"Hello"=Talking

'Hello'=Thinking

(A/N: Alright ladies and gentlemen! Welcome back to Remnant Data Battles! I'm happy all of you are still enjoying my little old story! So let's get to it!)

Beacon Weapon Workshop

"I wonder..." Ruby mumbled as she looked at the gem in her hand.

After lunch the two teams had decided to take a break before agreeing to head back to the arena later. Seeing an opportunity, Ruby had told her teammates that she needed to do an errand. Seeing no problem with this, they agreed to check up on her later. So now she found herself sitting in one of Beacon's weapon workshops where students could do maintenance on their weapons.

"What are you?" She asked the gem that Marluxia had given her before. In the back of her mind she still wondered how the gem was real despite the assassin himself being made of data.

Before she could ponder this more, a voice suddenly whispered 'Lost Illusion...'

"Lost... Illusion..." Ruby mumbled as she looked at one of the forges. "I wonder..."

Taking the initiative, Ruby fired up one of the forges at she got the materials and dust out.

Slowly but surely she began to make a new blade for Crescent Rose. As she finished infusing dust into the blade she looked at the crystal again. Usually after infusing dust into a weapon this would be the moment to cool it down, but for some reason she couldn't help but look between the blade and the gem.

"... I really hope this doesn't blow up..." Ruby said as she grabbed the Lost Illusion and put the blade on the anvil and the gem on top of it.

"3...2...1!" She counted down before bringing her hammer down on the gem.

She fully expected it to shatter when she struck it, but was surprised when instead of breaking, the Lost Illusion was combing with the blade.

"Yes!" She squealed as she began to strike the gem more.

After striking it 12 more times the gem had fully combined with the scythe blade. Next, she lifted the blade and put it in the coolant. Finally, after 20 minutes, she lifted the blade from the coolant and placed it on the closest work table.

"This is amazing!" She said as she beheld the blade. Just from looking at it she could tell that it was stronger and sharper than the blade currently on Crescent Rose. She also swore that she could see a slight silver glow coming from it.

"Time for an upgrade my sweet baby!" She said in a sing-song tone as she grabbed her weapon and removed the blade from it.

"Ruby? What are you doing?" She heard a voice say as she turned around.

At the door to the workshop was Weiss with a curious look on her face. "The others sent me to... Why is that blade glowing?"

"Oh! Remember the gem i got from before?" Ruby asked as Weiss nodded.

"Yeah…what about it?" She asked.

"I kinda... Usedittomakeanewblade!" Ruby said, saying the last part quickly.

"You-Don't you realize how dangerous that could have been!? We don't even know what it was!" Weiss said, exasperated that her teammate would do such a rash thing.

"But it works! See?" Ruby said as she put the new blade into Crescent Rose and showed the weapon to Weiss.

"It was still dangerous!" Weiss said as she pushed the weapon away before yelping in pain and pulling her arm back faster than Ruby could eat a cookie.

"Are you okay?!" Ruby said, concerned for the heiress.

Looking at her healing hand, Weiss nodded as she looked at the scythe "I barely touched the blade and it gave me a cut so easy!" She said as she looked at her scroll. While her aura still wasn't full due to her fight with Axel earlier it still should've kept her from being cut.

"Here." Ruby said as she held out a wet wash cloth.

"Thanks." Weiss muttered as she began to wipe the small amount of blood off. "Ruby you need to be careful, whatever the gem did to the blade is not normal."

Nodding, Ruby collapsed her weapon back into its portable form. "Okay, so are the others headed to the arena?"

"Yeah, lest go already." Weiss said as they began to leave the workshop. "We also need to get more of those gems." She said, Ruby nodding in agreement.

Arena

"Okay, now that the White Rose combo is here-" Yang began, ignoring Weiss' glare. "Who's gonna take another crack it!?"

A few moments passed before Jaune raised his hand. "I'll go." He said as Yang handed him the scroll.

"Are you Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah... I saw a name there in the list... I need to see it for myself." He responded, his eyes filled with determination. "Found it!" He said as the others looked at the moniker.

'The Heroic Solider'

Setting the difficulty lower, Jaune selected his opponent and said "Well, wish me luck you guys." As he walked towards the arena.

"I've never seen him this determined about something before." Ruby said in curiosity.

"Yeah, what's up with him?" Nora said as Jaune reached the arena.

'Are you doing this because you want to be a hero Jaune? That by meeting a true hero you can find an answer?' Pyrrha thought as the usual data circle appeared and dropped of the opponent.

Standing against Jaune was a tall young man with wild, black, shoulder-length hair with a single lock hanging from the front. He wore a black turtle neck, pants, and boots. He also wore two brown straps that held up a pair of shoulder guards and a black belt, they could also see a handle sticking over his shoulder, most likely his weapon. Finally he had an X-shaped scar on his cheek and, most interestingly, glowing blue eyes.

"Hottie alert!" Yang said, looking pleased.

Before anyone could respond to her comment a voice said "Seconded!"

Turning around, teams RWBY and NPR saw team CVFY walking towards them.

"So far I've counted five pretty boys in this little system." Coco, the leader of CVFY and the one who spoke earlier, said.

"Hi Velvet!" Ruby said as she waved to the rabbit Faunus.

"Hey Ruby, it's nice to see you guys." Velvet said as she and her team took a seat near the two teams.

"What are you guys doing here?" Nora asked.

"The usual, see a good fight, maybe join in later ourselves." Coco said as she lowered her sunglasses a bit "Looks like tall, dark, and handsome is... Doing squats?" She said confused as the other looked towards the arena.

Indeed, Jaune's opponent was in fact doing squats as Jaune looked on confused.

Finishing his warm-up, Jaune's opponent looked him over before smiling and asking "So! Who are you?"

"Umm... Jaune Arc." He responded once he regained his bearings.

"Well Jaune, the names Zack Fair." The now named Zack said. "So, you ready for a fight?"

"I... I wanted to ask you something first." Jaune said nervously.

"Huh? Well... Okay, fire away." Zack said as he crossed his arms.

"Are you really a hero?" Jaune asked as the Solider gained a contemplative look on his face.

"Well... I guess that depends on you ask!" Zack said as he looked at the younger boy. "Some would call me a hero while other... Unsavory characters would say the opposite."

"Oh... I see." Jaune said.

"Let me ask you something." Zack said, gaining Jaune's attention. "Do you want to be a hero?"

"I-I..." Jaune said as he struggled to find his answer before looking at older man's eyes, they glowed with a youthful energy yet seemed... Dull in a way. "... Yes. I want to be hero."

"So you want to be hero huh?" Zack said as he looked at Jaune. "Here's some advice for you."

Jaune winced, thinking it would be a comment that he should grow up, but was surprised when Zack said "Even though the price of freedom is steep... Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens... Protect your honor, as Soldier!"

"Soldier?" Jaune asked in confusion.

"What's Soldier?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know... Maybe some sort of PMC?" Blake said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Whatever it is the speech was still nice!" Nora said as Zack realized his error.

"Ack! Or whatever is your equivalent of Soldier I guess!" Zack said as he scratched his head in slight embarrassment.

"... Thank you." Jaune said with a smile.

"Your welcome, so are you ready?" Zack asked.

"Yeah, let's go!" Jaune said as he unsheathed his sword and extended his shield.

"That's the spirit!" Zack said as he slowly reached for the handle that poked over his shoulder.

"I wonder what kind of weapon it is." Ruby said in excitement.

"I think it's a sword." Velvet said as Zack's hand reached the hilt.

"But why such a- Oh my." Pyrrha said as Zack brandished an enormous black and white broadsword.

"So cool!" Ruby squealed while Yatsuhashi gave a nod in respect of the weapon.

Jaune on the other hand...

'Holy crap! Why does he- FOR THE LOVE OF OUM IS HE SPINNING IT!?' Jaune thought as Zack gave the sword a spins like it weighed nothing.

Holding the sword with both hands and getting into his stance, Zack asked "You ready?"

Nodding, Jaune shifted his stance so he would be in a better position to dodge if he needed to.

(Play Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII OST: The Summoned)

At Jaune's nod, Zack dashed towards him at speeds impressive for someone wielding such a large weapon as he swung his sword, forcing Jaune to raise his shield and dodge.

"Good! You're quick on your feet!" Zack complimented as he spun around and tried to slash at Jaune with his sword.

Blocking the slash with his shield, Jaune eyes widened when the sword impacted his shield, making him skid back from the force.

'Note to self, only block when necessary!' Jaune thought as he regained his balance. 'Okay... Um- I guess- hit and run! That's what Pyrrha called it!' With a strategy decided he charged forward to face Zack in combat.

'Okay, let's see what he can do.' Zack thought as he blocked Jaune's first strike.

"Well, this ain't going well for Jaune." Yang said as Zack dodged Jaune's attack.

"Yup. The guys sword is so big he doesn't have put much effort into blocking. Plus unlike Yatsuhashi he's pretty quick, no offense." Coco said.

"None taken." Yatsuhashi said while he made a mental note to fight Zack on his own time.

"Well... Zack seems to be enjoying the fight." Ruby said as she motioned to the SOLDIER.

Indeed, Zack had quite a smile on his face, not a mocking or blood thirsty smile, but a smile of genuine enjoyment.

"You could say the same of Jaune." Pyrrha said with her own smile as she saw the smile on Jaune's face.

"Well you got plenty of guts!" Zack said as Jaune managed to land a small blow on his arm.

"Thanks!" Jaune said. Despite his disadvantage against Zack, he was having a lot of fun.

Seeing an opportunity Jaune took a risk and blocked one of Zack's swings with his shield, causing his knees to buckle slightly.

'Wait why did he-Ugh!' Zack thought as he felt Jaune slash his side, causing him to hop backwards.

"... Nice move." Zack said, complimenting Jaune.

"Thanks!" Jaune said as he shook off the feeling of soreness from his shield arm.

Blocking that sword was not fun!

'Time to kick it up a notch!' Zack thought as he charged towards the blonde and forced him to dodge his swings.

'Oh crap baskets, he's going faster!' Jaune thought as kept dodging with no time in between Zack's swings to do anything else.

"Hey Jaune!" Zack said as he thought of doing something his own mentor did to him once.

"What?!" Jaune said as he blocked a strike unaware of what Zack was planning.

"DOOODDGGEE!" Zack yelled as he swung his sword horizontally.

'OH MY OUM!' Jaune thought as he bended backwards, the blade slicing a stray lock of hair.

"Oh my..." Pyrrha said as Jaune stood straight. 'I never knew he was that flexible!'

"-would've kicked his ass for that..." Yang muttered as she touched her own golden locks.

"What the hell was that man!" Jaune yelled once he regained his bearings.

"It's what my mentor did before!" Zack said, shrugging his shoulders. "Hey I bet you didn't even know you were that flexible!"

"How does- well actually I'm quite surprised about that myself now that I think about it..." Jaune muttered thoughtfully.

"See! Aren't you- Ow!" Zack yelled as Jaune took advantage of him being distracted and slashed him a few times before hopping back. "What a cheap shot!"

"Sorry about that!" Jaune said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Humph! Fine!" Zack said as he engaged Jaune in battle once more.

After a few more minutes Zack began to slightly glow.

'Alright! Chain Slash!' He thought as forced Jaune to block his sword.

'Wh-' Jaune began but was interrupted by Zack.

"Go go go!" Zack yelled as he slashed Jaune five times.

"Gah!" Jaune yelled as he was knocked to the floor.

As Jaune closed his eyes to brace for the next attack, but it never came.

(End, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII OST: The Summoned)

"Hey bud, your low on aura." Zack said, causing Jaune to open his eyes.

Indeed, his aura was in the red, signifying the end of the match.

"Oh man..." Jaune muttered as he turned his towards Zack, to see him with his hand extended.

"Come on buddy." The older man said.

"Thanks..." Jaune muttered as he accepted the hand up.

"You know, you've got a ways to go." Zack began, causing Jaune to perk up, "But just keep at it. Embrace your dreams and keep going. I know you can do it." He finished with a smile.

"... I will." Jaune said, thankful for the words.

"Go on." Zack said cocking his head to the side "Your friends are waiting."

"Yeah..." Jaune said as he started to walk away before stopping and turning around "Think we fight again?"

"Sure! I'm always here." Zack said as he disappeared in the usual data blocks.

Once Jaune got back to his friends he was congratulated for his effort, though he was a bit embarrassed when Yang, Nora, and Coco said that he totally had a 'Man Crush' on Zack.

"Whatever!" He said, turning around and pouting a bit. Regaining his composure he turned around and asked "So who's next?"

(A/N: And done! I hope you guys enjoyed that! Also… I saw the new episode of RWBY today! It was so awesome! (Plus I totally ship QrowxWinter!) Anyway… Remember to vote for who you want to see next!)

Sneak Peak

"Do you think that you can defeat me?!"

"I will show you that any hope you have of beating me is nothing… but an Illusion!"