Jaune Arc's Bizarre Adventure

Highway to Heaven

Chapter 10

Jaune Arc leaned back in his seat at the diner and let out a long drawn out yawn. Ren and Nora's surprise had entailed a disturbing amount of running, then again he had never pegged Ren for being particularly skilled at paintball. More shocking though was how easily Ren and Nora had outclassed both Pyrrha and himself. Jaune could feel the full ache of the bruises on his legs and back as he sipped at his coffee.

The diner itself was plain, if a bit dirty and empty. Most of the booths looked like the dirt and stains were merely rearranged after each customer passed, and a man with a face as old as time sat drinking at the bar. The same waitress moved from table to table hastily running a wet rag over the surface before returning and asking if he wanted anything. Jaune had yet to hear anything from the cook but the odd swear.

Why Ruby's uncle had insisted on this location was a mystery, but Jaune had a feeling it was due to the fact that almost no one was here. Still, as time passed and he glanced at his phone with an increasing annoyance, Jaune couldn't help but wonder if the man was even going to show up. The blonde young man produced his journal and began to pour over the notes contained within. First reviewing the stands he had encountered, Guns and Roses, Bang Bang, Desperado, Silver Lining, House of Glass, and Sabatoge. Jaune was beginning to get annoyed, he had been in Vale for less than a semester and already he had encountered five stand users and was about to meet his sixth. Jaune quickly charted out a web of relations, noting the connections between Ruby and her family as well as his own partnership with Pyrrha. It was too soon to connect the other three, however it was unlikely that they were ignorant to the existence of Ruby, Yang or their Uncle if Yang's behavior at the club was anything to go off of.

Jaune's concern was growing by the minute, there were just too many stand users present for this to be a coincidence. Ruby's eagerness to go after Torchwick, and the certainty she had that her uncle could locate the information he wanted as well as help in dealing with other stand users, as though she knew Torchwick wasn't the only one. He had gotten involved in something big, and while he was trying to stay out of it, Jaune knew that fight at the docks was only the beginning. Luckily, if his latest tome was anything to go off of, he had an ace in the hole. Jaune quickly produced the text and returned to the chapter he had marked.

Jaune had first written the text off as nonsense, before realizing just what the text had contained. It spoke of a man, who followed the will of god above all else and was blessed with, HEAVEN. Jaune's initial shock had become a sort of strange sort of fascination as he found parallels between the man in the story and himself. Supposedly, the man commanded the world itself, and time stopped at his behest. While Jaune didn't control the world, His stand allowed him to bend time to his will, and Jaune couldn't help but shake the feeling that this text contained his destiny, that somehow, HEAVEN was more than just a place you went when you died.

"Hey kid, is this seat taken?" A gruff voice asked dryly, their words subtly slurring.

Jaune jumped a little in his seat as he looked up to see a strange man standing before him. He wore a set of slacks and black dress shoes, as well as a grey dress shirt shirt boasting a black collar and matching cuffs. The sleeves were pushed up to reveal slender arms, the right bore a black leather band, and his fingers had two silver rings in the shape of crosses. A similarly shaped silver cross necklace hung from his neck. The man's face bore a fair bit of stubble, and his eyes were a startling garnet, with black greying hair slicked back. He smiled before sitting down across from Jaune and lazily extending a hand. "Qrow Branwen."

"Jaune Arc." Jaune replied as he sat up and shook Qrow's hand, noting his surprising grip strength.

Qrow produced a flask and took a swig from it as the waitress approached, quickly cutting her off before she could speak. "Coffee, black."

Jaune leaned forward and nodded to the man as the waitress left to fetch a pot of the glorious dark liquid and a mug. "Are you Ruby's uncle?"

"Yep." Qrow replied popping the p at the end of the word. He wore an easy going smile, but Jaune couldn't shake a lingering feeling of unease. "I understand you're looking for someone."

Jaune nodded quickly and produced his grandfather's journal. "I'm looking for a man called the Wizard."

Qrow glanced around as he shrugged. "I might be able to help, but why are you looking for this guy?"

Jaune's face scrunched up in reflexive annoyance. This guy may have been a stand user, but Jaune couldn't help but feel the same way he had when Yang had asked about Jaune helping them. There was something in his tone, like he was testing him. "Personal reasons."

Qrow let out a snort as the waitress returned and poured him a mug of coffee. The lanky man quickly produced his flask and emptied the contents into the mug before taking a sip. "Jeez, Yang wasn't kidding when she said you were prickly."

"Seems like every stand user in town either wants me to help them, or fight me." Jaune countered glancing around the diner. "You asked to meet me in the middle of night in a dive at the far side of town, doesn't exactly scream friendly meet and greet."

"Well, at least you're picking up on this stuff faster than Ruby." Qrow drawled as he took another sip of coffee.

"Look, I have information that might help you guys with your little stand user turf war, and you have information I want." Jaune offered as he opened his journal. "I tell you what you want to know, and you tell me what I want to know, sound fair?"

Qrow's eyebrows were raised as he queried, "Turf war?"

Jaune smirked as he closed the journal. "First night in town and Ruby fights a guy sticking up a convenience store with his stand. I get caught up with it and the next thing I know she and Yang are asking if I want to help fight Torchwick. Both of us know the club was her. Unless the definition of turf war has changed, I'm pretty sure that's what's going on here."

"Well, you don't lack confidence kid." Qrow replied before his eyes narrowed. "But you really have no idea what's going on right now."

"Then all the more reason for me to stay out of it. Now do you want to trade info, or should I catch a cab back to campus?" Jaune shot back cooly.

The two remained silent, staring at one another as if testing each other. Finally Qrow let out a sigh, and asked, "What do you have to offer?"

"I've got info on two stand users in town that might be linked to Torchwick." Jaune answered calmly, opening his journal to the pages for Sabotage and House of Glass. "One's some kind of burglar, the other is some short girl, pink and brown hair, weird clothes, doesn't talk."

Qrow nodded as he read through the pages and produced his phone, "Do ya mind?"

Jaune quickly nodded and Qrow snapped two pictures of the pages. "Well, the wizard, is a man named Ozpin. He's the one who clued me in on stand users a couple decades back."

Qrow looked up to see that Jaune had hastily grabbed his journal and begun writing in it. He chuckled to himself in amusement before continuing, "He's been in Mistral the past couple years, but he always comes to Beacon before winter break to give a guest lecture."

Jaune quickly opened his mouth but before he could ask his question Qrow answered it, "I don't know when he's going to give the lecture, but it should be soon."

"Then that's it." Jaune replied as he stood up from the table placing a twenty lien bill under his mug.

Qrow watched with a raised eyebrow as the boy pulled his hood on and exited the diner. The man calmly produced his phone and typed out a text before turning his focus back to his drink as he sent it.

Oz, Spoke with Joseph Arc's great grandson. He's looking for you.

Qrow sipped at his drink before letting out a contented sigh and grinning. It was the kid's move, and he was curious to see how he'd play it. After all, he was nothing like the Joseph Arc in Oz's stories. Way too sharp. Stil, if the curse held true, then things were about to get very exciting.

Neopolitan was beginning to get annoyed. Roman had told her to not to try and pick a fight with the boy until the Queen returned. Her heterochromatic eyes rolled in exasperation at the mere thought of their employer's nickname. Still, Neo had insisted on watching him. He clearly wasn't experienced, but that hadn't stopped him from wiping the floor with her. His stand's ability had completely canceled out her advantage in reach, flexibility and speed. If Roman was right and he was working with little red riding hood's uncle, then they would need to take care of him as soon as they could.

The pint sized ice cream colored girl blew a raspberry as she sauntered along the edge of the rooftop observing her quarry. Unless her eyes had deceived her, then his relationship with that dusty old scarecrow was strained at best. The two seemed to spend more time arguing than conversing, and as soon as he heard what he wanted, the boy seemed to quickly leave. If Neo had to guess, she'd say they were fairweather friends. But she couldn't discount the possibility of an alliance yet, and with an ability like his, the boy was a fairly big threat. Neo sighed as she reported her observations to Roman. The kid would make a hell of an ally, but something told her that he wasn't the type to bow to just anyone. And the queen bee wasn't exactly famous for being patient with difficult people.

And now Neo's watching him. Looks like it's all eyes on Jaune at the moment. Not a terribly long chapter again, but an important one nonetheless. So yes, in a twist that I'm sure was oh so surprising, Ozpin is in fact the wizard. However, his role in this story will be far different than his role on the show, namely in how much of a direct influence he will have on the events that unfold. Onto the teaser then I suppose. Next time, expect for some serious questions to be answered.