"So what is the results of your investigation, James?" Ozpin asked as he sat at his desk, he had given Shion full control on what was going on with Blake and the others while he and Goodwitch reconvened with Ironwood after he explained how he found a breakthrough. "Because I unfortunately have to be rude and ask for this to be quick, we currently have a situation of our own to handle."
"I've managed to get the results back about Mr Cielo's body and his genetic makeup." Ironwood explained; Placing his Scroll on the desk and showing off a 3D image of a holographic Jae with a dotted outline around his body. Though it looked like there were two parts that were glowing and flashing. "It looks like my initial suspicions were correct and it's his Aura that seems to be the cause to his stunted development." Ironwood explained; "Note the fissure line between his body and the arm?" He pointed as he zoomed in the hologram and it showed a dotted line where his marked arm met his shoulder.
"I'm not sure I follow…But Aura does tend to get disrupted if the flow is blocked or deviated in some way." Glynda mentioned as she adjusted her glasses.
"That's surprisingly accurate." Ironwood nodded as he then made some adjustments to show the flow of Aura; "Typically when someone adjusts their Aura, it flows throughout their body like they're trained to at Combat Schools. However it looks like Mr Cielo's Aura is split…One segment of 25% is locked away in his arm…or more specifically in that sword of his while the remaining 75 is stuck flowing throughout what is essentially an incomplete circuit."
Ozpin hummed to himself; "That certainly explains his less than stable Aura shield." He mentioned and then glanced to the mark; "We did mention that his father's Semblance might be responsible for this, did you find anything more on it?"
"I did actually." Glynda mentioned as she brought up her tablet; "Mr. Cielo's father: Amon…According to the listed directory, his Semblance is called Monopolisation…He uses a small amount of his Aura and imbues it into an object to make it reappear to him even if it's far away from him." Glynda explained as she narrowed her eyes at the sight of the elder Cielo's mugshot.
"So if my theory is right; When Mr. Cielo put that sword in his son's hand, he must have tried to use his Semblance on it as an insta fix in case the young man tried to swing at him out of frustration…" Ozpin mused as he tapped his cane; "Though considering that a Human's body and a Demon's body differ in minute ways, it could be possible that his Semblance backfired, giving Jae a sword that will come to his side whenever he chooses."
"Or he might have done it as a precaution in case his son may beat him at a training duel…" Ironwood admitted; "The humiliation of being bested by someone younger and potentially more talented than you can sting pretty hard, even if you're meant to be proud of the fact."
Glynda blinked; "So you're suggesting that Amon Cielo used his Semblance as a means to take away his son's sword in what could be out of self preservation or petty spite?" She scoffed and then looked to Ozpin.
"So that leaves the big question, "How do we fix this?" Because while we can try and remedy the schism caused in Jae's body, it'd be simpler for Mr. Cielo to undo what he did." Ozpin mentioned as he came up with some more questions on what to do.
"If that man is capable of hobbling his son to try and rein him in…It's highly doubtful that he wants to remove that measure." Glynda stiffly remarked as she knew that this kind of man would rather stay stuck in prison than amend his mistakes.
"I think the damage is already done…This Semblance use on him has lingered for years so I doubt it'll be feasible to fix…But until I can improve on the Aura transferral project, there is…One other option can reconnect the pieces more quickly but it is rather drastic…and a dangerous one." Ironwood suggested with a rather steely eyed look as he explained about his plan.
Needless to say both Ozpin and Glynda were shocked by what he suggested. "James…Do you understand what it is you're asking of us to do?" Ozpin asked with an unusually grim look on his face; "Because this is too much, even for you…"
Glynda seemed to be the more emotionally charged at the point as she got in James's face about it; "What part of you ever thought this is something that you could suggest so casually?!" She was almost tempted to pull out her crop to slap some sense into him but restrained herself.
"Oz…I know it's drastic bu-"
"BUT NOTHING, JAMES! I am absolutely NOT going to allow you to gamble a student's life…A child's life, no less! Based on some vague theory you have!" Glynda yelled at him with an unusually furious look on her face as she poised her finger under his chin, not willing to entertain his idea or be ignored on this.
"You were the ones who told me that he was more durable than any student on your school's roster, correct?" Ironwood kept going obstinately, keeping that same focused look on his face; it seemed to drain the colour from his eyes as he had been put into one of his focused mindset like he was in a war.
"He is…But he is MY student first and a Demon second, James! Unless you have 100% proof it will work without risk…I am not going to allow you to go through with this!" Ozpin argued with just as much vigor; He wanted to allow his students to flourish but this was too much to go on by theory alone.
"But if it DOES work, then it means that you will have one of the strongest students on your side…If Salem finds out that he has the potential to become as strong as Vergil, Dante or even the Demon King himself, there will be NOTHING that anyone can do to stop her from taking everything she has and mounting a full scale assault on us all." Ironwood argued back as he felt like the only sane person in the room right now, even though it was the inverse.
"General…I can't believe I have to tell you this: You are not going to stab my student in the chest like you're trying to solve a genetic puzzlebox!" Ozpin snapped as he was no longer willing to debate this any further.
"Oz, please just lis-"
"I. SAID. NO!" Ozpin finally broke his usual patient tone and put his foot down on the subject.
"Fine…But just remember this, if things get worse and we could have done everything that we could think of that betters our chances…It'll come back to haunt you." Ironwood surrendered as he marched to the door and left the elevator, giving the Headmaster's office a heavy, sullen silence.
Glynda found herself letting out a hollow laugh, not because she found any of it funny but out of shock; "I..I can't believe that he'd have the audacity to consider doing something so mindlessly dangerous."
"Because it wasn't wholly him that suggested it." Ozpin mentioned after calming himself down; "I think it's his Semblance affecting him again, it's good when it's used against opponents or for making decisions in times of battle but when it comes to things like ethics and the right thing…He becomes too hyperfocused."
Glynda nodded as she took a seat; "I know his heart is there…But if what he suggests DID work, what would Jae think of us as teachers…or people?"
"Still, he does make a point about Sa-"
"Don't, Ozpin…Just don't entertain that thought…He's our student and yes, there will come a time that he will make a choice but that has to be something HE should make…Not be offered up as some sacrifice for a vague possibility." Glynda warned him, hearing it from Ironwood was one thing but if Oz suddenly started agreeing with him then it made her worry more.
"Quite right, Glynda…That is something we can agree on entirely."
——In the Mindscape——
Jae kept blocking each swing from Nega-Blake's swords with his own and pushed her back each time; "We don't have to fight, Blake! Just let me through and you won't have to worry abo-WHOA!" He tried to get through to her but ducked under another swing of her sword.
"I've already lost too many people close to me, I'm not going to lose you as well!" Nega-Blake yelled out as she made for another double swing if her swords in an X-shape at him. "So if you want to pass, you'll have to strike me down first!"
Jae brought his spear out and blocked the two in mid swing before pushing off; twirling it in his fingers and tried to slash back, only to hit one of Nega-Blake's doubles. He then dashed past and tried striking her with the blunt pommel to knock the real Nega-Blake back.
"She's not gonna listen to reason, buddy…You want my opinion? Do what you did to Lizzy back there and pin her. You heard witch lady, you're running out of time and you still need to find Yang, so get that head straight and get moving…Fast!"
Jae focused his mind and tightened his grip around the spear; "She's fast enough on her own and she makes doubles…I don't think I can get much faster than that!" He argued as he watched the shadows before blocking another attempted swipe at him.
"That's just it, you think! You don't believe that you can…Remember that mantra? Don't think, feel! Use that…You're a Demon for crying out loud, you stopped shipping containers with your bare hands and beat a monster several times your size, if you can't see her when she's coming then you can certainly make it hard for her to hit you!"
Jae sighed internally as he tried to focus on a quick mindset; "Move it fast…Light feet…Quick Reflexes…" He then stopped trying to fight back, clearing his mind of every worry he had and listened.
The sound of the wind from outside, the faint beat of his pulse….Then out of nowhere was the sound of the ground being disturbed and picked Nega-Blake out of the crowd.
Nega-Blake had been hiding in the shadows and like any good assassin; waited for the right moment to strike, with her target now stopping and lowering his guard: She had it. She hopped off the ground and rushed forward with both blades in hand to bisect him.
Or she would have if where she landed had Jae still there but it was almost like he was never there at all; she looked in all directions and saw him in the air above her like he had jumped, despite the fact that she never saw him move in that brief interim.
Jae then saw Nega-Blake below him and grinned; "Gotcha…" He mused as he then swung his spear downward and smashed the mask on her face, revealing her for good.
Nega-Blake then started swinging her blade on her ribbon in a fit of anger to try ensnaring him; however each time she made a swing, he vanished in a red light and reappeared a few steps away. "He's moving like I do with my doubles except he isn't leaving one behind…Just how fast is he?!" She tried to plan herself but with her mask broken and his continued outfoxing of her movements, it was only making her more frustrated and dogged.
Jae smirked as he watched this flustered monarch lose her cool; "What's the matter? You're starting to slow down a little." He snarked as he did his utmost to push her.
"You…You can try and goad me all you want, trickster! But I won't stop until you're broken or tied back up again!" She yelled and threw her ribbon to snare him; however this time he didn't move.
He caught the ribbon's edge with his spear and let it coil around before rushing in while she tried to untangle. In a few quick movements, he managed to get her tightly bound up and unable to move. "There, see? Now no one needs to get hurt or emotionally damaged." Jae reassured her as he got back up; "You need to understand that people stay around you because they want to…If you force them to stay or try to push them away, it'll only hurt them worse when they decide that they can't help you…if and when they decide that." Jae explained softly as he squat in front of her with a more genuine look of worry on his face.
"I made him stay because Adam threatened to kill him if he saw him in the desert! When Yang and Ruby decided to leave after I told them about the barrier…I said that it was for their own safety, for their own good! Why is that such a bad thing?!" Nega-Blake ranted at him as she tried to escape
"Blake…I-"
"But nothing! I made up the barriers, I made Adam leave into the desert so everyone here could be safe, don't you understand that? I did that for you all, I gave you this safe space….You should be thankful that I made sure of that!" Nega-Blake finally snapped at him as she struggled, no matter which way he tried to explain it. This wasn't Blake and even if it had her face; She was too far gone to understand.
"Goodbye Blake…Or rather, this version of you." Jae finished as he turned and headed towards the opening into another chamber; "Looks like this was just a place for an advisor to judge if someone can meet the Empress…The throne room is back there….Yang, please be okay…." Jae thought to himself as he sprinted off into the dark.
——In the Throne Room——
Yang got knocked backwards once more as it looked like what Blake seemed to think of Jae with his Demon Powers was a lot stronger than the actual Jae, at least the last time that she sparred with him that is. "I seriously need to talk with Blake about her expectations…" Yang muttered as she got up, staring down the Nega-Jae and the Nightmare that was currently burrowed into the wall above the throne.
"Yang!"
Yang turned her head when she heard his voice; "Okay, it's my Jae…Thank heck that you showed up…I was just getting to the good part." She joked as she saw him stand to her side and looked equally as shocked as she did when he saw what the Jae of this world looked like.
"This is the me that Blake sees?!" Jae asked with a look of both shock and confusion, though he kept his defense up just in case.
"Some lizard girl kept him locked up in a cage and now he's stuck here looking like some weird BDSM nightmare!" Yang explained as she saw the Nightmare in the background; "By the way, I found it!"
"Big glowing eye? Yeah that's definitely it...But you should probably get going, our time here's getting cut short and I at least wanna make sure you get back okay." Jae mentioned as he summoned up his sword once more.
"You're kidding right?! Blake's mind is at risk thanks to this thing and you want me to just not do a thing to help? I don't think so!" Yang protested as she jabbed his chest with her finger. It wasn't the fact that she was embarrassed in any way about getting thrown around but the fact that she was being asked to stand to the side that bothered her. "Besides, you're Blake's friend too! I can't go back and say I left you behind…"
"Then tell me, Yang. Can you really muster up the guts to try and destroy something that looks like me?" Jae asked her with a pointed look and gestured to the doppelganger standing in front of them holding a sword too. "After what happened in training, you think you can put it all in?"
Yang hesitated for a moment but then realised that he was kind of right; "Then you handle the clone, I got the Grimm…" She would say and held her fist out to him.
"Remember, we got each other's backs." Jae promised as he bumped his fist on her's before rushing off to clash with Nega-Jae and Yang ran past them to meet the Nightmare.
"Taking me on by just yourself, Imposter? You either are real brave or real stupid." Nega-Jae gloated as the two collided against each other before pushing off to ready again.
"Considering what's at stake here, I'm hoping the former…Though fighting you is giving me some confusing feelings so forgive me if I want to end this fast." Jae admitted and then pulled out his gun; aiming point blank at Nega-Jae and pulled the trigger.
Only for nothing to happen as the gun made a hollow click several times in a row as he tried to pull the trigger. It made no sense that the gun would be empty especially after he only fired a few shots. "Performance Anxiety? Too bad I'm not gonna let you fix that!" Nega-Jae roared as he thrust his sword once more at Jae; growling in frustration as he missed and received an uppercut to the chin.
"There's no way I'm out…I should have at least a couple of bullets lef-Wait…That Charge Shot…I think I overdid it with that one Gravity Bolt…" Jae mused as he retracted his sword and then rushed in with a heavy swing of Behemoth.
Nega-Jae didn't seem to have that same access to weapons that Jae had but his durability and all around physique was double his own; Being propelled backwards into a wall following the collision with Jae's heavy swinging hammer. "Interesting, but I'm gonna make sure you hurt just as bad!" Nega-Jae sneered as he crawled out of the wreckage and watched Yang trying to keep up with the Nightmare's tendrils; "But who will drop first, you or her?"
Yang was struggling to keep up as the vine like whips that formed it's appendages lashed and struck out at her in an attempt to make her keep distant; "No wonder you could only get Blake from behind if this is all you got~!" Yang teased the Nightmare as she reloaded her shotgun Gauntlets.
Several tendrils coiled around each other to form what looked like a much larger arm that swung into Yang who tried to block it; only to end up getting whipped away from the giant black mass.
Jae watched as he heard her fall back with a grunt of pain and then swung Behemoth down to strike Nega-Jae away. "Yang! Keep it cool, if we go at this angry then we get kicked around!" Jae warned her as he then made Behemoth grow to swing point blank into Nega-Jae's chest to knock him down.
"I know! But this thing's all tendril-y and weird!" Yang growled as she fired off her gauntlet rockets into what would constitute as the Nightmare's torso; smirking as she watched it blast apart but then grimaced as it reformed just as quickly. "Oh, come on! That's cheating!"
Jae would then jump back and twirled his hammer; "Alright, new plan…We take them on in doubles!" He suggested as he replaced his hammer with his saber; "Once I cut down the Nightmare from it's latching spot, you blast Nega-Jae as hard as you can…"
Yang looked at him like he grew a second head; "You're sure that'll work? What happens if the Grimm decides to just latch on to Bizarro-you and gives him a super power up?" She asked him and then took a quick glance to the two.
"I fought several of the "Other" versions of people she knows, you included…The ones I know that are real affected transform on their own…Kinda like that…" Jae said dejectedly as he saw a layer of black forming around the Nega-Jae like a weird symbiote; What emerged was Nega-Jae with tendrils of the black thorny vines along his face and his hair completely changed into a silver colour, his body lined with thorns and tipped his hands with claws. "Yang…I'm not kidding this time…Take those coins that Shion gave you and get out of here before it gets a hold of you!" Jae decided enough was enough and he didn't want her to get
"How dare you…You're ruining my big moment of completely taking over this young girl's body….I'm not sure how you are in here but it's no matter, once I've finished you both off then I'll make sure to punish your other selves and spread my influence even more!" "Nega-Jae" would gloat, his voice now warped from the forced fusion and unbeknownst to Yang, the voice of the Nightmare seeping through enough for Jae to understand what it was truly after.
Yang wasn't sure how this thing was able to get weirder but it did and considering how strong Jae usually was on the outside, she dreaded to imagine this thing piloting an exact replica of the boy that she was starting to have curious thoughts about. "Jae…You absolutely sure you got this?"
Jae nodded and gave her a thumbs up; "Just go! I can handle things from here." He reassured her as he then stared down the monster-Jae once Yang rushed off and vanished through a doorway. "Alright ugly…I think you've upgraded from weird looking to outright insulting…I'm gonna see if I can trim some of those vines for you and then pull out the weed hanging off of you." Jae quipped as he pointed his sword at the Nega-Jae.
The Nightmare buzzed in anger as it decided it had been insulted enough and latched it's tendrils around Nega-Jae, forming what looked like armoured plating that someone would find on a bug's shell and then formed it's thorny vines into some thick looking whips that coiled around Nega-Jae's arms. It's own white mask then supplanted itself over Nega-Jae's as it completely took over. "You share a similar air to that of my kin…Why do you hinder me….And why do you lower yourself to these humans and pretend like you are one of them, All this proves is that you are weaker than I am by denying who you are….And now…I can put you out of your pitiful misery." The Nightmare-Jae drawled at the real one as they noticed how Jae's "Essence" was different to that of Yang's.
"Heh, I've had enough of the psychoanalysis talk for one day and I won't get talked don to by some overgrown demon weed…" Jae smirked as he rushed forward to attack, blocking and cutting away at the whips being lashed at him.
The Nightmare-Jae realised that it's opponent wasn't going to back down from what it believed was psychology so it's next best tactic was to lash out and strike as hard and as fast as it could in the hopes that Jae would fall faster than it could. "Vile Thing! Fall…FALL!" It cried out in it's horrifically warped voice and kept repeating itself until finally…
SHUNK!
Jae's sword pierced through the Nightmare's Mask and through it's Nega-Host simultaneously; "Forgive me if I seem a little tired of this…But I'm not exactly long on time right now." Jae apologised facetiously as he watched the amalgamation vanish in a cloud of black dust and a faint light shooting up into him.
Once the light died down, Jae grinned as he dissipated the recent "Prize" he attained and grabbed the coins from his pocket. "Alright, not a moment too soon…Let's get out o-"
There was a sudden rumbling as it looked like the room they were in was starting to crumble and break apart. With the Nightmare no longer around to maintain it's hold on Blake's mindscape, it only had Jae as it's alien trace and sought to wipe him out like a vaccine.
"Okay, moveitmoveitmoveit!" Jae threw the biggest coin he had to the ground and watched as the door formed in front of him, the boy didn't give much solace to anything else as he didn't wanna turn into a pancake because of a one liner and then vanished through the door in a flash of light.
——Outside…——
Jae groaned as he felt himself start to wake up out of what felt like an incredibly long sleep and felt a little unnerved by what he saw.
Standing around him was Ruby with a bright pink flush in her cheeks and looking somehow more subdued, Weiss with a bright red flush on her face and trying her hardest to keep her typical stern scowl. Yang meanwhile shared Ruby's faint blush but she had a nosebleed as well as her eyes were just staring directly at him.
"What….Did I sleep weird?" Jae asked as he looked down, noticing that his shirt was open and felt the embarrassment grow. His recent efforts in training and his subsequent awakening of his Demon heritage had toned up his body, the fact that his body was lined with old scars seemed to add to the appeal somehow.
"Jae…I don't know what else to say or how to say it but….Damn~" Yang mumbled loud enough to hear.
"Really, Yang? You can't keep it in your pants long enough to focus?" Weiss snapped at the Xiao-Long when she heard what was said; "Though honestly…I agree…Damn~"
"Um…Miss Shion? Does travelling into the mindscape tone up your muscles?" Ruby asked as she was trying to keep the focus and felt like she needed to keep her mind on anything but the exposed chest on show.
"What kind of question is…Oh." Shion mentioned as she noticed why everyone had gotten so silent and thankfully, Blake was starting to wake up before anything further could be said.
"Guys? What's going on….And how did I get here?" Blake asked groggily as she rubbed her eyes; The last thing she remembered was having the long needed talk with Yang and then suddenly she blacked out in the library.
After Weiss explained everything that happened while they watched the three, Yang and Jae both explained as to what they saw in Blake's mind…Though they left out the part were Nega-Jae was essentially a love slave.
"I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to worry you…Any of you." Blake apologised to the group as Shion and Ozpin left to discuss things and to let Team RWBY/Jae have their moment to recover.
"I wanted to say I told you so about taking it slow…But I'm honestly just happy you're okay now." Weiss lightly admonished her getting up to leave; "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get ready for the dance tonight."
"Oh, that's right! I need to get ready too…Weiss said she had something for me to try out so maybe I should see what that is." Ruby added as she got ready to leave too.
Yang and Jae both looked at each other; "Yang…Don't you need to get the music ready? I think that was your job, right?" Jae reminded her and then stretched as he climbed out of the bed and quickly buttoned up his shirt.
"Oh…OH Damn, that's right! I still gotta get the fog machines ready!" Yang yelled in sudden realisation as she rushed out of the room to see if she had enough time.
Sure enough, it was just Blake and Jae left but with the look on her face, it was clear that the Faunus girl could remember a lot more than what Jae and Yang had told everyone else. "Thank you, Jae…I mean it." She would say quietly as she felt a little embarrassed by what she could recall.
"I did what anyone would do…But you've got friends to help you out now…So try not to take things all on your own." Jae pointed out to her as he lightly pat her shoulder and gave her a smile.
"I will…And uh…Can you not tell anyone about what I thought of you…Or Yang for that matter?" She asked him, knowing that if he and her were in Blake's mind, it'd be easy to notice what she truly felt towards the two of them.
"Blake, it's not that big of a deal…I'm pretty sure that if you are just honest about it, I don't think that she'll think less abo-" Jae started but she gave him a more serious look that quieted him down.
"Jae, I'm being serious…I don't mind if you know that I like you…in that way, but please…Just let me take things at my own pace when it comes to Yang." Blake pleaded with him as she had an unusual blush in her cheeks when she all but confessed that she liked both him and Yang.
"Okay, I'll leave it be." Jae agreed; "Besides, you know better than anyone how careful I am with secrets." He mentioned with a chuckle as he left, but felt himself stopped as Blake gently grabbed his sleeve. "Blake?"
"Before you go…Can you let me have this?" She would ask and leaned over to him and lightly pressed her lips to his, her thumb gently stroking the top of his hand as she held it.
Jae was a little more prepared this time though he admittedly did like Blake a little more than he thought he would, he gently held on to her as they softly kissed and in one weird instance, he could've sworn he heard her purring as they split apart.
"Go on…You have a dance to prepare for…And I do too, now." Blake chuckled as she let him go.
Jae nodded as he sported his own blush before leaving her room to go prepare for the dance tonight; A lot of revelations came about and something new was awakened in him…So now the Dance could help with getting him to relax a little, hopefully.