Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or the Gamer.
Warning: Antagonistic OC, death, gore, kidnapping, etc. Further warnings will be addressed at the end of this chapter.
Summary: The stories go with a Gamer always trying to do good in the world they're reborn in, but good is a subjective term. What qualifies as 'EXP' for a player, could be drastically different for those who actually live in the RWBYverse. [RWBY/The Gamer] [Anti-Villain/Antagonistic! OC]
This is an Antagonistic!OC. This means there will be some less-than-socially acceptable things in this story. If you're uncomfortable with these things, or deaths, read at your own risk.
Text Meaning:
Normal Text: Either talking when it's in speech or accounting for the detail the character experiences.
Italics: Thoughts - typically used to track what a person thinks of another: 'Jaune Arc, short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it! That'll work.' Can be used in a narrative context.
Bold Italics: Interaction with powerful objects: The Gamer's System, for example. It can be used on glitches. It can also be used when one person is being serious with another or straight-up trolling them.
Any form of text on lines: Scene Breaks, recordings of when things happen, etc.
[Statements]: Secondary form of interaction with the Game. It's involved with statements made by the Game itself, too. Mostly in bold.
"Life lets you hide yourself from others, but death will always force you to show the world who you really are."
Blurs, fizzing, piercing pains in his chest, they were the things he felt.
When he woke up, there was a gasp. The man turned, tightly gripping the bed for support, only feeling the soft quilt covering his body. Things surrounded him from one direction to another; all were obscure shapes that seemed vaguely human. How many were there? Four, five, six or seven? Regardless, there was nothing to come from his thoughts, and he was too stupefied to make sense of things.
The man moved his right arm; touching his left wrist to pinch it. He stopped at the feel of soft skin, a contradiction to the rough, tough skin he was expecting. Then, he was staying still. The man couldn't remember what had torn him to shreds, but he could still feel the muffled sensation of pain throbbing in his chest. Every pull or tug made him feel stinging pain. He sniffed the miasma of disinfectant drenching across the walls - its pungent scent assaulted his nose and submerged him back into that haze of confusion. He could hold the tender covers of his bed, but he couldn't even see the colours of the bed. What was going on?
'̴͕̠͋Ả̷̠͗ ̴̦̙͘f̴̬̦̏̽a̵̯͘m̶͙͑̋i̵̺̇̅l̷͉͛y̵̳͝,̷̯̀ ̷̯̄̂c̷̰̏̐ò̷̺̘̃ȗ̵̦̣l̷̠̿͆d̸̼͓́̚ ̷̬̀͑b̴̭͑̊e̶͔̚ ̶̹͇̏̈́t̵̩͑̚h̷͎͝r̸͉̒̔o̶̙͕̽ũ̴̼̼̎g̸̥͒͝h̶̠̺̊͠ ̸͓̿b̵̖͊l̷̹͓̕ó̴̙o̴̧͈̾d̴͙̎͛,̷̡̦͛̿ ̵̟̳́̓ǫ̸̢̿̚r̶̨͍͂ ̸͓͈͐̿s̷͙̀ő̸̞͇́m̶͝ͅë̷̯̼́t̶̺͊̕h̸̻͖́͠i̴̧̓̽n̸̝̅̆g̴̨̨̈́́ ̵̙͆͛͜p̶̫͕̿r̷̮̓ỏ̷̢͖͘f̴̲͝o̷͓͐̋u̶̪͆̚ͅṋ̴͒d̸̩̑̎.̷̰̜̕'̶̝͝
All of a sudden, the hospital ripped away to show sunset skies, and he gasped. The world was torn into two; twisting to reveal the engulfing skies that covered his eyes, never refusing, or relenting, in its efforts to amaze him. But, this place, this place was something so much more than what met his eyes. Spires of bricks were sprawled into vivacious tower and a soothing; if not awe-striking, calming sea whisked away his panic. It just grabbed his feelings of stress out of his stomach, lurching forward, and throwing it away like it wasn't there.
He refused to stop looking up; lest he stare at the ground below, and it wasn't going to help the situation. His situation. In silence, he stared and stared, hoping for something to change. But, nothing changed.
It wouldn't change; it wouldn't change at all.
His mind was unfurled - but he couldn't do anything. He wasn't registering anything, didn't understand how he was breathing, and he was barely conscious. His vision flickered like a breaking lamp; and, it was getting worse. And this he believed: that he was confused, he had been stupefied by the mind-bending world around him, without being in control of himself or anything else.
The sheer sounds of buzzing and fizzing entered his head - and he breathed slowly. He needed to be calm: he was fine, even if he didn't know what this place was, even if he couldn't see his friends and family anywhere. He couldn't afford to panic in such a dire situation, and god-forbid, logic-defying situation. There were many things running in his head: the fact he was alive; that he still existed; and how he could recognise a voice in his head. Nothing was making sense - but there was no way he could understand what was going on.
What was going on, and what was that voice in his head? Was it his voice?
'̷I̴t̷ ̴w̴o̴r̸k̸e̴d̴.̶ ̶I̷'̵m̴ ̸a̷l̶i̶v̴e̵.
- GAME -
[Welcome to RWBY: The Game!]
[A world personally created for you - and all those who are lucky enough to enjoy it!]
[Be a criminal, murderer, pacifist, all the same. It's YOUR world!]
[Your name is Jaune Arc.]
- GAME -
He sighed, shook his head, and tapped the giant pixel screen.
- DIFFICULTY -
* Inventory is unlocked. All achievements can be unlocked. Less than usual item space, more complex compass system, higher enemy stats but 3x EXP until you finish Initiation. (Can be negated by titles: cost being that titles won't stack effects.)
* AGILITY = 1.5* the normal AGILITY stat of an individual. E.G, 15 = 22.5.
* Unknown Consequences.
* Set to Legendary Mode.
- DIFFICULTY -
Another series of taps were heard.
- SEMBLANCE -
SEMBLANCE: OVERDRIVE - (Passive) [Locked]
NOTE: This game will not give you skills - you will need to invent them.
- SEMBLANCE -
- CHARACTER STATUS -
Name: Jaune Arc
Title: The Gamer
Level: 1
Age: 16
HP: 100/100
MP: 100/100
AP: 0/0 (Will be unlocked by ? during the ? in the ?)
EXP: ?/? (EXP will be available after the Tutorial.)
Location: Tutorial
Strength: 8 [8]
Dexterity: 9 [9]
Vitality: 8 [8]
Intelligence: 15 [16]
Wisdom: 14 [15]
Perception: 12 [13]
Gamer's Mind Influence: 0/100 (One point per minute, a point is recovered once every six hours.)
Weapon: Crocea Mors: The blade that finished wars - destroyed lives - and saved them. This gives twice as much damage to a Grimm, with a normal damage output for humans. This is your starter weapon; though I'd advise you to keep using it until people expect you to fight with it all the time.
Semblance = ?
- CHARACTER STATUS -
He already made mistakes, regrets, and even failed his own life, once. There wasn't a chance in hell that he'd let anyone control him. Not a chance in hell.
[Are you ready to start the game?]
He looked at the screen in his eyes; flickering down to the covers of his bed.
'Yes, I am. I'd appreciate it if I got out of the skies, thank you.'
[Very well, Jaune Arc.]
Only silence remained.
~TFNF~ Hubworld ~TFNF~
[Welcome, Mr Arc, to the Hubworld.]
"What the hell is this place?"
It was quiet - and the man was eyeing a brilliant white hall. There were a series of windows, each adorned contrasts of red and blue, showing nothing but a plaza with one grand garden of varied plants. From roses to daffodils, the place was filled with them, with vivacious sycamore trees too. It looked fascinating, complimented by its bizarre approach in looks. Combined with the simple structure - and the area was given an appealing beauty. Well, compared to his own lab, anyway.
He wasn't used to admitting it was his lab.
But, he thought, beauty can be deceiving. The looks of a person or entity don't show the character of the being itself, it just seems appealing. It isn't appealing; it just looks appealing. But, what could you use as an example? A solution becoming more problematic than the original problem would be an example. How many times has that lesson been applied? He'd lost count - put those events into a page and it'd need an entire library to accommodate the details.
It was a shame that humanity didn't learn that lesson. They just wanted more things.
However, he wasn't ashamed to admit he was a hypocrite.
[You sound rather surprised, Mr Arc.]
"My apologies, Game, can you explain why we're here?"
[Using the Chekhov's Gun approach, are we? Very well.]
[QUEST]
[MISSION DETAILS: Complete the tutorial.]
[REWARDS: None.]
[NOTE: You already know the system of the Game, so we'll skip the introduction to your stats, figure them out yourself.]
"Alright, Game, start the tutorial."
[Beginning Tutorial. I recommend you close your eyes during the loading period.]
From there, he closed his eyes, and covered them. 'I hate it when there's bright lights in my eyes, I despise when that happens. There is a reason why I'm terrified of not seeing properly.' He cringed at the sounds of metal clanging, the sound grating his ears as he grit his teeth. It sounded horrible, disgustingly horrible, giving him no time to focus-
[Now, open your eyes.]
Then, he put his arms down from his eyes, only to gaze at a small arena. There were a series of robots in a line, side-by-side, with their own variation of colour schemes. One robot was black with red lines on it, whilst another had a contrasting colour scheme.
'But that isn't important right now; what I need to think about is getting out of here. And, of course, figuring this out.'
[Mr Arc, stand on the podium to your left.]
He walked to the podium.
"Holy shit!" Jaune exclaimed, at the sight of two white flashes on the side of his hands. A shield appeared in the one hand, whilst there was a sword in the other.
'Crocea Mors? I'm wielding Crocea Mors! Of all weapons?!'
[Because of the difficulty in this Game, I have decided that encouraging self-independent gaming is the best route to take.]
[Your objective is to destroy the robots. Failure to do so will bring dire consequences.]
"Do you really have to talk about dire consequences, right now?"
[Your objective is to destroy the robots-]
"Fine, fine! I'll take them down!"
At that, the robots sprung towards him, with a massive bang heard from the distance.
Of course, it ended up with a massive failure on his part. He was decimated: his kicks were over-extended; his fists were angled awkwardly; every hit would return with a few more hits back; his defence wasn't even great. For every punch, there was a light tap, like as if he was just barely hurting it at all. It took minutes before Jaune gave up; raising his hands into the air and sighing.
[Do you want me to fight them?]
'Yes, please. Thanks.'
[I'll do it - but only because you were polite.]
After a few moments, what seemed to be like a holographic body appeared into the room. It was red - and it had a series of badges strewn across its chest, almost as if it was wearing them with pride. Pride. How odd would it be to meet an AI that was prideful? Alas, it didn't matter, but considering how the machine was fighting them off...
It put him to shame.
With that, the machine raised his shield upwards, and slammed it into a robot's face. Then, the red body swung its legs around, throwing it into another machine. Suddenly, he was booted in the face, and thrown across the area. As if it was on reflex, the Game's body slammed Crocea Mors into the ground, halting his momentum as he did so. He scowled - and it was because the robots were doing something strange.
The robots seemed to stand up, and stare. They kept staring. It was almost as if...
They were expecting the Game to make the move.
'Well, in that case,' The Game cracked his knuckles, and ran towards them. 'He's going to go for an offensive strategy.' At that, he threw his shield towards one robot, splicing its legs from its body when the shield sliced through it. After that, the Game grabbed the left arm of the robot and swung. Then, there was violent screeching when the robot was pulled, when the robot was slammed into surrounding machines.
The Game was staring at a legion of robots, robots that wanted to obliterate it. At times, Jaune could see some sort of almost invisible smile, almost as if it was amused by the fight. How strange could a machine be? The man glanced at the shield on his left, only for the Game to run and slam his sword into the ground, sliding across the arena. He felt the wind blowing against his face, his jaw-dropped at the sight of robots chasing it, he heard the fervent taps grow closer and closer-
-Only for the Game to swing around and bash one machine in the face with his sword. Flinging himself onto the shield, and he whistled at the sight of ruined robotic limbs in the distance.
'You know, if this is a dream, this is the craziest dream I've ever had!'
With a shit-eating grin, it flipped over his shield, grabbed it and the sword and bulldozed through the robots. He leaped over one swinging arm, only to knock it to the ground with a overhead swing. At that, he gave a roundhouse kick to another, watching as it tripped into a series of machines that blew up.
"That's how you fight, guys! You don't dramatically say dialogue whilst in a fight-!"
At that, the Game was punched in the face, only to glare at the robot who did it. It was the black robot from before, which seemingly commanded the rest.
[TUTORIAL BOSS: Commander Of The Bots]
HP: 1000/1000
MP: 0/0
SP: 0/0
STR: 8 [8]
DEX: 9 [9]
VIT: 8 [8]
INT: 15 [16]
WIS: 14 [15]
PER: 12 [13]
[MINI-BOSS: Commander Of The Bots]
[Mr Arc, this is a MINI-BOSS. They're BOSS-CLASS enemies; but they aren't important. Well, except for a few...]
With that, the Commander launched a flurry of punches, kicks, and twists at the Game. It manoeuvred around the robot; barely dodging various hits. A moment later, he was sent flying. He was punched! With that, the Game grabbed Crocea Mors, and ran towards the machine in front of him.
With that, it delivered a combination of kicks and twists, swinging all he could at the opposite machine. Yet, the machine dodged, with an expressionless gaze. It stood, in the silence, expecting him to do another move. It forced the red man to raise an eyebrow. At that, he ran quicker than before, only to find that the machine kept dodging over and over again.
[Sometimes, Mr Arc, you'll find that some battles can't be won through strength.]
[Let me give you a demonstration.]
At that, the robot became aggressive. It launched itself at the Game, recklessly throwing punches and kicks. The red man blocked again and again, only to twist and swerve around the robot. Then, the body tripped the robot over, sending it to the ground with a bang.
[You see, in this world, battles aren't won through just strength. They're won through tactics, dirty tricks, and strength.]
[Now, observe the next demonstration.]
Then, it ran towards the robot, which was giving everything it had. It would look for every cheap trick, disadvantage, and weakness that the Game possessed. The Commander swerved around it; overwhelming the opposite machine with brutal attacks. It launched a series of missiles; which missed. At that, it had a red screen, becoming overheated from the attack. Then, the screen was black, and the robot plummeted to the ground.
[However, overdrawing yourself brings dire consequences.]
[That is the end of the combat tutorial. If you seek further guidance, I recommend you analyse the manual.]
[Farewell, Gamer. Enjoy your freedom.]
At that, the area collapsed, becoming a bright white. Jaune covered his eyes; which blinked from the intense light.
'What's going on?'
His first thought upon waking up was that where ever he was smelled like antiseptic and excessive cleaning agents-opening his eyes confirmed his suspicion. At the moment, he was in a miniature hospital room with one other person-blonde, female, most likely in her twenties. Early twenties, perhaps, and was she an Arc? She looked like Jaune of all people; except, she looked like an older, female version of Jaune. The woman was sleeping by the bed-side on a small chair at his bedside, dressed in what looked like unique armour. A tall woman, without any doubt, and she was dressed with gauntlets, bracers, and some sort of head piece that was silver. However, under her armour, was rather normal clothes. Jeans, a belt, black heeled boots, but what stood out was her sombre look.
[Name: Juniper Arc]
[Title: Unnamed Aegis]
[Relation: Sister to Jaune Arc.]
[LVL: ?]
'Oh for god's sake! I'm not Jaune Arc-!"
"-Jaune? Can you hear me? Jaune?"
Admittedly, the woman in front of him was rather pretty, but she seemed to be the kind of woman he found interesting. Not because of her high-standards in looks, but the look on her face suggested that there was something more to her than the situation called it to be. What was her purpose? Was she going to be some sort of figure like Pyrrha? Was she a thief, a murderer, or some normal person? Thinking about questions like these had grown accustomed to him; you never know what kind of person you're talking with, no matter what.
But what he would always know is the annoying light that kept making his eyes scream with pain.
"My fucking eyes are going to get annoying, too quickly," He spoke with a croaky voice. A subtle snicker from the woman drew his curiosity, before she sat up and stared at him. She had vivid green eyes - but the look on her face, the morose but frustrated look on her face made him raise an eyebrow.
"You're up." She said - and I couldn't even tell if she was sarcastic or not. Her voice was soft, quiet, subdued because of the fact that she just woke up. However, it could've been because she had a cold or she was just that stressed from what happened before Jaune's death.
"Jaune, are you alright?" she asked, standing from her seat to open the windows for fresh air, her nose crinkling at the smell of antiseptic.
"I feel like someone just fucking threw me off a cliff," Jaune grumbled - and he noticed the silence from woman who just walked to his bedside. It hasn't even been five minutes and he was already tempted to murder some idiot across the street. It said a lot about the place he was in.
But the look on Juniper's face made him looked away with a small sigh, "No," She turned with a worried expression on her face, "I'm not fine. I don't know where I am, I don't know why I'm here, and I don't even remember what happened. Can you please tell me what happened?" Seeing her expression, I gestured for her to sit down, watching as she put her hands on my visible left hand. Soft, cool hands pressed against mine-but her hands felt calloused and rough.
"You don't remember?" She said softly, "You were swept up in a fight between Torchwick and the police. Apparently, Torchwick shot you and they had to unlock your aura..." His eyes widened with shock - but he kept a deep breath in to calm down. 'What the fuck? They couldn't have unlocked my aura; it's locked. My MP is unlocked...'
"Wait. What?" He blinked. Nothing rang any bells, but Roman Torchwick did - and so did aura. "Roman Torchwick?"
"Yes, the doctors were operating on you for hours," She paused to look away, "You even were declared dead for a few minutes."
'Jesus Christ,' He sighed, shaking his head. Palming his face, "Look, I don't know how to say this properly, but I don't remember anything."
She paused, "What do you mean by that, Jaune?" She said softly.
A brief look towards the windows avoided her eyes, before a quiet voice was heard. "I don't remember who our parents are," He spoke with hesitance at the last word, "I don't even remember how many sisters we have."
The blonde blinked, before all expression left her face. "Do you remember who gave you Crocea Mors?"
"No," He looked at Juniper with a morose expression, "I don't."
A moment later, her expression drifted with a sigh, seemingly slumping into her chair. "Do you even remember anything at all?"
Shit. This situation was abso-fucking-lutely shit. He must've replaced Jaune with his own soul; basically killing him for good. Of course, his sister would've noticed something was off - but it wasn't like he could bring himself to lie. Not when he, well, was the only person to ever live on Earth and Remnant. He couldn't tell her that he replaced the body of Jaune Arc- that was already fucked up on another level and the Game would do definitely do something about it. He couldn't bring himself to lie; Juniper had already caught on with his... status.
So, there was only one option.
"I remember little pieces; but they're foggy." He admitted, watching Juniper's eyes drift away from his. "Frankly? I don't remember much; I don't remember who I am, nor do I remember anything about your name or anything else. I'm sorry," He spoke softly; almost dropping to a whisper.
Juniper shook her head, simply pressing a red button by the bedside. "It's okay, Jaune," She spoke, "I'll get the doctors; we'll have you up in no time, I swear."
Jaune sat there, glancing at the windows outside, showing the same evening sky as before.
'I'm the last living human from Earth; how unbelievable...'
A few minutes later, Juniper walked in with the doctor, only to see Jaune asleep in his bed. Juniper sighed, speaking quietly. "He doesn't recognise me - and he doesn't even know the names of our family."
The doctor sighed, "Judging on the scans of his brain, there seems to be... something different about his brain. We don't understand what it is, but it seems to have changed his perception of the world."
Juniper looked towards Jaune, "Is he...?"
The doctor shook his head, "I don't know. Nobody has ever been in a case like this, Miss Arc, this case is completely different than anything we've seen."
Juniper spoke, "He did seem okay. He was lucid; speaking, and he even recognised that this place was a hospital."
The doctor nodded, "A very lucky man, he is." He sighed, "If we were a few moments too late, Mr Arc wouldn't have been revived."
"I know," She sighed, "But it feels like my little brother still died; it's like he's been replaced by someone else."
~TFNF~ Excerpt I ~TFNF~
I thought it was absurd, but it appears my suspicions have been confirmed.
Some dimensions become shredded apart, moreover, they were splitting. Splitting into small pieces of dust? I don't know. It doesn't seem to be dust, but it resembles it. For some reason, utilising the dimensions produces a destabilisation effect. It's effortless to use now - but the damage is remarkable. There are specific patterns showing up, shades that appear to protrude in and out at times; these events never happened before. Why? Why was it doing this? It was almost as if it was about to collapse in onto itself. Some of the parts were folding onto themselves. That never happens.
My semblance depends on these dimensions; I depend on them to summon portals. What if they collapse, and I die because I can't use my semblance? My tribe would be left without its leader - and Vernal would be unprotected. With a world like Remnant, every advantage must be preserved, which is why I'm going to the person accountable for this.
I'm going to come find them.
I have to. For myself, and my people.
~ Author's Note ~
I will first address the warnings:
1.) If you do not like strong OCs, then it's up to you whether or not you should continue reading. If you have read any of my other stories, you'd know I prefer writing characters who are not Sues, or OCs that are as bland as an exam. The MC must be on par with the RWBY protagonists, at least.
2.) If you do not like the "bad guys" winning then read at your own risk. I cannot promise the MC and the villains will always win, but there is a strong possibility that good might not win.
3.) If you do not like violence, do not read this story.
4.) If you do not like the main character lying, tricking, killing, read at your own risk.
5.) If you do not like the main character descending into a "morally unpredictable" person, read at your own risk.
6.) If you do not like the "protagonist becomes progressively worse" angle, read at your own risk.
7.) An important thing to note is that the 'horror' aspects of this fic come in slowly, and when they do, it'll become bloody. You might feel like things are just dramatic, or that the OC/SI is just whining over things and being stupid but when things change, things start to go down. There is a LOT of buildup towards the M rating, but as you progress through the chapters, you'll notice that some parts will begin to become darker. Eventually, you'll see why this is rated M (and has Horror as one of the genres).
8.) Do you see this rating? It's rated M for a few reasons, guys. There will be gore, there will be violence, there will be implied things that are disturbing and uncomfortable. I can promise you though: there will not be rape, child molesting, or any of that sort. I won't write about those things. Mutilation? Definitely. Torture? Sure. So, if you are uncomfortable with those things (barring the subjects that I stated I wouldn't write about), then read at your own risk.
If you do decide to read this story, don't like the content because it's about one of the aforementioned things I warned about, and then complain about it, I'll reference this A/N and henceforth, believe you didn't bother to read the A/N.
This story is AU.
In regards to the fact that Jaune Arc is dead, and replaced by "Jaune", this is because Jaune Arc died immediately after getting shot. Why is he not in a body-bag? It's because "Jaune", the MC, replaces him with his own soul a few minutes later.
Now, for those who are new to my stories — hello! For those who are not — well, welcome back.
Feel free to ask any questions and give criticism.
~ Character Stats ~
Name: Jaune Arc
Title: The Gamer
Level: 1
HP: 100/100
MP: 100/100
EXP: ?/? (EXP will be available after Character Selection.)
SP: 0/0 (Will be unlocked by ? during ? in ?.)
GAMER'S MIND: "Allows the person to stay calm, collected and rational in the majority of circumstances. If broken, the berserk status is initiated by the person. (Berserk: - 70% of INT, WIS, -90% CHA, +20% PER, + 30% STR, +20% AG).
GAMER'S BODY: "Allows the person to interact with reality through that of a video game, abilities range from increasing stats of a specific attribute to improve; developing skills at a quicker pace; quests; inventory; etc.
OVERDRIVE (Semblance): The ability to conduct electricity.
DORMANT ATTRIBUTES:
None.
Location: Tutorial
Strength: 8 [8]
Dexterity: 9 [9]
Vitality: 8 [8]
Intelligence: 15 [16]
Wisdom: 14 [15]
Perception: 12 [13]
Gamer's Mind Influence: 0/100 (One point per minute, a point is recovered once every six hours.)
Weapon: Crocea Mors: The blade that finished wars - destroyed lives - and saved them. This gives twice as much damage to a Grimm, with a normal damage output for humans. This is your starter weapon; though I'd recommend you keep using it until people expect you to fight with it all the time.
Semblance: The Gamer.
Gamer's Mind Influence: 0/100
NOTE: The first value of a stat is the BASE STAT. The second value of a stat is known as the FINAL STAT.
BASE STAT: The value of a stat without any influence of bonuses. 8 is an example.
FINAL STAT: The value of a stat influenced by bonuses. [8] is an example.
Location: Hospital
PRIMARY WEAPON/ATTACHMENT(P):
CROCEA MORS: The blade that finished wars - destroyed lives - and saved them. This gives twice as much damage to a Grimm, with a normal damage output for humans. This is your starter weapon; though I'd recommend you keep using it until people expect you to fight with it all the time.
SECONDARY WEAPON/ATTACHMENT(S):
None.