Cuts of RWBY
A RWBY Fic Collection by AndrewJTalon
DISCLAIMER: This is a fan based work of prose. RWBY is the property of Rooster Teeth and ViZ. Please support the official release.
Jaune Arc gaped at the Ursa that had been in his path... Or rather, what was left of it. The monster had been demolished by one blow from the stranger who stood before him. He turned to Jaune, panting a bit.
He was tall, taller than Jaune. A bit wiry but obviously well built. He wore green combat trousers and black boots, along with a long sleeved black shirt over tactical gear. And over all of that was a heavy, worn, but cared for white doctor's coat.
He wore sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat, but the hair poking out from under it was blond and Jaune caught a glimpse of blue eyes in a face covered in a neatly trimmed beard.
"Idiot," the man sighed, "What were you thinking?"
"I uh..." Jaune winced. It felt like getting scolded by his father. "I um... I was just thinking I could hitchhike my way to Beacon?"
"You're better off taking the train, moron," the man scolded him. Jaune scowled up at him.
"Well I would, but I forgot my cash and can't access it here in the sticks!"
"Yeah, I suppose signal strength still isn't great just outside of Radian's walls," the man muttered. Jaune frowned.
"Huh?"
The man sighed and shook his head. He reached into his pockets, and pulled out some Lien notes.
"Here," he stated, "They're old, but they should be good. Go buy a train ticket. Also?"
He grabbed Jaune's Scroll, and pressed it against his.
"Hey!" Jaune growled. "What's the big idea-?!"
The man handed it back to Jaune. Jaune looked through his files.
"What did you add to...?"
His eyes widened.
"Atlasian and Mistralian combat guides," the man stated blandly, "Combined with your mom's training and you should be able to manage the initiation at Beacon."
Jaune gaped up at the stranger in utter disbelief.
"I... Huh?! How did you know-?!"
"Don't. Ask," the man growled. He shook his head. "All you need to know is that you need to get to Beacon, and you need to get in. All right?"
"I... But why-?"
The man glared at him from behind his sunglasses.
"Your dream is to be a hero, isn't it?"
Jaune stared back. The way the man said it carried a... A sadness. A nostalgia. A regret that touched him deep in his soul.
"It is," he confirmed.
"Well then... Go to Beacon. Get in. And you will be a hero. I promise you," the man stated firmly. Jaune nodded seriously.
"All right... I will."
He turned, began to walk away... Then stopped short. He looked back and coughed.
"Uh... Which way to the train station?'
The older man groaned and facepalmed.
"Let me guess... You don't even have your Aura unlocked, do you?" He asked.
Jaune coughed.
"Er, well..."
The man walked up to Jaune and placed his hand over his chest. A surge of Aura energy raced between them, and Jaune's world changed. He felt stronger, lighter, and more energetic.
"There you go," the man stated.
"Isn't... Isn't there a ritual or words you have to say?" Jaune asked as some distant memory tried to shake itself loose in his head.
The man shook his head.
"Abrakadabra. There you go, kid. Now get going!"
"I... Thanks!" Jaune said. He frowned.
"Er... Will I ever see you again?"
The man laughed without any humor.
"Oh... The ways things go in my life? Probably..."
"What's your name, anyway? Are you a relative of mine?" Jaune asked.
The man grimaced as though in pain, before he shrugged.
"Uh... Sort of... Just call me..."
He paused in thought, before he finished his sentence.
"Doctor Knowall."
Jaune squinted.
"That sounds... Extremely fake."
Doctor Knowall smacked the back of Jaune's head.
"OW!"
"Don't talk back to your elders, kid!"
Doctor Jaune Arc, Age 29, watched his younger self wave from the train window as it set off on its journey for Vale. He managed a quick wave back, while staring intently at his hand.
So far, nothing was happening. He wasn't fading out of existence. And yet...
He sighed as he recalled the words of the mysterious woman in the future... His future.
He'd been in the ruins of Atlas and Mantle to try and help any survivors after Salem devastated it. He'd found what he had thought was a mirror, but... It had taken him somewhere else.
Somewhere time did not behave properly.
Now? Now he was here, in the past. In his timeline, he'd run back home when the Ursa attacked and his parents had caught him. His mother had practically frogmarched him to the university and there he'd studied. He'd gotten his doctorate, just as mom had wanted...
All while the world around them fell and burned. The Grimm ruled. And all hope seemed to be lost.
The blacksmith woman in the other world had told him... Told him he was one of many keys. Keys that could save Remnant, save all life.
His past self going to Beacon was one of those keys... But there were many others.
Others Jaune Arc had to find.
"Which means," he sighed, "I've gotta get to Beacon, too."
He held up his Scroll. The hacking programs he and his team of survivors had used to get into the old networks did just as good a job at hacking today's fully functional CCTNet. In moments, he was in Beacon's databases.
Let's see... Transcripts for Jaune Arc? Cleared and accepted. Test scores, cleared...
He had aced those exams in his own timeline, after all. As scatterbrained as his younger self was, he wasn't a total idiot.
And... Let's see... Applications for new medical head?
He frowned, but mentally shrugged. It wouldn't do to look a gift horse in the mouth.
All right... A little touching up and... There we go. Doctor Knowall is all set to have a job interview with Professor Goodwitch in Vale.
He sighed and rubbed his ragged clothing.
Gonna need to dress up... Wanna make a good first impression.
Doctor Jaune Arc, or Doctor Jaune Knowall as he was going by, looked out of the restaurant window. The shining lights of Vale formed a beautiful outline against the darkness of the sky. The broken moon hung overhead, as it always did. And still did even in his time.
"Doctor? Doctor Knowall?"
"Hm? Oh, yes," Jaune said quickly, turning back to the woman across the table. The beautiful Glynda Goodwitch, the Deputy Headmistress of Beacon, raised an eyebrow at him. He smiled softly.
"Apologies. I haven't seen Vale in a long time."
Glynda slowly nodded, the tiniest hint of a smile on her face. If he didn't know any better, he would think she thought him attractive. Sure, he had gotten cleaned up, and his suit was well tailored (He'd found one of Tangy's emergency funds she wouldn't tap, and he knew how to get around the safeguards she set up to check for theft), but...
No. He wasn't going to entertain anything like that.
Even if she was drop dead gorgeous. Almost as gorgeous as...
No. You are not thinking about her, Jaune admonished himself, as Glynda nodded.
"It is beautiful," she agreed quietly. She then returned to the serious expression she'd been wearing since he'd shown up.
"But we are short on time, Doctor."
"Of course," Jaune said, sitting up straight and trying to convey that he was confident, but not too confident. Honestly, he hadn't thought he would ever need the skills for a job interview ever again. Not after Radian...
No. No. Radian is fine. Radian will be fine. You just have to focus, He thought, as Glynda went through his files.
"Your residency and experience is heavily focused on the frontier," Glynda said, "Any particular reason? Your transcripts would have let you get a job at any major hospital."
Well I didn't exactly have much choice, seeing how civilization was collapsing around us, Jaune thought to himself. Outwardly, he shrugged.
"Isabel Arc started as a field combat medic. She taught my teacher, and he had the same philosophy before he died: Go out to heal and save whoever you can out there. Try to..."
He glanced at the island of light outside. One that would go dim in a few short years if he didn't...
"Try to push the boundaries of where the light reaches," Jaune decided, "And help people who can't help themselves."
"It's a brutal task, Doctor," Glynda stated calmly, her eyes like hard emeralds, "A hard one."
"It is," Jaune agreed, "But... Someone has to do it for there to be any future."
Glynda stared into his eyes. He let his weariness show. That didn't require any thought because it was the chief emotion he had felt back in the future: Tired.
Glynda slowly nodded.
"I see," she said quietly. "There are a few other candidates I will be interviewing. But... If it helps? I think you would do well at Beacon."
He allowed himself a small smile.
"Thank you, Professor. I had always hoped I would."
They exited after paying for their meal. Glynda raised an eyebrow as he walked nearby her. He shrugged.
"My apartment is in the same direction as the airship port," he explained.
"Indeed," Glynda hummed.
Knowall shrugged.
"Besides... While you are absolutely beautiful and amazing, I... Well..." He shrugged again and looked back up at the moon.
"I see," Glynda said softly, "Your wife?"
Jaune slowly nodded.
"Was going to be," he replied softly. "Grimm attack."
"I'm sorry," Glynda said, genuine sympathy in her tone as they walked. He nodded slowly, his expression like stone. He reached out to pat her shoulder gently, to reassure her where his face and words wouldn't. She nodded back and looked ahead.
"Have you lost any...?" Jaune asked. He then sighed. "Sorry. That's too personal."
"I got personal first," Glynda said with gentle admonishment, "My parents. A perimeter breach in the town of Fluske, North Vale. I was at Beacon at the time. We got there and..." She shrugged. "My house was nearest the wall."
"Sorry," Jaune said quietly. Glynda nodded and let out a soft sigh as they crossed the street.
"It is... Amazing how human beings can still go on despite all we lose, isn't it?"
"I like to think so," Jaune replied.
There was an explosion ahead that blew out a shop's windows. Glynda pulled her riding crop while Jaune went into a combat stance. A few thugs in black and white pinstripe suits with bowler hats poured out of the shop, carrying barrels of Dust. A tall redhead in a white suit with a black bowler and cane emerged and spun around with a laugh.
"Ah... A nice night on the town," he sighed. He looked over at the two with a scowl. "Hey! Unless you want Roman Torchwick's autograph, you can scram!"
"I don't think so," Glynda stated firmly, raising her riding crop like a baton and sending rocks and debris around at Roman like a machine gun. Roman swung his cane and spun it, using Fire Dust to project a shield of flame. The other goons began to charge. Jaune took a deep breath... And dashed forward.
Remember Jaune, his mother's words came to him, You can't control your brain like I can with my Semblance. You'll have to emulate it with Aura control. But if you can speed up your ability to process information? Everything else will come far more easily.
The first thugs swung machine guns for him like they were in slow motion. A burst of speed let Jaune slam his hands into their stomachs. He forward flipped over them, slamming his foot into the face of the next goon. He went down hard, while his buddies opened fire on him. Jaune bobbed and weaved, his arms flying almost loose behind him before he again used a speed burst and punched two of the gunmen down. The third kept firing, and Jaune held up his arms to tank the shots. He then charged him, and swung his foot up between the guy's legs.
"GYAH!" He shrieked as he went flying right back through the broken storefront windows. Jaune turned back as Roman dueled with Glynda. Roman unleashed Fire Dust blasts in a furious barrage, which Glynda quickly countered with every telekinetically seized projectile she could get her Semblance on. Jaune dashed again and swung a fist for the back of Roman's head.
SHING!
Reality... Shattered, as he missed Roman by scant inches. His eyes went wide.
What the-?! Enhance senses! NOW!
He channeled Aura to his nose, eyes, and ears. He took a sword stab to the side, and grunted as he stumbled. He heard the barest flap of an umbrella and reached out to snag it!
Reality shattered around him again. A girl with mismatched eyes, pink and brown hair, a white suit, and a bowler hat stared at him in shock. He swung for her, but she jumped back out of reach, yanking her umbrella sword with her. She landed on a parked car, and tilted her head in curiosity.
Roman jumped back with her, panting heavily.
"Well... This is a bust. Next time? Pick a better date idea than spoiling my plans!"
He and the girl vanished. Jaune scanned around, but he couldn't pick up on them anywhere. He looked over at Glynda, who was walking over the groaning, unconscious henchmen.
"You okay, Professor?"
"I'm fine, what about you?" Glynda asked, pointing at his side. Jaune looked and checked for blood. He held up red fingers and sighed.
"Ah, yeah. One sec." He pressed his hand down on the wound and focused his Aura. The stab wound vanished, and he relaxed.
"There we go. No harm done," he said with a smile... Which turned into a frown. "Though I'm gonna need this suit to be repaired."
Glynda gave him a wry expression before she waved her implement. She repaired his suit's rips and tears, leaving him in pristine condition. He smiled genuinely.
"Well, thank you very much, Professor."
"You may as well get used to calling me Glynda," Glynda said, her smirk becoming a small smile, "As I think we will soon become colleagues."
Jaune grinned.
"You mean it?"
"You acted as perfect support for me and brought these thugs down with no fatalities," Glynda said, "Trust is essential in this business... And you've more than earned it."
Jaune nodded.
"Well Miss... Glynda? If you'll have me? I'm all yours."
In the grand tradition of Professor Arc (but with a twist), I bring you: Doctor Arc/Knowall. Sent back in time from the Ever After to fix the disasterous turns the timeline took because Jaune Arc didn't get to Beacon Academy.
Now this older Jaune Arc has his mother's skill set: Incredible healing abilities with his Aura Amp and the ability to boost his strength and other physical attributes with Aura to massive amounts. As well as very extensive medical training.
And while he has a few clues as to where he needs to intervene from the Blacksmith, he's still got to piece them together himself.
In the meantime, there is now a VERY hot male doctor on staff at Beacon that all the young ladies take a keen interest in.
His alias is based on Grimm Tales 098: Doctor Know-All.