Underworld
Disclaimer: I still don't own RWBY.
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"Thy soul is by vile fear assailed, which oft so overcasts a man, that he recoils from noblest resolution, like a beast at some false semblance in the twilight gloom."
― Dante Alighieri, Inferno
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Jaune, 'Just Jaune' to anyone who makes the mistake of believing the news or reminding him of his family name, is a man on the fall with a promising future in the underworld. He'll be an uncommonly good criminal one day, even if he's still just a common criminal for now. He has ambition and potential and his future is bright, in a negative sort of way.
People are starting to notice him now- to know about him, if not know him directly. He doesn't need to whistle for the faunus of the White Fang to part their pack and let him through- the ones who've seen the pictures of Tukson will tell the rest. He doesn't need to wave a bloody cleaver or be backed by a squad of White Fang soldiers to rob a store, he just gives the shopkeeper a stare that says 'I can already see you dead and dying if you stay in my way.' So long as they don't- if they take that once chance to give up the goods, and they always choose to give up in the face of a man who's always seeing murder before his eyes, they survive.
(Cinder calls it the efficacy of fear- to use a threat so well that it never has to be carried out or even explicitly made. Terrorism at its best, so fine and bloodless that it's almost moral. One day someone will call it a bluff, and one day he'll be forced to do something uncommon to prove his credibility, but not yet. This will not be the day- for now he's still just the worst sort of common criminal, a murderer and an enabler and a thief and a liar and other terrible things that sadly are far too easily found to be uncommon. He still has further to fall.)
When he goes to the Club to talk business with Junior, the bouncer outside gets out of his way and warns the rest that Jaune is back. Some cheer and approach with false friendliness- he ignores them. When the Malachite twins approach seeking free drinks, they quickly stop flirting and regard him with the wariness of a fellow predator. Jaune patiently waits as the Boss is informed that he has a short-notice meeting, nods to the bartender (some pink-eyed Beacon student sneaking a job on the side- Jaune gives a generous tip and advises him to stay in school), and nods to the DJ before having a civil and professional meeting discussing arms shipments and dust smuggling with Mr. Xiong. No one thinks to check a calendar to see if it's been three months yet, or if that passed long ago. No one even raises the question.
(Long ago or not, he thinks about making Junior apologize for what he did back then- for the beating and the kicks and throwing him out after the burglary. Thinks about it, but decides against it- he might be able to beat the man down now, but it would lose support and cost a vendetta. Jaune doesn't intend to cause loose ends for Mercury or Neo or anyone else to resolve, lest they decide to resolve him as well. Besides, when he's through he'll be strong enough that the mob boss will get on his knees and beg for forgiveness, without a single punch being thrown. That's real power. The sort of ambition Jaune has.)
With the fame comes a certain amount of infamy. When the media talks about Roman Torchwik, they mention his notorious lieutenant 'Justin John,' the alias more famous than his own (old) name. People who have never heard of the Arcs put their children in at night and warn them of Justin John. The police grow increasingly desperate, picking up anyone in the thug suit on the off-chance it might be him- even if the suspect in question is the wrong height (could be mis-remembered), or the wrong hair color (could be dyed), or is actually a woman (no comment).
A few ambitious but less competent criminals get caught while calling themselves his name, or what they think his name is. 'Justin John's' crime wave is the work of a ring of petty criminals, each offering a cut and bit of tribute through Roman's channels in return for borrowing the name. Jaune is bemused at his first criminal fan club, but much less so when they stoop to home invasions and all that implies. Bemusement becomes something far worse when some of their crimes come to light, crimes he's never done and would never do as a common criminal, but he never does anything about it because he never has a chance to. Someone else gets to them first, and afterwards the corpses are found dead in a circle, fingers pointing at each other with the same bloody message between them. 'That one's John.' The Lieutenant shows him the grisly photo before it makes the news, a favor from his friends in the White Fang, and what do you know, no one else claims to be Jaune.
There's just one Jaune in the Vale underworld, and he's just Jaune. No Arc- ever, not anymore, not for anyone. The last goon to call him that, some idiot from their hometown who tried to suck up with familiarity by dropping Jeanne's name and saying how proud she must be that her brother is doing so well for himself, became the public example of the fruits of Mercury's combat training. It's brutal, painful, and as bone-breaking as one of the Blonde Bombshell's increasingly frequent raids on their minor operations that she leads her three-woman team on. This time he has the images of his handiwork spread around himself, in the same sort of emails that still carry the image of bloody Tukson. This fool survives, but only so that he can live as an example and a warning. Only the foolish, or the powerful, are brave enough to remind him of his family name, and only the truly powerful get away with it unscathed.
(The first time Emerald does it, thinking she's found a nerve to pluck for fun, is the first time he gives her a black eye. She gives him far worse- leaves him as beaten as the he'd left the fool, with her blades at his throat and with Mercury trying to restrain her wrath- but the point is made. A more exasperated than disappointed Cinder tells her minions to not bring it up again, Roman doesn't care enough to care, and Neo… well, Neo doesn't say anything, but she's probably got him pegged for a sister-complex or something if he's starting to understand her many mocking grins. She's wrong, though- he disclaims any relation to that family which died long ago, not just the not-Arc sister who died a liar.)
Jaune's explorations into his potential are taking him deeper and deeper into the underworld, and it wouldn't surprise him that his more virtuous counterparts up above are starting to take note. A dossier is slowly put together after the Justin John crime spree, but it's so chaotic and counter-intuitive that only a steely bird-eyed watcher would be able to pull the facts away from the fiction and the false-flag fakers. A bounty is even put on his head, though it's so vague and lacking information that no real Hunter ever takes it.
The only ones who do, the Bombshell's trainee trio who see 'Justin John' as the next lead to Roman, are so blatant in trying to find him (and so clueless about what he looks like that they only know to look for a mook with red glasses with the White Fang) that Cinder moves him to another safehouse and sets a trap.
The trap she sets for them fails, but they get the point and stop searching for him so obviously. Right now it's ambitious amateurs, but it's a milestone: people above are taking note.
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(In the highest tower of Beacon, Headmaster Ozpin grimaces as he reviews the mission failure report from Team PWBY- no major injuries, but nothing good either. No sign of Miss Belladonna, who hasn't been seen since the tragedy at the docks. No sign of Roman Torchwick or the Conspirators. Not even a lead to follow up on their actual target this time. The grimace turns into a frown as he rereads the message from his friend Qrow. 'Queen gains new pawn, nearing promotion.' It's grim news, and dark clouds are approaching from afar. Perhaps he best call James and Qrow in early after all- his own gambits didn't seem to be paying off, but perhaps theirs might. It's a chance he regrets but has to take.)
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Author Notes:
...you know people, when I asked who you wanted Jaune to end up with at the end, I was kind of thinking of criminal factions. Not girls. The shipping goggles are strong with these ones...
(Though perhaps not as strong as the person who seemed to be suggesting Jaune with Adam Tauros. Back in chapter 11. On the grounds that if Blake had been killed, then Adam would be depressed and it'd be up to Jaune to go after him and become partners because only he can 'calm the beast.')
Onto other thoughts, people have all sorts of great ideas of how this could all unfold. And apparently this fic reminds some people of Madoka Magica levels of depression, while others still have a little glimmer of hope that things will turn out alright by the end.
Mwahahahahaha.
Cough. Sorry, I have a case of MCS, Maniacal Cackling Syndrome. It kicks in whenever I know things that you don't. Or have an evil, evil idea. Or both. I am a sadist, after all. I probably shouldn't do such a thing. Just laughing about it would probably make some of you paranoid.
Mwahahahaha.