Chapter 2: No Place For No Hero


A/N: A schedule I have set for myself for certain story Updates is on my Twitter, so if you want to see what Stories are next in line to be updated, go over to my Twitter and have a look. (Twitter is of course the same as my pen name, ArcofUA)

Thank you for reading today's chapter and I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week.


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Faces. Hundreds of faces both old and new flashed before him, only to be replaced by their skulls blaming him for their deaths.

"You let us die!"

"Where were you!?"

"How could you!?"

"You let them die!"

Their boney hands reached out for him, trying to grab them and drag him down to madness. He wouldn't let that happen. So he did the only the knew how to anymore.

He ran.

"You killed us! You promised us a way out!"

"You killed them! Murderer!"

He continued running away from their cries.

"Why won't you help us!?"

"Stop running!"

"You let us die!"

"Stop running you pathetic coward!"

"You let us die!"

"Where were you!?"

"You said you save us! Why didn't you save us!?"

He continued to run, but he tripped over his own feet and he fell, thought as he fell he felt the hands finally grab him and they began pulling him down...

Suddenly, he sat up as his eyes went wide, and he gasped for air, feeling like he had none. He grabbed his chest, looked around, and checked his surrounding, afraid that the events of the night before were nothing but a pleasant dream before another long nightmare. He saw that he was in the humvee and his body relaxed and his breathing returned to normal. He looked around outside and noticed that they had stopped at some town.

Suddenly, he heard the door behind him open and he quickly grabbed the dust pistol he had taken the night before and turned around and pointed it at whoever it was.

It was Ilia's teammate, Trifa, if he remembered correctly. She held her arms up and looked at him cautiously, her eyes wide. "Easy there, Max... it's just me" She "Remember me? from last night? I helped you and Furiosa escape remember?"

Max put down the pistol and nodded, "Yeah... I remember" He said

Trifa let out a sigh of relief, "Good for a second I thought you were going to shoot me" She said

"Almost was" He replied

Trifa just nodded, "Well, look, we're at a local town right now and Ilia's trying to get ahold of our people in Shade, but she wanted to know if you still be with us or if you want to be dropped off here," Trifa told him "Furiosa wants you to come with but we told her that it's your choice" She finished

Max looked at Trifa, "How long has it been since Beacon fell?" he asked

Trifa was a bit taken off guard by that question but decided to answer it, "Two years, almost 3" Trifa replied, "Why?"

Max chuckled a little, "Two years... I've been locked up here for two years" He said

This surprised Trifa a little. She knew that he was a prisoner of the White-Fang and he knew that they would take hostages for a long period, but she never knew a group to hold a human hostage for so long. After all, she had been one of the few people in the White-Fang who kidnapped and killed people. But that was her then, now, this was her redemption. And while the old her would not bother with a human such as Max, now, she couldn't help but feel pity for Max.

However, she had also gained some small information from him. He had been locked up since Beacon fell, and mentioned it specifically, which told her that he must have been a Huntsmen in training, however, that was just her guess, she needed to confirm it.

"You mentioned Beacon's fall, were you there?" She asked

Max nodded.

"Were you a student there or just a civilian?"

"Student" He replied

So her guess was right, he was a student at Beacon and was there when it fell.

"But that was a long time ago apparently," He said, he then shook his head away from whatever thoughts he was thinking,

"Hey, why don't you come with me, and look around town," Trifa told him

"What for?" He asked

"Well for one, it looks like you could use a shower and a new pair of clothes, maybe even a haircut and a shave," Trifa said with a smile and a chuckle

Max turned to her, with a raised brow, "you'd do that for me?" He asked "a stranger?" he asked

"Why not?" she asked "Besides, I'm a big girl, so if you try anything, I can take you"

Max chuckled, and he nodded, "Alright," he said as he got out of the humvee and left the dust pistol on the seat, when he got out, she saw just how tall he was, he was a few inches taller than Yuma and despite being locked up for two years, he was toned as the dirty shirt he wore hugged his team a little. He looked at Trifa with a smile, "Lead the way" he told her

Trifa nodded and smiled, "Sure thing big guy"

Meanwhile, across town, Ilia was with Furiosa and Yuma at a local store. Yuma was with Furiosa as she was trying to pick out some snacks for the long drive back, while Ilia was talking with the store owner.

"There's no communication tower here in town?" Ilia asked

The owner nodded, "Sort of, the mayor has been trying to get a big one out here but with those White-Fang out here, so it's too dangerous to send someone out here, but the Mayor does have one but it only goes directly to Vacuo, so if you're on important business and need to talk to someone in Vacuo, he's your best bet" the store owner replied

Ilia sighed but nodded, "Thank you," Ilia said

"No problem missy" he replied

Ilia walked away from the counter and went over to Yuma, who saw her coming and looked at her.

"So what's going on?" Yuma asked

"The Mayor is the only one with a direct line of communication to Vacuo, so I have to go to him if I want to get ahold of Headmaster Theodore," Ilia told him "Stay with her and meet back at the Humvee, if Trifa isn't there, don't go looking for her, just sit tight"

Yuma nodded, "What about you?" He asked

"I'm going to talk to the mayor and hopefully lets me call Theodore," Ilia told him

Yuma nodded once again, "You got it"

Ilia nodded and headed back to the counter to ask for directions to the Mayor's office. The Store owner gave her the directions and Ilia thanked him and then left the store and followed the directions to the Mayor's office.

She continued walking down the streets of the town for a few minutes, but it felt much longer due to the high temperature of Vacuo. Growing up in Atlas, she had always heard stories about Vacuo, hearing how it was both a paradise and a wasteland, she heard about the beautiful spots that were found and used as vacation spots, she also heard about the dangerous sand storms that would some times also contain some fire, though she didn't believe those stories about fire and stand storms.

Eventually, she had arrived at the Mayor's office. It was a large building that was no doubt also his home. She walked up a few steps and then went inside, once inside, she could feel the cool air of the building against her skin. She stopped to take it in for a bit but then looked to see a receptionist's desk and walked over to it. She stood in front of it and the receptionist noticed her and he looked up at her.

"Can I help you?" he asked

Ilia looked back at him, "Yes, I need to talk to you Mayor, I need to contact Headmaster Theodore at Shade Academy" Ilia said

"Are you a huntress?" He asked

"Yes," Ilia lied, knowing that they would allow her to communicate if she was a huntress, "I'm on an assignment and I was passing through with my team and we need to report back to the Headmaster"

"Oh, well then allow me to connect the call for you," He said "The Mayor tells me to handle the calls with business and huntsmen so allow me to connect you and have you call while you're here"

Ilia smiled and nodded, "Thank you" she replied

Ilia handed her scroll to the receptionist and the receptionist began connecting her to the communication tower, and Ilia waited patiently. After a few seconds, the receptionist handed Ilia her scroll back and Ilia saw that she did indeed have a signal, she smiled and began to go through her contacts, and found Headmaster Theodore's contact. She pressed on it and put the scroll to her ear, waiting for him to pick it up. Finally, she heard a click on the other end.

[Ms. Amitola is this you!?] the voice of Theodore asked

"Yes, sir this is me," she said with a smile

[By the Brother's it's good to hear from you!] Theodore said [What's going on? Are you alright?] He asked

"We're fine headmaster" Ilia replied "I'm sorry we couldn't keep in contact with you but we were so far from any communication tower due to how far south we are"

[It's quite alright] Theodore said [Did you manage to get Furiosa?]

Ilia nodded, "Yes we did"

[That's wonderful news!] He told her [I shall inform your friends that you are quite alright then]

Ilia was confused, not knowing what he was talking about. She became a little worried that someone might be using her as a way into Shade. "Friends?" she asked "Want do you mean?"

[Team RWBY and VOLEN are here in Vacuo, after some terrible events in Atlas] Theodore told her [I was going to send them to go and look for you, but it seems like I don't need to]

Hearing this, Ilia was happy to know that she could meet up with Blake and the others. However, suddenly, the sirens of the city began to go off and Ilia had no idea what was going on, she looked over to the receptionist who looked back at her with a horrified look,

"We're under attack!" cried the receptionist

[Ms. Amitola is everything alright!?] He asked

Ilia put the scroll back to her ear, "The town is under attack sir" She replied, "Listen to me, the town we are at right now is called Thunderdome, tell team RWBY and the others to follow the roads here and we'll meet them halfway!"

[MS. AMITOLA! Wait!] Theodore cried over the scroll before Ilia hung up

Ilia quickly ran out of the building only to see the gates of the city get blown open and entering through the destroyed gates were a few jeeps and motorcycles and she could make out a flag that had the White-Fang symbol on it

"They followed us here!?" She cried

Just then, she saw the Humvee drive right up to and stop in front of the Mayor's building, She quickly ran down and got inside the back. Once inside, she saw Furiosa lying down on the seat covering her ears but she also noticed that Trifa and Max were gone, but before she was able to ask where they were, Yuma began to drive off.

Ilia climbed her way forward and looked poked her head through the space and looked at Yuma, "Where's Trifa and Max!?" she asked

Yuma looked at her for a split second before looking back at the road"They told me to get going!" He told Ilia, "Said they try and get a second Vehicle and follow us and the Fang behind us, Max said that once they got the vehicle they'd ram a few of the bastards off the road!" Yuma told her

"Are you sure?" Ilia asked

"Yes!" Yuma cried as he continued to drive through the town's streets.

They eventually drove out the second entrance to the town and were back out on the desert road, Ilia looked behind them and saw that they were once again being followed by the White-Fang. She saw three jeeps and counted at least ten bikers.

"Keep driving!" Ilia told him

"I'm giving her all she's got Ilia!" Yuma cried

Ilia then looked to Furiosa who was no doubt scared but Ilia put her hand on Furiosa's head and the young girl looked at Ilia and Ilia smiled at her.

"You're being real brave Furiosa," Ilia told her "Just keep your head down no matter what got it?" Ilia told her

Furiosa nodded

Ilia gave her a quick nod back still smiling at her, "Good girl" Ilia said

Ilia then got up and went for the gun atop the humvee, looked in the ammo cartridge, and saw that she still had enough. She then turned to the chasing Vehicles and began firing at the bikers. She managed to hit two but then they began firing back, as did the jeeps. Ilia ducked for a bit, but quickly turned her attention as well as the Gun's at one of the Jeeps and fired at it. She managed to hit the drivers, causing the jeep to swerve and flip onto two bikers no doubt crushing them.

Ilia smiled, "hell yeah!" she cheered

Ilia was shot at again, and she turned back to the other bikers and fired at them, She got another one and then looked to see how many were left and then saw one more Biker gaining on them, she was about to fire at it but stopped when she noticed that it was Trifa driving it and holding onto the back was Max, though he had a haircut and wore different clothing.

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On the Motorcycle, Max looked to one of the jeeps and then back to Trifa, "Get me close to one of the jeeps!" he yelled

Trifa looked back at him for a second, "Are you crazy!?" he asked

Max shrugged his shoulders and while a bit hesitant, Trifa did as he told and she drove faster until she was getting close to one of the jeeps, while Ilia was firing at the other bikers.

She got a lot closer and Max turned his entire body to the side that the jeep was on, and he quickly jumped onto the backside of the jeep and managed to grab onto the top bar and began pulling himself up.

Trifa saw that he was ok and drove away from the jeep and sort of joined the other Bikers, however, she went and grabbed a dust pistol that was holstered on the side of the bike and used it to shoot at the other bikers. She managed to get one on the back, causing him to lose control and crash in the sand with his bike.

Meanwhile, Max began to climb up into the back of the jeep and once inside, he acted quickly and kicked the passenger seat hard, causing it and the passenger to hit right into the dashboard, the driver noticed this and tried to grab a dust pistol to shoot Max, but Max was quicker and he managed to grab the dust pistol first and shoot the driver in the side before turning and shooting the passenger before climbing up all the way forward.

He opened the passenger side door and shoved the passenger out before taking his place, Max then turned to the driver who was still driving but also trying to shove him out, but Max grabbed the wheel and shot the driver in the face. Max steadied the wheel as he set the dust pistol down, opened the driver's side door, and then pushed the driver out and took his place, now driving the jeep.

Trifa still shot at the other bikers while Max began hitting the bikers and trying to ram into the other jeep.

Max rammed into the other jeep's side and tried pushing it off the road, though it pushed back.

"Come on you son of a bitch!" Max cried as he kept ramming into the other jeep

Max then grabbed his dust pistol and then busted his window and then shot out of his window at the other jeep. He managed to shoot out their passenger side window, but the passenger fired at him with a dust rifle. Max drove forward to dodge the bullets but then slammed into the other jeep yet again, this time, it seemed to do the trick as it swerved to its side and then flipped onto its right side and began to roll.

Max cheered as he continued to drive and now focused on helping Trifa get rid of the remaining bikers.

with the Humvee, Ilia managed to shoot two of them and she smiled and cheered for herself. Meanwhile, Trifa drove right up next to another biker and they noticed her and raised their hand to shoot at her but she shot some of her webs out at him and made his hand stuck to the side of the motorcycle and then proceeded to shoot him dead. Just then, two bikers managed to drive past her and were now right next to the Humvee, they began shooting inside, blowing out the windows, and the gun on the Humvee stopped shooting, telling Trifa that Ilia must have got hit.

"Shit!" She cried

She aimed at the biker on the left side and hit the tire, causing him to fly forward and crash onto the sand. Meanwhile, Max drove up to the Humvee's right and sped up and rammed the biker in the back causing him to fall and get run over.

Two bikers remained and they were now firing at Trifa and Max. Max shot at one of the bikers but he dodged the bullets, meanwhile, Trifa was trying to fire at the other one but he was drifting from side to side. Max then swerved to the side and managed to get his biker to move to its side as well, which caused him to crash into the other biker and they collided and flew and hit the ground.

They continued to drive for another mile or two before Yuma slowed down and Trifa and Max did the same.

Trifa quickly got off the bike and Yuma got out from the front, while max got out of the jeep but waited by it. Trifa and Yuma rushed to the back of the humvee and when they opened the doors, they saw Ilia was sitting down while holding her wound. Her hands were very bloody and Furiosa was holding her other hand.

Furiosa looked at them as tears were welling up in her eyes, "Max! Max!" she cried out

Max quickly ran over to the Humvee and opened the other back doors and there he saw the scene before him.

Furiosa turned to him as the tears fell, "Help her..." she choked out with a sob

Max looked at the scene in horror and in his mind, dozens of scenes began to flash. The many deaths he had witnessed and the many he failed to save while he was locked up began to flash right in front of him.

"You let us die!"

"Where were you!?"

"How could you!?"

"You let them die!"

'No...'

"Why won't you help us!?"

"Stop running!"

"You let us die!"

"Stop running you pathetic coward!"

"You let us die!"

"Where were you!?"

"You said you save us! Why didn't you save us!?"

'No! No! No!' he cried to himself, 'Not again!'

He jumped inside of the humvee and slowly moved Ilia's hand away from her wound and saw the bullet hole, he then slowly turned her to the side and looked at her back and that's when he saw that there was an exit wound.

He was glad to know that there wouldn't be a bullet stuck in her when he decided to use his semblance on her to heal her. Max then placed his right hand over her wound and his hand began to glow white. He hadn't used his semblance on anyone for a long time, he mostly used it on himself when he got into fights with the guards of the Fang when they forced him to fight.

He had failed to use it to save the last person...

He was not going to fail using it to save the very person who had saved him and Furiosa from that hellish place.

Ilia looked at him, "I've lost a lot of blood" Ilia told him

"Shut up," Max told her "don't talk,"

He then pumped his aura into his hands and then he let it flow through her. As this happened, Ilia felt a pleasant feeling where the wound was coming from, and slowly, the pain began to lessen. Max opened his hand a little and saw that the wound was thankfully closing, slowly, but it was closing, and that's all that matters. Trifa and Yuma saw this and they were in shock but were also glad to know that Ilia was seemingly going to make it, Furiosa wiped her tears away and smiled, seeing her wound slowly healing.

"You wanted to know my real name right?" Max asked as he looked at her

Ilia looked back at him and she smiled a little and gave him a slight nodded

Max nodded back, "Jaune... my name is Jaune" Max, now really known as Jaune told her with a solemn look on his face...


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No doubt many of you saw that coming, (And I am trying to move away from Jaune-centric Fanfics, but it's a little tough) but don't worry! Jaune's return is not as simple as that!

The Next Chapter will be mostly RWBY and VOLEN focused as they finally begin their journey to meet up with Ilia and the others!

(also do you know how hard it was to try and not write Jaune when I was writing Max? So freaking hard but hey I managed!)