A/N:

I'd like to go ahead and apologize to everyone for how late this chapter is. While writing it, I absolutely hated it. I rewrote parts of it several times, tore some hair out, edited it thrice, and still don't like how it turned out. But, this is the best I can make it work for now, so here you go.

Anyway, welcome to the third chapter of The Darkness Inside! I'd just like to take a second to thank everyone who reads this story. Only two chapters and already this much support, it really makes me feel warm inside. Hopefully I can live up to your expectations.

Also, about Jaune's first Remnant weapon. As a Guardian, he's used to having several options he can switch between at will, for any range or situation. Here, however, he's limited almost exclusively to close range, which is a huge problem for him (in-game I'm experienced enough with Her Memory to use it at pulse rifle range, especially with Focused Fire, but it's not really meant to be used that way). He doesn't need a sword at the moment (not saying he won't get one, but it's not really that high of a priority), so he's going to go for a mid- to long-range alternative first. Of course, he doesn't have any real clue about Huntsman weapons, he'll learn about that once he goes up against them in more than just an alley fight.

I plan on him getting a few different alternatives. It'll earn him a few looks, but like I said he's used to being able to switch between multiple weapons, so he'll want as much variety as possible. In my experience, Guardians are less about 'one kick a thousand times' and more about 'a thousand kicks one time' (even when you get Exotics you switch between them constantly depending on what you're doing), and despite the quote, versatility is something to be feared just as much as experience and power are.

Anyway, on to the disclaimer, and to the story beyond!

Disclaimer: I, of course, (do not) own absolutely everything you see here. In fact, I (do not) own RWBY and Destiny, along with anything mentioned from those sources. If you believe that, I am also extremely rich, and am most definitely not living in my mother's basement at the moment. Nope, no basement here. And I've got some oceanfront property in Arizona I'm looking to sell too.

TO THE STORY!

{KUO KUANA, FELU RESIDENCE}
{EVENING}

"So…"

"So?"

"So why are you messing with your armor right now? It's not like you need to wear it in the middle of our living room. Besides, Mom's here, and as annoying as she is sometimes, she's definitely a great Huntress."

Again with the 'Huntress', I really need to set aside time to actually look up exactly what they do. 'Defenders of Humanity' and 'Slayers of Grimm' are nice and self-explanatory, but it would be best to actually know the job description for what I plan to become. Oh, right, better answer Jade.

"With your clumsy self around, I might actually regret not wearing the armor soon enough," she looked away with a playful pout, mumbling something about 'stupid blondes', and I continued, "but no, it's just… I was asked by a friend to help him out with something, and it might involve Grimm, so I decided to be prepared."

"You're going against the Fang, aren't you?"

I sighed, not surprised she had figured it out. She saw me spying on them last night, after all. "That obvious, huh? Yeah, there's a small disagreement between us, something about me being human, and them being terrorists. So, since I'm already on their shit list, might as well stop a few operations while I'm at it."

"And why the armor? I mean sure, it's nice and heavy armor, but Aura would protect you all the same and without weighing you down, too."

"Yeah~…" I trailed off, trying to find a way to explain it. Did Huntsmen really not wear any armor, just relying on some weak overshield for defense? "But I prefer not dying, and if they just so happen to break my Aura, well, then I'm fucked unless I have another layer of defense. I can't do those ninja parkour moves you have, I'm much more of a tank-based fighter. I can take a lot of damage and dish out even more. The armor helps with the 'taking damage' part."

She shrugged, apparently not really caring about my choice of practical attire. "Hey man, whatever you're most comfortable in. If that's wearing a glorified tin can, well, you do you."

I felt a rush of irritation flow through me. This armor had seen me through over a year of fighting the Darkness, and she disrespects it just like that? This armor had likely seen more combat in a month than she had her entire life! I had to forcibly calm myself down, shooting her a glare that showed my annoyance.

"This 'glorified tin can' has saved my life more than once. The scars aren't there from before I unlocked my Aura, you know."

She had the grace to look embarrassed as she remembered the multitude of scars crossing my body, proving that yes, armor was useful no matter what other powers you had. "Fine, fine, I get it, jeez. You're making me feel bad. Look, at least paint it black or something, that bright white doesn't help you at all."

I looked at my armor, the Queen's Web shader I had gotten from the Awoken Queen for defeating Skolas reminding me of yet another time in my life, and two more friends lost to the Darkness. Wow… it just hit me that pretty much everyone I knew was gone, including… Ghost. That's… depressing, really.

"I like my armor color though…"

Jade laughed, holding up the forearm of one of my gauntlets. The blue Chroma almost completely blended in with the bright coloring, more of a simple accent than a true glow. "Yeah, yeah, you Atlas fanboy. You do realize that using this will make the Fang think you're an Atlas Specialist, right?"

"And what's wrong with that? After all, they can't see my face through the helmet."

She gave me a look like she couldn't believe what just came out of my mouth. "Atlas only accepts humans to become Specialists."

"And?"

"You're literally the only human in Menagerie!" She yelled in exasperation, holding her head in her hands.

"Ah, whatever, it can't be that bad."

Me and my big mouth, right?

{KUO KUANA, SHIPPING DOCKS}

{MIDNIGHT}

Shit, this looks bad.

I was glaring at the bullet hole in my side, having just managed to hit the tight undersuit instead of the armor plating protecting my torso. I had decided to wear my armor just in case, despite Jade's warning, as I'd gotten tired of repeatedly getting attacked and hurt… But of course, the glow of my Chroma and Shader gave me away almost instantly. I guess I really should paint it later… if I survive this.

'This' being where I am now, a hole in my side and out of ammo for Her Memory. The Invective's glow was dim, showing I was out of ammo for it at the moment, and I had at least two dozen angry terrorists hunting me down. I was just lucky I had been able to duck behind cover before the majority of them were really able to start shooting, so I only came out with a few more dents instead of looking like a Thrall after a shotgun blast.

"We know you're there, human! Come out now and we might let you live!"

Oh don't give me that bullshit.

My attention was drawn away from my snarky thoughts and to the Invective as it glowed slightly, showing that it had regenerated shells. Let's see, I've got four rounds, and around twenty or so enemies… each of which takes at least a four-round blast to take out, thanks to their stupid 'Aura' crap. And it's not like I have Ghost to transform their rounds for me… Man, I'm kinda fucked aren't I?

Unless… No, I'm not using the Darkness, throw that thought away right now. But… if I don't I'll die here. No, might die here. Not happening. But maybe…

I growled in annoyance and frustration, standing from my cover. I can't believe I'm actually doing this…

"Surrendering? Good choice. Unfortunately, we can't just let you-!"

I cut him off halfway, literally speaking. His top half fell to the ground, his lower body falling to its knees and finally over to the ground. I gave the spear in my hands a quick look, before turning to the rest of the Fang around me. They started to back away, surprise in their eyes as they saw their prey turn to predator. I almost let them, but…

They're murderers; animal scum. If you let them go now, who knows what they'll do? No one will even miss them… I knew the voice in my head wasn't mine, it was far too… persuasive, but I also didn't really care at the time. I stood there, veins flooded with dark tar, life force slowly draining from me… and I enjoyed it, it felt like the most pleasurable thing imaginable.

I was conscious throughout the entire massacre, mouth torn open in crazed laughter as I cut through Faunus after Faunus, each kill only adding to the pleasure. I heard their screams of pain and terror as I pierced their arms and legs, heard the gurgles as their throats were slit, watched their lifeblood slowly leak out… and laughed, like it was the funniest thing I had ever seen.

And when I ran out of life force, when I was barely hanging on to the mortal thread… the best way to describe it was climax. I felt every single ounce of pleasure the Darkness had given me climb to new heights, and even once it had been forced back down my body still twitched in pleasure. Even now, as I write this, I shudder when I remember the feeling, not from horror… but from excitement.

When the pleasure had finally left me, I collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. I simply lay there, limply, and that was where the police and the mayor found me around an hour later. Covered in blood, surrounded by corpses, and with a happy smile etched onto my face under my helmet.

{KUO KUANA, POLICE STATION}

{HALF AN HOUR LATER}

"You're telling me that all of that carnage, all that suffering… was caused by your Semblance?"

"Yes sir."

"Just how the absolute hell did you kill twenty-three White Fang operatives, all of whom were confirmed to have Aura, in less than three minutes?! We watched the video feed, you were pinned down, before all of a sudden, a light blue naginata appeared in your hands, and you started laughing as you cut down twenty-three trained combatants with Aura. In less than three minutes."

He raised an eyebrow, and behind him I could see Ghira Belladonna look at me with something between pity and wariness. Understandable, given I'd just gone justifiably insane less than two hours before.

"My Semblance, it… I don't know what all it can do. I know it allows me to throw balls of energy that ignore Aura, it allows me to perform short-range teleports when I throw a punch… and it allows me to summon that spear. There may be more, there probably is more, but… well, it's… addicting. Using it literally feels like using a drug. Even now, it's taking all I have not to give in to it, and even then I'm only able to hold the temptation back because I'm still half-dead now."

The two others in the room looked surprised at that last part. "Half-dead? You look tired, sure, but after that fight it's to be expected."

I chuckled, a pitiful, empty laugh more to distract me than anything else. "I told you my Semblance wasn't user-friendly, right? Well, not only is it like a drug, but it drains my life while using it, at least the spear. I haven't really experimented, especially since… well, you saw what happens."

"Has this happened before?"

"No sir. I've felt the addiction before, but… it's never taken me over like that."

They exchanged a glance, but I couldn't understand just what passed between them. After a time, the officer left the room, and the mayor sat down in front of me. "Jaune. Just what kind of personality did you have to get that kind of Semblance? I'm usually a good judge of character, and I didn't see a single spec of what it would require to get a power like that within you. Just what happened, what were you doing when you unlocked your power?"

Fighting the physical embodiment of the Darkness, I mentally snarked, before the rest of what he said caught up to me. "Wait… what was that about personality? How would that affect how my Semblance manifested itself?"

"Well, it's not completely proven, but it's widely accepted that someone's personality can affect how their Semblance manifests itself. For instance, if someone was extremely shy, perhaps wishing to hide from those around them, their power might manifest itself as invisibility. Or if someone is extremely hotheaded and short-tempered, their power may be something to do with fire or physical enhancement," Ghira explained, "But for someone to gain a power such as yours… they'd need to be extremely self-destructive, perhaps afraid of themselves or their potential, with a tendency to lose themselves to their anger. Traits which you don't seem to have. In the short time I've known you, you seem to be protective, perhaps slightly depressed, and while crass at times, respectful to most you speak with. So, what caused you to have this type of Semblance, I wonder?"

… Damn, he's perceptive. We've talked a total of maybe four times and he's figured all this out? Might as well give him at least some of the truth, I suppose. "… This isn't my original Semblance."

The police officer gasped, as if shocked at the admission, while Ghira simply nodded. "I suspected as much. What was your original one, and what caused it to change?"

"… My original Semblance was the ability to use fire to do many of the same things I can now do, but in different ways. I could throw balls of flame, infuse my punches with heat, and even form constructs using my energy that I could throw."

The officer behind Ghira was vigorously taking notes, while the man in front of me simply nodded. "And what caused it to change? That seems to be almost the opposite of what you have now, fire instead of what you described as 'darkness'."

… I never really thought of it that way. Cleansing flame versus corrupting darkness, seems that the Sunbreaker was snuffed out by the Darkness. Huh, never would've thought Eris would be right, even if that's probably not how she meant it.

"I was fighting a… creature, you could say. Like a Grimm, of sorts, but… not."

Ghira cut me off suddenly, a look in his eye like he knew what I was about to say. "Officer, this is obviously quite personal to him. Would you mind stepping out for a minute? And have the observers turn off sound and recording in the room, perhaps that would help."

The officer looked like he was about to protest, but another look from Ghira shut him up and he left, presumably to talk to the observers. After a few moments, the mayor gestured for me to continue.

"My flames could barely scorch its body, and any time I attempted to use my constructs they were snuffed out the moment I tried. Eventually, I ran out of power, and my wounds caught up to me. I felt some vile, viscous liquid in my blood, suppressing my soul's flames, and had the absolutely idiotic idea to utilize it. I was angry, scared, full of hatred at this thing, and this… power reacted. I formed a construct, like I did with my flames, but it was… wrong. A spear instead of a warhammer, twisted and strangely organic instead of bulky and metallic, and emitting some strange wispy energy instead of roaring flames. And then, even as it seemed to drain the life from me, I threw it at the monster in front of me. It hit its arm, doing more damage than any of my hammers did, but before I could continue, I collapsed, and woke up here." I decided to leave out the fact that I had been teleported, let them think I was attacked by some kind of insanely strong Grimm and rescued or left for dead and brought here by some traveler. Doesn't matter, so long as they don't think I'm absolutely insane.

I chanced a glance at Ghira, only to see him deep in thought. He seemed worried for some reason that I couldn't really pinpoint, his brows furrowed and his teeth clenched slightly. "Jaune… I need some time to think about this. If there really is a way to… to change someone's soul, corrupt it in such a way, even someone with a will as strong as you clearly have… We need to look into this far more than we have. Grimm are widely regarded as soulless, due to their inability to use Aura, but… from what you just told me, it's not that they're soulless, but that they have… negative souls? Or something like that. I… You're free to go for now Jaune, just please… don't lose yourself. Please."

Even knowing that part of my story was false, I felt that there was more to his request. But, either way, I promised both him and myself that I would do my best to stay on the 'straight and narrow'. It was enough of a problem when I just had to worry about being corrupted, but now… the sheer destruction and death I could cause by simply indulging in what amounted to my addiction was insane. I'd have to make absolutely sure to never lose myself to the Darkness again, and for that… I was going to need to practice.

{KUO KUANA, FELU RESIDENCE}

{MIDDAY}

"That was you?!"

I had to admit, Jade's mother could definitely be terrifying when she wanted to… in the same way that a Cabal Major was. I didn't get the 'space turtle' vibe, but the 'destroy planets just for being in the way' was definitely there, and this time, I was the planet (or small asteroid, really).

"Yes."

"And you expect me to let a murderer like you near my daughter again?! It was bad enough that you were a freelancer, but now you've gone and killed almost two dozen people! You humans are all the same!"

And now we get to the root of the issue, my sarcastic thoughts rang out even as my slight fear turned to indignation. "Oh sure, I'm the bad guy because I'm human, huh? So the twenty-three terrorists shooting at me were just trying to give candy to babies, right? Don't make me fucking laugh. I've dealt with almost dying twice today before dawn, once from a bullet in the damn stomach and the next from my own fucking Semblance trying to control me! If you don't want me around because I'm human, fine, but fucking say it where your daughter can hear. Don't try and hide the fact that you're a racist bigot behind some kind of motherly concern!" I roared, loosing myself for a second.

I had been attacked both verbally and physically ever since I had gotten here, simply because I was human, even though I hadn't done anything even remotely racist, and I was sick of it. I was done sitting there and taking it, and that wasn't just the Darkness influencing me. Back in the Reef, I had barely stopped myself from punching one of the guards when she threatened to shoot my Ghost to 'rid the system of one more Earther'. I had verbally torn her a new one, of course, but it had taken all my restraint to not simply wreck her shit. And now this woman was defending the people who tried to kill me, while calling me the villain?

No, I didn't regret killing the Fang. They weren't my first, nor would they be my last. Everyone knows that casualties are a part of war, and fighting in general. The only regret I had was butchering them, even if it was the fault of the Darkness. No one, no matter how bad, deserved to be cut limb from limb and left to bleed out, not even Oryx.

"Mom?"

Both of us turned to look at Jade, startled. I had challenged Sapphire to tell her daughter the truth, of course, but I didn't expect her to actually be listening in, or to even be in the house. The mother shot me a look before smiling at her daughter.

"Yes, sweetie?"

Jade didn't seem very happy at the moment, though I couldn't tell whether that was towards me or her mother. After all, she had heard the conversation, we weren't exactly quiet about it, but I wasn't sure whose side she was on.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"What do you mean? I'm not going to let this… murderer near-"

Jade cut her off almost instantly, voice full of enough steel to impress even Zavala. "Mom. Every night, I sit on the couch by the door, hoping for Amber to come home. Every day, I go to work, asking customers if they know where she might be. My free time is spent spying on the White Fang, on the off-chance they let slip some information about her. I call her scroll at least five times a day, even though she doesn't answer, and I pray to Oum every night that she comes home safe. We both know that she's out there, being forced to do things against her nature, all because of your beliefs on humans. She wanted to make you proud, make a difference, take the fight to the humans. And she did… and hated it. And now, here you are, acting like you couldn't give less of a shit about your own daughter."

… Damn. That was… wow.

Stupid hormones.

"I… You're right, Jade. It's just… you don't remember what it was like before the Fang. It… My family could barely walk into the streets of Atlas without being attacked, and the few businesses that served us were constantly being attacked by racist civilians and huntsmen alike. I… I know the Fang is going down a dark path, even if I can't say I dislike the idea of Faunus getting even with humans. But you didn't see what that… monster did at the docks. The footage they released… he butchered them, Jade, like they were below even animals compared to him. That type of person… there's no way I'd allow him near my family again, even if that was just his Semblance, there's too much of a chance that he'll do it again."

… Okay, that was understandable, far more than simple racism. It was only natural to be afraid of a monster, hell I'm terrified of myself too.

Jade started to argue back, and I made my way to the door, grabbing my gear and leaving. Sapphire had a point, there's no way I can endanger the people around me, I'd rather die before that happens. And so, I made plans then and there to stay away from anyone even remotely innocent, that way I would only risk hurting the worst of this world.

And what better way to make sure of that, than to join the criminal underworld?

{KUO KUANA; "RED LIGHT DISTRICT"}

{ONE WEEK LATER}

I sighed, ignoring another call from Jade as I punched yet another thug. I had spent the last week slowly making a name for myself in the underside of the city, working as a jack-of-all-trades. I had done things I wasn't exactly proud of, but I had drawn the line before I compromised my morals, so it was nothing I couldn't justify to myself.

I had, against my better judgement, been slowly tapping into the Darkness inside me. Small things, such as enhancing my strength or speed, or using the overshield for a short time, but it was starting to come easier and easier to me. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing, but I ignored my doubts, deciding to keep trying unless something like the docks happened again. The addiction, at least, was getting easier to control, so I had hopes that I could one day cut it out entirely.

One of the remaining thugs lunged at me with a sword, but I caught it on one gauntlet and shot him with the Invective. He flinched back, Aura shattered, and I landed a kick in his stomach, throwing him into another criminal. Both of them went down in a heap, and I had a moment to appreciate my work before bullets began to hit my overshield. I wrenched my body around, fighting against the inherent weight and thickness of my armor, and threw a grenade at the thug shooting me. He screamed, the ball of Darkness burning despite his Aura, and I used the distraction to slam the stock of my gun into his nose, breaking it and knocking him to the ground.

I looked around at the mess I had made, six criminals with various broken bones and bruises, and allowed myself a small sardonic chuckle. To think, I've gone from killing spawns of evil to beating up street thugs, talk about a demotion.

Turning away from the various unconscious men, I ignored yet another call, this time from Ghira. I had, of course, originally gone into the criminal underworld to test out my powers on people who deserved it, but then I found myself tangled in a web far bigger than I thought. With what I knew now, I absolutely could not allow myself to put anyone I cared about in danger until I destroyed this threat.

Huh. I never thought about it, but I actually care about Jade and Ghira. Didn't think that'd happen in this world, me caring for someone.

Anyway, I had to put a stop to the plan I had found out about. Of course, it wasn't immediately dangerous, but it had the potential to be disastrous. The White Fang was apparently having a bit of a civil war at the moment, with the 'Supreme Leader Khan' on one side and someone else on the other. While personally I would happily pass by that bonfire without pouring any fuel on it, given my feelings for the White Fang, the opposing side was said to be even more militaristic than Khan was, so if their leader won, everything would go to shit.

So, not immediately dangerous, but definitely something to be careful about. I wouldn't have worried that much about it, if it wasn't for one simple detail.

Sienna Khan was coming to Menagerie, specifically Kuo Kuana, in order to talk to the previous leader of the Fang.

And this 'opposing side' planned to assassinate them both.

{KUO KUANA, SHIPPING DOCKS}

{THREE DAYS LATER}

It's been a while since I was last here, wasn't it? Over a week now. Feels like it was months ago that I went crazy and killed two dozen people here.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of a ship's horn, and I looked out to the ocean. I could barely make out the form of a large luxury yacht through the fog, as well as several people standing on its deck. After a few minutes of waiting, all of them walked onto the docks and began to make their way towards the town.

I lifted Her Memory off the ground where I left it, checking the magazine to see if it was loaded. I had heard back from the Dust shop owner a day ago, and got enough ammunition to fill up seven magazines. With each one having 36 rounds, I now had a nice 252 rounds to use against whatever might need to die in the immediate area. After all, I was protecting the leader of the Fang from the shadows, so it's not like I was going to be in shotgun range these next couple of days.

I quickly jumped onto the rooftop in front of me, using my Lift to parkour across the city in pursuit of my target. As tempting as it was to shoot her myself, and end the White Fang, I knew it was a stupid idea that would only make things worse on all fronts. Hence, me needing to protect the woman leading the world's largest terrorist organization.

And damn if that didn't sound like something from a pre-Collapse movie.

A band of mask-wearing people ahead caught my attention. They were just blatantly standing there, not trying to be sneaky at all, probably extremely arrogant and sure of their ability to kill Khan. I sighed, holding up my auto rifle and aiming it, firing at one of the Fang. The silencer I had invested in had definitely been a great idea, as the slow-firing shots quickly and silently tore through his shield and pierced his heart. He fell to the ground limply, and before his fellows could react I had already killed two more.

These Gravity Dust rounds are incredibly useful, almost double the punch of a normal round from this rifle. I'd definitely have to look into more of Remnant's tech, if it's all like this.

The last two Fang looked around, obviously terrified after three of their fellow faunus simply up and died, and I used their indecision to put a few rounds into one's head. The other one screamed in terror, attempting to run. Key word being 'attempting', as a few more rounds pierced through her Aura, blood blossoming from her still body.

I sighed, reloading my rifle. I had ended up using almost two full magazines against them, so now I had about four rounds and five magazines left. I didn't have Ghost to passively scan my weapon and upload the data to my HUD, in fact my HUD was now nothing but the camera view in front of me, so I had to keep an eye on not only my ammo but any enemies sneaking up on me.

Case in point, the woman who slammed her foot into my back.

I fell forwards, unable to catch myself before I faceplanted. I groaned in annoyance as I felt a pistol press against my helmet, a voice ringing out from behind me.

"Any last words, Specialist?"

The words were sarcastic, obviously, but I felt my infamous snark returning. "Yes, don't tell my mama that her special boy kicked the ass of yet another woman today. She'd be so ashamed."

She snorted in amusement. "Seems like I'm the one kicking your ass."

"Seems that way, doesn't it?"

And with that, I used my Darkness-enhanced strength to push up off the roof, slamming my head into her nose as I did. I spun around, smashing my palm into her wrist to knock away the pistol and grabbing her whip in my other hand. My leg came up to kick her side, and my free hand came around to crash into her cheek in a right hook.

She stumbled back, releasing her whip as she did, and I used the chance to throw it to the side and raise Her Memory. The last four rounds in the mag bounced off her Aura, each once making her visibly flinch. She instinctively held her arms up to stop any more bullets, and I crouched down, punching her in the stomach with all of my strength.

She folded around my fist, and I could literally feel her insides slosh around for a second as she lost her lunch. I leaned to the side, avoiding it, and threw an elbow into her face, hitting her nose once again and throwing her head backwards. She fell to the ground, unable to stand anymore, and I placed my foot on her chest, taking the Invective off my magnetic back plate and aiming it directly at her head.

"And what does it seem like now?"

She was obviously unable to answer, and so I shrugged, looking her over for the first time since the fight began. She was dark-skinned and freckled, that much I could see even with her mask, and her hair was somewhat short compared to some of the women I had seen around Kuo Kuana, more like a Guardian ponytail really. Her build was slim, obviously built for agility and speed, but her Aura was able to tank more hits than most others I had fought. After all, I (mostly) hadn't held back when hitting her.

"So, you part of those trying to kill Khan, or one of her bodyguards?"

I honestly didn't know, after all it wasn't like I could see her guards very well through the fog, and I definitely couldn't keep an eye on her group while killing the ambushers. Her answer would determine her fate, however. The fact that she was a teenager was irrelevant, I couldn't allow her to run back to her boss and tell them about me. If she worked for Khan, that'd be okay, the only reason I was hiding in the shadows was the fact that they would shoot me on sight since I looked Atlesian.

"I… what… do you… mean…?" she managed to gasp out, my hits having managed to knock the air out of her so hard she could barely breathe. I felt a bit guilty for that, but crushed that guilt with the fact that she was a terrorist.

"I mean, that there's a group of people trying to kill Sienna Khan, and they're part of the White Fang. I'm asking which side you're on."

The look of genuine surprise in her eyes convinced me that she, at least, wasn't informed of whatever was going on, and so was at least innocent of that. I couldn't understand the feeling in my chest, like I would regret killing her. I had just gunned down a group of unaware and terrified men and women, but the idea of killing a teenage terrorist made me stop and think for a minute. Heh, Zavala would say I'm going soft, and Cayde… he'd probably say something extremely inappropriate so let's ignore that.

I sighed, deciding to simply let her go, since she obviously wasn't a willing part of the plot to take over the Fang. That way, I wouldn't have to find out whether my battered soul could take killing a young girl for nothing but guesswork.

"Look, never mind. What's your name, girl?"

Her chest rising and falling slowly as she began to catch her breath, she spoke.

"Ilia… Ilia Amitola…"

A/N:

Answers time!

1)Insanity

So, the Darkness. I've already explained that it's addictive, and as this is the first time he's ever really used its full power… well, he lost control. As time goes on and he's forced to use it more, he'll get more used to it, but for now he's justifiably terrified of himself. Of course, as a Guardian, he knows that even if he never uses it, it could still take him over, so he's slowly attempting to conquer it in order to keep it under control. Time will tell how effective that is, but he's trying at least.

As a side note, remember how I mentioned 'talent nodes' for his abilities? He can't consciously earn them or change them, but they can change based on him. For instance, the first talent node for his 'Liege of Darkness' super is 'Strength of Anger', basically giving him increased damage at the cost of sanity while his Super is active. Bit of a spoiler, the next is 'Benefit of Patience', I'll let you guess what it does. He hasn't unlocked anything else (imagine it as, in the actual game, he started out the same way you start with Sunbreaker, Stormcaller, or Nightstalker), but he will soon.

2)Semblances and personalities

Pretty sure this is at least 70% canon at this point. Maybe. I might need to check again. But either way, in my story it's basically the 'Aura is the soul, and Semblances are personalities' theory. It makes sense, with all the magic bullshit that's going on in RWBY now, and it has a nice synergy with Destiny's Light powers.

3)Sunbreaker

I know, I know, Jaune seems like more of a Defender or Striker, but I couldn't help myself. Personally, despite how much I love Defender, I still like using Sunbreaker, and I couldn't pass up the symbolism of holy flames being snuffed out by the dark. Of course, I've also made our hero here a lot more poetic than he has any right to be (he's a Titan, where's the 'Titan Smash' mindset?) but I feel like Sunbreakers were modeled after the Templars/Crusaders, at least a bit, with Osiris being their 'leader'/'priest' before Destiny 2 rolled around, and I like the idea of such a devoted individual being forced to question their long-standing beliefs. Imagine if one of the Knights Templar found out he was half-Muslim or something, that's kind of the idea here. So yeah, basically that's it, along with the fact that fire fits his personality that I have planned, it'll show more when he quits moping over stuff.

4)Ghira's reaction to the story

So, I'm sure you were wondering why Ghira sent the officer away with such a flimsy excuse, and why he reacted how he did. Well, tell me what you think of when you hear 'Grimm but not"? Salem, right (or something from a different fanfiction I guess)? Especially when you hear about a 'vile, viscous liquid' like the kind in Grimm spawn pools. In my story, since Menagerie doesn't really have a big figure that we know of besides Ghira and technically Sienna Khan, and because Ghira wants true peace between humans and Faunus, he's part of the Ozluminati. After all, if you heard that there was a monolithic embodiment of evil after you, wouldn't you want to make peace between everyone so you can all band together against it? Therefore, he knows about Salem, and now thinks that our hero was attacked by her. So basically, yay he bought it, but uh-oh Ozpin's gonna find out soon. One step forward, right off a cliff.

5)"Mood swings"

Okay, so, I've said that Jaune is technically twenty, but is biologically seventeen thanks to decreased aging. Well, now that he doesn't have the Light to help suppress irrational emotions, and in fact has the Darkness to make it worse. Therefore, not only is he being hit with hormones for the first time since he was revived, but they're also more powerful than normal. Imagine it as being hit with about four years of hormones on steroids at once, while you're at suicidal levels of depression. It's like that. So that's why his emotions keep making U-turns, he literally can't control himself at times when feeling strong emotions (such as having gotten out of a stressful situation, learned something terrible about himself, and basically being told that his life was worth less than a bunch of terrorists, and then your totally-platonic friend who you have no attraction to whatsoever stands up to her mother for you). It'll eventually start leveling out, but for now his moods are going to make as much sense as my writing does.

6)Romance

Continuing on the tail-end of the last explanation and answering a review all at once, the kinda/not really romance between Jaune and Jade (if anyone thinks of a ship name for that I will personally display it in the next author's note). The romance may or may not actually happen, there might not even be any romance in this story at all, it'll all depend on what the readers think. I will go ahead and say NO HAREM AT ALL, there may be a bit of competition between love interests or something but absolutely no polyamory because I can't write that even close to accurately, I can barely do normal relationships seeing as how my own experience is nonexistent.

7)The 'coup'

So, in the show, Adam Taurus's betrayal of Sienna Khan was not only rushed, but kinda out of the blue. He walked up to her, she bitched for a minute, then he killed her. End of story. Thing is, you don't just say 'lol I'm gonna take over' one night and then kill your leader the next morning, it takes planning, months of it too. And so, in this story at least, he's been planning this for a bit, and is starting to take action. As for Khan coming to talk to Ghira, well, it's said that she respects him, therefore they must be on at least somewhat good terms, despite her way of leading the Fang. So, meeting with him isn't too far of a stretch.

8)Protecting Khan

Pretty sure I explained that with his thoughts, but Jaune thinks it would be an ultimately idiotic idea. Pretty sure I don't even have to explain why he thinks it's stupid, because she'd just be martyred and used for a reason to go more militaristic. And letting someone more violent take over is literally just begging for trouble. So, he's going with the lesser evil and just keeping her from dying for now. As for Ilia, well, her side will be revealed next chapter.

Okay! Answers over, hope I answered everything. Thanks so much for reading, and please leave a Review! It helps me know what you guys are looking for, whether you like the way I'm taking the story or hate it, I listen to all your opinions! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll be back with more in a couple weeks!

This is AWDTB, signing off!