Legacy of the Machine Knight

By The Good Life Creator

Chapter One: Piece of Your (EVO) Action

Jaune was all too aware that this 'plan' he had concocted was an extremely terrible idea. Every logical thought that had flashed through his mind warned him that strolling into Vale was a plot and a half just waiting for disaster to strike. Even Rebekah had kept telling him that nothing good would come from his convoluted plan.

The finish line was within his grasp, too; sitting just out of reach with its taunting presence. All they had to do was make it the next two weeks incident free and they were home free… Then everything just had to go sideways. They didn't even make it one night without getting into trouble.

Step one was to make it to Vale proper. It wasn't a very hard task to accomplish, a simple trek from the forests to the south had brought them to the kingdom that overlooked the Sea of Souls. Once inside the Kingdom gates all he and Rebekah had to do was not attract the attention of any wondering huntsman and they were golden.

Step two was the one that Jaune had expected to hit a snag, gathering forged documents in a bid to enter Beacon's ranks. Yes, it flew right into the face of Rebekah's plans for a vagabond life free of any and all expectations. Yes, he was also aware of how it brought a lot of unnecessary attention to their current condition.

Yet the blond had a hero complex that refused to be satiated.

Besides, he would simply die if she let him off on his own or so she had claimed on repeat ever since he had concocted the convoluted plot that had been dubbed Operation: Accepted into Beacon.

That led him to talking to a shady man of ill-repute in the industrial district of Vale. The meeting went surprisingly event free. Sure, the man asked way too many questions to be comfortable. And yeah, there was that hair raising creepy feeling of being watched by a specter. Yet they persevered in spite of the transfer of a large amount of lien that made Jaune cry. The forged documents were in their hands, something that the man kept telling them was a golden ticket.

Step two miraculously accomplished.

Impromptu step three was the part where everything decided to take a sharp turn sideways directly into the calamity that was now their life. At least they got to play the part of the hero to a T in their own unique fashion; even cured an EVO while they were at it. The downside to all of their valor was now a ruined grocery store and some minor road damage that they may or may not be on the hook for… Along with a laundry list of charges that neither of them even heard of.

Originally, the plan was to simply enter the grocery store, gather a few supplies for their night of roughing it in the surrounding forest with what little cash they had left over, and leave before patrons started asking questions on how a raccoon can talk. The forger, or the Sham Man as Rebekah had began to call him, had cost them more lien then they had anticipated, so lodging was now out of the question.

In all honesty step three started innocuous enough. Jaune fetched a cart from the entrance and stepped through the automatic doors, doing his absolute best to ignore the odd stares thrown their way as he made small talk with the raccoon clung onto his shoulder. He snaked his way up and down the aisles at a slow steady pace, lazily tossing a few boxes and cans into the basket as he listlessly inspected their labels, fingers lightly tracing the rows of cans. A subtle hum passed his lips as he began bobbing his head to an imaginary song.

"I'm the man, I'm the king, I'm the one that's pure inside. Every day, every way I smell of suicide."

Rebekah shifted on his shoulder, pressing her cheek against his in an attempt to get a better look at the can he was about to toss into the cart. "How do you humans even stomach this stuff?" She wasn't wrong to question his dietary choices. There really was no way that canned pasta resembled anything remotely healthy.

Jaune reacted quickly, moving the can put of her reach as went to grab the can in an act of indignation. "Hey! I'm feeling a bit lazy! I don't feel like hunting game so canned food it is." He made a move to shove her off his shoulder in a childish attempt of retaliation. He had tried talking her into acting like a normal raccoon at one point but it never took. She simply would not have it.

It was a foolish suggestion anyways. Her attire of a wide brimmed hat, the two .357 revolvers holstered at her hips, the plasma cannon strapped to her back, all of it made the world very aware of her from the start.

"Besides, if you don't wanna eat it you could always raid a trashcan." Maybe that was a low blow, but in his defense, they had come across several raccoons rooting through trash cans on their way to see the Sham Man. Jaune laughed at her horrified expression as she called them filthy rodents.

"Hey! I am not one of those rode…" The remark was left hanging on the tongue as step three of their plan went sideways. Screams of echoing horror exploded in the air around them as patrons all but stampeded for the exits in a primitive need for survival. Shelves clamored to the floor in the chaos, their contents spilling out. They could even hear a young child cry out in confusion as his mother drug him out of the store and into the arms of safety, cursing all the while.

"Uh, why do you think they're running?" Jaune asked, pointing towards the retreating crowd.

Rebekah rolled her eyes at his question, jumping to the floor. Both of them had an inkling as to the why everyone was running in pure terror. It was hardly ever for a good reason. "Maybe it's a new fad in Vale… like flash mobs."

She waddled her way towards the end of the aisle to get a better look at just what had sent the entirety of the grocery store into a panic. Her body simply froze in place right before rounding the corner, eyes wide in shock, padded feet rooted to the tiles. Her fur stood on end as her fingers twitched for the grips of her revolvers.

"That's disgusting!" Rebekah blanched out in a dry heave, turning heel in a desperate attempt to relieve her stomach of whatever she had for lunch.

That reaction piqued Jaune's interest immensely. Just what thing could be so disturbing that it sent Rebekah into a vomiting mess? His imagination ran wild with possibilities. Maybe it was something like a scene from some obscure snuff film. Or maybe it was some Eldritch squid abomination tearing its' way through Remnant in search of a magic space watch.

Jaune shook his head in a vain effort to rid himself of the scene. He had to at least lay eyes upon the thing. It didn't matter what his mind had conjured or how fast his beating heart threatened to jump straight out of his chest.

The sight of the thing did little to disappoint. Clawed hands gripped tightly at the side of the deli counter as the thing dug into the platters of assorted cold cuts face first. Shards of broken glass and scraps of torn metal lied scattered about its rotund form, several food trays already sacrificed by the monster's insatiable appetite.

So, not a scene straight from a snuff film. The jury was still out on the Eldritch Abomination theory.

Then the thing turned around, giving Jaune the unfortunate sight that his curiosity demanded. The creature that was buried head first in bologna and ham just a second ago was a man, or at least he used to be. He was a short and stalky thing with purple skin wrapped tight around rolls of fat garbed in a boring brown business suit stretched just before the point of failure. Rows of sharp, stone like teeth glistened in the warm florescent lights as he grinned menacingly at Jaune, remnants of various chewed lunch meats slathered along his cheeks. How the thing could even see without eyes was anybody's guess.

So, Eldritch abomination lite?

"Uh, sooooo, no pressure here but I think you might have to pay for all of that." Jaune's voice was shaky as he pointed towards the destruction behind what he had recently dubbed Foul Mouth. The blond's eyes went wide in horror as the large man clumsily barreled towards him, claws outstretched and large mouth opened wide to expose a hungry maw.

All Jaune wanted to do at the start was panic at the thing, screaming his lungs out as disturbing images of becoming this monster's dinner came to the forefront of his mind. Cooler heads prevailed as he cocked a fist back, lowering his center in a bid not be trampled by the rapidly approaching man.

He was not about to eaten by some faceless creature from the great buffet.

The nanites in his body began to shift under his command, pulsating heavily under his skin as the all too familiar pale blue traces glowed along his arms. Thick, viscous metal morphed into large white and gold mechanical fists. With a mighty thunk, Jaune sent a fist forward, crashing into Big Mouth and sending the glutton flying into the recesses of the store.

Jaune narrowed his eyes slightly, never taking his sights away from where the man had been sent flying. He couldn't make out any major movement from the monster outside of a few twitches. Did he do i-.

"Crap!" Jaune cursed as a large case of soda came flying from the debris. Muscle memory took over, large blocky hands moved in front of him to makeup a shield. Aluminum and cardboard crunched upon impact, spraying carbonated sugar water in all directions.

Just what kind of throwing arm did this thing have?

Gurgling sounds erupted as Big Mouth rose to his feet in one of the most disturbing fashions that Jaune had ever seen. His tongue lashed out, digging into the ceiling above to hoist his heavy frame.

The Eldritch abomination theory was gaining more and more credence.

With a shrill screech the beast lumbered again, claws extended outwards, strangely prehensile tongue lashing about. With a backhand, Jaune sent Big Mouth stumbling back before picking him up by shoulders and slamming him to the floor. Jaune could feel it, the monster's nanites crying out in pain.

Damn it, this change was all too recent, the all too sudden mutation was taking it's toll on his body. This metamorphosis was demanding too much of his body's resources and having a hard time dealing with it.

This had to end sooner rather than later, before the changes became permanent.

With a grunt, Jaune lifted Big Mouth once more before slamming him against racks and displays of food items repeatedly. The Eldritch creature cried out in pain as he crashed into bags of potato chips and various boxes.

"Almost done," Jaune spoke out to the creature. "Just gotta make sure you can't think straight while I'm curing you. Makes it easier."

Cocking his free fist back, Jaune attempted to punch Big Mouth in an effort to knock the monster out. Before the large blocky mechanical fist could make contact, Big Mouth's tongue shot out, coiling around Jaune's arm, holding the fist back before constricting.

Just what on Remnant had this thing eaten?

Metal crunched and cracked, large pieces clammering off Jaune's arm. No, no, no, this could not be happening. He was losing focus. The rest of his build began failing in short order, broken metal plates clanking to the linoleum as Big Mouth had gained control of the situation.

With a quick crash the Eldritch thing had brought down one of the hanging florescent ballasts down on the blond's head, breaking the teens concentration and disabling the rest of the build. With another flick of the tongue, the glutton had wrapped it around Jaune's ankle, swinging the young man into any hard surface in reach. The support columns, racks of salsa, whatever remained of the soda display, linoleum tiles, the concrete that was underneath linoleum, all met Jaune's whipcord frame in an intimate fashion.

As quickly as it started it ended, his leg phased through the tongue and crashed into the ground, giving it a sloppy kiss hello. "Didn't mommy tell you that it's rude to stick your tongue out!" Rebekah yelled, her plasma cannon arcing to life. With the pull of the trigger, a bolt of crimson electrostatic plasma escaped from the magnetic prongs that made up the barrel.

Big Mouth shrieked in unbelievable pain as the bolt of plasma wrapped his body like a blanket of electricity, his muscles twitched in involuntary agony as his nervous system was temporarily hijacked by a raccoon with a plasma cannon.

But it wasn't enough.

As the bolt's effect wore off, Rebekah cursed. Just what did it take to bring this thing down? Before any further thought could be made, Big Mouth had flung one of the broken racks at the duo. Rebekah was fortunate enough to see it coming, jumping and phasing through it harmlessly.

Jaune, not so much.

No sooner than when he regained his bearings and got to his feet, he got met with the flung frame, sending Jaune flying outside the grocery store. The cold night air licked at his skin as he clambered to his feet to face the Eldritch Glutton, groaning in pain all the while. The sun had made its final descent under the skyline, the brightest of stars managed to break through the city lights and dotted the inky sky. Sirens whirled out in the distance, rushing towards them to calm down the situation before things got much worse.

"You got a plan?!" Rebekah called out, switching to her revolvers to take pop shots at the approaching creature.

Plan? What plan? He rushed into the deep end and became a ragdoll after smacking Big Mouth around a few times. Concussive force only did so much. Rebekah only did marginally better with the plasma cannon and that only temporarily paraly- That was it! If she could hold him with a blanket of electric plasma then they could end it.

"Yeah! Get behind him to his right and shock the hell outta him! I'll take care of the rest!"

Rebekah nodded before running, jumping and phasing through Big Mouth before taking her position. "I hope you like spice!" she yelled before pulling the trigger of her plasma cannon one more time.

'Okay, time to put up or shut up, Jaune. You got this,' he thought to himself in an effort to reassure himself. He had to have this because the alternative was far to disturbing to even bare. Pale blue traces and white blue eyes glowed once more as the nanites obeyed his command. Gold and white metal formed over his arm, shaping itself into a large blocky crude cannon, encasing his arm and resting on his shoulder. With a thought, the maw at the back of the thing slammed back, digging into the road and retracting back with a chunk of cobblestone.

The beast screamed out in pain once more, his body convulsing under the familiar electric blanket, Rebekah continuously firing bolt after bolt of red plasma.

Go time.

"Thwmp! Thwmp! Thwmp!"

Jaune's cannon spat out three shots of the road it had eaten right into the stomach of Big Mouth and sent the beast flying into the back of the store for what the duo had hoped would be the last time.

Jaune's heart never ceased its rapid breathing as he tentatively walked back into the store, the cannon receding back into his skin, shaky legs taking one step at a time. He tried acting calm, cool, and collected but the reality was that he was absolutely terrified of getting anywhere near Big Mouth. What if he wasn't taken down after the last assault? The thing had proven himself to be rather resilient.

No, it was way too quiet for that. Rebekah would be screaming as she shot everything she had at the thing. What if he was faking being down for the count, just lying there in wait for his moment to strike? What if he used that prehensile tongue to strangle the life out of the poor boy once they got up close and personal with each other?

What if Big Mouth decided that Jaune looked good enough to eat?

Again.

Rebekah was already beside Big Mouth when Jaune staggered to the back, prodding at the pudgy man with the closed barrel of her plasma cannon in an attempt to get some sort of reaction of the man. Her fur rose on end in an almost comical fashion as his arm swung about towards her, a low growl escaping his maw in displeasure. Good, he was too tired to move more, his body succumbing to fatigue and pain.

At least that's what Jaune continued to tell himself in an attempt to gather the courage to actually cure Big Mouth.

"This is a bad idea, this is a very bad idea," Jaune muttered to himself under his breath, continuing to step towards the crumpled form of Big Mouth. "You are gonna to die and end up this things dinner." Shaky hands found their way to the downed man, Big Mouth doing little in protest of the contact. The all too familiar blue traces glowed along Jaune's arms into Big Mouth, the nanites buzzing in excitement.

Jaune could feel the transfer of nanites, many of his drawing in the active nanites that transformed Big Mouth into what he was at the moment before retracting into Jaune.

In a flash, the Eldritch abomination became human again, purple skin regained an olive tone, his mouth returning to normal as his eyes and nose reappeared. "Thank you," the man groaned out before fatigue came over him, succumbing to sleep.

"Hey, Jaune, we need to leave, now!" Rebekah yelled, already scrambling to her favorite perch on his shoulder. The sirens from earlier had gotten significantly closer. Part of him wanted to stay behind in an effort to ensure that the police new that they weren't at fault. But, the raccoon was right, the scene around him was nothing short of a disaster with people probably still running down the block in terror. Who was going to take the fall for all of this? The bad cereal two weeks past its expiration date?

"Yeah, you're right. Let's get outta here." There was no explaining their way out of this one.

It happened almost as if it were on cue. The duo didn't even make it two steps out the door before being met with red and blue flashing lights washing over the city streets, a bullhead hovering overhead shining a spotlight brightly over them. Their hands shot up immediately in an effort to deescalate the situation as the police shouted demands for them not to move.

Jaune was shaking in a nervous fit as the officers closed in slowly, pistols armed and ready, pointing directly at them. 'I'm gonna die, they're gonna cart me off to jail and they're gonna tear me apart molecule by molecule in some lab and do who knows what with Rebekah.'

"I say we cheese it," Rebekah whispered in a harsh voice that was all too loud for the officers not to hear.

He let the idea roll around a bit, mulling over their options. They could very easily escape, just build a set of wings and into the sky they could get far, far away from Vale, never to think of the place again. The bullhead with the spotlight washing over them put a damper on that plan, Rebekah's phasing semblance could only go so far.

Besides, he wanted to be a huntsman and running away would make that particular venture difficult.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Jaune whispered back. No matter what they did, their fate was sealed the moment they had came to Vale.

--Legacy of the Machine Knight--

Today was supposed to be a good day, an easy day; a day where she could pick up some miscellaneous supplies, swing by Tukson's book trade and grab the new X-ray and Vav with the new cover variant everyone was talking about, and indulge in all of what From Dust Till Dawn had to offer. The new school year at Signal was fast approaching and she had plans for Crescent Rose. She'd be damned if she and her baby didn't turn heads.

Phase one of her day plan went off without a hitch. Her boots got resoled, her belt got a new pewter rose buckle, and she finally got that new cookie recipe book that was all over the net. Regardless of whatever happened tonight, she was going to make snickerdoodles that put everyone to shame.

Phase one, done and over with. Next!

Phase two didn't exactly go to plan. The cover variant she was looking for wasn't at the bookstore like she had hoped. The empty space of where it should have been greeted her with what might as well have been a childish raspberry.

Disappointment, thy name was Ruby Rose.

She didn't leave empty handed though; a new story of stone beasts and a shining knight had caught her attention. After skimming through a few pages of the first chapter, she was sold.

She really was a sucker for stories of a hero being thrown into the thick of it with nothing and becoming everything.

Phase two partially completed. No plan survives first contact, or so she has been told.

Phase three was what landed her pacing around an interrogation room at the police station, awaiting her punishment. She did nothing wrong! They started it all! All she did was happen to be at the dust shop when they arrived! How was she supposed to know that it'd be robbed?

She was innocent!

All she wanted was some raw dust to reload her shells with, maybe some gravity dust to give her the boost she needed. She was light enough; it was a solid plan. But no, Roman Torchwick and his band of merry men decided to interrupt her.

Dispatching the grunts was easy enough, none of them really expecting her to fight back. Roman was the difficult one, leading her on a chase across the rooftops of Vale. He was talented, having memorized the city like the back of his hand, leading her down paths that Ruby didn't even know existed.

But she kept hot on his heels the entire time, all the way till he decided to use a chunk of raw fire dust crystal to get some distance. That's where everything devolved into pure chaos and happenstance. Glynda had showed up like an honest to Brother Gods superheroine, saved her from the blast, then proceeded to have one of the most visually spectacular fights with Roman's savior.

Ruby was star struck, one of her idols had came rushing in to take charge of the situation. Or at least, she would have been had it not been for what happened after Roman and his savior flew into the night.

Glynda had taken Ruby down to the police station, sent her a scolding glare, and left the poor girl in an interrogation room. Apparently she had to assess another matter that happened at the other end of Vale. Something about a fist fight in a grocery store involving three EVOs with two of the participants being taken into custody and the other being treated at the hospital.

So now Ruby was left to her own devices, pacing around the room. How would this impact her career? All she wanted was to be a huntress, a heroine that gallivanted around Remnant and saved people! To help people and make a difference, just like her mom had taught her. How could she do that now with a criminal reco-.

The door swung open in a flurry, almost hitting her square in the face when a body was all but tossed into the room. "Get in there, EVO!" a voice bellowed before slamming the door shut, leaving her alone with the newcomer.

He wasn't exactly an imposing man, clumsily stumbling after being shoved through the door. He looked barely older than her, right about Yang's age. He was a thin boy, whipcord frame held together by tight muscles, wrapped in old militia armor that had seen better days, a pair of light blue jeans, and a short sleeve hoody. His royal sapphire eyes all but glowed in the room.

He didn't exactly look like any EVO she had ever heard of. He seemed almost timid, like a puppy being tossed into a new room. Was he one of the EVOs that got into that fist fight Glynda had been called to?

Only one way to find out.

"So, what did you do?"

"Gyaaaaah!"

A/N: Whelp, third time's the charm. On a plus note, I'm not dead at least? I really have no excuses nor do I intend to make any for my long absence. Simply put, my get up and go got up and left me in the dust. Oh well.

I am reposting this mostly because I went through it and rewrote a lot before and figured it'd be easier to scrap it and try again. That and some of the chapters didn't exactly flow right if left alone.

So rewriting it a bit for flow and idea chages. Any ideas, suggestion, comments, concerns, bitches and gripes? Let me know in the comment section. I do actually take suggestions seriously.