It sometimes amazed Jaune just how quickly things had spiraled out of control in just a matter of days. The life he had wanted to build for himself disappearing only to be replaced by one he could have never imagined before. But he knew where it ended, where it deserved to end. A smile came over his face as the realization of what was planned once more slammed into him like a tidal wave.
Jaune Arc was about to kill another person.
In Jaune's mind through the person he planned to kill deserved what was coming to him. But that didn't change the fact that it felt like his stomach was doing backflips at the idea of bringing another person's life to an end.
With a sigh Jaune finally stood up, careful not to wake any of the other members of my team. They were all deep asleep, aided by some sleeping medicine he had added into their late night snacks. It wasn't something they would notice, his friend who had provided them had assured him of that, and it wasn't like they had problems sleeping through the night anyway. Regardless of that he couldn't have them wake up, that would make the plan all the harder to pull off and having to hear their voices would shake his resolve. Before he left the room he put a note on his bed, it told a lie about what was going to happen tonight and it would at least leave his friends with a comforting lie.
With his preparation finally done he slowly made his way out of my room, sword and sheath both carried in his hands so it wouldn't rattle against his leg. Any amount of noise might wake up someone, and he didn't want to hurt anyone else who saw him.
For whatever reason Jaune's mind turned back toward the events that had lead him to make this decision. It all seemed so simple to him now, and it had all started on one rainy night.
From the day Cardin had discovered that he had faked his way into Beacon he had lorded the fact over Jaune and turned him into his personal slave, meaning that when he and his little group wanted to 'party it up' down in Vale for the weekend Jaune was dragged along to make sure that they had someone sober to help them get back to the Academy before the airships stopped running to the school.
As bad as it was playing toady for them Jaune could usually handle it easily enough, they would go into a club or something like that and he would just need to wait for them. But that day had been more taxing than any other experience he had ever gone through before, which meant a lot coming from a guy with seven sisters. They had been thrown out of about three bars, and somehow they had gotten Jaune in a fight that still had his ribs hurting three hours after it had ended.
To top it all off it had started raining down on him as they entered the next club, one they always stayed at least two hours in before calling it quits, making it well after dark and leaving him freezing outside. At some point he had just ducked into an alley by the club, trying to retain some form of body heat in the cold night.
"Planning to catch your death out here?" a voice from above caused him to look up, seeing a man with a black umbrella standing over me, blocking out the rain by standing near him. "Because there are easier ways to do it."
Despite my current situation that still got a laugh out of him. "No just…friends are in the club, and I need to wait for them." Jaune tried to keep the bitter tone out of my voice, but with his entire body being soaked by the rain and knowing for a fact that Cardin's group was having the time of their lives made it difficult.
"Sounds like the best pals a person could have," The man said dryly, offering a hand to him. "Come on, I am already going into the club, we can at least get you dry."
Jaune blinked in confusion, unable to even understand the simple act of someone reaching out to help him at this point. After spending most of his time with Cardin and his group and playing the part of their whipping boy it was hard to even think that there was actually human decency in the world. "It's really okay, no need to…"
The man rolled his eyes and smirked. "Kid I don't plan to stand out here all night, and I am going to bet that if I ask again you are going to realize that you don't want to die of the chill."
He couldn't really argue with that, and took the man's hand and allowed him to help him up. "Thanks. My name is Jaune by the way, Jaune Arc."
"Pleasure to meet you, names Roman," the man tilted up his bowler hat to reveal orange hair a lock of which was covering one of his eyes. "Now let's get in before it gets worse out here."
They made their way into the club, walking right past the Bouncers who had given Jaune a stern look and told me to beat it while Cardin's group had gone in. Roman however simply walked in, gave them a look, and tossed his umbrella to one of them.
Roman moved through the crowds with a sort of ability Jaune had never seen before. People just naturally got out of his way without having to even be looking at him. It was almost as if he was projecting some kind of force, through it was more likely just his natural charisma and presence coming into play. "You drink kid?"
Jaune shook his head in the negative. "No, I mean I tried some beer once but it was kind of…yucky." he almost hit himself in the forehead for using such childish language, but Roman only laughed.
"Agreed on that note, the swill they put in cans isn't anything like high quality alcohol through here," Roman raised two fingers and the bartender came over, a man who looked suspiciously like the two bouncers at the front.
"Is this like a family business or something?" he asked, motioning toward the various suited employees, each holding a resemblance to each other that bordered on uncanny.
"Heh, wondered that myself before, never bothered finding out about it," their drinks were placed in front of them, two very colorful drinks that smelled of fruit and sugar. "So how did you end up playing the straight man to your 'friends'?"
Jaune laughed bitterly and lifted his drink up, taking another smell of it. "Well let's just say…they learned something about me and they are holding it over me."
"Blackmail huh?" Roman took a slow sip of his drink, savoring it as it slid down his throat. "Never thought I would see the future Huntsmen of the world acting like petty thieves, what a crying shame."
"Yeah, I guess so," Jaune took a sip of the drink and looked around the club, spotting Cardin and the rest of his team harassing some women on the other end of the club. It was obvious that they seemed uncomfortable, but that didn't really seem to matter to the group. "Thanks again for bringing me in here."
Roman simply waved the thanks away. "Eh I figure so long as I do one good deed every couple of years my karma will balance out," he looked into the crowd and followed Jaune's gaze. "One day those people are going to be the ones protecting everyone from all the bad things in the world, makes me think about getting a gun and holing up where I won't run into them."
That notion struck Jaune and gave him pause for a moment. He had never really considered that Cardin and the rest of his group would one day be Huntsmen, commanding respect or fear from anyone they met. That much power in their hands, it did actually send a shiver down his spine. "Yeah, I guess so." He took another sip of his drink before standing up. Cardin's group was heading for the door, and he would need to be out to meet them. "Thanks again Roman." Before he could get far through the orange haired man took a hold of his arm.
"Here, let's meet up again," between two of his fingers was a plain white business card with his name and number on the front of it. "Figure you are going to be back this way next week, probably a good idea to have someone to get you in."
Jaune gave a quick nod of thanks before running off to go rejoin with Cardin and the rest of his group, ready to lead them home and suffer whatever abuse they had ready to heap onto him.
Roman sighed and quickly drained the rest of his glass. "So you really think he is the one we are looking for?" he asked, knowing the person he was speaking to would always be listening.
The chair where Jaune had been sitting was suddenly occupied by another figure, which appeared out of thin air. "I could feel it inside of him, the thing we are looking for." Cinder Fall smiled as her eyes began to glow with a hellish light. "Soon everything we have ever wanted will be ours."
Jaune shook his head, slowly walking out of the building and heading toward the place where he planned to meet Cardin. It had been easy to convince the other boy to come out to the place where he needed him to be. After all what could a puny guy like him do to someone who had so easily beaten him down just a few weeks prior in a training match?
Yet again Jaune felt his will being tested, felt every bit of the person he had always thought he had been telling him to turn around and forget about all of it. But that part was quickly brought down by the memory of their second meeting. It still amazed Jaune how only two meeting with a man who should have had him running to the cops had changed his whole world view.
In the week between their first and second meeting Jaune had done some research on Roman, having found the last name on the card he had been given a bit familiar from something else. The first thing that popped up was the most wanted list of criminals within the four kingdoms, with Roman placed firmly at number four. Stealing, destruction of private property, destruction of government property, terrorism, and the guy was the whole nine yards in terms of criminal activities. Part of Jaune felt like just going to the headmaster and turning in the information he found, maybe it could even get him out of the thing with Cardin if it went and made him a hero.
Yet there was another voice that said it would be better to talk to Roman again. What he had said about Huntsmen still rang in his ears, and the way he had talked made it sound like there was more to be said. So Jaune decided on a compromise, go one more time to learn what he could on Roman, and then turn it over to Ozpin.
After a weekend full of abuse the group arrived at the same club they always ended up at, being let through one by one until Jaune was left standing with the Bouncers looking at him.
"You Jaune Arc?" one of them suddenly asked once Cardin's group was out of earshot.
Jaune blinked in confusion and gave a nod of his head. "Yeah, that's me."
One of the Bouncers pointed behind him and led Jaune to the back of the club, where private rooms could be rented out for events or parties. The door opened as soon as they arrived, and siting inside of the club was Roman, who was drinking something colored amber from a small glass. "Welcome back kid, thought it would be easier for us to talk back here," Roman waited for Jaune to take a seat, slowly sipping from his drink. "So you read up on me."
Jaune paused before sitting down on the couch opposite of Roman, giving a slight nod of his head. "Yeah, figured you would kind of guess that one."
Roman nodded and poured Jaune a shot of the drink, and another for himself. "Well kid I am sure you have questions, so let's clear some of the obvious ones out of the way first," Roman slammed back the shot and coughed a bit as the burning alcohol made its way down his throat. "Yes I have killed people, yes I have stolen from people, and sometimes I have done a mixture of both."
"Why?" Jaune asked, looking down at the drink.
He didn't speak for a moment, simply looking down at the empty glass with a sigh. "When I was a kid my parents were… well let's just say not the best people in the entire world. I ended up stealing to make sure that I didn't go to bed hungry at night. Turns out trying to feed yourself while poor is a crime that the justice system strictly is again, so they tossed me in a cell for four years to teach me a lesson," Roman laughed bitterly and poured himself another shot. "Inside of a jail in one of the maximum security sections you learn a lot about the world, dog eat dog and all that good stuff. I had to fight and claw my way to the top to make sure no one could hurt me ever again. And then they let me out of jail, onto the streets. No parents to back me up, a criminal record, and an entire world of hard labor to look forward too."
Jaune gulped, having never really thought of the lives of people who were without. His family had been large but fairly comfortable and loving, the idea of a life like Roman's was so alien to him it might as well have come from a different planet. He downed the shot, shuddering at the unfamiliar sensation of it.
"And you know I did try, worked in the mines for a while for just enough Lien to eat and sleep, all the while the people upstairs were making money hand over fist and watching us die from their offices. One night I found that one of our supervisors was trying to force himself onto one of the other workers and well…" Roman smiled a bitter smile before crossing his legs. "I found a piece of metal and beat him to death with it, after that things just…progressed. I couldn't stand those in power, not while knowing about the things they keep from the people."
Jaune simply looked down to the ground, wondering if in the same shoes he would do anything different. "So you became a criminal?"
"So I survived, I never go out of my way to harm people who don't get in my way. Recently through I found a new purpose, someone who shared my views on a much larger scale, a way to finally bring down those who want to keep an iron grip on the little guy." Roman paused as the door opened and a rather short women walked into the private room. Her hair was longish, consisting of both pink and brown. "Neo glad you are here, why don't you and Jaune here go enjoy a little dance, I need to drink more anyway."
Jaune blinked and looked from Roman to Neo, wondering what was going on now. Everything had seemed simple before all of this, but now his mind was casting doubts. He had always wanted to be a hero, but could anything he do really make up for the damage people like Cardin would do? After a moment he stood up and followed Neo toward the dance floor.
"I am going to guess that you and Roman were probably talking about his past," Neo shook her head a bit, a faint smile on her face. "Everything he said is true by the way, he might be a criminal but he isn't the kind of person who just lies about his past."
Jaune sighed a bit and followed Neo onto the dance floor, keeping close to her but also trying to make sure he wouldn't bump into Cardin. "What about you, how did you end up in this?"
She smirked a bit, getting close enough so she could talk over the music without having to yell. "Family died when I was young, both of them were defectors from the military who wanted to form their own place, got a few people to join them. Kingdoms got scared and sent in the Huntsmen to destroy their village, being with Roman lets me get my revenge."
"They did what?" He asked, unable to believe that the people who were supposed to be the heroes in his mind would act in such a way.
"Huntsmen are the pawns of the Kingdoms, everyone likes to think they are heroes or saviors, but really they are just exterminators who get aimed at whatever annoys those in power. It's the reason you see so many of them arriving to stop White Fang riots when the Schnee Company falls under attack." Neo laughed as a new song came on. "Come on this one is my favorite."
The two of them continued to dance for a bit, while Jaune tried to come to terms with the new information that was being given to him. It seemed hard to believe that Huntsmen would just destroy what they were pointed at, but people like Cardin were given free range at Beacon, hardly even discouraged for being some of the worst types of people imaginable. It wasn't even like Cardin's group was the only bad one; there were plenty of students who were jerks. If they were the future defenders of the world, he really wondered what it meant to be a 'good guy'.
After a few more songs Neo and Jaune went back to the room, only to find that Roman was no longer alone in it. Sitting next to him was Cinder, her dress black with small red accents to it. "So this is the Jaune I have been told about, Roman has told me a bit about you." She held out her hand and Jaune shook it.
"Nice to meet you um…"
"Cinder, Cinder Fall." The raven haired woman took a seat and motioned for Jaune to do the same. "So I am guessing you have probably learned some shocking things these past weeks."
"That's putting it mildly," Jaune said, leaning over a bit in his chair. This was happening to fast, but at the same time it felt like a cover was being pulled away from his eyes. The pretty world of heroes and monsters he created seemed so fake when faced with reality, reality that was hard to deny with his current proof.
"Indeed, but you see I and a few…associates have been working on a way to change things, to bring down the corrupt and create a world that is more equal." She smiled a bit, her eyes glowing softly. "Would you be interested in hearing about it?"
Jaune simply sat there for a bit, but finally he nodded.
Jaune stood under the moonlight, waiting for Cardin to arrive at the meeting place he had sent him. It was possible the guy was just asleep, but it was equally possible he just wanted to show up late to mess with him.
After a few more minutes Cardin finally made his way toward Jaune, a scowl on his face and anger in his eyes. "Okay I am here, what was so freaking important you had to call me out of bed?" Cardin was wearing his student uniform rather than his armor, something that made Jaune's job much easier.
Before the other boy could react Jaune drew his blade and moved forward, plunging the cold steel directly into Cardin's chest. "Your death." He said voice cold to his own ears.
Cardin looked at him with shock, unable to believe what was happening. Somehow he gathered the strength to push himself off of Jaune's blade and collapse to the ground, trying to crawl away.
"Sorry, that isn't happening," Jaune brought his foot down on Cardin's back, a twisted smile forming on his face. "Why did you even come here Cardin, you can't be here to protect people, to make a better future for the world, all you do is torment and use other people."
"Please…" Cardin coughed weakly as blood slowly drained from his body onto the ground.
Jaune lifted his blade and planted it firmly into the other student's heart, finally bringing an end to him.
"Ten out of ten would watch again," Roman clapped a small smile on his face as he exited from the shadows that had kept him hidden. "That was the best first kill I have ever seen."
"Yeah," Jaune took out his blade and cleaned it before sliding it into his sheath and looking down toward the water below. It would take Cardin's body and wash it out, removing any evidence of the attack. "Help me with this."
Roman nodded and the two went about the grisly task of tossing the body into the water, listening for the sound of it hitting. "Really is there any better sound then hearing a body hitting the water?"
Jaune shook his head a bit and looked down at his blade, the one his grandfather has used to fight in the war. At some point he thought of him as a hero, but now with his eyes opened Jaune could only see another puppet on strings. "No more puppets." He said to himself, tossing the blade and collapsible shield down after the body.
"Nicely put, now then." A small airship hummed and arose from a bit down the ledge, rising up to meet them. "Shall we?"
With a nod Jaune followed Roman onto the airship; watching as it rose into the night sky and watching Beacon disappear. Now he had severed ties with the life of playing a hero.
In his mind there was no longer such a thing as heroes.
But there was still plenty of room for villains.
And wow this is the first chapter of a reboot. Few things I should get out of the way first.
Why reboot?
The original Fallen from Grace was written way back in season 1, back when I was a lot worse at writing and mostly doing it for Tumblr and not . I feel that by rebooting the whole thing I could create a much better story overall.
So yeah basically we are staring from square one, the difference being that now I have more to work with in terms of the story with more villains put into RWBY season 2.
Anywho leave a review if you enjoyed or have things to say. Favorite and Follow if you want more and let's see if this one catches enough interest for chapter 2.