Calling of the hunt
It was the driving force that guided the man known as Jaune Arc. Born in the great family of Arc, soul-borne of the first Golden, the mind of little Jaune was filled to the brim with grandeur. He answered to the call at the young age of six, in which his parents refused the first time. Insistent from the young boy and his lovely sisters came in abundant the day after and his parents couldn't deny them. And so began the training of the Arc children in the art of the hunt.
Wisdom of The Father
Years eventually passed and the young boy was now 14. Among the Arc children, his technique was the most lacking; even his younger sister had better form than he did. Yet, with his lacking came his boon, the gift of Aura, his was the brightest in the family. And of course, the Patriarch of the Arc gave his wisdom to his children, "Every man and woman born under the sun; every young and every old within the watchful gaze of the fractured moon; they all carry their flaws together with their virtues."
Departure from home
The young boy, now age 16, stood in front of what remains of the Arc manor. Head held high, yet with tears withheld. "Remember son, when you felt like crying, just let it all out. Let that sadness flow and move on, find something better for your life." Jaune Arc ignored the words of his father for the first time. No tears shall be shed until The Golden and his Crocea Mors return from the land of the dead so that the Arcs can truly be proud of Jaune, wherever they may be.
Belly of the Grimm
That was how Jaune Arc, known to his peers as Johnathan Amsel, found himself in this tricky situation. Confronted by the horde of Apathy-like Grimm who had been terrorizing Old Glenn and with their back leading to a dead end, the situation had gotten pretty dire. That did not stop Johnathan Amsel however, for he know, fear was meaningless in the face of The Golden.
The Young Maiden of Rose returned to his arm as he moved to edge of the opening, startling the band of fighters under his temporary command. He laid her there and rested the sword half of Crocea besides his unconscious partner, and he begged, "Crocea Mors, I am not The Golden, not your righteous wielder. But please, protect her from harm, and I vow once more to be worthy of you in the coming future."
Crocea Mors heard his vow and a spark of Golden shone from the fabled blade. Ruby Rose now resting safely within the confines of golden light. After that, Johnathan deployed his shield and walked calmly towards the one Grimm in the middle.
"Ey EY! Boss!? What should we do!?"
"Just shoot," he said.
The Grimm, one with the skull having two horns signifying its mark of leadership, greeted Johnathan with a bow in a surprising display of decorum. Johnathan concluded; this one was definitely the alpha of the horde. If the horns weren't an indication, its conduct was a definite mark.
Johnathan greeted back with a bow of his own before spreading his arms wide, "You who are strong!" He began, knowing that the Grimm definitely understood him, "Look at me! Focus your desire on me! And fight me to the death! Human versus Grimm, let us see who is the strongest! What say you?"
The horned Grimm did not reply immediately. The light of its eyes dimmed as if squinting at Johnathan; regarding whether the offer was worth the consideration or not.
While the alpha thought on the matter in silence, its subordinates decided to express themselves vocally.
Aaaaaaaaa One of them said Giiiiiiiii and other replied Huuuuuuuu Reeeeeee and more joined in the discussion Yoooooooo
Not long after, the huge opening on the ground became an unfiltered room of argument where every single one of the Grimm voiced their own opinion. Such sight flabbergasted the humans and fauns including Johnathan. They all had seen weird things in their life outside and inside the weirdness of the city, but a horde of Grimm holding public discussion where they opinionated on a matter—in a way not too dissimilar from the ancient senates—boggled their perception of Grimm.
The cacophony of sounds grew by the minutes, and Johnathan did not perceive an ending happening soon. But then, when the sound reached its crescendo, the alpha raised one of its emaciated looking arm and the court of Grimm ceased its bickering.
It was surreal. It was as if the court of the Emerald King was revived for a brief moment and Johnathan was standing directly in the middle of it, looking up at the Emerald King. That horned Grimm did look like a king there for a split second.
The horned alpha gazed at its subordinates and then at its ascended arm. He looked at it, seemed to marvel at it, and waved at everyone with open hand, then suddenly closing its hand.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
There was a beat of silence ensuing, with the humans and fauns steadily growing concerned. The horde of Grimm on the other hand seemed to look at their king in awe before answering to their king.
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
Just like before, the area erupted in sounds, not of argument, but of triumph and glory. The horde believed they would win, and they celebrated it even before the battle.
The cheering continued, and from behind the alpha came two of his subjects carrying an unconscious man. Johnathan did not get much detail of the man, but when the alpha grabbed him by the head, the court of Grimm went silent. The man was then devoured by it... no, not devoured, the man became one with it.
At the same time, the court of Grimm turned into liquid, they returned to their original form: the Grimm ooze. Peculiarly, some of the Grimm turned liquid carried colors other than black; he reasoned it to be the effect of the souls they had been sucking in the hours before.
The liquids had one destination, the horned Grimm—their king.
Black ooze mixing in with rainbow churned and lurched with their king as the heart. The liquids making sound akin to bubbling tar that grew louder by the seconds, making the small band of fighters flinched, the Thumb members even readying their rifles. Slowly, the sounds and lurching minimized, slowly solidifying into a shape more recognizable. By the end of the process, all of those ooze had become a single being.
Virtually, there was almost no change in the visage of the King. It was four meters tall with the upper half of its face covered under the white bone of the Grimm. Connected to either side of its head were curved horns that went upwards, making it four and a half meters tall in total. The body was still thin when compared to human proportion, yet it no longer looked emaciated, it looked strong and solid. Black was its color, just like any Grimm, yet its black skin looked shiny akin to a metallic surface.
Johnathan thought it was the end of its transformation. Not yet. The neck part enlarged like a balloon and burst like a blooming flower. That burst gave birth to flailing skins that went down its body, making the impression of wearing a torn cloak. Finally, from its right arms, a long white bone grew until the length was the same as the Grimm's height before detaching itself from the arm. The Grimm picked it up and held it like a sword. A curved sword to be exact.
Opening its eyes, revealing not the usual red flame of anger but red flame of passion, it spoke, "Imp. Alone. WEAK! Imp. Together. STRONG!"
Star of The City
Imperator, Beloved Son of Merlot
v.s.
Junior Index Operator
Johnathan Amsel, Aimless Knight of The Vale Index
Fear and doubt began festering in him when the King offered his wicked grin. It would be a lie if he said those emotions didn't affect him. Oh, they did affect him, and the King certainly noticed it. But, to be The Golden, he must conquer his fear. And so, Johnathan Amsel readied his shield and withdrew a sword from within his glove, it was of shoddy quality, but Aura could rectify that to some extent.
"Me. Imperator! You. Name?"
He responded to the King with all of the confidence he could muster, "Johnathan Amsel, Knight of The Index!"
In the back of his mind, Johnathan conceded to the fact that he would be more surprised and horrified with encountering a Grimm with clear, dare he say, humanity in them if he wasn't briefed on the matter of Salem. That led to him thinking, was he seeing the origin of Salem with his own eyes? A union between a powerful and sentient Grimm with an equally powerful human? He assumed that particular man was powerful since Imperator won't bother consuming the body if that was the case.
He didn't have the luxury to ponder on the matter at the current circumstances however, he had a Grimm to kill.
"May! The Best! WIN!" Imperator issued the declaration and immediately pushed on the offense. He leaped, clearing the distance between them instantly, as a huge hammer of light formed in his left hand already in motion to slam.
Johnathan could tank that, but that would be a waste of precious Aura. He did the most simple and sensible think, he rolled forward, right under the descending Imperator, and evading the falling hammer completely. The shockwave of the strike sent him tumbling, but that was a positive net gain as more distance was gained for him. It also let him saw the incoming slash of the bone blade and parried accordingly using Crocea.
Imperator was relentless. It gave no chance for Johnathan as it followed up with a sword of light in which John was forced to parry with his blade. Not giving up the momentum, it made another slash with the bone blade and John ducked under.
Johnathan was tempted in attacking the exposed leg, but he realized that Imperator was using his momentum for a spin, and its left hand already projecting a sword. Based on his quick observation, the next logical attack after this would come in the form a downward slash of the bone blade; that would be his chance!
The next attack came and he also ducked under it. He prepared to dodge the next one but Imperator didn't follow up with a slash. It leaped and flipped midair in a surprising display of acrobatic feat and landed behind him.
He was caught off guard, and he knew the next attack would hit. The bone blade impacted his back resulting in him being launched a few meters away.
"Gah!" He managed to righted himself and pivoted towards Imperator with shield up. Surprisingly, it didn't pursue, merely standing there menacingly with a satisfied grin. "That hurts. It will bruise after this even with Aura." His stance solidified once again, "What can I do? What can we do?" As soon as he thought that, a volley of Dust rounds impacted Imperator's head and body. They only managed to make the Grimm twitched, not even dealing visible damage.
"Spread out brothers! Aim for the face!" Rallied the leading dog faunus.
Sadly, their spirit was short lived, "Nuisance." Imperator's left arm surged up and motes of golden light gather in his palm. Myriad of blades constructed from the light appeared above and they all descended unto the terrified band of brothers. It was over in an instant for them.
Johnathan did not move. There was no clear opening to exploit, and the distraction they provided was too quick to be capitalized upon. "A barrage of blades... that would be tricky." He glanced at Ruby, "Crocea should be able to block that. The question is... will it attack Ruby?"
Satisfied by the death of the small creatures, Imperator refocused on John and noticed his glance, "Precious?" it asked.
John's voice carried an edge after it asked that, "You will not bring her into this."
Rather than offended, it laughed, "No. I. Strike not. The Downed." It settled into a stance, "Continue?"
The Grimm had a weird sense of chivalry it seemed, something that's completely unexpected yet a very welcoming trait in his opinion, especially in this case. "That is all I ask." And he advanced. Previously, defense was his option, yet seeing how unsuccessful it was; John opted for immediate offense. He doubted it will yield result in an instant but it was a worth shot.
Imperator grinned, its prey finally going in the offense. It will wait patiently. Wait until the puny human close the distance so that he could pummel him to the death. And so, he gave all his focus to this singular being, "Be. HONORED!"
He did give Johnathan all of his focus, to the point that it completely missed a projectile coming at its head.
"RAAH?!"
The projectile completely destroyed its right horn and subsequently gaining its focus. John, still advancing, also glanced to the direction of the shot. From the street above, a figure clad in bronze wielding a rifle was looking down at them.
"You. DARE!?"
The figure didn't care about that, and they proceeded to shoot again. A Dust round approached and the bone blade met it. Parried. Another shot. Parried. It continued, and Imperator kept parrying instead of dodging. A weird choice, but a golden opportunity for John. The focus wasn't on him, it made his advance go unnoticed.
When Imperator finally noticed, Johnathan was close enough for his simple yet effective technique, one that he had master after years of battling. The Shield Bash.
Overloading the shield half of Crocea, John went straight for Imperator's body. In response, the Grimm conjured another sword of light and tried to direct the Shield Bash, but the sword shattered upon meeting with the shield and it continued unimpeded.
BAM
The strike connected, and true to his words back at the briefing, it carried a lot of strength. Strong enough to make Imperator staggered backward.
"Chance!"
Johnathan followed with another favorite technique of his, one that he learned from Ren. The shoddy blade began to crack as Johnathan poured as much Aura as possible into the blade. Normally, it would allow him to send a concentrated blast of Aura, but since this particular blade was weak, it will explode instead, "Even better!"
Imperator recognized that it was a threat, one that would leave a meaningful damage. Unbalanced as it was, it still put its effort in trying to leap away from his attack. An endeavor disturbed by another shot from above that struck its shoulder.
The Knight shoved the overloaded blade into the Grimm's gut. He let go of the blade and Imperator's stomach erupted in a violent show of black ooze while it screamed in rage at the Knight. Still screaming with rage, Imperator swung at John with the bone blade, in which he blocked, and let the momentum launched him away from the Grimm.
The shots from above continued without mercy even when Imperator was clutching its wounded chest. But the pain didn't stop the Grimm from counter attacking. Johnathan saw its face, a mixture of pain and anger directed at both of them. With another inhuman roar, a cluster of blades appeared and began raining down on both combatants.
He stood there with his shield and tanked the blows. They weren't strong enough to break through his absolute defense. For the bronze-clade warrior, the blades struck their footing, resulting in them free falling onto the same level as him. They crashed, kicking up a lot of dust, which increased in intensity as the blades kept descending.
From the thick dust soon emerged the warrior with their armor sporting minimal damage. They ran towards him while dodging the blades, flips and unconventional maneuver were also used in response to the barrages.
"That shit is really angry."
The warrior skidded behind him, finally founding reprieve from the rain of swords.
Finally accepting the futility of its action, Imperator stopped the barrage. Its eyes no longer filled with passion, the flame of anger took over its place. They didn't immediately pursue aggression, they just stared at each other, gauging their condition and thinking an optimal path to inflict damage upon their enemy.
Johnathan believed the situation to be a bit calmer, so he took a glimpse at the warrior standing beside him. Now that he had better look, the warrior was definitely a woman. Roughly as tall as himself, she wore the traditional Mistral's armor, the one that was used in the Great War. It was a complete set too: helmet, cuirass, vambraces, greaves, tunic, even the sandals; all colored in bronze. Her choice of arms were a round shield and a javelin that presumably mechashift into a rifle. There was also a xiphos strapped to her belt.
The next thing she did was removing her helmet and revealing an unkempt red hair together with lustrous emerald eyes, "Pyrrha Nikos, Beast Hunter. You?"
Beast Hunter
Pyrrha Nikos, Galloping Stallion of Vale
"Johnathan Amsel, Miss. Just a Junior Operator from the Index."
The Beast Hunter eyed him keenly after his introduction, clearly wanting to ask something relating to his allegiance, but dropped it in favor of analyzing the Start of The City threat in front of them. "Information would be appreciated here."
The Imp's legs were visibly tensing, so John summarized the loads of info in his possession, "A horde of Imp with stolen souls melted and condensed with an unconscious human as its core."
Pyrrha's eyebrows lit up, "Does the man have silver hair?"
John nodded, still eyeing the Grimm with anticipation.
"That is my target. I have clearance to kill him, so don't hold back."
The Grimm suddenly lowered its body, "That's a jump—!"
"RAAH?!" and once again, it was struck with another surprise attack in the form of a blade protruding from its chest. The penetrator was soon revealed to be the recently awakened Ruby Rose when the Grimm violently trashed around to shake off its attacker. Using her Semblance, Ruby zipped straight to the space on his right with a bloody singe edge great sword and the sword half of Crocea.
"GAAAAAAAAHH! RAAAAAAAAAAHH!"
Both John and Pyrrha seemed to ignore the clearly agonized Grimm in favor of staring at Ruby's great sword. They both recognized it, albeit for different reason. He recognized the sword as the one that reeked of death, and seeing it in person revealed the reason to him. The flat side of the blade was lined with runes that were unknown to him yet clearly originating from Atlas and Mistral. He recognized one from Mistral, the rune of Death(死). That particular rune glowed an ominous red.
Blinking, Johnathan glanced at the Grimm, "According to Ren... that rune is deadly as hell." And like what he expected, the puncture wound was also glowing red, obviously damaging both external and internal part of the Grimm. "Huh, we can win this easily." And then Ruby put the sword away, "Ruby... why?"
Pyrrha seemed to understand the reasoning, "That sword used to be Qrow's... you cannot use its full potential."
Ah, that could be a problem, "Yeah... his Aura is one of the main components in her making. Since I'm not him... Harbinger demands my blood and flesh every time I use her." She fully faced the Beast Hunter, "By the way, I'm Ruby and this is John. You're... Pyrrha Nikos right?"
Junior Index Operator
Ruby Rose, Fake Star In a Field of Rose
"Yes." She confirmed Ruby's inquiry before refocusing on the agonized Grimm. There were particles of light in great quantity surrounding it, presumably from the souls it gathered, which were something of concern.
"I might need to divulge some non-public information," their ears were open to Pyrrha as Ruby gave Crocea back to John, "The man which that Grimm uses as its core is actually a Color Fixer." Their heads snapped to her, "Yes, he is the Silver Vessel. Just promoted a week ago and took a mission here as his first official mission as a Color. His Semblance allows him to store Aura and a portion of his victim's Semblance. As you can see, it is now being used to its fullest potential by that Grimm."
As Pyrrha finished her explanation, Imperator exploded with magnitude far greater than the one caused by John. If the previous was a grenade, the current one was a firework. Black blood of Grimm mixed with colors of rainbow splashed the entire room, covering most of the surface with Grimm liquid, except the trio under the protection of Crocea.
Johnathan compared their current situation like being thrown into the belly of a Grimm whale, surrounded with blackness that smelled so foul it irritated their nostril.
Their problem didn't stop there. Oh, it never stops.
Imperator, the King of The Imps, had deemed them a threat to unleash its full power.
"You. Anger. ME!"
Its body no longer thin, now sporting a body proportion to that of an actual human. Its body, once merely a sleek black surface, now sported visible Aura that unceasingly circulated around it, including its bone blade. Some of those massive Aura formed sparks around it; it was like seeing piles of electric Dust being triggered at once.
"You. Maiden in black." The bone blade raised, its target now set, "You. FIRST!"
Imperator began the offensive, using the same move when it began the first bout with John. It leapt high, a move that was familiar to John, "I am blocking that! Use that chance to attack!" The protection of Crocea enveloped them in a warm hug while Pyrrha reloaded her rifle and Ruby pulling out her cursed spear.
In the air above, Aura condensed around Imperator, "It will use a hammer!"
Unfortunately, Johnathan underestimated the wrath of a King. A hammer won't be sufficient; The Aura of The King condensed, and The King delivered Judgment. A falling meteor collided with the light of Crocea, shattering the holy bulwark and punishing the warriors that seek shelter beneath it.
The ensuing explosion blast them all but Johnathan was the one who felt the entirety of the impact; as such, he was unable to bring his shield up to block the incoming strike that sent him barreling to the wall of the arena.
BAM
The impact was great enough to destroy part of the wall and making debris fell on him. He had Crocea and his Aura was still intact, the falling debris couldn't do harm upon him. Yet as he crawled out from under the stones, a sight of equal desperation and magnificent greeted him.
Ruby was desperately trying to stay alive by blurring with roses just to evade the aggressive rampage of The King. Each swing of the bone blade was enough to get past his defense, imagine what that would do to Ruby.
What so magnificent of the fight before him was how The King could fight without taking damage while fighting both Ruby and Pyrrha at the same time. Its main focus was on Ruby and Pyrrha was an afterthought, but every attack made by the Beast Hunter was successfully parried or evaded entirely.
Ruby blurred to the side, evading a downward chop, and Pyrrha capitalized that by thrusting her spear at its back. Somehow, The King knew the coming attack and responded by leaping above it and landing behind the Beast Hunter. Pyrrha was faster than John and she managed to block the incoming slash, but it left her staggered. She would have receive a nasty blow if Ruby didn't go for the offense.
It was a magnificent view of how an actual warrior fought, yet so frustrating. He believed that with his superior defense, he could simply resorted to his tactic of parry and counter. But that line of thinking seemed useless here. His defense was the greatest, yet he was unable to guard against the enraged King. Look at Ruby and Pyrrha, they didn't block all the time, or in the case of Ruby, never at all. Yet they stayed in the fight longer than him.
But when he looked again and actually thought it over, they would die in a few minutes. Ruby, while possessing weapons worthy of a Star, had the constitution of a Plague based on her outburst this morning. By that consideration, her Aura would gave out any seconds from now. Pyrrha was a Beast Hunter, the pinnacle of Hunters, yet she couldn't land a meaningful blow even with Ruby's help.
He could help. However, what would it accomplish? The King would swat him again just like before.
His gripped on Crocea tightened.
Is this the end?
A voice lurched him forward, he didn't knew why, but that voice compelled him.
Is the legacy of The Golden will end here, end with you?
No, he made a vow did he not? A vow to restore the glory of The Golden.
Yes, you did make it. On that day, upon what remains of your home, you made your vow.
Strength returned to him, his face filled with determination, and he rose from the desolate earth.
Advance, Young Man.
He advanced to the battlefield.
My Crocea Mors is yours. Let The Golden walked the world once more.
He was Jaune Arc, soul-borne of The Golden, and his soul set ablaze with this declaration, radiating with the glory of the Sun.
The King took notice of this. Johnathan wasn't aware but The King considered him to be the highest threat amongst the three. Because John actually had the strength to stagger him. So when John stood back up with Aura as bright as the sun, The King put John on higher priority.
The King made a circular slash with the bone blade, forcing Ruby and Pyrrha to retreat, and advance to Johnathan at great speed. Johnathan was ready for this; both parts of Crocea Mors radiated Aura of Golden.
The King came down with a mighty swing, intending to swat John away as it had done previously. The impact came, explosion of Aura triggered at the point of impact.
The Descendant of Golden stood his ground...
...and The King's sword arm was repelled.
The King, not letting the surprising turn of event stopped him, immediately conjured a sword and delivered another attack. Crocea Mors parried it. Still unrelenting, the bone blade came once more. Unmoving, Johnathan parried it, not even staggering. The King's left hand conjured once more, a hammer brought down upon the Descendant of Golden. The protection of Crocea met the Hammer of King, and Johnathan weathered through it. Unmoving, even when the ground beneath him cracked with the intense pressure.
The Hammer of King raised again for another strike, but in its folly, The King forgot the other combatants.
An explosion of Dust impacted its skull, staggering him.
"RAAAAAH!"
Then, the same blade that delivered an agonizing pain to The King several minutes ago was protruding again from The King's chest.
And lastly, there was the puny human that stood before him. No, this was not a puny creature. This was not a weak boy. For the one standing before him was not the same Johnathan Amsel as before. This was not a boy, this creature was a man clad in Gold.
As the radiance grew, Imperator couldn't muster his being to be angry. This man showed him strength, true strength obtained from within oneself, not something that was stolen from others.
As the Golden radiance consumed him, he couldn't help but respected the determination and strength of the man known as Johnathan Amsel.
Curtain Calls for The First Act of Jaune
A.N. For you who recognize, yes, Imperator roughly looks like Morgott.
Now, there are different ideas of this fight. One where Imperator is straight up Radahn(This is the one inspiration I got from Max0r's video) where Ruby and Pyrrha got de-armed, but it won't make sense with the direction of the next chapter. One where Qrow is present and grabs Harbinger; the fight would probably goes in the team's favor if I went with that but I cannot make Jaune shines without nerfing Qrow to hell and back. Then there's one where Ramoex appeared and teleported John-Ruby to Ermessia-Big Steel; that would make the previous build up useless. So I went with the one posted here. Hope you enjoy this one.
P.S. Have you guys read 'Arc Corp' by Coeur Al'Aran? That's the closest thing this site got to an actual RWBY x Lobotomy Corp. He even mentioned that LobCorp, LoR, and SCP Foundation are the main inspirations for it.