The Boy Who Talks to Machines
By The Good Life Creator 678
Chapter One: Piece of Your (EVO) Action
It was supposed to be an easy day, a day where nothing could go wrong. They had completed almost everything on their list; well, more so Jaune's list than Rebekah's. The finish line was almost in sight, too.
Step one was to make it Vale. That wasn't anything too difficult, a simple walk from the forests to the south had brought him to the city that overlooked the Sea of Souls. All he and Rebekah had to do was not attract attention to any wondering huntsman and they were golden.
Step two was where Jaune expected to hit a snag, gathering forged documents to make it to Beacon. Yes, it flew in the face of Rebekah's plan for a vagabond life, and yes, it did attract attention to their current 'condition' but her blond partner had a hero complex that simply could not be sated so who was she to deny him that?
Besides, he would die if she didn't tag along for the ride or so she claimed on repeat ever since he came up with the convoluted plot he had dubbed Operation: Accepted to Beacon.
One stop in the industrial district, a shady man of ill-repute asking way too many questions to be comfortable, and a transfer of lien that Jaune had insisted was legitimate, they had the forged documents that the man had assured them was like a golden ticket.
Step two miraculously accomplished.
Step three was where everything decided to take a sharp turn sideways into the calamity that was now their life. On the plus side they played the hero part to a T in their own unique fashion; even cured an EVO. Yay team. The downside was now a ruined grocery store and some minor road damage that they were now on the hook for.
Originally, the plan was to enter the grocery store, gather some supplies for their night of roughing it on the forest surrounding forest till their acceptance letter got approved, and leave before people started questioning how a raccoon can talk. Apparently, the forger cost a lot more than anticipated so they had to camp for a bit.
It all started simply enough, Jaune grabbed a cart from the start and walked through the doors, doing his best to ignore the odd looks thrown his way as he made small talk to Rebekah who clung on his shoulder. He moved up and down the aisles At slow and steady pace, lazily tossing item into the basket as he loosely inspected their labels, fingers lightly tracing the rocks of cans. A light hum passed through his lips.
"I'm the man, I'm the king, I'm the one that's pure inside. Every day, every way I smell of suicide."
Rebekah shifted over his shoulder, pressing her check against his to get a better look at the can he was about to toss into the cart with other non-perishables that he had thrown in there. "How do you humans even stomach this stuff?" She made a grab for the can in indignation as Jaune held it just out of reach.
"Hey! I'm feeling a bit lazy. I don't feel like hunting so canned food it is." He made a shove to shove her back a bit. He had tried to get her to act like a normal raccoon before but it never took. It would have been a foolish suggestion anyways, her attire of a wide brimmed hat along with her two revolvers and plasma cannon bringing attention no matter what.
"Besides, if you don't like it you could always raid a trashcan." Maybe that was a low blow but in his defense he had seen several raccoons root through trash cans on their way into the city.
"What's that supposed to me-" The remark was left hanging as step three of their plan went belly up. Screams of sheer terror exploded around them, customers stampeded for the exits in a mad dash for survival. Shelves clamored to the floor, their contents spilling along the floor. They could even hear a young child cry in confusion as his mother drug him out of the store to the arms of safety.
"Why do you think they're running?" Jaune questioned, pointing towards the retreating crowd.
Rebekah rolled her eyes at the remark, jumping to the floor. "Maybe it's a new fad only to Vale. Like flash mobs." She was sarcastic about her response, both of them had an idea why they were running away from the store.
She waddled towards the end of the aisle to get a better look at just what everyone was running from. Her body froze in place right before rounding the corner, her fingers twitching at her revolvers, her fur stood on end in shock.
"That is disgusting!" she blanched out in a dry heave, turning on her heels to find a semi-safe place to relieve her stomach.
That peaked Jaune's interest. What could be so disturbing that it sent Rebekah into a vomiting mess? Maybe it was a scene straight from a snuff film? Or maybe it was some Eldritch squid finally ripping its' way to Remnant in search of a magic space watch?
Whatever it was, Jaune had to at least see what it was, no matter how fast his heart threatened to jump out of his chest.
The sight of the thing did not disappoint. Its' clawed hands gripped at the sides of the deli counter as he dug into the cold cuts face first. Glass and metal was scattered about, several food warmers already destroyed by the monsters appetite. So, not a snuff film. The jury was still out on the Eldritch abomination theory, though.
Then the thing turned around, giving Jaune the unfortunate look his curiosity demanded. The monster was a man, or at least used to be. He was short and stalky, purple skin wrapped tight around rolls of fat with a boring brown business suit stretched to the point of failure. Rows of sharp, stone like teeth glistened in the warm florescent lights as he grinned at Jaune, bits of bologna slathered on his cheeks. How the thing could even see without eyes was anybody's guess.
Eldritch abomination lite?
"So, no pressure here but I think you might have to pay for all of that." Jaune's voice was shaky as he pointed towards the destruction behind Big Mouth. The blond's eyes went wide as the large man clumsily ran towards him, claws outstretched and large mouth opened wide. He moved surprisingly quick for such a pudgy thing.
At first, all Jaune wanted to do was panic at the sight, screaming his lungs out at the disturbing image of this man chomping down on a new Jaune-y snack. Cooler heads prevailed as he cocked his hand back, lowering his center as not to be trampled.
He was NOT about to eaten by some faceless creature from the great buffet.
The nanites in his body began to shift under command, pulsating heavily under his skin as the all too familiar blue traces glowed along his arms. Thick metal morphed into large white and gold mechanical fists. With a mighty thunk, Jaune sent the fist forward, crashing into Big Mouth and sending the glutton flying into the recesses of the store.
Jaune narrowed his eyes slightly, never taking his sights away from where the man had been sent flying to. He couldn't make out any major movement from the monster outside of a few twitches. Did he do i-.
"What the fuck?!" Jaune exclaimed as a twelve pack of soda came flying towards his face. What kind of throwing arm did this thing have? Reaction kicked in, his large blocky metal hands moved in front as a makeshift shield, aluminum and paper crunched upon impact spraying sugary liquid everywhere.
The gurgling sounds erupted again as Big Mouth rose to his feet in one of the most disturbing fashions that Jaune had ever seen, it's tongue lashed out, digging into the ceiling above to hoist his heavy frame.
The Eldritch abomination theory was gaining more and more credence.
With a shrill screech the beast lumbered again, claws extended outwards, strangely prehensile tongue lashing about. With a backhand, Jaune sent Big Mouth stumbling back before picking him up by shoulders and slamming him to the floor. Jaune could feel it, the monster's nanites crying out in pain.
Damn it, this change was all to recent, the all too sudden mutation was taking it's toll on his body. This metamorphosis was demanding too many of his body's resources and having a hard time dealing with it.
Jaune needed to end this soon, before the change became permanent.
With a grunt, Jaune lifted Big Mouth once more before against racks and displays of food items repeatedly. The Eldritch creature screamed in pain as he crashed into bags of potato chips and various sodas.
"Almost done," Jaune spoke out to the creature. "Gotta make sure you can't think straight while I'm curing you. Makes it easier."
Cocking his free fist back, Jaune attempted to punch Big Mouth in an effort to knock the monster out. Before the large blocky mechanical fist could make contact, Big Mouth's tongue shot out, coiling around Jaune's arm, holding the fist back before constricting.
Just what on Remnant had this thing eaten?
Metal crunched and cracked, falling off Jaune's arm. No, no, no, this could NOT be happening. He was losing focus. The rest of his build began failing, metal clanking to the linoleum as Big Mouth had gained control of the situation.
With a quick crash the Eldritch thing had brought down one of the hanging florescent ballasts down on the blond's head, breaking the teens concentration and disabling the rest of the build. With another flick of the tongue, the glutton had wrapped around Jaune's ankle, swinging the young man into any hard surface in reach. The support columns, racks of salsa, whatever remained of the soda display, linoleum, the concrete under it, all met Jaune's whipcord frame in an intimate fashion.
As quickly as it started it ended, his leg phasing through the tongue and the ground giving its sloppy kiss hello. "Didn't your mommy teach you that it's rude to stick your tongue out!" Rebekah yelled, her plasma cannon arcing to life. With the pull of the trigger, a bolt of crimson electrostatic plasma escaped from the magnetic prongs that made up the barrel.
Big Mouth shrieked in unbelievable pain as the bolt of plasma wrapped his body like an electric blanket, his muscles twitched in involuntary agony as his nervous system was temporarily hijacked by a raccoon with a plasma cannon.
But it wasn't enough.
As the bolt's effect wore off, Rebekah cursed. Just what did it take to bring this man down? Before any further thought could be made, Big Mouth had flung one of the broken racks at the duo. Rebekah was fortunate enough to see it coming, jumping and phasing through it harmlessly.
Jaune, not so much.
No sooner had he regained his barings and got to his feet had he got met with the flung frame, sending Jaune the rest of the way outside the grocery store. The sun had made its final descent under the skyline, the brightest of stars managed to break through the city lights and dotted the inky sky. He could hear sirens out in the distance, rushing towards them to calm down the situation before things got much worse.
"You got a plan?!" Rebekah yelled, switching to her revolvers to take pop shots at the approaching creature.
Plan? What plan? He rushed in head first and became a ragdoll after smacking Big Mouth around a few times. Concussive force only did so much. Rebekah only did marginally better with the plasma cannon and that only temporarily paraly- That was it! If their best didn't work on their own, maybe they'd work in concert with one another.
"Yeah! Get behind his right and shock him! I'll take care of the rest!"
Rebekah nodded before running, jumping and phasing through Big Mouth before taking her position. "I hope you like spice!" She yelled before pulling the trigger of her plasma cannon one more time.
'Okay, time to put up or shut up, Jaune,' he thought to himself in an effort to reassure himself. He had to have this because the alternative was far to disturbing to even bare. Blue traces and white blue eyes glowed once more as the nanites obeyed his command. Gold and white metal formed over his arm, shaping itself into a large blocky crude cannon, encasing his arm and resting on his shoulder. With a thought, the maw at the back of the thing, digging into the road and retracting back with a chunk of cobblestone.
The beast screamed out in pain once again, his body convulsing under the familiar electric blanket, Rebekah continuously firing bolt after bolt of red plasma.
Go time.
"Thwmp! Thwmp! Thwmp!" Jaune's cannon spat out three shots of the road it had eaten right into the stomach of Big Mouth and sent the beast flying into the back of the store for what the duo had hoped would be the last time.
Jaune's heart never stopped its rapid breathing as he tentatively walked back into the store, the cannon receding back into his skin, shaky legs taking one step at a time. He tried acting calm and collected but the reality was that he was absolutely terrified of getting anywhere near Big Mouth. What if he wasn't taken down after the last assault? The thing was resilient. No, it was way too quiet for that, Rebekah would be screaming as she shot everything she had at the thing. What if he was faking being down for the count, waiting for his moment to strike? What if he used that prehensile tongue to strangle the life out of the poor boy once they got up close and personal with each other?
What if Big Mouth decided that Jaune looked good enough to eat?
Rebekah was already beside Big Mouth when Jaune staggered to the back, prodding at the pudgy man with the closed barrel of her plasma cannon in an attempt to get some sort of reaction of the man. Her fur rose on end in an almost comical fashion as his arm swung about towards her, a low growl escaping his maw in displeasure. Good, he was too tired to move more, his body succumbing to fatigue and pain.
That's what Jaune continued to tell himself in an attempt to gather the courage to actually cure Big Mouth.
"This is a bad idea, this is a very bad idea," Jaune muttered under his breath, continuing to step towards the crumpled form of Big Mouth. "You are going to die end up this things dinner." Shaky hands found their way to the downed man, Big Mouth doing little in protest. The all too familiar blue traces glowed along Jaune's arms into Big Mouth, the nanites buzzing in excitement.
Jaune could feel the transfer of nanites, many of his drawing in the active nanites that transformed Big Mouth into what he was at the moment before retracting into Jaune.
In a flash, the Eldritch abomination became human again, purple skin regained an olive tone, his mouth returning to normal as his eyes and nose reappeared. "Thank you," the man groaned out before fatigue came over him, succumbing to sleep.
"Hey, Jaune, we need to leave now!" Rebekah yelled, already scrambling to her favorite perch on his back. The sirens from earlier had gotten significantly closer. Part of him wanted to stay behind in an effort to ensure that the police new that they weren't at fault. But, the raccoon was right, the scene around him was nothing short of a disaster with people probably still running down the block in terror. Who was going to take the fall for all of this? The bad cereal two weeks past its expiration date?
"Yeah, you're right. Let's get outta here." There was no explaining their way out of this one.
It happened almost as if it were on cue, the duo taking not even two steps out the door the sirens had blares right before them, red and blue lights flashing brightly along the street, a bullhead flew above shining a spotlight down upon them. Their hands shot up immediately in an effort to deescalate the situation as the police shouted demands for them not to move.
Jaune was shaking in a nervous fit as the officers closed in slowly, pistols armed and ready, pointing directly at them. 'I'm gonna die, they're gonna cart me off to jail and they're gonna tear me apart molecule by molecule in some lab and do who knows what with Rebekah.'
"I say we cheese it," Rebekah whispered in a harsh voice that was all too loud for the officers not to hear. He let the idea roll around a bit, mulling over their options. They could very easily escape, just build a set of wings and into the sky they could get far, far away from Vale, never to think of the place again. The bullhead with the spotlight washing over them put a damper on that plan, Rebekah's phasing semblance could only go so far.
Besides, he wanted to be a huntsman and running away would make that venture difficult.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Jaune whispered back. No matter what they did, their fate was sealed the moment they had came to Vale.
A/N-And that's the first chapter done. I know, it's essentially a third person perspective of what EVOs and Grimm was and that's okay; I wanted to keep Rebekah and the dynamic between her and Jaune.
I know some people don't like OCs and I get why but she does serve a purpose, basically Jaune's version of Bobo. I wanted to give them a slightly antagonistic sibling while having each other's back relationship. It's kinda fun writing this.
I also wanted to add a bit more to the fight between Jaune and Big Mouth, the original was a bit more of a grappling match than a fist fight.
So, let me know how you feel about this chapter, tell me your suggestions on what this story should have, and review on what I can improve upon.