Hello, and thank you for taking the time to read this story!
I don't care how small this community is, I always wanted to write this story ever since I finished RWBY Volume 9, and as a mega-fan of Warframe this was such a golden opportunity for me, especially now that I've dug through nearly every nook and cranny in the Duviri Paradox. The lore about the Man in the Wall is so fascinating, and I can't wait for the next upcoming quests they'll reveal at Tennocon! Here's hoping for some good reveals and hopefully Gauss Prime!
Feel free to leave your thoughts on this story, and also feel free to correct me on anything I may have been mistaken on in terms of Warframe's lore.
"Presentism, the obsolete theory of linear time, posits that now is all that is real. In this frame, the Present Absolute, the now, moves constantly toward the future. And leaves the static past behind, discarded, consigned to unreality. The future remains to be discovered, but is less real than even the past. The Void offers humanity the truer telling of Eternalism. That now is merely a facet of a great block. It is relative... and we can change the frame. The tyranny of the Present Absolute is overthrown. Tomorrow is now its equal."
-Euleria Entrati
Chapter 1: Is This Real? Or Some… Fevered Dream?
Ever get that feeling you're stuck?
Spinning inside your little wheel. Only to find… your right back where you started.
And so it goes, day by day, year by year, until you're dead inside.
You feel nothing. You're just a prisoner… trapped in the spiral of someone else's dream.
You lose all your memories… and you just don't care anymore.
And that's how Jaune Arc felt as he was hauled by a pair of Dax guards towards his executioner. Tossed to the ground, he barely even fought back as Lodun, the so-called "Prince of Fire", gave him a look of utter contempt, one he couldn't even bother responding to other than with a roll of his eyes.
"Back again with your old antics!? How many times do we have to repeat this blasted dance over and over again!? By order of His Majesty Dominus Thrax, you are forbidden from leaving Duviri! And worse, you dare to gallivant around MY kingdom!?" Lodun screamed, his characteristic fury making itself known.
"Oh, for fuck's sake, let's just get this over with." Jaune retorted, taking only the slightest bit of delight from seeing Lodun practically turn purple with anger. "We both know how this ends, so just kill me already. Unless you wanna keep yelling to all of Duviri how much of an ass you are? You really think Thrax gives a shit about how better suited you think you are for the throne?"
"You will shut that cursed mouth of yours before I shut it for you!" Lodun raged. Jaune could tell he was resisting with all his might to not bash him in the head with his clipboard, and with a flick of Lodun's head, he was pushed to a kneeling position in front of the Prince of Fire.
"For your continued defiance of His Majesty's orders, and for continuing to be a pain in my ass, DEATH BY… IMPALEMENT!"
"Here we go again…" Jaune thought to himself. In no time at all, one of the Dax soldiers pulled out their Nikana and quickly stabbed him straight through the chest, easily bypassing the long-since rusted armor he wore over his body. Despite the sharp pain that blossomed through his chest as the blade sliced his heart into two, Jaune barely reacted, maintaining an indifferent expression on his face as he slumped to the floor, his blood already forming a large pool around him.
After all, he had been sentenced with 'DEATH BY IMPALEMENT!' countless times already.
How long had he been going through the same cycle over and over again? Since when did he arrive here in this strange land, and how many times had he been hunted down again and again by the Dominus?
He had long since forgotten his origins, only barely remembering his own name. He had no idea if he had any family, or if he was even born here at all. All he knew was that he wanted to leave, but the ruler of this world, Dominus Thrax, was hell-bent on making sure that he stayed.
And he absolutely refused to let him die a permanent death.
Sitting atop his curved throne, the Dominus watched with simmering anger, watching the rusted knight fall to Dax metal once again.
"Begin… again!"
And he slammed his fist down, starting the cycle once more.
"AAAAHHHHH!"
In another world, Jaune Arc shot up from his bed, the blanket and pillows tossed to the floor as he clutched his burning chest.
"Woah, where's the fire!?"
"Jaune!?"
To his side, his teammates Nora and Pyrrha suddenly woke from their slumber, with poor Ren getting knocked to the floor by his partner.
"Jaune, are you okay?"
Pyrrha quickly shuffled to his side as she took notice of the pained expression on his face, taking out a small towel and wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Is Fearless Leader having a heart attack?" Nora squeaked.
"I think he's too young for that." Ren deadpanned, but he too looked on in worry.
"Guys, I'm… I'm okay." Jaune finally said, moving Pyrrha's hand away from his head as his heartbeat finally returned to normal.
"Are you sure? Did you get hurt by that Ursa yesterday?" Pyrrha immediately grew fearful, worried that she may have missed something when she arrived to stealthily intervene during Jaune's fight with the Grimm.
"No, no, I'm pretty sure that I didn't get hurt yesterday. But it's weird, it felt like I got stabbed through the chest." Jaune unzipped part of his onesie and ran his hand through his chest, surprised to see no mark or bloody crater where his heart should be.
'Strange… it felt so real though…'
"Did you maybe have a nightmare?" Ren asked. "I heard that if you have a really bad one it could sometimes feel like the real thing."
"If it was a nightmare, then I blame Nora for making me eat pancakes for dinner." Jaune said with a slight glare, ignoring Nora's scream of 'blasphemy!'.
"What kind of nightmare did you have?" Pyrrha asked.
"It was weird. I dreamt that I was the Rusted Knight, and I was in this weird world, with a giant ship floating in the sky, and there were all these silver… knights? They dragged me towards this really angry guy who sentenced me to death, and then I got stabbed through the chest?"
"What a weird nightmare? Were you reading old fairy tales last night?" Nora asked. "I thought you read those Xray and Vav comics with Ruby?"
"I hate to break it to you guys, but we have 10 minutes left before class starts." Ren pointed towards the clock.
"10 MINUTES!? We're gonna be late for Goodwitch's class!" Nora yelled, before dashing towards the showers.
The rest of Team JNPR quickly threw on their uniforms and dashed out the door, soon followed by a very wet Nora as they ran towards class.
But as they ran, Pyrrha took a quick glance at her partner, who wore a sullen frown on his face.
She could easily guess as to why. It had only been yesterday that Jaune had stood up to his bullies in Team CRDL. Having been made their lap dog for the past several weeks, Jaune finally had a chance to redeem himself when he saved Cardin Winchester, his greatest bully, from a rampaging Ursa. Though he was eventually able to make up with Pyrrha and his team shortly afterward, the events of that day were still stuck in his mind.
It didn't help that today was Combat Class with Professor Goodwitch. The disciplinarian had never been kind to Jaune, and though Pyrrha agreed to help train Jaune, he was still woefully unprepared and he didn't like the idea of embarrassing himself once more in front of the entire class again.
Pyrrha could only hope that yesterday's fight with the Ursa would give him the confidence he needed to perform at least better than last time, but it seems even that victory rang hollow.
The team had barely made it in the nick of time, slamming through the door and collapsing in a pile on the floor. Professor Goodwitch gave them a heated glare but nevertheless let them take their seats. Jaune sat furthest away from everyone else, while Team RWBY (sans Weiss) gave him worried looks. Most of them had seen Pyrrha use her Semblance at the last minute to save him from the Ursa, so they too doubted that Jaune would be having a good time in class today.
"Alright, everyone. I know we've just had our trip to Forever Fall the day before, but that doesn't mean you should be max in your training. Let's see here… our first match for today will be Jaune Arc against Cardin Winchester."
Jaune groaned in his arms, and Pyrrha and Ruby gave him a pitying glance. Ren and Nora watched on worriedly alongside Blake and Yang, and Weiss just rolled her eyes. With a heavy sigh, he made his way down to the lockers.
Taking off his uniform, he inspected his chest one more time, still feeling the phantom pain of a blade stabbing through his heart.
"Still nothing. Was it really just a nightmare?"
He knew it was stupid, but that dream felt so real. He could still remember seeing that gigantic ship marooned on a floating island. The entire landscape was a dull gray, with only tiny bits of color dotting the world. There was a massive worm-like creature flying across the sky, and he swore he heard someone speak to him directly.
"Begin… again!"
Jaune shook his head. He didn't know why he had that kind of dream last night, especially one where he was the Rusted Knight from his old fairy tale books. He hadn't read something like that since he was a kid, and he had long since taken to comics instead. It seemed odd how he would be dreaming of old fairy tales in this day and age.
Maybe he had that weird dream from all the adrenaline fighting the Ursa the day before. He could still hardly believe it, the fact that he was able to kill a Grimm all by himself!
Now if only he could fight another Huntsman just as well…
He made sure to ignore Cardin on the way out, not wanting to give his ex-bully any more ammunition against him. The two had not interacted since yesterday, and he wasn't sure if Cardin would sincerely drop his ways or blackmail him once more.
But Jaune was sure about one thing. He had to beat Cardin today, here and now. If he lost again here, he'd lose any last bits of dignity he still had, and Cardin would make him his lapdog once more.
Strapping his armor to his chest and shoulders, Jaune marched onto the stage, brandishing Crocea Mors. To the other side, Cardin eyed him warily, twirling his mace in his hands.
"Alright you two, you know the drill. And Mr. Arc? Please try to put some more effort into this match. I don't want to see another pitiful performance like last time."
Jaune privately cursed as most of the classroom burst into laughter, save for both NPR and RWBY. Why did she have to bring it up now!?
'Well, here goes nothing.'
Jaune brought up his sword and ran forward to make an overhead strike.
Elsewhere…
The New War had begun.
Sentients swarmed the entire Origin System like flies to dead flesh. Even though they had known such an invasion would happen for months now, the sheer number of Sentients had surprised all major factions, and soon it turned into a mad squabble as friend and foe fought across many planets to stave off the invading force.
In Cetus, a lone Grineer blasted through waves of Sentients with a stolen Corinth Prime, brandishing the shotgun with deadly efficiency as he made his way to a Condrix, bomb in hand. With a heavy slump, he armed the bomb and awaited death, ready to die not for his Queens, but for his brothers.
In Veil Proxima, a Corpus tech whose name many had trouble remembering marched his way towards the front of the ship's bridge. When he heard that his boss, Alad V, wanted to make the crew surrender to the Sentients, he knew what he had to do. He dodged and weaved his way through hordes of Sentients and released the lock on the ship's main artillery. He aimed at the Murex and took one final shot.
For Profit.
And finally, a lone Tenno operative piloted his Railjack, flying through hordes of Sentient fighters and destroying wave after wave of Sentient Murex, before dispatching a lone Dax soldier behind enemy lines.
"Operator, Teshin has made his descent." Ordis spoke through the ships comms.
"Roger." Jaune said calmly, having used Transference to take control of Excalibur Umbra in order to fly the Railjack. "Keep him updated and out of trouble. Cy, how many Murex are remaining?"
"Total number of Murex in this sector is over a hundred, and still counting. Corpus reinforcements have all been neutralized. Recommendation: disable nearby Murex and board the main ship to rendezvous with Teshin. Cut the head off the snake, and the rest will fall."
"To the Lotus, and to Ballas…" Jaune muttered. Umbra tensed his muscles as the name passed his lips, and he was forced to soothe the warrior within before his rage consumed him.
Soon, Umbra will exact his revenge, and soon Jaune will reunite with the Lotus and purge the Orokin from the Origin system once and for all.
With the remaining nearby Murex destroyed, Jaune allowed Cy to autopilot the Railjack as he exited the ship, ready to rescue Teshin the moment he heard Ordis's warning. Slicing through Sentients with the Chromatic Blade and nullifying their Adaptation with a single howl, the Tenno slaughtered their way through the ship, before finally reaching the bridge.
What Jaune saw made both his and Umbra's blood boil. Teshin was being overwhelmed by Erra, the aged Dax finally falling to the floor before Erra picked him up and snapped his neck.
Jaune transferred out of Umbra and let loose a single ray of Void energy, causing the tall Sentient to fall to his knees, the power of the Void anathema to his kind.
Arm raised ready to unleash more Void energy, he looked towards the front of the bridge, and rage built up in his heart once again as Ballas gazed back with a smug expression on his disfigured face, before kneeling down and planting a kiss to the Lotus's lips, stealing whatever remaining Sentient energy remained keeping her alive.
"Goodbye, my love." Ballas muttered softly, steeping away.
"Get away from her you freak!" Jaune roared, but before he could unleash the wrath of the Void on the former Orokin, the bridge shook violently, and slowly moved apart. A massive portal through the Void opened up, and the Lotus began to get sucked inside.
Transferring back into Umbra, Jaune bullet-jumped forward, just grabbing onto the Lotus's hand in the nick of time. As the sheer gravitational force of the portal tore her hand from Umbra's, he jumped out of the Warframe and grabbed onto the Lotus herself.
He strained to pull her back, but he still was only a child, lacking any of the muscle mass a grown man would have, and Umbra was frozen, keeping himself as immobile as an anchor to stop them from falling through the Void.
"Let me go, child. Let me go." The Lotus whispered gently, her menacing voice long gone.
"I can't! I won't!" Jaune yelled, still pulling with all his might to stop her from slipping from his hand once again. He had already lost a mother twice now, he won't lose the last one he had!
Still caught up from trying to pull her back, he failed to notice as Ballas snuck in from the side, the Paracesis in his hand. With a single swing, the Orokin sliced through the Lotus's outstretched arm, sending both her and her severed hand out into space, to be swallowed by the Void.
Jaune could only watch in despair as he saw his mother-figure slip through the portal, now having lost her forever this time.
"You can't kill the Devil, Tenno." Ballas muttered from behind, but with another swing, he stabbed the Paracesis through his body.
"BUT YOU CAN SEND IT BACK TO HELL!"
Jaune slumped to the floor, his heart sliced in two as static bloomed across his vision. Umbra remained immobile, shocked into paralysis by the sudden loss of Transference signals, and soon both were flung into space, passing through the portal into the Void. Across space, Cy struggled to make the Railjack gain speed, but the portal's gravitational pull was too much for the ship's engines to overcome, and in a mighty wrench, the Railjack was torn apart, its pieces falling through the Void.
And with the Tenno's fall, shockwaves could be felt across time and space.
On Remnant…
"Argh!"
Jaune bit back a curse as he fell to the ground once more, Cardin's last attack having broken through his defenses.
"Come on, Fearless Leader! Kick his butt!"
"You can do it, Jaune!"
"Come on, Jaune! Don't let him beat you!"
Across the stage, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ruby cheered for him from their seats, while Ren, Blake, and Yang gave him worried but supportive glances. Weiss only huffed and shook her head.
'Dammit! And now Snow Angel's looking at me like I'm an idiot! Well, I mean I AM an idiot, but damn it! I just want to win for once!'
Jaune shakily stood up from the floor, as Cardin continued to eye him warily. Though he had performed remarkably better, having actually managed to land a few hits against Cardin, there was still a large disparity in their Aura levels. Cardin's sat at a comfortable 75% while Jaune's was at a pitiful low yellow. If he landed another blow like that again, then his Aura would most certainly crash into red.
"Mr. Arc, this is the 5th time in a row you've struggled to keep your Aura in the green." Goodwitch said sternly. "Your performance has been extremely disappointing. If you don't pick things up, then I'm afraid I'll have to send you to the Headmaster. Your combat skills have been outright terrible, a sharp contrast to what your transcripts report."
Jaune felt his heart skip a beat, and at the seats all of NPR shared a worried glance. If he failed here, and Professor Ozpin looked further into his transcripts…
'No! I promised Ruby that I'd be a better leader! I promised Pyrrha and my team that I'd do better! I can't lose here!'
To his credit, Cardin didn't react to the news about the transcripts, but he couldn't allow any chances for him to blackmail him once again. Forcing deep breaths inside him, he roared and raised his sword above his head and ran straight forward, ready to bring it down on his foe.
"YOU CAN'T KILL THE DEVIL, TENNO. BUT YOU CAN SEND IT BACK TO HELL!"
Right before Jaune could take another step, he staggered, falling to the ground on his knees and letting out a pained cry as he felt something impale him through the chest.
"""""JAUNE!"""""
He slowly turned around, seeing the entire audience, especially his team and RWBY staring at him with horrified faces. Turning back, he saw that even Professor Goodwitch and Cardin stared back at him with gaping mouths.
'What are they looking so scared about? Did I fail the match? And why does my chest hurt so much?'
Looking down, he noticed that a large, blue-ish glowing sword had penetrated through his chest, slicing his heart into two.
"Oh…" Jaune muttered, before collapsing to the floor.
In Duviri…
Once again, the cycle repeats. Once again, he failed to escape Duviri.
And once again, he found himself captured.
Dragged back in front of a familiar face, Jaune couldn't even bring up the energy to make a sharp retort against Lodun. He just sat there kneeling on the gray floor as Lodun engaged in another anger-fueled rant.
"You've made the King furious. And not just him… ME! We've both had enough of you!" Lodun spat out as Jaune was forced to kneel down once more.
"By order of His Majesty, Dominus Thrax! DEATH! BY!"
"Impalement!" Jaune quipped back, rolling his eyes.
Lodun certainly didn't take that comeback well. "YOU WILL LOOK AT ME WHEN I-!"
A sudden sharp, but familiar pain blossomed through his chest once more, as he felt the metal sting of a blade pierce through his heart. Looks like the Dax decided to not wait around this time…
"BUT YOU CAN SEND IT BACK TO HELL!"
Wait a minute? That wasn't a voice Jaune was familiar with in the slightest…
And with a squelching sound, the mysterious blue blade shot out from his back, flying backwards in the air before dissolving out of existence.
Curiously, he was still very much alive, the pain from his phantom wound already long gone. Looking around, Jaune saw that everyone present was just as confused as he was by the sudden impalement. Lodun, for the first time, expressed something else other than rage, and the Dax guards looked around the pavilion and the sky, ignoring him entirely.
A roaring sound echoed across the vicinity, and he looked up to see a fissure opening up in Duviri's sky, with a small, blue-ish object falling down at breakneck speed.
"HAH! Even better! DEATH BY… METEOR!" The Prince of Fire exclaimed, finding some renewed excitement from the mundane task of executing the Rusted Knight.
Well, he wasn't going to let this opportunity slip past him.
Jaune rolled out of the way just as the mysterious object crashed to the ground, knocking Lodun unconscious and destroying the nearby Dax. Returning to the impact site, he noticed that the mysterious object that fell down was a… hand?
Errant whispers could be heard from the severed hand as a greenish-glow emanated from it. Crouching down to take a closer look, Jaune panicked as several tendrils broke out from the bottom of the hand and latched onto his arm!
"Shit!" He exclaimed, wrestling against the ropes that bound him, and with a heavy pull, he forced the hand out of the crater, only for it to float in the air, mimicking the movements of his own fingers. With a sickening sound, the hand suddenly thrust itself into his right arm, forcefully splitting his own hand and fingers apart and reinserting itself into the bloody socket.
The pain from having his hand split wide open and shoved apart lasted only a moment, and as the hand now attached itself to his arm, the same green tendrils spread out across his forearm, linking the two together and turning the skin around his wrist all dull red. Miraculously, the hand functioned just as well as his old one, able to move his fingers and wrist just as easily as before.
"Tenno…"
"Remember, Tenno…"
"Wake up… Tenno!"
Several new whispers spoke out from the hand, and a small orb flew out from his new palm towards the stairs in front of the pavilion. Walking closer, Jaune noticed a Siracco pistol on the floor, most likely belonging to one of the Dax soldiers that died from the impact.
Jaune still could barely process what was happening, but one thing ran clearly through his mind at that moment: Escape!
Grabbing the pistol, he aimed up and fired, shooting through the head of a Dax guard that charged at him. Turning around, he made a beeline out of the Pavillion, crouching down as more Dax guards ran around the area searching for him.
"Damn it, there's too many of them! Where the hell do I go from here?"
As if in response to his words, his new hand glowed a brilliant green, and another orb of light burst forth from his palm, briefly coloring the once gray city as it flew through the air.
"Heh, why not?" He briefly muttered to himself, following the wisp of light across the city entrance. Shooting another Dax in the back of the head with his pistol, he broke into a sprint and raced past the golden statue of Dominus Thrax before arriving at a nearby balcony.
A sudden earthquake shook the city, and a menacing but familiar voice echoed across the sky.
"Maybe this will help you relax?"
Jaune bit back a curse as he recognized the voice of Dominus Thrax, taunting him as he took in the sight of a massive Orowyrm soaring across the sky.
If he didn't find a way to escape this place, and fast, then he'd easily end up as Orowyrm food should it reach him in time.
Thinking quickly, he jumped over the balcony and made his way to a nearby bridge. Throwing down a smokescreen bomb, he found a nearby Kaithe horse and jumped on. Quickly soothing the Beast, he raised his right hand to let another orb of guidance fly through the air, telling him to go across the bridge and escape.
"So long, assholes!" Jaune swore, before kicking the sides of the Kaithe and riding forward.
Just as he reached the center of the bridge, the entire structure nearly collapsed as the Orowyrm from earlier smashed through the center, nearly bucking him off of his new ride.
"What's the matter? Where's that apathy that I've come to love?"
"Not this time, Thrax!" Jaune roared. A quick glance back found him staring at a crowd of Dax soldiers racing towards his location.
"Here goes nothing…" Making a quick circle on his Kaithe, he rushed forward and willed the beast to make a massive leap through the air, eventually landing on the other side and towards freedom. Not even bothering to look back, Jaune only ushered his Kaithe forward, riding across the Plains of Duviri and searching for a spot where he could hide from the Orowyrm…
Back on Remnant…
"Everybody step back!" Glynda roared as the entire student body panicked at the sight. Ruby and Pyrrha practically flew from their seats towards Jaune, who knelt on the floor, his breathing slowing down to a crawl.
Glynda rushed towards his downed form, still in shock at how he found himself so severely injured in the first place.
It should have been a routine match, hopefully one where Jaune could have succeeded and proved her assumptions about him wrong. She had greatly suspected for some time that his transcripts might have been forged, and though she normally allowed Ozpin to accept less… traditional students in, she couldn't allow such an unprepared student like him into Beacon. His life would only be forfeit if he continued down this path without adequate training.
But nothing prepared her for Arc's sudden injury. Out of nowhere, a mysterious sword slammed straight through his chest, sending him flat on his knees. She initially suspected that Cardin and his team were behind this, but a quick peek behind her only showed Cardin with a similar shocked expression on his face. Kneeling down in front of his near-comatose form, she found herself at a loss for words as she found a curious absence of any blood near his wound.
In fact, the sword passed cleanly through his armor, with no tear or change to the metal that she could take notice of. Touching the sword itself was impossible, as her hand cleanly passed right through the blade like a ghost.
"What on Remnant!?"
""Jaune!""
Ruby and Pyrrha led the charge towards his downed form, closely followed by his and Ruby's teams.
"Professor! What's going on!? Is Jaune okay?!" Pyrrha exclaimed worriedly, her hands already at his chest and throat, feeling for a pulse.
"Everyone, step back! I'm going to take him to the Doctor's office!" Glynda ordered, pulling out her riding crop in order to levitate him.
Jaune suddenly twitched, and in a bizarre series of events, the blue blade suddenly flew backwards out of his wound, passing out of his spine and phasing out of existence entirely.
Everyone could only look on with great puzzlement at the sudden outcome of events. But as Ruby, Pyrrha, and Glynda pondered what had happened, Jaune's body began twitching on the ground, his mind in an utter state of disarray.
The moment the sword had left his body, Jaune's mind was assaulted by an avalanche of memories and images that he couldn't make heads or tails of. Massive ships flying across the vacuum of space, opulent galleys and golden palaces covered in the blood and gore of his victims, warriors made of hardened viral flesh fighting against a horde of alien beings, and an image of someone tucking him into a golden pod like the way his own mother used to do for him when he was much younger.
And though those scattered images flew through his brain like a torrential wind, giving him barely any chance to make sense of the sensory chaos in his mind, one thing stood out to him louder than anything else.
A voice, one filled with motherly affection and devotion, whispered into his ear as both a final farewell and a fervent promise of hope.
"Dream. Not of what you are… but of what you want to be."
The mysterious voice was both incredibly mysterious and yet achingly familiar, like an echo from a previous life, or a long distant memory resurfacing after decades of being lost in the caverns of his mind. It called out to him from the depths of his very being, and it was thanks to this loving request that Jaune finally found the strength to raise his body from the ground, startling both his team, RWBY, and his professor.
"Ohmygosh Jaune, you're okay!"
"Fearless Leader is alright!"
"Jaune!"
Hands reached out to him, grabbing his arms and shoulders and shakily pulling him from the ground. But despite the various shouts and questions from his friends, he couldn't find the strength to reply back, his mind still reeling from the sensory and memory overload.
"Everyone, get back! Mr. Arc! Are you alright? Let me take you to the medical office!"
Professor Goodwitch's voice rang loud and clear, and everyone remained rooted to the spot. Raising her riding crop, she prepared to levitate him using her Semblance.
But she never got the chance.
As Jaune let out several pained breaths, trying to make sense of what happened, he heard something else. Something that immediately washed away all his tumultuous feelings, to be replaced by something else: fear.
"HEY KIDDO."
Jaune panicked, suddenly throwing Ruby's and Pyrrha's arms off of him as he fell to the ground once more.
""Jaune!?""
The girls grew worried for him once more, but he hardly paid them any mind. He crawled away from the sinister voice, panicking as an uncomfortably familiar phrase passed through his ears.
"D-dad?" He voiced quietly, looking around as the rest of his peers eyed him with confusion at the random word.
He would recognize that nickname anywhere. It was something his father always referred to him as when he was a kid, as an alternative to the embarrassing nicknames his mother and sisters would refer to him as.
But though the words were familiar, the voice that spoke them wasn't. It wasn't the stern but warm voice that belonged to his father, nor was it one of the soft and teasing voices that belonged to his mother or sisters.
It was cold. Indifferent. Creeping throughout the room like frost growing on a cold window.
And it belonged to him.
There was no way Jaune would ever forget the sound of his own voice, even from back when he was a kid.
No one else seemed to hear the ominous voice save for him, and yet he scanned the room, searching for its source.
"WHAT'S THE MATTER, KIDDO? WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?"
There.
Standing at the opposite side of the arena, sitting on Professor Goodwitch's desk and kicking his legs back and forth playfully, was him.
But it wasn't him. The Jaune Arc that watched him with amusement and a sinister, malformed grin on his face was much younger, no older than 10 or 11 years old. Though he wore a familiar onesie over his body, the sheer terror the child elicited from him quickly dashed away any potential possibility of humor or embarrassment. The younger version of him merely looked on with curiosity, watching him with eyes as dark as the vacuum of space itself.
"WHAT THE!?"
Jaune hastily crawled away from his sinister younger self, to the puzzlement of the others. And yet, the other him merely let out a giggle that sent shivers down his spine.
"DID YOU FORGET, KIDDO? YOU OWE ME."
The younger him jumped off of Goodwitch's desk and playfully skipped towards him, completely uncaring of the others around him.
'G-GET AWAY FROM ME!'
Jaune didn't know why, but every fiber of his being screamed 'Danger!'. And yet, despite his mind furiously telling his body to get up and run, his limbs stayed paralyzed and his mouth unable to let out a single sound. He simply collapsed on the ground, unable to escape or look away from the monstrous demon wearing his flesh.
The other him ignored his friends entirely, merely walking towards him and kneeling down next to his face. His friends and professor still tried to reach out to him, and yet none of them even acknowledged his doppleganger hovering next to him. It was as if they couldn't see or perceive him in any way, shape, or form.
And so there he was, left helpless on the floor as the other him gave him another sinister smile.
"TIME'S UP, KIDDO. IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO PAY YOUR DUE."
Jaune wished he could do anything to resist, but like a puppet being pulled by its strings, he felt his arm raise from the floor and grasp his other version's outstretched hand.
At once, a chill colder than even the vacuum of space permeated his very being, right down to his soul. He felt as if he was being torn asunder, every atom that made him Jaune Arc suddenly being warped and stretched across space and time, his consciousness miraculously remaining intact but drowning in the powers of the cosmos.
The other him let go of his hand, now glowing with a sinister blue-ish glow, before disappearing in thin air, but not before leaving him with a few parting words.
"YOU'LL THANK ME LATER, KIDDO."
And when his voice finally returned to him, he screamed.
Team RWBY, Team NPR, Professor Goodwitch, and the rest of the class ran away from him as fast as they could, as eldritch power exploded from his body, shooting out in a beam from the palm of his hand as he writhed on the floor, his mind and body reeling from the power of the Void now coursing through every cell of his body.
The entire classroom was destroyed and disintegrated, nearly burnt to ash as he lashed out with pure Void energy, before he finally collapsed several minutes later, falling into unconsciousness.
Ozpin frowned as he took in the scene of destruction around him.
When Jaune Arc's rampage finally died down, Glynda had carried him to the medical office with her Semblance, and enforced a quarantine around the young man. Classes were halted for the rest of the day, and both Team RWBY and Team JNPR were barred from visiting the young man in question despite their heavy protests.
The entire classroom looked like it had barely survived a bombing, with scorch marks and holes littering any walls that remained standing. The roof had almost completely collapsed, the arena itself was nothing more than a smoldering crater, and yet curiously he couldn't detect a single whiff of smoke in the air.
"How is Mr. Arc at the moment?" Ozpin asked, looking at his deputy Headmistress who still looked rattled from the day's events.
"Physically? He's as fit as can be. Both I and the doctors were quite surprised. I saw a literal sword impale him through his chest, and yet there wasn't a single drop of blood present. Nor were there any scars or even internal damage. It was like it never happened." She shuddered, remembering how the sword appeared out of thin air, striking through the young man. By all rights, Jaune Arc should have died from an injury like that, and yet he was miraculously unharmed.
"And mentally?"
"Still unconscious. None of the medical staff know why, and aside from that he's as healthy as can be. His team and that of Team RWBY have been harassing me all day, asking for permission to see him, and even the threat of detention didn't dissuade them." Sighing, she raised her riding crop and used her Semblance to try and repair as much damage as possible, but with little result. "Oz, do you think this might have been the result of an out-of-control Semblance?"
"I wish I could say so, but my instincts are telling me that it isn't that simple." Ozpin said with a frown. "No Semblance I have witnessed has ever been this powerful or destructive. It almost reminds me of a Maiden's powers…"
Glynda frowned. "But that's impossible. Mr. Arc is clearly a male, and the powers of the Maidens pass through females. Plus, given his atrocious combat record, I doubt Mr. Arc could have kept any kind of Magic hidden."
"True, but there's something… off about his power. I want to say that it could be Magic, as impossible as it may be, but it feels much, much different from the Magic I know of."
"How so?"
"It isn't elemental in nature like that of the Maidens, nor does it feel anything similar to the Magic Salem and I have. It feels… cold. Indifferent. Alien…"
Ozpin sighed, pushing up his glasses. "Keep an eye on him for now, and once he awakens let his friends visit him. But also have him visit me in-person once he's awake. I would like to ask him some questions."
Glynda rolled her eyes. "Please tell me it's about his transcripts. His performance in combat is completely different from what his papers say."
Ozpin couldn't help but laugh. "Glynda, I think you're too harsh on the young man. Sure, his combat abilities are inadequate, but there's nothing that training can't fix. And besides, after seeing his performance in Initiation, I see great potential in him. More so now than ever, especially after this…" He gestured to the destroyed room in response.
A sudden ringing echoed across the room, originating from within his coat. Removing his Scroll from his pocket, Ozpin answered the call.
"Ah, James? How are you doing? Why call so late in the night?"
"Oz, we have a problem."
Of course there was. "And that is?"
"Atlas has detected something falling from the sky above Remnant. It's fragmented into pieces and is now falling all over the world. One of them is falling into Mountain Glenn at this very moment."
Ozpin frowned. "Is it Grimm?"
"Our ships don't detect any Grimm matter on them, but… we aren't sure what it is. One of them has fallen outside Mantle, and I'm sending the Ace Ops to investigate it as we speak. Do you think this has anything to do with her?"
"No, I don't think so. This seems way too strange for her to have her fingerprints all over it. Not to mention what had just happened this afternoon…"
"?"
"Ah, I'll explain in detail once you arrive at Vale. I'm calling back Qrow as well to investigate Mountain Glenn for the object that fell there."
"I'll update you on what I find once I get further information. Hopefully it's just something that fell from the moon, and not anything worse than that."
And boy did Ozpin wish it were so as well, but when did anything in all his lifetimes ever be simple?
Elsewhere Outside Mantle…
"So, what are you all thinking? Meteor? Grimm? Or, aliens?"
"Marrow, focus. General Ironwood was being serious when he informed us of the mission. Keep your guard up at all times."
"At ease, Specialist Schnee. It's just Marrow trying to lighten the mood."
On a Bullhead flying through a blazing blizzard a few miles outside Mantle, the Ace Ops made up of their commander Clover Ebi and the other members Marrow Armin, Vine Zeki, Elm Ederne, and Harriet Bree sat inside, scanning their orders from their Scrolls. Winter Schnee, who had been tasked to accompany the group on Ironwood's orders, stood next to Clover and was busy inspecting her weapons.
To say the group was surprised by their objective was an understatement, but they hid their confusion and proceeded to the impact site. Soon, the Bullhead arrived several hundred feet away from a sizable crater in the ground already being covered by snowfall.
"Alright everyone, let's try to keep this short and sweet. Sweep the area and keep your guard up. Let's hope we're lucky and that it isn't Grimm." The others rolled their eyes at their commander, no doubt due to the irony of his statement given his Semblance.
With an audible thud, the Bullhead touched down and the hatch opened, showering the team in the chilling snow of Mantle's winter. They each disembarked, drawing their weapons as they made their way to the crater.
It wasn't until Marrow accidentally tripped over something that made them all grow tense.
"Is that a…"
"Holy shit…"
Elm and Harriet cursed as they found the body covered in snow that Marrow tripped over.
Winter frowned as she took in the mask adorning the man's, or to be more precise, the Faunus's face.
"White Fang…" she muttered darkly.
"But what are White Fang doing here? And what happened to him?" Marrow asked.
Vine knelt down, frowning as he inspected the body. "He didn't die from hypothermia or from Grimm. I see lacerations all over him, likely from a sword."
"A rogue Huntsman maybe?" Elm replied.
"Could be." Clover shrugged. "Take a look over there, too."
Pointing further in the distance, the Ace Ops detected several dissolving bodies in the snow, all belonging to Grimm of all shapes and sizes. More disturbingly, they even saw several bodies of Goliath Grimm laying on the snow, sliced into pieces.
Harriet whistled. "Damn. Think we can recruit whoever did this?"
"Whoever did this is dangerous, and should be captured at once." Winter snapped.
Suddenly, their ears perked up as they heard the sounds of gunfire and the roars of Grimm in the distance, soon followed by the sounds of pain and flesh being torn apart.
"Everyone, take point and get ready to engage!" Clover warned, and like a well-oiled machine all the Specialists moved into action.
By the time they reached the crater, the carnage had already ended.
Corpses of White Fang and Grimm alike littered the ground all around the crater. Limbs and severed heads could be found all over the area, all cleanly sliced off by something sharp, and the giant, hulking bodies of Grimm slowly dissolving were also present everywhere.
Before any of them could even properly react to the slaughter in front of them, the clouds parted in the sky, revealing the shattered moon as it illuminated their surroundings.
And kneeling on the ground, bathed in the white light of the moon, was a shadow.
A head taller than even Vine, the… man, if the Ace Ops could even define it as such, rose from the snow, its black scarf floating in the wind and the golden armor on its helmet, arms, and legs shining brilliantly in the moonlight. It reached down and pulled out a black katana from the corpse of a massive Ursa, before turning its head in their direction.
The Ace Ops flinched in horror as a… face of rotten, red flesh greeted their eyes, the only discernible human feature present being a malformed eye that frowned at them, before its dark skin quickly healed the wound.
With a flick of its wrist, the mysterious figure brandished the katana, letting out a radiant howl that turned their legs into jelly.
And there we go!
I'm writing this author's note after Tennocon took place, and holy shit did I enjoy what I saw! Soulframe looked amazing, and both Whispers in the Wall and Warframe 1999 left me wanting more! So much possible lore concerning Albrecht Entrati and the Man in the Wall, and I can't wait for them to drop!
Hope you all enjoyed this first chapter! Don't worry, Umbra won't be the only Warframe making an appearance, and the Rusted Knight aka the Drifter will also be making his appearance shortly too!
Please leave your thoughts on this chapter!