A/N: Had this story in my mind for a long time. We've all read stories placing our favorite characters in the place of superheroes and exploring that power fantasy. While this may contain those elements that's not its main focus. More of a story of how someone who previously suffered for his goal of being a hero has to set aside his past anger for the sake of the people. Can't say more without spoiling I'm afraid.

Summary: Five years ago he would have jumped for joy after gaining his powers. Now all he wants to do is live a normal life. But with new and greater dangers rising against Remnant each day its protectors aren't going to be enough. Someone has to step in, unfortunately, it might be him.

"Come on, boys, let's wrap this up!" The sound of the construction supervisor clapping his hands attracted the attention of the workers building the new apartment complex. "Closing hour is coming up!" This statement resulted in cheers from the workers, who immediately began packing up their equipment. The apartment was located in the poorer side of Vale and was part of an attempt by a council candidate to look good to the public and gain votes.

One of the workers stopped working when a fellow worker tapped his shoulder, both to gain his attention and to relay the information that had just been shared. The worker nodded, then removed his safety helmet, revealing a man in his early twenties with blonde hair styled in an undercut and electric blue eyes.

One by one, the workers, all of whom were drinking water from their bottles while dripping with sweat, came down from the building and into a large meeting room with a podium. They immediately sorted into their friend groups and started talking amongst themselves. The blonde man simply went to a corner of the room and leaned against the wall, with a dry towel hanging limply around his dry neck. The construction supervisor climbed the podium and tapped his microphone to gain their attention.

"Okay, boys, it's been seven months since we started building this thing, and by the way things are looking..." He paused for dramatic effect. "In four months, we'll all be looking at the newest addition to Vale's apartment ranks!" The workers all cheered in response, some of them hoisting up their water bottles in a mock toast. "I expect you all here on Monday to continue. Remember, all time off requests must be given in advance and accepted." He looked at his notes for a while before shrugging. "Well, that's all, folks. Meeting adjourned, and have a nice weekend." Just like they had done when they entered the building, the workers all left one by one to either go to their homes or the nearest bar to drink the night away.

The blonde worker stepped away from the wall he had been leaning on and started walking to the door before being interrupted by a brown-haired man his age wrapping one arm around his shoulder.

"Sup Jauney!" At the sound of the name, the blonde simply blinked slowly.

"The 'Y' is nonexistent, Terry," he replied in a tired tone. Terry simply put both hands behind his head and smiled at his friend.

"I know."

"Then why do you use it?" Terry just smiled at the question.

"Cuz it gets your attention." Once again, the blonde blinked slowly at him.

"Alright, Jaune, I'll stop." Jaune grunted in acknowledgment and started walking away again. "So, we gonna hit the bar today?"

"No."

"Oh, come on! You never hit the club."

"False, I have gone to the club, you simply don't remember because you got drunk and passed out at the table."

Terry stopped walking and started scratching his head in confusion. "When was that?"

"Three and a half months ago. You got drunk trying to impress some girl at the bar. You failed, of course, and she stole your wallet."

"Oh yeah, then you got it back, and we became best friends."

"A decision I regret to this day."

Terry simply smiled with mirth. "So you say. Also, stop trying to distract me. Let's hit the bar."

"No," the response was blunt.

"But whhyyyyyy?" Terry whined.

"I need to go home and rest so I can catch the bullhead tomorrow morning."

"Why?"

"Gotta go to the family."

"Why?" Jaune sighed.

"The family wants to celebrate my birthday."

"TODAY is your birthday!"

"Tomorrow actually."

"And I'm just learning about this now!"

"It's not really that important"

"It is dude. You only become… how old will you be?"

"21"

"Yeah 21 I knew that" the look of bored disbelief he received was ignored. "Anyway like I was saying, you only become 21 once. You better have fun for once Jaune"

"If you say so"

They split up at the entrance, Terry going towards his car and Jaune towards the bus station. As he walked the sounds of the city assaulted him from all sides. The sounds of people laughing and joking, the laughter of children finally being released from their classes, the screeching of tires against the ground as cars stopped and drove away from traffic lights, the sound of a silent alarm from a dust store being robbed-

Jaune stopped in his tracks, his face set in a grimace from all the sounds he had heard as he stared into the distance. To anyone watching it would look like he was simply staring at a nearby gas station but to him he was watching a group of black suit-wearing men with red shades and ties robbing a dust store a mile away for its products, its owner lay shaking on the floor with fear as one of the men aimed a gun at him while yelling at his friends to hurry up. Jaune looked to the side, some police cars were closing in on the location. He looked at both locations for a while before coming to a conclusion.

'They won't make it.' He kept staring at the store for a couple more seconds before coming to a decision, shrugging, and continuing to go on his way.

As he boarded the bus, he distracted himself by looking out the window and observing the people around him. He saw a couple holding hands, a group of friends laughing and chatting, and an old woman sitting alone with a peaceful expression on her face. The bus ride was long and uneventful, and soon Jaune found himself at his apartment building. He climbed the stairs to his third-floor apartment and unlocked the door. The moment he stepped inside, he removed his shoes and let out a tired sigh. After taking a moment to gather his thoughts he slowly levitated off the floor and started going around his house to prepare his food. Minutes later he lay on the couch staring at the tv, an empty plate on the table in front of him. He glanced at the clock for a while in quiet contemplation before levitating off the couch, picking up his plate, and slowly flying toward the sink to wash the dishes.

After accomplishing his task and wiping down his hands, he flew to his bedroom at opened a drawer, withdrawing a handheld dynamometer along with a notebook and pen before settling down his bed, notebook in hand as he flipped through the pages, numbers along with dates written down on each page. After flipping through his pages for a while he finally a half-written page and wrote down that day's date, the previous date having a value next to it.

'106.4'lbs is too high, it still needs to be lower' he squeezed the handle of the dynamometer and sighed at the value that popped up. '93.2lbs' he wrote down the value in his notebook and let out a breath to calm himself down squeezed the dynamometer again. This time he kept his eye on the screen of the device watching as the numbers went down with each passing second. When it passed the previous number a small smile appeared on his face.

The sound of a woman screaming wiped that smile off his face, the ruined dynamometer he squeezed too hard after being startled laying his hand. He glanced towards the sound and saw though the wall that it originated from the alleyway outside his window. A clearly drunk man holding a smaller woman's hands above her head with one hand and using the other to clumsily paw at the zipper to the woman's jacket. Jaune flew towards a worktable in his room that had a pile of broken dynamometers in the process of being repaired and dropped the device next to the pile. After that, he lay on his bed and attempted to drift off to sleep.

"HELP ME!" only to have his attempt shattered. He lay on his side ad covered his ears with his pillows to try again. "SOMEONE PLEASE HE-"

"Shut up!" a sound of a slap echoed through the alley followed by the sound of her whimpers. That was enough to make him walk over to the window and look down at the pair. The woman's jacket and shirt were torn open, all that was left was the bra that the drunk was trying to open. He looked above them to see a ladder attached to the walkway of the opposite building. His normally electric blue eyes slowly turned into a glowing red color as he stared at the bolt holding the ladder to the walkway. The same bolt melted seconds later and caused the metal ladder to fall on the drunk's head knocking him out and ensuring a concussion. The woman stared at his unconscious body in shock before looking around herself, attempting to redress herself, kicking the drunk several times in the head and groin area, and running out of the alley and into the streets.

Jaune closed his window and climbed back into his bed, closing his eyes as sleep finally embraced him.

Pls, remember to leave reviews as what you write helps me improve both the story and my writing. It also gives me a dopamine boost but that's to be expected.