Dark Symphony (RWBY X Jaune Arc X Sukuna)

Chapter 27: The Breaking Point

Mahito was picking off the few humans who were still hiding within the subway for future use. "This should do for now" he jokingly spoke as he spotted Jaune running up the stairs nearby. He swung his arm around, stretching it along with the impaled humans, using them to impact Jaune and sending him back. One of the human bodies lay on top of him.

Fortunately, Jaune managed to catch the guy and land safely on his feet. He grunted in pain, surprising Jaune, who was shocked to see a civilian alive after such an attack, considering they didn't even have Aura to protect them.

"Are you okay?" Jaune spoke with concern as he carefully positioned the guy to avoid putting more stress on his open wound.

Mahito approached Jaune, his arm now spiked like a mace. Jaune, focused on the injured person, responded, "Yeah!" When Jaune turned to look at him, the guy's face turned blue as his head inflated with blood, creating a small bloody explosion that caught Jaune off guard. The blood blinded him, and Mahito seized the opportunity to appear behind him, preparing to strike directly at his head.

However... Nothing happened.

Jaune was bashed over the head, crashing to the ground with a bleeding wound. Mahito followed up by slamming his foot into Jaune's guts, turning him into a ragdoll as he was flung across the corridor and collided with a pillar.

"GAH!" Jaune clenched his teeth in pain from the impact. Mahito was unrelenting, delivering blow after blow. Jaune struggled to land properly as he was repeatedly struck against the wall by Mahito.

"Is this all you've got, brat?" Mahito laughed, amused by Jaune's inability to mount a defense.

"Hahahaha!" Mahito's laughter echoed like that of a madman. Jaune, despite the intense pain, felt a determination building within him. He knew he needed to fight back and continue moving forward. He couldn't afford to fail everyone he loved... Professor Oobleck, his team, friends, family, and Todo.

As Jaune's heart raced and his mind struggled with the overwhelming pressure, he found himself unable to act on his thoughts. Relying solely on luck, he mustered all his strength and swung his fist in desperation.

To his surprise, Jaune managed to deflect another deadly punch from him. "Huh?" Mahito was caught off guard by the sudden counter, and just as Jaune notice his chance of Mahito guard broken, He was about to delivery a punch to Mahito side until something unexpected happened.

"Just kidding!!!" Another loud, mocking voice echoed through the subway as Jaune was once again sent sprawling across the ground. He smacked into a wall, blood dripping onto the ground. As he looked up, he was surprised to see two Mahitos. "When did he duplicate himself...?" Jaune wondered.

"Tag, Who is it? HEH!!!" Both Mahitos slapped each other's hands, and one Mahito ran towards Jaune while the other headed for the stairs. Perplexed about why one was leaving, Jaune considered it might be some kind of escape plan. However, why would Mahito need to escape when he had left Jaune in such a pathetic state?

"Don't run away!" A female voice echoed down from upstairs where the street was. "H-Huh...." Jaune slowly stood up and managed to quickly dodge Mahito's punch with his spiked knuckle, kicking him away. It seemed a bit too easy.

Then, someone appeared. A person with red hair in a waist-length ponytail, slightly curled into a loose ringlet. They wore light-green eyeshadow around the far upper corners of their green eyes, and their entire armor resembled that of a Spartan warrior.

"Jaune?" It was Pyrrha. Though she was bleeding, she didn't look as bad as Jaune, whose body was already suffering from multiple broken bones that no normal person could even dream of enduring.