A/N: So before I start this story, let me clear up a few things.
1.) Zombies are like Grimm in this universe. They spawn out of the tar pit things, are surprisingly tough to kill, and are able to convert a human or Faunus with a single bite. To counter this, the drug Zombrex was created.
2.) In a burst of ingenuity, Atlas managed to create an "aura pill", a pill that speeds up the production of aura in the body for 4 hours.
3.) Roman Torchwick and the Malachites, instead of being villains, are the ones that host the Terror is Reality Tournament. It is the equivalent of the Vytal Tournament.
4.) Anything in bold is thinking.
So that's all for now, reviews are much appreciated, and hope you like the story!
"-and Jaune pulls ahead at the very last second, taking the lead right out from under them and securing the match!"
Jaune could hear everything that RT said, but it didn't matter to him: he, Jaune Arc, the one who had faked his transcripts to get into Beacon, the one who didn't win his first spar until 4 months into the year, the one that absolutely no one except for his own team took seriously, had somehow managed to win the Terror is Reality Tournament? He knew that he wasn't the only one thinking "how?"
But in the end, it didn't matter how. The fact was, he was being called to the center of the arena to receive his award: a big plaque and a 25,000 lien check for a charity of his choice. RT did the thing Jaune never thought he would experience: RT grabbed his hand and thrust it into the air saying that he won the tournament! He had no idea that it would be this thrilling, but to say that his adrenaline was pumping would be an understatement.
With one arm still in the air, his other hand was suddenly filled with an envelope, probably containing the plaque, by the Malachite twins. Militia merely scoffed and looked away, but Melanie shot a wink at him first, making him blush, before he left the stage and started the walk back to the locker room.
He started wondering what his friends would say to this: Pyrrha, Nora, and Ruby would obviously be excited beyond belief, Ren would probably just give an approving stare, Weiss and Blake probably wouldn't even care, and Yang would just throw out a pun or two from the back of the room. He was so distracted by these thoughts that he didn't even notice that at some point he had made his way back to the locker room.
After he realized where he was, he made sure that he had all his things from his locker, but before he could leave the room he heard the TV, which was on the news, mention the White Fang and decided to listen:
"-while an official documentation or report of the raid has not been released, what we can gather is that a small group of huntsman were informed of a White Fang cell within the city and decided to clear it out. It is currently unknown whether or not there were any casualties on either side. Qrow Branwren, the leader of the group of huntsman that performed the raid, had this to say: "We're really starting to crack down on the White Fang within the kingdoms, and the surrounding cities as well. We're getting a high amount of intel on their movements and plans everyday. We'll get the bastards yet." That's the report. Now, here's Lisa Lavender reporting on the Terror is Reality Tournament."
That's when Jaune stopped listening. He really didn't want to see himself on the news or hear the story. He'd already lived it after all; no need to go through it again. So this is how Pyrrha feels after every tournament.
He left the locker room and started walking towards the elevator when he heard something from the door to his left. It was someone with a really loud voice saying "what do I have to do, Torchwick?"
Jaune didn't really care until he heard RT's voice say "Taurus, you need to relax. Why can't you be your usual bull-headed self?" He paused in thought at the name. Taurus, Taurus, where have I heard that name before?
What he heard next is what tipped him off to who was talking: "You say that as if we're not pulling off a major terrorist attack." Adam Taurus is here?!
This made him realize he needed to investigate, so he texted Pyrrha to let her know that he'd be a little late and walked through the door. He had a momentary scare when the door slammed loudly behind him before he could stop it, but it seemed that RT and Adam didn't hear it.
With his scroll still in hand, he started recording everything that was happening between the two:
"That's besides the point and you know it. You've just gotta calm down and realize what this means for Faunus equality."
"Why do you care about equality? You yourself are racist."
"If it gets me money, I care about it. Speaking of which, this is yours. A little token for your troubles."
At this point, RT passed him a suitcase that was literally overflowing with money. Jaune zoomed in on the case. What's RT paying Adam to do?
"I appreciate the money, but let's just get what we came here for, shall we?"
"Of course. It's over here. You have someone to meet."
Jaune had to switch positions to get them on video again, but when he did, RT was very clearly handing Adam another suitcase. That looks like a bomb. Is it a bomb?! It's a bomb!
After making sure the bomb was on video, Jaune took his leave and ran out of the room. RT and Adam both heard him running and were confused, but in the end didn't think anything of it.
Jaune meanwhile, had (literally) run into Militia, who only stared at him in anger. "Looks like you've overstayed your welcome, Jauney", she said to a terrified Jaune.
Jaune couldn't think of anything to say to that, so he just ran past her to the elevator at the end of the hall. It couldn't get there faster, but when it did, who else would be in it but Melanie, who immediately started taunting him: "The ladies were a little disappointed in your, 'performance', Jaune. You must get that a lot, huh?". Then she just walked away, putting extra sway into her hips.
Jaune didn't even notice, as he was too busy trying to get his scroll out. He finally did as the elevator doors closed, and called Pyrrha. "Jaune, what's taking so long? We're waiting for you in the green room", she said before Jaune cut her off.
"Pyrrha, we need to get out of here."
"What? Why?"
"I'll explain later, just run! Get as many people as you can and -" he didn't get to finish before the explosion knocked him unconscious.
When he woke up, he was barely able to get his bearings before he heard screaming and remembered where he was: in an elevator post-terrorist attack. He was finally able to get enough strength to stand up and start prying open the elevator doors when he saw the chaos in front of him.
People were running and screaming in every direction, including one person who stopped in front of him saying "she got me! She got me!". Eventually that person started growling and turned around to reveal to Jaune that he was zombified. Shit! A zombie?!
When the zombie started walking towards him, he started to open the doors faster, with the zombie getting closer every second.
When he finally got out of the elevator, he tripped and fell on the ground, and the zombie kept getting closer...
Until someone else ran in front of him by mistake and ended up getting eaten instead. Jaune wasn't able to do anything other than watch it all go down, horrified and on the verge of vomiting. He didn't even scream... Pyrrha!
His thought process did a complete 180 when he realized that his friends might be in danger, so he started running towards the green room with people dying all around him the whole way.
He finally got to the green room where Pyrrha said they were and tried to open the door, but it was locked. He tried to shout to them, but his cries kept getting overshadowed by screams and explosions. WHY ARE THINGS EXPLODING?!
After about six tries, his patience was gone, so he finally just started hitting the door with his shield. It finally broke down and he ran in.
He wasn't sure what to expect, but Gambol Shroud tying him down and Storm Flower about to slit his throat definitely wasn't it.
"GUYS IT'S ME!"
Luckily, before Ren could finish the job, he was recognized and the weapon was lifted from his throat with the rope being untied from his body. And right when he stood up again was when Pyrrha and Nora tackled him down again to hug him.
"We thought you were dead!"
"Fearless leader! You're okay!"
"Don't do that again!" It was a chorus of "Thank God's" and "We thought you were dead's" before Jaune was able to calm them down again when he said that he was perfectly fine.
Finally, Nora got off of him, which allowed Pyrrha to get off as well before they remembered where they were. Jaune, ever the leader, asked "What's everyone's situation?"
Ren was the one to fill him in. "After the explosion, we had a large fight against the zombies with Team CRDL. Before you ask, no they didn't make it, but I have to say they put up a good fight." He bowed his head in respect to CRDL, something nobody thought they'd ever do.
"Ruby, Weiss and Blake exerted too much aura in the brawl, and they ended up falling unconscious, which is why we're barricaded in here. Other than those three, the only injury is mine from when Cardin accidentally hit me with his mace during the fight, but my aura is doing a good job healing it. I'll have a limp for a while though. Pyrrha and Yang are okay, and we don't know your situation."
Jaune listened intently, taking every piece of information to memory. He started to form a coherent plan, and told the others.
"Okay guys, listen. There should be an emergency shelter made for this exact reason not too far from here. We just have to make it. Pyrrha and Yang, you two will take point. You have two jobs: clear a path for the rest of us, and try to get anyone's attention that you can so we can get them to the shelter as well. Ren, you're limping, so you'll take Ruby, Nora will take Blake, and I'll take Weiss. Sound good to everyone?"
No one objected, so Jaune picked Weiss up bridal style, with Ren and Nora doing the same to Ruby and Blake, and they got ready to fight through the crowd of zombies. After they were all ready, Yang kicked down the door and the race was on. Pyrrha and Yang slaughtered the zombies with extreme prejudice, while Jaune, Ren, and Nora carried the unconscious behind them.
"This isn't so bad! I think we got this!"
"Yang, why would you say that? Now we're doomed!"
"Oh come on, Vomit Boy! You believe that... Superstition..."
"What'd I say?"
They had just entered the arena, and what they saw stunned them into silence. Zombies, packed together like children in the lunch line, so close together they could barely move, filling the entire arena lobby. And they had to get through that.
Nora was the one to snap everyone out of their trance. "Well, are we just gonna stand here or are we gonna break some legs?!"
This got Yang riled up enough to activate her semblance, and they started moving again. Things were going surprisingly well, but something happened that they didn't account for: while they were hugging the wall, Jaune noticed someone on the other side of the arena, where they had just come from. They were unconscious, but clearly breathing. I'd recognize those bunny ears anywhere...
"Yang! Pyrrha! Velvet's unconscious and being surrounded! We can't just let her die!" They both looked at him and saw where he was pointing, and before they knew it they were sprinting towards Velvet's body. Clearing out the zombies wasn't the issue, who would carry her was.
"Okay, Weiss isn't that heavy. I think I can carry Velvet too" Jaune said.
Yang teased him, "Oh, Vomit Boy. Ever the lady killer" but no one objected, so Pyrrha picked her up and placed her on top of Weiss's body in Jaune's arms. "Now where were we? Oh yeah, running for our lives!"
This time, they didn't even bother trying to go around the crowd and just charged straight through. With Pyrrha and Yang forming a blitzkrieg, they were able to just carve a hole in the crowd and run out of the arena. But what they saw outside stunned all of them, even Nora, into silence again.
The zombies had spread quicker than they'd thought, and were currently swarming the outside as well. People were being grabbed and eaten left and right too quickly for anyone to do anything, so the group just watched in horror and disgust at the death and destruction around them. Finally, after watching that trumpet player from the tournament (Flynt, I think his name was?) get surrounded as well, they just started running.
They all sprinted until Ren noticed the sign for the Emergency Shelter and they started running towards it. As they got closer, the door started closing, but they managed to all make it in before it shut. They were able to relax after lying the unconscious down, until they realized that they were the only ones there.
"Were... Were we the only ones that made it out alive?" Pyrrha asked, even though the others were all asking it in their minds. No one got a chance to say anything to that, though, as the door into the safe house opened to reveal none other than...
"Uncle Qrow?! Why are you here?"
Qrow Branwren stood in front of the group in all of his alcoholic glory and just stared at all of them, not even taking the time to answer Yang's question. He just looked at the unconscious ones, taking extra time with Ruby, and asked "What happened to them?"
Ren, once again, filled him in: "Aura exhaustion, at least for those three. We're not sure what happened to the Faunus. If we can get them aura pills they should be fine."
Qrow just sighed at that, and said "Well that's unfortunate. Aura pills are pretty much the only medication we don't have here, and we won't be able to get them in the next three days."
Jaune was apparently the only one that caught on to what he said, as he asked "wait, why three days?"
"You're not familiar with protocol for an outbreak of this caliber, are you?" They all shook their heads. "Well, this outbreak coincides with an attack on the CCT back in Vale. With no communication in or out of the city, the people outside need to form a cohesive plan to get us out, and that, combined with setting up a perimeter around the city to stop the zombies from leaving, will take at least three days."
"Well, why don't they just send a bullhead to a roof or something?" Nora asked, trying to piece together Qrow's logic.
"Well, they already did. They sent in two. The one with the students made it out okay. The civilian one, not so much. It got shot down as it was leaving and they won't want to risk that happening again. We're on our own for the next three days. Now enough with the talking. Get in here so I can shut the door."
With that, they grabbed the unconscious and entered the safe house. "There's a couple couches and things like that in the security room. You can take these sleepyheads there."
"Thanks Qrow. We'll be quiet", Yang said as they entered the security room. Qrow closed the door to the safe house behind them and went back to his office before he heard a scream. "Guess the rabbit woke up."
Inside the security room, Velvet had woken up, and was greeted with the pain that knocked her out to begin with. She cried out in pain and shot up, which is why Nora held her down to stop her from exerting herself too much.
"Velvet, I'm sure you're in pain, but you need to stay down. Can't have our medic down for the count, can we?" Still in extreme upper body pain but understanding what Nora was saying, she lied back down before she was surrounded by Team JNPR and Yang. "Now, what happened before you were knocked out?"
Velvet, struggling to remember herself, had to take a minute to recollect her thoughts before telling her story. "My team and I were just hanging out in the lobby when we heard the explosion. We had a really intense fight, but eventually Coco ordered a retreat. Yatsu, Fox and her were able to get away, but before I could something next to me exploded. It knocked me out cold. My guess is my team cut their losses and left me behind, and based on what how packed the arena was, it was the right choice."
Jaune could only nod at that: he knew that her team were probably horrified at their decision to leave her behind. It didn't help that they wouldn't be told that she was still alive.
Pyrrha was the one to break the silence. "Velvet, if we manage to find aura pills, will you want one?"
Velvet started feverishly shaking her head. "No, no. To be honest I... I can't feel my legs, and I'm pretty sure I should be able to if Yang is leaning on them." Yang immediately straightened up for no particular reason. "I think my injury is too severe to try to rush it. I can feel what's left of my aura repairing the damage, so hopefully this isn't permanent, but I don't want to risk anything."
There was another awkward silence, and this time Jaune was the one to break it. "Okay, we keep talking about aura pills but talking doesn't do anything. We need to go into the city and get some."
Yang was the only one who doubted his reasoning. "You're kidding, right? You want to go back out there?!"
"Yang, if we want the pills we have to get them ourselves, and we don't just want them, we need them if we want Ruby, Weiss, and Blake to recover. So we need a reliable way to enter the city that doesn't open the main door. Ren, think you can figure that out?"
Ren just nodded and left the room, with Nora following him in an unspoken rule of "Where Ren goes, I go". Yang looked angry, but didn't question him further.
They just sat there in silence for about 5 minutes until Ren and Nora came back and told them they found a way out. They led Jaune, Pyrrha, and Yang over to the nearby air ducts and ripped open a small square. "This leads directly into the Royal Flush mall. I doubt the zombies are smart enough to figure that out if we keep the duct on the other end closed."
Jaune was impressed. He didn't expect them to find such a convenient option so quickly, but he wasn't going to object. "Thanks guys. So, does anyone happen to have a map?"
Yang slapped one onto his chest. "Found it in the security room."
"Thanks Yang, now to find a pharmacy..."
Pyrrha, of course, found it pretty much instantly: "Looks like there's one here, right on the border of the Royal Flush mall and the Slot Ranch casino. That'll be our closest and best bet for finding aura pills."
"Then that's where we're heading. You three stay here and monitor the others. If they wake up, don't let them leave their bed. We can't have them using any energy when they don't have their auras. If Velvet's pain goes away, help her over to the monitors to watch for any signs of life." Ren, Nora, and Yang nodded before walking back to the security room. "Now, where were we?"
"I believe heading straight towards what most people would call certain death."
"You say that as if it doesn't happen every Tuesday."
With their spirits lifted by that little bit of talking, they both crawled into the vents.
I was a bit too hopeful was all Jaune could think when he opened the door to the main plaza of the mall. They had exited the vents in the maintenance area of the mall, and had exited said maintenance area to find zombies wandering the mall. So much for "maybe the outbreak isn't everywhere".
Pyrrha's voice snapped him out of his trance. "Well, shall we continue on? We do have a mission to complete." They started running towards the pharmacy while they kept talking.
"Yeah, I just was hoping that maybe the outbreak hadn't reached this far. Just wishful thinking."
"Just because the zombies have spread everywhere does not mean that no one survived."
"I completely agree. That's why I'm putting Velvet at the cameras to watch for life. Speaking of which, she'll probably need a wheelchair. You think they have one in the Safe House?"
"They should, so we shouldn't worry about that. The pharmacy should be right around this corner..."
She was cut off by her scroll going off, with the ringtone signaling comm mode. "I thought Qrow said the CCT was down."
"He certainly did, but maybe comms still work?" She answered the call and was greeted by Ren's voice.
"We got a reminder from Qrow. Comm mode only works between directly connected scrolls, so it still works with the CCT down. We should be able to communicate with each other just fine."
"Thanks Ren. We'll keep that in mind." With that, Pyrrha hung up. "I can't believe that I forgot about that..."
She was cut off by a scream from inside the pharmacy, so Jaune and Pyrrha both pulled out their swords and shields and walked in. They looked around and watched as the place was being looted by three people in hoodies with bandanas covering their mouths.
They both looked at each other and silently agreed not to get involved. At least, until one of them reached over the counter and grabbed the pharmacist.
"I'm gonna ask one more time! Where's the safe?!"
"We don't have a safe! All of the money's in the register!"
"Alright! You asked for it!" The looter wound up his swing with a crowbar.
"Hey!"
Jaune finally made his presence known. He walked straight towards the looter with his hands above his head in the surrender position. Pyrrha, meanwhile, was sneaking up behind the three looters.
"Leave us alone kid. Got some business to attend to here."
"I'm just looking for some meds. There's no reason for this or whatever's going on between you two to get physical. Okay? So just put the crowbar down and we can all go on our merry way."
At this point, the looter put down the pharmacist and walked towards Jaune with his friends behind him. "Trying to be a hero kid? Guess it's good that you're looking for meds then, cause you're gonna need them when I'm through with you."
Pyrrha signaled that she was in position behind them, Jaune just needed to give his signal. "Well talking to you is giving me a headache, but other than that, I think I'll be fine."
"Well aren't you a cocky one. I'll take that as a challenge."
"It wasn't, but feel free." Jaune pulled out Crocea Mors and expanded the shieth into a shield. That was all the signal Pyrrha needed to shove the one on the right side of the leader from behind and send him into Jaune, who uppercutted him into the air. They must of not had an aura because he was instantly knocked out.
His friends, meanwhile, were too stunned by Pyrrha's appearance to react in time to Jaune shield bashing the leader into the other looter while Pyrrha kicked them both into unconsciousness. With the looters out of the way, they started looking for the pills again as if nothing happened.
"Well, that was over before it even started. Where'd you get that confidence, Jaune?"
"Confidence? I was just trying to look cool. Did it work?"
"I'd say so. Although, provoking them wasn't the best strategy."
"I thought it was the best. When they're angry they don't think straight and look how it worked out for them."
"Fair point, I suppose. Oh, found them!"
Pyrrha had found the aura pills in the back room next to some Zombrex. Having found the pills, he turned his attention to the pharmacist. "If you come with us, we can take you to the Safe House to ride the outbreak out."
The pharmacist looked confused, but also hopeful. "The Safe House? I thought the door shut for good when the outbreak started."
"It did, but we found another way in and out. So, will you come with us?"
"Of course! I'm Denyce, by the way."
"I'm Jaune Arc, and this is Pyrrha Nikos."
Denyce looked flabbergasted at both of their names. But in the end she just said "so that's how I recognized you."
Pyrrha broke up the conversation. "Well, shall we go now? The Safe House is not far, but we need to deliver the pills sooner rather than later."
"Good point. Let's go. Denyce, take this." He handed her his sword, leaving him with just his shield. "Only use this if it's absolutely necessary, okay?" Denyce nodded. "Alright, let's go!" And with that, the three of them ran from the pharmacy.
Almost immediately, they were being chased by a large group of zombies. Denyce looked terrified, while Jaune and Pyrrha didn't look back and just kept running. After two minutes of nonstop running, they made it to the maintenance area, and were able to close a door behind them to keep the zombies out.
No words needed to be said as they finished the walk to the air ducts. Pyrrha led the way in the ducts, with Denyce and Jaune right behind her. They made it back to the Safe House, where Denyce finally broke down and started crying in front of them. They didn't know what to do in this situation, but luckily Denyce did it for them by pulling them both into a surprisingly strong hug. No intelligible words were said as she kept crying, but they were pretty sure it was a lot of "Thank you"s and "I don't know what I would do without you"s.
Denyce finally let them go, gave Jaune his sword back and walked away, letting Jaune and Pyrrha enter the security room, where Nora immediately ran up to hug both of them (What's with everyone constantly hugging me?) and Pyrrha somehow managed to toss Yang the pills while in the Valkyrie's iron grip. She opened everyone's mouth so Ren could slip a pill in. After about 5 minutes of Jaune and Pyrrha saying they were perfectly fine with no injuries, Nora let them go to continue watching over Velvet, who was able to sit up now with no pain.
Velvet, what was it I needed with Velvet? Oh right! "Hey Velvet, think you'd be okay if we put you in a wheelchair?" Velvet perked up a little at that, and nodded. "Good. Ren, go find her a wheelchair." Ren nodded and left the room. "We need you to be watching the monitors for any signs of survivors so we can rescue them. Don't want to let anyone else die if we can help it." Velvet looked... Impressed? Guess she didn't think of that.
Ren eventually returned with a wheelchair, and they all helped lower Velvet into it. Then, she did exactly what Jaune hoped she would do: she rolled her way over to the monitors, took out her scroll, and started watching for life.
Three hours later
With Ruby, Weiss, and Blake now conscious, everyone was lounging around in the security room with Jaune looking for any news on the outbreak on the TV. They had just given up hope when they noticed one of the reporters say "Fortune City", and Jaune rewound a bit so they could see the whole report.
"I am now being told that we are going live to Lisa Lavender, who is inside Fortune City."
"Thanks Cyril. It is clear that the outbreak started in the Fortune City Arena, following yesterday's Terror is Reality Tournament." Is it just me or does she really sound like Pyrrha? "While it was originally unclear what happened to start the outbreak, we received a tape from an exclusive source that reveals the cause and the perpetrator behind the outbreak."
They watched as a tape played that showed someone setting up a bomb on one of the cages and walking away before the explosion destroyed the cages. That guy looks a lot like me...
"Authorities have confirmed that the man in the video is none other than this years Terror is Reality tournament winner, Jaune Arc."
All nine of them, even Ren, screamed "WHAT?!" In perfect unison.
"While it is unknown why he would start the outbreak, it has been confirmed that he is a known member of the notorious White Fang-"
"WHAT?!"-
"So it is possible that he could have been acting on their behalf. They have not claimed responsibility, however, so it is truly unknown what would drive someone with such a bright future ahead of them to do something like this. Back to you-" She was cut off by Blake turning the TV off.