A/N: Hey there everyone! Welcome back to my fic. I just want to thank everyone who's been reading this until now. One think I'd like to ask though, is if I make the cast react to a fanfic or a show, would you prefer to have them react to the entire chapter or episode? (I didn't do that here.) It would definitely lead to longer chapters and less frequent updates but if people want it, I could do it. Let me know what you guys think but anyways, enjoy the chapter. Feedback is appreciated!
Presenting: Coeur Al'Aran - Professor Arc (Chapter 9)
After finishing her business, Ruby returned more than ready to sit back down with her friends and watch more of those universe things! She was a tiny bit skeptical at first but it was so cool that she couldn't say no and she was glad she didn't. This whole time, she'd been having so much fun! She was so excited to see what they'd be watching next!
Ruby opened the door that led back to the theater room and was greeted by her sister shouting her name. "Hey sis!" Yang shouted with a smile and a wave. "Get over here! I got you something!"
With an identical smile on her face, Ruby jogged forward to meet her sister, only to pause when she saw what everyone had in their hands and laps. They had food.
Weiss had a small cake but it looked really expensive and she meant really, really expensive! But it also looked really good! Ruby knew Weiss was rich but that was something else. Then again she probably didn't pay for it...
Blake was thoroughly enjoying a tuna salad if the hungry glint in her eye was anything to go by. She knew Blake liked fish but the sight in front of her was something else. She'd never seen Blake so excited.
Ren was being force fed pancakes, courtesy of Nora who had a mountain of them on her own plate but aside from, you know, being fed instead of actually eating himself, it looked like Ren was also enjoying the fluffy treats.
Jaune had a bowl of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow flakes while Pyrrha just opted for some kind of drink but Ruby couldn't tell what it was.
Neptune and sun both grabbed a bowl of noodles but Sun also had a banana saved for later as a snack. And then Ruby's eyes zeroed in on what Yang had in her hand.
"COOKIES!" She yelled as her semblance activated. She crashed into the couch at full force, which somehow didn't topple over from her momentum, and was soon sat right next to Yang with a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies as Yang snacked on some of her own.
"Thanks Yang! You're the best!" Ruby said gratefully.
Yang only ruffled her hair playfully. "You're welcome little sis!" She said. "You should try them, they almost taste just like Moms!"
"Really?!" Ruby asked, before munching down on her own. She chewed quickly and thoroughly, yet managed to savor the taste before swallowing with satisfaction. "They do!" She said. "They're a little off but they're so close!" She said happily, before munching down on another. After all, no cookies could match her mom's recipe!
"I must say they are rather similar." Ozpin said, munching down on his own plate of cookies. "Summer might have been your mother but she also made cookie for the Beacon staff a few times during her education at Beacon. On that note, are we ready to begin?" Ozpin asked as he glanced at the students.
"We're all good here, sir!" Sun said with a thumbs up, the other students also giving some kind of affirmative answer. Except for Blake. She was still eating her tuna with a ravenous behavior.
"Very well the-" Ozpin paused as the Theater Scroll beeped once more. "I believe we're going to be getting some more visitors."
As soon as he finished that sentence, the "New Arrivals" door opened once more before several figures tumbled through it in a heap.
"Get off of me!" One of them shouted, before the rest were enveloped in a purple glow. Two of them were set to the side gently but that last one was thrown across the room and slammed into the wall with the force of god before the glow subsided and he fell to the floor with a thump.
"Ugh…" Qrow Branwen muttered as he shakily made his way to his feet, before he stared back at Glynda Goodwitch. "Hey! What the hell is your problem?!" Then Qrow paused as he realized he wasn't where he was supposed to be. "What the hell is this place?"
Glynda was about to respond before a shout, a yell really, interrupted her. "UNCLE QROOOOOOW!" Ruby shouted as she slammed into her uncle, clutching onto his arm like a monkey. The two looked at each other in silence for a few seconds before Ruby spoke up.
"Hi."
Qrow snorted before Ruby began to speak further. "Aah! It's so good to see you! Did you miss me? Did you miss me?!" She asked.
Qrow only smirked. "Nope." But the smile on his face said otherwise as he ruffled her hair.
"Now I'd hate to ruin this little… family reunion between you two but can anyone tell me what the hell is going on?!" Ruby turned around and her eyes widened, as did many of the other students, as she saw none other than Roman Torchwick standing there, with a short girl standing next to him with a pink, white and brown color scheme.
"Ah! Torchwick!" Ruby shouted as she pointed at him.
"Red…" Roman greeted back, sarcasm thick in his voice. "Now, usually this would be the part where we'd start trying to kill each other…" He said as he looked around cautiously. "But I don't really like my odds here." Then he was enveloped in a purple glow.
"Oh for fu-" Was all he managed to get out before he was thrown against and pinned to the wall by Glynda Goodwitch.
"You have some nerve to-" Was all she managed to get out before Neo was lunging at her, with the blade inside Hush unsheathed and pointed towards the Deputy-Headmistresses neck.
"ENOUGH!" At the shout, Roman promptly fell to the floor with a thump as Glynda deactivated her semblance, before she moved out of Neo's path, letting the younger girl fly by and tumble to the floor, before rolling for a few more moments and finally smashing into the wall, ending up on her back with her legs folded over her.
Everyone then turned to Yang with an unamused expression as she prepared to, what she thought was inconspicuously, sock Neo with Ember Celica but the short girl, and everyone else, spotted her immediately.
She opted to laugh nervously.
Ozpin coughed into his fist and cleared his throat before the entire theater, the new arrivals included, turned to him. Some looked fairly surprised at his outburst and for good reason, he wouldn't snap like that in most cases but a volatile situation called for volatile solutions. Hence yelling.
"Perhaps, we could calm down… and make sure we're all on… I believe the term is 'the same page'?" There was silence for a few seconds before Qrow snorted and unhooked his flask.
"I'm not drunk enough for this…" He muttered as he took a swig.
Ozpin sighed as Roman and the girl beside him, Neo, he remembered from one of the previous viewings, also calmed down. Glynda looked ready to jump in again but a firm glare from Ozpin made her relent, albeit reluctantly.
"Now then…"
Ozpin shouldn't have been surprised after he had finished explaining. Glynda, despite how scary she could be, could be trusted to believe the outlandish. After everything she had already been told, what with the relics and the maidens, she was obviously skeptical but not dismissive, especially since Ozpin was the one to tell her.
Sadly that was where everything went wrong…
Qrow had downed his flask thrice over during his explanation and by the looks of it, had no plans of stopping either which was to be expected. Looking over to Torchwick, Ozpin could immediately understand the unamused expression.
"You're seriously expecting me to believe… any of that?" He asked.
"Not in particular no, but it is the truth." Ozpin said, to which Roman scoffed.
"Look, the fact that I just spontaneously ended up in a heap of tangled limbs just a few minutes ago tells me that something weird is going on but even then, even at the smallest chance that what you're saying is true, do you honestly expect me to sit in a room with multiple children whom have caused me no shortage of problems and even one of which threatened to kill me?"
The silence was deafening.
Sun moved first, twisting his head to look at Blake after realizing whom Torchwick was both looking at and referring to. Then the rest connected the dots and Blake was soon blushing and looking away with her ears lowered behind her bow. "Why the hell does she even have her bow on, you all know she's a faunus!" He said in exasperation.
Neptune raised a hand in protest but was swiftly ignored.
Ruby spoke up, interrupting Neptune before he could say anything. "He's not wrong you know." Both Blake and Neptune grumbled incoherently although for different reasons.
Before anyone could speak up to what Roman said, Neo nudged him in the ribs. Roman winced slightly but looked down tot he smaller girl. "What is it Neo?"
The girl signed something but none of them could tell what she was trying to tell him.
"No I get that but-" He was cut off with more furious signing.
"An excellent point but that's not exactly-" The pout on Neo's face was deafening, as ironic as that statement was. The girl turned towards Ozpin and signed something towards him, which he understood immediately.
"Surprisingly, yes." Ozpin replied. Torchwick's eyes widened as Neo smirked triumphantly.
"You're joking… OK fine, even if for some fucking-" "Language!" "reason time doesn't move here, I'm not going to sit in the same room as Red for any length of time, for any reason!" Neo's elbow promptly met Roman's ribs with significant force, making the criminal yelp.
"Alright fine, fine! We'll stay for a little while… Ow…" Roman muttered as he felt the area where Neo elbowed him. "I guess getting away from you know who for a little while isn't that bad…"
Glynda sat down next to him and whispered into his ear. "Ozpin, are you sure this is wise?" She asked and he was suddenly reminded he could make no more snarky jokes without invoking the wrath of the demon disguised as a woman now sat beside him.
"I'm sure it'll be fine Glynda." He said and stifled a sigh of relief as he didn't have to bullshit some kind of excuse out of his ass, since she didn't question him much after that, aside from shooting Torchwick a glare which he promptly returned with the middle finger from where he was now seated. Neo only snickered at the friction between the two and Qrow roughly collapsed onto one of the seats beside him.
"Are you drunk already?" He asked cautiously.
"I'm getting there…" Qrow mumbled back as he took another swing from his flask that kept being refilled from the powers that be. He couldn't help but chuckle when his eyes lit up from the knowledge that he could have a drink in his hand any time he wanted.
"I assume we're ready to begin?" He asked and most gave some kind of noise of confirmation. Qrow just raised a hand while Roman kicked his feet up. "Very well then…" The next universe was promptly selected and began to play.
"I hate my life." Jaune Arc whispered to himself as he approached his doom.
Roman promptly snorted as he puffed out some smoke from his cigar. "Off to a good start already."
"So we're watching… Me? But is this an alternate me or a me, me?" Jaune asked himself with a frown.
"Not like there's much difference so far…" Blake quipped quietly, earning a soft chuckle from Jaune but a small frown from Pyrrha.
Friday afternoon and it was what he'd been trying to think up a solution for the last few days… Today he was to showcase his skills, or whatever Glynda had planned for the class, she had never really made it clear to him. He'd considered trying to fake off being sick, but that would just prompt them to send him to a doctor.
"Ooh!" Nora leaned forward. "We're going to see Fearless Leader showing off?! I can't wait!"
"Good luck Jaune." Pyrrha said genuinely with a smile and even though she meant well, and he knew it, Jaune couldn't stifle his groan of despair.
Glynda herself looked on curiously. She was still skeptical over this whole situation but while she was here she'd at least make the best of it. That being said, what could she have been asking Mr. Arc, one of the lowest scoring students in his year despite his recent improvements, to show to the class?
Throwing a sickie to get out of class was pretty much traditional, but somehow he doubted they would look on it so favourably when he was a paid employee.
"Paid... Employee?" Jaune asked as the silent stretched on for a moment. Roman was already chuckling.
"Come on, you're joking! That kid working at beacon? He looks like a noddle even from back here!" He stated as Neo giggled silently beside him
Pyrrha frowned as she put a comforting hand on Jaune shoulder, refusing to let her emotions get the better of her. She stayed silent and turned to Jaune with a smile and he returned it but it didn't reach his eyes.
"I'LL BREAK YOUR LEGS IF YOU DON'T ZIP IT MISTER!" Nora however, was much less inclined to keep a cool head.
Roman seemed unable to be bothered to retort so he just waved a hand and muttered "Whatever…" but Nora heard him and even if she didn't like it, Ren holding her back stopped her from any impromptu fight.
Instead he had taken more lessons from Neo, asking her to push him harder and harder. She had been only too happy to oblige, little sociopathic minx that she was, and he had found himself asleep before he hit the mattress most nights.
Neo wordlessly, obviously, raised her eyebrow questioningly before pointing to herself as if to ask. 'Are we talking about the same Neo here?'
"Looks like it…" Torchwick muttered back, understanding her wordless question.
"I'm sorry but why is that bi-" "Language!" "Sorry Ruby… I- I mean that… girl… with Jaune of all people?" Yang asked, her eyes flickering between Red and Lilac. "And why?!"
"Beats me Fire Cracker…" Qrow muttered to his niece. "I doubt even the girl knows…" Torchwick chuckled as Neo gestured towards the drunk huntsman with a look that screamed 'Thank you!'
He didn't know where he stood in terms of strength right now, Neo obviously couldn't explain it to him, and if she could write… which he assumed she was able to. Then she wasn't advertising the fact, preferring to stick to facial expressions and hand-signs that he knew weren't sign language.
Neo and Torchwick snickered to themselves and even Qrow cracked a small grin as Jaune sagged slightly in his seat.
"Okay…" Yang mumbled. "This is getting kind of interesting..."
There was no way however that he could be at the level of a true hunter though, and he didn't even think he was at the level of a student either. They had received four years of training to his… what, one week? This was going to be a disaster – he could only hope the student killed him while they were at it.
"Ah! A man with a plan!" Torchwick said with thick sarcasm. "That earns you some respect kid."
"But why is Jaune apparently working for Beacon for some reason if he only has one week of training here?" Sun asked after he finished slurping up the last of his noodles, placing the bowl at his feet which promptly vanished. "Woah, that's cool."
"That's something I'd like to know as well…" Glynda spoke up, ignoring Sun's awe at the vanished bowl. She then turned to Ozpin. "Why would you hire a boy with little to no experience as… I'm assuming a teacher aid…" She said but Ozpin merely stared at the screen as he sipped his cocoa.
Many students no longer felt safe with Glynda in the room with them.
"Jaune." Glynda nodded a distracted greeting to him as he entered the training halls. Already there were some students beginning to filter through and take seats. From what he could see there was a raised platform in the middle where fights would take place, while the students could watch from the seats on one side.
That's where I'm going to be executed.
"Mood." Yang and Nora mumbled together, before glancing at each other and chuckling, much to the exasperation of their teams.
"Evening Glynda." He offered a nervous smile. "I suppose this will be my first time with you."
Glynda's eyes narrowed at the remark but she kept her composure, while Torchwick and Qrow choked and started a rough coughing fit as cigar smoke and alcohol went down the wrong pipe respectively before both started to chuckle when it cleared up, trying to hide their amusement to little success as Neo silently laughed with them.
"Huh?" Jaune mumbled in confusion while looking around the room as the rest of his team and RWBY gaped at him, either beet red, trying to hold back their laughter with everything they had or equally confused. "What's wrong with that? It's just a question."
"Dude…" Neptune mumbled. "What are you doing…?"
"I don't get it either…" Ruby mumbled, before she squawked as her ears were suddenly pressed to her skull by Yang who had the biggest shit eating grin on the planet.
"Vomit-boy..."She began slowly, her grin never fading. "Your other self just told a woman, and I quote: 'I suppose this will be my first time with you.', end quote. Think about that for a bit."
Jaune froze for a few seconds before his face went even redder that Yang's eyes when she was angry before those who were weren't as equally embarrassed such as Weiss, Blake and Pyrrha, started cackling with all their might, Yang and Nora especially.
Glynda glanced up from her scroll, the eyes behind her glasses blinking quickly before she coughed and glanced away for a moment. Hardly a second later those piercing green orbs were focused back on him.
"Our first time working together, yes. I have never required the services of an assistant in the class before, it is relatively simple to have two students fight and offer my critique."
"So why change things?" He had to ask.
"The man's asking the right questions Glynda…" Qrow stated as he took another swig, causing Glynda to pinch the bridge of her nose.
If this was to be a class that was judging and improving their fighting styles, then what was the point of having them fight against someone who was far above them in terms of skill – and he was well aware of the irony in that statement.
"Wait a second…" Torchwick mumbled as his face slowly split into a grin. "I get it… You're going for a fake it till you make it approach eh? I can respect that." He chuckled silently.
Little did he know that he was closer to the truth than he realized, causing Jaune to cough into his fist.
"You okay Jaune?" Ruby asked slightly concerned.
"I- I'm alright." Jaune sputtered as he cleared his throat. He shot the short girl a nervous smile which somehow managed to assure her.
"Several students are becoming… arrogant in their abilities." The stern woman admitted with a hard frown. "It's commonplace really, but it's important for them to know that defeating their peers in staged fights does not make them invincible."
Glynda and Ozpins heads both snapped to Qrow as he was downing his flask once more with unamused expressions. Sensing eyes on him, he froze- mid drink, and glanced at the two. It took him a few seconds to figure out what they wanted but when he did he flushed slightly and glared back.
"Whaaaat?" He drawled. "You calling me arrogant or something?" He asked as Ruby and Yang snickered from their seats.
"Yes that's exactly what we're saying." Glynda said, although both professors had sly smirks on their faces.
"Oh screw the both of you." He dismissed with a wave of his arm which caused a good chunk of the theater to chuckle at the disgruntled drunk.
"And you want me to beat them?"
"Looks like it kid, break a leg." Roman quipped, much to Jaune's chagrin.
"You're closer to their age." Glynda offered with a gentle shrug one shoulder. "My semblance can be difficult to work around and is quite overwhelming. It would be easy for them to write off a loss to me as unfair. But you fight like many of the students here do, with your weapon."
Qrow shuttered from where he was sitting while Ozpin just barely noticeably stiffened. "You got that right… You're scary Glynda. Always have been, always will be."
Glynda glanced towards the Branwen twin and flashed him a look that only he and Ozpin new was the look she got when she was thinking of ways to punish someone in the most cruel ways known to man. "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about."
Only Weiss, who knew how to put a mask over ones face saw what Glynda was doing and promptly paled as a cold sweat erupted across her body.
"That makes sense." Jaune acknowledged, trying his best to keep his voice calm. There was no talking her out of this – he was actually going to have to do it. What was worse, he was going to have to win the fight as well.
"My alternate self is doomed…" Jaune muttered as some of the other students snickered.
"Oh you'll be fine!" Nora reassured him but also she was biting her lip to hold in her giggles. Suffice to say, Jaune was not reassured.
"I'll do my best." He offered with as much confidence as he was able, as the final students made their way into the room and arranged themselves on the seats. It looked like there would be no more stalling for Jaune Arc.
"For some reason this Jaune seems actually… Kind of decent at acting if Ms. Goodwitch of all people hasn't really noticed anything yet…" Weiss said slowly, trying not to earn the ire of The Disciplinarian seated not too far from her.
"I mean… Maybe…" Jaune relented begrudgingly. "But what are the chances I'd get lucky and somehow not blow my cover since, let's face it, there's no way I didn't get a job in Beacon based on pure luck."
Pyrrha wanted to reassure him but after a moment of thinking about it, he had a point. Even someone with her skill, reputation and connections wouldn't have been able to get an actual job at Beacon, even if it was just as a teaching aid. Well not yet… Maybe when she was a Third or Fourth year? It was something to consider at least...
"Welcome class." Glynda bean, pausing for a moment as every other voice in the room fell silent. The control she had over the students was far superior to any of the others he had worked with, and even Jaune found his eyes and ears locked on the woman. "Today we shall be doing something a little different from usual. Rather than have you fight among yourselves, I thought it might be an exciting opportunity for one of you to face off against a more experienced hunter."
Oh it would be exciting alright…
"Okay… This'll be good." Roman mumbled as he leaned forward slightly. "Thanks for talking me into this Neo, it's been worth it so far."
The mute girl flashed him a small smile and a thumbs up.
"Come on Fearless Leader! You got this in the bag! Woooo!" Nora's cheering spurred some fairly enthusiastic shouts from the more extroverted and laid-back people in the room, mainly Yang, Sun and Neptune along side her. Despite himself, Jaune couldn't help but smile.
"Professor Jaune Arc has graciously offered to stand in for the role." She announced, waving her hand to him as he climbed onto the stage to stand beside her.
"I'm an actual Professor?!" Jaune squawked in exasperation.
"Oh come on, you're fine Vomit-boy!" Yang spoke up with a smile, before jabbing a thumb over her shoulder at her uncle. "If Uncle Qrow could become a teacher at Signal, then you could easily become a Beacon teacher."
"Hey, I take offense to that!" Came the slurred reply which caused Yang to start cackling, Jaune joining in with a chuckle and a grateful smile.
He didn't actually remember offering, graciously or otherwise, but he didn't dare interrupt her flow to mention that. "Do remember that Mr Arc has been fighting in the Grimmlands of Vacuo for some time, and will not be an easy opponent."
"Vacuo huh?" Sun asked himself as he eyed the Jaune on screen. "Well at least you look the part. You have this kind of scruffy look going on with the clothes so it works." He said.
"I'm not sure if I should be insulted or not…" Jaune mumbled confusedly.
"Perhaps neither?" Ozpin asked with a small grin. "After all, that is not you. It's a different you Mr. Arc. I thought we've been over this." Jaune rolled his eyes discreetly, or so he thought, in response. Ozpin only smiled mischievously.
Jaune looked out over a few of those in the crowd at these words, his breathing becoming quicker at seeing looks of outright excitement on many of the faces. Oh Gods, they actually wanted to fight him.
"Looks like you're getting pretty popular kid. Just don't turn into Yang's dad alright?" Qrow asked Jaune who glanced over curiously, only to see a red faced Yang slapping a hand over Qrow's mouth as Ruby also looked on in confusion. He didn't think it was Weiss to go down that path if Yang's intense gaze had anything to say about it.
Over on one side he could see the ginger-haired girl Nora, massive hammer in place with her mouth set in a wide grin, she was practically bouncing in her seat and he didn't doubt she would volunteer at the first opportunity.
"Of course I would!" Nora shouted with glee. "It'll be a battle FOR THE AGES!"
"Please Nora…" Ren mumbled in vain to try to get the girl to settle down. Of course, he went ignored.
He could also see Pyrrha, who was actually sat between Ren and Ruby of all people. The two had hit things off almost immediately, upon meeting, the smaller girl happy to have a friend who wasn't quite as snappish as Miss Schnee, while Pyrrha was glad to have another person who didn't ignore her or put her on a pedestal.
Weiss sagged slightly as she remembered how she acted when she first met Pyrrha at the start of the year. She had wanted Pyrrha on her team because of her skill primarily, but her reputation was also a driving factor. She's glad that she didn't damage her relationship with Pyrrha much though. Weiss glanced over as she and Ruby smiled at each other with friendly faces, causing a smile to appear on the Heiress's face as well.
He didn't want to fight either of those people, but please, if there was a God. Not Pyrrha-freaking-Nikos, who he had learned was an internationally renowned fighter.
Pyrrha slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from an outburst. She really liked the fact that Jaune didn't know who she was when they first met but seeing things from his point of view like this was making it a challenge to not laugh.
"I'll fight him!" A female voice cried out, drawing all eyes to the buxom blonde who was already strapping her weapons onto her fists. Oh Hells no! Give me Pyrrha, Give me Pyrrha! Here lays Jaune Arc, casually murdered by a student he gave a detention to the night before.
"What's the matter Vomit-boy?!" Yang cackled, along with quite a few others. "You scared?! I'll be gentle!"
"Yaaaaaang!" Ruby moaned into her hands at the hidden meaning in Yang's comment. Jaune himself was sputtering red faced at the very insinuation. He still wanted to live dammit!
Even Pyrrha was laughing harder than most other times she had in her life. There was just something about this alternate Jaune's reaction that just tickled her.
"These kids are a fucking riot…" Roman chuckled to himself as he took another drag of his cigar, Neo silently giggling beside him.
"Sit down Miss Xiao-Long, I have already selected an opponent for Mr. Arc." Glynda admonished, and for an infantile moment Jaune felt the desire to stick his tongue out at the now dejected teenager. "Mr Winchester, if you will come up here?"
"Winchester?" Sun asked. "I don't think I've heard the name before."
"You haven't been at Beacon for too long so it's fine." Yang dismissed with an easy wave. "But basically, Cardin Winchester, that's his full name, he's the guy that leads Team CRDL. We mentioned them last viewing." She explained.
"OH right!" Sun said with a smile, before it died a painful death, replaced by a grimace. "Oh…"
"Yeah…" Yang said as she glared at the screen.
Glynda scowled slightly at the mention of Mr. Winchester. It left a poor taste in her mouth. She'd wished they could have expelled him earlier in the year, but Ozpin's need for Huntsman in his battle against Salem forced him to be lenient. On the bright side though, ever since the trip in Forever Fall, All of Team CRDL has cleaned up their act by a significant amount. They still needed work, but it showed that there was hope for them yet.
Winchester? Wasn't that the boy he'd seen bullying Velvet? A quick glance over to the girl showed a small barely-noticeable grin on her features, no doubt she was hoping to see the bully brought back down to Earth.
Neptune chuckled lightly. "She must be real happy right about now." He said.
"Too bad that Jaune'll probably lose the fight…" Blake said with a sullen frown.
"Nah!" Sun waved dismissively as Nora beamed at him. "Fearless Leader of Team JNPR will do just fine, I'd say."
"He gets it Renny… HE GETS IT…!" Nora hissed with barely restrained excitement as she shook the quiet boy back and forth.
Well someone was rooting for him, right!?
True to Roman's words when they had met, Neo hadn't really taught him anything relating to actually attacking people – honestly she hadn't taught him how to dodge either. She had just beaten him until he had figured it out himself. Poorly executed dodges would lead to further pain, so he'd been motivated to learn.
Neo laughed silently to herself, Torchwick joining in her chuckling which earned a few glares from the students, namely Ruby, Pyrrha and Nora, especially Nora who was contemplating how far she'd be able to punt him with a maximum strength swing.
Qrow took a swig at the description of the blonde boys alternate version's training. That was basically how he had learned with the Tribe, before he and Raven had enrolled at Beacon. He learned, but he wouldn't miss those days.
But what was he meant to do now?
The fight was to continue until their aura reserves entered the red wasn't it? So that meant he had to attack… He couldn't win otherwise. Perhaps he could look to force a ring-out or something, but the guy was a lot bigger than he was, and if that huge mace was for more than just show then he was probably stronger too.
"Well… Cardin is pretty strong though…" Ruby said quietly with a small frown. "He's not too skilled… But he is one of the strongest people in our year… Only Yang or Nora probably have more physical strength…"
Yang's response to that comment was a giant bear hug which forced a screech reminiscent of a dying duck from the silver eyed girl who immediately began flailing for air. Thankfully, Yang let her go after a few seconds.
"You do have a point Ruby…" Pyrrha spoke up. "Whenever I have matches with him I'm forced to dodge each attack he throws at me. I'm not sure I'd be able to block them completely." She admitted with a neutral face. 'Although that's hardly a problem considering how slow he is…'
Damn it all, I'll just have to give it my all and try for some lucky hits. He thought to himself, as he nodded along with his thoughts.
"Very well then, begin!" A voice commanded, causing Jaune to freeze.
"Ouch… Good luck kid." Qrow muttered as he took a swig, the other kids laughing at his counterpart's expense.
'I hate my life…' Jaune thought to himself but even he had to admit it was kind of funny.
Wait, what!?
"Arghh!" Jaune screamed as a huge mace rocketed towards his face.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Yang threw her hands up as if to pause the universe, before she snapped her head to Jaune. "Back during initiation! That loud girls scream!" Jaune immediately paled as the other Beacon students got looks of realization on their faces.
"Was that you?!" She asked, barely holding herself back from cackling.
Jaune's silence was the only answer she needed.
"Oh my god that WAS you!" She slapped her palms against her knees as the other students laughed or cackled respectively. Even Pyrrha was giggling. The whole thing was contagious enough that even people who had zero context to the event were also laughing at him. "This is the best thing that's happened all day!"
Suffice to say, Jaune wanted to melt into his chair once more.
Uncharacteristically Weiss only gave the words from Miss Goodwitch half her attention, the other half keeping a vague ear open to the muffled conversation between her partner Ruby, and Pyrrha. She wasn't sure where their new friendship had come from, but she certainly approved of her partner's choice. It would be good for Ruby to take inspiration from someone so clearly dedicated to their craft, and certainly Pyrrha would be a better role model than Ruby's juvenile sister Yang.
"You got something to say to me Weiss?" Yang turned with a glare but if one looked closely, it was clearly playful. "Well go on. I'm right here."
Weiss, sadly, was too put on the spot to properly analyze the situation and thus went red from embarrassment. Qrow's slurred shout of "You tell her Fire Cracker!" didn't help the situation at all, aside from sending Ruby, and a few others, into a fit of giggles as she tried to calm her older sister down.
Pyrrha only smiled softly from the praise. Even if it was Weiss, and a presumably alternate version of her at that, it still felt nice to hear.
On that thought, Weiss couldn't stop the wicked grin that stole across her lips. Oh, Weiss knew the blonde barbarian and Blake weren't together. If it wasn't obvious from the embarrassment at the rumours, then Blake's smut books should have been indication enough. Beyond that however, Yang had already shown she had a strong appreciation for the male form. If her drooling over the guys from that asinine Achieve-men band was anything to go by.
Both Blake and Yang promptly went red, the former's ears folding against her head despite the bow wrapped around them, from the unexpected nature of that statement.
"H-hold on a second, isn't that s-stuff a little personal?!" Yang sputtered out somehow in her shock and embarrassment.
"I- I don't read smut…" Blake tried to tell them but they knew she was full of bullshit. "I swear I don't! Why won't you believe me…?!"
"Of course not. You only read your Ninjas of Lo-" Weiss spoke up but a hand was immediately clamped over her smirking mouth with a hiss from the feline faunus.
Neo slapped on the seat in front of her with a grin to get Blake and Yang's attention, before showing them the message she wrote on her scroll after they turned to her. 'I think you two would make a cute couple.'
Glynda was already holding Yang in place with her Telekinesis before she could react. "I'LL KILL HER!" She shouted as she tried to leap forward as her eyes and hair blazed while Blake only curled even further into a ball.
Either way, it would have just been ridiculous for her to miss out on this prime opportunity to rile up Yang. That was just what she got for all those stupid `Weiss puns` and the loud snoring, not to mention hogging the bathroom for three times as long as everyone else – just to do her hair.
Jaune laughed as Yang gaped in horror. He didn't know how true what they were getting from Weiss's alternate self but the look on Yang's face told him that most if not all of it was pretty accurate.
"Own up to it Yang." Ruby spoke up with a sly grin. "You kind of deserve this."
"Et tu, Ruby?" Yang whispered in shock and disbelief that her own sister was turning on her.
"Ruby, you might still be a child." Weiss began, before smirking at the team leader. "But you do have a fine head on your shoulders for your age." Ruby only smiled mischievously at Weiss as Yang groaned in the background.
Blake? Well, she was just an unfortunate casualty in the war.
"Fuck you too, then." Blake mumbled but despite the crisis Yang was growing through, her hands instinctively made their way to Ruby's ears, preserving her innocence as much as she could.
Still though, when Miss Goodwitch had begun to talk about one of them facing off against a teacher she had soon brought her attention back to matters at hand. An opportunity to face off against an elite hunter? Honestly she could see the appeal – but she did not nominate herself for the fight. Though it would be a learning experience, it was also clearly a weighted fight that they were expected to lose. Weiss Schnee did not lose. Not if she could help it, and certainly not in front of an audience like this.
Yang, taking the opportunity for what it was, quickly spoke up to deflect some of the attention on her. "Oh, so this is still right at the beginning of the school year huh? It shows Ice Queen. After all, only an Ice Queen 'Never loses' huh?" She smirked as Weiss reddened.
Neptune leaned over slightly to wear professor Ozpin was sitting. "Um… Sir?" He asked nervously. "Shouldn't you try and stop them before things escalate?" He asked. Ozpin only smiled.
"I don't think there's a problem Mr. Vasilias. I'm sure it'll be just fine." The headmaster spoke, as if he was completely unaware of the tensions between the two students.
That the opponent would be the new Professor, Jaune Arc, had been a fairly obvious one – why else would he be here when he was absent from every preceding combat class? Cardin being chosen as the combatant to represent their year was both pleasing and annoying. Mainly because he was a braggart at best, and a bully at worst – it would be nice to see him brought down a bit. Disappointing however because he wouldn't be able to give as good a showing as Pyrrha or Yang, who was the second-strongest – no matter how little she wanted to admit it.
"Okay…" Yang mumbled, before turning to Weiss and holding out a hand. "We cool?" She asked, her temper and competitive flair, doused with the indirect compliment, or technically direct but was a compliment to an alternate version of her still a compliment to her?
"Fine…" Weiss hissed, grabbing the brawlers hand nicely as she glared pinpricks into Yang's lilac orbs.
"I think it's safe to say that it's fine to hate on this version of Cardin, yay or nay?" Sun asked, turning to the others in the theater, taking the lull in war between Weiss and Yang to bring up the Bully.
"Yay." Basically all of the students said in a chorus of agreements, before cascading into giggles.
Qrow only snorted as Ozpin smirked lightly. "Kids…" He shook his head before taking a swig of his drink.
Maybe that was the point of this little exercise though, to pick someone from the middle of the pack.
"That's a fair assumption." Ren admitted as Glynda nodded in agreement.
"I'd agree with that assessment. If I were to ever organize a similar demonstration, then I'd most likely do the same as my… counterpart…" She forced out with a light grimace, the last word feeling foreign on her tongue.
When Cardin had entered the ring Glynda had begun to explain the rules, as she seemed to at the beginning of every bout, before asking if they were both ready. Cardin had drawn and prepared his over-compensatingly large mace, while the Professor had simply nodded, not even drawing his sword.
"Okay, this is getting slightly painful…" Blake said but the grin on her face, as subtle as it was, showed that she was still enjoying it.
"Don't sweat it kid. It happens." Qrow spoke up. "If I had a Lien for every time Ruby zoned out because she was thinking about weapons or cookies, I'd be a rich man." He chuckled. A red blur promptly smashed into him before Ruby's small fists started hammering into his chest and abdomen, causing Qrow to laugh uproariously.
Jaune chuckled at the sight. "I guess that makes me feel better…" He said with a smile.
"Dolts, the both of you…" Weiss muttered with a shake of her head.
Was he that confident in himself? That he could face any one of them, despite knowing nothing about Cardin, his abilities, or even if he had a semblance that shot lasers from his eyes!? That it didn't matter because they were so far below his level?
Ozpin choked slightly due to the uncanny coincidence of a laser eye semblance and silver eyes. Glynda patted him on the back with a concerned expression but Qrow only laughed like the drunk he was as tears prickled the corners of his eyes.
"Are you alright Professor?" Ren asked softly, with a half concerned, half amused expression.
"I-I'm alright, yes. Thank you." Ozpin said as he cleared his throat.
Torchwick turned to Neo and shook his head in a deadpan while signing 'He's full of shit.' Neo nodded once, the both of them keeping a serious face for a few seconds before dissolving into quiet wheezes.
Was that confidence, or arrogance?
"Well, he's confident that he's going to fail." Torchwick spoke up, Neo and even some of the students snorting in response.
"Dammit, that was a good one…" Yang hissed in frustration.
"Arghh!" The blonde screamed dramatically as he dodged the first strike, ducking out of the way while balancing squeamishly on one foot and holding his hands out before himself as though to ward off a particularly large spider.
"What… am I seeing…?" Weiss couldn't help but mumble, as the rest of the class went silent. Cardin span in place, using centrifugal force to add more power to his blow as he aimed to crush the teacher's ribs. Again Jaune Arc dodged the blow, stepping backwards in such a way that it seemed to be the barest millimeters between cloth and brutal steel.
"I second that…" Neptune spoke up slowly, his eyes wide and disbelieving which mirrored a decent portion of the audience.
Qrow downed the rest of his flask, before throwing it roughly onto the ground. "Why do other people get all the luck…?!" He grumbled to himself. He groaned as he realized he had to pick up his flask now, uncomfortably stretching to reach it.
"Whoah!" He shouted as he stepped inside Cardin's guard the next time, the haft of the weapon whistling past his head, as the weapon crashed uselessly into the ground.
'I wonder what it'll look like if that mace were to connect with the kid's head.' Neo signed to Roman, her eyes not leaving the screen.
"Well… We have a hammer somewhere…" Roman started slowly. "Just need to buy a watermelon. See what happens."
Neo nodded once in acceptance.
"Eeek!" He cried as the next blow threatened to crush his skull, a strike that never connected because as the last moment – when even Weiss was convinced he was dead. He had somehow span out of the way, yet again dodging by the tiniest fraction.
"What are… What are those noises…?" Blake asked, her ears twitching in discomfort at the high pitched squeals.
"It sounds like a dying bird…" Yang commented, rubbing her ears slightly.
"Come on guys!" Jaune exclaimed, red faced. "It's not that bad!"
"Debatable…" Ren said softly as Pyrrha giggled quietly.
It continued for four minutes. A frame of time that seemed so short, but felt so long… and clearly it felt even longer for Cardin, who was beginning to pant and sweat. He must had swung his giant mace over a hundred and twenty times, each time connecting with nothing, but being forced to lift and swing It once again.
"Okay… As much of an ass Cardin is, or seems to be in my case…" Sun spoke up slowly, his tail wrapped around his banana which was held up to his face. "You gotta give the guy some credit. That mace doesn't look light…"
"Pffsht!" Nora waved dismissively. "That's nothing compared to Magnhild!"
"Nora… Don't you have a strength semblance tho-MMPF!" Ruby's mouth was promptly covered.
"SHUSH!" Nora demanded. The Red Reaper could do nothing but obey.
Each time he had dodged by a hairs-breadth, something that Weiss had realized sometime into the second minute, must have been on purpose. It couldn't have been luck… not considering how long he had kept it going for. And still, he hadn't drawn his weapon.
"Bet you don't feel so smart now, do ya?" Qrow slurred at Weiss, his eyes twinkling in amusement.
Weiss's face burned slightly, her head lowering into her hands as Ruby rubbed her shoulder empathically.
"Wai- Why are you blushing?! I'm the one who should be humiliated!" Jaune whined as his shoulders slumped. "Besides you'd be right in 99% of cases but somehow I'm not dead yet which is something I don't even get!"
"You really beat it into him, didn't you Neo?" Torchwick asked with a grin. Neo only threw him a cheeky thumbs up.
"Arghhhhhh!"
And still, he was screaming at each incoming strike. Though by now, no one in the crowd was taking it seriously. The whole fight was a joke.
And Cardin was the butt of it.
"Good." The Queen of the Castle declared.
"Uhh… Nora, I thi-"
"Good." The Queen decreed once more, silencing any opposition.
"This is cruel." Yang mumbled from nearby, "I'm beginning to wish he would just put Cardin out of his misery."
"Kinda agreeing with my other self here…" Yang spoke up. "I mean, Cardin is an ass but this is kind of brutal."
"You dare defy the Queen?" Nora spoke up icily as she turned towards the blonde brawler. To mosts surprise, Yang actually flinched.
"Uhh- Uhhm… N-No! I- I would never- heh…" Yang stuttered with a nervous chuckle.
Nora nodded once in acceptance, turning her eyes back towards the screen. Ren's face promptly fell into his hands.
"Wearing an opponent out before going for the final blow is a valid strategy." Pyrrha cut in from beside Ruby, who was too busy watching the fight and gasping at every near-miss. "I've used it a few times myself in troubling fights."
"And the screaming?" Blake couldn't help but ask.
"Mind numbing terror maybe?" Jaune weakly offered, causing a few chuckles to go around.
"Mind games perhaps?" The redhead champion offered, and Weiss could only nod along with her. Being raised in a business environment, she knew the value of misdirection. If he was genuinely afraid of Cardin, then he could have turned and walked away at any moment. Or drawn his shield and cowered behind it.
"Fair points…" Ozpin admitted, sipping his cocoa in the meantime.
"He should be making a fool of himself but instead, we're the fools…" Weiss mumbled in a monotone voice, her eyes glazed over as her perception of society shattered.
"Congrats kid." Qrow raised a glass in Jaune's honor. "You defeated the Ice Queen!" He slurred. "All hail King Arc, the new King of Vale…" He promptly downed the glass in one go as Jaune chuckled nervously, Ruby and Yang groaning from nearby.
He was playing with the student… The thought was a frightening one. Was this the level the teaching staff were on compared to them? It should have comforted her, and perhaps in some small way it did. They were being taught by the best. But it was also so frightening. They only had four years at Beacon, and Professor Arc was only a sub-teacher… and barely older than them! If the other teachers were stronger than him too?
How was she supposed to catch up?
"Wow… This must be pretty embarrassing for you huh?" Ruby mumbled cheekily to the Heiress beside her.
"Shut up!" She snapped, before proceeding to curl up and lay her head on the empty space beside her as a pillow materialized under her head.
Ruby didn't say anything but she was pretty surprised. Another pillow appeared for her too and with a smile, she placed it behind her head and snuggled into it.
The bout came to an end as crushingly one-sided as it had begun, Cardin swung his mace, yet this time when the teacher was dodging he seemed to collide with Cardin. The two men knocking up against one another for a moment. Weiss was unable to see what complicated martial arts manoeuvre the Professor had used, but the speed at which Cardin struck the mat told her it was a painful one.
"Complicated martial arts maneuver…" Qrow snorted with a chuckle, prompting several other people to join him in his laughter as Weiss further tried to bury her face into her newly acquired pillow.
"Must you continue to mock her, Qrow" Glynda asked with a small scowl.
"Whaaaat?" He slurred back as he raised his hands in a surrender. "It's funny!" he insisted.
Glynda only groaned, before turning to Ozpin. "Ozpin-" She began, only to freeze at the ever so subtle but nonetheless present smirk on the Headmasters face. She immediately clicked her mouth shut and turned back towards the screen.
To his credit, and she never thought she would say those words about Cardin Winchester, he tried to climb back to his feet. But all he could do was freeze when the teacher's foot rested atop his crotch, promising disaster.
"I yield!" Cardin yelped instantly. "I yield, I yield!"
Jaune and several other of the men in the room immediately covered their private parts. "Oh I'm so glad my other self didn't go through with it."
A loud thump echoed in the room, causing most of the theater to snap their heads to where Qrow was sitting, only to find the man lying on the ground with his face twisted into a grimace of phantom pain as his hands were held protectively over his crotch.
"Neo… No." Torchwick said slowly, nervousness creeping into his voice. Neopolitan smirked and signed to him, 'Neo yes.' and stood up, before plopping herself into Roman's lap, the crime boss tensing up and freezing like a statue.
Roman, uncharacteristically, looked towards Ozpin in the hope that the youngest man to ever be appointed Headmaster of any of the Huntsman schools might be able to help him, only for his heart to sink in his chest due to Glynda glaring holes into the side of The Headmasters head as Ozpin perfectly mimicked a statue in the hopes of weathering the storm that was the Vice-Headmistress. That didn't stop the sweat from gathering on his brow however.
Torchwick thus came to a conclusion. 'I'm fucked.' He thought as he looked down at the predatory smile Neo graced him with.
And as the shamed teen made his way back to the seats, and the comforting words of his team, Weiss could not take her eyes from the green bars on the scoreboards. Professor Jaune Arc had defeated one of them, without taking any damage to his aura… and without causing any to Cardin's.
"Jokes aside though, that's a pretty impressive thing to do." Sun spoke up after swallowing the last of the banana before tossing the peel behind him. It would have slapped Torchwick in the face but it disappeared before it could.
"You're right." Pyrrha agreed with a small smile. "I doubt something like what we'd just seen would ever happen again but… It was pretty impressive."
"And lucky…" Jaune said but he couldn't stop the bashful smile on his face. He knew it wasn't him that did it, being an alternate version of himself but the similarities were close enough that he could still feel somewhat proud. It looked like Pyrrha and a few of the others shared his thoughts.
"I'm just surprised he was able to do it at all…" Blake mumbled, her eyes glazed over in confusion.
And still he had not drawn his weapon, or even thrown a punch. Cardin was physically one of the stronger people in their class, if he had connected even once then the damage could have been huge. But the teacher had picked out the man's one weakness, his speed, and then exploited it so thoroughly, so obviously that out of nothing more than shame, Cardin would work to improve it.
This man…
'Please don't…' Weiss thought to herself as she tensed.
This hunter…
'Please don't!' The heiress shouted in her mind, hoping she would be spared from further embarrassment.
Was clearly a genius…
Weiss whimpered into her pillow further as her counterpart continued to dig her own grave.
"Don't be sad Weiss!" Ruby spoke up as she wrapped her partner up in a soft hug.
"Shut up! Don't touch me!" She snapped but made no move to bat away Ruby's hands, instead wrapping her own around her waist and pulling her closer. Qrow made a disgruntled noise at the sight but held his tongue.
"Aww… That's adorable…" Yang cooed at the sight while Blake smiled playfully.
"Well… That wasn't too bad…" Jaune spoke up as he rubbed his neck playfully, only for Weiss to snap up and glare at Jaune with winter's cold in her eyes, even as she kept hold of Ruby.
"That was because I became the butt of the joke instead of you!" Her cheeks reddened as the entire theater laughed but even she couldn't wipe away the small smile. She was embarrassed and flustered but… This whole thing was pretty fun.
"Alright kid…" Torchwick said, glancing down at Neo who was still in his lap. "You were right. This wasn't so bad… But Red's still a brat." He said, Neo giggling as Ruby twisted her neck and pouted at him.
"I'm down to start the next one." Neptune spoke up. "I'm excited to see what we'll see next!"
"Oh Yeah!" Nora exclaimed with glee. "Let's go! Let's go, let's go!" She shouted as she vibrated in her seat. "Your Queen demands you entertain her!" She shouted as she pointed at the screen, causing another round of chuckles.
"Very well then…" Ozpin said with a small smile as Glynda huffed and rolled her eyes. "is everyone ready?" He asked.
"YEAH!" Most responded, that meaning all of the students aside from Weiss who was still too busy sulking in Ruby's arms.
"Screw it. Might as well stay for a while…" Torchwick admitted as Neo beamed in anticipation. Qrow gave some sort of noise that signaled he agreed with the crook.
Ozpin only smiled as the screen went dark, the next universe preparing to play.
A/N: Just wanna point out, if it wasn't obvious that Professor Arc DOES NOT BELONG TO ME and is a work written by the (arguably) best writer in the RWBY fandom: Coeur Al'Aran. The only thing I did, was catch a grammar error or two (and make several more myself, some of which I 100% haven't caught) and just separate some of the paragraphs so they'd be easier to make reactions to. Otherwise, the text is exactly the same as the actual story. Hopefully...
If you haven't read Professor Arc, or any of Coeur's stories, then just what in the hell are you doing? Most of his stories might be Jaune-centric (Which I'm kinda tired off ngl) but they're still some of the best shit I've ever read so go do that. That being said, I am planning to have the cast react to some of his other fics in the future (Assuming he doesn't ask me to not do that).
I also wanted to ask, If I have them react to something, would you prefer (Option No. 1) I have them react to a near exact copy of the 'Universe' I have them react to (Minus characters potentially being swapped out for ones from RWBY) or would you guys prefer (Option No. 2) I only "Inspire" myself with different fandoms and mix them in with RWBY elements (If you don't get what I mean, check out Arcs of the Multiverse, that fic does this.) I have my own preference (The first option) but if enough people want it, I could swap between them.
The last thing I want to say is that I'll have them react to a different franchise/fandom next, since I haven't done that yet, but I'm not sure what it'll be. Someone suggested Attack on Titan and while I do plan to have them react to multiple episodes/scenes from AoT in the future, I don't know if I want to do that just yet.
Well, that's all I have to say this time around. I'll see you all whenever I have the next chapter out.