The Arc Realities

by IzzyFicsanything

Team RWBY and the remaining members of Team JPNR found themselves in the void, separated from space, time, and realities. But it's not as dark and creepy as they expected. It turns out it was a theater that records and stores realities that branch out from the main RWBY Universe, and the one that made these realities possible is a certain blonde knight who has the power of change.

2. Chapter 1: the dark knight

Chapter 1: The Knight Rise

DISCLAIMER: This is a fan-based parody. RWBY is owned by Monty Oum, Rooster Teeth, and Viz Media. Please support the official release.

Parody: The Dark Knight rises.

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To their surprise, they see their friend in a cell sleeping. They were surprised and weren't expecting it when Izzy told them he was a hero.

"Wait! I'm confused! You said Jaune-Jaune is a hero, right?" Nora asks as Izzy nods in reply, standing on the stairs by the end of the audience seats.

"then why is Jaune in a prison cell?" Blake follows behind and recognizes the cell from Vacuo's notorious "boiling isle prison." As the name states, it is one of the harshest prisons of all of Remnant, and it's not because of the cruel prison guards' treatment of inmates, whether human or Fuanus. No, it's because of the environment in which the prison itself is located. It is on a small island in the hottest oasis in all in Vacuo, hence the name. The water continues to boil to high temperatures, and the only form of transport is via bullhead. Even if the inmates swim across the boiling waters, the open desert will finish them. The guards won't even try to stop the escapee. But instead, make a bet of how long he'll live and let the Grimm-infested desert clean up.

"Don't fret. Everything will be answered very soon. For now, just enjoy." Izzy assures them as they return their attention back to the screen.

Laying in his cell, his closed eyes twitch, indicating a dream as it looks like they are about to open the scene change and see a large garden behind the Arc Manor. They saw a young Jaune Arc running around their garden with a young adult following him. She could be almost mistaken to be a Young Glynda Goodwitch, except she has long blond hair that covers her entire back, thick frame glasses covering her bright sapphire eyes, which Gave her name, Sapphire. It seemed like they were looking for someone.

"Awe, Jaune, look so cute!" Nora squeals in excitement while some girls secretly take pictures of the young boy for various reasons. Yang, for blackmail material, Pyrrha and Ruby, a souvenir.

"Who's that following him? Is that Miss Goodwitch?" Blake asked, surprised.

"That's Jaune's eldest sister, Sapphire," Pyrrha answered.

"how do you know that?" Weiss followed up with curiosity as she didn't remember Jaune talking about his family.

"Jaune showed us a picture of his Family. We were surprised when he told us he had seven sisters." Ren answered as Team RWBY turned their head towards Ren in surprise when they heard the number of sisters.

"SEVEN!?"

"Holy Oum! Does his parent have any hobbies?" Yang asks, surprise.

"I know, right! We even theorized that one of Jaune's parents might be a rabbit Faunus." Nora deduced.

"Nora, that's just you." Ren sighs.

"Still, it makes you think about Mr and Mrs Arc's secret in the bed." Nora's deduction slowly becomes a deviant territory, and Ruby quickly changes the subject.

"Wow, I didn't know Jaune's family was rich?" Ruby tries, realizing the mansion's size looks like it's owned by a millionaire.

"That is because the Arc family in that reality are more wealthy than the Schnee family in this reality. Where his father took the path of a businessman and became successful in Vale." Izzy states, which caught Wiess's attention.

"So he was trying to seduce me for my name!" Wiess shouts in rage, which surprises the group, but Izzy intervenes.

"Actually, Miss Schnee, almost all Jaune, including yours, have no knowledge of the Schnee family or the Schnee Dust company. Jaune always goes by the abbreviation SDC and doesn't know what it stands for. If anything, he thought it stands for Super Dust Company." Izzy chuckled at the end of the name as some of the group couldn't help but snort at the name and how childish it was.

"If anything, he approaches you as Wiess, not as a Schnee. And if he knows of your family's company, he doesn't care." Weiss's eyes widened, and she was surprised that Jaune approached her, not as Schnee did, but as Weiss. Guilt tightens her chest, remembering her behavior towards Jaune. Realizing she's just like her father, she curls herself into a ball with regret, regardless of how she tries to deny it. The others were concerned about Wiess as they returned their attention to the screen.

"I wonder what Jaune dreaming about," Ruby asks.

Jaune turned to the greenhouse and found someone he was looking for, a girl the same age as him with shoulder-length brunette hair. Yet she looks sickly and weak, based on her pale skin and breathing deeply from exhaustion, which concerns Jaune.

Pyrrha and Ruby couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy at seeing Jaune with another girl.

"Who is she?" Pyrrha ask

"That's Rachel Dawson. Daughter of the head maid of the Arc family and Jaune's very first friend. And among his family, his first girlfriend at the age of seven."

"WHAT!?" both Pyrrha and Ruby shout as Izzy chuckles.

"I'm kidding. They're both childhood friends." Izzy jest

"There you are, Rachel! You shouldn't leave your room. Your Mom is going to be very worried about you."

"I'm not going back!" she frowns.

"why?" Sapphire ask

"Your sister Sherry took my lucky rock and threw it out the window!" she shouts.

"The Emerald arrowhead?" he asks as Rachel nods. Jaune was the one who gifted Rachel the arrowhead on her birthday, and it became her lucky rock.

"Do you know where it landed?" Jaune asks as Rachel nods and sees Jaune turn his back to her.

"Come on, get on. I'll give you a piggyback." Rachel didn't hesitate and climbed onto Jaune's back.

"Jaune, what are you doing?" his sister ask

"What does it look like? I'm helping Rachel look for her lucky rock." Sapphire sighed and knew her brother gladly helped others in need. He follows them to the garden's edge and sees the arrowhead on the ground. As Jaune gently put Rachel down and headed to the arrowhead.

"Jaune, wait. Let's call Dad to help; it's too dangerous." Sapphire cautioned, but Jaune didn't listen and approached the area and picked up the rock.

"See. It's easy." And just as he says, the floor beneath collapsed, taking the child down the cavern.

"JAUNE!"

"JAUNE!"

Both his sister and friends shouted out his name and became worried.

"don't threaten everyone. Jaune is still alive." Izzy eases their worries as Sapphire and Rachel call out for Jaune.

"Jaune! Jaune! Can you hear me!?" Sapphire cries.

"Jaune! Please say something!?" Rachel cries.

"I'm alright! But I can't climb out!?" Jaune replies as he attempts to climb the smooth stone walls but slips and falls. As the two girls sigh in relief, Sapphire turns to Rachel.

"Rachel, stay here. Keep Jaune company while I call for help." Rachel nods and turns to the hole.

"Jaune! I'm going to get help! Stay there!"

"No crap! Just hurry!" Jaune shouts as he turns to the void path, hearing strange sounds.

"I don't think I'm alone down here!" he stared into the abyss where the sounds originated. The suspension builds up within the young man, and he becomes impatient and scared when he hears the sound. It slowly gets louder. Even the two teams are on edge.

"Seriously, what's making that sound, a Grimm?" Nora asks with a slight chill down her spine.

"No..." Blake calls out to see Jaune pick up a rock and can predict what will happen next.

Then, finally, fear took hold of Jaune. Immediately, without thinking, he picked up a rock, threw it randomly to the abyss, and heard the rock ricochet off where it landed, and the sound ceased. Jaune sighed in relief until he heard a new sound of flapping wings heading in his direction. It overcame him with great fright. Even the crowd jumped in fright.

He lay on the ground like a frightened child, screaming in fear and pain, while some Bats flew past him while some attacked him with bites and claws. As the anxiety became unbearable, Jaune woke up frightened, gasping for air. It took a moment for him to calm down, realize where he was, and sigh in relief.

"A bad dream?" The voice calls as Jaune lifts his head towards his cellmate Corrin, an old wolf Faunus.

"No, a nightmare." Seeing Jaune's face with his hair grown to his shoulders and a thick beard.

"Wow, Jaune looked good with a beard," Blake said, surprised. Ren nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, he sure gives daddy vibes." Nora jest.

"He can be my sugar daddy anytime." Yang jokes with a hint of immodest interest.

"Eww! Yang! Stop being gross." Ruby hides in her hood, not wanting to show her flushed face, knowing Yang will constantly tease her.

"…but you have to admit he looks so-" Pyrrha's face flushed red with breath shortened, and she immediately took a photo of her scroll, hoping Jaune could grow a beard too. Before she finishes, Weiss interrupts.

"Mature." Weiss smiled with great interest as the group looked at her like she had grown a second head while Pyrrha leered at Weiss.

The scene changes to the prison yard serving breakfast, and they can immediately see the poor conditions, mainly the food served. As they all waited in line with Jaune in front of Corrin, they noticed a large group of Faunus prisoners approaching Jaune.

"Be careful, friend. They're after you." Corrin warns

"Let me guess, white fang again? Don't worry, I'll live through it," he says in a bored tone as it wasn't news to him ever since he'd been in the boiling isles. He was targeted non-stop as a punching bag for Faunus prisoners, especially the white fang.

Blake couldn't help but be saddened hearing what Jaune had to go through and still see the White Fang haven't changed and would resort to such low when Jaune has no part of the SDC.

"Until they'll kill you." Just as they are on the counter, when Jaune picks up his plate, the food is poured onto it as it is not appealing. As it looks like a sickly white paste.

"Can they kill me before breakfast?"

A snicker is sounded in the crowd, trying to hold it in. As everyone turned to the source, team RWBY and (J)NPR weren't sure to be expected or disappointed in Yang's lousy taste in jokes.

Then, his plate was immediately tossed away, yet Jaune wasn't bothered but somewhat annoyed by the same routine he had to go through. He was approached by a giant lizard, Faunus, with scaled skin on his cheeks down to his neck.

"you are in hell, little man." He hisses and strikes Jaune across his face as he falls to the ground. But he didn't stop and grabbed Jaune by the hair to pull him up to see his face.

"And I am the devil." And strike him again across his face.

"come on, fearless leader, kick his ass!" Nora climbed over her seat, weaving a team JPNR flag and cheering for Jaune. While the other's first response is, "Where did she find that flag?".

"What makes you think he can?" Wiess calls out, remembering Jaune's spar that he went through during combat class and the loss he suffered to every one of them. Of course, her team, and Pyrrha especially, leers towards her.

"you be surprised. After all, this is an alternative reality." Izzy smiles caught everyone's attention, seeing him point to the screen. Seeing Jaune getting back on his feet.

"No. You're not the devil. Your practice." Jaune replies, then strikes the larger Faunus across his face, stunning him with the unexpected punch, and then follows up by slamming his head on the counter and finishing it by pressing his head on the hot stove while the larger Faunus cries in pain, scarring his face. The audience feels pain for the Faunus but is also concerned to see a very aggressive Jaune. Finally, Jaune released his hold on the Large Faunus. As he groveled on the ground, Jaune turned to his companions. Immediately, they all charged Jaune to the open stove, intending to give Jaune the same punishment as their comrade.

"Oh no, Jaune!" Pyrrha cries but sees Jaune quick on his feet as his boot lands on the counter, stopping the Faunus and pushing himself and the cronies off the scaffolding to the yard, continuing their fight as team RWBY and NPR cheer as the Jaune takes out each one by one in a brutal fashion.

Jaune caught the first opponent's punch, struck the elbow joint, and dislocated his shoulders. The second one managed to get a clean kick on Jaune's side to free his companion, but on the second kick, Jaune caught it on time, elbowed the knee, and side-swiped his opponent's other leg to fall on the mud. But Jaune didn't let go of the leg and quickly moved to the ankle. To some, they were shocked, but to Nora, she smiled in glee till they all heard the bone snap. Seeing Jaune twist the man's ankle, followed by the leg's break of bone.

"YEAH! SHOW THEM WHO'S BOSS FEARLESS LEADER! BREAK THEIR LEGS!" Nora cheers while Ren tries to calm her down.

But it was short-lived when two of the cronies tackled Jaune away to the ground, but they couldn't hit him as he pushed them back. Jaune grabbed hold of one of them, threw him on top of his partner, and kicked them both in their heads, unconscious.

The last thug managed to tackle Jaune away from his fallen comrades to the mud, but Jaune rolled over till he was on top of him. Grabbing a hold of his collar, he begins beating the thug brutally non-stop. The audience was shocked by the brutality Jaune was showing while he kept pounding on the man. Finally, the sound of gunfire stops the fight with Jaune's hands in the air surrender, and then the Faunus guards drag him away from the scene.

"Solitary!" the guard shouts, dragging Jaune away.

"What!? That's bull! They started it?" Yang argues.

"Yeah!" Ruby and Nora agree

"Why?" Jaune asks, confused yet ragged from the fight.

"for protection!"

"Oh, okay, I take that back," got Yang's surprise

"They are actually protecting Jaune." Blake sighs in relief

"I don't need protection!"

"not you! For them!" seeing the fallen thugs groaning in pain.

"never mind, I take back the take back." Yang sighs in disappointment while Blake slumps in shame.

"Boo! You guys suck!" Nora shouts

The scene cuts to Solitary, where the guards throw Jaune in and lock the door behind him as he sighs and makes himself comfortable with no idea how long he is here. Till a voice calls out to him.

"Are you so desperate to fight criminals that you lock yourself in to take them out one at a time?"

That voice caught Blake's undefined attention of surprise and shock. Did they arrest him for the white fang's crime? This did not go unnoticed, with her team seeing her with great concern.

Jaune turns to the voice originating in the darkest part of his cell as a large panther, Fuanus Man, emerges from the shadows. Tall, muscular Faunus with black hair, a thick beard, and yellow eyes. Unlike the prisoner, his dress And open dark violet coat with white fur trims exposed a patch of black hair on his chest.

"DAD!?" Blake calls out surprise.

"Wait!? That's your dad?" Yang shouts in surprise, looking back and forth for a comparison.

"Huh? Now that I look at it, it explains where you got your Leering face." Yang explains while Blake gives her the face.

"Haha! That's the one!" she laughs and points.

"Actually, there were six of them," Jaune replies nonchalantly as he turns to wash his face on the sink in the corner.

"I've counted 5, Mr Arc." He slowly approaches Jaune as Jaune pauses and turns to the Faunus stranger, a little on guard, ready for round two.

"how do you know my name?"

"Wait, Blake, do you know Jaune's family?" Ruby asks curiously, with Pyrrha following suit.

"No, I never heard about Jaune's family via reputation." She replies

"Actually, Miss Belladonna, Your parents are good friends with the Arc Family and are familiar with Jaune and his siblings. They were the only family who supported the old White Fang but pulled away when the white fang turned on their way to a more terrorist organization. It also explains why your mother wanted a litter. Was thanks to Jaune's mother and jealousy of the two older Arc's sex life." Izzy explains

"Okay!? We don't need to hear that last part!?" Yang shouts, covering Ruby's ears.

"If that's true, why have I never met Jaune?" Blake asks as Izzy just stares at the young lady.

"I'm sure you know the answer, Miss Belladonna."

"Oh..." she slumps her head in shame, realizing that all those times her parents asked her to come with them to visit a family friend. She went to white fang rallies and meetings instead.

"Now that I think about it. There is a reality where you and Jaune met before Beacon and became a symbol of coexistence, and the white fang never became a terrorist organization. They became a private military that rivaled Atlas."

"Wait, what!? Rival Atlas! I find that hard to believe! How!?" Wiess demands.

"I can only say that Atla's greatest strength became their greatest weakness. But let's return to that subject after this view." Izzy suggests turning their attention back to the viewing.

"the world is too small for someone like Jaune Arc to disappear...no matter how deep he sinks." As Jaune pauses what he is doing, he looks over his shoulder towards the stranger.

"Who are you?"

"I am Ghria Belladonna, but I speak for Ras Al Ghul. A man greatly feared in the criminal underworld. A man who can offer you a path." Jaune slowly lowered his guard and started cleaning himself out of the mud.

"Wait, does that make Blake's dad the bad guy?" Nora ask.

"He's the man who removes the criminal underworld from its roots." Izzy states

"Oh, I get it. Sorry, Blake, I didn't mean it."

"It's okay, Nora." Blake sighs in relief that her father is part of an organization that takes down crimelords.

"What makes you think I need a path?" as he tosses his shoes aside.

"Someone like you is only here by choice. You have been exploring the criminal fraternity, but whatever your original intention, you have become truly lost." As Ghria explained, Jaune's movement slowed, and he was surprised at what this man told him about.

"and what path does Ra's Al Ghul offer?" he asks.

"The path of a man Who shares his hate of evil and wishes to serve true justice. The path of the League of Shadows." Nora gasped at the name and turned to Blake.

"Blake! You didn't tell me your dad is a crime-fighting ninja!" Nora gasped again and turned to Ren.

"Ren! You gotta join!"

"we'll see Nora."

"Wow, Blake, your dad is a ninja, so cool." Ruby's eyes sparkled in awe while Blake couldn't help but sweatdrop.

"th-thanks Ruby." Averting her eyes away from Ruby, Yang couldn't help but snicker at Blake.

"you're Vigilantes?" Jaune laughs at the idea of a joke.

"No, no, no...a vigilante Is just a man lost in a scramble for gratification. He can be destroyed or locked up. But..." as Ghria squats down to Jaune's eye level and continues.

"If you make yourself more than just a man. If you devote yourself to an ideal and they cannot stop you, you become something entirely..." He pauses and smiles towards Jaune.

"Which is?"

"A Legend. Mr Arc."

"damn, Blake, your dad knows how to make a good speech." Yang smiles

"I agree. If anything, I bet your father would be a great council member." Pyrrha nods.

"I have to admit. It was even better than the Headmaster's speech during orientation." Wiess agrees. Blake blushes as she never had this much attention from her dad.

"Tomorrow, you'll be released." Ghria stood and headed to the door of Jaune'cell.

"If you are bored of brawling thieves and want to achieve something. There's a rare blue flower that grows in the eastern slopes. Pick one of these flowers. If you can carry it to the top of the mountain, you may find what you're looking for in the first place." Ghria knocks on the door, signaling the guard outside, saying he's done.

"And what exactly am I looking for?" Jaune asked as the door opened behind Ghria.

"Only you can do that."

The scene cuts to Jaune being thrown out to a new location as the truck drives away. Jaune searched his surroundings and realized he was no longer in the hot desert of Vacuo. Jaune traverses through the plain, heading to the snowy mountains in the distance.

"Wait a minute...where is he?" Ruby ask.

"My guess is somewhere North, judging from the snowy Plains in the distance." Ren summaries.

"he might be close to Mentle?" Pyrrha thought.

"maybe..." Wiess thought to herself.

Just as Jaune met at the foot of the slope of the mountain, littered with flags scattered in the area. He noticed the blue flower that Ghria told him to find. It was a blue flower with a black core and grey stems that he and his friends didn't recognize. As he hooked it on his collar.

"I've never seen a flower like that before. Have any of you guys seen it?" Nora looks to the others for an answer.

"No, I've never seen a flower like that," Wiess replies

"same. And my uncle travels a lot." Yang states

"that's because it's a flower that grows only in that reality, not yours. Even if it did, you would known of it already." Izzy explains.

"Then what is it?" Ren asks curiously.

"It's best not to spoil it and see for yourself," Izzy suggested as the screen continued.

The students see their friend traverse the mountain to a village ahead. Just as he enters the small town, he sees the villagers cowardly and hides from his sight as if he were a bad omen. But he wasn't bothered by it and continued walking, leaving the village behind as he could tell he was not wanted in the town. The scene changes to Jaune climbing over the edge of a cliff in exhaustion and a large castle on the mountain wall before him, just like Ghria said. He approached the building and knocked on the door. After a few minutes of waiting, the doors open, allowing the blond Knight to enter a temple-like room. At the end of the hall stands an old man dressed in importance and authority sitting on his throne, intimating Jaune with his stare.

"Ra's Al Ghul..." Jaune says in awe, seeing a legend before him, as he hears the doors he entered close behind him. Then, men and women, both Human and Faunus armed, emerge from the shadows surrounding Jaune. Surprisingly, the Knight didn't notice them earlier when he entered as they all slowly approached with intent till a voice called out to them.

"wait..." Ghria appears before Jaune as Ra's Al Ghul speaks a foreign language.

"wait? What did he say?" Nora asks as everyone doesn't know except Blake, and she is surprised to see a human speaking Fuanus's language.

"What are you seeking?" Ghria translate

"Nevermind"

"I seek...to find the means of justice. To turn fear against those who prey on the fearful." The armed guards slowly approach Jaune, surrounding him with Ghria in front of the blond Knight. Jaune pulls the flowers out of his jacket and hands it to Ghria.

"What do you think the point of the flower means?" Ruby ask.

"Oh! Maybe it's one of those initiation missions to test their skills!" Nora suggests.

"maybe. But we still don't know what the flower could do?" Blake agrees

Ghria then shows it to Ra's Al Ghul and speaks the same foreign language to Ra as he responds. As Ghria places the flower on his lapel and translates.

"To manipulate fear to others. You must first master your own. Are you ready to begin?

"I-I could barely stand," Jaune breathes as the fatigue finally gets to him.

"Death does not wait for you to be ready!" Ghria kicks Jaune off his feet, and he tumbles to the floor while Ghria follows.

This surprises the hunters in training, especially Blake, seeing her father showing this side of him of some form of cruelty.

"Death does not consider fair!" as Ghria kicks Jaune again on the ground and pulls back.

"and make no mistake. Here, you will face death!" as Ghria came with a charging kick.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha yells

By some miracle, Jaune caught Ghria's kick and pushed him back, so Jaune stood in a stance ready to fight, which Ghria recognized.

"Tiger."

Jaune strikes for Ghria to be easily caught, but Jaune follows it and pushes Ghria's arm back to lock it. Ghria is unfazed and quickly recognizes what Jaune uses.

"jiu jitsu." And strike Jaune in the ribs to let go and fall to the floor. But stand again in a different stance.

"Panther." Jaune strikes, trying to land a blow to Ghria, as he easily blocks Jaune's attacks, showing Jaune's skills, which amazes his friends.

"Yeah! Go, fearless leader! Kick his ass!" Nora cheer.

"Amazing. I never thought Jaune was a skilled martial artist." Pyrrha compliments

"wow! He's like a real martial arts master! He like awoooh...hiyaaaa!" Ruby says excitedly as she poses martial arts strikes, admiring how cool Jaune looks.

"Hey, Izzy," Yang calls out.

"if this Jaune and I were to Duke it out. Who would win?" she asked.

"Jaune," Izzy replies immediately without hesitation, surprising the group, especially Wiess.

"wait, what!? You saying Yang would lose against him of all people." Wiess argues that it didn't go unnoticed by her friends as Izzy continued explaining his response.

"Yes, you see, and with respect Ms Xiao-long. When it comes to comparing power, you would win. However, power alone won't win you a fight. Jaune has the Skills and techniques of different martial arts to easily counter your boxing brawl style and a tactical mind to outmaneuver you. Not only that, but your reckless onslaught strategy makes you predictable against skilled opponents. My advice is to follow your father's advice at heart. With that, maybe you won't lose your arm."

"Wait, what?"

"Let's continue the viewing." Clearly ignoring Yang.

At the last strike, Ghria caught Jaune's punch and gripped him by the neck.

"You skilled, but this is not a dance." He flares, annoyed, and headbutts Jaune, followed by a kick, sending Jaune to the floor again, lying on his chest.

Ghria rolled him over to his back, seeing Jaune barely conscious.

"And you are afraid. But not of me." As Jaune's vision turned black, Ghria removed the blue flower from his lapel, placed it in his pocket, and patted it down.

"tell us, Mr Arc. What. Do. You. Fear?" Jaune falls back unconscious and dreams of seeing young Jaune lying on the ground, afraid. He looks up and sees his father descending down the well and calling out to him.

"Jaune..." as he reaches down for Jaune's hand.

"It's going to be alright, Jaune..." he reassures him as his friend sighs in relief of their friend's safety.

The scene cuts to Jaune's Father carrying him to the estate with the family butler Alfred.

"Would we need an ambulance, Master Arc?" he asked.

"I'll set the bone and have him x-ray for later."

"Wait, is Jaune's dad a doctor? I thought he was a huntsman?" Pyrrha ask

"in your reality, his is. But in this, Jaune's Father is a former huntsman and had a career change to become a successful doctor. With innovative technology, he created and sponsored. He created an enterprise base in Vale. That brought Vale's technology and civil life rival to Atlas."

"that's amazing. What does the Arc enterprise consist of?" Wiess asks curiously as Izzy pinches his chin in deep thought.

"basically alternate ways for easy transport, research and development of alternate energy sources without dust. They became successful on a project they constructed with the partnership of the Vale Council. The city expanded twice its size compared to your Vale and is known to be the largest city of all of Remnant."

"Did Jaune's family company do all that? Wow, that's amazing." Ruby awe.

"and did they discover this alternative source?" Wiess asks curiously and is concerned about her counterpart's family company.

"they have. Their building, Arc Tower, owns two self-sustaining reactors. One active, powering all of Vale that could generate energy equal to or more than that kept Atlas afloat. Vale has become a dust-free city, sold only to the Huntsman at affordable prices." Izzy replies as Weiss's eyes widen like saucers that Arc Enterprise is undermining SDC. She couldn't help but be furious at the competition.

"Excellent, sir."

As they approached the estate's back door, the handmaid with Rachel by her waited.

"Mr Arc, I'm so sorry-"

"don't worry, it's fine." He reassures the maid, but Jaune sneakily returns the Jade arrowhead to Rachel as he talks to the maid. And continue returning to the manor.

"It took quite a fall; didn't we master Jaune?" Alfred calls out to the young boy.

"and why do we fall, Jaune? To learn to pick ourselves up." The Monarch smiles as the butler stops and watches the Matriarch and her seven daughters gather around Jaune to see his fine.

Seeing such a loving family, the heiress couldn't help but be jealous of the blonde Knight's upbringing. Wanting to be part of a loving and caring father who would go out of his way to save his son. If Weiss were in that situation, her father would ask someone to do it for him. His mother would rush over to see him in concern, while her mother would just drink and move on without batting an eye.

"It's not fair..." she whispers as her partner notices a tear flowing down her face.

"Weiss, are you okay?" Ruby asks in concern, snapping Wiess back to reality and quickly wipes the tears off her face.

"I'm fine, Ruby! This is nothing!"

"awe, Wiess..." Ruby was in awe and hugged Wiess, but the heiress didn't find it comforting but annoyed.

"Get off of me, Ruby!"

"There, there, Wiess...we'll always be friends." While petting Wiess down, it was only for Wiess to relent and let it happen. As she knows that her partner won't stop even if she struggles. And continue watching the screen.

The scene cuts back to young Jaune waking up from a nightmare and unable to go back to sleep until he hears his father coming into his room.

"Bats again?" Jaune nods in reply as his father enters the room and sits by him on the bed's edge.

"Do you know why they attacked you, Jaune?" He asks as Jaune shakes his head.

"because they were afraid."

"Afraid?" Jaune asks confused

"All creatures feel fear."

"Even the scary ones beyond the wall?"

"Even the scary ones." I have something to show you." His father assures him in jest as he pulls out a small jewelry box and opens it to reveal a pearl necklace that immediately shows the beauty of its craftsmanship and great value.

"damn! How much does that thing worth?" Yang whistles.

"I say around five hundred thousand liens," Izzy replies, waving so-so as all the girls spit their drinks in shock. Fortunately for Izzy, it was an easy clean-up; with a simple wave of his hand, the stains vanished entirely.

"Seriously! My father wouldn't pay that much for a gift for my mother!" Weiss shouts in rage and jealously

"You think she'll like it?" the Monarch smiles as Jaune nods with a smile, too.

"Come on, get up, or we'll miss the play."

The scene cuts to seeing young Jaune inside a train, looking out of the window.

"wait? Where is he?" Ruby asks

"Still in Vale," Izzy replies

"But Vale doesn't have a railway system." Pyrrha insit.

"Remember that project I mentioned earlier?" Izzy asked and waited for the guest to realize it as he pointed it back to the screen.

"That's the project. Vale railway systems connect every part of Vale, even Patch. Without the need of Bullheads." They are in awe of Arc's industry accomplishment to help Vale.

"did you build this train, Dad?" the young Arc smiles.

"Vale has been good to our family. But the city has been suffering. People less fortunate than us had been enduring tough times. So we built a new cheap public transportation system to unite the Kingdom and, at the center, the Arc tower." As he points outside the window, they see a large tower with the Arc emblem and their name plaque on the building side.

"Is that where you work?"

"No, no, no. I work in the hospital. I leave the company running to a much….better man."

"better?"

"well….more interested men." He Smiles towards his son, hoping he is the man to take over.

The scene changes to an opera house of Jaune and his parents watching a play of a cave scene as the actors dress and act as bats dancing on a rope as if they were flying. Seeing bats again, Jaune began to see flashbacks of the same bat that attacked him in the well, causing distress almost to the verge of tears, which the Arc matriarch noticed, even his friends.

"Can we go…? Please," he begs as his father.

"Okay, let's go." seeing the Trama in his son's eyes, he signals to his wife that they're leaving.

"poor Jaune, those bats must've scared him." Ruby was saddened to see a young Arc terrified.

"anyone would. Especially that age." Blake finishes and understands

The scene cuts back to Jaune and his parent exiting to the back of the Opera.

"What's wrong, Jaune?" his mother asks, concerned.

"No. No. It was me. I just needed some fresh air. A little bit of Opera goes a long way. Right, Jaune?" Jaune's father calls out, taking the blame to not destress his son or blame. Then he notices someone in the distance heading in their direction.

"come on, let's go." He leads them out of the alley, followed by his wife and son, preparing for what will happen.

As they close the distance of the stranger, he immediately raises and points his gun towards the Monarch. "Wallets, jewelry. Come on, Fast."

"Oh no, Jaune!" Pyrrha gasp.

"that's not good." Ren leers the man.

"coward…" Yang sneers as her eyes turn red.

"Fearless Leader be safe…." Nora prays for the young Arc.

"Don't worry guys. I'm sure a huntsman or the police will come in and save them." Ruby smiles, seeing this scene similar to the superhero shows she watches that inspired the protagonist to be a hero.

"Ruby… not all Huntsman will be there to save everyone." Wiess sighs at her partner's ideology of heroes.

"Wiess is right, Ruby. Remember what I told you when we first met? That the real world isn't a fairy tale." Blake agrees

"But…I also said, "That's why we're here. To make it better," And I meant that." Ruby argues as she stands up to Blake.

"I'm not trying to disagree with you, Ruby. I'm just saying we cannot save everyone. Especially in this case, or more accurately, in Jaune's situation. Someone is going to get hurt or, worse, killed."

"What makes you say that?" Yang asked as Blake hesitated to reply as it may disorient Ruby's perspective, so Izzy answered for her.

"I believe it's best to see for yourself, Ms. Xaio-Long. And perhaps use this as a learning experience."

"That's fine." Jaune's father replies in a calm and steady voice.

"fast!" the robber shouts, frightening Jaune as his mother holds him close protectively and notices the robber's hand holding the gun shaking.

"Definitely not good. Blake is right." Ren state, which caught everyone's attention.

"Ren, what do you mean?" Nora worries.

"His Gun. Notice that it was shaking?" Ren asks

"Now that you mention it. The mugger is scared." Yang's eyes widened at the realization and understood what Blake had meant.

"what's worse than an armed criminal is a scared armed criminal." Weiss bites her nail in suspense and fears for the dolt

"Jaune…" Both Pyrrha and Ruby worry for Jaune.

"Take it easy. Take it easy." The Monarch replies, trying to calm the robber, and he too notices the gun's shaking. He slowly pulls his wallet out of his pocket and reaches out to the robber.

"Here you go." He passes it to the robber, but to the robber's state, he drops the wallet and becomes more alert towards the couple, as Jaune's father raises his hands, showing the robber that he isn't going to do anything and calm the robber.

"It's fine. It's fine." The Arc Monarch states that while the robber tries to pick up the wallet with the gun, he still aims at the Arc couple.

"Now just take it and go…"

Then, the mugger sees the neckless around Jaune's mother.

"I said Jewelry too…" as the mugger points the gun to now the Matriarch.

"Hey-" Immediately, Jaune's father moves between his wife and the gun but only to the receiving end as it pierces both his aura and his chest. Frightening, the audience gasped in shock, looking away, and some cried at such an event.

"No!" Nora shouts

"That bastard!" Yang yell as her eyes turn red

"Those were Aura piercing rounds!" Ruby gasped in shock.

"Aren't those supposed to be illegal?" Wiess shouts in shock

"So, how did a mugger get his hands on illegal ammo?" Pyrrha leers to the mugger, remembering his face if she sees him and ensuring he won't harm anyone.

"Thomas!" his wife screams in horror as she cries to her husband. The mugger reaches in for the neckless and shoots her as well. Only leaving Jaune alone, frozen in fear, witnessing the death of his parents right before him.

Ruby immediately looked away, tears forming in her eyes. Yang tried to calm her sister while the other's eyes widened in shock. Not only did they just witness a murder, but they also realized that Jaune was there to witness his parent's murder.

Seeing his mother dead before him, close to being on the verge of tears, he hears a whisper calling out to him.

"Jaune…." his father calls out, holding for his hand, trying to calm.

"It's okay…Don't be afraid…" even on the verge of death, his father would be there for his son, even when it is he who needs attention.

Unable to hold back tears, watching his father die before him alone in the alley. Never making a sound of fear that the mugger might come back. The scene changes to a police station where photographers try to get a picture of Juane while the Vale police block their path to ensure the privacy of the young Monarch.

Jaune is alone and scared in the office, unsure of what to do. Then suddenly, a young Faunus officer with short brown wolf ears pointed to attention and approached the young man. Trying to calm him.

"hey...it's going to be okay." He calms the child, as Jaune can't help but feel like he saw his father before him. As the officer notices the jacket.

"that's your dad's, right?" he points out as Jaune becomes protective over believing the officer might take it away from him.

"Here..." he slowly took the coat and hung it over the young Arc's shoulders to keep him warm and calm.

"it's going to be okay. It's okay..."

"Gordon," they both turn to see an officer in a different uniform stating his rank as this man is the commissioner of VPD (Vale Police Department). Giving Gordon a stare, saying, 'a moment with the kid.' Gordon leaves the office with Jaune and the commissioner alone.

"Good news, son. We got him." He smiled in pride, but Jaune didn't follow the same sympathy as the commissioner.

"even if they caught him…why Jaune looks like it doesn't feel like a win?" Nora looks down, saddened and confused, while Ren tries to calm her.

"He lost his parents, Nora….right in front of him….it won't bring them back…no child should see that." Blake looks away, trying not to cry, while Ruby continues to cry, hiding beneath her hood with Yang's arm wrapped around her.

Pyhrra stayed quiet, gripping the armrest and tearing into the leather and frame. While Wiess couldn't but feel there's more to this than a "mugging gone wrong." But she stayed quiet, unsure if her theory was correct or not.

The Scenes change to the Arc family memorial of the generation of Arc buried for the funeral of the late Thomas D. Arc and Martha A. Arc. People of both family and friends attended the funeral, all mourning in black. As the ceremony ends, people leave the area individually until only Jaune remains. He still blames himself even though his sisters kept telling him it wasn't his fault and tried to blame themselves for not being there. Yet, no matter how much they tried, he still blamed himself.

As he stared at his parent's grave, rain began pouring heavily, not bothered by it, till an umbrella opened up, covering the young Lord. He looks over his shoulder and sees the Family butler by his side.

"It's time Master Arc. Your sisters are waiting." Escorting the Young Master to the front of the estate, seeing their guest leave. Then, an elderly man approaches the young Arc and offers his hand.

"You're in excellent hands. We'll be watching the Empire with your Sister Sapphire. When you grow up, it'll be waiting for you."

The scene changes to Jaune staring out of the window, seeing Racheal with her mother, and seeing him back, giving the young Master a short wave, and he returns. While he stares out the window, the Family butler, Alfred, calls out to the young Master.

"I thought I prepared a little supper…." But the young Master stayed quiet. When he returned home, he never spoke, which worried the trusted butler. He tries to get the Young Master to talk to him, knowing this will cause more damage to the Young Lord if he disconnects himself from others.

"….Your sisters are waiting for you." he tries to probe him, hoping his sister will help ease his burden. Looking over his shoulder, he sees the Arc sisters peeking over the corner, worried for their brother. But sadly, the boy continues to stare out to the window.

"Very well…" he decides to leave the young Lord alone until, finally, the young Lord calls out his name.

"Alfred…." He turns and sees the young Lord with a painful expression and the young Lord in tears, trying to hold onto his tears as he's the heir of the Arc Family. This pains the butler to see the young Lord suffer such a burden.

"Yes, Master Jaune…"

"It was my fault, Alfred…"

"Oh no, no, no…." as he approaches Jaune with his hand on the young boy's shoulder.

"I made them leave the theater. If I haven't gotten scared-" the butler immediately cut off the young boy.

"It was nothing you did. It was him. and him alone. You understand?" he gently raises the young boy's chin to see his eyes of pain and sorrow.

"I miss them, Alfred. I miss them so much…" The boy breaks down, mourning the loss, and hugs the butler.

"So do I, Master Jaune…so do I…" Meanwhile, Alfred, too, morns with the boy.

The gang cries at such a touching moment, even though they're not family by blood but by bond. It strengthened the step-sister bond, as did Nora and Ren's. Meanwhile, Wies couldn't help but wonder if she had that kind of a relationship with her butler and if there was an Alfred in their reality. Maybe she could hire him as their butler. While Pyhraa and Blake thought about their parents, they never took them for granted, but Blake felt a little guilty.

The scene returns to present Jaune, now in a different look with hair shortened and his bread shaved off, overlooking a mountain view on a balcony with Ghria beside him as Jaune tells Ghria his story.

"Do you still feel responsible for your parent's death?" Ghria ask

"My anger outweighs my guilt."

"come…" Ghria led him inside the building and began teaching Jaune.

"you have learned to bury your guilt with anger. I will teach you to confront it and to face the truth."

The scene again shows two men armed with swords standing on a frozen lake, hearing the ice beneath them crack and shift.

"you know how to fight against six men. We can teach you how to engage six hundred. You know how to disappear. We can teach you to be truly invisible." As Jaune and Ghria began to cross blades, the scene changed back inside the compound again.

"invisible?" Jaune questioned with a bewildered look towards Ghria.

"Hapi!" Ghria shouts a name as a man dressed as a true ninja lowers himself to the ground, surprising Jaune and the crowd.

"OH MY OUM! A REAL NINJA!" Ruby and Nora's eyes sparkle in awe at seeing a real-life ninja in action. While the rest of their eyes widened in shock. Blake and Ren especially want to learn that.

The scene shifts back to the frozen lake and the compound, where Ghira is walking and looking for someone.

"A ninja understands invisibility is a matter of patience…." He approaches a post, sees another ninja clinging to the post, and pulls out his hand to show the tool kept to the post.

"…and Agility." Shift to a new arena where Jaune stands on top in a pit of pillars, shirtless, showing his well-toned muscles while defending himself from bo staff. The girls' faces in the audience were all flush red and wide-eyed at Jaune's physique. Which didn't stop them from taking photos for various reasons. Yang a souvenir, Pyrrha and Ruby a goal for their Jaune to achieve, Nora blackmail material, Wiess a something to get suitors away from her showing "Her Boyfriend," and Blake, let's say its material for her new smut fanfic of her favorite book starring herself and the young Knight.

The montage continued back at the lake, seeing the two men clashing blades, till Ghria struck with a powerful strike, making Jaune slip and fall to the ice.

"Always mind your surroundings." He advises as Jaune rises and continues the spar, then returns inside, seeing Ghira scooping black powder from the large bowl.

"Ninjitsu employs explosive powders." He took a pinch of the powder and threw it close to Jaune's feet, causing a small explosion.

"as weapons?" Jaune asks, surprised at what a pinch could do.

"Or distractions. See, actuality and deception are powerful agents. You must become more than just a man in your opponent's mind. " He brought towards Jaune to try it and follow the same example of Ghria.

"That's so cool!" Nora shouts as she rushes towards Izzy, grabs his collar, and shakes him.

"Tell me the formula! I must know the formula!" Nora demanded as Pyhrra quickly tried to pull her off him.

"NORA! Don't be rude! Ren, can you help-" Just as Pyhrra was about to ask Ren, she immediately saw the green ninja bowing to his knees.

"Please, Lord Izzy! I, too, must know the formula."

"Ren! Guys, please…" Pyhrra begs Team RWBY to help, and then Blake stands up and approaches Pyhrra. She sighed with relief, knowing Blake could be the most reasonable team member. Instead, she bows towards Izzy in the same way as Ren.

"Oh, Please, Great Lord Izzy! Would you pass this knowledge to us!" Blake, too, begged while her partner smirked, saying, "Saw that coming." Wiess groans, pinching the bridge of her nose while Ruby is still in awe and jealous that Jaune will be trained to be a ninja.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?"

"Let's calm down, everyone. Let's discuss this after the viewing. Agree?" Izzy suggests as the others return to their seats.

Then, a shout caught Jaune's and the other's attention, seeing a large man in a well makeshift cage raised by a pully.

"Who is he?" Jaune ask

"He was a farmer who tried to take his neighbor's land and then became a murderer. Now, he's imprisoned." Ghria looks to the man as if he's not worth knowing.

"what will happen to him?"

"justice. Crime cannot be tolerated. Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society's understanding."

The sound of blades clashing returns to the frozen lake as Ghria dodges Jaune's horizontal swing and walks away, but not without goading.

"so we're back to the frozen lake? I swear if this keeps up, I will be bored." Yang complains

"Then how about we make this interesting?" Nora ask

"what do you have in mind?" Pyrrha ask.

"I bet twenty-five lien that Jaune would kick Blake's dad's ass." She smiles, to which ire Blake.

"I'll take that bet that my dad will beat Jaune. it's clear he's the Master." Blake leers toward Nora, and Yang gets excited.

"All alright, I'm in. Bet fifty that vomit boy wins." Yang smiles, but Wiess scoffs at the notion.

"Please, Jaune will lose, and to make it more interesting, I bet a hundred that Jaune will lose in the most ridiculous way that he always has been.

"wow, Wiess-cream, why so serious?" Yang smirked as Izzy put on a flat beret cap and pulled a small blackboard out of nowhere with the title bet with three different slots with their name and their bet written in of Ghria beating Jaune: (Blake 25 lien), Jaune beating Ghria: (Nora 25 lien), (Yang 50 lien) and other: (Wiess 100).

"Alright, ladies, bets are closed. Good luck."

"Your parent's death was not your fault..." As if anticipated, Jaune charged in towards Ghria, but only for Ghria to block and counter Jaune's attacks until Ghira caught Jaune's blade between the fin side blades of his gauntlets and pushed himself close for Jaune to hear.

"…It was your father." That brought Jaune to a state of fury and distraction enough for Ghria to pull Jaune's sword away from him and resort to hand-to-hand combat using the same fin blade gauntlets on Jaune's person. But with Ghria's years of experience, he kicks down the young man effortlessly. Yet Jaune didn't quit as he stood back up, only to be put down on the ice again, effortlessly while holding his arm.

"Anger does not change the fact that your father failed to act."

"come on, vomit, boy!" Yang cheered.

"Yeah, we got money riding on you!" Nora cheers, too, while Blake and Wiess are confident.

"That man had a gun!"

"Will that stop you!?" he left, turning his back to Jaune again.

"I had training," Jaune argues.

"Your Training is nothing!" Ghria swings his downward toward Jaune. He blocked the attack with gauntlets but didn't stop Ghria from kicking him to the ground again. As Jaune quickly stood back up, surprising Ghria.

"The will to act…" he nods, approving Jaune's determination, as he charges toward Ghria, continuing the fight. Ghria swings his sword so that Jaune can do a barrel roll and slide to retrieve his sword.

"Go Jaune!" Ruby cheer

"We believe in you," Pyhrra.

But still lying on the ground, Ghria didn't give Jaune a chance to get up and swung his down towards Jaune. He blocked it and, with quick thinking, kicked Ghria on his leg and then his face as he fell to the ground with Jaune victorious, pointing his sword down at Ghria.

"Yield…" Jaune smiles in accomplishment while the party cheers, and Blake and Wiess grit their teeth at the loss.

"haha! Pay up, you two!" Nora cheers smugly, along with Yang, as the losing party recently sighs and passes their loss to the winning team. But just as they pass their losings.

"you haven't beaten me…" Ghria calls out, stopping the Girls and turning to the screen.

"…You sacrifice your footing for a killing stroke." Ghria tapped the ice with his sword, breaking the ice beneath Jaune as he fell into the lake's freezing waters.

They pause the roles reveres as it is now Blake and Wiess smile smugly while both Yand and Nora grit their teeth.

"I believe this is my win." Blake smiles.

"Blake, don't you mean "our" win," Weiss interjects.

"Actually Miss Schnee. You said Jaune would lose most ridiculously. Jaune did lose, yes. However, you specifically said he would lose in a "ridiculous way," and yet he lost by a strategic loss. Therefore, Miss Belladonna wins the pool with 200 lien." Izzy explains as Wiess's jaw drops while Nora and Yang mockingly cheer Wiess up for her loss.

"Don't worry, Wiess, it happens to all of us." Nora is holding in her laughter compared to Yang.

"Yeah, Wiess, maybe if you have more fate in vomit boy." Yang laughs.

"Shut it, you two."

The scene changes to an open campfire, seeing Jaune freezing, trying to keep himself warm.

"rub your chest. Your arms will take care of themselves." Ghria advice

"You're stronger than your father."

"you don't even know my father."

"but I know the rage that drives you. Impossible anger that strangles the grief from remembering your loved ones just… poison in your veins. And one day, you catch yourself wishing the person you loved never existed…so you be spared your pain." Ghria stares at the fire, reminiscing the same pain similar to Jaune's.

This caught everyone's attention, especially Blake.

"Dad…" Blake whispered intently, regretting leaving her parents to join the white fang and call them cowards.

"I wasn't always here in the mountains. Once, I had a wife and a child, my great loves. My wife was taken from me, and my daughter ran away…Like you, I learned that others were without decency and must be fought without hesitation or pity. Your anger gives you great power, but if you let it. It will destroy you…as it almost did me…"

Blake cries about her father's story, hearing that he lost her mother and, worse, her other self ran away, leaving him behind and alone. Is she really that heartless like her variant? Does she honestly not care about others than herself? Making her guilt even worse than before, as she bellows in tears of self-guilt and hate of herself. Repeatedly apologizing to her parents.

"Mom…Dad…I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…" her teammates try to console her, but she curls herself into a ball far too deep of self-guilt.

"What stopped it?"
"vengeance…"

"That's no help to me."

"Why Jaune…? Why would you not avenge your parents?" as Ghria's questions echo in Jaune's mind, the scene shifts back to an older Jaune and Alfred walking the quite empty halls of the Mainor.

"Will you return to Atlas after the hearing, or could I persuade you to stay for a day or two? Your sisters really missed you."

"wait? Jaune went to Atlas?" Wiess questioned when she heard Alfred mention Atlas.

"Yes...after the funeral, he's expected to inherit Arc Industries. Of course, he cannot take ownership without studying. So, he moved to Atlas to study economics and business. Although it didn't come without…distractions."

"distraction?" Wiess ask

"Yes…when word spread that Jaune Arc, Heir of Arc Industries, is studying onboard in Atlas, your father became...forward...trying to introduce Winter and yourself to him," Izzy explains.

"of course..." Wiess slumps in disappointment as she's not surprised that her father would think.

"And because of his advances and his intentions clear, along with the crimes your father committed. Jaune despises your father and the practice he runs for the SDC. Vowing he will not be like him."

"Did Jaune at least give Winter and Weiss a chance?" Ruby asks

"He did. Jaune was the one who gave Winter the final push she needed to be her own person and join the Atlas Military. Jaune helped distract her father and promised Winter to keep an eye on Weiss in her stead. Making Jaune a surrogate older brother to Weiss and forming a sibling relationship. However, growing up with Jaune, Weiss formed romantic feelings over the years, seeing Jaune more than an older brother." Izzy states

After hearing that, everyone got a mixed reaction to that statement. Ruby, Pyrrha, and Wiess blushed in denial. Yang and Nora laughed so hard it was bearable to hold it in as they fell to the floor. Ren and Blake are indifferent, but Blake begins taking notes for the new fanfic she's working on.

"hahaha! Holy crap, ice queen, I thought you said you were not interested in Vomit Boy, but your variant says otherwise." Yang laughs

"Who would've thought that you were into that kind of knik! I thought that was Blake's department due to her books." Nora laughed, which made Yang laugh even harder.

"I am not into the-that perversion!" Wiess's face flushed red in deep embarrassment.

"Who knows, Weiss? Maybe you just need to discover it. I'm sure you'll enjoy it more if you try. Who knows, maybe you'll be more honest." Blake suggests

"Shut it, Blake! Don't help!"

"I heard activities like those suggest that these are healthy and let you relax from the stress you've been building," Ren suggests, which surprises some guests.

"no. I not heading back," Jaune blankly states

"You don't like it there?" Alfred asked, looking at the young Master in concern as they climbed a flight of stairs leading to the young Master's quarters.

"No, I like it fine...the quiet and the cold nights are calming. But it's just that Jacques Schnee's attempts are starting to get on my nerves. It didn't help when he involved his daughter Weiss. Though, I can't help but worry for her." Hearing his tone of concern at the end, Weiss felt a little embarrassed and happy that Jaune cared for her.

"I've prepared the master bedroom."

"No. My room will be fine. If anything, Sapphire should have it. She's running the company."

"It was her suggestion, Master Jaune, and she believes you should run it out of all your siblings. And with all due respect, sir, Arc Manor is your home."

"No, Alfred, it's my father's house."

"Your father is dead, Master-"

"And this place is a mausoleum. If it weren't for my sisters, I'd pull the damn thing down brick by brick." Jaune interrupts the butler in a callous tone. As this, stop the butler on the spot and face the young Master.

"This house, Master Arc, has sheltered over six generations of your family. And the only place that your sisters have for a home."

"Why do you give a damn, Alfred? It's not your family."

"I give a damn because a good man once made me responsible for what was most precious to him in the whole world." The butler refers to Jaune and his sisters and continues escorting the young Master to the master bedroom.

"Miss Dawson has offered to drive you to the hearing. She probably hopes to talk you out of going." He announces as Jaune finally follows behind him and leads to the room.

"Should I just bury the past out there with my parents, Alfred?"

"I wouldn't presume to tell you what to do with your past, sir. Just know that there are those of us who care about what you do with your future." He waited by the door and watched Jaune open it but turn to Alfred.

"Haven't given up on me yet?"

"Never." The butler smiles and leaves Jaune in his new room.

The scene changes, seeing Jaune looking at a picture frame of his parents in the master bedroom, then moving to his father's stethoscope case and opening it as a memory of nostalgia of himself with his father using the stethoscope to listen to his father's heartbeat. He carries his luggage to his bed to begin unpacking, but as he lifts the first piece of clothing out of his bag, he reveals a small handgun underneath it.

The crowd gasps in shock at seeing a variant of their friend owning a gun, but they see Jaune opening the cylinder, showing the gun is loaded. But it wasn't any ordinary dust to which their gaze widened even more to shock.

"th-th-those are aura-piercing rounds." Wiess stuttered in shock, with the others following as they knew what Jaune would do.

"B-But why? Jaune would never do that!?" Ruby cries

"You forget Ruby. This is a different variant from ours." Blake calmly expresses, yet her grip on the armrest tightens.

"But why would he need aura-piercing rounds? Isn't that a bit overkill?" Yang asks.

"That's because the man that murdered Jaune's parents is a huntsman named Joe Chill," Izzy announces, which surprises the fellow hunters-in-training.

"No! That's impossible! Huntsmen are supposed to protect humanity-" Before Ruby could finish, Izzy interrupts her.

"from the Grimm. I'm sorry, Ruby, but you need to face it. Huntsmen are trained to protect humanity from the Grimm. They're not trained to be law enforcers."

As soon as Jaune holstered the gun, hidden in plain view, he went to the kitchen. There, he sees his friend, Rachel, lost in thought of the current situation of the ongoing trial, with worry across her face for Jaune.

"Alfred kept the condensed milk on the top shelf." Jaune smiled, snapping Rachel out of her thoughts.

"he hasn't noticed that you are now tall enough to reach?" she jested.

"Old habits die hard. I guess."

"never used to stop us, anyway." She smiles in nestolaga

"No, it didn't. How's your mom?"

"busy taking care of the twins and Jade. She still worries about your older sisters. And So do I." She smiles

"yeah. But it's nothing without the people who made it what it was." Jaune replied nonchalantly, seeing Rachel's smile slowly disappear with concern.

"Now it's only Alfred and my sisters." He finished

"And you?"

"I'm not staying, Rachel."

"You just back for the hearing." Her voice betrayed her disappointment toward Jaune, hoping he would come home for good, but I guess she was wrong. Jaune looked away, expecting what Rachel was going to ask next.

"Jaune, I don't suppose there's any way to convince you not to come. Sapphire agreed with me."

"Someone at this proceeding should stand for my parents."

"We all loved your parents, Jaune. What Chill did is unforgivable."

"then why is your boss letting him go."

"Wait, what!? Why? he literally killed two innocent people. He should have his kneecaps shatter!" Nora argues while Ren tries to calm her down.

"My guess is that he made a deal with the D.A." Weiss guessed this was not surprising as she saw her father making shady deals with the DA for her father's workers' rights practice.

"It has to be really priceless to see what Chill has to offer," Blake replied.

"Like what?" Yang asks

"Well...just seeing how much Jaune's parents impact Vale, it has to be worth equal or more. Like a powerful crime boss who the police are having issues to put him behind bars."

"In prison, he shared a cell with Junior Xiong. He hears things and will testify in exchange for an early parole."

"wait, Junior!? Is a crime boss? He's just a weak mob boss." Yang crooked her brow in surprise.

"in your reality, he is. But in this reality, he's one of Vale's most powerful crime lords."

"Rachel, this man killed my parents in front of me. And worse, he's a huntsman." His voice laced with venom on that latter.

"Jaune, that's not fair."

"Everyone knew I wanted to be a huntsman like my father and his father before him. They're supposed to be the defenders of humanity from the Grimm, not themselves. They believe they can do anything just because they're above the law. And abuse their position to get what they want."

"That's not true, Jaune! Huntsmen are heroes!" Ruby argues.

"Ruby, I hate to tell you this, but some Huntsman are rouged all over Remnant. Who abuse their authority, especially towards Faunus. I wouldn't be surprised if there were rouged Huntsman who graduated from Beacon Academy itself." Blake states as that comment hit Yang harder.

"Jaune, that's over the line. You know that's not true." She defended.

"Then why did the headmaster of Beacon try to cover up my parent's murder?"

"WAIT, WHAT!?" the audience shouted in shock at what they heard. Was their Headmaster willing to cover up Jaune's parent's murder?

"no, it can't be. Headmaster Ozpin would never support that! This must be only applied to this variant. Right, Izzy?" Wiess turned to Izzy, who stood by the side of their seats in denial that their Headmaster would never do such a thing.

Rachel's eyes widen in shock at how Jaune knew. A small number of people knew of this information.

"Apologize, Weiss, but I'm afraid even your main timeline variant would do the same thing." He announced as the crowd turned to him, shocked at what he said. Realizing the situation Izzy brought upon himself, he needs to tell the purpose without revealing too much information.

"You need to understand your Headmaster's purpose, though it's not ideal. Ozpin was trying to protect the Huntsman's relationship with the people. Think about it, if word gets out that it was a huntsman who killed the beloved Arc couple that brought Vale to new heights, that surpass Atlas of better living for all, Distrust will build, which will increase crime and Grimm activity. The same way when he covered for you in the docks with the white fang and when you lured that paladin piloted by Roman to a busy freeway."

"Roman Chased us," Blake argues.

"Yet, you could've led him to a Vacant lot or an empty construction site. Instead, you and Sun lead him to a busy freeway, injuring 9 people, almost killing a pregnant woman, and orphaning three children. Yes, you did capture Roman, but were those lives worth risking?" Izzy asks as team RWBY immediately regrets ever planning or thinking of that day, especially Blake. They didn't know about the casualties but thought they were fine. As soon they return, they must make up for the victims involved.

"he has a point. I hate to admit it. Even though I'm against this, the people of Vale will never trust them or, worse, shut down Beacon. Which will result in chaos and anarchy. Then the fall by Grimm." Ren explains, pinching his chin, which surprised the group.

"Renny, you can't be serious. He killed Jaune's parents right in front of him." Nora argued till a hand was on her shoulder to see it was Pyrrha.

"Nora, I understand how you feel, but Ren is right. Let's return to the viewing, or we'll never finish." Pyhrra smiles as Izzy slightly bows to her as thanks and continues the viewing

"So you know I can't let that pass. And I need you to understand that, please."

"Okay..."

The scene changes to the main building courthouse and alterations to the courtroom where the trial is held. Where the defendant's lawyer makes his statement. To the audience's surprise, their Headmaster, Ozpin, represented Joe Chill.

"the depression hit the working people like Mr. Chill hardest of all. His crime was appalling, yes. But it was motivated not by greed but by desperation. Given the 14 years already served and his extraordinary cooperation with one of this office's most important investigations, we strongly endorse his petition for early release." As the Opin returned to his seat, the Judge called out to Joe in an authoritative tone.

"Mr Chill."

"Your Honour, not a day goes by that I don't wish I could take back what I did." As the screen shifted to Jaune trying to hold on to his emotions, the crowd could clearly see it.

"Sure, I was desperate like many people back then, but that doesn't change what I did." As he finished his peace, he was still standing, awaiting his sentence.

"I gather there is a member of the Arc family here today. Has he got anything to say?" the Judge asked, staring at Jaune as he stood up for a moment, staring at Joe.

"Back then...my father told me stories of his time as a Huntsman. His stories were not of fame or fortune or even glory. It was to help people, protect the innocent, and defend the people. But now I'm standing before you, you want to know what I see...a coward...a murderer...a huntsman. And know this...I will never support the Huntsman as long as I live." As he picked up his coat and left the courtroom, Ozpin sighed in disappointment and regret for the young men.

"Fearless leader…." Nora cries as if she lost a brother.

"If he doesn't want to be a Huntsman, what happens to Team JPNR?" Ruby asked, concerned as their masked host answered that for her.
"Team JPNR will still exist but will be under the leadership of Jaune's younger sister Jade," Izzy explains.

The scene changes outside the courtroom, where Jaune loads up his gun with the aura-piercing rounds. And hiding in his sleeve.

"Jaune..." Pyhrra gasp.

"don't do it, vomit boy," Yang begs for not the young man but for her sister.

The doors open, and the press soon crowds around Joe. With his security team keeping the press back, Jaune slowly approaches Joe, and then suddenly, a woman calls Joe and approaches him.

"Joe! Hey Joe!" gaining his attention as she drew her gun towards him, close to his chest.

" Junior sent his regards." And pulled the trigger, killing him as the crowd panicked with the security apprehending the woman and taking the murder weapon. While it all happened, Jaune froze, eyes widening, seeing Joe on the floor dead. With Rachel there, Jaune witnesses the murder and quickly rushes towards Jaune.

"Jaune, come on. You don't need to see this." Trying to pull him away.

"but I do..." he replied with his eyes devoid of empathy towards Joe while the security tried to revive him.

"the DA couldn't understand why Judge Faden insisted on publicizing the hearing. Junior paid him off to get Chill out in the open." Racheal guessed while driving Jaune and herself back to Arc Manor.

"Maybe I should be thanking them," Jaune says sarcastically.

"you don't mean that, Jaune."

"But what if I do, Rachel. My parents deserved justice."

"Well, you're not talking about justice. You're talking about revenge."

"Well, sometimes they're the same thing." He argues.

"No, they're never the same, Jaune. Justice is about harmony. Revenge is about you making yourself better. Which is why we have an impartial system."

"Well, your system is broken when you hand that power to the Huntsman."

"wait, what did he mean 'when you hand that power to the huntsman.' We don't have that jurisdiction?" Wiess comply.

"Actually, you somewhat do," Izzy replied, signing fifty-fifty.

"You see, ever since that Vytal treaty. Which, in my opinion, is very childish and irresponsible. None of the 4 kingdoms can have an army to protect themselves from the Grimm. So they rely on the Huntsman, giving them the authority to be above the law in Grimm-related situations and took advantage of it, with no questions asked."

"That's not True, Izzy." Ruby stood up on her chair in defiance.

"I understand your frustration, Ruby, but you must open your eyes. This is not a fairytale. Now let's continue the viewing."

Rachel swerved her car to the city's lower levels, showing Jaune the underground life, making it look like a third-world country on Vale.

"Wait, there's an underground city?" Wiess asks with a puzzling look.

"just how big is Vale?" Pyrrha asks as she turns to Izzy for an explanation.

"well…do you all know about the Mt Glenn incident?" Izzy asks as all of his guests nod.

"Okay, good. This will save me a lot of time. Let's pause the video for a moment."

The screen freezes as Izzy teleported back to the stage. As he raised his arm, it cartoonishly stretched up, then pulled down another white screen over the viewing, showing a map of the Kingdom of Vale, and the same glasses appeared in front of his mask. One of his chains detached from his waist and pointed to the location of Mt Glenn.

"Now, in your reality, Mt Glenn was a proposed underground metro system that allowed settlers to commute to and from Vale and Mt Glenn, thus bypassing the danger of the Grimm. While setting up an aggressive perimeter defense that worked briefly, keeping the thousands of city residents safe in their new homes. Unfortunately, this supposed safe haven was eventually compromised when an explosion opened the mouth of another cavern filled with subterranean Grimm. This exposed the town completely, and the remaining citizens went beyond saving. The Vale council sealed the tunnels permanently with no other recourse, creating the world's largest tomb. All thanks to an obsession of a mad scientist of Grimm." While Izzy gave the lecture, some of his guests became depressed about such an event, but quickly living up to his guests, he immediately explained the other reality. Izzy pulled down another map, showing the Kingdom of Vale expanded further to Mt Glenn than the last map.

"but in this reality, thanks to Arc Industries' support of their tech and resources, Mt Glenn became a successful expansion. Over the years, Mt Glenn continues to expand in the ungrounds, reaching beneath Vale. Creating another city beneath a city. Thus marking it Remnant's most extensive Kingdom. Sadly, though, the expansion did cause Vale to go into depression for a couple of years till Jaune's Father took over the company. When the depression subsided, he retired as CEO but still owned most of the company's shares and became a doctor." Then he noticed Weiss raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Scheen?"

"Then why does the underground Vale now look like it's still in the great depression?" she asks.

"that can be explained if we continue the viewing." As Izzy pulled the maps down, it reeled back up, disappearing into the ceiling and stepping away from the screen.

"You care about justice. Look beyond your own pain, Jaune. This Kingdom is rotting. They talk about the depression as if it's history, and it's not. Things are worse than ever down here. Junior floods our streets with crime and drugs, preying on the desperate, creating new Joe Chills every day. You know Junior may not have killed your parents, Juane, but he's destroying everything that they stood and built for." She slow her car down in front of a restaurant that could be mistaken as a warehouse.

"Wait? Junior, is that powerful?" Yang asks with a puzzled look.

"Yes, with the expansion of the lower city, the crime rate in Vale went up more than it would be compared to Vacuo, and the VPD was stretched thin," Izzy replied.

"But wait, what about the Huntsmen? Can't they help?" Ruby asked

"Yes, but sadly, they will have to be "hired" by the Vale Council. They cannot independently help fight crime unless they're employed. If they do, that is an act of vigilantism. Which is a serious offense, even in your reality." Izzy explained.

"wait, if it's a serious offense, why didn't we get arrested?" Weiss asked, confused, while Blake curled herself into a ball in shame as it was her fault in both incidents.

"Because of your Headmaster. After all, you four are important pieces of his shawod gam-ack!" Izzy replied nonchalantly until he realized he blurted out vital information they shouldn't know, as he quickly covered his mouth in a stuttering manner. This Perk Blake's ear and stood up from her chair and asked.

"Shadow game? What shadow Game!?" Blake asked. In all her years with the White Fang and the novels she read. She became acute to detail with paranoia of danger, especially if it involved her friends.

"A-a-ah!? Let's continue the viewing! We're wasting too much time here." Izyy stutters, trying to change the subject and continue the viewing, while he can feel their leering gaze upon him with sus.

"you wanna thank him for that? Here you go." As she points the building for Jaune.

"We all know where to find him. But no one will touch him as long as he keeps the bad people rich and the good people scared. Good people like your Parents who'll stand against injustice are gone. What chance does Vale have? When the good people do nothing?"

"I'm not one of your good people, Rachel." Jaune sighs.

"what do you mean?"

"all these years, I wanted to kill him. Now I can't." as he pulled out the weapon that was meant to kill Chill Rachel, her eyes widened in shock, and she stared into Jaune.

Without haste or hesitation, she slaps Jaune across his face twice in disappointment towards Jaune as he lets it happen.

"If I were in her situation. I would definitely do that. Except I punched him," Yang voiced her opinion.

"That's a bit much, Yang." Ruby sweatdropped on her half-sister's opinion

"Yep. The Dunce deserved it." Weiss nods

"The slap or the punch?" Blake ask

"The slap, of course! I'm not a brute like Yang!" Weiss defended.

"But Jaune's hurting. It's understandable. If we were in his situation, we would've done the same thing." Pyrrha stood to defend her partner

"Pyrrha has a point. I would do the same thing if it was me." Ren admitted that Jaune's experience is somewhat similar to Ren's, with the loss of his parents and home, while Nora looked at the boy with a concerned look.

"Your father would be ashamed of you." Tears formed in her eyes in disappointment, and without a word, Jaune left the vehicle and headed straight to the restaurant.

Entering the restaurant, Jaune found Junior at a table in the back corner of the restaurant and approached him, but he was stopped by the Malachite twins.

"Hold up, good looking." The one with the red dress, named Militia, smiles seductively.

"We need to pat you down. Before you can see Junior." The other in a white dress named Melanie jokingly smiles while patting Jaune, especially between the legs, till she finally feels something that matches a weapon. She pulls it out in a wide eye of surprise but quickly hides it and replaces it with a sly smile.

"Oh my, look, Militia. It seems the Prince of Vale is a bad boy after all."

"Indeed, Melanie. Shame, I was hoping he would be a more good boy."

"You're such a softy for goodie-two-shoes." Melanie jest.

"That way, it is more fun breaking them." She laughs

"Enough, you two." The third voice calls out as the twin sisters look behind and see Junior folding up the newspaper he is reading.

"What was he carrying?" raising his gloved hand to the twins, knowing what he was asking for as Melanie handed the gun to Junior. Meanwhile, Militia escorts Jaune to the seat in front of Junior.

"A .38 special. Good choice." As he opens the cylinder, his brow crooks in surprise, and he stares at the young man.

"with aura-piercing rounds. This will definitely kill Joe. You know you could've sent a thank you note, Mr Arc. For saving you the trouble."

"I'm not here to thank you. I came here to show you that not everyone in Vale is afraid of you." The Arc replied with determination.

"Riche boy, sure sounds a lot like you, Rubes." Yang tease.

"N-no, he doesn't!" Ruby screeches as she tries to hide herself in her hood of embarrassment.

"Riche boy?" Blake question.

"Yeah, since vomit boy is our Jaune. I thought I would give the other Jaunes different names. And this Jaune is super rich. Riche Boy."

"He's not that rich." Weiss scoff in deniable.

"Didn't Izzy mention earlier in the movie that Jaune's family is Richer than your family's ice princess?" Nora questioned as Weiss's face flushed red in embarrassment.

"and discovered and created a self-sustaining generator as an alternate resource that the people of Vale don't need dust." Ren imply.

"And just learned that Arc industries were the key to the Mt Glenn expansion," Pyrrha added as the final nail in the coffin to Weiss' pride. Compared to SDC's achievements, they're pale compared to ARC industries' accomplishments.

"Only those who know me, kid. Look around you. You'll two members of the Vale council, a union official, a couple of off-duty huntsmen, and a judge." As the scene shifts to people enjoying their meals and the bar, Junior pulls out his gun and points it at Jaune.

"Now, I wouldn't have a second's hesitation of blowing your head off right here right now in front of them. Now that's power you can't buy. That's the power of fear."

"I'm not afraid of you."

"because you think you got nothing to lose. But you didn't think it through. You've forgotten your sisters. Your four older sisters can take care of themselves, granted. But what about the young ones like Jade or the twins Amy and Pearl? They grow up without parents. Or your lady friend down at the DA's office. Or your old butler, whom your sister sees as a father figure. BANG!"

He points his gun away, pulling the trigger, but to hear it click. While Jaune's expression remains stoic, inside, he feels regret. Junior pulls the gun away, giving a calm expression towards the young Arc.

"People from your world have so much to lose. Now you think because your mommy and your daddy got shot, you know about the ugly side of life, but you don't. You never tasted desperate. You're Jaune Arc, the Prince of Vale. You must go a thousand miles to meet someone who doesn't know your name. So don't come down here with your anger, tryin' to prove something to yourself. This is a world you'll never understand. And you'll always fear what you don't understand."

"Wow...I hate to admit it, but he has a point. Kinda reminds me of a certain older sister." Ruby states as she and the others all stare at Yang.

"Hey! Why am I the odd one!?" She argues

"Didn't you destroy his bar just because he didn't give you what you wanted?" Blake states as Yang felt she got hit by an arrow.

"and didn't you get detention with Miss Goodwitch for destroying the combat arena when Cardin cut a single strand of your hair?" Nora states as another arrow hits.

"What did you expect? It's Yang. I'm surprised we didn't hold an intervention to get her to an anger management program." Blake smirks at her partner's dilemma as Yang slouches in shame and betrayal.

"Actually, in one reality, you all convinced Yang to go to anger management. And she became Beacon's honourary student." Izzy states like it's trivia. While surprising his guest.

"Wait, seriously?" Weiss says, surprised in disbelief.

"Yes, not only that, but she's also the leader of team RWBY. Her leadership and calm demeanor help relieve Ruby's stress till she's ready."

"Can I swap my sister with that Yang?" Ruby asks

"RUBY!?" Yang shouted in shock and betrayed, quickly changing the subject.

"An-anyway! We're getting sidetracked, so let's continue the viewing."

Junior turns to the twins, signaling to them that he is done lecturing Jaune, as the Malachite twins carry Jaune off his seat. But he resisted a little, to which the Malachite twins smiled sadistically as Melanie held him still while her sister threw some pushes across Jaune's face to "cooperate" more. Expecting the Prince of Vale to cry, but only had to stare at her with determination, which impressed Junior.

"You got spirit, kid. I'll give you that. More than your old man, anyway." Junior praised Jaune as the latter got Jaune's attention.

"in the joint, Chill told me about the night he killed your parents. He said your father begged for mercy." Jaune's eyes were wide, and Junior noticed them. He smiled as he continued.

"Begged...like a dog," concluded Jaune, being pulled away while the people just stared at the scene Of Jaune being kicked out of the restaurant, and Melanie threw Jaune's gun back to him.

"You know what? I don't regret destroying his bar." Yang stated

"You know that's not our variant, right?" Blake stares, unimpressed, maybe siding with Ruby's idea to replace Yang with the other variant Izzy mentioned.

Jaune groans in pain, picks up his pistol, and tucks it back in his pocket.

"Should've tip better," an old homeless person with a makeshift fireplace on an oil drum called out to Jaune as he approached him. Jaune threw his scarf into the barrel of fire, surprising the homeless man before him. Then, he threw all his credit cards and ID and handed all his lien to the man, confusing him further.

"For what?"

"you jacket."

"Okay." The old man took his ragged jacket off and handed it to Jaune without hesitation. Jaune was about to throw his coat into the fire, but the old man stopped him.

"Hey, hey, hey. Let me have it. It's a nice coat." As Jaune hands his coat to him

"Be careful who sees you with that. They'll come looking for me." As Jaune puts on the jacket.

"Who?"

"Everyone." Leaves the old man and heads deep to the pier with the gun in his hand and throws it into the ocean. Then heard the horn of a cargo ship sound about to leave, and Jaune rushed to the boat to escape the Kingdom.

-/-

"When you lived among the criminals, did you start to pity them?" Ghria ask

Then, the scene changes, and Jaune is seen in a marketplace stealing to survive with success.

"Where do you think he is?" Ruby ask.

"he at the Vacuo market," Pyrrha replied,

"How did you know?" Nora asked

"I visited to promote the pumpkin Pete cereals as my first year as Mistral Champion."

"Really? At Vacuo? Did you get into a fight?" Yang asks curiously, aware of Vacuo's reputation.

"Yeah, there were some demanding a fight to prove themselves. But lost, hurting their pride at the end. Haaa...I swear I bet my promoter planned it." Pyrrha sighs in annoyance, remembering that day.

"First time I stole so that I wouldn't starve. Yes, I lost many assumptions about the simple nature of right and wrong."

The scene changes to seeing Jaune in an alley eating the apple he stole, then noticing a wolf Faunus boy staring at him for food as Jaune didn't hesitate to give the apple he was eating. Then, he notices two more wolf faunus children similar to and younger than the boy before him. Jaune figures they must be the boy's siblings, and Jaune gives the wolf Faunus the bag with all the fruit he has stolen. Which the wolf Faunus thanked and took and headed straight to his siblings to share.

"I'm not surprised. Bet our Jaune would do the same without a moment's notice." Blake smile.

"yeah, he would." Ruby sighs with a smile of nostalgia.

"Our Jaune...?" Yang smirked at her partner.

"Yang, get that idea out of your head. Blake just respects him." Weiss interjects.

"Wow, Weiss-cream, you are quick in defending Jaune. Did something happen? Cause I smell jealousy." Yang tease.

"sh-shut-up!?"

"And when I traveled. I learned the fear before a crime. And the thrill of success."

He exited a car, stole a truck, and celebrated with his associates in their home base until a police force raided their compound.

"But never became one of them."

The scene changes again, being interrogated, seeing Jaune refusing to Cooperate.

"Fool. What the hell do I care what your name is? You're Still a criminal."

"I'm not a criminal."

"Tell that to the guy who owned these." Another officer replied, kicking the box Jaune's group was stealing from Arc Industries as their logo and print were on it. Then sent Jaune to the boiling isle prison.

"So that's how Jaune got to the boiling isle," Ren said.

"More importantly, who were those guys Jaune was with?" Nora ask.

"Those are members of The Crown," Izzy replied

"The Crown?" Pyrrha repeated as if she heard the name before but couldn't remember where she heard that name.

"A group of raiders, with their goal of restoring the collapsed Vacuan monarchy of the Kingdom by constructing an army of rouge Huntsmen centered around Vacuo to secretly kidnap people with powerful semblance as part of their army," Izzy explained.

"What!? Why would Jaune join them!? was he part of it!?" Ruby raised her voice of concern, followed by Pyrrha.

"Calm down, Ruby. Let me finish." Izzy raises his hands with a gentle wave to calm the red reaper.

"First, he didn't know about The Crown's master plan. Jaune infiltrated their ranks to investigate and gather enough evidence of the connection of The Crown's involvement with the missing people. And gave an anonymous tip to the Vacuo Police Department."

"wait, so those officers that just raided that compound that Jaune was in, was Jaune's doing?" Weiss asks, surprise.

"Yes, realizing The Crown's master plan and the location of the kidnapped victims. Jaune carefully planned the two compounds to be raided and captured the ring leaders, Jax Asturias, and his twin sister, Gillian. Sadly, Jaune didn't get away in time to escape the police and got captured. With that, Jaune single-handedly destroyed The Crown and rescued over two hundred victims."

"But wait, if Jaune single-handedly Destroyed The Crown and their plans. Why is he sent to prison?" Ruby argues.

"Ruby, did you forget Jaune burned his ID before leaving Vale. And without any identification, it's his word against theirs." Blake answered as the guest continued watching the viewing.

"you traveled the world to understand the criminal mind and conquer your fears," Ghria concluded Jaune's mission in ninja combat gear and pulled out the blue flower that Jaune brought. He began to grind the flower into powder in a grinding bowl.

"but a criminal is not complicated. And what you really fear is inside yourself. You fear your own power. You fear your anger, the drive to do great or terrible things. Now, you must journey inwards." Ghria pours burning ashen power into the ground flower as it burns and smokes.

"you are ready." As he passes the smoking bowl to Jaune.

He stares at Ghria, asking what he needs to do, and in a simple and calm tone, orders Jaune to "breathe."

Jaune followed and took a deep breath of the smoke. "Breathe," Ghria whispers as Jaune follows with his eyes closed.

"Breath in your fears. Face them." Then immediately flashes of Jaune's fears surface into his mind. The attack of the bats and witnessing the murder of his parents.

"To conquer your fear you must become fear. You must bask in the fear of other men. And men fear most what they cannot see." As Jaune opens his eyes, his vision falters, and he sees Ghria's eyes glow in slivers. He steps to an open area and puts his mask on as ninjas in similar gear all line up in an orderly fashion, hiding GhIria from plain sight.

"wow…are those the effects of that flower?" Nora asks, turning to Izzy.

"Yes, as I said earlier, it's a flower that is only native to that reality. It's toxic but not poisonous to kill with moderate side effects. But if you want it to be effective, it must be inhaled in a vapor state to attack the nervous system." Izzy explains.

"what are side-effects exactly?" Ren asks cautiously, but Izzy chuckles momentarily and then places a finger on his lips.

"spoilers. But just watch. Who knows, you might learn something." Izzy advice as Ren took note of Jaune's side effects.

Jaune follows and Don his mask, yet he has already taken his eyes away from Ghria and immediately lost him. And approached the crowd looking for Ghria. Till he hears his voice echoing the area.

"You have to become a terrible thought." All the ninjas drew their swords and cleared a path to Jaune in synchronized movement as if on cue.

"A wraith..." Ghria hiss, Jaune followed suit and drew his sword. He slowly walked down to the open, on guard and searching for Ghria. Till he was halfway down the path.

"You have to become an idea!"

Ghria ambushed Jaune and attacked him with a downward strike. Jaune dodged out of the way and maneuvered around Ghria to strike but only stopped when the synchronized ninjas altered their position, hiding Ghria and disorientated Jaune. And resume his slow crawl, searching for Ghria while hearing his sage advice.

"Whoa….they're so synch." Ruby was awed with her eyes sparkling with stars.

"I hate to admit it, but they might be better disciplined than Atlas military." Weiss cross her arms feeling inadiquet.

"And more ruthless than the White Fang," Blake added with concern for her father in that reality.

"Feel terror cloud your senses. Feel its power to distort." Jaune's vision still falters as the flower's effects don't falter, while Ren continues to study the side effects of the flower with interest and concern.

"...to control..." On cue, the ninjas move in synchronized again, rearranging their position. They clear an open path with their sword raised, looking ready to strike. Jaune stares down the end of the path and notices a ninja at the end lowering his blade while trying not to be noticed.

"...and know that this power can be yours." Quickly thinking, Jaune mimicked the position of the ninjas and waited as Ghria walked down the path, looking for Jaune. Just as Ghria walked past Jaune, it was his turn to strike. However, Ghria effortlessly deflected Jaune's strike. On cue, the synchronized ninjas repositioned again, covering Ghria's escape and clearing another path for Jaune to see a chest at the end of the path.

"Men…this is intense. Bet it a trap," Nora states while gripping the armrest of her seat.

"I know, I'm on the edge of my seat. But I bet it's a booby trap. Eh? Eh?" Yang agrees and continues to watch the suspense. But she ruined the moment of her puns as everyone groans, even though she believes it's funny.

"Jaune…" Pyrrha whispers concern for her crush with her hands clasped together, praying for Jaune to be safe.

"Embrace your worst fear."

Jaune slowly approached the chest, still under the effects of the drug, and he slowly opened the chest in case it was a trap.

"become one with the darkness." But just as he fully opened the chest. Bats flew out of the chest, startling Jaune as he fell to the floor, and his vision worsened as soon the bat swarmed Jaune. The bats swarmed and disoriented him until they finally flew away. The audience didn't notice it, but Ren did.

"Jaune's vision worsened when the bats swarmed him, then returned when they flew away. In that reality, he is afraid of bats. So, could that flower perhaps…" Ren pondered for a moment as he pinched his chin, then his eyes widened to a realization.

"it can't be…" He pauses to realize the horrors of that gas being released within a kingdom.

"Ren? Is something wrong?" Nora asks, concerned, snapping Ren back to reality.

"N-No, it's fine, Nora. I was overthinking something." He smiles, trying not to worry her.

"It's alright, Ren. Just relax!" she smiles.

"Focus, Concentrate." As Jaune got back on his feet.

"Master your senses." On cue, Jaune saw Ghria dodge his strike but got hit on his second attack and barrel away as, on time, the ninjas repositioned themselves, hiding Jaune. Jaune quickly got back up, looking for Ghria, then looked at his arm where he was cut.

"Jaune!" Ruby and Pyrrha shouted out of worry.

"Damn, Blake. Is your dad this instance back home?" Yang asks, surprise and worry.

"No, my dad is more of a pacifist. Than a fighter."

This sparked an idea for Jaune, and he randomly cut a few ninjas in the same area as his arm.

"What's he doing?" Nora asked

"He's baiting him," Ren replied.

"Baiting?" Yang repeated.

"His right. Think about it? If you're in Jaune's situation. What would you do in an arena full of people who dress up like you and are actively looking for Blake's dad?" Weiss asks

"Simple. I beat everyone up till I find Blake's dad." Yang states with a smile of triumph, believing she'd win. Her friends disagreed with her optimism.

"Of course, you do that." Weiss facepalm with a sigh of disappointment.

"if possible, I would go for the high ground to see movement." Ruby gave her thoughts.

"But there's a huge chance my dad will see you." Blake gave her thought.

"I would wait for him till I strike," Pyrrha replied.

"But these Ninjas moved in synchronized movements. You have no idea what their next move will be or when it will be. You'll stand out very quickly as soon you move." Ren argues.

The scene shifts back to Ghria looking for Jaune, but he notices a ninja with a cut on his arm and slowly approaches without the ninja's notice and grabs hold of the ninja with his blade resting on the ninja's neck to his knees, taking his mask off.

"You cannot leave any signs." Ghria sighed in disappointment till another blade rested on his neck from behind, which surprised him but didn't express it on his face.

"Awe, Jaune's caught." Nora pout.

"Damn…I had high hopes for Richie Boy." Yang sighs

"Tch knew he wouldn't win." Weiss clicked her tongue with a smirk, knowing Jaune wouldn't rise up to the challenge of being a warrior. This furrowed Blake and Pyrrha's brow towards the heiress while Ruby sighed in disappointment.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that?" Ren smiled.

"I haven't," Jaune revealed himself as he removed his mask, and Ghria smiled with satisfaction.

The sounds of clapping can be heard from the second floor as both participants look up and see Ra's Al Ghul clapping for Jaune's accomplishment.

"Impressive." He smiles.

Ren and the others turn to Weiss with a triumphant smirk while the heiress looks away, embarrassed.

-/-

Ghria and Jaune faced Rha, who spoke another language and held a metal rod on an open fire between them. He raised it with the end of the rod, a branding symbol glowing in heat, and pointed it directly at Jaune.

"We have purged your fear. You are ready to lead these men. You are ready to be a member of the League of Shadows." Ghria translates as Jaune bows with acceptance, and Ra's salutes Jaune, bumping his fist into his chest.

"Go! Fearless Leader!" Nora cheers.

"A Leader of Team JPNR and now leader of a squad of ninjas. I'll take that deal." Yang jested the idea and noticed her partner with a sour look.

"Jealous?" Yang smirked as Blake revolted by throwing some popcorn into Yang's hair.

"Ahh! Not the hair!" Yang panics, trying to find the popcorn like finding a needle in a haystack.

"But first, you must demonstrate your commitment to justice. Havo!" Ghria called out as a ninja, bringing their prisoner, the same prisoner they kept in the cramp caged, and positioned him on his knees before Jaune. Ghria presented Jaune with his blade. Jaune stared at the blade, then at Ghria, then finally at Ra's Al Ghul.

"Wait…Are they?" Ruby asks in shock.

"Going to execute him?" Blake's eyes widen in shock

"Didn't Blake's dad say Ra's Al Ghul rid the root of evil?" Weiss asks

"Yes, but he didn't say how Ra's Al Ghul do it." Ren answers

"Jaune, please don't…" Pyrrha prays for the knight.

"No," he whispers, but loud enough to be heard. The guest sighs in relief.

"I'm no executioner."

"your compassion is a weakness your enemies will not share."

"that's why it's so important. It separates us from them."

"you want to fight criminals. This man is a murderer."

"This man should be tried."

"by whom? Corrupt bureaucrats!? Criminals mock society's laws. You know this better than most."

"You cannot lead these men unless you are prepared to do what is necessary to defeat evil." This time, it was Ra's Al Ghul who spoke.

"And where would I be leading these men?" Jaune questioned.

"Vale. As Vale's favored son, you will be ideally placed to strike at the heart of criminality."

"How?"

"Vale's time has come. Long before the four Kingdoms, the Kingdom has become a breeding ground for suffering and injustice. It's beyond saving and must be allowed to die. This is the most essential function of the League of Shadows. It is one of many we've performed for centuries. The start of the Faunus War was to bring rights to Faunus's kind, and the Great War was to band the Kingdoms in Peace. Vale must be destroyed."

"Wait, What!?" Blake stood in shock at what she had just heard

"They started those wars!?" Weiss is the second to shout in panic.

"That can't be true, Right?" Ruby turns to Izzy in denial.

"In that reality, yes. The League of Shadows is to be the necessary evil, what they must do for the greater good."

"But it's not right!" Yang argues

"Yet, they brought freedom and rights for Faunus kind and peace between the four kingdoms. If they didn't, the Faunus would be considered nothing but slaves, and the four kingdoms would lead humanity to extinction. And trust me, I've seen it one too many times," Izzy retorted.

"But still…" Pyrrha looks down, saddened by the revelation.

"Ghria, you cannot believe in this." Jaune turns to Ghria. As he looks at Jaune, troubled.

"Ra's Al Ghul rescued us from the darkest corners of our own hearts. In return, he asks for the courage to do what is necessary." Ghria reply.

"Dad.." Blake cries.

"I will go back to Vale and fight men like this, but I will not become an executioner."

"Jaune, please. For your own sake, there is no turning back." Ghria begged for Jaune's being and moved the blade closer to Jaune to take.

Jaune hesitated for a moment, staring at Ra's Al Ghul, and gave in and took the blade. Ghria stepped back and watched Jaune position himself to execute the man. He places the blade on the prisoner's neck as he turns to Jaune whimpering, begging not to kill him as Jaune raises his sword.

"Jaune….don't." Pyrrha prays for Jaune to do the right thing.

"Please." Ruby prays for the knight not to kill the man.

"fearless leader…" Nora looks away while Ren comforts her, praying for Jaune to do what is right.

"You better than this, Richie." Yang grits her teeth

"Don't do it, you Dunce!" Weiss worries in anticipation

"Jaune…Don't be another Adam…" Blake watches in worry, thinking that Jaune will become Adam.

But instead of swinging his blade down to execute the prisoner, he swings his sword down to the metal rod that is still on the firepit and swings it up, sending the burning metal rod to the room above, the mezzanine where the explosive powders are stored.

"what are you doing?" Ghria question

"What's necessary, my friend," Jaune answered, then a small explosion erupted in the building, a distraction for Ghria to look up as Jaune sucker punched him.

All the ninjas present drew their blades, and Ra's Al Ghul quickly drew his sword. Jaune attacked the ninja who had brought the prisoner, kicked him away, promptly cut the prisoner's binding, and pushed away to escape. Then Ra's Al Ghul speaks in a foreign language, ordering the ninjas to hold their ground as he faces Jaune alone.

"Yeah! Go Jaune!" Ruby cheered with her friends while some sighed in relief that the Knight didn't execute the prisoner.

Ra's Al Ghul took the initiative for the first strike as Jaune blocked, then dodged Ra's Al Ghul's second strike, and the barrel rolled out of the way. Then, a second explosion erupted above the ninjas, disorientating them and forcing the Ninjas to retreat. While Ra chased Jaune with a downward strike, Jaune blocked it and side-kicked Ra's legs, toppling to the floor. But he quickly got back up and continuously and relentlessly attacked Jaune while Jaune struggled to defend himself and get up.

"Come on, Fearless leader!" Nora cheers, swinging a team JPNR flag.

Ra's Al Ghul finally found an opening and kicked Jaune off balance, exposing himself so that Ra's Al Ghul could finish him. But by a slight chance of a miracle, the room above them completely exploded, destroying the gunpowder reserve and sending a ninja out of the building who was trying to take out the fire. Giving Jaune a chance to get up and face Ra's Al Ghul on a narrow bridge. Ra's Al Ghul continues his relentless attacks with precision while Jaune retaliates with defense and strategy.

"He's really good with the katana." Blake praise

As the fight continues, explosions erupt, causing chaos and disorder. It looked like Ra's Al Ghul had the upper hand, showing his years of experience compared to Jaune, yet Jaune still defended himself very well, which annoyed and infuriated Ra's Al Ghul. Just Ra's Al Ghul finally got the upper hand and was about to stab Jaune. He didn't anticipate the explosions as they were pushed back to where they started, and Jaune quickly rolled away from Ra's Al Ghul. As Ra's Al Ghul looked up, he saw the floor above him collapse on top of him, crushing him to death.

"Man, that was intense." Yang sighs in relief.

Jaune stood up and saw the lifeless eyes of Ra's Al Ghul. He quickly rushed over to Ghria and carried him over his shoulders, but due to Ghria's size, Jaune struggled to carry him up.

Explosions continue to erupt as Jaune struggles to find a way to escape from the compound. But just as he was about to make a turn, an explosion erupted close by, sending both Ghria and Jaune flying out of the window and sliding down the icy slope of the mountain. Jaune managed to stop but saw Ghria still sliding down to the edge of a cliff and sliding after him.

"Dad!" Blake shouts

"Don't worry, Jaune will save him." Ruby holds Blake's shoulder to ensure her worries.

Just before Ghria slides off the cliff, Jaune manages to catch Ghria but still slides down to the cliff. With quick thinking, Jaune used his free hand and the spikes on his vanbrace to anchor him on the cliff. While Ghria slides off the cliff with Jaune's arm still gripping Ghria for dear life with his arm bent to the opposite direction against the cliff's edge with Ghria swinging over the cliff, Jaune screams in pain and struggles to pull Ghria up.

"Wow, for a noodle, he could pull your dad up with one arm," Yang said, surprised.

The compound continues to explode while Jaune continues to struggle and scream in pain, pulling Ghria over. Finally, he pulled him over as Jaune rolled over as leverage till Ghria was on top of him. He finally pants in relief.

"thank goodness…" Blake sighs in relief.

Jaune carried Ghria down to the mountain and the village he passed by earlier, and he came across a familiar face before him. It was Corrin, his cellmate at the boiling isles. He was released early for good behavior during Jaune's training with the league.

Corrin led Jaune to his home and placed Ghria in a bed to rest while Corrin checked his condition.

"I will tell him you saved his life," Corrin said as Jaune bowed to his friend as thanks as he took his leave. Knowing if he stays, he will endanger the village by the league.

The scene changes to Jaune walking down a runway and a parked plane waiting for him. As the door opened, a familiar old man came out.

"Master Arc, you've been gone a long time." Alfred smiles.

"Yes, I have." Jaune, too, smiles.

"you look very fashionable. Apart from the mud." Alfred jested as Jaune couldn't help but laugh a little.

-/-

With the plane flying to Vale, Alfred sat across from Jaune while he stared at the window. But they kept silent for over half an hour.

"Are you coming back to Vale for long, sir?" Alfred questioned, just to start up a conversation.

"As long as it takes. I'm gonna show the people of Vale their city doesn't belong to the criminals and the corrupt."

"In the depression, when your father retired from Huntsman and came in control of Arc Industries, he nearly bankrupted the company combating poverty. He believed his example could inspire the wealthy of Vale to save their city."

"Did it?"

"In a way. Their murder shocked the wealthy and the powerful into action, including the Headmaster of Beacon."

"Ozpin..." Jaune growls in the name of hate as he still hates the men for protecting the murder of his parents. But pushed it aside and stared at Alfred with determination.

"People need drastic examples to shake them out of apathy, and I can't do that like Jaune Arc. As a man, I'm flesh and blood. I can be ignored. I can be destroyed. But as a symbol..." he paused momentarily as his tactical mind spun to a revolutionary idea.

"...as a symbol, I can be incorruptible. I can be everlasting."

"What symbol?" Alfred asks with concern and curiosity.

"Something...elemental, something terrifying."

"I assume that as you're taking on the underworld, this symbol is a persona that protects those you care about from reprisals."

"I didn't forget about my sisters, Alfred, you know that." Jaune replied as Alfred crocked his brow to Jaune, saying, 'Are you forgetting someone?'

"and Rachel." He looks away with his face flush red as Alfred can't help but chuckle and sees the young man before is still the same boy he cares about.

"Hmph!" both Pyrrha and Ruby pout jealously as Yang notices and can't help but smirk.

"Actually, sir, I was thinking of myself." The butler laughs, and Jaune's brow twitches with annoyance. He is tricked by the butler and quickly changes the subject.

"Have you told anyone I'm coming back?"

"I just couldn't figure out the legal ramifications of bringing you back from the dead."

"Dead?"

"you've been gone seven years."

"You had me declared dead?"

"Oh, actually, it was Mr Earle. He's taken the company public. He wanted to liquidate your majority shareholding. But thanks to Sapphire, she managed to take those shares till you return."

"Well, it's good I left everything to you and my sisters then. Speaking of which, how are they?"

"Madam Sapphire is now trying to stay on the Board and keep Mr Earle from taking over. Madam Saphron moved out to Argus and got married with a son, young Master Adrian. Here, take a look of your nephew, sir." Alfred showed a picture of young Adrian with Alfred in his arms with a smile, including with Saphron and her Wife Terra.

"Cute. It's nice, Saphron is happy." As Jaune hands the scroll back to Alfred.

"Madam Sherry is working at the RnD department of Arc Industries. Continuing your father's vision to help the people of Vale." Jaune smiles at her sister Sherry for continuing their father's dream to help and improve Vale's life.

"Madam Jasper joined VPD and made her way to detective. Becoming a perfect example as an officer of the Law. But I can't help but worry her." Alfred sighs with concern as he rubs his head.

"What happened?" Jaune ask.

"her T.O. (training officer) was killed in the line of duty protecting her by a suspected corrupt official. Yet, VPD deems it as an accident. Lady Jasper took it upon herself and a detective she trusted to find her T.O.'s killer."

"who's the detective?"

"Detective Gordon, I believe." Jaune's eyes widen at the name Gordon, the same officer comforting Jaune on the night. He couldn't help but smile in nostalgia and relief that Gordon was the detective looking out for Topaz.

"I see…what about Jade and the twins?" Jaune asks as Alfred sighs and hesitates whether he should tell Jaune.

"The Twins Madam Amy and Pearl. Are in combat school. Top of their class, mind you. As for Madam Jade just graduated from combat school and was accepted to Beacon Academy." Jaune looks at the family butler with concern.

"Was Beacon her first choice?"

"Actually, sir, she and a friend were offered by the Headmaster himself. After the incident, she was involved."

"What incident?"

"She was involved in a robbery with a friend who repealed Roman Torchwich in her favorite shop, Till Dust, till dawn. She and her friend weren't hurt, but Roman Torchwick escaped."

"Wait, I was there when Roman tried to rob the place. Izzy, that friend Alfred mentioned, is it?" Ruby asked while pointing at herself with hope and curiosity.

"Yes, in that reality, you became so close to Jade that she's like another sister, which on some occasions made Yang jealous," Izzy explains.

"Yeah, I can see that happening. Does that make me friends with Jade, too?" Yang agrees and also asks.

"Yes, you both became friends/rivals as you two were the strongest students of your year. And soon slowly develop….feelings." Izzy explains as he hesitates. The last part caught Yang's attention the most.

"wait, what?"

Jaune has mixed feelings about his younger sisters becoming huntresses, although he knows he can't control his sisters. If anything, he doesn't believe he has the right, as he has been gone for seven years. With no choice but to accept their decisions and support their goals. But what made him more anxious was that the Headmaster of Beacon Academy offered students to join, which was suspicious. But his expression was noticed by the butler.

"Seems like Jaune doesn't trust the Headmaster." Ruby worries.

"To be fair, Ozpin did try to cover up Jaune's parent's murder." Ren retort.

"and try to defend Chill in court, too." Nora scorns.

"I understand your feelings, Master Jaune. Don't worry. I even taught the girls everything I knew at the Atlas Military." The butler ensures Jaune as he crooks his brow to the butler.

"Seriously?" Jaune sweatdrop and uncertain if that was a good idea for a former Atlas Specialist to teach your teen deadly martial arts that would kill someone.

"Wait, his butler was part of the Atlas Military?" Weiss asks, surprise.

"Yes, Alfred was a Former Atlas specialist force and intelligence expert. Before James Ironwood became the general of Atlas, he retired and became Arc's family butler."

"Quite so, sir. The poor girl came to me for training to beat a classmate. I believe her name is Yang, and between you and me, Master Jaune, I think she fancies her." the butler smiles, making Jaune laugh at her sister's idea of training just to impress a girl.

"Wow, Yang. Looks like the other you will be getting her sugar mama soon." Nora Jest

"Oh my Yang, so scandalous." Weiss laugh

"At least, I'm not ashamed of it, unlike you, Wiess-cream. And for your information, Jade, chase after me." Yang stood on her chair with pride as if she had won the argument until Izzy interrupted.

"Actually, it was you who chased after her. You even confess to Jade in the middle of a spare to the whole class. That gave you the win." In an instance, Yang immediately cartoonishly shatters into glass on the floor. Her friends, especially Weiss and Nora, laugh at Yang's humiliation.

"Well, it's good you were there for them." Jaune smiles

"Quite so, Sir." As Alfred leans back on the chair to relax.

"And you can borrow the Rolls if you like. Just bring it back with a full tank." Jaune smiles toward his butler and watches out the window, awaiting how much Vale has changed.

The screen turned black, and the lights lit up as Izzy stood on the stage before his guest.

"so what do you think?"

"that was amazing!" Nora screams

"It was entertaining, but didn't you say Jaune would be a hero? He did nothing heroic." Weiss states.

"Weiss, have you ever read a comic book?" Ruby gasps at her partner in disbelief.

"what we watched was Jaune's origin story," Yang states.

"Exactly, Weiss. Even the books I read explain the origins of the protagonist." Blake smiles.

"I have to say the training Jaune went through is interesting. I wonder if I can increase the difficulty of Jaune's training when we get back." Pyrrha ponders the idea to help improve Jaune's skills.

While they continue to discuss the Viewing, something catches Izzy's attention, and he stares into the distance as Ren is the first to notice Izzy's behavior.

"Is something the matter Izzy?" Ren asks as his friend notices Izzy's quiet behavior.

"It seems more guests have arrived in my domine. I will go fetch them at once." He makes his way to the exit but pauses momentarily and turns to his guest, remembering something important.

"in the meantime, why don't you watch this reality. It's self-explanatory but with magic and advantage with a side of video games." The masked guest explains, pulls out a red leather-bound book with gold threads etched on the rim of the cover and a large sigil at the front, and hands it to Blake.

"what's this?" she asks in awe of the book's beauty, and at the same time, her Faunus sense feels an erring feeling coming from the book.

"In case you have questions. You can use this book to find your answers. Good luck." He snaps his fingers and leaves a molt of light behind as the screen comes to life. The screen turns black as the text shows while a voice reads it.

"DIVE MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE ROLE-PLAYING GAME. Or, for short, DMMO-RPG."

"wait, is that…"

---

AN: I'll be setting this in series length instead of a full movie. Guess what the next chapter cross over will be, while Izzy fetch his new guest.