Heavy breathing. The sound of nothing but whirring wind, and shaking, crumbling earth around him. He stood in what could only be describe as absolute ruins, flaming remnants of what could barely be called a city around him. Yes, alone, one hero stood, tacky yellow jumpsuit tattered, ragged, cape torn and fluttering in the breeze, gloves all but gone…

His name was Saitama.

His usually dull eyes glowed with a determined orange glint, as he stared ahead at the thing that had caused this. The entity that called itself-

"You dare? You dare to continue to fight against me? Against GOD?"

A writhing mass of circular spots, dark storms which seemed to take physical shape into a vaguely humanoid form – one that towered far above the hero who stood below it. It seemed to reach even above the atmosphere, out into space beyond.

Despite the thing's boastful words, however, it was just as wounded as the hero. In places, it was cracked, the storms disturbed and misshapen, torn apart by pure force.

An immovable object meeting an unstoppable force. The strongest fist, capable of turning against god, against the being capable of resisting anything that dared to fight against it.

"I've got to. That's what a hero's supposed to do, right? 'God'."

He held his fist up, not even bothering to say anything more. Before, Saitama had been enjoying this fight...but soon enough, it became far too much to enjoy.

He'd watched everyone fall. Every hero. Every weapon or robot. It didn't even discriminate against monsters.

'At least that Blast guy managed to evacuate all the people.'

Honestly, Saitama had lost track after he became the last one to fight this thing. He had no idea how long their battle had been going on, but neither him nor the entity seemed to be definitely winning. In fact, both of their powers just continued to rise, more and more...it was a miracle that the planet was even intact.

A miracle afforded to them by the combined powers of Tatsumaki and Blast combined...a shield which managed to keep both him and this thing confined to the bounds of this planet. That was good. Saitama didn't have any confidence that he might not end up destroying the whole solar system, maybe even more if this fight got out of control.

'Maybe...I'm just gonna be locked in this fight for all eternity. But it's fine…'

He felt the rushing wind of an incoming giant fist flying at his body, not even bothering to look up.

"I'LL KEEP FIGHTING TILL YOU'RE OFF MY PLANET!"

Saitama yanked his fist back, immeasurable power growing behind him, and in his fist. Like reality itself was shattering and cracking about his palm...and he threw it forward.

Death.

The two strongest energies in the universe met, as the giant fist of God collided with Saitama's relatively small, yet power-infused fist. The two destructive energies crashed, with even space shattering around them like glass.

But.

Barely, and just barely, Saitama was beginning to edge out the being. The thing known as God. It took every amount of energy he could summon up from his body, draining even his infinite well of power to its' absolute limits. His teeth were grit, his body shaking, veins popping to the surface over his body...but he didn't give up.

He didn't stand down.

One Punch Man pushed forward, beginning to knock the colossal being down to its' knees.

"Damn you...DAMN YOU…! SAITAMA!"

Still, something like God wouldn't go down without a fight. Using the cracks in space they were making, Saitama could faintly see it trying to grasp onto them, as if trying to escape through the tears in reality. In any other situation, he would've just knocked them away easily, but this wasn't just 'any other situation'.

Even the invincible hero wasn't being pushed back here – it was all he could do to hang on to finish this thing off for good.

Would he have to give up on the clash? Start this battle that had become a curse to him all over again?

Just as he was thinking hopeless thoughts, a voice came through into his mind. One all too familiar, bratty and brash.

'Hey, Baldy! Still holding on like the cockroach you are?'

There was no response. A moment of silence ensued.

'Well...I can see you can't answer right now, anyways. But...after all this time, we've finally got a plan. To get rid of that ugly piece of shit for good. But…'

Even the confident psychic couldn't fully spit out her proposition all at once. Her voice stopped for a second, uncertain of what she was going to say...before she just spat it all out.

'You're gonna have to sacrifice yourself, Baldy. All the psychics, and Blast's friends...we're opening up a portal that's going to send that thing somewhere where its' powers are weakened. Between the boundary of realities. It'll get weak since it's got no universe's power to leech off, and it'll be vulnerable...that's where you come in.'

Saitama wasn't a tactical genius...but even with his strain, he understood what she was getting at. A sacrifice. Overwhelming power couldn't defeat this thing alone. Someone needed to finish it off for good, once it was weak.

"Alright. Got it."

'T-That's it?! You...you're not even gonna think about it, Baldy?!'

Before, he'd found it nothing but annoying...but now the hero couldn't help but chuckle a little at Tatsumaki's outrage.

"Nah. Uhh...tell Genos I said 'bye', though. Dude's probably not gonna take it good."

It was like he didn't even have a second thought in his head as he replied. No, instead, it just made him even stronger. Power surged through his body, power that even the being in front of him did not understand.

All the while he faced the universe's greatest threat with a nonchalant, lighthearted smile.

"This-what is this power?! This is...THIS IS POWER NOT EVEN I CONTROL!"

"I don't know about all this 'controlling power' stuff, but...isn't it obvious?"

Saitama's shoulder carried through, sending a shockwave of pure strength blasting through the storms, disrupting and reversing their flows even more. The titanic form of God shimmered and shuddered, like it was going to fall apart at its' core.

'Now.'

The hero spoke resolutely, his half-gloved fist tightening with the audible sound of his skin rubbing like hard leather.

'W-Who said that you were the one giving orders here?! You...you…! Ugh!'

Tatsumaki's bravado and threats were empty...no, instead her usual sass was replaced by...an emotion Saitama didn't understand, coming from her. Sorrow...loss.

He didn't really have time to think about it, though, as a gigantic fissure in space opened up behind God, perfectly made in the outline of the thing. It was filled with an array of indecipherable patterns and colors, shapes that seemed impossible, shades of visible light that didn't even exist in regular reality.

For an instant, Saitama thought about everything he'd done, all the people he'd met.

The first part of his life had been nothing special to talk about. No friends, no enemies, no dreams, no special talents...his life had changed when he chose to become a hero. Grueling training, until he achieved the strength he wanted...only for it to mean absolutely nothing.

Living an empty life, until people began to intrude in on it...Genos, King, Fubuki and her gang, Tatsumaki...hell, even guys like Boros, Garou, and Sonic.

Old man Bang, too...and that weird Flashy Flash guy. The monster-idol dude who had left behind his will to Saitama…

And his beloved convenience store...he'd probably never get another good deal from there again.

But that was fine.

He'd watched it all. Everyone got strong. They overcame all the weird crap they'd had going on in their past. And Saitama had long gotten his wish of having a truly thrilling fight...even if that dream was ruined again.

He was fine with this. The world didn't need him anymore. He didn't need himself anymore.

"See you guys."

Saitama took in a single breath, shadows covering his face as he lunged forward with a speed far beyond light, simply reaching his right fist forward in a punch. It easily collided with the disorientated monster-deity, sending it flying backwards into the portal...and Saitama followed suit.

As soon as the two fell into the hole in reality...it vanished, as if it were never there in the first place. There was silence, for the first time, on the ruined earth.

From that moment onward...Saitama disappeared from his world, never to be seen again. Even with his disappearance, however...it was an unquestionable fact. From then on and forever, he'd be considered the world's greatest hero. The one who saved not only their planet, but the entire universe.

But, outside of that reality, in the boundary between universes and realities, he and God's battle was far from finished.

"Y-You…! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! My...my POWer…!"

The entity let out a primordial roar, as it was flung through space, crumbling and coming apart at the seams. Yet, the hero behind him still seemed more than fine. In fact, he was more resolute than ever.

"Hey, God. You asked why you couldn't control this power, right? This power, that you can't even compare to what I'm usually throwing out?"

"SaItTamA!!"

"That's because...this isn't some big power from the universe, or some weird power from some sort of ritual...this isn't even from that weird limiter-busting stuff…"

He grinned, feeling his heartbeat race for one last time, as he faced the world's final threat.

"This is just the power...of a guy who's a hero for fun."

"yoU! YOU!"

"For the final time...Killer Move: Serious Series…"

He held back his fist, with a power that didn't even need to be explained. A power beyond what any God could fathom. His true power.

"Serious Punch."

And without even getting the chance to utter one last complaint or whimper, just like the monsters that he had infested the world with before..."God" was taken out by the hero, Saitama. Reduced to less than atomic dust left to forever float and be lost somewhere within the impossibility that existed between realities.

After saying that, Saitama was just left...existing in a place he didn't even understand.

Quiet, but unbearably loud. In a place filled with all sorts of impossibilities and spectacles and yet, alone…

It was weird. He kinda expected to be going back after the fight was done, even if he got himself ready to fight for all eternity, if he needed to.

Like...now that the battle was finished, it had finally, actually set in. Nobody...he was never going to see any of them again.

'If I knew it was gonna be like this...I would have bought way more clearance aisle food to eat last week.'

Of course...that wasn't his real final thoughts, no…

He just hoped all those troublemakers back home could actually take care of themselves. Well...old man Bang was probably sensible enough. And Genos had matured a lot more…

As he thought of them, he felt his vision beginning to slowly fade away, giving way to a crushing darkness in his vision.

From this point, Saitama had no idea what would happen to him, but…eh? He...didn't really care. Whatever happened next, whether it was just him dying, or going somewhere else...he decided he'd just have fun with it and live his own way.

Just like he always did.

As his vision faded, however...he saw one last thing. The faint, blinding shimmering of a golden speck of light.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Ugh…"

The loud, repetitive sound of an alarm suddenly turned off, coming from an odd holographic device that sat on a nightstand beside a bed. A scroll. One belonging to a certain black-haired young man who was rousing from left to right in his bed.

"This is annoying…" He leaned back into the bed, closing his eyes as he let out a deep sigh. A hand covered his forehead, hiding his tired dark brown eyes from view. "That same dream again…"

Well...it was less like a dream, and more like a vision – a memory forcing its' way back to the front of his head.

"Alright...let's get started, then. Fully enjoying the weekend." Saitama, the ex-hero once known as One Punch Man forced his way out of bed, now looking like...his old younger self. No, even younger, around only 16 or 17.

Without a second thought, Saitama got up, and lazily began to go about his usual morning routine. It only took a good few minutes (minus the baths, which he always enjoyed to the fullest,) before he finally got to the kitchen.

He sat down at his table, still comfortably wearing his pajamas...before he heard a knock at his door. He stared blankly at the entrance of the small cabin that was basically his "house".

There was only one person in this small place that would've bothered waking him up.

"Hey! Saitama, get up, you've been sleeping in for way too long!"

He heard an all too familiar sunny voice from beyond the door...one that he was dreading to hear on his all-important weekend! Yes, no matter what, Saitama would not be leaving the house today. That was what he had decided.

"Go away, Jaune...I'm not leaving the house today."

"I brought food!"

The door instantly opened, with an eager Saitama standing next to it. "Why didn't you start with that?! You always make things so complicated dude, I swear."

"Haha...sorry, I knew you weren't gonna answer if I didn't offer something." The person at the door, a boy around Saitama's age with bright blue hair and blue eyes chuckled, handing some sort of wrapped-up sandwich over to Saitama, whose eyes were shining like he'd just found buried treasure.

Saitama happily took the sandwiches from the bag, closing the door behind him as he walked besides Jaune, who was now leading the way through the small town the both of them lived in. He ate happily, eyes closed, while Jaune just gave him an incredulous gaze.

'I can never understand how just getting any kind of food makes him happy...he's not starving or anything, right? He even hunts down deals like some sort of old man…'

"A-Anyways." The young Arc coughed into an open palm. "Um...I was actually wondering, Saitama...did you think about my, eh, plan?"

Saitama hummed, closing his eyes while enjoying the taste of the sandwiches. Even with his eyes closed, however, he perfectly avoided all obstacles and people in his way, as if he could see just fine.

"Yeah...I mean, if it works, then why not. It's not like there's anything better to do than just stick around town and beat up Grimm that come near here. And that definitely gets boring after a while. No...those guys are just straight-up annoying."

Saitama had experience dealing with a world that was slowly being overrun by endless monsters...but at least most monsters were just small fry that came in individual numbers. Grimm swarmed...they ranged in strength, and all had different abilities. But, to Saitama...they were just like flies. Or even worse, mosquitoes.

And he hated mosquitoes. They sucked.

Ignoring the stupid smirk on Saitama's face from his own internal joke, Jaune could just only sheepishly laugh.

"Honestly, that part is amazing about you, Saitama. Neither of us have ever been to any of those combat schools, and I'm the one with a fancy fighters' lineage, but you're already as strong as a full-blown huntsman. I've seen you take out whole hordes of Grimm like it's nothing! But still, nobody has any idea that it's you doing it...how come you never take any credit?"

"Credit, huh…?" Saitama thought about it, as he swallowed down a bite of his sandwich. It was true, in his old life, he would've probably wanted to take credit for his deeds – but, he'd already gotten that by the time he died. It wasn't like his fight against God was a secret, either. He was sure that everyone probably already knew about him – even if he wasn't there to see it.

"...It's too much of a pain. I just wanna be a huntsman because I know it's something I can do. It'll be a nice hobby to have on the side. And, well...don't they all get paid really good?!" Although Saitama didn't enjoy the prospect of having to fight these easy monsters forever, he still liked to punch. And punch he would. Besides...he wasn't truly at his past overpowered strength, where he could probably shattered planets.

The fact that he still had his hair...he had regressed a lot when he was reborn here. Following his old routine had brought him results, but a lot slower than it had before. He guessed it was probably thanks to the difference in worlds or something weird. He didn't know – he wasn't any kind of genius.

"Wish I could say something laid back like that." Jaune slumped over, looking clearly dejected. "I've got some strength, but that's it. Not nearly as much as you…"

"But, that's why you made that plan, right? For us to lie our way into that 'Huntsman Academy'...um...Bacon?"

"Beacon, Saitama." A sweatdrop could be seen on Jaune's forehead, as he looked around for anyone listening in before continuing. "That's right. If...if I could make my way into Beacon academy...I swear I can change. I can finally prove myself to my family, and everyone else. I won't just be clumsy Jaune, anymore. Or the one everyone needs to look after. I'll...be something. Someone worthy of the Arc name."

Saitama was silent.

'This guy...reminds me a little bit of Genos.'

He wondered if this was why he ended up hanging out with Jaune, even from his new childhood. Unlike Genos, however, Jaune seemed stubborn to reach the highest peak he could without any help. He hadn't asked Saitama for training or advice even once. Genos got frustrated at his weakness, sure, but he was willing to do anything to be successful – anything that wasn't totally evil, anyways.

And Genos' whole 'revenge for his village being massacred' thing seemed a lot more serious than Jaune's issues.

But still, Saitama could respect Jaune's strong-willed mindset, and it wasn't surprising, since Jaune always had some sort of weird inferiority thing going on...but at the same time...he wondered when Jaune would learn to rely on others?

Even as powerful as Saitama was at his peak...there was no possible way that he could save everyone. He couldn't even save himself, back when he had been losing his emotions.

'Maybe he'll learn it from Bacon.'

Saitama thought lazily, as the two walked along, chatting about things of no consequence, after briefly talking about their plan to lie their way into Beacon academy.

As they stopped in front of one of the nearby stores, with Jaune exiting, carrying a huge amount of groceries for his giant family, Saitama realized he had left something out.

"Oh, yeah. When do you plan for us to leave, again?"

"Tomorrow."

The sound of glass breaking could almost be heard as Saitama's eyes widened. He fell onto his knees, looking almost like he was ready to let out tears, despite his previously blank face.

"But...m-my...weekend…"

Jaune slowly backed away from Saitama, as he raised both his fists to the air.

"DAMN IIIIIIIT!"

A day later, Saitama found himself standing outside the old cabin he called his house for the past 16 years. They'd gone by in a real blur, probably just an uneventful as his old life used to be, but for a totally different reason than simple boredom.

He was silent for a while, staring at the place, thoughts and emotions indecipherable on that usual emotionless expression he wore. No...even then, he didn't feel as empty as he used to.

Maybe it was thanks to this new life he led, or the new body, or the new world...but he felt like he was getting closer to...himself. Before he had gained all his power.

And all it took was some kind of weird rebirth.

"...Hah."

He turned away from the simple home he would now be abandoning, the beautiful gray moonlight on his back as he walked deeper into town. Eventually, he found Jaune, leaning against a building. The young Arc's gaze was pointed down at the ground, lost in thought that only he could explain.

Still, Saitama figured he could take a pretty good guess...but he didn't want to. He would only get involved when he needed to – Jaune could only solve his inner issues when he was ready to.

Besides, he was a hero, not a therapist. He'd gladly take a therapist's salary, though…

"Ready to go?"

His voice startled Jaune, a smile immediately filling the young hunter-to-be's face as he looked up. He gave a small grin, trying to show a bit of bravado.

"You sure you should be asking me that? You're the one always forgetting things, Saitama." He reached to his side, holding up his sword, a memento of his family, and the foldable shield, which bore the Arc family crest. "For example, weapons? Even I managed to get my hands on these."

Saitama stared at the items with a blank gaze. "Too much effort. I'll stick with punching things."

"Just like you, Saitama…" Jaune chuckled, and the pair began to make their way to the town's airship port.

The security check was easy – weapons weren't exactly that rare, especially among two students aiming to get to one of the Four Schools. In fact, the weirder thing was to see a student without a weapon, something Saitama was pestered for by the agents, much to his annoyance.

He missed just being fast enough to run or jump anywhere in the world he wanted. Public (or private, since he technically guessed this was funded by the schools) transportation was always a mess.

"I just hope that this whole 'airship' experience isn't too intense...I've...never rode one before. Or anything close to it, actually." Jaune took a moment to look back and talk to Saitama, who seemed to almost be falling asleep standing up on the line to board the airship.

It was only the two of them getting on the airship to Beacon from their town, but regardless of what airship you were getting on, everyone had to wait on the same big line. This made it easy to control the directing of airships that left from small towns such as theirs.

"...Saitama."

Saitama jumped awake, looking around with wide eyes, before landing his gaze back on Jaune. "O-Oh, uh, yeah. I mean, what's the worse that could happen, right? Shouldn't be too bad."

Forget planes or airships, Saitama had jumped out of earth's atmosphere before, and flown around at near-lightspeed. There was no way he had to worry about a stable, hovering airship ride being 'intense'.

Although he had to admit, he was a little impressed by tech here. They had holograms, airships, magic dust...it was honestly pretty head-spinning when he learned about it all. It was like he was living in some sort of sci-fi manga.

Jaune sighed at that answer, but the nervousness that had been welling up in his chest was calmed a little bit by Saitama's nonchalant attitude.

'If he's that relaxed, maybe...maybe I could calm down a little bit, too. I'm not gonna be able to prove anything to anyone if I'm just a walking bundle of nerves, right?'

He held a hand over his chest, letting out a deep breath…

And before either of them knew it, they were being called onto the airship. Jaune entered first, and Saitama followed second, whistling as he got inside. It was like standing inside some sort of mini-room. There was even a hologram playing things from the local news station in the middle.

Still…

"No seats? What sort of ride is this…? I know we didn't pay to get on here, but this is even worse than economy class." Saitama grumbled, with Jaune just nervously chuckling, with the two finding a place to sit down against the wall together. Jaune was busy being tucked in on himself and nervously trying to focus, while Saitama was way more relaxed, scanning around the crowd to pick out some interesting looking people...while he picked his nose.

There were tons of other people around, but admittedly, he didn't know any of them. None really stood out to him, either. It was kinda like he was looking at silhouettes, to be honest.

"Well...guess I'll take a nap." He stretched his arms upwards, leaning his head back against the wall. "Wake me up when we get there, Jaune."

"H-Huh? Oh, uh...yeah."

With that, Saitama fell right back into sleep, mouth open wide and snoring as he had the most peaceful sleep Jaune had ever seen someone on their way to risk life and limb in a hunter academy have. The blonde's gaze lied on his childhood friend for a few extra seconds.

Honestly, he felt like he could learn a lot from Saitama.

His bravery, that laid-back attitude, and his strength…

Jaune, in a lot of ways, was jealous of Saitama. They'd grown up together, but Saitama was so...different from him. It was like...he got everything that Jaune wanted...he had the strength to probably become one of the most famous huntsmen in history if he wanted (with enough training).

But, Saitama didn't want any credit. He didn't even want to become a Huntsman that bad. He seemed to just want to live an easygoing life, and help people where he could...and it wasn't arrogance – he had this sort of...mysterious aura about him, that just...made it believable.

Believable that Saitama was the sort of person who could perfectly uphold his word.

The opposite of Jaune…the complete opposite…

"M-mnhghh...seaweed stock ramen…"

Jaune couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at that. Well, Saitama did say some weird things in his sleep. Maybe he'd be fine without getting all of his traits.

And as the two sat there, not knowing their future fates, their story truly begins.

The story of two huntsmen, one to become the strongest in known history, and the other to be a part of one of the most elite groups in all of Remnant, fated to save the world.

A story of loss, growth, desperation, and heroism.

This is the story of Remnant's Part-Time Hunter.

Hello, RWBY fandom. The name's Destiny, and I'm bringing you this story I've had toiling around in my mind for a bit of the journey of Saitama (reborn) in the world of Remnant. This is just our prologue, so I'm sorry if it's a bit shorter than you would expect. I didn't want to bloat it with details and just use it to give us a short and sweet introduction.

You will probably realize that a lot of things have been left out, but rest assured that anything I haven't explained explicitly is just going to be talked about later down the road. Such as Saitama's childhood, how he and Jaune became friends, semblances and aura related to Saitama, etc.

As a side note, this can be safely considered an AU. There will probably be many things changed and rewritten. I only really plan to loosely stay to RWBY's storyline from Volume 1-3. Everything else beyond that will probably be different, and even many major events in Volumes 1-3 will be different.

I hope you stick around with me to see what this story becomes, and I hope you could leave a review to tell me what you think. See you in the next chapter.