knew that would've been a lie. She had literally just said Jaune was becoming more and more dangerous. But even so, in her heart she believed that Jaune was still a good person. That he could take control of his powers and the changes happening to him. It was a desperate hope, fleeting and fading with every moment, but still clinging to life nonetheless.

Looking back at Amber's unconscious body, a thought came to her. "Wait, if this machine is able to transfer Amber's powers to me, can't we use it to transfer whatever spirit is in Jaune out of him?"

The professors were surprised by Pyrrha's idea, and Ironwood brought his hand to his chin, thinking about this. "It's… possible. But remember this machine does not transfer powers, but aura. It would literally rip Jaune's soul out, most likely killing him."

"Then what about the person who tried to steal the Maiden's power in the first place?" Pyrrha frantically asked. "They obviously have some way of stealing magic."

"No!" Ozpin snapped at her, slamming his cane onto the ground, shocking everyone present. "I'm sorry, but it is imperative that those we fight never get their hands on a power such as Jaune's. They only seek war and destruction, and they would rather let the spirit take Jaune over completely than try and save him.

"Miss Nikos, I understand what you are going through, believe me. Sometimes… there are those we cannot save, no matter how much we want to." Pyrrha looked absolutely shattered at Ozpin's refusal, causing him to sigh.

"But…" Ironwood interrupted, drawing all eyes to him. "Were we to have enough time to study Jaune and his powers, perhaps we could gain a better understanding of what is happening to him, and how to save him."

Pyrrha lit up at this, while Ozpin glared disapprovingly at general. "Really?" Pyrrha excitedly asked.

Ironwood put up a hand, causing her to pause. "I can offer no guarantees. Only that Atlas has made many strides in the study of not only aura, but of the Maidens as well. If there is someone who can figure out what is going on, it is my science team." Ironwood then scowled at Pyrrha. "But even then, would your team leader want to give up his abilities? Power is corrupting, and as Ozpin said, only a being of similar capabilities would be able to stop him. Would you be able to fight him even if it was to save him?"

"I'll… need to think about this." Pyrrha said, deflating a bit. She needed to truly see how far Jaune has fallen. But if Jaune were to lose control, could she fight him? Was she strong enough to do that?

"You have an important decision before you." Ozpin nodded. "Both for yourself and for the fate of your leader. I advise that you take time to think on this matter. But understand that before the Vytal Festival is over, we will need your answer."

Pyrrha didn't respond. Instead, she placed a hand on the pod containing Amber, and stared deeply at the sleeping maiden. She didn't know what the best choice was, or if there even was an option, to save Jaune.

It was the following day and the crowds of Amity Arena were roaring as the singles matches began. Eight fighters stood side by side along the colosseum floor, the most important being Penny, Sun, Mercury, Yang, and Jaune. It was a shock to many, including Jaune himself, for him to be picked for the singles matches, but Pyrrha had said she was not feeling 100% and that Jaune would stand a better chance than she would.

Jaune knew that was a lie, but didn't call her out on it. Jaune could sense something was wrong with Pyrrha; indecision, fear, and anxiety bled off her. With his empathetic senses it was impossible for him not to notice. Especially because all of these emotions were specifically directed towards him. Jaune didn't know what occurred yesterday, but something happened during her talk with the headmaster to affect her this badly.

Scowling, Jaune wondered what the headmaster said to her, if he hurt her at all. That sent another spike of anger through him. If the headmaster thinks he can play games with Pyrrha he was mistaken. Pyrrha was his, and he would destroy anything that would take her from him.

Before Jaune could continue on this train of thought, the holographic screens of the area selected the next match up.

"Mercury Black and Yang Xiao Long!" Professor Port boomed over the speakers.

With that Jaune began to make his way off the stage, until he sensed something strange once more. Glancing at Mercury, he felt the same smug, deceptive aura that he radiated during their fight in combat class. The boy was planning something. Jaune considered going to Yang to warn her, but ultimately decided not to.

Yang always had a terrible habit of running head first into an issue and paying for it later. Mt. Glenn, the Breach, there were multiple examples of her nearly getting taken out because she couldn't control her anger. Passion gave strength, yes, but only if one can control their passion, not the other way around. Either Yang would overcome this challenge, and grow from it. Or she would fail, and due to the decidedly non lethal measures of the school, learn from the failure.

And so, Jaune swiftly made his way to his team, all sitting in their own front row seats. He could still sense the apprehension from Pyrrha as he sat down with his team, but he didn't say anything. He sighed, and hoped the fight would be a good diversion.

"Yang Xiao Long, stand down!" The Atlesian soldiers ordered, rifles trained on the huntress.

"What!? Why!?" Yang called out as Mercury began screaming, his leg bent the wrong way from Yang's Ember Cecilia.

Everyone around Jaune sported looks of surprise, horror, and even hatred towards Yang for crippling the silver-haired boy. Even the rest of team JNPR were horrified by their friend's action.

Jaune's reaction was far less animated than everyone else.

"Pathetic." Jaune mumbled out, quiet enough that only Pyrrha beside him heard.

His partner turned to him, her mouth agape in horror at what Jaune just said. "What?" she was barely able to whisper out.

Jaune's gaze quickly flickered to his partner, before turning back to the scene in front of them. "Yang had already proven herself the victor. I had hoped she would have better mastery of her passion than this. Such feelings would be better served elsewhere." An image of the old woman Traya from his dream appeared in his mind as he recited the philosophy. "Psychotic urges like this have no purpose. Cruelty begets cruelty, actions like this will reverberate and have more far reaching repercussions than we know."

Briefly, Jaune wondered if this still would've occurred if he decided to warn Yang that Mercury was planning something, but he shunted those thoughts from his mind. Aside from the pointlessness of pondering "what if's," whatever machinations Black was planning most likely ended when Yang maimed him.

Ultimately feeling curious, Jaune extended his senses out to the fighters to gauge Yang's thoughts. Strangely enough, Yang was not expressing the overt passion and rage he was expecting, but instead bled fear and confusion. Meanwhile Mercury continued to emanate his smug, confident aura.

That was curious. Was this part of Mercury's plan? If so, why would he want to cripple himself? What purpose would that serve? Before Jaune could dive any deeper, he felt pain once more. The echoes of anger, fear, and condemnation from the audience began to overwhelm his empathetic senses. All of this negative emotion was making him hungry. Growling, Jaune stood and began to make his way out of the arena.

"Jaune!" He heard Pyrrha call out behind him, but Jaune didn't stop.

Conflicted, Pyrrha turned to see the Atlas soldiers leading Yang off the stage while a pair of medics moved Mercury onto a stretcher. Seeing nothing she could really do here, she stood and made for her partner, the rest of her team following as well.

As Pyrrha followed Jaune out of the arena, her mind was racing with a thousand thoughts a minute, replaying the scene that just happened, and Jaune's response to it. Yang was impulsive and violent, but she'd never been so... needlessly cruel before. And Jaune, Jaune had no empathy for either Yang or Mercury. No care for the fact that their friend may have just committed a crime or that a fellow student was crippled.

He didn't even seem to regret his words, like when he allows his emotions get the better of him while talking to his team. Pyrrha sighed. Was Jaune really so far fallen? Was he really losing the battle against Nihilus so badly? While Pyrrha was lost in her thoughts, team JNPR eventually made their way off of the arena, and to Beacon's fairgrounds.

Jaune, now sufficiently away from the crowd, was able to regain control of his inner emotions and hunger. Reaching a rather isolated spot by the cafeteria exterior, Jaune allowed himself to stop moving as his team finally caught up with him.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out. "What happened, why did you leave so suddenly?"

Turning to his team, Jaune crossed his arms and said, "There was nothing we could've done there. My match isn't until later tonight, and Atlas is going to be watching Yang like a hawk."

"One has to wonder what they plan to do with her." Ren commented. "That was a very public display. One that could even get the entire tournament cancelled."

"I doubt it." Nora shrugged. "I mean, accidents happen all the time right? And we all know what we're getting into every time we get into a fight. Besides the festival is too big for it to be cancelled after one incident." she then turned to face her leader, "And that's why Jaune, you gotta be in tip top shape for tonight's match!"

"What happened with Yang is a shame, but do not let your concern for her hold you back. You're now fighting for Beacon's honor." Ren nodded in agreement, misconstruing Jaune's actions for one of concern for their friend.

"Ren, Nora." Pyrrha interrupted. "I'm sorry but, could I speak with Jaune for a moment. Alone." she emphasized.

Ren raised a confused eyebrow, while Nora excitedly gasped. She grabbed Ren by the arm and started dragging him away. "Sure thing! Come on, Ren, let's go back to the fairgrounds. I'll win you another stuffed animal."

Before the Mistralian boy could protest, Nora dragged him away, leaving Jaune and Pyrrha together alone. The two stared at one another, not saying anything as an uncomfortable silence fell down around them.

After several seconds of waiting for Pyrrha to work up the nerve to say something, Jaune lost his patience and spoke first. "Something's bothering you." He stated, not asked.

Pyrrha sighed, unsurprised that Jaune knew something was wrong. "Yes." she responded sadly.

It was Jaune's turn to sigh, running his hand through his unkempt hair. "Look Pyr, I know that I've been… difficult lately. But despite everything, you've still been there for me. And it's only fair that I be there for you. So, tell me what's wrong."

Pyrrha stepped to the side, breaking eye contact with Jaune and instead looked to a tree full of orange leaves, currently succumbing to Fall.

"Jaune… do you believe in destiny?" she asked.

Jaune stepped beside her and glanced at the tree as well as he considered his answer. But Jaune felt his stomach start to drop. He had a bad feeling about this conversation. "I would like to think that as individuals, we have a choice, that we have free will. But now? With everything that's happened, I can't help but think that there's something more. Something pulling the strings, and we are all beholden to its will."

Pyrrha nodded in agreement. "I used to think that destiny wasn't a kind of inescapable fate, but rather a final goal that one worked to their whole life. But recently, I've started to see destiny in a way similar to you. So many things have been happening, falling into place in such a way that there's no way it can be just luck or coincidence."

The sinking feeling in Jaune's stomach worsened as Pyrrha continued on.

"I used to think it was my destiny to become a huntress. To protect the world. But for a little while now, I haven't cared about that goal." she then turned to face her leader once more, eyes conflicted. "I have a new goal. To save you.." She said she would do anything to save Jaune, even if that meant stopping him by force.

Jaune's senses went into overdrive as he put together what was happening. Pyrrha was now standing against him. "What did Ozpin say to you?" he growled out. He was going to tear Ozpin apart for this.

Pyrrha shook her head. "It's not about what Ozpin said, Jaune. It's about what you've said. What you've done! Jaune, do you not even realize that you never stopped to ask yourself if Yang was ok? She's our friend Jaune and you don't even care!"

Why should he care, was all Jaune thought in response. Yang was a fool who refused to learn.

Jaune's thoughts were cut off as Pyrrha cried out once more. "And it's not just that. Jaune… were you ever actually planning on telling me that your powers could drain Grimm?"

Jaune opened his mouth to protest, but no words came out. He hadn't planned on telling Pyrrha about it. His mouth shut closed, and he broke eye contact with her. That was enough of an answer for Pyrrha.

"Tell me Jaune, how much haven't you told me? How much of what you told me was a lie?" Pyrrha pleaded, but Jaune still had no answer. "Jaune don't you see what your power has done to you? Don't you remember what happened to Nihilus in your dreams?! The same exact thing is happening to you now! You need help Jaune, and I don't know if I alone can help you. If you really, truly, want to stop Nihilus, then you should come with me to speak with General Ironwood! The General thinks he may be able to help you, Jaune!"

For the briefest of moments, Jaune's surprise took over all other emotions. Would… would the General actually be able to help him? To get this hunger under control?

She lies…

The voice of Nihilus spoke within Jaune's mind.

What? Jaune thought back. No, she wouldn't. Pyrrha said she would help me.

She has betrayed you. The voice pushed. They do not want to help you. They want to use you. Make you into their slave.

Visions flashed within Jaune's mind. Images of what is, what was, and what has yet come to pass. He saw images of Ozpin, Ironwood, Glynda, and an unknown man with spiky black hair and red eyes speaking in Ozpin's office. They spoke of Jaune, and how they could use him. How they could manipulate him into fighting a grand war against a timeless enemy.

Jaune saw flashes of a possible future, fighting against hordes of Grimm alongside Pyrrha and the others, hacking their way into the deepest parts of Grimm controlled territory, to fight a being as suffused in the Dark Side as he was.

Then flashed another possibility. One where Jaune was in a cell in Atlas, placed in some kind of coma while scientists examined him. They poked and prodded him, tearing apart his insides for insight into his power. All the while, the mask of Darth Nihilus was held in the hands of General Ironwood and Professor Ozpin, who contemplated what to do with such a terrible thing.

This only made him rage. Who were Ozpin and his cohorts to try and put him in bondage? To use and manipulate him. To wrap him in chains. That was unforgivable. This power was his, and his alone. He would not give it up to someone who was more machine than man.

"NO!" Jaune viciously snapped at his partner, causing her to recoil. "You just want to sell me out to Ozpin! To Ironwood!"

"No Jaune, please! This is only to help you!" Pyrrha cried out. How could he not see this? It's like she didn't even know who he was anymore.

"Liar!" He roared out, reaching out with the Force at the same time.

Pyrrha yelped as Jaune yanked her forward, right into his grasp. Jaune's hands gripped onto Pyrrha's upper arms like a vice, sending waves of pain even through her aura.

"You won't turn against me!" Jaune snarled as Pyrrha watched his eyes shift yellow. "I won't let them take you away from me! You are mine!"

Pyrrha's shock at what was happening was quickly replaced by fear and pain as Jaune's grip tightened even more on her. "Jaune, stop! Let go, you're hurting me!" she begged as tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

It was at that moment, staring into Jaune's face of pure hatred and anger, that Pyrrha started to feel her aura drain as black and red lightning started to crackle where Jaune held her. Sheer terror flooded Pyrrha's system as her survival and combat instinct kicked in.

"LET GO!" Pyrrha screamed back as her semblance grabbed onto what metal she could find, primarily the belts of his black assassin outfit.

It wasn't much, but it was enough metal to allow Pyrrha to fling Jaune backwards. Not expecting the attack, Jaune's hands slipped off of Pyrrha as he went flying, right into a stone pillar. Pyrrha threw him back hard enough that the column cracked as Jaune flopped to the ground, barely moving.

There was a brief moment of shocked silence as Pyrrha tried to comprehend what just happened. As she did, Jaune unsteadily pushed himself to his knees, barely able to support himself. Pyrrha saw that he was shaking.

"Ja-Jaune?" the redhead meekly called out. While she didn't want to admit it, Pyrrha wanted to just leave him right then and there. He attacked her... and she was scared of him.

Jaune's head slowly rose, and she saw that tears were now pouring down his face. Jaune's eyes were unfocused, but saw both of the dark, purple bruises Pyrrha sported on her arms where he grabbed her..

You hurt her. The voice inside his head spoke once more. She was going to leave you, so you hurt her.

"I… I didn't mean to." Jaune sputtered out, horrified by what he had done. As he pushed himself up, he took one step towards Pyrrha with his hand extended, causing her to flinch and take a step back. He then saw the look of pure terror she had when she looked at him, and it broke his heart. "I'm… I'm sorry. Oh dust I'm sorry."

Jaune turned and immediately began sprinting away. He didn't know where he was running, and he didn't care who saw him. He just needed to get away.

Jaune didn't care about the random Haven student he knocked to ground as he continued to sprint through the fairgrounds. He ignored their startled cries, as well as the calls of condemnation and confusion from other bystanders. He didn't even care as he plowed through an unfortunate student who was acting as a waiter for one of the food stalls, sending plates of food crashing to the ground.

Meanwhile Pyrrha sprinted after Jaune, trying to chase her partner down, deftly dancing around the trail of destruction that Jaune left behind. She may have been scared, but stopping a rampaging Jaune was more important. As she ran after him, Ren and Nora, who were in the middle of walking around the fair, saw the commotion surrounding their teammates and immediately burst into action as well.

It didn't take long for them to catch up to Pyrrha as she continued to run after their leader. They didn't even have time to ask what was going on when Jaune bowled into a familiar black and white themed faunus. RWB of team RWBY along with Ruby's uncle Qrow were currently walking through the fairgrounds as well as they decided to give Yang space following her match.

Blake didn't even have time to react as Jaune slammed full force into her, taking her straight to the ground. The Whiterose duo jumped back in surprise as Jaune and Blake hit the floor, their aura absorbing any actual damage.

"Argh! Jaune what the Hell!?" Blake snapped as she regained her bearings, looking up at Jaune who was currently on top of her. Her anger quickly gave way to confusion as she saw Jaune's face, one of fear and stained with tears. "Jaune? Are you o-"

Jaune didn't let the faunus finish as he stood up once more and started running again.

"Jaune stop!" Pyrrha called out as she and the rest of team JNPR ran after him, causing the RWB trio to join in as well.

Unknown to them however, the scene also attracted the attention of two specific students. A pair of bright amber eyes and a pair of heterochromatic pink and brown eyes watched with interest as Cinder and Neo, both currently hidden thanks to Neo's semblance, as they waited until they could push to the next phase of their plan.

Soon enough Jaune's flight reached its end as he ended up at Beacon's airdock, with nowhere to go except for a long dive down to the river below. All nearby students were giving the blonde a wide berth, with Atlas soldiers and droids moved to form a perimeter around him to keep him from making any more of a disturbance.

"Jaune what's going on!?" Ruby huffed as they were finally able to stop their sprint, teams RWB, NPR, and Qrow joining the Atlas soldiers in a circle around Jaune.

But Jaune was incoherent, clutching his head as between his wails he was barely able to cry out. "I didn't! I didn't mean to!" eliciting only looks of confusion from everyone.

"Jaune lost control and attacked me." Pyrrha supplied, causing those nearby to look and see the deep bruises on her arms. Ruby, Nora, and Ren gasped in horror, while Weiss and Blake turned their spiteful gazes back to Jaune. Ignoring their looks, Pyrha yelled out to her leader once more, "Jaune please, calm down and we can talk about this!"

But Jaune didn't hear her as he continued to break down. All Jaune could focus on was the one phrase repeating in his head. He didn't mean to. He didn't mean to. He would never hurt Pyrrha. Never her.

But you did hurt her. The voice inside his head hissed out once more. You were to protect her, but instead you hurt her. All because you were too weak.

"Shut up!" Jaune roared as the voice spoke, causing him to stumble closer to the edge of the airdock. Everyone gasped as he Jaune almost slipped off the cliff.

"Jaune!" this time it was Ruby who called out. "Get away from the edge! Please just listen to us!"

But this only had the opposite effect as Jaune inched even closer to the precipice. "I just…" Jaune blubbered out. "I just want the voice to stop."

Everyone except for Pyrrha and Qrow only looked at him with further confused looks as he spoke.

"Voice? What voice?" Weiss was the one to ask.

Pyrrha however ignored the question as she spoke once more. "Do you hear him now Jaune?"

This caused Jaune to look at his friends for the first time since this episode started, his eyes yellow and stained with tears. Jaune didn't answer Pyrrha's question as he looked over his friends, his vision eventually fixing itself on Qrow, the scruffy old man with spiky black hair and red eyes from his vision, who was currently standing beside Pyrrha.

"You!" Jaune howled at him, causing Qrow to fall into a defensive stance. "You turned her against me!"

Qrow's vision quickly flickered to Pyrrha before returning to Jaune. "Kid…" he began as his hand reached for Harbinger on his back. "Believe me when I say, you have done that yourself."

Jaune's hand returned to his head once more as he screamed. Once that bout had passed, Jaune's eyes shot back up at everyone around him, wildly darting around. "You all just want it! You're all here to take it, but this power is mine!"

"Jaune what in the name of the Brothers are you talking about!?" Ruby yelled back.

It was at that moment that Jaune's hand reached into his jacket. With a weak, fumbling grip, Jaune pulled out the Mask of Darth Nihilus.

No one said anything as the mask appeared before them. Even just looking at the bone mask, they could feel it was… wrong. The mask was terrifying. Unnatural.

"Jaune… what is that?" Pyrrha barely whispered, her eyes never leaving the mask.

But Jaune ignored her. He just stared deep into the eyes of the Mask, much like he did when he first discovered it. All other noise around him had vanished as he looked. He could only hear the voice of Darth Nihilus as it said, You know what you must do to no longer be weak.

Knowing what he had to do, Jaune looked up at his friends, the family he made at Beacon. His eyes locked on Pyrrha, and could only smile sadly at her while tears continued to pour as he said, "I just… I just wanted to be a hero."

And then Jaune Arc put on the mask.

...

"RAAAAAHH!" Jaune's shrill scream rang out over the campus, overtaking all other sounds.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha screamed as she ran forward to stop him.

But before she could make any meaningful distance, she was blasted backwards by a wave of invisible force. The wave then hit everyone else, knocking them off of their feet and onto the ground. Staggered, the students began to slowly pick themselves up, when a black miasma enveloped the area. RWB and NPR looked around in confusion at the smoke's sudden appearance. Just as sudden as it appeared, the miasma shifted, flying all in a single direction. Following its movement, they saw with wide eyed horror as the smoke coalesced around Jaune, coating him in a pitch black tar.

The shadows spread all over Jaune, completely covering his clothing and his face, only leaving a vaguely human shaped mass of darkness before them. The darkness soon began to refine, shifting and twisting as the details filled in. From Jaune's body came long, flowing black robes, his limbs wrapped similarly in all black. A matching hood covered Jaune's head, in fact the only part of Jaune that wasn't jet black was the white and red mask on his face. Jaune's new form fell to one knee, as if he wasn't used to standing.

Everyone around Jaune felt a chill go up their spines as they stared at Jaune. The sheer amount of negative energy flowing off of him caused anyone who wasn't a trained huntsman or soldier to immediately turn and flee the scene. Malice, terror, and hunger radiated off of Jaune.

"J-Jaune!" Ruby yelled out, shoving down her fear as she took a step towards her friend.

But before she could go any further, a hand on her shoulder stopped. She turned and saw her Uncle Qrow, his focused gaze not leaving Jaune, keeping her from advancing. Qrow shook his head slightly as he drew Harbinger.

It was then that Jaune began to rise. He stood slowly, still unsteady as if he were learning how to move once more. Once he finished standing, Jaune moved his hand in front of his face, examining his fingers and the back of his hand as he made a few experimental fists. Seemingly satisfied, Jaune then looked up at his friends, nearly causing them to jump back in terror. Pyrrha stared into the pitch black void of Jaune's eyes, and she understood. This wasn't Jaune in front of her. This was Nihilus.

Nihilus took in the scene around him with a grim satisfaction. The Lord of Hunger did not know how many years he spent in that infernal prison, waiting until the Force would drive a potential host to him. And even after he found one, it had taken months more for Nihilus to turn Jaune into a subtable host. Months of subtle manipulation, corruption, all to strengthen the boy and increase his connection to the Dark Side of the Force so he could become a vessel strong enough to hold Nihilus's soul.

But now, the process was complete. The weak boy known as Jaune Arc was gone, and only Darth Nihilus remained.

Chapter Text

"Lord Nihilus, you escaped death by containing your consciousness within your armor. How?!" - Darth Krayt

Chapter 18: Legends

A long time ago, in a galaxy ravaged by war…

Jedi Exile Meetra Surik looked out of the bridge window of the Ravager, sadly taking in the devastation wrought upon the world of Telos IV. A planet that was scarred and despoiled by the horrors of war, once more exposed to inhuman cruelty and violence.

Closing her eyes, she then brought her gaze to the one that caused all of this wanton destruction. Darth Nihilus, the feared Lord of Hunger, lied defeated before her, Visas, and Mandalore. No, that was wrong. Nihilus didn't cause all of this. He was but a pawn, a slave to his hunger whose hand was forced by their shared mentor.

The ship then shook, the battle scarred metal groaning as the force of nature that was holding it together was now dead. When she regained her balance, Meetra then saw Visas approach the body of her former master.

"Visas… what are you doing?" Meetra asked.

"I have to see." the Miralukan whispered out. "With the Force, and with my eyes."

"What the Hell are you doing up there! We need to get off this ship. Now!" Mandalore barked out as the ship groaned once more.

Sensing that this was something Visas needed to do, Meetra put out a hand to silence Mandalore. "Look upon his face, if it will bring you peace, Visas." Meetra then paused for a moment, considering her next actions. "Then bring his mask to me."

Visas knelt down before the body, pulling off the mask, and gazing in her former master's eyes for several seconds. She then stood, taking the mask with her as she approached the Exile.

"What did you see when you looked at him?" Meetra couldn't help but be curious herself.

"A man, nothing more." Visas shook her head, handing the Mask of Darth Nihilus to Meetra. "You are my master now. And I will follow wherever your path takes you. My path here is at an end."

Meetra nodded. "Then let this ship die, as it should have years ago."

The trio turned and began to make their way off of the bridge. As they did, they paid no heed to the body of Darth Nihilus becoming one with the Force as a storm of red lightning and smoke destroyed it.

Meetra pocketed the mask into her robe, one final trophy of the beast who died and was reborn on Malachor V. Although much weaker than when Nihilus wore it, Meetra could still sense the power of the Dark Side of the Force emanating from the mask, feeling it strengthening her connection to it. While Meetra had devoted herself to her return to the light, she knew that both the dark and the light had its purposes. Despite her betrayal, much of what Kreia taught her rang true. The Force was the Force, and dark or light was all just titles. At least until Kreia was stopped, she would bear the burden of the Mask of Darth Nihilus on her.

However, what neither Meetra nor Visas sensed, was that the mask carried not an echo of the Lord of Hunger, nor an imprint of his power, but the soul of the Dark Lord himself. Nihilus, far weakened by the destruction of his withered husk of a physical vessel, was barely cognisant as he was passed from his former apprentice to his antithesis.

Nihilus felt his consciousness fading. He would not die, no the Sith magics he used to bound his soul to the mask would ensure that. But he would become… dormant. Practically comatose as his soul healed, naturally drawing upon the Living Force surrounding him. And so, as his perceptions of the world around him went dark, Darth Nihilus sent one last spiteful glare at his treacherous apprentice and the Jedi Knight who turned her. Nihilus then slept.

Nihilus stirred as voices roused him from his slumber. He did not know for how long he slept. But for an immortal like Nihilus, time was irrelevant. Reaching out to get a sense of his surroundings, Nihilus found that his mask was in some kind of storage container or holocron.

The voice outside of his prison spoke once more, though heavily muffled, as if they were speaking through a wall or underwater.

"Not many can claim they battled a Sith and lived. You're in rare company." One of the voices spoke, a clearly feminine voice. One that Nihilus could feel the Force coming from.

Then the second voice spoke. This one was not colored by the Force, which made it difficult for Nihilus to even determine if it was a man or woman speaking. "You took some hits. Any of them leave a mark?"

"My injuries will heal soon enough." the first voice spoke. Nihilus then felt the woman touch the box he was stored within. "I see now why Zare thought this box worth killing over. Thank the Force we stopped her. This box contains a Sith Artifact. It was created centuries ago by a powerful dark lord called Darth Nihilus."

"Hm. This Darth Nihilus guy famous for anything, Nariel?" the second spoke.

Even through the box, Nihilus could feel the spike of fear in this Nariel. "He exterminated nearly every Jedi centuries ago. It was the closest our order ever came to extinction, and it took great effort for us to rebuild." Nariel shook her head, and Nihilus could feel resolution well in her. "I'll ensure that this relic remains safely hidden from Zare's allies. The Empire must never find this artifact. With its power, they could possibly turn the tide of the war against the Republic.

"Thank you once again, Voidhound. We saved countless lives today." Nariel then grabbed the strongbox as she prepared to leave.

"Let's do it again sometime." this Voidhound winked.

Nariel chuckled. "If you were a little more serious minded, you'd make a fine Jedi."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Voidhound smirked.

Smiling, Nariel placed a hand on her heart and bowed. "Goodbye. May the Force protect you."

Nihilus felt Nariel carry his container to what was most likely her ship, followed by the unmistakable feeling of hyperspace travel as the Jedi began her journey. Flying her freighter, Nariel performed random hyperspace jump after random hyperspace jump. It was simple enough for Nihilus to ascertain her plan. She was going to the Unknown Regions. Far beyond explored space in order to hide Nihilus's mask from any who would seek it.

It was indeed a simple plan, but one that would be effective nonetheless. If his mask was placed on an unexplored wild planet, it would be a very long time before someone found it. And so, using what little energy he was able to regain over his years in hibernation, Nihilus projected his soul from the mask, summoning a ghost of the Force.

Nihilus knew he didn't have long. His power was weak, extremely weak. During his slumber he had barely been able to absorb the Force around him, and he knew he couldn't sustain this form for long. He also knew that the Jedi Nariel Pridence would not fall to corruption. At least not in the timeframe that he had. Corruption was a slow, and insidious thing, especially slow on Jedi who had learned to shun their desires and emotions.

To her credit, Nariel sensed something was wrong almost immediately. Running from the cockpit of her ship, her face fell as she saw the ghostly spectre of Darth Nihilus looking right back at her. Without hesitation, Nariel drew her lightsaber and swung. She was fast, but not fast enough.

Before her blade could connect, Nihilus let loose a torrent of orange lightning against her, draining her of her very life. Over the course of only a few seconds, Nariel went from a beautiful young woman into a desiccated corpse. Meanwhile, Nihilus felt his strength start to return, but it still was not enough. He was far from the power he had when he was starving to death above Telos, let alone how powerful he was in his prime. And what power he had drained would not stay if he kept exerting himself.

If he were to continue to survive, he would have to return to hibernation once more. Quickly, Nihilus looked to the cockpit of the starship, and with a wave of his hand, manipulated the controls. The starship's distress beacon was activated, and with luck and guidance from the Force, someone would detect the ship and Nihilus would be able to escape into the greater galaxy once more. His plan set in motion, Nihilus released his control over his mortal projection, returning to his slumber so he could continue to gather his strength.

As Nihilus slept, time continued to flow. Days turned to weeks, weeks to months, and months to years. So far out in the vastness of space, the chances of someone finding a single, lost freighter were far from likely.

But through sheer astronomical chance or through the will of the Force, the freighter was happened upon by a pair of smugglers who were running spice for the gang known as the Wavelength Gale. The duo explored the ship, taking everything of value, before continuing on to their homebase on the nearby planet Volik. Unfortunately for the Lord of Hunger, none of the smugglers possessed enough of a connection to the Force to rouse him from his slumber.

It was on Volik that the smuggler's discovered the mask, but had no knowledge of what it truly was. And so, everything was catalogued and organized in the smuggler's base in preparation for later sale.

This would not come to pass however, because before they had the chance to sell their ill gotten goods, the Wavelength Gale gang would be ambushed by the Republic Navy. Rather than face guaranteed imprisonment, the smugglers took their chances and tried to run the Republic blockade. This resulted in only the death of all the smugglers, and with their deaths, the loss of all knowledge of where their treasures were hidden.

And so, the mask of Darth Nihilus was once more lost, trapped within a cargo hold on an unknown planet. It was here the mask continued to sit as time marched forever onward. Years turned to centuries. And centuries, to millennia.

Nihilus did not know what occurred on this planet, or that he was even on a planet for that matter. It wasn't until Nihilus felt the presence of several figures around him that he began to awaken and return to consciousness.

"Really Sando, a double cross? Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal." Nihilus heard a voice deadpan. Stretching out his perception, Nihilus did not sense a creature, but instead a cold body of machinery and electricity. It was a droid speaking, albeit one of high intelligence and agency, with a heavily armored light-blue colored body, and a helmeted head that had a single glass visor instead of face. Beside him, were several other droids, all of similar design, but of different colors.

"Hmm. Your sarcastic wit may be cute Alpha, but it's not enough to save you. Now hand over the artifact, and you and your friends get to leave." Sando spoke in a high pitched, whining alien language that immediately identified her as a Rodian. Behind her stood several other humanoids of varying races. It was easy to identify them as some kind of mercenary or pirate band.

"Oh god the meatbag called you cute." a black colored droid beside the Alpha spoke with a feminine voice that dripped annoyance. "Listen here bug eyes, we didn't bust our ass helping you get here for you to just leave us high and dry. Now I'm giving you one last chance. Turn around, walk away, and I don't turn you into a blaster ridden corpse."

"You should listen to Beta, Sando. She may be a crazy bitch, but you know how fucking lethal she is." Alpha added on. "You're making a big mistake if you think you can take us down."

A new voice cut in once more, this one belonging to a human male, that carried a tone of regality and nobility. "No, I think both of you have made a mistake."

The heads turned to the newest speaker, a young man with pasty white skin, and medium length black hair, along with a group of warriors behind him. While the boy wasn't worthy of becoming even a Sith neophyte, he was just barely Force sensitive enough to awaken the Dark Lord. Nihilus could sense that he was ambitious, cruel, and sought out the path to becoming a Sith.

"Collan Eislo. Pampered noble and wannabe Sith." Sando spat out. "Didn't you learn your lesson the last time my boys kicked you off planet?"

"Oh, but I did learn Sando." Collan said with a savage grin as his allies all drew heavy repeaters and aimed at both Sando and her crew and the droids. "I learned to bring more than enough firepower to wipe your pathetic groups off the face of the galaxy."

Half of Sando's group and half of the droids aimed their guns at Collan and his allies.

"Oh ho ho." A dark grey droid cackled out as it leveled what looked like a rocket launcher. "Looks like we have ourselves a Tatooine standoff! How absolutely delicious muahahaha."

"Can it Omega." Alpha then turned to a green colored droid beside him. "What's it looking like D?"

D, or Delta, simply responded. "I calculate a 37.20% chance that we will make it out of this situation unharmed."

"Never tell me the odds!" Beta hissed out as she aimed her two blaster pistols, one at Sando and the other at Collan.

With violence about to erupt, the three groups were so completely focused on one another that they didn't seem to notice a new form taking shape in the cargo hold. Behind the multicolored droids, the spectral form of Darth Nihilus rose once more.

Sando's face fell as she was the first to see the ghost appear. "What the Hell!?" she cried out as she raised her blaster pistol and aimed at the dark lord.

But Nihilus was too fast. His body phasing through the droids, Nihilus dug his hand into the heart of the Rodian pirate, and with a simple thought completely drained her of her life. Several of her faster pirates swiveled and fired their blasters, but they would do nothing to a being of pure Force. Nihilus then roared as orange lightning shot out from him, slamming into all of the pirates and draining them of all of their lifeforce, killing them instantly.

The droids lowered their guns out of sheer awe at what just happened, while Collan only threw himself onto the ground in supplication.

"My lord Nihilus!" the nobleman cried out as he fell to his feet. "My Lord, I have come here with my people, the Apex Society, to save you and ask for your favour. Please, grant me the power of the Forc-" Collan's voice was cut off as Nihilus appeared before him and unleashed his powers.

Collan looked down in horror as his and his follower's lifeforce was drained by the dark lord. Tilting his head up, Collan stared at his lord in confusion and horror as he died. Meanwhile Nihilus didn't even give the boy a second thought. The boy had a connection to the Force, no matter how miniscule, and Nihilus was hungry.

As every living organic died the colored droids kept their blasters trained on the ghost, but didn't pull their triggers.

"Warning. I calculate a 0.01% chance that our weapons will be effective against this adversary." Delta, the green droid spoke.

"Yeah, thanks D, I got that." Alpha snapped out as he tried to figure out what to do.

Nihilus didn't pay the droids any mind. He could not sense them, nor could he drain them, so they were worthless to him. With no sentients left, and only one barely being Force-Sensitive, Nihilus knew he couldn't sustain his form for too long. And so Nihilus decided to return to sleep, allowing his spectral form to collapse as his mask fell to the ground.

As the mask harmlessly clattered to the ground, all of the droids kept their blasters trained on it for several more seconds. Once it became clear that the mask wasn't going to do anything, Alpha was the first to lower his gun and say, "Well… that just happened. Any suggestions on what to do with this thing?"

"Suggestions?" Beta incredulously asked. "Why are we even talking about this? Did you not just see the ghost turn those guys in bantha jerky? We put this thing back in its box, and get the Hell out."

"If I may, Beta." Delta interjected. "Knowledge of the mask's existence and location seems to have been leaked to the wider galaxy by Sando's Boys, as exemplified by both our presence, and the presence of Collan Eislo's Apex Society. If we leave the mask here, there is a very high chance that the mask will be claimed by someone else after we leave."

"Why do we not take it?" Omega asked with his nefarious accent. "Did you see the amount of power this mask has? It is absolutely diabolical. Or at the very least, we could sell it for quite the pretty penny."

Alpha shook his head. "Beta, if Omega ever suggests something like that again, you have my permission to shoot him." Beta then turned and flicked the safety off her blaster as she faced Omega, somehow smiling despite her lack of a face. "In fact you can shoot him twice." Alpha continued. "No, we can't just leave it here for someone else to take. We can't let this thing get back to the Empire. Trust me, Vader is the last type of person who should get something like this."

"So what's the plan 'boss'?" Beta asked, her last word dripping with sarcasm.

Alpha thought for a moment before deciding. "We take the mask and go further into the Unknown Regions. Way beyond any charted star system. We find some random rock and dump it there."

"While I do not have enough data on the Unknown Regions to project a threat rating should anything find it there, I can calculate that this plan has a high chance of success for hiding the mask from the Empire." Delta added on.

"Sounds fine to me." Beta shrugged, going along with the flow.

"Then we're all in agreement." Alpha declared.

Omega protested. "I didn't agree to anything!"

"Everyone who matters is in agreement." Church snapped as he picked up the mask and put it back in its box. "Now come on, everyone back to the Mother of Invention. The sooner we get rid of this thing the sooner I can wipe my memory and forget all of this happened."

The droids hurriedly returned to their starship, piling in as they took off from the planet. At Alpha's orders, they then began a series of random hyperspace jumps. Eventually they reached a completely unexplored system, with 1 habitable planet whose main feature strangely enough was a moon that seemed to have been shattered.

"What the Hell happened there?" Beta asked as she stared at the fractured stellar body.

"Probably an asteroid or something hit it, who cares?" Alpha grumbled. "Give me a sitrep D, we good to drop the payload?"

Delta nodded his head. "All calculations are completed, approach vector is locked for a low orbit drop off."

"Aren't you worried about any natives finding this thing?" Beta asked, tilting her head.

"Fuck 'em." Alpha simply responded. However, he then felt Beta's blank stare at the back of his head, causing him to groan and turn to his green companion. "Hey D, are there any spaceflight capable races on this planet?"

"Preliminary scans have found no evidence of space flight capable sentient life. However, there is some evidence of primitive natives who have yet to industrialize." Delta simply responded.

"See? Just a bunch of low-tech natives." Alpha gestured to the planet. "That mask isn't getting off world for a long time. Now prepare for atmospheric drop Delta."

Delta's metallic fingers began to quickly tap on his console. "Beginning planetary approach now. Venting stern cargo hold. And the package is away, Alpha."

Alpha nodded. "Good. Now let's get the Hell out of here."

The Mother of Invention listed to the side as it pushed its sublight thrusters to the max before hyperdriving back to civilized space. Meanwhile, the strongbox containing the Mask of Darth Nihilus rocketed downwards toward the planet the locals had dubbed Remnant. The durasteel storage box maintained its structure as it burned through reentry, until it eventually made planetfall with a cacophonous explosion.

Petros Krizoz was a simple man. A monk of the church of the Two Brothers, Petros eked out a meager, but pious existence for the two decades he had been alive. Petros considered himself a good man. He made sure that his flock were clothed, fed, and heard the good word of the Two Brothers regularly. Incidentally, his position as a monk had made him something of a leader in his village located along the Eastern Sanus mountains despite his young age.

While he normally enjoyed such a position of power, it often came responsibilities that he never asked for. That included investigating the star that had fallen the night previous. As was tradition with monks of the Two Brothers, Petros had his aura unlocked and knew how to fight, in order to better protect his flock from the Grimm and other such threats. Sighing, Petros hoofed his way over a hill where the star had impacted.

As he made it over the cliff, Petros' eyes widened with shock. The verdant green forest that once covered this land was completely destroyed, charred black and ruined by the impact of the falling star. It was like the Brothers themselves had come down from the heavens, and ripped out the land that was once here. As he looked over the devastation, Petros saw something that caught his eye. At the center of the crater was the star itself. It was a strange box or cube, in fact it looked like a storage chest but only made of some strange metal rather than wood and iron.

Apprehensively, Petros approached the box. A quick tap with his finger revealed that the box was not hot, but actually rather cool to the touch. Seeing it was safe to handle, the monk began to examine the box, eventually finding what looked like a latch to open it. Pressing a button, the chest unlocked and slowly opened, revealing to Petros a bone white mask inside, with two red stripes beneath the eyes.

Petros found the mask a curious thing, and began to study its features. What he didn't know, was that in turn, the mask was studying him. Nihilus had once more come into consciousness when the monk approached. Unlike before however, his previous meal of the aspiring Sith acolyte and the pirates sated his hunger just enough that he didn't immediately consume this man.

And he was glad he didn't as what appeared to be a simple baseline human in front of him was anything but. The man had a connection to the Force, but not like what Nihilus was used to seeing in Force adepts. The man examining the mask had no Force Sensitivity to speak of, but the Force solidified around him, creating an aura that enhanced his durability and strength not unlike the techniques of Force Barrier and Force Valor.

It was a very curious thing, even to a being such as Nihilus. What was the cause of this? Could the midi-chlorians have evolved into something different on this world? Was this offshoot of humanity a completely Force Sensitive species, such as the Mirialukans or the Ancient Sith, or even the Rakata he recalled Revan speaking of once during the Jedi Civil War.

Regardless, this was different. This man and his people could feed Nihilus, more than a non-Force sensitive being, but less than someone who was fully sensitive. Luckily for Nihilus, his previous meal had sated him enough that for now he was no longer a vicious beast, feral, with no thought beyond its next meal. And as such, Nihilus decided to hold off on consuming the man. He could lead Nihilus to others who could sustain the Dark Lord's appetite. It was a simple matter for Nihilus to use the Force to convince the monk to take the mask with him. And while Nihilus could feed on the young man and his strange connection to the Force, Nihilus did not believe he could be a worthy vessel for his soul. He would have to wait until the Force brought someone to him else.

Meanwhile, Petros found the mask to be quite terrifying, but awe inspiring at the same time. Both beautiful and dreadful. A balance between two sides, much like the Two Brother gods, though obviously more on the side of the Brother of Darkness. Petros looked back at the storage box, and then at the devastation around him once more. This… this had to be a gift from the Gods, an artifact dedicated to them. He had to take the mask back to his monastery and show it to the abbot and other monks.

And so, Petros quickly placed the mask back into the box and closed it. With his aura enhanced strength, Petros was more than strong enough to lift the box to his shoulder and begin the arduous journey back to his mountain monastery.

The elderly Grand Master Petros of the Temple of Shadows sat upon his throne, gazing at the mask he had found so many years ago. Crossing his now decrepit fingers, he began to almost gleefully chuckle at the memories the mask brought upon. So much changed in his life when he found the mask. When he first showed the mask to his fellow monks those decades ago, they found the mask an interesting curiosity, but left Petros to his devices with it.

It did not take long for Petros to realize that the mask was indeed an artifact of the Brother of Darkness, once the mask began to whisper to him. At first he was scared, terrified even of what it spoke of, but soon he found the wisdom of its words. It taught him the ways of darkness, of how to break free from the chains that society and the followers of light and order would impose on them.

Many of the other monks did not believe in Petros when he tried to awaken them. They saw his words as blasphemy. Though the ones who did choose to follow were gifted with knowledge of Darkness as well. They learned to hide in the shadows, to hunt those who offended them. It was a simple matter for them to eliminate their former brothers and sisters who refused to follow the new way.

And the mask only wanted one thing in return. One simple thing. Sacrifices. Souls who would be offered up to the avatar of the Dark God. At first, monks and followers who refused the new god were sacrificed. Once they were all gone, the monks began hunting for travelers and vagabonds that would not be missed.

But Petros knew that if they simply continued their path of random violence, it would attract the ire of the outside world. And no amount of blessing from their Dark Lord would allow them to withstand their united fury. So instead of attacking any and all who would stray too close to the monastery, Petros began taking contracts from the kingdoms and many smaller villages to hunt down and kill their enemies. If possible they would capture their targets alive, bring them to the monastery, and offer them to the mask.

The monastery had completely transformed. No longer were the monks teachers and protectors who spread the word of the Two Brothers. Instead they had become hunters, assassins who killed for the honor of the Dark Brother. They were now a death cult of assassins, infamous across Remnant for their tenacity, brutality, and most importantly their lethality.

For years Petros and his fellow acolytes hunted across Remnant. And when their physical forms began to fail, they trained the next generation of assassins to continue their dark ways. And now, with the world of Remnant embroiled in its so called "Great War," business was as they say, booming. Petros had lost count of how many contracts they had gotten from this war. How many military officers, politicians, and more across Mantle, Mistral, Vale, and Vacuo had died by the blades of his students.

An explosion outside of the monastery rocked both the building and Petros out of his reminiscing. The Grand Master Assassin then heard hurried footsteps rapidly approaching his position. Bursting his way into the inner sanctum, a young monk still in the midst of his training ran to Petros.

"Grand Master!" The boy cried out, not bothering to catch his breath. "Vale's army is here! They are destroying everything and will breach the outer gate in but a few minutes!"

Despite his impending doom, Petros couldn't help but feel a wry smile appear on his face. "So, the Warrior-King Osmund has finally grown tired of our presence." Despite his ancient age, Petros stood tall, and reached for a sword at his side. "Come child. Gather your brothers and sisters, and we shall honor our Lord by dying well."

General Alixandre Arc stood stern faced as the battering ram worked its way on the monastery door, rain pattering down on his dented and scarred armor. Many nobles and Generals believed in always wearing a pristine suit of armor, but General Alixandre saw every marr and dent as a badge of honor earned on the battlefield.

His gaze then turned to the pile of freshly made corpses that were gathered up from the previous engagement. The exterior guards of this temple were terrible opponents already, each single assassin killing a dozen of his men before being put down. The General didn't know how many cultists called this accursed temple home, but he knew that the cost of taking it was going to be heavy.

With a deafening crash, the wooden doors of the monastery were broken open. With a nod of dour determination, Alixandre drew his sword, Crocea Mors, and turned to his soldiers.

"Men and women of Vale! Brace yourselves for a battle the likes of which none of you have ever seen! King Osmund has tasked us with the unenviable duty of removing these blighted cultists from this world. For too long these murderers and marauders have lived under the guise of holy men and women, killing any and all for their blasphemous rituals. But no more! We of Vale are here now to stop this evil! And though it will be a grim task, one that will claim the lives of many here, know that what we do today we do not just because it was ordered, but because it is what's right! What's just!" General Alixandre raised his sword into the air, drawing the cheers of all his soldiers. "Now come! For death and glory! For Vale and the King!"

Extending his shield, General Alixandre Arc led the charge into the Temple of Shadows. Much like he had assumed, the assault into the temple was a costly one. Every assassin and cultist they ran into was absurdly fast and skilled, even when aura was put into consideration. Not to mention the sheer amount of traps and fortifications within the temple made every step potentially lethal. Spike pits, razor wires, poison darts, Alixandre lost count of how many men he lost to impalement due to a misplaced foot activating some hidden pressure plates.

And as was their way of war, the assassins never struck them from the open. When the soldiers of Vale were most vulnerable or distracted, assassins would strike, killing dozens of men in an instant. Several of these assassins weren't even fully fledged warriors, but youngsters probably barely in their teens. It ached the General's heart to kill ones so young, especially when he had a son of similar age, but these cultists were a plague who could be afforded no quarter. The King wanted this temple destroyed, and it would be destroyed.

Soon enough, the General and his men reached the temple's inner sanctum, bloodied and harried, down scores of soldiers already. That's when Alixandre saw Grand Master Petros Krizoz, the decrypt old fossil that led these blasphemers, surrounded by a dozen of his followers. His face was set with deep wrinkles, his eyes a sickly yellow, and he was clad in a dark black robe.

"General Arc." the master assassin rasped out. "You are a bold one indeed."

"Save the pleasantries Krizoz. By order of King Osmund, for crimes of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, and crimes against humanity, I sentence you and your followers death." General Arc declared, pointing his sword at the man.

Petros only smiled, revealing a mouth full of rotted teeth as he began cackling. "Come then, great hero! We shall see which of us the gods shall favor tonight!"

Alixandre stood, resting all of his weight on his sword panting and gasping for air. Around him were the bodies of the assassins, and nearly a hundred dead soldiers of Vale. Each one a veteran warrior with years of experience and auras unlocked. To call the battle a massacre was not just an understatement, it was an insult to the dead. These monks were monsters, each and every one. And now they were all dead.

Looking at the corpse of Petros Krizoz beneath him, the elderly monk having been eviscerated by Crocea Mors, it took every ounce of honor and self control Alixandre had left to not spit upon the corpse.

"General!" A voice spoke up behind Arc, causing him to rise and turn around.

It was one of Arc's lieutenants, a young woman by the name of Isabelle. Like all the other survivors, she was drenched in blood, and carried more than a few wounds. But luckily hers were shallow enough that she could still perform most of her duties. And despite her wounds, she was still able to snap off a perfect salute to the General. He had to respect that discipline.

"What's your report Lieutenant?" the General quickly asked.

Dropping the salute Isabelle said, "Sir, teams have finished their sweep of the temple. We believe all of the monks are accounted for. There were no prisoners." While military professionalism kept her from having any outward emotions when she reported, she couldn't help but feel a grim satisfaction at the deaths of all the monks.

Alixandre nodded his head. "Good. May they all rot in Hell. Gather the bodies and burn them." As he gave the order however, something caught his eye.

Within the center of the inner sanctum, beside some kind of altar or podium, Alixandre saw what looked like a Grimm mask. Scowling, Arc gripped Crocea Mors and moved for the center of the room. Noticing something was wrong, Isabelle fell in line behind him.

Once he reached the altar, Alixandre pushed the body of a cultist that was covering the mask aside. Bending down, Alixandre examined the mask that was on the ground. It was bone white with red markings, not unlike a Grimm mask that he mistook it for.

"General?" Lieutenant Isabelle asked. "What do you want to do with that? Destroy it?"

Thinking for a moment as the General observed the mask. He was here to destroy all traces of these monks and their dark religion. But… there was something about this mask that he couldn't put his finger on that attracted him to it.

"It would be a terrible waste to just destroy it." Alixandre said. "It would be a shame to have lost so much and not even have a trophy." Alixandre then pocketed the mask into his jacket as he turned back to the Lieutenant. "Now then, let's finish our job here Lieutenant. Purge everything in this foul place. Everything shall be put to the torch and hammer, so no future generations may learn of the evils practiced here. History will forget the name Petros Krizoz ever existed."

And so his soldiers did their duty. Libraries were burned, statues razed, tomes and records destroyed. When they were done nothing remained of the infamous Temple of Shadows other than a pile of rubble, and a strange mask within the General's possession.

General Alixandre Arc, famed hero of Vale, rode by himself on a single horse drawn carriage as he made his way back to his home of Ansel. The old farts in Vale's newly established Council wanted to send him back with a parade and escort, but he most fervently declined.

Times were changing in Remnant. King Osmund had abdicated his throne and the Kingdom of Mantle was being reorganized into the Kingdom of Atlas. Many of the kingdoms were now disbanding their militaries as well to prove their dedication to the newly born peace. The age of war was over, so the good general thought there was no more need to celebrate war heroes like himself. Best to let old soldiers like him just fade away.

And so, taking both his severance and the gracious amounts of gifts and medals awarded to him, former General Alixandre Arc gathered all of his possessions in Vale, purchased a cart and steed, and began to make his way towards his ancestral home. With years of warfare now figuratively and literally behind him, Alix Arc traveled on a poorly maintained road located within Vale's Southeastern forest, and was now ready for some peace.

…

But they do not deserve peace, do they? A voice spoke out from nowhere but everywhere at once. It was gravely and distorted, and only barely intelligible to Alix.

Immediately Alix pulled back on the reins of his cart and drew his sword, scanning the area around him for the speaker.

"Who is there!?" Alixandre called out. "Show yourself brigand, and I promise I shall show due quarter!"

Despite his declaration, no one revealed themselves. Instead, the voice only spoke out once more.

You gave everything to your Kingdom. To your King. And this is how they repay you? With a simple horse and carriage? Don't you believe you deserve more?

Alixandre felt the words pierce into his heart. That for all the blood he shed, should not he have been given more? Didn't he deserve more? Angrily, Alix shook the thoughts off. "No. The war is over. I did my duty to my kingdom and that's enough!"

A chill ran down Alix's spine as the voice spoke once more. But you can have more. All you have to do is reach out and take it. Put on my mask, and you will be given the power you deserve! Power to do whatever you want. To protect your family, to destroy your enemies. Or to take the crown of King for yourself, and not let Vale cast you aside like an unneeded tool.

Alixandre felt his hands move unconsciously towards the bag where he stored the mask he collected from the Temple of Shadows.

Meanwhile Nihilus began to put more pressure on the former general. It had been so long. Decades within the possession of those monks, and none of the monks nor any of the sacrifices they brought were worthwhile hosts. None of them were Force-Sensitive, despite the aura of Force that they wore around their bodies. It was as if the planet itself was barren of Force-Sensitives.

Alixandre Arc however, was a latent Force-Sensitive. While it wasn't the strongest connection Nihilus had seen, it was more than enough to serve his purposes. The general probably didn't know he was sensitive to the Force, as the people of Remnant were ignorant of its very existence. And like most untrained Force-Sensitives, he could not call upon the Force to perform the various Jedi and Sith powers.

At most, the General's sensitivity would have granted him abnormal luck and intuition. And specifically within the context of these Remnantians, Alixandre Arc's latent sensitivity had resulted in his massive Aura, which no doubt contributed to the General's prowess as a warrior. Alixandre Arc was the first person who had the slightest connection to the Force Nihilus had seen, meaning he could serve as a host.

Thoughts were racing around Alixandre's mind. It would be so easy to listen to the words of the Mask, put it on and gain its power. He was already a peerless warrior. If he were to become even more powerful, who could stand against him? Those fools on the Council? They were politicians, not warriors. Former King Osmund? The pathetic old man was far beyond his peak.

Alixandre felt his fingers run along the edge of the mask. As he did however, he recalled the wrinkled, decaying face of Petros Krizoz as Alixandre ran Crocea Mors through him. He remembered the corrupt, evil man the monk was. And he refused to become like him. To be a puppet to whatever foul sorcery this mask perfused.

"NO!" Alixandre roared. "Loyalty… is its own reward!" Gripping the edge of the mask, Alixandre cried out as he threw the mask away from him.

That mask… that mask was pure evil. He should have never taken it from the Temple. It sought to use him for whatever diabolical plots it had in store. The mask attempted to whisper to him once more, but Alix shut it out through sheer willpower alone. He then swung his sword for the mask, only to find that the mask itself resisted even his strongest blow.

Snarling, Alix then went to the back of the cart, retrieving one of his strongboxes and dumping all of the contents out.

Gripping the box tightly, he then moved for the mask and threw it inside, ignoring any of its protests as he pressed a few buttons, locking the strongbox shut. Swiftly, Alixandre looked for a place he could hide it. If he couldn't destroy the mask, he would seal it away, hopefully for forever.

That's when he saw it. A small, rocky cliffside that would serve his purpose. Approaching the wall Alixandre activated his semblance Geokinesis, stomping his foot in the ground, which sent reverberations through the stone. The rock then shifted, moving itself to Alixandre's will, creating a small cave. The General placed the strongbox within the cavern, and with a final look of disgust and contempt for it, walked away.

Exiting the cave, Alixandre stomped once more, sending a wall of stone up from the ground, trapping the mask within. Content that he had sealed away the evil artifact, Alixandre Arc made his way back to his cart. He was going to go home, see his family, and never speak about this moment of weakness that almost sent him down a path of darkness.

Meanwhile, the Mask of Nihilus felt Alixandre Arc leave its range. The spirit of Nihilus had considered simply consuming Alixandre when he refused to put on the mask, but Nihilus had learned from his previous mistakes. While it was his uncontrollable hunger that forced him to kill potential hosts before he landed on this Force-forsaken planet, killing them had resulted in his prolonged confinement in the mask.

With Alixandre Arc leaving alive, he could potentially spread word of the mask's existence, or at the very least sire more spawn so there would be more Force-Sensitive natives on the planet.

And so Nihilus would continue the pattern he maintained for the decades and centuries previous. He would continue to sleep and wait until the Force presented him with another opportunity.

Seasons continued to pass as Nihilus slept. For the longest time, the only event of worth was a small earthquake that damaged the exterior wall of Nihilus' prison and the storage box that he was stored in. Soon enough, Nihilus once more felt the presence of another. Another latent Force-Sensitive being. It was a presence much like that of Alixandre Arc years ago, but one much younger. And one currently fleeing for his life.

With a slight pull of the Force, Nihilus drew the boy's attention to his prison. Seeing sanctuary in the small opening to the cave, the boy sprinted for fissure, forcing himself within. As the boy approached, Nihilus was able to examine him far more closely.

It was a young man, probably only a teenager, with unkempt blonde hair, and untested armor. But at his side was the blade of Alixandre Arc, Crocea Mors. This, combined with the boy's appearance and connection to the Force, was more than enough evidence for Nihilus to surmise that he was a descendant of the General.

And like the General, the boy found the Mask of Nihilus a curious artifact. But Nihilus could feel his apprehension and fear, enough that he might abandon the mask right then and there. Repeating what the mask did with Alixandre Arc in the temple, Nihilus gave a small push with the Force, one that was not strong enough to even be considered a mind trick. But it was enough to make the boy's curiosity overtake his fear, causing him to bend down and grab the mask.

As soon as the boy touched the Mask, there was enough of a connection for Nihilus to make the changes to the boy he needed. Reading the boy's surface thoughts, he gleaned the name Jaune. Nihilus needed a vessel, one strong enough to contain his soul without being destroyed. Jaune's latent sensitivity to the Force was a starting point, but it wasn't enough. The boy was weak and spoiled. First Nihilus reached out with the Force to unlock the boy's Aura, a simple task since Aura fed off of the Force like any other power.

What Nihilus had planned next however, was far more difficult and invasive. While the Boy's connection to the Force was there, it was latent, dormant. It would take years of training under a Master if Jaune wanted to awaken it and actively draw upon the power of the Force. Years that Nihilus no longer wanted to wait. As such, Nihilus called upon the foulest of ancient Sith techniques he had learned from the archives of Marka Ragnos himself. Nihilus reached out with the Dark Side and gripped onto the midi-chlorians within Jaune, and forced them to multiply. The midi-chlorian count within Jaune skyrocketed, artificially activating and increasing the strength of his connection to the Force.

And with that Nihilus elected to leave the boy alone. Nihilus learned from his mistake with Alixandre Arc, trying to subvert a new host too fast. Instead, Nihilus would monitor the boy, subtly guide him further and further into the Dark Side, eroding his willpower and pathetic moral fibre. He would feed him crumbs of information, keep him hungry for knowledge of the Force, an irony that was not lost on the Lord of Hunger.

With this, Jaune would continue to grow in power, until he would become a vessel truly worthy for Nihilus's return.

Chapter Text

"He is a wound in the Force, more presence than flesh, and in his wake life dies… sacrificing itself to his hunger." - Visas Marr on her Master.

Chapter 19: Nihilus

Everyone stared in shock at the form of Jaune before them, cloaked in flowing darkness, now adorned with his terrifying mask. All around him tourists and unarmed students began to flee the scene, while both the soldiers and droids of Atlas, along with several braver student teams like ABRN stayed.

As the heroes all surrounded Jaune's mysterious new form, further away, an amber eyed, black haired beauty whispered to her disguised ally. "Neo. Get into position, we're accelerating our plans right now."

Neo nodded, and quickly vanished as Cinder pulled out her scroll and began typing. She quickly sent a group text to Adam, Mercury, and Emerald, similarly telling them to move their plans up. Her message sent, Cinder then made herself scarce, joining the groups of fleeing students as she prepared for the next phase of her scheme.

Meanwhile, the present members of teams JNPR, RWBY, and Qrow stood surrounding Jaune.

Timidly, Ruby stepped forward with a single hand raised as she called out to her friend. "Ja… Jaune? Is that you?" she had no idea what was going on, but she couldn't help but feel an intrinsic terror as she stared at the changed form of her friend.

But if Jaune heard her, he showed no outward reaction to her call. Instead, Jaune only extended out his shadowy hand. At first, the shock and terror they had of Jaune was replaced by confusion as Jaune silently stood there with his hand raised for several seconds. A loud crash from behind them stole everyone's attention, causing them to flinch and turn. From the halls of Beacon, an object could be seen hurtling towards them at insane speeds. Several students had to duck out of the way as the object sped past them, and into the hands of Jaune. Those nearby felt their eyes widen a second time, for Jaune was now holding Crocea Mors in his hand.

With the student now armed, the Atlas soldiers and drones surrounding him immediately leveled their Dust rifles. "Do not make a move!" A red trimmed officer shouted out. "Drop the weapon and slowly raise your hands above your head!"

However, Jaune seemed to make no move to drop his sword, and instead only extended his empty off hand forward. Not knowing if this was some kind of attack, the Atlesian officer decided not to take any chances.

"Open fire!" he shouted as both the troopers and drones obeyed, hundreds of Dust rounds now flying for the student.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out, not wanting to see what she believed was her friend be gunned down.

But as the hundreds of multi-colored Dust rounds moved to strike their target, everyone was struck by another surprise as they watched every Dust bolt freeze in mid-air before connecting with Jaune. Ruby felt her jaw drop, and it didn't take long for her or for all of her friends to realize what Jaune was doing. Jaune was grabbing every single Dust round with his telekinesis, stopping hundreds if not thousands of bullets that were flying at subsonic speeds.

To their credit, the Atlas soldiers kept their fingers depressed on their triggers, firing round after round until all of their guns clicked empty. When they saw that Jaune was still standing, untouched by their attacks and surrounded by a literal dome of Dust bullets, the officer in charge had the feeling that he may have made a mistake.

No one even breathed as they waited to see what Jaune would do next. Jaune's expression was unreadable behind his mask and hood, obscured by the shadows. His body language didn't betray any aggression either, his stance was robotic, almost soulless.

It was then that Jaune flicked his wrist. In an instant, faster than almost anyone could react, the frozen Dust bolts shot out away from Jaune, flying out in an explosion of ballistics. The soldiers and droids surrounding Jaune were torn apart almost instantaneously, the hundreds of Dust rounds shredding their forms.

Qrow, JNPR, and RWBY were barely able to hit the deck and avoid the explosion, but many of the remaining students and tourists who stayed to watch what was happening, were unable. Screams began to fill the air as dozens of students and bystanders were wounded if not outright killed by the flechettes of Dust.

As Pyrrha slowly pushed herself off the ground, she felt that her face was wet. Touching it, she pulled back her hand and saw it was covered with blood. Quickly checking herself over, she realized it was not her blood, as she was able to dodge the attack, but instead the exploded viscera of a poor Atlas soldier who was standing in front of her. Same as her, various other students and soldiers began to pull themselves up, Ruby's uncle Qrow being the first to do so.

Pyrrha then looked back at Jaune. No… at Nihilus. She knew that this was Nihilus she was looking at, not her leader. Because only Nihlus could look this… apathetic to the death and destruction he just wrought. Before Pyrrha could think of her next move however, Nihilus moved again.

As Nihilus brought his hands to his chest, Pyrrha's fighter instincts immediately screamed one thing to her, Nihilus was charging up an attack.

"Move!" Pyrrha heard someone yell out. She wasn't sure who, but from the sounds of it was someone older, probably Qrow.

Pyrrha didn't take the time to think about what was happening. She stood and began sprinting away. Hesitation in combat meant death, and when someone yelled, "Run!" you ran.

It was then that Pyrrha heard the scream. It was more than a vocal scream, though it was sonically loud as well. It was a scream that tore into her very soul, like she was hit by a wave of pure anger and hatred. The scream knocked her off her feet with a wave of force, but also tore into her mind, ripping apart her mental defenses.

Pyrrha was stunned for several seconds, until she felt a hand pull her up. Looking as to who it was, she recognized the person as Arslan, leader of team ABRN. Arslan was shouting something at Pyrrha, but the champion could barely make it out. Arlsan then pointed towards Nihilus, and when Pyrrha turned her head, her face fell, as she saw Nihilus standing over even more corpses, students and soldiers having their bodies torn apart by the Force Scream.

At this point, almost everyone who had not planned on fighting was already dead or had hightailed it out of the area. From her peripherals, Pyrrha saw Qrow step forward, wiping blood from his nose with his weapon drawn.

"Kids, either call your weapons down or get the Hell out." Qrow spoke, his voice hard as he stared Nihilus down.

The members of team RWB, NPR, and ABRN shared glances with one other, before quickly calling down their weapons using their rocket lockers. Strangely enough, Nihilus seemed willing to wait for them to call their weapons and arm themselves. Pyrrha didn't know if that was Jaune inside fighting against Nihilus, or if Nihilus was so confident in his victory that he was willing to give up the advantage. He didn't even move as the students and huntsman encircled Nihilus, surrounding him.

Despite their numbers, Qrow had no doubt that they did not have the advantage. He had hunted enough monstrous Grimm to know that you never have the advantage against something that can kill you in an instant. He also knew that as the senior huntsman here, he had to take the lead.

And so Qrow attacked first, jumping at Nihilus with a leaping slash, hoping his speed could catch him off guard. But Nihilus would not be caught unawares by such a simple strategy. Parrying the blow, Nihilus spun and struck Qrow with a backhanded slap, knocking him back.

Qrow stumbled but quickly regained his balance, twirling Harbinger as he mecha-shifted it from sword to its war scythe configuration. Qrow then began a series of rapid thrusts at Nihilus, hoping to overwhelm him. But every strike was parried by the Dark Lord with next to little effort.

Knocking one of Qrow's attacks to the side, Nihilus cut the distance, almost appearing right in front of the reaper, Crocea Mors aimed right for his throat. The attack was too fast for even Qrow to dodge, and with the sheer power that Nihilus was using, it would more than easily kill the huntsman. Qrow twisted and pulled back as hard as he could to try and avoid the killing stroke.

Just as the strike was about to land, Nihilus took a half step forward to regain the distance Qrow was putting between them. When he did however, Nihilus stepped on a chunk of viscera that he seemed to have not noticed, causing him to slightly slip. The misstep gave Qrow just enough distance to turn the death blow into a glancing cut that hit his upper arm, unable to break through his Aura.

Nihilus froze for a brief second as Qrow retreated, confused as to how he didn't foresee the slip with his Force Senses. Glancing at Qrow, he quickly came to a conclusion. His powers, or Semblance, the strange manifestation of the Force that allowed each person on Remnant a unique ability, must have somehow interfered. Before he could consider this anymore, a voice called out.

"Checkmate!" he heard Ruby's high pitched voice yell out as she opened fire with Crescent Rose.

As Nihilus deflected the sniper shots, Weiss and Blake both nodded, the Atlesian switching to lighting Dust and summoning a time glyph that would increase Blake's speed and agility. Her physical ability now enhanced, Blake charged forward with Gambol Shroud in sword form.

At her flanks, the two best melee fighters in the group Pyrrha and Arslan followed. Blake attacked with a flurry of slashes at Nihilus' face, while Pyrrha attacked his unarmed side, and Arslan went for the backs of Nihilus' legs.

Against a normal opponent, this would've been far too many attacks for any one person to handle. But Nihilus was far from a normal opponent. Deflecting Blake with his sword, he rapidly riposted, knocking the faunus back. Simultaneously, his off hand shot out, catching Pyrrha by the throat before she could strike. Through brute strength alone, Nihilus then dragged Pyrrha through the air and slammed her into Arslan behind him, literally beating the Mistralian with Jaune's former partner.

Their attack nullified, Nihilus then charged up the Force around him, summoning a storm of Force Drain lightning that slammed into all three huntresses. The young women all screamed as they felt their Aura's drain from Nihilus' attack. When they began to stumble back, trying to get away from Nihilus, the others opened fire as the Dark Lord was now open.

Flexing his control over the Force, Nihilus created a barrier that blocked all of their attacks, before extending his off hand at the retreating students. Nihilus grabbed onto the closest woman, which unluckily for her, was Arslan.

Reaching out with the Force, Nihilus gripped onto Arslan by the throat, lifting her into the air while choking the life out of her. Telekinetically bringing her closer. Nihilus brought Crocea Mors down on her, easily shattering her weakened Aura and slicing into her flesh. The cut ripped through her chest, leaving a massive gash on her front that began to spew blood. Nihilus ignored the cries of the girl's teammates as he then inglouriously flung her off of Beacon's cliff.

Ruby's face fell as she watched one of their allies probably die. She may not have considered Arslan a friend, but she was a fellow student and honorable opponent in their first match.

Gritting her teeth, Ruby loaded another magazine into Crescent Rose and shouted out, "Ice Flower!" Ruby then turned to Ren and Nora who were similarly shocked at Arslan's apparent demise and shouted to them. "Ren, Nora! Flower power!" The Renora duo turned to her in confusion when she barked at them again. "That's a team move of yours right? Time to use it! We need to slow him down!"

Ruby's orders seemed to shock them out of their stupor as they moved to attack. As Weiss finished creating the ice glyph around Ruby's sniper, turning all of her shots into ice shots, Ruby opened fire at Nihilus, primarily aiming for his feet to try and freeze them. Meanwhile Nora began bombarding Nihilus with grenades, hoping to distract while Ren ran towards him, charging his Aura in his palms for a paralyzing strike.

But even with the cloud of pink smoke that began to envelop the area, Nihilus did not require sight to sense the attacks coming. Rather than deflecting the ice shots with Crocea Mors, which would've frozen his arm, Nihilus caught two Dust rounds with the Force, and redirected them, flinging them right at Ren and Nora. The two students did not expect the sudden reversal, and weren't fast enough to dodge the sniper shots that encased both their torsos in ice.

Before Nihilus could follow up, Qrow attacked again, this time supported by the two Haven students Nadir and Reese, angrily seeking to avenge their leader. While Qrow engaged in melee, Nadir rode on the back of Reese's hoverboard, taking what potshots at the Dark Lord he could.

Deflecting what would've been a headshot, Nihilus then effortlessly flowed into a block as he parried Qrow's sword strike. With a quick extension of his off hand, Nihilus pushed Qrow back with the Force, throwing him off balance. Nihilus stepped forward to strike Qrow down, but for some reason happened to trip on a rock that he didn't seem to notice.

Nihilus quickly recovered, but that moment of weakness was enough of an opening for Nadir to hit him in the back with a Dust round, and for Qrow to advance and attack as well. Nihilus stumbled forward as the shot hit him in the back allowing Qrow to perform a sword slash at his head. Before Nihilus could parry it, Qrow's sword then changed form, shifting into its scythe form. Qrow then twisted his weapon and smashed Nihilus' knee with the butt of his scythe. The attack forced Nihilus down as Qrow spun with his momentum, following up with a horizontal slash across Nihilus' torso with his scythe.

The attack struck true as Harbinger bit through the Sith Lord's shadowy form, but leaving only a shallow cut that didn't break through Jaune's Aura. Nihilus growled in annoyance. Qrow's powers, while not obviously powerful enough to stop Nihilus, was influential enough that it turned the huntsman into more of a problem than he had any right to be.

Taking this annoyance and turning it into anger, lightning began to crackle between Nihilus' fingers. Both Qrow's and the students' eyes widened as a storm of lightning burst from Nihlus' hands, flying for all three of them. Qrow was fast enough to put Harbinger between him and the lightning, absorbing the attack, but neither Nadir nor Reese were skilled or experienced enough to do something similar. The two Haven students took the full brunt of Force Lightning, screaming as the Dark Side coursed through them, blasting them off the hoverboard and onto the ground in a smoking heap.

Nihilus stepped to finish off the students, when he noticed his feet were being encased in ice. Glancing down, he saw one of Weiss' trademark glyphs beneath him. He looked back up and saw the heiress, rapier stabbed in the ground, breathing heavily as she forgoed buffing her team and went to attacking him directly. Nihilus then felt danger coming from behind, sensing Ruby going in for a desperate melee attack with Crescent Rose.

Without even sparing her a glance, Nihilus reached out with the Force and grabbed onto Ruby mid-leap. Ruby froze in mid-air, confused as to what was happening, before Nihilus then slammed her into the ground. Simultaneously, Nihlus threw Crocea Mors right for Weiss, his sword becoming a flying buzzsaw aiming to tear her in half.

Weiss' eyes widened as she pulled Myrtenaster out of the ground, ending her ice effect on Nihilus, and used her rapier to deflect Crocea Mors. However the sheer physical force and momentum of the attack alone was enough to knock the light heiress backwards and off her feet.

Meanwhile Ruby slowly tried to pick herself up as blood poured out of her nose. The stinging pain and amount of blood flowing told her it was broken. As she struggled however, a boot hit her face as Nihilus kicked her back. Dazed, Ruby was helpless as Nihilus moved to finish her, until a scream took his attention.

Bolin, the last member standing of team ABRN, charged at Nihilus, swinging his bo-staff in a wild rage. It was a pathetic attack that even pre-Dark Side Jaune could've deflected. Nihilus parried the attack and easily riposted, forcing Bolin back. Nihilus then glanced at Ruby, who could still only watch what was happening in disoriented terror as Nihilus then used the Force to yank Crescent Rose out of her hands.

The weakened Ruby tried to hold onto her weapon, but was unable to. She could only watch in dismay as Nihilus levitated Crescent Rose in front of himself, and as he clenched a fist, crushed the sniper-scythe into a bowling ball sized heap of red and black scrap metal. Before she could even process what just happened, Nihilus then flung the improvised cannonball right for Bolin.

Ruby's head twisted to follow her former weapon, and to her horror, she watched as Crescent Rose went through Bolin's head, instantly killing the boy. Bolin's entire head was gone, completely erased by the hunk of metal that flew through him, only to be replaced by a fountain of blood that shot out from his torso, coating everyone nearby. It was at that moment Ruby felt the fear take over her, any hope she stubbornly clung onto evaporating. One of her best friends just destroyed her weapon, and used it to kill another student. Now here she was, weaponless in a battle against a complete monster.

Before Ruby could drop completely into despair however, the sounds of reinforcements came with a literal trumpet's blare. Ruby watched as Nihilus was buffeted back by visible sound waves as Flynt Coal of team FNKI arrived along with his team, the entirety of team BRNZ, and an adult huntress that Ruby had never seen before.

As the reinforcements arrived, they surrounded Nihilus while also aiding the beleaguered students currently in the fight, helping Weiss, Nora, and Ren help. Meanwhile, the other fighters who had taken some damage but were not out, namely Qrow, Pyrrha, and Blake joined them in encircling Nihilus once more.

Despite being surrounded by even more warriors, Nihilus seemed almost nonchalant about the situation, his spectre-like body showing no obvious signs of distress. In fact, to everyone's surprise, Nihilus seemed to turn away from them and look up to the sky above Vale. Nihilus then extended his hand away from any students, and to the airspace he was gazing at.

Knowing of his telekinesis, Qrow immediately looked for whatever Nihilus was grabbing on to. And to Qrow's horror, there was only one thing in view that Nihilus could be pulling. Above Vale's skyline, General Ironwood's flagship airship began to list, straining as it descended out of the sky. Qrow could tell that the ship was trying to fight against the sudden pull, engines blasting at full charge to try and break out of whatever was forcing it to move against its will, the metal hull of the ship straining under the pressure. Soon enough, the airship's starboard entire engine burst into flames as it overloaded itself trying to break loose. The airship was now falling out of the sky, on a path right for Beacon.

Several other students also looked up to the sky in shock and awe. Qrow couldn't help but almost laugh at the absurdity of the situation. That son of a bitch was throwing an airship at them.

Soon enough, experience and training replaced stupefying astonishment as Qrow yelled out to everyone once more, "SCATTER!"

Immediately everyone began turning and sprinting all saw what was coming and wanted to be as far away from ground zero as possible. Qrow didn't even have time to look after his niece as he moved as fast as he could. As he dashed forward, a cry of pain caught the Qrow's attention. To his right Qrow saw a civilian, one of the waitresses from the fairgrounds, having hidden since the start of the battle, fall to the ground after slipping on a bit of viscera.

Qrow's eyes widened. While he'd never know for sure, he couldn't help but feel that his Semblance had a hand in causing her to fall. Not for the first time in his life, did Qrow curse not having any control over his Semblance. He could just leave her and keep moving, but Qrow knew he couldn't live with himself if he left her to die when it was his fault she was in that situation in the first place. It would be the same as killing her himself.

And so, Qrow pivoted and moved for her. He could get her out. At least that's what he told himself. When he got to her, Qrow grabbed the waitress's hand and moved to run. Unfortunately, the very moment he reached her, the Atlesian airship collided with Beacon's courtyard. The resulting Dust explosion enveloped the entire area in a shockwave of smoke and heat.

Qrow, knowing running was no longer an option, instead dove down and wrapped his arms around the waitress, hoping his Aura could take the blow for the both of them. Just as he did, the impact of the explosion hit him, and then all he saw was blackness.

Pyrrha groaned as she awakened. Everything hurt, and for the second time today her ears rang with a high pitched buzz. Lamenting the loss of that frequency range, Pyrrha pushed herself up as she surveyed the situation around her. The sky was now dark, and the last thing Pyrrha remembered was the orange sky of evening. That meant she was unconscious for at least a few minutes, hopefully no more than that. Looking around, all she saw was devastation, chunks of Beacon were smashed apart by the explosion. Meanwhile trees, grass, and various stalls were all burning, providing some light for her.

To her side, Pyrrha heard a high pitched groan of pain. Turning, she saw the form of Ruby beside her, similarly worse for wear. Bending over, Pyrrha gently awoke the reaper.

"Ruby." She said as she shook her awake. "Ruby, get up we have to move."

Slowly, Ruby's eyes blinked open, obviously confused and disoriented. "Pyrrha?" she moaned, accepting the taller redhead's hand as she pulled her up.

"Yes Ruby. We have to find the othe-" Pyrrha's planning was cut off by a terrifying roar behind her.

Immediately both she and Ruby turned, and to their horror, a massive Ursa was making its way through the destroyed fairgrounds. Not only that, they saw packs of Beowolves prowl the territory, while White Fang grunts also patrolled the school grounds, gunning down anyone they saw.

Pyrrha and Ruby both crouched low, hoping to avoid detection. Apparently, a lot more than they thought had happened while they were unconscious. Scanning the destroyed school grounds, Pyrrha also looked for any sign of Nihilus, and luckily he appeared nowhere in site.

Another crack of a Dust rifle followed by the scream of a civilian caused the two huntress-in-training to hide even further.

"Pyrrha, what do we do?" Ruby asked, fear and uncertainty gripping her voice.

Pyrrha's gut reaction was to say it was going to be ok, and then come up with a plan. But when she couldn't come up with anything, she just shook her head and said, "I don't know Ruby. I don't know."

Chapter Text

"Do you wish to feel the teachings born of the Mandalorian Wars? Of all wars, of all tragedies that scream across the galaxy?" -Kreia, shortly before executing the remains of the Jedi Council.

Chapter 20: Chaos

30 minutes ago...

Standing atop the roof of one of the academic buildings overlooking Beacon's docks, Cinder Fall watched the battle between Jaune Arc and the soldiers of Atlas with rapt attention, her eyes never leaving the shadowy form of what used to be Jaune. Meanwhile her allies Emerald, Mercury, and Neo watched the scene in silent horror. They knew Jaune Arc was a threat, but they didn't know how to even start processing what they were looking at.

"Mercury." Cinder began, drawing the silver-haired boys eyes away from the fight. "Are you ready to help spread my message?"

"Uhh…" Mercury gaped at Cinder, having been so distracted by the fight he didn't even have his scroll out. When he saw Cinder's eyes narrow at his lack of response, he immediately fumbled out his scroll and aimed it at the battle. "Uh yeah, totally boss."

Cinder then grew a sadistic smile as she said, "Good. Then begin the broadcast."

At her words, Mercury pressed a button on his scroll and began to live stream directly to the CCT. With their control over the tower, it was simple for them to hijack the broadcast and change it from whatever tournament fight was going on, to the battle in front of them for everyone across Remnant to see. Cinder smirked as she was about to go off script, but she was confident that her improvisation was going to inspire just as much fear as the execution of the Atlas android.

"People of Remnant… You have been lied to. " Cinder began her voiceover. "Beacon Academy. Atlas Academy. All of the huntsmen and huntresses continue to lie and lie, all to cover up a single truth as to not cause a panic."

Mercury continued to film Jaune as Cinder spoke, making sure to capture the moment he flung the student Arslan off of Beacon's cliff.

After pausing for dramatic effect as the student's death was shown to everyone on live television, Cinder continued. "The Grimm are not some faraway problem that only the poorest of villages deal with. They are not some rabble of mindless beasts, but an army, led by an intelligent force."

At her words, Mercury zoomed in on Jaune's shadow form, this time throwing his sword at Weiss while slamming Ruby into the ground with his telekinesis. In truth, Cinder had no idea what Jaune was. She didn't believe he was one of her Mistresses' followers, as there was no way Salem would've kept a power like him hidden away from her. Absolutely no way. But at the very least, Jaune would prove an effective patsy and fall guy for her, taking all the attention while allowing her and Salem to move undetected.

"Those in charge would hide the truth from you. The truth about how close the apocalypse truly is. Neither Atlas and General Ironwood, nor Vale and Professor Ozpin are truly prepared to protect their people." As Cinder spoke, she watched as Jaune removed some student's head using the remains of Ruby's weapon. After a pause to let what just happened sink in, she continued. "They have been so focused on defeating each other, preparing for war between Atlas and Vale, that they didn't even realize one of their own students was a monster."

Cinder then nodded to Emerald, who quickly used her own scroll and began typing. Luckily for Cinder, she had the foresight to know something was happening when Jaune began his breakdown, and had the mint-haired thief record the whole altercation. With a press of a button, Emerald broadcasted the recording, showing the whole world Jaune Arc putting on the strange mask of his, then transforming into his pseudo-Grimm form.

Once the video was finished, Cinder let the video cut to a red screen with a black queen chess piece in the center. "These so-called 'leaders,' are selfish, foolish men who have led their people to ruin. And now… because of their failure, all any of us can do is pray that we will come out of the following storm alive."

As Cinder finished her speech, she nodded, and Mercury cut the transmission, broadcasting only static. Cinder smiled. She could feel the fear in the air. The terror. Grimm from all over were now converging on Vale as she spread her message. Not only that, but Adam and his pack of animals were on the way to Beacon as well, along with some of the Grimm they had captured. Now, Beacon would fall, and with it, she would gain control of the power that was rightfully hers.

"Uh, Cinder?" Mercury stammered out, drawing the half-Maiden from her fantasy.

"What!?" She snapped back as she glared at the crippled assassin.

To her annoyance, Mercury didn't respond immediately, only pointing to the sky. Following his finger, she felt her jaw drop and eyes widen as she watched Jaune pull an Atlesian Airship out of the sky and throw it at Beacon.

"Isn't that the airship that Roman is on?" Mercury said as he was finally able to find his voice.

At his words, Neo looked up and in mute horror, came to the same realization. Once Cinder regained her wits after seeing the sheer absurdity of the action, she turned to the others, yelling, "We are leaving, now!"

This command snapped them out of their own dazes and they immediately turned around and moved. Luckily for the team of teenage villains, they were far enough away and fast enough that they were able to escape the massive explosion of Dust behind them. Once the apex of the explosion finished, they turned and paused to look at destruction that was wrought, Cinder almost looking on in admiration, while Neo looked on in despair.

"Come." Cinder then spoke, drawing eyes to her. "We're pulling back to Amity Arena. The civilians will be clearing out of there, and the huntsmen and soldiers will be leaving to deal with invasion. We will let them fight it out and exhaust themselves, before moving in for our final objective."

Cinder turned around and began leaping between rooftops as she scanned for a bullhead they could hijack. Quickly, Emerald followed, with Mercury sparing a tentative glance at Neo before moving on as well. Neo, tears falling down her face as she looked at the burning wreckage of the airship, eventually turned to follow, as she now had nowhere else to go.

Darth Nihilus stood over the destroyed ruins of Beacon's Airdocks. Fires spread out across the trees and merchant stalls that once spread out across the fairgrounds. The Remnantians he was fighting, the huntsmen and huntresses his host knew, were now spread out across the devastation, either having escaped the explosion or were dead and unconscious amongst the rubble.

As the Dark Lord stepped forward to continue his hunt, something drew his attention. Looking up, he saw the circling forms of nevermores, the crow-like Grimm swooping down and landing beside him. The Grimm looked at him, heads tilting in confusion as they tried to ascertain what Nihilus was. Meanwhile, Nihilus looked at the Grimm with curiosity in turn. While he had been on Remnant for some time, he had very few opportunities to actually look at a Grimm in person. He felt them when he was but a soul trapped within his mask, but to now look up on them with his own eyes, they truly were beautiful.

These Grimm, were pure Dark Side. Unlike Sithspawn like the terentateks or tuk'ata, these were not animals mutated by the Dark Side, but physical manifestations of the Dark Side of the Force itself in the form of monstrous animals. Nihilus could only imagine how envious Sith alchemists like Naga Sadow and Exar Kun would have been towards the Grimm's creator. An infinite army of darkness was the dream of any Dark Lord.

Regardless, as these creatures were made of the Force itself, that meant two things for Nihilus. One, he could feed upon them, much like his host had discovered weeks prior during the Breach. And two, he could twist them to serve him.

Reaching out with the Dark Side, Nihilus tore his way into the bestial minds of the avian Grimm. Much in the same way one would use the Force to Beast Trick an animal, Nihlus used the Dark Side to dominate the mind of the Grimm, forcing it into servitude. The nevermores struggled and spasmed as Nihilus gained control over them, until their minds were completely and wholly dedicated to him.

Satisfied with his work, he let the Grimm go, allowing them to return to the air and begin hunting for survivors. Before Nihilus could move on, the sound of jet engines then drew his attention. Turning, he watched as several bullhead dropships flew above Beacon, seemingly avoiding the ruined airdocks and Nihilus himself. Nihilus considered ripping the airships out of the sky, but he felt something within. Darkness, anger, and hate oozed from the occupants, and it wasn't directed towards him.

Nihilus watched as the bullheads hovered over the far side of the campus, and opened their doors. From within, he saw ground-based Grimm such as ursa and beowolves being dropped, unleashed upon the unsuspecting students, as well as members of the terrorist organization the White Fang.

Now that was curious. Someone was using his return to enact their own attack against Beacon. Nihilus would say it was an interesting coincidence, but he knew there was no such thing. Regardless, the machinations of others was not something he was concerned with.

Reaching out, he searched if there were any other founts of the Force he could drain. While he could drain the Grimm, his ability to control them made them more useful to him alive. And as he reached out, Nihilus felt three sources which he could feed upon. The first was at the top of Beacon Tower, and the second far below it. The third was currently moving towards Amity Arena with great haste. This third source was the strongest Force signature he could feel, and therefore his first target. And so, with a Force empowered leap, Nihilus began hunting.

Present time...

Ruby and Pyrrha crouched low behind the rubble as they stalked their prey. Two White Fang grunts currently standing in front of the closest entrance into Beacon Academy. One was currently casually looting some dead students of their Lien and other valuables while the other kept watch. Almost growling, Ruby could only look at the terrorist with anger at his actions. These people were her friends, her classmates, many of them were Faunus, and he was fucking looting them.

The huntress felt her grip tighten around her weapon. With Crescent Rose destroyed, Ruby was forced to resort to taking a Dust Rifle from a deceased Atlas Soldier, along with whatever ammunition he had on him. While even she could see the slight hypocrisy in judging the White Fang soldier for doing something similar, at least she did it for survival rather than greed.

"Ruby…" Pyrrha whispered beside the younger team leader. "How do you want to do this?"

Ruby quickly glanced at her older friend, before coming to a decision. "We'll take them out, but we have to do it fast and quiet. We can't give away our position." Pointing at the grunt who was looting, she said. "My semblance can get me close enough to him that I can probably knock him out before he calls for help. Can you get the other one?"

Glancing at the grunt on watch, Pyrrha nodded. "Yes. I can take him out with my javelin." As she said this, she shifted Miló into its spear form.

"Ok, on three." Ruby grit out as she clutched her rifle. "One. Two. Three!"

At her count Ruby burst into a cloud of flower petals and made right for the White Fang grunts. The terrorist on guard saw her approach, pointed, and was about to shout, when Miló slammed into his chest, spearing him away. The looting grunt turned at the noise, confused as to what was happening, when Ruby reappeared in front of him, Dust rifle raised.

With an angry cry, Ruby brought the butt of the rifle down on the grunt's face, instantly knocking him to the ground. The grunt groaned, and Ruby instantly smashed him in the face again, knocking him out. Standing over the unconscious body, Ruby called over Pyrrha, who recalled her weapon as she quickly caught up. Before they had a chance to speak, the sound of a nevermore squawking above them caught their attention.

Looking up, Ruby quickly turned to Pyrrha. "Hurry, let's go inside!"

Without hesitation, the two huntresses rushed indoors and hopefully out of sight of any Grimm. Now in relative safety, Pyrrha and Ruby took the chance to catch their breaths. Ruby was finally able to take the time to really take stock of what her rifle could do and how much ammo she had, while Pyrrha moved to dig out her scroll.

Dialing Nora first, Pyrrha listened to the call ring several times before the line went dead. Sighing, she then pressed the holographic buttons and called Ren instead. After a few rings, Pyrrha gasped as Ren answered the call.

"Ren!" Pyrrha practically shouted, drawing Ruby's attention too.

"Pyrrha! Ruby!" Ren whispered, but obviously happy to see them. "Is it just you two?" he asked, moving his scroll as he tried to see behind them.

Pyrrha nodded her head. "Yes. We woke up near each other. Where are you? Where's Nora?"

"When we fled, the explosion knocked us far back, around the Great War Memorial." Ren then sighed as he turned his camera, "And Nora's right here." moving his camera, they saw the unconscious form the Nora Valkyrie, heavily burned and obviously worse for wear. "When the airship hit, Nora… tried to cover me with her body, shield me from the blast." Ren said through grit teeth, obviously angry at the whole situation.

Pyrrha gasped at the state her friend was in, before collecting herself to reassure Ren. "Don't worry Ren, we'll get her out of this."

Ren returned a tired smile, when Ruby moved in front of the scroll.

"What about Blake and Weiss? Have you seen them?"

Ren shook his head. "No sorry. A lot was going on back at the docks."

Biting her lip, Ruby took a calming breath before responding. "It's fine, at least we know where you two are. But we need a plan."

Pyrrha and Ren nodded in agreement, both looking to Ruby to take the lead.

Ruby was slightly surprised by this, but quickly realized it made sense that she was in command, being the only team leader there. Steeling herself, she quickly came up with a shell of a strategy.

"We need to fall back, head to a rally point where we can meet up with the others." She began. "Any ideas where the others might head to?"

Thinking on this, Ren then added in his two-cents. "Beacon Tower. With the airdocks destroyed, any other survivors would be heading out to Beacon Tower."

Pyrrha nodded her head at his assessment. "It is both the largest and most defensible structure in the school. If there's anywhere survivors are meeting up, it's there."

"Good thinking." Ruby agreed. "OK we'll make our way to Beacon tower. Do you think you can get there with Nora, Ren?"

"Yes. My semblance should be enough to hide the two of us from the Grimm, and the White Fang aren't exactly being subtle with their actions, so I can easily avoid them."

"Alright. Good luck Ren, we'll see you there." Ruby said.

With a silent nod, Ren hung up.

"Do you want to give Weiss and Blake a call?" Pyrrha asked as she turned to the younger huntress.

Ruby then, dug into her pocket, and disappointedly found her scroll broken. "Just my luck." she muttered.

"Here, let me-" Pyrrha's offer was cut off as the two huntress heard a growl. Immediately spinning, they saw that a few beowolves had found them, most likely attracted by the noise of the previous call.

"Later." Ruby hissed out as she raised her rifle. "We can try calling them once we get to the tower."

Nodding her head, Pyrrha stood and took her own combat stance. They then charged forward, not planning on letting any Grimm stand between them and their friends.

Ruby and Pyrrha cut their way through Grimm after Grimm as they made their way for Beacon's tower. There were far too many Grimm in the area than what the White Fang could've possibly dropped off on their own. Ruby was reasonably sure that Jaune's attack was stirring up a massive amount of fear and other negative emotions within Beacon and Vale, drawing in more Grimm from the surrounding areas.

With a pull of the trigger, Ruby popped the head of another Beowolf. The two had long abandoned stealth and were making a mad dash for Beacon Tower. Bursting through a double door, the two huntresses exited out of the building they were sheltering in and found themselves in the middle of Beacon's inner courtyard. Unfortunately for them, there was a horde of lesser Grimm between them and the Tower.

Swiftly, Pyrrha and Ruby took their combat stances as various creeps and beowolves turned to face them. Before they had a chance to attack however, the gathering in front of them was shredded by a hail of bullets, as fire Dust rounds shredded through them. Ruby and Pyrrha had to actually dodge to the side, hiding behind a pillar to avoid being hit. It seemed that whomever was shooting didn't notice them and was focused on solely killing Grimm.

Once the horde was thoroughly dealt with, Ruby decided to stick her arm out from behind the pillar and yell, "Friendly! Friendly!"

As she did so, the unmistakable voice of Glynda Goodwitch cut through the air. "Miss Adel! Cease fire!"

Almost immediately the gunfire slowed to a halt, allowing Ruby and Pyrrha to exit their cover. With the Grimm now gone, and the threat of friendly fire mitigated, they could actually assess their surroundings. At the base of Beacon Tower, defending the doors, she saw several teams of students, most recognizably teams SSSN, CFVY, and CRDL, along with both Professor Goodwitch and Ozpin. Behind the frontline, they could see Ren and the unconscious Nora as well, apparently having reached the tower before them. All of the students looked tired, sporting various minor injuries, but were still able to fight.

"Ruby! Pyrrha! Hurry, over here!" Sun called out, waving them over.

The two teens complied and quickly crossed the no man's land in front of the tower. Once they reached a point of relative safety they were quickly met by their friends and professors.

"Girls, are you alright?" Glynda quickly asked while visually checking them over.

"We're fine, professor." Ruby tried to wave off her concern. "Low aura, and I lost my weapon… but we're still alive."

"That's very good." Ozpin nodded. "Now, are either of you able to tell me what is going on? We've lost communication with the outside, and the White Fang and Grimm have been assaulting the Tower non-stop."

Ruby and Pyrrha looked at each other, only now realizing they finally had time to rationalize what they just went through. Pyrrha moved to say something, but found that words had failed her, resulting in nothing coming out of her mouth. However Ruby was able to answer their headmaster's question.

"It was… Jaune. He put on some kind of, Grimm mask. And it turned him into a monster, some kind of humanoid Grimm!" Ruby almost started yelling. "Gods, he was killing so many…"

"He's… become Nihilus now." Pyrrha quietly added on, causing her fellow teens to look at her in confusion while Ozpin grimaced, and Glynda's face fell in horror. "I don't know if there's anything left of Jaune in him."

"Meanwhile whoever orchestrated that message across the CCT is also most likely the one coordinating the White Fang." Ozpin shook his head, morose at how long everything had fallen apart so quickly, before turning to Glynda. "Glynda, take command of the defenses here." He then looked at Pyrrha and said, "I'm sorry this has to happen like this, Miss Nikos, but I need an answer. Now."

Pyrrah's own face fell at what Ozpin was asking of her. Too much was happening too fast, and she didn't know if she could handle taking on the burden of being a Maiden on top of everything. She looked to Ruby at her side, who stared at her in confusion and worry, then to Ren who had a countenance of the same. She looked at Glynda, who even behind her stern expression, Pyrrha could see sadness and pity.

Then she looked at the devastation around her. Her school was all but destroyed. Dozens, if not hundreds of her fellow students and civilians killed. This was chaos in its purest form. And if she had the capability to put this right, to get the power to protect and save everyone she could, didn't she have the responsibility to do so?

Steeling herself, Pyrrha looked back up, meeting the Headmaster's gaze as she said, "I'll do it."

Chapter Text

"As my feet walk from the ashes of Katarr, I shall not fear, for in fear, lies death." -Visas Marr

Chapter 21: Death

General Ironwood gripped the handle of his revolver tightly as his bullhead flew right for Beacon Academy. He had no idea what happened to cause his flagship to crash into the school, but now the Grimm were running rampant throughout both Vale and Beacon. The only bits of good news was that during the chaos following the initial attack, the military had completed the evacuation of Amity Arena itself, and his robotic drone forces were engaging the Grimm within Vale. Peering out of the bullhead's cargo hold, James spotted the ruined airdock where the carcass of his flagship now lay.

Beside Ironwood, his second-in-command Specialist Winter Schnee and Penny also looked out the window, the former with a stern countenance and the latter with a look of abject horror. The General could tell Winter was suppressing her internal worry with discipline. While the original plan was for Winter to return to Atlas following her delivery of the Paladin reinforcements, she had requested to stay for longer due after she spoke with Weiss and learned of an altercation between her sister and Jaune Arc. Whatever occurred between the two students was enough that Winter wanted to stay close enough that she could respond if anything occurred between the two of them again.

Ironwood sighed in frustration at the thought of Jaune, and of the video that played on Amity Arena's monitors. Apparently they had all been fooled by Jaune. While he knew that the voice pinning the blame of Jaune being the force behind the Grimm was lying, Ironwood saw the mask he put on. If that red and white bone mask wasn't somehow connected to Salem he'd eat his own beret. The others should've just let him go and detain Jaune before any of this could've occurred. But there was no use lamenting over what if's, and the General focused himself back on the devastation in front of him.

Gritting his teeth, the General called out to his pilot, "Pilot, take us down to the docks! All squads, deploy drones now!"

"Yes sir!" a chorus of soldiers responded.

Soon enough, dozens of Atlesians Knights and their accompanying Paladins dropped into the ruined Beacon airdock, ruthlessly gunning down any Grimm that remained. Once the landing zone was secured, the Atlas dropships touched down, deploying several platoons of additional soldiers coming from both the airships and Amity Arena. Once they deployed, Ironwood strode out with Winter, while Penny followed timidly behind them.

The Atlas soldiers and their robotic allies began to push forward out of the landing zone without quarter. While it was obvious that they would gun down any Grimm on sight, any White Fang members were also put down with extreme prejudice. A fate terrorists like them more than deserved. The Atlas Paladins with their heavy Dust cannons focused their fire on larger land-based Grimm, while their rockets maintained an anti-air defense against the avian and flying chimeric Grimm. This freed up the Knights and the regular soldiers to focus on clearing out the smaller Grimm and terrorist forces within the narrow hallways of Beacon.

Seeing that his troops were performing adequately and did not require his direct supervision, Ironwood retrieved his scroll and put in a call to his operational second-in-command, Colonel Donald Doyle. While Winter was his second-in-command for Specialist and Huntsmen related operations, Colonel Doyle was in charge of overseeing and coordinating the operations of both the general infantry and the Atlas drone forces.

"General Ironwood!" Colonel Doyle immediately saluted as General Ironwood appeared on his screen, the excitable officer's entire face covered behind a fully sealed helmet and his orange trimmed Atlesian armor.

"Colonel Doyle." Ironwood sternly responded. "Status report."

"Ah, yes, of course General." The Colonel cleared his throat as he composed himself. "Well all things considered General, we are doing rather well. After the loss of Blue-1, Blue-2 has taken control of the Knight and Paladin forces and our mechanized infantry are engaging the Grimm in Vale. Majority of the civilian population has made it to the shelters. And while there are quite a few Grimm, thanks to the presence of the drones we are holding."

"How long do you think Vale can last?" the General asked.

"That's a tough question General. We are currently coordinating with the local Vale PD and huntsmen to form defensive perimeters around each bunker, but more and more Grimm are currently flooding in from the nearby forests. We can hold for now, but unless we get reinforcements soon, we'll need to focus on evacuating Vale rather than defending it."

The General nodded his head, agreeing with his subordinate's opinion. "Hold the line, Colonel. Once my forces and I secure Beacon, us and whatever students that are willing to fight shall move to relieve you."

Colonel Doyle snapped off a salute. "Roger that General. We shall hold the line." The Colonel then disconnected the call, allowing the General to focus on his current task.

Returning to the battlefield before him, General Ironwood saw that his forces had fully secured the air docks, allowing them to begin evacuation procedures of any civilians and non-combatants they could find.

Putting two fingers to his ear, Ironwood activated his short range communicator and barked out to the officers in charge of the drones, "I want all Knight and Paladin units on search and destroy missions for both Grimm and White Fang. Fan out and take down whoever you see." Ironwood then turned to face the infantry officers, "Red team, I want you to stay here and cover the evacuation zone. Blue, Green, and Yellow teams, you are all on search and rescue, priority on civilians and students."

"Roger General!" The officers and troopers all sounded back as they snapped off their salutes and moved to their designated tasks."

"Sir!" Winter saluted beside him. "Requesting permission to join the search and rescue parties, sir!"

Ironwood looked at his assistant and frowned imperceptibly. He knew that Winter was worried sick about her sister, and wanted nothing more than to go looking for her. It was a credit to both her training and her character that she waited to ask permission first rather than go off half cocked like most huntsmen would've done.

"Granted. Blue, Green and Yellow teams are under your command. Good luck, Winter." the General said in a more comforting tone than normal.

Winter's lips pressed into a thin line as she nodded. "Thank you General." she then turned and began barking off orders to her soldiers.

"What about me, sir?" Penny asked in a small voice behind him, still taking in the devastation.

"You'll stay with me Penny. We'll be heading to Beacon Tower to find Ozpin."

Penny looked conflicted, glancing at the soldiers who were sifting through the rubble, looking for survivors, but ultimately nodded, accepting the General's orders.

Ironwood then turned to face the Bullheads. "Pilots! Stay here but keep the engines running. Be ready to take off for emergency evacuations should Colonel Doyle call for it. Additionally-"

The General's orders were cut off as an explosion in the distance rocked the entire academy. Catching himself before he could fall, James turned towards the source of the sound. His eyes widened as he saw the peak of Mt. Glenn had exploded, and from its interior a massive, two winged Grimm flew free. It took a brief moment for James to recognize what he was looking at. An ancient Grimm so rare that he had thought it was only a myth. He was looking at a Wyvern.

Ironwood immediately shouted into his radio as he began an emergency broadcast to the remaining airships. "Blue-3, Blue-4 engage that newest Grimm! Blue-2, provide covering fire but fall back to a safe distance, we cannot lose control of the drones!"

The airship captains acknowledged the General's orders and began to slowly move towards their objectives. Airships Blue-3 and Blue-4 unleashed a volley of superheated Dust lasers that fired towards the Wyvern. While the experienced and agile Grimm barrel rolled and avoided the attack, many of the following Nevermores and Griffons were not so cunning and exploded in the air.

As the Wyvern spun and flew, Ironwood saw it drop back ichor down into the streets of Vale. The ichor then seemed to coalesce, combining into larger puddles that spawned more Grimm. Ironwood watched as dozens if not hundreds of new Grimm spawned in the city of Vale beneath him. Immediately, James knew he was presented with a terrible conundrum. This new Grimm-spawning Wyvern could easily set the balance of the battle against them, and overrun the Vale.

James could choose to abandon Beacon now, to head into Vale and focus on the both reinforcing Colonel Doyle and evacuating the civilians. Or James could stay here, finish his task of securing Beacon, and risking losing both his troops here and everyone in Vale in the hopes that he could rally students and huntsmen to defeat all of these new enemies.

Closing his eyes, James activated his semblance, Mettle, strengthening his resolve and allowing him to focus on what he thought would be the best decision based on tactics and strategy, not emotion. And that's when James decided to stay. Colonel Doyle had enough drone forces to hold for some time, and securing Beacon took priority. James needed to find Ozpin, Glynda, and Qrow if he wanted to have any chance of taking down that Wyvern, and ensuring the safety of both the Fall Maiden and Beacon's relic took precedence over everything else. If they lost Vale, they'd be losing one city. If they lost the relic, they could lose the entire world.

When James opened his eyes, he saw that many of his soldiers had frozen, gawking at the Wyvern above.

"What are you all looking at!?" James snapped, causing the soldiers to jump and turn to their commanding officer. "You all have your orders, move out!"

The troops immediately let out a quick salute as they hurriedly moved to accomplish their tasks. As they left, Ironwood let out a sigh. He hoped he was making the right choice, but he knew that in situations like this, there was never a right choice, just the best choice given the circumstances and resources he had available. And so Ironwood advanced into Beacon alongside Penny, drawing Due Process and silently hoping he didn't just sign the death warrants of thousands of civilians and soldiers in Vale.

Amity Arena…

Neo slumped down on her knees, dumbly looking at the ground as she and her compatriots made their way into the now evacuated arena floor. The mute could feel tears rolling down her cheeks as her mind drifted to the most likely dead Roman, the only person in the world who actually gave a damn about her. Both Mercury and Emerald stared at Neo with a sense of worry. Not out of empathy for the mute girl, as she was never really part of their group, just another pawn, but out of fear that she was going to now be dead weight for their operation.

Turning to their leader, Mercury asked, "So what's the plan boss?"

Cinder, who was currently pacing along the marble arena floor with her left hand on her chin and her right holding her scroll, watched the battle through what CCT security cameras she still had access to. "With Roman gone, we now have no avenues to deploy the virus. While it's… unfortunate that we can no longer take over Atlas's drones." Cinder began, sparing a small glance at Neo. "The current chaos is still enough to make our move. The main problem is that Ozpin and his goons have entrenched themselves at Beacon Tower."

Cinder then began rapid swiping through what camera views she had. "And I have no idea where Jaune is. We need him to draw their attention so we can get in and find the Maiden." As Cinder kept swiping, looking for the strange Grimm-Human hybrid, she shifted from a view of the cafeteria, to a view of the Emerald Forest, until she finally found Jaune walking forward through a nondescript hallway.

"I have you now." Cinder grinned to herself as she looked as to the location of the hallway Jaune was moving through. Her grin quickly fell when the security system labeled the hall "Amity Arena North Gate."

Scowling, Cinder stopped pacing and lowered her scroll to look at the aforementioned entrance. Her minions all noticed her pausing, and joined her in looking the same direction. Both Mercury and Emerald gaped in horror as they saw Grimm-Jaune casually approaching them.

Neo, who was similarly dumbstruck by Jaune's sudden appearance, suddenly felt any feelings of sorrow or fear quickly give way to anger and hate. Logically, Neo knew that someone who took on a dozen huntsmen at once and ripped an airship out of the sky was more than out of her league, but logic didn't matter when the murderer of the only person she cared about was right in front of her.

"Neo, wait!" Cinder commanded but the girl paid her no mind.

Her form breaking apart like shattering glass, Neo vanished from sight. Grimm-Jaune stopped moving at Neo's action, but did not appear to be overly concerned about the ice cream colored assassin.

Neo reappeared behind Jaune, her form appearing out of nowhere. The assassin drove her umbrella towards Jaune, intent on spearing him from behind. But despite the fact that Neo both made no noise and had been invisible when she moved, Jaune seemed to know exactly where she was, and deflected the attack with his sword.

Stumbling back from the parry, Neo did not have time to react as Jaune then released a burst of lightning that slammed into her. Neo was sent flying backwards, smoldering slightly with her Aura heavily drained. It took several seconds for the assassin to push herself up slowly, each movement agonizing. When she finally got herself to her knees, Neo looked back up and flinched as she saw that Jaune was looking right at her.

Neo felt her mouth go dry as Jaune just stared at her. The most primitive part of her brain was screaming at her to get out, that the thing standing in front of her wasn't a person but a monster. It was a predator and she prey. Vengeful anger was replaced by instinctual terror. Neo looked at Nihilus, then at Cinder and her allies. It barely took a second for Neo to decide her next move.

Cinder was not worth dying for. And she was so hilariously outclassed by Jaune that trying to avenge Roman was a fool's errand. And so, with a final shattering of her physical form, Neo vanished from sight and began running away as fast as she could.

Nihilus watched as the tri-colored assassin fled for her life. Well, not so much watched as he couldn't physically see her, but he felt her presence leave. It would've been easy for him to finish her off, a simple throw of his blade or draining her life force, but she was not his target. Whether or not she escaped to live another day mattered little to him.

"Neo! Get back here!" Nihilus' real target yelled, but the assassin seemed to care little for her words as she ran for her life.

With her gone, Nihilus briefly searched through Jaune's memories to recall the names of those in front of him. It didn't take long for him to find them, Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald. He knew of Mercury's capabilities, but had never fought the other two. Emerald was a non-entity to him, nowhere close to being a threat. Cinder however, she was more deserving of his curiosity.

There was something within her, something he hadn't seen in a long time, outside of himself of course. A Force Ghost, the spirit of a powerful Force Sensitive bound to the body of Cinder. Nihilus was aware of such spirits, Exar Kun had a penchant for summoning and learning from the spirits of ancient Sith Warlords, and Korriban was rife with the ghosts of the dead. Powerful souls, such as his own, also had the capability of possessing and taking over the bodies of others, like he did with Jaune. It was a technique that he hadn't expected this planet to have developed on its own. However, it wasn't exactly a possession, as he could sense Cinder's own will and spirit in control. It was more that, Cinder was somehow bending the spirit's will? Controlling it? Nihilus couldn't be sure.

"And so you're here." Cinder spoke, breaking Nihilus out of his musing. "Tell me, did Salem send you? Another one of her experiments?" she asked, the confidence never leaving her tone. Cinder had seen that Grimm whale once, so creating something like the Grimm-Jaune in front of her was not out of the realm of possibility.

Meanwhile Nihilus stared blankly at the teenage girl, as he debated what to do with her. He came here to feed upon the spirit within her, but now he wanted a chance to understand what it was. Not only that, he could now feel the emotions of the host in front of him. Cruelty and sadism, layered over hatred and anger, all of which hid her true motivator, fear. Fear of being weak, fear of going hungry. Something Nihilus could relate to.

And in this moment, Nihilus allowed himself a single moment of humanity, much like he did when he finished feasting on the world of Katarr, and he found her laying upon its ruined surface. And so, Nihilus spoke.

"You… have potential. Join me. And you will rise… you shall see the truth." Nihilus spoke, his voice distorted and gravely, layered upon Jaune's original voice.

Cinder quirked an eyebrow. "And what, praytell, is this truth?"

"Uhh Boss?" Mercury asked, flinching slightly when she turned to him. "You actually understand him?"

Cinder's eyes widened slightly at the boy's words. She then turned to Emerald, who shook her head and said, "Only heard garbled noises."

Nihilus continued on, uncaring for the confusion of the minions. "The truth, is that the galaxy, the universe, is far larger than this worthless ball of dirt. And all of it… shall die. Sacrifices to my hunger. Join me… bow before me as my apprentice, and you shall bear witness to the end of all things."

There was a heavy silence between Nihilus and Cinder. The Sith Lord stared at the girl before him, awaiting her answer. And that answer came in the form of laughter.

"Heh, haha, hahahHAHA!" Cinder cackled as her followers looked to her in confusion. Cinder manic gaze then focused on Nihilus. "You, a mere GRIMM think you can command me!? To make me kneel before you!? I am Salem's chosen! I am to be the Maiden above all! And you should know your place!" Cinder then formed a black glass scimitar and pointed right for Nihilus.

Nihilus only let out a sigh. "Disappointing." The Lord of Hunger then twirled Crocea Mors and took his combat stance.

While Mercury and Emerald may not have understood any of what just transpired, they at least had enough sense to quickly get ready for combat as well. A heavy silence fell atop of all four combatants, three of which tensely waited to see who would make the first move. When Nihilus didn't immediately attack, Cinder decided not to let the opportunity of a first strike be lost.

Stepping forward, Cinder released a massive jet of fire for the Dark Lord. But Nihilus didn't even bat an eye as he created an invisible bubble of Force, sending the flames splashing around him. As Nihilus' vision was clouded by the fire, Mercury spun on the ground, launching a volley of missiles that flew right for the Sith Lord. The rockets exploded upon the shield as well, unable to penetrate the force field as a cloud of smoke was sent into the air.

As the explosions created a smokescreen around Nihilus, Emerald moved forward, circling around the edge of the ring to his back. Charging up her Semblance, Emerald created 5 illusionary copies of herself, and charged with them towards Nihilus. Once the smoke finally cleared around him, the 6 Emeralds all leapt and attacked at all angles around Nihilus.

Unfortunately for the thief, only one of the Emeralds triggered Nihilus' danger sense. Only one of the Emeralds there was real, and unfortunately for the real Emerald, Nihilus could sense which one it was. The thief's eyes widened as Nihilus didn't even react as her 5 clones attacked, their blades ghosting through him. They widened even further as Nihilus parried her own true attack and extended his off hand towards her, gripping her by the throat.

Emerald struggled in vain as Nihilus tightened his grasp and lifted her into the air. She then tried to scream as she felt Nihilus drain her of her Aura, but was unable to as his fingers crushed her windpipe. Before Nihilus could snap her neck however, Mercury charged, attacking Nihilus with a flurry of jumping tornado kicks.

In the moment before the assassin could connect, Nihilus threw Emerald at the boy, slamming the two bodies into each other. The impact knocked the wind out of Mercury, but the teen was an experienced fighter, and didn't take his eyes off of Nihilus even with the impact. And in doing so, he saw the Dark Lord blast a bolt of lightning for the two of them.

Eyes widening, Mercury wrapped his arms around the stunned Emerald and dove to the side. The two minions slammed into the ground as the lighting just barely missed them. Nihilus stepped forward to continue his attack, when he sensed danger coming from his side.

Twirling Crocea Mors, Nihilus shattered three glass arrows that Cinder loosed at him. Cinder grimaced as her sneak attack failed, but then extended her own hand as she took control of the shattered glass arrows and directed them into a glass shard tornado around Nihilus. Calling upon the Maiden's powers as well, she set the glass alight, creating a flaming vortex of shrapnel that she constricted around the Lord of Hunger.

As the attack closed in, Nihilus concentrated the Force in his hand. He then slammed his fist into the ground, sending out an explosion of Force in a wave around him. The flaming tornado was completely snuffed out by the Force Wave, nullifying the attack as the wave then slammed into Cinder and sent her flying.

Cinder soared through the air uncontrollably, tumbling and flipping, until she roared with anger and summoned a jetstream of fire beneath her feet. Her impromptu thrusters now allowing her to hover high off the ground, Cinder snarled at Nihilus as she called upon the full strength of her Maidenly power. So intense were her emotions that a literal sphere of flames formed around her, spinning and twirling like a miniature sun.

Bringing her hands together, Cinder combined her semblance and the power of the Maiden to create a jagged, black glass greatsword that burned with mystical flame. The sword itself was massive, probably over 10 feet long, and anything near its vicinity either began burning or melting.

Nihilus however, as he had been this whole fight, appeared impassive as he watched Cinder form her weapon. When she finished, he responded by raising his off hand, which in turn caused dozens of metallic arena floor panels to rise into the air.

Howling, Cinder flew downward towards the Sith Lord, far faster than any normal huntsman had any right to move. As she descended, Nihilus began to telekinetically spin the floor tiles, turning them into improvised buzz saws, before flinging them towards the Maiden. Several of the tiles exploded immediately as both Mercury and Emerald fired off rockets and bullets to try and stop the attack.

However, enough made it through to still be a threat as they soared to meet Cinder. Cinder however, barrel rolled and twirled with a wild grace, savagely slashing her greatsword and evaporating the metal tiles. Cinder stopped Nihilus' attack in seconds, and with a final thrust from her flames charged right into close quarters with the Lord of Hunger.

Immediately Nihilus raised Crocea Mors, locking blades with the Fall Maiden, Cinder pushing down from above with her flames while Nihilus remained immovable from below. Fire spewed from Cinder's eyes as she stared down Nihilus with an expression nothing but manic hate. Cinder's flaming thrusters spewed out even more fire, pushing her downwards and allowing her to go toe to toe with Nihilus physically.

It was then, out of the corner of her eyes, that Cinder started to notice Crocea Mors start to glow a dull red, then a bright orange, and Cinder's flame sword began to melt through it. Cinder smirked as she finally had the advantage, and focused even more of her power on her thrusters to destroy Nihilus' sword.

However, Nihilus also seemed to notice the precarious situation of his weapon, and did something that Cinder did not expect, he let go of his sword. Cinder's face fell as the sudden lack of resistance caused her to explode forward and fly straight into the ground. Cinder was barely able to turn and land on her feet, stopping herself from crashing in a nose dive. But she couldn't completely kill her momentum as she then stumbled forward uncontrollably.

With that single stumble, Cinder knew that she was outplayed. That conclusion was only reinforced as she felt Nihilus' fist, enhanced by his Force Lightning, slam into her stomach. The electrified impact burned through her Aura, and sent her flying backwards towards her companions.

Cinder hit the ground, but was able to break fall and rotate into a flip, landing on her feet. Grunting in pain, she looked to her side and saw Mercury and Emerald nearby. She quickly moved to the side to reconvene with her allies while Nihilus used the Force to recall his weapon.

"We could probably use a new plan Boss." Mercury grunted as Emerald reloaded her pistols.

Cinder grimaced at the assassin's words, but she couldn't outly refute him. "Emerald, make us an opening."

Wincing, Emerald said, "I don't know if that's going to work, Cinder."

"I didn't ask for your opinion!" Cinder snapped at the mint-haired thief as fire burst around her, ready to fly up into the air once more.

"No wait!" grabbed onto Cinder's arm in a rare bout of defiance. "Cinder he can see through my illusions! Same way he probably saw through Neo's!"

Cinder's eyes widened a bit, before she scowled and quickly formulated a new plan. "Fine. I'll make the opening. You two, when you see a chance, run him through."

Cinder's two followers nodded as the false Maiden stood, forming a flaming scimitar in her hand. Silently, the two villains stared each other down, and Cinder once again made the first move. Charging forward, she fired a fire bolt right for Nihilus' face, hoping to distract him while she advanced. Nihilus however, seemed to care little attack, and dissipated it with a slash of his sword.

Extending his off hand, Nihilus then loosed a burst of lightning right for Cinder. This was the moment Cinder was waiting for. While she had a preference for fire, Cinder knew that as a Maiden she could control all elements. And so, when the lightning was about to strike her, Cinder extended her own offhand, and attempted to catch the lightning.

Focusing her magic, Cinder blocked the lightning in her left hand, absorbing all of the Dark Side energy. She screamed as the power coursed through her, but she was able to control, to redirect it. Coalescing the lightning into a single ball of magic, she then released it, aimed directly back at Nihilus.

Despite his age and experience, Nihilus was shocked at the fact that Cinder was able to redirect his attack, and shocked once again when he failed to defend against the lightning. Nihilus was blasted backwards, the Dark Side energy burning away his form. As he recoiled from the attack, Cinder advanced, now summoning a second flaming scimitar in her off hand.

Leaping into the air, Cinder flipped her swords into an ice-pick grip and drove both of them deep into Nihilus' collar bones. Nihilus howled in pain as Cinder drove the burning blades into him, grinning all the while. When she felt the tips of the blades slip past his Aura and into flesh, she then released a burst of flames from the blades, immolating the Sith at point blank.

As Cinder carved into Nihilus' aura and seared his flesh, Mercury and Emerald made their move. With a burst of speed, Mercury got behind Nihilus and dropped down, throwing a low spinning kick that slammed into Nihilus' knees. Moving with the momentum, he then launched another spin kick which slammed right in Nihilus' head, knocking it to the side.

Meanwhile Emerald launched her own attack. Expanding the blades out of her pistols, Emerald converted her weapons into a pair of kusarigama. Understandably having no desire to fight Nihilus in close quarters, Emerald instead whipped her chain sickles, lashing them across Nihilus' body, tearing into his Aura and shadowy form.

As the villains tore into Nihilus' body, cutting through his Aura and his flesh, Nihilus felt anger within himself well. Allowing the rage to build up, Nihilus fed on this and used it to empower his next attack. Inhaling deep, Nihilus howled, unleashing a terrifying Force Scream that slammed into all three of the villains. The scream sent the trio flying backwards, wracking their bodies in pain as they fell to the ground. They writhed on the ground, mental facilities overtaken by the physical wave of hatred and anger, blood pouring from their ears.

Nihius' gaze then focused on Cinder. He was not going to let her escape retribution. Gripping onto her with the Force, Nihilus lifted Cinder's prone form several feet into the air, before slamming her right into the ground. Cinder bounced off the ground as if she was a ball, and while she floated she was sent flying across the arena as Nihilus then hit her with a burst of lightning.

Cinder screamed in pain as the lighting hit her, landing on the ground in a smouldering pile when Nihilus was finished with his torrent of electricity. Emerald's eyes widened as her Cinder lay unmoving on the arena floor. The thief stood and ran for Cinder, intent on escaping with her leader.

Emerald was able to reach the unconscious form of Cinder, and hastily grabbed her arm to lift her off the ground. "Come on Cinder, wake up! We have to leave!" Cinder only groaned in response. "Mercury, cover us!" Emerald shouted as she started limping away with their leader.

Mercury gave Emerald a betrayed look as she threw the spotlight onto him. The assassin then felt a chill go down his spine, as Nihilus was looking right at him. "Oh sonuva-" Mercury cursed as he launched a few missiles at Nihilus, before breaking into a sprint towards the others.

The missiles exploded around Nihilus, but Mercury was more than sure that didn't actually do anything to him. They were so out gunned it wasn't even funny. Before he could make it halfway to his team however, Mercury watched as Nihilus, uninjured by the rockets, jumped over him and landed right behind the Emerald.

Emerald didn't have time to react as Crocea Mors ran her through, the blade shattering what was left of her Aura before entering through her back and out her chest. Emerald coughed as blood poured from her mouth. She dropped Cinder to the ground as her shaky hands reached for the sword sticking out of her. With a casual motion, Nihilus withdrew his sword, and a fountain of blood shot out of Emerald, painting the ground around her crimson.

The mint-haired thief collapsed as the blood pooled around her. As her eyes glazed over, Emerald reached out towards Cinder, reaching for the woman who saved her, the only person who ever cared about her, before all strength left her and she passed from the living world.

Mercury watched in horror as Emerald bled to death while Cinder was at Nihilus' mercy. It was at that very moment, that Mercury knew he made the wrong choice by siding the Cinder. Deciding to take a page out of Neo's book, Mercury turned around and began running as fast as he could. Before he could make it more than a few feet, Mercury felt an invisible force constrict around him.

"No no no no!" Mercury screamed as Nihilus floated him over, completely helpless within his grasp. Mercury struggled to escape as he was moved in front of Nihilus. Now face to face with the Sith Lord, Mercury could only scream, "Wait, she made me work with her! This was all her idea!"

Before Mercury could beg any further, black and red lightning flew out of his hand, slamming into the silver-haired assassin. Crying out as the Force Drain stole his lifeforce from him, Mercury's body began to shrivel and decay before Nihilus. It only took seconds before Mercury was only turned to a lifeless husk while some of the burns upon Nihilus' body healed. Nihilus spared the assassin no second thought as he dropped the corpse to the floor.

With the two minions now dead, Nihilus made his way for the ringleader. Cinder groaned as she was only now shaking off her disorientation. As she looked around, seeing her slain allies, Cinder could only let out a defeated sigh as her head hung low. She then recoiled as a shadowy foot stepped in front of her. Slowly, Cinder raised her head and looked into the shadowy eyes of Nihilus.

When faced with certain death, Cinder often thought that she would rage, explode in anger and rise up against anything in front of her. But instead, she could only look up with existential dread at the being in front of her. Cinder couldn't help but recall the first time she saw Salem, the unstoppable witch who encompassed everything that Cinder wanted to be. Yes Salem scared her, but Salem was at the very least, understandable. She had motives and emotions that Cinder could follow, her anger at Ozpin, her desire for revenge.

Nihilus however. Nihilus was a force of nature. Looking at him was like watching a typhoon erase a Mistralian village. There was reason for the destruction, no understanding it. It just happened.

And so, Cinder looked up at the Lord of Hunger, and bitterly spat out, "What are you?"

Nihilus paused, and seemed to consider Cinder's question. And after several seconds of silence, he finally spoke. "I… am the inevitable, the end of all things. And you… are now mine." Nihilus then extended his hand towards Cinder.

It was then Cinder felt something. A worming, burrowing sensation in her mind. She… felt something inside of her. She could feel… power, see it. If she served him, he could grant her power, beyond anything that Salem could've ever envisioned. Power to strip a world bare of life. It could be hers, all she needed to do was kneel. All she had to do was serve.

That one line however, stoked the last embers of resistance in Cinder's heart. Serve!? More like lick the boots of this monster while he made her his slave! Cinder glared up and Nihilus and hissed, "I am no slave!" In one final act of defiance, Cinder summoned a glass dagger in her hand. "Not anymore." and before Nihilus could react, Cinder stabbed herself in the throat.

As blood pooled in Cinder's mouth, lungs, and all around her, she could only give Nihilus one last spiteful look before her eyes went dull. It was then, to Nihilus' surprise, he felt the presence of the Force Spirit within Cinder leave her body. Nihilus raised his hand and tried to drain it, to achieve something out of this sojourn, but the spirit was too fast, and flew away from Amity Arena and back towards Beacon Academy.

Professor Ozpin rapidly tapped on the holographic keyboard in front of him as he prepared the Aura transfer device. He looked to his right as Pyrrha shifted uncomfortably in her transfer pod, and then to his left where the unconscious Amber lay. Behind him, young Ruby Rose stood vigil, intent on preventing any interruptions. As he continued to type, the sound of an explosion in the school above briefly stole his attention before he returned to his task, typing at a more frantic pace. With a final press of a key, he was ready to begin the transfer of the Fall Maiden's power.

"Miss Nikos, are you ready?" he asked, unable to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

Pyrrha gave him a small glance as she nodded her head.

"I… I need to hear you say it." Ozpin pushed.

Holding her gaze for a brief moment, Pyrrha laid her head back and stared forward as she quietly said, "Yes."

"Thank you, Miss Nikos." With that confirmation, Ozpin entered the necessary command to begin the transfer process.

Amber's body began to glow orange, her eyes fluttering as the Aura transfer machine came to life. Out of Amber's pod, the orange glow moved through a series of tubes into the machine itself, and then out to tubes feeding into Pyrrha's pod.

That's when Pyrrha began to feel it. It started off like a pressure inside of her head, but soon transformed into a terrifying pain as she felt Amber's soul be forced into her. Pyrrha couldn't help but scream, wailing with such a cry that it caused Ozpin to recoil in fear and regret.

"I'm… I'm so sorry." Ozpin stammered out as Pyrrha continued to scream.

"Pyrrha!" Ruby called out as she ran beside her friend. "What's happening to her!?"

But Pyrrha couldn't hear either of them as she continued to scream. Images of Amber's life flashed through her mind, memories of a childhood she never had, to parents that weren't hers. She saw years of training at Beacon, followed by Amber becoming the Fall Maiden. Next were years of Amber travelling as a professional huntress, honing her skills and mastering her magic powers, eventually bucking against the constraints and protections Ozpin, Qrow, and the others placed upon her. As she struck out on her own, she watched as Amber was attacked by Mercury and his team, then she felt the pain of death as Cinder began to tear out the Maiden's power.

Pyrrha witnessed all this and more as the images continued to assault her mind. Birthday parties as a young child, years of camaraderie with a different team, different loves, broken hearts, and intimate first times.

This was only amplified as Ozpin and Ruby saw a burning orange light fly through the ceiling of the vault and crash into Pyrrha, causing her to nearly destroy the transfer pod as her magic power increased even more.

"Professor, what was that!?" Ruby called out as the transfer was complete.

Ozpin however, didn't even need to check the numbers on the machine to feel what was happening. The amount of magic within Pyrrha had doubled. The other half of the Maiden's power was transferred back to her, meaning the thief who stole it from Amber initially was dead. Ozpin couldn't help but wonder what was the point of all of this then. Would the returning of Maiden's power have saved Amber's life, or would she have passed anyway from her wounds? Regardless, the process was already complete, and Amber's Aura had been successfully transplanted into Pyrrha, killing the original Maiden.

Looking down at the monitor, Pyrrha's Aura reserves were now massive, twice as large as they were before, far larger than any normal human he had seen before. As the pod opened up, Pyrrha stumbled out, landing on the ground on all fours, disoriented.

"Pyrrha!" Ruby cried out as she ran to her friend.

The champion's head snapped to the reaper, her eyes alight with flames, a trademark indicator of the Maiden's power. Ruby yelped back a bit, but stayed beside her friend as Pyrrha looked at her for several, silent seconds. First it was an angry, defensive looked, followed by confusion, until she finally reached recognition.

"R… Ruby?" Pyrrha mumbled out, as she let her friend help her up.

"Yeah, yeah it's me Pyrrha." Ruby meekly replied.

"Miss Nikos, it is you we are talking to, correct?" Ozpin cut in.

Immediately the Maiden glared at the headmaster. Ozpin was taken slightly aback, as the stance and body language was not that of Pyrrha, but one he recognized as Amber's, from their last argument before she left. Amber was always a kind soul, but she had grown to resent the fact that he and the others wouldn't allow her to act on her own. She wanted to wander and help others, but they wanted to keep her safe from Salem. To say their last meeting was not cordial would be an understatement. And her experiences as a professional huntress allowed her to become cold and ruthless when necessary.

"Ozpin." Pyrrha growled out a bit. "I, no we…" Pyrrha shook her head. "I. It's I. I am Pyrrha." She then looked at Ozpin. "But I'm also Amber. I remember. I remember everything she went though. Everything that I went through. Everything that she was, I am as well."

The headmaster nodded, intimately familiar with such an experience. "I… am sorry. That's not something I would wish on anyone."

"Yeah, you of all people would know." Pyrrha bit out as she recalled Amber's memories. Amber knew what Ozpin had told his inner circle about him, about how his soul would transfer to a new host every time he would die. Almost instantaneously, Pyrrha's body language shifted from one of cold anger to resolute determination. "But that doesn't matter now. What matters now is stopping Nihilus."

Ozpin nodded his head. "I agree. And it seems we have some luck today, as it appears Nihilus has killed the thief of your powers. You are not half a Maiden, like we initially hoped, but in fact a fully ascended Maiden. Do you remember how to use all of your powers?"

Pyrrha angrily rolled her eyes, which was strange because the action felt foreign to her but at the same time not. With a flex of her powers, Pyrrha her eyes exuded her crimson aura, and she channeled the wind beneath her to levitate off of the ground. Not only that two wings of pure flames appeared behind her, creating the appearance of an angel of battle.

"Whoa." Ruby gasped out as Pyrrha glew, before she recalled her power and landed on the ground.

Ozpin nodded his head. "Good. Now then, we should return to the others and figure out our next steps."

The headmaster then turned and began moving towards the elevator. The two students joined him, their heads a conflicted mess of emotions. Ruby glanced at Pyrrha. She was happy that Pyrrha survived the transfer, and maybe even hopeful that she may be able to fight against Nihilus. But she could immediately see that Pyrrha was different, her personality merging with that of Amber. Sighing, Ruby didn't know if that power was worth the cost.

Meanwhile, Pyrrha's own mind was a jumbled mess. Images of Amber's lifetime were still swirling in her head, blending with Pyrrha's own. It even felt strange for Pyrrha to call herself by that name, but at the same time not. It was too confusing. And in the same vein that Pyrrha could see through Amber's life, she knew Amber saw through her own. And if there was one thing that both sides agreed on, it was that Nihilus had to be stopped. Any other issues stemming from their now dissociative identities could be dealt with if they survived the upcoming battle.

Due Process cracked off another shot, killing a beowolf as General Ironwood continued his advance through Beacon's hallways. This hallway was particularly devastated by the landing of Blue-1, with both chunks of the ariships hull, as well as Atlas crewmen being scattered about. Behind him, Penny's flying swords cleaved through an Ursa, clearing the immediate area. They were advancing slowly, but as Ironwood had learned during his time with the Atlesian Naval Commandos, slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

As they moved forward, Ironwood's radio came to life as he heard one of his soldiers call out, "Contact, we have two survivors! Unresponsive but alive. ID's come back as Neon Katt and Flynt Coal. Other two members of their team are KIA."

Winter's orders then barked out afterwards. "Roger. Green team, get the survivors on stretchers and back to the bullheads. Everyone else, maintain search patterns."

Ironwood nodded his head at Winter's commands, proud that she was remaining level headed in the face of this emergency. However, the sound of his radio chatter seemed to attract some attention, as he heard a groan and movement underneath nearby wreckage of the airship.

The General immediately aimed his revolver at the scrap, while Penny aimed her swords as well, her robotic eyes scanning the pile. "Sir, I detect one life form, human."

Ironwood's eyes widened slightly. "Get them out of there. I'll cover you."

"Yes sir!" Penny saluted before running to the pile of rubble.

Using her enhanced robotic strength Penny easily cleared the piles of scrap metal and stone that would've taken a bulldozer to otherwise move. When it was finally cleared, Ironwood took the time to look at who was underneath. First looked like a civilian, obviously dead if her unnaturally twisted neck indicated anything. She was young, and wore the uniform of some kind of server or waitress.

The other Ironwood recognized immediately. The white and grey shirt, red cape, and matching red eyes all identified him as Qrow Branwen. The only difference from his usual appearance being the massive chunk of airship-grade aluminum impaling him through the stomach, creating a pool of blood around him.

Qrow's eyes slowly flickered to Penny, and then to the General before he finally spoke. "Damnit." Qrow coughed and wheezed in a breath. "Why's the last face I get to see have to be your ugly mug, Jimmy?"

Immediately Ironwood knelt at Qrow's side and shouted into his radio. "I need an emergency team at my location, high priority!" He then turned Qrow and put a hand on his shoulder. "Conserve your strength Qrow. We'll get you out of this."

"General." Penny whispered as she examined Qrow's wounds. "These injuries are… extensive. I do not know if we'll be able to move Mr. Qrow without…" Penny trailed off

James' mouth morphed into a tight frown. "No, he will make it." he sternly said. "This is bad, yes, but huntsmen have survived worse. I'm living proof of that. Qrow just needs a little-" The General's face then fell as he looked at Qrow's face, who had a rather bemused expression on it.

"Heh, you just figure it out, Jimmy?" Qrow coughed out.

Injuries like this were almost entirely about luck. Every step from getting him out of the rubble, to transporting him to a hospital, to the trauma surgery itself, all needed massive amounts of luck to successfully pull off. And Qrow was anything but lucky, his Semblance ensured that.

"I think, I'm fine just laying here for a bit." Qrow grunted, wheezing in more air. "But… before you go. I need… I need you to do something for me… Jimmy."

James looked at Qrow solemnly. "What is it?"

Straining himself, Qrow reached to his side and grabbed his weapon, the mecha-shift warscythe Harbinger. He slowly lifted it and handed it over to the General.

Qrow looked James in the eyes, with a pleading expression the General had never seen on the man before. "Ruby… my niece. Saw her scythe… get destroyed. She needs… a new one. Give this to her… please."

James gently took it out of his grasp and nodded. "I will."

Qrow then couldn't help but laugh again. "Heh. You know Jimmy… I always thought… you were a stubborn asshole. But… you're also a good friend." Qrow's head then fell to the side, limp as he passed on from the living world.

The General looked at his deceased friend for several long, silent seconds, unmoving as Penny stood behind him sadly.

It was only a call on his radio that snapped him out of it. "General, this is Yellow Team we're almost at your location."

"Belay that." Ironwood curtly replied. "It's too late. Return to your previous objective."

There was silence over the comms, until one of the soldiers quietly responded. "Understood sir. We're sorry."

"So am I." Ironwood whispered out, making sure he did not transmit his last words.

With the call over, Ironwood remained kneeling by Qrow for several beats, until he took a deep breath and stood. Looking Harbinger over, the weapon mostly undamaged, he then placed it on his back and looked down at Penny.

"Come on Penny. We have a mission to finish." General Ironwood then began walking away, leaving the corpse of his friend behind.

Penny took a second longer to look at the body of her friend-Ruby's uncle, wiping away some tears that had formed, before she fell in line behind the General with a small, "Yes sir."

Chapter Text

"The extent of his power cannot be put into words… and his perceptions have grown as well. To him…"

"You are dust motes in a storm… a grain upon a beach… and as insignificant as a body that orbits the graveyard of Malachor." - Visas Marr and Tobin on their Master.

Chapter 22: Vengeance

High above Beacon Academy, the Atlesian military and airborne Grimm battled for superiority of the skies, and it looked as if Grimm were winning. Atlas bullheads and manta gunships fought vicious dogfights with the Gryphons and Nevermores. If it were just these smaller Grimm, then the battle may have been in Atlas's favor, but the presence of the massive Grimm Wyvern offset any advantage the soldiers of Atlas had.

As the Wyvern swooped through the sky, slicing apart a bullhead with its wings, it dove for the nearest Atlas battleship. Twirling with a barrel roll, the Wyvern easily dodged a beam of Dust lasers fired by the Airship, before landing atop its starboard wings. The Wyvern roared as its massive talons rent through the Airship's armor plating and into its Dust engines.

The engines exploded from the damage wrought by the Wyvern's claws, sending the Airship spiraling out of the sky as the Wyvern let go of its prey and returned to the air. Circling, the Wyvern was about to dive on another airship, when something drew its attention. Tilting its head, it looked at Amity Arena as it sensed a flood of negative emotion. Anger, hatred, frustration all exploded from the colosseum, drawing the Wyvern in like a moth to a flame.

The Wyvern flew low, gliding down to the arena floor, where it saw the source. It saw the shadowy form of Darth Nihilus. Landing beside the Dark Lord, the Wyvern turned its head to get a better look at the singularity of hatred.

Meanwhile, Nihilus seemed to curl in on himself, fists clenched as his body shook with anger. So close, Nihilus was so close to taking the spirit for his own, but he failed! The Force Ghost slipped through his fingers. Not only did he fail in turning Cinder into his apprentice, but he failed to capture spirit when it fled her corpse! And to make matters worse, the girl and her cohorts had wounded Jaune's body, severely burning and lashing it. The Aura would heal him eventually, but that wasn't the point. It was an insult. A failure and an insult that tore at Nihilus.

So insulted was he, that he barely registered the presence of the massive Grimm next to him, which eyed him carefully. Despite being a terribly powerful monster, the Wyvern looked at Nihilus, and with its great intelligence, knew Nihilus was strong. Stronger than it. Possibly more powerful than the Goddess who created it. The Wyvern took a wary step towards the Dark Lord, which caused his head to snap up at it. As the Wyvern stared at him, Nihilus stared back. The dragon in front of him was definitely ancient, an ocean of concentrated Dark Side energy. Energy that Nihilus could feed upon. And after all of the damage done to him combined with the frustration of losing the Force Ghost, Nihilus was hungry.

In an instant, black and red lightning flew from Nihilus' fingertips and slammed the Wyvern. The dragon screeched as it collapsed to the ground in pain, Nihilus siphoning its very being. The Wyvern tried to snap at Nihilus, to retaliate in any meaningful way but found itself unable to move as its limbs began to dissolve and flow into Nihilus. Within seconds, Nihilus had drained the Wyvern completely.

Nihilus felt Jaune's body rapidly heal as he used the Dark Side energy to channel the Dark Healing techniques of the Sith. While Nihilus was never particularly interested in Sion's techniques, he knew it had its uses and learned it regardless. And while Nihilus had primarily absorbed the dragon to both fuel his Dark Healing and to sate his hunger, Nihilus felt himself grow stronger as he fed upon its death. The Wound he formed within Jaune when he exposed him to the experience of Malachor was widening, growing and granting him more power. Nihilus may not have gotten a new apprentice, nor was he able to drain the spirit, but he would take this consolatory prize nonetheless.

Reaching out with the Force, Nihilus then tracked the location of the spirit. It seems to have moved Beacon Tower, combining with one of the other sources of Force energy he sensed previously, while standing next to the third. Convenient that they would all be in one location for Nihilus to take. But Nihilus learned long ago that there was no such thing as convenient luck. It was the Will of the Force that they gathered together, all in one place for Nihilus to find them. And as to what was going to happen when they met, however, Nihilus did not know.

And so, Nihilus walked to the edge of Amity Arena, floating high above the skies of Beacon. Empowering himself with the Force, Nihilus then jumped, soaring through the skies as he slowly flew back to the school in a single leap.

Professor Ozpin, Ruby, and Pyrrha filed into the courtyard as the doors to Beacon Tower opened up. Despite having already fought and moved through the destruction of Beacon, Pyrrha couldn't help but unconsciously look around in horror at the destruction as Amber took everything in.

I really missed out on a lot, huh. Amber somberly thought within Pyrrha's mind. Not even the worst Grimm attacks I've been through had been this bad.

Pyrrha frowned. Yes, you have missed out on a lot. But remember it's not your fault. It's the one who stole your power, Cinder's fault.

I wonder if I could've stopped this from happening had I been awake. Amber ruefully chuckled.

Maybe. Pyrrha admitted. But we have no way of really knowing, so there's no point in wasting energy pondering "if's." We cannot focus on what has already happened, only what we can do from here on out.

Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to. Amber sent, her emotions tired and bitter.

Pyrrha physically tilted her head despite the conversation being completely mental. That's a strange mantra. But fitting, I suppose.

It was also advice for you. Amber said, causing Pyrrha's frown to deepen. We're going to be fighting Nihilus. Fighting Jaune. I saw your memories, what you felt about him. What you still feel about him. Pyrrha, are you ready to kill him if it meant saving Vale? Saving Remnant?

Amber's words echoed in Pyrrha's mind. The Pyrrha before Beacon would've immediately said yes, to sacrifice anything for the sake of the world. But now? Even with everything that has happened, Pyrrha didn't know if she could do it. Luckily for her, she was saved from having to answer as a shouting voice drew her from her mind.

"Ruby!" the high pitched voice of Penny cried out, the small, ginger haired girl running and wrapping Ruby in a hug that caused the reaper to squeak in pain. "I am so happy that you are unharmed!"

"Penny! Let go!" Ruby wheezed out, causing the superhumanly strong girl to do so. Ruby then took a deep breath of life giving air before she responded. "I'm glad you're okay too, Penny. But what are you doing here? Are you not trying to evacuate?"

"I came here accompanying the General." Penny said, pointing to General Ironwood who was currently talking to Professor Goodwitch. "And I will not be evacuating until all primary objectives in Beacon are completed."

As Penny finished talking, General Ironwood and Professor Goodwitch seemed to notice the return of Ozpin and the others, and they moved to greet them.

"James." Ozpin gave a small smile. "I'm happy to see that you weren't on your ship when it crash landed. What's the situation outside of Beacon?"

Ironwood returned a curt nod. "I was just updating Glynda. The city is being overrun, but my army is holding a perimeter around the shelters. Winter is also leading teams of soldiers through Beacon, engaging White Fang and Grimm while rescuing whoever they can find."

Before Ozpin could respond, Ruby's voice cut through the air.

"General… why do you have my Uncle's sword?" Ruby weakly asked as she pointed at Harbinger holstered on General Ironwood's back.

The General looked back at the young huntress, his face morphing into a pained scowl. With a sigh, Ironwood dropped to one knee so he was closer to Ruby's eyeline. He then drew Harbinger from his back and held it flat in his hands.

"Ruby… It was your Uncle's last wish for you to have this." Ironwood solemnly said as he pushed the weapon to the huntress.

Hands shaking, Ruby slowly took the weapon from the General's grip, her lips quivering. As she gripped Harbinger, taking the full weight of the scythe into her hands, Ruby fell to her knees, tears pouring down her face. Immediately Penny and Pyrrha moved to her, wrapping their friend in a tight hug as she bawled into them.

Professor Ozpin placed a consolatory hand on her shoulder. "I am sorry for your loss, Miss Rose. Qrow was a good friend of mine. He will be missed." Ozpin then turned to Ironwood and Glynda, who were both watching the scene unfold. "In order to prevent any more death, we must stop Nihilus here and now." Ozpin then turned and gestured at Pyrrha. "Our guardian is now a fully powered Maiden, the thief apparently having been killed in the chaos."

Glynda's mouth dropped a bit as she looked at Pyrrha, who seemed to glare at Ozpin for his words. "Miss Nikos, so you are the new Fall Maiden?" Glynda said, causing Maiden to glare at the Professor in turn. "Do you know how to use your powers?"

With a sigh of annoyance, Pyrrha stood from her friend, and let her eyes flare with the Maiden's magic. "Yes, I do." she growled out.

"Good." Ironwood cut in, either not noticing or just not caring about the anger Pyrrha felt. "Between us three professors, Penny, and Miss Nikos, we probably have the best chances of anyone in all of Vale to stop Nihilus."

"Agreed." Ozpin nodded. "We must-"

"I want to come too!" Ruby shouted, her face a combination of sorrow and vengeful anger. "Please!"

Pyrrha gave Ruby a sad look. "Ruby… you can't. Your Aura is too low, and to be honest, you are too outclassed in this battle to be of help." Pyrrha thought that was hurtful to say, but Amber knew that it was best to rip off that band-aid fast. A battle this bad had no use for someone who couldn't keep up.

"That may not actually be the case." Ozpin cut in, drawing all eyes to him. "Miss Rose here may be far more useful than she appears."

"What do you mean Professor?" Ruby asked.

"We don't have much time, so I'll be brief. Miss Rose, do you recall when I commented on your Silver Eyes when we first met?"

Ruby gave a nod as she remembered.

"The reason I brought up that particular feature was that your Silver Eyes actually contain a special power. An inherited ability which allows you to channel the magic of Light and Creation to destroy Grimm in an instant. This was a power that your mother Summer carried as well." Ozpin explained.

Ruby's eyes widened at the Headmaster's words. "How do I use this power!?"

Ozpin shook his head however. "Unfortunately, I am not sure, as I never had this power myself. I know that the power activates when you think about those you love and how you want to protect them. But beyond that, I know nothing more. I apologize for not having any more help, but you will have to quickly figure it out if you wish to be of aid in the upcoming fight."

Looking down at the ground, Ruby tried to focus on using this power, but failed to produce any results. Her head then snapped up at the Headmaster, determinedly saying, "I will figure this out, Professor. So let me come."

Everyone looked at Ozpin, waiting for his reply. Finally Ozpin said, "You may accompany us, Miss Rose. May your Mother and Uncle forgive me, but I believe you will be needed in the upcoming battle."

"What about the rest of the students?" Glynda asked, gesturing to the other teams still holding the perimeter against the invading Grimm. "We have several injured students and we cannot have them here if we are to fight with Nihilus."

"It looks as if we have enough combat ready students to escort the injured." Ironwood noted, glancing at the crowd as well. "My forces have secured the Air Docks, and we have several bullheads ready to evacuate the school."

"Very good." Ozpin nodded. "Team CFVY shall lead the evacuation to the docks. Meanwhile, we shall wait here for our guest."

"Wait here?" Ironwood asked, incredulous. "We are not going after him?"

"I do not believe it was coincidence that the thief of the Maiden's power died. I believe Nihilus is actively hunting down the Maiden. So rather than searching aimlessly for him, we can wait here and prepare the environment to our advantage."

"An ambush with deadly bait. I like it." Ironwood agreed, before looking at Pyrrha as almost an afterthought. "That is, if you are okay with it."

Pyrrha scowled at the General. "If anyone is going to be bait, it should be me."

Glyda frowned at Pyrrha's answer, but nodded her head nonetheless. "Very well then. I'll get the students moving. You all make whatever preparations you need for this final battle."

Everyone then sprung into action. Penny and Ironwood stockpiled large stone columns and rubble for Glynda to use, while Ruby looked for good hiding spots for an ambush. Meanwhile Pyrrha moved to Ren, who was placing Nora onto a makeshift stretcher with Velvet's help.

The Faunus upperclassman saw Pyrrha arroaching, and said to Ren. "Let me know when you're ready to move. I'll give you some privacy first."

Ren looked at Velvet in confusion, but then turned and saw Pyrrha. He then looked at Velvet with a smile. "Thanks. I'll be fast."

Standing up, Ren then approached Pyrrha, but paused as he saw that Pyrrha's body language and Aura seemed different. Pyrrha looked at Ren somewhat coldy, before she suddenly shifted to a familiar smile and she moved forward for a hug. Ren immediately reciprocated.

"So, I guess this is goodbye." Ren said softly to his teammate.

"Don't say goodbye. I hate goodbyes. Too final." Pyrrha said through a tearful smile, before her face grew more determined. "I am going to find a way to save Jaune."

Ren looked down, gathering his thoughts before he looked at Pyrrha. "I know you'll try." He then glanced at the unconscious form of Nora laying on the ground. "Just… know that the only way to stop Jaune, to save Jaune, may be to kill him." Ren said as his expression hardened.

Pyrrha gasped at Ren's suggestion, but she had no rebuttal, and knew that Amber agreed with him as well.

Sighing, Pyrrha just hugged Ren again. "Keep Nora safe, Ren. And tell her I said, 'see you later.'"

Ren gave her a sad smile as they let go. "I will. And I'm sorry I won't be there for this fight. I'm sorry I'm not strong enough to help."

"Don't be. It's not your destiny. And you may not be strong enough to fight against Nihilus, but you are strong enough to get Nora out of here."

Ren nodded his head as he then called over Velvet. As they began to move Nora, Ren looked at Pyrrha one final time and said, "So, see you later?"

Pyrrha nodded with a small quirk of her lips. "See you later."

Weiss grunted as she slowly crept forward, rapier drawn as she scanned for threats. She was tired, low on Aura, and had no idea where the rest of her friends were. Beside her, Blake had her own weapon raised in pistol form, similarly disheveled and low on Aura. When Jaune threw the Airship at the docks, Blake and Weiss had run together towards the school. Weiss was sure that the only reason they survived was a quick application of their Semblances, Weiss using a Glyph to create a barrier, while Blake was barely able to blink away with a shadow clone.

The impact had concussed Weiss, and Blake had dragged her away from ground zero during the following chaos. By the time they had gotten far enough away from the docks to rest, Grimm and White Fang were attacking the school as well, sending everything into further disarray.

Now, Weiss had recovered enough that they could move, and the monochrome duo had slowly made their way through the deserted hallways to the school's cafeteria. They only had a few encounters with some Grimm that they were able to quickly take down, but they had to avoid any further conflicts. Both were running on empty, and any more encounters could mean death.

They currently had 2 goals. The first was to see if they could find any of their friends, something they had thus far been unable to do. And the second was to try to find a side path to the walkway down Beacon's Western Cliff. If the air dock was destroyed, the only way they might be able to leave Beacon would be by traditional boat.

Quietly, the two reached the cafeteria. Opening the doors, they were staggered back by a wave of heat as they realized the cafeteria was burning, with several of the supporting pillars collapsed.

Weiss winced and looked at Blake. "We should find a way around."

Blake met her gaze and said, "Agreed. We can check-"

"AAARGH!"

A scream echoed from within the cafeteria, drawing the attention of both huntresses. Immediately they drew their weapons and nodded at each other before rushing into the blazing inferno to save whoever was in danger.

Rounding past a pile of rubble, Blake saw the victim, an Atlas Academy student. And when she saw his attacker, her face fell in horror. She saw the sight of a man she had wished she would never see again. His long black cloak, slicked back red hair, bone white mask, and crimson katana currently sticking out of the stomach of his victim.

"No… Adam?" Blake shuddered, taking a fearful step back.

Weiss gave Blake a sidelong glance, before returning to the man in front of her. Adam drew his blade from the body of the student with a sickening squelch as he began to walk towards the two members of team RWBY.

"Hello, my love." Adam said with a grin, though there was no love to be found in his voice.

That's when it clicked for Weiss. This must've been the abusive former partner Blake had talked about after the dance. The one who controlled and manipulated her. Weiss's eyes narrowed on Adam as she took her combat stance.

At her action, Adam looked at Weiss, and his grin morphed into a hateful scowl. "Is this the company you keep now, my love? A Schnee?" He said her last name as if it were venom on his tongue. "I knew you were a coward, but a traitor as well!?"

"I'm not the one who has betrayed anyone!" Blake shouted back, hands still trembling. "You're the one who betrayed everything we fought for! I fought for peace! For equality! What did you fight for!?"

Snarling, Adam shifted into his combat stance as he growled, "I fought for vengeance. Vengeance for all the Faunus that have been wronged throughout history! Today is a day of victory!" Adam then turned to Weiss. "An even greater one, when I have the head of the Schnee heiress."

To Adam's surprise, Blake was the one who attacked first, bringing her blade down on Adam's head with a vicious strike. "You will not hurt her!" She hissed as she vanished with a shadow clone and attacked Adam from behind.

But Adam was intimately familiar with Blake's fighting style, and as soon as Blake reappeared, he drove his heel into her gut with a powerful sidekick. Blake flew back and smashed into a pile of broken tables, shattering her Aura.

That was the moment that Weiss decided to strike. Lunging forward, Weiss aimed Myrtenaster right for Adam's heart. But the older boy was fast, and easily deflected the thrust and swiftly counter attacked. Weiss barely had time to block the strike when a swift roundhouse kick caught her in the ribs, sending her flying backwards.

Weiss fell to the ground as her meager Aura reserve, which had only just barely recovered, shattered. She groaned as she felt bile coming up her throat because of the vicious kick. Adam looked down at Weiss's pathetic form and scoffed, slowly approaching her with Wilt drawn.

"Adam, stop!" Blake cried out. "Please!"

Adam turned and looked at Blake in disgust. "This, my love. You could've been a part of all of this. This is the spark that will bring a revolution that will change the whole world!"

"God Adam, you don't even know what's going on!" Blake pushed. "There's a monster out there and whoever called you here is playing you like a fucking fiddle!"

"Tch." Adam clicked his tongue as he turned away from Blake and moved back to Weiss. "More lies to save the Schnee. Tell me, has she given you a collar yet? Maybe a pet name she uses when she feeds you treats?" Adam hissed as he pointed the tip of Wilt at Weiss's throat, smugly smiling at her. "And what about you, Schnee? Anything to say? Any regrets for all of the crimes against Faunus that your family has committed?"

Groaning, Weiss pushed herself up and defiantly looked Adam in the eyes. "Brothers, you really are as psychotic as Blake said you were."

Adam's smile shifted to a hateful snarl, and with a single horizontal slash, Adam cut through Weiss's eyes. Weiss screamed in pain as she fell back, bringing her hands to cover her now destroyed eyeballs as bloody tears poured down her face.

"NO!" Blake cried out as she stood up once more and charged Adam with reckless abandon.

But before she could get close enough to strike him, Adam spun, Wilt becoming a flash of crimson as he drove the katana through Blake's stomach. Blake gasped in pain as she looked at the blade impaling her.

"Don't worry, my love." Adam softly said into Blake's ear. "I made sure to miss your vitals. I want to make sure you truly suffer for what you've done to me."

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Yang roared as her fist slammed into a beowulf's skull, caving the bone plate in and killing it instantly.

Yang had no idea what was going on. One minute she was brooding in her room following whatever accident occured during her match, the next Beacon was burning as an Atlas Airship crashed landed and the White Fang and Grimm began invading. Yang had no idea how many Grimm she'd already killed, she wasn't keeping count. All she cared about was finding her team.

Pushing out of the dorms, Yang moved to a connecting hallway and shouted. "Ruby! Blake! Weiss!" When there was no response, she shouted again, "Pyrrha!? Anyone!"

Waiting for a few seconds, no one shouted back and she roared in frustration and continued on. As soon as she escaped the hallway, she found herself in one of Beacon's many grass walkways. The grass was burning, like all of Beacon, and she saw no immediate signs of life. She was about to push on, when she saw a familiar sight in the distance. A white snowflake glyph floating in the sky that rained down spikes of ice.

Yang finally smiled as she now knew where Weiss was. Sprinting forward, Yang leapt through a broken window and to an exterior courtyard, where instead of being greeted by the sight of her team, she was greeted by a squad of Atlas soldiers currently gunning down Grimm, led by a taller, and decidedly more collected version of Weiss. It took a few seconds for Yang to internally comprehend that she wasn't in fact looking at a future version of Weiss, but instead was looking at Weiss's older sister Winter. While Yang hadn't actually met Winter yet, she knew of her existence and also knew she was still on campus during the tournament.

While Yang stared at the Atlas soldiers dumbly, the soldiers continued to fire their Dust rifles, wiping out a pack of Beowolves. It was only after the immediate area was clear that one of the soldiers saw Yang staring at them and shouted out, "Commander, we have a survivor!"

Immediately Winter turned around and faced Yang. Yang swore she saw what looked like an expression of hopeful excitement shift into disappointment, and then into professional stoicism as Winter looked at her.

Winter strode towards Yang."You! You are Yang Xiao Long, correct? On the same team as my sister Weiss? Have you seen her? Do you know if she's well?" she fired off question after question.

Yang put up her hands defensively. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down. Yes, I'm Yang, and I haven't seen your sister, I've been looking for Weiss and the rest of my team as well."

"Damnit." Winter cursed under her breath. "Okay then. Are you well enough to travel? We have secured the docks so you may make your way there while we search the rest of the school." Winter then sheathed her saber and began walking away from the yellow brawler.

"Hey wait!" Yang shouted as she followed after Winter. "I'm going to go help you find my team! To find your sister!" Winter turned to glare at her, but Yang kept going. "Look, I may still be a student, but I'm a huntress as well! With almost full Aura to boot. I'll be way more useful than any of your toy soldiers!"

Winter looked over Yang appraisingly, before she eventually nodded her head. "Fine. But if you come along you will follow my orders, is that clear? No running in half cocked like your Uncle would."

Yang gave a smile and thumbs up. "You got it boss lady. Now, where have you looked so fa-"

A shrill shriek cut Yang off. It was a scream that both Yang and Winter recognized. That was Weiss screaming.

Winter's eyes widened as Yang yelled out, "That sounds like it was from the cafeteria! Let's go!"

Immediately both set off, dashing their way through the ruins of Beacon with the rest of Atlas troopers following behind them. They arrived in the cafeteria just in time to see Adam Taurus whisper something into Blake's ear as he ripped his katana free of her stomach, while standing above Weiss, who clutched her bloody face. As Adam dropped Blake to the ground, he turned to face the newcomers.

"BLAKE!" Yang shouted as her eyes switched red and she cocked her fist back, about to jump and throw her most violent punch ever at the bull horned Faunus.

However, a gloved hand was shoved in front of her face as Winter stopped her attack.

Yang looked at Winter confused. "What are you doing!? Get out of my way!"

"He is out of your league." Winter hissed out, her saber already drawn and pointed at Adam, her stoic countenance barely concealing the rage she felt underneath. "Get your teammates, get my sister, out of here. I will handle this."

Yang opened her mouth to protest, but then looked back at Weiss and Blake when she heard Weiss whimpering on the ground. Gritting her teeth, Yang nodded and moved to Weiss to pick her up.

When Yang made her move, Adam snarled, "Oh no you don't!" as he lashed out with his katana, leaping at her.

His attack was stopped as Winter's saber parried the blow and the specialist locked blades with him. "Hurry!" She shouted before she counterattacked and began to push Adam back with a flurry of cuts and thrusts.

Quickly Yang and the Atlas troops grabbed Weiss and Blake and brought them outside of the cafeteria. The monochrome duo were quickly placed on collapsible stretchers and the group began to flee to the Docks.

With her sister out of harm's way, Winter disengaged from Adam, and the two stared each other down, Winter with a face of tranquil fury and Adam a face of smug hate.

"At least I'll get to mutilate two Schnees tonight." Adam said as he smirked and sheathed his katana, settling into his sword drawing Iai stance.

Winter's face only became harder as she replied. "Adam Taurus. From crimes of assault robbery, murder, destruction of property, and terrorist actions, I should place you under arrest. However…" Winter then flicked her wrist and from her saber she deployed her parrying dagger, aiming both at the Faunus. "For what you did to my sister, I will kill you here and now."

Stabbing her saber into the ground, two Schnee glyphs appeared beside Winter, summoning a pair of ice-blue Beowolves. The faux-Grimm charged wildly at Adam and when they closed the distance, they lunged at the Faunus.

Swiftly drawing his sword, Adam easily decapitated the two Grimm, before smirking as he said, "Is that all your famous Semblance ha-"

Before Adam could finish his taunt, Winter had closed the distance while he was distracted and slashed her sword at Adam's throat. Adam barely had time to move Wilt and block the attack, but wasn't fast enough to block Winter's parrying dagger, which pierced his side. Grunting in pain, Adam raised his leg and planted his foot into Winter's stomach, pushing her away with a kick.

As Winter stumbled back, Adam quickly sheathed his sword and drew it just as fast, slashing the air twice as he sent two blades of crimson energy at the specialist. Before the energy attack could land, Winter summoned a black gravity Glyph beneath her, and used it to propel herself upwards, leaping over the blades.

Mirroring Winter's attack, Adam jumped into the air after Winter, slashing at her while she was busy dodging. Before Adam's attack could land however, Winter brought up her parrying dagger and caught the sword. The katana locked in place by Winter's dagger, Winter then raised her saber and slashed Adam across the chest.

Adam grunted in pain as the sword cut him. His Aura was still up and the attack wasn't lethal, but it was still enough to draw blood. Shoving Winter back, Adam allowed himself to fall out of the sky as his off hand reached for his scabbard Blush. Transforming Blush into its gun form, Adam fired off several rounds at Winter, but the specialist was able to deflect the rounds with her sword as she fell out of the sky as well.

Soon both landed, staring each other down with hateful expressions. Without a word they charged at each other again. They engaged with a flurry of slashes, but this time Adam kept Blush in his offhand, using the scabbard to counter Winter's dagger. The two attacked and parried each of the other's attacks, and found that they were at a stalemate. As they finished their exchange, the two wound up crossing blades again

"I will have your head as recompense for your family's crimes!" Adam snarled before he then drove his mask into Winter's nose, snapping her head back with savage headbutt.

Winter stumbled back as she briefly brought her hand to her face in pain. While she recoiled, Adam then aimed his firearm at her and pulled the trigger several times. The bullets tore into Winter, ripping chunks out of her Aura. Winter then dove to the side, moving behind some rubble for cover as Adam emptied his magazine.

The moment Adam ejected the empty magazine Winter popped out from cover in a defensive stance, ready to pounce. However, Winter froze as she saw something behind Adam. A moving shadow, with a blood red and bone white skull mask. Winter's eyes then shifted to Adam. The terrorist didn't seem to notice the danger behind him, so focused on the subject of his hate in front of him. And while Winter wanted Adam's head, she knew that trying to take it wasn't worth fighting against that monster.

And so, Winter then stabbed her saber into the ground and created another glyph. From the glyph, a flock of tiny Nevermores spawned and flew right for Adam. The birds pecked at Adam's face, focusing on his eyes as he wildly slashed his blade to destroy them. It only took him a few seconds to kill all of the faux-Grimm, but when he had finished all of them off, he saw that Winter was on the back of an icy-beowulf, riding it away from him at full speed.

"Coward!" Adam shouted as he watched Winter escape him. Adam sheathed his sword in preparation to run after her. Before he could attempt to chase after her, the sound of footsteps behind him stole his attention.

Spinning around, Adam brought his hand to his blade, ready to draw when his eyes zeroed on to a moving shadow, a humanoid, sword wielding Grimm staring right at him. Adam's eyes widened, taking in the sight in front of him.

"What the…'' Adam asked, more confused than anything. "What the Hell are you? Another one of Cinder's lackeys?"

The supposed humanoid Grimm that was in fact Darth Nihilus stared at Adam impassively. Adam had no idea what was going on through the Dark Lord's mind as the Sith looked at him for several, silent seconds.

Then, without provocation, Nihilus raised his hand and fired off a burst of crackling orange and black lightning, aimed to drain the Faunus of his life. And the attack very well might have, had Adam not dodged, using his heightened reflexes to dive roll to the side and escape.

Immediately ready for combat, Adam dashed forward. As he did, Nihilus swung Crocea Mors at the terrorist, but through sheer athleticism and speed, Adam twisted and dodged it. Adam then rapidly drew Wilt and unleashed a series of slashes against the Dark Lord. Unfortunately for Adam, while the teen was fast, perhaps even faster than Nihilus, that speed did not matter when the Dark Lord could sense every attack he was going to make before he made it.

After parrying the strikes, Nihilus then focused the Force in his hand and extended it, blasting Adam back with a push of telekinesis. Adam flew backwards and slammed into the ground, but he was able to smack the ground with a breakfall and immediately stand back up. As he bounced back to his feet however, Nihilus was already upon him, flinging several boulder sized chunks of marble from the various pillars and destroyed walls around them at the Adam.

Adam sheathed his sword once more, and using the kinetic energy he absorbed from their previous bout, rapidly drew and slashed his sword, sending out waves of crimson energy blades that cut through the boulders. The rocks shattered into smaller pieces that Adam was able to dance around before he then sheathed his sword and dashed forward.

In an instant, Adam was once more in front of Nihilus, ready to strike. Pulling the trigger on Blush, Adam's sheath fired off a round that doubled the speed of his Iai sword draw. The sword flew into his hand and he drew it, slashing Nihilus across the chest with speed not even the Dark Lord could keep up with.

As Adam felt his attack bite into Nihilus, he grew a savage grin. However, that grin immediately faded as Nihilus shot out his offhand and gripped onto Adam's throat. Jaune's, and therefore Nihilus' Aura, was supercharged by Nihilus draining the Grimm Wyvern, and was more than strong enough to tank the entirety of Adam's blow.

"Im-Impossible!" Adam gasped out as Nihilus strangled him, holding him in the air by his throat.

Adam had no opportunity to beg for his life as Nihilus then drained the teen of his life, transforming Adam into a shriveled husk, killing him instantly. Nihilus then dispassionately dropped Adam's corpse to the ground and continued on.

The negative emotions here had drawn Nihilus in, and while this was an interesting detour that allowed him to feed even more, there was no need to go and chase the others that were here as well. He needed to focus. His goal was right in front him. The two spirits at Beacon Tower would be his, and nothing on Remnant was going to stop him from taking them.

Chapter Text

"What did you see when you looked at him?"

"A man, nothing more"

Meetra Surik and Visas Marr after defeating Darth Nihilus.

Chapter 23: Sorry

General James Ironwood double checked both of his revolvers, ensuring that they were filled with Gravity Dust rounds. James silently cursed himself for not having the cannon component of Due Process with him, which would've allowed him to combine his pistols into an energy weapon as potent as Penny's own laser, but he had left the upgrade back in Atlas.

Before James could lament further on his lack of firepower, his scroll began to ring. Pulling it out of his pocket, he saw that it was Winter calling.

With a swift flick of his finger, Ironwood answered the call. "This is Ironwood." the general curtly replied. "What's your status Winter?"

"General." Winter quickly greeted, apparently out of breath. "The students you sent over from Beacon Tower have made it to the docks and we're getting ready for evacuation. I…" Winter looked down and paused to collect her thoughts, which set off alarms for Ironwood as it was something the always collected Specialist never did. "And I also found my sister and most of her team."

"How are they?" Ironwood asked with genuine concern.

"Alive, thank the Brothers. Weiss and Blake Belladonna are heavily wounded, but alive. The EMTs are seeing them as we speak. Meanwhile Yang Xiao Long is helping coordinate the evacuation. We'll be leaving within the minute."

The General nodded his head. "Good work Winter. Take the injured to the Airships while combat ready students are to rendezvous with Colonel Doyle. I want you all to begin preparations for a city wide evacuation. Should the others and I fail to stop Nihilus here, you will need to abandon the city."

Winter's eyes widened as she whispered, "Is he really that unstoppable?"

"I don't know. But regardless, I am giving you a field promotion to Brigadier General, Winter. Should I die, the evacuation and Atlas's military will be in your hands." The General confidently said, as there was no doubt in his mind that Winter would be his best replacement..

Winter was taken aback by this. "General… I don't know what to say."

"You can say 'Yes Sir' and do your duty, General." Ironwood delivered with a smirk.

Ironwood's words seemed to shake Winter out of her shock. "Yes Sir. Good luck, and I won't let you down."

With that Winter gave a salute and cut off the call while Ironwood put away his scroll. The General then moved to Ruby Rose, who was sitting silently beside Penny and Pyrrha, all three no doubt mentally preparing themselves for the upcoming battle.

"Miss Rose." Ironwood called out, causing the three girls to look at him. "I have just spoken with Winter. She says she found the rest of your team."

Ruby's eyes lit up for the first time tonight. "Really! Where are they!? Are they okay!?"

"Your sister Yang is doing well. She is currently helping with the evacuation. Your other teammates seem to have been heavily injured, but are getting treatment as we speak." Ironwood flatly said. Best to give the news straight and not drag it out.

A myriad of emotions appeared on Ruby's face, shifting between gratitude that her sister was okay to worry for her other teammates.

"With your Semblance, you could probably reach the Bullheads before they leave." Ironwood softly spoke. It wasn't a pressuring statement, just one of fact.

Ruby's head snapped to the General, her face almost hopeful. "I…" Ruby then looked down and shook her head. "No, I need to stay here. It's good that they can escape. But I can do more help here. I'm sure Yang will keep them safe."

Ironwood nodded his head. Ruby had made her choice and there was nothing left to say. He then turned around and began to walk over to the other professors. As he approached Ozpin and Glynda, something seemed to catch Ozpin's attention as he looked up into the sky.

"Is everything alright Professor?" Glynda asked, her hand slowly reaching for her riding crop.

"Do you hear that?" Ozpin calmly said, but his words caused all present to stand at the ready, trying to hear what the Headmaster was talking about.

After looking around for several seconds and neither seeing nor hearing anything, the General turned to Ozpin and said, "I don't hear anything."

Ozpin nodded his head. "Neither do I." At everyone else's confused looks, Ozpin continued, "All sounds of battle within the school have ceased."

Everyone's eyes widened at Ozpin's declaration and realized he was right.

"Is it too much to hope that Nihilus died on his way here and all the Grimm are leaving?" Pyrrha snarked as she gave a tired sigh.

Ruby looked at her friend in confusion at the out of character remark, until she realized that it probably wasn't Pyrrha talking there.

Ozpin chose to ignore the sarcasm and continue on. "I believe it's more likely that he has eliminated all opposition and is on the way here." The Headmaster then turned to Ironwood and Penny. "You should get into position."

With a curt nod, Ironwood glanced at Penny and said, "Come Penny, let's go."

With a nod of her own, Penny acknowledged the order. She then looked at Ruby, and gave her friend one final hug before following the General to their hiding spot, a broken opening within Beacon Tower that gave the two of them a vantage point over the courtyard. This just left Professor Opzin, Glynda, Ruby, and Pyrrha in the courtyard below.

As they waited for Nihilus to arrive, the Headmaster glanced at the others and asked, "Are all of you ready for what we're about to face?"

Pyrrha scoffed at the question. "You weren't there at the docks, Ozpin. You didn't see what he's capable of." Pyrrha shook her head. "No one is ready for what we're about to face. Just ask team ABRN."

Ruby's breath hitched at the memory of what happened to their fellow team. Nihilus tore them apart like they weren't even people. Professor Ozpin moved to respond, but movement from the corner of his eye stole his attention. The Headmaster spun around to face the source, causing the others to turn as well.

Out of the shadowy corridors that surrounded the courtyard, a figure stepped forward. Clad in an ebony black cloak with a visage of terrifying bone white and blood red, Darth Nihilus slowly approached the huntsmen. To their surprise, the Dark Lord was not alone, as within the vice grip of his left hand was an Alpha Beowulf, struggling as Nihilus clutched it by its throat.

No one said anything as red lightning then appeared in Nihilus' left hand, spreading across the body of the Grimm. The Beowulf's struggles only intensified as the lightning continued to advance. The Grimm began to wither in Nihilus' grasp, heavy blackened muscles atrophying before their very eyes, before the Beowulf eventually fell limp and dissolved into nothingness. With his prey drained, Nihilus finally stopped and looked at the gathered force in front of him, his gaze hungry.

Ozpin returned the gaze of the Lord of Hunger, staring deep into the voids of his eyes, and what he saw terrified him. Not even Salem could compare to the sheer magnitude of malice and magical power that Nihilus emanated. The only comparable beings he could think of would be the Two Brothers, who cursed him and his wife with undeath so many millennia ago.

Those around Ozpin tensed as well. Glynda, seeing what had become of her apprentice, narrowed her eyes and her grip tightened around her riding crop as her body filled with righteous anger. Meanwhile, Ruby and Pyrrha felt a mixture of tentative fear and stoic courage within themselves. They had already faced Nihilus once, and were completely outclassed. They knew they faced a nigh impossible task of stopping the Dark Lord here, but they had to try. Because if they failed, who knew what the monster that was Nihilus was going to do to the rest of Remnant.

Meanwhile, Nihilus looked upon the huntsmen gathered in front of him. He recognized the two elder warriors from Jaune's memories, Glynda Goodwitch who sought to take the boy under her wing, and the Master of this academy Ozpin. Nihilus off-handedly dismissed Glynda, she was but a poor mirror to those who wielded the Force, and as such not a true threat in his mind.

Ozpin however, was different. Coming face to face with the Headmaster, Nihilus could see what Ozpin truly was. Ironically, Ozpin was like Nihilus himself. He was a Force Ghost, a spirit of a powerful Force Sorcerer who at first glance looked to be currently possessing the gray-haired man in front of him. But upon closer inspection, it wasn't just simple possession like Nihilus was doing, where he was overriding his host's soul, but some kind of merging of the souls. Like the spirit of Ozpin would possess the host and the two would fuse. Of course, Force Ghosts and Spirits were not Nihilus' speciality, so this was all just conjecture on his part.

Nihilus' eyes then shifted to the two younger huntresses, the two closest to Jaune during his stay here at Beacon, Ruby Rose and Pyrrha Nikos. At a glance, Nihilus had dismissed Ruby as a real threat. He broke her once already, and it would be simple to do so again. He was far more interested in his host's partner.

The Force Ghost that was possessing Cinder had made its way into Pyrrha's body. Nihilus did not know how Pyrrha came to be the host of the spirit, as Pyrrha was only a normal, albeit highly skilled Remnantian in their last encounter earlier tonight. But now not only was the Force Ghost within her, but an additional Spirit as well, creating some strange amalgamation of the three souls all vying for control within the redhead's body.

"Nihilus…" Pyrrha growled out as they locked eyes, her face contorted with anger and hate as she drew Miló and pointed it at the Sith Lord. "Your rampage is over! We will stop you here and now, and you will release Jaune!" Pyrrha declared. Her voice was strong, but Nihilus could tell she was trying to convince herself of this as much as Nihilus.

The Dark Lord looked at her impassionately, and spoke his words intelligible to none but Ozpin and Pyrrha. "The boy is gone. This vessel is now mine."

Glynda and Ruby looked at Nihilus in confusion, but Ozpin and Pyrrha's brows furrowed at his words.

"That is unfortunate." Ozpin said, his voice uncharacteristically cold and low. "Then, before we begin, I have one question. Why? Why do all of this? Subvert my student, destroy my school, kill all of these people. Why? What is your goal? What do you seek!?" The Headmaster slammed the end of his cane into the ground at his question.

Nihilus' head tilted slightly at the Headmaster's query. He paused for a moment, honestly contemplating the question, before his rapsy, distorted voice rang out again, almost amused by Ozpin's words. "You… misunderstand. Taking Jaune's body was the goal. Now that I have returned, I have no need for insidious plots or machinations. I have no grand ambitions of vengeance or chaos like the others who attacked this school. All I am here for… is to feed. On your magic, on your life. On all life on this insignificant, backwater planet. For I am Darth Nihilus, Lord of Hunger, and this world is MINE to consume!"

Pyrrha snarled at Nihilus' words, her sword and shield bursting into flames as a pair of burning wings appeared behind her as well. "GIVE JAUNE BACK!" Pyrrha raised her weapons, causing the two outside of the conversation to adopt battle stances as well.

With that cry, the fight was on. Unlike the fights at the docks and against Cinder, where Nihilus was content with testing his own capabilities and the abilities of his opponents, Nihilus chose to waste no time with toying with his opponents here. At least 2 were powerful Force Users, and he would not give them any opportunity to escape.

And so, before Pyrrha even had a chance to charge forward, Nihilus unleashed a massive Force Drain against those in front of him, the storm of red lightning seeking to drain them of all life.

Before the Force Drain could hit however, Ozpin slammed his cane into the ground once more, and a bubble of green magic energy appeared around them. Nihilus' Force Drain slammed into the dome, and the Dark Lord felt his attack absorb it as the shield was at its root, Force-based in nature. The contest of Force powers continued for seconds, but Nihilus knew he had the advantage. He was taking Ozpin's barrier into himself and would be able to use that magic to fuel his own Force Drain.

But Nihilus' precognition spiked, warning him of danger. Nihilus dropped the Drain and immediately jumped back, just in time to dodge a massive laser beam that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. Following the trajectory of the beam, Nihilus saw two figures appearing out of Beacon Tower, General Ironwood and Penny Polendina, Penny's multiple flying swords spinning in a circle in front of her.

Without missing a beat, Ironwood aimed both of his revolvers and began rapidly firing Dust magnum rounds while Nihilus was still airborne. Spinning his sword, Nihilus deflected the gravity Dust rounds, but he felt his arm shake at the impact of each bullet.

As Nihilus landed, he then felt his precognition warn of danger in front of him. Facing the attacker, Nihilus brought up his sword and deflected a slash from Pyrrha's flaming blade as she charged into melee. The two locked blades as Pyrrha flew into Nihilus, pushing against him. The huntress then swung her shield, attempting to bash Nihilus away. Nihilus stepped back, dodging the shield as he counterattacked.

Nihilus' sword struck air as Pyrrha bent backwards with a back handspring, dodging the riposte. Completing the flip, Pyrrha landed on her feet and dashed forward once more. Pyrrha and Nihlus locked blades again as they began their next exchange. Nihilus easily had the advantage as they both rapidly attacked each other, being stronger, faster, and more experienced than the redhead. But Pyrrha, enhanced by Amber's Aura and the Maiden's power, was able to somehow block or parry each of Nihilus' attacks while returning with her own.

After deflecting one of Pyrrha's strikes to the side Nihilus thrust Crocea Mors forward, a perfectly timed strike that Nihilus was sure would hit. But before the attack struck, Nihilus' blade shifted as Pyrrha pirouetted, completely missing as the huntress retaliated, swinging Miló with her own counter that landed on Nihilus's chest.

The attack was superficial, not causing too much damage, but it caused Nihilus to raise an eyebrow, wondering how it hit. Searching through Jaune's memories, he recalled both Pyrrha's Semblance and preferred fighting style, using her Polarity to manipulate the attacks of her opponents without them realizing. A powerful and subtle skill, and one that Nihilus had to respect.

And Nihilus did respect it for all of two seconds before he then extended his left hand, calling upon the Force to choke the life out of Pyrrha. Pyrrha's assault stopped completely as she was telekinetically lifted off the ground, the invisible force constricting around her neck. Nihilus tightened his grip on the huntress as he dropped Crocea Mors, channeling his crimson lightning out of right hand as he moved to drain the Maiden of her power.

The moment before he could unleash his power however, a flash of red appeared in front of him. The moment after, Pyrrha was gone, no longer within his telekinetic grip, and all that remained was a trail of rose petals. Scowling, Nihilus followed the trail, and sure enough, several dozen feet away Ruby Rose held onto a gasping Pyrrha in one hand and the scythe Harbinger in the other.

Meanwhile, Ruby let out a quick sigh of relief as her gamble worked. Before Nihilus arrived, Ruby had discussed potential strategies with Penny and Pyrrha, as she knew that directly fighting Nihilus was at best suicide. Nihilus had easily trounced her and her friends when she was in tip top shape. Now she was tired with a weapon she wasn't fully practiced with, so she had to fight a lot smarter if she wanted to survive.

That was when Penny mentioned that she believed Ruby's Semblance was not in fact, a simple speed boost, but instead disassembled her and those she touched at a molecular level, moving with them at rapid speed at which point they would reassemble at Ruby's chosen location. And the trio then surmised that if Ruby used her Semblance on someone being constricted by Nihilus' telekinesis, it would break his hold on them as there was no mass for him to control. A supposition that had proven true.

Ruby allowed herself a small smirk as she wouldn't be useless in this fight. Being able to counter Nihilus' telekinesis was going to be vital for keeping her friends and teachers alive.

Nihilus scowled at the red reaper as he recalled Crocea Mors to his right hand while aiming his left hand at the teens. Ruby's eyes widened at the action as she grabbed Pyrrha again and dashed away before the Dark Lord could use one of his abilities.

As they fled, Nihilus' danger sense spiked above him. Glancing up, Nihilus saw a column of marble flying down at him, coated in purple energy. It was easy for Nihilus to recognize Glynda Goodwitch's attack as he then aimed his left hand up. Pushing with a powerful impulse of Force energy, the column cracked and shattered under the pressure of the two telekinetic forces.

The column exploded, raining rocks and debris down onto the battlefield. Shifting his telekinesis, Nihilus then grabbed onto the rubble that was about to land directly on him and flung them at the blonde professor. Glynda's eyes widened, but she rapidly twirled her riding crop and formed a purple glyph in front of her, creating a telekinetic barrier that blocked the barrage.

Nihilus took a step forward to press his assault against Glynda, but he then sensed danger behind him. Immediately spinning around, Nihilus twirled his sword and deflected another magnum shot from General Ironwood, who seemed to have descended the ruined Beacon Tower to join the fight on the ground.

Ironwood ran at a diagonal towards Nihilus, firing off shots from both of his magnums. Nihilus deflected each shot with his sword, but before he could retaliate half a dozen green-trimmed blades flew at his offside. Nihilus glanced to his left and saw that Penny also descended and joined the General in his attack. Nihilus simultaneously twisted his body to dodge the blades as he kept moving his sword to deflect the revolver rounds. While he was able to dodge most of Penny's swords, this proved to be too many attacks for even the Sith Lord as one of Penny's blades landed, slashing into the back of his leg.

Growling, Nihiuls reared his sword arm back as he threw Crocea Mors at the General. Ironwood's eyes widened as the flying buzzsaw came right for him. Crossing his arms in front of him, the sound of metal clanging on metal echoed through the school as the General was sent flying backwards from the impact.

Simultaneously, as Nihilus threw his blade, his left hand reached for the wire that controlled the sword that cut his leg. Gripping onto it, Nihilus glared at the orange-haired student as he yanked backwards. To her utter shock, Penny was pulled forward by Nihilus' strength, no doubt reinforced by his telekinetic powers. Penny wasn't able to process her shock fast enough as she flew forward and right in front of the Sith Lord, whose right hand was cocked back by his hip.

Before Penny could react, Nihilus' fist impacted her stomach with a devastating uppercut. The punch, which contained a combination of both Nihilus' Aura and telekinetic Force energy, sent Penny flying upwards. As Penny was sent flying back, Nihilus raised his hand to recall his sword.

A flash of green interrupted Nihilus as Ozpin then dashed in front of him, his speed no doubt enhanced by his Force Magic. Ozpin lunged at the Dark Lord, rapidly thrust with his Cane that was coated in a similar emerald aura that Ozpin was. With no weapon in hand, Nihilus was forced to raise his left hand and form a telekinetic ward that absorbed the Headmaster's strikes.

While Nihilus protected himself with his left hand, he simultaneously gathered the Force into his right hand to return the favor. However, there was a flash of light and heat above him that drew his attention. Apparently, Pyrrha had returned in force, this time flying behind Nihilus as her fiery wings kept her aloft. Channelling the Maiden's powers, Pyrrha then fired off a barrage of fire balls aimed directly for Nihilus.

Hissing in annoyance, Nihilus then shifted his body and aimed his right hand at Pyrrha's barrage, creating another barrier rather than blasting the Headmaster. Nihilus kept both hands extended as he transformed the barriers into a bubble around himself. This was just in time, Ozpin's and Pyrrha's assault was joined in by Ruby and Glynda. The two stood side by side, the former peppering his shield with shotgun blasts while the latter flung a volley of purple telekinetic projectiles.

Under the relentless assault, Nihilus noticed his barrier starting to break apart. Snarling, Nihilus drew upon his dark emotions and screamed. Ruby's eyes widened as she recognized the attack and without hesitation, grabbed Glynda and dashed out of sight. Ozpin and Pyrrha however, were too slow and took the brunt of the Force Scream, blasted back by the wave of pure malice and hatred that shook them to their very core.

Letting anger drive his actions, Nihilus would not let them get away. Using his telekinesis, the Dark Lord gripped onto Ozpin mid-flight and flung him at the falling Maiden. The two collided mid-air, grunting at the impact but Nihilus wasn't done yet, not when he had his targets right where he wanted them.

Extending his right hand, Nihilus unleashed a storm of red lightning that slammed into the two Force mages. Pyrrha and Ozpin screamed as they felt Nihilus siphon off their Auras and magic. Nihilus grinned manically as he ripped the Force from their very bodies. It would only take a few seconds for him to drain them dry, leaving the two as withered husks.

But Nihilus didn't have seconds as a familiar precognitive warning shouted at him. Dropping the Force Drain, Nihilus turned and erected another barrier, just in time to block a volley of magnum Dust rounds courtesy of James Ironwood. Nihilus' barrier held strong against the Atlas General's assault, but he could do nothing as he watched Ozpin and Pyrrha escape as they were lifted away by a purple energy field.

Eventually the General ran out of ammunition in his pistols, allowing Nihilus to drop his barrier. Channelling the Force into his body, Nihilus used Force Speed, increasing his movement speed exponentially. In the blink of an eye, Nihilus appeared in front of Ironwood, fists crackling with Force-based lightning.

Ironwood's eyes widened as Nihilus threw an electrified jab right for his head. At the last second, Ironwood was able to slip the strike, as he was an extremely capable fighter in boxing and hand to hand combat. Flipping his grip on his pistols, James then swung his revolver horizontally in an attempt to pistol whip the Dark Lord.

Nihilus leaned back and dodged the counter strike, before throwing an electrified left hook right for Ironwood's face. Ironwood brought his arm up to block the blow, his prosthetic absorbing the lightning from Nihilus' strike. With the attack stopped, Ironwood then wrapped his forearms around Nihilus' neck into a clinch, before driving his knee straight into the Dark Lord's stomach.

The strike hit true, driving his knee deep into Nihilus' abdomen, but unfortunately for him it had no apparent effect. Returning the favor, Nihilus grabbed the General by his lapels and pulled him forward as the Dark Lord drove his head forward with a headbutt. The bone white mask smashed into Ironwood's nose, snapping his head back and sending blood flying as the nose shattered.

The General only groaned as Nihilus then released his grip of the General's jacket only to grip his throat instead. With a single hand Nihilus lifted the General into the air while strangling the life out of him. In a move mirroring what Nihilus had done to Adam Taurus not too long ago, red lightning formed in the Dark Lord's hand as he simultaneously choked and drained Ironwood of his life.

But before he could finish draining the General, he saw a cloud of red approach him from the side. Nihilus immediately fired off a Force Push towards the cloud of rose petals, but Ruby shifted directions and dodged as she reached General Ironwood position. With a split second maneuver, Ironwood disappeared from Nihilus' grasp in a burst of rose petals.

Growling in annoyance, Nihilus tracked Ruby's petal burst form as lightning crackled at his fingers. Ruby was fast, but Nihilus doubted she was faster than lightning. Nihilus wouldn't get to find out however, as a beam of Dust energy slammed into Nihilus from behind.

Penny, breathing far heavier than normal as her Aura was now rather low following repeated high-yield energy blasts, smiled as it looked as though she was finally able to land a decisive hit on Nihlus. The smile began to fade however, as she saw that her Dust Energy beam seemed to be getting smaller and smaller. Her mouth then fell open as she realized that Nihilus was absorbing the laser blast into his hands, concentrating the attack into a ball of green energy.

Nihilus then extended his hands, releasing the stored energy as he reflected Penny's Dust laser right back at her. Penny was barely able to bring her arms up in time to block the hit as she was set flying backwards in a smoking heap out of the courtyard. Penny crashed through a nearby wall, ending up in one of Beacon's hallways. Nihilus however, wasn't going to let her get away.

Channeling the Force into his legs, Nihlus leapt after Penny, landing beside her in the ruined hallway. Penny tiredly looked at him as she picked herself up, moving slowly from the amount of damage done to her Aura and her body. She watched in horror as Nihilus released a storm of crimson lightning once more, slamming into the girl as he began draining what was left of her Aura.

Nihilus grinned as he felt what was left of Penny's Aura shatter from the Force Drain. These worms were annoyingly stubborn in preventing him from draining any of them, but now he finally got his teeth into one of them. But as Penny continued to scream, Nihils noticed something. The girl wasn't dying. By now she should've been a withered husk of a corpse as she had no Aura left and he should've drained what was left of her life force.

Stopping his attack, Nihilus glared at Penny, extending his senses to try and figure out what was happening. And that's when he realized that Penny had a cold and lifeless body of machinery and circuitry, not of flesh and blood. Nihilus howled in rage. A droid! Penny was nothing more than a droid that somehow had Aura implanted into it! Outraged, classic Sith lightning crackled at Nihilus' finger tips. Extending both his hands, Nihilus released a torrent of Force Lightning. If he couldn't drain the droid, then he would simply remove it from existence!

Penny's eyes widened at the storm approaching, and out of sheer desperation she shut her eyes and extended her floating blades in front of her. The lightning crashed into her floating swords, sending sparks flying as the electricity ran up the wires and into Penny's body. Nihilus continued to funnel lighting into Penny for several seconds, expecting to see her explode in a conflagration. What he didn't expect was for Penny to not even be screaming. Cutting off his lightning, Nihilus looked at Penny with confusion.

When Penny reopened her eyes, they glowed green with overflowing energy. "Aura reserves at 400% capacity." she reported as she glared at Nihilus with a look of pure determination.

Nihilus tilted his head.

...

Oh.

Forming another circle of blades in front of her, Penny unleashed the largest laser blast she had ever fired, an attack comparable to an Atlas capital ship's main cannon or even a Turbolaser of the wider galaxy. Immediately Nihilus raised his hands, forming another barrier in front of him. But not even Nihilus could fully defend against the Dust beam that was 4 times as powerful as before. Nihilus' barrier was able to stop some of the blast, but it was soon shattered as Nihilus was blasted out of the hallway and back into the courtyard.

The force of the energy beam sent Nihilus crashing into the ground, a crater forming at the impact zone from the sheer power. Even Nihilus had to groan as he picked himself out of the hollowed out depression. An attack that powerful would've been dangerous even in his original form. Jaune's more durable body and powerful Aura allowed him to take the blow, but he could tell his host's reserves were heavily depleted by it. He would need to drain either another Remnantian or more Grimm to quickly replenish his Aura.

But before he could even have much of a respite, Pyrrha returned with a vengeance, having recovered herself while Penny and the General distracted Nihilus. Flying in above the Dark Lord, Pyrrha opted to change strategies as she both couldn't fight him in close quarters, and found that direct fire attacks weren't working either.

Rather than attacking directly, Pyrrha extended both hands out, using her Polarity to call upon all the metal she could sense within the courtyard. Pyrrha strained as she began to levitate abandoned White Fang weapons, broken lamp posts, chunks of rebar, and more. Nihilus narrowed his eyes at this, and raised his hand to call upon the Force and stop her.

However, a flash of emerald green drew his attention as Ozpin was upon him once more. Ozpin dashed next to Nihilus and unleashed a flurry of rapid strikes with his cane. Still disarmed, Nihilus had to fall back and use his Force Barrier to defend himself. Ozpin was relentless in his attacks, calling upon thousands of years of martial training to pin Nihilus down and keep him from using his powers.

With the Headmaster distracting Nihilus, Pyrrha was able to raise thousands of pounds of metal into the air uninterrupted. The sheer amount of material alone would be enough to easily crush almost any opponent to death. But Pyrrha wasn't done yet. The Maiden's fire burst from her eyes in a dazzling display of power as she called upon her magic. Soon, the metal began to glow red hot, then drip as Pyrrha used the Maiden's control over fire to heat the metal to its metal point. Girders and lamp posts turned to molten iron and steel, a liquid still metallic in nature and therefore under the control of Pyrrha's Semblance. Hovering above the battle, Pyrrha held up a veritable lake of molten metal.

"Professor! NOW!" Pyrrha roared as she threw her arms down, dropping a literal tsunami of liquid iron onto the courtyard, aimed right for Nihilus and Ozpin.

Ozpin didn't move as he continued to strike Nihilus despite the oncoming flood. Before the wave of metal hit however, Ozpin was covered in a purple aura and yanked out of the way by Glynda's telekinesis.

Eyes widening, even Nihilus was shocked at this display of power. For most Force adepts, telekinesis on a liquid was annoyingly difficult. It was often easier to form a telekinetic container around the liquid rather than controlling the loose molecules themselves. To be moving the sheer volume of liquid at what was probably 3000°F? Nihilus knew it was rich coming from him, but he thought that was a little bullshit.

Immediately Nihilus created a telekinetic dome of Force around himself as the tidal wave of molten metal crashed into him. Nihilus felt his arms buckle as the fiery liquid splashed around him, swirling around his barrier. While the weight and pressure of the metal alone was difficult to contend with, the sheer heat of the molten metal made the task unbearable. But Nihilus shunt the thoughts of the temperature out of his mind. He would not be brought down by this mere girl and her ghost.

Meanwhile, Glynda watched the scene in front of her with rapt attention. In all her years as a huntress, she'd never seen such raw displays of power from either side in the battle. She watched as the liquid metal surrounded Nihilus, attempting to overwhelm him, while the Sith's own telekinetic barrier held strong. Glynda knew she would never be able to perform such a feat of telekinetic might, but she also knew that Nihilus would be hard pressed to maintain such a technique.

"JAMES!" Glynda roared as she looked at the General. Ironwood turned to her immediately as she gave her order. "SLINGSHOT!" In front of her, Glynda then used the Gravity Dust within her riding crop to create a massive, purple glyph.

Ironwood silently nodded, and ran for Glynda's position immediately. The two veteran huntsmen, having known each other for years, had developed quite a few combination attacks. With his revolvers filled with Gravity Dust rounds James moved behind the glyph and aimed both pistols at Nihilus' barrier. The General then pulled the triggers as fast as his fingers would allow.

Due Process's magnum rounds packed a heavy stopping power and high muzzle velocity to the point that it hit with a force much higher than one would think a handgun could create. The Gravity Dust itself helped accelerate the rounds beyond the initial combustion, to the point that even a large and heavy-set man like Ironwood could use them to propel himself through the air.

When the Gravity Dust rounds passed through the Gravity Dust glyph created by Glynda, the already super-sonic rounds exploded forward, creating sonic booms as they were flung forward by Glynda's power at double velocity. This essentially turned the magnum rounds into railgun rounds, and Ironwood had two full cylinders of them.

The rounds slammed into Nihilus' barrier, immediately drawing the Dark Lord's attention. But Nihilus could only watch as round after round sledgehammered into his barrier. Nihilus' shield was strong, but he could feel it weakening and cracking with every hit, and he couldn't drop it to counter attack lest he be consumed by the fiery flood of ferrum around him.

But he would not have a choice as finally, one of Ironwood's rounds shattered Nihilus' barrier, the amount of damage too much for the Dark Lord to sustain. As the barrier broke, a follow up round flew and struck Nihilus in the shoulder, sending the Dark Lord stumbling back, devastating his Aura.

The barrier now gone, Pyrrha was immediately ready with the follow up. A wave of metal slammed into Nihilus, the superheated liquid subsuming his body. Nihilus howled in pain as his legs, groin, and torso were all covered with the orange liquid, burning through his darkened form and melting into his skin. With over half of the Dark Lord's body coated with the free-flowing metal, Pyrrha then let out a deep breath as the metal began to rapidly cool, encasing the Dark Lord's lower body in an iron trap.

"Now!" Pyrrha shouted to all the others. "Disable him!"

Hissing through the agonizing pain, Nihilus attempted to raise his right hand to rip the soul out of the flying Maiden. But he soon found himself unable to do so as his arm was pinned in place by a purple aura courtesy of Glynda Goodwitch. Growling, Nihilus then tried to raise his left arm to strike. But the heavy footfalls of James Ironwood clanging on the now solid iron ground reverberated as the General's mechanical arm gripped onto Nihilus' left, keeping him from raising it.

In front of Nihilus, Ruby, Pyrrha, Penny, and Ozpin all reconvened with Glynda as Nihilus struggled in his bonds. Before Nihilus could even say anything, Ozpin raised his cane and began casting a spell. Nihilus felt the Force bend to Ozpin's will as Ozpin used some arcane variant of Force Stun. The wills of two immortals contested against one another. Nihilus felt his senses dull and perceptions deaden slowly, the damage he sustained making it difficult to break out illusion.

As Nihilus' head seemed to loll to the side, Ozpin gritted out, "I can't hold him for long."

Nodding her head, Pyrrha turned to Penny, "Penny! Remove the mask!"

"Roger roger!" Penny saluted quickly before sprinting towards the Dark Lord.

Penny's footsteps rang even louder than the General's as she moved for Nihilus. As Penny got close, she then leapt and landed in front of the Lord of Hunger, who seemed too dazed to see her. Slipping her hands into the shadowy cowl of the Lord of Hunger, Penny wedged her fingers behind the Mask of Nihilus, and began to pull.

However, even with Penny's inhuman strength, the cyborg girl seemed to struggle as she tried to remove the mask from Nihilus. Gritting her teeth as she pulled, the Mask pulled forward, millimeter by millimeter, but resisted more and more the further it moved. Penny could even see and feel some kind of black ichor behind the Mask, attaching it to Jaune's face. Then, with a final heave, Penny threw herself back and felt one of the tendrils of ichor snap as the mask came partially loose.

Penny smiled for a brief moment as she thought she had succeeded in removing the Mask from Jaune's face. The smile immediately faded when Nihilus roared. The pain of being partially separated from Jaune snapped the Dark Lord from his stupor, allowing him to break out of the spell Ozpin had him under.

Nihilus came to as his head snapped up, the glare he sent at Penny causing her to recoil in terror. The Mask of Nihilus then righted itself up on his face as a wave of raw hatred and malice exploded out of Nihilus. How dare they? How dare these fools try to take what is his!? Howling, Nihlus channeled the supernova of anger and hate he felt as he flew into a Dark Rage, the Dark Side of the Force giving Nihilus a burst of strength, speed, and ferocity.

Swinging his right hand, Nihilus tore through the telekinetic grip Glynda had on his arm with contemptuous ease. Driving his head forward, Nihlus then hit Penny with a savage headbutt. Penny fell to the ground with a scream as the sheer power shattered part of her synthetic face, revealing the machinery underneath.

Nihilus' head then snapped to Ironwood, who watched slack jawed in stupefied shock. Nihilus gripped the General's robotic arm with enough force that the metal itself dented and folded under the pressure. The General's eyes then widened as Nihilus violently yanked back, tearing Ironwood's prosthetic arm free from his body.

Ironwood fell to his knees, speechless as he gripped the stub of sparking scrap where his arm used to be. Then he began screaming as the pain of having his artificial nerve endings and control diodes so violently ripped away began to register in his brain.

As the General collapsed to the ground, Ruby, Pyrrha, and Ozpin ran forward, all swinging their weapons at Nihilus to intercept and save the soldier, while Glynda fired off her telekinesis to try and pull him out. But Nihilus snarled at them as they approached and channeled all of his rage and anger and screamed once more. The Force Scream exploded out of him, slamming into the four with a wave of hate and pain that knocked them back and to the ground.

As they collapsed, Nihilus returned his attention to the stunned General. Channeling the Force, Nihilus hit the General with a powerful Force Drain. The orange lighting slammed into Ironwood, eliciting another scream of pain as his very life was drained out of him. Ironwood's muscular form shriveled in seconds, turning into a withered husk, his face forever contorted into a silent scream.

Draining the General slightly healed the charred and burned flesh of Nihilus' body, but it wasn't enough. Still running on the high of the Dark Rage, Nihilus made his way out of his metal prison as his telekinesis tore the steel apart. Now free, Nihilus made his way to his next target, focusing on the damaged droid in front of him.

As he approached, Penny slowly pushed herself up to look at him, neck twitching uncontrollably every time electricity sparked out of her shattered face. This droid had annoyed Nihilus far too much, and he would not suffer its existence any longer.

Knowing that both Force Drain and Force Lightning were not viable against her, Nihilus went with the 3rd best option. As Penny twitched, she was levitated off the ground by Nihilus' telekinesis. Nihilus rotated the helpless droid to face him, and with a thought, crushed her. Penny was helpless as her body crumpled and folded inward as the pressure of Nihilus' telekinetic force turned her into a ball of human-resembling scrap. With a flick of his wrist, Nihilus dropped the android's remains to the ground.

"Penny!" Ruby screamed as she watched her friend get brutally dismantled.

Nihilus then snapped his head towards Ruby, who was crawling on the ground, hand extended towards her cyborg friend. The girl looked at him in abject horror, as she realized they had failed. Nihilus was going to destroy all of them.

Briefly, Nihilus turned around and looked back up at Beacon Tower, battle-damaged from the extended fighting across the school. Nihilus then extended both his hands towards the tower, and began to pull. Ruby and the recovering Professors and Pyrrha looked up in awe, and Ruby couldn't help but be reminded of what Nihilus did to that airship not too long ago. Beacon Tower then cracked and crumbled as Nihilus ripped it apart and literally dropped the building on them.

Ruby staggered to her feet in a desperate attempt to try and grab Pyrrha and run. But she was too tired and knew she wasn't fast enough. As she heard rocks falling around her, Ruby shut her eyes and braced herself for what she hoped would be quick death.

...

A few seconds passed, and Ruby realized she wasn't dead. Opening up her eyes, she looked up and saw that the massive falling chunks of Beacon Tower were currently being blocked by an equally massive purple glyph. Swiveling her head, Ruby saw Professor Goodwitch stopping Nihilus' attack in its tracks. Ruby felt her heart leap as she realized they were saved, but her elation soon fell as she looked at Glynda closer.

Professor Goodwitch was struggling, hair down, teeth grit, sweating heavily as she struggled to even stand as she held up the falling tower. Meanwhile, Nihilus was not content to just let gravity do the work, and pushed the rocks downward with his own telekinesis. Glynda bit back a scream as the pressure increased, but she held strong.

As the two telekinetics fought, Glynda sent a hateful glare at Nihilus. "Give my… apprentice... back!" she howled as she strengthened her glyph. Pushing beyond her limits, Glynda fought against Nihilus with every fibre of her being. Soon, the massive boulders were starting to grind and crush between the two opposing forces.

But before they could finish their duel, Ozpin slowly rose to his feet, standing above Ruby and Pyrrha, his weapon The Long Memory pointed at Nihilus.

Exhausted and wounded, Ozpin hissed out his next words between deep breaths. "If you want my magic..." Ozpin then pressed the handle on his cane, causing the gears to spin and glow a bright light as a sphere of green magic surrounded all of them. "Then why don't you eat your fill."

Suddenly a flash of light burst from the cane and Ruby's world was filled with white.

A bright light encompassed all of Beacon. A light brighter than the sun. Bright enough that it blinded the eyes of the many hundreds of students, soldiers, and civilians who were evacuating Vale miles away. Those who were fleeing the carnage of the city watched in horror as what looked like the largest bomb ever exploded in the heart of Beacon.

Once the light finally dissipated, and the smoke finally cleared, students could only look on in dismay as the entirety of their school and home was reduced to nothing more than a pile of rubble. Many shed silent or not so silent tears as the place that was literally supposed to be a beacon for the rest of the world was gone.

The devastation was even worse at ground zero. Ruby coughed as she rolled on the ground, covered in dust and ash. Groaning, Ruby rolled over to her side as she slowly pushed herself up. Her Aura was gone, that was definite, and her entire body felt like a giant bruise. A stabbing pain in her chest indicated she probably had a broken rib or three. Beside her Pressfor Ozpin was on the ground, semi-conscious and barely moving.

Meanwhile Pyrrha was on all fours, panting heavily. The amount of wounds on her showed that she had no Aura, but she was still in the best physical condition thanks to her massive reserves courtesy of Amber. Professor Goodwitch on the other hand, seemed to have been blasted further away from them as Ruby spied the blonde professor unmoving at the far end of the crater. She looked hurt, and from this distance, Ruby couldn't tell if Glynda was unconscious or dead.

Looking around her, the courtyard was gone, as was all of the floating rubble of Beacon Tower, most likely evaporated into dust. The surrounding hallways and buildings were totalled, leaving ruined half walls and piles of destruction. All that was left of the tower was a crater where the lighthouse once stood.

A shuffling behind her then ripped her attention away from the devastation. Turning her head, Ruby couldn't help but laugh. Even after all of that, Nihilus was still alive. At the very least, Nihilus looked as close to death as all of them.

The shadowy robes that surrounded Jaune's body were almost all blasted away, revealing the scarred, burned, and mutilated form of her friend underneath. Not only that Jaune's left arm was gone, destroyed from elbow down by the violent explosion of magic. Nihilus stumbled forward, barely able to hold himself up as his mask glared at the huntsmen. But then Nihilus paused and looked to his right, seemingly momentarily distracted from his foes.

Ruby didn't have the strength to take advantage of that distraction, and instead dumbly looked in the same direction. Amongst the shattered remains and rubble of the school, was Crocea Mors, the blade revealing itself following the explosion. Nihilus felt that the Force must have been smiling on him for his weapon to reappear now of all times. Extending his right hand, Nihlus used what Force he had left to recall the ancient sword to him. Crocea Mors flew into his hand, and Nihilus returned his attention to the wounded students in front of him.

Growling, Pyrrha shakily stood as she glared defiantly at Nihilus, her eyes bursting into flames as they glowed with power. Pyrrha may not have had any Aura left, but she could still call upon the Maiden's power. As flames followed her every step, Pyrrha charged forward. Though Ruby could barely call it a charge, more an exhausted trudge as the Maiden and the Dark Lord slowly limped towards one another.

Pyrrha swung her blade first. A clumsy, overhead slash that looked like the move of a rank amateur rather than a champion fighter. Nihilus raised his own blade and parried the strike, but it was a slow and painful process. The impact alone almost caused the Dark Lord to drop his blade.

But Nihilus readjusted his grip, pushing Pyrrha's sword back and thrusting forward with his blade. Pyrrha raised her shield and block. The thrust wasn't fast or strong, but the attack sent Pyrrha stumbling back a few feet from the hit. Gritting her teeth, the Maiden's magic flared from her eyes as Miló was coated by fire.

With a roar, Pyrrha swung a wide horizontal slash through the air with her flaming sword. From the arc of the slash, a crescent wave of flames shot towards Nihilus. The Dark Lord snarled as he created a small Force Barrier in front of him. He barely had any energy left, and even using the Force to this small amount was difficult. The flames splashed across the barrier, and when they dissipated, Nihilus moved forward to close the distance.

Nihilus brought down his blade in a brutal, vertical chop. Stumbling to the side, Pyrrha dodged the attack by a hair's breadth. As she recovered her balance, Pyrrha then threw her shield forward, slamming it into Nihilus' chest. The attack struck true as the air was forced out of Nihilus' lungs, driving the Dark Lord to one knee.

With her foe on his knees before her, Pyrrha grit her teeth and let out a battle cry as she aimed Miló right for his heart and thrust forward. A thrust that contained all of her love for Jaune, all of her hate for Nihilus, and all of her sorrow for her failure to prevent this tragedy. Nihilus' eyes widened as he knew he couldn't evade the attack. It was too fast and he could barely move. But if Nihilus couldn't move, then he would move Pyrrha.

Reaching out with the last dregs of his command over the Force, Nihilus weakly pulled on Pyrrha's sword. It wasn't enough to rip the blade out of her hand, but instead Nihilus subtly manipulated the sword's angle, turning a killing blow into a near miss as Miló grazed Nihilus' shoulder.

Pyrrha's eyes widened as her attack missed. Almost instantaneously she realized that Nihilus stole her technique. Her shock then turned to agonizing pain as Nihilus lunged forward and drove Crocea Mors through Pyrrha's stomach.

Pyrrha gasped as the blade ran her through, eyes widening as blood began to pour from her mouth. Both Miló and Akoúo̱ fell from her hands as all strength left Pyrrha's body. Her eyes glazing over, Pyrrha met Nihilus' eyes and weakly brought up one had to cup Jaune's cheek.

"I'm… sorry." she barely whispered out as Pyrrha's body fell limp upon Crocea Mors.

Nihilus withdrew his sword as the life left the Maiden's body. While Nihilus would've preferred to drain her of life to revitalize himself, he didn't even have the strength to perform such feats anymore. As the Dark Lord was about to take a step towards the rest of the huntsmen and finish them off, he felt a burning in his chest.

A burning that soon swelled into agonizing pain as Nihilus vomited blood himself. Nihilus collapsed to all fours as he felt like he was being run through with a lightsaber. This was a feeling that he was familiar with. He was dying. Or more specifically, Jaune's body was dying.

But how!? Why!? The amount of damage to Jaune was immense, but it was survivable, especially with the power of the Dark Side coursing through him. As Nihilus writhed in pain, his gaze found Pyrrha's corpse, her hollow eyes still open, final tears dripping down her face.

…

No… No!

Nihilus roared as he realized what was happening. Pyrrha and Jaune formed a Force Bond! In order to more quickly strengthen Jaune's powers in the Dark Side, Nihilus willingly tore open a wound within the boy by forcing him to relive his experiences on Malachor. But by making him a wound in the Force, he inadvertently granted Jaune the ability to easily form Force Bonds. And there were none within this academy that were closer to Jaune than Pyrrha herself.

Nihilus had no idea as to when the two formed a Bond. And he had no idea of the depth of the Bond as he so readily threw away everything that was Jaune once he had subsumed his body. And by ignoring what he saw as inane, teenage drama, Nihilus exploited his own weakness by killing Pyrrha. Now Jaune was dying, and Nihilus desperately needed to try and feed on something to stave off oblivion.

Looking at Pyrrha's body, he then felt the Force Ghost that was possessing Pyrrha leave the redhead's corpse, and fly off towards the other survivors. Tracking it, Nihilus watched as the Ghost flew into Ruby, who was now standing with tears in her eyes as she watched Nihilus execute her friend.

"PYRRHA!" Ruby screamed as her eyes then burst with silver and amber energy.

Ruby looked around confused. One moment she was standing in what was left of Beacon Academy, and the next she found herself standing in this white void.

"Ruby!" a familiar voice called out from behind her.

Immediately the red reaper turned, and there she saw the forms of Amber and Pyrrha, both their bodies no longer marred by their injuries.

"Pyrrha, Amber!" Ruby shouted as she ran to the two older women, glomping onto Pyrrha with a massive hug. "What's happening? Where are we? Didn't Nihilus..."

Pyrrha gave Ruby a said, pained smile as she spoke. "He did." She said softly, "And I thought of you, Ruby."

Ruby's eyes grew even wider as tears formed at their corners. She hugged Pyrrha even tighter while Pyrrha lightly tapped her back.

"Now, the Fall Maiden's power is transferring to you." Amber commented. "Like it did for me."

At her words, Ruby pulled her face out of Pyrrha's chest and looked at her, almost hopeful. "Does, does that mean both of you will be living in my mind as well?"

Amber shook her head. "No, I don't think so. The only reason Pyrrha here got stuck with me was because Ozpin fused our Aura's, and the Maiden's power just came along for the ride. You'll just be getting the magic, no hitchhikers." Amber gave Ruby a sad smirk at that.

Ruby's face fell at her words.

"Ruby…" Pyrrha softly said as she pulled out of the hug, grabbing both of the younger teen's hands with her own. "It's now up to you to stop Nihilus." she said as tears formed on her own eyes. "I'm sorry that I wasn't strong enough to stop him, for putting this burden on you now."

Ruby shook her head. "No! Stop… stop saying sorry. It's not your fault." Ruby sniffled as she let go of Pyrrha and wiped the tears out of her eyes. Her eyes now dry, Ruby looked at Pyrrha with determined eyes. "I'll do it. I'll stop Nihilus. I promise."

Pyrrha smiled at her as she felt reassured in leaving the future in Ruby's hands. "Goodbye, Ruby. I'm glad you were my friend." Pyrrha beamed a tearful grin as she began to fade.

"See you later, kid." Amber added on as she began to fade as well. "Hopefully you'll do better than we did."

As the two former Maiden's vanished, Ruby's sight was filled with white once more.

…

Ruby came to back on Remnant. Momentarily dazed by the transition, the sounds of violent hacking and vomiting stole her attention. Facing the noise, she saw Nihilus on all fours, vomiting blood as Pyrrha's body lay still next to him. Ruby felt her heart drop. So what she just saw wasn't a hallucination.

As Nihilus slowly craned his head to look at Ruby, the huntress screamed. "PYRRHA!"

That's when the flood of emotions exploded out of her. Pyrrha, Penny, her Uncle Qrow, her team, even Jaune. All friends and family that she loved. All friends and family she failed to protect. These emotions burst out of her in the form of a silver light pouring out of her eyes, enveloping her and Nihilus. The power of the Silver Eyes was then tinted amber as the power of the Fall Maiden joined in with the magic of the God of Light, unleashing an unimaginable burst of magical energy all directed towards Darth Nihilus.

Nihilus screamed as the Light overtook him. It was as if he was staring into the Force itself, a Vergence given human form connected directly to the Light Side of the Force. It was a wellspring of life that, even at his fullest, Nihilus could not defend against. Nihilus felt the light tear apart his very form, the darkness surrounding Jaune burning away and dissipating before its power.

When Ruby's assault finally finished, the huntress collapsed to the ground, unmoving but still conscious. Through labored breaths, Ruby craned her neck up to look at Nihilus. And what she saw filled her with both hope and horror. Nihilus was still there, but it was generous to call him Nihilus still. Rather than the shadowy robes of Nihilus, Ruby saw Jaune, his outfit charred and tattered, his skin burned and red, but it was the form of Jaune kneeling on the ground. The only thing that remained of Nihilus was the bone white mask still upon Jaune's face. And through the mask, the shadows that covered Jaune's eyes were gone, and Ruby could see the sapphire eyes of her friend within. It seemed that Ruby's Silver Eyes were able to temporarily disrupt Nihilus' control over Jaune.

"Jaune!" Ruby shouted as she tried to push herself up. "Jaune, if you can hear me, fight him! Please!"

Jaune's eyes looked at Ruby, and she could see the multitude of emotions behind them. Fear, sorrow, regret. Jaune's gaze flicked over to Pyrrha, and the boy shut his eyes in pain at the sight.

After a few brief moments, Ruby heard Jaune whisper to himself, "I'm sorry."

Crocea Mors still within his hand, Jaune raised his arm and held the sword in the air. A spike of a panic then shot through Ruby, as she thought Jaune was going to bring the blade down on her. The panic then turned to horror as she realized Jaune was not pointing his blade at her, but instead was aiming the point of Crocea Mors at his own stomach.

JAUNE! Nihilus roared from the confines of the boy's mind. What are you doing!?

Jaune's arm shook and spasmed as the two minds fought for control over the body. Jaune knew he didn't have much time before Nihilus was back in control. "You… this is all your fault!" He shouted, his voice no longer distorted by Nihilus.

I gave you what you wanted! Power! Without me, you are nothing! Just a weak boy dreaming of being a hero!

Jaune incredulously snorted. "All you did was twist me into a fucking parody of who I was! You destroyed everything I worked, killed and hurt those I loved! You took everything from me! And now, I'm going to take everything from you."

"Jaune no!" Ruby cried out, but there was nothing she could do but watch as Jaune drove Crocea Mors into himself. Jaune gurgled blood as he stumbled back, making it all of two steps before he collapsed backwards and fell to the ground.

"Jaune!" Ruby shouted once more as she pushed herself up in spite of the pain, tears streaming down her face. She stumbled over to her friend's body, and watched as his eyes glazed over. Jaune's head then fell to the side as he passed on from the world.

As the light faded from Jaune's eyes, the Mask of Darth Nihilus then fell from Jaune's face, clattering to the ground beside his corpse. Ruby's gaze followed the mask, and she slowly approached the item that had caused her and her friends so much misery.

"Miss Rose, wait!" the hoarse, tired voice of Ozpin shouted out after her.

Ruby turned and saw the Headmaster barely standing, putting most of his weight on his cane. Ozpin hobbled over to her, and sadly looked down at the bodies of both Jaune and Pyrrha. Then his eyes focused on the mask on the ground. "The mask is still alive. I can feel the power and magic coming from it. It is too dangerous to approach casually."

Ruby glanced at the headmaster before focusing back on the mask. While she wanted to take all of her new found Maiden-ly power to try and destroy the mask, she acquiesced to the headmaster. Letting out a breath, Ruby looked around at the death and destruction all around her, and asked no one in particular, "So what now?"

Chapter Text

"It is not the destination that matters - it is the journey." - Kreia

Chapter 24: Epilogue

"This is Lisa Lavender of the Vale News Network, coming to you live from the ruins of what was once the great Beacon Academy. Where right now, you can only see a desolate wasteland, just one week ago this very spot was bustling with students, tourists, and more, all here for the 40th Vytal Festival." The news cast blared out as Lisa Lavender spoke with a calm professionalism required of an anchorwoman despite the devastation around her.

The news broadcast shifted, showing camera footage of various ruined Beacon buildings, from close ups of the destroyed airdocks to aerial shots of the completely collapsed Beacon tower as Lisa's voice continued narrating. "It was also here that one week ago, the White Fang led by known terrorist Adam Taurus launched a major attack upon the unsuspecting school, an attack that unfortunately resulted in hundreds of casualties."

The broadcast changed scenes once more to a head shot of Adam Taurus, standing in front of his army of masked White Fang followers. Together, they all then stood in front of a dark red and black background, with the White Fang emblem hanging above them. It was a picture taken from the White Fang's CCT recruiting site, and one that was designed to make the White Fang look as intimidating as possible.

"Through unknown means, the White Fang was able to hack into the CCT and incite panic throughout Vale by spreading the idea that there was an intelligent, humanoid Grimm attacking the school. However, authorities from the Atlas Military and Beacon Academy have both confirmed that this footage was in fact, doctored, and was used to spread fear and confusion in order to bait Grimm into attacking the city and mask their own assault, resulting in the largest terrorist attack in recent history."

Pausing on this for a few seconds, the TV's image then changed to a shot of Professors Port and Oobleck as they directed volunteer student teams in searching the rubble of Beacon for survivors. "This attack however, was repulsed by the courageous efforts of both Vale and Atlas. While Beacon Academy fell due to the White Fang's usage of improvised Dust explosives, Adam and his entire terrorist force was eliminated by the brave huntsmen and huntresses of Beacon, as well as the visiting students from Haven, Atlas, and Shade."

Cutting again, the broadcast then showed the image of 3 Atlas Airships, flying in formation in front of a sunny sky. The camera then tilted down to a squad of Atlas soldiers providing first and emergency supplies to Vale's citizens. The camera focused in on the shot of a red-trimmed medic applying a bandage to a small girl, before she smiled at him.

"And while the students of Beacon fought to protect their school, the stalwart soldiers of Atlas held the line and defended Vale from encroaching Grimm horde. Coordinating with local huntsmen and the Vale PD, the Atlas Military was able to safely escort many of Vale's citizens into emergency shelters while simultaneously holding the Grimm back." The camera cut once more to footage of Atlas Drones standing above the dissolving bodies of Grimm outside of Vale's defensive walls.

Finally, the camera shifted again, this time to a haggard looking Professor Ozpin, his right arm in a cast, standing behind a podium in front of Vale's City Hall. Beside him was Winter Schnee, standing prim and professional, while Glynda Goodwitch sat in a wheelchair, bandages still visible around her arm and head. Surrounding the three was a squad of Atlas soldiers who kept the audience of reporters and viewers in front of them away.

Lisa Lavender's voice spoke once more over the scene. "Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy, addressed the incident in an emergency broadcast two days after the attack."

As Lisa stopped talking, Professor Ozpin cleared his throat, now audible as the audio changed to that of his speech. "People of Vale. People of Atlas, of Mystral, and Vacuo. I come to you in a time of great darkness. The light that was Beacon Academy, has been put out. Smothered by hateful people who could not see past their grievances, their anger, or their pain. Who, instead of coming together for peaceful, productive discourse, chose to spread their misery to others, resulting in a tragedy not seen in Remnant since the days of the Great War."

Ozpin paused, both for effect and to catch his breath. Behind him, Winter slightly grimaced, but chose to remain silent.

The Headmaster continued on. "But, as it is always said, that the night is darkest just before the dawn. And I tell all of you, I saw the dawn at the Battle of Beacon. I saw Atlesians and Valeans, once bitter enemies but a scant few decades ago, fighting side by side to fight against the hordes of Grimm. I saw Mistalians and Vacuans, who deriders call untrustworthy and violent, stand and protect the innocent and vulnerable with their very lives. And I saw Faunus, who chose not to follow the path of revenge that the White Fang had fallen into, but instead chose the path of justice and honor as they fought to stop the terrorist threat. I saw all peoples of Remnant, coming together in unity, to try and put a stop to this tragedy. And it was through their valiant sacrifice together, that the worst did not come to pass."

Ozpin paused again, allowing his words to take effect among the reports and viewers at home. "And while it is unfortunate we were not able to save Beacon Academy, I tell you all now, Beacon Academy is not gone. Beacon Academy was not a tower, not a series of hallways and classrooms, but instead it was its students. It was an ideal. To be a true beacon that the rest of the world could look to for guidance, hope, and inspiration. And I pray that what occurred here does not bring sadness, fear, or hate, but instead hope. Hope that we will not stand divided in the face of adversity! That we will not stand divided in the face of hate, prejudice, and terror! That against whatever threat that comes crawling out of the darkness, we will not stand divided!"

As Ozpin shouted, the crowd in front of him erupted into cheers. Within the audience, many were students who survived the Battle of Beacon, and even more civilians who had survived the greater Battle of Vale. The cheers continued on for several more seconds, before dying down and allowing Ozpin to speak.

"And so, I ask you not to cry for the fallen. Not to weep for their passing. But instead, to celebrate their memories as heroes, who thanks to their sacrifice, allow the rest of us to live on. I will remember the names of my friends and students, and carry their memories on for the rest of my life. I will remember James Ironwood and Qrow Branwen. I will remember Penny Polendina and Arslan Altan. I will remember Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc. I will remember them, and many others who made the ultimate sacrifice so we may stand here today. And to them, I say thank you. To them, I say… I am sorry."

Ozpin let his head hang on his words, before he turned around and walked to the two women behind him, ignoring the many questions the reporters began shouting. Before the broadcast could go any further, the television was shut off and the holographic display receded back into its console.

The console was made of sleek metal, and was the primary communication and entertainment center for the sparsely decorated officer cabin Winter Schnee, Glynda Goodwitch, and Professor Ozpin found themselves in. The metal room had only a single, King-sized bed pressed against the Stern wall, opposite the entertainment center, a desk on the port side where Ozpin stood, and a small window looking out over Vale on the starboard where Glynda parked her wheelchair.

With Beacon Tower destroyed, there were few places where the group could speak in private, and thus Winter volunteered her quarters on Blue-Two, the interim Altesian flagship that still hovered over Vale. In addition, with Beacon Tower gone, so too did Vale's connection to the CCT fail. However, the Airships' communication suites were able to transmit the VNN's broadcast to the CCT towers of the other kingdoms, maintaining at least some level communication between them

Winter sighed as she used her scroll to turn off the TV, letting her head hang for a few moments before she turned to the others. "This… this doesn't feel right. Lying to the whole world about what happened."

Shifting slightly in her wheelchair, Glynda nodded her head in agreement. While most of Glynda's surface wounds were now healed, she was still confined to the wheelchair, and would most likely be for the rest of her life. "Adam and the White Fang were a part of the attack, but we all know they were not the orchestrators, only pawns." A sad look crossed her face as she considered her next words. "Pinning the attack on them will only provoke more tensions between the Faunus and Humans. We will be setting back Faunus-Human relations by years, if not decades."

Ozpin sighed. It was a weary sigh, heavy with all of the losses they had been through over the past few days. Heavy with the millennia of life he's been forced to live, and the countless tragedies he's been forced to endure. "Yes, it will. But at the very least, tensions between Faunus and Humans is a manageable problem we can deal with. Far more manageable than dealing with the panic that would ensue if the existence of Salem and her part in the attack came to light. Or the chaos that would occur if Nihilus' existence was confirmed, causing all evil men and women to race to claim the mask. We are hurting the few in hopes of sparing the many."

Winter bit her lip at Ozpin's cold logic. In all honesty, she couldn't tell which was worse, that Professor Ozpin, a man credited to be a paragon of virtue and defender of Remnant, would be willing to propagate a lie that would hurt so many innocents, or the fact that she agreed with him. Since her induction into this circle, Winter had read through all of the General's and Ozpin's notes on Jaune Arc and the so-called Mask of Nihilus. This item turned a boy of no remarkable skill or talent into a killing machine before being subsumed by the spirit within. And the less she spoke about the threat Salem posed, the better. The fact that there was in actuality, an intelligent force behind the Grimm was not something the world was ready to know.

"Regardless of the consequences, the choice has already been made and we can now only move forward." Ozpin sighed once more, before he looked at Winter. "Speaking of, how are you settling into your new role, General?"

Winter took a moment to look at the four stars on the shoulder of her uniform, signifying her now official rank as General. "General Ironwood left big shoes to fill, there is no doubt about that." Winter's professional military facade faltered for a brief moment, before she focused and placed on her mask of stoicism. "But if it is to save the world, I am capable of stepping up."

Nodding his head, Ozpin asked, "And the Atlas Council? Have they been giving you any issues yet?"

Winter grimaced slightly. "There was some debate on who would take General Ironwood's place as head of the military, as my field promotion was just that, a field promotion. But in the end there weren't many others who's resumes surpassed mine. The only other two names in contention were Colonel Doyle and Operative Cordovin. Doyle is a fine officer, but lacks aggression and initiative. A good follower and subordinate, but it was not believed he'd do well as a General. Meanwhile, despite Cordovin's years of experience, she is a blunt hammer that would not earn the Military any favor abroad or domestically. As such, the Council chose to confirm my promotion and place me at the head of Atlas' Military, and on the Council itself."

"And what of Atlas Academy? Will you become the next Headmaster?" Ozpin asked.

Winter shook her head. "While the General was still alive, there were… concerns about the fact that he held two seats on the Atlas Council. Many saw it as consolidating too much power in the hands of one man, no matter how responsible he was. With him gone, Councilman Sleet and Councilwoman Camilla took the opportunity to elect someone besides me to fill the void as the interim Headmaster of Atlas Academy."

Glynda's eyes went wide at that. "Truly? And who is it they have chosen?"

"Robyn Hill, a somewhat famous local huntress and leader of the group known as the Happy Huntresses. Miss Hill has since accepted the offer, and if she performs well enough, will be made permanent Head Master and given a seat on the Council as well." Winter answered.

"What is she like?" Ozpin asked, his eyes hard and calculating. "Is she trustworthy?"

Winter had to pause and think for a bit, recalling the few times she had spoken to the huntress. "Robyn is… an idealist. She wants to help and protect the people of Mantle, and is willing to do whatever she believes is necessary to fight for her goal. But in my opinion this has made her somewhat shortsighted."

"Not unlike James." Glynda cut in.

Winter looked like she sucked on a lemon with that statement, but continued on. "Unlike the General however, Robyn has a history of issues with Atlas authorities, and has even been accused of extra-legal activities in order to achieve her goals to help Mantle. Regardless of her differences and disagreements with both the existing Atlas political structure and culture however, Robyn would in fact make a good Headmaster. She is a talented and charismatic leader, as shown with her command of the Happy Huntresses, she is a skilled huntress in her own right, and at her core, she is a good person."

Ozpin nodded his head, contemplating Winter's words. "Brash and foolish but has a good heart. A trait that, for all my love for James, he lacked." Ozpin's eyes then focused on Winter. "You should try and befriend Miss Hill as soon as you return to Atlas. Get a deeper look into her character, and if you think she is worthy, we could bring her into this council as well. The Headmasters of all of the Academies must be informed of Salem, the Relics, and the Maidens, so they may truly understand their roles and what they are protecting."

Frowning, Winter felt unease fill her stomach. Opening relations with someone with a hidden agenda skirted far too close to espionage for her to be wholly comfortable with. But regardless, she shoved down her personal opinion and nodded her head. "I will do so. But if she proves untrustworthy?"

"Then we will have to try and convince the Atlas Council to try and remove her from her position and install you in her place. Otherwise we will have to wait until she leaves her post on her own." Ozpin flatly answered.

Nodding, Winter let out a slight breath of relief upon learning Ozpin wouldn't resort to something like assassination or blackmail in order to bring Robyn under heel.

"Now then, that's enough about that unsavory business." Glynda spoke up from her chair, forcing the change of topic. "How is Weiss doing? Last I heard, she was stable, but her wounds were not minor." Glynd looked at Winter with eyes laden with concern.

Winter returned a small smile to her. "Weiss is safe, thank the Brothers. But the medics and doctors were not able to save her eyes. I was able to send her back on the first airship to Atlas, where she has already met with Dr. Polendina."

"And will he be able to help her?" Glynda asked.

"Dr. Polendina is the foremost expert in the robotics and cybernetics in Atlas. If you couldn't tell by the last name, he is Penny's creator. He has assured me that he can craft a pair of cybernetic eyes for Weiss. Apparently it is a procedure he has done multiple times in the past." Winter then looked at both Ozpin and Glynda, her eyes hard. "However, once the procedure is finished, I will be having Weiss stay with me in Atlas for her recovery. She is in no state to continue her huntress training yet, even if Beacon was still standing."

"That is fair." Glynda acquiesced before Ozpin could respond. "Unfortunately that means team RWBY will be down two members, as Blake Belladonna had gone missing once she had recovered from her surgery."

Winter's eyes narrowed. "Do we suspect foul play? Perhaps a follow up attack by remaining White Fang members?"

Glynda shook her head. "I don't believe so. There was no sign of a struggle and Blake had left with all of her things. We believe that she snuck out at the first opportunity, and is now on the run. As to where, we do not know. For the why however..." Glynda snuck a glare at Ozpin. "It was known to us that Miss Belladonna had a history with the White Fang and the Faunus Rights Movements. This attack, and the follow up blame on the White Fang, no doubt shook her faith in Vale and possibly in humanity." Glynda let out a sad sigh with that statement.

Winter was quiet for a few seconds before she followed up. "What about Ruby and Yang?"

"They're both on Patch right now." Ozpin answered this time. "They are attending their Uncle's funeral, but have expressed an interest in returning to Vale once the ceremony is complete. Once they do return, I think it would be best to pair them up with Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie."

Winter raised a brow. "You're reorganizing their team so quickly?"

"Unfortunately, yes. As both the Fall Maiden and a Silver-Eyed Warrior, Miss Rose is one of the most important people on the planet right now. Too important to be left with only her sister for protection." Ozpin stated, his voice devoid of emotion. But then his features softened as he said, "And I believe that Ruby, Yang, Ren, and Nora could all use the company right now, given what happened to their friends."

Glynda spoke up once more. "The loss of Pyrrha and Jaune hit all of them hard. Last I heard, Mr. Lie Ren and Miss Valkyrie began helping with the reconstruction of Vale after they were cleared from the hospital. But the supervising professor believes that they are only doing so out of obligation, and because they have nowhere else to go. They have become increasingly withdrawn, especially Miss Valkyrie, and are showing worrying signs of depression and antisocial behavior."

"Meanwhile, Ruby herself has shown an amazing resilience and emotional strength given what she has gone through." Ozpin added on. "Although there is a high chance she could be repressing her trauma under a strong front."

"I have known Atlesian veterans who have seen half of what she has and broken under the pressure." Winter nodded her head. "And in regards to Miss Rose's security, I do not believe that only 3 other huntsmen-in-training will be enough to handle her protection. I would like to assign an additional Specialist to their party in order to ensure her safety."

"Indeed? And who do you have in mind?" Ozpin asked, pleasantly surprised by Winter's suggestion.

"Clover Ebi, a veteran Huntsman and leader of the Ace-Ops. He has shown exceptional leadership skills in his command of his squad, and I think would have a positive impact on all the members of this ad-hoc team. In addition he has a Semblance similar to that of Qrow's, but focused on good luck, rather than bad."

Ozpin rolled the thought around his mind, considering the idea before he eventually nodded. "That is definitely something that the children could have more of. Send me his profile, but I like the idea. We will also need to speak with the children to see what they want to do once Vale is secure. While we cannot have classes at Beacon, both Pharos and Signal Academies are currently willing to let displaced students attend to complete their education. Atlas, Shade, and Haven are also taking in students who wish to make the journey. And while I would prefer to keep them within Vale, I will not stop them should they desire to leave either."

"Do you want to keep them here so you can keep an eye on them, or so you can have Ruby close by the mask?" Glynda asked as her eyes narrowed on her supervisor.

Ozpin did not immediately retort, only giving his assistant a tired look before he quietly said, "Both, if you must really push."

Winter's eyes flicked back and forth between the two. She could see the tension between them, but it wasn't her place to comment on it. Instead, she decided to change topics. "What did you do with the mask anyway?"

Winter's sudden question drew looks from the two professors, pulling them out of the growing friction between them.

"That… actually has to do with Miss Rose as well. Before she left for Patch, I had taken the Mask of Nihilus and Miss Rose to the Vault beneath the ruins of Beacon Tower. This is the same Vault where I once stored the Relic of Choice before it was moved. This Vault can only be opened by one who has the power of the Fall Maiden. Miss Rose opened the Vault, and that is where we hid the mask."

"And do you think it will be secure there?" Winter asked, her voice low and demanding.

"It is as safe as it can be for now." Ozpin wearily shook his head. "At least until we can find a permanent solution to rid ourselves of the mask, as it seems to be immune to damage by conventional weapons. In the worst case scenario, I can play warden for the mask for as many millennia as it takes, as I have for the Relics already."

The room was silent after that. The idea of the Mask remaining on Remnant for such a long period of time was not something any of them wanted to consider. The existing Relics were bad enough with how much they affected the power balance of Remnant. Having a pseudo fifth Relic of Hunger that could destroy the world would have catastrophic effects should it get into the wrong hands.

Eventually Ozpin broke the silence as he spoke once more. "There is one final thing we should discuss. And that is what we tell Mr. Arc's family. Jacob and Isabella Arc have already claimed their son's body, but like most of Remnant, they saw the footage of Jaune transforming into Nihilus. And no matter how much we push the narrative that it was doctored footage, the initial broadcast was quite damning, and the Arcs want to know what happened to their son."

After a beat of silence, Glynda was the one who answered, "We tell them the truth. It is the least they deserve." She said, her voice stern and hard.

"Is that… particularly wise?" Winter hesitantly asked. "If we truly wish to push this lie, the less people that know the truth the better. What's to stop the Arcs from running to the media with the truth about Nihilus and our cover up if we tell them what actually happened?"

Glynda's gaze snapped to Winter with an intensity that made the Specialist almost flinch. "We tell them the truth." Glynda then turned her head to Ozpin and said, "I was the closest to Jaune, and it is only appropriate that I be the one to deliver the news."

Wisely, Ozpin chose not to argue. "I agree. But I must ask, exactly how much are you going to tell them?"

Sighing, Glynda looked out of the window beside her, taking in the view of a wounded, but healing Vale. "Everything except Salem. I will tell them about the mask, about Jaune's rise and fall, about Nihilus, and I will tell them how their son died a hero in the defense of Beacon."

The Evernight Castle in the Land of Darkness…

Broadcasting from a portable projector, Lisa Lavender's voice echoed through the cavernous meeting hall of black stone and purple crystals. "A vigil will be held for the victims of the Beacon attack every night at 8 pm for the next week, and the city of Vale is currently accepting donations to help support victims and aid in the city's reconstruction. Now, we move to Cyril with the weather."

With a click of a scroll, the projection cut off. The one holding the scroll and the projector was one Arthur Watts, the infamous disgraced Atlas scientist, sitting on a wooden chair on the left side of a long, violet, crystalline table.

"Of course Cinder failed." Watts grumbled as he put his scroll away. "That petulant child was never ready for the responsibility given to her. And now, months if not years of planning have been wasted."

"There is no need to be so disrespectful to the dead, Arthur." Salem, the alabaster-skinned Immortal Witch of the Grimm gently chastised.

Arthur winced as Salem's gaze was upon him. "Of course ma'am. My apologies, I am just… frustrated at how events have panned out over Vale."

From the head of the table, Salem kept her eyes on Watts for several seconds before responding. "As are we all, Arthur. But the failure at Beacon was no fault of Cinder's. Her plan was rather flawless. Rather, it was the actions of the unknown interloper which ruined all of her machinations. An interloper that I doubt anyone else here could have killed."

Sitting across from Arthur Watts, the bear of a man Hazel Rainart, grunted as he crossed his arms and he nodded almost imperceptibly. Beside him, the wiry, psychotic Tyrian Callows frowned and leaned forward.

"I would've killed him, mistress!" Tyrian protested as he slammed his hands onto the table.

"You would've died." Salem flatly said. Tyrian opened his mouth to protest, but a sharp glare from his goddess silenced him. With the Faunus cowed, Salem turned to Watts and said, "Play the clip."

Nodding his head, Watts pulled out his scroll and pressed a button that activated the projector in front of him once more. The projector then displayed a video of Jaune Arc putting on the mask at the Beacon Airdocks. They watched Jaune's transformation into the black-cloaked monster, and then watched him effortlessly slaughter his way through the students and Atlas soldiers before him. Cinder's voice spoke over the video, eventually ending when Jaune telekinetically grabbed onto an Atlas Airship and threw it at the docks. When the video cut to black, the members of Salem's council were silent.

Watts was the first to speak as he cleared his throat. "Ahem. In all places but the most protected databases, all images and videos of this man are being edited out, censored to no doubt keep the general population placated and calm."

"Hmm. Good work saving this footage Arthur." Salem offhandedly complimented as she stared at the black cloaked figure wearing a bone white mask in the footage.

"Thank you ma'am. But while we may have this video, that is all we have of the truth. We are currently in a position of ignorance that puts us at a severe disadvantage. So I have to ask, what manner of creature attacked Beacon? Was it one of your creations?" While the prideful Arthur Watts would never publicly admit it, this being had power he had never seen before, Power that rivaled even Salem, and it scared him. Watts was a man of planning and control, and a being like this would have the power to throw everything he worked towards out the window simply because it could.

"In truth Arthur." Salem then smiled as she met Watts' eyes. "I have no idea who this is. This… is a new player in the game that Ozpin and I have been playing. And while we may not have acquired the Maiden's powers, I am far more interested in finding out who this being is. He has a power I have not seen in quite a long time, a power that I want." Salem then stood, drawing the full attention of those around her.

"The plan has changed. The fall of the other academies is now on hold." She commanded before looking at Watts. "Watts I want you to dig deeper into the Ozpin's files. I don't care if you have to go to Vale or Atlas to do it, I want information on this mask and the one who wore it."

Watts bowed. "Very well."

Salem then turned to Hazel. "The loss of Cinder is a critical blow to our previous plans. Before we can resume them, we will need a replacement. Find someone worthy who would seek vengeance against the huntsmen and the academies, if not Ozpin himself."

"As you wish." Hazel nodded his head.

"And Tyrian." Salem said, acknowledging her most loyal follower. Tyrian excitedly bounced in his seat as he awaited his orders. "Find the current Fall Maiden, and bring her here. Kill anyone who gets in your way."

Tyrian's grin practically split his face in half. "As is your will, Goddess."

Pushing her chair back, Salem turned around and began walking towards her grand window overlooking the Land of Darkness. "Things are about to change in Remnant. I can feel it. We will just have to make sure that it changes in our favor."

The Jedi Academy, on the Planet Ossus, 127 ABY…

Kol Skywalker's eyes shot open as he felt a pain lance through his chest. It wasn't a physical pain, but one that tore at him through the Force. It was as if he felt the pain and death of thousands, if not millions, echoing across the galaxy. Kol fell to his hands and knees, practically hyperventilating as he forced his breathing under control.

"Kol!" a voice shouted from behind him.

Slowly turning around, Kol saw his friend and former apprentice Wolf Sazen leaning on one of the stone walls of the Jedi Academy in a similar state of pain.

"You felt it too?" Kol asked as he struggled up to his feet.

Wolf nodded. "I fear every Force Sensitive in the Galaxy would've felt that. What was it?"

"I don't know." Kol shook his head, sweat dripping off his face. "The last time I felt something remotely close to that was on worlds devastated by the Yuuzhan Vong. Where the deaths of so many left… echoes on the very planet. Where such death and destruction left…"

"Wounds." Wolf finished for him.

Slowly, Kol nodded. A Wounds in the Force was no laughing matter. He knew that the Galactic Civil War between the Empire and the Rebellion and the Yuuzhan Vong War left such scars across the galaxy, but to feel a Wound form in person… it was something else entirely.

"We need to go to the Archives." Kol said, his face now stoic and focused. "We need use the star map and find the source of this Wound, and quickly-"

"Father? Master Wolf?" A third voice joined them. Turning their heads, the two Jedi masters were greeted with the sight of a 14-year old Cade Skywalker, the blonde, thin boy sweating profusely as he entered the hallway.

Slowly, Kol moved towards his son. He wanted to just run up and check on him, but Kol knew Jedi had to keep their feelings in check. While Jedi were no longer bound by the tradition that prohibited having families, it was still wise to keep some distance to help prevent attachments from becoming too strong. "Cade, are you alright?"

Cade nodded. "Yes Father. But many of the other padawans are still reeling from the effects of… whatever that was."

Kol and Wolf glanced at each other. Kol took a deep breath before saying, "I'll check on the padawans. Wolf, you and your Padawan should head to the star map. Find the source of this Wound."

Wolf gave a slight bow as he accepted his former Master's orders. "We will find out where this source is with all haste. I sense there is something sinister brewing in the galaxy, something that means to destroy all of us."

"Wait what?" Cade interrupted as his eyes shot wide. "Was what we felt an attack of some kind? Are the rumors that we may be going to war with the Empire again true?" Cade asked, almost panicked.

Kol opened his mouth to shut down his son's speculations, but closed it when he realized that Cade may be right. Shaking his head, Kol only said, "I don't know. Rumors could be just that, baseless rumors with no factual basis. But what is fact is that what we felt was a Wound tearing itself through the Living Force. That is a threat that we know exists, and one we cannot ignore. We are Jedi, guardians of peace and justice, and it is our duty to face whatever dangers threaten our galaxy, no matter what they are."

Valley of the Dark Lords, Korriban…

Darth Krayt fell to a knee, clutching his chest in pain. The Dark Lord of the Sith growled. It would not do for him to show such weakness in front of his subordinates, but luckily, all of the Sith that served him were similarly wracked with pain. Krayt in fact hid it better than his screaming minions, as he had become long accustomed to pain.

And this was a pain that he was in fact familiar with. This was a Wound in the Force, an echo of the death of millions of souls silenced in an instant. The last times he had felt something like this was when Darth Vader had destroyed Alderaan, or the other cases of total planetary destruction during the Galactic Civil War and the Yuuzhan Vong War.

Looking at his followers, the strongest were the first to recover from the sudden attack, Darth Nihl, Darth Maladi, and Darth Wyyrlok. The three Sith Lords looked to Krayt, slightly confused and perturbed, but obediently waited for Krayt's instructions on what to do. When the rest of his minions gathered up their wits, Krayt spoke.

"That… was not something we can just ignore." Krayt hissed out. "A Wound in the Force not of our making is a great cause for concern."

"But who would do such a thing, my Lord?" Darth Wyyrlok asked bowing slightly as he did. "The Jedi and Galactic Alliance are too weak to consider such actions, while the Vong no longer wish to wage such a war either."

Krayt shook his head. "I do not know Wyyrlok. But whoever it is, they are a threat to us, perhaps even more so than the Jedi." And if Krayt's suspicions were true, and this was the actions of someone using the Dark Side, then they were not only a threat, but a rival. "Lady Maladi." Krayt commanded.

Immediately, the red-skinned devaronian and head of Krayt's intelligence bowed. "My Lord?"

"You are to continue to be the primary liaison with Fel's Empire of Pretenders. We have committed much into sabotaging the Jedi's Ossus Project, and we cannot stop our plans to bring the Alliance and Empire to war."

Darth Maladi bowed her head even lower. "Your will be done, my Lord."

Krayt gave a slight nod. "Good. Lord Wyyrlok." Krayt then turned to his lieutenant, who gave a slight bow in return. "You shall once more act as regent in my stead. Ensure the continued growth of our numbers in preparation for the war."

Darth Wyyrlok nodded as well. "Of course, Lord Krayt. But if I am to be regent, where shall you be going?"

"I shall be taking Darth Nihl, Darth Ruyn, and his apprentice Talon alongside a cohort of Sith to the Unknown Regions in search of this Wound." Krayt simply stated as he faced his warriors. "Now go, prepare yourselves for the wars to come, and do not return until I call you."

"Yes, Master." Nihl, Maladi, and Ruyn all said as they bowed and left their master's side.

Once they were gone, Krayt practically collapsed down on his throne, a relic from the ancient Sith Empires of old. His body was old and tired, ravaged by the Yuuzhan Vong parasite within him. Only Wyyrlok remained, silently standing beside his side.

"My Master…" Wyyrlok spoke, slightly apprehensive. "Is it truly wise to divide our forces like this?"

"Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn't." Krayt said, waving off Wyyrlok's concern. "But we improvise and adapt to the circumstances given to us. The galaxy is on the precipice of a great change, decades of our machinations are coming to bear fruit. We cannot allow this new threat to challenge my vision. I am the only one who can bring true unification and order to the galaxy. I will endure no other rivals. Whoever, or whatever caused this Wound, will either bend to my will, or it will break."