So... this will be an alternate timeline where Jaune didn't pass the Field Exam, and thus not becoming a Beacon student after all. One of my readers brought up the possibility in a review and I figured... why not? Might as well see if there's enough interest to keep this going, or make it a shorter story that leads to an uncertain future.. let me know! And without further ado, let's begin!

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth

Remnant's Greatest Loser: Alternate

Chapter 1

The Lost Bet Part 1

"W-what? You... y-you didn't..?"

Jaune sighed as he got on the Bullhead headed back to Patch.

He looked at his scroll, seeing the concerned faces of Ruby and Yang on the screen.

"It was... terrible timing to be honest. I... overcharged my Semblance when I took the exam and... r-ran out of Aura before I could finish... so... I didn't... d-didn't.."

He couldn't finish his sentence, the turmoil he felt threatening to consume him whole, he had to shut his eyes for a moment to keep himself together, lest he shut down completely.

He heard gasps from the device, then sniffling from the phone, Ruby most likely, then he heard Yang speak up.

"Jaune," she said in a soft, careful tone. "Do you... need some time to um... to yourself right now or-"

"Yang!"

Ruby nearly shrieked at the audacity of the suggestion, her voice filled with her own sadness and wrongness of it all.

"Jaune doesn't need to be alone right now! He needs us to be there for him now more than ever!"

"I know that alright?!"

Yang yelled back with equal force, her own voice mirroring her sister's, though her emotions were a bit harder to contain due to her nature.

"I just don't know if us comforting him will come off as patronizing or not! Like when I tried to comfort y-"

Jaune heard a smack which caused him to open his eyes in alarm, worried that Ruby had struck her sister out of anger.

Instead it was the sound of Yang covering her own mouth, looking at her younger sister with a scared look on her tear-stained face.

Ruby had tears streaming down her face as well, but her head was slightly lowered, bangs covering her eyes, teeth set in a pained grimace.

Through gritted teeth, Ruby spoke just loud enough to be heard through the scroll.

"And I lashed out at you right? Said some... awful things I didn't mean and... and we ended up fighting? I remember. I-I'll always feel horrible about that. But it... w-would have been so much worse if that didn't happen, trust me."

Jaune didn't remember hearing about this when they talked about the aftermath of the 'heart to heart reality check', their family had a few years ago. Thinking further on it he supposed that would make sense.

(Letting them in during the worst of times can only help right? It's not like I can go to my Big Sis, Gepetto or Terra right now, they're too far to see in person for this. And my parents...)

Yeah he definitely couldn't tell them now. If they found out he failed, he was sure they'd destroy whatever spirit he had left, and he wouldn't be able to recover from the fallout. So that only left one option.

"Please Jaune," Ruby pleaded, her silver eyes already red from crying.

"J-just come home ok? We'll talk it out, f-figure out what to do next, and we'll g-get through it together!"

"Y-yeah, what she said," Yang said, trying to smile reassuringly but couldn't quite manage it, light hiccups and sniffles breaking through.

"W-we'll...hic... we'll be here... w-waiting for you k?"

Jaune couldn't bring himself to respond, but nodded at them before ending the call, and putting his face in his hands.

(Even after everything I did to get this far... I still wasn't enough... I feel... so... so useless! I just... Damnit! I was.. so close...)

The half-blonde felt a few tears leak from his eyes, despite how hard he tried to keep them in, losing the modicum of control he gained while listening to the sisters talk.

He remembered suddenly about the conversation with Gepetto that started this whole thing.

(I guess... I lost that bet after all, didn't I old man.)

Figured I'd give this a shot, see if there's enough interest for it to go anywhere, let me know what you think! Read and Review! Peace!