Is it true? Is it really true? Were back!? Hell yeah we are. I know you've probably been waiting for this for a while now... so I'm gonna go ahead and make you wait even longer. Imma dick sometimes, I know. First of all, this story is going to have flashbacks to different points in Johns past, most of them in Minecraft, some during his time on Remnant. Also, in future chapters there will be... lets just say warnings.
Speaking of which, its also going to have more blood than it did in the first Infected Rose. Mainly because we now have not one, but THREE main antagonists running around in Vale, and one is totally nuts. Allow me to list them for you. Cinder, Hiro, and Damien. Plus a now pissed off maybe-crazy John. And Neo.
Now, let us continue our (my) tradition of explaining things. In this chapter, aura bonds are mentioned a lot. Essentially, they are bracers, anklets or straps that repress aura. They have many practical uses, as well as military and security uses. A single aura bond effects your entire body, and the more you have on, the more your aura is weakened to the point where all you have is physical strength. Its often used by huntsmen to increase the power of their aura, or to train themselves without the luxury of aura given strength.
Also, I had a few questions about how the time spent in Minecraft had no effect on the time on Remnant. Again. Let me put it more simply. Have you ever read/seen the chronicles of Narnia? No? sh*t, I was counting on that! Okay, two years spent in Minecraft are only worth a few minutes on Remnant. Meaning our main antagonists have had a LOT of time to make preparations before they came to Remnant in the last chapter. Does that make sense to you?
Next, allow me to answer another question that SHOULD have an obvious answer, assuming you have played Minecraft before. How does John have the XP to give his weapons such specific and powerful enchantments? The real question here is how did he get it. He fought in, like, 3 wars and during that time, not only did he kill thousands of mobs, and hundreds of people, but he also killed the original Herobrine and at least two dragons. Plus there's the creatures of Grimm he's killed, AND the pudding king.
Still doubting his ability to buff the sh*t out of a weapon?
Whatever, lets get on with the story.
Chapter 1: Its Good To Be Back!
In the dead of night, a lone warship cut through the waves like a knife at a speed of nearly 30 knots, heading straight towards a fierce lightning storm, And the enemy convoy that was anchored down in the center of it, thinking themselves untouchable. And normally they would have been, for no man dared brave a storm as terrible as this. But they hadn't met the captain of this ship.
It was sleek and strong, with a steel reinforced Pine wood hull, and two steadfast masts. It sported beautiful gilded Blue sails, and its head piece was a Silver sea serpent. It was well armed, sporting 32 cannons and the strongest ram the 20 sea's had ever seen. It was the Leviathan, the crown jewel of the Human fleet, and pride of the Northern ship yards.
Rain drops began to pelt the deck of the ship and the crew as they raced around trying to secure everything on deck as the storm grew closer. "TIE YOURSELF'S DOWN MEN, LEST THE WAVES SWEEP YOU OFF THE DECK!" Shouted the captain of the ship, as well as the leader of the Human resistance. John Diamond.
John Diamond POV.
The sailors on the upper deck did as told, tying ropes around their waists then tying the other ends to the nearest mast. Lightning struck nearby, startling some of the younger, more recent additions to the crew. "Cap'n! Tether ships to the East." My right hand man, Steve called out.
He handed me the spyglass, and I extended it, careful not to smudge it as I did so. The ships were large, and of Tetheran make. But they flew the flag of our enemy. A black flag, with a bright blood red diamond in the center. "That's them alright, Steve. And by the looks of it, the bastards are sleeping right now. They only have one Pigmen on watch."
"They must truly think this storm shields them. In reality, it will be their undoing." He said, confidently as I handed him the spyglass and took the wheel back from him. After a moment of looking through the spyglass, he spoke again.
"Thanks to the storm, we don't have to worry about their Blaze's, if they have any. I propose we flank behind the supply ship, and aim for her powder reserves. We'll sink their Man of war, and by the time they recover from the initial shock, we'll have had enough time to cripple their brig's. That just leave the convoy ships. Unfortunately, the storm is even worse back there. Bad enough to sink a ship"
"High waves?" I asked, since he had the glass.
"Of course. I think our crew can handle it though."
"Agreed. The wind is on our side. Call it out!" He came to stand at my side once more, barking out orders to the crew. I spun the wheel around, pointing the Leviathan Southward as the crew let down the sails all the way, catching the strong winds and sending us forward at speeds never before reached by a ship this size. To my knowledge, anyways.
In no time flat, we were behind them. "Shit!" Steve suddenly swore. I followed his gaze to our left, and saw a sea spout begin to form and head straight for us. Shit indeed. "BRACE!"
"Hey kid, you listening?"
The voice of an old airship pilot snapped me out of my daydream. "Hmm?" he chuckled.
"Didn't think so. Like I was saying, come wake up your friend. We're nearly there."
"Oh, uncle Qrow? Just drop him off at a cheap motel in Mistral. He'll know it was complements of his favorite nephew."
"Easy for you to say, you don't have to fly a ship with a sleeping dude that smells like hangover meets Old spice."
"Yeah, that's Qrow. I bet you'll never guess the caws of it." I told him with a grin.
"...Kid, that pun physically hurt me."
"Sorry, its just this thing I do. But really... forty lien if you drop him off in Mistral." I said, seriously this time. I mean, I love that dusty old man, but he needs to pay. The airship landed at Beacons dock. He stood, and shook my hand. "Done deal."
I stepped off the airship, and took in a deep breath. I almost forgot how nice and fresh the air was at Beacon while I was in that stupid hospital. "JOHN!" cried an over excited red blur as she crashed into my chest, leaving behind a flurry of rose petals.
"Hey, rubes."
"You didn't tease those poor doctors, did you?"
"RUBY! I am appalled that you accuse me of teasing a doctor. I only teased the nurses" I joked. After the whole dock fight, the hospital staff hunted me down and practically imprisoned me in a hospital bed, with aura bonds, armed guards and everything. Something about making sure my heart could still take being a huntsmen. Pshhh. Silly white coats.
"you didn't go psycho and kill anyone, did you?" A familiar voice asked from the right of me. I tilted my head in the voices direction and spotted Yang. "Nope. You didn't blow anything up while I was gone, did you?"
"Unfortunately, no. now come on, were missing lunch and the others are missing you."
"Oh dust, I'm hungry! Lead the way, sis." I cried dramatically.
"Didn't they feed you at the hospital?" Ruby asked, horrified.
"Sure, if you can call that food. All they gave me was war rations, Qrow's doing no doubt." The old man was probably laughing his ass off a couple hours ago. Boy, is he in for a surprise.
"What's wrong with those?"
"Looks like shit, tastes like shit." I'd actually prefer the usually moldy bread we had to eat during the war.
"Yeah, that sounds like Qrow. Aside from that though, how have you been?"
"Couldn't be better. I'm back, better than ever and ready to hand out some PUNishment."
"NO! Not the puns! Anything but those!"
"Bones...crushing...powers...weakening..." I managed to squeeze out as two people simultaneously crushed me with their hugs. "I missed you so much" Sarah said.
"Remember that time with the waffles?" Nora said quietly, tightening her grip. Oh god, revenge is best served with a side of Nora! I tried my best to mouth HELP ME to the others, but they elected to just watch it play out, as did the rest of the school.
"Light...fading...Energy...dwindling...Organs...failing..." Sarah immediately let go when I said that, and returned to her seat in fear of hurting me. But it was too late.
"Nora, let go of John." Ren told her.
"This isn't over..." Is all she said before letting go and returning to her seat, at JNPR's table across from ours. I gave Ren the most thankful look I could manage through the pain, and sat down.
"So, good times at the hospital?" Frost asked.
"Nothing close. In fact, I'm certain they were trying to kill me!" I cried, dramatically.
"Oh, enough of that, drama king. How was it really?" Sky asked.
"They took A LOT of my blood to run tests to make sure I'm not dying, or crazy. My left arm was practically their personal pincushion!"
"That's all? For someone with dust in your system, I would have thought that they'd run psychological tests on you as well." Weiss questioned.
"Oh, Don't even get me started on those! My psychologist could've used a good psychologist!" Sarah gasped.
"...Are you sure you aren't blowing this out of proportion?" Blake asked.
"Well, maybe just a teensy bit...But it was THAT bad." I cried, over dramatizing for all my worth. They all gave me a look that said 'really?' before Sky changed the topic.
"Anyways, who's planning on going to see the new David Tasslehoff movie? I heard it was awesome!"
"You can count team RWBY in! Its already on the list!" Ruby announced, suddenly dropping a huge white binder on the table.
"Where did you get that?" Weiss asked.
"That's not important. What is important right now is how we're going to spend the rest of our time off, as a team! Luckily, I took the liberty of compiling a short list of things for us to do today!" She said, putting her hands on her hips triumphantly.
"Did you steal my binder!?"
"I am not a crook. NOW! You may be asking yourselves why I did this. It is because four score and..." She stopped to check the time on her scroll. "Seven minutes ago, I had a dream! A dream that one day, the five of us would come together, and have the most fun, EVER!"
"What are you talking about?" Blake asked.
"I'm talking about starting the semester off with a bang!" Ruby exclaimed.
"I usually prefer to start my semesters off with a Yang" I said casually, receiving an apple to the back of the head, and a boo from the table behind us.
"Dammit John, that's MY joke!" Yang pouted as everyone else groaned.
"Look guys, our second semester is looking to be great! But our classes start up again tomorrow, and we haven't done ONE SINGLE team event!" She explained, as Yang caught a grape in her mouth.
"I don't know whether to be proud, or scared of what you have in store." Weiss said.
"Either way, I would keep my head down if I were you. Too many of our family events have gone wrong." I told her seriously, before grabbing an apple and throwing back at Nora.
"I think I might just play it safe and sit out." Blake told us. Clearly, she still had the Easter Sunday story in the back of her head.
"Sit out or not, I think however we spend this last day, we should do it as a team. I for one, think that-" She was interrupted when a lemon meringue pie hit her square in the face.
"I did warn you to keep your head down."
The doors burst open, as Sun and Neptune came through the doors to the dining hall. And they stayed open as everyone but team STD, JNPR and RWBY ran for their lives.
"I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle!"
"Down with the evil queen!" John yelled.
"Our justice will be swift! It will be painful! It will be...DELICIOUS!" Ruby yelled out in turn, and both the leaders' teams mirrored them with battle cries.
"WAIT! We have waffles..." Nora cooed, with a sly grin on her face.
"Nice try, your evilness, but I wont be swayed by a mere-"
"They're gourmet" Ren quickly said.
"Welp, guess I'm on your team now." John said, shadow stepping up beside Nora.
"JOHN! How could you!?" Ruby asked, feigning hurt and betrayal.
"Sorry rubes, but its like they said. Gourmet waffles." John told her, as Sky and Frost made their way to the other side of the room with him.
"WHAT!? You too?" Yang shouted at them.
"Sorry guys, But they have John." Frost said, as if it were obvious.
"Curse your bribery, evil queen! Team RWBY! ATTACK!" Ruby cried out, and they all let out battle cries once more as they charged forward.
"Off with their heads!"
"...th-thats cheating..." Sky wheezed, laying on the ground covered in liquid edibles of many different colors, alongside team JNPR and Frost. Only John and Ruby were left standing, staring each other down from across the room. They both knew what had to happen. Things were about to get ugly.
Slowly, they started walked toward each other, getting progressively faster until they were both running. Once they were only a meter away from each other, they stopped abruptly, and threw both arms out.
"ROCK PAPER SCISSORS!" They both yelled in unison. Ruby threw down a passive aggressive rock, and John threw down an unrecognizable shape.
"Uhm, what is that?" Ruby asked, confused.
"Frog. Frog hops over rock." John said with a sly grin.
"*GASP* Only someone truly evil would use a frog! PREPARE TO BE DEFEATED!"
They hit their palms with their fists three more times, before throwing down their weapons of choice. John threw down another frog, while Ruby threw a strange shape of her own.
"Shoe! Shoe kicks frog!" Ruby said with a confident grin. John's eyes narrowed.
"Clever girl... Lets see if you can pull that again!"
The two of them pounded their fists with speed and intensity that rivaled even the most seasoned of huntsmen. They both slammed their fists on their open palms, each portraying a strange shape.
"Crescent Rose!" John yelled. Ruby gasped.
"You would use my sweetheart against me?!" Ruby cried in shock. John laughed maniacally.
"Of course! All is fair in love and war! What say you?"
"I say..." She began, before taking a knee and pulling off one of her shoes. "...Toe heads are better than one!" She declared, pointing at her big toe. John's eyes widened.
"You...You used a pun...I am...bested" John gave in, dramatically falling to the ground.
"VICTORY IS MIIIINE!" Ruby cried at the top of her lungs.
"I love these guys" Sun casually said, while Neptune did his best to wipe the countless food stuffs off of his face.
The doors behind them suddenly blew open, and the two dove out of the way as a pissed Glynda Goodwitch came through. With a swipe of her hand, everything fixed itself, as if nothing had ever happened. She glared at the two 1st year teams for a moment, before inwardly shaking her head. They could be dealt with later. Then her glare turned to John. If looks could kill... His would be a painful death indeed.
"Oh shit! Team Stand, full retreat!" John suddenly yelled, making a break for the far door. Unfortunately for him, it was telekineticly slammed in his face by Glynda.
"You, young man, are not going anywhere." She said as calmly as she could manage. "You must be punished for your shenanigans"
"With a riding crop? Kinky" John immediately responded, with a shit eating grin. Glynda was just about ready to drag him kicking and screaming the nearest Grimm infested forest at this point.
"Leave them be, Glynda." Ozpin said, laying his hand on her shoulder. Her gaze softened, as she looked back to the children, laughing and poking fun at each other.
"They're supposed to be the defenders of the world..." The her gaze hardened again. "And Mr. Rose has-"
"I am well aware of what Mr. Rose did." Ozpin interrupted, before things could get out of hand. "But he was forced to accept the reality of this world far too early. We should be grateful that it did not change him as it did Raven"
Glynda's gaze softened again. Ozpin was right. But that didn't mean she was going to forgive him for his actions.
"Someday, they will be defenders. But for now, they remain children. So why not let them play the part." Ozpin said. He took a sip from his ever present mug, before the corner of his mouth twitched upwards. "Besides, I thought Mr. Rose's prank was rather amusing."
John D. Rose POV
"Damn, that was a helluva food fight" Sky wheezed, holding his chest.
"Agreed. However, lets ban the use of aura infused spaghetti. Its so bullshit." Frost said.
"I second that. Although, it was more horseshit than it was bullshit" I said, doing my best to avoid Prof. Goodwitch's killer glare.
"Um, whats the difference?" Jaune asked before the others could warn him.
"According to the mane context, not only is the term bullshit misLEADing, but the conformation is all out of whack. Its also overused." I told him with a smile.
"...Dammit John..." Sky muttered, with his face in his palm.
"Welp, that concludes event number 21!" Ruby exclaimed.
"You planned this!?" Weiss asked incredulously.
"I figured it was bound to happen sometime" Ruby said, as Yang came crashing through the roof, landing on Sky.
"Well, that landing was softer than expected." Yang said to herself, as she got up and dusted herself off. Sky simply let out a high pitched wheeze, opting to stay down and ease his aching body.
"So what did you do this time, John?" Ren asked.
"Yeah! What did you do? It must have been pretty bad for Professor Goodwitch to be that angry with you!" Nora encouraged, reminding me of my impending doom.
"Well, you see...er..."
"The idiot drew a giant white dick on her cape, just before the white coats dragged him off. He left a note behind that said; So people can see where you're coming from." Frost said.
"PFFFFFFTHAHAHAHAHAHA-!" Yang began laughing so hard she fell to the ground. The others were reduced to face palms, shaking heads and involuntary laughs.
Second semester is gonna rock! Everyone suddenly stopped laughing and froze. It urned around, and was met with the killer stare of Glynda Goodwitch. On second thought, second semesters are overrated.
Remember how I originally said that this would be out before Volume 3? Ya know how Volume 4 just kinda ended? Yeaaah... Oops? Okay, so some of you are probs a little bit pissed. Look, you try handling 3 stories at once, alongside a full time job AND school, then come back and let me know how that worked out for you. However, at the same time, it is 50% my fault for sidelining this story twice in a row. And starting another story. And doing it while juggling such a poor choice of lifestyle. But hey, at least its here now.
Oh, by the by, scientists have created this awesome thing that actually motivates writers to get chapters out faster! Its this crazy thing called a review. You should drop one down, and see how well it works!