AN: Yeah, I have no excuses for how long this took, I was 70% done with this about a week after I released the last chapter.

Song is Dangerous by Royal Deluxe

Year 3: The Fallen Angel's Puppet

Jason's POV

I was with Rex and Haley, trying to figure out how to deal with Bushida.

Haley broaches the question. "So, where's Azure?"

Rex turns to look at her. "She didn't tell you... actually, that makes sense. She got detention for breaking Gwyntir's nose."

Haley frowned. "She defended me! How did Bushida get off free?"

Rex shrugs. "He had physical evidence of what Azure did to him. We only have our word on the matter. Even if they believed us, Azure did go past acceptable boundaries in paying him back."

I nod. "Just be glad they haven't been able to pin the scroll thing on her. Still, "I hold my scroll playing a recording of Bushida practicing, "we have to focus on shutting this asshole down."

Rex nods. "Let's assume his goal is twofold. First, prove himself as superior because of his 'noble blood.' Second, shame Haley and the Onyx household. Interconnected, but separate. What can he do to achieve this and how do we counter it?"

Haley speaks up. "The most obvious answer is beat me in a sparring class or take Pyrrha's title from her." Rex grunts at the mention of Pyrrha as Haley continues. "That's why we have samples of how he fights."

Rex returns to watching the video, as Bushida weaves a complex series of stabs and parries with a silver-tinted spear. "I'll admit Gwyntir is rather clever with his weapon choice."

I look at it again. "Not really, sure he can get some range on the thrusts, but a spear is pretty easy to counter. There's a reason Pyrrah has a second melee form for her weapon."

Rex closes his eyes with another grunt. "That's my point. How would you counter a spear?"

"Either stay outside the thrust range, which will almost certainly lead him to revealing a ranged form for it or charging his opponent, or... move in close so he can't get the full force of his strikes."

Haley nods. "He chose a weapon with a weakness that his Semblance counters. If you try to move in, he can just grab you and bring you to your knees."

That just creeps me out. If our Semblance is a reflection of a piece of ourselves, what are you that causes it to make you toxic to others?

Rex opens his eyes again. "So we need to know how to counter his combat style. He took off his glove before shaking Haley's hand. Unless he was clever enough to give a false tell, that almost certainly means he requires skin to skin contact for it to work."

Haley shrugs. "The best option would be to stay at range and weaken him from afar."

Rex shakes his head. "Just from that, he hard counters you, Haley. Your only ranged option is your Semblance, and you keep your left arm exposed, making a large target for him to use his."

Haley gets upset. "So what if he tries challenging me? Refusing means I look afraid of him, which means he wins that way!"

Rex smirks. "The same thing we do if he goes for Nikos, Jason steps in."

I stare at him. "Who are you and what have you done to Rex?"

Rex tilts his head. "Was that really that odd to say?"

You have got to be joking. "I thought you would leaping at the chance to tear him apart."

"While I have a bit more options than Haley, I rely on close combat too much to fight him reliably. You and Azure both are better for our plan, but... Azure's style was not meant for an one on one fight, at least not a fair one."

I contemplate it. He trusts me to beat Bushida more than himself? "So how do we make sure he fights me after we stop his challenge?"

Haley starts to laugh. "We use his pride. Challenge that, and he won't even consider another option."

I smile. "So let's figure out how exactly we're going to bait him into a trap..."

By the time sparring class came around, we had hammered out a plan that would destroy Bushida. Azure didn't show up, because apparently part of her punishment was that she wasn't allowed to participate in class and she consequently felt no need to be there. Rex and Haley were both recording, so she'll still get to see at least.

As soon as the professor asks if there were any volunteers, Bushida stood up. "I challenge Pyrrha Nikos."

So he's going straight for the champ. True to our plan, I start to laugh. Everyone's eyes turn to me. I focus on the fact that he didn't get his nose set in time, and leaned slightly to the left to make my laughter all the more convincing.

Bushida looks furious. "You find that funny?"

I smirk at him. "You show up and immediately challenge the Kingdom's champion? We've all proven our worth to fight her. You haven't shown yourself to be worthy of licking her boots. So yes, I find your audacity hilarious. You got a problem with that, bent-nose?"

If looks could burn, I probably be ashes by now, aura or not. "I've changed my mind. Him."

I stand up and go to grab my gear. soon enough, the two of us were waiting for the right to begin. "Here is my prediction of this fight. I win, you lose."

This is how it's gonna be
This is what you'll think of me
It's going down like I told you
This is how it's gonna be

I'll be the last man standing here
I'm not going anywhere
It's going down like I told you
I'll be the last man standing here

(What you gonna do?) I'm gonna rock you
(What you gonna do?) I'm gonna rock you
(What you gonna do?) I'm gonna rock you

I'll have you beggin' for mercy, beggin for mercy Oh
I'm dangerous, so dangerous
I'm dangerous, so dangerous

I fire off a pair of bullets as he charges straight towards. As he nears me, I dodge right while I launch Whither down low. He dodges the strike and places his foot on the chain. I throw Blossom in a downward arc toward his head and hold back a chuckle as he uses his spear to catch it, tying his weapon to me.

He laughs. "I seem to have you without a weapon."

I smile. "You really don't." I pull on Whither, hard. His foot slips and I use his lack of balance to disarm him by tugging on Blossom. I catch the spear and twirl it. "Such gaudy design. Still, a weapon is a weapon."

'gaudy? Unhand me, you damn filthy animal!'

And it has its owner's attitude. I toss it, point first, back at him.

He ducks underneath it. By now, I had my weapons back in hand and wait for his next move. He runs back for his spear, opening him up to unload the rest of my clips into his back.

I'm the baddest mother up in here
And I'm about to make it clear
It's going down like I told you
I'm the baddest mother up in here

(What you gonna do?) I'm gonna rock you
(What you gonna do?) I'm gonna rock you
(What you gonna do?) I'm gonna rock you

I'll have you beggin' for mercy, beggin for mercy Oh
I'm dangerous, so dangerous
I'm dangerous, so dangerous

He grabs his spear and hits a trigger, the point opening up to reveal a gun barrel. He points it at me and I dive to dodge the bullet. I see the wall behind me. There was a giant crack radiating out from where the shot hit.

So glad I didn't try to block that. Still, I have to applaud the tactic. His gun-form is much more dangerous than the spear, meaning normally people will go back into close range. However, this wasn't normal circumstances.

As he shifts the barrel back towards me, I take a weaving pattern, reloading my guns as I dodge his shots. "You still think your all that tough?" I send both blades out in horizontal arcs, converging at his torso. He moved forward, shifting his weapon back to a spear. I take the thrust and grab the spear shaft as I move back with the impact. Once I have a grip, I let my momentum bring my leg up to kick him in the gut, and once more disarm him. I slide my hand across his weapon before casually tossing it back to him while I check the board for our aura levels, as if I was merely playing with him.

Admittedly, I am. It was a cheap trick, and barely cost me much to perform.

He backs up and starts to shift the weapon back to the gun, only to stop halfway through. I laugh. "You didn't even maintain the thing? Or did you rely on all those servants of yours to do it for you?" No wonder Rex antagonizes people when he fights them. It feels amazing.

People underestimate what it means to be technopathic. Everyone assumes it means somebody can speak to computers on their level. I do far more. Technology is all things crafted by Man and Faunus... even our weapons. A weapon's mechashift trigger is rather simple in comparison to computers, but it is still a machine. The second time I grabbed his spear, I gave it a similarly simple command; lock-up.

Get ready cause here I come
I'm about to come and get me some
Hot as a smoking gun
So get ready cause here I come

(What you gonna do?) I'm gonna rock you
(What you gonna do?) I'm gonna rock you
(What you gonna do?) I'm gonna rock you

"Looks like you can't rely on that garbage anymore. The kid's glove come off." I draw my chains back and wrap them across my forearms, ready to test the next theory.

Bushida tosses his spear to the side and removed his gloves with a snarl that wouldn't look out of place on Rex. "Bastard. I'm going to make this painful."

I casually shift my glance to Rex and Haley. Haley was watching closely, concern and support showing, while Rex nodded towards me before closing his eyes and leaning back, absolutely certain of my victory. I let another chuckle escape me.

Apparently that was the wrong response, and Bushida launched forward with reckless abandon. I duck under his grab and swing my fist out, slamming my chained arm into his exposed back, sending him stumbling. "Second verse, same as the first. Come up with something original, please."

He marches forward more carefully this time, lunging towards me at the last second. I instinctively bring my arm up to block, and he smirks as he latches onto it. I smile back, and watch as his expression shows shock that his Semblance didn't bring me down before an understanding frown replaces it. He grab only my chain, there was no flesh exposed. I bring my other hand up and smash Blossom against his face.

"I'm sorry, was that supposed to do something?"

That trick only works with surprise, and I made him blow it on the first fight. Anyone with half a brain will realize that they can't afford to let him grab them now. To be fair, revealing all his tricks was part of the original plan.

He rears his fist back and charges again, too angry to think straight. I dodge to the side, swinging my chain low. It wraps around his leg and I pull him to the floor. As he moves to stand up, I use my other chain to grab his free leg and bring him down again.

As he tries to untangle his legs, I begin walking towards him and speak. "Do you understand what happened here? From the minute I walked down here, you have been following the script I wrote, and this is the part where the villain of the piece falls." I stomp on his face, finally bringing his aura into the red. "Be grateful I didn't break your nose again. Don't fuck with my friends again."

I flick the chains loose and walked away as the match was called.

I'll have you beggin' for mercy, beggin for mercy Oh
I'm dangerous, so dangerous
I'm dangerous, so dangerous

WN: I really apologize for the 5 month wait for this. Worse still, I got an internship at a law firm, so I won't be able to write as much this summer. Still, it was nice to finally give Jason a chapter to truly shine in a duel.

Jason was rather odd, as he doesn't develop a strict form in combat, and kusarigama give him a variety of combat styles at multiple ranges (his Semblance doesn't help either). While Haley, Rex, and Azure have dedicated strengths and weaknesses, Jason's edge is his ability to adapt and shift the game against his opponents.

The inspiration for Bushida's weapon actually came from the Samurai Warriors series, specifically Ieyasu Tokugawa's spear-cannon. Yeah, I actually had to tone a weapon down to fit in RWBY.

...I never thought that sentence could be written without being sarcastic.

Rex's POV

She should be here in 3... 2... 1- now!

I turn the corner to see Nikos. She jumps slightly at my appearance, but quickly regains her composure. "Rex. It's a pleasure to see you again."

I sigh internally. "Cut the crap with the fake niceties. I take it you saw our little gift during the sparring today?"

"I'm sorry? Gift?"

"There was a decent chance if he got his chance to fight you, his Semblance would have beaten you. Especially since we both know yours wouldn't help in the slightest against a grab."

Her confusion is evident. "You mean that was a performance for my sake... Why would you aid me considering you don't like me?"

I smile with far too many teeth to be friendly. "It was only partially for you. He struck at my pack and retaliation was required. Simply put, me and mine hate him more than I dislike you. I don't want him to have the title of Mistral's strongest, so showcasing his abilities while Jason ground him to dust merely was icing on the cake. Otherwise I would have settled it out of class in a far more severe manner. You could consider it a peace offering between us or a favor to be paid to Jason at a later day."

A light shone behind her eyes. "Thank you, Rex."

I feel my scroll vibrate, but ignore it. "Don't expect us to be friends. I simply see no point in keeping you as a long-term enemy. That you may owe me in the future is simply something to take advantage of."

I turn around and turn back around the corner, she tries follows me but backs off as I am nowhere to be seen.

As soon as she leaves, I open my scroll to check on the message. Azure sent me a picture and I quickly open it.

...

...Did she really? Azure was standing in front of Boarius' room, tore into a mess and several empty vials of her 'anti-Faunus' perfume in her hand. Lying on his bed was a single red glove.

I quickly send a reply. You know this end badly.

Her reply comes back almost immediately. For them.