Sorry for the late update everyone. I work at a carpet mill, it's 3rd shift and I work 6 days out of the week, so I've been pretty busy. But I was at least able to work on this stories plot and overarching chapter index. The next few chapters are planned out so there shouldn't be much worry over that.

Now with all that said. Thank you all for the support given for the first chapter; to be honest I'm a little surprised at the amount of support given to its inception considering the amount of liberties I've done for its prologue. Nevertheless, thank you all again for the support.

Chris Adair: I cannot speak for personality or techniques in general as that is all something you need to find out by reading the chapters. Thanks for reading.

Someone also said they didn't want Jaune to be OP. Well I'm sorry to say, Saiyans in general are incredibly Overpowered even as newborns, especially when compared to normal humans. But with Jaune being injected by pure S-Cells and trained to be the ultimate weapon by the greatest military and technologically advanced power in all of Remnant; well...

It'll be easier just to read and find out.

Now enjoy!

"I'll never forget that day, you know? I was rock climbing before I saw it happen with my own eyes, but somehow I try to force myself to think it didn't happen, but it did, didn't it? The destruction, that level of power. I don't know what caused that, but whatever it was, there is no way it could be considered human for no man can ever hope to hold delusions of holding such destructive power." ~Bartholomew Oobleck

Legacy of the Saiyans: Jaune Arc

Chapter 1: Chaos in Laughter

There was a common misconception when it came to the Councils of Remnant. To both citizen and huntsmen alike the word Council was usually understood as a singular group of politicians. They were thought of as just old people that liked to bicker between one another over matters others would fine to be hilariously unimportant to the rest of the world. Wasting time, lien, and resources on things that shouldn't even be conceived with the notion of any serious thought or official funding.

The truth of the matter was, there was a total of four Councils on Remnant that governed over each respective Kingdom. They were put in place after the events of the Great War, a time where Monarchs feuded with one another of matters of self-expression and individual freedoms. They acted as the administrative force that went above the King or Queen in terms of the people. The Council was the voice of the people, or so they claimed.

However, there was a time, every six months of the year the Councils would convene for a summit to discuss matters of the world and decide how to handle each issue. A Representative would be voted upon for each Kingdom and that spokesperson would represent the whole of their countries concerns. This gathering of each Council was born from a unanimous vote from the rulers of each Kingdom. This gave the Collective Council the power to usurp whatever decision the ruling Monarch made if the decided action was in the best interests of its people. However, to mediate such a world renowned meeting a neutral party would act as the enforcer for all proceedings and ensure the summit went smoothly.

And thus, James Ironwood found himself in one such meeting.

Great.

"This meeting has been called forth by the collective of the the four Councils. If we are all in attendance than let us begin with opening statements for today's first agenda. Mistral Representative, you have the floor." the voice of the Vacuo representative droned out in his usual bored fashion. James leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh as the Mistral councilman stood up to speak.

"Thank you, now, my fellows I believe we need to discuss the matters of the White Fang and their recent change in directory. Reports have been coming in over the past few years of their growth in activity lately and frankly what reports have been saying are troubling to say the least." he said only to get a scoff from his right. Attention diverted to the Mistral representative, an old woman who held an expression of scorn in her wrinkled visage.

"Oh please, the White Fang are merely showing their true colors as the filthy animals that they are. No need to sugarcoat the fact their recent activities have turned terroristic of late. I believe if my memory serves correctly, it was 5 years ago that they were beginning to rile up their fellow animals in frontier villages to riot against local authorities." she said causing James top frown in contempt at the woman's attitude. His disgust only grew when there was quite a few mutterings of agreement with the woman.

That was the biggest problem with both the collective Council and the four Councils, they were just humans that didn't hold a shred of respect for the faunus. Though they publicly showed their sympathy for the faunus, it was just a cruel veil of lies. It's one of the reasons why James hated dealing with them for their nature brought out the worst in humanity and only made the words the White Fang spoke all the more true.

Then again was he any better?

No.

He was worse.

'However, the threat of the White Fang cannot be ignored. Five years and they've already secured a sizable amount of funding and resources from their recent movements in the criminal underworld and attacks on Schnee Dust ship freighters. Plus their popularity over the young and impressionable faunus is only garnering them more and more followers. At this rate they'll become more than just a mere group of ragtag criminals.'

James considered many options of stopping them, but nothing official really worked due to all the legal restrictions and bureaucratic red tape to even begin mounting up oppositions against them. In addition, you would have to account for the impression this would make on the people of the Kingdoms if the Council did decide to take active military action against the White Fang. The action alone would cause a surge of tensions between humans and faunus, and it would more than likely spark another war like the Faunus Rights Revolution.

And that was something no one wanted to see ever again.

"We cannot openly enact military action against the White Fang without sparking further riots and tensions within our own Kingdoms. Times are bad enough with the Grimm threat hanging over our heads, so the last thing we need is to spark another Great War, or am I wrong?" James spoke his thoughts on the matter. The rest of the council seemed disgruntled by it, but simply settled with his words.

"However, that doesn't mean we cannot paint them for what they are. They are performing in activities of a terroristic nature, so therefore they shall be seen as the terrorists they've become. Leak information to the media networks of the four Kingdoms. They will take care of the rest." the Vale representative spoke out in turn causing James to grit his teeth in frustration. Even when the others agreed, James could only see folly in such a move since the action would spread fear and panic among the public. And since the Grimm fed on such negative emotions it would make them easy pickings, especially for those that lived on the frontier.

"With that settled let us move onto the next matter. Atlas representative, you have the floor." the dull voice droned, yet James ignored it in favor to speak.

"Thank you. Now as you are all no doubt aware, humanity and faunus alike face an existential crisis and that ladies and gentlemen is the threat of the Grimm. Their expanse cover more than ¾ parts of our world, and like it or not we are backed into a corner. Now recent activities for the past five years show they've begun to move in a different accordance to what they usually do." a projector lit up to reveal a map of their planet, Remnant, and on that map showed every continent on their little rock. However, the map revealed certain patterns of Grimm migrating in certain areas, places and locations they were known to reside.

"Now as you can see from the map, the Grimm we've come to know tend to usually migrate in specific areas to avoid unnecessary attention unless drawn out by negative emotion. That's been the case for as long as most of us can remember. However, five years ago, these patterns...changed." he said before the projector flickered to the same map, but the patterns of the Grimm were entirely different. Instead of the Grimm groups migrating to regions away from civilization." As you can now see they are actively beginning to not just migrate, but openly attack settlements on the frontier in full out aggression. Already we've gotten word that over 40 settlements have been lost to the Grimm in the past 5 years." he said before the projector turned off.

Turning his attention to the Council who soaked up what he'd been saying for the most part. "Now, take into account, that the usual settlement out in the frontier on average has a populace that sits between 200 to 400 depending on the climate and region of the settlement. Now if we were to take the highest number of people in one settlement and multiply that by the number of settlements we've lost." he said before the projector blared on once more, showing a number of people that silenced the room in one fell swoop.

16,000

James expression could have been mistaken for stone as he saw the number shown. "As you can see, roughly 16,000 people have been lost to the Grimm in a span of 5 years, and their activity only continues to grow. Now that may not seem to be a lot to us that live in the Kingdoms and cities, yet you must take into consideration the lives we've lost, the pioneers that were trying to spread civilization to the farthest reaches of the world. The families, the men, women, children lost to the Grimm. Whether they be human or faunus, lives have been lost to these monsters increased aggression, if something is not done, then we not only risk losing territory expanded by those brave pioneer settlements, but even more so, we risk losing more to the Grimm in the long run." he said before the projector turned off, the lights dimmed on so everyone could see his icy blue eyes roam them all. Everyone feeling a cold shudder to pass through them when under the Great General's scrutiny.

"So, I ask you, esteemed Council Collective, what are we to do with this threat?"

The other representatives remained silent as they thought about what could be done, but in all honesty their options were limited. Resources and lien were usually funneled into branches of development that were needed the most when it came to defending themselves against the Grimm. One main contributor of this was the rapid expansion of the SDC, a relatively small company that skyrocketed 5 years ago due to the brilliance of Nicholas Schnee and the man's friendship with Julius Arc, the main benefactor of the SDC at the time. Lien was produced by the Arcs, but resources was something the Council provided to Nicholas.

However, that gamble paid off with the SDC becoming the biggest dust company provider in all of Remnant. Thus the council made back what they gave two-fold, and the ties between the Schnee and the Arcs became even stronger.

Yet that's where the problem lie. The Collective Council has dabbled in many business gambles before that didn't result in any big reward as it did with the SDC. They lost more than they had gained, and on top of losing their money and resources, they were losing the respect of the people. And like any good politician knows, if they lose the general public's interest then without a doubt they would fade into obscurity and be dissolved by public disinterest. Funding would be cut, resources would be halted, and they'd lose the power they've coveted for so many years.

However, like any good politician, they had ways of swaying public interest to their cause. Lying or bending the truth a little bit was always on table, and their go to method when the going got tough. All they needed were targets for such methods and they were golden. So, what were two recent targets that could posed to put the public's faith with the Council?

The White Fang and the Grimm.

Bend the truth a little here, and a little white lie there, and they'd be rolling in billions; both in supporters and their cold hard earned lien.

However, that all mattered little if they didn't come up with a plausible method to deal with the White Fang and the Grimm.

"Atlas Representative, what is the status of the project you spoke of a year ago? Will that perhaps help with our Grimm problem?" one voice broke the silence and all eyes fell upon a rather distinguishable man. It was the Councilman from Vacuo, a man who cut a rather vicious appearance. It was monster of a man with dark skin and a muscular physique to match his height of over 7,2. He had short brown hair with a budding beard, yet his hazel eyes were piercing. Yet despite his overly built appearance he was calm and collected more than the other council members in the chamber.

James simply frowned even as mutters broke out among the others, his eyes locked with the man from Vacuo. He'd been in many of the Collective meetings before, but this man was just a recent addition. Twice he'd been here at the meeting, and twice now he'd yet to get any information out of the man besides his first name.

"...If you are referring to Project Z.E.U.S. Then yes, everything has gone along smoothly. Although we are nowhere near able to reveal what we've made yet, I can assure you once it's been complete we will have a suitable weapon to combat these threats." he said earning inquisitive stares from his fellows.

"I certainly hope you're right about that. We've poured much of our resources and lien into your secret project because we all know that Atlesian weaponry is something none of us can underestimate. I just hope whatever you're banking so much on is worth it in the end." the Vale representative said causing James to nearly frown but he kept his cool. It would do well for him to lose his control; especially when he was already in so deep of the metaphorical shit lake.

"That aside, we can at least increase patrols to further regions of the frontier. Huntsmen Teams given further expansion into infested territories to route out the Grimm. However, reparations cannot be made for those that chose to live outside the walls of the Kingdoms, they chose that life and must live through the consequences." the Mistral representative spoke getting a nod of agreement from the others. Even James agreed with those words, though heartless as they were.

"Now, I believe it's time we get to the final topic of discussion, and something we've all been having to deal with as of late. Vacuo Representative, you have the floor." the dull voice spoke once more, and the beastly man stared at everyone in the chamber for a solid minute. Then he let out a sigh before he spoke two words that made everyone sit straight and spike their adrenaline.

"The Arcs."

Fuuaah~

In one fell swoop, the chamber died. All sound, all light, all taste, and even smell felt as if it had been taken in by the hurricane conjured by those two words. The features of the Councilmen became stoic, if not a bit scornful. Tension began to settle in, and sweat trailed down James brow as he felt the pressure settle in from those words.

"Ahh yes, the Arc's." the Mistral representative squared up, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes in annoyance.

Arc. The word brought forth a myriad of different emotions to the people in this chamber. One didn't know where to start and where to end when it came to that family. Though they're small in number their mere influence alone was stronger than any Kingdom. Their charisma, their martial prowess, their intelligence, everything about an Arc would have been deemed incredible if it weren't for their penchant behavior to undermine authority at every given turn.

"Hm, they've been the greatest trouble of the three topics we've come to discuss today. For five year's they've been hounding us, biting at our heels, and bringing upon so much pressure on us, it's hard to even move against them without causing a war." the Vale representative spat, and the rest could only agree.

There was a saying that History is written by the victor while the loser fades into obscurity, and that saying couldn't be anymore true when it came to the Arc family. To say they were just a family of strong warriors would be an understatement. In every great conflict, in every thrashing collision of violence, the Arcs were always there. They were always on the front lines, fighting for what they felt was right. Politics, personal interests, none of that ever mattered to them. What mattered was doing what was right, regardless of the consequences. It's why they were so well respected by not only humans, but by the faunus as well. Julius Arc, the beast himself, fought for the faunus in the Faunus Rights Revolution, cutting down his own humans just to prove a point.

No matter what, the Arcs would stand for the weak and downtrodden, no matter who the enemy may be.

And the mans son was no better, Xander Arc was a rebellious man who at every single turn spurned the Kingdoms bribes into pulling his family into their sphere of influence. It was Xander who put the Council of Vale and Mistral to heel when they stepped out of line with his family. Although he was more politician than Huntsman, he was still a warrior to be feared. Apparently being named after Alexander the Great, Xander proved his lineage, and upheld his legacy time and again by suppressing hordes of Grimm for years on the unexplored continent of Draco.

"I just don't see how that petulant little squirt of a boy is so important to them. He's just one boy! Who cares if he was taken. Xander is still young enough to have more children. It's not like that whore faunus wife of his can't spread her legs for another romping." the Mistral representative spat only for James narrow his eyes. His aura seeped out from every corner of his being, his eyes flashed such a icy hue that it could have frozen sun. The pressure was unmistakable to the rest of the council and the Vacuo representative narrowed his eyes on the General.

"Be mindful of your words, Councilor, for Xander and Maroon are my friends. Speak of them like that again, and rest assured there won't be anything left of you to send back to Mistral." let it not be said. James Ironwood was not a good politician, but he was damned good soldier, and loyal to his friends when it came down to it.

The mistral woman looked as if she'd been slapped and for intents and purposes she may as well have.

Yet a haunting voice spoke within the back of the good Generals mind.

'Yet do you have any sort of right to claim you are their friend after what you've done? After the pain you've caused them?'

James toiled with those words before pushing them back. It would be no good to let his guilty conscious come up right now. There would be time for him to soak in his own guilt ridden conscious later.

Then a great boom echoed within the chamber, and the pressure James unleashed earlier evaporated like water in the Vacuo desert as something heavier came crashing down on the two councilors.

"Enough! You are both out of line. Mistral representative, speak out of line again and you will be dismissed permanently!" the dull voice from before was cold and sharper than any sword in that moment. The woman flinched at that, and James would be lying if he didn't feel some satisfaction from that. "As for your Atlas Representative, threatening a Councilor is grounds for termination, regardless of reasoning. It is only because of your exemplary service and protection of Atlas and for the world that we do not have you thrown out. You will stay your tongue, or you will be terminated, is that clear?!"

James reeled in his thoughts at that moment, he took a deep breath, held it in, before exhaling. His eyes found the mediator for the Collective Councils summit, and he took in the mans appearance. He appeared to have come from the far eastern islands from the way he dressed, but the way he stood and the presence he gave off was no less than that of an elite warrior. A veteran of the highest martial accord.

"My apologies, Mifune-dono, it will not happen again." James said, giving out the proper respect to the old samurai. The man stared at him for one second longer before his face reverted back to it's neutral one.

"Good, now back to the topic at hand."

The Vale representative who remained still for the most part spoke. "Speaking of the lost Arc Heir. Let me remind you Mistral representative the importance the boy holds. The Arcs are a warrior family. A Clan of martial fighters whose skill remains unequal. However, they are also archaic in a sense of lineage. The Arcs follow a strict tradition of the firstborn son is to inherit the legacy of their ancestors. That's as far as my knowledge goes with the family, but think about it. The importance the boy holds. He is to inherit the richest legacy of Heroes known in all of Remnant. He is the carrier of something grand, and you can't simply replace that. It's something that only happens with them and the Arcs take it very seriously." the man said and James could only shake his head mentally.

'They don't know the half of it. Xander's son is the heir to a legacy so far reaching that it goes as far back as to the time of when mankind was first brought into this world.'

And now that boy, that holder of such a legacy was now 500 feet below Solitas, being trained to be the greatest weapon to defeat the greatest evil known to mankind.

James felt like he was gonna vomit, such was his disgust with himself.

"I see, that does make more sense I suppose, but we cannot simply continue to ignore them for much longer. Already they've left their home in Sanus and back to the continent of Draco. It's there they've been mustering their forces. Those charters they pulled up regarding old alliances and sworn allegiances has garnered them with enough militia and resources to be considered a major threat if imposed." the Mistral woman spoke gaining a nod from the others; even James had to agree with those words.

The charters the woman spoke of was of course the documentation of several contracts dating back before the times of the Great War. Before the Councils were even a thing, the Monarchs of the four Kingdoms saw how incredibly valuable the Arc's were as a force of martial might. Therefore, every Kingdom had asked for their services in dealing with the Grimm tides and sought their aid in training their own soldiers and warriors to be efficient killing machines so that the Grimm could be dealt with.

The Arc's had agreed, but in exchange they simply demanded for one thing. If there was ever a time the Arc's were in need of aid, no matter what the situation was, the Kingdoms were duty bound to aid them. No matter who was King, no matter who ruled the Kingdoms down the line, they were bound by oath to aid the Arc.

However, there wasn't much that needed to be said because as soon as the kidnapping became public news, soldiers, warriors, and huntsmen from all over the continents started too swell up with the Arcs. Many a number of men and women who fought with the Arc's or were brought up by their teachings swore their allegiances to them. And that had been without the need of the charter itself.

So, understandably, this left a good chunk of military power missing from the other Kingdoms. Even Atlas had been no better when veterans from the past War's had sworn themselves and their families to service.

"While that does pose a point of worry; I feel there is a bigger problem we need to address." the Vacuo representative spoke and the others looked to him even James glanced at him in curiosity.

"And what might that be, Vacuo Representative?"

The man closed his eyes for a moment before he spoke. "Earlier we recognized that the Arc's left their home in Sanus, of which we all thought to be their ancestral home, but we were mistaken. The fact they've fled to Draco has confirmed my own research into that family." he said before he pulled out an old scroll from his pocket before having an attendant place it in the projector. From there he turned it on so everyone could see. A projected map of Sanus, but the continent above Sanus was clearly highlighted.

"As you can see from this map, the continent of Draco is directly above that of Sanus, but as far as we know the continent has been completely uninhabitable due to the harsh climate and Grimm that swarm the land. Early reports from scouts from both Atlas and Vacuo have been witnessed mass migration periods from the Grimm. However, recent reports have shown us a different picture of the continent when viewed from Atlas satellite images showing us this." he said before the projector flicked to another image. It was from a skies point of view; detailing the continent from above.

"And there as you can see is a divide, a mass range of mountains that divide the dragon shaped landmass from the roost landmass it's situated on. On one side is nothing more than a giant nesting ground of Grimm, millions upon billions of them have to reside there. Yet on the other side of that range." he said before the images zoomed in on the roosting landmass. There is showed a continent of great forestry with a lush environment. However, the Councils eyes were drawn to one thing in particular.

It was the Compound situated near the base of the towering mountain range. Images were blurry, but there was a clear enough distinction that the compound was large enough to house up to 100 people or so. However, the overall layout of the compound was much much older than they had ever seen before.

"As you can see, the compound found in the pictures appears much older than any of the architecture of our era. This leads me to believe that the Arc's fled with their forces to this land. I believe that this is their true home. I believe the reason why none of the Kingdoms have ever gone to this land...is because Draco is the ancestral homeland of the Arc Family."

….

Damn.

James could only curse as the rest of the Council went dead silent at that revelation, and finally he just tuned out the rest of the meeting, and good thing too as the other Councilors just flew into a rage at that proclamation.

Sometimes, James wondered why he ever decided to become a Councilor.

Project Z.E.U.S.

That was the code name on the thick embroidered file held in General Ironwoods hand. The man could only let loose a sigh only for his breath to fog out once it escaped his lips. His fur coat shielding his body from the arctic cold was ruffled by the winds that threatened to freeze every living thing in it's wake. The good General was walking to a frozen wasteland out in the very heart of the continents spiky peaks. His icy bluer eyes fell upon the land of home before his feet walked to a certain point in the vast land.

He felt a metallic shudder before a steel blast door opened up to reveal a steel pathway into the icy tundra. Stepping in the blast doors closed behind him before the snow fell upon it, acting as the natural barrier it was meant to be.

The steel walkway led to him reaching an elevator, and securing to the security systems that he was the General through facial recognition and thumbprint identifier, the elevator doors opened.

"Welcome back, General Ironwood sir, what is your desired location?" an automated voice spoke out from within the elevator and James spoke while beginning to unravel the file in his hand.

"Testing Chamber-C856."

He heard a beep before the doors closed and felt the system move his body through various channels built into the tundra. Left, right, down, up, and further down. It was always the same thing for the past 5 years and the General hadn't gotten to the point that the ride was as boring as watching paint dry.

So, he busied himself by going through the file in his hands. Opening it up revealed every little detail on his project. Status reports, Resource lists, graphs and charts revealing the amount of lien spent for this project. He skimmed through all of this with practiced ease. Going through every paper like it was any other document on his desk back in Atlas. It was all very mundane to him when compared to the end goal for this project.

Then his eyes fell upon the pictures, and the very first picture had him stop. His hand trembled when he looked at the picture of a newborn baby boy with blond hair and vibrant blue eyes. His eyes looked at the picture for a good moment before he put it away to look at the others. The next picture was of the same boy, but he was very different. His hair had spiked out in random area's with a streak of black going through his hair. The boy's once vibrant blue orbs were a glowing yellow that seemed to pierce his guilty heart and grip his rotten soul.

"5 Years. It's already been 5 year's...and so much has changed."

James could only sigh as he looked past the pictures and to the status reports once the project truly began. Project Z.E.U.S. was the given code name he'd officially given to the Atlesian Council concerning the venture James had been working on. He'd told them all what they wanted to know, and that was it. The Project was a new type of Atlesian Military Weapon that would fundamentally change the face of Modern day Warfare for the rest of the world. That's what he told them and they were all too quick to help fund his project along with the rest of the Council Collective, although much more discreetly.

The code name had been merely a placeholder at first, but from the progress they'd made, James were all too certain that what he and the ASRD had created was going to become something much more grand in the future.

That being the case, James looked at the reports that followed for the past 5 years regarding the test subject for the project, and he had to still his beating heart when he saw the changes that happened to Jaune Arc over the course of the experiments. The day he had the boy kidnapped from his family and taken to be the prime subject for this experiment and ever since than the changes the boy has undergone would be...drastic to say the very least.

Every month they've injected the S-Cell serum into the boy within a course of 5 year's. And during that time James was witness to a massive physiological, mental, and emotional change in the boy. It took ¼ the time for Jaune to learn to walk than it would take a normal newborn. So, James had the boy undergo a series of tests and experiments that would put his physiology to the test. His durability was tested everyday with a hailstorm of bullets yet they bounced off him. Ordinary weapons such as swords, axes, maces, any mortal made weapon shattered like glass when used against him. Even dust infused weapons or ammunition didn't so much as leave a scratch on his body.

That was when Jaune was 2.

When Jaune was 3, James had already been testing the boy's strength, speed, reflexes, dexterity, and endurance. He put every lien they had into testing the boy, creating devices and methods of training the boy. He had a carbon steel wall 6 inches thick to test his strength. Jaune was able to punch through it on his third try, but a single kick could tear through the wall in one attempt. This first test was one of the most shocked since to break through a carbon steel wall that thick you would need at least a thousand pounds of TNT and a missile from an Atlesian Black Fox fighter jet for good measure to break through.

They tested his speed by see how fast he could run a mile and it took him only 10.3 seconds, thus making him faster than any man-made ground vehicle they had. They had a hard time even measuring his speed since no human eye could possibly track such speed so it took putting in detectors along the mile track which were linked to a speed camera that caught and measured the time the boy ran.

When he was tested for dexterity and reflexes they had the boy loosely chained to a pole leaving enough room for him to move within a 4 foot diameter. There they a firing squad around the boy where he was shot at by various weapons, but all carrying the only type of ammunition that could really harm him to an extent. Diamodium ammo was the only thing that could pierce his body or leave any damage that broke his skin. They did this so Jaune could learn how to react up until he was able to catch the bullets.

And for endurance, James had the boy tested by throwing him in a chamber that could replicate certain types of temperatures that mimicked the outside world and a gravitational core that was used in the core to control the level of gravity in the chamber. They had him sitting in temperatures that would kill anyone. He was put through temperatures that would kill anyone, but he remained perfectly fine after a couple of days in such situations. Even going to the maximum of the settings by training in the room when it was set to the temperature equivalent to the theoretical core of a volcano. And the fact the boy did all this under 1o times the gravity of Remnant just made the whole accomplishment even more outstanding.

That was when he was 4.

And ever since then James has been putting the boy through training sessions that involved methods that only he could accomplish. Giving the best of the best Atlas could buy and their technological researchers could develop.

One unique about this was that James had tried to see if Jaune could use a weapon, but after all the results of his preliminary tests he saw that Jaune himself was a more deadly weapon than any man-made weapon could ever be. So, weapons courses were thankfully cut out of his testing.14

Yet, through all of that, James saw one thing that was a stark contrast to his family. Where the Arc's were emotionally driven by a sense of doing what was right, no matter what. Jaune Arc, ever since being injected by the S-cell serum had made him emotionally numb to the world. If the boy lacked anything a human did have, it was emotions.

No, that would be wrong. There was one thing Jaune felt.

He loved to fight.

He practically thrived off battle and that much James could see when the boy was utterly bored of simply training without using the fruits of his labor in real combat scenarios. So, the General rectified that within the boy's 3rd year by introducing him to a daily part of his training. He would be thrown into an arena where was pit up against a random selection of enemies pending on the results of his training. It was all robots of course as James wasn't about to risk the lives of his fellows against such a monstrous boy.

And he was right in that assumption, for in the trial Jaune was thrown in he was pit against 50 of Atlesians state of the art combat droids, and since the boy was told he could let loose in this arena.

Well...

James saw millions of lien exploding in his face as Jaune tore them apart. Tearing them in half, punching through their robotic skeletons, and crushing them under his heel without even a shred of mercy. Which scared James a bit since if those had been humans, Jaune would have killed them without a second thought.

'However, in comparison to the lien we spend on the robots, the amount we spend on food for the boy...I'm surprised we've not been run into the ground at this point.' James thought with a slightly amused expression. The Arc's have always had a abnormal appetite and it showed in Jaune, but the amount of food he could shove down his gullet was far more than anything he'd seen in the boy's father or his grandfather. He could pack away enough food to feed an entire family of 5 for two weeks in a single sitting. James, Dr. Gero, and most of the researchers could only watch the boy pack it all away in morbid fascination at times.

It was a bit interesting for the eggheads, but James was mostly revolted at the sheer sight. It was like watching a lion tear apart a gazelle.

James sighed as he finished thumbing through the file before tying it back together. Memories of the project were something he'd been going through since it all started, and while results were incredibly promising; every time he looked at the boy he felt his guilt eat away at him like a cancer.

"Whatever punishment lay in wait for me for doing this, I will gladly accept it with open arms, but I only wish to see Salem fall and this damned war end before I do." the General spoke before the elevator finally reached its destination with a ping.

"You have arrived at Testing Chamber-C856, have a good General Ironwood sir."

James blinked his eyes as the doors opened and he stepped through, his feet carrying him to the side of another man in a white lab trench coat. His long gray hair beginning to whiten every year, but his eyes held the same amount of intelligence as when James first met him. The soldier stood side by side with the scientist and they both looked to see a boy doing push ups with a giant block of steel strapped to his back.

"How's his progress, Dr. Gero?" he said causing the old man to glance at him before he looked down at his clipboard.

"As usual, interesting. He continues to show constant physical improvement through a combination of meticulous physical training in harsh atmospheric climates and his own body healing his body through his excellent healing rate." he causing James to hum.

'Ah yes, his healing ability. Out of everything that's probably the most unique and useful ability I've seen out of the young Arc.' James theorized that the enhanced healing had something to do with the boy's aura since it is what saved the boy's life during the first injection. Yet even after 5 year's ever since the aura explosion occurred from the young Arc, the only thing that remained from his aura had been the boy's incredibly fast healing.

The rest was simply...lost.

Or to be more precise, Jaune's aura had seemingly locked itself away after exploding out 5 years ago.

It almost sounded like it was alive and it may be the case. Aura and by extension semblances were still a mystery that humans and faunus have been trying to figure out ever since it was first discovered. Aura by definition is the manifestation of someones soul, it represents all of who they are as the very base of their being. So, maybe Jaune's aura had simply reacted instinctively to save it's master's life from a foreign threat. Lashing out to destroy whatever it was that was trying to hurt Jaune.

Still it was nothing, but a theory and a far fetched one at that.

"Although I think it's time we try and unlock the boy's aura again. The boy can train as much as he wishes, but we both know he can be much stronger if he had his aura." Dr. Gero said, and the the General gave him a cold glance.

"Although I do not disagree with you on that doctor, we need to be careful. We've been pushing the boy a lot regarding his aura and if we're not too careful we may do something to damage him. Remember, aura is the manifestation of our souls, but Jaune is only 5 year's old. His soul hasn't had enough time to truly develop." he said, but Dr. Gero simply smiled.

"In normal cases you may be right General, but this matter is beyond normal and you know it. Besides, there have been cases where children had their aura unlocked." he said before turning to walk down a set of chambers and the General glared at his back before following him.

"True, but most of those cases left the child either comatose, brain dead for the rest of their lives, or they simply died. The only one to have ever survived it was..."

"Julius Arc. The boys own grandfather." Dr. Gero said when he looked at James. "Remember General, the boy comes from a warrior family whose physical attributes are only equal to their spiritual endurance. If anyone can survive, it'll be him." he said causing James to stop for a moment to think. The doctors words did ring true to an extent. Julius was raised during a time of the Great War, and his father, Caesar Arc unlocked the boys aura so they could train Julius to fight.

Child soldiers were a common thing back then, if historical records were accurate, and it would also explain why Julius was such a monster.

James sighed, for some reason he knew this was a bad idea, but this whole project was already damning, so what was another sin to add to that metaphorical shit pile he'd made for himself.

"Very well then, you have my approval Dr. Gero."

The Doctor grinned as they reached the door to the testing chamber. First the doctor canceled the settings set for the chamber. The gravity returned to normal, and the atmosphere and climate changes reverted to normal. Then James spoke into the speaker as the boy stopped what he was doing when he felt the changes occur.

"Jaune, this is General Ironwood, Dr. Gero and I are going to try and help you unlock your aura again, so we're coming in." he said and the boy simply jumped up tossing the giant block of steel off his back letting it crash beside him. The effect shook the chamber for a moment before they opened the door and walked in. James stepped ahead of Dr. Gero, and once they were in front of the young boy the General couldn't help, but marvel the changes that have happened to the boy over 5 years.

Every physical trait that would have made the boy an Arc was entirely gone at this point. Constant injections of the S-Cell serum had changed him to such a physical level it was like he was a different person. His skin was darker, just a tad lighter than bronze. He stood 3,5 feet tall, but his muscles were noticeable in a sense due to the bulk in his arms and overall body. They would have been mistaken as chubby if it weren't for the fact it was solid muscle. They had the boy wearing a simple set of white loose fitting pants and shirt. His hair had grown out from it's blond mess into a mane of ebony spikes that fell around his head and to his neckline. His eyes were completely jet black, having lost their vibrant blue from before and the yellow from when he was first injected. However, the one thing that remained nearly the same was the boys monkey tail which had only grown a couple inches and was laying still to mirror the boys mood.

Just looking at the boys impassive, no, dead expression, James felt like a dagger was being twisted in his heart.

He looks nothing like the Arc Heir that he truly was.

Gods damn him.

James sighed once again before he knelt down so he was staring at the boy. "Now Jaune, I know we've tried this many times before, but I want you to try and unlock your aura again. You know the steps, we've practiced many times before." he said reaching for his own chest. "You need to feel it. Close your eyes and feel for that source of power, it should feel like heat, like a cover blanketing you. You will feel a tug. When you feel that tug, Jaune, I want you to grab it and pull it as hard as you can. Do you understand?" he said causing the boy to nod.

"I do, General."

James flinched at the boy's voice. He had the boy taught the basics of talking and while the boy had soaked up the teaching; his voice was so cold, so dead, that it was like he was talking to nothing at all.

Gulping, James gave the boy a nod. "Good, then begin when you are ready." he said before stepping back to Dr. Gero. The doctor looked to researchers operating the aura readings from the outside and gave them a nod. They soon began to get the other researchers to operate the machines. A low hum started off before they gave a nod to the doctor.

Taking that confirmation, James looked to Jaune who was staring at him and gave the boy one silent nod.

And thus, the boy closed his eyes.

Jaune has done this many times before, following every word the General had told him, and every time it ended with him always feeling an immovable object in his path. It was like a wall that could neither be pushed or pulled. It was nothing like the feeling the General told him, but this time Jaune was tired of it. He was tired of always facing that damned wall that blocked him from getting stronger. It was always there, mocking him, taunting him that his power was just in reach, but it was so beyond him that he would never reach it.

And that...that angered the boy.

He'd never known why he was here, what he was born to do, he'd only ever known that his purpose was to destroy a great evil. A monster of incredibly big proportions, but beyond all that he knew nothing else besides training. It was all he could do, to train and train and train every day of every second of his life. Every breath he took was for the sake of training.

And now...some wall was stopping him from getting closer to a purpose he'd no idea led to.

"Tempting, isn't?"

Jaune flinched, but when he looked around he saw nothing.

"You have all that power, all that potential, and yet you can do nothing, but twiddle your thumbs because of your own incompetence to wield it."

Jaune didn't know where the voice was coming from, but its words were starting to anger him. He clenched his fists in frustration as the voice chuckled darkly.

"Angry are you? Good. Anger is powerful when wielded right. Though with your measly modicum of power you can do nothing. You're nothing, but a weak pathetic child, and that's all you will ever be."

"Shut up." he said for the first time as raw hot rage started to course through him. An entirely new emotion he'd never felt before coursing through every fiber of his being. His heart was beating like a drum, his breathing before erratic as he glared at the wall before him.

"And what are you going to do if I don't, monkey? Attack me? Please, you're body is frail and your state of mind is barely held together as is. What do you possibly hope to achieve by attacking me, hm?"

The voice was mocking him and Jaune couldn't take it much more. He was crouched together, his whole body trembling from pure rage. His eyes glaring holes into the wall that held him back. He neither cared for the fact his body was letting off steam or the fact the world around him began to tremble before him. No, all the boy cared for was breaking that fucking wall and then tearing the owner of that voice apart!

"Ooh, very good. That look of rage suits you. However, dismiss those petty thoughts for you will never reach me with how utterly weak you are right now."

"Shut up...shut up...shut up." he spoke quicker and quicker, but the voice kept going. It's voice like poison in his ears. His tail bristled and veins pulsed from his forehead, arms and legs as he glared at the wall. Just imagining the voice coming from behind the wall was all Jaune could see right now. The shaking was so intense now that the black void around him was starting to break apart like shattered glass.

"If you're so intent on silencing me...then make me."

That was all the Jaune needed as his self-control snapped. His eyes glowed a yellow hue as he charged at the wall with all his power.

"SHUT UP!" he roared as his clashed with the wall causing an explosive shockwave to blow away the falling pieces of the void.

Then his fist broke through, and like a jenga tower, the rest of the wall broke apart.

And all Jaune saw before he was consumed in a glory of white.

Was the skies burning in emerald fire...

And a laughter so chaotic, its voice threatened to crush his skull like a walnut.

"Good job monkey, now wreak havoc in the name of your Lord Frieza, Broly!"

In that moment Jaune knew no more as a presence completely overwhelmed him as it rose up from within the depths of forgotten memory.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

They never saw it coming.

One minute they saw Jaune's face contorting into an angered expression.

Then an explosion of white exploded out of the boy, it's very power breaking apart the very matter of the area around him. The General and Doctor had gotten to higher ground, and they looked to see the aura scanner breaking apart as it tried to record the event.

"What's happening!" the General demanded, but Dr. Gero could do nothing, but look at the aura levels going off.

"10,000...15,000...26,000...45,000..." the scientists eyes were bulging as he looked at the aura levels jump higher and higher. James saw it too and could barely believe what he was seeing himself.

However, there was more important things to worry about, namely, Jaune himself. "We gotta stop him now! Otherwise he'll bring this whole facility down on top of us!" James ordered his men to move.

But it was far too late.

Crack!

James stopped when he heard the sound and looked to see the facility starting to give way. His eyes widened before he looked to Jaune only to see the white aura was now starting to bleed emerald. And the energy was so thick, so heavy, so filled with malice that James could feel death hanging over them, scythe at their necks.

And it was then James saw it, Jaune's face was breaking out into a grin so maniacal it threatened to split his face. Then he saw the boy beginning to float as a sphere of emerald power compressed itself around him. James saw it and could only stare in horror when the boy turned his head to look at him, and when he did; in that moment, James Ironwood saw the true face of terror.

Eyes flashing crimson glared straight through his very soul.

"...WEAKLING."

He'd created something worse than a monster.

He had created a Demon.

In that moment James knew what was going to happen, he didn't know how or why, but his survival instincts as a soldier knew first hand what was about to happen.

"Evacuate." he said causing Dr. Gero to look at him as if he were insane.

"What?! Why should we flee now when we're so close!?" Dr. Gero shouted, but James didn't dare look away from the beast before him.

"Dr. Gero, that is an order, order full evacuation orders now. WE ARE LEAVING!" James shouted before hitting the speaker button.

"This is general Ironwood, I am issuing Code Red! Everyone is to evacuate the facility now!" his piece said he looked to Jaune one last time only to see the beast grinning at him with a bloodthirsty leer.

He grabbed the doctor and started running.

They had to get out. NOW!

However, as the 5 year old boy floated there in his sphere, the spirit of something long thought dead snarled at the maggots weakness for fleeing.

"WEAKLINGS WILL NEVER ESCAPE ME!" than with, but a thought his power jumped even more. His power compressing his sphere more and more and more until it was outlining his body. Then, the beast within the boy looked up and gave a grin.

"HAHA...HAHAHAHA...HAHAHAHAHA!" his distorted laughter sending chills of terror throughout everyone in the facility as they rushed to escape. His crimson eyes staring down like they were his prey.

"HAHAHA! AHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the manic laughter spilled forth from his lips as he rose up, his emerald glowing body destroying everything it touched as he rose. His eyes caught and froze those that were in the process of fleeing as he rose up the levels of the facility. Finally, he stopped, laughing as always before he threw out his arms in an expression of pure fury.

"HAHAHA...HAAA...Die." the demon said before his body flashed emerald.

James couldn't shake the feeling he had as he and Dr. Gero boarded one of the hundreds of Bullheads that were beginning to fly off from the facilities location. His eyes were locked on the flat piece of tundra below them, and his chills only grew and he knew it wasn't from the air. It was the pure terror he felt when he saw what Jaune had become. The image of it was burned into his brain and seared into his very soul.

He closed his eyes in sorrow as all his guilt, all he anguish fell upon his shoulders once he realized what he had done, all for what he had done for, was a failure.

'Xander, Maroon, Julius, Ozpin, Qrow Taiyang, Raven, Summer...Glynda, I'm sorry...I'm so sorry for everything.'

Then it happened.

It was an instant. All sound died as the very planet gave a deathly howl as the icy tundra below them swell up before it erupted in a flash of emerald. A giant sphere expanded out faster than they could perceive. The sphere vaporized everything it touched. The land, the sea, sound, light, everything it touched was consumed in a green sphere of chaos. The screams of those that couldn't escape echoed amid the frozen wasteland before they were silenced in the night as the sphere consumed them all.

James only saw it before half of his ship was consumed by it before the reactor in the ship blew up sending the ship out of the radius of the sphere.

And all James Iron wood saw before darkness consumed him was his home, Solitas, consumed in hellfire from his own failure.

All over Remnant every living soul felt it in one way or another. The planet had shaken, earthquakes sundered the planet, tsunami's rose in defiance only to crash helplessly against the mountains. The heavens wept as storms roared to life all over the planet.

On this day, this very night, as everyone looked out to see a giant sphere of emerald consume much of Solitas, in the back of their minds a deep seeded terror began to grow once they saw the cataclysmic event before them. Adults fell to their knees in terror, children fled to the bosom of their mothers and father's warm embrace. The Grimm stood frozen, feeling something unlike anything they'd ever known before.

In one dimension, in a land of nothing, but darkness and crimson. A woman stood watching from her castle of deception and lies, her blood red orbs watching the event with a perplexed raise of her brow.

In the city of Vale, standing outside the clock tower of Beacon Academy, an old wizard stood watching the event take place. His eyes reflected what was happening before him, and a sigh escaped his lips.

"And thus do we enter our eventual horizon."

However, as this all happened, one figure in the sky stood watch over the planet and observed the events transpiring before it. It's form reflecting the space around it's presence. Reality warping around it's frame before it reached with a hand towards the sphere before it closed its hand. There its head tilted upwards to see a shooting star coming from the sphere, and from it the being observed it while in it traveled in its trajectory path.

The being tilted its head for a moment before giving a slight nod. With a tilt of its finger the shooting star's path was diverted from going into space and back to the planet. There the being nodded with itself before fading back into warped reality from whence it came.

All across the world they saw the sphere of destruction, but so smitten by the sight they were, no one thought to look upward to see a shooting star streak across the skies. No one would ever pay attention to this little detail for they were all captivated by what they were all seeing.

Thus, no one would be any the wiser when the star reach a small little island off the west coast of Vale. No one would hear the crash that would follow in it's wake.

No, tonight, the world of Remnant stood in attention of what they felt was certain doom.

"Hm hm hm hmm hmmm~" the voice of a little girl hummed a playful tune as she walked hand-hand-hand with her mommy. Her black and red hair was a mess as she skipped along with her mom who looked down at her daughter with a gentle expression.

"I see you liked that little song from before, my little Rose?" the woman spoke causing the girl to look up at her, silver eyes twinkling like two individual stars. A happy smile stretched over her flushed cheeks.

"She really does mom, she kept humming the tune all night last night." another girl spoke to the woman's left and she looked down at the other girl who appeared a bit older than the other one. Her golden hair was held up in two pigtails. Her lilac eyes were filled with joy as she held the woman's hand.

"I see, perhaps I should sing to you as well my little dragon, or are you too old for mommy to sing for you, hm?" she getting a shocked look from the little girl. It was like someone had kicked her puppy from her expression.

"No! No way! I'm never gonna get old!" she said causing the woman to bend forth as innocent laughter spilled forth from her lips. Her silver orbs twinkled as she looked down at the little blond firecracker.

"I'm sure baby. You'll get all big and grown up and not need me or daddy anymore." she said making the blond stomp her feet in a tantrum.

"No! Nuh uh! I don't wanna grow up and you can't make me!" she said poking her tongue at the older woman before rushing off causing the older woman to giggle before she picked up her baby girl who giggled happily in her arms.

"Well there she goes again, let's go get your big sister Ruby before she gets in trouble." she making little Ruby openly laugh.

"Yang Yangy!"

Summer Rose openly giggled with her daughter as she followed after Yang. However, when she finally saw the shock of gold and pigtails ahead she spoke.

"Come now Yang darling, I was only jokin-" she stopped dead on her feet when she saw Yang slowly turn to her with wide frightened eyes.

"M-M-Mommy...there's something down there."

Feeling a cold dread go down her spine as Yang usually never gets scared unless from something obvious Summer ran to her daughter before she looked down at what Yang saw.

A horrified gasp escaped her as she saw the carnage before her. A deep trench was gouged into the earth, trees were uprooted, boulders shattered, and an abnormal amount of blood followed the trench. Her eyes followed the trail until she saw what Yang had seen, and instantly she crouched down to yang.

"Yang." gods her voice was cracking, but she had to be strong for her girls. "I need you to be a big girl for me right now. I need you to take Ruby and go get your father." she said giving the confused Ruby to Yang who stood there staring at her mother with big tearing eyes.

"B-but mommy."

Summer smiled at her little girl and pat her shoulder. "Don't worry honey I'll be fine, but please do this for me and get your father, tell him it's an emergency."Yang stalled for a moment, but once she understood she gave a tearful nod and ran off with her sister. Seeing her go, Summer closed her eyes and sensed the area around her for any nearby Grimm, and all retreated when they felt her presence in the air.

Finally Summer took a breath and turned back to where the trench ended and it was there she saw what Yang had seen. It was a blood soaked crater that ended with a collision to base of the mountain. Quickly she jumped down and leaped to where the crater was, and when she looked to see what was there she felt her heart lurch from within her chest.

"By the Gods..." she breathed as she saw a boy who couldn't have been any older than Yang. His body was a mess of injuries that didn't seem to end. Whatever clothing he had was torn to shreds from whatever had blasted him here. His hair was soaked in blood and it fell down over his face. The only sign that she had to determine if he was alive was the fact his monkey tail was moving, barely at that.

Summer knelt before the boy and slowly removed him from the base of the mountain, gently as she possibly could. Only for her to flinch when she saw his head had collided with the mountain due to the crack it had left in the rock. Looking at the boy in her arms she felt a few tears drop from her eyes when she saw him.

"Who could have done this to you?" her hand caressed his face.

Then his hand snapped to her wrist and she gasped when his eyes opened for a brief moment and beheld orbs of the most primal yellow she'd ever seen.

"...I...did...it..." he struggled to even say that then his eyes rolled back and he fell limp in her arms.

"Summer! What's wrong!" thankfully her husband burst forth from the forest and she turned to him as he looked at the damage done around him. And when his blue eyes fell upon her only to look at what she was holding he let out a gasp.

"Taiyang...help him."

The blond man needed no further words as he and Summer quickly ran off with the boy, praying to whatever God that was watching that they could save the boy in time.

That ends this chapter and hooo boy what a long one that was. 11K words. Jesus Christ alive I need some ibuprofen and a bottle of scotch.

Now as some of you may not be away AU stands for alternate universe, therefore the events in this story are gonna be very different from canon. And as you can no doubt see, I'm taking the script and throwing it away.

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed that, I'm gonna go rest my head for a little bit. Hope you all liked it. If you have questions leave a review.

Night!