The Games We Play

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryuugi. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishment. Anyway on with the show...errr read.

Sighted

"Anyone you know?" I asked as I Observed them, letting the hologram of the news broadcast fall away. I showed him the information my power displayed, focusing on their stats, levels, and titles, and saw Adam frown slightly out of the corner of my eye. It wasn't very hard to guess why, especially when he'd gotten to take a look at his own profile so recently.

The Beast

LV45

Adam Taurus

"Yes," He said after a moment. "They're with her."

"Important?"

He shrugged slightly, but couldn't shake the frown on his face.

"I got that impression," He said. "She kept them close, sent them to handle important things."

"Like deliveries of large quantities of weapons," I noted, a frown of my own touching my lips. "Neither of them is the illusionist."

It was a statement of fact, but he nodded anyway.

"I never got a look at the illusionist myself," He admitted. "But Raven described her as a small girl, less than five feet, with pink and brown colored hair."

"Shouldn't be too hard to find, then," I answered, raising an eyebrow at the description even as I filed it away.

"If you can find her. Most of us can't, if you recall."

"I'm not most of us," I shrugged. "I'll find her. Anything else you can tell me about her?"

He grunted and thought about that for a moment before nodding slowly.

"She works for Roman Torchwick," He stated slowly. "But he seems to work for our new friend."

"So she's a subcontractor?" I wondered aloud, shaking my head slightly. "Huh. Well, at least we know how Roman's involved in this whole mess."

"No, we don't," Adam sounded annoyed. "We have no idea what any of them are up to."

"That's why we're watching them," I reminded him. "Be patient, Adam. But even if we don't know his exact intentions, we can tie him to our new ally—"

I cut myself off to roll my eyes, abruptly annoyed.

"Does she have a name?" I asked him. "Because not having one for her is getting pretty annoying. In fact, I don't seem to have names for any of my real enemies and its starting to piss me off."

He grunted again, this time in heartfelt agreement.

"You should see all the reports I have to write about her," He snorted. "Last time, I ended up including a note at the very bottom saying 'You know who I'm fucking talking about.'"

"Even you don't know?" I asked. "They want you to work as a correspondent without any idea what they're after or even who they are? I'm all for being discrete and cautious, but there comes a point where you have to wonder what you expect anyone to do when you don't tell them shit."

"I'm getting the impression that all sorts of people aren't telling me things," He scowled down at his drink.

"Like why we're getting a shipment of weapons that could equip a small army?"

"Like that," He agreed, sighing as he leaned back in his chair and walked the screen I was still maintaining. Mercury and Emerald had opened the new truck to reveal even more weapons—enough to make me wonder if the local White Fang even had enough hands to use them all. Maybe they were planning ahead, though that was as worrying as the knowledge of how armed the White Fang was soon going to be. Stuff like that wouldn't even qualify as an annoyance to me, but logically, weapons like that weren't going to be pointed at people like me. I felt pretty sure that the more militant side of the White Fang was going to be pretty pleased by the dividends this alliance was paying.

It made me wonder what I should do. I could jump down there, tear through the walls, and put a stop to all of this right now, but that would have been foolish and I didn't entertain the thought for more than a moment. Even if this was something that needed stopping, that wouldn't be the way to go about it; I didn't even know who was involved yet or what they were planning. Even beyond that, such an overt act would likely cost me my standing in the White and possibly, depending on precisely what was going, my alliance with Raven. Granted, that was a bit unlikely given that Adam, Raven's representative, seemed to be completely in the dark—but that the thing of acting blindly; you have no idea what's going on and thus what is likely to happen. If necessary, I'd do it, but there was no rioting in the streets at the moment, no sign of innocent people dying, and thus it wasn't necessary to do such a thing.

That didn't preclude more subtle methods, though. If I wanted to, I could ruin this with no one the wiser. It would be as simple as sending Crocea Mors into the steel of the weapons and having him tamper with them, render them useless. That would have repercussions of its own, undoubtedly, but they likely wouldn't be directed towards me. Rather, the fallout would likely be aimed towards the people who supplied such faulty weapons, our annoyingly nameless ally.

But I didn't want that. Not yet, at least, because I didn't know anything about them, either, and something like this might be enough to break ties with them permanently, or at least strain them severely. For all I knew, they could be as useful an ally as Raven—did I want to risk throwing that away or complicating it for something as comparatively minor as an arms dealing?

My dad had once told me that the toes you step on today might be connected to an ass you have to kiss tomorrow. Even all these weapons weren't a match for a real Hunter, so it didn't make sense to risk throwing away a potential partnership over something like this. Even if a weapons shipment of this size might one day endanger lives, that just meant it was something to keep an eye on. After all, the weapons were being given to an organization I had a great deal of power in and I could address stuff like this without showing my hand.

The wiser choice would be to wait and see. I had a lot of pull these days, could speak to Raven and my grandmother and apply pressure indirectly if I had to. I could get involved directly if it proved necessary, but…

I shook my head slightly and sighed.

"Leave it be," I said at last. "We'll handle this intelligently."

Adam nodded after a moment, probably coming to the same conclusion.

"Raven?" He suggested.

"You didn't know about this," I answered. "Stands to reason that Raven probably didn't either. What that says to me is that either someone is working behind our backs or our new friends are up to something. Either way, I'd say it's worth finding out what's going on, no?"

"It might be a power play," Adam mused. "Bringing in hardware like that could improve someone's position in the White Fang a great deal. Being able to say you could arm a few thousand men right then and there…"

He shook his head.

"And this would help their position, of course," He nodded at my screen. "A gift like this will silence a lot of the complaints against them. Neither of which is necessarily a bad thing, but I'm really getting tired of being left in the dark, even if I do have good night vision."

I chuckled at that and nodded. That led to the obvious question of what to do about it right now, however, and evidently, Adam was wondering the same thing.

"Should we split up?" He asked after a moment of silence. "If I leave now, I can probably catch up with that truck, you could keep watch here, and we'll see where that leads us."

I shook my head.

"No need," I said. "I've been keeping track of the truck's GPS through the signal it's been giving out, along with the signal of the scrolls inside it; I'll know wherever they go and we'll track them down afterwards to see what we find. I'll be able to recognize the signals later, too, so…"

I shrugged as Adam grunted in understanding, rolling his eyes beneath his mask.

"Of course you can do that," He said. "You'd be a scary guy to try and run away from, you know that."

"I see all and know all," I admitted humbly. "I've been getting the feeling I was in charge of keeping track of stuff in a past life."

He snorted as if I was joking, which I wasn't. My soul had about a million eyes and a humongous book, after all, and it hadn't escaped me that I seemed to have a…propensity for sensory skills, above and beyond my talent for just about everything else.

But I didn't tell him that, figuring it could wait until another time. Instead, I continued my watch over the group of figures down below.

"Should we make an entrance, then?" Adam asked after another minute of silence. "We could go down there and speak to them, see what we find out. An appearance by Jian Bing might make a few people talk."

I nodded, though not in full agreement. The idea had plenty of merit, of course, and it would be a quick way to learn what was going on, even if it might reveal that we'd been watching them and start rumors. Appearing clueless might hurt our position, appearing knowledgeable might hurt our position—it had pros and cons. Even so, it could work.

But something else was bothering me…

"They're seventeen," I mused, putting several thoughts together.

Adam looked at me for a moment before catching on.

"You think they'll be going to Haven?" He asked.

"It'd fit," I nodded. "Ms. Sterious has been using the place as her base of operations, it wouldn't be surprising if she wanted a few subordinates on hand. No, more than that, any allies she wanted to bring in to whatever it is she's working on would need to be able to fit in. They match and…they're strong. I've only seen one person my age that was stronger and she…was a bit of an exception. And Mercury is almost as strong as she was, last time we met."

"I assume you're excluding yourself from that equation?"

"I'm a superweapon that walks like a man," I said, which may or may not have been factually accurate, depending on precisely how this whole reincarnation gig worked out. "I'm an exception to most rules.

Adam snorted but didn't argue the point.

"In a few days, I'll be checking out Haven," I continued, musing as I leaned back in my chair. "My sister works there and my grandmother has business to attend to—or, at least, she's making up something for my sake. I wanted to check the place out and see if I couldn't hunt down our new friend. She should be there and if she's not, then the illusionist will be."

He nodded.

"Sounds like a plan," He said. "What do you want me to do?"

He looked him over for a moment and considered that before nodding.

"Why don't you come with me?" I suggested.

"What?" He asked, eyebrows rising.

I shrugged.

"You have a hard time working in the daylight, right?" I gestured towards his face. "Because if you go outside and people see you, they either realize you're a wanted terrorist or see your face and assume you're a horrible monster that needs be put down. I figure you have to have to stay indoors a lot?"

"You're a fucking asshole," Adam stated calmly. "But yes. So?"

"So, your job is to keep up with these guys and you can't do that underground," I answered. "But I can hide your face, so you can follow me around. Like I said before, it wouldn't be odd for Jeanne Roma's only grandson to have a bodyguard and I could make it official easy enough. If nothing else, it's better than being locked up all day, right?"

He was silent for a long moment before grunting slowly.

"I guess I don't have anything better to do," He admitted. "And though you're an insufferable little shit, I'll probably get more done with you there."

"Mhm," I smiled. "And besides…it gives us a chance to do some training."

"Training?" He asked.

"Well," I shrugged. "I was planning on killing a few more Goliath's since they seemed like a good way to grind and, really, I can't have my henchman being weaker then hers, can I? You need to work out more, Adam, and I guess I can spare a few kills for your sake."

"Are you certain this is a good idea?" Adam asked mildly, hands at his sides as we walked through the plains outside of Mistral. Even just this far north, it was possible to see where the valleys of black stone and ash met the gentle slopes of snowy hills in a marked dichotomy. It was beautiful in its own way, though, if one could look past the endless hordes of hungry beasts that roamed both lands. "Won't your family worry?"

"I told them I'd be gone all night," I shrugged. "I don't sleep so there's not much reason to. I said I'd either be in my barriers or in town and they accepted that. Why? Are you worried about the Grimm?"

"Always," He stated. "Though that's only part of it. No offence Jaune, but you have a tendency to get into trouble when you do…anything, really. The Grimm especially seem to be drawn to you. If I seem worried, it's just me bracing myself in case another monster out of myth and legend decides it wants in on the fun."

I snorted.

"It's possible," I admitted. It's not like I could ever be certain whether the Grimm's Creator would take a shot at me or not, I just wasn't especially worried about it. Not because of the potential threat it posed to me and those around me—that was still massively concerning—but simply because I knew that if he really wanted to take a swing at my face, being inside the walls of a Kingdom wouldn't be enough to stop him. If he decided to send Ziz or Crom my way again…

So being out here didn't frighten me. The possibility of Adam getting drawn into it worried me a bit more, but even then, if Mr. Grimm decided to actually try, there weren't many places anyone would be safe. If something happened that I couldn't handle I'd have Levant carry him back towards Mistral, where he might be a touch safer.

"And?" Adam prompted after a moment of silence.

"And if it comes up, I'll handle it," I promised with a shrug. "But for now, let's focus on the task at hand. My senses are sharp enough that if anything happens, I'll notice in time to do something about it."

He took a deep breath and nodded, rolling his shoulder's once and doing his best to dismiss his concerns. He mostly succeeded, though I could tell that the sheer scale of what I mentioned we could be fighting had him a touch on edge. He was well aware that if something went wrong and he made a mistake, then there was a good chance he'd never have an opportunity to make another.

But I also felt his trust in me, as well as his respect. He didn't mention either out loud, but that didn't change anything; he believed that if anything went wrong, I'd step in before he was in any actual danger—and I would.

"Fine," He said. "How's this going to work, then?"

"We're more than ten levels apart, so sharing the experience equally isn't on the table," I answered. "Instead, we'll each get a percentage based on our contribution to the fight. I'll find something strong and punch it in the face until it's almost dead, you deal the finishing blow, rinse and repeat. I'll still get most of the experience, but…"

I shrugged and looked off into the distance.

"Just do what I say and things should be fine," I continued, picking my targets silently. "We can keep in touch easily enough and I'll tell you if anything unexpected happens. Other than that, we simply train until we get stronger. With the monsters around Mistral, we should make some good progress, at least for a while."

"Okay," He nodded slowly, masked eyes scanning the skies. "Where do we begin? Are we actually going to Hunt Goliath's?"

"Not yet," I assured him. "I think its best we get a few more levels on you before we do that; Goliath's are fairly rare, after all, and since you'll get rewarded based on how well you manage to do against them…"

He grunted in understanding.

"Let's try to get you to at least…mm, level fifty?" I mused aloud before frowning. "Fifty-five, sixty…I guess it all depends on how much you improve with the stat points you get. Any idea how you intended to spend them?"

"I've given it some thought," He nodded. "You seemed to do pretty well with a focused approach—specializing in Intelligence and Wisdom, right?"

"Yeah," I nodded back, recognizing what he was getting at. "I like to think that's worked out pretty well for me thus far. There are advantages to being both a generalist and a specialist, but the way I figured, all else being equal, a specialist will beat a generalist in their field of specialization—especially in my case, where I get more out of each tier of specialization. In the end, though, it really comes down to whether you can force someone to play your game—if a generalist forces you out of your specialty or another specialist forces you into theirs, it'd be easy to find yourself at a disadvantage. Luckily, when part of your specialty is stabbing people in the face, it's pretty easy to make them play ball."

He snorted.

"Have some experience with that, do you?" He asked.

"Maybe a little," I allowed. "Intelligence gives me a lot of options and Wisdom makes me pretty good at making use of them. I can usually find some way to make people fight me on my terms, whatever that might be at the time."

I paused and then shrugged again, smiling slightly.

"Well, even if I say that, I do like to keep my hand in with the physical stuff," I said. "Most of it was stuff I got through grinding, rather than skill points, but it comes in handy. Something else to keep in mind is the synergy between stats, which can muddle the benefits of specialization a bit—that's why I specialized in Intelligence and Wisdom, after all. A lot of that is the skills I get from improving my skills, but it applies to the basic stuff, too."

Adam nodded seriously.

"I was thinking of specializing in Strength and Dexterity," He stated. "I considered following in your footsteps, given…well, everything you do, but I don't have your skill at picking up…skills."

He paused awkwardly for a moment before shaking his head slightly.

"As such, I figured I'd have a hard time learning and developing new techniques the way you do," He continued. "Having a lot of potential skill doesn't matter if it'll take me a decade to learn how to use it—and there's not much point, since you can already do all of that stuff better then I'll ever be able to. I figured it would be better to leave picking up skills and working magic to you and focus on what I'm already good at. Might help cover our bases a bit, who knows."

"It's not a bad idea," I smiled, tilting my head at him in support. "Hitting fast and hard has worked out pretty well for me—and like you said, if you need someone to fill the Intelligence or Wisdom roles, I can do that pretty well. If we can get both of those stats to, say, two hundred, you should be in pretty good shape. You might want to consider taking some Wisdom, though; it helps a lot with MP regen. I don't think it'll do as much for you as it does for me, but it might help take the edge off some of your more exhausting attacks."

He nodded again, filing that away.

"You're the expert," He said. "Now what?"

"Let's start with…" I mulled it over for a moment, scanning the wealth of options I sensed one last time before smiling again. "Let's start with some Giant Nevermore. I killed a few the last time I was here and it was pretty satisfying, I must say. I'll clip their wings and ground them; you should be able to handle things from there. Don't worry about conserving energy too much, either; if you start running low, I can always heal you."

"Got it," He said. "Where?"

"That way," I nodded, knowing he probably couldn't see them from here, but I stopped him when he started walking in that direction. "One sec. I want to test something out."

He paused, casting me a glance beneath his mask.

"Another new trick?" He asked.

"Something like that," I answered, rolling my shoulders for effect. "I told you about the Pandora Shell back in Vale and how I was immune, remember?"

"Yeah," He drew out, slowly raising an eyebrow.

"Well, this is a skill I got from that," I continued, cracking my neck. "Well, it's actually a set of skills, but that's not the point. You know what Pandora Shells can do to the bodies of the infected?"

He stared at me for a moment and I knew he'd caught on. He was getting used to my shenanigans, I suppose.

"Besides drive them insane?" He asked, a touch of warning and concern in the words.

"Gamer's Mind," I reminded him cheerfully as I looked myself over. I was still me—that is, Jaune Arc. I'd equipped my Grimm Reaper title, since we were going Hunting, but thinking about it…well, of the two forms I'd taken thus far, the three meter tall hulking brute with spikes and five faces seemed like it'd be the more alarming, so I shifted into Jian. What title I wore wouldn't matter in the end, after all, because it would simply be replaced, and the smaller form was more convenient in a number of ways.

He clicked his tongue but accepted that explanation easily enough. I guess that after Lenore, this was just more of the same. Much, much more.

"Should I do anything?" He asked.

"Nah, it's cool," I replied—and began my Metamorphosis. It began on my left arm this time, a patch of dark spots above the wrist that swiftly began to spread, bolstered by my own healing. In a matter of seconds, everything from wrist to elbow was pitch black, at least until jagged white armor began to erupt from my fingers and follow the spread of my discolored flesh. Its progress hastened as it grew, covering my arm, growing over my chest, and then rising up my neck and down my legs. In short order, I was back in the form from before, faceless mask hiding my face completely in a mirror image to the one Conquest had dropped. Turning towards Adam, I brightened my tone slightly, knowing he couldn't see my face any longer. "There, see? Done."

"Everything okay?"

"Just fine," I answered. "Don't worry, I made sure I wasn't infectious. I just haven't really gotten a chance to test this out in live combat and it would unnerve most people, so I wanted to give it a whirl."

He looked me over for a long, silent moment before nodding again, trusting me completely despite my warped visage.

"Nevermore now, then?"

"Mm," I replied, hunching over slightly. With my new healing skill, I'd been able to grind Metamorphosis some, training it far faster than the glacial pace I'd used before. It wasn't much yet, relatively speaking—I couldn't do anything on par with the Goliath's throat cannon—but there was something I wanted to try, having seen Conquest do it before.

I felt the armor on my back bubble and shift—not melting, but growing in a way that was hard to describe, funneling matter both inwards and outwards. I felt several of my bones break and reconnect differently, the muscles of my chest, arms, and legs shifting to accommodate the change, and then felt the complex spikes burst free from my body and expand.

For a moment, they were nothing but skeletal shapes, hanging uselessly. A second later, however, whips of dark material exploded from my back hard enough to make me lean over even further, wrapping around the bones in layers of muscle and then growing patches of flesh fueled by my massive HP regen. Even before that process finished, even as the beginnings of black feathers began to slide from my skin, I gave my new wings and experimental flap and was pleased when they responded.

I stood upright as the change finished and began to rise into the air. Even with such a massive wingspan, over twice as wide as my body was tall, I knew they shouldn't have been able to support my weight—but they did, easily, and in that moment I felt something odd brushing my feathers, itself a strange sensation. At once I was sure that however I was flying, it had little to do with aerodynamics. Hell, I wasn't entirely sure I was flying on air at all; it almost seemed like it was just something that happened to be there for the process, a witness to impossibility. I had no idea what they were truly doing, honestly.

But that was fine.

For now.

"Come on, Adam," I said as I continued to rise. "Let's go kill some monsters."