I do not own RWBY. That belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum, may his soul rest in peace.

Mastermind

Chapter 1: A Very Important Thing

When Jaune was 11 years old, he did a Very Important Thing.

He had no idea that it had been so important. To him, he'd simply been playing a game and enjoying himself. He'd simply been a young boy who was having fun with the gift his father had given him, unknowing and (at the time) uncaring about what his actions had possibly wrought.

It all began one fateful Feast of Saints Day while Jaune was still just ten years old, when the entire Arc family had been exchanging gifts. Jaune had really made out like a bandit that year, his sisters having all given him gifts. From Celeste Arc, he'd received a pair of fingerless gloves made from real leather. His sister Luna Arc had given him a small robotics kit for children. From Jeanette Arc, he'd received a brand new Scroll with upgraded memory and better graphics. Melody Arc had given him a mock wooden training sword, (His father seemed to be none too happy about that one, but luckily hadn't really said a word about it.) Serena Arc had given him a graphing calculator, (She was always the brainiac of the family) Tiffany Arc had gifted him a wonderful black hoodie, (It may have been a bit big on him now, but he'd grow into it) and last but not least, his sister Cassandra had given him a book on rare minerals and metals. (This confused the boy greatly, but Cassandra was like his parents; neither of them wanted Jaune to go into the Hunting business and rather he find his calling somewhere else.)

However, the most important gift all came from his father, Alexander Arc. His father, also known as Alexander the Great, was one of the greatest military commanders still living on Remnant. He was the very definition of strong, with a sharp and cunning mind to boot. Most importantly, he and Jaune were as close as a father and a son could possibly be. Much of Jaune's childhood was filled with moments of he and his father spending quality time together, doing things such as fishing, hunting, (not Hunting for Grimm, but just hunting for food) playing board games and other such activities. To Jaune, Alexander the Great wasn't called as such for his might, nor his strategic and tactical skills. He was Alexander the Great for being such a good father.

His father had given him a Scroll game. He explained that he'd received it from an old friend of his, and while he didn't really play Scroll games anymore, he figured that Jaune would enjoy it. The young blond boy embraced his father, happy, and quickly rushed off to go play the new game as soon as he could.

The game was called ARES and it could be best described as a combat simulator. There was no story, no characters. Just scenarios and a lot, a lot of customization and options. At first, it seemed to be overwhelming for the young boy, but he didn't want to give up on playing it and disappoint his father, so he did his best to study the game and all of its intricacies. The game had multiple modes, each one revolving around different forms of group combat, ranging from four man squad based combat to all out War between two kingdoms.

Each mode had a staggering amount of detail involved in it too. From terrain, to resources, to individual Aura levels; the entire game was flooded with information and thousands of variables one had to keep an eye on in order to achieve victory. Jaune's first few battles were absolutely horrific; his units would be utterly crushed, his arms wiped out to the last man and even his individual teams would be torn to shreds by both Grimm and other Hunters. It was fairly depressing if the young boy was being honest. After his tenth utter defeat, the young boy was ready to pack it in and give up on the whole thing altogether in favor of an easier game.

All it took for him to dive back into the game though, was a single question from his father. "You enjoying yourself, Jaune?" Jaune remembered looking into his father's eyes, with the kind of look that seemed to hope that his son appreciated the gift and found himself unable to tell his father that the gift he'd been given him was too difficult to enjoy. So Jaune simply smiled, replied that he was enjoying it and went right back to the game to try and get into it once more.

Four months after he'd received that gift, Jaune found himself...actually starting to enjoy it. He was learning strategy and tactics, learning how to utilize terrain and environment to his advantage. The young boy learned more than he'd ever thought about logistics and resources, from the macro to the micro. Supply lines to caches, Jaune had quickly found out that battles could not be won on strength alone, but on information and resources. Eventually the battles he fought went from utterly horrific to simply bad, then from bad to passable, and by the time his 11th birthday had come around seven months later, he'd been breezing through the game's story missions on all modes and all difficulties. Eventually, fighting against the bots of the game had become too easy, too tedious, so he took the only option he could. He began to play on the CCT network.

However, much to his dismay, he found that the games weren't much harder. Sure, some people were unpredictable, but his knowledge of the game as well as his burgeoning focus on strategy and tactics were making him a veritable force to be reckoned with. He'd come back home after school and eagerly play a few games online before growing bored with how easy it'd become, and by the end of the night was busy working on his robotics kit (he was thankful for that gift as well as he was finding it enjoyable to work on the little robot) or trying to practice with his sword.

It wouldn't be until a month before the Feast of Saints that Jaune would find himself doing the Very Important Thing. The day was like any other. He'd gotten out of school and trudged his way home in the snow, eager to get back into the warmth of his house. He burst in the door, giving only the briefest of answers to his mother's query about how his day had gone, and quickly shuffled out of his coat, mittens, scarf and boots. Disregarding the snow, and his mother's complaints about how he'd tracked it in, he ran up the stairs and into his room, hopping right onto his Scroll, opening it up and seeing the graphics on the bigger Scroll appear.

He was surprised. Someone had...sent him a challenge? That was unheard of; Jaune usually had to challenge others in order to get attention, but someone had actually sent him one! The user name was 'Ice_Queen,' which Jaune found to be an awesome name. His own user name was "ArcAngel," a reference to his family name, as well as his desired role to become a hero, just like his father, and his father's father, and so on throughout the Arc family. He accepted the challenge, and just like that, found himself in a 4v4 battle of Hunters.

The battle lasted for what seemed like an eternity. Jaune spent a great deal of the night playing, in shock at just how incredible this new challenger was. They were incredible; every bit his equal. He'd never been challenged like this before...and he loved it. Finally Jaune had to go to sleep, but his sleep was restless as his mind went over the combat, formulating strategies and contemplating tactics. It would take him most of the night to finally go to sleep.

The next day brought more excitement for Jaune. It was the beginning of winter vacation, and he awoke surprisingly early for how long it took him to get to sleep. He waited and waited, bouncing up and down excitedly until his opponent finally hopped on, and the battle began anew. Their combat lasted all day long, stopping only for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As before, they had to pause, and Jaune went to bed again once more, excited and eager for the next day. He'd forgotten all about the robot he'd been working on, and hadn't once tried to practice with his blade. All he could think about was how he could win the battle against this mysterious new challenger.

The next day, the battle ended.

Jaune, despite his opponent's tenacious and clever mindset, had won. He was so excited, that he couldn't sit still. He hollered and jumped about the house, super excited. His parents of course, found the entire thing just amusing. They watched him jumping excitedly around, proclaiming his victory to the house, even trying to get his sisters involved in the celebration. Two hours later he'd finally calmed down, going back upstairs in glee, when he noticed that he had another message. Curious, he opened it up to see what was the matter, only to find that 'Ice_Queen' had challenged him again! Having enjoyed the first battle they had so much, Jaune couldn't help but to eagerly accept, ready for another incredible battle.

As before, Jaune loved every minute of it. Forcing him to use his mind like he'd never used it before to outwit his opponent. There was just one liiiiiitle problem. The second time it was...easier? It certainly took less time. Jaune had managed to defeat his opponent by the end of the night the next day. He didn't mind it, but the victory wasn't quite as exciting as it had been before. As before, 'Ice_Queen' sent him yet another challenge after the battle. With less enthusiasm than before, he accepted once again.

The third time was even easier than before, the team on team battle taking only half a day this time, and again, another challenge was issued. This time, however, Jaune ignored it. He'd already grown bored of his opponent, and instead had gotten distracted by the robot he'd been working on for the school year, trying to see if it was possible to get the small humanoid form to be able to fetch him food, or at least soda. Another message was sent no more than ten minutes later with a challenge, but Jaune ignored it. A third message was sent, but it too was ignored, until finally, the sender had apparently given up.

It wouldn't be until two weeks later when Jaune would find himself receiving another challenge. This time however, Jaune received a message of challenge by the user name of 'Tinman.' Jaune of course, was excited to fight someone again. Sure, he hadn't played in a couple of weeks, but hey, he wasn't going to complain. He still remembered the rush of victory from defeating his first challenger, and he wanted to feel that again. So he accepted, ready for a fight.

Unlike the last one, this was a full army fight, a very difficult fight with the extreme amount of detail that each side had to keep track of, as well as the random problems and issues that each side would face. Jaune was excited and ready to fight...and a fight he got. Whoever this 'Tinman' was, had him fighting like he'd never before. His army was almost wiped out in full in the first three hours of combat, and the next few weren't much better. Jaune had to claw and bite for every single advantage he could find. In the end, however, Jaune…failed. He lost.

Jaune felt devastated, dejected; he even felt as though he were ready to give up on the game again. However, he was surprised when 'Tinman' messaged him with another challenge. Even more surprising, this one came with a message. [Come on, it's been that long since you've played? Let's do one more round. I want to see the legendary commander himself in action.]

The young boy clenched his fist and nodded, accepting the challenge, and once more found himself in command of a massive army, preparing for the fight of his life. This game took Jaune a week, a full week to complete. Back and forth the two armies exchanged, fighting back and forth for control over a small mountain range that was capable of procuring large amounts of high quality Dust. Skirmishes, ambushes, even straight up fights; Men died on both sides by the droves, and unlike the game before, Jaune was already doing much better. He and his opponent went at each other with everything they had, and by the time the 'war' was drawing to a close, neither side had much to work with.

The second time, Jaune lost again. This time however, it was much closer than before, and Jaune couldn't help but feel eager for one more round, this time sending the message to 'Tinman' about how he wanted another match. He had sent it, and received a message back in short order: [Eager as ever, aren't you Alex? The old habits coming back into play? Though, I must admit, I'm impressed. Your grasp of military strategy is just as sharp as it was when we first met. I'd love to go another round with you.]

Jaune was confused. His name was Jaune, not Alex! He didn't care though, he was just happy to get another game in with the new challenger. Once more, the terrain and armies changed, but the battle did not. Two armies facing each other over territory, and with that, the game began again. This time, Jaune had really put his all into it. His past two defeats only brought to mind his failures, and he learned quickly from them, testing himself against 'Tinman' for the third time. This match took just as long as before, Jaune's family a tad bit concerned that their son had been spending so much time locked up in his room. Even his sisters assumed something was wrong, but the young blond boy insisted that nothing was wrong at all. He was just busy concentrating.

A week went by, filled with war, with battle, with two minds clashing against each other again and again...and then…

Victory.

For the first time, Jaune had never felt so elated as when he saw that victory screen, realizing that he'd won. Not even his first victory against another human opponent had that same incredible feeling. Ice_Queen, and all the others he'd tested his wits again were nothing compared to the sheer focus he'd put into facing down Tinman. He was so excited that he could barely think. Then, another message popped up. He opened it and began reading.

[Absolutely incredible, Alex! It appears that the years spent away from command really haven't dulled your senses, now have they? What you did with the 3rd division was absolutely incredible! I haven't seen a reverse pincer like that for ages! We'll have to talk more, unfortunately duty calls. I can't wait to catch up with you this Feast of Saint's though.]

Jaune was confused. Tinman was referring to him as Alex again, and why was he talking to him like they were old friends? As before, however, he didn't seem to care a few moments later, and once again found himself distracted with his other favorite hobbies. That miniature robot butler wasn't going to build itself, after all…

[]

It wouldn't be until the day before the Feast of Saints that Jaune would finally meet the man who'd change his life. Well, for the second time anyway, not that he was aware of that. The man was a Very Important Man, that much he could tell. How did he know that? His father insisted that the entire family, or what family was left at home as four of his seven sisters were currently out on Hunting missions, dress in their nicest clothing and wait around quietly that morning. The man arrived in a massive airship that hovered in the air high above their house, shading it and slightly scaring Jaune.

The man who visited them that day was a tall man, with dark hair and a silver coat. His father had approached the man with all the air of a friend, smiling widely. His father was a mountain of a man, all muscle and gristle and while the man was tall, Jaune's father still towered over even him. He stuck out a massive hand, and the man shook it.

"James! It's been too long!" His father patted the man on the back. Next to the man was a thin, willowy girl with long white hair and a serious look on her face. She was older than Jaune, from what he could tell, about the age one would be when they would be joining one of the four kingdom's Hunter Academy. She looked down at him with no emotion, and Jaune slowly hid behind his mother, looking nervous. She was beautiful, but in a scary way, like a very shiny knife.

"Alexander! How are you? And Violetta! Just as beautiful as I remember." James smiled warmly at Jaune's mother, who gave an amused smile and shook her head.

"James, you charmer." She waved her hand nonchalantly. "Who is this?" Violetta motioned to the young woman at James' side.

"Ah, this is Winter Schnee. Winter, this is my friend-" James began before Winter cut him off, stepping forward with a very practiced smile, curtsying.

"You must be Mr. Arc! I've heard so much about you. I must say, it was an honor practicing against you in ARES." Winter bowed, looking quite pleased with herself.

Alexander cocked a blond eyebrow. "Er, sorry?"

"The practice program you've been playing. You know, the one you and I have been practicing?" James included, putting a hand on Winter's head and ruffling her hair, much to her poorly hidden annoyance.

Jaune's father frowned and shook his head. "James, I haven't been playing anything. I don't do Scroll games, I've kept telling you."

The General of the Atlas army tilted his head. "But...that...doesn't make any sense!" He ran a hand through his hair, face twisted in confusion. "The signal for the games came directly from this house, Alex!"

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about." His father frowned, crossing his arms. "Hell, I gave that game to my son, Jaune. He enjoys those sorts of things."

James laughed. "Very funny, Alex. It's like you're telling me that your...what, ten year old son defeated me in a highly advanced, intricately detailed military training simulator?"

"Wait. What military training simulator?"

"ARES, Alex. I sent it to you to keep your skills sharp!" James frowned. Jaune found himself growing nervous. Was he in trouble? The girl in the white hair was glaring at him now and he hid fully behind his mother, sweating nervously in his suit. "You're ArcAngel, right?"

Alexander rolled his eyes. "I told you countless times, I don't play Scroll games!"

"Then who was it that Winter and I had been defeated by?! You must be ArcAngel!"

Jaune's father went silent, blinking slowly before he turned to Jaune, whose blue eyes widened. "Jaune...you've...been playing that game an awful lot lately, haven't you?"

The young blond boy's eyes widened and he nodded wordlessly, still terrified that he was in trouble for some reason or another. James and Winter both laughed this time, shaking their heads. "Alexander, you were always terrible with jokes. At least try to make me believe what you're trying to trick me into believing! You could have said one of your Hunter daughters had been playing! I might have believed that!"

"Well, that I guess could be the case-" Alexander began, frowning.

"I-I'm ArcAngel!" Jaune shouted. He didn't want his sisters getting in trouble! He stepped forward, clenching his fists nervously, his blue eyes staring up into the eyes of the Very Important Man with all the will he could muster.

James laughed again, but this laugh was a little less enthusiastic, and Winter had starting glaring at him again, making him nervous once more. "Hahaha, Alex, seriously, joke's over."

Alexander tapped his chin and slowly turned to his son. "Jaune. I want you to be honest with me. Have any of your sisters been playing your game?"

"No! It's just been me!" Jaune replied back, hoping his father would believe him. If anyone was going to get in trouble for...whatever it was, it would be him. "I swear!"

James blinked and frowned, shaking his head. "Hasn't your father taught you not to lie?"

"I'M NOT LYING!" Jaune shouted angrily at the Very Important Man, clenching his fists again, his eyes tearing up.

Alexander's hand fell upon his shoulder. "How about this. Why don't we have a game then? Jaune versus..."

"Me." Winter replied, glaring wrathfully at Jaune. "I don't want General Ironwood to waste his time on a poor joke."

James nodded. "Very well. We'll test this son of yours...but I do hope this isn't a waste of time, Alex."

Jaune's father gently ruffled his hair as if to comfort his son, narrowing his eyes at the General. "If my son says he's telling the truth, then I believe him. My boy would never lie to his father. If it's proof you want..." Alexander looked down at Jaune with a smile. "Then it's proof you're going to get."

Author's Note: Woo! Last fic I'll be writing for a while. This one is...an odd bird, compared to my others. Consider it an experiment; a foray into a slightly more serious fiction. Not angsty or depressing (at least not mostly) but serious. Something trying to reflect the feel of the actual RWBY, with some changes. I can't guarntee that this will be that incredible, but I've wanted to give this a try anyway. Jaune seems to be tactically minded in the series normally, so I've wanted to write a Jaune who actually had that nurtured from day one, as opposed to simply having to wing it on the fly.

Now for those of you who are worried that I'm biting off more than I can chew, I plan to see if I can release a chapter a week in a rotating manner. Starting next month, I plan to release a chapter a week, starting off with Immortal, followed by Moonlit Sonata, then Ninja in Love, and then finally Mastermind.

This is LaughingLefou signing off, and remember to leave a review!