It's a sensational day outside. Birds chirp out bright tunes of happiness as they go off to fish out their worms, people are bustling about on the streets of Vale, and, greatest of all, the students at Beacon are out having fun on one of the two days per week that are not rigidly defined by the wood and metal enclosures that they gain knowledge in. Really, it's one of the best days of the year outside, and there's no reason not to be out lapping up the sunlight…
…*sigh* Well, maybe there is a reason for someone…
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A matting of blond hair meanders around on an unassuming bed. The occasional creaks of the steel bed frame cause the owner of said hair to shift, his palms twisting around to rest flat on the bedsheets. He picks himself up with one fluid motion, his eyes still not completely open to witness the layers slowly unstick and float down toward the mattress. Jaune turns himself around, sitting himself on the bedside next to a completely empty desk.
Jesus Christ… what time is it?
He whips out his scroll to check the time. His eyes almost jump out of their sockets as soon as he sees it; 11:42 AM. It was about 7 or so when he dragged himself into this room, which means that he has been asleep for… sixteen hours. The clothes he is wearing are just the same as those from yesterday, too. And quite wrinkled.
The only other things of note are the two notifications that rest just below the clock: One from the CCT Store announcing the installation of Grimm Wars 2, and one from Nora, asking where the hell he was during breakfast. The word 'breakfast' immediately causes his stomach to rumble. He may have been out for 16 hours, but his stomach has spent far more waiting to chow down on some food. It continues rumbling even as Jaune finally stands up and straightens himself out as much as he can. He is just about to speak when it interrupts him yet again, demanding that he goes down to the cafeteria, right now!
Uggggghhh… fine. It better be something good today.
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He walks out of the room, not even sparing a thought to taking a shower, or even to sorting out his stuff, which are still stuck to each other on the pillow. After a long, monotonous walk, Jaune finally arrives. He can barely take a step before being assaulted by the pleasing smells of a classic dish; Macaroni and Cheese. It might be simple, but damn if it isn't good.
This gives him just enough inspiration to pick up his pace a little as he makes his way to the lunch line.
It's not long at all before he reaches the front of the line, and he puts down more than a few extra scoops of macaroni into his bowl.
"Pretty hungry today?"
The lunch lady can't help but notice the orange-ish tower next to him, a tower growing so high that it's a miracle that bits of cheese aren't falling out of the bowl.
Jaune isn't quite up to answering that kind of question. Not right now. He's this close to letting off some snark, but before he can open his mouth to speak, his stomach growls once more. The recently-reappeared feeling of hunger destroys the sentence inside his head, and it is quickly replaced with something more neutral.
"Yep…"
"Well, that's what the lunch is here for!" She waits just the tiniest bit for any potential response before turning back to the cutlery, getting it all prepared to serve food for more students. Jaune looks around for something interesting, and other than a few people scattered around seemingly at random tables, nothing is there.
Team RWBY and Pyrrha are on errrr... uhhh... whatever Glynda sent them to, god knows where Ren and Nora could be, even Cardin and his bunch would be acceptable right now, but they aren't around either.
Great… well, I guess I'll head back down to my dorm.. at least there people won't have to see how unprepared I look.
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He walks out of the cafeteria and back through the long maze of hallways leading toward his dorm. What he originally wanted was to wait until he was inside to eat, but the allure of the golden pasta dish eventually proves to be too much, and he sticks his spoon deep into the mountain in surrender, lightning fast. Bringing some fragments into his mouth just as quickly, he awaits the explosion of flavor that is sure to be taking over any second now, coating his taste buds and making them sing in pleasure… come on…️… just a little longer…️…
It's… fine I guess. It looked so tasty though...
His stomach seems to not mind, as almost half of it vanishes regardless before Jaune gets to his room, gently pulling the door closed as he continues to chow down. Quite a few more bites take a tumble into the acidic bath before he finally gets around to taking a breather, setting the plate down on the desk nearby. With the vines of gloom trimmed down in retreat for the time being, now he has a chance to properly think about… well… everything.
Alright… I guess I'm here now. Glynda's helping to train me. I have no team. Now what?
Unfortunately, there is no "Being Kicked Off a Hunter Squad and Having Your School Experience be Completely Different for Dummies" book available to help him out with that.
Clearly Beacon still believes that I have potential… and better yet, Ozpin had a golden chance to kick me out, and didn't. I am so grateful for him. There's no way I could go back to my family empty-handed if I was actually remove-
All of a sudden that thought is forcefully terminated by an unexpected bout of nausea, nearly sending the lunch he was just enjoying straight back out the wrong end.
Auuuughhhhhhhh… *cough* ...no more thinking about that… pfooh… okay. I'm not going to be kicked out. Reset.
Jaune takes a deep breath before continuing on.
I'm not with JNPR anymore. Why? Oz said it was "for my development", but, honestly, that's not too satisfying of an answer. And Glynda has full control over my schedule… I just do not get why they have to do it this way. Flipping over my school life like it's nothing… And then I just have to stay here and pick up the pieces? What kind of good is that going to do for me? It's not fair!
He pauses his mini-rant to take another bite.
This whole idea is just crazy. This 'training' that Glynda's set up better be worth it… *sigh*
I have to get out of this bad mood…
He slurps up the last few bits and pieces of the macaroni, throwing the empty bowl straight for the trash can. It bounces around just inside the rim for a few moments before popping right back out, landing upside down on the floor.
Of course… Jaune reaches down, crushing the paper bowl some with his hand as he throws it straight down, this time properly hitting the bottom of the can. Just like it should have the first time. He turns back around, staring at the clump of metal, cotton, paper, and everything else that represents the whole sum of his existence. He hesitates to put his hands on it, as if not touching it will allow these past two days to remain a dream, one that he just has yet to wake up from. Of course, that is only wishful thinking.
With dissatisfaction set all over his face, Jaune, reluctantly, digs into the pile. The first thing to go is his shield, which he carefully sets down on the floor nearby. That is quickly followed up by his books, which are laid down on the desk. Then it's some odds and ends, a framed photo or two, his Pumpkin Pete hoodie (who thought a character called Pumpkin Pete would be a bunny?), and on and on it goes. Finally, near the bottom, are two sets of clean clothes to pick from. Having no real interest in delving into the fashionability of either of them, he just picks one at random and heads off for the shower.
After a thorough rubdown, Jaune pops out of the bathroom, looking miles better than before. His once unkempt hair is now as smooth as it's ever been, and the messy clothes have been completely discarded for… an outfit that looks exactly the same. But better! Less wrinkly and sporting a much nicer 'new clothes' smell.
Even the feeling of hot water rushing down one's body, however, is still not even close to enough to put Jaune in a happy mood. Not with the 300 lb weight strapped onto his mind.
"You know what… I need someone to talk to. I know that Pyrrha and Ruby are out on that mission to… uh…" Jaune's body jumps a little as he finally remembers the name of that mission they were sent on. "-Lower Cairn, but that doesn't mean they can't spare a minute or two…right? Of course not. They better have scroll service down there, at least…"
He sends off a call to Pyrrha first, but after several beeps, the only thing to greet him on the other end is the generic voice of an operator announcing that her voicemail is full. Jaune hangs up before it gets to the second word.
"Well… try Ruby I guess…"
He scrolls his way toward Ruby's number, quickly tapping the call button, only to hear another instance of that operator's soothing voice in return. But this time, she calmly explains how the call could not connect. He lets this one play for a few seconds before cutting her off.
There's no sound coming from Jaune this time, as he quickly thumbs through his contacts, looking for Nora. He hits Ren's number without even thinking, but considering how those two are stuck together like glue, it's not going to make too much of a difference.
He waits. Beep. Beep. Beep. The fourth beep never comes out, as the scroll finally connects, giving Jaune a boost of happiness before Ren says a single word.
"Jaune?"
"Hey Ren, what's up?"
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A pretty good question. A lot of things are up right now. The sun, the overhead lights of the grocery he's in, the stock of Vale's most popular pancake company, the amount of time he has spent in this aisle waiting, and, as if life wasn't bombastic enough, a box of pancake mix is also up. In the air. Heading straight into the cart.
"I'm just out with Nora on an adventure again."
"What kind of adventure?"
"Something to do with pancakes." The familiar voice has dragged Nora's interest away from the shelf, and she quickly runs over to Ren's side. But not before sending a box flying off in a rainbow aimed perfectly toward her partner…
"Is that Jaune?!"
"Yes, it's Jaune." Ren hands his scroll off to Nora, who cups it with both hands before putting it up straight to her mouth.
"Jaune-Jaune! You won't believe what happened!"
"Let me guess, Ren let you have pancakes?"
"Even better! I'm gonna make the world's largest pancake! It's going to be so awesome! There's going to be trucks full of eggs, and butter, and- Oh! Can't forget the pancake mix!" Nora puts her hands up to embellish the sudden remembering, but in doing so also drops the scroll. Ren's fingers are already under it before she can blink, catching it and returning it to a safer place, that being his left hand.
"So yeah… that. I'm going t-" His sentence gets cut off courtesy of a pancake box finally hitting its mark, bouncing off his chest and straight into the cart.
"Watch where you throw those!" He looks to Nora, who is still raving on about the amazing adventure she is so totally going to have.
"Anyway, I have to go. See you Jaune."
"See ya."
"...that we're all gonna get big forks and grab massive chunks! Then I'm gonna stand in the center, ring a bell and th-"
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*beep*
Well that was certainly interesting. Nothing out of the ordinary for Nora, though. Jaune's can't help but smile as he thinks about the fun that those two are going to have. He really wishes he could tag along. That second thought is like a dark sponge, the happiness slowly fading off as the call leaves his short-term memory. The empty, beige walls quickly start to close in around him, ready to pounce at the nearest opportunity.
That was fun… but… *sigh*. It still doesn't feel… right. Today's just not going to be a good day, is it…
He racks his brain in a desperate search for some good ideas to turn things around. The mere thought of going to the training room reminds him too much of that other 'training'… He quickly shakes his head, knocking that idea out before it has a chance to kickstart yet another rant. Grimm Wars 2 is around too, hanging out on his scroll, just waiting to be tapped on.
Suppose it's a good of an idea as any…
He takes his scroll back out and is instantly bombarded with glare, as the sun has finally fallen enough to shine through the window and take the perfect line straight to the slab of glass.
God… I really have to block out the window just to see?
Jaune sighs once more before picking himself up and walking toward the window. Before swinging the curtains shut, he lets his eyes take one last look at Beacon's outside. Everything is bright. The one or two groups of people that cross by look like little jellybeans from this far out, but even so, their body language just seems to radiate out nothing but happiness. The Valean skyline, far into the distance, towers over the academy's grassy front yard like a perfect diorama piece. Wait- is that…? Jaune blinks a couple more times, trying to get even the tiniest crumb of focus. His eyes do not betray him; it is someone walking on a tightrope between two skyscrapers.
Damn.
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After taking in the outside for a bit longer, he finally comes to a decision, turning back around toward the door.
"Actually, no. I'm not going to stay in this room. Today, I am going to go out there and find something interesting. Sitting around will just make me feel even worse tomorrow."
Jaune grabs Crocea Mors and puts it right on his hip, pointing it down-left toward the ground. He quickly shoves the scroll deep into his right pocket and walks out the door, not even bothering to entertain the occasional stare thrown his way until he is out of the halls, and far beyond the loose confines of Beacon Academy.
Seemingly before he can blink, he is completely overwhelmed by the hustle of Vale, merely just another extra in a city boasting many thousands of such people. Unlike the movies, though, there is no script. The world is his oyster, and every building is a shiny pearl, ripe for the taking.
But what does one do in a place overstuffed with possibilities? Jaune stops right on the inner edge of the sidewalk to start hashing that out. He hasn't been here very long, so all the signs that flash at him, yearning for his entrance might as well be in a foreign language. The rummage through his memories turns up very few results, but one of them sounds particularly intriguing: A couple of days ago, Blake was mentioning a place called 'Tukson's' when she was defending herself from a jab about one of those 'erotic literatures' that seem to always be in her hand. No way they don't have a comic or two. Hopefully two-hundred!
There's just one tiny little problem with that idea though: Jaune doesn't know where it is. In fact, he's never even seen a picture of the place. Thankfully for him, the city offers a respite for lost explorers such as he. A map of every single notable place in Vale! Thank the gods for a good tourism board. Not that Jaune cares about the bureaucracy behind it all, he's already bumped into the thing and tumbled toward onto the ground.
Picking himself back up, he scans the whole board for this 'Tukson's', first setting his finger on the large segment that shows a perfect replica of Beacon.
Let's see… Beacon… Ballard's Heli Parts… Cleveland's Pancake Factory? I'll have to show that to Nora sometime… uhhhhhhh- oh! You are here! That's a good thing to know. Uhhhh… there it is! Tukson's Book Trade! Just a quick walk to the south. Phew.
With that all done and dusted, Jaune heads off for the store, making sure to take note of every single street name as he makes his way down. Before long, he stands right at the front door. He walks in and POW!
...the amount of books come close to making him faint. He can barely steer away from the sea of paperbacks long enough to catch the sign. Comics, seventh row! Jaune takes off, picking up the first one that his fingers can reach.
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Diamond-Man
Issue 1: Esoteria Must be Stopped!
There is trouble afoot! A slithery snake going by the name of Esoteria is wreaking havoc among the commonfolk! The town is destined for collapse! Or can the new hero Diamond-Man turn the tide?
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He digs into the first issue, quickly getting lost in one of the most engaging plots he has ever witnessed. Before long, a second issue joins him. Then a third. Up to four.
Six.
Ten…
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Twenty…️…
Jaune is quickly realizing one sad, sad fact…. it's still not enough. Every new issue he reads is granting less and less energy... Still, his determination to force this day on a better track keeps him pressing forward, eventually resolving to abandon reading them all in order, instead jumping around from issue to issue, sometimes even page to page, chasing some satisfaction that will certainly come from seeing Diamond-Man shred those evil villains' plans… right?
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Issue 72: Walls, Walls, and Yet More Walls
Diamond Man's got a big problem on his hands: The villains have come to his home of Crystal City! And the worst part: Their home base is just a few miles away, deep in the heart of Kisaragi Mountain. Will he be able to stop their evil plans before the crystal shatters?
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So far, that issue is living up to its name. Every 5 pages or so, Diamond-Man gets stopped by something. Whether it's an overturned car, a burning factory that he arrived one minute too late to save, or just a straight up wall he has to get around, it just all seems to be leading nowhere. Even the slick blue and orange scenery that is splashed on each and every panel isn't making things any better. Jaune's hands shakily turn to the next page. The nagging uncertainty is rearing its ugly head once again, casting just the smallest hints of gloom on everything he sees. Even the comics that were lifting his spirits are no longer safe.
*sigh*… why… please…just stop with this already...
The spent comics float all around him, covering his arms in a rainbow of bright panels. Some have already fallen to the floor, usually resting closed beside him. A bell that announces another new customer chimes in the background. Jaune eyes over in that direction, but with no clear line of sight toward the door, he quickly drags his head, inch by inch, back into the comic.
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This new customer, Yatsuhashi Daichi, has a few grocery bags lined in the crook of his right arm. It's easily fourteen of them being swung around, but he's got no problem at all handling that. Today, he is here to look for some interesting books to read. He's mostly interested in the deeper, more thought-provoking type, and he's been around way more than enough times to know just where they are. All the way back in the 12th row. As he makes his way down, he passes near the table where Jaune and his flotilla of comics are located. Yatsu would have never seen him if not for accidentally stepping on one of those leftovers, the back cover now stamped with his boot heel. He picks it up, looking slightly to the right and instantly noticing what to him looks like someone who had fallen asleep while reading. Partially out of curiosity, he walks up toward the unfamiliar person.
"You look like you are falling into sleep. Is everything alright?"
"I'm fine." Nothing on Remnant could ever be less convincing than those two words coming out of Jaune's mouth.
"You do not sound like someone who is fine."
"Well I am. I'm just sitting here… reading… this series is… good. *sigh*"
It's pretty obvious that he's not being truthful. Yatsu takes a few seconds to look at him more closely. Besides the obvious smattering of books that closely surround him, his facial features are a bit… problematic. There's the smallest touch of stress hanging out under his eyes. Not only that, his eyes themselves are half-lidded, those dull blue irises barely reflecting back at him, despite being less than a foot away. 'Fine' is probably the least correct word one could use.
"You are lying. I will put these back up for you. I don't think staying here is going to be good for your health." Yatsu starts to pick off some easier-to-reach comics, sliding them neatly into his arms.
'No… I'm okay, I swear… I haven't read… some of those…" Jaune lifts his arms out for them, but they don't even come close. That reach stretches Jaune's resolve too thin, as his head finally succumbs to the unyielding pressure of gravity, falling onto the extraneous books that rest on the desk below him.
After seeing that display, Yatsu's mind is made up. A Thousand Splendid Suns can wait. The more pressing matter is right in front of him. He takes more and more worn comics away from the blond as he starts the long ride of getting him back on his feet...
110 FFN followers. Oh fuck. This was the last thing I expected. Pressure's on already...
Jaune can't find happiness.
I was going for a more realistic angle of having your life flipped, compared to the original where it was just "Cool! New thing!" Hopefully I got the balance right, not making him too depressed...
This chapter originally was going to feature an interaction with CRDL in it, but after a couple hours of deliberation, and many half-rewrites leaving me unsatisfied, I cut them out. Oh well. The next chapter isn't being made up essentially from scratch, so maybe it'll be an easier time.
Hard to not make Jaune either a perfect paragon of good that can do no wrong, or an aimless wanderer that the plot just pushes around. Still not quite 100% satisfied with this chapter, but eventually you just have to get it done. Even though it's only been about two days. The first chapter was done in two days too, though, so what do I know.