Sneaking His Way into the Multiverse (RWBY Jaune, WC-lite mechanics)

[Sceonn]

1. Aura is magic. Ozpin said so. So aura will kill an esper, especially with such a passive presence.
2. It's funny, you don't care, and you don't care about the character's feelings. The main thing is what you want. For example, I also want Ax to stop messing around and finish off the clones. But alas, his life is in his hands.

Click to shrink...

I'll need a link to that beyond 'Ozpin said so'.

Of course I don't care. I literally said I 'wish' he heals him, did you miss that? If you think respecting someone's desire to be hurt to deal with compound childhood trauma is fine I have nothing to say to that, to each his own.

 

[Muramasa]

I'll need a link to that beyond 'Ozpin said so'.

Click to shrink...

Season 5, training arc, Ozpin ponders the nature of aura and eventually says that he doesn't know what it is. If it's not science, it's magic, which means it will kill the esper due to a conflict with personal reality.

 

[Sceonn]

Season 5, training arc, Ozpin ponders the nature of aura and eventually says that he doesn't know what it is. If it's not science, it's magic, which means it will kill the esper due to a conflict with personal reality.

Click to shrink...

Ozpin has magic, he can even gift magic so it is a known subject to him. If said Ozpin then says he doesn't know what Aura is, then it clearly isn't 'magic'.

In fact this makes it safer because the reason Espers cannot use magic is because their power is a continuous running spell so attempting to use magic is like two different spells simultaneously crushing into one another. Aura being completely removed from means there will be no magical interference.

Of course this is speculation, but I feel it makes more sense than Aura being magic.

 

[Daddycool101]

damn. That's some... range. Is this canon?

Click to shrink...

Yeah and it did jackshit to the target. Windowless building is built differently.

Nobody talks like that IRL. Not even teens with attitude.

... then again this is an anime setting so maybe they do.

Click to shrink...

That is spot on for Accelerator, dude's a foulmouthed kid.

 

[LazyAutumnMoon]

Under the intensifying rain, as the evening sun dropped below the horizon, three figures drove through the city in a hijacked black ops van.

Jaune, in the driver seat, thought it a rather welcome reprieve. He didn't have to move much, didn't have to walk, only giving the occasional nudge to the steering wheel while the calming staccato rhythm of rain drops pounding on the car roof soothed his soul. In the meantime, his Aura and the stimpaks were doing their work to put him back in fighting shape. There seemed to be synergies taking place between them, too, but he wasn't knowledgeable enough on the matter to tell beyond a vague feeling borne of experiencing a hundred different recuperations during his year at Beacon. (Which was a less humiliating way of saying he spent a lot of time licking his wounds after receiving a thorough thrashing in Combat Class.)

The sensation of stimpak-induced, accelerated healing was something new for him, and quite hard to describe. Like the morning after a person got over an illness, where the memory of the symptoms were still fresh on the mind to make their normal state of health seem invincible in comparison. Like the first minute of unlocking one's Aura.

Sort of. It's…good.

A far off explosion interrupted his musing, and his grip tightened on the wheel. Easing his foot from the pedal, he slowed the van to better look outside the window, glancing down the streets they were driving past for the source of the sound.

Immediately, a leg began kicking the backrest of his seat.

"Why the hell are you driving like an old man again?" Accelerator complained. The boy was lying half-sprawled out on the bench behind Jaune. "We don't have time. Speed up!"

"Didn't you hear that? I would rather not have a rocket blow us up, thank you."

"Idiot. That was at least two kilometers—"

"Three kilometers, from the southeast," Tattletale corrected, sounding far too pleased as Accelerator tch'ed under his breath.

To double-check, Jaune asked, "Sure about that?"

Comforted by her confident nods, he pressed down on the acceleration, gradually bringing the van back up to a nice and normal Remnant-standard speed of 30 miles/hour above the posted limit even as Tattletale, riding shotgun, celebrated her intellectual victory over Accelerator by knocking back another one of Piero's Remedy.

He somewhat regretted dropping a whole case in her lap after the third time she asked for a new dose. Half the vials out of the dozen stored inside now laid empty, her excuse being to soothe the ongoing and debilitating aftereffects of her superpower—she had overused it following recent, literally world-changing events. One might argue that giving her ability a rest by turning it off would make for a more practical solution, and they'd be right. Unfortunately, Tattletale had laughed at him when he suggested exactly that. At this rate, he estimated they had less than two weeks left of supply.

Perhaps too much of a good thing may become the opposite. Could people get addicted to healing?

"I don't have a problem!" Tattletale protested against his unspoken concerns. "If you haven't noticed, this is a bit of a situation, okay? We've got a whole nation's worth of nukes back there." She waved in the direction of Accelerator. Jaune caught the other boy sneering in the rearview mirror. "An ambush to plan." She indicated the navigation screen built into the van, on which a blinking dot marked their destination: a rendezvous point set for the Hound Dog unit to return to once their mission at the hospital was over. The group had deemed it their best bet of picking up the trail to find the missing girl. "And, well, this."

That time, she swept her arm all over the place. Jaune understood the gist of it, though. The city has become quite lively since they took to the road.

So far, he had caught two car chases, one running on a parallel street for a few blocks, the other cutting below them through an underpass. Gunfire erupted on both occasions.

Meanwhile, up top, figures leapt from building to building, their purpose and affiliations unknown. He'd guess some of them were espers based on their unassisted maneuvers, but the ones he paid a mind to were those using the aid of technology to assist their travels. Grapple hooks, jetpacks, rocket boots. That last one really hurt, since he was slated to get a pair as part of their payment from Crowley before things went sideways.

Then there were the robots. Possibly robots. All he knew was that he caught glimpses in between the buildings of huge objects on the move, often towards each other, their clashes accompanied by the sound of rending steel and explosions.

After the city went to sleep, things woke up to play. Criminal or mercenary types, Tattletale offered as an explanation. Mob bosses, mad scientists, petty thieves, hired killers, agents of Crowley yet to be pointed at Accelerator once it came time for the Chairman to pay his bills. People like her and him, who saw opportunity in the ongoing crisis. So long as they had the means to remain free of the memetic virus or whatever it was, profits abound for those willing to skirt the law.

Collectively, Accelerator referred to it as Academy City's dark side. Pure mayhem was Jaune's term following a good look around at the aforementioned scenes.

A headache, Tattletale continued insisting.

"Me using this many Remedies is entirely warranted," she concluded. To emphasize the point, she unstoppered a vial. "And I think another migraine is coming on again. 'Scuse me a sec."

Nope. Jaune would bet anything that she just loved the high of Thinking without a limit, which to him seemed a very possible starting point for an unhealthy dependency on the stuff. Still keeping an eye on the road, he reached over to confiscate the medicine case. It became a drawn-out back and forth as a whining Tattletale batted at his grasping hand.

He won. Duh. She had noodle arms compared to him.

Out of sight, the vials vanished inside his Pocket, and peace returned to the van.

"You two nuisances are too damn loud," Accelerator growled, looking like he might have developed a headache of his own.

Jaune adjusted the mirror to better meet the other boy's gaze, and tried for a disarming smile. "Come on, this is nothing. A bit of fooling around isn't bad." Team JNPR got up to waaay crazier shenanigans. A tad illegal, sometimes. Very, in that one case with him and Ren. "Think of it as a day out with friends. You know how it goes."

"No, I don't."

"Oh. Um…"

Well, that killed the mood. Accelerator had delivered the line to him without a change in expression. No emotions, no hint of humor. Worse, Jaune's pocket lie detector (i.e. Tattletale) winced at the comment, which was damning.

His fingers tapped a beat on the steering wheel, the only audible sound among the trio for a while. Within his head, he tested out different avenues of breaking the ice that might revive the conversation—a joke, an offer of friendship, a suggestion that they make a stop at a diner for pancakes—and ran into a wall each time as a little voice warned him of the minefields he may be jumping on with both feet, based on the revelations he had gleaned of the esper's life.

The turn he took at the next intersection provided, if not a solution, then an excuse to end the silence.

"Hey, look, we're almost there." He tapped the navigation screen. On the map, the blinking dot was a straight shot from their location, about a mile down the road.

Tattletale cleared her throat, and pasted on a grin. "Showtime, boys. So here's how I'm seeing it go down. We should find a spot where we can observe the Hound Dog unit, and—"

"Yeah, I was just going to ram them," Jaune said, quite matter-of-factly.

"….say again?"

He motioned towards the screen again. "The map doesn't show any buildings around there, so I expect they've set up in a van like ours with clear line of sight of our arrival. Leaving the car then going on foot is a bad idea. Driving up to them and rolling to a stop all friendly-like is not much better, either. They'd recognize that we're not their buddies." He adjusted his foot, letting the van cruise at a constant speed. "Logically, this means we should ram them."

He had lots of practice on that front today. They could call him a certified expert in vehicular mayhem by this point.

"That is not at all logical! I—oh, crap!" Tattletale fumbled for her seatbelt as a black van came into view, parked sideways across the road and growing closer at a rapid pace. Nobody was standing outside, so they must all be hanging out within. Two figures sat in the front seats, visible through the window.

Jaune noted movement at the corner of his eyes. A hand had grabbed onto the headrest of the driver seat, with Accelerator then pulling himself forward until he was level with the pair sitting in the front. White teeth bared in a not-so-nice smile.

"Now this is a plan I can agree with. Send those fools flying. Bonus score if they launch out of the windshield."

"You might want to put on a seatbelt."

Accelerator glared at him. "Did you forget what vectors mean? Should I remind you what I can do?"

Images of not that long ago filled his mind, and Jaune shook his head no.

"Thought so. Now fuck them up!"

Jaune rolled his eyes, and aimed his car at the center of the parked van. Contrary to what a certain backseat driver may wish, the vehicle began losing momentum, reaching a…well, he hesitated to call it safe…a mostly survivable speed for the other party, barring bad luck. He wanted the people inside the van knocked down, injured even better to avoid him having to fight. Dead? Ehhh, he wouldn't shed a tear—child abductors and combat situation and whatnot—but leaving them subdued for the police worked for him too. They were more useful alive.

He struck dead on target, taking a small dent to his current Aura reserves as the two vans collided. Their squat, armored construction prevented the other van from rolling onto its side, which disappointed him a bit. It did, however, lift off to stand on two wheels in a sudden and violent jerk, before slamming back against the ground to thoroughly rattle its occupants. Disentangling himself from his seat, Jaune jumped out on the road then into the back of the enemy vehicle within the span of seconds. Inside, he discovered four black-clad individuals, dazed and bearing wounds yet still breathing. It was a moment's work to smack them a few times, divest them of their weapons, and drag the lot out from the van to where Tattletale waited with sets of handcuffs.

And that was that. One Hound Dog unit captured and ready for questioning in as one-sided a fight as it could get, aside from a shortness of breath on his part. Jaune stood before Tattletale, proud and beaming.

"Not bad, right?"

Hair rumpled and nose red from hitting the airbag, she looked at him from beneath her umbrella for a while, then answered with a long, suffering groan. The girl threw both hands—one still holding the umbrella—in the air, exasperated rather than pleased.

It was then, peering over her head, that Jaune saw Accelerator form a claw with his hand, and he had a premonition of the next five seconds. Something along the line of 'bloodbath,' or maybe 'massacre'. The instant that the other boy so much as twitched, Jaune interposed between him and their captives, arms waving in placating motions.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's not go there just yet, okay?" he said. Accelerator took another step, and Jaune backed up, voice growing a note shriller. "They're better off alive! Tattletale can draw answers out of them!"

That got the other boy to pause. He turned to look at Tattletale, who fluttered her fingers.

"I can, and pretty easily, too~" she agreed, affecting good cheer as she sauntered on by. There was a moment when she seemed about to nudge Accelerator aside in a small power move, but thought better of it and played the gesture off as smoothing out her hair. "Leave it to someone who knows what they're doing."

Coming to a stop in front of the Hound Dog unit, she twirled her umbrella, lording her dry form over the drenched quartet as she looked from one person to the next. A grin played on her lips, and once in a while she would give a curious hum as she observed a captive.

It was clear the four people there had no knowledge of her. They were relieved more than anything to have this random girl staring them down in place of Accelerator, and over time confidence returned to their posture. They sat up straighter. Wary expressions relaxed to calm, professional faces. Their spirits had reignited with a spark of defiance.

Jaune, currently ensconced under his own umbrella to stave off the rain, watched on with anticipation.

At last, Tattletale made her choice. She approached the man on the left end of the lineup. If Jaune had to say what was notable about him, it would be that he's the most lucid, black hair in a bowl cut dirtied only by a slight bit of blood. Squatting down, she regarded him with a genial air.

"Hey, do you know how to use a gun?" she asked.

Bowl Cut had been ready to weather the interrogation with cool aplomb, perhaps spitting in their faces as a show of his resolve. Now, the man blinked in confusion, as did everyone else. The answer seemed obvious.

Without waiting for him, Tattletale continued shooting off questions. "Do you enjoy making money? Do you hate making money? Was there ever a girl you liked? How about a boy? Ha. I kid. Aaand now I can tell what your microexpressions mean, so you can't lie to me and I don't need you to talk." She dropped that last part almost as a casual aside.

The four Hound Dog members displayed various levels of skepticism, with Bowl Cut looking amused. Tattletale smile, too, nodding along like she agreed with them. It did sound silly.

She then leaned in, and said to the man, "Has Hound Dog caught the girl named Last Order? Yes. Do you know where she is held? No. Do you have an idea? Maybe. Is she alive? Yes. Is she unharmed? No."

One of the vans flew up, kicked by a furious Accelerator lashing out. It soared over them, landing further down the street with a resounding crash.

Bowl Cut, whose eyes had grown wider with each answer, glanced from Tattletale to Accelerator and back. The confidence he had mustered was nowhere to be found.

Hopping to her feet, Tattletale began pacing.

"So, she's in custody, but your unit wasn't told of the location. Why? If we assume opsec, then it's probably because you and the other units are still spread over the city to deal with Accelerator. But that doesn't make sense unless…" She slowly spun to face the captives. "Unless the expectation by your boss was that you'd lose and Accelerator will try to pry an answer out of you."

Jaune cut in, "Seriously? Wow, that's messed up."

These guys were sent on a suicide mission, in essence. It hadn't taken him long to stumble on the fact that Accelerator tended to exhibit an extreme, often lethal reaction to his enemies.

"Really messed up," Tattletale concurred. "At some point, you have to wonder if the pay's worth it. You can't spend your fortune if you're in a grave, after all. Think about it." She returned to the end of the line, addressing the man there. "Kihara didn't care if you died. Does he deserve your loyalty? Don't you want to go home to your fiance tonight?"

Jaune's gaze lowered to a ring Bowl Cut wore on a string around his neck. He hadn't noticed that until she pointed it out.

"Awww, do you love her? Are you gonna get married and have a bunch of kiddies together?" Tattletale dropped the fake sweetness. "Yes to both, surprisingly. Well then, here's the deal." She walked closer. "You tell us what where you believe Last Order is, and—"

A ringtone interrupted her spiel, coming from Bowl Cut's pocket. All eyes were drawn to it.

"Jaune?"

"On it."

As he came closer, Bowl Cut decided it was his chance to turn the table, and attempted some sort of hold using his cuffed hands. It failed when Jaune refused to move an inch, and earned Bowl Cut a bonk on the head with the hilt of his umbrella. Holding the man in place, Jaune fished a phone out of his pocket, ringtone still going strong. On the screen was one word: Boss. He pressed the button to pick up the call, and put it on speaker before tossing it to Tattletale so that he could set to the task of cuffing the Hound Dog's legs together for good measure.

From the phone, he heard an unfamiliar voice. "Tell them a single word, and I will have your fiance on my operating table by morning. In pieces."

Tattletale swept her gaze around the area, stopping on the van and its subtly futuristic details. "Cameras."

"Kihara," Accelerator spat out.

"That's right, Accelerator. I must say, I am quite surprised. You, of all people, accepting help? Whatever happened to all that talk about weaklings?"

"Shut the fuck up!" the esper shouted. "What game are you playing at, Kihara?"

"It's exactly that." The voice had taken on an air of amusement. "A game. I'm just having a bit of fun to pass the time."

"No, you're stalling," Tattletale blurted, unable to help herself.

The voice stopped. A few seconds later, it resumed speaking to Accelerator as if nothing happened. "You see, knowing I've won is one thing. Announcing it for everyone, and especially for the loser, is another. It's a rush to watch an annoyance like you writhe and struggle like there's still a way out."

"You're stall~ling~" Tattletale sing-songed.

They could barely discern the sound of grinding teeth on the other line. It seemed Kihara did not appreciate the interruptions to his victory speech.

"Accelerator, you have started killing again. My men showed me the pictures of their comrades after you were done. Did you do it thinking that would send a message to me? How cute."

The odd part, Jaune thought, was how in a few short lines, Kihara had turned Accelerator into an altogether different person. The anger was there, innocuous words leading to a tightening of the brow or a muttered curse, but the hunching of the shoulders and the way his eyes darted around in wariness spoke of great anxiety. A being that can change the rotation of the planet at will has been reduced to an uncertain child.

It's unsettling to witness from this side of things. An understanding of the person, weaponized to use against them. A bit like a certain someone.

Tattletale nudged him, motioning him to lean down so she could mutter in his ear. "They know each other. Kihara's a scientist, I think he was the one in charge of Accelerator. Spend enough time observing your lab rat, and you begin to know how they respond better than they do."

Meaning, Accelerator was operating at a disadvantage in this back and forth, Kihara inflicting a hundred little wounds on him through words alone. In basic terms, it's what Tattletale was in the middle of doing to the captured Hound Dog unit.

Wait, wasn't the goal of that to manipulate them into obeying her?

Oh, boy.

Kihara was still talking, spewing his poison. Jaune barged in with the tact of a walrus to head that off, because he did not fancy a second go against Accelerator. "Kiharaaaa!"

Said man cut off mid-sentence, something about meat sculptures. The sound of grinding teeth returned, shortly followed by a curt reply.

"What?"

"You're an idiot."

A juvenile insult. To most people, the word carried little effect. Jaune chose it for one reason.

Smart people went apoplectic at being called that. Case in point, Tattletale.

Kihara barked out a laugh, but it was devoid of humor. "And who are you supposed to be? Since when did hired thugs get so mouthy? If I am an idiot, then the rest of the world is terminally braindead!"

"I don't know, dude. Were you the one behind those papers on Accelerator? My partner here had a look at it, and she thought the research was a load of nonsense."

"My findings are accurate by all observable metrics, and broke grounds in seven different fields of physics! I doubt that cavemen like you can even spell cenapholesticeadiploid, and…no, forget this, I will not waste time debating with a lower life form. Accelerator. An artless waste of perfectly good meat as your work may be, I suppose there is a silver lining to your rediscovered bloodthirst. Unless you want me using your precious Last Order to demonstrate the proper way of removing limbs from a subject, you will kill those two companions of yours."

Ohhhh, boy.

Jaune spun towards Accelerator. The esper hadn't made a move yet. He was, however, looking at Jaune out of the corner of his eyes. His hands happened to be formed in the shape of claws again.

Not good. This was the very situation he wished to avoid.

"I, ah…Look, I don't think he's the trustworthy sort, Accelerator."

"Definitely not," Tattletale tacked on, grinning as if she knew something Jaune didn't. The quick, shallow breaths of a cornered animal told the truth. "It's a sham. He sure did put up a good performance, though, talking about making human art and things. So thrilling! Do you see the goosebumps on my arm, Jaune?"

Jaune looked down at her arm, covered by her costume. "No."

"Yeah, there aren't any, since the two-bit act was actually pathetic."

"And what would you know—"

Tattletale cut Kihara off. "That comment about hurting the little girl? It didn't sound at all like the truth. You know why?" She asked everyone present, Hound Dog included. "Because even while he's controlling Hound Dog, he's also somebody else's lapdog." She turned to Jaune. "Crowley said it himself in the beginning, remember? That Last Order was supposed to be in his custody. He phrased his request to us like she needed to be protected. Then when Hound Dog found Last Order, they captured the girl instead of killing her. For whatever reason, she has value to Crowley. Hell, you don't give someone the name 'Last Order' for giggles. Maybe she has an esper power that he thinks is important. In any case, Kihara as his underling would have to be real careful about how he treats her." She finished by pointing a triumphant finger at the van, presumably where the camera recording them was located.

For a time, Kihara remained speechless. Jaune relaxed, as did Accelerator, reassured that the girl they were looking for would be safe despite Kihara's lies.

Then, a response.

"...You must think you have all the answers."

"I know so."

A scoff. "Well, we'll see about that."

Through the phone, there was the sound of footsteps and the rustle of clothes as someone walked the length of a room. It soon came to a stop.

They heard a scream. The voice was that of a young girl.

Ice gripped Jaune's heart. Tattletale lost her grin, her face paling.

Accelerator snatched the phone from Tattletale's hand, bellowing into it. "Stop right now, or I'll kill you, Kihara!"

"Ahaha, always with the threats. There are far worse things than death. Like what's happening to this sack of meat. Testament programs sure are amazing, aren't they? Shoving a virus into a human's head shouldn't even work this way normally. How fascinating! Want me to send you a video? Gyahahaha!"

"Fucking bastard!"

"Shouting wouldn't change a thing, Accelerator, and neither would my death. It's far too late for that. Should be any second now."

Jaune was about to ask what that meant, even though he doubted he would enjoy the answer.

He halted, and so did everything. Everything. For a second, rain did not fall, and a stillness reigned throughout the city. Him, Tattletale, Accelerator, Hound Dog, they all felt it. A pressure that weighed on them, building to something. The world grew uncomfortably warm.

And then there was light.

It bloomed forth in the distance, a great shape of pure brightness that forced Jaune to shade his eyes, rising above the buildings of Academy City, spreading towards the heavens and casting night into day. It looked like a cocoon, an egg.

From one moment to the next, the shape unfurled into uncountable different trails, beams of light that had weight. They swept past buildings in their immediate area, shearing concrete and steel apart like paper. Under the rain, a part of the city skyline crumpled—where had he seen that before?

Squinting, his eyes in tears, Jaune tried to make out a figure, a form to the manifold lines drawn across the sky. Putting a name to what he was seeing.

Wings. They were wings.

And at the center of the manifestation, where the wings joined together, he spied the outline of a face. One word sprang to the tip of his tongue, from legends and myths of Remnant.

"Angel?"

"The Simurgh…?"

Jaune did not recognize the name, spoken so softly that he almost missed it. He turned to Tattletale, to ask her what that meant. And he reared back in shock.

She was crying, looking broken.

"Endbringer." Her whisper carried with it a universe of horror.

Jaune froze stock still. He smelled salt in the air. Saw blood in the water. A lumbering beast stared at him behind a curtain of rain.

It all vanished in a blink, and once more he stood before the bright lights.

That? Here?

He blurted out an instinctive denial, "That's not possible."

Those monsters belonged to a different place, so far away that it can never cross the divide.

"Hopekiller." Tattletale had not heard Jaune, face blank and eyes staring past him; her arms hung limply at her side. He dropped his umbrella and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking the girl.

"Tattletale, it was literally the first thing you searched for on your phone, just as I looked up Grimm. This thing can't be an Endbringer!"

For him, there were fairy tales, and two brothers. A curious coincidence and nothing more. For her, it returned armageddon, entropy, and other nebulous dooms. Concepts, rather than beings. The end of civilization in its many forms did not exist on this planet. Or, at least, it should not.

Yet again, she showed no sign of understanding him. As he seriously considered drastic measures (with influence taken from the aforementioned fairy tales), a stream of blood dripped down her nose. His grip on her shoulders became the only thing holding her upright as the girl began swaying, losing strength in her knees.

"Mmsphmbublah…"

Ahhhh. He recognized that glaze to the eyes, along with the declining motor control. The reason she wasn't responding to him was due to her superpower having gone into overdrive, then blasted past every possible threshold to reach the point where it debilitated her other functions. She was Thinking.

That's one mystery solved. Good.

…

"Oh, hell! Hang on, Tattletale!"

A vial of Piero's Remedy appeared, floating on thin air. In Jaune's panicked scramble to catch it, Tattletale slipped from his grasp to faceplant on the wet ground. He winced, then pulled her back up, tipping the contents of the vial down her throat.

A gasp, and her eyes lost their unfocused sheen, darting around in the manner of a person suddenly waking. They landed on the angel.

"Nope." Jaune slapped a hand over her eyes. "Shut down your power first."

"No, I want to see it," she demanded in a whine.

"That thing will punch you in the brain again unless you have your power turned off. Come on, Tattletale, don't push yourself."

She hesitated for a long beat, no doubt considering the complete opposite of his advice. Finally, though, she fumbled in her utility belt for the control key to her choker. A click, and the girl relaxed in his arms, flopping bonelessly as a heretofore unnoticed pressure released its hold on her. (Jaune had, in the past few weeks, referred to that absence of pressure as 'having a healthy mental state'. She called it 'weird', and avoided it most days.)

Once he was certain she wouldn't fake him out and reactivate her power, Jaune helped Tattletale to her feet, letting her lean on him for support as he recovered his umbrella to shield them both from the continuing downpour. She used his body as cover, peeking at the angel from behind his back.

Together, they looked upon what she called an Endbringer.

"This is way beyond us," Jaune remarked with a strange level of calm. Maybe it's because he saw no hope of winning against the being.

"Now you say that? Now? This whole world ten minutes ago was already beyond us!"

Espers, memetic viruses, planet-scaling attacks, and then add to that angels. He had to concede to her point. Staying this long in Academy City was perhaps unwise in hindsight.

"But the kid…"

"You're still thinking of—what am I saying, of course you were. You impulsive, stubborn, naive, stupid fucking do-gooder."

Jaune forgave her for that. They both had gone a little hysterical, seeing as this might be Leviathan all over again.

"You ridiculous, thoughtless, meatheaded, dense, witless, delusional—"

He reached back with his free hand, and pinched her cheek. "Too far."

"Ahm raight, tho."

"Yes, yes, you're always right, or so you keep insisting." He released her cheek. "Now how about you see what you can get right about that thing, because I need to know our options."

"We can ditch," was her immediate suggestion.

"That's one option," he allowed, albeit grudging. Loathe as he was to admit it, the possibility that he couldn't help rescue Last Order loomed larger in his thoughts with each passing minute. The appearance of the angel had thrown everything off course. "But you know what? Nothing says that the angel is deliberately hostile."

A ball of light formed between two of the angel's wings, shooting out as a beam to a distant target beyond the city limits. An earth shattering boom later, a massive cloud of dust blocked out one side of the horizon.

"Hostile to us, I mean."

The angel turned, and Jaune almost passed out from fear. To his relief, it ended up facing a different direction from them.

Now was Tattletale's turn to reach around him with a hand, and pinched his cheek. "Stop talking before you jinx us to death."

"Aukayyy."

Letting go, she turned her palm facing up. "More Remedies, if you please. If I'm to stay lucid during this, I'll need a whole lot of it."

Jaune opened his mouth, ready to have a talk on substance dependencies and the possible pitfalls thereof.

Tattletale preempted him. "In twenty seconds, I am going to activate my power for the sake of a little girl's life. Without those Remedies, I'll fall down and won't get back up, then she'd be lost forever. Desperate times call for desperate measures. If you get to risk your life, I get to risk mine. Ten seconds left. Nine. Eight. Sev—"

Glowing blue vials appeared, falling into her open palm.

"Thank you~"

"I feel dirty. Like a dealer."

"Don't be so dramatic. You're dispensing medicine. With that definition, all pharmacists would count as drug dealers, and that's just silly." Behind him came the sound of gulps, followed by a relieved sigh. "Oh man, that's the good stuff." The way she phrased it did not assure him any. "Now, shoosh. Let me work."

It's nearly impossible to tell when Tattletale's power was in use. There's no visible effects that a person could point to, no definite tell. Even her talking was insufficient proof, because the chatter would never stop anyway, with or without supernatural abilities. All Jaune could do, was wait.

The first thing she noted, it had nothing to do with the angel.

"Hey, have you realized? You're breathing normally now."

Jaune blinked, then tilted his chin to look down, one hand going to his chest. He tried taking a deep breath. Air filled his lungs, crisp and clear. He exhaled, and experienced none of the shortness that had made running and fighting more difficult than usual. It felt phenomenal.

"Since when did that happen?" he asked.

Tattletale pointed ahead, the empty vial of a second Remedy held in the same hand.

"Since that appeared." She rested her chin on his shoulder. "Curious. Those dots in the sky…they emerged from the destroyed buildings. They're people, unconscious. An attack that destroys inorganic objects? And a built-in friend or foe failsafe? That's not an Endbringer—plasmic composition diverges from known Endbringer flesh properties—energy output inconsistent with thermodynamic principles—metaphysical—funneled from—entropic—cenapholestice—gulp, gulp, gulp." An empty vial flew over Jaune's head, shattering on the sidewalk. "Bleh. Where the heck was that rabbit hole leading me?" Tattletale paused. "What was I talking about?"

"Something about people in the sky?"

"Oh yeah! That's not an Endbringer—plasmic compo—wait, no, focus! I was going to say it's deployed specifically as a response to the memetic effect that was putting everyone to sleep. It's artificial—Artificial. Scientific. Academy City. Crowley. Kihara. Last Order," she rattled off in one breath, pieces to the puzzle already lurking in her mind now slamming into the proper place.

It wove together one narrative. Why Jaune and Tattletale were hired. Why they were betrayed. What was happening. The reason Last Order mattered.

"Surprisingly, you might be right, Jaune. We've got one hell of an option on the table. We can stick it to Crowley and wreck his oversized toy by saving Last Order."

"Aaand what about the memetic virus and the people floating in midair?" It seemed an important concern to bring up.

"Eh. They'll probably be fine." she replied, blithely. Then, leaning closer, Tattletale whispered in his ear. "Remember her screams? She's in pain because they wanted to activate that thing, and I bet she's in pain for every second it's alive. The entire time."

Jaune shivered. There was a vestige of beauty beneath the angel's terrible might. A festive light show if one could look past the destruction. Even that died as he imagined a tortured scream continuing without end.

"You really think those people will be safe?"

He felt rather than saw her shrug, the weight on his back shifting.

"One problem's gone, or will be gone soon judging by those laser blasts, and the other's lowering to the ground bit by bit. So yeah, I'm pretty sure."

Jaune mulled on the idea. How has the situation changed, given these revelations? In truth, not much. There was an ongoing crisis. Someone else was taking care of it. A child had been kidnapped. She remained in captivity. An Endbringer-like entity was in the vicinity. They did not have to fight it.

They did not have to fight it, he repeated that thought, reinforcing the notion so as to unwind the knot of fear in his gut. He did not have to face a monstrous, city-killing beast without Sundancer by his side. The day was not yet lost.

"I want to give it a shot," he said, glancing back at Tattletale to gauge her response. Green eyes simply blinked, revealing nothing. "I know it's dangerous, and a little dumb, but…I want to try?"

"Cool. Let's."

"That's it?"

"I'll be honest, Jaune. Crowley is ticking a lot of boxes for me, and not in a good way. Also, I didn't mention one tiny detail. Going back to the mall would mean getting closer to that thing."

He checked. She was right. The way home put them at an uncomfortable proximity to the giant monster, adding another problem to the mix.

"Just great. I think this world hates us. Wouldn't Last Order be over there, too? As in, the exact spot where the angel is?"

"Not necessarily. Kihara inputted a virus into her head—some real Cranial tinker bullshit. At a guess, she's functioning as the on switch. Which means she could also be the off switch, and you'd have to be an idiot to put the off switch to a nuke inside the nuke. No, with how Crowley operates, she'd be in a place where he can have Kihara shut her down in case things go wrong."

By killing her, Tattletale need not say aloud. Kihara was just that kind of guy.

"It all goes back to finding the girl," Jaune said. "But how? Kihara's men are a dead-end after his warning."

His gaze drifted over their surroundings in search of a clue, ending at one spot.

There stood Accelerator, drenched under the rain, alone and looking as lost as them. He seemed to grow smaller and smaller as he listened to the manic laughter on the phone that he still held in his hand. After their meltdown on seeing the angel, the pair had long forgotten him.

And because they had neglected him, the boy was about to crack.

Jaune hurried over, and swiped the phone from Accelerator. "Don't pay him any mind. We'll find Last Order, alright? It's going to be fine." He went for a comforting pat on the back. His hand met vector manipulation, and turned back on itself in a painful twist, forcing him to stifle a cry. It hadn't been an attack, the other boy was almost unaware of Jaune's presence, so some kind of automatic defense was in play. Its presence barred all forms of contact, a protective shell for Accelerator to keep the world out. Jaune was reduced to shouting encouraging words in the hope of waking the boy from his stupor.

Meanwhile, Kihara prattled on, reveling in the destruction caused by the angel. "There goes my bank! Hahaha! That thing is indiscriminate, isn't it?"

"You're not helpiiiing!" Jaune yelled into the phone.

"I shouldn't beeee."

What the—? He played along!

"Oh! There goes another! I do believe that a rival of mine has her lab there. Should be included in the bit that got shaved off, too. Serves her right!"

Jaune actually saw that one. A whole side of the high-rise, from the top to about six or seven floors below it, had been scooped out as a wing passed through, leaving the remaining portion of those floors open to the wind. The biggest chunk of falling debris measured the size of a house.

They saw it. Him and Kihara both. For a while, he failed to understand why that one detail bothered him, but it scratched at his mind. Then the epiphany hit with the force of a train.

Wouldn't Kihara have to be on this half of the city to have a view of that? Because the opposite side of the building would look completely fine?

He turned towards Tattletale to tell her his observation, but it seemed she had already grasped the same conclusion, a hand held out and beckoning in a gimme gesture. He passed her the phone.

She watched the angel for an opportunity. It soon gave her the chance as the wings wrecked the neon sign atop a different building.

"Holy crap, I think that started a fire!" She had injected the appropriate level of awe into her voice, and truly appeared a girl in shock.

"Let it burn! Yes, this is what Science should be. Unfettered by the ants on the ground!"

A delicate index finger pointed to the horizon, slowly sweeping across the city skyline.

"But wouldn't that be wrong? You must have seen the movies. Runaway science is how we get robot uprisings and abominations of nature. Three-eyed puppies and stuff."

Was that her belief? Jaune doubted it. Tattletale was one to see opportunities for her to exploit, not setbacks. She has not the discipline to ponder distant future possibilities.

Acting as the mouthpiece for the fearful masses worked well against Kihara, however. Condescension practically dripped from his voice. "You are all the same. Fools so short-sighted you cannot comprehend the higher ideals that go beyond your selfish desires. Always crying, always whining about morals and restraint and the children."

They heard a smack as Kihara slapped Last Order's face. Tattletale grinned through a wince; her grip on the phone tightened.

"As if those things weren't put there to hold humanity back. Were I in charge, bothersome types like you naysayers would be the first to go."

"Like how that investment firm just got blown away?"

"What?" There was a beat of silence. "Yes, fine, like that. It wasn't something important in the greater scheme of the world, and it went boom. I suppose it is an apt enough analogy." The voice lowered, speaking more to itself. "This perfectly encapsulates why I hate talking to ignorant trash."

If Tattletale took offense, she did not show it. The wooden grin sharpened to a smirk, toothy and smug. "You…didn't see that one."

Her finger adjusted course. Tattletale meandered through the area, maintaining a distraction for Kihara with her needling while she slipped in a comment here and there on actions taken by the angel. Based on his responses, entire directions were dismissed from the path of her finger, the angle not making sense otherwise. The movement grew narrower as time went on, never above a certain height, never below a particular point, constantly refining. She ran back and forth, to and fro, finally slowing down as she ascended the steps of a pedestrian cross bridge, with Jaune on her heels.

There, she dropped the pretense.

"You messed up, Kihara."

"Hah?"

In lieu of an explanation, she began calling out the logos on buildings, or their color or an identifying feature. A giant bottle of soda. The billboard ad of a cartoon girl's face. The white building without windows. She didn't need Kihara to talk anymore, listening instead to the minute reactions of the man through the phone. His breathing, his stammer, his silence, they were to her a confession.

Tattletale giggled.

"Who's the smarter one now, huh? See you soon, you sitting duck."

Her finger was no longer moving. An imaginary line stretched from its tip to the far distance. At the end of her sight, miles away, there lay a building.

"We found Last Order."

Those four words woke up Accelerator.

---

Author's notes: Too sick to write the action sequence, so two more chapters to this world, I think.

With each passing chapter, I am getting a better sense of just how long this story will end up being based on the current lineup of worlds alone. How exciting.

 

[Thanthat]

Damn, probably one of the best battle of wits I have read in a long time. You really do a great job writing Tattletale and her power.

 

[NuclearDiplomacy]

Is Jaune able to recruit anyone from Scientific Railgun? Has that been talked about yet?

Jaune and TT's synchronization has gotten really good now, if they don't go to some 'trap' worlds, things should be pretty good for them (show drop when?)

 

[Agent Orange]

Junkie Tattletale is... honestly kinda uncomfortable considering that's one of her possible fates if Coil decides her leash is too long.

Academy City scientific community reminds me of Fate Mage Association.
Are 'scientists' competing who's going to win human rights violation bingo?

 

[Frakir's brother]

Junkie Tattletale is... honestly kinda uncomfortable considering that's one of her possible fates if Coil decides her leash is too long.

Academy City scientific community reminds me of Fate Mage Association.
Are 'scientists' competing who's going to win human rights violation bingo?

Click to shrink...

That's fanon for both of them, but more true for Academy City, and especially the Kihara family. It's just that in both series, we only really see the small portion of figures that are willing to throw aside everything to reach their goals, while the vast majority that quietly plugs away is ignored.

 

[Gawain]

Tattletale has been on the ball this entire jump and i love it

 

[GiGaGi]

This is one of the most cracked tattletales I've ever seen...
Props to having an competent writer working with her power

 

[KaMinSod]

Is Jaune able to recruit anyone from Scientific Railgun? Has that been talked about yet?

Click to shrink...

It'd be hilarious if the gang recruits Accelerator and Last Order. I can't think of a better way to screw Crowley over.

This is one of the most cracked tattletales I've ever seen...
Props to having an competent writer working with her power

Click to shrink...

There's a good reason she's pounding back those remedies. If tats can take the leash off and go wild she's one of the most powerful thinkers in worm for ground-level investigation.

 

[Muramasa]

Um, you have to have a lot of imagination to see wings in the kilometer-long columns of plasma lightning. No tat, Kazakiri is not the Endbringer, Heka is much worse. Eh, it's a pity they won't see cutie Gabriel, but I'm glad Gossip Girl finally realized how terrible Academy City is.

 

[GigaVanguard]

Easily one of the best written/most epic Tattletales I've ever seen in fanfiction. This chapter was pure kino.

 

[Swindle66]

Absolute peak. Been enjoying this story since it came out and each world has been better than the last. Keep it up.

 

[Lopezelpesado]

Could people get addicted to healing?

Click to shrink...

Its from fallout so most likely yes.

With each passing chapter, I am getting a better sense of just how long this story will end up being based on the current lineup of worlds alone. How exciting.

Click to shrink...

And here I was hoping the story would never end :'v

 

[DarkDark01]

Great chapter! The characters' reactions and the way they interact with the world are very well done. I get so immersed in the story that the chapters end too quickly and always leave me wanting to read more lol. But above all, your health is the most important thing, so take care!

 

[rooster]

Still one the best stories in site. Please keep going. I'm dying to see the ending and I don't even like Index/Railgun.

 

[NineYetis]

This is one of the most cracked tattletales I've ever seen...
Props to having an competent writer working with her power

Click to shrink...

It's a beautiful compliment to Jaune.

Tattletale giggled.

"Who's the smarter one now, huh? See you soon, you sitting duck."

Click to shrink...

Classic Tattletale, outsmarts opponent then has to rub it in their face even when it would be smarter to just immediately capitalize on the revealed weakness.
Tho I suppose having a murderous Acelerator as your hit man makes this acceptable.

 

[MrSplashy]

Tats has been on the roll lately this is nice and fine plus Jaune and her are getting on the grove too.


I wonder after all of this where will they go next? I hope Cyberpunk Edgerunners, I just want them to at least save David so that he can finally be with Lucy. I am just coping I guess .

 

[High Lord Rokland]

Clearly the next world is My Little Pony.

 

[Talimancer2]

Tats has been on the roll lately this is nice and fine plus Jaune and her are getting on the grove too.


I wonder after all of this where will they go next? I hope Cyberpunk Edgerunners, I just want them to at least save David so that he can finally be with Lucy. I am just coping I guess .

Click to shrink...

Nah, save Rebecca

 

[Agent Orange]

Nah, save Rebecca

Click to shrink...

But she likes being a pancake. Save Sasha instead

 

[Swindle66]

Tats has been on the roll lately this is nice and fine plus Jaune and her are getting on the grove too.


I wonder after all of this where will they go next? I hope Cyberpunk Edgerunners, I just want them to at least save David so that he can finally be with Lucy. I am just coping I guess .

Click to shrink...

Don't worry, I'm coping with you.

 

[MrSplashy]

Nah, save Rebecca

Click to shrink...

But she likes being a pancake. Save Sasha instead

Click to shrink...

How about we save them all and then help Debido with his newfound harem.

Don't worry, I'm coping with you.

Click to shrink...

I am replaying the game again to try out the Phantom Liberty music and while I was in the middle of exploring the city that iconic song appeared and fucking hell it all came back to me in a flash. It's so painful, tragic, and despairing that I went back to coping and began looking for David Martinez fanfic with him going back in time or something.

 

[Agent Orange]

How about we save them all and then help Debido with his newfound harem.

Click to shrink...

Who's Debido and why does he have a harem?

 

[KaMinSod]

David is really hard to say for Japanese people.

 

[TheRookIsOnFire]

David is really hard to say for Japanese people.

Click to shrink...

Insert Joseph "I will never forgive the Japanese!" Meme here.

 

[wildredlifer]

Clearly the next world is My Little Pony.

Click to shrink...

Which version and is it just the show or are their comics added to the verse they are visiting.
Because MLP are all varying degrees of a Death world.

 

[LazyAutumnMoon]

Damn, probably one of the best battle of wits I have read in a long time. You really do a great job writing Tattletale and her power.

Click to shrink...

Thank you for saying so. Writing Tattletale is a fun challenge.

Is Jaune able to recruit anyone from Scientific Railgun? Has that been talked about yet?

Jaune and TT's synchronization has gotten really good now, if they don't go to some 'trap' worlds, things should be pretty good for them (show drop when?)

Click to shrink...

The biggest factor for me in regards to new party members, would have to be whether the character can be convinced to leave their world behind. This is closely followed by how their presence would mesh and clash with others, and if that would be interesting to write or not.

Junkie Tattletale is... honestly kinda uncomfortable considering that's one of her possible fates if Coil decides her leash is too long.

Academy City scientific community reminds me of Fate Mage Association.
Are 'scientists' competing who's going to win human rights violation bingo?

Click to shrink...

Eh. There's two sides to Academy City. The regular scientists are doing regular things for regular reasons. The ones that operate on the less legal side, they have sketchier reasons, and often are very willing to cause harm to others for the sake of advancing their research. The Kiharas exist on the far end of that.

Tattletale has been on the ball this entire jump and i love it

Click to shrink...

In a situation where she could shine, she shines bright.

This is one of the most cracked tattletales I've ever seen...
Props to having an competent writer working with her power

Click to shrink...

Tattletale, both in personality and in power, have been quite fun to build story scenes around.
I very much wish there are more stories with her in a prominent role for me to read.

Easily one of the best written/most epic Tattletales I've ever seen in fanfiction. This chapter was pure kino.

Click to shrink...

Thank you! Glad you liked it!

Absolute peak. Been enjoying this story since it came out and each world has been better than the last. Keep it up.

Click to shrink...

Thanks for reading!

Its from fallout so most likely yes.



And here I was hoping the story would never end :'v

Click to shrink...

I want to write a scene where Tattletale discovers Mentats.
And maybe a bad end where she takes too much Insight from Bloodborne.

Great chapter! The characters' reactions and the way they interact with the world are very well done. I get so immersed in the story that the chapters end too quickly and always leave me wanting to read more lol. But above all, your health is the most important thing, so take care!

Click to shrink...

Happy to hear that.
Lol, my health might be better if my best writing isn't done at 1AM. Something about the nights.
Rainy days too, for that matter, but there aren't enough of those.

Still one the best stories in site. Please keep going. I'm dying to see the ending and I don't even like Index/Railgun.

Click to shrink...

I will, chapter by chapter. Many worlds and characters I still need to write.

Tats has been on the roll lately this is nice and fine plus Jaune and her are getting on the grove too.


I wonder after all of this where will they go next? I hope Cyberpunk Edgerunners, I just want them to at least save David so that he can finally be with Lucy. I am just coping I guess .

Click to shrink...

Cyberpunk could be a good place to test Jaune's and Tattletale's character.
...Problem is, after a few minutes of thinking on it, I'm finding the concept of pitting them against David's crew on a job to be more interesting. POV switches to show moves and counter-moves between their respective groups. Strange abilities vs world experience and tech. Hm.