Author's note: Took the entire day to write. I'm rather looking forward to Season 2. What about you guys?
Season 1 Finale, Part 2:
Family
Twelve hours ago.
Blake breathed easier now that she had managed to slip away from the rest of her team. She trusted them in battle… but there were things she wasn't confident about letting them know yet.
Like the fact that she was a Faunus. Something she had faced discrimination for already in Vale. Something her entire kind had faced discrimination for. And the case of Velvet Scarlatina showed that Beacon, for all its progressive policies, was not immune to this hatred.
In Blake's case, her situation was made worse by the fact that on her very team was the daughter of the family that was as responsible as any for the pain of her people. The Schnee Dust Company had exploited and enslaved Faunus for generations with the support of the law. They now continued to do so by using loopholes, and outright concealing what they couldn't explain away.
Weiss was everything she would have expected the daughter of a family like that to be. Self-righteous and arrogant. But she was undoubtedly capable. There were good qualities to her as well. She was reliable, and brave. And she had been ready to support Velvet.
Yet, while she might not share the Schnee hatred for Faunus, it was extremely likely the same could not be said for her feelings towards the White Fang. One could be pro-equality and anti-White Fang. In fact, if you were pro-equality, you were most likely against the White Fang by simple logic, since they were responsible for several attacks on civilians, in addition to numerous other criminal acts. They were the largest rogue militant organization in existence.
Blake had been part of that. She had joined back when the group had been peaceful. But she had not left immediately after its change in leadership. She had participated in robberies. Was part of the White Fang's forces.
And… she wasn't sure Weiss would be able to forgive her for that.
She relaxed a little when she arrived at Tukson's. Going inside, she asked the old man if he had been able to procure the sequel to Sparda's story, a book called Devil May Cry, focusing on his son, Dante. The fact that he had indeed been able to procure it was a ray of sunshine in an otherwise cloudy day. She paid for her copy and left with it, only to immediately run into someone upon exiting the store.
"Ouch… look where you're going, maybe?" she said, slightly more passive aggressive than normal.
"Sorry about that. You okay?"
She got her first real look at the person she had bumped into.
He was tall and well built, his open white shirt providing ample view of a lean torso. His jeans were slightly ripped at the knees, and he wore sneakers. With blond hair and blue eyes, he looked, in a way, similar to Jaune. However, what caught Blake's attention, was his tail.
He quickly noticed that she was staring at it, and moved it around, triggering Blake's tendency to follow moving objects.
"As flattering as the attention is, kitty, we're kind of blocking the view here."
His words broke Blake out of her trance. Embarrassed, she moved out of the way of the entrance to Tukson's, which she had indeed been blocking. Blushing slightly, she still glared at him. It wasn't unusual for Faunus to immediately catch on to others of their kind. They had better senses of smell, and Faunus smelled different from humans. There was also the fact that they simply tended to be more observant of physical cues; it was likely that Sun had spotted her "bow" moving.
She was still annoyed at having been found out so easily, especially by someone who was making zero effort to hide his own nature.
"You really feel confident enough to be walking around like that?" she couldn't help but say.
He looked genuinely surprised for a moment, as if not really sure what she was trying to say, before he realized what she must be referring to, and laughed.
"Eh? What's the point of hiding it? Anyone who's really looking will see anyway. Besides. I'm not afraid of being myself."
Blake was slightly startled. This guy was confident, to say the least. But overconfidence often got people killed.
"This isn't Menagerie. Being yourself is fine… advertising it to the world might not be."
He looked around.
"Really? I don't see anyone trying to hurt me."
He waved at a boy across the street, who was walking by with his parents, and the boy waved back.
Blake grit her teeth in irritation. It wasn't just the fact that he probably knew that his little example just now didn't count, the fact that he knew he was just trying to justify his careless way of life. It was also the fact that he was able to effortlessly reach out and interact with people, something she struggled to do. It was the fact that he was walking around with his true nature on show like it was nothing, though it might get him killed.
"So? You got a name, kitty?"
"The name is Blake, asshole," she muttered.
"Hello, Blake. Any relation to the poet? No? Never mind. I'm Sun. Nice to meetcha."
For a moment, the two of them simply stood there awkwardly. While the boy irritated Blake, she was still in no mood to go back to her dorm or meet her team yet. And she needed a way to spend the time. As annoying as Sun was, he was still a Faunus, and she didn't often get to talk to any at Beacon. Of course, there was no way she would indicate any of this to him.
Fortunately, he spared her the need by making a move first.
"So. As you've probably noticed. I'm new here. Could do with someone to introduce me to the place. You wanna go get some coffee?"
She sighed slightly, but was glad for the opportunity.
"Fine."
And so, ten minutes later, they were hanging out on a rooftop, each of them holding a canned coffee in their hands.
"So, Blake. What's your story?"
"Pfft. Yeah, sure. I'm gonna tell you that right off the bat."
"Ouch. Well, I guess I was asking for that one. Still, you look like you can handle yourself. You a student at Beacon or something?"
It wasn't a difficult guess. If she was a resident of Vale, and a combat specialist, it was likely she was a student at Beacon, which was the nearest institute to this town, not to mention the largest one in Vale.
"And you're someone who's come in for the Vytal Festival," replied Blake.
She was fairly confident she was right. Sun's body language said he knew how to fight, and he definitely wasn't from around here. Given the timing, he was definitely a student from one of the other Academies.
"Shade Academy from good old Vacuo," he said, grinning proudly.
Blake raised an eyebrow.
That was unexpected. Vacuo was notoriously lawless, and conflict was common. The fact that Sun had managed to survive there given the way he was… was impressive.
"You must have the luck of the Devil himself," she muttered.
"I'm pretty lucky," he agreed.
He didn't seem perturbed at anything Blake said. Being laid back and cool seemed part of his nature. He seemed almost impossible to rile up.
Blake sighed. It was like he was the exact opposite of the kind of hotheads that seemed to make up her former organization these days.
"You ever hear of the White Fang?" she asked him.
"Duh. Those assholes are everywhere on the news these days. Sheesh, talk about some jackasses giving an entire people a bad name."
"Not always…" she half-whispered, sadly. But there was truth in his words, and she couldn't deny it. "There was a time when their intentions were good though."
"Heh. You sound like you know them pretty well."
"I was one of them," said Blake.
Sun's eyes widened, and he laughed a little, though it was clear he was doing it to clear the mood.
"So much for not telling me your story," he joked.
"It's just one chapter out of many," replied Blake. "But… it was an important chapter. Have you heard the news about the recent robbery?"
"That was just a few miles away from this town, wasn't it?"
Blake nodded.
"Yeah, it was. Police haven't confirmed anything yet, but I'm almost sure it was them. And, if they were, it makes most sense to bring the shipments here, to a port town."
Sun straightened up, eyes glinting slightly.
"Then you're saying, somewhere here right now, there's thousands of tons of Dust?"
"There's a bunch of abandoned warehouses. And they're all close to the docks. They'll be using one of them. We can't get ourselves any good press… but maybe we can at least stop more bad press. What do you think?"
Sun stared at her, his expression giving nothing away.
"You don't seem like the type to put yourself at risk for something like that. Not anymore, anyway. You left them, right? Why risk everything trying to stop them now?"
Blake hesitated slightly.
"Because… I let someone down recently. I should have stood up for her. But… I didn't. The one who did is a human. I guess… I just want to be able to look at her without being ashamed. Do at least something for our people, you know?"
She looked up at him, wondering if he would understand, and was greeted with a broad grin.
"That's one way of making up for a mistake, I guess. Who am I to take that chance away from you? Sure, I'll help. Anything that involves putting a bunch of holier-than-thou jerks in their place, I'm up for."
Elsewhere.
Ruby and Yang were on their way back to the dorms. The day had taken a turn for the majorly weird after that sighting of Jaune with his sister. Weiss had gotten involved, and after a bit of an altercation, had gone off with him, leaving the two sisters by themselves.
"She's got a major waterfall going for him, she does," said Yang.
"Urghh… Yang, that's so gross!"
"Hey, facts are facts. Nothing wrong with se-"
Before she could complete what she was saying, however, she ran right into someone, in keeping with this chapter's theme of sudden meetings.
Said person was far denser than she expected, with the result that Yang also fell over backwards on her butt.
"Well, that was stupid," she muttered. Opening her eyes, she saw that the person she had collided with was lying on the ground, but perfectly conscious, and starting right at her. It was an unnerving sight, and the girl looked like she had, figuratively speaking, quite a few screws loose.
Getting up, she decided to cautiously test the waters.
"Umm… you okay?"
"Yes! I'm absolutely great!" said the girl in a voice that was far too cheerful given the situation.
"Er… okay, sure. You maybe… want to get up?"
The girl blinked, as if realizing something.
"Yes, I do!" she said enthusiastically. Turning over on to her back, she drew her legs back and kipped up to her feet.
"It's a pleasure to meet you! I'm Penny!"
"I'm Ruby," said the younger sister, not sure what else to say.
"You didn't hit your head, did you?" asked Yang.
"Sis, that's super rude," whispered Ruby, quite audibly.
"Uh, sorry. I mean, I'm Yang."
"It's a pleasure to meet you!" said Penny.
"You already said that."
"So I did," said the girl, not at all seeming put off by this revelation.
She was of a slight build, approximately the same height and physique as Ruby, and looked to be the same age too, in her mid-teens. Bright green eyes stood out vibrantly, as did her orange hair. There were slight freckles on her face. Overall, she looked rather adorable, all things put together.
There was just the fact that something about her expressions seemed slightly… off.
Before the conversation could proceed further, they were interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps.
A fully armoured figure approached, and both sisters recognized the girl they had met mere moments ago.
"Ah, Penny. There you are. You have to stop running away like this," said Lily Arc. Her face bespoke tired resignation, as though she already knew the girl wasn't going to do as she asked.
"Lily! Sal-u-tations!" said the unusual girl brightly, clearly happy to see the new arrival.
"Yes, yes, I'm happy to see you too. I'd be a lot happier if you stopped making my job harder though," she said, walking over to her.
"Apologies! But upon arrival, I simply could not resist observing from close quarters the people and architecture of Vale. They are simply marvellous!"
The blond knight sighed slightly.
"If you want to see the sights, you just need to tell me, and I'll be more than happy to accompany you," she said.
"Noted!" said Penny, whose optimism seemed unbreakable.
The two sisters were starting to wonder if this was a good opportunity to slip away, when the knight turned her eyes upon them.
"Hey, I recognize you too! You were with that snow chick who's got a waterfall going for my brother."
Ruby groaned, while Yang silently performed a gesture of celebration ("called it").
She eyed them up and down.
"You two look to be Beacon students. Am I right?"
"That's right," said Ruby. "I'm Ruby Rose."
"And I'm Yang Xiao Long. You are…"
"Lily," she answered, making no mention of her surname. "Nice to meet you both. Hmm… you seem stronger than the average Academy students these days. Beacon must be pretty good…"
"It's only the best school in the kingdom," said Yang, never one to lose the opportunity for a quip.
Lily nodded, quite seriously.
"Exactly! I was worried the tournament was going to be boring with all these kids who fight like, well, kids. But if they're going to be like you, then it's going to be one heck of a fun battle!"
"You're participating?" said Ruby. Lily clearly looked like a warrior, and she was even carrying that massive hunk of a sword on her back. "What school are you from?"
"Atlas," said the knight. "I'm not the only one participating either."
She gestured to Penny.
"Indeed! I shall be taking part as well!" She raised a fist in the air triumphantly.
"Er…" Yang looked at Lily, silently asking if she was being serious.
The knight smirked slightly. She clapped Penny on the shoulder.
"Don't underestimate Penny! She's the pride of Atlas! Ain't nobody who can defeat her… well, except me, of course. But then, I'll be winning the tournament. Penny, you better bring your A-Game in the finals. We want to give the crowd a good show!"
"Roger that," said the girl, who, like the taller knight, seemed completely confident in her abilities.
"Oh… confident, huh?" Yang said, with a smirk of her own. "Hope you won't feel bad when I make you eat those words."
She'd be lying if she didn't feel like Lily reminded her of some kind of weird, distorted mirror image of her. And her confident declaration of a win had ignited her own fighting spirit.
"You'll be going out with a Yang, huh?" replied the armoured girl.
Pin drop silence followed the joke, until Penny spoke.
"Oh, I see. This is an example of the form of humour known as a 'pun', which relies on similar sounding words!"
Ruby looked at her sister, worried for her sanity. Yang had never been beaten to the punch on a bad joke before, but she had now. How would she take it?
Fortunately, she laughed loudly, breaking the tension. She nearly collapsed from her enjoyment, until finally, wiping away her tears, she looked at the stranger who was so much like her.
"I can't lie. Anyone with a sense of humour has my respect. How is it that a chick this cool has a brother with a stick so far up his ass?"
Lily's eye twitched subtly. The shift in her mood was almost imperceptible, and indeed, neither Ruby nor Yang had sensed it. The smile remained on her face, but it had turned cold. Penny, who had seen the Knight everyday since her birth, understood immediately, and turned to look at her.
When the knight spoke, her tone sounded almost the same, with just the barest hint of ice revealing the change.
"Yes, he certainly appears that way to others, doesn't he? Tell me… how is my brother doing anyway? What is he like at Beacon?"
Yang couldn't immediately reply. While she was looking to give her all in the tournament, and would do so regardless of the opponent, the fact was, the wildcard in the equation had temporarily slipped her mind.
Jaune.
Now she had been reminded. If it came to a fight with him, would she be able to win?
She spoke haltingly.
"He's… a good guy," she said finally. On this, she had no doubt. In hindsight, she could see that his reaction was only to be expected after how they had treated him. There was also no doubt he was a decent person. "A little hard to get along with… but he's got a pair of balls."
Lily's expression changed momentarily again.
"... I see. Is he any good in a fight?"
"You're kidding, right?" said Ruby, staring at her in near shock.
Lily narrowed her eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"Have you… didn't you guys train together?" asked the younger girl. "I mean, there's no way you don't know…"
"Know what?" asked Lily. She suspected she knew what they were going to say. After all, she had seen him moments ago, and he certainly had appeared strong. His body language, posture, tone, words and actions had been that of someone who could fight. But even so, she wanted to hear about it from those who had actually seen him in action.
"He… he's probably the best in our year," said Ruby. Unlike Yang, she was less hung up on her ego, and had no qualms about admitting that fact.
Lily's eyes widened slightly.
"As expected of your brother!" said Penny brightly. She didn't like it when her companion was in a bad mood. Thus, she tried a method she had heard of, indirectly cheering someone up by saying something they wanted to hear.
"... I see. That's interesting. Well, I now have two opponents I want to fight at the tournament. This has been a good day so far."
She turned to Penny.
"Pretty good day for you as well, huh?"
"Indeed, it was!"
"Well then, I think the two of us will take our leave for now. See you around."
With that, she turned to leave, steps sounding as always like hammerfalls. Penny waved and began to leave too.
"See ya!" said Ruby. It was a typical farewell, but it had much more meaning for girl than she could have ever foreseen.
Penny's eyes glittered for a moment.
"Yes, we will!"
With that, they left.
"Huh. Well that just happened, I guess," said Yang.
The two sisters returned to their dorm shortly. However, as the hours passed by, they got more and more worried when Blake did not return, and did not pick up their calls either.
Present Time.
Docks.
Blake and Sun observed the figures in white bone masks. As expected, they were moving cargo.
"There's quite a few of them," noted Sun.
"Who aren't expecting an attack," replied Blake.
Sun shook his head.
"You're letting your emotions control you. We go in there swinging, we'll be surrounded. We should call for help."
"No we can't!"
Sun looked taken aback at her vehemence.
"There isn't anyone I can call on. No one I can trust with this. I have to do this, now. And I'll do it alone if I have to."
Sun gritted his teeth. This was a spectacularly bad idea. But he had come this far, and he wouldn't just let her go in alone.
"Well, it was a good life," he said, offering a silent prayer. "Let's go."
Blake nodded.
The two of them approached, travelling by the rooftops, until they were as close as they could get to the warehouse without giving up higher ground.
They decided to watch a little longer, and saw that there was one man who was in charge.
He wore a white suit and bowler hat, and carried a cane.
"Move it, you mutts! We're on a time crunch here! Get them all loaded now!"
The boxes were being loaded onto a ship. This was where they were planning to leave shore.
"He's the one big fish, but he's not the biggest one," said Blake.
"Yeah," agreed Sun. "That would be her."
Several metres away from the cane carrying one, a girl sat on top of a container. She too was wearing a white suit, and appeared to be carrying, of all things, an umbrella.
"Well, this is it. Do or die."
Beacon dorms.
Fifteen minutes ago.
"Still unreachable on her Scroll," said Ruby. "This is pointless. We go out and look for her."
"But where? She could be literally anywhere. Without a lead, where do we start?" asked Yang.
There is someone who can find us a lead, thought Weiss.
Jaune had stated he could sense Auras. It was possible he would be able to track Blake. It was the only option they had available now.
"I know where we can start," she said aloud, surprising even herself.
The two others stared at her.
Put on the spot, she gulped and pressed on.
"Jaune can help us find her."
At the mention of him, both Ruby and Yang were momentarily surprised, but recovered quickly.
Yang's expression turned into one of bitter self-loathing.
"There's no way he'd help us now. Not after what we did to him…"
"No!"
Weiss' exclamation caused both their eyes to widen.
"He'll absolutely help. I know it! There's no way he wouldn't answer an honest request for help."
The complete faith in her eyes shook both the sisters. They had noticed this change come over Weiss since the moment she had first decided to stand by him after the fight in the Dining Hall. The arrogant, spoiled heiress would, at times, be replaced by an individual of conviction and action. They were seeing it now.
Weiss was a capable girl. And if she had that much faith in Jaune…
Yang's face gave.
"FINE! I DON'T GIVE A SHIT! JUST… TELL HIM TO HELP!"
She was panicking. Ruby could see it. It was like seeing into the past again. Into the eyes of a much younger Yang, who had desperately gone into the forest to look for a mother who wasn't coming back.
That's right. Apart from Dad and Uncle Qrow… this is the only family we have.
They had barely known each other a few months. In that time, Yang, as always, had appeared the most uncaring out of all them. Ruby, of course, knew of her sister's underlying fear of losing people, and knew that this front was just a way to keep herself from getting too attached to others.
Ruby silently gripped her sister's hand, while looking at Weiss.
"Jaune will help, right? Then we need to talk to him, now."
Weiss nodded and opened the door. At this time, even he would be in his room. Walking across the hall, she knocked on the door of the dorm right opposite their own, which opened to reveal Ren.
Great. Not the one I'm looking for, but definitely one of the easier ones to deal with.
Things were slightly uncomfortable between herself and Pyrrha, and Nora was hard to interact with even on the best of days.
"Is Jaune in?" asked Weiss, skipping the preamble.
If Ren was curious as to why she was asking, he did not show it. Instead, he simply nodded, and turning around, called into the dorm.
"There's someone here for you."
A second later, Jaune came up to the door, at which point Ren went inside to give them some space.
Seeing the blond Shinken sent a powerful sense of relief through Weiss. He had changed into his dorm clothes, but looked wide awake and far from tired.
"Blake is missing. She still isn't back, and we can't reach her on her Scroll," said Weiss, getting right to the matter at hand.
Immediately, without asking any questions that would push back the needed task, Jaune nodded. He understood that Weiss intended to go find her, and that the rest of Ruby would be coming too.
And they needed his help.
"Give me a moment. I'll be at your dorm."
Understanding, Weiss nodded and left, allowing Jaune to close the door after her. Not wasting any time, he began to change out of his casual wear and into his leather travelling clothes.
"... You aren't planning on going without us, are you?"
Ren was a few feet away, likewise changing into his own combat attire.
"Eavesdropping is a bad habit," said Jaune.
"So is going off solo when you have a team," replied Ren.
The two glared at each other a while.
Finally, Jaune sighed.
"Whatever's happening is probably not legal. Definitely not within school rules. RWBY is already involved, obviously. I don't want to get you guys in trouble too."
"This an Academy for Hunters, Jaune. We're in trouble by just being here. And you already know this. There's no need to be overly gentle with me. You don't trust us, do you?"
Jaune zipped up his leather vest and stared Ren in the eye. He had not expected him to be this confrontational, since he normally preferred adapting to the flow rather than going against it.
"No, I don't," answered the Shinken. He was certainly not afraid of stating his true feelings.
"Then there's something wrong here. A team can't function without trust."
"Now is not the time, Ren. And that ship sailed."
"No, it hasn't! If we don't have your trust… then we'll earn it."
Jaune raised an eyebrow.
"Is that so? You'll earn my trust by risking expulsion? What are you even here at this school for, Ren? Doesn't graduation mean anything to you?"
"You haven't earned the answer to that one," replied Ren calmly.
The two glared at each other a moment longer.
Well, they're warriors. If they want to go in of their own free will, I have no reason to stop them.
"Fine. So you'll come. But you don't speak for everyone."
Ren smiled slightly.
"I never said anything about Pyrrha or Nora coming along."
For the first time since coming to Beacon, Jaune found himself grinning at Ren.
He nodded, and the two of them left quickly before the girls returned to the dorm. Jaune knocked on RWBY's door, which opened immediately. Looks of surprise emanated at seeing Ren with him, but Jaune placated them.
"He's coming along. Don't turn down willing help."
Weiss nodded.
"We need to find her, now! Can you… can you do that?"
She looked at Jaune with hope. Hoping that once more, his unheard-of powers and skills would perform a miracle.
Jaune nodded. "Come, we must move out."
Without further ado, they all left the dorms, via RWBY's window.
Jumping over the walls, they dashed into town at full speed, at which point they switched to travelling from rooftop to rooftop.
"There is a possibility she might leave town one way or another by unregistered ship. The docks are the first place to cross off the list."
By stretching out his sense, Jaune could locate an Aura in a 2 kilometre radius from himself. If Blake wasn't at the docks, his plan was to start moving faster, and quickly cover the entire town.
However, this wasn't required, as she happened to be at the docks.
As they moved, Jaune sensed a familiar Aura from that direction.
"Found her! She's at the docks!"
They picked up the speed, arriving at the warehouses in minutes.
Their arrival couldn't have been more timely.
Jaune caught sight of Blake just as she was leaping off the building she had been on… towards a man carrying a cane. All around were several individuals in black clothes and white bone masks. They hadn't noticed Blake's presence, but would do so as soon as she landed, and attack her at once. There was a blond Faunus with a tail as well, who seemed… to be going into battle with Blake.
Right as she was three feet away from landing blade-first on the bowler-hat wearing man, he sensed her presence, and leapt backwards, causing her to land instead on the ground.
"Oh, come on! Annoyance after annoyance!" shouted the man, brandishing his cane. "Well? Don't just stand there! Get them!"
All around Blake, guns came up, fully automatic, close to fifty of them, all of them aimed at her and Sun. They wouldn't be able to deflect or dodge that much firepower.
"JAUNE, YOU GOTTA HELP HER!" shouted Yang.
The air around the Shinken was blasted away as he accelerated. His Aura flared, his breathing deepened, as his body surpassed the barrier that separated human from superhuman.
Landing thunderously with an impact that shook the ground, he stood next to Blake and Sun.
All eyes took in the new arrival, staring at him as if he were an apparition.
Though there were fifty armed warriors with their guns aimed at him, though he did not appear to be carrying any weapons, every single White Fang member felt a cold chill run down their spine.
When Jaune spoke, his words were not a threat. They carried the absolute authority of truth.
"If you shoot, you'll die."
Blake knew he wasn't exaggerating the moment he uttered those words. There was power in Jaune, untold power, and she had seen it firsthand. If he had been intimidating back when he was beating down bullies, he was downright terrifying at the moment, and she felt a very real fear that every White Fang member here would die.
She couldn't allow that. She had come there to stop them, not kill them.
People could change. She had. She'd been lucky enough to have a chance to turn her life around. And she couldn't allow others to have that chance taken away from them.
Thus, she uttered a fervent plea to Jaune.
"Don't kill them!"
He turned slightly, fixing his gaze upon her. Those were eyes that had seen death, and dealt it unto others. Blake shook slightly, but held firm. She couldn't let them die.
"Please."
The man in the bowler hat clenched his teeth.
"I've had about enough of this. Shoot. Them. DOWN!"
He roared the last word, and they opened fire, many of them pulling the trigger even before they knew what they were doing.
Blake closed her eyes. Round upon round was fired, the hammering of automatic weapons filling the air along with smoke and the smell of gunpowder.
The young Faunus Huntress closed her eyes, holding up her arms around her head as she crouched, covering up instinctively. Though she had faced and deflected gunfire before, in this volume, it was completely different. The sheer sound alone pounded away at her, terrifying her.
For what felt like an eternity, the shots continued.
Finally, when all the clips were empty, they stopped.
I don't… feel any pain…
Cautiously, Blake opened her eyes and looked up, fearing they would start shooting again.
What she saw was beyond anything she could have expected.
The attackers were backing away in fear.
Piled up, all around herself, Sun and Jaune, were countless bullets, on the ground.
Smoke rose from Jaune's arms and legs, which didn't have even a dent in them.
No way….
Jaune stood in a low stance, legs wide, arms raised high and open, hands claw-like.
The ringleader of the group seemed to share Blake's sentiments.
His eyes looked fit to pop out of their sockets.
"No, no, no. That's just… just frigging impossible! There must have been over a hundred thousand shots fired. That's Atlas technology! Those guns have shredded Deathstalker armour! There's no way a human can be unharmed by them."
He looked at Jaune, whose face was impassive.
"YOU HEAR ME? THERE'S NO WAY! You… you aren't human!"
"Hokuto Muteki Boei."
North Star Invincible Defence: A state in which the user allows their instincts to take over, blocking and parrying as needed to deflect all attacks.
Jaune hadn't just taken all those shots. He had perfectly blocked every last bullet, while moving around Blake and Sun in a 360 degree arc to prevent them from getting hit even once.
The sheer relief Blake felt was incomparable to anything she had experienced before.
She knew she was going to all right now.
Jaune couldn't lose.
The Shinken stood tall and looked at her.
"You have nobility. To think of the lives of those who would shoot you down, because you understand where they are coming from… the world needs people like you, who will eradicate the problem at the root, and ensure no child ever needs to pick up a gun again. Rejoice, Blake. You just saved the lives of fifty men."
"Stop… STOP BLUFFING!"
The white-suited man seemed absolutely livid now. He pointed his cane at Jaune.
"Don't fall for his lies. We have a job to do here! Remember what you're fighting for, damn it! Take them all out!"
"Yeah, that's not going to happen."
What felt like a small meteorite landed, and several people were blown away. The smoke cleared from the crater, and Yang Xiao Long stood up straight, eyes glowing red. Using her Semblance without storing up power from damage taken caused her to drain her own Aura.
But she was royally pissed, and this once, she'd make an exception.
She looked at Jaune.
"You saved my partner's life. Thank you."
"You saved her life yourself," replied Jaune. "You looked past your ego to ask for help when she was in danger. It shows how much you treasure her. From now on, you must always stay by her side."
"Damn straight."
With a series of clicks, Yang ejected the shells from Ember Cilica.
"Blake said not to kill you guys, so I won't. I'll settle for beating you to an inch of your lives."
Her Aura flared, and she burst into movement, dashing in right into the thick of the White Fang operatives before they could react. It was like seeing a wild animal uncaged… one that knew how to fight.
Punch after punch she delivered. Liver shots, hooks, uppercuts, straights. Kick after kick. Roundhouses, thrust kicks, knee strikes. Her Aura was like an armour; enemy blows and weapons glanced off her without even making her flinch, all while her own hits brutally crunched bones.
Interesting.
Watching her caused Jaune's own fighting spirit to flare up. He resolved to spar with her one day.
"Well, then."
He began to walk towards the leader of the little group.
"Blake said nothing about sparing you. And I have little patience for those who would ask an opponent to be gunned down by superior numbers."
"Damn you… you think you've won? It's not over… until I say it is!"
He raised his cane high, and the warehouse they were outside was smashed to smithereens as a massive structure rose out of it.
It was made of metal, sleek body designed to look almost insectoid as its hydraulic legs carried it forwards.
Roman Torchwick, as the man was called, jumped as it came closer, climbing up one of its legs. A cockpit in its head opened up, and he entered.
"Neo! Get in!"
The girl with the umbrella, who had so far done nothing, complied and jumped up as well, entering the mech with him before the cockpit closed shut.
The mech's eyes glowed red as it advanced towards Jaune.
"Gunfire is one thing," said a voice on a loudspeaker, "Let's see you deal with this!"
The mech raised one leg above Jaune and brought it down with all the force its hydraulics and weight would allow.
Roman felt the blow connect solidly, but felt no satisfaction.
He had been expecting the feeling of something mushy being squashed. Like something caving in, similar to stepping on a cardboard box.
Instead, the mech's leg had stopped completely in its motion.
It was like trying to crush a rock.
"No… way…" muttered Torchwick. He had a horrible feeling, but he refused to believe it was right. Turning on the mech's lower cameras, he saw that it was.
Jaune had not only stopped the leg, but was effortlessly holding it up with one arm, that arm showing no signs of giving way even an inch.
"But this is… close to two thousand tons of steel… there's no way…"
The muscles in Jaune's arm bunched for a moment, his body tensing up, before he pushed upwards explosively, causing the four-legged mech to be pushed backwards, nearly toppling.
"Hokuto Shinken is not just technique. It is the strength of the human body, mind and spirit. You don't measure up."
He took a low stance, crouching, nearly seeming to hug himself. In truth, he was winding up. When he had built up enough tension, he leapt into the air, drawing one arm back as he tightened its open hand, preparing to strike with its edge.
"Hokuto Ganzan Ryozan Ha!"
North Star Mountain Splitting Wave: A powerful downward chop said to have enough power to live up to its name.
Roman Torchwick saw the blow coming, and in that instant, he knew the mech could not withstand it.
"Oh shi-"
Jaune landed on the ground, having completed the strike's entire range of motion. Along the way, his hand had bifurcated the mech's head and torso down its centre line.
Whether by luck or because of deliberate effort, it was impossible to tell, but the strike had not hit either Roman or Neo.
The separated halves of the mech collapsed to the ground, not even exploding, since Jaune had avoided the fuel tank.
Torchwick hurtled out of the destroyed warmachine, rolling roughly across the ground.
He slowly got to his hands and knees.
Insane… there's no way he's human. He's some kind of monster. I can't fight that… there's no way… Forget Cinder. Forget her. I need to get out of here, with Neo.
Neo!
Damn it…
Ignoring his body's protests, he raised himself up and ran towards the wreckage of the Atlesian Paladin.
"Neo!"
A slight grunt was his only answer.
Neo had not emerged as unscathed as him. She was bleeding from the mouth, clutching her side.
"NEO!"
He rushed over to her, slinging one of her arms over his shoulder to support her. He attempted to stand up straighter, but felt her legs buckle, and immediately bent to support her.
"Damn it! Your ribs are broken, aren't they?"
Damn it. Damn it all! The strike didn't even connect and our Auras are still gone! What the hell kind of demon can do something like that?
As if to answer his questions, he heard footsteps approaching him, filling him with dread.
Jaune walked around him to his front, facing Torchwick. He paused when he saw how the man was supporting the younger woman, and frowned, as if he had never seen anything like that in his life.
Damn it. He's going to finish us off, isn't he? This boy… he isn't one of those Atlesian mooks… he can kill. I see it in his eyes. But, I can't let it end. Not like this.
Roman was almost certain he would die here. But if that was to happen, there was one last thing he needed to do.
He lowered Neo to the ground gently. The girl, who never spoke, and who Roman was still able to understand fine, expressed herself with her eyes, which showed such an extraordinary feeling of hurt that his determination nearly broke. But he pressed on. He had to.
Once she was on the ground, he limped to the side till he was standing in front of her, between her and Jaune.
"Please… kill me. But spare her. She has nothing to do with this. She's just a child that follows me around because she has nowhere to go."
Jaune's eyes widened.
In that moment, he saw in Roman the countless ordinary people he had encountered in his travels, who had been willing to sacrifice themselves for their families.
Family.
He had seen mothers and fathers stand protectively in front of their children like that.
If Roman was protecting Neo… then what did that make Jaune?
"I don't understand…" he said.
"What?" said Roman.
"Why… why would you knowingly drag someone you care about into a life like this…"
The absurdity of the situation had finally come to a head.
A former criminal mastermind, who had found himself become a pawn in the games of some insane woman, out on some dead-end mission with the White Fang of all people, had run into some inhumanly powerful killer who annihilated Atlas tech with his bare hands. And what was more, this boy with the eyes of a man was actually asking him why he had brought Neo into this life.
Roman started to laugh.
"You think I had a choice? You think she had a choice? It's easy for the people who are born in the right places. The rest of us? We're criminals for just existing! And so… we do what it takes to survive. If the world condemns us just for being… well then… I condemn a world like that."
Jaune shook his head.
None of this made any sense.
Moments earlier, this man had been about to have three people gunned down, like a coward.
And now, he was protecting this girl with his life?
This… went against his experiences. It went against everything he had learnt. Against everything he had seen.
A cold-blooded, cowardly murderer and criminal was standing right in front of him, facing death with courage. At this moment, Jaune's heart could not find a single flaw in Roman's conviction.
Jaune could not strike him down.
With his heart as his only guide, he could not deliver a blow against someone capable of this act.
"If I let you live," said Jaune, barely muttering now, feverishly, "You'll come back again. How many lives will be lost then?"
Roman shook his head. He recognized someone at the breaking point when he saw him. Jaune was about to snap, and when he did, there was no telling what he might do.
"Look, I already told you. Kill me. Just let her go. Please. This is the only thing I ask of you."
Neo attempted to rise from the ground, though her body protested. Unable to stand up on her own, she tried grabbing onto Roman's legs to pull herself up. She couldn't allow him to sacrifice himself for her. If she had been able to speak, she would have done so.
To say that she was with him of her own free will.
To say that if he wanted to kill him, he'd have to go through her first.
Jaune saw it.
The unspoken cry of her heart, which could not find voice in her tongue, did so in her eyes, and Jaune felt it.
It would be right to kill a man who had just tried to have three people gunned down for attempting to stop his robbery.
It would be wrong to leave a girl without her father.
Wrong to kill someone who could sacrifice himself thus for someone he cared about.
Jaune was stuck.
His invincible fighting power was driven and focused by his heart, which had always known the path he must take.
Until now.
Now, everything he had known to be firm and immutable had been thrown into disarray.
He shook his head.
No. I am the Successor. Wrong or right, my heart must choose, and I must live by my choices.
He reached out towards Roman, who closed his eyes, prepared to die.
When suddenly, he felt his Aura revive, and his body start to heal itself.
"What the…"
He saw Jaune reach out and touch Neo's forehead. Almost immediately, the cuts on her face healed up, and she got to her feet.
"You can restore Auras… who are you?"
"It doesn't matter. Get out of here. Leave this life behind. Not every foe you meet will be this kind."
Roman didn't need to be told twice. Grabbing Neo's hand, he began to leave, but turned once.
"Thank you," he said, sincerely.
Neo nodded, her eyes conveying the same feeling.
With that, the two of them ran.
Jaune exhaled.
This night… had challenged him.
Turning around, he saw that Weiss, Yang and the others were just about finishing rounding up the White Fang operatives.
"Family, huh?"
Jaune had been an Arc, once. He had stopped being one when he had left.
Kenshiro was my father, he said in his mind with conviction.
He looked at Ren. The boy had risked expulsion, as he had said. To come here and fight by Jaune's side. Oftentimes, it is hard to go against expectations. To force oneself to act. His team had not been by his side during the time of the rumours. But they were trying to make it up to him now.
People can change. And who am I to deny them that chance? Passing judgment from on high. No… that can't be my way. I'm no better than anyone else.
He looked at Blake. The Faunus had not supported Jaune, though he had stood up for Velvet, another Faunus. She had been afraid. But she had faced those fears tonight. Asked him to spare lives.
He looked at Yang. The girl had appeared uncaring and rude. But she had been willing to put aside her pride if it meant that someone she cared about could be saved.
He was sure Ruby would surpass his expectations too.
Even Cardin had done so.
What was to say that the rest of his team would not do so as well?
How quickly life ended. Would his team too have surprised him by one day trying to sacrifice themselves for him?
He couldn't let that happen.
And finally, he looked at Weiss.
The girl who had gone against her own hesitation and weakness, and stood by his side. Made an effort to right her wrongs. And the one person at Beacon he trusted above all others.
Family, huh? I'm no Arc.
And… RWBY, JNPR, CRDL… we're not family yet. But maybe we will be. And for that, I'm willing to fight.
I am Jaune Souther, of Hokuto Shinken. I am Jaune Souther… of Beacon.
Post Credit Scene
Roman and Neo had managed to gain some distance from the warehouse.
"That's the last of it, Neo. We're taking his advice. No more demonic, Grimm, White Fang nonsense. We've got plenty of money already. Gonna drop off the grid and settle down somewhere."
Neo nodded fervently.
"That sounds like a nice dream."
Before either of them could react, a blade sprouted from Roman's chest. His eyes went wide and his mouth opened, but no cry escaped it. And then… the light in his eyes left.
Neo felt her world crumble around her.
She watched Roman's body hit the ground, lifeless.
Over him stood a figure clad from head to foot in armour. Red eyes glowed from within the slit of the helm, and the person inside spoke.
"Heh. That's gotta suck. Taken out right when you thought you were home free."
A gigantic sword was glinted, held effortlessly in one hand by the armoured knight.
Neo felt fury burn in her like never before, destroying every last shred of reason in her. Abandoning all restraint, she launched herself at the enemy who had torn down the only person in the world she had cared about.
Neo was a formidable fighter. Her style relied on baiting an opponent's attacks, drawing them in and misdirecting their moves, then countering. It relied on remaining calm, while upsetting the enemy.
In her anger, she had abandoned this aspect of her style.
"Fool," said Lily Arc.
As Neo dashed in, she slid one foot back, bracing herself as she drew back her sword, the Dragonslayer Mark II.
When she was in range, she swung.
It moved far too quick for a weapon of that size. Even if Neo had been calm and on the defensive, she might not have been able to avoid it. But as she was at the moment, she had no chance of doing so.
The blade struck, ending her life in a single slash.
"Well. At least it was painless, right?"
Lily swung the blade, hard, throwing the blood off it, before slinging it on her back again.
"Atlas command, come in."
"Did you do it?"
"Affirmative. Targets eliminated."
Bending down, she picked up their Scrolls.
"And I think I might have obtained some intel too."
"Good work. Return to base. Penny's getting restless again."
"As you wish, General Ironwood."