Heretic notes:
You guys know how this works!
The BGM for the specific part this time will be...
Undertale OST - Battle Against a True Hero
Enjoy it!
"Leaves, Mary, return at once. I will need help to accelerate this. Leave Nikos behind. Telka, Arc will remain as a guard. There is no one capable of breaking the curse in the vicinity. I need as much help as I can get".
A green pilar of light on the underground laboratory shone brightly.
Chad wasn't ready. The schedule was for later, but the monarchs' meddling had to be factored now.
"Also, Mary... check your contacts with the White Fang, I need to know the situation. I believe soon enough Clockwork will want results from us and I need to know what is going on with the underground world".
RWBY: Against All Odds
Meanwhile...
"Alright, after this, I will order you to give her mouth-to-mouth" said Tracy to Newton.
The boy nodded. It seemed Luna had taken extensive damage.
According to Bathory, Orlok used a peculiar attack that dealt bigger damage against greater defenses. It wasn't normally practical, but he made it be.
And now...
"Do it!" Ordered Tracy.
Newton closed in. However, Luna grabbed him and kissed his lips before he could do anything.
Surprised, he looked torwards Tracy.
The girl with bloodied nose extended her hand and high-fived Luna with a laugh.
"Always works".
Luna laughed.
"Always".
Newton felt something inside him. He felt... used.
"You tricked me!"
A hand rested in his shoulder. It was Bathory's.
"It is your own fault for getting tricked" she smiled at him as her hand went from his shoulder to his hair. "Such a cute blacksmith".
"Princess, please".
"Regardless, we have more issues to deal with at hand. And we have to find Orlok".
Luna stretched herself.
"First, take that hand off his hair. Second, I thought Orlok was innocent?"
"How long have you been awake?!" Asked Tracy.
"This hand?" Asked Bathory. "Fine" she let go of Newton's hair and hugged him from behind. "See, out of his hair".
"Am I being flirted with here?" Asked Newton confused.
"I don't know" answered Tracy.
"Sheesh" said Luna. "First your best buddy's childhood friend, then his sister? That's a big lack of pureblooded morals, Newton".
"He is not a pureblood" answered Bathory while letting him go. "And I just wanted to play for a while after seeing you three do it a little. Regardless, Orlok may be innocent, and, as much as I want to apologize to him and make it up, I still believe he imposes a problem for our image in the city".
Tracy looked at Bathory in the eyes.
"You still don't understand what this is about, right? Did you ever believe in any of your brothers at all, Bathory? Because, to me, you never did".
"In-ten-se" muttered Luna.
"Stop, you both" said Newton.
"No" Bathory didn't even look.
"Silence, Newton" Tracy merely side-glanced.
"STOP!" Newton showed them his scroll. "This is important. It's about Vlad. Ravenna got evidence that he may be alive".
Chapter: Wild Card
Ruby and Blake looked at the trails.
Bones of rats and bats, dried without meat or blood were scattered here and there.
I LIVE
I WILL RETURN
THE PRINCE IS ME
Messages like those were spread through the sewers.
But...
"We don't have time for this..." muttered Ruby.
"Ruby, this essentially proves-" before Blake could speak...
"We don't have time to track the Impaler Vampire" answered the red-hooded girl. "As far as we know, terrorist attacks may be happening in the surface, two monarchs are going crazy and Jaune and Pyrrha may need help as soon as possible. We need to focus on what's happening now".
Blake seemed to want to complain, but soon realized her argument was a good one. Tepes was alive, but missing, Jaune and Pyrrha were in danger, but at a specific location.
"Got it".
"... and that's all. It seems that Nosferatu guy really is related with a small group in the White Fang. Well, but regarding the situation..."
Leaves looked as Mary talked to Chad through the scroll.
Finally, her gaze fell to the ground, where Pyrrha Nikos lied defeated.
She merely fainted, but...
Wouldn't she pose a danger sooner or later? Leaving her there seemed a bad idea.
However, Chad's orders were ones she personally learned to NOT question. Her leader might as well have been a war general. The strategical powess she saw on the past couldn't be compared.
Mary closed the scroll.
"Chad said to leave her there. She won't wake up for a while anyway. Let's go, Leafy. You help is needed the most".
Leaves nodded and followed Mary.
Behind, Pyrrha's knocked out body on the ground didn't move.
Running through the streets, he aproached the scrapyard.
Who was he?
"Explain" he ordered through the scroll.
"Okay!" Merlina's voice came from the other side. "Whoever is behind all of this employed the help of a particular team of talented Mechanics from Clockwork. This isn't exactly surprising, as Clockwork has a higher faunus ratio than humans when compared to Beacon. Likewise, this means it's essentially easier to find someone tied with a criminal group there".
"Get to the point!" He said.
"Okay! So, I have evidence that this particular team is team CLMT (Calamity), a first-year team lead by Chad Es Shade, a boy that looks like a girl. Chad is really, REALLY, smart. If someone was capable of doing this whole thing, it was him. His team also has Leaves Ellis, a girl with... well, Red Hair".
"Wait... then Leaves is-"
"Probably. This isn't the screwed up part actually. Leaves' semblance is [Curse]. She can cause illusions among other things. Regardless, I have reasons to believe that she may have used a particular curse called the [Curse of the Beast] on the boy called Jaune Arc".
"... why?"
He could hear a laugh from the other side of the scroll. On the way, the buildings structure changed. He was probably getting closer.
"Because I can see framents of the future. Second, because Chad uses the pieces of his chess board very, VERY, well. He dragged everyone he could use from the beginning and set up failsafes in different situations. He probably took into account Arc would sooner or later figue out somehow his hideout and deal with hom accordingly".
"So what? Why curse? Why not just kill Jaune?"
"Because, little hunter, when you kill someone, there are many consequences. I'm an assassin, I know that. The Curse of the Beast makes Arc obey their commands. It twists his mind and powers up the person a LOT. And, well, if you didn't know it, Arc comes from a lineage of heroes. He probably has a lot of power that the curse can corrupt and use. It will have it's consequences on his body, but oh well..."
"... how do I break the curse" asked the boy while running.
"Love!"
He stopped on his tracks.
"I'm out".
"No! No! No! Listen to me!" Merline giggled a bit. "Love is the way to break it, yes, but it doesn't need to be romantic. It can be fraternal love or, in some situations, friendship. The curse of the beast is rather ambiguous. As long as you can reach for the person deep down on the darkness, you can break it!"
He got angry.
"Well, then we have a big problem here, lady! Because I'm not friends with Jaune. There is no way someone like me can break the curse".
"And what is someone like you, Cardin?"
She finally said his name.
In the end, the person Merlina seeked and found was Cardin Winchester.
"I will answer that question myself" she continued. "You are, for all intents and purposes in all that society knows, a bully. But I have my ways to see people. That path is one you have averted a while ago".
"You know nothing".
"My visions don't lie" he felt her voice was serious. "Arc did something to you that set you on the right path. Not to mention, you were the Wild Card I was seeking. During the night they tried to kill Vlad, you were the one that interfered. And, a few days ago, you were the one that messed up with the systems".
Cardin opened his eyes wide.
"How do you-"
"An amateur's job, Winchester. If you were discovered, you would go straight to jail and people would think it was related to the murder. But... I think that's one of the things it wouldn't matter. You did what you did to help Jaune, so that he wouldn't be suspected anymore and I cleaned you mess. How about a thanks?"
Cardin got angry.
"Fine! Maybe you are right! Maybe I'm trying to help! Maybe I care a little, but SCREW IT! You are putting me to go there to fight an empowered Jaune. If I'm catching this right, the guy will eant nothing more than to kill me once I get there and with the curse thing, he seems way more capable than me in a battle!"
"And yet, you are the one that can save him".
"You are insane!" Shouted Cardin at the scroll. "There are so many better people to reach him than me and break the curse. Why didn't you try them?"
Merlina giggled.
"Fine, name them!"
"Pyrrha Nikos".
"Contact with her has been lost. As far as I know, she isn't cursed, but won't help in the near future".
"Stupid vision thingy!"
"Well, then you believe I can see the future?"
"Shut up! Well... then the rest of his team?" Asked Cardin again.
"In the hospital. Even if they went now, they are too far. Chad, however, doesn't seem to need a lot of time. When he finishes what he needs, who will be there to save your friend".
"He isn't my friend... fine, then..."
"Team RWBY isn't available either" said Merlina. "Half of it is in Beacon and the other half won't arrive in a while. You are the closest one, Cardin".
"Damn it!"
"Watch your mouth. Well, anyway, if it serves on any consolation, I believe in you, Winchester. If there is anyone left that may save Arc, it's you".
Cardin clenched his teeth.
Before he knew it, once again he was running to the scrapyard.
Why?
Why was he running?
He didn't know.
"That's the spirit" said Merlina. "Good luck, Cardin".
At the scrapyard...
The [Beast] looked ahead.
Eyes like ominous blue stars watched as someone aproached. That someone was an enemy.
The orders were clear: kill anyone that dared pass through.
The Beast stood still. His left hand held nothing, his right hand held a black sword.
Crocea Mors, covered by his corrupted aura released a black glow akin to the night.
The Beast looked forward. The intruder was actually someone he knew. Someone he knew very well.
Someone he hated at one point in the past.
"Hell no..." muttered Cardin.
Jaune's eyes had the white portions blackened out.
The blue of his iris was of an ominous cyan and his skin was of a pale from the dead.
His black hoodie had blood stains and a hole that revealed his chest underneath. It almost seemed like a sword passed through that.
His clothes had many scorch marks, as if at one point someone tried to burn him alive.
That Jaune looked like someone that had come back from the dead just to kill Cardin.
Jaune stepped forward, releasing a violent aura reeking of blood.
"One more step... and your life shall be forfeited".
Cardin backed down. As much as he hated to say it, the Jaune right now in front of him had enough to make him tremble.
"O-Okay. Here, see? I'm totes not walking further".
"Still mocking me as ever Cardin" Jaune looked scornfully at him. "I must have been really an idiot in the past".
"W-Why is that?"
"Because" Jaune pointed his sword and Cardin. "I should have just killed you when you discovered my secret than becoming your slave".
"You... you don't mean".
"Oh, but I mean" Jaune nodded in anger. "Killing you there was just giving the world a favor".
"O-Okay, look" Cardin raised his hands. "I admit I was pretty much an ass back there, and I still am, but, well, let's just put down that sword and talk, alright?"
"No".
"O... kay..." Cardin felt like cursing Merlina right now if there wasn't that freak in front of him right there. "Look, I understand you want to beat the crap out of me. A lot of people actually do. I beat some of those people could write stories about you beating the shit out of me and comemorating anywhere, but... Jaune, buddy, this isn't you. You are more than that, remember? You never went as far as that".
"Yes" Jaune hatefully agreed. "And what did that give me? It only gave me weeks of shame and torture at your hands, remember?"
"Y-Yes... but..."
'But what?' He asked himself. 'What the f#ck did I come here for?'
He looked at Jaune, that thing looked like he could kill Cardin in less than a second.
'To defeat him? Like hell I can. To break the curse? How can I even reach him? Truth to be told, this all just karma coming to collect my debts. In the end, that's all I was and am, a f#cking bully. But here I am, because the crap went on and on to the point the only one left to do anything is me'.
'And look at that...' Cardin could see his own reflection in Jaune's eyes. He could see his own fear. 'No one believes in me... and not even I believe in myself'.
However...
'But...'
He was already there...
'I still went all the way here...'
Even with all the odds against him...
'Might as well try and go for it'.
He remembered Merlina's words.
'Alright, witch. If you really believe I can do anything. It's about time some mumbo jumbo happened to help me. Because I sure as hell can't beat him in combat and sure as hell can't reach Jaune with my words.
Cardin stepped forward.
Jaune eyebrow twitched in anger.
"I thought I made myself clear... I said that..."
"That if I went any further, I would be giving away my life, right?" Asked Cardin. "Well, back in the past, no matter what I did, you didn't come after me. I... believe in the you deep down. The person that just tried to make the right things. I know you won't kill me, Jaune".
"Hehehe... Hahahahaha!" Jaune released a laugh, but it only made Cardin more afraid. "This is priceless. You see, Cardin? There is only one person that I would want to kill more than you. Can you guess it?"
Cardin shook his head.
Jaune drew his sword.
"It's Past Me" cutting the air, he released a wave of black energy. "That coward that never did anythig for himself".
The wave went closer and closer. The more it travelled, the bigger it became.
Cardin couldn't do anything. Too large to evade, too surprised to block.
The wave covered his view and he felt cracks opening in his armor.
"Sweet dreams, Cardin" said Jaune with a happy voice. "I hope you rest. Not in peace, but in pain!"
.
.
.
'Why?'
.
.
.
'Why?'
.
.
.
'Why even after all that...
'... I still went on and tried?'
.
.
.
His entire body covered in pain, his consciousness robbed of him.
Cardin only remembered one thing: one scene on the past.
Not much different than now, he was on the ground.
His team had abandoned him and a monster would kill him.
But it didn't.
'... oh'.
In the end, someone stood up for him.
'Now I remember'.
The blonde, hopeless idiot was there. Sword in one hand, shield in another.
'Yes... now I remember...'
'I am a bigger idiot. How to reach out for the soul deep down? You already showed me that back there. Not with words, but with actions'.
'With your heroism'.
Heretic: NOW! Play the ''Battle Against a True Hero''
Cardin opened his eyes.
His armor was full of cracks and his body was screaming in pain, but he still got up in that scrapyard.
"How?" Asked Jaune surprised.
"You ask 'how'? Simple: the same way you got up when I called my entire team to beat you down on the Forever Fall. I just don't want to stay down".
Cardin smirked even in pain.
Jaune glared at him.
"Until the very end you mock me, right Cardin?"
"Yes" he nodded. "But you know what, Jaune? That didn't stop you from doing the right thing. That didn't stop you from giving me a chance. That didn't stop you from saving my life!"
"I WAS AN IDIOT!"
"NO!" Shouted Cardin. "You know what you were? YOU WERE A HERO!" Cardin held his mace with his two hands. "You saved me, Jaune".
"It was a mistake".
"You didn't just save my life! You saved the whole future ahead of me! You were a weakling back there, but look at you now. Are you proud of you? Is that what you really wanted to become? What motivated all of your actions wasn't..."
"Shut up!"
"Wasn't it becoming a hero!"
"SHUT UP!"
"MAKE ME!" Shouted Cardin back.
Jaune glared at him.
Cardin smiled.
"C'mon. If you wanna so bad to see me shutting up, then go for it and beat the crap out of me. You never did it before and you won't do it now, you know why?"
Jaune drew his sword.
"You got some nerve to preach after all you have done. I am cleaning the world of your existence, CARDIN!"
Jaune slashed the air, releasing the black energy wave.
'You know why?' Asked Cardin mentally as the attack aproached.
'It's because you were a dork... But a dork with the heart of a hero'.
The bully defeated in the forest of red petals.
The weakling that stood for him in the very end.
They were different. One was a villain and the other was a hero.
A life was saved that day. Eyes were opened to a better world.
Now, fate put those two in opposite sides, the hero assuming the role of a villain.
In that situation, all that was left was...
Cardin held his mace with his two hands.
"You became the hero that saved me back there!" The memories of that very day in the past motivated him until the present.
In the end, no one believed in Cardin and he knew it.
There were hundreds of better people to do that job.
There were better people to do it.
But now, he was there.
And he knew what had to be done.
Jaune already showed him:
It was the right thing.
"So... It's time for me to become the hero that will save you, JAUNE! ! !"
Arc 3: Reversed Roles
START
Heretic notes:
:O
Climatic... build up!
Hehehehe...
This chapter was made specially to give readers some mixed feelings.
I know you lot, when watching RWBY, wanted nothing more to see someone beat the crap out of Cardin.
And now... do you still want that?
If you are reconsidering, then I'm pretty good at my job.
:]
TH4T'S R1GHT, 3V3RYTH1NG JUST TO S33 YOU GUYS CONFL1CT3D!
To make you people cheer for the last person possible in the most screwed up fight of the oddest arc!
Trading the roles...
Jaune as the villain, Cardin as the hero!
MWAHAHAHAHA!
Feel the conflictions permeate through your body!
F33L 1T! ! !
Heretic, out!