Jaune's breath hitched, his heart going still. He watched with horror as a handgun was pushed to the side of Scarlet's head, and yet his sister didn't react one bit. Helpless to the whims of her captors.

No…

This can't be happening!

Raiden growled and shot a glare at Leonardo. "You COWARD!"

Leonardo didn't flinch. He began to talk, ignoring Raiden's accusation. "I take it you recognise the emergency state Mistral's in?" Leo chuckled.

Jaune turned his gaze to Leo. "What."

"In the case of an emergency state, the Kingdom gives full power of all combat forces to the Headmaster of the Huntsman Academy." Leo stated, tone neutral like reading fom a book. "A carte blanche, to ensure the survival of the Kingdom. Just as the sun set this evening, all the police had to do was collect Scarlet Arc and bring her to Haven."

"After all, that afternoon she was just promised a tour of Haven in the night, as well as a chance to show her skills. And, if all goes well, an early enrolment just like one Ruby Rose." Leo smirked. "Of course, how could she decline? The promise came straight out of the Headmaster's mouth."

Jaune's gaze turned venomous. His hand tightened around HF Murasama "You…"

Leo turned his gaze to the policeman's leader. "If you would, colonel."

The policeman took a device out of his pocket. Raiden turned his gaze to him just a tad bit late. He recognised that device-!

The colonel pressed his thumb on the device's big red button, streaks of blood not of the colonel staining every piece of the device.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Raiden and Jaune screamed, their nanomachines frying them from inside out and locking their movements.

"AAAAHHHH!" Raiden fell to his knees, his joints locking up. HF Crocea dropped to his side as he spasmed in place, electricity jolting out from his metal skin. He felt his pain receptors flare, overwhelming him like being stabbed with a thousand needles.

"Ack-!"

And just like that, it all stopped for Raiden. Raiden's eye froze in place and his spasms ceased. With a thump, he fell to the floor unresponsive as steam rose from his frame.

Jaune groaned, his Aura flashing as they tried to heal him. As the onslaught of pain stopped, Jaune froze in place with his suit keeping him locked. His breaths were short and laboured, barely able to stand as steam rose from his suit. He felt fried, sore, tased, and much much more.

Still, his gaze never left Leonardo.

"Still standing?" Leo jumped down and landed a good distance away in front of Jaune. "Jaune Arc…" Leo deployed Stalwart and approached Jaune. "Your family has been quite the hassle, you know? Interfering with her plans… they're all fools, thinking they can stop her?"

Leo came to a stop and stood in front of Jaune, staring him down as the samurai was unable to move.

"Who do you take me for?!"

Clang!

The shield hit Jaune's cheek and Jaune strumbled back. His Aura flashed, and yet the wound didn't heal.

He was all out.

"You-!"

Clang!

"And that cyborg!"

Clang!

"You think you can just walk in here…?!"

Clang!

"And risk my survival?!"

Clang!

"DIEEE!"

Clang!

Jaune took a step back from the final blow, an overhead hitting right at the side of his head.

"Heh…heh…" Leo smirked as he saw Jaune bleed all over, his head forced down from the last blow. That's it, he's got no chance-!

But then, Jaune looked back up and stared straight at Leo's eyes. His teeth was clenched in anger, blood seeping from his forehead and his check. His eyes were filled with furyasthey stared unflinchingly at Leo, not a single moment of registering the pain he suffered.

Leo gasped and took a step back. How was he still-?!

But then, he scoffed and threw his doubts aside. "Hmph, no matter." Stalwart deployed a round of Fire Dust. Leo put his weapon right at Jaune's chest. "This time, I'll make sure the pain is enough."

BOOM!

Jaune flew back as an explosion detonated right in front of his chest. He landed in a heap quite far away from Leo, back hitting the floor and skidding to a stop.

Leo his withdrew his hand, though the weapon was still transformed to attack.

"Ngh…" Jaune tried to stand back up, blood beginning to drop from his mouth. He glared hatefully at Leo, even if his chest was heavily injured. He instead fell to a knee, his gaze locked with Leo's above him from where he was.

"There's more to the world than Hunters and Huntresses, Jaune." Leo spoke, slowly approaching Jaune. "Out there, The Grimm… there's someone we can't stop. Face it. Humanity and Faunuskind are all dying a slow death. The only thing that matters is who will be standing with the winning side." Leo reached the kneeling Jaune and pointed Stalwart at Jaune's head. He smirked. "Your training was cut short, right? Well, consider this your graduation from Haven Academy, Hunter."

Jaune growled as he saw Stalwart charging a Fire Dust. It glowed bright red, ready to blow his head off.

Leo smirked.

BOOM!

The entirety of Haven Grand Hall shook…

And Leo stumbled back. He wasn't expecting that! He looked wildly at the source of the explosion.

Right from his office!

Leo growled and stood back up. "What's happening?!"

"HUNTERS! ATTACK!"

Tai descended from Leo's office, a small number of Hunters following him. They immediately engaged the officers, taking the heat off of Jaune.

Tai landed right in front of the two officers holding Scarlet hostage and took them down with a quick one-two. He grabbed her by the shoulder and put her behind him.

The colonel scrambled to pull out his handgun. This wasn't going according to plan-!

Bang!

A shot went through his head. As the colonel went down, Blu lowered his revolver and stepped closer to Tai. "I've got you covered, teach."

Tai nodded in response and looked around. He saw Leo scrambling up, in front of him Jaune who was still forced to kneel.

"Jaune!" Tai shouted.

Jaune weakly turned his gaze to the Hunter, as if just registering the sudden save.

"I've got her covered! Go!"

"Ngh…" Jaune tried to respond, but his wounds overwhelmed him.

"Did you really think we'd leave you behind? On your feet, Mr. Jaune!"

Tai growled as another officer rushed from his right. Before he could attack, Tai slammed the back of his hand into the officer and kicked him in the gut. The officer flew away and landed unconscious.

Tai looked back to Jaune. He was still struggling to get up, and yet Leonardo was ready. "JAUNE! STAND UP AND FIGHT!"

Jaune began picking himself up, even through his leaking wounds.

Leo growled as he readied another round in Stalwart. He roared and rushed at Jaune. "You're supposed to be done!"

Jaune looked up and saw a fist coming down straight to his face.

He caught it barehanded with his left hand.

Leo paused, his fist stopping in its tracks. He pushed with all his might, and yet it didn't budge one bit.

"You…"

Slowly, Jaune pushed the fist down.

"You're going to understand…" Jaune stared straight into Leonardo's eyes. "Just who you decided to fuck with."

Leo growled. "Don't start with me, boy!" Leo forcefully retracted his first and stepped back. He watched in hidden fear as Jaune stood back up into his full height, locked suit be damned.

Jaune took a few deep breaths, composing himself. He shot a look to his right. To Scarlet, peacefully unconscious, and in front of her, Tai, a Hunter protecting the innocent.

The Remnant Dragon gave the Samurai a short nod.

Jaune looked back at Leonardo and spit out blood to the side. "Now…" He rolled his neck as his nanomachine suit began to retract. "There's nothing else that's going to hold me back."

In one motion, Jaune ripped his nanomachine suit from his normal clothes free. Then, he pulled his mechanical arm off and threw it to the side.

His scars were visible to all inside the room, his body leaking blood non-stop. And yet, it didn't hold him back one bit.

Everyone could see his dark scars from old wounds. One in the chest, from the tail of a Deathstalker, and one in the gut, from the sword of his rival.

"No other person is stopping me from you anymore, Leo." Jaune spoke calmly. "It's just you and me now."

Leonardo braced himself. "Why you-!"

"Make no mistake." Jaune walked forwards and picked up HF Crocea with his left hand. "I'm going to make you pay."

Jaune readied HF Crocea, placing it in front of him and putting his left foot in front of his right. He saw Leonardo prepare himself too, but it didn't matter one bit.

He means nothing to him.

"Let's dance."

The sounds of battle echoed throughout the Hall. As chaos unfurled, all Jaune could focus on was the bastard in front of him.

And Leo, the same.

"RARGH!" Leo rushed forwards and jumped, moving to punch down on Jaune. Jaune forced himself through his wounds, meeting the lion halfway. As he soared upwards, he spun and swung HF Crocea at his enemy.

"HAAHH!

The sword and the shield met in the skies.

Clang!

Leonardo Lionheart

Headmaster of Haven Academy

The two fighters fell back to the ground, skidding back from the impact. As Jaune landed, only one thought ran inside his rage-filled mind.

'He means nothing to me.'

Jaune saw Leo using Dust to pull out a rock from the floor. The samurai saw the rock grow flames and moved his body forwards. As Leo launched the rock at him, Jaune flourished HF Crocea and sliced the projectile in two.

The rocks slid apart, revealing a surprised Leonardo right in front of him.

Leonardo's eyes hardened as he saw Jaune approach. He brought his shield above his head and steadied his footing. It clanged loudly against Jaune's sword, Leo's knees bending down and feet skidding back a few metres.

He took a deep breath as he looked back up, composing himself.

If he hadn't blocked, his head might have just been lopped off.

"RAH!" Jaune landed in front of Leo again, sword moving from his middle-left. Leo acted quickly and slapped the sword away mid-attack.

Jaune took a step back. He saw Leo going for a punch to his chest. Jaune ducked and prepared HF Crocea to counterattack. As the punch grazed his hair, he roared and slashed Leo's legs.

"Agh!" Leo's legs flared in pain and he fell to his knees. He registered Jaune rising to his feet behind him and quickly loaded a round of Electricity Dust. As Jaune was about to attack, Leo put his open palm on the floor and unleashed his electric round.

"Grk!" The Headmaster smirked as he heard Jaune freeze in his tracks, thousands of volts coursing through him. Leo turned around and was about to deck the samurai right across the jaw with his shield...

As his arm came down, it was stopped in its tracks by Jaune's own, blocked mid-strike.

It didn't budge, even as Leo forced it with all his might.

Jaune's eyes burned into Leo's fearful own, steam rising from his body from Leo's earlier attack. And yet, rage overcame pain.

Before Leo could gather his thoughts, he felt a kick in his gut forcing him back. He skid to a stop a few metres away.

The Headmaster tried to recompose himself. What the hell was that strength-?!

Leo's eyes widened as Jaune came upon him again. The samurai went for a side kick to Leo's right. The Lion Faunus just barely blocked it with his shield.

Clang!

Leo growled as their attacks rebounded. So fast-?!

His thoughts were interrupted once again. Another one from his upper left!

Leo raised his shield to block the attack...

But then he felt nothing hitting his arm.

Jaune lowered his foot mid-attack, finishing his feint. Leo didn't have time to move his block.

"RAAAAAHHHH!"

Jaune swung HF Crocea as fast as he can. The blade cut open Leonardo's chest, opening a large wound through his Aura. Blood splatters all over as Leo hurriedly stepped back.

"Ah!" The Headmaster panicked, hands going to his chest. He felt Aura begin to heal, but still!

In his panic, Leo noticed Jaune run to him again. He quickly loaded a Fire Dust round and fired it at Jaune.

BOOM!

Flames exploded in front of the Headmaster. He took a step back, getting away from the heat.

"LEOOOOO!"

Jaune rushed through the flames, hair singed, skin burnt, and flames circling his sword.

Leo gasped. He didn't have the time-!

Jaune roared and swung his sword down.

Leo blocked the attack, right above his head. His knees buckled under the force. He responded quickly and pushed his shield back, throwing out a kick as he did so.

He didn't notice his shield begin to crack.

Jaune flipped his grip on HF Crocea and blocked the kick with his arms. He kicked Leo back, right in the chest wound.

Leo gasped as his wound worsened. He's being overwhelmed-! His eyes stared in fear at Jaune's.

Cold fury raged back.

Leo hurriedly threw a straight punch at Jaune. The samurai firmed his footing at took it head-on. Leo's first hit Jaune's forehead right on…

And yet the samurai's head didn't flinch one bit.

"RAH!" Jaune shook Leo's fist off and gave Leo an uppercut to Leo's gut with HF Crocea's pommel.

Leo doubled forwards, blood spitting from his mouth. He staggered back while Jaune slowly withdrew his fist.

Leo huffed a breath, vision growing hazy as Aura tried desperately to close his wound. Leo roared and rushed forwards, using Stalwart's sharp edge to swing at Jaune's throat. Jaune easily blocked it in its tracks with his sword.

Leo's shield rebounded.

More cracks began to show.

Jaune yelled and lunged forwards, moving HF Crocea to stab Leonardo through the heart. The Headmaster managed to block the sword in time, redirecting it to the left as Jaune stepped inside Leo's guard.

The cracks grew more intense.

Leo went in for a punch with his free hand.

Jaune punched the attack right in the fist, cancelling it before it even began.

Leo stepped back from the blow. He roared and went for a kick to Jaune's head.

Jaune forced the kick down with a kick of his own.

"Gah!" Leo skid back, his breaths growing shorter. His wounds were beginning to heal, but then he felt his Aura flash. He didn't have much left.

With that in mind, he focused his Aura much into an attack with his shield. He raised Stalwart high and poured a portion of his Aura into the attack.

"RAAARGH!" Leo rushed forwards and brought Stalwart down on Jaune's head.

"HIYAH!" Jaune thrust HF Crocea right into Leonardo's moving arm. His sword pierced through, going through Aura, flesh, bones, and shattering Stalwart into tiny pieces.

"AAAHHHHH!" Leo yelled in pain as he pulled his hand back, HF Crocea still stabbed within it. He put his free hand over HF Crocea's hilt, blade still stuck through his arm. What is this-?!

"HRAH!" Jaune rushed forwards and punched Leonardo across the jaw before he could get his bearings.

Leo staggered back. "AGH!"

"RARGH!" Another punch across the jaw. Leonardo's Aura fell deeper into the red.

"AAAHHH!" Leo staggered back even more. He could barely rein in his thoughts through the blinding pain. He had to get out of this-!

"HAH!" Punch.

"HAH!" Punch.

"HAH!" Punch.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Jaune threw one last punch, forcing his first straight through where Leonardo's head was. Leo's head snapped back and he fell to the ground, gasping for breath. His back hit the ground and his wounds stopped healing.

His Aura was finally depleted.

"Ngh…" Leonardo coughed as blood began leaking out his chest. He dragged himself back as best he can, Jaune calmly approaching him with a cold gaze.

Leo opened his unwounded palm to Jaune, begging. "W-wait-!"

Jaune kept his mouth shut and dashed forwards, not a sound coming out. Before Leo could realise, Jaune pulled HF Crocea out of his arm and stabbed it into the other shoulder, pinning the Headmaster where he was.

Leo yelled in shock, eyes closing from the pain. "AAAAAHH!-Mmmf!"

The Headmaster felt his mouth covered shut by Jaune's left hand, his only hand. He watched in fear as Jaune lowered towards him and pushed his head against the floor.

But then, he felt Jaune's grip loosening, the samurai's hand pulling back. Maybe-?!

"HRAH!"

Jaune slammed his fist into Leo's head.

"Ack-!" Leo's head bounced against the floor. He didn't recognise what happened other than sheer pain.

"HRAH!"

Again. Leo felt his nose crack.

"HRAH!"

Again. His eyes began to swell black.

"HRAAAAAAAAH!"

Slam!

The floor cracked beneath Leo's head as Jaune gave his strongest punch yet. The Headmaster felt his vision swimming, his bones beginning to fracture. He could just barely see a man standing over him.

"P-..."

"…"

"P-Please…" Leonardo weakly tried to lift his arm. "I—I'll give you anything-!" Leo coughed up blood, his sentence interrupted. He could bargain, he could-!

"Anything?" Jaune raised his fist even higher.

Wait! No, please-!

"I want my sister back."

SLAM!

Crunch.

Tai took a deep breath as the last of the officers were defeated, lowering his fist as his opponent went down. The sounds of battle finally died down, both from inside and outside.

He took a look around and saw the Hunters beginning to recover. Then, he saw Jaune slowly standing up, knees wobbly and his single fist bloody. He turned around, empty gaze meeting Tai. He took a final glance at Scarlet by the Dragon's side and promptly fell to the ground.

Tai was about to rush to his side, but was beaten to it when Medical Wing staff ran past his side and reached Jaune in no time flat. They only grimaced at Leo's corpse before lifting Jaune into a stretcher and carrying him away, Raiden onto another stretcher not long after.

Tai began to feel his own fatigue catch up to him. He felt adrenaline leave hi, Aura exhaustion goading him to unconsciousness.

"You alright, teach?" Blu spoke from behind him. Tai gave a short nod in response and decided he needed to do one last thing.

Tai turned around, leaving Scarlet in Blu's capable hands. He staggered towards the entrance of Haven Grand Hall, wanting to take a look outside. He could just barely force his feet through the door, to see where most of the damage of the battle was.

He saw the sun beginning to rise, casting light on a ruined dream. Medics rushed through what remained, covering corpses in white sheets and extracting any wounded allies still standing.

Any remaining hostiles were either cuffed or knocked out, to be dragged into a temporary jail cell. Evenn from where he was, he could see rage and grief in his allies' eyes.

The grounds were scorched, stained with blood and tears and bullet holes. Dead trees scattered their leaves, flower petals floating across the barren battlefield.

'All of this..' Tai fell to his knees, looking at what was left of the once proud Academy.

The corpses they covered weren't just enemies too. He could recognise many of his allies. Students dragged into this, Hunters and Huntresses willing to follow his command…

He was never a leader.

From the distance, he could hear cries of those who lost their own. Like his own, their teams will never be whole again.

He never wanted any of this for any of them, for them to feel what he felt when he lost his own.

He saw some passing out in shock, others with laying on their backs barely believing they were still alive.

They're the ones still here, the ones left to take care of the future. To lead the world into a better age, as guardians of humanity and faunuskind.

Their friends, their families, gave their lives for the same cause.

He won't forget their sacrifice, won't let theirs be in vain. He'll move forwards, he's sure, but as he saw the corpses of people who followed him, dying because of a betrayal covered by shadows, he also knew one thing. Whoever this Queen is…

He won't forget her until the day he dies.

Thank you for reading.

Rant time, I guess. First, originally I didn't want this story to be as plot-driven as it is now. Basically, like the summary said, just Raiden and Jaune walking around. But then, I wouldn't really know how to continue the story from there. Secondly, about the creative liberties, I think it's time I admit that I've got a lot of catching up to do with RWBY. Most of my knowledge come from the fanfictions, been reading them since around 2017. I'll need to watch Volume 3 for the upcoming arc, so I'll probably get around to it while I write the debriefing chapters (we've got four of them coming, Jaune Raiden, Tai, the U.C, then the next character, someone who's going to the U.C with a special grudge against Jaune's assassin activities. That's the plan, at least), even though current-day RWBY has a rather… unsavoury reputation, let's put it at that. Third, you probably noticed Raven's kinda ambiguous status right now. Don't worry, she's going to get a far worse ending, depending on how you see things. Lastly, did you notice how much this goes like the titles' references? Of course you did, it's not like I was "subtle".

Anyways, as usual, tell me your thoughts in the reviews.

See you next time.

Review Respones:

To Segwayman, Beacon's main cast (Ozpin and Glynda, RWBY, and NPR) are gonna get an inkling at what just happened at Haven in the third Debriefing chapter. It isn't gonna be pretty, I tell you. They won't know about Jaune yet, though (at least I think).

To SuperSaiyajin4Vegeta, remember, everyone's weakness is what makes them tick.

To Victorius 435, Jaune here is, indeed, dense as fuck. Heh, even with how handsome Sam looks (and now Jaune too, to a degree), he's still the dense doofus at the beginning of the story. Hope you enjoyed the chapters.

To Arkanatarasia, pfft, no way am I going to give him Iwami's ending, especially since Jaune's not like Kiryu.

To SolSparda369, As you can see, Jaune got the last hit, but far from the last laugh. And yeah, Jaune's now just broken. But things need to be torn down before being built back up again.

To UnlawfulGentleman, he sure was cocky. But then, where did his actions lead him? Dead.

To Mattysteel, Oh, you mean Solid Snake? Oh, he does have a role, albeit very minor. I don't want to ruin his peaceful days in here. In here, he deserves it.

To Shasenka, thanks, glad you did!

To Aelmellin, Tai's become their leader, since he knows what's really up. But then, will their respect for him grow, or will he be hunted down? Glad you liked the prelude, and I hope you enjoyed the finale!

To Skeletalrepublic, thanks a lot for the compliment! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

To Kabuto S. Inferno, one word on Venom Snake. "The name 'Big Boss' is no longer yours to bear." Credit to the original authors where it's due, of course. And you can see how the Headmaster killing went in this chapter. Mistral's in lockdown, and who knows what's going to happen now on the bureaucratic side of things. And one more thing for Nishiki's role, voted in or not. Smile Venomously. Hope you enjoyed, and thanks for all the support!

To ethandan616, not that kind :)!

To Maniacalharp747, you see how that turned out.

To Sark, bash partners to the max!

To Guest (1), uhm… I'm sorry?

To Kerrisive, yeah, I do have some subgoals, and thank you for reminding me. I really do appreciate it, more so for the next arc. That POV from RWBYNPR's coming, like I said. And nah, I'm not gonna kill Pyrrha. And let me tell you, Tai reaching out to RWBY isn't the way you're gonna expect. And about the Boss, that's probably going to be the main theme with The Boss and VS. They're still around, even though Big Boss himself isn't. Kinda the opposite of what happened with The Boss to Big Boss. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for all the support! Oh, and yeah, I do know about Guilty Gear Strive. Maybe I'll take another look…?

To Guest (2), RULES OF NATURE!

To Big E, in this story, he cares not for subtlety, unlike Snake's asscheeks.

To Unknown, hey, I'm just glad you liked it. Thank you!

To Insane Wombat, her ending, is, arguably, far worse.

To Just a reader now a writer, of course Metal Gear characters' backstory here is more depressing than most of RWBY (except maybe Adam…?). Of course, a wake- up call for those involved, since here the world's two of them sorta-combined.