[RWBY] RWBY Shorts

[AndrewJTalon]

Adam Taurus was not a coward. He knew this deep down. He was willing to fight on the front lines with his troops, to lead them in their glorious war for victory.

Yet in war, one had to make decisions traditional morality called cowardly. Yet such traditions had been made by Man, and thus, were of no concern to Faunus kind. Anything and everything was on the table when it came to victory.

Kidnapping a baby was not a particularly difficult task for the White Fang. Adam trusted his operatives to retrieve the brat without any problem.

In their safehouse deep in Forbidden Fall Forest, he strode into the room where the brat was crying.

"Well, now we'll see..."

He stared intently at the baby crying in his carrier. He sniffed the air. Behind his mask, his eyes narrowed.

"This isn't Blake's child," he growled.

"Well, we brought the kid that Arc guy was taking care of, sir," Trifa, a Spider Faunus, said nervously, "We did as you ordered!"

"It is Arc's brat though," one of the Albain twins pointed out, "Perhaps that is worth something?"

Adam hummed.

"Perhaps," he allowed, "But his worth is far lower than if he was-"

The lights all went out. The booms of explosions echoed from outside. Adam seethed and hit his radio.

"Report!"

"Sir! We've got several Huntsmen and Huntresses attacking the outside of the facility!" One of his lookouts shouted over the sound of gun and Dust fire,

"Damnit," Adam growled. They headed out into the hallway, taking up defensive positions. Adam clicked the radio again.

"Who is it?"

"Looks like RWBY and most of JNPR!"

"Most?" Adam demanded. "Who is missing?"

Something in the hallway behind them creaked. Every eye turned towards it in the pitch black hallway. Adam drew Wilt.

The darkness was dispelled by a gold burning, Aura infused sword. One that illuminated a familiar blond figure in white and black armor.

With one critical difference. Jaune Arc in every picture Adam had seen of him had either been smiling or exasperated.

This Jaune Arc's face was a mask of cold, focused rage.

"OPEN FIR-URK!" Trifa was cut down immediately by Arc's blade, as the other Faunus opened up. Arc's Aura flared, and the shots just bounced off either his Aura field or his shield as he methodically, mercilessly cut down every Faunus who attacked him. The Albain Twins attacked together, but Arc shield bashed one through a wall, while he stabbed the other through the chest without so much as losing a step.

Adam dashed forward, striking furiously. They fenced hard and fast, sparks flying from their swords as they clashed. Had Adam been out in the open, he could have easily flanked the lone knight. But in this confined space, his maneuverability was hampered-And Arc had the reach.

"MOONSLICE!" He roared, unleashing the crimson Aura slash. It should have cut Arc clean in half... Instead, his Aura burned like the sun and he broke through it, slashing downwards!

"GAH!"

Adam fell back with a scream, and stared down at the stump where his hand used to be. He looked up just in time for Jaune's fist to meet his face, shattering his mask and slamming him into the concrete floor hard enough to shatter it.

"UGH! Ahh... Haaa...!"

Arc stood over him, a pillar of Aura wrath. His eyes narrowed like the judging eyes of a vengeful god.

"You will answer my question," Arc spoke, his voice hard and cold as an Atlasian winter, "Or I cut you to pieces. Where. Is. My. Nephew?"

Adam Taurus did not consider himself a coward. Yet when faced with the wrath of one he'd dismissed as an inferior... He was all too quick to comply.

- - -

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Poker night with team RWBY and JNPR...

Yang: "Heh... Get ready to lose everything, Vomit Boy!"

Jaune: "Eh? What do you mean?'

Yang: "I mean, I'm gunning for you. Your face is as easy to read as a book!"

Jaune: "..." eyes narrow "That so?"

Weiss: "Please, like you could be any good at a game requiring brains and skill!"

Jaune: "..." A strange smirk came over his face, and a glint appeared in his eyes "That so?"

Yang: grins "I know so."

Jaune: "Well then... Let's get started."

Yang: "ALL RIGHT!"

Ruby: "YEAH-!"

Yang: "Nope! None of that, Ruby! You're too young!"

Ruby: "But-!"

Jaune: "I agree. Ruby, you're out. Ren and Nora? You too."

Nora: "Awww... Okay! Works for me!"

Ren: "Indeed. This will be interesting."

Pyrrha: "Um, I'm not going to... Yeah... Heh."

Yang: "Seriously? None of you?"

Weiss: "Hmph! Suit yourself."

An hour later...

Weiss: sobs "I swear I'm good for it, Jaune! I-I swear!"

Blake: "H-How...?"

Yang: "You... You have to be cheating!"

Jaune: "Don't impugn my honor, Yang. You asked for this battle. If you want to give up, you can." eyes narrow "But if you keep fighting this losing battle... I won't hold back."

Pyrrha and Ruby were drooling. Nora and Ren were wearing Weiss's best coat and Blake's favorite hat, which Jaune had given them.

Weiss: "I-I... Fine... I'm out."

Blake: "Same... Nyah."

Jaune: "So cute..."

Blake: groans

Jaune: "Yang?"

Yang: "I refuse to give in! What do you want?! I'll bet anything!"

Jaune: "Ah... Anything?"

Yang: Sensuous look, and licks her lips "Anything."

Jaune... Blushed, and coughed. His confidence wavered a bit.

Jaune: "Um, Yang, you really should just-"

Yang: "Want me to come out and say it? Fine. I bet my virginity."

Silence.

Jaune: Blush "Wait what-?!"

Ruby and Pyrrha: "What?!"

Weiss: "YOU CAN'T!"

Blake: blush

Jaune: "I-You really don't have to, Yang I-!"

Yang: "ACCEPT OR I'LL BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU!"

Jaune: "OKAY OKAY OKAY!"

Ruby: "WHAT?!"

Yang: smirks, and winks at Ruby "Relax Ruby, I got this!"

One hand later...

Yang: "HA! Full House!"

Jaune winced.

Yang: "Yeah, I knew it! You whiffed it! I knew it! Show 'em and-!"

Jaune: sighs, holds up his hand "Straight flush."

Yang: gapes "... Wha...?!"

Jaune: "Yang. In a fight? You definitely have me beat. But in poker? Your tells might as well be lit with neon."

Weiss: sarcastically "You had this, huh?"

Yang: "Ummmm..."

Jaune: "H-Hey, I-You don't have to-"

Yang: glares "You're saying I'm not good enough?!"

Jaune: "I-I never said that-!"

Yang: "YOU WON IT FAIR AND SQUARE, SO TAKE IT!"

Pyrrha: "Noooo!"

Ruby: "Y-You can't-!"

Jaune: groans

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

Jaune was trying to study in the library. The history of Grimm could be interesting in places, but having to keep up with Oobleck was exhausting.

It was nice that Weiss was willing to tutor him in the subject, since she was the top student in the class.

"Pay attention, idiot! That wasn't how General Frigis lost!"

In theory. Jaune nodded, and corrected his notes. Weiss glared at them and huffed.

"I suppose your penmanship is neat if nothing else."

"Thanks Weiss," Jaune sighed. He did still admire her, really. Her strength, her spirit, her intelligence. He also knew she was just tough because it was how she was.

It didn't make it any less difficult. Then again, he was an idiot.

"Okay," Jaune said, "Frigis did make good use of radio coordination in the Great War and..."

He stared out the window. Weiss nodded.

"Yes, and...? Jaune?"

Weiss looked out the window.

"What are you-ACK!"

A horse stared back at them. A chestnut brown mare with a white mane. Jaune grinned.

"Epona!"

"Wha-Jaune-You know that horse?!" Weiss demanded, scooting backwards.

Jaune nodded.

"Yeah! She's my family horse!" He waved. "Hey girl! What brings you here?"

Epona stared. Jaune sighed.

"No, I can't come out to play."

Epona stared harder.

"No! I mean it! Go home!"

Epona backed away and trotted off. Jaune sighed.

"Sorry, she's a little possessive."

"She... She understood you?" Weiss asked as she stared at Jaune in disbelief.

Jaune nodded.

"Yup! She's also a little-"

Epona burst through the front doors of the library, causing loud bangs with the doors she flung open. She galloped up to Jaune, and reached out with her mouth. She took hold of the scuff of Jaune's neck with her teeth, and flipped him up onto her back.

"GAH! Epona, you-!"

Epona turned, flared her Aura, and blurred as she galloped back out the doors.

"WAIT! WAITWAITWAIT SLOW DOOOOOWN...!"

Weiss stared after them, many papers drifting through the air in the wake of the horse. She blushed.

That horse... Was so cute...!

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

Field missions around Vale were supposed to be relatively simple and easy. Perfect for young Hunters-in-training to get experience and get to know the people they would be protecting. This large city in the middle of nowhere was called Tech Duinn, and it was a major mining community for everything from granite to molybdenum.

It was a massive hub and relied heavily on automation to cut down on Grimm attention. However, any large communities inevitably attracted Grimm and as a result, there was plenty of business for Hunters. Thanks to the town's wealth, it was also able to afford a large PMC and advanced defenses to protect it.

None of which was very comforting to Jaune. He was panting in a mountain valley, JNPR and RWBY around him in a circle. The inside of the circle held several miners, all squished together and looking fearful. They'd gone out to check on a mining camp... And walked into an ambush of hundreds of Grimm.

"Can you get through, Ruby?" Jaune called.

"I'm trying, but the CCT signal is weak out here!" Ruby called back. She put her Scoll between her teeth as she held up Crescent Rose and fired a blast. A Boarbatusk bellowed as it died. Beowulves charged their other side, as Yang and Ren fired rounds into the mass. Pyrrha threw her shield, slicing apart numerous Beowulves that charged from the other. Weiss unleashed Ice Dust, forming another barrier between them and the monsters.

"We're still cut off," Jaune groused, swinging his sword to bisect another Beowulf, "Ruby! Keep trying!"

"I'm trying! I'm-!"

Hundreds of metal objects gleamed up in the sky like stars. They fell, punching through hundreds of Grimm. They all fell, screaming in their death throes. Everyone's arms lowered in disbelief.

"LADDIE!"

They all looked to the south. A tall man in a long black coat and priest's frock strode forward. The sunlight glinted off his slicked-back blond hair, his glasses... And his very wide and dangerous-looking grin. He held a pair of bayonets in white gloves. Raw menace seemed to radiate from him, as his Aura burned like fire. Everyone else took a step back.

"Are his teeth razor sharp?" Weiss muttered.

"He looks so terrifying," Blake whispered.

"Wha...?" Jaune blinked quickly.

"Jaune," Pyrrha asked, "Who is that?"

An object swung from the man's neck. A necklace, with the sigil of a broken table on it. Jaune's eyes widened, and he grinned back.

"UNCLE ALEX!"

He ran towards the priest. He opened his arms up, and hugged Jaune.

"Hahahaha! It's wonderful to see you, Laddie!" Anderson chuckled and pulled back, resting his hands on his shoulder. "Look at you! You just get taller every time I see ya!"

"Thanks, heh," Jaune grinned. Alex scowled.

"You've been getting sloppy though! If I hadn't happened along..." He sighed. "Well... Glad yer safe, laddie. Ya gonna introduce me?"

"O-Oh! Sure!" Jaune turned with a broad smile. "Everyone? This is my uncle Alexander!"

"Call me Father Anderson, til we're better acquainted," the priest grinned.

"A father of what religion?" Weiss asked, blinking.

"The Church o' the Broken Table, lass," he stated, "I'm a Paladin Priest of the Holy Church. And you all are?"

"Uh..." Jaune quickly introduced each of them.

"This is Weiss Schnee, Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao-Long, Blake Belladonna, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, and my partner, Pyrrha Nikos!"

They made their own introductions back. Father Anderson chuckled.

"Well well... Yer workin' with a load of heathens, are ye Jaune?"

"Uncle," Jaune said in disapproval, "Did not the Lion say to not turn away any who came unto Him?"

Father Anderson chuckled.

"I suppose preachin' by example is better than words," he said. "Well! You were still lucky I was around."

He moved towards the miners. They whimpered a bit. He reached into his coat... And pulled out water bottles and ration bars. His smile was very kind and compassionate, like he was a totally different person.

"Here ye are," he said in a far more gentle tone, "Sorry it took me so long t' help. But me nephew and his friends kept you safe."

"Y-Yes Father!" The head miner said with a nod. Anderson looked back over his shoulder and smiled fondly. Jaune blushed and rubbed the back of his head.

"We are not just 'his friends'," Weiss groused.

"We are to him," Yang chuckled, "So... We call him Father? Sure he doesn't want us to call him 'Daddy'?"

"Seriously Yang, ew," Weiss grimaced.

"I'm just saying, if his uncle grows up to look like that~," Yang chuckled, "It might not be bad!"

Weiss, Ruby and Pyrrha all blushed.

Jaune sighed.

"My Uncle's pretty great... I'm just glad that-"

The ground rumbled. Ren's eyes widened.

"MOVE!" Ren shouted. They all scattered as a gigantic Grimm Wyrm burst out of the earth. It roared and bent down, its massive jaws extending as it began to charge.

BANG BANG BANG!

Three massive holes appeared in its hide, and the massive beast fell to the ground. JNPR and RWBY scattered as the huge Grimm collapsed and broke the ground under its bulk. The valley shook and rumbled, and then went still.

"Woah, look at those holes!" Nora cheered. "That must be a huge cannon that made those-!"

"JAUNEY!"

Jaune's eyes widened, and he looked back in shock. Just before a tall, busty blonde woman dashed up and hugged him between her very... Generous assets. Assets that were barely contained in a tight, tan military uniform, tall boots, and a long jacket. A truly gigantic cannon was strapped to her back. Her hair was very short and messy, her eyes were red, and her grinning mouth held a pair of (admittedly adorable) fangs.

"It's been so long! Look how tall you've gotten!" She gushed.

"Jaune," Pyrrha asked, sounding very tense, "Who is this?"

"Hey Cousin Seras," Jaune chuckled, hugging her back. He looked back and grinned. "Don't worry! This is my Cousin Seras!"

"Hey!" Seras greeted, waving her hand with a bright smile. She scowled at Jaune. "You really need to be more careful! You could have-"

Father Anderson suddenly appeared in their midst, making Weiss jump and "Eep!" The Paladin glared, even as his bloodthirsty smile grew as sharp as his knives. Seras in turn let Jaune go, and glared back.

"Seras."

"Alexander."

"Thought you'd be whoring it up in Vacuo."

"Though you'd be messing around with your orphans."

Alexander grinned and held multiple bayonets in his clenched fists.

"That old joke? Guess you never do learn."

Seras glared back, as bat wings formed behind her out of black Aura energy and she pulled out her large cannon.

"Says the old man..."

"Strumpet!"

"Geezer!"

The tension skyrocketed as they glared at one another, both of them touching their weapons. Everyone else began to back away in fear... Except for Jaune.

"Please," Jaune said with a sigh, walking between them, "Not now?"

Seras tucked her cannon back behind herself, smiling like an angel despite her devilish wings.

"Of course, Cousin Jauney!"

Father Anderson tucked his bayonets away and was back to being the smiling, kindly priest.

"Yer right, Laddie. As long as there's Grimm around, no reason to fight."

"Plus, you two are family," Jaune said with a smile, "All of us."

"Unfortunately," both Seras and Alexander muttered.

- - -

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

Yang scowled at the interior of the airship bathroom. Some blond guy was barfing into the toilet, holding onto the rim out of sheer desperation.

"Hey!" Yang growled. "Stop hogging the bathroom and...!"

She lifted up a fist threateningly. The kid shuddered, and sat up. He turned and stared at her. He grabbed for some toilet paper, and wiped his lips.

"Y-Yang?!" He gasped.

Yang was about to open her mouth to berate this sick loser some more... Before she studied his face. Her jaw dropped.

"Jaune?!" She gasped. "Jaune Arc?!"

"Y-Yeah!" Jaune grinned. "Yang! It's uh... It's great to see you-!"

His face went green, and he covered his mouth with his hands. Yang moved on instinct, and turned his whole body so his face was in the toilet bowl.

"URRGGHHH!"

"Eheheh... Still get airsick, h-huh?" Yang asked with a chuckle.

"Ugh..." Jaune looked up with a weak smile.

"Yup..."

"Yang!" Ruby groaned. "Come on, you're taking forever and-!"

She stopped short and stared.

"JAUNE?!"

- - -

It wasn't until they were on the ground that Jaune was in any shape to talk. They walked out onto the grounds of Beacon, Jaune a bit hunched over but a lot less green.

"Wow, you managed to get into Beacon, huh?" Yang chuckled. "That's great! When we were kids, you were such a wimp!"

"Heh," Jaune managed, "Y-Yeah..."

"Don't be mean, Yang! Jaune was fun!" Ruby said happily. She was holding onto Jaune's arm happily.

"Yeah, I sure was," Jaune chuckled.

Six year old Yang looked skeptically at Jaune. The boy was her age but looked thin and pale. Jaune's mother, a tall, strong woman in a green dress and a white labcoat with glasses, gently urged Jaune forward.

"Go on Jaune, say hello," she said.

"H-Hello... I'm Jaune Arc," the little boy said.

Behind Yang and little Ruby stood their Dad, Taiyang. He beamed.

"Go on Yang, Ruby. Say hello!"

"I'm Yang! This is Ruby! You'd better be fun!" Yang declared with a smile. Jaune flinched, then smiled weakly.

"I-I like fun!"

"You'd better!" Yang ordered.

"Now be careful with him, Yang, Ruby," Taiyang said, "He's getting over a serious illness and he wants to have fun. So be nice to him!"

Jaune played with Yang and Ruby, even though they outpaced him when it came to energy easily,. Even so, he never gave up. He kept trying to play with them.

Even Yang got fed up when he collapsed. She helped him up and glared.

"Why are you doing this? You're still sick, aren't you? You're gonna get worse!"

"I just... I haven't been able to play with kids my age," Jaune admitted, "Most kids back home just pity me and stuff. You?" He beamed. "You're loads of fun!"

Yang blinked. She grinned. A lot of boys her age didn't like to play with her, despite the fact she loved the same things they did. And the girls? They were all stupid. To be complimented like this was... Well... Nice.

"For a girl, right?"

"For anyone," Jaune said, blinking curiously, "Why would that matter?"

Yang stared, then giggled.

"You're pretty cool, Jaune! Even if you're a wimp."

"Hey!"

Yang beamed and elbowed his shoulder.

"You have filled out pretty nice though," she complimented him. She held a hand up over his head. "You're not coming up short anymore!"

Jaune chuckled, rubbing his shoulder.

"Aw, hey..."

"Though," Ruby frowned as she looked at his arm, "You've got a bruise that's not healing. Is something wrong with your Aura?"

Jaune coughed.

"Ahhhh... Well... I mean, I passed the entrance exams but er..."

Yang and Ruby stared at him.

"... Please tell me you at least unlocked your Aura?" Yang asked in exasperation. Jaune winced.

"Mom and Dad wouldn't do it, so... Um..."

Yang sighed, and pressed her hand to Jaune's chest. She smiled wryly.

"You're still an idiot, too."

Jaune snorted back at her.

"I got a perfect score on the exams!"

"Which doesn't matter if you die," Yang pointed out. Jaune shrugged.

"Fair enough..." He smiled at her. "But I knew you'd be there for me."

Yang flushed. She cleared her throat and summoned up her Aura.

"For it is in fire that we discover who we truly are. For it is when we learn to stand on our own that we gain the strength to help others stand alongside us. I release your soul and by my hand I stand by thee."

Jaune's Aura exploded into being, flaring around him like fire before it died down. Jaune trembled a little, but stayed on his feet.

"W-Wow... I feel amazing..."

"You should," Yang said with a grin, "You've got a lot of Aura. It's kind of unreal!"

"So... I could be a great fighter?" Jaune asked eagerly.

She shook her head.

"You're still a wimp. And you're not going to last very long fighting like that. I mean, do you even know how to use your sword?"

"Pointy end goes in the Grimm?" Jaune asked with a shrug. Yang and Ruby sighed in exasperation.

"Maybe you could use him as a baseball bat?" Ruby asked.

"Seriously Ruby?" Jaune screeched. Yang hummed and smirked.

"Might not be a bad idea."

Jaune rolled his eyes.

"You haven't changed."

"I totally have!" Yang smirked, crossing her arms under her chest. Jaune coughed and nodded slowly.

"Well... Not really."

Yang gaped and glared.

"The hell does that mean?!"

"It means," Jaune smirked, "I always thought you were pretty."

Yang's entire face turned bright red, as she spun away and covered her face. Jaune laughed.

"Haha! One for me!"

"Out of a hundred losses," Ruby deadpanned. Jaune winced.

"Rubyyyy! You used to be so sweet! What happened?"

Ruby grinned.

"I discovered the joys of sarcasm!"

"I pity the world," Jaune sighed.

Stupid jerk! Yang thought angrily, even as she blushed deeply.

- - -

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Weiss storms into the library and slams her hand down in front of Jaune while he's reading a manga.

Jaune: "Uh... Weiss?"

Weiss: "You... You...!"

Jaune: "Er... Yes?"

Weiss: "HOW ARE YOU THE TOP STUDENT ACADEMICALLY?!"

Ruby: "Wait, what?!"

Yang: "WHAT?!"

Blake: drops her book and gasps

Pyrrha: "J-Jaune?!"

Ren: "What?"

Nora: "WHAAAAAAT?!"

Jaune: "Guys, it's not that big a deal! I-I aced the entrance exams-!"

Weiss: "HOW ARE YOU BETTER THAN ME IN ACADEMICS?! I STUDIED MY ENTIRE LIFE TO GET PERFECT GRADES AND YOU... YOU...!"

Jaune: "Er... I just test really well?"

Weiss: "GRAAAAAHHHHH!"

She storms off angrily.

Jaune: "Is it... Really that big a deal?"

Yang: "Sure is to her. BTW? Can I bum some homework help off of you?"

Jaune: "Only if you're going to pay for it."

Yang: "... All right! We're going on a date. And you can touch my boobs."

Jaune: "I-What-?!"

Pyrrha: "J-Jaune! I need homework help too!"

Jaune: "Uh, didn't you just finish your-?"

Pyrrha tears her paper up with a smile.

Pyrrha: "Not anymore."

Ruby: "HEY! I WAS GONNA DO THAT!"

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

Jaune Arc stood outside the RWBY dormroom, his acoustic guitar in his hands. He'd been standing like this for about five minutes. He'd counted.

Come on... Sing! He urged himself. Just sing! She'll love it!

Like she loved the last couple of attempts? His brain asked sarcastically.

As much as he might have tried to hide it... Jaune's confidence was pretty much shot. Weiss's cruel rejections hadn't helped. Sometimes he asked himself why he was still shooting for her.

Was he just intentionally sabotaging himself? Was it out of pride?

He sighed... But narrowed his eyes.

I will not give up, he decided, I will not let this end! I know... I know I can win her heart. I can prove I'm not some creep, I-I just... I just want to show her a good time. I want her to be happy.

His father had always told him to lead with confidence. To be confident. His mother, on the other hand, had told him to always be true to himself and sincere.

With that in mind... He tossed aside the hastily written song he'd written for Weiss. Maybe it wasn't enough to just craft lyrics for her.

Maybe he should just try to sing something he knew and loved and... And let that speak for him.

He was so clumsy when it came to words... But music? Music he knew. Danny Kay was one of their neighbors, and he was mad for the musical style known as jazz. He'd started a jazz band when he was young, and had wanted to become world famous.

Well... That hadn't worked out for Danny Kay. His parents had died and he'd had to take over their farm. He'd gotten married, had a lot of kids... But every summer, he gave concerts of jazz, bluegrass, and old rock. Everyone in Radian came, even from the outlying villages. The concerts turned into festivals, and everyone enjoyed themselves.

One of those songs was one Jaune loved very, very much. He knew it by heart, every chord and beat.

So it was that song that Jaune decided to play. He tapped the side of his guitar slowly, to get it started, before he began to strum... And then sing.

"Fly me to the moon, let me play among the stars~... Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars~..."

The song just came so easily to him. His mind was filled with warm summer nights, picnic blankets, playing with his sisters and the neighbor's kids, fireflies flitting around and so much more... He sang his heart out, putting every bit of happiness and joy he had felt on those nights into his voice.

When he finished, he clutched at the guitar nervously. The silence was almost deafening... Which was a weird contradictory phrase but hey, he hadn't created it.

The door slowly opened... And a blonde girl stepped out.

Just not the blonde he was expecting.

Yang Xiao-Long stared at him, her cheeks dusted with red.

"Uh... H-Hey, Vom-Er, Jaune," she said.

Crap crap crap crap craaaaaaaaap! Jaune thought to himself, even as his dopey smile remained firmly fixed on his face.

"H-Hey Yang," he managed.

"So um..." She brushed her hair back behind her ear. That was a sign his dad had told him about. A sign that a girl was into you.

"Was... Was that for me?" She asked quietly.

She looked... Hopeful? She was hopeful?!

OH CRAP! WHAT DO I DO?! Jaune thought. SHE WAS INTO ME?! WAS SHE INTO ME?! HOW DID I-OR IS SHE JUST FLATTERED-?

"Uh..." Jaune tried.

Yang's face fell a little, and a smile came up. A smile that worked as a shield.

"Sorry, stupid question," she muttered, "That was for Weisscream, right?"

Yeah, Jaune was familiar with that look. The look of a girl hiding their disappointment and pain. He didn't think Yang was gonna cry over him but-

"No!" He blurted out. Yang started and stared at him.

"Huh?"

"N-No, it was for you, really!" He lied quickly. "I... I-I mean..."

Jaune knew that the best policy was honesty. He should just nip this in the bud, right now, and take his lumps. He was more than used it to by now.

But he had never seen a hint of vulnerability on Yang's face before. He just couldn't bare to think of her feeling hurt.

"I... I'm a little tired of getting shot down," Jaune admitted quietly, "I thought... We both care about Ruby. We both like fighting up close. We both like dancing and music... I-I mean... A date might be fun. The two of us. What do you say?"

Yang stared at him. Jaune braced himself.

Okay... She'll just say no. She'll say she's flattered. We can just laugh this off and I didn't hurt her feelings-

"You know what? Sure."

Jaune blinked.

"What?"

Yang smirked.

"You. Me. Date. Friday night sound good?"

Jaune slowly nodded. Yang beamed.

"Great! Uh... It's a little early for... A kiss but a handshake would be... Weird, right?"

"Totally," Jaune said. He waved. "That work?"

"I guess you're pretty handy, huh?" Yang laughed. He laughed too. It was a terrible joke but hell, at this point he was frazzled enough to laugh at anything.

"Y-Yeah... We should coordinate our outfits before, so... So text me a pic," Yang said. "Tomrrow, so we have time for shopping."

Jaune blinked.

"Something wrong with the way I dress?"

"Yep," Yang grinned, "But I can fix that! So uh... See you then?"

"S-Sure!" Jaune said with a bright smile and nod. Yang smiled like the sun, and shut the door.

Jaune again stood in the hallway in utter silence. He them turned, went into his empty dormroom, set down his guitar, and collapsed face first onto his bed.

"... The hell did I just do?!"

- - -

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Jaune sighed as he closed his locker. It was right after Forever Fall, and he was still a little sore. Mostly from training with Pyrrha, but he appreciated that.

He turned... Only to be greeted by Cardin. The big guy looked remorseful.

"Uh, hey Jaune."

"Cardin," Jaune said, "What do you want?"

"Uh... Well...?" He sighed, and handed Jaune a small device. "Just... Clench up."

"Clench wha-?"

The world turned into white light, and the locker room vanished. The world returned, and Jaune was left gasping hard. He held a hand over his fast beating heart, and looked around frantically.

Cardin stood there, looking very serious. That was literally the only familiar thing around a large, wide, and dark command center of some kind. Numerous control panels blinked and beeped at him, while holograms slowly turned in the air.

"Wha-What in the-?!"

"Welcome, young Jaune Arc!"

A tall redheaded man with a receding hairline, a friendly mustache, and a white labcoat ran up and shook Jaune's hand.

"Uh, Jaune? This is my dad," Cardin introduced him.

"My name is Doctor Rufus Winchester!" The doctor declared, "And I've been looking for someone like you for a long time! You see... Vale needs defenders. It needs power to protect it, especially with all the evil-doers striking fear into the hearts of people nowadays! Do you agree?"

"Um, yeah, I-I do," Jaune said with a nod, feeling dazed, "What does that have to do with me?"

"Well! I discovered an ancient facility near Vale that was the fortress headquarters of great heroes of the past!" Winchester declared. He clicked a remote control, and several tubes lit up. All were filled with body armor and suits, all of it brightly colored. Jaune's eyes widened in recognition.

"W-Wait... You mean... The Valean Rangers?!" He gasped.

"Yup!" Doctor Winchester grinned. "These ancient heroes defended Vale from the Grimm and other evil forces! And I have decided to bring that back! You are one of the few people my son has found that would be compatible with this great power... And one of the few we would trust with such might!"

Jaune looked at Cardin, who grimaced.

"Sorry about all that," Cardin apologized, "I... I've had to act like a jerk to see who would intervene, who would stand up to me." He sighed. His father patted him on the shoulder.

"Thank you son. It hasn't been easy... But you found us a great recruit! One of the first!" He grinned at Jaune. "What do you say, Jaune? You want to be a hero, right? Well... Here is your chance."

Jaune blinked rapidly, and an old-fashioned childlike elation filled his heart.

"Where do I sign up?!"

- - -

Headmaster Ozpin was sipping his morning coffee and going over some reports... When his holographic TV screen switched on. He'd had the computer set to flag anything that matched certain descriptions of unusual behavior going on.

He watched Lisa Lavender start her spiel, mildly concerned.

"And we're standing here near a battle going on between two costumed individuals and members of the White Fang!"

Costumed individuals...? Ozpin wondered.

The camera panned over. A tall man in red armor, and a shorter man in white, battled the White Fang members, defeating them handily. Lisa Lavender ran forward, as did the camera man. Ozpin's eyes widened.

Oh no... It can't be...!

"Lisa Lavender with VNN! Who are you two?!" The reporter demanded.

The two figures in dark helmets posed dramatically.

"We are... the Neo Valean Rangers!" They declared dramatically, as explosions went off behind them.

Ozpin slammed his face into his desk with a loud groan.

"Who found that thing?! I thought I buried that entire disgrace under a mountain!"

He could only imagine Salem's reaction...

- - -

Salem stared at the news screen. She then... Began to cackle. Watts and Tyrian stared uneasily at her.

"Uh, My Queen-?"

"So! Ozma wants to go old school with this, does he?" She laughed. "SO BE IT! Watts! Begin creating Grimm monsters for me! Make them unique! I'll need at least one a week!"

"Er... And then, my Queen?"

"Then... WE SHALL MAKE THE MONSTERS GROW! BWAHAHAHAHA!"

- - -

With all the anime references in RWBY, it is strange there aren't more Sentai/Power Rangers references. So what the hell.

 

[Guikoi]

Spoiler: Author's Note

I had a thought. What if Jaune went to Cinder instead of Pyrrha?

The idea has been done before, but... I think the way I went about it is pretty unique. After all, we're told Jaune is really smart and was made the leader of his team for a reason. I think it's time to prove Ozpin right about Jaune. Except this Jaune can bullshit with the best of them.

Though, beware that this is a little more serious than the others.

---

WIth a press of a button the double doors closed with an inaudible whirl of mechanical systems. However, Jaune Arc did feel the slight rumbling the engineers had been unable to remove from the elevator's design.

The blonde first year dragged an armored hand through his hair, gripping his scalp tightly. "Deep breaths, Jaune. Deep breaths. You got this. Just use your brain. You don't have the strength to win. You don't have the skill to win. You don't have the power to win. But… Pyr and Ms Goodwitch always said I had a good head on my shoulders…"

He took another deep breath as the elevator reached the top, reaching his final destination. "I just need to use my brain. Alright, it's time to face destiny. It's fucking go time." He swore, feeling his heart beat faster and stronger.

He knew how dangerous and stupid this was. He wasn't very good at social interaction, and now he was going to try to get into her head? But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how bad he is at it; it was his only chance. Which path does he take? Guaranteed death or a chance at life, however slim? There was never any other option for him.

Jaune knew what he was getting himself into. He had begged Pyrrha not to do the same thing he was going to do. That's why he forced her into the locker and sent her to Vale. And if he was being honest to himself… "I think I have a better chance at victory here than Pyrrha would. Heh."

Steeling his nerves, burying his emotions like he was used to, tuning out the screams and the roars of Grimm from below…

'My body is steel. My mind a vault. Keep it closed and defended. No matter what comes I shall remain steady.'

The elevator doors opened, his foot already moving through. His left arm was raised in front of him. He didn't bother deploying his sword or shield yet. He used his gloved hand to stop a ball of flames. It splashed against him, singing his glove and turning the skin on his arm red and raw from the heat.

He had consciously stopped his aura from taking the blow. It was unnecessary, the damage to his aura, however small, was not worth the risk as an injury as small as this would not affect his combat capabilities and so could be ignored…

"Oh?" She actually sounded surprised to see him. He stopped a short distance from her. The black haired, amber eyed beauty before him scanned him from feet to head. "I was expecting someone else."

The smallest lock of flames around her signalled her emotions. She was new to the full power of the Fall Maiden. She only had half of it before, which was a lot more than people normally had, but he could work with it.

Jaune shrugged, letting a smirk onto his face. "What can I say?" He said in a friendly manner. "I just had to meet you myself."

"Oh~? A fan, are you?" Her fingers traced a line over her chin. She leaned on one leg and pretended to think deeply. "But I think there's a bit more to that, no~?"

"Of course." He told her, voice as empty as the lifeless corpses dotting Beacon's halls and Vale's streets. "I didn't come for pleasantries, however much I enjoy them."

She blinked and tilted her head to one side in thought. His eyes drifted down to her neck. She smirked and put on a voice that had seduced many men. "Like what you see?"

Jaune didn't let his grin display on his face. 'I've got you.' Instead, he put on a face of disgust and anger. "Stop that."

"Stop what~?" She leaned the other direction, a hand caressing her hip and ever so slightly pulling her skirt to reveal more of her bare legs.

"You can stop with that fake voice and act, for one." While his disgust and anger was real, he did admit he was exaggerating it quite a bit. "You can stop with the fucking chuunibyou shit!"

She narrowed her eyes. "'Chuunibyou'?"

'She's from Mistral, but doesn't know that term? I see. She never went to school. Never got a formal education. Kids are cruel. Young children naturally push boundaries, testing the waters and rules of society. Seeing what they can and cannot get away with. A natural part of childhood. If she went to a formal school she would have been bullied quite badly for the act she was putting on, called a chuunibyou and more, but she doesn't know that term so she never went to school.'

"It means 'Middle-School Syndrome'." Jaune provided. "It's used to denote someone who acts like a middle-schooler. Someone with grandiose delusions. Who fills their world with fantasy. You in particular act like a child who's in drama class and pretending to be a villain for the first time."

Deciding to see how far he can push her, Jaune copied her voice and tone. "Oh, look at me, I'm Cinder Fall! Muhaha I'm so eeeevil and scaaary~! Mommy and daddy didn't give me enough huggy wuggies!" He even put his hands together and swayed his hips side to side to play it up, dumping fuel to the fires of mockery.

Another lick of flame from her eyes, this one stronger.

He dropped that act and put his disgusted, angered mask back on. "Why don't you drop the act and talk to me like a normal fucking person, Cinder!" He decided to let one of his cards show early. "Or are you too afraid to let your true self show? Don't want me to see the little slave girl that you really are!?"

A fire blazed around her eyes like an inferno, but only for a second, before she regained control. "Oh? A slave girl? Me? What makes you think that?" A single drop of sweat ran down the side of her head.

'She doesn't seem to notice how easy she is to read. Whoever her teacher was did a shit job… Or maybe Cinder's just a garbage student alongside being a garbage person?'

Jaune fully revealed the card he had laid on the table. He looked back down at her neck. "It doesn't matter the amount of makeup you put on to hide it. Your past is open to me like a book. There's a ring of slightly lighter skin around your neck." Her hand flexed towards her neck before she stopped it.

Jaune swapped his mask for one of smugness. "You wore a collar. Not only that, but you wore it constantly. Never taking it off. And… Yes… There's burns. A shock collar." Her throat tightened up and her nostrils flared. "Maybe mommy and daddy really didn't…"

'She averted her eyes when I mentioned 'mommy' but not 'daddy'. I see…'

"No. It was only your mother. Ah, wait… Your mother and sisters." Jaune could feel his glee rising, but like his other emotions he locked them in a box deep beneath steel.

'My body is steel. My mind a vault. Keep it closed and defended. No matter what comes I shall remain steady.'

He reminded himself, trapping the steel box containing his emotions behind another layer of steel, this time steel chains.

"Tell me, Cinder…" Jaune clenched and unclenched his left hand. He could barely feel the pain with how deep he buried it. Good. "What did you do to get the collar off once and for all? I first thought that maybe you killed them in their sleep. Stabbed them to death and swiped the key. It's what I would have done." And he didn't lie. He didn't need to lie.

She opened her mouth to respond.

The blonde boy raised his hand and rapped a knuckle on the side of his head. "However…" She shut her jaw. "Then I thought about how you've acted at Beacon while you were here. Any time your two companions, no, tools acted out in a way you didn't like you reprimanded them with a glare or their name. You want control. You want control because you never had it."

She grit her teeth and responded.

"Cinder." Jaune said, glaring at her. "I'm not finished." He waited a few seconds, but she was silent. So he continued: "While here at Beacon you've never once put down the flirty, 'seducer' type voice. Your ease with that voice makes me think that my original thought of how you got out of slavery was wrong. I mean… It's obvious. You just slept with men. Either you slept with the right man or men, or you whored yourself out to make enough lien you could just buy your freedom. I cannot imagine that was cheap, so you had plenty of practice putting on a seductive act."

Jaune kept a close eye on Cinder while he talked. "Hmm… No, seems I was wrong." He shrugged. "I doubt someone as proud as you would lower yourself that much. To you, slavery was better than prostitution. Your pride simply wouldn't allow you to degrade yourself like that. Not even freedom from your collar was worth it."

Jaune froze. A stray thought came to him. "No." He admitted. "All of my guesses were wrong."

Cinder smirked. "Seems you realized it. Look at me. How could I have been a slave girl? It seems even a loser like you has some capacity for thought in that empty head of yours."

"You weren't a slave. You are a slave."

Her smile vanished in an instant. Fire bloomed once more, and the air danced around them in a mirage from the sheer heat emanating from Cinder Fall.

Jaune knew he was right on the money. 'Jackpot!'

"That's right. I figured it out. You did kill your owners, don't get me wrong. That's obvious. Your mother and sisters are dead by your hands. However, you are not a free woman. All you did was trade one collar, one master, for another one." Jaune turned away from Cinder and watched the Grimm Wyvern fly above Vale.

'Think, Jaune, think! She's working for Torchwick? No. He's working for her. The White Fang are working with Torchwick, so are working for Cinder by default.'

'Who's she working for? Is it someone in the attack? For now let's assume that, and go by process of elimination. Let's see, we have Atlas… no, only the robots. The Atlas soldiers are defending Vale. Probably a cyber attack that got them. Not Torchwick or the White Fang. That leaves only the Grimm…'

'But how can anyone work with the Grimm? And not a moral ground, but rather practicality. How do you get the Grimm to follow your commands? A deal? No, they're not intelligent enough for that. Or perhaps there's some Grimm we haven't seen yet or a kind of super Gri…'

Jaune turned his attention back to Cinder Fall. The two silently watched each other.

'No… She's a Maiden. Something only in fairy tales. But it's real. Come on, Jaune, think! There must be something I can work with, here! Maybe…'

His gaze turned to the floor. Or rather, to the tower they were in. Flicking his eyes back up to Cinder, things started to click into place.

'Why would she come here of all places? There's nothing up here. Was she looking for something? No. Whatever cyber attack that took control of the Atlas knights should be more than enough to get whatever information she could get from Professor Ozpin's office or scroll. Maybe not information, but an object? It wouldn't be something he had on him, as she left him down below in that secret vault.'

Jaune watched her eyes scan his face for any sign or twitch that revealed his thoughts to her. But his mind was steel. If he didn't know any better he'd say she was scared of him. But Jaune assumed she felt something closer to apprehension or anxiety over something so banal as fear.

'Ah. I see. She doesn't know what she's looking for. So her master didn't tell her anything except the basics? So her master obviously has other servants, other agents that her master trusts more. Or perhaps her master simply wants her to clear the way? Her master can probably get whatever they want themselves, but wanted Cinder to clear the path.'

'So her master is cautious. Are they weak in combat like me and didn't want to risk coming themselves? No. If her master was weaker than her, she'd kill them in a heartbeat. Her pride wouldn't allow someone weaker than her to lord over her. She's too much of a control freak.'

'That must mean they're… Are they too lazy? No, they sent Cinder to bring down an entire Kingdom. Why do that unless you're poised to take advantage of that? They're ready to strike at a moment's notice then, so laziness is off the table. Is it Mistral's underworld? Hoping to take over… No. No human or faunus can control the Grimm. And the underworld would have no reason to bring down a Kingdom. They'd prefer fighting rival crime lords and ruling from the shadows…'

He glanced back outside the window. The Grimm Wyvern was dropping black sludge that spawned Grimm.

'That's how the Grimm come into being, then? That… that mud. Maybe there's pools of that stuff, and the Grimm just crawl out of it? No. If they were on the continents the Kingdoms are on, surely we'd have seen at least one pool of mud before? Maybe from the dragon shaped continent? Then how do they get here?'

'No. It's obvious. Flying Grimm like the Wyvern there would just drop the mud onto the ground. But there's no mentions of a Grimm like that thing in any books I've read. Were they holding back their true capabilities this whole time? But then why reveal them now? They want to kill us all, right? Then why didn't they just do that and overwhelm us then from the start? Maybe not all Grimm can do that, only special ones? Is it age? Species? Or… No, wait, the ones spawning have armor. Young Grimm don't. Ruby told me that.'

'Wait, if they can just spawn mature Grimm, then why do young Grimm even exist? Are they capable of sexual reproduction? Or… When they die and disperse… Do they come back as young Grimm? Reform some time later? Do they reform into one or multiple young Grimm? Is there a limited amount or is the amount of Grimm increasing over time?'

'No. I need to focus on the bigger picture. The Grimm are part of it. I just need a few more clues. Think! Ozpin… Ozpin… Ozpin… Think back on every interaction and word he said. He must have known something. I need to remember every fucking word I've heard him say! Start from the beginning.'

'Alright. The speech in the beginning of the year was a vague and pointless word salad of nothing, even I can tell that. He spoke a lot of words but really said nothing at all. He looked like he said it a million times before. He looked bored. He also looked… like he wasn't really there. Lile he was having a conversation in his head. He's also later mentioned that he made more mistakes than anyone else. Why?'

'Perhaps he's serious? Or maybe it's more cryptic horseshit. That seems right up his alley. No. He really had no reason to lie to anyone at the time. No human is perfect. So why didn't he just say he's made a lot of mistakes? Why make it seem like he made more mistakes than anyone else? Perhaps he didn't mean to reveal that? Alright, I'll just metaphorically put that in my back pocket for later. Maybe it'll make more sense with context?'

'What was next? Initiation. We had to collect relics from a temple in the Emerald Forest. We ran int- Wait. Why call them relics? Any significance? The temple is obviously for a form of landmark to signify it's the right place, so I don't…'

'No… The temple is important. Maybe it meant something to Ozpin? Hold on, it's what, a couple thousand years old at least? Does he know what it was originally for? Is that why he put the relics there? If he knew, why didn't he tell Profes- Doctor Oobleck? He taught history and he's a doctor, so he's probably a historian. So surely Dr Oobleck would have made mention of the temple's significance? I would have if I was in his place. Tried to entice students to be interested in history by pointing out something 'close to home' as it were.'

'Maybe Ozpin's not supposed to know but does? Hold on, I need to compare it to what I know. He's got secret knowledge of history. He's made more mistakes than anyone else. He knows about magic and the Maidens. He tried to turn Pyrrha into a Maiden, or I suppose, a Half-Maiden like Cinder… probably to combat Cinder.'

'He couldn't have made a gigantic secret vault under Beacon without someone knowing. And that machine… Alright. Ozpin's the head of some secret cabal that rules the world. Or, at least, he was.'

'I can safely assume the other Headmasters are in on it. General Ironwood did visit Ozpin often. Professor Glynda probably knows. So too does Ruby's uncle. Qrow, right? So what does that…'

'Ruby told me that Ozpin mentioned her eyes. Now that I think about it, other than being the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen, they're silver. Ruby said her mother had silver eyes too. Maidens were fairy tales and the Silver-Eyed Warriors are as well… So I can assume Ruby can… What? Shoot lasers from her eyes that instantly kill Grimm? Fuck, that's cool. But she probably doesn't know. She'd definitely have told me.'

'But wait… Ozpin probably had ulterior motives for bringing Ruby to Beacon two years early. Was he planning to groom her into a powerful warrior to use against the Grimm? No, wait, he's doing that to all of us. That's why we fucking came here in the first place. Did he know something like this was going to happen? He wanted her here to… Maybe the Silver Eyes work on Maidens too?'

'So they don't destroy Grimm. They destroy magic. The Grimm are magical constructs, then. Maybe Cinder's master is a mage who created the Grimm? No, the Grimm have been around since the dawn of humanity.'

'I see. Cinder's master didn't create the Grimm. But they do control them. But that doesn't explain why their behavior has never changed. Surely her master would command them to do stuff, and we'd notice changes in behavior corresponding to those orders? Or… Maybe we do, but Ozpin and his cabal are the only ones who know.'

'Okay… Once more, I need to put everything together. I need to piece it all together.'

Jaune took a deep breath.

'My body is steel. My mind a vault. Keep it closed and defended. No matter what comes I shall remain steady.'

'The Grimm… Cinder Fall… She's a slave… She can somewhat command the Grimm… The Grimm are doing things not seen before… Cinder's master controls the Grimm… Ozpin knows… Magic exists… Fairy tales… The other headmasters know… The temple… The relics… Silver Eyes… Ozpin's mistakes… Ozpin's secrets… Cinder's looking for something…'

'Ah… I think I see the answer. Yes. Yes. Yes. Now to see if my hypothesis is right.'

Jaune returned his eyes to his enemy and met her gaze. "The Relic?"

Cinder breathed in a gasp, her eyes widening.

'Fucking bingo.'

She growled. "Ozpin didn't tell you? Of course Salem wants the Relic. What else would she want from Beacon?"

'Salem? Must be the name of her master. Alright.'

"I know. But why'd she send you? In fact, why are you even here? Here in this tower? The Relic's not here. Ozpin wasn't stupid enough to keep it here."

Cinder scoffed. "He keeps the other three in the Academies. Why would this one be any different?"

'There's three more. In the Academies. Did she take them? Did Salem or her other agents take them? No. She said that as if they're still there. Does Salem only need or want one? No. She would need all four. There's four Maidens, one for each Relic. Ozpin had Ruby here, probably to train her to defend the Relic. He must not have had the time to get her ready. So… The Relic is in the school. No. Under the School. Probably below that machine somewhere.'

'I need to make Cinder think it's not here. Lead her astray.'

"Ozpin expected you. Or rather, he expected someone like you. Ozpin's lived a very long time. Just like Salem, he's immortal. You think he wouldn't know she's coming for the Relic? Of course he would. But I don't care whether you take it. In fact… Do me a favor, and I'll tell you where the Relic is."

Cinder's glare would have killed me if her eyes were as cool as Ruby's. "If you know where it is, why didn't you take it for yourself?"

"...I see… She didn't tell you." Jaune shook his head.

"What? Didn't tell me what?"

"Salem knows you plan to betray her. You're so obvious it hurts! You're a slave and you want freedom. You want control. As soon as you have a chance you'll snatch power for yourself to get out from under her thumb."

Her brow furrows. "How would you know what she knows?"

'Fuck it. Time to gamble everything on the slimmest chance.'

"Because she told me."

She stepped back and growled. "No she didn't! Why would she tell you?"

"Because I'm on her side, you idiot!" Jaune keeps his emotions in check, never letting them out. The only emotions he shows are masks, fakes he can swap out at will. The one he's using currently is disdain.

"I've never seen you with her before!"

"Of course not! You think she'd lay all her cards on the table for you? She never told me about you, either! I can guess she never told you how to unlock the door to the Relic, either."

Her teeth gnashed together hard enough that her aura protected them from breaking. "H-How?"

"Silver Eyes. You need Silver Eyes."

"Silver… That brat?"

"Of course. But not just Silver Eyes. You also need the powers of a Maiden. You were sent to get the Maiden's powers. While I was sent to corrupt Ozpin's pet Silver-Eyed Warrior. You get it, don't you? Salem sent you to die. Well, not die here at least. You'll return to her, she'll congratulate you. Then I'll return with Ruby in tow. Salem then uses her magic to force you to look at and think of only Ruby… Then she kills you. Salem wants Ruby Rose as her key. She told me it would be delicious to use Ozpin's own pet against him."

"What…!? N-No! No! No, you're lying!" Fire raged out of her eyes, bathing the office in an orange glow.

Jaune stepped forward. Cinder tried to step back but found herself backed against Ozpin's desk. "You know I'm telling the truth."

"W-Why are you telling me this? You're… She'll kill you for telling me."

"It's fine." Jaune waved off her concern. "After all, the original plan broke down when you first failed to get the Maiden's powers. Half of it won't do. Ozpin's smart. The key needs a precise amount of magic. The Maiden and Silver Eyes. You were never supposed to be in Beacon in the first place. This…!" He waved towards the carnage below. "Was never supposed to happen."

Cinder looked down. For all her incredible beauty and terrifying power… Now she just looked like a scared, vulnerable girl.

Jaune grasped her chin and forced her to look at him. "But you can still fix this. We can still fix this, Cinder. There's three other Maidens. You can use that girl, Emerald. Make her a Maiden, have her think of Ruby. Kill her. By the time you've done that, I'll have Ruby as putty in my hands. She'll do anything I say. I'll get the Relic and bring it to Salem. After you kill Emerald, go back to Salem and report to her 'I have forged the Key to the Gates'. That should be enough to convince Salem to spare you."

Jaune stopped Cinder from speaking, putting a finger on her lips. "But, I want you to call off the attack on Vale. After all, I do admit I've grown rather fond of this place. Plus, if Beacon or Vale falls, the students will scatter. They'll go home. Or they'll go to different schools. My job will become much harder. And I don't want to risk you and Ruby being in the same Kingdom any time soon. At least, not before I can fix all the trauma you caused her or turn it into loyalty to me and Salem. And, when Ozpin reincarnates into a new body, who do you think he'll go to first?"

"R-Ruby?"

"Exactly. If Beacon or Vale are destroyed, he gets a chance to get to her before I can finish my work on her. She must stay here with me. This is our only chance. Do you understand me?"

"Y… Yes."

"Good. Now. It's time. You need to and call off the attack. But first… I need to maintain my cover. I'm supposed to be weak, it would be suspicious if I came out of this unscathed. You need to beat me. Cut me, burn me, throw me around. Just don't maim me, because then I can't stay in Beacon and I can't keep working on Ruby. Understand?" Jaune let go and stepped back. He needed to stay in character. He let his aura cover him. "You ready?"

"Yes." Cinder nodded. But then, with a blush she stepped forward and laid a chaste kiss on his lips. "Thank you."

'Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Why do I find evil women showing their vulnerable side so fucking hot! Don't get a boner! Don't get a boner! Don't get a boner!'

Melted glass appeared in Cinder's hand and formed a blade. In the blink of an, eye she was upon him.

'It hurts! Oh god it hurts so bad! But it hurts so good to have a plan come together so well!'

---

Qrow Branwen has been around a long time. He's over forty years old and has been fighting with Ozpin in this Shadow War for over half of those forty years. He'd believed he'd heard and seen everything.

This, though… This was new!

Taiyang, his best friend, dropped his head into his hands. "You're fucking insane!"

The young blonde sitting opposite them in Taiyang's house grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I-It was a gamble. But it wasn't like I could fight her. I'd have died! So I… pretended to be on Salem's side."

Qrow upended his flask and drank until it was empty. "You're special, kid. You know that? I don't think even Oz could weave absolute fucking bullshit quite like you."

The blonde kid, Jaune Arc or some shit, preened under his compliment.

'Well, the kid does deserve it. He basically saved Vale and Beacon single handedly. Sure, he put another Maiden in danger, but if Cinder kills her own minion to make Ruby a Maiden… that gives us plenty of time to prepare and aeakens them. Plus, here's hoping that Salem kills that Cinder bitch for failing so gods damned hard! Now all we need to do is wait for Oz to come back, and we can figure out how to kill Salem once and for…'

Qrow paused and realized something. Jaune had figured out everything on his own. Does that mean he was right that Salem was immortal? Like… unkillable?

"FUCK! FUCK! FUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!"

 

[Guikoi]

Spoiler: Author's Note

Alright. So... I have a guilty pleasure. A shameless but guilty pleasure.

React content.

It's the laziest type of content there is. Especially when you steal other people's content to make money off of it (*cough*HassanPiker*cough*).

But I still love it.

Unfortunately, the trend of stuff like "RWBY Reacts to Multiverse" and shit, is waning fast. That's upsetting to me. I liked it. I loved it, actually.

You know I used to write stuff over on FF with the intent of having them appear in React fics? They never did, of course, but I just wrote stuff that I would have liked to see in one of them.

Well... I did it again. Mainly because I thought about trying my hand at my own reaction story. Of course, it sucked ass so I scrapped it. Maybe I'll try again in the future?

For now, I wrote this thing and even though I basically just took something and swapped some characters... I still like how it turned out.

I don't exactly know what constitutes plagiarism on this site. If this is, please tell me and I'll immediately get rid of it.

I just didn't want to just delete this entirely. Even if it's garbage. Even if it sucks. Even if it is the laziest type of content.

I like React stuff, so I wrote (read: stole) something for it.

If it's against the rules, feel free to hit me with the book. I'd deserve it, after all.

The ground shook and the cavern rumbled. Jaune Arc gasped for breath as he marched forward. At the end of the gigantic cavern stood a dark tower. Four spikes crowned the very peak, and floating above them was an orb of darkness.

'My consciousness is breaking apart. A mere hundred meters become an impossible vast expanse.'

His heart beat in his chest, his vision flashing white from the pain.

'It's only a matter of time before the cavern collapses. The ceiling's crumbling in places, and the ground is strewn with rubble.'

Another heartbeat and flash of pain. Pain which Jaune doesn't acknowledge. Another step. He drags his feet forward and takes just one more step.

'My joints are stiff. It hurts to bend my limbs. If I let my guard down, I stop breathing. Finally, with the determination it would take to stick a knife in my throat, I manage to draw a few breaths. I keep doing it in spite of the pain, because people can't live without oxygen. I might be able to move without oxygen, and even if I am to breathe, I would stop moving soon.'

His sweat and blood drips down onto the stone beneath him. The tower looms in the distance. Impossible tall, almost within reach yet so incredibly far away.

'...It's hot. Hundreds of blades are growing out of my body. An inescapable death by skewering. I am the bone of my sword. But I already knew that. ■■■■■ said… The time bomb was activated when I used Projection. So this end was already determined.'

Another beat of his heart. His entire body was covered in sharp metal blades growing out of his body. Only his head had, mostly, avoided the blades.

'...My legs are heavy… I don't know what I'm doing. My heart's about to explode from pain, fatigue, and emptiness. But just a bit more. Everything will end once I beat him. There's no one in my way. There's no one getting in my way anymore.'

'-But…'

"Haa… ah…" Jaune's gasping reaches his ears.

The tower was so close now. Jaune could see it clearly. A great tower, as tall as the CCT tower of Vale. It was made of dark flesh. It pulsed and squirmed. Great eyes, almost like human eyes, watched him. Inside the tower, barely visible because of the light the tower was emitting… was a gigantic body curled up like a fetus.

'The shadow wavers. In front of the crater, the Great Holy Grail. Bathed in the ruddy glow, ■■■■■ is standing.'

"...Tyrian Callows." Jaune wheezed out, glaring at the scorpion faunus in front of him.

The faunus appeared calm. Almost serene. The glint of madness no longer present in his eyes. "Yes. It seems we've both managed to survive. Jaune Arc." His voice carried nearly no emotion. All it had was…

'A voice filled with strong will. As if it's fate, the man blocks my way through this desolate realm.'

"...What are you doing? There's nothing for you to do now." Jaune stands up straight, the blades stabbing into his muscles.

'I don't ask him how he's alive. He's dying. I don't feel magical energy from his body. There's a black stain where his heart should be… Like me, a brief fire that's like a turned hourglass.'

'I don't hear his heartbeat. He doesn't have much longer to live. This is not speculation, but a predication. Tyrian Callows will die in a few minutes, even if he doesn't do anything.'

"Do not ask something so obvious." Tyrian responded, his stump of a tail curling. "There is only one goal for me: To give birth to the curse."

"...What? You can't do that. He won't become yours." Jaune rasped.

The ball of darkness pulsed like a great heart. The fetus that resembled a grown, yet shriveled man squirmed in the Greater Grail.

Tyrian shook his head. "Of course not. I cannot intervene with this, and I have no intention to. But I have told you. I will bless anything that comes to life. This is about to be born. So it is only natural for me to protect it from an outside enemy that tries to kill it."

"...Are you insane? What are you saying with that dying body of yours? And even if it's born like you wish, you'll…"

Tyrian interrupted the boy, his face blank and near emotionless. "The same goes for you. There is no sanity here. Our end will be the same, even if we accomplish our goals. You will destroy it, while I will protect it. But there is nothing to be gained, no matter whose goal is achieved. You came here knowing that… This is a meaningless battle. We are two madmen engaging in useless folly."

"..."

'Tyrian will not back down. He won't retreat, and I can't use Projection as long as he's there. I need time to Project. He'll smash my head if I show such an opening.'

Jaune shot the faunus a look of disbelief. "Why? Why are you going so far to protect him? Even if he's born, you gain nothing. So why?"

'Even on the verge of death, why does he approve of mankind's enemy, all evils of this world?'

Tyrian shook his head. "There is no room for questions. This is my only pleasure… Jaune Arc. As you feel supreme bliss in others' happiness. I feel supreme bliss in others' unhappiness."

"..."

"First of all, why kill it?" Tyrian continued. "It is arrogance to assume it is evil even before its birth. Is it not love to allow a life that yearns to be born into the world?"

"Don't bullshit me." Jaune shot back. "He's killed many people already. I can't let him out."

"Oh? Then let me ask. What is good and evil? Are you saying murder is an absolute evil?"

"That's…" Jaune choked on his own words. He knows how many he's killed, both innocent and not. If murder is evil, then Jaune is more than guilty.

'Good and evil mean nothing to me now. The justice Jaune Arc believed in disappeared the instant I decided to save Ruby.'

"...Fair enough." Tyrian accepted Jaune's silence with a nod. "There is no answer from the start. That's what humans are like. There is no clear answer, and they accept a changing truth. We have no absolute truth from the very beginning. Humans have both good and evil, and it's up to you to decide which is which. The start is at zero, and there's no crime in being born. I thought I'd already told you."

"...Yeah. You said there's no crime in the baby even if it's evil."

"Correct. Humans become good or evil through learning. A certain scripture mentions that humans are superior beings to angels. Why? Because there are people who know of evil, but do not become evil. It's different from angels, who only know of good since birth. Humans have evil, but can live as good, so they are superior to angels, who only know of good."

Tyrian chuckled. "...And at the same time." He continued. "There are rare moments of goodwill shown by evil men. There are bad intentions shown on a whim by saints. The contradiction. The coexistence of good and evil is the Holy Grail that makes people human. Living is a crime by itself, and there are punishments because one is alive. Good exists with life, and evil exists with life. Therefore…"

Tyrian placed a hand over his silent heart. "...You cannot inquire about the crime of one who has not yet been born. There is no existence that is born as evil, that is unwanted by everyone. It has no reason to be punished until it is born."

'That's Tyrian's answer. That man pardons "All the World's Evil" for this reason alone.'

Jaune gesticulated towards the Holy Grail. "So you're going to forgive him? He's someone that can only kill. If you know he'll kill many people once he comes out, he's a definite evil for us…!"

"Yes." Tyrian agreed. "His nature is evil. He was made that way, after all. He was born to be evil from the very beginning. He's not like people. This is a pure deity that people made. But… even if his actions are evil, we have yet to know what he thinks of it."

"Eh…?"

'What Angra Mainyu thinks about his own actions…?'

"Yes. If Angra Mainyu considers them evil and agonizes over them, or considers them good and laughs about them. That is not something we can assume. If that thing has emotions like those of humans and agonizes over its doings, it is evil. But if it has no doubt about its existence, it is good. Everyone wished for him to be that way, after all. If it has no doubt about its function, it cannot be evil."

"Wha-"

"Yes. Those with defects at birth. Those who were not wanted, even before birth. It should show us the worth of meaningless life: The meaning of birth. Would it be able to forgive itself after destroying and losing everything? That's what I would like to know. I want to know if it is a crime to live as you are, when you are different from others. That is why I killed her father and let Ruby Rose live. I cannot come up with the answer by myself. That is why I wish for the birth of what can provide me with the answer."

Tyrian focused his gaze onto Jaune, both looking eye to eye. "...That is my goal, Jaune Arc. I am at the opposite extreme from you, as you have no wish for yourself. Our desires are of the same nature."

"..."

'...I can't comprehend him. His wish is too alien for me… So there's only one thing I understand. That's the only reason he…'

"Ruby. You used Ruby for such a thing?" Jaune grit his teeth in anger.

'I shake off the vagueness, glaring at the faunus with all the hostility I can muster. And…'

"Yes. To that end, I have taken many lives. That is why I cannot back out now. I told you. That is how I lived. I lived to answer that question. It will not change, even on the verge of my death."

'He makes this declaration, holding my gaze.'

"..."

'His words are bold. He states it as a matter of course, saying he has no regrets or doubts.'

"...I see."

'That makes me realize. We're irreconcilable. I opposed him ever since I first saw him… I finally realize why.'

'I don't want to admit it. But it seems… I like Tyrian Callows. I was frantic to see him as an enemy because I didn't want to accept the fact. He said we're similar. I understand now. We both believed ourselves to be sinners. And we both lived a certain way to free ourselves of those chains...We both knew we could never be freed, but believed it was the right atonement, and sought salvation that would never be given to us.'

"...Of course you're not going to back out." Jaune accepted with a ghost of a smile on his lips.

'There's no way he'll withdraw if he's the same as me. It's not that he's trying to grant his wish because he's about to die… That's right. It's not that he's protecting his oath in his last moments. That's how he lived until now. He never walked a different path. So even if he's to die in the next minute, he doesn't know any other way to live.'

"...Humph." Tyrian smiled. "And I admit, this is also sentimentality. I knew it was a possibility, but at last I realize it."

'He steps forward. There's not much time left for either of us. So we have to settle the match quickly. We have to extinguish the other's fire before our own is blown out.'

"...I envy you people." Tyrian spoke, turning to look at flashes of light at a different part of the cavern. Where Jaune knew Weiss was battling Ruby. "What I sought, but could not obtain. What I obtained, but could not obtain. Many things slipped out between my fingers, no matter what commandment I used."

Tyrian turned to look at Jaune. 'What other people called happiness…' Tyrian's voice spoke in his own mind.

"I am going to release my pent-up emotions here." Tyrian clenched his fists.

'...Did not bring me any joy.' Tyrian's mind revealed.

'...Yeah, he's empty because he couldn't obtain it, no matter what he tried. He sought and sought, but couldn't obtain happiness. And the only way of life he found was carrying death. So how can he abandon his way of life now?'

"I see. I guess I made you waste your time, Tyrian."

'I resume breathing. Pulling oxygen into my lungs, I get my body ready for battle.'

Tyrian shrugged. "I do not mind. Neither one of us has much time."

'Strength enters Tyrian's body. There's no way this is going to turn into a battle of magecraft. We're both almost dead. All we can do is drive our fists into our opponent. There's no technique or strategy involved. It's a mere brawl to the death. He needs to kill me to make his wish come true. I need to kill him to destroy his wish. We both put our lives on the line. I need to beat him and eliminate the shadow before my life burns out.'

'He kicks off the ground and runs straight at me.'

"Haa-"

'I don't have such power left in my legs. I lower my stance, eyes fixed on his incoming chest, and…'

"Ahhhhh-!"

'I swing my fist full-force at a speed he can't avoid…! But my fist swings through empty space, and I'm the one who gets hit.'

Jaune skids across the ground, his feet digging trenches into the sharp stone beneath them. "Guh-!?" More swords begin to grow from where he was hit.

'I don't see Tyrian. That speed. The enemy that charged me disappears from my view in an instant…'

'Crouches down by my left side, slams his palms into my stomach, and kicks up at my body with his lightning fast legs.'

Jaune's body slammed down onto the rocky earth. Blood poured from his neck, but swords burst forth and stabbed up into his skull, keeping his head attached to his shoulders. He gasped and his eyes refocused. "Haa-guh…!"

'His kicks are like fire. It's been a while since I felt pain strong enough to make me lose consciousness.'

"Gi-"

'How many meters was I kicked up? The impact was strong enough to rip my head off. No, if I'm going to talk about impact, then the second blow to my stomach was strong enough to pulverize my organs.'

"You…!" Jaune gasped, bloody chunks flowing from his mouth.

'I know this. Taking the shortest route without any initial movement. A circle and a line. It tries to damage the inside instead of the outside.'

"An agent of Salem using Mistral martial arts?"

'And he's really good at it. It doesn't seem to be something he copied on the spot…!'

"That's not true." Tyrian said, guessing what his opponent was thinking. "My moves are mere mimicry. It's a mimicry of taolu without much in it… but it seems to be enough against a dying man."

"...!"

'He strikes again. Forcing my fused joints to bend, I get up.'

"...?"

'But Tyrian stops and looks at his fist. His hand is covered in red.'

"What a troublesome body." Tyrian noted. "The one attacking has to risk his life."

'It is…' Swords burst out of Jaune's back, as if striking the heavens. '...A price he had to pay to attack a body made of swords.'

"Haa-ah!" The blonde man gasped.

'...I gather my consciousness and face my enemy. It doesn't matter. He won't stop attacking, even if faced with the thorns of death.'

"But this should make a good handicap. In short, our fight is…"

"...!"

'Tyrian lowers his stance. His trained body is getting ready for the explosion.'

Tyrian lets a shadow of a grin form on his face. "Not a fight against someone else, but a battle with your body at stake-!"

'...The enemy closes in. Tyrian is far stronger than me. His fists won't break. At this rate, the hourglass itself will be destroyed before all the sand spills to the bottom.'

"Haa-"

'I don't look away from my enemy, closing in like a spark. There's only one thing I have to do. I have to be faster than last time, I have to punch him faster, even if he avoids it.'

'...All I can hear is the sound of my heart, pounding in my ears. I take no notice of the rumbling or the raining bits of earth. The one I must defeat is right in front of me. I don't care about some millenias-old wish or the end of this small world. For Jaune Arc, defeating this enemy is the last remaining purpose.'

"---"

'His palm slams against me. It doesn't matter what my body's made of. The attack's meant to damage inside me, so the impact mercilessly pierces through me. I'm overwhelmed in this battle. My fists are dodged and parried, while his attacks land cleanly. Every time his fists hit me, my vision whites out. It's not because of the damage, but because of the pain brought on by my soul which tries to heal and overwrite my wounded body.'

Tyrian's fist slams into Jaune's right arm protecting his head. Swords grew with a spray of blood, ravaging Tyrian's fist.

'I protect my head. My face hasn't turned into swords yet. It'll be over if I'm hit there. I can't manage to strike him, so I put everything into fending off his attacks to my head.'

Another palm connects with his gut, and a leg cracks against his side.

'My sense of pain's already numbed, and my vision will be cut off soon. The only pain my brain can sense is the invasion from my soul. His bloody fists pulverize my body. My soul frantically tries to repair me, and consequently…'

Jaune is slammed into the rough stone again and again. Tyrian doesn't let up. Not against this opponent. Not until he's sure it's done.

'Everything turns white. My vision and mind turn too white to be recovered.'

Jaune's head is knocked back again, and he sees the Greater Grail watching him. Angra Mainyu grows steadily. Soon it'll be time.

'Even thinking brings pain now. As my body is destroyed, swords are created, trying to keep it alive. In exchange, my brain continues to be ground away. I don't know which one of us will die first.'

"...Guh, fu…!" Tyrian groans as his fists give way. Still, he throws another boulder shattering punch.

'The bones in his fists are destroyed. He bears it with a pained expression and keeps up the assault.'

'I dodge and swing my right fist. It's repelled. A jolt runs through my left rib. I resist the swords stabbing my brain and punch again.'

'I can still move. I can still move, I can't move, this is my la-'

Two more haymakers crash against the sword in the shape of a man.

"...Ah. Ah-"

'That hurt. That one hurt. I shouldn't feel any pain, but my body's about to cry out from it. Flung like a rag doll, my body hits a large piece of rubble, narrowly avoiding falling off the cliff.'

"...Ah." Jaune groans.

"Ah." He tries to move his arms and legs, but…

'I can't get up. If the impact hurts this much, the pain to reinforce my body would be beyond imagination. It'll be the end. I'll burn out, unable to bear the pain… But if I go to sleep before that… If I close my eyes…'

"So this is the end. Then I shall crush your head."

'The enemy walks to me… He can't run either. Both of us might disappear within the next minute. Then-'

A scrambled image comes to the forefront of his mind. A girl. She's beautiful. The most gorgeous girl he's ever seen. Her black hair with red tips. Her soft, pale skin. Her silver eyes that shone like an unbroken moon.

He couldn't remember her name.

"Ah." Oxygen escapes his lungs.

'What did you swear?' A voice calls to the sword. 'Who did you swear to protect?' It asked him.

"Ah." He tried speaking, only letting out a strangled noise.

'Live. She said she won't be saved unless both of you are alive.' The voice whispered.

Another image came to life. A blonde haired, blue eyed boy held in his hands a large dagger. With both hands gripping it, it was plunged into the chest of another woman, the boy sat on top of her. Her corrupted, but once glorious armor was cracked. Her blonde, almost white hair spread out ocer the cavern floor. Her gold eyes watched him, even as he pushed the blade deeper.

He didn't recognize either person.

"Ah, ah."

'What did you lose? What did you lose in exchange?'

"Ah, ah…" Jaune lifted his head. His vision barely comprehensible over the white noise.

'The enemy comes closer. He drags his legs, trying to get close enough to crush my skull… No way…! I won't lose! That man has no goal! He's just following his way of life he protected…! But I have one. I have a goal. I have a reason that I have to beat him, a reason that I have to win…!'

Another image emerges from the broken mess of meat and blades that was his brain.

It was raining. It was the moment in which Jaune Arc threw away his pride, his goals, his life's dream. He threw it away for her. The woman he loves more than anything else. He found her standing in the rain. Jaune Arc came to her and… he held her in his arms.

He knew what would happen if she was allowed to live. He was given a choice. Kill ■■■■… or risk Angra Mainyu being born.

He threw away his hopes and dreams. Why would he want to be a hero? If being a hero doesn't let him save ■■■■… Then damn it all! If he had to choose between ■■■■ or the world, he'd pick her any day!

"Aah, ah-ah." Jaune grit his teeth hard enough to crack them. His bones groaning audibly as he forced them to move and bend.

'I don't know how much I made ■■■■ cry. ■■■■ was crying where I couldn't see her. She only smiled in front of me, and always cried by herself.'

"Ah-oh." Jaune cried out as swords broke through his skin and breached the air. Still he kept pushing.

'...Yes. So I have to protect her. The crimes ■■■■ committed, the crimes that condemn ■■■■, the crimes ■■■■ remembers. I have to protect her from everything. The girl who could only smile in front of me. Her body was dying, but she still said she'd protect me-'

Her smiling face came to his mind's eye. He didn't remember her name. But he knows what she means to him. All that matters is saving her. Nothing else.

'...So she can eventually smile in front of other people again.'

The Greater Grail's heart beat once more.

His vision turned red. Faces. Faces of countless people. All screaming. Screaming wordless noises. They screamed out pleas for mercy. They screamed out begging for more. They screamed out his name, though he couldn't remember it. They screamed out her name, though it escaped him.

They screamed out innumerable curses. Sins. Evils.

The original punishments come in five kinds, the death penalty, corporal punishment, incarceration, humiliation, financial penalty, all kinds of crimes and mud and darkness and hatred spin and spin and spin and levy the punishment.

The eradication of human rights by execution, deportation, and oppression. Taking satisfaction in sadism and the torture of the flesh. The denial of honour and prestige by the collective will of the group. Scorn arising at the selfishness and judgement that freezes assets and property.

The death penalty, penal labour, incarceration, confinement, fines, crimes caused by personal grudges, crimes caused by lust, crimes committed unintentionally, crimes celebrated self-consciously, rebellion, solicitation, misrepresentation, theft, robbery, kidnapping, self-harm, tyranny, arson, bombing, trespassing, manslaughter, mass violence, death at work, accidents caused by overconfidence, accidents caused by alcohol, cover-ups.

Committed for profit. Committed to gain self. Committed for love. Committed for virtue. Committed for oneself. Theft, embezzlement, fraud, concealment, murder, property crime crime crime crime, attack attack attack attacks born of personal grudges dirty dirty dirty dirty you are dirty repent repent repent repent repent every violence every crime every victim repent repent.

This world is ruled by people who aren't people. To correct that crime, know conscience. Know the punishments to correct those crimes.

The goodness in people lies here, so much and so common that you don't notice the amount of it. Know the violence done to conceal crimes. Know the authority used to conceal crimes.

The evil in people is here, so small and so hard to find that its existence is cast in relief. One evil for every hundred goods. The evil must shine brighter to maintain the balance, to oppose the masses of the good I reign as a great and brutal 'evil'. The original punishments are five...

yourself—for yourself—for yourself—for yourself—for yourself—for yourself—for yourself—for yourself—for yourself—for yourself—for yourself—for yourself—for yourself—for yourself—for yourself—for yourself—for yourself—for yourself—for yourself—for yourself

Solicitation, misrepresentation, theft, robbery, kidnapping, self-harm, tyranny, arson, dirty dirty dirty dirty you are dirty repent repent repent repent repent every violence every crime every victim repent repent DIE AND REPENT!!!!!!

He heard them all. He saw them all. He felt them all.

The Holy Grail was filled to the brim with curses and evils. Evils so numerous, viscous and pungent they became a physical substance, a thick tar, a black mud.

This was Angra Mainyu. All the World's Evil. A true God born from mankind's desires.

Soon, ■■■■ would give birth to All the World's Evil, and it would flood the world. Not even the Grimm would survive.

But… Jaune couldn't let that happen.

'You're getting in the way of that.' Jaune growled in his mind.

"Aaaaah- Aaaaaah!" Jaune screamed as he forced himself to his feet.

'...Get lost. Ruby can't smile if you exist!'

"Ahhhhhhhhhh-!!!!"

Jaune's fist made contact, slamming into his enemy's face.

"Guh-nu-!?" Tyrian spit out blood. His face twisting in pain and shock.

"Ah, ahhhhhhhh-!"

'One blow. I punch my enemy in the face with everything I have.'

"You, still…!"

"Tyrian Callows…!"

'Two blows.'

'Three blows.'

'Four blows.'

'Five blows.'

'Six blows.'

'Seven blows-!'

'I punch, I punch, I punch, I punch…!!! This is it. There's nothing left if I miss this chance. I put all of my remaining life into this miraculous chance…!'

Tyrian counters and Jaune slides across the jagged rocks, swords upon swords emerging to fix the damage.

"-, Ah…!!!"

'I'm blown away. He deflected my attack and counterattacked me with a hard shot.'

Jaune's vision flashes white. He's barely able to see the ground in front of him, let alone his enemy. "Ah, gah, guh…!"

'Damn! I know! I know he won't let me punch him that easily! He's many times stronger than me, so he can easily fend off my attacks and come finish me off-!'

"Ha-ah-!"

'Yeah, so what…!? The difference in our powers won't change. Things won't conveniently go right for me. I'm blown away, and my enemy comes to smash my head. I'll lose. I'll lose. I'll lose. I'll lose. It's a self-evident truth. But my body still moves-!'

Jaune drags himself to his knees. "Tyr-"

'My enemy looms over me. My legs don't move-yeah, my right leg really doesn't move at all-but I fire them up to raise my body.'

Tyrian's fist rockets towards the sword's head.

'I won't die here. I can't avoid the enemy's attack with these legs. In desperation, I try to evade the death coming in the next second and-'

"-ian?"

'The guy in front of me didn't make it. He's standing in front of me with an upraised fist.'

Tyrian stares down at Jaune. "...This is how it ends. A simple difference in time."

'He looks down at his chest. The black stain is right where his heart should be… The difference in time. So he became half-dead in the forest a bit before I did.'

Tyrian let go of his combat stance, and stood up straight. "You win, Jaune Arc. I don't know how many more seconds that body will last you, but you must hurry if you need to do something."

'He's just like before. He sounds uninterested in anything, just like when I first met him at the church.'

"...Tyrian."

"You are the last Master. Go to the Holy Grail and fulfil your wish."

'The last Master. The words contain deep weight, but the faunus still sounds the same. It's natural. This man won't change, even on the verge of his death. He continues to be my despicable enemy.'

"...Yeah, this is for hurting me so much. I'm going to mercilessly destroy your wish."

"..."

'Did he smile in his last moment? On the verge of rusting away, my eyes no longer serve their purpose. The faunus disappears from this world, with no one to bury him.'

"..."

'I take a breath, drawing enough oxygen to allow me to move. My throat only moves once. Fortunately it's not painful. Most of my senses have turned to steel.'

Jaune's vision was static. It blurred and everything he did see was but a tiny fragment. Still, he saw the Greater Grail towering over him, and moved towards it.

'...No matter how hard I try. I'm starting to feel faint… Let's go. It's my final job.'

'I release my soul. My consciousness is about to fade away… My last Projection. I'll use the strongest sword I know to destroy the curse along with the Great Holy Grail.'

'It'll be the definite end. I… No. I can't go back if I use it. I know I'm going to disappear anyway. But I have to try to find some other way as long as I'm alive. I promised that I'll protect Ruby from everything. I can't selfishly die. I want to live with Ruby. So…'

"...Proje…ction…"

'...But there's no other way. Ruby's crime. The absolute requirement for Ruby's happiness is the destruction of this curse… Only a single grain of my consciousness is left. Ruby, I…'

"...Projection, start."

'The promise I made with you…'

In his mind he pictured the sword. It was black. Four red circles were glowing along its length. He had seen the devastation it had unleashed, a single strike blowing away Beacon Academy.

"■■■■■■■■■"

'A sword is in my hands. ■■■ is ■■■ body ■■ last ■■.'

"...No, you won't die, Jaune." A voice like an angel entered his mind. "Because I'm the one that's going to shut the gate."

"--------"

'It's… The voice of someone I can't remember.'

"■■■■■?"

'I can't remember, but I call her name. I know I have to do it… Because ■■■■■ will never return if I don't.'

A girl. He saw a girl standing in front of him. She looked young, barely twelve. Her hair was a brilliant white, as was her skin. Her dress was white as well, with gold throughout. Why was she wearing the Dress of Heaven?

"...Hey. Do you want to live, Jaune? Do you want to live on, no matter what kind of life you become?"

"...■■■■■."

'I want to live. Name. I have to call her name and stop her. But I want to live. I know ■■■■■ will disappear if I nod, but I want to live from the bottom of my heart.'

"...Yeah. I'm glad to hear that. I wanted you to live instead of me."

"...■■■■■."

'What are you saying, idiot? Just come back. You won't be able to return if you go any further. I'll take him, so, damn, I have to remember her name, but my head's turned stupid, and the important name is…'

"Then I'll show you a miracle. It's an application of the magecraft I showed you earlier, but this one's amazing. This is the True Magic everyone wanted to see, after all."

"...■■■■a."

'No, I don't need to see it. Just come back. I…'

"...But the container's a bit cheap. I can't completely reproduce it using only my own body, but it's alright. You'll be back in no time if you and Weiss keep trying."

"...■■■■a…!"

'She goes to the center. The person in white becomes the sacrifice, just like in the first ritual to close the Great Holy Grail.'

"...Goodbye. We aren't related by blood. But I'm glad we were siblings."

"■■■■■"

'■■■ya. If that's how you feel, then don't go. I can't sacrifice you. I said we'd live together to make up for all the time you've lived alone. But… if one of us has to be the sacrifice, then…'

"No. You said an older brother protects his younger sister, right? Yeah. I'm the older sister. So I have to protect my younger brother."

"I…Ilya."

'I remember. Her name. Father's real blood relative. The girl who was left alone because I came and stole him. A girl with silver hair and red eyes that's a bit older than me…'

"Illya… Illya, Illya, Illya, Illya, Illya, Illya, Illya, Illya…!"

'I can't reach her. I don't hear voices anymore. I can't see anything in this light. And at the last moment.'

The girl turned to face him.

'She smiles goodbye and shuts the gate of the Great Holy Grail.'

It was just like last time.

A sage cried out: Open, Gates of Heaven. Bless us and bestow miracles upon us!
The sage cries out in regret: Close, Gates of Heaven. Save us from all our sins and evil!

The curtain closes. The millennium comes to a standstill. Our dreams, our hope… was a forbidden failure from the start.

The stars fall out of the sky. Space closes up into nothingness. The pathway to the Center is shrouded along with our sins.

…I am, at last, filled with joy.

All has been engulfed in darkness. Nothing can hurt you now. At last, you have been set free from the pain that you carried for so long. You may now rest, without a worry on mind.

'I can see the sky. I can go into the sky if I reach out just a bit. But there's nothing left. There's absolutely no energy left in my body. I'm sinking. The life she saved is sinking. I clench my fist out of vexation. I feel something cold in my hand. The sensation rouses my mind…'

"It's all right. Weiss will save you." Illya's voice rang out in the Arc's mind.

'...Yeah. There's a miracle in my hand. A little magical energy. A small, useless pendant, but it can at least help me reach out with my hands.'

'I reach out. The gentle atmosphere and warm sun hits my skin. In my hand is the endless blue sky…'

 

[AndrewJTalon]

It was unusual for Jaune to get up early on a Sunday. Yet Pyrrha watched him through lidded eyes as he stealthily climbed out of bed. He pulled on his school uniform, and snuck out carefully and quietly. Nora's snoring and death grip on the still-sleeping Ren ensured neither of them would awake to go after him.

It wasn't until Pyrrha had pulled on some street clothes and started after him that she even questioned why she was following Jaune.

Yes, she did... Care for him. Very deeply. This though was bordering on stalking.

It isn't stalking! She argued with herself, using her prodigious skills in evasion to keep up with Jaune while he was none the wiser, He's just sneaking off early in the morning and I have no idea why!

He'd done it the last two weeks as well. She hadn't confronted him or even talked about it... Yet here she was following him

Geez... I-I really am sad, Pyrrha thought to herself. Jaune exited Beacon and headed to the main courtyard. She peered around the door at him as he approached a... A feminine figure.

She was dressed in simple white and red robes, yet it was... Familiar. She was familiar, in a way Pyrrha wasn't quite sure-

The girl turned... And Pyrrha's jaw dropped.

Arslan Atlan?!

Her self-declared rival from Sanctum was-was meeting Jaune in secret?! In robes?! What was going on?!

They smiled and laughed together at something Pyrrha couldn't make out. Jaune turned to head for the main gate, but Arslan stopped him. With a warm smile, she held up a necklace and fixed it around Jaune's neck. He blushed, but accepted it with an equally warm smile.

WHAT?! THEY'RE EXCHANGING JEWELRY?! Pyrrha thought frantically, her heart sinking. Did... Did my rival...?!

Her eyes narrowed as red hot rage burned through her veins. Arslan could never defeat Pyrrha-Polarity let her sense the iron in her blood and weapons, and allowed her to evade the lioness Faunus with ease. She was the closest thing to a challenge Pyrrha had ever faced, to be honest, and fighting her had greatly improved her skills. She could almost sense Arslan's... Respect? Maybe?

Now though... A seething contempt boiled inside Pyrrha as she glared at Arslan. Jaune getting shot down by Weiss hurt a little, but the fact the heiress seemed to have no interest in Jaune prevented Pyrrha from getting too angry with her.

Arslan though... She was smiling at Jaune. They were clearly at ease! How long had this been going on?!

They walked through Beacon's main gates, intent on the Bullhead port. Pyrrha followed.

- - -

It wasn't easy to evade Faunus hearing and smell. Pyrrha knew this. Clinging to the outside of the Bullhead may have been overkill, but it was the only way to continue her pursuit. She leaped off just before the Bullhead arrived in Vale proper, and climbed down to near the main entrance to wait. She pulled up the collars of her jacket, pushed down her baseball cap, and adjusted her sunglasses. She tried to appear utterly nonchalant as Jaune and Arslan walked out of the port, and went to a bus.

She continued her pursuit, leaping to the top of the bus and lying flat. It was a long, boring journey.

When her quarry finally got off the bus, it was outside of a small but beautiful stone church in Midtown Vale. Arslan and Jaune walked together, holding hands. Pyrrha seethed, but kept her outward cool through long practice as she leaped off the bus, landed, and followed them.

They walked into the sanctuary, happily accepting a paper bulletin from the usher up front. Pyrrha frowned and followed. It was risky getting this close, but... But...

She was in so deep, she couldn't back out now!

The two headed into the sanctuary. The stained glass windows above and ahead were gorgeous, Pyrrha could admit. Each showed scenes or people she wasn't really familiar with. A horse and a boy. A wicked looking queen all in white. A noble looking lion.

At the front of the cathedral was a stone table, but broken right in the middle.

Her eyes drifted to Arslan and Jaune. Arslan's eyes met her. The lioness Faunus's eyes widened, and then narrowed angrily. Pyrrha flushed, but managed a glare back.

Jaune looked where Arslan was looking, and then grinned. He waved.

"Hey Pyrrha! Come on over!"

Pyrrha flushed. She bowed her head, feeling incredibly foolish. She walked over to them and faced them as best she could. She glanced up to see Arslan's scowl, and Jaune's welcoming smile.

"I uh... I didn't know you were also a follower of the Broken Table," Pyrrha managed.

Jaune beamed happily.

"Oh yeah! My dad was raised by a Paladin-Monk of the Church, so I joined it when I got old enough. Arslan's a Warrior-Nun!"

He held up his necklace-The sigil on it resembled the broken table at the head of the church.

"I heard of his father, and his mighty deeds," Arslan said with a nod, "Slaying the Grimm and protecting the innocent. I wanted to know more, and upon learning he had lapsed a bit in his faith, I offered to go with him."

Jaune flushed.

"Yeah, I uh... I kind of slacked off on going to the Church after a while," he said, "But Arslan said that I shouldn't. We are protecting the light of life and all."

He smiled at her.

"You wanna join us?"

Pyrrha, deeply embarrassed, nodded slowly.

"S-Sure!"

Jaune scooted over just enough to let Pyrrha sit between him and Arslan. Jaune then grimaced.

"I need to get to the bathroom," he winced, "I'll be right back!"

He headed off quickly. Arslan smirked a little at Pyrrha.

"Something wrong, Nikos?" She asked.

Pyrrha glared at her.

"Yes," she growled, far more irritated than she intended.

Arslan blinked at her in confusion.

"What? What am I doing?"

Pyrrha flushed.

"You... You gave Jaune jewelry-!"

"He lost his mensa, I had a spare," Arslan said airily, "I'm glad to have someone to go to service with."

The non-chalance, the arrogance in her tone... She had hoped to be friends with Arslan, but duel after duel, fight after fight...

"But you... He...!" She glared. "Is-Is this your idea of-of defeating me at last?! You couldn't beat me in the ring, so you-!"

"So I what?" Arslan demanded. "What do you think I'm trying to do?!"

"Hey... Uh..."

Both girls looked over at Jaune. He coughed awkwardly.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

"J-Just fine, Jaune!" Pyrrha said quickly, plastering her fakest smile on her face. Arslan sighed in frustration, and bowed her head.

"Jaune, can you please tell Pyrrha about the Code of Rivalry by Peter the Magnificent?"

Jaune blinked quizzically.

"Oh... Um. Sure. Rivals in the Sect of Peter help each other become stronger. They see each other as equals and push one another to ever greater heights. They challenge each other and never let up. It is one of the forms of friendship Saint Reepicheep wrote about."

Pyrrha's jaw slowly dropped Memories of a hundred spars with Arslan flashed through her mind. Looks of anger, regret, and frustration from the lioness that Pyrrha had thought were signs of hatred...

She stared at Arslan. The lioness Faunus blushed, and tried to hide her face in her hood.

"I..."

"That... That is all I ever wanted, Nikos," Arslan murmured. "I'm sorry... I-I should have told you..."

Shame filled every inch of Pyrrha's body. She bowed her head, and rose.

"I-I've got to-"

She felt Jaune and Arslan's hands rest on her forearms. She looked at Arslan in confusion. The Warrior-Nun looked ahead, blushing deeply. She looked to Jaune, not quite able to meet her eyes.

"What is it?" Jaune asked.

"I..." Pyrrha sighed. "I'm... I'm sorry. I've made a huge mistake, and... And I don't know-"

Jaune then pulled her into a hug. It made Pyrrha squeak.

"Hey," Jaune chuckled, smiling at her gently, "If my faith has taught me anything? It's that... As long as you strive for forgiveness? There's nothing that can't be overcome. Especially when you have friends alongside."

Pyrrha glanced at Arslan. The lioness Faunus managed to look at her, embarrassed but... Hopeful.

"I..."

"I-I mean," Jaune said quickly, holding his hands up and waving them, "Y-You don't have to! N-Not trying to convert you! Or-Or anything! I know Argusians have very different religious rites and all, but uh... It-It would be nice."

Pyrrha flushed... Then slowly nodded.

"I... I wouldn't mind... If you don't?"

Jaune beamed, and slid back into the pew. He sat down, and scooted over to leave a space between himself and Arslan. He patted the bench. With a nervous smile, Pyrrha sat between them as the priest called the congregation to order.

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha murmured to Arslan. Arslan shook her head.

"Don't be... Besides..." She grinned with her sharp teeth, "You're not entirely wrong about my intentions with Jaune."

Pyrrha gaped at her in shock. Her rage began to build. Arslan smiled softly.

"But I am willing to fight fairly, if you are?"

Pyrrha blinked a few times. She then slowly nodded, and smiled.

"I... I would like that."

- - -

Again, not trying to preach. But Arslan being a warrior-nun of a Narnia-based take on Christianity in Remnant was too good an idea not to use.

"Mensa" is Latin for "Table" and would take the place of the crucifix in this world.

Thanks Sift Green !

Besides, the Brother Gods are assholes. I can't be the only one who would like to see Lion-Jesus appear and kick their asses.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Radian was called the Jewel of North Sanus. Once the seat of kings, it had declined a bit in prestige and grandeur to larger walled cities in the region after Vale was formed but still retained historical significance.

Felling it would draw a great deal of attention... But it would also serve as a potent warning to those who defied the Bandit Tribes.

Raven Branwen entered the city, dressed as a cloaked bounty hunter. Nothing too out of the ordinary in this region. Even entering at night, she garnered very little attention.

She was on her way to the local bar in the red roofed section of town, and took an alleyway to get there faster... When she stopped.

A figure stood before her. Short, with blonde hair fading to white in a neat plait against the back of her skull, and wrinkles around her aquamarine eyes. She wore an old fashioned blue dress, with tall armored boots. There was the swirl of blue Aura around her hands, as the old woman glared at her.

"Something I can do for you, old woman?" Raven snorted.

"You can leave before I cut you in half," the woman stated coldly, her voice unwavering. Raven grit her teeth. Her Aura was strong, despite her age. She gripped the hilt of Omen.

"Bold words from an old hag like you," Raven hissed.

She dashed forward and drew Omen in a flash, swinging fast to bisect the woman... But her steel met steel, and the woman forced her back with her sheer strength! Raven lashed out again and again, but the old woman parried and fenced without moving an inch. Her sword was invisible, making it difficult to fight her!

Raven cursed and turned to flee... Only for a tall, old man to bar her way. He held twin, curved short swords, and his Aura burned like a fire threatening to explode out of a furnace. He wore a simple black button up shirt with a red vest, white pants, and well-worn black boots.

"I'll thank you not to refer to my wife in that manner," he stated, faded red hair waving slightly in the breeze as his brown eyes narrowed. Raven grit her teeth.

"What do you two want?" She demanded.

"Raven Branwen, the Bandit Princess," the old man stated coldly, "We know why you're here. It's ambitious to think you could topple our town..."

"But foolish," the woman stated.

"You can't last very long, you old geezers," Raven sneered.

The old woman's steely gaze burned.

"We can last long enough to finish the likes of you."

Raven slowly lowered Omen... Before springing towards the old man! She swung her blade, and he ducked, narrowly avoiding the edge but his swords were cut to pieces! Raven backflipped and made to stab downwards, to make sure the old woman was too distracted by her husband's injury to pursue-!

The old man summoned two new swords and parried her strike. His smirk distracted her long enough for the old woman to close the distance and swing!

SHING!

Raven barely rolled clear and stood up, panting hard. Some locks of her hair floated in the wind... And the front half of Omen lay gleaming in the soil. The old woman stood in front of her recovering husband, eyes glowing with power.

"I crushed the invasion of Gilles de Rais at the gates of Camelot in the Great War. My husband slew him in single combat after. You are a young, brash upstart who's in over her head. Now... Are you going to run like the coward you are? Or do I mount your head on the city gate as a warning to the rest of your pathetic tribe?"

Raven seethed... Slashed the air, and vanished into a portal.

They'd try their luck elsewhere. They'd get stronger... And one day? These old relics would know their place.

- - -

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Jaune~, happy birthday to youuuuu~!"

Jaune blushed in pleased embarrassment in Radian's Holy Grail Tavern. His sisters and parents clapped happily, as his birthday cake, lit up with ten candles, sat before him.

"Go on Jaune! Blow them out!" Saphron insisted.

"Yeah!" Verdy giggled. "It's ice cream cake! You gotta eat it fast!"

"I just... I wanted to wait for Nana Arturia and Papa Shirou," Jaune sighed.

"Well! Isn't that just so polite!"

Jaune brightened as his great-grandparents entered the tavern, both carrying presents.

"Nana! Papa!" He cheered.

Shirou laughed as he set down a crockpot on the present-covered table. Arturia beamed and hugged her great-grandson happily, a hug he returned with glee.

"You two all right?" Isabel asked worriedly. "You took longer than you said."

"We're not decrepit yet, Isabel," Shirou chuckled, "I just uh... Took a little tumble."

"He really needs to be more careful in the future," Arturia teased him, "Some consort for a Queen you are."

"Says the woman who hasn't been a queen in decades," Shirou chuckled.

"And I don't regret it one bit," Arturia laughed, kissing Jaune on the top of his head.

"Wow! If you're a Queen, can I be a knight?" Jaune asked eagerly.

Arturia saw Isabel grimace while Nick chuckled. The former queen smiled, and affectionately rubbed his head.

"Of course, sweetie. I believe in you... Now. Blow out your candles, and make a wish!"

"And make it a good one," Shirou chuckled, ruffling Jaune's hair as well. The little boy grinned, and blew them out. Much clapping ensued, as Nick began to cut the cake for everyone else.

"So? Did you make it a good one?" Shirou murmured to his great-grandson. Jaune nodded.

"Uh huh! I wished to-!"

"Don't say it," Arturia said quickly, "Or it won't come true!" She winked.

Jaune flushed, and nodded.

"I will, Nana... But you probably know what it is."

Arturia chuckled.

"I think I just might..."

- - -

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Arturia and Shirou were very happy they got to have a happy ending in this world. Unfortunately, if you go full on Fate/stay night crossover... It means a few other characters might have also made the transition.

Like Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh: "ARTURIA! HOW COULD YOU JUST-JUST RETIRE AND GET OLD?!"

Arturia: knitting and sipping tea "It was preferable to fighting and being Queen. I killed 10,000 enemy soldiers in one day, I think that's more than enough."

Shirou: cooking "Same... Though I only got 9000."

Arturia: "You did get their general though, dear."

Shirou: "Oh yes! He was a real bastard."

Arturia: "The worst, dear."

Gilgamesh: "YOU-YOU"RE REALLY JUST... RETIRED AND OLD?!"

Shirou serenely pulls a shepard pie out of the oven and dresses a salad.

Arturia: smiles and offers some tea "Tea?"

Gilgamesh: "..."

Gilmamesh grumpily opens Gate of Babylon, pulls out wine and goblets.

Gilgamesh: "RazA fRaZa got old on me..."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Speaking of wasted potential, Salem really needed more agents in general. Minibosses and minions. Give every one of our heros a boss to fight and a chance to shine, as well as the villains. And in keeping with Cinder, making them twisted fairy tale heroes and heroines would give them a unified theme. Themes aren't everything in a story but they can provide guidance in how to execute the story. What it's about.



These people didn't get their happy ending. Salem has promised them one. That's an interesting concept.



For instance, what about a dark take on Tinkerbell as a villainess?




View: NX8InjXV2OU

 

[Guikoi]

Wrote this out as an idea. It's not very good.

The story being told is a slightly modified version of the origin story told in the "Avalon le Fay" chapter of Fate/Grand Order.

---

"Forgive… Forgive… Forgive the Sins I committed. The Faeries cherished Freedom. The Faeries guarded their Love. Your Remnant will ever Prosper. Death piled upon Death to stand Eternal. Be wary and never forget: As the World took new form, the Roots aged. And now, Unseen and Unfelt… The gnawing of the tiniest of Insects shall bring Ruin to all. Forgive… Forgive… Forgive the Sins we committed."

"...Huh?" The silver eyes of his best friend turned away from the boardgame to look at him, squinting in concern and confusion.

"What was that?" His Snow Angel asked, looking up from the game.

"Didn't know Vomit Boy was some kind of storyteller or something! You got any more for us?" Yang leaned forward, a smirk on her lips.

Blake lifted her gaze to meet his, but remained silent.

Jaune chuckled sheepishly. "It's just something from an old book. But I do have another. It's related to that one, too."

"Alright, let's hear it." Yang suggested, getting the other three girls' attention. Jaune's own team also paid attention.

"Alright…

"It became ocean at the end. There was ocean at the beginning. After the shooting Star passed, the land all ran into rivers…

"Long, long ago… As far back as time can go… Six Faeries went outside to find the World had become an ocean. 'This is awful' they thought. 'How terrible our World has become'. Then a large shadow rose up from the ocean. It belonged to a giant fluffy creature. On its shoulder stood one of the animals the Faeries believed was gone. The six Faeries and the God soon became friends."

"Awww!" Ruby cooed in delight.

"Shhh! Shut up." Weiss whispered harshly.

"Calm down, Weiss-Cream. I'm sure Vomit Boy will retell the story if we ask."

"Who are the six faeries?" Blake asked.

"What's the animal?" Jaune's partner, Pyrrha, asked him gently.

"And what about the big fluffy thing?" Nora prodded Jaune's side.

Ren laid a hand on Nora's shoulder. "I'm sure Jaune is just getting to that. Please continue."

"It wasn't easy living on the ocean; there was nowhere to go and nothing to do. But the God made things better for the six Faeries by sheltering them from the waves. 'The ocean without waves is nice, but we still miss having land'! So the six Faeries offered the God their joy. And they offered the God their wish. Then they offered the God himself."

"They 'offered the god himself'? What's that mean?" Ruby's brow furrowed in thought.

"I think it means they offered the god something he had given them?" Blake tried to puzzle out the meaning.

"And so, the Faeries' wish was granted. Then, after their rejoicing ended… They tricked the God into drinking poisoned wine, and he died."

"Oh no!" Nora gasped.

"And so, the Faeries acquired the God's body. They made the body into land on which they could live. They were grateful, too, to be able to make use of the crying, screaming animal the dead God left behind. She was their only human, but one simply wasn't enough."

"Hold on, 'human'? Like, people, human?" The blonde brawler questioned.

"I think that's the case, yes." Blake responded.

"How horrible." Pyrrha covered her mouth with her hand.

"So, being very careful not to kill her, they cut her into pieces. They cast a spell on her to make sure she wouldn't die no matter what they did, and used every last piece of her. Thus did the World of Remnant come into being. Thus did the great mistake begin. May the first six Faeries find salvation. May the first six Faeries be cursed for all time."

"What… Why did the faeries do that?" Weiss spoke up, asking herself more than anyone else.

"Because he was in their way." Jaune answered with a nod. "Supposedly, this all happened about fourteen thousand years ago. When the six faeries came out from Paradise and onto the surface, Remnant was already covered in a sea of nothingness. The one who ended up helping the faeries was an old beast god, who had come up to the surface just like they had… A god who would later come to be known as Cernunnos.

"Cernunnos and his priestess, the lone human who had managed to survive just like the faeries had, both did their best to protect the faeries. At first, the faeries were grateful for their help." Jaune explained more of what he knew of his family's oldest stories and tomes. "But, the sea of nothingness never changed. No matter how much time passed, no land appeared. The faeries blamed Cernunnos for that. They thought he just wasn't strong enough."

"What? How could they…?" Ruby simply couldn't fathom their kind and their way of thinking.

"What's more, they didn't particularly like his priestess. She was constantly telling them to sort themselves out, and consider the consequences of their actions. Eventually the faeries couldn't take it anymore, and decided to deal with Cernunnos. Permanently. They figured that since they didn't have any land to stand on, they could find a substitute."

"The god, Cernunnos…" Ren sighed.

"And since Cernunnos was so big, they thought his body could serve just fine as a small island. But of course, Cernunnos was a god. They couldn't kill him easily. So they came up with a plan, and held a festival. They told Cernunnos they were holding the festival in his honor, to worship him, and held a banquet with lots of wine.

"Cernunnos was delighted that he was being celebrated for being the faeries' first official god. He probably figured they were trying to change their thoughtless ways. And so, against his priestess' wishes, Cernunnos attended the banquet, and…"

Blake already knew what was coming next. "...And he was poisoned to death when he drank their wine. Some rejoicing that turned out to be."

"What about the priestess? What happened to her?" Both Ruby and Nora wanted to know.

"The faeries used her as the 'Foundation'... No, the 'Base Ingredient', for the humans that came later. As the story tells it, every human on Remnant is an inferior copy of the priestess who was killed during Remnant's genesis. An inferior version of humanity, compared to what came before.

"At any rate, as A-Ray, the six faeries went on to create their own stone and forest children and grow their clans. As time passed, they transformed more and more of Cernunnos' body into land. But after a hundred years, things stopped going quite so well for the faeries. Their children kept dying, turning into fallen trees, adrift on the sea. New generations kept being born, so the number of faeries never decreased. And thanks to the humans who had been copied from the priestess' cells, Remnant slowly developed into a civilization.

"With civilization came new societal roles. The faeries made new types of faeries, and their forests flourished like never before. But, they also kept dying for no reason whatsoever. Eventually, the six progenitor faeries realized Cernunnos' rage was the cause. Even though Cernunnos' soul was gone, his body wasn't completely dead. In fact, his heart alone still burned with the fire they used to cremate him.

"Even in his death, Cernunnos' body continued to smolder with anger and curses. He could very well have come back to life at any time. The faeries were so shocked by this that they fled Cernunnos' body. Fortunately, this was right around the time their children's corpses were starting to form new ground.

"Faerie corpses are essentially made from the same stuff as the planet itself. The fallen trees became earth and stone and quickly filled in the sea, almost as if they were trying to cover up the faeries' sins. That's supposedly how this world began. After several thousand years, the faeries had acquired their own world.

"But all the while, Cernunnos' body was still there. A divine grave that would let no ocean-filling fallen tree near it. An indelible reminder of the faeries' sins… a reminder that rejected their corpses. Eventually, the fallen trees blocked off the ocean's water for good, and Cernunnos' body was left behind at the bottom of the sea."

Jaune took a deep breath. Pulling all of this from his memory was tough and exhausting.

"A world made by killing a god… the faeries original sin…" Weiss pondered the story. Turning it over in her head, trying to come up with some meaning behind it all.

"It wasn't just Cernunnos they killed, but the priestess who served him." Ren pointed out. "No… She wasn't just killed. She was desecrated and used as a tool by the heartless faeries."

"No wonder the big guy was pissed!" Nora threw her hands up.

"Why'd he come to the surface, anyway?" Blake asked aloud, turning to the only one who'd know. "Isn't it kind of narrow-minded to curse the whole world?"

"That's probably because…" Jaune massaged his temples, trying to remember what the answer was. "Cernunnos was an envoy of Paradise. He was sent to reprimand the faeries. That was the whole reason he went to them: To punish them."

"Then why'd he become their friend?" Nora posed.

"I think… I don't think his heart was in it. It seems to me that Cernunnos was a very kind god by nature." Pyrrha gave her thoughts. "But the faeries might have found him terrifying. Simply because he existed."

"So what was the reason the world became an ocean of nothingness?" Yang traced her finger across the desk the two teams shared.

"Ah. That's the origin of the faeries' first mistake." Jaune nodded. "You see, around fourteen thousand years ago was one of the greatest turning points in all of history. Supposedly before that point, all of humanity was united, had no fear of the Grimm and wielded magical might unlike anything seen today. But a planetary envoy destroyed the world by sending down a weapon, a white titan. Sefar, the White Titan of Tassili n'Ajjer.

"Sefar destroyed all the planet's gods, peoples, civilizations and landmasses. Taking them for itself and leaving only a sea of nothingness in its wake. The faeries original purpose was to sacrifice their lives to forge a sacred sword: Excalibur. The humans were meant to wield it and defeat Sefar… But that didn't happen."

"Why not?"

"The reason is both exceedingly simple and unsurprising. The faeries were lazy. They slacked off. The A-Ray, that is, the six faeries who were supposed to forge it in the planet's inner sea, decided it would be okay to take a day off just this once, and went off to have some fun. It was only once they noticed something had gone wrong with the world and went up to the surface that they realized the consequences of their choices."

"So… the faeries were at fault, then?"

Jaune saw that only a few of his friends could wrap their heads around the idea. The way the faeries thought was just too alien. "They figured there was no changing the past, and refused to accept that the world's destruction was their fault. So Cernunnos, the god who had taken shelter in Paradise to keep his priestess safe, was sent to reprimand them, and make them atone for their sins. But then, the faeries killed Cernunnos and his priestess, the last surviving human.

"At that point, they could no longer return to the planet's inner sea. 'Only those free of sin may pass'. Meaning, only faeries without sin can go to Paradise, to Avalon. None of them could enter the inner sea, and so they continued to suffer on that World of Sin to atone."

"So a single lapse in judgement ended the world…?"

"That's right. But eventually, a faerie chosen from Avalon was sent to the surface to correct this mistake. Her name was Viviane. Her mission was to have the six clans admit their mistake and inherit the mystics needed to forge the Sacred Sword. Then, she entered Avalon… 'Only those free of sin may pass'...

"That sin doesn't refer to the original sin all humans inherited from the faeries, or the sins you've committed in your life thus far… It refers to what you're about to do, and what your hearts are resolved to now. It's your reason for living. Your principle for existence and prosperity. The way to the Land of Hope will only open for those who demonstrate true strength in these regards.

"Viviane, travelled down into Avalon and found the forge. A pit leading to the soul of our world. There, she cast herself down and in her death forged Excalibur. With the promise fulfilled, Cernunnos' rage was quelled and with their sins abated, the faeries were allowed to enter Paradise. They all left the world to the humans. However… the curses that had built up from in the god's corpse exploded out and covered all of Remnant. These coalesced and became the Grimm… supposedly."

With this story finished, Jaune sat back and scratched his head. "I don't know if any of it is true. I just read about it from a load of books in my family's library at home. Lots of books all about it, and books of people trying to figure it out. I think it's a wonderful story, but… personally I don't believe it's true."

"What if it is?" Ruby looked at him with fear in her eyes.

He leaned over and clasped a hand on her shoulder. Jaune made sure to smile and give her reassurance. "Even if it is, what does it change? We're here. We live in this world now. The Grimm are a threat, and we have to fight them. So what if they're curses from a long dead god or anything else? Their origin doesn't change the fact that their existence is a threat to us. The world needs hunters, whether the world was destroyed or not. People, humans and faunus both, are important regardless if faeries made us, as inferior copies of a different humanity or not. That's not important. What's important… is us. The past doesn't dictate who we are, only we do."

Ruby wiped her eyes and nodded with a smile. "Yeah, you're right!"

"I never took you for a motivational speaker." Pyrrha teased him a little as Jaune flopped back into his seat.

"I'm not…" He complained.

"Well, I think you did pretty well there, Vomit Boy." Yang complimented him.

"Is it possible for me to read those books you mentioned?" Blake asked, her bow twitching.

"Is that all you care about?" Yang poked her partner's side.

"I'm just curious if there's any more on that story. It was pretty good." Blake retaliated with an elbow to Yang's ribs.

"I think it was fascinating." A man wearing green and drinking a steaming cup of coco spoke up. He stepped out from behind a bookshelf and glanced between them all. "Though I agree with Mr Arc. I don't believe it holds any factual historical merit, but a fairy tale doesn't need to be real to be something worth hearing. Sometimes good stories are worth more than mere history."

"Professor?"

He waved off the childrens' concern. "I was just out for a stroll when I heard Mr Arc's story. I couldn't help myself, and had to stay and listen. Even someone as old as I am can appreciate a good yarn every once in a while, no?"

"Professor, are you hiding from Professor Goodwitch again?" Ruby groaned at the headmaster.

He paused just before he sipped his coco. "No. I simply went for a walk. I only stopped to hear Mr Arc's story. Nothing more, nothing less."

The sound of shattering glass echoed throughout Beacon academy. The students turned to see… Headmaster Ozpin's desk falling past the windows. They once more turned to the aforementioned headmaster, and he calmly sipped his drink.

"I may have been gone for a bit longer than I was meant to be." He nodded sagely. "A lot longer. All day actually. I've in fact spent the whole week avoiding doing paperwork. I believe Professor Goodwitch is overreacting, though."

 

[LordofBones]

That could be a hilarious and fun story.

Click to shrink...

Saphron: "THAT'S MY BABY BROTHER! WOOOOO! GO JAUNE!"

Terra: "Honey, people are watching..."

Jaune: "People of Remnant! I stand before the Pools of Darkness, chosen by destiny, to receive the powers of the Seasons!"

Qrow: "I hate to say it, but the noodle is stealing the show."

Jaune: "This inevitable moment will transpire before your eyes...even as the Maidens themselves bear witness to it!"

Mercury: "This Arc kid's not bad-"

Cinder: "He's not better than me! I'm eviler! My plans are flawless!"

Mercury: "What."

Jaune: "Now, I, Darkarc...am Master of the Grimm."

Ruby: *whispering* "Girls, remember the script! I think this is the part where we-"

Pyrrha: *locks down Crescent Rose, Myrternaster, Gambol Shroud and Ember Celica with Polarity."

Blake: "...What the Hell? Are these Aura-sapping chains?"

Jaune: "Yes...I feel it...The power fills me...Yes...I feel the darkness within me. I am... I am a part of the cosmos. Its energy flows...flows through me."

Ironwood: "On one hand, he's playing the villain. On the other, this has been the best version of this play I've ever seen. Making Darkarc the protagonist and the villain was a bold move, Ozpin."

Ozpin: *eye twitches*

Jaune: "Hahahaaaa...Of what consequence are you now?! This planet, these people; they are NOTHING to me! The darkness is Power! Pure, unstoppable Power!"

Cinder: *heavy breathing* "Nnngh...no...this...this feeling...why is my heart racing?!"

Jaune: "And I am that Force! I am that Power! Kneel before your master!"

*Pyrrha's, Weiss's and Blake's knees hit the floor*

Mercury: "Cinder, what the hell?"

Cinder: *looks at her folded knees in disbelief*

Ruby: *whispering, but quivering too* "Girls, that's not in the script!"

Blake: *whimpering nyaaaaa*

Weiss: "No...I'm...he's so commanding!"

Jaune: "Fools! You are no longer my equals. I am more than man...more than life! I am a GOD! AND...YOU...WILL...KNEEL!"

*The curtains close. The audience stands up, cheering...for the villain.*

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Radian, North Sanus

- - -

Mira Arc was a very old woman. Well over a hundred years had she seen on this globe. Yet every day, without fail, she rose before the sun peeked over the mountains and made her way to the old Arc Manor on the farm, all by herself. She wore old brown robes over a plain white gi, her snow white hair held in a tight bun behind her head. She carried a small pillow with her as she made her way into the small forest that concealed the ancient manor house.

She walked through the trees and ruins into the main structure: A large domed manor house. She walked into the center of the old home and fortress and set down her pillow. She then sat down on it, and assumed a meditative pose. She closed her eyes and exhaled softly through her nostrils.

She let the stillness fill her and listened to the birds chirp and farm beasts low.

Mira then blurred, leaping out of the way of a hail of semi-auto pistol rounds. She assumed a defensive stance as a tall figure smirked down at her from a ruined landing overhead.

"Neat trick," the figure spoke, "I'm disrupting Aura, and yet an old hag like you can still react like that?"

"Easily," Mira shot back softly. The figure leaped down from the landing, exposing himself to the light. He was pale, with brown hair tied in a ponytail behind his head. He had twin wrist blades with pistols integrated into them. A scorpion tail waved behind him. His cold golden eyes narrowed at her as he smirked.

Mira glared back.

"You can still run away," Mira stated, "Right now."

The Faunus laughed.

"Funny words from a dead woman," he sneered, as he opened fire with his guns again. Mira blurred out of the way, and then waved her hands. Stones leaped up from the floor and flew like bullets right back for the scorpion Faunus. He leaped out of the way, grabbing onto the pillar and climbing up out of the way. He vanished into the ruins, and Mira scanned around carefully.

"Well well well... You're more interesting than I thought!" The Faunus called out, his voice echoing around the ruins.

"Your Mistress wants me dead, yet didn't tell you anything about me," Mira observed, "She's a poor goddess and poorer leader."

The Scorpion Faunus snarled and leaped out at her from above. His scorpion tail extended like a spear as he dove for her.

Mira spun around and held out her hand. The Faunus gaped as an invisible Force seized him. Mira swung her hand forward, and the Faunus flew across the ruined marble floor. He landed and leaped up to his feet. He spun around and held up his gauntlets. He fired multiple rounds, and Mira frantically dodged around the barrage as she charged towards him.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR YOUR BLASPHEMY!" He roared. He unveiled his wrist blades and charged back, his rage making him froth.

Mira pulled a metallic cylinder from her sleeve, and then clicked the activation button on the side. A blue energy beam exploded into being, and she swung!

A split second later, Mira stood behind the Scorpion Faunus, her lightsaber humming in the sudden silence. The Scorpion Faunus staggered... Then fell face-first onto the marble floor. Mira slowly stood back up, and doused her lightsaber. She sighed and looked back upon the dead Faunus.

"You chose poorly, young one," Mira said quietly. "For that, I am sorry."

Why attack now? Mira thought. What could possibly have happened...?

She felt Death. Massive amounts of it, far away to the South. She clutched at her chest, and took deep breaths.

N-No... What... What is...?

"NANA!"

Mira looked up. She reached out with the Force and tossed the corpse into the ruins as she tucked her lightsaber back into her sleeve.

"Isabel?" She called out. Her granddaughter ran into the ruins, looking terrified.

"Beacon-Vale is under attack!" She cried. "The emergency radio is screaming about massive terrorist attacks, Grimm, everything-!"

Mira slowly nodded, regaining her calm with some effort.

"Come on. Let's get to the Bullhead!"

"But-We won't make it time-!"

"We'll get there soon enough to do some kind of good!" Mira insisted. "Come along!"

- - -

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Weiss: "Um, Doctor Arc, I really have to ask... How did you get a medical degree AND have eight children?!"

Isabel: "It wasn't easy. Aura and my Semblance helped a lot."

Weiss: "Your Semblance?"

Isabel: "Total Body Control. I can consciously control nearly every aspect of my bodily functions. From my brain to my sight, hearing, even my immune system. It's how I became such a good doctor."

Weiss: "Oh wow...! That' s incredible!"

Isabel: "But I also worked really hard... And Nick supported me throughout all of it."

Weiss: "Eh? But isn't your husband...?"

They looked over at Nick Arc, who is arguing over a game of cornhole with Port.

Nick: "IF YOU BUST THE BAGS, YOU LOSE!"

Port: "AND I SAY IF YOU DON'T BUST THE BAGS, YOU'RE BEING A PUSSY MANLET FOR NOT GIVING IT YOUR ALL!"

Nick: "... DAMN! THAT'S A GOOD POINT!"

Isabel: chuckles "He can be... But he went out and fought furiously every day to support me and our family. He helped me study every night, and helped take care of our kids. He was my rock, no matter what." Smiles fondly at Nick "No matter how goofy he acts... I know he will always be there for me."

Weiss: "Oh..."

Nick turns and waves happily at Isabel with a big smile.

Isabel: "To think I started off believing he was just some idiot... And he is. But he's my idiot, forever. And I couldn't be happier."

Weiss: "Um... So... Uh..."

Isabel: "Hm?" Smiles at Weiss "Are you interested in Jaune, Miss Schnee?"

Weiss: bright red "N-NO! DON'T BE RIDICULOUS! OF COURSE I'M NOT! I-I mean, he's a perfectly fine boy b-b-but he's uh, um, n-not my type!"

Isabel: chuckles "Of course..."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Weiss sits and does some reading... When Nick Arc tromps up to her.

Nick: "Hello, Miss Schnee!"

Weiss: "Ack! Oh uh... Hello Mister Arc."

Nick: "Well! How are you doing?"

Weiss: "Um, j-just fine..."

Nick: "Hope my son hasn't been bothering you too much. He's a good boy, but uh... He's a bit too stubborn sometimes."

Weiss: "I uh... N-No, that's fine. He actually helped me with my boyfriend... Well, ex-boyfriend."

Nick: "Oh?"

Weiss explains about the Dance and what happened with Neptune. Nick nodded.

Nick: "Ah. You realized he was a cad. Good on you." He chuckled "You kids... I guess we always make mistakes at your age. But! You learned from it."

Weiss: "It-It's not like I like your son, or-or anything!"

Nick: "Of course not." He nodded "He has a lot of growing up to do... But thank you for not holding a grudge against him. That's very mature."

Weiss: "Of course, sir."

Nick: "Heh... Reminds me a little of me, really. I kept trying to woo this stubborn girl. I thought if I impressed her, I'd win her heart. But in the end, it was being genuine that let me see who truly cared for me."

Weiss: "Oh... I see..."

Nick: "I understand that's hard for you though. Life you've lived. Growing up with people after you for your wealth and name?"

Weiss: "I... Yes."

Nick: "Well, I hope you realize my son isn't one of them."

Weiss: "Um... So... Who was the girl you tried to woo, uh, sir?"

Nick: "Hm? Oh... Some girl named Willow Schnee."

Weiss: "EH?!"

Nick: "Heh! Yeah, I was an idiot about it. You look like her. Any relation?"

Weiss: "Um... Yes! She's my mother!"

Nick: "Huh! Small world!" thumbs up "Well, I'm sure she forgot all about me."

Weiss: "Er... Sure, Mister Arc."

Nick: "Well! Have a nice day! I've gotta beat Port at horseshoes. Fricking jerk..."

He heads off grumbling. Weiss calls her mother.

Willow: Answers drunkenly "Yesh...?"

Weiss: "Um... Hello Mother."

Willow: "Oh, hello Weiss! What's up...?"

Weiss: "Do you know anyone by the name of Nicholas Arc?"

Willow: wide eyed "YOU MET HIM?!"

Weiss: "Um, yes, he's teaching at Beacon part-time-"

Willow: "DID HE MENTION ME?!"

Weiss: "Er, yeah but-"

Willow: "OH MY NICKY! I WAS SUCH A FOOL! I'LL BE THERE SOON, WEISS!"

Weiss: "Eh?!"

Willow: "I have to sober up, and fix my face-I'm such a mess-!"

Weiss: "Uh... Mother? He's married?"

Willow: "SO WHAT?! I'M NOT LOSING THIS CHANCE TO GET A PROPER DADDY FOR BOTH OF US!"

Weiss: "M-MOTHER!"

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

First actual day at Beacon and Jaune was still in a kind of elated shock. Sure, he'd nearly gotten killed and he didn't think his bluff was working too well with Pyrrha, but... He was here. He was sitting with his team at breakfast. Nora was being Nora, Ren was being stoic, Pyrrha was bright and cheerful and absolutely beautiful as always. Ruby and her team were enjoying breakfast nearby. Everything just seemed... Perfect.

"OW! H-Hey!"

And then some big lug began pulling on a Faunus girl's ears. Blake frowned deeply over her book.

"Someone should stop that," she said.

Well why don't you stop it then? Jaune thought, before shaking his head. He shouldn't be nasty to Blake. He grimaced as he looked at the tall redheaded boy tormenting the Rabbit girl.

Then again, I'm not...

His eyes narrowed.

Wait a second...

Jaune got up and headed over to the redhead and his team. Pyrrha sucked in a breath.

"Jaune?" Ruby asked, in wonder.

"Break his legs!" Nora cheered.

"Pl-Please, let me go!" The girl cried. The redhead smirked.

"Ha! So they're totally real! You little-!"

"Cardin Winchester!"

Cardin started, and looked back. He stared at the glaring Jaune.

"Wha... Jaune? Jaune Arc?" He asked in amazement.

"You son of a bitch," Jaune growled... Before he extended his hand.

Cardin blinked... Then grinned, let go of the Faunus girl's ears, and walked towards Jaune. Their hands met in the manliest of manly hand clasps, smacking so loudly in the quiet cafeteria Professor Goodwitch jumped out of her chair.

"It's been forever, bro!" Cardin enthused, pulling Jaune into a manly bearhug. One that Jaune returned as best he could, despite his shorter stature.

"Bro, you too!" Jaune laughed. "Damn, you're so tall you probably knock your head against the tops of doors! Good thing you don't have any brains to damage!"

"HA! Big talk from a pipsqueak like you!" Cardin laughed. "You'd be motorboating all the ladies if they bothered to give you a hug!"

Both young men laughed uproariously, slapping eachother on the back. Jaune then looked over the very confused Rabbit Faunus girl.

"Bro," Jaune said, "Are you trying to ask her out? Because pulling pigtails is elementary school stuff."

"Errr," Cardin winced, "Ummm..."

"I know he's a big stupid doofus, but he is a good guy," Jaune assured the girl, "Honest! He's just kind of hopeless with women."

"I uh... Um," the girl looked shyly at Cardin. Cardin winced.

"I mean, uh, bro-"

"It's not like he's a huge racist or anything!" Jaune laughed, slapping Cardin on the back. "Please, give him a chance? He'll be an amazing date! I've seen his Dustbook page! He loves cooking!" He grinned and elbowed Cardin. "Mainly eating it!"

"H-Hey!" Cardin managed weakly.

The girl frowned and slowly nodded.

"I... I guess I can forgive you for... For being nervous," she said, "Maybe... Maybe we could eat lunch together and get to know eachother better?"

"I-" Cardin tried, but Jaune laughed.

"Totally! He'll see you then! What's your name?"

"Velvet."

"It's a sweet name for a sweet girl," Jaune complimented her, shooting her with finger guns. "This is Cardin Winchester! He's my bro, and he'll be great!"

"Y-yeah... Sure," Cardin managed. Velvet managed a blush and smile back, before walking off. Cardin then grabbed Jaune by the front of his shirt.

"Bro, what did you just do?" Cardin hissed.

"Bro, I set you up with a hot bunnygirl!" Jaune muttered. "I mean, you're not actually some kind of racist, right bro? Not over hot bunnygirls?"

Cardin coughed. Jaune stared at him, and then scowled.

"Bro... That is not cool."

"I'm sorry Bro," Cardin groaned, "I-I just-"

"The Bro Code states that as long as she's hot, race does not matter!" Jaune lectured him. "We decided this when we were thirteen!"

"I know Bro," Cardin sighed. "Forgive me, bro?"

"If you give her a good time, bro!" Jaune ordered. Cardin and Jaune did their manly handclasp again.

"I missed you, Bro," Cardin said, "I think I lost my way."

"It's cool, Bro," Jaune said seriously, "I'm here now."

"Yeah."

They parted ways. Jaune returned to his table, and sat down. He resumed his breakfast. He looked up into everyone's eyes, as they all stared at him.

"What?" He asked.

- - -

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

Given that Beacon Academy was a Hunter school, it was actually not that unusual for it to have a pool. The very thorough and expensive gym was just one way of keeping in shape, after all, and there were aquatic Grimm. Learning how to swim was a necessity in their line of work.

It was an outdoor pool, at least during the summer months. When it got colder, a mechashift system deployed a cover over it, and the pool became a court for all sorts of other sports. Hunters did need other ways to unwind, after all.

To use a pool for just recreation was a new one on Pyrrha. Recreation in general was new to Pyrrha. However, Ruby had invited her and Nora, and they'd headed out to the outdoor pool with the rest of RWBY early in the morning. Neither Jaune or Ren had been present when they'd woken up. Ren's absence was normal, he went out early to train and meditate. Jaune's absence was also normal, as he'd been training with Ren too.

It made Pyrrha very proud of him. However, she was also a bit concerned about leaving them out of the aquatic fun.

"It doesn't seem right to leave them out," Pyrrha commented to her fellow Huntresses-in-training, as they walked in bathing suits, out across the courtyard. Weiss snorted.

"We don't need them ogling us, Pyrrha!"

"They can join us later!" Ruby said cheerfully, "I texted them, so they know what's up!"

"I didn't agree to that!" Weiss screeched. Yang laughed.

"Relax Weisscream. I guarantee with P-Money and me around? Nobody's gonna be ogling you."

Weiss turned bright red and scowled at Yang as they approached the pool. The sounds of splashing could be heard as a few other students had had the same idea.

"I-You-You're absolutely lewd, Yang!"

"Hey! Not my fault the titty fairy skipped you!" Yang snickered, as she thrust her large chest out. It was contained in a yellow and black top with matching bottoms: Not a full on bikini, that was banned, but it was definitely enough to turn heads.

"Don't be mean, Yang," Ruby whined, in a cute red and black striped one-piece with a skirt. She was the picture of cuteness, with her wide smile.

"Indeed, your envy is showing," Blake observed. She wore a sunhat over a sleek black and white two piece, far more modest than Yang's but showing a great deal of her belly. She had a black tie around skirt, and had a bookbag over one shoulder.

"It is? Where?" Nora asked, looking around. She was in a green one piece, with pink highlights. It didn't fit Nora's coloration at all, but it was obvious what she had been going for. And who's attention she sought to gain.

"I-Size isn't everything!" Weiss sputtered, in her own sleek pure white one piece that went up to her neck. And granted, Weiss did look lovely in it... But Pyrrha couldn't help her mental gloating as she compared Weiss to herself. Her red one-piece had a neckline just high enough to not be scandalous, but oh... If Jaune saw her in this...

"Anyway! Pool ahead!" Ruby declared. She held up a cooler and a bright pink foam tube pool toy as she charged through the gates. "Yeahhhh!"

Yang chuckled indulgently as she, Blake, Weiss, Nora, and Pyrrha all followed. Pyrrha scanned the pool surroundings, just checking for Grimm. The pool was further out from the main campus, and while still within supposed safe areas, it never hurt to-

She stopped and looked at Ruby. She'd stopped dead in her tracks and was staring intently at something. The rest of the Huntresses-in-training stopped with her.

"Ruby?" Yang asked. "You okay? What are you-?"

Pyrrha felt a magnetic presence, and heard a familiar voice with an unfamiliar baby laughing.

"Oh! Hey girls!"

She turned and looked. Her jaw dropped a bit.

Climbing out of the pool, a peach-haired baby in green trunks and floaties in one arm, was Jaune Arc. Water dripped down his body, from his soaked hair, down his firm pecs, and over his six-pack that looked like it was carved from marble. The water continued down the well fitted blue swim trunks (with white bunny head patterns-That's totally what she was looking at, and NOTHING ELSE) over his muscular legs, down to his feet. He grinned as he set foot on the pool surface, and let go of the railing to wave with his free hand.

"J-J-Jaune?" Ruby managed, her face burning bright red. Pyrrha felt her own cheeks burn like fire as Jaune nodded.

"Yeah! Professor Peach asked me if I could take her son Tom to the pool," Jaune said. The little boy fussed a bit, waving his chubby arms around. Jaune hugged him and patted him on the back, soothing the little boy.

"Ah, it's okay buddy..." He turned and chuckled.

"I would have texted you back but uh, someone got candy on my Scroll," he playfully scolded the little boy. He whined a bit more, but relaxed in Jaune's arms.

"You uh... I didn't know Professor Peach had a baby," Yang managed. Pyrrha looked sharply at her. Her eyes widened. She could see the blush on the blonde brawler's cheeks, and tracked her dazed eyes to exactly where they were locked on.

"Yeah!" Jaune continued obliviously, "Did you know Beacon has a daycare for some of the staff? I didn't! I volunteer for it sometimes after training!"

Pyrrha's brain was already working hard at maintaining all vital functions in the presence of a wet, nearly naked Jaune. A wet, nearly naked Jaune holding a baby? And talking about volunteering to watch over babies?

Must lick Jaune's abs. Must lick them clean. Pyrrha wants abs! Pyrrha DESERVES JAUNE BABIES!

"Ooh, cool!" Nora said happily, "I wanna care for the day babies too! Think I could, Jaune?"

"Errr..." Jaune slowly nodded. "I think I can convince Professor Mombi? She's uh... Pretty strict though."

"Don't worry," Nora grinned, "I'll definitely help the babies learn all they need to know!"

Nora went up and cooed over Tom.

"Yes, you'll break sooo many kneecaps, yes you will!"

Tom giggled. Jaune chuckled and shrugged.

"Anyway, I was going to let him take a nap. I'll get out of your way-"

"N-No!" Weiss said quickly. Jaune blinked as the Schnee heiress continued. "I-I mean, why don't we make it a team day? We can all help with the baby, can't we?"

Pyrrha's eyes narrowed. Weiss was blushing hard, and it wasn't just over the baby. Her eyes were going far too low for Pyrrha's liking.

"O-Oh! Sure!" Yang said with a quick nod and a smirk. "Wouldn't want all your time to be taken up by babysitting, Stud."

"Eh?" Jaune blinked, "'Stud'? Thought my nickname was Vomit Boy."

"You just got promoted," Yang chuckled, her eyes turning smoky.

"I-I guess we can help out!" Ruby said cheerfully, flitting to Jaune's side. "After all, we're besties! Besties help besties!"

"I suppose it couldn't hurt," Blake said. Pyrrha's eyes widened. The not-so-secret Cat Faunus was eying Jaune in ways she never had before!

"W-We'll all help!" Pyrrha finally managed to speak, beaming warmly at Jaune. "After all! We're all teammates here and we're all going to have fun! Especially with Tom, our new, temporary teammate!"

"Where's Ren?" Nora asked. "Is he helping you?"

"He was getting some snacks," Jaune said.

"I was," Ren spoke. All eyes turned to Ren, and... Oh. Oh my. While she didn't hold the same ardor she did for Ren that she did for Jaune, she could certainly see why Nora was so insistent on catching his attention. His physique was no less magnificent than Jaune's, if a bit slimmer. He wore pink swim trunks, and carried several concessions.

Pyrrha glanced at Nora. The orange haired girl was openly drooling. Ren very deliberately held the concessions between himself and Nora.

"So yeah, if you don't mind Tom along," Jaune said, "We can just enjoy our day!"

"Of course Jaune," Pyrrha said happily.

"Sure!" Yang grinned, "The more the merrier, Stud!"

"If we must," Weiss said, blushing deeply.

"S-Sure," Blake said quietly.

"Absolutely, best friend forever!" Ruby gushed.

Pyrrha's eyebrow twitched. She kept up her usual smile as best she could. She could feel a miasma of oppressive female ire and wiles appear around all of them. Like an aura manifesting. Much side-eyeing was done, as the competition was sized up.

Not that Pyrrha was worried. So these hussies had suddenly discovered what she had already seen. Big deal. She still had the advantage, and-

"Sounds great!" Ruby cheered. She wrapped her arms tightly around Jaune's free one and pulled him along ahead of the group. "Let's find a spot! Hello, Tom! Aren't you cute? Yes you are! You love your Uncle Jaune and Auntie Ruby, don't you?"

Pyrrha's eyebrow twitched violently.

Touché, she inwardly growled.

 

[Guikoi]

Fuck it. Here's another short once again inspired by the absolute clusterfuck of a wet dream known as Fate/Grand Order.

Hot damn is Kinoko Nasu not some kind of fucked up genius.

This one is heavily inspired by Daybit sem Void's background revealed in Lostbelt 7: Nahui Mictlan. Edited to be more RWBY friendly, though.

---

Nicholas Arc was a proud man. The husband of the most beautiful woman to ever walk Remnant. A father of seven beautiful daughters, and one hard working son.

He may be an old man now, but he still had a spring in his step, and plenty of strength to crush some Grimm with! It's why he always headed out at least once a month for a trip. He would travel all around Radian and kill all the Grimm he could. Make his town, and his family, just a little bit safer.

It was on one of these trips that he found it. The Grimm had gathered around a tree, and hardly took any notice of him. It was only when he swung his greatsword through a couple of the blighters that they took notice. It was only a gathering of lower ranked Grimm, so he barely sweat from killing them all.

The strangest thing was the tree they surrounded. Or rather what was in the tree. A part of the wood had been carved away into a small shrine. And on that shrine was something of true beauty. It was golden, with glowing cyan gems as big as his fists. It was some kind of mirror.

He brought it home and placed it in his study. He kept it in a glass box and sat it on his desk. He'd need to call Ozpin. Nick was sure this was something he'd love to get his grubby mitts on.

After making the call, he decided to show it to his family. So he brought them in, one by one, and showed them what he had found. It all went well. Except when he brought his son into the room.

His ten year old son gazed in wonder at the handheld mirror on a stand. "It's so pretty!"

Nick chuckled and laid a palm on his son's shoulders. "Yes, it is. It's magnificent. It's also why I called an old friend. He'll be here soon to check it out, make sure it's-"

White.

All Jaune Arc saw was white.

It lasted for less than a second, but for Jaune, this moment stretched on and on. There was no pain. He felt nothing. All he knew was that the white light was beyond his wildest imaginations. He wanted to stare at it more. Yet… There was a feeling of dread rising in his chest. Fear gripped his heart, and then it was over.

0.2 seconds had passed.

The light vanished, and it felt as though he awoke from a dream. The mirror was dull, now. Its lustre had faded and its face was cracked. Not just that, but the room itself filled the ten year old with a sense of wrongness.

Turning to his father, Jaune Arc saw empty space. He turned and turned, and looked at every corner. He could not find his father. No matter where he looked. There was no trace of his father le…ft…

There on the ground, was his father's shadow. It wasn't a shadow anymore. No. It resembled a scorch mark, something had burned his father's shadow into the floor. But something about the shadow on the floor screamed at him. Like an alarm wailing in his ear.

He looked to his own shadow and found the same thing. The shadow of a young boy was blasted into the floor. A permanent reminder of the day's events.

'Ah… That's what happened.' The young Arc put on a smile, despite the melancholy of the situation. 'I'm dead.'

What had happened to him was not normal. Not natural. It reminded the boy about all those sci-fi stories he had read. The teleporter disassembles you and reassembles you at another location.

The reason he felt like he was waking from a dream is because he was. He was waking up from being reassembled. 'Jaune Arc' was dead… no, his original was dead, but Jaune Arc's mind was alive. That burned silhouettes on the floor were Jaune and Nicholas Arc. Something told him that they would forever be alive, even after the stars had gone dark and the the materials their bodies were burned into disintegrated into nothingness, Jaune and Nicholas would remain conscious and in pain for all eternity.

The new Jaune Arc, watched a man in green walk into the room. The man gasped at the broken mirror, before his gaze met Jaune's own. He saw the shadows on the floor. The ten year old watched understanding bloom in his eyes, as well as a deep pit of regret, pain and all-encompassing despair.

"You are…" The boy spoke for the first time in his life. "Ozpin?"

"...Yes. And you're not young Jaune Arc."

---

The Headmaster explained what happened to the boy's family and gave them time to grieve. With the mother's permission, Ozpin brought the nameless child back to Beacon Academy with him. He hoped to find a way to reverse the artifact's effect with the boy's help.

It was there that the two realized something. The boy could only retain five minutes of every day in his memory. At first this caused no trouble for the boy, as it's said every important event in a day can be fit into five minutes.

But this allowed Headmaster Ozpin the give the boy a name. "Daybit sem Void".

"Daybit" for he could only remember a bit from each day. "Sem Void" for he was a product of an artifact of emptiness placed by the gods of old.

Despite his disadvantage from his limited ability to create new memories, Daybit turned out to be a prodigy. Incredibly talented at nearly everything Ozpin put him to. He very quickly learned all he could of everything around him. He learned to cook, he learned mathematics, chemistry and engineering, he learned the ways of the world, how to talk your way out of any situation but also how to fight and kill.

But one thing Ozpin learned about Daybit struck fear in his heart. While Daybit's body was 100% human and completely identical to the boy who vanished and whose 'self' was now burned into the ground of his home… Daybit's mind was anything but human.

When he returned 0.2 seconds after vanishing, Daybit learned that he had died. His body was the same. His personality and memories were unaltered. But 'something' had changed inside him. He did not feel like he was part of the world, he did not belong in the same world as humanity. The humans and faunus were too different to him. He felt alien from his fellow humans.

Every machine Ozpin used told him that Daybit was human. Yet, what little magic Ozpin still had told him otherwise. It regarded Daybit as something 'not of Remnant'. Daybit sem Void no longer had a human perspective, and he did not consider himself human.

Whatever he was now, Ozpin could only hope that he did not become an enemy of humanity.

---

The day Daybit sem Void turned seventeen, on the anniversary of Jaune Arc's 'death' and Daybit's 'birth', he marched into Ozpin's office.

Ozpin turned away from the screen showing one of his friends and confidants, James Ironwood. "Ah, Daybit. It's good to see you again. How are you faring with your new team? It's to my understanding that Ms Nikos holds you in high regards. Are you planning on possi-"

The hammer clicked back into place on the back of the revolver. Ozpin's words died in his throat as he stared down the barrel. "Ah… I thought it might come to this."

"Oz? What's happening?" James questioned, unable to see the young man standing out of view of the camera.

"I'm sorry, James. Something has come up. Goodbye." Ozpin ended the call and focused on his surrogate son. "I would at least like an explanation before I die."

"You're plan." Daybit said. "Your plan with the Relics cannot come to fruition."

"...Why not? It would secure humanity's survival. It would banish the Grimm, destroy Salem and the Gods, and leave man and faunus to enter a golden age. What's wrong with that?"

"You would become an ally of humanity. But it would make you an enemy of the universe. Mankind would become the single most hated species in the cosmos. I cannot allow that to happen. I would sooner see this planet reduced to rubble than give your plan the smallest chance of success."

"...The plan's already in motion."

"Then your immortality has already been revoked."

Ozpin sighed. "Yes. Both Salem and I are now mortal again. You plan to kill me if I don't shut it down?"

"..."

Ozpin stood up from his desk and raised his own gun. One gifted to him by Ironwood. "I'm afraid I can't I can't do that. You see, I knew you would have problems with my goal. So I made sure that no one but myself could stop it. Killing me will ensure its success. Which is why…"

Ozpin pressed the barrel of his gun to his skull. "I can't let you stop me."

BANG

The corpse crumpled to the floor.

With all seven rounds still present in his weapon, One Radiance Thing, Daybit sem Void turned away and marched back into the elevator.

He had to find a way to stop the plan, no matter what it took.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Teams JNPR and RWBY went to a cluster of poolside chairs to put down their stuff, relax, and coo over Baby Tom. That was mostly Weiss, Yang, Pyrrha, and Ruby, but Blake couldn't hide her own small smiles and blushes as the baby was coddled. He was a very happy baby, too, snuggling up to any of the girls with ease.

"So uh," Jaune winced, "I hate to do this, but I gotta use the bathroom. Can one of you-?"

"Of course Jaune!" Yang said cheerfully, hugging Tom close to her chest, "I got this! You just hurry back here Stud, okay?" She winked, and Jaune blushed.

Pyrrha seethed. Weiss scowled. Ruby pouted. Blake stared. Nora and Ren happily ate their snacks, with the shortstack orangette taking her place on Ren's lap.

"Thanks Yang," Jaune sighed with a smile, "I won't be long, promise."

The moment Jaune was out of earshot, Yang turned and shot a shit eating grin at the other young Huntresses-in-training.

"What was that, Yang?" Ruby demanded. "I want to babysit!"

"I've got more experience handling babies than any of you," Yang sniffed, "And I've got the best software for it, too." She smirked as Tom snuggled into her cleavage.

"Th-That doesn't-I want to cuddle Tom!" Weiss growled.

"You can cuddle Tom! I'll cuddle Jaune!"

All eyes went to Pyrrha. The redhead blushed.

"I said that out loud didn't I?" She mumbled.

Yang's smirk grew just a hair.

"Oho? Finally got some ovaries, P-Money?"

"I liked him before you started-started salivating over him like-like-!" Pyrrha sputtered.

"Lusty rabbit faunus in heat?" Blake suggested.

"Y-YES!" Pyrrha nodded rapidly.

"HEY!" All eyes turned to Velvet, who was sitting with Coco on some beach chairs in their own fetching swimwear, "That's racist!"

"Not from a Faunus," Blake sniffed, even as Velvet's scowl intensified.

"Well," Yang said smugly, "I think I might do more than salivate, hm? I mean, he cooks, he cleans, he's trim, and good with kids? He's definitely house husband material."

"HEY! He was my best friend first!" Ruby pouted. "I wanna-wanna try stuff with him!"

"Like hell you are!" Yang growled.

"You can't stop me!" Ruby hissed.

"Please," Weiss huffed, "He has a crush on me. Maybe I'll reciprocate. A little." She blushed. "A bit."

"Had a crush!" Ruby laughed. "He's done with you!"

"How will you ask him out," Pyrrha asked, an ominous light in her eyes, "if I break all your legs first?"

"GO PYRRHA GO!" Nora cheered.

"Please," Blake sniffed, "None of you have even the slightest idea of how to handle a romantic relationship."

"Oh, and you do?" Yang snorted.

"Yes I do... Virgin," Blake stated intently. Yang blushed and scowled.

"BLAKE!"

"So wait, all that bragging about boys you did-?" Ruby asked. Yang flushed brightly.

"I-I didn't actually go all the way! I-I had you to worry about!"

"Awww," Nora and Ruby cooed, before looking at each other. Ruby coughed.

"B-Be that as it may... I will not let you just-just take him for yourself!"

"So do the rest of us," Pyrrha growled, "But I'm going to win."

"H-He's not just some prize to be mounted on your wall!" Weiss scoffed.

"I wouldn't mind him doing some mounting-"

"YANG!" Weiss screeched.

"You don't know what you're doing," Blake sniffed, as Jaune walked back up. "Here, watch."

Jaune walked up with a guileless smile on his face.

"Hey! Sorry I took so long. How's Tom?"

"He's doing fine, Jaune," Blake said. She held up sunscreen. "I was wondering-Would you mind applying some sunscreen to my back? I have some hard to reach places."

Pyrrha fervently wished she could rip the iron from Blake's blood as Jaune flushed.

"Er, I mean, sure-?"

"And perhaps you would like to pin me down and put a baby in me as I resist, breaking my resistance down until I have nothing but thoughts of you and your manly ardor overwhelming my feminine flower?" Blake pressed, blushing a bit.

Silence descended upon the group for exactly thirty seconds. Ruby kept count. Jaune then broke down laughing hysterically, holding his stomach.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAAHAHAHAHA! W-Wow Blake! You're a riot!" He grinned at her. "Great way to break the tension!"

"Yes... That's... That's exactly what I meant to do," Blake managed. She was getting smug looks, but she was even more smug when Jaune began to run his manly hands over her back with sunscreen.

"Thank you, Jaune," Blake breathed sensually, leaning back against him. Jaune coughed.

"Ah, uh..."

"So," Blake went in for the kill, "There's a bookshop and café I've been meaning to look at. Would you like to-?"

"OH NO JAUNE!" Pyrrha cried, grabbing Jaune from behind, "YOU'RE MISSING SUNSCREEN ON YOUR BACK! HOW ABOUT I FIX THAT FOR YOU?"

"ACK!"

"I-I CAN DO IT!" Weiss insisted, "WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO BURN, NOW WOULD WE JAUNE?"

"I CAN GET HIS FRONT!" Yang grinned.

"I CALLED THAT!" Ruby growled.

"BWAH!"

- - -

Ren and Nora watched the increasingly brazen and ridiculous antics of their teammates, mostly in silence. Nora hummed.

"Think we should help him?" She asked.

Ren shook his head.

"I'm sure he'll be fine."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

The entirety of Beacon's student body has been assembled in the main auditorium. Jaune frowns and looks over at Ruby.



Jaune: "Any idea what this is about, Ruby?"



Ruby: "No! Blake knows but won't tell me!"



Blake: "You should pay attention to politics."



Ruby: "But that's borinnnng!"



Headmaster Ozpin steps onto the stage and things quiet down.



Ozpin: "Students. New legislation has just passed that affects all of us. To summarize things and get on with our day, I managed to get this video made."



Ozpin steps aside and a holowindow appears, large enough for everyone to see.



A PRODUCTION OF THE VALEAN MINISTRY OF HEALTH



A redheaded middle aged man in a suit with a receding hairline and a large handlebar mustache is sitting in a chair in a fine study in front of a fireplace. He smiles kindly.



Rufus Winchester: "Hello. I am Rufus Winchester, and I'm here to ask you a question. What is the purpose of Hunters? Well, that should be obvious: To protect man and Faunus from the Grimm."



The scene changes to a battlefield of Huntsman and Huntresses bravely fighting Grimm. Rufus walks in front of this scene, and salutes the brave heros.



Rufus: "Those of you who choose this path are noble Defenders of life on Remnant! You deserve gratitude, praise and money! Because this is a hard job, and many brave souls pay the price."



The scene changes to a graveyard, where Rufus mournfully walks amidst the headstones.



Rufus: "Awards, citations, medals... These are given to Hunters who give their lives in the service of us all. But the loss of these heroes is felt more acutely if they do not leave a proper legacy."



The scene wipes to a happy family of a Huntsman and Huntress, with several kids. Rufus steps into frame again with a broad smile.



Rufus: "Money, fame, awards: These are all holow compared to a family. Your hard work as a Hunter will be better appreciated by your children and grandchildren than any statue could."



Huntsman: "Sure am glad I have you, my loving wife! And my wonderful children!"



Huntress: "Same, my wonderful husband and children!"



Children: "We love you Mom and Dad!"



Rufus chuckles happily before turning back to the camera.



Rufus: "Studies show that married Hunter couples are three times as likely to return home than single Hunters! And your skills and abilities will not vanish with you when you die! Indeed, children of Hunters are 90 percent likely to join their parent's professions!"



Back to the study, where Rufus is holding a baby. Said baby is squirming a lot.



Rufus: "Of course, having children is expensive! But that's where Council Bill 2276 comes in! Under this law, married Hunters and Hunters in training get up to sixty percent off their total taxes and are eligible for financial assistance no matter how many babies you have! Thanks to Aura, Huntresses can recover from birth and get back into fighting shape in less than three weeks!"



The baby burps and Rufus chuckles good-naturedly.



Rufus: "Aw, feisty little guy, isn't he?"



Wipe to the happy family home. Rufus stands behind the happy family, hands on their shoulders.



Rufus: "So while you are killing the scourge of the Grimm in the present, invest in your future and the future of Vale! Have a family! Save the world!"



SPONSORED BY THE VALEAN COUNCIL AND APPROVED BY THE LION POPE.



The video ended. Ozpin walked out, hands behind his back.



Ozpin: "Any questions?"



Silence. Then...



Nora grabs Ren and brandishes her hammer.



Nora: "HANDS OFF YOU WHORES! I SAW HIM FIRST!"



And absolute pandemonium seemed to break out. Ozpin sighed.



Ozpin: "Last time I play poker with Councilmembers... cheating bastard."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Of course, Rufus will be pushing his son to lead by example.



Rufus: "Son. I am deeply ashamed of you. You bullied a hot rabbit Faunus girl?! Really?!"



Cardin: "I-I mean... Er... Yeah?"



Rufus: "YOU KNOW HOW MANY GRANDKIDS SHE COULD HAVE?! AND HOW HOT SHE WOULD BE AS A MILF?!"



Cardin: "I-I-!"



Rufus: "Honestly son! Well... Maybe we can salvage this. Have you apologized?"



Cardin: "Uh, yeah, but-?"



Rufus: "Offer to take her out to Lunch. Something she likes! To apologize properly! WE CAN'T LET THIS OPPORTUNITY SLIP FROM OUR GRASP, SON!"



Cardin: "B-B-But what if I really don't like her Dad-?!"



Rufus: "Son. I know your CCNet search history."



Silence.



Cardin: "... I'll... Just go talk to her now."



Rufus: "You're damn right you will! Honestly, a hot rabbit girl Faunus and you bully her without intent to ask her out?! Where did I go wrong?!"

 

[Fusion Blaster]

okay here's a prompt I tossed into AJT's discord to do with to give some intresting drama with Ren and Nora.

Now we know their village was wiped out when they were kids and when your kids you can have only a vague idea on what your parents do. So what if Nora was the survivor or either some nobility and/or a wealthy heiress and didn't know it.

Now what is a common thing for a heir or heiress to have.

An arranged marriage. Now if this is on record and the only reason she wasn't found sooner is that her and Ren were always on the move growing up and now they are at Beacon for a good long time (ideally).

Cue Nora and Ren gettting an ethuisastic friend from thier childhood showing up and he's Nora's betrothed.

Now the easy thing is ofcoure to make him an asshole but wouldn't be more intresitng if he is legit wanting his friendS back as Ren being alive in his eyes is just a super Bonus. Now he can have his best buddies back in his life and he gets to marry Nora like he's dreamed of.

Now he's not just demanding her marry him now. No he wants to legitimatly win her heart and be friends with all thier friends and teammembers.

Jaune: DUDE
Ren: I know.
Jaune: I mean.. fuck I WANT to hate him but... he's so damn nice.

 

[Guikoi]

Here's another sleep-deprived clusterfuck of an idea.

---

Lunch at Beacon Academy was a fairly normal affair. After all, no matter how many super powered teenagers you stick in a room, if they're hungry and you give them food they're not very likely to cause trouble.

That's not counting the bullying, the food fights that send people through walls and cost hundreds of thousands of lien in damages, and that triple homicide that one time. Of course.

However, today was just one of those days. Someone just felt like causing a scene. It happens to the best of us. But no one expected him of all people would be the one to start it.

Jaune Arc sat down at the table shared by his team, JNPR, and his sister team, RWBY. With a groan he leaned back against Cardin Winchester, who turned to scowl at the boy. "What are you doing?"

Jaune ignored his bully-turned-friend, and set off alarm bells in everyone's heads when he sat both legs on the table. One crossed over the other. "Arc!?" The resident 'Snow Angel', Weiss Schnee, was the first to take notice. "What are you doing? That is incredibly unsanitary!"

"Yeah, Vomitboy, what's gotten into you? You been spending too much time with Cardin or something?" The buxom Yang Xiao-Long asked, moving her plate of spaghetti risotto away from the blonde boy's shoes.

"Hey! I resemble that!" The large redhead shot back. The man was satisfied that he got a chuckle out of the brawler for that.

"Jaune, are you feeling alright?" His ever loving partner, Pyrrha Nikos, scanned him for any injuries or signs of illness. Of course, she found nothing.

For no illness could take Jaune Arc's mood from him. For he was in an incredibly rare mood. One so rare that it had a name in the Arc house, nay, in all of Radian!

'Funny Vamp'...

I mean, 'Funny Arc'. Funny Vamp is a totally different thing.

It's a mood that once threatened to burn down all of Radian. A passing Huntress heard his jokes and took way too much offence. This led to a seven day siege on the Arc household that only ended after the fighting burnt down the market square, and everyone agreed to just let bygones be bygones.

Not that Summer Rose ever really forgave the boy for his sense of humor.

Jaune Arc reached over and took a dinosaur-shaped chicken nugget, and chewed it.

His strange behavior had the entire table, and some other tables, carefully watching him. But, just as they started to believe nothing important was happening…

Jaune Arc burped loudly and then, as he was grabbing another chicky nuggy, spoke into the ether…

"Rape is good."

"ARC!?" First one up in arms was Weiss. She slammed her hands on the table and stood up. "What is wrong with you!? How could you say that!? Do you even realize what you're saying you dolt!? Do you understand what that is!?"

Everyone was taken aback. Even Blake Belladonna was wide eyed, putting her erotic literature down and staring agap in horror.

The only three who looked nonplussed were Lie Ren, on account of his Semblance, Pyrrha who appeared more aroused than scared, and Yang… who slapped the table and laughed heartily.

"Yang!?" Ruby Rose sputtered. "R-R-R… That word is bad! It's a crime! It's not funny!"

"Humor is subjective." The blonde Arc retorted calmly while stealing some of Pyrrha's peas.

"Fearless Leader, are you a bad guy?" Nora Valkyrie questioned.

Ren leaned over and whispered to her. "It's a joke."

"Ooooooh~! Okay Renny!" And with that, the two of them sat back to watch the chaos unfold.

"Xiao-Long!? Why are you laughing? This is incredibly inappropriate, even for you!" Weiss snapped at her.

"H-Hey, what's that supposed to mean? Blake, back me up!"

"I… I don't know what you want me to say."

"Defend me!"

"I don't think I can."

"Damn. Backstabbed by my partner… Kind of feeling like that's gonna be a pattern."

"What? Of course not!" Blake shot back. "It's just… How do I defend you right now? What do I say?"

"Maybe something along the lines of 'hey Weiss, maybe don't take jokes too seriously' or something!?"

"Jokes!? That wasn't a joke! Arc is promoting a crime! One of the worst crimes!" Weiss snapped.

"I… I don't mind." Pyrrha said, too quietly to be heard over the ruckus.

"Ah! What do I do!? What do I do!?" Ruby panicked, both hands clutching her head. She had no idea what to do! How does she calm everyone down? What does she say to Jaune!? Does she tell him it was bad? Does she agree? Does she reveal that she wouldn't mind if he did it to her?

Soon, other teams began adding their own two cents in.

"Arc! Apologize for what you said!"
"You're a piece of shit, Arc!"
"The fuck'd you say!?"
"Oh my gods, he's a mad man."
"Should I… get a teacher?"
"Nah man, we should enact justice!"
"Yeah, Heroes of Justice: Beat that schoolboy black and blue!"
"That doesn't sound very 'justicey'."
"Go suck a Beringal's ass you coward!"
"What'd you just tell my boyfriend!?"
"Oh, now it's on!"

Soon the entire cafeteria erupted into pandemonium.

Students went flying. Fires were started. Nora… I don't know, she took Ren somewhere while talking about babies, they're probably fine.

Look, the point is… everyone was unreasonably fuck-ass mad. Mostly everyone wanted Jaune Arc dead. Some wanted him to rape them, I won't name names but both of them were red.

All the while, Jaume Arc ate his nuggies. "What a wonderful duwang… Chew…"

"Did you just… say 'chew'?" Blake shot him a cautious side eye.

"The hell's a 'duwang'?" Yang pondered.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Glynda Goodwitch stormed into the cafeteria. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?"

"Ma'am!" Weiss shouted. "Arc said that r-r-r-rape was good!"

"HE WHAT!?"

And that's how Jaune Arc ended up in Ozpin's office. Glynda was glaring at him while Ozpin was massaging his temples. "What could possibly have given you the notion that that was a good idea?" He queationed the Arc boy.

Said Arc shrugged his shoulders. "I have the humor of a two year old with a tumor."

"MR ARC!?"

"Glynda, let's not be hasty now…"

"Of course you'd take his side, Ozpin!"

"W-What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Everyone knows you've got a terrible sense of humor!"

"I will have you know that my humor is refined to a blade's edge!"

"Poopoo fart penis."

Ozpin punched his desk as he began to cackle. His glasses falling off as he laughed. Glynda watched in anger as Ozpin struggled to breath between bouts of laughter, the man falling from his chair and rolling around on the floor like a child.

The worst thing was that Jaune Arc joined him on the floor in mad revelry.

Glynda Goodwitch fucking hated the two of them.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Yang Xiao-Long wasn't stupid. Sure, academically she wasn't a powerhouse like Weiss or Blake, but she had street smarts and common sense. And in terms of engineering, Sure, Ruby was way better, but she knew her way around Bumblebee like the back of her hand.



Which was why it was so frustrating that her beloved bike was being such a PAIN here in Beacon's shop!



"Son of a-COME ON!" Yang growled, punching the air to avoid damaging her baby. She glared at the open engine block of her bike, the normally cooperative parts that sang a symphony of power annoyingly silent.



"Yang?"



Yang looked up. Jaune Arc stood in the doorway, looking concerned. She glared.



"Yeah VB? What do you want?"



He scowled a bit. Yang immediately winced, and shook her head.



"Sorry. Just... Ugh. Not you. My bike," she grumbled. Jaune walked over, his expression sympathetic.



"Ah. That why you haven't been picking up your scroll?"



"Bingo," Yang sighed, "Guess I just don't have the motor to talk right now." She bowed her head and scowled at Bumblebee.



Jaune laughed quietly.



"Yeah, hard to do that when your pride and joy is broken," he agreed, "What's wrong with her?"



" Keeps stalling every time I hit 3000 RPM," Yang scowled. Jaune nodded.



"Over 90k miles?"



"Yeah," Yang grumbled, "But the engine is completely new build."



"Ah. The Wayland 1989s were always finicky, even with rebuilt engines," Jaune said sagely.



Yang looked up at him in confusion.



"You're familiar?"



"Well, my dad had one of these and it was cheaper to learn how to fix it himself," Jaune said with a modest shrug, "And I worked with him when I was old emough to hold tools."



"Huh!" Yang raised an eyebrow. "So..."



Jaune blinked at her and shrugged.



"So?"



"Any suggestions?"



Jaune hummed, and shrugged.



"Well... Maybe... Can I?"



"Be my guest," Yang said, standing up and scooting aside. She watched him like a hawk the whole time, and wondered at several points when he clanged something loudly what the hell she was thinking letting Jaune "Vomit Boy" Arc at her baby...



But he put it all back together almost as well as she did. He stood up, covered in engine grease and sweat, and beamed at her.



"Try it now."



Yang gingerly moved in as he stepped back. She pressed the ignition. The bike roared to life, not a single sputter, before she revved it up. 1000... 2000... 5000...!



She grinned from ear to ear.



"It's alive!" She laughed loudly over the engine roar, and Jaune laughed with her. She kept the bike revving for a bit, listening intently, before she nodded and shut it down.



"Huh... Not bad, Grease Monkey," Yang grinned.



Jaune shrugged modestly.



"A-Anyone who had helped his dad build and rebuild these bikes could have done it."



"Just take the compliment," Yang winked.



Jaune nodded.



"S-Sure... Thanks."



Yang beamed.



"So... Wanna go for a ride?"



Jaune gaped.



"Uh..."



"On the bike!" Yang chuckled. Jaune nodded, looking relieved.



"Oh! Sure!'



"And maybe if you're good enough, we'll go for a ride," Yang winked.



"... On the bike, right?"

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Visitors asking for Lie Ren were few and far between. The destruction of his village and their relatively remote location had ensured anyone who might be interested in him was either lying or mistaken.



Or had long memories of children who robbed them to survive.



So when Jaune called him on his Scroll and asked him to come from training to their dormroom for a visitor, Ren did not even ask Jaune for details. He was confident it would be nothing of importance. Someone to set straight and then send on their way.



By force if necessary. Nora was looking forward to that part.



However, when they opened the dormroom, they were greeted by Jaune, Pyrrha... And a graceful looking young woman in a red cheongsam. Her long black hair was done up in a tight bun, held by a pair of red steel needles. Her face was beautiful, pale, with light makeup. Her eyes were Jade green and she had a small, hopeful smile on her strangely familiar face.



"Ren? Nora?" She whispered.



Ren's jaw dropped. Next to him, Nora dropped her hammer in shock.



"... Yin?" Ren gasped.



Yin laughed and leaped up. She hugged Ren and Nora tightly.



"It is you! It is you!" She cried, fat tears spilling down her cheeks.



Ren hugged her back, as Nora sobbed in joy.



"YINNY!" Nora cried.



- - -



It took some time for them all to calm down. Yin sat down between Nora and Ren, holding their hands tightly. Ren allowed himself a small smile, while Nora just gushed on and on.



"... We didn't think we would see you again... You're so RED... Your village...!"



"Who is she, guys?" Jaune asked, happy for his friends but very confused.



"This is Shi Yin-Yue. She was a friend from a village near ours," Ren said. "We thought you were dead too. When we investigated your village, it was burned to the ground and full of Grimm!"



"My father got me out to the river. He put me on a boat, but died fending off the Grimm so I could escape," Yin said quietly. "He put all our money and papers into the boat with me. I got lost paddling in the dark and ended up at Shangri-la days later! I was taken in by a merchant who went out to search for survivors but..."



She sniffled.



"They found no one... I-I thought you were dead for so long...!"



"So did we," Ren agreed softly. Nora grinned and hugged her.



"Oh its so wonderful to see you again!"



"I'm so glad," Yin laughed, "Now..." She took Ren's hand with a smile, "We can fulfill our families desires!"



Ren blinked.



"In what way?"



Yin beamed. She pulled out a weatherbeaten scroll from her handbag, and unfurled it.



"My father and yours wanted to strengthen the bonds between our villages," She said, "So they created a marriage contract between us. See? Here are their signatures!"



Ren felt his insides go into a tumble. He recognized his father's signature even after all these years.



"I..."



"Marriage?!" Nora blurted out in shock. Yin beamed and hugged her.



"Oh.... I am so glad, Nora! Now we will be a real family! You my sister in law, and Ren my husband!"



She sobbed in joy as Ren and Nora looked uneasily at eachother, then at the flabberghasted Jaune and Pyrrha.



"This is the happiest day of my life!"



- - -



Since it is a practice in Chinese cultures, why not have Ren face an interesting complication from his past?



Shi Yin Yue is named for Shi Pei-Pu, a Chinese opera singers, crossdresser and spy who posed as a woman for twenty years. Yin Yue is a rough pinyin take on the Mandarin word for "music". This is to keep with the theme of JNPR.



Would Yin be legitimate? Is she a spy for Cinder or someone else nefarious? All things to explore in this idea.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Probably not something that is what you want to have on this thread, but I've been entertaining ideas like this for a long while. Long before the most recent turn of unfortunate events kicked off.

Click to shrink...

I like it a lot! And this is a perfect place for such ideas, though I really wish to see some snippets! I'd love to see some!

As for another idea...

- - -

"Summer break summer break summer break!" Ruby cheered, jumping up and down excitedly in her seat at the cafeteria table.

"Yeah, and no where to go," Yang sighed. "We don't have the money to do anything fun."

"We can just stay in Vale and have fun?" Ruby suggested.

"But we're not allowed to stay in the dorms!" Yang groaned. "And we'll just have to stay on Patch!"

Ruby turned to Weiss with a wide smile.

"Weiss! Um... Would you be willing to-?"

"I'm given a very strict allowance and am not allowed to purchase frivolous things," Weiss stated, "And no hotel up to my standards is affordable for the whole of the break."

"What, not enough gold plated toilets?" Blake sniffed.

"I would settle for decent porcelain," Weiss stated. Everyone stared at her.

"I can never tell when she's joking," Yang admitted.

"Nobody can say what you tell are jokes!" Weiss shot back.

Team JNPR sat down at their usual table with RWBY. Ruby pouted at Jaune.

"What are you doing for summer break, Jaune?"

"Oh, uh," Jaune shrugged with a smile, "We're uh... We're going back to Radian to train and relax."

"Your hometown?" Ruby asked eagerly. "Wow! All of you?"

Ren nodded.

"It's nice to be invited to travel somewhere to enjoy yourself, without fear of attack or being kicked out," Ren observed calmly.

"I am happy to be adopted by the Arc Clan!" Nora declared. "I will slay many Grimm for the right to have Nana Arturia knit me sweaters and bake me cookies!"

"She'll do that anyway," Jaune sighed.

"Pyrrha?! You're going out to Radian too?!" Weiss gasped. "Some bumpkin town in the middle of nowhere?!"

"Actually," Pyrrha said with a smile, "It has a first rate research hospital, waterfalls, lovely mountains, and ancient ruins to explore! I-I've never been somewhere like that. Also, Jaune's parents are going to put us up at their farm, as long as we do some chores. I-I've never travelled somewhere on my own for vacation! I think it-it will be fun!"

"Free except for some farm chores?" Yang gasped.

"Research hospital and ancient ruins?" Blake asked, mildly intrigued.

"A farmhouse?" Weiss asked, making a face.

"Yeah!" Nora cheered. "All the bacon, eggs and pancakes we can eat!"

"And I don't have to make them," Ren said dryly.

"For now," Nora grinned.

"Um, and since my dad is the head of the local militia," Jaune went on, "My dad will let us train with them and use their forge. It's about as good as what Beacon has, mostly."

Ruby stared intensely at Jaune, her eyes threatening to bubble up with tears as her cheeks went red. Jaune coughed.

"Uh... You guys want to come too? We've got plenty of room, since half my sisters have moved out-"

"YES!" Ruby cried in glee.

"NO!" Weiss cried in horror.

"Come on, Weisscream!" Yang grinned and winked, "You'll get the chance to see how most people live! It'll be an en-ranching experience!"

"Just the thought of the horrific farm puns you will make is freezing my soul," Weiss hissed. She stopped, and her cheeks burned bright red. "DAMNIT YOU'VE GOT ME DOING IT!"

"Come on Weiss? Please? It'll be fun, I know it will!" Ruby insisted.

Pyrrha's stare intensified. Ruby looked pleadingly at Weiss. Yang did the same. Blake blinked slowly and looked over at Jaune.

"Are... Faunus welcome in Radian?"

Jaune beamed.

"Absolutely," Jaune said, "The Sith family are our neighbors, and they're cat-faunus! Though I have fought with their son a few times, he's a good guy, really."

Blake slowly nodded.

"I'm fine with it," she said quietly.

Faced with the overwhelming majority of her friends all shooing her pleading looks... Weiss rolled her eyes heavenward and sighed heavily. She then
turned and scowled over at Jaune.

"You're not using this an excuse to try and hit on me again, are you?"

For the first time since they had met, Jaune looked a bit exasperated with Weiss.

"It was three... Okay, four times," Jaune sighed, "I'm fine just being friends. And I know it's not up to your usual standards but I... You would be more than welcome, promise."

Weiss sighed heavily.

"Fine."

"Just uh, fair warning?" Jaune began. "My parents and family are a little... Eccentric."

Weiss rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure we can handle a few hillbillies and their local customs. What, do you have a jug and washboard band?"

"No," Jaune said quickly, "Not since my uncle switched to jazz."

- - -

So... How about a Radian Summer Vacation? How would it go? What hilarious shenanigans will ensue in the Arc Clan's hometown?