[RWBY] White Knight Errant

[TheFabulousCustodes]

Yang: "I can keep him in line with just a word! ... And my boobs!"

Isabel: "You're nearly spoiled for choice, Jaune!"

Jaune: groans "That's not a good thing, Mom!"

Click to shrink...

We need a RWBY short about Helicopter Huntresses now.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

The forest was calm. There was nothing but bird song, the rustling of the leaves in the breeze, the gentle creaking of trees and the chirping of squirrels.

Jaune had managed to crawl up onto shore, just before the sun rose. He sat there, his Aura keeping him warm despite how cold and dead he felt inside.

There were people out there who didn't know that Gato Zapatos was dead. His family didn't know. His wife, his children, his grandchildren... None of them knew.

None of them knew... It was his fault. All his fault.

If I was stronger... If I was better... If I hadn't set out with no plan, no ideas...

He couldn't feel anything but the cold. All of it deep inside of him.

Jaune stared at his knees, just wrapping his arms around his legs like he was a small child again. A small child, hoping for his dad or mom to find him. To bring him home.

He shut his eyes tightly.

Mom... Dad... Gato... All I did... What could I do... What can I do...?

"HELP! HELP! HELP, PLEASE! HELP!"

Jaune sat up, eyes wide. He stood up, and looked around. He could hear the cries of people. People in trouble. He hesitated.

What if it's another trap? Another trick? What if... What if...?

"HELP!"

Jaune grit his teeth. He drew Crocea Mors, opened his shield, and charged in the direction of the sounds.

He broke through the trees onto a road. A few Beowulves had surrounded an armored caravan truck. The tires had been torn up, rendered useless. The engine block was a wreck. An Alpha Beowulf was tearing away at the doors, trying to break in. The screams came from inside the caravan, as the Beowulves began to shatter and splinter the armor that protected them. One little boy was shrieking as loudly as he could through a partially opened window vent on top.

His eyes locked with his. He looked so desperate, so fearful... So hopeful...

The door on the van began to budge from the impacts of the Grimm against it... When they paused.

The Beowulves turned away, the Alpha leading it. The monsters all stared intently at him before roaring and charging.

Shit shit shit... Shit shit shit...!

He had fought so many Grimm in the ring. Ended so many monsters. Yet his fear filled him, rooted his feet to the ground. He didn't have Gato to coach him. He didn't have his mother or father or anyone else to protect him.

He was all alone.

I can't... I can't...!

You can't, you can't, Gato's voice came into his mind, unbidden, as though he was right there with him, You already have, Juan. Many times.

But you're not here with me! It's my fault! It's all my-!

None of that matters, Juan, Gato's mental voice went on, If you don't do this... No one will. And more innocent people will die.

Will you let that happen?

Jaune swung his blade, and the Alpha Beowulf's head came clean off. He slammed his shield right into the dying monster's chest, sending it flying into its packmates charging right behind it. Jaune charged, bellowing angrily. He swung and bashed and punched his way through the Beowulves. Only two remained. The one on the right latched its jaws onto his gauntlet, and yanked his sword away as it pulled away. The other lunged for his throat.

Jaune formed a fist, channeled his Aura, and rammed it right into the Grimm. His Aura burned white as the Grimm's skull imploded. Its body flew away, slamming into the caravan as it dissolved. The other Grimm tried to lunge for Jaune, but he swung his shield around to bash it senseless. It fell onto his side, and Jaune held up his shield and slammed the edge right through its neck.

He panted, long and hard, drawing as much air as he could into his lungs. He walked over and picked up his sword. He looked over at the caravan. He saw many wide, amazed eyes.

Especially on that little boy.

Jaune managed a smile at him. The little boy smiled back.

Live your life, Juan... Live it well...

I don't know if I'll ever be able to do that, Gato, Jaune thought, as the people came out of the armored vehicle with wide smiles, But... But I'll try.

I'll try.

- - -

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -


The club was packed. People danced on the wide, open main floor, sat and talked around stylish tables, and threw back drinks at the bar. Yang led Jaune towards the bar itself, and they both sat down on stools right up there. The place had a lot of open space, making the music and lights loud and bright, but not oppressively so. Jaune was honestly glad: He hated tight spaces, after everything he had been through.

The bartender, a tall, older man with black hair and beard, walked up cautiously. He narrowed his eyes at Yang, as he cleaned out a glass with a small towel. Jaune immediately felt a terrible tension falling upon them, and many eyes focusing on the pair.

Shit, shit, shit, who did I piss off? Jaune racked his brains, Did I piss off a guy who works for this guy?! I don't think so, but-HOW WOULD I KNOW?!"

"Hey, Goldielocks," he stated to Yang, "Didn't we have a chat about the last time you showed up here?"

"Aw, come on Junior, I thought we had an understanding?" Yang replied, batting her eyes. Jaune looked over at Yang with a raised eyebrow. He was now filled with a sense of relief and dread.

"What did you do?" He asked slowly.

Yang scoffed.

"Why do you assume it was my fault?"

"Because it was," Junior stated gravely, glaring hard even as he kept cleaning the glass.

Yang tried to look innocent, but failed miserably. She grinned.

"I mean… It kind of was?" Yang shrugged, "But he wouldn't give me information."

"I didn't have information," Junior stated flatly.

"Well I didn't know that!" Yang insisted.

"And so you wrecked up my club?" Junior demanded.

Jaune's eyes flicked back and forth between his date and the irate bartender.

"You have fights every other weekend!" Yang asked, waving a hand, "Mine wasn't that destructive!"

"Tell that to my insurance company!" Junior growled. Yang grinned, her eyes flashing red.

"Maybe I'll add to the damages."

Jaune held in a laugh, though he really shouldn't be feeling this way. He could sense people closing in around them from behind. He reached out and took Yang's hand. She looked over at him as he shook his head.

"Relax, sir," Jaune said, "We're here on a date. Just out for good old fashioned fun. No wrecking up the bar, promise."

Junior glared at him, looking him over.

"You… Alex's nephew?" Junior asked.

Jaune had to hold back his heart from leaping out of his chest. How many freaking people know about that?! Why would you tell him that, Roman?!

Outwardly, he managed a nod. Junior sighed, and gave the scowling Yang the gimlet eye.

"You and your boyfriend behave yourselves," he ordered.

Yang rolled her eyes and huffed.

"Yeah yeah…"

Junior headed off, and the sudden sense of pressure eased off. They still had eyes on them, but the attention was more cautious or curious than aggressive. Jaune let himself relax a little. Yang smirked a little.

"Your Uncle Alex seems to have some pull," she observed, with an odd smile and glint in her eyes Jaune couldn't decipher. Which was strange, given Yang usually wore her emotions on her sleeve. It's what he liked about her.

"Well, uh," Jaune shrugged, "Being a mob boss and an accountant are two different skill sets. Uncle Alex is… More flexible in his ethics when it comes to running numbers. I guess he gets around, since a gangster is a decilien a dozen, but a good accountant is priceless?"

Yang still kept staring at him, but slowly nodded. She leaned in.

"You know, you're easy to read when you lie," she murmured.

Jaune let out a breath. He glanced away.

"Sorry," he murmured, "Not… Not my secret to tell."

Yang shook her head, frowning softly.

"I guess I understand that," she said quietly. She then grinned.

"Hey, buck up! We're here to have fun, right?" She slammed her fist on the table. "Two Strawberry Sunrises!"

Jaune snickered, as Yang shot him a look.

"Something funny?"

"Nothing," Jaune grinned, "Just… The girliest cocktail ever made? Seriously?"

"I like strawberries," Yang pouted, as another bartender set down the crimson drinks. "What, you drink moonshine or something?"

Jaune chuckled as he threw back the cocktail without so much as a flinch. He then smirked at her surprised expression.

"Northern Sanus, we start drinking alcohol with our primary school meals," he said. Yang smirked back.

"Please, I was sneaking drinks when I was eight. You have met Uncle Qrow, right?"

"Sneaking? Impressive," Jaune replied, "To someone who didn't have mugs of wine for breakfast, lunch and dinner." He paused. "Well, until Mom made us stop. When I was twelve."

Yang tilted her head, her smirk sharp as a knife.

"Oh? You're saying you can handle your liquor better than I can? Sounds like you're trying to take advantage of me, Stud."

Jaune chuckled.

"Or you might just be a lightweight who wants the excuse," Jaune shot back, "Wild girl like you, luring in an innocent like me."

"Oh? How innocent are you, really?" Yang asked.

That… Was a splash of cold water to Jaune. Enough for his brain to assess the tactical situation.

She likes it when I fight back, he thought, Oh shit we're flirting… Friend date! Friend date! Friend-!

"Yo!" Yang called to the bartender, "Orochimaru Whiskey! Leave the bottle!" She smirked back at Jaune in a clear challenge. "Unless all that talk is talk?"

Well… Shit… Now what? Jaune thought to himself.

Meet the lady's challenge, Juan! Inner Gato shouted. She has been riling you up from the start! Time to prove your manhood! She likes it when you reveal it!

Phrasing! Jaune thought back. He met Yang's eyes, and nodded slowly.

The shot glasses were poured. He took one, and Yang took the other. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment, before they sipped at the same time.

Jaune held back a wince. Sure, growing up on wine had hardened him, but this stuff tasted like paint thinner. Yang looked a bit grimmer, but still smirked back at him.

"That's one down, Stud," she said, "You gonna keep up? Or am I gonna have to go back to calling you 'Crybaby'?

Fuck it. He was going to have a good time, whether he liked it or not, it seemed.

- - -

Sorry for the delay. We'll get shorter chapters but faster updates this week.

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

Spoiler, Yang & Jaune's date ends with Yang puking into Weiss's shoes this time.

Thanks for the update!

 

[OZT]

No, no, they both puke into Weiss' shoes. Given the pattern, she must have bought a second pair by now; won't save 'em.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Rufus Winchester was not a man given to long silences. He was a man who preferred to be in action, doing something, anything. He still maintained his family weapons at his manse, after all. He had taught his son how to do the same.

He had also taught his son many filthy swears and curse words. Not always on purpose, though Aurelia still gave him the business over it sometimes.

This though? Even his formidable repertoire of blue language seemed inadequate to the state of old Fort Celliwig. Even from the Manwe Aerospace Firefly transport he rode, harnessed in tight, the base seemed more trees and ruins than a fortress to defend mankind.

The Valean-built utility airship could carry about 10 troops, with two pilots up front. The twin engines roared outside, louder than Atlasian Bullheads but faster. This model had been built for private militias, PMCs, and military export-So it did have armor and weapons. The gunner in the port door manned a 50 cal Dust cannon: A single round of which was enough to go right through an Ursa's head.

Flying as escort were a few other Fireflies, and the lighter Tigertail transports that were also serving as light attack and scouts. All were slim, even with their twin engines, and darted about like dragonflies in the light of the broken moon.

Rufus' Firefly headed for the old runway. The cracks in the asphalt were obvious even from this distance, as the utility transport landed a bit unsteadily. It settled, and the moment the khaki uniformed crewman (with a colorful Vacuaon balaclava under his goggles) undid his harness, he stepped out onto the tarmac. His aide, Platina, struggled a bit with her harness but stepped out onto the tarmac with ease after. She'd been sensible enough not to wear heels, and kept her dark hair in a tight bun under a bonnet that clashed with her gray pantsuit.

Lights had been set up everywhere, powered by Dust generators. More men in khaki uniforms and balaclavas managed the aircraft, tending them like the ancient cavalry would have tended their horses.

A green clad man with a scarlet tactical vest and a nearly trimmed beard came out, holding a red beret down on his head against the engine wash. He grinned brightly, bowing as his twin dagger-revolvers rattled from his belt.

"Councilman Winchester! Come, come!"

"Thank you, Sergeant Scarlet," Winchester greeted, reading the stripes on the man's shoulder. Scarlet turned and led Winchester and Platina off towards the largest building, right in the center of Celliwig proper. Trees that had shadowed the paved paths around the base were overgrown, now looking very ominous. Weeds dominated the flower beds.The windows were broken in most of the buildings, even those lit up with lights. The stink of Grimm residue permeated the air, and numerous claw marks, craters, and holes were left in everything, left by the Grimm that had taken over when men abandoned the base.

Scarlet led them into the old headquarters. A three story building, built in white and green brick with armored shutters. Numeroussoldiers, clad in nothing common save for green fatigues, carried out trashbags, swept away debris, or stood guard as Scarlet led them up the stairs. The walls were dirty, trash littered the halls. The doors were largely torn up or smashed.

Save for the double doors that guarded the office of the base commander, along with two more green clad troops. They opened the doors, nodding respectfully to Scarlet. He grinned back roguishly, and led them into the office.

The carpet was moldy. The windows were broken. The walls were disgusting, and the foul scent of mold permeated everything. There was a desk, but it had been smashed in half. The windows were fairly large.

In front of these windows stood two men. One was a dirty blond, with tanned skin and a neatly trimmed beard that ended in a point from his chin, with keen blue eyes and an aristocrat's nose. He was slim but built out of muscle, like a lean, hardy fox in his green clothing. Atop his head was a green bycocket, with a bright red feather sticking out of it. It was at odds with his modern tactical gear and compound bow, yet Rufus could not imagine the man without it.

The other was also in green tactical gear, with thinning, curly brown hair and deeply tanned skin. He had bat ears on his head, which twitched slightly. His eyes were covered in dark sunglasses.

Scarlet closed the door, but kept watch on the two guests from behind. His smile was still roguish, but there was a watchful glint in his eyes.

"Rufus Winchester, as I live and breathe!" The man in the bycocket greeted. "Been quite a while, hasn't it?"

"Captain Robert Loxley," Winchester greeted him with a cautious smile. "It has."

Robert shook his head. He looked around the base commander's office, his brows raised.

"You have any pleasant memories of this place? I did… Once."

Rufus Winchester was not fond of small talk. So he did what he did best.

"What General Prince did to you is unforgivable," Rufus said unequivocally. "He paid the price for his crimes."

Robert's smile fell and he became serious. A far more frightening expression on his fox-like face.

"He did," Robert said quietly, "But not soon enough."

Rufus sighed. That General Prince had the VDF start extorting and exploiting smaller towns during the Faunus Revolution was bad enough. That scandal alone was a dark chapter in Vale's history. When Robert had gone rogue when Prince had ordered him to massacre a village of Faunus that hadn't paid up, Robert had been court martialed and nearly executed.

His troops had rescued him, with the help of Robert's future wife, Marian Maid. They had married, and been exonerated thanks in no small part to Winchester and Ozpin's efforts, but… Robert's bitterness had carried him far from Vale proper.

"No," he admitted, "Not soon enough. The VDF paid the price for it, too."

"And now, you want me to re-establish it," Robert said, not so much a question. Rufus nodded.

"I do. I have the papers here, signed by Council Chairman Browning this morning." He held out his hand, and Platina opened her briefcase and passed the papers to him. He held them out to Robert, who took them and looked them over. He raised an eyebrow.

"General?"

"Yes," Rufus said with a nod. "You would follow the Uniform Code of Justice. You would make the VDF more than… Than what it became. Restore its honor. Defend your people… Our people."

Robert breathed out a long sigh through his nostrils.

"Blinken?"

"As usual, he speaks the truth, Master Rob," Blinken said.

"You've seen what we're up against," Rufus further pressed, "What we're trying to accomplish."

Rob stared at the papers. He looked back up at Winchester.

"Responsibility, hm?"

Cardin chuckled.

"That is the price paid for success," he said, "For all of us."

Rob nodded slowly. He looked over at Blinken.

"Blinken? How are things going with the base clean up?"

Blinken hummed and turned towards the window.

"Little John's company is dealing with some Vermin and Beowulves… Ali Baba is-"

The doors opened, and a younger dark skinned man in a red turban, flight goggles, khaki fatigues, and very white boots entered.

"Yo Rob… Rob! Man, these new birds? Kick so much ass! So much better than those damn Atlasian buckets!" Ali laughed. "HA! Ahmed just got a King Taijitu with one of the new Tigertails-Oh." He coughed when he noticed Rufus and Platina. "Sorry. I'm a little new to protocol, Councilman-"

"It's fine, Ali," Rob chuckled, "He's never much cared for protocol."

"Much to his staff's endless despair," Platina sighed.

"I would appreciate it if you wouldn't speak about me as though I'm not here," Rufus grumbled. Rob chuckled, as Platina remained her usual impassive self.

"Is it not you who believes in as unobtrusive of government as possible?" Rob asked.

"Yes, and meeting you all again is making me reconsider that," Rufus sighed. He shook his head. "Regardless, Rob… Ali… Even Jim. You're all needed. Vale… Vale needs you."

He sucked in a deep breath.

"And if you want my selfish motives? My boy just entered Beacon, and my daughter is going out on ever more dangerous missions."

"And you're gonna make a shitton of money selling us guns," Blinken pointed out. Rufus shrugged.

"Yup."

Ali chuckled. Rob snickered. Scarlet hummed. Platina clearly resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Well… I guess I can appreciate that kind of honesty," Ali said. "That might have saved a lot of trouble… For all of us."

A grim mood fell over the office. Then, Rob laughed.

"Well… Marian has grown tired of the nomadic lifestyle, no matter how luxurious I may make it. And, well…" He shrugged. "We ran across a young man. Idealistic. Foolish. Brave."

Rufus snorted.

"We all were like that, once," he said.

"And yet, here we are," Rob said.

The green clad man looked over the papers, stroking his beard as the lights fell over his shadowed face in a dramatic way…

Ali laughed, and shook his head.

"Come on, Rob. Just sign it! You know you wanna go around as General!"

Rob huffed.

"For that crack, you'll be a Major."

"What?!" Ali cried. "Major? Come on man, Captain! Captain sounds so much better!"

"It's Major, sorry, them's the rules," Rob chuckled. Ali pouted.

"Why did I have to become an exchange student here?"

"Hot Valean women was your original motivation, as I recall," Rob deadpanned. Ali smirked wryly.

"Oh yeah. Guess that's on me."

"Besides," Rob said, as he signed the papers, "This way, Jim won't be able to lord his new 'Admiral' title over us."

"He does love to do that, Master Rob," Blinken observed with a chuckle. Rob handed the papers to Rufus, who handed them to Platina. She tucked the papers away in her briefcase. Rufus extended his hand.

"Welcome to the Valean Defense Force, General Loxley," he said.

Rob stared for a moment longer before he reached out and shook Rufus's hand.

"It's nice to be home," Rob said softly, looking around the dilapidated office, "Home at last."

- - -

Yes, Blinken and Ali are based on Blinken and Achoo from "Robin Hood: Men in Tights". I realized there was a lot of excessive stuff originally, but I realized that these characters are meant to be fun side characters, though with their own backstories. More of which you will see but only as it relates to the main story.

That said... The world of RWBY is full of much potential. And I hope you will enjoy it. And take inspiration from it.

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

"What General Prince did to you is unforgivable," Rufus said unequivocally. "He paid the price for his crimes."

Click to shrink...

Evil Princ... Er, General John!

"Little John's company is dealing with some Vermin and Beowulves… Ali Baba is-"

Click to shrink...

Is Little John a bear Faunus?

I always loved the Disney Robin Hood animated film.

"Well… Marian has grown tired of the nomadic lifestyle, no matter how luxurious I may make it. And, well…" He shrugged. "We ran across a young man. Idealistic. Foolish. Brave."

Click to shrink...

Weiss - "Does Everyone Know Jaune?"

Winter - "Did someone mention Jaune?"

Weiss - *Tsundere Cry of Rage*

Thanks for the chapter!

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Evil Princ... Er, General John!



Is Little John a bear Faunus?

I always loved the Disney Robin Hood animated film.



Weiss - "Does Everyone Know Jaune?"

Winter - "Did someone mention Jaune?"

Weiss - *Tsundere Cry of Rage*

Thanks for the chapter!

Click to shrink...

He might be.

And Jaune just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time... And that made all the difference.

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

And Jaune just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time... And that made all the difference.

Click to shrink...

Jaune "Gordon Freeman" Arc, indeed.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Robert Loxley was a college student in Vale, from a formally noble family from the town of Sherwood in Albion. He signed up for the Vale Defense Force when the Faunus Revolution broke out, and was commissioned as a captain due to his education and his experience training in the Sherwood militia. He became a popular commander with his men, many of whom were also from Sherwood, Albion. This included "Little" John Bruin, a Bear Faunus as strong as ten men and deadly with a staff cannon. Will Scarlet, a rogue and lady's man with revolver daggers he could swing so fast he could block bullets. Father Tuck, the priest and doctor of their unit. Much Miller, their logistics expert and the youngest of the band. Alan Dale, a former musician and an expert in information gathering and spycraft (and a thief). Roy Tinker, their eccentric engineer and demo man who thinks he can talk to machines (And they apparently listen). And Blinken, a blind bat faunus who is Rob's family servant and batman (Get it?). Hanna Baba, a Vacuoan immigrant and the father of Ali Baba, was also among their group and was a former assassin turned Rob's XO.

General John Prince, Supreme Commander of the VDF Ground and Air Forces, was a corrupt warmonger who had his troops commit war crimes against civilian targets during the conflict-Most of them Faunus, but many human communities.

Robert and his battalion refused to engage in these crimes. Robert was of a rich family of landed nobles, the Loxleys, who had Faunus servants but were just and fair to their subjects, human or otherwise. Indeed, after Robert's parents died, Blinkin raised him and Rob considers him a close father figure.

When Robert tried to go public, Prince had him framed for war crimes, court martialed, and sentenced to death. He escaped with the help of his troops and his fiance, Marian Maid, and they went on the run. They helped prove General Prince's crimes to the public while being outlaws, and proved their innocence.

General Prince was brought down, but with him went the VDF after the Faunus Revolution. The sheer corruption and scale of his crimes horrified the public so much that the Council abolished Vale's military almost entirely. Rather disillusioned with the Faunus War and politics, Robert, Marian and his Battalion (known as the Merry Men for their habit of singing mocking tunes at their pursuers), became a PMC to provide security and defense to various frontier towns and colonies across Remnant. Rob and Marian married.

They swelled in size to become a very successful PMC, with over 10,000 employees. They are mostly infantry but have experience with armored warfare, and have a few tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and other such hardware. They also have a few suits of powered armor. But they're still pretty much light and mobile infantry. Ali Baba provides them with close air support with his Flying Cavalry.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

At least on the Valean front, the Faunus Revolution was a complete and total clusterfuck on the military side. Major General Absolom Winchester, Cardin's grandfather, was made Supreme Commander of the Vale Defense Forces. He was a Veteran of the Great War and had risen to his rank through some acts of courage and competence-He did earn the loyalty of his men and he wasn't a terrible commander, in theory.

Main issues were that he was locked into the mindset of fighting the last war and didn't adapt well. The Great War was basically World War II, and the Faunus Revolution was more akin to Vietnam mixed with the US Civil War, happening to all four Major Kingdoms all at once.

Absolom was stuck with General John Prince to command his ground forces, which was a terrible mistake. Prince had gotten where he was thanks to politics, not experience or competence. Absolom wanted to get rid of him, but was stuck thanks to political pressures from leaders and corporate lobbyists (military industrial types and those reliant on Faunus labor). So he tried to work with Prince.

Absolom's tactics were better suited for a conventional war with a peer opponent. The Faunus Revolutionary Army used hit-and-run tactics and other unconventional methods of warfare until they got their hands on enough military material to pose a real threat. It didn't help that Prince was a corrupt asshole who massacred Faunus civilians and looted them, sold off military hardware for his own profit, and committed other heinous crimes.

When Loxley became an outlaw, Absolom threw his discreet support behind him. He aided Rob and the Merry Men in secret, and finally got Prince removed from command, arrested, tried and executed.

But by then it was too late, the war was going horribly.

Absolom did his best when he took direct command of the ground war, but his tactics were archaic and brutal. His attempts to flush out the Revolutionary Army involved massive bombing runs and artillery strikes against areas they could be hiding. This was wasteful, killed many civilians (Faunus and human alike) and turned public opinion against the war itself. It didn't help that Prince was just one of many corrupt, incompetent commanders who had all been hampering the war effort from the beginning.

The Faunus Revolution ended with an agreement between all Four Major Kingdoms to recognize Menagerie as a Faunus state, grant equal rights to Faunus citizens, and end Faunus slavery (through your mileage will vary on that one depending on what kingdom you're in). This outcome, plus the heinous crimes of Prince and other VDF officers, led to the Valean Council abolishing the VDF almost entirely in favor of Atlas taking care of military duties. Absolom Winchester would be assassinated by a White Fang terrorist some years after the war. His killer was a survivor of one of the strikes he ordered.

It is for this reason the Winchester name has so many bad connotations attached to it, especially among Faunus. Yes the Faunus Revolutionaries committed heinous war crimes as well, horrific massacres of civilians and other atrocities, but in many cases, the humans were no better.

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

Hanna Baba, a Vacuoan immigrant and the father of Ali Baba, was also among their group and was a former assassin turned Rob's XO.

Click to shrink...

Hanna Baba, is that a reference to Hanna Barbera, the cartoon company?

This included "Little" John Bruin, a Bear Faunus as strong as ten men and deadly with a staff cannon.

Click to shrink...

Nice callback to the Disney movie. Any chance Marian is a fox Faunus?

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Hanna Baba, is that a reference to Hanna Barbera, the cartoon company?



Nice callback to the Disney movie. Any chance Marian is a fox Faunus?

Click to shrink...

Yes, but also a reference to Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab, who first related the tale of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves to the West.

Perhaps, though I'm not going to spend TOO much time on them. Only as much as they matter to the narrative.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

The Just Right Cafe was easy enough to spot, during the day or night. The old fashioned neon signs saw to that, guiding Blake in like she was a moth heading for flames. She dropped down from the rooftops in front of the door, and strode in.

"Perrito? Goldie?" She called out. She found them soon enough: Perrito was sitting at a table in the back, his head in his hands. Goldie was sitting next to him, holding him tightly. She looked up, relief on her face.

"Kitty! Hey," she said, "You didn't have to come-"

"I-I did," Blake said quietly. She walked up to Perrito, yanking a chair up to sit across from him. "What-What happened to Tukson?"

Perrito let out a long, low sigh. He slowly sat up, tears still running down his cheeks from his large eyes. He shook his head slowly.

"He… The police called us," he said, "Said they found him in his bookshop. I was just about to go over, see him, when we got the call." He closed his eyes, sucking in a deep breath to regain his calm.

"He was killed," he said softly, "It was… Brutal. Beaten to death…"

Blake shook in horror, holding her hands up to her mouth.

"Oh… Oh Gods, I…"

Perrito sniffled again.

"If I'd been there, I-I might have-"

"Died too," Goldie stated, firm but quiet, "You know that, sweetie."

"The White Fang's tried to take us out before," Perrito countered. Goldie shook her head rapidly.

"To shut us up with intimidation and violence, yeah. But murder? They kept away from it, for the most part… Until now."

"Until now," Blake whispered, tears beading at the corners of her eyes.

Goldie looked up at her, and scowled.

"Now don't you go blaming yourself for this, Kitty," Goldie barked. "It wasn't your fault!"

"I'm-I'm a traitor to the White Fang," Blake whispered, "I-I could have… If they're escalating like this, my leaving-"

"Don't you dare!" Goldie growled, but Perrito held up a hand to his wife. He shook his head, and looked intently into Blake's eyes.

"Didn't make them murder Tukson," Perrito said, as calmly as he could manage. "Right now… Right now I want to blame myself. I'm making a good argument. I do that, I make good arguments for why I should blame myself. It would be nice, in a way, if everything bad that happened to the people I love was my fault, cause that… That would mean I could fix it."

He shook his head slowly.

"But it's not true. I'm not at fault. The bad things do happen… But they're not my fault unless I do them," he stated, "And it's the same with you."

Blake rapidly shook her head, her blood boiling in her veins.

"I-I can't just let this go unanswered-!"

"I know," Perrito said, "I know… It won't."

"Count on it," Goldie growled.

Blake nodded her head slowly, even as her fingernails dug into her knees. This… This wasn't going to go unanswered.

She would deal with this… She would…!

A loud boom rang out, barely muffled by the cafe glass or walls. Perrito and Blake turned to the windows, and saw a red glow coming from behind several buildings. A pillar of smoke began to rise into the air, as sirens began to scream in the distance.

"That's in the direction of the Emerald Manse," Goldie muttered, "What's going on-?"

"I don't know," Blake said firmly, "But I'm going to find out."

- - -

Jaune stared at the shot glasses, trying to count them up. Usually, math wasn't a big issue to him, but Yang was leaning against him and whispering things.

"Haaa… Knew you were a lightweight," she snickered, her warm breath tickling his ear. Jaune snickered.

"There are… Twelve shot glasses," he said at last. He looked to the bartender, a nervous looking young man with white hair, "Right?"

"Er, yeah, right sir," he said. "You're tied."

"Tied?!" Yang growled, glaring at her pile of shot glasses right next to Jaune's, "Seriously?! You gotta be cheating!"

"I've been here the whole time!" Jaune laughed, pressing his head against hers affectionately.

"Bet you're using a… A medical technique," Yang mumbled against his ear, while pressing herself against his side, "Some medical… Bullshit!"

"Why would I do that?" Jaune asked. Yang smirked and pursed her lips. She blew into his ear, making him squeak and blush.

"I can think of a few reasons~," Yang murmured sensually. Jaune gulped.

"Y-Yang, hang on, we gotta-"

"Maybe I'll just let them have their turns too," Yang snickered, "Would you like that, Stud?"

"I-!"

"Well. Well. Well."

Yang groaned loudly and looked over her shoulder, eyes narrowed in annoyance. Jaune turned as well and stared at the twin, black haired, green eyed women in Mistralian clothing who stood there. Both were very beautiful, and both looked very annoyed.

"Why don't you go away?" Yang moaned. "I'm not causing any trouble!"

"Uh, hey, I'm Jaune," Jaune said, as politely as he could, "And you are?"

"Melanie," the twin on the left said.

"Militia," the twin on the right returned.

"The Malachite Twins," they said together. Melanie raised an eyebrow at Jaune.

"How'd you land a boytoy, Blondie?"

"We thought you were an angry lesbian, with how much of a brute you are," Militia stated.

Yang was about to get up and start throwing punches, but Jaune wrapped his arm around her waist tightly and held her against himself.

"We're here to have fun, not get in a fight," Jaune stated, firm, calm, but implacable. The twins smirked. Melanie reached out to rest a hand on Jaune's shoulder, caressing it. That made Yang growl.

"Oh? Sure you wouldn't rather have fun with us?" Melanie asked sweetly. Militia also reached out, caressing Jaune's cheek.

"We'd be a lot more fun than her~," she crooned.

Yang's eyes flashed red. Jaune glared.

"I suggest you back off," Jaune stated, still calm but deadly, "I promised we wouldn't wreck the place… But if you're going to provoke us, it'll be on you, not us."

The twins glanced at each other, before they pulled back. Melanie shivered, smirking saucily at him. Yang growled again, but Jaune kept a tight hold on her.

"Shame… I happen to like hard men like you," she said.

"I find them boring," Militia huffed, "They're never any fun."

"Yeah, good point," Melanie admitted with a shrug, "They can't loosen up and enjoy themselves."

Militia sniffed.

"I bet he can't even dance worth a damn."

Jaune twitched. His eyes glowed briefly. Yang looked over at him, now wearing a concerned expression.

"Jaune?"

"Excuse me," Jaune said, slow and deceptively calm, "Did you imply… That I can't dance?"

The twins smirked in unison.

"No, we're saying you can't dance," Militia stated, "Neither can your bimbo girlfriend."

"Not without wrecking up the place, like the wild sow she is," Melanie sniped nastily.

Jaune took a slow, deep breath, even as Yang's eyes burned red. He then let it out, and smirked in a way that made all three women stare intently.

"Dance floor. Two minutes," Jaune ordered. "Yang? Meet me there, please."

"Sure thing," Yang said with a nod, hiding her confusion.

Jaune got up and walked to the DJ booth. It was being manned by a mole faunus man, with thick dark sunglasses as he used his claws to manage the turntables. He handed him some Lien, and made a musical selection. The DJ grunted, but nodded as he pulled out the requested disk and placed it on the turntable.

Jaune turned and walked to the dance floor, the club patrons already on it parting for him like frightened geese. The Malachite Twins were waiting, facing down Yang, in a circle formed by the other club goers. Jaune went and stood alongside Yang, giving her a confident smile.

The DJ started the song, which opened up with a slow bass line. It soon expanded into a hot beat and a dramatic singer.

"Ladies first," Jaune said. The twins smirked, and began to dance in unison, stepping back and forth like they were of one mind. The crowd hooted and cheered appreciatively, as the two ended with perfectly synchronized spins and kicks.

We donʼt shy away from no fight
So donʼt push us now cos baby maybe
We bite
Back it up!
Back it up!
You seem to have quite the bone to pick with all of us
A chip on your shoulder big as a rhinoceros…

Jaune took Yang's hand. He smiled warmly at her, and his Aura flared for a moment. Her red eyes went back to lilac, as she shot back a warm grin. He took her in his arms as the song had a brief bridge before the chorus.

On a crusade~
Get stuck so
Make lemonade~

"Our turn," He murmured, and off they went!

Time to shine in the dark
Tonight Iʼll be the light
Iʼm crusading
Donʼt you even worry
Time for spells in the dark
Tonight, Iʼll bring the fight
I been saving
Donʼt you even worry~!

Jaune led Yang through an aggressive tango, before they switched to open swing dancing with some hip hop jamming. They ended the chorus with Jaune putting Yang into a dramatic dip, before yanking her up to spin her like a top. She came out of it and finished by spinning herself into his embrace, her back to his front as he held her tightly. She smirked at the twins, who fumed as the crowd cheered.

"Damn… It's like you can read my mind," Jaune whispered. Yang smirked back over her shoulder, pushing back against him.

"I'm pretty good at reading body language," she cooed, "And I like what I'm seeing."

She wiggled her eyebrows meaningfully, as Jaune bit back a snort of laughter. They resumed dancing, barely paying any attention to Militia or Melanie. He was getting lost in the music, and in the girl in his arms, as everything else fell away.

- - -

Ren would admit, under a lot of duress, that watching Jaune and the soap opera that was his life could be very entertaining. Certainly more fun than dealing with his own issues with Nora.

Yes, he did care for her deeply. Yet… No. Don't focus on that. Distract yourself, distract yourself.

Even while Nora was excitedly bouncing up and down in the chair of their table at the club, grinning through her fake mustache as she watched Jaune and Yang dance on the floor below.

Pyrrha, in her hoodie and sunglasses, was bending and unbending the silverware as she fretted over the blond pair dancing below. Ruby was chewing on a napkin with a bright blush, as Weiss glared down at the two.

"Do-Do we really need to keep watching this-this nonsense? You all decided to date such a-a playboy!"

"He's just… Such a good dancer," Pyrrha murmured. "I suspected it based on his footwork, but… Wow…" She grinned goofily.

"Geez," Ruby mumbled. She looked over at Weiss. "Weiss, you gotta teach me dancing! I-I don't want to step on Jaune's toes on our date!"

Weiss flushed.

"Certainly not! Besides, that's less like dancing and more like…" She made a face, red as it was already, "M-mating!"

"So jelly," Nora taunted.

"I AM NOT!"

"Shhh," Pyrrha hissed, "Don't! We're watching them covertly, don't blow it!"

"Yeah!" Nora said, her fake mustache bouncing, "We're supposed to be incognito!"

"Ugh," Weiss groaned, "Don't we have anything better to do than spy on Arc and Yang? The lout can dance well, so what? He's just using it to manipulate you all into a harem!"

"You think?" Ruby asked, sounding a bit hopeful. Pyrrha flushed deeply, and rapidly shook her head.

"No! No, come on Weiss, he's not like that," Pyrrha said, a fierce glint in her eyes.

"He's carrying on with multiple women at the same time!" Weiss protested.

"But we all know about it and we're okay with it," Pyrrha said with a nod, "As long as he chooses one at the end. We… We will abide by his decision."

"Just one?" Ruby mumbled. Weiss glanced at her in disbelief. Ruby blushed.

"What?"

"Why me?" Weiss sighed. "I'm just glad I have a true gentleman as a boyfriend. Not some lecherous lout like Arc."

"And why aren't you out with him?" Ruby asked. Weiss flushed.

"He-He had to train with his team! He's diligent! We're going out next week!"

Nora snorted. Weiss glared over at her.

"What?" The heiress demanded. Ren rested a hand on Nora's shoulder. He shook his head.

"Nothing," Ren stated calmly. "As to your earlier question, Weiss… No. No, we do not have anything better to do on a Friday night."

"That's pretty sad," Nora said with a nod. She grinned. "But still a lot of fun!"

The energetic pop song soon ended. The next song began to play, announcing itself with a harsh three chords, played on guitar and accompanied by what sounded like a Vacuoan sitar. Pyrrha frowned as she watched the dance floor.

"Hmm," Nora mumbled, "This song is kinda dark and ominous."

"It is a modern arrangement of a classic," Weiss sniffed, "Why it would be playing in a rundown gin joint like this is… Curious…"

Their Scrolls all went off at the same time. Ruby pulled hers out first. Her eyes widened.

"It's Blake! I wondered where she went," she said, "There's a fire nearby! We should go help!"

Pyrrha didn't even hesitate, though her eyes lingered on Jaune and Yang.

"Right. Let's go," she said, leading them towards the exit. Ren allowed himself to be led along, eyes forward as Nora held his hand.

Jaune could take care of himself. They had work to do.

- - -

"Jaune?" Yang asked. He had frozen in place as the song washed over the crowd. The Malachite Twins ceased their dancing too, Militia making a face.

"You gonna keep going or what?" Militia demanded. Jaune remained unresponsive, just staring out into space.

There must be some way out of here
Said the joker to the thief
There's too much confusion
I can't get no relief…

Yang grabbed Jaune's shoulder. He started, flinching away, his hand reaching for a sword that was not there. She stared into his eyes: They were wide and wild, as he looked around like a caged animal. Her Scroll was buzzing, but she didn't pay it any mind compared to the potentially dangerous situation right in front of her.

Yang held out her hands, not touching him, as the other club goers began to back away from them.

"Hey," she said softly, "Hey, Jaune? It's me. It's Yang. I'm here. I'm right here. What is it?"

"I…"

Businessmen, they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
None of them along the line
Know what any of it is worth…

Jaune shook, his Aura flaring around him. There was a cry of fright as the other dancers began to move away. Yang's eyes widened as Jaune's gaze became determined, his eyes began to blaze.

"No reason to get excited"
The thief, he kindly spoke
"There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke…"

Shit…!

She grabbed Jaune and bodily pulled him away, through the startled crowd, past the nervous bouncers, and out into the night. The song was muffled, and outside in the cool night air, Jaune began to calm down. Yang hugged him tightly as he did, and he held on almost desperately as he took deep breaths.

"Hey," Yang murmured, "Hey… You with me? You all right?"

"Y-Yeah," Jaune managed shakily, "Yeah… Yeah, I-I'm… I'm okay…"

He sucked in more deep breaths, as Yang held him tightly. He slowly relaxed.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"It's okay," Yang said softly, "It's okay… What was that?"

Jaune looked to the side.

"I uh… I don't…"

Yang glared at him. This close together, he couldn't look away easily. And Yang wasn't about to let him.

"Jaune," she said, firm and strong, "You've got a lot of shit in your background. I figured that out, all right? We're all pretty messed up, honestly. Hell, Ruby is probably the best adjusted, which is saying something given I helped raise her."

"You're being too hard on yourself-" Jaune tried, but Yang interrupted.

"But you were ten seconds away from violence over a song," she said firmly. "Might be nice to know why? So maybe someone can help you?"

Jaune stared at Yang with a blank expression. He let out a soft sigh.

"So… Blake didn't tell you," he said quietly. Yang blinked.

"Tell me what?"

Jaune shook his head.

"It's… Complicated," he said.

Yang dragged him over to a surprisingly nice bench, and sat them both down under a streetlight. She looked intently at him.

"I'm fine with complicated," she said softly.

Jaune shut his eyes again. He shook his head again, before opening them again.

"A week on my journey out to Beacon… I came across an inn," he said, "I was going to ask to stay in the stable or something if I could work for it. A girl with dark skin, white shimmering hair, and blue eyes was being manhandled by some thugs."

"Help! Help me!" She screamed, as the five greasy brutes pawed her right there in the middle of the dining area. No one else stood up to intervene. The waitress kept her eyes down. The innkeeper busied himself with his ledger.

Jaune stood up, and rested his hand on Crocea Mors' hilt.

"Hey! Back off!" Jaune snarled. The gangsters laughed mockingly, the leader pulling out a shortsword.

"Or what, brat? You gonna stop us?"

Jaune nodded.

"I will," he growled.

The thugs charged. Two minutes later, they were all down on the floor, groaning or unconscious. Jaune rubbed his knuckles. He hadn't needed to draw his weapons at all.

The girl in a purple dress beamed, tears at the corners of her eyes. She ran up and hugged Jaune, planting a kiss on his cheek.

"Oh thank you! Thank you so much!" She cried.

"Nothing to it, miss," Jaune said with a grin, "It's what a Huntsman should do!"

"Oh? You're a Huntsman?" She asked. She sat him down, as the thugs, very chastened, slunk out as quickly as they could. Jaune nodded.

"Yeah! Well, sort of. I'm going to go to Beacon to become one!"

"All that way on foot?" The girl winced, and shook her head as the waitress came up and placed some food on the table, "That's very difficult. You must be very strong!"

Jaune flushed modestly, as he dug into the food. The waitress still didn't look his way, shuffling off. She flinched when the girl looked her way, but otherwise did nothing.

"I'm uh… I'm all right," he said. "My name is Jaune. Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, and rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it!"

The girl giggled.

"We sure do!" She said with a nod. "My name is Iridescent and-Ooh! Turn it up!" She called out to the waitress, who was wandering by the jukebox, "I love this song!"

The waitress nodded, flinching again. Jaune thought that was a little weird, but the music filled the air and Iridescent filled his view with her dazzling smile.

"Jaune. I know it might be a lot to ask… You already endangered yourself for me, but, well…" She looked down out of shame. Jaune frowned.

"What?"

She reached out, hesitating.

"My family owes a local mobster money, those thugs work for him," she said, "A LOT of money. We'll never be safe unless he's dealt with… Oh, I'm so sorry!" She shook her head, holding her hand up to her mouth as she nervously bit on her knuckles, "You-You've done so much already and I-!"

"Hey, hey," Jaune said, reaching out to take her hand, "It's all right. Look… My ancestors were all great heroes. I want to be a great hero, too. What kind of hero wouldn't help out those in need?"

Iridescent looked up, tears in her eyes as she stared in shock.

"You… You will?" She whispered.

Jaune nodded. She grinned, and leaned over to kiss him on the lips. His entire body went warm and fuzzy.

"Mmm… Thank you Jaune!" Iridescent giggled. "Oh… I can't believe this! I'm the luckiest girl in the world! And while my favorite song is playing, too." She sighed happily as the music reached a loud crescendo behind them.

"It's like… It was meant to be… 'All along the watchtower~...'"

Jaune shook his head, scoffing.

"She… She lured me in, put aura suppressing cuffs on me, and… And made me fight death matches against Grimm," Jaune went on, quiet and bitter. "I only escaped because my fellow prisoner, Gato… He trained me. He was my only friend there, my mentor. He taught me how to actually fight, and to never give up. He taught me that Aura technique, Golden Lion's Roar. I had to…"

He paused.

"I had to use it… And when I used it, I-I… I killed people. A lot of people. The mob boss Iridesdent worked for, his henchmen… And after that? We ran. We just… We ran. We got to a cliff overlooking a river. Grimm surrounded us. I was… I was going to fight them off with Gato… He just told me to live my life. To live it well… Then knocked me into the river below."

He looked up at the sky, staring at the stars that still shone through the light pollution.

"... I can't stop thinking it should have been me," Jaune said, "That I should have died. I was such an idiot. Wanting to be a hero… I fell for such a stupid trick, and… And it got Gato killed."

He bowed his head.

"I'm no hero," he muttered bitterly, "I'm not much of a Huntsman. I don't even know why you like me. I-I don't like me…"

He looked up. Yang looked furious, her eyes burning red. He winced, already anticipating a punch as she raised her arms…

And hugged him tightly.

"Then why are you here?" Yang asked softly. "Why didn't you give up? Go home?"

Jaune shut his eyes again.

"... Because... It's still my dream," he muttered. "My stupid, idiotic dream. To... To be a hero. To help people."

"And have you helped people?" Yang pressed.

Jaune slowly nodded.

"Yeah... But-"

"You got tricked," Yang stated, "You got your ass beat. You got humiliated. You had to kill to survive. And your mentor sacrificed himself for you so you'd live. That… That's enough to fuck anyone up."

She looked into his eyes, holding back her own tears.

"That doesn't make you a bad person," she stated, "Just… One who has gone through a lot of shit. That's not weird here, is it? I mean..."

Yang let out a sad little laugh.

"Would sane people want to get a job to fight the Grimm? Would they?"

Jaune stared back at her. She bit her lower lip.

"I... I don't know," Jaune admitted. "I wouldn't know."

"Neither would I," she said. She caressed his cheek.

"Look. We want to help you through that… Because we all care about you. We can't help you with what you don't want to share, and, hell, I get... I get not wanting to share that. There's plenty I don't want to share, but, I mean… Blake heard this. What did she say?"

"That… That I should stop beating myself up over it, and do what Gato said," Jaune managed in a tight voice. Yang nodded.

"That's why we're friends, despite everything. I know… I know she did a hell of a lot of bad stuff. Stuff she can't talk about. We've all got our shit… But it doesn't mean you're not worthy of forgiveness, all right? Or anything else. If you're willing to work to get better… And if you're willing to let other people in."

She leaned in and kissed him. Unlike the previous pecks, this was much warmer, almost electrifying. Jaune leaned in, kissing her back.

Ohhh… Geez, geez… What am I gonna do, what am I gonna do…? Ruby, Pyrrha, please forgive me, I'm holding back so hard but he's just…!

Their Scrolls rang. They broke the kiss, panting. Yang recovered first, pulling out her Scroll and opening it.

"Blake? Your timing needs some work-"

"The Emerald Manse building is on fire, get down here," Blake stated loudly. Yang grimaced, but nodded.

"We'll be right there," she said. Jaune got up and nodded back.

"I know the way."

"Then you can navigate," Yang said. She ran over to Bumblebee, and hopped on. She pulled on her helmet. "Hop on!"

With no hesitation, Jaune did so, yanking on Ruby's helmet before wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. She sighed softly at the feel of his warm, strong body against hers.

"Hold on tight," she said.

"Definitely," he said, and her heart fluttered.

Geez… Gotta be the good sport… Gotta be fair… Gotta be fair…!

- - -

Yang drove them through traffic into Old Vale, following Jaune's directions. They flew past the Just Right Cafe, and the old City Park to where smoke was billowing up into the night. Holographic cordons surrounded the area, keeping the curious crowds at bay. Yang spotted Ruby, Blake, Ren, Nora, Weiss, and Pyrrha behind one such cordon, near a news van.

All of them looked very serious. Weiss was a bit distressed, gritting her teeth. Yang frowned-What would have caused that? She looked at the building.

The Emerald Manse was smoldering, but the flames were nearly all gone as firefighters sprayed it with water from their trucks and from a few small airships.

"Anyone hurt?" Jaune asked, as they dismounted Bumblebee and walked up to their friends. Blake shook her head.

"No, no one was in the building when it exploded," she said, "I checked first and got out. Nobody saw me."

"Ninja Kitty to the rescue," Nora said with a nod.

"Then why do you all look so grim?" Yang asked, "I mean, aside from the white masks?"

Blake slowly held up her Scroll. Grainy security camera footage played, showing a boring looking government office.

"I managed to get into the security cameras before the firefighters showed up," Blake said quietly.

Yang sucked in a breath as members of the White Fang broke into the office, and began tearing the place apart for records. Computers, file cabinets-Everything was ransacked.

"White Fang?" She murmured. "Why are they robbing a government records building?"

"I don't know," Blake said grimly, "But they also murdered a former member this week. Someone we knew personally. We need to-"

"We need to turn this over to the police, and let them handle it," Jaune said firmly. Blake glared.

"Jaune, they-!"

"This is what we got in trouble over last time," Jaune said, "And while we did stop the bad guy, the cops or actual Hunters would have done a much better job! We can't go and play vigilante on-"

He froze. Yang looked at his face. That same expression in the club came over him, only angrier. Yang looked back at Blake's Scroll screen.

A woman, curvy and beautiful, practically strutted into the office. Long, white hair that shimmered. Blue eyes. Dark skin. Dressed in a purple suit. She boredly walked between two White Fang members, to a wall safe. She reached out and yanked it out of the wall, tossing the wrecked door aside. She then walked away, towards the camera, leaving the White Fang members to rummage through it.

She adjusted her hair… And smiled. She winked, then blew a kiss to the camera.

"Who is that? She's not one of Roman's enforcers, is she?" Weiss asked.

Jaune was silent.

Blake sucked in a breath.

"Listen Jaune. We need to do this. I'll turn over the evidence to the cops if I have to, but I won't stop until Tukson gets justice! If I have to do it on my own-!"

"Okay."

All eyes turned to Jaune. Blake herself looked a bit shocked, which normally Yang would want to get a photo of for teasing material later.

Now though… The intense look on Jaune's face did nothing to set her at ease.

"Okay," he said, "We'll send it in to the cops, anonymously. Then after?"

His eyes narrowed.

"We're going after them… And taking them down."

Well, Yang thought to herself, as Blake nodded back and the rest of their teammates looked deeply concerned…

Shit.

- - -

Music selections for this chapter:

"Lemonade" by Hiroyki Sawano:


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%22All%20Along%20the%20Watchtower%22%20as%20arranged%20by%20Bear%20McCreary:
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[IvanR1314]

. . . . . . MWUAHAHAAHAHAAHAAAA, THE CRIMOS ARE FUCKED!

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

"How'd you land a boytoy, Blondie?"

"We thought you were an angry lesbian, with how much of a brute you are," Militia stated.

Click to shrink...

No girls, that's Ilia!

A woman, curvy and beautiful, practically strutted into the office. Long, white hair that shimmered. Blue eyes. Dark skin. Dressed in a purple suit. She boredly walked between two White Fang members, to a wall safe. She reached out and yanked it out of the wall, tossing the wrecked door aside. She then walked away, towards the camera, leaving the White Fang members to rummage through it.

She adjusted her hair… And smiled. She winked, then blew a kiss to the camera.

Click to shrink...

RWBY really needed better antagonists/villains, and a Yandere is always a good choice. I'm really looking forward to the everyone getting a look at her particular brand of crazy.

Cinder - "I'm a good villain!"

Jaune - "Cinder.... Your basic."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

But yeah, there will be some musical references throughout the rest of Volume 2. I am especially fond of Bear McCreary's "All Along the Watchtower" rendition from Battlestar Galactica.

Though I assure you, there will not be fucking space angels out of nowhere!

If there are angels, they will make sense in the narrative.

 

[Wolf67]

Weiss in denial being jelly and Ruby hoping for the harem is such a great premise,I'm totally rooting for ruby getting the harem ending.
Great chapter.

 

[Buaidh]

TFTC It was great.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Ozpin had considered setting aside a standard meeting room for high level discussions and meetings, several times. Yet he had learned over the centuries of human psychology when it came to their surroundings. To invite others into his domain engendered a sense of trust in those he called. It made it clear he was bringing them into his space, his home turf, and thus who was in charge. It allowed him an instant boost to his authority that could be very helpful in maintaining unity between fractious, sometimes hostile allies.

It also gave him the perfect excuse to skip more paperwork, and Ozpin was still human enough to appreciate breaks from the tedious exercise of bureaucracy.

Ironwood, Rufus Winchester, Silverhand, and now General Robert Loxley were gathered in his office around his desk, as a holographic display slowly turned around above them. Glynda was at his side, as ever, while Winter stood with Ironwood. Winchester's own aide, Platina, was with him, while Robert had brought his bat Faunus aide Blinken, and Silverhand had brought his yeoman, Smiegel. The four aides all stood, while their superiors sat.

Loxley had added General's stars to his uniform, a green set of fatigues that were based off Atlasian fashion. Along with a nametag he also wore patches and pins bearing the old symbols of the original Valean Defense Force: An eagle with its wings spread, holding twin axes crossed in front of it in a wreathed circle. Otherwise, he had changed nothing else about his uniform, including his infamous hat with a feather.

Silverhand had taken Admiral's bars from the old Valean Defense Navy, and similar patches on his clothing. The same eagle with crossed axes, but in blue and silver rather than red and gold. He wore a similar style of fatigues, just in dull blue, with a similar nametag.

Otherwise, he still wore his hat, long coat, and musketeer-style boots. And a red sash under his belt. He supposed he could hardly blame both men, though their fashion mixes were annoying Ironwood and Glynda a bit. A fact they probably were well aware of, given their occasional smirks.

Their aides at least wore the proper uniforms. Winter Schnee, professional as ever, led the briefing as she brought up holographic images of a burned out building on the edge of the Old Vale City Park.

"The Emerald Manse, once the in city residence of the Warrior King of Vale," Winter began, "Was robbed last night by what appear to have been White Fang terrorists. They were led by this woman."

Several holographic stills from the security footage appeared, showing a white haired woman with dark skin while wearing a purple suit blowing a kiss at the camera.

"Identity of the woman is confirmed," Winter said, "A Valean criminal known as 'Iridescent'. Wanted for human trafficking, aggravated assault, murder, and a litany of other crimes. Her prints match that of Iris Viola, a former resident of the North West Sanus province."

More photos appeared, including a few mug shots. Ozpin leaned forward, studying the images.

"She has-Forgive me," Winter corrected herself, "Had been working for the Stanistar Mob. But, since their leadership was all wiped out last year, she's reportedly been running the show."

"Another prominent human criminal working with the White Fang?" Ironwood asked with a scowl. Loxley hummed.

"It would take a lot of money and brute force to make White Fang work together with humans," he said, "Yet we've seen that at least twice now."

Ozpin looked over at Silverhand.

"Jim, you worked with Roman Torchwick on a few jobs, is that correct?" Ozpin asked. Glynda and Ironwood both scowled heavily at the pirate turned privateer. Silverhand waited until Smiegel handed him a bottle of rum, which he sipped briefly before answering.

"We did a few airship jobs together, yes," Silverhand said. He shrugged. "He was a greedy son of a bitch and very melodramatic."

Glynda was too dignified to snort at that. Robert wasn't. Rufus just remained surprisingly stoic.

"However, he agreed to my rule of not harming civilians, so we got on pretty well," Silverhand continued. He shook his head. "His downward spiral over this past year has been… Frankly astonishing. He's stealing all the Dust he can lay hands on and using the White Fang and a few other gangs as muscle."

"You think he finally went full criminal?" Ironwood asked, eyes narrowed. Winchester, Silverhand, and Loxley's eyes met in a mutual show of Valean exasperation at Atlasian obliviousness. Their aides had a very similar expression, but hid it better.

Ozpin did his best not to share in it, but damn, was it hard.

"He already was, but he kept to the old code," Silverhand said. "This? This implies some force entered the Underworld, seized control, and is brute forcing them into compliance. After all, Roman's reputation is shot. He can't make alliances with other criminals anymore. I wouldn't touch him… I mean, I wouldn't have touched him since I am now a legitimate member of the military!" He smiled charmingly at all assembled.

Ironwood glared death. Smiegel looked benignly resigned.

"Smooth," Robert deadpanned.

Rufus turned to Ozpin with a grave frown.

"Why does this attack in particular have you so concerned, Ozpin? So Roman and whoever's pulling his strings have hired more help and escalated their terrorism. We're increasing the police force, and the Council is going along with the military plans."

"For now," Glynda observed, "Councilwoman Glocken believes you're trying to mount a coup."

Ironwood looked over at Rufus with a steely glance. Rufus snorted.

"She says that every time I so much as get up for coffee," he stated, "So far the public seems in favor of re-establishing the VDF. We're authorizing press tours to Fort Celliwigg, on top of the PR visits with the Atlasian Fleet." He looked over at Silverhand with a scowl.

"This would go a lot easier if you'd let them visit Jolly Roger, too."

"My Lady is currently in drydock undergoing extensive repairs and upgrades," Silverhand stated, pointing out the window at the form of the battleship in the distance. A Gravity Dust enabled drydock had been floated up to the massive battleship, and workers were all over its structure like ants on a pile of sugar.

He shook his head.

"I can't let her be seen until she's at her best," Silverhand said, "It's her vanity, you see."

Ironwood again looked over at Ozpin, a faint look that Ozpin was familiar with thanks to their many years of friendship.

It simply said "Really?"

Robert met Ozpin's eyes with a knowing smirk. Rufus held back from rolling his eyes. He imagined Glynda was doing the same.

"Though I can certainly allow visitors to the destroyers and other small air ships we're getting out of mothballs," Silverhand said cheerfully.

Rufus shook his head.

"Point is, Ozpin, if you've gathered us here over this incident, it must be something important."

"It is," Ozpin said with a nod. "The Emerald Manse is just a government records building now. However, it also hosts one of the major server hubs for the CCT Network in Vale. In particular, one that services the city's defense, utility, and closed caption television monitoring networks."

He nodded to Glynda, who tapped a button and brought up several computer files and pictures of the crime scene. Ozpin steepled his hands together and leaned forward.

"The servers were completely destroyed," he said, "Completely. Every bit of data was destroyed, and the remote monitoring links were disabled while the main connections were still online. Whatever they did, they did it and covered it up completely."

Ozpin sucked in a breath through his nostrils.

"Which means, the worst case scenario is that whoever is behind this may soon have complete access to the city's defenses and infrastructure."

Even Silverhand lost his jovial tone at this revelation. Though he had Smiegel get them more rum.

Under the circumstances, Ozpin couldn't blame him.

- - -

 

[IvanR1314]

oh boy, oh boy, Cinder will Fall, get dogpiled on by everyone and Jaune will be dealing with Iridescent, correct?

I hope Jaune gets a ranged option of a Modular Handgun, like a Sidearm Pistol, Machine Pistol or Handcannon Pistol, Short Barreled Shotgun(probably lever action and or semi auto(think SPAS12 pump action and semi auto but lever action and semi auto)) and a PDW style one handed weapon. Of course, Remnant Modular firearms can have Elemental modules loaded with elemental dust to augment the bullets, shots and shells ala Borderlands elemental damage. any of this would be good.

By modular firearm, I mean: take knockoff versions of real world guns, give them appropriate names, and give them options to go factory, Trech Stormer or mall ninja. IMO, Jaune is perfect as the example of what those in the Frontiers would shoot, so Modular firearms with Borderlands style Dust based Elemental Damage Modules would be good.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Ironwood: "I think my forces should augment Vale's police. We should take over, honestly. Provide far better security than they could, at least for the duration of the Festival-"

Rufus: "Absolutely not."

Ozpin braces himself. Sure, Rufus Winchester was a loud blowhard. He was also angriest when he talked cold and calm. Which meant right now? He was furious.

Ozpin: "Rufus, they are up against very formidable foes with deadly resources. You worked with the Vale Police Force on many occasions-"

Rufus: "As a Hunter and a lawyer. Not a soldier. There's a reason you separate the military and the police. One fights enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people."

Ironwood: "It works fine in Atlas-"

Rufus: "And it seems the general needs a lesson in geography, because this is not Atlas. We don't fall in line, we don't turn our society into a police state, and we don't turn our people into criminals by default."

Ironwood: "And because of that, you have a rampant criminal loose in your kingdom, causing chaos, plotting Gods know what-"

Rufus: "Still better than the alternative."

Ironwood: "I'm here to protect the innocent-!"

Rufus: "By invitation. We will not allow you to turn our kingdom into a prison complex."

Ironwood: "You're in the middle of a crisis! I can restore order! You know that there are times when government power has to be used! Has to be wielded like a club! You raised your own military-!"

Rufus: "Yes, I did. I used dirty tricks to get it passed, and I'm profiting from it indirectly. I don't dispute that. The difference is I respected the process and obeyed the law. I accepted the consequences. And I kept the VDF to its constitutional limits."

Ironwood: "And if that's not sufficient? Your ideals are well and good when you don't have innocents being butchered in the streets-!"

Rufus: "We're not at that point yet, and if we all do our damn jobs, then we will hopefully avoid that outcome! And if it does happen? Then yes, General, your forces will be unleashed. But not without a damn good reason, a damn good reason."

Ironwood: "You think I would take over Vale? You think I would use this opportunity for personal power?"

Rufus: "I don't know what you would do, General. That's the problem. When someone has a gun to your head, you don't know what they're going to do. How far they're going to go."

Ironwood: "If I really wanted to, I could level Vale-!"

Rufus: "And that's supposed to put us at ease?"

Ironwood: "The fact I haven't should prove everything-!"

Rufus: "You haven't because it doesn't benefit anyone. But having us all at your mercy? Well... The calculus changes for any man, no matter how well intentioned!"

The other members of Ozpin's cabal have long since given up trying to interrupt and just watch.

Ozpin: "Did you bring any popcorn?"

Robert Loxley: "Blinken?"

Blinken: "Of course sir." hands it out

Silverhand: "Your aide is very good!"

Robert Loxley: "Of course, he's the perfect batman."

Blinken: wiggles his bat ears with a smile "Thank you, Master Robert!"

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

Silverhand: "Your aide is very good!"

Robert Loxley: "Of course, he's the perfect batman."

Blinken: wiggles his bat ears with a smile "Thank you, Master Robert!"

Click to shrink...

Every Robin needs a Batman...

 

[AndrewJTalon]

A change had come over Jaune over the past few days. One that Pyrrha wasn't sure she entirely liked.

There was a very small, very petty part of her that was glad his date with Yang had not ended well. Oh, they were a bit closer-It was hard not to see that, with how easily Yang would touch him. However, Jaune was a little too focused on other things right now.

On one hand, him being far more serious and focused was… Was kind of hot, she was going to be honest. Okay, very hot.

On the other…

"Mister Arc, you will be fighting Mister Thrush," Glynda Goodwitch stated, her green eyes locked right onto Jaune. He stood up and headed to the locker room, not saying a word or looking at anyone. Russel Thrush followed, rolling his wrists as part of a warm up.

"This is gonna be good," Yang said with a grin.

A few minutes later, both young men emerged into their fighting gear and headed into the ring. They turned to face each other.

Russel Thrush smirked, spinning his twin revolver daggers as his green mohawk shook a bit from him rolling his head to stretch.

Pyrrha focused intently on Jaune's face: He was blank. Far too blank.

"Get him, Jaune!" Yang shouted encouragingly.

"Break his legs!" Nora shouted.

"Kick his ass, Russel!" Cardin shouted from the other side of the Combat Class. Glynda's expression remained hard as she looked between the combatants.

"The match goes until one fighter's Aura is in the red or forfeit," Goodwitch stated in a bland tone, like she did for every match, "Begin!"

Russel spun his twin dagger revolvers, and then knocked them together with a loud, metallic clang to intimidate Jaune. Jaune didn't seem to register it, not even moving.

"Come on Arc!" Russel sneered, "Not even gonna draw your sword?"

"No," Jaune stated. Russel actually gaped in disbelief. Pyrrha could not blame him-Her jaw dropped too. Plenty of other students gasped.

"Wha-Are you having me on, Arc?! Why not?!" Russel growled.

Jaune stared at Russel, his normally warm gaze now cold and hard like steel.

It made Pyrrha shiver, and not in a good way.

Well… Not entirely good.

"Because I don't want to accidentally kill you," Jaune stated, without any inflection whatsoever. He may as well have been talking about the weather.

Russel growled, and flipped to his Fire Dust chamber.

"Don't you fuck with me!" He roared, pulling the trigger and unleashing a blast of flames right into Jaune's face. Ruby cried out as Jaune was engulfed. Even Russel's cocky smile twitched as he saw Jaune hadn't even tried to dodge.

His smile got twitchier when Jaune calmly walked out of the smoke towards him, a little dirty and soot covered, but none the worse for wear.

"Do you have a death wish or somethin', Arc?!" Russel demanded. He fired another Fire Dust blast, higher intensity. Jaune's Aura dipped a few points, but he kept marching through the smoke without so much as a flinch.

Russel trembled, his smirk now looking a bit desperate. Sweat beaded on his forehead as Jaune continued to advance like a slasher in a horror film.

"DAMNIT WHAT IS YOUR FUCKING DEAL?!" Russel bellowed, lifting up both his dagger revolvers and firing multiple rounds of Fire Dust at Jaune. Through every blast, Jaune just walked through. His Aura kept going down, getting into the yellows, and still he closed in without any hesitation. Pyrrha's mouth had gone dry. She could hear Blake's disbelieving hiss, Ruby's whimper, Yang's heavy breathing, and Weiss's horrified mumbling.

She could see Jaune's cousin Mint staring, enraptured, at the spectacle. While her teammate Cinder's face was almost unreadable.

Looking very desperate, Russel emptied the chambers in one last massive blast, completely enveloping Jaune in the smoke. He pulled his triggers again… And got only clicks. He glanced down at his weapons in shock, and looked up at the smoke…

Just in time for Jaune's armored fist to burst out of the smoke and grasp his throat.

"HURK!"

Jaune emerged entirely from the smoke, his expression completely unchanged. He pulled his other fist back, burning with Aura, and then slammed it into Russel's face hard enough to knock a tooth out. Pyrrha watched it fly through the air.

Again, and again, and again, Jaune punched Russel over and over and over. He then lifted him right up over his head, and threw him out of the ring.

"AAAHHH-URK!"

He hit the wall and slumped to the ground. A few students immediately checked on him, though his Aura graph on the main screen revealed he was alive-Albeit unconscious.

"... Winner, Jaune Arc," Glynda Goodwitch managed, gamely hiding her shock. Jaune nodded, breathing a bit harder but his Aura was healing him quickly.

"Any comments on my performance, Professor?" He asked.

Goodwitch paused for a moment.

"...That was very reckless. You're lucky that Mister Thrush was too intimidated to change tactics! That won't save you if you try this in the field!" Goodwitch decided. Jaune nodded slowly.

"Okay." He turned and hopped over the railing into the silent classroom. He walked into the locker room to change. Whispered conversations and murmurs erupted once he was gone, all about the same subject: Jaune's behavior.

"What the-What was that?" Ruby muttered in horror.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out," Pyrrha vowed.

- - -

Jaune entered the lunch room. As was typical lately, he caught a lot of looks and snippets of conversation about him. He shook his head and ignored it.

He had a lot more important things to worry about right now.

Still, he supposed he would have to explain himself, judging from the looks he got as he sat down with his team at their usual table. Pyrrha was on one side of him, and Yang the other. Ruby was across from him, all three looking very concerned.

Even Ren was uncomfortable. Nora frowned deeply. Weiss was looking around him, not at him, while Blake gave him a guilty look.

"... I might have gone a little overboard," he decided.

"Ya think?" Yang insisted.

"I mean… That was actually kind of cool," Nora said, "How you just walked through every blast like the Exterminator! But it was also a little scary!"

Jaune sighed and shook his head.

"Sorry," he said quietly, "I was… I'm not in a good mood."

"We noticed," Ren deadpanned. Pyrrha took his hand.

"You kind of… You've been worrying us, Jaune," she said frankly. "This whole week you've been… Different."

"Cray cray," Nora pronounced. "I mean, you broke three training robots!"

"You're supposed to break them," Jaune said, a bit defensively.

"Not like that," Nora shuddered. "I mean, not unless they did something to really piss you off, like burn your pancakes!"

"It's a little scary," Ruby said.

Jaune shook his head.

"I'm fine. Really," he said.

"You haven't been the same since you saw the picture of that blonde chick," Yang stated bluntly.

Jaune winced a little, but nodded.

"Yeah… Just… A lot on my mind over her and… The other issue," he said, looking significantly over at Blake. "Speaking of, any news?"

Blake hesitated, but nodded.

"Some," she said in a low tone, "There are rumors of a big White Fang recruitment rally this Friday."

"I thought we agreed we weren't going to do any more vigilante stuff?" Weiss asked flatly. "You said this yourself, Arc."

Jaune slowly nodded.

"Yeah. I did."

"Didn't you get the same lecture, Blake?" Weiss added, glaring at the secret cat faunus.

"Yes," Blake nodded, "But it… I mean-"

"We're just going to do recon," Jaune stated. "They know Blake is here. They know who she is. And they know we've been interfering. That makes us targets."

"Exactly," Blake said with a nod.

"That doesn't mean we go and get involved!" Weiss said, exasperated, "We're not vigilantes!"

"They killed a friend of ours, Weiss," Jaune stated, cold and hard, "We can't exactly ignore it, can we?"

That gave Weiss pause. The platinum blonde worried her lip before nodding.

"I-I know… I understand that," Weiss said, "But it's still not our job."

"You don't have to participate if you don't want to," Jaune said authoritatively. "None of you do." He looked at Ruby. "I'm not going to order anyone around-"

"N-No, I understand, and-and same goes for me," Ruby managed, a bit nervously, "And I do want to help Blake. I've fought Roman Torchwick before, after all. I-I can be a big help."

Yang shrugged.

"Heck, I'm fine with hurting these assholes," she stated. She smirked. "I've got a juvenile record anyway, what's a few more charges?"

"I'm not opposed to aiding in justice," Ren said, "But it would be good to approach this with clear objectives in mind. I would say that assisting the police should be our main priority, not vengeance."

"Yeah!" Nora declared, throwing a fist into the air.

Jaune stared intensely into the air at that. Pyrrha frowned.

"Jaune?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah," he managed with a nod, "Sure."

Yang caught this too. She and Pyrrha exchanged some concerned looks. Ruby frowned deeply.

"Well," Weiss decided, "I-I don't think I can participate. I have a date this Friday."

"That's fine," Jaune said with a nod. He looked at Pyrrha. "Pyrrha? You don't have to-"

"Let me think about it," she said softly. Jaune stared at her, and then slowly nodded.

"Okay."

He turned back to his food. He didn't like making his friends feel like this, but… In all honesty? There was a part of him that insisted it didn't matter.

Not as long as Iridescent was still out there.

- - -

The rest of the meal was fairly subdued. Jaune got up, put his tray away for the dishwasher, and headed off to do some training during his free period.

He was just about done with changing back into his armor, and had emerged in the training area, when he paused and looked over.

Pyrrha was waiting for him, in her armor and looking very determined.

"Pyrrha?" He asked.

"Jaune," she greeted. She walked up to him. "I… I've been thinking about it."

"Okay," he replied. She sucked in a deep breath, and crossed her arms under her chest.

"I'm willing to go and help you," she said quietly, "I'm your partner. I will always back you up if you're going into danger."

Jaune smiled a bit. That did put his mind more at ease.

"Thank you Pyrrha, I really-"

"But," Pyrrha stated, "O-Only if you… If you tell me what you intend to do with this Iridescent girl."

Jaune froze. He turned his head away.

"I don't know the full story," she said, "Only what you told all of us. You just told us she was a criminal you were familiar with…"

She sucked in a breath.

"But I know there's more to it. Yang knows the story. I can tell. But I want to know it too. I think… I think we all deserve to know."

"Know what?" Jaune spat, anger and bitterness welling up inside of him like lava in a volcano.

Pyrrha met his gaze evenly.

"Know if…" She hesitated for a moment, "If you're planning to kill her."

Dead silence fell. Jaune felt numb all over. He couldn't look at Pyrrha all of a sudden, his eyes locking onto the floor.

"Are you planning to kill her?" Pyrrha asked quietly.

"... If I was," Jaune asked carefully, still not meeting her eyes, "What would you do about it?"

Pyrrha stared intently at him, silent. She spoke again, still quiet.

"I would ask… I would ask if that's really what you want," she said, "If that's what you want to do."

His hand formed a fist as he slammed it against his thigh in a sudden burst of anger.

"Yes, it is," he growled.

He told her everything. With Yang, his shame was the strongest emotion and that had guided what he had focused on. With Pyrrha, all that came out was anger. Every memory of Iridescent and the pain she put him and Gato through.

Her mocking laughter and smirks at Gato and him every time they fought desperately for their lives. Her leers as she mocked him from behind bars, asking how long he would last with just an old man to help him. How she had become lustful over him becoming a killer…

Jaune's fists clenched as he shook.

"She needs to die," he snarled, "She needs to die at my hand. For everything she did. Everything she's doing. For Gato."

Pyrrha stepped forward carefully, as smooth and graceful as ever. She took his hands in hers. He looked up at her, his anger stilled as worry flooded him.

Her gaze was full of compassion.

"Jaune," she said softly, "I understand your feelings. If someone… If someone took someone precious from me? I would kill them."

Jaune blinked. Her tone was… Sad, but firm.

"You-?"

"I have never killed," Pyrrha said, still calm and serious, "But in Argus, our culture… I was brought up to be a warrior. To stay calm and focused, and accept that in a serious fight, it would be to the death. I… I've made peace with that. I don't look forward to it. Sometimes I wish I had just stayed as a tournament fighter, where there are safeguards, but…"

She shook her head slowly.

"Then I wouldn't get to protect people. Help people. Meet… Meet wonderful people, like you, Nora, Ren, Ruby…" She flushed a bit.

Jaune nodded slowly.

"I-I see…"

"But if you want her dead, Jaune," Pyrrha stated, firm and sad, "I will do that with you. For you. Just... Say the word."

He stared at her intensely. His rage, already burning in his mind, pushed for acceptance.

You've seen how incredible a fighter she is! You know how much she cares you! He thought, his blood singing in his fury, She would do it with me, she would do it for me!

She would do anything for me, she'd be mine.

He stared into her eyes. His hands rested on hers. He opened his mouth.

Just say the word, Jaune. Just say it and… And she would… She would…

A wave of horror and revulsion washed over Jaune. He fell back, putting a hand over his mouth.

"Jaune?"

Jaune couldn't look at her.

"Pyrrha, I…" He looked at her and swallowed. "Thanks... I-I mean that."

"I'm just worried," Pyrrha said quietly, "That if you choose to go down this path, to deliberately kill her… That you might… Might lose something important. And so will I."

She hesitated, then reached out and rested a hand against his chest, over his pounding heart. His heartbeat slowed, and he calmed down.

"Something that I love about you, dearly," she added, and despite himself he blushed.

"Thanks," he murmured.

She looked him in the eyes.

"If you're sure about this," she said, "If you're sure about going after her, and ending her life? I will support you. I will fight alongside you. I will do everything I can to help you, Jaune."

She leaned in and rested her forehead against his. He glanced up into her eyes.

"And I will do everything I can to help you stay you, Jaune. I just… I don't want to lose you, Jaune. Not your life, and not who you are."

Pyrrha smiled softly.

"You've worked so hard to help me be… Be someone I like. To not be crazy, to not be alone. I-I want to do the same for you."

Jaune licked his lips, even as his emotions roiled inside of him. He looked away to the side.

"I…"

"Do you want to go through with this?" She asked quietly.

Jaune stared intently at the wall.

"... I'm not sure," he admitted.

Pyrrha slowly nodded.

"Then maybe you should talk to everyone else about this, first," she said. "You know my answer. Maybe… Maybe you should know everyone else's. When they know the full story."

Jaune sucked in a breath through his nostrils, and let it out as a long, slow sigh.

"Yeah… Maybe I should."

- - -

 

[Earl Silver]

Huh, the pseudo-yandere is the voice of reason. Will wonders never cease?

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Huh, the pseudo-yandere is the voice of reason. Will wonders never cease?

Click to shrink...

Normal human interactions is not something she really gets, but warrior and fighting stuff? She totally gets.

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

Huh, the pseudo-yandere is the voice of reason. Will wonders never cease?

Click to shrink...

If you think about, the entire main cast in RWBY were kind of damaged in one way or another, even at the beginning.

Pyrrha might honestly have been the most normal of the lot.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

If you think about, the entire main cast in RWBY were kind of damaged in one way or another, even at the beginning.

Pyrrha might honestly have been the most normal of the lot.

Click to shrink...

She was only normal on the outside. On the inside...? Not so much.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Jaune didn't visit Old Vale as often as he would like, but he still found time whenever he could. Today, he'd been asked to meet Miss Kitty at the Berdea Coastal Park. He spotted her at the entrance. She greeted him warmly with a hug, and then had him escort her out into the park proper. They came to a stop over a marsh, which directly faced a large rocky hill jutting out of the coastal waterways and wetlands.

"So uh, what did you want me for, Miss Kitty?" Jaune asked. Kitty smiled.

"I want to see Golden Lion's Roar," she said. She stepped back away from Jaune. "Use it on that rocky hill."

Jaune winced.

"Er... Are you sure?" He asked. "Mine's... I'm still working on controlling it."

"Well, you can't learn to control it without using it, correct?" She asked. She nodded over at the rocks. "Go ahead."

Jaune sighed, and nodded. He turned, and drew Crocea Mors.

"How powerful do you want it?" Jaune asked.

"As powerful as you can manage," Kitty said. Jaune grasped his sword in both hands, and focused.

"Okay..."

The sword began to burn with Aura, crackling with the repressed energy. Jaune hefted the sword up, and swung!

A massive crescent of golden yellow Aura lashed out with a boom like thunder. It struck the rocky hill, and exploded, sending a massive amount of debris up high into the air.

Jaune looked over at Kitty, taking deep breaths.

"How is that?"

Kitty smiled.

"Very good! It's a little sloppy, but to get this far with the technique after, what, only a year? That's very impressive!"

"Was... How good could Gato be with it?" He asked. Kitty laughed softly.

"Oh Jaune... He was an artist with it. In his prime? He could strike with thrusts, slashes, and all manner of attacks! He could cut down entire armies of Grimm with a thousand Golden Lion's Roars in seconds!"

Jaune's eyes widened.

"Woah... Really?"

"Yes," Kitty said with a nod. She beamed. "I don't think you'll be quite the same kind of fighter. You take too much after your father."

Jaune flushed.

"You... You knew my father?"

"Only by reputation," Kitty said, "But he was a fearsome, powerful fighter. Gato and myself? We were much more about precision than power. Your father was all about power, but he used it well."

"Oh," Jaune murmured. He looked a little down. Kitty frowned.

"Mm? What is it, Jaune?"

"Just... Gato was a precision fighter, and he taught a brawler like me," Jaune sighed. "I mean... I can blow things up real good. Blast apart things, slice them apart... But..." He squeezed his sword hilt tightly.

He felt her hand over his. He looked up to her smiling face.

"You won't be like Gato or your father, Jaune," she said, "And that's all right... As long as you're a hero. A hero they can be proud of. And you're on your way to being that."

Jaune flushed a bit.

"You think so?"

"I know so," Kitty said with a nod, as police sirens filled the air. "Now, let's run before we have to answer any awkward questions from the cops!"

Jaune nodded quickly as they began to run.

"Yes ma'am, right behind you!"

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

"Just... Gato was a precision fighter, and he taught a brawler like me," Jaune sighed. "I mean... I can blow things up real good.

Click to shrink...

Yang - "I don't see a problem with this."

Weiss - "Of course you wouldn't, just look at him! His build, and stance are so unlike proper Atlesian men! That firm, aggressive stance! Those deep blue eyes firmly fixed upon the horizon... Those long, rippling racks of hard won muscle....."

Pyrrha - "..."

Nora - "She's reaching critical mass!"