I did say that this chapter was already written, and I can't wait more than two days if I can. Demonic Redemption has been prepared as well, but the next update should be ViewingTES.
"As you well know, or at least as the ones amongst you who have actually done their homework well know, the Faunus Rights Revolution wasn't the first attempt to establish equality for our fellow race." Oobleck's voice droned on and on, every word shot out like a bullet from a minigun, and hitting the students with just as much force. As opposite to Professor Port's class, all students were wide awake, but only because the man's voice was so loud that no one could sleep. "Why, our records are full of mentions of Faunus rebellions or armies, but alas history is written by the victors, and as such mankind hasn't kept those records anything more than mere mentions. Now, who amongst you students can mention one of those events?"
A couple of students raised their hands. Blake, Weiss and Pyrrha were among those few. Had Jaune been there, Ruby was sure he would've raised his hand too. He was too good at History of Remnant. Alas, Sky had convinced him to take Aura Class instead of History, so they didn't have that joint class any more.
Beside her, Blake was allowed to speak, "There are uncountable mentions to such events. The Faunuskind has been trying to free itself from mankind's oppression for centuries, unfortunately to no avail. All rebellions usually ended in Faunus blood being spilled, and the tyranny remaining." Ruby knew Blake had a thing for Faunus. It was the only explanation for why she was always so inflamed whenever the topic came up. She had chewed Sky's head off when he had naively made a racist joke lightheartedly. Needless to be said, the boy had never uttered a word against the Faunus again. "The Vacuan Purge, the Atlasian Inquisition, and many more horrifying actions have been taken against the Faunus for no other reason than race all thorough the history of Remnant. They are, quite literally, Remnant's scapegoat. Whenever something happened, everyone took it out on the Faunus."
Oobleck coughed into his fist and raised an eyebrow at her. "While I would usually welcome such input in my class, I fear I have two issues to address. First, you haven't actually answered my question, instead going on a tirade of your own. But most importantly, you seem extremely biased." He held up a hand to stop her from protesting. "It is true. Mankind has led many a genocidal action against the Faunuskind. However, we should not forget that Faunus are not exempt from flaws. Just look at the White Fang. True, mankind's actions have been horrible. However, the White Fang as it is now is just as horrible, if not more. They steal and murder anyone in their path, even fellow Faunus, hiding behind the excuse of their 'noble cause'. They are nothing more than glorified murderers. I am not condemning the Faunus as a whole, but just as well I am not condemning mankind as a whole. You cannot judge a race from the actions of a few."
"A few?" Blake repeated, hissing slightly.
"Indeed, Ms Belladonna, a few. Allow me to tell you this: if mankind's majority had been racist to that level, the Faunus would have been wiped off Remnant millennia ago. It is for the actions of a few, and the inaction of most, that this has happened." Oobleck nonchalantly tapped his Scroll, and Blake felt her own vibrate. "I suggest you take a look at that file."
Frowning, Blake opened the Scroll and froze.
Blake Belladonna. Daughter of Kali Belladonna and Ghira Belladonna. Cat Faunus. Figuratively speaking, the princess of Menagerie. Do not think your identity is a secret to us Professors, lass. I will keep your secret, but do not think even for a second that you can hide behind that human facade you're holding up.
She raised her eyes to look at the Professor, and suddenly he felt way more dangerous than she had ever imagined. He knew her secret. She couldn't remain any more. Humans hated Faunus, and he was a human. Had he been a Faunus, it would've been different. A Faunus would've understood. A human? Never. They were oppressors.
Seeing her expression, he chuckled. "Why, I myself have fought alongside your parents, Ms Belladonna, during the Faunus Rights Revolutions. We were still children, of course. I quite well remember your father trying to hold your mother back from bashing my father in the head with a kitchen tray. She was quite the fierce girl back then. Is she still like that?"
A thousand thoughts swirled through her head, but Blake found out that embarrassment was the strongest. "Motherhood has mellowed her out a bit," she admitted quietly, trying to block out the snickers that were already ringing out in the class.
"Ah, yes. I've heard that is usually the case," nodded the man. Then taking pity of her, he prodded her to answer his initial question, "So, Ms Belladonna, can you tell us the name of one of those historical events no one ever remembers?"
"Well… there is the Mantle's Second Faunus Revolution," she offered meekly.
"Ms Belladonna, please, could you mention an event that, for once, does not portray mankind as bloodthirsty abominations out for Faunus blood?" the Professor asked under his breath, knowing that she would catch that.
"Or… the Battle of the Two Souls," she quickly corrected her answer, remembering of a battle she had heard of in one of her books' end notes and had then looked up on Remnet.
It was the right answer. Oobleck's eyes lit up and shone as his smile widened to epic proportions. "Ah, yes yes yes! An incredible event worthy of being remembered in Remnant's history! Maybe the only battle to have ever been won without casualties on both sides!"
He zoomed to the map affixed to the wall and pointed with his teacher's wand to somewhere in Mistral. "The Battle of the Two Souls, or the Soulfight as some historians call it, took place in the western part of Mistral, near the village now known as Shion, more than a millennium ago. We have only vague records of that war, because it was over in just one day, with no deaths, and no injuries. People took their weapons to the battlefield, stood there for a while, and then went back home." He stopped long enough to smile to himself. "Before the war could begin, a man from the Faunus side strode forth and offered to fight one-on-one against the human side's commander in a winner takes all battle. The commander refused and ordered his men to fire on him, but his very soldiers refused his orders. If there was a way for them to solve that battle without casualties, all the better. The ones who tried to fire were stopped by their own comrades. On the Faunus side, some were against the idea as well, not willing to leave their fate in the hands of a human, but again they were silenced by their companions."
Oobleck slowly refilled his Thermos as he smiled, "The two warriors were Pierre Porto, yes students it was Professor Port's ancestor, and Robert Respierre, the human side's commander." He smiled when Blake goggled. "Yes, Professor Port's ancestor fought for the Faunus. Why, Peter himself was in the Faunus Rights Revolution. He is over ten years older than me, after all. I was a kid back then, but he was already a soldier."
"Anyway, the two fighters prepared themselves, but Pierre Porto refused to battle Respierre. He stated that he did not wish to draw blood, not even his enemy's. His ideals only endeared him further to the soldiers, and made Respierre call him a coward. However, Porto had the solution." Sipping his newly refilled coffee, Oobleck turned back to the students. "He offered to battle Respierre in their own Soulscape. Who amongst you know what a Soulscape is?"
No one raised their hand, although Ren tilted his head to the side.
"As expected. Soulscapes aren't normally studied by Hunters. Aura experts consider them basic to medium knowledge, but to Hunters it is an extremely advanced topic, in all its simplicity. Like we can all have a mindscape we take refuge in when we meditate on our Aura, Aura users can also take refuge in special mindscapes called Soulscapes. The main difference is that you have no conscious power over your Soulscape. It adapts to your soul, not to your mind's desires." The Professor chuckled at the students' surprised expressions. "Now, an incredibly complex Aura technique allows more than one Aura users to join their Soulscapes into one for a little while. And that is exactly what Pierre Porto offered to do."
"Arrogantly, Respierre accepted the challenge, but he had never fought in a Soulscape. And part of it had been shaped like Pierre Porto's soul: full of passion, but also full of fire. The dangerous terrain distracted Respierre during their fight, which Pierre Porto ended by beheading him. However, that was in their Soulscape. Once they were back to their real world, Respierre was only suffering from a harsh Aura exhaustion instead of, well, death." Oobleck smiled as he noticed that many students had questions ready. He loved when the students actually paid attention. "And thus Pierre Porto was declared the winner, although Respierre later took his revenge by murdering him in his sleep. He was taken and publicly hanged for his crimes, and to this day, in that area, Faunus have always been treated equally."
Cardin Winchester scoffed from his seat a few rows up. "That sounds like a fairy tale," he snorted obnoxiously.
"Mr Winchester, a fairy tale is a story told so many times it became unbelievable. This, is history." Oobleck sipped his coffee. "Also, if you do not remove your feet from your desk within the next three seconds, I will be forced to give you detention and additional readings."
Grumbling, Cardin put his feet down.
"Too slow, Mr Winchester. Too slow. Now, do you have any question?"
/-/
"Students, please, do try and keep your Aura flow stable, or we will never get anywhere." Jaune nodded determinedly as Auntie Glyn's voice sounded in the room. "To enhance your body with your Aura, you must keep control of your Aura's flow, or-"
"Professor, but this is basic knowledge!" a random -and very stupid- student protested. "Everyone knows this! Why are we going over stuff we've been taught in our combat school's first or second year?"
Goodwitch stopped pacing around and looked at him. She didn't even feel the need to glare, she just stared at him as everyone in the room held their breaths. Seconds tickled by, but the scary Professor didn't even blink as her hard green eyes bored a hole in the student's skull. Said student began to sweat profusely, and his Aura flow trembled and stopped. Seconds became minutes, and the students ducked his head, accepting defeat, and returning to his Aura flow exercise. Finally, Goodwitch nodded, and the tension in the room vanished.
The few idiots who had really forgotten to breathe began to pant heavily, in dire need of oxygen.
"I was saying, to enhance your body with your Aura, you must keep control of your Aura's flow, or it will be erratic and unreliable. After you have your flow under control, we can move onto the enhancing part."
"Question!" Goodwitch turned to the girl who had spoken. "Is it possible to use Aura to enhance sexual performance?"
Silence met her words.
In the silence, Goodwitch clicked her tongue. "Why, of course it is. Aura can enhance any feature of your body. From size to pleasure to stamina to fertility, it can also enhance sexual performance." She allowed herself a giggle. "Although some studies have proven that using Aura to enhance sexual performance results in… consequences and collateral effects."
The girl froze with a smile already on her face.
"You see, Aura is a wonderful tool, but you must be careful. You must be focused when you use it. That's why we teach you meditation. Now, while I'm sure there are people in the world who can enjoy wild Aura-enhanced sex without losing focus, I'm afraid those a few and fairly uncommon." She considered the matter for a second before continuing, "If you lose focus during the sexual act, it can result in all kinds of bad effects. You and your partner, or partners, could have your organs fused together. Or you could overenhance your performance and grow dependant to it, like a drug. Or your enhanced organs might just about explode from the pressure of your Aura. Or you might be stuck in a permanent state of near-orgasm… if you aren't into that, that's really nasty. Or… well, I'm sure you get the idea. I could go on, but your horror is no more amusing." Her voice turned icy cold. "Now, if there is no one else who has a stupid question to ask, I will go on with the real lesson."
No one replied, and she allowed herself a small smile. "Now, directing your Aura flow into specific parts of your body will-"
The bell chose that moment to ring out. Everyone scrambled to their feet. "SIT DOWN!" Until a voice boomed out, and they all fell back on the floor. "I WILL FINISH THAT SENTENCE!"
Glynda Goodwitch took a few calming breath to avoid scaring her already terrified students any further. "Directing your Aura flow into specific parts of your body will enhance it. The more Aura you send into it, the more powerful the enhancement will be. If you lose focus, don't overdo. Let go of your flow, and try again. Do not try to stabilize an irregular flow after you've lost focus. Remember the rule of the RRR: Remove the flow, Resend it, Revel the success." The woman smirked. "Now, you can go."
Slowly, the students stood up and gathered their things. Aura Class did not have desks, so everyone took notes from where they were seated on the floor. Jaune's notebook was full of writing. The others', instead, were basically empty, their blank pages telling him just how much he would need to study to catch up with them. Maybe he would never catch up. 'Oh well, it's not like this is a competition,' he told himself as he walked out in the corridor, heading for the next class, Combat Class.
"Oh, look, it's the loser!" Jaune sighed and tried to quietly ignore them, but as usual they didn't allow him to. Team CRDS, just out of History Class, had apparently decided to pay him a visit. How thoughtful of them. A couple other people watched as well, a guy and two girls, with clear amusement.
'And these are supposed to be the defenders of the weak. Really. Look more like the oppressors of the weak to me,' he mentally snarked.
"Hey loser, what's up today? For me, it's been shitty. It was good up until ten minutes ago, when the teach decided to ruin it with a detention. A detention I didn't deserve, too." Cardin Winchester stood squarely in his path, grinning at him. "So, little wimp, got anything to say before I break you?"
"Yes, and it's just four words," Jaune stated blandly, using the same four words he used whenever someone tried to bully him. "Yang and Goodwitch. Duh."
Rage mounted on Cardin's face, but instead of getting redder, he was losing colour. Finally, he stepped back, now pale, alongside all his team. "D-Damn you," he growled, the stammer betraying his fear of Jaune's protectors. "I-I will get-t back at you!"
Jaune waited until he was gone, and then continued to walk toward the Combat Arena. Really, people seemed to forget that he had very powerful friends, and wasn't afraid of using them. Or at least, using their names. He would be a little ashamed if his friends literally had to bail him out of every situation, but threatening with their names was all fruit of his own cunning, so he chalked it up as a victory for himself. He got the bullies to buzz off without his friends rushing in to save him. The day seemed to be starting good, at least.
Later, when he reached Combat Class, his day got even brighter. For some reason, Pyrrha was called down to fight the entirety of Team CRDS, beating them into the dust without as much as losing a sliver of Aura to their hits. She was even still breathing evenly when she ended the match by slamming Cardin into the floor headfirst, something that really made his day.
Of course Glynda had found out that they had threatened him. His aunt was amazing like that.
However, as the next match began, Nora Valkyrie against some poor sod who didn't know that fate had just spat on his legs' life expectancy, he found his sleeve being pulled by Ruby. Turning away from the one-sided slaughter in the arena, he faced her with a smile that told everything about his good mood. "Yes Ruby?"
"Jaune, do you know what a Soulscape is?" she asked excitedly. He shook his head. "Professor Oobleck told us about it during History Class. It was about a war called The Soulfight or something. It wasn't in the program, it was an extra. And this war was solved by the use of this 'Soulscape'."
"Seems nice," commented the boy. "But what exactly is a Soulscape?"
"Oobleck explained that your Aura is like a house for your soul, adapting to it to host it to its best. The Soulscape is basically our soul's home! Every person's is different!" She was really excited about it, ignoring the futile pleas for mercy coming from the arena. "It's like a mindscape, but of the soul. I think that's the place you saw when you unlocked my Aura! It was my 'Soulscape'!"
Jaune blinked and thought back to a week or so prior. "There were lots of roses, and your mother's gravestone, but I couldn't see much because all around there were rose-covered hills. And there was a forest with a fountain in the middle. You were laying there when I woke you up."
"I saw you, and the forest, and I grabbed your hand," nodded Ruby. "Yes, but I mean… could you have unknowingly performed some super duper cool Aura technique that someone allowed you into my Soulscape? Professor Oobleck said that Soulscapes can adapt to two different souls, but that it has never been recorded of a Soulscape adapted to a single soul, but hosting two."
"Ruby." She looked at him. "I have no idea. I literally have no idea whatsoever. Heck, I am barely starting to learn how to enhance my body with Aura, how am I supposed to know about how I sneak into a Soulscape?"
Ruby slumped. "I just… I hoped you would have the answer… it's been bugging me ever since History Class…"
"I believe that has been a result of Jaune's Semblance and your 'Link', as Ms Goodwitch called it in your Beacon Database profile," Weiss cut in from the row above them. "You two share a spiritual bond, and Semblances are almost always unique. It is entirely possible for you to be able to do things no one has ever been able to do. After all, Jaune, your Semblance has already been surprising us. You resurrected your ancestor, then Ruby, exchanged an eye and some locks of hair with her, you can use each other's Aura at high stress levels, and apparently you have an empathic link. The first two points of this list have probably never been recorded on their own, while Aura sharing and mental links are rare, but not unheard of."
"So, what you're trying to say is…" Jaune urged her to finish.
Pyrrha did so in her stead. "She means that your unique Aura unlocking process could've been yet another aspect of your Semblance that you have not examined yet."
Pyrrha was still kind of a mystery to Jaune. From what Yang, Blake and Sky had told him, the girl rarely spoke at all when not urged to or spoken to, and she never gave orders as team leader, not even as jokes. She never got involved in their conversations when she could stay out of it, and overall was the most introverted person the three had ever met aside from Blake.
However, after the formation of Team PWVR, she had really begun to warm up and talk a lot more, apparently thanks to Weiss. Nora wasn't a reliable source of information, after all. She had told Jaune and his team that Pyrrha had always had problems with handling her fame, and how it made people act around her, but that having Weiss -someone who was used to such things- in her team had really made her ease up. Ironic, since Weiss was still the coldest of the group. Through Weiss, Pyrrha had begun to talk with Ren, probably the only person who could speak as little as she did. Weiss hadn't been needed for Nora: the hyperactive bomber could've befriended a wall. Thrown in the middle of her team, Pyrrha had apparently managed to loosen up a bit.
She still kicked everyone's asses in Combat Class, though.
"That's cool, though I'm beginning to think there is some sort of very serious drawback to this Semblance," grinned Jaune while Goodwitch finally took pity of the student in the arena and called the match, "because really, it's too powerful. It's baffling."
"Jaune, my Semblance is Ferrokinesis," explained Pyrrha. "I can move and manipulate anything that contains iron, including alloys like steel or Dust-alloyed steel. It literally makes my opponents powerless against me if I wish so, unless the ones who do not use any kind of iron or iron-alloy weapon, which are extremely few."
"I don't!" exclaimed Ruby. "Crescent Rose is a magnesium alloy!"
"Alloyed with what, Ruby?" Pyrrha asked. "And no, I can apparently move any kind of metal, but for the longest time I thought I could only move iron. That's why I named it Ferrokinesis, and even when I found out I could manipulate any metal, the name stuck." She giggled. "For the first months, I thought my Semblance was Polarity. I thought I could use magnetic fields to move metals. Then I realized that I did not use magnetism, I literally moved and manipulated the metal, and so the name was lost."
"While my Semblance allows me to create two types of Glyphs: platforms and propellers. The black Glyphs are propellers. The white ones are platforms. Those are the two basic Glyphs of my Semblance," explained Weiss, looking as proud as the Beacon statue. "Then, if I add Dust, I can make more or less whatever I wish. Ice manipulation, fire, increased gravity, time manipulation, speed Glyphs…" She trailed off as they all stared at her. Clearing her throat, she smiled. "The Schnee family Semblance has been recorded as Remnant's most powerful Semblance, yes. A fully earned title, I can assure you."
"Resurrection with benefits, metal manipulation, strongest Semblance on Remnant…" Ruby slumped. "I feel cheated…"
/-/
Blake Belladonna was a girl with a mission. Said mission was to silently sneak out of her dorm, without waking up the four other people sleeping in it. Easy task. They were all absurdly deep sleepers. Then she silently exited the dorm, and crept down the corridor. Avoiding the hallways, she quickly reached the entrance hall. No one was there, and the giant door was closed. No matter, she darted to a window, opened it, and crawled out of the school.
Half of her mission had been done. Blake Belladonna was in the school no longer. She swiftly ran across the courtyard and toward the docks. She reached them without problems. She only had one more thing to do. She would stealthily take a Bullhead and flee to Vale. There, Professor Oobleck wouldn't be able to find her. Now that he knew of her identity, it was only a matter of time before he slipped and hinted at it with the students. She knew he wouldn't do it on purpose, but he was still a mortal being: he made mistakes. If all the faculty knew, then soon she would be found out, and thus betrayed. Maybe hanged, or burned at stake.
She looked around, and promptly groaned.
Of course there were no Bullheads going to Vale in the middle of the night. What had she been thinking? No matter, she had stolen an airship before. It wasn't a Bullhead, but she was Blake Belladonna, former White Fang lieutenant and one of their best members. She could handle a Bullhead.
She jumped when someone cleared their throat behind her. Whipping around, she was met with the sight of a very amused Headmaster staring back at her. Her hand never leaving Gambol Shroud's hilt -an action that seemed to greatly amuse him- she slowly stepped back. "What do you want?" she asked, quite brusquely.
"I merely wish to inform you that our Bullheads are not that easy to steal. We have an access code and authentication process. Stealing one would just wake up the whole Academy, and put yourself in serious trouble." The Headmaster strode past her and toward one of the powered-down flying monsters. "If you wish to reach Vale, I will gladly fly you there. I am authorized, and I have a proper flying license, as opposite to you. However, there is something I must ask from you in return."
Blake nodded, preparing herself for the worst. He would ask for information about the White Fang, but she would never tell him. If she did, he would use that information to find them, and the Hunters would slaughter them. Blake didn't want that. The White Fang had to be reformed, not destroyed. They were misguided Faunus, not murderers.
Or maybe he would ask her to remain in Beacon. That would be even worse. Or he would ask her to send a message to her team to inform them of where she was. Again, something she really didn't want to do.
Or maybe he wanted something more… risqué. She blushed. Nudes? Was that what he wanted? Or some kind of sick show? Or even worse, actual sex? Her books were very extensive on the matter. They covered just about anything he could ask her, from top secret world-saving missions to steamy acts in the Bullhead's pilot cabin.
Instead, the Headmaster's words were quite different. "If you accept a lift, I want you to stop considering yourself the only intelligent being in the entire world."
"What?" she said, outraged.
"I would ask you to stop considering yourself the only person with a brain on Remnant. You are not the only one who knows what is right and what is wrong, and you do not know everything about people. You cannot assume they will act like you think -or rather, you fear- they would act." The man looked at her from above his glasses. "Even now, you are assuming you are in the right, and everyone else is in the wrong. I just ask you to start thinking that other people are capable of mental process just as much as you are."
And with that, he started the engine.
Let's face it: canon Blake is a hypocrite moron who thinks to be the only intelligent being on Remnant. She, at 17, thinks to be the only one to be trying to do something against the White Fang. She hatchs a plan with her team that ends with them bringing a giant robot controlled by a ruthless criminal where?! IN A FUCKING HIGHLY TRAFFICKED HIGHWAY! Where, of course, they jump on cars, so Roman literally sends those cars flying. I wonder how many of those drivers have made it out of there alive. Plus I'm sure they have damaged the supports of the highway (at least one was destroyed by Roman punching Yang through it), that means making the highway fucking COLLAPSE! All those deaths, and why? Because a damn group of teenagers thought they could do more than professional Hunters and policemen? All those people's lives were lost because of their arrogance, but Blake was the one to bring her team to do it. Her team was happy as it was, with having stopped Roman at the docks. But nooo, she goes and is moody because she didn't save the world, so then they hatch a stupid plan that worked for a MIRACLE or two, and when they fuck it up no one even tells them off for having caused the death of so many civilians.
Also, Blake calls the White Fang misguided. She herself left the organization because it had turned murderous. Well girl, misguided and murderer can go well together, you know? The Faunus of the Fang are both misguided, and murderous criminals. But no, they are misguided. If a human then mistreats a Faunus, it's pure evil and she's furious. Uuuuh... 2 + 2 = 22, Blake? How does your brain work? Did you hit your head too hard when you were little?
Do not get me wrong, I like her character. I do, and I love to write her in my more serious stories.
But there are these scenes in canon that just ruin both her and RWBY as a whole. Like when she's revealed to be the f*** Princess of Menagerie. She left to join the Fang just because she, at what was probably 13, thought she could change the world. Sorry, in my world there are no monsters of darkness, but I was way less naive than that at 13. I stopped believing I could change the world when I was 5, folks. Her parents loved her and she ran away, calling them cowards, because of what? Because they refused to become terrorists who stole and hijacked cargos? Because they refused to make the Faunus's reputation even worse by joining a criminal organization? Genius girl.
The point is, Blake could've been a marvelous neutral/bad character. In my A Darker Shade of Gold, Roman is among the 'heroes' yet he's still a bad guy who has no morals and would kill people just to keep his 'style'. So yeah, you don't need the goody-two-shoes to have a hero. Blake would've been a nice anti-hero. But no, RT had to make her the good good girl. And that was just ruined by those scenes.
Heroes aren't just the good guys. Bad guys can go against other bad guys if they have something to gain.
But since this story is humour and not serious like DarkerShade or Demonic Redemption (I'll call it Redemption from now on), I'm making this stupidly funny instead of demolishing it with logic and coherency. But anyway, let's move on. I placed the Faunus Rights Revolution about 50 years before the start of canon, so the main character's parents were already teens when it happened. And I took Kali's tray scene from V5 and added it here as well, hehe. Kali Belladonna, Master Wielder of Kitchen Trays.
Also, Soulscapes, yay!
No romance in this chapter, though.
And finally, the part with Jaune's 'bullies'. In canon, his friends are literally the strongest first years, and probably among the strongest students in all of Beacon. So, who is stupid enough to bully Jaune? True, he can't fight back, but ALL his friends can kick the bully's ass from Remnant to the shattered Moon if they hear about that!
Until next time,
Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh