A/N: Here it is guys! Chapter 6! Now... let me just say this one thing.
I love you guys.
Not in the romantic way, mind you, but in the way that I am extremely grateful to you and care for you. I know this seems a little sentimental, but I just want you guys to know that without you, I probably would never have written as much as I have now. I progressed from being that kid that writes adventures in his little journal, into a kid that writes full stories for others to read. And it's an amazing feeling when people say that your story is good.
Here are my replies to your reviews:
Karlos1234ify: I'm really glad that you do, and I hope not to disappoint.
FanficCrossoverMaster15: Yeah, it will be. Hopefully I made you cringe? Heheheheh... I guess that was a ballsy move, eh? Eh? No?
Sorry...
TopHatGuy: Well, here's the confirmation then: Yes it will be. And I'm sorry that it wasn't a few days but a few weeks. At least I think that was the gap. Well... Here it is!
kloensy1: Mmmmaaaaaybeeeeee? I do happen to love my Deatiny though, so cookie for you! Also, you forgot Red Spectre and Convicition II (New Monarchy Sidearm). But it's fine!
Kharn: I'm glad you did. That was my goal in the first place, however, I don't think I did a good job at explaining it though. But thank you!
Kerlongsj Evert Orlejov: I'm going to try and evenly distribute the "punishment" amongst the other characters, and not just the male ones. But I'm glad you like how I'm writing, I really appreciate that.
IWEYC: Glad you love it! Hopefully, any mistakes I make will diminish in quantity as time goes on, but other than that, thank you!
Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I won't prolong your long-deserved reading time.
Enjoy!
Remnant National Post Office; Division Base of Operations:
In the shooting range...
Ruby laid down Hawkmoon on the cold metal surface of the table in front of her. She looked at the target that was about 30 yards away. Using the little remote, the paper target moved towards her, showing her grouping. Most of the shots landed center-mass, but a few of them had landed a little low. She sighed as she inspected Hawkmoon.
"Is the targeting function not working properly? Maybe the camera needs tuning..." She muttered to herself. She was inspecting the little blue light hanging underneath the barrel, which was, in fact, the camera.
"Maybe it's off-set? How do you even..." Ruby grunted as she tried to move the device, but it was secured tightly onto the gun. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She whipped around and nearly pulled the trigger, had it not been for the person disarming her. She held her arm in pain as Hawkmoon was taken away from her. She looked up into the sapphire eyes of a certain Jaune Arc as he grinned, spinning the Hawkmoon in his hand.
"What the heck Jaune?! Don't scare me like that when I have a gun!" Ruby exclaimed. The blonde knight only chuckled.
"But I disarmed you, didn't I?"
Ruby pouted. "That's not the point!"
Jaune rolled his eyes. "A~nyways, Yang is looking for you. You... you do know that you've been down here for an hour and a half, right?" Jaune asked, gesturing to the firing range. Ruby looked around. The firing range was what used to be the basement of the Post Office, but repurposed for firearms training. The walls were of solid two-inch steel, and the floor was made of concrete. Towards the entrance, there were tables set in a line across the width of the large room. From the tables to the back of the room, it was about 50 yards across, or 150 feet. On the roof of the basement, there were thin, wire lines that held up the targets, and they were rigged to an electronic pulley system, allowing the shooter to change the target's distance.
Observing her surroundings once more, Ruby finally processed Jaune's question. "I-I have? I guess I was just excited about having a new weapon to look at. I've never seen this type of weapon before."
Jaune chuckled. "You're talking about the tracking feature, right?"
Ruby nodded. "Yeah."
"I don't know how it works either. Something about it sending out magnetism waves that guide the metal of the bullet? I don't know exactly. If you want to know more, Faye knows all about it. But right now, you need to get to your sister. She's upstairs in the refugee quarters."
"Okay, I'll go up after this last cartridge." Ruby said as she loaded said object into Hawkmoon. "
Jaune stood beside her. "I'll watch you."
Ruby nodded and shot a few down range. "Hey Jaune?" She asked, not looking at him.
"Yeah?"
"Why did you join the Division?" She asked.
There was a moment of silence, and Ruby fired, the gunshot ringing throughout the room.
"I joined when I was 15. Back then, I was young, innocent to the world. I wanted to be the hero, the one who would save all of Remnant with my sword in hand," Jaune paused with a smile on his face, "I remember those days. I would constantly ask my dad if I could become a Huntsman. He would always say that, I would be the best in the world. But now... I know the truth. I can't save everyone. And I am never the best, but I damn well strive to be the best that I can be. I joined because I want to help as many people as possible."
"What if... it meant sacrificing one your friends?" Ruby asked, slowly. She was a little scared to his answer, if she were being honest.
"I... don't know, Ruby... I don't know..." Jaune murmured. Ruby fired off her last round and holstered her gun after she put in a fresh cartridge. She walked up the stairs to the Main Floor, with Jaune following from a fair distance. Looking back at him, Ruby thought that he looked lost, deep in thought. Maybe she went a little too far.
"Hey, Jaune-"
"Ruby!" Ruby was immediately swept into a bone-crushing hug by Yang.
"Sis... can't... breathe..." Ruby barely managed to wheeze out. She was dropped onto her feet before Yang began inspecting her.
"Where have you been? You've been gone for nearly two hours! Did Vomit-Boy do something to you?" Yang asked the last question while punching her right fist into her open left palm.
"No! I just got a new gun from Jaune's friend, that's all!" Ruby exclaimed, holding up Hawkmoon to show them.
Weiss looked at the revolver before frowning. "How come I've never heard of this model of firearm?" She questioned.
"That, Ice Queen, is because the SDC is not a government power." A voice said from behind her.
Turning around, Weiss saw that it had been Faye Lau, Jaune's supposed comrade, that had spoken. "Even though you hold a large amount of influence in Remnant, you aren't told of all the things happening in Remnant's government. After all, if you were, then you would be considered the most powerful company in the world."
Weiss frowned but nodded anyway.
"I came here to collect Jaune, we've got an op in two hours on a supposed Cleaners' hideout." Faye explained, walking over to Jaune, who was still in thought.
"Oi, kid. Get your head out of simulation mode and get your a** to the Control Room." Faye said, lightly flicking the boy's forehead. Jaune was jolted from his daze and he looked around in confusion.
"Wh-Wha?"
Faye jerked thumb behind her. "Get to the Control Room, we got an op in two hours and we need you there. Benitez will tell you what to do once you're there. As for me, I'm going to be getting into contact with a new Division Agent. I'll meet you there once I've brought the guy or girl in here, Jaune." Faye said as she began to walk away.
"Wait!" Pyrrha called out. Faye turned around with an annoyed expression.
"What is it Cereal-Girl?"
The Mistralian Champion blushed at the nickname, but continued nonetheless. "You're talking as if we aren't going to participate in this operation."
Faye sighed. "Yeah, because you're not."
Ruby piped up this time. "Why?!" She exclaimed.
"Because, if you want to know the truth, you'd be a liability. Judging from earlier today, you guys haven't had a first kill yet. And no, before you go and say that you have, I'm not talking about Grimm. I'm talking about another human being. So, with that said, you guys are going to be sitting this one out." Faye explained.
Yang's eyes turned crimson red. "That's bullsh**!" She yelled.
Like a ghost, Faye vanished into thin air, much like Jaune did, and reappeared behind Yang. Soon she had the blonde brawler in an arm bar on the ground. Yang cried out in pain as Faye pulled.
"Faye, stop it." Jaune said as he tapped her shoulder.
Faye huffed. "Yeah, yeah." She relented, letting go of Yang's arm.
Yang rolled away while holding her arm, tending to it.
"If it had been an enemy instead of me, you would have been dead." Faye stated coldly as she walked away.
Jaune and his friends all stared at the retreating figure of the Division Agent, before their attention was directed at Jaune. He noticed the pleading look in their eyes, and shook his head.
"Sorry guys, can't help you. I've gotta go now, so I'll see you all later." Jaune said. Before anyone could say otherwise, he had already jogged away to wherever the control room was.
His friends could only sigh.
Time Skip:
Two Hours Later...
Jaune stepped out of the armory with Red Death, Red Spectre, and Conviction II on his person. His heavy pistol, Red Spectre, which for some reason Ruby thought was too heavy to use, was holstered on Jaune's back, right above his tailbone. Conviction II, his main sidearm, was holstered on his right thigh. Red Death was holstered on his backpack while he carried the Zarinaea-D in his hands. He was wearing a black tactical vest, Division-issue shin guards, and a black helmet that ended right above his ears. He slipped on his black-tinted glasses as he entered the main lobby of the Post Office. To his right, there was the Refugee Quarters, where his friends should be residing. He waited for the built-in HUD on the goggles to activate, gazing at the pitch-black surface that covered his eyes. Suddenly, light flooded his irises as the HUD activated, showing his ammunition, his weapons, and how much aura he had. (A/N: If you search up "Division HUD", then you'll see what it looks like. His health bar above his weapons is his aura-meter.)
After he checked to make sure that the HUD was working properly, he turned to the refugee quarters and walked inside. The quarters were fairly small, considering that it was accommodating about 200 people at a time, but it was large enough that children were able to play around. He glanced at a group of kids that were kicking a soccer ball around in what he assumed was a makeshift soccer field, even though the field was only about 7-feet long. He saw his friends ahead, tending to the needs of a few refugees. He let a smile creep onto his face as he watched his partner help an elderly woman onto a plastic chair. The leader of team RWBY was currently handing out rations, and Weiss was giving drinks. It was amusing to Jaune to see Weiss use her semblance to make an ice machine for cold drinks.
Ren saw him walking and waved him over, to which Jaune complied. Once he was standing in front of the green gunman, he heard Ren let out a low whistle.
"You like you're ready for war." He said as he cleaned a table with a wet rag, a spray bottle occupying his other.
"Yeah, they said that we would need everything we had." Jaune replied. There was a moment of silence as Ren cleaned the table.
"Hey... Ren?" The Arc boy suddenly asked.
"Yeah?"
"If... If I don't come back... tell everyone that-"
"Don't talk like that." Ren cut him off. Jaune looked at his friend, and he was surprised to see that Ren was actually angry.
"But you know that I might not." Jaune argued.
"Stop it!" Ren exploded. Jaune was taken aback by the sudden exclamation, but he left the subject alone.
"I... I came here to say bye. I'm leaving in a few minutes." He said.
"I wish you good luck then, Jaune. And you will come back. I know it." Ren encouraged, before returning to his work.
Jaune smiled. "Thanks Ren."
He walked towards the food stand where team RWBY was. Ruby was the first to see him, and he saw her jab her teammates and point to him.
"Hey guys." He greeted as he walked around the counter.
"Hey Jaune." Yang greeted back as she cooked hot dogs behind Ruby. Again, he found it amusing that she was using her own flame to fuel the grill.
Ruby stepped away from the counter after serving the last refugee their food. "Hey Jaune! Woah..." She said in awe as she gazed upon his gear.
"You look like-" Weiss started.
"Yeah, I know, like I'm ready for war. Which I am." Jaune finished for her.
Yang walked over to them with a smile. "Hey Vomit-Boy! What's up?"
"I'm leaving in a few minutes, so I won't be back until... maybe two days from now." Jaune told the group. Blake came over, having heard the conversation with her cat ears.
"And why so long for an operation?" She questioned.
Jaune shrugged. "That's how it normally goes, according to some of the older Division agents. We do the op, then we're responsible for securing the whole place for the government. We'll have to wait a full day before they'll be able to send any form of military our way."
Blake nodded in understanding, and went back to taking inventory.
Suddenly, a voice called out from behind the White Knight. "Hey, Jaune!"
Said agent turned and found Cole running towards him, wearing gear identical to his.
"We're leaving soon! I already said goodbye to Stephanie, so let's go!" He said, pulling Jaune away.
"But-"
"No, Jaune. I do not want Faye on my a** again. So we gotta split, now." Cole ordered, walking out of the building with Jaune in tow.
"I'll see you guys later!" Jaune yelled to his friends.
After hearing a few faint agreements, he gave a sad smile. "Hopefully." He muttered.
Haven; City of Vale:
On the streets...
A large group of about 20 Division agents gathered together outside of a large building, a ValeMart, to be exact, which was being used as a Base of Operations for the Cleaners. They hid in the shadow of night, pressed up against the dark walls of the supermarket. Cole signaled Jaune, who was on the opposite side of the entrance door. He nodded, and quietly forced open the sliding door. He pulled out the pin of a smoke grenade and threw it inside. Once smoke started to leak through the entrance, they quietly rushed in, with Jaune and Cole in the front. Guns at the ready, the large party of agents checked all of their corners and proceeded into the store.
*It's quiet. Too quiet.* One of the agents said through the radio.
*Then I suggest you be quiet as well.* Cole responded to him.
Nothing was said after that. The only sounds in the entire building were the near-silent footsteps of the agents as they entered the building. Jaune nudged Cole.
"Something's not right. I'm thinking a trap." He whispered.
Cole nodded, and held up a fist, signaling the other agents to stop. "Stay alert. Be prepared for an ambush." He whisper-yelled to them.
'Why do I have the feeling that sh** is about to hit the fan?' Cole thought. He shouldered his ACR-E and followed Jaune and Faye. He observed the surroundings.
Shelves were left barren, with all of their merchandise left scattered and trampled on the floor. Most of the lights were shut off, with only the occasional flicker of a fluorescent light from above being the only source of light.
'They're probably going to turn on the lights to startle us.' He thought. And, curse his luck, that is exactly what happened.
The lights suddenly turned on, blinding a few of the agents. A loud cry came from the shelf next to them, and the shelf collapsed on top of a few more agents. Minutes later, bullets flew as the Division agents that remained standing opened fire on the Cleaners that had pushed the shelves over. Other agents grabbed the incapacitated and pulled them out from underneath the shelves. The agents retreated to the frozen foods aisle of the store, using the freezers as cover. They stopped at the back, where there were no openings behind them. Agents leaned out of cover, taking down Cleaners one after another. But for every Cleaner that fell, three more came to take their place.
Jaune grunted. 'I'm running out of ammo.' He thought.
Once his Red Death was out of rounds, he pulled out his Zarinaea-D and opened fire. He took out a wave of Cleaners with one magazine, only for more Cleaners to come out.
"They don't stop coming!" One of the agents yelled.
"Gah!" Came the surprised cry of one of the agents as a bullet penetrated his aura. Before anyone could help him, more bullets followed and tore through his body, jerking his already-dead body this way and that. He fell to the floor, blood pooling around the corpse.
"YOU BASTARDS!" Yelled another agent. She yelled as she threw grenades everywhere, shaking the building as the explosions rattled the infrastructure. Pieces of roof began to crumble, even as bullets tore into the ceiling.
"We need backup! Now!" Jaune yelled into the radio.
He ran out of cover and surrounded himself in aura, becoming a knightly construct purely made out of Jaune's soul. He swung his glaive around, destroying aisles, freezers, and Cleaners alike. with the added height, Jaune could see just how many Cleaners they were fighting. Cleaners came piling through the doors, all rushing in to kill the Division agents within the store.
Jaune was having none of it.
With a roar that shook the building, he summoned a ball of pure aura, before running into the middle of the crowd of Cleaners, stomping on any one that got in his way, and slammed the ball into the ground. Bodies and blood flew everywhere, as the resulting explosion killed all of the cleaners in the store. Jaune stormed out of the entrance, shoulder bashing the wall above the doors, and came crashing out of the supermarket. When he was outside, he was immediately bombarded with bullets. He estimated about 1'000 Cleaners gathered in total. That was about .5% of Vale's population.
Jaune spun in a circle as he swung his glaive in a wide arc, cleaving the first three rows of Cleaners right in half. He leapt into the air, slamming his fists into the ground as he landed. Behind him, Jaune could hear the supporting fire of his fellow Division agents. Suddenly, he saw another aura construct, this one made out of a light blue aura, making it's way through the Cleaners, crushing them under it's feet. It looked like a wraith, wisps of aura flowing off of a cloak of the embodiment of the soul. There was a hood that hid the face in a dark shadow.
Jaune cautiously approached it, his white knight aura construct crushing anyone standing in his way. He raised his glaive and aimed it at the construct in preparation. The wraith-like construct stopped right in front of him, ignoring the bullets that pestered it's aura-skin.
Using his aura to project his voice, he spoke to the other construct. "Who are you?" He asked.
The wraith stood silent, until it procured seven people, three in its right hand, four in its left. As soon as he identified the seven people, Jaune's blood boiled.
"What the hell are you guys doing here?!" He yelled, his aura construct pushing the other towards cover. Once he deemed they were safe, he looked down at the seven familiar people.
His friends.
"First you pose as agents, nearly get yourselves killed, and now this?!" He questioned, anger evident in his voice.
A certain Red Reaper piped up. "But we wanted to help!" She argued. Jaune groaned and turned on the other construct.
"And you! You know damn well that civilians should not be out on the field!" He yelled. The construct burst into specks off aura, and out came a woman with bright, ocean blue hair, and sapphire eyes like Jaune's own. His eyes widened in recognition, even though they still burned in anger.
"Jasmine? What the hell?!" The Arc yelled.
He used his aura arm suddenly, and blocked a barrage of bullets. He gave the girl a quick glance before growling. "I'll deal with this later. I have a job to do. AAARRGH! RAAAAGH!" He yelled as he summoned his aura construct again, and burst back into the fight. He swung his glaive from side to side, instantly cleaving any unfortunate Cleaner in half. Suddenly, he heard Crescent Rose firing. He turned back to look at his frieds.
He looked at Ruby, who still had her scythe in her hands. She was off to the side, throwing up with obvious tears, her sister Yang rubbing circles on her back. He looked to see who she had shot, and found the corpse of a sniper splattered against the concrete a few yards away. He sighed. He would talk with her later.
He summoned a ball of aura, the ball beginning to grow in size at the top of the blade, until it became about 6m. in diameter.
"With thy divine light, I smite all corruption from the world, for only then will justice be served to those who have sinned." Jaune chanted. Then, the ball hurled itself forward, and into the army of Cleaners. His friends watched in horror as the attack did it's damage. Blood flew everywhere, before being evaporated by the extreme heat. The screams of the dying simply faded away as the attack wiped them from existence. A blinding light soon came afterwards.
Once the spots left their eyes, everyone looked at the carnage. All that was left was a large crater, about 20m. in diameter, in the middle of the street. Jaune looked at his friends once more, and flinched as they looked upon the scene brokenly. The only one unfazed was Jasmine.
His cousin, and sister-in-arms as a Division agent.
He rubbed a hand over his face as she gave a cheerful wave.
Remnant National Post Office; Division Base of Operations:
In the refugee quarters...
Ruby sat on a chair in the refugee quarters, her head in her hands as she mulled over what she had done. She could still see the surprise on his face when he fell. She didn't know his name, nor his story. What if he had family?
The thought of a mother and child crying brought Ruby to tears. Suddenly, she felt a hand lightly grasp her shoulder. She didn't bother turning. It wasn't until the person spoke did she identify who they were.
"Y'know, that's how I reacted to my first kill." Jaune's voice spoke. Ruby looked to her left, and found Jaune sitting there, looking up at the ceiling, a thousand-yard stare replacing his normally warm look.
He sighed, and scrubbed a hand over his face. "Two years ago, I was assigned an assassination mission, as a sort of rite of passage. In order to be activated, I had to complete the mission near-flawlessly." He paused, as he coughed into his hand.
"I did, of course. No problems whatsoever. But, the turmoil was what really got me. I was about your age, maybe a year older. But... I had killed a man, both a husband... and father. The man's name was Wesley Planstoil. I still remember his face when I had stuck a dagger in his heart. Regret, fear, frustration... I could see it all. I tried to convince myself that... that he had to die. That he was a bad man. But still... his face haunted me for weeks." Jaune's voice cracked.
Ruby looked up at him hesitantly. "How... How do you deal with it now?" she asked. He sighed and gave a small shrug.
"I've already accepted it Ruby. I know that... I'm a monster. But I kill for the right reasons. I kill to protect. That is my number one priority, the safety of others. Plus, somebody has to do the dirty work, and better me than any sort of civilian." Jaune smiled when Ruby leaned her head against his shoulder and gave him a hug.
"You're not a monster, Jaune. You're the adorkable guy I met in Beacon's courtyard." She said into Jaune's shoulder.
Jaune could hear the grin in her voice. He gave her one of his own. "And you are the Crater-Face that I met in Beacon's courtyard." Jaune replied. It earned him a punch to the shoulder and one of Remnant's cutest pouts. She smiled soon after though, and they shared a small laugh together.
Jaune ruffled her hair a little. His fac then morphed into an expression of seriousness. "Ruby," he said, sternly, and yet oddly comfortingly, "if you ever have trouble with... what happened today... come to me. I'll help you in any way I can."
Ruby's smile seemed to grow bigger as she nodded. She gave him another hug. "Your the best friend a girl can have." She mumbled into his shoulder.
"Oh, so do you want to talk about cute boys and magazines?" He asked her with a raised eyebrow. Jaune could feel Ruby's lips change into a grin in his shoulder.
"I've already got one of them in front of me, and it's not a magazine." She whispered. Jaune shivered, even as his cheeks heated up and turned bright red. When Ruby pulled back from the hug, she was blushing.
"I-I... Uh... IgottagonowseeyoulaterJaunebye!" Her words came tumbling out of her mouth so fast that Jaune could barely make sense of them before she sped away, using her semblance.
Jaune sat there, frozen in place. He struggled to form words, and his mind was jumbled up. "I... I... Wai-... Wha?"
Little did he know, that a certain blonde brawler had seen the whole interaction, a small smile planted firmly on her face.
A/N: Sorry that this took so long to get out. Savior... at this point, I don't know what to do with it. I've tried to write a few chapters for it, but the plot that I have for it just... doesn't seem right. They've already defeated Gaea, so... I don't know what I was thinking making Gaea the antagonist. Anyway, I'm back from New Jersey, and I should have some time to write. Anyway, signing out!
IU13