A/N: Ahoy there! I'm back from my small excursion into crossover territory, and I present you all with a new story to read, featuring Jaune of course. This is one of those stories where we start off before Beacon academy, and we slowly and gradually get there, with a bunch of training and meeting up with characters beforehand. Let's see if I can't do better on this than my first attempt...
Disclaimer: If I owned RWBY, no one would want to watch it.
"Yo-ho-ho-ho~" In the middle of an ocean, rocking on the azure waves, lay a small boat. The hull was painted beige, with white surrounding the bow and accenting the edges. At the stern of the boat, there was what appeared to be an oversized exhaust pipe extruding from the boat, shaped like a cone, with the larger half facing away from the vessel. Jutting out from near the stern, on both sides of the watercraft, were what looked like a mixture of rubber tires and paddles. Near the bow of the craft was a chain that led into the water, no doubt connected to an anchor. At the prow was a figurehead of a ram.
Sitting in the boat, across from a large pile of small fish, was rather large man and a rather short woman.
The man was big, burly, and tan, with a tattoo of a star and an anchor on his right arm. His cyan hair was shaped into a pompadour, and his triangular shades were nestled neatly on his nose. Covering his upper body was a loose, teal, unbuttoned shirt, and covering his legs were cargo shorts.
The female was a pretty blonde, with sky-blue eyes and a long pony tail underneath a dark-grey bandana. Her body was shapely and fair and petite, and was covered by a light-grey worker's jumpsuit, the top half open and tied around the waist. This exposed her black tank top.
In both of their hands, one pair slightly hairy and the other pair encased in rust-brown leather gloves, they held fishing rods, and where singing and whistling merrily. As he sang, the large man noticed a dark figure, just on the horizon.
"Huh? Oi, I reckon I spy somethin' over thar."
"Really? Let me check." Stowing her rod, the girl took a pair of binoculars from a small box next to her. Leaning over the edge of the boat, she peered into the distance. Focusing the lenses on the binoculars, she gasped at what she saw.
It was a dinghy, small and as brown as the dirt. Unlike their clean and kept boat, the poor thing was in shambles- the wood was slightly rotten, one oar was missing, and the other oar had a bite mark on it. The hull was covered in scrapes, and a few jagged holes where situated all along the vessel- thankfully, they were above water. She noticed something else- what looked like a human arm, bloodied and dangling off the side.
"It looks like somebody's hurt on that boat! Quickly, reel in the anchor, and fire up those paddles!"
"Aye, ma'am!" Grabbing the chain with a huge hand, he quickly pulled it up from the sandy bottom. Placing it on the boat, he pulled a lever near the stern. At once, the paddles at the side of the boat whirled to life. Adjusting a small knob to the left of the lever, the boat started to move, and was quickly accelerating. Shifting the rudder, he angled it so that the duo were lined up with the other boat.
Traveling over the waves, he slowed down the boat, allowing it to drift near the dinghy. The girl, when close enough, looked at the figure that lay inside.
It was a boy. It was naught but a small boy, barely seven years of age. His messy blond hair was matted with blood, with the vermillion fluid sluggishly trickling down his feminine face, which was missing a large portion of skin around a mangled mockery of a right eye. His shirt, whatever color it could have been before, was torn, and was highlighted dark red. His denim shorts were ripped and torn, and, along with his legs, had splotches of mud and dirt on them.
His limbs… the only one that actually looked normal was his right arm, which was splayed at his side. His left arm, the bicep hanging off the side of the dinghy, was broken, and both legs were bent at unnatural angles. There were large, gaping wounds on all four limbs, with one even having a few worms and maggots. Next to his right arm was a classical sword and shield, both brilliantly white and blue, but with small chips on their edges.
Her eyes glowed, and she viewed a different picture- a translucent suit of armor, super imposed on top of the boy. The legs of the armor only made it up to the mid-thighs, the left arm stopped at the shoulder, and the right arm only went to the elbow. There were several holes, small and medium sized, dotting the abdomen and chest of the phantasmic suit. The ghostly helm was missing a large portion of itself around the right side of its face. But still, the armor was there, and from the years of experience she had, that meant he was still living
"Oh gods, he's barely alive!"
"Okay, I'll pick him up 'n place him on th' boat, ye get the sword n' shield! Those things be probably important to th' laddie…" Grabbing the young body, he gently held it in his arms before setting it down in his vessel. The woman, holding the sword and shield in her hands, resisted the urge to examine them right there. After all, the boy needed medical attention.
"Alright, now we need to head back to the ship before-" A dark figure came up from behind the ship, and vaulted out of the water. It was sleek, black, and large, with ivory bone forming a mask over its face. Red eyes, filled with malice and the same shade of blood, were trained on the boy. The figure's huge maw was open, revealing a black hole with several rows of sharp, white, serrated, teeth, with the bone fin on its back sporting a similar serrated edge.
Before it could chow down on the bloody lad, a large wrench whacked it back into the water, where several blade-like fins were jutting out.
"Charodons. We need tah get out 'o here, fast! Hold onto somethin', I be usin' th' engine!" Pushing a big red button on top of the lever, a column of flame suddenly spurted out of the engine, propelling the boat forwards at high speeds. The burly man was able to hold the boy's body still, while also making sure the weapons, their equipment, and their ton of fish were still safely on board. The lady pulled out a small rectangle, which unfolded into a larger, semi-holographic device. After pushing a small button on it, she began to speak into it.
"Mayday, mayday! We're being chased down by a pack of charodons, and we currently have an unconscious and badly wounded child! Please pick us up!" Without waiting for an answer, she collapsed the device, and put it back where it came from. Looking behind them, they could see the pack of predators chasing after them, just a few yards away from the boat. However, a large explosion in the water, right next to the school of fish-like creatures, spooked them and startled to disperse.
Looking ahead, they saw a beacon of hope: a ship with cannons out, a motley crew of people scurrying around, and a lion figurehead at the prow.
"Ooh, does it hurt? Come to mommy, dear." In the middle of a verdant lawn, next to a brown dirt road, crouched a young woman, holding a small child in her arms. She wore a pale blue blouse, the same shade as the sky over head, along with an emerald skirt that reached her knees. Her pale, petite hands were cradling a weeping child to her shoulder, her long, dark-yellow hair blending well with the golden mop on the boy's head.
After a while, she held him at arm's length, so she could get a better look at him. His shirt, normally a pristine yellow, was mucked up with dirt and mud. His jeans were ripped, exposing the scabbing knees underneath. His arms were covered with bruise, and his right eye was slowly becoming a black eye. His face, as dirty as his shirt, was currently streaked with tears and mucus.
She bit back a scream of rage, knowing that her son seeing his mother go on a rampage was not what he wanted. But it was something SHE wanted, every day, for the past few years. Ever since the day her son enrolled in the nearby prep school, he's been coming home beaten and bruised, courtesy of some brats that thought they could pick on HER son just because THEY were bigger, and because THEIR parents never taught them any kindness or manners! It was an affront to her, but she couldn't do much about it.
Her husband, despite the love and attention she shows him and he shows her, didn't want to do anything about the situation. Instead, he was more or less annoyed at their SON because he never fought for himself, among other things. Instead, the most she could do as a civilian was steel her soul, offer words of encouragement, and help her child lick his wounds at home. It was infuriating.
"Hey, come on, look up here." Tilting his face up, the boy stared into the gentle, smiling face of his own mother. Her vibrant smile, her nice, amber eyes… they helped calm him down.
"Don't worry about Pete or Bob or any of the rest. You are strong. You come from an amazing family, one bound by law to help our littles grow up fine and well, bound by law to free their soul from within. You came from me, a mother who's absolutely delighted that her one and only little boy inherited a kind and gentle heart. You are a blessed boy, one that I am proud to call my son.
You are MY son.
You are Jaune Arc…"
He saw only darkness. Suddenly, however, a light shone, cutting through the dark. Slowly, that light widened, being completely engulfed.
Blinking the bright out of his eyes, Jaune could only look around as he struggled to remember prior events. He was in a rather small and dark room, on top of a table that was cold and metallic. Over his head was a lantern, the source of the infernal brightness. To his right, there lay a monitor with several wires attached to it, showing a line o its screen that would periodically become a small wave. To his left, he saw a small table full of odd tools and implements- hammers, cutters, screwdrivers, etcetera. Even further to his left, the boy could make out a slightly disturbing sight- a mass of robotic body parts, strewn about haphazardly, forming an unrecognizable shape.
He heard a door open. Turning to face his right, he saw a man wearing a maroon lab coat, black slacks and thin-framed glasses enter the room with him. He was relatively tall and fair-skinned, and had dark-brown hair. he Was grumbling to himself about something, and was too preoccupied at looking towards the ground to pay Jaune any attention. After closing the door behind him, he looked up to see the boy awake. He turned around, facing the door, and opened it once more.
"Hey, guys? The patient's awake!" Walking away from the door, he walked over to the boy's side. "Hey there. How're you feeling, kiddo?"
"Uh- I'm-?"
"He is? Allow me to see." Soon enough, another voice and another… scientist?... made its appearance. An elderly, fair and portly man walked through the door, dressed in a brilliant white lab coat, with slacks and shoes bearing the same blinding shade. His big, bushy, grey beard connected to a neatly combed mop of hair on his head. Seeing the child, he bowed his head slightly.
"Why, hello. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Dr. Edison Light, and this is an associate of mine, Professor Simmons Maroon of Gulch University, in Vacuo."
"Once again, hello!" With no small amount of wariness, the young blonde lifted his left hand to wave at him as a greeting, but when it entered his field of vision, he was shocked. Instead of the flesh and blood he was used to seeing, he saw plastic and metal. Looking down at his body for the first time, he saw his shiny new legs, along with all the wires leading into and out of his body, various fluids of different colors inside, and a huge amount of missing/ scarred skin.
Shaking and trembling, he turned to face the two doctors, who were watching him with forlorn faces. He was speechless, seeing his own body like this. He slowly lifted up an artificial hand, bringing it to his face. As he attempted to do some familiar movements, he saw how slow and robotic his hand moved, along with the mechanical noises it made.
"Ah… ah… AAHH!" With speed that belied his age, Dr. Light rushed over to the child, and held down his thrashing form's upper body.
"Simmons!"
"On it, Sir!" Quickly, the maroon-coated professor rushed to the elderly man's aid, holding down the lad's lower legs.
"Simmons, put your back into it! Push from your center!"
"Wait, push from my groin? Or that spot between my abs and ribs?"
"The second one!" At that moment, a scientist-like person wearing a rusty-brown coat, sienna slacks and a hat with a very wide brim was walking by the room, having been attracted by the noises.
"Que es- DIOS MÍO! Simmons, Doctor Light!"
"Lopez, thank god! Quick, sedate him! Just enough to get him to calm down!" Running over to a cabinet on the side of the room, the person known as Lopez threw the door open, revealing several chemical bottles and needles and syringes galore. Reading off the labels, he grabbed one and a syringe, and then ran over to the two struggling men. Draining the amount of fluid necessary, he quickly administered the dose to the boy.
As he felt the feeling in his body slowly cease, and as he saw a darkness slowly blocking out the world around him, Jaune fell asleep with only a single thought:
Mommy…
"Yar! I reckon he be awakenin'."
"The brat's waking up? I need to see."
"Count me in too!"
Stirring from his artificial slumber, the blonde corked an eye open to see a new trio of people in the room. The first was a burly man with teal hair and triangular shades, the second was a petite but shapely blonde woman wielding an oversized wrench, and the last was a balding, overweight man with a long nose and a brown mustache.
Remembering what happened the last time he awoke, Jaune began to panic. Placing his hands in front of him defensively, the giant tried to calm him down.
"Whoa, laddie, whoa! Calm down thar, matey. We mean ye no harm." Despite calming down significantly, he still looked at the three with complete distrust. The girl stepped forward, looking at him sadly.
"We were only trying to save your life. When we found you, floating in the sea, you were hurt really badly." The bald one put a hand to his chin, as if trying to remember something.
"Yes, if I recall, most of your arms and legs were broken, some with terrible infections setting in, with the only one left intact being paralyzed from the elbow down, possibly a spinal injury. Your body was also riddled with burn marks, gashes, places where the skin was apparently ripped off, and several holes where we could literally see right through you. Your right eye was squashed in with part of your face being torn off, revealing only muscle. Your sternum and ribs were shattered, and many of your internal organs were terribly ruptured."
Looking back at the boy, he could see that, alongside a small amount of confusion, he was in shock and fear. Thinking what he could do to allay his fear, he grabbed a random plate of chicken nuggets, and presented it before the lad. "Do you want some nuggets?"
"Oxblood! That was rude and uncalled for."
"We would have had to tell him eventually, better now than later."
"Aye, th' first part, 'tis true, but th' second? He be but a lad!"
"Oh phooey, do you think I've somehow mentally traumatized…" Trailing off, he looked at Jaune with a curious gaze. "I apologize, but what is your name?" He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again, looking somewhat depressed. Shaking his head, he opened it once again.
"I-it's Jaune. M-my name is Jaune."
"Thank you! Now, ahem, do you think tha-" He was cut off when the boy opened his mouth.
"Um, where am I? Who are you people?" The three looked at each other, and then the big guy stepped forth, thumb pointed at his chest, a smug smile on his face.
"I be Aguo Flam, but th' moniker be too silly. Ye can call me Franky." The female stepped up, waved her hand, and gave Jaune a friendly smile.
"I'm Gwendolyn, Gwendolyn Rockbell, Winry for short." Then the man with the mustache stepped forward, hand on his chest and index finger pointed high into the sky.
"And I, Doctor Oxblood Robotnik, am one of Remnant's greatest scientific minds!" Franky leaned in next to Jaune, whispering in his ear.
"Ye see how he looks like an egg? Just call th' jolly doctor 'Eggman.'"
"I heard that, Franky! But anyway, we shouldn't leave out the other three- the 'leader' of this little expedition is that discount Santa Claus you met earlier, Edison Light. There's also the two professors from Vacuo's Blood Gulch Academy of Science, Simmons Maroon and Lopez Marrón." Winry stepped in.
"As for who we are, we're a group of scientists and engineers that, as of a few days ago, wander around the shores of Remnant, helping towns and settlements along the way as best as we can." Franky picked up the conversation.
"On board th' Hundredth Star, we sail around, erectin' cannons, givin' weapons 'n supplies, fixin' up around town, sometimes…" He gestured to Jaune's body. "We play doctor." Robotnik started to play with his long mustache.
"Yes… quite…" There was an awkward silence enveloping the room. Jaune was despondent, thinking about how bad his body is right now, while the three geniuses thought about how to make the situation better.
"I saw yer weapons." Jaune looked at Franky with a bit of confusion. "They be yers, aye?"
"Y-yeah, they are, but…" He looke around the room. "Actually, where are they?"
"Don't worry, they're in the hold! Anyway, Franky," Winry turned to her crewmate. "Why'd you bring it up?" He started to stroke his chin.
"I reckon… th' lad wanted t' be a Huntsman." Eggman leaned in, close to Jaune's face.
"Well, is that so, twerp?" He felt a sudden slap on his shoulder.
"Oxblood! Don't be rude. Anyways, Jaune, is this true?" He looked even more depressed after they asked him.
"Y-yeah… but… my body…" The three looked at each other.
"Yarrgh, we can make it happen!"
"Yeah, but the procedures are still experimental- we're still not sure how his nerves will react to all the wires and stuff…"
"But if they DO work, we have can help a huge portion of the population. I hear General Ironwood of Atlas has recently lost an arm and a leg, and prosthetics can only go so far." After a few more minutes of mumbling and stuff Jaune couldn't understand, the three came to a consenus. Robotnik stepped forward.
"Alright, listen up, boy! Our group of six has come up with a special scientific procedure that will turn your injured body into a mishmash of robotic parts, essentially turning you into a cybernetic organism, seen only in science fiction- a 'cyborg' for short." As Jaune opened his mouth to speak, the doctor held up a palm in front of the boy's face, and loudly interjected. "BUT the procedure can, no, WILL cause you a large amount of pain, no matter how many drugs we give you. That is, if it works, as we've never tested it before." Winry, kind Winry, kneeled beside the bed, and gently stroked Jaune's left arm.
"We're not forcing you, just so you know. This is entirely your decision."
"Aye, so what'll it be, laddie?"
A/N: Ooh, I wonder what Jaune will choose?
References and stolen characters abound, Jaune's voyage has just begun! What awaits him beyond the horizon? What shores and forests will he trek through? Will any of you guys give me a good review? I don't know, so find out on the next chapter.
Review or PM me, and see ya later!