PFK 30 - Playing With The Boys (Patreon)

“Those holier-than-thou creeps…” Sun muttered. “Protests were one thing, but robbing Dust stores? What the hell…”

“What do we do?” Leo asked nervously.

“I’m going to stop them,” I said calmly, [Gamer’s Mind] already working to let me consider the situation logically. “I won’t ask you guys to fight though; just call the cops, tell them the address, and then head back to Beacon.” I have the Family Sword in my [Inventory], but I didn’t bring my backpack, so I have no way to explain where it came from. Guess I’m doing this barehanded.

Ren already had his Scroll out, but he shook his head. “If you think we’re letting you go in there alone, think again.”

Not bothering to argue, I summarized, “I can hear Roman Torchwick inside, he’s got his Aura and he’s pretty good in a fight. He’s talking to someone called Neo and at least two White Fang. Gimme a sec…” I activated [Detect Aura]. “Okay there’s half a dozen people inside but only two unlocked Auras, that’ll be him and Neo. There’s a driver and a passenger in the van, and one more in the back. I’m thinking we disable the van and then go in loud.”

“Already dealing with the van,” Ren promised. “Give it a minute.”

“I can open the door,” Leo offered.

“Seeing as I’m the only one armed, I’ll deal with the goons,” Sun offered, slipping two pairs of red-and-gold nunchucks out from under his shirt.

“Then I’ll cover you,” I said. “Leo open the door, then back up Ren. We’ll go on Ren’s mark.”

“Any second…”

There was a rushing noise, and I glanced up in time to see a rocket locker slam down on the hood of the van with a deafening crunch. That in turn caused the airbags to deploy and the idling engine to cut off as the vehicle’s computer automatically shut down the flow of Dust to prevent an explosion. Ren darted forward, a slight smirk on his lips, and I didn’t wait any longer myself.

“Leo, go!”

Leo rushed over to the door, laying a palm lightly against the lock. He braced his feet, then easily shoved his entire hand through the door. Reaching down, he twisted the handle and swung it open in time for Sun and I to dart past him.

The inside of the store was dark — hardly a disadvantage for the Faunus — but the suddenness of our entry still had them reeling and Sun dropped one before any of them could even reach for weapons. He couldn’t use the guns, seeing as we were in a Dust store, and even the full staff would be a bit unwieldy, but the nunchaku and and shorter escrima sticks forms were perfect for close quarters.

My attention, meanwhile, landed on Roman, who was scowling at us in exasperation. “Oh what the hell,” he grumbled, twirling his cane. “More little brats wanting to play hero? What did I do to deserve this?”

“Teamed up with terrorists?” I pointed out. “Frankly I couldn’t give less of a fuck about you robbing bigwigs, but this is beneath you.”

“What are you, my conscience?” He swung at my head, and I hopped backward to avoid it. “You’re quick on your feet, I’ll give you that. But you’re out of your league without a weapon, blondie. You think you can fight me alone, unarmed?”

Should’ve borrowed one of Sun’s weapons, I realized. Outwardly though, I shrugged. “My boys are otherwise engaged, so I’m gonna bring it all myself.”

Fortunately I now had [Xíngquán] for exactly this purpose. While it was still in early levels, I had at least confirmed this week that Ren was cool with teaching it to me, and in addition to refining [Pàoquán] he had taught me a second form.

[Pīquán (Passive/Active) LV 6 EXP 86.73%][A Form that starts from a solid base, leaning forward and striking like an axe chopping down over and over.][ACTIVE – MP: Varies.]

I sank into a ready posture, my back straight and head slightly raised as Roman twirled his cane again. Leaning forward under his renewed attack, I slammed an open palm into his chest with all my current STR behind it. His Aura trembled under the blow, but held — despite never attending a Hunting Academy, Roman’s Aura was honestly impressive even by Hunter standards.

‹Hob’s Lamp›LV 57Roman TorchwickHP: [‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑72%‑‑‑‑ ]

Growling, Roman swung again, but this time I activated my [Aura] and caught the end of his cane in my left hand. He was strong enough to break through [Steadfast], but my Aura flexed and absorbed the hit as easily as he had mine.

“Wha-?”

Yanking him forward, I slammed a haymaker into his jaw and knocked him reeling. Roman staggered back, but rather than follow up I dodged to the right and swept the hooked end of the cane along the ground behind me. As soon as I felt it catch on something I pulled, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Neo’s slight form transferring into a backward somersault before she vanished again.

“Lucky shot,” Roman scoffed, rubbing his lip and circling me warily.

I turned on the spot to keep him in my sights, idly refreshing [Detect Aura] to keep track of Neo. “Well, you were kind enough to offer me a weapon, I thought it’d be rude to refuse,” I snarked, transferring Melodic Cudgel to my right hand and giving it a test swing. “This thing is a real kick; good for laughs and lashings of the old ultra-violence.”

Ignoring the illusion in front of me, I and swung at the empty space to my right, impacting against something I couldn’t see at the spot I could sense Roman’s Aura. Letting the cane rebound, I spun it around until it was pointing behind me and drove the point backward under my arm. It jarred as Neo deflected it with her umbrella, stumbling back, and I clicked my tongue in annoyance.

Roman was much less of a threat without his weapon, but I really didn’t want to turn my back on him in case he made a break for it. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a choice. Neo had realized by now that I could find her despite her Semblance, and her Aura suddenly darted toward me.

Turning on my heel, I brought Melodic Cudgel down where I could feel her soul, and she deflected it again. Her illusion didn’t even flicker this time; it looked for all the world like the cane just bounced off thin air. [Detect Aura] didn’t turn me into Daredevil, so I didn’t know exactly what she was doing, just her approximate position. That meant I didn’t have much of a chance of fighting defensively, since while I knew roughly where Neo was standing, I couldn’t trust any of my other senses to know how she might attack me. All I could do was activate [Bear’s Endurance] and [Reinforcement] to boost my active CON and thus improve [Steadfast], and go on the attack.

It took me an annoyingly long time to realize that, while I could leverage my accumulated experience with swordfighting, my Semblance wasn’t applying [Sword Mastery], but rather [Blunt Weapon Mastery], which was much lower in level. Consequently, Neo was easily blocking and parrying every attack I tried as they came out slower than I expected.

It didn’t take much longer for Neo to capitalize, either. Rather than just avoid my next swing, she put her weight behind the parry and successfully broke my guard. Even worse, Roman was already in exactly the right position to grab the end of Melodic Cudgel just as I’d done earlier. He wasn’t strong enough to yank me off-balance on his own, but something invisible hooked my ankle just as he tugged and the combination knocked me onto my back.

Before I could roll away, I felt a weight on my stomach, and Neo flickered into view with the stiletto already withdrawn from her umbrella. She had an evil grin on her face, and didn’t hesitate for a second to bring it down toward my face. Unwilling to test my Aura against getting stabbed in the eye, I let go of Melodic Cudgel and grabbed both the blade and her wrist.

‹Cyanide Sweet Tooth›LV 63Neo PolitanHP: [‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑89%‑‑‑‑‑‑- ]

“That’s enough out of both of you,” Roman barked, raising his weapon and activating its firearm mode. “Drop your weapons, monkey boy, or I’ll blow this whole place to hell.”

“Sun, go outside,” I said flatly. “I have this under control.”

“Dude, you’re flat on your back with a knife in your face,” Sun pointed out incredulously. “Are you crazy!?”

“I know what I’m doing. Go check on the others, they should have been here by now.”

“…Crap.” Throwing Roman and Neo one last glance, he ran back out the door to find Ren and Leo.

“Now cut the shit, Roman, I know you’re bluffing,” I said. Neo hadn’t stopped trying to push her stiletto down, but I had enough active STR that holding her arm in place wasn’t especially difficult. “The White Fang might be willing to martyr themselves but you sure as hell aren’t.”

Roman let out a huff. “You keep talking like you know me, kid, but I’d bet tonight’s entire haul a goody two-shoes like you has never even seen my side of the tracks.”

“You don’t have a haul tonight,” I reminded him. “Your men are down, your van is fucked, and I have backup inbound. And considering whose high heels you’re licking, I’d say you already know you’re better off coming quietly and betting on breaking out after she’s dealt with.”

Roman stepped closer, looking down at me with narrowed eyes. “So you do know a little something. Isn’t that interesting?”

“I know you don’t actually like your current situation,” I said, triggering [Eagle’s Splendor]. “You know how this works, Roman; you ditch the goons and give us what you have on her so we can take her down… and you and Neo get to walk away tonight.”

“And why, pray tell, would I do that?” Roman asked me. “Why should I even believe you have the authority to cut that deal?”

“You’re asking the wrong questions, Roman. It’s not what you have to gain, it’s that you can’t afford to lose.” I couldn’t help the smirk as I threw his lines from Volume 3 back at him. “The people that hired you are planning to destroy the entire city. You know you don’t want that.”

“Oh please, why should I give a damn about this city?” he scoffed.

“Because you’re one of the assholes who lives in it!” I shot back. “You two broke away from Spider to set up your own operation here; are you really going to let those psychos burn it to the ground?”

Roman spat on the floor. “Pretty words, but the real world doesn’t care about ideals. I don’t know how you found all that out, but these people you’re talking about? They’re fuckin’ monsters.”

“And?” I smiled crookedly. “It’s my job to Hunt monsters.”

“You?” he said skeptically. “What are you, a freshman? You think you can hang with the real monsters out there?”

“You want to play hardball?” I sighed. “All right, fine.”

I sat up, Neo’s weight doing nothing to stop my almost 400 points of STR. Shoving her back without letting go of her wrist, I released the stiletto and pushed myself back to my feet. Roman’s cane jerked around to point at me, but then wavered as I pulled Neo in front of me. I lifted her by the wrist until she was stuck standing on her tiptoes, ignoring her jabbing the blunt end of her umbrella into my side, and Roman hesitated as he met my gaze. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t pull the trigger.

“Since I didn’t introduce myself earlier, I’m Jaune Arc,” I told him. “You’ve been around Vale long enough know the family name, and if you’ve been keeping up with the news, you might even have heard mine. There aren’t a lot of people my age who’ve claimed part or all of the bounties for three Named Grimm, after all.” Now his eyes widened slightly, and even Neo stopped struggling in my grip. “I told you before, I don’t really give a shit about you. If anything I laugh when I read about you robbing a millionaire’s private art gallery. But letting the White Fang run amok, knowing they’re planning to blow holes in the Walls and sewers and set Grimm loose on the city? That’s terrible for business.”

Roman didn’t answer, but he did close the sight on Melodic Cudgel, lowering the cane to the floor and leaning on it, still watching me with narrowed eyes.

“You know they’re never going to let you go,” I said more quietly. “Not as long as a you’re useful. And as soon as you stop being useful…” I glanced at Neo, who was eyeing me nervously. “That goes double for you. Do you know why I have a bone to pick with Cinder? Yes, I know her name,” I added at their looks of shock. “It’s because a few months ago she tore someone’s soul in half. Quite literally. And that? Was because she was interrupted. She was trying to rip it out entirely, to steal their power for herself. What do you imagine someone capable of that would do with a Semblance like yours on the table?”

Neo looked terrified at that, and Roman looked livid, but they both composed themselves a moment later. I took the opportunity to pluck the umbrella from Neo’s other hand, then lowered her arm slightly so she could stand normally while I slid the umbrella back over the blade. Then I reached into my pocket and pulled out a Scroll.

And then I froze as a gun barrel suddenly pressed against the back of my head, and a very strong Aura was suddenly standing right behind me. I hadn’t dropped [Detect Aura] for a second, so this wasn’t a trick of Neo’s; whoever was behind me wasn’t there a second ago.

“Well lookie what we got here,” a woman’s voice drawled. “I was wonderin’ what was takin’ y’all so long, Roman; you can’t even deal with one kid?”

Roman’s eyes darted from whoever was behind me to Neo, then to the Scroll in my hand, before he pulled his usual attitude back on. “There was more than one, thank you very much, and those animals were completely useless as expected, but I had it under control.”

“I can tell, what with yer partner danglin’ by her wrist,” the woman scoffed. The gun pressed harder against my skull. “Drop ‘er.”

I let Neo go, keeping my hand raised. Neo took her time dusting herself down before sauntering over to stand next to Roman… at least visibly. In reality, I felt her Aura step quickly in front of me, then dart to the side. Roman’s Aura accompanied her, but I kept looking at the illusions so as not to give away to the newcomer that I could detect them.

“Other hand, boy,” she insisted, and I raised it too, holding the Scroll loosely. “Gettin’ ready to call for help, were you? Too late, just like your friends outside. You’re just lucky we were told to keep a low profile.”

I took a deep breath, made sure my [Aura] was still active… and then dropped the Scroll and spun on my heel. Smacking the hand with the gun away, I tucked her wrist under my left arm and brought my right hand around to grab the woman’s neck.

She was as tall as Roman and rather gangly, with an orange cowboy hat over brown hair as long and tangled as Yang’s, but significantly less well cared for. The rest of her outfit followed the same aesthetic: a plaid bandanna, a poncho, and cowboy boots complete with spurs. She also had a series of yellow triangle markings or tattoos around both her eyes, which were narrowed sardonically.

‹???›LV ???Zora Salazar

“You sure you thought this through?” she asked, seemingly unconcerned that I had her by the throat. “You don’t have the first clue what I can do, Hunter boy, and I already caught you off-guard once.”

“True,” I admitted. “But considering I have my hands on you now, I’m feeling a little better about my odds. Particularly since your friends already ran away.”

Zora nodded agreeably. “That’s coz they knew you weren’t a match for me. ‘Specially with your Aura about to turn off.”

My eyes narrowed. What the hell is she talking about? “Weird bluff, but I have plenty of Aura. left”

“Sure you do,” she said nonchalantly. “But everythin’ that has a beginnin’ has an end… like the duration of how long you can keep your Aura shield up.”

“Wh-” Before I could even form the question, my [Aura] went on cooldown without my input. My eyes widened as my stats plummeted, and Zora drew another gun with her offhand and shot me in the kneecap, proccing the damage bonus from [Reinforcement]. “AAAGH!”

She shoved me away, and I staggered, ending up leaning against the counter next to the register while she leveled both revolvers at me. “You’ve got some skill, Hunter boy, I’ll give you that. Maybe next time we can have a fair fight, but right now I’ve gotta skedaddle.”

I tried to reactivate my [Aura], but nothing happened, and a glance at my HUD showed the cooldown wasn’t ticking down. What the fuck did she do? My eyes darted around.

“And I can tell what you’re thinkin’,” she added, smirking. “You’re thinkin’, ‘If I can just stall her long enough, someone will come back me up,’ right? But your friends are already unconscious, you dropped your Scroll, and there ain’t a cop in this city that can stop me. So why don’t you quit while you’ve only got a bullet in your leg instead of one between your eyes.”

“You call that ‘low profile’?” I shot back, still leaning on the counter despite [Gamer’s Body] having healed my knee already. One of the unconscious White Fang grunts had dropped a scimitar nearby, and I braced myself to dive out of the line of fire and scoop it up.

Before I could, though, Zora just laughed. “Fair enough, you got me there.” She holstered one gun and tipped her hat. “So long for now, Hunter boy.”

Between one blink and the next she was gone.

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Name: Jaune ArcLevel: 58 (Next: 24.56%)Title: Academy StudentRace: HumanAge: 18Job: Beacon StudentClass: PaladinSemblance: The GamerHP: 6865/7545MP: 3676/4177STR: 213 (100)CON: 261 (101)DEX: 150 (53)INT: 128 (50)WIS: 106 (52)CHA: 143 (52)Points: 97Money: 947,788LStatus: Cursed – Yellow Death [High]Aura Shock [Low*]

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A/N: If you’re enjoying this story, feel free to check out my discord server at https://discord.gg/H6V854Fvbg

Sun wiped the floor with way more WF than this in Black And White, but that was in the open with room to use his weapon to full effect. Jaune can handle Roman on his own, but 1v2 against Roman and Neo, even if he can feel her rough location, is a much bigger ask.

I also think Roman and Neo would probably flip on Cinder in a heartbeat if they thought they stood a chance of surviving it. Unfortunately, there was another player Jaune didn’t know about. Can’t let him have too easy a time just because he knows Cinder’s plans.

I almost didn’t include Zora, because aside from borrowing Ryuugi’s names & Semblances for Jaune’s family I haven’t really done much in the way of expies and cameos… but this was a backburner idea I’ve had for a while. It’s not a real crossover, so knowledge of the source (Epithet Erased on YouTube if you’re unfamiliar) isn’t necessary, I’m just borrowing some more characters. Feel free to just think of them as more OCs.