Interlude:

Truths and Doubt

Truth was a hell of a thing. It made sure you were on the straight and narrow. Forces you to face fears and truths that most would rather close their eyes too. It even helps prevent you from falling victim to a dubious businessman whose wares consisted of nothing but wasps in a thin blanket marketed as heating blankets.

Truth was also an abusive drunk uncle to Jaune. It had to be considering how often it sought to remind him that he was a subpar warrior at best.

Why, at this very moment, Jaune was recounting his many failures through his entire life as he spent his time soaring high up into the open air.

"Oops," Penny said, cover her mouth in embarrassment. "Sorry Jaune. I seem to have hit you too hard."

"IT'S OKAYYYY!" The ending of Jaune's reply was punctuated by a whump. A cloud of dust rose into the air as Jaune struggled to get to his feet, upper body wobbling as if an invisible monkey was tugging on the top of his head.

Genos raised an eyebrow. As rough as it sounded for him to say, it seemed as if Jaune held none of the training that empowered the other Huntsmen and Huntresses. Okay, that was being nice; the only two skills that Jaune demonstrated during that entire period was the fact that he could swing his sword with decent form, hold a shield, and survive getting launched fifty feet into the air.

"Are you undamaged?" Penny inquired.

"Yeah," Jaune said with a laugh. "My aura is still intact. I'm fine. I blocked it with my head. Hardest part of my body. Let's try again."

"Very well. Deploying attack sequence alpha." Penny's eyes flashed red as her blades danced to her whim, the thin strings linked to her barely visible with the rise of dawn's light. Pressing forward with his shield up, Jaune pushed hard, moving twice as fast as he did during his last charge. A curving sweep came looking to knock his shield off balance as it did last time but Jaune's sword met it with a resounding parry. With a grin, Jaune drew his arm back, about to strike his first-ever blow upon the now defenseless Penny.

Her blades promptly all came back and smacked into the back of his head.

Once again, Jaune was sent fumbling beyond his own control. This time horizontally, forwards across the ring on his face, coming to a groaning stop just a few meters from the edge. His aura went into the red.

"MATCH- WINNER! PENNY!" boomed the sound system through an empty arena. That didn't stop Penny from taking her bows to all the chairs present. And Genos of course.

Meanwhile, Jaune finally found the strength to roll over onto his back. He was heaving for breath, spent and exhausted. He had been beaten without landing a single blow, posing no threat or contest to Penny at any level. Yet, in spite of this crushing loss, there was still a smile on Jaune's face, his weapons were still gripped tightly in his hands.

Jaune Arc may not be much a Huntsman in skill. But there was no denying his spirit. No shame in defeat or self-pity to accompany his failure. He just dusted himself off, made a self-deprecating joke or two, and carried on. More than his aura, it was his persistence that reminded Genos of Mumen Rider.

Mumen. Genos hoped that he was careful while they were gone. His heart was filled with justice, but the sour truth was that his might simply could not deliver upon his will.

Walking over to Jaune while Penny began uploading her combat data, Genos held out a bottle of water to the downed Huntsman.

"Oh. Thanks , Genos. You want to go a round after this."

"Perhaps we should wait for your aura to recover first."

Jaune laughed. "Yeah. That might be a good idea. I was just getting ahead of myself. As usual." He gulped down the bottle without any hesitation, sweat leaving his body as fast as water came into it. Down his chin a few splashes spilled, his hands shaking with fatigue as he drank without pause.

"You're not ashamed?" Genos asked. He cursed himself. He was being too direct. What if Jaune was simply hiding his pain of defeat and now he was pressing on that very wound.

Jaune finished the bottle. "Hmm?"

"Too direct," Genos muttered to himself. "I just…want to know how you felt. About the round, not that you are done—"

"You want to know if losing bothers me?" Jaune was carefree about the question. Without strain.

Genos hesitated. "Yes."

"Well, yeah," Jaune said, chuckling. "Losing sucks."

"Sucks?"

"Yep. I kind of like and hate sparring at the same time. It's like an exercise in honesty, you know." Jaune folded his shield back into its compact form. "In a fight, there is win or lose. That's the way it is with the Grimm. That's the way it is in a duel. If you lose, I think there's no other way around the truth that the other person, in some way, was just better than you, and that always stings."

Yes, it did. Genos knew that sting too. Perhaps not as thoroughly as Jaune did but Genos had faced defeat and certain death far too many times than he was proud to admit. The meteorite, the Deep Sea King, even the Mosquito Woman. All of his failures came back to haunt him in the present, mocking him as an ineffable shame infected his mind. For all his augmentations, firepower, and determination all of it had proven to be worthless in the face of overwhelming force.

Of course, Master Saitama was the ruling force by the end of the day, but there was a fear somewhere, deep down within Genos between the space that was his core and his soul that made him shiver. Without Saitama, where would their world be? He would most certainly be lost. He would have failed the people he had sworn to protect. He would have failed the memory of his family.

"Hey, Genos?" Jaune said. "Have you ever lost?"

It took most of his will not to break eye-contact with Jaune with how much shame it took from him to admit the truth. "Far too many times."

"Really," breathed Jaune, stunned. "But…you're amazing. I saw you fight with both Pyrrha and Yang. They said you were holding back the entire time! There are videos going around the school of you turning an Atlas warship to ash! Like it was nothing."

Genos lowered his head. "Yet its still true that I have been defeated before."

Silence found its way into their conversation as Jaune sat up to bear full witness of Genos's hidden shame.

"Good for you," said Jaune.

"What?"

"Good for you," Jaune said. "Good for us that we know this feeling so well. In fact, I would say that losing in the single most important skill that a Huntsman could master. I know this because the single greatest Huntress I've ever known teaches this lesson to me each night, every night. And each and every night I get a bit better. I get a little stronger. I get a little faster. And she gets a little prouder." A smile spread across Jaune's face. "And that makes losing worth it. Losing is momentum. At least, to me it is. See, it might be the truth that I might not be as strong as anyone else here, or as fast, or as skilled, or even as funny as I wish I was. But it's also the truth that with every match I have, with every time I swing, I feel a truth of my own, a truth that shows me where I am lacking, where I need to get stronger, where I am getting stronger. Where I've improved. Do you—do you know what I'm saying?"

It wasn't entire on the nose. Genos had, at best, what could be understood as a peripheral comprehension. There was no way that he would ever know physical strain like Jaune did or feel marked improvements in his strength without upgrades. However, in Jaune, Genos saw some semblance of Saitama. Perhaps an inversed image. One with all the strength in the world, at the price of never having the satisfaction of fighting an equal. Jaune on the other hand could have his fill of struggle forever and never taste the sweetness of victory.

Holding his fists out, Genos shifted both arms into their incinerator forms. Power and heat hot as the surface of a star itself coursed through nanotubes within him, a marvel of technology in their durability and minute scale, still capable of transporting so much power. It was almost a simile to the human body. They breathed. He smote.

"Jaune," Genos asked, uncertainty taking hold of him for a moment too long. "Do I deserve to be powerful. Do I deserve to get stronger if I cannot struggle as you do?"

"I—uh." Jaune didn't quite know how to answer this. Was this his fault? Did he trigger this doubt in Genos with how he answered? Dammit Jaune, you had to Jaune this up to? This was the Jaune move to end Jaune moves. Come on, Arc, fix what you broke. "Genos, your gun-arms…they're cool. Like…really extremely cool. But no one talks about them first when they think of you."

Genos looked confused.

"Genos," Jaune said, still struggling with his words. "I'm not really a philosopher. Or have all the answers. Heck. I have a hard time answering my own questions sometimes. But I know this: your character is what made you…well…you? I mean, you're still here, right? Even if you've lost in the past. You're still here, trying your best to help people. That's what matters. It has to matter. That's what I believe, at least."

What kind of world was this, where even besieged by an endless horde of beasts beyond reason or flesh do heroes still shine regardless? "I think," Genos said, "I still have much to learn about true heroism and struggle." Master Saitama had taught him so much. But there was no way to dissect the true nature of overcoming hardship from one who had long since transcend all physical barriers to his strength. "If I could only grow my strength like master does."

"There's a world of opportunity beyond just the flesh, Genos. So, maybe you've hit the peak of your strength without upgrades. Well, that's okay. Maybe it's time to try a different way? You could try replacing what doesn't work for you and keeping what still does."

"A different way? Replacing?" Genos's eyes widened. Jaune was right. Such as simple statement holding an obvious platitude but truth had a way of burrowing itself into you and piloting you to fight your doubts like a hot-blooded Japanese teenager would a giant robot built from the bones of his long dead ancestors against a horde of space invaders. "You have revealed something to me Jaune."

Jaune blinked. "I did."

"Yes. Something that I must do further research in."

Genos held out his hand to Jaune, resolute, with his mind made. There was wisdom to be exchanged here between them. Both of them were in a position to help the other comprehend that which was beyond their experience. Jaune, with his words on struggle. Genos, with not getting beaten by everything, everyone, everywhere, all the time.

It was a perfect combination.

And best of all, Saitama's voice approved.

Ah, Genos…remember, when getting udon to make sure they're spicy...and if you're going to clean the room later remember to do it early because the vacuum cleaner is loud and distracts me from reading Jump….the best kind of trade is free Genos. Free trade is good because you both will think you owe the other a favor. The best friendships are built from people not paying each other. By the way, do you have the rent for this month? I might need it early. There is a sale at the local comic book store that is coming up.

Empowered by induced motivation, Genos extended his hand to Jaune with such gravitas that the wind from his flourish all but slapped the huntsman for him. "Let us join forces then. You can show me the method and path of true struggle. I can help you analyze new strategies to develop your own skills and abilities."

Jaune froze. He looked down at the open hand that Genos had extended to him and back up at the cyborg. Hesitantly, slowly, he reached out and shook it. He wasn't expecting Genos to pull him back up to his feet. Yelping on his way up, Genos helped steady Jaune and made him lift his weapon.

"Let's see." Genos's brows raised. "What do you think about building in a portable laser generator in your sword?"

"Uh…"

"Magnetic gauntlets could stop you from losing your shields. Keeping it up will also prevent you from getting hit the face."

"I—I know that part—"

"We must spar," Genos declared with certainty. With the way he nodded in conviction, it was as if an inner committee of smaller Genos's were all shaking hands with each other and deciding to undertake a risky enterprise. "We must spar. Only directly can I understand and document more details regarding your many potential weaknesses. Penny, please help us restart the ring."

Penny disconnected from her upload with a snapping salute. "Ab-so-lutely!"

"Thank you," Genos said. His core ignited and his body began to hum with power and shine. Rotating his arms freely, Genos finished his diagnostics and noted Jaune's aura meter displayed holographically overhead. Almost entirely refilled; Jaune's regeneration was impressive. He was gaining useful knowledge already. "Jaune. Do you best to dodge my attacks and fight back to the best of your ability. That will allow us to achieve the best results. To encourage you I will engage you with my lightest setting."

Lightest setting. That didn't sound too bad. Jaune raised his shield. He could do this. He could do this.

The timer went off.

The airwaves blasted off Genos as he rocketed up into the air and pointed his incinerators at Jaune, the brightness turning the rest of the room to shadow.

Jaune gulped and braced.