"No Good Deed Goes Unpunished"
"I'm a fraud Pyrrha, I don't belong here..."
"Yes you do, Jaune, you worked hard to-"
"My transcripts were forged, Pyrrha! Me being here wasn't supposed to happen. Me surviving Initiation wasn't supposed to happen! I never even wanted any of this!"
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. STUPID!!!
My "conversation" with Pyrrha refused to leave my mind.
After my outburst, I had immediately left my partner on the rooftops and went to the gym. I needed a distraction and making sure I don't drop heavy metal things on my head was as good as any.
Living in the shadows of my sisters all my life, I had been nothing but a failure in the eyes of my parents. Anything I could do, they were better. It was only a matter of time before everyone was sick of my mediocrity.
I was ten when my parents finally gave up on me and was moved to the shed. I wasn't even allowed inside the house proper.
As more of my sisters were born and the others got older and began training as Huntresses, othe more clear it became I wasn't truly a factor in our family anymore.
I was sixteen when Dad came into the shed and dropped off my first gift in six years. It was old, covered in dirt, cobwebs, and its leather grip was spongey and rotten. I immediately set to cleaning it up, and replaced its grip. Miraculously, the guard and pommel just needed a good wipe-down and the blade was in such pristine condition that I hadn't known any better, I'd have thought the blade was actually glowing.
It was no Crocea Mors, that went to my twin, Joan. But it was mine. So I was still delighted to have it all the same.
If Mom and Dad knew about that, they would never had handed it over to me.
Speaking of which, I had hoped Dad was going to start training me like my sisters. I should have known better...
"You're on your own. Have them send it back when you die."
Except I didn't. Not yet, at least. Now, here I am leading a team that deserves way better than some screw-up idiot with no idea what he's doing. And since Mom and Dad made it very clear I was not welcome to return in anything but a casket after hearing about my unexpected survival, I can't just drop out like I planned.
"Can't even die right... Why am I not surprised?" I remember my mother saying over the scroll when I called to tell them about it. She and Dad didn't even wait to hear about me being named team leader before hanging up.
That was when Pyrrha paid me a surprise visit on the rooftops. She was just trying to be nice and offer me some help... I was emotionally unstable after that call and snapped at her. I shouldn't have done that. What kind of lousy shit-bag am I?
I put the weights up and went for a shower.
'I'll apologize to her in the morning if she's not already asleep...' I told myself. Hopefully I can fix this...
I liked my team. They were good people and very, very good at what they did. Ren was a freaking ninja, Nora's a living force of nature, and Pyrrha? She's a world famous tournament champion fighter who could easily combine anyone's ass with their face. Then there's me. Plain ol' Jaune. Just some dipshit kid with no real training or talent that is way out of his depth.
They were wasted on me...
After cleaning myself up and putting on fresh clothes, I heard a commotion outside the showers and in the gym. Which was strange, considering the only other person here at this hour besides myself was Blake.
Much like myself, I knew that Blake liked to use the gym at night to avoid being harassed. Probably more so than me as she was a girl. A very pretty girl at that. Constantly being 'checked out' and catcalled was probably very taxing and Blake liked her peace and quiet. Whereas I was just mocked and belittled for not being as praiseworthy as my teammates. And that was just in the halls. Yes, I can hear everything people say behind my back when they think I'm not listening.
They're right, of course, but it still hurts...
Anyways, it wasn't like Blake to be clumsy or anything. That was my area of expertise. Peeking outside, I could scarcely believe my eyes.
"Hey! Let go of me!" I heard Blake demand.
"Come on, babe, don't be like that... We'll treat you real nice..." I heard a voice that really sent alarm bells ringing in my head.
Team CRDL had shown up, and had cornered Blake. How did they manage to get the drop on Blake? Then again, there was really only one way in and out of the gym...
The first thing I noticed about this situation was Russel and Dove holding her down while Sky had put his hands on the hem of her shorts as Cardin began reaching down for his belt...
I never even gave myself a chance to think my next course of action through before I made my decision. Blake and I may not really talk, but she was a friend and teammate to Ruby! The only friend I had outside of my team. Which was close enough in my book.
Fire and ice began roaring in my veins.
Cardin and his goons would only ever get slaps on the wrists for this, and it would all be swept under the rug. Even though I knew Beacon's faculty would love to get rid of the Winchester Family's sole heir, they couldn't do anything without severe repercussions from Cardin's father on the Council.
But what did I have to lose?
My place here at Beacon?
My very life?
Sure, without any faculty members around, there was nothing stopping Cardin and his posse from killing me. But there was no-one else around to stop them from violating Blake. And even if I survived, I'd surely be punished for attacking a council member's kid "unprovoked".
So in the end, my decision was made.
My family doesn't want me, and my team would do way better with just about anyone else. I'm only holding them back anyways.
I was going to help Blake.
'None of them had noticed me yet. Good. I can use that to surprise them long enough for Blake to make a break for it and get back to her team.'
As I got closer, I could smell the alcohol coming off the team of jerks in waves.
That would certainly make things easier than I thought.
Grabbing the nearest dumbbell to me, I made my first move.
"Come on... With an ass like that-GuH!!!" Sky lecherously began but was interrupted by my surprise attack.
Gathering whatever Aura I could muster on such short notice, my Aura control was still quite lacking and I didn't have the same level of training as my enemies, so I would have to compensate with sheer brutality and dirty tactics. Coming in from the side, I had kicked Sky in the side of his head while he leered at the Blake's backside as he pulled her gym shorts down.
Without his guard up and caught completely unaware, Sky Lark was out cold before he hit the ground.
One down, three to go...
"-the fuck? Arc?!?"
"Jaune?!?"
Dove Bronzewing was the next one I lashed out at as he, Russel, and Cardin stumbled back from my unexpected assault.
The thirty-pound-or-so weight in my fist came crashing into Dove's jaw with a solid "CRACK!" as I swung the dumbbell back towards him, knocking him down and several of his teeth in the process.
Russel shoved Blake to the side as he tried to take a swing at me, but was met by my headbutting him and breaking his nose.
Cardin, having a higher alcohol tolerance, and thus being significantly more coordinated than his teammates, was the first to actually land a hit on me by slugging me on the left side of my head. Causing me to stumble away as Dove recovered and grabbed me in a full nelson.
Being completely forgotten by her assailants in favor of me, Blake bolted out of the gym.
Good.
With my original objective complete, I could (mentally) rest easy and let CRDL do whatever they felt like to me.
But for some reason, I kept going. It kind of felt good releasing all my anger and frustration on these assholes. Maybe Yang, Blake's partner, was on to something about that...
As Cardin began laying into me, I reached back to grab Dove by the ears and dropped my weight. This caused Cardin's latest haymaker to connect with Dove's skull as I had effectively pulled him over me.
With a push, I shoved the downed again boy off of me and drove my now empty fist into Cardin's knee which caused him to buckle and drop down on that knee. Allowing me to upper-cut him with my own knee as I jumped back up.
Only for me to be driven back into a weight rack as Russel had now recovered and had tackled me.
Before I could retaliate, piercing, white-hot pain lanced through my abdomen where Russel was striking me with his fist.
No, not his fist...
A knife.
Grabbing a weight off the rack behind me with both hands, I smashed his lower back with every ounce of strength I could, dropping him with the knife still in place inside me.
He did not get back up after that.
I then frisbee threw the weight right into Dove's stomach as he approached. He doubled over allowing me a clear shot at grabbing him by the head and driving my knee into his face.
With a punch to the side of his skull, Dove was finally down for the count, leaving Cardin to come swinging at me with an unloaded barbell.
Raising my arms to protect my head, I was still knocked over by the forty-five pound bar of steel. I tried to pick myself back up but was knocked back down by a kick to the side that landed right on the knife still embedded in me, driving it deeper into me while snapping off its handle.
Frustration and anger continued to build inside of me as Cardin began pounding away at me with the barbell.
"Just had to be a hero, huh, Arc?"
What's going to stop Cardin next time?
"Look where it's gotten you!"
Why am I so pathetic?
"What makes you think you can do anything?!?"
Why am I so incompetent?
"Fucking cockblocker!"
Why am I so weak?
"Bet those sluts on your team are real tight! Maybe I'll ha-!"
At that moment, I felt a sudden surge of strength and vitality flood my body as the thought of Cardin walking away from this only to try again on Pyrrha or Nora filled me with such fury my now blazing, Aura-fueld hand snapped up to catch the steel bar missing.
Looks like I just got a second wind.
Grabbing the nearest weight small enough to use as a knuckle duster, I swung not for Cardin's knee again, but his crotch. It connected and I swear I heard a soft, wet, crack. As he dropped the barbell to cup his destroyed 'manhood', I brought my weighted fist back up into his jaw. Sending him on his back as I pounced and repeatedly bashed in his face.
"DON'T YOU EVER GO NEAR MY FRIENDS AGAIN!!!" I furiously shouted between punches as Cardin's face became bloodier and blacker with every strike.
But before I could go any further, I was gripped by a mysterious force and slammed into the far wall.
"Just WHAT is going on here!"
At the entrance with her riding crop in hand, stood the Deputy Headmistress of Beacon Academy, Glynda Goodwitch.
And she was pissed.
"Rest now, young one... Your journey has just begun..."
That was the last thing I heard before everything went dark.
(-/LINE BREAK\-)
(Blake's POV)
I was nearing full panic mode as I raced through the halls of Beacon wearing nothing but my tank-top and panties.
I was just getting some late night exercise in when I was jumped and nearly raped by team CRDL. If it wasn't for Jaune... Oh gods... I needed to get help. Fast.
If it wasn't for how distracted I was for trying to block Jaune's surprising physique, I may not have had anything to worry about. But Nooo... I had to take a quick peek at what Jaune was working with and couldn't get those broad shoulders and steel biceps out of my hormone-ridden mind. It didn't help that I was also thinking about what it would probably feel like to rub my face against those rock hard muscles. Sure, Jaune wasn't exactly the best fighter in our year, but he had a rock solid foundation to build upon...
It wasn't until after he had left to take a shower could I find focus on the music in my ear buds and doing my squats. That was when CRDL showed up.
They had surrounded me like sharks before I even realized they were there. The smell of alcohol should have tipped me off, but I simply wasn't paying attention.
Stupid, stupid, STUPID!!!
I had burst through the door of my team's dorm, causing Ruby to jump and fall out of her bed. Yang was irately roused from her "beauty sleep" and Weiss whipped her head around away from her extra credit homework.
Yang's anger evaporated at the sight of my panicked face.
"Blake? What's wro-" she was interrupted by Weiss.
"You're one of them?!" Weiss shouted before taking in the rest of my state. Of course the first thing she would have noticed were my ears... But that's not important now.
"I was at the gym! Team CRDL tried to..." I couldn't even say it out loud. I shook my head and continued. "Jaune distracted them! He needs help!"
"Why should we-" Weiss was interrupted by Ruby giving orders.
"Blake, call Prof. Goodwitch and send her to the gym! Weiss! Yang! We need to get there, now!"
Yang's eyes were red with rage as she had already grabbed her gauntlets.
"I'm gonna KILL those fuckers!"
'Jaune... Please be okay...'
AND SCENE!!!
Sooo... Yeah... This is based on my original draft for my story "The Knight of Light". This is a tweaked version where I have changed several things but there will be a lot of similarities.
And yes, this IS a Fable crossover. Which means yes, "The Knight of Light" was originally meant to be a Fable crossover as well.
This just kinda re-popped into my head and wouldn't leave me alone... Figured I may as well share it with you guys.
This story is dedicated to a young friend of mine in IRL who LOVED The Fable games about as much as I did when I was a kid.
And if you are reading this, don't worry.
CHICKENS WILL BE KICKED.
Tatty-bye now!