King: Real talk, I never played the Genocide run of Undertale.

Knox: Really? Why not?

King: I just... can't. I can't bring myself to take away their happy ending, you know?

Knox: You're willing to be the master assassin and lord of thieves in Skyrim, going on a total power trip, but you can't do the same there?

King: Testimate to the character writing, isn't it?

Knox: ... You have a point I guess...

King: But that's enough about me, hope you enjoy and go check out the source if you're interested.

Inspiration: Undertale Genocide Package - Power of NEO by Man on the Internet

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The next world was set to load in, taking a little time to appear. But when it did… woah boy.

The first thing they saw was a younger version of Neptune in a black void. Accompanying him was a voice over in a voice similar to King's, "Every choice creates a new reality. But what if it wasn't a choice, but a circumstance. If someone else took your place… What would change? What would change if they made all the choices you didn't get to?"

"Wow…" Roman fell back in his chair, "That's a thinker…"

Neo nodded.

The screen went black completely before opening up like a pair of doors. "What if, they made all the choices you wouldn't."

Behind the doors, Emerald walked through with light at her back. She was younger than the version in the audience, no more than about 12. She carried a knife in hand, stained by blood.

A box-like structure was balancing on a wheel in the center of the room.

Yang gasped seeing it. "Please! PLEASE! Let that be who I think it is!"

Jaune looked toward her, confused, "What's going on?"

The box let out a bit of steam and the front plate lit up with twin golden bursts from the bottom of the screen. "So, we meet again."

Jaune blinked in shock, "That's me?"

Yang's grin spread further, "It's Metta-Jaune!"

Nora giggled, "This should be interesting~"

Jaune 'sighed,' "You know… after our first meeting, I realized something ghastly. You're not just a threat to faunas, but to humanity as well. And that simply won't do."

Emerald glared toward the robot and took a step forward.

Jaune just laughed, "Eager as always, eh?! But don't touch that dial, there's something you haven't accounted for. You see, as any true fan would know, I was developed as the ultimate human eradication machine. When I became a star, I was given a more… photogenic body, but those primary functions were never truly removed. So I warn you now, if you take one step closer, I will be forced to stop you using my true form!"

Coco chuckled, "Oh! I remember this one. He looked pretty good with the true form."

Nora got up onto her chair, finger pointed to the sky, "Metta-Jaune EX is ready for his big debut!"

Jaune just looked around, "Seriously, what's going on?"

Pyrrha tried to figure out how to explain it, "It's like he said, he was built to hunt humans because there was a war and now all the faunas are trapped underground. What we see now is a base form, while he has an upgraded for called Metta-Jaune EX."

"Okay… that's a weird story."

"No kidding…"

Nora chuckled, "I wonder if this will be the musical version."

Emerald grinned and took a single step toward him.

"Fine then!" Jaune's body seemed to open apart as steam filled the room, lights shutting down, "Ready?! IT'S SHOW TIME~!" Everything went black around them before they heard him speak again.

The black screen soon filled by golden wire effects, flowing into the center before forming a three-letter word.

[NEO]

Neo blinked and tilted her head.

"Oh yes~" The build up was fast as music started to play along with Jaune's words.

The steam blew away to reveal Jaune's true form. Unlike the previous version, this Jaune's body was partially detached, the legs being unconnected to the torso but still functioned with the whole through. He retained his semi-androgynous style with one major change. The right side of his face was now revealed and showed to be black steel. His eyes were also mismatched, the left being blue and his right was blood red. His blonde hair was tipped by pink (think a color swap of what Ruby has). His right arm was replaced with a cannon and his shoulders extended further with a pink energy flowing out like a cape. His armor had a large heart over his chest and a smaller, upside down heart directly beneath it.

Jaune blinked a little and turned to Coco, "Is that what I looked like before?"

Coco shook her head, her glasses falling a bit, "Nope. Nothing like that… Well, kind of like that, but less weird."

Roman chuckled, "He looks like some weird combination of the kid and Neo, just as a robot."

Then, the singing truly began. "My name is Metta-Jaune, and I am here to say, with the power of NEO, I stand in your way!"

The text appeared on the screen like last time, with one major difference, it read [Metta-Jaune NEO stands in your way].

"Saving the kingdom from a maddened child of man, others failed to stop you, but I know I can! Real heroes never fear! Real heroes laugh at death! I will stand in your way until my final breath! I dedicate my life to upholding what's right! Take a bow, human. And smile, it's closing night."

Yang's grin fell a bit, taking in the lyrics, "That's different. It has a different feel than the last one…"

Jaune, who wasn't there, had no point of reference. "What do you mean?"

"It's like… the last one was this big production about being a star and how awesome he was. But this one just feels… I don't know…"

Ozpin, however, had her answer, "It feels somber, but defiant. Like the world is falling down all around him, but he's standing against it anyway."

Yang nodded, "Yeah… Like that." She wasn't necessarily surprised to hear Ozpin say something like that, but it was still kind of weird to hear.

"Drama! Romance! Bloodshed! I did bring~"

Jaune blinked, "That's… a weird combo."

This also came with accompanying vocals, "(We love you Metta-Jaune!)"

"But I will never let you destroy everything!(We love you Metta-Jaune!)"

Jaune's hand seemed to grasp at the air as energy flowed out from his fingers. It formed into a blade of pure energy, like that of a sword.

Ruby gasped, "Woah! Creating a weapon out of nothing like that?! That's so cool!"

Velvet chuckled a bit, "It's not from nothing, it is rather nice."

Coco grinned and lightly punched Velvet's shoulder.

Emerald held up her knife, his reflection visible in what remained of the reflective surface. Through it, they saw Jaune bring his other hand (the cannon) up toward her, unleashing a flurry of energy bolts toward her. She dodged most of them, but a few singed her.

"Unleashing, all the power I can! This is the final act for us, child of man!"

Jaune's bolts stopped as his cannon charged. After a moment, he unleashed a massive blast of energy, dealing significant damage to Emerald, but she simply healed it away.

Penny smiled a bit, finding similarities between their attacks. Perhaps she could discuss smaller, less situational energy attacks with her father.

Emerald tried to charge Jaune, knife held to strike him as soon as she arrived.

"Raising my face to the sky, giving me wings and the power to fly!"

The energy flowing out from Jaune's shoulders stopped suddenly, replaced with bright flames. His cape became a pair of burning wings, lifting him off the ground and kicking up smoke from the ground.

"Curtains rise, salvation I bring, this ballad I'll sing!"

Jaune flew off and around the area, slamming his hand into Emerald's head, and pulling her along with his flight. He reared his hand back, with her in tow, before slamming her head into the ground and dragging her across the hard surface.

Emerald felt a sickening feeling flow through her. The pain something like that would cause was excruciating. Just thinking about it made her wince.

"Will they all remember my face? Can they escape this terrible place? I must try, even though I may die, to protect land and King!"

It was, honestly, pretty jarring. The last time they saw Metta-Jaune, he was upbeat and over the top. He addressed people as 'Darling' and he acted like he was always on a set. He was the kind of person that you couldn't help but smile seeing. But now? Now he was subdued and angry. He fought with the ferocity of a man that has nothing left, who doesn't care about anything but this single moment.

"My name is Metta-Jaune, and I am here to stay! I'll stand and fight here, forever in your way! Come and stop me, human, if you think you can. I will not bow down to a maddened child of man!"

Jaune snapped his hands to either side and they both formed into a pair of long blades. He slashed at Emerald, getting a few hits into her, but her high level helped her decrease the damage she was dealt. The flames of his cape seemed to get more intense and he boosted forward, punching her in the gut and sending her flying backward.

"Real heroes never fear! Real heroes laugh at death! I will stand in your way until my final breath! I dedicate my life to upholding what's right! Take a bow, human. And smile, it's closing night."

Jaune's flight continued toward her and he swung his foot into her side and punted her clear across the room. Jaune leaned back, slowing his flight and landing on the ground again, cape reforming.

Ruby was enamored by the idea of a cape made of energy, but she still recognized how brutal he was being. And, this got her to ask the big question, "What did she do to make him that mad?"

Yang turned her sister, an eyebrow slightly raised, "What do you mean? It wouldn't be the first weird turn, right? Maybe he's just programmed like that."

Ruby shook her head, "The opening made it seem like it was the same world, but with her in Neptune's place. Right?"

Blake nodded in agreement, "It did seem to insinuate as such. It's likely this would be the same Metta-Jaune, just effected by different events. In other words, her. Whatever she's done, it pushed this version of Jaune to what we see now."

Yang's face fell a bit in thought. "Huh… That makes sense. Then, what did she do?"

Jaune walked toward Emerald, who was trying to pick herself up off the ground.

"How do you think this will end?! (Come on now Metta-Jaune!) After the slaughter of heroes…"

The scene flashed to an image of Pyrrha in full plate armor and wielding a spear, her armor broken and her body bleeding. It was moments before her death as Emerald's hand.

"…and children…"

Next was a rather young Weiss, fear spread across her face. Emerald's shadow loomed over her in that scene.

"…and friends!"

The final moment showed Ruby with simple armor, stained with her blood and a somber smile on her face. A smile that still held some level of hope for her killer to become a better person.

Ruby felt a chill run up her spine. "Oh…"

Yang nodded slowly, "Yikes…"

Jaune marched forward toward her.

"Your mindless march to an ultimate goal! Are you even still the one who's in control?!"

The camera zoomed in on Emerald's face as she glared back up toward him. Her eyes were not their usual bright red. Instead, they were a burning, golden amber.

Emerald felt a chill run up and down her spine. She would recognize those eyes anywhere. They were Cinder's eyes. There was a thought in the back of her head from her discussion with Mercury, about being used by Cinder. It forced her to look back at her life… It forced her to truly consider what she wanted…

"If this is the last time we meet, then I shall accept my defeat. If it means, my people are safe! My people are free!"

Jaune swung his blade, creating a stream of energy flying toward Emerald, who rolled away from the attack's path.

"You must know… that you are too late! The doctor did evacuate! If you've the will, the desire to kill, then you must go through me! My name is Metta-Jaune, and let no one say I was a coward, I didn't save the day! I'll sacrifice my life, but I'm doing what's right! Every second I'm here, we've saved another life!"

The elder huntsmen all felt a pang of grim understanding. It was something they all accepted, that they may end up in a similar position. They had to accept, long ago, that they would likely have to die in their service to others.

"Real heroes never fear! Real heroes laugh at death! I will stand in your way until my final breath! I dedicate my life to upholding what's right! Take a bow, human. And smile, it's closing night."

Emerald jumped over another slash and tagged a few more shallow slashes onto his metallic form. He kicked his legs up toward her, missing the first strike, but he then slammed said leg down in an ax kick to knock her to the ground again.

"Then end of the world, I face it with pride! (Exploding Metta-Jaune!) If I've got the slimmest change to stop your cruel genocide! Hopes and dreams must prevail! So I shall stay here until the bitter end of this tale!"

Emerald and Jaune were in a dance of death, each making small marks onto the other. Emerald would bleed and Jaune would spark. Neither gave an inch to the other, each trying to finally put the other down.

"Will they all remember my face? Can they escape this terrible place? I must try, even though I may die, to protect land and King!"

Jaune's cape fell away to form flames again as he rose up into the sky, flying toward Emerald for one last big hit.

"Raising my face tothe sky! Giving me wings and the power to fly! Curtains fall, salvation I bring, this ballad I'll sing!"

Ren caught a little change. "That's interesting. At the beginning of the song, he said that the curtains were rising, but now he said they were falling at the end of the song."

As Jaune flew up to Emerald, the camera tracked her hand as she spun the knife to hold it in a reverse grip. As he approached, the screen went black and a red slashing motion flowed across the screen and the music cut abruptly. When the scene returned, Jaune slammed face-first into the ground. The attack finally severed his wing and arm on his left side. His right arm was heavily damaged and now no longer functioned. Emerald swung her blade to the side out of habit, as if to remove some of the blood that wasn't there.

There was a pained chuckle echoing through the room. Jaune was still alive, but barely. "You… may have defeated me… but I can tell… you were holding back."

Emerald stared up at the scene, "He's still alive?"

Cinder smirked, "Not for long."

Emerald couldn't place it, but that made her feel worse.

Jaune rose up shakily, resting on his knees as his arm dangled uselessly. "You're not absolutely evil… If you were trying to be, you certainly failed there. And so late into the show." Jaune let out a pained set of coughs. "Surely… you won' hurt them… right?" His weak smile fell away, as did his body. He fell backward, revealing a knife buried in the center of the heart on his armor. His eyes flickered before going dark.

Jaune felt his whole body jump with the impact of the knife. In a way, he'd just watched himself die. It was the kind of thing that would haunt someone.

Emerald walked over and picked the knife out from his body, his last sparks flying out as she moved. Her eyes were still like those of Cinder instead of her own. After a blink, they returned to their usual red color. She seemed a little shocked by the scene before her, but she shook her head and moved for the door. The door closed with a loud slam and the screen went black.