Distortion

Jaune and Onyx stepped out into the Emerald Forest and Jaune couldn't help the wave of nostalgia that overcame him. Over a year ago, he came into this very forest to prove himself and has done so, countless times. He chuckled slightly before he closed his eyes and started to focus on any aura signatures nearby. Almost outside the limit of his senses, he felt seven familiar auras about a quarter of a mile away and he sighed, "Why am I not surprised?" he asked himself out loud.

Onyx looked over at him, "Someone you know?" he asked.

Jaune nodded, "Yeah. My former team and team RWBY."

Jaune noticed that Onyx flinched slightly with that. "So, what's the plan?"

Jaune thought for a second, "Let's see what they want. What harm could it do?" He saw that Onyx was still a bit fidgety. "This shouldn't turn violent. With Goodwitch's death still fresh in their minds, they won't be itching to fight. Plus, if it does, I won't make you fight those two."

Onyx nodded and gave a weak, "Thank you."

Jaune pulled out a black earpiece from his pocket and stuck it in his right ear, under his hood. Onyx did the same and Jaune motioned to the tree tops with his head, "Get up in the trees and keep an eye out for anything. Don't engage, unless I say so." Onyx nodded and looked at the nearest tree. He channeled aura into his legs and ran at it, he jumped and kicked off it to reach higher on the tree adjacent to it. He did that a second time to land in the branches of the original tree. He crouched down as his body was surrounded in his blue aura and he soon started to blend in with his surroundings. Jaune turned to where his former friends were and started to walk over to their location.

RWBY and NPR were waiting in the clearing that Jaune's weapons were found in and where he fought last year. It was ominous for them to be back here, but it seemed appropriate for the situation. Ren and Nora were sitting on a boulder near the center of the clearing, waiting for their former leader to show up. Pyrrha was close by it, pacing and unsure of what exactly would happen next. Blake, Weiss and Yang were standing by a tree near the edge of the clearing while Ruby was a few feet from them just looking around expectantly. They had been there a total of thirty minutes now and they told Velvet when they got there so she could message Jaune immediately. Some of them were losing the patience they had, Yang, Pyrrha and Ruby, while the others were getting worried about what was going on. Finally, Yang sighed, "Guys, why don't we call it? I don't think he's coming."

Ruby turned to her sister, "Let's wait a bit longer. We don't know where he is, it could take a while."

Weiss spoke up, "Yang has a point, Ruby. He may not show up. Besides, we saw him open that portal before. He could just use that to get here."

"We don't know enough about his abilities to make any kind of guess though." Ren added in.

"He does have a point." Blake agreed.

"He'll show up." They all turned to Pyrrha as she stopped her pacing. "I know he will."

"Yeah. Jaune will be here any minute now!" Nora said with her usual unrestrained excitement.

"Or he's been here the entire time." Said a familiar voice. They all jumped and turned to the opposite side of the clearing. From the shadows walked out Jaune in his black and red attire from the last time they saw him. The only difference was the mask he wore. They all had to admit it put them on edge. Like looking at an ancient Grimm in human form. They had to stop themselves from shivering. Jaune stopped ten feet from Pyrrha, who was the closest to him. He reached up and removed his mask before attaching it to his belt and pulling down his hood to free his blonde tipped black hair. "And to answer the question you're all thinking, I've been here for about twenty-five minutes. I was just observing and making sure there were no surprises."

"You thought we were going to ambush you?" Ruby asked stunned.

Jaune shrugged apathetically. "Possibly. Killing someone as high ranking as Goodwitch paints a target on your back. But that's part of the fun." He gave a small smirk before his mask emotional mask was back on. They were stunned by how nonchalant he was about killing someone, especially someone he knew. "So, what do you want?" he asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

They all looked at each other before Pyrrha stepped forward, only a step or two. "We want to help you, Jaune. Please, come back with us. We can help you, help bring you back to who you were and help you make up for what you did."

Jaune's aura flared around him and they all grew very nervous. He glared at her, "I told you before, that fool Jaune Arc died a year ago. He is never coming back." He said with barely restrained anger. His aura calmed, and he sighed tiredly, "I'm tired of everyone thinking I need help or need to be saved. Newsflash, I'm not in any trouble. I'm exactly where I want to be. So, do yourselves a favor and stop trying help someone who doesn't need or want it." Jaune turned around and was about to walk away when he spoke again, "Take that shot and you'll see what happens when I get pissed."

They all turned to see Ruby had Crescent Rose in its rifle mode and had an ice dust clip loaded. She lowered her weapon, slightly. "How'd you know?"

He looked over his shoulder, "Your aura. Aura reveals how you're feeling and I can sense it easily. Far better than Ren can." He turned back around. "And let me clarify this, you may all have a rule of one with me but that would just stop me from killing you. You all know I can do far worse than kill you." He gave them a cold grin, that promised them pain. "So, what are you going to do, Ruby?"

Ruby was shaking slightly as she stared at Jaune. That was until a hand slowly lowered her weapon. She looked to see Yang standing beside her and staring at Jaune, "You won't touch her."

Jaune looked at her, "Really? Who's gonna stop me? You?" Jaune chuckled slightly, "You couldn't touch me before and I was holding back, way back." He smirked more and tilted his head slightly, "Plus, is that anyway to speak to your stepfather?"

Yang's eyes turned red, "So, what Qrow said was true. You married my mother."

Jaune just nodded, "And all the fun that comes with it." Yang's hair started to shine a bit as she growled in anger. But she didn't charge forward, she held herself back. Jaune nodded his head and dropped his joking façade. "You're learning. Good. Keep your emotions in check and you'll eventually be strong enough."

"Strong enough for what?" she asked, desperately trying to control herself.

"To meet Raven." He said simply.

Yang's eyes widened, and her anger dissipated. Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she tried to form words. The others were just staring at the two, unsure of what to say. Eventually, Yang found her voice, "W-what?" she asked weakly.

Jaune's gaze softened, but just slightly, "You heard me. Raven will meet with you but only when you are strong enough. She lives a dangerous life, the same I chose to live. She will not drag you into it, unless you can handle it." Jaune chuckled lightly, "Raven has a weird way to show affection but it's there." Yang was just stunned by this. To meet her mother, she just had to be strong? But, what exactly did she view as strength? "Well, if that's it, I'll be on my way." Jaune went to leave again.

"Jaune, wait!" Pyrrha cried out to him. He stopped. "Don't leave. Please." She said weakly.

"Why should I stay?" He asked as he kept walking. "There is nothing here for me. I've outgrown Beacon, there is nothing there that matters to me anymore."

"If that's true, why didn't you kill CFVY!?" Ruby shouted, as tears formed in her eyes. "If there was nothing left of the Jaune Arc we knew in you, you would've killed them!"

Jaune stopped and sighed. He looked up to the sky. "There are many reasons why I didn't kill them. They have potential, they have my respect. But the real reason is because I was repaying my debt to Velvet."

"Debt? What debt?" Pyrrha asked.

Jaune turned to face them all, "I owe her everything." He said with full conviction, stunning them all. "After you all turned your backs on me, she was the only one that was there for me. She was there for me, supported me and tried with all her power to help me. In the abyss you cast me into, she was the only light I had." He chuckled slightly, "Makes you think, what would've happened if I dated her?" He turned to Pyrrha with a cold gaze. "Instead of you, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha's eyes widened and everyone turned to her in shock. Did they just hear that right? "Wait, you two actually got together?" Nora asked stunned.

Jaune looked to Nora, "Not surprised that none of you knew." He turned back to Pyrrha, "When I was at my lowest, she came to help me. I opened myself up to her in a way I never thought I could. She promised to be there for me, to love me. But that was a lie." Pyrrha took a step back with his words. "She abandoned me not long after. After barely being pulled to the surface of the dark ocean of negativity I was drowning in, I was thrown back in with an anchor around my neck." He glared at her, "And you never said a word because you wanted to forget that you ever dated Jaune Arc, the embarrassment of the Arcs and Team JNPR."

Pyrrha was in tears at this point, "Jaune, that's not it. I loved you, I still do! I loved you from the first time we met! The only good thing that came out of that whole debacle was that we were able to be together! I never meant to abandon you! I was just trying to convince the rest of them to forgive you! So, things could go back to the way they were! Better than before!"

Jaune just looked at her with a neutral look. "I don't care." He said those words and Pyrrha felt her heart break, again. "Or more accurately, I don't care because I don't believe you. Any of you." He turned to look at all seven of them. "I have no reason to believe anything you say. You made our relationships clear over a year ago. Now, you'll just say anything to try to fix the mistakes you made." He stopped and thought about something. "Honestly, Pyrrha could've prevented all of this if she did one thing."

Pyrrha was stunned as tears were still falling from her eyes, "W-what would t-that be?"

Jaune just looked into her eyes, "If you never came to check on me that night. The night we got together." Pyrrha was confused. "I guess I'll need to explain. That night, you found me at rock bottom. I was out of aura and heavily injured. And I was just staring across the horizon on the rooftop you brought me to train. Do you remember what I said, the first time you brought me up there?" he asked her.

She thought back confused, until she remembered what he said. Her eyes widened, and her hands went to her mouth as she gasped. They all looked at her confused, besides Jaune who had a knowing smile. "My words were, 'I'm not that depressed.'"

Pyrrha weakly spoke up, "You were going to…"

"Kill myself." They all looked at him in complete shock. "Yup, went to the training rooms and fought until my aura was shattered. Then I went up there to end it all. Just one jump, and this mistake would be gone." He said matter of fact. "Too bad. You missed that opportunity."

Ruby quickly ran up to stand beside Pyrrha, "We never wanted that! Jaune, we were hurt and mad and acted stupid, but we never wanted you to kill yourself." She said that as tears ran down her face as well.

"Again, I don't believe that." He said and that broke their hearts further. "Mostly because I hated myself more than any of you could and that was what lead me to going up there. And thanks to Pyrrha, my life was saved, and I was given the keys to the real me. My self-hate, along with the slew of emotions I was feeling allowed me to harness that dark ocean, the abyss, the Hell I was living in and gave me more power than I ever imagined. That was the only good thing that came out of that debacle, Pyrrha. Because of you seven, I was lead down the path to unlocking Negative Aura." He said with a grin.

Before they could question him, Jaune heard Onyx speak through his earpiece, "Jaune, you have a group incoming."

Jaune brought his hand to his ear and turned away slightly, "How many?"

"About two dozen. But there could be more. I can't see them through all the foliage. Can you sense any aura?" he asked.

"Give me a sec." Jaune closed his eyes and tried to sense any aura besides the eight close to him. He felt nothing. He opened his eyes, "None. They are either Grimm or Knights. Where are you?"

"Not far. It'll take me a minute of two to reach you. They should be on you any time now." Jaune heard wind in the background as he was speaking, he knew Onyx was on his way now.

"When you get here, fire-at-will." Jaune grabbed Tourmentage Tordu and drew it, putting the others on edge. He looked around quickly before he saw movement to his left. He shot his left hand out and an Atlas Knight was pulled from the bushes before it was impaled on his sword. "Been a while since I tore these things up." Jaune said with a smirk as he threw it off his blade.

As he did, a dozen Knights stepped out from the bushes in a firing line, all aimed directly at him. An Atlas soldier stepped out behind them. He looked exactly like every other soldier he saw from Atlas, even his armor was the same bland color. "Jaune Branwen, stand down! You are under arrest by the Atlas military!" he shouted.

Jaune just looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Finally, someone got my name right. But, I'm going to say no." Before they could react, Jaune drew Souffrance Eternelle from his left holster and fired. The bullet was enhanced with his aura, so it tore cleanly through the soldier's helmet. The soldier dropped dead and Jaune fired the last five shots into the Knights, taking down four of them before he charged at the remaining androids. The remaining eight Knights open fired on him. Jaune deflected the bullets with his blade before he jumped forward with his aura and shoved his blade into the front most Knight. The three Knights closest to him were about to fire, so he jumped directly up, and their bullets just hit each other. Jaune came down on the last two standing Knights his blade in the back of one, while he used Telekinesis to rip the head off the second.

He got off of them as a second dozen appeared from the other side of the clearing. They fired immediately and Jaune charged forward, deflecting the bullets with his sword as he focused. He was focusing on switching his Semblance from Telekinesis to Distortion. He may be able to harness more than one Semblance, but he could not use them simultaneously. And switching between the two took time, ten seconds, but that was too long for his tastes.

Jaune switched his sword to his left hand as he drew Sommeil Eternel and fired twice before holstering it again. The two bullets put down two of the Knights, but one fell into the one next to it. Causing it to fire at the seven students, or more specifically, Ruby, who ran out in front of them all to help Jaune. Ruby couldn't react in time to defend herself from the salvo of bullets. Jaune used his aura to intercept the bullets. He stood a couple of feet in front of the reaper and quickly called on his Semblance, deflecting the bullets. This lasted a few seconds before two orange tipped black arrows flew from behind the two. They exploded on impact, decimating the androids. They all turned to see a blue blur in the tree branches becoming another person dressed in black, with a black bow and a Beowolf mask. They knew he was with Jaune because of it. Ruby turned from the new arrival to Jaune. She stared at his broad back. "Jaune?" she questioned.

"That was your one, Ruby." He told her. Before she could say anything, his black aura came to the surface and she saw and felt her red aura being absorbed by him. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was very unnerving. "I only siphoned enough aura to replenish what I used to save you. Now, get out of here before more show up." He walked over to the smoking remains as Ruby's head lowered.

Jaune observed the broken metal before he saw one trying to crawl away. "Missed one!" Jaune shouted to Onyx, right before a regular black arrow penetrated its head. Jaune smirked, "Nevermind." He turned around and saw that Onyx was out of the tree and slowly making his way over to him. He looked over to the Beacon students but Jaune knew his eyes were lingering on his old friends. "Ready to get out of here?" Jaune asked him. He nodded.

Jaune was about to use Raven's Semblance when they both heard something and turned. A bullet flew, and both went to dodge it. Onyx wasn't fast enough, and the bullet hit his mask, sending it flying from his face. He stumbled backwards into a crouch. "Onyx!" Jaune shouted before he stepped in front of him, using Distortion to save him from the salvo of bullets. Ruby and Yang's eyes widened with that. Onyx spun from his position to face the new battalion of Knights. He quickly drew two arrows and fired them at extreme speeds. The first, a white tipped, Steam arrow, hit the ground in the middle of the Knights, releasing a mist that cloaked them. The second struck a second later. The dark blue, Ice arrow, hit the Knight in the middle of the firing squad and froze the entire mist, leaving a decent layer of ice on the androids, immobilizing them. Jaune drew Sommeil Eternel and channeled his Semblance into the bullet. He fired, the Distortion amplified bullet destroyed the Knights in an explosion of ice and scrap metal. The students just stared at the flawless teamwork between those two.

Jaune holstered his revolver before he turned and walked away from the crouching Onyx. He walked over and picked up the Beowolf mask. He then walked back over to Onyx who managed to get back to his feet. He looked at Jaune as he roughly pushed the mask into his chest. Jaune spoke with a serious tone to his voice, "This mask only comes off when you take it off or you die. Am I understood?"

Onyx looked down and placed his right hand on the mask, "Yes. Sorry, Jaune."

He stared him down for another minute or so before he nodded. Jaune saw movement in the remains of the first group of Knights he destroyed. He walked over and saw that one of the knights that was damaged from friendly fire was trying to drag itself away. Jaune placed his foot on its back and grabbed the back of the head with his left hand. He pulled and the head came off. He turned it so he was looking into the visor. He saw that the light behind it was still glowing. He smirked, "Hello? You still watching?" he asked as he knocked his knuckles of his right hand against it. "I know these things have cameras inside them, so can you still see me?"

After a few seconds, a speaker turned on. "Yes, I can see you, Branwen." Said a familiar voice.

"Oh, General Ironwood. So, good to hear from you. You're still not mad at me for raiding your facilities a few months back, are you?" He asked cheekily.

"I'm more furious with what you did to Glynda!" he shouted through the disembodied head.

Jaune shrugged, "Blame Ozpin and herself for that. I warned them to not stand in my way, they didn't listen. And now, I give the same warning to you, General. Stay out of our way or you'll be more machine than man. Well more than you are now."

"You're arrogant to think you can stand up to the might of the Atlas military." He said confidently.

"Please, your little toys are nothing to us. Two of us took out three dozen of your machines and we weren't even serious." He grew serious once again. "The revolution is coming, General. So, either stay out of our way…" he tossed the head into the air before he continued. "Or you can die." He then slashed horizontally with his sword and cut the head in half.

He walked back over to Onyx, ignoring the stares from his former friends. "Let's get out of here." Jaune was about to open the portal when someone spoke up.

"Wait!" Jaune turned to see Yang and Ruby standing ten feet away. "Onyx? Is that really you?" Yang asked.

Onyx sighed and finally looked over to them, "Yeah. It's me, Yang. Hey, Ruby."

Both just stared at him wide eyed. The three of them were great friends back at Signal. But when they went to Beacon, he went to Haven. They hadn't heard from him in a long time. Yang felt her heart drop, she wouldn't admit it, but she had a small crush on Onyx when they first started at Signal. She buried those feelings when they became such good friends. That made this so much more painful. "What are you doing with him?" Yang asked, slightly angry.

"Mind that temper." Warned Jaune. "Especially, since I just saved your sister. And don't even blame me for that. You called me here, remember?"

Yang tried to calm down, more so when Ruby took her hand. "Onyx, what happened to you?" Ruby asked.

Onyx looked at Jaune. He just shrugged for a reply. Onyx turned back to them. "Life happened. This world is filled with darkness and hatred. Only way to survive is to embrace it. So, I did."

"I can't believe this! You joined Jaune! Do you know what he's done!?" Yang yelled.

"I know exactly what he's done!" He yelled back, which shocked them. Onyx was usually calm and very rarely ever got angry. "I also know, I'm alive because of him. Like him, my team betrayed me. But they were going to end my career, if not my life. Jaune saved me and he offered me a spot in his group. And I accepted because ever since that day, he's had my back. He's been my best friend. My brother."

They were stunned by this. "But I thought you wanted to become a Huntsman? Both of you." Ruby asked weakly.

"When we're done, this world won't need Huntsmen and Huntresses." Jaune answered as he put his mask back on. He turned and opened a black portal with his sword.

Onyx didn't take his eyes off the sisters. "Sorry, girls. But when I accepted this mask, there was no turning back." He placed his mask back on his face and continued to speak, "I'm part of Knightingale now and we will bring revolution to this world." He turned around and both men walked through the black portal. It closed behind them, leaving those seven alone in the destruction they caused. The sisters had to hold back tears, more so Yang than Ruby, the little reaper didn't care if they saw her cry. They both now lost someone they cared deeply for, what else could go wrong?

A/N- Not much to say with this one. Shoutout to Jauneforever for being my Beta Reader! See ya all later!