Chapter 7: The Jaune Arc Part 1

Beast Boy spent the night trying to help Slade repair his dojo/prison, before finally crashing on the tatami mat and falling asleep. The nightmares came again, but oddly enough they didn't show him killing his friends again. Instead, they showed something far more real…

He was sitting with RWBY and JNPR in the Great Hall, laughing about whatever it was Nora was rambling on with now (Something about sloths…). Before he could open his mouth, possibly to tease the bomber, possibly to start a bad pun war with the blonde brawler sitting next to him, he was met by total silence. Looking up from his plate of tofu he was shocked to see them all staring at him with blank expressions, before their eyes were covered in the red glow of Trigon.

"I creep into the darkest of thoughts changeling. If I could affect you, who holds my daughter's strength, who is to say your precious friends will not meet the same fate?" They asked in unison, their voices overlayed by Trigon and his menacing icy laugh.

He woke up with such force he sat up so fast it would color anyone impressed, and tried to calm himself by taking deep breaths, only to feel his stomach growl as he realized he hadn't eaten since breakfast the day before, having run out of lunch the day before without a bite to eat.

He seriously regretted letting his emotions rule him so much.

Beast Boy shook his head before leaving, a silent nod of acknowledgement to the still working Slade to let him know that yes, he would be back eventually, but first he had to find his way back to Beacon and get some grub.

And let his friends know he wasn't eaten by a Grimm, that too.

He used his Aura to speed himself up, and it wasn't long until he found himself at the end of the forest, approaching Beacon's 'Great Hall'.

To his amusement and slight guilt RWBY and JNPR looked almost fast asleep in their respective breakfasts as he walked in, though Jaune looked pensive and Nora looked livid.

"What do you expect to do? He just won't stop bugging me, it's no big deal." The inept blonde replied to something someone had said before Beast Boy was in hearing range, as if it were the hundredth time he had repeated himself.

"WE'LL BREAK HIS LEGS!" For once Nora was completely understandable, possibly because she hadn't yet eaten the massive stack of sugary pancakes overflowing her plate.

"Who's legs we breaking and why?" He asks as he sits down in the open seat next to Ruby, the reaper and everyone else jumping in surprise as they hear him.

"Just Cardin Winchester, don't worry about it Beast Boy… Beast Boy!" Jaune finally realized why everyone else jumped, the delayed reaction making the changeling chuckle.

"You guys miss me?" He asks, and raises an eyebrow when he sees Nora and Yang flinch, before idly recalling the fact that the duo had been what launched him into the Emerald Forest. "Don't worry about it you two, I'm fine." He smiled, but inwardly he scanned his friends, trying to find a way Trigon could slip through their cracks.

Ruby. She was an innocent soul, very similar to Starfire (Just replace mustard with cookies), but if Trigon threatened Yang or any of the others Ruby may join him to keep others safe…

Weiss. She had a chip on her shoulder and Beast Boy could bet she had a troubled past, and may take an offer depending on how Trigon worded it. She reminded BB of Robin now that he thought about it.

Blake was even more mysterious, but she was haunted by something she had done, and seemed to dislike how Weiss was so rude to him for no reason, maybe she would do something to get rid of bias. Not to mention she was a bookworm and a recluse, which would draw comparisons to Raven...

Yang. Bold and brash, she would without a doubt sign a deal with the devil to keep her little sis innocent and okay. Pretty much Cyborg, but quicker to violence.

Jaune was a lot like him, hiding something behind a goofy exterior, a checkered past that may be exploited by the demon.

Pyrrha, she seemed to be a 'perfect' warrior, but she was lonely, and had some pride to her from what he had seen.

Nora and Ren seemed relatively safe, but Trigon may threaten one or the other and get them both wrapped around his fingers.

After a while he shook his thoughts off. He couldn't protect them from the voices in their heads, but he could trust them not to fall for anything Trigon said.

"Stop it, it hurts!" A girl shouted in a distinct British accent, making Beast Boy turn to investigate.

A large teen was pulling on the rabbit ears of a girl, sneering. He couldn't stand for that, so he got to his feet and sent a very powerful glare at the muscle-bound and armored guy, channeling a bit of the Beast.

"Excuse me, you seem to be causing her some trouble. I suggest you stop before I make you." His voice was a distinct shift from the norm, cold and threatening.

"Yeah, what are you gonna do about it you green Faunus loving freak?" The idiot, who seemed so stupid that he was unusually immune to Killer Intent, almost growled at the changeling.

"First off, you shouldn't use your whole vocabulary in one insult brainiac. And second, I don't know what a Faunus is, but I know you can't treat someone differently just because they're different. And third off, you really want to know what I can do to you?" The towering figure let go of the apparent Faunus, and she took off as a small crowd gathered.

"The name's Cardin Winchester String Bean, and you'll regret messing with the leader of team CRDL!" He slammed a fist into an open palm, trying to intimidate the shorter and skinnier Hunter in training.

"Cardin huh? You're the guy picking on Jaune Arc? I can't say I'm fond of bullies..." He could almost feel Pyrrha's gaze increase in strength staring through his head, but he ignored it in favor of blanking his eyes, as if he were in an animal form.

"Oh yeah? Bring it then!" Cardin raised a hand, giving a 'bring it on' gesture, once again ignoring the warning sign of his imminent beatdown, and everyone was waiting with bated breath to see what would happen.

No one expected Beast Boy to slam a plate of pancakes against Cardin's face, chuckling all the while as the entire gathered area facefaulted and/or sweatdropped.

"Don't mess with anyone else, or next time, I'll try my new weapons out." There was a powerful gust of wind and Ruby was at his side, silver eyes glowing with excitement, and a slight bit of confusion?

"New weapon? You didn't get rid of the one I made for you did you?" She pouted a bit, but immediately brightened when he showed her he still had Emerald Remembrance safe and sound.

"Nope, they're alright. I just dealt with a few… Inner demons last night and came out with some new powers." He focused on the mental image he had of Blood's Thorns, the savage ruby red claws that Nega BB had used during their fight, and his magic suddenly went off on its own accord.

Emerald Remembrance seemed to almost 'melt' into green goop, each of the blades coating one of his hands and deepening to a shade of crimson even deeper than either namesake of the reaper who watched with awe as the claws were completely formed, green fire intermittent with black beginning to flow off of him as he focused his powers, obviously his Aura fused with Raven's magic.

Cardin, obviously, made himself scarce after this.

"That's so cool!... How did you do that?" Ruby asked, grabbing one of his hands carefully so she didn't cut herself, her eyes pretty much replaced by stars.

"I don't really know, it's just one of the new tricks I picked up last night." He shrugged, knowing it had to do with the magic inside him, but he wanted to keep his friends in the dark about Trigon and everything that may be happening.

Huh, he sounded a lot like Raven…

"Ripping off Ember Celica Greenie?" Yang asked, looking over the clawed gauntlets that had replaced the green blades.

"You wish blondie." He smirked a bit, filing away his worries as he noticed Jaune beating a retreat, with Pyrrha close behind. He wondered what that was about as Ruby glared at her sister.

"What?" Yang asked, unused to seeing a serious expression on the reaper.

"Are you gonna apologize for punching him into the Emerald Forest?" The brawler grinned, and Ruby's face all of a sudden matched her name.

"Oh, my mistake. I'm sorry to interrupt your surprise makeout session before it began Rubes." Beast Boy's face turned maroon as he recalled the compromising position he had landed in on top of Ruby the day before.

"I just landed on her! Nora launched me with that goddamn hammer of hers!" The bomber blushed as everyone's gaze turned to her.

"Well he was being all mopey and I thought I would try and help out so I brought Rennie and he thought we were together even though I definitely told him we were not together-together!" She paused for a breath (And several pancakes), "So of course I had to hit him with Maghnild it only made sense since I had to shut him up somehow and it's obvious that I don't like Rennie in that way!" Everyone turned to Ren to translate.

"We found Beast Boy after he ran off, and went to see what was wrong. Nora assumed it had something to do with Ruby cuddling with Crescent Rose, and Beast Boy responded by teasing her about possibly having… romantic interest in me. Due to that, she sent him flying, I'm assuming into Ruby and Yang, who then launched him into the Emerald Forest." It took until then for Beast Boy to realize just how weird the past 24 hours have been, and that's compared to waking up after being dead for at least one thousand years!

"So… You didn't try corrupting my little sis?" Yang asked sheepishly, making Ruby blush even more, pulling up her hood and trying to hide beneath it.

"Yaaaaaang!" She cried out in embarrassment, trying to make herself seem even smaller.

"It was a complete accident, I had no control over my trajectory." Beast Boy raised his right hand in a 'Scout Sign', but everyone looked at him strangely so he sheepishly grinned and put it back down.

"Wow sis, sounds like he was attracted to you!" Groans rang out among the gathered group Hunters in training as Yang let out another horrible pun, Ruby curled up inside her cloak so much she could barely be seen.

"Been a Xiao Long time since I heard a joke that good blondie." Beast Boy chuckled, but was slapped over the head by an irate heiress.

"I do not need to hear this utter nonsense this early in the morning! My teammates had already decided to go looking for you after our meal" Weiss sent him a menacing glare, but Beast Boy laughed it off.

"Aw, Ice Queen, I didn't know you cared!" He teased the princess of Schnee Dust Company, whose scowl was now flooded with a bit of red.

"That's nonsense! I cannot stand you! You are just a member of our team as well as JNPR, it would be inefficient to have you missing for so long." With the obvious exception of Weiss, everyone still present gave the Schnee heiress a glance that obviously said 'Sure'. "It's true! I can barely deal with Yang, but she isn't the one who formed the White Fang's radicalist movement!"

"I did what?!"

[Scene Change]

He was sick and tired of being kicked around, playing second fiddle to her time and time again. He couldn't be blamed, sure he hasn't exactly gotten here through the purist means, but they didn't need to know about that.

What if I told you I could give you what you seek, in exchange for your obedience? A voice, powerful and incredibly dangerous, echoed through his head, and he would be lying if he said he wasn't immediately tempted.

"What do you mean? How can you help me?" He whispered, making sure the certainly nearby female didn't hear him.

I have strength that far exceeds hers, and I would be willing to give you some if you simply follow my commands.

"W-who are you? Why should I trust you?" He asked shakily, wondering if he was imagining this conversation.

I highly doubt you should trust me, but all I need is your loyalty. That is all I ask, and in exchange you will have more power than any other being on this pathetic planet.

"... Do what you must." He knew this was a deal with the devil, but he oh so desired to truly make a name for himself.

Suddenly he felt a powerful burning on his forehead, and his Aura reserves growing even more as his eyes flashed a dangerous crimson, the symbol of Trigon hidden by his long hair before they returned to their normal color.

2018 Edit: Fixed Nora's Speech, made the scene change at the end more obvious