Iamthefanofeverything9: Ok…sorry, it's just been getting…bad. I have been thinking about…leaving…more and more often, sorry but its true.
Nightblade546: Thanks.
LadWatcher: Ok, now I get it. Thanks.
I guess when you put it like that, it does seem like a shojo manga; my bad. Torture machine was rather serious comment, until I thought about it more; the original idea was for them to face their fears in order to adapt. You know how in 'Batman' when Bruce did those drugs in order to fully join the Brotherhood of Shadows? The idea was that they needed to face their deepest fears, not to overcome them, but to be able to think and try and act rationally. Yeah they fight Grimm, but there are going to be times when they will be afraid; my goal was to try and portray them thinking when facing fear. I guess I didn't portray that very well…
InfinitumAce: I probably could write a motherly Goodwitch, yeah I felt it was also very quick to just switch briefly; I didn't mean to give sudden whiplash. Thanks for helping me and Equinox with the short stories.
Frik1000: I've been told I hit people's feelings hard.
stonecold: I'll do my best.
hellkaizer: It's not insensitive, you like the story and you want the next chapter. That's fine.
SilentSoviet: Ditto.
Raptor010: It makes all the difference to people, even if you can relate.
CrimsonHeresy: I don't mind Stor; it's what the people on this site call me. Thanks for the words.
(2/3/2015) Regarding Chapter 7
I hope that you all have read it at least and understand my points.
CrimsonHeresy: I am not claiming to know about who Monty was and what he wanted, that's all speculation, but I do believe that we need to get over this in order to get stronger.
Numbnut10:We should come together; we should still do what we do.
A/N: This is the last chapter before I make the epilogues, yes. Plural.
Chapter
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!
The constant sound of a flat line filled the room, and in that moment there was a frail pause before chaos arose in seven students.
Her team leader, her knights' heart, had stopped.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Pyrrha screamed.
Leaping from her spot, she sprinted down the steps; rushing to where Jaune lay limp in the chair.
Before she could get halfway down, a pair of arms circled her waist.
Pyrrha's screams were a mix of 'LET ME GO!' and 'JAUNE!' and she fought whoever was restraining her, but they held fast.
Pyrrha screamed until her throat was raw from exertion, and it then hit her.
There wasn't anything she could do.
Pyrrha broke down crying, for the first time in many years, the four time champion felt powerless.
Blake's eyes widened when the sound of a flat line hit her ears, the black themed girl felt a familiar heaviness in her heart; it had been too long since someone she cared about died, while Blake did hurt it did not hamper her mind. The moment the cat Faunus saw Pyrrha dart towards the stage, she acted; springing from her chair she darted towards the girl and restrained her to the best of her ability.
If there was a chance, Pyrrha would only get in the way.
As Blake held tightly to the girl, she used her ribbon to try and bind her arms together; Pyrrha wasn't the four time champion of the Mistrial Regional tournament for nothing.
Blake gritted her teeth as gloved hands hit her body and face, she refused and held tighter onto the Spartan; when Pyrrha finally stopped her attempts at fighting back and sank down into sobs, Blake wrapped her into a hug and began to try and calm the girl.
Weiss was frozen. Jaune was…dead? But…he promised…he couldn't be… he just…
He was gone.
Realization began to hit her as the heiress raised a hand to cover her mouth, he was gone. He did die.
Ruby had buried her face into Yang's neck.
"It's still the machine…it's still the machine," she chanted as she rocked in her sister's lap.
In her world, Ruby had found herself at the cliff where her mother was buried. But instead of just her mother, seven more grave stones had joined her mothers.
Each with every one of her friend's names on the seven stones, and a newspaper clipping.
Ruby's entire team died on her very first mission, Grimm Extermination, according to the paper it was due to the lack of communication on her part as the leader. She failed to prepare for each kind of Grimm and one by one they died.
Weiss was first to go, an Ursa Major had snuck up and slashed at her back, Weiss bled out before they could do anything; Blake was next as she was overwhelmed by several Beowolves, and as Ruby and Yang attempted to escape in a Bullhead, Yang was impaled by the feather of a Nevermore and fell out of the aircraft.
Team JNPR was next, Ruby had been put on their team as an extra; on this mission she was on patrol, she took the farthest parts away from the group, because she didn't want them to see her tears.
And that caused their deaths.
Because of her being so far away, and still filled with grief, she never fully completed her patrols on time, allowing multiple Grimm to pass her by. When she returned, all that was left was blood and pieces of human anatomy, one still clinging to a sword.
As Ruby saw these clippings she began to break down, wondering why these happy storied didn't have a happy ending.
It was then that Ruby made a vow, that no matter what happened, she would ensure that people would get their happy endings.
With that, she was ejected from the simulator.
Then that brought her into this nightmare.
Yang was clutching tightly onto Ruby as she saw the sight of her blonde friend.
…
…
…
Just…fuck.
Nora was shocked, instead of the large energetic voice that usually comes out of the younger girl, a small, still voice spoke instead.
"T-This is a joke right? Right Renny?" Nora's voice cracked, "Renny? Right?"
Ren was pale, his pink eyes staring at his team leader. His mind was going into overdrive as he processed what had happened.
"I-I-"
He was stopped by a loud voice.
Glynda Goodwitch had her flaws, if she had a main one; she would say 'stubbornness' immediately.
Throughout most of her years, as Huntress and a young girl, most knew that it was dangerous to argue with her.
It was her way, or the highway.
When it came to people who were opposed to what she wanted, she could be as stubborn as Ursa, with a temper to match.
Glynda believed that by putting people through the simulation long enough, they would be prepared for whatever was out there.
However, nothing could prepare her for this.
She was monitoring Mr. Arc's vitals; nothing was unusual or appeared wrong, so when they began to drop, Glynda believed he was coming out.
However, as she prepared to help Mr. Arc out of the simulator, his vitals caught her eye again.
They continued to descend.
"No…"
She tapped the console a few times, wondering if it was some kind of glitch, and in that time Mr. Arc's vitals began descending faster.
"No…no…"
Glynda went into tapping several icons, trying to slow the process.
That's when Glynda figured out what was happening.
His vitals weren't descending.
They were in freefall.
"Nonononononononononononono!"
…
Zero BPM.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!"
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!
Glynda froze, he was dead.
She had…
…
The older woman gritted her teeth.
"DON'T YOU EVEN DARE MR. ARC!"
Frantically tapping on the computers keyboard, Glynda tried to discover the cause, slamming a fist onto the desk Glynda then began to hear sirens going off as she returned to the computer.
The panic button.
She had it installed when Jaune was badly hurt in the Arena, if she would ever do something like that again and a student was terribly hurt; the panic button would immediately alert the nurse of a drastic situation and quickly send aid.
Glynda grinned in success as she had discovered the problem; however that grin faded to a look of shock.
It was in the simulation, he…died in the simulation?!
Goodwitch wanted to punch a wall…no, punch and terribly injure herself, she developed this whole system and went through it herself; and she missed something yet again. But it didn't make any sense; the beings inside of each simulation were non-existent, mere phantoms in a person's conscious mind. Nothing could cause an injury for any student in the simulation, it was im-
Almost like magic, Glynda remembered the words of a young, innocent rhyme.
Sticks and Stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
These phantoms of the mind caused these fears, and she designed them to speak, to interact with the user; to even insult or degrade the user.
Taunts and insults were thrown around throughout Glynda's life. They wouldn't hurt unless you allowed them to.
But what if they did, and no matter how hard you try it would be impossible for them not to hurt.
…
…
Glynda began to spew out words that would make everyone flush in embarrassment and make Mrs. Xiao Long stare at her teacher in shock if they heard the extensive use of her vocabulary.
The older woman knew that she would like to have a talk with Mr. Arc after all of this.
But in order for that speech to occur, she needed to go grab that.
Taking a deep breath to steel her nerves, Glynda then darted from her computer and started rummaging through her desk; cursing her actions as it jarred and disarranged her belongings and papers, she quickly found what she was looking for.
A syringe. Filled with adrenaline.
Glynda had used this before on herself, when collecting plants with Ozpin, she had encountered plants that induced a comatose state. She barely avoided it by injecting herself with this; she had it on her mainly for a battle against Grimm, never know when you might need that extra boost.
Not wasting anytime, she sprinted towards the sitting form of Jaune Arc; quickly taking the syringe in one hand, she placed her thumb over the plunger.
With the other, she firmly (but carefully) grabbed Jaune's neck before slamming the needle into his jugular vein, and quickly pressing down on the plunger.
"I have not ever lost a student yet Mr. Arc," she found herself saying to the body. "And I do not intend to start anytime soon."
Silence was all that was heard…
Then, as music to her ears she heard a sharp intake of breath from the body.
Grinning, she returned to the computer before discovering the effect of what has happened.
He died in the simulation, and it was designed to amplify the senses; so when he died in the simulation, his brain would have processed that he had died, and caused what him to die in real life.
However, while his body had been restarted, it still left his mind believing it was dea-
Glynda's train of thought stopped as the doors into the amphitheater slammed opened and a gurney was wheeled in.
Glynda then began to concentrate on removing Jaune from the simulator, that faster the experts got a look at him the better.
The sounds of clinking heels and padding of soft shoes were the only sounds that were constant in the waiting room. Weiss was gritting her teeth as she occasionally looked up at the door into Jaune's room, only to scowl before returning to her pacing; Ren was the other person pacing, however he was stony faced as he looked at both Nora and the door.
Blake was sitting in a chair while trying to soothe Pyrrha, who had her face in her hands and let out occasional choked sobs. Yang and Ruby were in the same scenario; however it was Yang playing the part of the black themed girl while Ruby was weeping.
Nora was still in shock with her eyes wide, the normally energetic girl was sitting against a wall; Nora just couldn't believe what had happened to her leader.
It had been almost an hour since the events of the simulator had occurred, almost an hour of waiting and tears and pacing and just nothing!
It was Nora who had broken the silence first, "I-Is Jauney-"
Ren quickly went to his childhood friend's side before hugging her tightly.
"We don't know," Weiss answered calmly.
Nobody knew what to do.
Snapping open his eyes, Jaune quickly sat up with a gasp of air; he frowned as he looked at his surroundings and saw nothing but black, he was on a stone floor but everything else was just…black.
Where was he?
Jaune rubbed his head as concentrated on what had happened.
The comments.
Leaping.
Jaune's eyes widened in shock, he died?! Then-
…
…
The knight was filled with dread as he remembered that it was all a simulation, but did that really mean he was dead? If so, was this-
Jaune stopped as he heard a noise, similar to when an old fashioned lock is…well unlocked; it was then that he saw a glossy white, old fashioned door with a pull handle appear.
Getting to his feet, he slowly walked towards the door with a look of curiosity on his face; carefully grabbing the circular handle, he waited for something to happen. When it didn't, he opened the door and walked inside.
Seven heads snapped towards the door as it opened and Goodwitch walked out.
She regarded them all with a calm look, "He's fine."
It was then that Nora, Ruby and Pyrrha darted inside; Ren and Yang slowly followed them with Weiss trailing behind.
Blake however remained behind, "There's more to this, isn't there."
Glynda did not reply.
Together they walked into the room as well.
Jaune was hooked up to an IV, with patches on the crook of his elbow, which helped monitor his vitals; the boy himself was so pale, he appeared to be a specter with bright blonde hair.
Ren had Nora in a hold to stop her from lunging at Jaune, in an attempt to shake him awake; Yang had wrapped Ruby into a hug, the younger girl sobbing her eyes out.
Pyrrha had simply collapsed into the chair and pressed her head into her hands while Weiss carefully rubbed her back.
Blake looked at Jaune before calmly asking, "How long?"
Glynda blinked, "That's up to him."
Blake crossing her arms and tilted her head down, so her hair covered her eyes.
Before Weiss could ask what Blake meant by that, Nora glared at the cat Faunus, "Don't say that!" Nora said angrily, "Don't give up on Jauney alrea-"
"I have no intention of that," Blake stated.
Looking up, it was then that they saw water beginning to form around Blake's eyes, "But there is still a chance he might die."
Nora fell silent.
As Blake wiped her eyes, Goodwitch cleared her throat, "To explain, Mr. Arc is currently in a coma, the cause was something that occurred in the simulation, while we do not know what it is, it was something very traumatizing for the boy."
Pyrrha swallowed, "Will he wake up?" she asked.
Goodwitch looked at the girl firmly, "As I said, that is up to him. Right now, his subconscious believed that he had died and his mind and body followed, causing his heart to stop. However his mind is still in the belief that it is dead but his body is responding, so it is possible for Jaune to come out of the coma."
It was then that Yang spoke, "I am detecting a 'but' in there."
Goodwitch sighed, removing her glasses she rubbed her eyes before saying, "There is also the possibility that his mind might want to stay dead."
Placing her square-framed glasses back on, she then said, "And the human body cannot function without a mind, if Jaune does not wish to return, he may be stuck in that coma…permanently."
Jaune blinked as he walked through the door and into a large cathedral, right in the very center; right in front of Jaune was a pair of large double doors that had his symbol on the door.
As he took a few steps forward, he heard the sound of something being locked; turning around he saw the white door he just entered, sink into the ground.
Speaking of doors…
There were several throughout the hall, each varying from a simple wooden door of a cabin, to old metal door's one would see in elementary schools, the metal was covered in either small pictures or posters with bright colors.
The doors were all arranged along the halls, with the older elementary door's being by the end of the hall while the newer doors were near the large double doors.
However what grabbed Jaune's attention were the ones close to the very end of the hall, while the doors were against the hall, these stood out, while the end of the cathedral was a wide space, the doors in a curved position.
Each were a different from each other, and they were not like any of the door's on the wall.
There were four of them, all at the edges of a small stone circle that had a question mark inside and a dove.
The first door was a dark oak, with an elegantly curved brass handle; what was interesting was the symbol of a ball of fire, the area around it seemed to melt from the stone floor into a light brown wood.
Jaune felt a spark of happiness, excitement, and accomplishment fill his essence as he neared the door; however he pushed it off as he went to the next door.
The second door was…rather bizarre, as it was essentially a car door, with grass creeping up through the cracks of the floor.
This time, Jaune felt a sense of…duty, like he had to do something that was both important, and mandatory.
The third was a simple black door with a knocker and a round handle; this one was different from the others because he felt a warm feeling inside of his stomach, a weird sort of fluttering in his gut. Tile replaced the stone floor instead of grass or wood.
The last door had a similar feeling, only it was a shiny metal door with a large snowflake imprinted onto it. Jaune felt the same, strange sense as before when slowly approached, as he slowly got closer the door slid open with a mechanical noise.
Freezing, Jaune prepared to speak when he noticed that there was nobody leaving; in fact, he couldn't make out anyone.
Taking a breath, Jaune slowly stepped inside, only to blinking surprise as he saw what was inside.
Jaune was standing in a large office; several shelves were on each side, holding a mixture of books, crystals, and trophies. Large floor-to-ceiling windows were at the back, where a woman in white had her head tilted down as she was writing something on her desk.
It was then that Jaune realized that he was intruding.
"Erm…excuse me?" he said.
The woman ignored him.
Jaune blinked, "Excuse me ma'am?"
No response.
Could she not hear him?
Jaune approached the woman, who was still writing on her desk; it was then that she let out a huge sigh as she tilted her head back.
Jaune blinked in surprise.
It was Weiss.
Her white hair was tied up in a knot on her head; she was also wearing a pair of horn-rimmed glasses, which she removed as she rubbed her eyes.
Jaune knew then that something was wrong, as Weiss had seen him and said nothing.
There was nothing said, however the boy jumped as he heard an intercom buzz.
Weiss rolled her neck before pressing a button, "Yes?" she asked.
"Little help?" a voice meekly asked.
Eyes widening, Weiss hurried from her chair and sprinted to the door where Jaune had just came from; however he watched as Weiss quickly opened the door and said, exasperated, "Jeez!"
A person was holding a massive stack of papers, completely obscuring his face, "Can I get some help please?"
Weiss let out a frustrated breath, "You know that you can ask for help from other people, you don't need to do this all yourself."
"Yeah, but…"
As that was said, Weiss quickly grabbed part of the stack and lifted.
"Then I wouldn't get the chance to see you alone Snow Angel."
Jaune felt his jaw drop.
It. Was. Him.
An older version. Of him.
Jaune noticed a faint bit of stubble on his counterparts chin, but he knew that this…Older Jaune had shaved; his hair was much shorter, but still hovered a bit over his eyes, so most of it was out of his face. He had on a white collared shirt, with a light blue suit over it; simple blue jeans and black shoes finished up the look.
The Older Jaune smiled at Weiss as they walked to her desk, the door sliding shut behind them.
Jaune didn't know what to do, so he followed.
"Sorry about this," Older Jaune said, lifting up the paperwork.
Weiss sighed, "It's fine, as head of the Schnee Dust Company, it's my duty to do this."
Older Jaune shot Weiss a serious look, "Weiss…we talked about this."
Weiss looked at Jaune, "What?"
Older Jaune kept looking at her.
By then, they had set down the papers on the corner of her desk, where Weiss had more paperwork.
Then Weiss let out a frustrated breath, "Fine. It's frustrating that I have all of this stuff to do, the moment I manage to finish and I try to relax, more people come in with more work."
"Mm-hmmm."
Jaune noticed that the older version of himself slowly approached Weiss and placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Not to mention that all of the time I am away from home, so I can never see my teammates, or-"
Weiss let out a gasp as the Older Jaune began rub her shoulders/massage them.
"Mm-hmmmmmm."
Weiss let out a groan before continuing, "Or our friends from-ohh-from Beacon."
Weiss continued to let out pleasured sounds as Older Jaune massaged her shoulders, "See, doesn't that feel better, getting all of this out?" he asked.
Weiss nodded her head, "Yeah…mmmmmmm…" she tilted her head back and let it rest on Older Jaune's chest.
Older Jaune smiled, "You should really try and relax more. You own the company now remember, tell them all to cut you some slack. What ever happened that 'bossy' attitude from Beacon?" he asked.
Weiss blinked before turning around and pushing Older Jaune back, "You want to see bossy?" she asked firmly.
Before Older Jaune could respond, Weiss had cut him off by grabbing the lapels of his suit and bringing him into a kiss.
If Jaune's jaw could drop any lower, it would. He would be kidding himself if he said that he didn't feel close to Weiss, he did give up chasing her before, but now…
Jaune snapped back to reality as he heard Weiss moan, Older Jaune was attacking her neck with kisses, it wasn't long before they were laying on the desk, with Weiss' white hair spilling down her back, papers were flying ev-
BEEP!
They pair stopped, Older Jaune sighed as Weiss reached for the intercom, and Jaune also noticed that she had somehow removed her glasses.
"Yes?" Weiss asked, trying to calm her breathing.
"Mrs. Schnee, sorry to disturb you but we need you here quickly."
"Understood."
The pair got up and began to make themselves more presentable.
"Jaune-" Weiss began.
"No, its fine," Older Jaune put on a smile, "I remember what you told me when I signed up for this."
Weiss looked at him, "I know but…as your girlfriend…" she lowered her head.
Older Jaune lightly grabbed her chin and lifted her head, "Yes, but here you're my boss, and I'm an employee; its fine, I understand."
Weiss carefully grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss, "Don't think we're not continuing this," she said…seductively?
Older Jaune grinned, "Can't wait."
Jaune had enough, he didn't need this right now; with the pair talking softly to each other, he quickly exited through the doors.
And found himself back inside of the cathedral.
Turning around, he saw the snowflake door still there. Along with the other three doors.
Taking a deep breath, he calmed his thoughts.
Was this what was going to happen in the future?
Jaune took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down; there is no actual truth behind what he saw.
However it didn't make it any less…
Jaune slapped his face. No!
Shaking his head, the knight looked back at the doors; after a while, Jaune chose the car door. Opening it, he bent down and crossed over the bottom.
Only to find himself inside of a forest.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward…only for a yellow blur to pass in front of him.
Another version of himself.
He watched as this version turned around, only to be quickly tackled by a red blur.
"Blllaaaauuuuuggggghhhhh," he heard.
As Jaune approached the pair, he saw the red blur beginning to giggle.
Ruby.
Jaune swallowed.
Please do not let him see what the other Jaune and Weiss did; he viewed Ruby as a little sister to him.
"I got you!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Yeah yeah, whatever Crater Face."
As the Older Jaune stood, the current Jaune managed to get a look at them.
This older version had allowed a small ponytail on the back of his head, with a goatee on his face; he was still clad in his hoodie, jeans, and armor-
Wait…what were those gold things on his wrists?
Shaking his head, he looked at Ruby, who had on her red cloak and her normal outfit…only she also had a brown scarf around her neck.
Then the other Jaune spoke, "Are…are you ready?" he asked.
In that moment, Jaune saw everything change.
Ruby immediately lost her happy look and was replaced with pensiveness, her hand drifted towards the scarf on her neck; after a few moments the girl nodded before helping the other Jaune up.
As the other Jaune got up, he wrapped the arm around Ruby's shoulders and they walked deeper into forest; Jaune looked back to see the car door was attached to a vehicle, he considered returning to the cathedral, but he decided to follow the…Brother like Jaune and Ruby.
They both went deeper into the woods before they came to a clearing, where a sunset was visible; the bottom of the burning orb was just above the tree line.
Jaune noticed that there was a gravestone in the clearing.
The Brother Jaune waited still as Ruby walked forwards into the clearing and knelt down. Both Jaune's watched Ruby and heard her begin to speak, however whatever was spoken was lost due to the distance between the girl and Brother Jaune.
After a few minutes, Ruby stood back up and began to make her way back towards the Jaune's; both noticed she had tears in her eyes.
"Do you want to head to the car?" Brother Jaune asked.
Ruby shook her head, wiping away the tears, "N-N-No, I-I'll wait."
Brother Jaune nodded before making his way to where the gravestone was, with the original Jaune following.
Was it Summer Rose?
However as they approached, Jaune stopped in his tracks as he finally made out what was on the stone; however Brother Jaune had knelt down with a bit of a sad smile.
A name, several words…and a burning heart was on the stone.
"Hey Yang."
Yang Xiao Long
The flames of the heart never die.
Brother Jaune traced a hand over the gravestone, "It's the…well…it's been a year since you died; and it's also the first year we've visited you. I know that you wouldn't want Ruby to be all sad, but you are her sister; and you deserve to be remembered by her."
It was then that Brother Jaune extended his arms, where the two gold wristbands extended.
"I've been putting Ember Celica to good use, they saved my life and multiple others… and they have hardly dimmed from their brilliance." Brother Jaune chuckled, "I'm sure that you would have made a pun somehow…"
Jaune watched as his counterpart grew more serious, "And don't worry. I have kept my promise to you, and I fully intend to keep it well into the future. I'm sure that it will take a Long time to forget it."
With that, Brother Jaune stood back up before giving a two finger salute to the grave, "Seeya Yang."
Jaune watched as the Brother Jaune wrapped Ruby into a hug before moving forward, before long, Ruby had leapt onto his back and shouted, "Piggy Back Ride!"
"Aren't you a little old for that?" Brother Jaune asked.
"Nope," Ruby popped the 'p' before giggling.
Brother Jane groaned, but Jaune saw that it had no annoyance, as his counterpart was smiling slightly.
Jaune followed them back to the car, Brother Jaune had let Ruby down and said, "Anything else you need for today?" he asked.
Ruby shook her head, "Thanks for everything today."
"No problem."
Jaune took that moment to go back through the car door, and into the cathedral.
As he did, Jaune then noticed that there was something else in the back…a mirror; deciding to go back to the other doors, he then chose the oak door.
As he walked in, he saw that he was in a dark office, with several paintings on the walls; two cherry wood desks at the center, edge to edge, with one having a black leather chair, while the other had a black, high-backed chair. As Jaune looked, he noticed that one of the desks had a book…one he recognized as 'Ninja's of Love' from the cover.
Jaune then knew that, whatever this was, it had something to do with Blake.
A moment later, a loud cheering was heard, turning to where it came from, he saw two people standing together on a balcony, their hands linked together and raised up…like the grand victors of a tournament.
Jaune walked forward and quickly saw that it was him in Blake; however he was surprised to see that Blake had her bow removed…and there were actual humans in the crowd.
This Jaune had a simple black suit, however on the back was the image of a paw print reaching out towards a human hand. Blake had the same symbol on her back, however she had on a knee-length skirt, stockings, and collared shirt underneath her suit coat.
There was a mix of sounds, varying from random screams, to 'JAUNE!' or 'MAYOR ARC!' or 'MAYOR BELLADONNA!' and even some asking 'ARE YOU BOTH A COUPLE?!'
Mayor Jaune simply shook his head at that last remark, (Much to some people's disappointment) before he and Blake walked back into the office.
Mayor Jaune opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Blake squealing before wrapping him into a humongous hug.
"WE DID IT!" she screamed in joy.
Mayor Jaune let out a choked sound, "Blake?...Crushing…me."
Blake quickly realized and let go.
Mayor Jaune rubbed his throat, "Well it certainly was eventful," he said
Blake still had the energetic smile, "What do you expect? Freedom and equality among humans and Faunus is going to cause a huge spark."
"Yeah," Jaune admitted, "I just didn't expect it to be this big."
"Of course it was blondie."
Mayor Jaune and Blake turn around to see Yang Xiao Long striding up to them, Yang was wearing her normal attire and the only thing different was that her hair was much longer than before.
"You just created equality for a whole species, what part of that isn't big?" Yang asked.
Jaune sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "Just never expected to do this much."
Yang reached upwards with her hands, "Well…now that the kitty cat is settled being mayor, I guess team RWBY is out of commission."
Blake chuckled before reaching out a hand and grabbing Yang's shoulder, "No way. This is the perfect time to celebrate now!"
Yang grinned, "Now you're talking."
Mayor Jaune smiled at the two partners, "Actually Yang, can you meet us in the lobby? There is something Blake and I need to…catch up on."
Yang got a grin before winking at Jaune, "Reaow."
Yang then quickly walked outside of the office and shut the door; as Blake turned in confusion, Mayor Jaune sighed before walking to his desk and opened a drawer.
"Jaune?"
He didn't answer.
Jaune was curious, so he went over and looked over his counterpart's shoulder; only to look at it in shock.
It was a razor.
Mayor Jaune chuckled humorlessly before taking out the object, "I let you down Blake."
Holding it in his forefinger and thumb, he walked around the office moved in front of Blake, who had her amber eyes wide, "You said-" she began.
"I know what I said." Jaune stated, "I still remember the promise that I made to you right here, all that time ago…"
Blake looked angrily at Jaune, but didn't make any kind of hurried action, "Why then?" she demanded as she crossed her arms.
Mayor Jaune looked Blake in the eyes, his blue ones were filled with sadness, "This." He used a finger to gesture all around them, "When we decided to work together and try to establish equality…some people didn't like it; they spat out stuff…stuff I haven't heard since Beacon. And I…I just…needed to let it out."
Mayor Jaune took a shaky breath, "But that's changing…I don't need this anymore because we're going to be making a new world, but I don't trust myself."
With that, Mayor Jaune grabbed Blake's arm before bringing it in front of him and opening her hand, Mayor Jaune let out a shuddered breath as he carefully placing the razor in the palm, "But I trust you."
Blake looked at Mayor Jaune, it was a mix of pride, happiness, and calm, "I won't let you down," she said as she closed her hand.
Mayor Jaune smiled, "Great."
Jaune would have liked to continue watching but he then heard something that sounded like a crash; however Blake and his counterpart didn't react.
"Come on, I bet Yang's waiting for us," Mayor Jaune said.
Blake chuckled, "She's probably got numerous thoughts of what we're doing right now."
"Like you don't know that she got those certain ideas from your books," Mayor Jaune said teasingly.
"HEY!"
Jaune heard another crash...if they didn't hear it…
The mirror in the cathedral.
Jaune quickly sprinted towards the door and yanked it open before rushing out.
As Jaune walked out, his shoes crunched against the shards on the floor; looking back at the mirror he saw that there were holes in the mirror, and yet when Jaune approached, he could only see himself.
Jaune blinked, he got closer to the mirror; why did the mirror not have any doors in the cathedral…or better yet, behind-
"BOO!"
Yelping, Jaune jumped backwards and fell onto the ground, somehow avoiding the shards of mirror on the floor.
He watched as his double laughed loudly before walking forward…out of the mirror.
"Hello…Jauney."
Jaune knew instantly that there was something different about this Jaune, he…it…felt wrong, as if something was off about it.
"Hi," Jaune said slowly.
His counterpart tilted his head back and laughed again, "I am not even surprised at the lack of intellect coming from you."
Jaune looked at his double confused, the latter crossed his arms before regarding the knight with a look of slight confusion, "Now tell me…why do you associate yourselves with them?" he asked.
Jaune stood up, "Who?"
"You know," his double slowly strode forward, "Those people who call you their friend."
The way this other Jaune spoke reminded him of a bully he once knew, the bully promised to be friends with Jaune only to quickly stab him in the back.
Only honeyed words.
Before Jaune could speak, his double spoke, "You know that they all hate you, or at least pity how pathetic you are. Weiss is just using you, the icy bitch only see's you only as someone to lean on before getting to her feet and discarding you like trash. Blake see's you as nothing of importance, merely an insignificant human; and Pyrrha oh…she just pities you…the boy who can't fight, the boy who can't lead, the boy…who can't do anything."
"Shut up," Jaune tried to say, but it only came out as a small whisper.
"And the others only see you as a small plaything…a mascot dancing around and complementing them." By then the other Jaune was right behind the true one and whispered, "Which is why you need me to tell you the truth."
Then, to Jaune's horror, his double began to croon softly in his ear.
"They don't need you they all hate you. They don't need you they all hate you. They don't need you they all hate you!"
Dark Jaune kept singing it softly, but it was slowly beginning to increase the volume and frequency.
Jaune shook his head, "No."
"Yes," Dark Jaune hissed, "Because at the end of the day, you and I both know that I am the only friend, you will ever-"
"YOU ARE NOT!"
Jaune whirled around, glaring angrily at this ghoul and said through gritted teeth, "You are nothing to me, you are not my friend and you never will be!"
Dark Jaune got a sadistic grin on his face, "Oooo, and what are you going to do about it."
Jaune moved his hand to his waist, where he found a familiar blue handle, "I'll kill you."
"Oooohhhh!" Dark Jaune exclaimed, "But you can't Jauney boy, you can never get rid of me; because I am part of you! I am the darkness the creeps and festers in every corner and crevice of your mind, I exist wherever you exist…and you and I both now how to get rid of me."
The back wall of the cathedral fell apart, degrading and crumbling until not even dust remained.
Revealing the roof of the dorms.
Jaune shook his head, "I-I won't."
Dark Jaune laughed, "Oh but you have come sooo very close to it before."
Jaune blinked, "I-I don't-"
"Don't. Lie."
Dark Jaune began to walk in a circle around Jaune, "Remember when you were six? You were waiting to go to school, but…you didn't wish to; all of the people there were mean and called you names, and you hated it."
Unbidden, those memories flashed in Jaune's head.
Laughing children pointing at a young blonde boy, who quickly ran into the bathroom before crying his eyes out.
Being unable to hit the ball when he was up to bat.
Covering his ears as people continued to insult him on the bus ride home.
"And the bus stop was very close to a bridge, with a river far…far…down. Remember how you looked at that water, the cold, white, churning waves. No one would miss you, the children would all cheer when they learned that you were gone, your parents could easily raise your sisters. Until the bus pulled up…and you hurried aboard."
The last few words Dark Jaune spat out.
Jaune didn't speak.
"Then again, when you were twelve…school was intolerable. More insults, except they were more vulgar, the multiple statements that you would never get a girlfriend…how you would never even get to the bottom level of a Hunter."
Jaune remembered having longer hair and going through puberty, the fact that many of the students continually stated that he would never get a girlfriend…and those words continuing into his high school year.
"Your sisters were out, the younger at school and the older hanging out with their friends. You were all alone…when you found your mothers pistols."
A gilded box with red velvet inside and two yellow and blue guns with the Arc crest on the barrels of the guns.
"Remember how you wanted to pick one up," Dark Jaune cooed, "How you wanted to pull the trigger…because after all…nobody cared. Your parents would celebrate that their failure of a son is now dead, your mother could now afford better quality of objects for your sisters and your father could now pass on Crocea Mors to a more…worthy, heir."
Hands delicately picking up the gun, tracing the gun were young fingers, covered in scrapes and bruises.
"Until…"
"Jaune?"
A woman's voice had called his name…his mother.
"Now after all that. can you honestly tell me that you want to live?"
Jaune didn't answer; Dark Jaune was ever so patient.
…
…
…
…
…
…
"No."
Dark Jaune grinned, reaching out a hand, he gestured to the roof, "Then you know what to do."
…
…
…
…
Jaune blinked, "Yes I do."
In a swift movement, he cocked his fist back and punched Dark Jaune in the face; Jaune felt that same punch on his cheek, however while he only took a step back, Dark Jaune was sent to the floor.
"You're right, I don't want to live. Yes, that's why I jumped from the roof, however that wasn't the reason why I considered it."
Jaune strode forward, "I considered it because I had no one, and I was lonely…I didn't have any kind of purpose there at Beacon, in the simulation. But I know that's not true."
This was his mind.
Concentrating, Jaune saw a person appear out of the corner of his eye.
Ruby was standing there, wearing her sleepwear and pouting slightly; but Jaune could still see a chain hanging around her neck, with a rose pendant attached.
"I view Ruby as a little sister, and she probably sees me like a surrogate older brother; I am not going to take that away from her, not now, or ever."
Weiss was there in her normal attire; her arms had the gauze wrapped around her wrists; even though she looked tired, she still had a bright smile on her face.
"Weiss is special, she wants to do things with her father's company and try to change it; refusing to allow how her family's actions to be permanent. But she can't do it alone, she need's support, someone who understands, and who better than me?"
Blake materialized, and was wearing that suit from when she was mayor, her cat ears proudly on display.
"Blake wants to promote Faunus Equality rights, but most people wouldn't care, they'd see just another Faunus in the crowd. But if they heard it from someone who has some experience with their treatment who wasn't a Faunus, then more would listen."
Finally, an image of Pyrrha came into existence, the girl had on her Beacon uniform and an apple in her hands.
"Pyrrha…I don't know why she hangs around me. But I know that she is important, she believes in me and what I can do, and after all she has done, I refuse to let her down."
As Jaune drew his sword, the four girls disappeared, "I can't kill you, but this is still my mind, and I control it!"
Aiming the blade at Dark Jaune, who had snarled and lunged at Jaune, metal bars swung from the ceiling of the cathedral; hitting Dark Jaune and knocking him back before the bars quickly made a square around him, it wasn't long before a metal cage had formed around Dark Jaune.
"So, you can stay here and rot."
With that, Jaune turned and, with an impulse, began walking to the double doors with his crest on it. However, as he was halfway across the hall, he heard a loud laughter.
"You think you can hold me here?" Dark Jaune exclaimed, "You can't! No matter what prison you hold me in; it won't stay open for long. No matter how hard you try, no matter how much light you shove in here, there will always be darkness, no matter how small."
Jaune stopped a few feet from the doors before looking over his shoulder, the cage holding Dark Jaune was following him, his double was sitting with his legs crossed and a carefree look.
"Metal will rust, stone will erode, Time. Will. Run. Out. Darkness will return, and I will break free of this cage…and I won't stop, not until you jump off that rooftop," Dark Jaune growled, still with that smile.
Jaune regarded his double with a cold look, "Well good luck until then."
As he walked to the doors, he heard the Dark Jaune begin to speak.
"Tick…Tock…Tick…Tock…Tick…Tock…Tick…Tock…Tick…Tock…"
Jaune didn't care as he pushed open the doors and walked into a bright light.
Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…'
Jaune opened his eyes to find himself lying down on a bed, an IV in his arm and the heartbeat monitor going.
Looking around, he saw that there was a redheaded girl right next to him; her body slouched and her head resting on her chest.
Jaune grinned at the sight before reaching out (painfully, as a needle was in his arm) and tapping her leg.
The girl stirred, opening her emerald eyes, she slowly rubbed them, trying to shake of the veil of sleep.
Jaune did something that he hadn't done in a long time.
He gave a brilliant, beautiful, real, smile.
"Well here we are again."
Pyrrha snapped her eyes on him, as they filled with tears of joy, she pulled him into a hug.
"JAUNE!"
"Ouch! Watch the needle!"
'The Blood of the Covenant is thicker than the waters of the Womb'
-Old phrase
'We're going to have struggles in life, and it's going to be rough…now nobody says that you have to happy about it, that you just have to dust yourself off, put another smile and move on. However by remembering what had happened is pointless if you can't learn something from it.'
-StorSpeaker
'Don't just assume that because your family means that they will treat you right and respect you. Everyone in your family has to get your respect and love; they don't just get it immediately…however they do deserve a head start.'
-StorSpeaker
'It's easy to say that you had good intentions, everybody says that. However, you need to know if it was the right intention; otherwise whatever you did intend to do, can become a great betrayal to someone.'
-StorSpeaker
'Life lessons aren't always learned by being told by parents or seen in real life, they can come from the pages we turn or from the characters we watch or play as on a silver screen.'
-StorSpeaker
Omake: Tribute to the one who got this all started.
He knew it was time…
There he was, on a hospital bed, hooked up to various machines as he felt himself slowly begin to drift away.
Monty Oum wanted to smile in acceptance of his death; but he also wanted scream and fight his way back into control of his body. He still had stuff to do! For Burnie and Miles and all of them…
But this was it for him…
With the sounds of his breathing and various coworkers crying, Monty Oum took his last breath.
He felt like he was falling in a dark tube, down…down…down…
…
…
Until he saw a light.
"How cliché," he muttered.
However as he went through the light, he found himself lying on a grassy plain, with a blue clear sky above.
Was this…
"Hey!"
Monty blinked before slowly sitting up. As he did, Monty noticed that he had on a pair of gloves, black pants, and a red shirt underneath a white unbuttoned, short-sleeved shirt.
Right in front of him…was a boy with green clothing, black hair with a ponytail…and pink eyes.
"…Lie…Ren?" Monty asked hesitantly.
Ren grinned, "Yeah, nice to meet you Monty."
Said man blinked, "You know me?"
Ren smiled, "Of course we do! Everyone does…only this is the first time we've met you personally."
Striding forward, Ren quickly pulled the older man up before wrapping an arm around his creator's shoulders, "Anyway, it's time for you to meet them," he said. "We've been wondering if you were going to appear."
As they walked, Monty had a feeling that he knew what his character was talking about…but he was still a bit doubtful.
"What do you mean 'wondering' and who?" Monty asked.
"Well…there was this big disturbance with everything here, and we had a feeling someone was going to appear, after some help and Dust we discovered that it would most likely be here…I had a feeling it was you since…"
Ren gestured to his and Monty's throat.
"That answered one question, what about the other?" Monty asked.
Ren grinned before pointing ahead, where seven people were standing.
Monty knew, without a single doubt, who they were.
"MONTY!"
A red caped girl barreled forward and into his stomach.
As the older man let out an 'Ooph!' he saw the others hurrying down.
"Mr. Oum!"
Weiss Schnee.
"Monty!"
Blake Belladonna.
"Dance Man!"
Yang…
Monty was vaguely aware of the rest of Team JNPR approaching; he was too busy with four girls crying in his arms…however he smiled before bringing them all close.
"Why are you all crying?" he asked, "I'm right here."
Ruby looked up with tear-filled silver eyes, "But you're dead there! I-I-I mean we're glad you're here with us but…"
Weiss spoke, "We're sad that you died there, you still wanted to create more for us, to continue creating all of our stories…and now you can't."
Monty looked around for some help, but JNPR was busy crying, except Ren, who had a big grin on his face.
"Guys," Monty said.
Once they all looked at him, he continued, "You're all your own people, I created you and now you exist. You have your own life, if anything I should be happy to meet you all."
That seemed to cheer them up.
"Come on Monty," Ren said as he pointed ahead, where Monty could faintly make out a spire.
"Beacon awaits."
Monty smiled before looking up at the sky, thinking of everyone at Rooster Teeth.
"Guys…don't worry about me," he muttered, "I'll be fine."
Monty began to move forward with difficulty, as his four original characters didn't want to move.
"I'll be fine."
'Guys…Life…it's pretty awesome. Just keep at it. And I'll keep going too.
-Monty Oum
A/N: Ok…I nearly cried writing that last part…
Read, Have a Great day and God Bless every single soul.