Prototypical

"What have you done, James...?"

"I put it to good use."

"I entrusted the Relic's location to you so that you may keep it hidden from the world! Not unleash it into it!"

"We are losing the war Ozpin. How many Hunters have you lost in the last decade? And in that time how many have graduated from Beacon?"

"James."

"You know I speak the truth Oz. Hunters can no longer hold back the tide of Grimm on their own. We need an edge and this is it. Atlas has already started working on new models based off the prototype."

"...How many?"

"What?"

"How many people did you involve in this 'project'?"

"A small team, some of my most capable men from the military research division and a couple of specialists. Everyone of whom I trust completely."

"And how many of them know about the Relic?"

"Only the lead scientist. And even then, he doesn't know exactly what he has been working with. You do realize I'm a general of Atlas, right? I know a thing or two about operational security, old friend."

"Fine. What's his name?"

"Dr. Daedalus Polendina."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"PYRRHA!"

A small part of Jaune felt like tearing his hair out as he ran towards the tower in search of his partner. The other, much bigger part, wanted to find a safe place to lie down and cry. Not that he'd have much luck with that.

The city of Vale was on fire as the Grimm and White Fang ran amok in its streets, their headmaster was probably dead and his moronic, stupid, idiotic, moronic partner had decided to go fight his probable killer. Alone!

And to think the day had started with such potential.

He was nearly at the base of the tower when he found an Ursa blocking his path. The grimm had probably heard him screaming.

Stupid! Then again I am probably one of the very few people still nearby, so it could have come here because it had sensed my negative emotions.

Either way, he didn't have time to waste on killing the Ursa. His partner was already fighting the sparky woman at this very moment, if the flashes of light he could see in the tower were any indication. And that was not mentioning the gigantic dragon grimm that was currently encircling the tower.

Because of course, the bad guys had a dragon.

He would have to dodge the Ursa. Be like Ren - calm and analytical. Create an opening and then escape into the tower. The grimm wouldn't be able to follow him as he went up the elevator.

The Ursa, however, didn't seem inclined towards the plan, judging by how it growled loudly and started charging at him. Jaune's already frayed temper snapped hard, and he screamed at in turn, throwing his sword at it.

"FUCK YOU TOO!"

So his absolute shock when Crocea Mors tore through the Ursa like it was paper made him react late to the corpse's momentum at him. He stumbled as the body hit him, his own momentum arrested at the collision. Thankfully he didn't fall and after pushing the now dissolving body off of him, he ran inside the tower while picking up his blade where it had lodged near its entrance.

The elevator's smoking ruins greeted him.

No, no, no, no!

He looked around wildly, thoughts and plans running through his head at a blistering pace. The stairs would take too long. He glanced back at the courtyard, hoping for inspiration to strike when he saw something that caught his eye and brought him to a stop.

He tilted his head as an insane plan ran through his head.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Cinder walked leisurely towards the girl, her footsteps seeming incredibly loud in the aftermath of their fight as her heels crunched the broken glass and metal underneath her feet. She came to a stop near the downed champion, smirking at her as she reveled in her victory.

"It's unfortunate that you were promised a power that was never truly yours. But take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways you could never have imagined."

The redhead glared at her as she finished and Cinder couldn't help but smile at the hate in the girl's eyes when she spoke.

"Do you believe in destiny?"

Cinder blinked at the non-sequitur, nonplussed. "..What?"

It was then she heard the tell tale sound of a rocket locker coming towards their location. Cinder was on guard immediately, jumping away from Nikos. While as the current Fall Maiden, she was incredibly more powerful than the average hunter, she could still be brought low by trickery as she had proved with its previous holder. Had there been people waiting nearby to ambush her?

Then locker came into view and Cinder's gaped at the sight.

There was a boy with blonde hair.- the girl's partner her mind whispered - who was actually riding the locker as if it was a surfboard.

What the actual fuck…?

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"Jaune...?" Pyrrha said in shock, her eyes and mind still in disbelief of what she had just seen.

Because Jaune, her partner, the clumsy boy who had cheated his way into Beacon dreaming of being a hero without even knowing about Aura, the first boy she had kissed and the boy she liked had not just executed a maneuver that wouldn't have looked out of place in a Spruce Willis movie.

"Hey Pyr." he replied giving her a grin as he looked at her, his eyes narrowing when he noticed her bleeding ankle.

Pyrrha hardly cared about that at the moment though, her eyes flicking between him and the locker he had ridden to her rescue, still not comprehending what she had just witnessed.

"How did you…?" she couldn't finish her question. Though Jaune seemed to understand her intent nonetheless.

"I eyeballed it." Jaune replied nonchalantly.

"You… what?" If anything the answer left her more flabbergasted. Before she could speak again, however, the third person present at the tower interrupted them.

"As much as I enjoy this comedy act of yours," Cinder spoke, as flames started gathering near her hands and eyes. She grinned. "Despite how this looks, I am a busy woman. I have places to go, people to kill and schools to destroy. So if you could please hurry up?"

"Jaune, run when I tell you to." Pyrrha whispered to her partner as she stood up, pulling her shield to herself. Her aura had stopped the bleeding, but the pain was still there. She wouldn't be able to hold Cinder for long.

Jaune gave her a flat look in return. "Pyrrha, I just rode a locker to come to your rescue, what on Remnant makes you think I'm going to leave again?"

"I don't want you to die." the words were out before she could stop them.

"And you think I do?!" Jaune glared at her for a second before his eyes softened. "We're partners, aren't we Pyrrha? No matter the situation, we'll be in it together."

Pyrrha closed her eyes at his plea, taking a deep breath as she let her worries fall away, before she smiled back. "Together then."

They attacked her together.

Jaune's blade coming to her defense, whenever Cinder spotted an opening in her attacks and her doing the same for him. They fought perfectly, complementing each other in a way that they had never been able to achieve before, completely in sync with each other. Attacking and defending in turn as they brought the maiden to a metaphorical standstill.

Cinder had held the advantage in a fight against her alone, but now with Jaune beside her, they were somehow able to keep enough pressure on her that while they weren't able to finish her, she couldn't retaliate either without fear of opening herself to attack from one of them.

They were at an impasse and something had to give. Unfortunately, it was her ankle.

Pyrrha had been dimly aware of the pain in the back of her mind, taking care not to put too much pressure on that leg, but she had ended up becoming lost in the heat of the battle and had made the mistake of doing what she had been trying to avoid.

The pain came back with a vengeance, making her stumble and in turn leaving herself completely open to Cinder. Cinder didn't miss the opportunity, her flames came roaring at her as Pyrrha found herself unable to dodge. And then Jaune was in front of her, bearing the brunt of the flames.

He screamed in pain and she did so with him.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Cinder stepped over the still burning corpse of the boy while she finished melting his sword. A sword. How terribly old-fashioned. She gave the crying girl bemused look. "Don't worry Pyrrha. You will be reunited with your boyfriend soon enough."

She started preparing her bow and arrow when she was punched in the back. It caught her completely off-guard and was strong enough to throw her away from the girl. She was back to her feet within seconds, her mind raging at yet another interruption after just killing the last.

"Wh-" Cinder stared at the supposed to be dead, yet who was very much not, boy in shock. It disrupted her concentration enough that she ended up dismissing her flames as her eyes took in the burnt individual once more while he came to a stand before his partner. Except he wasn't.

Oh he was burnt of course, she could see where parts of his skin had blackened and melted away, exposing the bones beneath - she hadn't held back after all. Yet the same flames that had reduced the headmaster of Beacon Academy to ashes, had somehow failed to even kill this one student.

"What are you...?" the words came unbidden as her mind stalled at the impossibility in front of her eyes and sought answers. The boy fell into an unfamiliar fighting stance and as if in acknowledgement of her question his left hand mecha-shited into a blade.

"Jaune Arc," the boy, no, the machine, grinned at her. "And I'm combat ready."

Author's Note - This is an old, old idea based on a theory of mine regarding Jaune and his seeming ignorance of things which should be common knowledge to most people in the setting of RWBY. I know this is not really compatible with the recent seasons, but I felt like writing something and this piece was almost completed already, so here it is.

This is also most certainly a one-shot since I had/still have no idea where to take the story after this reveal.