Hey guys, this is the Trigunner. So I've been trying to actually plan out this story via a google spreadsheet, and I've come up with a story that could last until some mind bending crossover-ish chapter involving an anime/graphic novel from 2012. And in case you guys are curious, shipping is involved in the plan.
Now, warning for this chapter, a main character gets a huge beating. Also, I'll be changing the rating on this.
Chapter 10: PTSD
It's been about 10 minutes since Jaune and Ruby have come from their chat with Ozpin. They're still worried about would happen. Is he going to give them pointers on how to write the essay, or will he call the assignment a lame excuse to skip training? But whether the red and yellow pair is expecting crude assistance or corporal punishment, they just see Krom looking at his scroll and sitting at the two-person table with a chess board.
"Ozpin told me about an assignment you need help with." he says.
Jaune and Ruby give a sigh of relief as that makes things easier.
"Yes, Krom." Ruby answers. "We need help on this one thing."
"He didn't specify what exactly the assignment is, but maybe you could explain it over a game of chess."
Of course he would say that. "S-sure." Ruby says nervously before sitting across from Krom and taking the black legion.
Seeing that the two others are now occupied, Jaune just goes on with the routine Krom set, which involves some stretches and a bit of lifting.
A few minutes pass as Krom continues to score wins against Ruby, but he's noticing it's getting slightly harder to defeat the little red. Ruby is still bummed out that she still can't make Krom lose or slip up, but decides to sidetrack him with the assignment. Also, isn't Krom supposed to help her and Jaune?
"So…" Ruby starts. "Jaune and I have a paper due."
"When?" Krom asks, moving a knight up.
"Friday." Ruby says, moving a pawn up.
The conversation seems to be in Krom's favor, not Ruby's, because the next thing she notices her pawn gets taken by a white bishop.
"Dang it." Ruby curses, watching her pawn get moved to Krom's side of the table.
"So, what is the assignment about?" Krom asks as Ruby moves another pawn up.
"Nothing much, Krom." Ruby says, turning herself and looking away. "Just a little something from history called 'The Arid Sand Box'."
She hears the clack of one of Krom's pieces landing on the table, but the sound felt louder than usual.
"The… Arid Sandbox?" Krom stutters.
"Yeah. We learned it in Dr Oobleck's class just a few hours ago. Professor Ozpin said that you might know about it."
"I don't." The boy plainly replies.
Ruby looks confused. "What? But I thought Ozpin said that you need help with something!"
"Well I don't, Ruby." his voice raised from that. "I really can't help you with this. And neither can you help me."
He then stands up from the table and gathers his belongings.
"It's about 1800." he says. "You and Jaune may need to eat something."
"Wait, 1800?" Ruby asks.
"To you, that'd be 6:00 pm."
And with that, Krom exists the training hall, leaving a confused Ruby and an exhausted Jaune inside.
"Did…" Jaune wheezes. "Did… he… offer… to help?"
"No." Ruby says. "Let's go back to Professor Ozpin and tell him."
A loud growl sounds from their bellies.
"...right after we eat something.
Jaune and Ruby meet up with their teams in the cafeteria. While the normal things are being discussed and food is being eaten, Ruby explains what happened at the training hall while Jaune is sipping a glass of water.
"The nerve of that guy!" Weiss yells. "First Ozpin tells Krom to train you two and now he lies about him knowing about the history!?"
"Weiss." Blake says. "Are you being angry at Professor Ozpin, or Krom?"
"At Krom! Who does that guy think he is!?"
"I don't know. Ask him."
Jaune has just about recovered as he thought of something.
"Say, does anyone know where Krom came from?" he asks.
Blake and Pyrrha just look back while Weiss says, "Why are you asking us? Weren't you and Ruby the first to meet him?"
"No. I mean before we met. You know… his history."
"That's something you may want to ask him."
Ruby hears this and finishes her food. "Okay then, let's go, Jaune."
"I can't Ruby. I still haven't finished my food." he replies.
"Oh. Then I'll ask him myself."
Ruby then bolts out of the cafeteria, leaving the remains of RWBY and JNPR to finish their meals.
Ozpin looks through his documents on all of the child soldier incidents. Some involved Atlas gear being found on them. Some involved a Faunus task force. Some involved children training themselves to become warriors. A few of these seem to make sense, but anyone knows that making it a requirement to be a fighter is somewhat unjust. He gets a notification on his scroll, telling him that someone is in the elevator.
"Come in." he says, and out comes an ever-chipper Ruby Rose.
"Uh… hello, Professor Ozpin." Ruby greets before approaching.
"Hello, Ruby." Ozpin greets back. "I assume you wish to know more about you trainer."
"H-how did you know?"
"Weiss gave me a complaint prior to dinner."
"Yeah. Of course she would do that." Ruby groans.
"So, you would like to know about Krom?"
"Y-yes, sir." Ruby says. "But maybe I should talk to you about Krom's knowledge of history."
"What about it?"
"He says he doesn't know, and that he can't help us with the report."
"Of course he doesn't know. Or at least, he doesn't want to remember."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Ruby, what if I told you that you've been trained by an official war veteran?"
Ruby's eyes widen slightly. She doesn't know how to respond to that.
"Come closer. Let me show you something." Ozpin says.
Ruby walks over to beside Ozpin as he shows her something on his scroll. The things she's seeing made her stomach feel weird, but as she inspected the information a little more, she became fascinated.
"Krom is a codename that was given to him while he was 8 years old. According to the records, his name is Kontate Omnuron."
"Wow. That sounds really cool! Kontate sounds like the name of an otherworldly warrior and Omnuron is that skylord from Realm of Rampage!"
"That's why it's fake."
Ruby looks confused.
"'Kontate' is really a variation that's formed from his real name, which I've yet to discover. The last name 'Omnuron' came from the general's interest in Realm of Rampage."
"Wait, the general?"
"General James Ironwood. You met him when I asked about your encounter during the Beacon Ball."
"Oh yeah. Him." Ruby rubs the back of her head. "So, what does Mr. Ironwood have to do with Krom?"
"Let's just say Krom refuses to see him because of their history with one another."
"Okay. So he's forgotten." Ruby says. She then wonders if this was a mental block or some other mind trick that was played on him.
"What would jog his memory?" she asks.
"Hm…" Ozpin thinks for a moment, before looking at Ruby again. "Maybe you could do something."
Ruby gets a little weirded out by this.
"I need you to fight him."
"Okay then. I guess I should go-"
But then Ozpin puts a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "And I need you to seem innocent."
The school's obstacle course featured a variety of things that a well rounded huntsman/soldier should be able to get by. Featuring crazy climbing walls, paintball turrets, rope swings, androids, balancing points, jump zones, and things out of some athletic competition TV show, it seems as though no one has ever finished this course without some sort of assist from a tool or their semblance.
Ruby got through it, but her time was lousy because she kept focusing on speed rather than skill. At which, she kept getting time penalties for failing certain obstacles.
Ren also made it, but struggled at the parts where you had to lift a small wall up to proceed.
Cardin gave it a try to impress some of the girls, but failed when the situation called for any sort of skill.
Yang tried it by blasting her way through the course. Literally. She was banned from using the course for serious collateral damage.
And, surprisingly, Krom is also having trouble. But not from a lack of skill, but an imprecise focus. He is still thinking of this "Arid Sandbox" Ruby mentioned. He doesn't know about it. That, or he just refused to share it with the younger one.
As he starts to pass through the turret dodging section, Krom swears he hears the cries small children behind him. While the marks Krom worry a bit, he continues to try and proceed through the rope swing. All of these things running through his head. He swings off the rope he's on and reaches to the other-
"Hey, Krom!"
A little girl's voice makes the boy lose focus as he misses the rope and lands on the padding below. He looks toward whoever spoke to him, and sees a concerned Ruby Rose looking at him. At first he thinks she's here to ask questions, but then he notices her scythe unfolded and ready for combat.
"What do you want, Ruby?" Krom groans as he gets up from the safety mat.
Ruby starts to grow a bit nervous, but continues as she knows why she's doing this. "I was just wondering if we could have a little sparring match."
"Why? Ozpin said I have to help you with tactics and strategy."
"Um, well, yeah. But maybe you could also extend that to helping me with strategy amidst a combat, if that's even a thing."
Krom then steps over to the side where Obdurator is resting and puts on a metal gauntlet instead.
"Well, you aren't wrong." he says before walking to the arena.
While Krom and Ruby sort of warm up, Krom tests out the gauntlet on his arm. Ruby looks at it from afar as she stretches with Crescent Rose. At first, the bracelet doesn't look like anything special to her. Just a metal bracelet has a blue crystal at its center. But before she can get any more curious at the device on Krom's arm, Ruby recalls the things Ozpin told her about.
"So you're saying that…"
"The reason why Krom, or Kontate, doesn't know is because he doesn't want to remember."
"And by me fighting him…"
"You are sure to bring something out of him that was supposedly sealed away."
She gives a sigh as they ready their weapons and walk toward the center.
"Why are you even doing this?" Krom asks. "You do remember I beat you sister, right?"
But Ruby just smiles. "I just think this would productive for the both of us."
Krom raises an eyebrow at the red hooded girl, who doesn't look serious at all. She's just smiling. With that huge scythe next to her, it makes her look somewhat like a little crazy person. Not seeing Ruby's point in her statement, Krom pulls out a metal coin and flips it into the air. Then, the two enter their fighting stances. Krom looks Ruby dead in the eyes and sees… pain? She knows she is going to lose, but what would make her feel pain before the fight even started? Shrugging it off, the two continue to look, ready to deliver their first strikes to each other.
The coin hits the concrete, and the two fighter engage!
Ruby starts off by shooting behind her to gain a powerful charge, but Krom leaps over Ruby as she takes a swing.
"You know, you really do need this." Krom says before landing behind her.
Ruby takes a shot at Krom, who dodges the shot easily. For the most part, Ruby runs up to Krom and hacks and slashes at Krom, who dodges the attacks easily due to their slow swings. He then rolls underneath a slash and kicks Ruby in the cheek, launching her into the air. Krom gets back on his feet as Ruby slowly gets up.
"This feels sort of familiar." Krom scowls.
"Yeah. I think so too…" Ruby says.
Krom reenters his fighting stance when just then Ruby adds, "Kontate Omnuron."
This makes the boy in blue become a bit angered. "Where did you hear that?"
"Ozpin told me…" Ruby says. "He said that-"
But Ruby gets cut off as Krom punches Ruby in the face.
"What did he tell you!?"
Krom throws another punch at Ruby, who deflects the attack with her scythe. To her, this is like sparring with Yang, only slightly more horrifying. She looks into Krom, and sees that he is also in pain. Seeing that they both are wounded in different ways, the two continue to fight it out.
Krom isn't dodging the attacks like usually is and Ruby isn't being as fast as she was. Blows are traded. Swings are dodged. The two are now on pretty much even terms.
Krom kicks Ruby back before revealing his bracer's true ability. Blue energy expands from the crystal to form a large, blue, transparent shield on Krom's left arm. He hits her face with its face, and sure as heck feels solid to her. But then Ruby counters by bracing Krom against her Crescent Rose and pushes him.
"He said that you've fought in a war before!" Ruby yells as Krom pushes back.
"I fought many battles, but none of which you should know about!" Krom yells back, before pushing Ruby back into the middle.
The two continue with each of the fighters whittling away at each other's auras. With this much emotional trauma, Krom isn't able to hit as hard, so he continues to stay on the defensive with his energy shield. Ruby becomes surprised as Krom has supposedly entered a weakened state, but also becomes determined as the tables have turned. So, she follows up with a barrage of shots and slashes, most of which take decent amounts of aura out of Krom.
As he continues to take damage, old memories start to reform. Memories of his past life. Memories of that when there was only war. Memories spawned from such pain. Memories of when he first used the energy shield on his arm. He tries to think rationally, but with all of these things returning to him and that there is only pain and rage in him, he could only think of one thing:
"This is all a trick!" Krom screams, pushing Ruby back. "Ironwood sent you, didn't he!? He wants to guilt me into joining his Reich!"
"Wh-what!?" Ruby panics, but that's all Krom needs as he starts to show no mercy to Ruby Rose.
"You already know too much about me." Krom growls. "I have to end this! NOW!"
Ruby sees that she is losing badly, and that if Krom doesn't get better soon, she's going to get mauled!
"Krom! Wait! We can help you!" Ruby pleads.
But Krom, now as enraged as Ruby's sister, knocks Crescent Rose out of her hands, grabs the younger one by her neck, and looks her dead in the eyes.
"Who… the hell… is 'WE'!?" he yells, before tossing her into the wall.
Just then, teams JNPR and RWBY enter the training halls in attempt for Jaune to show what Krom does for training, when they come across the boy soldier beating Ruby with her aura in the critical zone. They all are looking, wanting to step in and stop Krom from potentially killing Ruby. But they're all stopped by Professor Ozpin, who was watching the whole time.
"Krom! Please! You need help!"
"SHUT UP!"
The two teams look in horror as Krom beats down on Ruby like a man kicking a puppy.
All of those years, all of those times he was forced to fight, he just lets loose on someone whom he could've called a younger sister.
Yang screams for her little sister as she tries to stop this, but a defensive barrier blocks her off from the arena. She bangs away and looks in horror as Krom has his way on her little sister. Everyone else looks in terror, seeing a side of Krom that they did not expect. Yang demands Ozpin that he puts the shields down. She can't stand to see her sister get beat up like this! But the headmaster of Beacon keeps looking on as Krom cuts loose.
Jaune also looks in worry, but then notices something: Ruby isn't bleeding at all.
Or that's what he thought, until Krom bashes her so hard that a bit of blood spatters on the floor as she is flung back.
Still angry at the little one, Krom stomps over to her, and holds her up by her blouse.
"NO! PLEASE! DON'T KILL ME!" Ruby cries, making their audience of 7 gasp in worry.
But Krom only sees Ruby as a threat that must be dealt with.
He reaches higher and lifts Ruby up by her throat, as all of Ruby's friends beg Krom to stop, and Ozpin narrows his eyes.
Krom readies the energy shield on his arm for the final blow, all of those times, all of those times he was used, he wants to make him pay…
...but then he stops, and realizes what he's doing. He looks at Ruby's bruised face. That look of sadness. That struggle for breath. Those tears on her face. Those same words. His mind drifts off to a time this once happened.
We open up with a stormy night where a very young kid, around 10 years old, in a flack jacket and black pants. He holds a faunus girl by her throat with his right, while he grips his blade his left. The boy's expression was expressionless as the dog faunus girl's eyes dilated with horror.
And without a second thought, the boy thrusts his sword through the girl's torso, ending her misery. He then nonchalantly tosses her body aside as he walks back to the extraction point.
Wait, this can't be a memory. Can it?
Krom looks at Ruby, who's still being held up. Her eyes are starting to close, and the audience looks frozen in shock. Krom then remembers.
He doesn't have a sword. He has a shield.
He doesn't want to kill. He wants to protect.
His target isn't Ruby. His target is the one who made him a killer.
The boy soldier lowers the girl down to her feet, where she wheezes from a lack of air, and they both drop to their knees due to exhaustion. Krom attempts to say something to Ruby, until Yang punches him in the face.
"This is for our last fight!" she shouts, punching him again.
Krom tries to stand back up, but from that flashback hitting him as hard as Ember Celica, he just can't. He looks up as Yang starts to have her own way.
"This is for pissing me off!" Yang yells, and punches him again.
He can't get up. All of those times, he felt like he was an unstoppable warrior. But with all of them dead, he felt himself more dead than alive. So he cries.
Yang then grasps Krom by his bandana and prepares to pummel his face.
"This is for hurting my sister!" she screams.
But before she could give another punch, Blake, Weiss, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora, all restrain Yang with their abilities while Jaune runs to Ruby's side and holds her.
"Ruby!" he shouts. "Ruby! Are you okay!?"
She coughs, before looking into the ocean blue eyes of her friend.
"J...Jaune." she whimpers, because that's all she can do. "Does he… remember?
"Remember? Remember what?" Jaune asks, when Ozpin walks past them.
"Remember his time." he says.
With Yang restrained and glaring at Krom, who is down on the floor, Ozpin walks over to the young warrior. He kneels down and puts a hand on his back.
"It's been 6 years since you've experienced that feeling. Hasn't it, captain?"
Krom moves his head to look back at Ozpin, with tears streaming down his eyes.
"That's… not… me…"
And then he passes out, leaving everyone else to wonder what to do with him now.
I'm sorry about Ruby, guys. I couldn't think of another way to progress Krom's history without sending in that crossover. But hey, at least some of you don't have to wonder what that 117 meant. Oh wait, I still didn't explain that, did I? Oh well. Guess I'll have to explain that in the next chapter.
Welp, stay tuned as I start to get ready for something here.