"The next episode hasn't even started yet, but my heart won't stop beating," Pyrrha whispered, as she fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat.

"That's perfectly understandable," Weiss assured her. "Jaune and Mundus are going to face each other in battle very soon, and all of us are uneasy because of it."

"Hey, Abe, our Fearless Leader doesn't fight the King of Grimm in this very episode does he?" asked Nora. "I don't think my heart is ready for it yet." For a moment, Abe was silent. Then, he smiled.

"Don't worry, Nora, he won't fight Mundus this episode." Nora breathed a sigh of relief. "First he had to get through all his guards." Her breath caught in her throat.

"Why do you feel the need to do that to us?" Ren asked, as the lights in the theater dimmed.

The episode began with Jaune slicing his way through a doorway made of white flesh, making his way into a new room of the living cave. This one had a small platform off to his left, allowing access to another door made of red flesh. The Huntsman approached, planning on making his way through, but as soon as he came within five feet of the platform, several large, curved rib bones protruded out of the wall, and locked themselves in a tight formation around the doorway, blocking him. Jaune hacked at the ribs with the Harbinger, but nothing happened.

"Okay, so how do I get through there?" he wondered.

"Knowing this series, it'll be a long elaborate trial before he finds the answer," Yang muttered.

Turning away from the barred flesh, Jaune spied another door. This one was made out of stone, and stood between two burning torches.

"That looks promising," he murmured. The Huntsman made his way over to the stone entrance, then lifted the door up, and headed through. When he saw what was on the other side, however, he stopped dead in his tracks. "Oh my gods..." In front of him was a massive human heart, with several large veins stretching off of it, leading up to a giant pair of stone doors. "That must lead to Mundus's throne room," Jaune guessed. "Looks like I'll have to get this heart pumping before I can enter, though."

"Well, I guess that explains the cave made of flesh motif," Blake pointed out, before shuttering in disgust. "Still doesn't make it any less disgusting, though."

As he continued to study the room, Jaune noticed one vein lining the wall next to him. A strange rock-like growth had grown along the base of the vein, squeezing it shut like a vice.

"I'd better fix that," the Huntsman determined. He dropped down onto the ground from the small slope he stood upon, attempting not to fetch as an unfamiliar liquid splashed beneath his feet. Approaching the large vein, he swung the Harbinger downwards, and watched as the rocky growth shattered like glass. Immediately, the vein began to pulse, as the blood began to flow through it once more. "Looks like that's all I can do in here for now," Jaune grunted, looking around. He headed back up to the stone door, and made his way back into the previous room. The writhing door of red flesh still waited for the Huntsman upon its platform, and this time, no ribs closed over it as he approached. "All right, now we're getting somewhere!"

"Yeah, closer to your battle against a virtual god," Qrow grunted.

"Qrow!" Tai yelled at him.

"Just thought I'd lighten the mood."

Jaune hacked his way through the doorway, and found himself moving through a long, narrow corridor. He followed the path along for several yards, before suddenly, several black tentacles emerged from the fleshy walls, attempting to grab at him.

"EWW!" Velvet shrieked. "That is so nasty!"

"Seriously! What was Mundus thinking when he designed this place!" Coco demanded.

"Well, based on those reactions, I think it's safe to assume you people won't be taking the fight to the King of Grimm anytime soon," Adam smirked.

"Just as he probably planned!" Sun realized.

Although disgusted, Jaune simply swung the Harbinger in front of him, hacking away the tentacles before they could wrap around his body. Continuing further down the passage, a familiar hooting reached the Huntsman's ears, before the tunnel widened into a cavern, where a Beringel stood hunched before him. The Grimm quickly pushed itself up onto its hind legs so it could beat its chest, then growled and lunged into a punch. Ducking under the attack, Jaune thrusted the Harbinger forwards, forcing the sword into his attacker's chest. The Beringel howled in pain, then quickly wrenched the large sword out of its chest, before flipping backwards and attempting to smash the Huntsman in between its large hands. Rolling away from this, Jaune leapt up and spun into an attack with the Harbinger in scythe form, removing the Grimm's head. Then, without a word, he moved onward, as the Beringel's body deteriorated behind him.

"Ha! Would you look at that! Kid can take on a Beringel one-on one without breaking a sweat!" Qrow laughed.

"An impressive feat, to be sure," Ms. Goodwitch nodded.

Jaune continued down another tunnel that led out of the cavern, before hacking away some more tentacles that emerged from the walls. He eventually made his way into another large chamber, where another Beringel was waiting for him. With a snarl, the Grimm beat its chest, then drove an arm into the living wall it stood next to. When the Beringel retracted its hand, blood was running down to its elbow, and it clutched a large bone in its hands.

"Ugh!" Emerald gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth. "I think I'm going to be sick!"

"Yeah," Mercury nodded, his face contorted into a grimace. "That was disgusting."

The Beringel hurled the bone at Jaune like a tomahawk, but it was knocked aside with a well-timed parry. Hooting, the Grimm charged forwards,and then sprung into a kick with its hind legs. Blocking this with the flat of his blade, the Huntsman thrusted the Harbinger forward, causing it to extend into its lance-form, piercing through the Beringel's jaw and out the top of its head. With a gurgle, the Grimm collapsed, blood bursting from its body as it crumbled to ash.

"That's the second Beringel he's defeated with no difficulty," Ghira noted. "Is this truly what a Huntsman are capable of?"

"If it is, then we should invest in having some transfer over to Menagerie," Kali smiled, enjoying the idea of having a handsome, dashing young man like Jaune Arc protecting their island.

Jaune made his way even further down the passage, warding off a third collection of tentacles that made their way out of the walls and even the floor in an attempt to entangle him. Finally, he arrived in a third large chamber, where yet another Beringel stood, ready for his arrival. This time, the Grimm pulled out a familiar horned mask, and affixed it to its face. The Beringel increased in size, fur turning red as more spikes grew out of its back, before it towered over Jaune, letting out a haunting cackle.

"Another one of those fiends," Cinder grimaced. "This could prove troublesome."

"Maybe he'll do better now that it isn't three-on-one," Ruby suggested.

Cackling, the Beringel thrusted a fireball at Jaune, who dived away, allowing it to sail harmlessly past him. The projectile slammed against a wall behind Jaune and exploded, sending chunks of flesh and droplets of blood spraying throughout the air. The Huntsman rolled to his feet just as the Grimm before him lifted its foot, attempting to stomp on him. He nimbly spun away as the giant appendage smashed into the ground, then sliced at the Beringel's stomach with the Harbinger, tearing open a grevious wound. Shrieking, the Grimm grabbed Jaune by the arm, the swung him over its head, before throwing him into a far wall. Undeterred, the Huntsman jammed his sword into the top of the cave, stopping him from smashing into the hard surface. Then, with a thrust of his feet, Jaune kicked off the wall, hurling himself at the Beringel. With one wicked downwards swing, he cleaved the Grimm's chest entirely open. The Beringel howled, and then slumped over backwards, its body bursting into flames as it burst apart, disintegrating.

Sun began to laugh out loud.

"He made that look easy!" he wheezed, once he regained his breath.

"All right!" Yang grinned. "This was the action from season one that I was missing!"

As the Beringel evaporated behind him, Jaune turned to look at a patch of gangrenous green flesh on the wall behind him. Cutting this open, he found himself standing in a large room with a ceiling that rose high up into the darkness, while red magma churned below him. He took a step forward, only to be forced to dodge away as a beam of darkness rushed towards his head. The Huntsman lifted his head, then gritted his teeth as a pair of Doublets in their bat form swooped down to attack him.

"I almost forgot about those things," Nora admitted. "Break their butts all the same!"

Whipping out Ebony and Ivory, Jaune opened fire on one of the Doublets, smirking as he watched his bullets tore throughputs inky black body. The Grimm tumbled out of the sky, landing on the magma, setting its body on fire as it evaporated into steam. The other Doublet flew down towards the Huntsman, before morphing into a human form, slicing at him with a large sword. Flipping away from this, Jaune drew the Harbinger, and sliced the Grimm in half. As the Doublet fell forward, it caught itself with its hands, and sprung itself upwards, growing another pair of legs. Its original pair bubbled and writhed, before another humanoid body grew up out of it.

"Oops, almost forgot about that part," Jaune cringed, as the two Grimm advanced on him. Putting away the Harbinger, he set Ifrit alight. The Huntsman blocked a stab from one of the Doublets, then caught a roundhouse kick with the other. Jaune threw the Grimm into its twin, knocking the two Doublets to the floor. A quick roundhouse kick smashed one Grimm's head as it tried to stand back up. The second Doublet rose, and thrusted its fist forward, only for its hand to be caught by the Huntsman. Jaune followed up with his own strike, reducing the Grimm's head to paste.

"Well, that was fast," Weiss commented.

"I guess Jaune's not wasting any time on Mundus's cronies," Ruby determined.

As soon as the two Doublets finished evaporating, Jaune leapt off the rocky platform he was standing upon, sailing over the magma to another rock on the other side. Seeing some ledges leading up in front of him, the Huntsman climbed up them, slowly making his way up the large chamber. Walking along a narrow ledge, Jaune spied another platform on the far side of the cave, too far to leap across.

"So now how does he get over there?" Pyrrha demanded.

A rumbling noise met Jaune's ears, as a large pillar rose out of the magma, giving him a safe pathway to leap across to continue his trek. As he continued his way up the cave, more stone pillars rose up to give him a safer route.

"Huh, strange the King of Grimm would throw the kid a bone," Qrow grunted.

Finally, Jaune arrived in front of a stone door. When he headed through this, he found himself standing upon a stone bridge, with a large space in the middle. Looking down, he could see the giant heart that was connected to the entrance of Mundus's lair. Leaping across this, the Huntsman came upon a large collection of red tubes, all restrained by a rock hard growth. Hacking through the deposit with the Harbinger, Jaune watched as the giant heart below began to pump, transporting its fluids to the giant stone doors.

The scene changed to show Jaune standing before the entrance to Mundus's lair, as the large doors slowly swung open to allow him entry.

"This is it," the Huntsman whispered to himself. "Behind these doors, the King of Grimm is waiting for me. I promise, Ozma, Pyrrha, everyone. I will defeat him." He took a deep breath, then stepped into the doorway. "Here we go." The episode ended.

"The very next episode, Jaune will finally confront Mundus," Ren whispered.

"Let us pray for his success," Ozpin murmured. "His hopes of overcoming a being of such power are remote."

"I'm scared!" Ruby whimpered. "Please don't die, Jaune!"

................................

"Well boss, you and the blonde blockhead are about to face off," an Ursa growled.

"Yeah! Are you excited?" a Sabyr asked. Mundus frowned.

"Not really. I've already got a pretty good idea as to how it ends, so I really have stopped caring." Then he shuttered. "But that living cave, though. Yuck! I'm sure glad  our world is a lot more pleasant than that."

"Asss pleasant asss our world can be, with the sssouls of the departed ssscreaming in agony down here," a King Taijitu commented.