Chapter 85: Rematch

Chapter 85: Rematch

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryugii. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishment. Anyway on with the show...errr read.

Rematch

I tackled him out of the desolate patch that had once been a house, throwing us both back into the flattened battlefield. We hit the dirt hard enough to gouge a ten meter trench even as Conquest shouted words we left far behind. My ethereal claws left deep scratch marks in his armor as I raked at him, seeking hold even as he slammed his fists into the dirt hard enough to shatter the area around us. A shock wave hit me but I withstood it and kept hold, bracing myself momentarily even as the same Aura that composed my body began to sink into his flesh once more. I guided it through his veins towards his heart and brain and continued my search, still feeling my father's emotions against my mind, his soul again mine. I knew he was there, could feel it in the surprise and relief that I was still fighting, but I couldn't get a hold. Where was he?

Conquest may have screamed again or even swore at me, but before I could hear it he snaked an arm back to grab me wholly by the face and, despite the awkward position and horrible leverage, managed to haul me up and over to slam me hard into the ground, shattering everything that still stood in several dozen meters. I felt my form warp, shifting under the strength of the blow, perhaps even tearing apartbut I didn't see the damage. Even while I was like this, the Gamer's Body still worked.

Which, I supposed, was only natural. My Semblance came from my Aura, after all, and now I was nothing but Aura; why would I lose it?

As such, I barely paused as the earth around me was torn apart, claws reaching up even as my arm extending, seizing my father's body by its head and doing what Conquest had just done to me. I pulled him over and smashed him into the broken earth, rolling over to follow. I didn't bother Roaring, knowing I would only outrun the sound, but less than a second after he came down I hauled him back up and left him suspended in the airfor a moment, at least.

Then my fist connected and I carved another trench with his body.

Stone crumbled beneath his fingers as he bounced back up, his gaze focused on me with intensity enough to burn even as more and more of his mask was torn away. Something I briefly thought was smoke rose from his arms and shoulders, but I zeroed in on it with my Clairvoyance to see the Grimm cells rising in the air, curled protectively aroundDust?

It took barely an instant to realize what that mean and by then plasma was already gathering in my fingers. A fractions of a second later, I was tossing it hard towards the smoke, but he still beat me to triggering it, since his own Aura was what gave it motion. I lifted my arms to shield against the blast, but whatever mixture he'd used produced something far beyond the sum of its parts and I was blown away and thrown high into the air. I caught myself, landing upside-down upon another platform and then lunging back to Earth, eyes scanning the battlefield for a flickering moment before focusing on my mother.

I felt a moment of relief as I confirmed that she was out of the blast's range, but it vanished in a moment. As I'd feared, Levant and my Heat Elemental were gone, dismissed by what had been done to my bodyand if that had happened her, it must have happened elsewhere, as well. I felt Levant forming in the air around me, body splitting again and again. Most of them flew away the moment their bodies formed, moving quickly to return to their stations, but the largest mass remained with me as I altered my fall and then Lunged to my mother's side, Accelerating for a moment as I went.

An invisible, shielding wall of air formed around us as I landed and scanned the immediate area, cautious and worriedbut the disease hadn't had time to spread into the area I'd left undefended in the moments I'd been out of commission, thankfully. I could only hope the same held true elsewhere. Although

I glanced at Levant who tilted her head before nodding. I didn't say a word, but then, I didn't need to.

"Onyx," She said in my voice, words passing from copy to copy through their mental network. "I'm currently combating my father. My control was disrupted momentarily by something he did but I am restoring it as we speak. Still, be on your guard just in case; I'll keep you notified of anything that happens."

"Damn, is that what's going on?" Onyx muttered back. "I thought it felt like bombs were going off. Be careful, kid; your dad"

"I know," I replied. "My mother and I are handling it. Just keep those people safe."

That done, I glanced down at my mother even as my father rose from the dirt, looking very much worse for wear. I let fire and lightning expand from my spectral hands and form new bodies for their respective elementals before merging into Heat once more, but only then met her gaze.

My mother's eyes were wide as she looked up at me. She'd seen the Tiger often enough to recognize it, but I wasn't sure how much of what happened she'd been able to see or what had prompted that expression. Regardless of the reason, when I held out my hand to her, she took it and let my lift her to her feet.

"Are you okay?" Levant formed the words out of thin air, neither I nor the Elemental's mouths moving.

My mother lifted a hand to where she'd been struck by lightning mere seconds ago, wincing at the touch as if expecting pain, but then nodded.

"Peachy," She said at last, exhaling as she followed my gaze to my father. "Thanks for the saves."

I inclined my head slightly and allowed a moment to pass in silence. Conquest was shaking off the dirt and moving slowly, perhaps allowing himself a chance to heal and plan, but I benefitted as much from the pause as he did, if not more soespecially while I was getting used to the new body. As I drew out another set of Dust crystals to devour, I feltit was hard to describe. There wasn't the weight to it that there had been with my human form and it was like a million things I'd gotten so used to I didn't even notice were now gone. It was strange.

So was the world around me. My Clairvoyance let me ignore most of it, see the way I had when I was human, but beneath it all I could glimpse shades of a world I barely recognized, with patterns of light and energy overlaid in a way that seemed at once familiar and foreign. The world I knew was still there, butunder it, I suppose. I could see my mother, for instance, though her figure was fogged and partially obscured byby my mother, I suppose. It looked like her, if perhaps a bit younger and wearing armor I wasn't familiar with, something almost like a stain glass painting rising around her. Was this her Aura? Her soul?

It was something I'd need to research when I got the chance, but it was almost distracting right now. Stuff like that was everywhere, the markings of life and loss as every bit as evident as the markings I saw in ultraviolet or the heat in infrared, but I didn't know what it meant or how to use it. It was just another thing I didn't have experience with yet, like everything else about this body. I wasn't sure how my skills would work with this form or even if they would work, to say nothing of what I might be capable of. It was

It was something I needed to address, right now.

One by one, I began to reactivate the skills that being turned into a Pandora Shell had deactivatedwhich seemed to be pretty much all of them. Maybe it was like going to sleep? I wasn't sure. Nonetheless, I took advantage of the moments I had to turn them back on, feeling them alter my spiritual body in strange ways. How things like turning my skin to Adamant worked in this case, I had no idea, but I felt strong. Strong enough that I'd still been able to throw Conquest around even without my various buffs; I assumed that something besides the strength of my body determined the strength of my spirit. Intelligence? Wisdom? Those seemed like the most logical choices for such a thing and in either case, I felt powerful.

"Jaune," My mother asked quietly after a moment and I shielded the sounds with Levant to keep Conquest from hearing. "Are youokay? Where is your body?"

"Conquest turned it into a Pandora Shell," I said, glancing at her again as I wondered if she'd be able to hear meand if so, how? I didn't have lungs or a voice box, as far as I could tell, nor was I breathing. After a moment without reaction, I repeated the words through Levant, who turned slightly to speak to my mother. She didn't need to do that, but it seemed like the type of thing that might make her a little more comfortable.

"Turned into a Pandora Shell," She repeated, paling slightly. "Then"

I shrugged slightly.

"I'll sleep it off when this is over," I answered calmly. "I was going to need to do that, anyway, what with the Grimm thing."

Saying the words aloud made me wonder if my title had changed or if the White Rider had deactivated. I'd left my body behind, but then, it wasn't solely a physical disease. I drew Crocea Mors from my Inventory to look at my reflection in the bladeand above the face of a spectral beast were the title of the Gamer and the White Rider. It seemed that, at least, had remained, though what it meant for meI wasn't sure. I wouldn't have tested this in combat if I'd had the choice, but, well, I hadn't. Lowered my sword and summoned Crocea Mors back into it, readying myself as Conquest turned towards us.

"It'll be okay without you?" She asked, still sounding worried. "Your body?"

I saw something like colored steam pour forth from the broken sections of his armor and recognized it as Dust againbut not powdered Dust. Mom must have converted it to a gas inside him and somehow torn it from his control, but how

Not now, I reminded myself, focusing on the important issue. I saw Grimm cells mixed in with the rising stream and it was expanding quickly from my father's woundswhich was bad, considering that Mom was right next to him. I called out to Levant, commanding her to gather it all into a sphere and defend it, at least for the moment. Then I turned to my mother, reaching out to pull her back

Conquest's remaining arm snapped at my face. I managed to roll with the blow at the last second, but even taking a fraction of the force laid me out in a trench of my own and then snapped me high into the air. In the moment it took me to recover and create a platform beneath my feet, Conquest snatched my mother up by her left leg and lifted her high into the air, rage in his eyes. I had a moment to snake both hands and my tail into my Inventory, devourer another boost, and then Accelerate again, closing the distance I'd been tossed in a fraction of the time.

Even so, as I drew near, I knew I would break Conquest's inhuman hold on hermainly because it had deformed her leg so badly I could see where it had pulverized bone. Worse yet, small spots of infection had already appeared, miniscule but obvious to my Clairvoyance. So instead of confronting Conquest's durability, I took the safer way out.

I drew Crocea Mors, activated the Burning Blade, and cut her leg off just below the hip. In the following moment, as surprise shone brightly in Conquest's eyes, I returned the blade to its resting place, jumped high to scoop my mother up safely in my arms, and then planted my foot on Conquest face with all the force I could muster. The same steps that had shattered the ground they'd tread upon crushed what was left of his mask, breaking my father's nose along with it and tossing him to the ground as I flipped back and landed in a crouch.

Time returned to normal again and I saw my mother grimace sharply, biting down a hiss of discomfort before meeting my eyes.

"My arm, too," She said, holding the infected limb away from her body and gritting her teeth as I tore it off with the White Tiger's Jaws and tossed it away. With it gone, I put a hand on her head and drew once more from my dwindling supply of Dust crystals, settling a Regeneration over her with a blue one. I heard her take a shuddering breath and then speak again. "Go."

I set her down as gently as I could and rose, flexing my claws, focusing on Conquest as he stumbled to his feet.

"Son of a fucking bitch," He snarled, a hand on his faceand I closed the distance in the blink of an eye, laying a hand over his to lift him high and slam his face up to his cheek bones into the dirt.

"That's my momma you're talking about," I said calmly, claws sinking into his skin. He screamed as I pushed my Aura against his and tried to force it down, power flowing in more easily now as I searched. It was an odd sensation, almost as if I were pushing against a door and feeling it shake, and it encouraged me, made me push harder. "Now let's try this again!"

Whatever I felt, he must have felt too, because he froze for just an instant and stared wide at me before setting his features into something bitter, spiteful.

"Let's," He spat and then began to convulse. I saw the Grimm cells turn on his body, attacking their own host with merciless swiftness. I sank my fingers deeper and healed him, repairing the damage at the cost of empowering the the disease, but then he just began to fit, kicking and screaming as what remained of his white armor began to bubble. Was he trying to kill himself or turn into a Pandora Shell? Looking at him, I wasn't sureprobably both. Trying to stall the former would encourage the latter, and then

"Jaune!" I heard my mother cry as I held onto my father, gritting my teeth and trying to fight even though it seemed hopeless. At her words, though, I felt something that was hard to describe.

It took me a moment to realize that it was hope. Her hope in my thoughts.

That more than anything was that made me look. Somehow, with one arm and a leg, she'd rolled herself over and pitched into the air, remaining hand reaching for the sphere of gathered Dust I'd had Levant gathered. When her fingers touched it, I allowed them to pass through, trusting herand in that moment, gas turned to liquid. The contents of the bubble turned to a swirling mass of mixing, melting color and it must have been hot as hell because my mom screamed as it formed around her hand.

But she didn't stop and as she began to fall, liquid turned at last into crystal. I saw her catch herself on what looked like a crystal gauntlet and her knee before looking down at her arm. In a scarce few places, the Grimm cells that had survived the procedure tried to take hold, but she merely closed her eyes for a moment.

The next, her arm fell away, plasma phasing through it just below her shoulder. At the same time, she began to follow it down, unable to support herself on only a legbut her eyes blinked open and met mine. I saw her lips twitch, moving to form words, but we were moving far too fast to rely on sound, now.

Even so, I understood and the ground broke beneath my feet as I released Conquest and closed the distance, stepping right past her falling body to snatch her arm out of the air. It was barely recognizable as human flesh above the elbow, colored oddly where liquid Dust had melted into her flesh even as he power crystalized it once more. But even with all that, I could see the rough shape of her fist, decorated in rising spikes of Dust but still clearly clenched tightly around something. I broke off her mostly melted fingers one by one to get to the prize inside.

Growing from the palm of her hand was a white Dust crystal. It was tiny, almost delicate looking, but for a moment I could only stare at it in awe.

I'd never seen one, except in pictures, because it was the rarest of the crystalsthe result of combining all the colors at full intensity. I had a brief moment to wonder what she wanted me to do, to consider my optionsbut then I decided and shoved the crystal, hand and all, towards my nonexistent heart.

And then I became light.

I'd never experienced this change from this perspective beforeas the Aura instead of the body. But there was no other way to describe it; it didn't hurt, as it had my physical form, but simply happened. Everything I was, my very soul given form, became light and expanded, growing in a way that was beyond the dimensions of my spectral body, beyond words I could use to describe it, beyond my ability to understand even as it happened. There was something immense there, something just beyond my reach, butfirst things first.

Turning around, I faced the frozen world. My mother, Conquest, everythingit had all stopped, or might as well have, considering. I flowed through the halted air as light and returned to my father's side, looking down at the statue he'd become, and laying a hand on his head once more.

"I understand," I said, except I didn't so much as move. Even so, I did understand something, looking down at him. I'd heard the phrase a thousand times, but never truly thought it mattered until now.

The eyes are the windows to the soul. That's why a number of Semblances affected their user's eye colorit was just a way of expressing what lay within.

And the eyes of the Grimm were nothing but pits of pure red. And my father's eyes, in Conquest's hold, were as red as any other monster's.

But there's more to a house than the windows or what color they were. You can't always judge a book by its cover. Sometimes you have to take a look inside.

I looked into my father's eyes and felt that resistance again, that doorway trying to keep me out. But I'd cast aside my body for this and this light I'd made of soulif it existed for any reason, then it must be for this.

I felt Conquest try to keep me out, but he was as helpless to stop me now as he was to keep the sun from rising.

"You and me, Conquest," I said, though I knew he couldn't hear. "One more round."

I began to fall forward, as if a pit had opened up beneath me, hungry to draw me in. But I wasn't afraid, even as my body began to fade. In fact, I was smiling.

I'm coming dad.

A skill has been created through a special action! By combining the skill of Projection with the power of the White Rider, the skill 'Usurpation' has been created.