[RWBY] RWBY Shorts

[GraveyardShift]

In a distant corner of the infinite, born is one that could bring about world peace... but in doing so, they also started the greatest war ever known to mankind. A fight for the ages. A battle that is legendary. These are...

The Grandmother Wars

War 1: The Forbidden Power

Mia Arc giggled from her 'seat' in her grandmother's Isabel Arc's arms as she fled the woman behind her. This was fun!

"YOU CAN'T KEEP GRANDBABY AWAY FROM ME FOREVER IZZY! SHE WILL BE A FINE ADDITION TO MY COLLECTION!"

"OVER MY DEAD BODY ARTIC! THIS IS MY GRANDCHILD AND YOU CAN'T HAVE HER!"

"YOU HAVE ENOUGH ALREADY! THEY CAME BACK IN TIME! GIVE ME THE CUTE ONE!"

"YOU HAVE TWO DAUGHTERS! GET YOUR OWN! NICK! I NEED BACKUP!"

Nicholas Arc sensed a moment to tease his wife and pointed at the pursuing Kyinaye. "ATTENTION ALL GRANDCHILDREN! INITIATE GRANDMOTHER SUPPRESSION MANUIVER NUMBER ONE!"

"SHE IS NOT A GRANDMOTHER!" Isabel contested Nick's declaration.

In the meantime the ground shook as multiple heads turned and a stamped approached Kyinaye.

"DOGPILE!"

"AUGH!" The tiny five foot two bluehead woman was buried under an avalanche of back to the present future grown children.

Isabel laughed triumphantly. "Let's see you get out of THAT Artic!"

The pile of future grandchildren rumbled ominously.

"OOO HO HO HO HO HO!!! Foolish Isabel! You have only made my job easier by gathering them all in one place. NOW I HAVE ONLY ONE LEFT TO COLLECT."

Isabel's eyes went wide. "But... but... dogpile..."

"Again foolish Isabel, you have underestimated me by judging me by my size which you should not. For I am powered by... LOVE OF GRANDCHILDREN!" The pile rumbled again. "Secret Grandmother Technique Number 62! GRANDBABY HOIST! Hup!"

The pile of future grandchildren shrieked and giggled as it was raised up off the ground.

"NO! IT'S NOT POSSIBLE! THAT TECHNIQUE IS FORBIDDEN!"

Nick took out a scroll and held it up to record the mayhem. "HER POWER LEVEL! IT'S OVER 10,000!"

"ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE IN PURSUIT OF GRANDCHILDREN! BELIEVE IT!" The pile moved once again in pursuit of Isabel and Mia. "SURRENDER THE GRANDCHILD AND I MAY LET YOU JOIN THEM IN MY COLLECTION!"

"NEVER!"

 

[GraveyardShift]

The Grandmother Wars

War 2: Dirty Pool

"I HAVE HAD IT WITH YOU KYINAYE ARTIC!" Isabel Arc jabs the smaller woman in the chest with a finger while supporting her cat faunus Granddaughter Mia Arc in the other. "You shameless thief! Walking in like you own the place and taking grandchildren that don't belong to you! This one is mine!"

"In truth that belongs to Jaune and he's free to associate with whomever he likes. So as long as one of my daughters is nudged in that direction..."

Isabel narrowed her gaze. "That's your play is it? Well I'm not letting you have my only son ether! I am forbidding any union between them!"

"Like you tried to forbid his huntsman career?"

Isabel spluttered.

"Izzy, sweetie. You really need to relax your need for control. Trust me. You squeeze too hard you'll simply drive them away. After all how much happier has been since he came to Beacon with Mia? And frankly it's been good for Mia too. All those new friends and experiences she'd had. For a girl who's lost so much she's gain much in return."

"...Fine. I don't disagree. But that still doesn't mean I approve of your daughters! Do you KNOW what goes in their heads?"

"Yes. You know full well I'm aware of their underlying issues."

"And you think it's safe to let them around Mia?!?"

"She's been good for them too and this is the first you've complained about it despite their various adventures. Mia learned a love of climbing and embracing her heritage, both as a Faunus and as a distant noble after all."

Isabel glowered at Kyinaye. "I'm still not approving any union! So there!"

Kyinaye narrowed her gaze. "Are you SURE that's the only means to make it happen?"

Isabel sniffed. "If Jaune marries nether of the twins then you don't get your grandchild!"

Kyinaye gave an exasperated sigh. "Well I suppose I'll have to go to plan B. HEY NICK! WANNA SEE SOMETHING AWESOME?!"

Nicholas Arc appeared immediately. "DO I?!? WHAT IS IT?" he asked like an excited child.

"If you think I'm going to be swayed by my husband you have another thing coming Art-MMPPH!"

Kyinaye seized Isabel by the labcoat and hauled her down into a sudden heated kiss. Isabel struggled briefly before going slack. Mia squealed before hiding her eyes behind her hands. Nick just stood there wordlessly watching.

The kiss wore on for about a minute before Kyinaye pulled free with a pop. "MMWUAH! Any complaints now Isabel?"

Isabel just blinked, glasses slightly askew, as she stood there bluescreening. Her mind ruthlessly trying to hunt down and crush the very tiny, miniscule treasonous part of her that suggested she was kinda into this and maybe giving up some control to someone else wouldn't be so bad.

Kyinaye chuckled. "I thought not." She then stole'liberated' Mia out of Isabel's arms before turning to Nick. "Well Nick? Any complaints about you and your wife being conscripted into MY harem?"

Nick stood there also bluescreening but with a dopey smile on his face at how AWESOME it was to see his wife being kissed so passionately by another woman... again... but this time without the intent of killing her... which was MUCH hotter.

"I'll take your silence as an assent you have none and agree to the conscription of you both. Well Izzy now that THAT'S been settled, looks like Mia IS my Granddaughter since I have her grandparents." She turned to Mia booping her nose. "And let this be a lesson to you Mia. Always have a back up plan and when in doubt, always aim higher up the chain."

Mia giggled.

Willow Schnee suddenly teleported into the room with a thick binder in her hands handing it over to Kyinaye who glanced at the cover of "APPLICATION FOR POSITION IN HAREM." She flicked it open with one hand sifting through it while hold Mia with the other arm. "Impressive. Good stock. No health complications aside from the drinking but we'll fix that. I do have to ask..." Kyinaye looked back toward Willow. "Why THIS harem?"

"Because I want Nick."

"Mmmm..." Kyinaye snapped the binder shut with a thump and tapped a corner on her chin. "A compelling argument but I'm going to need MORE...."

---

Why waste time on the father when you can simply claim the grandparents?

 

[GraveyardShift]

Last post.

Because I REALLY liked these jokes.

Original by Colobopsis

Jacques the Jack-Ass Jokes
​

We (@Leo 123 , @brinkleberry and myself) present you the anthology of jokes about Jacques Schnee. These were funny as hell to come up with and we hope that you will laugh with us too.

• "Willow cheating? Don't care. Sleeping with Willow? Don't want to. Cheat on Willow with secretaries? Hire prostitutes? Don't want to. SDC stock price goes up? Thats what we are talking about!"
• "Numbers go green - PP goes hard"/"Jacques wants to get out of the box"
• Why are Lien banknotes made out of plastic instead of paper? Because otherwise Jacques would be doing inappropriate things with them.
• Why Jacques is so power-hungry indvidiual? Because if he wasn't as cunning he would have had hard time as a gay in Atlas.
• Jacques actually doesn't care about sex at all. He is a tryhard-cel who married Willow only for the money and influence. He forced himself to have three children with her. Then he went back to CEOing and being a jackass.
• - Why hasn't the GDSS sent an agent to kill Jacques in his bed yet?
  - They haven't figured out how to turn a stock portfolio into a competent assassin.
• Jacques has actually never had sex. Because having sex means losing your virginity. And Jacques Schnee never loses.
• I present you - the ChudJacques (made by myself using Paint 3D).
  
  

 

[Frankly Tired]

Strawberry Maintenance
~~~~~~
It's Weapon Maintenance Day in Beacon!

All students who pass examination are exempt from their next class (Combat Class is Mandatory)
As a bonus, Students who pass are allowed 1 free Strawberry Milkshake in the courtyard.

Please thank Head Chef Boid R. Tea for providing the Milkshakes.
~~~~~~~

Ruby is having a crisis.

as her code as an Engineer dictates, she MUST do a 110% thorough cleaning of Crescent Rose!
That has always taken 12 hours of the day...

...But Strawberry Milkshake...

No!
She must persevere!
Her baby must be polished and oiled to perfection!
~~~~~~
All the Cold Weapon students got their milkshakes first.

Jaune lords it over Ruby.

She may have "accidentally" fired off a round into his milkshake, exploding the contents into his face.

Half of the exploded contents landed on Crescent's Inner workings.

Ruby has to start over...
~~~~~~
Pyrrha tried to offer a Split Straw couples milkshake, but fumbled and drank from both ends when Jaune asked why she had one.

She drank too fast in her panic, and choked.

Jaune pats her back as she coughs up strawberries.

physical contact!

it's a win.
~~~~~
Nora spilt her Couples Not-Together Together, but Together Milkshake.

Ren offers to share his normal milkshake.

He even offered to use the Split straw as a way to share.

Nora drinks it all in a panic.

~~~~~~
Yang doesn't like strawberries, planned to save it for Ruby.

but someone touched her hair by accident as they were both leaving, and it melted in her hand.

"I'm sure Strawberry milk is just as fine," She stares at the semi boiling mass in her surprisingly durable cup, "Ruby probably can't even tell the difference."

Unfortunately, she placed it down when she was called to do something

Someone saw a melted milkshake, and dumped it.
~~~~~~
Despite her Stereotypes demanding that milk must be consumed.

Blake is lactose intolerant.
Also she's allergic to strawberries.

But the milk.
It's calling to her.

And so were the paramedics.
As she lies there, foaming at the mouth.
~~~~~~
Weiss wasn't much of a fan of Milkshakes.
She instead wanted Strawberry ice cream.

So she froze it.

Happily, she took a bite.

Oh right.

She hates strawberries.

Disgusted, she left the Surprisingly Durable Cup on Ruby's desk as she was working.
~~~~~~
Well...

It had some ice chunks in it (Weiss how?)

But after 16 hours, it did melt into a decent, milkshake like, consistency.

*Crunch*

Could do without the frozen strawberries though.
Why are the stems still on them? (Weiss how?)

 

[Frankly Tired]

Ironwood Takes a Vacation
~~~~~~
Prompt:
James Ironwood takes a vacation. He has no idea where to even start, but Qrow and Taiyang are there to help!

~~~~~~
James placed a hand on the last STRQ member's shoulders.

"Qrow, Mr. Xiao Long, I have experienced many new and wild things this past few weeks. You two have allowed me to see many new sights, and try new experiences. And I just have to say."

He frowned, gripping their shoulders tightly.

"I am never going on another vacation ever again. If it was legal, I would never even have a day off. I won't ever spend the 15-30 minutes of a lunch break, I will instead eat as I work. hoping that, by some miracle, I choke on my food and perish, so that I will never have to remember the things you two absolute deranged lunatics put me through. The very thought of a break is causing me Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Pain. I can feel my very Aura drain as I am forced to picture what has transpired."

with his bullhead arriving, he boarded, before it departed he turned to look at them once last time.

"Never invite me to do anything with you two ever again."

The remainder of Team STRQ watched as the Atlesian Headmaster left.

Qrow huffed, "Ungrateful much?"
Tai nodded, "Totally."

 

[Frankly Tired]

Jaune, Penny and Ruby's First Date
(This will see an update)
~~~~~~
Prompt:
Penny decides she's going to experience dating. So she selects Ruby and Jaune as her first partners. How does it go?
~~~~~~
J: "Wait both of us at the same time?"
P: "Yes! Double the experience!"
J: "Penny that's not how that-"

R:"Hold that thought Penny!"
P:"Okay!"

"Jaune, let her have this. Besides with another one here, we can stop her from going too far, too fast."
"Huh?"
"Do you really want to experience Penny rubbing your leg under a table?"
"Wh-what?!"
"Penny has a habit of applying everything she learns at the same time, it's why I banned her from helping me with doing maintenance on Crescent Rose."
She sighed.
"So much oil, polish, and paint..."

"So she might..."
"On the first date? Probably."
.
.
*Fearful shiver*
.
.
"Ruby, we're going on a date with Penny together."
"For safety?"
"For safety."

 

[GraveyardShift]

Jaune Arc: Tsundere Hunter

"Ms. Nikos! Ms. Nikos!"

Pyrrha gestured to the reporter keeping Plastic Smile No. 7 "The Gentle Ease" on her lips. But Dust was this Press Conference taking so long... She may have been retired from the circuit for her time at Beacon but she was still required by the Sponsership contracts that had yet to expire to make the occasional Media Presence.

She'd much rather be back at Beacon right now watching Nora's latest antics...

"Ms. Nikos there have been rumors floating around that you have been seen in the presence of a local Valish Boy during your time at Beacon. Can you offer some insight into who this boy is and why he's seen so frequently with you?"

Pyrrha's smile slipped slightly almost into a genuine grin but she caught it and forced Plastic Smile No. 3 "The Slight Teeth" into place.

...or she could be working on getting Jaune to date her. Again.

"As you well know, I am attending Beacon Academy to put my skills to use as a future Huntress and Defender of Humanity. I have been placed on a team with three other individuals as is Hunter Academy Standard. The boy you are likely referring to who's name is Jaune Arc..." She allowed herself a little heat in her voice to make it clear she didn't appreciate the dehumanization of Jaune by omitting his name before switching back to a neutral tone. "...is the Team Leader of the team I am on. It is only natural that as my fellow teammate and Team Leader I spend time in his company to better our cooperation in our time at Beacon."

"Anything to say about the rumors that you are dating this Jaune Arc or he is currently attempting to date you?"

"No."

"What about the rumors that he is currently attempting to date multiple girls including famed Heiress and Singer Weiss Schee?"

Pyrrha twitched slightly at the name but forced herself to keep still. "Jaune is a very kind young man which is appreciated by many of our fellow classmates and close friends. He is free to date who he chooses." LIKE MEEEEEEEEEE. She raged in her head. ME AND NOT THAT FLAT SKINNY HARLOT WHO IS ONLY ICE AND SPITE.

"What about the rumor-"

Pyrrha's agent cut in. "As much as I'm sure Ms. Nikos would like to recount her academy experiences, if there are no further questions regarding the subject of this Press Release, we will need to end it here as we are 30 minutes over time. Thank you for attendance." Pyrrha was greatly relieved by the dismissal and being ushered out as reporters clamored to try and get a last question in.

---

Jaune opened the door to the dorm room just a Pyrrha was snapping the last of the elastic of her workout outfit into place. He quickly spun around and closed the door. "Whoop! Oh sorry Pyrrha! Didn't know you were back already!"

Pyrrha turned to face him with a megawatt grin on her face. "Oh no big deal Jaune! It's not like we haven't seen each other already given how we live together." Pyrrha had, in truth, been fully dressed for 30 minutes now and had been waiting for Jaune to return to the dorm before strategically positioning herself and adjusting her outfit when he came in to sell the lie it had been a 'close call'.

She had been doing this since their first week as a team back when JNPR was sorting out their 'domestic' schedule because Jaune had been GREAT fun to tease. Ever since she teased him in the Emerald Forest about 'having spots on his team' and he had reacted positively to her first attempts at teasing to form a genuine connection, she had come to crave that response from him.

As a Co-Ed team, there had been the occasional 'accident' of walking in on each other which was to be expected. Nora and Ren having grown up as Co-ed nomads and raised in Mistralian culture which included communal and mixed bathing, were used to it and didn't make a big deal out of it.

Pyrrha herself, also Mistralian and having been pretty much raised in a locker room, didn't have the same sense of bodyshame ether and so also wasn't put off by any 'accidents'.

But Jaune... oh SWEET Jaune... despite having been raised with seven sisters and his early training of being a doctor, was SUCH a gentleman about wanting to 'preserve their modesty', had the most HILARIOUS reactions when it happened. The way he went red, stuttered and stammered, before saying something completely non sequitur that never failed to make people laugh.

Nora had immediately joined in with her into trying to arrange such 'incidents' trying to see what off the wall stuff she could make him say and take it as a competition to 'outweird the Fearless Leader'. Much to Ren's torment. The stories of which were eagerly shared with their sister team RWBY which Yang would latch onto about the 'Jaune Phrase of the Week'.

Life went on and Jaune got better about the stammering, slowly becoming inoculated to the 'incidents' though he still had the weird gibberish outburst and never failed to turn red. Which he was doing now.

And Lonely Little Pyrrha, devoid of any meaningful relationships, had her heart stolen when she wasn't looking by the kind blonde goofball himbo.

She didn't know how or when it happened. Maybe one too many of those boyish smiles sent her way with genuine kindness and affection. Maybe it was the dark secret he entrusted to her, first and long before the others, that bound them together as he literally entrusted his life to her at Beacon. A gift so precious and taboo she swore to guard it to her grave.

Or maybe it was just knowing the reaction she got out of him when she teased him triggering his gentlemanly upbringing. Eventually coming to understand he reacted this way because he saw her as a woman.

Pyrrha shivered a little at that. Jaune, a boy, saw her, as a girl.

And she liked that he saw her as such. Making a little flutter that jumped from her stomach to her chest.

But whatever the case was. The hows or whys. They mattered not. What did matter was that Pyrrha Nikos was In Love with Jaune Arc.

And so she teased him relentlessly, more frequently, knowing that when she did so, all his attention was focused on her in that moment.

And, she was so sure, if she remained the focus of his attention, he would come to see her in the same way that she saw him having captured her attention for as long as he had.

She simply nodded having not paid attention to a single thing he'd said in the last few minutes. Only watching his lips move. "Sounds about right." She said causing Jaune to raise an eyebrow. KYA! SO CUTE! Pyrrha gushed internally. "I'm heading up the roof. We're doing stretches today so wear something light. No need to bring combat gear." She reminded him.

"Seem to be doing that a lot these days...." Jaune mumbled.

"Flexibility is important to a Huntsman Jaune. Being able to move in unpredictable ways without hurting yourself can throw off your opponents letting you slip through their guards easier." She demonstrated by twisting while stretching before dropping backwards into a bridge arching herself and nearly folding in two.

Jaune went pure red at the things she was doing. "Uh... L-l-lettuce stocks are up over jelly seeds in the market today." He said turning away from her.

Pyrrha fell flat on her back as giggles took her. Finally she rolled to her feet (going backwards heels over head ensuring Jaune stayed red watching her move) and patted him on the shoulder as she went for the door. "See you in five."

"R-Right."

Pyrrha let the door close behind her but used her semblance to prevent the latch from engaging letting her silently crack the door open and watch with giddy intent as Jaune's shirt came off. Oh Yes... she thought.

---

Jaune had no idea how it came to this. He was a good boy! His mother had pretty much forced him to be such.

And here he was stuck between two girls wearing little more than 'swimwear' as gym clothes.

Yang had showed up a few minutes after he and Pyrrha had gotten started. "Oh! You two doing some stretching and Yoga? Fancy that! I'll just join you!"

He knew what was going on. He knew about the 'Jaune Phrase of the Week' challenge and how Yang had started joining in with Pyrrha and Nora trying to get a rise out of him. Yang was a worse tease then Pyrrha and Nora combined!

"No Jaune. You're still too stiff. You need to loosen up a little further and REAAAACH!" Jaune gritted his teeth as Pyrrha put her hands on his back and pushed bending him in a way that didn't feel natural. How was he getting worse at this? Pyrrha seemed to have to constantly correct him all the time.

And Yang wasn't helping at all! As much as Jaune tried to avert his gaze and respect her, she somehow always found a way to stretch right in his sightline.

If he didn't know any better he'd swear they were flirting with him.

But that was silly! They were only nice to him because he made them laugh. Which... wasn't the end of the world. Being able to make his friends laugh and feel good was something Jaune Arc could do for people. Positive energy and all that.

Living with seven sisters had him used to being teased in all manner of different ways by girls. Always playful and never hurtful. Just like his friends.

Except Weiss.

Weiss Schnee was a cold angel of snow. Who dismissed him as a 'bumbling peasant'. Who acerbic tongue lashed out at him at every opportunity.

But his mother had taught him better. That to never judge a book by its cover. That a 'friend was a stranger you just hadn't met yet.'

That somewhere under there was nice, kind person who was afraid of being taken advantage of.

But like his father said "All you need is confidence son. Your mom didn't say yes at first ether, but I kept going! I never let the rejection get me down and just like a good fight, you get up and keep trying! And now we're married for life and I wouldn't have any other woman ever!"

To which his mother Isabel promptly smacked him in the back of the head but did so with a blush on her face and she didn't resist the kiss Nick immediately planted on her afterwards.

And then there had been his ex-girlfriend Katy.

She had been bullish, loudmouthed, and argumentative. And the more they fought, the more she'd clung to him.

But in the quiet moments when it was the two of them leading up to when they had gotten together romantically, she was a kind, affectionate, cuddler that had only become more pronounced when they were dating.

All of this including some extra research from Mistralian literature had led Jaune to one conclusion.

Weiss had feelings for him! But she was being a Tsundere about it meaning she wouldn't just come out and say what she really felt.

And frankly, Jaune had to admit that having to work for Weiss' affections was something he enjoyed. There was no reward without honest hard work ever in life right? The Good Book of Aslan said so multiple times!

He just had to put in the work and show Weiss that he, Jaune Arc, was a gentleman to the core and that she could trust him to catch her feelings and hold them gently. She'd come around!

...in fact... he should go invite her to come up and join them!

"Hey guys! I'll be right back. I need to go check on something." Jaune made for the rooftop exit and down into the dorms.

Once he was clear, Yang and Pyrrha butted up against each other with brittle smiles.

"So we're really doing this are we P-Money?"

"Apparently we are."

"No hard feelings when he picks the right girl?"

"None. At. All."

---

As Jaune knocked on the dorm room door, it was not Weiss that answered but Ruby Rose.

"Eyah?" she asked around a sucker clenched between her teeth leaning on the doorframe.

"Uh..." Jaune forgot himself a minute taking in the spaghetti top and short thigh length skirt she was wearing. "Is the AC out or something? Everyone's wearing some pretty light clothing."

Ruby pulled the sucker free of her lips with a pop. "Or something." She commented idly.

"Didn't take you for a lollypop girl. You're normally obsessing over cookies as your goto sweet."

Ruby shrugged working the hard candy around her mouth before pulling it free again. "Felt like a change today and needed the raw sugar." She offered the very sucker that had been in her mouth to Jaune. "Want some?"

"Uh... thanks but while I'm sure you have excellent dental hygiene... I'll pass on the one that's been in your mouth."

Ruby shrugged. "Missing out." she put it back it between her jaws. Jaune caught sight of her tongue swiping over it. "Ehth strahbeuh." she said.

"Riiiight."

Jaune and Ruby just stared at each other for the next few minutes. Ruby working on her candy and standing there waiting on him as Jaune's brain tried to remember why he was here in the first place.

"Ruby, why are you standing at the door like that? In or out!" The door was yanked fully open as one Weiss Schnee was revealed. Her eyes caught sight of Jaune and her breath came out in a hiss. "Oh. YOU." Taking stock of the situation she noticed the staring match going on and immediately hustled Ruby back into the room as Ruby protested. "How DARE you objectify my team leader like that!"

"Damn it Weiss! It wasn't like that! It's just hot!" Ruby protested out of sight.

"A likely story!" Weiss growled as she glared at Jaune still in her usual outfit.

Jaune clapped his hands as his brain finally hit drive. "Oh right! That's why I came down here!" He cleared his throat. "Weiss would like to join me, Pyrrha, and Yang on the roof for a stretch session?"

Weiss turned red and she verbally exploded. "YOU FILTHY CHANUVISTOIC PIG! YOU ROTTEN MONGRAL! HOW DARE YOU ASK ME TO PERFORM FOR YOUR SICK ENTERTAINMENT!"

The rant went on as a "WHAT!?!?" exploded from behind her followed by the loud banging and clattering of wardrobe doors and dresser drawers.

As Weiss finally wound down from her rant she was bodily shoved aside as Ruby charged past her having changed into a rather tight gym outfit herself seized Jaune's arm and powered down the hallway with Jaune in tow using Pedal Burst yelling "THOSE HUSSIES HAVE GONE TOO FAR THIS TIME TRYING TO STEAL MY BESTIE FOR THEMSELVES! HE WAS MINE FIRST!"

Yeah, Jaune thought to himself as he tried to keep dinner down as Ruby ripped through the school onto the roof at high speed before charging into the standoff with Pyrrha and her sister yelling something at them about 'bimbos'. His friends were weird and Weiss just wasn't being honest with her feelings yet. But he'd get there eventually!

---

From the next building over, Nora gleefully watched the chaos though a pair of binoculars. "She actually called them bimbos! Pay up Renny!"

Ren sighed and passed her 5 lien. "I still say you can't read lips."

Blake's ears twitched minutely as she caught every word. "She did call them bimbos." She confirmed.

"See?" Nora challenged. "Okay. New bet. Yang slips accidentally on purpose and falls on him. It's classic."

"With Pyrrha there? I say it's Ruby who gets away with it."

Blake scoffed as she added the cute rogue to the story of the Gallant Knight and his rooftop romantic rendezvous just as the tension was set to explode. "Please. It ends with ALL of them falling on him as they mistime their efforts and all try to do it at once and get tangled in a human knot."

"Bet!" Nora held out a hand and Blake slapped it.

---

SAVED IT!

 

[Sift Green]

I also have a series of Direct Messages with @Hahoalki further exploring the Myrmidon Cloning Conspiracy idea. If he's okay with me sharing them I might post them here.

Click to shrink...

Okay, I've received permission from @Hahoalki to share the DM conversation we had about the Myrmidon Cloning Conspiracy. And since @AndrewJTalon was included in the DM thread I've also gotten permission from him to share stuff from it. So here we go.


Hahoalki started us off by presenting the following:

Hello, Sift Green and AJT. I've already discussed aspects of this with one of you on Discord, but you, Sift, I haven't had a chance to speak to in detail with yet.

Essentially, my muse isn't cooperating with Truly Invincible, so I'm going to start diversifying my fics. One of the ideas I have involves fusing the Myrmidon Conspiracy concept with AJT's "High Society: Arkos" idea... with some modifications, because I'm me.

Andrew, a lot of this should be familiar to you, but there are some nuanced changes based on your feedback.

These are the basic ideas I've come up with so far:

Premise 0: the fic begins in the break between First and Second semesters, or (equivalently) between the first and second volumes of RWBY.

Premise 1: the Myrmidon Conspirators have planted a student at Beacon to be their eyes and ears, watching their asset, and making sure she doesn't stray too far from the path they have planned for her. Based on his reports, they are not happy with how close Pyrrha's been getting with her team's leader (nor, for that matter, are they particularly pleased with the fact that she isn't a leader herself). So, they contact Athena (who is Pyrrha's legal guardian and cover-story mother), inform her of the situation, and "ask" her to rein in her "daughter."

Premise 2: Athena, for all her many faults, has developed maternal feelings for the girl she's supposed to be helping control. So once she learns that Pyrrha is close to finding happiness, she does some digging of her own, and learns about Jaune's storied background. She finds out about Arturia (and her various connections), Nick's connections to Aelia Paravel, and Jaune's connection to Jeanne (and thus to the history of Argus & Hellenic identity), and manages to sell the conspirators on the advantages of letting Pyrrha and Jaune get together. Thus convinced, the conspirators "request" that Athena set something up with Arturia. This leads to...

Premise 3: A version of the "Arkos: High Society" snippet. Jaune's family informs him of who the prospective fiance is ahead of time. Athena, with her flair for the dramatic, does not give Pyrrha the same courtesy. So when Jaune says something along the lines of "Don't worry, Nana won't make you do anything you don't want to do, and I don't want to chain you down," Pyrrha suddenly gains the courage to ask, "But what if I do want it?" Jaune's a little shocked (I'm thinking he assumed she was already taken), and doesn't know how he feels, so Pyrrha assures him, "I have feelings for you. But I won't make you do anything you don't want to do, so take however long you need to ask yourself what it is that you want. And rest assured, I will be happy as long as you are too."

Premise 4: Tangy overhears that last part of the conversation, so she's in Pyrrha's corner almost from the get-go. And Jaune? Well, he dances with her, has the time of his life, and asks her if she's sure she's willing to be engaged to him. I'm sure you can guess her answer. But when they get back to school, things start getting complicated, because...

Premise 5: ...Arslan picks a fight with Pyrrha almost as soon as they meet, before backing off saying "Thank the Breaker, you're the real one." (I know, I know, but you really cooked with that concept, Sift) Jaune is suspicious and Pyrrha is skeptical, until Tangy reports that she, also, had a run in with a Pyrrha look-alike.

I'm not sure where the story should go from there, which is one of the reasons I want to talk to you guys. Though, given that this is the Itanoverse, I'm thinking a subplot involving Yang would be apropos.

I have a bunch of questions about worldbuilding and characterization, but right now I'd like to open the floor for feedback - or, Sift, if you feel like you can't trust me to do your idea justice, now's the time to speak up, before I get too invested.



To which I replied with:

I think all of the premises you've laid out are solid. And this idea is big enough for more than one person to take a stab at it, especially since there are some radically different ways you can take the concept. Seeing the way you take it should be fun and I'm looking forward to it.

What kind of feedback are you looking for?



And so Hahoalki went on to ask:

First and foremost: what do you envision the conspirators themselves are like? Obviously, there's both political and scientific elements, but are there more?

Is it a monolithic group, or factionalized?

What role (if any) did Lionheart play in its formation, and what role (if any) does he play now?

The secondary issue involves Pyrrha's character. The paradox of Pyrrha is that she combines a messianic complex (seeing it as her duty and destiny to personally protect Remnant) with genuine humility and selflessness. It's obvious where the former came from in a Myrmidon Clone Conspiracy scenario, but it's less clear where humility could have come from. I can come up with my own ideas for this (likely involving religion), but I would like your input before I commit to anything on this front.

Finally (for now), Pyrrha has a better relationship with her parents in this version of the setting, correct?



To which I replied with:

Since the conspirators are mostly a collection of old families that have clung to the old pre-Breaker traditions and faith there would be a religious angle on top of the political and scientific elements. This religious element wants to see the Hellenic faith become the dominant cultural force within the League again and there'd be some disagreement as to how they should go about that. Some think the natural charisma of their martial messiah will be enough to put things on that path, others think they'll need to proactively suppress the Breaker faith once they gain power. Most conspirators fall somewhere in the middle of those two positions.

In any case some of the news organizations owned by members of the conspiracy slant their stories in a pro-Hellenic anti-Breaker manner. This is readily apparent in how they cover Pyrrha's matches with Arslan since Arslan is such a clear champion of the Breaker faith; presenting the fights as proxy battles between divinities and spinning Pyrrha's victories as signs that the Hellenic pantheon is in ascendance.

Pyrrha doesn't like this, seeing it as needlessly divisive, and has complained to her parents every time an arenas' hosting live commentator has alluded to or outright claimed such a thing. Her parents show that they take Pyrrha's complaints seriously by pulling what strings they can to have the offending commentator not commentate on Pyrrha's future matches. The conspiracy allows this because they can pay the next commentator enough to burn bridges with Pyrrha should her next victory over Arslan be deemed impressive or important enough.

Athena convincing the conspiracy's leadership that Jaune is a good potential match for Pyrrha would be a victory for the 'let our martial messiah's natural charisma bring our people back to hellenism' crowd, though they'd probably be looking into ways to try and convince Jaune to convert to reduce the risk of mixed messages and for the political optics of having someone with his kind of connections embracing the old ways.


On the monolithic vs factionalized question I'd say that the conspiracy is outwardly monolithic with slight internal fractionalization. Basically the conspiracy has been quite good at keeping all of its infighting behind closed doors, which is a contributing factor as to how they've been able to keep a conspiracy as big and old as their conspiracy would need to be a secret to outsiders.


The role Lionheart plays is obfuscation; the conspiracy has to move around a lot of resources to create and maintain a clone army on any meaningful scale. As such Lionheart keeps the central government of Mistral from learning about the resources being moved about, and in return the conspiracy lends him enough Myrmidons to form one or two of his personal hit squads.

At the moment I think the conspiracy is older than Lionheart's involvement as the research and development phase would have taken decades what with mapping out the Myrmidon genome, letting the prototypes grow up enough to see if they had everything right, tweaking genes when they found out they didn't, letting the next batch of prototypes grow up enough and so on until they finally had something worth a production run, and then growing a couple of small production run batches before they finally made Pyrrha herself. So logistically speaking it's quite possible that they'd have to have been working on the project for longer than Lionheart could have been realistically involved.

However Lionheart's involvement would have changed the calculus of the conspiracy, as his ability to obfuscate things from outsiders would allow them to drastically upscale their operation. The Myrmidon project would be able to go from a we-are-laying-the-groundwork-for-our-grandchildren kind of project to a we-can-do-this-in-our-lifetime kind of project; going from a handful of easily hidden facilities that could produce a couple hundred Myrmidons at a time to much grander set of secret facilities that could produce legion after legion of Myrmidons at a practical timescale.


On Pyrrha's humility: I'd say that the conspirators would view humility as a desirable trait in their artificial messiah. For both the less awful and true believers among them that humility is a reassurance that Pyrrha will take council from the conspiracy's leadership once everything is in place and Pyrrha assumes her role as the Myrmidons' leader. The more awful among them think Pyrrha's humility will make her more controllable as she won't go full god-complex-diva so long as she is humble.

So that's why the conspiracy is happy Pyrrha is humble and will encourage it when they can. As for why Pyrrha is so genuinely humble? I can see there being a religious reason for it. Most of our real world's Greek mythology's hero myths involve stories with a moral about the dangers of hubris after all, so it wouldn't be surprising if Remnant's equivalent carried similar warnings.

Her humility could also come from how her parents have raised her. Athena has always put her whole heart into every role she's played and the conspiracy is having her play the role a messiah's mother: anything less than perfect parenting won't do.


And yes Pyrrha's relationship with her parents is much better in this version of the setting. A good chunk of Athena's issues stem from her not knowing who she is without the mask and choosing the wrong masks. Here she's wearing a mask she has no problems fully becoming, and so she becomes it and knows who she is.

On top of that politicking within the conspiracy was less corrosive to Athena's husband Peleus' soul than politicking in show business was. As a result he remained a decent husband to Athena and was a decent father figure for Pyrrha.

So yeah, better relations with her parents all around.



Is all that helpful?


The next part of our conversation was this:

It's been quite helpful, but there's still some ground I'd like to cover. I've taken a bit of time to process, and I have a few more questions.

First of all, how much control do the conspirators have over aura quantity and semblances of the clones?

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They've gotten good at ensuring each clone ends up with a variant of Polarity that's similar enough to the baseline for a standardized training regime to work, and they've more or less gotten aura quantity and quality consistently on target for each new batch of clones.

There would still be a handful of outliers since aura and semblances fall within the domain of the soul so mortal sciences will never fully master forcing them into a desired shape, but these outliers should be rare since they've spent so long perfecting the genetic and psychological parts of the equation.

Outliners with less combat applicable semblances are shuffled into either the logistical or medical tracks, essentially being trained to act as camp followers for their more regular Myrmidon sisters. Outliers with combat applicable semblances are rigorously tested to see what they can do: those who fail to impress are also shuffled into the camp follower programs, but those who do impress are given customized training to act as special agents to be kept in the army's back pocket and called on in unique scenarios where their non-standard semblance might provide a solution.

Secondly, we've talked about how Pyrrha herself is the custom-built supersoldier version, while the majority of the clones are designed for mass production. How many "grades" or "castes" of Myrmidon are there in between in the currently mature production run? Does it go straight from "basic infantry" to "high-tier huntress," or are there a couple of "elite soldier" or "special forces" castes in between?

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I'd say there'd be something like four and two-half grades when it comes to "Power Levels." You have the regular Myrmidons at the bottom, those designed to be squad leaders/team captains a rung up from them, the next rung up would be those designed to be the elites/generals that are directly beneath the champion of champions rung Pyrrha was designed to occupy.

The two half grades are for the outliers. The Myrmidons lumped into the camp followers program are technically on the same bottom rung as the regular Myrmidons and technically a half-step below them when it comes to combat powers. It really depends on the individual outlier.

The outlier Myrmidons that are given specialist roles are a half grade because each specialist's exact placement on the "power level" scale can vary wildly. Some are on the same level as the regulars, some are up there with the best of the best.

The next question requires some context. I kind of want to derail Cinder's plans, and doing something with Lionheart to set off the Mistrali Civil War early seems like a thematic way to do that.

So, to what degree has Lionheart been using his contingent of Myrmidons to advance Salem's goals, and what excuses has he been giving them?

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Lionheart has sent his personal Myrmidons on assassination missions, but that's the obvious thing. Less obviously he's sent them on a number of Grimm hunts: Salem doesn't micromanage every Grimm after all so switching to her side means that Grimm can still cause problems for him.

For one thing strategically culling Mistral's Huntsmen and Huntresses creates gaps in the Kingdom's defenses and there are times where Lionheart will need to close one of the gaps he's made for one reason or another. Like if he wants to hide that a gap exists from other people in authority or if Grimm moving through a gap could threaten one of his interests.

So several of the jobs he uses the Myrmidons for wouldn't look suspicious to them at all since they can't see enough of the big picture to realize that he's using them to hide how badly the Kingdom's defenses have been compromised. And if one of them does realize that Lionheart has deliberately created holes in Mistral's defenses? The Myrmidons exist as part of a revolutionary conspiracy that seeks to obtain independence from Mistral proper and creatively reinterpret some borders to the benefit of the Hellenic League; weakening the power of the central government alines with their goals.

And so Lionheart wouldn't need to give his Myrmidons a lot of excuses to justify most of the missions he sends them on, and when a mission does need justification it wouldn't be hard for him to sell it as weakening an enemy of the League.

Which brings us to your next question:

Also, supposing that a means of exposing Lionheart's alleigance to Salem could be achieved, would Lionheart's Myrmidons turn on him, or does their conditioning go too deep?

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It really depends on how long the cloning conspiracy loans out the Myrmidons to Lionheart. Like are they permanently on loan? And if not do they always lend him the same ones or not?

At the moment I'd say he has one or two Myrmidon teams that were given to him permanently, two or three teams that are frequently loaned out to him as the need arises and then a few more teams that are loaned out to him every once in a while.

The teams that have been permanently loaned to him he's probably worked with long enough to have made them loyal to him first and foremost. The teams he's regularly loaned could go either way, and the team he's loaned just every once in a while would probably turn on him if they perceive his actions as a betrayal of the Hellenic League and the cloning conspiracy.


Lionheart has probably toyed with the idea of nurturing the most promising and loyal of his personal Myrmidons into a Pyrrha replacement should the opportunity to try and replace Pyrrha ever present itself. While I don't think the most glaring opportunity for him to try such a thing will happen in your take on the idea this Lionheart loyalist Myrmidon could make for an interesting mirror match foil fight for Pyrrha.

On a related note (and this one goes to both of you), what are the breaks and schedule of the second semester leading up to the Vytal Tournament in the Fall?

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I don't have things lined up on a calendar, so I think Andrew should weigh in on that question.

On the topic of Myrmidon conditioning, what exactly does it entail? What do they believe about Pyrrha, about their purpose, about non-Hellenes, and (after the engagement) about Jaune?

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That's a good question and I'm going to give it some deep thought. I'll try and have an answer for you before Sunday is over.


And then we had this exchange:

On the topic of Myrmidon conditioning, what exactly does it entail? What do they believe about Pyrrha, about their purpose, about non-Hellenes, and (after the engagement) about Jaune?

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So at the moment I don't think any of the Myrmidons have gone through any kind of accelerated aging for a number of reasons. The conspirators didn't want to risk introducing any accelerated aging genes to the general population after they've won their victory and are in a position to start disbanding Myrmidon units. The founders of the conspiracy already expected it to be the work of generations so they planned to take their time ensuring quality, making accelerated aging an unnecessary complication. Finally accelerated aging would cut the active service life of a fully trained Myrmidon in half which is not the return on investment the conspirators are looking for.

As such the conspiracy has all of childhood and the teenage years to shape their Myrmidons into the soldiers and warriors they wish them to be. The education of the Myrmidons begins shortly after they leave the cloning facility's nursery, where they are placed in a more or less normal seaming preschool environment. During these preschool years the Myrmidons are closely monitored to see if they're actually developing along the lines they were designed to so their trainers know where to slot them once they're ready to graduate from the preschool setting.

The specialists and the elites are given a more broad and personalized education because they're expected to be the problem solvers in the field and therefore need a more flexible knowledge base, while the rank and file Myrmidons are given a more narrow education since they're expected to follow the lead of their superiors. Both educations are highly propaganda filled extolling the virtues of the conspiracy's dominant ideology.

As for what this education told them about Pyrrha and their relationship to her? Pyrrha is a demigoddess of war, and they revere her as such. Now that doesn't mean they think Pyrrha is inherently perfect and can do no wrong, but Pyrrha would have to majorly screw up before the average Myrmidon would question her orders.

The Myrmidon's believe their purpose is to protect and serve the Hellenic League (or at least the conspiracy's vision of the league) according to the will of the conspiracy's inner circle who act as the voice of Olympus, and they will be lead in this endeavor by the demigoddess made flesh that is Pyrrha.

Their education gave them a deep pride in Hellenic culture, the pagan version of that culture specifically. One could describe them as cultural chauvinists, as they think all peoples would be better off following the teachings of the old pagan philosophers and paying homage to the gods and goddesses of Olympus (or whatever Remnant's equivalent of Olympus is called).

This complicates their feelings towards Jaune. They don't care that he's not ethnically Hellenic, but they do care that he isn't culturally Hellenic. At the same time they don't like the idea of second guessing Pyrrha, and she clearly thinks he's fantastic so Jaune has to be the ideal man, right?

So Jaune has the potential to be a stumbling block for the ideology the conspiracy has taught the Myrmidons, and what conclusion each individual Myrmidon reaches about him is a good marker as to who that Myrmidon will side with if/when Pyrrha ends up in conflict with the leaders of the conspiracy.



Was all that helpful?

I hate to ask this while you're still thinking about things, but do you have any ideas for specific characters involved in the conspiracy? Because if not, I just spent about an hour coming up with "close-enough" Greek equivalents to the cast of the board game Clue.

They fit... surprisingly well. Or perhaps not-so-surprisingly, given that they were all supposed to be shady characters in the first place.

I'm especially fond of 'Chilliarch Alcibiades "The Colonel" Moustakas,' 'Hierarch Thallo "The Reverent" Floros' ("Isn't Thallo a Girl's Name?" "Young lady, you have no idea how many times that's been pointed out to me"), and 'Professor Thanasis "Doc" Porphyry' (he's professor, not doctor - he lost his medical license the first time he got involved in a "eugenics by clone saturation" project).

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The only concrete characters I already had for the conspiracy would be the prototype Myrmidons know as Myrmex and Tiresias. Myrmex being the first truly successful prototype who was everything the conspirators were looking when it comes to combat prowess but had a noticeable aesthetic flaw that disqualified her from being the poster girl. Most of the prototypes made after Myrmex were efforts to match her level of power without that aesthetic flaw. Myrmex is a true believer and will be Pyrrha's greatest supporter if she goes along with the conspiracy... and her greatest foe if she rejects the conspiracy and subverts the other Myrmidons. I'm thinking Myrmex played the role of one of Pyrrha's older cousins as Pyrrha was growing up and helped with some of her training.

Tiresias would be one of the follow up prototypes who was born blind. This pushed her variant of Polarity's magnetic senses to their most extreme, allowing her to sense things you wouldn't expect a magnetic detection power to sense and allowing her to fight as if she's a combat precognitive. She also played the role of an older cousin to Pyrrha and helped her learn how to sense things with Polarity.


So with me only having them I'd love to see the characters you've brainstormed. My family didn't own Clue so I never got a chance to play it while I was growing up, but looking at the list of characters I found on wikipedia I'd say it should be a good source for inspiration for the conspirators, it's a surprisingly deep well since each edition of the game had a different spin on each character. You could easily make a different character based off of each variation of Ms. Peacock for example, like the femme fatal grand dame original Ms. Peacock could be the inspiration for a financial backer of the conspiracy while the ornithologist Henrietta Peacock could be used as inspiration for one of the scientists and so on.

So what characters did you come up with and what roles do you see them playing in the conspiracy?


The Next part of our conversation:

So, here's my first draft of a "Factions and Characters" rundown. Any feedback and input would be appreciated:

Factions:

Suppressionist - the Breakers need to be reeducated and forcibly converted to the old ways.

Incentivized Conversion - the Breakers can be allowed to practice freely, but cannot be allowed to proselytize, and will not receive the same political/economic opportunities as Pagans.

Tolerance - the Breakers should be allowed the same opportunities as Pagans - Pyrrha's charisma and the Truth of Olympus will win out in the end.

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That's a sensible list for factions within the conspiracy. It's probably the clearest place for disagreements within the inner circle as things stand now.

Chairman Georgos Sophocleus
- The mastermind behind the conspiracy.
- Probably the guy I have the least idea how to characterize.
- Part of the "Incentivised Conversion" Faction (partly due to personal opinion, partly due to the needs of maintaining relative neutrality).

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So looking at the Clue character list I found I'm presuming that Georgos is based off of Mr. Body/Dr. Black? I.e. the guy who's normally the murdered host whose death is being investigated in a regular game of Clue?

Yeah I can see why it'd be hard to nail down a concrete characterization for a character based on him, since his most notable trait in the original game is being dead during the timeframe of your play sessions. That doesn't leave a lot of room for characterization in the game itself and from what little I know of Clue's ancillary media he doesn't receive much focus beyond "Guy whose death gets the plot rolling" most of the time.

With that in mind I'm thinking we need to take a long and hard look at his narrative purpose/role in the world and pick out the character traits that helped him get to his current place in the world alongside the traits that will help him to fulfill his purpose in the narrative.

His narrative purpose is that of a big bad, one that's cut from a different cloth than the other big bads already found in RWBY. That is to say he'd be more of a spy/political thriller villain than a dark lord.

So he's a man of wealth and means that has a vision for his nation incompatible with the current world order. He'd need to be both charismatic and affable to both gather the eclectic group that is the Inner Circle and to manage their different personalities whenever serious disagreements popped up.

Now as the big bad of the cloning conspiracy story there needs to be a concrete reason as to why our heroes cannot truly compromise with him at the end of the day. So what lines is he willing to cross that will be a bridge too far for Pyrrha, Jaune and their friends?

Any of that helpful?

Lady Dimitria "Scarlet" Kokkinaki
- Basically a rising star of the Hellenic underworld, she has quite a few politicians on her payroll, and quite a few more as notches in her bedpost, and said politicians are, for all intents and purposes, now helping cover for the conspiracy.
- I see her as being roughly the same age as Cinder - older than the main cast, but younger than Team STRQ's generation. She's a classic Femme Fatale crossed with a ruthless mobster, and she also has an axe to grind against the Breaker Church and the status quo (we'll have to discuss the details with Andrew, but I'd like to think that it's as pants-on-head stupid as Hazel's reasons for hating Ozpin - and possibly involving the criminal activities of her parents/grandparents having been broken up by Paladins of the Church).
- Accordingly, she's a member of the "Suppressionist" Faction of the conspiracy.

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So she's the youngest member of the Inner Circle and is probably going to be the most adversarial member towards Jaune and Pyrrha's relationship.

And yeah, having a pants-on-head stupid reason for her hatred of the Breaker Church sounds like it could be fun.

Chilliarch Alcibiades "The Colonel" Moustakas
- "Beware the Old Man in a Profession where Men Die Young."
- This guy was badass enough that his genes make up nearly 50% of the Myrmidon genome. In his prime, he taught the first generation (including Myrmex) almost everything they know about combat, and to this day, being able to beat him in a fight (armed or unarmed) is a mark of pride for a Myrmidon. He still teaches tactics and strategy. He is also "Peacock" Pagoni's lover.
- He thinks that Breaker teachings about forgiveness and meekness are for the weak, and is, therefore, part of the "Suppressionist" faction.

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So Chilliarch is the biggest physical threat if the story ends up with a combat encounter with the Inner Circle. And as one of the chief genetic donors to the project he has a bit of Jango Fett in him.

I'd imagine he'd have at least tested Pyrrha before she began her gladiatorial career if he wasn't directly involved with her training, just to make sure she can go the distance the conspiracy needs her to go.

Doctor Eirini "The Nursemaid" Argyri
- Psychologist in charge of the Myrmidon indoctrination regimen.
- She's basically the closest thing any of the (higher-ranking specialist/elite) Myrmidons have ever known to a mother. Balancing the needs of "making sure they're loyal, stable, and capable of reentering society after the war" and "making sure they believe in the cause and will always obey orders" is putting a lot of strain on her.
- Part of the "Incentivized Conversion" Faction.

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So I'd imagine she'd either be the more sympathetic members of the Inner Circle or the most controversial member of the Inner Circle with the whole balancing act she's trying to pull off.

Hierarch Thallo "The Reverent" Floros
- Current High Priest of Zeus (or equivalent deity) and Spiritual Heart of the Myrmidon Conspiracy.
- Actually surprisingly chill and compassionate, he believes that Aslan was actually a demigod Zeus sired, whose deeds and teachings have been partially misinterpreted by the Breaker Faith. In that capacity, he prays to Aslan alongside Herakles and other apotheosized demigods.
- Accordingly, he's the main driver of the "Tolerance" Faction of the conspiracy.

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It's interesting to see that the person driving the "Tolerance" faction is the man most people would least expect at a first glance. I like it.

Lady Penelope "Peacock" Pagoni
- The Conspiracy's primary financial backer, and an additional source of political clout.
- She's a classical Femme Fatale Grand Dame, with a lot of connections to the Hellenic "establishment" figures, though beyond that, I'm not particularly sure of her characterization. Though I suspect that she treats the Myrmidons as her grandchildren, and is therefore loved by them.
- Part of the "Tolerance' Faction, as she doesn't want to see her old friends torn down for something as silly as buying into the superstitions of Aelia Paravel.

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Hmm... So she believes the war needs to happen enough to pay for the creation of a clone army that will ultimately bear the brunt of the sacrifice that goes into war. At the same time she treats the resulting clones like they're her grandchildren.

There could be some potential in the dichotomy that can be found in that.

Professor Thanasis "Doc" Porphyry
- This is the mad scientist in charge of the actual cloning/genetic engineering project.
- His thesis of "positive eugenics" by flooding the gene pool with "genetically perfect" specimens got his medical license revoked. Georgos met up with him soon after, and the two realized that they could make their interests align. Thus the Myrmidon Conspiracy was born.
- Doesn't actually care about religion.

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So Thanasis is onboard because his experiment will be conducted as a side effect of victory.

I like it. I like it a lot.

It's worth noting that I intend for most of the friendships and personal connections in the conspiracy to cross factional lines, enabling the entire thing to keep stable despite differing visions.

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Having the strongest friendships in the Inner Circle cross faction lines is a very good idea.



Also when I was looking at the list of Clue characters I found out that from 2016 to 2022 Ms. White was actually fully replaced by a lady called Dr. Orchid (Ms. White returned in the 2023 edition). Dr. Orchid's different incarnations across the games she was in was usually a biologist of some kind and her very first incarnation in the 2016 edition of Clue Dr. Orchid was an adoptive daughter of Mr. Body/Dr. Black.

So Orchid could be used as inspiration for another scientist involved in the project that isn't part of the Inner Circle yet, but she expects to be at some point because of her connections to people within the Inner Circle.


And the next part of our conversation after that, a post with Hahoalki quoting me:

Now as the big bad of the cloning conspiracy story there needs to be a concrete reason as to why our heroes cannot truly compromise with him at the end of the day. So what lines is he willing to cross that will be a bridge too far for Pyrrha, Jaune and their friends?

Any of that helpful?

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Very helpful, actually.

I'm thinking I'm going to have to watch Gargoyles, see if I can get any inspiration from Xanatos.

But for the big "uncrossable line," it depends on how big his ambitions are. Where, exactly, does he want the borders to fall after the Mistrali Civil War?

If Geogrgos is trying to rebuild Iskander's empire, then conquering Pandu strikes me as a line that Jaune would be absolutely unwilling to cross - his godparents have treated him far too well for that.

Even if his ambitions are closer to home, - say, everything on the shores of Lake Matsu - I can see Aelia Paravel being on this guy's "to conquer" list. Needless to say, Jaune would not be on board with that.

The big issue is that Jaune doesn't start out having the political capital to extricate his fiance from the conspiracy (it goes without saying that Pyrrha wants out - the whole thing is creepy to her, and way more pressure than she's comfortable with, and puts her on a pedestal to boot), so he has to play along for a bit.

I'm beginning to think that the plan to use Jaune's family connections might blow up in the conspirators' faces when Jaune starts pulling on those threads himself to apply pressure towards his own ends (getting Pyrrha through the war safely, along with as many of her "cousins" as he can manage).



Hahoalki also posted this:


Don't mean to spam, but I do want to keep this in your mind, as I could still use advice.

In the meantime, I've come up with prospective names for units of Myrmidons. Note that the numbers listed display only the "tooth" personnel. "Tail"/support personnel would increase the size of most of the larger units.

Needless to say, the whole system is loosely based on the Macedonian army of Phillip and Alexander.

Aight, here goes:

Tetradion: 4 Myrmidons
Tetradiagos: Team Leader

Lochos: 16 Myrmidons (4 Tetradia)
Lochagos: Leader of a Lochos

Hexekostys: 64 Myrmidons (4 Lochoi)
Hexekonter: Leader of a Hexekostys

Syntagma: 256 Myrmidons (4 Hexekostyai)
Syntagmatarch: Leader of a Syntagma

Taxis: 1,536 Myrmidons (6 Syntagmata)
Strategos: Leader of a Taxis

Phalanx: 9,216 Myrmidons (6 Taxeis)
Phalangiarch: Leader of a Phalanx

I would imagine that the Phalanx Entire would have an equal number of "tooth" and "tail" personnel, for a grand total of 18,000 or more women. In other words, it would be a division.

The Taxis, if deployed on its own, would perhaps have a total of 1,000-ish integral support personnel, making the unit as a whole regiment sized.

The Syntagma might have 100-ish integral support personnel, for total of 350-ish. About the size of a small battalion.

Smaller units may not need integral support personnel.

Syntagmatarchai and up may be chosen from a specialized "Officer Caste" of Myrmidon, while Lochagoi and Hexekonters may belong to an NCO/Junior Officer caste.

The "Elite Supersoldier" Caste should probably be a different thing from the "Officer" Caste, just because you're optimizing for different things in the two cases.

Pyrrha herself would be an (expensive?) attempt to combine the virtues of the "Elite" and "Officer" castes in a single individual.


So, on my assumptions, the "Caste System" might look a little more like the following:

Standard - still superior to most soldiers, but mass-producible (and thus probably "only" equivalent to low-tier huntsmen?).

Elite - highly optimized soldier designed to match or defeat medium- (and perhaps even high-) tier huntsmen.

Leader - better than average intelligence and combat ability (for a Myrmidon), but not at the level of either the Elite Caste or the Officer Caste in either category, being a "happy medium" between the two extremes.

Officer - has the same combat skill level as a Standard Caste (ie, better than average soldier, and comparable to low-tier huntsmen), but highly optimized for intelligence, intuition, and strategic thinking.

Champion of Champions - instead of being a "compromise" design like the Leader Caste, Pyrrha is designed to fully combine the intelligence of the Officer Caste with the combat-skill of the Elite Caste, producing a "genius bruiser" suitable for use as a figurehead and spiritual liege.


Depending on the "error rate" in aura/semblance margins, there may need to be a dedicated "Support Caste" - for things like logistics, transport, artillery, etc.

----------

I would like thoughts regarding my plot ideas before we get into revising the Caste System, if that's possible.

Either way, take as much time as you need.



And my commentary on his plot ideas was this:

I've also been thinking about how the characters react to things, as well as timing of events.

Rough outline in my head:

Early/Mid March: inter-semester break, this is where and when the engagement happens. One week of Nick training Jaune intensively, at the latter's request. Learns basic Aura Slash technique, but isn't good/effective/consistent yet.

Late March/Early April: Exchange Students arrive, Arslan "confronts" Pyrrha.

Mid April: Vytal Festival Dance, Cinder infects CCT network.

Late April: The Breach.

Click to shrink...

So introducing the change and then running through a few familiar story arcs to see how the change affects the world. Make sense.

Late May: Tangy encounters a Myrmidon, reports it to Jaune and Pyrrha. Jaune contacts Arslan, teams ABRN, RWBY and JNPR start planning a trip to Mistral.

Mid June: Events of Grimm Eclipse? Might get mentioned in passing, depending on utility for the story.

Click to shrink...

Seems like a sensible enough place to put Grimm Eclipse if you decide to adapt it for the story. It could be a good place for Teams JNPR and RWBY to learn how to work with Team ABRN in the field.

Early August: End of second semester, three teams go to Mistral.

Mid August: Jaune starts noticing some worrying patterns involving the discrepancy between huntsman mortality rates and Grimm attack rates. Brainstorming happens. He uses his AP Statistics class (the one that Isabel made him take) to look for statistically significant correlations between "Location and Nature of a Huntsman's Last Mission" and "Odds of Huntsman Disappearing," and finds something (tbd). He then looks through the list of current missions on the Huntsman boards, and pitches his plan (basically, camp out at a couple of high-risk sites until they see something happen) to RWBY and ABRN.

Click to shrink...

Jaune catching onto the problem because of civilian studies most Hunters wouldn't bother with is a good idea. I'm guessing they're looking into the attacks and disappearances to try and find the Myrmidons that attacked Arslan in order to confirm their suspicions.

Late August: the three teams encounter Tyrian Callows while "camping" a mission site that would have been taken by a Hellenic huntsman. Jaune gets stung protecting Pyrrha, but the good guys buy enough time for the Myrmidon Team that's been tailing them since they arrived in Mistral to step in, and Tyrian is forced to flee.

The Myrmidons in question are currently operating under orders from the conspiracy, but they're one of the "once in a while" teams that have done wetwork for Lionheart in the past. And they've done enough spying on the team to know that this confirms the worst possible scenario - someone with access to Mistral's official mission board system has been culling huntsmen of all nationalities, and Lionheart is complicit.

Click to shrink...

So the Myrmidon team that found them was a team that was somewhat suspicious of Lionheart for some reason then? And then them comparing notes is what exposes Lionheart's betrayal to them.

Sounds like it could work.

This is about where I lose the thread. I know Pyrrha's reaction (she's having an identity crisis), and I think I have a pretty good idea of Jaune's reaction ("somebody is using my fiance's cousins as child soldiers, and I am not amused - it is nice to meet the in-laws, though; glad her family is almost as weird as mine"), and the Myrmidons (seeing as they saw Jaune take a pretty serious injury for their Demigoddess of War) will probably have a higher opinion of Jaune than they started with, but Chairman Sophocleus is still too fuzzy for me to know how the Conspiracy as a whole will react to the sudden revelation that one of their collaborators is playing both sides and trying to destroy civilization as a whole.

Click to shrink...

Hmmm...

So we need to figure out how Sophocleus and the rest of the inner circle were originally planning to reveal the Myrmidons to Pyrrha, and from there we can figure out how they'll try to salvage the sales pitch now that the reveal is out of their hands.

And with that figured out we'll know how Sophocleus and the inner circle will try to get Jaune and the rest of Pyrrha's friends to play along, and what the tone of their relationship will be before the inevitable break.

Obviously, they'll start moving against Lionheart and reaching out to their contacts, but I haven't figured out the timescale, nor do I know how much they care about legitimacy.

Do they use one of the teams they know they can trust to spy on Lionheart until concrete evidence of wrongdoing is uncovered? In that case, I'd probably have them find out about the plans for the Fall of Beacon, and set the stage for their own "counter-invasion" of Myrmidons to keep things from going as badly as they did in canon. This probably includes a sideplot involving Pyrrha bonding with Penny over being artificial beings, and ultimately derailing Cinder's plan to have Pyrrha kill Penny on TV.

Click to shrink...

So they bring a collection of Myrmidons with them back to Beacon and help thwart Cinder's plans.

But there's a wildcard option: fabricated evidence (using Jaune's statistical model combined with reports from loyal "loan-out" Myrmidons as a framework to ensure consistency with actual events) and a more "instantaneous" response prior to the Vytal Festival. The conspirators have just had the perfect casus belli dropped in their laps, and no revolutionary ever lets a good crisis go to waste.

Click to shrink...

I could see this being a hotly debated issue within the Inner Circle. On the one hand having a few more years to prepare and get all their pieces in place is good; I figure they were probably aiming for somewhere between Pyrrha's twenty-fifth and twenty-seventh birthday to have everything ready, so they might be worried about the things that aren't in place yet.

On the other hand a perfect cases belli is a hard thing to pass up, and the realization that Lionheart's agenda is less compatible with their's than they thought could make them worried that he planned to pull the trigger before they were ready anyways.

So yeah that would be a pretty intense debate.

More details on Jaune's approach to the conspiracy: given that the Tolerance faction has the edge for now, and given that he doesn't personally have sufficient clout to fully extricate Pyrrha from their machinations (to say nothing of the rest of his cousins-in-law) in the early stages of the encounter (lead-up to the Vytal Festival), I think he'd agree to go along with things as long as he doesn't have to compromise his faith. He is Pyrrha's rock through the entire ordeal, and his primary goal when dealing with the conspiracy is to get her through the events of the impending Civil War/World War safely. He intends to use them the same way they're trying to use him.

Click to shrink...

Makes sense, and I like it.

Speaking of the conspiracy using Jaune, the initial premise is that the Conspiracy wants Arturia's connections. Which connections, specifically, are they going to try to exploit, and when?

Andrew, you should probably chime in on this last one. And at any point, you can correct my misconceptions about the characters, or help fill in gaps.

Click to shrink...

The thing that using Jaune for Arturia's connections that they'd have a hard time getting without him is probably legitimacy to foreigners. Pyrrha's a big enough deal to obtain a certain level of legitimacy within Mistral all on her own, but that doesn't guarantee people in Atlas or Vale would be sympathetic enough to the Hellenic League's struggle to either stay out or covertly support it. Arturia's connections might let them get that.


And our last major exchange:

(in response to the Myrmidon team that's involved with uncovering Lionheart's tomfoolery)

More like the Conspirators noticed that Pyrrha was coming to Mistral with Arslan, and decided they needed to keep an eye on that, with the result being that the Conspirators become aware of Lionheart's treachery as soon as JNPR and Company do.

Click to shrink...

Gotcha. That makes sene.

That whole "original plan for the reveal" thing is tricky to me.

"You're a genetically engineered living weapon that we intend to use to gain independence from Mistral at large, and most of your life up until this point has been a lie," is going to be a very hard sell even under the best of circumstances, and even before Pyrrha finds a bunch of clones of herself, that'll be obvious to the Conspirators.

So they need a lie of their own, or they need a way to make Pyrrha feel "okay" with their machinations being her "Destiny" that's plausible enough for them to think it would work.

I don't know what that would look like, but I think I can come up with some elements that might help them "spin" things.

Pyrrha isn't the first attempt at a Champion of Champions. She is the third. The first two were basically miscarriages (something something "optimizing for charisma and combat instinct without compromise isn't easy" something something). Pyrrha is also the first Myrmidon whose "incubator" was mobile enough to be taken to the Temple of Zeus for a blessing, and this is what the majority of the conspiracy attributes her survival and health to.

Bonus points if it was Hierarch Floros himself who performed the blessing. Still more if he's maintained a close relationship with Pyrrha from her childhood, and he's the one who breaks the news to her.

The general idea is that her genotype was always "too ambitious," and "Doc" Porphyry can't explain her survival. Thus almost everybody associated with the conspiracy (including the people she's been close to and feels like she can trust - Athena, Hierarch Floros, Myrmex) believes her to be a literal Gift from the Gods (Porphyry excepted, solely because he doesn't care about religion, though even he admits that he doesn't have a better hypothesis).

What's missing is a reason why they didn't tell her, and while we can probably come up with one that theythink sounds good, that's always going to be a deal-breaking sticking point for her.

Of course, if they can spin things so that she feels like she is some kind of Divine Gift, she might (reluctantly) go along with their plans anyway.

Click to shrink...

I'm thinking they had a lie of their own prepared, mixing old myths and legends to form a prophecy that would serve as the foundation of their legitimacy. Some spectacle that would make the grand reveal of the Myrmidons look like an act of divine providence instead of the work of a secret society in the shadows. The original plan involved Pyrrha being part of the spectacle, to give her the impression that she was the one who had performed a miracle both to the public and herself.


As for what that miracle is/was? At the moment I'm thinking the conspiracy has gotten their hands on a magical artifact from the pre-Moonshatter era: a set of mirrors that were enchanted so they could be used as portals between each other. One of these mirrors would be located at a Hellenic holy site, perhaps directly incorporated into the base of a temple's idolatrous statue or something; the rest of the mirrors would be located at the hidden cloning facilities.

What was supposed to happen was that Pyrrha would be brought to pray at the holy site for a public relations stunt meant to reassure the public as rumors of war were becoming too big to ignore. Pyrrha would pray before the mirror, perhaps perform a sacrifice or some other grand ritual in front of it, and once she was done she would look upon the mirror to see an army of herself in the reflection. The army marches out, and publicly pledges their fealty to the Champion of Champions Pyrrha Nikos.

The mirror, let's call it the Mirror of Perseus or something, would continue to disgorge Myrmidons at regular intervals as the war progresses; only ceasing once victory has been unquestionably won.



Of course with the conspiracy exposed before they were ready the conspiracy finds themselves in the same place as the Klingon Monks that cloned Kahless The Unforgettable; trying to spin the whole debacle as them following the will of the divine instead of them trying to make a power play.

Using complications in the creation process that Pyrrha theoretically shouldn't have survived but did anyways is defiantly a good starting place for that spin, and I really like the ideas you have in that department.



Any of that helpful?



Another thought I've had is with the Myrmidon squads loyal to Lionheart. Specifically with the Myrmidon he could potentially be grooming to serve as a replacement for Pyrrha loyal to him first and foremost should the opportunity to replace Pyrrha present itself.

Since Pyrrha is a Rule 63 allusion to Achilles she gets her name from the female alter ego Achilles was disguised as when those who cared about him were trying to keep him from going off to war. However other sources give different names to Achilles female alter ego, these names being Cercysera or Aissa. Those could be good names for the Myrmidon team leaders loyal to Lionheart.

On the other hand the death of Achilles battle brother Patroclus came about because Patroclus agreed to wear Achilles' armor and lead the mythological Myrmidons while pretending to be Achilles so the Trojans wouldn't know that Achilles was skulking in his tent and refusing to fight because his girl got stollen. So making a Myrmidon who Lionheart moulded to be a replacement for Pyrrha should the opportunity to replace Pyrrha ever present itself a Rule 63 allusion to Patroclus might be a good idea. The problem is I can't find a good feminine version of Patroclus' name.

Anyways what do you think?

 

[AJ_Talon]

The JNPR common room was quiet for once—no explosions, no hammer drills, no Ren quietly meditating in the corner. Just the three of them: Jaune sprawled on the couch with a medical textbook balanced on his stomach, Yang perched on the armrest beside him scrolling through her Scroll, and Pyrrha sitting cross-legged on the floor doing wrist stretches.

Yang was the one who broke the comfortable silence.

"Putain, ce prof de Dust est vraiment un con!" She muttered under her breath, scowling at whatever message she'd just received.

Jaune's head snapped up so fast the book slid off his lap and thumped onto the carpet.

Yang blinked at him. "What?"

He swallowed. His ears had gone faintly pink.

"…Say that again?"

Yang tilted her head, confused but game. "Putain, ce prof de Dust est vraiment un con?"

Jaune made a small, strangled noise in the back of his throat. His pupils were suddenly very large.

Yang's grin started slow and dangerous. "Ohhh. You like that, huh?"

Jaune coughed into his fist. "It's… Gallian was the first language I learned. It's… home. And hearing it from you is…" He gestured helplessly. "Really hot. Like. Really."

Yang's grin turned downright predatory. She leaned down until their noses almost touched.

"Tu veux que je continue, mon petit chevalier~?"

Jaune's face went from pink to full crimson in record time. He made another strangled sound.

Pyrrha, who had been quietly watching the exchange with growing fascination, suddenly cleared her throat.

"Ἐὰν σοῦ ἀρέσῃ ἡ γλῶσσα αὕτη, Ἰάων," she said softly, voice pitched lower than usual, "μπορῶ νὰ σοῦ μιλήσω ἑλληνιστὶ ὅλη τὴν ἡμέρα."

Jaune's head whipped toward her so fast it should have snapped his neck.

Pyrrha's cheeks were flushed, but her emerald eyes were bright, almost challenging.

"You are of course familiar with Hellenic, aren't you Jaune?" She asked sweetly. Jaune nodded.

"Y-Yeah, my mom wanted me to learn the classics and... Stuff..."

Yang's grin sharpened into something feral.

"Oh. It's on, Cereal Girl."

Pyrrha's answering smile was sweet, serene, and utterly lethal.

"Très bien," she purred in perfect Gallian, then switched seamlessly back to Hellenic, "ἀλλὰ ἐγὼ πρῶτον τὸν ἄνδρα ἔμαθον νὰ ἀγαπᾷ."

Yang laughed—low, delighted, dangerous.

"Tu parles bien, princesse. Mais regarde ça—"

She leaned right into Jaune's space, lips brushing his ear, whispering something long and filthy-sounding in rapid Gallian.

Jaune made a noise that could only be described as "system overload."

Pyrrha's eyes narrowed. She slid gracefully to her knees in front of him, placed one hand on his thigh for balance, and murmured something slow and velvet-smooth in
Hellenic, her voice dropping into registers Jaune had never heard from her before.

Jaune's pupils were now approximately the size of dinner plates.

Yang's hair flared brighter.

"Tu triches," she accused, grinning like a shark.

"Σοῦ ἀρέσει ὅμως," Pyrrha replied sweetly.

"Okay, okay—" Jaune managed, voice cracking on the second 'okay'. He held up both hands like he was trying to stop a train. "Ladies. Please. Settle this like mature adults."

Yang and Pyrrha looked at each other.

Considered.

Then, in perfect unison:

Yang (in Gallian): "Va te faire foutre."

Pyrrha (in Hellenic): "Πήγαινε γαμήσου."

They glared at each other over Jaune's head.

Jaune dropped his face into his hands and groaned.

"I hate my life."

Nora chose that exact moment to kick the door open, already eating a pancake.

"Yo! What'd I miss? Why does Jaune look like he's about to combust?"

Yang and Pyrrha answered at the same time, still glaring daggers at each other as Jaune blushed:

"Communication issues."

 

[AJ_Talon]

When she opened her eyes again the world was dim and close. Rough rock above her. The low, steady sound of breathing that wasn't hers. Her head throbbed in time with her pulse, and every thought felt thick and slow, like she was trying to think through deep water.

A face swam into view above her. Blond. Worried. Blue eyes that kept flicking between her face and something just past her shoulder.

"Yang?" The voice was careful. "Can you hear me?"

She tried to answer. It came out as a rough sound.

"Easy. Don't sit up yet." A hand settled lightly on her shoulder, steady and warm. "I'm going to ask you a few questions. Just answer if you can. What's your name?"

She blinked at him. The answer should have been right there. It wasn't.

"…I don't…" Her voice cracked. Panic tried to rise. "I don't know."

His expression tightened for half a second before he smoothed it out. "Okay. That's okay. Do you know where you are?"

She looked past him at the uneven cave walls and the faint gray light coming from somewhere to her left. "A cave?"

"Good. That's good." He exhaled. "Do you remember how you got here?"

She tried. There was the shape of a fight—motion, noise, something heavy hitting her—but nothing that would hold still long enough to examine. She shook her head and immediately regretted it. Pain spiked behind her eyes.

"Alright." His hand stayed where it was, thumb moving once in a small, grounding circle. "You're safe. My name is Jaune Arc. You're Yang Xiao-Long. We're friends. Very good friends. We were on a training mission. Some Grimm found us. I got you in here. I'm keeping you safe. That's all you need to know right now."

Yang studied his face. He looked tired. There was a smear of dirt along his jaw and a fresh cut above one eyebrow that was still bleeding a little. He also looked like he meant every word.

"Am I… going to remember?" she asked. The question came out smaller than she wanted.

Jaune was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded. "Yeah. It's the hit and the shock. Your Aura's already working on it. It'll come back. You just have to give it time and trust me until it does."

Something moved outside the cave mouth. A low, wet growl. Then another.

Jaune's head turned. His shoulders went tight.

"Stay here," he said quietly. "Don't move unless you have to. I'll be right back."

He drew the sword that had been resting beside him and stepped out into the gray light. Yang heard the first Beowolf snarl, the sharp ring of metal on bone, the heavy thud of something hitting the ground. It didn't last long. Three quick exchanges, a final wet crunch, and then silence except for the wind.

When he came back his breathing was heavier, but his hands were steady as he sheathed the sword and crouched in front of her again.

"They're gone," he said. "For now. Come on."

He helped her deeper into the cave, one arm braced around her shoulders when her legs wobbled. The air was cooler farther in, the light thinner. He settled her against the wall with his cloak folded under her, then sat close enough that their shoulders touched.

"Just stay calm," he told her, voice low. "Relax. Trust me. I've got you. I sent out a distress signal, they're on their way to save us. We will be all right. Just hang in there with me, okay?"

Yang's face felt hot. She didn't know why. She only knew that the arm around her was solid and that the steady rise and fall of his chest was the only thing in the world that didn't feel like it might disappear if she looked away too long.

She shifted until she could lean into him properly, one hand curling into the front of his shirt.

"…Not like I have a lot of choice," she muttered.

Jaune huffed a quiet laugh. She felt it against her hair.

"You're recovering just fine," he said, and she could hear the smile in it.

The heat in her face got worse. She turned her head and pressed her forehead against his chest, hiding. His arm tightened around her, careful of the bruise she could already feel forming along her side.

Outside, the wind moved across the cave mouth. Inside, Yang closed her eyes and listened to his heartbeat, and for the first time since she woke up, the fear loosened its grip just a little.

She still didn't remember him.

But she believed him anyway.

---

I do have a big Lancaster post (NSFW) coming up, but... Damnit I just like these two together so much.

 

[AJ_Talon]

Jaune picks up a passenger when a meteor strikes Vale.

Crossover, Marvel. Spider-man elements.

Commission written for Maki-Wolf!

---

The shrill wail of the Beacon Academy PA system sliced through the quiet of the dorm like a Grimm's screech, jolting Team JNPR from their sleep. Nora shot upright in her bed with a startled yelp, her magenta hair a wild mess as she flailed. "THE JAM TORPEDOES! They're finally here!" she cried, half-dazed and already halfway to grabbing Magnhild from beside her bunk.

Jaune Arc bolted up next, heart hammering as he rubbed the sleep from his blue eyes. "What the—Nora, what are you talking about? What's going on?" He glanced around the dimly lit room, where Ren was already calmly swinging his legs over the side of his bed and Pyrrha was sitting up with that poised alertness she always carried, even at this hour.

Before anyone could answer, the door to their dorm burst open. Team RWBY spilled in, all in various states of pajamas and bedhead. Ruby Rose was in the lead, rubbing her silver eyes and yawning hugely, her red cloak draped haphazardly over her shoulders like a blanket. "What's happening? Is this a drill? Please tell me it's a drill…"

Yang Xiao Long leaned against the doorframe with a smirk, though her lilac eyes were sharp. Weiss Schnee crossed her arms, looking equal parts irritated and concerned in her elegant nightgown. Blake Belladonna hung back, ears twitching at the ongoing alarm.

The PA crackled to life again, Ozpin's calm but urgent voice cutting through the growing chatter. "Students: We have detected a very large meteorite falling upon Vale. The Valean and Atlasian air fleets and defenses are mobilizing to intercept it. We will mobilize to assist civilians and protect them alongside the VDF and local Hunters. Assignments will be sent to your individual Scrolls. Report to your muster locations at the Bullhead docks."

Murmurs rippled through the hallway outside—concern, confusion, a few nervous laughs. Ruby looked a little pale as she checked her Scroll, which chimed with new alerts alongside Jaune's. Their eyes met across the room.

"Looks like we're going together," Jaune said, managing a steady smile despite the knot in his stomach. The Arc family farm had faced its share of Grimm incursions over the years, but a meteor? That was new even for the stories his grandparents Arturia and Shirou told around the dinner table.

"Right!" Ruby nodded, determination flashing in her eyes as she straightened. "Let's get ready!"

Yang shook her head, blonde hair swaying. "Seriously? Meteors? What next, aliens?"

Weiss rounded on her. "Can you take this seriously?!"

"It's not like the sky is falling—oh wait." Yang grinned, but there was an edge to it.

"URGH!" Weiss threw her hands up.

Jaune turned to his team, slipping into that leadership tone he'd honed under his mother's watchful eye and his grandfather's quiet guidance. "Pyrrha, please alert everyone following your social media to take shelter in their basements. Nora, Ren? Let's get set to go."

"Yes, Jaune!" Pyrrha replied without hesitation, already tapping at her Scroll.

"Aye aye, Fearless Leader!" Nora cheered, fully awake now and raring for action.

"Yeah," Ren added simply, already moving with his usual serene efficiency.

Ruby was tense but resolute as she nodded to her own team. "Let's get going… Blake? I'll need you to help with scouting."

"Hm? Sure," Blake murmured.

The two teams split briefly to change into their combat gear—JNPR in their familiar armor and outfits, RWBY in their signature styles. Minutes later, they regrouped in the hallway and made their way to the Bullhead docks under the starlit sky. Bright flashes and thunderous booms echoed from above as Valean and Atlasian warships lit up the night, their weapons firing at the distant glowing streak hurtling toward the city. Atlasian Hardlight Dust Shields flickered into existence over key districts like protective domes.

Ozpin stood waiting amid the assembled students, his cane planted firmly as he addressed them all. "The Air Navies of Atlas and Vale are doing all they can to protect the city. You will go into the city to help with crowd control. Keep the civilians calm and moving to the shelters, and destroy any Grimm that tries to invade. I know this is a crisis none of you have encountered before. It is normal to feel afraid. Trust your team leaders, trust your teachers, and we will get through this."

Assignments pinged across their Scrolls. Ruby stood close to Jaune, their shoulders nearly brushing as they checked the updates.

"Heh… We're assigned to the New City, Outer Ring," she said, a small smile breaking through her nerves.

"Yeah… Us too," Jaune replied, glancing her way. The weight of responsibility felt heavier tonight, but standing beside her made it easier to bear. "We'll be like Arachnoman and Red Arachno!"

"Hey!" Ruby pouted. "I get to be Arachnoman!"

"Nuh uh," Jaune argued maturely, a brief spark of their usual playful banter cutting through the tension.

- - -

Minutes later, they regrouped and boarded their assigned Bullhead. The cabin hummed with tension as the craft lifted off into the night sky, the distant flashes of anti-meteor fire painting the horizon in bursts of light. Nora was happily watching the explosions at a window, jumping up and down and babbling while Ren stood nearby and nodded every so often.

Pyrrha settled into the seat beside Jaune on the bench, her emerald eyes soft with concern. "Are you all right, Jaune?"

He nodded, staring out the window for a moment before turning back to her. "Yeah. It's scary… but I wanted to help people. And heck, it's a giant meteor! Of course I'm going to save people!"

Pyrrha let out a soft giggle, the sound warm and genuine even amid the chaos. "I like you like this."

Jaune flushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Thanks, Pyrrha."

His gaze drifted across the cabin to Weiss, who huffed and pointedly looked away, arms still crossed tightly. Pyrrha followed his eyes and tilted her head. "And Weiss…?"

Jaune shrugged, his expression steadying. "I'm not going to focus on romance anymore. I want to focus on improving myself. Right now, we're trying to save lives—that's what matters."

Pyrrha was silent for a long moment, studying him, then gave a small, understanding nod. "You're right. That's what matters tonight."

Yang walked over from the RWBY side of the cabin and grumbled, sitting down next to Jaune's other side.

"Geez…"

"Drama?" Jaune asked. Yang sighed.

"Yeah… Ruby and Weiss are fighting over Blake. Blake's not helping." Yang stretched her arms over her head and shrugged. "I tried. I thought her date at the dance with Sun would loosen her up but… Ugh." She rubbed her eyes.

"Oh," Jaune muttered, looking over at Ruby and Weiss muttering angrily at each other while Blake just stared out the window. Yang huffed.

"It's exhausting to play den mother."

"Yeah, I get it," Jaune snorted, looking over at Nora and Ren, "But it's worth it."

Yang smirked wryly.

"There are days I remember that better than others… Still! Geez. We've got a lot of drama to deal with when the meteor is coming. It's like The Walking Corpses."

"I know," Jaune snickered, "Why do they bicker and argue in a soap opera when zombies are going to eat their brains? It's stupid!"

"To be fair," Pyrrha murmured, "Humans nations still fight one another even with the Grimm. I suppose… That's just human nature. Or Faunus too, I suppose."

Jaune and Yang stared at her. Pyrrha flushed.

"Sorry… Little philosophical there."

"Yeah," Jaune muttered. Yang grinned.

"Buck up! No politics here, just fighting to save people from alien invaders!"

"It's a rock," Pyrrha said wryly. Nora dashed over, flitting about like a hummingbird.

"It's from space, so it's still alien! Ooh! Maybe they're evil alien rock monsters!" She posed dramatically. "I'll break them all! For great justice!"

"No more Fuujin Sentai for you," Jaune laughed. Nora pouted.

"You're just jealous I look better in spandex than you!"

Jaune coughed and flushed. He noted how Yang and Pyrrha were both staring at him.

"Oh? How would she know that?" Yang asked idly.

"Yes, how?" Pyrrha asked.

"Oh look! We're almost there!" Jaune said quickly. "Let's get ready!"

The Bullhead continued its descent toward the New City as the team prepared themselves for whatever awaited below.

---

They touched down in Queenstown, a once-separate town absorbed into Vale's New City expansion some thirty years prior. It was a patchwork of tidy middle-class neighborhoods, dotted with small parks, factories, local businesses, and the occasional private estate. RWBY and JNPR moved out immediately, going door to door to ensure residents were either hunkered down in their basements or safely en route to the public shelters. Jaune split off on his own, keeping in constant contact via Scroll as he swept his assigned blocks. They were close to the walls, which meant a real risk of Grimm incursion, but the steady drone of VDF Bullheads and close-support aircraft overhead made the danger feel distant for now.

He had just rounded the corner toward Tumbledown Park in a nice, largely similar suburban section, when his Scroll blared an urgent alert.

"Alert. All occupants of Queenstown must get to shelters immediately. Impact imminent and calculated to land in your area."

Jaune sucked in a sharp breath. Holy…!

"Ruby! Pyrrha! Everyone! You heard that?"

"Yeah!" Ruby's voice crackled back over the link. "We're clear in my area!"

"I'm at Tumbledown Park—there's a couple of kids here stuck!" Yang added, tension clear in her tone. "We're trying to get to the shelter!"

"I'm near there!" Jaune shouted, breaking into a sprint. "We can move to you—!"

"No time!" Ruby started, but Jaune shook his head as the sky behind him grew brighter, the roar of gunfire and missile blasts intensifying.

"Get to the shelter, all of you! I'll get Yang!"

The park was well-designed—trees forming sheltered copses over picnic and sports areas, the playground at the center atop a small hill with good sightlines. Jaune spotted Yang's bright blonde hair near a turtle-shaped stone statue. She was surrounded by a cluster of frightened ten-year-olds, struggling with one boy whose torso was wedged inside the friendly-looking sculpture.

"YANG! SITREP!" Jaune barked as he rushed up.

Yang glanced back in surprise before recovering. "Jaune! This kid is stuck in this stupid thing!" She gestured at the turtle. Half the boy poked out, tears streaming down his face.

"What the heck happened—?" Jaune demanded. One of the other children piped up.

"It just sank into the sand and—"

"Not important! Cut him out!" Yang snapped.

"Why didn't you just smash it—?"

"Because I don't want to hurt the kid, idiot!" Yang barked back. "You've got a sword—use your Aura to slash through it!"

Jaune winced but nodded quickly. This was no time to be the dork. He surged Aura through Crocea Mors, the blade glowing with energy, and looked down at the terrified boy. "Grab him when I cut it apart," he ordered. Yang nodded, taking the child's arms.

"It's okay. Cover your eyes—it's gonna be okay," she soothed. The boy whimpered but obeyed. Jaune focused, then struck—precise and controlled. The Aura-infused slash whipped out like a blade of light, splitting the stone turtle cleanly. Yang yanked the boy free into her arms.

"GO!" Jaune yelled. They turned and fled as the sky lit up with massive explosions and the Hardlight Shields flared brighter. Jaune and Yang sprinted through the emptying streets, but it was clear they weren't going to reach the main shelter in time.

"Any of these houses empty—YES!" Jaune spotted a For Sale sign. "GO!"

They dashed inside the empty house. Yang smashed down the door. Jaune found the basement and yanked open the reinforced shelter door. It was small—cramped quarters at best.

Well… Here's your chance to be a hero, he thought, What are you going to do?

The impulse took over.

"Get in! Plenty of room!" he urged.

Yang and the kids piled inside, but she immediately turned, scowling. "Wait a second, you gotta—"

"I'll be fine—"

"NO YOU WON'T—!"

The sound hit like a hundred trains rushing past at once. Jaune slammed the armored door shut.

"JAU—!" Yang's cry cut off… just as the meteorite struck. The world exploded around him. Rubble crashed down, a flaming rock smashing into his face.

That… Could have gone better, Jaune thought, as everything went black.

---

Jaune came to slowly, pinned beneath a crushing weight of debris. His powerful Arc Aura was dangerously low, every breath sending spikes of pain through his chest. Shouts and the sounds of frantic scrambling echoed from above—people moving rubble, calling out names. He forced his voice up, weak but desperate.

"H-Hey! Hey! Here!"

More scraping and shifting overhead. Jaune pushed upward with what strength he had left. Even weakened, he was still far stronger than any ordinary person, but the debris held him fast.

"OVER… HERE! HELP ME! HELP!"

Light suddenly pierced the darkness as several large chunks of rubble were heaved aside. Jaune gasped and winced as bright lights blinded him for a moment. When his vision cleared, a dirt-streaked blonde girl was staring down at him, eyes wide with worry.

"JAUNE!" Yang cried.

Jaune managed a tired grin. "YANG!"

She hauled the last heavy pieces off him, tossing them aside with ease. Behind her, paramedics were tending to the rescued children while the rest of RWBY and JNPR rushed forward. Jaune's friends crowded in as the medics moved to check him over. Yang grinned fiercely.

"Jaune!"

"You're all right!" Pyrrha breathed in relief.

"Eesh! Don't worry us like that!" Nora scolded.

"You're okay!" Ruby added, voice thick with emotion.

"Good to see you," Ren said quietly.

"Hmph… Good to see you alive," Weiss managed, though her tone was softer than usual.

All seven of them were covered in dirt and dust. Jaune flushed.

They… All searched for me…

Blake remained silent but offered a soft, genuine smile. Yang pulled him into a tight hug, followed by Ruby squeezing him just as fiercely. Then Yang punched his shoulder—hard.

"OW! What was that for?!" Jaune yelped.

"You idiot! What the hell was that about?!" Yang demanded.

"Urk!"

"When did you get a death wish?!"

"I just… There wasn't enough room in the shelter for all of us so, ya know…"

"Please… Don't think you have to sacrifice yourself so recklessly?" Pyrrha asked gently.

"Please Jaune… Don't do that again?" Ruby pleaded.

"Seriously. Don't," Nora added, looking unusually intense. Ren nodded firmly in agreement.

Jaune gulped. "G-Got it…"

The neighborhood had taken heavy damage, though only a few houses were completely destroyed. Weiss crossed her arms. "Honestly… What are the odds the biggest part landed right on top of you?"

"Yeah, I—OW!" A small black spider skittered away from his arm. Jaune grimaced and rubbed the spot on his arm. "I got bit by a spider…"

"Ew!" Ruby wrinkled her nose.

"You got bit… by a spider?" Weiss echoed.

Silence fell for a beat—then everyone burst out laughing. Jaune started first, the sound helpless and cathartic. Pyrrha, Yang, Ruby, and Nora joined in heartily. Ren chuckled softly. Blake smirked, and even Weiss sighed before snickering.

"Y-yeah! I guess… I guess I'm in real trouble now!" Jaune wheezed.

"HAHAHAHA! Must be!" Ruby howled.

The shared laughter felt liberating after the terror of the night. Yang laughed along, though her eyes remained intensely protective, as did Pyrrha's.

Nora wrinkled her nose. "Ugh… You're covered in gunk, Jaune!"

"Huh?" He glanced down. His clothes were smeared with thick black residue. "Ugh… Yeah…"

"Geez! Why didn't you tell me that before I hugged you?" Ruby complained, brushing her dusty clothes off.

"Sorry, sorry…!"

They guided him towards the first responders, multiple emergency vehicles scattered around the area with intense search lights.

The paramedics gave him a quick once-over. He was battered and exhausted but otherwise fine—just needed rest. Jaune took a moment to greet the rescued kids, who thanked him and Yang profusely. The little boy they'd saved looked up at him with shining eyes. "I wanna be a hero just like you one day!"

Jaune smiled warmly. "Thanks, kid. Stay safe."

They filed a quick report to Ozpin via Scroll. The Headmaster ordered them back to Beacon immediately. Exhausted but relieved, the teams clambered into a Bullhead and flew home through the slowly brightening sky.

---

Glynda Goodwitch was waiting for them on the landing pads, arms crossed and expression stern. "Mister Arc, as usual, you and Miss Rose's teams seem to think you're above the rules."

"Wha—But Miss Goodwitch—!"

"Detention. For the next month."

Ruby scowled.

"But we saved lives—!"

"Yes. You did. Which is why it's not for the rest of the term. Go! But… You get the next day off to sleep it off. So go."

Her glare didn't relent. The teams broke first, and trudged toward the dorms, grumbling. Pyrrha tried to stay optimistic. "It wasn't worse. That's something."

Jaune sighed heavily.

Even when I do something good it's not good enough… Geez…

Back at the dorms, Jaune headed straight for the shower—he was by far the dirtiest. He emerged later wrapped in towels, tossed his ruined clothes into the laundry, and wandered into the JNPR common area for a bottled water. He closed the fridge door and yelped—Yang was suddenly standing right there.

"Ah… uh… Heh. Hey," she said awkwardly.

"Oh, uh… Hey," Jaune managed.

"So… Um…"

Silence stretched for a moment. Yang took a breath.

"…Thanks… For… Saving my life," Yang finally managed, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I… You're welcome."

"Just… Please don't sacrifice your life for me again… Okay? I…" She hesitated. "I'd… Be really broken up. You know? And Ruby… You're her best friend."

Jaune winced. His selfishness… He hadn't thought about that. What Ruby, or Yang, or Pyrrha, or his parents…

Geez… I didn't think at all, I just… Did it. Again.

"…I-I won't… I promise. Arc's word," he managed.

"Good." Yang smiled. Jaune smiled back.

She then leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Ah?!" Jaune startled.

Yang flushed but grinned.

"You know… More where that came from if you keep this up!"

Jaune gaped.

"H-Huh?"

She spun on her heel and headed out, a bit more quickly than she normally would. She shut the door behind her.

Jaune stood there blinking.

"…Girls," he mumbled. He shook his head, then headed back into the dorm. He glanced at his dirty armor and clothes in the laundry basket with a sigh. "I'll clean that up tomorrow…"

He checked on his team. Everyone was already asleep in their bunks, Pyrrha especially resting peacefully. Jaune smiled softly, pulled on boxers and a shirt, and climbed into his own bunk.

Sleep claimed him quickly…

And with it came the dream.

He was running across Beacon's campus, a gigantic black monster towering over the buildings in pursuit. It snatched him up, dragging him toward its empty maw. Suddenly, a gigantic metallic figure tackled the beast. Jaune dropped, scrambling to hide as the two fought. He peeked out.

The metallic figure resolved itself-It looked like a suit of armor, like the kind his father had worn. It had the Arc double rainbow on the front, and a long, flowing cupe cape. It punched the black creature, knocking it back into a building. Jaune grinned and shook his fist.

"Yeah! Get it! Take it down!"

The armor turned to them, reaching out to try and pick him up. It was gentle despite its great size… Then the black creature surged up and struck the armor from behind, sending it flying through a dormroom, smashing it into a cloud of dust and debris. The creature reached for him, and Jaune tried to run but its black claws wrapped around him and lifted him up.

"AH! NO! HELP ME!"

The armor rose and reached out, fast. Its fist grabbed onto Jaune and yanked him back, throwing another punch at the black creature. It took the hit… Then sprouted spider legs and fangs, biting into the armor. The armor began to rust rapidly, and fell back, staggering. Jaune watched it fall back in horror as it weakened…

And the black monster swung its fist and knocked the armor's helmet off. The being collapsed, falling back into the ruins of the dorms… Before falling silent and still.

"NO!" Jaune screamed. He looked up in horror at the monster. It lifted him up to its jaws and devoured him whole as he cried out-!

He woke, confused and tingly all over.

"What a nightmare… I thought I was going…" Jaune mumbled, blinking.

He was hanging upside down from a building in downtown Vale, clad in a skintight black suit. White lenses covered his eyes, and a bold white double rainbow symbol arched across his chest.

"…out of my mind?!"

 

[AJ_Talon]

Yang had slipped away from the team again, drawn back to Junior's club like a moth to a very shady flame. She needed answers about Raven—real ones, not the vague rumors and dead ends she'd been chasing. But this time, the brats at the door weren't the only ones waiting for her. A handful of Atlasian guard bots stood among Junior's thugs, their chassis gleaming under the dim lights, weapon mods glowing with clearly illegal upgrades. Someone had tipped them off.

Junior leaned against the bar, cigar clenched between his teeth, smirking like he'd already won. "Now… we gonna do this the nice way, Blondie? Or the hard way?"

Yang rolled her eyes, arms crossed. "Still a pervert, huh, Junior?"

His face darkened. "I did NOT know you were sixteen, you crazy bitch! And another thing—!"

The argument died in a crackle of electricity. Arrows punched through the windows, bursting into brilliant arcs of Electric Dust. The EMP wave hit like a hammer, plunging the club into darkness as every light and bot-powered weapon shorted out. Chaos erupted—shouts, stumbling bodies, the crash of overturned tables.

Yang didn't wait for an invitation. She vaulted forward, shoulder-checking a thug out of her way, and smashed through a side window in a spray of glass. Gunfire chased her into the night, muzzle flashes strobing behind her. More arrows thudded into the pavement at her heels, blooming into thick sheets of ice that turned the street into a skating rink and bought her precious seconds.

She hit the fire escape running, Ember Celica roaring to propel her upward in explosive bursts. Rooftop to rooftop, she parkoured across the district—leaping gaps, ricocheting off walls, boots skidding on gravel—until the shouts and gunfire faded behind her. Finally, she dropped onto the flat roof of an old banking building, chest heaving as she braced her hands on her knees.

"You know," a familiar voice said from the shadows, "I'm pretty sure your probation means you're not supposed to go out and pick fights with crime lords."

"GAH!" Yang spun, Ember Celica already barking a shotgun blast before her brain caught up.

The blast caught Jaune square in the chest and sent him flying backward, landing hard on his back with a pained grunt. "URK!"

"Ah—Vomit Boy!" Yang winced, holstering her gauntlets and hurrying over to haul him up by the arm. "Sorry! You're too damn stealthy for your own good, you know that?"

Jaune scowled as he found his feet, brushing dust off his hoodie. "Yeah… next time I'll wear a bell."

"On a collar?" Yang smirked despite herself. "Heh. Blake would call that racist."

He rolled his eyes. "Let her, if it keeps me from getting shot again."

"Yeah…" She rubbed the back of her neck, suddenly sheepish. "Hey, uh… thanks for the backup back there."

Jaune's scowl deepened. "Ruby asked me to look after you."

"That little—!"

"She's worried," he cut in, voice firm. "About you and Blake. You two keep running off on your own, no matter how dangerous it is or what it might cost everyone else."

"Hey, I can take care of myself—"

"Uh-huh. I saw."

Yang huffed, crossing her arms. "Hmph."

"She's your team leader," Jaune pressed, "and your little sister. Doesn't that mean anything?"

"I…" Yang's scowl faltered. She looked away, lilac eyes fixed on the distant city lights. "Why do you care so much, anyway? You've got your own team to worry about."

Jaune exhaled slowly. "Ruby's my best friend. And I like to think you and I are friends, too. So when she asks for help? I help. Even if it pisses you off. Even if it means we're… not friends anymore."

The words hung between them, heavy in the cold night air. They glared at each other for a long moment, neither willing to back down first. Finally, Yang sighed, the fight draining out of her shoulders.

"Yeah, well… you'd still be my friend, even if you pissed me off." She offered a small, lopsided smile. "So… thank you."

Jaune's expression softened. "Same." He pushed himself upright, brushing gravel from his palms. "Still… what are you even looking for out here?"

Yang hesitated, then let her arms drop. "Something important. Answers. About my mom."

"What kind of answers?"

"The simple stuff, I guess." Her voice was quieter now, almost lost in the wind. "Where she's been all these years. Why she left. That kind of thing."

Jaune studied her for a long moment. "…Do you think they'll be the answers you want?"

"I don't know." She shrugged, but the motion looked forced. "I just know I'm tired of having nothing. Maybe it's selfish. Maybe it's stupid. But it's what I want."

Jaune was quiet for a long time, gaze distant. Then he nodded, slow and deliberate. "I don't really understand it… but I get wanting something bad enough to chase it. Even when everyone else says you're being selfish."

"Oh?" Yang arched a brow, curiosity piqued. "You gonna tell me your story? I opened up, after all."

He huffed a small laugh. "Fair's fair, I guess. My mom wanted me to be a doctor—had my whole life planned out. She and Dad were legendary Hunters, but they refused to let me train. Said it was too dangerous. So my godfather taught me in secret. I got into Ambrose Pare—best medical school in Vale—and then… I ran away from home after a huge fight with Mom. Threw it all away to come here and fight Grimm instead."

Yang stared at him, then let out a short, incredulous laugh. "You gave up a cushy hospital gig and a top-tier degree… to get eaten by monsters for minimum wage?"

"…Pretty much."

She snorted, shaking her head. "Breaker, you're a complete idiot."

Jaune grinned, sheepish. "Heh. Guess I am. But like you said—even if it's selfish, it's what I'm going to do."

Yang's laughter faded into a softer smile. "…Yeah. I think I get that."

The tension between them eased, the night air feeling a little warmer. Yang's grin turned mischievous as she leaned in, voice dropping to a teasing purr. "So… just how close an eye are you keeping on us, anyway~? Watching us in the showers too?"

Jaune's face went scarlet. "Er—um—no! Of course not!"

"Heh! I bet you do." She winked. "Though honestly, seeing Weiss naked isn't much different from seeing her clothed."

"I wouldn't know!"

"Uh-huh, surrrre you don't~."

"If I was going to peep on anyone," he muttered, cheeks still burning, "it'd only be with her permission, thank you very much."

"Hmmm… good to know." Yang leaned closer, smirk widening. "You've got mine, stud~."

Jaune sputtered incoherently.

She giggled, delighted by how easily he flustered. "Aw, you're cute when you blush!"

"Impossible woman," he grumbled.

"That's the best kind!"

 

[Sift Green]

A post I just remembered I haven't brought over yet:

Seriously, at first I was confused about who Jaune was and who Sun was; they were almost identical blondes.

Click to shrink...

Blake groaned as she pulled herself up out of the ruined crate. Then she relaxed into the pleasant aroma that was surrounding her. As she inhaled deeply she tried to piece together how she was where she was.

Looking straight up she could tell she was in a warehouse of some sort. And that... that made sense... She had caught wind of an illicit White Fang money making operation, so she and her friends had swung by to bust the scheme wide open. Now who was all... who was with her...?

Her team was with her... so was Team JNPR... and Team SSSN... that's right Team Sun. Sunny Sun-Sun Yum. She giggled.

She looked down and realized she was covered head to toe in some kind of dry and flakey... greenish-brown... stuff.

What kind of Stuff? She brought her arm closer to her face and gave it a good sniff. It smelled incredible. Like. Wow. She took another major sniff. Woah.

She licked it. Ack! It was supper dry! She worked her mouth for a moment to try and counteract the dryness.

On the plus side she now knew that the flakey stuff was dried leaves of some kind. But what kind of dried leaves? She should know this. Now that she was thinking about it she had smelled this smell before. It clung to people her Mama and Papa had told her to avoid... Why... Why did they want her to avoid them? It was because... Because...

"They were tripping out on the Nip!" Blake giggled with realization. "This is Nip! I'm covered with Nip!"

Blake's eyes then widened in horror; "I'm covered with Nip. I'M GOING TO HELL BEFORE I DIE!"

The next few moments saw Blake frantically flail about trying to get the dried leaves off of herself, successfully getting a lot of it down the back of her shirt and pants.

She stumbled to her feet with the realization that the sound of weapon fire in the distance had come to a stop, replaced with cheering that sounded a lot like Nora and Ruby.

The fight was over, she could ask her friends to give her a bubble math... A double raft... a rubble hath... a nice hour... a rice flour... an ice shower...

...Something that would get her clean that she could not remember the proper name of!

That's right. Her friends could get her clean.

Blake stumbled in the general direction of the celebratory noises Nora and Ruby were making and came into the warehouse's main throughway. Things were more or less what she expected. Scarlet, Sage and Neptune were tying up the aura-broken White Fang thugs while Pyrrha, Ren and Yang were on lookout just in case more thugs showed up. Nora and Ruby stopped their celebration, with Nora going to join Ren on lookout while Ruby walked up to Jaune Wukong and Sun Arc who were contacting...

Something wasn't right with that last thought.

The armored Wukong boy and the opened shirt Arc looked her way and both smiled in relief, calling out to her. The words sounded jumbled in Blake's ears.

"Oh no," Blake murmured. "I'm seeing double! Four Suns!"

She fell forward onto her face. She didn't bother trying to get up as her friends were soon on her trying to help.

She'd be fine. Especially with two of the Suns doting on her with worry.

Heh. Two Suns. Sunny Sun-Sun Yum.

 

[Joss Jamon]

The elevator descended in silence broken only by the soft hum of machinery and the occasional shift of boots on metal. Blindfolds pressed tight against eight pairs of eyes. The fabric itched. The air smelled of recycled oxygen and something faintly chemical.

Ruby shifted her weight. "Are… these necessary?"

"But of course," came Gemma's calm voice from somewhere to her left. "Grimm research is a big deal."

Gila's lower, rougher tone followed. "Can't let anyone blab anything."

Yang tugged at the edge of her blindfold. "They're super itchy."

"Tough."

"Our boss picked them," Gemma added, almost cheerfully.

A pause. Then Jaune's voice, uncertain. "Why does mine smell? Like bad cologne."

Blake answered without missing a beat. "Bad cologne mixed with a scent of people who didn't wash themselves for a long time."

Gila made a small, embarrassed sound. "Sorry. That was meant for the Schnee."

Weiss's outrage cut through the dark. "Excuse you!?"

"Ladies, please," Jaune said quickly. "No need to raise the temperature. I'm sure it is going to be worth it in the end."

Professor Oobleck's rapid, precise voice filled the small space. "A mature assumption, Mister Arc! The life of a Hunter in general is harsh, so we shall remain stoic. And the chance you have today is indeed a unique one."

"Thank you, sir."

The elevator chimed. A soft hydraulic sigh as the doors opened.

"We're here," Gemma said. "Everyone disembark. You can remove the blindfolds."

Light flooded in—bright, clinical, almost too clean. The blindfolds came off in a flurry of relieved groans. Yang rubbed at her eyes and the roots of her hair. "Urgh, finally. These things have almost ruined my hair…"

Gila smirked. "Maybe you should have gotten the bad-smelling one."

The corridor beyond was reinforced concrete and polished alloy, but living green plants grew in recessed planters fed by clear tubes of recycled water. White and orange walls caught the overhead lights and threw them back without shadow. For a frontier research bunker, it felt almost comfortable.

Nora whistled low. "Wow. You have a comfy place down here. Didn't expect it from a bunker."

"Our job pays well," Gemma replied.

Oobleck adjusted his glasses, already moving forward at his usual rapid clip. "The De Leon Institute is a leader in the sphere of Grimm research, and this facility is one of its largest. They pay fairly well here—both research personnel and security teams, which quite often include Hunters."

Gila's smile was thin. "Including you eight."

Yang's eyebrows rose. "Paid how much?"

Gemma leaned in and whispered a number. Yang's expression shifted through surprise into something more complicated. "…Oh wow. But you still have to be out in the wilds…"

A new voice answered from further down the corridor, dry and precise.

"And that makes the payment worthwhile, Miss Xiao-Long."

They turned. A man approached with measured steps, vibrant red hair bright against the white of his lab coat. Every other step produced a soft, deliberate clack of cane against the floor. Doctor Abraham List stopped a polite distance away and regarded them with eyes that gave away very little.

"Greetings, Doctor," Oobleck said warmly.

"Greetings, Doctor. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

Oobleck gestured with both hands. "Team RWBY, Team JNPR—allow me to introduce you. Doctor Abraham List. It will take a while for me to name even a fraction of his accomplishments, but know that he is a great man of science."

Yang's lips twitched. The thought formed almost automatically: So does this mean he has a long… List of achievements?

Ruby caught the look and groaned under her breath. "I know what you're thinking, Yang."

Weiss didn't even glance over. "We all do."

Jaune, ever helpful, added, "I thought it was funny."

List's expression did not change. "Never heard that one before, either."

Yang, undeterred, spelled it out. "Your family name is List. The list of your accomplishments is a long one. So it will take a while to-"

Gemma clapped a hand over her mouth. "Don't."

The doctor's gaze settled on Yang. The temperature in the corridor seemed to drop several degrees. Everyone felt it. Weiss rubbed her arms.

"Is it just me," she murmured, "or did it get colder in here?"

Ren answered evenly. "The facility has fairly good ventilation from what it seems and feels, so we may have indeed felt colder after exiting the elevator."

List turned without further comment. "Follow me."

He led them deeper.

The containment wing stretched in long, parallel rows of reinforced glass and alloy. Most of the cells held familiar shapes—Beowolves, Ursai, a pair of juvenile Nevermores—but many of them glowed from within. Dust had been absorbed into their bodies, tracing luminous veins of red, blue, and green beneath black hide. The creatures moved slowly, almost lethargically, under the constant low thrum of sonic emitters.

Weiss kept her arms folded tight. "Not going to lie, this much Grimm in one area makes me nervous."

"Understandable, Ms. Schnee." List's cane tapped once against the floor. "Let me assure you that we keep them all under constant watch and our security is top notch. The sonic defense system keeps them docile. And if they get out of hand, we have you, security, and Dust projectors inside the cells which we can use to eliminate them."

Ruby tilted her head, curiosity winning out over caution. "I may be sticking my nose where I shouldn't, but how are these safety measures activated?"

"Our security teams monitor the situation around the clock. Multiple alarm buttons within reach. Security doors that can be shut to isolate compromised areas—manually or automatically. Along with the air vents, of course."

Yang looked around at the scale of the place. "All this from a grant?"

"Several grants," List corrected, "as well as commercial contracts for experimentation with new anti-Grimm technologies."

Blake's voice was quiet. "Commercial contracts? From whom?"

"Multiple companies. Military. Construction. You name it."

Weiss's eyes narrowed. "Does that include my father?"

After a long silence, List simply said, "Yes."

Weiss rubbed her forehead. "I'm not surprised."

List continued walking. "There is one Grimm, however, that we keep heavily detained."

Oobleck's expression sharpened. "And the reason I and we are here…"

The final cell was different.

Thicker glass. Additional alloy bars. The entire unit nested inside a further steel block that could, if necessary, seal completely. The thing inside stood perfectly still.

It was almost humanoid—taller than a man, limbs long and elegant in a way that felt wrong. Tall pointed ears rose from a smooth, featureless head. A feline tail curled once behind it and lay still. Its eyes glowed a deep, constant red. It did not pace. It did not test the glass. It simply watched them.

Ruby's voice came out smaller than usual. "Urgh… It's… looking at us…"

"Yes." List's tone remained clinical. "It was in stasis for quite some time. We've kept it bound. Its behavior is so far unusual for a Grimm that's been dormant for so long."

Pyrrha stepped half a pace closer to Jaune without seeming to realize it. "Excuse me, but is it actually safe for us to be around it?"

"At the moment," List said, "we're not sure. That's why I asked for Huntsmen and Huntresses in addition to Oobleck."

The Grimm's gaze never wavered.

Jaune shifted left, then right. The red eyes tracked him with perfect precision. Ruby, almost experimentally, jumped in place. The creature's head tilted the exact same amount. She did it again, a little higher. It followed.

"This is actually kind of fun," she said, and immediately looked like she regretted the words.

Weiss's face was pale. "It's disturbing…"

List placed the head of his cane gently but firmly on Ruby's crown, stopping the next bounce. "No more of that. Please."

Yang stared at the thing behind the glass. "Actually—why was a Grimm in a tomb? Who put it there and why?"

List glanced at Oobleck. "Bart?"

Oobleck's hands moved as he spoke, rapid and precise. "There are Grimm who take shelter in human ruins, as a base or a warren. Some go into hibernation in these areas if no humans are around for a long time. There are also instances of humans sealing away very dangerous Grimm in tombs if they were unable to kill it, though this is extremely rare."

"Also doesn't fit what we saw," List added. "The Grimm was purposely encased in a sarcophagus."

Oobleck hummed. "Unusual…"

Ren's voice was quiet. "Purposefully?"

"Yes. As though the Grimm was already dormant when it was sealed up."

Blake's ears had flattened slightly. "Is that even possible? Surely it would have woken up due to humans being nearby."

"That's one of the questions I'm hoping Bart can answer for us."

Nora, never one for caution, stepped closer and tapped the glass three times with one knuckle.

Jaune's voice cracked. "Nora!"

The Grimm's ears twitched. Once. Twice. Thrice. Exactly.

Nora's eyes went wide. "Hold it—its ears responded to me tapping the glass! The exact same amount I tapped on it!"

List's cane came up without a word, the ferrule stopping an inch from Nora's chest. "Step away from the glass, please."

Blake spoke into the sudden tension. "Ozpin said it was a training mission."

List's expression finally shifted—something close to dry contempt. "Ozpin? The same Ozpin that assigns teams by having them hunt chess pieces in a forest filled with Grimm despite having little to no training experience? Even for someone of my emotional range, that's cold."

A few of them tried to laugh. The sound died quickly.

Later, in the Spartan sleeping quarters—narrow beds, utilitarian lockers, a few hardy decorative plants under grow-lights—exhaustion finally caught up. Nora face-planted onto her mattress and declared she had died and gone to whatever the good afterlife was called. Ruby managed a sleepy "Lots of oxygen" about the plants before her eyes closed. Yang carried her the last few steps. Ren did the same for Nora. Gemma and Gila left them with quiet instructions to make themselves at home.

Sleep came easily.

For Ruby it did not stay easy.

Something vast and dark pressed against the edges of her mind—hungry, patient, older than the kingdoms. It reached for her the way a hand reaches for a candle flame. A silver shield rose between them without her willing it. The darkness recoiled, hissing without sound. She woke up with a start.

Red emergency lights pulsed overhead. An alarm wailed somewhere distant, low and continuous.

The bunk room was empty.

Ruby sat up slowly. "Wha… What? What's going on?"

No answer. Beds were still made or thrown open in haste. Gear was missing. The air felt colder than it had any right to.

She dressed in silence, Crescent Rose a familiar weight across her back, and stepped into the corridor. Empty. The red lights painted everything the color of old blood. Somewhere far off, something metallic clanged and then went silent.

Then she heard the crying.

She followed it around a corner and found Yang curled against the wall like a child, arms wrapped around her knees, face buried, shoulders shaking with sobs that sounded far too small for her frame.

"Yang…?"

Yang's head jerked up. Her eyes were wide and wet and wrong. "Go away…"

Ruby took a step closer. "What?"

"G-Go away…!"

"Yang—" Ruby reached out.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Ruby flinched back as if struck.

Bootsteps. Three security officers rounded the far end of the hall, weapons already raised. Their faces were blank in the strobing red light.

The first one spoke without inflection. "The Child."

The second: "Kill her."

The third: "For the Shadow."

They raised their rifles.

Before Ruby could move, the rearmost guard jerked. A length of bloody steel erupted from his chest. He made a wet, surprised sound and collapsed. The lights flickered and died.

In the sudden dark a golden Aura flared like a second sun. Something armored and screaming tore into the remaining two men with a savagery that belonged to no Huntsman Ruby had ever trained with. Gunfire cracked point-blank and did nothing. When the emergency lights stuttered back to life, Jaune stood over the bodies, breathing in ragged animal gasps, covered in blood that was not his own. His eyes found Ruby and Yang and showed no recognition—only hunger.

Yang curled tighter and sobbed. "P-Please… Don't…!"

Jaune advanced.

Ruby's hands found Crescent Rose. She had beaten him in sparring a dozen times. She told herself that as she brought the scythe up. An Aura slash tore past her, gouging deep furrows in the reinforced wall. She barely dragged Yang clear. The force of it was wrong. Jaune had never hit like that.

"Snap out of it!" she shouted, and managed a solid strike across his guard.

He barely noticed. One gauntleted hand locked around Crescent Rose's shaft, wrenched it away, and slammed her back against the wall. The edge of Crocea Mors kissed her throat.

Ruby's breath came in thin, terrified pulls. "Jaune… Please…"

Her eyes ignited silver.

Jaune froze. The animal rage drained out of his face in a single stunned second.

"R-Ruby?"

She swallowed. "Jaune…"

He staggered back, looking at the blood on his hands, at the bodies, at the sword still in his grip. "I… Wha… What happened…?"

"You went berserk!"

He stared at the corpses again. "Oh… Breaker…" The word came out broken. He turned, stumbled into the nearest washroom, and was violently sick.

Ruby stayed with Yang until the worst of the shaking passed, then followed. Jaune was scrubbing his hands and face with mechanical intensity under the cold water, refusing to meet his own reflection.

"We have to go after her," Ruby said quietly when he finally looked up. Yang had fled during the fight.

Jaune's voice was hollow. "Yeah… Yeah… Just… I…" He shook his head once, hard. "Yeah."

They moved together through corridors that felt larger and emptier than before. More bodies. All of them were cut down by a sword. Jaune stopped each time, face gray, until Ruby pulled him onward.

They found Yang in a small indoor garden, crouched beneath a slender tree whose leaves trembled under artificial light. She was still whispering the same broken pleas.

"Please… Don't hurt me… Don't hurt my sister… Please…!"

Three more controlled guards appeared at the far entrance and opened fire without warning. Jaune moved first, shield up, body between the rounds and the sisters. Ruby reached Yang. Yang looked at her without recognition at first, then with desperate, childlike relief.

"R-Ruby… Where's Ruby…?"

"I'm right here."

A grenade detonated against Jaune's shield and threw him back. He shouted for them to run. They did. More corridors. More gunfire. A Dust round punched through Ruby's Aura and spun her. Another clipped Yang. Silver light flared again—and something in Yang's expression finally broke free of the terror. Rage replaced it.

She hit the remaining guards like a storm. Jaune followed a half-second later, still not striking to kill, only to stop. When it was over, one surviving guard lay on the floor pleading for his life, eyes fixed on Jaune in pure horror.

"I don't know what happened… It was like a shadow over my brain… It told me to start shooting… To kill you… Get away from me! You murdered my friends! You—You monster!"

Jaune flinched as if struck. Yang stepped between them, breathing hard.

"That's enough. Look… Something freaky is going on, and it's not his fault."

Ruby nodded, still catching her breath. "Yeah. We gotta figure out what's going on."

The guard wanted no part of further help. He gave them the barest directions—directory maps like the ones in commercial malls—and fled toward the wounded. Yang insisted they clean the blood off first. In a utilitarian bathroom Jaune scrubbed until his skin was raw while Yang held his wrist and told him, quietly, that it hadn't been him. He didn't believe her. Neither sister had an answer when he whispered that he had almost killed them both.

Ruby watched the water run red, then clear.

"Did the Grimm have something to do with that?" she asked finally. "The power, I mean."

Yang's voice was low. "Look, why would the Grimm make me… some scared little girl and Jaune a berserker?"

Ruby met her sister's eyes in the mirror. The emergency lights still pulsed somewhere beyond the door. The facility felt vast and listening.

"I don't know," she said. "But I think Dr. List knows. Or has an idea."

 

[GraveyardShift]

Father... I crave Violence

Jaune and his daughter Mia watched as Iella was making laps around the common room. The bluehead had been suddenly hit by a case of the 'Zoomies' as her twin sister Iessa once called it.

Jaune wasn't so sure. He watched with bewilderment and some small concern as Iella flapped her arms as she ran around. "ABLABALBABLABLABLABLAALA" she gobbled much like the turkeys on the Arc Farm.

Mia on the other hand was sitting in Jaune lap giggling as she watched in amused delight at the Artic "wigging out".

"ABALBALA-OOF." Iella ceased as she impacted something... someONE who had entered the common room. Paused for the moment she peeled her face off and looked up.

And up.

And up.

And... into the face of Nicholas Arc.

"...You are VERY tall." She remarked.

Nick laughed before sweeping her up into a hug making her yelp. "And it's good to see you have so much energy NEW DAUGHTER!" he bellowed.

Iella blinked. "Oh... right. I don't think we ever formally met." She somehow twisted around in Nick's arms dangling from them at Jaune. "Did you tell them we were dating?"

Jaune blanched. "Uh. I mean... I think I mentioned it once or twice?"

"NEW MAMA!" Mia cheered from Jaune's lap.

"Huh." Iella twisted back around. "Greetings and Salutations. I'd greet you more formally but I seem to be currently restrained."

"BAH! No need for that! You're already family! Call me Nick... or Dad!"

Iella's face suddenly went into wide eyed wonder of a young girl. "...REALLY?" She asked.

"Of course!"

Iella twisted back around to Jaune. "...Jaune I'm going to do it."

"...Do what?"

"I'M GOING TO THE THING JAUNE."

"Do what thing?"

"I'M GOING TO DO IT JAUNE AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME!!!"

"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO AND WHY ARE WE SHOUTING?"

Iella twisted back around and looked up at Nick with that tender gaze of a young girl. One hand placed tenderly against his chest "Father~" she started with an airy voice before dropping in several octaves into a growl. "I CRAVE VIOLENCE." She hissed through a sharktoothed grin. The other hand rose up revealing a knife.

---

@AndrewJTalon What is Nick's reaction to being Memed at like this?

 

[AJ_Talon]

The courtyard outside Beacon's gym was warm enough that the stone underfoot still held the morning's heat. Sun had been mid-sentence about something involving a stolen mango and a very angry librarian when his ears twitched. Neptune followed the look a half-second later.

Ruby Rose stepped out of the gym doors with a towel slung around her neck and her hood down. Her cheeks were flushed, a few damp strands of hair stuck to her temple, and the black tank top under her open jacket did absolutely nothing to hide the fact that she had been growing up. She waved across the quad at Blake and kept walking, boots scuffing, completely unaware of the three pairs of eyes that had locked onto her.

Sun's mouth stayed open for a moment. "Dude. Is it just me or…?"

Neptune's voice came out a little higher than usual. "N-no. No. I see it too." He cleared his throat and turned toward Jaune, who had been squinting at a training scroll like it had personally offended him. "Hey, Jaune? When did Ruby get so… uh. Well."

Jaune didn't look up. "Get so what?"

Ren, who had been stretching his arms overhead with the air of a man who had already accepted that this conversation was going to happen whether he participated or not, answered in the same tone he used for inventory lists.

"They mean hot, Jaune. They're asking when Ruby got so attractive."

Jaune laughed, the sound automatic and a little too loud. "Ha! You guys are joking, right? This is Ruby. She's basically my little sist—"
He looked up.

Ruby was still in the middle of the quad, mid-stride, sunlight catching the faint sheen of sweat along her collarbone and the way her shoulders moved under the jacket.
She glanced back once, smiled at something Blake had said, and kept going. Jaune's brain ground to a halt. A realization hit him like an Ursa fired from railgun.

"SHE IS HOT," he said, volume climbing. "HOLY SHI—"

He cut himself off with a cough that fooled nobody. "Y-yeah. She's uh. She's hot."

Neptune was still staring after her. "No, but seriously. When did she become a tomboy?"

"I don't know!"

"Dude," Sun said, "you literally had a tomboy who's your best friend. How did you miss the signs?"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

Jaune dragged both hands down his face. The math, unfortunately, was already doing itself in his head whether he wanted it to or not. Ruby was hot. Ruby was on Team RWBY. Team RWBY was, by the transitive property of extremely unfortunate observations, also hot. And Team RWBY spent most of its free time around Team JNPR.

"Wait," he said slowly. "If Ruby's hot, then that means… everyone on her team is also hot."

Sun and Neptune both made the same small, thoughtful noise.

"AND ON MY TEAM, TOO!"

The silence that followed was not comfortable.

Neptune broke it first. "I mean, he's not wrong, but also… that's the absolute dumbest way to make that connection. How is there any correlation—"

"I'm on your team," Ren said.

Jaune looked at him. "And?"

Neptune and Ren looked thoughtful. Jaune coughed.

"And," Jaune said, "if Ren was a girl—"

"Yes," Neptune answered before Jaune could finish. "In a heartbeat."

Ren's eyebrow moved a fraction of an inch.

"I would wreck that chick," Neptune continued. "I would destroy her."

"You are too comfortable with your words," Ren said.

"STOP BEING SUCH A HOT THEORETICAL GIRL!"

Sun had both hands over his mouth. Neptune was not finished.

"Honestly," he said, "the only person who would be a hotter girl would be Arc."

Jaune's soul briefly left his body. "Me?!"

"You cook," Neptune listed, counting on his fingers. "You clean. You're clumsy and a goof. For a guy that makes you lame. For a girl, that makes you a waifu. Hell, every woman in your family is a blonde bombshell."

Sun lowered his hands. "I wouldn't say hot. She'd be cute, though."

"Picture her in just an apron."

Sun's face did something complicated. "…It's so wholesome."

"Yesss."

"But erotic."

"Yessss."

Sun's fist shot straight up. "I GET IT!"

"BRO!"

"BRO!"

Jaune and Ren stared at the pair of them with the shared expression of men who had just watched two trains collide and had nothing else to do but watch the flames.

From somewhere behind them, Ruby's voice floated over, bright and completely unsuspecting.

"Hey guys! Whatcha talking about—?"

"NOTHING!" four voices answered at once.

 

[AJ_Talon]

Time passed. Yang wasn't sure how long.

The light at the cave mouth had shifted, thinner and grayer than before. Jaune kept her tucked against his side under his cloak, one arm steady around her shoulders while he worked. Every so often he paused to press a fresh patch of Healing Dust against the worst of the bruising along her ribs, fingers careful, voice low when he told her to breathe through it. The Dust stung at first, then settled into a dull, spreading warmth. He checked his Scroll between applications, thumb hovering over the call button like he was willing it to work.

"This is Jaune Arc of JNPR, requesting assistance," he said into it, for what had to be the fifth or sixth time. "Jaune Arc, to anyone in range, we need rescue. Please respond."

Static.

Yang watched the screen go dark again. "Why won't they answer?"

Jaune exhaled through his nose and set the Scroll down on his knee. "I don't know. I've been signaling since we got separated. Nothing." He shook his head. "There was a storm building when everything went bad. Maybe it's still messing with the signals."

She was quiet for a moment, forehead resting against his collarbone. The cave was cold. He was warm. Her thoughts still felt slow and slippery, but the panic from earlier had eased into something smaller and sharper.

"All right," she said. "All right. Um… tell me more about me. Since I don't know anything."

Jaune shifted just enough to look down at her. "Sure. You're a boxer. Well—kickboxer, but you don't really kick. You have a little sister named Ruby. She's two years younger than you. She's at Beacon too. Real prodigy."

Yang's fingers curled tighter in his shirt. "Is she okay?"

"She is." His voice softened. "She was taking charge. She's your team leader. She kept everyone together when we were attacked. We got overwhelmed, but she kept my team safe."

Yang made a small, frustrated sound against his chest. "Geez. I must be a really bad big sister if my little sister's in charge."

"Oh—no. You just didn't want the job." Jaune's thumb moved absently against her shoulder. "You let her run things. She loves to."

"Nngh. Still."

He hesitated. When he spoke again, he was careful. "I mean… you've been taking care of her since your mom died. Well. Her mom. Your… egg donor ran off when you were just born."

Yang's head lifted. "What?"

"Uh. Sorry. Hang on."

He explained it slowly. Everything Ruby had told him over the months—how Summer had raised them both, how Raven had left before Yang could even remember her face, how Yang had stepped up when Summer died and Taiyang fell apart for a while. He left out the sharper edges. He stuck to what he knew was true and what he thought she could handle right now.

By the time he finished, Yang was holding onto him with both hands, face pressed hard against his chest again. Her breathing had gone uneven.

"And so… here we are?" she asked, voice muffled.

"Yeah." Jaune rested his chin lightly against the top of her head. "Yeah. Don't worry. It's going to be okay."

"I… I dunno, Jaune. Everything you've told me, I…"

"It's overwhelming. I know." He sighed. "I'm sorry. I should've paced it better. But don't worry. You're going to be okay. You're going to get your memories back. I promise. It might take a few days or a few weeks, but you will be okay."

Yang was quiet for a long stretch. Outside, the wind moved across the cave mouth. Inside, the only sound was the soft crackle of the Healing Dust still working under the patch on her side.

"…So my big plan is just to go out and explore Remnant, huh?" she said at last. "On my own?"

"That's what you told us."

"…Sounds pretty lonely."

Jaune's mouth twitched. "I mean, it is a pretty cool dream."

She shifted, just enough to look up at him. Her eyes were clearer than they'd been an hour ago, still fogged at the edges, but focused.

"…And you?"

Jaune blinked. "Me?"

"What do you want?"

He looked away for a second, toward the gray light at the entrance. "Just to be a hero. To help people. Like my dad and mom and… all my ancestors."

"Really?"

"Yeah." He huffed a small, self-conscious laugh. "I mean, it's silly. I'm the worst student in our class."

Yang's fingers tightened in his shirt. "You kept me alive. You killed those Beowolves."

"Yeah, and at full strength you'd kill them in like a second. They'd be no issue for you." His voice went quieter. "You're just… absolutely amazing, Yang. And I will keep you alive and get you home safe. I promise."

She studied his face for a long moment. Then she tucked her head back under his chin, one hand still fisted in the front of his shirt like she was afraid he might disappear if she let go.

"…Just as long as you go home with me."

Jaune's arm settled more firmly around her shoulders. He closed his eyes.

"I will."

 

[Sift Green]

Another post from the old forum, outlining the basic idea of a RWBY and Zelda crossover I had:


Legend of Zelda Crossover- The premise is simple enough: Teams RWBY, JNPR and CMEN accept a training mission that results in them interacting with an artifact that transports them to the realm of Hyrule. The magical transportation was a misfire, and so our characters are scattered across the land. As such the first proper story arc is all of the characters from the RWBY side of the crossover trying to find each other again with the help of the locals they meet. This set up allows for a quick yet thorough introduction to this story's version of Hyrule, which is set in a time frame not covered by any of the games to allow for maximum flexibility as to what Legend of Zelda characters are available to use.

The general background for this era of Hyrule is fairly straightforward: A thousand years ago the Demon King Ganondorf was imprisoned within The Depths beneath Hyrule by the Seven Sages. This prison was imperfect allowing Ganondorf's Malice to leak out and corrupt The Depths, filling it with monsters that occasionally find their way to the surface to wreak havoc upon the land. These monster breaches are becoming more and more common as the seal on Ganondorf's prison has weakened with time, leading the King of Hyrule to contemplate the possibility of gathering a team of champions to brave The Depths for the purpose of finding Ganondorf's prison in order to refresh the seals. At the same time the enemies of the throne are also seeking a way to find Ganondorf's prison in the hopes of freeing the Demon King…

Yang wakes up on Death Mountain, befriending the Gorons and braving the dangers of the active volcano to help the champion of the Gorons, Daruk, defeat The Infernal Dinosaur: King Dodongo. As thanks for her help Daruk agrees to take Yang to Castle Town in the hopes of finding her friends again and maybe people who can help her find a way back to Remnant.

Blake and Ren find themselves in Kakariko Village, home of the secretive Sheikah tribe, where they end up helping deal with The Phantom Shadow Beast: Bongo Bongo. This lets them gain the trust of Impa, who agrees to introduce them to the Royal family who might be able to help them find their friends and a way back to Remnant.

Weiss ended up in Rito Village where she ends up helping the local champion Revali break the siege the village had been placed under by the webs of The Giant Armored Arachnid: Queen Ghoma. As thanks for her help Revali agrees to take Weiss to Castle Town where she can hopefully catch wind of her friends and network with the wizards and sages that might know of a way with which she can return to Remnant.

Pyrrha comes to in Gerudo Town, the most important resting place along the trade route that cuts through the harsh Gurudo Desert. She ends up helping the local champion Urbosa vanquish the dreaded Terror Of Sky And Sand: Mogryph, and as thanks Urbosa agrees to take her to Castle Town and to introduce her to the Royal family who can undoubtably help her find her friends and perhaps could know of a way for them to return to Remnant.

Nora wakes up in Zora's Domain where she meets and befriends the local champion Mipha, who promises to take her to Castle Town where she'll have a better chance of finding her friends. But before they can do that they need to deal with a monster imperiling those who try to leave Zora's Domain, The Bio-Electric Jellyfish Barinade. With the roads and waterways now safe to travel Mipha and Nora set off to Castle Town.

Jaune and Ruby find themselves in Ordon Village on the edge of the Lost Woods. They accompany the local knight-in-training Link as he is called into the forest by the voice of The Great Deku Tree. There they help Link obtain The Master Sword and save the Deku Tree from The Parasitic Weed: Diababa. The Deku Tree then tasks Link with recharging the power of The Master Sword while informing Jaune and Ruby that the same fires that will restore the Master Sword to its full power can also be used to further refine their weapons into something more. The Deku Tree also informs them that they will find their friends and the other companions they will need for their quest at Castle Town.

And so Teams RWBY and JNPR are reunited and Hyrule's new champions are gathered together for the first time. They all meet with the Royal Family who take a keen interest in the visitors from Remnant. Princess Zelda and her companion/familiar Midna spearhead the research into finding a way to travel to Remnant. While this happens The King asks the visiting hunters-in-training if they would be willing to help the Champions on the quests they will need to undertake to prepare to brave The Depths to find Ganondorf's prison. The two Beacon teams agree.

In the meantime Cinder Fall and her team has been taken in by the Twinrova sisters Kotake and Koume, as well as their son the Art Wizard Yuga. Intrigued by the promise of power Twinrova and Yuga offers her Cinder and her team enter into the secret society that aims to free Ganondorf.



Other points to highlight: Weiss, Nora and a few of Hyrule's scientific minds figure out how to use Elemental Chu Jelly as a substitute for Dust. They also figure out how to use Team RWBY and JNPR's remaining Dust samples to create new breeds of Elemental Chuchus. This allows Teams RWBy and JNPR to keep fighting at peak efficiency as they don't need to worry about rationing their Dust supply. Also the possibility of bringing Chuchus to Remnant that can be farmed for their jelly seems like a revolutionary opportunity the teams agree they can't pass up.


Seeing the number of elite heroes Hyrule has to call upon Yuga decides to use his talents as an Art Wizard to try and even the odds. He creates a palette swapped paintings of the heroes and brings those paintings to life. This is the origins of this era's Dark Link, who's accompanied by a Dark Zelda and Radiant Midna. Interactions with Ganondorf's Malice will give these three more substance, evolving them into something more than simple paint clones.

Yuga doesn't stop there, creating more palette swapped clones in the form of Sapphire Rose, Bleiss Schnee, Wake Belladonna and Rang Xiao Long. Interactions with pieces of the Triforce transform these four into real girls with true bodies flesh and bone, minds with a will of their own, and souls complete with aura and semblances.

Becoming real girls doesn't immediately break their loyalty to their creator, but the free will they obtained makes them going their own way a real possibility as their personalities develop and solidify in ways that can clash with Yuga and the rest of those looking to free Ganondorf. These personalities develop in ways that make them foils to the girls they were originally copies of, though the exact details are currently subject to change.

Sapphire would be a pessimist to contrast with Ruby's optimism, yet she would still be just as energetic and driven. A "life is short, I can't waste the time I have," mentality could be a driving factor.

Bleiss is hard to pin down and will probably take most rethinking if this fic ever gets written.

Wake is also hard to pin down, but the potential comedy of making her a human supremacist to contrast with Blake's egalitarian aspirations is hard to resist.

Rang's differences from Yang make her the daughter Raven thinks she wants, what exactly that entails is still under consideration.





So yeah, I put this little outline together because I kept thinking about it over the last couple of weeks. Hope you like it.

 

[Quietview27]

I've just had a thought. You know who would be the most overprotective father towards his daughters from the current cast? Probably Neptune. He'll assume all boys are exactly like he used to be and so anything male looking in his daughter's direction for more than 0.1 second is going to get threatened, and they'll get a thrashing if they dare talk to her! Especially if he married someone shy like May or Orchid.

Click to shrink...

"Neptune/Dad no!" the shared voices of May and Brooke Vasilias cried out as the blue haired man held a white haired boy by his scruff.

"What's your deal punk?!" he growled, "Eyeing my daughter like a piece of meat?! Where do you get off?!"

"S-she's my teammate!" the boy managed to yell out.

"Bullshit! My daughter being teammates with a no good scoundrel like-!"

He felt his head get smacked, and turned to see his daughter glaring at him.

"That's enough!" she yelled, "Sebastian is my teammate you idiot!"

Neptune felt his heart break at the insult, "B-but Brooke he-"

"We were discussing our training regiment to prepare for Vytal! Gods, why can't you just accept I'm not some toddler anymore?! If I wanna be with a boy then your input means jack!"

"Not when I know damn well how these boys are!" he yelled back, hoping his daughter would finally see reason.

"How?! How could YOU ever just decide all boys are gonna be the same way?!"

"Because I was one of them!"

His daughter just looked more annoyed, "No you were the way YOU were! That doesn't mean every guy around me is gonna just be the dumbass you were when you were younger!"

In an anime style scene, Neptune fell to his knees, finally wavering under his beloved daughters words. She in turn huffed in annoyance, though did feel a little bad.

"Come on Seb," she growled, "Let's go."

"R-right," the platinum haired boy nodded, sending one last nervous glance at Neptune before following his blue haired teammate.

"D-dumbass?" Neptune mumbled, mind repeating his daughter's words to him.

May leaned down and began to pat his back, "I-it'll be alright dear. But she has a point. You can't go assaulting every young man who says hello to her."

"I-i know but- I just-"

"You love her dearly, and want her to be safe. I do to. But scaring everyone away from her won't help. It'll just isolate her and make her truly hate you."

"I hate when you make good points," he grumbled.

May giggled before kissing his cheek, "It comes with being a sniper. I have to analyze my surroundings to know what's happening. So please, for her sake, and your safety stop harassing every boy until they do something to warrant it?"

"Fine fine. Wait why my safety though?"

"Ahem," a deep cough had the pair turn, and Neptune paled a little seeing Jaune Arc and Weiss standing before him. The titan of a blond (no he was definitely NOT jealous of that), seemed amused, while the shorter woman looked livid.

"Neptune," she began, and Neptune whimpered a bit, "Would you mind informing me why you believe throwing my beloved baby boy around like a ragdoll would be acceptable?"

"E-erm uh, w-well you s-see Weiss I-"

He cried out as she began to repeat his earlier actions. Jaune and May watched from the side.

"Try not to strangle him love," Jaune called out.

"Y-yes please don't kill my husband!" May followed up.

"So how've things been for you May?"

"Oh it's been quite nice lately! How has Radian been?"

"Well could be better. Had a bandit attack a month ago, then a small Beowolf pack not long after."

"Well if you require any assistance please ask. As a queen I can offer a good bit of aid if needed."

"Thanks May, but we're good for now. But I've got your scroll number if we get in a pickle, promise."

The two shook hands, before looking back to see Neptune being chased by Weiss still.

"Apologize to my baby boy!"

"I'm sorrrrrry!"

 

[GraveyardShift]

For those who may be new to me.

Andrew infected me with brainworms when he revised Jaune Arc Single Father entry 10. As a result I have been back and forthing with him over entries into that series involving my own creations. Ever since Volume 6 onward I have been developing Vacuo since that has been the one that literally everyone focuses the least on.

The result was a series spanning as of this post, a whopping 48 entries that ran parallel to Jaune Arc: Single Father. 47 of which have already been collected and complied into their own collection on Ao3 which was done before our relocation here. (No. 48 was posted recently.)

Instead of moving the entire collection here, I will simply post a link to the already existing collection if it tickles your fancy and let you see how I imagined Vacuo and simply move forward with new entries into it. (I don't wish to spam any more posts then necessary. The other works are orphaned works that have no home yet. I may change that.)

Jaune Arc, Single Father: The Artic Collection

Do note this is nether canon nor entirely Itanoverse compliant. This collection was also done per request for a lot of people who forgot details of what had already happened as part of this parallel series. So @Sift Green there you go for review if you want to give a more solid grade to Iella as a Harem protagonist. (As she IS intending to build one as opposed to wishy washy protags who end up in one, resist, and finally just accept their fate.)

And now continuing with the recent theme as of "Father I crave Violence" with entry number 49.

Daddy's Girl

Warlady Duchess Kyinaye Artic didn't even bother looking up from her scroll as the chair on the other side of the table scraped and someone sat down. "Isabel." She greeted the other woman.

"Artic." Doctor Isabel Arc returned the clipped greeting.

Other than Kyinaye's fingers tapping away and the ambient noise around them, there was silence.

Finally Isabel broke it with a sigh. "Alright Artic, which daughter is that and what is her angle with Nick?"

"Hmm?" Kyinaye finally looked up. Not at Isabel but in the direction of Isabel's husband Nicholas. The man had claimed an open spot in the yard and was working on his motorcycle. Half disassembled and spread out around him.

Hovering nearby was a bluehead of near identical appearance to Kyinaye herself. Semi-engaged with Nick handing him tools and exchanging words that Kyinaye couldn't hear at this distance.

Kyinaye stared for a few more seconds analyzing the daughter in question before turning back to the scroll. "Iessa. And it's pretty obvious she's made herself his assistant for the moment."

"Ether she, her sister, or both of them have been following him around for the last TWO DAYS."

Kyinaye paused FINALLY looking at Isabel with a raised eyebrow. "...I fail to comprehend the issue Isabel. Enlighten me."

"Nick took a roadtrip with one of your daughters and after they came back, one of them has been trailing around him at almost every hour of the day. I have not been able to tell who but it's at least one of them." She fixed Kyinaye with a look. "I do NOT want to have to get territorial with a CHILD Artic."

Kyinaye snorted and went back to her scroll. "Again I do not comprehend the issue Isabel. Are you seriously getting jealous over said child?"

Silence.

"Isabel I have PERSONALLY trained the girls in the art of seduction. I know what it looks like when they're trying to entice someone. THAT." She pointed in the direction of where Nick was ruffling Iessa's hair and the girl seemed pleased and gleeful at the action. "Is not what Iessa looks like when she's seducing someone."

She went back to her scroll. "If anything this FINALLY confirms something I have suspected for YEARS about Ess. She's never responded to me in the same way that El has. While not detrimental, I have suspected that if Tiber were still alive, she'd be demonstrating the same behavior towards him. Your husband has apparently taken it upon himself to appoint himself a father figure to a pair of girls who have never had a father before. It is a new and novel experience for them and not one I am opposed to. In so far that it's Nicholas doing it. Iessa seems to simply be making up for lost time."

Isabel blinked and watched Nicholas and Iessa interact a bit longer.

"So you're saying that-"

"Yes Isabel. Iessa is a Daddy's Girl."

---

....This is too short. Let's make it a twofer.

---

Squee!

"...And I'M saying that a 75PPM mix is the optimal level of coolant to keep the turbo from seizing!"

"No! YOU'RE saying that you want to piston to seize if the manifold develops even the slightest hairline crack!"

Jaune watched in some amusement holding Mia as Iessa and Weiss slung high level insults at each other. While anyone else would have devolved into hurling single word slurs, that clearly was far too crass for the two Highborn.

Their insults were much more verbose and angled more toward discrediting their positions then simple mudslinging.

If anything, Jaune had to admit, this was a much more educational catfight appropriate for Mia to be observing. And given her intense focus with eyes AND ears locked forward on the bickering elite, she was paying very close attention indeed.

Jaune had been walking out to see if his dad needed any help with his bike. Weiss had immediately spoken up on the dust mix he was using for the injection system as if trying to ingratiate herself to his dad.

Iessa who'd been there already, did not seem to enjoy Nick's attention being taken from her. Immediately going on the offensive against Weiss.

"ENOUGH!" Nick barked causing the next round of insults to die in the throats of both girls. One giant hand plopping on each of their heads. "There is no need for you two to fight over stupid simple stuff like this." he said in a calm tone as both girls meekly peered out from under his hands up at him. "There is plenty of work for a pair of smart girls and able hands for BOTH of you to help me. Now apologize to each other."

"...Sorry..." both girls mumbled chastised.

Nick ruffled their hair. Telling that nether one seemed to fuss at the attention. "Good girls. Now come help me properly! We're burning daylight and this needs to get done before sunset!"

"Father may I have a hug?" Iessa inquired.

"You certainly can!"

"Fff...ff.ffFather... may I also have a hug?" Weiss asked as if unsure.

Nick gave a boisterous laugh. "THE MORE THE MERRIER!" he swept up both girls, one in each arm embracing them tightly.

"Squee!" both girls exclaimed from the depths of his arms.

"Me too! Me too grandpa!" Mia exclaimed reaching for him.

Nick grinned carrying over his two captives, sweeping up BOTH Jaune and Mia in a hug. "FAMILY GROUP HUG!" He declared.

---

Nick may be a dull himbo at times but he knows how to handle feuding teenage daughters. Blood or not.

 

[Frankly Tired]

Appreciation Day
The original of this was very short Summaries, 3 lines per person.
The Post below was when i was running my Old Threadmarks through a RWBY Reacts AI that I had for the boredom.
(Reactions Removed)
However this was Earlier AI when most of my writing rules weren't in affect for it, so its a bit gross.
(I have gone through it an Re-wrote & Added parts)
~~~~~~
Jaune decides, as a show of appreciation, he's gonna take each of his friends on a 1-on-1 hang out day.
Sure, he could send everyone out all together, but each day was meticulously put together for each person.
And he had to be there in person for certain appointments.

Jaune (and Nora & Ren) don't see these as dates.
The others agree they couldn't be dates, but a few are suspicious that it might be (It's really not).
~~~~~~
Jaune Arc had made a list.

This was already dangerous.

Not because Jaune was bad at lists, exactly. The opposite, really. This list had neat boxes, times, backup times, meal considerations, travel estimates, emergency snack notes, and one line near the top written in bold: SHOW APPRECIATION PROPERLY.

Pyrrha leaned over his shoulder. "What are you writing, Jaune?"

Jaune jolted so hard his pencil nearly flew out of his hand. "Nothing!"

Nora appeared on his other side. "Looks like a battle plan."

Ren looked over from the next table. "It has contingencies."

Jaune slowly covered the paper with both hands. "It's private."

He took a breath and showed the lists to his team, "I just thought everyone's been helping me a lot," he said, looking down at the list rather than at the people around him. "Training, homework, missions, not letting me get flattened by Grimm, general survival. So I wanted to do something nice back."

Pyrrha smiled. "Like a team day?"

"Kind of. Except… not everyone together." Jaune quickly lifted both hands. "Not in a weird way! I just mean everyone likes different stuff. If I tried to make one big day, someone would get bored, someone would get dragged somewhere they didn't want to go, and Nora would probably commit a public food-crime."

Nora gasped. "I would never."

Ren looked at her.

"Without a reason," Nora amended.

Jaune continued, "So I made one day for each person. One-on-one. Personalized."
~~~
(I will try to do some rewording for them)

Ruby:
Ruby's day came first, it wasn't hard to convince her about Appreciation day.

Jaune took her to a bakery café tucked between two bookshops in Vale. It had lace curtains, tiny round tables, and a display case full of cakes, cookies, cream puffs, fruit tarts, chocolate rolls, cinnamon twists, and at least six pastries Ruby could not identify but immediately trusted.

Ruby pressed both hands against the glass. "Jaune."

Jaune smiled, already looking proud of himself. "I made a reservation."

Ruby pulled her face from the glass. "For pastries?"

"For the All-You-Can-Taste selection."

Ruby stared at him as though he had just revealed magic.

Jaune held up a small menu that had been provided when he first came to set the appointment.
"They bring out tiny samples of everything, and you rank them. Then at the end, you can pick a full-size favorite to take home."

"You found a Dessert Tasting!?" Ruby's swiped the Menu and scanned through it, "I didn't think those were real! I thought they were a myth, like a White Beowolf, or a gun sight that never needs to be realigned!"
Ruby tried every sample without a hint of stopping.
For Jaune, he could only handle so much sugar, and stopped after the 15th.
Settling for drinking the free tea provided, and watching his best friend go through the menu.

She took notes on napkins. She ranked frosting texture. She debated crumb density. She asked the server if the strawberry cream puff had "reload potential," realized what she had said, and embarrassingly apologized while Jaune quietly slid her more tea.

By the end, Ruby picked a full-size chocolate-chip cookie sandwich with silver sugar dusting.

The Day was ending, and the two had returned to beacon.
Ruby hugged the pastry box to her chest. "This is the best non-weapon related thing anyone has ever scheduled for me."

Jaune smiled. "That is weirdly specific, but I'll take it."

~~~
Yang:
Yang's day was second.

Jaune met her outside a small Vale theater showing an animated romantic comedy. The poster featured two rival pilots accidentally handcuffed together while trying to win an airship race.

Yang stared at the poster.

Then at Jaune.

Then back at the poster.

"You picked a romcom?" she asked.

Jaune rubbed the back of his neck. "You like action. You like bad jokes. You like making fun of people who take too long to admit they like each other. This had all three."

Yang slowly grinned. "Arc, that is either really brave or really dangerous."

"I propably shouldn't mention it's a private viewing," Jaune said quickly.

"Brave it is."
The movie was ridiculous.

Yang loved it.

She threw popcorn at the screen when the leads missed obvious signals. She laughed loudly during every crash. She elbowed Jaune whenever the heroine pretended she absolutely did not care about the rival pilot while saving his life for the third time.

"Oh, come on," Yang said through a mouthful of popcorn. "She rebuilt his engine overnight and still says she hates him?"

Jaune, half-laughing, said, "Maybe she's just helpful."

Yang gave him a look.

Jaune sank lower in his seat. "Okay. No. Even I heard it."

~~~
Weiss:
Weiss's day was an arcade.

Weiss had questions.

Most of them concerned why Jaune had brought her somewhere with neon lights, electronic music, and a machine that appeared to be eating someone's money.

She looked at him. "An arcade?"

Jaune nodded, handing her a cup of tokens. "An arcade."

"You brought me to play games."

"That is generally what people do here, yeah."

Weiss looked down at the tokens. Then she looked at a nearby racing game, where a child was enthusiastically steering into a wall.

"I suppose I could try one or two."

Jaune smiled. "That's the spirit."

Weiss began with air hockey.

Jaune made the mistake of assuming her skills of hand-eye coordination as a Huntress in Training wouldn't translate.

The puck shot past his paddle.

He blinked. "Oh."

Weiss served again.

Three minutes later, Jaune was leaning over the table, desperately defending his goal while Weiss stood on the other side with the most satisfied smile he had seen from her all week.

"You seem to be having trouble," she observed.

"I'm starting to notice that."

She scored again.

Jaune looked at the scoreboard, and his abysmal score. "Best two out of three?"

Weiss smirked. "You mean best three out of five."

They stayed for another four rounds.

Afterward, Weiss discovered the rhythm games. She insisted the first one was poorly calibrated, the second had an unnecessarily complicated song selection, and the third was actually quite enjoyable.

Jaune caught her trying it again when she thought he wasn't looking.

"Want another token?" he asked.

Weiss straightened. "I was simply confirming my previous score."

"Sure."

"Jaune."

"Didn't say anything."

By the time they left, Weiss had challenged him to another air hockey match, beaten his high score on a racing game, and spent several minutes trying to convince a claw machine to surrender a stuffed penguin.

The penguin remained firmly lodged between two other plushies.

Weiss stared at it.

Jaune glanced at the machine, then at her. "We could try somewhere else."

"Absolutely not."

He handed her another token.

On the 23rd token, the claw caught the penguin by the head and through the stitched in ribbon around its neck, hauling it up, and dropping it straight into the prize chute.

Weiss retrieved it, holding it against her chest with a triumphant little smile.

Jaune grinned. "Worth it?"

Weiss looked at the penguin, and then at her empty token cup.

"Obviously," she said.

They called it a day when they noticed both of their cups were empty.

~~~
Blake:
Blake's day was quiet by design.

Jaune led her to a small reading room above an independent bookshop. There were cushioned chairs, tall windows, soft lamps, and a strict silence rule posted near the door.

Blake looked around. Her ears relaxed.

"This is already good," she said.

Jaune smiled and placed a folder on the table. "It gets better."

Blake opened it.

Inside was a manuscript marked QA COPY — PRELIMINARY READER FEEDBACK REQUESTED. The author's name at the top made Blake gasp in wonder.

Jaune said, "I heard from Yang that you liked her books."

Blake slowly looked up. "How did you get this?"

Jaune shifted. "A lot of polite emails."
She quickly settled into the chair and began reading.

Jaune did not hover.
He sat at the far side of the table with a notebook, occasionally checking the time, occasionally offering tea, and otherwise leaving Blake alone with the manuscript.

Every so often, Blake made a small mark in the margin.

Then another.
Then several more.

After an hour, she had filled many of the pages in pen marks, and provided sticky notes.

Jaune glanced over. "Good book?"

Blake did not look up. "Yes. The love interest turned protagonist goes on to becomes an assassin on revenge."

"And the notes?"

Blake's pen paused. "I'm letting the author know how infiltration works" The pen twirled, "...and maybe a few suggestions on who the assassin princess should date."

~~~
Ren:
Ren's day took place at a tea shop with dark wooden shelves, ceramic pots, and had a menu long enough to intimidate anyone who thought tea was just leaves and water.

Ren looked at the shop sign, then at Jaune.

"You found a tasting appointment?"

Jaune nodded. "I told the owner you liked tea and quiet, so she reserved the side room."

Ren's expression barely changed, but his shoulders eased.

Inside, the owner brought out small cups one at a time. Floral teas. Roasted teas. Green teas. Spiced blends. One smoky black tea that made Jaune cough so hard Ren had to slide him water without comment.

Then Jaune tried a mild honeyed oolong and paused.

Ren noticed. "You like that one."

Jaune looked surprised. "I think I do."

The day was silent with the sounds of Mistralian strings playing from a speaker somewhere.
and Mistralian aromas from the teas, and the hanging plants around the shop and in their tea room.

For the moment Ren believed he was a child again, in his family's home.
He closed his eyes, trying to focus on the footsteps of his parents as they walked around the house.
He didn't hear them, but when he opened his eyes, he was met with the eyes of his team leader, and the brother of another family.

A smile graced his lips, and he was as content as he could be.

~~~
Nora:
Nora's day required permission slips.

Several permission slips.

One from Professor Goodwitch, from Professor Ozpin, the groundskeeper (Professor Port), the quartermaster, and one from Ren, though Jaune wasn't sure that one was legally necessary.

Nora bounced in place at the edge of ForeverFall Forest while Jaune checked the gear.

"So," Jaune said, reading from the approved activity form, "this is an all-you-can-hunt day with minimum supervision, strict boundaries, emergency flares, and a return time."

Nora's grin could have powered Vale. "Grimm smashing friendship adventure!"

Jaune nodded. "Yes. With boundaries, we can't leave the forest."

Nora saluted. "Boundaries!"

The first hour went beautifully.

Nora smashed Grimm. Jaune stood at the side. They went north, deeper into the forest
Nora smashed more Grimm. Jaune marked the map and checked the time. They went further in.
Nora found bigger Grimm. Jaune questioned whether the map had feelings and whether they were hurting them. They ended up on the other end of the forest.

Then Nora spotted movement at the base of the mountains.

"Big one!" she shouted, already running.

"Boundary line!" Jaune called.

"I know!"

"That means stop before it!"

"But Big Monster!"

Several hours later, Jaune and Nora stood on a mountain ridge far above the forest, covered in leaves, dirt, and pine needles.

Nora looked around. "Good news! We found the mountains."

Jaune stared at the horizon. "Nora, we were not looking for the mountains."

A bullhead with a very dissapointed Goodwitch hovered above them, and they yelped as she whisked them aboard.

~~~
Pyrrha:
Pyrrha's day did not follow Jaune's plan.

Jaune had a schedule. A careful one.
It included a museum exhibit, a quiet lunch, a scenic walk, and something labeled only as "optional surprise if comfortable."

Pyrrha saw the list for exactly three seconds.

Then she gently took it from his hands.

Jaune blinked. "Uh."

Pyrrha smiled, polite and nervous. "Would you mind if I made a small adjustment?"

"Sure," Jaune said. "What kind of adjustment?"

The next scene showed them in Beacon's training hall, weapons drawn, circling each other on the sparring floor.

Jaune, slightly breathless, said, "This feels like more than a small adjustment."

Pyrrha's smile was brighter now. "Do you want to stop?"

Jaune grinned despite himself and lifted his shield. "No."
The spar ended with Jaune on his back, laughing up at the ceiling while Pyrrha stood over him with Milo lowered.

"Sorry," she said, immediately offering a hand.
Jaune took it. "That was great."

Pyrrha paused. "It was?"

"Yeah. I mean, I got thrown around a lot, but I knew what to do with that."

Pyrrha's expression shifted, guilt mixing with realization.

Jaune glanced toward the folded schedule on the bench. "I had a whole plan, but this was fun too."

Pyrrha smiled, though it was smaller now. "I am glad."
She looked at the schedule again.
"Perhaps," she said softly, "another time, I should let you show me what you planned."
~~~
Pyrrha (For Real This Time):

The next day, Jaune stopped his partner.
Jaune stood with the original schedule in hand, looking nervous enough that even the paper seemed sympathetic.
"I had fun," he said quickly. "I really did. I just… I also wanted to show you the day I planned. If you still want to. No pressure."

Pyrrha looked at the schedule.
Then at Jaune.
Her smile was shy, but steadier than before. "I would like that very much."

This time, she let him lead.
~~~
The day was everything Pyrrha never thought she wanted.

Jaune took her to a small museum exhibit where no one recognized her, because the exhibit was about old regional armor and half the visitors were too busy arguing about helmet shapes to notice a tournament champion, even taking part when Argosian designs were brought up. He had picked a quiet lunch booth tucked away from the street. He had found a walking path with enough open space that Pyrrha did not feel boxed in, but enough privacy that she did not feel watched.

He did not ask her to pose for anyone.

He did not introduce her as Pyrrha Nikos, champion.

He did not make a speech about how amazing she was.

He simply spent the day with her.

By sunset, they were back at Beacon, walking through the halls while golden light stretched across the floor.

Pyrrha held the small paper flower Jaune had won from a fair-style puzzle stall along the way. She kept looking at it like it was made of something far more precious.

They reached the bend in the hallway near the dorms.

Jaune checked the schedule one final time, then smiled sheepishly. "well, that was everything. I hope it was okay."

Pyrrha looked at him.

For a moment, all the confidence people expected from her was nowhere to be seen. She looked nervous. Happy, but nervous.

"It was more than okay," she said.

Jaune's shoulders loosened. "Good."

Pyrrha stepped closer.

Jaune blinked. "Pyrrha?"

She pulled him close, and kissed him.

It was quick. Soft. Surprising enough that Jaune froze completely, and dropped the schedule from his hands.

Pyrrha stepped back, face scarlet but eyes bright.

"Thank you," she said.

Jaune stared at her, then at the schedule, then back at her.

"I," he said faintly, "did not plan that part."

 

[GraveyardShift]

The Best Defense is an Empty Net

*whump!*

The sound of soccer ball being impacted rang out as Mia Arc launched it as hard as her tiny foot could kick it.

It rolled to a stop just a few inched shy of the goal line.

"Oooh. So close. Remember, inside is the CONTROL not the kick. The TOP is the launch." Iella Artic flicked a wrist out snagging the ball and bringing it back dropping it at her feet. Beckoning Mia over she bounced it between her feet. "See? Inside is the control." She tapped it forward before lunging forward one leg back. Her toe skirted the grass as her foot lined up directly on the ball with exaggerated motion so Mia could see the exact moment her foot made contact.

Then it snapped forward.

*WHUMP!*

The ball rocketed forward slightly airborne with enough speed to be a blur. It impacted against the net rattling as it spun before dropping.

Iella recovered the ball dropping it before the child. "Now you try."

Off to the side, Iessa and Jaune were standing watching the two with Iessa recording the moment the ball impacted the net. She brought it up as a frame by frame.

"There. You see it?" The bluehead pointing out the moment the net caught the ball. "It doesn't STOP the ball so much as it 'catches' it and slows it like a drag net as opposed to deflecting it like armor." She rapped a knuckle against his Curess resulting in an echoing metal noise.

Jaune watched her replay the moment in slow motion. "And you're telling me that this flimsy netting can stop bullets?"

"Well not this net obviously." Iessa rolled her eyes. "But the principle is the same. Think of this as a very scaled up version of what's happening at the nanoscopic level. The net obviously needs to be extremely fine at proper scale to ensure it can catch. There is a reason the standard round is called 'ball' ammunition." She grinned.

"Huh... and your dress is basically made up of this stuff?"

"Somewhat." Iessa put her scroll away holding up an arm to let Jaune feel at the material of her sleeve. "There's a few other elements and obviously some dust weave application so it's not true Kevlar which is a little bulkier and stiffer. Our outfits are based off Mother's, and hers is an older style that isn't in widescale production. But the weave method itself isn't exactly a secret to the industry."

"Huh. You know I always wondered what the difference between a 'combat' skirt and a normal one was. It always seemed weird to me that so few Huntsmen and Huntresses wore armor. Huntresses especially."

Iessa laughed. "Yeah sturdy plates like what you've got on don't exactly hold up once firearms entered the picture. In fact most Hunter fashion tends to use the latest developments from the Great War. One of the reasons why my dress is so soft and silky but just as tough as that steel you're carting around. Given that Hunters often roam far into the wilderness, those plates are just extra weight to lug around which takes a toll on endurance."

Jaune picked at his Curess. "I mean... they still gotta be worth it in some capacity right? I just... had this idea in my head about what a Huntsman looked like. A noble warrior in shining steel leading the charge."

Iessa giggled. "Aura can help make up for that lost endurance and trust me if your aura ever broke, it's a nice fallback option to have something a little thicker than cloth. If it helps you, it helps you. I won't say a word against it."

"Don't mock what works?" Jaune asked with a grin.

"Less it be what kills you." Iessa returned it.

"GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!" Iella announced as Mia's latest attempt crossed the line and she swept Mia up who shrieked in delight at the victory lap they were taking.

"Still working on that 'rippling'?" Iessa asked him.

"Yeah."

Iessa gave him another grin. "Same principle with Aura. You can actively manipulate it to achieve the same effect. Catch someone's attacks and slow them down before impact where you can harden your Aura into a smaller space and mitigate the damage. Catch, slow, blunt."

Jaune looked at the net again stroking his face thoughtfully. "Hmmm....."

---

*BLAM BLAM! BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM!*

Jaune kept his shield up. Using the rhythmic discharge of Ember Celica to localize Yang despite having his vision blocked. The flare rounds sparking as they exploded around him.

Jaune having used today's combat class to issue a challenge to face the Blonde Brawler. Much to the surprise of everyone in the room.

Jaune however had picked Yang on purpose and that reasoning was proving his foresight. The Aura rippling trick had allowed Jaune some measurable proof of improving his Aura control. To the point that he 'wasn't leaking like a broken faucet' anymore in Iessa's own words.

Now he was trying to visualize his Aura like a mesh net to try and stop the incoming attacks.

Ember Celica actually seemed to work in function much like the soccer ball Iessa had shown him which was the main reason Jaune had picked Yang. The flare shotgun rounds giving him something to work with as opposed to anything else. Nora could have worked with the grenade launcher rounds as well but Jaune knew that Nora wouldn't be content with that preferring to rush in and start smashing with Magnhild in a one on one.

Yang on the other hand would ABSOLUTELY open up with slinging flare rounds ether to slow down and disrupt an approaching charge or cover her own advance.

Jaune applauded himself for reading his friends accurately. Because by the Breaker was this harder than it looked! Rippling under boring conversation was tricky enough but manipulating Aura like this while under fire was a whole new skillset. While Aura would passively protect him, (and thank the Breaker for that!) actively directing it was a skill he hadn't known possible until he'd learn that little trick.

Oh sure he'd heard the others talk about it. He'd seen it done with literally almost everyone else. But much in the same way that the Artic Twins insisted there was a difference between theory and practice, that kind of control always seemed to elude him.

Now that it seemed within reach, he was hoping this would be a breakthrough moment. All the greatest stories had this kind of thing! Diamonds under pressure! The hero discovering a power previously hidden while under duress!

Jaune caught the sound of footsteps at the last second and twisted, adjusting his stance to account for Yang having snuck up on him while distracted by his thoughts.

He grunted as her fist impacted his shield driving it low and inside. Another discharge rattling his bones to see what shook loose. Yang trying to break his stance to get through his guard.

Precisely why he'd adjusted at the last second.

Jaune stumbled but remained standing.

Yang's face pure glee as he remained upright slamming Crocea Mors against the shield in a taunt. "Oooo you want it ROUGH today do you VB?" She teased. "Let's see if you can walk straight after this! Don't finish too early now and leave me unsatisfied!"

Oh Aslan, Yang was in a mood. This was going to be one of those fights was it? He was going to have to watch the locker entrance to make sure he didn't get cornered.

Left, right, left left, right, right feint, kick, cross, cross, right, hammerblow, right right left right left, right feint, the hits came fast and furious. Jaune could barely keep up with Yang on a bad day for her while being in the zone himself. Little adjustments, he had to keep reminding himself. Don't chase after every block. She's coming to you. Let her do the work.

Jaune gave ground letting Yang drive him around the arena but kept moving a circle to avoid letting her drive him out of bounds.

"What's the matter VB? Don't you know how to use that sword of yours?"

Steady Jaune. He reminded himself. She has a point; you can't remain on the defensive forever. She's one of those who has stamina for days. You came into this fight with a plan. Stick to it.

Yang cocked a fist back just a bit too far in a wind up for a big hit.

Jaune saw it. He acted. His shield snapped forward to meet her fist in a shield bash she was unprepared for at the wrong time.

Jaune focused his Aura. He'd been using Yang's earlier assault to refine his net. Tighter. More filter than sport. Her earlier attacks proving Iessa's words.

"Consider this a scaled-up version of what's happening at the nanoscopic level."

Yang's earlier attacks had sailed clean through the gaps in his visual net. He'd been trying to visualize it smaller to close those gaps.

He projected it through the Aura circuits on his shield.

Catch. Slow. Blunt.

The hit landed with significantly less force than he expected. Complete surprise on Yang's face as she was thrown backwards breaking her guard open wide. Even with the hit being caught, there still should have been significant enough force to achieve a combat lock. The fact Jaune broke through was evidence enough he'd achieved what he set out to do.

He'd blunted the killer fist of Yang Xiao-Long.

Jaune went to work. Crocea Mors flashing as he swung it. Yang now in a desperate guard as she was off balance. Stumbling to find her stance. Jaune didn't let her.

Jaune swiped with the edge of his shield.

Yang flew backwards off her feet. Panic on her face as she was airborne.

Jaune came down with the hilt of Crocea Mors straight to her solar plexus.

Suddenly Yang's face twisted into an evil smile.

Her torso rippled with Aura as it manifested into tiny interlocking plates.

Jaune impacted Yang.

Yang impacted the floor.

The floor gave way and cratered throwing dust everywhere.

Glynda Goodwitch gave it 20 seconds before with a flick of her weapon cleared the dust.

Jaune had backed off and reset himself.

Yang was already on her feet. Her eyes red and hair glowing gold. The hit clearly enough to have activated her semblance. She grinned mockingly as she raised her fists. Aura shone over them with the same tiny interlocking plates. "You're not the only one who picked up a new trick from our mutual blueheaded friends." She taunted showing off her left hand. "Like it? Haven't quite figured out how to get the razor part of Prickleskin yet but I think this Dragonscale technique suits me don't you think?" She winked at him.

Jaune risked a glance at the scoreboard.

He was sitting at 93%.

Yang was at 96%.

He sighed wearily. A hit like that should have dropped her into the 80s. WOULD have dropped her there. He'd been running the numbers long before this match. His own made sense having been on the defensive while trying to refine his technique. Now Yang breaking out her own brand-new defensive technique threw everything into chaos.

Fine.

He could handle chaos. He handled Nora Bloody Valkyrie on a daily basis.

Jaune simply set himself and readied for the true test for his new skill.

Yang gave him another smirk. "Sorry Jaune. But this fight is over."

She shot forward like a golden comet.

Jaune saw it coming and braced.

---

Jaune Arc: 90%

Yang Xiao-Long: 94%

Yang stood there for the second time that match completely bewildered. Her fist touching Jaune's shield.

Her fist should not be touching his shield.

His shield should be with him on the other side of the room clean outside the boundaries of the arena.

The fact that neither of these things were true confounded her.

She had powered up her Semblance.

She had hit Jaune square on.

Normally this would have resulted in him being sent out of bounds. Possibly to the infirmary.

Instead he was standing there having slid back about three feet braced squarely.

Her fist was touching his damn shield!

Jaune chuckled as he looked over his shield at her. "Performance problems?" he quipped. "Happens to everyone. I still like you."

Yang exploded. Consumed entirely by her semblance.

---

Four minutes in and the fight was still going. Neither combatant had dropped below 85% Aura yet. Glynda continuing to take notes as she prepared to call time on the match.

Honestly this match was turning out to be something of an anomaly. Both combatants having pulled some new undocumented Aura trick that was defensive oriented. Turning both of them into absolute bulwarks on the level she would grade as upper Third year. Even fourth year control.

Not quite the level of graduated Hunter but a significant improvement in the right direction.

Glynda very much approved of this. These were her students and this was the place for them to experiment. Anything that ensured that she could send them into the world prepared that ensured she would not be attending a funeral so soon after watching them graduate.

She'd been to far too many so soon.

Of note was also the improvement to the temperament of the individual combatants.

Jaune Arc. Often far too cautious, almost afraid to hurt his fellow classmates. He was attacking now in a manner that was far more confident and striking more often than when he first arrived. The confidence likely bolstered by the fact he now had something that would let him survive his peers.

Yang Xiao-Long. All offense. Little defense to speak of. Her semblance played a big part of that. While Glynda wasn't going to punish her for it, she worried it made the girl reckless and liable to charge into something that could cost her something. Her life or limb. A new defensive technique would go a long way to preventing that and hopefully temper her... well... temper.

4 minutes and 29 seconds flicked over onto 4:30. Almost time to call the match.

---

4:29
4:30

Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! This was not the plan! The plan had long gone out the window!

Jaune was getting exhausted.

But to his surprise, Yang seemed just as winded.

"Had.... had enough yet... Jaune?" Yang panted trying to grin at him. "Just... just give up now... soon as.... as I... get my next... wind... you're in trouble lover~"

And in that second, a terrible idea was planted in Jaune's head.

Jaune refused to consider this a good idea. His brain disagreed. Jaune tried to label it Plan Z and stick it as FAR back into the drawer as he could. His eyes took one look and pulled it right back out. His body agreed wanting to shut down and rest.

Jaune argued with himself as hard and loud as he could.

His entire self revolted and mindlessly charged the Sunny Dragon wanting to end this fight.

He collided with Yang. Yang yelped but was silenced as his lips found hers. "MMMMPH!"

There was a crack and both Jaune and Yang were flung apart landing on their backs opposite in the arena.

"CEASE! CEASE THE MATCH AT ONCE." Glynda roared.

Both partied groaned and made no move to get up.

"MR ARC. While I encourage unorthodox methods and ending a fight quickly. I DO NOT PERMIT OR APPROVE SUCH BEHAVIOR IN MY CLASSROOM! THAT KIND OF CONDUCT HAS NO PLACE WHERE IT ENCOURAGED UNPERMISSABLE ACTIONS."

"aLl GoOd BiG g!" Yang slurred from the floor with a shaky thumbs up. "JaNuE cAn FiNiSh Me OfF lIkE tHaT aNy TiME!"

"MISS XIAO-LONG! DO NOT ENCOURAGE HIM!"

"Oh I'Ll EnCoRaUgE hIm AAAAALLL NIIIIIIIIIGHT XIAAAAAO LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG~!"

"DETENTION! BOTH YOU!"

Jaune sighed.

Worth it.

 

[Quietview27]

-SSSN were originally meant to be love interests for RWBY. Only Sun and Neptune were used. So, let's take off from there: How do we make Neptune worthy of Weiss' love?

Click to shrink...

Neptune found himself kinda nervous as he approached Jaune one day.

"Hey uh, Jaune?" he began.

"Hm?" Jaune turned, "Oh hey Neptune. Need somethin'?"

"Look uh, can we have a one to one real quick? Just some guy talk yeah?"

Jaune raised a brow, but shrugged as he followed the blue haired boy. After a walk to a bench outside, they sat down, and Jaune waited for Neptune to start. He looked over to see the other man twiddling his fingers.

"Sooo uh," he tried making small talk, "Nice weather huh?"

"I need your help!" Neptune yelled, looking desperately at Jaune.

"W-woah woah woah! With what?!"

"Weiss!"

"Weiss? What help do you need with her?"

"Look I- I messed up. You know about us at the dance."

He nodded, "I do. You denied her date request cause you couldn't da-"

"Sssssh!" Neptune frantically shushed him, "Not so loud! But- but yes. Then was our match against team NDGO."

Jaune remembered that, Naptune openly flirting with the all female team. He remembered Ruby telling him of how pissed off Weiss had been, and he couldn't blame her. It looked like Neptune and her had something growing between them, and then he did that.

"So what does this have to do with me? I don't exactly have the best history with Weiss, why not ask her team?"

"Because I feel like they'll be really mean about it."

Jaune's flat look had Neptune sweat a bit, "Ignoring that for the time. I guess I could offer something. I did have a girlfriend before Beacon."

"Wait what!?"

"Yeah, we broke up because the stuff we wanted in life just- never connected you know?"

Neptune stayed quiet, offering to let him continue.

"I wanted to chase a dream. To become a hero like my parents, and grandparents. She wanted a nice simple life. Our own home, kids, everything. It was probably stupid to throw that away, but I wouldn't feel right if I never tried to accomplish the thing I've wanted my whole life."

"That was pretty stupid bro," Neptune responded, "you had a girl right there."

"I did. And I loved her. But I'm here now, I made my choice, and I'll be buried with it. Anyway, we're here for your issue."

"...was kinda hoping you'd have forgotten that."

"Heh, nice try. So basically, you want my help to get you with Weiss. First off, quit flirting with every girl you lay eyes on."

"What?! But there are so many babes out the-" *SMACK* "Ow!"

"No," Jaune frowned, lowering the hand he used to smack the back of Neptune's head, "This is the biggest problem. Do you think Weiss wants to be with someone who can't keep their eyes on her? Who will leave her side to flirt with some other woman right in front of her?"

The other boy looked to argue, but struggled to come up with a good argument. After five minutes of silent struggle, Neptune sighed.

"Alright I got nothin', you're right. So how would- how would I change that though? I just can't help myself."

"Honestly I don't know. But if you stay that way, it'll just end the same. Weiss doesn't deserve someone who views her only for the moment until someone new walks by. She wants someone who'll stay by her side, a dedicated lover, not a 'bad boy'. So we'll start with that alright?"

"R-right!" Neptune nodded, "Yeah. I can do this. I can become better for her."

"You better," Jaune grinned, "Or her sister might have some words. You know, if her teammates don't beat you up first."

Neptune paled at the idea, and prayed Jaune's help would allow him better focus. A him shaped hole in the wall, courtesy of Xiao-Long didn't sound to appealing.

 

[Azure Hero]

Threadmark 3 of 5 from SB

• Nov 24, 2025 at 7:59 AM

Here's some things I thought up for the Game Mechanic Semblance Idea.

What If Jaune's Semblance was the Skyrim Skill/Perk Trees?

Alteration -20

​

"I CAN FIX THIS! I SWEAR!" Jaune shouted out as a angry Yang, hair ablaze and eyes burning red, held him aloft by the shirt of his uniform.

"YOU BETTER ARC, OR YOU'RE SPENDING THE REST OF THE SEMESTER IN THE INFIRMARY!" the furious blonde yelled.

The reason for her anger is obvious to any observer as they would immediately notice the lack of two of her more noticeable 'assets'. While taking the time too work on his Semblance, and as luck would have it, Yang and Weiss had the poor timing of walking into spot of what his Semblance told him was the 'Mage Light' spell when he cast it. The result was something none would have expected.

"Oh lay off him Yang. It was an accident after all." surprisingly said a smug Weiss as she stared into a mirror, admiring her new figure. She would have to visit a seamstress later to get her wardrobe refitted.

"SHUT UP, AND GIVE ME MY BOOBS BACK!" Yang yelled at the heiress as Jaune sobbed. How the heck did trying to make a ball of light lead to this?!

Blacksmithing 40

​

"How does that work?" Ruby asked as she watched Jaune sharpen his sword at a grinder while holding an ingot of steel against it, gazing in wonder as the metal was actually added to the weapon, strengthening it.

"Honestly, I have no idea. But hey if it works, it works." was the reply she got. Shaking her head Ruby looked around the work station Jaune has set up in the forge, and noticed a crate off to the side. Walking up to it get a closer look, she saw it was actually full of Iron Daggers.

"Hey Jaune, what's with all the daggers?" she asked.

"Oh those were just a bunch knives I made for practice. Throwing them out, or melting them down didn't feel right to me, so I figured I give them to Pyrrha to use with her Semblance."

Ruby immediately imagined Pyrrha, her hand held high and a demented smile on her face that looked more at home on Nora or a Serial Killer as a storm of knives surrounded her, and shuddered. Maybe she should get rid of these while Jaune's distracted.

******

That's all I got for now.

 

[Sift Green]

Well, you reminded me of something else I've forgotten to bring over. Here it is:

You know what would be even funnier? As a very crack idea?

He discovers that, just like he now lives via videogame mechanics, there are glitches in the system!

Click to shrink...

"Jaune, why do you have so many cheese rolls in your inventory?" Ruby asked as she glanced away from her sniper scope and over her shoulder to him.

"Yes, that is a concerning amount of cheese," Arslan agreed even as she took a defensive position in front of their downed teammates.

"I don't really have time to explain," Jaune answered. The Grimm horde that had surrounded their teams on this mountain top would be on them in a few moments. "Just follow my lead when things get weird."

He emptied the cheese rolls from his inventory. All of them. Every. Single. One.

Over ten thousand cheese rolls tried to occupy the same space at once. Then? Then they exploded outwards.

And then things got weird.



Thousands of miles away Queen Salem was viewing the battle remotely via a Seer Grimm, sipping wine with a satisfied smile knowing that the next generation of great heroes was about to be snuffed out before their prime. She placed her glass down and glanced to her subordinates about to make a profound statement surmising the futility of the heroes' struggle only to pause at the oddity before her.

Watts and Hazel were walking into her courtroom, but they were janking around as if reality wasn't sure where they were supposed to be on their walk cycle.

Salem's eyes widened in terror.

Lag.

She looked to the heavens and screamed.

"TODD! DID YOU TIE THE PHYSICS ENGINE TO THE FRAME-RATE AGAIN TODD! ANSWER ME!"

 

[Azure Hero]

Threadmark 4 of 5 from SB

• Dec 31, 2025 at 9:06 PM

That is pretty fun. Another might be the Red/Blue fight starts up but it's a prank war. And Jaune and Nick are on opposite sides.

Click to shrink...

Jaune, garbed in the painted armor of the Radian Militia's Red Team stared in horror at the monstrosity the militia leader was creating. "Sarge are you sure about this?! That's a chemical war crime you're making!"

"Nonsense!" the mad man said as he stirred the mixture he was cooking "The El Mongo Stink Bomb is an old family recipe created by my Great Uncle, who passed it down to my Grandfather, who passed it down to me. Now pass me the fermented fish heads and Griff's dirty sock so I can add it to the mixture will ya."

"Here ya go."

"Thanks Nick." Sarge said as he took the offered ingredients and added them, "Those dirty Blues won't know what hit them." only too pause "I better have not saw what I just saw." Turning around he saw Nick, in the armor of the Militia's Blue Team, as well as Tucker and Caboose. "The Blues! We've been compromised!"

"Dad! What are you doing here?" A nervous Jaune asked as Nick turned to his son with a deadpan look. "It's my Garage." He said. "And I got curious as to why Griff was sitting in the middle of our hallway, missing a boot and reading a magazine."

"Damn it Griff, you're supposed to be keeping watch!" Sarge shouted at the lazy watchman, who responded with a lazy shrug and went back to reading. "Bah, so what now Nic-"

"CABOOSE NO!" came the shout of multiple people as the large man poked the stink bomb, starting a chain reaction.

"Tucker did it!" was the last thing they heard as toxic fumes filled the garage and spread throughout the town.

Griff stopped his reading to sniff the air. "What smells like roses?"

 

[Azure Hero]

Threadmark 5 of 5 from SB, though I'm honestly a bit confused as to why it was threadmarked in the first place

• May 14, 2026 at 6:44 AM

So I had an idea for a What If.

Silver Paladin, Rusted Reaper
​

What if Ruby was the one who trained to be a Knight, while Jaune was the Scythe wielder? While the idea came to me as a Final Fantasy fusion, with Ruby and Jaune finding the Job Crystals for Paladin and Reaper respectivaly, I think it could work as is.

For example, after the incident where Yang and Ruby almost died as children if Qrow didn't show up in time too save them, Tai and Qrow decide to train Ruby as a more defensive Fighter, hence the Classic Sword and Shield, which she turned into gun. Where as Jaune, unable to take Crocea Mors, decides to instead grab a Scythe from the shed too use as his weapon when he runs off to Beacon after getting his falsefied transcripts.


And with this, all of my SB Threadmarks have been crossposted to QQ.

 

[AJ_Talon]

Whiter Rose: Quiet Hours

Atlas never really slept. The lights outside the Schnee Manor stayed on all night, cold and steady against the snow. Ruby had found a corner of one of the smaller sitting rooms where the windows faced away from the city, and she had been sitting there long enough for the tea in her hands to go cold.

Whitley paused in the doorway when he saw her. She didn't look up.

He stepped in anyway, quiet on the carpet. "You're not usually this still."

Ruby let out a breath that wasn't quite a laugh. "Yeah. Weird, right?"

He sat on the other end of the couch, not too close. For a while neither of them said anything. The only sound was the low hum of the manor's heating.

"I keep thinking if I just move fast enough," Ruby said at last, voice small, "if I just keep going, then none of it will catch up to me. But I'm tired. I'm really tired. And I don't know what the right next step is. Everyone keeps looking at me like I should already have the answer."

Whitley studied the dark window. "I used to think if I stayed quiet and useful enough, my father would stop looking at me like I was a mistake he hadn't fixed yet. It never worked. I still hear him sometimes, when the house is this quiet."

Ruby turned her head. Her silver eyes were bright, but not glowing. Just tired.

"I don't know how to help anyone if I can barely keep myself together," she admitted. "And I hate that I'm scared of that."

Whitley nodded, once. "I don't know how to be anything but what he made me. Even now. I keep waiting for someone to tell me I've done it wrong." He glanced at her.

"You don't look at me like that. It's… strange."

Ruby managed a weak smile. "You're not doing it wrong. You're here. That counts for something."

"So are you."

They sat with that for a moment. Outside, wind moved across the snow. Inside, the old house creaked, but it felt farther away than usual.

Ruby shifted the cold mug in her hands. "Does it ever get easier? Talking about it?"

Whitley considered the question. "I don't know. This is the first time I've tried."

She nodded like that was enough of an answer. After a second she leaned sideways, just enough that her shoulder rested against his. He went still, then carefully didn't move away.

"Thanks for sitting with me," she said.

"Thank you for not telling me to go away," he answered.

They stayed like that until the tea was long forgotten and the lights of Atlas kept burning outside, steady and cold, while the quiet between them settled into something a little less sharp.

 

[SirNameV]

A little something that's been in my head for a while now, and perfect for Halloween. A little late, but it's also appropriate for All Saints Day:

Cowboys of Remnant AU: Cursed Part 1

Isabel's entire world at that moment was the low hum of machinery and the rhythmic beat of a heart rate monitor. The room, a windowless emergency room in Arc-en-Ciel Hospital reserved for extremely sensitive cases, was dark, with the only lighting kept purposefully dim, so as to not disturb the very special patient in the hastily modified incubator. Her son, her seventh child overall, but her only boy. Born... far too soon. Late enough to not immediately be a still birth... but still too soon for his tiny body to handle all the complex processes of life unassisted. Hence the modified incubator. A jury rigged mess of different life support systems, Neonatal Intensive Care procedures, and her own extensive knowledge of prenatal human development. Her Semblance, after all, allowed her to control her body down to the individual cellular level, and she had made sure to develop the knowledge necessary to fully take advantage of that (so how the hell did she not stop this from happening in the first place?).

The creak of the door and a surge of harsh light caused Isabel to raise her head from her hands and turn toward the source, a harsh glare shining through her bloodshot eyes. A man she did not recognize was standing in the doorway, one hand still on the doorknob.

"Oh, sorry. I'm a bit lost. Didn't mean to disturb anything."

The man had a pale hue and a complexion and set of wrinkles that suggested moderate age. And that was it. Those where the only notable features that seemed to stick in Isabel's mind. Everything else about him was plain and unremarkable, the kind of features that anyone would expect from the earlier descriptor.

"You're Dr. Arc, aren't you," the stranger suddenly asked, "Forgive me, I'm an investor, of sorts. I was here for a meeting with the board. You weren't in attendance," he elaborate, before his eyes slid over to the incubator that she was sitting next to, his tone taking on a clipped and somber quality, "I was informed why."

Had she missed an investor meeting? Isabel couldn't remember one scheduled recently, but given that she was currently operating far beyond her highly optimized body and mind's already reduced sleep requirements, she couldn't exactly trust her own memory. She had already lost track of what day it was.

The man closed the door, entering the room properly. He walked over to the incubator in the center of the room, the sharp thump of a cane echoing throughout the dark, isolated room. He came to stand next to Isabel, his eyes transfixed on the incubator and the little life within, pity clear in his gaze.

"It's a shame," he murmured out consolingly, "A real shame." A beat of silence passed before his voice echoed through the darkness again. "You know, I might be able to help."

"How?" Isabel suddenly spoke, for the first time in... a very long while. Her voice rough from disuse.

The man raised a hand in a placating gesture, "As I said, I'm an investor. Your hospital would hardly be the first in my portfolio." He explained. "Hospitals with advanced pediatric programs, research institutes on the cutting edge of medical science," he listed, as if thinking more to himself than speaking to another. "You see, while I call myself an investor, I also have been known to operate like something of a fixer, someone who specializes in connecting people with what they need to fix their problems." The man looked at her out of the corner of his eye, "I could arrange for something that might help your boy."

Isabel felt like she had just had a transfusion of ice water into her veins. The rhythm of the heart rate monitor, still far to slow and weak even after exhausting every possibility she could think of, seemed to echo within her skull. To suddenly have someone offer the possibility of a solution? It was too good to be true. And yet, it didn't stop the desperate hope blooming in her chest.

The man opened a brief case that she had failed to notice earlier, and pulled out a sheet of paper. "I tend to keep some general contracts on me for just such an occasion. You see, my little side business tends to rely pretty heavily on favors, and I've been... burned one time too many by informal agreements." The man almost seemed to chuckle while saying that last part, for some reason. "So I have a general policy not to 'work my magic' without a formal contract." He handed the sheet of paper to Isabel, alongside a pen.

Isabel stared at the paper, pen clutched tight between her fingers. The words seemed to bend and float on the page. She was an intelligent and educated woman, she knew that even considering signing a contract when she was too sleep deprived to even read it was a terrible idea, one that she would never normally entertain. Unfortunately, sound judgement and impulse control tend to fade away long before the ability to read under sleep deprivation.

Isabel blinked, and she was staring at her son, an unsettling pale with a blueish tint and far tinier than any of her other children had been at birth. She blinked again, her eyes now on the contract, a series of squiggles, her signature, now added to the bottom line. Blink, nothing. The contract was gone. The hand with the pen empty. The man, gone. As if he had never existed in the first place.

Isabel raised a hand to her temple and rubbed, not for the first time deciding that she needed to find a nurse to take over for her while she grabbed a quick power nap. Like every other time she had that thought since she finished her surprise labor an unknown amount of time ago, she did not get up, and instead continued to sit there, staring at her baby.

Within the next day or so, Jaune would miraculously stabilize, and Isabel would quickly forget all about the odd waking dream that her over tired mind seemed to conjure. Or at least, she would for several years, until a certain incident would force this memory back to the forefront of her mind, as well as the realization that it had not, in fact, been a dream.




I have more to write, but I am really out of practice when it comes to narrative writing. I'm already concerned enough that this section may not have turned out the best, and I definitely want to reevaluate and how I've been writing the next section, since it's supposed to include both RWBY and JNPR, and I'm a little concerned about my current ability to juggle multiple potential speakers in a scene.

 

[Quietview27]

Jaune learned Shield Bash

it;s super effective

Click to shrink...

It wasn't the intent, but I can't help but imagine Jaune just Skyrim shield bashing everyone and everything lol (Damn Bandits using it even when I wasn't trying to attack)


"Jaune look out!" Pyrrha cried to her partner as a Beowolf attacked him from the side, 'I can't get to him in time! Please don't let this-!'

*SLAM!*

She blinked in surprise as the beast abruptly stopped in its tracks after Jaune simply bashed its head with his shield. Then again when she saw it raise it's paw, attempting to slash him, only for Jaune to wait and then slam his shield against it again. This continued for a few minutes, before the Grimm's head was smashed in so much it seemed to die from it.

"I did it!" Jaune cheered, while his teammates just stared at him, "Man my arm's kinda tired though."

Then a Deathstalker burst from the bushes, and its tail shot towards him.

"Jaune-Jaune no!" Nora cried, readying Magnhild's grenade launcher mode.

*SLAM!*

The 3 blinked again as its tail went back to its original position after getting its head smashed by his shield.

"How is this working?" Ren asked, face left in a rare moment of intense shock at the absurdity he was witnessing.

"No clue," Nora aimed her launcher, "Keep it right there Jaune-Jaune! I got her locked in my sights!"

"Got it!" he yelled back, slamming his shield as its claw attacked him.

*PLUNK!* *BOOOM!*

"Good shot Nora!"

"Thanks Jaune-Jaune!"

Pyrrha and Ren simply looked to one another, before leaving it at that. Only for it to return during Combat Class, when Jaune faced off against Cardin again.

"Ow!" Cardin groaned, holding his nose before trying to swing his mace, "Stop shield bashing m-!"

*SLAM*

Cardin stepped back as he got bashed again, "For fucks sake Arc quit it!"

"You've stepped outside the arena Mr. Winchester," Ms. Goodwitch stated, "The winner is Mr. Arc."

Jaune raised his hands in the air, "Woohoo!"

"Oh come on! All he did was shield bash me!"

"Regardless of the strategy, he still obtained victory. Though please attempt to try other techniques in the future Mr. Arc."

Ren and Pyrrha simply nodded in acceptance, Nora whooped in joy at her leaders victory, and everyone else wondered how the fuck Jaune won the way he did.