Now I started writing this like, two or three years ago and only just started really writing it out these past few months, so I don't know how far I have come as an author. Now, as for this seemingly random one-shot, it's Doom Guy's 26th Birthday!...If only, like, a week or two late. Doom was released December 10th, 1993. I am sure a lot of you are asking why I decided to write this out of the blue. Well, it's the Doom Slayer we're talking about here! He's a total bad ass! And since I thought, 'Hey, what if I put two and two together and made our lovable banana nut muffin into the demon slaying, woman wooing, bad ass of all bad asses?' I just couldn't resist. Also the fact that Doom Eternal is set to release in a few months from now is a great motivator. Though, to be honest, I started writing this One-shot long before I heard anything about that game. But anyway, this is The Doom Slayer Arc. Enjoy!
"Ms. Goodwitch, do you have any reports on whether or not the strange reading on our sensors have been dealt with yet?" Ozpin asked his second in command. She was currently looking through her tablet scroll and staring at it with a confused expression. She stayed silent for a moment, swiping through the different screens and scanners that surrounded the school, along with the signals that the scouts they sent out to assess the situation.
They had all went static.
"Hmm. No sir, but...it would seem that all of our sensors and indicators have all gone dark." The professor said, causing Ozpin to raise an eyebrow. Normally he would write it off as a Grim problem and send a third or fourth year team to deal with it, but he had a feeling this shouldn't be taken so lightly. The Grim were usually known for their relentless assaults, and this seemed to be no different. But the signatures they got from...whatever was out there were significantly different from what they usually received from the Grim. The Grim would always carry an atmosphere of despair and emptiness around them. But this new reading was giving off an aura of pure rage. It was so concentrated that the Grim within the vicinity of it would flock to it...and then they would disappear. The presence of whatever was out there was growing both in size, numbers, and closer to the school itself. This was concerning, to say the least. He would assume it was Salem, but...no, not this early, especially not in the middle of a Kingdom. So what could it be?
"I see. That will be all Goodwitch. Do be cautious though, we don't know what it could be out there." The headmaster said as he started to go through and assort his paperwork. Goodwitch stared at him for a few seconds, hesitating to follow his orders. He seemed to be taking this all calmly. But she could tell when he was deeply concerned with something. I mean he was doing his own paperwork for crying out loud! But another thing she noticed about him.
He didn't have his coffee with him.
"Yes Headmaster." She said as she nodded and made her way towards the elevator. She looked back at him one more time before the doors closed and the man was left alone. He immediately started pressing a few keys on his desk that showed him a multitude of screens that showed him the body cameras of the squad they sent out to investigate. He however found it concerning that not ten minutes into the footage did the cams start to go dark. Before each one was destroyed however, it seemed like the bot was tackled to the ground. He also could have sworn he heard a distinct growling that he'd never heard before. It wasn't before the last drone did he witness something truly horrifying. The lone bot was scoping the area when there was a loud thump, sounding similar to that of a Goliath taking a step. When it turned it's sites to the source, Ozpin's eyes sharpened and he clenched his jaw tight. There, in the dead of night, was a towering figure. It was almost human like, but the glowing circuitry and out raised arm canon charging energy said otherwise. He paused the footage right before the monstrosity fired it's canon. It's...demonic face was horrific. It's flesh looked warped, it had yellow beady eyes, and there were traces of blood lining it's exposed mouth. Now that he could see the creature more clearly, it was taller than what he originally thought. It could easily reach the roofs of the taller buildings on the campus when at full height, and it was completely lined with, what seemed to be, cybernetic enhancements. Worse yet, was the fact that he could see other creatures behind it. They didn't seem as powerful as the creature in front, but the little...Imps and goat legged creatures still seemed quite intimidating. After all his years as not only a Headmaster, but also a Huntsman, he could tell when something terrible was going to happen. And this was by far the worst feeling he's ever felt.
(Meanwhile With The Main Cast Of Friends)
"So...has anyone noticed that the air seems to be kinda... thicker than usual, or is that just me?" Yang asked as everyone was hanging out under a tree near where they had been launched into the Emerald Forest earlier in the year. Teams RWBY and _NPR were trying to relax after they were let out of class. It was strange though, how foreboding and tense the air felt. It just didn't make sense. They had been coming to this spot since the beginning of the year. Pyrrha looked around and rubbed her bare arms as a cold wind blew through. This normally wouldn't bother her, but the difference today was that it just felt wrong. She nodded in agreement with Yang, looking around to try and find whatever was making her feel this way.
"I will have to agree with you on that, Yang. Something just doesn't feel right. I don't know, I just feel-"
"Unsafe? Insecure? Helpless? Angry? Overwhelming depression? Any of that ring a bell?" Jaune interrupted. Everyone turned towards the blonde leader. His back was turned to them, looking into the Emerald Forest with a neutral expression on his face. Everyone was confused as to why Jaune was acting like this. He had been like this for well over a few months now. He would keep looking around, as if expecting something to jump out of the shadows. In fact, sometimes, whenever there was an unexpected noise, he would turn to it in an almost inhuman speed and raise his arms as if he were trying to point a shotgun or something. It was strange because he doesn't use a gun, only his sword and shield. But when he realized he doesn't have whatever it was he thought he was holding, a look of slight aggravation spreads across his face before he quickly puts his arms at his sides and acts like it never happened in the first place. This behavior was so unlike the leader. Acting a lot more mature and serious than any of them was concerning more than just a few of them.
"Jaune? What are you talking about? Why have you been acting like this? I'm concerned." Pyrrha said, looking at him. He didn't turn to look at her. He just stood there, the cold wind making his hair wave around. Pyrrha was a little more than concerned for her partner(and crush). This wasn't like him at all. The Jaune she knew was someone who would try to pay as much respect to you as he could while fumbling over his own two feet, both literally and metaphorically. The Jaune she knew was a fun loving guy that genuinely cared for you. The Jaune she knew was someone who trained to be the best Huntsman there ever was. But now...now he wouldn't bat an eye if someone were bleeding right in front of him. I mean sure, he would still help the person stop the bleeding, but the way he does it makes it seem like he's dealt with things far worse than a stab wound to the gut. In combat class he would go in and brutalize the other opponent with strength she never knew he had. He even dislocated Cardin's arms and legs before. The sounds his joints made...they were only second to the screams. Jaune didn't show any remorse for what he did. He did apologies however. He even sent Cardin a get-well gift in the infirmary. The scary part though, was when Professor Goodwitch was trying to detain him, he not only sent her a death glare that was almost demonic, but he brute-forced himself out of her Semblance. He had been given a months worth of detention. He didn't seem too happy about it. In fact, when he was let out of detention, he would instantly lock himself in a training room and wouldn't come out until hours later. He left nothing behind him. There were a few noticeable holes in the wall that seemed to be a mixture of fists and bullets. They assumed that they were caused by the bots, but with how Jaune has been acting...now their not so sure.
"Yeah Jaune, are you okay? Is there something wrong? If there's anything that I-we can do, you can just ask." Ruby pleaded with her crush. It was nice to see that he had improved from what he was at the beginning of the year and that he was finally becoming the hero that he wanted to be. But the way he was acting, it was vastly different from what he normally was. He was acting so much more serious than before. He started becoming the voice of reason to what they did. He was being more reasonable than Ren sometimes! It concerned her. Was there something that happened to him or what? She needed to know.
Jaune sighed, not really enjoying the fact that those things had followed him here. He had gone through so many lives trying to get rid of them. To try and eradicate them from the face of existence, but they always kept coming back. Eventually, he sealed them to the realm of whence they came and moved as far away from there as possible. He even tried to live as a normal person. But even he knew that they would find him somewhere down the line. even when he used up the entirety of a spacecraft's fuel supply when it was full to get to this planet, yet they still found him. Just when he was starting to actually enjoy his time here. They found him.
"This is something that has no concern with any of you." Jaune stated, turning to the small reaper with a melancholy look before he suddenly snapped his neck back to the direction of the Emerald Forest. His muscles tensed, as if he was ready for a fight. The rest of his friends looked on concerned, not really knowing why he had a sudden mood shift again.
After a few seconds, Jaune relaxed him muscles again. Though, one could clearly see that he was ready to jump into a fight on a dime if the need should arise. He turned to his team and their sister team with a deep sadness.
"Jaune, we're serious, no matter how small you think the problem is, we want to help." Ren offered to his blonde friend. Jaune walked to their direction, making them think that he was going to talk to them about it. But he just walked past them and started walking in the direction of the Headmaster's tower.
"It's not that I think that the problem is minuscule. In fact, It's the exact opposite. This is something that is going to go over the heads of everyone here. Including Ozpin's." Jaune said as he walked away. His friends weren't far behind as they wanted to press the matter and find out what he was talking about. If Jaune was acting like this, then they needed to know what was going on.
"Jaune. what are you talking about? Going over the Headmaster's head? What's going on? Why won't you tell us?" Weiss asked, using his first name to really cement that she was serious about the matter. Jaune didn't budge though. His eyes were fixed on the tower. He needed to do this. Yet as he was approaching the elevator, both Yang and Nora had grabbed his arms, stopping him in his tracks.
"Jaune please...tell us what's wrong so we can do something about it. Don't you think that whatever is hurting you might be hurting us too? Seeing you like this is making us think that you aren't happy here with us. It makes us think that we aren't doing enough. So just tell us what's going on." Yang said, making Jaune turn to them. He saw the various faces of his friends. All of them telling of the concern they had for him.
He contemplated this for a moment. Should he tell them? This kind of information would change them indefinitely. Especially if they knew how he fit into the picture. Would they even want to look at him if they knew what he had done? It was something that he had tried to avoid on his time here. He just wanted to live a normal life with none of those creatures to worry about. He nearly had an aneurysm when he first saw Grim. But when he heard that they were just some knock-off version of what he dealt with, he calmed down considerably. It still annoyed him that they existed in the first place, but he took what he could get. At least this way he wouldn't have to worry about his skills getting rusty. It was immensely more tame than his earlier lives, so he took it up with stride. But once again, he just can't seem to find peace. So should he tell them? Tell them of all the nightmares that he has had. Of all the blood that he had spilled. Of the countless lives he has taken?
"I don't mean to hurt any of you. I just...I had hoped that this wouldn't become a problem in the first place. Especially not when it's going to affect all of you too." Jaune said, looking each of them in the eyes. They each saw the sadness and tiredness in them. It hurt them so to think that whatever was hurting him had done this to him.
"I can't tell you any of the specifics, but you will find out soon enough. And by then..." Jaune said, turning back to the elevator and walking into it. The rest of them were going to try and follow him, but he stopped them with a hand. looking at them with teary eyes.
"I'll be long gone."
And with that, he pushed a button and sent him up to the Headmaster's office. They all looked at each other and agreed to take the elevator after him. But when the elevator reached the top, they noticed that the icon for the elevator turned off and read 'unavailable'. They all exchanged worried looks and were conflicted on what to do next.
"I...don't like what's going on. Why won't he just take our help?" Ruby said, making the rest of her team nod in agreement. the rest of Jaune's team however, had looked like they knew the answer with how familiar they were with him. Ren decided to step forward and answer for them.
"Jaune...has always tried to do things on his own. Even when he knows he can't, he will. We've tried to help him when he was struggling at the beginning of the year, but he refused. It took a lot of convincing and some extenuating circumstances, but we were able to just barely get him to accept Pyrrha's help in training him. The bigger the problem the harder it is for us to get him to be open about it. But this...I don't know what's been happening to warrant this." The stoic man said, looking up at the tower as the rest of his friends also shared more looks of worry.
"I say we burst down open these doors and climb up that shaft and force him to accept our help!" Yang suggested, but received a hand on her shoulder and a shake of disapproval from Weiss.
"Yang, I don't think that's going to be a great idea." Weiss said. Though, she did want to talk to Jaune about all of this, she knew that the only person to be able to shut the elevator off was the Headmaster himself. If he didn't want anyone to else to come up there, then he must have had a good reason. The fact that it involved Jaune though...it scared her.
"And why the hell not!? All this mystery and keeping us in the dark has been getting on my last nerve! I need some answers damn it!" Yang exclaimed as her hair exploded into a fiery mane and her eyes turned to a crimson red. She had been frustrated with how Jaune wasn't saying anything about the problem that was making him act the way he's been for the past few months. She wanted to know what was wrong so she could beat the EVER LIVING SHIT OUT OF IT!
"Think about it! Who controls the elevator?" Weiss asked the blonde brawler. Yang had stopped for a moment, her hair simmering down and her angered expression softening. She instead dawned a contemplative look, really thinking about it.
"...The Headmaster." Yang said after another moment of thinking. Her hair had returned to normal and her eyes went back to a peaceful lilac. After seeing this, Weiss let out a breath. At least now she wouldn't have to worry about Yang blowing up on them...for now.
"And why would he shut down the elevator if not because he would want to speak to Jaune by himself?" Weiss asked, making the rest of them think about it. It was well known that the Headmaster had some way of knowing what was going on at any given time, so none of them questioned as to how he knew to close off the elevator. But they were wondering what would have made him keep Jaune specifically and not them as well. So many questions...
"Do you think he knows whats going on?" Pyrrha asked, feeling just as concerned as Ruby was for their shared crush...but not to be confused with their shared crush. They were...not exactly seeing eye to eye when it came to the fact that they both liked the same guy. They both agreed that they would wait until the end of the semester that they would ask him witch one of the two that he liked more.
"Ozpin's always so mysterious...I doubt we'd be able to get any answers out of him. At least, not before whatever's happening has passed...or goes wrong." Nora said in a surprisingly low tone. The rest of her friends were even more concerned with how true that was. Ren looked to his friend and held her hand in his in a comforting manner. Nora looked up to him and smiled. It was one thing to see that her friend and brother figure hurting because of a bully, but it was another thing where he was being distant and gloomy. With all this happening, she feared that something bad was going to happen to her big brother.
"Don't worry, I have confidence that Ozpin knows what he's doing. We'll help Jaune when he comes back. Whether he wants us too or not." Ren said, making the rest of the group settle a small bit. They looked to the top of the tower before deciding to head back to the training rooms to maybe let off some steam.
'I'm more than aware that Ozpin has some idea of whats happening. But i'm certain he has no idea just how dire this situation is. Hayden was right. No matter where I go, those...things, always follow.' Jaune thought as he leaned against the elevator wall. He really didn't like the fact that he would have to dawn his armor again. He left it behind in the spacecraft he came here on because he thought that if he just started anew. Just left behind everything that he used to be. Left the Crucible along with his weapons. Tried to be himself. Tried to be human. That he'd be able to get away from his old life.
But he was wrong.
He was so tired. Tired of all the fighting he's had to do. Sure at the beginning, he didn't put any thought into purging all of those creatures. But as he went through the centuries. After living many lives. His initial rage had settled down. He could call upon it when he needed it and suppress it when he wasn't constantly fighting. The world he had been so persistent on protecting had long since been destroyed. So he tried to destroy the threat at the source. But no matter how many he killed. No matter how long he fought, they always came back. The only 'person' that had stayed there was a scientist that had transferred his consciousness into a mechanical body named Samuel Hayden. He proved to be more robot than man when he had trapped him in the enemy dimension for his own gain. It was a worthless attempt in the end. He had escaped, defeated Hayden, took back his stolen Crucible, and sealed those dastardly creatures away.
Was it enough? Of course not, if you couldn't tell. He tried running away, and that failed. Now he had to repeat the process over again. It shouldn't be such a problem for him. It really shouldn't. He could just let loose, kill everything and lose himself to his anger again...but he couldn't. Why? Unlike before, where he had nothing but his guns and his strength and his anger with no one to feel sympathy for, he now had things here that he never had back on Earth. He had people he truly cared about.
People he loved.
He couldn't lose them! He couldn't and it made this so much harder for him! He didn't want them harmed. Which is why he had to act now that he knew that it was indeed what he had feared. These past few months were spent with the hope that it was only th Grim, but just now, he felt the same sense of dread and smell of brimstone that came with those creatures that he was so familiar with.
As he heard the telling ding of the elevator reaching the top, he pushed himself off the wall and walked out as the doors opened.
He walked with purpose towards the awaiting Headmaster's desk. The man himself held a rather serious expression. In any other situation, Jaune would have been worried. However, this was no time for any sort of fear. The lives of every student and Hunter was in danger. He needed to get this over with so that he could get back to his ship and gear up.
"I understand that you wish to speak about the phenomenon that has been happening within the Emerald Forest." Ozpin stated, looking into the leader's eyes. Jaune nodded, confirming Ozpin's assumption. He had not been blind to the young man's rather sudden shift in behavior from the past few months. It happened around the same time that he had noticed the disturbances in the forest. At first, he had pushed it aside as simply coincidence and thought that he would go back to 'normal' in a few days. However, when he kept up with the behavior and that he had been showing a considerably large spike in combat prowess, he had suspicions that there was some sort of correlation between the two.
"Sir, I don't think you quite understand just how dangerous this 'phenomenon' really is." Jaune said bluntly, trying to make his point across that what's out there could easily tear the academy apart within hours. If they were not controlled now, they could go out and open portals for more of their kind to storm through.
"Mr. Arc, you underestimate my character. I may seem aloof and rather uninterested in taking my job seriously, but I will assure you that I know whatever has been happening within that forest is not to be taken lightly. A squad of Atlantian Knights was sent into the heart of the forest to find out what exactly has been happening, and the footage we found was minimal at best due to the fact that all of the drones were destroyed. The only thing we were able to make out was...well, I'm sure you would know if you wanted to talk to me about this in the first place." Ozpin said, making Jaune look him in the eyes for a few moments before taking a deep breath and letting out a sigh.
"Sir, you know of creatures called demons. Correct?" Jaune asked, to which the Headmaster nodded his head before his eyes flickered with some doubt.
"Jaune, are you saying that the thing causing these strange happenings are demons?" Ozpin questioned. He knew what demons were. In some time long since past, Ozpin knew of a rather small group of people that followed a religion called Christianity. They believed that there was God and his son Jesus. With various other characters in a book titled The Bible, they spoke of the army of spirits that protected Heaven. One of two places that a soul would go to when they passed away. These were called Angels. Human looking creatures with bird-like wings on their backs who's job was to protect Heaven and carry out God's will. The other place, where tainted and corrupted souls went to...
Was Hell.
A nightmarish place where those who chose the path of darkness and evil resided. A place of fire and brimstone. Haunted and ruled by Lucifer, an Angel who was banished by God when they tried to usurp the creator. He inhabited Hell and punished damned souls for all of eternity. Spawning an army of creatures to not only make sure that souls would forever be punished, but also to lead a scourge on Remnant to destroy God's creation and eventually battle with the Holy Spirit in a Holy War. The religion had died out since it went against the already established belief in Oum and the two brothers.
But Demons...how could Jaune Arc of all people know about this, let alone be involved enough to know about what's going on? There must be something that was missing here.
"I am absolutely positive about that. These things...they will stop at nothing to destroy everything in their path. It doesn't matter if you try to increase the moral of the city and those that live there. They will kill anything and everything that moves. They aren't like the Grim. They will attack without thought and leave everything in ruin. You need to evacuate Vale NOW." Jaune said with urgency. Ozpin only looked at him for a moment, only hesitating for an instant before turning to his desk and typing a message to the head of Vale Security to evacuate the city.
"Alright Mr. Arc, I've done what you've asked, now I'm demanding you as your Headmaster to tell me what you know." Ozpin commanded, using a stern voice. Jaune kept with his glare for a few seconds before relenting and telling him what he wanted. He knew how serious this was and he would do whatever he needed in order to keep his friends safe.
'For you, Ruby. Pyrrha.' Jaune thought to himself, knowing that they would probably be hurt beyond belief when they figure out that he had been lying to them all this time. But he'd gladly have them hate him if it meant that it would keep them safe.
"Ozpin, in order for you to understand, I need to tell you that I am not originally from Remnant." Jaune began. He waited to see what Ozpin might say, but saw that the older man was waiting patiently. It seemed that he was going to hear whatever it was he had to say in it's entirety before asking anything. Which was good, because they couldn't waste much time.
"A long time ago, on a distant planet called Earth, there were people that were much like the ones here. Key difference being that there were no Faunus. There was no Dust. And there was no Grim." Jaune said, making Ozpin seem rather intrigued, but before anything could be said, Jaune continued.
"The people there relied on each other, and sometimes co-operated with other people on different segments of land called countries. Each of these countries had different forms of government and cultures. However, they all had one problem in common. They could not keep up with the demand of a reliable power source. In a few years, they had almost reached a breaking point where they would be plunged into darkness. That was until some company decided to go to a neighboring planet called Mars. There they found out that they could open a portal to...hell." Jaune said with no small amounts of anger. Ozpin caught onto this but said nothing. Still waiting for him to finish what he had to say.
"It was then that they found out that the natural energy that hell exuded was powerful, clean and would never run out. Even when they knew the risks, they still went for it. They started a military program to go in and extract this energy while killing any demon that might try to stop them. This is where I come into the picture. I had been a rather...gruff individual when I was on Earth. My parents were abusive, my then wife had left me and all I had left was my pet rabbit. I entered the brand new military program on Mars thinking that I might find what I'd been missing. I had hired a long-term House-sitter to keep it clean and to take care of my rabbit." Jaune recalled, smiling at the memory of the small albino rabbit that he had found one day. He cherished it dearly, it was one of the only things that made him happy back then.
"While in the military, I found myself drilled into the ground with the training. I learned how to use nearly any weapon you could think of. It took months to get used to it and years to fully master everything. But one day, all hell broke loose. Literally. Hundreds of demons swarmed Mars and nobody was ready. Everyone died. It was only with my training and sheer luck that I survived the initial hoard. I found myself having to fight tooth and nail through actual hell and killed the demon that orchestrated the entire thing in the first place. After that, I thought that I was done. I saved the day and I could go back to my home and live in content that I had what I did." Jaune said with obvious exasperation that he had even thought about that in the first place.
"But then...I went back to Earth to find that it had been invaded too. I found my home destroyed, the house-sitter in bits and my pet a bloody mess. It was barely breathing by the time I got to her, and it died in my hands. After that, I didn't want to get close to anyone. I was consumed by my anger and went to kill every demon I could find by heading to the source and killing their leader. I succeeded of course, but it wasn't enough. It was then that I had been trapped in hell when the people back on Earth thought that it was too dangerous to keep it open." Jaune went on, putting his hands on the desk in front of him, reminiscing the memory.
"At that moment. When I had all those demons surrounding me. When I had no where to go and no one to rely on. At that moment...something inside me was lit aflame. I don't exactly remember everything after that. It was all a haze. I was sure it was years later that I finally came to my senses. But that was only when I was lying in a pool of my own blood. I wasn't sure what happened, but the sheer amount of anger and emotion in my soul had been molded and fueled by being in hell for so long. when I experienced the release of death, I could feel my soul leaving my body and I remember being asked if I wanted to go...up above. I figure now that it meant heaven, but as I looked back to my deathbed in hell, I felt that somehow, I needed to keep going. I needed to keep killing and pushing back the scourge of hell. So I refused. Next thing I know, I'm put into another body. I was younger, no older than thirteen. I was still in hell so I just...I went back into a haze. I killed and I killed. I didn't stop. For years and years, I went like that. And when I died, I repeated the whole process again." Jaune said, telling Ozpin of his curse of Immortality that he had given himself. It was at this that the Headmaster dawned an expression of understanding. Not the kind a person would give to console someone, but actual understanding. As if he knew exactly what it's like to be reborn over and over again.
"One time, I was challenged by one of hell's strongest demons from its darkest depths. It was created specifically to kill me in an attempt to thwart me for good. It drew power from every demon that I had previously murdered and was named, The Titan. We fought for a great amount of time. With other demons granting it aid, I had no idea how long the battle lasted. It could have been days, or even years. But I killed it. And from it, the Lords of Hell had dubbed me the Doom Slayer. I brought fear to any demon that I came across. Which was good. My goal was to make sure that hell never got the chance to invade Earth again. After the battle, I came across an old lab made by that same company I was employed by. Inside, I found a suit of armor that was in testing before the incursion took place. I took it for myself and used it to carry the various weapons I had. When I had found wind of where the ruler of hell resided, I went in to see If I could end it once and for all. A mistake on my part as they set a trap for me. Gathering as many demons as possible to try and kill me. Luckily, I was able to hold my own, but that's where their real trap was enacted. They had forced me into an obsidian bed, chained me there and used demonic magic to entrap me entirely in a thick body of stone." Jaune stated, his eyes looking almost lost for a moment. He recalled how dark it was and how he struggled to try and escape. He tried to get out of there for an unknown amount of time. He couldn't even remember when he became unconscious.
"I had gone into a deep slumber and was awoken some time later when another company like the last one had been trying to retrieve energy from hell. They had dug me up and freed me from my tomb. My fears had come true when hell had nothing to keep it in check and succeeded in invading Mars. Shortly after getting out of my imprisonment, I found my armor and put it back on before I had been contacted by a man by the name of Samuel Hayden. The head researcher and head Scientist that was in charge of what was happening there. He was a scientist who found a way to transfer his mind to a machine. Through a series of different tasks he sent me on, I was able to stop the entirety of hell from escaping. I was even able to retrieve a weapon used by ancient warriors that managed hell much earlier than I did. It was called the Crucible. A sword made of the most potent form of hell's energy. Argent Energy." Jaune continued, already remembering how tired he was now that he was recalling everything back to now. But he had to wrap this up, they didn't have enough time. He saw at the corner of his eye a plethora of Bullheads flying from the city into the distance. That was good, that meant that everyone was being evacuated safely and that none of the demons had struck yet. Because if they did, all he would see from the city would be smoke, fire and carnage.
"When doing all this, Hayden had brought me back only to steal the Crucible and killed me. I was thrown back into hell, trapped once again. I fought for the next two years until I was able to get one of the old laboratories to work and teleported myself to Earth where Hayden was. Apparently, bringing hell's most potent energy to Earth was practically a beacon for demons. They invaded again, and since I wasn't there to help for over two years, almost nothing was left. I fought until I found Hayden coped up in his company's main Headquarters which was by then the last bastion of humanity. After a few more battles, I finally confronted a now deranged Hayden and destroyed him. He tried to take advantage of his robotic conscious by uploading himself into his Headquarters, but I managed to destroy all of his coolant systems that kept him from overheating and blowing up, so from there he only had a limited amount of time before he was destroyed. I would say die, but at that point, he was more machine than man. I myself took a personal spaceship with a full tank and decided that Earth had nothing else to offer. with nothing else to do, I put myself into hyper-stasis and waited for wherever I landed. Evidently, I landed here. For a little over a year, I tried to learn as much as I could and decided that I would try to start anew. I put away all of my weapons in the spaceship, and just tried to be...me. Then I heard about Grim, and then Huntsmen, and thought that It wouldn't be so bad to just fight a little more. I applied to Beacon, and the rest you know." Jaune concluded his story.
Ozpin closed his eyes for a brief moment to take in all of the information. If what he says is true, and he's lived long enough to know that anything was possible, then Jaune Arc was from a different planet and had been fighting a war with the entirety of hell by himself. Who then traveled by spaceship to Remnant and has been trying to live a peaceful life. However, evidently, those same demons have followed him here.
"I assume then that we should prepare for the worst?" Ozpin said after thinking about it for a few seconds. Though, Jaune instantly shook his head in disagreement. That wasn't going to be enough.
"Ozpin, with all due respect, no one is ready for this. They don't have the same amount of experience as I do. The best course of action would be to evacuate them the same as the citizens." Jaune said, still looking in the Headmaster's eyes.
"Jaune, I am sure that this threat can be dealt with like any other Grim. We can evacuate them when I feel that they are going to be overwhelmed. They are Hunters in training. They will have to deal with threats like this when they graduate." Ozpin retorted, showing his confidence in his students abilities. Jaune let out a slightly agitated breath before turning his attention to the dorms out the window.
"If I'm going to be brutally honest Headmaster, I could not give two shits about the other students and whether or not they make it to safety. It's my team and Team RWBY that I'm most concerned for." Jaune admitted, his worry and concern shining clear in his eyes. Ozpin sighed, already feeling that this had been an eventful day. At the very least, He should make sure that everyone gets out of there safely.
"I am going to send an E-mail to the faculty telling them to calmly lead the students to the air docks and evacuate them. If what you say is true, then I am not taking any chances with the lives of my students." Ozpin said, opting to make sure that no one had to needlessly die here. Even if he wanted to wave off Jaune's concern, his experience has made him cautious to many things. And that feeling he got when he first saw that footage was undeniable. To think, demons would be invading his school.
"Thank you Headmaster. I need to go and retrieve my gear." Jaune said, turning to leave, before they both heard an unholy screech coming from the forest. Jaune and Ozpin looked to each other, each with a look of both worry and anger.
"Go, I'll see what I can do until you come back." The Headmaster stated, running towards his elevator. Jaune just shook his head again before taking out his Scroll and typing in a few commands.
"I'm always ready to kill demons Headmaster. My weaponry just makes it easier. I've prepared for something like this. As much as I didn't like it, I knew that some day that I'd have to do this again. The storage unit I have my armor in will arrive shortly. Now come on!" Jaune exclaimed, rushing to the window and smashing through it. He didn't have the luxury to just take an elevator. Which he supposed Ozpin realized too if the other crashing noise he heard was any indication.
With a final grunt hitting the ground and last thought about his team, Team RWBY, and the ones that he loved, he knew that after all was said and done, even if he were to stop the incursion today, they would undoubtedly come back another day. And they would bring even more than what was brought today. They would do this until all was gone. He couldn't let that happen. Not to this planet. So with a glint in his eye, Jaune booked it to the cliffs. He only had one thing on his mind now...
'It's time for pest control.'
"Do you...have any fours?" Yang asked, looking across at her partner as they were playing a game of Go Fish. Blake just looked over her book and down at her cards before going back to her book.
"Go Fish." She stated, making the blonde brawler deflate a bit. The only reason they were playing this game and not training like they originally planned to was because the entirety of the student body decided that today would be a good day to storm the training rooms. Just their luck.
"..."
.
..
...
"Do you have any-"
Before Yang could say anything else, there was a shrill screech from outside that sent a shiver up everyone's spines. Blake put down her book, Ruby automatically zoomed to her weapon, and Weiss finished her polishing of Myrtenaster.
"That...didn't sound like any Grim." Blake commented, looking to her other teammates. They all nodded, confused as to what that could have been. They had never quite heard a Grim sound so...angry. The worst they've heard so far was a really hungry or desperate Grim on it's last legs.
"Hey guys! Look!" Ruby called from the window still, beckoning the other three to see what she had spotted. When they peered over their leader's shoulder, they saw Jaune and Ozpin rushing across campus and towards the cliffs that faced the Emerald Forest. They looked at each other in confusion and concern before someone knocked at their door.
"Who is it?" Ruby asked, reluctantly leaving the windowsill after giving one final glance to her crush before going to answer the door.
"It's Pyrrha. We heard that screech and were hoping you knew what that was." Pyrrha said from beyond the door before Ruby opened it. Behind her were both Ren and Nora, all with confused looks on their faces. Ruby scratched her head, showing her lack of knowledge on the matter.
"We don't, but I just saw Jaune running across the campus with the Headmaster." Ruby said, making the other three wonder why that was, and worried for what the reason might be.
"But why would...I think we should go after them and find out what's happening." Pyrrha suggested, making Ruby nod her head in agreement. It was then that Weiss joined the conversation.
"I'm not the only one to think that this is somehow connected to what's been happening these past few months, am I?" Weiss asked, causing everyone else to think about it. Could it be? With Jaune acting weird earlier, to how he and the headmaster were now rushing towards...who knows where? And that strange sound just now. This couldn't just be a coincidence.
"It could be. But we'll never know unless we get down to the bottom of this." Blake stated, making them all nod in agreement.
"Alright then! Operation: Get-Down-To-The-Bottom-Of-This starts now!" Ruby exclaimed, rushing down the hall with the rest following in toe. They were all determined to see what was happening and to try and help Jaune with whatever was troubling him.
Jaune and Ozpin had just reached the cliffs when they stopped and surveyed the area below them. They could already see a large disturbance happening far within the forest and was making it's way towards the academy at a steady pace. Jaune narrowed his eyes, knowing that it was only a matter of minutes before they would be climbing the cliff-side. Ozpin at his side also narrowed his eyes at the forest in trepidation. If these demons were anything like Jaune had described them, then that would mean that he would need to get everyone here out of the city and somewhere far away while he and the rest of the professors tried to help Jaune combat them.
"I am sending an evacuation notice to all faculty ordering them to escape as soon as possible. I will stay here and try to help you to the best of my abilities. However, I would like to know what exactly I'm dealing with." Ozpin said, looking on at the hoard that was approaching. Jaune grunted in agreement. He knew that evacuating everyone would take more time than what they had before the demons would reach the academy.
"The first wave they are going to send in are the Imps. The cannon fodder if you would. They are small and weak compared to the other demons. But make no mistake, they are still capable of ripping apart a man to pieces easily. As long as you either have range or are faster, you should be fine. Next, you might encounter a Hell Knight. These are like bulked up versions of Imps with thicker skin. Caving in the skull as quick as possible is the best course of action. Hell Razers are weaker versions of Hell Knights, but make up for it with their arm canons, giving them range. Best bet is to make sure that it doesn't get a lock on you. Lost Souls are small demon heads that will fly at you at high speeds. They explode on contact so it would be wise to avoid getting hit by them. Block them with the body of another demon if you don't have anything to shoot it out of the air. Though, considering I haven't seen anything flying at us yet, I don't think they have any of the airborne demons here. That rules out a few others as well." Jaune stated, looking at the rustling of trees and greenery in the forest. It was getting closer now. They didn't have much more time. Though, he did note that there were already Bullheads leaving the vicinity. That was good. Hopefully, both his team and RWBY were among them.
"I take it there are more? I can't imagine these demos being able to bring an entire planet to ruin with just a handful of demons." Ozpin stated, making Jaune nod. He briefly looked to the north east of them, seeing a small dot in the distance, knowing that it was his supply drop. He would reckon that it would get here just before the demons arrive.
"Next are the more special kind of demons. One of their better infiltrators are what I like to call Pinkies. As cutesy as that sounds, they are incredibly dangerous. They are bipedal, about the size of an average man, heavily armored in the front and can charge at you at great speeds with incredible force. Though, they can't turn, so you can just jump to the side to avoid it. It's tail is exposed and is it's weak spot. ripping the tail off will cause it to bleed out within seconds. Then there's the Mancubus. A large, fat creature that is mostly long range. With two powerful arm canons at it's disposal, it can shoot either balls of demonic energy at you, or rockets. it's stomach is it's weak point, try to do as much damage to it as possible. Finally, are the big honchos of the bunch. Apply named The Barons of Hell. They are huge, muscular and vicious beasts with blood red skin. they have a man's upper body with goats legs. They are merciless and will even kill some of their own. Either let it fight the other demons, run and gun, or hit it with one big attack." Jaune stated, seeing that the demons were close to coming out into the open. There were still students being evacuated, but they should be gone by the time that he and Ozpin started fighting them. Jaune's armory was now starting to descend, showing a rather advanced looking hover-craft. It landed a few yards away from them, being no larger than a school bus.
"What of the other one?" Ozpin asked as Jaune walked towards his gear. Jaune stopped, turning around to face the Headmaster.
"What other one?" Jaune asked, not knowing what Ozpin was saying. If there was another type of demon there, then he would need to prepare for it.
"In the footage I retrieved, there was another demon. One that was larger than the others. It had these cybernetic enhancements to it. What is that one?" Ozpin asked, making Jaune narrow his eyes before turning and walking even faster to his gear.
"That's the Cyber-Demon! I've fought it before! It is very lethal in every aspect! It's got range, close combat and speed! If you see that thing, signal me and I will deal with it myself! I'm the only one here that can handle it! Now keep watch while I get ready!" Jaune exclaimed over the loud engines of the aircraft. He then pushed a few buttons before a small compartment opened up, being roughly as tall as Jaune himself. He then turned around and back up into the space with his front facing the opening. But before the door could close, Jaune spoke up one last time.
"Ozpin! When all of this goes down, there's not going to be a lot of time for talking, and I might not be able to come back from sealing the portal that lead them here! So...I want you to promise me something! Tell my team and Team RWBY the truth about me! They deserve to know! Tell them that I'm sorry for lying to them! And that I wish I could have been a better leader! And...tell both Pyrrha and Ruby that I treasured them with all my heart!" Jaune exclaimed as he smiled and let out a few small tears before the door closed with a green glow.
Ozpin looked to where the young man was and closed his eyes. If what he said was true, and that he wished to close the portal that led them here, then he might close that door behind him. In that case, he could grant him that wish. But for now, he needed to do his job and protect this school.
As Teams _NPR and RWBY made their way through the school, they had to sneak past a few of the teachers as the entire school was being evacuated. They grew even more worried for the fact that this was all too suspicious to be a coincident. They needed to get to Jaune, and soon.
None of them said a word as they felt a little too tense to really say anything. They couldn't imagine what would have forced the Headmaster to order an immediate evacuation of the school.
When they successfully sneaked past the teachers, they made their way to the cliffs. It was there that they saw both Jaune and Ozpin conversing while looking over the cliff side. They were going to walk over to them when they all saw a large airship fly over them and saw Jaune turning in their direction. they all hid behind the airship as Jaune turned his head back to Ozpin for a moment. They couldn't hear what he said due to the turbines of the aircraft, but as they died down, they heard one last thing from him before they heard a door sliding close.
"Tell my team and Team RWBY the truth about me! They deserve to know! Tell them that I'm sorry for lying to them! And that I wish I could have been a better leader and...tell both Pyrrha and Ruby that I treasured them with all my heart!"
Most of them were confused as to what he was talking about with 'the truth' but Ruby and Pyrrha both felt a certain warmth and happiness well up within them with the fact that he admitted to harbor feelings for them. Granted, the bit where he held them both in his heart complicated things a bit, they were sure that they could smooth things over when they talked to him about it.
If they had the chance to that is.
That thought alone brought them out of the clouds and looked to each other. A silent agreement to set their differences aside for his sake.
"Guys, I don't like what's happening here. We should help." Yang said, getting everyone to nod and come out from their hiding places. They were all about to exclaim their support to the Headmaster when Ozpin spoke up with a commanding voice.
"Leave. This does not concern you. Get to the Bullheads and escape with the rest of the school while you still can. I will not have any of my students put in harms way." Ozpin said with his voice booming. It caused the two teams to stop in their tracks and look to him in defiance. They could handle themselves! It was just Grim, right? What was the big deal? But before they could voice any of these thoughts, Ozpin spoke up again.
"You do not understand. I am not giving you a choice. You are going to leave. This is much more dangerous than you realize. If you do not leave this INSTANT I will personally make sure that your position in this school is terminated. Am I Understood?" Ozpin commanded. His voice was cold and held a strong undertone that told them that he was not joking. He would go through with it...but there was a problem with them trying to go with everyone else.
"...Headmaster, the last Bullhead already left." Ren said, the only one out of the group that was able to speak after nearly every single one of them shit their pants in fear of the man...metaphorically of course. Ozpin whipped around, looking to the landing pads and seeing that, indeed, there were no Bullheads to speak of. And another one wouldn't be back until the scourge was already upon them. The students were stuck there with a tidal wave of demons right at their front door. He was facing a conundrum. He not only had to make sure that the demons didn't get passed him, but he also had to protect these two teams. He would have to try and keep them in a secure location then.
"You are to head to my office. Now. If the elevator is inoperable, then climb the shaft. I do not care how you get in, so long as you get there, by any means necessary. Climb the tower, burst open the elevator, I don't care. But once you are in, barricade any and all entrances. Hold yourselves in there until either I or another official comes to get you." Ozpin said with urgency. He could nearly see the creatures bursting through the forest by this point. But his students were still a little defiant, wanting to help in defending their school.
"Headmaster, I'm pretty sure that we'd be able to handle a few Grim. Beside's, with you, there shouldn't be anything to worry about, right?" Yang said with bravado. Under any normal circumstances, Ozpin would be inclined to her word. Any Grim in this area would be minuscule at worst. The Nevermore and Deathstalker from initiation were unexpected, but were the worst that the forest could have thrown at them. He made sure of that after checking the area himself. Yet this was by no means any normal circumstance. They were dealing with supernatural forces that none of them have had to deal with before. If Jaune had been truthful about how they worked, then even he could be overwhelmed by them if he wasn't careful. There was absolutely no chance that he was going to risk them fighting this threat.
"This is no game Ms. Xiao-Long. These are no Grim we are facing. It is-" Ozpin tried to say before they all heard a loud, high-pitched scream come from beyond the cliff. Ozpin's eyes widened and his pupils dilated. They had arrived. While the rest of them felt a chill unlike any other run down their spines while a sense of dread rose to unspeakable levels. This didn't feel like a Grim threat anymore.
Ozpin had no time to even try to escort them to his office anymore. The only thing he could do was to try and protect them to his best abilities. That would include using his magic in front of them. He would be damned before he held himself back and allow his students to die needlessly. He would tell them more of magic if they pleased. He was going to have to involve them in it sooner or later. It was unfortunate that they would have to see it under these circumstances, but it was better than the alternative.
"H-headmaster, what was that?" Nora stuttered, feeling the same as she did when the Nukelavee destroyed her and Ren's home village. And judging by the look on Ren's face, he felt the same. What the hell was out there?
"It's my curse." A voice behind them said. Although it was slightly muffled by what they thought was a helmet, they could still recognize that voice anywhere.
"Jaune! What's happen-" Pyrrha started to say, turning to him before she stopped, taking in his whole form.
He was wearing a green helmet with a tinted visor. The color looking faded and worn from many years of use. The rest of him having a military look to it. With the entirety of it had the same worn green color to it. All of which was thick. Thicker than any of them had seen in a suit of armor. With the forearm guards missing, almost looking like they had been torn off long ago. The same could be said about the midsection of the armor. Both of which exposing the dense and built muscle that he usually hid underneath baggy clothing. More notably, on his left wrist guard was a serrated blade that was about a yard in length. On the shoulder on the same arm, was a small, cylindrical object. It had a laser pointer on top of the muzzle, presumably being a small rocket launcher.
Before all of them was the tall man that had seen war. A man that had seen Bloodshed. A man that had shed blood. A man torn by his past. Who had killed.
Before them stood the Doom Slayer.
"You're not supposed to be here." Jaune said as he held a modified double-barreled shotgun in his hands. It was very easily, two times as big and thick as a normal shotgun. It also had a claw like blade underneath it, possibly for close-quarters combat. As he walked towards them, he loaded two shells within the gun, shutting it with a loud click. He passed by them without so much as a glance. They were all still shocked by his appearance before he passed them, breaking them all out of their trance.
"J-Jaune? What are you wearing...and what are you doing? I don't know what's out there, b-but I don't think you're ready!" Pyrrha exclaimed pacing towards him as he nodded to the Headmaster. The older gentleman nodded back, turning to the cliff and looking down, now being able to see what was coming. Pyrrha was a little miffed that Jaune said nothing to her, but stopped whatever she was going to tell him when she saw it too. the rest of his friends came to the edge and stood there mortified by what they saw.
Demons. Wave after wave of demons. They had burst out of the forest and were now climbing the cliff they stood on. The appearance of the creatures nearly made Weiss puke. Ruby herself was feeling nauseous as well. And whatever Nora had been afraid of before was replaced by this and those beady, hateful eyes that she could see even from up there. They all looked scared of what was making it's way up. Jaune shook his head before looking to Ozpin, sending him a silent message of 'leave this to me. Get them to safety.'
"Come with me children. I will make sure you are able to get to my office. Mr. Arc can handle himself. Come along. We do not have much time." Ozpin said as he started leading the two teams away from the cliff quickly. For a small moment the seven teens were being pushed towards the tower, but Ruby was able to snap out of her confusion and stepped to the side and behind the headmaster.
"Hold on! I might not know what's going on! And I definitely have no clue whatever those...things are, but I am not leaving Jaune's side at a time like this! I don't think that he can do this alone. And I'm going to help him whether he wants me to or not!" Ruby said with conviction. The rest of her team and Jaune's team solidified their resolve and sharpened their gazes. Regardless of what they felt about the situation, they were not going to let the blonde leader fight those things alone.
Ozpin sighed to himself. He really did pick a good bunch this year, didn't he? They were all so dedicated to each other and their jobs. Just like their predecessors. On the flip side, Jaune grumbled to himself. He really hated that they were so stubborn. Why couldn't they see that he was trying to keep them safe? Maybe if he told them the truth, then they would want to stay away. It would be better that way anyhow. He was used to being alone.
"Did you know that I've killed people, Ruby?" Jaune stated, making all of them pause once more. He...what?
"What are you talking about?" Pyrrha asked, stepping towards him. Surely, he was joking...right? The rest of her team thought so to, with Nora coming up next.
"That's impossible! We know that you wouldn't want to hurt somebody, Jaune-Jaune." She exclaimed, a sort of desperate cheer in her voice. But even as she said it, they could all plainly see his grizzled armor and obviously used shotgun. With weaponry like that...
"Do you really believe that? I've brutalized in the arena before your very eyes. You know that I am very capable of doing worse should I feel obligated." Jaune said as he put his shotgun at his hip while materializing a heavy assault rifle as he made sure that it was in proper condition. Though, a more accurate depiction would be an assault canon with how powerful it looked. Not even registering how he was able to summon it out of nothing, the weapon painted a brutal picture of what he could do with it.
"B-but you've shown mercy to those people. No murderer would do that for people they would have killed." Weiss stuttered out, adding in her two cents. Though, even she knew that her argument was flawed. There were definitely cases where a serial killer would feel terrible for their actions. One such case was when a serial killer called the police every time he killed and actively cried with guilt at what he had done. But to think that Jaune Arc of all people has killed...it was just impossible to even consider!
"You and I both know that they can. But the difference between me and them is that I have murdered in cold blood and with no hesitation. I do not believe a good person would do that, now would they, Schnee?" Jaune rebutted in a gruff and harsh tone. They all winced at him. Not only because of his use of Weiss' last name where he would often use her nickname out of infatuation, but also because after he put away the assault riffle in whatever pocket dimension he had, he pulled out an even bigger gun that looked like it belonged on an automated defense turret than in his hands. It was like a chaingun on steroids! With each barrel being as large as an anti-tank rifle, there were three rotating cylinders, each with three of those barrels. With how heavy it looked, he still hoisted it as if it were some one-handed sword.
Blake spoke up next, having started really getting to know him as a person in the last few months, this was not at all like the bumbling blonde, and charming knight that she had come to know. He was starting to sound a lot like...Adam. the thought alone sending a shiver up her spine.
"Jaune...whatever you're trying to convince us of, I know that you aren't that kind of person." She stated, making the rest of their group nod in agreement. Jaune shook in anger, feeling frustrated with how stubborn they were being. Why couldn't they just go away and make this easier on him!?
"How Would You Know!? You Of All People Should Know A Monster, Blake! I Have Done Too Much! Killed Too Many! I'll Never Be Considered A Good Person! I've Slaughtered Countless People With Just These Hands Alone! Do Not Get Me Started On My Weaponry! I Have Lost Myself To My Blood-Lust Before, Blake! What Makes You Think I Won't Do It Again!?" Jaune snapped, turning to them fully and stomping their way, putting away his gun and making most of them take a step back. Ozpin just kept his eye on the hoard that was slowly making their way towards them. But both Ruby and Pyrrha stood their ground and looked to him in defiance. They absolutely refused to believe that he was that kind of person! So with a look to each other and a silent agreement between the two, they looked to him.
'For him.'
"Jaune! You may have been that kind of person before, but not now! We've seen how caring you are." Pyrrha stated, taking a step towards him. Jaune faltered, stopping in his tracks. Ruby took another step, putting a hand over her heart and speaking. Hoping their combined confessions would make him relent. No matter what happened in the past, what happens now, or even what happens from here on out, he was still their White Knight. He's Jaune Arc
"We've seen how you always look for the best interests of those around you before your own needs." Ruby stated, now walking towards him along with Pyrrha. Jaune took a few steps back, shaking his head. He couldn't...he didn't...he can't...
"You're so kind."
Another step.
"So generous."
He was at the edge now.
"Jaune, whatever you were before, it doesn't matter anymore. All that matters now is what you are now."
They were mere feet away from him now.
"And it's what you are now that..."
They were now in front of him, gently laying a hand upon the sides of his helmet. He relaxed softly, not even trying to resist anymore. This is exactly why he needed them to stay as far away as possible. He loved them too much to lose them. He'd rather them to despise his very existence and have them still breathing than to lose them forever. He's already lost so much. He couldn't lose again. He couldn't. Which is why he closed his eyes, trying block out their voices in a final attempt to resist. But what they said next made him open his eyes wide.
With voices filled with knowledge from their heart, and small tears welling up out of the pure emotion they felt for him, they finally told him what they had been meaning to let him know for a long time.
"...that made us love you, Jaune." They said in unison. Jaune raised his hand, placing it over theirs. He really did hate himself for allowing them to be able to help him here. He really did.
"When did I capture the hearts of such caring women?" Jaune said softly, a few unseen tears escaping his eyes.
"About the same time we stole yours." Ruby said with Pyrrha nodding in agreement.
It was a tender moment between them. The rest of the group watched it all with smiles on their features. It was touching. It almost made them forget that there was an impeding hoard of bloodthirsty demons that would rip into them without mercy and more than likely tear them limb from limb and make fine meals out of their entrails and barf them up before eating them one more time to see if they taste the same going down a second time if they did nothing about it...so yeah, Ozpin told them that they were incoming.
"I congratulate the three of you, but I fear that it will be for naught of we do not dispose of these creatures now. They are nearly here." Ozpin said, gripping his cane and flaring up his Aura and letting his-admittedly rusty-magic surface. There was no holding back in this fight. For the sake of his students, he would do everything in his power to make sure that they were guided to the greatness he knew they were destined for.
Jaune reluctantly lifted his face from the two redhead's embrace, he really did want to live his life in peace, but he knew that if he wanted all of them to live long and happy lives, he was going to have to make sure that those demons were shoved out the door. And in order to make sure that they never came back, he'd have to personally escort them there and throw the key. Where he would go back to killing the residents of hell and ensuring they never ravaged another...his planet again. But he couldn't tell them about that part quite yet. It could give them dangerous ideas like trying to stop him. Or worse, going with him.
"Alright, If you're really so keen on helping me, then you're going to need something a bit more than what you have. No offence, but your guns right now are not going to cut it." Jaune said, making them all a little offended at the comment. They put a lot of effort into their weapons...though, through grit teeth, Ruby asked him their shared question.
"Then what do you suggest us we use, Jaune?" Ruby asked as she gazed at him with a strained expression. Jaune coughed into his hand, knowing that Ruby adored her Crescent Rose to death. But he quickly materialized his powerful Gauss Cannon, making Ruby's eyes widen. This...this outclassed any technology that she had ever seen in her fifteen years of life. It was glorious. It was beautiful. It was...perfect.
"Here, for you Ruby, I give you my Gauss Cannon. It can wipe out even the toughest of demons with a single well placed shot whether it be at close distance, or from afar." Jaune said, laying the large weapon in her grasp. She found that it was surprisingly light. Only a little heavier than her own weapon. Perhaps some other function within the weapon itself?
"Careful, it packs a hell of a wallop. The recoil is not something you want to take lightly." Jaune warned, making Ruby smirk. She already used her Crescent Rose's recoil to her advantage, so this could only play into her favor. Next, Jaune pulled out his Heavy Assault Cannon and held it out to Pyrrha.
"Pyrrha, I think you are perfectly suited for this thing. It's fully automated and can fire up to a three mile radius with pinpoint precision. It's powerful enough to puncture a steel wall that's a foot thick and it can shoot micro homing missiles." Jaune explained. Pyrrha took it in hand and tested it's weight. After a few seconds, Pyrrha looked up to him and nodded, ready for action. Jaune then turned to Ren, materializing his combat shotgun.
"For you, Ren, the one person I consider my brother, I give you a weapon that has served me as long as I can remember. It's rather simple, yes, but in the right hands...In your hands, it is a deadly force of nature. Also seeing as it has a mod that makes it so that it can fire nearly as fast as my chaingun is a great plus." Jaune said, making the green ninja take it with pride. He wanted to let out a little tear at what he said. He thought Jaune as a brother too. Jaune turned to Nora, with the perfect weapon in mind for her.
"Nora, my honorary sister, I give you a weapon who's power is only rivaled by the Gauss Cannon. The Ballista. It shoots strong energy bolts that tears through enemies...Or you could just say that it makes things go boom." Jaune chuckled, seeing the stars in Nora's eyes. Knowing that he didn't need to tell her anything else, he turned to Ruby's team. First, Weiss. As he drew out his trusty Charge Pistol.
"For someone that I saw at the very beginning of the year, I give you the very first long range weapon I have ever used. It can either be shot as fast as you can pull the trigger, or charged into a single powerful shot. Use it wisely." Jaune stated simply. Weiss smiled at him before nodding. She wasn't sure if she would be able to really use any of those other weapons. A freaking Gauss Cannon!? Are you kidding!? But she truly was grateful for this. It was nice. Jaune approached Blake, another assault rifle looking weapon in his hand.
"Blake, I give you my Plasma Rifle. It shoots rapid fire energy orbs that will cause demons to explode in arcs of electricity. It can send extra volts of electricity to stun them, or release all it's built up heat into a single wave that will incinerate all surrounding demons. For this battle, you can't run from these creatures. Believe me, I've tried." Jaune stated, making Blake really reflect on how she dealt with many of her problems. He was right. She couldn't run from her problems forever. She certainly couldn't run now.
It was then that Yang chuckled, opening her arms wide with a smug grin on her face.
"What? There's no cool weapon for me, Vomit Boy?" Yang asked, making Jaune chuckle in turn, but not nearly as much mirth in his voice. He really didn't like that nickname. So for a bit of teasing of his own, he materialized his own pride and joy, the rocket launcher. To which the Blonde Brawler dropped her jaw. She tried to reach for it, whispering something along the lines of 'huba huba' or 'come to mama'. Something or other. But Jaune held it close to him, caressing a finger along the beautiful weapon.
"Oh, you're right Yang. I think you're a capable enough woman. You can handle yourself, right? No need for this Rocket Launcher that can lock onto targets, shoot in rapid fire bursts, and with a new feature that I installed myself, implode a demon's chest by acting as a very powerful automated hammer. So I guess I'll just pocket this one." Jaune said as he started walking away. Yang widened her lilac eyes, panicking at his words.
"Hey hey hey! Let's not get too hasty now! I-I-I I'm sorry about the nickname! That's what this is about, right? You know what? Forget the nickname! I'll stop calling you Vomit Boy! I just want the Badass weapon, please!" Yang nearly cried. Jaune figured that he teased her enough and decided that he should give it to her.
"Alright, since you asked so nicely. Here." Jaune said, holding out the Rocket Launcher for her to take. Immediately, Yang snatched it from his hands and hugged it to her person and nearly squealed like a little girl on Non-Descript Winter Holiday! When they make it out of this, she was so treating Jaune to a night out on the town. As friends of course. She wouldn't do that to her little sister. Especially not if Pyrrha was going to be involved...at least, not initially. I mean, can you blame her? Have you seen that body!? Dear Oum! It was as if It were chiseled by the Brothers themselves!
Before Yang could fantasize any longer, Ozpin yelled out, causing the rest of them to turn and see that the older gentleman had just decapitated an Imp by knocking it clean off of it's head with his cane.
The battle had started.
"Everyone, spread out and make sure that you have each other's backs! Do not let your guard down!" Jaune instructed, all of them getting serious and doing as he told them. Jaune then ran towards Ozpin and pulled him back just as a Hell Knight burst through the floor that the headmaster used to stand on. With a quick nod of approval, they had engaged in combat with the growing number of demons making their way over the cliff.
Jaune met the first Hell Knight with the serrated blade on his arm and plunged it deep into it's skull. He then kicked it off of him, crushing the torso with his force. He pulled his shotgun from his waist and blasted the imp that tried to lunge at his side. He noted that another Imp that got passed him was blown apart by an energy beam.
His instincts were screaming at him to move, so with a quick dash, he just barely dodged a Razers' energy blast. He then pointed his shotgun in it's direction, although obviously too far away to hit with the buckshot, he activated the meat-hook feature on it and launched the claw at it, impaling the creature and launching himself towards it. He used the launch to stomp another Imp while he tore away the claw from the now dying corpse. After squashing the Imp into a bloody paste, he backhanded the head off of another Hell Knight that tried to sneak up behind him. From there, Jaune put his shotgun at his hip and materialized his chainsaw, quickly revving it up and slicing through the torso of two Imps, rushing through them and impaling a Hell Knight in the abdomen and kept running, rounding about the cliff-side and cutting through several more demons while the Impaled Hell Knight Screeched in his face, trying to gather strength in it's arms and tear Jaune apart. However, Jaune increased the intensity of the rotation on his weapon and quickly turned the enemy into nothing but Demon Noodle Soup. With a quick transition, Jaune took his shotgun and used it as an impromptu sword and cleaved a few more Imps in half thanks to the Meat-Hook attachment. At the same time, he opened up the chamber and pulled out two more shells from his virtual ammo pouch, looking at a Hell Knight dead on as it charged him before it exploded in a mess of red energy. He nodded to Nora in appreciation, with her returning the gesture with more energy, before he finished reloading his gun.
Hearing an Imp screech in a specific way that he's heard too many times to forget, he instantly lunged forward and brought his hand forward, slamming it into the creatures face and crushing it into the stone below. However, even he knew that he wasn't fast enough to stop it. And as if on Que, a portal opened up next to him with an angry looking Pinkie already rearing to charge at him. He turned as quickly as he could before he met the thing head on as it charged at him. It was able to drag him back a fair amount of distance before Jaune finally put his foot down and stopped the rampaging demon's charge. It still struggled to push him forward, and even tried to bite at him too. Looking into it's eyes, he let out a guttural roar, gripped it by the horns, picked it up and slammed it into the ground on it's side before taking his shotgun and pointing it right in between the eyes. It gave a final cry before it's head was gone with a flash. Jaune was hit with an energy shot and turned to see that a Razer had gotten a lucky shot in him. It angered him beyond belief and an old instinct within him wanted to take over and kill everything in sight, but he suppressed it. Maybe if he were alone right now, he would have let it. But as it stood, he couldn't chance that he would hurt his team too. So with a quick reload of his gun, he put it at his hip and materialized his Chain Gun. Pointing it at a Mancubus that had stepped out of one of the portals, he opened fired. Letting the barrels spin and spit giant pellets of metal called bullets and tearing through the soft stomach of the creature. It howled in pain, trying to raise one of it's arm canons to shoot at the Doom Slayer, but before that could happen, Ozpin came in with his cane imbued with magic and cut the offending limb off. The Mancubus keeled over shortly after and Ozpin went to kill whatever he could next. His eyes were glowing and his magic made him float above the ground. As Jaune observed, Ozpin truly was a man that deserved to be respected as much as to be feared.
With no time to waste, Jaune avoided a trio of Hell Knights before he smacked them to the side with a swing of his Chain Gun. Putting it away, Jaune took the leg of one of them while it was down and tugged hard enough to rip it off. In the next instance, he used that same leg to bash the owner's head in. The next Hell Knight was barely getting up before Jaune took hold of it's two shoulder blades, digging his fingers deep into the skin and used them as leverage before he tore the torso in two. The last of the three had then tackled Jaune to the floor, making him hold it's clawing arms away while it tried to bite his head off. After a brief moment of struggle, Jaune's shoulder mounted mini-sentry took aim at it and spewed forth a stream of white hot flames, making short work of it's face. The Hell Knight quickly backed off in pain, clutching what was left of it's face and stumbling to it's knees. Jaune got up, slowly walked besides it and brought his boot up before crushing it's skull into the ground. That same feeling from before came back. This time, with more blood lust. He again quickly shoved it back, as it would mean danger for all of his friends, before he heard a shout from Ozpin. He turned to see that the Headmaster had formed a barrier to protect Ren from a demon that had just arrived. It was a Baron of Hell.
Jaune growled to himself, trying to use his Meat Hook on it and deal with it himself before another Pinkie had charged him and took him through some of the school itself before tossing him through a wall. He tumbled a few times before he righted himself and stabbed his wrist blade into the ground, stopping his momentum. When he looked up, he saw that there were a few dozen Imps, a number of Hell Knights and Razers along with Pinkies and Mancubus in front of him. In the back, he noticed that there were a small number of Barons.
'It seem's they remember me. They know that I'm the biggest threat here. Good. That just means that the others have less to focus on. But I still need to help them. And that means I have to get through you.' Jaune thought, getting up and readying his stance. The thought of bringing them to him was clinging to him though. And with this many demons here, along with the energy of Hell seeping through...
Jaune reached into a special pouch on his hip, and brought out a primitive looking sword hilt. Looking like it was made from brimstone, blood and bone, it was the weapon that Jaune had earned while he was in hell. He knew that previous 'Doom Slayers' had wielded their own variations of it, but this one was by far the most powerful.
With a quick test to see if it even worked, he found that there was indeed enough energy in the air now after the many months of it seeping out from the forest. A blade formed, with various runes depicting who knows what and shaped into a Claymore. He now had one of the most prized weapons in hell. One that made nearly every demon in hell trample over themselves to try and attain.
It was the Crucible.
Admittedly, it wasn't the same shape that he had found it as, but with time, it changed to fit his preferences.
With the demons now even more motivated to kill him, they charged. It made Jaune smirk under his helmet. He almost missed this.
Almost.
Back with the rest of the group, They had all noticed that Jaune was taken by a bi-pedal demon into the school and closely followed by various other demons, but with this thing in front of them, they couldn't take their attention off of it. With it being larger than the others and seething with rage, the Headmaster struggled to keep it's strikes at bay. Even with his own magic being used, it was weak and Ozpin had not used it in a very long time. He knew that he should have trained with it more. He had more than enough time on his hands to do it, but he figured that any free time that he would have should be used to try and combat Salem. He made a mental note to practice his magic if they made it out of this.
"Students, go help Mr. Arc while I keep this behemoth at bay." Ozpin ordered, making the students look to him in uncertainty. On one hand they did want to go and help Jaune with all the demons that had decided to go after him, but on the other, it looked like Ozpin was having trouble fighting this thing as it was.
"Sir, Are you sure about that? Can you handle that thing by yourself?" Weiss asked as she continued to shoot Imps and Hell Knights alike that were flocking to the cafeteria to take on Jaune. She was surprisingly adept at using a gun, thanks to her older sister's insistence of learning how to use a sidearm for self defense. She would have to send her appreciation when she survived this.
"I am more than sure. Now move along. I have no doubt that Jaune is able to take them on by himself, but I'm sure he would appreciate the help. Now go!" Ozpin said with finality in his voice. The two teams looked to each other one final time before they all nodded and made their way to the cafeteria. With them gone, Ozpin put all of his attention to the Baron of Hell and gave a shove, pushing the Baron back and making it stagger. From there, Ozpin really let loose. He let his Magic and Aura flare to the maximum. His magic may have gotten weaker, but he was starting to re-learn some of his old moves. With a flick of his wrist, the sheath of his cane came off revealing a sword. The Barron had regained it's footing at this point and charged at Ozpin with full force.
"I may be an old man, but I am still a Huntsman!" Ozpin exclaimed as he dodged to the side, avoiding a fist that tried to crush him. He then sliced a deep gash into the arm, causing the Barron of Hell to howl in pain and anger. Pulling it's arm back, it raised it's arms to deliver an overhead sledge move. Ozpin quickly moved through it's legs and cut at the calves while he was at it. He even cut the back of the knees as well, making it buckle. There were a few straggling demons here and there, to which he made quick work of, but was unprepared when he felt one of the Barron's hooved feet strike him in the back, sending the Headmaster flying towards the cliff. Before he could go over it though, he caught himself and turned to see that the Barron had gotten up and was now hobbling itself over to him.
That hit had done a number on him. He could see now why Jaune insisted that they didn't leave their guard down around these things. Even the Grim knew when to give up and retreat to try and get stronger. But these things fought until they died. No exceptions. They just kept coming until whatever they were invading was wiped off the map. He was fortunate then, that he only had Grim to fight. It gave him great insight as to what he should do in order to fight the Grim now. Perhaps if they were to work together, as in actually make an effort to come together as a whole, then they would have a better chance at actually defeating the Grim. Of course that was easier said than done, as there was still some bad blood between the four kingdoms from even before the Great War. But if he were to show them things like these...then they might be more willing to co-operate.
Dodging another swipe of a fist, Ozpin cut the same arm from before, but with greater force, aiming to cut it completely off. He mostly succeeded, with it only hanging off a few threads of muscle. The Barron of Hell shouted in outrage and swung it's one good arm at him. Ozpin deftly avoided it before he stabbed his sword into the chest of the beast. It looked him in the eye, portraying it's unyielding rage to the man. Ozpin simply poured as much of his magic as he could into the beast, making the entire chest cavity start to glow and enlarge before it burst with energy. Ozpin withdrew his sword and looked to see that all the other demons had gone towards the cafeteria. He took a breath, really feeling as though he should have practiced with his magic more.
While he started to make his way towards the cafeteria, he heard something crash behind him. he thought to himself that it sounded louder than anything else that he had faced here. So as he turned around, he tried to think what other demon that Jaune talked about. But before he could think of anything that was remotely close, the creature that stood before him made him shudder. It was tall. Taller than anything else that he fought. Even taller than the Barron of Hell he just killed. It was gargantuan in size and showed that it was almost completely covered in heavy plate armor...no, that didn't quite describe it correctly. It wasn't just covered in the armor. It looked more like the armor was fused with it's body. Another thing that caught Ozpin's eye was that along with this heavy armor plating, there seemed to be equal amounts of cybernetics running along the body. Even it's entire left arm had been turned into a canon of sorts, with it's right arm having a giant and crude blade attached to it. On it's chest, over where the heart would be, was a glowing light that pulsed with energy. It's four beady eyes were alight with hatred for all things living. The two horns atop it's head shook with it's body as it lumbered forward. A conclusion that Ozpin made, was that this thing was the Cyberdemon that Jaune was talking about. Another thing that came to mind was why in the fuck did anyone think it was a good idea to give cybernetic enhancements to a demon!? It's literally asking to blow up in your face!
But Ozpin couldn't dwell on such things right now. If this thing was as dangerous as Jaune made it out to be, then they were all in big trouble. Jaune and the rest of their group were busy with those other demons, so it was up to him to try and at least distract it long enough for them to finish up what they needed to do and help him with this.
With a deep breath and a steadying of his blade, Ozpin stood his ground. The Cyberdemon stopped for a moment, as if curious as to what the glow around Ozpin was until it gave off a loud bellow and raised it's canon at him. Signaling to Ozpin that their fight had begun.
As Jaune cut through the various demons left and right as if he were cutting through air, he knew that the Crucible only had so much energy before it needed to recharge again. So he decided that it would be best if he were to put it away for now. Quickly reaching for his shotgun, he didn't notice a rocket courtesy of a Mancubus flying towards him before a bolt of red energy intercepted it and made it explode before it hit it's intended target. Jaune turned to see that Nora ha come in for the save along with everyone else.
"We've got you Fearless Leader!" Nora exclaimed as she blew the Mancubus that dared to try and hurt her leader to bits. Ren was behind her, making sure that the ginger wasn't flanked by anything while the Ballista got ready to fire another shot.
Pyrrha was to their side, making quick work of many of the demons that Ren couldn't get himself. In their circle as well was Team RWBY. With Ruby acting as sniper fire, using her Aura to strengthen both her arms and her legs to withstand the recoil, she was able to take out entire rows of demons with a single shot and focused on a Barron should it rear it's ugly head. Yang was beside her sister, shooting her rocket launcher with glee. It seemed that these weapons were reloaded by whatever digital armory that Jaune had. The Rocket Launcher made sure to weaken any wall of demons that tried to overwhelm them. With Blake and Weiss acting as support much like Pyrrha and Ren, they made sure that nothing got passed their defenses.
Jaune was proud. He really was. With how they worked so well together, he couldn't help but let out a chuckle before he grabbed an Imp trying to claw at him without even looking and crushing it's skull. He tossed the body to the side, letting his shoulder mounted mini-sentry to launch a few grenades before he delivered a one-two combo to a Hell Knight that tried to brawl with him. It's neck gave a satisfying snap before Jaune whipped out his Chain Gun and helped kill one of the two Barons of Hell that tried to break the formation of his team and Team RWBY.
It wasn't long before they were able to kill all of the demons presented before them. The last Imp being squashed by Jaune's boot. He looked from side to side, trying to find any trace of more demons. When he found none, he let out a huff. Though, not one of relief...
"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said that they weren't like Grim. But they're gone now, right?" Ruby asked as she tried to regain her breath. She figured that Jaune also wasn't kidding about the recoil on the Gauss Cannon. She would reckon to guess that she only had about a third of her Aura left now. Her body felt pretty tired, but still willing to fight a little longer. Everyone was in the same boat actually. They felt fairly tired, but still had some fight in them.
"No...this isn't right. The demons never let up. There should have been at least triple what we saw here. Something isn't adding up." Jaune said to himself. The rest looked at him incredulously. Triple!? As in three times more? They were tired from what they fought now. What would happen if they fought double? let alone triple? All these demons...how does Jaune even know to kill these things? He never explained that.
"Jaune? Now that we apparently have a breather here, how exactly do you know what's happening here?" Yang asked as she rested the Rocket Launcher on her shoulder. Jaune took a moment to make sure that there weren't any demons left over before turning to her. He looked to each of them as they had all turned to him, seeing as the subject was brought up, they had been wondering the same question themselves. Jaune sighed to himself. Might as well get everything out in the open now.
"Well, this is a story all about how my life got flipped turned upside down. So I'd like to take a minute just sit right there, while I tell you how I became the bane of all hell."
There was a beat of silence among them. Trying to take in all of that information. So Jaune was a person that had been married before-to which both Pyrrha and Ruby felt a little miffed by-and also trained on a distant planet. And on that planet, these demons invaded and completely decimated any and all facilities on said planet. It also took Jaune several weeks to stop that invasion by himself, and returned back to his home planet called Earth. The concept of neither Dust, Grim or Faunus existing there being a little much for most of them to comprehend. But when he got back to Earth, those same demons had invaded and also destroyed as much as they could.
From there, Jaune went on to kill every demon he could, eventually went on to somehow be able to reincarnate himself every time he died, killed a Titan, stopped a second invasion, obtained an ancient weapon, have that weapon stolen from him, failed to stop another invasion that wiped all of humanity off the map, and killed the last person alive that wasn't really a person but a robot with a human brain and went crazy. Where he finally took a spaceship and traveled across the cosmos and stumbled upon Remnant where he tried to live peacefully. Of course, he found Grim and decided that he would fight them to make sure that his skills didn't rust. But it begged the question as to why he decided to be...as weak as he had shown initially and not as awesome as he was now. But that was for another time. Nora had her own inquiry.
.
..
...
"You're...an ALIEN?! That's so cool! I knew Fearless Leader was special!" Nora exclaimed as she hugged Jaune in a bear hug. Jaune laughed a little in relief. That's what she decided to take out of that? It seems that Nora was just as bubbly as he knew her to be. Where would he be if he didn't have her upbeat attitude to make sure that he stayed positive? In a blood crazed rage, that's where.
"So...this woman you were married to..." Pyrrha started, sounding a little envious. Jaune looked up from Nora's hug and to the redhead that was accompanied by Ruby as well. Why were they interested in her? Could it be that...pfft, they were jealous! HA! Of Cherel!? He had forgotten what it was that made him want to marry that woman, but she was the one that wanted a divorce from him because he 'couldn't afford her lifestyle' or whatever. Though, he did remember something about her body that made him desire her...never did get what he wanted though. In the end, he was left with his needs unsatisfied and a bunny to take care of. He loved his pet Daisy though. Gave her everything he could. Losing her was like losing a family member. He never knew what killed Cherel and her 'Sugar Daddy', but he preferred not to know. But to answer Pyrrha and Ruby's unasked question, he gestured for Nora to let go of him since she was looking at them with some level of curiosity. Probably as to why they would ask that in the first place. He figured she thought that it was all in the past now and that it shouldn't effect the present.
"Her name was Cherel, and to ease any worries, our relationship was...strained from the beginning. After we were married, she started showing her true colors. By which I mean she started throwing around green like it was going out of style. Within a year or two, she filed for divorce, which I gladly agreed to so long as she left me my home and pet rabbit. She agreed, mostly on the account that she had a wrinkly old man to buy her everything that she wanted. Afterwards, I wasn't all that interested in relationships for a while, and any want for one that might have surfaced was blown away by the crusade against hell that I was practically forced into." Jaune said as he explained what his situation with his Ex was. Both Pyrrha and Ruby eased up at the clarification and smiled at him.
"Ah...that's...good to know." Pyrrha said with obvious relief in her voice. Relief for what? He didn't know. But Ruby was much the same with how she agreed with Pyrrha. Of course, Yang was behind them both, with intents to voice what they were really worried about.
"Don't worry girls, his V-card is still up for the taking. I know that's what you were worried about, right? Fufufufu!" Yang laughed, making the two redheads light up with a blush. Jaune was a little caught off guard by the accusation, not really expecting it. His V-card? That's what they were worried about? Now?
"Yang, that's uncalled for." Weiss interjected, not feeling amused by the joke. Yang simply waved her off, feeling too gratified by herself to really show any remorse.
"It's all with good intentions Weiss-cream. I figured that I could lighten up the mood with how glum we've been these past few...actually, how long has it been since we started this anyway? I kind of lost track of time." Yang asked, just now trying to look out one of the many broken down walls and windows that had been demolished with their fighting. It didn't tell her much considering that...well, they did start this fight nearing sunset. But the sky seemed to be...glowing red. Huh. That was...concerning to say the least.
"It's been around...four hours since we went back to our dorms...and three and a half since we started fighting these demons I think." Ren stated, looking at his Scroll. He noticed that there was no reception here anymore. Probably due to this 'hell energy' that Jaune mentioned. He was still trying his best to process that information, but even for him it was hard to fully take in. But for now, he was going to try and make it through this in one piece.
"And you fought these things all day? I'm a little worn from these few hours. How do you do it Jaune?" Blake asked, feeling a newfound respect for the blonde.
"With lots and lots of grit. Add in the fact that my body started to absorb the hell energy around me, I could go on for days without sleep. Though, here, where there is none of the energy to speak of, and by that point, I was almost reliant on it, my body had suffered greatly and became weaker because of it. It wasn't until they started opening portals here that the same energy was leaking into our world, fueling my body once more." Jaune said, explaining why he was considerably stronger now than he was at the beginning of the year. It made sense, in a way.
"Huh...well, that certainly explains a few things." Blake said, thinking of how Jaune must have torn through some demons in his time in hell. If Jaune could hold onto his sanity for so long, over several lifespans, then maybe...no, Adam was too far gone of his own accord. There was no redeeming himself. Jaune though...
Jaune was just finishing looking over his weapons when he heard a loud howl of anger from beyond the cafeteria and near the cliffs. He instantly recognized that screech from anywhere. It was one that he had to fight against often in his time in hell. No matter how many times he put it down, it kept on coming back for a rematch. He'd almost give it some respect were it not for the fact that it could not understand the concept of adaptability. It mostly kept the same weaponry and the common battle strategy, if not more sporadic and powerful versions of those moves when enraged.
"All of you, with me. I think an old friend of mine wants another rematch." Jaune stated, quickly making his way towards the cliffs. The others were going to comply when they heard a loud boom and the wall in front of them exploded, from it Ozpin sailed through the air, crashing into the wall on the opposite side of the room and was embedded into the stone. He was bloodied and the clothes on his upper body were torn. A noticeable gash across his chest could be seen, and Jaune quickly went to his side and gently pried him from the wall. He was still breathing, and considering that he must have fought the Cyberdemon by himself, was impressive. Though, with his Aura gone and in a situation like this, he needed to get the Headmaster out of here before he bled out.
"Ruby, I need you to get to my spacecraft from before. It has a medical kit there that can treat the Headmaster. You're the fastest out of the group, so I know you can do it. Vega." Jaune called to his suit. A blue glow emanated from his visor before a robotic male voice spoke up from it.
"Yes? How may I be of assistance?" Vega asked. keeping Vega functional without all of those coolant systems and processing units was a pain, but with the help of Dust, Jaune was able to make it work, albeit with many limitations as to what it could do. He knew that making a backup of Vega would be a great choice in the long run. It also helped him keep himself rooted to sanity. Which was nice.
"I need you to prepare an emergency medical kit on the Aircraft. Assist with treating a wound to the chest." Jaune commanded. There was an affirmative ding from his helmet before Vega spoke up again.
"Preparations complete. Awaiting patient." Vega said, making Jaune nod. He then turned to Blake, going to ask her to protect Ruby as she was the second fastest here.
"Blake, help Ruby. As fast as she is, I don't want to take any chances." Jaune said simply. Blake nodded in conformation before walking up to Ruby and helping her with Ozpin's body. It was then that the Cyberdemon decided to show up from another portal. But it wasn't the fact that It used a portal to arrive here, or that it brought more demons with it that surprised him. What was surprising to Jaune was that it seemed to have taken some serious damage already. Jaune guessed that Ozpin was able to do some serious damage before he went down. That earned him Jaune's complete respect. There weren't many that he could say that about. But considering he knew of no one else that could challenge the Cyberdemon like that and lived, it was well deserved.
"Go, now. Pyrrha, Ren, Nora. Give me cover fire while I fight it. Yang, Weiss, make sure that they aren't overwhelmed by the other demons. Let's get this done." Jaune said in a serious tone as he drew his shotgun. They all nodded in affirmation, with Blake and Ruby running of to get their Headmaster to safety.
With a shriek from the incoming demons, Jaune charged forward, slicing a few Imps to pieces with his arm blade. He then used his Meat Hook to pull back a Razer from shooting Blake before smashing it into the ground. He was protected from a Pinkie when Nora blasted it from behind, causing it to be blown to bits. Pyrrha was close behind him, helping him get closer to the approaching Cyberdemon. Which was done in short order since the behemoth trudged forward while batting away any demon that got in it's way. With the canon on it's arm charging up, Jaune grabbed Pyrrha before pulling her close to his body and using the Meat Hook and launching them both away right before a beam of energy blasted where they stood a moment before. As they both landed, Jaune kicked the head of a Hell Knight, snapping it's neck while Pyrrha riddled a Pinkie with bullets and made it stagger with micro-missiles. Jaune finished it off by rushing in, grabbing it's face and ripping off one of it's tusks before using that tusk to cut it's throat open. He pushed the dying Pinkie in front of him to block a missile that the Cyberdemon had fired at him before he started sprinting around it. Pyrrha understood that he was going to try and keep it's attention on him while she and the rest of the team either killed the small fry or provided cover fire.
With a quick switch to his Chain Gun, Jaune started running and gunning around the Cyberdemon as it tried to chase him down. But with the occasional use of his Meat Hook and his already impressive speed, he was able to give it the run around. As both Ren and Nora killed whatever they came across with Nora taking care of the bigger demons while Ren dealt with the smaller ones and Weiss acting as support. Yang mixed it up by either shooting the back row of demons with rockets, or dealing with them up close and personal with the automated hammer function.
Jaune had one of the Cyberdemon's smaller energy blasts graze him before he used his shoulder mounted mini-sentry fire a few grenades into the air and detonated around the giant behemoth. It shouted in anger before it charged it's energy, not into it's canon, but rather the blade on it's arm before swinging and sending energy blades towards it's object of hatred. The blonde man was only able to dodge a few of them before one hit him dead in the chest. He was staggered for a moment before he shook it off and dodged a giant fist headed his way. The Cyberdemon had tried to capitalize on the moment and tried to crush him. With it's surprising speed, it swung it's bladed arm at him again, making Jaune jump back and draw his Shotgun before shooting it in the face. It threw it's head back from the force before roaring and hunching over.
Multiple small ports on it's back opened up before a few dozen or so rockets flew out and started raining down around Jaune. He tried to shoot as many down as possible with his Chain Gun, but some of them had been able to explode near him and cause some damage. All the while he had to keep an eye on the Cyberdemon as it sent more energy blades at him. He started to sweat a little bit as that same feeling from before rose again. It wanted him to succumb to his anger. To give in to his rage and let it control him. He pushed it back, but with more difficulty this time. He couldn't let it take over again until he was sure that the rest were safe and that the portal to Remnant was closed behind him. So with another grunt of effort, Jaune used his Meat Hook to get out of that mine field. As he landed, he saw that the Cyberdemon had already locked onto him and was about to blast him away when an energy bolt knocked it's aim off course and only hit a wall behind him, opening it up to the outside. It was night, if the fractured moon was any indicator, but the sky glowed red and the moon itself was of a crimson color. It was only due to the bubble of demonic energy however, and not that the atmosphere had changed. As soon as the portals were closed, the energy would disperse and everything would go back to normal.
Jaune was going to thank them when he saw that the Cyberdemon had entered it's enraged state and aimed it's canon, fully charged, at Nora. He saw that Ren noticed and was going to knock Nora out of the way. Jaune knew that if he did that though, he'd take the full brunt of the damage. He couldn't let that happen, so with quick thinking, he pulled out his shotgun, and used his Meat Hook to latch onto the arm canon and yanked with all his might. It successfully knocked the demon's aim off, but with how hard Jaune had been pulling, and with where he had been tugging, he had accidentally made the canon point directly at him. His eyes widened and he put his Aura up as best as he could before the beam knocked into him at full force, blasting him through the hole int he wall behind him and off into the forest below as he gave out a deafening yell.
Everyone had heard it, and the world seemed to slow to a crawl. Nora and Ren stood there with minds riddled with guilt. Pyrrha had stood frozen, a look of utter terror for the person that had captured her heart.
"No!"
Elsewhere, while Ruby and Blake were overlooking Ozpin within Jaune's aircraft when they heard the shout. Blake looked concerned, while Ruby felt within her soul that something had happened to Jaune. Dread nearly overtook her and tears welled up within her eyes.
"Jaune?"
For the first time in centuries, the Cyberdemon had felt truly satisfied. It had finally bested the Doom Slayer. Where even the mighty Titan fell, it had succeeded. Releasing something that was supposed to be a cackle. It knew full well that the Slayer would come back eventually, but for now...victory was oh so sweet-
"You son of a BITCH! I'M GOING TO BREAK YOUR FUCKING LEGS AND RIP OFF YOUR GOD DAMN SKULL BEFORE I TEAR YOU LIMB FROM FUCKING LIMB!" Nora threatened in a rage fueled frenzy, an Aura of pure hatred and malice radiating from her. She proceeded to drop her Ballista, grabbing every Lightning Dust Crystal on her and absorbing all of it before charging like a pink bullet at the Cyberdemon. It barely had time to register the small human before it felt an incredible pain rupture through it's system as Nora had broken the plating on it's right leg and made it bend at an awkward angle. It stumbled backwards before it saw the same human jump up to it's face with an expression of pure rage and arcs of pink lightning jumping across her body. she then proceeded to wail on it's face, punching the ever living crap out of it. Each hit of her fist, more and more blood was spat from the Cyberdemon. She even punched one of it's eyes until it exploded before she took one of it's horns, tore it off and raised it over her head, intent on ending the monster that took away her Fearless Leader...
Her older brother.
But before she could do that, an energy shot had collided into her side, sending her flying in another direction. The Cyberdemon had looked to see where that shot came from and noticed that a Mancubus had assisted it. Before anything else could be said though, It's head had been blown off by a cluster of shots. When the body fell, It revealed Ren with first, an infuriated look that soon gave way to worry and fear as he rushed to Nora's aid.
When he finally got to her, he noticed that a part of her shirt had been burned off and revealed her skin to be burned as well. Ren knelt down to her, bringing a hand under her head, making her face him. She opened her eyes, with tears in them, and looked into his own.
"He's not gone...right Ren? He can't be." Nora cried, making the stoic man struggle for an answer. He usually had answers for all of Nora's questions. But now...how was he supposed to answer that? With how devastating that blast Nora took was, how much would that blast from the Cyberdemon have done? He just...he needed to make sure that Nora got the medical attention she needed before anything else. It's what Jaune would have wanted...
"Come on Nora, we need to get you out of here." Ren said, trying to pick her up without aggravating the wound. He looked to the side and saw that the Cyberdemon was still trying to recuperate from Nora's assault and the other demons were still coming in strong. Ren could understand now how enough of these things could have overrun an entire planet. Where Grim only sporadically attacked settlements, these things actively sought the genocide of any living thing until it was gone. They had the numbers and the means to do it too. The scenery was all to familiar to him. His home of Kuroyuri being overrun with Grim while that monster killed everything in sight. But this...this was worse than that. At least with Grim he knew that the hoard would end there. They just destroyed the village and would have lingered there. But these things wouldn't stop here. They'd go on to ravage the city before going on to other settlements and go on and on until everything was gone. It almost left him with a sense of hopelessness. He nearly dropped his shotgun then and there before he remembered something that Jaune had made him promise a few weeks before hand.
"Ren." Jaune called to Ren as they were finishing up at the gym. Ren looked to him with a bit of surprise. Jaune hadn't really tried to talk to them recently. But he wasn't going to complain. Maybe this was him trying to open up to him with whatever had been bothering him.
"Yeah Jaune?" Ren asked, seeing that Jaune was wiping his face of sweat. After a moment, Jaune spoke.
"Can you promise me something?" Jaune asked, making Ren nod in approval. Like he needed to ask.
"Of course Jaune. You're my friend." Ren said. Jaune hummed at that. He sighed before speaking again.
"I need you to promise me that...If something were to happen to me, you'll do everything in your power to make sure that the girls are safe." Jaune requested. It made Ren stop what he was doing and looked to Jaune who had his back faced to him. Ren grew concerned, not liking how Jaune worded that.
"Jaune?" Ren inquired, feeling concerned for his friend. Ever since that strange wind that blew in a few months ago, Jaune had been acting strange. He had begun to act cold. Uncaring and completely different from what he had been from the beginning of the year. But this was the most emotion he had shown in all that time.
Jaune shook his head. restating his request.
"Can you promise me that, Ren? It's just something that can happen. I need to know that you can promise me that." Jaune said. Ren stayed there for a few moments, mulling over it, before he came up with his answer.
"I can do that Jaune." Ren promised. Jaune sighed in relief before turning his head and giving Ren one of his trademark smiles.
"Great! Now come on! I think we could both use a shower right about now." Jaune said with an upbeat tone. Ren looked at him in mild concern before he shook his head and smiled himself.
His brother worried him sometimes. He really did.
Ren took a deep breath, looking up and deciding that he would fulfill his promise to Jaune and make sure that both Nora and Pyrrha were safe. He tightened his hold on both Nora and his shotgun and helped his childhood friend walk towards Pyrrha who was...making the best of her anger it seemed.
She seemed the silent type of angry with how she went into a trance and used all her years of rifle training to the maximum. Each shot had pinpoint accuracy and hit their mark. That being every bullet had found it's way through the skull of a different demon. Her eyes were dilated and her face in an indefinite frown. She used the micro-missiles as often as she could, blowing up demons left and right. She was practically a machine with how she worked so efficiently.
As Ren hobbled across the room, he saw that Yang and Weiss had also varied expressions on their faces. Yang reacted as she would when somebody messed with her hair, but little more...
"Take that! And That! You want some too!? Come On!"
Violent. As crazy as that sounds. It made sense though. The potential life of a friend was a little more serious than just losing some hair. Hair would come back. Jaune couldn't. She was great friends with Jaune. Sure, they didn't start on the right foot at first, but that was resolved fairly quick. The nickname 'Vomit Boy' was more of a term of endearment. A bit of a jab as to how they first got to know each other. She always enjoyed hanging out with Jaune. He was rather wholesome once you got to know him. He didn't really object to any of her plans for fun, though mostly for the fact that he was too considerate to really deny her anything, and she could always count on him to make up a cover story for her should she have gotten way over her head. He was a great friend, and maybe, somewhere down the line, she could have asked him out and saw where it could have gone between the two. That of course being if Pyrrha and Ruby were willing to share him of course. There was also Weiss to consider...
Next to her, Weiss had focused on killing as many demons as possible much like Pyrrha did. But the difference being that her eyes had started leaking tears as well. She had been more overtaken by grief than anger it seemed. Much like Yang, Weiss' relationship with Jaune hadn't started out the best. With him constantly trying to woo her, she thought that he was just one of those suitors that wanted to be with her for her title and status. It stayed like that for a while, until the dance came around. Where Neptune had rejected her, she had felt terrible, and Jaune had every opportunity to come in for the rebound. But he decided to talk some sense into Neptune and get him to ask her out. Of course, that relationship didn't last long as she found out that Neptune liked to flirt with everything under the sun. She ended it there with him being so disloyal. By then, she and Jaune had actually found reliable and trustworthy friends in each other. Did she find herself wondering if they would be compatible? Yes. It was simple really. He was just the type of guy to care to your every need. He was perfect...but she thought that because she had rejected him so many times before, that he wouldn't want to be with her anymore. Now though...there was never going to be another chance.
Weiss and Yang continued to kill demons in short order and helped Ren as best they could in getting him to their care.
Ren had to blow away a few demons as he made his way to Weiss, Yang and Pyrrha's position. The spartan didn't even bat an eye at them as she stood her ground and killed anything that tried to get close. Ren had just layed his partner on the ground when he heard another explosion happen across the room. He looked to see that Ruby had returned and Blake was by her side. She scanned the room before spotting Ren and their group. She grabbed a hold of Blake before zooming to their position with her Semblance.
"Are you guys okay? What happened to Nora?" Ruby asked as she looked to them. She instantly noticed that Nora was on the ground clutching her side. She grew worried and looked to Ren for answers.
"She got hit by a Mancubus. The fat ones. She was able to do a number on the Cyberdemon though. It's still trying to gain it's bearings. We're holding up alright here. We're trying to find out how we're going to kill the Cyberdemon once it get's up though." Ren responded as he shot another Imp in the head. Ruby nodded in understanding. Jaune had told them about every demon that he had faced while in hell earlier. But speaking of Jaune. Where was he?
"Where's Jaune? Is he dealing with some other demons elsewhere?" Ruby asked as she fired upon the hoard, being able to push them back a bit. Blake had been talking to the other three, but she couldn't hear them. Ren didn't answer her at first, just opting to shoot into the mosh pit of demons. Though, he did tense up at the question. He really didn't want to answer that.
"Ren?" Ruby asked again, not liking how quiet he had gotten. Ren stayed quiet for a bit longer, but sighed to himself when there was a lull in the waves of demons.
"He...he's gone." Ren said simply. Ruby stopped firing, her head snapping to him. Her eyes had gone wide, hoping that she had heard him wrong.
"W-what?" Ruby stuttered, not wanting to believe what she thought she heard. Ren winced a bit more, as if even the thought of what he was going to say hurt him.
"The Cyberdemon had locked onto Nora, and Jaune had used his grappling hook to change it's aim to him. It fired, and hit him dead on. It sent him flying into the forest." Ren said in a low tone. But Ruby heard him loud and clear. She just didn't believe him.
"B-but we don't know that he's...he could have survived!" Ruby exclaimed, getting the attention of the rest of her team. The three of them had a similar conversation as her and Ren. Blake had a somber expression, Yang had grit teeth and crimson eyes while Weiss' eyes were red for another reason. Pyrrha just kept firing into the hoard, but they knew that she was listening.
"A single shot from a Mancubus took Nora down. What do you think a full powered beam of energy from the Cyberdemon is going to do?" Ren asked, his tone grim. He hated to admit it, but even he knew that Jaune's Aura reserves couldn't hold up against it. Plus the drop to the bottom of the forest, there wasn't that high of a chance that he could survive.
Ruby stood there for a moment, a sense of hopelessness taking over. Her eyes welled up with tears and the grip on the Gauss Cannon slightly loosened. Weiss gave a sniffle to the side, her tears becoming more intense than before. Yang's hair lit aflame, her eyes stinging as well. Blake had a look that spoke of experience with situations like this. Nora was outright crying while Pyrrha's grip on her weapon tightened and continued to kill demons at a more intense pace.
Ren didn't want to be that guy, but if he didn't say it, then they were going to get even more hurt later. He was going to try and apologize for his brash words when they saw a rocket fly over their heads. They looked back to where it had been fired when they noticed that the Cyberdemon had gotten back up, albeit on shaky legs, and had only missed it's shot because it was missing an eye and it's leg buckled.
"Damn. Uh, Yang you should stay behind and make sure that Nora and Ruby are safe while the rest of us-" Ren tried to tried to order. But he then saw that a trail of rose petals was left behind and a blur went passed him.
"Ruby no!" Weiss called out as she charged forward to try and bring her partner back. Blake went after her to try and act as support while Yang gave a shout and went after them. Ren was going to yell for them to get back when he saw that Pyrrha had followed in Ruby's shoes and went to try and take on the Cyberdemon as well. That only left him to try and deal with the incoming demons and protect Nora.
'Damn it! I made a promise to protect them!' Ren cried within his head. He knew that at this point that he was doing a piss poor job at that. What would Jaune think of him now...
As Ruby charged the Cyberdemon with a hard expression, she charged up the Gauss Cannon and zoomed up it's unbroken leg and pointed at the beasts head and let loose. The demon let out a howl of pain and went to grab her, but she used her Semblance and dashed back down to the ground. It was then that the Cyberdemon felt a pang in it's system and saw that Weiss had fully charged her pistol and shot at it's broken leg. It was going to try and shoot at her with it's cannon, but was distracted when a cluster of rockets exploded in it's face courtesy of Yang. The Cyberdemon grew angry and swing it's right arm at them and threw energy blades at them.
All four of them were able to dodge them with relative ease, while Ruby went in for another shot. Yang noticed though, that the Cyberdemon had anticipated this and preemptively brought up it's arm to stab her. She then rushed as fast as she could and pushed Ruby away and took the hit. She was able to tank it, but at the cost of the rest of her Aura. Ruby was shocked at the action and was too stunned to notice that the Cyberdemon had tried to backhand her before Weiss also tried to get her out of the way. She succeeded, but took the hit herself. Ruby had been shaken out of her trance at this point and was going to try and see how her sister and partner were. The Cyberdemon was going to try and go after her before it began to be pelted by Blake. It turned to her and tried to blast her with it's own rapid fire energy blasts, but it she was agile enough to dodge most of them. The ones she couldn't dodge, she used her Semblance to avoid them. The Cyberdemon knew that this was a useless endeavor if it only used it's arm canon, so with a slump of it's back, it rained more missiles upon the Faunus. Blake's eyes widened, before she gave her complete attention to trying to avoid the rockets and ignored the Cyberdemon.
Big mistake.
As she was using her flexibility and agility to it's maximum, along with her Semblance, she didn't notice the behemoth draw closer until it slammed her into the ground with it's arm. When it drew it's hand back, Blake was barely conscious with labored breathing. It then picked her up and squeezed her. She yelled in pain before the Cyberdemon tossed her away towards Ruby and the rest of her team.
Ruby had gotten the rest of her team together and was trying to think of a way to get them to safety before she saw Blake crash to the floor a few feet away. Her weapon clattered to the side out of reach. She looked back and saw that the only person that was still trying to fight it was Pyrrha. She had been assisting by shooting at it, but the giant hadn't made any move against her. She would have gone back and helped her, but the demons around her were closing in and she needed to protect her team. So with a quick grab of Blake and her Plasma Rifle, she huddled the three of them together before she faced the incoming demons.
Back with Pyrrha, she had been using both her gun and her Semblance to try and take down the thing that had taken away her Jaune. She had utilized her Semblance to send the bullets flying even faster than before. Her rigorous training had allowed her to avoid the demon's assault. With it having used it's hail of rockets on Blake just now, it would need to wait a small while before being able to use it again. But with Pyrrha having as great of accuracy as she did, it probably wouldn't be able to last that long. It constantly had to protect it's face with it's arm as it tried to outgun the spartan with little luck.
It was when Pyrrha tried to use her Semblance on the creatures arm to move it away from it's face did she mess up. As there was only some metal in it's body, with most of it being comprised of organic material, she had a hard time trying to move it. Add to the fact that the Cyberdemon was no pushover when it came to strength, she had to use up most of her remaining Aura to pull it out of the way. She was able to take aim and shoot out another one of it's eyes before a Hell Knight tried to take a swing at her. She had to let go of the Cyberdemon to blast a few dozen holes through it before she refocused on the bigger threat. But by then, it had gotten a lock on her and fired a missile that exploded at her feet. It only went to her feet because the Cyberdemon's aim had been further thrown off by losing half of it's eyes.
The spartan had sailed through the air and bounced off the floor a few times before being caught by Ren. He was tired as all hell by this point, no pun intended, and his hair was a mess. He had to take a few hits from a Barron of Hell and Hell Knights, but he stayed strong. He needed to protect his remaining team until he let out his final breath. He put Pyrrha over his shoulder and already had Nora under his arm. His shotgun was on his back as he rushed to Ruby's side. The reaper was only slightly better. She was able to alternate between her team's weapons if she needed to. She saw Ren approaching and killed an Imp that was trying to flank him. When he finally got to her, he gently placed his own teammates next to her's. They both looked at their situation and noted that they were the last ones standing while the demons kept on coming. The Cyberdemon was slowly making it's way to them, even with a broken leg, two missing eyes and it's arm cannon seeing better days, it still had a lot of fight left in it. Ren's Aura was running on fumes and Ruby was in the same boat. They wouldn't survive another wave.
As the demons crept closer and both Ren and Ruby tried to prepare themselves, they both knew that this was going to be the end. Ren looked back to his team and felt like he had failed both them and Jaune. It looked like he couldn't fulfill his promise after all. Meanwhile Ruby was thinking the same thing and just hoped that she would be able to see them all afterwards.
.
..
...
"Hey."
Ren and Ruby's eyes widened when they heard the rough, tired voice and quickly tracked it to the source. When they found it, they were elated to see that it was Jaune!
He was beaten up with the upper left portion of his armor gone and his visor half gone, but he was okay...for the most part. But what caught their attention was the weapon in his hands. It was large, easily being nearly as large as Jaune himself. It the metal was a shiny chrome that had a pearly white paint over it. There were only some scratches on it, showing that it was well maintained. At the center was a slightly unstable looking power source that was a bright green color. It wasn't only Ren and Ruby that had noticed his return, it was also the demons that noticed him too. But none more than the Cyberdemon itself. It especially noticed the weapon that he was holding and was gripped with fear. It tried to aim it's arm cannon at him again and charged up a shot, but found that it was blown up right before it fired, completely rendering it useless. It looked to the side and saw that Nora had gotten a hold on her Ballista again and fired it one last time. It then turned back to Jaune to find that he already had his finger on the trigger.
"Remember the BFG you sons a' bitches!? GET FUCKED!" Jaune exclaimed as he pulled the trigger and fired his most powerful weapon. A single green orb shot out of the gun and flew towards the Cyberdemon at incredible speeds. The entire way it lashed out at demons that were unlucky enough to be close to it as it passed by, overloading them with energy before blowing them up. Even Barons of Hell weren't exempt. The Cyberdemon let out a roar of anger before the green ball of energy hit it in the abdomen and exploded, releasing a bright flash of light that nearly blinded all those that were still awake.
When Ren and Ruby's eyesight came back, what they saw astonished them. The entire hoard of demons that were there a moment ago were decimated. Not a single one of them had survived. There were demon corpses everywhere. Even the portal that had been open earlier had been closed. They looked astonished at the scene.
Why the hell didn't he use that earlier!?
"That's right, and it's all for you...god I'm tired." Jaune said as he slumped over his pride and joy. He would have loved to end this fight beforehand with this thing if it didn't need so long to charge up. But before he could rest for too much longer, he felt himself be tackled to the ground by something. He opened his eyes to see a mop of red tipped hair and smiled.
"love you too Ruby." Jaune said without much thought. He felt Ruby tighten her hold on him and just let her do her thing. He was a little too tired from booking it from the forest for at least ten minutes after having been blown away by an energy beam and falling a couple hundred feet. Not to mention he had to climb all the way back up the cliff only to find that his friends were in deep shit. He was lucky enough that the BFG-9000 had finished charging up by the time he got to the top. But he knew that he still needed to do a few things before he could rest, so he gently held on to Ruby as he got up, picking her up along with him.
"I thought I lost you." Ruby cried into his chest. Jaune took a few more breaths before nodding, understanding how she would have thought that.
"Yeah, it was a little touch and go there, but I'm still kickin'." Jaune said with a tired chuckle. They stayed like that for a few moments before Ruby broke off and looked at his helmet. She brought her hands up and started taking off his helmet, which he bent down slightly to allow her to do. When it was off, she looked into his eyes. There was a small beat before Ruby quickly went up onto her tiptoes and kissed him. Jaune reciprocated the gesture, bringing his arms around her and holding her gently. They stayed there for a moment, just enjoying the moment. There wasn't anything complicated about the action. It just stayed as a simple lip lock. As simple as it was, it meant the world to the both of them. As cliche as it sounded, Ruby even bent her leg back at the sensation.
After a minute of this, they separated and smiled at each other. At the corner of his eye, Jaune noticed that Ren had approached the two, so he stepped back and gave his attention to the other man. Ren spoke up after a moment of hesitation.
"Jaune...I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise...The girls, they-" Ren tried to say, but Jaune held a hand up, stopping him.
"Are they breathing?" Jaune asked, already seeing that Nora and Pyrrha were starting to get up to try and greet him. Ren squirmed at the question, knowing that he couldn't keep them from harm.
"Yes, but they-" Ren tried, but was interrupted by a smiling Jaune.
"Can they move?" Jaune asked, already eyeing his two other team members as they slowly made their way over to them. Ren grew a little frustrated with him before he tried one last time to explain to Jaune that he had failed him.
"They were hurt when I had promised you that I would protect them with everything I had!" Ren shouted. Jaune lightly nodded, slowly separating himself from Ruby and walking over to Ren. They looked into each other's eyes before Jaune brought Ren into a hug. Ren was surprised at the action before Jaune spoke up.
"So long as they are okay in the end, you kept your promise. That's all that matters. Thank you." Jaune said, making Ren's eyes widen. He stayed there for a moment, surprised at both his actions and his words before he smiled and hugged his brother back, a smile on his face.
It was a few seconds later that they separated. Jaune then turned just in time for Pyrrha to collide into him and crash her lips onto his. Jaune chuckled at the action before divulging Pyrrha with her wants. Afterwards, she separated with a loud pop. She then lightly punched him in his exposed shoulder and pouted at him.
"What the hell were you thinking? I thought you died! We all did!" Pyrrha lectured him. He knew it was all in good faith, so he didn't think much of it.
"Hey, I'm sorry for worrying you, but even if I did die, I would have come back in, like, three or four days...give or take." Jaune joked. His regenerative Immortality was a rather great tool for him. Though, his body would change a bit every time. He's kept the same eyes though. Everything else was subject to change...well almost everything. The other big thing that didn't change was his...you know what? It wasn't important. He did seem to hit the genetic lottery this time though, with his blonde hair and excellent cheek bones, he had this handsomely boyish yet rough look going about him.
"That is no excuse! You had us worried about you!" Pyrrha said, still a little miffed about it. Jaune sighed before giving a peck on her lips. She froze in place, a blush on her cheeks. Jaune chuckled before looking at Nora and seeing her injury. His smile strained before he got an idea and scooped her up from the ground and put her on his back, giving her a ride.
"Come on guys, lets get you to my spacecraft so you can get treated." Jaune said as his smile came back. Nora giggled tiredly, resting on her perch. The rest of them gave him a sound of agreement. They only took a few steps before Yang spoke up from across the room. She was still on the floor with an arm raised up so that they could locate her.
"Hey, do you mind If I got a ride on the Arc Express? Please?" Yang asked, making Ruby look at her weird with how she worded that. Pyrrha looked at her skeptically too, while Jaune just chuckled at her before responding in kind.
"You're going to have to wait in line, Yang. Besides, you're strong enough to carry yourself." Jaune said as he neared them. Yang groaned at the response, really not wanting to get up on her own. Blake spoke up from next to her, having her own two cents to give.
"If anyone was to need a lift, it would be me. I was literally crushed by the Cyberdemon and thrown across the room." Blake groaned from beside her. She coughed a bit as well, feeling pain from the action.
"I may or may not have also broken a rib or two." Blake added as a side note. Weiss groaned beside the other two and gave her own commentary.
"I was not trained to take a hit like that. I'm a delicate flower that needs to be tended with care." Weiss said with a strained voice. The three then started bickering about who deserved to be picked up the most when Jaune looked to Ruby and Pyrrha, silently suggesting that they picked them up. They sighed before complying.
Ruby picked her partner up while Pyrrha picked Blake up.
"Thank you Ruby." Weiss said from over Ruby's shoulder as she rested on her partners back.
"No problem bestie. Anytime." Ruby said, waving off her thanks. Blake just gave a groan that was supposed to be thanks to Pyrrha, but she got the message anyway.
"It's alright. We've all fought hard." Pyrrha said, to which Blake gave another groan of appreciation.
Jaune knew that the two had their hands tied, and Ren was too tired from everything else. Plus, Yang wasn't exactly...light. Not to say that she was fat, but with those...assets, she was no light load. Not that he'd ever say that out loud. But another thought came to him, about the demons and how they were going to come back again, most likely with more demons than this time and even more types. As much as he would want to stay and keep them all safe, he needed to go back and keep hell in check.
"Hold on guys, I need to do something." Jaune said as he gently let Nora off his back. He then walked over to the center of the room, with everyone looking at him with curious eyes. What was he doing?
"What's up Jaune? Something wrong?" Ruby asked as she saw him look around for a bit before he found what he was looking for. When she followed his gaze, her eyes narrowed.
It was the Cyberdemon.
It layed still on the ground, with everything that was below the chest gone. It's arm cannon was also gone, with a chunk of it's jaw having been blown clean off. He walked up to the corpse, inspecting it. He lightly kicked it, seeing that there was no response, he walked around it. Everyone walked over, and cautiously approached it.
"Is it...dead?" Ren asked as he helped Yang up and walked over. Jaune looked over to them, a look of uncertainty on his face. He stayed silent for a moment before he reached out and reached for something. The rest of them vaguely noticed something dematerialize in the background before the Gauss Cannon materialized in his hands. He then aimed it at the Cyberdemon's head and charged up a shot before blowing what was left of it off it's body. They all thought that was going to be it until he proceeded to shoot the remaining arm off.
"...I'm pretty sure it's dead." Jaune said after he was done. He then placed the weapon on the ground and started climbing onto it's chest. They were all confused again as to what he was doing before Pyrrha spoke up.
"Jaune, what are you doing?" Pyrrha asked, seeing Jaune look for something specific. He spoke up when he found what he was looking for.
"I, my dear Pyrrha, am looking for...this!" Jaune exclaimed as he tugged and tore something from the corpses body. It was a long cylindrical object that still glowed a deep red. He held it in his hand and inspected it to make sure that it wasn't damaged too badly. When knowing that it wasn't, he leaped down from the body and walked passed them.
"And what exactly is...that?" Ruby asked next, with everyone nodding in agreement. Was that what Argent Energy was?
Jaune hummed as he stopped a few feet away from them. He knew that this was going to be difficult to tell them. Especially after they had just survived a small invasion of demons, but it was better if he did this now while they were weak than later when they were recovered.
"This is my ticket back to hell...where I'll be staying." Jaune said in a somber tone. This immediately caused them all to become alert and raised a number of red flags.
"What!? What do you mean where you'll be staying!?" Nora exclaimed. Jaune lowered bis head and looked to the core in his hands, knowing that when he ruptures it, the energy that would be exuded would rip open a portal to hell. It would stay open for only a few minutes, but it would be just enough for him to go over and defend it until it closed again.
"I can't stay here anymore Nora. I need to make sure that they don't get the chance to invade here again." Jaune said, gripping the core tight before it started to groan and spark with energy. Jaune then tossed it into the air before it ruptured and exploded into energy. It them imploded into itself before widening into a portal, showing what could only be hell on the other side. They all looked at him incredulously, with both Ruby and Pyrrha putting their friends down from their backs and approaching the blonde man.
"You don't have to go! They won't come back if they know that we can push them back now! We can just-" Ruby tried to reason, but was interrupted by Jaune.
"I can't, Ruby! I can't stay!" Jaune said with his back to them. But they weren't having any of it. Why didn't he wan't to stay!?
"Why don't you want to stay here!? I thought you said you cared about us! What about all that talk of treasuring us with all your heart?! Were you lying to us, Jaune!? Do we not matter to you!?" Pyrrha asked him as he approached the portal. He stopped just before the entrance and shook in place before turning around to them, showing that he was already crying.
"I do want to stay, Pyrrha! I would love for nothing but to stay! Everything in my body is screaming at me to stay with you and Ruby and everyone else! But it's because I love you that I can't stay! If I stay, they will come back in greater numbers and they wont stop until everyone is dead! That includes you and Ruby! I can't let that happen! I just can't! The only way for me to stop that from happening is to stay in hell and make sure that they don't have the chance to invade here again!" Jaune explained, getting his point across. They all tried to argue against what he said, but were finding it hard to find anything that could effectively counter his point. Ruby however, thought of something crazy that just might work. She looked to Pyrrha, who looked at her and almost instantly read what she wanted to o and nodded her head in agreement of the plan.
"I'm sorry. But the only way for me to protect you all is to leave. Goodbye." Jaune said as he was going to walk through the portal, but before he could take another step, he felt himself be pushed back onto his back and a wind brush passed him. When he sat back up, what he saw almost made his blood freeze.
Both Ruby and Pyrrha had gone through the portal.
"What the hell are you two doing!? Get back here!" Jaune exclaimed as he rushed through the portal too. The rest of the group were going to chase after them, but their end of the portal had started to grow unstable and release arcs of lightning, preventing anyone from trying to enter.
"You two need to get back there!" Jaune ordered, looking the two dead in the eye. the two shook their heads and smiled at him.
"Not until you go back first!" They both said in unison. Jaune was flabbergasted. This was their plan to make sure that he stayed!? Were they crazy!?
"Are you freaking nuts!? If you stay here, you'll be trapped! You won't be able to go back! You understand?!" Jaune asked trying to make them go back. They shook their head again, not budging.
"Then we'll just have to stay here with you." Ruby said, with Pyrrha nodding in agreement. Neither of the two were showing any signs of concern. Jaune was practically pulling his hair out with how inconsiderate they were being right now.
"The whole reason that I'm staying here is so you don't have to face any more of those demons! The only way for that to happen, is if you go back over there! The portal can only stay open for so long before it shuts closed!" Jaune exclaimed, pointing at the weakening link between hell and Remnant. Ruby and Pyrrha just looked at it for a moment before shrugging.
"Then you better make a choice, Jaune. Either we stay here with you, or you can stay there with us! Simple!" Pyrrha said, giving Jaune an ultimatum. His eye twitched in anger before letting out a shout of anger. He looked between the weakening portal and the smiling forms of Ruby and Pyrrha. after a brief moment, he let out a sigh and deflated, knowing when he was beat.
"You two are going to be the end of me I swear." Jaune said as he started walking to the portal. Both Ruby and Pyrrha shouted in joy before Ruby spoke up.
"We knew you'd come around, Jaune!" She said before grabbing a hold of Pyrrha and using her Semblance to charge into Jaune and carry all of them through the portal back into Remnant.
As the portal started closing in on itself, the three figures of Jaune, Ruby and Pyrrha stumbled through. A few seconds later, the portal shut closed and left them all in relative silence. Jaune just groaned under both Ruby and Pyrrha as they giggled. After a few moments, Jaune's frown turned into a small smile seeing two of the people he cherished the most.
"Alright, alright you two cuckoo heads. You got me to stay." Jaune relented, getting up and taking the two with him. The rest of his friends approached, also having smiles on their faces. With Nora's being the most prevalent, she spoke up next.
"That's great! And even if you did leave, I'd find a way to get you back! I'd even drink coffee!" Nora pseudo-threatened. Jaune winced at the notion. remembering the last time she drank coffee.
"And I'd let her." Ren said from the side, making Jaune sweat slightly. These were some dedicated friends he made, it seemed. Crazy ones for sure, but dedicated.
"I wasn't going to be able to escape you guys for long, was I?" Jaune asked, gaining a round of laughs from everyone. Including one from someone across the room. They all turned to see that Ozpin had returned, but with bandages across his chest and using his cane for it's actual purpose.
"Ozpin, you're okay." Jaune stated. The Headmaster chuckled a small bit. He was a lot more relaxed now. A near death experience would do that to a person, apparently.
"Yes, I'm quite alright. I had came as fast as I could, to come back to the fight if needed, but it seems you were all able to take care of the situation. I think some much needed vacation time has been earned by you eight." Ozpin said as he approached the two teams. They were pretty excited by the prospect of being able to relax after all this. But Yang was the one to push her luck. And thankfully, the Headmaster was feeling generous.
"And some extra credit, right?" Yang suggested, making some of them groan. Ozpin simply chuckled before nodding.
"Yes Ms. Xiao-Long. And some extra credit." The Headmaster relented. Yang's eyes lit up with life, not really expecting Ozpin to agree with the extra credit.
"Sweet-Ah! Cramp!" Yang exclaimed in excitement before clutching her side in pain. The rest of them laughed a bit at her own expense. Jaune himself laughed, even though he knew that with his staying here, there would be more invasions to come. But he figured, that as long as he was there to stop them and with his friends to help him push them back, then it would be fine. With Ruby and Pyrrha by his side, and the rest of them that accepted him as he is, and for what he was, he could finally do what he had sought for when he came to Remnant.
He had found a place to be himself.
It had been a whole ten years since that day and a lot happened. Along with the occasional invasion of demons that he has been able to pinpoint when and where they would happen thanks to Weiss' political power and her sister's military affiliation. Speaking of which, he had gotten together with Weiss the same time that Yang asked him out. Strange how things worked out like that. Shortly thereafter, Blake also joined his love circle. He wouldn't have agreed to any of their advances though if either Pyrrha or Ruby didn't agree with it. They were surprisingly open minded about it. But in any case, he got to know General Ironwood and the rest of Ozpin's circle. Mostly because Ozpin knew that Jaune could be a great asset to their cause of getting rid of Salem.
Salem...that was an interesting fight. It involved a lot of planning, lots of setting up, and preparations...or in other words, it took him manipulating hell energy and Qrow's Semblance by opening a portal to hell in Salem's castle, letting that fiasco go on for a few days while monitoring what happened. Finally, when they knew that the Queen of the Grim was considerably weakened, they struck and ended her for good. They all celebrated and went home heroes.
But now...now they had made sure that hell never bothered anyone again by practically destroying the dimension all together. The amount of power that was held in that one bomb...it was almost terrifying for him to have held it. That was about two years ago and they haven't heard or seen anything from hell since. He honest to god cried in joy when it was all over. It took a few days for him to actually accept that truth. Some of them worried that he wouldn't be able to feed his body enough Argent Energy to strengthen himself again. But thanks to Atlas Technology they made a substitute hell energy that was practically the same. His body accepted it all the same, so it was all good. He just put the small energy core into his now fully upgraded praetor suit and now he's fit to take on an army...which never comes around since Grim are scarce, and demons no longer come around. In all honesty, Jaune had gotten a little bored. There was nothing to do anymore. There was the occasional crime spree, but that was easily fixed with a well placed raid by the police force and one or two Huntsmen.
"Hun, you okay?" Ruby asked from behind him. He turned from his spot on the balcony and saw his beautiful wife standing there...oh yeah, after getting used to knowing that hell wasn't going to be a problem anymore, he proposed to his five girlfriends as soon as possible. Thankfully, they all said yes, and had a kick ass honeymoon. They all knew that he had a bad experience with marriage before, so they were happy to know that he was willing to give it another shot with them. But that was in the past. What stood before him now, was one of his five goddesses.
Ruby had grown a little in height, but still the shortest out of the five. Her silver eyes, which she had learned to use, were vibrant and full of energy. She had lost some of that baby fat from her face and gained a more sharp and womanly facial structure. She grew her hair out so that it now ran down her back, with the red tips growing a little longer and growing a small bit closer to her roots. Her figure had grown considerably, with her bust becoming a robust and firm D cups. She was wearing a baggy t-shirt that probably belonged to Jaune and went down to her thighs.
"I'm alright Rubes. Just thinking about when Beacon got attacked by demons for the first time." Jaune said, making Ruby hum in nostalgia. That had been a day. They had nearly been overwhelmed by the hoard that time. But after that, Jaune had trained them in dealing with demons more effectively. He also helped with upgrading their weapons to be more fitted to killing demons. He said it's so they didn't have to completely give up the weapons that they had spent years using and perfecting.
.
..
...
That, and so he didn't have to give up his own guns.
Don't get him wrong, he doesn't mind letting his friends borrow them from time to time, but giving them his favored weapons that he had used for centuries and have grown quite fond of every time there was a demon invasion was not something that he was not too keen on doing.
"That was pretty eventful, yeah. Now come on back to bed. It's supposed to be my day today. I want to cuddle till noon." Ruby said, pouting into his back. Jaune turned around in her embrace and hugged her back. He had grown considerably as well. With his jawline becoming more chiseled and his stature becoming more built. Where his height used to be around 6'1" back in his Freshman year of Beacon, he was now a towering 9'8". He rubbed the back of Ruby's head and let out a soft hum.
"Alright, alright. Let's go." Jaune said, waiting for her to lead the way. But she stayed there, not moving an inch. He looked down to see what was wrong when he saw that Ruby was giving him a rather sheepish smile.
"I was thinking that maybe...you could carry me there?" Ruby asked, a small blush prevalent on her cheeks. Jaune chuckled at her request before relenting an scooping her up into his arms in a bridal carry. She sighed in content before nuzzling into his chest. He really did love his wives.
As he made his way to his bedroom, he saw that Weiss was finishing getting ready for work. He placed Ruby down on the bed, giving her forehead a soft kiss, whispering to her that he would get into bed in a moment. Jaune then made his way over to Weiss as she sat in front of a mirror doing her hair. When he made it to her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder, giving her looking at her through the mirror with a smile.
"Hey there Snow Angel. What kind of day are you going to have?" He asked, throwing the question that he always asked her before she went to work.
"You big lug. I'm going to have an awesome day. Though, I would have preferred that it was my turn with you today." Weiss said with a cute pout. Weiss had taken over the SDC from her father and was able to bring it out of the dirt that he had dragged it through. She had her hair in a bun much like her sisters, with the exception that the bun was only a bit lower. She had a nicely fitting suit of a light blue color that covered her beautiful body that belonged only to Jaune. She had not grown too much in the chest department, but she was fine with that. She preferred being lithe and petite. Besides, Jaune said that he would love her no matter what she looked like.
"I know, but just wait two more days and it'll be your turn. Just hang in there my Snow Angel, and we can do whatever you want." Jaune said, making Weiss sigh and lean into his form. They rocked a small bit before Weiss noticed that it was time for her to leave.
"Alright Jaune, I have to leave now. I'll see you later today. Love you." She said, giving him a quick kiss on the lips before heading out the door. Jaune stood there for a moment, sighing to himself before turning and walking to the bed. He crawled onto it before getting underneath the covers with Ruby. She instantly nuzzled up to him and hugged him close to her body.
"Sorry for the wait, Rosebud. Now we can cuddle like you wanted us to." Jaune said as he embraced her. She sighed happily as she intertwined her legs with his.
"Yeah, this is definitely worth the wait." Ruby said as she breathed in his scent. He hummed again before asking Ruby a question. He needed to know where the other three went. Starting with where the bumblebee pair went
"Do you know where Yang and Blake went? I don't think I saw them this morning." Jaune asked as they layed there. Ruby hummed to herself, thinking about it before answering.
"I asked them yesterday if they could leave the house to us for the day. From what I've heard, they're out on the town right now." Ruby said, smiling into his form before shifting so that Jaune was holding her from behind
"Ah, that explains it." Jaune said as he shifted to accommodate the change of position. He did need to know where the last one was though.
"And Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, starting looking down to see Ruby had a bit of a cheeky smirk on her face.
"Out doing a photo shoot with Pumpkin Pete. She really shouldn't have agreed to that last contract. Now they're doing a campaign on her going something along the lines of 'The Invincible Girl Is Doing One Last Brand Of Cereal. Get Your Box Now Before She's Gone For Good!' It's kind of funny really." Ruby giggled. Jaune chuckled along with her. Pyrrha really was too nice for her own good sometimes. Made for some funny moments back in the day. Hell, even now, with what Ruby just said.
"So it really is just you and me today, huh?" Jaune asked, not really seeing the point in asking. He already knew what the answer was. Ruby nodded her head in excitement before nuzzling deeper into his embrace.
"Yes, really. Now stop talking and let me just enjoy this for now. I'll decide what we'll do later." Ruby said softly. Jaune complied, stopping whatever conversations he was going to try and start. If Ruby wanted to just bask in silence while they cuddled, then who was he to deny her on her day?
All in all, these past ten years were full of events. From stopping a half-maiden from trying to bring down the city of Vale, to tracking that same witch down and taking those Maiden powers back, waking Amber from her sleep, to even finding out that the Headmaster of Shade Academy had been working for Salem as well. Even that whole escapade with Dr. Merlot and his genetically enhanced Grim. Especially after Ruby found out about her Silver Eye Powers and how she was part of a clan that were practically the bane of all Grim. They found out that they could bond over that, with how he was the bane of all hell. Blake had been able to confront Adam and kill him off with the help of Yang. Weiss was able to deal with all of her familial problems with the help of both himself and her sister. Ozpin stepped down from his position as Headmaster and retired, giving his title to Goodwitch. Ren an Nora also faced their past 'demons' in their home village and were able to kill the Grim that had destroyed it in the first place. And like Jaune said earlier, he finally got rid of the actual demons that had followed him everywhere he went.
The point was, they had all grown from their experiences. His family has only grown larger as the years went on. From getting to know Winter, Ironwood, Qrow, Taiyang, Goodwitch, Ozpin and a whole lot of other people on a more personal level, he has known each of them to be great friends. Even Penny that had nearly died during the Vytal Festival. He got to know her and learned that she was a robot with a human soul. It kind of freaked him out a bit remembering Hayden, but he warmed up to her rather quickly despite it. She seemed to almost instantly make a strong friendship with Nora. It was almost enough to give Ren a heart attack with how much they were making him over exert himself from trying to keep them in check whenever they hung out together.
Speaking of which, he knew that Ren and Nora recently got hitched with each other. God only knew how long that had been in the making. He'd have to get them something as a congratulation gift. And then something else for the wedding gift. Ah! That would be for another time though. Right now, was Ruby's day.
So as he settled down and cuddled with his wife, he reflected a bit more on his life and past lives. Wondering if he would change anything.
.
..
...
Nope.
Not a damn thing. And he was okay with that. The only thing that he needed to worry about now, were two things. His future with his five wives, and what he was going to get each of them on Non-Descript Winter Holiday.
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..
...
Probably what he's given them every year as of three years ago: Himself!
Dear lord I just dumped this thing onto your laps. It's massive! My largest One-Shot to date. But in any news, I'm done now. Consider this my gift to all of you. You're welcome! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one, I certainly enjoyed working on it. I'm sorry that I didn't deliver on the second One-Shot that I said I would publish this year, but for what I had planned for that one, It's going to be even larger than this one. I'm telling you that right now. As for what story I'm going to update next, I'll be doing The Fall From Grace next. Though, I'll only update it next year...ha, you probably heard that one before. But in all seriousness, right after the holidays, I'll get to work on making the next chapter of that story. With that, I have nothing else left to say except Happy Holidays from me to you. I need to go pass out now. See you in the next decade, Toodles~!
