8 - ||

I wrestled with the urge to yawn as the seconds passed by watching Peter regale us with yet another tale of daring do with his past encounters with the Grimm.

Now what to do this afternoon.

On one hand, Nora told us about the new Spruce Willis movie that had come out, Live Firm 5: The Revengence which seemed like some good mindless fun. Pyrrha was even a massive fan of the series much to my surprise.

On the other hand I really wanted to try out that new technique the Old Bastard had given me, and the suggestions in the instructions said I should first attempt it somewhere there would be no expensive casualties.

Somewhere like Forever Fall.

In addition to that we could get around to testing how well our team works together against the Grimm as a cohesive unit.

We've come up with a few moves in the training hall we haven't got round to using on live targets yet.

Or we could do both.

First we go to Forever Fall to do the training and try out that new technique.

Then after we're all tuckered out, we got to the movies to watch the Spruce Willis movie.

Genius.

The clock clicked over to four o'clock, the bell for the end of class sounding as it did so, people packing up their gear and making their way out of the classroom.

"And then I…Oh, ah, timed that one wrong I guess, well the stunning conclusion to this story will have to wait. Until next time." Peter said, slightly embarrassed at losing track of time before regaining his composure with ease and stepping out of the classroom.

As I stood up from my seat, relishing in the fact I could stand after having to remain seated for so long, I made my way towards the exit, Pyrrha joining me on the way there, Nora and Ren already waiting by the door.

"So I was thinking," I started before Ren immediately cut me off.

"Always a dangerous act when you're involved." He quipped with a smirk.

I glared at my smug teammate. "As I was saying," I hissed in Ren's direction before talking normally once more. "I was thinking we do some team training in Forever Fall today and then when were done we can go see that new Spruce Willis movie."

Pyrrha's face lit up. "Live Firm 5 is out?" She said happily her voice more of a happy squeal than her regular collected tone. She then remembered where she was and quickly composed herself. "I mean, that sounds grand Jaune." She replied, the slight dusting of red across her cheeks the only sign of her embarrassment.

Nora wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It's okay Pyrrha. We still love you even with your Spruce Willis addiction." She said solemnly, Ren cracking up in the background.

I may have laughed a little as well.

Just a little though.

Moving on.

"Let's get out of these blasted uniforms and we'll meet in front of the hunter statue in the main courtyard, alright?"

"Yes, Fearless Leader!"

"Alright Fearless Leader."

"Don't get lost Fearless Leader."

My eyebrow twitched.

"Ren, kindly shut up."

I stood before the statue that served as team JNPR's meeting point watching the crowd go by as I waited patiently for my team. I adjusted one of the straps on my breastplate slightly, stopping it from tugging insistently at my chest.

I closed my eyes for a moment, luxuriating in the sun beating down on me, the feel of the cool breeze against my skin, the sound of Sun talking filling my ears.

Wait a minute.

I opened my eyes to see Sun and Blake making their way towards the city, apparently not having spotted me by the statue.

"Hey Sun, Blake!" I called out giving them a wave. The two slowed as they spotted me and approached.

"Sup, Blondie." Sun greeted, lifting up a fist to bump which I returned with a grin.

"Hello Jaune." Blake responded, dressed in an outfit that was quite different from that of her usual attire. And also had Gambol Shroud strapped to her back.

"Where are you two off to?" I asked before a sly grin spread across my face. "Is this a date?"

"Wha? No man, we're just going to try find out more about Tor…" Sun started before he was silenced as Blake whacked him in the chest. "I mean, uh, shopping, yeah, we're going shopping."

Really.

That's what you're going with?

"You. Shopping." I said incredulously. I don't think I've seen Jaune pay for something he wasn't forced to pay for his entire life.

Unless it was with someone else's money.

Usually mine.

I quickly checked my pocket for my wallet at that thought and let out a sigh of relief as I found it.

Sun laughed nervously in that way he always did when I'd caught him doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing while Blake palmed her forehead, muttering under her breath.

"Is it going to be like the Amelia Academy incident?" I asked bluntly, a hand absently going up to check my vial pouch as I remembered that incident with a shudder.

Not Sun's shining moment, I'll say that much.

Sun rapidly shook his head, his hands coming up to further demonstrate his reply. "No, No way is it going to be like that." He said seriously before he seemed to stop and think about it for a moment. "Okay it probably won't be like that."

I sighed.

Damn it Sun.

"Well at least you're not alone this time." I remarked as I consoled myself. "Just if anything like that happens, give me a call and I'll give you a hand okay?"

Blake raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to ask where we're actually going?" she asked curiously.

I shrugged. "Eh, if you want to tell me, you'll tell me. It's not like I need to know." I said scratching the back of my head absentmindedly as I did so.

Wait I haven't told Jaune the good news yet.

"Oh and guess who popped in for the festival?" I asked Sun casually, doing my best to not give away any hints as to who it was.

Sun shrugged looking utterly lost. "I've got no idea." He admitted freely, sticking his hands into his pockets and rocking back onto the heels of his feet.

I grinned. "The Old Bastard's here." I said simply, waiting for the response from Sun.

Sun promptly lost balance half-way through his balancing act on the heels of his feet and nearly collided with Blake as he regained himself. "Y-You better be joking." He stammered, sweat dripping down his face, no doubt remembering the last time the Old Bastard caught him trying to break into the fridge.

Or at least he said it was the fridge.

Probably wasn't.

I didn't realise just how aerodynamic Sun was until that day.

Not that it was a particularly pleasant flight for Sun through the window and into the river.

In the middle of winter.

The river may not freeze solid but let me assure you, it's so cold you'd most certainly wish that it did.

Sun was blue when he dragged himself out of it.

I decided to give him a little slack. "He bought the kids with him. They're staying next to the staff dormitory." I said hiding my grin as I watched Sun sigh in relief. "The kids would love it if you dropped by later."

Sun grinned. "Too easy. I'll say hello when this is done. Later Jaune. "

With that and a wave goodbye from Blake the two departed, making their way towards the city.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried out, calling my attention towards her direction.

"You ready for this Jaune!" I heard Nora cry cheerfully behind me, spinning Magnhild around with one hand casually as other students stepped far away from the brutal instrument of bludgeoning.

Ren grabbed the shaft of the hammer, stopping it from whirling about. "Save it for the Grimm Nora." Ren chastised lightly, the smile on his face removing any possible bite from his words.

Right then.

Let's go kill some Grimm.

My sword danced, knocking a beowolf claw aside with a flourish as Milo in javelin form slammed into the beast's chest, burying deep in its heart.

My empty left hand reached out grapping Milo and tossing it behind me, Pyrrha easily catching it in her hands with a little assistance from her semblance.

I turned to face the next Grimm who struck out at me with a flurry of rough swipes with its claws. I parried the first few blows before blocking the last one, locking the Grimm in place even as it pressed down its weight against me.

I let out a grin as I let go of the blade and let my hand go limp, the Beowolf letting out a surprised yelp as the pressure preventing it from moving forward vanished instantly. As it did so I spun, my left hand already at the ready to catch the falling sword as it descended catching the blade and ramming it through the Grimm's ribcage as I finished the spin.

I heard a familiar whistle and ducked low, just in time for Ren to vault over my back and plant a mule kick in the face of the Beowolf that was sneaking up behind me, its mask shattering from the force of the strike.

I got up just in time to see Akuo blur through the last of the Grimm before embedding solidly in one of the many trees around us. At the start of the line of dead Grimm stood Nora placing Magnhild over her shoulder after using it to smash the shield through the Grimm.

Akuo was surrounded by a faint black energy that signified Pyrrha's Polarity and was pulled from the tree drawn back into her hands with a smile.

"Well," I started, wiping the Grimm blood off the blade and onto the grass as I did so. "That went well."

"Indeed." Pyrrha agreed clapping her hands together. "Our teamwork has become quite formidable."

Ren had a soft grin on his face, sliding Stormflower away up his flowing sleeves once more. "We weren't too bad."

"We were AWESOME!" Nora cheered, grabbing Pyrrha and spinning her round in the air. "That last move was amazing! We have to give it a name! Something like Discus of Death!" Nora babbled, the stream of words leaving her mouth almost never ending.

Ren chuckled and I let out a little laugh as Nora let Pyrrha go, who spun around dizzily herself for a few moments before she regained her feet.

Okay.

Let's try this again.

I unclipped my sheath from my side, tossing my sword back into my right hand even as I went to pick up the sheath with my left.

I looked up at my teammates. "You guys should probably stand back." I said with a hesitant grin, chuckling nervously as Ren glared at me.

"Hit me with it again, and I swear I will hit you." Ren said darkly, still massaging one arm from where one of my first attempts had…misfired.

Let's go with that.

Nora laughed quietly only to look away whistling as Ren spun to face her.

Okay seems simple enough.

Three step technique.

Sheath the blade.

Force the aura inside.

Unsheathe and swing in one smooth motion.

Simple.

Only not at all.

The Old Bastard neglected to mention the fact that the sheath would rattle with the forcibly compressed aura within it.

Or the fact that if, using a hypothetical here, if you weren't expecting this and weren't holding onto the sheath tight enough it might rocket off the sword and collide with one of your teammates' arms when they aren't expecting it.

Purely hypothetical.

In addition to the sheath and blade shaking so much it made it difficult for me to unsheathe in a straight line.

Ever try and write neatly on a desk that won't stop shaking?

Not the easiest thing in the world to do.

Finally there was the matter of judging how long to keep the blade in the scabbard as I poured aura within it.

Too little and the attack wouldn't take shape.

Too much and the attack would be too erratic and near impossible to use with accuracy.

As I was now I had a bout a one in three chance of using it, not correctly that would imply it would be a lot better than what it is but rather that it at least resembled the attack.

I inhaled deeply.

Okay.

Here we go.

I slid the blade into the sheathe, my body lowering to grant myself more stability as I prepared for what came next.

First comes power.

The shattering moon flashed across my mind and I felt the rush of my aura coming to the forefront of my mind, feeling it dance through my body.

Not as much as I had at the start of the day by any chance, as I am right now I'm a tad…wasteful when it comes to using this technique.

But still more than enough to give it another attempt.

I directed the aura through my hand and into Candidus Mors, the hilt vibrating in my hand slightly as the power poured into it.

Stage one down, onto stage two.

Then comes form.

Now the tricky part of judging how long to keep Candidus Mors sheathed.

If I was able to keep the flow of my aura at a constant rate than this would be a relatively easy.

In reality my control was just as shoddy as always so all I was left with was a 'play it by feel' approach to when I thought it had enough energy.

I felt the sheath trying to shake itself free from my grip.

Then you swing.

The unsaid part of the final step is then you swing straight.

As in without varying in the strike.

I had not yet succeeded in this attempt.

I could certainly swing it yes but its accuracy…

Well…

Halfway through my attempt to unsheathe Candidus Mors a particularly violent shake knocked me off balance, sending my swing at a much higher angle then I had originally intended.

A jagged wave of energy erupted from my swing, roaring into the air and slicing into the tree line.

A good six feet higher than I had intended.

Damn it.

Well at least that time the wave happened, my last attempt had resulted in nothing more than a few sparkly white lights.

I sighed as my aura subsided, becoming acutely aware of not only how low my aura was but how tired I had become after our afternoon training session.

The sun was already descending towards the horizon.

"We better get out of the forest before dusk." I said with a pant, sliding my blade back into its scabbard. "I don't know about you guys but I'm beginning to feel pretty tired."

Nora nodded rapidly as she bounded over with her typically boundless energy. "Yeah, plus we need to get good seats for Live Firm 5!" She said happily.

Ren rolled his eyes as he made his way forward apparently in a deep discussion with Pyrrha.

"I can't believe you don't like Live Firm 2!" Pyrrha exclaimed, gesturing her hands as she did so.

Ren snorted. "Please. Tom Delane with the help of his trusty faunus cop sidekick Talon work together to save Tom's wife from the terrorists on Christmas Eve. Gee where have I heard that plot line before?" He said disdainfully rolling his eyes again.

Pyrrha narrowed her eyes at the martial art expert. "You're just saying that because I said Jackie Chairo movies are stupid aren't you?" She said dryly.

"I neither confirm nor deny your accusation at this time." Ren droned back, a hint of a smirk on his lips.

Pyrrha threw up her hands and I turned around to hide my own smile.

If we make good time we should be able to make the seven-thirty session.

I sighed as I took in the city at night, the bright lights shining away, showing all sorts of different advertisements for everything under the sun.

We were passing by 27th street when I felt a hand on my shoulder pulling me away from my observations of the city. The bronze armour said it was Pyrrha's hand holding onto me.

I turned to ask her why we'd stopped only to quickly catch sight of it myself.

Across the street was Tukson's Book Trade, surrounded by a cordon of police tape and police men, a crowd of people looking on with murmuring voices, the garbled voice of what appeared to by Cyril from Vale News Network talking to a camera outside the scene.

What was going on?

Was Tukson robbed?

Then something else caught my eye and I felt my blood go cold at the sight of it.

Just exiting the store was a trolley with a very distinctive black bag atop it, the kind of bag I had seen more than enough of in the aftermath of the Grimm attack on Freshwater.

Ren stepped close to me. "Jaune let's go, there's nothing we can do here." He murmured as I watched the bag be loaded into the back of the van.

I stood there for what seemed like far longer than it actually was before I started walking again, Ren half dragging me forward, the once bright conversation going on between us silenced as I replayed the scene of the bag coming out in my mind, a similar scene overlapping with it at times.

Huh.

Guess I haven't really got over that yet.

…

Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.

We walked a few more blocks before I shook off Ren's arm giving him a reassuring grin. "I'm fine Ren, you don't need to drag me anymore." I said with a light tone, ribbing him slightly.

Ren walked alongside me silently, looking like he was trying to ask me something but struggling to find the right words.

Nora had no such dilemmas.

"Are you okay?" She asked, her tone far gentler than her usual rambunctious fare, her eyes searching mine for some kind of sign.

I sighed, closing my eyes. "Not really." I admitted freely before opening my eyes again to the concerned looks of my teammates. "Just an unpleasant memory resurfacing." I told them, running a hand through my hair as I did so.

Pyrrha stepped forward. "Jaune," She began, placing a hand on my shoulder reassuringly, "If you're not feeling up to it we're all happy to go back to Beacon."

"It's getting pretty late anyway." Nora said giving out a yawn.

Ren nodded, his eyes still locked firmly on me.

Huh.

I've got some really good friends, don't I?

I shook my head. "In all honesty, Live Firm 5 is seemingly like a great way to take my mind off things for a few hours." I said. "And we're nearly there anyway."

"If you're sure." Ren said his reply both a question and a statement at the same time.

My own reply was cut short by something buzzing in my pocket.

What the?

Ah, wait a minute, it's my Scroll.

My scroll continued chirping insistently and I casually drew it from my pocket and pressed the answer button. Who in Vale would be calling at this hour?

Sound blasted through the scroll, rhythmic thumps and crashes echoing out in the background. "Jaune we found Torchwick and he's attacking us with a giant freaking robot. HELP US!" Sun hollered through the Scroll, an explosion clearly audible in the background.

I blinked stunned for a moment before my expression hardened, my teammates noticing my change immediately as I tried to ask for details. "Sun, where are yo…" I cut myself short as my senses started screaming at me and I threw myself backwards, dodging a blow I couldn't see with my eyes, rolling back onto my feet as my teammates wordlessly jumped back as well.

The street was empty. Not a single soul present, not a single vehicle. 'There's nothing there.' My eyes seemed to tell me perplexed at my unease. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand on its end, the whistle of the wind painting a different picture for my ears than what was in front of me.

CLACK

I started at the sudden sound and looked down at what had caused it and felt my breath catch in my chest. It was half of my scroll. I looked up from the ground at my hand holding the scroll to see a diagonal slice running across it, impossibly clean and somehow I hadn't even seen what had cut it.

This was not looking good.

"What is it?" Ren asked lowly his eyes scanning the landscape as he did so, trying to find whatever it was that had caused my swift retreat.

I dropped the broken scroll and unsheathed Candidus Mors, the sheath extending into its familiar shield form as my muscles tensed in anticipation. "Trouble."

Suddenly a gunshot rang out behind me and I turned only to see Pyrrha aiming Milo at something above us that fell to the ground behind me and shattered into pieces. I felt my brain seize slightly at that. Since when do people shatter into pieces? My eye twitched forward, drawn by movement only to see the empty street once more.

I can't see anyone.

But I know that they are there.

Definitely not good.

Time to test a theory.

"Phalanx Barrage!" I barked out and with that the others smoothly moved into formation, Pyrrha stepping forward her shield sliding next to mine to form a shield wall as Nora raised her grenade launcher and Stormflower dropped from Ren's sleeves into his hands and clicked to full auto. Then they fired letting loose a torrent of rapid dust rounds and booming grenades into the supposedly empty street before us.

The projectiles rocketed forward and slammed into what appeared to be thin air, the scene before us shattering like glass, and the fragments falling to the ground with tinkling sounds. I looked upon the scene that had been hiding behind the false one and felt myself swallow nervously. I heard Ren curse silently, Pyrrha gasp and Nora let out a surprised yelp.

Oh this is so not good.

What was once an empty street was now a great deal less empty than it had first appeared. There were other people standing there, dressed in identical outfits, with identical smirking faces, their weapons held at the ready as they stood before us in a variety of stances.

But that was not the worst part.

The enemy that heavily outnumbered us and apparently had the ability to turn seemingly invisible to our eyes had another very distinctive feature. You couldn't miss it. Our enemy, the multitude that seemed set on causing us harm…

Was me.

And I don't mean a slight resemblance here, I'm talking full on completely identical down to the style of my hair and the way I smirked for crying out loud. They were even carrying Candidus Mors. This was several levels beyond spooky and well into the "What The?!" stage.

Wait…Hold on a minute.

The…copies…before me were holding their swords in their left hands and their shields in their right. The reverse of my own. So were their belts, the buckles facing the opposite direction of what they should have been. I mean I've heard of being your own worst enemy but I don't think is what they had in mind.

We stood there in silence, on one side my team with tightened grips on our various weapons before Ren said something. "I don't suppose you have an evil twin or thirty that you forgot to mention?" Ren asked dryly, his guns levelled at the group of enemy Jaune's before us.

…

Got to admit. Did not see this one coming.

Then a sound started echoing out from the crowd, a sound which I didn't expect even in a situation as unexpected as this.

Laughter. The soft high giggle of a girl.

But it wasn't coming from one direction.

It was coming from everywhere, from every single reverse Jaune this eerie giggling echoed constantly overlapping in my ears.

My hands tightened on my shield and sword. Well it just got even creepier than it did before.

Then they started lumbering forward, their movements jerky and irregular like they were puppets pulled by strings.

Time to even the odds.

"Flying Castle!" I ordered before sprinting forward, Ren moving alongside me Stormflower firing steady bursts of gunfire into the mass of bodies. Most of them moved out of the way, their bodies twisting or contorting in ways that were physically impossible for me to do. But some didn't, a few being struck by a full burst and shattering into that strange glass like before.

This is looking more and more like a semblance, I can't think of any kind of technology that could do something like this.

I blocked a blow thrown from an angle that would have required a dislocated shoulder if I had thrown it myself, before thrusting my sword through its chest, the clone freezing and collapsing into shards as it did so. I didn't have time to celebrate as two more clones slammed into me, a third clone skidding to the side as I fought off its brothers it's hand cracking and contorting unnaturally until a monstrous clawed hand took its place, the reflective glass catching the light, instinctively drawing the eye towards it.

Then it was sent soaring through the air, slamming into another clone with enough force that the two shattered, and the ones behind it were knocked off its feet. Ren landed from his fierce spin kick, his back pressed firmly against mine just as I disarmed one of the clones, its monstrous arm shattering as it fell to the ground and shattered the two clones with a powerful cross blow.

I raised my shield and let loose a flash of blinding light only to swear as it was somehow reflected back at me, my eyes watering as I ducked behind my shield to fend off the next few blurry blows.

"If we let them attack us all at once we'll be in for a struggle." Ren said over his shoulder, his eyes focused on the enemy before him, their limbs bulging and contorting inhumanly as they reformed into sharp blades or claws.

My eyes cleared and I rolled my neck around my shoulders, a loud crack sounding out as I did so. "So we won't let them. Take as many out in the panic as you can." With that I looked up and let out a roar. "NOW!"

There was silence for a moment and then chaos erupted as explosions rang out among the clones, fragile bodies sent tumbling through the air only to crash into each other. I looked up judged where the next step was aimed, and pulled Ren behind my shield, Pyrrha landing beside me and locking her own shield in place to block what came next.

Then the pavement shattered like a bomb had gone off as a laughing Nora slammed Magnhild into the ground at near terminal velocity, the shards from the mighty blow being launched in every direction 'crunching' through the copies of me and causing them to collapse to the ground, shattering into to fragments. The fragments launched towards us battered across our shield wall like a rain of stone instead of water, each impact reverberating through my body but not causing me to move an inch, firing off an additional blast from her hammer as she did so to have her flipping backwards through the air.

The 'Flying Castle' was something we'd come up with remembering the devastating effect of Nora's final blow against the Deathstalker the first time we fought together in the Emerald Forest. In essence the plan was simple.

Ren and I draw the enemy's attention, corralling them into to as a large and as dense a group as we possibly could.

Meanwhile Nora and Pyrrha would head to the highest structure possible to add as much additional height to the initial launch as possible.

When we'd deemed it to be dense enough we'd signal the girls.

Pyrrha would launch Nora into the air, who would have Magnhild in its grenade launcher form raining down destruction from on high, after that was simply a matter of Nora as she put it "bringing the hammer down."

While this was happening Pyrrha would link up back with us and we would take cover behind our shields, Ren hiding behind us so as to ensure that we were not caught up in the attack despite our closeness to ground zero.

It may not work well on opponents that are especially intelligent, but against your average Grimm? Or whatever the hell these things were supposed to be?

Poetry in motion.

When the dust cleared, I saw Nora walking towards us with a beaming grin, Magnhild held casually over her left shoulder, her left hand grasping the end of her hammer, the street clear of anything but the shattered fragments the enemies left behind when they fell.

"Nicely done your highness." I praised giving a little bow as I did so to my hyperactive teammate. Then I felt something slam into me knocking me to the side.

What the heck?

I looked up to see Ren where I had been before having Magnhild slammed into his hasty cross-guard, sending him tumbling backwards.

What the….wait.

My eyes locked on Nora, scanning her quickly and I felt my heart stop for a moment when I noticed it. Something so seemingly indifferent but what Ren had spotted and pushed me out of the way for.

Nora's fringe was parted the wrong way.

It was reversed.

"Pyrrha, it's not Nora, it's a clone!" I yelled pushing myself to my feet.

Pyrrha's eyes hardened and she swung out with Miló, engaging in a furious bout of close quarters combat, her blade shifting from sword to javelin mid strike, with the suddenly far more effective clone.

I looked back at Ren, who lay on the ground before a car with shattered windows, the massive dent in the door a testament to how hard he had been struck by this latest sneak attack.

He's still breathing, it's okay, but we need to get him to the med bay.

I forced air into my body, and locked eyes onto the reversed Nora.

I am going to kick your…

My attempt to gain vengeance for my teammate was cut short as my senses screamed at me once again, and I flung myself backwards, biting back a hiss as a line was cut across my cheek.

I rolled to my feet to scan for opponents again to find I was suddenly standing in a seemingly empty street, the sounds of conflict from a suddenly invisible Pyrrha and not-Nora the only thing that suggested otherwise.

Okay I am getting really sick of this whole invisibility thing. Fighting an opponent that can see you while you can't see them righteously sucks.

I turn and suddenly see a new figure standing before me, a woman. The first thing you notice about this woman is her eyes, specifically the fact that they are two different colours one a dark near black while the other is almost white purple, a smirk tugging at her lips as she stares at me. Her hair was also strange pink and white on one half of her head before jarringly transitioning to a dark brown on the other side of her head.

She wore a pair of dark pants, a belt strapped around them with white heeled boots that rose up to her knees. She also wore something that seemed to be wanting to be both a jacket and a shirt at the same time but again like her hair transitioning to the other at the half way mark. The final oddity about this thoroughly bizarre woman was the fact the she was holding an umbrella with what appeared to be lace draped between the spokes instead of your standard water resistant material.

She was strange, oddly dressed and seemed perfectly at ease at the chaos that was erupting around her.

Something's telling me she's the one responsible for this.

Time to follow the Old Bastard's combat strategy No. 1. Shoot first, ask questions later.

I dashed forward, my blade singing out as the sounds of conflict evolved to a new crescendo to my ears, the sounds of explosions now joining the clash of weapon on weapon, seeking to hit her before she even knew I was there.

Just before I reached her, my blade arcing towards her unguarded form she turned towards me, her eyes catching mine.

Her smirk widened.

Then my sword slammed into her and it was like I had struck a massive mirror instead of a person, the reflective fragments drawing the eye as they fell to the floor.

Like a mirror.

I felt the latest piece of the puzzle click into place as I twirled to the side, Candidus Mors knocking aside the surprisingly heavy blow from the parasol as I snapped a front kick at her. I felt the edge of my shoe scrape her clothes but she glided backwards like leaf blown by a breeze landing daintily on her feet once more.

She looked down at her previously pristine outfit, a slight scuff mark from where my kick had edged her and drew her hand across it with an almost wondrous look on her face before the smirk broke into a full on grin.

Then she vanished again, as if she wasn't even there leaving me seemingly alone on the road once more.

I swore quietly.

This wasn't working. I needed a way to attack her, an attack that extended past the range of my sword and could shatter the mirrors no doubt surrounding me.

My hand tightened around the grip of my sword, the sweat from my forehead dripping down into my eyes.

All or nothing it is then.

Here's hoping it doesn't blow up this time.

I collapsed my heater shield and held it by my side sheathing Candidus Mors within it. I'll only have one shot at this so I need to take it step by step if I want it to count.

"First comes power." I muttered, flooding the sheathed blade with as much aura as I dared with my dwindling reserves. My left hand shook as the sheathe rattled with the force of the energy flowing through it, but I fought to remain a hold on it.

"Then comes form." I grunted, actively fighting to keep the blade from shaking out of my hand, the aura trapped between the blade and the sheathe causing it to tremor intensely.

My eyes were useless to me in this battle so I closed them to prevent them.

Don't look with your eyes, look with your entire body.

I could feel the wind blowing against my skin, the smell of blood, sweat and the gunpowder from spent shell casings. And then, through cacophony of noise from the unseen battle against the mirrored Nora I heard it. The sound of a shoe striking the ground where no one was there.

Gotcha.

"Then you swing!" I roared, unsheathing the blade and sending it slicing horizontally across in the same movement.

The aura trapped within the sheathe shot out of the new opening like a cork from a bottle, some of it splashing out at random but the grand majority of the glowing energy following the trajectory of the swing.

The energy was by all means a rough and shoddy thing, the distribution of the energy random at best, but the sheer size of the unexpected projectile would hopefully catch them off guard.

I've got her.

Then from the area I had targeted something appeared, the parasol from before returning and opening up rapidly in the face of the oncoming attack. She was going to block it with an umbrella? Is she insane?

The projectile struck the flimsy looking parasol and folded around it, akin to a wave breaking onto a boulder with no visible damage caused at all, dissipating almost immediately after.

Although the brunt of the attack was blocked, the ends of the crescent of energy crashed into what appeared to be thin air, leaving two spider webs of cracks spreading across the previously invisible wall, the fractures displaying dozens of mirrored images

I fought to keep myself from staggering at that point, both at the sudden drop in my already diminished aura and the fact my opponent had essentially brushed my attack aside without so much as a scratch.

Wait, maybe not entirely blocked.

The girl lowered the parasol to reveal the hand grasping it was bleeding, a large cut dripping blood onto the asphalt of the road. The girl looked down at the wound on her hand, shock evident on her features.

Then her expression changed, but not into the typical response of anger or rage that I expected. Her grin opened up even wider, her expression becoming something I could only describe as euphoric. Her uninjured hand traced across her bloodied one before she took her newly bloodied fingers and bought them to her mouth, her tongue licking it clean. Her eyes never left mine, a hunger like that of a ravenous beast eyeing a wounded meal filling them.

It was something that sent a sliver of fear running through my heart. Not only did my opponent have me essentially at their mercy at this point due to the fact my aura was just about empty, but even when I did hit her, the only response it gained was elation and a hunger, almost a lust to spill more of it.

And to top it all off I noted as I glanced at the wall, the cracks were shrinking, the wall repairing itself before my eyes.

Well that's just perfect.

I bit back a groan and raised my blade, fully aware that it would be knocked out of my hand if I had to use it. An illusion of strength is better than none at all.

Slightly.

This does not look like it's going to end well.

Then there was a loud familiar boom and the sound of another mirror shattering as the copied Nora was sent tumbling through the air, a massive portion of her chest missing, revealing the same mirror fragments within the creature.

It crashed to the floor and thrashed, trying to get to its feet once more only to be cut short by a massive mace flattening her head, an explosion erupting from the mace's head as it did so. The clone's thrashing stopped and it shattered into fragments.

The owner of the mace lifted it with a mighty heft, holding it at the ready on one shoulder, his other armoured arm ready to ward off a blow to give him a chance to strike. "Not exactly how I planned us meeting up." Cardin admitted with a brief laugh, his eyes still scanning for enemies.

Wait, crap the mirror woman!

I turned to see her still standing there staring at me with that creepy smile before she waved and shattered into shards, proving to be just another reflection.

The sound of a jet turbine accelerating drew my ear and I looked up to see an unmarked Bullhead go soaring into the night sky.

Damn it.

Lost her.

I turned towards Cardin intent on thanking him for his assistance when I staggered, an onset of fatigue suddenly striking me.

There you are exhaustion, I was wondering when you'd get here.

Cardin caught me before I crumpled, supporting me with one arm. "Easy, I got you." He said throwing one of my arms over his shoulder as he half pulled, half walked me away from the middle of the street. "The rest of the guys are helping out with the rest of your team."

I looked up to see Russel pulling Ren to his feet, a bandage wrapped tightly around my friend's head as he tried to keep his balance. Dove was supporting Nora who was favouring her right leg, the left one having darkened bandages of their own wrapped around them. Sky was talking with Pyrrha who seemed the least injured out of all of us, but also utterly exhausted sitting down on the broken remnants of a car, her legs shaking slightly from exhaustion.

"Thanks." I forced out between breaths, the frantic pace form before catching up to me. If we had been fresh I have no doubt we would have been much better, but we had just finished our training session in Forever Fall, we were on our way back to collapse into bed, on near empty before we had come under attack. The wounds on our bodies were a testament to that, our aura so exhausted that it hadn't been able to prevent the attacks from our foes from reaching us. "How'd you find us?"

Cardin looked a bit sheepish at that. "The scrolls at Beacon all have a GPS system lojacked inside of them. My sister taught me how to use it to locate other people's scrolls, because I have this habit of forgetting where I'd left mine." Cardin revealed, showing his own scroll as he did so. "I was trying to find yours so I could 'run into you' and arrange a group training session with our teams, try and get some sparring in against someone other than our own teammates before the tournament. Then I lost your signal, so I knew something was up and I hauled ass to where it last came from."

I raised a brow at that. "Sneaky. And how did you know I hadn't just broken it or something?"

Cardin let out a 'humph' at that. "The scrolls are made of a reinforced polymer that wouldn't break even if I tried to hit it with my Mace as hard as I could. Trust me I tried. Nothing ordinary breaks a Scroll."

I nodded at that. Fair enough. More importantly you and your teammates have just had your asses kicked, and are in dire need of the med bay.

You shiver slightly at that.

Oh God.

Goodwitch is going to be so pissed if she finds me back there.

Luckily I only have a few scratches as compared to the last few times I went there.

I turned my head tiredly towards Cardin. "Thanks Cardin, we were cutting it close there for a moment." I said blearily.

Cardin accepted my appreciation with a nod. "Don't mention it. But seriously Jaune what was that? I mean glass clones of yourself? That's just beyond weird. And who was that girl?"

I nodded taking my arm of Cardin's shoulder before sheathing Candidus Mors and placing it by my side once more. "I've got no idea." I admitted walking over to Nora and putting her other arm over my shoulder, trying to remove a bit more pressure from Nora's goof leg. "But in all honesty, the only thing I care about now is getting back to Beacon. Then we can worry about the crazy mirror lady."

"Agreed." Pyrrha spoke up, her once shaking legs now steady after a few moments rest, a slight gleam of sweat showing how hard she had pushed herself in that last encounter.

With that we slowly made our way back to Beacon, Russel and Cardin holding Ren who was still slightly woozy from the impact against the car, Pyrrha walking slowly but steadily in front, Miló and Akoúo̱ at the ready for any other sneak attacks, Dove and I helping Nora hop forward on one leg, her other bandaged one held above the ground and finally Sky at the back as a rear guard, his weapon, a large halberd held at the ready.

But thankfully we made it back to Beacon unscathed, and within moments of stepping inside the grounds the medical staff had appeared before us, four stretchers held between them.

Cardin and Russel gently place Ren onto the stretcher, a slight groan sounding out as they did so. Nora was quickly placed in the one next to it. I moved over to Pyrrha who was fighting to stay awake at this point and pushed her towards the open stretcher.

"I'm fine." She half murmured, half slurred, pushing against me weakly but by the time she had been pressed into the stretcher she immediately fell into a heavy sleep, the exhaustion from the day's struggle catching up with her.

I felt my eyelids begin to descend but fought against it, pressing a finger against one of my cuts letting out a low hiss as the pain erased the vestiges of sleep from my mind. I needed to tell someone before I rested while the details were still held firmly by my mind.

I felt a hand grab me by the shoulder and turned to see the concerned face of Peter Port staring back at me shocked. "By all that is…Jaune, what on earth happened to you and your team?" Peter asked me staring at my no doubt haggard form.

I looked back at Peter, trying to organize my thoughts into something intelligent. "We were heading back from a training session at Forever Fall when we were attacked by…something. I think it might have only been one person. With a powerful semblance."

Peter raised a brow but kept his usually exuberant answer short and to the point seeing I was on my last legs at this point. "Go on."

I tried to explain the bizarre ambush to the best of my abilities. "They had some kind of invisibility technique, made it seem like the street was empty when they were actually there. And the enemy…was me. Copies of me anyway, but their left and right were reversed like looking into a mirror. When you hit them hard enough they shattered into mirror fragments. And… there was someone else. Not a clone. A woman, with a parasol and different coloured eyes."

Peter nodded his head seriously. "I see. Let's get you to the med bay Jaune my boy, you can stay and watch over your teammates." He said casually throwing one of my arms over his shoulder and essentially lifting me off the ground with one arm following after the medical staff that had already started carrying the stretchers back.

Normally I'd protest at Peter's manhandling of myself but I was too tired to care at this point. My own injuries were minor and when my aura had regained its normal levels the wounds would fade away entirely.

The med bay door opened and revealed that Pyrrha, Ren and Nora were all in beds now, Professor Goodwitch examining the wound on Ren's head and another member of the med team using aura to accelerate the recovery on Nora's left leg, the bandages piled up by the side of the bed after being removed. Pyrrha was curled up in her bed, dead to the world as her body caught up on some much needed rest.

Peter dragged a chair forward with his foot and sat me down in it, close enough that I could stay with my teak while at the same time not so close that I would get in the way of the med bay staff, patting me on the shoulder. "There's a good lad. Just wait there a moment."

With that Peter walked away from my line of sight for a few moments before returning with a glass of water. He placed the glass in my hand. "Drink up Jaune, my boy, you look in dire need of some water."

Huh.

After everything that had taken place in the last hour I hadn't even noticed it but I was seriously thirsty. I'd run out of water near the end of the training session at Forever Fall and was already feeling parched then. The ambush of evil me's as well as crazy umbrella lady hadn't done anything to alleviate that fact.

I gratefully took the water and gulped it down rapidly, draining the cup dry in a matter of moments. The Instant I stopped drinking and moved it away I felt my eyes flutter, the cup falling loose out of my hand with a clatter.

Wha?

"Oh yes, I might have added a little something to your drink to encourage some sleep." Peter said off-handily as he picked the fallen cup of the floor, taking Candidus Mors away as well. "Get some rest Jaune. You'll thank me in the morning."

Oh that sneaky son of a…

Damn I'm tired.

I'll just rest my eyes for a bit…

Then I'll get back to…

Whatever it was…

Darkness

…

"L….?"

….

"…die?"

…

" .P!"

…

"..l right that's it!"

I felt something strike me solidly across the face, all vestiges of sleep vanishing as I through my body away from the attacker to gain some distance. Unfortunately I caught myself on something as I dived and ricocheted off it, falling to the floor with a thump.

Ow.

I opened my eyes, blinking them as the harsh lights of the med bay glared down at me. Something moved closer to me, their shadow blocking out the light and I turned towards it to see the Old Bastard staring down at me, his head resting on a raised fist that he supported on the armrest.

"I swear laddie, not even a week since I arrive and you've already landed feet first in another pile of trouble." He said, his expression somewhere between exasperation and resignation as he looked at me.

My eyes squinted until they adjusted to the bright lights as I answered him. "For the record this was totally not my fault this time." I said as I sat up slowly from the floor, wincing as a few muscles twinged and ached in protest to the movement.

That's going to hurt in the morning.

The Old Bastard just looked at me silently, a single eyebrow raised questioningly, utterly unconvinced at my claims of innocence.

Although seriously it wasn't my fault this time.

I didn't go out looking for trouble, it came looking for us.

I'd done nothing that could have drawn this kind of attention.

Aside from that time I picked a fight with Torchwick and the White Fang.

And those smugglers back in Freshwater.

And that one time I had to bail out Sun from…

I grimaced.

"It's probably not my fault this time." I admitted chuckling hesitantly.

The Old Bastard rolled his eyes. "Oh of course not laddie. I'm sure that you just happened to stumble across an army of clones, who looked just like you apparently, and they for no reason whatsoever decided to get into a fight with you." He said drolly, lathering every syllable with as much sarcasm as physically possible.

I winced at that.

Okay, most likely my fault.

Not that I'm going to give him the satisfaction of admitting that aloud anyway.

"And I see you used the technique." The Old Bastard observed, something indescribable in his voice as he said it.

I started at that. "How did you…" I began before he cut me off mid-sentence.

"Know that you'd used it?" He finished before levelling a finger at my hand. "Minor burn pattern on the hand. Nothing that won't heal within a day's rest and identical to how my hands were when she taught me how to use it." He said with a small smile and a reminiscent look on his face.

"She?" I asked.

His hand whacked me over the back of the head. "The person who wrote the book, you daft idiot." He said with a long suffering expression. "Now she was something."

I turned to look at him at that. "She sounds like she was something important to you."

The Old Bastard snorted at that. "She should considering she was my wife." He replied with a smirk.

Wait.

The Old Bastard's wife wrote this?

"Lil was one of a kind, brash, funny and more than capable of kicking my ass." He said, a grin on his face as he remembered.

"So love at first sight kind of thing?" I ventured never hearing this much about The Old Bastard's wife before, trying to carefully draw out some more details while I could.

What little I did know of her was that she was a Huntress, was the one who started the orphanage back in the day and that she died some time before I arrived.

And that I was not to bring her up.

Ever.

"Oh blazes no laddie we hated each other's guts at first. Even tried to kill each other a few times." He said, thoroughly crushing the image I had built up in my head of her. He pulled at his collar revealing a thin scar just below his collar bone. "From when she left me impaled to a wall." He informed me, a finger tracing over the scar slowly.

Whoa.

Most certainly not love at first sight.

"But over time I grew to respect her, and she I, and that respect turned to friendship, which turned to so on and yadda yadda yadda." He finished gesturing with a hand as he did so before he shook his head and changed the subject.

"Now laddie the rest of your team is already out of the med bay, I asked them to keep an eye on the kids while I woke your lazy ass off."

That's right I said I'd go see the kids tonight didn't I.

Well that was before the whole attack of the clones thing happened.

Not like I could have planned for that anyway.

"I'll go around and see them." I promised, rubbing the

remaining sleep out of my eyes.

The Old Bastard had other ideas. "Go and get changed first laddie, you're a mess. And you bloody smell."

I narrowed my eyes. "Thanks for the tip." I said sweetly, endeavouring to make it sound as sarcastic as physically possible.

I pushed myself up and bit back a swear as aches and pains made themselves readily apparent throughout my body, enthusiastically informing me of the consequences of the day's events.

This is going to suck.

I staggered back to team JNPR's dorm room, my newly restored aura doing wondrous things to the aches and pains of my body with every step, rounding the corner that led to the final hallway only to collide with someone else sending me backwards, stunned. "Easy there vomit boy, no need to…whoa, what happened to you?"

I looked up to see Yang there looking at me with a concerned look on her face, the rest of team RWBY looking at me with similar looks of worry. What? I'm fine, no wounds I just got out of the med bay…

I stopped as I looked down at my clothes eyeing the cuts that littered my outfit as well as the occasional dark red stain on my jeans. I looked like a wreck.

Well that explains some of the looks I got on my way here.

"Are you going to go see the kids?" Ruby asked, a hopeful expression on her face.

I nodded. "Right after I get changed." I paused for a moment my mind going back over that question. "How did you guys know about the kids?"

Blake raised her hand. "I told them. I heard you talking about it with Sun so I was thinking about going to say hello." She explained, tugging on one of her sleeves slightly.

Yang nodded enthusiastically with a grin on her face. "Plus I've got to see if they are as adorable in person as they were in the picture." She said with a cheeky grin.

I had a chuckle at that. "Fair enough. You're welcome to tag along. Just need to get out of these clothes." I said examining one of the idly before sighing. "Stupid umbrella wielding girl."

Weiss perked up at that. "Did you say umbrella?" She asked, her eyes suddenly focused as she looked at me. "And the girl holding it wouldn't happen to have had multi-coloured hair and two different coloured eyes?"

I stopped and turned to face the Schnee heiress. "You know her?"

She shook her head. "No, she turned up at the last second to rescue Torchwick and tricked us with something like a mirror wall." She explained recounting the night's events.

I frowned.

Sounds like her all right.

Yang's expression became a picture of irritation. "Almost had him." She growled, one of her hands clenching into a fist in frustration.

"Give me a second." I asked before I ducked inside team JNPR's dorm room and quickly slipped out of my sliced clothes and threw my sleeping gear on, the long sleeve shirt clinging annoyingly to my body as I pulled it on.

Did it shrink in the wash again?

Eh, can't be bothered.

As I stepped back out into the corridor there was a loud chocking noise as well as gasp.

I turned to face the girls of team RWBY, beckoning them to follow me. "The kids are staying over by the Staff Dormitory" I informed them before I stopped as I spotted something wrong with the blonde brawler of RWBY.

"Are you okay Yang? Your nose is bleeding." I said, pointing to below my own nose as an indication for what I was talking about.

Yang looked at me dazed. "Huh? Oh, uh, that happens sometimes, don't worry about it." She stammered waving off my concerns.

I looked at her strangely. "If you're sure." I said slowly, something telling me I wasn't getting the full story here.

Eh, it's probably not that important.

I shrugged and continued to make my way to the kid's room, hushed whispers breaking out behind me.

Something tells me I'm not supposed to listen to what they're saying.

Within a few more moments we'd reached our destination and I opened the door.

To the aftermath of a bomb site by the look of things.

The kids were running around screaming, armed with pillows, feathers strewn everywhere across the room, some still descending to the ground even as I watched.

Oh to hell with this.

I opened my mouth, stuck two fingers in and let out a piercing whistle, all movement in the room coming to a halt as they spotted me standing in the doorway, pillows frozen in mid-swing. Behind the bed I saw Pyrrha's head pop up, a few feathers stuck in her hair. The cupboard door swung open and Ren pulled himself out, brushing himself off as if he hadn't just been hiding in a cupboard for the last few minutes.

My eyes narrowed.

We're missing one.

Where's Nora?

There was a rumble and from the small mountain of pillows exploded outward, Nora pushing herself up with a roar, pillow rearing back to swing only to freeze in place as she caught sight of me.

"Ehehe. Hi Jaune!" She said brightly, spitting a few feathers out of her mouth as she did so.

I stood their silently, feeling my eyebrow twitch. I opened my mouth, raising a hand as I went to say something before I stopped, closing my mouth and retracting the hand.

I'm too tired for this.

"I don't want to know." I said massaging my brow, doing my best to ignore the sound of what appeared to be celebratory high-fives at evading punishment.

I heard Weiss clear her throat not so subtly behind me.

Right, introductions and all that.

"Kids, This is Weiss, Rwby, Yang and Blake." I said indicating at each girl as I said her name. "Team RWBY, meet the kids."

Okay so it wasn't my most stellar introduction, I'll admit to that but I am to bloody exhausted to care about that right now.

"C'mon then kids, time for bed, I'll see you in the morning." I said tiredly, turning to leave for the comforting embrace of my mattress.

"What?" Tucker squawked. "No story?" He exclaimed in disbelief. He looked at the others and they quickly came together with pleading expressions.

"Not even one story?" Ana asked, letting out a loud sniff as she did so.

I looked down at the kids, all grouped together with glistening eyes, pleading with quivering lips and sighed. Little drama queens. "Okay fine, one story." I said rolling my eyes as I did so.

Predictably the previously distraught, near crying faces vanished and the kids smiled and quickly scrambled for a comfortable spot to sit on the mattress and listen to the story. I walked over to the small bookshelf that had already been stuffed full of books and ran my hands across the spines of the books at random before coming to a stop and pulling a book free.

I grinned.

Part-Time Protector, right where I left it.

I made my way back to my seat and opened the book, removing the bookmark from where I'd place it last time and sliding it into the front. I looked up and saw the eager faces of the kids, saw my teammates and team RWBY taking a seat at the end of the bed. I even saw Peter give me a wink as he and Tob went past the door.

"Now then, where were we when we last left off?"