104

Chapter 104:

Jaune stared at his father in disbelief. "Dad! What the hell are you talking about?"

"I told you to get away from that monster!" snapped Blaine, his eyes flashing with anger. "You have no idea what her ilk have done to our family."

"You're right!" Jaune snapped back. "'Cause you've never said a damn thing about it!"

"The Mibu are our sworn enemies!" shouted Blaine.

"Since when?" demanded Jaune.

"Since they killed your great-grandfather!" answered Blaine.

"What?" gasped Jaune. He'd never heard anything like this. His knowledge of his family history was a little bit muddled. He knew that his great-great-grandfather had fought in the Great War. However, what little he knew about his great-grandfather boiled down to the fact that he had been in prominent service to the Kingdom of Vale. But Jaune knew nothing about how that particular ancestor of his had passed, and had never thought to ask.

"This is a sacred duty of our family," declared Blaine with all the fervor of a blind zealot. "Any of the Mibu cannot be permitted to walk free before our eyes. If they tread upon the earth within the Kingdom of Vale, they are to be destroyed on sight."

"That's crazy!" declared Jaune.

This situation was way too absurd and confusing. Before, his father had been reasonable. But now...it was almost as though the man had completely changed. This was different from the condescending denial Jaune had faced, when he'd told Blaine about being accepted into Beacon over the scroll. Blaine's eyes were as hard as stone, broadcasting complete determination, and unyielding conviction. What the heck happened between the Mibu and my family? Jaune wondered.

"Was your grandfather on the expedition?" asked Ruby softly from beside Jaune.

Blaine froze, his eyes going to Ruby with a look of brief confusion, as though an animal had suddenly started talking. It almost seemed as though, the moment he'd decided Ruby was an enemy, he'd stopped considering her a human being.

"I have no obligation to answer you," he growled. "Now...Jaune...MOVE!"

Jaune jolted at the abrupt order that his father barked out. However, he didn't move from his spot...so Blaine moved in his stead, stepping forward and swinging out his left arm, clubbing Jaune in the shoulder with the armored gauntlet over his forearm. Jaune was knocked sprawling away from Ruby, who fell back carefully.

Blaine raised the handle in front of him. Black energy streamed out, lined with white, producing a blade of black that almost seemed to be pulling in the light around it, the air filling with a strange, high-pitched, whining sound. The blade extended to about the same length as Jaune's sword, but considerably different in form. The edges tapered directly to the tip, giving the weapon the overall shape of an isosceles triangle, its edges actually sweeping back past where the blade emerged from the handle, before abruptly turning back at an angle, creating a chevron-shape that enclosed the hand, turning the extended edges of the sword into a substitute for the guard. Blaine turned his wrist, working the blade through the air, intensifying the sound of that high-pitched, whining hum. The white edges formed lines that stretched a short distance into the black body of the sword, giving the sword the impression of being lined with cracked glass.

Weiss and Pyrrha looked on with shock, unsure of what to do. The abrupt change in the demeanor of Jaune's father had utterly poleaxed them. However, as Blaine's sword took shape, Weiss was easily able to recognize the design.

Intersecting planes of hard-light-Dust to create a cutting edge, she thought, analyzing the composition of the sword. Gravity-Dust forms the core to provide heft, the blade would be practically weightless otherwise. The edge is probably monomolecular, with barely enough of an angle to induce separation; a blade far sharper than any that could be produced with any current metal forging method.

Jaune looked up from where he lay on the floor, his eyes wide at the sight of his father's weapon. Angau Glas! Jaune had rarely ever seen his father's weapon with his own eyes, Blaine having not wanted his son to get too excited at the prospect of seeing a Huntsman's weapon in action. It was an elaboration of Jaune's own weapon, the heirloom of his great-great-grandfather, using impressively advanced Dust-tech to create a blade sharp enough, and with enough heft, to cleave almost effortlessly through the carapace of an elder Deathstalker, like the kind Ruby had killed during the initiation.

With a yell, Blaine charged forward, bringing his sword down in a straight strike, aiming right for the hood over Ruby's head. Rather than attempt to parry it, Ruby flickered back, her body blurring out of the way of the strike, only for her to have to swiftly shift to dodge the black wave that extended out along the edge of Blaine's weapon, drawing a line across the surface of the ring towards where she'd stopped.

He can project the edge outward to extend the range of his attack, noted Ruby, finding it not too much different from the Aura-based attacks Jaune had been using with his sword earlier.

Blaine surged forward, closing with speed that belied the heavy armor he wore, his body a blur that was almost a match for Ruby in terms of speed, his sword cutting black streaks through the air in its wake. Ruby was forced to dance between the slashes, her form seeming to double, then triple, slipping away from his strikes, before she managed to disengage and fall back again.

But Blaine wasn't about to let her go that easily, following her with a ferocious roar, continuing to press the attack.

Jaune struggled to his feet, fear humming through his body. He knew Ruby well enough to see she wasn't moving as well as she normally could. Her training from earlier, and her intense match with him right before this, had taken their toll on her stamina. She was barely managing to keep ahead of Blaine's sword, putting everything she had into evading his attacks.

I can't let him hurt her! thought Jaune, gathering his strength to throw himself between them. It wouldn't be easy. He was even more worn down than she was, having taken a pretty serious beating during their match. He didn't have much Aura left. I'll just have to make do with what I've got. Jaune frowned. With what I have...what's the best possible move I can make?

Considering that, his gaze focused on Ruby, and he knew he had his answer.

Ruby faltered, one of her tired legs giving way slightly as she leaned aside from Blaine's slash with a little more effort than she'd intended to put into the move. Her fatigue made it hard to gauge her movements properly. Her body abruptly shifted, and she had to fight to maintain her balance. When Blaine's sword reversed course and came back towards her, Ruby was forced to bring up Akaibara, bracing the flat of the sword against her forearm.

Blaine's attack struck with terrific force, Ruby able to feel far more power behind the strike than the man could have produced with the strength of his arm and swing alone, indicating that he'd increased the output of the gravity-Dust at the core of his sword, enhancing its heft to improve the power of his strike. Ruby was blown completely off her feet, and sent flying across the floor with a pained gasp.

Seeing Ruby knocked away like that changed Jaune's plans, and he threw himself into the trajectory of her flight, so that she slammed into him, nearly knocking him over as well. As it was, Jaune barely managed to find the strength to stay on his feet, bracing himself to catch Ruby and keep holding her up, as her sandals landed back on the floor, both of them skidding to a stop.

"BOY!" shouted Blaine, his expression furious.

However, Blaine soon had other matters to worry about. He abruptly felt a pair of presences approaching him from behind. Both Weiss and Pyrrha darted for his back, weapons raised. Blaine turned about, sweeping his sword through a wide slash to meet them. The black energy of Pyrrha's Polarity enveloped his forearm, slowing down his swing, while Weiss created a Glyph between the two of them, launching the pair up and over the line of Blaine's attack, and over his head as well. Pyrrha transformed Milo into its rifle form, firing shots down at Blaine from above and behind. The man turned, raising up his left arm. There was a flash from what almost looked like a white jewel, set into the upper surface of his right gauntlet, white light assembling in a tapestry of hexagons, forming a barrier in a shape roughly similar to that of Jaune's shield. Pyrrha's shots glanced harmlessly off its surface.

Ugh! Of course he'd have a hard-light shield too, thought Weiss irritably. After all, defensive shields were the original application of hard-light-Dust, and still the primary use most people had for it.

The two of them landed, taking up positions between Blaine and Ruby, leveling their weapons at him, while Jaune supported Ruby from behind.

"Out of my way!" ordered Blaine.

"Not a chance!" snapped Weiss.

"We won't stand by while you attack our teammate and leader," declared Pyrrha firmly.

"Fools!" snapped Blaine. "Don't interfere in something you have no right to."

"Like I said, Ruby is our teammate and leader," said Pyrrha. "That makes it our right to interfere."

Behind them, Ruby struggled to remain standing, still dealing with the lingering shock of the hit she'd taken from Blaine, which was only exacerbated by her overall fatigue. Jaune's hands against her back were the only thing keeping her upright.

"Hang on, Ruby," said Jaune, closing his eyes.

The situation was desperate. They were all worn out from training. At this point, Weiss and Pyrrha would put up even less of a fight than Ruby had been able to. Jaune himself was in a poor state to contribute anything to the battle. So he decided the best thing he could do was give Ruby what little strength he had left.

As he prepared to channel his Aura into her, Jaune was beset by worry. He remembered the last time that he'd tried to channel his Aura into Ruby, when they were both under duress. What if he wound up hurting her again?

Jaune's mind flashed back to Kyo's advice. He needed to focus on his feelings for Ruby, the love he held for her. Closing his eyes, he thought about his desire, how Kyo had described him as a pillar for her. I'm her pillar. I'll do whatever it takes to hold her up.

"Jaune...?" asked Ruby, feeling him go quiet behind her.

Jaune leaned forward, pressing his forehead to the back of Ruby's head through her hood. "I'm here for you, Ruby," he said softly, gently Projecting his Aura into her, focusing on his desire to support her.

Ruby gasped softly, her eyes widening as she felt the warmth of Jaune's Aura wash through her. Muscles, tight and stiff from exertion, relaxed, but didn't go limp. The shaking of her legs eased. Her breathing leveled, and she felt her entire body filling up with renewed strength, as Jaune's Aura didn't merely supplement her own, but multiplied it. Ruby felt stronger than ever, the holes vanishing from her cloak, its color beginning to lighten as Jaune's power allowed her to exceed her normal reserves of Aura.

Blaine noticed the changes Ruby was undergoing, seeing rippling light of Jaune's Aura washing across her body. His eyes widened, jaw hanging slack. "Jaune! What do you think you're doing?"

Jaune didn't answer, completely focusing on restoring Ruby's strength.

"Stop, you fool!" snapped Blaine, rushing forward.

Pyrrha surged to meet him, using Akouo to deflect the swing of Blaine's sword, her arm stinging from the power and weight behind the attack, before lashing out with Milo in its sword form, Blaine returning the favor by deflecting her slash off his hard-light shield. Despite that, Pyrrha went on the attack, using her Polarity to affect Blaine's armor, slowing his responses. Despite that, he managed to use raw strength to power through the effects of her Semblance. Pyrrha was too worn down to attempt anything more powerful though.

Behind Pyrrha, Weiss reversed her grip on Myrtenaster, thrusting the blade down into the floor. The sword-wheel of her Summoning Glyph spun into being, Weiss going through the steps she'd been taught by Ruby, Suppressing her Aura to build it, before Projecting it out through the Glyph, focusing on the image of the Arma Gigas in her mind.

With a blaze of light, the giant form of the Knight appeared, rising up from the center of Weiss' Glyph, taking up its massive sword, it surged forward with speed that belied its size and bulk, bringing its massive blade swinging down at Blaine, while Pyrrha broke away.

Blaine brought up his own sword, catching the descending sword with a straightforward high-block, taking the handle of his sword in both hands. The floor of the ring shattered beneath Blaine's feet as the Knight's attack landed with incredible force. But Blaine himself remained unbowed, the muscles of his arms straining against the weight of the blade.

Unfortunately for him, he was so focused on holding the Knight's attack at bay that he'd momentarily forgotten about Pyrrha, only to be reminded when her shield flew at him from his left, slamming into the side of his forehead, staggering him. Blaine barely had the presence of mind to angle his sword to allow the Knight's sword to slide down along its length to bite into the floor beside him. However, the Knight followed up by swinging its left fist around in a hooking punch, which caught Blaine in the side, sending him flying.

Despite being knocked for a loop, Blaine managed right himself, landing on his feet and skidding to a stop. He looked up just in time to see Pyrrha coming for him, her shield returning to her arm as she led with a thrust from her javelin. Using his sword, Blaine knocked the javelin aside, before stepping in, bringing his blade back around to catch Pyrrha's shield, when she punched out with it. At the same time, he swung his left arm up, activating his own shield, the light construct appearing just in time to slam into Pyrrha's face, sending her reeling back.

Before Blaine could capitalize on the hit he'd just landed, Weiss' Knight descended from above, having leapt into the air. Now Pyrrha threw herself backwards, the Knight landing where she'd been, bringing its sword down in another powerful swing. Blaine angled his shield, managing to deflect the powerful blow.

Taking advantage of the time the Knight had bought her to recover, Pyrrha jumped, alighting on the Summon's shoulder, before using that as a platform to launch herself down at Blaine from above. Once again, Blaine used his sword to parry her javelin, but failed to notice that Pyrrha had already thrown her shield again, using her Semblance to direct it around in an arc that brought it circling in from behind Blaine, slamming into the back of his head.

The impact sent Blaine stumbling forward, allowing Pyrrha to collapse her weapon into its sword mode, launching a series of swift slashes, cutting into Blaine's Aura, before jumping to the side, allowing the Knight to attack with its sword once more.

Blaine leapt to the side, barely managing to avoid the massive blade, though the debris thrown up by the attack battered him slightly. Landing on his side, he managed to roll to his feet, looking up to see Pyrrha and the Knight coming for him together.

With a growl, Blaine settled into a stance, leveling out his sword behind him, gripping the handle in both hands, while sinking into a crouch, waiting for them to come to him. As Pyrrha and the Knight closed in, Blaine's body began to glow with a white outline. Pyrrha, sensing danger, jumped as high as she could. The Knight continued to barrel forward.

With a shout, Blaine unleashed a sideways slash. The Knight swung its own sword down to meet Blaine's. But Blaine's blade shined with pale light, the outline of the edge intensifying to eclipse the black of the body. His attack cut straight through the Arma Gigas' sword, creating a crescent of light that continued on to cut its torso in two.

Weiss gasped, her body staggering. Her legs gave out beneath her as, with a crackling sound, her Aura flared visible, before dissipating from around her body. Sinking to her knees, Weiss was now using her sword to remain upright.

Meanwhile, Pyrrha descended on Blaine from above. It had been a shock to see him eliminate Weiss' Summon with a single stroke. But now he was wide open. Pyrrha dropped down, leading with a thrust from her javelin. However, Blaine leaned back, pushing off with his leading leg to move away from the line of her thrust, resulting in Pyrrha's weapon splitting the air directly in front of his face to sink into the ring floor.

Pyrrha rose up, trying to pull her weapon free. However, she found herself facing Blaine, whose head was descending right for her, slamming his forehead right between her eyes, sending Pyrrha stumbling back with a pained shout. Before she could recover, he stepped forward and snapped out one leg in a powerful side-kick, slamming her in the abdomen with a metal-shod boot.

With a gasp of pain, Pyrrha was knocked backwards, landing on her side, sprawling, a red, crackling field appearing around her body, before vanishing, her Aura now broken as well.

Panting, Blaine straightened up. "Now then..." he said, returning his attention to Ruby...only to see a lightning-fast blur of red closing the distance between him.

Ruby went on the attack with a vigor, wielding Bara and Ibara with such speed that the two swords were streaks of red between her and Blaine. Her movements were much faster than they'd been before, her red cloak now looking completely mended, actually shining slightly from the extra power Jaune had given her. Now Ruby attacked with relentless ferocity.

Blaine gave as good as he got through, his sword leaving black streaks through the air as he wielded it to counter Ruby's blades, while his shield appeared on his arm, blocking several of her attacks. He wielded both of his weapons with the skill born of a lifetime of training, wielding a more-advanced version of Jaune's style, allowing him to counterattack more easily.

He was more mobile too; advancing, retreating, sidestepping and turning; always on the move, trying to maneuver Ruby into a more vulnerable position. His sword continued to emit that high-pitched whine, which rose to a sharp crescendo, whenever it met one of Ruby's blades. The two of them danced back and forth, sparks of red and white dancing between them, their weapons working furiously, neither seeming to gain a definitive advantage.

Ducking beneath a slash, Ruby went into a spin, scrapping the flats of her swords against one another, both blades becoming covered with dancing arcs of crimson lightning. Rising up out of her spin, she lashed out with both blades in succession, forcing Blaine to put up his shield to deflect the flashes of electricity. Unlike Jaune's metal shield, Blaine didn't have to worry about his defensive implement serving as a conductor for Ruby's attacks. However, the flurry of sparks coming off his shield served to dazzle his eyes temporarily.

Taking advantage of his momentary blindness, Ruby danced back, petals streaming off her cloak, congealing together to form six orbs of violet plasma. "Hibana!" The orbs launched forward like missiles, streaking at Blaine. The two in the lead struck near his feet, staggering him, while a third slammed against his shield, knocking it out wide, leaving him open to the remaining three that came rushing in. Manipulating his sword with deft movements of his wrist, Blaine managed to deflect two of them, but the sixth and final orb slammed directly into his chest, blasting him off his feet, and causing his body to spasm, electric arcs dancing across his armor.

Blaine landed with a clatter, his body bouncing. Ruby took to the air, descending from above, stabbing down with both swords. Blaine barely managed to roll out of the way, getting his left hand under him, along with his feet, pushing off and launching himself away as Ruby's blades plunged into the ground, unleashing an electric shockwave that would have caught him, had he not jumped.

Landing a short distance away, Blaine lifted his left arm, bringing up his shield once more, raising his sword behind it to prepare for a strike, adopting a dead ringer for the stance that was Jaune's default. Locking into place, Blaine waited, watching as Ruby pulled her swords free, a white outline illuminating his body, growing brighter with each passing second.

That has to be his Semblance, thought Ruby, able to sense the power building within his body. It appeared that Blaine, by staying still, could accumulate power, in preparation to unleash it in a single, powerful attack. The more time he had, the more power he could build up.

It was a difficult Semblance to use effectively. In pitched battle, finding time to stand completely still, while adopting a stance that could give one's next attack away, was a serious risk. Still, Blaine had shown that even a few seconds of extra time could increase his attack-power dramatically, as Weiss' Summon had learned, to its detriment. And now, Ruby found herself faced with this same problem.

For Ruby, understanding the nature of Blaine's Semblance only made things more difficult. Attacking him now was just asking to be cut in two. Yet, at the same time, hesitating meant that his attack would only grow that much more powerful with each second she spent deciding how to move. Despite figuring out how his Semblance worked, that didn't tell her if there was an upward limit to how much power Blaine could build; or if he had to attack at some point, or lose all the power he stored up.

Hesitation wasn't an option though, so Ruby decided to dive straight in, her body flickering, leaving flurries of petals in her wake, her Shukuchi making her flicker back and forth between Blaine's eyes, her straightforward approach intended to bait out his attack.

At the last second, Ruby's legs bent, dropping her low, allowing her to glide down below the level of Blaine's shield, swinging for his legs. Blaine jumped, escaping the line of Ruby's slash, before swinging straight down, not at Ruby, but at the floor next to her.

The raw power of his attack shattered the floor, blowing up chunks of it, and sending them flying at Ruby in a result similar to what had happened when Blaine had dodged the Knight's sword earlier. Ruby allowed the momentum of her slashes to spin her around enough to interpose her cloak between herself and the incoming rubble, hardening the garment with her Aura, and using it to deflect the debris.

Still, the force behind the attack still staggered her, sending her stumbling as she fought to recover her balance. In the meantime, Blaine pulled his sword free from the floor easily, and went on the attack, his blade blurring from the speed with which he wielded it.

Ruby allowed her mind to go blank. During her earlier exchanges with Blaine, she'd been able to learn his rhythm. Rather than meet the attacks of a sword that he could increase the effective weight of at will, she instead slipped between the blizzard of attacks. Aiming to catch her off-guard, Blaine stepped forward, bringing up his left arm, the hard-light shield blazing into existence, aiming to slam it into her face as he had with Pyrrha.

Reading him through the shift in his posture, and reading the beat of his movements, Ruby fell back exactly the right distance, Blaine's shield appearing right in front of her face, less than an inch away from her nose. Hard-light shields, like this one, were semi-transparent. One could see through them, but the view was hazy and distorted. On top of that, the flash that accompanied its appearance completely obscured everything in front of it for a small fraction of a second, which Ruby put to the fullest use possible, already executing a sidestep and spin with the assistance of her Aura.

To Blaine, when his shield appeared, it almost seemed as though Ruby had vanished in the flickering instant between its creation and its stabilizing into its solid form. Then Ruby's sword bit into the Aura at his back. Staggering forward, Blaine turned to counter, but Ruby slipped under his slashing sword, gliding past him, scissoring her swords across her body and slashing at his torso.

The difference was like night and day. Blaine now felt as though he was flailing impotently. Attacking Ruby was like attempting to catch an errant zephyr, her body seeming to slip away from his attacks effortlessly, only for her counters to weave their way through any attempt at defense to find their targets on his body.

Despite her success, Ruby couldn't lose the sense of trepidation she felt in this fight. She had Blaine's rhythm now, and was running rings around him. However, she could also sense a serious problem. Her time was almost up.

Jaune's ability enabled him to boost her Aura considerably, not merely replenishing it, but enhancing it to the point where she was fighting even better than she could at full strength. However, that boost was temporary. Before long, the effect of Jaune's Shamanic ability would begin to wane, and her Aura would fall back down to its previous levels, lower even, in accordance with her exertions. She couldn't afford to draw this fight out.

Therefore, she had to end this fight immediately, while she still had the strength to do so. That required a finishing move. However, even with this, her trepidation remained. Her lightning attacks were potent, but the few capable of settling this fight in a single blow required a certain amount of time to execute properly, which opened herself to the risk of Blaine using his Semblance to build up an attack of his own powerful enough to fend hers off.

On the other hand, her wind techniques, Kazebara in particular, could be executed much more quickly, Ruby able to use Kazebara within the beat of a single attack. But that came with its own problems...namely that it was too dangerous. Even though he was openly trying to kill her now, apparently due to some past or family history with the Mibu Clan, Ruby didn't want to kill Blaine. He was Jaune's father after all. The non-lethal options were just as unappealing, as that would involve using her attacks to target Blaine's limbs...which could result in permanent mutilation.

Had Sasame been there, Ruby might not have hesitated, as reattaching a severed limb, particularly one resulting from as clean a cut as a wind-blade produced, was a simple matter for the healer. But Sasame wasn't there, and there was no way Jaune was ready to attempt something so advanced.

In the end, even though it was more risky to her, Ruby decided to try her luck with her best lightning finisher.

Even while continuing to dance to the rhythm of Blaine's attacks, Ruby slid her swords against each other. Bara crackled with arcs of crimson lightning, while the air began to swirl and condense around Ibara. Taking advantage of an opening in her opponent's rhythm, Ruby darted in, striking him with Bara, hitting Blaine's armored chest with the lightning-charged blade. Blaine staggered back, limbs spasming. Taking advantage of the opening, Ruby brought her swords together once more, wind and lightning condensing around Akaibara's blade, quickly washing from red to violet.

Blaine had already seen this attack in action against Jaune in his training bout against Ruby. He powered through the spasms caused by Ruby's lightning, forcing himself to completely still his body. Taking advantage of Ruby's brief pause to build up power, he did the same, holding his sword down, angled for a rising slash to counter Ruby's own blade, a white outline appearing around his body, growing rapidly brighter.

"Yoake no Bara!" Ruby brought her plasma-charged sword down with a sound like a clap of thunder.

Blaine's sword flashed a brilliant white, obscuring the black body, sweeping up in a slash to catch Ruby's descending blade.

The impact between the two of them completely shattered the floor of the ring. Ruby and Blaine were blown back away from each other. Blaine landed hard, sparks fizzling from the shield-generator built into his left gauntlet, while the shape of sword-blade in his right hand warped, bending and seeming to fracture with a more intense whining sound than it usually produced, before flickering and returning to its proper shape.

Ruby landed hard, her body going completely limp, her cloak dissolving into red petals that scattered in her wake. She rolled to a stop, barely able to maintain her hold on her swords, her whole body now feeling like lead.

Just like with Cinder, she thought with a rueful chuckle, struggling to find a way to get back up. She could sense the Aura of the One, could even draw on it if she wanted. But she didn't want to use the Raikoken against Jaune's father, for all the same reasons she didn't want to use the wind against him. She wasn't yet skilled enough to use it non-lethally, having only begun to practice at using the technique, and the Moraien was a temporary solution at best, at her level.

Not to mention she'd have to apologize to Glynda for calling down a bolt of lightning through the ceiling.

In the end, she'd just have to hope she'd done enough to keep Blaine down for the count. But she suspected that said hope was a forlorn one.

A moment later, she saw Blaine twitch, then brace his left hand against the floor, using that to push himself back up. He definitely looked worse for wear. His armor was scuffed, even cracked and creased in some places. The shield-generator on his left arm was black around the jewel-shaped, projector that was its center, the projector itself cracked, with sparks spitting out at intermittent intervals. However, his sword was intact, though it flickered and jumped slightly as he moved it. Patches of Blaine's beard had been scorched away, and there was even a strip of his hair on the right side of his head that had been burned off, giving his head a slightly lopsided look.

The expression on his face was one of the purest, anger-fueled, determination. Ruby tried to rise, wanting to at least face him upright. But her arms were too weak, and just wound up flopping helplessly. All she could do was lay against the cold floor, and watch her death approach, step by deliberate step.

Blaine was gasping for breath, the relatively short walk to take him to Ruby taxing him far more than it should have. His face was shining with sweat, stains showing on the cloth that stretched between the plates of armor that guarded his body. Looming over her, he said nothing. There were no taunts, not declarations of justice. He simply glared down at her vindictively, then wordlessly raised his sword to deliver the final blow.

Abruptly, a shape blurred between them, and Ruby felt warm, familiar arms wrapping around her, drawing her into a tight and protective embrace. A relieved smile washed over her face, the sense of someone she loved and trusted holding her tight, standing firmly between her and the man determined to end her life.

"Stop!" shouted Jaune, holding Ruby close, while turning to keep his body between her and Blaine, glaring at his father over his shoulder.

"Jaune! Let her go," growled Blaine, hefting his sword.

Jaune refused. "I don't know what this is about, but the last thing I'm gonna do is let you kill Ruby."

Blaine's jaw clenched, lips pulling back to bare his teeth. His entire body was trembling from a combination of exhaustion and rage. "Dammit, Boy! You have no idea what her ilk have done to our family!"

"Of course I don't!" snapped Jaune. "And I don't care either. All I know and care about is that Ruby is Ruby. That's all that really matters to me."

Blaine raised his sword high, preparing to strike down with it. Jaune tensed, worried that his own father was about to cut through him to get at Ruby. He locked eyes with Blaine, watching and waiting for the stroke to fall.

But it didn't. The moment stretched on, Blaine's sword beginning to waver as his arm strained to keep it aloft. A hard-light blade was effectively weightless, the sword weighing almost no more than its handle. Fine control reduced the weight of the gravity-Dust that made up the core to practically nothing at all, until the blow was about to land. Even then, Blaine's arm was struggling to keep that almost non-existent weight raised.

Indecision flickered across Blaine's eyes, contrasting sharply against the unwavering conviction in Jaune's own. Blaine could tell that Jaune would defend the girl to his dying breath. Blaine had come to Beacon, initially, to bring Jaune home. Accepting that Jaune actually was a student, accepting that he wouldn't be returning, Blaine had looked towards trying to assuage some of the harm that he had done to their relationship. He had been completely unprepared to learn that Jaune's partner belonged to the Arc Family's mortal enemies. Now Jaune was shielding said enemy with his own body, prepared to take a fatal blow for her, if that was what it took. "Jaune...I-"

Whatever Blaine had been about to say, it was cut off when he felt an intense heat approaching from his left. He'd been so focused on his son and Ruby that he'd lost his combat awareness. Turning his head towards the heat, which felt like the rays of sun during the hottest days of summer, he caught a blinding flash of gold and orange, right as a gauntlet-covered fist slammed right into his cheek.

Blaine was sent flying by the blow, accompanied by the blast from the barrels of the shotgun built into the golden gauntlet, smoke trailing from his face. Blaine landed in a heap, struggling to get back to his feet again, having been almost completely stunned by the hit. Raising his head, he found himself taking in a terrifying sight.

Yang Xiao Long was practically incandescent as she placed herself between Blaine and his targets. Her hair danced behind her, resembling more a nimbus of golden flame than anything else. Her skin was shining almost pure white, and her eyes were a furious, burning crimson. Heat rolled off her body in waves, distorting the air around her. She glared at Blaine with a look of rage so intense that it put his own to shame.

"Get. The. Fuck. Away. From. My. SISTER!" commanded Yang, the last word leaving her mouth in an echoing roar.

Blaine didn't get a chance to respond, instead feeling the approach of another threat from his right. Turning, he once again found his battered body and dulled senses unable to keep up as he found himself facing a furious Nora, her hammer already in mid-swing. Magnhild collided with the armor plate covering his chest, sending him flying once more.

Black and green blurs intersected behind him, and Blaine felt two slashing attacks biting into his Aura. With a weak crackling sound, it broke. Blaine landed on the floor, smacking the back of his head against it shouting in pain. He lost his grip on his sword, the blade disappearing as the handle bounced away with a clatter. His vision swam, though he noticed a pair of figures now standing over him.

When his vision cleared, Blaine saw Ren and Blake, both leveling their weapons at him.

"Don't move," ordered Ren firmly.

Blaine grunted, about to try getting up anyway, when, with a loud clang, a large, heavy blade impaled itself in the ring next to his head. Following the blade up to its source, Blaine found it to be a large, broad, sword, gripped in the hand of a very angry-looking Qrow.

"Just give me one reason, jackass..." growled Qrow, eyes narrowing furiously, "...just one..."

"That's enough!"

Everyone's eyes went to Ruby, who was being helped to her feet by Jaune...or, at least he was trying to help her to her feet. He didn't have much strength left either, so the pair of them were struggling to hold each other up. A few seconds later, Weiss and Pyrrha joined them, just as exhausted, but still laboring to help. Pyrrha slipped the arm Jaune wasn't using to support Ruby over her shoulder, while Weiss did the same with the arm that Ruby wasn't using to cling to Jaune, Team RASP holding each other up as a single unit.

Jaune hadn't been idle, while the girls had been fighting his father. Getting out his scroll, he'd sent texts to everyone he could think of who might be able to help, including Ruby's Uncle, though Jaune hadn't even been sure the man was in the vicinity.

Yang looked incredulously at her. "Ruby, this bastard tried to kill you."

"Unprovoked," Qrow added in a low growl.

"Tha-that doesn't matter," said Ruby, struggling to properly form the words. "He's down, and he can't fight back. That's enough."

The click of Glynda's heels preceded her arrival, the woman walking into the ring with an expression of controlled fury on her face. Said anger was directed entirely at the man laying within inches of Qrow's blade. "I do believe that you would know better than to cause a disturbance, Mr. Arc," she said, her voice chillier than an Atlesian winter. "I would figure that attempting to murder one of our students would be included under that stricture."

Blaine opened his mouth to speak, but his strength failed him. Instead, the man slumped back, unconscious.

"Passed out before he could backtalk, huh?" grumbled Qrow.

"I shall handle this," said Glynda firmly. "Mr. Arc shall be taken to the infirmary, where he shall be restrained, until we decide what to do with him."

"Okay..." said Ruby, looking at Jaune's father with a melancholy feeling.

Glynda's expression softened as she looked to Ruby. "Ms. Rose, nobody here holds you responsible for this. That goes for you as well, Mr. Arc-er-Jaune."

Jaune chuckled nervously. "Well, I'm glad for that at least. I'll need to talk to him, when he wakes up."

"If you are able to, you are welcome to come with us," said Glynda. "You may wait at the infirmary for him to awaken. The results of your conversation may determine the consequences of his actions."

"How so?" asked Ruby.

"That remains to be seen," said Glynda. "Ms. Rose, are you injured in any fashion."

"No...just a little battered," said Ruby. "But it's nothing I won't get over quickly, once my Aura comes back."

"And I've already used up all of mine," added Jaune. "So I can't help with that."

"That's fine," said Glynda. "Mr. Arc, are you up to coming with me."

"Give me a minute, and I think I can make it," said Jaune.

"We'll help," said Pyrrha, trading a nod with Weiss.

"Were you planning on standing aside the entire time?" asked Ozpin, approaching one of the doors to the sparring ring, and the two individuals looking in from outside the room.

"Well...it was dependent on how the battle went," said Kyo, smiling at Ozpin. "If I hadn't sensed Ruby-chan's friends approaching, I would have intervened, had it looked like Jaune-kun's father was going to kill her anyway. However, even without their intervention, it seemed to me that he was wavering."

"So he wasn't going to go through with it?" asked Ozpin.

"I'm not certain," admitted Kyo. "He himself had not yet decided whether or not to bring the sword down, and risk killing his own son in the process. Of course, the rest of Ruby-chan's friends arrived before he could come to a decision on the matter.

"In any case, it's for the best if I keep my involvement in such situations to a minimum. I have a notion as to the roots of this grudge Jaune-kun's father mentioned. My intervention, however decisive, would merely add kindling to the fire."

"And why did you stop me?" asked Amber, frowning.

When Blaine had started his attack, Amber's first impulse had been to rise from her wheelchair and blast the man into atoms. She had the full measure of her magic now. However weak her physical state might have been, she was more than capable of dealing with someone like Blaine. However, Kyo had forestalled her wrath with a hand on her shoulder, urging her to wait and watch the outcome.

"Ah, well...I figured it would be best if you did not throw your power around too impulsively," said Kyo. "Besides, however severe this situation is, I do not think you should have the blood of Jaune-kun's father on your hands, unless it were absolutely necessary."

Amber frowned, but didn't disagree.

"In any case, the situation was resolved somewhat satisfactorily," said Kyo. "No one has been severely injured. Ruby-chan and her team even got some good experience fighting against a superior opponent, while suffering from fatigue."

In spite of herself, Amber couldn't keep a wry smile from appearing on her face. "It always comes back to that, doesn't it?" she asked.

Kyo laughed, rubbing the back of his head, while grinning sheepishly. "Indeed it does. I find it best to let Ruby-chan and her friends fight their own battles, wherever possible."

He turned his head to look at Ozpin. "So then, I suppose the question now is what will become of Arc-san."

"That remains to be seen," said Ozpin pensively. "It will depend on just how rigid his mindset on this particular issue is."

Blaine groaned, his eyes sliding back, feeling sticky and sluggish. His throat was scratchy, and he felt the residual remnants of sweat clinging to his skin. His arms and legs were sore, as was the back of his head, and the cheek and jaw on the left side of his face ached fiercely, while simultaneously feeling as though they were suffering from a severe sunburn.

Overall...he'd felt worse. But this was close.

As his eyes opened, he began to wonder if something had happened to his vision. Everything was dark, and he could barely perceive the outlines of nearby objects. However, he then realized that he was in a room with the lights out. Glancing to one side, he found himself looking out a window at a darkened sky, meaning he'd been out a few hours, at least. Glancing the other way, he found himself looking at a familiar figure, settled into a chair beside his bed.

Oh...and he was in a bed...of course.

Blaine figured he must have been in the infirmary. He'd taken some pretty serious hits in the last phase of the battle, had his Aura broken, and then taken a hard fall. The last thing he'd remembered was a positively furious Qrow glaring down at him. Blaine hadn't dealt with the man often, but Qrow did have a reputation as one of the most-skilled Huntsmen of his generation, only a couple of years after Blaine himself had graduated from Beacon. What he had been doing there, and why he had been protecting one of them was a mystery.

But that was the furthest thing from Blaine's thoughts right now. Looking to his right, he saw the hunched figure of his son, asleep in the chair. The darkness muted the color of Jaune's hair. But there was no mistaking that messy style, or the armor that he wore over his hoody.

Blaine grunted and shifted, trying to get up, only to realize that he couldn't move his arms and legs. Glancing down, Blaine's eyes widened as he took in something that he'd missed before.

The bed he was lying on wasn't the normal kind. This one had a special frame, which rose up around the mattress, forming a set of cuffs, into which his arms and legs had been placed and locked. On top of that, shifting his head had made him aware of something around his neck. Eyes widening further, Blaine turned his thoughts inward, trying to find his Aura.

He couldn't. His Aura had been completely suppressed by the collar around his neck, normally reserved for criminals.

His grunts and movements roused Jaune, who had only been lightly dozing. His eyes opening, Jaune blinked a few times, before yawning. Then he slowly reached over and flicked on the bedside lamp, the weak illumination making it easier to see, without hurting Blaine's eyes, which now darted over to lock with those of his son.

"Well...you're awake now," said Jaune. "You've got some explaining to do, Dad."