Disclaimer: Brotherhoof12 does not own RWBY or the Spider-Man franchise.


Chapter 69: Skull Bunny Part 1

It was a day that passed after seeing Black Cat and the new vigilante known as Wraith, who escaped with whatever dangerous chemical to Vale. Such a thing in the wrong hands could spell trouble for Vale, and finding them would be a hassle and would take time as Jaune also needs to stop petty crime at the same time.

Only Jaune seemed to have his mind on a different priority.

"Hehehe," Jaune had a wide grin as he read a recent message from Ruby and then replied a second later, only to receive another message from Ruby, making him laugh and causing Gwen and Brock to look at him weirdly. "Heh hah!"

"He's been like this since we showed up." Brock rested his head on Gwen's shoulder. "Were we like this when we decided to make it official?"

"Yeah, but I like to think I was the more collected one, and you were," Gwen pointed at Jaune, who giggled at another message Ruby sent. "Whatever Jaune is doing now."

"Oh, young love." Brock shook his head at Jaune before looking down at his menu.

It was lunchtime, and the group decided to go to the diner where MJ was helping her aunt by being a waitress. Jaune was the first to arrive, and when Brock and Gwen showed up, they could see Jaune was acting like a love-sick puppy, giving them the sign that Ruby and Jaune were now an item without him telling them.

"Jaune," Not wanting to deal with Jaune just sitting there, Gwen took the initiative and shook his shoulder, making him drop his scroll on the table and have Jaune look at her for the first time since she showed up. "Hey, you finally dropped the scroll. Now, you can finally interact with us like a normal person. So, give us the details. I need my daily dose of sugar in these bleak times."

"Gwen," Brock couldn't help but rub his forehead at his girlfriend's terrible addiction to gossip.

"Hey now," MJ walked in on the teens with a tray carrying glasses of water. "Jaune stopped texting for one second to finally talk to us? So, will you tell me who the special lady that finally bagged you is?"

"Can we at least get food before you two start bothering the guy?" The more enormous blonde asked before he looked at the menu.

"Sure, sure," MJ pulled out a notepad, wrote down her friend's order, gave it to the chef in the back, and quickly returned. "Okay, food is getting worked on. Now, start with the story."

"What did I just-" Brock looked at Jaune with pity in his eyes. "Well, come on, we're all dying to know."

Embarrassment was swelling in Jaune's face as he looked at his friends, but at the same time, just remembering that night made him smile and replace embarrassment with joy. Soon, Jaune was able to speak about how Ruby's and his day went, starting from meeting her at the place they first met to showing her to Aunt May and F.E.A.S.T, and then about how at the end of the day, they finally sealed the deal by kissing after Ruby fought White Fang radicals.

"And then, after Ruby helped me get down from the web holding my leg, I snuck away and waited at the station until Ruby was done talking to the officers."

"..." The three remained quiet, and at some point, the food arrived, and they started eating until Jaune finished his story.

"Dang," Brock nodded at Jaune as a sign of respect and envy. "Got to say, I thought it would be a typical event with the usual movie and then some nice restaurant. Didn't expect the end of the night with danger. And did she actually fight terrorists? Ruby? The girl, who is around 5ft. Damn, guess aura really is BS?"

"Forget about that. I'm more about how you kissed and had a whole heart-to-heart talk straight out of a romance movie!" Gwen looked at Brock. "The next date you have planned better involve an upside-down kiss."

"Yeah, sure, let me find a length of rope and attempt to hang my heavy self upside down just to kiss you." Gwen slapped his shoulder. "What? Look at me. The blood will go to my head faster before I can try and kiss you. If one of us is going to do it, it will be you, Gwen."

"Huh, you know, maybe I will," Gwen left the topic between them and returned to Jaune. "Seriously, Jaune. Not many teens from school could top what you just did. I can already tell the gossip that will spread when they see you and Ruby hanging around school."

"What makes you think I'll bring Ruby to my school for kicks?" Jaune brought his fork with a piece of his omelet and started to chew. "If you guys forgot, she's a Huntress-in-training. The commute to her school would take too long, and I don't want to bring her to where I used to get picked on. That'll be embarrassing, not to mention humiliating, to have her know that I used to get bullied."

"Jaune," MJ switched from gossip girl to supporting friend and comfortably put her hand on Jaune's shoulder. "I think your insecurities are showing. The way you talked about Ruby makes me think she will be an understanding type of girl and would probably shower you with more affection than she already has for you. Besides, you forget that you attend one of Vale's most public schools. Suppose teens from Mid-town High haven't seen you hanging out with a girl wearing gothic lolita clothes out of school already. In that case, it's only a matter of time."

"Plus," Brock decided to add his own two cents. "You can't really say you are bullied with what happening to you at school."

Jaune looked at his fellow blonde in confusion, making Brock count using one hand his explanation.

"You are part of the football team, your looks are above average, and you act like a young adult rather than a total clown. The only thing holding you back from being literally part of the 'popular group' is your confidence."

"Okay, the confidence thing I can understand, but to poke holes in your logic." Jaune pushed away his empty plate and started to counterargument. "I'm only second string, so I barely even play. My social circle is a tad small, so I doubt people would even know me, let alone know I was part of their class. Needless to say, I don't see myself acting like one of those 'Zero-to-Hero' when school starts."

"Hey, maybe this time around, you might think differently when we return." MJ looked over her shoulder and sighed. "Sorry, Chef is giving me that look, and judging by how some plates are still not served, I got to go and do my job."

"Yeah, it's about time for us to leave too." Brock pulled out his wallet and placed some lien for his and Gwen's meals."Need to finish some stuff at the lab and get ready. School is about to open, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Jaune forgot that he still attends high school. "Man, it's going to be... heavy when returning."

Jaune's hands balled into fists.

"Yeah..." Was all he said as Brock and Gwen left the diner, leaving Jaune alone at the table. "I wonder how much changed?"


Turns out a lot. Despite having to return to using a school bus, Jaune can see how, upon entering, the students who usually ride the same bus as him were talking to other students. There were those smiling and laughing, talking to their friends. Still, Jaune also noticed how some seats were empty, and those sitting alone looked like they were processing something missing. Some would assume that the bus driver still has more teens to pick up, but the last stop to pick up students only consisted of Jaune.

Arriving at the front of the school also had its changes as Jaune could see that the school had done some renovations. For one thing, the stairs leading to the front of the school were replaced with a new one made of stone. The hedges that once held bits and pieces of trash left by students and people walking by had new bushes with pretty flowers in bloom. Mid-Town High's entrance, which once held the standard metal doors, was replaced with new sets of doors with an extra layer of sheet metal. The glass had metal wiring inside, making it look like breaking down would be challenging.

But the most notable was that the school had received a new level, meaning it had more classrooms to cram more students in.

'Geuss Vale chose to use taxpayer lien more liberally.' Jaune walked into the school, and his ears were assaulted by the sounds of teens chattering amongst each other near their lockers or by vending machines. The usual traffic of students cramming against each other in the hallways was still present yet less overbearing. After leaving the sea of bodies, Jaune was welcomed to see the school cafeteria.

He could see that the cafeteria didn't change much with how his nose wrinkled when smelling what the lunch ladies were serving for breakfast.

'Yup, still the same, regrettably.'

A mop of blonde hair atop a giant made Jaune know that Brock was sitting just a table away, and when getting closer, he could see Gwen was next to him, her arms wrapped around Brock's large arm. Currently, they are catching up with their fellow seniors. When I made my presence known to them, the school's intercom had turned on, and the principal's voice instructed us to head outside to the school's football field.

It didn't take long to find out why, as the principal wanted to have a eulogy about the people who had lost their lives during the Grimm attack. Everyone remained quiet as he continued his speech. Jaune started to see that their school staff was behind the principal, with some faces being familiar while some were new.

'Mr. Gabriel isn't here,' Jaune noticed that his math teacher was not among the staff behind the principal. When looking at the memorial built to the side of the eulogy, he saw a picture of Mr. Gabriel among other faces, both young and old, that was part of Midtown High. 'Oh, I see.'

More talking happened, and then the principal stepped away from the podium, and soon, people began to clap. Yet, Jaune wasn't really paying attention to most of it.

'It could have been worse,' Jaune reasoned himself as he followed people in a line that passed by the memorial that held a variety of pictures of students and teachers and other people who worked at the school that lost their lives. 'If my friends and I didn't stop Cinder, Vale would no longer exist, and more deaths would happen. Yet that still doesn't help the fact that these deaths happened in the first place.'


After paying respects to the dead, Jaune went through the motion of re-integrating with his classes. Some have started to get back into things, while most look sad as they are still coming to terms with loss. But life moved forward, and Jaune kept going from class to class with the occasional moment of seeing Gwen and Brock greeting him before they headed to different classrooms.

Each class showed Jaune the teachers he knew and some he didn't.

The most notable new face was his P.E. teacher, Mr. Pulp.

"I know you all don't know me, but I hope you all will still learn the importance of physical education from me." Said the new staff member. "Now, your old gym teacher decided to retire early and move away from Vale, and I can't say I blame him. However, I want you all to know that he still sends his best regards to each of you. Now, get to the lockers and change over. We'll be doing a physical fitness test. No groaning, despite the long hiatus that doesn't give you an excuse to be lazy."

The difference between Jaune's original Gym teacher and Mr. Pulp is that he was built like an action hero you would see in the movies. Despite being the same age as the old Gym teacher, Mr. Pulp took fitness seriously, and these physical tests were way different than the usual tests when it was just simple stretch situps and running.

"Come on! Keep moving, don't stop!" Screamed the new P.E. teacher as he was observing students go through an obstacle course. It was weird enough that the school had more funding for all this new equipment. Still, Jaune didn't think much about how the school spends its lien, and by the time it was his turn to take part in the new fitness test, Jaune finished with a decent time. "Alright, you're done, go and rest. Next!"

Student after student went through the course that consisted of sprints, a high wall, rope climbing, and running with heavy barbells. Some had some slow times, and a rare few got some praise from the new teacher, yet when everyone from class finally finished, Mr. Pulp wanted to have them line up and tell them their scores.

"Jaune!" Mr. Pulp glanced from the clipboard and then at the teen secret hero. "Your time was decent and placed 12th." He said that before passing him and talking to another student next to him.

'Not too bad and not that great, just what I hoped it to be.'

When talking to the last student, Mr. Pulp told them they should all drink water and stretch to not feel cramps after today. Soon, the school bell rang, signaling the students to dress in regular clothes and head to their last class.


The front door to the school swung open, and a stream of students rushed out, happy that they could go home now school ended. Jaune, Gwen, and Brock walked out and planned to stay near the railing of the stairs to wait for MJ, who was usually a bit slow leaving the school.

"How did you guys feel about the first day back?" Asked Jaune, who was reading his text messages from Ruby, who asked him how his day was.

"It's kind of hard to explain. I mean, to be back after what happened is... it's like this place is unfamiliar to me at certain points."

"Because we can't act like everything is back to how things used to be." Brock looked around him and stared at each person passing by. "Some of my friends and I were talking about how lucky we were that their families were safe after the Grimm attacked, but I could tell that things can't go back to how it was. I heard whispers about this city becoming too dangerous, and some families planned to leave Vale. It's not helping with supervillains popping up at random times either."

"Like with that Sand guy and the one guy that was apparently dressed like a Rhino beating the crap out of Spider-Man." Gwen sounded baffled that she had forgotten that it happened not long ago. "That Sandman is really a menace. I heard parts of the city he passed by when fighting Spider-Man had to close some shops because they needed to scrub sand out of them before they could do business. I tell ya, the Grimm might be trouble, but Sandman is annoying with how he keeps popping up. It's this, like, what, his third time showing up in Vale? I'm surprised Hunstmen are not getting hired to kill him."

"I doubt they can," Jaune wondered how Sandman's physiology worked since his body is 100% made of sand. "Besides, I heard he is working with Roman Torchwick, so he might be the one that was harboring him."

"Really now? You found that out being a reporter?"

"It gives me some insight on finding the right answers, Gwen. For one thing, Sandman, real name Flint Marco, was filling the role of Roman's enforcer while he was detained in Atlas's flagship during their stay in Vale. Several eyewitnesses said that he was seen wearing a suit and attacking gangsters and petty thugs who were in Roman's known turfs. Paramedics also showed up at places where they had to save some people who were drained of almost all water from their bodies, making them look like mummies."

"For real? Damn, that's scary, I didn't know Sandman could do that."

'Nither then I.' Jaune instinctively placed his arm over the part when Sandman almost turned him into a living jerky. "Yup, Flint knows how to use his powers in creative ways. This is why whispers around the Bugle is that Vale is getting a new prison to deal with Sandman and other people too dangerous to be kept in jail."

"Don't they already have that with Hunstmen who decided to go rouge?" Brock asked.

"Yes, but since Sandman has been a recurring trouble for Vale and has escaped a couple of times, Vale's council agreed to fund a special kind of prison that can hold someone like Flint and other Huntsmen who have too powerful semblances."

"Do you know when that prison will be built? The sooner, the better, in my strong opinion."

"Don't know," A brief flash of Cinder came to Juane's mind. "But the sooner the better."


"And that is what I have for my brief, Sir." Mr. Pulp said his final piece as the principal of Midtown High was reading through the email sent to him.

"So I see," The principal was scrolling through the report while the new P.E. teacher sat across from his desk. The details showed him how the new hire was progressing among the students. "Mr. Pulp, I like to thank you once again for joining this school. This place has been in a rough start after what happened, and losing some of the staff I worked with is still a loss I am sure you can feel when walking down these halls."

"I understand, sir. Losing people you know every day and then not seeing them makes you wish you didn't take the past for granted."

"Yes... It really does," The two men stayed silent before the Headmaster of Midtown High brought back the conversation. "But back to the topic on hand. This school has received generous donations from various charities, including Oscorp. Thanks to them, this school not only escaped being torn down but was also revitalized thanks to new equipment and space for more students to enter the establishment. Though I have received multiple emails from families who chose to pull their child out of Midtown to leave Vale, some students here still need our attention."

"Is that why I am here, sir?"

"While I read your resume with great accomplishments under your belt, I still find it odd that you would change how we do our fitness test."

"Sir," Mr. Pulp straightened his back as he began his explanation. "As orthodox as it seems. These students need this test, as it shows them what they lack. You tell me, right now, that the students in our school are all physically fit."

"..."

"My thoughts exactly. I'm not trying to pick on them. I am trying to show them we are failing these kids if they don't change their diet. That is why I wanted to have the students do my fitness test, and I promise to make sure each student will lose weight."

"And the rankings? Why are they numbered for the students in their class?"

"Competition," He reasoned. "Teens are young and, like teens, they want to show off. If they see how some are higher in the rankings than others, then that will create competition to do better. We also need to come to terms with that since the school shut down temporarily, I noticed some students packed a lot of weight compared to last time. Some heavy dose of reality will show them they must return to being fit."

"I see your points," The Headmaster conceded. "Alright, I will support your methods, Mr. Pulp, but be warned, if this gets out of hand and I start getting complaints from parents, I will be having this meeting with you again, and it will be the last meeting before you leave this school, understand?"

"Of course, sir."

"You can go now." With a wave from his hand, the principal returned to reading his email, and the P.E. teacher left his boss's office.

Now that the new Teacher was free from his meeting, he walked the quiet halls of the school and reached the empty gymnasium. His footsteps echoed along the polished floors as he entered the male's locker room and into his small office, which held files on old paperwork left behind by the previous teacher.

"You worked here for half a decade and never considered organizing your work." Pushing aside the useless paperwork, cleared a spot on his desk and pulled out his backpack that held his personal laptop. The laptop came to life, and a quick password later, the fitness teacher moved the cursor to a file containing his contract from his 'real' employer.

"From how Spider-Man operates and acts. He sure goes against the grain of Hunstmen." Mr. Pulp muttered as he combed through dozens of photos and short videos of Spider-Man as he did his usual workaround, Vale. "He's young too, judging by how people who met him said when interviewed. If my employer gave me the information, he is likely a civilian who attends regular school."

Typing several keys that populated a new window screen, the teacher scrolled through several names.

"I have a few names that fit the bill of Spider-Man, and when I do, I'll be sure to get that bonus when I capture him alive."

Pressing the 'Enter' key on the laptop made the program he was working on display multiple videos of Spider-Man's moves that, if it was anyone else, would have had a seizure.

Yet he looked on, watching clip after clip without a blink.

"He fights like an amateur, but recently, he has become more refined. He must have gotten himself a teacher with similar abilities."

Finally, looking away from the videos, brought out a clipboard with students' names in each class that were highlighted or crossed out.

"It's only a matter of time until I find you, Spider-Man." He circled a few more names, with the last name being Jaune Arc.

"The Taskmaster doesn't fail a job." Just then, Taskmaster paused while doing his work when he remembered something else important. "Now that I think about it, my daughter is also here in Vale. Maybe after this job is done, I should check on her. Been a while since she's seen her old man."


First, I would like to apologize for this late release. My work has been my main focus and the internet that I have is somewhat a small reason to be blmaed as well. Hope you guys like this chapter, I actually had this idea for a time and I wanted to give some RWBY characters some more details into their lives. One such character will be revealed in the next chpater.

Second, I hate to say this, but I would hate to make you guys expect to see another chapter next month, so I will say you can get one in December. Right now, I am dealing with work as there are some changes that I need to focus on, so I won;t be making my usual one chapter per month thing until next year. Sorry in advance, but I hope you guys can be patient until then. Thank you!


[OMAKE: What was once a Haven]

"Ace Ops, I'm in position. What's your status?" Jaune spoke through the inbuilt communicator in his mask as he crawled through the vents of the now-abandoned school of Haven. The kingdom of Mistral was on its last legs as the hoard was ravaging its lands. Thankfully, the people of Mistral evacuated in time thanks to Vacuo and S.H.I.E.L.D.

However, the reason why Jaune was here in the school while the hoard was outside rummaging through everything to find their next meal is that he has someone here who is needed for Amber to fully recover.

"Spider-Man," The person who was talking was Clover. "We are in position, and the target has arrived."

"Target? Just her?" He asked as he looked through a vent above the main entrance of Haven Academy. There, he spotted a lone figure shambling to the statue piece of a woman. "Clover, need you to make a comms check on your guys. This doesn't sit well."

'Doesn't help my spider sense is giving me a dull pulse warning me of danger either.'

After saying that, Jaune remained silent, and when five minutes passed for a response from the Ace Ops, the hero burst out of his hiding spot when the target started to be on fire.

Mid-falling, the spider hero fired a barrage of ice dust webbing and a supper adhesive webbing at the fire starter. His attack surprised bore fruit as the target wasn't fast enough, resulting in being encased in ice.

Landing on his feet, Spider-Man raised his web shooters, ready to fire more ice webbing, and when he saw no movement. Jaune relaxed and placed his arms at his side.

"Clover, I captured the target. Where are you and the other Ace Ops?" He asked, but all he got from the other end was static. "Dammit!"

Expecting the worse, Jaune contacted another person who was on standby incase things went south.

"Qrow, I need some help. Clover and the other Ace Ops are not responding. I think they ran into trouble."

"..."

"Yes, I know we are on a time limit, but you can still head to where they are and help-"

Whatever jaune was about to say was cut off as his body had to jump to the side to avoid a glass arrow that was aimed for his heart.

'Of course this would happen,' Doing a back flip to dodge another glass arrow, Spider-Man landed on all fours and faced his target that used her powers to melt the ice resulting in Jaune smelling, fire, smoke, and rotting flesh. 'Nothing ever seems to be going my way.'

"S-s-spider-Man!" Cinder seethed. Her once picturesque looks and sharply body was now ravaged by the infection and her powers were not helping either as several parts of her body was getting burned. "I can s-smell A-amber on you!"

"Cinder, you look... like you one step away from being jerky." Jaune made a side step to avoid Cinder throwing a spear at his head. "But I won't lie. Amber is fine and dandy, but you on the other hand."

Jaune raised his hands and got ready to fight.

"Need to go. And from how I see it, I'm giving you a favor, because the power you stole seems to be backfiring on you... by literally firing you."

"D-do not think I can be so easily killed!"

"Don't know, I think I have a shot with how your little undead gremlins aren't around right now. I'm sure the Ace Ops are handling them as we speak."

'I hope they are doing ok.'

"I w-w-want to k-k-ill you! Eat you until you are b-b-bones! But I'm g-generous today and let you live if you give me A-amber!"

"...We gave up too many friends to get to this point. You above all are one of the reasons for why Remnenat is like this. So consider this karma, Cinder."

The two didn't say anything else and started their fight to death.