A Hero's Dilemma

Chapter 4

Just want to prefix this chapter by saying that I actually moved to a different country while writing this chapter!

Enjoy the chapter.

Cover art by: Notgustiarp

Chapter 4

Everything was moving too fast.

One minute, he was preventing a murder. In the next, he was being chased through an abandoned village by a man who could tank a house collapsing on him. Now he was hiding in an attic waiting for a signal to tell him to come out and make a getaway—not mentioning of course, that said signal would be a massive statue collapsing over said tank.

He didn't want to contemplate the fact this plan's best-case scenario was for him to do what he was trying to stop in the first place. After this, he'd become an accomplice to murder.

Stop thinking about that.

His knees were pressed tightly to his chest, stuck in the corner of a damp wooden attic overlooking the plaza his anxiety grew. He tried not to think of his situation, but it was kinda hard with how his heart wouldn't stop pounding in his ears. Why was it doing that?

I saw...he's out there. I saw him.

Hazel was out there right now, and Summer was all alone while he was hiding like a coward—

Will you just—

"Shut your mouth!"

Startled by the shout, his focus was shifted to the lone window in the room. Its serene light was juxtaposed with the chaos heard from outside. Mustering up the courage, he approached it and peered through.

His vision was mainly taken up by the dubbed Problem Solver or, as it was called by not crazy people, a statue. It was too bad Summer was, in fact crazy.

Though most of his vision was taken up by the figure, he could still peer between its legs. Getting a clear view of Summers hunched back. Looking just slightly higher revealed the lower half of Hazel.

Is she talking to him? Since when did that work!?

With the way he shouted for her to shut up, it seemed it was going just as well as when he tried the same thing. Suffice it to say it wasn't great. So, he had a right to be worried. Should he let that worry justify putting their plan at risk? He trusted her to handle this, but it didn't stop his fear from growing.

It's okay to feel scared, so it's okay as long as I trust her.

"—lying. You have to be!"

I-I have to trust her. His hand subconsciously gripped the hilt of Dad's sword strapped to his back. I can't fight, so I can't save her anyway. I-I'm not her hero—

A tremor rattled the building.

Pure white energy flooded out, bathing the attic with its intensity. The sound of glass shattering signified the light escaping, undoubtedly drawing the gaze of the monster down below.

/-/​

Jaune wasn't supposed to be here. Not initially at least, and even in the new plan, not now of all times!

The original plan and the one she outlined was for Jaune to escape and try to make it to the nearest village to call for help. It was when asked what her part to play was that he took...issue with the plan.

Ignoring the fact that she got shut down by a child, they came to a compromise of sorts. She still questioned why he disagreed with the idea of going to a neighboring village so vehemently, though. Dropping it, they instead went with a revised version of the previous plan, modifying his role slightly.

He was supposed to wait till after I dropped the statue for him to come out and carry us out of here.

Instead, here she stood furiously staring at the anxious child, trying his best to not meet her gaze.

If you feel guilty, then why'd you do it in the first place!?

He'd burst out of the building she'd explicitly chosen because it was hidden from where they suspected Hazel would come from. Directly behind the statue, shielded from view by its enormous size, he would have gone unnoticed in Hazel's haste to chase after the supposed fleeing Jaune.

He was now wholly exposed behind her, between the legs on a slightly elevated platform on which the statue stood. There would be no hiding now.

She whipped back around, ripping crimson blossom out of the ground, mecha-shifting it to take aim at Hazel. All in one fluid motion.

Clearly, something had changed from when Ozpin had known him. There was a miss calculation as she was utterly lost in how he would react and thus had to assume he would respond violently.

It was a good thing too, as right as she turned to face him, he'd set off. His speed was incredible but not faster than her itchy trigger finger, having let off a three-round volley before he'd even made it halfway over.

Seemed Hazel had learned his lesson from last time.

Mid-charge, he leaned to the right, expertly dodging the first and second shots. Though having lost much of his initial momentum to do it. With it lost, he instead planted his feet, crossing his arms to shield his face as the last shot ricocheted off his Aura.

Successfully stopping him, she racked back another shot, ready to fire—instincts screaming, she tried to turn around but was too slow.

"Woah!" She yelped as she was lifted off the ground. "Jaune?!"

While dealing with Hazel, he'd apparently decided that they should go back on the run instead of fighting.

"Wait! We have to stay, Jaune!"

"Are you insane?! He'll kill us before we'll have time to knock it down!"

He was panicking again, alarm clear as day in his voice. That anxiety from earlier seemed to have returned with full force.

"Jaune, we won't be able to escape. We have to stop him here!"

"I won't let you!"

She looked back just in time to see a mass of air pressure barreling towards them. It slammed into them, launching Jaune off his feet while she slipped out of his grasp, both landing with a heavy thump. They were separated now, she noted while struggling to breathe. She'd slammed into the cobblestone, coming to rest on one of her broken ribs, inches away from her weapon.

Struggling hard, she looked over and watched as Hazel descended on Jaune like an animal. He didn't have much time before he'd be slaughtered like one, too.