Dead Man Walking

by Mtop70

Jackson Wesson stands as the shell of a man he once was. Three years after a pivotal moment in his life, a brush with death drops him in the arms of Team RWBY, and someone he never thought he'd see again. Over time he creates bonds with RWBY and others, and collects pieces of himself as well. But when truths are revealed, can he forgive and forget, or will he burn it to the ground?

10. Truth Be Told: Part 1

AN: HAHA, UNEXPECTED UPLOAD! Welcome back to a special chapter of Dead Man Walking! Ten chapters! Holy shit I never thought I'd have the drive to get this far to be honest, but here we are! Shoutout to vipersrt459 for following/favoriting the story, good to have you aboard. Let's begin!

…

Weeks have passed since Jackson's flash attack, and while they have decreased in severity, occurrences have exploded. Almost everyday since then, he would have memory flashes, which would result in headaches and dizziness. Anytime the memories popped back up, the same ones he's been trying to repress for the last three years, his doppelganger was always nearby to make an appearance, whether from afar, or within striking distance. He never stuck around for long, only long enough to flash his signature smile and disappear a moment later, without a trace.

He's also been having nightmares as well. While it didn't affect his sleeping schedule much, he would now wake up at 4:45 in the morning instead of 6:00 or 6:30. While it did nothing at first, it did begin to have a small hindrance on his abilities overtime. It wasn't physically visible to the others in any way, but his reflexes have gotten slower, and his focus has somewhat glossed over.

Combine the flashes, headaches, appearances, and lesser amount of sleep, it's affected his classwork and assignments. He forgets a fair portion of what he heard in class, he can't focus on any one assignment long enough to complete it in one sitting. In Combat Class, he now struggles greatly with taking down his opponent, due to headaches and his doppelganger taunting him from the rows of seats. In one instance, he had gone up against Jaune, and while he was still able to defeat him, there were multiple times where Jaune had broke through his defense and attacked him, bringing his Aura down to the yellow at the end of the match.

While there weren't bags under his eyes, Teams RWBY and JNPR had definitely noticed his poor performance in the ring, and in class. Anytime they brought up the subject, Jackson would shrug it off, claiming he'd be fine, saying that assignments had started to keep him up a little later than he expected. He hasn't fallen behind in his classes. Yet. His actions have JNPR and RWB worried, but out of all of them, Weiss was the most worried, now beginning to get hysterical. She's tried hard to have Jackson let her help him, but she's been getting the same treatment as the others, shrug of the shoulder and empty promises. One thing that was going through everyone's mind: What's happening with him?

Well, they were about to find out.

…

Jackson's Dorm

6:45 am

Jackson awoke to the sound of his alarm on his scroll going off. Opening his eyes, he sat up in his bed, turning his head to the scroll, an emotionless stare throughout the whole endeavor.

The night before, Jackson had finished all his assignments for his class and got ready for bed. It was only 8:45 pm, but he didn't care. He got into his bed, and immediately passed out, and had no dreams, the first in weeks, almost nothing of his prior symptoms had occurred. No headaches, no flashes, no doppelganger, only himself and nothing else. He was able to get a full 10 hours of sleep, but it didn't seem to do any good for Jackson. If anything, he looked even more lifeless today than he did in the weeks prior. Picking up his scroll, he looked at the screen, the alarm blaring the entire time:

6:45 am

Thursday, March 25th

Jackson had stared at the screen for five minutes before he finally disabled the alarm, and began to get ready for school. Changing into his uniform and gathering his school supplies, nothing could be heard from him, only the ruffling of fabric and the sound of flopping paper. Once he was finished, he walked out into the hall, and headed straight for the Mess Hall.

…

Team RWBY was also readying themselves for today's classes, when they heard Jackson's door open and close. They all expected him to knock on their door and greet them, like he always did the days before. He may have been struggling with flashes, but he never showed it, and always waited for them to get ready so they can walk together. However, the knock never came, and the lack of it had confused/upset them.

"What's going on with Jackson?" Ruby asked. "This whole month he hasn't been as happy and perky as he usually is. He's been kind of, distant, but he'd always wait for us in the morning. Something's wrong."

"We all know that by now," Weiss remarked, "The problem's that he won't let us help him. He always shrugs us off anytime we bring it up. He just wants things to be normal, he doesn't want us to worry over him… or he's hiding something." Weiss hoped it was that he didn't want whatever was happening to worry them, but deep down, she knew it was more than that. Jackson was keeping something from them, something he didn't want anyone to know. The question was, what?

"That's it," Ruby declared. "We need to get him to tell us what's happening, even if it means locking him up in a room with us. Obviously something's eating away at him, we've all seen how he's been lately. We can't leave him like this." The team silently nodded their heads in agreement, Yang only a slight incline, rather than any genuine concern for him. All of them agreeing on one motive, they made last-minute adjustments to their uniforms, and headed out, determined to find the truth.

Walking into the Mess Hall, they searched the room for Jackson, and sure enough, they found him with a bowl of cereal sitting alone at a table. Spotting their point of interest, they made a beeline for his table. Once there, they all sat down, and stared at him expectantly. However, he didn't bother looking up at any of them, he just continued staring down at the table, eating his cereal.

Eventually, Ruby decided to break the silence with a cough. "Um, Jackson?" She asked. Without moving his body, he looked up at Ruby for a few seconds, before looking back down.

Ruby took this as her cue. "Jackson, we know something's happening with you, and we want to know what it is. You space out at random times everyday, you struggle in a fight in Glynda's class, and you're constantly shrugging us off anytime we try to help. Please, we want to help you, but you won't let us."

Jackson registered their speaking, but it was in one ear, and out the other. He did nothing, visibly upsetting Ruby. Yang noticed this, and this is where she stepped in.

Yang slammed her fist on the table, shaking Jackson's bowl, resulting in a small amount of milk and oats to spill. "Hey, she asked you something," she said in a stern voice. Still nothing.

This only pissed her off even more, her eyes turning red and her hair beginning to become alight. "Hey, we're talking to you Jackson!" Jackson merely scooped up a spoonful of his cereal and ate it, like they aren't even there. That did it.

Slamming both her fists on the table, Yang spilled the entire bowl of cereal, its contents spilling all over Jackson's uniform, and that fully registered. It also resulted in making a scene, something the nearby tables noticed, and now they began to spectate, along with Team RWBY.

"Alright, listen up asshole!" Yang exclaimed. "We're trying to help you out here, but you've been ignoring us this whole time! You can at least tell us to leave you alone instead of staying quiet and wasting our-"

Jackson slowly stood up to his full height, straight and stern, and made something very clear. Yang was only 5'8", which meant Jackson had seven inches on her. To make it worse, Jackson stared at her with intensity equivalent to that of the sun. Those golden orbs he possessed became black holes, sucking any and all life from anyone who looked at him in the eye, yet still void of any such thing, Yang being their unfortunate first victim. In the blink of an eye, Titán was pulled out, and it was aimed directly at the center of her forehead, his extended arm closing the gap across the table, the barrel planted firmly on his head. To add to it, he pulled the hammer back, essentially loading the weapon, and now putting Yang's life at risk. Yang couldn't see it, but everyone else could. Jackson had his finger pressed on the trigger, not enough to fire, but enough to instill fear in the crowd, thinking they might just witness a murder unfold in front of them, and certainly enough to fire off a round at the slightest finger twitch.

Yang's flame was immediately snuffed out, her red eyes disappearing and now replaced with her original lilac eyes. Any rage she felt immediately dissipated, and in its place came fear, coming in waves. Something came to her in crystal clarity, and she realized the horrifying truth.

Most fights she got in were hand-to-hand combat, and when there were guns involved, they were always from a distance. She could easily take care of herself in a fistfight, and with sharp weapons. Not only that, but if she's in over her head, her semblance gives her the edge, especially with blunt weapons. Any time she's dealt a blow, her semblance can take that energy, and use it to power her up. The greater the blow, the greater the power boost.

But this was different. There was no blunt weapon, no fistfight, only her, and Jackson's revolver pressed against her head. Because he's closed the gap, the caliber size, and placement, Yang stands no chance at surviving this, even with her Aura at full blast. Even if she were to bring her Aura up, Jackson would most likely blow her head off before she's reached her full capacity. There was no way out of this, all she could do is pray.

Seconds felt like hours, as nothing moved, too scared to, or too engulfed in what's happening. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Jackson finally made his decision. Putting more pressure, he pulled the trigger.

*click*

The sound made everyone jump, one girl even let out a small yelp as it happened. Yang let out a shaky breath, realizing she had held her breath the whole time. Jackson took his revolver off her head, and placed it back in his holster. Once he did, Yang's posture practically fell apart, falling back to the seat as her legs gave out. Now that she was taken care of, Jackson decided to grant Yang her wish.

"Leave. Me. Alone."

As soon as he said that, he spotted JNPR among the crowd watching the event unfold. "That goes for you too JNPR," he said. With that, he picked up his bowl and spoon, and left, an eerie silence hanging over the crowd. Soon however, the crowd began to disperse, leaving only JNPR and a shaken RWBY. JNPR immediately gathered around RWBY, more importantly Yang, to see how they were.

"What the hell happened?" Jaune asked.

"We don't know," Ruby said. "We tried to figure out what's wrong with Jackson, and the next thing we know, Yang's held at gunpoint, and scared the hell out of us!"

"Weiss, what's happening?" Blake demanded, venom visible in her voice.

"You think I have any goddamn clue what happened?!" Weiss asked. "I'm trying to look for the same answers you guys are!"

"Well this sudden change didn't just happen overnight!" Blake exclaimed.

Jackson heard RWBY and JNPR bicker amongst themselves, but he paid no mind to it, he was too busy putting back the other four bullets back into the cylinder on his revolver.

'Yang got fucking lucky,' Jackson thought. During Yang's rant, Jackson had unloaded his weapon, leaving only one bullet in the chamber. He used the crunch of eating oats to disguise the spinning of the cylinder. Drying himself off with some napkins, he exited the Mess Hall, wandering the halls until class starts.

…

11:50 am

After Oobleck's History Class

Jackson walked out of Oobleck's class the same state he walked in, emotionless.

For his first two classes, Jackson had taken a seat in the far corner of the classroom, RWBY almost on the exact opposite side of the room from him. Yang had somewhat recovered from her 'incident' in the morning, but not much. She was fucking furious at Jackson for what he pulled in the Mess Hall, but something kept her from tearing him from limb to limb. During their walks to classes, Yang had perfect opportunities to catch him off guard and end him, but aside from her team, she would hesitate from doing so, and completely abandon it soon after.

After thinking, she realized it was her dance with death that caused her hesitation. The only other time she's been in a situation that spelled certain doom for her, she was only a child, running from home in search of her mother. She had made it to an old run-down shack, but was then surrounded by beowolves, with young Ruby in a little red wagon behind her. If it wasn't for their uncle coming in the nick of time, neither Ruby or her would be standing here right now to tell the tale.

Back then, she didn't know just how badly she would've been screwed, but now that she's older and has experience, such events now stick with her, instead of just a fleeting moment of fear, come-and-go. Jackson had put her life on the line, and had almost lost it. She was just… lost. There was the nagging fear that if she went after him again, maybe he wouldn't be so forgiving the next time around.

Returning to the Mess Hall, they found Jackson now in the far corner of the cafeteria, away from everyone, with everyone knowing to avoid him after what happened this morning. RWBY and JNPR had conspired during breakfast, trying to determine what could've done this to Jackson. Family passing, family issues, was it something they did? The lack of answers had frustrated them, and the direct route was cut off. They wanted answers, and they were going to get them, if not through Jackson, then some other way. Exiting the cafeteria, they began to make their way to Ozpin's office.

Jackson placed himself away from the crowd, away from his friends. He wanted none of it from the crowd, from RWBY and JNPR, and especially from Yang. However, his displacement didn't seem to be enough to keep people their distance.

Team CRDL has waltzed over to his current position, spreading out to prevent any kind of escape, with Cardin taking the center.

"Hey there Jackie," Cardin mocked. "What happened this morning buddy?"

"The same thing that's about to happen right now if you don't leave," Jackson replied in a cold tone. "Only this time, you won't get off as easy as her."

The whole team laughed, like he told a funny joke.

"I don't think so pal," Cardin said. "Last time I checked, it's four against one." He placed both his hands on the table in front of him. "Listen up-"

Cardin only got as far as that, before Jackson had produced Titán and stabbed Cardin's right hand, sticking it to the table, all within one second.

Cardin screamed out in pain at the sudden attack. Meanwhile, the rest of CRDL was caught off guard at the brutal attack Jackson pulled off.

Jackson had immediately stood up and slammed Cardin's head down on the table, and repeated the process two more times. When he finished, he looked over at his lackeys, and the fear was evident in their eyes, his cold dead stare pushing them over the edge. All three of them scattered, in fear of ending up like Cardin.

Once they dispersed, Jackson bent over to check on Cardin. "Hey Cardin," he said. "You still alive?"

In response, Jackson got a raspy breath and a small whimper, which was good enough for him. He grabbed his head by the hair, and jerked him up, so they can look at each other in the eye.

Cardin was, again, bleeding from his nose, as well as having tears well up in his eyes from the pain in his hand.

"Listen to me very, very carefully," Jackson whispered to him. "You and your team don't scare me. You're nothing but a big man, all bark and no bite, while your friends are nothing but a bunch of pussies. Once they see their leader go down, it's suddenly every man for himself. Did you see how quickly they abandoned you once I put you down? Pathetic.

"I'm giving you another shot at redemption, Winchester. But if you so much as inconvenience a faunus, or another human being for that matter, I will castrate you myself, with my knife, the same one that currently pins your hand to this table. Do, I, make, myself, clear?"

Cardin nodded his head furiously, just wanting to end this. Jackson nodded, glad he understood the message. As soon as that thought crossed his mind, Jackson slammed Cardin's head back down on the table, knocking him out. Pulling his knife from Cardin's hand, his body slid off and fell to the floor. Walking around the table, he stood over Cardin's unconscious body, and kneeled down. Grabbing his injured hand, he activated his semblance, and healed his hand in a matter of seconds, and proceeded to do the same with his nose. Looking across the Mess Hall, he found the remainder of Team CRDL soon afterwards, and called them out.

"Hey pussies!" He called out. "Come get your leader!" Without uttering another word, he walked out of the Mess Hall, heading to the locker room to prepare for Glynda's class.

…

Ozpin's Office

Glynda paced around his office, furious at Jackson for what happened during lunch.

"He's had too many chances!" She exclaimed. "He won't be allowed another excuse this time. Once I set my eyes on him, he will be expelled before he has ANY clue what just-"

"Hold on Glynda," Ozpin said. "Let's not expel him just yet, Cardin seems to be fine."

"That boy has broken his nose more times than I can count, as well as pin him to the table by the hand with his knife!" She exclaimed.

"The nose thing I can't deny," Ozpin admitted. "But most of that occurs during Combat Class, and when Cardin's team brought him to the infirmary, the nurses had nothing to report. There was only a faint scar on his hand, and his nose seemed to be just fine."

"I have more than two dozen witnesses that say otherwise," Glynda rebutted. "Honestly Ozpin, what do you owe this child? You've treated him like he's your own son, especially during something like this."

Ozpin sighed. He knew Glynda would continue to ask questions about Jackson, and she would get an answer sooner or later, one way or another. Better sooner, and better she be told by him.

"Glynda, what's today?" He asked.

She was confused by the question. "It's Thursday," she responded.

"Allow me to clarify, what's today's date?" Ozpin asked again.

"March 25th."

"Except it's not just that," Ozpin said. "To Jackson, this isn't just another date on a calendar." He motioned to a seat across his desk. "Please, take a seat."

Glynda complied, still confused, but interested as to where this was going.

"Thank you, now I can tell you the truth about Jackson…"

…

Teams RWBY and JNPR were in the elevator up to Ozpin's office. When they arrived to the top, the doors opened, both teams going out, and Ms. Goodwitch walking past them without a sound, and hurried into the elevator, going back down soon after she entered. Neither team paid mind to it, and focused on what was ahead: Ozpin.

Ozpin noticed them, and while he smiled on the smiled on the outside, inside, he was surprised they would barge into his office without warning. They were certainly a first in his time as a Headmaster. No team had the audacity to just waltz into his office.

'I'm starting to have some regrets about these kids,' Ozpin jokingly thought. "Hello kids," he greeted them. "What brought you to my office?"

"It's about Jackson," Ruby responded.

'Of course.' "Ah yes, Jackson. I just spoke to Ms. Goodwitch about him. What would you like to know?"

It was Weiss who answered his question. "Something's wrong with Jackson, and we can't figure out why. Has he spoken to you about anything?"

"No," Ozpin replied. "He hasn't contacted me at all. In fact, according to Port, he was supposed to speak with me about housing arrangements for his companion, but that was weeks ago. He never arrived."

"Wait, so this might've started since the beginning since the beginning of March?!" Weiss accused.

Ozpin merely shrugged. "Possibly, I've no clue."

"Regardless," Blake continued, "Jackson has changed completely today, drastically compared to the weeks before. He held Yang at gunpoint this morning!"

"And he attacked Cardin during lunch rather brutally, according to students and Mr. Winchester's team members."

"Wait what?!" Both teams shouted in unison.

"It's true," Ozpin said. "According to witnesses, Jackson had stabbed Cardin's hand to the table, and bashed his head repeatedly onto the top, until rendered unconscious."

RWBY and JNPR were horrified to hear that, more so hearing it was Jackson who had done it.

"However," Ozpin continued, "When his team brought him into the infirmary, the nurses couldn't find any injury on him. His right hand and his nose were where the students saw Jackson strike him, but nothing was out of place, other than a faint scar in the palm of his right hand." Both teams breathed out a sigh of relief, but Yang was having none of it.

"It's that damn semblance of his!" Yang exclaimed. "He fixed up his injuries beforehand! That way, they don't have anything to report him on!"

"But outside this room, no one else knows that," Ozpin rebutted. "For all they know, Jackson could've been checking Cardin's pulse to make sure he was still alive, and didn't actually see them heal his injuries."

"But if you know about it, how come he hasn't been punished yet?" Yang asked.

"It's like you said, Ms. Xiao Long," Ozpin said. "There was nothing to report on Cardin's supposed injuries. How can I punish a student without viable evidence?

"Plus, there's more to it," Ozpin added. " Jackson hasn't been acting normally, because there's something about today that's been… affecting him."

"Wait, you know what's wrong with Jackson?" Ruby asked, suddenly focused on what Ozpin was saying.

"Not what's wrong with him, per se, but I do know a potential reason for it." Ozpin was being careful with his words, because he knew exactly what was happening with him. After speaking with Glynda, he sent her to find Jackson and address what's occurred today. He could tell them everything about what's been happening with him, but he's in no position to disclose any such information. He would leave it to Jackson to determine what he wants to be known.

"Well, what is it?" Ruby pressed.

"I can't say Ms. Rose, it's not my information to give," Ozpin replied.

"Ozpin, please," Ruby begged. "All we want to do is try and help him, but he's been shutting us out all day. We can't even so much as talk to him without risking another gunpoint scenario! Please Ozpin, you've got to help us."

Ozpin knew they wouldn't budge on this subject, and if they wouldn't get it through him, they'll get it some other way, their past actions prove it.

"*sigh*, I can't give you the exact truth as to what's occurred." Ruby was about to protest further, but Ozpin spoke again before she had the chance. "However, there is something that might shed some light on your little mystery…"

…

After hearing what Ozpin had to say, Teams RWBY and JNPR were in all different states of emotion: revelation, confusion, and fury.

"That's it?!" Yang screamed, her hair alight. "He held a gun to my face for something as stupid as that?!"

"Yang, you go outright crazy when a strand of your hair is pushed out of place," Blake deadpanned.

"THAT'S DIFFERENT!"

"GUYS!" Ruby shrieked, catching all their attention, even Ozpin's who was watching them bicker.

"We get it, Jackson may have overreacted, but now that we know what's happening, we can still fix things."

"Fix things?!" Yang questioned. "You still want to help him after what happened with me and Cardin?!"

"HAIR, YANG!" Ruby accused her. That kept Yang quiet for the time being.

"He's still our friend," Ruby continued. "We stick with each other through thick and thin, just like with Blake during our first few weeks at Beacon. He must be feeling homesick or something, otherwise he wouldn't act like this. Weiss, you've known him for half your life, how come you didn't tell us? Weiss?"

Ruby turned to her sides looking for Weiss, but she didn't see her. Suddenly, she heard rapid footsteps from behind her. Turning around, she saw Weiss sprinting towards the elevator.

"Weiss, wait!" Ruby said, running after her. By the time she had reached the elevator, the doors had already closed, Ruby slamming her hands on the blocked entry.

"Weiss! Dammit!" She turned to the others. "Well, it looks like Weiss won't be helping us. It doesn't matter, I've got a plan to make things right. Alright, everyone listen up…"

…

Combat Class Locker Room

Jackson had changed into his usual attire in preparation for Glynda's class. He had a prearranged sparring match with another student, and he just finished loading Titán for the match, when Glynda had walked into the locker room.

He was expecting the usual strict and cold teacher he's grown used to, but this was different. Instead of her military-like posture and appearance, she seemed more relaxed, and her face was more soft than it usually is.

"Jackson?" Her voice was more soft than usual.

"Yes Ms. Goodwitch?" Jackson asked, an emotionless and robotic tone as he spoke. "What seems to be the problem? Has the match been cancelled?"

"Yes," she responded. "Ozpin told me about your past, and why you've acted the way you have today," There was a pause before she continued speaking. "It was in Ozpin's, and my own best interest, that you take the rest of the day off, and allow you to collect yourself, and have some time to… think about things."

After hearing that, Jackson had relaxed, his actions didn't seem as robotic as they were just a few moments ago. "I appreciate it, Ms. Goodwitch. I'll go do that." He began to make his way for the door, and he was about to exit, when Glynda had spoken up one last time.

"Jackson?"

He turned his head toward her. "Yes, Ms. Goodwitch?"
"… I'm sorry about what happened. You have my most sincere condolences."

A small smile appeared on his face, the first one all day. "Thank you Ms. Goodwitch." He pushed on the door and made his way into the hallway. Because he had the rest of the day off, he could finally go where he needed to, and pay a visit.

…

Emerald Forest

1 Hour 30 Minutes After Departure

Clouds began to roll in over the sky, turning the once-bright day, into a grey heap. Light rain began to fall down, but the tall trees caught the majority of the rainfall. At the moment, it didn't seem that Jackson had a specific destination in mind, but he knew exactly where he was going.

Jackson had gone North, far North, farther than any student or teacher has reason to go. At this point, his legs should be falling off, but nothing registers in his head, all that's there is the destination. Jackson gets close to his destination, but before he arrives, he comes across an obstacle.

20 feet in front of him, was a pack of Beowolves, fighting over an elk carcass they caught. Jackson cuts the distance in half before the Beowolves notice his presence. All of them immediately go into an attack-ready stance, growling loudly at him, two seconds from tearing him limb from limb. But something weird occurs.

All the Beowolves are ready to attack, but when scanning the area, they find nothing to attack. Their eyes are trained on Jackson, but something's keeping them from jumping on him. All types of Grimm are made to focus in on negative emotion, whether from nearby, or far away, if it's concentrated enough, or whatever poses as an immediate threat. That's what made them so dangerous, while you could hide emotions physically from appearing from the surface, you have no way from fully shutting them out, and you could still be detected. That, or the smell of rotting flesh or blood. When Jackson came into their field of view, he showed no traits of any such thing. He had no positive, nor negative emotion emitting from him, his mind completely switched off, and muscle memory taking over. In most cases, this means the corpse is dead if no emotion is emitted, and it lets off some sort of odor. However, because Jackson was still living, no such odor was being emitted. He was virtually invisible on their radar, since he didn't meet any of the Grimm's provocative criteria. He was dead on the inside, no emotions of any sort to be shown.

He truly was a Dead Man Walking.

Jackson walked past the pack of Grimm, no hesitation in his stride, every movement robotic, not even moving his head in either direction, it was as if it was fixed in that position. Soon after he left, the Grimm returned to their meal, as if it never happened. After walking for another ten minutes, he's reached his destination.

Walking out the forest, he came into an enormous clearing, one of the biggest the Emerald Forest has to offer. Jackson suddenly felt small in this open space. No matter, he wasn't here for size comparison, it was something much more important, much more personal.

Standing in the center of the clearing, there was a stone block, no more than a foot tall, and two feet by two feet. On the stone, flowers and vines were engraved around the edge, with a message in the middle of it, surrounded by plant life:

Elpída: The Village of Hope

A village where everyone played a part, where everyone cared for each other, where everyone was family, regardless of gender, age, or being human or faunus.

All the residents came together from all four corners of Remnant, from all kinds of backgrounds, businessmen, teachers, doctors, and veterans, to create a community, to show the world anything is truly possible. By working together, using nothing but each other and their abilities, they brought a dream to life.

May your example of cooperation and trust stand the test of time, as we look back at where you once stood, proving those who doubted you wrong.

-Atlas, Mistral, Vacuo, and Vale

Jackson tried hard not to cry, he really did, but yet again, that emotionless facade he had before had shattered, and emotions began to pour out. Collapsing to his knees, he was bawling, not caring who, or what heard him cry. After five minutes of solid crying, he composed himself enough to properly speak.

"*sniff*, Hi guys," he said. "I hope you're all doing fine up above. So far I've kept my promise to come back and visit you guys, and I hope to keep that promise for many more years.

"*gasp* Things have changed since I last talked to you guys, a bunch, actually. I'm now enrolled in a place called Beacon. Apparently it's a Huntsman academy, one of the best, according to them. It started out rough, but things have gotten better over time. Beanie's still around, I've been taking good care of him. I've also made a bunch of new friends at the academy.

"Also, you're not gonna believe who I found at Beacon. It's Weiss! *sniff* Hehe, she's here guys, she's here with me! She's changed so much since the last time I've seen her. She's matured so much in the last three years since I've last seen her, she's now heiress to her dad's company. Crazy right? I've been so lonely all this time, and now, I've got a connection to the past, back when everything was perfect. But don't let her cold demeanor she's got going on fool you, she's still the same girl I met all those years ago. Artistic, graceful, and she knows how to handle a rapier. I haven't heard her sing yet, but I need to, it's been too long since I've heard her beautiful singing."

There was a moment of silence, where Jackson tried to get a hold of his emotions, as they were threatening to resurface in large waves. Once he felt sure he had in under control, he continued.

"… I really miss you guys. Martha, Edward, Jasmine, Tanner, all of you. Especially you, Mom and Dad. I- *gasp* I wish you guys were still around to see how much *gasp*, how much your little boy has grown up."

He couldn't hold it in any longer. He broke out into tears, droplets falling onto the stone grave.

As he cried, a large, muscular hand was placed on his shoulder, though Jackson didn't feel it. Following it back to the source, it belonged to a muscular giant, who had tears rolling down his face as he smiled. He was 6'6", with tanned skin, a beard, and thick hair. At his side was a woman, who was only 5'10". She also had tanned skin, similar to Jackson, wrapping her arm around the man's waist, crying and smiling as well. Following his lead, she placed a hand on Jackson's other shoulder.

Soon, more people began to appear, and soon there was a large crowd, surrounding the three people and the monument. Just like the couple, they were smiling and crying, all of them hand-in-hand, arms in each other. Elderly, children, and young to middle-aged adults, created one large circle, standing where the village once stood.

Jackson continued to cry, reminiscing about the life he once had, the laughs he once shared, and the bright smiles he once showed. But while he was crying he felt… warm, like the fond memories he had warmed his body up, even in the windy and chilly conditions that were currently happening. He wasn't aware of all his friends and family gathering around him, but he could feel them, whether he was aware of it or not, the warmth he felt proving that.

A long time passed, before Jackson stopped his crying, and stood up. The couple took their hands off him, and stepped back. Standing up, he looked down at the stone block.

"It's been a long year without you guys," Jackson said. "And it'll be another long year. But now I have Weiss to help me. I'll tell you all about it when I see you guys again." Turning around, he began to leave the clearing, and was heading towards the couple, but neither made any move to get out of the way of the other. Once Jackson had reached them, he continued to walk, no sign of stopping.

But instead of making contact, Jackson had walked straight through them.

The couple turned to face Jackson leaving, and they began to wave goodbye, as well as the rest of the group who was there. The large man only said one thing before Jackson completely left the clearing.

"See you soon, son."

Once he left, the crowd slowly began to disappear, until it was only the couple, looking out into the forest. Soon, they disappeared too, leaving a silent field, as if nothing were ever there, a gust of wind blowing through the open field.

…

Beacon Academy

Two Hours Later

Jackson made his way back to Beacon after stopping by his tree house, just a small trip down memory lane. He was making his way to RWBY's dorm to apologize for how he acted today, he got it out of his system now. Meanwhile, Weiss was running all around campus, desperately looking for Jackson.

She was mentally slapping herself for completely forgetting about today. How could she have forgotten? Idiot! She's covered almost all of campus, with Jackson nowhere to be seen. Before she could berate herself any further, her scroll went off. Pulling it out of her pocket, she found out it was coming from Ruby. She immediately answered.

"Ruby?" She frantically. "Where are you?"

"Where am I?" Ruby asked. "Where are YOU? You ditched us at Ozpin's office, and none of us have seen you anywhere on campus!"

"I've been looking for Jackson this whole time, I can't find him anywhere!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Nora found him five minutes ago," Ruby responded.

"WHAT?!"

"We put her as lookout so he wouldn't stumble upon us before we were ready," Ruby said. "We have everything set up, and she's bringing him over to our room. All that's missing is you."

"DON'T YOU DARE DO ANYTHING ELSE!" Weiss screamed over the scroll. "Have Nora stall him, I need to be there!" Before she allowed Ruby to respond, she hung up on her and began to run to her dorm, where it would turn into a disaster if she didn't stop them.

…

"Thank you for understanding Nora," Jackson said. "I feel really bad about what I did this morning, and I wanted to apologize to you and RWBY."

"Don't worry about it Jackson!" Nora chirped. "Besides, you made up for it by beating up Cardin at lunch!"

Jackson stopped dead in his tracks. "Wait, you saw that?"

"Mmhmm!" Nora confirmed. "It was so cool, you were like playing whack-a-mole with his head, except you were using his head as the hammer! Well, we didn't see it, Ozpin told us what happened. Plus there's videos going all over Beacon about it! And the hand thing was so cool too! I know most people would freak out over that, but it's Cardin, so it's okay!"

Jackson visibly cringed when he heard about that. "Damn, I was hoping I wasn't being recorded. Now I look like a psychopath."

"Forgetabboutit," Nora said in a mock-upstate-city-man tone. "Everyone hates Cardin, they'll probably thank you for doing that. And if they don't we can break their legs!"

Jackson chuckled at her sadistic bubbly personality. "No Nora, we don't need to cripple anyone, but thank you for your words of comfort." Jackson looked around him, and was confused. "Um, Nora, where are we going?"

"To RWBY's dorm," she replied.

"RWBY's dorm is to the east. The exact opposite direction we're heading."

Nora stopped. "Ooohhhhh, you wanted to go east? I thought you said weast."

Jackson could only sigh. Little did he know, this was all part of Nora's plan to distract him, to give Weiss enough time to group up with the others. Nora couldn't be that stupid…

Right?

…

When Weiss arrived to her dorm, she was breathing heavily, since she broke out into a full-blown sprint across school to get here.

Ruby opened her door only the slightest bit, and flung it wide open when she saw who it was. "Weiss!" She exclaimed. "Thank god you're here! This plan wouldn't work without you!"

Before she could even speak, Weiss was dragged into her room. Looking up, what she saw drained the color from her face.

"No," she said. "No, no no no nonononononoNO! Ruby you need to-"

Yang pulled her into a bear hug, covering her mouth. "It's too late to change anything," Yang said. "Nora and Jackson are supposed to show up any second now. Believe me, I didn't want to do any of this, but Ruby was determined."

Weiss desperately tried to free herself and get a word out, but Yang's grip was firm, and all that could be heard is a distant muffle.

Jackson and Nora had just turned the corner and were heading for RWBY's dorm after redirecting course. Before he could continue his walk to their room, Nora had dashed past him and straight into RWBY's dorm. It confused Jackson, but he shook it off soon after, determined to set things right. He began to walk again, and closed the gap between him and the door.

What he didn't notice, was that his doppelganger had finally made his appearance, and he was sneaking up on Jackson, trying not to be heard. He had a devilish smile planted on his face. Sticking out his right hand, a demonic version of Titán, which was in Bowie form. He was waiting for the right moment, and he'd know when it was, then he would strike. Unaware of what's behind him, Jackson took a deep breath, and pushed the door open.

Walking in, RWBY and JNPR was spread out around the room, smiles plastered on their faces, well most of them, with Yang… hugging Weiss? Before he could process what was happening, they split down the middle, and revealed something that made his heart stop.

"SURPRISE!" They all yelled in unison, except for Weiss. Everyone threw their hands up as they yelled, which let go of Weiss, who looked just as horrified as he was, but that wouldn't last for long.

Confetti seemingly came out of nowhere, while he was still busy looking at the streamers they had placed up all over the ceiling. Looking at the table, he saw that it was lined up with wrapped presents, and in the center of it all, a cake, expertly decorated, just for this very day.

March 25th.

His birthday.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Now was his time! Immediately coming up behind him, the doppelganger stabbed the knife deep, piercing Jackson's right lung, causing him to immediately gasp for air.

"sUrpRIse!"

His job was done. Pulling out his knife, he stepped back, and slowly dissipated, laughing maniacally as he left. The group saw his gasp, and thought it was one of surprise and joy, but it wasn't until Jackson collapsed to his hands and knees did they figure out something was wrong. Everyone's smiles faded, and turned into worry.

"What's happening?" Ruby asked to no one in particular.

Weiss was the first to jump to action. In two swift steps, she was at Jackson's side, checking everything she could on him. She soon turned to the others in fury.

"DAMMIT RUBY!" She hissed. "You shouldn't have thrown this fucking party!"

"What do you mean?" Ruby fearfully asked.

"His birthday is the last thing he wants to celebrate! It's why he didn't bother telling us anything in the morning!" She looked back at Jackson. "I completely forgot about today, and it wasn't until Ozpin told us did I remember."

"Then why didn't you tell us anything?" Ruby interrogated.

"I DID!" She screamed.

…

"HAIR YANG!"

"Ruby, don't do a thing! I need to go find him."

" …how come you didn't tell us? Weiss?"

…

"You were so engulfed in your conversation about how you'd fix it, that you didn't even hear what I said about trying not to!" Weiss exclaimed. She checked on Jackson, and she looked scared. "Oh my god, he's having a panic attack!"

Ruby suddenly came in, and sat on Jackson's other side that wasn't occupied. She tried to soothe him, rubbing his back and whispering to him to try and bring him back.

Nothing registered with Jackson, he was engulfed in his own memories. The doppelganger's attack had triggered something in his mind, he was experiencing all of his memories, all at once. The good, the bad, the awful, even the long forgotten ones, the ones he's tried so hard to recover after all these years.

But he wasn't prepared for when they hit. He was completely caught off guard, and because of it, the sudden memory trigger has done significant damage to his mind. Nothing made sense, he couldn't tell what was what, it was a sudden memory overload, too much for him to handle. His heart rate skyrocketed, his rapid breathing became faster as the fear in his system kept getting bigger and bigger due to these suppressed memories breaking through all at once.

Then, his mind crashed, and stopped entirely.

Jackson took one last gasp of air, before stopping entirely, his head falling down as he exhaled. He didn't move, he didn't so much as breathe, he just stayed on his hands and knees, completely silent.

Everyone stayed completely still, utterly silent, paralyzed by what just occurred. The moment of pause lasted for 10 seconds, before Ruby decided to do something.

She slowly began to pat Jackson's shoulder, speaking in a soft manner. "Jackson?" She softly asked. "Are you there?"

In less than half a second, Jackson's right hand shot outwards and wrapped around Ruby's neck, cutting off airflow. His head snapped up, and crazed eyes were what could be seen. What was even more bizarre, Jackson's eyes began to glow. From what started off as a dull gold, his eyes began to grow bright, reaching the point of Blake's eye color, but a small amount of light was being emitted.

During his memory overload, he couldn't make sense of anything. However, the last of his memories he experienced were all tinted red, and before his mind shut off, two emotions were very clear, something his mind has now resorted to.

Rage, and murder.

But it wasn't just that. There was some sort of memory filter going through. Jackson wasn't seeing this as RWBY's dorm anymore, this was now his village, burning to the ground around him. Everyone who stood present were now White Fang members of different size and build, and in his grasp, was a sharply dressed Bull faunus with red hair, and a sheath at his side.

Jackson began to stand back up, and with it, he brought Ruby up into the air, still gripping her by the neck. She began to frantically thrash her legs about, and everyone else was still processing this immediate turn of events, and what was happening in front of them.

As Ruby continued to thrash about, Jackson changed pace, and threw her to the table, being destroyed under the force. When the crash could be heard, that's when everyone snapped out of it, and jumped into action. JNPR all brought out their weapons, Blake and Yang as well, Yang absolutely seething with rage about what just happened. Weiss however, while she was also out of her paralyzed state, didn't unsheathe Myrtenaster. Her hand hovered over it, trembling.

Jackson scanned the group of threats, as that's how he perceived them in his current state of mind, all except Weiss. Even in his murderous mindset, he could still tell that Weiss was not his enemy. However, the rest of them weren't registered as allies, especially the one on fire. All logic and reasoning had left him, only bloodlust and hate was what remained.

With a faint red outline, Jackson brought out his revolver, and shot at Nora and Jaune, since they were the two closest people to being directly in front of him. With terrifying accuracy, he had nailed both fighters square in the head, snapping back dropped, taking them out of the fight.

"JAUNE!"

"NORA!"

Under normal circumstances, Jaune and Nora's reaction time would've gotten them out of the way of the bullet path in time, or blocked it from making contact. But there was something different about Jackson. In his new mental state, there was no hesitation, no remorse, his movements seemed mechanical and calculated, fueled by rage. He shot both of them in quick succession, and the whole process took a second to complete.

Jackson went to aim at the others, but they had enough time to react properly, Ren and Yang dodging out of the way of the bullet path, while Pyrrha brought up her shield to block the bullet.

Jackson went to fire at Blake, but all he heard was a click of the weapon. Taking this as her chance, Yang charged forward, ready to cave his skull in, but Jackson's reflexes were razor sharp. As Yang came in to attack, he brought up his left hand, and caught her hand mid-stride. A blast of air shot out from the point of contact, and Yang came to a dead stop, shocking her. While she was thrown off, Jackson used this time to prep Titán. Tossing it into the air and grabbing it by the barrel, Jackson pistol-whipped her, just like he did with Cardin, crashing it into the side of Yang's head with much more force, her body falling into a heap, now placed in some sort of limbo between conscious and unconscious. With Yang out of the picture, all that left was Blake, Pyrrha, and Ren.

Before having a chance to reload, or use the melee counterpart, Titán was ripped out of grasp, and thrown across the room, far out of his reach. No one was near him at the time, and when he was looking for what did it, he noticed Pyrrha's hand stretched out, black Aura outlining her hand. Now that Jackson was unarmed, all three of them came at him, determined to take him down.

Blake and Ren came at him from both sides, and Pyrrha took up the center, but she was lagging behind since she was busy disarming him. Blake and Ren attempted to strike at him with their weapons, but Jackson had caught both their wrists before making contact. Pyrrha was coming up strong towards Jackson with her shield out, but using Blake's and Ren's arms as support, he hopped up and planted both feet on her shield, kicking outwards and pushing her back.

But his grip on them didn't last long. Blake had seemingly vanished, her arm disappearing all of a sudden, but after looking to his left, found Blake a few feet away, in one piece. Blake was now out of his grip, while Ren quickly moved and bent Jackson's hand in a direction where he was forced to let go to prevent his wrist from being broken. Now free, they charged him again, but more cautiously this time, so as to not be trapped in his grip again.

Ren had charged Jackson again, and instead of using Stormflower, he began to attack him in hand-to-hand combat. Ren was an expert martial artist, and while his weapons revolved around allowing him to use his martial skills, he was just as effective with his bear hands. He came at Jackson attempting to strike his chest and face, and while Jackson was no martial artist, his reflexes were phenomenal. Any opening Ren attempted to exploit, Jackson's hand was already there, ready to deflect and counter. RWBY and JNPR had never seen him operate at this capacity before, not even during sparring matches. With this speed, his defense was near impenetrable through direct attack, so Ren switched things up.

Because Jackson was so engulfed in what was happening with Ren's hands, he was thrown off when Ren swiftly switched from hands to feet, and swept the legs out from under Jackson. Now in the air with no control over his body, this gave Ren the opportunity to strike at his midsection, and send him crashing into the floor. Before Jackson could get up, he found himself staring down the barrel of a red and bronze rifle, aimed by none other than Pyrrha Nikos.

"Stand down Jackson!" She exclaimed. She was furious about Jaune and Nora, and what he did to them, she was even on the brink of tears, but she willed herself to stay calm and focus on the matter at hand. Blake and Ren proceeded to do the same, and pulled out their weapons, aiming it at Jackson in hopes of keeping him under control. They didn't want him dead, they wanted him detained and interrogated for the reason behind his actions. Jackson slowly began to raise his hands up in surrender, but Pyrrha tensed herself up, suspecting he might pull a fast one on her, and she was right.

As soon as he thought his hands were close enough to the barrel of Pyrrha's rifle, Jackson's hands wrapped around the barrel and shoved it to the side, right into Ren's dual-wield pistols. Both fired, but they shot wide, missing Jackson. Blake was able to fire at Jackson and hit him, but the hoodie took the brunt of the impact, and kept it from penetrating.

Wrenching it out of Pyrrha's grasp, Jackson used the stock to bashed her in the face, as the sudden pull brought her stumbling forward, and immediately jumped back up, re-armed. While he may be armed again, he still wasn't nearly as dangerous as he was with Titán. With a handgun, you're able to point it in any direction you please with a simple flick of the wrist. A rifle, however, was bigger and more difficult to maneuver, especially in a confined space at close-quarters. You're only a greater threat to someone when they're in the line of the barrel, which was much, much smaller than that of a pistol. He may have a gun again, but he was still at a disadvantage, but then again, considering his current performance, he might not be.

Jackson began to open fire at the three, each one dashing out of the way, Pyrrha currently trapped behind her shield as he continues to fire. Eventually, her rifle begins to give off a clicking sound, now out of ammo as well. They weren't taking any chances anymore. Blake and Ren began to return fire, aiming for his lower body and shoulders, trying to place non-lethal shots, but enough to take him out of the fight, at the very least, hinder his performance. Again, the Kevlar hoodie was able to take the brunt of the impact, but it was beginning to wear out. If Jackson didn't do something quick, he'd be in serious trouble.

Before he could think of something, the rifle in his hands suddenly jerked forward, and saw that Pyrrha was attempting to take back her weapon. A tug-o-war ensued, and Jackson was slowly losing the match. Suddenly, he had an idea. His hail of fire had pushed Pyrrha back to the bookshelf behind her, and closer to the window. He tightened his grip on the rifle, and began to tug harder, hoping to bait Pyrrha into yanking much harder, and it worked.

Pyrrha had gotten sick of his struggle, and using much more force than before, had pulled at her rifle. Finally, her rifle began to make its way toward her, but so was Jackson. He allowed the force of her pull to yank at him as well, sending him careening towards her. The sudden change of tactic on his part had surprised her and threw her off guard when he decided to come with the rifle. She was able to bring her shield up in time, but her mass wasn't low and centered, which would come to be her downfall.

Using the rifle to adjust his body mid-air, Jackson now had his feet facing Pyrrha. Once he impacted her shield, he amped up the impact with an Aura infused kick, and that was enough to do it. The impact and her lack of center-mass sent her off her feet, and with the destroyed table and Ruby at the side, she wasn't able to get her footing, and sent crashing through the window to the outside world.

"PYRRHA!" Blake and Ren exclaimed. RWBY and JNPR didn't live on the ground floor, they were a few floors above that. Five were down, all that remained were two.

Enraged, both students charged him, ready to kill him. Jackson responded accordingly, and immediately went of the defensive. Their attacks were fast and full of power, but because fury clouded their mind, they were also sloppy and uncoordinated. There were times where their attacks interfered with each other, and cancelled each other out. Meanwhile, Jackson stayed on the defensive, blocking and redirecting attacks with the rifle in his hands, waiting for an opening. Their attacks may be poorly executed, but they were throwing out too many attacks in a short span of time to properly exploit the minuscule openings in each attack, because he would always have to block another swing before he's given the chance.

Eventually, their attacks began to falter, wearing themselves out too soon. They still kept a fast pace, but there was now enough of a time gap in each attack to exploit the openings. Going for Blake first, Jackson deflected one of her blows, and very quickly threw a punch at her midsection. After going on the offensive for so long, she didn't expect this sudden change. Hitting her square in the diaphragm with the butt of the rifle, Jackson hindering her breathing. With her temporarily dealt with, he put his attention on Ren. He was in a fighting stance, however his breathing was heavier than usual, a sign of his tiredness.

Charging towards each other yet again, they began to exchange blows, each one deflected or countered by the other. They were at a stalemate, neither one gaining an advantage over the other. That is, until Ren's tiredness gave Jackson an opening, a direct path to his stomach in the middle of each attack..

Quickly seizing the opportunity, Jackson snapped his fist outward, colliding with Ren's exposed stomach. Ren doubled over in pain at how much force Jackson put into that one strike. Ren tried to recover, but it was too late, Jackson had him. Quickly and efficiently, Jackson began to strike at Ren's sides and face, weakening and disorienting him. He tried to defend himself, but Jackson was throwing out more punches than he could block in his current state.

Eventually, Ren was bruised and battered, unable to properly defend himself anymore. Jackson decided to put an end to it, and socked him in the face, knocking him out.

Before he could turn to face Blake, something had wrapped around his neck, and tightened quickly, almost completely cutting off airflow. Turning around, he found that it was Blake who was responsible, using the ribbon wrapped around her forearm to choke him. Jackson struggled with the ribbon, attempting to get it off, but Blake wasn't going to let that happen. Blake tugged at the ribbon, tightening it the more Jackson attempted to break free. He had to think fast if he didn't want to pass out due to oxygen deprivation.

Struggling even further, he used that as a distraction so he could wrap his hand around a portion of the ribbon without her noticing. He was able to loop the ribbon around his hand four times, enough to have a solid grip on it. As soon as Blake began to pull at the ribbon again, when she extended her arms, Jackson immediately yanked at the ribbon, causing her to lose her footing and stumble towards him. The ribbon immediately slackened, and Jackson could breathe again. Gripping the ribbon with his other hand, he yanked the ribbon even harder, bringing Blake stumbling within striking range. Sticking his hand out, Jackson clotheslined Blake, and she fell to the floor flat on her back, knocking the wind out of her. As she struggled to regain her breath a second time, Jackson kicked her across the face, knocking her out as well.

Now that everyone was taken care of, he looked back at Ruby, who was just starting to get back up. Jackson walked over to her, and Ruby noticed this, trying to get out his reach, but she was a tad bit too slow. She tried to use her semblance to dash out his reach, but it wouldn't activate. She was in such a confused and panicked state, she couldn't focus on activating it. Grabbing her by the collar, Jackson yanked her back, sending her slamming into the door.

The impact put her in a daze, but she snapped out of it when she felt something wrap around her neck again and pull her up. Her vision cleared, and she was looking into Jackson's eyes, crazed and full of rage.

"You failed, faunus," he said in a low and terrifying voice. "You tried to kill me, but it would appear that you and your thugs weren't enough." Turning Ruby around, she was now facing her team and friends, sprawled across the room, unconscious, the window shattered as well. She was turned back towards Jackson soon after.

"Now, you will pay for what you did to my friends, what you did to my family, what you did to me." Jackson's grip tightened on Ruby, and she resorted back to thrashing her legs in a panic. As she continued to do so, her vision began to blur and darken, but she still flailed about.

She was able to squeak out one last sentence. "Jackson, please, stop. It's me, Ruby."

And his mind rebooted.

The memory filter disappeared, the red tint was no more, and everything was seen normally now, as well as his hand strangling Ruby instead of who he thought he was strangling before.

Jackson's face turned into one of horror, as he realized what he's done. Ruby's grip on his hand began to falter, and her eyes were fluttering to a close. Jackson immediately let go of her, and she fell to the floor, gasping for air, and hacking as well. Jackson tried to reach out to her with trembling hands, and tears welling up in his eyes.

"R-Ruby?"

But before he could reach her, a jolt of electricity was sent coursing through him, and his muscles spasmed and locked up as the pain was immense.

Forcing his head to look around him, he found that it was Weiss responsible, for she put up a glyph right under Jackson's feet, made of electricity Dust, and shocked him with a steady current of electricity. He desperately tried to reach out to her to get her to stop, but his muscles kept convulsing due to the current.

"NOW YANG!" Weiss exclaimed. Looking back, he saw a ball of fire with red eyes barreling towards him. He couldn't do anything to dodge or block the attack, all he could do is brace for impact and pray.

Yang, with the strength and burning fury of a thousand suns, put every ounce of energy she had into the punch, and when she made contact, the result was devastating. The point of impact had blown up in a ball of fire, and Jackson was flown backwards at high velocity, smashing through the doorway and the wall on the other side. He continued smashing through drywall and into another dorm room, before lacking enough force to bust through another wall, and fell to the floor unconscious with some broken ribs.

Yang breathed heavily, as she just spent the last of her energy into taking Jackson out of the fight. Hearing a hack from the floor, she was instantly reminded of Ruby, and dashed over to her to see how she was doing. Kneeling next to Ruby's side, she frantically checked her over to make sure there was nothing wrong with her, aside from the strangling.

"Ruby, are you okay?!" Yang asked in a hysterical voice. Ruby continued to hack and cough, she even seemed ready to vomit.

When she was able to properly breathe again, she finally responded. "Wh-What happened?" She asked, her voice shaky, tears staring to form.

"I don't know sis," Yang responded. She immediately looked over at Weiss, hoping to get an answer. "Weiss, what the hell just happened?!"

Weiss was at a loss for words. "I..." Before she could finish, an audible groan could be heard from behind them. Turning around, they saw Jaune sitting upright, rubbing his forehead. "Son of a bitch..."

"JAUNE!" Yang yelled and ran over to him, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Thank God you're alive! We thought you were dead!"

"At this point I kind of wish that's what happened, my head's killing me." As soon as he said that, another groan could be heard, but more feminine.

"Owie..." Nora sat upright as well, rubbing her head in pain.

"Nora!" Weiss exclaimed, running over to her and checking her over. "You're okay too!"

"Not really," Nora grumbled. "My head hurts."

"How did this happen anyway?" Jaune asked, still in a daze. Yang and Weiss were just as confused as they were, they thought they were killed. It wasn't until Weiss spotted something on the floor next to Jaune's feet did she realize what happened.

She picked it up off the ground, and after inspecting it, she knew exactly what she was holding. "This is a dummy round," Weiss deduced. "Jackson was firing dummy rounds at us the whole time, that's why Jaune and Nora are still alive."

Back at the locker room in Glynda's class, Jackson had loaded his revolver with the dummy rounds for the scheduled sparring match, but he never exchanged them for real rounds after hearing he had the rest of the day off. He must have forgotten he had the dummy rounds loaded when he walked into their dorm. While they don't kill someone, if shot at the head, there's a chance of a pain overload, and have the victim temporarily black out, if the distance is close enough and the caliber is high enough.

Weiss surveyed the destruction Jackson caused, in their own room and in the hallway as well. She knew the reason for all of this, but no one else did, yet. Still, she was at a total loss at how capable Jackson was at causing this much damage. Only one thing kept running through her mind.

'Why couldn't I remember?'

Amidst all the chaos, no one noticed the single rose petal that laid in the center of the room.

...

AN: And that's Part One! So, I realized about halfway through this chapter, that what I had in mind for the special chapter would be too big to fit into just one, so now the one special chapter is TWO special chapters! So you may not get the whole story yet like I promised, but now you guys got some things to think about while the next chapter comes out, so stay tuned! Follow, Favorite, and most importantly, REVIEW, and I will see you all in Part 2! See ya!