Chapter 3: Returning to the Spiders.

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It is night. Jaune descends from the sky, landing in a secluded ally near the tavern. He retracts his wings.

Jaune walks out of the alley and heads for the establishment.

[Back with Lil' Miss Malachite]

She is enjoying a sundae. Suddenly, the curtain doors open, revealing Jaune.

The patrons and Lil' Miss Malachite look at him.

Jaune stops a few feet from Lil' Miss Malachite.

"I take it my information was spot on," Lil' Miss Malachite said.

"Better. I really enjoyed killing that whole pack of Apathy," Jaune responded.

Lil' Miss Malachite and some of the patrons were surprised. Their expressions weren't lost on Jaune.

"The looks on your faces. I get it. You thought it was only two. Well, so did Bartelby and Elias. But it turns out, that the rest of the pack followed them back," Jaune said.

"And you took care of all of them by yourself?" Lil' Miss Malachite asked.

"All by myself," Jaune said happily.

"To many, a pack of Apathy is bad luck. Those who encounter them curse their fate. But he is not even mad. Actually, he is happy," Lil' Miss Malachite thought.

"How did you kill them?" Lil' Miss Malachite asked.

"Sorry, Lil' Miss Malachite. A trade secret," Jaune said.

The patrons didn't like Jaune's response. They would have done something if it weren't for Lil' Miss Malachite putting her hand up to stop them.

"Alright. So, what brings you here? This has to be more than just a follow-up," Lil' Miss Malachite said.

"You're not wrong. Frankly, I need a place to stay. Do you have any suggestions?" Jaune asked.

Lil' Miss Malachite smiled.

"Actually, I have some apartments in Mistral," Lil' Miss Malachite said.

She snaps her fingers, and one of her members hands her a notepad and pen.

Lil' Miss Malachite writes down an address, as well as a spider in a web on the paper.

She hands the paper to Jaune.

"Thanks. Huh? Why the emblem?" Jaune asked as he saw Spider's emblem.

"Let's just say. Your first month is free," Lil' Miss Malachite said smiling.

Jaune smiled at the news.

"Thank you, Lil' Miss Malachite. I won't forget this," Jaune said.

Jaune walks out of the tavern.

Lil' Miss Malachite smirks.

She turns to the female bodyguard, Violet.

"Have a couple of our agents pay Brunswicks Farms a polite visit to gather some information," Lil' Miss Malachite said.

Violet nodded. She took out her scroll and called some of their agents, notifying them of their assignment.

After some time, the call was over.

Lil' Miss Malachite looked to the male bodyguard, Burgundy.

"That reminds me. Did you get more of the information on him?" Lil' Miss Malachite asked.

Burgundy nodded.

"Yes. Our initial information was that his name is Jaune Arc. Formerly a student of Beacon Academy, he was expelled for using fake transcripts," Burgundy said.

Many were surprised that someone with no combat school training was trying to enter an academy.

"However, digging deeper, we found that he was ostracized and tormented by the students. The professors did little if not anything to stop them."

"And they're supposed to be the protectors of Remnant?" Lil' Miss Malachite asked.

Lil' Miss Malachite scoffed.

"What else happened to him?"

"As his last name suggests, he was a member of the Arc clan, but we discovered that he had been disowned by his family after they discovered his fake transcripts," Burgundy said.

"Apparently, he brought dishonor to the Arc name."

Many of the patrons had heard what had happened to Jaune. Despite being criminals, they felt that was still pretty cold, given there were people who did a lot worse.

Even Lil' Miss Malachite was appalled. She couldn't even find it in her heart to disown her daughters.

"No one knows where he is now except for us."

"Wait. If he used fake transcripts, why wasn't he arrested?" Violet asked.

"Our sources say that it was because of the Beacon Headmaster's influence," Burgundy said.

"Hmph. Well, it's their loss," Lil' Miss Malachite said.

Many of the patrons and her bodyguards looked at her in wonder. Lil' Miss Malachite noticed her agents' confusion.

She then remembered what else Burgundy managed to get.

"Block the entrance. Make sure no one but us sees this," Lil' Miss Malachite said.

Two of the patrons blocked the entrance.

"Burgundy. Show the footage on the screen."

Burgundy nodded. He connected his scroll to the screens and played some footage. It was Jaune's Beacon Academy Initiation. They managed to obtain the footage from the Beacon Academy files.

The screen showed Jaune leading his team to kill a Deathstalker. The footage showed Pyrrha cutting off the Death Stalker's stinger and Nora propelling herself in the hair, before hammering down the stinger. The bridge collapses as the Death Stalker falls.

Many were surprised that someone with no combat school experience coordinated a tactic to take down a Grimm.

"There's more to that boy than meets the eye," Lil' Miss Malachite said.

She smiles.

"With time, I believe he would make an excellent addition to the Spider."

Many of the patrons wondered just what Jaune was capable of.

Lil'Miss Malachite puts her hand to her chin in wonder.

"However, I'm more curious about his current goals."

[Back to Jaune]

He arrives in front of the apartment, carrying his duffel bag.

New beginnings were on the horizon.



(A/N(1): The next chapter will be Jaune training and getting a new power.)

(A/N(2): I do not own the cover art for the chapter. It belongs to RWBY.)




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