Phantom of Beacon
Chapter 3:
The sun began to rise over Beacon Academy, and our resident blonde was sleeping peacefully. After a long night of unpacking, figuring out who would get which bed, and then at Ruby's suggestion, making bunk beds, Team JBRY earned a rest.
Jaune snuggled closer into his pillow, enjoying the comfort of the beds. "I had no idea these beds were so soft! And the pillows! So warm!" He thought, pressing his face closer…
"...Jaune?" Blake whispered, a blush having crept onto her face.
Jaune opened his eyes, seeing not his pillow, but rather Blake's yakuta. He slowly glanced up to see her face, yellow eyes looking down at him with a look that could either kill or shock, or both. Jaune sprung backwards out of the bed falling onto the floor with a loud thud.
Ruby jolted awake, springing into action at her bedside, only to see Jaune on the floor and Blake as red as Ruby's namesake. "Jaune? Blake? What's going on here?"
"Nothing! Nothing, right Blake?" Jaune nearly shouted.
Blake stared at him for a few seconds before replying. "Right! Nothing at all!"
A Few Hours Earlier
Jaune tossed and turned in his sleep, dreaming about the accident in the lab, and a pair of glowing red eyes that emerged from it as he ran. It chased him into a field, where he hobbled as fast as he could. Reaching a barn, he banged on the door, but it wouldn't budge. As the beast grew closer and closer, Jaune shrunk against the door, only to fall right through it…
Jaune phased in his sleep, falling down through his bed onto Blake's bed gently. As he felt unknown warmth beside him, Jaune's nightmare ceased, his fear subsiding.
Present
Ruby raised an eyebrow at the pair, before shrugging it off and digging through her bag for her stash of cookies. "Yang! Did you eat my cookies?!"
Yang, still not awake, snored quietly from the bottom bunk.
Blake, still flustered, grabbed her clothes and headed to the bathroom, claiming the first shower. As she closed the door, she locked eyes with Jaune, before blushing again and slamming the door.
Jaune hit his head on the dresser over and over. "Why. Why. Why. Why." He thought.
First Class - Grimm Studies
"Monsters! Deeeemons... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!" Professor Port looked out at the awkwardly silent class. "Uhm…And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses..." (gives Yang a wink, which she groans uncomfortably at) "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!"
Team JBRY sat in the front row, Yang sitting up and paying attention, Blake taking notes, and Jaune and Ruby sat with their heads propped on their arms as they drifted in and out of sleep.
Port coughed, signaling Ruby to wake up, nudging her leader who continued to doze. "That is what you are training to become. But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man... Me! When I was a boy..."
Port droned on, his words fading into blahs as he rambled on about himself. Blake stopped taking notes at this point rolling her eyes at the man. "What does this have to do with killing Grimm?" she thought.
"Ah-heh-hem!" Port coughed, waiting until he had everyone's (minus Jaune) attention. "In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero! The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable! A true Huntsman must be dependable! A true Hunts…" Port droned until Jaune felt Ruby nudge him in the ribs slightly.
"Mr. Arc!" Port shouted, fully waking Jaune.
"BWAH! Yes?!"
"Now that you've joined us, I asked if you saw yourself as an ideal Huntsman?"
"Yes sir!" Jaune responded almost automatically.
Port nodded at him. "Splendid! Now come down and face your opponent!"
Jaune paused, blinking at his teammates and then Port. "What?"
RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYRWBY
Jaune stood in front of the class, facing a large black cage, gauntlets armed. He looked towards everyone in the class, taking in a large breath of air.
"Now Mr. Arc, as this is a classroom setting, I would advise against your wrist cannons."
Jaune nodded, disarming his firearms. He drew his sword, giving it a few test swings. "Well Arc, this is your chance to shine. Better not mess it up!" He thought, trying to calm his nerves.
Yang and Ruby gave a sympathetic cheer for their leader. "Go Jaune!" Yang shouted.
"Yeah! Bring home a win to team Jazzberry!" Ruby raised a fist in the air.
Blake looked on at Jaune, the two having not spoken since the incident that morning. She stared at him, clearly nervous, and she sighed. "It was just an accident after all…" she thought, before scribbling a few things down on her notebook, before ripping out the page and folding it into a makeshift flag. "Fight well!" She cheered.
Jaune looked out, catching her gaze and smiling confidently. "I can do this! I can really do this!"
The cage door dropped, revealing a black beast with white bony armor and two long tusks coming from its face. It let out a screech before charging at Jaune.
"Oh Oum I can't do this!" He thought as he jumped to the right to dodge the Boarbatusk's attack. Backpedaling a bit, Jaune glared at the beast as it thrusted its tusks towards his chest. He swung his sword downwards, catching the tusks on the blade.
The Boarbatusk struggled against Jaune, before gaining the upper hand and tossing his sword across the room.
"Oh ho! What will you do now without your sword?" Port taunted.
Out at her desk, Weiss smirked smugly. "Serves him right for calling me Ice Queen! Even if he does have amazing muscl-NO! No thinking about that!" She thought as her cheeks turned red.
Jaune glanced at the other side of the room where his sword now lay. "Crap!" he thought as he flicked his hands out, bringing the dust claw tips out. He took a more primal stance, a nervous look on his face.
The Boarbatusk went into a rolling attack towards Jaune, the blonde's claws raking against its bone armor. Before Jaune could react, it charged at him from behind, flinging him forward.
Jaune crashed into the cage, his aura taking a significant blow. "Ah!" He cried out as he attempted to channel his remaining aura into healing his back. His wrist beeped, showing him that his aura was in the yellow. "Gotta end this fast!"
The Boarbatusk reared its tusks in the air before charging once again. Blake's eyes widened, taking in a breath of air. "Jaune!" she thought as she leaned forward on her desk, reaching for Gambol Shroud.
Jaune took his primal stance once again, this time a look of pure viciousness on his face. The Boarbatusk charged at him, rolling into another rolling attack. BRY of Jazzberry looked, ready to jump in if needed.
Jaune caught the beast by its tusks, using the momentum to flip it behind him into the bars of the cage. While it was stunned, he channeled his intangibility into it, phasing it halfway through the bars. The Boarbatusk struggled and flailed, trying to somehow get free, until Jaune leaped above it and sliced his slightly glowing clawed gauntlets at its exposed underbelly, silencing it. Jaune panted as the beast began to fade, dropping to one knee.
A few students clapped, and Port walked forward pulling Jaune back to his feet. "Splendid work my boy! Though you lost your primary armament early on, you used your remaining weaponry and skills to turn the tides in your favor! Though you should have gone for the underbelly earlier on, as that would have saved you some aura."
Jaune nodded, before walking over and picking up his sword. He returned to his seat, getting a look of praise from Ruby, a slap on the back and a wink from Yang, and an amused look from Blake.
"With that display, class is dismissed for the day! For today, no homework, but keep up on your studies!" Port signaled towards the Grimm Studies book.
As team JBRY went to leave, Ruby jumped on Jaune's back. "Jaune, that was great! You've gotta show me those gauntlets more! I mean you were all like 'whoosh whoosh' and it was all 'rawrrrrrrrr' and you were all 'wahhhh hiyaaaaa'!" Her arms flailed in front of Jaune's face in karate movements.
"Thanks Ruby, but it was no big deal. I could have done loads better though." Jaune replied, hoisting the reaper along as they headed towards combat class.
Blake placed her hand on his shoulder. "Jaune, really. You did well. No need to beat yourself up over it."
"Yeah, I think he got beat up enough!" Yang smirked, earning a groan from the others. "But really though loverboy, that was a great fight!"
Jaune smiled earnestly as his team entered the arena classroom. "Thanks guys. And hey, with any luck, I won't have to fight in combat class!"
RWBYRWBYRWBYRWBYRWBY
"Our first match will be Jaune Arc and Cardin Winchester. Please enter the arena and prep for combat." Miss Goodwitch announced as the roster randomized.
Jaune deadpanned. "Why me?" He groaned, earning a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Pyrrha, a warm look on her face.
"Jaune, don't worry! I'm sure you'll do quite well!" She said, green eyes meeting blue.
Yang pumped her fist in the air. "Yeah! P-Money's right! Go kick some butt!"
Jaune sighed and headed down the stairs into the arena, gearing up for his second match of the day. As he stepped into the lights, Jaune saw his opponent for the first time, realizing it was the guy who threw his shirt into the girls changing room. "Hey! You're the one who threw my clothes the other night!"
Cardin smirked. "Yeah? You have a good time in there, or did the sight of a woman break you?" He laughed as Jaune glared at him.
Jaune's glare broke as he smirked. "You know, it actually went fine. Plus, I share a room with three girls now, and it's pretty great! They're gorgeous! I actually feel bad for you, Cardin, sharing a room with just guys. Unless you're into that, which is totally fine. You be you!" The students in the seating area snickered as Cardin grew red in the face.
"You're dead, Arc!" He shouted.
Miss Goodwitch hit the alarm bell once. "Enough! Now, arm yourselves and we will begin!"
Cardin drew a large black mace from his back, swinging it around mercilessly. "You're going down, loser."
Jaune flicked his gauntlets out once again, letting the clawed tips loose. The bell sounded, and the match began. Rather than charging, Jaune took a defensive stance.
Cardin ran at Jaune, swinging his mace at the blonde's face. Jaune ducked, swinging his fist and hitting Cardin across the jaw, sending him back a few steps. Cardin's aura dropped slightly, his face curled into a snarl.
Jaune grinned as he dodged another blow from Cardin, backpedaling as Cardin advanced more and more. As he went to duck again, Cardin raised his knee and hit Jaune on the chin, stunning him long enough to give Cardin a chance to swing his mace towards the blonde's chest.
Jaune exploded from the impact as he was sent flying backwards towards the wall, taking a major hit in his aura. He took a glance at his gauntlet again, showing he was nearing the red zone of his aura. Jaune closed his eyes, the thought of "Going ghost!" went through his mind. A white ring appeared at his waist, splitting into two as his color scheme inverted. His hair turned white and his eyes glowed a ghostly green.
Cardin's eyes widened as Jaune transformed. "What kind of freaky semblance is that?"
Jaune glared, taking his primal stance from his bout with the Boarbatusk. "Oh what's the matter Cardin, afraid of little old me?" He taunted.
Cardin shook his head wildly before his glare returned. "Doesn't matter what tricks you have, you won't beat me!" Cardin ran towards Jaune once again, swinging his mace down towards Jaune's head. The ground exploded and a large cloud of dirt flew into the air.
"Jaune!" Blake shouted, running towards the stairs to the arena entrance, followed by Ruby, Yang, and Pyrrha. As they reached the door, the dust cleared, Cardin standing where he had, with Jaune nowhere to be found. Suddenly, two ghostly hands reached from the floor and pulled Cardin's feet into the ground.
"What the-" Cardin shouted as Jaune burst from the floor returning to tangible form, hitting Cardin square across the chin with an uppercut. Cardin flew backwards, his feet freeing from the dirt as he fell onto his back. Jaune drew his sword, pointing the tip at Cardin's throat.
"That's the match! Mr. Winchester, while you earned some strong hits against Mr. Arc, your anger caused you to lose focus. This in turn lead you to attack wildly and without any strategy, failing to first study your opponent's semblance. As for you Mr. Arc, your defense was strong, though I counted at least four points where you could have made significant strikes to Mr. Winchester's aura. However, your strategic use of your semblance gave you a significant advantage, as well as the win. Well done. That will be all for today, class dismissed!" Miss Goodwitch turned towards the class, signaling for them to leave.
The arena doors opened, and the girls rushed towards Jaune, Ruby getting there first in a trail of rose petals, tackling Jaune to the ground. "Jaune! That was INCREDIBLE!" She fawned.
Yang hoisted Jaune up by his hood, running her knuckles across his head. "Yeah Jauney, you've got to spar with me later! I've gotta experience those moves first hand!"
Blake pulled Yang off of Jaune, cocking her eyebrow. "Yang, give him a break. Jaune's already had to fight twice today! Give him a bit to recover his aura and energy." She reasoned, the brawler shrugging.
"Oh fine, Blakey, but soon Jauney! You and I will battle! It will be amazYang!" Yang grinned at her own pun, while the others remained silent.
Ruby groaned. "Yang, that was terrible. Really, really terrible. Can we go get dinner now?"
Pyrrha remained silent, watching JBRY with a strained look. She was almost saddened, not knowing whether to interject or not.
Jaune grinned at his team, before glancing towards Pyrrha. "Hey Pyrrha, would you and your team like to join us?" He grinned, still green eyes closing as he smiled.
Pyrrha blinked a few timed, before smiling genuinely. "That sounds lovely!" She waved towards Weiss, Nora, and Ren, signaling them to come with JBRY.
Blake placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder, leaning towards his ear. "Forgetting something, ghost boy?" She whispered, smirking.
Jaune flushed slightly as he summoned his powers, the white rings returning to bring him back to human form. "Oh come on, the others are getting ahead!" He grabbed Blake's hand and pulled her towards the door to the arena, not noticing the blush that crept to her cheeks.
A/N: Hello again all! Sorry for the delay on this chapter, had a long work week! So I've been reading the reviews, and you guys rock! I tried to work on my fight scenes this chapter, as that had been a complaint from some in chapter 2. I know they're a bit rough, but I really tried here! Also, Jaune's dream has more to it than meets the eye. This was always planned to have more importance, and will continue to come up more and more as we progress. For some notes to specific reviewers:
DigitalEmperor001: Jaune's ACTUAL powers are a secret to all but Blake and Jen. As far as everyone else knows, Jaune's semblance changes his color scheme and lets him move through solid objects. They know of no other abilities, so it isn't like he was just like "Hey team, I'm a half ghost!"
Matt Cyr: Just keep waiting on Jaune's past. Patience! As for Cardin, well, Cardin's an ass. He's a bully, and he saw Jaune as someone weaker than him (Obviously proven wrong, but still. Bullies.)
Guest: To you who claimed that I stole Jazzberry and my concept from Coeur Al'Aran, you're a riot. While I've read some of Coeur Al'Aran's work, you mentioned two stories that I've NOT read. I've read One Good Turn Deserves Another, Stress Relief, and am currently reading Professor Arc. I would never steal from another author, as that's a complete insult to art everywhere. Coeur Al'Aran, if you're reading (which I doubt, but hey) please know that I wouldn't steal from you. I've the utmost respect for your work!
A/N: Honestly, I got my concept idea while re-watching Danny Phantom and thought 'What if Jaune could do this?'. Jazzberry literally comes from a color I saw on a website of colors. It's a color, and it fit to the letters of the chosen team.
Anyways guys, keep reading! I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner, so stay tuned! Review and enjoy!
