Selfless Strategist Omake 1: Overpowered From The Beginning
Emerald Forest
A red glow slowly blanketed Pyrrha's body before the energy seemed to flow over Jaune. And what an accurate description that was cause it was like a warmth literally flowed over his skin like it was water. Yet it held none of the wetness and instead felt more akin to a blanket. Then that energy literally seeped into his skin and that's when it happened. He felt like his core exploded with energy, his body along with Pyrrha's were glowing white with the intensity of a small sun. He could feel the new energy like it was a new muscle that he'd never had before, and it seemed to even react to his weapon. Cause he felt a resonance from the ancestral blade and it almost felt like he knew the blade was even sharper than before. He looked up to his new partner with an awe that matched her own.
Neither had expected this outcome, I mean sure a forcefield was cool, but this...This was something beyond cool it was literally awe-inspiring. Both of their bodies felt lighter and stronger than ever before. Jaune shook off his awe and a large grin spread on his face. His dream was no longer so far out of reach. This power made his dream a matter of time rather than a gamble. Oceanic eyes met the Emerald orbs of the slowly recovering Champion. And instantly he grabbed her into a heartwarming, powerful, and yet soft hug. "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you" He spoke quietly into Pyrrha's ears with all of the relief, awe, and thankfulness he could muster. And boy did that have an effect on the Girl who was now giving her own hair a run for its money in how dark of a red they could be. Her just barely resurfaced thoughts had come to a grinding halt and her mind shut down for a second. has stopped running reset beginning.
Deathstalker Cave
Jaune was face to face with a monster that had fooled him into believing it was a relic and all he could do was smile. His sword was pointed forward glowing an ethereal white as Pyrrha tried to get him to think about retreating. "I'm sorry Pyrrha, but there's no way we can let this thing go after anyone else." And with that, he rushed forward meeting a pincer head on and managing to stop it's force completely. Then as the second pincer came slamming towards him he flicked Crocea Mors into the offending appendage. The blade bit into the carapace like it a butcher knife into cold butter. Before the sword was flung out of his grasp into the air. But all the empowered teen could do was smile as he shouted out to his partner. "Magnetic Nail Gun" while he was knocked back like a ragdoll grinning like an idiot.
Pyrrha for her part was confused until her body began to glow red and white together. Suddenly she knew what he meant, somehow during the awakening he'd learned about her semblance. But if so why was he asking her to do something so far out of her control levels. Sure she could move metal fairly quickly and with some for, but such attacks weren't even as strong as her sword swings. 'How am I suppose to hurt it with just one sword?' then her aura suddenly fused with its white glow and became less opaque. Her semblance which she knew the limits of suddenly felt limitless. As her eyes locked onto the sword that was now falling down aimlessly.
The Deathstalker which was being cautious before saw that its prey was distracted. Multiple red eyes focused on the human girl in front of it. Then with but a twitch of effort its stinger was launched forward like a ballista bolt spelling certain death for the champion. Right as it's stinger was inches away from the girl the Grimm's world was put into darkness. Like it had just been forced within itself and its life ceased to exist. Which wasn't far from the truth oddly enough.
Pyrrha and Jaune stared at the sight before them illuminated by a reddish light. There sat the decomposing corpse of the Deathstalker and neither could believe the sight. Its tail had literally gone into itself from the middle, stinger pointing towards the sky and a bend poking out of the monster's belly. Its carapace now had a crater in the center making it look like the beast had been hit by a meteor, but instead of a smoldering rock, Crocea Mors lived to its name. Yellow death sat pinning the Deathstalker's tail to the ground and through its body. Glowing a vibrant red that made the white and yellow of its metal stick out even more.
Jaune shouted like a kid who just met a superhero. "Holy Oum Pyrrha, You're a badass! You made that overgrown scorpion go from giant to giant smear" Pyrrha shook off her shock and then turned to Jaune with the purest smile she'd ever smiled. This boy who didn't know her, treated her like everyone else, and was currently praising her with no motives. Had literally just made her more powerful and he was praising her? By the gods, remnant had just been gifted with the greatest huntsman ever. And she by luck and a single spear toss had gotten everything she wanted from coming to beacon and more. The blonde knight before her currently doing a victory dance with surprising skill and grace was every huntsmans' wet dream. A literal upgrade to their abilities and aura itself.
After Jaune finished his victory dance he turned to his partner with a playful yet sheepish grin " You mind getting my sword for me, I'm not sure I can pull it out after what you just did". The request interrupted Pyrrha from her revelation and she gave him an award-winning smile. Yet looking at this dork's grin and boyish good looks had distracted her. While this normally wouldn't be a worry her semblance was currently supercharged.
Jaune went from being stunned by just how beautiful Pyrrha was smiling like that to being stunned by his family blades hilt slamming into his chest and launching him out the cave like a rocket. He began to scream in the "manliest" way as he was catapulted for the second time that day. Only faintly hearing Pyrrha squeak out an "I'm sorry"
Relic ruins
Yang turned at the ready gauntlets cocked as the hauntingly girlish scream echoed throughout the forest. "Some girl is in trouble, did you hear that Blake?" She asked her partner who was looking upwards at a slowly growing red projectile that had just left a giant nevermore. The monochrome secret Faunus pointed up getting the blonde brawlers attention. They watched in slow motion as a terminal velocity Ruby was sideswiped by Rocket Jaune. Effectively saving her and knocking them both into the canopy of a tree.
Upside down in the tree Jaune sat pinned to the trunk by Crocea Mors somehow while Ruby was currently seeing stars atop a thick branch. Since he'd already been pinned before the dorky knight seemed to just accept his fate before checking on his friend. "Woh Ruby sorry about that, here let me help with that" As his hand lightly stroked her head he began to glow white as his aura rolled off him and flowed over the recovering reaper. Ruby's world stopped spinning and instantly came into focus. Her aura reserves full and her body felt stronger and lighter than ever before.
Realizing that the empowering feeling was accompanied by a warmth she looked up to its source. Jaune was literally just above by inches currently running his hand through her hair as he glowed white. His ocean blue eyes shimmering like jewels, because of his aura. And then with a blush, the girl instantly shot off the branch to her sister just as Pyrrha burst through the brush in a panic searching for her Partner. "Pyrrha?...Ruby!" Jaune called as the second he noticed Pyrrha Ruby had disappeared from his sight.
While getting himself untangled the group of now 4 bystanders plus Ruby watched in confused interest. As the 4 time Mistral Champion rushed up to the tree and began apologizing profusely while Jaune fumbled with the sword and waved away her concern. Pyrrha instantly dislodged the sword which caused Jaune to slam headfirst into the branch below unprepared. Causing another string of apologies to flow while an awkward, but heartily laughing Jaune told her it was fine.
Yang turned to her sister with a smirk. "So who'd you end up partnered with anyways sis?" Ruby looked to her sister with a sigh "Weiss" and then her eyes went wide with panic "Weiss!" as she looked up into the air. Everyone's eyes looked to the sky to see a white shape dangling off a giant nevermore. "How could you leave me?!" Weiss screamed dangling from a talon."I told you to Jump" "She's gonna fall" came an almost bored tone from Blake. "She'll be fine" Ruby said brushing it off like it was nothing. "She's falling" Ren sagely inputted with a neutral tone.
Jaune looked up to see his snow angel falling and grinned at his chance to make a better impression. Taking a crouched pose aura flowed into his legs as he shot upwards with a dancers grace. Catching Weiss in a bridal carry before giving her a soft smile. "Just dropping in?" He asked smoothly as they descended. With a flash of white the both became lightly encased in his aura as Jaune landed on the ground. Dust being kicked up all around him as he spoke again "I must be lucky it's not often Angels fall from Heaven" his voice took on a rustic and smooth tone. As the now blushing Weiss looked upon her savior glowing like a hero. "Let me go you, Idiot!" She stated angrily trying to hide her flushed cheeks.
As Weiss brushed herself off Jaune looked to the sky with a look of contemplation. "Hey Ruby, how far do you think you could launch me with your scythe going full speed?" The red reaper looked at him confused as he returned her gaze with a sweetly curious face. "Uhh, straightforward? Pretty far, why?" The Arc hummed non-committally before looking at Pyrrha and the girl he saw wielding a hammer before. Then a calm smile followed by a feeling of true confidence radiated from the boy.
The 6 girls and Ren watched as Jaune trotted up to them. He stopped at Pyrrha whispering in her ear which got him an incredulous look that quickly morphed to interest. With a quick nod he turned to the Ginger bomber with a mischievous grin. "How do you feel about launching me like a baseball into a giant nevermore?" Yang, Blake, Weiss, and Ruby looked at him like he was insane asking the insane girl to hit him with the hammer he was currently pointing to. Ren looked equal parts mortified and accepting of his fate. As he watched Nora go from confused to absolutely ecstatic. "Oh my gosh, You're my second favorite person ever!"
Jaune laughed good-naturedly patting the girl on the head like a younger sister. Transferring his aura to her as he did so. The girl went from vibrating in place to looking at the boy with awe as her eyes seemed to have electricity running around the irises. He then turned to Ruby with the biggest grin ever. "So ruby how about that slingshot?" a playful wink and a nudge got knocked the red reaper from her stupor. Her silver eyes gleaming as she realized his plan and started to squee in excitement. This was going to be awesome she just knew it would be. So she grabbed him and zoomed them down to one edge of the clearing. "BATTER UP!" she screamed in childlike glee.
The next few seconds flew by in a complicatedly simple series of events. Jaune's shield expanded at the same moment that Ruby's scythe did, Nora had jumped away from the group with a powerful leap the Ren only knew of from her semblance empowering her, Pyrrha lunge backwards to keep the nevermore and Jaune within line of sight. Ruby launched forward Crescent Rose trailing behind her while its blade had scooped Jaune by the shield he was riding and they both entered high speeds thanks to Ruby's empowered semblance. The 2 huntsmen in training disappearing into a cloud of rose petals. Suddenly Ruby reappeared at a full stop a white streak zoning from her position straight at Nora.
Nora's grin expanded into maniacal proportions as her energized muscles tensed and she set up for a golf swing with her hammer. Cerulean blue met Ocean blue for a brief instant as the 2 shared a moment of trust and comradery. Before her arms blurred covered in a pink glow that was less opaque than normal. The sound of an explosion and metal meeting was heard as the white streak that was Jaune was now piercing the sky in the general direction of the flying Grimm.
Jaune was grinning like a confident maniac his mind realized he was going to miss the Nevermore at this rate, but all that did was make his smile grow. He pulled Crocea Mors out the top of his shield fighting the g-forces as he did. Before his eyes locked onto Pyrrha's shrinking form. With a nod, he turned back to the flying monstrosity before holding his sword directly above his head in 2 hands. His aura flowing into his blade as it shined a dull, but bright yellow.
Pyrrha watched as the events unfolded just like her crazy, but loveable partner had told her moments ago. She should've been against such an insane plan, but his abilities had made it seem so much less crazy. And each part of his plan going as he said just made her more confident. She turned with an imploring look as she faced her partner in the sky and locked onto him. He looked to be pulling his sword out and she liked to assume they'd just locked gaze as he nodded to her. Her grin turned confident and excited as she activated her empowered semblance. Correcting his path and making sure he didn't lose any of his speed from friction by pushing him forward still.
What happened next was boring in theory, but brutally beautiful in practice. As Jaune Arc began spinning his sword and shield covered in a rich red glow, The red glow on the sword overlapping with the white and yellow that was his sword now creating a color close to the sun. To the 4 bystanders of this insane act, it looked like the Blonde knight had become a drill cloaked in the glow of the sun itself. Shooting at a speed only Ruby could accomplish but in the sky rather than the ground.
Then he impacted the nevermore...Well more like pierced the flying target like it was barely even there leaving a large scorching hole in its body. Jaune now having lost most of his momentum smiled as he shrunk his shield and clipped it to his hip. Enjoying the air flowing through his hair as he put his trust in his partner. His trust was soon proven to be well placed as his still slightly heated blade glew red again and dragged him to the giant falling corpse. Stabbing into its neck as he rode the body down with a cheer.
Blake Belladonna blinked as her brain tried to process what had just happened while it simultaneously thanked Oum that she wasn't partnered with that guy. Yang Xiao-Long stared in barely suppressed astonishment and as the blonde knight went from Vomit boy to Shooting star in her mind. Weiss Schnee couldn't wrap her head around what had just happened, it was insane, stupid, and almost impossible to pull off. She would've said impossible, but then she had literally just watched it happen. Lee Ren just looked on blinking owlishly with a single thought 'My life just got more insane'.
Ruby, Nora, and Pyrrha stood side by side with large grins watching the person who'd just made all their days in different ways plummet to the earth. Nora couldn't wait for the adventure her Fearless Commander was going to lead her thru. Ruby Rose her first friend thanking Oum for such an awesome friend that had allowed her to prove she could help take down Grimm and had dashed away all her nerves. Pyrrha Nikos couldn't help, but feel like her partner had changed her life for the better and guaranteed it would keep getting better, skill-wise and happiness-wise.
Jaune Arc was no longer cheering because he'd forgotten one tiny part of this plan that he hadn't taken into account. He still didn't have a landing strategy, so how the Grimm was he supposed to survive this landing. His scream that everyone thought was a cheer as it was muffled by the extreme winds of his fall did nothing to help. Right before he impacted the ground he had 2 simple thoughts. 'I don't want to die' and 'I let my new power make me forget basic survi-' And he blacked out from impacting the ground. His large reserves draining to nothing and shattering as he was sent tumbling into the shower of upturned dirt.
Beacon Cliffs
Glynda Goodwitch looked on in shock as she at the words she'd previously spoken on Mr. Arc's abilities. Her mind barely comprehending the sequence on events that had just unfolded since the cameras weren't in the cave she'd only seen from the point that Jaune was launched out of the cave they knew had a Deathstalker. When she had seen the size of the Nevermore the children were going to have to fight she was prepared in case they neede to save them but had been calmed by Professor Ozpin.
Ozpin looked at his scroll in what looked to be mild interest as he sipped his coffee, but in reality, he was raving in excitement and shock. He had actually frozen in place at what he'd seen Jaune Arc just accomplish with 3 absolute strangers. The tactical acumen, the way he picked the people most likely to go through with it, the sheer creativity of the plan, and beautiful use of the 3 girls' semblances. But how had he known what Nora's was, and how did he know that they could all perform at that level. Even he the headmaster hadn't realized the girls' had advanced so far in the strength of their semblances. One thought echoed in his head in fond excitement. 'The future is looking bright for this batch'
Bottom of Beacon Cliff Face
Cardin Winchester and his new posse all shivered out of nowhere feeling like something was wrong with the universe. Before Cardin shrugged it off and shoved the others back on pace. "I can't wait to be the strongest guy at Beacon" He stated smugly as he forgot about the random shiver down his spine like it was nothing. Oh, how the poor bully would regret overlooking that sign.