Act I: The Captain

Chapter One: Birth of a Legend

(a/n- for context, I finally got around to watching Avengers: Endgame and Spiderman: Far From Home… despite the fact most are… you know what you'll understand later. This AU has faunus, but no grimm (well, I mean, there ARE grimm but -wait does this count as spoilers?... I'm not gonna say just to be on the safe side.) Anyway, on with the writing (or reading, in your case)!)

"Dr. Arc?"

June Arc sat up, yawning as she looked around. She was still in her lab, surrounded by countless papers, microscopes, test tubes -among other things. She turned, raising an eyebrow at the man standing at her door. "Colonel Autumn? What're you-" June yawned again, "doing here so late?"

"It's your son, ma'am."

June was wide awake now, shooting off her stool and dashing to the coat rack nearby. She pulled her lab coat over her t-shirt in seconds, stopping at the doorway the Colonel was blocking. "What's wrong? Is he alright? Did they send him to the front lines!?" heads were definitely going to roll if someone had sent her baby boy out to fight.

The colonel shook his head, "No, ma'am. Dr. Callus has instructed me to tell you that he's volunteered for Project New Blood. He said he'd come himself if not for his workload." June froze, her heart in her throat. 'Project New Blood' was practically a death sentence. If her son had volunteered for it…

She shoved past the colonel, her eyes burning with fury as she marched down the deserted hallway, past the countless other labs and facilities. The colonel didn't try and stop her. He knew better than to try and stop a mother from seeing their son -especially when that mother was an Arc.

June, meanwhile, dashed through the concrete structure that housed her lab, finally reaching the door with Dr. Callus's name on it. She pounded on the door, running her hands back through her hair for a second to try and make herself look somewhat in control.

The door flew open, none other than Jaune Arc raising an eyebrow. He was clad in standard military fatigues, with camo pants and a tan shirt that exposed his arms up to his biceps. "Mom? What are you-" Jaune stopped as his mother hugged him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

He didn't hesitate to hug back… he had a feeling he knew what this was about. "Mom if this is about New Blood it's-"

"Of course that's what this is about! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is!?"

"Mom I know the risks -but Dr. Callus said I-"

"I don't care what that two-bit good-for-nothing Atlesian has to say! You're my son and there's no way I'm letting you throw your life away on this!"

"Mom! I can't do anything else! I'm too bad at lying for spying and -and I'm not strong or big enough to be an actual soldier! How else am I supposed to help Vale win the war!?"

"I believe her answer is to let her do that, Mr. Arc." the bickering blonds turned, watching as a black-haired, olive-skinned man walked through the door. Like June he was clad in a lab coat, though unlike her a pair of spectacles were pressed tight to his face. Dark eyes met June's blue orbs, both glaring at each other.

"While your research into subatomic particles is surely important, Dr. Arc, my research into biological enhancement is something that will actually aid the war effort. If your son -who is more than capable of making his own decisions- is willing to help me in that regard, then you have no right to stop him."

June gritted her teeth, and would've punched the bastard if Jaune hadn't stepped in front of him, shielding him with his body. "Mom… I'll be okay." Jaune smile, but behind that June could see it. That same stubbornness she saw every day in her husband, in her daughters, in the mirror. One of the defining traits of being an Arc.

June sighed, "I know I can't stop you… and Callus?" June shoved her son off to the side, wrapping her hands in the taller man's lab coat, pulling him down to her.

"If anything happens to my son, I'll break your spine like a twig."

"Understood."

Callus's face was blank as June stepped back, glaring at the older scientist. She left without another word, storming back to her lab, leaving Jaune and Callus in the doorway.

Jaune turned to the older man, "Well… that went about as well as it could have." if he was honest, Jaune had expected much worse. He figured he'd have had to at least call security down to the labs to pull his mother off of Callus before she accidentally killed him.

"Indeed… your mother is a very… temperamental, woman," Callus said, motioning with his hands as if trying to pull the right word from the air. Jaune nodded. If anything, that was an understatement. He was rather glad he'd gotten his father's level head rather than his mother's hot blood.

Callus cleared his throat, "Well, regardless… you are aware of the risks involved with the procedure, yes?" Jaune nodded… oh he knew. He was well aware of what had happened to the other men that had tried this. How New Blood had turned them into something… else.

Callus nodded, "Good… but I have to ask," he leaned in slightly, "How did you find out about project New Blood? I'm certain the Valean military wanted it kept secret from even it's most loyal soldiers -much less the son of two Mistralean defectors."

Jaune looked away, "I… heard a few things I shouldn't have. When mom gets mad she tends to yell… a lot." Dr. Callus slowly nodded. That he knew. He was six doors and a hallway turn away from the woman's office and he still heard her shouting at her assistants when they messed something up.

Callus reached into his desk, pulling out a notebook and making a few… well, notes, in the margins. His face slowly set into a frown as he imagined his mother getting back to her lab, pacing around, worrying about him, likely pulling on her hair… "Why did you say yes?"

"Pardon?"

"Why did you say yes to me, Dr. Callus? You told me you'd turned down older, stronger soldiers before so… why someone like me?"

Callus chuckled, tossing his notebook on the desk. "I asked myself that same question for a while. Why the young, inexperienced, weak boy over the tall, experienced, well-built soldiers? Well… do you want the truth?" Jaune could tell Callus was enjoying himself just by the flicker of his eyes. He nodded, of course.

"During basic training, I stand with the generals to observe each of you, along with a few of the other doctors. I saw countless men shouting, running along the fields, performing above any expectation… then there was you. I watched you fall, I watched you fail. Over and over you would fall down… but you'd always get back up," Callus explained.

"Of course, it also helped I was there for the 'mess hall' incident… I'm sure you remember what that was," Callus smirked at Jaune's blush, the way his eyes suddenly found a spot on the desk very interesting. Oh, he remembered,

He remembered very well.

…

"There they go again…"

Jaune muttered, gripping his plastic fork as he saw the three men approach a shorter fourth. The fourth staggered back against the wall, the reason for him being singled out as a bright orange and black striped tail flew up from his uniform.

"That your tail, or are you happy to see us?" the tallest of the group said, smirking down at him, roughly grabbing the young recruits tail. Where was the drill sergeant when he needed him? The other two only chuckled as the first spun his fist around the faunus's tail, dragging it up as if he were giving him a wedgie.

Jaune stood, a few eyes turning from the spectacle to him. He gripped his fork, trying to slow his pounding heart as he gazed at the three. Suddenly it wasn't the tiger faunus, but rather a young, spectacled blonde girl, with three far taller men standing over her. "If you stand by, you're no better than they are." the words of his mother echoed through his head as he walked toward the three.

He was three feet from the leader when the other two noticed him, "Oh hey, it's the tyke." Jaune grit his teeth. He hated that nickname. What, it was his fault he was only five feet tall and the shortest guy in his unit?

The leader turned, giving a toothy smile at him as the faunus wisely decided to run. "Well well well, didn't take you for a freak lover. Let me guess, here to avenge that little coward?" he asked, leaning down. Jaune resisted the urge to take a step back, eyes flicking over to the few faunus watching him, all eyes holding a vague interest.

Jaune shook his head, "No… I just came over to get him away." at that he turned, walking back to his seat. As he expected, the larger man was not having it. He felt a rough grip on his shoulder, the taller man hoisting him off the ground.

"You're a clever little bitch… how about I show you what I did to the last wise guy I met, eh?"

…

"I… didn't do much of anything."

"That's where you're wrong, Jaune," Dr. Callus said, face cracking into a wizened old smile, "You stood up -even though you had no chance of winning. You knew that. The second you stood you knew you were going to end the day with a beating… yet you acted anyway. You know what that tells me?" Jaune shook his head.

Callus sighed, "It tells me that you've got heart. That you aren't in this for glory. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you enlisted because you thought it was the right thing to do." Jaune nodded… that's him alright. Do the right thing even if it killed him… which it almost did during the aforementioned incident.

Callus leaned back, "Mr. Arc, if you don't want to go through with the experiment, I'm not going to make you. Just say the word, and I'll have you back on detail with your old unit." Jaune shook his head… no. No, he didn't even need to think about that one. He wanted to do this, he needed to do this.

Callus gave him a small smile, "That's what I figured. Now, I'd like you to report here at 0600 hours. We'll start the procedure in the morning."

Jaune shook his head, "Actually… is it okay if we begin the procedure now? You said you had everything ready an hour ago, right?" Callus nodded… he had said that. He figured he'd want some rest beforehand.

"I just… I want to help as soon as I can. Wouldn't sleeping afterward help with all the… transitions you mentioned?" Jaune was no expert in the field of biology or anatomy, but he had always been told that sleeping was the body's way of recovery.

Callus slowly nodded… then his eyes widened. Without a word he dashed into his lab, tossing a bunch of seemingly random papers aside before grabbing a pen, marking down notes on a piece of paper.

Jaune slowly approached, raising an eyebrow as he looked over his shoulder at the practically unreadable math problem on the paper. Not just because it was incredibly complex, it literally was unreadable to him. The ink was blurred across the page so much that it was practically impossible to tell where one number began and another one ended.

"Umm… are you OK, doctor?"

"Better. Far, far better! You've given me the last piece!"

Jaune was too shocked to resist as Callus drug him through the lab, leading the two to a large, cylindrical machine. Callus flicked a few switches, the entire thing illuminated in faint blue light as the doctor started furiously typing on a keyboard.

"Jaune, I understand where I've been going wrong. I've been thinking that in order for the serum to work properly, it must be administered at once while the subject is still awake. You've made me realize that the subject's mind isn't capable of handling such a large change in consciousness, and thus the body and mind must be in a state of unconsciousness in order to comprehend the change!" the doctor said, the cylinder opening.

Callus, after finally calming down, turned to Jaune, "Mr. Arc, please change to your undergarments and step into the chamber." Jaune raised an eyebrow but complied regardless. He figured whatever this was it probably would have a harder time if he was fully clothed. When he stepped in (now in his underwear) he saw the doors slowly seal shut.

"Subject secure, administering class IV sedative."

With a needle to the back of his neck, Jaune was out.

…

Jaune felt… heavy.

It wasn't as if he was carried or covered in something heavy -he could feel the air against his skin. It's just that it seemed there was… more of him -not that that made any sense. He stood, looking around at the dark cylinder.

"Callus?" his voice sounded the same but… there was a kind of strength behind it he didn't quite recognize. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, but something was definitely different about him.

"Mr. Arc… please, step out of the chamber." Jaune raised an eyebrow… that did not sound like Dr. Callus. It didn't sound like anyone he knew of, actually. He moved his hands forward, raising an eyebrow as he felt the smooth metal beneath his fingers. His hands glided along the casing, finding it completely surrounded him.

It took him a moment to realize it was the same capsule he'd walked in for Callus. He gently pressed on the metal, eyes widening as he saw it bending at his hands. He staggered back, his back flush against the metal as he held up his hands. It was too dark to see them in the capsule but… he could almost feel the power radiating off of them.

He squeezed his eyes shut as the capsule hissed open, brilliant light flowing in from the cracks. A torrent of voices and gasps washed over him,

"By God…"

"He really got it to work."

"I told you! I told you it had worked!" that was Callus -Jaune recognized his voice anywhere.

"Let me go! Let me see my baby!"

"Mom?" Jaune knew that voice. He knew that voice anywhere. When his eyes finally adjusted to the light, he saw five people surrounding the chamber he was in. Two of them -Callus and his mother- he recognized. The other three… not so much. Two of them were armed guards, both with weapons aimed in his general direction.

The other was a general, with four stars pinned to his olive green coat. Jaune saluted him out of instinct, "Ow!" only for his head to suddenly get acquainted with the top of the chamber. He wisely decided to step out first before trying that again.

"At ease, soldier," the general said, sending Jaune back to parade rest. "Captain Arc, am I correct?" Jaune raised an eyebrow… 'Captain Arc'? As far as he knew none of his siblings had enlisted like he had… was his mother granted the rank of Captain at some point and just never told him?

"I'm… no sir. No sir, I've not even completed basic training yet," Jaune said, fighting down a confused expression… wasn't his mother taller than him? He wasn't on that much of a high-step, was he?

Though, that was quickly changed when his mother walked up to him, revealing the once taller woman to be just barely at his shoulder. She frowned up at him, a little smile on her face as her hands grabbed his shoulders.

"Jaune… that's really you, isn't it?" his mother asked. Jaune raised an eyebrow… of course it was him. Why wouldn't it be? Who else would've been with Callus at this hour other than maybe her anyway?

"Yeah… wait, Callus what…" he trailed off, seeing Callus's deliberately blank expression. He didn't utter a word, simply gesturing to the nearby door.

Jaune didn't wait to dash out the door, slamming through into the hallway and making a break for the bathroom. He needed to see this… he needed to see this with his own eyes. What had that pod done to him? He slammed his way into the bathroom, freezing at the sink.

He didn't recognize the man inside.

Gone was the scrawny, somewhat pathetic child. Instead, there was a man who looked to be carved out of marble, with muscles likely the size of his old head. His facial features weren't that different, other than his hair was a bit longer, his eyes glowing just a little bit brighter.

He trailed a hand over his torso, eyes widening as the muscles didn't just disappear or rub away like they would if it were a dream. He could feel every crevice, feel his heart beating strong in his ribcage, feel his lungs taking in more air than they ever would've otherwise. He lightly slapped his face.

He felt it.

This wasn't a dream.

This was real.