Chapter 3: True Heroes

Time: 23:52

Location: A Certain Sidewalk Already Visited

Event: Sister Finding

"She should be around her somewhere! The tracker is beeping like crazy!"

Jaune ran a hand down his face, not even bothering to question why the slightly younger girl next to him had a tracker on her sister. Because he knew the answer already: the girl's rather overprotective uncle. Seriously, if Jaune hadn't been absolutely great friends with Ruby, the man would have never let him walk with the younger girl, alone, on a Saturday night, in the darker part of Vale, searching for her elder sister. That, and the fact that Jaune's own brotherly instincts were kicking in and had practically demanded to be allowed to help find Yang. And if there was one thing the man could rely on, it was Jaune Arc's brotherly instincts.

…

Jaune had an odd … relationship (though he would never use that word in the same sentence with Ruby in front of her uncle, not even in thought) with the Xiao-Long/Rose/Branwen family. And despite their close bonds, the boy had not known any of them for more than a year. Indeed, the blonde boy had only met the younger girl because of a rather important event that occurred a year ago, namely: the forming of the 'Crossroads'. Back then, the Councils of Remnant had sent some of their best Hunters and Huntresses to Vytal so that they could secure the Crossroads in case anything from the other side was hostile or if Grimm decided that they want to take a trip on the 'Road'. Granted, the latter reason was unnecessary as Grimm had not never visited the landmass, rather they had kept away. In fact, most of the humanity probably would have moved there if not for the fact that, for some unknown reason, Dust did not work on Vytal. And Dust was a necessary resource for humanity.

Which brings everything back; the most promising and best Hunters and Huntresses were sent to Vytal, namely, the ones who did not rely on Dust to efficiently fight. And thus, two very special Hunters, Qrow Branwen and Ulysses Arc, were sent to the Crossroads. Along with a half-a-hundred other Hunters/Huntresses that also included, but was not limited to; Ozpin of Beacon, Minerva Nikos, and Glynda Goodwitch. But besides the point, and because there was a rather large amount of protection and power set around the place (and the fact that the Crossroads literally took an entire month to form), most felt it was safe to bring their kids. Or nieces, in Qrow's case. It had taken a lot more pushing for Ulysses to bring his only son but eventually, two weeks in, he brought his family over. And thus, Jaune Arc met Ruby Rose. And Yang Xiao-Long, but that was rather unimportant for the two.

The two kids had hit it off so well, Minerva would had said that that Fate itself destined the two to met, amusingly as that would be. The two teen had immediately bonded over many things: video games, what they considered fun, sweet snacks, weapons (though Jaune appreciated the more pre-modern weapons while Ruby's obsessed over the opposite), their awesome father(ly) figures, etc. But what really sealed the deal, what really made then two peas in a pod - two halves of a whole, two pieces cut from the same cloth, two socially awkward teens in a high school dance - was their dreams. Indeed, more superstitious people probably would have thought that their dreams were somehow (either through divine intervention or a person's Semblance) connected. They were just that similar. And thus, this led to the two being the best friends in the entire universe, with a bond that could only been broken by one thing and one thing only: love.

But that was a story for another time. Back at Vytal, Qrow had noticed a rather peculiar and worrying thing about the Arc boy. He didn't have his Aura unlocked. The man soon confronted Ulysses and learned that the man refused to unlock the boy's Aura in hopes that he would eventually give up his dreams of being a Hunter. And now, Qrow had personally listened to Jaune's dreams (both from Ruby and the boy himself) and he personally knew that said boy would never give up his dreams, after all, he tried doing the same for his nieces and they almost ended up dead in the process. And so, Qrow decided to change that; for Jaune's sake, his families and, especially, Ruby's since it looked like that the boy would be hanging out with her for a very, very long time. It had taken a lot, from arguing with Ulysses (to the point the man was threatening to send the boy back home so that Ruby would never see him again) and practically begging on Qrow's part until it was decided that Qrow would be allowed to train the boy until Beacon's term started, where he would be tested and examined through Initiation.

To say that the grizzled Hunter was astounded by Jaune's progress would be an understatement. While initially wimpy and useless at fighting (which was expected since the boy had never received any form of combat training), the boy somehow managed to become extremely skilled in a short amount of time. While not on the same level as Ruby, or say Pyrrha Nikos, the fact that he could challenge most of his peers - something that had taken them years to achieve while Jaune had only done so in a year - was absolutely amazing. It was so farfetched, that Qrow had began thinking that, just maybe, Jaune's growth could be the boy's Semblance. But nonetheless, the man decided to not look further into it and was just happy that the boy wouldn't be a burden to his niece.

And it made Ruby extremely happy so that was definitely was a huge plus.

…

"OH!" Ruby exclaimed, pointing the tracker (which totally looked as though someone had stuck a remote controller in a metal potato and wrapped it in duct tape) at a rather ominous building. "She must be in there!"

Jaune rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at the nameless building. "Are you sure? I don't like the look of that place."

Ruby nodded, completely undeterred. "Absolutely! The tracker says so!"

Sighing weakly, the boy followed his friend and gripped Crocea Mors harder, prepared for a fight. Overhead, a crow passed by, beady eyes watching over the pair like a hawk.

Time: 00:00

Location: A Certain Sidewalk Near a Certain Club

Event: Heroes Meet

And it was when the clock stuck 12.

When the days ended and began.

When beginning became end and vise versa.

When time was not a constant, not even a number. Merely an existence, a placeholder.

When the breathe of life could begin anew.

It was here, on this certain sidewalk near a certain club that was already once visited, that our main heroes met.

"Hello!" Ruby chimed.

Harry nodded. "Hi."

Jaune shrugged in greeting.

The two Hunter trainees passed the wizard, heading for the broken down club. The wizard decided to give up and go look some place else, desperately wanting a drink but too tired to deal with what was happening within the club.

And so, the heroes met. And didn't say goodbye or even meet the other's eyes.

Meanwhile, the crow's beady eyes widened when he recognized the boy below.

Time: 00:41

Location: Grow Loot Bar

Event: Getting Drunk

"Gah!" Harry exclaimed as he slammed down his glass, rather satisfied with his chugging. "Good stuff."

Definitely wasn't any firewhiskey but the teen was good with it.

The man at the counter eyed the teen once more. He rechecked the boy's ID, just to make sure. But nonetheless, it still said that the boy was 22 years old. The bartender had used several different devices to check but it still came off as authentic and legitimate. So he had no choice but to accept the young looking 'adult'. Of course it had nothing to do with the fact that said boy was carelessly tossing money out of his wallet, not even bothering to see if he was using the appropriate bills. Not at all.

As Harry took another large swig, a man decided to sit next to him, immediately ordering the same beverage as his. A glance to the side revealed a rather imposing figure: a large sword on his back, a tattered red cape, nice gray dress shirt and stylish black pants. Harry repressed a shiver when he saw the man's eye's; red pupils. It was definitely nothing like Voldemort's pure red and pupilless but nevertheless, the monster's eyes still haunted the teen nightmares.

The man received his drink and, like Harry, immediately took a large swig of it, nearly downing half of it in one gulp.

For a few solid moments, the two stayed silent, attention on their drinks and analyzing each other.

"So …" the man began, nursing his drink. "You James Potter's kid?"

Harry froze and it took all his willpower to not draw his wand. Instead, he use side of his eye to peer at him. "And what of it?" Harry grunted.

The man shrugged. "Nothing. Just met the guy when the Crossroads were created."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "He met plenty of people when the Crossroads formed. Are you special in some way?"

The man chuckled and shook his head. "No, not really." He took a sip of his drink. "Just remembered him saying that his son was sixteen, not twenty."

The bartender froze and slowly turned to glare at Harry. The teen shrugged and glared at the man sitting next to him. "And for you information," Harry snarled. "Earth doesn't have as strict drinking laws." Still, he stood and left the rest of his drink on the bar, stomping out of the bar.

Qrow sighed and finished the rest of his drink. Shaking his head, he followed after the teen.

Time: 00:53

Location: A Certain Sidewalk Near a Certain Bar

Event: Confrontation

He was following him. Harry knew that well. He could feel his presence, his red eyes on his body. He could feel the chills. The subtle touch of fear. He noticed how, rather oddly, a crow would follow him from rooftop to rooftop. And Harry was no stranger to people shift shaping into animals so he knew very well that the man was following him. For some reason, he was tailing him and most likely not for a good reason.

'What the hell does he want?' Harry wondered, keeping to the open streets. But the man seemed undeterred, still following. 'Two blocks, almost three. What does he want?'

If the man truly knew his father, then he probably wanted to kidnap Harry and use him as leverage against him. While Harry loved his father, he also knew that he tended to be a braggart and often boasted his achievement. And if the man believed his father, of course he would go after a boy that looked like a younger copy of him.

'Beacon is on the other side of town, will he let me get that far?'

Apparently so, as a minute later, the crow disappeared behind a building and, in the next second, a red rocket crashed into his stomach.

Time: 00:56

Location: Somewhere in Vale

Event: We Meet Again

Ruby Rose was running. This was no surprise, as she absolutely loved to run. If she were to scale it, she would say that running ranked four. Crescent Rose was, of course, number 1. Strawberries was second. Third was cookies. And though she never would admit it, Jaune Arc was fifth but it looked like he would take 'running's' place. Not that she'd tell him or say it out loud.

But Ruby was running. She was running from her sister, Yang, who couldn't been a more prouder sister. And why was she proud? Well, Ruby had just told her, that against all odds, somehow managed to get into Beacon Academy two years early. And of course, like any proud sister, wanted to show how proud she was. In the form of affectionate adoration and hardy headlocks.

"NNNNOOOOO! You'll ruin my hair!" Ruby yelled in a much higher pitch, the Doppler Effect distorting her voice.

"But Ruby! Being possessive over hair is my thing!" Yang yelled back, chasing her speedy sister. Behind her, an exhausted knight followed.

"But I worked so hard and long on it!"

"Oh?!" Yang called back teasingly. "Did you do it for a certain someone!"

"YAAAANNNNGGGG- ooomff."

And it was at this moment, that Ruby Rose messed up. It was at this moment, Ruby Rose crashed into Harry Potter.

…

Harry groaned when he woke up, automatically raising a hand to his head.

"I'M SO SORRYYYY!" A rather obnoxious voice shouted directly into his ear.

Flinching away, Harry glared at the culprit. A black haired, cloak wearing, young girl with bright silver eyes. And oddly (and it wasn't just the voice), she reminded him of his sisters.

"Who?" Harry murmured back.

"Oh, man, I really hope your alright. It's amazing that you're not injured when you don't have your Aura unlocked but it's still very worrying as there could be internal damage but we don't know nor can we tell so I don't know if I did anything really wrong or something and I just real-"

"Ruby!" A blonde woman placed her hand over Ruby's mouth, efficiently stopping the girl. "You're talking the guy's ear off!"

"HMphMph," the girl murmured into the girl's hand.

"Was that any apology?" Harry asked slowly, still dazed.

The blonde removed her hand and Ruby quickly drew her cloak around her, hiding her red face from Harry. "S-sorry," she whispered, staring directly at the ground.

While Harry couldn't help but be amused, another blonde - this time male - stepped forward and crouched next to Harry. "You feeling alright?" He asked. "No lightheadedness or anything like that?"

Groaning, Harry stood and took a few steps. "Other than a slight headache, I feel fine."

The boy looked surprise. "Really? No injuries at all? Ruby was moving pretty fast. You don't have your Aura unlocked, right?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I don't. To both questions. And I don't need Aura since I have magic."

The blonde female's eyes widened. "'Magic'? Oh! Wait," the girl turned and lightly tapped the top of Ruby's head. "Man, Rubes, you could have caused an international incident! This guy is from Earth!"

Harry chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "I don't think it'd be international. Intergalactical or intersolar-system, maybe. And I wouldn't worry about it. I have a bunch of magic and it's pretty protective."

"Huh," the blonde boy said. "'Bunch of magic?' How does magic work, if you don't mind me asking."

Harry sighed. "That … will take a long time to explain. Maybe another time."

The blonde girl tapped her chin. "If you're from Earth, that means you are either a politician or going to Beacon, right?"

"Representative would have worked better but, yeah, I'm going to Beacon."

"Great," she clapped her hands. "All three of us are going to Beacon, too! We can talk then."

Harry raised an eyebrow and pointedly looked at Ruby. "Ain't she a bit young for Beacon?"

"Yup. You are looking at the youngest girl to ever get into Beacon." the boy said while Ruby blushed and murmured something into her cloak.

Harry couldn't help but chuckle at that and the blonde girl raised her own eyebrow. "Oh, something funny?"

Harry shook his head. "It's nothing. It's just that I had a similar title back at home."

The boy smiled. "Sounds like an interesting story. But you'll need to tell us at Beacon, I'm sure these two's uncles are worrying about them."

"You're not related?" Harry asked, looking between the two blondes.

"NO!" Ruby shouted before either blonde could say otherwise. "Only me and Yang are related!"

Harry smiled in amusement while the blonde, most likely Yang, chuckled and ruffled Ruby's hair. "Yeah, it may not look like it but we are related, half-sisters, if you are wondering."

The boy shrugged. "And I'm a close family friend." He thrusted his hand out. "Jaune Arc."

"Harry Potter," and he took the boy's hand.

Time: 11:12

Location: Beacon's Training Grounds

Event: Burning Excitement

Harry swung his training sword at Neville, aiming to score a light hit. The teen raised his wood lance in response, stopping the sword in its tracks.

"Two more days!" Neville shouted, thrilled that the long wait was almost over.

Harry grinned in response and disengaged from Neville, barely ducking under a following swing. "Yeah! Soon, we can show how-" The boy stopped to block another attack. "We've come! These Hunters better not take us too lightly!"

Hermione chuckled from the stands. "I don't think they will, Harry. Why would you think otherwise?"

Harry deflected two jabs and use the flat side of his wooden sword to divert Neville's lance into the ground. "Because, we're from-" Harry followed up with two solid swing's to the brown haired boy's chest. "Earth! And most people know that we don't-" He blocked an overhead swing only to receive a boot to the chest. "Use melee weapons!" He shouted to his friend while rolling.

"I don't think that's an entirely valid reasons, Potter," Draco snarked from his seat. "We are far superior-" he said nothing more as Glynda shot him a withering glare that he shrunk back from.

Getting back on his feet, Harry took a lazy and unrefined fencer's stance, pointing his sword at his charging friend. He wanted to try something and by the looks of it, this was the best time to try it. Neville led with the point of his lance aimed directly at Harry's chest, kept steady with both of his hands. Once it was close enough, Harry slid one side of his blade against the lance and, when the point of it hit his guard, forcefully pushed down and the wooden lance was ripped out of Neville's grip.

Neville stared between his empty hands and the wooden weapon on the ground, blinking in shock. "Harry!" He shouted. "That was awesome! Where did you learn to do that?"

Harry chuckled and leveled his sword with Neville's chest, signalling the end of the battle. "One of the training manuals that Dad sent over. Who knew that the Potter were once fencers?"

The crowd of Hogwarts transferees clapped softly as the two fighter picked up their weapons, bowed to another and exited the dueling ring. "I must say," Glynda began, holding a large scroll in her hands. "The both of you have improved significantly since you arrived. Though, while the two of you are clearly the best Earth fighters, Mr. Potter is still better at fighting. If only barely."

Harry smiled and bowed in response. "Thank you. We have both trained very hard."

"Hmm," the woman hummed, turning back to the rest of the students. "Who's next?"

"I'd like to try Potter in a wizard duel!" Malfoy demanded, standing up with a wand in hand.

Goodwitch frowned. "Mr. Potter just finished a fight. And a rather lengthy one at that. You better-"

"It's alright, Mrs Goodwitch," Harry said with a wave of his hand. "I'm fine. I can do another duel. And the last one, we didn't use our wands and I know I'm getting rusty with magical dueling." He grinned directly at Malfoy. "I'd be happy to train some with my fellow wizard."

Goodwitch's frown deepened but she reluctantly brought out Draco's gauge and placed it next to Harry's onto the big screen. Harry's was slightly emptied, his magic being spent protecting him from Neville' blows. Luckily, Harry had a rather large reserve of magic so he, despite all the hits he had taken, still have at over 7/10's of a bar left.

"Let us begin, then."

Draco and Harry stepped into dueling ring, wands at the ready. However, unlike every time Harry had dueled the boy, there was no smug smirk on his face. Rather a look of cold determination was on it.

'What is he planning?'

"Mr. Malfoy, are you ready."

The teen did not answer, just nodded and took a popular dueling stance with his wand high above his head.

"Mr. Potter, are you ready?"

Harry nodded too and took a similar stance.

"Then begin!"

"Diffindo!"

"Protego!"

Draco's curse splashed against Harry's shield, followed by a Reducto and Deprimo. Both spells dissipated harmlessly against his sturdy and strong shield.

Dropping his shield and dodging a jelly-leg curse, Harry waved his wand and shot his own cutting curse. The blonde teen expertly dodged the magical blade and retaliated with a quick shot Confundo, which Harry easily dodged by shifting his head to the left.

The two stared at each other down. They both knew that the other was holding back, previous dueling clearly proving this fact. Like Harry said, it had been quite some time since they had last used their wands as Glynda was practically forcing the Hogwarts transfers to use melee weapon to better accommodate for Remnant's fighting styles. The two were merely testing each other, gauging how 'rusty' they actually were.

Harry broke the standstill by waving, flicking and pointing his wand at Malfoy, and shouted "Sacrecurum!"

Above him, a blinding spear of light appeared and began spinning. With a whirl, it launched itself forward. Malfoy barely dodged out the way, the spear of light singing the hairs on his left arm. He launched a Confringo back at Harry before twirling to regain his balance. Sidestepping the spell, Harry shot a Diffindo and Malfoy responded with his own cutting curse. The two spells smashed into each other and exploded into a burst of blinding light. Neither teen stayed still and they threw themselves to the side, sending curses at where their opponent previous was. While Draco managed to land on his feet, Harry rolled and reflexively brought up a shield. Not a moment later, two Confringos smashed into it. Blinking to regain his eyesight, Harry turned his attention back to Malfoy.

"Ardeglomerus ...!" With a loud buzz, a ball of fire appeared in front of Malfoy's wand, slowly growing in size. "Mittus!"

The fireball flew at Harry at a rather slow pace in comparison to other spells. But Harry knew better and immediately dropped his shield, knowing the body sized shield would not protect him from the slowly approaching bomb. "Ferresalebrem!"

A wall of metal appeared in front of Harry and the fireball detonated. Luckily, the metal shield was specifically made to deal with such attacks and absorbed and withstood the explosion. Moving around the conjured wall, Harry shot another spear of light. While the spear flew, Harry charged behind it, murmuring "Ignilorus" under his breath. A fiery whip appeared out the top of his wand, extending until it was about the length of a sword.

Seeing the incoming attack, Malfoy brought out up a shield to take the spear then quickly dropped it and jumped back, the fiery whip burning through the air a second later. Harry did the same moments later as a spear of ice stabbed itself upwards. Harry tried slashing at Malfoy again but again, he dodged it.

It was almost an even match. The two had been dueling for far too long to not recognize the subtle signs given off by the other's body. Harry cut off his whip of fire only to drag his wand downwards, aiming to Incendio the blonde. He answered with another shield, the flames bouncing harmless of it. As soon as the Incendio died off, Draco didn't even fully wait for the shield to dissipate and instead uppercutted Harry in the jaw.

"Mr. Malfoy!" Glynda shouted.

But Harry quickly answered by kicking Draco in the stomach, throwing him back. "Let's do this!" Harry roared savagely.

Malfoy rolled to a stop and Aguamenti'd the incoming Incendio, steam soon covering the battleground. As the flames and water vanished, Harry rushed through the steam and delivered two punches to Malfoy's face. He retaliated with a kick to Harry's knee followed with another uppercut. Stumbling back, Harry sent of a Diffindo and managed to nick Draco's side. He hissed in pain and Deprimo'd Harry to the other side of the arena.

"Both of you! Stop this! This is suppose to be a wizard's duel!"

Neither listened to the false witch and charged towards each other, sending spells along the way. Fists and feet soon followed and the duel, instead a battle of wits and skill, became a match to see who could hit harder and dexterous enough to land a spell. And surprisingly, Draco was beginning to win. Like Goodwitch forewarned, Harry was starting to tire out, not magically but physically. And it showed when Malfoy landed a kick to Harry gut and a solid cross to his face. Rolling and groaning, Harry drew back to the other side of the ring. The two once again began staring at each other, measuring how injured the other was.

Harry sighed when he saw how bruised his body was in comparison to Malfoy's. "Damn, I've got to give you credit. You've managed to beat me pretty bad." But he chuckled, causing the blonde to narrow his eyes. "But you've forgot one thing, this is a battle of magic, not fisticuffs." He pointed at the screen and Malfoy's eyes widened when he saw that he had less than a quarter left while Harry had around half a bar.

"Hey, Malfoy?" Harry asked, twirling his wand between his fingers.

With still narrowed eyes, Draco answered. "What? Surrendering?"

Harry shook his head. "No, definitely not. But quick question: do you mind if I try this new spell?"

Harry grinned when the other teen tensed, getting into a more guarded stance. "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on your magic and make sure not to kill you. It's just, that you actually know how to use your magic to protect you so, just a fair warning. Oh, and everyone else? May want to back up."

Before Draco could reply, Harry raised his wand high above his head. "Ambus-" Harry shouted and began drawing wide circles with his wand. "Ticl-"

Malfoy's eyes widened "NO!" He shouted, bringing up the largest, most powerful shield he knew.

"Ingas!"

"That's Dumbledore's signature spell!" Someone shouted from the retreating crowd.

"Maximus!"

And thus, the world was drowned in fire.

…

A ring of fire, Glynda noted. A massive, mighty ring of fire. Of pure, absolute, consuming power. It roared into her ears and heated the air to high temperatures. Most people probably would have disintegrated to ashes if they came into contact with it. It was only the translucent purple shield that separated her from the fiery death.

She used her Semblance to protect herself but even with her decades of training and honing, her telekinesis shield was starting to falter. She looked down at her scroll and nearly dropped it when she saw that Malfoy's magic gauge was dropping rapidly. He'd be empty within ten second at this rate. Potter's, on the other hand, was declining much, much faster. With a raised eyebrow, she saw Potter's and Malfoy's magic gauge reach zero at the same time. Hmm … she double checked to make sure the camera's had caught the battle. The Headmaster would want to see this.

Time: 17:35

Location: Beacon's Medical Wing

Event: Aftermath of Flames

"I lost?" Harry deadpanned. He was covered from shoulder to toes in bandages.

Something he had totally forgotten was that he usually fainted when he used 'Fire Enclosure' from exhaustion. So, rather unfortunately, he had been severely burned by his own spell. And thus, he had been knocked out for three days straight. Luckily, his magic had most healed him and would be fine by tomorrow.

Hermione nodded. "Yeah, because you fainted and Malfoy managed to stay awake, he was declared the winner. Which also how he managed to come out mostly unscathed." Indeed, the blonde only had burns on his arms so he only had to wrap those in salve and bandages and was then sent free.

"Damn," Harry cursed. "I got too cocky."

Daphne snorted. "That's an understatement!" Hermione glared at her but she ignored it.

Harry sighed and clenched one fist. "I really thought that I could have defeated Malfoy with that." He let out an explosive breathe and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, so much for looking cool and badass."

Daphne shook her head. "Again, cocky." Then, she leaned closer to Harry. "But I have to ask, did Dumbledore really teach you that spell?"

Harry grinned and responded by placing a single finger on his lips.