Ok,found out that I'm so rusty at writing fanfic that I put in the wrong format. So for those that didn't read between the codes, here's the story.
Hi there folks, if you read the intro you should know this here is a Punisher fic in the world of RWBY. If you haven't read it and just clicked on the title, well glad I put it in the effort for something you ignored. -_-
Due to a lack of Punisher xover in RWBY fics, especially ones that don't suck cough(The Revenant)cough, I thought it would be cool to write one up, since I haven't written a fic in a long while and do a more serious story.
Things to know before reading: This was story was meant to be more of a love letter/pseudo-origin to JCoftheCorn's "The Punisher" so if you haven't read it I recommend it before reading this. It's not a direct sequel to his work, but it does inspire heavily on it (in fact it takes place months after chapter 7).
That said I took more of an artist approach to some things to explain how JC's Jaune along with adding different plot points to make Jaune more in line with the Punisher.
This should be without said, but this fic will have dark themes and graphic scenes as it draws inspiration from PunisherMax:Born.
RWBY copyright:RoosterTeeth
Punisher copyright: MARVEL comics
A few yards away from a big wooden house in a clearing surrounded by wilderness, a small storage shed stands. In it a man sits besides his workbench fixing a fishing pole. Much like his home, the man has lived through good times and bad days, sheltered eight growing children with both soft and firm hands. Even now with the harsh hand of time dulling his once golden hair, much like his home, still remains as a symbol of strength and stability for his family.
As continued his work, what could be considered a smaller version of the man walked to the shed. Taking notice of the child, the man smiled for it was his only son. "Hello Jaune what brings you here?" said the man.
"Pa a kid in class keeps picking on me." said the boy. Yet the man paid no mind to this as he continued on with his fishing pole. "Pa can you help me?" The man then applied a wood finisher to the pole. "Pa I'm in trouble and need help! Pa did you hear me? Pa! "
The man turned his head "I hear you son, but I have troubles of my own." He began to look around the shed. "Nothing I have in this world is really good you know. My house is small, my job is small, my salary too." His eyes drifted toward his son and gave a short chuckle. "Even my son is small. So is my wife and when you get right down to it, I'm no giant myself." With his left hand, he picked up the fishing pole. "Everything around me is small and inferior, except this fishing rod." His eyes were on his son. "I myself wind it with best threads and coat it with the best lacquer from Anima."
He once again picked up the pole, to show his son and to admire the beauty of its craftsmanship. Putting it back down he continued on. "Nobody in town has a fishing pole like this. Not even Mr. Latimore down at the bank." A small spread across his face. "I'm so poor and shoddy...well without this pole I'd have nothing to set me apart. Nothing at all and it's why I love it so much."
"Do you love it more than you do with me?" Asked the boy.
The man gave an amused chuckle. "Course I do. What is there about you that can give a man distinction? You're not unusual at all."
" Yes I am Pa"the boy replied, not sounding hurt by the remark. The man looked to him with a questioning gaze. "I may not be now, but I'm going to be."
The man stopped his work."Of course you are. You're going to make the world safe for justice aren't you?"
"What is justice?"
It could be seen on his face that man was searching for the answer. "Well I was never clear about it myself. It's got to do with young with young men killing each other I believe,while the old men have to keep the home fires burning."
"Can't the young men that as well?"
"Young men don't have homes, that's why they go kill each other."
The boy looked towards the ground. "When it's my turn, will want me to go?"
After a brief moment of thought, the man replied. "For justice, any man is willing to give his only begotten son." The man stood from his bench to kneel on one knee, staring into the eyes of his son. "I won't be here to stop it Jaune." He wrapped his arms around his son. "Put your arms around me. I need their warmth to keep the chill of death away. Please." But the boy didn't want to and broke from his father's embrace, running away to the wilderness. "Guess it always comes down to that...each man faces death by himself." [1]
Quickly gasping after waking from his dream, Jaune Arc sits up from his bed and quickly scans his surrounding area then relaxes as he remembers the key details. Inside an abandoned storage depot with noticeable water damage and a pungent smell of mildew.
He spotted a slightly overweight man typing away at a computer and in the next room was a little faunus girl warming up canned beans. Seeing the white tiger girl, Jaune relaxed a bit knowing that there was no immediate danger. He rose up from his makeshift bed and walked toward the kitchen, greeting the girl with a soft good morning, he sat down on a lone chair with a can of beans and a cup of coffee. The portly man stopped his typing, noticing Jaune's presence, rolled his chair towards the table handing a sheet of paper to Jaune. Taking notice of the paper, Jaune rose a brow in uncertainty.
"This legit Micro?"
Scratching his unkempt light brown beard, Micro rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Yeah its legit. Spent all night making sure it wasn't some ambush." He gave a quick yawn and continued. "But all my sources say that the White Fang hiding in the communication tower. They're going to send out the supplies they stole from the town nearby."
Jaune thought about what the mission here was originally supposed to be bring power to the comms tower so that Micro could use the broadband and hack into secured White Fang intel. However, after hearing rumors about bandit attacks happening at the nearby villages. He sent Amy to spy and listen on the villagers to see if their rumors had any truth in them. To make a long story short, it turned out that the raiders were Fang members and with the layout of their work schedule, cordisy of Micro, it appears that they're hurrying to stock up on supplies due to many of their supply outposts being sacked.
Jaune smiled a little at the prospect, but the satisfaction soon left as he heavily thought on what would be the next course of action. After formulating the plans in his head, Jaune turned to the girl. "I want you to grab me a pistol with a silencer, an assault rifle, and two flash bang grenades from the armory. Need to be stealthy and light on my feet. I'll grab my knife and ammo from room."
With that, the girl gave a quick nod and left to complete her task. Jaune noticed a frown across Micro's pale face. Jaune can admit that despite Micro's poor care for his body's health, the man's skill with computers and info gathering was a major asset in getting a leg up against the Fang. However, Jaune knew that flattery wouldn't help him get out of the argument that was brewing.
"It's not like I'm going to let her tag along in the firefight." Jaune said to Micro, but hearing no reply he clicked his tongue. "Like I said before, her old man thought she could help me with fighting the Fang. So I might as well make her my gopher if I'm not letting her in the firefight."
After a brief moment of silence, Micro gave a reluctant sigh while shaking his head. "Yeah I know Jaune, you told me enough about how bad ass they are as a family of thieves." He poured himself a cup of coffee. "I don't want her pissing away her life before it even started. Lord knows we both screwed ourselves of a normal life."
Jaune stood up and started walking to his room, but stopped before he turned a corner. "Just make sure to stay out of my shit." He then left, leaving Micro to stand alone.
Once he walked into the worn down break room that has been his bed room for the past two weeks, Jaune searched in small file cabinet next to his cot. He only picked out two tactical knives, one for disposing of his target silently and the other to be attached on his boot for those special occasions. However, a small glimmer of red caught his attention. Picking it up, he found it to be a picture of his team of old team JNPR along with their sister team RWBY.
A wave of guilt and sorrow filled his heart as he stared at the picture, at the girl with red hair and green eyes. "Pyrrha…" Images of crumbling tower, waves of grim flooding into Beacon, the heat from a raging inferno, soft green eyes full of love and sorrow. Tender lips whimpering from the passion. The push over the edge into the suffocating metal coffin. The dizzy feeling of back down.
The Fall.
Jaune shook his head to clear away the thoughts. 'Not now...gotta stay focused.' He gently folded the picture, putting it away. With that he opens a rusted locker, staring at a pitch black piece of clothing. Quickly he covers himself in the dark fabric of his uniform, a far cry of the uniform in his Beacon days as it feels more comfortable. Wrapping the pants with a white utility belt and tuck the legs into high rise military boots, preventing any clumsy errors, a habit he has kicked long ago.
Taking a good look at himself in the mirror, taking notice of every distinguishable feature of his all black appearance. A large white skull spread across his chest, with the gun belt highlighting the skulls teeth. To any normal person the skull would come off as cartoonish, but with the reputation he has built it has become a fearsome symbol to all criminals that death has come for them and their punishment will soon follow. A final gift from her, the only person who ever believed in him overcoming life's harshness. Believing that this new shirt would make him feel tougher among his peers. Expressing her faith, commitment, and love for him.
He shook his end or else the waves of guilt and shame keep him down. The sound of metal being placed on a table thankfully draws him out of his thoughts and back into reality. Turning his head, he saw the girl layout the weapons he asked for across the table. He gave a quick nod with an automatic "good job". Inspecting the weapons one last time, Jaune loaded them up into a duffel bag grabbing a black ski mask, and head out the door to the tower to face the enemy within.
In the dead of the night, a successful mission as Jaune took off his mask to catch his breath and admire his handiwork. Though the girl's training wasn't much of boast in his basic skills in fighting large crowds, her teachings in stealth have put on par with Ren or Blake. Along with weapons he got from her father, his new skill in stealth enabled him to subdue half of the enemies in the tower without alerting the others. When most of the Fang gathered in one spot to investigate why the others weren't reporting. Jaune threw the dust grenades and quickly took advantage of their confusion mowing them down with an assault rifle and finished off any that still drew breath with his pistol. Within the hour all the Fang members died by his hands and the tower was his, luckily most were green behind the girls.
Now was long wait for Micro to hack into the Fang's servers and grabs as much info then see what they could use. Making sure that none of the bodies were playing possum (would that be racist?). He spotted a scroll on one of the bodies, still functional and with a steady reception, but a low battery. Thoughts of his father and the yearning for home flashed in his head. 'Need to make this quick'. His thumbs dial a number he knew too well and waited for someone to pick up on the other end. The ringing continued, adding more weight to his worries, until a faint feminine voice is heard and anxiety fades.
"Hello?" A familiar voice so sweet and strange picks up.
Swallowing his fears, Jaune happily spoke "Hi Mom". As expected he could hear tears and sniffling from the sturdy woman accompanied with a loud 'My baby boy!' Soon followed by the shrieks of happiness of his many sisters, all demanding to speak to him. Trying to maintain control of the few precious minutes he had left, he asked about the situation at home, which the from the slow responses and somber tone, never a good sign.
His mother, bless her soul, told him the harrowing news that the White Fang have been camping out a few miles away from the town, seeing smoke across the distance where homes used to be, rumors of them 'recruiting' any able body fanus boy near them whether they liked it or not, and now everyone being wrecked with fear.
With a deep breath of calmness, a skilled picked up to combat all manners of stress. "Don't worry I'm heading home. It'll take a few days, but if you and dad can keep everyone calm, I could get there and we can make a plan on what to do." There was no response. "Mom?"
Her voice came back, but noticeably shaky. "J-Jaune your father...it was a w-week ago, he had a heart attack…'sniff' your father's dead". A familiar hollow feeling took hold of him,as if the world stood still. He was about to respond, but found that the battery died. Leaving him alone with his thoughts.
After minutes of non-stop tension of jumping over firewalls, Micro was able to find a window into the White Fang servers gathering as much data as he could before the system rebooted and flushed him out. Despite the soreness in his hands, the cash grab of data was worth it. He stood up and began to walk to a room where he last saw Jaune head into, while trying to ignore the dead bodies that littered the floors and blood sprayed across the walls. Micro managed to find the room and saw him sitting on a chair, then told him of the accomplished mission. However, he could tell something was wrong with Jaune, but he didn't dig further on these thoughts as Jaune told him that they were moving out. Micro looked back to the room, shrugging his shoulders as he didn't see anything important and quickly ran to keep pace with Jaune. They both left the building leaving behind corpses and a crushed scroll on the ground.
I finished this chapter on Father's day and I was half across the otherside of the United States by myself. (._.)*mental paranoid screaming*
Well this ends the first chapter of what was suppose to be a oneshot, why do I torture myself like this.
Hoped you folks enjoyed this, if you didn't do well there's four more on the way. Or you could just read all the other amazing Punisher Jaune fics.
Sidenote: To the eagle eyed readers or those who like easter eggs I'll make a footnote at the bottom describing the info regarding what the text with numbers are referring to.
This intro comes from the movie "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo, which to any those unfamiliar with the movie, watch the music video for Metallica's "One". This is all in reference to the Netflix trailer for The Punisher.