Jaune woke up to the dark silence of his room. Well, not quite silent. He could hear the plumbing and the electrical systems running through the walls, and someone was having the dying ends of a party some several floors down. Jaune rolled out of bed, his eyes adjusting to the shadows. He rolled his shoulders, the back of his ribs still sore from his dreaming. He lacked the tiredness that would normally come with the time at night. He needed to get out.
Perhaps some training will help? Burn off some steam? B suggested.
Jaune let out a slight hiss at the suggestion. B's brow furrowed at the reaction.
Are you mad at me? B asked, concerned about the interaction, and subsequent revelation, that they had in the dream.
Jaune had to think about that. Was he angry? Sure, probably. But was he angry at B? Not really. He supposed it made sense, on a base psychological level. Upon immense stress, the human mind can segment itself into personas to deal with it. Such personas were fine tuned and situated to deal with the situations. Jaune wondered if that was the reasoning behind A and B's existence. It sounded like it, judging by B's explanation for his purpose.
But we could be the coagulation of all the souls we've consumed. A pointed out. Jaune closed his eyes, disgusted by the idea.
"I really don't like that," he admitted. "That would mean that I have enough souls inside me to support not one, but two whole separate sentences within me." The dreamer shuddered. He didn't even want to know what that must have been doing for his soul, or his psyche.
Just let us know if you start violently shitting your organs out. B flatly reminded Jaune. He wretched at that vivid reminder of the process of becoming a drunken ghoul. Jaune needed something to take his mind off of things. Perhaps some senseless violence would help.
The training rooms were empty. Jaune would have been surprised if anyone was there. It was roughly two in the morning, perhaps a little later. He didn't particularly care. Time was a meaningless construct to him at the moment anyway.
Jaune wasn't sure if he had set up the training bots correctly. He never was able to beat them back at Beacon. He figured it would be a good measure of his skill, to see how far he had come. He most certainly had spent a lot more of his time fighting than he had back at beacon.
He strode into the center of the room, drawing a set of twin knives. The bots came to life, whirring with a small mechanical sound. The standard T-55 Dartrack Combat training bot was an interesting contraption. A series of modular attachments that were connected to a central core magnetically allowed for a magnitude of configurations. The default was a basic two bladed bipedal configuration, and that is what Jaune was dueling. Jaune heard the first footsteps of the machine clank forward. He turned, swiftly blocking the attack of the droid. His knife laid horizontal to the strike. The droid thrust forward with its free hand, to which Jaune stepped backwards from. The counter slash, nothing more than a quick flick of the wrist, connected with the robot's head. The force of the blow was enough to overcome the magnetic attachment the head had to the torso. The metal dome went flying across the training hall, hitting the ground with a clang. Jaune stopped in his tracks, staring at the now deactivated robot.
"It wasn't this easy at Beacon, was it?" Jaune asked in the empty air.
It was A that responded. It wasn't. Good News then, We've improved!
The Bots on adaptive mode. B said flatly, killing the cheer with his logic. It will start from the lowest level and work its way up.
Jaune nodded as he reattached the bot's head to its body. The bot realigned itself, preparing to re-engage with its opponent.
What was my max level back at beacon? Three? Jaune wondered as he nodded to the bot. It jumped forward with a jab. The ranger flicked the blade away in almost a bored manner. It was a predictable opener that had many counters. The counter that was chosen was a stab towards the chest of the training dummy. The dummy rolled backward with the blow to avoid falling apart. Jaune stepped forward, pressing his advantage. His blades rained down upon the bot in a quick succession of strikes, pushing the limits of the bot's defensive ability. He didn't have to push for long, the left arm fell off after a jab to its shoulder dislodged the connection. The rest of the bot quickly crumbled with its already failing defense halved. Jaune let out a bored breath, setting the bot up once more. They stepped aside, setting a respectful distance between them. Jaune gave the bot a nod, signifying that the battle could start again. The bot dashed forward, intent on landing a blow against its opponent. Jaune sidestepped it, kicking its heel to knock it off balance.
This thing is a lot easier than I remember it to be. Jaune thought as his blade stabbed at its chest. It managed to clumsily avoid the attack, only to be kicked in the face. The bot was sent tumbling to the ground.
Jaune jumped on that opportunity like a hawk on a mouse. He lept upon the bot, tackling it into the dirt. After a short scuffle of grappling, Jaune managed to yank its head off. He originally tried to just turn its head around, mimicking breaking its magnetic neck. But unfortunately magnets don't work like that. So he had to just take the head clean off. The bot was reset, and they battled again.
The bot was body slammed into the ground, triggering a shutdown.
The bot was reset, and they battled again.
And again. And again.
The bot improved with each fight. The battles quickly stopped being a short burst, the initial contact in which Jaune dismantled the robot. The training dummy now avoided his attacks with some regularity, and it required an amount of effort to deal any damage to the thing.
Jaune practically growled at the training bot as he lunged forward with his blade. He had switched out his short reaching blade for a longer reaching half sword. He lunged at the bot, aiming to take off its arm and follow that up with wiping this bot off the earth.
His opponent had evolved and adapted enough to have a vague idea of the rangers style. It most certainly knew enough to dive under his arm, hoping to get behind. It was successful, practically appearing behind Jaune.
Turning with his blade first, hoping to get it up in front of him before he got stabbed, the ranger was fast on his feet.
A gunshot shocked him as it rang through the room. Jaune spun to face this new opponent that had dared fire the shot.
The robot's head tumbled across the ground, a large dent in the side of its head. Dr. Cortez stood at the edge of the ring, holding the smoking gun.
"He had the jump on you." Sebastian explained as he holstered his weapon. Jaune's weapon fell, but was not lowered.
"I had it handled. It would not have been the first time I have been stabbed in the back." he said as he rolled his shoulders. Dr. Cortez dragged the bot away, slumping it over a bench.
Jaune tilted his head at the doctor. "I wasn't done with that." he said as the huntsman unceremoniously dumped the bot onto the steel bench.
"You were." the doctor said, rolling his shoulders as he walked into the ring. "However, you were also getting bored. And that makes you sloppy." The Doctor's trench coat came off, draped carefully on the rail at the side of the training ring. Underneath was a chest holder with a multitude of firearms attached. Jaune counted at least two pistols, and a total of six handguns. Dr. Cortez slipped the holster off his shoulders, letting it rest on the coat. "So, what brings you up so early in the morning? It's not often I see someone with a sleep pattern as bad as mine." the teacher chuckled as he removed a collection of small dust packages, stacking them neatly in a pile.
Jaune raised an eyebrow at the doctor. "Dreams, I suppose." He answered after a moment of silence. Sebastian made an understanding humming sound.
"I feel that. Nightmares kept me up at night for a while." The doctor admitted, placing his hip holstered revolver and other two guns, which appeared to be a set of saw offs.
Jaunes head tilted at that statement. "But they don't anymore?" He asked. The amused look that was returned answered his question. "So what keeps you up now?" The ranger asked.
The hyena-like cackle was deafening compared to the close silence that Jaune had suffered prior.
"That's a good question." The doctor answered. He did not elaborate. Instead he inspected a cylindrical item carefully, ensuring whatever it was was up to snuff. He triggered some mechanism within it, causing it to spring open.
Sebastian Cortez was holding a shovel of middling length. Nodding with satisfaction, he rolled up his sleeves and entered the ring.
"But regardless. Bots are boring. Humans, on the other hand." He nodded to Jaune with a pursed set of lips. "Us, however? We're a lot more fun." he smiled. Jaune couldn't help but return the grin, lifting his blades to a ready position. Sebastian rolled his neck, popping the bottom vertebrae. Loosening their limbs, they slowly circled each other, sizing each other up.
Jaune was almost insulted that Dr. Cortez would fight him with only a shovel.
"You're not going to use a gun against me?" The ranger asked. Sebastian just snorted at the insinuation.
"No offense kid." He started, still circling like a shark. "But I would be very impressed if you managed to get me to draw my gun." He admitted, quickly flicking his shoe up and drawing seemingly out of thin air a thin pocket pistol. "You know what? Let's make it a bet."
Jaune raised an eyebrow, curious as to where this was going.
"If you can make me draw my gun, I will personally ensure you get an A in combat class this semester." The doctor said, spinning the firearm between his fingers.
It was returned with equal grace, the foot stamping on the ground, kicking up a small puff of sand and silt.
Jaune considered it. "And if I don't?" waiting to hear the catch.
"You lose." his opponent said, as though it was simple. Jaune supposed it was.
"So if you draw your gun, I win?"
"Sure." Sebastian shrugged. Jaune nodded, and took the first step forward. He entered his range of engagement, an exploratory jab at the teacher. It was deflected with a bored ease, simply batted away with the tip of his shovel. Jaune followed his strike up with a slash, hoping to strike his opponent from a separate angle. Sebastian simply stepped out of the strike.
Jaune disengaged, seeing that this particular set would not be successful. Dr. Cortez looked a little surprised.
"You have patience." He noted as they continued to circle each other. "That is surprising." He stepped forward, thrusting with his own sharpened shovel. Jaune dipped backwards, practically dancing off the light silt to dodge the attack. Sebastian pressed his advantage, slashing his way forward in short, precise arcs. Jaune pushed them away with his two knives.
"That is surprising?" Jaune asked after the teacher had stopped his assault. They returned to stare each other down.
"It is not something I normally see out of a first year." he admitted, letting Jaune approach him with his own attacks. Left, right, left, down, down and thrust. It was a flurry of rapid strikes aiming for practically everywhere on the gunslingers body. His thigh, his shoulder, his stomach, his heart, his throat. These were strikes meant to kill, or render him incapable of fighting on. Surprisingly ruthless tactics for a seventeen year old.
Sebastian batted away the knife and retaliated by kicking Jaune in the gut. The ranger stumbled, whacking away a shovel strike from his opponent. He quickly regained his balance, planting his feet into the ground.
He kept back into the fray, pushing aggressively against the teacher. Sebastian cooly deflected the unrelenting assault.
"Angry young man, aren't you?" He smirked, looking at Jaune's almost porcelain still emotionless face. Jaune just looked up at him with cold eyes.
The doctor ducked under the follow up, rolling backwards out of range. The two re-engaged in a flurry of fast paced strikes. Back and forth they thrust and backstepped, an intricate dance between blades ongoing between the two skilled fighters. The taller of the two lost ground, stepping backwards to find some reprieve from the battle.
Dr. Cortez continued to advance, pressing his advantage with an organic kind of movement. Each strike was perfectly set up for the next one, each step deliberately taken to maximize the potential for the next blow.
The twin blades were forced down from a slash, leaving Jaune's position open. Sebastian took advantage of this and punched Jaune in the face. The ranger's eyesight blurred as he stumbled backwards, reeling from the strike. He just barely managed to regain focus fast enough to see the shovel's blade heading right at his face, mere inches from his face. Jaune instinctively leaned back, letting that otherworldly tug at the back of his mind pull him through the Dream.
The blade passed through the ranger's face as it turned into the silt and sand the two combatants danced on. Doctor Cortez stumbled, expecting to make contact with an actual face made of flesh, or aura covering it.
Instead he simply burst through a clone of sand. Jaune stood up in a low crouch, clearly having just rolled backwards.
"How very interesting." Sebastian murmured, tilting his head at Jaune. "Is that your semblance? Some form of replacement?"
Jaune furrowed his brow at him. "No. it is not." he answered, using the moment of confusion and break in the combat to re-engage the teacher.
"Really?" He asked, dipping through his students' attacks. "Interesting indeed."
Jaune grunted, annoyed that he wasn't able to hit the teacher at all. He was clearly out classed by the gunslinger, which made it annoying to land blows against.
Jee, you don't say? B pointed out. He is a fully fledged huntsman and a teacher. It would make sense that we're over our head here.
Jaune bent backwards under a swipe from his opponent. Sebastian saw an opportunity to punish the dodge, and kicked the ranger in the leg. Jaune tumbled to the ground.
He rolled sideways, the shovel diving into the space where his head once was. Jaune scrambled away, grabbing a fistfull of dusty sand and throwing it in the general direction of the shovel wielding opponent. The fistful bloomed into a cloud of obscuring dust, blinding the teacher. Grabbing the handle on his belt, the ranger let his whip sword fly out in a wide arc. The segmented blade cut through the cloud, meeting some bit of metal on the other side.
"Well, that is new." Dr. Cortez's voice came from beyond the dust cloud. "Good to know you're not a dumbass, though."
The ranger raised an eyebrow at his teacher. "I am not sure what you mean." He said, retracting Glass Vain.
Cortez walked forward, casually reengaging with the ranger. "Most students are bound by stupid things. Honor," He started, batting away another jab of Glassvain's reaching strikes. "Fairness," Another strike was batted away, and Jaune was forced to shift Glass Vain back into its sword form. "Morals, or just sheer uncreativity."
The teacher lunged forward, forcing Jaune to push the blade upward with his own crossguard. Sebastian's foot shot forward, hoping to catch Jaune in the stomach again.
He cocked his hips to the side, narrowly managing to turn the blow into a glancing one. Jaune smiled, glad he had dodged the boot.
Fist. B calmly reminded him.
I'm sorry, what? Jaune asked.
Fist. Heading for your face. B pointed out. Jaune refocused, getting over his smaller victory.
"Ah, shit." He muttered as Dr. Cortez's fist met his face. He really couldn't afford to be distracted like that. Almost knocked onto the ground, Jaune teetered backwards, managing to stumble away from whatever followup Sebastian could manage with his limited shovel range.
He saw that Cortez instinctively flexed his hand, as though he had a handle in it.
I suppose I would have been shot if he was fighting as he normally did. Jaune thought as he dived forward, dropping to his knees with a low slash. Landing on his left knee, Jaune twisted under the teacher's jacket, bringing his sword around in a full sweeping arc.
Cutting at Sebastian's knees, the ranger spun past his opponent. Dr. Cortez practically flew out of the way, stunned that a first year had managed to make solid contact with him. The residual aura flare, a bright pumpkin orange color, faded away from his legs.
He stared at the blonde ranger for a moment, before breaking out into rancorous laughter. "Oh, damn. You," he chuckled, waggling his finger at the ranger, one hand on his knee. "You are something else, kid." he straightened up, rolling his shoulders. "I suppose I really underestimated you." His tone didn't fall as he leveled his shovel at Jaune. "Good for me."
All Jaune saw was a blur as the teacher rushed him in an astounding blitz, almost as though. The ranger only barely managed to block the overhead strike. Cortez followed that up with a thrust, a sharp almost crack sound coming from where Sebastian was.
Wait, What? Jaune panicked, looking around for his foe.
A knee collided with the small of his back. Jaune's aura flashed yellow, rippling from the place the teacher had struck him. He bent backwards from the blow, spitting up bile with a wet cough. Cortez continued the combo by slamming his elbow into Jaune's chest, knocking him to the ground with a heavy thud. The grounded fighter unblurred his vision just in time to see the blade of the shovel descending upon him.
Dr. Cortez slammed his weapon into the chest of his opponent. Or, what would have been a chest if it had not turned to sand and clay. The gunslinger frowned, looking around.
If he's not behind me, then he must- Above! He thought, his head snapping up to see his student falling from the sky to smite his ass. His shovel raised up to block the blade. It caught on Jaune's crossguard, forcing the two weapons into the dirt. The ranger hit the ground, the shovel and his own blade lodging themselves deep into the ground. Sebastian tugged on the handle of his shovel, but it was locked under Jaune's sword. He smiled, looking up at his teacher. The teacher just kicked at him, forcing Jaune to block it with his hand. Retaliating, he kicked at Sebastian's legs, using the momentum to get back onto his feet. Jaune threw a punch at the gunslinger, who tilted his head away from the jab. It was followed by a left hook.
Smack! Dr. Cortez caught the fist with his own left hand. Jaune frowned, rearing his right hand back. It slammed into the gunslinger's chest, who turned to lessen the blow. Jaune jabbed again, this time aiming at Cortez's face. The teacher simply cooly dodged to the side, using his free hand to grab that fist as well. Jaune growled as he gave a singular jerk against his foe's grasp. They didn't move, locked in a deadbolted position.
"My, my, what a scary expression, Mr. Jaune." Sebastian smirked, mocking the ranger. "If you keep it up, you just might get it stuUUCK!"
Jaune had decided that he should end this stalemate, and decided to throw Dr. Cortez over his shoulder. He hit the ground with a thud.
"Ooff." Sebastian grunted upon impact. Jaune drew a hand ax, ready to bury it into the teacher's torso. Dr. Cortez's eyes widened as he saw the blade descend. Shooting off like a rocket, the teacher divides between the ranger's legs. Grabbing his shovel with the dive, He brandished the blade. "Aha! Avast, me hearty!" The teacher cackled, clearly enjoying himself.
Jaune threw his ax at the teacher, slinging the blade with an impressive accuracy. Cortez yelped as he knocked the ax to the side. He was quickly put back on the defensive as Jaune dropped the head of a halberd on the teacher. Dr. Cortez blinked as he batted it away, only for Jaune to restrike with a quick flick of his wrist.
``Where in god's name did you get a halberd from?" He asked, bewildered as to where the ranger grabbed the pole arm from. Jaune didn't answer him, instead continuing to swiftly poke and jab at the teacher. The shaft of the shovel made contact with the shaft of the halberd, just below its head. Cortez smiled, locking the two in place. Jaune pulled back to no avail, the ax head was unable to be retracted. So Jaune went in the opposite direction, pushing forward with the spear part of his halberd. Sebastian leaned backwards, pushing the blade downwards and, more importantly, away from his chest. Jaune advanced, shuffling forward as his blade was forced to the ground. Sebastian jabbed and cut with his shovel the moment that Jaune was within his range. His gray yellow aura flicked and pulsed with every knick as he delivered his own jabs with a knife that Sebastian had, admittedly, never seen him draw. A decimating punch almost sent jaune to his ass. Jaune snapped at the fist with his teeth, forcing it into a hasty retreat. Cortez looked shocked as he narrowly avoided losing a finger to the ranger's chompers.
Interesting. He thought, frowning. Up to this point, almost every move has been calculated on his part. Every step had purpose and each stroke, until now. I wonder- Then something caused the hackles on the back of the doctor's neck. The air seemed to be bleeding, blending around the ranger's hand. His hand sparked with arcane energy, forming it into lightning that threw off sparks. Jaune lunged forward, his fist holding a ball of pure energy.
Sebastian decided that that could not hit him. Jaune thrust forward, lunging at the teacher with a ferocity that Sebastian would have attributed to an animal more than a man. Sebastian decided to treat the dangerous ball of lightning as though it was a gun. And while it was probably not the best assumption to make, it did give Dr. Cortez a plan of action. Grabbing jaune by the wrist, Cortez pulled him to the side. He wrapped his hand around the ranger's elbow and twisted. The limb popped and snapped as Sebastian broke the limb. Jaune grunted, his teeth clenching as he let out a grunt of pain. Sure, he had suffered worse injuries in his life. Hell, poor bastard had been dismembered, decapitated, defenestrated, frosted, defrosted, deoxidised and several other terrible ways to die that start and do not start with the prefix de. The lightning he had coalesced in his hand exploded out, lashing the area in front of him with a terrible scorching thunder. It arced upwards, rending the cement wall of the ring and the bleachers attached into a twisted charred mess.
Sebastian stared at the carnage that the student had unleashed, astounded as to the sheer power that had been on display. That would have been bad to be hit by. He thought decisively. Turning to Jaune, he looked at his twisted arm, which was crooked in an unnatural manner. "Fight's over kid." He commanded, waiting for the battle lust to leave the blue eyes in front of him. It clearly took some mental discipline from Jaune to realize that the spar had come to an end, as it was several seconds before the grip he had on his knife was loosened. Sebastian gave him his best disarming smile, hoping it would deescalate the ranger further.
"Let's get you to the nurse, Jaune." He said, leading Jaune away from the gym.
Jaune shrugged, rubbing his arm. "Don't worry about me. I've had worse." he said, waiving off his teacher's complaints. The teacher rolled his eyes.
"Don't care. You're injured in a way that Aura won't heal automatically. Ergo, you're needed at med bay." Dr. Cortez said sternly. "And no, you don't get a choice." He cut off jaune's raised hand, forcing the blonde man to shut his mouth. He instead started to mutter something under his breath, forcing his arm back into place. Crack! Cortez couldn't help but wince at the fleshy sound.
Sighing, he rolled his eyes at the unnecessary show of macho force. Nurse Roxxane was going to have his ass on a platter for this. That was going to suck. He looked back at Jaune, who was still nursing his now realigned arm
as you can see, I am not dead! I apologize for how long it took for this chapter to get out. Finals happened and threw me off my groove, and it was hard to get back in.
I was really looking forward to this fight, and I hope i did it justice. But here we have definitive proof that Jaune has improved from beacon, which we all really knew. I hope to get the next pride arc moment in next chapter, along with some exploration of the other students. First classes and all that.
and before anyone asks, Dr. Cortez is my shameless self insert, lifted directly from my abandoned story RMSY. Please don't read it, it's freaking awful. And if you have, I am so sorry.
As always, please leave a comment, review, or idea/ headcannon you have for this story. I love to read them.
just to reaffirm some things: The story is supposed to have some vagueness/ confusion as to the timeline and what time it is. As Jaune becomes more grounded, this should change. The current spacing so far is that in Canon RWBY, Jaune would be in the middle of his Jaunedice Arc. Ish. If that helps at all.