Cuts of RWBY
A RWBY Fic Collection by AndrewJTalon
DISCLAIMER: This is a fan based work of prose. RWBY is the property of Rooster Teeth and WB Animation. Please support the official release.
Jaune Arc was never in time for his classes.
Never in time for his dates.
Then one day he found he wasn't in his own time at all...
April 5th 2002 AA 02:34 PM
Beacon Academy, Vale, North Sanus
It was a quiet day. Ruby and Penny were doing some data compiling on some old info from some servers. While her expertise was more in hardware, Ruby did enjoy learning programming and Penny, being an AI, embodied it. So they were sitting in the Beacon Library, just relaxing and nerding out.
"So, what's this new project you're working on, Penny?" Ruby asked with an eager smile.
"I am reconstructing data files from November 12th, 1972 AA Calendar, Friend Ruby," Penny said, with her own bright smile.
Ruby nodded as her eyes flashed in realization.
"Oh, the day of that huge electrical storm? Didn't it fry all the primitive computer servers at the time?"
Penny smiled and nodded back.
"It did extensive damage to the city's infrastructure and considerable data was lost... However, several data scientists have been working to reconstruct the damaged files. I have found something unusual for the Old Vale Courthouse security camera footage."
Penny shows Ruby the files on her Scroll. Ruby studied the pictures in particular of a certain vehicle racing through the streets of the old quarter of Vale.
"That's weird... That car doesn't look like it's from this period," she murmured.
"It is not," Penny confirmed, "It is a 2000 Gelorean Motors GM12."
Ruby frowned more deeply, zooming in on the badge on the vehicle's hood.
"What's a car from 2000 doing back thirty years ago?" She murmured.
"This is a most unique conundrum, Friend Ruby!" Penny agreed.
"We need to study this more!" Ruby insisted.
They scanned through more reconstructed footage. Ruby then shook her head and held up her hand.
"Wait... Who's that? That blond guy? He looks... Familiar..."
The blond was tall, a bit lanky, but had broad shoulders. His mop of golden hair was all too familiar.
Penny hummed and shook her head, her eyes glowing softly as she processed the data.
"Unknown. I cannot find any ID records for a person matching this description in Vale at this time."
Ruby leaned forward, as she watched the footage of the blond young man talking with a middle aged man in a labcoat near a car, and a trailer covered in tarps. The object under the tarps resembled the Gelorean.
"Anything in the school records? He looks like he might have been Academy age," Ruby said.
It was a long shot, but... The boy just looked far too familiar.
"Perhaps!" Penny conceded, "The records for Beacon pre-1980 are not digitized yet."
They got up and headed to the old yearbook section, an aisle of books tucked away towards the back. Ruby scanned through the books, finding the one for 1971.
"Let's see... 1972..."
She pulled it out and flipped through the pages. She held in a snort when she saw Glynda Goodwitch.
"Geez, look at that hair!" She snickered.
"It is quite out of date! How humorous to imagine her in something other than her present style!" Penny agreed. "Hahaha! Hahaha! Haha... Ahem," she cleared her throat at all the other people staring at her.
Ruby kept turning the pages until she found a large photograph of many students. Her eyes lit up.
"Oh! Oh, here we go. Dance of Undersea Enchantment. November 12th, 1972..."
Her heart clenched a bit, but she pointed out the face of a young woman only a few years older than her. Reddish-black hair, silver eyes, wearing a red party dress. She was laughing with a much younger but familiar blond man, while a taciturn pair of brunette siblings posed nearby. Both had spiky hair. The girl was sour faced, but the boy was grinning cockily.
"That's my mom... My dad... Uncle Qrow... Aunt Raven..."
Ruby frowned as she locked onto three blonds. One was a nervous but smiling young man: Almost like the boy she'd seen, but not quite. He was a bit broader-shouldered, his face was a little too wide, and his eyes were the wrong color. He stood awkwardly in his suit. The girl next to him looked very happy, shooting a loving smile at the boy. She was in a green dress with her long golden hair in ringlets. The two were holding hands.
The third blond was a boy. Lankier, still tall. He was wearing a hat, and covering his mouth with his hand but...
Ruby's eyes widened.
"That's not possible..."
Penny scanned the photo as well. Her gentle frown deepened.
"Curious. The date for this photo must be wrong. There is no way this is possible."
"I mean... Could those be... Could that be his dad?" Ruby offered. "I-I mean, maybe he has an uncle-?"
"Unlikely," Penny said, appearing anxious, "That is this student's father, right in the photograph. And according to all records, this student had no brothers. This is a remarkable discrepancy."
Ruby's hands trembled in disbelief. It wasn't possible... It couldn't be possible...
Yet here was living proof, right in front of her.
"Penny? Are there... More discrepancies like this in the files?" Ruby asked quietly.
Penny's eyes darted to and fro as the gynoid processed the request.
"... Multiple potential discrepancies have been noted involving this individual, and a few others," she said.
"Please... Don't tell anyone about this, okay?" Ruby asked. "Nobody. It... We don't want to jump to any conclusions, you know?"
Penny hummed and then nodded.
"Of course, Friend Ruby! But how will we solve this conundrum? It is most perplexing!"
"Well," Ruby considered, "There's always the direct approach."
Ruby found her target easy enough. He was out relaxing in the sunshine, enjoying a comic book on a bench. He looked up when he saw her approach, and smiled at her.
"Hey Ruby. What's up?"
"Uh, hey," Ruby managed nervously, holding the yearbook behind her back, "Um... I have a question for you, Jaune."
Jaune Arc smiled.
"Sure! What is it?"
Ruby took a deep breath. She held out the yearbook, and opened it to the appropriate page with the photo of the Dance of Undersea Enchantment.
"Um... Well... Wh-What were you doing on November 12th, 1971?" Ruby asked shyly.
She expected Jaune to laugh it off. Say it was a prank or something.
Anything other than staring in horror at the photo.
"Oh shit," he mumbled. He took Ruby's hand, and dragged her off. Ruby gasped a bit-She'd never been manhandled like this before!
He dragged her out, out of the campus proper and approaching the wilds. When they reached a tree near some white ruins, he finally let her go and turned around. His face was deadly serious, and his eyes bore into hers.
"How many other people know?" He asked.
"J-Just me and Penny," Ruby said, clutching at the yearbook and holding it between herself and Jaune.
"Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure?" Jaune demanded.
Ruby winced. Jaune started and then pulled back.
"Sorry," he mumbled. "I-I didn't mean to scare you, Ruby."
Ruby stared back at him in disbelief.
"Jaune... What's going on?" She asked. "I-I mean... Is this a joke? A prank? Or-Or something?"
Jaune sucked in a deep breath. He let it out slowly. He smiled wryly.
"No. No, it's not," he said. He sighed again and sat down on a white marble block. Ruby, still a bit nervous, sat down with him.
"Well... W-What is it?" Ruby asked softly.
Jaune shut his eyes.
"... Promise you will never tell anyone else," Jaune said.
"Why would I-?"
"Promise me," Jaune insisted. Ruby nodded.
"I-I promise."
Jaune let out another breath, trembling a bit. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out his wallet. He fished out a small photo, and handed it to Ruby. She took it with a frown, then looked it over.
There was Jaune again, easily identifiable despite the photo being black and white. This time he was in old period dress with a cowboy hat on. Next to him was an older man with wild, swept back white hair, also in period dress, with a broad smile underneath his white Stetson. In between them was the Old Vale City clock, standing on wooden struts and stone blocks.
At the bottom of the photo was written Old Vale, September 22nd 1900 AA.
Ruby's jaw dropped. She stared at the photo, then back up at Jaune, then down at the photo again.
"Wha... How...?"
"I do have one thing I can kind of be proud of for my own achievements, Ruby," Jaune said with a nod, "And that is... I'm the world's first time traveler."
He frowned and then shrugged.
"Well, first human time traveler. There was a dog."
October 21st, 2002 AA 02:34 AM
Radian, Gallia, Vale, North Sanus
Jaune checked over the readouts on the time circuits one last time. He then referred to his Scroll, which Ruby had plugged in for additional readouts. He looked over at her. She was doing some more diagnostics on the computers in Doc's old lab, where the Gelorean sat.
It was quiet this late at night. Almost reassuringly.
"And... There," Ruby said with a smile. "I think the system will work." She shook her head. "It is kind of weird Doc didn't update the display for the time circuits to something more modern. Especially if he went to the future."
"Yeah," Jaune sighed, shaking his head, "Well... Doc was old fashioned like that."
Ruby frowned and stood up. She walked over to Jaune, and handed over another bit of tech.
"Sure this thing will work?" She asked.
"It fooled you the first time, that's all it has to do," Jaune said, setting the projector-like device down on the passenger side. Ruby hummed and worried her lower lip.
"So... You're sure about going back alone?"
Jaune nodded.
"I've done it a few times before," he said, "Plus... If I'm going to maintain the sequence of events, one person makes things a lot less tricky."
"But I'm faster, Jaune," Ruby insisted, "I-I can fix the time machine if something goes wrong, I can-!"
Jaune turned and shook his head.
"No Ruby," Jaune stated firmly, "Look... I have literally seen the world almost end because of some amateur running around in a time machine. That amateur was me. I can't risk anything happening. Sorry but..." He shrugged. "That's the way it is."
Ruby scowled. Jaune sighed, and reached out to squeeze her hand.
"Besides," He murmured, "You've done enough. This... This is something I have to do on my own."
Ruby's scowl intensified.
"I still don't see why the future you guys went to didn't come true," Ruby stated. Jaune shook his head.
"Me neither. Time travel's full of mysteries. Even Doc still doesn't understand everything but..." He sighed heavily, running a hand over the dashboard, "I hope he understands why we're doing this."
Ruby slowly nodded.
"Yeah, but... We're still making a pretty huge change," she said. "Uploading the macro program to turn the city's automated defenses back on, and-and all..."
"They got them back online in the old timeline too," Jaune said quietly, "We're just ensuring it happens a little faster."
"And Cinder?" Ruby asked quietly.
Jaune's grip tightened on the steering wheel. He shook his head.
"... We need her to run to track down who supported her," Jaune stated firmly. He took a deep breath. "But we'll reduce her body count. Make it easier for the adults to take back the city."
He hoped.
Ruby nodded, and hit the door controls. The garage door slowly opened, revealing Radian's clear night sky. Arc-En-Ciel was lit up in the distance, the castle-turned-hospital working overtime. Jaune started the engine-The Mister Fusion from the alternate 2025 engaging.
"The security overrides will keep you from getting shot down," Ruby said. She took his hand and squeezed it tightly. "... I can still come with you-"
"Ruby," Jaune said firmly. Ruby pouted.
"There's so many other people we can help-!"
"I know, Ruby, I know," Jaune sighed heavily. "We'll help a lot... But the problem is, even with the best intentions? Everything can go right to hell. Believe me."
Ruby scowled... But slowly nodded with a sigh. It did tug at his heartstrings but...
He knew what he was doing here.
"Take care of Yang and the others until I get back," Jaune said firmly. Ruby nodded again, and backed away. Jaune reached up and shut the Gelorean's gull hatch door. He checked over everything one last time, and took a deep breath.
"All right... "
He inputted the time coordinates into the circuits.
"June 1st, 2002, 10:00 AM," he stated, "Enough time to fly there from here."
He popped his anti-air sickness pill, and swallowed it dry. He put the car into gear and stepped on the accelerator pedal. The heavily modified Gelorean leaped out of the garage and onto the dirt road. He saw Ruby waving at him from the driver's side mirror, and stuck his hand out the open window long enough to wave back. He then rolled the window back up, and gunned it. He flipped the switches and engaged flight mode.
The boosters fired and the Gelorean leaped into the air, the wheels rotating downwards to provide lift as the rear vents ignited. The car accelerated, shooting off into the nightsky. Jaune checked the speedometer, and made sure the flux capacitor was lit.
"Here... We...!"
He accelerated to 88 miles per hour... The interior of the Gelorean lit up as the flux capacitor and the time circuits burst into life. Outside, light consumed the world.
"GO!"
June 1st, 2002, 07:03 PM
Beacon Academy, Vale, Central Sanus
The battle hadn't gone as Pyrrha had planned... But then, who expected their opponent to pull a giant dragon out of nowhere? It had torn away everything from the top of Beacon Tower, roaring over her. Her opponent, Cinder, had been so close to defeat... And now stood up cackling like a madwoman.
"Invincible Girl, huh?" Cinder laughed. A blast from the dragon's breath sent Pyrrha tumbling back. She got back up... Just in time for an arrow to hit her in the chest.
"HURK!"
"Not anymore," Cinder smirked. Pyrrha looked up weakly, coughing some blood out. Cinder stalked towards her, smirking devilishly. Tears came to her eyes.
Jaune... Ruby... Everyone... I-I'm so... I'm so sorry-
A bright light burst into life, and Cinder yelped. Pyrrha felt someone grab her by the arm and drag her away. She weakly struggled... Yet the form holding her was... Familiar?
"Just stay quiet," someone whispered in her ear. Pyrrha's eyes widened.
"Jaune-MMPH!"
He covered her mouth with his hand. They fell back... Onto something that was floating? A hatch opened out of apparent nothing, and Jaune pulled her into a cramped car cockpit. He slammed a pack of goo over her chest, and his Aura glowed brightly. Her pain began to ease a bit as the substance seemed to heal her. Jaune snapped the glass arrow in half, and tossed it away. The rest began to dissolve, and she could breath more easily now.
"Wh-What about Cinder-? What's going on-? What is this-?!"
"She's 'vaporizing' a hologram right now," Jaune explained, "Same tech that's keeping the Gelorean invisible right now." He shut the hatches of the car, and grabbed the steering wheel. "It'll fool Cinder... It won't fool the Grimm though."
He stepped on the accelerator and the car lurched forward, shooting off into the Grimm filled sky. Pyrrha's eyes widened as she saw several smaller flying Grimm, Gripen, dive on them.
"Shit," Jaune cursed, throwing the wheel this way and that to evade the screeching Grimm, "They're getting closer, hang on!"
Jaune pulled up and the car went into a steep climb, ascending rapidly as the sky grew dark from the setting sun. A few Gripen screeched at them, and one managed to sideswip the car. The vehicle shook and rattled around them, as Jaune struggled to keep control.
"Crap, crap, crap...! Thrust systems are failing!" Jaune groaned, "Should have used more fuel! Damnit Mister Fusion!"
Pyrrha held on tightly, still keeping calm even as her confusion grew.
"J-Jaune, I... I told you that-"
"I know, and you died," Jaune stated flatly. It hit Pyrrha like a freight train. "And so I decided to come back and save you."
"Wha... Come back... How?!"
"It's a long story," Jaune stated, inputting some numbers into the glowing dash, "But I'll tell you the whole story once we're back."
"Back?!" Pyrrha gasped. Jaune nodded.
"Yeah... And I'm gonna need your help for this next bit. Do you trust me, Pyrrha?"
Pyrrha stared at the boy she loved and admired... And slowly nodded.
"Completely."
"Can you catch us before we hit the ground?"
He looked... So much older around the eyes. So weary, and yet... That spark she loved was still in his eyes.
"Yes," she stated.
Jaune smiled.
"Then..."
He shoved the steering wheel forward, and dove. The Gelorean fell like a rock, shooting down for the ground like a meteor. Pyrrha took deep breaths. She felt Jaune's hand in hers. She looked at him.
"Almost... Almost," Jaune muttered. His eyes were locked on the digital speedometer on the dash.
86... 87...
The world outside exploded into bright lights and sparks. Reality itself seemed to bend around them...!
88...
A flash of light, and they were falling towards the Emerald Forest in the daytime.
"SHIIIIT!" Jaune shouted.
"HAAA!" Pyrrha slammed her hands into the roof of the car, and poured her Semblance into it. Black Aura erupted around the Gelorean, and it slowed, slowed... Until it set down on the ground like a gently falling feather. She dropped her arms in exhaustion, falling back in the leather seat.
"Haa... Haa... Haa..."
She felt Jaune wrap her in a tight hug. She weakly hugged him back.
"Welcome to the future," he murmured.
October 21st, 2002 AA 9:15 AM
Radian, Gallia, Vale, North Sanus
Jaune looked in through the glass into the recovery room. Despite the cool stone tile and walls of the ancient castle turned hospital, the interior was warm and comforting. It had been touch and go for a while, but Pyrrha had come through. She was resting in a hospital bed now, still hooked up to a massive array of sensors and tubes, but alive.
His mother emerged from the recovery room, pulling off her surgical mask to give Jaune and Ruby a small smile through her exhaustion.
"Everything is looking good, you two," she said with a sigh. Jaune reached out to squeeze his mother's shoulder in thanks.
"Thank you, Mom," Jaune said gratefully, "I-I know you're so busy but-"
"Nonsense. One more life to save? Hardly an issue," Isabel said with a smile. She yawned. "Though I'll admit... Even I am reaching my limits. All those refugees you brought back."
Jaune winced again. His mother's Total Body Control Semblance was incredible... But even she had her limits. If she was looking this tired, she must have been hitting those and hard.
"You should definitely get some rest, Mom," Jaune insisted. "Unless you want Dad to carry you home over his shoulder... Again."
Isabel blushed.
"I've gotten better about that," she mumbled. She shook her head and sighed. "All right. But same to you two. I know you've been working in Doctor Brown's old lab."
Jaune coughed. Ruby tried to look innocent and very nearly succeeded.
"Is that how you 'found' a girl who was supposed to be dead for the last few months?" Isabel asked dryly.
"I uh..." Jaune scratched the back of his head. "I can't really say."
"Same," Ruby admitted.
Isabel sighed, and shook her head.
"All right then. Keep your secrets," she mumbled. "And get some sleep."
She took the time to hug Jaune, and kiss his cheek. He returned the gesture to the top of her head. Isabel turned and walked off, leaving Jaune and Ruby alone in the cool stone hallway. Ruby took this time to give Jaune a broad grin.
"We did it!" She squealed softly. Jaune hugged her, and laughed.
"Yeah! Yeah, we did!" He chuckled. He pulled out a newspaper print off. It was of the Vespacian Specter, the second largest newspaper in Vale. While most media had gone the way of digital, print outs of the various news services were still available and definitely useful when it came to time travel.
Jaune held up the newsprint. The front page was dated June 2nd, 2002. The fires and devastation of Vale were still on the front page but the casualty figures were significantly lower.
"See? We got the automated defenses back online earlier," Jaune said. "And the police, militia and Ranger forces are getting things back under control."
"Yeah," Ruby frowned deeply. Jaune sighed, and patted her on the shoulder.
"I know, Rubes. I wish we could have averted the entire disaster... But changing too much and... And the results could be disastrous. I almost erased my entire family from existing by mistake!"
"I know," Ruby mumbled, "But I don't have to like it."
Jaune sighed.
"Yeah... Anyway. Let's go visit Yang and-"
"Visit me where?"
Both Ruby and Jaune jumped. They looked back. Yang Xiao-Long grinned at them, walked up and pulled Jaune into a kiss. With both of her arms intact.
"Mmmph!" Jaune gasped against Yang's lips, and blinked as she parted. She winked.
"So! How's my boyfriend handling things? I..." She turned and stared. "What the... P-Money?! You found her?! She's alive!" She practically slammed herself against the glass to get a better look at her. She looked back over her shoulder in shock.
"How?!"
"I... B-Boyfriend?" Jaune stuttered. Ruby turned and glared at her male best friend.
"Jauuuune... What did you do...?"
Jaune winced.
"Er... Well..."
Three loud sonic booms erupted outside the hospital. A moment later, an older man with wild white hair in a bright yellow trenchcoat and silver sunglasses burst throught the doors.
"JAUNE!"
"Doc!" Jaune shouted. "Ah, uh, look, I know you told me not to use the machine and I didn't-Until I had to-I mean, what was I supposed to do, NOT save my friends?!"
Doc stormed up to Jaune, shaking his head as he grabbed Jaune's shoulders.
"That's not what I'm worried about!" He cried.
"Then what?" Jaune asked quickly.
Doc produced a holographic projector. A news article floated before them of a devastated city. The headline read "APOCALYPSE: NOW?"
"I'm more concerned about this, actually," Doc stated flatly. He pointed at the crashed Gelorean in the ruins of the city. "Know anything about this?"
Jaune blinked.
"Can't... Say that I do?"
"Well of course you-!" Doc sighed. "Of course you don't..."
October 21st, 2002 AA 9:47 AM
Radian, Gallia, Vale, North Sanus
Doc burst back into his lab, charging in before diving into the various filing cabinets and computers left around. Jaune, Ruby and Yang followed. Jaune's face was deeply concerned, while Ruby was excited and Yang was confused.
"No no no, why is everything-Did you organize everything?" Doc demanded Jaune. Jaune shook his head.
"No Doc, of course not! Um... Ruby did it. She's the engineer."
"Well thanks, now I can't find anything!" Doc huffed. Ruby winced.
"Um, sorry Doctor Brown..."
"I appreciate that a fellow scientist," Doc found a rubber ducky, squeezed it for the squeak, then tossed it over his shoulder, "Needs a space reflective of their inner mind to work best," He held up a pair of racy panties, and raised an eyebrow. Jaune and Yang blushed.
"Um, mine?" Yang managed. Doc tossed it to her, then raised his eyebrow at Jaune. He coughed.
"Ah... I think the memories are catching up with me, Doc... Sorry."
Ruby blushed bright red.
"You two-In the lab-!"
"Oh, it's no worse than what Clara and I have done," Doc chuckled, digging through another cabinet and tossing back a revolver, a Beowulf plushy, and a pair of walkie talkies, "You'd be amazed how liberated a 19th century woman can be-"
"Doc, please," Jaune groaned, as Yang and Ruby paled.
"Anyway!" Doc said quickly, finally pulling a pack of chalk from the cabinet. He rushed over to the old fashioned blackboard Ruby had covered in diagrams, before flipping it over to the unused side, "To break it down simply: When I originally invented the time machine, I thought the two most likely forms that time travel could take were: A, self contained loop time travel."
He drew a loop on the blackboard, and marked off two points on either side of the circle.
"That is, you went back in time and you were ALWAYS meant to go back in time so you were ALWAYS back there in the past, meaning no paradox resulted!" Doc crossed that out, then shifted over and drew one line, before drawing two branches, "Or, B: Multiverse theory. Every time you jump back in time, you create a parallel universe where you were there, different from the original reality where you weren't."
"But instead," Ruby chirped, "You found out that it's more like Professor Niven's theory of Dynamic Time travel! Where you CAN change things in the past, and the timeline changes accordingly!"
Doc turned and nodded with a broad smile.
"Yes! Very good, young lady!"
Ruby beamed. Yang looked even more lost. Jaune, used to Doc's patter, just smiled a bit in nostalgia despite his concern.
Doc turned back to the blackboard and scribbled a wavy line through both theories.
"Though it turns out even Doctor Niven's theories were inadequate to explain the complexities of temporal displacement! In a way, all three theories can be true depending on the precise temporal alignment factors!"
"So, wait," Jaune blinked, "What, you mean I was always supposed to go back in time and change things?"
"Possibly! There's still so much we don't know about time travel," Doc said with a nod. He pulled out the future newspaper and held it out. "For instance! The original 2030 we went to has remained in a state of temporal flux since we visited! And the newspaper reflects this! Look! It changed again!"
Indeed, the "APOCALYPSE: NOW?" headline changed to a completely blank roll of newspaper. Jaune frowned as he examined the print out.
"Why is it blank now?"
"Most likely it means that nothing was printed on this piece of paper, suggesting many possibilities," Doc stated, rushing about the lab almost frantically, "The printer for this newspaper was destroyed, or damaged, or ran out of ink! The building it was in may have collapsed-There are multiple reasons! But the flux is still active, meaning that whatever event led to that occurring is still a possibility!"
The newspaper shifted again, to one about... Jaune blinked.
"Huh? That's us!"
Yang and Ruby crowded around. A picture of Jaune, Ruby, and Yang standing in front of the gates of Vacuo appeared. The headline read: "TEAMS RWBY AND JNOR RETURN: IMMINENT DOOM FOR US ALL?"
"Wait, imminent Doom?" Yang demanded. "Time travel? I... What the hell is going on?!"
She glared at Jaune.
"Seriously, I have been so damn confused since this started, I've had to keep myself from punching something!"
"Please don't, there's a lot of sensitive equipment in here," Jaune sighed. Something banged, and the teenagers jumped. Doc sat up from behind a desk, his hair smoking.
"Oh, that's not it. Don't mind me!" Doc said, waving his hand. "Is it the Vacuo one?"
"Yeah?" Jaune said.
"That's fairly common," Doc said with a nod, "Apparently in one reality, Pyrrha dies at Vytal, and you all go on a globe trotting adventure after Cinder Fall!"
"Who's this twink boy?" Yang asked with a snort, pointing at a dusky young man with cane standing nervously in the picture.
"Latest host for Ozma," Doc said.
"Huh?!" Jaune, Ruby and Yang all gasped.
"Long story, spoilers, don't worry about it!" Doc stated. "You explain things to your girlfriend, Jaune!"
Doc rushed off to another cabinet full of tools. Jaune sighed and turned to the expectant Yang.
"Okay, so... Just before I started at Beacon, I became Doc's assistant. He promised me beer and lien to help him with his science experiments and clean up the place. And he, uh... Well, he invented a time machine, and... Things got a little complicated..."
"He kissed his own mom!" Ruby added. Jaune groaned.
"RUBY! Do you HAVE to keep bringing that up?!"
"Ruby knew?!" Yang demanded. Jaune coughed.
"I mean, she and Penny kind of figured it out-"
"Great Scott!" Doc gasped. "You mean to tell me the Atlasian Military's most advanced gynoid knows all about the time machine?!"
"I mean, I didn't tell her everything!" Jaune insisted, "And she promised she'd keep it a secret! Besides, don't you know her dad?"
"Yes, but those college beer parties were a long time ago," Doc sighed. He pulled out a spark plug and added it to the collection of pieces and parts he'd been assembling. "One more thing to address..."
"So... You kissed your mom?" Yang asked dryly. Jaune shook his head.
"Basically I interrupted the moment when my parents would actually fall in love and uh... Had to get creative to ensure they hooked up. It did work out in the end-"
"And then he created a nightmarish alternate reality where some guy named Rais became the richest and most powerful man in Vale," Ruby chirped up, "Who killed his dad and married his mom and made us his maids-"
"His what?!" Yang demanded.
"You told her about that, too?!" Doc demanded, now using a soldering iron on some components. Jaune sighed.
"I kind of had to! To make sure she knew how dangerous time travel was!"
"And then they ended up in 1900 and had to push the Gelorean time machine up to 88 mph with a train, sending the train over an incomplete bridge and into Westwood Ravine!" Ruby concluded.
Yang gaped in disbelief at Jaune, who was rubbing the back of his head nervously.
"Wait... You were Slynt Westwood?! The guy who went into that ravine?!"
"Er... Yeah, and the actor took the name apparently," Jaune shrugged, "I couldn't exactly use my real name, could I?"
"And today," Ruby concluded, bouncing up and down on her heels, "Jaune took the Gelorean back to the Vytal attack to save Pyrrha! Though um..." She eyed Yang's arm, "He also did some other things."
"What other things?" Yang demanded.
Jaune sighed.
June 1st, 2002, 03:12 PM
Beacon Academy, Vale, Central Sanus
The smart thing to do would have been to just wait by Beacon's tower with the Gelorean under optical camo. To not interfere any more than he had to.
Jaune had tried. Breaker Above, he had tried.
But he couldn't just stand by while all those innocent people suffered. So... He'd donned his old Slynt Westwood park and hat, put on a bandanna, taken his Dust shotgun and revolver, and set the Gelorean to wait for him in stealth mode.
He'd started simply and as discretely as he could: Taking out Grimm around the base of the Tower. He'd trained to shoot with a shotgun pretty well, given he was a farm boy. He also had plenty of rounds, and good aim.
Unfortunately, he'd had to deal with some White Fang soldiers who opened fire on him. He returned fire, but he'd had to run and take some cover in a study room. He was ducking underneath a window, reloading... When he heard it.
"Adam!"
Jaune looked up. He saw Blake staring at a tall, redheaded Faunus man in black. He was carrying a blood red katana, and sneering.
"Mi amor... I found you at last."
"I-I won't run!" Blake gasped, pale in fright even as she went for Gambol Shroud.
"You will," Adam sneered. He moved, fencing with Blake furiously. He knocked her weapon out of her hand, and smacked her in the face with the flat end of the blade. He then kicked her.
"UGH!"
Jaune gritted his teeth. He couldn't interfere... He couldn't...!
"YOU!"
He saw Yang leaping for Adam, her Aura ablaze. He saw her extending her fist-The one that Adam would cut off.
I can't interfere-!
Jaune rose and fired his shotgun at Adam. The White Fang leader took the first hit, then swung. He unleashed a Moonslice at Yang, point blank.
"DUCK!" Jaune screamed. Yang dropped down, a few hairs cut loose from the top of her head. She got back up, and barely blocked Adam's next sword blow. The force of it still sent her flying into the nearby wall.
Jaune laid down a withering hail of cover fire, Adam deflected every shot, charging him.
"You'll regret this, human," Adam snarled. He swung and unleashed another Moonslice. Jaune dropped to his knees and let loose with his revolvers. Two rounds hit Adam and staggered him as the Moonslice flew over Jaune's head. The blast knocked his hat off, but Jaune got right back up and switched to his sword. He swung furiously, fencing with Adam as best he could...
The White Fang leader was better, as he parried and knocked Crocea Mors right out of his hand. Jaune stared at the red tip of the katana. Adam snarled.
"Time to put you down-!"
Shotgun blasts at point blank from Yang's Ember Celica struck Adam in his side. He swung his blade again, and Yang leaped up over the Moonslice he unleashed to fire more rounds. Jaune charged and shoulder checked Adam, allowing Yang to get a punch in on the Faunus' chin.
"AUGH!" He cried, flying backwards through the nearby wall. Yang and Jaune were left standing there, panting for breath. Yang looked over at him, and stared.
"Jaune? How the hell did you get down here?!"
Jaune paled. His bandanna had slipped off. He shook his head.
"N-Nevermind that! He's down but he's not out," Jaune said. "The Sith Family has a Bullhead. They're friends of mine. You gotta get Ruby and anyone else you can to Landing Pad B! We'll all get to Radian that way!"
"I can't just leave-!" Yang protested, but Jaune shook his head.
"You have to. Please, Yang. For me? I'll be there in an hour, but you have to trust me. Please?"
Yang stared at him. She then slowly nodded.
"I... All right," she said, "I owe you one for saving me."
Jaune shrugged, and smiled a bit.
"Friends don't carry debts," he said simply. "Now, get Blake and-"
The black cat Faunus had vanished. Jaune grimaced, as Yang looked around.
"Blake? BLAKE!"
In the original timeline, Blake had run off after dropping Yang at the Bullhead landing platform. He could only hope she had followed the script this time. If not...
Can't think about that now!
"No time!" Jaune insisted. "Get going! I've gotta go back up Pyrrha!"
Yang slowly nodded.
"All right... But don't you go dying on me, Vomit Boy." She pulled him into a kiss. "Mwah..."
"Ah...?" Jaune managed. Yang blushed, and shrugged.
"What? You manned up and good. I think that deserves a kiss, right VB?"
"Same to you, Firecracker," Jaune shot back with a smile.
Yang ran off. Jaune whipped out his Scroll, and brought up the Rocket Locker Control Network. Yup, there he was: About to land on the outskirts of the campus. He adjusted the course... And then sent a short text to his other self's scroll.
"Hopefully, I'll know what I'm doing," Jaune muttered. The message was sent and the Rocket Locker changed course: Not too far from where he had landed, but just close enough he could have believably been in this area. He let out a sigh.
"I think it's time to get to the Gelorean again," he muttered. He hated having to wait... But if he kept interfering, who knew what might happen?
Notes:
The world of Remnant has no established calendar, so I created one: Before Ascension/After Ascension (BA/AA) of the Stone Breaker, or their Christ Figure. And I made the year 2002 because I like round numbers.
Yes this is a massive Back to the Future fusion where Doc Brown was Jaune's friend and Jaune took Marty's place in this universe. Since I'm not confident enough to re-write Back to the Future with Jaune Arc in the main role, all of that stuff happened before Jaune came to Beacon. But time travel is not something that's going to just leave you alone.
Plus hey! After rewatching Back to the Future, I realized how awesome that movie is and I had to do something with it.