AN: Great news everybody! My copyright finally went through so this mega update is to celebrate! My short story is called 'The Stranger' and you can find it on amazon. There will be a link to it on the Facebook page for my stories. I want to thank everyone for supporting as I write and for anyone who ends up getting my story. This is hopefully the latest step to becoming a full-time writer.

AN2: I wasn't clear in the AN of last chapter. Those weren't options for Jaune's chain weapon, he's using all of them and they're interchangeable. I meant he'll use one at a time.

AN3: Thanks for the suggestions last chapter, I've decided on Jaune's secondary weapons, pistols and the Yondu arrow (which will have features to make it not as OP)

AN4: Current semblance options:

1. powers like Sans from Undertale

2. Ultimate shield akin to Greed from FMA

3. intangibility

4. Duplication

5. cyclops laser eyes (for shits and giggles)

6. elemental weapons

AN5: Final options for pairing:

1. Vernal

2. Ciel Soleil

3. Reese Chloris

4. Arslan Altan

True Potential

Chapter 3

-Jaune-

"Alright, your little prank over and done with, let's work on your weapon." Ruby grinned, the small statuette having just been mailed out as even Weiss couldn't help but be amused by the idea. "Anything you want to start with? Liiiike a scythe maybe?"

"I'm actually wanting a shield for starters." He chuckled, the three teams all down at the forge with a variety of cast weapons which Ruby was accepting only as tools to see what weapon style suited him.

"But…but scythe!" Ruby whined, "I wanna have a Scythe buddy!"

"Maybe we'll have a scythe too, but I want a shield for my equipment." He told her "And for armor I'm thinking something a little less heavy that the plate I had before."

"Fine," Ruby grumbled "party pooper. We can have a shield." Pulling out paper Ruby made an astonishingly fast sketch of him that looked almost picture perfect, "Yang, can you go make some copies of this for me." The little reaper asked, handing the sketch over to Yang before pulling out a tape measure and several different shield types, "We need to measure your height compared to the shields as we decide what type to make for you." They tried every type of shield they could find cast molds for, from small bucklers to gigantic tower shields. Eventually they settled on a kite shield base, neither too big nor too small.

"Alright, that's decided," he nodded as they began looking at armor "I'm wanting something between heavy and light armor. Maybe leather with some plating? I liked the range of motion and I got without the plate armor, but I also like having protection."

"I get what you're saying." Ruby nodded, making some rough sketches of possible armors as Weiss added her own input, the heiress looking more than a little impressed at the speed and accuracy of Ruby's drawings.

"For a weapon we could get Jaune a pistol just, so he has something to qualify for combat classes while we work on getting an actual weapon made." Ren suggests, most of their friends not able to do much at the moment besides offer ideas and play around with the cast weapons.

"I'll have a pistol commissioned and here within the week." Weiss promised, "Atlas has the most advanced pistol designs in the world, General Ironwood himself uses one."

"Try to get the schematics as well if you can." Ruby's eyes shone excitedly "I might be able to improve them, or at least make something that works better for Jaune based off them."

"I'll try but I make no promises." Weiss frowned, moving off to the side to make a phone call about the pistol.

"Weiss…thank you." He said, touched that she'd go out of her way to order what was likely a very expensive weapon for him.

"You're not a bad person Arc, and not even all that annoying now that you stopped pestering me for a date." She sent him a faint smirk to show she was teasing "I'll expect a favor later but at the moment I don't see a problem doing this to help a…friend."

"Aaaaaaw, Weiss does have a heart." Yang cooed out, glomping a flustered and irritated heiress in a hug as Weiss fought for freedom.

"Children." Ruby sighed to him before looking down at their sketches, selected various parts from different ideas until they had their final design for the armor. Much like they had done before with the shield, Ruby took the different measurements of him and added them to the sketch so when she drew the armor and shield on him they could tell how large each piece needed to be.

"Now for my weapon." He nodded, moving over to the pile of cast weapons where everyone else was waiting and debating what he should use, "I'd rather not have anything that mecha-shifts for the primary weapon, keep it simple at least for now."

"Alright, that makes things easier." Ruby nods, looking at the different piles of weapons sorted into different varieties. "Given the fact you want a shield that eliminated anything like a bow or crossbow and unless you can use it one handed, the larger weapons are out too."

Looking at the massive hammers and zanbatos, Jaune gulped and nodded "I think one handing those would end rather badly for me." Moving the discarded options into a 'no' pile he looked at what was left, "Let's also remove the boomerangs and throwing knives for the main weapons, maybe as a back up option at some point but not for this."

"You'll likely want something you can use while staying mobile given the fact you've chosen armor and a shield that allow easier movement." Pyrrah gave her input "A sword maybe?"

"Maybe." He allowed, picking up a mid-sized sword and giving it a test swing "But all of my family use swords. I want to set myself apart from the arcs that came before me. All of them used Crocea Mors, a simple sword and shield, nothing more. If I'm going to be different right off the bat then I better go all the way with it."

"Go for the weird ones first." Cardin told him, "Non-standard weapons are harder to counter as people aren't used to seeing them and if you find one of those that works well for you then you'll definitely stand out."

Nodding, Jaune began trying the different weapons. Some of them he was able to use to an extent, but they didn't feel right to him, others were failures from the start. He tried a Chakram but kept slipping and was worried about cutting himself if he tried to keep using it, nunchaku got taken away after he came close to removing his ability to have children, and he wasn't even allowed to try explosives before Weiss yanked the grenade out of his hand.

Picking up a steel whip he gave it a crack, trying to direct it towards a practice dummy with decent enough success. "It feels better than the others but not quite there." He told Ruby as she eyed the whip in his hand.

"Oh, I have an idea!" Nora exclaimed eagerly, grabbing a couple items before dragging Pyrrah off to the side. A couple minutes later Nora returned, proudly carrying a hammer with a chain attached to the bottom of the handle, the other end of the chain connected to a simple gauntlet, all of it likely fused together through Pyrrah's semblance. "Try this Jaune Jaune!" Nora grinned, pushing the gauntlet onto his arm and the hammer in his hand.

Eyeing the strange combination he gave the hammer a few swings and, finding the weight surprisingly workable, threw it at a dummy. "It…it feels great!" he grinned, eyes alight as he began trying different ways of using the chain weapon, "If we make a few more chain combinations then I think we have a winner!"

"I could add a gauntlet to the right arm of your armor." Ruby nodded as she took the chain weapon from him to get the measurements "It could house the chain and attach to whatever weapon head you feel like using."

"You're the best Rubes," he laughed, scooping her and Nora up into a hug and spinning them around "once this is done we're heading to Vale for all you can eat cookies and pancakes!"

"Huzzah!" Nora and Ruby cheered, as excited as he was at the prospect of their favorite foods. Going over to the main sketch she had made of Jaune, Ruby added a clawed gauntlet to his right arm and signed the bottom. "We'll start with the shield," Ruby told him "with that and the pistol you can take place in combat class. After the shield we'll do the armor, then your chain weapons. It'll be fun to see what heads we can put on your chain when we get to that point."

"Be sure to make the design a good one Ruby," Weiss told her "presentation is important."

"Yes mom." Ruby rolled her eyes, dodging a cuff upside the head from her partner but finalizing the aesthetics for the pieces.

"Ruby, you rule!" Jaune grinned, seeing the design "I'm gonna look like a badass."

"Then we'll just have to make you fight like one." Cardin teased him as he sulked, trying not to crack a grin as his friends all laughed at the ribbing. Things were finally looking up.

AN: Images for Jaune's base armor and shield will be on the facebook page for my stories.