The narrow yellow eyes of Tyrian Callows stared into him, awaiting a response of which there was only one correct answer. The psychotic scorpion faunus had Jaune dead to rights. Yet without Blake present, there was still a chance for the boy to play dumb.

"Blake's not here," he offered. "The team on this mission is me, Ruby-"

"Lying is not your strong suit, boy," the man cut him off. "Which is ironic, considering that you lied your way to surviving in our goddess' academy, and you're lying to all of the human professors and classmates at Beacon."

Tyrian glanced around the alley, idly peeking behind trash cans and other debris stacked up against the brick buildings there. He was way off in his efforts. He hadn't yet looked up. He must not have known that Blake enjoyed being in a position of height and advantage when she stalked her prey.

Was that what she was doing? Or had she truly run away? Had she abandoned Jaune to his fate? If that was the case, should he flee as well? If he could make it out of the alley and back onto the street, there would at least be people and traffic present. Surely Salem's minion wouldn't pursue him and make a public scene, right?

Jaune took a step backwards, and Tyrian's head immediately turned to regard him. "Ah ah," he chastised, his tail flicking excitedly. "It's impolite to leave before a conversation is over." Tyrian took a few steps toward him, and it became clear to Jaune that he wouldn't get more than a few feet before he was incapacitated by his foe should he choose to run. "You still haven't told me where our dear Blake is."

And he never would. He'd sooner have a feral Blake on the loose in Vale than see her dragged back to Salem's castle by this madman. Jaune knew he had to think of a way to escape. He had to stall. Maybe he could casually move closer toward the street if he could distract the man with conversation. "Professor Callows," he said, purely on instinct.

Tyrian giggled with delight, a huge grin creeping across his features. "Professor Callows, Professor Callows…" he muttered, as if testing the words to see how they sounded on his own lips. "No, let's not stand on formalities any longer, Jaune. Is it okay if I call you Jaune?"

Jaune crept back another step. "I don't really care what you call me."

Something guttural rumbled in the back of Tyrian's throat. "You're lucky we're not in class. Such disrespect would earn you detention, young man." His tone had become more formal there, playing the role of teacher once more to chastise his one time student. "Or, perhaps," he continued, another wicked grin splitting his lips. "Another trip out to the Grimmlands…"

Something on Jaune's face must have reacted to that memory, for Tyrian fell into another psychotic giggling fit at the threat. He stepped closer to Jaune, and pushed past him as his head tilted upward now. He was on the right track, and the faunus man gazed up into the hazy darkness of the alley's buildings.

"She's such a good hider, isn't she?" he mused. Warmth and pride saturated the words, and there was no mistaking the reverence Tyrian held for the girl. Just like he did for Salem. "Even my enhanced vision can't see her up there. It's no wonder she was able to sneak away in your Bullhead. Hazel," he spat, his tone changing suddenly when he uttered the name. "Completely useless."

If there was one thing Jaune wouldn't call Hazel, it was useless. The man had been the only one of Salem's henchmen who'd shown even a shred of kindness and decency toward him in the months he was stuck at that monstrous school. From telling him to find something to live for, to even allowing him to write home to his family, Hazel possessed something he had not seen in any of the other professors there. Humanity. Jaune wondered why and how such a man found himself working for the dark Queen of the Grimm.

It was obvious Tyrian knew the whole story. He was even looking in the right places now. Denying anything would be a useless gesture. The best Jaune could hope for now was for the man to simply give up and try his luck another day. One which would never come, as Jaune and his friends would never step foot outside of Beacon Academy. At least not without Qrow and Winter trailing them.

"Obviously she doesn't want to be found," he explained to the man whose eyes were still glued above them. Jaune hated the fact that he hadn't brought a weapon with him. Fists alone couldn't take down Tyrian, even with his back turned. "And she doesn't want you to bring her back. You should just leave. You'll never find her."

Tyrian spun around to face him once more. "This I simply cannot allow, Jaune," he said with dead seriousness. "Our goddess has bid me to bring her errant child home, and bring her home I shall. The only question is, how easy will she make my task?"

"Considering she ran at the first sign you were coming, not very easy. Face it, you blew it. You may have been able to follow us here, but the moment you got close she took off. Says a lot about what she thinks of you and your goddess, doesn't it?"

To his surprise, Tyrian laughed again. Not quite what he'd been expecting from the verbal slight against Salem to her fanatical follower. "Very true, very true," he agreed. "I have failed, and for that I must seek penance from my goddess. However, a problem is just a misunderstood opportunity."

Before Jaune could ask what he meant by that, Tyrian threw off his heavy coat. In the blink of an eye, and quicker than Jaune could possibly hope to react, the long scorpion tail of Tyrian lashed out, connecting with Jaune's chest with such force that even someone of his size and stature was knocked off his feet.

Jaune landed on his backside with a grunt, and before he could even think to move or shout something, Tyrian was upon him. Boots landed on his gut, driving the breath from the blond's lungs, and a single hand clamped over Jaune's mouth to stifle any screams. The boy's hands came up in an attempt to try and dislodge the faunus man from his body, but they hesitated the moment he saw Tyrian's tail rise threateningly close to his face.

A bead of purple venom formed on its barbed tip.

"It's best not to struggle," the man whispered harshly. "The faster your blood pumps, the quicker the poison will spread through your body."

Jaune hadn't been stung, but the threat of it loomed over his head, quite literally. Jaune's Aura was still active, but with Tyrian crouching on his torso and with no weapons in sight, the faunus could easily change that. He was at Tyrian's mercy.

Tyrian's eyes left Jaune's and the man slowly moved his head around to once more peer up into the darkness. Seconds later a disappointed sigh left his lips. "If Blake refuses to come out and play, then I'll simply have to take away her favorite toy. Reward and punishment are a delicate balance, you see. And bad girls must be punished…"

Jaune watched in horror as the tip of Tyrian's tail neared his face. Purple venom inched closer and closer to the point where Jaune would have been able to see his own reflection in the liquid had it been daytime.

Just before it made contact with his skin, Tyrian's tail suddenly jerked backwards. Just in time to deflect the boot which came at him from above.

Jaune threw the man off his chest and rolled with the momentum, standing up a moment later. He watched as Tyrian jumped and landed on his feet gracefully, standing opposite of Jaune and the new arrival who had come to his rescue.

"Blake," he gasped, seeing the girl in the Haven Academy uniform moving to stand in front of him. Had the situation not been so dire it would have been heartwarming to see the girl placing herself between Jaune and his foe.

Tyrian smiled warmly, and a loving sigh slipped through his lips as he gazed at the girl who'd finally shown herself. "There she is. Mother's little angel…"

"Are you okay?" she asked Jaune, sparing a backwards glance at him.

"I'm fine," he confirmed. "I thought you'd run. You should have run…"

Blake took a step back, her body gazing up against Jaune's chest. "Never, my love. A spider does not flee from her prey. She only waits for the most opportune moment…"

A moment she'd seized, but ultimately had failed. Tyrian was fast and strong. Too much for Jaune even if he'd been armed. How in the world were they going to defeat him when neither he nor Blake had weapons?

"How precious, lovers reunited at last," Tyrian cooed, taking a step toward them. His hands clasped together, and with his seemingly genuine smiled gave off the impression that he was some sort of loving uncle rather than a murderous psychopath. "Blake, sweetie, don't you think it's time to come home? Your mother misses you very much."

"Salem isn't her mother," Jaune snarled.

"Not biologically perhaps," Tyrian conceded. "However, you are our goddess' darling child, and she has decided that you've had enough time to play. It's time to come home, dear."

"The last man to call me darling now resides in a jar," Blake said darkly. "Would you like to join him? I'd love to add another uppity faunus to my collection…"

Tyrian cackled softly at the threat. "It's so wonderful to see your time among humans hasn't dampened your spirit. If you come home, I promise you all heads you could ever want. We'll even build you a trophy shelf to display them on! Does that sound like fun, Blake? You and I working on a little decoration project together?"

It really was like some sort of twisted familial relationship that Tyrian was pitching. Like a renovation project Jaune and his sisters might have been enlisted into helping with by their parents. To his relief, Blake hadn't budged an inch.

"I have lost the path before me." Her head tilted to glance back once more, and a single golden eye met Jaune's. "The one behind will lead me."

Tyrian let out a groan somewhere between disappointment and sorrow. A hand came up to his forehead, and he dragged it down his face as he dealt with this unwanted burden. "Tough love it is then. I do so wish it didn't have to come to this. However, there are times when unruly children must be punished."

The ominous choice of words made it clear that their paths had been set. There would be no more attempts at convincing here. No words would get the job done. Now was the time for action. The time to fight for Blake's freedom. If only she would just run…

"Blake," he whispered into the faunus girl's feline ears. "If you run I'll distract him…"

She pressed back against his chest once more, and her hands blindly reached behind in order to find the hair on his head. "I told you, Jaune," she whispered back. "I will always be in your shadow. I'll never leave you. Especially not to him."

The man before them was glowered at the displays of affection. Jaune wasn't sure if he was jealous, or upset over the fact that Blake's loyalty lay with him over Salem. One thing was certain, however. He wasn't about to leave until he got what he came for.

"So what's the plan?" Jaune wondered.

Despite standing behind her, Jaune saw how Blake's appearance began to shift. Her arms, and the fingers which had gently run through his hair, quickly changed into long, black, barbed tentacles. The skin that he could see on her face and neck paled into a sickly white. Black veins ran across her porcelain flesh. Only the cover of darkness prevented the rest of the world from seeing the monster she'd become.

"Kill," Blake whispered darkly. And if he wasn't mistaken, excitedly.

Without wasting another moment Blake leapt away from him, tentacles out and failing in the air as she came at her former combat professor.

She came down with a snarl, the barbed tips of her tentacles swinging menacingly as she attempted to tear Tyrian's head clean off his shoulders. With his tail he blocked one of her appendages, while an arm came up in order to deflect the other. With his free hand he swung faster than Jaune could register, catching the hybrid girl in the chin and knocking her back.

"Blake!" Jaune shouted as his feet finally remembered how to move.

She regained control of her body midair, landing gracefully on her feet as any cat would. Jagged teeth were bared in anger toward the faunus who'd probably been the first to inflict any real pain on the girl in months.

She rushed him again, tentacles swinging wildly like deadly spiked flails. Tyrian stepped back deeper into the dark alley with each swing, cackling with amusement as he bobbed and weaved around each one of Blake's attacks.

"Kitty's got claws!" he exclaimed with no trace of fear whatsoever. "How exciting!"

Jaune knew he couldn't just stand on the sidelines any longer. Throwing caution to the wind, he rushed at the servant of Salem, clenching his right hand and snarling as he approached the insane faunus. Coming from the side he hoped to catch Tyrian off guard while his attention was focused on the hybrid in front of him.

It wasn't to be, and right when Jaune was about to connect with the side of his head, the tail came back up. Jaune's fist slammed into it and Aura clashed with Aura, resulting in nothing more than the dull sound of meat on meat.

Tyrian's beady yellow eye flicked sideways, and his maniacal grin was just a hint of what was to come.

A single hand of the scorpion faunus came up, glowing purple fingers curled into a pseudo claw, and raked across the flesh of Jaune's cheek.

Pain. Surprise. Wetness. Jaune stumbled back after the man swiped at his face, inflicting far more damage upon the young huntsman than he would have thought possible. Blue eyes were wide as a hand came up to his face, and a moment later found it covered in his own blood.

Tyrian managed to knock the attacking Blake a second time, and with both aggressors driven off he stood tall and proud. "I have no interest in harming you, Jaune," he stated coldly. "Leave now and go back to your little harem. I'm sure they'll kiss your boo-boo's better."

Willing his Aura to heal his fresh wound, Jaune shook his head. "Not going to happen."

Tyrian sighed angrily. Blake on the other hand moved back closer to Jaune. "He's right," she said softly. "You need to leave."

His brow furrowed. "I'm not leaving you," he insisted.

"You wouldn't be," she argued. "He wants me. I'll distract him while you run. As soon as you're away I'll escape. He can't catch me."

Jaune bit down on his lip. It was… the closest thing they had to a plan. They'd found out the hard way that they couldn't land a single blow on Tyrian. Still, the idea of putting things to chance like that…

"You're sure?" he insisted.

Blake nodded. "I'm sure. Go. Run. I'll be right behind you."

Jaune swallowed and took a step away from Blake. Two steps. Slowly but surely he backed off. As he did so Tyrian advanced, eyes locked on his prey. The young man's heart was racing in his chest. He had to trust that Blake knew what she was doing. He had to believe in her. She was a creature of shadows. She could do this. If anyone could, it was her.

Tyrian struck once he deemed that Jaune was too far away to interfere. Blake avoided the first of his strikes and ran. Much like she'd done when she first heard Tyrian approaching, she leapt up with supernatural speed and agility to grab onto one of the escape ladders in the alley. She pulled herself up, and proceeded up with blinding speed.

Until the scorpion tail of Tyrian lashed out and wrapped around her ankle. Blake was stopped in her tracks and pulled down harshly where her body landed in the alley with a sickening thud.

"No!" Jaune shouted as he began to rush back. Willing his Aura into his fists, he tried once more to connect with Tyrian's face, only for the strikes to be blocked by the faunus' own raised hands.

The counterattack was like lightning, and a flurry of fists from the older man pummeled Jaune back and away from Blake's prone body. Tyrian reached down to collect her, but Jaune wouldn't be deterred so easily. Fighting through the stinging pain he came again and forced Tyrian's attention back onto him alone.

A punch to the gut buckled Jaune over. A hammering fist onto the back of his had sent him to his hands and knees. Jaune coughed on all fours, expecting the end to come as Tyrian's tail hovered menacingly over his face. The boy looked up only to see a frustrated snarl on his foe's face.

"Why must you be such a nuisance!" he shouted. Yet… he didn't strike the killing blow. He didn't strike at all.

Blake's tentacles wrapped around the long scorpion tail, and like two savage beasts fighting in the wild, the growls and snarls of the two filled Jaune's ears as he stood back to his feet. He watched as Tyrian swung his tail wildly to try and get the hybrid off him, and finally with enough strength and momentum he succeeded in throwing her with such force that she slammed against the wall of one of the surrounding buildings.

Her dull groans of pain ate at Jaune's stomach, and he rushed over to aid the girl while Tyrian glared vindictively at them. He must have known that this was all but over. Jaune couldn't escape without Blake being caught by Tyrian, and the same applied for Blake's own escape and Jaune's capture. Neither would leave the other behind. The rules of engagement were abundantly clear. They had to defeat Tyrian in order for them to both leave here.

Hunching over to aid Blake back to her feet, he winced as Blake coughed and groaned in pain. Hybrid anatomy or not, Tyrian was delivering some serious blows to the girl. He didn't know how much damage she would be able to take without the aid of Aura.

"Jaune," she said quietly as he helped her back to her feet. "This isn't working."

Truer words were never spoken. Neither had so much as landed a single hit on Tyrian. Jaune may have had a lot of Aura, but a war of attrition didn't matter if he couldn't inflict any harm on his opponent. Given enough time Tyrian would deplete his Aura. He would be knocked out of the fight. And then Blake would be at his mercy. Even if Blake ran, Jaune would be a hostage to use as leverage to get her back. And he knew Blake would never allow any harm to come to her favorite toy…

To her darling…

"There's not much else we can do," he argued. "Unless you run."

She shook her head, glaring daggers at Tyrian as he slowly approached them like the serial killer out of a horror movie. The reality of the situation wasn't too far from the truth.

"Here, kitty kitty…" Tyrian growled menacingly.

"I'm not leaving you," she stated. "And you're not leaving me."

That about summed up their situation. Quite a bad one, really. "Then what should we do?"

A tentacle wrapped around Jaune's waist and she pulled herself close to him. Nuzzling her forehead against his shoulder, Blake spoke softly. "Use your Semblance on me."

Jaune's eyes went wide, and he looked down on the girl. When her forehead came back up, a pair of baleful glowing red eyes stared back up at him.

"What?" he gasped.

"Your Semblance," she repeated. "Use it. Give me all of the Aura you can spare."

A chill ran down Jaune's spine. He could still recall the last time Blake had flared up her Aura in Professor Rainart's class. It had not gone well for the hybrid girl. He knew all too well what would happen to Blake if she activated it. Unlike the other girls, Blake was not at peace with her humanity. With what she was. With what she'd done.

"I can't," he whispered. "You'll lose control."

"Control won't beat him," she argued. "But if I'm at my strongest, and if I can use my Semblance…"

It sounded to Jaune like she had a plan, but there wasn't time to explain it. Could he trust her? Did he even have a choice? As it stood right now there was no defeating Tyrian. There wasn't even a chance of landing a hit on him even when they attacked together.

"But…" he still protested weakly, not even knowing what to say following the word.

"I trust you, Jaune," she smiled. For the first time ever he wasn't frightened by her toothy grin. There was a warmth to it he'd never witnessed before. "I know you'll bring me back. You promised to save me, remember?"

The words hit him like a truck. Blake had always doubted that he would or even could save her. Yet here and now she was putting everything on the line, all because she had faith in him. She believed that he would be able to rescue her from the brink of insanity. That he would be able to bring back the humanity which was buried somewhere deep inside her.

Jaune smiled bitterly as he stared into her glowing crimson orbs. "Yeah. I remember."

The sound of Tyrian clearing his throat broke Jaune's focus, and he turned to see the man standing a few feet away. "If you two are done saying your goodbyes," he said expectantly. He pointed a finger out to Blake. "The girl, Jaune. I would have her back now."

Jaune's hands came to rest on Blake's body as he pulled her close to him. Her chest touched his, and he stared down onto her frightening yet beautiful face. It was amazing how he'd grown to love such a face in the months after meeting her.

Tentacles slithered around his back, and Blake leaned up and tilted her head. Her lips met his, and unlike the sloppy, passionate kiss she'd given him during the movie, Blake gently and lovingly kissed the man she claimed to love. Tonight more than ever she was proving that claim to be true.

Jaune's lips parted, and for a few blissful seconds he tasted the black flesh of her lips and a long, slippery tongue that wasn't being forced down his throat. For all her bestial nature and appearance in this moment, kissing Blake felt incredibly human. It felt wonderful. It felt right.

She trusted him. He would have to trust her in return.

When she came back down to stand flat on the ground, she smiled softly at the boy of her dreams. "Will your lips taste the kiss of death?"

There was only one way to find out.

Pulling her close to him once more, Jaune forced Blake's face into his chest and activated his Semblance.

His hands glowed with brilliant bright light as they forced Blake's Aura away. As they amplified it, pushing it well past the point of its normal capacity.

Blake howled. She screamed. She thrashed in his arms, but Jaune held her tightly against him. Shrieks of pain both physical and mental were muffled in his chest, and tentacles began to flail about wildly as the hybrid girl sought to escape the pain being inflicted upon her by her love.

Jaune's eyes squeezed shut, and tears formed in them at hearing Blake's pain. He hoped that on some level she still understood that he was just following her orders. That he was doing this for both of them. For the greater good.

"It's okay," he whispered into her feline ear. "It's okay. I love you, Blake."

Barbed tips whipped against his flesh, rending and gouging his Aura as Blake sought freedom from his painful embrace. Her whole body writhed in agony in his arms, and Jaune too felt the pain of her strikes slowly but surely whittling down his extensive amounts of Aura.

Finally it was too much. Blake was too powerful to be contained. Throwing him off her, Jaune was sent flying back and collided into a dumpster with a loud thud. Teeth grit and eyes squeezed shut, it took him a moment to gather himself. When his eyes opened again he sucked in a breath.

Two. Four. Eight. Sixteen. So many Blakes had appeared that they were beyond counting. Over where she and Tyrian still stood, a veritable army of Grimm hybrids surrounded the scorpion faunus.

Gone was the poise and cockiness of a man who knew he could easily dispatch his foes. In his place was a deranged fighter who crouched ready to react at a moment's notice.

"What have you done…" he growled angrily. "What have you done!"

He wanted to respond with some witty comeback like 'what I had to'. Such thoughts died before they could even form on his lips when the closest Blake turned to face him.

With savage red eyes and a bestial snarl on her lips, the monster lunged at him, tentacles prepared to rend flesh from bone.

Jaune raised his arms to block the attack, but nothing came. The Blake passed harmlessly through his body, landing on the other side of him. Jaune turned to see that she was still indeed there. It hadn't been an illusion.

Spinning faster than he thought possible the Blake swung a tentacle at him, and this time Jaune raised a fist to strike it. Jaune punched clean through the tentacle, and the appendage vanished into smoke upon contact. He understood now. He knew what Blake's Semblance was.

He also knew why she'd needed his Semblance to enhance her Aura. She needed an army in order to defeat the faunus who stood in their way.

Blakes descended on Tyrian from all directions like a pack of wolves. With so many to choose from he had no chance in striking them all before they closed in on him. A tail swipe and two fists dispatched three of the shadow clones, but this opened him up to the savage strike of the real Blake as one of her barbed tentacles tore into his back. Tyrian's Aura flared, and he turned around to strike back at the real Blake, only for his fist to find yet another of the clones instead.

Jaune picked himself up off the ground. If this was the plan, to distract the man with an army of clones, then he had to do his part too. Even unarmed, he wouldn't let Blake fight this battle alone. There was no running away either. Out of her mind now, Blake had no true grasp on tactics, much less retreat. She was a wild beast and was fighting like one. She would stay until she or Tyrian was defeated.

Jaune wouldn't let it be her.

Putting his Aura into his hands again, Jaune's fists were made of steel and he struck out once more against the faunus. Tyrian turned and caught the attack, and kicked Jaune in the gut for his troubles. But once more it opened him up to attack, and Blake struck from above, this time sending a boot of her own crashing down into the back of Tyrian's head.

She used it as a springboard, and in one swift motion pushed off and away from the man's counterattack. More false Blakes assailed him and took the blows instead. Tyrian breathed heavily, wild eyes looking all around like a rabid dog. For the first time in the fight he wasn't the one in control. He was at the mercy of reacting to others. Jaune couldn't imagine he enjoyed the new sensation.

"You… you're going to pay for this!" he snarled as he rushed for Jaune.

Slicing through a false Blake as he came, Tyrian's wrist-mounted weapons deployed, and a pair of savage curved blades appeared around each of his forearms. He swung wildly without the usual poise and control that someone of his superiority would have against a lowly opponent like Jaune. For his part, all Jaune could do was try to block and evade. He managed the first two times, but their skill levels weren't even close. Jaune's fists and forearms took the brunt of the assault, and it was only thanks to his Aura that he still had hands. Several savage swings forced Jaune back against a wall, and he was only barely able to duck in time before Tyrian's fist connected and punched a hole in the brick wall behind him.

Jaune stumbled away, his head passing through the jaws of a shadow clone as he tripped and landed on his hands and knees. When he turned back he saw more Blakes converging upon Tyrian. More hybrids were sliced and diced into soot and shadows. Where Blake Prime was, Jaune couldn't say.

"You've… you've ruined her!" Tyrian shouted. "Look at what you've done!"

Tyrian angrily slashed at yet another clone, but lost his footing when the tentacles of the real Blake wrapped around his ankle. In a twisted parody of what had happened earlier, Blake pulled the man off his feet and swung him around to slam his head against the brick wall he'd just put a hole in. Tyrian cried out in true pain as four Blakes pounced on his prone body. One of them stabbed into his chest with her razor-sharp tentacles.

Three Blakes were slain and the real one was knocked away as Tyrian spun around on his back, his tail and bladed forearms slicing through his assailants like some sort of weaponized break-dancer. Tyrian leapt back onto his feet, but his posture showed injury. His heavy breathing indicated exhaustion.

His wild eyes reeked of desperation.

"I can't lose…" he muttered. "I won't lose. My goddess has commanded me, and I shall obey…"

Forcing himself back to his feet, Jaune saw how a few Blakes still remained. Like he'd once seen before with the hybrids, they stalked around their prey, surrounding Tyrian on all sides and presenting him with too many targets to choose from.

Jaune hovered in back behind them, waiting for an opening of his own.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe…" the psychopath muttered as he pointed out to each of the Blakes which surrounded him. "Which Blake is my real foe…"

Four Blakes converged on him at once. Jaune rushed in behind them.

The first swing took the head clean off of one of the shadows. A swinging tail punched through a second. All for naught, as the true Blake once more slashed at him with her tentacles, earning a howl of pain from the faunus man. However without an army to take the hits for her the real Blake was dangerously exposed, and one of Tyrian's blades slashed through her chest, earning a cry of pain from the hybrid.

But in the process a true opening had finally presented itself for Jaune, and with a glowing white fist he struck with all his might against the man who'd come to take his friend back to Salem's realm.

A sickening crack filled the air as Jaune's fist connected with the back of Tyrian's head, and the man stumbled forward a couple steps as a glimmer of dull purple light crackled over his body. The man turned with blinding speed, and with crazed eyes leapt at the larger boy.

Tyrian all but landed on his chest, his boots striking Jaune in the stomach and slamming him into the wall once more. A pair of hands found their place on Jaune's throat where they began to squeeze the life from the boy.

"You… I gave you so many chances…" Tyrian breathed desperately. "You are so blessed by our goddess and yet you persist. You ruin everything you touch!"

Jaune's hands pried and clawed at Tyrian's own, but even with his enhanced strength he found himself unable to dislodge the choking fingers. Jaune gasped and grunted as slowly but surely Tyrian denied his brain of the oxygen it needed.

"Sleep, little boy…" Tyrian whispered. "Sleep…"

Jaune could barely move as he stared into the crazed eyes of his murderer. If only he had a weapon. If only he'd been prepared. If only…

Blood splattered on Jaune's face when the tentacle pieced through Tyrian's throat.

Yellow eyes went as wide as the man's mouth, and his hands dropped from Jaune's throat.

The tentacle slid back out through the back of Tyrian's neck, leaving him the one desperately choking for air. Gurgling blood. Mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

Tyrian clawed at his throat, trying in vain to stem the bleeding. He could not. All he could do was clutch his ruined neck as blood poured from between his fingers.

There would be no cries of pain. No screams. No pleas for help. As Jaune watched the man collapse down onto his knees, he knew he could not help either. It wasn't out of the inability to do so, it was necessity. Though it ate at him to even contemplate, Tyrian was far too dangerous to save. Far too dangerous to be left alive to ever come after them again.

Or another poor, innocent person.

Wordless choking was the only noise he could make as he sank to his knees. Yellow eyes stared up at Jaune not with desperation or pleading, but rather disbelief and hate. Hate toward the boy who had sullied his goddess' children. Hate for the boy who had foiled his plans.

Hate for the boy who had prevented him from fulfilling his goddess' wishes.

Collapsing over onto his side, Tyrian quickly bled out, Blake's barbed tentacle tearing out most of his throat once she'd removed it from his flesh. Jaune could only watch in disbelief and horror as an evil man, but a man nonetheless, lost his life before his very eyes.

He couldn't linger for long, for as quickly as Tyrian died, Blake leapt at the last of her prey.

With only a single shadow clone remaining, Jaune knew which was the real Blake. Follow the bloodshed and misery, as she had once told him. The real Blake's black tentacle with slick with the red blood of the man she'd just killed.

Slamming against him, Jaune and Blake both collapsed onto the ground, rolling around in a struggle for dominance in the filthy alley. Barbed tentacles lashed at him like scourges while Jaune's arms wrapped tightly around her back. All he could do was try to restrain her while he attempted to bring her back.

"Blake…" he struggled through his gritted teeth. "Blake you have to stop…"

The hybrid thrashed even in his firm embrace, flipping him over so that Jaune was on his back. Where tentacles couldn't reach, jagged teeth attempted to bite his nose off.

"Blake! I love you!"

A wet, guttural growl echoed in the back of her throat.

"Blake! It's Jaune! It's… your darling!"

Snapping teeth continued to threaten the integrity of his face. In his panic and desperation Jaune tried to remember how Ruby had gotten through to Yang. Then again Yang hadn't been nearly as unstable as Blake. Blake was always the worst of all the hybrids when it came to her mental stability…

There was only one thing left he could try.

Jaune's head lashed up, and his forehead connected with her nose. Blake howled in pain as her own head snapped back.

With his arms tightly around her back, Jaune flipped her over so now that he was on top.

Blake continued to struggle, and Jaune's hands moved to grab hold of her flailing tentacles. With nothing available but his head now, he brought it crashing back down onto Blake's face. He had to subdue her. Somehow. He just needed an opening.

As her lips twisted in pain and her teeth snapped angrily, Jaune did the only thing he could think of.

His own lips came down on Blake's cheek, and kissed her.

Her body thrashed underneath his, and never in Jaune's wildest dreams would he have imagined kissing a girl that he'd pinned down underneath him in an alley. Yet context was everything, right now he knew it was the only chance he had to bring the mad hybrid back to her senses.

She needed love. She needed care. Compassion. Warmth. Safety.

She needed him.

"I love you, Blake," he whispered desperately as he kissed her cheek again. "I love you." He recalled Ruby's own words to Yang when she'd saved her older sister from herself. "I love you. I love you Blake. My darling. My darling Blake."

Using her own words over and over again, Jaune kissed Blake repeatedly. Her struggles were weakening. Her snarls softening. Her tentacles calming.

He kissed her again. "Come back to me, Blake," he said soothingly. "Come back to me, darling. I love you."

Her glowing red eyes focused on him and him alone now. Staring into his own soft blue ones. She seemed to be able to comprehend his words. She understood their meaning.

He had to keep pushing.

Willing all his Aura to strengthen one very specific part of him, he really hope that he wasn't about to get his tongue bitten off. "I love you, Blake."

Bringing his lips crashing down onto hers, Jaune forced his tongue past them and entered her mouth. He kissed her with as much passion and vigor as he'd ever done with Ruby and Weiss. He breathed heavily into her mouth as he felt every inch of her long, hybrid tongue. Every sharp edge of her deadly teeth. He gave Blake everything he had to offer. Every bit of him she'd ever wanted. Every taste of him she'd ever craved.

Until rather than struggling in his embrace, she let herself melt under him. She allowed her mouth to be ravaged by his. Her tongue swirled back around his own.

Her frantic breathing slowed and deepened. Tentacles went lax on the ground, and long pale legs wrapped around his waist. She moaned into his mouth.

Months ago Jaune never could have imagined he'd be making out with a girl in an abandoned alley next to a dead body. Yet with Blake it seemed fitting.

After long seconds Jaune came up for air. When he did so her teeth remained claimed on his lower lip, and only after a brief struggle did he finally free himself.

What he saw was a sight for sore eyes. Gone was the pallid skin and glowing red eyes. In their place was a pale but darker natural tone of flesh. Golden eyes brimmed with tears as they stared up at him.

Jaune peered down hopefully at the hybrid beneath him. "Blake?"

"Did your lips taste the kiss of death…" she whispered.

She was shaking. Her own lips quivered. Her chest heaved with quick and heavy breaths.

"Blake…"

With a single cry of anguish, Blake wept. In an instant Jaune came up to his knees, pulling her up with him, and clutched her body close to his own.

He buried her face into his chest where she cried. With arms tightly around her back he hugged her desperately. Her own arms, true human arms, came around his to do the same.

"It's okay," he whispered soothingly into her ear. One of his hands rubbed her back as he cradled her against him. The other stroked her long black hair. "It's okay. It's gonna be okay."

"I'm so sorry," her muffled words spoke into his chest. "I'm so sorry…"

"Shh, it's okay. I'm fine. You're fine. Everything's fine."

"So sorry… Adam… I'm so sorry…"

It didn't even matter to Jaune that she had invoked the name of another man while he held her. Right now was Blake's time. It was Blake's moment. It was Blake's road to recovery.

He would be there for her every step of the way. They all would. Blake wasn't alone anymore. She had a family. One that loved her. Just like the rest of the hybrids.

Author's Note: I've both been looking forward to and dreading this chapter for a long time. Anticipation because it's a major Blake moment and turning point for her character, as well a big thing with Tyrian. And dread because my partner who writes all the fight scenes here is currently indisposed, and I had to do it on my own. I hate doing fight scenes, and I feel I'm awful at them. So hopefully it turned out okay.

One of my favorite little things I've learned about Blake is that she can just insert song lyrics into conversation and it sounds normal and natural coming from her. In this chapter, lyrics from Ghost Love Score and Kiss of Death were used. Two beautiful songs which I love.

As always thank you for reading. If you're so inclined, I've published a few other things since I last updated this story. So if you're interested in some good old crack fics, rare pairs, or Lancaster goodness, go check out my profile!