RWBY: Shonen Jump Edition
Preface:
To start off with, I don't have many problems with way Miles and Kerry took things after Monty's passing. They did the best they could, using what little of Monty's ideas and rough concept art that they had left after his passing.
But I feel like they took RWBY in more of an American High-Fantasy direction instead of a more shonen-jump-esque direction, which is where I feel like Monty really wanted to go with it in the first place.
With that having been said, I'm not claiming that is what Monty would've made. Rather, this is my take on something more Monty-esque, if that makes sense.
Alternative continuity from Season 3 onwards, by the way.
For now, the main differences are that:
1. Jaune was the one to witness Pyrrha's death instead of Ruby.
2. Ozpin survived (for now)
3. Adam wasn't the one that Yang lost her arm to.
But there will be some slight differences in mythology as the series continues.
Chapter 0 - Prologue: Fallout
Pyrrha was dead.
That was the first thing that registered in his mind after the invasion had ended, and all the dust had settled down.
Jaune had seen it happen with his own eyes, but had been powerless to stop it. Guilt racked at him, in every corner of his mind.
'If only I had been faster! If only I had been stronger! If only had been more experienced! If only I wasn't a damn fraud of a huntsman!'
The thoughts rattled him to the core. But ultimately, he had been powerless, hopeless. And he could only blame himself for that.
Nora had also been badly injured, but thankfully she had managed to survive through the whole ordeal. She had been sent to a special medical facility for experimental treatment in Atlas to recover, and Ren had gone to look after her.
Ren had left a few words before he had parted with Jaune - words of comfort, mainly, but also words of advice.
"Jaune, don't blame yourself too much." Ren had said, knowingly. "I know at too well how that feels like. But in cases like this, the best thing we can do is not to torture ourselves over our feelings. Instead, we have to learn from them, and use them as motivation to improve ourselves. To make sure things like this don't happen again."
Ren had been right, of course. He usually was. But the thoughts kept playing out in Jaune's mind, over and over again - like a cassette tape stuck in loop.
'I have to change.' Jaune thought to himself, 'But how?'
He want to change, of course. To become stronger, to become faster, to become more courageous, more like a hero. But Jaune didn't even know where to start. Pyrrha had been training him, but now she was gone, and that was his fault, too -
Jaune shook his head again. His thoughts were only going around in circles. He had to stop that. Taking a deep breathe, he tried to re-focus and re-center himself.
'Ah, maybe Ruby could help!'
After all, if there was anybody whether of being of a huntress, it would definitely be her.
Maybe Ruby could help him to become stronger - to become strong enough, at least, that he'd never have to feel like this again.
...
Ruby hated herself.
That wasn't an unfamiliar feeling to her, by any means - but she was feeling it now much more than ever before. Her sister had lost an arm, Weiss was being called to return back to Atlas, and Blake was just completely despondent and cold, off in her own world.
Yang would be enough for her to worry about, but on top of that, it was felt like her whole team was falling apart too.
The peaceful days they once had had at Beacon were over now, fully and truly.
'If only I had been a better leader! If only I hadn't given those orders! If only I...!'
She paced around over and over again, lost in her own thoughts.
Thankfully, Jaune interrupted her thoughts mid-way, before she could too far into her own self-loathing. He approached awkwardly, as if unsure of what to say. "Hey there, Ruby..."
"Jaune..."
An awkward silence lingered between them, neither really much in the mood to say anything. Ruby knew she should probably be offering words of consolation to Jaune, as his team had suffered much greater losses than hers had - but she didn't really know what to say.
She hadn't lost a team member herself, and any words of consolation she could offer would probably just come off as ingenuine or insincere, especially with her lack of social understanding.
"I'm sorry for your -"
Jaune interrupted her before she could say anything else.
"Ruby, please, help me get stronger!"
"Huh?"
Well, she hadn't been expecting that.
"What? Why, why me?"
It was a request that really did seem to come out of the blue.
"You're the strongest hunter I know." Jaune explained. "Well, besides my dad." Jaune amended, "But I don't think I've ever seen another huntress as strong or as fast as you are. Or able to cut down Grimm so quickly."
Ruby flushed. "Well, I'm flattered, but -"
"Please!" Jaune had a real sense of desperation in his voice, which made him hard to turn down.
But Ruby shook her head.
"Jaune, I really am not the best person to ask about this!" She insisted, "I mean, in the first place, I, I don't even know if I'm fit to be leading my own team!"
Ruby went on, "Yang's down an arm, Weiss might just be leaving for Atlas soon, and Blake just seems to be going off on her own right now, too! My own team is in shambles, and, to be honest, I don't even know if I'm still fit to be a huntress, right now!"
Jaune looked at her, right in her eyes.
"But at least everyone in your team still survived."
Ruby flinched a little bit at that.
Jaune's voice cut through her objections like a cold splash of water to the face. He didn't mean it to sound accusatory and Ruby knew that, but the heaviness of the statement still put some guilt on Ruby's heart, though Jaune himself didn't seem to notice.
"R-right. Well, that's true..." Ruby said, gathering herself, "...But it's not just that."
She continued, "In the first place, our weapons and fighting styles are completely different. I use a gun-scythe for high speed combat, but I'm not really suited for more steady one-on-ones like you and Yang are. And people who use sword and shields have their own ways of fighting, too, so I don't think I could teach you much..."
"...I see..." John sounded dejected, and she couldn't blame him. But she really wasn't very well suited to teaching him. Especially not right now, when she was having doubts about herself.
Still, she did want to help somehow.
"Maybe I could teach you just some of the basics of high-speed combat?" She asked, "It might not help you much, but it could teach how to fight against faster enemies." She offered.
Jaune nodded. "Please. I'll take anything I can get right now."
In the distance, a certain red-haired faunus stood atop a high building, overlooking the horizon.
"Finally, I've arrived."
Once, the proud leader of the White Fang. Now, reduced to a mere wanderer on the run.
The White Fang had once been a proud, independent group, fighting for faunus rights. The people called them "terrorists", but they were much more than that - they were freedom fighters.
Or at least, they had been, until Cinder's group had usurped him and his authority.
Now, Vale's White Fang was nothing more than a mere puppet group, moving at the whims of whoever was the most powerful. Adam grunted angrily to himself as he recalled the turn of events, still bitter at how things had turned out like so.
When they had first approached him, he was naturally wary. But they offered excellent terms for co-operation, and and an excess of the necessary resources and funding for further operations, so he had begrudgingly agreed to work with them, at first.
At least, until they tried to kill him. And then having had him surrounded by Vale's police and military authorities through their manipulations, when he managed to survive.
At least he had managed to escape.
Adam gripped the hilt of his sword in anger, just recalling it. He knew he should've just cut off that damned woman's head the first moment he saw her.
But, it was too late now. Now, the White Fang was moving completely under her command instead of his. His control of the White Fang (or at least, his radical faction of it) had been usurped, and he was left on his own to carry out justice.
Well, it wasn't all bad though. It did give him some time to set out to do something he had wanted to do, but was unable to while still in command - to search for Blake, his old rogue partner (the traitor). The last he had heard, she had become a student-huntress at a school (one that was far below her level), Beacon. Apparently, Beacon had fallen since then - part of Cinder's plan that had come to fruition, though a remarkably foolish move for the White Fang to make, if anything.
But, now that Beacon had fallen, it might be a good chance to get Blake back. Or to slay her, if she would no longer co-operate.
Now, his own personal hunt began.
In the ruins of what was once his office, Ozpin looked over the destruction and the ruins of his once proud school.
He sighed, taking a small sip of coffee from his mug.
So, things had finally begun in earnest. He had been hoping that there might've been a few more years of peace left, but it looked like time was running out.
The sleeping forces of Darkness and its agents had finally begun to awaken, and started making their moves.
Once again, Ozpin sighed.
He had been prepared for this eventuality, but if he had only had a few more years to prepare and train up the new generation, this generation, then it really would've made all the difference.
Still, things very rarely went as planned. He knew that, and had come to accept it from all the years he had been alive, as an immortal.
"If only, what was left of the Brother Grimm of Darkness had remained sleeping..."
But he always knew these days would come eventually.
"I suppose it's time, then."
He had to call together his forces. It was finally time,
To begin the hunt for The Grand Grimm.
Author's Notes:
Here, Adam won't be the same clingy jealous ex-boyfriend character he was from Season 3 onwards. Honestly, I felt like that was kind of a waste, to be honest. Especially when he had been presented as such a cool character at first. Here, he'll be a lot of a "Vegeta" type of character (hence, part of the reason for the "Shonen Jump Edition" title lol).
Probably; Ruby, Jaune, and Adam will be the three protagonists of the story. The main focus will naturally be on Ruby and Jaune, but Adam will be important, too. It's been kind of a slow start, but don't worry, the story and pacing will get quicker as it goes on. Jaune's guilt and sorrow over Pyrrha's death will also be a lingering character point for a few chapters, although it wasn't give much focus this chapter.
Just to give a small idea of where this is going, at some point, Adam will probably start training and mentoring Jaune. But don't worry, that's only one of the smaller parts of the plot, so it's not much of a spoiler. And the end-goal will not to be to slay Salem (though she still exists) - but instead, it'll be to slay what's left of the Brother Grimm of Darkness ("The Grand Grimm"). But more on that in the next chapter. See ya!