Jaune Mercer: Volume 1

Chapter 14: Distorting A Legacy.

"That will buy us some time," Emilio said.

"What do we do now?" One guard asked.

Emilio looked at his bow, Artemis, and his quiver, already having an idea.

"The objective is still the same. We reunite with the scientists and escape."

"But how? We needed the explosives to make a way out of here and the stronger firepower to kill the Grimm," Another guard said.

"True. However, I still have some explosive arrows and gravity-dust arrows. With these, we could tear down the doors and escape."

The rest smiled, filled with the hope of getting out of here alive.

"Let's go."

They all nodded. Soon, Emilio and the guards ran to the scientists.

As they ran, Emilio was alone with his thoughts.

"The situation isn't good."

"Sure. With the explosive and gravity dust arrows combined with the full power of Artemis, I could break down the larger entrance doors that lead into the compound, giving us the means to escape."

"But there is still Alex Mercer to deal with."

Truth be told, Emilio had little faith in defeating Alex Mercer, especially since he took down two members of Chronos with little ease. Even with the full power of Artemis and some explosive and gravity dust arrows, he questioned whether he could win.

Still, his objective isn't to defeat Alex Mercer, but to rescue the guards and scientists as well as survive and report to the Arc Clan.

"Let's just hope it doesn't come down to a fight."

[In the Halls of the Compound]

Emilio and the guards were close to the Research and Development Division. As they were getting close, they were surprised to see the doors to the lab on the floor.

He and the guards ran faster and went inside. To their surprise, they were met by the sight of dead scientists and guards. Anger and sadness filled the room.

They were too late.

Suddenly, a guard appears in front of Emilio. Before he can react, Emilio is grabbed by his collar and thrown aside. However, he changes his momentum and lands safely.

Before the other guards could react, the guard's right arm became a giant blade. He spins around, slicing through the other guards.

Emilio looks forward. To his horror, the other guards were all dead, their bodies cut up into pieces.

He grits his teeth in anger, realizing who it is. His bow begins to glow with a gold energy. He readies three hard-light arrows. Soon, they too glow with the gold energy.

"YOU BASTARD!"

He fires the arrows. The guard dodges them as they hit the wall. When they make contact with the wall, they nearly demolish it.

The guard looked back at the wall, noticing the destruction. He looked back at Emilio, focusing on the bow that glowed golden energy.

Soon, his arms change into large claws. In an instant, he appears behind Emilio. Before he could react, the guard slashes Emilio's back.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!" Emilio shouted in pain.

He fell to the ground, wincing from the attack. Luckily, his aura protected him from the attack.

The guard moves closer to Emilio. Suddenly, Emilio takes an arrow from his quiver and slams it on the ground, creating a flash of light. As the light dissipates, the guard blinks, readjusting after that attack. He looks around and notices Emilio is gone.

Still, he could sense Emilio's negative emotions. His anger. His sorrow. His desperation. He looked in the direction of emotions. He gave chase, intending to catch Emilio.

[Back with Emilio]

Emilio was seen running for his life. Soon, he began firing arrows filled with ice dust behind him. Each one created a pillar of ice, blocking the path behind him.

"This should buy me some time...At least until I can make it to the entrance," Emilio said.

Emilio started to think of the guards and the scientists. He swore their deaths wouldn't be in vain.

He keeps running. Eventually, Emilio makes it to the entrance doors. He takes out a gravity dust arrow and draws it back. He aims at the center between the doors. He fires and the arrow hits the doors, bending them back. From that one shot, a hole had been made and a small glimpse of the outside could be seen. Emilio draws back another gravity arrow back and fires once more, bending the doors more back. Emilio continues this until an opening is made.

After using most of his gravity dust arrows, Emilio finally made an opening for him to escape.

Suddenly, a hand rises out of the ground and grabs his ankle. Soon, Emilio is raised into the air. He looks, and to his surprise, he sees it is the guard. Emilio looked down at the ground in disbelief as the guard dug his way under the floor.

The guard slams Emilio to the ground repeatedly until his aura shatters. After that, he throws Emilio into the wall.

*THUD!*

"Ugh!" Emilio grunted.

He lay on the ground. His bones were fractured, if not broken.

The guard appears before him. He grips him by his neck and raises him in the air.

With his free hand, he tosses aside Emilio's bow and arrows. Then, he grips Emilio's left hand and grips hard, destroying his glove and breaking his hand.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!" Emilio shouted in pain.

Soon, the guard looks into his memories. After some time, he lets go of Emilio.

Emilio clutches his broken hand and looks at the guard.

"So...You're Alex Mercer," He said.

Soon, the guard's face shapeshifts into that of Jaune's face.

Emilio widens his eyes in disbelief.

"J-Jaune," Emilio said in surprise.

"You're working for Alex Mercer?"

"Try again," Jaune said.

Emilio started to put two and two together.

"Y-You. You're Alex Mercer."

"Surprise," Jaune said in a cold tone.

Emilio gritted his teeth in anger.

"Disgraceful bastard. You killed Kranz and Baldor."

"Yes... And they took my secret to their graves."

Emilio narrowed his eyes, getting the idea of what will happen to him. He felt even angrier that he couldn't avenge the fallen, let alone report to the Arc Clan.

"Damn you. You won't get away with this. The Arc Clan will prevail."

Jaune gives a slight grin.

"On the contrary."

Soon, Jaune shapeshifts and takes the form of Emilio.

"The Arc Clan will fall," Emilio (Jaune) said.

Emilio himself widens his eyes at the revelation.

Suddenly, Jaune drives his arm into Emilio's chest with his fist reaching out through his back.

Emilio coughs out some blood. With the last of his strength, he looks at Jaune, seeing the coldness in his eyes. Soon, Emilio slumps his head. Jaune drops Emilio's corpse to the ground.

Jaune kneels and takes Emilio's glasses. Soon, he puts them on.

He looks at the compound and walks down the halls.

"It will fall."

(A/N: An unseen danger in the Arc Clan's ranks!)