Arc Royale: Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 15

"You don't have a choice." Yang used the same line she had on Xiong, the same that had brought out surrender from one iteration. This one might have gotten the drop on Knight, but it was a gimmicky victory, and he couldn't stand up to a whole team of them. Surely. "Or do you think you can take us all on?"

"Yes." Ashari settled his hands into his pockets. "Yes. I think I can."

Yang hesitated, stunned.

That was when he moved. Ruby shouted out another warning, but Yang was fully aware of the fist striking her chin and knocking her back. Of course she was. Before she could even scream, Ashari positioned and kicked her into Blake, removing her from the fight for a brief instant. Time enough for him to turn on Weiss, who was thrusting in with her rapier.

His hand caught the tip and warped the flexible metal to the side, aura sparking as he stepped in, gripped Weiss by the collar and pushed her up into the air and off her feet. He carried her weight with one hand over his head, disarmed her of her weapon with the other and choke slammed the heiress down onto hard concrete.

Yang and Blake were back up just as Weiss spat spittle and air from the impact. They charged in with Yang in the lead, fist flaming and Ember Celica unleashing at point-blank range and into… Weiss' back!? Weiss, who had been ripped back up off the floor and used as a human shield, screamed in agony and bucked in Ashari's grasp. It made Yang hesitate again, earning her a kick to one knee and a five-foot girl to the face. Both tumbled back.

Sensing the danger, Blake broke off her own reckless attack and waited for Team JNPR to reinforce. Pyrrha and Nora charged in, leaving her, Ren and Jaune to flank. Pyrrha took the centre on a remarkably unconcerned huntsman, keeping her shield up and thrusting sharply with her spear. He swayed left, right and then ducked under, gripped the bottom of her shield and pushed it up over her face to obscure her vision.

At the same time, he used his hold to drag her sideways into the path of Nora, who thankfully had time enough to cancel her attack before she delivered a fresh dose of friendly fire. Gambol Shroud wrapped around the man's neck, over his scarf, and Blake came swinging in on the other end. In a brutally simplistic move, he swept his sword up and cut through the ribbon, leaving an aerodynamic Blake on the other end to spiral off into a container. Ren, meanwhile, earned himself six snap-fire rounds from a handgun, knocking him out the air.

Pyrrha recovered in time to charge in alongside her partner, the real Jaune, to try and tie their quick opponent down. Ashari took one look at both, reached under his coat and tossed another canister onto the ground.

"CLOSE YOUR EYES!" Ruby yelled.

It was impossible to tell how many heeded her warning. Smoke billowed out in thick, noxious clouds and obscured the whole area. Regular smoke this time? Ruby heard coughing and hacking from within, but no cries of pain.

"Ruby!" Knight hissed. "What is going on? I still can't see!"

"He… The new Jaune is dismantling everyone! He's ripping them apart!"

[...]

Ruby babbled the story of what happened while Yang took Knight's cloak and ripped a chunk off, then wrapped it tight around Ruby's shoulder. She'd need stitches for this, that was obvious, but a bandage would at least stop the bleeding. While Yang and Knight digested the news, she looked back to the fight. Funnily enough, losing Yang hadn't really changed the dynamic any. Ashari was still an elusive shadow refusing to be caught, but neither he nor Grimm had pressed the advantage.

Even though they could.

Weiss hit the ground and struggled to get up. Ren landed, picked her up and retreated behind Jaune and Pyrrha, who both looked like they'd been through a blender and were content to hide behind their shields. It wasn't every day you saw Pyrrha Nikos gasping for breath and on the defensive, yet here they were.

—Arc Royale: Chapter 7



"He was distracted dealing with the enemy." Ashari came to Grimm's defence. "As was I. It's not our fault if you can't look after yourself. I didn't see you going toe to toe with the man who just slew a demonic sea wyrm."

No. That had been Ashari. Cinder eyed him warily, suddenly a lot more nervous about the snappish man who had, by all accounts, held his own against someone who was impossibly strong. More than that, he'd removed Ozpin's knight from the battle entirely, then swatted the teams like they were nothing.

—Arc Royale: Chapter 8



"Ah. The next called himself Ashari. He spoke to us – knew us. Or Ren and Nora anyway. He gave Ya- us the chance to surrender but we decided against it." The slip, minor as it was, was yet another knife twisted in Yang's stomach. A reminder that they could have all backed safely out but for her confidence. An arrogant confidence at that. "He… He was older than me. Maybe thirty or so. And strong. He took out Knight with flashbangs and teargas, then beat the crap out of all of us in melee. It wasn't even close. He was like… he was like a machine. He just tore through us."

"But he did not kill." Ozpin pointed out. "He did not even cause the slightest permanent harm, plus he attempted to peacefully negotiate with you first. I wonder if this is the first iteration to show some… displeasure at who he has been summoned to serve. Would you say he hated you, Mr Arc?"

"Uh. No. He… well, he got kinda freaked when I thought he looked like dad, but he…"

"He went easy on us." Pyrrha said. "He didn't use half the weapons I saw under his coat, and he kept smiling."

"That damn smile…" Blake muttered. "It was… creepy…"

"Creepy?" Glynda asked.

"Even when he was fighting us, he looked happy to see us," Nora said, "But it was twisted. He was enjoying the fight. Not because he was beating us up, but like… like he was having fun playing with us. It's hard to explain."

"Like Qrow messing with me and Yang." Ruby said. "Half-training, half making fun of us and having the time of his life while he's doing it."

"I see." Ozpin likely didn't, but he looked curious enough. "As I said, it could be his loyalties are not total to his side. It's unreasonable to assume that half the iterations summoned are good and half are evil. This Ashari may have no choice because of whom he has been called to serve, but he may not personally wish you any harm. Given he recognised you all, he was likely teammates with you like our world's Jaune. He might no more harm his friends than Mr Arc here would."

—Arc Royale: Chapter 9



Pyrrha, shaken after Ashari's one-sided beatdown, approached with shield raised and sword brought up behind it, while Ren flanked left and Nora right, and Fate hung back.

[...]

Winter hadn't been there when Leviathan nearly killed them, or when Ashari had a hundred chances to do so and chose not to.

—Arc Royale: Chapter 15