A/N: Forgot to mention it in the first chapter, but thanks Coeur. This fic is inspired by NTTF. You're my favourite writer on this site.
No harems. I'm nowhere near good enough to write one realistically. This disclaimer also extends to my future stories. I simply can't write harems.
Chapter 2 - Misunderstandings
Jaune scratched the back of his head, trying to rack his mind. He was supposed to have given up trying to find out what was going on. He was supposed to simply wait till Beacon to find out. Yet his soft spot for his friends once again held the reins of his decision making. He wiped a hand across his forehead in exasperation. He desperately needed to let go of his attachments to them. Easier said than done, since, even after three thousand repeats he had not managed that.
But did he want to?
No. His feelings for those he cared about were the only thing keeping him afloat this raging river of madness he was riding. RWBY, his own team JNPR, they were the only ones keeping him from fading away into the cold void of nothingness. They were his flames, keeping him warm. Yet, like all flames, if you got too close, you would be burnt.
He staved off his negative thoughts, wondering what he would do next. It didn't take long for his mind to come to the same dreaded conclusion he tried to avoid. Jaune needed to unlock his Aura, and nobody was around to do it for him. Not out in the wilds.
Finding somebody to do it for him would waste precious training time. Time he had already lost engaging in the chaotic madness of this repeat. He would need to do it himself. He would need to unlock it the way Ren did.
He recalled the secret his friend had once confided in him. The secret of extreme stress activating Aura. A secret Nora and Ren had learned in pain and sorrow.
Unfortunately for Jaune, thousands of deaths tended to make one rather desensitized to stress, so the usual methods of going through physical pain were off the table. He tensed at the thought of having to do it. The thought of revisiting his nightmare.
He released a long breath, willing his tension away as he did. He gazed ahead, eyes catching the tallest tree in his view. With a burst, he latched onto the trunk and began climbing it. Each finger and movement perfectly placed, he was sure he could put a ninja to shame when it came to climbing things. He got as close to the top as possible while keeping a stable position, and sat on the gap between two split branches. He closed his eyes.
He could feel the familiar weight of his sealed Aura from within. He had unlocked it himself a few times before, although no matter how many times he did, it never got any easier. He sighed and slipped into a state of deep meditation. Having learned to connect to his soul from within long ago. Ren was the best teacher he ever had.
Hopefully his negativity wouldn't attract too many Grimm.
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A long drawn out trail of red. He made sure to make it slow, delighting in the sharp scream of pain that came from her lips. The look in her eyes made him dangerously excited. They were almost pleading for him to stop. How ironic, that Cinder Fall, the monster that had always tortured him when she had him at her mercy, was now at his, so vulnerable… so sensitive and unused to pain.
He couldn't blame her. Torture was an art to him. While she may have had some minor experience with it, he turned it into something else entirely. He had thousands of years to hone it. Her vulnerability to his mastery of torture was only natural. Obsession overtook him as he continued to work his art, shrieks and whimpers piercing through the rain.
He heard her incoherently mumble a word. "Salem." he heard her mouth. She must have been delirious for senseless names to be coming from her lips. What a sight it was. The cold and calculating Cinder Fall, mastermind of the fall of Beacon, was now broken before him, reduced to a slobbering, whimpering mess. Her eyes, previously filled with fear, were now broken… resigned. His eyes lit up as he smiled. This was the moment he had been waiting to savour. The moment he gave Cinder a taste of what she had inflicted upon him.
The pain of breaking.
He stepped in closer, her body marred, her clothing torn, revealing her tempting form.
No. He would never do that. The thought disgusted him, causing him to drop Crocea Mors onto the ground. It was something she had done to him once… stripping him of the last shred of dignity he had left. He had lost all sense of self after that.
Rain poured atop the CCT, puddles formed on the floor of the now open tower. Below he could see Vale and Beacon in ruin, flames roaring even amidst the suffocating rainfall. Jaune's head trailed down to the ground, catching sight of a puddle between his feet, the reflection clear enough to see for just a moment.
The sight made his blood run cold.
It was him. What had he become?
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Jaune was torn from his meditation with a deep breath. His eyes jerked open to see a white glow surrounding his body, although it did nothing to stop the trembling he was going through. He exhaled a shaky breath as sweat rolled down his face, pulling Crocea Mors close to his chest as he looked down to the ground. A pack of three Beowolves were waiting for him below, at the base of the tree.
He blinked and refocused his attention. He couldn't waste time shivering in fear. He had work to do, training to complete. With a silent drop, he landed on one of the Beowolves, plunging Crocea Mors through its skull as he came down.
The other two immediately charged him. Their funeral.
He flipped forward, pulling his blade out of the fallen Grimm's skull as he jumped straight into the chest of one of the attacking ones. With a lazy extension of his arm, he thrust his blade upward into its chin. The last one sent a claw toward him, although he saw it coming from a mile away. With another motion, he simply stepped past its swing into its paws reach, missing it by millimetres as he proceeded to drive his sword into its eye.
He turned around and began to walk away, Crocea Mors still embedded in the Grimm's skull, slowly pulling out as he stepped. Grimm were more of a nuisance to him by this point, being the mindless beasts that they were, they never held a candle to his more dangerous opponents. The ones that could think.
One thing had been cemented in his mind however. He was never unlocking his own Aura again. Reliving that moment again just wasn't worth it. But that wasn't what truly bothered him.
What scared him was how much more tolerant he had become of that dream. Had he begun to accept it?
He released a long sigh and decided that he was grossly overthinking the matter. He needed a walk. A walk to clear his head, and to ponder on why only three Beowolves had attacked him. There were usually far more.
It wasn't like someone else had been killing them, right?
Blake's eyes flitted around, checking her immediate surroundings for any threats. When she had suggested daily Grimm hunting alongside Weiss, she didn't expect they would encounter dozens of them, almost as though something was drawing them to the area. Between her and Weiss they had likely killed over forty Beowolves and a dozen Ursa. Sensing a lull in their numbers, the two had decided to split up and keep hunting, still staying within a hundred yards of each other just in case.
Her spars against Weiss had gone well, with the both of them managing to exploit the other's weaknesses, thereby forcing them to adapt accordingly. It had been a good training session, one she would learn from.
Although if one thing bothered her, it was how Weiss insisted they keep their disguises on. Something to do with being a famous heiress to one of Remnant's most powerful companies. Not that she had to worry about that. To everyone else she was just a random Faunus out in the wilds. She had left her disguise back at camp. Who would recognize her anyways?
A flash of black cut her reflections short as she stared into the glaring red eyes of a Beowolf leading its pack. She sighed as Gambol Shroud left its sheath. Grimm were annoying, but she did welcome the training. It was the only way for them to get strong enough this time. Strong enough to win.
She immediately moved to the side as a Beowolf attempted to claw at her face, slashing into its throat as she evaded. Another attempted to take a bite out of her, but a quick shot into its eye put it out of commission. A third, fourth and a fifth went down to her display of lethal agility and speed as she sliced and shot them up.
The final two charged her, but a quick activation of her semblance managed to leave a clone in her stead. Two quick slashes from Gambol Shroud promptly dealt with them. She smiled, victory in her grasp, she could win this time. She turned around to see fangs headed for her face. She wouldn't be able to activate her semblance in time.
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A walk. A quiet, peaceful way of clearing his head was all Jaune had wanted. Yet trouble seemed to find him at every turn. A chance moment of hearing the sounds of fighting had lead him to a clearing where he came upon something unsettling.
Blake. Upon seeing her he had dashed behind the nearest tree out of sight and intently observed. She had been fighting a pack of Beowolves, and absolutely massacring them if her performance was any indication. He had mentally scratched his metaphorical head trying to explain why she too was somehow far more skilled than she had any right to be at the time.
He had kept watching as she won, but a particular moment caused his breath to catch in his throat. A King Taijitu, shooting out of the clearing, charging toward her exposed back. He knew she couldn't activate her semblance for an attack she didn't see coming. She would be fine… her Aura would allow her to take the hit. He really needed to stop fussing over them.
His body jumped of its own accord.
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Blake cringed, bracing herself for the impact she knew was sure to come. The white blur stopped just short of her, something perched atop the King Taijitu. Someone.
She watched, her mouth agape as the figure placed two palms on the white head of the snake. Her eyes widened as the white head suddenly exploded, a shockwave of Aura passing through it. She continued gazing as her newfound ally leapt over to the remaining head and did the same in a perfect motion. No error or possible room for improvement in his movements. Who was he?
The figure jumped off the now dead Grimm and landed a distance away from her. She looked closer. A hood, mask and… dark shades. Her jaw dropped. It was the super stalker. He wasn't here to save her… no. He wanted her for himself!
She needed to fight to defend herself. He would pay for hurting Weiss.
With wary steps Blake stepped forward, Gambol Shroud at the ready as she began to close the distance between them. She knew how easily this scum had managed to defeat Weiss and would not make the mistake of rushing him like her teammate had. She kept a close eye on him, making certain he didn't try any sudden moves.
"Why are you doing this? Can't you see that stalking people is wrong?" she asked him rhetorically. This pervert couldn't be reasoned with, she knew that much. She could swear she saw an eyebrow rise behind those dark shades of his.
Her reflexes flared however as she saw him immediately turn tail and attempt to run. She wouldn't let it be and gave chase.
He was fast, faster than his physique would suggest, but not raw speed. It was a kind of speed produced from masterful footwork. Perfectly efficient mechanical movements. Was he so skilled in martial technique that he could apply it even to his movements?
Yet it was not enough. This super stalker's technique was not enough to outrun her raw speed, something she had trained in for a good deal of her life. She caught up to him, when the distance between them was less than a dozen feet she opened fire, aiming for his legs.
She was shocked to see him dodge. Well, not exactly dodge, but move out of where her shot would have hit before she had fired. Did he know where she was going to shoot? How was that possible when he wasn't even looking back?
Blake continued chasing after the man, deciding to instead focus on a different tactic. A close-up tackle. She sprinted to where the distance between them was fewer than two feet, and pounced. At this range, there was no avoiding her. She sailed through the air, closing the remaining bit of distance between them.
She sailed, about to tackle him from behind, but he moved. She knew he wouldn't avoid the tackle completely, but he had ducked just enough to mitigate its effects almost completely. His hands above his head in a defensive posture, guarding it no doubt. Her tackle mostly sailed over him, much to her frustration. She felt something snag… something tugging hard on her top straps.
A loud ripping noise followed as Blake hit the ground from her failed tackle. Although, something was off, her body felt slightly lighter. Something was off… literally.
Her hands tightened into fists as she gave this perverted freak a glare that would have him six feet under if looks could kill. She quickly covered up with her hands and backed off a fair distance.
He was breathing rather hard, and she could see that whatever exposed skin he had was red. The realization hit her suddenly.
This creep was excited! Oh gods… she was about to be molested, wasn't she? Was this his plan all along? Lead her through the woods away from his partner, strip her down and have his way with her? Her eyes widened in fear as his knees bent slightly. No doubt he was preparing to tackle her down.
To her surprise the man decided to turn the other way and run. She glanced over her shoulder to see Weiss rapidly approaching at high speeds, in the process of drawing Myrtenaster. Relief overtook her.
She turned back to see the super stalker had disappeared.
Fate could go shoot itself in the head with a high-powered Dust rifle. Jaune was not happy. He didn't even mean to rip Blake's clothes off! She had done that herself. It wasn't his fault that his hand couldn't move fast enough to get out of her way.
He had expected her to perhaps react calmly at having somebody kill a King Taijitu for her. Silent gratitude, perhaps a way of starting a conversation with her.
He did not however, expect her to immediately attack him while accusing him of… stalking her? Did his get-up really look that suspicious? Surely, he thought slaying a Grimm in her defense would be enough for her to ignore it?
He forcibly cleared his mind of these thoughts. They weren't the real problem. The real problem was the dark hooded figure he saw running in from behind Blake. From the looks of it, Blake knew the figure. He had turned around to run just before the figure drew their weapon. Just like last time he failed to get a look at it, although he doubted the weapon they used would be of any importance.
His mind came to a solid conclusion.
It was official, an insane cult had somehow formed in this timeline. A cult intent on befriending and brainwashing Remnant's future Huntresses. He needed to find a way to deal with these new players and turn them to his advantage. But what was his next step?
It came to him immediately. Both Blake and Weiss had been approached and persuaded by these dark hooded figures. He needed to make sure that this wasn't simply limited to the two of them. If they had been compromised, then the only next logical step would be… Yang and Ruby.
He needed to make sure they were safe. He needed to head for Patch.
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Blake embarrassingly fidgeted as she sat beside her teammate. She recalled every detail of the humiliating, literal dressing down she had received. How the lecherous vermin had appeared excited at seeing her undressed, and how he was about to tackle her to the ground and… have what he wanted. A certain part of her slightly tingled at the thoughts.
She immediately gave said part a mental slap.
She desperately shook her head side to side, attempting to dispel the confusing thoughts that were going through it. Weiss was right… she too needed to get stronger. The stalker would be back, and they needed to be able to defend themselves. He had attacked them twice by now.
She felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She flinched, almost jumping at thinking it was the stalker. She sighed a breath of relief at seeing her teammate. She looked to see concern on Weiss's face.
"Blake… you can rest now… he's gone. You can't keep thinking about it." she heard Weiss mouth, attempting to reassure her no doubt. She smiled at her teammate's words. Weiss was right, she couldn't dwell on such a thing. It wasn't what Jaune would do. He would move forward.
She nodded in reply and turned to face Weiss. "You're right… and I've been thinking Weiss. This super stalker is dangerous. He came after us twice now." she stated, their next step forming in her mind.
"Right… he easily crushed me… and he uh…" she could hear the uncertainty in Weiss's voice, realizing that the heiress had not meant to bring it up so soon.
"It's fine Weiss. He almost… took me." she recalled, a tinge of red coloring her face. She might as well admit it to herself so that she could move on. "But that wasn't what I wanted to talk about."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Weiss asked her. She knew that the heiress was likely on the same track as her.
She nodded. "We need help to deal with him." admitting it had pained her slightly. A stab at her pride. "We need to meet up with Ruby and Yang on Patch."
She smiled to see Weiss nodding along with her. "I'll give Yang a call to let her know we're coming over." she said, eager to finally see her team reunited for the first time this life. She pulled out her scroll and tapped on Yang's picture, waiting as the call went through.
After a few seconds the call went through, Yang's sleepy face showing up on screen, although her partner seemed worried.
"Blake? Is everything alright? Where's Weiss?" her partner asked. A warm feeling went through her upon hearing her partner ask that question. She reassuringly smiled.
"We're fine Yang… we just wanted to let you know. We're coming over to Patch in two days. Can you meet us?" she asked, happy to see her partner's face again. Yang always had a reassuring effect on her.
"Can we meet you? Someone knock you upside the head? Of course we'll meet you!" Yang exclaimed, joy evident in her partner's voice. Although she could see Yang's face fall as soon as a light turned on in the hallway. "Whoops… meet us at the café in town. We'll be waiting there at four."
"We'll be there." she replied, finding herself smiling at Yang's antics once again. A previously empty part of her felt as though it had filled up.
"Awesome, catch you later." Yang whispered into the scroll as Blake saw her screen go black.
"To Patch then?" Weiss asked her. She smiled.
"To Patch."
Yang Xiao-Long hated the waiting game. Patience was not the blonde brawler's strong suit, and neither was it Ruby's if the number of broken training droids at school had been any indication. Between herself and her sister, they had probably destroyed enough training bots to fill the Amity Colosseum.
When Blake had called her to say that they would be coming over, Yang was giddy with excitement, finally getting a chance to see her partner and teammate. A chance to reunite team RWBY. The two days of waiting in-between however, had been torture.
As she and Ruby sat inside the café, she couldn't help but feel a strange sense of happiness at having it all back. Her sister, her family, her team and friends, and her future at Beacon. A future she would save this time. By smashing Cinder and her cronies' faces in. She wouldn't let playboy deal with them alone.
She sipped on her coffee as Ruby eagerly licked her lips from devouring a milkshake laced with enough sugar to kill an Ursa. She was about to finish off the rest of her coffee when a strange sight caught her attention. Two dark hooded figures were crossing the street, and from the looks of it, were about to enter the café.
The two suspicious characters entered the café and seemed to head in their direction. Yang tensed, about to deploy Ember Celica when she caught sight of the two behind the hoods.
"Blake! Weiss!" she exclaimed and bolted up to her feet.
"Quiet you dolt! These disguises aren't for nothing!" she heard Weiss reprimand.
With inhuman strength, she pulled the two and her sister into a crushing group hug. They fussed and whined. But she knew they weren't really complaining. Team RWBY was back in business.
She reluctantly let go, each taking a seat at the booth as they heard Ruby speak. "So why are you two wearing disguises and why are you here? I mean I'm not complaining, but weren't you supposed to be training in Vale?" her sister asked them. Good question, if they were here, then something had to be up.
"Well…" Weiss attempted to sound, unsure of what to say. Yang could spot a bead of sweat roll down the Ice Queen's brow, seeing it made her tense up too.
She spotted the look on Ruby's face. Her little sister had a sneaking suspicion as to what it was. "Weiss… was it… was it that stalker you were talking about?" Weiss's reaction to the question had confirmed it for her. Yang's hands tightened into fists.
"Yes… he attacked us and he… uhm…" Yang knew Blake was hiding something, she didn't want to say what had happened. How bad could it possibly be?
"Say no more Blake. I know what he did… the foul villain… he did smut to you didn't he?" Ruby innocently said.
Weiss's jaw dropping wasn't what caught her attention. Neither was it Ruby's self-satisfied smirk at having come to a brilliant conclusion. It was Blake's nervous cough and glance to the side. It had confirmed it for her.
That creep had tried to molest her partner.
Her hands slammed onto the table as she stood up, ready to smash something into the ground. Her fiery red eyes locked onto those of her partner.
"Blake…" she spoke. Her tone dangerously low. "What does this guy look like?" she asked. Her mind clear, ready to memorize whatever description Blake would give her.
"He wore a hood, mask and… dark shades." Blake replied, confirming the dead man's appearance for her. "But Yang… you need to be careful. He isn't just any normal stalker… he knows martial arts… he beat the both of us. The only other person who fights that well is Jaune, and he isn't here to help us."
Yang didn't care. She was going to massacre the dirty worm the moment she spotted him. With an angry huff, she stood up. Her eyes shifting back to lilac for a moment as she stepped toward the door.
"I need a walk."
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Jaune watched through a pair of binoculars as Yang angrily stomped out of the café. Behind the blonde, Ruby and the two cultists followed. He had watched eagerly as she conversed with the two dark hooded figures, gotten enraged at something and proceeded to stomp off. He was certain she wasn't angry at the two strangers. No, Yang was angry at someone else from what he saw. Whoever it was would pay dearly for getting her angry when she found them.
Poor sod, he almost felt bad for whoever that was.
He quickly clambered off the roof and made way to tail them. As he did, he continued wondering what this new pattern meant. These dark hooded figures had been present alongside each of team RWBY. What were their aims? Brainwash them into serving a nefarious purpose? A master plan to conquer Remnant? A thought struck him.
What if they were time travelers of some sort, here to invade his timeline?
He smacked himself on the head. Clearly, he had been spending too much time with Ruby. He tailed the group across the small streets of Patch as he pondered. Perhaps he could turn these new players to his advantage. Maybe get them to kill Cinder for him? He sighed. Ruby really was a bad influence on him.
He observed as they took a walk into an alleyway. As he made to follow he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of déjà vu.
The crunching of glass could be heard under his foot.
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"What do you mean you were attacked in an alleyway? It'll be fine, I'm here this time." Yang spoke as she walked behind the group.
She saw Weiss cast a nervous glance her way as she said those words. Did Ice Queen know something she didn't? It wasn't like a single stalker was that good. Even if she couldn't take him, she was certain the four of them together could.
"Yang… I don't think this is a good idea. We don't need to walk into an alleyway to take off our disguises." Weiss told her. Yang sighed. The heiress wasn't usually so dramatic, what had gotten into her? She decided not to respond.
An awkward silence drifted between them. A silence that was broken by the crunching of glass.
Yang's head spun faster than a bullet toward the source of the sound. There she saw him. Tall, hooded, wearing a mask and dark shades. It was the stalker her partner had been assaulted by.
"It's him!" Weiss exclaimed, fear apparent in her voice. She didn't need her confirmation. She knew who it was the moment she looked. It was a man soon to be dead.
She shot an arm out to block Blake and Weiss, urging them to not draw their weapons. She would deal with this creep herself. Herself and Ruby it seemed, as she glanced sideways to see her little sister with Crescent Rose deployed and facing the dirty predator.
"I don't know who you are… but you tried touching my partner didn't you?" It was a rhetorical question, she hadn't expected an answer, and she wouldn't wait for one. "You're dead!"
"Yeah! How dare you try smut on Blake!" she heard her sister mouth. She would sigh, but Ruby wasn't entirely wrong. The vermin had tried that on her partner.
With a roar, she deployed Ember Celica and charged toward him, Ruby alongside her.
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He was screwed. There was no way he could beat both Yang and Ruby at the same time. Not with his current body. He hastily ducked under a thunderous haymaker from Yang which would have smashed a speeding Bullhead apart, and simultaneously stepped out of the way of a shot from Crescent Rose.
Yang continued launching a flurry of powerful blows toward him. Blows he barely managed to avoid while also avoiding the high-powered sniper rifle that harassed him. He wouldn't last very long at this rate, not with the two cultists likely to join in whenever they wanted.
'Sorry Yang. This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you.' He proceeded to go for her weak spots. He knew her moves inside out, how skilled she was before Beacon was a fact he had memorized.
He cursed as she hastily avoided and managed to guard against his strikes. Now he was officially cursed. Yang was the third member of RWBY that had somehow gotten far more skilled than was possible. He immediately fell back and decided that he needed to get some breathing room for an escape. His stamina wouldn't last long at the rate he was exerting it. His body moving at max speed, trying to avoid the attacks of two Huntresses far more skilled than he remembered.
He stepped directly into the reach of a heavy front jab, barely dodging past it, yet he grunted as a bullet impacted hard against his Aura. He knew the shot from Crescent Rose was coming, yet there was nothing he could have done. Regardless of how mechanically perfect his movements were, despite how well he could predict their movements, he simply couldn't get his body to move fast enough to dodge. Yet, he had done the best he could, using his Aura manipulation to reinforce that particular area, mitigating the damage as well as he could.
He was tiring, his muscles burning from the intense workout, his finer control over them beginning to lower. He began to make sloppy mistakes he normally would have been able to avoid. A failed dodge due to his tired muscles giving out on him lead to another shot hitting his shoulder.
On the bright side, Yang had begun to tire from the repeated heavy strikes she had tried. He smirked as he knew what would happen next. She would get sloppy, miss and leave herself open for an easy knockout. He could use the opportunity to escape too.
Just as she began breathing heavily, he turned around, about to dash off. Only to barely move his body in time to avoid a lethal swing of Crescent Rose. What was that? Did Ruby just jump in to cover for Yang? That was something they had only learned to do many months after starting Beacon.
No, he was likely overthinking it. Ruby and Yang were sisters after all, and the act had likely been a coincidence… much like everything else that had happened so far in this repeat.
He swiftly lashed out to disarm Ruby of Crescent Rose, he knew she was nearly useless without it. He loudly cursed as she pulled back in time, refusing to allow him to do so. Was she aware of her own weaknesses now too? Just what was going on?
If he couldn't disarm her, he could certainly knock her around enough to get away. He stepped forward, ready to quickly put her out, when glowing blasts from Ember Celica forced him to leap back. Yang charged in toward him again, fresh from the short breather Ruby had given her. There was no way they were consciously fighting together, right?
Unfortunately for Jaune, this repeat had been a streak of dumb assumptions after the other.
It was brutally methodical. Yang punishing him up-close, while Ruby took him apart from a distance using Crescent Rose. Whenever he was close to pushing Yang back, Ruby sailed in to the brawler's rescue. There was no way he could keep this up for a moment longer. His breaths had begun to cause pain in his lungs as he felt his muscles beginning to numb. Getting discovered here would be the end of his plans.
As Yang came in for a final charge, he did the only thing he knew would stop her. He lashed a hand out, smiling when she ducked, just as he had predicted. At least some things would never change.
His hand latched onto a massive fistful of her hair.
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Yang froze in her tracks as she felt his fingers travel through her hair, touching down all the way to her scalp. Her breath froze in her throat as she felt his grasp tighten, a fist forming as she felt him take a bundle of her hair. She was about to coil her hand up and blow his head off for daring to do such a thing. Yet her hand too stopped in place when she saw what had happened.
He had pulled a knife. On her hair.
Her hair was being held hostage.
"Make a move and you'll be nursing a bald spot for the rest of the year." she heard the beast threaten in a gravelly voice. She suspected it wasn't his real one, but now wasn't the time for such thoughts.
She slowly lifted her hands to convey that she wasn't a threat. She visibly gulped as she stared into the dark shades before her. She could now see what Blake and Weiss had meant. This man was dangerous.
"W-what do you want?" she asked, fear in her voice. What if he demanded something very personal from her?
"Turn around and come with me. Don't worry, I won't hurt you." she heard the stalker whisper into her ear. Her hairs stood on edge as his voice provoked dangerous thoughts in her head. What did he mean when he said he wouldn't hurt her?
They slowly began to move to the entrance of the alleyway, the two of them facing towards her team, Blake and Weiss still hooded, wanting to draw their weapons, yet incapable of doing so for fear of Yang losing her hair.
As they reached the entrance, she felt his grip on her hair loosen. Good, she was now free to act. With a hand motion, she ushered Ruby to come in. She heard her sister call out. "Don't you dare try any smut you stalker! Yang! I'll save you!"
She smirked as she saw Ruby use her semblance to rapidly close the distance. She too was about to turn around and knock his head off.
Before she could however, she felt a painful boot impact her rear. With a yelp, she was sent flying forward, straight into the path of her sister.
The impact was painful, akin to being hit by a Goliath. The two of them impacting had produced a slapping sound of flesh impacting flesh. They both hit the ground with a groan, Ruby clumsily landing atop Yang. They hastened to stand back up and chase after the super stalker, but Weiss and Blake had them beat as they ran after him.
As soon as they stood, they too scrambled to the alleyway entrance, spotting Weiss and Blake standing there.
"He escaped… again." Weiss said, disappointment evident in her tone.
"That… that freak! Nobody touches my hair except Ruby!" she yelled, her eyes dangerously red.
"Yang… calm down. We can't do anything about him now." she heard her sister say.
"Ruby's right, we can't do anything about this creep until we meet Jaune. I'm sure he has an answer for dealing with him." she heard her partner advise.
Blake was right. Jaune likely had all the answers they sought. He was initially a mystery to them in their past life. Always too knowledgeable, always a little too familiar, yet so reliable. He was distant, at first. Although he did eventually begin to warm up to them, it was not without hesitation on his part. She'd have to ask him why.
Her partner made a good case for sticking to the plan.
If anyone had all the answers, it was Jaune Arc.
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Jaune Arc had no answers.
Fate had enjoyed toying with him for the last time. He recalled how, every time he attempted to check up on his friends, he had somehow been caught and engaged in a fight.
The first time he had attempted to chase Weiss, he miraculously stepped on a bottle which had somehow gotten under his feet. A random bottle managing to sneak under the feet of a three-thousand-year-old master of perception. What other answer did that have besides fate?
Then he came across Blake in the same woods. She had been fighting Grimm, and just when he should have left, a King Taijitu decided to charge her exposed back. Okay, that one may have been his fault, but he still felt resentful towards fate for creating the situation.
The last straw came moments earlier, when he had been tailing Yang, intent on finding an answer to the strange cult that had stalked after Remnant's future. He stepped on a bottle once more. Where did they keep coming from anyways?!
He was done. The cult could have them if it wanted, they had willingly gone along with the cultists too. What else could he do if they were in no need of help?
Something had annoyed him to no end however. Why did they think he was a stalker? He felt wounded at that, pride flaring up. He was nothing like a stalker! All he did every repeat was go after his friends… tail them… influence their lives… and attempt to domineer all possible outcomes for them.
Ouch.
He didn't expect self reflection to hurt that badly.
The unanswered questions still hurt his head though. The cultists, RWBY's sudden boost in skill, and the different feeling of his semblance this time around.
He sighed and cleared his head. They could deal with their own problems, for he was out of steam. Losing control and being unable to do anything about it repeatedly tended to drain him.
Had he even bothered to get his armor this time?
No. He only ever got his armor in repeats where he was fully invested, lives where he had foolishly gotten attached and intended to try his hardest to win. He wasn't ready to don the reminder of his last life again.
Oh well, it wouldn't matter much anyhow. He projected that he still had a few thousand more repeats to go till he had enough knowledge and mastery to finally win. Whether or not he had his armor, he would die all the same.
It wasn't like somebody would force him to put on.
"Alright, team meeting time." Weiss heard her partner and leader say as the four sat around the table. Ruby's face was serious, or an attempt at serious, one that ended up looking hilariously cute instead.
"Alright, what are we talking about?" she asked, looking to start the discussion and not waste any time.
"Our plan, how we're going to tell Jaune, and how we need to avoid meeting him before Initiation." her leader spoke. Good, those were important questions that they needed to consider. Weiss lightly smiled. Ruby had come far from the bumbling, irresponsible dunce she had been eight months ago.
"Why do we need to avoid meeting him before Initiation exactly?" Yang asked. Weiss sighed, were all blondes this incapable of seeing basic logic?
"Because he'll see right through us if we do." she replied, trying to drill some sense into Yang's head. "Have you seen his behaviour? Arc has been doing this for a long time. He likely knows all of us, better than we know ourselves." she lectured Yang.
"Weiss is right. Have you never noticed Jaune's behaviour? He calculates everything, sees through everyone, and plays people into doing what he wants." Blake continued on in her stead. "He'll know something is wrong the moment we talk to him. We're only lucky he hasn't encountered any of us yet."
"Okay, okay, I get it. But what's so bad about him knowing before Initiation anyways?" Yang asked.
"If he knows we came back with him, he might try to change the original teams." Ruby replied. "Do you really want to be on any other team than RWBY?"
"Oh…" It finally seemed to click in Yang's head, much to Weiss's relief. "But what about after? What do we do once we confront Jaune after Initiation?"
"The exact words were 'kick Cinder's behind.'" Blake quipped, causing Ruby to pout at the Faunus. "Which, while inspiring, aren't the most detailed."
Weiss sighed. "Yes, and we replaced that with your plan Blake. We'll be following Jaune's lead, we know."
"But won't we have to make things happen the same way again? You know, meeting Penny, the Docks and all that?" Yang asked. Of course, respecting the timeline was basic common sense. What was Yang talking about?
"Why of course, why would we not?" she asked, curious to hear exactly what Yang was implying.
"If we're following the timeline after Initiation… then why aren't we following what happened before it? I mean, things like you and Ruby bumping into each other, us meeting Blake, that kind of thing. On the day of Initiation." Weiss's mind failed to compute for a moment. Did Yang want her to recreate getting blown up again?
"How is getting blown up going to help?" she asked, certain that Yang had lost it.
"Well… you know how Blake said that Jaune's really observant. So, wouldn't he notice if you guys didn't get blown up this time?" That was… an excellent point. She would never think less of Yang's intelligence again.
"But how? Weiss doesn't even have the dust or her dad's workers this time. We can't make it happen again just like it was." Ruby replied. Something suddenly struck her.
"Oh no…"
"What's wrong Weiss?" Blake asked her, worry creasing the girl's brow.
"When I escaped… it made the news. It was on scrolls and screens everywhere… I'm sure Jaune noticed." It was a massive flaw in their earlier plan. If they wanted to keep Jaune unaware of their presence before Initiation, the plan had likely failed already.
She could see Blake's eyes widen at the same time. "The train robbery in the Forever Fall forest… I was supposed to be there the first time… I watched the news story after. They gave an account of the suspects." Blake paused before continuing. "Jaune knows I wasn't there this time."
"Weren't you complaining that we might have broken the timeline?" Yang quipped. She saw Blake growl in response. "So? what if a few things changed? We still have to try and keep them the same, at least until after Initiation. If Jaune doesn't see anything happen like it did last time, then he'll get suspicious." Yang had a point. "The two of you breaking off is bad, but if he sees things are normal till Initiation, then he might give it the pass long enough for us to go through without a hitch."
She didn't want to admit it, but Yang was right. She had to get blown up again.
"Agreed, but what are we doing for the next eleven months? We can't just lounge about." Blake said as she found herself agreeing with her.
"We'll need to train. Every day, just like we planned back in that settlement." she replied. "Right now, we aren't even strong enough to beat a stalker let alone Cinder. We have to fix this."
Determination burned in her eyes, and as she looked around she saw similar looks on the faces of her friends and teammates. But none burned quite as bright as her leader, Ruby Rose.
She stood in front of the gravestone, its words having a calming effect on her.
'Summer Rose - Thus Kindly I Scatter'.
Her mother might have left physically, but she was still always there for her. Always there to talk to.
"So… it's been a while since we talked Mom. Well… not really this time, but from last time you know?" she awkwardly began. If anyone put up with her quirky personality and awkwardness, it was her mom. Ruby might have even picked up some of it from her.
"I really hope you came back with me. You're with me this time too, right?" she rhetorically asked. An answer wouldn't be given, but it was something she always did. It helped calm her.
"Anyway… if you did, then you know how crazy this whole thing is right? Time travel, stalkers, smut. I'm so worried I think I'm going to explode." she paused to let her mom take it in. "Jaune's counting on us, even if he doesn't know it yet. But I don't know if we'll be able to help him. What if… what if we can't?" she asked. Doubt flooding her mind. From what she pieced together, Jaune had likely been at this for a while. If he couldn't do it yet, what chance did they have?
More importantly, how could they beat Cinder? She was monstrously powerful, enough so that not even Jaune together with the four of them could do it. Would a year be enough for her to come up to par? Doubt and worry came upon her face. It didn't suit her.
An answer came in the form of something small, red and vibrant. That was what had floated onto her nose. A rose petal.
She smiled as her burdens left her. Her mother had as good as answered it for her. There was always a way.
"Love you Mom. You're the best." she replied, turning around. As she did she recalled what would face her. A pack of Beowolves.
She could use the practice.
Eleven months later
Ruby stood at the entrance to 'From Dust Till Dawn'. She knew what the date was. Tonight was the night she stopped Torchwick's robbery and got into Beacon. She calmly entered and walked to the back of the store, deciding to pretend to read a few weapons magazines. She wasn't wearing her headphones this time.
As expected, Torchwick and his four henchmen entered the store a few moments later. She heard him muttering something to the shopkeeper which caused the poor man to plead. Last time she had kept her headphones on, only being alerted when a thug had attempted to mug her. She didn't need to do that this time.
She stepped up to the counter from behind the shelves, and as she did, Roman's thugs immediately pointed their weapons at her. She had the barest smirk on her face. It fell when she saw Torchwick.
The cocky criminal looked exactly as she remembered. A cheap attempt at a gentlemanly outfit, the cocky smirk, and the theatrical twirling of his cane. It was sickening.
"Well, well, what do we have here? A little Red poking her nose into other people's business." Torchwick cockily mouthed. She felt something burning inside her, something she didn't know she could feel. Hatred. The sight of the thief made her want to hurt him, badly.
"Are you robbing me?" she asked, her voice noticeably colder than it usually was. She needed an excuse to start the fight after all.
"Robbing you? Not at all. My associates on the other hand? They might have a few words with you on that." Torchwick arrogantly sounded. Always trying to appear as something more than he was. A common criminal.
It took all of Ruby's strength to stop herself from tearing into him right away. Doing that could change things for the worse. She needed the thief to get away this time, and she needed Professor Goodwitch to step in and help her do it.
She grimaced as one of the goons pointed a sword at her, and the others aimed their guns toward her. As her hand went for Crescent Rose, she silently hoped that she could replicate this event well. Her admission to Beacon depended on it.
With a sudden burst of speed, she deployed Crescent Rose, utilizing her semblance to magnify her velocity in a dash toward the first one. She used the momentum to slam the flat end of her weapon into the goon who had a sword pointed at her, sending him out the window of the store.
She waited as Roman motioned the rest of his men to attack her before leaving the store. He was gone. Good, now she could cut loose. With another burst of speed, she rushed into the remaining three, momentum strong enough that a single swing from her scythe's flat end sent them all flying out the broken window.
She hurriedly leapt out the store to find Roman attempting to saunter away. He turned to regard her however, having noticed that she had disposed of all his henchmen.
"Truly, they were worth every cent." he grumbled under his breath, rather annoyed at how quickly his men had been dispatched. "Well Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening." She knew what he was about to do. Was this how Jaune felt? "And as much as I'd love to stick around, I'm afraid this is where we part ways." he uttered, firing the glowing explosive round from Melodic Cudgel. She knew it was coming and jumped far ahead of time, spotting the surprise on Torchwick's face as she did. He wasted no time in dashing for the ladder leading to the roof however.
She landed and gave chase after him, yet making sure to keep an adequate distance like she had last time. After he reached the top, she jumped up, following after him. She heard him grumble something under his breath as the Bullhead showed up in front of him, its hatch open, waiting for him to enter.
She also knew what came next, as the thief pulled out a red Dust gem and was about to throw it at her. Precognition was a pretty handy ability. She fired Crescent Rose before the gem left his hand.
A deafening explosion sounded across the air as Roman was thrown backwards into the vehicle, and the Bullhead violently rocked back and forth from the shock of having a Dust gem explode inside it.
She silently cheered to herself. Cheers which stopped the moment the strange figure from last time came into view. The shadows obscured them, but she was certain it was a woman from what she could see now, and from what she remembered from last time. That wasn't right. The stranger only came out after Professor Goodwitch arrived. Speaking of which, where was she anyway? Was she too fast in disposing of Torchwick's henchmen this time?
She yelped as a stream of flame rushed toward her, barely managing to jump out of the way with a shot from Crescent Rose. She glared and returned fire, attempting to keep the stranger on the defense. Yet strangely, the flames struck her with an odd sense of familiarity. She gasped as she barely avoided another attack, this time a row of flaming pillars shooting up from the ground.
She realized she would need a little more punch for dealing with whoever this was, and pulled out her current magazine, only to switch it with one which was marked 'explosive', something she didn't have last time. She stood in place and took aim for the figure who was obscured in darkness down to their feet.
Her opponent had already fired a ball of flame toward her, yet it was one she was willing to take. She needed to get off the shot, she needed to keep the Bullhead occupied till Professor Goodwitch came along.
Her shot hit its mark, yet flames also hit her. Her eyes widened. She knew whose flames they were.
Cinder.
Ruby didn't wince as the flame singed the edge of her sleeve, instead opting to stare directly. Her explosive shot had caused the Bullhead to rock forward enough so that she could see the light revealing the monster's outfit halfway. It had confirmed it for her.
Cinder was here.
Ruby's grip on Crescent Rose tightened as she gazed into the shadow of where her face would be. She immediately took aim and began firing shot after shot at the Bullhead, all of which were intercepted by bright flames providing a shield. She kept firing, rage overtaking her, as she ignored the ground glowing beneath her, about to erupt in flames.
She felt a force pull her back. A purple cloak stepping in front of her. It was Professor Goodwitch.
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Glynda had sighed when she saw the Bullhead fly off into the distance, beyond her range, and beyond any interest she had in pursuing it. When she had received the alert of a robbery in Vale she hadn't expected to arrive while the crime was taking place. Neither had she expected to find a little girl foiling the robbery and engaging an enemy on par with a seasoned Huntress.
Ruby Rose was skilled. Something she would normally admire and encourage in all Huntsmen and Huntresses, yet the bubbly girl had aroused some of her suspicions. When she pulled the girl out of the way of the attack which would have hit her, she received a glare. A glare filled with anger, but which had faded a moment after. She had chalked it up to the heat of combat.
Now she was pacing about behind Ozpin who was intent on having a talk with the girl.
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"Ruby Rose…" he stated quizzically as he stared. "You have silver eyes." Interesting.
He held the gaze for a while longer when she didn't show any reaction to his creepy probing. He gave her a light smile. Placing a plate of cookies in front of her, he was surprised to see her hesitate for a moment before taking just one. Odd. Qrow had told him that she was addicted to them. He took a seat and placed a scroll in front of her.
"Can I assume a dusty old crow taught you how to fight like this?" he asked as he curiously studied her reactions.
Qrow had deigned to inform him of just how dedicated his two nieces were to training. At first, he merely chuckled upon hearing the man, happy to see he was focused on something other than drinking. Later, he began to pay more heed to the occurrence. Two future Huntresses training so hard wasn't what had piqued his curiosity. What had interested him was the complete change they had shown. As Qrow had put it, their skill 'went up faster than an innkeeper's skirt.'
"Mhm. Uncle Qrow taught me that." he heard her reply. That was it? He expected a slightly longer reply, based off what Qrow and Taiyang had told him. She was supposedly a weapons nut. Perhaps he could get her to open up with that.
"He taught you how to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" he questioned. Surprised when she only nodded in return, a far cry from the hyperactive weapons-obsessed girl he had heard so much about.
"If you don't mind me asking, why were you trying to stop Roman Torchwick?" While young Miss Rose was no doubt skilled, he wondered what motivated her go through with battling Vale's deadliest criminal.
"Well… he was robbing a store." she replied, uncertain of what to say. He caught on, there was a certain truth hidden behind her words, yet it was not the full truth.
"While admirable, I can see that isn't the full story. Miss Rose, was a simple robbery the only reason you fought against Vale's most wanted?" He pressed. Her eyes glanced away nervously, he had pressed her into a corner it would seem. The truth would no doubt come out now.
"I uh… he may have…"
"Go on Miss Rose, I assure you, Ms. Goodwitch and I have heard far worse." he attempted to reassure her.
"I think he tried to do smut."
His coffee nearly spilled onto the table, an event accompanied by Glynda's glasses falling onto her nose.
"He what?! The absolute cur!" He could hear the disciplinarian roar.
"Glynda, let us remain calm. While it is no doubt regrettable that Miss Rose was almost… compromised." He barely breathed that one out. "We can discuss that on a later date, in Beacon."
"In Beacon? Do you mean to suggest-?" Glynda asked.
"Yes, do you disapprove?" he asked her in return.
"She is certainly skilled… and responsible enough to defend herself and foil a robbery." Glynda said, approval evident in her tone. She looked to him and nodded.
"Well then Miss Rose, how would you like to attend Beacon?" he asked. Surprised once more when her reaction had been a mix of happiness and something else he couldn't quite put a finger on. He disregarded the observation. It was likely just nerves getting to her.
He smiled as Glynda lead Ruby out of the room. The smile dropping the moment they left.
He would need to speak to the VPD and get Vale's criminal registry updated.
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Ruby was relieved. She skittered down the street sighing in relief at finally getting past what she saw as the most sensitive part of the timeline. One wrong move could have ended her future at Beacon. In fact, she was certain Ozpin saw through her numerous times, yet had thought it was something else.
She smiled as she continued, happy that she had maintained the timeline in this case. The robbery had mostly gone the way it had last time. Hopefully this event hadn't made any major changes.
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Cinder glared into the scroll, intently gazing into the picture. Silver eyes, red cloak, oversized scythe. Just who was this girl known as Ruby Rose? The fact that a fifteen-year-old girl had foiled a robbery by Vale's deadliest criminal was worrying, but could still be chalked up to luck.
What had annoyed her was how the girl had then pursued him, miraculously shot a fire Dust gem in Roman's hand, and proceeded to force her to enter the battle. The explosive ammunition nearly caused the Bullhead to crash, but Cinder had dealt with it in time.
What had actually caught her attention was the girl glaring at her. Almost as though she could see past the obscuring darkness of the Bullhead, straight into her eyes. It was interesting. Enough so that she would keep tabs on this Ruby Rose. A potential problem to her plans.
He had trained the usual way for the past year, speed and endurance, fairly certain he could run halfway across Remnant without stopping now. The Beacon entrance exam had been trivial to him, as always, something he always passed with flying colors.
As he entered the airship to Beacon he reflected on the events of the past year, specifically the events which had occurred eleven months ago. Maybe now that he was at Beacon he could finally find out what that cult was up to?
He took his usual seat near the very end, away from everyone else. He had no interest in getting attached any longer. With a bored yawn, his eyes flitted over to the screen in front of him, the news channel was on.
'In recent news, Vale's criminal registry has been updated, and in a shocking development, Vale's most wanted, Roman Torchwick, has been accused of attempted child assault!'
'It's a complete turn around from the typical robberies the criminal been committing so far Cyril. In fact the VPD has been forced to respond due to public outrage.'
'We're going over to the VPD Public Relations Officer now, he has a few words to say on the issue.'
'What has been the VPD's response to this new crime by Torchwick?'
'Thank you for asking Lisa. The VPD takes this crime very seriously. We're urging all citizens to keep their kids indoors at night and keep an eye out for a man wearing a white suit with a hat. Kids, if you see a funny orange haired man wearing mascara, run away and call the police.'
An amused grunt escaped his mouth. Torchwick… tried to touch a kid? He couldn't help but almost laugh at the ridiculousness of that outcome. Just one more curveball that had never been thrown his way before. One more chaotic event which ripped the control away from his grasp.
His eyes fell downward as he realized how lost he was this time. If only he could just ask his friends about what they had been up to for the past year.
He looked around the airship. Pyrrha was in her usual spot, all the way on the other side, looking down at the floor. Ren and Nora were a few seats away from her, engaging in their usual banter. Yet, something caught his attention. Team RWBY were not in any of their original spots. Spots they usually always tended to gravitate towards. Instead they were all on the far side of the airship, facing away from him, looking out the window.
Oh well, there must have been something interesting outside. Who knew what it was.
It wasn't like they were intentionally avoiding him.
Next chapter: Initiation
Chapter will be released by July 4th at the latest.