Knox: Oh shit! We got the King himself!
King: ... Really?
Knox: What? Oh.
King: Whatever. Now, this is important. So listen up. In the Inspiration today, we have a comic from Deviant Art. I freaking loved this comic but lost the link I had to it. After remembering it, I made my way to the site and looked it up as best I could. After another nostalgic read, I got in contact with the creator and asked if it would be possible for me to add it to the series here. I got the go ahead! So we're visiting the world I found by Alex-Kellar on Deviant Art. I added a few things, like Vernal and Lionheart's parts, but the comic's main points are intact. I'm going to add links after the chapter to give you all the means to see the comic this is based on. If you're a fan of anime, Fate, RWBY, and/or just some good looking art check out the page. Get some follows or commissions if you want. Now, let's get into it! I hope you all enjoy.
Inspiration: The Ascension of the Knight by Alex-Kellar
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With that hellish reality out of the way, the screen started to boot up the next, taking a little time to do so.
Blake sighed and leaned her head back over the back of her chair. "What could possibly come after that?"
Weiss was still trying to get over the fact that her mother, or at least a version of her that was sickeningly similar, would sell her soul. And for what? What could she possibly get that was worth it? Her mother could have anything any time she wanted. Why would she need a demonic contract to get something? At least it can't get any worse.
She really shouldn't have thought that.
The screen was ready, and opened to a darkness. As this showed, they heard Jaune's voice in the background, "It's been six months. Six months since the attack on Beacon."
The scene faded in to show a still moment of chaos. Grimm of many forms were scrambling around, attacking anything in their way in the streets of Vale. The White Fang could be seen in the background, herding the Grimm and dropping them into the city. As the citizens scrambled to escape, it showed Atlas combat drones with their faceplates glowing red, indicating they'd been compromised.
Ironwood groaned and pulled his hands over his face. That was why he hated over-mechanizing the military. He knew it could avoid casualties in battle, but situations like this would be a constant risk. One he wanted to avoid if possible. It was why he would prefer a military made up of huntsmen.
The scene faded to black again as Jaune continued, "Six months since the White Fang took a piece of our happiness."
Red lines started to glow in the darkness, matching the mask of one Adam Tauras. Once they were clear, a red slash flew up through the scene to show a silhouetted impact. The moment Adam cleaved Yang's arm apart just above the elbow.
Yang turned pale seeing that, taking a sideways glance toward Adam. Is he… is he really that strong? If it weren't for the theater's rules and his crazy experience… would I still be here?
As the darkness returned, Jaune had paused. After a few seconds, he said, "Six months… since we lost her."
A snap cut showed an arrow of glass being shot into the chest of Pyrrha Nikos.
Pyrrha and the others jolted up in shock.
Then, the camera moved to show Cinder as she stepped toward the red haired champion. She placed her hand on the side of Pyrrha's head before she seemed to flash burn Pyrrha. Magic and fire blended together to turn Pyrrha to little more than glowing ashes and her circlet. The last moment before fading out again was the metal crown hitting the ground.
Pyrrha wasn't sure what she thought she'd feel seeing this. Thanks to Emerald's change of heart, they all knew about Cinder's plan to attack Beacon. They didn't know all the details, but this was a bit more than they expected.
Moments flashed before their eyes. The power of Ruby's silver eyes erupting from her grief. The Grimm Wyvern turned to stone wrapped onto Beacon's tower. Team RWBY splitting apart. Weiss was torn away and forced to return to Atlas on her father's orders. Blake, fearing her past would only bring more pain, fled in a vain attempt to protect these friends she'd made. Yang was down an arm, haunted by Adam's presence, and unable to muster herself to do anything. Ruby, after waking a week after her episode, vowed to travel to Haven and find out more about Cinder. She would bring the now Fall Maiden to justice, joined by Jaune, Nora, and Ren.
This hit a little too hard for many of them to respond vocally.
Blake clenched her hand onto her armrest, forced to see something she considered her worst trait. She ran away from her friends, the people that trusted her most.
Weiss lightly slammed her fist down on her own armrest. To think she was still under her father's thumb. She knew she wasn't totally free yet, but to be torn away from her team…
The common consensus around the room was that this was awful and Cinder was a bitch.
"Six months and we've been traveling all the way here to Mistral. To Haven. It wasn't easy, and we've learned things we may have been better off not knowing."
Another scene opened to show Jaune as he walked through the streets of Mistral. It was another still set, like fading pages. It showed him standing in front of a street vendor. The man running the stall was old, a man that epitomizes the old merchant. The next fade showed him handing Jaune a card of some kind. Jaune looked down toward it, showing it was gold, metallic in material and reflecting the sun off a corner. It showed a person with a long dress and armor aiming a bow and arrow off to the side. There was a certain elegance to it.
"What's that thing?" Nora's head tilted slightly in confusion.
Penny tapped her heel against the ground, a tick she'd picked up referencing thought as she read through her achieved files. "I can't find anything in the data I've compiled."
The camera hung on Jaune looking into the card for a while before fading out again.
"Six months… and we crossed paths again."
A dark portal appeared before Cinder, with her season five appearance, walked through. Hazel, Emerald, Mercury, Vernal, and Raven stepped through soon after. Lionheart stood on a platform above
Yang seethed, glaring toward her mother.
Raven just ignored it. She knew working with Cinder would have been a temporary arrangement at best.
Opposite them, Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Oscar, and Qrow had come to speak with the headmaster, only to find these intruders in the way.
Jaune's eyes fell on Cinder. Despite her scars, it was unmistakable. This was the woman he'd heard of. It was the person behind the Fall of Beacon. It was Cinder Fall. His blood started to boil once he realized this.
Qrow's eyes narrowed toward the Headmaster of Haven, "Leo. What's going on?"
Lionheart turned his eyes from the huntsman, "You weren't supposed to be here."
Qrow's eyes narrowed. It was clear now that Lionheart had betrayed them.
The Qrow in the audience had a similar reaction.
Sun looked up toward the scene with hurt in his eyes. While Lionheart didn't have the same effects on him as Sanzang, the fact that a Faunas had become the Headmaster of the Huntsmen Academy for Mistral was inspiring in a way. But knowing he betrayed them all? That just made him angry.
Jaune clenched his teeth before he finally burst. "You…"
Cinder and her allies glanced toward him once he started.
"You're the ones who killed Pyrrha!" Tears began to fall, righteous anger overwhelming him in the moment. "You… No. All of you are going to pay for what you did!"
Pyrrha wanted to be happy that he cared enough to get riled up like this, but knowing she was dead in this world didn't help her. What did help was when she glanced to her side to see her own Jaune. It helped remind her this wasn't their reality.
Cinder was quiet as she just glanced around.
"You hear me?! Say something!"
Cinder's eye returned to him, her face set in indifference. "And just who are you?"
Jaune wanted to say that stung. She killed his partner and didn't even consider him as a threat for revenge. Bastards… I really hope that old man didn't lie to me. Jaune reached into his pocket and produced the card from before.
"Okay, so it's probably important." Glynda crossed her arms as she sat back in her chair. "And we're likely about to see how."
The golden card started to glow and float off from his hand.
"Oh…" Tai took in a sharp breath, "That can't be good."
Ozpin's eyes narrowed. It must be magical in nature. But how? What does it do? I've never seen anything like it before.
Despite Ruby's calling out to him in concern, Jaune's resolve was long since steeled. This had to end here and now. "Archer install!" He slammed his hand closed onto the card as it shattered into small shards of light. As the shards flew outward, the world seemed to slow to a crawl before they suddenly slammed back toward Jaune. On impact, a pillar of golden light erupted around him.
The scene changed to show the outside as Adam and his agents were rigging explosives onto the CCT tower, intent on destroying it like they had at Beacon.
Sienna felt her eye twitch in anger. But it quelled after a bit. The Adam she now had to deal with had changed after a dimensional magic room… thing. She didn't understand all the details, and likely never would. But the point was, he might have gotten his act together again. The Huntsmen Academies are some of the few places that were fair to Faunas on the whole. There was no reason to attack them. What's more, knocking out the CCT would only hinder the Fang. Why would he bother doing that?
As they set one of the bombs, the pillar of light blasted through the roof and into the sky. It shook the very air around them and forced their attention away from their duties toward this strange event.
Back inside, the force had knocked everyone around the pillar to the ground. Cinder gripped her head before she swung back around to face Jaune. But once she saw him, her face twisted to fear.
Raven had a similar visage as she shook, "What the hell…?"
As the light faded, they finally saw Jaune again. His hoodie and upper armor had been lost, leaving only his jeans, boots, and gauntlets. What looked like a necklace of golden spiked teeth hung around at the base of his neck. Lines of red adorned his body, wrapping around his sides and shoulders as one 'strand' wrapped over one arm. Jaune smirked, a soft laugh passing in the air. "What's wrong?" He sounded off. Confident, almost to an arrogant degree. "Have you lost your nerves?" He brought a hand to his bangs and slid it his hair back, putting it under control for the first time in a while. He held the presence of a lord; a heavenly King on Remnant.
Of course, this got those attracted to Jaune to pay a bit more attention. Of course, thanks to the Non-Traditional arrangement, Nora, Velvet, and Pyrrha could do so a bit more openly.
Jaune's grin spread as he finally addressed his enemies, "Now, I shall show you lowly mongrels your place."
The moment that M-word left his mouth, every Faunas was instantly on edge. Mongrel was something of a slur used by humans against them. Context was key, so they knew it wasn't about racism, but it still got them to pause.
The camera hung on Jaune as he spread his arms to either side. Suddenly, a mass of golden portals came to life behind him and spread out like wings. Within, the camera moved up to meet a portal as something started to slowly come through. A point was soon formed and followed by the head of a golden spear. Another formed a sword shaped like lightning. Another had a blade of an ax that curved back over the handle. So on and so forth as more weapons appeared.
Ruby wanted to geek out about all the different weapons, but something felt wrong. Jaune calling anyone something mean seemed wrong. She never saw him as the type that would actively insult anyone. True, Cinder was a bitch here, and likely in her reality, but it still seemed strange.
The camera was low as sweat started to fall from Cinder and Raven. These two were Maidens, Fall and Spring respectively.
Qrow growled and turned toward his sister. When she didn't do anything, he finally had a confirmation that Raven was their Spring Maiden. That just makes this more complicated. Just my luck.
Their powers were rooted in their world. Even if said powers are so unlike anything they seem out of place, they found root in Remnant. But this? This felt forgien, like it was from another world entirely. It felt older. It felt ancient. As though it predated all life on Remnant. But with their magic, they could feel just how vast this power was. All they could feel was a primal fear.
Ozpin's eyes narrowed, scanning his memories and memories of his predecessors, trying to remember if anything like this existed in the era of Ozma. All he could find was, if it did, it was before Ozma's time in the world.
Behind the portals, Ruby looked incredibly nervous, "Jaune? What is all this? What's happening? What did you…?"
"Calm down Ruby." Jaune glanced over his shoulder toward her. They could see a feint glint of red pass over his eyes for a moment, "The King will handle this."
But not everyone could feel this power. Mercury regained his footing and just let out a quick laugh, unaware of what was before him. "So you changed outfits and you think you're so tough? Big de-" He was cut off when a spear flew forward and tore through his chest and through to clear the other side.
Mercury brought a hand to the corresponding point on his chest in sheer shock. There's been plenty of death so far, some more brutal than this. But it felt insane that, at full aura, that spear just blew through him.
Jaune hadn't even given him a glance, but it was clear he launched the spear from one of his portals. "And who said you could bark at me, dog? Know your place."
Emerald watched the impact before turning back toward Jaune, determined. She was still loyal to Cinder and knew it as time to retreat. "I won't let you have Cinder!"
Emerald felt her head hang a little lower. She had realized that this loyalty was one way. That Cinder never actually cared about her. She thought it was better now that she left that all behind her. She stole a sideways glance toward the students, the Beacon group that accepted her attempts to change and allowed her into their lives in earnest. She knew they couldn't trust her yet, but she was okay with that.
"Oh?" They saw the world through Jaune's eyes as Emerald and Cinder faded out. The mint haired lackey was using her semblance, an illusion hoping to escape. "And just who said you could leave, mongrel?" A sword flew forward and slammed clean into Emerald's mid-torso, sending her flying backward and into the wall. "I'm disappointed. But I shouldn't be surprised. After all, they dog that barks doesn't bite."
They could see Hazel run toward Jaune from behind. He took pre crystals of lightning Dust and embedded them directly into his arm to overcharge his attacks.
Coco recoiled once she saw him stab himself with pure Dust, "That's got to hurt like hell."
Ozpin shook his head, however, "It would. But he can't feel it. His Semblance dulls his sense of pain. He can fight longer than most as a result and take more punishment without fear. It's impossible to really hurt him."
But 'hurt' wasn't on Jaune's mind right now. As Hazel leapt into the air behind him, he just smirked. "A bold attempt. But ultimately," portals popped into form around Hazel, the larger man's eyes instantly turning to shock, "Useless." Hazel was ripped apart by spears that flew into him from all directions.
This caused many to recoil in fear. The Jaune on screen had, as of yet, not moved and yet three people were dead! Cinder and Raven exchanged a glance. It was a shared realization that they were next.
Portals formed around Raven, causing her to try to jump away to save herself. What came from these portals, however, were chains. The chains wrapped themselves around Raven's arms, legs, and stomach. They snapped tight and lifted her off the ground and held her in place. Jaune stepped in front of Raven, his glare unyielding and making her afraid for the first time in a long time.
Jaune brought his hand to Raven's face, placing her chin onto a curved finger and his thumb under her lip. It was a move to make it clear that he was in control. HE was the King. "You should be grateful that the blood of my friend's doesn't stain your hands. But we will have words."
Raven actually felt relieved once she heard that. Words she could work with. Words can't kill her like a blade can.
Vernal slid her foot back uncertain of what to do. If she stayed still, would she be spared like Raven? She'd smacked that white haired Schnee around, but she was alive! This guy obviously hated Cinder and her cronies, but maybe they could get away from this. Before she could even consider what could happen next, another set of chains shot up from the floor and wrapped around her wrists and neck. The chains pulled her down to the ground, as though to bow before the man in front of her. As she shook in fear, he glanced toward her, making her freeze up in hopes it will save her.
"I don't know or recognize you. Stay as you are, else I will put you down, dog."
Cinder grit her teeth and swung her arm to the side. This is my chance. His guard is down. She created a blade of glass and moltan flame. She charged forward, intent on skewering him like he'd done to the others.
Mercury started to feel a little better. "This can only end well." Sure, his alternate version was dead, but at least Cinder bites it too. He was never loyal to her, rather that he just stuck around to use his skills. Recently he'd decided to cut ties and go his own way. He'd be lying if he said he didn't imagine putting Cinder six feet under every now and then.
"Did you think that pitiful display of magic could save you from me?" Another portal opened to a spearhead that crackled with lightning.
The weapon shot forward and shattered Cinder's blade, tore into her flesh, and blasted her only good arm into nothingness. Cinder was still for a moment as everything started to register in her mind. Her legs turned weak from the pain as she fell to her knees. She didn't care about her plans and secrets anymore as her Grimm arm swung up to her shoulder, clutching onto what flesh remained as she screamed in pain.
"What the heck is that?!" Ruby jolted upright at the sight of the Grimm arm.
Port's brow furrowed, "Is it Merlot's doing?"
"Or," Ironwood's eyes narrowed, "is it this world's Salem?"
As Cinder writhed in pain, she cursed Jaune out. She couldn't believe she'd lost an arm again. First to the 'Silver-eyed brat,' and now this? At least when she lost her left arm, it was quick. Her cries paused she she heard his boots strikes the ground in front of her.
"That hand suits you. As hideous as you are damned."
As this all happened, Lionheart shook and fell to a seated position. He tried to scramble away and escape, only to find a spear floating in front of him to black his path.
"Traitorous scum like you are lower than mongrels. You're unworthy to even breathe the same air as I do."
Chains flew forward and wrapped around Lionheart's throat, snapping tight and cutting off his air flow. They began to dig into his flesh as he reached up trying, in vain, to remove them.
"Atone in the next world."
The chains relaxed before slamming back together snapping the traitor's neck.
Qrow could feel that there was something else going on. That Lionheart was responsible for terrible things. He knew he'd betrayed Oz, hell all of humanity, to Salem's forces. It felt like he'd got off easy compared to what Salem would do to him if he wasn't useful anymore.
"Now then," Jaune turned back to Cinder as she started to rise again on her knees. "Before you die, I have a question for you." A portal flowed into form as a new spear slowly floated forward. Once clear from the portal, they could recognize Milo's blade. "Do you believe in destiny?" Those were Pyrrha's last words. It felt appropriate that they would be the last things this bitch could hear. He didn't even give her the chance to reply as Milo shot forward and impaled Cinder though center mass.
"Well, give him this much, guy got his revenge." Mercury didn't fault him for earlier. As a trained assassin, he knew someone was going to get him eventually. Might as well go out to a man on a warpath.
Jaune turned away with arms crossed, "I doubt you'll be going to the same place she has. I'm certain she waits on the throne for me." Cinder fell to the side and hit the ground, dead, as Milo began to disappear into golden lights. Jaune huffed and bid good riddance to bad rubbish. "We're done here. Now let's…" He paused as his glare changed to surprise.
His friends were all crowded together behind Ruby. Everyone but Ruby was covered by Ren's semblance and blanked out as if to hide themselves in some way. Oscar was sitting at the side, traumatized by Jaune's bloody work. Nora called to Ren to use his semblance in case Jaune could 'smell fear.'
Nora groaned, "I mean… I guess if one of us just suddenly did that…"
Jaune sighed, "It's alright Nora. You don't need to justify it. I think I'd be afraid too."
Yang peaked up over the group to address her sister, "Sorry Ruby. But he recognized you before."
But Ruby did not look like a pillar for them to hide behind. She was shaking like a leaf in a storm. She was afraid of her first friend's actions and his sudden change. She had every right to be, obviously.
Jaune felt a sweat drop fall, "Oh right. All the deaths…"
The camera started to pan backward as the scene faded out. Thus ended this viewing.
"Well.. that happened." Yang looked around the room, trying to figure out what else she could say to that.
"What the hell was that?!" Harriet was on her feet with eyes pointed square toward King. Said eyes made clear her intentions. She was afraid something like that could exist in their own world.
King waved off her concerns, "Calm down. That can't happen in your world."
Harriet's strength failed now as she fell back to her chair in relief.
"It's called a Servant Card. The idea is that it stores the power of a legend in the past. Jaune was temporarily, - possessed, I guess is the right word - possessed by a past figure. At least, that's the idea."
"So, who possessed him?" Oobleck was intrigued by the idea. In a twisted kind of way, it was the perfect way to confirm some of the historical questions to be had.
King contemplated it for a moment before clapping his hands together. The lights faded a bit for story time. "Born of a human king and a goddess, he is said to be the template for all heroes to follow. Said to have been the man who had everything. His was the rule of the divine, and an ego to match. Now behold!" He swung his arms apart and the screen sparked to life again, showing a blond haired, red eyed man in golden armor. Everything about him exuded the same regal power as Jaune had shown beyond the screen. "The King of Heroes!"
Jaune looked up toward this man and wondered if he could be as powerful. To be the template for those to follow him. In a way, it was what Jaune always wanted to become. He wanted to be a Hero, after all. The personality it gave him didn't gel well with Jaune, but was it necessary for the powerful? Does arrogance have to be the end for rulers? It was time to take something new to heart.
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King: Okay, I tried. I tried to use actual links, but apparently this site forbids it on principle. You guys are just going to have to look it up the old fashioned way... I left the extensions (the bit after the com/) for Deviant Art and I'll ask you all to look them up. Seriously, it's really good.
Alex-Kellar's page: alex-kellar
The Comic's first page: alex-kellar/art/Commission-The-Ascension-of-the-Knight-page-1-782669225