All of Jaune's secrets are revealed, and the consequences are almost too much to handle.
Chapter Notes
Also, {} indicates Morse code or sign language.
"That was embarrassing," Mercury laughed as he saw Jaune collapse after he was struck in the gut ruthlessly by Cardin.
"That's enough, Cardin!" Mrs. Goodwitch shouted at Cardin to stop him from flattening the blonde boy's head.
"Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's aura has now dropped in the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that he is no longer fit for battle and the official would be free to call the match."
The student in question was still on the floor, as he was exhausted from watching Cardin batter him into the ground. Perhaps that was why he could not hear Mrs. Goodwitch's advice, he was too tired, either that or because he had heard the same advice severally already.
Most likely, Cardin beat my sense of hearing out of me.
"Remember everyone, the Vytal festival is only a few months away! So, keep training as whoever participates will be representing the whole of Vale!"
Oh, no, there it is, Jaune mused, referring to his hearing as he was able to hear the last part of Mrs. Goodwitch's announcement.
"I would appreciate it if you stayed behind Mr. Arc," Principal Ozpin, who appeared out of nowhere with a cup of coffee and a kind smile. `
"Okay, sure," he said, confident that he was in trouble.
What if he found out that my transcripts are fake?
"Mr. Arc," he said while caressing his coffee mug, "I know that your transcripts are fake. I've known since you enrolled."
Jaune had feared it, but the shock still sent him reeling, feeling dizzier than when Cardin had used him as a punching bag earlier.
Wait, is his Semblance something like reading minds? Does that mean he can hear me right now?
"No Mr. Arc, I cannot read minds... although that would be really cool wouldn't it?"
"I-if you knew that my transcripts were fake," Jaune said as he held his head in his hands, trying to form a coherent sentence, "Why was I admitted into the school?"
"Good question, Mr. Arc, coffee?" the last part took Jaune by surprise as a coffee mug was pushed into his hands and he began to sip from it unconsciously.
"The reason I let you into Beacon, was because I saw potential in you; the potential to be a great warrior and a greater leader."
"P-potential? In me?" Jaune asked, wide-eyed even more shocked than he had been earlier.
"Yes, Mr. Arc… However, the past several weeks have been… underwhelming to say the least."
Jaune's head fell in shame, remembering every embarrassing thing that had happened to him since he was admitted: being shoved into lockers, pushed around, having his stuff taken from him, it had been humiliating.
"Not to fear young man, I know exactly how to help."
"Really?"
"Yes, I will be sending you to Vacuo, Shade Academy to be specific."
"You're… kicking me out?"
"Not at all, Mr. Arc, think of it more as a transfer, there's a particular teacher there who owes me a favour, and she's the perfect match for someone of your natural talents."
"But, that means…"
"I know that this is a difficult decision to make," Ozpin said as he stood up, ready to depart, "You'd be leaving your friends and comrades behind. It's okay to mull this over."
"Just think about this though; can you truly call yourself a leader if all you ever do is drag your teammates down?"
These incredibly harsh words were Principal Ozpin's closing call, as he left the classroom, taking his coffee mugs with him.
xXx
Later that day, Jaune was seated at the table with his friends, well most of his friends, Ruby and Weiss weren't at the table with him.
Ever since had Ruby stepped down from her position, and team RWBY voted for a new leader, there had been serious tension between the monochrome members of the team.
Basically, it was Weiss against everybody else; Blake was also angry at Ruby, for stepping down and giving Weiss the opportunity to become the leader, and Yang for voting for Weiss, and the whole thing was just a big fustercluck.
So, the girls of team RWBY or SYBR took turns; Blake sometimes sat with team AMEN, and when that happened, Ruby sat with team JNPR. Yang was pretty versatile, as she went to either group whenever the mood suited her, or even hung out with the older students.
Jaune felt bad for Weiss; she was the only one who was always isolated, he had tried to keep her company, but she wasn't having any pity. She was a Schnee after all; they were calm and noble, even when they were alone.
Today though, the only thing he could think about was his earlier conversation with Principal Ozpin, how was he supposed to make such an important choice?
"Jaune!" shouted Pyrrha, snapping the team JNPR leader out of his musing.
"Huh? What was that, Pyrrha?"
"Are you okay, Jaune?"
"Of course I'm okay," he said, "Why wouldn't I be?"
"We're not sure, but your fake smile probably has something to do with it," Nora answered, as she held Jaune's hand tightly, "You can tell us, whatever it is."
"I don't have any idea what you guys mean, I'm completely fine, trust me."
"Ow! That hurts," came a voice past team JNPR's table, it was Velvet Scarlatina, a second-year faunus student, and her bunny ears were being pulled on by another second-year student, Gordo Joseph, a member of team FROG.
"Atrocious," Pyrrha commented, after Gordo had let go of Velvet and she scampered of, "I can't stand people like him."
"It's not just him," Blake declared as she stared daggers at Weiss who was seated several seats away.
"I personally don't think Weiss has done anything particular to deserve being lumped in the same category as Gordo and his crew," Pyrrha said honestly.
Jaune agreed, nodding solemnly before his mind ventured back to his thoughts.
"What about the rest of Velvet's team? Surely, they wouldn't allow their teammate get bullied so publicly?"
"They definitely wouldn't," answered Yang, who was fairly familiar with the upperclassmen, "But they were all injured severely on their last mission, so they're recovering off campus. And Gordo is taking full advantage of that."
This talk seemed to enrage Blake even more as she rushed out of the dining hall, fuming.
"Wait, Blake, you were… supposed to treat me." Yang called out, although her voice faded to a mutter as she saw that Blake was long gone.
"Jaune," she said, "This is your lucky day; you get to treat me."
xXx
After History class, Ruby blitzed out of the classroom, prepared to push, shove and step on anyone who stood in her way; she had to make it to the… broom closet. Immediately she got in, she grabbed brooms, mops, detergent and pretty much anything that could be used to clean and then rushed back towards the class at what look like Mach speed.
"Ow, Ruby!" Jaune shouted after Ruby ran into him at the entrance of the class.
"Are you okay?" asked Pyrrha as she pulled both of them up.
"Yeah," Jaune answered although he still felt a little groggy from the clash.
Ruby didn't answer the redhead as she frantically tried to gather up the cleaning supplies.
"Are you okay, Ruby?"
"Oh, yeah, I'm great, just peachy," she responded in a tone that would've been unconvincing even if she wasn't staring at the cleaning supplies rather than making eye contact with them.
"Ruby!" Pyrrha said as she grabbed the silver-eyed girl by her shoulders and stared straight at her,
"Are you okay?"
Ruby's resistance was broken by Pyrrha's forceful and earnest approach, her eyes began to well up.
"I-it's him," the fifteen-year old sniffled, "Who? Who's 'him'?"
"Adam!"
"What did he do to you, Ruby?"
"He, he…"
xXx
It had all started a few weeks ago, the day that Weiss was voted as the new leader of team RWBY.
Ruby was feeling rather down and decided to take Adam up on his offer of talking and chocolate.
"What do you mean you have a new team leader?" Adam asked from his position the ceiling, scraping the gum from it (Don't ask how gum got there, you don't want to know).
"I mean it's no longer team RWBY; it's team SYBR."
"But the only way for a team leader to be removed is for her to request it or be reported for inappropriate conduct or severe ineptitude."
"Yeah, I kinda quit," she mentioned, shyly as she dodged the blobs of gum that fell from the ceiling.
"What?"
"I said that I sort of quit being team leader."
Immediately the words left her mouth, the atmosphere of the mostly empty classroom, and it seemed the undercover bull Faunus was the cause. The once-friendly Adam, with a calm and inviting disposition seemed to disappear and was replaced by an Adam with a scary, almost menacing presence.
The masked team leader drop from the ceiling, his scary presence becoming more imposing as he approached the silver-eyed ex-team leader.
"So, I gave a speech about taking responsibility and your takeaway was to pass on your responsibility as team leader to someone else?"
"Well, actually, I had already asked to be removed as a team leader before our talk."
This response led to Adam pausing his approach for a second, he was so surprised that he wanted to take his mask off so that he could properly facepalm.
"It seems strange that you didn't mention it during our talk," he responded calmly as he picked up a broom, his fearsome presence from earlier dissipated like a fart.
"I actually wanted to, but I sort of forgot," Ruby responded embarrassedly, forgetting her confusion at Adam's almost bipolar change in demeanour. Adam simply sighed; no longer surprised that she'd be able to forget something as important as that but remembered to tell him her favourite chocolate.
"I have tons of work to do," Adam muttered to himself.
"What was that?"
"Nothing important. So, Weiss is your new leader. What do you think about that?"
"I didn't vote for her, but I think she's capable of leading us, as soon as we start talking to each other again."
"There's friction in your team?"
"Yeah, it was so bad I spent lunch at your table."
"Apparently, Weiss doesn't really… well she's… she…"
"A bitch?" added Adam, putting an end to Ruby's hemming and hawing.
"Yeah, although that's a bad word."
Adam simply shrugged in response as he got back to mopping.
xXx
"We get it, you guys talked," interrupted Jaune, "But that doesn't explain why you're running
around with cleaning supplies and on the verge of tears."
"Well, we talked normally," Ruby answered, "but the next day, he started hitting me for no reason. And he wouldn't stop no matter how much I begged him to"
"Adam? Why would he do that?"
"I don't know, but he kept shouting stuff like: 'That's pathetic,' and 'I should learn to put up my guard in time if not I'll get hit.'"
The last sentence caused Jaune and Pyrrha's thinking to come to a standstill.
"Ruby, do you mean that he was training you?"
"Yes," Ruby answered boldly, oblivious to Pyrrha's menacing tone.
"And what's worse, he told me that I was his new assistant class rep."
Jaune and Pyrrha were flabbergasted; they were genuinely worried only to find out that she was just pulling their legs.
"Not just that," she added, grateful that she was able to gather sympathisers to her plight, "He-"
Ruby's statement was cut off by a chop to her head from… Pyrrha?
"Don't joke with us!" the world-renowned fighter said as she struck Ruby.
I can't believe you actually had us sympathizing with you, Pyrrha thought angrily.
"What did I do?" Ruby asked, holding on to her new bump.
"You made it seem as though he was bullying you when he's just mentoring you."
"I never said he bullied me, I was just trying to elicit sympathy because I don't like doing chores."
"Wait, Pyrrha, don't do it," Jaune shouted as he held Pyrrha back from delivering a series of chops to Ruby.
"Ruby!" came a shout from the classroom, which was followed by a terrifying presence that sent chills through the trio's spines. It was Adam, and he wasn't pleased, although he still greeted the other two politely as he dragged Ruby by her ear into the classroom.
"That was… something," Jaune commented, almost speechless.
"Move, loser!" Cardin said as he pushed Jaune to the floor. Pyrrha was prepared to teach Cardin some manners, as she balled her fist and made to follow him.
"Don't," Jaune said, grabbing her arm from his place on the floor, "Please."
The red-haired Sanctum Academy alumni took a deep breath and let go of her weapon.
"I will break his legs," she declared as she helped her team leader up. Suddenly, her eyes lit up as though she had suddenly gotten an idea.
"I'll see you later, Jaune," she said as she ran back towards the dorms.
"Finally, we're done," Ruby exclaimed in relief, "Somehow, this class manages to end up like this every day. It's like they do this on purp-"
She abruptly ended her question, as she saw the butt of a broom approaching her face.
"Ha!" she shouted victoriously as she was able to block the hit, "I won't fall the same trick twice."
"Why not?" Adam asked with his signature smile, "You've already fallen for it more than a dozen other times."
"Doesn't matter, I blocked this time, maybe I should be the class rep instead."
"Maybe," he said as he used the broom to trip her, "But after you clean that spot you missed."
"Ouch!"
"Either way, you've improved, I'm proud."
"Does that mean?"
"Yes, it does," he said as he pulled out a familiar box of chocolates and Ruby rushed at him faster than her Semblance could ever hope to take her.
"No matter how you look at it, I'm the one who's getting cheated. You just come for free sweets."
Ruby responded with a smile she thought was cute and would've been if not for the chocolate that still stained her teeth.
"I can't believe you actually made this," she mused as she popped another one into her mouth.
"I have a subordinate back in my village's militia who made them all the time, I picked it up since we spent so much time together."
"Seems like you and your subordinate are very close," Ruby stated with a teasing lilt to her voice.
"It's nothing like that," Adam scratched his head, seemingly embarrassed.
"Uh, Adam?"
"Yes?"
"Do you mind if I ask you something? It's kind of a personal question."
You're finally going to ask him about his mask Ruby. Don't back down, it'll be awkward but you can do it!
"Ask away."
"How come… your weapon looks so rough?"
I couldn't do it, the year one assistant class rep thought, I mean, how do you ask someone why they wear a mask? What if he's hiding a scar?
What if he's not confident about his looks? What if he's Batman? Wait, Ruby, back to the matter at hand.
"What?"
"I mean," said the brunette, with wide hand gestures, "It's really cool and practical, but it looks almost… makeshift. The hilt is actually too wide so it can make for a poor swing, although it does add weight to the blade since it's a little too light, not to mention that the blade is asymmetrical and… Adam?"
Ruby had seized her analysis of Nerium Thorn as she saw that Adam had unsheathed the blade. The White Fang leader was looking at the blade; running his gloved hand over the small cracks and faults that riddled the weapon he had once cleaned and maintained daily.
"I'm really sorry," Ruby apologised, while gesturing wildly in embarrassment, "I just kept running my mouth. What do I know about weapons? Nothing-"
"It's okay," said with a smile that was four parts reminiscent and six parts rueful, "The guy who made this sword was a real idiot."
xXx
"You notice how we haven't appeared in this chapter?" Emerald asked Mercury from inside their dorm room.
Neo suddenly started signing:
{Yeah, it's as though the author just put us here for comedic purpose and to give the main narrative a little time to breathe.}
"Speak for yourselves," Mercury declared smugly, "I got the first line in the chapter."
"The first line in a chapter that's nearly three thousand words in, what an achievement."
"Are we really not going to be relevant this chapter?" Mercury asked, his formerly smug demeanour gone.
"It's pretty sad seeing as we're the main antagonists, at least for now."
{I don't know about you guys, but I'm not going to be sidelined on one of the only non-smut fanfictions I'm a part of, I'm going to find a way to be relevant to the plot.}
xXx
Later that evening, while students were filing into the cafeteria for dinner, Pyrrha took Jaune by the hand and lead him to the roof of the school. The blonde team-leader followed behind her, severely confused.
"Pyrrha, I know I was feeling depressed earlier," Jaune said as he looked over the edge of the roof, "But this solution seems a little… permanent, and not the good kind."
"Don't even joke about that," Pyrrha responded, mortified that such an idea was brought up, jokingly or not.
"So, what did you bring me up here for?"
"We're going to train together," Pyrrha exclaimed enthusiastically, waiting for Jaune to express a similar zeal.
"Training?"
"Yeah, training. I got the idea from Adam and Ruby," she said, still awaiting his enthusiasm, "I thought that both of us could do the same, you know? Help you catch up with the rest of the class."
"You think I need help?"
"I didn't mean it like that."
"But you just said it. Is that what this is? You feel bad for me and you want to 'help' me?" Jaune snapped at Pyrrha, before lowering his voice and turning his face away in shame. "Am… am I that pitiful to you?"
"Jaune," Pyrrha whispered to her team leader. "Look at me," she added a little more forcefully,
"Now, get your head out of your backside." The only punctuation she used for that sentence was a gentle smack to the back of the head of the fourth-generation warrior.
"Jaune," she said holding his hand in hers, "Do you remember when we first met? I called you a natural-born leader and you proved it to us, all of us on that day. Since then, you've led us, whether it be training missions or food fights, you've led us and we all have faith in you."
"However, we know that you can't do everything, everyone needs help sometimes. I know I wouldn't be where I am today if not for friends and family and mentors that lifted me up unto a pedestal. Just this once, you can rely on me, on your team."
The two stayed there, silent for many a moment, her deep green eyes staring at him, urging him to trust in her, his blue eyes avoiding her gaze, too ashamed to try and read it.
"You, you're wrong about me," he said finally, "I'm no leader; I'm not even supposed to be here."
"What do you mean by that? Jaune, you have as much of a right to be here as any other student."
"That's… that's not true."
"I don't understand, what do you mean it isn't true?"
"My transcripts, they're fake. I graduated from combat school, I never passed the entrance exams, I never did anything to earn my place here... I only lied to get to where I am."
"I-I, don't…" Pyrrha spoke, tripping over which words to say, "Why?"
"Because my father was a warrior, as strong as any huntsman, my entire family was but I'm… nothing."
"Then let me help you!"
"I don't want help!" he shouted at her, suddenly turning his face to her in frustrated anger, "I don't want to be the lovable idiot, stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives!"
"Jaune, I-"
"Don't you understand?" he said grabbing her shoulders.
"I'm supposed to be the leader," he chuckled mirthlessly as though finding the fact comical.
"If I can't even do this, what's the point? What's the point of a leader who can only drag his friends down?"
The last two sentences were spoken a lot more sombrely and into the distance so that it seemed that he was speaking to someone besides the Invincible Girl.
"I'm sorry," he said, realizing that his hands were gripping her shoulders tightly, "I-I… can you leave me alone for a while?"
Pyrrha simply nodded as she walked past her team leader and back down into the school.
Jaune stood silently on the roof, his confusion, shame and doubt weighing him down so much that he couldn't lift his head. Meanwhile, on a nearby balcony, Neo watched the scene and giggled silently. The mute girl deftly glided down until she got back to the dorm, and she mischievously skipped to her room.
xXx
Meanwhile, Pyrrha was wandering the halls of Beacon Academy confusedly.
I should have said something else, I should have… I don't know what I should've done. I don't even know what to think anymore... Jaune, he lied his way into Beacon?
"Nikos!" came a voice from behind her, a voice that had probably called her more than once, though she couldn't know since her mind was pretty numb.
"It's about time for dinner," Adam, the one who had been calling her, "So you should head to the mess hall. I hear there's chance of getting pie if you hurry."
With that said, he jogged past her probably to carry out some random errand for one of the professors who had taken a liking to him because of his earnest behaviour and work ethic.
He actually always rushed to get his meal, and then he'd keep it aside and be a gopher for the various staff. Everything from help in grading papers to discussing their strange discoveries and stories.
"Could... I ask you something?" Pyrrha asked, whispering, expecting and almost hoping that he didn't hear her.
"Sure," he answered from the end of the hall, "But I'm running some errands, so you'll have to move about with me."
"Oh, okay then," she said as she shyly approached Adam, "So, what kind of errands are we running?"
xXx
"I don't think this counts as an errand!" the world class fighter shouted as she ran fervently in Mr. Port's Grimm Studies class, closely followed by a Spider Droid.
"Are you kidding me?" he responded as he ran past her, "I do this stuff all the time."
As though in response to the bull Faunus' smug declaration, the Spider Droid delivered a shot from one of its cannons, sending him flying across the room.
"This really takes me back," he said, recalling the last fight he had with a Spider Droid.
Seems they've improved it since then, he thought, noticing that it was much more agile than before. He cursed his luck that Wilt and Blush weren't with him but still decided to push forward and assist Pyrrha who was engaged with the droid by herself.
He jumped unto the droid's back, and attempted stabbing into its nape with a piece of wood he had recovered from the broken desk that was blanketed in his aura.
Aura was generally restricted to one's form, but with sufficient training, one could extend it to objects and even other people thereby giving it characteristics that one would experience when their aura was active.
Before he could strike though, the mechanic monstrosity began spinning, throwing the taurine faunus off its back and at Pyrrha's feet.
"How're you holding up?" he asked from his position on the floor.
"Great, actually," her response too chipper for someone who was fighting a construct of the great Atlesian military.
Pyrrha had always been a strange girl; not just because she was extremely talented, not just because she was disciplined and accomplished, but because she was bred for battle. She wasn't supportive of violence, and tried to avoid it as much as possible, but she found herself feeling ecstasy whenever she was in a fray, because she was good, no she was amazing at it.
The Mistral world-renowned fighter brandished a mop and rushed at the machine.
This, is so much better than talking!
xXx
Back on the roof, Jaune was still standing, thinking deeply; he was actually just thinking about what an idiot he was. He acted like a complete jerk when Pyrrha was only trying to help him out.
"I'm such a terrible leader."
"Can't argue with that," came a voice from behind the fourth generation Arc warrior, it was Mercury Black.
"Oh, hey Mercury," Jaune responded uncomfortably; he had always been that way around his grey-haired classmate, he felt that there was something innately scary about him.
"I'll be going now," Jaune declared seeing that Mercury wasn't going to proffer any response to his greeting, and unwilling to stew in the awkwardness. "You know, I heard from a little bird that you might know something about fake transcripts."
Jaune froze on the spot, hoping desperately that he had misheard the team AMEN member.
"W-What?" his voice was almost unrecognisable, high-pitched and suddenly dry from the shock.
"You know, transcripts, evidence that you graduated from a combat school."
"Mercury, please you can't tell anyone this, I really need this to remain secret, no one can know."
Immediately Jaune completed his appeal, Mercury burst into a laughing fit that could only be described as grotesque; it was almost villainous, but at the same time empty, as though the laughter wasn't there as just laughter, it was just an omen to something much worse.
"I'm sorry," he said in between bouts, "I just can't believe that the first thing that comes to your mind is others not finding out."
"Do you even understand where you are right now?" Mercury asked soberly, and Jaune couldn't,
for the life of him, tell where the boy that laughed himself almost red-faced just now had gone to.
"Excuse me?"
"This is Beacon Academy; it isn't the set of some dumb coming of age play. Or are you too stupid to understand even that?"
"I… I understand that," Jaune said boldly, "I understand that Beacon is no joke, but I've decided not to quit, I'm going to become a Huntsman and a worthy leader. That's a promise I've made to myself and my team."
"Promise?" Mercury asked, genuinely confused.
"Yea-" Jaune's answer was interrupted by a kick to the gut that sent him flying off the roof.
Luckily, he was able to get his guard up in time, activating his aura, but being unable to stand his ground and instead being knocked down to a secondary roof.
Mercury wasn't going to let him get away that easily though; he jumped down to Jaune's level and rushed the team JNPR leader. Jaune stood his ground… for like a second before his body was thrown down once again. This time, he fell onto the school's courtyard, gathering attention from the students who were in the cafeteria at the time.
"You promised that you'd become a great Huntsman or something? But I want to know, what happens if I cripple you right here and now? How're you going to keep your promise then?"
Mercury's voice projected eerily, assurance that he wasn't done yet.
"W-why are you doing this?" Jaune, who was unsuccessfully trying to get up, asked, feeling more and more confused.
"Because," Mercury said, grabbing a fistful of blonde hair and leaning in to whisper in his ear, "I hate people like you; weaklings who forget their place."
"Not to mention," he continued, letting go of his hair and beginning a vicious barrage of kicks, "I love it when I get to teach you where you belong."
xXx
Jaune was confused, Mercury had attacked him out of the blue, and he had already knocked the explanation he had given him out of Jaune's head three kicks ago. He was hurting, but there was nothing he could do about it, he could only curl up while Mercury had his way, he could only watch through a swollen eye while Mercury proved that his parents were right in doubting him, that he was too weak to even stand up for himself.
No! I've done too much to just quit here. I have to get up!
Surprisingly, his body responded to his commands, his aura began to light up, healing his wounds and strengthening his body. He burst out suddenly, able to push Mercury, who was carelessly throwing kicks and not paying attention to his opponent, back.
Jaune felt his aura burn brighter than it had ever done. He felt an sudden transformation in that moment, it felt so significant that for the first time in a long time, his dreams weren't just his hopes and fantasies, he actually believed that he could do it.
I'm going to be a Huntsman! he declared firmly, getting up to his feet, No matter what anybody says, I'm going to be a Hunstman!
Immediately, he threw a punch at Mercury, the most powerful that he had ever thrown; he channelled all his hopes, fears, frustration and doubt into that punch, hoping, knowing it would communicate all of it better than he ever could.
xXx
"Now!" Adam shouted to Pyrrha, who immediately lifted the Spider Droid into the air with her Semblance.
"Hurry!" she shouted, the strain of the action evident.
Adam simply smiled as he jumped up and past the Atlesian death machine and turned midair, the plank in his hand had been traded for part of a metal windowpane, and it suddenly exploded with bright red aura as he swung it at the suspended Spider Droid, effectively dividing it into two.
"What a magnificent aura," Pyrrha whispered unconsciously amidst the fireworks created by the destruction of the Spider Droid.
"That was…" Adam mused for a proper word once he landed next to his partner.
"Exciting!" interjected Pyrrha.
"Frustrating's more like it," Adam responded.
"What was an Atlesian Spider Droid doing in our Grimm Studies class?"
"An important question, but one that can wait till tomorrow don't you think?" he said as he opened the nearly completely destroyed door for her.
xXx
"I thought we set that test pretty well," said Ozpin who had been watching the entire thing on his personal scroll, alongside Mrs. Goodwitch.
"I didn't expect him to be able to dispatch it without using his Semblance. Though to be fair, Nikos was there with him."
"We're in no doubt in for a ride when it comes to Mr. Vulpes."
xXx
In the hallways, Adam and Pyrrha approached the dorms quietly, still a little tired from their earlier scrimmage. "
What did you want to ask me again?"
"Oh, that?" she asked, scratching her head embarrassingly, "Kinda embarrassing that I forgot my own question."
"It happens more often than you'd think."
"Okay, then. I… wonder what is going in the courtyard," she said, noticing that something was gathering a crowd there.
xXx
W-what happened, thought Jaune groggily, he was back on the floor, except this time Mercury was on him, humming while he tried to cave his skull in.
He suddenly remembered; his punch had landed, but Mercury blocked it easily, and proceeded to punish him for his failed attempt.
The scene was horrible; each punch brought with it the crack of bones which sent a collective chill down the audience's spine. What made the scene scarier was the fact that the Mercury that the school knew; the skilled fighter who was always aloof was nowhere to be found, his presence was that of a beast, it was bloodthirsty and it was feeding its craving.
Suddenly though, his punches stopped.
"Hey, let me let you in on a little secret," he whispered,
"Weaklings don't get to have anything."
"No hopes," as a punch landed.
"No dreams," as he pushed Jaune's guard aside and landed another one.
"Nothing! The only thing you're entitled to is what we give you."
Suddenly, he turned around to see a streak of red and bronze charging at him.
"Thanks boss," he said to Adam who had jumped in front of him to intercept the streak.
"Move!"
"Your teammate is wounded," Adam responded calmly, "You should take him to the infirmary."
After a few long seconds of staring, she pulled Milo' away and approached Jaune's wounded body and picked it up gently.
xXx
Pyrrha got all the way to the door of the infirmary, when she felt a tugging at her clothes, it was
Jaune.
"Could you put me down, please?" he asked meekly. Pyrrha quickly complied, as she lowered her team leader gently.
"Jaune, what are you doing," she asked seeing the blonde swordsman getting on his knees.
"Please, Pyrrha," he whispered at her feet, kowtowing fully, "Please, teach me how to fight!"
The proud Arc warrior shed the last of his pride, perhaps the last thing that was holding him back.
xXx
"What were you thinking?" Adam whispered harshly as Pyrrha left and the crowd dispersed.
"Don't know," Mercury said, standing up from his seat on the ground, "I just really hate guys like that."
"How did this happen, Emerald?"
Adam asked the green-haired girl who had appeared at his side at some point.
"Well… It started with..."
xXx
{I'm back,} Neo signed as she stepped into the room.
"What d'you want, Neo?" Mercury asked irritably, though one wouldn't really notice that next to the bucket of ice cream he was diving into.
Neo looked inquisitively at Emerald, confused at his actions.
"Ignore him," Emerald responded in annoyance, "He's having a crisis over being irrelevant in this chapter."
"You don't get it; you haven't been relevant in any chapter, so you aren't bothered since you've never been important to the plot." Emerald simply rolled her eyes, although she was upset by this fact.
{I found a way to get into the plot,} Neo signed as she smiled victoriously
"Really?"
"But didn't the author say that this chapter was for Jaune and to give him some seriously needed development, although the exact same thing happens in the show. Fanfiction as a genre is already unoriginal, who'd have thought this author could make it even more uncreative."
{Yes, this chapter is for Jaune, that's why we're going to do exactly what the author intends; we're going to develop Jaune.}
"How do you mean?"
Neo proceeds to tell them the information she got from eavesdropping on Jaune and Pyrrha.
Immediately after hearing/seeing what she had to say, Mercury dashed out of the room, looking for Jaune.
Emerald made to follow him, but Neo held her back.
"How come he gets to go and I don't?"
{Because your presence makes no sense in the plot.}
"And Mercury's does?"
{Mercury's presence makes perfect sense. Considering his backstory which this author will probably forget to explore.}
"What happened to defying the author and hijacking the plot?"
{It still has to make sense, or people will stop reading it, though}
Emerald simply hmphed angrily in response to being sidelined from the main plot once more.
xXx
"Wait, what was all that?" Adam asked, "Wasn't part of the point of this rewrite to cut out ridiculous breaking the fourth wall scenes?"
"Yeah, but this is fanfiction; it's literally the freest format ever, so why not just have fun with it?"
"Still, we're trying to convince the readers that this is a serious story. Many probably dropped the fic after seeing you guys' dialogue."
"Well of course the story's going to be serious, but being goofy fits RWBY. I'm sure at least one person will find it actually funny."
"I hope so," Adam said, walking back to the dorms, "I get some pretty cool scenes in this and it'd suck if only this kid's mom reads it."