A notice to my recent and long-time Readers: I finally got around to creating a Discord account.
At first it was just for some one-on-one chats with some friends and acquaintances, but I decided to experiment with a Server of my own to open up for story-related discussions for my Teen Titans, RWBY, Young Justice, Legend of Korra, and My Hero Academia fanfics. REVIEWS on this site of course are still encouraged, but the Discord account is simply to offer a wider ground for discussion amongst my readerbase.
If you wanna Friend me on Discord, here's my profile name.
NewMystery356#9039
I'm curious to see if I'll have any takers, so until then, onto the Fanmail section.
*NEW WORLD*
Blaze1992: She doesn't have the same "hobby" like she does in daily life right, cause I don't think beacon would be left standing if ruby fell into that web.
Re: Maybe she does, maybe she doesn't~
Also, even if I don't write in a scene like that… Rule 34.
Because at any given time, 30% of the entire Internet is porn; and that's if you lowball it!
LoamyCoffee: Wow, that is very important for Weiss. Has a point there regarding what'll happen when she gives Jack that.
Ooh Vincent-centric~ I have always wondered if Atavism would show in this fic, I mean it's interesting to think of all the possible traits. And now we have the resident bondage girl, paving the way for more girls like her to show up. I love it!
Such a good boy, and yeah Ozpin has those weird vibes.
Re: That's actually a very obscure reference; wonder if anyone'll catch it.
As for the Atavism angle, it'd be boring to have Chopper be the only one, and it does open up possibilities to be sure. Not sure how-much I'll touch up on the "hideous disfigurement" angle, though…
As for Vincent… I feel like his "spirit animal" would be either a German Shepard, or a Chow Chow. Pretty to look at, friendly, heart-meltingly adorable… but you cross them and *WHAYAM!*
*NEW WORLD*
"So Jack, how was your trip to the day spa?" Ozpin asked as Jack stood in his office the following morning, a silver ring clenched between dragon teeth vanishing into his pocket with a rattling of chain links.
"It was restful," Jack hummed, stretching out his sides.
" . . . Okay I'll ask. What's with the rucksack?" the silver-haired man asked realizing the Faunus wouldn't be any more forthcoming with what he'd brought back.
"Went berry-picking," Jack hummed idly adjusting the large canvass bag over his shoulder.
"Where'd you even get that rucksack?"
"Animal leather~"
" . . . Do you realize how little that narrows it down?"
"Not at all~" Jack grinned. "So! My wacky roommates didn't burn Beacon to the ground while I was away, did they?"
"No, but one of them almost burnt down a hospital."
"I'll make sure Yang apologizes."
"Who said I was talking about Yang~"
" . . . Okay now I know you're screwing with me."
"I'm really not~"
" . . . If you were this frank in front of normal people, a lot less of them would think you spent all day up here looking up porn on the Interweb instead of actually working."
"Who says I don't~"
" . . . I need an adult."
"I am an adult~"
"Aaand I walked right into that one," Jack admitted good-naturedly, digging into his rucksack and biting off a protrusion from a spiky red berry. "Still, I didn't know you were into that part of 'the weird'. If you've got any of 'those' you don't want, I'm more than willing to take them off your hands for you," he said inclining his head toward Ozpin's left pocket. "Want one?" he asked holding out the berry in his hand.
"Aagh! No thank you!" Ozpin recoiled from the berry in Jack's hand. "How can you eat that thing straight?"
"I can handle the No.19's 'Poison Cooking'. A spicy berry isn't all that exotic," the Faunus hummed taking another bite. "Mind you, I couldn't actually finish Tylan's Full Course Menu the last time I tried, but still…!"
"Well, what's important is, you look much better-off than when you'd left," Ozpin hummed.
"Hm, yes, I think my Team will be quite relieved," the Faunus hummed. "Still… I might not be back up to 100% by the time the Vytal Festival rolls around. Not if I don't want to flunk out of school."
"Jack, I think what you consider '100%', is too much for any ordinary person in your age group to handle."
"Since when did 'ordinary' people make it to the Vytal Festival?"
"And I guess it's my turn to walk right into 'that one'," Ozpin chuckled. "So I take it you're heading back?"
"Yeah. Not much else to do," the Faunus shrugged, fishing his Scroll out of his pocket and sending a message. "Let me know if you've got another job for me; but maybe wait a couple days."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Ozpin hummed jovially, allowing Jack his leave.
*NEW WORLD*
When Jack returned to his team's room following his departure, at the very most he expected to walk in on the girls mid-change; at the very least, that they not be there at all.
The prior wasn't anything new, the girls had gotten used to him being around, and the gender barriers segregating them had started to fall as they got to know one another. Ruby saw him as an older brother figure and thus had no issue being seen in her undergarments by him; Weiss gradually became less-bashful about exposing herself to him as their friendship deepened and their animosity petered out; Blake too saw him as an older brother come back to her; Yang… Yang took such opportunities to flaunt her maturing body to him unashamedly.
Not that each of them didn't have their own caveats to this sort of interaction. Ruby only had eyes for Arthur, which wasn't a problem for Jack since his eyes didn't linger on her; Weiss let herself be seen in her undergarments but would brook no ogling as a lady of culture should; Blake was still standoffish; Yang for her part wouldn't let Jack see "everything".
Jack for his part changed in the closet, since at-the-least he had that-much class. As such, he was never called a pervert by being caught mid-change, while on the inverse, they were used-enough to one another he didn't get physically assaulted like he were a Harem protagonist.
What the Faunus didn't expect upon his return, was for the girls to be sitting in a phalanx of chairs facing the door, their gazes penning him in.
" . . . Good morning."
"Good morning, Jack," RWBY said simultaneously in turn.
What, had they been practicing?
"Jack, sit down," Ruby said in a no-nonsense tone, indicating the vacant seat in the middle of the room. Jack took it, grunting in the light pain running up his body, but beyond that didn't let it show. "Jack. You know that we care about you."
"And it's because we care about you that we've decided we have to speak up," Weiss continued.
"You're hurting the people around you," Yang said in a no-nonsense tone.
"So we made you an appointment and we want you to keep it," Blake said holding out a pamphlet.
" . . . Is this an intervention?" Jack asked with a raised brow.
"Yes-NO! I mean…!" Weiss sputtered.
"Because this feels like an intervention," Jack continued. "You've never had a problem with my herbal smoking or my drinking or the rampant sexcapades before, so why now?"
"This isn't about your vices. This is about your life," Weiss stated, Blake passing forward the pamphlet.
"Physical Therapy and You?" Jack said reading the cover aloud. "But I don't have a problem."
"Jack, you need to give yourself time to get better," Blake stated.
"This madness has to stop," Weiss added pleadingly.
"Oh, so that's what the intervention is about."
"It's not an intervention!" Weiss shrieked.
"Look, Jack, you keep getting hurt worse and worse, and sure you've bounced back each time… But someday you might not… and you'd make the people that love you really, really sad," Ruby said, her lip quivering, eyes big and watery.
"Which is why we want you to change gears, let us do more of the heavy lifting from now on," Blake continued.
"The rest of us agreed to redouble our training so you don't feel the need to bear these burdens," Yang went on to say. "From now on, when something big and nasty comes our way, the five of us are going to be strong enough to tackle it together."
"So you don't have any excuse to keep us out of the loop anymore," Weiss said recovering her composure.
"Maybe you didn't intend to do this, but you've been sheltering us from the worst of what the world has to offer. That needs to stop," Ruby added seriously.
"Wow… You've really put a lot of thought into this, huh?" Jack blinked.
"Yes," RWBY said simultaneously.
" . . . Okay. I'll do it."
"Jack, I know this'll be a significant lifestyle change but-" Weiss said before blinking. "Wait… 'okay'?"
"Yes. 'Okay'," Jack repeated. "I'll change gears, let you four do more of the heavy lifting. I admit, a part of me has been pampering you, but that's only because I've grown up having to fight my own battles with little to no help from anyone else. Since this is that-important to you…" he said shrugging his shoulders.
"Well, um… that was easy," Yang blinked.
"I've been knocked down, out, and around enough times to know that failure is a greater teacher than success," Jack replied with a shrug. "Since I can't 'do', I might as well teach. Is that an acceptable compromise?"
"We were actually banking on that," Blake stated. "Your experience out in the field outstrips all of ours combined, so we'll need to learn everything you can throw at us before graduation."
"We aren't asking you to teach us like a class," Weiss amended. "We want you to teach us the ins and outs of the industry; what it's like to be a working adult. Your insider knowledge will let us evade the pitfalls that most graduates succumb to, and it'll give us an edge against our peers in the short-term, as well as the long-term."
"If that's really what you want…" Jack shrugged.
"It is," Blake nodded. "We want you to be around for a good long time, but you can't do that if you keep getting hurt and bleeding everywhere."
"At the very least, try to stay alive until we graduate," Weiss sighed with a wry smile on her face.
" . . . I'm not giving up the herbal smoking, drinking, or sex though," Jack rectified.
"We can get to your vices another day," Weiss said tiredly. "Right now we need to-"
"-get to class! We're way behind schedule!" Ruby shrieked looking down at her watch.
"Oh crap!" Yang winced. "Everybody run!"
*SIIIIIGH* "The more things change, the more they stay the same," Jack hummed as RWBY scrambled to get their stuff together, the older Faunus rolling his eyes at their antics as he grabbed his pre-packed bag from the foot of the bed and left.
*NEW WORLD*
"How could you forget we don't have class today?!" Weiss demanded angrily, the Team realizing their first-period teacher wasn't waiting for them in the completely-empty classroom, even though they'd arrived late, and that they were, still in fact, on break.
"I'm sorry…!" Ruby whimpered like a kicked dog. "I had a brain fart is all…"
"Please don't say that again…" Weiss groaned tiredly.
"I'm surprised you fell for it," Yang hummed.
"Hey, we all got suckered into thinking we still had class today!"
"In my own defense, I did just get out of a mind-numbing day spa."
"Speaking of which," Blake hummed Jack's way, "you're looking much better. Where'd you go?"
"Nowhere you'd ever heard of," Jack returned, the glint of silver in Ozpin's hand flitting across his mind before he shook it off. "Anyway, we've still got a while before class resumes. You want to get another mission in?"
"NO!" Ruby, Blake, and Yang cried out simultaneously.
"Geez, what died in your cornflakes?" Weiss asked with a raised brow.
"First rule of fight club-" Blake began.
"Don't talk about fight club," Ruby and Yang said in sequence.
"Is that… some kind of reference, or something?" Weiss blinked confusedly.
"Wow, you really were a pampered little princess," Blake hummed causing the heiress to bristle.
"If it's alright with you, I'd actually like to get the gang back together, test out some new tools," Jack hummed.
"Is it a gun? It's totally a gun, isn't it?" Ruby asked eagerly.
"No, it's… kind of retro, actually."
" . . . Well that isn't infuriatingly cryptic at all," Yang hummed in response.
*NEW WORLD*
"JAUNE!" Jack yelled booting the door in.
"AAUGH!" Jaune yelped looking up from his homework, Pyrrha at his side.
"Get dressed. You and I are having a little 'sparring session'."
"Well that doesn't sound infuriatingly cryptic…" the blond deadpanned, but acquiesced.
"Jack…! Is that…?" Pyrrha gasped, eyes wide as she pointed.
"Ah, you recognize it," Jack said jostling the shoebox-sized ornate case of gold and marble under his arm. "Yeah, I guess it would be pretty hard to forget."
"So you're going to open it then?" Pyrrha asked eagerly.
"Already have, actually. I'm just finally going to use the darn thing," Jack said rounding on his heel and heading out.
"Jaune, let me help you out!" Pyrrha said tackling Jaune to the floor.
"This… is the weirdest foreplay… I've ever seen," Nora hummed from her side of the room as the red-head scurried to put more clothes on the guy she was sweet on.
*NEW WORLD*
The training field of choice that Jack brought the two teams to, differentiating it from the others, had a few concrete picnic tables and benches at the edge of the tree line. The center of the clearing had grass that was neatly trimmed, making the area perfect for outdoor sparring, as well as for fun out in the sun, if you were so inclined.
"Don't be too hard on him!" Ruby called out.
"Don't worry. I know Jack's still recovering," Jaune said with a confident smile over his shoulder.
" . . . I was actually talking to Jack-Buuuut that works too!"
"Smooth," Blake hummed wittily while Jaune hung his head, the closet Faunus babysitting the older Faunus' rucksack.
"Awwww…"
"Don't worry, Jaune! We believe in you!" Pyrrha called out.
"Where's this 'we' nonsense come from?"
"That is so harsh, Ren," Nora hummed neutrally.
"Pyrrha, come hold this for me."
"Right away, sir!"
'Sir?' Jaune blinked as Pyrrha scurried up to him, the red-head reverently holding up the marble and gold-accented box. For a moment she actually buckled under its weight, but quickly righted herself once she properly braced herself. 'Wait, that thing isn't lined with marble, it's actually marble?'
Pyrrha made no secret of her great curiosity, poking her nose over the lid of the box as Jack lifted it up. As Jack moved to reach into the box, the others grew curious, and they too walked over to see what had the (former) Invincible Girl so blatantly curious.
Peering into the box, the others discovered that the walls were all an inch thick, explaining the weight. Within a small depression was a plush pillow of royal purple, and displayed atop it were two objects both the color of purest silver. The first object was an elaborate-looking bangle consisting of segmented plates of armor, with two armor-clad fists meeting knuckles in the middle. Set in the negative space of the bangle was a common-looking ring with uncommon ornamentation; a knight's visor with vertical slats, with tiny inscriptions flanking it on the band.
"Jewelry?" Nora gawped inquisitively as Jack placed the ring on his left middle finger, the bangle on his right wrist. Amazingly-enough, the two were a perfect fit for him, though they hadn't looked it a second ago…
"Ladies, two gentlemen, get ready to see something weird and awesome~" Jack grinned, seeming to already know what he was looking at.
"OOH! The best kind of weird! And awesome!" Nora grinned in turn as Jack walked out to the far-half of the training ground, Jaune standing across from him on the other while Pyrrha reverently carried the fine box to one of the tables, which Weiss looked at enviously.
"Sooooo, what? You going to leave a knight-shaped indention in my cheek?" Jaune asked as he drew down his own visor, eyeing the ring nervously.
"Tempting, but no," Jack hummed, extending his right arm and clenching his fist. "Guardian ÄRM: Ring Armor," he invoked, the ring on his hand releasing a radiant light before it suddenly exploded in a plume of gray smoke.
Cue Märchen Awakens Romance Soundtrack – Battle Theme
The Faunus briefly obscured from sight before a cross breeze cleared it away, to everyone's shock, not only had Jack's finger become vacant, but standing in front of him and off to the side was a hulking humanoid figure clad in medieval armor hewn of pure silver; their chest and shoulder armor was round and comically large, while their waist and limbs were too thin and spindly for a human being to fit inside. Sitting atop a neck as-spindly as the rest of its limbs was a perfectly round knight's helmet with a small spike poking up from the top, while the visor was the exact same as the ring!
All in all, it looked like a cartoon knight brought-to-life.
"Whoa! Jack can Summon too?!" Ruby gawped, eyes twinkling.
"No, this… This is something different…" Weiss said even as she rubbed her eyes, doubting what she was seeing, even as she shielded herself from the sun's glare.
"Ring Armor, attack!" Jack ordered with a dramatic swing of his arm, almost losing his balance as the now-named 'Ring Armor' rushed forward, its body clanking like plate mail as it closed the distance between them. Jaune, quick to brace his sword arm behind his shield, felt his teeth rattle as the force of a small vehicular impact struck his shield, his feet digging trenches into the ground before it started grappling for some sort of hold.
"Rgh! This thing's really strong! No, wait, that's not important. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS THING?!"
"So now the last horse crosses the finish line…" Jack deadpanned as he crossed his arms, brows furrowed in concentration as Jaune struggled against the Ring Armor. "I don't know why you're all shocked by this. Dr. Oobleck gave an entire lecture about the magical kingdom of Caldia and their fantastical metallurgy during the first term," he said turning to address the others' gobsmacked expressions.
"Well, yeah, but… We all thought he was high on really bad, or really good coffee…" Yang deadpanned.
"Sooooo…" Nora hummed aloud. "You're a wizar-"
"No," Jack said frankly. "But in all seriousness, you all have quasi-magical 'forcefields' and sci-fi-tastic guns that turn into not-guns, but this weirds you out?"
"YES!" Weiss yelped incredulously. "A little ring turning into that, completely violates the Law of Conservation of Mass!"
"Says the ice necromancer."
"It's not…!" Weiss blushed furiously. "Okay maybe it is 'ice necromancy'… But only by the loosest definition of the word!"
" . . . Who are you and what have you done with my partner?" Ruby asked suspiciously causing Weiss to flush further.
"I'm feeling kind of insignificant right now…" Jaune deadpanned as the others nattered in the backdrop.
"In the grand scheme of things, we all are; also, DODGE!"
"OOF!" Jaune grunted as the Ring Armor's spindly leg came up and caught him between the legs. All that saved him from gut-roiling pain was the athletic cup he'd taken to wearing after all the time loops where he got kicked in the nads.
"Ah, an athletic cup; you're learning," Jack hummed as Jaune remained standing, albeit shakily. "Unfortunately for you, so am I," he hummed as he furrowed his brow in a more relaxed manner, the Ring Armor's movements steadily becoming more refined as it tried to grapple around Jaune's shield, before scampering up the blond's body like he were a jungle gym.
"MY BACK!" Jaune wailed as he was brought low. "Ah! Oh! Right in the mouth!" he cried as the Ring Armor straddled his chest before repeatedly punching him in the face. "At least buy me dinner first!"
"Jaune, get out of there!" Pyrrha called out.
"I'm…! Trying…!" Jaune grunted as his feet scrambled for purchase. After a few moments and a few more punches to the face, Jaune was able to buck the Ring Armor off of him and onto its own back with an adrenaline-fueled show of strength. The blond looking over his shoulder as he got into a sitting position, yelped as the Ring Armor scurried after him on all fours back-down like something from a horror movie. "Back! Ha! Back I say!" he cried as he swung his sword at the thing like one would a flyswatter, the thing skittering around him like some sort of insect. "Jack! How the hell are you so good at this!" he cried, connecting the dots to realize Jack was controlling the Ring Armor with his thoughts, given his feet had stayed rooted the entire time they'd fought.
"I play VR games with my sister."
"What kind of answer is that?!" Jaune yelped before the Ring Armor twisted its torso and then its legs around, the ground exploding beneath its feet as it lunged at him, slinked behind him, and then wrapped its arms around his waist before-
"OOOH! A German Suplex!" Nora winced as Jaune's helmed head was planted in the ground, the Ring Armor's back forming a perfect arch with Jaune's legs sticking up in the air.
A moment later the Ring armor erupted into a plume of smoke, a glint of silver zipping through the air and back toward Jack's waiting hand, the space behind Jaune now vacant.
" . . . I want one."
"Ruby, that thing doesn't even have a gun for an arm," Yang hummed.
"Still want one."
"Unfortunately, ÄRM are exceedingly rare, so if you want a ring or a bangle or an earring or something that can turn into a wicked-looking scythe-"
"NevermindIwantthat!"
"-you'll have to plunder a tomb, rob a dungeon, or dip your toes into the black market for antiques," Jack shrugged. "Jaune, you did better than expected. Pyrrha's been helping with your training, I assume."
"Mhm…" Jaune groaned as he tried lifting his head out of the ground. After a few moments of futility, Pyrrha walked over to him and pulled him free, the two yelping as they flew backwards through the air before hitting the ground with a *Thud*
"Get a room you two~" Nora grinned, Jaune blushing behind his visor as he loomed over Pyrrha, her hair flaring out beneath her like a halo.
"Ah, young love~" Jack sighed wistfully. "And hormones. Can't forget the hormones," he added wittily.
"So, uh… Was there any point to this?" Jaune asked as he got up and dusted himself off.
"Just exploring my options," Jack said affixing the ring to his finger once again. "Now, how about Round Two?"
"Two?!" Jaune and Pyrrha gawped.
"By all means, feel free to join him," Jack said as he raised up his right wrist, presenting the twin-fisted bangle. "Guardian ÄRM: Saint Anger!" he called out, the light from the bangle practically blinding, everyone crying out as they shielded their eyes.
Cue Märchen Awakens Romance Soundtrack – Full Power!
The light subsiding a scant few moments later, everyone's jaws dropped and their necks craned back as they beheld a massive pair of articulated gauntlets floating in the air to Jack's sides. Each one large-enough to hold a person in the palm of their hands like a chess piece, the articulated hand was hewn of silver, bands of gold rimming the knuckles and wrist, a half-gauntlet of royal blue followed by a ring of gold with inlaid green beads trailing orange tassels creating an image far more regal than the diminutive Ring Armor that came before.
"Oh this is bullshit!" Jaune cried as he and Pyrrha were literally overshadowed.
"If it really upsets you that much…" Jack panted, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead, "I'll give you a hand-icap."
"I love this guy!" Yang whooped at the pun before the left half of Saint Anger fell to the ground with a loud *CRASH!* that lifted Jaune and Pyrrha from their feet and kicked up a cloud of dust.
"Now… Come at me, bro," Jack said making a 'come at me, bro' motion with his hand, the right half of Saint Anger imitating the motion ad grandeur.
"Whoa…" Nora awed. "Imagine the birds he could flip with that thing!"
"Nora…" Ren groaned, but only half-heartedly as he beheld something that defied all logic. Like something from a fairy tale involving magic, and chivalrous knights against the forces of darkness.
"Jack wouldn't flip 'birds' with those things… He'd flip entire dinosaurs!" Yang said wiping the drool from the corner of her mouth as she imagined the epic beat-downs she could dole out with Saint Anger.
"Hey guys… Doesn't Jack look a little… off to you?" Blake asked worriedly.
"Yeah…" Ruby said worriedly. "He looks kinda… sweaty…?"
"Obviously, using two ÄRM of that particular variety is taxing on not only his mental stamina, but his physical as well…" Weiss answered speculatively, familiar with such exhaustion herself.
"Um… You wanna play Rock, Paper, Scissors instead?" Jaune offered hopefully as the giant floating hand to Jack's side clenched and unclenched itself.
"Sure~ Let's~" Jack replied menacingly raising up his hand, Jaune doing the same. "ROCK!"
"Look out!" Pyrrha cried as she tackled Jaune away from the massive hand that utterly *BOOOM!* cratered the spot he'd been standing on.
"PAPER!"
"Run awayyy!" the red-head cried as she and Jaune ran away from the giant open-handed strike that left another indent in its wake with a loud *WHAP!*
"SCISSORS!"
To their credit, the two raised up their shields and actually managed to block the plus-sized eye-gouger strike leveled their way, their feet leaving trenches in the ground as they were pushed back before they angled their shields and rolled away.
"I don't think that's how that's played-"
"I LIKE this version~!" Nora undercut Ren excitedly.
"Of course you would."
"Hey, Pyrrha…" Jaune whispered, his shield raised up to hide his mouth.
"What is it?" the red-head asked following suit.
"That Guardian ÄRM… I think when he's using it, he can't move from that spot," he said inclining his gaze toward Jack's feet, which hadn't left the spot he'd first planted them in since their sparring session began.
"You're right… I noticed that too…" Pyrrha nodded. " . . . You think he can hear us?" she asked worriedly.
" . . . "
"Does his silence mean he can't hear us, or is he just baiting us?" she asked after a moment of Jack eyeing the two of them.
"With him, the over/under is pretty even…" Jaune sighed. "Alright, here's the plan, you and I will both charge him, and whoever has the better window, try to uproot him. If we 'stagger' him, we might be able to cancel out his ÄRM."
"Sounds like a plan," Pyrrha nodded. "NOW!"
The two dashing forward, Jack reared back his arm before firing the Saint Anger at them. The giant silver fist sailing toward them like a meteor, Pyrrha dropped first sliding on her shield, using her [Polarity] to push off of Jaune's armored frame, not only pushing him away from the giant knuckles, but also launching herself forward as well. Her Semblance getting weaker with distance, as Jaune was finally struck Pyrrha launched herself off her shield and transformed her xiphos into a javelin mid-flight, rearing her arm back before letting it fly under her own power.
Jack, instead of tanking the hit or leaping away like everyone thought he would've done, actually kept his feet planted only to sway his body out of the way like a paper cutout.
"What…?" Pyrrha blinked before a shadow fell over her, the half of Saint Anger they'd thought discarded at the start of the fight looming over her, middle finger held back by the thumb while the other fingers were raised. "Mercy?"
"Eh, why not?" Jack shrugged, and instead of flicking her, Saint Anger's left index instead came down atop her, throwing her harshly to the ground. Before the red-head could come up, the left half of Saint Anger fell to the ground once again, the raised finger coming down atop her like a felled tree without completely flattening her.
END OST
" . . . Honestly, I should've seen this coming."
"You think!?" Jaune asked from where he was pinned to a tree.
The next moment, both halves of Saint Anger went up in plumes of smoke, streaks of silver zipping through the air like snakes before they coiled back into a bangle shape, which Jack proceeded to twirl on his finger.
"Well…" the Faunus said as he started stretching his legs, finally removing his feet from their original spots. "All things considered, I think that was a very good test run. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Bite me," Jaune said as he fell out of the indentation he made before landing on his face.
*NEW WORLD*
"So… Dr. Oobleck's stories were really true then," Pyrrha hummed as she poked at the bangle on Jack's wrist, Ruby doing the same to his ring.
"Seems like it~" Yang grinned as she nibbled one of the spicy berries from Jack's bag.
"I still can't believe those stories were real…" Weiss said eyeing the enchanted jewelry, her gaze flickering between envy and trepidation.
"To be fair, most people who'd never seen Aura before, thought that was fictional too, back in the 'back-when times'," Blake mused, nibbling on a pink peach-shaped berry.
"So… how'd they do it, then? Some sort of… lighter-than-air nanotech lattice with maglev technology?" Weiss asked trying to make sense of what she'd seen. "Obviously some sort of Eldcraft."
"Nope~ Magic~" Jack grinned.
"Jack…" Ren paused. "Any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic."
"And vice versa!" Nora nodded to countermand the point.
"So… Assuming the ÄRM from Dr. Oobleck's stories aren't from some ancient civilization more-advanced than our own… did the metallurgists of Caldia just have the ability to imbue accessories with… 'pseudo-Semblances', or something…?" Blake questioned.
"That's the explanation that makes my brain hurt the least, yes," Jack nodded.
"So how many ÄRMare out there, anyway?" Ruby asked excitedly.
Clearly, she wanted her a bracelet that'd turn into a scythe.
Even if it wasn't also part-gun.
"Hard to say. According to Dr. Oobleck's 'sources', Caldia had produced ÄRM numbering in at least, 'more than a thousand'," Ren answered. "While the 'Traitorous Witch Diana' allegedly stole 'seven-hundred and ninety-eight' ÄRM before disseminating them between the nearby kingdoms and orchestrating two world wars, Caldia continued to stockpile the ÄRM that hadn't been stolen, consolidating them to Caldia's borders until the second 'War Games'," he recalled. "After that it's all speculatory."
"Damn, I wish I actually paid attention to that, 'cause that sounds awesome~" Yang grinned. "I mean, not that I think world wars are awesome, but…" she trailed off awkwardly after what came out of her mouth flittered up into her ears...
"Since he said we wouldn't be tested on the subject, I suppose your ignorance can be forgiven," Weiss hummed, looking between the Ring Armor and then to her own hand. "Do you think… Do you think my bloodline originates in Caldia? I won't deny, my [Glyph]'s Summoning ability, and your Guardian ÄRM, are nearly identical in execution, albeit with nuanced technical differences."
"Well, it could explain why your [Glyph]s have so many uses," Pyrrha nodded. "If I recall, ÄRM were… are, divided into eight different categories," she said racking her brain for that particular lecture of Oobleck's. "'Holy ÄRM' have the ability to heal wounds and undo curses caused by 'Darkness ÄRM', 'Weapon ÄRM' transform into weapons, 'Dimension ÄRM' had the ability to warp space/time like with teleporting or making pocket dimensions, 'Guardian ÄRM' like Jack used create constructs to fight for the user, 'Nature ÄRM' use elemental abilities or strengthen the body, 'Ghost ÄRM' actually fuse to the user's body making them a living weapon, and 'Unique ÄRM' are ÄRM that don't fit into any of the above categories."
"Okay, see, when you phrase it like that, all this ÄRM and Caldia stuff sounds like something out of a high fantasy novel…" Yang hummed.
"You forgot about 'Simple ÄRM', ÄRM that look and behave like ordinary tools when activated," Blake added smartly.
"But if 'Simple ÄRM' don't have any powers, what's the point?" Yang blinked.
"Obviously, the sheer convenience of having a large and bulky tool being able to turn into a bangle or something, freeing up luggage space. Duh," Nora huffed.
"Onto my next question," Ruby hummed drawing everyone's attention back to her. "Where can I get an ÄRM? I want me a-"
"We know," everyone sans Jack groaned tiredly.
"From my understanding…" Jack hummed drumming his finger on the table, "after the 'Age of Magic' gave way to the 'Age of Reason', most ÄRM became family heirlooms until the knowledge that they were even ÄRM at all was forgotten; others were locked in treasure chests and stored in caves, tombs, or basements, creating the modern-day idea of a 'dungeon' holding treasure at the end; others that were recognized for their value entered commercial circulation through the black market."
"Well, I mean, sure, if you want to call the black market 'commercial'," Jaune mused.
"The rest were either lost to time or destroyed. The only pieces you're bound to find in museums are either mis-labeled as ÄRM because they're shiny and/or silver, or are in such a dilapidated state that using them 'one more time' would be like holding a stick of lit dynamite in your hand. Those that are still being used in the present day are done so in secret because of how-powerful any one ÄRM can be if used in exactly the right situation that plays to their individual strengths," Jack finished. "The reason Palutena had these, is probably because she predates the 'Age of Reason', and was thus able to stockpile a collection of her own to give out in pristine condition."
"So… Palutena is really a goddess, then? Not just the latest in a line of Hereditary Semblance-users?" Weiss asked somewhat-skeptically as her eyes turned to Pyrrha.
The only reason she was still on the fence for such a topic, was because of all the things that Jack had revealed to them that, prior to his introduction to their lives, didn't quite add up.
"Well, I mean… Would any answer I give without proof even satisfy you?" the red-head asked awkwardly. "Would any answer I give with proof satisfy you?"
"Fair point," Weiss nodded. "How about, in mixed company, we all treat magic like its 'indistinguishable from science'? You know, so we don't sound crazy?"
"To be fair, if I tried telling anyone else about the Calm Belt, Grand Line, Poison Tide, Red Line, or the New World, I'd probably be burned as a witch," Jack hummed sardonically.
"But how do we explain away those?" Ruby asked pointing at Jack's latest accessories.
"We don't. I use them sparingly, and even then, I don't leave any witnesses."
"Dark," Blake hummed.
"Sooooo… Did you get all this from the day spa?" Jaune asked as he picked up a blue-colored orange-like berry that'd fallen out of the rucksack.
"Pretty much. They were basically all I ate during… my time there," he trailed carefully. "Speaking of which, anyone wanna help install planters on the roof? As far as field rations go, these berries aren't all that bad. They're light, portable, filling, and they keep very well."
"Berries? I thought these were all fruit-"
"They're berries," Jack said cutting Nora off. "They're also quite medicinal. Some of them work immediately, others are delayed to physical changes. Although the latter only works if you know what you're up against in advance," he conceded.
"Wouldn't be the first weird foodstuff you brought before us," Ruby hummed as she grabbed what looked like a cherry, just bigger. "By the way, why were you all sweaty earlier?"
"Earlier? Oh, using ÄRM you haven't had time to 'synchronize' with yet will always be taxing," the Faunus waved off. "Also, all of my formative years as a mercenary might be catching up to me too, so the next time we go out on a mission, I'll be counting on you girls to have my back. You four need to 'grow' more than I do, at present."
"You got it!" Ruby grinned.
"Um, actually…" Jaune said raising his finger.
"Yes?"
"Jack, I… I want you to lead the first mission my Team takes outside of Vale."
"Say what now?" Jack, Nora, and Ruby blinked, the others' attention solely fixated on him.
"I… I'm not a very strong individual. I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth that I always took for granted, and I only came to this school to escape from my sordid past. Not for any wholly noble or altruistic intention…" Jaune said turning a pear-shaped berry over in his hands. "I want to be a good leader, and being a good leader means being able to delegate; not just boss other people around and tell them what to do. That's why I want… I need… to borrow your wisdom," he said meeting Jack's gaze. "So I can be the leader my team deserves, even if I'm not the one they want," he said trying to meet Ren's gaze next, only to flinch away. "Jack… I know this is asking a lot, and I'm willing to pay you for your time, so please, if you won't do it for me, do it for them. Ozpin… he made me this team's leader for a reason, but as I am now… I will never… be able to live up to those expectations. So please…" he begged, bowing his head until it kissed the table between them.
" . . . That was very mature of you," Jack nodded after a moment. "I kinda feel like a proud parent whose kid has grown up without them even realizing," he chuckled.
'You have no idea…' Jaune thought as he repressed a shudder. "So… you'll do it…? I mean, I'm not sure how much I can pay you, but-"
"We'll see whether or not Team Juniper's first mission goes pear-shaped, before we start throwing words like 'compensation' around," Jack waved off. "Is that amicable with the rest of you?"
"That's fine," Ren nodded.
"Going on a quest with the 'Demon of Whitechapel'? I can't wait!" Nora grinned.
"That sounds quite splendid, actually," Pyrrha hummed, curious how the older teen comported himself in the mercenary field.
Sure, the stories they all grew up on were romanticized and made to sound like grand adventures, but at the end of the day, being a Hunter was literally a job. A job with pay and everything else that went along with it.
"Alright then, you and Ruby can hash out the finer points later. Don't want to double-book or anything," Jack said rising from his seat. "I'm gonna head off early. You kids have fun."
"B-But Jack, what about this?" Pyrrha said holding up the gold-gilded marble box reverently.
"Keep it. Probably means more to you than to me," Jack shrugged.
"Th-Thank you. I'll treasure it always," Pyrrha said hugging it to her chest, and almost falling out of her seat for the effort.
*NEW WORLD*
"Jack! Hey Jack, wait up!"
"Hm?" the Faunus blinked as a shock of white ran up to him on the forested path. "Oh, Weiss. You not gonna hang with the others?"
"Jack, there's… There's something I really need to tell you… Something I've wanted to tell you for a long time now," she said wringing her hands.
"Oh, sure. Lay it on me."
"Not here. Somewhere more private."
The heiress taking him by the hand, Weiss led him away from both the training grounds and Beacon proper. The footpath they were on beginning to vanish as they literally left the beaten path, Weiss meticulously used her Glyphs to navigate the densely wooded terrain and shove aside tree branches. After several minutes, Jack found himself in a small clearing overlooking the Emerald Forest, well away from Beacon's infamous catapults; the area was roughly the size of their dorm room, ornamented solely with a wide boulder that was vaguely bench-shaped.
"Well… We'll definitely have privacy here. How'd you find this place?"
"I did a little experimenting with my Summoning while you were gone, found this little out-of-the-way alcove with one of my Nevermore," Weiss answered, taking a spot for herself and motioning for Jack to sit beside her. "The foliage is deep-enough that no-one should be able to eavesdrop on us, and if anyone tries to get too close, they'll give themselves away."
"Wow, you've really put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" Jack asked as he looked around. Apart from the highest tower, you couldn't even tell Beacon was right next door.
"Yes, well… I needed a safe haven of my own. Somewhere I could get some peace and quiet away from all the crazed… 'wackadoos' that make up the rest of my Team," she paused trying to find the right word without being too profane.
"But… Doesn't bringing me here kinda defeat the entire purpose?"
"It's alright if it's you, Jack," the heiress replied with a soft smile on her face, Jack gulping and tugging at Yang's scarf.
"So, um… What'd you want to tell me?"
"I… need a moment to rehearse this speech one last time. Just… Just sit here next to me."
"Ah, sure," Jack nodded, hopping onto the bench-esque boulder and setting himself next too the heiress, a few inches of open air separating their shoulders.
*NEW WORLD*
" . . . It really is quiet out here," Jack murmured several minutes of quiet contemplation later.
"Mhmm," Weiss nodded nervously, discretely patting at her bolero's left pocket for the eighteenth time and reminding herself that she, did in fact, still have that, on her person. " . . . Okay. I'm ready."
"Alright. You have my undivided attention," he said turning toward her.
"Could you uh… divide your attention just a little bit?" Weiss asked feeling the full weight his gaze on her.
Before Jack could verbally respond to that request, Weiss' hands suddenly cupped his cheeks before she forcibly turned his gaze to the right, a *crick* sound causing her to flinch back in horror as he let out a gutteral- "EYYYOWW!"
"Ohhhhh fuck this speech started out so much better in my head…!" the heiress winced as Jack rubbed at his neck, her meticulously-crafted plan coming apart at the seams.
"It's fine… It's fine. We all get nervous sometimes," Jack grunted as he popped his neck a couple times before turning his gaze toward 11 o'clock. "Does this work for you?"
"Yes… Yes it does," Weiss replied, breathing deeply as she composed herself. 'Here's hoping… I only have to make this speech the one time…' she thought to herself. ' . . . And that I don't fuck it up,' she amended before turning her full attention on him, opening her mouth to speak.
" . . . "
" . . . "
" . . . "
'Ohhhhhh fuck! I forgot my speech!' she realized to her horror. 'Okay, uh, think, stall, procrastinate, say something. Anything…!' she told herself frantically. "Jack."
"Yes?"
" . . . Why did you give me your Aura the way you did?" she questioned, realizing that had been one of the things the-most on her mind in his absence. "If you'd held onto it, you could've beaten Alumon far more easily… So why didn't you? You could've died."
" . . . Because between the two of us… the world would've been a lesser place had you died instead of me."
" . . . What?!" she blinked at his self-deprecation.
"This world has more than enough destroyers. What it truly needs… is someone that can build. Sure, people might've mourned my passing, but it isn't like the world would've lost out on something the future really needed."
"And what, you don't think you can be a builder too?" Weiss huffed angrily. "That the future can just… 'do without you'?!"
"No to the first, yes to the second," Jack answered causing her to flinch back. "If anything happens to me… I know that my sister will be taken care of, and Ruby will still have all of you. I can't build up to something better. All I really can do, all I know how, to do, is lay down the stones which others will build upon. And this world is filled with people just-as-suited to the task than I."
"That isn't true and you know it!" the heiress snapped back, getting to her feet and dragging Jack along with her. "You took a spoiled, rotten little girl and made her into someone better! Someone who wanted to be better! Do you know how insufferable I would've been if I never met you?"
"Is that a rhetorical question or-"
"Quite! I would've been quite, insufferable!" she said jabbing a finger in his face. "And you wanna know what else!? I'm in LOVE WITH YOU! There! I said it! So stop hating yourself, and take some god damn responsibility!" she shouted as she snatched the handkerchief from her pocket and shoved it in the Faunus' face, the heiress backpedaling to her side of the "bench" and gasping for air while Jack turned the folded cloth over in his hands and eyed it.
"Waitaminute, Weiss! Is this a-"
"YES! IT! ISSSS!" she said as her perfectly orchestrated, romantic, and wholesome confession went to the wayside for something a bit more pressing; getting this battle-scarred Faunus who'd been the world's whipping boy half his life to actually give a damn about his own life. "And if you think I'm going to let you throw your life away after I mustered up the courage to give you that, you've got another thing COMING!"
Jack, though he might've been born well away from Atlas out in the sticks, at the very least was aware enough of his own country's history to know what this meant.
Back in the medieval times, when the only habitable places in Atlas were the southern-most shore or directly over large geothermal vents, the gifting of an embroidered handkerchief in those halcyon days represented a man's declaration to seriously court a young lady to high society.
In time, society advanced, as did all things in Atlas, and though the tradition persisted, it did grow and change to accommodate the times.
Apart from those beyond the nobility making similar gestures to those they were courting once trade routes allowed embroidered cloth to become accessible to the working class, in time it became acceptable for young women to bequeath such a token to their intended. Though the true practitioners of this tradition began to dwindle as those of the surviving noble bloodlines allowed the practice to die out, for those that held onto tradition, and took the time to listen to the old stories, this gesture was more-powerful than any string of words.
Words whose original drafting Weiss had technically forgotten, but she'd never let Jack know that.
"Weiss, don't… You do realize what this means, right?" Jack asked as he nervously as he reflexively covered his reddening face with the nearest object on-hand- 'Wait a second, did she-'
"Ah, you noticed the perfume~" Weiss purred as the widening of his eyes above her handkerchief made her bosom with confidence. "And yes, I know exactly what this gesture means. Which is exactly why, you aren't allowed to die before I do!"
"Weiss, I… I don't know what to say. I don't know what I can say."
"Jack. You and I… we've been through a great deal together," she said somberly, wringing her hands as some of the manic energy started to bleed off. "We've shared deep, personal secrets with one another, shown one another the scars we've been hiding both inside and out, and, hmhm, not to mention, you have completely ruined me for other men~" she purred as she trailed a finger down his chest.
'I think that deep tissue massage might be backfiring.'
"And this isn't just because of your wondrous deep-tissue massages; though your skillful fingers did tip the scales in your favor~" she continued with a beautific smile. "So just accept the fact that you're moving up in the world~ But more importantly…" she said shifting toward a more serious expression. "I, Weiss Schnee order you: Live!" she ordered with an outstretched hand before casting it to the side. "That is the absolute command I have for you in exchange for my love!"
"Was the pose really necessary?"
"I think it got the point across quite well~" Weiss said flattening the creases in her skirt. "Still… I don't want you to think I'm doing this to make you my 'property'; that I want to make you some 'thing' that I own. Not after… what I saw…"
"Yeah… Sorry about that."
"Look, I had this big, grandiose speech prepared, but then my brain spazzed out and gave me a damn 404 error message, so I'm going to be completely candid with you," the heiress sighed rubbing her forehead, seemingly ignoring the fact that she had been nothing but candid during her entire confession. "Jack, just because I gave you that heirloom doesn't mean you and I are officially engaged or anything. Love isn't some static, unchanging thing like in the fairy tales. These feelings I have for you, the feelings I hope you have for me… they can change with time, so if we aren't still… you know… okay with one another by the time we graduate, then you and I can part ways with the knowledge that we tried. Tis better to have loved and lost…"
"Than never to have loved at all…" Jack finished; even though it was corny as hell. "So, not to ruin what you planned to be a beautiful moment, but if word of this gets out, to… anyone," he said waving the handkerchief like a white flag, "you do realize your sperm donor and/or the SDC Board of Directors will disown you for this, right?"
"Maybe, but… Winter got herself disowned too. She did it to escape my father. Me, if I'm going to get disowned, it's because I'm elevating someone else above myself."
"I can't offer you the lifestyle to which you've become accustomed. I don't want you to regret this."
"Hmmm… Let me think," she hummed dramatically as she tapped her chin. "An upper-middle-class house with the man I love, orrrrrrr… a big empty mansion with some inbred sycophant my 'sperm donor' pawned me off to that I can't stand. Oh, wow, that is a hard choice," she said with her voice oozing sarcasm.
"Fair enough," Jack shrugged, taking a seat with Weiss doing the same beside him. "It really is nice out here."
"Yeah… Here's hoping it stays this way," Weiss sighed, leaning into Jack's shoulder. " . . . Can I be candid with you for a second?"
"This isn't you when you're candid~?"
"Your… 'sexcapades'… Just how exaggerated are they?" she asked nervously. "Since you and I are kind of… going steady, I feel like I have the right to inquire…"
"Ohhh… boy…" Jack said as his face reddened. "Well, um, to be fair, I was living a very life-threatening lifestyle where every day could be my last, so I didn't exactly… turn down that… sort of thing, when the opportunity arose," he chose carefully as he scratched the back of his head.
"Ah, so your lifestyle is exactly what I envisioned in my head," Weiss chuckled. "Well, in all fairness, you probably got around as much as my potential spouses did back in Atlas, so I won't hold that sort of thing against you."
"Wait, those namby-pamby rich-boy types are really like that?" Jack asked incredulously. "I thought that was just dramatized for TV and movies."
"Nope. One hundred percent true," Weiss chuckled mirthfully. "Hell, if my sperm donor wasn't busy rolling around in blood money, he'd probably sleep around too."
"Eyuuuuugh…! Don't you ever, compare me to your sperm donor."
"Ah, so, we're just going to make that a thing now?"
"Why? Do you not like it?"
"Nope, just checking~ We'll make this our little inside joke~"
"Well, to be fair, my opinion of my own father is probably about as-exemplary as yours," Jack hummed in return.
"Oh please, there's no way your father's a worse sperm donor than mine."
And like that, the two continued to exchange "war stories" about their horrible fathers well into the morning…
*NEW WORLD*
AN:
WHOO! Finally I can bring Märchen Awakens Romance (aka MÄR) into the story and not be so mysterious and Cameo-y about it!
I'd been a fan of MÄR since it first came out in 2006, what one would consider "the back-when times" before the "Isekaitis Epidemic of '20XX'" (colloquially known as the "Light Novel Virus") absolutely flooded the medium with crummy worlds of plotholes and spelling errors.
The fact that MÄR is unashamedly thematic with Fairytales makes it a natural choice to cross over with the world of RWBY; The Sword in the Stone, the Stranger in a Strange Land, Wizard of Oz, Jack and the Bean Stalk; and that's only in Volume 1. The 15-volume run is positively brimming with references, even exceeding what you see in RWBY. And that's why I've been itching to add it in for so long.
The fact that the [Training Gate] in MÄR basically works the same way as the Vaults that hold the Relics in RWBY, that Cinder's "Grimm Arm" functions exactly like a Ghost ÄRM, on top of the "fallen Kingdom" angle from the Canon, makes this crossover between two completely different IP mesh even better; if you don't include the fairytale angle.
As for Weiss' legit confession, it turned out a lot wordier than I expected it to, but I have been "Slow Burning" this over the duration of… two stories thus far totaling in excess to 900K words. If fairytaildragonslayer hadn't critiqued me about my previous lack of dialogue in my stories, scenes like this wouldn't be possible, and it's been just a blast having these two diametrically opposed characters grow together in this story. That being said, love, like life, is messy and not always perfect, so don't expect the paradigm to shift into "RomCom Mode"; this is still undoubtedly a "FantasyPunk" story, and meant to be something better than the downward spiral the series turned into after Monty's passing.
Rest in Peace, Monyreak Oum. Your passing was too soon, and your legacy suffered for it.
But tell me what you think, and I'll see you next time on here, or on my Discord.