Chapter 27 Inside Look
"You know, you could always back out now. There's no shame in admitting defeat."
'Inhale.' Jaune expanded his lungs to eat as much oxygen as it can.
"Are you kidding me? This is an opportunity to see what it's like over there! He can't just back out when he's almost there."
'Exhale.' Jaune slowly let's go of all the wind out of his body that also carried away most of his anxiety.
"He can back out now, Gwen, we're literally still in front of the school!" Harry exclaimed as the three friends were standing outside of their education center.
"I do kind of find it weird that he's been doing the breathing exercises when we're not even taking flight to get there." Gwen pondered as she looked up in the sky to see Bullheads flying to where Jaune was hesitant to go for his first day as a reporter.
It's been over four days since the agreement, yet when the week started Jaune was getting more and more nervous as the hours ticked by. After school ended, Harry knew that his blonde friend would get nervous, so as a pillar of strength, he urged Jaune to face his problem by asking his father for a ride to drive to Beacon.
While they waited for Harry's father to arrive, Gwen spotted them and was curious as to what the two were doing. So, she asked them what their plan was and decided to come along without even asking.
"Shouldn't you be at your job right now, Gwen?" Harry asked her. "Not to sound rude, but I'm not sure having more people in the car will help Jaune with his anxiety."
To prove his point, Jaune took several deeper breaths as he stared at the large looking clock tower that housed thousands of heavily armed teens.
"Meh, no problem." She shrugged her shoulders. "Doc Conner messaged me and said that I don't need to come by the lab today, which means I can come along!"
Pinching the bridge of his nose, the young Osborn let out a sigh and looked bat at their third member.
"You at least know that Jaune has a reason to act like this right?"
"Of course! He told us in confidence remember? Which makes it mportant for me and you to be there as he confronts the place that rejected him! Lord knows I had my fair share of places that rejected me when I tried to apply to them."
About to make a comment on Gwen's last remark, Harry was stopped when a familiar black limo drove into the school's front driveway.
"Looks like my dad isn't here." The rich teen said.
"How can you tell?"
Soon as it parked, the driver got out of the car, walked to the end of the limo, and opened the door to invite the young master and guests.
"Because usually my dad opens the door. When he's in a good mood at least." He answered as he was the first to go inside.
"Oooh!" Gwen tugged Jaune's right arm to follow her inside. "Luxury~! You know, I feel like this is the first time I rode with you guys in such a snazzy car."
"That's because it is your first time here, Gwen." Harry gave her a flat look. "Every time we walk out of school, we usually see you heading out by yourself to either find a job or go to your summer camp job."
"In my defense," Gwen put her open palms in front of her. "The quarter master does need help, a lot of help actually, and not just around the camp either. Also, most of the time when I said about applying for another job, some of that was a lie to make me feel better since I usually get rejected by them."
"…. How did you get a job at being a lab assistant again?" He asked, worried that the good doctor might have picked someone out of pity then actual credentials.
"Hey, don't forget I'm one of the smartest chicks in school!" Gwen argued. "It's just really hard to get to the college I want to enroll in without a proper revenue. I thought working as a camp counselor for a short time would be enough, yet I still have the job."
"So, shouldn't you be at said camp?"
"It's a summer camp, ya' dingus," She stuck her tongue out. "Besides that, the camp is closed due to some weird activity involving the Grimm."
If both teens paid attention to the only Blonde in the car, they would have noticed Jaune flinching when he heard about Gwen's first job involving the monsters he had fought in the forest while helping Iron Man.
"For once, I was surprised when the owner of the camp came down and told us about it, then I realized why he did it since it saved him more Lien to close the camp rather than hire Huntsmen to protect the campers."
"Wait, wait, wait! Your camp is outside the perimeter? Isn't that dangerous?"
"Well, it isn't really camping when your near civilization, Harry. Plus, Mr. Campbell didn't really think a head about where he wanted to put it. Either way, if it means I get away from those kids for a while, then I'm ok with it!"
"Don't you mean fired?" Finally, after hearing the outrageous story about Gwen's camp being closed, Jaune was calm enough to ask his question.
"No," She chuckled. "Believe me, I fantasize the day when that place closes down, but it's only shut down until huntsmen or other hired goons show up to kill any Grimm that's near."
"Thought you said he's cheap and didn't want to pay for any hired muscle?"
"I did, Jaune, but that doesn't mean other people aren't! Since the camp is still relatively near the city, the council or some other concerned citizens pay up. Leaving Mr. Campbell with extra lien to put in his safe or wallet."
"Well, I got to say one thing about him. He sure knows how to make others pay for fixing problems, and that's coming from a son whose dad oversees a multimillion lien company." Harry said with some respect for Gwen's cheap skate of a boss. "But, on a serious note, did you get any news on why there was more Grimm coming through your camp?"
"Not much, the only thing I know was that they never really came that close before. Now that I think about it, I heard that for a couple of days, Grimm was rarely seen in some parts of the Emerald forest, yet now there seems to be a huge increase."
"It does seem odd that they would increase in numbers so suddenly." The young Osborn agreed to how strange these past few days were. "Maybe they migrated or something."
"Yeah, I guess it'll just remain a mystery." The blonde spider told his friends. "Maybe the Grimm sensed negativity from the camp?"
"So basically, they were tracking Gwen?" Said Harry, who got a punch in the shoulder from the tanned skinned girl.
"Ha, ha! Very funny." She crossed her arms. "And just for the record, if what you said was true, then that camp should have been invaded by the Grimm every single day. Cause I swear, I'm not the only one hating that place!"
Laughing at what Gwen said about her job at camp, the young teens soon started to change the subject and simply talked about things they thought were interesting to pass the time.
'Man,' Jaune soon started to retreat in his mind as both friends started to talk to each other leaving Jaune time to think. 'It's really scary how much ground they can cover. I hope whoever was hired can handle them. I think I rather be out there then going to Beac- No, no, no! Don't think like that, you promised yourself that you can do this!'
Using his hands to pinch his cheeks, Jaune went over how today will play out.
'Aunt May knows and I can't lie to her, other than the major fact that Im currently paty of the whole superhero thing, but this is a good opportunity to get more lien! Not just that either, but I also agreed to do this to help Whitley.'
Remembering the man behind the Iron Man, Jaune couldn't help but remember Whitley's words when he visited his house.
[Four Days Ago]
"Your joking." Came out of Jaune's mouth as soon as he heard Whitley say that Remnant will be running out of dust.
"Ok, I wasn't expecting that as your reply, but fine."
"Are you saying that dust, out main natural resource, will no longer exist?" Jaune asked him, trying to wrap his head around something that sounds ridiculous to believe. "Cause if so, then Aunt May and I need to stock up on dust! Who knows, it could be like that movie where everyone wears leather with metal spikes that drives cars with guitar players that shoot fire out of their instruments!"
A thought that came to Jaune's head made him gasp in shock!
"Oh no!" He said in fear. "I could be those guys who plays a guitar that shoots fire! …Actually, that sounds pretty metal."
"No, stop talking," Whitley waved his hands in front of Jaune to shut him up. "I had enough time with one person with a motor mouth, I don't need another. But, to make it easier on your little survival plans, you don't need to worry since dust won't run out in your life time."
"Oh, thank good- wait a minute." Jaune's happy moment was stopped within a second of realizing what Whitley said. "What do you mean 'my lifetime'?"
"Exactly what I mean, Jaune. Dust is running out, but you'll live long enough, or short depending how long the whole hero thing takes you, to still have dust in your life. However, it's the next generation or so that will start seeing a rapid decline in dust resources."
"But, you run the SDC!" He pointed out to the young baron.
"My father runs it; my siblings and I just ride on his coat tails."
"Can't you just, do cooperate stuff and refine more? Heck, can't you guys find more dust veins?" Jaune asked, wondering how this problem hasn't been addressed already to the public.
"My family is rich, but lien can't fix all your problems. At least I thought it could back then" Whitley muttered that last sentence to himself.
"Any way, Jaune. We can't just find more dust veins since the farther we go, the farther we're away from civilization, leading to a higher chance of being overrun by Grimm."
"Another thing," The white-haired boy slammed his fist into his other opened hand. "I'm sure your already aware of the SDC and their somewhat harsh working rules with Dust veins, correct? I mean, the Schnee's are one of the most hated individuals of the White Fang for that reason."
"Oh right, right, right." The blonde winched when he didn't think a head of what he was asking from Whitley. "So, you're still planning to oversee the SDC and not your sister, I get that part, so is your next part trying to conserve dust or are you planning to try and get ready for the upcoming unrest when the whole dust shortage thing happens?"
"Not really, no." Whitley tapped his finger on the center of where his chest piece was. "You remember when I opened that case those A.I.M drones tried their best to get?"
"how can I not? You were blaring rock music while taking them down," Jaune's foot instinctively started to tap to the imaginary beat his mind was projecting. "Got to say, for super hero entrances, you take the price."
"Thank you," Whitley bowed his head at the complement. "My friends are in to music and they gave me the idea. I was never really a fan of music per se, it's hard to when you sister is a singer that has lyrics that makes you so sad that you want to end your life, but I digress!"
"You see, Jaune, what is imbedded in my chest is also the key to helping me make the biggest break though of all time. A new, environmentally safe, infinite source of energy!"
"Is that why you destroyed the blueprints of that suit case? It had the instructions to make what you have in your chest?" Jaune deduced, putting two and two together to see how it all makes sense.
"Oh, no, they didn't have the blueprints to make something like this" He tapped his finger on his chest again.
"Ok, then," Jaune looked down, his deduction no longer seeming that smart anymore. "But, they at least have some why of making something that has the same properties of what you have, right?"
"They do, no did have them once, though The Maggia have some reach within the working class, Scientific expertise is not one of them. Those plans would never really work in a large scale, but A.I.M takes any chances if it involves technology that can advance in their plans for controlling Atlas or even Remnant itself."
Thinking about so many new information, made the web head rub his forehead.
"And if the Maggia and A.I.M are trying their own luck in making a brand-new form of energy, you plan to do the same with the help of your inheritance?"
"Mine is a more legal compered to them, plus I rather have it within an already profitable business rather than make it from square one. I know dust is our main income, but soon I'll make a new source of energy that can out pace dust!"
"Seriously, did I forget to mention that all of this is way too much for a guy who just clings on to walls?" Jaunes said truthfully.
It was supposed to be just him dealing with Roman stealing things and whoever was helping the White Fang from working alongside the bowler hat thief. Now, here's Iron Man, who revealed to be not even a man but a boy younger then even Jaune, telling him of some more scary gangs trying their best to beat others in to what appears to be some energy crisis war!
"Will the Maggia and A.I.M still be here? Cause I'm already dealing with roman stealing dust including the White Fang!"
"The Maggia will probably linger, I'm afraid. They have their hands on almost every union within the kingdoms, so it's going to be hard to get rid of them when their almost everywhere within plain site. As for A.I.M well, there not in to the whole worker class schtick, plus their more cautious now that both of us crashed their plan at the forest." The youngest Schnee explained.
'Funny, I understand they want to be in the forest to hide, but why the extra stuff with Grimm and digging in the ground.?'
With remembering about the man-made tunnel, Jaune decided it was the best time to ask Whitley to see if he has any ideas since A.I.M is in Whitley's kingdom.
"Other than the Maggia."
'Which will probably be my problem now.'
"Do you still wonder why A.I.M was focused on digging under Vale? The plans for a new energy and them capturing Grimm aside, what bugs me is that we have no clue as to why they did it."
Whitley pondered that though too and when he was about to speak his theory behind it, his scroll started to ring. Pulling it out of his pocket, he checked what was on his scroll and then placed it back.
"I need to head back, that was my timer going off, meaning I can't stay any longer. I'm sorry, Jaune, really I am, A.I.M and the Maggia are my responsibility and now that there here, my problems just became your problems too."
'Yaaay! More responsibility!' Jaune's mind immediately made up an image of A.I.M joining Roman and the White Fang in the pursuit of killing Spider-Man. "Can you still help me in some way?"
"I'm not staying for long, Jaune." Deciding to walk around some more in Jaune's room, Whitley was about to look back to the other person in the room but stopped when his nose picked up on something.
"Since Stane just wanted to help Weiss by getting a guy like you to write a paper about young Huntsmen, then there would be no other reason to stay now that your hired." Following his nose, Whitley stopped in front of what he can assume is Jaune's closet and opened it.
"But don't worry, I'll give you my number, just in case you need any he- Fwooo! That smells!" Pinching his nose, the rich teen used his other hand to fish out whatever was causing such fowl rank.
"What the," Pulling out the smelly garment, Whitley was greeted to the sight of another of Jaune's spider costume, only to see it far worse for wear that included some very questionable stains. "Is this your costume?"
Biting his lower lip and sucking in air, Jaune looked away from the sorry sight of his suit but nodded his head to confirm Whitley's question.
"That was going to be my last new suit, the one you found was ruined because of Flint Marko," To this day, Jaune still gets defensive whenever he's near a sandbox. "And before you ask, the one you saw me wear was made up from my Uncle's old war gear."
Looking at the design of Jaune's old suit, then back at Jaune, the young genius looked between the two before tossing the gross suit back to where it came from.
"Well," Whitley wiped his hand on Jaune's bed sheets. "I don't want to hold up any more of your time, Jaune. I'll be going now, but remember about calling your boss about the job, I won't be there in person since I'll be leaving by the time you go to Beacon after school, so good luck!"
"I geuss that's it for now," jaune opened the door to let his guest out. "It's just got really complicated for me, Whitley. You must know there has been lots of dust being stolen by Roman and the White Fang isn't helping either since there now trying to get more weapons. Weapons, I might add, that they buy off A.I.M."
"Yes, it does sound very challenging, but A.I.M won't be a problem for now, we sent them packing. Though, I'm sure they'll come back, and when that happens just call and I'll do my best to come back here as fast as I can!"
"Won't people in Atlas notice that you'll be gone at the same time Iron Man is?" Jaune asked as the two boys descended from the stairs.
"What? A rich, young bachelor, off to wherever their parents allow them too will make people raise eyebrows? You forget, Jaune, that people don't really get suspicions of rich people, because we can afford to go to faraway places no middles class or lower class citizens can."
'He's not wrong there. As painful as it is true.'
Walking to the front door, Jaune and Whitley walked past the kitchen and stopped at the front door.
"Aunt May!" Jaune raised his voice for his aunt to hear him. "Mr. Schnee-"
"Just call me Whitley." The rich young man whispered.
"Can't stay any longer, he needs to go back!"
"Ok, dear!" She replied from the kitchen. "Are you also coming with him?"
"No, Aunt May, I'm just walking him out." Opening the front door, Jaune motioned the guest to walk out first.
"I got to say, Whitley," Jaune walked out of his house and felt the morning sun shine down on his face. "It feels nice to have someone I know about my double life. Makes me feel like I'm not alone in doing what I think is right."
'Also, it makes me feel less crazy and insecure about me wearing a full spandex suit in public.'
"Trust me, Jaune, you're not alone in what you're doing." The pale skinned teen looked up to the endless sky with a thousand-yard stare. "People, regular people like you and me, are just a small percentage compared to the rest of Remnant. But, I can tell, within time, more people that share the same ideals will start coming out of the shadows."
"How can you tell?"
"I'm what some people call, a futurist, someone who thinks about the tomorrow rather than the now." Whitley explained.
"Only," Jaune explained it in his own words. "It's like the tomorrow part is far, far away kind of tomorrow, right?"
"Something like that, yeah." Sucking in large amounts of air, Whitley held it all in then blew it all out, like he was letting out all his thoughts regarding heroes. "I can already see it now, Jaune. They might think we're just some form of crazy, thrill seekers or some other unsavory things they like to label us with, but it's all going to change."
Looking it at this in Whitley's perspective, it did seem like a good idea. Though Huntsmen and the military are the four kingdom's main branches of defense against Grimm, it wouldn't hurt if there are people that are just like him and Whitley.
'And who knows, maybe there might be people who have the same predicament as me? If so, then maybe they're scared to open up to the public about their amazing and strange abilities.'
Jaune really can't blame them if they decide to just hide in plain sight, he would do the same too. He isn't like Huntsmen or Faunus, he has no aura and he was born human, so it wouldn't surprise him if the government would use his body to see what makes him the way he is.
'Is there really a chance though?' Jaune followed Whitley's lead and looked at the sky.
'Out of everyone in that building, I was the one to get bitten by that spider. Maybe there are other people that had the same thing happened to them? I guess I kind of won the lottery with all the neat stuff I got from that day, but that can't be said about some other people who never asked for such responsibility.'
Moving his head down from the sky and back to the ground, Jaune looked at Whitley who was still talking.
"Me, running the SDC, making a cleaner, better, and more effect renewable energy that can actually make more jobs for the better, and you paving the way for others to contribute in their own way to society." The rich teen told Jaune his ideal outcome.
"That sounds all well and good, but if what you say is true, then won't there be less Huntsmen when Remnant decides to rely on heroes who help people for free? After all, even though Huntsmen are superior to average everyday joes, they still need lien to eat. Won't that just make some problems along the way?"
'I don't want that to happen to Ruby. She seems so happy talking about being close to fulfilling her dream of becoming a Huntress. I don't want her goal to be cut short so soon!'
"Huntsmen will still be around, Remnants a big place after all, they'll just be more proactive helping the villages outside the walls of the kingdoms. You seem to be more better fighting in an urban environment, so I'm sure it would be no problem for other heroes to help clean up the streets the same way."
"Guess you really did think about what's the come."
"It's just a possibility in my head, but I assure you that change is just around the corner and that change is for the better." Head out of the clouds, Whitley reached inside his pocket, pulled out his scroll, and turned to Jaune.
"Here, just give me your number so we can contact each other."
Nodding his head, Jaune and Whitley gave their numbers to each other and tested them to make sure it works.
"I don't think my service can cover such a long-distance call. My parents didn't cut me off their family plan, so I don't want them to be charged more in their next scroll bill."
"Don't worry, the amount you're getting paid to help my sister and her friends should make you enough to have your own scroll plan. Just make sure you call your boss and be at beacon to help my sister. Good luck, jaune, I'm sure seeing what it's like on their side will make it easier for you to write your first ever article."
"Pretty sure sure it'll go through several re-writes from my boss as well as Mr. Stain, right?"
"Heh, heh, heh," Whitley placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder. "Looks like your already learned the first thing about journalism. Everything you write will be changed by those above you, no matter how much you hate it."
'That doesn't fill me with confidence.'
[Present Time]
No longer having anything else to say, both teens split off to where there needed for the rest of the day. Jaune did as he was promised and called his boss for agreeing to visit Beacon academy leading to right now.
Inside the limo with his two best friends who were oddly quiet for some reason as both were looking outside the window.
'Guess I know we're already here.'
Not wanting to be the only one sitting, the only blonde in the group looked out his side of the window to see Beacon up-close.
"Holy crap, you guys." Gwen's moth was slightly open in awe at the structure. "I always see this place far away but looking at it so closely really makes me feel tiny!"
"Man, this place sure knows how to keep the place tidy too!" Harry eyed the freshly cut grass and healthy trees scattered throughout the academy. "We haven't even got inside the security gate inside to see the rest yet!"
"I'm honestly surprised you never go inside Beacon, Harry." Jaune said to his friend. "I always thought your dad would bring you here sometimes. You know, like for formal parties, or some business meetings he wants you to be in when you take over."
"Are you kidding me, Jaune?" The Osborn's face soured, like he was sucking on a lemon. "My dad doesn't really bring me along for stuff like this. He mostly just makes me hang around his office at home, but I never once saw him ever go to Beacon. I never know why, I thought it would be good to have Beacon and my dad work together, but he just doesn't seem to like the headmaster for some reason."
"Did you ever meet him?" Gwen's eyes looked up to the tall clocktower. "Beacon's headmaster I mean?"
"Once, after that I never saw him." Harry told Gwen. "I saw Beacon's headmaster talking to my dad in his computer screen, both seemed to hate one another, but they still kept a professional attitude as they talked about making a deal with some dust for the school."
"Oh! Speaking about dust, don't tell anyone else about this, but my dad will be security for the up and coming Vytal festival!" Gwen pulled back her head inside the car and faced the other two teens in the car.
"How did my dad and the headmaster talking about dust lead to you talking about your dad, Gwen?"
"Because he'll be part of security, that's why!" She said with excitement. "I can't wait when it starts! Almost everyone in Remnant will be here!"
"Too bad for me," The limos started to slow down as it was reaching its destination. "I won't be writing anything about the festival, nor do I care really. I just want to meet with Ruby and her friends, that's all I'm hoping for today."
'I don't need to worry about any fighting, Grimm, or any other hazardous things. Just me, talking to Ruby and her friends about what it's like in Beacon, that can't be a sign for anything dangerous.'
Car finally stopping, Jaune was the first to leave the car and stood in front of where he was on the first day entering the academy. Only this time it wasn't the first day for new students entering this esteemed school, so there weren't many people coming inside the academy, yet it still held a firm grip in Jaune's heart as he felt the sense of déjà vu envelope him.
"I know I didn't say this from the beginning you guys, but thanks for coming with me to Beacon."
"Hey, no problem, Jaune, we're glad to help." Harry was about to say more, but he heard his scroll ringing, making him move his focus on answering it.
"I can totally relate to your plight, Jaune. Take it from a girl who gets rejected by every possible job I get, no matter how many rejections you recive, you just got to keep moving forward."
"Thanks for the advice, Gwen" Jaune smiled. "I just wished you guys can come with me, but you have to be on behalf of some company or have someone you know who attends here to be allowed to enter. Don't worry, I'll make sure to tell you guys tomorrow at school."
"Glad to help, man, cause my dad just called, and I need to get home now." Harry said to Jaune with a frown on his face. "Wish we can talk some more, sorry pal. I'll drop you off at your home, Gwen."
"Can we stop if we see a fast food joint?" She asked as she rolled up the window.
"Maybe, but no promises." Harry said as his family limo drove off, leaving the blonde hero all alone.
With his friends now gone, Jaune looked back at Beacon and started to walk. Jaune doesn't deny that he was nervous. The only thing he remembered was the guards outside this gate telling him he wasn't welcomed in.
Thankfully enough, it seemed that the guards posted outside were different people, giving Jaune some relief that he doesn't have to deal with the same people again.
"I'm Jaune Arc," The newly appointed reporter flashed his ID to show proof of identity. "I work for the Bugle and was told to be here."
Looking at the teen, the one on Jaune's right pressed a button on his ear piece and when he was done talking to whoever was on the other line gave his partner a nod.
"The staff confirmed you'd be here, Mr. Arc," The guard on Jaune's left said to him. "You may enter inside, but be warned, if you are caught in any areas that are restricted to only senior students and staff, you will be kicked out of the academy, is that clear?"
"Yes, sir." Jaune nodded, not feeling up to cracking a joke right now. "Can I get any directions on where I can go to the student's dorm rooms?"
"There is a pavilion in the main lobby, just head straight forward though the main walkway and you won't miss it." Was the only answer Jaune got before both men opened the gates to allow Jaune entry to the school he once applied to.
'This is it,' Jaune's saw everything around him in slow motion as the gates were being opened. 'Man, I feel like that kid going inside some candy factory. Only problem is that I don't have some old guy watching over me.'
Not wanting the guards to think he was an idiot for standing in one spot for so long, Jaune stepped forward and entered Beacon academy for the first time.
"I did it," A smile was forming on his face. "I'm in Beacon, like, actually inside Beacon and it's even more bigger than I thought."
Moving his head to look around his surroundings, the secret hero saw lush green grass that was freshly cut, beautiful structures that make this place look like a castle, and what made more stunning was that Jaune didn't see any trash left on the floor.
"It's like a School sent from heaven," He said as he compared Beacon to his normal high school. "Mid-Town High got nothing on Beacon! The air is clean, the plants are healthy, and not a single piece of trash can be found! Heck, I'm surprised I didn't step on a piece of gum yet!"
'It really does look as everything I thought it can be,' That thought immediately killed Jaune's mood. 'Everything I thought it can be, only I'm not in it.'
No longer smiling, Jaune went back to what he was doing and headed straight to where the nearest pavilion is.
"Don't get comfortable, Jaune," He talked to himself. "You're here to talk with Ruby, her team, write a paper about it, and after that's done then you can leave this place."
Jaune doesn't admit it, but it was becoming a problem for him always looking at Beacon's clocktower whenever he's outside. His friends and Aunt notice this too, but they usually don't call him out on it unless they needed to.
That's why, adding another reason to be here, Jaune promised himself that as he spends his time at Beacon he will do his best to get over his regret. If he just plays his part and helps Ruby's team while being in Beacon, maybe he'll get over his loss of not attending a huntsmen academy.
"Ok, the guy out said the use the main walk way," Jaune looked under his feet to see that he was in said path. "Check. Now, just walk forward and enter the first building and I'll see the pavilion to where I need to go."
Doing as instructed, jaune followed along the path and reached the main structure that was the entrance to the large clocktower.
"Makes me feel really insignificant up close." He said as he looked up to see just how big it was from such a close look. "Just need to open this and-"
Without rhyme or reason, but pure reflex with the added help of spider sense, Jaune opened the front door to the main hall and left it open for a large group of people to exit through.
The group that was pushing and shoving their way out wasn't students of Beacon, but reporters just like Jaune who work with different news teams.
"Holy smokes!" He said as he was pressed between the door and the wall as reporters kept pouring out of the clock tower. "All these people are here in Beacon!? Are they here for Ruby and her team, I thought I was the only one doing an interview?"
'Maybe there is another event? Or maybe it was something entirely different? Must be really important if they all jammed inside there.'
Waiting for the herd of people to leave, the blonde teen started to see that less and less were starting to leave, signaling Juane to finally enter inside.
"Man, this place really puts normal schools to shame both outside and inside." Jaune said in wonder as he saw just how immaculate the interior of the school was. "This place is something you see in those foreign comics my younger sisters read. I wonder if they'll get jealous if I decide to take pictures of this place and show it to them?"
'Focus, Jaune, you can't get distracted again just because they crank the cleanliness up to 11!'
"Pavilion, pavilion," Jaune roamed around the main lobby to look for the map of the area, yet he didn't see anything related to the directions given to him by the gate guards. "This is not how I thought I would start today. Does this mean I have to ask people who work here for directions?"
'Will they think I'm just another face from that group of reporters that passed by earlier? I hope not, I just want to find where they house the students.'
"Oh, now that I think about it," Taking out his scroll from his pocket, Jaune searched through his contacts and saw that he has Blake's number. "I'm an idiot, I could just call them!"
Using his thumb to press on the cat Faunus's number, Jaune stayed quiet as he waited for Blake to answer.
'Now that I think about it,' Jaune moved the scroll away from his ear and looked at the number that belonged to Blake. 'I only have Aunt May, Gwen, Harry, and my family's number on my scroll. As sad as it is, it kind of feels nice to have another number added to my contact list. Actually, two new added numbers, Blake and Ruby, so I'm happy with the fact that I have their numbers too.'
"Hello?" From the other end of Jaune's scroll, a familiar voice spoke out of the receiver. "Jaune?"
"Blake, I'm at Beacon academy, but I'm lost." He looked around the hall he was in as he walked while talking to the cat faunus. "I'm trying to find your dorm room, are you there or somewhere else?"
"We're heading our way to our room now, but where I you specifically?" Blake asked.
"I'm at, well, what I assume is the main building people walk in to, I think." Jaune scratched his head, not sure if what he said would make sense to Blake. "Look, all I know is that I saw a bunch of people who work at different news crews walk out of here. I'm lucky that I wasn't trampled by them."
"Group of news crews?" Pondering on what Jaune gave her, the blonde hero waited for a reply from Blake. "Looks like you just entered the place where we started our initiation, Jaune. We're already at our room, but we have some friends that are still there who loves close to us."
"You think I can ask if I can join them?"
"I don't think it'll hurt if you do. We always hang around them, so they already know why you're here."
"Does that mean they know about you guy's, um, dangerous adventures?" He had to ask her, Jaune was already paranoid about them sticking to nose in such dangerous places, he was honestly afraid the next time Blake's team might invite more students from Beacon to join.
"They know about Roman working with the White Fang, but I keep the information about you working with Spider-Man a secret all to myself." She eased his worried mind.
"How come I never heard about them?" He asked, looking through class rooms that had small windows building their doors. "I remember Sun joining you on your last escapade with the Fang, but I never saw them join in."
"I'm glad they didn't," She said truthfully. "If we decided to call them for backup, I'm sure it would have made things worse. There good friends, very loyal and trustworthy, but they have their own problems to deal with and we didn't want it to be worse for them."
"That ship sailed off and entered no man's land a long time ago now that I'm here to help you guys." Jaune told her in a flat tone of voice, not even hiding his sass to the young huntress.
"I suppose so," She chuckled at how blunt Jaune was being. "Either way, I'll message them to meet you in the front, you just make your way and wait for them."
"Sound like a sound plan, I'll see you guys soon." Hanging up his scroll, Jaune turned around and went back to where he entered. "Dang it! I forgot to ask her what they look like. Oh well, I'm sure I'll spot them, almost everyone in this place has some weird hair style or some unique color pallet to stand out."
Returning to where he entered, Jaune waited outside for Blake's friends to meet up with him. He was the only one outside, so he assumed that they must still be in class doing some extra work or somewhere else that is nearby.
"I wonder what others type of friends Ruby has here?" To pass the time, Jaune starts to think about who he might meet other than team RWBY. "Hopefully there ok talking to me. I maybe a reporter for the Bugle, but I'm not like those vultures they see here."
'I hope they don't see me while I talk to myself… wait, this sentence should be the part where they see me talking to myself, not my previous one!'
Hands in his pocket and looking down on the ground, Jaune was just minding his business when his spider sense started to go off!
'Danger! Here?!' Not even nervous if someone seeing Jaune in his usual defensive stance when dressed as Spider-Man, the blonde teen moved his eyes to scan for anything out of the ordinary. 'I know this is where teens are trained to fight Grimm, but I'm pretty sure the staff doesn't condone any acts of violence. But if they did and violence is part of their criteria, then I'll just add that to the list of things I'm glad I'm not a part of.'
"Don't see any life threating events outside," Jaune moved his sights on the front door leading inside. "Guess something bad is happening inside, I got to find out why."
Reaching for the handle, the young reporter opened the door to enter, but stopped when something silver rolled out of the school.
Looking under his feet, what greeted the young spider was a cylinder that had a pink heart on it.
"Oh," Jaune's spider sense dialed its alert to 12. "I guess I found out what's dangerous."
(POW!)
Like a sound of a large firework going off, what soon followed a pink cloud that engulfed the secret hero before he was knocked on his feet when the canister finally popped.
"Oof!" Landing on his butt, the Arc shook his head to try to clear the double vision the small explosion caused him.
"Come on~" Jaune grumbled as he clutched his ears to stop the ringing. "It's way too early for me to get a face full of explosives."
Just when he can finally hear, Jaune's ears started to pick up one people's voices close by.
"I think you put too much dust in your grenade, Nora." Said a voice that Jaune can distinctly point out to be a male.
"It means it works, Ren!" Said a second person that was from a female. "I did make it to distract those annoying paparazzi."
"They left before we did." The man that was identified as Ren told Nora in a dry reply. "Also, I think you should apologize to him, I think this is the one Blake messaged us about helping them today."
'Of course, these are the type of friends Blake would associate with.' Jaune thought bitterly at the two new acquaintances before him. 'I shouldn't think like that about these guys. If Blake thinks of them as friends, then they must have great qualities behind them to earn her trust.'
"You know," The one named Nora started to hum. "I'm actually surprised he's still conscious if I'm being honest. Usually, the photographers would start screaming and running, but he's seems perfectly fine, so that's pretty neat."
'Then again, Blake really doesn't have a good track record of having friends in Beacon that are responsible.'
As Jaune was about to say something to the two who caused him to land on his rear end, a hand appeared in front of his face to show that someone was trying to help him up.
"Sorry for my friend and her interest in, um… introductions. She didn't mean it really, she's just very protective of her friends is all." A new voice told the young Arc as his blue eyes started to see straight and looked directly at a set of emerald eyes.
Seeing as it was rude to leave a kind gesturing hanging, the young hero accepted the help and was soon back on his feet. Brushing of some of the dirt and smoke of his clothes, Jaune looked back at the trio who made quite the introduction for his first day visiting Beacon.
The only male in the group, Ren he recalled, was a boy with a slender build and magenta eyes that complemented well with the same single-color highlight on his pure black hair. Add what Ren was wearing, something that looked like one of those outfits martial artists wear in those old Kung Fu movies Jaune watched when he was a kid, made the young spider see Ren was from a different culture.
"I'm sure this isn't the type of welcome you'd expect coming to Beacon." Ren gave a concerned look at the reporter. "We're not usually like this, but we sometimes need to when we get flooded with people trying to interview us."
'Interview them?' What Ren said to Jaune made the boy look between the three young Huntsmen. 'They look pretty normal to me. Well actually, they look above average compared to me, the popular kids in my school, and practically every normal person living in Vale. Do these guys have to have experience working as models or actors cause seriously, everyone I know who goes here looks like a 10 out of 10!'
"Yeah, they really don't know about personal space!" Said the girl who admitted that she caused the accident as she wrapped an arm around Ren who looked uncomfortable by her sudden closeness. "People nowadays don't know when other just want some space!"
"I see," He nodded his head, not even questioning the girl with ginger hair, wearing an all pink shirt and bomber jacket. She looked like someone who would participate in roller derbies, especially with a hyperactive attitude that even sugar can't compete with. "I'm a bit put off on them too. Though, I never knew they were here involving you three, I mostly assumed they were trying to talk to Blake and her team."
"Oh?" The last one, the girl who helped Jaune up gave him a look of surprise. "You thought they were here to talk to them?"
Moving his sights to the last person, Jaune's first thought of her was that she must have left some action movie due to what she was wearing.
Both Nora and Ren may have some cool color designed clothes that go well with their looks, but this girl seemed to blend battle and fashion like it was the same thing.
Armor corset and leggings of bronze gold, deep red hair, bright green eyes, and what made her even more noticeable in Jaune's eyes was a tiara adorned on her head. Making her look like some warrior princess from some faraway kingdom.
"Yeah," He nodded his head, not sure if this girl really was someone important or not. "I work for the Bugle and my assignment is to write an article about the team and how the next generation of young Huntsmen will play in our society. You know, since there is some backlash about Huntsmen not really being helpful to the people, so I'm trying to do my best to fix that by seeing first hand at what it's like here."
"That sounds very insightful," The boy with the single highlight in his hair told Juane. "You're the only one who actually wants to write something that can help people be more appreciative towards our line of work. Rather than the be like the other reporters who just want gossip and spread their own words rather than our own."
"Thank you," The blonde scratched the back of his head. Feeling very happy at getting praise for his work then having J.J always criticize him. "To be honest, they only picked me since I'm the youngest they have. So, I'm not sure if what I say will have any impact."
"Nonsense, I'm sure whatever you'll write in the newspaper will be interesting." The warrior red head told him. "What makes a good reporter, in my opinion at least, is that they ask questions that are about the person their interviewing rather than the results that person did."
"Yeah!" The second girl, the one who caused the flash bang, was now in Jaune's face making the boy take a step back. "Also, you seem to less pushy and more considerate then the last batch of people who tried to talk to us."
"Speaking about you guys," The writer for the Bugle moved his eyes to each person in front of him. "Can I get you guy's name, please? I hate to sound rude, but I don't know your names."
"No problem," The only boy in the three-person team pulled back the ginger-haired Huntress back to his side, so she doesn't get the chance to hop around everywhere. "I'm Lie Ren, nice to meet you."
"Like wise," Jaune stuck his hand out to give a hand shake to the only boy in the team. "I don't want you to think any badly of Blake or her teammates for not telling me about you guys. Most of the time I meet them, half of it usually goes with some explosions and bad guys."
"And what about the other half?" Ren asked him.
'The other half is me dressed up in a costume to save said team from making more explosions and stopping the bad guys.'
"The other half is just normal talk between us. I'm not a Huntsmen like you guys, so I don't really have cool things to say."
"Well I'm sure you'll love it here, Jaune!" The shorter girl who looked like her hobby was roller derby said. "I'm Nora! Nora Valkyrie! Nice to meet ya!"
"Nice you meet you too, Nora." Jaune couldn't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm, making him feel a bit better at knowing that she didn't meet to cause such an accident out of hate. "I got to say, that thing was pretty effective, was it supposed to blow out pink smoke?"
"Well, usually all my canisters make pink smoke," Nora used her index finger and placed it on her head. "Sorry about that, Jaune. It was really supposed to be a smoke one, but I guess I still need to measure how much dust I put it, because it was more like a flash bang then a smoke grenade."
"Apology accepted, Nora." He smiled, glad that it was him that got a face full of pink rather than someone else. Because in all honesty, that thing still would have caused harm to a normal person, so luckily Jaune wasn't normal anymore.
"Ok, Ren, Nora," To remember their names, the blonde pointed at each face before he landed on the last person who didn't introduce herself. "And you are, miss…?"
The girl gave Jaune a surprised look at his obliviousness at who he was seeing, but that surprise changed to a small smile as the young Huntress lifted her hand to introduce herself.
"I'm Pyrrha Nikos, the leader of this team," Her small smile grew a bit more when she saw Jaune show no reaction to her name what so ever. "It's nice to meet you, Jaune."
"Nice to meet you, Pyrrha," Jaune returned the greeting. 'Why is she so happy? It's kind of weird honestly. But hey, maybe she's just glad that someone who's a reporter is there age and not some pushy adult.'
With their names given, Jaune went back to his main reason as to why he was here in the first place.
"Glad to meet you all, but there is the matter of finding where the dorms are."
"Don't worry about that, Jaune." Ren assured him. "We live a few doors down from team RWBY, it won't take long for us to be there."
"Thank you," He said as he trailed behind the students to where there being housed. "Since I'm writing an article about Ruby and her team, I think it's also good if I can ask other students here as well. If you guys are interested I mean."
After hearing Jaune's request, both Ren and Nora winced for some odd reason, before they looked at their team leader for her guidance.
'Why did they look like I just said something wrong? All I wanted was to ask about their time here.'
"I think we can share our own perspective at our time here, right you guys?" Pyrrha nodded her head to signal some silent message to her friends that made them feel more at ease.
"I think that's acceptable." Ren looked at Nora who nodded her head as approval.
"Totally!" the shortest of the team jumped for joy and walked backwards to talk to their extra tagalong. "Have I got a story for you! So, it starts with just me, Ren, and Pyrrha battling in the emerald forest with giant nevermore hot on our tail!"
"Really?" He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Nora's adventure. Even though he saw firsthand how large some of the cages used to hold Grimm were in that A.I.M base just a few nights ago.
"For once, Jaune." The long black-haired boy smiled as they walked back to their room with Nora retelling their beginning of their first semester in Beacon. "She's not exaggerating."
Well, here we are, in 2019 and starting it with Jaune finally entering Beacon academy, not as a student, but as the new reporter for The Bugle! Also, finally getting entered into this storyline is Ren, Nora and Pyrrha Nikos! With my story getting some attention, and with more help from other people, I can start adding some more elements I wanted to bring, but couldn't due to lack of help and time outside of writing.
This chapter will be the starting point of the main storyline if RWBY, but I will make sure to also have chapters involving Spider-Man and his own adventures, so don't worry if you think I will always focus on the RWBY cast.
With the reveal if Whitley being Iron Man, I can also place little easter eggs of other heroes I have in mind that will show in future chapter, making it more expanded to the point where it will change up the plot line of RWBY. I really had nothing more to say about this one, I just wanted to have one where Jaune is just being him and finally seeing the difference between a privileged school like Beacon compered to his normal public one.
I also thought of it as a call back to RWBY Volume 1, where Ruby lays on the floor due to an explosion and is helped by Jaune on her first day. I used that and made Jaune get helped by Pyrrha and also seeing the rest of her team.
Making this chapter was somewhat difficult due to me having not enough time to make it, but also just making a full chapter with a slice of life and no real action. Hope you guys like it, but the next chapter will have the full main cast of RWBY that will start up more main story point from then on.
Now, on to other matters, I will answer some questions you guys might have. I'll try to answer some as best as possible and if I didn't answer them, then I will do it on the next chapter I publish.
Now, I know most of you wanted Jaune not to go to Beacon since it would defeat the point of having Jaune be by himself to be his own person. Some of you even voiced you complaints and even left this story to find better ones. I will tell you now, this story is about Jaune and his time as Spider-Man, I don't intend to make it revolve around RWBY all the time. I'm just using it as the base of the plot and developing it with Marvel features, it's really a crossover if I just stick with all Marvel now would it?
For Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha showing up, it was bound to happen anyway. They are also the main cast and they have more screen time compared to side characters, so it was bound to happen when team RWBY hangs out with them almost all the time, so at some point Ruby might invite them next time to hang out and they might meet jaune outside the school at some point anyway.
For Blake being somewhat nonchalant about getting a call from Jaune asking for direction in Beacon might sound odd, but remember that her team is in the center of a news storm, so of course she will be in the know when Weiss gets a assigned to a reporter to write an article about her team. If you guys might forget or not read this, I will explain it in the next chapter to fill in the gap.
For something completely unrelated to this chapter, I also get comments about how Jaune isn't in character as to the one in RWBY. I know Jaune is an awkward, unconfident, social outcast, but people think the character I'm writing is none of those things. I suppose that when the read the dialogue for Jaune, they hear it as if it's completely out of character, but when he's Spider-Man then of course he will be not himself.
In the comics, Spider-Man has a different personality to Peter since he hides his true feeling under his mask and to also not show weakness in front of his enemies who are trying to kill him. I made sure I have Jaune in the same predicament as well as trying to stick to the source material, but when he's Spider-Man then he will be a different person since he doesn't want people to think they share the same personality and humor. If some of you noticed, Jaune is pushover, but as Spider-Man he can be what he could never be if he was in Beacon, a confident and a wise cracking crime fighter.
I like to give that's to my Beta, who you guys should check out to see his own stories too. Don't forget to like, fav, and also comment me or message me on anything you want answered. That you and have a good start in 2019!