Streamer in the Omniverse

Comparisons, after the spar and the beginning of negotiations.

I've resumed posting Hunter's story for anyone interested. Just head over there; I posted a chapter these past few days, and the next one will be out tomorrow or the day after.

Well, as always, if anyone wants to support me or just read 3/7 chapters of my two stories, that's possible on my (P)(A)(T). If not, I still appreciate you reading my stories, thank you very much!

That being said, good night and happy reading!

PS: Some people messaged me asking to create a Boost; I'm figuring out how to do that since I didn't even know it existed.

[...]---[...]

POV: Jaune Arc.

After Nora finished her shower, it was Pyrrha's turn, then Ren's, and I ended up being the last because I had some things to organize.

"Are you sure you're okay, Nora?" I asked, concerned.

Nora had been out of the shower for some time, and even though she looked better, happier, to us three who lived with her every day, there was evident hesitation in her eyes... Fear.

Even Ren seemed to carry some of that fear, that trauma. These two hadn't talked much about their past, but I'd have to be foolish and blind not to notice that it involved something like that.

"I'm fine, don't worry, fearless leader!" Nora spoke cheerfully, a joy not entirely feigned but a bit forced.

"You guys talked to that Huntsman, didn't you?" Nora continued before anyone could say anything. "Devas, wasn't it? He said it was unintentional?" She asked.

"He did, he said that." I sighed in agreement. Devas seemed like a decent guy, and I believed him when he said he didn't know how that strange mask's aura affected others besides him.

But still, I was... Not angry, but annoyed that his mistake had affected my team so much.

It was kind of strange that I was the least affected, even Pyrrha had been worse off than me.

"So it's okay, see, it was all a misunderstanding." Nora dispelled my worries and began to bounce away in the way only she could. "Come on, let's go, I saw on the CCT that something's happening in Professor Goodwitch's room!" She exclaimed as she went off.

I raised my hand towards her, but Ren stopped me from speaking.

"I'll talk to her later, leave the matter for now, please." He placed his hand on my shoulder and looked at me, then at Pyrrha. "It's something that happened in the past, that aura brought back some memories." He affirmed.

"Can I help with anything?" I asked. I knew it was their personal matter, but I would like to help if I could.

Ren shook his head.

"We can talk later, Nora won't be against you and Pyrrha knowing what happened." He sighed. "I'm not either, we're a team after all." After finishing speaking, he didn't wait for my response and began to walk after Nora.

I looked at Pyrrha, who shrugged and waved, starting to walk.

"Let's go, I don't want to know what Nora will do with this mood if Cardin annoys her." She started to follow them, and I wasted no time in following them, feeling more relieved and happy that Ren, and possibly Nora, were comfortable talking about the past with the whole team.

[...]

We didn't take long to reach Professor Goodwitch's room. I noticed it was quiet, which was strange, considering Nora had said there was something going on.

I understood the reason for the silence as soon as the doors opened.

"Is that Yang?" The question was rhetorical, but Pyrrha, as polite as she was, answered me.

"Yes, and she's sparring with that guy." By "that guy," she meant Devas.

Spars were common, more than common actually, but this must have been the first time I saw a Huntsman sparring with a trainee Huntress.

Probably not just me, as everyone was silent as they watched the fight... Was this safe? Wasn't that Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch?

I nudged my teammates and pointed at the two.

"Let's sit and watch." I started walking. If Ozpin and Goodwitch hadn't interrupted the fight, then it was all right here.

As much as I wanted to ask various things to Team RWBY, I felt like this wasn't the time, so I pulled my team away.

We sat a few rows away, a bit closer to the arena.

"Are you okay?" Ren asked Nora, both of them sitting to my left, while Pyrrha sat in the seat next to mine, on the right.

"I'm fine, don't worry, Renny, I'm not made of sugar." With the amount of pancakes and caramel syrup she poured on those things, I doubted that statement a bit.

Ren didn't insist, especially after Nora "booped" his nose with her finger and gave a slight giggle.

Seems like she was better, that was good, seeing her down was weird.

The fight was evenly matched, which was strange, since I had seen Yang fight and comparing it to what Devas had done this morning, it was strange she hadn't been flattened in seconds.

But I knew how to recognize when someone was holding back in a spar, Pyrrha kind of did that every time we fought, so I was used enough to recognize it with a glance.

What was strange was that Devas's punches seemed... amateurish? Pyrrha had scolded me for punching like that a few times, which was strange, was he so focused on using a halberd that he ignored the rest?

I realized this within minutes of the fight.

"That..." Pyrrha widened her eyes.

"What?" Ren murmured, somewhat incredulous.

Nora's reaction was just to lean forward, with her mouth slightly open in shock.

Even though I didn't have the vision my friends had, or their experience in combat and fighting, it was still obvious to me that what Devas was doing wasn't normal.

The best comparison I had for what was happening in front of my eyes was those timelapse videos I saw on the CCT of seeds.

If at the first moment I laid eyes on the fight Devas was like a seed, an amateur, with every passing minute he grew more and more, as if time were accelerated, until he began to overpower Yang completely.

What the heck was this?! How ridiculous!

Was this his Semblance or something?! If it was, damn, I thought Pyrrha's was overpowered, but this guy's took all possible prizes.

"She's stuck." Pyrrha spoke without taking her eyes off the fight. "She can't attack, nor escape, just defend."

I... wasn't sure if that was entirely correct, to me, even though Yang was starting to lose, I still thought she could fight back.

But well, I trusted Pyrrha more than myself for anything involving combat, so she was probably right... In fact, I trusted Pyrrha more than myself for many things, but that wasn't the point.

"Is she laughing?" I wasn't the first to notice, nor the first to ask, since I could hear Devas asking the same question, but directly to Yang.

"Are you laughing?" His voice, even at this distance, maintained that calmness he seemed to have, the serenity, but contained a hint of confusion.

It seemed like even he didn't know why Yang was laughing, and his confusion only increased when she answered.

"You're amazing, did you know that?" Even amidst the blows, with the sound of every punch, with Yang's Aura pulsating in yellow whenever Devas hit her, still, the smile on her face was beautiful.

I almost blushed at a compliment that wasn't for me, it was so sincere, so pure.

Frankly, I had no idea how Devas wasn't embarrassed, maybe he was already used to such compliments? I didn't know, maybe not, but his only reaction was to seem even more confused, something that seemed to make Yang even happier, who seemed even more cheerful and relieved.

I didn't know why, but she seemed relieved to me, content, as if she had finally received news she thought was horrible, but was good, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

This... Were we supposed to be seeing this? It seemed a bit too much like a love confession for my taste.

Still, I seemed to be the only one bothered, Ren and Nora were so focused on the fight they barely seemed to blink, Pyrrha, on the other hand, if they had told me she was a statue, I would believe it.

She hardly moved, and that was just her breathing, it was as if her whole being was focused on that fight, from her angle of vision, on Devas.

I might have thought she could be interested in him, sure, if she didn't have the most analytical gaze I had ever seen in my life.

I knew Pyrrha was talented, but if this was the focus she had to learn, to improve, I would be surprised if she hadn't won all the championships she won.

Seeing the focus my whole team seemed to have to extract the most from the fight in front of us, I had only one choice in this scenario, to do the same as everyone else and turn my attention back to the fight, just in time to see Yang whistle, after moving a few inches away from Devas's punches.

The moment Yang whistled, the ground beneath Devas's feet glowed, a glow I could recognize, after all, it was the same glow that appeared whenever my team sparred with Team RWBY.

"To know what Team RWBY is capable of..." Devas spoke, even before Weiss's Glyphs activated. "I should have figured it was something like this." He didn't seem angry, maybe amused, if the slight smile on his face said anything.

If he hesitated for half a moment to react, it was much, even before a third of the Glyphs activated, Devas had reacted and jumped backward, at the same time he threw a punch towards his own back, before even turning his whole body.

"Second round?"

[...]

POV: Devas Asura.

"No!" Weiss reacted as if I had offered her the amazing opportunity to skydive from the stratosphere without a parachute.

"Uh, I mean... No," she coughed lightly into her hand and continued. "I'm afraid our Auras are low. The battle this morning took a lot out of us, and this sparring seems to have drained the rest." She spoke calmly; everyone else seemed to agree.

I could sense their Auras; giving the correct percentage was something I couldn't do, but they all seemed to be above half, even if just slightly.

I didn't say this aloud; I just looked at the giant panel behind me, which showed Yang's Aura at fifty-one percent and had the gauge in green.

"It looks half full to me." I raised my hand to my eyes, as if I were seeing something far away.

How I managed to keep a straight face was a mystery, but I did.

Yang, who was slowly moving both hands to the back of Ruby's neck so she could see, stopped her movements and turned her neck so quickly to look at where I was looking that her Aura pulsed, as if she had been damaged.

The way her Aura dropped by one percent, leaving the gauge yellow, told me she would have really been hurt if it weren't for her Aura.

"See, fifty percent, my Aura's already in the yellow, halfway empty." Yang spoke quickly. Funny, for once I was the guy with the glass half full. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to push myself further, after all, the Vytal Festival is right around the corner; training little is bad, but overtraining is even worse!"

I knew it was an excuse; everyone knew, but I didn't press it.

Fighting against Team RWBY using everything I had could be fun, but it wouldn't really be training. I also didn't want to lay all my cards on the table while being watched by Ozpin and the others.

I had noticed them even before they entered the room; I didn't even need the minimap, after all, Ozpin was one of the few with magic.

And speaking of the devil...

"Well said, Miss Xiao-Long, training is good, but pushing oneself too many times can cause serious health problems." He was good; his face didn't even twitch as he said those words, but the amusement in his eyes was undeniable.

I ignored Yang, who seemed to want to bury herself in a hole, and turned to Ozpin, who was staring at me.

"I'll take advantage of everyone's attention and introduce you to Devas." He pointed at me with his cane. "He's an acquaintance of mine who came to visit Vale; fortunately, that turned out to be today, which allowed him to assist in the unfortunate accident that occurred this morning." I wished I could say he was lying through his teeth, but that would be a lie.

I had met Ozpin today, so I fell into his "acquaintance" category.

I had come to Vale to help Team RWBY, but saying it was a visit wasn't incorrect, and the rest of the sentence was just him narrating the events that happened this morning. The guy was good.

When Ozpin's voice died down, all the other students seemed to remember that they were alive and could speak.

I just wished they hadn't all spoken at once.

"Devas, is that some kind of color?" It isn't.

"The Deer Huntsmen? Is that him?" I've never heard of this man in my entire life.

"He has a nice body~" Thank you very much for the compliment... male voice... But I prefer women.

"Is he going to be a new teacher?" What?...

I wasn't too surprised when Ozpin chose to respond to that specific question, all the students falling silent to listen.

"I'm afraid Mr. Devas didn't come to Beacon looking for a job..." He looked at me, basically saying: Well, I hadn't thought of that, but I'm not against the idea, are you going to accept?

I ignored Ruby, who had the most excited eyes I had ever seen on a living being, and nodded to Ozpin.

"Don't you have something more important to discuss with me?" If I didn't know what to say, ignoring the subject always worked!

Stark seemed to agree, Jiraiya too, which frankly was kind of bad in this case...

To my relief, Ozpin agreed, not continuing the subject further.

"Yes, good reminder, do you have some time?" He asked, turning to look at Team RWBY. "Or do you plan to continue with another spar?"

The way Team RWBY froze at the question amused me.

"No, it's fine as it is." I declined, to the relief of the four. "Let's go, is there somewhere we can talk?" Anywhere but your office.

I must have been able to convey my thoughts somehow, as it wasn't Ozpin who responded, but Santa Claus, Port.

"You two can use my office, it's the closest from here, don't worry, make yourselves at home." He chuckled, patting his belly and waved casually.

Nice guy, kind of weird and caricatured, but nice.

I nodded to Ozpin.

"I'm afraid I don't know where things are around here." This school, which was the damn size of a castle, was huge.

Even though I had my Minimap, it didn't give the names of the rooms, just where they were. If I were to look for each one, it would take some time.

"Let's go then." He put his cane back on the ground and started walking out of the room we were in.

No student tried to stop us from leaving or asked anything else, even though I could hear whispers, gossip, questions like what was that body wrapped in chains, why was Team RWBY following us.

None of the four seemed to want to answer that question, not Ozpin, Glynda, and certainly not me, who was looking at the Minimap for the three red dots I had seen when the invasion ended.

I thought I might seize the chance to find them again because of the fight, especially since Yang decided to come to a crowded classroom, which only became more crowded as the battle continued, but it seems I was mistaken.

I couldn't see the three of them in any corner of the Minimap. It seems they were outside the school, in the city probably. Well, I'll look for them later.

It didn't take us long to reach Port's office. Inside it was... Different from what I imagined, it looked pretty normal, tidy with some weapons and portraits on the wall, but normal, with some books too.

I pulled out a few chairs from the VoidBag as soon as we entered, since there were only three in the office.

After we sat down, the first thing Ozpin did was take my phone out of his pocket and hand it to me.

"Thank you." I thanked politely and held the phone in my hand.

He just nodded and got straight to the point.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush here, as much as I want to trust you, I'll need some kind of concrete proof." He spoke calmly.

"What kind of proof?" I asked, turning on the phone. "More videos from the stream?" I waved the phone. I had locked everything so they couldn't mess with anything. "Or something else?"

James spoke before Ozpin could respond to me.

"An invitation to watch this so-called 'stream' would be the best way to confirm the truth of your claims." He explained with an emotionless face.

Ozpin sighed as soon as James finished speaking.

Weiss did the same when I leaned back in the chair, mimicking Gilbert's pose and waved my hand forward.

I only had a few invitations to the stream and didn't want to waste them randomly... If James wanted an invitation...

"What's your offer?" I let a slight smile appear on my face.

... He would have to negotiate...

[...]---[...]

A rather mellow chapter, the end of the spar, a few amusing scenes (at least I thought so), and the beginning of negotiations...

Regarding the chapter, I've put it from Jaune's point of view to make another comparison between someone narrating in the fight and someone outside of it.

Oh, and it's Jaune's last POV for a while, but he'll be back.

As always, if you have any questions, just comment, and I'll respond the best I can without giving spoilers.

With that said, good night everyone, and happy reading!

PS: Any ideas about Devas' Semblance?

PSS: I had to re-watch RWBY Volume 3 to remember some things for the arc, hence the delay in the chapter, sorry!