- A/N -
First, I'd like to apologize for taking a bit longer than usual. Some stuff for school came up that I have to prepare for, but I'm confident that I'll make it out of it alive.
Originally I was going to continue the transcript of the episode until I hit a pausing point, until I realized that the only pausing point shows up after the Black Sabbath fight, which was 3/4ths of the episode. So I thought I would just go ahead and do another one-shot.
But, as I continued, I found that I was kind of taking a bit longer on writing the dialogue for the cast, as I wanted to do a bit better than how I did for the previous chapter. I suppose this is what a writer's block feels like.
And so, here I am just to inform everyone that: I am still alive, sorry for worrying everyone. And that I'm still working on the rest of Episodio 4.
What I have so far for the entire episode is a transcript that goes up to Giorno saying "Koichi, could you move to the right a little?", and the cast comments go up to Koichi explaining the nature of the Stand arrow. I did have a little more cast comments after that, but that might be subject to change as I don't think they're high quality.
- Reviews -
Peigukiin: Thank you! I'm not 100% sure on what is the most perfect dialogue between characters, as I find that in Jojo episodes, it would just be, characters are surprised by events, characters think for a moment, the reveal happens and they're surprised or congratulate the protagonist for being clever. As for Cardin's comments, I thought that almost everyone is rooting for Jaune for their own reasons, it'd be a bit dynamic if Cardin was rooting for the downfall of Jaune for his own reason. And that idea is pretty good, to show a silhouette of the Stand so it's not entirely spoiled. While I am tempted to do that, I chose to just make them react to it as a whole, but thank you for the suggestion.
E .Paradox: Just how far would someone go if their causes are noble? Which is a pretty good question that I basically proposed to the cast now that I think about it.
Mattysteel: That is true, this is pretty much AU Jaune if he was Giorno, I'll keep that in mind when I write scenes that aren't high-intensity.
DeathlyJazzHands55: Good to see you! Hopefully I can make it worth it.
Awesomenessomar5: Thank you! Hopefully you didn't wait too long.
X3runner: I can only imagine how distraught they'd be. For the first one, the one with Jaune joining the gang I think his old teammates might feel a bit down.
Nobody: Hello again! Cardin is most definitely breaking down at how Jaune just became a badass with a powerful ability compared to him. Also I didn't know about Golden Heart Golden Ring. And about the dub or sub titles. It is a cool idea to switch out some for the other, but I use Crunchyroll to write down the transcript, and for some reason they don't have the dub.
Farts Dreamer: I'll consider it, but I'll most likely do that later in this fiction.
Colt Cobra: Like that video of people dribbling a basketball as a gorilla dances through the scene. By the time they notice it, it's too late.
CGOLChris: He might as well throw himself to the Grimm than face what Jaune will become.
Rev: Now, originally, I was thinking that a Stand user would retain a small portion of their aura, but after reviewing some of the scenes in Golden Wind, I realize just how bloody it can get. And now that you mention it, Giorno/Jaune losing several arms would make it hard to believe that he has a little bit of aura. You've made very good points in how characters would act, and I also forgot that Ozpin's group manipulated her. I was actually shocked about that, Oz you were supposed to be a good guy what? Also that scene you mentioned with B.I.G is also clever. If I ever get to that point I'm most definitely considering doing that.
Guest on April 14: That is true, the first part at least. However, I personally saw him joining a huntsman academy because it was the popular thing to do. But you are right, that there has to be at least a line where he would draw in what he would and wouldn't do and that Jaune/Giorno wouldn't kill him.
THE TOWER OF PIMPS: Don't worry, I just needed a good point in the story to point out to them that. Which here is a pretty good point.
GuioReo: Hey, you're pretty good yourself too.
Legion19: They will appear in parts of the story where they are away from civilization, is how I would go about doing it.
Guest on April 18: Grateful Dead's ability is terrifying in its own right, however it doesn't truly age someone, only physically ages them. So the babies on the train's bodies started to age, but their minds were still young if not suffering from ailments that old age does to the brain. Not entirely sure how that would affect Grimm though.
Kept123: Thank you, and I don't think I will. The point of this fanfic was to get the cast of RWBY to react to Part 5 with Jaune being Giorno like how others have done before me.
Guest on April 21: Possibly in a future chapter, I'll explain in the last review response.
Fireworks174: My gosh, just reading those words actually hurt me.
Guest from 15 hours ago, April 25: Don't worry, the pressure that I had wasn't from the expectations of reviewers, just from real life stuff. Since there's only two months of school left, things are starting to pick up so I might take a bit longer to work on this fanfic. Most definitely during the summer I'll have free time.
Anonymous Guest: Thank you for your kind words. I don't mind it that much because some of the ideas that have been said are good that I consider adding it. And if an idea comes along that I don't think would fit into what I plan out, I just don't write it.
Kerrowe: I did indeed try hard to get an almost one to one ratio of the shows. I probably could just keep him blond and not much would be changed. But I kind of swore to myself when I started this that I would keep as close as I can to the source when applicable.
I mentioned in the prologue that I took inspiration from Platinum of Remnant and Jaune's Bizarre Adventure: SBR. Well I noticed how people generally had problems with some of the creative liberties within the latter. So I took it as a lesson that if I am going to change something, it has to be reasonable, anything else has to be as close as it can to the source. Though as some in the reviews have said, they're fine with seeing some of Jaune shining through the facade of being Giorno.
"This is your fate!" Those words, along with the image of a dying old man were forever burned into Pyrrha's mind. Some time after Jaune was expelled, Ozpin presented her with the proposition of becoming the Fall maiden.
She remembered the inhumane solution for her to receive that power; to transfer someone's aura, someone's soul, into someone else forcefully, and the possible repercussions it could have on her. It terrified her, thinking that this fate of her is inevitable.
"Pyrrha? You okay?" Her attention was taken by her two remaining teammates, Nora and Ren.
"Y-Yes, I'm fine now." She managed to give a smile to the two. "I'm just… worried, is all."
"We're worried about Jaune, too!" Nora tried her best to cheer up the atmosphere. "I'm sure of it, he'll defeat Polpo's Stand and get in Passion!" Nora grinned greatly while Pyrrha gave her a lighthearted smile.
"You mean Passione?" Ren corrected her despite Nora not acknowledging it.
"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves." Weiss killed the mood. "Just how is he going to beat that Stand? That Stand literally pulled out that man's actual soul out and... impaled it." Weiss tried her best not to imagine it.
"But, Jaune has a powerful Stand!" Ruby came to defend her friend.
"Rubes, even Bucciarati said that his Stand's power isn't that great." Yang told her. "As much as I want to hope for our fellow Vomit-boy, he might have a hard time beating it."
"Hey, excuse me?" The students turned to Saphron. "I appreciate the concern you have for my brother, but you're making me nervous with that."
"Oh, right." Yang quickly went back a bit. "Sorry!" She gave a slight smile at the worried family.
"Don't worry." Nicolas raised his hand to settle down the atmosphere. "We'll be fine."
Unlike the rest of the cast, who were calm and talking about the last viewing, Cardin was struggling to steady his nerves.
'No, no. It's fine. That fatty will take him out.' He could feel his hands shake a bit. 'He's a capo of a large criminal organization. He can surely take out some… street animal.'
'Something's wrong. It actually lit up again… There has to be something wrong!' Emerging from an abyssal darkness, Polpo's Stand reached out to grab the bystander.
"You relit the lighter, didn't you?" Unceremoniously, the engraved arrow plunged into the skull of the janitor's soul.
Shocked by what he witnessed, Giorno's eyes filled with anger. "No way! You bastard! What the hell are you doing?!"
The Stand retracted the arrow as the soul was unflinching, blood spurting out from the soul's head.
"This soul… did not belong to one who should be chosen." The helpless bystander struggled to stand up straight, as his soul's blood rained down on him.
'One who should be chosen?' The Stand dismissively tossed away the soul, Giorno quickly acted to save the janitor.
"H-Hey, are you…" He held the janitor in his arms. His unmoving face revealing the truth. 'He's dead. He's uninjured, but he's dead…' He glared back up at the perpetrator.
Another moment of silence was held for the innocent that died, or at least, no one said anything.
Ruby couldn't help but feel pain toward the needless death of someone else. The sentiment could be shared among the other students, as well as the teachers of Beacon.
For Saphron, it reminded her that Jaune, the little boy she took care of after his training sessions with Nicolas, is in a life-or-death situation.
Neo, on the other hand, didn't feel as thrilled about it. There was no rising action toward the killing blow. It was just, die! then dead. She hoped that the battle between it and Giorno would change that.
The scene shows a flaring red sun, coloring the sky in a tint of blood. Zooming out, Polpo's Stand, adorning a dark purple venecian hat along with a matching cloak, surveyed the nearby area. Giorno looked at it in hate as he slowly stepped back.
After four steps, the cloaked Stand suddenly turned its head toward Giorno.
"You relit the lighter, too, didn't you?" Giorno prepared for a fight. "I'll give you one more chance. You have two possible paths..." Polpo's Stand swept its arms in a wide motion, opening up its cloak before driving its fingers toward Giorno.
Giorno stood still, waiting for it to come in close, at the last second, he barely dodged it. The blond-haired student jumped upward as the Stand's attack followed through with the motion, causing it to turn around to see where his target went.
Giorno's left hand was placed squarely on the railing as his other hand held the lighter upright.
"So it indiscriminately attacks anyone who happens to see the lighter relit." He kicked his legs in midair to shift his weight upright, landing both of his feet onto the railing. Before he could react this time, the cloaked Stand came in for another strike.
Its hands grabbed something that looked elastic and dark, causing Giorno to be surprised as well. As it was pulled, it revealed Giorno's shadow that it grabbed hold of. Giorno screamed as he felt something of him get taken.
The blob of shadow became white and acted almost like a blanket atop something's face.
"Th- This is… This bastard…" The face that the Stand held started to morph- "He's dragging my soul out of me through my shadow!" -into the face of Giorno's Stand, Gold Experience.
"W-Wait! His soul is his Stand?" Ruby was confused. "I thought the embodiment of someone's soul is their aura?"
"That might be the common knowledge within the people, but that's just a superstition." The General informed her, as he had a team researching the nature of aura to find something quantitative back in Atlas.
However, Ozpin took particular note in that. There has to be a connection between the two.
"I'll give you one more chance. You have two possible paths..." Gold Experience twitched as it was still manifesting. Polpo's Stand drew out an arrow as Gold Experience finished manifesting, being able to freely move as it tried grasping the enemy's arms around its neck.
'It's no use… It's stronger than Gold Experience.' Giorno felt the hands firmly wrapped around his neck as he watched the arrow get closer and closer to his Stand's throat. 'The old man died after his soul was struck by that arrow. So what's going to happen to me if my Stand is attacked?'
"Your only other path is death." The Stand seemed to answer Giorno's thoughts, giving him even more reason not to try and get punctured by the arrow. Gold Experience grabbed the arrow head with its left hand, stopping it before it could plunge any further.
As it grabbed it even tighter to prevent any further movement, steam erupted from its fingers as Giorno could be heard trying to suppress a scream. The Stand grabbed it even tighter, causing red cracks to form along its hand, before blood squirted out from those cracks.
"Th- This arrow…" Giorno watched as his left hand grew cracks as well, blood emerging from his palms. "If I actually get stabbed by that arrow, I'm dead for sure!"
Almost everyone went wide eyed.
"How did that happen?!" Nora was surprised.
"His Stand got hurt but it affected him?" Blake questioned.
"H-He shouldn't be hurt!" Pyrrha was almost hysterical. "His aura should've been able to protect him. He had so much!"
"How do you know that?" Nicolas looked to the red haired student, who hesitated for a moment.
"...During the initiation test in Emerald Forest, I unlocked his aura."
"Did he really join Beacon without even unlocking his aura?" Weiss interjected.
"I don't know how we didn't see that." The two teachers looked at each other. "That should've been one of the first things a student should be checked for."
"Well, he should have some at least, right?" Ruby wanted to hope that was the case.
Glynda noticed Ozpin was thinking about something. "Something on your mind?"
Ozpin turned toward her before he addressed those in the room.
"Something about how that Stand said 'soul' and how Gold Experience is connected. Aura is known as the manifestation of one's soul, and yet, Jaune's Stand was pulled out."
The room fell silent as they each thought about it.
"You mean… His aura must've converted into the form of a Stand." Ironwood pieced it together.
"It would explain why they both share the same injury." Winter added to the General's statement. "There's a connection between the two."
The revelation was felt throughout the room.
'He doesn't have an aura?' Cinder tried her best to hide her confusion. 'A power in exchange for another power...'
"No, that can't be..." Pyrrha still couldn't believe it. "That can't be true!"
Giorno's eyes darken. Tilting his head, his eyes revealed to be unwavering.
"I've got no choice!" A shining golden aura flared up around Giorno. "Even if Polpo is one of the capos, if he's going to stand in my way and even kill an innocent old man like he was a piece of trash… I have to defeat him!"
Gold Experience gritted its teeth as it raised its right fist into an uppercut, perfectly striking the Stand in the jaw. With that same motion, it grabbed it by the collar and tripped its ankle.
Gold Experience's glowing fist reeled in to deliver a fatal attack.
"Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! MUDA!" A barrage of life-fuelling fists came striking in at the Stand's face, sending it flying down the steps as the world seemed to slow down.
Some of the members had their mouths gape open. In awe that Jaune was able to turn it around so quickly.
Neo felt excitement watching a battle between Stands. Unlike a battle between normal fighters, the strangeness of Stand battles had an intriguing allure to it.
"Gold Experience…" Said Stand manifested behind Giorno, wrapping its left arm around its master as he raised his right hand toward the beaten Stand. "Only your senses will go berserk, and all movements will look slow."
As it came crashing toward the cleaning supplies, a bucket of water was splashed in between the two. It seemed like the Stand disappeared when the water cleared away.
Giorno couldn't believe it. "It's gone! That's impossible! It shouldn't be able to control its own movements right now."
"Wait, it couldn't have been defeated, could it?" Nora really couldn't tell.
"I'm pretty sure it disappeared." Ren wondered just where it could've gone.
"Hey, that reminds me. If what happens to the Stand happens to the person, does that mean if he defeats the Stand, it'll..." Sun stopped himself just as he fully realized it.
The mood among the students dipped once more.
"He's going to end up killing Polpo..." Blake told them dreadfully.
"Students, I suggest you all get used to seeing violence." Glynda told them in a serious tone.
"Beacon was supposed to prepare you for all the nasty parts of fighting, but you all are going to have to speed things up." Qrow looked toward his nieces.
"Even if it were able to move, it should be extremely slow. It shouldn't be able to disappear!" Giorno kept his eyes on the spot where it should have landed. With a wide open view, he should've seen it go somewhere if it did.
"It has to be around here somewhere… It has to be!"
Ripples seemed to appear in a shadow, revealing the face of the enemy Stand.
"I have to find it before the slowed-time effect wears off," The shadow Stand's purple fingers crept ever so slightly behind Giorno. "or it'll attack me again."
"From the shadows?!" Ruby couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"It must be able to teleport through shadows." Ren theorized from what he could see so far.
Though Nicolas was worried for his son, he reassured himself.
'I didn't teach him how to be a warrior for nothing. He'll be fine...'
"Jaune, please! Turn around!" Nora performed what could only be described as flag semaphore to the screen.
Giorno kept absolutely still in order to focus on any movement around him. A small dent appeared at the right side of his neck, soon that dent punctured his skin causing blood to spurt out. Turning around, he sees just what happened
"What?!" His Stand was reaching out to its master for help as the arrow was aimed at its throat. "F-From within the shadows?! Sh- Shit!"
"Its movements are slower, but it's still just as powerful! I can't move at all!" The searing pain from the arrow caused Giorno to arch back over the railing as the Stand exerted more power.
"Jaune!" All of Team NPR and some of the other students called out for their friend. The teachers watched nervously at how Jaune would be able to get out. Pyrrha in particular started to feel her hands start to sweat.
Had Jaune's aura been up, it would've been able to heal a small wound like that in no time, or even prevented it. Jaune couldn't possibly have no aura at all, could he?
'So… This is it, huh?' Cardin felt a lump in his throat that he couldn't swallow. This is where Jaune is going to die. Or, so he thought.
The sun shined greatly, its rays of light casting onto Polpo's Stand, who seemingly let go of its target, caused him to fall over the railing and onto the pavement.
A sigh of relief swept through the students and teachers.
"Th-That was a close one..." Ruby pulled up her hood from her face.
"Indeed it was." Nicolas wanted to smile, but he knew the fight with that gangster's Stand isn't over yet.
After feeling his nerves settle down, that lump in his throat managed to go away. Immediately however, Cardin gagged.
Many times has he thought of wanting someone to die. But to think that and almost witness it made him uneasy.
The Stand looked to be in a sort of trance, while Giorno struggled to recover from the fall. As he got up, his fingers crossed over to the shadow casted by the building, a quick ripple forming where his fingers touched.
Immediately, the enemy Stand manifested right in front of Giorno, startling him as it went in to grab him. Giorno managed to dodge back from its grasp. Instead of continuing after him, it just paused, before walking away neutrally.
"This behaviour is very strange." Port noted about the Stand. "The way it acts doesn't seem natural."
"As opposed to the fact that they're already strange?" Weiss questioned her professor.
"No, it seems to act differently from Stands that we've seen so far." Winter told her. "He's right, there is something off, but we just don't know yet."
Giorno noticed how its steps caused a ripple along the shadow it walked in. He thought for a moment to try something. Slowly raising his fingers to the nearest shadow, he tapped it. A small ripple formed once more, and the assailant Stand went in to strike until Giorno got out of the shadow.
"The shadows! It's in the shadows!" The blond pieced it all together. "It can only move within the shadows, but at amazing speed..." Said Stand paced around the shadow patiently.
Some of the easily frightened of the cast didn't get a chance to act surprised by the time the Stand stopped its attack.
"It only notices you when you're touching a shadow." Blake said. "That is strange."
"You mean… bizzar-?"
"What kind of Stand only attacks from the shadows?" Yang couldn't get her quip in as Weiss cut her off.
"Looks like it can't follow me into the sunlight. But the sun's going to set on the other side of the school soon." The camera showed what he was talking about. The sheer size of the school would be enough to cast the area in total darkness. "Once that happens, I'll have nowhere to run."
"What'll happen if I force it out into the sunlight?" Giorno paced as well as the Stand watched him. "It's definitely worth trying. But how am I going to drag it out?"
"That seems like a good, plausible idea." Nicolas complimented.
"That has to be how he's going to defeat it!" Ruby was optimistic about it.
Pyrrha smiled. Jaune could finally defeat this thing and make it out safe.
"What should I do? It's waiting right there. It's waiting there patiently for the sun to go down." Every second that Giorno waited was another second that the sun went down, slowly casting the courtyard in shadow.
Giorno tried to give it some more thought, until he heard someone call out.
"Hey!" Giorno easily recognized that voice from his right. "What are you doing, Giorno Giovanna?!" Koichi stood by the railing as he questioned the blond.
"Koichi!"
"Who's that guy collapsed at the bottom of the stairs?!" He pointed to the janitor lying motionless at the ground. "What did you do to him?!"
"He didn't do it!" Nora was defensive on behalf of her leader.
"That definitely looks bad for him." Ren added to his partner's comment.
"Hey, don't get the wrong idea! That wasn't me!" Giorno defended himself. "That Stand right there atta-" Looking over to where he pointed at, he finally saw that it wasn't there anymore.
"The wrong idea? I saw you talking to that old man!" Koichi told him as Giorno looked around. "I was watching from the window!"
"He didn't see the lighter being lit, did he?" Neptune looked toward the worried students, along with the adults that had a worried look on them.
"You were… watching? Then… did you see the lighter being relit, too?" The image of the Stand crept up along the railing's shadow on the steps.
"Huh?" Koichi was completely clueless as to what was going to happen.
"Don't step into the handrail's shadow, Koichi!" Giorno shouted at him."Get out of the shadows!"
Polpo's Stand quickly moved faster through the shadows toward Koichi, grabbing his soul.
Giorno's order was useless. "Sh- Shit!"
- A/N -
And so, this is what I've decided to release so far. It was a pretty short chapter, so someone's going to be peeved about that. But I think that's fine, since I kind of just wanted to release something to let people know that I haven't let this one die just yet.
I guess I could add that, learning from Platinum of Remnant, I enjoyed reading it, but was a bit saddened that the last few chapter didn't have much to do with the actual show.
I don't have much to say since I said it all at the top A/N, so beyond this point are just some old notes I had when writing, feel free to ignore these.
I'm going to say it right now, but not outright, before anyone else can say it in the comments. When the true nature of Diavolo is revealed to the cast, Pyrrha will be even more terrified.
I probably shot myself in the foot with how often I published those early chapters. As it definitely will take a while to publish the rest of them.
As of April 16, 2021, let it be known that I was the original 108th fiction in this crossover. One of them seemed to be deleted, so I'm now the 107th.
- Log -
NOTE: April 25, 2021 was when I decided to split this chapter into some parts.
Transcript started on April 14, 2021
Transcript finished on April 25, 2021
Cast Comments started on April 18, 2021 (I tried to do both transcript and cast comments at the same time.)
Cast Comments finished on April 25, 2021
Published on April 25, 2021