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Jaune's Pineapple Jam Chapter 22
🕑 Added 2023-10-15 13:21:09 +0000 UTCChapter 22: The Price
Slash!
Milo swings through the air in a deadly arc.
Parry!
Hush deflects Milo in a sweep from the force of a spinning body.
Kick!
A dainty foot rises to a kick as it follows the body’s momentum.
Block!
A shield meets the kick mid-air to guard a head with red hair.
Stab!
A smooth transition from sword to javelin pierces through a body and the sound of breaking glass echoes through the night. A deadly dance between two warriors begins again.
Pyrrha has met numerous opponents throughout her whole fighting career. She’s fought them and has defeated all of them. It’s how she got her nickname of Invincible Girl after all.
Sure, she had losses in her early career but Pyrrha eventually overcame those that beat her first either through a rematch or because they’ve retired from the tournament scene.
Still, out of all types of warriors Pyrrha has ever fought, her current opponent is the one giving her the most trouble.
Red hair dance around the night as colors of pink and brown move with it.
Sparks flash as sword meets sword in slashes and stabs.
Punches and kicks are traded just as much as they are parried or blocked either by shield or parasol.
When defenses fail, Pyrrha and her opponent resort to flips, rolls, and twists to evade and maneuver around their opponent.
Her sword, Milo, swings through the air in a deadly arc, only to meet a spinning parasol that deflects it.
Her shield, Akuou, instinctively rises to block the incoming counter and is subsequently used as a platform by her enemy to jump from.
Taking a split second to transform Milo into its gun form, Pyrrha shoots while the girl in white is still in the air.
BANG!
Instead of getting a clean hit however, her opponent breaks into glass again. And so, their deadly dance continues as her opponent appears at a different position.
Pyrrha doesn’t know how long they’ve been doing this dance for, but she’s sure she’s never faced an opponent as troublesome as the one before her right now.
It’s not that her opponent is particularly strong for Pyrrha, it’s just that damned Semblance that’s been giving her the trouble.
Every time Pyrrha breaks through her defenses and is about to get a clean hit, the girl just breaks into glass and appears in another position out of nowhere.
If that was all, then she wouldn’t actually have any problem. Pyrrha could just keep attacking until her foe runs out of Aura and stamina without any great loss to herself.
While Pyrrha could confidently say she has the upper hand right now, her opponent is just good enough to threaten her and exploit any careless mistakes she would make. She learned that the hard way when she underestimated her opponent earlier in their fight.
She thought them to be a young inexperienced girl because of their height instead of an experienced and hardened criminal.
She got a knee to the gut in close quarters as thanks for that certain mistake, though Pyrrha responded with an elbow to the face before resuming their deadly dance.
Both fighters take a moment to look at each other again. They assess each other before launching towards each other again.
Each step calculated to reach the better position. Each strike launched with the intent to put their respective opponent on the backfoot. Each blow parried in a way that the counterattack immediately follows.
Both fighters continuously move, never stopping for fear of getting left behind by the foe before them.
If the stakes weren’t so high, Pyrrha could honestly say that she’s enjoying the fight.
They never expected to meet someone this capable to appear and help the White Fang from Blake’s stories about them.
As it is, she knows she needs to hurry.
The original plan was to escape while everyone was distracted earlier.
Plan B was to have Ren and Nora flank the White Fang while Pyrrha, Blake, and Sun would overwhelm Roman Torchwick with support from Jaune.
As much as Jaune is improving, they both know he's not ready to fight at her level just yet. So currently, Jaune could only serve as support or holding back the average White Fang members.
With Blake and Pyrrha engaged with their own respective opponents, it is up to Jaune, Ren, Nora, and Sun to deal with the remaining White Fang and Roman Torchwick himself.
Sun, Nora, and Ren might be able to beat Torchwick together but that would leave Jaune to fight the rest alone.
He might be capable enough to win against the average White Fang one-on-one but Jaune would surely lose if he gets mobbed as a group.
The safer plan would be for Ren and Nora to hold Torchwick off while Jaune and Sun take care of the group before helping the others. Which is hopefully what they are doing right now.
It is with that thought in mind that Pyrrha prepares to use one of her signature moves when she hears the scream.
“MY HAND!!!!" A voice unfamiliar to Pyrrha sounds out near Jaune.
JAUNE!
The cry causes Pyrrha a moment of distraction when she tries to see what is happening. That moment cost her the upper hand she had from the beginning of the fight.
Instead of her sword shifting to a javelin smoothly, she loses it when it is parried and receives a combo of kicks and a punch to her gut that takes her breath away.
Her Aura and training with her shield are the only things that prevent her from being overwhelmed.
Unable to look at what is happening, Pyrrha opts to take comfort in the fact that it wasn't anyone she knew who screamed.
Using her Semblance to retrieve her sword, Pyrrha surges forward to meet her opponent in a storm of steel and flesh clashing against each other.
Jaune! Hold on! I'm coming!
—-
Jaune knows he should feel something. Anything actually, especially when blood just sprayed onto his face.
His opponent was still in mid swing when the sword flew off. Instead of a sword hitting Jaune though, it's blood that hits his face.
Yet, instead of feeling the sensation of a liquid splattering on his cheeks, Jaune Arc feels nothing. The world is both moving too fast and too slow for him. His limbs feel heavy as if metal chains are wrapped around his arms and legs.
He hears muffled screaming from the guy falling backwards in front of him and another voice on his side.
“..aune! Move, Jaune!”
Turning towards his side, Jaune sees Sun moving towards him with a pale face. Jaune feels like Sun should be moving faster, but for the life of him Sun’s sprint just looks like a slow jog.
Catching movement on the corner of his eyes, Jaune sees another Faunus poised to stab him. Caught off-guard by the sudden incoming attack, Jaune’s mind flashes white.
‘Shield up.’ Pyrrha smiles at him with a kind voice.
Despite the heaviness in his limbs, Jaune manages to raise his shield up in a flash to block a stab from the White Fang member that pushes him back. Suddenly, everything is moving so fast.
‘Keep your grip tight.’ Pyrrha reminds him with a knowing smile.
Jaune’s grip on his sword tightens for a moment, only for his whole arm to freeze right when the Faunus is raising his sword arm for another strike.
Just as he’s about to be hit, Sun is suddenly smashing back the Faunus with a swing of his staff.
Before he could thank Sun however, Ren suddenly appears in front of Jaune. This understandably makes Jaune confused.
Come on Ren. Stick to the plan. Don’t leave Nora alone with Roman Torchwick.
He opens his mouth to say just that when he tastes something. Something coppery and warm is in his tongue. Wiping his mouth with arm, Jaune sees a red liquid stick to his hand. Blood. There's blood in his mouth. There's blood all over his face.
"..e's in shock!" He hears Ren shout in a muffled voice as he puts his hands on Jaune's shoulders.
Sun yells something back in reply but Jaune is too busy thinking about where the blood came from to hear him.
His hands shake, his breathing speeds up when he thinks back on the scream.
There's a ringing in his ears when he looks back to the horrifying moment a sword went flying away with a hand still attached to it.
He's just about to scream himself when everything suddenly feels and looks muted.
"Breathe, Jaune….Inhale….exhale." Ren says calmingly in the middle of a chaotic fight.
Following Ren's instructions, Jaune slowly regains control of his breathing, albeit still a bit shaken.
"...Thanks, Ren. I'm okay… I'm okay." Is all Jaune could say in a shaky voice.
"...I'm going to drop my Semblance now, are you sure you're okay?" Ren asks flatly with a tint of worry in his voice.
"...Yeah.. Yeah, I'm good. Go back to Nora." Jaune says as he turns to survey the battlefield with his eyes.
His eyes widen at what he sees.
Ren can't see it because he's busy looking over Jaune, but Jaune could see perfectly.
Behind Ren, through a group of three knocked out Faunus, Jaune sees Roman Torchwick knock Nora away and aims his gun cane to the side.
Jaune's body moves on its own.
Arms pushing Ren towards Roman and legs pumping to carry him faster.
He won’t be faster than a bullet, it would be crazy to think otherwise. But maybe Jaune would be fast enough to save someone.
—----
Roman Torchwick hates surprises.
Surprises in his line of work usually means the plan is fucked and the heist has went sideways. So yeah, Roman Torchwick hates surprises. And wouldn’t you know it, tonight has just been full of surprises.
Still, the mark of a great criminal is being able to adapt on the fly when shit hits the fan. And Roman Torchwick is nothing but a great criminal.
Getting held hostage by a catgirl? Easy, just get away when she’s distracted.
Her friends come out to help her stop your operation? Still manageable, have Neo isolate their best fighters then overwhelm them with numbers and experience before going back to smuggling.
Your Dust crates blowing up just before you manage to smuggle them out? Well shit, there’s nothing Roman can do about that.
Angry at that he might be, he's angrier at the fact that the fire bitch might take it out of his and Neo's hides.
Though he can still get the half of his Dust that didn't blow up, they'd have to hope that fire bitch doesn't burn them.
More enemies coming out of the woodwork to stop you? Well damn, all Roman could do at that is cut his losses. He knows when a situation is untenable, when it's time to give ground and not get caught.
It's why he's working for that fire bitch in the first place. Survival.
It’s also why he ordered half of the animals to move the Dust and get it out of here while he and the rest would hold the kids off.
And really, Roman is very thankful that these are just kids that've been ruining his night.
Veteran huntsmen wouldn’t freeze at the sight of blood or dismemberment as shown by the blonde kid that’s apparently been leading this young group against him.
The kid’s smart too if Roman is judging by tactics, at least he has that going for him.
Trying to pin Roman down with a partner pair while the rest clean up the small fries before ganging up on him? Smart, it would’ve probably worked too if he didn’t freeze up and caused one of the pair going towards Roman to backtrack and protect him.
“You! Take him back to the bullheads and help the others carry the Dust!” Pointing at one of the injured Faunus, Roman directs him to fish out the guy that just lost his hand and take him back.
Taking the time to survey the battlefield before the incoming ginger engages with him, he sees Neo kicking the ass of that distracted redhead that’s apparently giving her trouble.
Usually, Neo would’ve already taken care of any troublesome snags in their plan by now.
The fact that the girl has been holding Neo off for this long speaks well of her skills. In fact, looking at her right now Roman has the feeling the girl looks really familiar.
A young girl with red hair wielding a sword that turns into both a javelin and a rifle while carrying a shield? There's only one popular person from the younger generation that fits that bill. Pyrrha freaking Nikos.
Which begs the question, why the hell is Pyrrha Nikos walking around Vale busting smuggling operations?
Anyway, Roman shakes his head to focus back on the orange-haired girl souped up on lightning currently trying to take him down. Fighting while distracted is a sure-fire way of getting taken down by a bunch of kids.
Roman then proceeds to avoid every one of the ginger’s heavy attacks. She might be strong while souped up on lightning by her semblance, but Roman is faster and more experienced. Any unblockable attacks are dodged. Fast hits that are light enough are deflected away from him. Openings presented to him are ruthlessly punished by judicious swings of his cane.
Swatting the ginger away from him, he raises Melodic Cudgel and prepares to even the odds for his side. He sees Neo holding back Pyrrha Nikos, while the mutt is just getting into a shouting match with the cat.
Looking at how the situation has developed, Roman thinks that they’re almost fighting in the corners of a triangle.
Neo vs Pyrrha Nikos on his left, the mutt against the pussy cat on his right, and Roman at the other end of the triangle, while the White Fang goons hold back the other kids at the center.
Their side only needs to win in one corner of the triangle in order to actually finish this whole affair off. The side that gets to help another corner of theirs wins.
Neo has her side handled, but the mutt's taking too long to handle the cat. Sorry kitty-cat but I'm not leaving without compensation for the half of my Dust you kids blew up.
Aiming at the cat, Roman allows himself a moment to feel a bit of remorse. He doesn't like hurting kids, in fact if he could he'd spare them the pain. It's why he took in Neo in the first place.
A kid lost in the world without anyone to guide her? How could Roman leave her alone like that?
Still, as much as Roman likes kids, he needs a scapegoat for the fire bitch right now.
It would be easy to frame this failure as the White Fang's fault.
One of the Fang's defectors busted their operation so surely there's a leak on their side.
It would certainly take the heat off of Roman and Neo, and put it on the White Fang. Doubly so, if they take said defector with them.
Sorry kitty-cat, but if it's between you against me and Neo? I'd always choose me and Neo.
Firing at the girl that the mutt actually managed to lock blades with, he thinks they might actually finish the night on a good note.
Taking the girl hostage would actually make the other kids stop and allow Roman and the others to escape with the remaining Dust.
"ARGHHH!"
There's a cry as his bullet hits, throwing the girl down to the ground.
Roman reckons that it's enough to put her Aura in the red. It’s up to the mutt now to land the finishing blow and knock her out so they could finally finish this whole affair.
Turning towards his next opponent, Roman opts to strike the black-haired guy with pink highlights first before letting him have the chance to hold Roman down and overwhelm him with numbers.
He needs to take them out of the fight quickly, lest he be ganged up by two or three kids at the same time now that the monkey is finishing up the rest of the animals.
He was so busy fighting that he didn’t notice that the mutt couldn’t knock the kitty out because of, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s the blonde kid again. Though looks like he is gonna be out of the picture soon.
He only takes note of the fact when he hears the girl scream out.
“JAUNEEEE!!”
His name’s Jaune, huh. Good to know.
—---
“Traitor! How could you betray Adam?! How could you live with yourself when you’ve betrayed your own race?!”
Blake Belladonna has been hearing comments like that ever since she clashed with LT. It's frankly getting annoying even as she dances around his reach with her Semblance.
"I told you! Adam was going to kill civilians! There were children and Faunus in the train and he was willing to blow it up! I couldn't let him do it!" Blake yells back in frustration.
"....a small price to pay for the greater good of the Faunus." LT growls out in anger.
Blake could see it. Even if LT is notoriously zealous about the White Fang, it hurts him that they have to resort to hurting civilians just to feel that they are achieving something.
“LT! Please! This is not the right way! You’re only hurting people! You can’t win equality with what you are doing!” Blake pleads as she tries to stay out of range of the chainsaw while taking potshots at LT.
“What would you know of the right way?! You were never in the mines! You never had to wonder if you’d survive a day of mining Dust only to die later because of the guards! We’ve already tried peace! It didn’t work! Every day we dally is another day our Faunus brothers and sisters suffer!” LT shouts as he swings his chainsaw in broad sweeps in hopes of clipping Blake.
Blake flinches at the fury in his voice. She knows she grew up privileged compared to others, but that doesn’t mean she’s ignorant of their suffering.
Blake Belladonna grew up by her father's feet when he was still leader of the White Fang. She knows their stories. She heard them when they asked her father for help.
It's what pushed her to join every protest even if her parents didn't really want her to start out so young.
It's what pushed her to join Adam and run away from home in the first place. The rage and righteous fury against the injustices laid on the backs of their brethren fueled Blake during those early days. days
Looking back at it now, it was so easy to get swept up by those emotions and Adam. But now….now Blake knows better.
Adam never wanted equality, or perhaps he did but he lost his desire for it a long time ago. The point is his ways and ideals are too extreme. He doesn’t care about the price that others, civilians or otherwise, have to pay just to meet his goals.
She might not have the solution to achieve true equality right now, but Blake knows it's better than whatever the hell Adam is doing right now. Besides, it’s not as if she has to search for the solution all by herself.
“No….I may not have the solution for true equality right now, but I will get it. One day, we will see humans and faunus living together side-by-side. But I won’t be able to do it alone. I’ll need all the help I can get, LT... Others will be with me and I just wish you would be too.”
She’s already met kind and wonderful people that have already offered to help her. Humans who accept her for who she is.
Two people come to mind at first, one blonde and one with red hair. Others soon join them, Nora, Ren, and then…the rest of her team.
It just shows her that her dream…her parents’ dream of true equality is possible.
There’s a pause in their battle at that wherein both sides just look at each other. Weapons held but not raised. There’s a moment where it feels like Blake is getting through to LT.
“Sigh…. Just like your parents…” LT says in a neutral tone.
Blake smiles a bit at that. She’d be happy just to be compared to her parents in the same tone.
“YOU ARE WEAK! COWARD! JUST LIKE YOUR PARENTS!”
That happiness is broken when LT shouts, charging towards Blake and surprising her.
“ANYONE WHO WILL NOT FIGHT FOR THEIR RACE IS A TRAITOR TO THEIR PEOPLE!” LT continues as he locks blades with Blake.
It takes all of her strength just to stop the chainsaw from striking her and ripping her Aura apart.
Blake looks into LT’s eyes and sees the hate in there. She knows for sure now that she won’t be able to get through to him.
It is Faunus like him and Adam that give their race a bad name. As much as it might pains her to admit, it seems... .Weiss was right.
That the current White Fang is a group of crazy and violent psychopaths. The thought sends a lance of pain through her heart. Still, she could mourn about the Fang later. She has a fight to finish.
Preparing to use her Semblance to escape her current predicament, she does not notice the bullet being fired straight at her until it’s too late.
“ARGHH!” Blake is thrown sideways towards the ground by the force of the blow.
Her Aura flashes as it struggles to protect her from the damage but Blake could still feel the pain.
Blake only has a moment to shake off the pain before she realizes she’s still in the middle of a fight. She tries to stand but her arms fail to push her off the ground. She closes her eyes in fear of the incoming follow-up attack from LT.
“FOR ADAM!”
CLANG!
Instead of a chainsaw hitting her, Blake is surprised to hear it has hit something metallic instead. Slowly opening her eyes, she sees a figure holding a shield up in defense of her.
“Jaune?!”
Looking at the figure standing in front of her, she sees Jaune pushing back against LT’s weight.
“Hey, Blake. You should really listen to the plan before charging forward, you know?” Jaune, bloody face and all, replies with a strained smile, trying to lighten the mood as he struggles against LT’s chainsaw.
Despite the serious situation they're in, Blake blushes at that remark from him. Blake did have a plan…. It just so happens that it failed.
“DIE, HUMAN!” Tired of being ignored, LT disengages with a growl for a moment before kicking forward to push Jaune backwards.
Not to be outdone, Jaune sidesteps the kick and raises his sword to counterattack in close quarters. Blake’s heart soars at the help but it promptly drops to her stomach when she sees Jaune freeze midswing.
The moment Jaune froze, LT took his chance. For how fast it actually happens, it happens very slowly for Blake.
Blake sees LT move in slow motion.
LT drops his chainsaw and delivers a quick punch to Jaune's gut that folds him over.
Blake sees LT grab Jaune’s neck with one hand.
She then sees LT raise the blonde up and chokeslam him into the ground.
The following series of events happens almost too quickly, as if the world is speeding up from Blake's slow motion view earlier.
LT kicks Jaune in the head, stunning the boy from attempting any counterattacks.
He drops down on the boy's chest and proceeds to pound him into the ground with his fists.
Jaune puts up his hands to protect his face but it is futile against LT's relentless assault. Tired of this farce, LT stands up quickly to crush any remaining resistance.
He proceeds to stomp on Jaune’s chest, knocking the breath out of Jaune's lungs and making him spit out blood despite his flickering Aura. The force of the blow is enough to crack the concrete Jaune is laying on.
It speaks well of Jaune's massive Aura pool that it has not broken yet despite the abuse he is getting.
There’s someone screaming, and it takes her a moment to realize that it is her.
“JAUNEEEE!!” Blake cries out as she sees the boy spit out blood.
Standing above him, LT pants as he catches his breath while looking down at the boy, nay, the young man that dared to stand between him and his target.
No words are needed between them. Both fighters know that this is the end. With his Aura barely clinging to life to protect Jaune, it would only take one good hit to completely break it.
Jaune’s tired eyes flicker to Blake as he tries but ultimately fail to fish out the last vial of Dust from his belt holster.
Blake couldn’t move despite still having Aura. Even as LT picks up his weapon and raises it for the killing blow, Blake couldn’t move.
Memories of the past few days flash before her eyes. Memories of having fun talking about novels with someone who surprisingly shares her hobby. Memories of a friend accepting her for being Faunus and even going so far to help her. Memories of a night of fun partying mixed with pleasure and comfort coming from the embrace of a lover. Tears come to the forefront of Blake’s eyes before a loud sound makes her flinch.
BANG!
Sparks flash as a bullet hits the chainsaw about to smash into Jaune’s face.
“LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE!”
Turning towards the sound of the voice, Blake sees a sight that will forever be engraved in her mind.
Ruby Rose, with her cape flapping in the wind atop a rooftop, and the barrel of Crescent Rose smoking from the shot she fired, enters the battlefield with the rest of Team RWBY beside her.
Distracted by the heroic sight of her teammates coming to help, Blake doesn't notice the attack aimed at her.
"BLAKE! LOOK OUT!" A distraught Pyrrha calls out.
Turning to the sound of her voice, Blake sees a boot flying towards her face courtesy of a short pink and brown-haired girl.
The warning comes barely on time, but Blake is already injured and shaken from the previous fight. She does not manage to avoid the boot coming into contact with her face with enough force to snap her head back.
The last thing she sees before blacking out is Pyrrha sprinting towards her position a distance away from behind the girl that just kicked Blake in the head.
Pyrrha….Jaune…I'm sorry.
Comments
Aritra Roy
Holy shit, it just occurred to me that Cinder is going to zero in on Jaune, not just because he's Pyrrha's partner, but because his skills as a tactician are on full display, unlike in canon where Cinder only worried about Pyrrha.
Robert Walker
Oh boy they know names now. How will Roman do this, Jaune's name is out in the open. And I honestly I hope Blake is all right and hopefully they learn to upgrade the weapons
Aritra Roy
Woo! New chapter, and finally Team RWY to the rescue. Hopefully Weiss makes the sacrifice play and draws the White Fang's attention, becuz oh dear god, Blake would be in so much trouble if she got captured. So would Weiss, but hey, Weiss is still combat ready, Blake is not.
Biggs Ringor
For the tension hahaha. Don't worry. I'm already halfway done with the mext chapter. You won't have to wait long.
LuckyPickl3
That cliffhanger why ?
