Boom! We're back sooner than expected. This story has truly been fun to write and I'm glad most of you enjoy it to.

Also glad a lot of you got the Stratos point. Homie just wants to live and if that means catching a fist or, at one point, a straight kick to the gut, so be it.

Anyways, onwards!

"Mmm, I am unsure if that outfit suits you best, sir."

The young woman obviously didn't like his outfit. The strained smile on her face that was trying to hold a level of professionalism was clear as day. Jaune could tell she was trying to spare his feelings because he had noticed the very familiar set amongst the clothing on the bench. Though, he knew if she spoke her mind she would question if his mom dressed him when he left the house. And, to be honest, she'd be kinda right, except it had been his dad. He looked down at the similar attire to what he had worn when he was younger. White button up, blue vest, and orange cargo pants. His dad's tastes were definitely questionable.

"Yeah, I see your point," he replied with a light chuckle. "Was just feeling a little nostalgic."

"Sir?"

"Ah, it was nothing, I was just talking to myself," he replied with an easy smile.

Jaune stepped out from the changing room. It had been a couple of days since his arrival to Vale and, surprisingly, things had been pretty quiet. Upon his arrival, he had taken a room in a cheap motel for the week until Beacon's entrance ceremony, and would go out into the streets at night, hoping to run into Roman and his goons. He also kept to the news and papers to see if he could find any leads to where the dapper gangster would appear next but, to his misfortune, there hadn't been so much of a peep since his arrival.

The young knight turned back to the pile of clothes the clerk had brought to him. If he was going to run into Ozpin or Professor Goodwitch, he at least wanted to look good when he did. This was a great opportunity to redeem his initial introduction to his friends, so why not look good too?

Then, maybe after a week, he'd switch back to his old attire. He truly missed his Pumpkin Pete hoodie and he was relieved he had actually got it again in this new life. He also wondered if Pyrrha sponsored them again.

'Pyrrha...' He suddenly thought of. A grim expression took over his face as he remembered his partner and the future that awaited her. Would she even be his partner this time around?

"Sir?" The store clerk called, pulling him from his mulling.

"I think I'll try these on," he replied, moving back towards the changing room. There was a confirmation from the woman just as he closed the curtain.

He set the clothes down and turned to the mirror inside the small room. He looked at his hair that was its same disheveled look from all those years ago. He also took in the signs of stubble on his face and wondered if he should attempt the beard route this time around, see if it would bring a reaction. And then he realized the world he was currently in.

The blonde knight remembered that this wasn't his exact past and that there were some stark changes he had yet to fully accept. In fact, one of the most recent examples was stepping off the ship and feeling a few sets of eyes that fell upon him. Lingering stares and the one or two women who stepped towards him just as that playgirl back home.

Now, the women were nowhere near as bad as Lil' Miss and her team of potential sex slavers but it was still odd being the one approached and not the approacher. Even the tactics of these women changed, seeing as he wasn't from Vale and lacked the features, and they made multiple comments about his foreign appearance. He may be a foreigner but that didn't make him an easy target for women wanting to "get to know him", as they say.

Had it been like this when he arrived before? No, probably not, he was dirty and smelled like sweaty nature. Oh, and the fact it was initially the guy who approached the girl.

It also didn't help that his muscles had finally started to develop, something that also definitely made him stand out amongst other men. Most of the men he took note of were wearing flashy clothing, had make up on their face, and were even showing a bit of skin. He had taken little notice at home due to his lack of care and wanting to focus on training, but now, it was strange.

'I don't think I'll ever get used to this...'

Then Jaune remembered the other important thing. He was the only guy in all of Remnant who had aura. Or, at least, as far as the world knew. And, like the idiot he found himself to be at times, he had walked through the city with Excalibur strapped to his back. People were probably asking lots of weird questions. Sure there were a few male police officers, with guns and batons, but Jaune had a big ass sword on his back. Something that was usually only seen on people with aura, a.k.a Huntresses.

How he had been oblivious to the, more than likely, odd looks he had received was beyond him. It was even more baffling how none of the women who approached him commented on it or still had the gall to talk to him while he carried the big stabby stick. But he could simply tell himself that he would be at Beacon soon enough, away from all the potential questioning and looks, and be amongst his peers.

The young man finished dressing himself and stepped into the mirror as he adjusted the collar of his jacket. He wouldn't worry himself with the world views anymore and simply decided to continue adjusting at his own pace

If he was seen as weird, so be it, he knew his friends would accept him, faults and all.

Though, he would admit, the new change of clothes would give him a decent start.

The blonde teen stepped out of the changing room. "What do you think of this?"

The young woman's eyes widened once they landed on him. "Oh wow. That suits you very well, sir."

Jaune stepped towards the larger set of mirrors in the open room. He smiled at his own reflection and looked at the several other angles the larger mirror provided.

He had gone for a black long sleeve button up with a white vest and gold buttons. Over that he wore a loosely tied red tie with a black jacket that also had gold trims and gold buttons. His pants were a matching white to his vest and he had two black belts with golden buckles across his waist.

"You really think so?" He asked, grin widening to that of a goofy level. He couldn't help feeling giddy at how good he thought he looked.

"Truly, sir. Although..." She trailed off before moving off into the store. Jaune arched a brow, watching her move across the aisles before she gave a cheer of success and raced back to him. He could see a box in her hands and a pair of gloves on top as she set them down on the bench. "Here, try these!"

He could see her excitement and moved over to her. The first were the gloves which were black with gold knuckle protectors. He then looked inside the box and found a pair of shoes, nice shoes, that matched. Black base with a golden heel and clasp over the strings. The young man couldn't help but feel her excitement flooding into him.

"These are perfect," he said, wasting no time to try them on. He pulled on the shoes before the gloves and took another look in the mirror. He could feel his face start to hurt from how big his smile was. "This is it!"

"I can't help but agree, sir." She looked him up and down. "It is not often we get such a specimen as yourself in our store. I could only give the best lest I lose myself as a woman of fashion."

Jaune turned to her. "Thank you, truly! I know it must have been odd, seeing as it's a Huntress shop-."

The young woman shook her head. "Please, if we limited ourselves to only providing clothing to Huntresses, we would only limit ourselves. You're not from around here, are you?"

Jaune chuckled. "Haha, yeah, you could tell?"

"Well, you aren't exactly subtle, sir."

"I guess that's fair." Jaune said, with a lighthearted shrug. "I lived in a village on the outskirts of Mistral. Not much of a city boy."

"Ah, I see. Well, Mistral is one of the two who aren't as modernizing as us, despite the multiple cultures across the kingdom. I'm sure you've had personal experience with that."

Jaune thought back to Lil' Miss and her gang. "I suppose you could say that."

"Well, you don't have to worry much for that here in Vale. Men are a bit more...respected?.. here than Mistral. It's the most polite word I can use with the horror stories I've heard. Opportunities are just as equal for men and women, several men having joined in droves to the military, and there's even a few men teaching at Beacon and Signal Academies."

Huh, now that took Jaune by surprise. From what he read in the history books and saw on the streets, men had essentially become completely subservient to women. It also seemed they were second class to them if the sheer submission of men to their women was to be taken into account.

The civilians of his time, who also lacked aura in his time, held equality and equal opportunities. But here, it seemed because men didn't possess aura at all, they weren't seen as valuable outside of raising a family and taking the subservient roles of the social ladder. It was like the literal embodiment of the First Queen's ideology had been pushed too far and men were seen as damn near worthless.

And while it was comforting that Vale was better than that and closer to home why was Mistral so strayed? What of Atlas, Vacuo, and Menagerie? What was the pinnacle point that created this rift and formed what was essentially a matriarchy?

"Ah, but I should warn you of the bad that comes with the good." Jaune looked back to see a look of concern.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever heard of a man named Roman Torchwick." Jaune's eyes widened at the mention of the nefarious crime lord. The clerk took his surprise as fear. "He's a dangerous man who has been robbing and stealing for years. He's gone toe-to-toe with Huntresses and been able to slip away each and every time. There's even a crazy rumor that he has aura and that that's how he's been able to get away."

Jaune knitted his brows. So Roman was out there somewhere and sticking to his nefarious ways. Not only that but his name seemed to carry more weight as he was doing this while, supposedly, men couldn't use aura. Was there a possibility that Roman could? And could it be that there was a potential of more men having aura?

The rumors she told him just opened up several more questions that he had yet to even ask himself. Even despite his current goal being the hunt for the man without the knowledge if he was even still a criminal in Vale or not. The best he could do for now was to find any leads that might tell him where Roman would be next.

"What exactly has he been after that required Huntresses instead of the police?" It was an innocent enough question.

"Initially, when he first arrived in Vale, it had just been simple things. Money, jewelry, a cigar shop. That was a time when only the police tried dealing with him."

"I assume it's escalated recently?"

The clerk nodded her head. "Yes. A short time ago, he moved on to stealing weapons and Dust."

'That's right! Ruby told me of her first run in with Roman was at a Dust shop! It was how she got into Beacon early!' Jaune cursed himself at forgetting that very important tidbit of information.

"I see. But he wouldn't do that in broad daylight. The authorities and Huntresses would come down on him instantly."

"You're right. He usually goes for late night Dust shops. They are rare, even for Vale, and placed in odd locations that make it hard for authorities to respond."

"I see. Well, lucky for me I have no need for Dust, so I don't expect myself to get caught in the crossfire."

The young woman chuckled lightly. "That is true but I'd rather you'd know and be extra careful. Can't have a pretty face like yours getting caught with a guy like Roman. He makes guys like you look bad."

The smirk she gave him made the boy's cheeks turn pink. "Ahaha, stop, you're making me blush."

"Oh please, a pretty guy like you must get compliments like this all the time. I'm simply stating the obvious."

And he was reminded by the very similar line that guys would use when talking to a pretty girl. It didn't work a lot of the time but was a typical conversation starter. He couldn't lie and say he didn't like the compliments. But they usually come before...

"And, since you're still new to Vale, how about I show you around?"

Ah, there it was.

-XOXOX-

"Haaah... Haaah... Rare late night stores... my foot!" Jaune muttered, jogging down the street.

The late night had finally come and the blonde boy had come out in search of Torchwick. He had done his research on how many Dust shops actually stayed open late and had been quite surprised by just how many the Kingdom of Vale had. He knew it was a massive city but even he hadn't seen some of those streets despite his entire time at Beacon originally.

As he rounded a corner, he came upon another Dust shop. As he grew closer, he could see it looked relatively peaceful. There wasn't anyone around, no sirens in the distance, and no signs of an energetic red hoodie clad individual in the area.

Seemed it was another bust and he mentally scratched the location off his mental map. There were very few stores left that the police stations and Huntresses couldn't respond to left in an area that was decently close to Beacon where someone would respond to and discover Ruby. He tried to remember and see if there were any details that could give him a clue on which Dust shop she could be at.

He tried to remember, what exactly was she there for? She had said she was looking for a gift for Yang. It was to celebrate her acceptance into Beacon and... and...

"Gah!" He released a frustrated shout. Luckily, no one was on the street to see his minor mental breakdown.

This was going to be more difficult than he thought. A fact made heavier by the limited time he had left before Beacon's initiation. He was almost sure that tonight was the night that Ruby had told him she fought Torchwick but he couldn't remember where she mentioned the fight. She had to have told him that story over a hundred times and he couldn't remember the most important detail of where it happened.

If he missed this, his chances would go to practically zero. Ruby would get into Beacon but he would be left here. Roman would, more than likely, go into hiding until the heat died down. And anything the Red Machete gang would try would be small and insignificant because of the amount of gang members going down.

Not to mention that remembered the story Yang told of how she took down an entire club of thugs wearing black and red, also around the time before Beacon's initiation. How the two never made a connection until Argus was beyond him. They had practically crippled one of Vale's largest criminal organizations before they were even students.

Jaune shook his head, trying to focus back to the task at hand. He couldn't focus on the memories, he had to get into the school first if he wanted to have walks down memory lane with his friends.

He looked back to the Dust shop one last time. Still no signs of the gang or Ruby. His lips thinned as he prepared himself to jog off for the next shop. And, just as he took the first few steps, he heard a loud crash and spun back around.

His eyes widened as he saw her land stylishly on top of a nicely dressed man. Her back was to him, looking back at the shop, but he knew that red hood and black dress anywhere. It was most definitely his best friend. There, in all her short and bubbly, cookie-loving glory, Ruby Rose stood over one of the Red Machete thugs.

The remaining goons that were left in the shop raced outside and surrounded her. Jaune only needed to watch as she started to tear into them with ease. Her movements were a tad more flashy but still effective, taking each goon one by one with no real trouble. She was a blur with her Semblance, dodging attacks, getting behind the enemy, and taking them out in a matter of seconds.

Jaune remembered that it was her uncle who had initially trained her. He was more cutthroat in his attacks and the little flares Ruby did had been picked up from her training with Yang. This, however, made him wonder if that was still the case judging by her slight altering in style. He didn't remember another scythe user in her family and yet here she was.

What changed?

"Well, Red, I think we can all say, it's been an eventful evening," Roman announced as he stepped into the street. Jaune had only just realized the fight was already over and he could hear the sounds of the sirens in the distance. "And as much as I'd like to stick around," the thief continued, "I'm afraid this is where we part ways."

The man raised his cane and the heel pulled itself up, revealing to be a sight. Ruby didn't cower, only tightening her grip on Crescent Rose. Jaune's eyes widened as he noticed something, something that Roman had possibly taken note of, but Ruby had not.

During their fight, there were a few spectators that had gathered behind the little Rose. Whether it was their humane desire of being attracted to gunshots, the psychos, or the spectacle Ruby had put on in defeating the gang members, he couldn't tell. What mattered was now they were in the crossfire of a gunshot that was more explosive than ballistic and one wrong move from Roman could spell seriously fatal trouble for the civilians.

It wasn't even a hard decision for what Jaune had to do as he charged forward, reaching for Pridwen. It only took a few seconds to get to the people and he shoved past them immediately. They didn't even take notice of him, probably because the slow realization that they were about to be shot at had frozen them to their spots. He remembered a time where, he too, would have done the same thing but times were now different and he was better.

And just like he suspected, Roman shot and Ruby dodged. The blast sounded like a firework going off and the ball of Dust hit like a Boarbatusk. Jaune buried the point of Pridwen into the ground in preparation but the force still rang through, almost sounding like a gong had been struck. The heat was a whole other thing as the gust of hot air wrapped around the kite shield, blowing a few strands of hair from his face. But he held and everyone behind him didn't seem to have been harmed.

"Everyone alright?" He asked, just to be sure. There were several grateful nods.

The young knight pulled his shield and looked back to see Roman gone and Ruby shooting up a ladder in her blur of rose petals. He growled slightly, both parties upsetting him a bit for varying reasons. Roman for his underhanded trick of using civilians as a distraction, which should have been expected. And Ruby, who left the scene without checking to make sure the area was even secure before running after the criminal.

She was definitely still young and inexperienced. Something he was going to have to rectify with all of their friends, more than likely. They will be ready this time.

It wasn't until the police finally arrived that Jaune considered the area safe and took off to where he last saw the thief and reaper disappear to.

So, with some groans and a few unprofessional remarks that were better left unheard, Jaune finished climbing the ladder just in time for a Bullhead's fog lights to blast him in the face. Ruby stood in front of him, watching as the debonair crimelord climbed onto the aircraft and turned to face her.

"End of the line, Red!" Roman shouted before tossing out a red Dust crystal. It was decently large and more than enough to blow the roof off the building, or cave it in onto the next few stories.

The blonde's eyes widened and he rushed forward. However, this time he wasn't going to be fast enough and his best friend could do nothing but hope her aura held. But it was as the thief shot that Jaune noticed a similar hue of purple appear in front of Ruby and a figure moved from the side to step in front of her.

Dust kicked up and there was a small release of heat but the Dust was still intact on the ground and the smoke quickly cleared. Jaune could only sigh in relief as he recognized the familiar face of the woman he had been hoping to see.

Glynda Goodwitch pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose before firing off several shots towards the Bullhead. It shook and rumbled, Roman seen tumbling to and fro across the cargo hold, almost comically. The Huntresses prepped another shot, one sure enough to bring the aircraft down, but Jaune took one look below and spun back to her immediately.

"Stop!" He shouted out.

His fellow blonde turned towards him and the attack dispersed from the end of her crop. It had only been for a moment that their eyes met but it was more than enough for the Bullhead to right itself and pull away to make its escape. Ruby took a few shots at it but it was far too late as the aircraft escaped into the night, bullets only ricocheting off its hull.

Once it was out of sight, both women turned to the young man with varying expressions. Ruby looked more or less confused by his arrival and Glynda looked as cold as she always had with mild annoyance.

Jaune, however, had a look on his face that showed he was not pleased with either of them.

-XOXOX-

It hadn't been too long after that Ruby Rose found herself in a seat in an interrogation room.

"I hope you realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, young lady..."

Her eyes stayed fixed on the table and her head hung low with guilt.

"You put yourself and others in great danger tonight. Your lack of awareness of your surroundings nearly cost civilians their lives."

Ruby found the courage to look up. "But those guys started it!"

"That is not a good enough excuse!" Jaune shouted, slamming his hands on the table. Ruby jumped back into her seat, cowering into the steel chair. "You want to be a Huntress, right? Then you have to take responsibility. Your job is to protect humanity but you chose to avoid the attack and run after the criminal. Did you even know there were civilians behind you?"

Ruby fidgeted in her seat underneath his critical eye. She rubbed her thumbs together, failing to meet his gaze a second time. He stared at her a few seconds longer before turning his attention to his fellow blonde. "And you..."

Glynda, sitting next to Ruby, had her arms folded and raised a lone brow at him.

"You arrived and stopped Roman's attempts at setting off a Dust explosion," he commended with a nod. But then his eyes narrowed again. "And then you went on to attempt to bring down a Bullhead onto a street filled with more civilians. Honestly, are either of you situationally aware!?"

There was a brief moment of silence. The young knight continued to look between the both of them, waiting for either to speak up. Glynda kept eye contact while Ruby continued to fiddle with the hem of her dress.

He eventually got his first response from the little reaper.

"I...didn't expect people to be out so late," she squeaked out.

"That is not a good enough response! What if people died tonight because of that shot!? What would you tell their families!?"

Ruby's head hung lower. He didn't expect this outcome to be the way his reunion with his best friend would go. He expected the same goofy greeting of finding her in a crater at orientation after her minor explosion. Not held up in a police station berating her for her lack of training. It was a little unfair because she was a young and inexperienced Signal student, but was still necessary because it was an extremely important lesson for the future Huntress and needed to be learned immediately.

Then he looked back to Glynda. "And what do you have to say for yourself?"

"I...might have forgone making sure the area was clear before attempting to bring down the aircraft."

Jaune narrowed his eyes. "Maybe?"

She, for once, did not meet his gaze.

Click!

"Well, I must say, this is quite the odd situation to come upon."

The door opened and a very familiar voice came from behind the blonde knight. He would have assumed it Ozpin due to only the Headmaster of Beacon having the authority to join the matter between Huntress and possible students. However, that wasn't the case as the voice he heard wasn't one of comfort, no matter how gentle and calm they may have sounded. That voice had only become familiar to the knight due to the dread and chaos that always followed it in his journey across Remnant. He had hoped that he wouldn't have had to hear it all but to have it behind him, before even taking a step on his path...

His heart sank into his shoes and a chill shot up his spine so fast that he stiffened at the table and reached for where Crocea Mors would have originally been. He only grasped air and could feel his other hand grip the table in a white knuckled vice.

"My, oh my, who do we have here?"

Jaune spun on his heels and came face to face with the source of his bane. She looked much different than what he had come to know but he remembered her past and what she used to be. She still had not aged a day and passed for what was considered beauty beyond belief. There was no ghostly white skin. There was no black and red eyes. There weren't any black veins. No dark robes formed by the shadows. No Grimm smog that followed in her wake. No Grimm limbs, no cesspools of darkness, no white hair in weird braids.

But there was no mistaking it. That smile, that gaze, that power brewing within her. He knew exactly who she was even as she looked at him with amused interest.

"Salem..."

And here we meet the start of the major differences.

First off, Salem. A non Grimmified Salem at that. But what could her goals be? How is she there? Where is Ozpin?

And then there's Ruby. She doesn't have Qrow to teach her her scythe skills so who's there to do it now? And what of her sister who was also trained by a male?

Oh, and for those who don't know Jaune's new outfit. Its RWBY 3.0 by dishwasher1910's version of Jaune. But with Excalibur of course.

The weapon was my own thought, for those who asked. So it does lack finer description details, there's definitely more than the sword and shield that Jaune will discover as time progresses.

As for the name change, I've got where I'm going. As for Jaune's place in Beacon, I've got that figured out. And, as for men's values, it's like the reverse of our world. Where in some countries, men and women have equal opportunities, in other countries, men are heads of households and sole breadwinners, and in other countries, women are seen as no more than property that can be bought and sold.

The only reason Jaune dealt with what he dealt with was simply where he was coming from. And it also gives a drop of an idea of how the females of Beacon Academy will react to him seeing as they are coming from all the kingdoms.