I don't own RWBY. Rooster Teeth does.
Beacon Academy
Jaune slid back and fell to one knee. He gripped Sol and Luna tightly, glancing at his opponent. His opponent walked over to him with a confident strut that Jaune found arousing. The way her scarlet locks cascaded over her shoulders to the way she swayed her hips ever so slightly because she knew that it drove him crazy. Her emerald eyes looked down on Jaune as she smiled softly. Pyrrha extended her hand and helped him up.
"You got better. I can see that," Pyrrha said as she rubbed her side. Jaune had managed to land an extremely hard blow to her torso. A bruise was going to form in a little bit with how hard she'd been hit.
"Is your side okay?" Jaune asked. Pyrrha smiled and nodded.
"You've really improved. Whatever Maria had you do is working," Pyrrha said as she wiped her forehead with a towel.
"You're still as strong as ever. Even with my training, I still couldn't bring your aura down to even 80%," Jaune said.
"But Jaune, this was a big improvement. Even if I did hold back, you still managed to get me down to below 90 so don't cut yourself short. You've definitely gotten stronger," Pyrrha said.
"Yeah but next time, please don't hold back. I need to measure myself against a serious Pyrrha," he said. He gave her a radiant smile to which she responded.
"Sure, but are you sure you can handle my full effort?" she asked.
"Of course I can," Jaune said.
"Then be ready. Come on. Let's get back before Nora gets to the shower first," Pyrrha said. Jaune nodded and followed after her.
Jaune sat bored in class as Professor Port began another one of his long tirades about how he had slain a Grimm when he was younger. It's not as if the stories weren't informative, they were just extremely boring and sometimes even farfetched. He had recalled one class period where the elderly man had described slaying a Beowolf that was larger than a bullhead. He would've called bullshit but he was in class and he needed to be respectful to his teachers.
Next to him, Pyrrha was barely keeping herself awake, leaning into Jaune.
So warm, Pyrrha thought as her head fell on Jaune's shoulder. Her eyes were drooping and she could barely make out what story Port was telling them this time.
"Psst. Pyrrha!"
Pyrrha looked up to see her ever-so-loving boyfriend looking at her.
"What?" she whispered.
"Wanna go get dinner outside of Beacon? Just you and me?" Jaune asked.
"Like a date?" Pyrrha asked.
"If you want," Jaune said.
"Then it's a date," Pyrrha said, kissing his cheek. She needed that. That kiss she gave him recharged her batteries as much as it recharged his. She couldn't go a day without her daily dose of double A Jaune batteries.
"And then! I put that Bovine through the ringer and that's how I got this scar right here!" Port said, lifting his pant leg to reveal a jagged scar running down the back of his thigh.
"Oh, Israfil why?" Jaune said as he saw Port's hairy leg. Pyrrha's face turned green as she buried herself in Jaune's uniform sleeve. Nora closed her eyes and began to slam her head on her desk while Ren's eyes went blank. Alice had begun to pray fervently, wishing this was all just one horrible nightmare. The three seconds between Port showing his legs to the class and the bell ringing passed with the speed of an eternity.
"Well, remember class that you have a report on Sabers due on Monday and make sure you have memorized the classifications and ranks of Grimm understood! Mister Arc's fight against the Glavenus has shown me how severely undereducated we are when it comes to Grimm rankings!" Port announced as the bell rang. The class groaned as they filed out of the classroom.
"Jeez, all this because of a Glavenus?" Jaune said. Ever since Jaune been reinstated into Beacon, his fight with a Glavenus spread through the entire student body and staff like wildfire and Port had deemed it necessary to add to the Grimm Studies course. Of course, no one was happy at the fact and some of his old detractors had begun to blame him for the fact that Port was adding more. However, Jaune didn't mind. If there was anything that traveling taught him, it was that nothing they taught here at Beacon remotely mimicked that of the harsh reality of the outside.
He shivered as the face of that man he killed came back to him. His parents had gone over his first kill before he had left for Beacon privately. It was one of those moments where Jaune was glad that his parents wished for them to live a normal life. Killing that man had certainly opened his eyes to the stark reality of the world he lived in. It was nothing to the delusions of grandeur and fame that the other students had and certainly nothing like the fantasies that he and Ruby had.
Wishing to save everyone. Not everyone can be saved is what Jaune learned. Some people were irredeemable and choosing to kill can be the deciding factor between your life and another's. He glanced at his team.
He smiled. They were all so innocent… mostly. Ren and Nora knew firsthand how cruel the world was and Alice could feel the turmoil inside him. As they entered the lunchroom, Pyrrha tugged on his sleeve.
"Are you okay? You seemed pretty serious the entire walk. You didn't even make a joke," she said.
"Sorry, I was just thinking," Jaune said.
"Well, whatever is troubling you… you can tell me or tell the others. We're here for you Jaune," Pyrrha said.
"Thanks, Pyr," he said, grasping her hand. She smiled and gave him a comforting squeeze. The two picked up their lunch and sat with the rest of Team JNPAR in their usual spot. The usual spot being the same spot they had sat for the entirety of their tenure at Beacon. In front of team RWBY. Team relations between the sister teams had gone sour when RWY, mostly the W and Y, had turned against Jaune. Following his "death", it had gotten even worse to the point where the two teams had basically ignored each other or rather, Team PRAN ignoring team RWBY.
But now, Jaune was here and things didn't seem to change… mostly. Blake, who had remained quiet since Jaune's death, started talking again. To Jaune and his team mostly but she talked. While outside of lunch, she remained amicable with Yang, Ruby, and Weiss, during lunch, she barely acknowledged their existence, spending minutes talking to Alice or Pyrrha.
"So Jaune," Ruby said. "How's your food?"
Jaune stopped eating and looked at Ruby.
"It's okay, I guess," Jaune said. "I kinda missed Beacon food. Running out of food while traveling really makes you appreciate school lunch."
"Where'd you go? I'd love to hear about what you did," Ruby said. So far so good! This is the most we've talked since our initial confrontation!
"Maybe some other time," Jaune said. "Actually, maybe, I can tell you about-"
"ARC!"
Jaune stopped eating and turned around, only for a mashed potato to fly into his face. The entire lunchroom, except for their table, erupted in laughter as gravy and potato slid down Jaune's face.
"Jaune, are you okay?" Pyrrha asked, glaring at the perpetrator. Cardin smirked, holding the spoon up while the rest of his team alongside the student body howled in laughter. She handed Jaune a napkin which he graciously accepted and wiped his face. He remained silent, turning around and continuing to eat.
"What? Gonna ignore me? Come on, Jauney-boy! I thought we were friends!" Cardin said as he scooped another load of mash into his spoon. He launched it only for Pyrrha to intercept it with her plate.
"What's your problem?" Pyrrha asked.
"Gonna have your girl fight your battles for you Arc? If so, then she really picked the worst guy to hook up with, considering how much of a beta male you're being right now!" Cardin said, smiling as Jaune said nothing.
Pyrrha gritted her teeth as she clenched her fist. Cardin's spoon glowed black before bending back in his hand.
Cardin dropped the spoon and glared at the Champion. As Pyrrha got up to confront him, Jaune grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"Jaune! I won't let them talk to you that…," her voice died when she saw the violet flames flickering inside Jaune's eyes. His glare was terrifying, despite it not being directed at her. The promise of death made manifest in the normally kind blue eyes of her boyfriend was enough to make her want to back away in fear.
"If you want to fight Winchester," Jaune said as his aura manifested around him. A massive pressure fell on Cardin as he suddenly found it hard to breathe. He stared with a healthy amount of fear in his eyes as Jaune approached him.
"Wait until we get to Goodwitch. Then we can fight all you want," Jaune said in a near-emotionless voice. Cardin looked into Jaune's eyes and watched himself get mutilated in a thousand different ways.
"Jaune, calm down," Pyrrha said, placing a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. Despite the fear, she quickly crushed it and walked over to him, squeezing his shoulder in a concerned manner.
"You're right, sorry about that," he said, smiling apologetically.
Cardin let out a breath he didn't know he had kept in. He gathered his wits about him as Jaune walked away and snapped. He got up from his chair and ran at Jaune, his fist cocked and poised to strike.
Pyrrha saw all this happening and moved to intercept when Jaune reacted just before Cardin's fist made contact with the back of his head. He swiftly evaded Cardin's fist and tripped him, causing the larger man to land face-first on the floor. Cardin wasted no time, getting back up and going in for another strike when his hand was covered in a violet aura.
"Mister Winchester! Mister Arc! What is going on here!?" Glynda said as she held her riding crop out.
"Cardin threw some mash at Jaune's face," Yang said.
Glynda nodded and walked over to Cardin.
"Was what I said earlier this semester not clear enough?" Glynda said.
"Yes, it was," Cardin said.
"If I catch you doing this again, I will have no choice but to recommend you for expulsion! With the amount of actions we have on record, we could have you expelled at any time however, your father is an influential member of the Valean Upper Class. Remember that that's the only reason you're still here, Mister Winchester," Glynda said. She quickly turned on Jaune.
"If you have a bone to pick with Mister Winchester, that is understandable but please refrain from doing so. As a student, you are subject to rules that can grant you the same punishment as Mister Winchester, are we clear, Mister Arc?" Glynda asked.
"Yes, Professor," Jaune said.
"Good. I hope I don't hear of another situation like this for the rest of the semester or else," Glynda said, releasing Cardin. She walked out of the lunchroom. Cardin sent Jaune a sharp glare before returning to his team. Jaune sighed and returned to his seat.
"You stood up to him," Pyrrha said.
"Cardin's just an ass. He's not that scary," Jaune said.
Pyrrha giggled.
"Well, you certainly looked manly doing so," she said.
"What, I didn't look manly when I did it all those other times?" he asked.
"Of course you did but this time, you looked so… primal," Pyrrha said.
"Not here you two. Please not here," Alice said.
Pyrrha and Jaune came back down from their own personal world and saw the entire table looking at them with more or less amused gazes. Blake and Ruby's faces held strained smiles, however, which confused Jaune and made Pyrrha narrow her eyes.
"Yeah, you two have been doing a lot of PDA even in our dorm room. The flirtatious talking, the flirtatious whispering, that thing you do when you think no one is around where you softly exhale on Pyrrha's neck, and that one time-!"
"AND THAT'S ENOUGH NORA!" Jaune said, placing his hand over her mouth.
Pyrrha hid her face in Jaune's arm once more as she suffered more embarrassment in a single moment than she had in her entire life.
"That's enough," Glynda said as she stopped the fight. Alice flicked her hair out of the way and sheathed her blade. She extended her hand and sent the student a brilliant smile. The student she had fought was a wolf faunus who wielded a tomahawk. The student smiled back and accepted her hand, shaking it as the two calmly walked off the stage.
"Whoo! GO SIS!" Jaune said, causing Alice to wave and smile at him. She walked back up the stairs to the team seat and sat next to her brother.
"Nice fight right?" Alice asked.
Jaune nodded.
"Who's going next I wonder?" Jaune asked.
Glynda pressed a button on her scroll as the screen rapidly shifted between the entire class roster. She watched the screen carefully as the next two fighters were selected. When their images appeared, she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. This fight was going to be a recipe for disaster. For which side, she didn't know yet. However, this fight was going to have a lot of emotion going into it.
"Jaune Arc and Cardin Winchester. Will you please change into your combat gear and make your way down into the arena?" Glynda asked.
The entire room went silent when their names were called. A malevolent smile manifested on Cardin's face. He was going to pay that blonde bastard back for the humiliation he suffered in the lunchroom today.
You should've stayed dead, Arc. I'll show you why coming back to Beacon was a mistake, Cardin thought as he walked into the locker room.
Jaune was silent as he changed into his combat armor. He grabbed Sol and Luna from his locker and gripped them tightly. He knew this fight was going to happen. He needed to come to terms with it.
"I guess… I've been running from this for too long. Come on, Arc. It's time to prove your worth here to everyone. Time to stand up to your bully," Jaune said as he clenched his fist. He clapped his cheeks and walked out of the locker and onto the arena. As he climbed the stairs to the stage, he felt the eyes of the entire student body on him. He could feel their mixed responses. He knew that even after the word that he slew a Glavenus got out, his acceptance here was met with mixed review by other students.
Today, he would change that.
Glynda's emerald eyes darted back and forth between the two combatants on her stage. She placed her scroll to her side and cracked her riding crop. Pushing up her glasses, she spoke, "Alright, I know tensions are high in this fight but… please refrain from dealing lasting harm to the other person. Are we clear? Both of you?"
"Yeah," Jaune said, gulping loudly.
"Crystal," Cardin said. A cocky smirk appeared on his face. This match would be easy if his past matches with Jaune were any indication.
3
Jaune gulped. He gripped his weapons tightly as he dropped into a stance.
2
Team JNPAR sat with great anticipation in their seats as Pyrrha bit her lip. Blake and Ruby looked on with worry.
1
"Begin!" Glynda said.
Without any warning, Cardin slammed his mace on the floor, triggering the dust crystal inside of his weapon. A series of fiery explosions erupted from the ground and headed towards Jaune. He sidestepped, barely dodging the explosion but felt the brunt of the wave as he slid back.
His eyes widened as Cardin slammed his mace into his chest. Jaune grunted as he dug the blades of his scythes into the ground. His aura bar had decreased by fifteen percent.
"Well, this scene looks familiar. In the next couple of seconds, I'll beat you into the ground again like the old days, right Jauney-boy?" Cardin said as he swaggered his way over to Jaune.
Said person remained silent as he slowly got up. His eyes began to burn with a faint violet light as he gripped Sol and Luna tightly. Without so much as a twitch or indication of what he was going to do next, Jaune threw Luna at Cardin, catching the man offguard.
He barely raised his mace to block the scythe, sending it off course and causing it to land a few feet away from him. He was suddenly put on the defensive as Jaune appeared in front of him with such speeds that even the experienced students in the crowd had trouble keeping up with.
He swung Sol, cutting into several places of Cardin's armor, landing what appeared to be eight cuts within the span of a few seconds. On the screen, Cardin's aura bar decreased steadily as Jaune kept up his attacks.
"RAAH!" Cardin swung his mace, attempting to knock Jaune back. The male Arc twin jumped back, avoiding the blow before clicking a button on Sol. The weapon glowed violet as it resonated with Luna. The other scythe shook before flying from its place on the ground and towards Jaune.
Cardin, who was blind to what was happening, gasped when he felt something cut into his back and knock him down. The Winchester looked up and saw something fly into his opponent's hand. The other scythe.
"What just happened? Is Jaune using Pyrrha's semblance?" Ruby asked.
"No, his weapon is outfitted with Gravity Dust. Luna will always be pulled towards Sol as he said like their namesakes," Pyrrha said, admiring the ingenuity of Jaune's tactics and weapon design.
"Fucking! ARC!" Cardin roared in rage as he ran towards Jaune. He swung his mace several times to try to hit the smaller boy but failed as Jaune dodged each and every one of them. To someone who had spent several months on the road fighting Grimm and people that the students would have trouble with and most likely die to, Cardin was just cannon fodder compared to them. Sighing, he ducked under Cardin's swing and performed an X-slash with his scythes, using their hooked blade to dig into Cardin's armor and throw him across the arena.
Cardin slid and skipped across the ground before finally sliding to a stop. He glanced at the screen which displayed their auras and saw that Jaune hadn't dropped from 85% while he had dropped nearly 47% since the match started.
He growled as he fired off explosion after explosion from his mace. Jaune was forced to run across the arena to avoid the explosions. He had been at the receiving intent of lethal intent before and knew what Cardin was trying to do.
The fucker is trying to actually kill me! He thought as he outran the blasts. He turned suddenly, forcing Cardin to change his aim. Jaune raised his vambrace and fired a round, causing Cardin to swing his mace to deflect the shot. Taking advantage of Cardin's pause in firing, he threw Sol at Cardin. Cardin deflected the throw, sending Sol into the air.
He swung his mace as Jaune jumped into the air, once again activating Luna's gravity receptors as he flew towards Sol. He grabbed the scythe and manifested several aura arms and sent them at Cardin.
The student was suddenly barraged with a flurry of aura fists as he was beaten into the ground.
Jaune landed in front of Cardin, looking at him warily. He couldn't let his guard down. His opponent was someone who wasn't afraid of fighting dirty and would do anything to win. As he approached Cardin's prone form, he suddenly moved out of the way as a hail of explosions erupted from Cardin's mace.
Jaune suddenly found himself being launched across the arena as the same weapon slammed into his ribs. He gritted his teeth in pain as he felt something break and landed on the ground. He groaned as he heard footsteps rapidly approaching. Cardin's boot connected with Jaune's jaw and sent him sprawling on his back.
His eyes snapped open as he formed an aura shield when he saw the mace come down. He threw his hand forward as a wave of aura came from the shield, throwing Cardin back.
Jaune shakily got to his feet as he stood up. He glanced at the screen.
Jaune Arc: 56%
Cardin Winchester: 45%
His semblance was still costing him too much aura. At this point, he needed to save it for tough situations such as Cardin's barrage of attacks. As the two circled each other, he heard Cardin speak.
"You know, when you died, the entire student body felt bad for you. As if they had forgotten what you did. How you cheated your way into the school and endangered the lives of your teammates and your partner. Don't you find yourself asking if gee, I don't know, Pyrrha fucking Nikos deserves a better partner than you? Because everyone else was. You, a nobody from the countryside, sneaking into our school and ruining its good name as well as the reputation of your partner," Cardin said.
"...," Jaune remained silent as he listened to Cardin's every word.
"Nothing to say? You really are a worthless prick, Arc," he said.
"Why that no good son of a-!"
Pyrrha felt her arm being pulled back. She turned and saw Blake and Yang holding her arms.
"Blake?" Pyrrha asked.
"Just pay attention to Jaune," she said.
Pyrrha turned to see Alice shaking with fury but restraining herself. Well, restraining herself as much as she possibly could given the slight golden glow she was giving off. To Alice's right, Nora had gripped the arm of her chair so tightly that it snapped while Ren was calmly watching the match with a building anger in his eye. They expected Jaune to snap but to their surprise, he began to laugh.
"You don't think that I haven't thought that? That was my first thought since I was partnered with Pyrrha. My first fucking thought. Even though I didn't know who she was, she was obviously important if everyone wanted to be her partner. When I found out, I constantly wondered why we ended up partners. Why she would even want someone like me on her team? Me! The guy whose parents were supposed to be renowned Gold Rank Hunters!" Jaune ranted as he walked towards Cardin. His aura manifested and grew larger as he got closer.
"But guess what… nothing you say matters because I know my flaws and I acknowledge them and the best I can do… is move forward and not live some fantasy where I think I'm on top!" he said as he slashed Cardin's chest with an aura infused blade.
Cardin screamed in pain as he stumbled back and felt something warm running down his skin. He placed his hand across his chest and looked to see blood. Arc's blade had cut through his armor and into his skin, leaving a moderately deep wound.
"So go ahead demean me. Belittle me. Degrade me. Say that I'm pathetic," Jaune said as he swung Sol.
Cardin made an attempt to block but was hit from the side by his opponent's leg. Jaune quickly followed up by disarming Cardin with Sol and Luna and then landing a kick to his jaw.
"But remember one thing before you do," he said as he got closer to Cardin. "I'm done being your doormat. I'm done being your punching bag."
His eyes burned with a violet flame that could not be quenched. His determination shined inside his azure eyes as he stared coldly down at his opponent.
"I uh eh," Cardin could only stare into Jaune's flaming eyes.
"Enough, Jaune is the winner!" Glynda said.
He nodded and bowed in respect to Glynda.
"You've improved but let me give you one piece of advice, your semblance utilizes a lot of aura like your twin's. I would recommend gaining more control over it before using large scale attacks like that. Your form was also a bit rigid in some areas and you seem to have been letting your emotions and past trauma affect you thus lowering your fighting ability but you managed to pull through in the end," she said.
"Oh," Jaune said, lowering his head slightly.
"That being said, I'm proud of you," Glynda said.
His eyes widened at her words and he smiled. Glynda allowed her lips to curl slightly upward before returning to their usual blank state. She looked at Cardin, who was nursing more than his wounds as he glared at the floor.
"CRDL. Get your team leader to the infirmary," she ordered. The rest of Team CRDL nodded as they made their way to the arena. Sky handed Cardin his mace which he took forcefully.
Impossible! H- How! HOW DID HE BEAT ME!? Cardin thought. His rage filled eyes turned to Jaune, who had turned his back to him and was walking out of the arena.
"HEY ARC!"
Jaune turned to see Cardin aiming his mace.
"EAT SHIT!" he said as he fired.
Time slowed down as the explosions neared Jaune. In the instance, a violet aura wrapped itself around Jaune as he was thrown to the side. He landed next to Glynda, who had her weapon drawn. Her eyes held a fury like no other as she threw Cardin into a wall with her semblance.
"You will head to the infirmary and then we will discuss your punishment after you have received treatment," she said in a deathly calm voice. Her gaze locked onto the other members of Cardin's team as they quickly made their way to their pinned leader. Glynda released her hold, causing Cardin to fall unceremoniously to the floor.
"Mister Arc, you may return to your seat," Glynda said. Jaune nodded and returned to his spot next to Pyrrha.
The rest of combat class had gone smoothly with the standard matches. Team RWBY had plowed through their respective opponents. Fortunately, only Ren was called from his team as the final match of the day.
As they left the classroom, Jaune walked slightly ahead of his team. Alice could feel the worry growing inside him and tugged Pyrrha's sleeve.
"You two need to talk," she said.
"Eh? Me?" Pyrrha asked, surprised.
"You're his girlfriend and partner. He needs you," Alice said. She looked at her boyfriend's back and steeled herself. Pyrrha walked up and grabbed Jaune's hand, dragging him around the corner.
"Woah! Pyr!" Jaune exclaimed, surprised.
"We need to talk," she said as she looked through a window. Perfect. This classroom was empty. She opened the door and pushed Jaune inside, closing the door behind them.
"Sit," she ordered. Surprised at his girlfriend's tone, Jaune had no choice but to obey as he pulled out a chair and sat down.
"What is this about?" Jaune asked.
"Was that really how you felt?" Pyrrha asked.
"Felt?"
"Your little speech. Do you really think so little of me?"
Jaune's eyes widened when the contents of his outburst returned to his head. Knowing that it was useless to lie, all he could do was admit the truth.
"I don't… it was just me. I mean, Pyrrha, you're this amazing, invincible champion while I'm just… a regular person. I mean, my entire life, being a hunter was just a dream. All this time, I thought I would inherit the tavern and run it and then die," he said.
"But you're not," Pyrrha said, grabbing his face with her hands. "Listen to me. Don't ever think so lowly about yourself. And don't ever think that I would have such thoughts in my head."
"But," he began.
"No buts. You are Jaune Arc, my amazing, idiotic, brilliant boyfriend, and I don't care if my championship reputation is ruined," she said. She leaned in and kissed him deeply, causing his blue eyes to widen. He slowly leaned into the kiss as Pyrrha sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands snaked around her waist and pulled her in as the two remained liplocked for the next minute.
The two pulled apart with a string of saliva still connecting them. Pyrrha smiled.
"So you really want this?" Jaune asked.
She nodded.
"You don't care if we don't end up living in some high-end mansion in Mistral. You're fine if we end up inheriting the tavern from mom and dad?" he asked.
"You know my answer," she said.
"Planning marriage is a really big step forward," he said.
"I'm not planning one now… after all, we're still young. We can go travel the world together after Beacon," she answered as she laid her head on his chest.
Jaune smiled as he began playing with her crimson tresses, loving the feeling of them running through his fingers.
"Jaune… please, don't demean yourself. Okay? I stand by what I said. I don't care about money or my status, you, Jaune Arc, are all I need," Pyrrha said.
"I guess we're stuck with each other then," Jaune said as a giddy smile appeared on his face.
"We're still up for that date later right?" she asked.
"Yeah. We better get back," he said, attempting to get up.
Pyrrha stopped him by shifting her legs, trapping him in the chair.
"Give me five more minutes to recharge… that speech used up my batteries and I need a little recharge with my Jaune charging station," she said, giggling as she buried her face in his uniform.
He chuckled as he leaned back in the chair. And so, the two sat there in an empty classroom, with no one but each other for company.
Vale
A man with long bright orange hair stood with a cigarette in his mouth. He had a black bowler atop his head. His bangs covered his right eye. His left eye was lined with eyeliner and he wore a white suit, befitting that of a gentleman. In his hand was a peculiar cane that seemed to be more than it was. He wore black pants.
He was currently supervising the transport of several crates of dust as members of the White Fang moved in and out of the warehouse.
"Roman," a voice said. He turned to see a two people walking in. A girl with mint-green hair and red eyes accompanied by a boy with grey hair and eyes that were the same color as quicksilver.
The girl wore a crop top with a shallow cut at the chest, creating a cleavage window. She wore white pants with brown chaps overlapping with her belt. On her arms were a set of beads and bangles which seemed to be made of gold. She crossed her arms as her red eyes bore into Roman's green ones, not once intimidating him.
The man was well-built and wore a dark grey, slated, high-collar jacket with a black undershirt. The jacket was slightly unzipped, revealing his shirt. His arms were covered in a set of rerebraces and vambraces for protection. He wore dark colored pants and what appeared to be a set of metallic boots.
"Ah, kids!" Roman greeted amicably, setting his scroll down. He walked over and wrapped his arms around them in a friendly manner.
"My, my this is turning out just like the divorce!" Roman said.
"Ugh, spare us the thought of you… doing it," the girl said, pushing him away.
"Jeez… can't handle jokes? And besides, this," Roman said, revealing a small slip of paper, "Will tell me where you've been all day!"
He read over the paper and his eyes widened. "W- Why do you have this address?"
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know," the girl said. Roman walked over to the both of them with a displeased look on his face.
"Yeah, I actually would. Where were you?" he said.
"We… were cleaning up your mess," the boy said.
"I had that problem under control," he said.
"Did you now?" he retorted, causing Roman to grow even more frustrated.
"If it were up to me," Roman seethed, "I would take you and your little friend and-!"
"And do what Roman?" a sinister voice said. The voice carried a seductive undertone and came from a woman, who stood on the rafters. She wore a red dress with intricate gold designs weaved into them. The dress revealed her shoulders. She had raven black hair which cascaded over her left shoulder and malevolent yellow eyes. She stepped onto a lift and descended to the floor of the warehouse.
"I'd, uh, not kill them?" he said.
"Cinder!" the girl said.
"Emerald, Mercury," she said, before turning to Roman. "I thought I made it clear that anyone who defected would be eliminated."
"I was working on it!" Roman said.
"He was planning to run away," Emerald said, gesturing to Roman's stuff. Behind him was a manifest and a map of the entirety of Remnant. "So Mercury and I decided to take care of our little rat problem."
"Rat? Wasn't he more of a cat?" Mercury said.
"What like a puma?" Emerald said.
"Yeah, that's it," he responded.
"Quiet. Did I not specifically give you two orders not to do anything in Vale?" Cinder asked.
"Well, we thought-!"
"Don't think. Obey," she said.
The two shut up and nodded before Cinder set her sights on Roman. She crossed her arms as looked at him.
"And you. Why was he still alive?" she asked.
"Er… well, sorry, if I've been draining this Kingdom dry of its dust," Roman said.
"You're an inspiration to the common criminal. I applaud you, sir," Mercury said, causing Emerald to snicker.
"Listen up kid and look around. I have this town scared shitless, the cops are scrambling just to get a whiff of my location while the economy is tanking! And we have ourselves a massive supply of what they need! So if you don't mind, tell me what we're planning so I can act accordingly," Roman said.
"Oh Roman," Cinder said, stroking his cheek. "That's need to know information."
Roman went silent as she looked into his eyes. This was one woman he would not mess with even with how skilled he was.
"Besides," she said, taking her hand off. "We don't need it anymore."
"Huh?"
"Have the White Fang clear out of the building and get ready. I'll send you details and coordinates of our next little escapade," she said.
"Coordinates?" Roman asked.
"We're proceeding with Phase Two," she said, glancing back at him before walking off. Emerald and Mercury followed after her.
Roman sighed, feeling the urge to smoke after that stress-inducing meeting. As he reached into his pocket for his lighter, he found nothing and looked up to see Emerald holding it. She stuck her tongue out before leaving.
Those three will be the death of me… maybe they were right, Roman thought as he pulled out a small locket.
Inside was a picture of Roman and three other people.
"Heh, you always were an annoying team leader, Blondie. But... maybe you and Frosty were right," he said, tracing his finger over the picture. He closed the locket and placed it on the table. Engraved on the locket was a name. A team name more specifically.
Team ARSK
Hey, hey! Here's the new chapter! If you guys noticed, I changed my pen name from CrimsonPyre to Promkastel. It doesn't matter! I still answer to Crimson or Prom. I hope you all liked the Cardin vs Jaune fight. This fight was going to happen and this fight will only be the start. You really think Cardin will stop just because Jaune beat him? No, no, no. Expect more conflict in the future. If you noticed that I made my own Hunstman Ranking System. I based it off the ranking system of Goblin Slayer which goes from:
Brass
Steel
Chrome
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Diamond
If you want to know, there are only a few Diamond Class Hunters and one of them died before the series started. I hope you also all enjoyed my attempt at writing fluff between Jaune and Pyrrha. A lot of you are asking whether or not this will be a harem and my answer is...
Wait and see.
Cinder and Roman are starting to move forward. This will progress with the basic plot of Volumes 2 and 3 but from a JNPAR perspective. They won't be involved... overly, with RWBY's vigilante escapades as they have their own problems to deal with. Oh and one more thing. Feel free to take a gander at who the members of Team ARSK (Arsenic) are.
A- ?
R- Roman Torchwick
S- ?
K- ?
That's it. Have a great day/night or not, the choice is yours~!
PS: If you want to know what color Arsenic is associated with, here's its hex code: #3B444B
Also! Here! If you want to talk to me about the fic and receive a rapid response!
discord. gg /V54pcwA
Just ask for Promkastel!