Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Volume I

To Live and Learn

Editorial Note:

It has been years since the Fall of Salem, when Remnant experienced a golden age of peace. Crime rates and Grimm activity were at their lowest, and civilization was able to thrive with less fear than ever before. This was largely due to the efforts of brave heroes who fought to restore peace among the kingdoms in a world that was often torn apart by war, division, hatred, chaos, and extreme violence. One of these individuals stood out more than most others.

Commissar Sir Jaune Felix Arc, The Hero of Remnant. The 8th child and only son of Caiaphas and Amberlynn Arc. A once simple boy from a lineage of heroes, who not only was able to live up to his ancestor's legacy but became one of the greatest in history. His exploits are famously detailed in his published memoirs: "The Bane of Chaos: A Tale of A Knight and a Commissar" which was co-written by his eldest sister, Bleu Saphrona Arc. While I can confirm that the stories about him are indeed true since I was able to witness most of them myself, they were usually embroidered and were more often than not presented inaccurately.

Not that they are further from the truth, however, as he is genuinely one of the most exceptional Huntsmen to date; having been able to prevail against every threat known to man, whether it be Grimm, bandits, criminals, terrorists, zealots, and even unspeakable eldritch beings. Remnant would have suffered greatly without his vital contributions. But unbeknownst to most people, he is also his own worst critic, as he always was. Everyone was able to acknowledge his accomplishments, save for himself, dismissing them as nothing more than a result of luck, coincidence, instinct, or mistakes on the part of his opponents. He frequently highlights his own shortcomings, believing himself to be a cowardly, manipulative fraud who is primarily motivated by self-interest. Admitttedly, I once held this belief myself, due to my own arrogance and pride during my younger years, but I eventually came to understand him better and was shocked to learn of his insecurities and alleged ulterior motives.

However, it is clear to me that he was simply too humble for his own good. Contrary to his own self-deprecatory beliefs he is the most compassionate and valiant person I have ever met and I testify this as someone who personally knows him longer than anyone save for his own family members. I have witnessed his compulsive apprehensions noticeably fade away over time as he willingly puts himself before others in life-threatening situations which he could have easily withdrawn from. Thus, putting me to the conclusion that his claims and excuses to downplay or even deny his efforts was simply a result of his long-lasting lack of self-esteem. Therefore, accounts of his heroism remain veracious, and that is to say nothing of the fact that the acknowledgments of his own imperfections have made him one of the most sincere heroes worthy of the title. It is said that courage is not the absence of fear but the triumph over it,  but the triumph over it, and there is no one I know who embodies this more than Jaune Arc.

Before his recent disappearance at the time of this writing, he entrusted me with a series of journals that he has been writing for almost his entire life. Unlike his published memoirs which embrace the public's embellishments of his own exploits, these are written in a relatively candid manner and present the events closer to how they actually transpired, barring some missing information and his rather sardonic descriptions based on his personal opinions. I've taken the initiative to edit them and create a compilation of these accounts in his honor and for me to reminisce as well as so readers may gain insight into Jaune's peculiar take on heroism and experience these events from a whole new perspective. I shall henceforth name it "The Jaune Archive". (Please note that I am aware of the wordplay in the title and I want to clarify that it was completely unintentional on my part, but it is fitting nonetheless.)

While the contents are detailed enough for themselves, keep in mind that these accounts were written from Jaune's own viewpoints. As such, he has a tendency to leave omissions and discrepancies while describing events with his own personal biases, occasionally even outright lying about them. So I highly recommend you to take his own writing with an open mind, especially during his attempts to describe himself. Fortunately, I took the liberty to add annotations of my own as well as occasional excerpts from various sources to provide clarity, context, and better coherence to Jaune's self-centered narrative for the reader's convenience. That aside, I shall allow him to tell his story in his own words.

Before we begin, I would like to give a cautious reminder to the readers; due to the amount of sensitive information included in these accounts that remain confidential as well as to ensure public stability and Jaune's reputation as an inspiration for Huntsmen, these documents are classified for the time being and are only to be read by select individuals. Any violation is punishable by international law.

The first part of this archive covers a trilogy of journals detailing Jaune's life in Beacon Academy, the inception of his career as a Huntsman, as well as the friends and enemies he made along the way. And as a matter of course, we shall begin with the first one, chronicling his first semester in the academy.

Weiss Schnee

Chief Executive Officer, Schnee Dust Company®

PROLOGUE

"Blessed art the cowardly, for they know the perils of the world. Whereas the brave would foolishly storm toward it."

-The Book of Light, verse 276

Every time I look back on my childhood, it's almost impossible not to have the urge to strangle my younger self for all the stupid things I did. One particular memory that I strongly regret was when I was stargazing with my family and saw a shooting star. They told me that if you make a wish when one passes, it might wind up eventually coming true. Being the naïve child I was, I wished to become a hero like my parents. Not an unusual wish, I know, but my family came from a long line of renowned heroes with almost everyone in it having some sort of Huntsman-level skill so it was only natural for me to have that as a wish.

That was before I grew older and wised up so I took back what I wished for. I realized that being a hero wasn't as glamorous as the stories like to paint it as. It's just a polite term for people who just happen to be lucky enough to look good in life-threatening circumstances and were rewarded for it, even more so if they still have all of their limbs attached to them. Otherwise, they'd be remembered as fools caught up by their own bravado who would eventually be forgotten. Even then, the title of a hero is liable to get you killed in your next adventure if you aren't smart enough to retire and choose to live a relatively modest life as my parents did. They still do minor missions as Huntsmen every now and then, but they take the ones that don't guarantee their children getting orphaned.

You won't be making much of a difference anyway, we're stuck in a never-ending war with Grimm, which already outnumber us ten-to-one, and they still keep growing every second. These are creatures that are attracted to negative energy that people had to sleep with guns under their pillows in case Grimm finds them for simply having nightmares. And they're not the only ones you have to worry about; there are also bandits and terrorists, who are arguably worse since unlike the Grimm, they don't have the courtesy of being mindless beasts. It wouldn't be so bad if the kingdoms weren't so above their heads that they're still at each other's throats ever since the Empire fell. The world just wasn't worth saving; at best, we'll only be able to delay the inevitable.

Therefore, I decided that a hero's life was not for me and chose to stay with my boring yet safe life at home as another lazy teenager. Just fool around, procrastinate, play video games, read comic books, maybe help with the farm whenever I feel like it, and not waste my lifespan by trying to be something I am not and will never be. Most people didn't even know that Caiaphas Arc had a son anyway and my status of obscurity didn't bother me that much; it kept me away from trouble so there was no real reason for me to complain about it.

That didn't stop Dad from training me and unlocking my aura though, since it was mandatory for Arc family members to be trained and have their aura unlocked, regardless if you're pursuing to become a Huntsman or not because Remnant is a dangerous place and mommy and daddy won't always be there for you. Half of my sisters who didn't pursue a Huntsman career, Viola, Verte, Blanche, and Noire still had their auras unlocked.

I mostly accepted it out of necessity, besides I can at least understand where he was coming from. It's a pain to look after eight children while living in a countryside that is riddled with gators and sometimes Grimm. And honestly, I had no issue with getting my aura, I'm aware that it's the manifestation of the soul something which the Grimm are attracted to, thus making you more of a magnet to them. But they would still want you dead regardless and if something wants to kill me, then I might as well last longer with an invisible force field covering my physical body.

While I was at it, I attended four years in one of the more prestigious military academies in Atlas (that wasn't Atlas Academy at least). I recalled that this was the same academy my father used to attend. There, I shared classes with other aura-users, separated from "normal" classes for students that didn't have any aura. I wasn't actually that much against attending there mainly because I treated it as a normal boarding school with combat courses and extra drills. I didn't necessarily have to become a Huntsman and/or join the military when I was done with it anyway. It did help me develop combat and leadership skills, and how to use more of my aura, which are things that I needed to survive in this world.

As for Dad's training—I've managed to do well enough to survive against Grimm on my own. Perhaps I was too good because training became increasingly challenging with Dad holding back less and less. I managed to beat him several times, enough to make him believe that I was Huntsman material, even though I never believe that I fought like a Huntsman since I mostly just fought like a normal person who only used my physical enhancements made possible by aura when they are absolutely necessary, which isn't exactly strange since Dad used to fight like that too. [1] After all, there is no point in showing off when you're barely making a scratch on your opponent. He told me to keep it up and that my childhood wish would indeed come true someday. I assured myself that he was simply making a figure-of-speech and all that wish nonsense with the shooting star was just a silly superstition and I shouldn't worry about it becoming true anytime soon.

And to my horror, it kind of did.

It all started when the local CCT was put under maintenance following a storm, so there wasn't a way for me to access holonet at the moment. I would have stayed at home and re-read the X-Ray & Vav comics from the beginning to the latest issue, only to find out that Rouge raided my collection and hid the first issue somewhere in the house as a joke. Since I didn't feel like looking through the entire house for it, [2] I decided to run some errands for Dad in the nearby town of Podunk instead. I had no reason to worry then. Podunk was a small boring idyllic town where nothing interesting ever happens even when it it's situated near a swamp. The Grimm don't even bother attacking the place because of how little negativity its denizens are experiencing, which almost makes the existence of its wooden walls almost pointless that no one seemed particularly worried when it was struck down by lightning the night before that.

Little did everyone, including myself knew that it wouldn't be a typical day for long.

When I went to the bank to withdraw some money, a man in a mariachi outfit and a decorated skull mask with four other masked men suddenly came out of the blue and declared a robbery. The local authorities weren't able to do anything because they were bound and gagged at their own station, and even if they weren't, they wouldn't have been much help since they were not prepared to handle a crime like this and they are used to peace to the point that they get paid for literally doing nothing. Since the CCT was inconveniently down, no one could call for help.

Instead of staying there and putting my head down until it was all over, I decided to knock out the robber that was taking me hostage and then ran away. I wasn't exactly keen on leaving the town to their fate but I doubt that there was anything else I could do apart from getting out of there. Regardless of what was I thinking at that time, what followed were a series of events that somehow led me into bringing an Ursa Major to town by accident, having it kill three out of the four bandits including its leader, and being forced to get rid of the Ursa Major myself with nothing but a dull iron sword I only use for training because there was no one else kill the thing and I had no other choice.

Next thing I know, the town regarded me as a hero who simultaneously foiled a bandit and Grimm attack even though I was the one who put the town in greater danger by inadvertently luring an Ursa because I turned back after running straight toward it, and that's not even mentioning that I only intended to save myself first and foremost. If I had known that they were about to raid Podunk, I would've stayed at home. But I knew that telling them that won't do any good, so I just nervously smiled, waved, and went with the flow.

Becoming a hero was just a stupid childhood dream when I wanted to be like my parents and the comic book heroes I used to look up to. One of the reasons I gave up the dream is because I realized that I will never be worthy enough to become one. I never even cared about being selfless and altruistic, it was just the thrill and the adventures that used to get me interested in becoming a hero; saving lives and fighting evil were just excuses to make me feel good about myself while becoming famous and beloved in the process. Now I find myself getting those things and I can't help but feel bad about it.

I'm just glad the whole thing is over and that I'm still in one piece. Unfortunately, word about my 'heroics' went viral, and almost immediately after the CCT went back up, someone posted a video on the holonet of me fending off the bandit leader and killing the Ursa Major. It was made even worse when I found out the bandit I just defeated was one of Vacou's most wanted by the name of 'El Segador', so not only did I manage to save Podunk by beheading an Alpha-Class Grimm—but I also got an infamous bandit lord killed without knowing who he was. Why he was in the northern part of Eastern Sanus, raiding small villages with no significant value was beyond me. [3]

It didn't take long for the Headmaster of Beacon Academy: Ozpin, to take notice of my recent exploit. He was impressed enough to, recommend me to his school, and unfortunately my father was concurring with it. I later discovered that Ozpin had been interested in me even before the Podunk event. Dad used to be one of his pupils and kept in touch with him, and he must have mentioned how much I performed well in the military academy and how I bested him in mock-battles and that would be proof of how I was adequate for his academy. So even if I didn't go to Podunk and cross paths with an evil bear and an angry mariachi musician, he would have still dragged my ass into Beacon. The recent incident was just the last nail in the coffin.

I wouldn't actually mind attending the stupid academy that much. I can take hours of boring lessons just fine, it helps that they are said to be more bearable than normal classes and that even includes combat training. After all, I was able to attend four years in a military academy so this wouldn't be too much of a different experience for me. The problem was that I have to participate in dangerous activities that contain live Grimm and other hostile wildlife that becomes more dangerous and challenging as the years go on, and I wasn't too interested in sharing classes and competing with bloodthirsty nutjobs. Even military school wasn't that extreme.

To make matters even worse, the name I've unintentionally made for myself since they would believe that I deserve a better challenge that would be considered worthy of my supposed stature. I could only hope that I get competent teammates that would do all the heavy lifting that I don't want to do without having to expose myself as a wimp who never actively fought Grimm outside of a few unfortunate events.

Sadly, I won't be able to convince my parents otherwise because Beacon was not like other schools, it was one of a kind—the most prestigious combat academy on Sanus, only the best of the best have the privilege to study there, which is why I didn't believe that I belong to that place. But Dad decided that I wasn't going to have my 'talents' wasted on me sitting around the house for my whole life and took the opportunity to accept the offer, effectively making one of my worst nightmares come true.

It didn't help that everyone in my family pressured me to go, trying to convince me that going to Beacon is going to change my life for the better or something. Dad was noticeably worried at first but he saw a lot of potential in me as a Huntsman and he doesn't want to see them get wasted on nothing. He begged me not to have his only son let him down. Dad was a good man, he was always there when I needed him and this was the only way I could repay him after everything he's done for me. I would have hated to see him upset. To cope with this I just told myself that I'll just have to attend four more years at another military school again, only this one was going to be a little more intense.

My dad bestowed upon me the Arc family sword—the Crocea Mors. A sword once held by my great-great-grandfather, Harry "The Flash" Arc, who fought during the Great War [4]. Passed down from generation to generation, it was a symbol of Arc Family honor. It witnessed many conflicts and slew countless amounts of men and beasts alike, yet it still looked like it was fresh from the forge. Mom also handed me her old, yet fully functional and effective shield—The Désir Ardent, it was once a simple steel heater shield with the crest of the Valleé family, now it's painted to have the Arc family crest and was modified to be transformable to a scabbard for the Crocea Mors.

I felt ashamed of carrying the weight of these valuable relics, I've never truly done anything that made me worthy of their possession. Was it because I was the only Arc child who bothered using a sword and shield and that my parents decided to give them to me so they wouldn't have to stay in one place and collect dust any longer? Whatever the reason was and regardless if I deserved them or not, they're mine now.

Before taking the airship to Vale, I gave my parents a hug and waved my sisters goodbye. After almost all my life, I was finally leaving my comfort zone. I am going to miss our time as a family together whether it's Dad's training, Mom's comfort, Bleu's lessons, Viola dressing me up, farming with Vert, shooting with Rose, helping Blanche and Noire with their music; heck, even suffering from Rouge's antics. While we would still keep in touch via video message, it just won't be the same.

As the airship lifted off. I gave one last wave to my family through the window as I watched one last Pucelle's landscape while I still could. This was a place I've called home for my whole life and I prayed to whatever gods that this won't be the last time I see it.

This was not the day I waited for.

=o=

1. Caiaphas Arc was known to be one of the most skilled living swordsmen on Sanus. The fact that Jaune managed to defeat him a few times in duel was impressive enough on its own, something which he rarely acknowledges likely because it contradicts his own belief that his fighting ability was only average at best.
2. The Arc family manor is rather huge, having two floors with 20 rooms. It's understandable why Jaune chose not to spend any effort to search for his comic books.
3. According to police reports, El Segador was supposed to meet for a face-to-face trade with members of the infamous Mistrali Yakuza, The Twin-Dragons Syndicate. He arrived far ahead of time, so he went on a crime spree, taking advantage of the state of the CCT. After his death and the apprehension of his surviving accomplices, the Yakuza ship he was supposed to visit was raided by the authorities and seized all of the assets inside it.
4. The Crocea Mors was originally the personal weapon of King Phadrig the VII prior to recompensing it to Harry Arc after the war and becoming an Arc family heirloom.

Chapter Text

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To Live and Learn

CHAPTER 1

"They say that victory comes from a small soul. If only those small souls have bigger brains."

-Gilbert Vermilion, Political Analyst

The trip to Beacon was not a comfortable one.

It wasn't because I was anxious that I was going to a school where teachers would try turning you into a killing machine through rigorous training and boring lectures, but it was because of an old enemy of mine—motion sickness. The first few hours weren't so bad. Dizziness aside, I thought that I would finally be able to get used to it, I have been riding these types of things several times now. Then I got a grim reminder that no matter how hard I try, air travel would still not get along with my weak stomach.

I've been struggling to hold my vomit for hours and the airship's lack of restrooms wasn't helping. Apparently, some moron on the airship manufacturing company thought it would be a hilarious idea not to add any lavatories despite long travel times and instead spend the rest of the budget on extra holo-screens. They didn't even bother to add any waste containers nor a single open window where I could just release it there and let an unlucky schmuck get hit by an indirect aerial assault. Thanks a lot, bastards; I hope you get sued for this one day.

"Hello and welcome to Beacon!" A female voice greeted via hologram. It was a sign that I was close to finishing that nightmare of a flight, which was a relief. I paid attention to the message, hoping that focusing on something else would slow down my nausea. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy!"

Which I never wanted in the first place. I felt bad for all the idealistic idiots who had the desire to get in here only for them to pick me instead. They would have made better Huntsmen than I would, even if they would last for only less than five seconds on the field before getting chomped on by a Beowolf because their overdesigned weapon ended up jamming before they could even use it. If I didn't care about trying to preserve my family's honor, I would have gladly traded this position with one of them and let the responsibilities of glorified pest control be their problem while I enjoy whatever boring empty lives they have.

The message continued. "Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

Yeah right, I scoffed. If your definition of courage means running around and getting a crime lord killed only because you forgot that you brought a Grimm into town, then I fit just right in.

The hologram faded and everyone went to the windows to check the view, meanwhile, I was back with my losing battle against motion sickness. I tried to restrain my vomit for a few more minutes before the airship would be able to reach Beacon's port. But alas, I came to the point where I couldn't hold it any longer, so I gave up and let some of it out before stopping. I swallowed it back and panted for air before holding it out again.

I saw that my pool of bile ended up hitting one of the brown shoes of an above-average looking blonde girl with long messy hair, who was being accompanied by a short girl with a red and black dress that looked popular for teenagers in a goth phase. Both of the girls were shrieking out of disgust and were withdrawing themselves from the puke. Knowing that they can kick my ass at a minute's notice over this and not because I think girls take their shoes seriously, I slinked towards the corner of the ship, not caring about the disgusted remarks being made by other attendees.

I'm going to file a complaint to the airship manufacturers after this.

A few minutes passed which felt like an eternity. The airship finally came to a halt and opened its doors. The first thing I did after exiting the ship was to quickly unload the rest of my vomit in the nearest garbage bin before getting up and panting for fresh air. I'm a son of a well-respected Huntsman who is also an Atlesian Commissar and a former military commander, and I have been said to be the one who saved a humble town from a ruthless bandit lord and an overgrown Ursa that even fully-trained Huntsmen struggle to defeat... and the first five seconds in Beacon has me throwing up in a trash bin. Not exactly the best way to start your school year as the Savior of Podunk or whatever they call me.

After finally departing from a lengthy battle with nausea, I took a moment to relax and headed to the courtyard to give my first impressions of the academy. I stopped in the middle of the tracks to appreciate the academy's structure. I heard people say how beautiful Beacon is and I've seen pictures of the academy itself but I was not prepared to be astounded by its beauty in the flesh. It truly did earn the moniker, 'The Shining Beacon' as it almost looked out of place being located next to the city of Vale, home of Vav [1]. The world's capital for bad teeth, manic sports fans, wrong-hand driving, random stabbings, endless raining, and the worst national dishes outside of tea.

Now I'm no expert when it comes to architecture but Beacon looked more like a palace than a school. If it didn't call itself an academy, you could easily trick someone into believing that royalty or an evil wizard or dragon lives there. Then again being one of the most prestigious academies in the world gives you the privileges of rubbing your glamour on the other schools' faces, or it's just another example of Vale clinging on to their romanticized past of chivalric knights, castles, princesses, and such. Now with that being said, the structure is quite remarkable, it almost makes me forget that this place would probably be the death of me.

My gaze was rudely interrupted when I heard what sounded like an explosion. I was only here for barely a couple of minutes and we're already having them. I turned around and saw the short goth-looking girl from earlier being yelled at by a familiar regal-looking girl almost entirely clad in white. The only thing I heard was when the first girl called the other a princess or something before another girl entered the scene. This one had long black hair and wore the most oversized bow I've ever seen on the top of her head. Gods, and I thought those only existed in silly cartoons. The girl in white angrily took something from her before leaving. [2]

"I promise I'll make it up to you!" the gothic girl in red cried out to her, who was probably pretending to not have heard her. She sighed and turned to the other girl, only to see her walking away as well. All alone, she sat down and fell to the ground.

I got to admit, that girl in black had a pretty nice hind. I found myself mesmerized by it while she was leaving before I snapped out of it and realized that the girl in red and black was still miserably lying on the campus floor. I felt a hint of pity toward her so I decided to go out and help her, it would give her a better impression of me than the guy who almost puked on her boots. Besides, if I were to survive four years here, I needed someone to watch my rear.

"Hey," I called out. She opened her eyes, revealing her silver irises, something which I had never seen before. "You okay?" I asked, offering my hand.

She smiled and took my hand and rose from the ground. "I'm fine. Just having a rough start."

"Happens to the best of us," I said with a friendly smile to gain her trust. After practicing that smile for a while now, it all felt natural to me. It's as if I'm talking to one of my own sisters.

She paused for a moment before recognizing who I was. "Wait, aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?"

Well, that could have been worse.

=o=

1. Refers to the second titular character of Jaune's comic series, X-Ray, and Vav, whose Valish heritage is a major part of the character.
2. It was just one of the dust vials that dropped after Ruby fell on my luggage. I had my servants take care of the rest.

We headed inside the academy's walls together. As we were walking, I tried to convince her how serious motion sickness was, how it's a more common problem than people think and why it's not my fault that air travel makes me nauseous.

"Look, I'm sorry. Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind. I didn't quite get your name," she excused.

Oh right, I thought. We haven't properly introduced ourselves to each other. With that out of the way, I gave out the cheesiest introduction I could think of: "Well, the name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it!" Okay, that was a little too cheesy than what I was aiming for but seeing her unconvinced face, it worked.

"Do they?"

They don't.

Instead of answering, I gave out a shrug. It's not like I'm going to convince her that ladies always fall for guys because of their cheesy pick-up lines. Mom said that women don't work that way.

"Names Ruby, Ruby Rose," she perkily introduced herself.

"That's a pretty name," I replied brightly. "I have a sister named Rose, you kind of remind me of her sometimes." Come to think of it, it's funny to see that having generations of parents name their kids after colors caused some kids to have the same name. I know at least four people named 'Amber', even my mom's name is a derivative of it to the point that some people call her that as a shortened nickname. [1]

Ruby smiled for a second but I noticed it turned upside-down. "Look, Jaune... I'm sorry for calling you 'Vomit Boy'. I guess I just was coping with the fact that my sister ditched me and that other girl yelled at me because I caused that explosion... might as well call me 'Crater Face', huh?"

I was rather confused on why she would call herself 'Crater Face' though because last time I checked—there weren't any craters below her I saw after the explosion. Now that I think of it, either my eyesight was failing me or the gods were too lazy to make one today.

Because of the awkward atmosphere, she decided to change the subject. "So… I got this thing." She pulled out her weapon, opening it out into a sniper rifle with a short scope. "This is my rifle. There are many like it but this one's mine," she presented proudly, cocking the charging handle before further expanding her weapon as it unfolds the curved blade beneath its barrel and then abruptly stabbed the ground, making me flinch slightly as I try not to think that she picked a farming tool that was meant to harvest crops of all the weapons to choose from. [2] "And it's also a scythe."

Of course, nowadays all the cool kids have a weapon that can turn into a gun, which ranges from plausible and practical (for example, Bleu's halberd rifle and admittedly El Segador's shotgun machetes.) to stupid and downright ridiculous that it begs you to ask what were they thinking when they were designing them and what gave them the idea that it would even work in combat. There was this one guy who had a laser yo-yo as a weapon, while his weapon didn't transform, it begged to ask what was he thinking when he designed that crap. Let's just say he became too crippled to become a huntsman. This is why I was never a big fan of these types of weapons, they'll only cause more problems than they would solve, and the more complex they are, the more prone they are to malfunctions and the more painful they are to maintain which is why I prefer simple and conventional weaponry that even a child could use.

I'm not sure what to think of a large mechanical scythe that could transform into a long-ranged weapon though, but considering she managed to get into Beacon, she probably made it work. Well, at least that's what I think, I really hope that silly thing doesn't end up becoming a liability.

I tried to sound as enthusiastic as I could. "Oh, that's cool!"

"So what do you got?"

I gulped for a moment since my weapons are pretty boring compared to others, then again I wasn't planning to impress anyone. "Well, I got this sword," I unsheathe the Crocea Mors and gave it a twirl. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age, as some may call it, but that's about it.

"Ooooohh!" She seemed impressed for whatever reason despite my weapon being arguably the dullest armament in an academy full of crazy hardware that I might as well bring a rusted shovel as my weapon and she would probably have the same reaction.

"And I got this shield" I took out the Désir Ardent and raised it to its shield form. Basically the closest thing I got to a transformable thingamajig.

"So, what do they do?" She asked, curious to see if they were just more than meets the eye.

"Well—the sword… kills things." I know it's blatant it really was the only answer I could think of. "And the shield gets smaller when I'm not using it," I said while demonstrating it and putting it back on my belt. "And before you ask, yes it still weighs the same." I have pretty much gotten accustomed to its weight since I used to carry shields that were just as heavy.

While it's nothing much to be proud of, I was happy with my choice of weapons. The simplicity of the sword makes it very useful, effective and easy to maintain. They're also still pretty common even if only a few people use them today, so if you lose your sword, you can easily just replace it with another one. As for the shield, it plays a crucial part in defense, and as for someone who values his life, the shield is my most trusted friend on the field of battle.

"Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons," she giggled. "I guess I did go a little overboard when designing it."

"That's nice. I never crafted my own weapon." I didn't have much of a reason to. I haven't attended any combat schools which would have required me to craft one. Besides, why bother making your own weapon, when there are several well-made weapons for you to use?

"Oh? So where'd you get it?"

"It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight during the war."

"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me!" she chuckled. "Well, I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."

"Yeah... the classics," I muttered, putting my sword back to my sheathe. Not much of a classic as throwing a bucket of water under you before you land though. [3]

"So why'd you help me out back there? In the courtyard?" she asked as we continued to walk.

I thought for a reason before coming up with one. "Eh, why not? My mom always says, 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.'" I lied. Mom actually told me to never trust strangers, especially the suspicious-looking ones.

"Hmm..." Ruby hummed. "Hey, where are we going?"

I didn't realize we were wandering around blindly until she brought that up. "Oh, I don't know. I was following you."

They didn't exactly give me a map or anything, they just told me to get to the auditorium once I arrived. We found ourselves lost inside. There wasn't a directory or some recognizable landmark we could as a reference.

I looked around for a clue and in a distance, I saw a tall, athletic, redheaded beauty who caught my attention. I squinted my eyes and leaned my head closer to take a good look at her. She looked kind of familiar, I think I've seen her before from somewhere I have trouble recalling. She was curiously looking around before walking away.

"Uhh, Jaune?" Ruby waved her hand in front of my face. "Are you okay?"

I snapped out of my daze before pointing towards the tall redhead. "Let's follow her, I think she'll take us to the auditorium," I said, proceeding forward as the girl led the way while we remained discreet she wouldn't realize that she was being followed by two lost weirdos.

=o=

1. An unfortunate side effect of the colorful naming convention that remains a problem to this day, while common names were a thing before the Rainbow Revolution, the first batch were mostly named after basic colors, which provided almost no variety and caused bureaucratic problems and confusion around the world where it would be eventually dubbed as the 'Rainbow Crisis'. Ever since then, names referring to colors have become more diverse, sometimes loosely, but even then, some of them are still overused, especially with less creative parents.
2. Ignoring the fact that scythes have been proven to be effective melee weapons, and the existence of war scythes, which while different from regular scythes, still prove that they can be used as weapons.
3. A supposed method of preventing injury while falling from a significant height. Without aid from aura, this obviously doesn't work. Unfortunately, I am unable to find what made him say this and what makes it a 'classic', so this means we could only speculate for now.

The annoyingly familiar redhead led us to a large building before being pulled over by a group of people who seemed to recognize her. Judging by that, she either has a lot of friends or she's some sort of famous celebrity. Either way, she continued to enter the building while being followed by the said group.

"Well, this must be it." I declared. The two of us entered the hall and saw an entire audience of soon-to-be Grimm fodder, waiting for the ceremony to begin. Just by looking at everyone, I realized that I looked somewhat out of place. Everyone looked like they were dressed to kill with their over-the-top Grimm-killin' gear, meanwhile, my "Huntsman outfit" simply consisted of my everyday outdoor attire with some armor on. I could only hope that this didn't make me look like an easy target.

"Ruby! Over here!" called out the blonde from earlier whose shoes I vomited on. Her appearance was distinct enough that she stuck out like a sore thumb among a crowd that might as well be a bunch of faceless silhouettes. "I saved you a spot!"

"Oh, hey I gotta go. I'll see you after the ceremony!" Ruby then left for her blonde friend.

I was actually glad to have met her, that girl's optimism was able to brighten my day. I hope things go well in her choice of profession with that fancy sniper-scythe of her, and I mean it, really.

Looking around the auditorium, I was able to spot the redheaded girl I followed. Still curious about who she was, I wanted a closer look. So I moved forward, pardoning myself from the people until I was beside her.

She noticed me move toward her side, so I found it necessary to greet her before this could get any more awkward. "Umm... hi.

"Hello," she graciously greeted me back, though it sounded like she was trying to be polite.

I felt a little tense with this acquaintance for whatever reason. The only thing I could do was continue the small talk in order to keep my first impression from becoming worse. "Nervous?"

She made a single shrug, looking away for a second. "I guess you can say that."

"So, mind if I ask for your name?" I then asked. She looked at me again and I saw her emerald eyes widen, looking surprised by that question. That made me worry for a second, I thought that I might have said something that could have offended her.

"Pyrrha Nikos," she answered with a reassuring smile. "It's fine. There's no harm in asking."

That was able to ease my apprehensions, unfortunately, I still couldn't stop stuttering like a clueless idiot who never met a woman before. "Uhh... okay... thanks. Ja-Jaune Arc. Pleasure to meet you, Pyrrha." I offered my hand.

"Likewise," she accepted the gesture.

"Look, sorry if I bothered you. It's just... you looked familiar, and I just wanted to get that out of my system," I told her.

"Don't worry about it. In fact, it feels nice for someone not to recognize me for a change," she said, confirming that she was popular indeed which made me kind of glad that the same thing didn't happen to me, given that I have been recently famous for.

I checked to see how Ruby was doing and saw her being scolded by that girl in white again, making me wonder what's the problem with them and if it had something to do with the craterless explosion that happened minutes ago.

"…Like tall, blond, and scraggly over there." I heard her say to Ruby, apparently pointing her thumb back in my direction. I wasn't quite sure if she was talking about me, I mean I wasn't the only tall blond in the crowd. But I figured that any questions would have to wait because our opening ceremony was about to begin.

Enter The Great Powerful Ozpin[1] – the man responsible for trapping me here. Turns out, my little joke about an evil wizard living in Beacon wasn't far-fetched. Beside him was the woman from the hologram in the airship–Glynda Goodwitch, if I'm not mistaken. Not exactly bad-looking for a teacher but she's a little too old for my tastes and I prefer women that don't have any wrinkles on their faces.

He approached the microphone and spoke. "Ahem" Everyone in the room turned to him. "I shall keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people."

Heh, you wish, I thought, faintly scoffing at him as I stood in the crowd.

His speech then became a little more blunt, much to everyone's shock and confusion. "But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction..." he gave a subtle glare at me as if that remark was directed towards myself. Considering that Dad told me almost the same thing, that's probably the case. Nobody was able to notice this because they were too busy murmuring about what the hell he was talking about.

He looked back at the crowd and continued. "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far." The way he was speaking, it felt like a lecture for me disguised as an opening ceremony for the school, and I'm not sure if I should feel offended or not. "It is up to you to take the first step."

Ozpin turned back, leaving the stage as Miss Goodwitch stepped up. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You're dismissed," she announced before leaving as well.

Normally, I would still think of something witty, but I just stood there, trying to comprehend if Ozpin just called me out in front of the entire school.

I was able to stop spacing out before Pyrrha was able to see me in my bewildered state. "That was... strange." She was visibly just as perplexed as everyone else.

"You tell me," I replied, hiding the frightened tone in my voice. Wanting to move on, I decided to go check up on Ruby. "I got to go, it was nice knowing you, Pyrrha."

"It was nice to meet you too," she nodded gladly. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

"That'll be great," I said before finally moving on. I walked toward where Ruby was standing, interjecting between whatever ongoing conversation she had with that other girl that I swore I'd seen and heard before but I couldn't seem to put my finger on it. "Hey Ruby, is there something wrong?"

I turned my head to the girl in white to finally get a good look at her, I once again found myself in a gaze. She was actually quite beautiful up close. Her silver hair was nicely complemented with a side ponytail that was pinned with something that resembles a tiara. She had light blue eyes with a scar on the left that made her look no less graceful. Her body was a little petite, right down to having a modest chest, but I can't help but think that it adds to her angelic appearance. I never believed in love at first sight, dismissing them as ludicrous nonsense popularized by mediocre romance novels... until now.

...Then I took it all back after she opened her mouth.

"Yes, there is something wrong!" she answered before Ruby could say anything. "Your idiot of a girlfriend almost got us killed!"

I slightly flinched. There goes my plan to ask out this pretty if irritable white-haired chick. She may look like an angel but from what I've seen so far, she acts far from it. "Whoa, okay first off, I am not her boyfriend, and second... who are you?"

In contrast to Pyrrha, she did not take kindly to my lack of recognition. "Have you been living under a rock?!" She yelled before toning her voice down to a prouder manner. "I am Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company."

Cool, and I'm the vice-mayor of Who-gives-a-crapville. I'm familiar with the Schnee Dust Company, or the SDC, for short. It's that Atlesian company that has its name everywhere from tall, glamorous buildings with bright lights that basically say 'We're a big deal'; to cheap, disposable plastic bags you see littered on the streets. I just couldn't bother to know what's beyond their company name and products. I rarely use dust myself in a practical sense.

It then hit me that this was the same girl whose concert I attended during a field trip when I was in military academy. I didn't pay much attention to her as I only cared about receiving extra credit from the trip, but I did remember her having a beautiful voice when she sings. It's a shame that from what I've seen from her so far, her talent did not match her attitude.

"The name's Arc, Jaune Arc. A pleasure to meet you." Well, it was a pleasure for maybe like three seconds.

Her expression barely changed. "Now with that out of the way, would you kindly tell your friend to be more careful around dust?! I don't need her causing more property damage." [2]

"I'm sure she already apologized and promised not to repeat it again," I said, hoping there weren't any hard feelings despite her repulsive attitude, especially for someone with a pretty face like that. "And if that wasn't enough then I would also like to apologize on her behalf."

She groaned and decided to change the subject. "I noticed that you've made your acquaintance with Pyrrha Nikos..." she folded her arms. "Do you have no idea who she is as well?"

Oh no, I could see where this was going, I thought. "Well... she looked kind of familiar. No, I can't say I heard of her though."

Her eyes widened in a mixture of disbelief and befuddlement as if I said something that is absurd. "Excuse me? You really don't know who she is?!" I simply shook my head. In my defense, just because someone was famous, it doesn't mean I should make a big deal about it. "She graduated top of her class at Sanctum!"

"Never heard of it." There are a lot of academies with their own pretentious-sounding names that I couldn't bother to keep track of them all even if I were familiar with them.

"She's won the Mistral Region Tournaments four years in a row, a new record!"

"The what?" I know what Region Tournaments are, of course. They were just something I couldn't care less about.

"She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" [3]

"Wait, that was her?!" That one, however, got my utmost attention. I couldn't give a frack about who she was and what school she goes to, but her being The current mascot of the latest edition of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes made me feel like I was able to discover one of my life's greatest mysteries that I didn't know I wanted. It was no wonder why she looked familiar, ever since her face was slapped on every Marshmallow Flakes box, I've been trying to ask: 'Who is this chick and what is she doing on my cereal box?' before immediately moving on and just ate its contents. It didn't bug me again until now.

"So, after hearing all of this, do you really think she deserves your time?"

I was already aware that I was out of her league the moment I saw her fans surround her. I didn't have any plans to go through the trouble of arguing with some short-tempered pseudo-princess any further, so I just told her what she wanted to hear. "I guess not."

"Good. Speaking of which, why am I wasting my time with you imbeciles? Now if you'll excuse me, I shall take my leave." She said dismissively before walking away.

Sigh, it's one of those girls. I decided to annoy her one more time before she was able to make her exit. "Oh, and just for the record, I'm a natural blond."

"Whatever," she scoffed.

Well, aren't you a ray of sunshine, I chuckled to myself.

"You alright, Ruby?" I turned my head to her.

"I'm okay. We just set off on the wrong foot, I'm sure she'll be nicer soon! After all, strangers are just friends you haven't met yet!"

Oh Brothers, I was worried she'd take that advice to heart.

"Hey," Ruby's blonde companion called. "Thanks for sticking for my sister there—wait a minute, are you the guy who puked at my shoes?"

I'd say that made me tense up had it not been for the fact that I was more curious on how she called Ruby her sister. "Yeah, that was me. Sorry about that. Not a fan of long airship rides."

"You know what? Fuhgeddaboutit. You've been nice to my sister so I guess that matters more. She could use a friend these days. Just be careful where you throw up next time, alright, Vomit Boy?" She said. Judging by that nickname, I can tell that she is definitely not living that one down.

"I'll try not to," I said before properly introducing myself. "It's Jaune Arc, by the way." I did my best to maintain eye contact and not have my sights fall toward her 'distracting assets' that she shamelessly left open for everyone to see. Thankfully, living with seven sisters helped me prepare for this type of situation. She kind of looks like Rose, sans the twin ponytails and the country-girl accent, instead she had hair that looks like it was never cut once in her life. [4] Despite that, it didn't make her any less attractive. One upside I could mention was that this academy has a knack for attracting rather fine young women.

"Yang Xiao Long, nice to meet you," she shook my hand even though it wasn't necessary. Her grip was tighter than I expected it to be so much that I almost felt like my hand was going to squeeze.

"You said you two are sisters?" I curiously asked, she barely had any physical resemblance to Ruby and they don't even use the same surname for whatever reason.

"Well, we're half-sisters. We have the same dad but we were born from different mothers." Yang looked down as they both frowned. It didn't take a genius to know that there was something that happened that they would rather not talk about. With that, I could only give them my sympathies.

"I see. Sorry for asking, I get a little curious sometimes." I apologized.

"It's okay, I didn't want to leave you hanging." She reassured, cheering up as if we forgot what our previous conversation was all about.

"Hey, Jaune," Ruby called. "Thanks again for standing up to me there."

"Just helping out a friend," I said, smiling at her.

"Man—can you believe that Weiss girl? She's such a bi-...very irritating person." Yang hissed, apparently refraining herself from calling her with something more vulgar.

"She's rather cold, don't you think?" I chimed in with a grin, partly joking about how she was from Atlas and how the temperature seems to drop in her presence.

She laughed. "That's my line, Vomit Boy. Anyhow, it was really nice to meet you. We'll catch you later, right now we wanna tour the rest of Beacon."

"Be seeing you, Jaune!" Ruby said, waving away as she followed her older sister.

"You too, Ruby," I replied.

Would you look at that, I thought to myself. I was able to get along with the girls whom I thought would be the first students to beat me up because my bile ended up on them. Not bad at all.

I looked around to see if Pyrrha was still in the auditorium but she was nowhere to be found, making me guess that she had already moved on to somewhere else. There wasn't any reason for me to stay in there any longer so it was time for me to head out as well.

=o=

1. Ozpin's nickname, used by almost every member of the Arc Family since Sir Harry "The Flash" Arc. Jaune also has a few other nicknames toward anyone he found to be abhorrent to an extent.
2. Friendly reminder that The Schnee Dust Company® is still not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company® product.
3. Amusingly, Pyrrha actually disliked the cereal despite saying that she enjoyed posing for the box.
4. A correct assumption. Yang takes her hair very seriously. In fact, she unlocked her semblance at her first attempted haircut. Needless to say, Taiyang Xiao Long had to pay for the damages.

Chapter Text

ㅤㅤㅤ

To Live and Learn

CHAPTER 2

"Join the academy', they said. 'Meet new friends,' they said."

-A typical phrase among Huntsmen-in-training

I went to the ballroom where I would be staying until tomorrow. As I entered, it was only a room with a dark brown wooden floor and a few windows apart from students unpacking and unfolding their sleeping bags while others were just sitting down and chatting.

Thinking for a moment, I noticed that no one has recognized me as the Podunk guy yet, despite it being all over the news the other day. I did get a few glances, but they don't appear to be intrigued by my everyman appearance. Maybe they do recognize me, but they didn't see what I did as much of a feat—being capable of slaughtering Grimm is a minimum requirement here after all, so it's probably overshadowed by all the much more impressive stunts actual Huntsmen and Huntresses pull. Not that I'm complaining, I'd rather be known as 'Vomit Boy' than have someone remind me of my embarrassing fraud of a reputation.

Then an overexcited female voice suddenly blurted out, "Ren, look! It's Jaune Arc, the Defender of Podunk himself!"

Oh, for crying out loud, I thought.

Before I knew it, an orange-haired girl dashed toward me and repeatedly shook my hand with her tight grip. "Hi, my name is Nora. I'm a huge fan of your work. You were awesome! How often do you see someone defeat an Ursa Major and a bandit lord at the same time? Oh, you got to tell me your secrets." she babbled, still shaking my hand and speaking with such energy with a voice that was fairly high-pitched for someone who was around my age. I was trying to process what she all just said.

"Calm down, Nora, I think he's a little tired from his trip." A raven-haired boy said as he caught up with his friend, appearing far more laid back than her. He had a single pink stripe on his hair and he was wearing some jade-colored Animan-garb on top of white slacks.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Nora apologized, letting my hand go as she stepped back. "It's just a huge honor to finally meet you. This is Ren, well, Lie Ren, but everyone calls him Ren. Nobody calls him Lie, it sounds too much like 'Lie' as in 'lying'." [1] She giggled before slowing and toning her voice down as she turned her face to Ren. "No offense."

"None taken," he said without ever changing his tone and expression.

She turned back to me and began to babble loudly once again. "We've been together for soooo long, well not 'together-together', not saying he's handsome; he IS handsome, but that'd be just weird, right?"

"Umm... right." It was the only thing I could say at the moment, not knowing what to think anymore.

"Well, enough about us! Tell us about you! How did you save an entire town from an Ursa Major and that big meanie, El Segador?!" she asked with an eager grin.

I was worried I would have to answer questions from my apparent fans as if being interviewed by journalists and the Great & Powerful Ozpin weren't trouble enough. So I just went with the half-truth, Something which I could rely on if all else fails. "I don't know how I did it honestly, I just... did it."

She didn't appear to be disappointed at that answer at all. "Wooooow! So you're telling me that you are so amazing, you just simply defeated them like it was nothing? Awesome! Even Ren and I have a little trouble beating a few bandits and a single large Grimm. You on the other hand, just put them in their place like it's nobody's business! You are more hardcore than I thought."

That was obviously not what I meant, but with someone like this, what else could you do? "It's nothing, really, I was very lucky it went that way," I responded, still technically being honest to an extent as Señor Deadface would have killed me if it weren't for the Ursa I accidentally lured into town, otherwise, I would not be making this encounter, let alone write this very line at all.

Ren finally spoke again after letting Nora do most of the talking. "Still, you have to admit, it was impressive. The authorities have been after El Segador for years; not only did you stop a robbery, but you succeeded in where everyone failed. His clan hasn't been the same since his demise."

"Yeah, it kinda does," I replied, at least acknowledging how astonishing that I managed to even survive that day. It was becoming uncomfortable discussing a fiasco that I'm not wholly proud of so I had to drop it as soon as I could. "Listen I got to go, thanks for the support."

"Anytime!" Nora said.

That was a bizarre experience. I just realized that I have an adoring fan on the same campus, honestly, I didn't know how to feel about that. I do feel ashamed because she is praising me for something I only did because I didn't knew any better, but at the same time, she seemed so happy that I didn't want to disappoint her. To think these were only a couple of my fans, it was almost hard to imagine what the others would be like.

I chose not to think about it. I've met enough people with varying quirks and personalities who I will be stuck with for the next four years that I need a break and get my bearings. I doubt that they're going to be the last weirdos I'm ever going to get acquainted with within this gathering of aspiring killers in colorful outfits that would make a circus jealous.

=o=

1. Many people assume that Lie Ren's naming order is 'surname first, given name second' due to him hailing from Anima, where some parts follow that naming order. It's soon confirmed that this is not the case for him and that he is often addressed on a last-name basis, intentionally or not. Not that he minds at all.

If there's anything more embarrassing than my undeserved reputation, it's my choice for apparel for the night—A light blue adult-sized onesies, accompanied by bunny slippers of the same color. Anyone starting in elementary school would deem wearing these discomfiting which I barely felt until now because I never thought of wearing them outside the house.

But I've never been much to care about what people think about what I wear. After all, I've been aiming to balance my stature as a heroic savior with an image of an awkward everyman who is about as nerdy as your typical modern teenager when he is not saving the world and rescuing kittens from daemonic hounds made out of evil and darkness and such. Considering my interactions with the girls, it appears to have been working so far.

I know I could have just slept with jeans or with boxers on at least but wearing jeans in bed is rather uncomfortable and there's no way I'm showing my heart-patterned boxers in public if I am to make a fool out of myself anyway, I might as well get comfortable.

What I should be worried about instead of whatever stupid thing I wear, was the initiation. There was no doubt that I have to impress The Great & Powerful Ozpin by going through trials that he himself has set up. So I sat in the corner of the locker room and waited for it to clear off any potential eavesdroppers before calling the most intelligent trustworthy person I know who has previously attended Beacon. If there was time I could use advice from my older sisters then it was certainly now.

Bleu appeared on my scroll's screen, wearing her dark blue nightgown. I haven't seen her much in person since she was too busy teaching at a Huntsman academy on Mantle which was enough to show that she's tougher than she looks when you remember that place is filled with everything wrong with urban cities that I couldn't imagine that it used to be a kingdom before the war ended. And she was greeting me with a bright smile no less. "Hello, Jaune! How's Beacon treating you?"

"Not as bad as I fear it to be, sis. I even made a few friends, it's tomorrow's initiation is what I'm worried about." I told her, straightforward from there.

She seemed to be more focused on a familiar sight. "Are you seriously wearing those in public?"

"Do you want me to show them my other 'pajamas' if you could even call them that?" I snidely replied. With what little I had to say, she already knew what I was talking about.

She audibly sighed. "Fair point, but you really need to buy some new pajamas. Viola was starting to wish she didn't design them like that. Seriously, you don't have a reason to be lazy this time."

Well, I planned to. I always had the feeling that Viola only made these so that everyone at the house could stop cringing every time they look at me at night and made them cozy enough to keep me from wearing my old PJs, knowing that I wouldn't care what I look like so as I was at least relatively bearable to look at while getting a chuckle out of it. I admit it's partly my fault for not telling Viola to make me less embarrassing sleepwear, then again I got too comfortable with the onesies that I forgot to ask. "Don't worry, I'll work it out. Anyway, can you give me some details about the initiation tomorrow?"

She raised her brow. "You want me to spoil the initiation for you? Doesn't that ruin the excitement?"

I scoffed at that remark. "The only thing that would be exciting about it is when it ends."

"And why would I do that?" She chuckled. "Even if I tell you, The Great & Powerful Ozpin might have made changes to the initiation after these years." She had a point, I must admit. Since she was in her early thirties, it has been a decade since she had her initiation.

"I'd say it would still be worth it, every little bit might help even if it's outdated. You wouldn't want your only brother to die a shameful death on the initiation, would you?" I told her. I was able to bully her into doing what I wanted several times before and I'll do it again, and I wasn't going anywhere until I got it, and she wasn't very good at resisting it.

She rolled her eyes. "Jaune, you're not getting killed—I've seen what you can do, you'll be fine."

"I almost died to an Ursa and a group of bandits!" I yelled while keeping the volume low enough to make sure no one could hear me even if the locker room was empty.

"...And you didn't." she retorted. "Seriously, do you think that father trained you all for nothing?!"

That widened my eyes a bit. It was then clear that self-deprecation won't get me anywhere other than further arguing, so I had to give her another reason before I had to deal with another pooh-pooh talk about my exaggerated accomplishments. "I just wanted to be prepared this time. All I just need is a little heads-up, that's all."

She sighed again. "Knowing you, even if I refused, you would still stubbornly hold out for me, would you?" She looked like she gave up on trying to make me think otherwise, which was good news for me. "Fine, at the very least, you'll learn something from this."

It appears that I finally got to her again. Some things just never change; being an annoying little sibling has its perks. She took a deep breath before explaining. "The initiation will take place at the Emerald Forest. You will be launched into the air and you will have to land with your own landing strategy. You still have one right?"

I remember during Dad's training, I would sometimes be thrown off a cliff without a parachute just so I could work on my landing strategy. If it wasn't for my huge aura reserves I would have died or at least been very severely injured on my first few attempts. [1] This was one of the things I was rightfully worried about and I wanted to be prepared as much as possible this time. "Just like we practiced at home." I nodded.

That caught her smile. "Good. Now about the Grimm, you have not much to worry about. Usually, the forest is just full of Beowolves, some Ursa and if you're very unlucky, a King Taijitu. It's nothing you can't handle. Besides, as I taught you back at home, King Taijitus aren't that bad if you aim for their heads." [2]

I gulped at the latter. Even if they are not as tough as they appear to be, their appearance alone was enough to give me a series of nightmares. I already hate snakes like most people with a functioning brain do, and those things being two-headed giant snakes made them even more terrifying. It didn't help that Rouge kept trying to scare me with them every time we visited the swamps at Pucelle. Now I was regretting not bringing a ranged weapon so I didn't have to deal with them up close. "I hope you're right about this."

"Oh Jaune, as bitter as ever... You're not being rude to your new friends are you?"

"Of course not. I am a lot of things, Bleu, but being a straight-up jerk isn't one of them." Well, I at least tried not to be one.

"Good, because you'll be paired with the first person you make eye contact with, they'll be your partner for the next four years; if you want to get through Beacon, you will need to trust one another." [3]

I thought of Ruby and Pyrrha for a second. So far those two are the most ideal candidates for being my companion during our first exercise that probably wouldn't have a shortage of uncertainties. Yang wouldn't be bad either, but gods help me if I ended up being paired with Weiss 'Cold as Ice, Not Very Nice' Schnee. "Anything else?" I asked.

"Your objective is to retrieve a relic, your team will be formed depending on the relic you took." She took a deep breath. "I've said enough. Take it with a grain of salt though, it's been a while and some of these might now apply anymore. Most importantly, keep this between us, okay?"

"Don't worry. I will." I replied before giving her a smile that would remind her of her little brother during his better days. "Thanks a lot, Bleu."

"You're most welcome—and Jaune, please don't push yourself too hard," she said before ending the call. I got to give it to Bleu, she had yet to let me down, even if I dozed off at some of her lessons. She's always known to be the reliable one, practically carrying us Arc children. I wouldn't know what to do without her.

I exited the locker room and made my way to my futon. I reminded myself of my questionable apparel and saw that Yang was appreciating some shirtless boys in front of her, making me grin as I thought of something evil and dastardly. I simply walked through her line of sight as if it was no one's business, effectively spoiling her eye candy. Her smile quickly turned into a cringe as I grinned at my own mischief while arriving at my futon.

All I needed was a little bit of fun. It was one way to cope with being in a school to become a killing machine in a world that hates your guts. The people I met here are surprisingly friendly and decent, aside from a certain snotty corporate brat. Not to mention, the girls were beautiful too, I wouldn't mind spending four years with them. The problem was that I don't think I should be too attached to these people, in case something goes terribly wrong, and this being a school for Huntsmen and Huntresses and all. We still had to go through hazardous terrors to see if we were good enough and the initiation tomorrow will only be the beginning.

Perhaps I was thinking this a little too much, they did manage to get themselves into this prestigious academy, after all, it's myself that troubles me—I'm nothing like them, I'm only here because of sheer chance and stupidity. I'm worried that I'm going to slow them down because of my cowardice and unwillingness to become a Huntsman like them. The fact that I was trying to make them believe that I was some lovable idiot to get them to be protective of me didn't help.

Why not convince Ozpin to drop me off, or maybe get myself expelled if I'm daring enough? I didn't want to be here after all. Yeah well, the problem is, Dad would not only be disappointed in me, but it would also leave my family name an ugly reputation. Staying out of the radar was the only thing and we all know how that turned out. Rouge, for all her flaws, at least managed to graduate to Beacon, even if she did eventually lose her Huntress license, she wasn't pursuing to be a Huntress anyway since she only attended to stay out of trouble for a little while.

Although even if Rouge was not the worst person I've met, I wasn't going to stoop lower than her and dishonor my family, so I've decided to get through Beacon while making sure my hide is safe and avoid being too impressive that teachers get the wrong idea and send me into dangerous missions because of it. I thought about trying to find a way for me to leave this school early without risking my reputation so I didn't have to stay longer than I should and so that I'll be able to go home and return to my peaceful, boring life.

I sighed and took a deep breath. Only time will tell how well my life in Beacon will go. I was still barely twenty-four hours in the academy and I needed to get some sleep. There was a long road ahead and I needed to give some time to myself while I still could.

I took one last look at the shattered moon before falling into a slumber...

And then it was rudely interrupted by loud sounds of female squabbling.

"What in the world is going on over here?!" I heard a certain Ice-Queen yell. "Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?"

"Oh, not you again!" she then exclaimed in unison with Yang, without any regard for everyone trying to sleep in the room despite the former's scolding.

I groaned. It's going to be a long year, I thought.

=o=

1. The Arcs are well-known for their large aura reserves, making them very durable fighters.
2. King Taijitus are infamous for their huge and menacing appearance, however, their fragile heads made them less threatening to any experienced Huntsmen. This is due to being one of the few Grimm specimens not to bear a mask on its face.
3. Contrary to popular belief, partnerships are considered null after the initiation, and students are often encouraged to treat all of their teammates equally. This has not stopped many students, and even some staff members from various academies, from believing that partnerships during initiation still have some relevance during the duration of their school year(s), with some minor academies even implementing it as part of their official system.

Chapter Text

To Live and Learn

CHAPTER 3

"Children often make poor soldiers, but they make very great shields."

-Anonymous Vacuan Huntsman

One of the many things I didn't miss from my years at the military academy was waking up early before seven o'clock every weekday. It didn't help that I had some trouble sleeping last night because I was too anxious over what to expect the following day but at least the dangerous environment would be enough to keep me wide awake.

I remember when I was in elementary, I had to wake up at seven-thirty every morning, two hours and a half before school. After I finally graduating both elementary and military school, I was free to wake up any time before noon. Even then, there were some days when I had to rise early as part of Dad's physical exercises, and because my sisters occasionally pranked me during that time of the day. The difference is that they only happen from time to time, here you have to be awake just in time before class for five days straight every week.

I grumbled as I took my scroll under the pillow to turn off the alarm before looking around the ballroom to see what everyone was up to. Some of them were still asleep while others had woken up, two of them, in particular, would be a fan of mine and her stoic friend.

"It's morning! It's morning! It's morning!" Nora sang, dancing around Ren.

I rose from my futon and headed to the locker room. I wasn't able to notice how much of a confusing mess the locker arrangements were until then. It was too dark to notice them during the previous night and I was more concerned about contacting my sister to be aware of it. This was much worse if you assigned yourself with a relatively higher locker number; in my case locker 636, and I felt like I was navigating through a maze. Eventually, I managed to find my locker and had the place marked on my scroll map so I don't have to get lost trying to look for it anymore.

I took a shower and then changed to my usual jeans and hoodie, which has the print of Pumpkin Pete exposed because I was not wearing my breastplate to cover it. While childish, it wasn't as cringe-worthy as my pajamas. I left my armor in the locker because I didn't need it until I was done taking breakfast so I could prepare for the initiation. There was no use for it at the moment and I'd hate to be that guy who wears his armor 24/7 in a non-combat area just to show off. [1]

I've always been fond of Pumpkin Pete for whatever reason. I've been attached to him ever since I was an infant, even going as far as to cheese a limited-time offer by dumping fifty boxes worth of Marshmallow Flakes into plastic containers just so I could submit the box tops and win the hoodie I was wearing. I also remember getting a stuffed toy of him on my sixth birthday and then seeing Rouge crucify him a few days after. It didn't do much damage though, even if he now had holes on his paws, it wasn't anything Viola could fix. At least she didn't burn the cross while he was on it, that would have been offensively annoying.

The cafeteria was nice and clean. With long columns of tables, it somewhat resembles that of a stretched-out dining hall. Approaching the cook at the side of the cafeteria, I thought of something to eat only for a certain beverage to be the only thing that came to my mind. "So… does this place have any tanna leaf tea?" [2] I asked. Tea is Vale's national drink, after all, they should be at least familiar with what it is despite its lack of fame.

"Tanna?" The lunch lady raised her brow in confusion. "What you're asking for is too niche, lad. We don't serve that junk here."

I'm not going to deny its rather subjective taste. I just figured that drinking it would help me stay awake because regardless of its taste, it's hard to stop drinking after taking a single sip. No wonder why Dad obsesses over these things and why I ended up sharing his taste for them. "Just curious," I said, a little disappointed that it's not available here. Looks like I'll just have to take a few months without taking a sip of some. I can live without it for a bit but the lack of tanna was not something I was happy about. "An egg sandwich and a cup of coffee would do."

She complied with my order and went to the kitchen. While waiting at the counter, I decided to look back for a moment and saw that Nora was still talking to Ren, even with a pancake hanging in her mouth. She slurped the rest of her food making her much easier to hear.

"Oohhhh! We should come up with some sort of plan, to make sure we end up on the same team together! What if we bribe the headmaster? No, that won't work, he has the school."

Apparently, someone's been spreading rumors about teams. But by the looks of it, they seem to only have the faintest idea of how they are formed, and I could only wish these two luck with whatever they plan on doing because I don't plan on spoiling it to anyone.

After I finished my meal, I headed back to the locker room and grabbed my gear, putting on my breast and shoulder plates and placing my scabbard on my belt. I took my sword and gave it a few spins before sheathing it.

As I was walking my way out of the locker room, I noticed Pyrrha and the infamous ice queen of dust and tantrums were having an exchange. It was almost impossible to pass them without hearing their conversation. "Well... I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together," Weiss proposed.

"Well, that sounds grand!" Pyrrha replied though it seems as if she only answered that to humor her. But I doubt she had a humble enough ego to even notice that, she probably uses it to compensate for her short height and small chest. [3]

"Great!"

Pyrrha greeted me as soon as she saw me passing through. "Hello again, Jaune!" Her hands were waving at me with Weiss scowling at my presence, unsurprisingly.

I stopped my tracks and returned the gesture. "Morning to you too, Pyrrha." Looking at her face for a moment, I was able to recall that she was also the woman on the fifty cereal boxes I sent to win my hoodie. I couldn't even believe it; a beautiful, talented woman like her would've been the last person to sell out to a brand of breakfast mostly aimed at kids.

Killing shadow thingies plaguing the entire world with stuff your parents warned you about while beating up other people in a fighting ring, brought to you by Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes!

Pyrrha then tried to introduce me to the person she was talking to, but I already knew who she was, unfortunately, if I might add. "Oh Jaune, I'd like you to meet—"

"Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company" I interjected, smirking at the white-haired ice-queen. "We have met before,"

She folded her arms. "Seriously? You again?"

Good to see you too, I thought with a smirk. It felt like my mere presence just ruined her day. Since it bothered her that much, I just ran with it.

"So, are you ready for the initiation?" Pyrrha asked.

"I'm looking forward to it," I said with false confidence. Even with the information I got from Bleu, I still wasn't certain about what I was about to drag myself into. I just couldn't shake the feeling of adrenaline pumping in my veins as my palms sweat no matter how much I prepare myself.

"That's good. So Jaune, is there anyone you plan to partner up with?"

"No, I don't think so. Play your cards right and maybe you'll end up with me," I smirked, giving her the impression that I knew what I was doing and that I had nothing to worry about.

"That would be great! Well, I think the teams are comprised of four students each, so—" Pyrrha said before getting interrupted by Weiss as she stepped forward in front of her.

"Hold on, I thought you acknowledged yesterday that you're not worth Pyrrha's time. I don't think you deserve to be on the same team as her either."

"Actually I'd think he'd make a great teammate," Pyrrha leaned from Weiss's side.

I couldn't help but agree with Weiss, however. I believed that I would just drag her down because my lack of willingness would probably ruin her record as an upstanding warrior. Despite this, I decided to respond with something that wouldn't cause too much stir nor would it make me sound too pathetic that it undermines my image. "Eh. We'll see, we'll see, the winner gets tea that's for sure," I shrugged.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss asked, looking puzzled before rolling her eyes. "Whatever. Come on, Pyrrha, they'll be waiting for us at the cliff," she said before leaving. I'll let her have it for now. The more they think they're above you the easier they are to manipulate, and right now, she sees me as nothing more than a blond idiot, and I'll keep it that way for the moment.

Pyrrha reluctantly followed her. "I'll see you at the initiation!" she said to me before catching up with Weiss's pace.

I took the time to appreciate their gorgeous rears as they walked toward the exit. If anyone told me sooner that Beacon would be chock-full of attractive Huntresses, I would have laughed at them for trying to lure me here, it would turn out that they were right. It seems that being in this academy does have a silver lining after all.

"Whatcha doing there, Lady-Killer?" Yang suddenly asked, popping out of nowhere with Ruby catching up behind her, much to my dismay.

"Gah! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

She looked at my line of sight and saw Weiss and Pyrrha leaving the room and gave a teasing grin. "Ooohhh! Been trying to win over the ice queen and the cereal girl, aren't you?"

Well, a part of that was true in a sense, I'll have to admit but judging by her tone, she was getting the wrong idea. "It's nothing like that. Really, we just talked about teams, that's all."

"Cool!" Ruby squealed in delight. "Want to be on our team? We're currently recruiting."

"That sounds great! Where do I sign up?" I said, pretending to have no clue about how the teams are formed. I didn't mind being in her team at all, provided she would make an effective companion. A girl that looks about as young as her wasn't accepted to Beacon without a good reason. [4]

"Awesome! We are going to be the best team ever!" Ruby chirped before we heard Ms. Goodwitch's voice on the P.A.

"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

This is where the fun begins, I thought, taking a deep breath. "Come on, let's go," I told the sisters as we headed to the Beacon Cliff. I was satisfied with the amicable acquaintances I made, now the only thing I hoped was that they would be useful pawns and meatshields that would significantly increase my chances of survival.

=o=

1. Actually, it's a common practice for knights and warriors to wear their armor for long periods, which occasionally lasts for days. This helps them get accustomed to their weight and heat while exercising their mobility when wearing it.
2. A tea made from leaves of plants native to the ice caverns on Morosco. It's rather obscure and unpopular outside its homeland, even in other parts of Solitas.
3. I never understood people's obsessive appeal for female breasts. They're mostly just mere body fat if you think deeply about it.
4. An average age of a freshman attending Beacon is around 17 years old. Ruby was only 15 at the time but she was able to impress Ozpin enough and invited her to the academy as a prodigy.

When we arrived at the cliff, we saw Miss Goodwitch and several other students waiting for the initiation to start. We were told to stand on individual metal plates which have the emblem of Vale on them and I correctly assumed that these would be the ones catapulting us into the forest. Shortly after, The Great Powerful Ozpin arrived with a mug of coffee[1] in his hand.

"Is everyone present?" he walked in front of us, looking around to see if anyone was missing. "Good, let us begin." He took a sip of his coffee before giving a speech. "For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Miss Goodwitch stepped in. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'." With that, everyone stopped at whatever they were doing and paid extra attention. "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion—each of you will be given teammates... today."

"What?! Oh." Ruby cried, sounding about as shocked as most of the students there. Meanwhile, I just kept a straight face, knowing this already.

Ozpin spoke again. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"Whaaaat?!" Ruby howled with a shocked expression as if her whole world broke around her.

"See? I told you!" A voice called out which was unmistakably Nora's, contrasting a confounded Ruby.

Ozpin continued. "After you have partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die."

Of all the things he just said, that last part was the one that bothered me the most. The thing about combat schools is that they're dangerous enough that you could get killed as early as initiation. [2] I gave a nervous laugh before gulping at the thought. I'm pretty sure that the academy's policy stated that they are not responsible for a student's death or injury because they enter the academy knowing what risks they have to take to become a Huntsman.

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

A lot of them actually, I was wondering if he enjoys watching us suffer while standing back drinking coffee because I was getting that suspicious aura from him. Better yet, what did he put in his coffee that made him think that this was a clever idea? And how many students died during the initiation? I swear, I was one slip of a tongue away from actually asking those things.

"Good! Now, take your positions."

As everyone prepares themselves to be launched, I unsheathe my sword and just tell myself to remember what Dad had taught me. This was the day that I have been anxiously anticipating and it was time to make sure that my preparations paid off. Don't freak out, I silently muttered to myself.

Weiss was the first person to be catapulted to the forest, followed by others, then Ren and Nora. The next person to be launched was Yang, she gave Ruby a wink before putting on a pair of aviators and then flying off with an audible 'Woohoo!'.

At first, I thought that she put on those sunglasses to show off, after all, given her personality from what I've seen of her, it sounded like something she would do. Then it hit me, she wore those so she could avoid making eye contact with anyone she doesn't want to be paired up with because you technically couldn't see her eyes when wearing them. Clever girl. She's turning out to be smarter than I thought. [3]

Ruby gave me a thumbs up before getting launched as well.

Before I knew it, I also found myself flying in the air. I managed to restrain my urge to scream and focused on getting a safe landing, finding a good spot that might be a good place to drop myself at. I was able to notice that my acquaintances were descending around the area; since I intend to team up with one or more of them, I glided down as well. As I got closer to the ground I grabbed the nearest tree branch I was falling to and spun until I was able to shake off my momentum.

So far, so good, I thought to myself. I hung around for a few seconds before letting go of the branch and landed on my feet unscathed. The first step went better than expected. I did not appreciate being thrown off to such a height while being expected to land safely but that part was finally over.

The next thing I needed to do was to find a partner, then look for the temple, then take a relic and get the hell out of there all while having to deal with Grimm and allies that could potentially turn out to be uncooperative.

Just as when I thought about the Grimm, I heard an animalistic growl coming from my back. I slowly turned around and saw a small pack of Beowolves, consisting of at least seven of them. Indeed, I made a successful landing—at what happened to be one of the worst parts of the forest.

"Umm... hi." I nervously greeted them, not that it helped me at all. My large pool of aura and all the negative energy they could smell from me were enough to make me feel like I was an exquisite dish for them. Forests and Beowolves going together didn't exactly give me the happiest thoughts so there was no reason for me to have not immediately run out of there as fast as I could.

Wonderful, not one minute in on this stupid test of skill, and I'm already chased by a Beowolf pack. I was off to a great start, I sarcastically said to myself.

I tried to wave my arms and called for help—no one answered, either because there weren't any human beings nearby or they just couldn't bother to help. Either way, I was on my own. [4]

I eventually got tired of running and the pack was still after me. I decided to put my training to good use since I thought no one was coming. I have dealt with a few Beos[5] back at Pucelle so I thought that this shouldn't be any different at all.

Raising my shield, I turned back as I used it to bash the Beowolf when it tried to pounce in my direction before thrusting my sword to its face. The second Beo tried to lunge toward me. I dashed back right on time and slashed it down. The next one raised its claw as it attempted to clobber me only for me to successfully block it with my shield before decapitating its arm with my sword and then using it to stab the Beo in its chest.

Two Beos stood on my front and in my back respectively, so I charged at the one on the front and hit its head with my shield then slashed the one on the back. I returned my attention to the staggered former, slicing its head off before turning around and giving the latter a few more slashes.

I went on the offensive with the last two, slicing one of them down before it could even attack. I bashed the last one with my shield twice before shaving its head off. Their corpses evaporated as I panted. I could feel the Great Powerful Ozpin writing down his plans for me while he takes yet another sip of his coffee.

Suddenly, I heard a friendly voice praising me. "That was amazing!" Turning around, I saw Pyrrha approaching me as she emerged from a bush. That's a relief, not only I'll be on her team, but I'm going to be her partner as well. Considering her past achievements and records, she's the ideal partner for getting me out alive in combat situations. The bad news was—she just saw me single-handedly slaughter a whole pack of Beowolves, giving her an impression of a competent Huntsman who didn't need any help.

"Uhh, it's nothing! Really! They're just Beowolves, one of the weakest Grimm there is." I said, hoping it doesn't sound like I was bragging. "So—it's nothing to be impressed about... at all!"

She tilted her head in confusion before giggling. "Oh, don't be like that. It's pretty impressive how you handled them, most people could only take out a few before giving in. I was so worried that I was about to step in, but you held your ground and prevailed."

I was... dumbstruck upon hearing that. She implied if I had run and screamed for a little longer, I didn't have to deal with all of those stupid Beos alone. It could have saved my energy but what was done was done and being able to win with my first encounter with Grimm as a student of Beacon was the only thing that mattered to me.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" she asked. "Skills like those can only be acquired from such experiences."

"I learned from the best." I smiled. I have to give it to my Dad, even if it's partially his fault that I am stuck here, he still made sure I'm prepared, Huntsman or not. Not many Huntsmen get to boast about getting training from the best of the best after all. "So I guess we're partners now."

"I guess we are. It's an honor to be fighting by your side, Jaune."

"Good to have you too. I needed someone of your talents." By that, I mean I really needed her. An undefeated champion was the best partner I could have in regards to surviving the academy and it felt like I just hit the jackpot. As a bonus, she's pretty good-looking too, so I also get to have some eye candy while being partnered with her.

She was flattered by that compliment that I could feel her blush. I decided that we stood there long enough and that we should carry on. "Let's get moving. The temple shouldn't be far out."

She nodded as we headed north toward our objective. I heard some people calling Pyrrha the Goddess of victory. If that's true, then it means I can't lose so long as she's with me. A goddess guiding me to victory is something I need to get through Beacon in one piece and I'm going to take advantage of that as much as I could.

Though if she really is a goddess, I hope she's more useful than the last one I got.

Freaking Aqua, that dumb bimbo. [6]

=o=

1. Despite what most people believe, he actually drinks hot chocolate instead of coffee.
2. Although rare, there are a few students who died during the initiation at Beacon, either due to poor luck or stupidity, but mostly the latter.
3. Headmaster Ozpin soon noticed this and immediately banned concealing eyewear for the next initiation to 'preserve the unpredictability of team matchmaking'.
4. I actually witnessed him fleeing from the Beowolves. I simply chose not to intervene because I did not want to be paired with him at the time, especially since his call for help did not give me a good impression. Hence, why I ended up with Ruby despite my initial protests.
5. A shortened nickname for the Beowolf. Interestingly, 'Beowolf' itself, along with most other well-known Grimm designations are actually reporting names. For instance, the Beowolf's official designation is 'Lupus Umbra', which means 'Shadow Wolf'. These names are rarely used outside studies involving Grimm, leading their reporting names to be more familiar to both Huntsmen and civilians alike especially since they are often easier to pronounce.
6. Apparently, one of Jaune's former dates in his pre-Beacon life. He never formed a serious relationship with any of them, and judging by his entries in older journals which I am not going to disclose at the moment, I can see why.

Chapter Text

To Live and Learn

CHAPTER 4

"I've got 99 problems and they're all Grimm."

-A Huntsman's Testimony

Although I've visited several of them before, I've never been fond of forests myself. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate their lush beauty but some of them can be unsettling. I'm talking about the thick ones where it is easier to get lost and are riddled with Grimm. Those are types of places any person in their right mind wouldn't want to be at night, and I should know. As I traversed through The Emerald Forest, it was quickly becoming one of those places.

"So Jaune, where are you from?" Pyrrha asked, taking the point as we searched the forest. Because of her being a superior fighter and probably having better Huntsman experience, it made sense for her to take the lead.

"Pucelle. It's an isolated fly-over county somewhere in the Gallican province that's full of swamps and bayous. I don't blame you if you never heard it," I answered, thinking she would be unaware of the events that happened there recently.

"Huh, Pucelle? I've been hearing that place a lot on the news lately. It's something about—a bandit lord, I think."

Oh crap, she's on to me, I thought. So I changed the subject as quickly as I could.

"So... I heard you're from Mistral?" I asked before she was able to ask anything more about my hometown. She looked at me and nodded. "What can you tell me about it?"

"Well, I cannot describe it in one sentence. They say it's a place with rich culture and history. The landscape is pretty beautiful too, especially during autumn." She answered. That wasn't exactly what you would call news as she only gave a fairly typical description of Mistral, but I didn't expect much as I only wanted to sway her attention away from Pucelle to save me the trouble of talking about it.

"That's nice. I've actually visited there a few times during vacations. I was just wondering what you have to say about it, I said."

She smiled, seemingly forgetting about her musings about that fiasco, which is a relief. Unneeded questions about how I got my underserved reputation were something I didn't need while trying to stay alive in a Grimm-infested forest.

We continued to trek through the forest. It was mostly silent, with the sounds of footsteps and the occasional bird tweeting being the only sounds that could be heard, until we were able to pick up the sound of a gunshot from a distance. "Did you hear that?" I questioned, halting for a second.

"Gunfire. It seems some of our comrades have encountered the enemy," she stated, vigilantly glancing at her surroundings. With that, I put my right hand on my sword handle, making sure to keep my guard up for any incoming Grimm while keeping my emotions in check in order not to attract them too much.

Our journey through the forest carried on while I tried to track the source of the gunshot since I intended to team up with the other pairs so I could have more bodies standing between the Grimm and myself. I got lost in my train of thought that my face ended up getting hit by an oncoming branch. "Ow! Stupid—"

"Are you alright?" Pyrrha turned back and came to check on me.

"It's nothing," I said, quickly getting back up. "Just got a little careless there, that's all." It wasn't something my aura couldn't handle, but getting smacked in the face even if you don't feel any pain was irritating especially since it didn't stop the burning sensation in my face.

She sighed and turned back as I continued to follow her, hoping that little blunder didn't make her think any less of me, it was too soon for her to discover that I was nothing short of a fraud.

We soon heard another noise, this time it was the sound of a bush rattling. Pyrrha raised her fist as we came to a halt. We readied our weapons, scanning our surroundings before seeing a shaking bush.

"On your guard," she advised. I positioned myself in a defensive stance, taking a deep breath as I prepared myself for imminent combat. We continued to stare at the bush before a pair of Ursa Minors came out, confirming our suspicions. "You take the one on the right!" she said before we charged at our respective targets.

I took a moment to glance at Pyrrha as she charged for her kill before I blocked an oncoming claw from the Ursa. I then lunged at it, bashing my shield to its head before cutting it down with a few slashes, making it fall as it vaporized with an animalistic shriek. Pyrrha was just as done when I finished mine.

"See? You're a natural!" she complimented. "With combat prowess like that, I'd say you'd make a great Huntsman."

It wasn't as impressive as she described it. It was only a single Ursa. I could've waited for Pyrrha to get rid of hers before getting her to kill mine, but it wasn't the best course of action; I had to act out of instinct and avoid the possibility of serious injury even with large aura reserves since they have a chance to fail inconveniently. [1] "Let's not celebrate just yet. We still have a temple to look for." I reminded her.

"Right. The temple," she nodded.

With that, we resumed our hike, and after a few more minutes of uneventful walking and looking around in case of any Grimm nearby, we saw what appeared to be an entrance to a cave from a distance.

"Huh, a cave." Pyrrha turned to me. "Want to go check it out?"

Since I was getting bored of walking through the forest and considering the possibility of the cave leading to something interesting, and maybe even the temple, I saw no reason why not to.

As we approached the cavern entrance, we saw primitive drawings on the walls depicting men armed with spears and bows engaging a giant scorpion, which may or may not be a Deathstalker. Or at least I thought it was Deathstalker. I was about to find out soon enough.

"You think this is it?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. Is this even the right temple?" She answered skeptically.

"Well, we headed north," I looked at the ground and picked up the first stave I saw. "Did we?"

"I'm sure we did but…" Her voice trailed off, figuring that there was something off. "I have a bad feeling about this."

She wasn't alone in that regard especially when I look at its sinister, dark entryway but I had made up my mind. If movies taught me anything, it's that tombs and relics can be found in places like these, my only concern then was that I wouldn't have to involve us getting chased by a giant boulder after we took out the prize. I'm perfectly aware that knowledge from movies tends to be unreliable, but it felt like a good idea at the time; besides, I had Pyrrha with me in case things go wrong.

"Temple or not, I'd say it's worth checking out," I declared, pulling out a piece of cloth from my pocket which I prepared before the initiation in case of situations like this, and wrapped it around the top of the stave. I picked up some coal and used them to put fire on my torch. "We should find something here. Maybe it could lead us to the temple and even if we don't, we could always head back out."

She nodded as she followed me inside. I took the point because I was the one holding the torch. If only I was aware of what was waiting for me, I would rather have continued to look for our way in the woods and even happily fight an Ursa Major with only my bare hands. There's an opportunity for a lame bear pun there, but I'm afraid I'll have to digress because I have standards.

The cave became increasingly darker the deeper we went to the point that the fire from my makeshift torch became the only light source we had. The only things that could be heard aside from our footsteps were the scuttling of some small insects and small drops of water dripping from the top of the cave. I was beginning to regret coming there but my urge to search for anything unusual told me to press forward.

I ended up tripping with my torch falling into a puddle of water; extinguishing it and thus depriving us of light, making everything almost pitch black.

"You okay?" Pyrrha asked out of concern.

I pushed myself up, making sure that I still have my equipment as I tried to reassure her. "I'm fine."

"Did you feel that?"

Soul-crushing regret was the only thing I felt during that time. Other than that, I had no clue what she was referring to. "Feel what?" I pulled out my scroll and turned on its flashlight. I don't know why I bothered making the torch if I could have done this in the first place. Well, you got to practice your survival skills sometimes, right?

"Feel something… warm," she said, barely giving enough context for me to figure it out.

I continued to lead on and found something glowing. We went to the place where the glowing is being held to investigate and saw a golden orb of sorts. My initial assessments almost led me to believe that this was the relic. Panning down my scroll flashlight, I saw the frightening sight of a large scorpion's face with all its eyes closed.

Pyrrha reached for her sword once she recognized what it was. "Is that…?!"

…A Deathstalker?! No, that can't be it, I thought because a Grimm this huge and dangerous couldn't have been allowed in initiation for fresh recruits, no matter how ludicrously skilled students need to be to attend. [2] It had got to be some sort of prank Ozpin set to scare off students who attempted to explore that cave because it didn't take a genius to know that only dead-serious Huntsmen and Huntresses go after these things and even then they still struggle against it.

The golden orb turned out to be a stinger for the scorpion. It opened all of its red and lifeless eyes, confirming that it is indeed a live Deathstalker. And I made what I could only describe as the most un-masculine scream I've ever made in my entire life.

=o=

1. While aura is activated by default during tense combat situations, they have a rare chance of malfunctioning, and thus not being able to protect the user from harm especially if their aura is lacking in willpower. This is why Huntsmen are often encouraged not to be over-reliant on aura. I received a scar on my left eye because of this.
2. Professor Ozpin did not intend for the Deathstalker to be part of the initiation. He simply did not notice it getting past the security and forgot to dispatch it after a group of unfortunate students encountered it. Afterward, the cave where it was residing remained uncharted before being explored by Jaune and Pyrrha. When Ozpin realized this he disregarded it as another challenge the initiates have to confront.

We quickly stormed out of the cave, fleeing from the provoked Deathstalker with indecent haste. At that point, I preferred to have a huge boulder chasing us out instead of one angry, giant Grimm insect. I panted after leaving the entrance while Pyrrha unsheathed her sword and shield, facing the entrance in case it came out. I really should have listened to every red flag planted when entering that cave.

I prayed that the Deathstalker would take a hint and stay in its nest since its size should be too big to fit out of the cave entrance, but unfortunately, it was able to break through it, showing its full glory as the cave collapsed behind it.

Like any other right-thinking individual would do, I turned tail and tried to run, only for me to look back to see Pyrrha attempting to engage the Deathstalker. I was almost tempted to leave her fighting while I fled to safety, but I needed my partner alive if I were to pass the test and I wasn't going to take the chance of her dying. If she found out that I tried to abandon her, she would doubt my reputation as a hero and I might get on her bad side, and I can't have any of that.

"Jaune, would you help me out here?!" She blocked a claw with her shield. She has got to be incredibly overconfident if she believes that we'll be able to defeat a Deathstalker by ourselves. It was going to take more than a world-class champion to bring that thing down.

"Pyrrha, we can't take that thing down on our own! We need to get out of here and find the others!" I argued, hoping she'd come to her senses. She tried to hit it a few more times, only to find out that its exoskeleton was too thick to be penetrated, it was then she decided to take my advice and followed me as we routed out.

We ran as fast and hard as we could through the forest with the Deathstalker on our tails, crashing into everything it passed. Eventually, we managed to find the temple, with two figures there already who happen to be Yang and the girl with the huge bow whose name I haven't got at that moment. As soon as we saw them I did not waste any more time and called them the first chance I got.

"A little help here?!" I yelled, still running from the Deathstalker. They glanced at one another for a moment before they both shrugged and stormed toward the giant scorpion, with Yang using her shotgun gauntlets to boost herself while the other girl grappled towards it.

We stopped and looked back as we watched Yang and her partner attack the Deathstalker for a second. "Go help them hold it off, I'll get the relic," I told Pyrrha. She nodded as she once again unsheathed her shield and xiphos went to assist the duo in distracting the Deathstalker.

I sprinted toward the temple and saw that the 'relics' turned out to be chess pieces; that's probably the only thing Bleu failed to mention the day before this. The chess pieces were standing on platforms, some of which were empty, indicating that others managed to find the temple before we did. I noticed that there were two for every piece making me figure out that whatever pair that is holding the same piece as yours will be your teammates. Aside from that, I don't think the type of piece matters outside of meaningless symbolism so I just took the piece which caught my attention the most, a golden knight piece to be exact.

I looked back to see Pyrrha, Yang, and the bowed girl taking their time to fend off the Deathstalker. So far they still have yet to even weaken it, even with Pyrrha's skill, Yang's strength, and the other girl's nimbleness, it's clear that this wasn't going anywhere without some sort of strategy.

As I was about to call Pyrrha to tell her I got the relic and that we should leave, I heard Ruby's voice calling my name. "Jaune!"

"Ruby?" I looked back and saw her from a nearby tree branch before jumping off to my position. She looked around and saw the ongoing battle between the three stoogettes and an overgrown bug that had no right to be as powerful as it should be. [1] "Is that Yang?" She noticed her sister riding the scorpion while trying to punch through its abdomen while it chased Pyrrha and the raven-haired bowed girl, with the latter shooting it with her pistol while running.

Looking closer at the latter's gun bothered me. Why does her weapon's pistol function have her blade pointing towards the user's face? You can easily mistake that she's about to stab her own face if it wasn't for the gun barrel on the crossguard. [2]

"Yep," I replied.

She turned to the temple and saw the chess pieces standing on platforms. "Are these the relics?" she questioned, sounding so perplexed over the so-called relics that she didn't seem to be concerned about her sister's safety.

"Mmm-hmm."

"Huh." She grabbed the nearest piece, a golden rook, I think. "So what now?" she asked, looking back at the trio fighting.

Before I was able to say something, an Ursa came out of the forest, swinging its claws. I was about to pull my sword out of instinct but then I saw a pink spark coming from its back and saw Nora mounting on it before it fell to the ground. I'm not even kidding.

"Yee-haw!" Nora rolled off from the bear's back. "Aww, we broke it."

Ren showed up a moment later, panting and leaning at the Ursa's corpse. "Nora?" He took a few breaths. "Please… don't ever do that again." Unfortunately for him, she doesn't seem to have heard him because she was already at the temple when he said that. To be fair, I didn't notice her get here that quick either.

"Ooh~!" she stared at the golden knight piece. "A cute little pony! Yay!" She squealed, taking it before engaging in a perky dance with it. If I'm not mistaken, her taking the same piece as mine means that I'm going to be teammates with her and Ren, for better or for worse. I could only hope that it's the former.

"NORA!" Ren yelled, calling her out.

She stopped, giggling, and had the piece fall from her head before catching it. "Coming Ren!" She saluted before skipping to her partner.

"Did she just ride in on an Ursa?" I asked Ruby, making sure that I am not seeing things.

"I… think so."

I turned my head and was startled to see that Nora was suddenly beside me with a child-like grin. "GAH!" I screamed.

"So, what relic did you get?!" She leaned in front of me, very curiously I might add.

I hesitantly reached out to my pocket and showed her the golden knight piece I took. "Oh? This? Well, we have the same piece then."

She blinked for a moment before she made a grin. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

I could only give her an uncertain stare as I tried holding off a nervous grin twitching on my face.

"You and Pyrrha are chess-piece buddies with me and Ren!" She bursted into excitement. "We are going to have so much fun together!"

Oh boy. Apparently, I'm now teammates with a hyperactive adoring fan and her quiet friend. If I didn't know any better, I would have been more unsettled. On the bright side, those two seem to be very capable in a fight from what I've seen. So as crazy as those two may sound, especially Nora, it might be the type of crazy I needed to get through this academy. I'll just have to get used to it then.

Ren ran to our position and continued to pant. Thinking about it, everyone here came with a partner except Ruby. It's unlikely that she went all this way without one. "Hey Ruby, where's your partner?" I asked.

"Well…" She slowly faced the sky. I looked above and saw Weiss hanging from a Nevermore which is another Grimm that shouldn't be on this initiation. Calling it a giant Grimm bird doesn't fully describe it, that thing was tougher than it looked. I heard that it usually takes more than three professional Huntsmen teams to get rid of it and that's only with minimum casualties. The fact that it's airborne only makes it a bigger pain to deal with. I was more disturbed by its presence than the fact Weiss was in danger and I was confused over where these large-class Grimm were coming from. [3]

"RUUUBBBYYYYYY!" Weiss yelled as she tried to hold on to one of the Nevermore's talons.

"Well, I told her to jump," Ruby told me.

"She's gonna fall!" Nora exclaimed while she stuck her thumbs to her index fingers to make some binoculars as if that would give her a closer look.

"She'll be fine," Ruby shrugged just before Weiss's grip failed her and fell from the sky.

"She's falling." Ren nonchalantly pointed out the obvious.

Without thinking, I ran to where she was descending to and attempted to catch her bridal style. While I did manage to catch her when she finally dropped, she ended up crashing into me and I tumbled to the ground thanks to the impact of the velocity of her fall. If it weren't for our auras, I wouldn't be able to use my arms for a few days and Weiss would have a broken back. I admit, this wasn't exactly my best rescue but in the end, it did the job even if it wasn't exactly an ideal execution. "Oww," I moaned.

"Ugh. Thanks a lot, hero." She groaned in pain.

"Yeah, don't mention it," I returned the sarcasm. Politely, in the loosest sense of the word.

We recovered after a few seconds, my arms still felt a little sore, though. I pushed myself back up and went back to the others. Pyrrha and the girl with the bow retreated from the Deathstalker while Yang was still trying to find a way to kill it.

"It's no use!" The raven-haired girl said. "It's tougher than it looks!"

"Not if I can help it!" Ruby boasted. "I'm coming, Yang!" She then charged toward the Deathstalker.

"Ruby, no!" I screamed. If a four-time champion was barely able to fight off that bug, then she won't be able to hold it off either. It was too late, she fired her sniper to boost herself to the scorpion, only to get swiped off when she got close enough.

"Ruby!" Yang cried out.

Ruby got up and insisted on fighting the Deathstalker. "Don't worry, sis! I got this!" she took a few shots on its skull, as usual, it didn't do jack. "…Or maybe not." The Deathstalker was provoked and gave a monstrous roar.

Sigh, this was exactly what I was worried about. This is exactly why I think trying to be a hero is a bad idea.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Yang turned around before running back toward the group. Ruby followed her, folding her scythe. The Nevermore flew in and cowed. Firing several sharp feathers at their area. One of them managed to impale Ruby's cloak, trapping her.

"Ruby!" Yang halted and rushed back to her sister, helping her pull out of the feather. Unfortunately, the Deathstalker was getting close to them. Yang tried to slow it down by firing at it with one of her gauntlets but it was no use.

"Oh for the love of—!" I heard Weiss yell before she used a glyph to fly off to the sisters. I was a little concerned that she was going to add more problems to us than we already had. But to my surprise, she was able to stab the scorpion's stinger with her rapier when it was about to hit Ruby. Then she fired a round of ice dust to freeze it neat as you please. It seemed like it did the trick as it was able to hold the Deathstalker for a moment. I have to admit, that was quite impressive, her bratty attitude almost made me forget that she could make a competent fighter.

"Weiss?" Ruby opened her eyes and gazed at the Ice Queen.

"You hyperactive, red-caped dimwit!" Weiss called out, pulling her rapier from the ice she casted. "Don't you know what you put us through?!" she yelled before taking a deep breath. "Look I know I can be a bit...difficult."

Gee, don't you think?

She continued "But I need you as a partner, and I can't have a partner if you're dead. We need to do this together. So please stop trying to show off and I'll try to be... nicer."

"Huh, coming from you, that actually sounded nice," Yang commented. My thoughts exactly. Who knew that Princess Snowy could sound reasonable?

"Can it, I'm doing this for the best of us," Weiss replied.

"I didn't mean to show off, I just... want you to know I could do this," Ruby spoke up.

Weiss stared at her for a moment. "You're fine," she stated before walking away. That's a compliment if I ever heard one from her. Quite an achievement for Ruby if you ask me.

Ruby sighed in relief, she then looked at the Deathstalker to see it in its frozen state. Yang went in closer to her and gave her a sisterly hug.

I smiled at the sight but then I heard Big Bird[4] caw again as it flew around above us, reminding me that I need to get out of this mess, and I'm going to need everyone to cooperate to the best of their abilities to do so.

"Alright, everyone gathers around," I ordered before all seven rounded up. "Does each pair have their relics?" I inquired, showing the golden knight piece I took.

"Oh yeah. Blake, you still have it?" Yang asked her partner.

The bowed girl—Blake by the sound of it—showed her golden rook piece. "Here it is."

"I still have mine—I mean ours!" Nora brought out hers, a golden knight piece, the same one I have.

"Yeah, we do. Why did you ask?" Ruby asked, pulling out another golden rook piece, which all but says that she and Weiss are going to be teamed up with Blake and Yang, the same way Pyrrha and I would be grouped with Ren and Nora

"Then we got what we came for. We can't keep wasting our time with two high-class Grimm any longer, we already got our objective, and now it's time for us to get out of here." I told them. Truth is, I could have left with my team once we got our relics but I could use some extra protection and manpower so I chose to wait for the others.

"Huh, that's actually not a bad idea, Arc." Weiss of all people concurred, seemingly impressed. Looks like I was able to get another glimpse of her good side. I guess there is hope for her after all. Hopefully, she'd learn to be nicer because I doubt we'd be an effective fighting force if all we do is bicker around each other for too long.

"He's right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the Cliffs. There's no point fighting these things," Ruby vouched. Good, it seems that even she had the common sense to know that. Saves me the trouble of having a needless discussion with someone hot-blooded enough to insist on fighting these two giant pests.

We overheard the Deathstalker's cries as it was now breaking free from the ice. Signaling us to make haste. "Time we left!" Ren said.

"Right." Ruby agreed. "Let's go!"

We all ran out together, heading to our next destination to finish this initiation once and for all.

=o=

1. Considering that the Deathstalker has been in the cave for a long period, it's safe to assume that it has grown to be the most intelligent Grimm in the forest, thus becoming the most dangerous threat during the initiation.
2. It's worth noting that the Gambol Shroud does not necessarily need its blade to be adjusted to use its pistol function but it would be needed in order to properly aim down the pistol's sight. Still, she could have chosen a better position for the blade when using the weapon as a firearm.
3. Once again, the fortifications fail to prevent another unauthorized Grimm from entering the forest during initiation. Despite its status, Beacon was not exactly known for its security.
4. Jaune's nickname for the Nevermore during the initiation, named after a character from a popular children's program.

All eight of us left the forest. The Big Bird, unfortunately, followed us as we were approaching what appears to be the ruins of an Old Imperial civilization that was situated before the cliff. We hid behind some stone blocks as the Nevermore stood above it before screeching at us. The stubborn overgrown featherbrain was beginning to annoy me, and to make matters worse, the Deathstalker caught up, breaking through trees as it exited the forest.

"What do we do now, Jaune?" Pyrrha held her rifle, preparing to aim and shoot if necessary.

Trying to put it down didn't work before so continuing to flee was the only sensible option at the time. "Run like hell!"

Pyrrha followed me as we rushed straight into the ruins. The Nevermore shot some sharpened feathers before Nora managed to avoid them all before launching grenades at it to suppress the Nevermore for a brief moment. I looked back and saw the Deathstalker getting increasingly closer, causing me to pick up the pace.

"Go, go!" Pyrrha said as we reached the bridge, stopping to temporarily inhibit the Deathstalker's movement so that Blake and Weiss may be able to catch up.

We continued to cross the bridge when Big Bird came and crashed at it, splitting the party with Pyrrha, Blake, and Weiss on the other side, having to face the Deathstalker.

Although the path to finally leave the forest was clear for me and my other teammates to cross, I wasn't going to leave my good-looking cereal mascot of a partner, someone needed to get Pyrrha from the other side of a broken bridge quickly. "We gotta get over there, they need help!"

"We got it!" Ruby and her sister jumped toward the gap, hitting the Deathstalker on the face as she unsheathes her scythe then slashing it a few times before dodging its claw, unfortunately, Pyrrha was beside her and it ended up pushing her to the edge, and making her fall. "Oops!"

"Pyrrha!" I yelled, actively trying to reach toward her. Luckily she quickly recovered and grabbed a nearby pillar as she fell, slowly sliding down before launching herself onto the passing Nevermore. She gave the giant Grimm bird a few slashes before leaping off and landing safely at the top of a tower.

Me, Ren, and Nora quickly ran toward her position. Ren climbed and ran the walls to the top while Nora launched herself using one of her grenades, unharmed either due to her aura or for some sort of specialized, non-lethal explosives. [1] This was where my limitations became more apparent, although I did my best to keep myself prepared, I still lacked something that would get me that high enough without the use of any tools, and I didn't think my aura-jumping was refined enough to reach that tower's peak. "Uhh, guys?"

Pyrrha looked down at me. "What is it, Jaune?"

"I hate to break it to you but…" Before I was able to finish what I was saying, I heard Big Bird screech as it went closer to the tower, making my team focus on trying to gun it down while I just stood there, hunkering down when needed. I was the only person there without a ranged weapon, and it was probably the dumbest mistake I made since I needed to extend my range and be able to hit anyone without having to be close to them. I knew I should have 'borrowed' one of Rose's guns before getting to Beacon. I barely had any problems using a sword and a pistol at the same time which made me wonder why I didn't take one with me.

The Nevermore crashed through the tower, making everyone who was standing above it fall. Everyone was able to recover quickly and got back to the ground except for me. I was falling into the pit screaming for dear life, and just about when I thought I was going to meet my end, I suddenly stopped mid-air, feeling some sort of magnetic sensation coming from my armor. I found myself floating for a second before getting thrown into the air and then dropping into the solid ground near my team. I checked my body to see if I was alright, not having a clue about what just happened.

"In case you're wondering, that was my semblance! I can control magnetism, so I pulled you on your armor when you were falling," Pyrrha clarified. That was one way to learn about your partner's semblance. In any case, thank goodness for that. I didn't want to die falling into a pit. "Well, then thanks."

"You're most welcome," she nodded, followed by Nora saluting.

"We're right behind you!"

I smiled back at them. There was no time in appreciating their superpowers yet though, we still had an avian pest to deal with. The problem was we lacked a decent strategy against it, especially in a place like this nor do we have the time to think one as we go. If anything, Ruby's team would have been much more appropriate dealing with the Nevermore as they are much more mobile and have the better skill-sets to counter it. Our few options were to gun it down until it fell and maybe wait for someone to jump at its back again, hold fire and let them melee the Nevermore until it took enough damage and landed on the ground, rinse and repeat until it was dead. It was do or die, the only thing we could hope was that it works.

"Keep firing!" I raised my fist before pointing at Big Bird while staying behind their rears. They obeyed as they fired their guns at it. It angrily shrieked as it flew toward us again, giving us the chance to attack it head-on. "Nora!"

We went out of the way as Nora changed her weapon to its hammer function and used it to slam on Big Bird's face when it flew in range, causing it to fall. I exhaled out of relief, taking a time to breathe. It would turn out that putting my guard down for a couple of seconds turned out to be a mistake. Before I knew it Big Bird soared back up behind me and it grabbed me with its talons before flying away with me.

"JAUNE!" Pyrrha yelled as Big Bird sent me higher into the air. Ruby's team, after apparently having defeated the Deathstalker, noticed me being grabbed by the Nevermore while it was flying off, they tried to save me by trying to shoot the bird while my team was doing the same.

Bullets ran past me as I continued to hold onto the Big Bird's talons. There wasn't much solid ground below me if the Nevermore loses its grasp on me and everyone was only making matters worse. "Stop it! You're gonna make me fall!" I yelled before they ceased firing.

I was too busy trying to figure out a way to get myself out of that predicament that I barely felt any air sickness during the flight. I thought of waiting for it to take me into its nest but I am not going to risk myself fighting a bunch of baby Grimm birds while dealing with this one alone, plus it's likely far away that I'd be presumed dead when I get back. So I quickly thought up a better idea and found one. I'm not sure if it's going to work nor would it end well but considering how desperate I was, it was better than doing nothing.

I struggled out of the Nevermore's grasp, almost falling after doing so but I held on to the talons as it was now trying to shake. I gritted my teeth, climbing up to the bird's back with all the strength I could gather. It was tricky because the bird would shake every couple of seconds but I was able to get on to its back as I climbed near its head.

Keeping a grip on the bird's hair, I tried to convince myself that it was like riding a pony. Not exactly a fond memory of the last time that happened but that wasn't important when my life was on the line. I gripped the crown of its head, using it to steer the Nevermore as it flies. It took some strength to do it, but seeing that it works, I was able to use it to my advantage. I made it fly towards the top of the cliff as I unsheathe my sword and stabbed its head a few times causing it to descend faster. As it reached the edge of the cliff, I sliced Big Bird's head off and then jumped to safety.

"Bye, bye, birdie," I huffed, panting heavily as I stared down the Nevermore as it turned to no more. I anticipated vomiting but I didn't throw up for once, probably because it was a short ride. And this was only the very beginning; my second day and I already had to deal with two large Grimm that nobody warned us about. Not a good sign, if you ask me.

Standing up, I walked toward the edge of the cliff and looked at the figures who were all gazing at me and the Nevermore's dead body. We stared at each other in silence for short few seconds before I could hear Nora clapping loud enough for me to hear her from such a distance. "I knew you could do it!" I noticed everyone staring at her for a brief moment before accompanying her in applause.

I could only sigh. I did it again, didn't I?

=o=

1. Most likely the latter. There are some specialized explosives made to safely propel their users into the air without suffering any physical harm, though they're only recommended to be used for Huntsmen with functioning aura.

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Editorial Note:

Since Jaune did not bother giving details of the rules of engagement during combat matches in his accounts, I took the liberty to add an excerpt of the handbook that was used in the previous section. It should satisfy the curiosity of readers who wish to know more about the procedures of class duels among Beacon students.

"Rules of Training Matches" from the Student's Beacon Handbook

[This version was the one used in Jaune's first year at Beacon. The current version being used today is more or less the same, with slight differences.]

Matches will consist of two opposing teams. Teams may consist of a single or multiple representatives. Usually, both teams must have a balance in quantity but if one member is proven to be too proficient, then they are to be pitted with additional opponents that could even range to an entire team as a handicap to maintain the balance of power.

The duration of the matches ranges from three to ten minutes. When the timer runs out, the team that holds the most aura combined wins. [1] Another method of winning is to deplete all of the opponents' aura to red (15% and below). Participants who wish to concede may do so by simply declaring themselves as such.

Be reminded that your performance during matches is graded.

Here are a few guidelines and regulations to follow during a match:

1. If a participant's aura is in the red, that participant must now exit the arena, and their opponent must cease attacking defeated participants to avoid serious injury.
2. Participants who concede are automatically declared as defeated and should be refrained from being harmed.
3. Likewise, participants who conceded defeat are not allowed to attack their opponent after doing so.
4. Cheating of any kind will not be tolerated.
5. The participant's team may cheer for their team-mate(s) but are not allowed to interfere as with the rest of the audience.
6. Do not attempt to attack the spectators, even if they are protected by transparent hard-light during the match.
7. Explosives are only allowed limited use as they may cause too much damage to the premises and possibly injure spectators on impact. Non-Lethal explosives are allowed but must have proper verification by the professor before being taken to the arena.
8. Be respectful to your opponents, the match should be treated as friendly competition, and as such, foul play and any other dishonourable and extreme methods will not be taken lightly.
9. Kindly follow all the commands issued by the professor with no exceptions.
10. No lollygagging. [2]

=o=

1. During team battles, teams have a separate aura indicator that measures all of the team member's auras into one. This was mentioned in an earlier section of the guidebook.
2. More specifically: Do not stall, thereby, making a mockery of the match. This was made more clear in later editions.

To Live and Learn

CHAPTER 8

"I am a Huntress. I will not undermine my free expression and individuality by having to follow a uniform.

-Layla Leroux before being shot by allied artillery due to being mistaken for wearing enemy colors

The warm-up exercises were tiring (especially for Ren) but I managed to get through them since Dad had to put me on the same thing. I had to go through push-ups, sit-ups, and some stretching, and we had to do it with our own combat outfits since the school doesn't provide P.E. uniforms, probably because the academy expects you to get used to sweating with whatever you chose to wear as a combat outfit. At least I didn't have to punch tree trunks hundreds of times; I still remember getting splinters from those things, somehow bypassing my aura. [1]

We were given time to rest before being sent back to the combat hall where the real action begins.

"Before we start selecting participants for the matches, will all of you kindly pull out your scrolls?" Miss Goodwitch commanded. "You may notice an application titled 'Team Status, tap on it."

I proceeded to do just that. My screen then started to display portraits of me and my teammates, each having its own full green aura gauge.

"As you see, you are now looking at you and your teammate's aura levels. You will be using this during combat situations starting today, I advise you to regularly refer to it during such circumstances."

So far, this was the most useful thing the school has given me. I always needed to keep track of my aura to make sure I wasn't close to becoming Grimm food. I wasn't sure how it got the scroll to read its user's aura levels though, [2] but as long as it works, I really don't care how.

"Now that you all know how to keep track of your aura, let us finally begin the matches," Miss Goodwitch announced.

"Alright!" Nora cheered along with the other students who were excited to see some action while I was still hoping that I didn't have to be randomly picked as I wasn't exactly in the mood for fighting despite being sharpened by the exercises.

"First off, I would like to introduce you to Umi Hisakawa," Miss Goodwitch gestured to a girl in a geisha attire, wearing a light-blue kimono. "She's a senior here in Beacon. She is selected to be your opponent for this day before you will be able to face one another. She will demonstrate some pointers to consider during battle." Miss Goodwitch continued as the girl pulled out a fan and cooled herself with it. "Would anyone like to volunteer?"

Several eager students raised their hands. "Very well." Miss Goodwitch said before picking out one of them. "Brook Lane of Team BFYR (Bonfire), please come to the stage at once."

"Oh, hell yeah!" he cheered with his 'Mantlian tough guy' accent, which made it sound like he meant business while he sported that 'raised by tough streets' bravado. Once at the stage, Brook pulled out his spiked baseball bat and began facing his opponent.

"This will be a one-on-one battle. You will be given three minutes to strike your opponent down until they are unable to fight. If the timer runs out and none of you have still fallen, then whoever has the most aura wins." Miss Goodwitch stated. "You have read your handbook, have you, Mister Lane?"

"I have, Miss Goodwitch," he nodded, sounding polite for someone as hot-blooded as he is.

"Then I'm assuming you know the rules of engagement then?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good, then let us begin." Miss Goodwitch then leaves the stage before all the lights—save for the one above the arena turned off. Two screens appeared on the front of the hall, each showing one of the combatant's gauges, both of which were full.

"Hey, just so you know: I'm not gonna hit your pretty face, so don't worry." Brook flirted as he readied his bat. With overconfidence like that against a senior who presumably has more experience, it was easy to see where this match was going to end.

"That's a shame, I was hoping you'd be more of a challenge," Umi replied while still fanning herself as if he was nothing.

"Eh?" Brook look puzzled, but before he could think more about it, Miss Goodwitch declared the match.

"Begin!"

Brook held his bat with both of his hands as he started to charge at his opponent. Umi then fanned herself a couple more times before revealing blades coming out of her fans. Surprised, Brook halted when Umi started to fling the blades at him which he could barely dodge and deflect due to the weight of his weapon. Umi then pulled out another bladed fan and proceeded to dash into Brook while spinning. Brook deflected her strikes but had trouble trying to counter her attacks due to her speed.

He was then pushed to the ground, looking at his aura to see that it was already at 71%. He then angrily jumps back and changes his bat to an assault rifle and fires at the senior. Umi used her fans to shield her from the bullets while walking toward him. When his clip ran out, Umi stormed towards him as Brook quickly tried to change back to a bat while anticipating her next attack, only for Umi to swipe away his weapon up into the air before pulling a roundhouse kick in his face, knocking him again to the ground.

He went back up as swiftly as he could before he caught his bat while it was falling (and conveniently did not catch it on its spiked part.) He swung it towards her face which she blocked with both of her fans. Brook head-butted her, knocking her back slightly, he then swung his bat when Umi dodged right in time and used both of her bladed fans to slice his back multiple times. Staggered, Brook continued to swing his bat before turning around and seeing his face getting swiped by a fan and falling on his back.

Umi turned to the audience to give a bow as the buzzer and lights came back on. I wasn't exactly surprised at this outcome, but I don't think I could ever see pretty Mistrali girls in kimonos the same way ever again after witnessing this fight.

Miss Goodwitch stepped back to the stage. "Students, as you can see, Mister Lane's aura has now dropped into the red. This would indicate that Brook is no longer fit for battle and that the official may call the match. After witnessing this, you should have now learned that you should not underestimate your opponents and that one's appearance can be deceiving."

"Hmph." Umi put one of her fans back to her sash and fanned herself again with the other. Brook made an embarrassed chuckle while he was still on the ground.

"Mister Lane, you may now return to your seat." Miss Goodwitch looked at him before he nodded. He pushed himself up and trudged out of the arena while audibly grunting. "That was only the introduction to combat matches, while all of you may have proven yourselves to be worthy enough to be accepted into this academy, remember that you are still in training and that you have much to learn before you can be considered as full-fledged Huntsmen and Huntresses. Since we still have an hour before dismissal and Miss Hisakawa still has 96% of her aura left. Who else would like to volunteer?"

After the last match, the class became more hesitant when volunteering that no one raised their hand, and instead just glanced at one another. Even the most overconfident and arrogant fighters had given up trying to challenge the deadly third-year geisha.

"Became wary after the last match, have you?" Miss Goodwitch commented with a slight smirk. "Good. Now you know why you should refrain from being reckless and being too overconfident with your abilities. Worry not, you are not going to face Miss Hisakawa in a duel, instead, you will be training with her while she demonstrates some pointers for combat. Matches will resume next month. For now, you will need to hone your skills first."

I felt that everyone took a sigh of relief after hearing that. Miss Goodwitch continued and invited another student to carry on the class. "Now, would Luna Mona of Team VILE (Violet) kindly enter the arena?"

The rest of the class had us learn about combat moves and tips. I mostly paid attention to the other students' fighting styles, so in case I end up facing them, I would at least have a strategy. If there was anything I learned with Brook Lane's fight with Umi Hisakawa, that aside from being too cocky to think that he could match a seemingly passive Mistrali girl who happened to be hiding plenty of steel beneath that elegant eastern silk, was that brute-forcing would always end with you getting the short end of the stick especially if you don't know what you're doing. You need to choose your next steps carefully, and when the situation is dire, then you need to think quickly while trying to remain wise and prudent.

Eventually, the bell rang, marking the end of our first day at class. "Remember everything you've learned today, your future careers as Huntsmen will depend on it. I will see you all tomorrow." Miss Goodwitch said as the class dismissed. I left that combat hall with plenty to ponder on, but I won't be able to practice them freely if my team doesn't have a place to train. So we proceeded to look for one.

=o=

1. Probably because Jaune lost focus sometime during the exercise, thus, deactivating his aura.
2. Scrolls can be able to measure one's aura levels as long as it's in contact with the user. Since all physical apparel is connected to the wearer's aura, including various assortments of wearable equipment, the application will always read the user's aura until they are no longer holding the scroll.

The team and I spent the rest of the day looking for a vacant spot for team training. We've checked to see if students are permitted to use the combat hall to train after class hours, and it turned out that it was and it's also open during weekends in the afternoon but it was occupied by every other team in the academy so we wouldn't have enough time with the arena ourselves. That and that were rumors that students literally fight over who gets the arena, and I don't think we'll get proper training in that kind of environment. We were allowed to visit the Emerald Forest if we wish, but we were not going to train there because it still felt too soon to revisit that place and I wasn't that insane.

We soon split up and went on doing our own things while still trying to look for a place. When we gathered in our dorm room later, Ren and Nora told me that the good spots were taken by the other students, while Pyrrha said she was still working on it. I sighed and told them to resume this tomorrow and get some long-needed rest.

It was around ten o'clock, or 2200 hours if you follow the military time. I was sitting on my bed, updating this journal and reviewing the notes I have written during combat class and others based on observations of my teammates during their performance yesterday when Nora called me.

"Jaune?" she tapped my shoulder. She was wearing her pajamas which consisted of a black t-shirt that had a print that says 'boop' with her logo making up the second 'o' and a pink short patterned with white thunderbolts, which suited her, I guess.

"Yes, Nora, what is it?" I asked, putting down my notes for a second.

"Can you get me a glass of water? I know you might be busy but the fridge is empty; I would have told Ren or Pyrrha but they're both asleep and I don't want to bother them."

I would have asked if she could have done it herself, she's a grown woman for crying out loud, but I was patient enough to consider it, there wasn't any harm in doing it. As the team leader, it was my duty to look after my team. I felt like taking a quick stroll at Beacon during the night anyway. "Okay, sit tight, I'll get you something to drink."

"Aww~ Thank you, you're the best!" she said loudly while trying not to wake up the others before giving a quick hug.

I patted her back before letting go, she went back to her bed while I hid my journal and notes. I left the dorm with an empty glass cup in my left hand, slowly and quietly closing the door before walking to where I recall the nearest water dispenser was located.

As I was about to pass Team RWBY's dorm, the door suddenly opened causing me to stop out of instinct. Weiss walked out of the room and then stopped to say something. "Hey, Ruby… I always wanted bunk beds as a kid," she spoke in an amiable tone, which was something I wasn't used to hearing. I was happy for them though. Thank goodness for whatever made them get along. [1] I was worried that I would have to deal with drama in a neighboring team for so long.

She closed the door and saw me in the hallway. Thankfully, it wasn't that awkward, I was wearing the new PJs I bought yesterday, which were simply just a black T-shirt and blue sweatpants, so she didn't have to suffer into seeing me in those onesies unlike Yang the other day. I kept the bunny slippers though, which she didn't seem to notice or mind if she did. She was still wearing her usual outfit, which led me to assume that she was on her way to the locker room to clean up and change.

It was rather rude to just pass her without saying something, sure our first impressions weren't good, but being uncivil would only infuriate her and I couldn't bear with an ice queen this late at night. She seemed to be in a good mood, so I thought it was appropriate to show a little courtesy. "Hey," I greeted.

"Hey," she fixed her bangs with one of her hands while hesitantly making eye contact. I could tell that she also wasn't used to being friendly with me but with the right circumstances, we might be able to fix that.

"So… how are the beds?" I asked the first thing that came to mind that wouldn't be too much of a sensitive topic when bought up.

"We got real bunk beds now," she answered. "I wouldn't say Miss Goodwitch was happy when she saw our room in shambles though."

I slightly chuckled at that remark before remembering why I was out in the hallway. "At least you got what you guys wanted. Anyway, I… uh, gotta go. The Valkyrie needs her water." I stuttered, showing her the empty glass as I passed through her before I could make this encounter any awkward.

"Jaune?" she called.

"Yeah?" I stopped in my tracks and turned back at her to hear what she had to say.

"When Pyrrha said you'd make a great teammate… Well, I hope that she's right. You seemed to be a lot more capable than you look. Don't take this the wrong way, but if it wasn't for the skills you displayed, I would have thought of you as some unqualified idiot who somehow cheated his way into Beacon," she admitted.

Me? Cheating into Beacon? I would have been more likely to end up in the Top 10 of The Gallics' Most Fabulous Male Crossdressers than to pull a stupid stunt like that, and even then I'll just be a farmer or something. Anyway, I'm glad that she was starting to appreciate me, even though I wasn't worthy of such credit.

"I just hope you continue whatever you're doing that keeps your team afloat," she continued. "…and I mean it. Look, I'm sorry about how I acted earlier and I know our initial meetings weren't exactly ideal, I let my temper get the better of me. Now, everyone must think I'm sort of a snob."

I was able to understand where she was coming from, stress can bring out the worst of people, and it was apparent that her life wasn't as luxurious as it looked. "Must be rough being an heiress, huh?"

"Exactly. People want to live like royalty, but they do not know the everyday stresses and burdens as one. My father, for instance, for all his flaws, at least wants the best for us, but I could barely go a single day without hearing him yell because of what he had to go through daily. It doesn't help that people always seem to remember our shortcomings, but always forget when we do good."

I can't help but agree with her. I've seen a few individuals being portrayed based on one of their actions, and people think they've become experts on that person when in reality, there was more to it than that. Some impressions are going to last longer than others which is why I am very anxious about my reputation and how it could affect the Arcs as a whole.

She then took a deep breath and looked back at me. "I think I'm getting carried away. All I'm saying is… thank you for understanding. I guess Pyrrha was lucky to have you all, huh?"

Maybe. I subtly looked down at that. I don't know if getting paired with and being led by someone like me was beneficial for her.

"It was my pleasure… Snow Angel." I slipped out a nickname out of habit. I realized this and then smacked myself as I wasn't supposed to call anyone with sardonic nicknames as they could contradict my charade as a somewhat wide-eyed altruist.

"Jaune, people call me a lot of names but that's probably the worst one yet," she remarked with slight irritation, although thankfully not noticing that I acted snide for a second there.

"Sorry. I didn't know what was on my mind." I sheepishly apologized.

"But still, thank you. I really needed to get that off my chest."

"You're welcome." I nodded.

We smiled at each other before going our separate ways. It was actually nice to have a chat with Weiss while she's not acting like some anger-management attendee. But I should remember that this was only one time and she was in a better mood, as far as I know, her cold heart was still far from melted. Still, I consider this a step up from our previous interactions and hope that the belligerence between us is eventually shaken off so we could finally act like allies and not like children squabbling over petty things.

=o=

1. After Grimm Studies, I was given a talk by Professor Port. He convinced me to savor what I had and continue what I do best as a huntress instead of complaining about not being chosen as a leader. Say what you wish about Professor Port and his tall tales but he knows exactly what he is talking about, and I highly respect him for that.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Editorial Note:

Chapter Text

To Live and Learn

CHAPTER 11

"What do you call intelligent and civilized people in Vacuo? Tourists."

-An old joke between former members of the Autumn-Winter Coalition.

To prepare for Dust Studies, I went to my locker to grab my textbook and the essay I spent all night trying to finish. My team and most of the others were already waiting in class so I was the only person in the locker room. At least that was what I thought.

When I was about to close my locker. I felt something sinister approaching behind me, but before I could do anything about it, my hoodie got pulled off before I got pinned to another locker. Opening my eyes, I saw that Cardin was the one grabbing me by the collar of my hoodie while his little band of juvenile hooligans stood behind him. The one with the blue hair—Sky looked particularly nervous about this.

"You thought you were so funny back there, didn't you, Arc?" Cardin fumed at my face.

I knew this would happen, just not this early. It was too cheap for him to ambush me while I was defenseless; I should have expected that he would stoop that low. As someone who's dealt with worse, I thought that could waste his breath yelling at me for all he wanted for all I cared. "Come on, I said I was sorry."

"Yeah, right, like I would believe that easily. Do you really think I'm that stupid?" He angrily retorted. As a matter of fact, I did. Not everyone got to Beacon because they had good grades or were impressive enough, some were able to attend because of their influential connections and just happened to be skilled enough to be accepted. Which explains why there were some mediocre students around here despite claiming that they only accept 'the best of the best'. I figured I wasn't the only person in this academy who was there because of nepotism.

Russel then swiped my essay. "Oh, what's this? Your essay for Professor Peach?" He chuckled. "Thanks, Cardin's been nagging me to make one of these for him. Nothing a simple name change and a reprint can't handle."

That is when I started to lose patience, I tolerated them for being petty morons and now they're doing something extreme enough to get them suspended. So not only was that contemptible, but also very reckless and stupid. Maybe Cardin did deserve to have his legs broken after all. "Give that back, now!" I demanded, trying to struggle out from Cardin's grasp.

"Make me," Russel taunted.

"Guys, I think we're going a little too far," Sky shuddered. I could already guess that this guy is the brains of this group because he was the only one using it so far.

"Oh shut up, Sky! We need to show this little runt that Cardin Winchester is not to be messed with!" Cardin yelled.

"But he—"

"Do you still buy that crap about him being a 'hero' in some stupid backwater hick town no one cares about? If all of that is true. Why does he keep letting himself get pushed around? I mean look at him! He's probably a fraud for all I care." He exclaimed. This wasn't really the best way for me to find out that I wasn't the only person in this academy to be aware of that, I was almost tempted to tell him how correct he was in that assumption.

And he also made a good point, I kept wondering why I hadn't tried intimidating him into leaving me alone, but then again, I already made it clear that I didn't want our then one-sided hostility to escalate. He was easy to ignore and the only thing I wanted was for him to get bored of me and move on to pick on somebody else.

"Not really a face of a hero, is it?" Cardin continued. "He is going to pay for getting that dumb ginger of his to almost break my leg!" Calling Nora a stupid dumb would probably be the dumbest mistake he'd make if she was present. His legs won't be the only thing that would be broken, that I know of. "Let's see how you like it when someone screws you over!"

He then shoved me into my locker and closed it. I figured he was this much of a sore loser doing this over a dumb mistake. It's not like he had anything good to gain in doing this. "You're making a mistake, Cardin! Let me out now!"

"Not in a million years, bunny boy!" Cardin replied before a short pause. "Now… uh, how do you launch the lockers again?"

"Oh, you need to put in a separate code." Another voice answered, which was from Dove, I think.

"Dammit! And I thought it'll be that simple!" Cardin slammed my locker, and I felt slightly vibrate on impact. "Alright Jauney-Boy, just tell your locker's launch code and just get this over with."

He had the gall to ask me that after what he did for me, then again he wasn't exactly that clever. I thought about tricking him into not using it which I thought was a funny idea at the time. "Oh-five-one-four-three-one," I said in a mocking tone, making him think that I was trying to tell him the code that I would open my locker. Little did he know, that was the actual launch code. If I learned anything about hiding the truth was that if you confessed in a way that makes people think you're not being serious, no one will believe it.

"Nice try, Jauney-boy but I'm not gonna open your locker for you," he responded, falling for the bait like a clueless fish in a pond. His loss. If he is not putting that down, then he wasn't going to see anything blasting off in his little space program. "Now tell me your launch codes so we could watch you fly! Or we'll…"

"Or what?" I asked with a smug grin on my face.

"Shut up! We'll…" Cardin paused. "Uh, any idea guys?" There was no answer. I thought I got him good, that was before I realized I missed a crucial part that immediately made me regret my decision and for not thinking this through.

He lost patience and smashed the keypad. "Screw this! I think you're better off staying there for a while, it's good enough for me!"

This all turned out to be a terrible idea in hindsight, I should have realized that he could just leave me here trapped. If I knew that earlier, I would have tricked him into opening this locker somehow. The lockers here don't have a latch from the inside in case someone got locked in. My dumb ass struck again and it was all too late.

"See you later, butthead! Have fun breathing in there and thanks for the essay!" Cardin mocked with laughter from his team followed while his face on the vents disappeared.

I saw Sky on the vents, he quickly looked at the side before whispering "I'm really sorry." He then quickly caught up to his teammates.

To make things worse, the bell rang, indicating that class was starting, making me late for Professor Peach's class without an essay to pass. I tried slamming the walls of the locker door and calling for help but it was no use, there was nobody in the locker room except me as everyone was now taking their class.

Taking out my scroll, I attempted to contact someone on my team to come and help me, only to get a screen that said 'Calling and Messaging are disabled during class hours', which made me bang my head at the door. Beacon systems were being counter-productive as usual, couldn't they at least add an 'Emergency Call' feature in case of situations like this? [1] I can't launch myself out either because the staff didn't like the idea of students playing with the rocket-propelled lockers during class except during circumstances where it would be tested or demonstrated.

I sighed and put the scroll back into the pocket and tried to ram the locker doors open which also failed since I heard that these lockers were made to survive long falls. I gave up and just accepted the fact that I was missing Professor Peach's class—in a claustrophobic locker with little ventilation no less.

If I had known this would happen, I would have let Nora break Cardin's legs. It didn't matter if I would get in trouble anymore, it would have been a lot better than being trapped in there.

=o=

1. The feature actually once existed, but it was removed by Ozpin when he discovered that students were abusing it. He thought that nobody needed it anyway, as nobody calls for help, and that as Huntsmen, students are expected to be capable of handling themselves during an unexpected event.

I spent an entire hour and a half trapped inside a locker when it felt longer than that. To say it was an unpleasant experience was an understatement; there was barely enough room for me to breathe in and I was wearing my armor at the time, which made the whole thing much more uncomfortable. It was also hot in there, I have been sweating since the first ten minutes that the back of my hoodie was drenched. I even passed out a couple of times out of suffocation because of how little air I was getting.

I ended up taking a nap to hopefully speed things up. I slowly woke up after hearing the bell, which sounded very wonderful at the time. I soon heard some familiar voices calling my name which were becoming louder and audible, making it clear that they were in the locker room. I used my remaining strength to bang the door, signaling them to where I was.

"Jaune!" I heard Pyrrha's voice as the footsteps became increasingly more rapid and louder. They stopped after I saw the reassuring faces of my teammates through the vent, albeit barely since the opening only provides a limited view. "Jaune, are you okay?"

"Two…nine…" I cracked my voice, mouthing off the numbers of my locker's code with every breath I still had.

"Jaune, what are you—?"

"Quiet!" Ren interjected, gesturing for everyone to concentrate on my broken speech. If there was a time that I had to appreciate Ren's stoic professionalism then it would be that moment.

"…six…three…oh…one."

"Two-nine-six-three-zero-one! Type it in!" Ren directed. Pyrrha nodded and typed the code I gave them.

The locker doors opened, and I inhaled deeply as I stepped out before collapsing. They turned me around to face the ceiling. I panted heavily as I gazed at my teammates squatting in front of me while I lay on the ground, exhaling as much air as possible. "Are you alright?" Pyrrha asked.

"You look a little red!" Nora remarked.

"Wa...ter…" I breathed out in desperate need of hydration.

"He needs water now!" Ren pointed.

"Okie-Dokie'!" Nora zoomed away and almost immediately returned with a bottle of water. "Done!"

Pyrrha took the bottle from Nora and opened its cap before feeding it to me. "Here."

I grabbed hold of the bottle and chugged all of its contents within mere seconds that some of them ended up spilling out. Spending ninety minutes caged in a tight locker can dehydrate you pretty quickly. "Thanks," I continued panting, still feeling thirsty. "More please."

"Aye!" Nora saluted before zooming out again. Ren and Pyrrha helped me up, I leaned at the nearest locker as I was having trouble trying to balance myself since I was still suffering from the headache I just got. "I'll get you a towel," Ren bolted out.

"What happened? You were missing the last class, we were so worried." Pyrrha questioned. "Let me guess… Cardin."

I nodded, scowling at the thought of his face. Pyrrha's hands gripped and her eyes narrowed. "That Winchester… He went too far, you know I will really break his legs," she stated. At that point, I would have allowed her and gladly watched them fight but I digressed because I believe he deserves more severe punishment.

Nora came back with three water bottles, one of them standing above her head. "Here ya go!"

"Thanks again," I said to Nora before taking the bottles and drinking back my strength and lowering my body temperature. Ren also came back and gave me a white towel.

"What were you doing there anyway?" Nora asked.

"Cardin," I simply answered while wiping the sweat off my forehead.

"Oh, that does it! Just say the word and I'll break his legs!" She fisted her palm, eager to finish what she tried to do back at that cafeteria.

"You'll get your chance, Nora, but right now I need to speak to Professor Goodwitch," I said. As much as I wanted to confront Cardin and have Nora go berserk on him and his team, I needed to snitch on him first and make this whole mess clear to Miss Goodwitch. Damn birdman just stole an essay I spent all night working on for crying out loud. I needed to be realistic and if there was one thing Cardin was scared of, then it was the staff. He was going to get punished one way or the other.

We then went to the combat hall. The four went in while I stayed outside and waited for Miss Goodwitch. She then appeared a few minutes later, holding her tablet as usual. I approached her before she managed to get to the combat hall.

It took some guts approaching someone like her since she's basically that one dreaded teacher every school has, but she's mostly doing her job trying to look over a school full of brats with wacky weapons, and I can't exactly blame her for her disciplinarian attitude. Someone has to remind these kids that embracing Huntsman individuality does not mean you are free to commit reckless tomfoolery at all times after all. "Professor Goodwitch, can you excuse me for a second?"

"Mister Arc! Professor Peach recently reported that you were absent from her lesson," she scolded. "You better explain yourself!"

'I was busy rethinking my whole life in my locker,' I'd answer, but I didn't think she was in a mood for that kind of sass, I needed to get to the point. "I'm sorry ma'am, I would have attended had not Cardin Winchester and his team trapped me in my own locker. I couldn't call for help because scrolls are disabled during class." I explained.

She sighed, albeit with some sympathy for me. "Mister Arc, those are some bold claims to accuse your fellow students of such a heinous act, however, I'm willing to believe you because Mister Winchester has been a nuisance recently."

That was reassuring. All I wanted was to see Cardin pay for making me stay at my locker and steal my essay. That crossed the line enough for me.

"But even if they're true. I cannot do anything at the moment, I am occupied with commencing today's class which is vital as it reintroduces the combat matches from last month. Mister Winchester will be given a trial once this lesson is complete."

That didn't go as well as I hoped but it was still good enough for me. "I understand, professor."

"Which begs the question," she adjusted her glasses. "Haven't you been able to defend yourself against Winchester then? This school assumes that you are capable of standing your ground."

"I was caught off-guard, ma'am. I was unarmed and they had me bound and surrounded. I was not able to fight back." I explained. The whole thing was so sudden that I wasn't able to plan it out properly. In hindsight, I should have seen it coming.

She sighed again. "Honorless ruffians. I guess that's understandable."

"He also stole my essay for Dust Studies and passed it off as his own," I added, making sure she knew how it was the last nail in the coffin. I didn't actually care if it was too late to get those grades as long as Cardin wasn't getting any of them.

Her brow raised. "Is that true?"

"He reprinted it with his name, I still have the original document on my computer, which was marked as written on an earlier date. I can't show it to you now of course."

"I'll look into it then," she made a slight nod in acknowledgment, and as we were about to close this conversation something else came to her mind. "Say, do you want to face Cardin today in a fair match?"

I was almost shocked when she asked me that. "Excuse me, professor?"

"You said you were not given a chance to defend yourself when he tormented you. I thought it would be appropriate that he would discover what he was up against before I give him some proper punishment. That way, he would learn humility while we discipline him," she almost made a slight grin at that suggestion as if to tell me she would be very glad to see him humbled.

The thing that bothered me the most was that she was very confident that I would be victorious in this, but after thinking about it for a brief moment, I decided to settle with it. I was so infuriated at him that I didn't feel like pretending to be peaceful or helpless. Trying to bore and ignore him didn't work before so I might as well get a taste for vengeance for once. It would at least encourage everyone to leave me alone. "I'd be delighted to."

"Good. Your match will be the last one before the end of the class. Students like Winchester need to be reminded that Beacon is no place for bullies. I'm glad Caiaphas Arc's son would do the honors," she said. Mentioning my father's name took a slight hit to my confidence as I still wasn't sure if I could even deliver on his legacy but my mind was too focused on Cardin at that moment.

"Thank you, ma'am," I nodded.

"And don't think I have forgotten about your grades, young man. Your theoretical performances are still mediocre at best." she then bluntly prompted.

Since I expected her to eventually bring that up, I wasn't exactly fazed by her reminder. "Of course, ma'am." I nodded.

"Now, proceed to class. I will follow shortly."

It went easier than anticipated. I thought that it would take more persuading for Miss Goodwitch to take action, but it turned out, that it seemed that we have a mutual infatuation towards Losechester's antics that we were able to settle into an agreement without much trouble.

I went inside and the first thing I saw was Nora and Losechester trying to strike at each other while Ren does his best to restrain them both with Pyrrha and Cardin's goons standing behind their respective teammate. Some students who were watching seemed eager for a fight while others looked concerned that they were distancing themselves away from them.

"You're freaking insane, do you know that?!" Cardin shouted as Nora was aiming to choke his neck.

"Better than being a no-good bully!" She retorted.

Ren did his best pushing back both parties from each other. "Both of you. Get. A. Grip!"

"I agree. As much as I want to see this vermin get what he deserves. We mustn't get ourselves in trouble. We should save it for a match." Pyrrha chimed in before turning her gaze at me. They all suddenly stopped after they saw me approaching them.

"Ah, look who it is," Cardin took the opportunity to grab away Nora's arm from his neck before slowly walking toward me. "So how's your stay at—", he was interrupted by Pyrrha who stood in his way as she scowled at him. I could almost feel him cover up his apprehension of her by taunting me. "What's the matter? Need your girlfriend to fight your battles for you?"

I tried to respond but Pyrrha beat me to it. "You have gotten one step too far with him, Winchester."

"You didn't like how I repaid Jauney-boy for almost breaking my legs? Don't worry there is more where that came from," He's scoffed. Can't wait. Hopefully, you won't get suspended or even expelled so I can see how you pull it off, I sardonically thought.

"If you know what's good for you, you better start leaving us alone!" Pyrrha shouted right before the doors of the entrance opened as Miss Goodwitch entered the room and saw all of us standing.

"All of you, please be seated," Miss Goodwitch said with a stoic face as she went down the stairs of the combat hall.

"But Prof—", Nora tried to explain before Miss Goodwitch raised her hand.

"No excuses. If you're holding a grudge you can save it for a match," she said, not even turning her head toward her. Nora groaned but knew she couldn't do anything at the moment and obeyed her word. Ren sat down with her and patted her back.

"Hmph. I think you'll learn not to mess with me better in actual combat. I'll show you how I could have saved that stupid stinkhole better than you did." Cardin smirked, having brought up that event as if there was something to be proud of given how much he would have died if he wasn't as lucky as I was.

To give an impression of someone nervous, I responded with a gulp. Not that I'm scared of Losechester, I wanted him to underestimate me, so he could act as smug as possible before wiping the floor with it.

"Watch yourself, Jauney-boy," he walked away with his peers, with Sky nervously looking back. Pyrrha continued to scowl at him, but I told her to calm down and walked her to our seats beside Ren and Nora.

"How repulsive." She crossed her arms, still angry over Cardin.

"Don't worry, Pyrrha! Justice will soon be brought to Cardin and our team's dignity will never falter!" Nora said. "Jaune, just say the word and I will break his legs!"

As much as I want to see Losechester in a wheelchair. I'm still going to plan to get back to him through means that were accepted by the school, and I needed to inform them of that. "Oh, you don't need to do anything. I have it all figured out." I turned to my teammates and gave them a smirk.

Nora was confused before her face shifted into an evil grin. "Ohh, I like where this is going. The suspense is killing me!" she said, rubbing both of her hands in a rather dastardly manner.

"You won't be disappointed," I nodded while giving a confident smile.

"So, what are you planning to do?" Pyrrha inquired.

"Just wait and see," I told her.

We all went to our seats, directing our attention to Miss Goodwitch, who was now in the arena, conducting her class. "Good afternoon, students. I'm sure you're all excited to know that today we are resuming combat matches for this course."

"Woo!" Nora cheered along with some other students thirsting for some action.

"But first, since we have plenty of time. You still have to do some warm-up exercises first as usual and spend half of another hour reviewing what you've learned for the past month."

The same people who cheered, including Nora, groaned. Nevertheless, they were still happy to know that combat matches were finally back.

"You already know the drill, so it is best for you to be on with it if you want the matches to start sooner."

We all lined up outside the classroom to start our daily warm-ups for combat class. Cardin looked back and sneered at me, I coldly looked back remembering what he done to me as I planned on how to beat him in the match. I had most of everyone's combat styles and moves noted, Cardin was no exception. He was one of those people who believed themselves to be superior to everyone, which would surely cause him not to fight too seriously with anyone he perceived to be weaker than himself. If I take that to my advantage, then the fight has already been won.

Chapter Text

To Live and Learn

CHAPTER 12

"Victory is in a simple soul, not overinflated egos."

-Jaune Arc, Atlesian Commissar and de-facto leader of the Fangbusters

Combat class is a favorite among Huntsmen-in-training, and for good reason; it is practical, entertaining, and educational so it's no mystery why it's twice as long as other classes. Even I find myself attached to the subject since it gives me insight into my classmate's fighting ability as I take note of them as it may prove beneficial for the future.

Today, my knowledge of other students would be put to the test, particularly Cardin's. When I was observing him during this class for the past month, I observed how he uses his large mace that apparently could release explosions on impact, which tells me that I have to be careful when blocking it with my shield. Thankfully, Mom's shield is known to be almost indestructible, I saw her demonstrate it against missiles and lasers and it remained intact with barely a scratch. Plus, his mace is shown to be heavy, added to the fact that he was an armor that weighs him and while that made him durable, it came with the cost of his mobility. In short, I actually didn't need to worry about him that much. Since I was able to win against dad, my sisters, and a bandit lord, I knew this was going to be child's play by comparison.

The last hour of combat training was spent on matches, which were exciting to the bloodthirsty students since they were finally able to fight and be graded in the process. A lot of students have always been obsessed with strength and would often compete over who is the strongest, never mind that strength by itself is only a contributing factor to victory along with everything else and it wouldn't mean much if you don't have the appropriate wits and strategies to back it up. Everyone needs to remember that charging in headfirst with all your might and yelling your attack names—practically giving away your next move to your opponent—will only get you nowhere other than a hospital bed. If only the hot-blooded idiots with bad hair knew this. It's no wonder why Huntsmen tend to die in droves despite being far more powerful than your average living being.

I personally never understood why Huntsmen always needed to show off while fighting; it would be better if everyone just saves their aura abilities when they're needed. I've never been a big on theatric fighting myself especially when it's proven multiple times that it's possible to win and achieve the same results by doing less. Besides, my motion sickness makes it rather hard for me to adopt a more flashy fighting style without getting into some problems.

So far, the fights have been one versus one, probably because Miss Goodwitch wanted to go easy with the fights for today and wanted to see what her students learned when fighting alone. I noticed Team CRDL has been trying to get themselves volunteered, which Miss Goodwitch did her best to ignore, likely because she's saving Cardin to face me for the last match before the class ends.

"Mitch J. Ratmann's aura is in the red. Piper Rivers has been declared the winner." Miss Goodwitch announced after the lights went back on one more time. The two participants returned to their seats before Miss Goodwitch stepped back into the arena. "We still have time for one more match before we could conclude this lesson."

I took a deep breath as I prepared for my name and Cardin to be called. I've been twiddling my thumbs over it ever since class started. "Jaune Arc of Team JNPR. Cardin Winchester of Team CRDL, please enter the arena."

As I was about to stand up, Pyrrha held my shoulder, turning my gaze at her emerald eyes. "Be careful, Jaune," she said. I always found her comfort to be welcoming. It always gave me a soothing feeling in what would be an otherwise stressful situation.

Well, that feeling was quickly replaced once Nora started shouting her encouragements that were a little too enthusiastic, to say the least. "Get him a body bag, Fearless Leader!" It was dark even for her. Another reason to be glad that Nora is on my side, if she had her way, Cardin would have been to the infirmary by now. He should be thankful that I was challenging him to a fair fight especially since I didn't believe in all that honor crap.

I walked toward the arena, unsheathing my sword and collapsing my shield. While feigning anxiety to give Cardin a false impression of an inadequate joke who doesn't even deserve to be fought with all his capabilities, looking at his stupid overconfident smile as I faced him in the arena.

I know that this was going to get the professor's attention, but they already know who I am and what my team was capable of, and I'm sure Ozpin has been making plans for me since the moment he formed my team. So there wasn't anything to worry about that I already have; if they see me as an accomplished warrior and expected me to act like one, then so be it, I just wanted Cardin off my back. It's not like they're going to think me less of a likable dork seeing as how I successfully assumed that persona for a month now.

"Hey, Jauney-boy. Do me a favor and don't concede early." Cardin scoffed, leaning his mace at his shoulder.

"I don't plan to, Cardin. Just please take it easy." I said somewhat confidently while still feigning anxiety to get him to underestimate me. Releasing my pent-up fears felt appropriate knowing that Cardin thought that I was far from the hero who saved Pucelle. While I still share that sentiment, I was still a passable enough fighter that possessed a decent amount of practice to best some situations in self-defense, which includes quelling arrogant thugs and Cardin wasn't far off from that. [1]

"Heh. Maybe. But only because you're so pitiful, I'll be only gentle for a bit, don't you worry," he smirked. Looks like I got him where I want, I thought. The next thing for me to do was make this moment something he would not forget.

I gave a nervous chuckle to delude Cardin for the last time. The lights outside the arena turned off, and holographic screens showing both of our aura gauges emerged. I gave a faint smirk, knowing how this would go.

"Ready? Begin!" Miss Goodwitch commenced.

I held my sword tight and remained calm as Cardin horizontally swung his mace aiming toward my face which I dodged right in time then used my shield to uppercut his face, pushing him back. He shook his head, stupefied over what just happened.

The next thing he saw after clearing his vision was me stepping forward before giving him a series of rapid slashes which he was too stunned to counter, quickly draining his aura. He stumbled back before getting angry and charged, trying to slam me with his mace, which I dodged by simply sidestepping, barely affected by the mini-explosion he caused. Once he turned to me, I bashed his face with my shield twice before swinging my left arm sideways, striking him with my shield rim. The next thing I know, I was able to knock him to the ground.

"Consider this my free notes for ya'," I leaned toward him with a smirk.

He opened his eyes and looked at his screen, he was shocked to see that his aura levels were already at the red and mine were still full, it was already over. "WHAT THE FU—!"

The buzzer rang and the lights turned back on before anyone knew it. I heard the audience murmuring shock, amazement, and confusion. I guess the so-called Defender of Podunk was back with vengeance, though, I have pretty much gotten to the point where it barely bothers me. As shameful and undeserving it is, being on a pedestal does have some of its perks, and this was one of the only times where I wasn't ashamed of capitalizing on it.

To be honest, I was pretty scared that it wouldn't work out as planned, but it turned out to be comically easy since Dad and even my non-Huntsman sisters with limited training offered more challenges when sparring with them. Hearing Cardin scream in agony was pretty satisfying too, he was too stupid and angry to be a serious threat. I know his type, they're the kind of jackasses who strives from picking on those who are seemingly weaker than him to hide the fact that he was a pathetic excuse of a living being who'd otherwise get his ass handed to him in every other situation. It's a wonder I had to wait until this moment to teach him a lesson. If it was that easy, it could have saved me the trouble.

"Jaune Arc wins the match… by flawless victory within thirteen seconds… A new record among freshmen," Miss Goodwitch announced, sounding just as surprised as everyone else.

There was an awkward silence in the audience until clapping was heard from Nora. "That's our Fearless Leader!" The rest of my team joined in followed by Team RWBY then the rest of the class. Some shouts and whistles were heard during the applause.

Cardin gripped his hands and tried to get up, needless to say, he wasn't pleased getting beaten by someone who he thought was lower than dirt in thirteen seconds. "What?! No!"

"Students." Miss Goodwitch uttered, which silenced the audience. "Cardin, were you aware of who you just faced?"

"Does it really matter?" He responded bitterly, whose body was faltering after recently getting beat up.

"He is the son of Caiaphas Arc! One of the most exceptionally skilled individuals I know. Being trained under him, you were outmatched the moment you faced him, added that you let your guard down hence why he was able to defeat you within seconds. Did the introductory match with Miss Hisakawa teach you nothing?"

Cardin had no answer, he just stared at her, faintly grunting. Miss Goodwitch continued. "Mister Winchester, while you have proven yourself to have fighting skills sufficient enough for acceptance within this academy. You need to humble yourself. Arrogance is one of the leading causes of death in the field, along with incompetence."

Losechester (a nickname which is more appropriate now) just distraughtly looked at the ground. Miss Goodwitch then turned her gaze toward me. "Mister Arc, due to your background, I anticipated that you'll be able to handle this skillfully, but even then you have still managed to catch me by surprise."

"Oh, it was nothing. I only followed what I learned from my father." I said as modestly as I could. In hindsight, that might not have been the best response to avoid more trouble but it was almost worth it.

"Is that so?" she mused. "I guess one opponent must have been too easy for you. Since we still have time, you could show the class how one extraordinarily skilled warrior could handle several opponents."

I immediately lost my gratified grin. Those words struck me like venomous lighting that was enough to put me all in a state of shock, disbelief, and terror that the satisfaction and adrenaline of defeating Cardin disappeared within me the second she stated that.

She turned to the audience. "Since the match was too short We will have another one. Only this time, Mister Arc will face the rest of Cardin's team. Since the last match was proven to be too trivial for him and his aura levels are still full, he will fight by himself as per the rules; I believe this is an adequate enough handicap for him to give us a fairer fight."

The class cheered with anticipation. Meanwhile, my jaw dropped as my mind went into a panic while trying to remain calm as I didn't want them to notice my insecurities and get anyone to exploit them. I was not able to anticipate facing everyone else in Cardin's band of delinquents after humiliating him and I should have known that defeating Cardin without holding back would eventually backfire. I wasn't sure if I could handle his teammates ganging up on me.

"Would the rest of Team CRDL kindly enter the arena?" Miss Goodwitch said. Russel and Dove stood up and dragged Sky into the following since he was too hesitant to go. "Mister Winchester. Please return to your seat and rest. Your team will take care of this."

He angrily hobbled out of the arena. "You won this one, Arc." Cardin spat when he passed through me. He approached his teammates who had just come out of the entrance. "Crush him."

His teammates minus Sky nodded. They all pulled out their respective weapons; Russel with his dual daggers with dust chambers, à la Weiss's rapier. Dove with his sword-revolver, which to his credit, was actually a decent weapon if you ask me. And finally, Sky's weapon, which is a halberd-rifle like Bleu's weapon, which means I already know how to counter it, especially considering that Sky is less skilled and far more anxious than Bleu, who was already a full-fledged Huntress when she challenged me. Russel and Dove both have faced with vengeance written all over them, Sky, of course, was meanwhile whimpering.

"You just wasted your luck on the last match, bunny jacket. Big mistake thinking you can get back at us." Russel said.

"Yeah, you should know your place, nerd!" Dove dissed.

Nerd? I thought. I refuse to believe that he was being serious when insulting me with that and it made me feel less pathetic. Say what you want about me, but at least I don't use insults that sound like they came from crappy high school dramas that were written by out-of-touch 40-something adults.

And with that, my apprehensions against them deteriorated and it almost motivated me into wanting to punish them for calling me with a less-than-original insult. It also made me realize that they were just as conceited as their thickheaded leader and that might not be too different from facing Cardin solo after all.

"Hey, uh, just so you know, this isn't anything personal." Sky said to me.

"What was that, Sky?" Russel turned to him.

"Uh, nothing."

Just as I thought I was done with birds. I went back into my battle stance and told myself to remember my training. Being somewhat familiar with these idiots and without Cardin's leadership, they'll all be focused on trying to put me down without regard for tactics. Just like every other boneheaded brute in this academy. [2]

"You can do it, Jaune!" Pyrrha motivated.

"Yeah, show them who's boss!" Nora stood raising her fist.

"We believe in you!" Ruby cheered.

All the lights on the room, barring the one on the arena, of course, all turned off while Cardin's aura screen changed to show all of his teammate's aura gauges as well as another gauge that represents the team's overall aura. Miss Goodwitch then started giving out the instructions. "This will be a three versus one battle. You will be given five minutes for this match. When the timer runs out, whichever team that has the most aura combined wins assuming an entire team hasn't been knocked out by then. Have I made myself clear?" All of us nodded, and with that, she officially declared a match. "Good. You may begin when ready."

We continued staring at each other for a few more seconds when all of a sudden, Russel fired a round of fire dust which I blocked just right in time. Lowering my shield, I saw him running towards me before leaping, ready to thrust both of his daggers in a reverse grip. I raised my shield again and blocked his strike before using it to push him back. I went on to parry all of his attacks with my sword before looking to my right and seeing Dove approaching me as he was about to swing down his sword. I deflected him mid-swing with my sword and parried his following attacks while fending off Russel with my shield.

Dove suddenly rushed back and switched his weapon to its gun mode, I quickly bashed Russel's face with my shield before turning my shield towards Dove and blocking his gunshots. I was able to sense something coming towards my legs so I leaped up and looked down and saw a halberd sweeping near the ground. I turned my head back and saw Sky giving a nervous chuckle. I chose to ignore him for the moment since he was already shaken and his buddies were still actively trying to pin me down. A bullet ran near my face, making me look back at Dove who quickly started reloading since his chamber ran out. I used this opportunity to focus on Russel who attempted to flank me from the other side.

I blocked his flurry of slashes with my sword before clashing with him as I continued to block Dove's gunshots at the back until he switched back to his sword and tried to strike, I quickly turned around while swinging my shield at Russel's face as I parried Dove's attack. I suddenly heard a gunshot and quickly turned towards Sky with the shield covering me. I then bashed the shield on Dove, trembling him back and making him open to attack.

After giving him a few slashes, I quickly dodged back from a thrust from Sky's halberd before clashing blades with Russel at the back. He flipped back and started firing electric dust which made me dart around the room before I got close to him, causing him to stop and jump to the side before lunging at me while rolling in mid-air.

No, I don't think so, I thought. I caught him with my shield and shoved him to my back, making him fall to the ground before I sliced his aura to the red while he was lying.

"Russel Thrush is out for the match!" Miss Goodwitch announced.

"Dammit!" Russel cursed as he slammed the floor.

"Bunny jacket one, puke-colored mohawk zero," I smirked at him, referencing his last taunt to add insult to injury, literally in this case. All he could do was glare helplessly.

One down, two to go. I looked at Dove and Sky, who were furious and frightened respectively. I bolted toward them while they tried to shoot me down with their guns. I engaged Sky who went to block my slash with his polearm, before turning my attention to Dove, using my shield to bash away his defense then turning back, shoving away the tip of Sky's weapon before it fired, and pushed him back. I went back to Dove and swung my sword, causing him to block and parry before sweeping his legs under him, collapsing him to the ground. I gave him one last swing of my sword as his aura lowered to the red.

"Should have kept your eyes open," I said. I always wondered why he looked like he always kept his eyes shut looking like Professor Port's long-lost son, or maybe it's just me. [3]

"Dove Bronzewing is out! Only Sky Lark remains on Team 2!" Miss Goodwitch announced. The screen showing Team CRDL-minus-C's aura has Russel and Dove both crossed out with Sky being the only one left. The team's overall aura is at orange, with only a third of it remaining.

"Time to bring down the sky." Making my one last quip, I turned my gaze towards him, who was shuddering like there was no tomorrow. Since he was the least bad among the team in terms of personality and the only one there who had the mental capacity to think this entire thing is a farce, I'll go easy on him.

I stormed toward him and proceeded to overwhelm him with a flurry of slashes. He wasn't able to attack since he was too occupied trying to block everything I threw at him. Eventually, he had enough and threw the towel while his aura was still light-green. "This is hopeless!" He yelled. "I yield!"

The buzzer rang and lights turned back on as Miss Goodwitch walked back to the arena "Jaune Arc has once again, won the match."

The room was bombarded with applause, I looked at my team and saw Pyrrha standing up and clapping as hard as she could while Nora jumped while raising her fist to the air then giving Ren a hug who was noticeably smiling. The only person who wasn't cheering was unsurprisingly Cardin, who was sitting with his arms folded, glowering at his team's failure.

"Good work. Mister Arc. As expected from your family. You truly are an exceptional fighter." Miss Goodwitch commended.

Taking on Cardin's entire team wasn't the plan at all. I chose to follow my training instincts and win because I had to meet their expectations, otherwise Car-dimwit would continue harassing me with more ammunition if I lost. Team CRDL mostly lost because they were over their heads. Had they been someone else and more serious, I would have needed more luck to win.

"Mister Lark. While you chose to make a decision that is normally frowned upon, I cannot blame you for it. I am somewhat pleased to know that you're aware that you have little chance of winning and accepted defeat." She then looked at Russel and Dove, who both were standing on the sidelines, flustered and shaken by their defeat. "As for the rest of you. You need to plan your attacks if you are to face someone who is levels above you. Just because an opponent is outnumbered, it doesn't instantly mean you have the upper hand. A skilled individual can make a quantity of a group meaningless."

"Can we go back to our seats now?" Russel whined.

"Not yet. You still have something to answer for. That goes the same for you, Mister Arc." Miss Goodwitch responded, and I already knew where this was all headed.

She turned back to the audience. "That is all for the day. Remember, everyone—the Vytal Festival is only a few months away. It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!" she announced, exciting the students, most notably Team RWBY, who were all pumped up after the mention of the tournament. Blake meanwhile, looked just as disinterested as ever.

The bell rang, ending all of the classes for today. Everyone left the combat hall so they could spend the rest of the day for themselves. Of course, Team CRDL and I stayed after class because of some unfinished business. The juvenile delinquents were lined up facing Miss Goodwitch's unimpressed face as I stood beside her.

"Cardin Winchester. While you and your friends have been causing a lot of ruckus since the first day. I cannot be more disgusted with what you did to Mister Arc a few hours ago," Miss Goodwitch scolded.

"But, ma'am. Even if that's true, then shouldn't Jaune be able to fend for himself? After all, he is an exceptional fighter, was he?" He replied while making an insulting parody of an innocent smile.

Miss Goodwitch's eyes further narrowed. "Mister Winchester, answer me this honestly: Do you think I'm stupid?"

Cardin flinched as he lost his grin and started to whimper that he couldn't answer. Miss Goodwitch continues to berate him. "Mister Arc has already proven to be superior against you and your team. I'm sure Mister Arc would have taken care of you had you not chosen to attack while he was unarmed and alone unprovoked. Now normally, I would stay out of students' personal affairs as they are expected to deal with them themselves, but after I heard you stole a fellow student's essay and passed it as your own has caught my ire. Is that true?"

The quartet continued to shudder and sweat profoundly at the stern witch. "Don't try to lie. Know that I would eventually find out the truth, and if you ever tried to hide it from me, you will know why my former enemies sometimes called me 'The Wicked Witch'," she intimidated, emphasizing on 'former'.

They looked at each other before giving in, making Cardin and Russel give a dim nod. "As I have suspected. Are you all trying to get expelled?! I cannot be more disappointed in you four right now. You will all stay in detention for the day. As for Mister Winchester, you would be staying in detention for a week, I will also make sure that the essay you submitted to Professor Peach would not be graded, as they rightfully belonged to Mister Arc."

Cardin was furious but knew he could do nothing, so all he did was look down on the rest of his team.

"Now, I want you all to apologize to Mister Arc immediately." She slightly and gently pushed me toward them which I didn't think was necessary at all.

Cardin rolled his eyes and sighed. "Sorry, Jauney-boy," he said, disingenuously, of course…

"Politely…" Miss Goodwitch urged as her eyes narrowed further.

He groaned before apologizing again. "Alright, Alright! I'm sorry for being such a jerk, Jaune!" It still sounded forced, but it was something at least.

"Yeah, sorry." Russel followed.

"I regret this…" Dove said.

"No hard feelings, right?" Sky weakly grinned.

"Good." She turned to me. "Mister Arc, you may go now. You four stay. I am still not done with you."

I nodded before walking to the exit. I looked at them out of pity and saw Cardin's gaze still distraught at me. I shrugged it off and left the room. He had a lot to think about, so I'll let him take the hint. I had enough of them for the day and I wanted to refresh my mind after everything that happened these past hours and I got what I came for.

After walking out of the exit of the combat hall, I was greeted by the sight of my team and Team RWBY. All were still congratulating me on my recent win. "Here he is, the bane of CRDL!" Nora bounced.

Pyrrha went to my side with a satisfied look. "You did great, Jaune. I'm so proud of you."

"Looks like Cardin won't bother you for a while," Ren remarked, showing a little bit of a rare smile from him.

"Yeah! You showed those mean ole' bullies who they were messing with!" Nora cheered.

"You were amazing! You beat all of them with barely a scratch! Oh, you have got to teach me sometime!" Ruby squealed.

"Looks like Vomit-Boy has promoted himself to Vomit-Man!" Yang quipped.

I could only smile at the praise my friends were giving me while feeling nervous that I might have raised their expectations of me because of this. "Thanks, guys, really. But I only did what I should be doing. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, after all."

"Oh, don't put yourself down, lady-killer. You beheaded a giant bird and put some birds in their place. I'd say you're just good at what you do." Yang tapped the back of my armor. "I guess Cardin was a little jaundiced, eh?"

There was not a single laugh or groan but instead silent stares of confusion. I wasn't even sure if that was a joke at all. "Oh for fu—fudge's sake!" She swore. "I know some of you eggheads got that! Is it that right, Weiss-cream?"

"Do you seriously study the dictionary to make your puns?" Weiss responded.

"Hey, at least I try!" Yang exclaimed.

I chuckled for a bit before getting my team to accompany me out. I needed a break after beating a bunch of bullies and I still have another essay to write which I only had because Cardin wouldn't stop harassing me that class, and I want to finish soon so I don't end up sleeping tomorrow, and not because of some mustached professor's tall tales.

At least after this, he and his lackeys are now the least of my problems. I was finally able to focus on problems that mattered. For now...

=o=

1. True to his father's abilities which were mentioned earlier in this volume's prologue, Jaune's sword-fighting ability was quite unmatched even when he was a Huntsman-in-training at Beacon in credit owing to his rather diligent training. Of course, he was very modest about it, rarely acknowledging the full extent of his skill with a blade.
2. Knowing Winchester's tactical knowledge. I doubt it would make much of a difference.
3. This is simply another case of typical Arc witticism. There are no relations between Dove Bronzewing and Peter Port. Some people just have the natural tendency to squint perpetually.

Chapter Text

To Live and Learn

CHAPTER 13

"When I decided to 'see no evil', my first wife disappeared. Really makes you think."

-Taiyang Xiao Long

I still had little rest even after beating Cardin. Following the match, I spent the entire day working on another stupid essay. Having the need to write another thousand words made this one of the busiest couple of days I've ever been in Beacon so far that I wasn't able to participate in daily practice with my team. On the bright side, I wasn't having it as hard as Cardin who had to do the same thing I have to do while having to suffer through total humiliation along with a week of detention.

Thankfully, my work was sped up for a bit when my team decided to help me, even though they didn't have to since they owe me nothing. It's probably because I acted too much of a good leader to them that they're always here to help. Although while I'm grateful for that, I'm worried that we'll never be even, they'll spend these years saving my rear and I find myself guilty that I may never properly repay them, hence I never felt comfortable getting help from people who were supposed to be my glorified meatshields.

After that eventful day, Cardin and his team were noticeably quiet, not starting any trouble as they would normally do. Velvet mentioned that he and his team simply walked past her without a word or anything aside from brief glances. I guess they were able to learn their lesson that day and detention was working out for Cardin. This is a relief because it means I no longer have to keep my head down for any more incoming spitballs or hold my books tightly so they wouldn't be able to knock them over. Their immature crap was one of the few things that nagged me about those four numbskulls.

Professor Peach pardoned me for being absent from her class yesterday after she was informed of what happened. She had my essay graded for me instead of Cardin but she also reminded me that I still have a lot to make up for since my performance in Dust Studies wasn't exactly the best even then. She also announced that the class would have a brief field trip to Forever Falls on the next day starting after recess and ending at dismissal, which meant that while there won't be any combat class for the day, Miss Goodwitch agreed to chaperone us during the trip. Once classes were over, I decided to finally take it easy after two days of fighting bullies and homework restlessly.

Following another day of classes, the field trip to Forever Fall began as scheduled. We traveled to Forever Fall via airship, which was a sight that I did not miss after recalling my past travels with it. Although the trip was short, lasting around only ten minutes or so, I was doing my best not to repeat the incident that almost gave me a bad first impression on the first day; Ruby and Yang noticeably even kept a distance from me during the duration of the flight. When we arrived, I left the airship with some minor headache, but I thankfully didn't throw up for once.

"Here we are students, Forever Fall! Now I want all of you to follow me and stay with your team, I don't want any of you wandering off," Miss Goodwitch said, leading the way.

Forever Fall was somewhat an odd forest, it had red grass and leaves instead of green as if it was in a perpetual autumn, hence the name. Other than that, there was barely anything out of the ordinary at all. Aside from a few Grimm since it was the wilderness we were in. Still, I enjoyed the picturesque environment of the forest; it gave some sort of an unearthly feeling that you won't experience in most other exotic places.

"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so." Miss Goodwitch stated while we were following her in the forest before halting after she turned back.

Cardin jolted on me while carrying a case with empty jars on it. He gave me a single scowl before moving along, seemingly unable to do anything else. That seemed to have annoyed Miss Goodwitch, who was visibly hoping that he learned his lesson the other day. "Be careful, Cardin. Those are fragile." Miss Goodwitch warned before turning back to the whole class. "Each of you is to gather one jar worth of red sap," she pulled out a jar filled with red fluids. "However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm—so be sure to stay by your teammates and try to suppress any negative emotions."

Of course, it wouldn't be a forest without the Grimm lurking around and ruining what would otherwise be a nice view of Northern Sanusian nature. I checked my belt to make sure I still have my sword and scabbard. Everyone was armed just in case. Can't afford to let your guard down these days.

"We will rendezvous back here in sixteen hundred hours. Have fun!" Miss Goodwitch said.

While the class split into their respective teams, I had mine accompany Team RWBY just to be safe and convince them that it was more the merrier. They didn't seem to mind since we were close since the first week, not to mention Ruby wanted her team to get to know us better. This outdoor activity was a great opportunity for both of our teams to improve cohesion as allies.

For whatever reason, I didn't feel comfortable collecting sap—I suspect that I might be allergic to this stuff similar to my lactose intolerance. [1] It made me thankful that I only had to fill one because this stuff could potentially kill me. I almost feel like I would rather take another airship ride than touch sap again. The worst part was since they are sweets, they also mean that wasps are aggressively attracted to them, so there are some places in the forests swarming with wasps and those are places you want to avoid especially when collecting sap.

I looked at my surroundings and saw the others filling their jar. Ren handed his filled one to Nora, who chugged all of it even before he was able to fill her jar. As someone who was unable to imagine someone drinking that stuff, I watched with slight repulsion, and she just did it without much effort or thought. Unsurprisingly, Ren was going to need to fill another one.

Looking back into my jar, I found out that it was suddenly opened and empty. I shook my head to assure that my vision was not playing with my head and looked closer and saw that it was empty indeed. I looked at my side and saw Nora with her mouth covered in sap. "Mmm."

"Nora!" I yelled.

"Oops, sorry!" she giggled before dashing away.

I couldn't even be bothered to be annoyed by her because I was too busy wondering how she was able to digest them. But then again Nora was just being...herself for a lack of a term that wouldn't sound derogatory. At least I don't have to deal with six more of them, well, Ruby might count since she is basically 'Nora: Lite', but she's not in my team and her enthusiasm is more uplifting than annoying. [2]

Proceeding to another tree sap, I noticed someone approaching me while I was trying to fill my jar yet again. It was Blake and she was not the type to talk unless it was important, so I had to hear her out. Giving her some attention at least made the process a little less excruciating. "Uh, hey," she greeted.

"Oh, Blake. Is there something you need?" I asked, trying not to show too much of my discomfort with the red sap.

"Just want to tell you something," she said, prudently glancing around her surroundings, initially confusing me for a bit. "Be on the lookout for bandits. I heard that there are some criminal camps in this forest."

I blinked for a bit to process what she just said that I didn't notice that I was done filling my jar. "I think you're worrying too much. Even if there are few of them nearby, I doubt they'll be stupid enough to bother us," I told her, pointing to my sheathed sword as emphasis.

"Yeah, I know. Just wanted to give you a heads up, that's all," she said, holding her arm for a moment.

Regardless if we were safe or not, that was genuinely something I needed to be aware of. I had her show a little gratitude for that small yet noteworthy piece of information. "I appreciate it."

"Stay safe," she nodded before walking away to regroup with her teammates as I enjoyed the opportunity to stare at her adorable behind once again.

"Is everything alright?" Pyrrha asked as she approached me.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," I replied, shaking the thought of Blake's backside and feeling disoriented again from the sap. "I think I'm allergic to this stuff though."

She analyzed me for a second and noticed my somewhat less-than-ideal state. "Huh. Well, be sure to keep an eye on your jar. Nora drank mine too.."

"She did? Well, she's going to end up making us stay here longer if she keeps this up," I remarked.

"Well, at least one sap is all we need each. I'm sure it wouldn't kill me to fill another one up," she said, sighing a little.

"Alright, you do that. I'm going to submit this before Nora would sneakily drink this again," I replied.

"Good idea," she nodded as she continued to collect more sap.

I walked away from Pyrrha to look for Miss Goodwitch. On the way there, I suddenly felt something sting my back. I touched it to see what it was and saw red fluids on my fingers. Turning around, I saw shattered glass lying on the red grass. I looked up and saw that it was none other than Team CRDL, who were pointing and laughing at me.

They had the audacity of doing that after serving detention and while their leader was still serving it. It's almost as if they want another term especially since Miss Goodwitch was not far from us, and they seem to have no concern over being caught while doing it. A pretty stupid way to exact petty revenge if you ask me. But then again, this was coming from the poster boys of reckless bully stupidity.

"What's going on?" Pyrrha asked, entering the scene after hearing the ruckus. "Oh, that does it." Pyrrha started marching toward Team CRDL once she saw them.

I was content to let her do whatever she was planning to do with them as I tried to carry on and report them to Miss Goodwitch (again), I still had to submit my jar so I was about to meet her anyway. The four birdbrains became frightened and hurriedly tried to throw a jar of sap onto Pyrrha, only for her to effortlessly dodge it. They began to panic as they started opening a box and released a swarm of Rapier-Wasps. But since Pyrrha wasn't covered much by sap, they passed her and went after me.

When I heard the swarm racing towards me, I was so startled that I dropped my jar. So I turned back and made a run for it. What made Rapier-Wasps worse than normal wasps was that they were Grimm that could kill me once they get past my aura, so this felt less of a prank and more of an attempted assassination on Team CRDL's part and that made me furious enough to have the urge to have them killed for it.

I ended up going outside the class parameter, trying to shake off and was chased by the rapier-wasps around the forest in circles and repeating the process until I inadvertently gathered enough negative energy to attract a nearby Ursa Major which I ended up running into. Not knowing what exactly to do because I was afraid of a repeat of the Podunk disaster I ran back to the groups in hopes that they'll be able to get rid of it while I still try to elude the rapier wasps. I couldn't reach my own back to wipe the sap that was attracting the swarm off and I didn't want to take off my armor yet, especially with an Ursa behind my rear.

"Ursa!" I screamed after I saw Pyrrha grabbing Cardin by the collar. She turned her head, dropping as she pulled out her shield and xiphos and thrust herself towards the Ursa, beginning with a shield bash to its forehead followed by thrusting her blade at it.

Cardin ran off, Pyrrha was holding off the Ursa, and the rapier wasps were still after me. I kept running aimlessly trying to think of a way to get them off my rear. I even tried snatching full jars of sap from other students and throwing them at trees but that only got the attention of a small part of the swarm and the rest was still at my tail. The other students bailed out of there with their jars after seeing the Rapier Wasps, thereby denying me to repeat the process until the swarm was finally gone from my rear. So all I could do was stick to the only plan I still had: the good old 'run and live'.

I ran as fast and hard as I could through the forest, not looking back nor caring about where I was going. Shaking off the swarm was the only thing I had in mind, so I kept fleeing away without regard for my location. As a result, I wasn't aware that I went a little too deep into the forest that I eventually found two armed men wearing white vests and black hoods outside a cave entrance. Without thinking about whether they were friendly or not, I took my chances, going ahead and running past them.

"Hey, what the hell?" One of them said before they saw the rapier-wasps coming after them.

I went near the side of the cave, looking back and seeing the two men getting swarmed, both of them struggling to get the wasps off. I watched with horror before I felt a barrel of a gun pointing behind my head. "Hold it right there!"

There was no other choice than stand still and slowly raise my hands. More men of the same outfits came out of the cave, watching the two men run away getting consumed by the swarm that their comrades just fired at them, trying to aim at the rapier wasps without regard for their comrades as their bodies turned into a bloody mess, and then panicking and whimpering afterward.

The sight was terrifying knowing that my short-sightedness was the cause of all this but I wasn't able to think about it much because I was more focused on the other men who were aiming their guns at me. It gave me a clear look at their visors which were similar to Grimm masks, a sign that says that these people aren't exactly affable.

It didn't take more than a minute to realize that they were bandits, the ones Blake warned me about. I wandered too far from the class and I ended up in a camp full of them. Everything went from bad to worse. Great. Just great, I thought.

If they would go as far as to kill their own just to shoot at rapier wasps, which was either a ruthless, desperate, or foolish move, probably all of the above, then it's credits to carrots that they'll do the same thing to me, and since I was surrounded without any backup, the safest course of action was to comply at the moment and hope for the best. I was taking this surprisingly well for someone who ran and screamed like a little girl when being chased by Grimm flies and was currently at the risk of being kidnapped by people who I just saw shoot their own men without much care as I was sure that my team will find me. I had my scroll's tracker turned on. And I doubt that a bunch of lowlife criminals could handle some Huntsmen, well, Huntresses and a number of Huntsmen-in-training, really crazy Huntsmen-in-training. Besides, if they were really that stupid and desperate, then trying to escape from them wouldn't be too hard at all.

I would have let myself get stung several times if I saw this coming though. I hope the 'prank' was worth it, Losechester because I obviously wasn't going to take very kindly to it when I get back.

=o=

1. One of Jaune's confirmed syndromes. Though fortunately for him, it is not as prominent as his early motion sickness as he regularly takes medication to digest dairy products safely or relied on alternatives such as soy and nut milk especially for this Marshmallow Flakes breakfast which I can personally confirm remains to be his all-time favorite.
2. As her former partner, I can confirm that they're both true.

Editorial Note:

Unbeknownst to Jaune at the time, the group he encountered was actually The White Fang, the most infamous faunus extremist group in modern history. And one of the most recurring groups of opposition during his career to the point that a major part of his reputation involves his conflict against them.

Ruby also recorded her experiences with the Forever Fall Field trip in her personal diary. Her accounts were able to fill the gaps in what occurred to the rest of the class while Jaune was preoccupied with wandering off being chased by the rapier wasps before being captured by a 'bandit camp' and thus providing us an outlook on the events outside of Jaune's typically self-centered perspective.

The Red Rose Diaries: Trouble at Forever Falls

Yesterday during Dust Studies, Professor Peach and Miss Goodwitch told us that there won't be any combat class the next day, because we will have a field trip at Forever Falls. I don't mind that at all, I love visiting pretty forests especially the ones that have their own unique flair to them.

Forever Falls was just as beautiful as I imagined it to be. There is something gorgeous about a forest having red leaves and grass as if it was always Fall, no wonder why it's called that!

Miss Goodwitch told us that the reason we were having the field trip was because Professor Peach needed some samples of red sap for her research. It wouldn't take too long because all we needed to do was fill one jar each but we still had to stick together and watch out for any Grimm.

Getting sap wasn't too hard. They were sticky and had this funny smell. I was told that they're not like strawberries and I shouldn't try to drink them and I can see why. While we were at it, Blake seemed to be nervous during the entire trip, when we asked her why she just told me to watch out for bandits and that was it. Yang said she's just being a scaredy-cat and that I shouldn't worry too much because even when trouble comes, we had our weapons and we were very strong together even if we're not full Huntsmen and Huntresses yet.

Then things just got suddenly weird real fast. The next thing we knew, we heard screaming and I saw Jaune getting chased by a bunch of rapier wasps. Pyrrha was really mad at Cardin, which makes me think that he had Cardin might have to do something with that. It was chaos, but it wasn't too bad until Jaune came back with an Ursa Major chasing him. Pyrrha let Cardin go so she could try to stop it. I got Team RWBY to go help her out. Ren and Nora weren't able to help because it looks like Nora passed out after drinking too much sap and Ren had to look after her. I don't even know how she even managed to drink that stuff.

I ordered Blake and Yang to bait the Ursa into slamming trees, causing it to get stunned, giving me, Weiss, and Pyrrha the opportunity to absorb its damage safely. We repeated it a few times until we finished it off with a team attack to finally kill it. Blake gave a few slashes, then Yang punched it a few times before throwing it off the air when it would be trapped by Weiss's glyphs and I used my semblance to get close to it and sliced it down with the Crescent Rose. The Ursa fell as it started to evaporate. Miss Goodwitch came in and demanded what was going on. Pyrrha told her that Cardin and his team threw a jar of sap at Jaune and had rapier-wasps chase him, and that was when we found out that he wasn't with us anymore.

Pyrrha pulled out her scroll to find where he was, she found her location and got Ren and Nora (who just woke up and was recovering) to follow her. We were ordered to stay and guard the area in case more Grimm came.

I couldn't help but worry about Jaune. There were more Grimm out deep and the forest, and maybe worse if Blake was right—bandits. But I knew he'll be fine and that he wouldn't let Cardin and his goons get away with what they just did. After all, he has been through worse and he always comes out as a hero.

And it didn't take too long to find out that I was right.

Chapter Text

To Live and Learn

CHAPTER 14

"[Noah Arc] gathered two of every faunus species on Remnant, and then he hurled them onto a boat, and then he beat the crap out of every single one.

…And from that day forward, any time a bunch of animals are together in one place, it's called a menagerie! Unless it's a zoo. Or a farm. It doesn't matter!"

-Sergeant Barrett J. Dough's very loose retelling of the origin of Menagerie.

The bandits violently tied me up before dragging me to their camp inside the cave. I have to admit, the camp was pretty impressive and organized for a bunch of criminal scum in the middle of a red-colored forest. They even had banners of their emblem hanging around as if they were some kind of a big deal. Of course, the emblem had to depict a wolf, which seems to be the animal of choice for most gangs thanks to the wolf pack nonsense. Outlaws seem to have no originality these days.

Everyone there kept giving me looks of contempt, with one of them even having the audacity to spit on me. I got the impression that this bandit clan has a strong aversion to blonde idiots like me for some reason. One could think that these could be El Segador's ex-goons, a thought that was VERY unhelpful at the time but that would explain why they all seem to hate my mere existence as if I was lower than dirt.

Well, I did get them to kill two of their own guys because I inadvertently sent the Rapier-Wasps to them, so I suppose that would be enough to explain why they hated me so much.

They took me to a cage and pushed me inside. Before they could leave two of them entered the cage, one of them untied me while the other kept pointing his fancy-looking Atlesian pistol at me to make sure I wasn't trying anything they didn't want me to do. Judging by the fact this one wore a more unique Grimm mask, he was probably high-ranking. He was also a faunus, seeing that he had a red fox tail on his hind back.

"Yer belongins'—weapons, money, scrolls, surrender them now." He said after his buddy was untying me, he was speaking in a Hibernian accent, in fact, most of the bandits in the vicinity seem to have it. [1]

I have no choice but to comply. I gave them my stuff, they let me keep my armor as they didn't need it anyway, they sent my belongings to another room as I kept a mental note on what direction they were heading. The scroll was password-protected, so I don't have to worry about them opening it and disabling the team tracker, even if they did manage to open it, I doubt that they would have the time to learn to navigate the applications exclusive to Beacon students.

"So…" the same person who was pointing his weapon at me said after leaving the cage and locking it. "You've got a bit o' nerve comin' 'ere, humie. Are ya alone or are ye with someone else?" His use of the word 'humie' made it obvious that he really was a faunus, a very unpleasant faunus with breath just as dirty as his mouth. I was even suspecting that this clan might only consist of faunus.

Normally, I'll tell the truth out of fear, but being the seasoned liar I am, I knew it would be better for me not to tell them the truth. It's only a matter of time until my team finds me, who just happens to be more than capable enough to handle a bunch of bandits especially since Ren and Nora have experience fighting them (at least if Nora's tall tales are to be believed) and Pyrrha had fought worse. I just needed to make them keep their guard down so that this would be over before I even knew it, so I had this clever idea of pretending to be even more of a pathetic unlucky idiot that I already am.

"N-No, no, no, no, no. Whatever idea you had, you got it wrong. I'm just a lone traveler. Look, I'm really, really sorry for running into you guys while being chased by Rapier Wasps. I didn't know you were there and I didn't mean it, believe me!" My whimpering was convincing enough, probably because I was already shaking with anxiety to begin with.

"So ya had nothin' to do with the Huntsmen brats we found wanderin' 'round?" he interrogated.

"Wait, there are Huntsmen here?" I continued to play dumb. He paused for a moment before looking at me closer. I was worried that he'd recognize me from something. Thankfully, that wasn't the case.

"Well, ya don't look like a Huntsman." The bandit remarked after he examined my clothes, which were just ordinary clothes underneath some armor that you can buy at your nearest blacksmith, making me pass as a civilian who just happened to be armed for the worse. "Sorry to break to ya, humie, but ah'm afraid that yer stuck 'ere with us. Shouldn't have wandered 'round the woods alone." He said before leaving with a petty laugh.

I gulped at the statement while being appalled by his continuous use of the word 'humie'. I know there are certain types of people who like to argue that faunus can't be racist to humans because they're oppressed minorities, but calling me with that slur was kinda uncalled for, even though it's just a puerile nickname for us hairless apes. And I thought being called a nerd was bad, I would have preferred a more original insult, I would have given him credit if he did.

I sat down waiting for help to come while telling myself that I really should learn how to think straight while trying to flee from danger. I keep getting into these situations because of stupidity and carelessness and I should learn how to break that habit before it finally becomes lethal.

Examining the camp, I looked for possible escape routes, as well as making some sort of plan B in case no one comes. I saw the bandit who was guarding my cage had a key on the back of his belt. While tempting, it was best for me if I waited for the right time; my hands weren't soft enough to steal them without getting caught. I looked at all the other bandits and studied their equipment, most of them were using projectile-based firearms of some kind, and others were seen carrying energy weapons, judging by their high-tech modules and their sleek, monochrome Atlesian design. It made me wonder how they were able to get their hands on those; I'm sure they cost a fortune in the black market.

When I tried to eavesdrop on the bandits, I was only able to overhear something about a kidnapping or something, not exactly sure if that was referring to me. I went closer to the cell, trying to continue listening to the conversation to which the guard just angrily whipped his weapon at the iron bars. "Don't get any bright ideas."

I flinched back and continued to sit in my cell for almost half an hour, thinking of what to do and praying for the best while telling myself not to freak out.

Eventually, I heard sounds of bandits running to the exit followed by an explosion coming from the outside, then heard a familiar yell from a certain Valkyrie. "Where did you put our dear leader?! Tell us before I break all of your legs, one by one!"

The bandit guarding the cage was startled and raised his gun and was about to walk away. Before I could let any of that happen. I quickly looked around to see if the coast was clear, I saw that everyone had left the area to deal with the intruders. So I took this opportunity to grab the guard's mouth through the cage and bashed his head at the bars until he was out cold.

I grabbed the key from his belt and used it to unlock and open the cage door. Stepping out, I took his submachine gun to give myself a temporary weapon before I looted his body for lien, ammo, dust, and any valuables for good measure. [2]

After a minute of quietly walking toward the direction where they took my belongings while aiming with an SMG, I went to one of the more notable doors that caught my eye. The room was an office with several lockers, file cabinets, and chests, as well as a flag with the bandit clan's emblem hanging on the wall and a single fan on the corner of the ceiling. I looked at every locker and chest to find my stuff until I eventually found them.

I continued to scavenge for supplies when I heard a voice call while I was looting one of the chests. "Oi!"

I quickly turned around and saw the high-ranking bandit from before. He was trying to reach for his pistol. I threw the submachine gun at him, knocking him over as I grabbed my sword by its scabbard, storming towards him and then swinging the pommel to his head, rendering him unconscious. I put my sword back in my belt and searched his body and took all of his money and ammunition.

The best thing that I took from him was his pistol; it wasn't just a pistol—it was a laser pistol. While it doesn't look like much, laser weaponry was feared for a good reason. They're much more accurate and powerful than projectile weapons as they can deplete aura within a few shots while projectile weapons require an entire clip or two to accomplish that, depending on the ammo or gun type. They also lack recoil and hold more ammo than projectile weapons, meaning I don't have to worry much about reloading every now and then, I just need to make sure it doesn't overheat after firing it too many times. I also have to be careful with its power cells—I've been hearing reports on how the overcharging of lasers causes them to explode; those are one of the few downsides of laser weapons. But despite its few flaws, overall, these types of weapons are effective enough that they are often degraded as 'guns for cowards' but only because they are afraid of people wise enough to use them, and besides, that only made the weapon more suitable for me. Makes me wonder why Huntsmen don't use more guns like this. [3]

I left the room with my sword unsheathed in my right hand, and the laser pistol in the other. [4] I have always done my best to emulate Dad's sword-and-gun fighting style so much that it was almost as refined as my skills with a sword-and-shield. I had always needed a sidearm as it was the only thing that felt missing from my equipment and I was finally able to get my hands on one.

Two bandits came in and spotted me. I hastily shot them both, almost instantly disabling them. After seeing their bodies collapse, I noticed that neither of them bled blood, instead, they were showing cauterized wounds on where I shot them. My eyes widened in shock; I was dazed for a second, lowering my weapon whilst I came to a realization:

This gun was awesome.

I am so keeping this, I thought. I guess my stupidity to get myself into crap like this was finally paying off for once, and I kinda had Team CRDL to thank for it. I still had a bone to pick with them though.

I continued to find my way out of the bandit cave, subduing, and looting every bandit I came across. Eventually one of them managed to ambush me off-guard, knocking me to the ground. He was about to thrust his rifle's bayonet into me when he was suddenly shot by a few bullets on his side and was knocked out by a kick, the person responsible was then revealed to be Ren. "Jaune! There you are!"

"Ren! Why am I glad to see you!" I stood up grabbing his arm as he helped me up.

"Thank the Omnissiah we've found you. Our scroll's machine spirit has guided us well." He said. Not exactly the thing I was hoping to hear when we finally regrouped but it was nice to hear from him again nonetheless. "What were you doing here?"

"Not important." I said, emptying the last bandit's pockets "Let's just focus on getting out of this mess."

He nodded and followed my lead. I gave him all of the .45 ACP ammo I picked up for guns. Some of them have the bonus of being HP and AP rounds that make his dual machine pistols more powerful and look less like peashooters mainly used for distraction. [5] He kinda looked puzzled when I handed them to him but chose not to question it. And of course, he had to pray to his Machine God to bless the new ammo he acquired. Whatever works for him, I suppose.

We soon found Nora and Pyrrha fighting off a horde of bandits that surrounded them. The fight was in our team's favor as I hoped, with bandits dropping like flies. The bandits made it even worse for them when one of them thought it would be a good idea to electrify Nora with a shock rod, and knowing exactly how Nora's semblance worked, this went as well as you'd expect.

Nora screamed as her body started sparking with power. Pyrrha, knowing what would happen, jumped out of the way. The bandits remained bewildered until they were all knocked out by a shockwave caused by a single drop of Nora's hammer.

Nora went out of her way to finish off every single one of them as neat as you please; they were never given a chance to retreat or retaliate. We both watched with a mixture of astonishment and horror. "Ren. Remind me to never make her angry." I said, leaning my head toward him.

"Agh! Who's next?!" She said after putting the last bandit to sleep. Her semblance then wore off and she was back to her normal state, and that was when she finally noticed me. "Jaune!"

She bolted to give me a hug, it was tight, especially with the armor I'm wearing, but I have gotten used to it. "You're okay! I mean, of course, you are. You're the fearless Jaune Arc! Nothing could ever get to you!"

Yeah, tell that to these guys when they captured me because I was too busy not being stung by wasps to think clearly.

Nora suddenly groaned and held her stomach. "Ugh. Sorry, still hungover from the saps." That was something I have been expecting from the moment I saw her drink them.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha approached me. "Thank goodness you're okay. What were you thinking?! Miss Goodwitch told us not to wander off. Now you're here surrounded by… bandits! Do you have any idea how worried we were?!"

I held a slightly ashamed expression, not knowing what to say apart from apologizing over it. "Yeah, sorry about that. I think I got too hasty back there."

She sighed. "I guess all that matters is that you're fine. But don't ever do that again! You have a lot to answer to Professor Goodwitch!"

As much as I was idiotic enough to wander off because I was being chased by killer flies, I didn't believe I was the right person to blame for all of this. I never even wanted to be in there. "Hey, I don't think we'd be in here if Cardin didn't send those rapier wasps at me!" That, and if I thought all of this through.

"Winchester…" she hissed, almost looking away. "Will he ever learn?"

"After this, he probably will," I remarked, believing that this was the last straw that I didn't have any plan to be lenient, given how they've almost killed with their last stunt.

"I think they're down 'ere!" An incoming voice said. Seeing that we've dispatched so many bandits in this cave, we correctly guessed that this was the last batch. I figured that I needed to fully repay these bandits for holding me hostage and as gratitude for the fine pistol and loot I got before leaving the camp. Besides, I could use a little more lien.

"So, wanna make the world a better place?" I asked my team with a smug smirk.

They all hesitated but agreed anyway. If we knocked out most of a bandit camp, we might as well take care of the rest. Take it as a service to the community. Since there was an impressive number of bandits in this camp, we probably reduced the crime rates in the Forever Falls area by a significant margin.

Six armed bandits came out. "A'ight, ye tailless monkeys! Ya better say yer pr—" they then saw all of their unconscious buddies and four barely scathed Huntsmen glaring at them, it didn't take long for them to begin shuddering. "Uhh. Beautiful weather, ain't it?"

These were a bunch of bandits only armed with regular weaponry and they were facing a rather talented team in one of the finest academies in Remnant with significant amounts of combat experience in spite of not being fully-fledged Huntsmen. I'll keep it short and clean while you do the math. And that's not even mentioning that Pyrrha used her semblance to pull all of their weapons away from them. Let's just say it did not take much effort at all.

=o=

1. The majority of the members in the Valish cell are of Hibernian descent, likely due to the long history of Hibernian faunus being marginalized by the predominantly-Albionic human population in the Valish Region.
2. Aside from his feats, consummate leadership, and fighting ability, Jaune was known by his friends and allies for looting every unconscious/deceased hostile body he comes across, as well as scavenging the area for any valuables and having them sold if they lack any use. Thankfully, he reserves this only for criminals and corrupt officials, otherwise, he would do his best to restrain himself. He admits that video games inspired him to do this.
3. Huntsmen who utilize laser-based weaponry are rare during that era due to the weapons being relatively new. They were more challenging to reverse engineer, making them very impractical to be modified into unique weapons, and Huntsmen usually preferred magnetic dust blasters when it came to energy weapons.
4. Despite being right-handed, Jaune almost exclusively wields small arms with only his left hand, even if his dominant hand is vacant. This is because he was trained to use such weapons while wielding a sword, making him ambidextrous to an extent.
5. Ren uses regular .45 ACP FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) rounds for his StormFlower, likely due to being cheap, common, and is the few types of ammo that weren't prohibited from being sold to non-licensed Huntsmen. While they have decent stopping power, FMJ rounds are considered less effective than HP, AP, and AUP rounds (Hollow-Point, Armor-Piercing, and Aura-Piercing) due to them not being designed to expand on impact with a soft target, let alone aura.

After we were done 'cleaning' up the cave, we finally walked out of it, feeling a little tired from the combat we had to go through. I anonymously informed the Valish authorities about the camp, providing them with some pictures as proof. I'm not exactly worried about the bandits waking up because I have deprived them of most of their supplies and it won't take long for The Valish to arrive. I had no intention of staying around for a little longer nor was I willing to meet with the authorities and discuss this matter so we proceeded to make our way back to the class.

It was a fun yet unpleasant experience that didn't need to occur at all. I was mostly alive thanks to Pyrrha and Nora dealing with most of the bandits. At least the loot made it all worthwhile, especially the laser pistol, I'm going to be using it a lot. Thankfully the entire thing happened in only about half an hour at most so the entire thing didn't take too long and everything ended before this incident could have been prolonged and it could have been a much larger problem for everyone involved.

"Glad that's over," I said, taking a deep breath.

"That was fun. But how are we going to tell Miss Goodwitch and others about this?" Nora asked, thinking like a sensible person for once.

"That's what I'm worried about," I stopped for a moment and turned to everyone. "We'll just have to forget about all of this. Everything that happened here was a mistake. We've been through enough, we don't need to give ourselves more trouble by telling them that we had to crack a few skulls just to get here." That, and I didn't want to make my reputation worse by letting everyone know that I fought a bandit camp like it was nothing.

"I see where you're coming from, but I don't know about this. I mean—lying to the teachers?" Pyrrha remarked. It seems that a respected valedictorian like her wasn't used to saying white lies as I was but there's a first time for everything. It's what she has to do when she's partnered up with someone like me.

"But they need to know how bad Cardin put you through! You can't let him get away after all of this!" Nora replied vehemently. I get that my team wants to defend my honor, which I could appreciate but they needed to consider the bigger picture.

"Look guys, just bear with me for a moment. Cardin and his band of idiots are going to get punished either way. They decided to pull that stupid crap while they were still in detention. He isn't getting away scot-free. I just want us to move past this without any more drama. Is that clear?" I explained, hoping they get the message this time.

They took a minute to contemplate, not being sure about trying to cover the blood on their hands but being able to understand the reason why admitting it would be disastrous in a situation that's already bad enough on its own. "I guess you're right." Pyrrha conceded. "But I'm not going to be happy about this."

"If you say so. Our fearless leader is always right!" Nora chirped almost as if she wasn't fervent with her objections a minute before.

And it looks like I don't have to worry about Ren. I could see that he was willing to agree or just couldn't care less as long as everyone got out alive and safe and it was apparent that he would have nothing to say when we reunite with the class. Fine by me, as long as what little he had to say wouldn't be a hindrance.

"Good," I said, very well pleased that we were able to come up with an agreement without having to resort to a lengthy debate and waste more time over this matter. "We'll just have to tell them that we have to fight a few Grimm along the way."

We resumed our trek to return to our class. On our way, I couldn't help but notice that Ren kept glancing back. There was something from the bandit camp that kept bothering him. "Is there anything wrong, Ren?" I asked.

"I don't know… are you sure those were bandits?" He mused.

That raised my brow. It made me wonder what made him think that. "Of course, what else do you think they are?"

"I can't help but feel that they could be something worse. They seemed too organized and well-equipped to be bandits," he explained.

Pyrrha seemed to have concurred with that assessment. "You're not the only one. Their emblem looked oddly familiar—I think I heard about them before."

I was rather skeptical that we just ended up defeating a group more severe and sinister than a bunch of illiterate thugs in the middle of a funny-looking forest. I thought that was giving us too much credit. "Guys, don't be silly. Even if they're worse than bandits. What's the difference? Criminals are criminals. Whatever they were, they're not our problem anymore."

"But still…" Pyrrha sighed and shook her head. "Let's just get back to the others."

It took a small while but we were able to reach where we left with the class waiting for us and a few students even having their weapons out, looking out for potential threats.

"There you are!" Miss Goodwitch exclaimed with a mix of agitation and relief as she stepped out. "Where have you been? We've all been worried for you."

"Just wandered off a bit. I had to fight my way out," I answered, telling the truth without going to the specifics. I have barely been caught lying before, making it so that she doesn't suspect me too much of being dishonest. "But I'm okay. Nothing to worry about."

"That's right. Nothing bad ever happened! Ever!" Nora said with disappropriate amounts of cheerfulness and denial. Real smooth, Nora, I thought.

Thankfully Miss Goodwitch seemed to have dismissed that as nothing more than inconsequential nonsense that typically comes out of her mouth and was otherwise, taking my word for it. "That's good to hear," she adjusted her glasses, feeling relieved. "I would like to apologize for what happened to you. Had I been more strict with Team CRDL and kept a closer eye on them, we could have potentially avoided this. Rest assured that I am punishing them accordingly. They won't be going anywhere until they collect ten saps each and twenty-five for Cardin and that's not even mentioning their extended detention. If they keep this up, I'll see to it that they'll be temporarily suspended."

"It's alright, Professor. We all know who to blame here." I said, glaring at Cardin and his team, just at a corner collecting sap with several jars as Yang leaned at one of the nearby trees, watching them while eating an apple. If I told her about the bandit camp, they'd surely be suspended, but it was too much of a double-edged sword and this kind of punishment was already good enough for me. Besides, I had another plan to keep them in line. "May I have a few words with them?"

"Sure. By all means," she nodded.

"Thank you," I said before walking toward them, leaving my team behind to take a little rest after our recent activities. They earned it that much.

"Look who's back," Yang remarked as soon as she saw me approaching the four. "Sorry that they had to put you in such a mess but at least you look alright. I always hated those darn wasps."

I gave out a playful little smirk, trying to suppress my full exasperation at the moment. "Oh, you have no idea."

"Heh. Well, whatever it was, Professor Peach won't be having a red sap shortage anytime soon," she said, taking a small bite of her apple.

"Yeah, I can see that," I said. "Mind if I take over?"

"Alright then," she swallowed her piece before walking out. "Watching these morons was already boring me out of my mind anyway.

I took a few more steps as I gazed at the team struggling to get some sap in their jars. They noticed me and turned back their heads. Nothing threatens them more than me when I'm not pretending to be a nice blond goof so I temporarily dropped that persona at the moment. "Hello, you cardinal birdbrains. I hope your funny little prank on me was worth it," I scornfully greeted with a slight combination of smugness and restrained indignation.

The four could barely stare at me back and Sky was just grimacing in fear and shame as he tried to look away. "Mighty strong words for someone who ran away from some bugs," Dove said defensively, though I could notice his normally-squinted eyes widened a little.

"Bugs that were capable of killing anyone." I pointed out, dropping my grin as I narrowed my eyes, letting my expressing authoritative side for once. "Just what the hell were idiots you thinking? Do you realize that you could have gotten someone seriously hurt? Were you that too fixated on getting back on me that you weren't able to see that this was a dumb idea even if you weren't suspended?!"

They were speechless, only being able to exchange glances back at me. Not that it stopped Cardin from trying to downplay the situation. "Hey, at least everyone's okay. Right?" He nervously grinned, his voice faintly shaking.

Not entirely true. Some people are in comas, crippled, or even dead because of his recklessness. Good thing they weren't from our class though. And I still did not appreciate having to fight my way out of a bandit cave. "Yeah, sure. But we weren't okay with you causing a scene that attracted a damn Ursa. Just imagine what would happen if it went worse. You should have known when to stop. Be thankful they are not suspending you yet."

The team was once again silent. They didn't have any rebuttal this time so they simply went back to collecting sap, looking ashamed and regretful of themselves, though Russel kept sporting an angry scowl.

I assumed that they were able to get the message and that I don't need to hammer it further. So I decided that I got what I came for and walked away. After taking a few steps, I sensed something coming from behind for a very brief moment. Almost out of reflex, I grabbed my gun, quickly turning back and fired at it.

The next thing I heard was the sound of glass breaking as I saw a glimpse of a jar shattering while my laser fire landed on a tree branch above Russel, leaving a smoking hole on it. A blinked for a moment, processing what just happened in the past second, staring at Russel looking frightened as he ducked in front of that tree before realizing that he tried to throw another sap at me as if he wasn't afraid of further repercussions that would come to him and his team.

Seeing as the team, or just Russel, haven't taken a hint yet. I decided to teach them one last lesson which would hopefully be enough for them to finally get them out of my hair. And just like before, I wasn't holding back.

I marched toward Russel. Before he could do anything, I grabbed him by the collar and pushed him toward the tree branch that I indirectly shot. "Don't you think you've done enough? If you really want to get suspended that badly you could have just asked." Glaring at him up close straight into his eyes, his head couldn't look more shavable. Without his bravado, it just made him look stupid.

"Now listen here you skinny puke-haired punk. I may look like a dumb blond idiot who likes to wear a funny rabbit hoodie but I am still an Arc, one that was able to kick your ass before and I can happily do it again." I spoke very coldly, never raising my voice but still showing my evident anger. "If you know anything about my family's name, you'll know they are renowned for a good reason. They have powerful connections that helped them destroy entire armies, and they can make sure you could never step foot on a Huntsman Academy ever again by just lifting a finger. You wouldn't want to mess with them, and you wouldn't want to mess with me. Don't forget that I am here because I got a Bandit Lord killed, and one of the first things I did in this academy was put a Nevermore down. Compared to them, You. Are. Nothing."

I tend to avoid threats like this whenever possible, but when I did I made sure it was something that they won't be able to forget. Even if I was bluffing, my family still wasn't above using every ruthless tactic in the book to get what they want. After all, my Dad was a Commissar and my Mom worked for the Watchers. Though they do this very sparingly especially now since they are both retired to a more modest life. At least that's what they told me.

"But since I'm a nice guy. I'm giving you another chance to lay off, grow up, quit harassing me, stop preying on students who you think are weaker than you, and get a better haircut. You're a Huntsman for crying out loud. Now act like it, and I encourage your teammates to do the same. Mark my words and make sure it gets in that thick skull of yours."

He remains shaken as I finally let him go. "Now get out of my sight," I said with a smile while keeping a frigid tone as I tapped both of his shoulders. He quickly ran away to his team and tried to hide behind his teammates while they looked terrified as well, probably thinking of doing the same thing as Russel. That'll be enough to officially get them off my back. I got to admit, I sounded like Dad when he is at his coldest. It was kind of a scary thought, I guess that's what being a Commissar does.

They tried to resume collecting sap, only to find out that all of the jars they filled were empty. "Hey! What the hell?!" Cardin yelled while Dove grabbed his hair

"Oops, sorry!" Nora said from a distance from them before making a large burp, her mouth was noticeably covered in sap and she was rubbing her stomach, looking hung-over from it.

To make matters worse for Team CRDL, Miss Goodwitch reprimanded them yet again. "Have you all learned nothing? Ten more jars to fill for all of you!" She said, levitating boxes of empty jars beside them. "I hope this is enough to discourage you from further delinquency. How shameless!"

The four could only groan as she walked away. "Thanks a lot, Russel!" Dove yelled before they went back to collecting sap again while everyone was done and was simply enjoying the forest. I no longer had to worry about submitting my own sap. The punishment Team CRDL was going to make up for it.

As I was about to holster my gun, Ruby suddenly dashed toward my side with a huge grin on her face. "Hey! You got a gun! That's new, where'd you get it?"

Of course, I didn't want to mention the situation in the bandit cave, so I answered her in typical Jaune Arc fashion. "Got it from a foxy fellow. He sure has a good taste in guns."

That was thankfully enough to satisfy her, though not that it did stop her from having her eyes glued to it. I can't blame her, it's a genuinely good gun. I had to wonder why it took a whole month for me to get one. Regardless, I'll be using this baby a lot.

The only thing left for me to do was to sell my loot to a pawn shop and buy some energy cells for it on my next visit to Vale.

Editorial Note:

After Team JNPR's encounter with the White Fang outpost on Forever Falls, an anonymous member of the Valish terrorist cell recorded the aftermath of the incident. These documents were eventually recovered after the Atlesian military seized the White Fang's assets following their downfall. Through some bartering, I managed to get a hold of some of these documents for the sake of the archive.

The White Fang Reports: Forever Fall Aftermath.

The philosophy of the legendary Adam Taurus states that the lives of many faunus are worth more than a single human. Hence why the recent attack on the Forever Fall outpost was a huge blow for us, despite being a relatively minor asset located in a crimson-coloured wilderness that only a few visit. While the revolution calls for the necessary sacrifice of faunus blood, the attack was not something we anticipated.

The attack was significant, not only because the lives of our fellow revolutionaries were lost and the supplies cached there were stolen, but also because it was not carried out by a hostile military operation, but by a single lone human with unknown motives. [1] There was only a vague description of his appearance that was provided before the outpost fell: blond, male, average build, fairly young, pale-skinned, around five to six feet tall, wore the colours of white and blue during the attack. Due to how common the perpetrator's physical appearance was, we are led to believe he could be anyone fitting the description. The brave men and women of the White Fang in Vale were warned for any human who shows such attributes, as this mysterious perpetrator is a threat to our cause if he was to go as far as to cripple a part of our organization.

The event claimed the lives of seven of our members, most of whom lacked aura, thirteen were injured and eventually arrested by the Vale Defence Force (VDF) during their arrival, including the branch leader, Kieran McNamara whose weapon was also stolen; nine others have managed to escape apprehension but are now missing, hungry and defenceless at the Forever Fall forest, a forest lurking with Grimm. There was even a report that one of the survivors, a feline faunus, resorted to cannibalism on a comrade who happened to be a fish faunus, [2] prior to being found and arrested. Few of the other survivors have turned themselves to the authorities in a desperate attempt to be fed and sheltered despite their impoverished conditions.

Fortunately, the outpost was able to transmit a few valuable intel shortly before the attack. The scouts have spotted a group of Huntsman students on the premises; there were two notable individuals found within the group that the outpost planned to kidnap. The first is the SDC heiress—Weiss Schnee, a high-value target worthy of ransom. The second caught the personal interest of Adam Taurus—Blake Belladonna, a deserter and former agent of our cause, who was still wearing that disgusting bow that hid her feline features. [3] A repugnant display that indicates shame within your faunus heritage.

Sadly, because the attack occurred minutes later after this information was acquired, they were not able to carry out the attempted operation of kidnapping the persons of interest. Nevertheless, our operators manage to pinpoint the girls' location to Beacon Academy, an institution for Huntsman-trainees they evidently attend to. However, Adam Taurus instructed us to postpone any plans to kidnap the Schnee heiress and Miss Belladonna until said otherwise. For now, he wants us to prioritise the main operation. Despite our losses, the fight against the fascist humans will press forward. The Revolution Will Not Be Humanized!

Though, we are not to forget the person who was responsible for essentially destroying and robbing one of our outposts, killing and injuring some of our comrades, and ruining our attempts to kidnap some valuable assets. There was some debate on who the perpetrator was. Some say that he was nothing more than a fellow Huntsman student accompanying the persons of interest, some speculate that he could be the same person who killed a known bandit lord in a small settlement as the person's descriptions match, others even went as far as to believe that he was death incarnate, the boogeyman of the White Fang. Regardless, this person is a threat to our goals and if we were to succeed, he needs to be dispatched as soon as possible.

Seriously, who the fuck is this gobshite?

=o=

1. The White Fang either forgot to include the contributions of Jaune's teammates or was not able to. It's likely because Jaune was the only hostile they were able to designate during the incident.
2. Predator faunus have rare tendencies to become cannibalistic towards prey faunus. As a result, one of the most prominent examples of infighting within the faunus is between predator and prey species.
3. Strangely, it is indeed confirmed that Blake was still wearing her bow before even attending Beacon, despite having no reason to, and the practice is frowned upon by faunus society, especially without the intent of infiltrating humans.

Chapter Text

Editorial Note:

The following chapter was written four months after the last entry, specifically near the end of the first semester.

Before we begin, I would like to add another excerpt, this time it would be centering around Team RWBY's trip to Vale during the preparations for the Vytal Festival before complications between ourselves ensued. I felt that it was appropriate to begin this chapter with this excerpt to give the readers some context behind the following chapter's events.

Once again, I chose Ruby's account to provide the excerpt, as it presents an unbiased and more bearable description of the event. Since my old memoirs, while nostalgic, were rather uncomfortable to look through, as if reading about my younger self in Jaune's writings wasn't shameful enough. Blake's accounts, meanwhile, are something that is better off being saved when there are no alternatives. Trust me, once you've read it, you are going to thank me for not including it at the moment.

The Red Rose Diaries: Friday in Vale

Finally, the exams for the first semester are over! Hopefully, all of the days I spent studying will pay off. I still have flashbacks of Weiss drilling us on our studies so she doesn't have to be embarrassed about her team's scores, ugghh! Anyway, to celebrate, we agreed to go on a trip to Vale once the exams were over.

People in Vale were already preparing for the Vytal Festival. There were balloons and streamers placed everywhere. A sign that says "Welcome to Vale!" was put up near the pier for all the visitors to see (The old guy who put it looked familiar, have I met him before?). Even the usually cold and grumpy Weiss was excited, and who could blame her? The Vytal Festival is the most exciting time that happens every two years! Almost more fun than Lantern Day (which is also my B-day!) and Brothers Day. There would be dances, parades, and best of all, the tournaments! Oh, how I used to watch those a lot. Now I could finally participate in them myself. I can't wait! It's like a party where the kingdoms celebrate peace and harmony after years of fighting, which it kind of is.

Weiss took us to the harbor for whatever reason. Made me wonder why someone like her would take us to a place that smells like fish. She said that she wanted to welcome the students coming from Vacuo but Blake pointed out that she wanted to spy on them so she could have the upper hand in the tournament.

That is when we found a Dust Shop in shambles, with the police trying to investigate it. The weird thing was the crooks who robbed it didn't take the money. I think the Torchwick guy had something to do with it, he did try to rob a dust shop and I remember him only wanting to take the dust the day I met Ozpin; he was still on the loose after all. One of the officers said it could have been caused by a faunus group called 'The White Fang', a group which Weiss had nothing nice to say about, while Blake defended them and said they were just misguided.

Before things became a little more heated. Somebody called for help to stop a faunus. We went to see what all the fuss was about and we saw a faunus with a monkey tail who was about our age run past us. We figured that he was one of the students who came from Vacuo, so we tried to follow him so that Weiss could go on with her plan to observe the competition, but we ended up bumping into someone that caused the faunus boy to get away.

The person we bumped with was a strange but very nice girl named Penny. We apologized and tried to go back to looking for the faunus boy but Penny came to us back, probably because I called her a 'friend' a few seconds ago just to be nice, so we just went with it. She said that she is here to compete in the tournament, even though she doesn't look the part. Weiss asked her where the faunus boy went while calling him a 'filthy faunus', [1] Blake didn't like that and that's when their argument about the faunus and the White Fang continued.

We didn't feel like hanging out any longer, so we just went back to our dorm at Beacon, and even then, they kept fighting. Yang and I could only watch and listen. This was meant to be a day where we finally have fun after a hard and long semester, instead all we got was this.

=o=

1. In my defense, he was indeed filthy in a literal sense, and being a faunus was the best way I could describe him. Outside the White Fang, I didn't have much of an opinion on the faunus in general. Regardless, I apologize for my behavior back then. I admit that my choice of words was very poor, as I was not exactly the most thoughtful person at the time. Growing up in a family that was constantly under threat by faunus extremists made me rather insensitive.

To Live and Learn

CHAPTER 15

"No one in their right mind wants to be oppressed, but everyone loves to think that they are."

-Dennis Hartmann, Former Mantle Oligarch

Thank The Brothers above that the examinations are done, they have been driving me insane for the past couple of weeks that if I see another problem on dust equations, I swear I would shoot the first person I see next.

It was finally time for me to settle down after the prodigious amounts of studying. I decided to stay at my dorm to take advantage of its quiet state since Nora and Ren went out to Vale to have a 'totally platonic date' and watch the city prepare for the Vytal Fiesta, and Pyrrha had to go for an interview for a Mistrali magazine, leaving me all alone in the dorm with nothing but my comics and video games without much disturbance.

I was finally able to experience such tranquility I had not felt for months. No interruptions, no training, no homework, no studying, no jackass bullies, no Grimm, no bandits, and no obnoxious noise, not from Nora and not from my sisters, just me and myself. That is until much later in the evening when sounds of arguing became increasingly clamorous from next door. Of course, it had to be from Team RWBY, because there isn't any other team nearby that could generate the same commotion that these girls could make.

For the most part, I'm satisfied with my dorm, but if I were to renovate it, I would give it much thicker walls. It's no wonder why the school forbids playing loud music at night. These walls are so paper-thin that you could hear your neighbors snore. Since I used to live in a homestead in the middle of the countryside, I never had a problem with noisy neighbors, I had noisy sisters though, but at least my room had more soundproof walls than the ones in here.

What disturbed me the most was that I heard Blake of all girls yelling; the other one was Weiss, but that wasn't surprising. Blake, on the other hand, wasn't the type of person to be open with her opinions, let alone raise her voice. If there was something that made Blake cry out, then something must be very wrong.

They have been going at it for hours and it felt like it wasn't going to end. I decided that enough was enough and went to investigate what was going on. I would normally stay far away from these affairs and let themselves sort it out, Ruby was able to make up with Weiss when she was at what we believed to be her worst, and Team RWBY would eventually become a functioning team after all, but I needed to know what was their issue when the semester was about to end so I could maybe help. I don't want this to cause any problems if they do not solve it by the time the following semester begins.

I exited my dorm and went near Team RWBY's door as I continued to eavesdrop on their conversation. I needed to understand the situation if I were to help. "…It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!" Weiss cried out, followed by Blake's yelling.

"Well, maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!". That made me freeze when I was about to knock on their door, confused by what that exactly meant.

The world felt like it paused at that moment, I wasn't exactly sure why. Judging from what I heard, it seems that they were arguing over a group that Blake was, or was a part of, that Weiss seems to be against. I guessed that it might have something to do with why Blake was so aloof and secretive but because of the lack of context I was getting, I wasn't entirely sure what it was all about.

I heard Blake's voice trail off for a moment before she abruptly bolted out of the room, knocking me over without a word or an apology. I glanced at her as she blurred away from the hallway, shocked at what just happened. "Blake, wait! Come back!" Ruby dashed out of her dorm and spotted me lying on the ground in front of the door. "Jaune! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I stood up, still puzzled over that commotion. "What was that all about?"

"We had a falling out," she tried to answer but it seemed as if she was having trouble coming up with a better explanation. "It's a long story. Look, can I ask you a favor?"

Helping them out for a little was the least I could do even if I was faintly annoyed that I had to run another errand again after enjoying some time alone. It would have been rude for me not to after trying to snoop around them. "Sure. What do you need me to do?"

"Can you please follow her? I need to make sure she's alright," she said

I gave her a questioning look, not entirely sure if I want to get involved with this especially since I had no idea what was going on between them. "Why me? You're her teammate, why don't you follow her?"

"I don't think she'd listen to us after what happened. I'm sure she'll be avoiding us. Look, just keep an eye on her. Talk to her only if you know she'll listen," she said. I took a moment to think about it, looking at her worried silver eyes and at the other two girls. Weiss just stood there, staring at the window, while Yang was sitting on a desk chair, looking down not knowing what to do now that her partner just had a breakdown and ran away. "Please, Jaune. I trust you," Ruby begged in a sorrowful tone, unusual for a cheerful girl like her.

I cupped my chin before deciding to take her word. She had a point when she said that she would try to avoid her own teammates when approached about it. I was at least patient enough to hear her out, I just wanted to stop worrying about these girls so I could focus on worrying about myself. "Fine. I'll look for her. I can't bear to see your team broken."

She made a hopeful smile. "Thanks, Jaune. I knew I could always count on you."

I left the residence hall and went to the courtyard, it was the only logical place Blake would run away to since the other areas were closed during the night. It didn't take long for me to find her gazing at the statue in the middle of the area. There was no one around but me and her. I hid back at one of the lampposts and watched her for a bit.

She slowly undid her bow, revealing the cat ears she has been hiding all along within these months. Somehow I wasn't surprised at all, it only made me rather disappointed that it all seemed to boil down to her simply being a faunus. I had no reason to judge them myself since I always saw them as humans with some animal features, and couldn't understand why are people still making a big deal over them. Pointless squabbles over it were only going to distract you from the real problems.

I had no idea what to do next. She kept standing there, wiping her tears. I thought about going back to Ruby and telling her what I just saw, but I didn't think I wanted to do that without Blake's consent. So I just stepped in and approached her to see what would happen. "Hey…"

She turned around with her eyes widened. Tears were visibly running down her face. "So… that's kind of explains why your bow looked was a little too big," I said, trying to give her a warm reassuring smile.

She was noticeably anxious but shortly calmed down when my tone and expression made it clear that I wasn't looking for a fight. "Now you know." She wiped the trail of tears off her face. "You're going to tell the others aren't you?"

"Not if it makes you uncomfortable," I assured her as it wasn't my intent to further make this more complicated and since to get the bottom of it, I had to say what she wanted to hear.

"I'm sorry for hiding this from you since the beginning. I was afraid that no one would like me for what I am," she said, almost avoiding my gaze.

"Blake, you had no reason to hide who you truly are. I can't exactly hate you for simply having cat ears in a school that contains all facets of life." I told her, speaking in a way as if I wasn't being a hypocrite when I also spent these past months masquerading my more unsavory traits, but at least I wasn't making race an issue. If you ask me, I think she was being too insecure; I wouldn't put being an animal person on the same level as being a cowardly fraud.

"And what about people like Cardin?" She asked, trying to challenge my previous statement though it wasn't a very good rebuttal because from what I've seen, Cardin was finally able to stop not too long ago and was no longer relevant as a bully. Thank gods.

"People like Cardin aren't liked very much. You saw how Nora tried to stand up for Velvet, and even tried to break his legs over what he did to her." Though that last part was a result of me not shutting up. I'd still say that Cardin was a terrible example because he pissed everyone off all the same, faunus or not, and I can testify that. I still remember what he tried to do months ago, thankfully I haven't heard much from him or his idiot friends ever since. Russel even took my advice and gave himself a haircut that was more bearable to look at.

Sadly, that didn't sound like it was enough to change her mind as she raised her voice and continued being agitated over her heritage. "Even so, there are still people out there who will not accept who you are and will look down on you for it.

That is when I started to lose my patience with her. People will always look for reasons to hate you, no matter how small or irrational it may be, race, being one of them. "So you're just going to keep hiding what you are?" I asked, raising mine as well, asserting my more authoritative tone as a leader to persuade her.

"Yes! Maybe! I don't know!" She cried, being more uncertain than she was. "Look, this is much more complicated than what you think it is. I really don't know how to explain this to you."

I made slow steps toward her while trying to keep her calm. "Blake, just tell me what's wrong. We could figure this out."

"I don't know. I still couldn't show my face to my team after what happened back at the dorm." She looked down before looking at me. "They sent you, did they?"

"Yes. They did." I nodded hesitantly. It was becoming increasingly obvious that there wasn't any point in lying about it and I thought it was time for me to have a little transparency if I was to gain her trust.

"So, mind if I ask you something?"

"I'm all ears," I nodded.

She hesitated for a moment before spitting it out. "Can you cover for me for now? I'm going to leave Beacon for a while. Please don't tell anyone what you just saw."

I widened my eyes at her request. "Leave? But—"

"I just need to think about this. I promise I'll come back and tell you everything soon. Right now, I'm just not ready..."

I pondered on her word. I didn't know if I should let her go when Ruby is worried sick about her. On the other hand, she did tell me to just make sure she was okay, she didn't exactly expect me to bring her back, but I still need to make sure that she didn't use this as an opportunity to disappear from us.

"Please…"

I stared straight at her amber eyes and I saw myself in her. While I still wasn't entirely sure about it, she seemed to trust me. If she didn't, she would have run away the moment she saw me. So there was little reason for me to doubt her. Although I don't agree with the reason, I understand what she was going through and I would have admittedly done the same if I was in her position. "If that's what you want."

"Thanks," she said. Within a blink of an eye, she was gone with the wind, nowhere to be found. I felt like I betrayed Ruby now that I let Blake loose but I felt like it was best for her team. If their problems with each other were that bad, then they did need some space from each other and think about it. I just hope that they would eventually figure this out together.

I walked back to the dorms and knocked on Team RWBY's dorm. The door opened and I saw Ruby. "So how was it?" She asked.

"Couldn't find her. I thought I saw her once, turned out to be a shadow clone. Sneaky cat." I lied.

Her eyes then widened. I just realized that I slipped an implication that I knew about her faunus heritage so I decided to try putting some ease on them. "Was it something I said?"

"Nothing. I'm sorry for bugging you into this. It's just that I'm worried about her," Ruby frowned, feeling as guilty as I was over her running away.

"She'll be fine, she did get to Beacon after all. I'm sure she could handle herself out there," I said.

That slightly reassured her but she was still apprehensive. "You're right. Well, thanks anyway. I'm sorry if we bothered you."

"No problem. I'm just glad to help." I nodded before the door closed.

I went back to my dorm. For that night, all I could do was worry for Team RWBY, especially Blake now that she's in the stray. I could only think about what she said to me then and I could only hope that I didn't make it any worse.

The following day, I tried going back to enjoying my last weekend here in Beacon before the semestral break officially begins on Monday. Team RWBY waited and spent the whole Saturday for Blake to come back anytime soon but sadly, she never came. Aside from that, Saturday for me was very much uneventful as I did nothing but laze around the entire day since there wasn't anything left to do aside from waiting for Blake to come back or maybe call me if that would ever happen. It was rather difficult to relax a day of leisure after what happened that night, and Team RWBY never got a chance to relax as I did, and that made me feel terrible for them.

And it was all because of some stupid cat ears.

Chapter Text

To Live and Learn

CHAPTER 16

"Treat people like animals and they'll start acting like animals, then they'll be remembered as animals."

-Adria Shepherd, 'Fall of the Old Fang'

It was a Sunday morning and there was still no sign of Blake after she disappeared last Friday night. But that didn't stop her team from searching for her; they did not have any intention of stopping until they knew she was okay.

I didn't want to keep worrying about Blake during the last day before the break so I decided to spend some time with my team and enjoy our last moments together before this semester ends. Nora, Ren, and I went to Vale to hang out for a few hours. Pyrrha was still busy with something so unfortunately couldn't she couldn't come with us.

We went to an arcade. It was a ton of fun, Ren and I played a light gun game only using one of our arms and we were surprisingly able to do well with it. Although the game leans a little bit on the unrealistic side, the gunplay had enough weight that I was able to exercise my left arm when shooting so we both got a little practice as a bonus.

Nora meanwhile spent nearly all of her money buying tokens to eventually win a prize from the dreaded claw machine. Suffice to say, she would have spent a lot less if she just simply bought one. At least she's restraining enough not to break the machine and get us banned; her raw strength was enough to shatter the machine's glasses. I was already skeptical about getting her to play the strength test, something which she could undoubtedly break without even trying. But she couldn't bother to play that because she has been stuck on the claw machine since we arrived. Can't say I blame her though, I haven't won a single prize in my entire life from a claw machine myself, these things are so rigged against you that it led some people to believe that it's made for scamming people out of their money.

I eventually felt my scroll vibrate. I took it out and saw a text message from Blake, telling me to meet her on the second floor of Café Noir in the Market District and that I should go alone with my tracker off.

That got my plans to relax for the entire day thrown out the window but at least I was able to know where Blake was and that she was okay by the loos of it. Ruby and her teammates would be thrilled to hear about this, but I, unfortunately, cannot inform them about it at the moment. I wasn't sure what she was up to but I would have to honor her wishes because otherwise it just might make all this melodramatic bullshit worse.

It was only a short walk as the café was located only a few blocks away from the arcade. I went to the balcony on the second floor as Blake instructed, eventually spotting her as she sat on a table, wearing her bow again. She was with another boy who annoyingly almost has the same color scheme as mine, only missing something black on his top. He was also a monkey faunus, [1] seeing how he carried his cup with his tail.

I assumed that Blake's teammates would get the same message and also be present, but they were nowhere to be found. I found it strange how Blake would trust me over her own teammates. We still haven't talked to each other that much outside of that chance encounter at the library during the first week, even then our conversation, if you could call it that, during that day was rather brief. It's probably because I acted too nice that she ended up trusting me. Really, it was partially my fault that her teammates have been looking for her since Friday night.

"Oh good, you're finally here," Blake noticed me approach them.

"So, he's the guy?" The monkey faunus she was accompanying asked.

"Yes," She nodded before introducing us to one another. "Sun, this is Jaune. Jaune, I'd like you to meet Sun."

"Nice to meet you. Sun Wukong. Haven Academy." He offered his hand. He seems friendly enough that someone like Blake would even bother with him.

"Arc, Jaune Arc. Beacon, the same school as hers. Nice to meet you too," I returned the gesture and took a seat.

Blake looked a little puzzled by Sun's greeting. "Haven? That's an academy in Mistral. Aren't you from Vacuo?"

"Actually, yeah I am from Vacuo, but I study at Haven. I just went back there immediately after the break to meet up with my family before taking the first ship to Vale," Sun responded.

"Then why didn't you tell me that earlier?" Blake asked, somewhat irritated.

"You never asked," he shrugged.

Blake rolled her eyes and took a sip of tea before turning to me and giving me a menu. "Here, get yourself something to drink."

"So does this place have any tanna?" I asked while reading through the menu, it was literally the first thought I had. I believed I have been separated from its taste for too long that I could really use some.

She raised a confused brow. "What's tanna?"

I kept reading the menu and saw there weren't any. "Nevermind," I replied, feeling slightly disappointed. If there was any consolation though, I would be able to drink it again once I get home the following day. "So where are your teammates, Blake? Whatever you're about to explain, I think they deserve to hear it."

The cat ears hidden beneath her bow twitched slightly. "I think they already knew, which is why I couldn't bear to show my face to them. But I did promise you that I will explain everything."

Fair enough. I only wanted to know what was going on, especially if it also meant getting Blake closer to returning to her team so I don't have to be too concerned over their affairs anymore. "Well, by all means, shoot."

She took a deep breath before she began. "Alright, here it goes… Jaune. Sun. Are you familiar with the White Fang?"

Although the name does ring a bell for some reason I can't quite put my finger on it. I could recall hearing the name a few times, I just don't know when nor was I sure why it sounded familiar. "Can't say I have," I answered.

"Of course! I don't think there's a faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them." Sun spoke up. "Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. They think they could stop the racism against us when they could barely get different faunus species to put aside their differences. Bunch of hypocrite freaks, if you ask me."

Blake took another sip of her tea. "I was once a member of the White Fang."

I looked at her with mild surprise. Sun meanwhile coughed that he almost choked on his drink that he almost dropped it. "Wait a minute, you were a member of the White Fang?!"

"That's right. I was a member for most of my life, actually. You could almost say I was born into it." Learning that did make me slightly wary of her. If what Sun said about that organization was true, that this 'White Fang' were a bunch of violent thugs, then I should be careful around Blake. I did get myself to calm down, because if she was the criminal she used to be, then she would have stirred some trouble a long time ago. Then again, her aloof demeanor could always mean that she is up to something.

She began to elaborate more about her background. "Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between humans and the faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as a voice of our people—and I was there, I was at the front of every rally, I took part in every boycott. I actually thought we were making a difference, but I was just a youthful optimist."

A youthful optimist… I know how that one felt. Which was enough for me to know that this wasn't going to end in a happily ever after as if that wasn't clear enough.

"Then, five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly, our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used faunus labor, and the worst part was—it was working. We were being treated as equals, but not out of respect... out of fear." She then finished her cup. "So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress."

That was… eye-opening. Thankfully, it has disproved my suspicions that Blake was still associated with that group. Still, I'm disturbed that this was all happening because of racial divisions. Prejudices die hard, I suppose and by the sound of it, I don't think The White Fang is exactly helping with that regard.

"So here I am, a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little black bow." She looked up, wiggling her bow. It took me a few seconds to process what she said.

"So, have you told your friends any of this?" Sun inquired. Blake's expression and silence were enough to answer it for us. It was indeed that bad, and I wasn't going to let it affect her too much. I still needed my glorified meatshields to work properly which is why I was even there to begin with.

"I think you should." I asserted, letting her have my opinion. "White Fang or not, that's not the first thing that would come to their mind when they hear your name. No, no. They'll think of their teammate, Blake, that shy girl who wears a big bow and likes to read. Whatever you were before, it's now in the past. Let it go," I said in my best efforts in an attempt to coerce her into ending this needless drama.

"I wish it was that simple," she sighed. "I don't know, Jaune. Especially not with Weiss. She has a vendetta against the White Fang since the SDC has been one of their major targets. I don't think she'll forgive me for associating with a group that has been sabotaging her family's company for a while."

Well crap, I thought. That explains the commotion that happened on Friday night, it made me understand why Blake was hesitant to return to her team. This turned out to be more complicated than I thought.

"Wait, so you're telling me that you're teammates with a Schnee? Man, talk about some bad blood." Sun remarked.

"This all started when we were strolling together in the city and saw a dust shop in ruins." Blake elaborated. "The police said that the White Fang was one of the possible perpetrators, and Weiss was inclined to agree. I couldn't help but defend the White Fang and tell her that they are misguided, that was when we started to argue. Eventually, it became heated enough that I slipped into associating me with the faunus, I ran away and the rest is history."

"Wow," Sun remarked.

"So, do you still think that this is all just a simple dispute?" Blake questioned me, slightly raising her voice.

Although she did make the situation clear, it also raised more questions. "Look, I see what you're going through. But couldn't you just tell them that you don't want to do anything with the White Fang anymore? You already saw that they do more harm than good that you left. So why did you even bother defending them?! You didn't necessarily have to make this more complicated," I pointed out, faintly annoyed that all of this was happening because of tribalism on her part.

"Even if the White Fang took their actions too far, it doesn't change the fact that Weiss made discriminatory remarks on the faunus. People like her are why some of them join the White Fang!" She gripped her empty cup. For someone who left an organization out of disgust, she had a penchant for justifying their actions. And I thought I was a pathetic hypocrite.

"But does that make them any better?" I snapped, dropping the courtesy that I have been holding on to these past months whenever I'm around my schoolmates and letting her experience the authoritative side of me. "You said that faunus were being treated as equals out of fear, right? I may be an idiot sometimes, but I know that's not equality, Blake, because what they're doing is very counter-productive. Do you really think that people take kindly to extremism? And that they'll just eventually be fine with it just because they're treated badly? No, they instead gave them a good reason to fear you, and keep this stupid conflict going. Don't take this the wrong way, but humans aren't going to learn that you're more than just savage animals if you keep acting like it."

I realized that I have acted too much out of character but I was not in the mood on playing dumb and pretending that this was all okay. I knew that nothing good would happen if I just let this stand. Admittedly, I'm even not sure if I know what I'm talking about, I don't actually even care about any of this. For all I know, I could be making stuff up. I just want her to stop this fiasco, forget about all of this and carry on trying to make sure I get the best out of surviving Huntsman training.

On the bright side, the café's second floor and exterior are empty. I don't like people eavesdropping on a rather personal conversation, it would have made this more awkward.

Blake paused but she wasn't giving up just yet. "You may not see it much these days, but the faunus are suffering a lot more than you think. Some of them were never given a choice but to join the White Fang because they're their only hope! If humans won't give us peace, what do you think we are supposed to do?"

"By simply proving them wrong!" I bluntly retorted while remaining still and keeping a voice at a reasonable level. That was enough to take her aback. "Success was always the best revenge. I've met faunus who were able to flourish despite everything that they have to go through. They lived well enough that they were able to gain the respect of humans and that they were able to learn that faunus can co-exist with them as worthy members of society. They can learn that you are people just like us and that mistreating you won't accomplish anything. You don't need to let the worse of us get to you, so instead of throwing violent, collective tantrums and giving humans a reason to hate your people, why not prove that you're better than that? I know it's not easy and it's a long road ahead, but I do know that it's worth it." I took a moment to breathe and I continued to coax her. "And I guess you're already trying to do that by being a Huntress. Remember why you've abandoned the White Fang in favor of this. Not everyone wants to put the faunus down, Blake, many of us are doing our best to give you guys a chance, so why make things worse for us both?"

As I said, I was mostly talking in pure intuition and I actually have no idea what I'm talking about and I didn't even mean to preach. But whatever I just said, it was enough to have her frozen, she looked down at her cup and pondered on my remark.

"I can't help but agree with him. He's made a good point." Sun said after silently listening to us for a while. Regardless of whether I was right about what I said or not, it's good to know that somebody, a faunus no less, was vouching for me on this. That's a sign that I did something right at least.

Blake sighed. "You're right. I guess the White Fang that I knew and believed in is gone. I don't even know what made me think otherwise."

I put on a relieved smile at the progress I was making. "There's still a chance to set things right, Blake. And by choosing to become a Huntress, to fight for humans and faunus alike against creatures that want to destroy us all. You already are trying to make a difference."

She looked at her cup for a moment before brightening up. "I'll take your word for it then."

Finally, I was able to knock some sense to her. Thank Brothers, this is why I hate politics, you have to deal with loud-mouthed dolts who have very black-and-white views on complicated matters. It's a miracle that I was even able to convince Blake to stop defending her little extremist club. "Glad that's settled."

"So what's the plan now?" Sun asked.

"While there's no denying that the White Fang has been extreme a lot lately, I still don't believe they are behind these robberies. They've never needed that much dust before," Blake said. By the looks of it, we were unfortunately not done with the White Fang nonsense even after I persuaded Blake to stop sympathizing with them. If anything, I've only scratched the surface of the whole situation.

"But what if they did?" Sun questioned. "I mean—the only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they would most likely go if they were to do it, and not find them there! Right?"

Blake shrugged. "The only thing is, I've no idea where that would be."

Fortunately, Sun had a figurative light bulb turn on above his head. "Well, while I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas."

That seemed to have caught her interest. "How huge?"

"Huge. Big Schnee Company freighter."

"You're sure?"

"Well, you said that the White Fang hated the SDC's guts. Think about it, if they do need that much dust, then what is the better way than to steal from the company they hate so much?" He said.

"Then we're going there now," Blake concluded after doing some thinking. "Jaune, are you coming with us? We could use an extra hand. We're going to need your help should things go wrong."

I murmured for a bit as I feared that it would come to this. But declining would only prove that I was a coward, and I couldn't have that, and someone from the school had to keep an eye on Blake. "Alright, but on one condition, after you're done. You'll go back to Beacon, and you'll apologize to your team and talk it out. Deal?"

"Can't really argue with that anymore. Deal." she conceded. She looked at the sky and saw that it was getting dark. "Best we get going, the White Fang could attack at any time. We need to be there before they do."

We stood up and left the café. I sent a message to my team saying that I'll come home late. And that's assuming that if I even get out of this alive.

"Hey Jaune, I can't help but notice that you're kind of familiar, I think I've heard about you before," Sun asked as we were making our way to the docks.

Not again, I thought to myself, hiding my groan. People are still hanging on to that by the sound of it. I know El Segador was a big deal on Vacuo, but I thought we have reached the point where that stupid story has died down and everyone moved on from it. "I have no idea what you're talking about…"

He kept staring at me before he shook his head and carried on. "Eh, I'm probably going crazy. Sorry to bother you."

That was close. Somebody reminding me of that shameful event was the last thing I needed. Hopefully, it won't get worse from here. I just want to help out a friend to keep myself on Team RWBY's good side, but now I have to get involved in racial politics and participate in what more or less would be espionage. Hooray.

I'm starting to regret leaving the dorm that night. Blake acts so much of a cat that it felt I'm trying to herd a clowder of her.

=o=

1. He also happened to be the same faunus we tried to pursue in the previous excerpt.

They say that 'curiosity kills the cat,' and I spent the entire thing worrying that it wasn't going to be a figure of speech for long. Considering that we were about to face a group that is essentially a terrorist organization. I fetched my weapons and hoped for the best while preparing for the worse. I was hoping that Blake better have eight more lives if it doesn't go well.

I've seen Blake fight more than enough to know how to have her use her skills to our advantage. The problem is that her fighting style relies on stealth and surprise attacks because there's only so much you could do when your weapon is a katana[1]-slash-simple pistol with a cable attached to it and along a sheath that can be used as a second melee weapon. I don't know much about Sun. When I asked how he fights, he answered that he uses a bow-staff that can change into two nun-chucks that also shoot bullets. His semblance allows him to summon clones of himself, but unlike Blake's clones, they possess some mass, allowing them to have physical contact. Of course, like most other useful semblance, it takes up a lot of his aura, especially if he overuses it in one sitting. This leads me to assume that his role was suited for dealing with multiple opponents at once. All of these were in case things go wrong; our objective was to investigate dust robberies and see if the White Fang was truly responsible or not. Nobody said that we had to engage with angry faunus terrorists.

We've situated ourselves on the roof of one of the warehouses, staking out the docks for hours beginning at dusk and it was painfully uneventful. We could have fallen asleep once the White Fang arrived. At least Sun brought some cards for us to play while one kept watching. Though, playing Go-Fish for a couple of hours got old pretty fast.

Sun eventually got bored and decided to head out for a few minutes. By this time, the freighter carrying the SDC containers arrived and was offloaded. After that, the dock was closed and everyone working there went home, leaving the place empty. At first glance, nothing seems to be out of the ordinary until you realize that there suspiciously were no guards to be found. Not even a single one. Very odd considering the SDC containers looked very valuable.

"That would be their target, isn't it?" I questioned.

"It's definitely something they would take," Blake replied assuredly.

"Strange. You'd expect a huge corporation to have their stuff guarded especially if they're constantly attacked by a specific group," I pointed out.

"Now that you've mentioned it, something feels off." She said with a pause. "Anyway, your tracker is still off right?"

"Yes, it's still off," I answered. That didn't mean I couldn't turn it back on when things got out of hand. The only reason why I even bothered to keep it off was that Blake has proven herself to be stubborn enough that selling her out wasn't going to help. If I let her get what she wants for once, then I'll be able to take her back to her team without any more trouble (aside from trying to explain the faunus stuff) and I don't have to risk Blake's trust in me.

We stared at the containers for an amount of time. Needless to say, it was dull watching a bunch of metal boxes standing still and waiting for something to happen. Out of boredom, I ended up putting my gaze into admiring Blake's pretty backside as she was lying prone. While this admittedly threw me off focus, it did motivate me to stay for another while.

I quickly stopped and turned back to overlooking the docks after hearing Sun returned with some green apples. "Did I miss anything?"

"Not really. They've offloaded the crates from the boat; now they're just sitting there," Blake replied.

"I stole us some food!" Sun showed some of the apples he brought.

"Uhh, thanks?" I took one of them and took a bite. It was strange that I accepted generosity on a stolen good. But then again, considering my tendency to scavenge, I wasn't any better myself, but at least I stole from those who I thought deserved it and I was inconspicuous enough to keep a clean record.

"Do you always break the law without giving a second thought?" Blake remarked, and this was coming from someone who used to work with the same terrorist group we were currently investigating. [2]

"Hey, weren't you in some racist revolutionary cult or something?" Sun responded, earning her glare. "Okay, too soon!"

He went back into watching the docks while both quietly munched our apples. Few minutes in and there were still no White Fang lackeys to be found. I decided to check my scroll for a quick moment and I found out that I had several missed calls from my teammates and the other members of Team RWBY. Since I was in a stake-out I had to keep my scroll on silent mode until further notice and it looks like that my friends were getting worried about us.

I was considering giving them a message telling them that I was okay when I heard Sun call me. "Hey, Jaune."

"Yeah?" I responded, hearing him out as there was little else to do while on a stakeout.

"Can I whisper you something?" He gestured me closer. I leaned near him for what he had to say. "Are you two dating?"

I was baffled by the question. While Blake was definitely attractive in her own right and I wouldn't have my eyes fixed on finer assets otherwise, I didn't see her anything like that especially since she recently made some very unwise decisions that only proved that she would make a very bothersome person to date with, and I think I had enough of those types of girls already that I don't need to add another one to my list. "What? No! What gave you the idea?"

He gave an innocent shrug. "I just thought I'd ask." Though judging by his expression and the faint blush I have managed to spot with my keen eye, there was definitely something more to that.

"Quiet, you two! I think they're coming." Blake pointed us toward a Bullhead arriving at the docks with its searchlights on. It descended near the containers as we kept our heads low.

The Bullhead's ramp opened. Instead of workers or soldiers, a group of people in unfortunately familiar apparel emerged from the aircraft. They were wearing the same black and white uniform, and the same Grimm-like visors, and carried the very same emblem on the back of their vests while speaking in the same Hibernian accents as the 'bandits' I ran into a few months back at Forever Fall. I wished my mind was playing tricks on me—but it wasn't.

I just realized that the White Fang was indeed the group of criminals I encountered that day. Ren was right when he thought that what we fought were more than just bandits, and I never believed him, because I was too afraid to think so. This was not good, it meant that I ended up gaining the notoriety of a godsdamn terrorist organization hellbent on making humanity pay, with one of their ex-members being a part of my sister team. They are definitely going to murder me when they find out that I was the one that subdued, looted, and reported one of their bases to the authorities, maybe even casually killing a few of their members along the way.

"Oh no," Blake murmured, and my reaction was almost too similar.

"Gods, it's really them," I muttered to myself, still in disbelief that I crossed paths with them before. Although I tried to be quiet, it didn't stop Sun from hearing me.

"You've seen them before?" he asked, with Blake turning her head at me with suspicion.

I didn't feel like explaining how I first met them, and even if I did, there was no time for it. So I just needed to throw them off of it for a little bit. "Saw them in the news." I quickly lied without losing my cool or stammering and it seemed to have been enough to convince them.

"Deep down, I knew. I just didn't want to be right," Blake frowned.

I was about to suggest leaving and maybe calling the police since we got what we came here for and there wasn't a need for anything to complicate things further when a voice gained all of our attention. "Hey! What's the hold-up?!"

An orange-haired man with a white coat, bowler hat, and cane walked out from the Bullhead. At first glance, there doesn't seem to be anything off about him, maybe aside from looking like he came straight out from The Tangerine Cogsworth, until you realize that he doesn't seem to have visible faunus features. Granted, the faunus features of the other members weren't visible either, given that they wore uniforms that almost cover their whole bodies. I assumed that this one has his hidden beneath his hat, that is until he makes a statement that immediately contradicted that, making it quite clear that he was human. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?"

From what I've heard so far, The White Fang was a bunch of human-hating extremists, which explained why I was once called a 'humie' during that Forever Falls Fiasco so it was strange that the White Fang was taking orders from a human that had the audacity to call them animals. Blake was understandably just as puzzled as I was. "This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human. Especially not one like that."

"This is stupid! Why the hell did they put you in charge?! I didn't sign up to get pushed around by another lowly humie like you!" One defiant member stood his ground. It seems to me that they would but they weren't particularly happy about it.

"Disobedience, huh? That's a mistake," he replied before butting his cane on the member's stomach, making him fall to the ground. The others just stood back even if they were noticeably tempted to aim their guns at him. "You can go cry to Adam all you want, but as long we agree to keep collaborating, I don't think any of you sheep can do jack shit about it! Now, are we going to do this or what?"

"Adam? Collaborate? What's going on here?" Those words seem to have caught Blake's attention so much that she stood up, drew her weapon, and leaped from the warehouse.

Sun was shocked by Blake's sudden decision to storm out. "Hey, what are you doing?!"

"Blake, wait!" I cried out. We were not supposed to confront anyone. So much for being discreet. I pulled my scroll and turned on my tracker just in case. I thought it was now the time to let everyone know where we were especially knowing that this isn't going to go very well. "Don't move. Let her take care of this for now," I told Sun.

"Well, do you have some sort of plan or what?!" He exclaimed while keeping quiet so the White Fang wouldn't hear him since Blake told us that some of the faunus might possess enhanced hearing.

"I wish I had, but I'll work something out!" I said, he could only agree at the moment. We needed to quickly think about this first since further hastiness would undoubtedly make this worse.

Blake snuck behind one of the containers and peaked to get a view of the bowler hat guy yelling at a stooge who was holding some kind of rope. "No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!" He yelled before Blake came out and put her blade on his throat. From the looks of it, the guy looks more annoyed than threatened. "What the—?! Oh, for fuc—"

"Nobody move!" Blake warned as White Fang thugs surround her with their weapons drawn.

"Whoa! Take it easy there, little lady," The bowler hat guy said while being held by her, remaining rather calm for someone who is being used as a hostage.

"Blake Belladonna? Is that you?" One of the terrorists recognized her, causing her to feel a bit uneasy but remained firm nonetheless. I really should have taken to account if Blake was famous in the White Fang or something because I would have anticipated this exact thing happening [3]

"Blake Belladonna?" Mr. Bowler Hat laughed. "So you're the kitten chick that Adam won't shut up about. Guess he wasn't screwing around when he said that you are wearing such a ridiculous bow."

"Shut up!" Blake then removed her bow and exposed her cat ears. "Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?!"

"Why should we answer you, traitor?!" One of them retorted. This was exactly what I was worried about. I had to wonder what made her think this was a good idea. Then again, this is the same woman that ran away because she tried defending this organization even though she left them for being too extreme and then went to the trouble to investigate dust robberies because she didn't want to believe that they were responsible. Because of that, I feel stupid for letting myself agree to this. I'm starting to see why black cats are considered to be the symbol of bad luck and disaster.

"Oh, you really have no idea what's happening, do you?" The bowler hat guy remarked, remaining calm even with a blade on his throat that Blade tightened at that moment.

"Would you care to explain then?"

"Well, your old friends and I are going in on a joint business venture together!" He answered.

"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation," Blake demanded.

Sun and I felt the wind blow against us and saw two more Bullheads fly past us and hovered above them. "Good luck with that, kitty cat." The bowler hat guy said shortly before firing a missile at Blake's feet, causing an explosion large enough to be visible outside the docks.

It was now apparent that my assessments have backfired on me once again, Blake's personal issues turned out to be a bigger liability than they should be. I should have known that snitching her location to her teammates sooner would have been less troublesome. This was going to be my worst Sunday night thus far.

=o=

1. A common mistake that even Ruby, a weapons enthusiast, is guilty of. Blake's weapon is actually closer to a ninjatō, also known as a ninja sword. They are similar to katanas only lighter and shorter, making them much more suitable for stealth. They're not to be confused with wakizashis which have a similar blade shape to katanas since ninjatōs have straighter blades in contrast to the slightly curved blades that other Mistrali swords are known for. The confusion was probably due to the result of katanas being interchangeably used to refer to anything resembling a Mistrali sword.
2. And partaking in many sabotages against the Schnee Dust Company® no less. Though, it should be noted that I had Blake pardoned for her crimes against the company, shortly after I took over the position as CEO.
3. Not only that but she was also the daughter of Ghira Belladonna, the former chieftain of Menagerie and the leader of the White Paws movement before its militant faction took over and reformed it into the White Fang we all know. According to Blake's memoirs, which I am still going to spare readers from, she tried using her former reputation in an attempt to coerce the White Fang troops. As the following paragraphs show, this did not go as well as she would have hoped.

Editorial Note:

For the readers' convenience, I decided to add an excerpt here, which follows Ruby and Penny Polendina's search for Blake, before and during the docks incident, just so readers won't have the same confusion as Jaune on their eventual involvement in the scene.

The Red Rose Diaries: The Search for Blake

It's been a whole day since Blake disappeared and she hasn't come back yet. We decided to go to Vale and look for her because she might never come back and I don't want team RWBY to be broken before this semester ends. It's going to be hard because Vale is rather a big city, and we couldn't track her down because she kept her tracker off.

We tried visiting the bookstore because it was one of the places she likes to go when visiting Vale. Sadly, the owner, Tukson, said that she hasn't visited lately, and the sushi restaurant, which was also one of her favorite places, said the same. Since we didn't want to give up, we kept looking for her. She can't just abandon us while we're about to finish the first semester. I'm positive that she'll come back to us, I just don't know how or when.

Weiss suggested we go tell the police, which sounded good, but then you realize that Weiss still doesn't trust Blake yet and could have her arrested because she could really be from the White Fang.

We met Penny again. When we told her we were looking for Blake, Penny said that she recognized her and that she was a faunus girl, which really proved that she was hiding something from us. There was always something fishy with Blake, but it turns out she's just a faunus, which isn't actually much of a big deal if you ask me. Everyone was welcome to Beacon and become our friend. Weiss just needs to stop being mean to her because of that.

Anyway, Weiss and Yang suddenly ditched me and I was left with Penny. I told her everything that happened. Penny said she didn't have a lot of friends, but if she did, she wants them to talk to her about things.

Same thing I also want…

I continued to look for Blake as we continued to talk more about things. For once, we managed to get some good news. When Penny and I went to Café Noir, the owner said that she had seen her and that if that's really her, then she arrived hours ago and was chatting with two blond boys. I don't know who are the blond boys she was referring to, Jaune maybe? I tried to call him but he wouldn't call back, so I called his teammates. Nora said that Jaune went to do something they don't know because he never told them and that his tracker was also off, which probably meant that he really was with Blake. But why does he need to turn off his tracker? Maybe Blake told him to, I dunno. But that tells me that he is with her; the only thing we needed to do was find them.

Since they were last seen in the café, they couldn't be that far. It was getting dark, but we haven't given up on searching just yet.

Suddenly, there we saw an explosion coming from the docks. Whether it's her or not we couldn't just stay there and do nothing. Someone might need help. So Penny and I decided to head there.

It turned out that we made the right move. But Blake and Jaune weren't the only familiar faces we've met there...

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

To Live and Learn

EPILOGUE

I never thought I'd be relieved to see Beacon again. I know I have been through some crazy shit since the first time I stepped into this place, but fighting a terrorist group that turn out the criminals I encountered during a previous fiasco a few months back while discovering that one of your classmates used to be one of them and then seeing a young girl effortlessly kick all of their asses out of nowhere, takes the godsdamn cake. And I have a feeling that it won't end there since this was only the first semester. The next semester could offer even worse scenarios that it might even make this whole day look like a walk in the park in comparison.

If it weren't for my consistent practice with my sword, shield, and my gun, I probably would've met a more grim fate. At least I now know what to expect and I'll be sure to be more prepared for them but I would still prefer not to be dragged into needless danger because of someone's thoughtlessness.

When I finally got back I received a text from The Great and Powerful Ozpin telling me to enjoy my break and that I don't need to thank him. Figured as much. No need to question him over this, I'll just have to be grateful and move on. It's been a long day.

I heard that Pyrrha even had to postpone whatever she was attending because of how worried she was for me that I had had to clear the entire thing for them and told them not to worry and that despite everything, it all ended well despite how complicated the situation was, and I was lucky that it went that way.

Later after that, I went to the dorm's rooftop to clear my mind before I got some sleep, the same place where me and my team train in our spare time. It was one of the only places in the academy outside my dorm where I truly felt peace; I never get tired of looking at the scenery it offers, especially at night when it illuminates by the lights of the academy while it overlooks the city lights of Vale in the distance accompanied by the sound of peaceful silence. I want to give one last look at its view before this semester ends.

I was just standing there, all alone, until I heard the voice of a certain faunus girl. "Hey."

Turning back to the rooftop's door, I saw that there was no one there. I looked at the roof tiles above and saw Blake leaning near the roof window. "Blake, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"I could ask you the same thing, "she said before leaping off and landing in front of me. "I just like to sit on top of buildings sometimes."

Just like cats, huh? I thought.

She continued, "Anyway, I'm sorry for dragging you into all that. I know it was more trouble than you expected."

I still didn't appreciate what I had to go through thanks to her actions but despite that, I could never bring myself to hate her. Her actions were irrational, sure, but I could at least understand why she did it. I only wished she handled them a little better.

"You don't have to apologize to me for anything, Blake. I went with you at my own will because I wanted to help." I went closer to her, laying a hand on her shoulder in comfort. "I couldn't just let you go, knowing how worried your team was for you."

Though if you asked me, I probably wouldn't have gone if I knew that a simple stakeout would turn out into an all-out brawl especially if it involved an organization that probably wants to kill me after what I did to them a few months ago. Especially now that I have another wanted criminal to worry about, one that I, unfortunately, wasn't able to kill or arrest so I don't have to watch my back for them anymore. I wouldn't even mind if that ends up building up my undeserved reputation because I would have been at least able to capitalize on it by using it as a warning to other criminals so that they would use this knowledge to avoid me as much as I try to avoid them.

"But still, you wouldn't be there if it wasn't for me." She gently put my hand off her shoulder. "It was all my fault. My fear of everyone discovering who I am is what led us to that." she whimpered. "I should have just accepted that the White Fang wasn't that good from the start."

I could hear the genuine regret in her voice that she reminded me too much of myself that I didn't even want to keep up with the charade for a bit. With that, I did something that I thought I would never do: Be honest with my feelings. "You know, I was scared too."

She wept a tear and looked at me perplexed, none verbally asking me why.

"I was afraid that something might happen to you, that you might never come back, and that would be my fault because I let that happen. I thought if I went out and help you, I wouldn't have to feel guilty about myself. You don't have to blame yourself for everything, you couldn't have known that it would get that bad. I was there by choice, I brought all of that to myself." I told her.

When you think about it, it turned out we weren't that different. We both were hiding something from our friends. We both wanted to escape something, and we both have our own doubts about ourselves. Sometimes we just don't know what people would think, so we had to go with what they're comfortable with.

She came closer and abruptly hugged me. "I never properly thanked you for being there with me." she kept hugging me for a while before letting go. "I just couldn't blame you, Jaune. You were too nice. I just don't know how to repay you for your help."

"You don't have to repay me for me anything, I just did what friends are supposed to do, be there for you."

She smiled and looked at the night sky with me. It was quiet for a bit until she broke the silence. "The White Fang is still out there..."

"They can't keep doing what they do forever," I said, organizations like that tend to die out soon enough. Well, as far I know at least.

"But as long as there's discrimination, there will always be groups like the White Fang. They're not going to stop until they get what they want."

"That's just how things are, Blake. But that's why we're also here. To keep Remnant safe from people like them. After you've left the White Fang, you made the right choice to become a Huntress. You can finally fight for peace for real this time."

She was flattered by that statement. "I guess I could see why they called you a hero."

I looked down as I thought about that. "Sometimes, I don't know if I'm still worthy of being called that," I admitted. Everything I did that seemed selfless was actually for my benefit. If I were to keep my team and allies together so they could keep saving my hind, I have no other choice than to uphold my reputation even if I'm ashamed of it.

"You definitely do." She smiled at me. "I should go. They might wonder where I am again. Thanks again, for everything."

"No problem, Blake. If there's anything you need, just let me know," I said, returning the smile.

She nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. Oh, and one more thing."

"Yeah?" I heard her out. The next thing I know, she leaned in and suddenly pecked my cheek, [1] and I couldn't help but be stunned by it.

"Please don't be a stranger." She was trying her best to restrain her blush while I could only space out.

I was so frozen by it that I didn't notice her leave the rooftop. Did I deserve any of that? I thought as I held my cheek. Whatever it was, I guess I earned her affinity. Blake is a curious individual, I'm actually glad I have learned more about her other than being the shy, bookwormish type.

I spent another minute looking at the shattered moon once again before going back to my dorm as well.

So this is how I end my first semester…

[And that was the final entry of Jaune's first semester in Beacon, ending this portion of this saga.]

=o=

1. Thankfully, that was also their last kiss as far as I know.

Editorial Note:

As we conclude the accounts written for the first semester, I would like to add a final excerpt for this volume by Headmaster Ozpin which was recorded during the same night. It details his conversation with Jaune's father, Caiaphas Arc. The following excerpt provides some insights into a part of the nature of Jaune's character that he refuses to talk about, even in his own private memoirs.

The Ozpin Logs: The Night Before The End of The First Semester.

While students at Huntsmen academies are considered to be much more special than an average civilian student, they're still nonetheless normal children barely going through adulthood. So it's only natural for them to them express dislike for studying and preferring recreational activities that other children their age enjoy. As a result, even the most skilled and promising students tend to have unimpressive grades. Although knowledge is powerful and important, it's nothing more than a tool to meet ends.

Jaune Arc for example, during his previous academic years, would rarely get an A in any of his classes except psychology, writing, leadership exercises, and any field of physical education. His grades are similar here in that while he may have adequate B scores in most subjects, he still managed to receive an A+ in combat training, something that even his eldest and brightest sister struggles to achieve in her first couple of years. Glynda was rather surprised by this, while she was aware of his combat prowess, she did earn a perfect grade on her subject when he struggles in all the other courses.

This was not a case of 'might over mind', Jaune has shown a way with words as much as he has a way of fighting. His charismatic leadership and tactical ability have played a role in his excellence in combat training. Aside from having no sense of honour as typical with the Arcs which is a real shame—if anyone saw how he performs during her class, it's clear to see why he received such a high grade.

And after witnessing his recent exploit, he has certainly proved that he was the Huntsman we need, which is why I was kind enough to persuade the local police to let him and his accomplices go as I handle the aftermath of the incident so that he may enjoy his well-deserved holiday as I formulate my upcoming plans for him.

Speaking of which, I was contacting his father to discuss his first semester here in Beacon. "Caiaphas…" I said as I faced him through the video feed of my office's holoscreen.

"Ozpin…" He responded, staring me back.

I smiled. "Your son has been doing quite well. You were right when you said that he would remind me of you frequently. Just like you, he can't seem to excel in most classes even if his life depended on it, except combat training of course."

"Heh, it's funny how history repeats. That's what I'm also worried about," he remarked.

"There must be a reason behind his comportment," I said. "They cannot be explained by simple inheritance. Your daughters don't display the same type of fearfulness and self-doubt that he and your forefathers possess."

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to discuss that." He briefly glanced to his side, sighing for a short moment. "There is a reason why he refuses to talk about it."

"Is it a family curse that affects only males by any chance?" I queried, partially jesting but I believe that every possibility must be taken to account even if they are very unlikely.

"Perhaps, but that would be too ridiculous," he dismissed. "I would say that we were all unfortunate enough to have such similar demeanours. It's probably just coincidence, it's completely natural to be wary in a world full of demonic creatures that exist solely to destroy humanity."

"Some people would say that there are no coincidences," I remarked.

"They just like to think that," he replied sceptically as he always does as a realist himself.

"You should be proud of your son, Caiaphas. He was able to accomplish more things than I anticipated. And as somebody who has been running this school for countless years, that is quite an achievement," I stated.

He acknowledged this fact whilst remaining cynical of my authority as expected of him. "I'm proud of him alright. What troubles me is that you would use him as an instrument for that glorified chess game of yours. Do I have to remind you that I left your inner circle because I had a family to look after, especially with a son who just had experienced the worst day of his life? Is he even prepared to face what Chaos has to offer?"

"I can reassure you that I will not send him in tasks that I know he cannot accomplish. If he does not want to attend Beacon any longer, then I will not force him. Once the second semester begins, it will be one of the first questions I would ask of him." I reassured. I still needed to test his mental fortitude; he is not without his shortcomings due to being somewhat inexperienced when compared to his forefathers at his age, but since he doesn't seem to stray too much from the typical Arc pattern, I can safely assume that he will do well.

"You better be sure. There is no doubt that he would be a great Huntsman, Ozpin. But I want to see him be more than that. I want him to live long enough to pass the family name to the next generation. He deserves to be something more than a pawn for a never-ending war," he said.

"You need not worry. If there is anyone who should be concerned, it is Salem. Your son is more than just a mere pawn."

"I hope this isn't one of your chess metaphors again, oh so, Great Powerful Ozpin," he remarked, referring to me by that mocking nickname once again. It never gets dull no matter how many generations of Arcs refer to me with that. "I still remember what happened to Summer."

I could still recall that tragic moment. It was a shameful moment I am not proud of but she was well aware of the risks and she accepted it. Sacrifices are necessary and we could only make sure they do not go to waste as we try to keep moving forward. What I want to genuinely avoid are outright mistakes that will cost me greatly. While I do have strong faith in the young Arc, I still need to test him. I cannot leave everything to chance because if this ended up failing, it would only give Salem another opportunity of seizing victory and this is something I can no longer afford.

"I have grown to be more considerate after that. This is why I am giving your son a choice. He is not alone, Caiaphas. If he is not going to turn the tides of this war, then the people he inspired will. For now, we just need to see where this goes. Remember why you recommended him to me."

"I suppose there is still a chance of setting things right once and for all," he sighed. "I do believe in him, after all. Just please, Ozpin. Make sure that he will be alright."

"With a boy like that? There is no reason for me not to. He already has your stubbornness, that is enough to guarantee his survival," I asserted before the call concluded.

Shortly after, I received another message from Qrow regarding his investigation, simply informing me that 'The Queen has Pawns.'

It appears that Salem has set up some competition. But as long as children like Rose, Nikos, and Arc continue to remain at my side, Chaos will never prevail, she would have to do more than threaten me into submitting.

Enjoy the power you still have while it lasts, Salem. For soon, the tables will turn. And this world will soon be free of the Eldritch Horrors you choose to worship. Mark my words as I have never given up for thousands of years no matter how much the odds turn against me. I have never relented before nor do I have the intention of doing so now.

"And a coward who acts in the face of danger is more courageous than a professed brave man. For he who conquers his fears will guide those who are threatened by the darkness that seeks to destroy all life, and he shall prevail."

-The Book of Light, verse 277

Chapter Text

Volume II

To Survive and Prosper

Editorial Note:

This second volume of the Jaune Archive's Beacon saga details the first two weeks of his second semester in the academy, covering his first mission and the events leading up to it.

Our second semester in Beacon is what truly tested our skills as Huntsmen, making us put the knowledge we learned from last semester into practice while preparing for the upcoming Vytal Festival which was to be hosted in Vale as Beacon as students from other academies visit Beacon for the preparation of the Festival.

This volume will also explore the continuation of Jaune's relationships with his schoolmates and his escalating conflict with the White Fang as his reputation grows from the Defender of Podunk to the Hero of Beacon. It will also provide more insight into Ozpin's shadow war with The Grimm Queen and how it affected Jaune's background as a Huntsman. Notable entries taking place during his two-week break before this volume will be included in the extras should someone be interested in them, but for now, they will be skipped since they're not pertinent to Jaune's Beacon life.

As mentioned in my previous note. I will let Jaune narrate his recollection with his own words but since he often glosses over details that do not directly concern him, I will continue to insert some annotations and excerpts from other records to fill in details that he did not account for while omitting or condensing entries that are not worth noting for a better reading experience.

Weiss Schnee

Chief Executive Officer, Schnee Dust Company®

PROLOGUE

My feelings were rather ambivalent when the second semester started. While I did miss home and was relieved that I finally returned to my normal life albeit for a brief moment, I also missed Beacon during the two-week break. Don't get me wrong—I still think it is a deranged place where my ass is perpetually at risk that I had more trouble sleeping because I kept thinking about what might happen the next day, but there was something that made me want to come back as if the place put a spell on me or something.

After taking four months of risks caused by being too good with training which was made worse by my short-sighted exploit in Podunk, I was able to enjoy the simple and peaceful atmosphere of home and take advantage of the time I had. The only thing that bothered me was Dad and Rose were so impressed at my performance on Beacon that they started dragging me to a few missions for the sake of 'exercise.' And they're not the ones that involve killing a few low-class Grimm and going home like the ones I used to take, mind you, but they're the ones that involve killing whole nests and slaying freaking Alpha Beowolf. Even when I was finally back with my happy life in the countryside, I could not escape Huntsman duty and I felt like this was undermining my vacation. Thankfully, they were brief compared to the rest of my stay at home, only taking about twelve hours in total over two whole weeks and I was able to get the rest and relaxation I needed when I completed my first semester.

I have grown fond of my laser pistol after snatching it from some high-ranking White Fang goon at Forever Falls that I was able to convince Rose to have it upgraded. It wasn't really necessary because of how adequate it already was but she was able to make it twice as useful while weighing less and being able to hold more ammo, something which I can appreciate. Rose may be crazy with guns, but she's the right type of crazy. She knows how to make guns look and feel effective in a world where aura would make the most advanced weaponry look like cheap bootleg super-soakers. It was thanks to her that I'm able to protect my own life with a simple yet very effective pistol with only one hand and diligent practice.

Handguns were the only type of firearms I could rely on; my experience with other types of guns was not exactly ideal, I'm never going to forget that one time I tried practicing with a rifle when I went hunting with her. That was the time I accidentally shot and killed a deer that was mothering a fawn when we were supposed to be hunting for food and maybe shoot some predators along the way. Although that incident did teach me the importance of patience and trigger discipline, I decided to just stick with mimicking Dad's fighting style by using sidearms while still being able to swing swords at the same time afterward, it suited me better anyway.

I proceeded to the residence hall after another nauseating flight on the airship. I'm never going to get used to that, am I? I asked myself internally. At least I brought a plastic bag this time, so I no longer have to worry about throwing up on someone's shoes. But no matter how hard I try—I never seem to become habituated to air travel and riding without feeling nauseated.

As I was heading to my dorm, listening to 'I'm Walking on Sunshine' with my earpods on, I spotted Yang coming out of hers. She was already in her uniform which made her look modest in contrast to the well-endowed sexy biker chick look she was notorious for. Judging at how she smelled like flowers and not sweat, I could tell that she had just recently showered. "Hey!" she waved after spotting me, prompting me to take my earpods off out of courtesy. "How's the ploy, Vomit-Boy?"

"Took some stocks, Goldilocks." I jokingly replied with a grin. I've been in Beacon long enough for me to start being much more open with my quips. It helped that I spent a fair amount of time these past two weeks going on missions with a sister of similar personality and appearance who could easily pass as a long-lost twin of hers. Though I should still put my witty remarks to a minimum if I were to continue looking like a friendly dork who just happened to be competent at combat should the situation call for it.

She chuckled at my response, noticeably trying not to swear while her semblance wasn't active. "It's good to see you again. Shh—shucks, doesn't it feel good to be back?"

"Yeah, I can't wait to see what this semester has in store for us," I replied, feigning enthusiasm.

Yang grinned before recalling something. "Oh, I forgot to thank you for helping out Blake last semester. I wouldn't know what to do without my partner, even if I didn't know much about her aside from being an introverted ninja-girl that likes to read weird books and all; I didn't even know she was a cat faunus until that day. Some partner I am," she muttered.

That day was almost hard to shake off. I thought that it was simply because of Blake's insecurities about being a faunus in a predominantly human academy, but I didn't expect terrorism and espionage to be involved in it. That was also the day I met the most enigmatic happy ginger since Nora. Luckily for me, the media wasn't able to capitalize on my presence during that fiasco, otherwise, they would have made it worse than the Podunk incident.

"It's not really a big deal," I replied as modestly as I could while I knew that I was only there because I didn't refuse Blake's last request. "Knowing her, she would have still been fine without me. It was Penny that saved the day."

"Then it must have been selfless of you to help out anyway. "You really got 'hero' written all over you, VB." she smiled again before patting my chest. I couldn't help but simper over her abbreviated nickname that almost sounded like she was flirting with me. But then again, this was something you'd expect from an outgoing party girl like her.

It appears that my compulsive desire to better my relationship with my allies to enforce my strategy is making my reputation as a so-called hero have grown worse since I didn't have a better alternative. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do about it for the moment so there was no other choice for me than to carry on with the act while it still works. "It's what I do, I guess. So how's she doing?"

"She's doing great. Still quiet as usual, but she's become much more open and friendly since what happened that day. If it weren't for that, I don't think we'd be chatting in our scrolls during the break. Heck, she's even getting along with Weiss!"

Good to hear. Weiss was not an easy girl to be friends with, especially if you happen to work for an organization that's been targeting her family's company for who knows how long now. Team RWBY seems to be getting along well with each other compared to the past few months. If they keep this up, I don't have to see them bicker over trivial things that they become ineffective allies anymore.

"Has anyone seen my binder?" A voice belonging to a certain ice-cold heiress suddenly called from Team RWBY's dorm, speak of the devil. Whatever that was, I hope that it wouldn't make such a big deal that I have to drag myself into their drama again.

Yang smirked as she shook her head while still looking at me. "I gotta go. Catch ya' later, lady killer." She patted my shoulder as she passed through me.

"Peace out, girl scout," I cheekily replied, to which she responded with a two-finger peace sign with her back turned.

I watched her leave before going to my team's dorm and opened the door, preparing myself to get jumped by Nora since I became too used to her habit of doing that last semester that I was more surprised that she didn't. Instead, she was sitting in her bed, repeatedly opening and closing a scroll tablet as Ren was sitting beside her.

"Stupid machine. Why you no work?" she gritted her teeth.

"Nora, the machine spirit doesn't like it when you abuse its body like that," Ren remarked, staying in his deadpan tone.

Nora growled as she continued to force the tablet before noticing my presence. "Oh, welcome back, Fearless Leader!"

"Good to see all of you again." I smiled, taking a few more steps to drop my bag on my bed.

"You're finally here," Pyrrha said as she left the bathroom after tying up her hair. "How was home?"

"Eh, the usual family stuff. Just helped with the farm and hunted down a few Grimm. Nothing out of the ordinary." I answered as I played with their expectations. Grimm hunts that involve clearing whole packs were just everyday work for some formidable heroic Huntsman they paint me

"Ren and I stayed at Vale since we have nowhere else to go," Nora responded. "This kingdom is prettier and more fun than I imagined!"

"Visited some dojos. It was nice to just train and meditate while Nora does her own thing." Ren said, the tone and the expression on his face suggested that he was leaving the part where she had to fight and beat up some stab-happy thugs while she was at it. It was no wonder why Nora liked this place.

"I too spent the break training," Pyrrha responded. "My parents wanted to keep me sharp for the upcoming tournament so I could win my fifth championship. And speaking of which, I told them about you, they said that they would be glad to meet you, Jaune."

"Wait, me?" I was rather surprised by that statement, especially considering that her parents were presumably the ones that trained her to become the invincible girl that we became familiar with and I wasn't quite sure how to feel about that.

"They look forward to meeting the person who led me and this team these past few months. It would be a great honor for both of you," she continued with a delighted nod.

"Maybe someday, Pyrrha, maybe someday," I replied before facing everyone in the room. "Alright team, who's ready for this semester?"

"I do!" Nora excitedly raised her hand while raising her partner's as well while his expression remained blank as usual. "And you too, Ren!"

"Good!" I rubbed my hands in preparation. "Now remember what I taught you last semester. Everything then was only mere preparations for this one, this is where things start to get real. We will soon start taking missions and participating in the tournament. If we continue working well as a team—then there is nothing that can get past us. We were able to kill a Nevermore, fight some bandits and get an A+ from Professor Goodwitch herself, so we have proven ourselves to be far more than capable in this, we just need to keep up the pace."

Nora saluted while Ren firmly nodded. Pyrrha continues to gaze at me in approval. "Now let's get back to work," I said before immediately proceeding to change to my uniform so that I may lead the team into the auditorium to hear the announcements for this semester and see what it has in store for us.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

To Survive and Prosper

CHAPTER 2

Once we were finally done with cleaning the (literal) mess (of a) hall, we all went to clean ourselves and put on our usual clothes. Thankfully, we had extra school uniforms for us to wear tomorrow while the current ones were in the laundry.

We decided to hang out at the library. Team RWBY was playing the game of Remnant, a board game that has players assume the role of a conqueror, representing each one of the four kingdoms as they compete for world domination while using the Grimm for whatever reason. If you think about it—the player characters in that game are a bunch of power-hungry warmongers who use the very creatures that cause most of the problems of the world to achieve as their subjects to take over Remnant. It's really that dark. At least in reality, no one in the four kingdoms was dumb enough to think that Grimm would be a practical military asset since the last time someone tried to use the Grimm on their side, it didn't end well.

Meanwhile, we were at another table not far from theirs, reading about what we could get our hands on. Pyrrha suggested we started studying in advance, especially since this semester was said to be harder than the last, and while Team JNPR did get the most impressive grade in combat training, Nora and I still needed to improve our theoretical studies, so she took away my comic-books and gave me a textbook titled 'The Fundamentals of Dust: Second Edition'. Making me groan in frustration that I had to deal with my worst subject this early. Nora had already fallen asleep after the first few minutes, and this is all while Team RWBY looked like they were having a blast.

"Pretty sneaky, sis, but you just activated my trap card!" Yang said after giving a sinister laugh, making her sister shriek. "Giant Nevermore!" She slammed a card on her table. "If I roll a seven or higher, fatal feathers will slice your fleet in two!"

"But, if you roll a six or lower—the Nevermore will turn on your own forces!" Ruby retorted.

"That's just a chance I'm willing to take," Yang smirked.

By the looks of it, Weiss just stared at her cards, not knowing what to know nor did she know what was exactly going on, while Blake was occupied with her book to even bother playing.

Yang rolled the dice, and by the sounds of it, it rolled in her favor. "NOOOO! My precious soldiers!" Ruby screamed in defeat.

Nora's groaned and got up. "Keep it down, you darn role-players!" She scoffed at them before returning to her nap, and this is coming from someone who proclaimed herself as a queen of a castle earlier and had a penchant for being a little too enthusiastic about whatever role she was given. Threatened by potential competition perhaps?

I sniggered as I went back to reading my textbook, or at least, pretending to read. There were some books that I have trouble understanding without Pyrrha's tutoring. I realized that to understand the contents of this book—you must have knowledge from Dust Basics, so if I were to learn anything from this, I must refer to my textbook last semester.

"I'll be back. Just going to fetch some books at the dorm." I stood up and left. While I was making my way out, I took a minute to eavesdrop on Team RWBY as they were playing their game. It was Weiss's turn and she had no idea how to play, so Yang went out of her way to help her out.

"…And since Vacuo warriors have an endurance against natural-based hazards, you can use Sandstorm to disable my ground forces and simultaneously infiltrate my kingdom!" Yang instructed, "Just know that I will not forget this declaration of war," she said before going back to her seat.

Weiss reviewed her cards. "And that means..."

"You're just three moves away from conquering Remnant!" Ruby said, still hurt by her recent defeat.

Weiss paused for a moment before standing up and giving an evil laugh then went over on an over-the-top speech. "Y-yes! Fear the almighty power of my forces! Cower as they pillage your homes and weep as they take your children from your very arms—!"

"Trap card..."

"Huh?"

Yang moved the pieces on the board. "Your armies have been destroyed."

"I hate these games of emotions we play!" Weiss sobbed as she returned to her seat.

"Stay strong, Weiss! We'll make it through this together!" Ruby hugged her partner.

"Shut up! Don't touch me."

Wow, Nora was right about this team being full of role-players, barring Blake, of course, assuming her books aren't giving her any ideas.

"Maybe you should start appeasing the dice gods then, Ice Queen," Yang advised.

I chuckled at the group before going back to leaving the library. Before I was able to go any further, however, I saw Sun and his friend coming, greeting me once they saw me trying to leave. "Yo, Jaune. So how did your Valish initiation ceremony go?"

"Quite favorable. I might even say better than the actual initiation last semester," I replied, feeling glad that I didn't have to fly away and kill a Nevermore this time and that the worst thing I had to face was the risk of my tanna getting ruined.

"Man, sounds like you guys had a lot of fun, something like that is never going to happen in Haven. Despite all the crazy crap you see in Mistrali television, everything in there is so reserved and old-fashioned that it gets kind of boring sometimes." Neptune remarked.

"Another reason why we're glad to be here. It's not as wild as Vacuo, but I can tell we're gonna have a blast here especially with you guys," Sun beamed.

It didn't take long for Ruby and the others to notice them. "Oh hey, Sun!" She greeted him as if she knew him as long as Blake did, but then again Ruby was the kind of girl that would quickly make friends with just about anyone who does not have a stick up their ass.

Sun returned the greeting. "Hey there, Ruby, Yang, Blake…" He went into a short pause when he turned to Weiss. "Ice Queen."

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" she groaned.

Maybe because she kept acting like one, her snow motifs weren't helping her in the slightest in that regard. [1]

"It's really awesome that we get to be temporarily transferred here. Now we have plenty of time to get to know each other." He said before gesturing to his companion "Anyway, never got a chance to formally introduce you to my old friend."

"Board games in a library, huh? I can see how brave you girls are." Neptune said as he looked at Team RWBY's table.

"That's Beacon for you. Welcome aboard." Ren said before going back to reading his book...or his nap...or maybe both. He tends to do that a lot.

Meanwhile, his partner only had one thing on her mind. "Waffles or something."

Made me wonder why no one was telling us to be quiet, especially during Team RWBY's board game session. Libraries are normally very strict about this. "Don't let his good looks fool ya', he's a bit of a nerd." Sun playfully sneered at his partner's remark.

"Ga-ga-gah! 'Intellectual', okay? Thank you," Neptune corrected before properly introducing himself. "I'm Neptune, Neptune Vasilias."

"So Neptune, where are you from?" Weiss asked with brow-raising interest, this was probably the first time I saw Weiss meet someone without being a haughty shrew.

"Haven. And I don't believe I've caught your name, Snow Angel."

"Um, I'm Weiss," she said without a single semblance of her typical infuriation over that nickname.

Oh, so it's okay when he calls you that. Didn't know it took blue hair and boyband-esque douchiness to have the privilege of calling her a dumb nickname without earning her ire. [2]

"Pleasure to meet you," he complimented, almost being one step away from kissing her hand.

I rolled my eyes at the display of cheesy high-school romance in bloom as I shifted my attention toward Sun and Blake. "I never took you like the board game playing type," Sun commented as he stood next to her.

"Right, well, I think I'm done playing actually," she suddenly stood up. "I'll see you guys later."

And just like that, she immediately walked away without another word in typical Blake fashion. We all looked at her as she left us in bewilderment until Nora broke the silence with an ironic statement. "Women."

"What's with her? I thought she brightened up after that night," said a puzzled Sun.

"Honestly, I was asking the same thing," I replied, scanning the rest of the library to see she was already gone. There was something that was still bothering her that it almost made me worried that she might go astray and do something stupid again.

"So… these are your teammates, am I right?" Sun looked at the peculiar individuals at my table.

"Yep. That's Team JNPR. There's Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora." I gestured to each teammate from left to right.

"Wait, Pyrrha? As in Pyrrha Nikos?!" Sun cried excitedly. "The four-time champion of the Mistral Regionals?"

"That's right," she nodded modestly while her enthusiasm tried to keep up.

"Holy Brothers! It's an honor to meet you!" Sun rested his hands at the table, being unable to hold his enthusiasm. "Folks at Haven talk about you a lot."

"So I've heard." Pyrrha fixed her bangs and tried to smile for the sake of it.

"Man, you were so cool when you beat that Titan guy. They said that no one could beat him but damn, you proved everyone wrong on that."

She nodded. "Indeed, that was a thrilling match I could not forget myself."

Sun patted my back as he voiced his approbation. "Jaune, you're one lucky bastard to have her as a teammate."

"I get that a lot," I replied. Considering how combat during the last semester was surprisingly a breeze with a few notable exceptions where she wasn't present, I definitely agree with him on that.

The two of them stayed and we chatted over various topics for a while. Neptune filled Blake's spot at the board game and apparently dominated everyone at the game and was declared the ruler of Remnant, much to Yang's annoyance.

Eventually, we dispersed with the duo after leaving the library. As for me, my team, and Team RWBY-minus-B were heading towards our respective dorms when we suddenly heard Miss Goodwitch's voice calling my name, putting all seven of us to a halt. "Mister Arc."

"Yes, professor?" I asked, turning to her rather nervously, especially with her recent admonishment over our last antics still fresh in my mind.

"Headmaster Ozpin would like to have a word with you," she answered.

"Am I in trouble, ma'am?" I asked, being called to Ozpin's office never sat well with me, regardless of why I was being sent there.

Her face remained stern. "I cannot say I know for sure, he only instructed me to summon you. You will have to find that out yourself."

I gulped before complying. There was only one way to find out whether that was true or not. Either way, I knew I wasn't going to like it. "Okay then, lead the way."

"Good. The rest of you can move along now," she said to the others before accompanying me to the interview room. I made my way through the school's campus, thinking about what Ozpin wanted from me this time.

=o=

1. Or maybe because it's one of the easiest names to call me with.
2. I was actually annoyed when he called me that, but it was a time when I didn't want to spoil his interest in me.

I was taken to a dimly lit room, consisting only of a window and a single table with a chair at each side, giving off the impression of a dark interrogation room. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly a happy place.

"Sit here and wait for the headmaster," Miss Goodwitch instructed, gesturing toward the chair beside the window. "Stay until you are told otherwise."

I was then left alone. I sat down and waited for a few minutes for Ozpin to arrive, tapping my fingers at the table in anxious anticipation and fearing what he had to say. It felt like going to the dentist, it's not every day that you get to talk to the Great & Powerful Ozpin; usually, the other professors handle the guidance counseling.

The door eventually opened, revealing him as he walked toward me. "Ah, good to see you are finally here, Mister Arc." He went and took a seat. "I have been looking forward to this conversation for a while now."

"Why is that, Headmaster?" I asked, sounding as polite as I could.

"You will find out." He suspiciously grinned, not a reassuring sight for me. "I see you are making yourself quite comfortable around here."

I forced a smile and gave what would be an optimistic answer. "It's a place I'll be staying for a few more years, why shouldn't I?"

"That is good. A student's well-being is very important. Without it, they would lack the morale to fight the Grimm." He took a sip of his drink, so far this was going well. "You have been a lot impressive with your performance last semester. Of course, your theoretical abilities need improvement, however, its combat training is what all that matters since that is primarily the reason why this academy exists, and it remains applicable to a Huntsman's career. But then again, why should I expect less from an Arc?"

"Just doing my responsibility as a Huntsman-in-training," I responded modestly as I nodded. "Though, I admit that I am still working on improving myself on other subjects."

He slightly leaned forward and rested his arms on the table. "Now, remind me again. What made you choose to follow the path of a Huntsman?"

I was forced into it, that's what, I silently scoffed before providing an insincere answer. "So I can fulfill my family's legacy and help those who can't help themselves. Be a hero like in the stories, and make the world a better place to live in." I kept a straight face as I maintained eye contact and spoke in a reasonable tone. But despite that, he doesn't seem to be convinced.

"That is a plausible, if somewhat of a commonplace answer. Your father told me the exact same answer when I asked him that question when he was your age. Not that I blame any of you. After all, Huntsmen should be aware that they are fighting for the world."

If only we weren't self-destructive enough to make me believe that we were fighting a lost cause instead. The kingdoms and governments really need to increase their standards if they don't want power-hungry and irresponsible idiots ruining everything for everyone as the Grimm slowly consumes the world. "What can I say? We're known for our altruism. I think it's destiny for us to help people," I continued lying.

He hummed. "Do you believe in destiny, Mister Arc?"

I paused for a brief moment as I pondered that question. "I don't really know. It's just that sometimes I think that some things were meant to happen."

He made a single nod. "I can see what you are trying to convey. Fate works in mysterious ways, should such a thing happen to exist. But tell me, are you doing this because you genuinely believe in your family's ideals, or is it because that destiny told you to?" he asked, taking a sip of his drink.

With the kind of questions he was asking me, I was beginning to feel apprehensive. "I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do, destiny or not. Yes, it's becoming a bit of a family tradition—but I've wanted to be a hero since I was a boy, and it's my chance to prove myself worthy."

He slammed his mug at the desk after he was done drinking. "Are you sure about that?" He asked in an alarmingly inquisitive tone. "I want to say I believe you, as you are giving answers with the heart of a true Huntsman, but I am afraid that you are not being truthful with me."

I was shocked by his sudden disbelief, but not without making sure I suppress any display of fear. "Headmaster, I don't exactly get how I was being untruthful. I answered as sincerely as I could."

He shut his eyes and shook his head. "Mister Arc. You have an impressive amount of guile that is even beneficial for your performance in the academy, but it's neither going to help you nor me in this conversation."

"I don't think I follow, Headmaster," I tried to remain as calm as possible while it was becoming increasingly apparent that he knows of my ulterior motives. I could feel my heart beat faster as my palms began to sweat. I had always feared this would happen and I barely prepared myself for it because I kept my fingers crossed that it would never take place. It was almost worse than facing an Ursa Major alone.

"All I am saying is that you should start answering me more honestly, Mister Arc." He raised one of his brows. "Are you not aware of how 'Great & Powerful' I am?"

I was willing to doubt that he knew of my façade and was bluffing, but by the mention of that nickname that he emphasized, I lost my breath and wasn't able to think. Even if I did, he already knew, so there was no point in trying to beguile him into thinking otherwise. I've been doing my best to maintain an image of someone they expected from me for everyone's own good, but Ozpin somehow managed to look past it and knew that I wasn't being genuine with my feelings. I found myself frozen in anxiety, neither knowing what to say nor what to do.

"Worry not, Jaune, your father, and sisters used to give me the same nickname. I did not invade your private belongings, I can assure you that. I was only able to read you like a book. And while you successfully managed to fool others, nothing suspicious ever gets past me without my knowledge." He smiled, but it was less comforting than it is patronizing. "If there's a time where we finally discuss this, it is now."

I sighed as I took off my metaphorical mask. I was just glad that he didn't read through this journal, I could not imagine how I am going to handle the fact that someone managed to read it without my consent. "Fine, you got me. Just tell me what you want so we can get this over with."

"The truth," he replied. "I can see that something is bothering you ever since I first interviewed you for your attendance. Feel free to speak your mind, this will not affect your disciplinary record nor will I try to expose you. It is a secret I am willing to keep; I only want nothing more than your honest answers."

I was skeptical of that apparent assurance but I gave him the benefit of a doubt at the moment. If this is what he seeks, then I might as well get it off my chest. "So you want the truth then? Well, here it is, I don't actually want to be a hero, and I didn't want to be a Huntsman either." I bluntly admitted. "Everything that led me here was nothing short of unintentional."

"Unintentional? How unintentional? It is rather dubious to think that you managed to achieve such feats by accident," he asked, putting his mug down on the table.

"Remember that heist at Podunk, which made my debut? That was me trying to run away. I had to defend myself from the Ursa that followed me after it ended up killing the bandits. When everyone saw what happened, they thought I was saving them, and I had to go with that, because saying anything otherwise wouldn't help."

Ozpin looked particularly convinced but he still had questions regarding that incident. "Then why did you allow the villagers to perceive you as something you think you are not, and allowed them to give you a reputation that you seem to be ashamed of?"

"What was I supposed to do? Tell them I was actually leaving them for dead so I could live? Besides, you were already considering my entry before the incident," I pointed out.

"Ah, yes, I do remember first hearing about you when I discussed with your father for potential recruits." He recalled glancing away for a brief second. "You were very young and unskilled. Once you grew older, stronger, and smarter, I knew you were ready whether you were willing or not. Your talents are unlike any other apart from your father, and there are very few individuals who can be claimed to have defeated Caiaphas Arc in a duel. Would I like to remind you that you ranked the top in last semester's freshmen combat training, second only to Pyrrha?"

That didn't mean much to me, I only got the impression that the other students weren't showing their best and cared more about showing off rather than improving their combat abilities, and my solo demonstration against Team CRDL probably played a major role because I do not remember anyone else having to do the same thing as I did to impress Miss Goodwitch. "It's a cruel world, especially if you live outside the kingdoms, I have to be prepared for anything. Even my sisters that did not attend any combat schools were trained. I just happened to take it more seriously than I should have. Honestly, I don't think I'm even that good. I just followed what my instincts told me to do."

"I am not surprised by that answer, Miss Belladonna gave the same explanation the night before the first semester ended. You must have quite the instincts then. Regardless of how talented you are in combat, whether you would admit it or not, it is quite clear that you have been trained well enough to receive such a grade in combat class. It begs to ask, is your façade necessary? Why did you bother going to the trouble of pretending to be someone you perceive to be something else when in public? You could have easily behaved here the same way you act at your home."

I continued to answer with my transparent opinions, even then it didn't feel any easier especially since it was my friends and teammates he was bringing up. I was still conflicted about what to do with them and I was afraid of the following questions he'd ask me about them. "It's good for the team spirit, without it, I'd probably be dead by now. If they're going to view me as something of a paragon, I might as well act like one. One of the effective ways of being a leader is to be likable enough, and it's working well so far."

"A decent answer. I am glad you are aware of the importance of teamwork even if you use them for selfish purposes. You said that you dreamed of becoming a hero when you were young, I am curious why you suddenly decided to lose interest in becoming a Huntsman once you started training with your father?"

This was another question I was afraid he might bring out, but I was still able to answer while avoiding the details I didn't want to discuss. "Let's just say that growing up, I found out the world was not worth saving at all and that being a hero isn't what it was cracked up to be. Besides, there are plenty of people who could do a better job than I would, why not leave it to them?"

He shook his head. "I find that assessment to be quite shallow. Those very same people could be thinking the same way as you, and if they convince themselves that they could not save the world, then who else would? Remnant needs Huntsmen, it does not matter if one seeks money, fame, or any other desires, because without them, there would no longer be a world to speak of."

"There will always be Huntsmen, professor, and I don't think I'll ever be worthy of being called that. All I wanted to do was stay safe and survive," I said, almost wanting to look away from his gaze for a moment.

He took a second to breathe. "Jaune, a lot of people outside of your family believe in you, you just need to learn to believe in yourself. If you are unable to do that and continue to think that you are neither worthy nor capable of becoming a Huntsman, then I am going to have to drop you out. After all, you wanted to go back home, did you not?"

That caught me off guard, this was one thing I hoped I would never hear from him. It was finally the moment of truth, one that I was not looking forward to. "Professor, as much as I wanted to leave and return to peace, I'm afraid that will end up staining the family name. So I'm determined to continue my studies at Beacon while I still could, even if I don't want to."

"Very well, then I will mark you as a prodigy who no longer has to attend combat school as your performance proves that it is no longer necessary. I will grant you your license early and you will be left at your own devices. That way, your family's honor will remain intact and you do not have to spend four more years in Beacon, you seem to be already capable enough, so why even stay?"

"You can do that?" I asked skeptically whilst feeling shocked at hearing this offer while I'm still on my first night this semester.

"You will be surprised to know how much power I possess. This is a rare offer, Mister Arc. Either you take it or continue torturing yourself with strenuous training at this academy, it is your choice," he answered, looking me dead in the eye, not even blinking once.

I have feared this for a while now, and this was all of a sudden that I didn't expect to face this so soon, and in my heart, I was still very conflicted. I earnestly wanted to accept his offer, I really do. It was my chance to finally get out of the academy without the need of sabotaging myself. But when I thought about it, he could only be testing my character, seeing how I would respond when he supposedly allowed me to leave early. I found it very doubtful that someone even as Great & Powerful as Ozpin could hand out licenses early like a bunch of disposable cards so this could just be an elaborate use of reverse psychology for all I know.

And I still have a team to lead. I had become compelled enough to continue studying with them for a little longer especially after I just won a food fight for them. So either way, I guess the best decision was to accept that I have to endure Beacon for a long while. Ozpin had already won a long time ago and I knew there was nothing I could do about it.

"I appreciate it, professor, but I'll have to decline. As much as I want to accept it, I still have a team to look after, they just won't be the same without me. I can't just leave them and let them down after this semester has just started." I told him. I was very unhappy with my answer but deep down I knew that this was the best option. For now, at least.

"Are you really sure? You do not need to worry about your team, as the position will be filled by someone else. Is this not what you want, to be free of the dangers of combat school?" He said, almost sounding as if he is taunting me into following the temptations that I've been having ever since I stepped foot on the airship that first took me to this academy.

"I do want it, but I have already decided to stay for now. I already accepted that I'm going to be a Huntsman, whether I want to or not, so I might as well keep going," I said, sealing the next few years of my life trying to be something I have always seen myself to be unworthy of. I'm going to regret this, am I? I thought.

Ozpin stared at me for a moment before humming and putting a smirk on his face. "For someone who claims to be a coward, you seem to hold a lot of courage when facing these types of dilemmas—even going as far as to accept four years of rigorous training in a combat school. That is what I like about you, Jaune," he remarked before grabbing the mug from the table and taking a sip. "I am impressed that you were able to continue spending your time here in Beacon when you could have easily requested to be dropped out, or if you are daring, get yourself expelled. Then again you are an aura user, you are capable of doing things no other being could do."

Yeah, this was my life now for a while, and I'm already getting used to it. The one thing left to do was not get killed in the process.

"Regardless, I am glad you made this decision," he continued. "As for your public persona, I would advise you to maintain it. Ignorance is sometimes bliss, and we do not want to spoil the illusion of you being a charismatic hero, now do we?"

I felt tense at Ozpin's consideration of upholding my masquerade. "What are you getting to?"

"What I was saying was I find it rather beneficial for you and your allies—so long as you continue to serve them as much as you like to serve yourself."

Good to know that there was at least something we saw eye-to-eye on. "I intend to. Just keep this between us."

"Mister Arc. You may not like me and I frankly couldn't care less, but you can trust me on this matter," he vowed before he continued to drink his entire mug until it was empty.

There was still something bothering me and I decided that it was the moment to bring it up. "I just have one question."

"Ask away."

"Why are we discussing this just now? You said you spoke to Blake right after what happened at the docks and the day before last semester ended, why didn't you ask me after then?" I stared into his eyes at that moment.

"Good question. Originally I intended to have this discussion during that particular night, but I wanted to observe you on your first day of this semester before I address your issues and give you a choice. I can see that you have made genuine bonds with your team and Team RWBY, which makes your decision to stay much more understandable," he explained.

That somewhat backs up my suspicion of this being a test of my character. "Yeah, about that… Sorry for the mess hall earlier," I glanced aside as if I was looking in the direction where the cafeteria would be located.

"No need for that. You are still young and you must cherish every minute of it. The damages you caused are easily repaired or replaced."

So, he really was watching me. Was he also watching me during the missions I had during the break? Probably, because one day wouldn't be enough to satisfy his curiosity.

"You should not fear your enemies, Jaune. If anything, they should fear you. You are a lot more capable than you think you are." He stood up and walked around the room.

Capable of becoming a magnet of trouble, I scoffed. "That'll only make them want to kill me more."

"That's true, but knowing you, you are never going to allow that to happen, am I correct?" He took another sip. I sighed and nodded. But even if I did survive large Grimm and terrorists, I still prefer to avoid these threats as much as possible. Just because you know how to deal with these things, it doesn't mean you want to deal with them. I only learned to adapt so I could get out of them as soon as I could.

"That is all. It was nice speaking to you, Jaune. This conversation has been quite enlightening," he finally concluded.

I stood out and puffed. I went to the exit and began to pull the door open before hearing him once again. "One more thing; your father is very proud of you. While he is indeed worried about your life—he believes in you. Try not to take that away from him."

I gave a dim nod, barely looking back to see him, and walked away.

Leaving the faculty building, I stared at the evening sky—thinking if staying here was the right decision. I just couldn't help but think that it was, it would be too much of a selfish move to just leave after I just had fun with my friends and Ozpin could be just screwing with me. I still don't know what to think knowing that he was aware of my insecurities and actual motives from the beginning. Maybe as long as he keeps his promise of keeping it a secret, it shouldn't be much of a problem, but I still cannot help but doubt myself.

Strolling around the Beacon courtyard, musing about what to do now that Ozpin knows, I decided to relax and just do the same thing I've always been doing. Ozpin evidently wanted me to stay, so there was no reason for him to expose me as a fraud, he even admits that he prefers this to stay that way.

I headed back to the dorms. Just when I thought I started to watch where I was going, I ended up colliding with a uniformed Haven student in the middle of the campus. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you." I apologized.

She turned around, revealing her green eyes. She was very short-short enough to make Ruby and Weiss look tall, and her black hair wore twin tails with white bows on each tail. She just stood there, eerily smiling at me without a single word—and I could only stare back, confused with her expression and lack of communication.

"Oh, Nico, there you are! We told you not to wander around alone." One of the two other Haven students approached her. The one who spoke was a dark-skinned girl whose hair is a light-green bob cut and had crimson red eyes, and the other was a boy with grey hair. "Look at who you just found." The former said as she looked at me.

I continued to stare speechlessly and just when I thought about apologizing for jolting into their teammate like a careless idiot, another one of them arrived. This one had long black hair and amber-colored eyes, having some sort of mature beauty despite presumably being around my age, and she spoke with a rather soothing voice. "Ah, yes, it looks like Nico has stumbled upon the partner of The Invincible Girl herself." She commented before speaking to me. "Jaune Arc, is it not?"

Just how many Haven students are going to recognize me from Pyrrha alone? I thought to myself. As if my reputation wasn't bad enough, I can definitely see how Pyrrha feels every time someone recognizes her. "That's me!" I said with a grin as I swung my arm with feigned enthusiasm. "Sorry for bumping into your friend here. I get lost in my own thoughts when walking sometimes."

"It's okay, I'm sure Nico here thinks so too. She's a sweet, if a very quiet girl, especially around strangers," she replied. For some reason, I could vaguely notice her emphasize on 'sweet', I wasn't exactly sure why but maybe it wasn't important and I was just overthinking again. "Where are my manners? My name is Cinder, and these are my teammates—Mercury, Emerald, and of course, Nico." She gestured at her, who silently waved at me.

"And we're Team Cinnamon!" the gray-haired boy named Mercury said with a grin. "Spelt C-M-E—Oww!" His gut was elbowed by Emerald before he was able to finish. [1]

"We heard some interesting things about you. Is it true that you were a local hero who killed a Vacuan bandit lord and Ursa who were both terrorizing a town?" Cinder asked.

"Well, I don't mean to brag, but I'll be lying if I said that wasn't me." I humbly answered like I did a thousand times before every time this, or just about anything involving me is brought up. "I was just doing it for the good people of that town. They didn't deserve to be attacked like that."

"Handsome, polite, strong, courageous, and modest. My, my, that's a very rare combination nowadays, it's no wonder why people talk a lot about you." Cinder remarked with interest. I could only blush as an admittedly gorgeous woman compliments me. When she was about to seductively put a hand on my cheek, my senses quivered and I grabbed her wrist out of pure reflex, causing her to frown and alert her companions.

I realized that I just made things awkward with my inappropriate reaction. "Sorry. My instincts are acting out." I let go of her arm, calming down her teammates behind her.

Cinder shook her arm. "Strong grip. I like it..." she said, smiling again at me. "We should be off. We were heading to our dorms when Nico wandered off. I'm glad that she did and now we were finally able to meet you face-to-face."

I continued to get flush as she stared at me with her alluring looks. "Well, it's nice to meet you too."

"Looking forward to seeing you in action, handsome." She bid me farewell, parting along with three of her teammates.

"Yeah, of course, and welcome to Beacon!" I said.

After watching them leave, I sighed and went back to my own dorm. That woman seemed to be interested in me, and while I am not sure where is going with that, I hope that my overreaction didn't turn her off.

Exchange students, a food fight, and a talk with the Great & Powerful Ozpin; meeting fangirls from Vacuo, Sun's friend with a 'cool dude' attitude that somehow manages to appeal to Weiss of all people, and this strange team. This semester just keeps getting interesting by the minute, and I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.

=o=

1. The team name was created from an unfortunate result from the team name generator, and they were stuck with it. Needless to say none of them like it—preferring their unofficial name, Team CMSN (Crimson), although Mercury Black likes to tease his teammates about the name.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

To Survive and Prosper

CHAPTER 5

Ruby and I decided to spend the afternoon at the arcade to pass time until the others managed to find something that was worth our attention. I managed to maintain the high score on the rail shooter that Ren and I completed a few times, only this time I beat the game solo. Speaking of shooters, Ruby managed to ace the virtual shooting range, getting several bullseyes under a single sitting. Thinking about it, this might be the kind of simulation Penny takes in Atlas, only more advanced of course.

Since the games we played tested our skills, it was training in a sense, so we didn't exactly waste our own time just to entertain ourselves and it kept us active in the meantime. We left the arcade once it got dark. We still have yet to get an update from others, so we simply strolled around town sharing some stories.

"You serious?" Ruby laughed at my stories about Nora's antics and how she went crazy around robots after drinking some soda.

"Yeah, she thinks robots are finally rising up against their meatbag masters and they are about to overthrow us!" I said with an amused grin.

She kept laughing until she suddenly stopped as if something serious had hit her. "Does every robot have to be bad? What if there's a good robot? The ones who will stick on our side."

I shrugged. "I don't know, ask Nora. The idea of a robot uprising wasn't my idea in the first place."

"Jaune, this might sound weird but… could robots have feelings?" Judging by the tone of her voice, she sounded more worried.

Huh, she's right about that question being a bit weird. Don't know what made her bring that up. She sounded strangely serious about the question though, her eyes were still gazing at me as she waited for an answer.

"You mean become sentient? Maybe, if someone is crazy and brilliant enough you're to somehow make them grow beyond their programming but that's probably not gonna happen. Their feelings would still end up feeling fake anyway. " I told her.

Looking at her, it appeared that she couldn't help but frown. When I was about to ask what was wrong, our scrolls abruptly rang and we saw that the call was coming from Blake. "Everyone! If you can hear me, we need back—" She yelled the second we answered, making it no less obvious that she was alarmingly in distress.

"HELP!" Sun cried out in her scroll's background. "Big robot! And it's big! Really big! That Torchwick guy is in it! But not, like, it didn't eat him; he's, like, controlling it or something! Hurry!"

The call was then cut off and we were left with a blinking red light of Blake and Sun's position on our maps. Dammit, I murmured. I knew this would happen. 'Careful' my ass. "Looks like we'll be fighting a different kind of robot." I quipped in an attempt to cope with the fact that I was going to face a repeat of the docks incident again even though that was a stupid statement.

"Whatever that was, I am not missing this!" Ruby smirked excitedly like the thrill-seeking Huntress-in-training that she is. "Quick, we have no time to lose!"

There was unfortunately no other choice for me than to take part in it otherwise I'll be contradicting my image if I wasn't present in helping them especially since Blake was already questioning me if I am what my reputation cracks it up to be and I just ditched Weiss on her own. That wasn't a rumor I wanted floating around after I just started this semester.

Holy Brothers, this is the last time I trust Blake into investigating something, she only calls for trouble. I couldn't believe I let her convince me that everything would be all right and drag me along in it.

We took another look at the map that tracked Blake's scroll and began running toward the destination with almost indecent haste, never mind that we realized that it was too distant for us to reach. "Crap, they're on the freeway bordering the industrial district, that's miles away! We'll never get there in time!" I exclaimed.

"I could, my speed can get me there in a jiffy!" Ruby told me. "I could carry you with it, but it would slow me down and it would use too much of my aura."

With little time we have and the fact that we would need most of our aura to best an advanced war machine (if we're even lucky that is), that didn't sound practical. "Any other bright ideas?"

"This is an urgent situation! I'm going to have to get there first. Sorry Jaune, but I think you're going to have to catch up!" she said before using her semblance to zoom to the top of the nearest building.

"Wait! What am I supposed to do then?!" I said, looking up at her as I stopped in my tracks for a moment.

"You'll think of something, I know you can! Right now, my team needs me and I need to be as quick as I can! I'll see you later!" She then hurled away with the wind, leaving me with nothing but trails of rose petals.

Great, now what? I asked myself. I was tempted to take this as an opportunity to turn tail and bail out and just tell them that I couldn't make it but I already knew that wasn't going to make me look good. All I needed to do was simply be present and I'll let the girls do most of the cleaning since the mess they caused was an indirect result of agreeing that this was a good idea. It'll at least make me look like I care even if I do nothing.

The problem was I didn't have any sort of transportation to travel there quickly. Looking around, I spotted a headlight of a sole incoming scooter bike from a distance, giving me this incredibly stupid yet workable idea. I was hesitant to commit what would be outright bike theft but what else could I do? Take the bus? Desperate times call for desperate measures.

I quickly entered my code to summon my locker and marked the landing zone next to my location. After a few seconds, the red beaconing lights of my locker appeared in the middle of the road where I marked its landing as the scooter went closer. Without a moment's hesitation, my locker crashed in front a few feet between the motorcyclist, causing him to hit the brakes out of shock, almost losing balance in the process.

Moving in to grab my sword and pistol before putting them on my belt and its holster. I showed my Beacon ID to the scooter rider. He was a lanky man in a brown checkered suit, wearing a helmet and a pair of goggles as well as a dark green scarf. He raised both of his arms, presumably out of shock and confusion. "Official Huntsman Business!" I asserted. Well, unofficial and I wasn't a real Huntsman yet of course. My I.D. was no license yet it seemed to have done the trick. It didn't seem like he was able to tell the difference. "I'm going to need to borrow your vehicle."

He nodded as he was noticeably trembling. He slowly got out of his bike, keeping his hands in the air. I then went in and rode his scooter and gave him a friendly smile. "Thank you, kind sir, the Arc family owes you a great debt. Someday I will repay you." Unless of course, I can't find him or I forget. Whatever the case, there was a rogue mech rampaging on the city's freeway that he'll surely hear later from the news, I hope he understands.

I twisted the bike's throttle backward and drove to Blake's location as fast as I could. After a few minutes had passed, I checked my scroll and saw that the entire team had already made it while their trackers were still moving around the freeway, indicating that the chase was still ongoing.

I managed to make it to the western part of the commercial district. I kept making my way until I saw a couple of VPD squad cars. I thought that they were heading to the freeway since they were also heading west as I was, so I thought it made sense for me to follow them at the time.

But as good as the idea was at the time, in hindsight, it was the worst mistake I made that day.

The cops led me to a bank where they suddenly stopped. One of the officers was shot down as soon as he left his vehicle. The front of the bank was clouded with smoke where all the gunfire was coming. I watched the scene with a mixture of shock and bewilderment for a moment. As soon as I realized that the cops were actually responding to a robbery and weren't leading me to the freeway, I pulled the brakes and tried to turn back, only for someone to open fire in my direction. I was able to avoid the bullets but unfortunately, the scooter's back tire was shot and was deflating as a result, forcing me to throw myself out of the scooter and run toward the nearest cop car to get some cover.

As soon as the shooting stopped, all of the cops were either dead or too injured to keep on fighting. I peeked out as the smoke started to fade. Emerging from it were casually dressed bank robbers with Grimm masks similar to those from the White Fang. They were armed to the teeth; in the middle was a small feminine figure. Said figure wore a unique decorative Grimm mask that concealed her entire face while her hair was still visible at the back of her head, her hair was two-toned in color with one side brown and the other pink; she wore a white jacket with a brown corset under it with her waists slightly exposed, brown pants and white high-heeled boots that still made her look short.

With all the criminal encounters I've been experiencing then, I was beginning to miss fighting the Grimm, at least their mindlessness made them less annoying to deal with. Where the hell was Penny when you needed her? I thought.

After thinking about what I should do, I decided to say screw it and took my laser pistol from my holster and began blind firing at the robbers, making them get to cover, while the short, fully-masked one just blocked the shots with her pink umbrella. I was only able to hit one of them down out of chance.

I tried running to the nearest alley, only for more bank robbers to pop out from there, so I had to run back while shooting at them. I saw that I was surrounded by more of the robbers so I had little choice but to get rid of them until help arrives. I survived a bank robbery before and I wanted to make sure that I survived another one.

I went back to the cop cars for cover while using my shield to block incoming gunshots. I then fired at two of the crooks, almost instantly putting them down thanks to the accurate stopping power of my trusty upgraded laser pistol. One of them was a female hooded figure in black who started to dash towards me with daggers in both hands, she started to jump over the cop car I was at, so I put my shield up and threw her to the ground once she put her foot above it. I began striking her with my sword while she tried her hardest to deflect them. Sensing a gunman behind me, I slipped to her back with my shield using her as a second cover as the gunman started to open fire at me, only to gun down his comrade as I blocked the shots that got past her.

As soon as the dagger wielder fell, I charged toward the assailant and bashed his masked face with my shield before stabbing him in the stomach.

Two robbers looked at each other—one of them a guy with a spiked steel club and the other was noticeably a faunus girl with antlers holding a pump-action shotgun. They decided to approach me and tried to succeed where others have failed, unfortunately for them, I wasn't going to let that happen.

I parried the club wielder's attacks while simultaneously blocking the female robber's shotgun blasts. When the gunner's ammo ran out and started reloading shells into her weapon, I sidestepped from her partner's vertical strike and bashed the clubber with my shield before turning back to slash her, causing her and her weapon to drop to the ground as she bled out. Afterward, I hear the other club-wielding robber cry in agony.

"Deery! Why you son of a—!"

Oh, shut up, I thought as I shot him in the face with my laspistol mid-sentence when his guard was down, leaving a glowing hole in the middle of his mask. Those assholes attacked me first, what the hell did they expect?

Facing back to the bank, I saw three robbers and immediately backed out, grabbing the bags of money and then fleeing. The short one without the uniform, on the other hand, decided to step in.

I pointed my gun at her and started shooting, but she casually deflected my shots with her umbrella. My ammo clip ran out, so I holstered it back and expanded my shield. She pulled down her umbrella's canopy and started attacking me with her weapon. I blocked her initial attacks with my shield. I dashed back and went to strike at her, but she was so fast that she was able to dodge every swing. She countered one of my attacks and started to push me back until she swept my feet, making me fall to the ground.

I kept parrying a few more of her attacks while lying down before she managed to swing my sword away from my grasp. She then stomped on my left arm, ceasing me from using my shield as she unsheathed a blade from her and raised it to stab my face.

Before she was able to do so, a gunshot flew into her mask, knocking her back before a scarlet blur came to her and began to clash her weapon with hers.

I took a good look at the figure who saved me, it was none other than my partner—The Invincible Girl herself. "Pyrrha?"

"Hello again!" Pyrrha greeted, pushing her sword against the girl's umbrella before they both pulled back. "We'll discuss this later!"

I nodded at her and got to cover. I reloaded my laspistol as I peeked out and watched Pyrrha and the short bank robber fight. I noticed a red laser sight aiming toward me before I leaned back and avoided the shot. I fired back at the sniper who was at the top of the bank, dispatching him with a single accurate shot.

In hindsight, I'm glad I warmed up my firing arm with that light gun game at the arcade earlier.

Looking back at the two girls. The short robber had her mask damaged enough, that she threw it away—revealing a face that contained mismatched eyes that shared the color of her two-toned hair. I stepped in and assisted Pyrrha in dealing with this threat, forcing the short girl to change tactics and start spinning around her umbrella to parry both of our attacks.

She turned at me as we started to clash our weapons. She kicked her back which Pyrrha blocked with her shield. As I continued to parry her attacks with my sword, I began shooting at her legs, making her leap back as Pyrrha threw her javelin at her, she dodged it but it ended up hitting a bag of money being carried by a bank robber, causing him to drop it and cower away.

The short girl then narrowed her eyes before suddenly smirking. I readied my weapon and started charging at her since she was open and was just standing there. But after swinging it to her, her figure devolved into literal pieces of glass.

Confused, I stared at the shattered pieces that were supposed to be her body, wondering where the hell did she go. We then saw a Bullhead float above us, its passenger—the same girl we just fought—smiled and waved at us before she flew away.

I panted as I looked around the area, finding nothing but bodies of police officers and bank robbers lying around. "Is that the end of it?" I asked.

Pyrrha was about to answer, but then she suddenly turned back, locked the wrist of another bank robber, pushed him to the ground, and aimed his hand cannon at him after swiping it. "I think it is now."

"What are you doing here anyway?" I asked her, stepping closer toward her.

"Nora calmed down and took a nap and Ren kept an eye on her, so I decided to check on my partner, only to find out that he was fighting bank robbers!" She exclaimed after tying down the last robber, crossing her arms as she scowled at me.

"Trust me, I didn't exactly want to be here," I defended.

"You do have a knack for finding yourself in trouble. I thought you were supposed to be helping Team RWBY in whatever they're doing. Not…this." She gestured around the place, showing me the mess that I was already aware of.

"I was about to continue doing that until I got into this mess," I explained.

"Where are they now then?"

"They're on the highway, fighting a giant robot I presume."

"What?!" she asked if I was screwing around. Couldn't blame her, it's as incredulous as it sounds.

"I'm serious. This was supposed to be a simple investigation, then Blake and Sun called saying they were being chased by a giant robot with Torchwick in it. We all rushed to help, then I ended up here."

"An investigation? Torchwick? What is this all about?"

"It's a long story," I glanced away for a second.

"And aren't these the bandits from Forever Fall?" she gestured to the unconscious bodies of the bank robbers. "They wear the same masks, and oddly enough, they also have the same smell."

I took a moment to look at the bank robbers for an extended period. I realized that most, if not all of them had faunus features and they were indeed wearing the same masks as the White Fang from both Forever Fall and the docks. Not only that, if I heard right, I recall some of them even have the same Hibernian accents. It all but said that they are connected. Whatever the case, something was fishy.

"Jaune, could you explain to me what is going on?!" Pyrrha demanded, obviously out of the loop on these things.

Before I was able to satisfy her questions, I heard sirens from a distance before a few squad cars approached us. "I'll have to do that later,"

The police arrived at the scene. The officers then got out and started pointing their guns at us. "Oi! Hands in the air. Drop your bloody weapons!" One of them commanded.

I considered protesting and explaining that I'm not a robber even though I stole a bike earlier which doesn't count because I had a good excuse, but I knew the wise thing to do was comply. I know my rights and I think bringing up my family's connections and my reputation as a bandit slayer could make these coppers excuse my vigilantism. Really, the only bad part about this was I couldn't go with my usual routine of looting enemy bodies.

"Don't freak out," I said to both myself and Pyrrha as I dropped my weapons and raised my hands. She was puzzled and hesitant but she was smart enough to do the same.

"Wait. Pyrrha Nikos?" One of the cops realized who he was aiming at as he lowered his gun. "Sign me notepad please!"

She glanced at me, to which I could only respond with a shrug.

"Oight, lads, calm down, they're not a threat." Another officer said to the others before turning at us. "But that doesn't mean you kids are off the hook. You two still have some explainin' to do."

Here we go again. This is the last time I trust Blake with an investigation. Those girls better have some good news. What number do I contact my family's lawyers again?

Editorial Note: Since Jaune was unable to be present during the encounter with Torchwick's stolen Atlesian Paladin at the highway between the Industrial District and the Commercial District of Vale, the event will be detailed by excerpts through Ruby's memoirs and Neptune's audio logs. For obvious reasons, Blake's accounts will be excluded, since their previous inclusion was already enough for one chapter.

Neptune's Audio Logs: Big Freakin' Robot!

Neptune: After leaving that shady club, Sun and Blake suddenly called us saying they were being chased by a giant robot as those two coincidentally passed us.

(Audio cuts to Neptune and Yang after leaving the club.)

Neptune: Those guys really hate you, don't they?

Yang: They wouldn't have to if they were a little nicer before.

Neptune: What exactly happened then?

Yang: Well, here's the short version: I asked them for something, they tried to beat me up, and I ended up kicking their butts. Let's just say the club remained closed for a few months.

Neptune: (Surprised pause.) Okay… that explains that.

(They got on Yang's motorcycle. After she started her engine. She suddenly heard Blake's voice coming out from the scroll.)

Blake: (Scroll call) Everyone! If you can hear me, we need back—

Sun: (In the background of Blake's scroll) HEEEELLLLP!

Neptune: Oh, what did Sun do this time?!

Yang: Shush!

Sun: (In the background of Blake's scroll) Big robot! And it's big! Really big! That Torchwick guy is in it! But not, like, it didn't eat him; he's, like, controlling it or something!

Yang: (Responding to the call.) Where are you guys?

(Metallic stomps can be heard in the background.)

Sun: (In the background of Blake's Scroll and somewhere in the duo's distance.) HUURRYY!

Yang: (Responding to the call.) We're on it! (Turns around her motorcycle then accelerates.)

Neptune: Whoa!

(Audio cuts to a couple or more minutes later.)

Yang: We've gotta slow it down!

Neptune: Got it!

(Sounds of car horns and vehicles crashing.)

Yang: Hold on!

Neptune: (Screaming.)

(Cars crashing.)

Neptune: (Weapon twirling.) (Railgun blasting.) (Weapon transforming.) (Grunts as he leaps to the Paladin) (Sound of a weapon penetrating a metal.)

Sun: (From a distance, barely audible due to the traffic.) Neptune, hang on!

Neptune: (Screams as he struggles to balance with the robot.)

(Sounds of Sun's clones colliding with the Paladin.)

Neptune: (Screaming) (Bump)

(Both Sun and Neptune screamed as they both fell from the highway.)

Sun: (Lands safely on his feet.) Ha! Perfect landing.

Neptune: Oof! (Lands on his partner.)

Sun: (Grunts in pain.)

Neptune: Sun, are you okay?

Sun: (Painful moans.) My back…

Neptune: Don't worry, bro, I still got your back.

Sun: No, you moron—my back hurts!

Neptune: Oh, sorry.

Sun: Give me a sec. (A few seconds pass as his aura heals him.) There, it's much better now.

Neptune: Seriously dude, you just saw a real-life mecha for the first time and you managed to piss it off?

Sun: Hey, I'm just as surprised as you! I didn't know what we were walking into.

Neptune: Okay, okay. Do you think we could still catch up to them?

(Audio pauses as they look at a faraway distance. They saw the Paladin fall and looked at their allies.)

Sun: You know what, let them handle this. It's their fight; I just dragged ourselves into this. This is just too much. Fighting Torchwick in that robot would be badass and all, but I didn't sign up for this. Innocent people just got hurt, man!

Neptune: Wait, what? So, we're just gonna leave them?!

Sun: They'll be fine. I've seen them fight, they could handle it. We'll just be a liability anyway.

Neptune: (Sighs) Whatever you say. (Pause.) Man, I could use something to eat.

Sun: I know a place; it'll make us feel like we're back in Mistal.

Neptune: Hey… I just realized something. Where's Jaune?

Sun: No idea.

The Red Rose Diaries: Fighting Torchwick at the Highway.

I saw Torchwick shove cars off as he chased Yang, and all I could do was watch and let Weiss use her ice dust to make him and his robot slip until he fell below the highway. All I could think of was the people he harmed because they were in his way, but I went to hold my emotions for the time being and focus on stopping Torchwick before he could hurt more people.

Everyone was already there and was ready. [1] We first used 'Freezer Burn' to create a fog out of Weiss ice and have Yang crash on it. It gave us some time while Torchwick had trouble finding us in the fog.

I charged and hit him. I ordered Weiss and Blake to attack the robot at its legs while it had trouble trying to shoot them. Torchwick tried to stomp Blake, but Weiss pulled her with glyphs before that could happen.

Torchwick fired some rockets at them but they were able to avoid them. Thanks to Weiss's time dilation abilities with her glyphs, Blake was able to slice all of those missiles down.

Blake and I went in and attacked its legs again. When Torchwick tried to shoot me. We both jumped up and sliced off one of the robot's arms.

Yang then leaped to his back. Punching it until Torchwick launched himself to the freeway's pillars until he managed to shake her off. This was a mistake for him, as it activated Yang's semblance. With that, she blew the other robot's arm when it tried to punch her. Torchwick kicked her, making her fly away. I got Blake to pull her back with her weapon's ribbon.

We needed to slow it down, so I fired several rounds of ice dust at Weiss's glyphs, creating shots powerful enough to freeze Torchwick's robot. Blake threw Yang at Torchwick, finally breaking his robot to pieces.

Yang tried to put him down once and for all by firing a shot, only for some weird colorful-looking girl to come out and block it with her umbrella. Yang tried to charge and punch them before finding out she broke pieces of a mirror, with both of them disappearing. We then saw them on a Bullhead, flying away, scot-free.

It looks like Torchwick has a new henchman, at least that's what Yang said.

We may have broken his robot, but he got away... and we couldn't save those people. Weiss tried to lighten the mood and it's not funny, even Yang called her out on it.

The police came, one of them was the detective from the docks. He said that we needed a serious talk. We couldn't find a reason to say 'no', after all, it's our fault why Torchwick hurt those people.

Could we have done something? Was it our fault that we put innocents in harm's way? I can't exactly answer that. Either way, I wished it didn't have to end like this. Maybe Jaune was right and that we shouldn't have done this in the first place.

I wish Mom was here, she would have known what to do.

=o=

1. For those who are wondering how I got from Beacon to Vale's western highway so quickly, I bribed a Bullhead pilot into giving me a 'private emergency flight' and having him take me there as soon as possible.

Chapter Text

To Survive and Prosper

CHAPTER 6

We all sat around the VPD's interrogation room in silence. The entire group, plus Pyrrha, was here. Sun and Neptune also came after they were called.

Tension was in the room as we waited for Professor Ozpin and Detective Huntley to return from their conversation outside. I was tapping my hand on my table, preparing for whatever reprimand I'm about to face especially since I didn't have a lawyer with me. Ruby, on the other hand, looked disheartened, lacking her usual spirit and enthusiasm. I heard she was upset that they were indirectly responsible for the civilian casualties on the highway, and that they couldn't do anything to prevent them.

"Tell me, Jaune. Do you really have experience with examining records?" Weiss broke the silence in a furious, yet mild tone as her eyes glared at me.

She was definitely not happy about us leaving her and forcing her to check her family's company records on her own. In my defense, I thought she was better off without us bugging her.

"Yeah, I used to work part-time being an assistant for a public library as a summer job at one point. Tedious work but the pay was decent at the time," I answered. I took the job mostly because it involved me working sitting in an air-conditioned environment and I didn't feel like helping my family's farm during a hot summer season.

"That means…" she said before suddenly shouting and slamming the table. "You could have helped me! Do you have any idea how long it took me to analyze an excessive amount of records on my own?"

"Hey, you looked like you have it all figured out, Ice Queen. I thought your straight A's said it all. It's not like you wanted my help anyway." I shouldn't be verbally defending myself like this but I wasn't in the mood of being pushed around after recently having my life on the edge yet again.

"Just because I wouldn't be happy about it, it doesn't mean that I don't need it! You just left me in document hell for an entire afternoon!" she retorted. "And please stop calling me that! It's worse than your first nickname!"

"Then quit acting like one! This is why no one wants to bear with you!" I barked back, venting some of my repressed anger for a moment.

"Stop it!" Ruby cried out. "People have gotten hurt and Torchwick got away with it. Now we're here to be questioned and you two are fighting! We need to stick together for now, it's why we're all even alive."

We were both taken aback by Ruby's grief. Not being able to save innocents on the freeway really hit her hard and I don't blame her for it. So for her sake, I decided to calm down. "She's right," I told Weiss.

"Don't..." she replied, looking away from me. Despite that, I think she got the point.

It was quiet again. Aside from the room ambiance, there wasn't another sound until the door opened with Professor Ozpin and Detective Huntley.

"You kids just can't stay out of trouble, can you? First the incident at the docks that just happened a fortnight ago, and now this. It doesn't help that I was also informed that some of you have interesting backgrounds while being the most hectic freshmen on Beacon this year," The detective remarked as some of us became nervous, with some of us chuckling anxiously. "Anyway, who started this unsanctioned investigation?"

Ruby and Blake both raised their hands before staring at each other. "I assume that both of you started this?" The detective raised his brow.

Blake tried to answer. "Actually, sir, I was the one who gave the idea of…"

"No Blake, it's my fault. It may be because of you, but I was the one who started this investigation," Ruby vehemently stated. "If I just chose to help you in another way, none of us have to be in here and feel guilty for those we weren't able to save."

Blake was shocked at her statement and tried to assure her. "Ruby, no one's blaming you for—"

"No! If we didn't interfere, Roman wouldn't have to chase us and hurt those who happened to be on his way. We really should have just let the police handle it."

I felt genuine pity for her, the last time I saw her before this was excitement that she would get to fight a mech straight out of science fiction, but now she is saddened about the loss of innocent life during the same battle she was enthusiastic for. I know what it's like to be guilty over things you have no control over. I went in to console her, and this time I was speaking to her as a genuine friend instead of a fraud trying to uphold his charade. "Don't push yourself that hard, Ruby, you only did what you thought was the right team and you did it to help a friend. You couldn't have known that Torchwick would rampage the street with a stolen robot, none of us could have."

She sniffed. "But you came out a hero, I, on the other hand, wasn't able to get Torchwick and make him pay for what he did."

I did not respond, I just couldn't; I could only look at her in remorse when she felt guilty because she was too selfless to see innocents suffer while she envies me for my supposed heroics while being oblivious of my selfishness. I would have left the bank for its fate, but I had to act out of self-defense because I knew those robbers weren't going to let me walk out safely. Everyone hailing me once again, while those who were willing to be heroes are lamenting their failure.

"Alright, so Miss Rose is pinning all the blame on herself for this. But I'm not here because of what got you into prowling around the bloody Fangies once again. What I do want to know is why this all started to begin with, and it appears that Miss Belladonna was the root of all of this," Detective Huntley said before turning to Blake. "Could you explain why?"

She looked down and slightly hesitated before answering. "It's because of my friend, Tukson, the bookstore owner who was murdered a few days ago. I believe the White Fang has something to do with it."

Hearing that was rather surprising considering she never told us any of this. While we all heard about the supposed murder of the bookstore owner Blake was friends with one way or the other, we didn't consider connecting it to the White Fang. To be fair, it's likely because she didn't want to talk about which was understandable but it was something she could have at least told us about as it would have explained her mood swings.

"Ah, yes, we're still looking into that. But what made you think that the White Fang was behind it?"

"Because… he used to be with them," she answered. The plot thickened, it shocked some of us, but Detective Huntley just cupped his chin, looking intrigued so far. "But he wasn't radical unlike the other members, he believed in equality and peaceful coexistence even if he had to resort to a few extreme measures. But he realized that they were going too far that he left, which is why they hunted him down," she explained, wiping a tear.

"That's a possibility. Recent evidence does show that he was indeed a former member when we searched his flat. But we have yet to confirm his assailants. Him being assassinated by the White Fang to be silenced is only speculation at the moment." The detective stated. "We shall take note of this but understand that we are not jumping to any conclusions until we have enough proof to confirm it. At any rate, are you saying that you are aware of his former affiliation before his death?"

"He trusted me enough that he told me everything because he knew his time would come," Blake affirmed.

"Were you two close?"

"No, it's nothing like that. I was just one of the few people he trusted enough to get this information from him," Blake answered. I have to give her credit for being careful not to expose herself being a former member of the White Fang as well; we don't know what they might do to her if they find out.

"I see. Thank you, Miss Belladonna. Now back to the recent incident. Why was Roman Torchwick chasing you with an Atlesian battlesuit that wasn't even supposed to be available for its military yet?"

Blake took a deep breath. "During our investigation, Sun and I discovered one of their meetings. I passed myself as a recruit and snuck in. Torchwick then presented himself and showed him the battlesuit, not really telling us much aside from that he got it from his 'employer', whoever that might be. He eventually discovered us and the rest is history."

"Infiltrating the White Fang, huh? You kids have either got to be very foolish, or you have more guts than most of the officers in this precinct," he said before looking at the wall where the one-way window was supposed to be. "No offense."

Yang noticed this and smiled and waved at the invisible officers on the other side. As for what Detective Huntley said, I believe both are true to an extent.

"So not only Torchwick is still aligned with the White Fang, but he is also under the employment of someone who was able to get ahold of a weapon that's still in production. This is bigger than we thought it would be," he remarked before moving on to another subject, something that I was worried he'd bring up. "Enough about the Torchwick and the battlesuit. How did you know about the bank robbery while all of that was occurring, Mister Arc?"

Well shit, here goes nothing, I murmured to myself as I cleared my throat. "When Blake and Sun were calling for help, we had to get there as soon as we could, so regretfully, I had to borrow a civilian's motorcycle to get there quickly."

Detective Huntley raised his brow, Ozpin was still as calm as before. Everyone, meanwhile, was giving me looks mixed with shock and confusion, including Sun, who if I recall correctly, wasn't above stealing food. It was one of the most awkward moments in my life as a freshman at Beacon so far.

"Borrow? Wait a minute. You telling me that you yoinked someone's bike?!" Yang questioned with genuine dismay.

"What else was I supposed to do, take a walk? Do you really think I wanted to steal a bike? It was a dire situation; I'm not happy that I had to do it. I was even planning on taking it back, I swear!" I argued vehemently.

"We're going to have to discuss that some other time." Detective Huntley said. "Please continue, Mister Arc."

"Right. While I was heading there with my 'borrowed' bike, I saw some police cars and saw them fighting some bank robbers who were wearing Grimm masks similar to the White Fang. I thought they could be White Fang members, especially since the bank was so close to the area where the stolen mech was at so I decided to stay there and stop them, knowing the others would handle Torchwick just fine." I told them, leaving the part where I tried to get away, only for those robbers to stop me and force me into fighting them.

"What else have you noticed during the robbery?" The detective further inquired.

"Well, there was this one girl. Unlike the others, this one was wearing a full mask. She was short, and when she took the mask off, I saw that she had mismatched eyes that shared the color of her hair, which was pink and brown. She used an umbrella to fight," I said.

That caught Team RWBY's attention, but Detective Huntley was the first to respond. "Hold on. A short girl that has two-toned hair with mismatched eyes that were colored pink and brown and carried an umbrella? You're not referring to The Neapolitan Butcher, are you?"

Never heard of that name before. "The Neapolitan Butcher?"

"Neapolitan? Isn't that—like the ice cream?" Yang asked.

"Correct, the name comes from her color scheme, which is the same as Neapolitan ice cream. She's one of Roman Torchwick's accomplices. Despite her appearance, she is one of the worst killers who we still haven't caught simply because of how slippery she is,"

That explains why she was a tough fight. She could have killed me had not Pyrrha arrived. And that made it more apparent that the White Fang had something to do with the robbery and the connection between the two wasn't that far.

Detective Huntley faced the one-way window again. "Hey Dylan, could you get those files for me please." he then looked back at me after the officer went to fetch those papers. "Anything else I should know?"

"I think Blake and I saw her at the warehouse; she was beside Torchwick when he was showing off the robot," Sun added.

"She was also the one who helped Torchwick escape after we…disabled his battlesuit," Weiss added, trying to be careful with her choice of words.

"Then that it is indeed her," Detective Huntley stated before turning back at me. "Do you remember bank robbers having faunus features, Mister Arc?"

"Several. Now that I think about it, maybe all of them were faunus," I answered. They were too noticeable after you realize they share too many characteristics with the White Fang that I'd be even more surprised if it wasn't the case.

"That confirms it then. We can safely say that the robbery was a White Fang attack. Some of the criminals we've identified have records tied to the White Fang. One of the surviving criminals we were able to nick confessed to being a member and he claimed that they treated the battlesuit attack as a smokescreen for the robbery," The detective stated. I knew it. The connection turned out to be far closer to the truth than I initially thought which meant that I gave the Valish White Fang yet another reason to have me killed as soon as possible when I'm already at the top of their shitlist. Figures. Oh well, I never slept without my pistol on my pillow ever since I got it anyway.

"But what do they need the money for? They've only been attacking dust shops before this and from what I've heard, they didn't even take any money then." Blake pointed out. Now that I think about it, there was something that feels off about The White Fang robbing a bank for cash, especially considering that it would have been easier to rob another dust shop even with increased security.

"That, we still have yet to find out. For now, all we know is that they decided to rob a bank after a string of dust robberies and Torchwick went on a rampage with an Atlesian battlesuit to pursue Miss Belladonna and Mister Wukong while using it as some sort of distraction from the robbery," Detective Huntley shrugged before looking at me again. "Continue where you left off, Mister Arc."

"Pyrrha came in and helped me fight her off. It wasn't easy, she was fast and tricky. She suddenly turned to shards and got away in a Bullhead," I said, picking up from where I was.

"Shucks, she pulled that one on us too!" Yang added. "Only that time, she used it to escape with Torchwick!"

"Must have been some sort of semblance that manipulates the target's view with an illusionary image," Weiss remarked. "Anyway, what were you doing there, Pyrrha?"

"Just went to check on my partner. Found him fighting bank robbers so I came in and assisted him." She was noticeably trying her earnest not to make it sound awkward as if I did something stupid which admittedly did.

"Yeah. Thanks again, Pyrrha. I guess I owe you another one." I nodded at her with a smile, showing her my gratitude once again.

"You don't have to owe me anything. I was just looking after my partner and leader," she responded humbly. Another reason to be thankful for having her as a teammate, she rarely complains and does whatever benefits me and my team without much protest.

The door opened and a police officer came in, carrying some files on 'The Neapolitan Butcher.'

"Ah, thank you." Detective Huntley took the files as the officer left the room.

He put the file on the table, opening it and revealing a pencil sketch of her face and a few zoomed-in photos that barely showed her from various security cameras. The drawings and pictures of her alone were enough to make me shudder as I remembered how almost lethal my encounter with her was. Nobody was that close to killing me since the previous time I ended up in a bank robbery but I could at least rest knowing that El Segadore was currently in the land of the dead where he belongs. This murderous midget, on the other hand, was still out there somewhere and now I couldn't help but be paranoid around any girl who that are around four feet tall.

"That's her," Pyrrha vouched as she pointed at the pictures.

The detective sighed. "It wasn't easy to make a record of her—we could only cover some vague details while the rest remain missing. These are the only visual sources we have of her since no one was able to bring back any other photos of her alive. There was an account of Torchwick calling her 'Neo', which is likely to be an alias. Aside from that, the only thing we know about her is that she's affiliated with Torchwick and is extremely dangerous. If you happen to encounter her again, I highly advise you not to engage her alone, or better yet, do not engage her at all. If you want to know how dangerous she is, she has killed trained Huntsmen before. Trained. Huntsmen."

I gulped. I just happened to get into a fight with a homicidal murder midget and somehow lived to tell the tale, mostly because I was assisted by an undefeated champion. I just couldn't simply imagine what would have happened if Pyrrha did not interfere. Thinking about it, I think I've seen her stature before but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Detective Huntley cleared his throat for the last time. "Alright then. The only mysteries we have left are the motives behind the White Fang robbery, how they were able to possess a prototype Atlesian weapon, and the organization's possible connection to Mister Tukson's death. All of which, we will continue to investigate from this day forward." After getting that out of the way, he gave me a serious look. "Without further ado, Mister Arc. As much as I want to be lenient with you since the aftermath of the bank robbery would have been worse if it weren't for your meddling, I'm afraid we still have to follow protocol and condemn all of you to disciplinary action."

Oh Brothers, it was time to face judgment, I internally remarked. This was another major reason why the investigation shouldn't have taken place. We were let off easy last time likely because the chaos and destruction were at least limited to a small area in the docks with relatively less property damage. I was hoping we didn't have to involve ourselves in larger-scale incidents as it would inevitably cause too much trouble than we could handle unless we were very careful which we weren't.

He turned to all of us. "After some deliberation with Headmaster Ozpin and the Chief of the Police, for conduction of an investigation on one of the most serious terror cells on Vale without the approval of your superiors, and because of the repercussions you caused. We have decided to instantaneously sentence you all to community service, with the exclusion of Nikos, as she was not part of the investigation, and her presence at the robbery is not accounted for and any of her actions is deemed to be done in self-defense."

We all looked down out of guilt. It eventually had to happen sooner or later. I was kind of suspecting that they went easy on Pyrrha because they want to cause a stir by penalizing Mistral's four-time champion when she didn't do much but save me and stop another idiot from trying to kill us both. While I have a good enough reason for this sentence, my reputation be damned.

"Your duration varies depending on the degree of your involvement. Wukong and Vasillias have the shortest amount, only having three days of labor, given their minimum contribution; Arc will be given a week of service for motorcycle theft, despite his efforts to reduce the havoc at the bank robbery that we do appreciate. Rest assured that we have the vehicle recuperated and would later return it to its rightful owner once we contact them. Rose, Schnee, and Belladonna will be given ten days of service for damages and casualties they indirectly caused to the public during an unauthorized investigation. [1] Miss Xiao Long, on the other hand, would be given a special case, not only for her participation like the rest of you but also because of her interesting history..." he said as he pulled out his scroll and opened it to a database.

"Wait, so you're telling me that Yang… has A CRIMINAL RECORD?!" Weiss suddenly shouted.

I wanted to say I'm surprised, but then again her partner was an ex-member of an international terrorist group that I fought for three times now, and that very same ex-terrorist gave me a kiss on the cheek a couple of weeks ago.

"Well... it's just a few misdemeanors like underage drinking right...?" Yang nervously reckoned as she forced a grin. [2]

"That and… speeding, reckless driving, disorderly conduct, vandalism, parking violation, illegal U-turns…" Detective Huntley said as he read her record on his scroll.

Yang's entire team glared at her as Detective Huntley continued to read out her listed record of crimes and all she could do was nervously smile.

"…battery, assault, property damage, and of course, littering," he said as he finished. Sounds like Yang has been going places. It made me feel guilty about stealing a bike.

"This is absurd! What's next? Ruby getting charged for stealing cookies?" Weiss fumed before she realized that Ruby was still in grief. "Oh. Sorry, Ruby."

"It's okay…" she responded in a low voice. It was still too soon for her.

"That would give her a whole month of service, while on probation. Meaning you would only do labor on Beacon's grounds. You are forbidden to visit the city until your penalty is lifted. You should be grateful, this is the most clement verdict we could give you with such a record like yours." Detective Huntley told her before looking at all of us again. "If it was up to me or anyone else in the station, this would have been harsher, but Professor Ozpin made an agreement to the chief of police to make sure you don't fall back with your studies as Hunstman trainees, and we didn't have to take the usual process of taking you all into court."

"That is bullcrap! There's gotta be another way where I could make it up to you somehow." Yang protested.

"Miss Xiao Long, I'm afraid I have to concur with Detective Huntley here." The Great & Powerful Ozpin finally stepped in and spoke after just standing there for a while now. "Laws are laws, and so long as they are fair and just, they deserve to be enforced. I may have pardoned you previously, but you will have to face the consequences of your actions this time around. As he said, this is a rather merciful verdict for a record like yours. Either you accept this or spend some time behind bars and face a judge. Worry not about missions, you can still participate in them since they count as service."

You know, Ozpin seems to have a lot of power for a headmaster of an academy if he can coax the police department and bend the justice system like that, or he is just that charismatic. Either way, who am I to complain if this meant getting us out of there with less trouble?

"This is freaking stupid…" Yang grumbled. "Fine. Don't expect me to enjoy this. I feel like being grounded again."

"I would also like to add that only Wukong and Vasillias will perform service at city grounds, Team RWBY and Arc will only perform service at Beacon, where they would be safe from potential White Fang attacks since they would undoubtedly hunt them down for their recent actions against them. Unlike Xiao Long, they are not barred from visiting the city, but I advise you to remain cautious. Law enforcement is currently on high alert in case of any more White Fang attacks." Detective Huntley added.

"Detective. Pardon me, but I could pay for the reparations. That way, we don't have to perform community ser—" Weiss tried to propose before The Great & Powerful Ozpin himself silenced her by raising his hand.

"Miss Schnee, while your offer is appreciated; I'm afraid that we decided that I will have to pay for the damages myself," Ozpin interjected. "You need to be disciplined for the recent incident, even if you did not intend for any of this to happen. This is a deed we cannot let go unpunished."

"But—"

"This is not up for debate. You shall all serve your sentences and think about what you've just caused and that's final," he clinched. With that, it shows that there was no way of bargaining our way out of our punishments, and all we could do was face the music and accept our fates.

"Thank you, Professor Ozpin." Detective Huntly said. "Alright, I believe my work here is done. Thank you all for your cooperation. Try not to get yourselves into trouble again and please stop acting like vigilantes without the approval of your superiors," He concluded as he stood up. "Now, if you excuse me I still have to scrutinize the battlesuit's remains. You're all free to go."

Detective Huntley left the room as Ozpin stood in the middle, looking at all of us. "Students. I can neither say I'm happy nor disappointed by your recent stunts. But I want you to have this as a learning opportunity not to provoke deadly criminals and organizations. The authorities, with the cooperation of fully-trained licensed Huntsmen, are hard at work dealing with these types of threats every day, while you are all still just preparing. You may be skilled, but your skills may only be wasted if you are not careful enough; fortunately, none of you have been seriously injured and you were given lenient punishments for your lack of discipline. Even then, it does not change the fact that five civilians are confirmed dead and thirty-nine others are currently hospitalized as a result of your destructive curiosities and I may also have to face possible lawsuits as a result."

We remained silent as he lectured us. The investigation wasn't fully a waste as we were able to discover that the White Fang has been secretly holding destructive weapons while in their prototype stages. The thing is, it wasn't our business to begin with. Someone else would have made the discovery and we wouldn't have to be facing the consequences of our own actions had we just refrained from doing something stupid.

"Now enough of this, I believed you have all learned your lessons, but you still have to perform the services you are assigned to and think about your actions. Now follow my lead. We'll be taking the Bullhead back to Beacon."

We all stood up and followed Ozpin to the rooftop. As we were making our way there—I looked at Ruby, who was still looking down, feeling guilty for all the lives she couldn't save. I never liked seeing Ruby sad, she was like a sister to me, along with Pyrrha and Nora, so I went next to her and brightened her up.

"You know, Ruby. I wouldn't have stopped those bank robbers if you didn't bring me into your investigation. I know that there were people you couldn't save, but that doesn't mean you didn't save anyone. Who knows what would happen if I didn't go to the bank? You should look at the bright side of things, you don't have to always feel so guilty."

Ruby poked her head up and turned her head at me. I smiled at her to let her know that I was there for her. Without a word, she smiled back, getting my message.

Yang noticed me cheer her sister up. She went in and patted my shoulder. "You did good, lady killer."

I beamed at Yang with a nod. Ruby deserved to know that it wasn't entirely her fault and that no matter what, her friends are with her.

Now I know how my sisters felt when they saw me dejected...

After this, I really need to stop hanging out with Team RWBY for a bit and focus on my team. I do genuinely admire their will and courage but they need to learn how to not give any more problems for us all. I only went with them because I thought it would be a quick and simple search for information with no fighting, but it only put me on Podunk 2: The Black Cat Boogaloo and gave me my third strike to the White Fang. I have enough of these that I'm starting to appreciate the Grimm and tedious schoolwork.

So ends the second day of the second semester and I already feel exhausted.

=o=

1. Despite being a former terrorist, Blake did not hold a criminal record in Vale since she hadn't committed a single crime inside the kingdom or at very least hadn't been caught committing one.
2. The drinking age in Vale was 18. Adolescents aged 16 are also allowed to drink under adult supervision. Yang was 17 at the time, and while she was not exactly a heavy drinker, she had a few accounts of drinking underage without an adult chaperone.

Editorial Note: Before ending this chapter, we will look into another one of the recovered White Fang that details the incident from their point of view.

The White Fang Reports: Summary of the Assault in Vale

The human oppressors of Vale should start trembling in fear, for our day of retribution is coming close with each passing hour. The downtrodden people of faunuskind will soon rise as their champions liberate them from the shackles of tyranny and the streets of Vale will be cleansed of fascist filth.

But in order to achieve that, we must cooperate with some humans who share grudges to those who oppress us. One such person would be Roman Torchwick, a crime lord under the collaboration of the district leader, Adam Taurus, and a henchman of our mysterious backer. Many will find the collaboration from a human dubious, but we should remember that the enemy of our enemy is our friend, and Torchwick's contribution will help aid the future of faunuskind as he holds munitions necessary to achieve our objectives.

Through Torchwick's superiors, he managed to get a hold of prototype battle suits that were still not available for the public, the Atlesian Paladin. How they were able to get a hold of this mechanized battlesuit was beyond our comprehension, but it did not matter as we finally have ammunition that could be the key to our success.

Due to our recent failure to acquire an adequate amount of dust from the city's docks for our upcoming operation, we had to resort to committing a robbery at a bank in Downtown Vale in order to compensate for our losses from our previous mission. While the robbery takes place, another team will conduct car bomb attacks at one of the Atlesian military presentations to distract a portion of the police force from responding to the robbery.

Before the robbery took place, we introduced the Paladin to one of our recruitment meetings, administered by Fawkes and Torchwick himself. But we found that the meeting was being infiltrated by Blake Belladonna and one of the pets that accompanied her during the debacle at the docks a couple of weeks ago. Our plans needed some adjustments, Torchwick decided to use the battlesuit, not only to pursue them but to demonstrate its abilities. It prevented her from interfering with the robbery that we would carry out shortly after as well as becoming a more effective distraction than a usual car bomb attack.

Fawkes brought half of the recruits from Group Panther to the robbery as an initiation, and was accompanied by Torchwick's companion, Neo Politan, who is said to be the same person as 'The Neapolitan Butcher'. With the group's strength, it's expected that the robbery would be a decisive success and the recruits themselves need not worry much.

And then he appeared.

The robbery was going well, we were able to grab hold of the funds we needed for the White Fang's upcoming operation for Mountain Glenn and VPD was unable to stop us. But alas came the blond Huntsman who was responsible for the destruction of the Forever Fall outpost and our failure at the docks. He slaughtered our men, recruits, and veterans alike until they were either dead or crippled. Only Neo Politan and a few members escaped, those who didn't were detained or worse—killed.

We have finally coined a name for this human: The Valish Defanger. He is becoming an even worse wrench in our works that were only able to recover one-third of our objective at the robbery, meaning the operation in Mountain Glenn will, unfortunately, have to be postponed once more as we still require more lien if we are to carry it out. While all hope is not lost, the ambitions of a liberated Vale are under a serious threat. The human responsible for this must be dealt with quickly before he ruins more of our operations.

On a related note, Torchwick was able to escape from the Huntsmen, but with the cost of the Paladin. Nevertheless, that was only one of the many battlesuits that are stocked in our armaments, and it only confirmed that they functioned as intended.

Some recruits have become disheartened at our recent failures, but we assured them that we will never give up and that we will soon gain the upper hand among the humans who think they could hinder our campaign. Because soon, our fallen brethren will be avenged and our morale will ameliorate. We will be the rallying cry of every persecuted faunus in this wretched kingdom.

The Revolution Will Not Be Humanized!

Chapter Text

Editorial Note: The next few entries will be focusing on the Freshman's Dance Night and the events leading up to it, which was first written three days after Team RWBY's investigation around Vale, starting at Friday's combat class.

To Survive and Prosper

CHAPTER 7

After that night, I had to spend the last couple of days giving a few hours of unpaid labor to make up for the repercussions we caused. It felt more like an extended detention session since I only work inside the academy. Honestly, it wouldn't have been that bad since all I had to do was work for a few hours inside the safety of Beacon had it not for the fact that word about my exploit was spread overnight with Nora gushing about it after I woke up the next morning while berating me for not taking Ren and her to the bank robbery. But if anything, she should be glad because she didn't have to get sentenced to community service just like I did. Pyrrha herself was fortunate enough not to be convicted because of her reputation added with the fact that she didn't really do much other than to knock down a few troopers and save my bacon from a four-foot, two-tone colored psychopath.

To make matters worse, it wasn't just Nora. People in Beacon who tuned in to the midnight and morning news applauded me and Pyrrha for foiling the bank robbery, unaware of my sentence and the fact that my presence there was unwanted, while never mentioning Team RWBY, Sun and Neptune's battle with a stolen Atlesian mech on the freeway even if it did result in a few civilian casualties. [1] I kept hearing it for the whole day, with everyone I came across approaching me and talking about it, telling me and Pyrrha that we did a great job while all I could do was smile and spout some self-deprecating bullshit about how I couldn't have done it without her help and cover my own ass.

Okay, it wasn't exactly bullshit; it's true that I really couldn't have done it without Pyrrha, but you get what I feel about this.

I had a feeling that my ignominious reputation as the Defender of Podunk was finally falling to obscurity, with everyone who brought it out forgetting about it five minutes after asking if I was him. Then I blew it by accepting to help out a friend with a task that was supposed to be a simple team investigation, following a peculiar girl for answers instead of checking records, 'borrowing' a stupid scooter and going the wrong way by following cop cars who I thought was heading to Team RWBY's location while they were fighting the Torchwick in his rogue mech. Now I'm on the godsdamn news again with my name spelled wrong as usual, [2] and it's bad enough that I've been getting reports of journalists trying to visit Beacon to get my interview.

Wonderful, here I am in the spotlight again. At least no one was told about my minor act of bike thievery, Yang still hasn't lived that one down yet probably because of being a motorcycle owner herself.

Pyrrha was also affected by this because not only did she fight alongside me, but it was also one of the rarest moments where the Invincible Girl of Mistral fought outside the tournament. Of course, it was too good of a story for journalists not to milk, so it wasn't just my reputation that was enhanced. At the very least, I have yet to spot a paparazzi trying to get some juicy details about my personal life for some dumbfuck article only people with no life would care about.

On the brighter side of things, I don't think I have to worry about who to look for to dance with this Sunday. That night kind of brought me and Pyrrha closer considering the stuff we had to deal with in its aftermath. That and I have attracted some girls who would kill to dance with me after hearing my supposed act of bravery. Chicks dig what I do.

I have to admit—after dealing with some missions within Pucelle and that aforementioned night, it was nice to feel the peaceful boredom of class hours again. Now I just need to enjoy every last minute of it until I get my first mission this upcoming Monday.

I sat beside Pyrrha at Combat Class after doing a few exercises as the class prepared for the sparring sessions. She smiled at me and I returned the gesture, knowing how much we comforted one another when dealing with the pressures of being on a pedestal. It showed that we do have some genuine partnership together and that we're paired up for a reason other than we just happened to be the first contact we made during the initiation.

I turned to check on Team RWBY. While they looked fine for the most part, they still appear to be recovering from that night. Ruby looked like she was back to her perky self, but I could still sense that she hadn't gotten over the civilian casualties she wasn't able to prevent. Weiss was maintaining her composure while she was infuriated that she had to do community service for several more days; Yang was doing her best not to show her displeasure at being banned from the city for a month in addition to her daily labor; Blake, meanwhile had it worst, she became much moodier since that night and appear to be lacking in sleep if the bags under her eyes and the paleness of her skin did not give that away. She was occupied with her books, and while she was always like that, it was blatant that she was trying to ease her mind after what happened that night.

I knew these girls were resilient enough to handle this but I couldn't help but feel guilty that they have to go through all of that while I get all the glory. Having to serve labor in which sentence was half long as theirs wasn't enough to make us even. If anyone deserved to be called brave aside from Pyrrha that night—it should be them. They shouldn't have conducted the investigation in the first place, sure, but they still courageously faced a wanted criminal on a highway full of innocents and almost won, but instead, they were still penalized for casualties and damages they barely had control over.

I sighed and just told myself to focus on the present. I noticed I was also sitting next to the Haven team whom I bumped into last Monday; I saw them in their combat outfits for the first time, like some of the other students here, each of them wore something that complimented their hair color. They seem to be an okay bunch, despite being somewhat strange at times but that's probably just me. I've been on edge a lot recently.

"Man, all this exercising and team-building stuff is killing me. I think my legs are aching for some action," Mercury—the gray-haired one—impatiently uttered.

"Will you quit it? I could barely focus with your tapping," His green-haired partner—Emerald, I think—told him.

"Then hope for something exciting would happen and I will stop," he responded, making Emerald roll her eyes before turning at me. "Anyway, guess who we bumped into again."

"Well if it isn't Jaune Arc," A soothing voice stated. "Fancy meeting you again. It seems that you have been making moves a couple of days ago." I stared back at the beautiful raven-haired leader complimenting me, doing my best not to flush out of embarrassment at her flattering and her mention of that fiasco. Pyrrha turned her head to see who I was talking to, getting Cinder's attention. "And Pyrrha Nikos herself is here too."

"Uh, hello there!" Pyrrha waved to her fellow Mistralis.

"It's an honor to finally meet you face to face. We're Team Cinnamon from Haven." Emerald stirred near her partner and started covering his mouth before he would be able to make any further remarks. "Well, we prefer to call ourselves Team CMSN, but Cinnamon is fine I guess. By the way, my name is Emerald. This right here is my idiot of a partner Mercury," she continued as Mercury's eyes narrowed at her. "and this our leader, Cinder, and our other teammate, Nico!" she introduced her team as the very latter leaned in and joyfully waved at us.

"I see." Pyrrha nodded with her hand cupped to her chin. "It's nice to meet you, Team Cinnamon."

Mercury struggled out of Emerald's grasp and glared at her for a second before turning back at us. "Hey, you two did great back there. Never was a big fan of the White Fang myself. What a bunch of losers. Seriously, how are they going to achieve equality with that?" he said while his partner just rolled her eyes with a coy smile.

"Thanks, I guess. Couldn't just leave when I knew I could do something." I replied in a way they would expect from the Humble & Courageous Jaune Arc.

"How brave, I can see why everyone is hailing you as a hero," Cinder cooed suggestively. "Why can't Huntsmen be more like you?"

"You'll be surprised to know how many people said that to me," I scratched the back of my head and tried not to show my embarrassment. "I just did what a Huntsman would do."

"And you certainly show." Cinder and I continued to stare at each other. I was so stupefied by this woman's beauty and flattering that it wasn't until Pyrrha cleared her throat that I stopped spacing out. "By the way, it's nice to meet you in person, Pyrrha Nikos. We're huge fans of your work and we look forward to seeing what you have in store for the tournament."

"You won't be disappointed," Pyrrha replied as she tried to grin. Not too long after, Miss Goodwitch finally spoke up.

"Okay, students," she said, grabbing all of our attention. "As you know, the Vytal Tournament will begin within a few weeks, and only qualified teams are allowed to partake in it. Henceforth, the qualifiers will now begin. While some of you are sure to be in the Tournament, you still have to prove if you are absolutely worthy to be eligible for the most renowned tournament of the year, for we are looking for students who possess remarkable ability to show the world the capabilities of the Huntsmen of tomorrow."

I turned to Pyrrha and nodded to each other, I then looked at Ren and Nora who were unusually distant from our seats, with the latter giving a thumbs up with both of her hands and the former simply giving his usual disposed look.

"So let us begin the matches and show me what you have learned these past months. This time, you will also be able to practice alongside students from other academies. Just remember that there is no competition as of yet. While you are to show your capabilities and prove your worthiness, you are still training. So please, keep these battles amiable while remaining as competent as you could," she said before she chose the first participants for today. "The first match would be Oriana Sullivan and Sandy Graves of Team TOPS (Topaz) going against Lambert Forrester and Rusty Dalen of Team BFYR in a two-on-two match."

During the matches, I kept notes on the participant's fighting as usual—especially with the transfer students, who I hold little to no information about their fighting ability. Aside from that, I didn't remember that much since I wasn't invested in seeing who would win; I only cared about how I could win against them. Having sawblades attached to your arm wasn't exactly the best weapon against someone with a polearm.

After a handful of matches, one of the last participants—Roy Stallion of Team BRNZ (Bronze) from Shade was getting dragged off from the arena after getting his butt handed by Sky Lark of all people. Yeah, you read that right; the very same guy who I remembered was the most timid member of Team CRDL.

"With that match, you are reminded to keep a distance from your opponent, especially if their weapon has a much longer range than yours." Miss Goodwitch advised the crowd of students. "Since we are running short of time, we would like to reintroduce Miss Umi Hisakawa."

As soon as her name was called, we knew exactly how this was going to go. Once she started appearing in the arena, I noticed Brook Lane almost fainting at the mere sight of her.

"I see everyone seems to recognize her, save for the transfer students. Since you have all managed to come this far, you might finally be able to defeat her after she left all of you speechless at her introductory match. But before any of you will be able to prove that, she will have to be set up against an opponent who was already on par with her from the start, as they were almost never chosen for a single match so far when it was something we were all looking forward to."

Miss Goodwitch began facing in my direction. I did my best to look calm while in a state of complete internal panic, until one reaffirming statement calmed me down in a matter of a second. "Pyrrha Nikos, would you kindly enter the arena?"

"Sure, professor," she said as she stood up.

"Good luck out there, Pyrrha." I nodded.

"I will, Jaune." She then stepped off the seats and into the arena.

The two Mistralis silently stare at each other in the middle of the combat hall. The audience just sat by the edge of their seats and gazed at the two warrior ladies, clearly anticipating fast-paced action.

"You both know the rules. You are given ten minutes to put your opponent's aura below fifteen percent before the timer runs out. The match will begin…"

Blades resonated as they both unsheathed their respective weapons and went on their stances while keeping eye contact with one another as they waited for the professor's cue.

"…now."

When the match started, none of the two attacked; instead, they slowly circled each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Umi tried to startle her by feinting, but Pyrrha's amazing reflexes and discipline kept her unflinching.

Finding out that Pyrrha was playing defensively, Umi changed her tactics and abruptly threw blades from her fan. Pyrrha deflected them with her shield before noticing that Umi tried to sweep away her feet, making her leap back and fire at her with her rifle, which Umi blocked with her fans as she walked slowly towards her. Pyrrha then changed her rifle to its javelin form and threw it at Umi, and since the javelin was too much for her fans to deflect, she jumped right away from it.

Pyrrha flew to retrieve Miló [3] and launched herself from the wall without touching the floor which would get her to lose by ring out. She changed her weapon to its xiphos mode before she used it to clash with Umi's bladed fans the moment she got next to her. The two fought in the center for superiority until Pyrrha managed to swipe away one of Umi's fans into the air. Umi didn't waste any time and leaped for her fan as Pyrrha changed her weapon back to a rifle and opened fire at her. Umi grabbed her fan in midair and used both of them to block off the gunshots as she descended towards her opponent. Pyrrha darted back before Umi got to the ground where she started spinning toward her with blades and knives being thrown at Pyrrha. Pyrrha deflected the blades by spinning her spear, making them fly around the arena, even hitting the transparent holographic walls that protect the audience. Once she was done, she raised her shield from the flurry of slashes from Umi's fans and pushed her back, and threw the shield at her. Umi was able to jump on the shield and flew toward Pyrrha and attempted to strike her down but she rolled forward and grabbed her shield before firing twice to her last ammo. Pyrrha changed her weapon back to its xiphos form for quicker melee and engaged her once again, only this time, Umi was struggling to block off Pyrrha's swift slashes.

Umi was getting overwhelmed. Pyrrha's agility made it near-impossible for her to counter, and her shield barely gave her an opening. I know this because Ren, Nora, and I once sparred with her, and not once were we able to beat her in a serious match. But Umi wasn't giving up yet, having enough of Pyrrha's offensive she leaped back, and waved both of her fans as she took off towards the ceiling. Both Pyrrha and the audience looked up at her as she summoned a whole mass of blades coming from her fans, forming a shape similar to that of wings; she threw all of those blades towards Pyrrha. Pyrrha ducked with her shield as a hailstorm of a hundred blades fell towards her.

Unfortunately for Umi, she was barely scathed. Pyrrha stood up both gracefully and vigorously, sweeping away the blades on the floor as she walked forward and astonished the audience at how untouchable she was. Umi landed back on the ground, she lost her calm demeanor and displayed clear agitation toward her opponent. The last thing I saw was Pyrrha smirking before black outlines surrounded both her hands, as well the blades around her before they rose from the ground and began pointing at their former owner. Umi just stood by with a horrified look before Pyrrha launched them at her, draining all of her remaining aura to the red.

"Woah." I heard Mercury utter after the last blade penetrated Umi's aura.

"Impressive." Cinder remarked.

Umi was lying on the ground when the bell rang and the lights came back on. "And that's the match." Miss Goodwitch walked back into the arena.

Pyrrha was noticeably panting, not because of the fight but because of how much she used her semblance. She did tell me that it took some meditation to get a hold of and control her polarity and that the more metal she holds, the more aura it uses.

Nora stood up and hollered. "Way to go, P-Money!"

The auditorium roared with applause after witnessing a victory from The Invincible Girl. For Beacon students, it showed how amazing she was after beating a senior who had haunted us since the first day of combat training. Pyrrha just smiled and waved around the arena before walking to Umi, offering her hand, which she accepted. The two smiled at each other and Umi gave Pyrrha a bow of gratitude as her fellow Mistrali returned the gesture.

"Miss Nikos, that was incredible! It is without a doubt that you will be in the tournament." Miss Goodwitch commended.

"Thank you, professor." Pyrrha nodded.

"Your performance is no less exemplary, Hisakawa-san." Miss Goodwitch said to Umi with an approving nod. "You are both dismissed. Miss Nikos, you may now return to your seat."

Umi bowed once again before leaving the premises as she fanned herself. Pyrrha went back to sit beside me a minute later.

"Pyrrha, that was great! I already know you are a great fighter but...wow!" I complimented her. While it was not surprising given Pyrrha's record of being Goddess of Victory, I was still at a loss of words that it was the only thing I could say to her.

"Thanks, Jaune. Your support means a lot to me," she replied with heartfelt gratitude.

"Yeah," I restrained my own blush. "Just being a good partner."

"Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match. Any volunteers?" Miss Goodwitch said as she looked at the audience before noticing a certain faunus who was still hooked up on her book. "Miss Belladonna?"

Startled, Blake abruptly shut her book closed and put her gaze on the Professor.

"You've been rather docile for the past few classes." Miss Goodwitch remarked, making Blake look away in shame. "Why don't you—"

"I'll do it," Mercury interjected, raising his hand.

"Mercury, is it?" Miss Goodwitch adjusted her glasses before tapping her tablet. "Very well then. Mercury Black of Team CMEN from Haven Academy, you may now come down to the arena."

The audience began snickering as he stood up and went down, not only because of his team's name but rather because of how it's unfortunately spelled. No wonder why they prefer being called CMSN.

"Students, I will not repeat myself. Please stop this childishness at once! Might I remind you that you are all no longer in elementary school?" Miss Goodwitch growled.

The snickering stopped. Mercury didn't seem perturbed by it, if anything, he was just as amused as everyone. I cannot say the same for his teammates, who were covering their faces with their hands.

"I don't get it. What's so funny about cinnamon?" Ruby asked with confusion in her voice. Poor little thing; she's too pure for this godsforsaken planet.

"You'll understand when you're older, sis. Just don't think about it for now and let's see what this dude's made of," Yang said to her sister with a grin.

Miss Goodwitch tapped on her tablet. "Now, let's find you an opponent."

"Actually. I wanna fight…" He looked around the audience before pointing toward me. "Him."

Aw crap.

"Me?" I gritted my teeth. I haven't fought in a sparring match since that time I have to fight all of Team CRDL. I guess I couldn't avoid the spotlight after what I did two days ago.

"Yeah, you."

"Is there a problem, Mister Arc?" Miss Goodwitch asked.

Well, it's too late to decline this now. "Uhh, no. I'd be happy to oblige."

"Very well, then. Jaune Arc of Team JNPR will be facing Mercury Black of Team CMEN from Haven Academy. Please come down the stage."

The audience applauded and began chanting my name, with some of the girls screaming out of admiration. Laughter over the latter team's name could still be audible, albeit muffled by the cheering.

Pyrrha gave an encouraging nod. "You can do it, Jaune."

"I'll be fine Pyrrha, but thanks anyway," I smiled at her.

"Good luck out there, hero." Cinder said. "I should warn you; Mercury may not be the brightest, but his skills are undeniable."

Duly noted. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind," I replied before heading to the locker room.

I grabbed my weapons and stepped into the arena. I went to my stance as Mercury walked to his side of the stage, smiling at me before going on his brawling stance. The two screens displaying our respective aura meters began appearing as all but one of the room's lights began closing down while both of our eyes mutually gazed toward one another.

"Show him who's boss, Fearless Leader!" Nora audibly cheered.

"You may begin!" Miss Goodwitch announced.

Mercury lunged and attempted to kick me as I blocked my shield and shoved him back, making him flip back to where he started. I chose not to use my laspistol yet as I didn't want him to recognize my strategy that early, so I charged at him with my shield on my front as he tried to shoot me down with it. I got near him as I kept blocking his kicks with my shield. I tried giving a few slashes only for him to keep dodging them around. So I bashed my shield at him, pushing him back once again.

This guy was tougher than he looks. I guess Cinder was right when she mentioned his skills. By the looks of it, Mercury is an unarmed fighter who primarily fights by kicking—judging by the guns attached to his boots, and with that, I felt like I knew what to do. He would need to have some happy feet if he wanted to win this.

Mercury spun as he jumped, once again giving another kick that I blocked with my shield, I began doing my best to avoid his series of attacks before I rolled back and readied my shield again as he to struck me with a flurry of kicks before I rolled under one of his kicks while collapsing my shield and grabbing my gun from my holster. I aimed my pistol and fired at him and he began swaying away from the laser fire before giving a flying kick which I avoided by side-stepping.

I was now parrying away his kicks as he tried to shoot me with it from time to time. He managed to strike me back, which was when I decided to set my plan into motion. I aimed my gun at his feet and repeatedly pulled the trigger. He started tap dancing in an attempt to avoid the lasers I fired as I rushed in closer and slashed him with his guard suppressed.

Once I knocked him down, he spun as he recovered quickly and flipped back away at a distance. Twirling my pistol back to my holster, I raised and expanded my shield and lunged at him. Mercury gave a dropkick on my shield, and fired a round that launched himself back. I raised my sword and began charging at him, but immediately stopped after hearing his abrupt statement when he stood up.

"I forfeit," Mercury declared as he turned to Miss Goodwitch.

"What?" I asked in bewilderment after pushing my brakes and halted.

"I underestimated you," he said after he faced me once again. "I can see why they are calling you the hero everybody is talking about. It's fun and all, but I don't really think I could beat you."

I just stared at him in utter disbelief. He was doing well enough that I was sure he could defeat me, provided he had the right tactics and since I wasn't invincible like Pyrrha.

"If that's the case then I have to declare Jaune Arc to be the victor of this match. Marking the second time he won after his opponent declared themselves forfeit. Once again, a viable tactic in a hopeless fight, but I find your decision to forfeit to be very sudden Mister Black; you still had a chance to defeat your opponent." Miss Goodwitch asserted.

"Eh, wasn't feeling it," Mercury responded. "Guy was leagues apart from me. I just wanted to challenge him for a bit before realizing he really was too much for me."

"Well then, I advise you to pick your opponents more carefully from now on."

"Got it, teach," he said before walking away.

"I guess you need to kick it up a notch," I cheekily told him as he left the stage.

"That is all for today." Miss Goodwitch declared. "And remember, the dance is this weekend. But you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses."

Ah, yes the Sunday dance, which the way I saw it was a chance for students to celebrate and maybe get a date they never had before getting thrown off on a mission with a chance of actual death.

As I made my way out of the combat hall, I reunited with my team and Nora began gushing once again. "Whooo! Jaune Arc strikes again! Oh, it's wonderful to see you fighting again, Fearless Leader! You did great too, Pyrrha! You really showed that geisha chick. I can't wait for us to finally go on our first mission and fight alongside you guys again!"

I could only smile at Nora's enthusiasm, even if she was excited for an assignment with a chance of death that varies on how hazardous the mission is.

We were heading out of the hallway when I once again crossed paths with that irritatingly alluring leader of Team CMEN.

"Why, you certainly don't disappoint." Cinder remarked. "I can see how both of you are the most talked-about freshmen in this academy. The Goddess of Victory and The Hero of Podunk, one who recently stopped a terrorist's robbery. You are shaping up to be the freshman team of the year."

I was only able to stare at her, stupefied at her astounding beauty. "Oh boy, do we ever! The untouchable beauty, the bravest knight of them all, and the bestest of friends ever!" she said as she started hugging Ren at her side. "You might as well start calling us Team Awesome! Scratch that, we ARE Team Awesome! It's our second name! Don't care if it's not a color or a name formed with our first letters. We're Team Awesome!"

I snapped out of my paralyzed state and was about to respond before Pyrrha came to my front and spoke on my behalf. "We appreciate your support very much. But for now, we got to go. See you later!" she said as she began dragging me away, with Ren and Nora following us as Cinder waved at me.

I did not bother asking why Pyrrha abruptly dragged me out as if she doesn't want me talking with her since I know that she would not rather talk about it.

"Pyrrha's jelly!" Nora teased, to which Pyrrha only responded by rolling her eyes. "I'm kidding. I know how you feel. I would have done the same thing if she tried to flirt with Ren. Who does she think she is that she could just take Jaune away from us?"

Well, whatever Cinder is planning with me, I really couldn't answer that myself.

=o=

1. If you read the excerpts from the last chapter, you'll know that Jaune's description of that event was inaccurate, since while the chase did happen on the freeway, the battle did indeed occurr below it, with both Sun and Neptune being put out of commission early. And the reason why no one approached us about the incident is that there was barely any footage that showed Team RWBY engaging the Paladin, and the eye-witnesses' descriptions of everyone involved were vague. Additionally, Headmaster Ozpin persuaded the VPD to keep our identities anonymous, the same unfortunately cannot be said for Jaune, due to testimonies from several police officers and civilian witnesses confirming his and Pyrrha's presence at the bank heist.
2. Jaune's name is usually misspelled as "John Arc", due to how little reference journalists possess aside from its pronunciation.
3. The name of Pyrrha's weapon, which is paired with her shield, Akoúo.

Chapter Text

To Survive and Prosper

CHAPTER 8

Leaving the hallway and into the school's campus, we were met with the friendly face of Neptune, behind him were two boys—who I correctly assumed to be his teammates.

"He-hey, look who's finally here!" Neptune said. "Jaune Arc and Pyrrha freakin' Nikos herself. The badasses of the week!"

"Good to see you again, Neptune," I greeted. "How have you been doing these past couple of days?"

"Pretty good. Community service's not that bad. Met some lovely chicks on the streets while I was at it."

"And his supervisor kept yelling at him to get back to work," his green-haired teammate said.

Well, that's one way of telling me of one of his weaknesses. Luckily, I already know how a perverted mind works.

"Yeah…" Neptune embarrassedly scratched the back of his head. "So anyway, these are my teammates; Scarlet and Sage," he said gesturing at the two, who look just as boyband-ish as their teammates.

Scarlet was the red-haired one with the Albionic accent who has some sort of markings on his left eye, and had his red coat draped around over his left shoulder, wearing it as if it was some cape, while somehow not slipping or falling off [1]; Sage was the dark-skinned, green-haired, shirtless, muscular man in an imposing stature clad in an unbuttoned longcoat while wearing no shirt underneath it, therefore, exposing his abs just like his leader. A bunch of show-offs I'd say.

"Together, we're Team SSSN (Sun)! Triple S's, and an N at the end, who by the way, is yours truly."

Look at that, another Team pronounced after their leader. It must be confusing to determine who's leading it if it weren't for one of their names. "Pretty weird being the only one whose name doesn't start with an 'S', don't you think?" I quipped. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you Scarlet, Sage. You already know me and my partner, this is Nora and Ren. We're Team JNPR."

"It's nice to finally meet you," Scarlet said. "I heard many great things about you. Is it true you stopped the bank robbery the same night you, Sun, and Neptune got in trouble?"

"Yeah, that was me," I confirmed with a hint of shame though I was becoming more used to it the more people kept bringing it up. "I still couldn't have done it without Pyrrha's help."

"Please. You don't need to mention it." Pyrrha humbly remarked as she immediately attracted the attention of the two.

"You're really THE Pyrrha Nikos?" Sage grinned. "It's an honor to meet a warrior like you. How are you liking Beacon so far?"

Pyrrha sported her celebrity smile once again. "Thank you. Beacon is great. The people here are very thoughtful, and my teammates are very supportive. Being just a mere member of a team is quite refreshing."

"That's good to hear. Even champions like you need to settle down, it's nice to know you're making yourself comfortable while trying to hold such a record."

"Indeed," she nodded, almost looking like she was about to shyly glance away.

"A world-renowned champion and a recent breakout hero. My-my, what a combination." Scarlet remarked. "I'm sure your two other teammates are no pushover either."

"Believe me. They're far from that," I crossed my arms as I looked at the duo in question.

"That's right! Anima's number one duo is behind Jaune and Pyrrha." Nora put an arm over Ren's shoulder. "With his bravery and her strength and our undying friendship, we are nigh-unstoppable."

"It's true. While we are already remarkable from the start, Jaune's leadership has made us a force to be reckoned with as a team," Ren added. I could only smile at his commendation. It's a shame that it's only because I was smart enough to be pragmatic. Having a bad team would obviously mean a bad fate for me.

"You made yourself a good team, Jaune. Not saying Sun is a bad leader, but he could certainly learn a thing or two from you," Sage remarked.

"I appreciate that. Thank you," I smiled.

"It was my pleasure."

A few moments passed, Sun walked in, reuniting himself with his team while looking pretty distraught.

"So how did it go?" Neptune queried him.

Sun groaned, one of his hands rested on his forehead for a second. "No luck. She's being much crankier than before. I thought she'd cheer up after that day but I think it made her worse. This is the first time we spoke since that night; I haven't seen her much since then."

Sigh, Blake still hadn't let go of Torchwick and the White Fang. I was really worried about her, if she keeps this up her restlessness would be the end of her. Someone really needed to get that cat to settle down.

"It's fine, Sun. Maybe she's not in a good mood. You'll get her tomorrow," Neptune reaffirmed.

"Yeah, but she said she's not interested. I don't think she'll be coming to the dance."

His partner frowned. "Well, that sucks. Here's hoping she'll change her mind then."

"Yeah…" Sun uttered before turning to me. "Hey Jaune, how are you getting along with my team?"

"Pretty good. Quite the team you have here," I told him.

He smiled slightly. "Thanks. I appreciate having these dudes on my back. Been working my tail off to make ourselves a functional team."

"Burdens of being a leader," I replied.

"You got that right." Sun chuckled. "Hey, could you please try helping out Blake when you get the chance? She really looks like she needs help."

Trying to help a troubled Blake, part three. Here we go again. "Can't say no to that. I'm worried about Blake too."

"Good. Anyways, I think we should go now. It's our last day of community service and we'll be done sooner if we start now," Sun stated. "You still have yours to worry about, right?"

"Yeah. Speaking of which; what can you tell me about the work they put you up with?" I asked curiously. If I recall correctly, the two had the most clement penalty among us so they weren't as arduous compared to what Team RWBY and I had to do.

"Eh, we've been mostly sweeping the street, occasionally they would send us to help out with the freeway repairs. It's not that bad, we had some help so we didn't do it alone. It kinda felt more like we're in a relief effort." Sun answered, unsurprisingly not sounding too bothered with his tasks. "Cleaning the streets gave me an idea. Once we get our first mission, we'll no longer be cleaning the streets from grime, but we're gonna clean the streets from crime. Team SSSN, Police Squad!" he posed buoyantly, putting his fists on his waist.

If that happens, I hope he doesn't end up investigating his own thefts. Solving that case would be very awkward. "Cool. Well, Professor Peach needs me and Team RWBY to clean up the dust lab for today, so I'll be sure to check up on Blake while I'm at it."

"Great! Good luck with that, buddy. See ya' later," Sun and his teammates then turned around and walk away.

"You too! It was nice knowing your team!" I said to him as they were leaving. I then faced my comrades. "Yeah, I really need to go to the dust lab, they're expecting me after classes are done."

Pyrrha put a hand on my shoulder. "Well, good luck then. Just remember we have training later, so don't push yourself too hard, okay?"

"I won't forget," I reassured her before I left. "See you!"

As I separated myself from my teammates, I headed straight towards the Dust Lab which was in the other building. Upon arriving, Professor Peach was waiting for me and Team RWBY was already there. Ruby was sweeping off particles, Weiss was organizing the dust in the cabinets and tables, Yang was washing the vials, and Blake was wiping the tables clean.

"Ah, there you are, Mr. Arc. As you see, the dust lab has been a mess after the recent experiment by some of the teams. Suffice to say, that experiment was unsuccessful," Professor Peach said.

This is probably one of the reasons why Dust Studies is my weakest and least favorite, even though I learned to appreciate the use of dust this past week. I didn't want to play too much with dust while my equating skills were weak because otherwise, I might have ended up causing a disaster like this.

"Was anyone hurt?" I inquired more out of curiosity than concern as I looked around and saw a wall that has a huge black scorch mark with the middle being untouched in the shape of someone's body figure, which more or less answered my question.

"The students responsible are currently at the infirmary. Some are just there to be examined for possible infection, but as for the others…" she glanced back at the scorched wall to make her point. "I don't need to explain why experimenting on dust can be very dangerous without proper precaution."

"I see," I gulped for a second as I thought about it. "What am I supposed to do for now?"

"Here's a sponge and a bucket of water," she said, handing me those tools. "You know what to do with them."

"I'll get to it then, Professor." I nodded, taking the tools I needed to clean the wall.

I went over the wall. I looked at it for a few seconds before I removed my gloves and began scrubbing the charred wall. The black stain was so strenuous to remove that it took a ridiculous amount of scouring to remove it. Keep in mind that this was one big mark that would have been a bigger pain if the unfortunate idiot didn't stand there and indirectly saved a good amount of my time and energy by blocking a portion of the wall.

It was only a few minutes in and my hands were already sore from the firm scrubbing. Ruby passed me by as she was sweeping the floor with a broom.

"Hey," I greeted her so I could give her a sense of company while she continued to work.

"Hey, Jaune," she responded, sounding a little dejected but not to the same extent as she was that night.

"You okay?" I could tell that every time she's doing labor, she's thinking about the civilians she couldn't save that night. She came to Beacon to make the world a better place, and it's no mystery why she's upset about those people.

"I'm fine. Thanks."

I could tell she actually wasn't but I didn't want to put her in a worse mood than she was by talking about it. "So, how's Blake?"

"Not good. She barely ate and slept, and has been shunning us away every time we tried to tell her to knock it off," she frowned.

Just what I expected, I thought frowning. "Torchwick and the White Fang still bothering her?"

"I think so. It's been driving her insane. I thought those feelings would go away after we agreed to help her, but it looks like she's gotten worse. Every time we finish work, she would often sneak out to continue her investigation with or without our help. Even though Professor Ozpin and the detective told us to lay low since the White Fang could be looking for us. I don't think she's going to give herself a break until all of this is done."

I sighed as I shook my head. "It's going to take a while for Torchwick and the White Fang to be put to justice. The police said they're doing their best to take them down. I take it Blake's not going to the dance?"

"Probably not. She refused to participate in anything aside from her shifts. The only thing that could cheer her up is her books and even they couldn't make her less cranky. I really want her to go to the dance; it's a chance for her to settle down and just enjoy life especially since I think we're getting close to finding out what the White Fang is up to anyway but I don't think she wants to stop. She barely even sleeps," she said before looking at Blake. "And speaking of which."

Blake was standing next to one of the workbenches, trying to scrub the grime with a cloth, or I thought she was. She looked quite frozen before I realized that her eyes were shut.

"I'll go talk to her," I put the soap down, deciding that it was as good a time as any to question her. Ruby went back to sweeping the floor as I went to approach her teammate. "Blake?"

Her sleep-deprived eyes immediately began blinking open as she turned to me. Though, they were noticeably struggling to stay open. "Oh, hey. Do you need something?"

"Nothing really. Just making sure you're alright," I said.

"I'm fine. Now just leave me alone," she answered while she barely made any effort to hide her fatigue.

"No, you're obviously not." I insisted, her face was barely even hiding it. "Just tell me what's wrong."

"Jaune, please. You have done enough for me as it is and I appreciate it. Now please, just go. I really need some space," she said, sounding too tired to exclaim.

"Come on, Blake, you've been pushing yourself for days now that you can barely keep yourself awake. Maybe you need rest for once," I said, trying to reason with her.

"The White Fang doesn't rest, Jaune," she raised her tone. "They won't stop until they get what they want. So if I were to stop them then, there's no reason for me to rest either."

Oh brothers, I always knew she was stubborn but this was getting ridiculous. "Blake, you're not the only one who can stop the White Fang. Just let the police take care of it, they're trying their best to—"

"That's not enough!" She suddenly received the energy to yell, making all three of her teammates in the room temporarily halt their task to put their attention on us. "At best, they'll only just slow them down for a small margin, and even that will take too much work for them!"

She huffed and glared at me while I remained aback at her sudden outrage. A few seconds passed, and she took a deep breath and calmed down. "I'm sorry. It's been a stressful week. I just can't afford to let the White Fang make bad names for us faunus every passing second."

"Blake..." I tried to go closer to her, only for her to stop me as she avoided my gaze.

"Please just leave me be."

Well, I tried. I decided to give up. At that point, she made it clear that the White Fang has affected her drastically and that there was no way to change her mind. If her own teammates couldn't convince her then I doubt that I would be any luckier. "If that's what you want," I told her before going back to cleaning the wall.

She can't keep acting like this forever though. Blake will eventually have to give in and stop being adamant about this investigation. I don't think I'll be able to convince her now, so I'll just leave everything for nature to do its magic.

In our favor, hopefully.

=o=

1. He does remove it during combat, however.

Blake's current issues crossed her off as one of the candidates I've considered partnering with on the upcoming extracurricular which is a shame because I want to use this opportunity to get to know more about her since we had a lot to make up for last semester. I'm aware that she wouldn't make an ideal partner anyway considering how much trouble she caused for us but I knew that there was still hope for that stubborn little cat somewhere as I remember our last meeting following the docks incident. I'm still trying to decipher why she even kissed me on the cheek that night. I just wished she'd take a hint and realize that what she's doing isn't very healthy.

This left Pyrrha to be the only logical choice to be my date at the dance; she was the first person to come to my mind when looking for someone to be paired with anyway.

I've considered Cinder as my second choice, but I'm not comfortable dancing with someone who's into me because of my fraudulent reputation. Oh, who am I kidding? Anyone who's even interested in someone like me was because of my fraudulent reputation. Not to mention, a girl with the looks of her all but says that she is already taken.

Ruby would have been fine if it wasn't for the fact that I would feel like I'm taking advantage of the youngest and most naïve girl in school. Plus, she's probably married to her scythe—which could be why it has the same last name as her, and I'd hate to be a homewrecker. [1]

Yang's a ton of fun, I'm pretty sure half of the boys in my class have a crush on her and I can see why, she's very attractive both inside and out. But I don't think I want to date her; I doubt that anyone who did has lasted for more than a week. That, and she looked like she'd pass as one of my sisters which would only make dating her look awkward for me. It's pretty much why I don't usually date fellow blondes. Yeah, I know that three of my sisters are brunettes and that didn't stop me from dating some girls with similar hair but that's because they're a little different largely because they didn't have the same hair color as me and my mom.

Don't even get me started with Weiss. I don't think she has forgiven me for abandoning her last Tuesday. She's probably too busy being lovestruck on pretty boy Neptune anyway and I could sense that I would be a target for her army of white knights if I was dumb enough to ask her out. Spoiled rich girls only are only interested in shallow flings anyway. [2]

So it's pretty much decided that I'm going with Pyrrha. I want to use this as an opportunity for us to learn more about each other aside from being partners in a Huntsman student team, so this was my best chance. I decided that I would ask her out once I was finished training with her.

Sparring with Pyrrha has been informative as always, as we get to learn about each other's fighting styles which cannot be obtained the same way by just simply watching. Being the Invincible Goddess of Victory she was, I still was not able to beat her in a straight-up match even if she did hold back. Her attack patterns cannot be predicted and even if you somehow managed to do so, she still barely gives you the chance to land a hit on her.

So it was no surprise that I lost to her again.

"Splendid fighting, Jaune!" Pyrrha complimented as I helped myself up and wiped the dirt off my hind. "You're doing great as always. You definitely won't be having any trouble with your first mission."

"You never get tired, do you?" I playfully remarked, wiping away my sweat. "Thanks, but I could have done better."

"Oh, don't be like that. You're an amazing fighter; everyone can see that."

"I know, but I feel like I missed something."

"You're not missing anything, Jaune. In fact, I think you were getting close to beating me. That's not something I say every day."

She sounded too nice for her own good. "Well, you were holding back, so I could get the chance to beat you—but you didn't have to, I won't be able to beat you anyway."

"What are you talking about, Jaune? I wasn't holding back. Sure, we weren't allowed to use our guns and the match was purely melee only, but you still did well against me. Are you saying you're not good enough?"

"I…" I hesitated to answer, glancing away and looking for a way to change the subject in trepidation.

"Jaune…"

"No, it's not that Pyrrha. I think I just lost focus because there was something I've been aching to tell you." I answered. I didn't want her giving me any undeserved comfort, so I'll just get to the point.

"Well, what is it then? I'm listening," She curiously leaned closer.

Here we go. This shouldn't be much of a problem, given that I have asked girls out before and Pyrrha wasn't any different despite her social status. I've been with her long enough to know that things will be fine. "Will you accompany me to the dance?"

Her eyes widened and her face flushed while she glanced at the ground, facing away from me for a moment before coming up with an answer. "I'd be glad to."

"Oh, so great. I think we can get back to business now." I said, shrugging off all of the potential awkwardness seeing as I finally had the answer I needed.

"Yeah, but… that was a bit sudden. Not saying that I'm embarrassed by it or anything. I just… didn't expect you'd ask me out. I mean, nobody has asked me out before."

While I knew she hadn't been taken yet and that she would have told me if she was or I could have at least found out, I was rather bewildered upon hearing that. A girl as popular and talented as her should have been asked out at least once. "Why is that? You're Pyrrha Nikos. Guys would kill to have a shot with you."

"It's because…" she stuttered before she exhaled and shook her head. "Never mind. It's nothing important. I think we've practiced enough. We already know that we're ready for our first mission."

I just stood there and stared at her, processing what she was implying earlier. "So… we good?"

She happily nodded. "We have done everything we need. Keep up the good work and maybe we might finally unlock your semblance one day."

I chuckled. I kept forgetting about that until someone mentioned it. I've been here for months now, and I still don't have a semblance. Oh well, maybe I'll get it soon enough. Thankfully, I could live without it, seeing as I'm able to be prepared for just about anything.

"Are you coming with me?" she asked.

"No, I'll catch up," I replied.

"Okay then." She turned back and headed to the exit. "Later, Jaune!"

I took a deep breath as I watched her leave the rooftop. After she was gone, I continued to space out, just enjoying my time alone and mumbling that I was able to ask Pyrrha out that easily. Even if I managed to successfully ask girls out previously, I still can't help but feel anxious. Thankfully, the dance itself won't be much of a problem for me; I already attended enough social events to know what to expect.

I decided to call Viola out for some advice. So I pulled out my scroll and contacted her for a video call. "Ah, Jaune. You finally called." She greeted me as soon as I saw her face on my screen.

"Evening, Vi. Looking fine and dandy as usual. I could smell your perfume by just looking at you." I snarked, my nose picking the memory of her fragrant scent.

She made a snide chuckle. "Yeah, that's how fabulous I am. How are you doing there? Did you finally find someone to dance with?"

"Yep." I popped.

"Oh. So, who is the girl in question?" she asked with blatant curiosity.

"I think you already guessed who.

She paused for a moment before realizing who it was and started squealing. "I knew it! Our baby brother is finally becoming a man!" she cried out before turning to her left. "Hey Rouge, Jaune finally asked Pyrrha Nikos out!"

"He did? Ho-lee shit!" Rouge said in Viola's background before she appeared on my screen shortly after our elder sister called her.

Dammit, Vi. You really had to tell her, didn't you? I thought.

"You fucking did it, lil' bro! You're still a huge dork to me and will always be—but man, you're finally getting in on with the freaking cereal girl."

"Rouge, please calm down. I only asked her out for the dance as partners. I'm not dating my 'cereal waifu' or anything." I told her.

"That's still a score for you! Might want to start showing your sword skills and I'm not talking about the Crocea Mors." she perversely suggested.

"Rouge!" I yelled. You think after enduring almost my whole life with Rouge that I would have gotten used to her juvenile humor, but she always finds a way to be annoying and succeed.

"C'mon, Jaune-Jaune. There's nothing to be ashamed of here. You're living the dream of every horny boy—and maybe some girls—who watched the amazing Pyrrha Nikos; you should consider yourself lucky."

"Except it's nothing like that," I told her tensely. "This is only for the dance, which is only this Sunday. I just want to use this event to know my own partner a little better since I'm stuck with her for my entire stay here."

"So you're saying that you consider dating her after you're done with that?" She continued to grin.

I gave up and slapped my increasingly red face with my free hand. No point in trying to sway Rouge's thoughts given it's too full of chaotic mischief.

"Okay, that's enough, I think you've embarrassed him a little too much," Viola said. "So, you still have the suit I sent you?"

"Yeah. It still fits me like a glove. Still brings some disturbing memories, then again that was a satisfying night." I winked at Rouge, who responded with a smirk. "Hopefully, this upcoming night will be much more sincere than that." [3]

"Don't worry; I'm sure she's far better than that," Viola assured.

"Good point," I said. Pyrrha was just too much of a saint to be compared to that conceited bitch.

She then gave me a teasing grin. "Now, you also have the other thing that came out with it?"

Right, that. "Yeah. I don't think it was necessary on your part. I'm pretty sure Pyrrha won't have any trouble finding something to wear. Hell, I think she already has one right now."

"Oh, it's not that. You know who that is for," she said playfully, giving me the same grin she sports when she gave me a gender-inappropriate makeover.

Oh for crissake. This again, I thought. "I see. It's a shame that I have no reason to humiliate myself in public with it." I quipped. "Would have worn it for a lost bet, but I'm not a gambling man."

"I didn't say you have to embarrass yourself. I'm just giving it to you for old times sake. Be sure to send us a picture of you wearing it."

"I'd rather eat my own head, thank you very much." Sorry folks, but the graceful beauty of Jane Arc will not make a comeback any time soon, probably never.

"What a shame. You're becoming less fun since you've attended. What's Beacon doing to you?" Viola remarked, somewhat disappointed.

I shrugged. "Frankly, I don't know. My thoughts are giving me mixed messages about this school."

'Well, if you're not dressing yourself up. I'm bringing your album and I'm showing it to your friends—when I finally find it, at least," Rouge said.

"If you do, just be sure to burn the last two pages. You can keep the rest and embarrass me if you want. I have been through worse, you know."

They both lost their smiles and all semblance of joy suddenly disappeared after my last statement. "You didn't have to think about that, Jaune," Viola said.

"I wish I didn't," I did my best to preserve my composure. "Let's forget about that, shall we? After all, it's the last thing we want to bring up. So, any advice for the dance?" I asked just in case. Viola was engaged recently, and if anyone knows a thing or two about romance aside from Dad and Bleu, it's her.

"Just be on your best behavior. Aside from that, just be yourself. I think you got it all figured out; it's not as bad as dating, it'll be a walk in the park for you.

That's it? I should have thought that, and I wouldn't have to make this call in the first place. The last time I had a formal dance was at Bleu's wedding, so it's been a while that I almost forgot it wasn't actually that hard. Oh well, it was nice talking to my sisters again. It helped me alleviate my homesickness.

"Don't listen to her. Go nuts and make some fireworks on that joint; huntresses love that shit." Rouge childishly proposed, making Viola roll her eyes from her.

"I think I already have everything I need to know," I said.

"Very well. Just make sure to take good care of her okay? Celebrities like her tend to be tired of the weight they're carrying" Viola said with a warm smile.

Well, that makes two of us. "I will. Thanks, Vi."

"Best of luck out there."

"Ey, you know who to talk to when you're feeling down, okay, baby brother?" Rouge she cut in, this time, lacking her typically smug tone in favor of affirming sincerity.

I smiled at her closing statement. "I won't forget that." I nodded as they smiled back and ended the feed.

I puffed as I put my scroll back in my pocket and headed back to my dorm. It's reassuring that my sisters still have my back in times like these. They may enjoy tormenting me because I'm their only little brother, but they're still my sisters first and foremost.

When I opened the door, the first thing I saw was Nora standing in the way, grinning, just as I predicted.

"Yeah, Nora. I get it. We're going to the dance together as a team." I said. It's not even an intuitive guess that Nora would be partnering with Ren this Sunday; anyone who possesses a single brain cell was already aware of that.

"Does that mean Arkos is happening?" she asked excitedly.

I wasn't able to answer since I was dumbfounded at the anomalous term. "Arkos?"

"It's your last name put together with Pyrrha's! Isn't it clever?"

"Well, it's more creative than 'Renora', if you ask me," Ren commented, who was busy reading something with the Yin & Yang symbol on the cover. Pyrrha meanwhile, was just sitting on her bed, eavesdropping while she shyly smiled.

I already knew what that was all about. I would have remained stupefied and oblivious had I not familiarized myself with portmanteau couple names through Viola's terrible taste in literature.

"Oh, hush now, my dear Ren," Nora said to her partner before turning back to me. "You made a great decision by choosing your own partner instead of any of those role-playin' weirdos from Team RWBY. Now, Team Awesome will be together forever!"

As much as I hate to ruin her fun, I don't want her getting her hopes up for this. "Slow down, Nora. I'm only asking her out for the dance, but I'll promise that I'll keep this team together as long we're here, you understand?"

"Okay then! Just make sure you give her what she deserves, Fearless Leader!" she exclaimed, talking as if Pyrrha wasn't in the same room as us. This prompted me to shrug at Pyrrha in her bed as she replied with a silent chuckle. Nora then skipped back to her bed and began conversing with Ren.

I began to go to my desk and went to study my notes and update this journal while glancing at Pyrrha from time to time. Every time we made eye contact with each other—we couldn't help but blush, as we still could not believe that we partnered with each other.

I overheard Ren and Nora talking about the animal code words for their team attacks since the portmanteau naming gave them an idea to theme their dynamic to something. For some reason, Ren suggested a bee's buzz as their signal, but Nora didn't seem to like that.

"Ugh, Ren, I don't like bees!" Nora groaned, pulling both of her lower eyelids down as she rolled her eyes upward. "They're disgusting, annoying and they sting! I wish they could just all buzz off, they deserve to have their honey taken away from them."

"Okay then. How about bears? You like bears, don't you? Plus, they're a hive's worst nightmare."

"That's more like it!" Nora chirped up. "Make it like a panda—it suits us both well!" Looking back, I saw her clutching one of her teddy bears on her chest, putting a smile on my face.

They continued to talk about a few until Nora asked him a question. "Hey, Ren. I'm not suggesting anything, but do you think that Headmaster Ozpin uses the partnering system as a tool for matchmaking couples? Not saying that it means we should be together-together or anything but do you ever get the feeling?"

Ren made a chuckle, which got my attention and Pyrrha's because it's not often you hear the calm and stoic Lie Ren laugh. "Of course not, Nora, that would be unprofessional and just downright nonsensical. But I'm still glad that we ended up together."

"Yeah, you're right," Nora muttered. "It was silly for me to think that."

"You think of silly things all the time."

"That's true," she giggled.

"And honestly, that's what I like about you. Without you, I would have forgotten what happiness feels like. So I should thank you for staying with me for all these years."

"Aww. C'mere you." She began putting Ren in a tight embrace, which was considered very friendly if you ignore Nora spooning him.

I couldn't help but smile at the sweet sight. Maybe a little too sweet that it's becoming suggestive. So I cleared my throat, putting the two back to their senses.

Nora quickly let go of Ren and flushed. "We're still not together-together!"

Sure you're not.

I shook my head and smirked at Pyrrha who smiled back and shrugged before I went back to my business. I really need to work on my relationship with Pyrrha—there's so much potential between the two of us outside just being partners that I would need to start getting to know her more personally this dance.

Because otherwise, we'll just continue being glorified sparring partners that share a team, and if I am to spend a few more years in this crazy academy with her, I want us to be more than that. Besides, she could use a good friend while she continues to live with her celebrity status. The same goes for me.

=o=

1. While Ruby does have a passion for weapons, Jaune was clearly joking here. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if she did marry the Crescent Rose.
2. If all I wanted were shallow flings I would have already had several boyfriends by that time.
3. He was referring to his former date with Selene Raine, who turned out to be using him for a bet. He eventually found out her true motives and then humiliated her with the help of Rouge. There is a fuller account of this incident but it's not available at the moment.

Chapter Text

Editorial Note:

Just for the record, this along with the two following chapters are personally my least favorite entries of this extract from Jaune's Beacon journal.

To Survive and Prosper

CHAPTER 9

It was Saturday. Since there were no classes, Team RW_Y and I spent most of the afternoon on community service.

After hours of cleaning, renovating, and assisting the staff, we went to organize the ballroom for tomorrow's dance as our last assignment for the day, even though this was already assigned to Team CFVY (Coffee). But then again, they just arrived early from their week-long mission, so I suppose they're too tired to organize the ballroom for an activity they were not invited to.

We were told that the dance won't be too different from a typical prom night, so all we had to do was to make a balance between an elegant soiree and a teen party. Likewise, Weiss handled the fancier, high-class stuff with Yang in charge of the party equipment while Ruby and I assisted both of them. Blake was nowhere to be found since she called in sick; Miss Goodwitch allowed her to take a day off but she would still have to hold the hours she had to make up for.

Weiss and Yang occasionally go a little too overboard with their respective arrangements which usually caused us to go astray from the intended plan. With Weiss trying to make the ballroom a little too sophisticated while Yang tried to make it more reminiscent of a dance club, it was no surprise that they occasionally ended up in arguments due to creative differences. Ruby and I had to act as mediators; diffusing conflicts and making compromises to ensure balance with the ballroom's organization.

I was in charge of arranging the chairs and tables as well as helping out with the decorations. While I was in the middle of it I heard a loud thump after Yang put down a large speaker. I looked at Yang conversing with her sister who was resting her head on the table, either because she was tired or was still thinking about last Tuesday; either way, she didn't seem to be feeling it.

Brothers above, I thought they'd be better than last semester but I don't think their issues are going to let any of that happen. I was happy to see them be harmonious when this week began but they had to put themselves in quite a mess again.

"Weiss! I thought we agreed; No doilies!" Yang scolded after seeing Weiss put fancy mats on the tables.

Weiss bolted toward her in response. "If I don't get doilies, you don't get fog machines!"

"I don't think they're both necessary," I said, trying to be the voice of reason and keeping both of them from being too carried away with their own preferences. "The dance is going fine without them. We're neither organizing a cocktail party nor a disco ball."

"I know we're not, but it's still a dance. And what's to set the mood and put some haze on the floor?" Yang grinned, still acting like a cheerful party girl even during her first week of getting banned from the city for a whole month. I guess she needed to distract herself from the grim reality of her current situation.

Before I could respond to that, the door suddenly opened as the familiar faces of Sun and Neptune appeared before us as every head in the room turned to them. "Your dance is gonna have fog machines?" the latter asked.

"Nah, it's too much," I answered before trying to elaborate. "Besides, Weiss wanted this to be a bit more—"

"We were thinking about it!" the ice queen in question suddenly stepped in and covered my mouth with the cold hands of hers.

"That's pretty cool," Neptune said as I put Weiss's hand away and glared at her, she folded her arms and looked away from me, harrumphing. She was adamant against fog machines just a second ago, looks like someone's trying to impress her boyfriend.

"So, you ladies all excited for dress-up?" Sun asked the girls.

"Pfftt... Yeah, right!" Ruby scoffed, Looks like she just wasn't a huge fan of fancy dresses, unlike other girls despite having no problem wearing a skirt for her Huntress outfit.

"Laugh all you want. I'll be turning heads tomorrow night!" Yang boasted. Not forcefully, I hope. Wouldn't want to add that to her record of offenses and be trapped in Beacon longer.

"What are you two wearing?" Weiss queried the two boys.

"Uhh... this?" Sun gestures to his open shirt which still doesn't have anything underneath.

"That's… a nice-looking suit. Is it Vacuan style?" I snarked, which he was able to laugh off. To be fair, it still does the same effect in impressing ladies, if exposed abs are their thing. It's just not as sophisticated as the party is suggesting what we should wear. If I remember correctly, my tux is worth like five thousand lien or something. Thankfully I didn't have to pay a single thing for it since it was the same one Viola made for me for Bleu's wedding a few years back. Gotta love the advantages of the Arc name.

"Ignore him for he knows not what he says," Neptune stepped up and put a hand in front of Sun's face.

Sun swiped his partner's hand away. "Hey, I may have moved to Mistral, but I grew up in a desert where some people dress up as if they were in Road Rage. It's not exactly a shirt-and-tie kind of place."

"Yeah, we noticed," Yang stated, looking as unimpressed as her teammates.

"So where's Blake? I noticed she isn't around when she should be working with you guys," Sun then asked.

"She excused herself so she could keep looking into the White Fang," Weiss answered in an annoyed tone. "She still refuses to let her mission go."

Sun made a sorrowful sigh. "So she's still being all, you know... Blakey?"

"Obviously."

"I still can't think of a way to change her mind," Ruby said regretfully.

"Me neither," I added, feeling worried about her again and wondering what stupid stunt she'll try this time and how we would be able to convince her to stop before she tries it.

"Of course," Sun disappointedly gazed at the ground. "What did I expect?"

"Guys. Trust me; Blake will be at the dance tomorrow," Yang said confidently, sounding way too sure of herself.

"How can you be so sure about that?" I skeptically asked, feeling dubious at her optimism. "She's been burning the candle at both ends since that night, and I don't think she'll have the intention to stop anytime soon."

"Now you're thinking too negative, Vomit Boy," she simply smirked at me, pulling out to show a laser pointer, "I'm gonna convince her, starting with this bad boy." She then proceeded to demonstrate it on a nearby wall.

She's kidding, right? I thought as I raised my brow and everyone stared at Yang with confused looks. She might as well consider bribing her with tuna or yarn balls if she's going to treat her like a cat. "Are you sure about that?"

"Relax, I know what I'm doing. Once Blake shows up, none of you will think I'm crazy anymore," she replied.

"I hope you're right," I muttered. Though I doubted that proving to be able to convince Blake would make her less insane, if anything, it would be quite the opposite, considering how annoyingly adamant Blake was. Hopefully, she won't use her typical methods of persuasion, I'm aware that she's not malevolent enough to use them on her own teammates but one should remember that Yang was not known for using her mouth in convincing people.

"So, do you guys need any help?" Neptune asked as he watched us resume our work.

"We're good. We're almost done. Besides, you guys earned your break after finally completing your sentence," Yang told them.

"Oh, it's nothing. It was just three days worth of chores the government made us do but thanks anyway." Neptune said before turning to me. "Jaune, if you don't mind—meet us at the courtyard when you're done. There's something we want to talk to you about."

"Fine by me." I nodded, forgetting to think about what they might make me do this time, so it only made me wonder if I shouldn't have accepted it.

"Later then," Sun said as they both turned around and left the building.

The girls immediately went back to the topic of Ruby's dress. "So you were saying that you're not wearing a dress tomorrow?" Yang asked her little sister.

"C'mon sis. Isn't my outfit not already a dress enough?" she whined, sounding too proud of her so-called 'combat skirt'.

"No, it's not." Weiss asserted. "No offense, Ruby, but those aren't tasteful enough to count."

"Weiss-cream's right, Rubes. That skirt of yours won't be grabbing any boys' attention," Yang chimed in, it was probably one of the few things both Yang and Weiss saw eye-to-eye on while in that room.

"Which is why I'm taking you to Vale and have you shop with me for clothes once we're done with this assignment," Weiss declared.

Ruby tried protesting. "Weiss, I don't think that's—"

"Shush. As your partner, you are going shopping with me… AND YOU'RE GOING TO LIKE IT!" She suddenly yelled. It's quite interesting and somewhat funny that Weiss was the one who was insistent this time.

Ruby groaned and went back to resting her head on the table. I decided to leave them with their girl talk and went back to business. There was still plenty of work that needed to be done.

I left the dance hall and went to the courtyard where Sun and Neptune were waiting for me. I was somewhat hesitant since I was able to recall that agreeing to go with them last time only put me in danger of being killed by criminal psychopaths again. But I was willing to give them a benefit of the doubt and assume that they weren't dumb enough to start a repeat of that fiasco, especially since they just finished their sentence just recently.

"So what are you two planning to do this time?" I asked the two as I approached them.

"Well, since Blake's not coming to the dance, I was thinking maybe you could help me out a bit," Sun answered. "I could use another wingman."

Although I was glad that it didn't involve following Blake again and getting dragged into more needless danger, I still questioned myself if that was even worth my time. "Wingman? So you're telling me to help you find a date?"

"Pretty much. I should already be glad to have Neptune at my back, but I think I'll have a better chance if you come along."

"How exactly?" I raised my brow.

"Duh," Neptune spoke up. "Girls have been drooling all over you ever since you stopped the robbery. With your help, we'll be able to take a girl out for tomorrow. You have a date by now, have you?"

"Yes…" I hesitantly confirmed. There was no reason to hide it yet telling them felt weird for some reason. "Yes, I do."

"Cool. Who's the lucky girl in question?" He asked as both of them leaned closer out of interest.

"It's Pyrrha," I caught my breath.

They both grinned with impressed looks on their faces. "Freaking A," Neptune remarked, making an 'ok' hand gesture. "Though coming from you, that's hardly surprising."

I was worried they would overreact for a second. Maybe I'm just too used to being around Nora and the louder girls in Team RWBY that I kept bracing myself for high-pitched screaming. "I take it you have a date too?" I inquired.

"Nah, not yet," he answered with a confident grin as if this would be easy for him. "I'm still considering my options."

"I'm pretty sure every girl he flirted with had turned him down." Sun teasingly corrected in a deadpan tone, irritating his partner.

"Shut up, dude! I was only practicing my charm. It's not my fault they're nervous around someone as handsome as me." he defended, but if his initial tone was any indication, he wasn't much of a chick magnet as he looks. "Besides, you're the one who needs a partner, not me."

"Yeah, sure." Sun playfully scoffed before turning back to me. "So, are you up for it or not?"

A couple of pretty boys asking for help from me—some scraggly[1] dork who's into stuff like superheroes in tights and nerdy sci-fi crap—to pick up girls. I figured I was losing my mind and agreeing to go only proved that further. "I don't see why not." I forced a smile. It's not like I had anything better to do anyway.

"I knew we could count on you, my man, he pumped. "Let Operation: Babe Hunt commence!"

Hoo boy, this is not going to end well, I thought. If they couldn't think of a more original name for this imminent farce then this was all doomed from the start unless we somehow manage to appease Lady Luck herself.

We strolled around the Beacon campus, looking for first-year girls to pick up for Sun. There were plenty of girls we met that we took into consideration, but most of them were either already taken, not into guys, were upperclassmen who weren't eligible for a first-year event, or wanted me instead—and in those cases, we had to bail out quickly.

Looking for available girls in Beacon was more challenging than we anticipated. It wasn't until I spotted two elegantly dressed girls conversing on a bench that we managed to find suitable candidates. After a quick eavesdrop, their demeanors and appearances indicated that they were from Atlas. One of them noticed me and gave me a wave as she looked at me.

I flushed before quickly shaking it off and turning to Sun. "You don't happen to be into Atlesian girls, do you?"

"I would if it weren't for their attitude towards the faunus," he replied.

"I see what you're coming from, but isn't it just as insensitive to assume all Atlesians are like that?" I pointed out, as someone who is partially Atlesian myself, I was getting tired of the stereotype of us being nothing but faunophobic snow people. I know the Kingdom can still feel backward at times when it came to the faunus, but we were earnestly trying to better ourselves in these changing times. You could argue that I'm just indoctrinated by Atlesian propaganda and that I only see the kingdom on a good day where you don't see too much prejudice. But even if that's the case, we were still going somewhere considering how far we've come since the Great War.

"I know but I'd rather not take my chances. Besides, I prefer girls from Mistral and Vacuo," he said before spotting four Vacuan girls that were about to pass by. "And speaking of which."

We all turned toward that particular group, where all members were no short of beautiful. Neptune wolf-whistled to the quartet of rather attractive women. "They look as hot as the desert they live in."

Looking closer at the colorful female quartet, I recognized the two of them to be Nebula and Dew—the same two girls who approached me last Monday. It was better to let Sun approach them without me because I'll just end up spoiling their chance since those two seem to be crushing on me.

"Here we go," Sun rubbed his gloved hands. "Any advice?"

"Just remember that girls are people too; they can get nervous just as much as us when we're asking them out," I stated with my past dating experiences that have an arbitrary degree of success.

"You seem to know what you're talking about," Neptune remarked, being impressed to an extent.

"I've done this before." Like a lot, but that's something I'd rather not elaborate on.

"Well then, it's good to have you with us then," Sun grinned. "Now it's time to put my swag on."

"Just remember to be confident, but not too confident," I told him.

"Relax. I can do this. I'm a big guy."

"Yeah. For you." Neptune quipped.

"Watch." Sun cleared his throat and walked over toward the group. Neptune and I hid behind the corner and watched Sun's attempt at courting.

"Hey, uh, I-I can't help notice, you girls," Sun said after approaching them. "I see you're all from Vacuo then."

The girls glanced at each other in confusion before one of them decided to respond. "That's right." The purple-haired girl spoke, who I still remembered to be named Nebula. "And you are?"

"Sun Wukong. You may have heard of Team SSSN, have you?"

The girls looked at each other again before the gray-haired one with curls took her turn to answer. "No… I can't say we have."

I couldn't see Sun's expression since he was facing behind me, but I could tell he was disappointed in his lack of recognition.

"Well, feel free to look us up," Sun suggested. "You won't be disappointed. We do it all. Aside from hunting Grimm, we do music, acting, modeling, community work, all kinds of stuff!"

That is an interesting revelation, yet it somehow felt unsurprising. Regardless, it made me wonder why the hell these two didn't tell me this before and I could have used that fact to help them.

The girls continue to look perplexedly at him. "Uhh, cool." Nebula said, unfortunately appearing unimpressed so far. "We'll be sure to check that out… Uhm..."

"Sun Wukong?" he reminded them.

"Right… Sun. It was cool meeting you and all, but we need to head back to our dorms," she said, leading her group as they walked past him. "Until we meet again, I suppose."

We watched as they ditched Sun and started walking in our direction. Neptune began shaking his head. "Sunny, Sunny, Sunny. You're just not using that smart monkey brain of yours. Let me show you how it's done." He fixed his collar and styled his hair before getting out of cover and walking toward the girls.

"Neptune, wait!" I said as I stood up and followed him. That turned out to be a mistake as the four girls began facing my direction and gasped in joy once they saw me. I figured as much.

Neptune mistakenly thought the hysteria was directed toward him. "Settle down, ladies. I know that I—" the girls then ran past Neptune, leaving him frozen in place as they approached me.

"Is it really him?!" the redhead excitedly asked as the girls circled around me. "Are we facing the Hero of Podunk with our very own eyes?!"

"Oh, yes, it's definitely him!" the gray-haired one stated.

"It's good to finally see you again!" Nebula squealed. "We heard about what you did in the city the other day. Man, you and Pyrrha were awesome!"

I was caught in a trap of admirers and the only thing I could do was engage in an amicable conversation while restraining my blush even if it wasn't as severe as theirs. "Good to see you too," I said, trying to put on a mask of confidence. "Enjoying Beacon so far?"

"We're loving it," Dew spoke up. "Especially with someone like you around."

I gave a smile as I did my best to suppress my embarrassment to these cute girls as they gushed about a position I'm not worthy of.

"Oh, and we like you to meet our teammates." Nebula said before indicating the two other girls beside her and Dew. "This is Octavia and Gwen. Say hi to Jaune, girls."

"H-hi!" the gray-haired one, Gwen greeted. "I-It's an honor to meet you, Jaune Arc."

"Y-You're pretty cool!" Octavia—the redhead, spurted. "D-Don't get the wrong idea, though! I only just met you." She flushed as she tried looking away. It was pretty obvious, however, that she has the hots for me as much as I was having trouble believing it.

"Oh, Tavi. As spicy as ever." Dew gave a Cheshire grin as she teased her. "You just don't want him realizing that you want to take him to tomorrow's dance, do you?"

"S-Shut up! You said you wanted to dance with him too, you know!" Octavia retorted.

"I-I did?" Dew pondered as her face grew as red as her friend's, and she was already blushing to begin with. "I know he's cool and all but—"

"Girls, calm down. If anyone here is going to the dance with him then it'll be me." Nebula asserted to her teammates. "I met him first, and it's my obligation as the leader of Team NDGO (Indigo) to take his hand."

"Oh, come on now, Nebula," Gwen called out. "You already had your fun with him the other day and you can't just hog him all to yourself. Besides, he deserved to be partnered with someone who is proven to be a proficient dancer such as myself."

"As if!" Dew exclaimed. "Let's not forget this was my idea in the first place, so it should be me to take him to the dance."

"I thought you didn't want to dance with him!" Octavia replied.

"And I thought you said you only met him!"

"I know but I—!"

"Ladies," Neptune suddenly interjected as he stepped in, putting the girls to a halt as they put their attention to him as he tried to smile at them in a suave manner. "There's no need to fight over the dance. There are enough cute boys in Beacon that'll help satisfy your needs. "

The girls all just stared at him with unsure faces. "Okay...?" Nebula said.

"Name's Neptune Vasilias;" he continued, "a charmer, a brilliant inventor, a valedictorian, and also formidable in the arts of Grimm hunting," he boasted as he grinned at them, showing off his pearly white teeth. "As well as the art of breaking girls' hearts."

"Right..." Dew uttered. "Good for you, but I think we'll be fine," then they all turned back to me, much to his chagrin.

"Oh come on! You have got to be kidding me!" Neptune whined as the girls ignored him. "Jaune, back me up here!"

That was my intention. Unfortunately, the girls were still in the heat of the moment and I was going to need to defuse the situation first.

"Now where were we?" Nebula glanced at all of her teammates.

"The part where we decide that he's coming with me," Gwen claimed.

"Oh hell no, he is coming with me!" Octavia said.

"No, me!" Dew said.

"Me!" the girls screamed at each other. That was when I had enough and decided to speak up.

"Girls, girls," I said, calming the quartet and putting them away from each other's throats before this could escalate into an outright catfight. "I appreciate all of your offers; I really do, but I already have a date for tomorrow."

The girls all whined in disappointment as they tried to cheer themselves up quickly. "Well, good to know then." Nebula sighed. "Sorry if we've bothered you. We should have known that someone like you already has a partner by now."

"It's fine. We all make mistakes." I smiled at them. "But if you're looking for a partner, my friend would be happy to help you out."

The four paused as they went to think, not even turning back as Sun waved for their attention while Neptune just stared at us. "It's okay. I think we'll be fine on our own." Nebula declined. I can feel the disappointment of the duo after hearing that. "We'll still be able to see each other at the dance, right?"

"Of course. We'll keep in touch. Maybe dance with all four of you even." I proposed without thinking. I wanted to smack myself for saying that, [2] as I didn't want to make my love life more complicated by attempting to create an unneeded harem of girls straight out of a bad romance.

They glanced at each other and blushed once again at the thought with Dew and Octavia biting their lips, but they were more than happy by it. "Great! We'll look forward to seeing you tomorrow then." Nebula said.

"Can't wait to see you girls too," I said, upholding the friendly charade.

"Then, in any case. We'll see you around!"

"Bye," I waved at the girls as they returned my farewell and walked from me. I gazed at their cute rears swaying while listening to them as they left.

"He's so dreamy."

"Nice and understanding too!"

"And to think he can fight so bravely and win."

"I know, right?"

You know, when my dad told me that girls would be chasing me rather than the other way around, I thought he was lying to me. Turns out, he was right. I almost forgot that I was here to look for dates for Sun and not needlessly flirt with the girls I'm supposed to pair him up with.

"Dude, how? Just how?!" Neptune pondered as he and Sun walked toward me. "Are you using some sort of chick magnet's body spray or something?"

"I can't say I recall using one, let alone owning one to begin with..." I began sniffing and picked up a scent of it from Neptune. "But come to think of it, I can smell one coming from you."

"What? Please... I'm way too cool for that kind of stuff." Neptune claimed and I was willing to humor him for now.

"Not cool enough to attract girls." Sun quipped.

"Look who's talking," he retorted.

Sun turned back to me. "First Pyrrha Nikos, and then an entire team. Man, you have ways with girls, Jaune," he remarked. "Maybe you should consider getting more than one partner for this dance?"

"Sun, don't give him ideas. The next thing we might know is that he took all single ladies for himself and there would be nobody left for us—I mean you." Neptune said, suspiciously correcting himself on that last part since I recall that he didn't need to look for a partner.

"Yeah, you're right," Sun muttered before turning back to me. "But you should consider yourself lucky, you're like the closest thing to some sort of a harem king around here! Someone would kill to get that title."

Oh, trust me. Polyamory would be the best thing to happen to me if I didn't know any better. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the company of being surrounded by multiple beautiful women, but having to take care of several girls would mean my time and wallet getting drained for trying to support all of them. I also have to struggle with treating all of the girls equally, which would be a pain in the ass and it wouldn't be good for my health.

And that's only assuming if such relationships work. I still have to undergo some dramatic bullshit and keep them from each other's throats by somehow convincing them to share me in peaceful coexistence. Otherwise, they would all start ganging up as they all dump me for playing with their feelings if they at least are merciful enough not to murder me or each other first. So no thanks. I think one partner would be enough, and I'll do my best to stay loyal to that person. [3] Not that it meant I couldn't appreciate other girls though.

I blame Dad for this. When he was younger, he was said to have slept around with different women until he met Mom, where he stopped because he didn't want her to kill him. No wonder why she warned me about his romantic advice.

Eh, on the bright side, at least I know that I'm guaranteed to get laid soon. It feels all too easy now.

I gave a faint chuckle. "Let's not forget why we're here. We still have to find you a partner."

"Yeah, be sure to turn your chick magnet off this time, we didn't bring you here to see you steal girls from him," Neptune said.

"I don't intend to do that," I told him… "I'll try but I don't guarantee it."

"Relax. With the help of his charm, we'll eventually have chicks chasing us!" Sun said, putting an arm over our shoulders. "Isn't that right, Neptune?"

"Ugh, I hope so," he remarked.

At this point, you would want them to resist my charm when they see me as proven with our last attempt among others, I thought as I ponder how I am going to be done with this.

=o=

1. Anyone who witnessed his body's build knows that this is not true, even if the depiction of his muscular stature is often exaggerated.
2. You're not the only one.
3. I sincerely hope that you're right about that.

After minutes of scouting, we were able to spot another single first-year. We watched Iris Clancy of Team VILE while she was playing chess with the resident bunny girl of Team CFVY, Velvet Scarlatina below one of the maple trees near the fountain.

Despite being in the same class, Iris and I didn't talk much. [1] While she did recognize me by my undeserved reputation, she didn't appear to be much of a fan, thereby making her one of the more bearable classmates to be around with. I suspect that she is already with someone considering the lack of interest, only to recently find out that she was single and was open to being partnered with.

"Alright, we're at least familiar with each other—so let me take care of this one while you two stay put," I told the duo, hoping this would go well better than last time.

"Okay. Just remember to be careful not to have her fall for you too." Neptune replied.

Trying not to roll my eyes, I gave him a silent nod while holding no promises. I stood up and went to my classmate, puffing for a boost of confidence. "Hey, Iris. Hey Velvet."

The two girls as they paused their session to look at me. Iris gave a bright smile while Velvet was blushing uncontrollably in my presence. "Oh, hello Jaune. Need something?" Iris inquired with her Valish accent.

"As a matter of fact, I do. You see I have a friend that needs a date for tomorrow night, and I was wondering if you could help out for a bit?" I asked her candidly.

She paused for a second, looking puzzled before responding. "What can I do then?"

"For starters, do you mind being their date? I don't mean for you to actually date them or anything, you just need to accompany them for tomorrow's dance," I elaborated while making it clear that I was there with an open mind.

She widened her eyes, flushing as she glanced around her surroundings "That's a little sudden." She said before her face turned back to normal. "I'm sorry but I've decided I'm not going with anyone tomorrow. You better find someone else."

I groaned in disappointment but I kept my calm demeanor intact and respected her decision. I was becoming used to failure and rejection for the last half hour anyway. "Okay then. Sorry to bother you. Both of you."

"No harm done. I do hope your friend gets what they need," she gave a friendly nod.

"Much obliged," I said, smiling at her.

"Oi, Jaune?" Velvet's voice called, turning my attention towards her before I could walk away. Her accent was almost similar to Iris's, except that it's more…Menagerian to say the least. [2]

"Oh hey, Velvet. Looking lovely today." I said. The final compliment was supposed to be my attempt at being a little awkward, unfortunately, I forgot to make it sound like it and add a few stutters. Making me worry about being too charming once again.

"Thank you," Her ears bent, and looked away for a moment. "I just wanted to ask if you're doing alright. I heard you have gotten yourself involved with the White Fang. From what I've heard of, they aren't a friendly bunch even for faunus like me, y'know, the ones they should be fighting for."

That's a lot coming from a faunus like her. Maybe you don't need to be a human to dislike the White Fang and all you just need is a functioning brain to know that they are far from being ideal representatives of the faunus. I blame those rabid scumbags for Blake's tiring demeanor. "That's an understatement. I still have no idea what they want the bank money for. They never took any money when they attacked dust shops," I stated.

"Right, I'm used to hearing them be responsible for car bombings but robbing banks was something I didn't expect them to do," she replied. "What were you doing in there anyway?"

"I was only passing through when it all happened. I had no choice but to fight." I said, partially telling her the truth. Why I wasn't telling her the bigger picture should be obvious enough.

"Well, that's an unfortunate coincidence," Iris commented, and she couldn't be any more right. "Luckily you got out alive, and those bloody fangies got what's coming to them."

"You can say that again," I stated. "Though, it was thanks to Pyrrha that their robbery was foiled."

"Good on her." Velvet said. "But I recall correctly, you were doing fine even without Pyrrha's help. You could have still won regardless."

While not implausible if I had a clearer mind then, they weren't aware of the psychopathic ice cream midget that would have brought my demise if Pyrrha didn't intervene. "Either way, I'm glad to have her back. Even if we are known to be capable fighters, it's still our duty to watch each other's backs."

"I get where you're coming from. Coco is pretty protective of me herself; she's pretty much why I was almost unharmed at my recent mission. It's not like she's overprotective or anything, she doesn't doubt my strength, she just doesn't like seeing me hurt. Aside from you teaching Cardin a lesson, she is also why he stopped picking on me. Say what you want about her, but she's like a big sister to me."

"I know how that feels." I snorted. "To be fair, Coco's nuts. [3] I would do the same if she did threaten me."

"Did somebody say my name?" A voice asked. We all turned toward her and saw Coco folding her arms with Sun and Neptune behind her.

Welp, it appears that our operation has been compromised. Coco wasn't exactly what you'd call terrifying, at first glance she's just a normal fashion-loving girl with a bit of an attitude, but anyone familiar with said attitude is aware that it meant that she could slaughter elite Grimm with only her handbag and that's without even transforming it to its minigun form.

I've talked to her a few times back in some conferences between team leaders last semester. Surprisingly, she's a pretty amicable person to talk to. It's probably because I managed to get on her good side and I intend to stay there. I wouldn't want my head to be crushed by a blunt purse.

"Oh, Coco! We were only discussing what we did this week." Velvet told her.

"Is it? Because a little birdy told me that Arc here is trying to help one of these two chumps find a partner for tomorrow's freshman dance." Coco sneered, gesturing towards the two. Admittedly, I was so engrossed with my conversation with Velvet that I forgot why I was even there to begin with.

Sun took offense. "Hey, who are you calling a chump?"

"Someone who couldn't ask out a girl despite his being a minor Mistrali celebrity." she scoffed, making Sun growl as he just stands there, doing nothing about it. Sounds like she did her homework on these two.

"You know, I think we should move someplace else," Iris suggested to Velvet.

"Right," Velvet said, gathering chess pieces and the board. "It was nice talking to you, Jaune. We'll keep in touch."

I gave her a nod as the two began trotting away with the chessboard. I went back to facing Team CFVY's fashionista of a leader. "Let me make this clear; no one is asking out Velvet. She's a sophomore anyway. I was just trying to ask my classmate to take one of my friends to the dance."

"Of course nobody's asking her out. Nobody even asked her out last year," Coco stated with her arms crossed as we both took a seat.

"No one did?" I raised a brow and continued to stare at her eyes behind those shades.

She shook her head. "She was too shy to ask someone out, and the boys either thought she was too good for them, or were racist pricks, or because they were scared of me."

That definitely sounded like Velvet, but if anything, she deserves to be treated better than that. I thought that someone would find Velvet cute enough to ask her out. I do, but I digress. "That's a shame. She's a pretty nice girl."

"You godsdamn right she is. And if somebody tried to take advantage of that, hoo-boy," she hissed. I nervously gulped at her sadistic streak. Made me wonder where the hell was she when Cardin kept harassing her last semester. "But you have nothing to worry about. As much as you look like you could offer a fun challenge, you're just too much of a gentleman from what I've heard." She then shifted her gaze back at Sun and Neptune. "Though, I don't know if I could say the same for these two bozos."

"These two aren't bad. I'm sure Sun will get a dance, you just need to give him a little more time," I replied, standing up for my fellow doofuses in arms. I glanced at them for a second and saw both of them smiling and giving me a thumbs up. As much as annoying these two can be, they were being genuinely helpful, it's just that they often do a poor job of showing that.

"I know. With their macho attitude plus that discount boy-band fame, he eventually would. Which is why I think you're wasting your time with them, they're probably just having a rough hour looking for partners," she replied.

"Come on, even if that's true, I still need to be a good friend for them," I told her.

"Whatever tickles your fancy then," she said. "Enough about those two, so tell me; what are you planning on doing in the dance now that you have the Pyrrha Nikos herself as your partner?"

"How did you know that?" I asked, surprised that she was aware that I had Pyrrha as my date since I never told to anyone but the two just recently. Did Nora run her mouth again? That wouldn't surprise me.

"It's today's hot topic. Though, it wasn't that much of a news since everyone already thought you two were dating anyway. I'm more surprised to learn that you two still aren't a real couple," she said.

Does that how people see both of us together? I thought. "Well, I want to see where it goes first before going on a straight-up relationship. I just want to give my partner a good night. It's everyone's objective for tomorrow anyway."

"That's a start. You better buckle up, because sooner or later you'll be taking your partnership to the next level," she smirked at me.

"What are you getting into, Miss Adel?" I asked, talking as if I was inquiring about her as a professor.

"Face it, Arc. Everyone wants you two together. It's much harder to find someone here in Beacon who doesn't ship you and Pyrrha," she stated.

"Wait? Ship? As in relation-shipping? The kind of thing teenage girls like to do in their fanbases?" I gazed at her in disbelief, not exactly sold on the idea of people going as far as to do that to us. "You're kidding, right?"

Sun held my shoulder with a nervous chuckle. "Hoo-boy you have no idea."

"Please don't tell him about Sea Monkeys," [4] Neptune whispered beside him.

"Hey, don't worry, I don't hate myself that much. Nor am I that crazy" Sun reassured his agitated partner, looking a little disgusted himself. By their expressions alone, it was safe to say I was better off not knowing what that was about.

"Yeah, that. It's not limited to fictional couples, believe it or not. I know, it's weird as it sounds." Coco said. "Heck, I heard there are even some weirdos out there who pair me up with Velvet. Not that I mind that, it just feels weird."

"You and Velvet, huh?" I pondered, trying not to show my amusement at the thought of her making out with Velvet before snapping out of it before she noticed.

"Eh, it's probably because I tend to be the only person they saw talking to her. I think some people just forget that platonic relationships exist. It's not like the initiation's partner system is some sort of stupid matchmaking program," she remarked, basically saying almost the same thing Nora said the previous night, making me suspect that it's already a stupid joke that's already been told to death since Ozpin must have first thought of the initiation's partnering system.

Come to think of it. I didn't show much affection to Pyrrha in public, yet Coco claimed that we were still popular as a pair. I suppose it was still obvious or as she said, people like pairing them with their partners by default, which would be a rather lazy way of making couples if you ask me. [5]

"That's not the worst of it. Some people would go as far as to have these shipping wars, fighting over which pair is better and or more likely. Arguments tend to be very heated sometimes," she said. I wasn't exactly sure if she was trying not to laugh or look disgusted, then again it's likely both because those were the expressions I was also having when I heard that.

"That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard." Really, I was trying my hardest not to burst out laughing because of how absurd that sounded. I hope no one takes any of that too seriously, it would be pretty sad if you think about it.

Coco made a brief laugh before returning to the topic of me and the dance. "Anyway, I take it you all have something to wear for tomorrow then?"

"You could say that I have," Sun answered, not elaborating further probably so he could avoid ticking off Coco's inner fashionista. I'm not sure what her stances are on open shirts that show a guy's abs but she certainly doesn't consider them as appropriate for a school dance.

"Ditto," Neptune nodded.

"Yeah, I have. It's a tux one of my sisters made. It's not really the fanciest suit but it's good enough for me," I answered.

"Your sisters made it? The suit they gave you isn't too bright or flashy by any chance, is it?" she inquired.

"What? No, it's a black tux I already wore before. I know my sisters like to embarrass me, but they wouldn't go that far." I said, ignoring that they also sent a dress for me to wear.

"Oh good. You wouldn't want to make an ass of yourself when you're trying to make the best impression on Mistral's most badass darlings by overdressing yourself. You need to wear something that compliments your reputation, am I right?"

Indeed, something that mostly looks good thanks to my family. "Yeah, whatever. Since you're really into fashion, there's no doubt that you'll get along with one of my sisters. She's a tailor herself, and she owns a boutique in Acadia." [6]

"Never heard of her. She sounds cool though. I should meet her someday," she remarked. Yeah, it'll be a treat to listen to them talk about fabric for hours or something.

"Anything else we should know?" I asked.

"You all happen to have a lot of admirers, do you?" Coco raised her brow at us, making them visible above her sunglasses.

"I guess you could say we have, we just don't know if any of them are here," Sun answered, trying to grin confidently while Neptune follows suit.

"Uh-huh, sure." Coco made a single nod while sporting a straight face before turning to me. "How about you, hero?"

I thought about the fangirls that have been gushing about me since El Segador's attempted robbery which elevated me since my recent act of unintentional vigilantism. "Maybe," I answered hesitantly.

Coco began snickering. "You're such a charmer. Don't worry, you could satisfy these girls while keeping Pyrrha as your top priority. You could dance with as many people as you want."

I took a deep breath. The most girls I have danced with during social events are usually three or less, depending on how many girls my sister tried pairing me with at those times, here I might probably end up dancing with several girls since I ended up making too many friendships with the opposite sex; that's not even mentioning the fangirls I have to satisfy while not being too affectionate as I still don't want them to think that I'm inviting them into some sort of harem. "Good to know."

"Aside from that, I don't have anything to say aside from what you may have already known. Unless you want me to give you advice about being yourself and all that clichéd crap," Coco admitted.

Yeah, but the thing is I haven't been myself since this whole mess started. I don't know if I have the right to say that I'm opening up to her as long as I keep up the act. I've been doing this for long enough that I have gone to the point where I'm having trouble distinguishing what is true about myself or not.

Coco finally stood up from her seat. "Well, I guess you've satisfied my curiosity. Just remember to take good care of Pyrrha. I heard that girls like her are pretty hungry for genuine love. I trust that you'll satisfy her with that then?"

"You have nothing to worry about. I'd be a bad partner if I didn't treat her well." I reassured her. Since I am rising to her level of fame at an alarming pace, I understand what she's going through which is why I think she should be thankful she was going to have a partner that can relate to her.

Coco then turned on Sun and Neptune. "As for you two. Just don't be too sure of yourselves. Anyhow, whatever happens from this point on, it'll be a humbling experience for both of you."

"Alright then, sure, whatever you say," Sun chuckled for a bit while Neptune was noticeably trying not to look offended.

"Good luck out there tiger," Coco then began to walk away before stopping for a moment to look back at me. "Oh, and by the way." She lowered her sunglasses, letting me see her brown eyes while she smiled smugly. "Your fly was down this whole time."

I glared at her before checking it out—turned out she was right. I groaned, zipping it up before standing up. This also prompted the two to check their zippers as well. "Well that was something," I said.

"I've got to admit though, she's kind of hot," Neptune remarked, admiring her as she left the area.

"You got that right." Sun grinned. "I'm not gonna lie to you; I love a girl that could kick my butt. I'd have asked her out if she wasn't another sophomore."

Can't blame him. Having a kickass girlfriend means you have someone who can protect you. The only thing you have to make sure of is not to have her use her skills against you. "Yeah well, good for you. C'mon, we still have to find you a dance," I told him, reminding him that we still have girls to look for since one of his candidates for kickass woman was still being too moody and obstinate to take a break for once.

"Oh yeah, right. Let's get back to it then," he said as he and Neptune resumed accompanying me to scout around Beacon in this increasingly hopeless quest.

My conversation with Coco just made me realize that trying to have a normal relationship in Beacon was tougher than I thought. I'm not even sure if my fraudulent reputation made it easier or harder for me, it's another thing I'll have to see where it goes and hope for the best.

=o=

1. That's because Jaune rarely converses with other Beacon freshmen aside from his team and Team RWBY. So as far as I'm concerned, this isn't considered a surprise.
2. Southern Menagerian specifically as that accent is derivative of Albionic and Faunus Hibernian accents along with a mixture of some Vacuan dialects which stemmed from the fact that Southern Menagerie was inhabited by faunus refugees from Vale and Vacuo. While Northern Menagerie, the region where the Belladonnas originated from, was inhabited by Atlesian, Mantlian, and Mistrali exiles, hence why the region possesses a mix of both cultures and dialects.
3. This is coming from someone who was repulsed at Yang's puns. It's almost as if the bad one-liners he stole from cheesy action movies weren't enough.
4. The 'shipping name' of Sun and Neptune, with Sea representing the latter and the Monkey obviously representing the former. This is one of the examples of ship names being based on themes associated with its members (not too different from how my team names our cooperative combos) rather than the traditional ship name convention of having their names combined like 'Arkos' and 'Renora' which were examples mentioned in the previous chapter.
5. Sounds like they lack tasteful choices in pairings then.
6. A Gallican port city located near Pucelle where the Arc family regularly visits.

The sky was getting dark and we still weren't able to find a partner for Sun. We were able to encounter some Mistrali first-years who turned out to be actual Team SSSN fans but the problem was that most of them were already taken just like some of the other girls, and the ones who were available didn't feel like it or had either fainted or ran away feeling too embarrassed to dance with one of their idols and we weren't able to find them anymore.

And some of them preferred the other members of Team SSSN, much to Sun's disappointment while boosting Neptune's ego...until they told him they prefer his teammate, Sage.

Sun just looked down and sighed while Neptune just stood there with a frown after we went to the exterior of the residence hall for exchange students. "I guess Operation: Babe Hunt was a failure then. Sorry, guys." I said. This was a surprise for me, these two were more good-looking than me that they should have a date by now.

"It's okay. I think we'll be fine going to the dance on my own, who needs chicks anyway?" Sun brightened up for a bit before stretching an arm to Neptune's shoulder. "At least we still have each other's backs, right?"

"Yeah…" Neptune muttered, forcing a smile. "Hey, Jaune… I just wanted to say that…I'm…actually."

"That you actually what?" I asked, my interest piqued.

He paused for a few seconds before finally speaking. "It's nothing. It's just something about the girl who asked me out…"

"Oh okay, I'm guessing it's Weiss," I responded, knowing who that was already since I have never seen other girls flirting back at him before meeting some of his fangirls recently. Aside from that, I felt somewhat glad for him even if I would have opted for a better partner if I was in his shoes.

"Uhh… what?" he said, either being confused or playing dumb.

"I mean, isn't it obvious?" I pointed out. I still recalled that he was able to call her 'Snow Angel' and get away with it. Say what you want about him, but he kind of deserves some credit for giving Weiss a better first impression than I did, maybe he did deserve to go to the dance with her.

"Ha, ya' got me." he scratched the back of his back as he blushed, with Sun giving a faint chuckle while appearing somewhat apprehensive. "Let's just say that I've already cleared the air with her."

"Really? That's good to hear. At least there's still hope for you." I said. Neptune was lucky to have Weiss drooling at him for whatever reason. [1] Not that it said much in my opinion. He would have otherwise had to go through being an embarrassment of a heartthrob who failed to take a girl to a dance as well. That wouldn't look good for Team SSSN's image.

"Yeah…" Neptune looked at his partner for a bit, exchanging nervous looks before turning back to me. "Thanks for your help. Things may not have gone to plan, but it was nice hanging out with you."

"No problem," I nodded before turning to Sun. "And sorry again that we couldn't get you a partner."

"Like I said, it's all cool," Sun reassured. "I'd like to think of this as a lesson of humility for both of us just like what that Coco chick said, maybe she's right about us. I guess we were too used to our popularity back home."

"Just remember the advice I gave you," I smiled at him encouragingly. "Hopefully, it might net you a girl someday."

"Trust me—after today, I don't think I'll be forgetting that anytime soon. Thanks again for your help."

"Anytime," I nodded at him before finally going our separate ways.

I was heading to the freshman dorms for Beacon students when I stopped to look at the Beacon's statue once more. It was the very same place where Blake revealed her secret. The statue symbolized the bravery of Huntsmen and Huntresses—and how they are protectors of the world; the plaque below it reads Beacon's slogan: 'Victoria Per Animae Simplex' [2]

It only made me question my presence here again. It's baffling to know despite how far I went, I still have a long way to go, and it's mostly because I'm too afraid to disappoint anyone. People were praising me for something that was not my intention yet again. As much as I enjoy some of the attention I was getting, particularly from the beautiful girls I met, I don't know how long I could hold the pressure or how long until someone was able to see past the lies. Ozpin was able to find out and it's only a matter of time until someone else does and for all the plans and schemes I prepared. I admittedly have no idea how to deal with that and the only thing I could do was hope that event would never come to pass.

I continued to stand and stare at the statue for a couple more minutes, sighing to myself as I kept asking myself if this is all worth it. It wasn't until I heard a familiar faunus girl's voice that I stopped staring and looked around before spotting Blake walking toward me.

"Jaune?"

"Oh hey, Blake." I turned to face her, wondering what she was doing here. She seemed to be in a somewhat better mood than she was before, and that was a good sign along with the fact that she approached me instead of the other way around. "Are you doing alright?"

"I wish I could say that," she looked down and faced me. "Jaune... you're not mad at me are you?"

While I did find her self-destructive obsession with the White Fang to be very infuriating that I gave up trying to reason with her and her stunt did cause a huge mess that made us reap what she sowed, I still couldn't bring myself to be angry with her even if I wanted to call her out for her compulsive recklessness. She seemed to be genuinely remorseful this time. If anything, I should be glad that she was learning her lesson from what I could tell. "No. Not at all." I shook my head. "Upset? Yeah. Mad. Not really."

She sighed in relief. "Regardless, I just wanted to say I'm really sorry for the way I behaved lately. I know I've been very stubborn and have been pushing myself a lot. I have been so busy trying to chase down the White Fang that I've forgotten about those who I'm doing it for."

I stared at her, slowly walking closer as I listened to her apology. It sounded sincere enough to regain my sympathy for her. "Blake..."

"I shouldn't have yelled at you yesterday, I knew you were only trying to help."

"I forgive you," I walked up to her and put my hand on her shoulder in comfort. "Just try not to push yourself too hard. We were just worried that you'd break yourself because of your restless mission against the White Fang. Take it easy. We'll even help you out when the time is right," I said, though to be honest, I still prefer if she doesn't look into the fangies again. There's already enough collateral damage as it is and the help that she could use was some therapy that would help her move on and focus on her Huntsman training.

She sniffed and wiped a tear as she looked at me back with a smile. "I know... which is why I changed my mind and decided to come to the dance tomorrow."

That statement shocked me in a positive way, seeing how her staunch refusal to attend has greatly been bothering us lately. This meant that Yang was able to successfully convince her and I was admittedly in the wrong for doubting her. "That's great! I'm happy that you've finally decided to settle down. I'm really proud of you, Blake."

"Yeah, I know. I realized that I shouldn't be taking you guys for granted. You all have been helping me even if you didn't have to. You've been the friends I never knew I wanted and I'm grateful for that."

"You're quite welcome. Just so you know, we're always here for you." I affirmed before letting her go.

She looked away as she gave a blush at this tender moment before asking me a question. "So, you're still coming tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, of course, I am. Why do you ask?"

"Do you already have a date?" she asked as she held her forearm.

"Actually, I do. I'll be taking Pyrrha out," I told her matter-of-factly.

"Oh," she sighed, looking noticeably disappointed. "I'm... happy for you then." she poked her head down.

"Thanks..." I nervously said but I could barely hide my empathy for her knowing that she was upset that she lost her chance to come with me and I only had one particular idea that could cheer her up. "By the way, Sun is looking for a partner himself, if you ever need a date, you could go ask him."

She poked her head up and slightly cheered up. "Well, I don't mind taking him out. Thank you, I really appreciate it."

"Just remember that I'll also be seeing you," I gave a reassuring smile. "I won't be a stranger."

"I will," she beamed. "Thanks again, Jaune."

"You're welcome."

She turned back and walked away before I knew it she was already gone. Knowing Blake, it wasn't a surprise. I gazed back at the statue, but instead of feeling guilt, I felt hope.

Credit where it's due, Yang actually did it. I take back what I said to her earlier in this entry. Whatever she did to finally get her to change her mind about the dance, I'll give her credit for it. Things just got a little better.

=o=

1. This is a false assumption. I do not drool.
2. Victory is in a simple soul.' In the Old Imperial Language.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

To Survive and Prosper

CHAPTER 11

I headed downstairs, once again hearing the indistinct murmurs of the partygoers enjoying the night. I stopped for a moment to watch Neptune dancing slowly with Weiss among the crowd on the dance floor. He was noticeably nervous, as he was watching his steps to make sure they wouldn't land on her feet but Weiss looked genuinely happy that Neptune finally decided to dance with her, and I couldn't help but smile that I've brought two people together.

Shifting my gaze, I turned again to Ren and Nora who looked like they were having the time of their life with their tango dance together with a few even cheering on them. I have to admit, those two are pretty surprisingly adept dancers themselves. The passionate synergy the two display during the dance makes it quite hard to believe that these two aren't 'together-together' as Nora might claim.

I continued to watch the two for a moment before seeing something else that caught my attention. I spotted Penny dancing by herself while being escorted by two Atlesian security officers. I would have approached Penny and asked her about what happened last Tuesday if it weren't for escorts; the fact I once ran away from two of these guys didn't help. So unfortunately, I had to ignore her for the time being.

It was then I resumed walking. Unfortunately, I also wasn't paying attention to where I was heading, so I ended up colliding with someone. He turned around and I saw the unamused face of Cardin, holding a glass of root beer in his hand

Although he was a face that did not bother me for a long time, my hands instinctively reached to my waist even though I didn't have any weapons holstered. I tried my best to keep a straight face and not show a semblance of fear as my inner being trembled at his glare.

But to my surprise, he didn't do anything to lash out, if anything he was still fearing me, probably remembering the last time I faced him. His face then softened as he tried to be courteous. "Long time, no see, Arc." Believe it or not, he was more or less sincere.

Feeling a mixture of relief and surprise. I stood upright and replied. "Ditto, Winchester."

As much as I wanted to walk away, I just couldn't. There was something astonishing about Cardin's lack of hostility that I decided to remain where I was standing. He just gazed at me for another second before talking once again. "Nice night, isn't it?"

I glanced away and looked at the ballroom for a second before making my response. "Yeah," I replied, for the lack of a better statement.

Cardin took a sip from his drink and sighed as he gave me an empathic look. "Hey, I'm sorry for the way I treated you in the first month. I admit that I was an ass and you really didn't do anything to deserve what we did to you."

He didn't seem to be apologizing out of fear, if he was that scared I'm sure he would have distanced himself from me the moment I bumped into him. Whatever the case, if he knew me more, I doubt he would be saying that but I was more than happy to accept his apology. Aside from locking me at my own locker and throwing saps that led me into the White Fang's shitlist, his bullying didn't actually bother me that much. "All in the past. You're not picking on anyone, are you?"

"Nah, don't worry. Russel and Dove are usually the ones who screw around and I've been trying to tell them to knock it off for a while now," he said in an annoyed tone. "Anyway, you're cool in my book, especially with what you did to the White Fang a few days ago; I never liked those freaks."

I sighed to myself and looked away from him for a moment. "Someone had to do it."

"And you were right to jump to the call," he smiled before raising his glass. "To Jauney-boy."

"To Jauney-boy." I only nodded as I wasn't holding a glass to return his toast.

"Say, has Russel and Dove tried messing with you lately?"

I shook my head. "Not really." Well, unless you count Russel's failed 'assassination attempt' on me during the food fight last Monday.

"Oh good. I was afraid that those idiots would try to get us in trouble with you again," He wiped his forehead in relief.

You can say that again, I thought.

"So, we cool?" he asked.

"We're cool." I gave him a friendly smile. He brightened up as he finished his drink. We were mutually satisfied that we are finally able to make up and that we don't need to be scared of each other anymore.

I left Cardin as I began heading to the seats and approached Sun and Blake. Sun was wearing an outfit no less similar to his usual clothes, aside from the fact that his shirt was buttoned up and colored dark gray while wearing a white tie, basically keeping his style while somehow making it adequate enough to be counted as formal attire. Blake was meanwhile wearing a purple dress that still retains her mysterious beauty while looking absolutely gorgeous.

"Yo, Jaune. I don't know what you just did, but I'm glad to see Neptune finally getting the guts to bust a move," Sun said, looking happier recently.

"You're welcome," I replied before turning to his date. "You look beautiful tonight, Blake."

"Thanks." She flushed to her side, her bow noticeably twitching. "So... Jaune, you don't mind taking me out for a bit?"

"Sure," I replied, it was one of the things I planned to do anyway. She beamed in excitement as I turned to Sun. "You okay with this, Sun?"

"Oh, don't worry about me. I just saw her dance with Yang and it really didn't bother me. It's kinda sweet, actually." he reaffirmed.

"Right then," I said before gently taking Blake's hand. "Shall we?"

She nodded in response and stood up. I took her to the floor before partaking in a dance together.

Dancing with her was quite pleasant, she seemed to be enjoying my company with a smile that I don't usually see her sporting.

Minutes went by, swaying our interconnected bodies without saying a single word to another, I noticed her look upset for a moment.

"Something bothering you?" I asked, concerned about her well-being.

"Oh, I-I'm fine. I was just thinking about the times when you came for my help. I still feel a little guilty for getting you involved in them."

"You don't need to worry about that," I reassured her. "You're here, and we're all happy that you came; that's what matters right now."

"I guess you're right I do really need this. It's actually nice to settle down for once in a while. Makes me ashamed of myself for trying to turn everyone away for the past couple of days," she said, feeling glad if a little regretful.

"We earned this," I said, trying to raise her spirits. "We'll be having our first missions tomorrow so let's try to make the most out of this night while we still have the chance, shall we?"

"Can't argue with that. Thanks again for everything you've done to help me. You're one of the nicest people I've met. I don't think I'm ever going to regret coming here."

"You're welcome." I nodded, not caring if she's being a bad judge of character for once because I want to focus on being happy that she's here with us. "Just doing what a good friend would do."

She frowned for a moment before quickly turning it upside down. We continued to dance for a few more minutes, savoring the soothing presence of each other.

"So, how's it with you and Pyrrha?" She suddenly asked.

"We're doing great. I always wanted to know more about her aside from the things everyone already knew. We're working on getting close. Well, we're not that close but we're getting there," I answered her truthfully and candidly.

She hummed for a moment. "Well, whatever the case. I'll give my best wishes to both of you."

"Thanks. Our friendship means a lot to her; I'll do my best not to let her down," I said as we continued to peacefully dance together.

Once we were done, I escorted her back to her seat where a content Sun was waiting.

"Thanks again," she said, giving me her beautiful smile, something which I enjoyed seeing after being used to seeing her frown.

"You're welcome, Blake," I replied, smiling back at her.

Sun gave me a thumbs-up as I gave him a nod, I turned back and was startled when Team NDGO suddenly approached me to my front. They were wearing dresses colored purple, green, gray, and blue respectively.

"Oh, we finally found you!" Nebula squealed along with her teammates. "We're not bothering you, are we?"

"Wha-what?" I stammered, feeling unprepared to encounter them before answering. "N-No. Don't sweat it, I'm fine."

"Oh, nice. So, you don't mind if we take you out for a dance? Just for a bit? It won't take long."

I hesitated for a moment before I decided to accept as there wasn't any real harm in being invited to a casual dance by people who simply liked me. These had the hots for me indeed but they weren't that crazy. "Sure why not, it's a party after all."

Looks like yesterday's operation did pay off, for me at least. While I do find these girls to be attractive and consider myself lucky that they want me—I still don't plan at being polyamorous, I just thought I'd be nice to these pretty girls and just give them a friendly dance.

"Yes!" Nebula pumped up with her teammates who were just as excited. Nebula turned back to her team. "Okay girls, just like we agreed. I'll be taking him first as the leader. Don't worry, you'll get your chance, you'll just have to wait for your turn."

"As long as you're not hogging him, it's fine by me," Octavia said.

"Good." Nebula turned back to me and took my hand. "Now let us not waste any more time."

I glanced back at Sun and Blake, who were giving amused looks as Nebula drags me to the dance floor.

And there I was—dancing with a fan that adores me for things that I did not intend to do. If Dad was here, he'd be so proud of the number of girls I managed to get a dance with. She was a little anxious, as she was partaking in a partner dance with her idol who she taught was a courageous hero, but she was nonetheless enjoying it and reduced her anxiety by talking about stuff about Vacuo and her team, which was a little too much that I didn't remember enough to write them down. But she did bring up a question that caught my attention.

"This is going to sound a little weird but... are you and Pyrrha together-together?"

I was instantly reminded that certain kinds of people enjoy pairing me with Pyrrha. That question slightly made me sweat, but I still managed to answer as politely and gently as I could. "No, I don't think so. Well, not yet anyway. But we do care deeply for each other; it's what partners do."

"Okay then," she muttered. "Sorry for asking; we just get a little too curious sometimes, and because you two seem to be pretty close."

I just shrugged off my own musings and continued to dance. Their thoughts of me are pretty harmless for the most part and it's actually kind of cute for them to think that, if a bit weird.

Dew came in and cleared her throat. It seems that they were taking turns in order of the initials in their team name. I gave a nod to Nebula and shifted to her teammate. Dew was softer and slightly more confident than Nebula, though her agitation with me was still visible.

I continued to dance with her until it was Gwen's turn. I've heard of her being a ballet dancer so our dance contained more movement compared to the ones I had with my previous partners. Aside from that, the only thing I could say about her is that she had the most elegant dress among her team. She managed to make the color gray look amazing.

Lastly, it was Octavia's turn. Octavia was easily the most emotional among her teammates. She was pouting at me while her face was almost as red as her hair. It took a bit for her to calm down and showed that she was enjoying it as I gave her a friendly look.

I noticed Pyrrha on her back, standing in the middle of the dance floor, waiting for me. Octavia noticed my stare and looked back.

"Oh," she said. I nodded to her, as she gave me one last bright smile. I gave her a spin before taking her back to her team.

"It was nice dancing with you, Jaune." Nebula said, with her and her teammates each giving satisfied looks.

"Thanks for the company, ladies. Now if you excuse me, there's someone else I need to satisfy." I said before I turned back and went to Pyrrha and took her dance once more.

"Having fun, Mr. Arc?" she playfully asked as if to show that she wasn't too offended when she saw me dancing with other girls.

"As a matter of fact, I certainly am," I smirked. "Don't worry though, I haven't forgotten about my partner."

She gave a chuckle. We swayed our bodies to the ballad when it eventually became slower and quieter as the lights in the ballroom faded down, giving the ballroom a more tranquil tone, with the dancers around us began moving slowly.

I gazed into Pyrrha's eyes as they illuminated in the slightly dim dance floor. Her beautiful face and the soothing atmosphere of the ballroom made me forget all my troubles. All I could think of at the moment was her.

"So, I've been thinking about what you said earlier," I brought up after remembering what she told me in our previous dance. "You really never had a friend like me before, did you?"

She glanced down for a moment and hummed. "I used to have a few friends but I haven't spoken to them for a long time. I couldn't blame them. When I became increasingly famous, I got so distant from them that they thought that I had forgotten about them." She began to frown as I stood there and listened firmly. "They said that they couldn't see me the same way they saw me before I won my first tournament. Ever since then, competition became the only thing I've known, and I never made any meaningful relationships outside of my own family. That is until I met you and became part of this team, and I finally remembered what it's like to have friends again."

She returned her smile as I gave her a comforting embrace, proving to her how much I genuinely care about her despite my self-serving behavior. I did see her be more than a pawn; I always enjoyed our study and training sessions together, and the more I have gotten close to her, the more I'm happy that she's my partner aside from her talents in battle. "As long as we're still partners, I'll always have your back."

I could feel her return the embrace as I comforted her on the dance floor. It was when I experienced such warm peace that I've never felt before, and I didn't want it to end and I'm sure she didn't either.

As I was hugging her, I saw that Weiss was staring in front of me. She was still dancing with Neptune but her eyes were locked onto mine while her partner seemed to be oblivious to her expression. I curiously stared back at her, putting us in eye contact for a few seconds until she looked away from me rather regretfully. It puzzled me for a moment, it made sport the same frown I held before abandoning the thought.

Pyrrha and I let go of each other afterward as we continued to dance slowly to the music. This went on for another minute or so until it abruptly stopped as the spotlight illuminated above the DJ.

"May I have your attention please?" Nora's enthusiastically distinct voice spoke on the microphone. We all turned to the DJ's corner, only to see Nora behind the DJ mixer with Ren at her side, looking like he was making sure she isn't breaking anything. The two actual DJs were standing behind them.

Nora cleared her throat. "Alrighty, since we're in a party that was meant to show the best of us. Allow me to present to you The Pride of Mistral and her partner who recently foiled a bank robbery—The Defender of Podunk!"

Oh no, she's not going to do what I think she's doing, is she? I asked myself as I stood there.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please give it up for Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos!" she gestured and put the spotlight toward us.

We both froze as everyone in the room was staring awkwardly at us, not because it was us ourselves, but rather it's because Nora's announcement was so abrupt that everybody including the two of us was still trying to process what was that all about.

I turned to Pyrrha as we looked at each other, "Heh. Nora." I shrugged, chuckling it off before offering my hand to her. "So, shall we?"

"I see why not," she replied with a smirk and took my hand.

The lights turned back on and a faster, upbeat song began playing. People say that I'm a decent fighter as well as a great dancer, and since Ozpin mentioned earlier that dancing and fighting are similar, Pyrrha and I were going to show this crowd how we sparred with each other.

We waltzed around the ballroom, displaying our synergy and coordination as partners. The audience began to cheer at our impressive choreography as Pyrrha and I savored the moment.

Our dance ended with a dip. We looked at each other as we panted while hearing the applause of everyone in the ballroom. We smiled before we stood back up and went to our table together and got some rest as everyone resumed their activities on the floor.

I have to admit, I'm rather thankful for Nora for bringing us to this moment, this was something that I am never going to forget.

We settled down at the table, watching everyone enjoy their night. Our friends were having no less fun, with Neptune dancing like crazy alone. The only thing that bothered me was I noticed that Ruby was missing. I shrugged off the thought, she was probably spending some time with herself somewhere since she wasn't much of a people person at parties.

I suddenly heard doors being slammed open. I looked around until I saw two Atlesian security officers searching around the ballroom as everyone went about with their own business barely acknowledging them at all. Seeing as they couldn't find what they were looking for they turned back and closed the door, making me somewhat curious about what they were up to, but chose to ignore it since I didn't want to worry about something that wasn't my problem.

Like all good things, it sadly had to end. It was already past midnight. Before it ended, there was a short awards ceremony. I won gentleman of the night, likely because of how everyone was charmed with me, with my previous exploit having something to do with it. Cinder won the lady of the night, not bad for an exchange student, she even looked like she worked hard to get it.

Amusingly, the best couple award went to Ren and Nora. Either because they both displayed great chemistry or maybe because Nora threatened to break the host's legs if they didn't win. Knowing Nora, it's probably a little bit of both. I half-expected that award to be rigged for me and Pyrrha but whatever.

Well, it has been an overall amazing night that I almost forgot that I'll be taking my first mission tomorrow and I was going to need all the rest I could get. I needed to be in my best condition the following morning.

Editorial Note: To clarify the abrupt entry of the two Atlesian security officers, there was a situation at the CCT while the dance was ongoing. Ruby managed to write a record of it after she went in to investigate. The details presented in this excerpt will become more relevant in later entries of this archive.

The Red Rose Diaries: Dance Dance Infiltration.

The night has been… I dunno—fun, I guess? I'm not really into these types of parties. At least everyone else is having a great time. Blake finally decided to go, Yang was hanging out with her pals as usual, Team JNPR was dancing happily together, and heck, even Weiss got a dance with Neptune and I cannot be happier for them. But what surprised me the most is that I saw Penny in the dance too! I really wanted to go talk to her, but there were guards that stopped anyone who tried to get near her. What a bummer, I guess we'll have to wait for another time to finally talk to each other again.

I was hanging around with myself when everyone was watching Jaune and Pyrrha dance. Those two can dance really quite well together. I went outside to get some fresh air since I had nothing better to do inside, which is when I saw some ninja-looking girl running around, jumping from roof to roof, looking like was heading to the Beacon Tower. She looked like she was up to no good and it didn't look like anyone was trying to stop her, so I decided to go follow her and see what she was up to.

When I got to the tower, I saw guards knocked out cold on the ground. It became obvious that this person was a villain. So I brought my rocket locker here and grabbed the Crescent Rose, deciding to take matters into my own hands before she could try anything.

I went inside and went to the communications floor since it was the only floor where people actually go. I looked around the place while I had to deal with those stupid heels I had to wear. I called to see if there was anyone around, which is when she decided to show herself. She suddenly started firing crystals of glass toward me which is when I was able to deflect them just in time.

I started shooting at her but she just blocked the bullets off with her hand as if it was nothing. I went in and tried to slash her down, only for her to flip back and fired explosive arrows at me with a bow that literally came out of nowhere.

Before we could keep on fighting, General Ironwood came out after the elevator opened, then suddenly she was gone. The only thing was that he was able to see me and the cracks on the floor and he was not happy about it.

I'm in trouble again, aren't I?

Chapter Text

Editorial Note:

Within the following day, Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch and General Ironwood were gathered in the Headmaster's office to discuss the previous day's attack shortly before the freshmen were gathered for their first mission. Ruby was also summoned to the meeting to inform them of what she witnessed during that incident.

The Ozpin Logs: Beacon Tower Raid: The Morning After

It appears that in the midst of the first year's dance night, the communications floor of the Beacon Tower was raided by an agent of Salem. James immediately notified us when he witnessed the detriments of the building and the unconscious bodies of the security officers that were under his command.

Furthermore, he also witnessed a certain prodigy at the scene when he arrived when she was supposed to be enjoying the night with the rest of her classmates. She claimed that she confronted a hostile infiltrator who managed to escape prior to James's arrival at the scene. Of course, since Ruby Rose had no reason to attack James's men and the recovered security footage proved her claims, it was unwise not to believe her. I admit, Beacon's security both in and out currently leaves a lot to desire, but it should be noted that Salem chooses her henchmen very wisely and carefully, so even if our fortifications were more adequate, they would have still found a way to get through.

We decided to discuss the incident first thing the following morning. It was dead of the night and everyone needed some rest after investigating the commotion for a short period. Once the sun rose, James, Glynda, and I convened at my office to put yesterday's attack into discussion. I also invited Miss Rose to provide us with her eyewitness accounts.

Being a step forward for Salem's plans, it instigated James's misguided paranoia as usual. They were here..." He muttered before furiously slamming against my desk. "Ozpin, they were here!"

"We're very much aware of that! Thank you, James," Glynda replied.

"Fantastic! You're aware! Now are we going to do something about it or should we just stay the course and continue to ignore what's right in front of us?!" He yelled when a signal came from the entrance, prompting me to open my office door.

"Come in," I said.

"Ah! Sorry, it took so long," Miss Rose emerged from the entrance. "Someone accidentally hit all the buttons on the elevator on the way up here… It wasn't me."

"Thank you for coming, Ruby. How are you feeling?" I asked, needing to know what state she was in following that attack that she herself witnessed.

"Okay, I guess. I'd feel better if my bad-guy-catching record wasn't oh-for-three," she answered cheerfully but with noticeable trepidation in her voice. She then made a faint chuckle before seeing all of our unamused expressions. "Okay, so that's the tone we're going for, got it."

"Ruby, I feel it's appropriate to let you know that I think what you did last night is exactly what being a Huntress is all about," James walked towards her and held her shoulder. "You recognised a threat. You took action. And you did the very best you could."

"Thank you, sir."

It was pleasing to know that despite his flaws, James proved that Atlesian military officials can be reasonable, not many authority figures are willing to hear what their subordinates have to say. If only he could put trust more in individuals more suited to protecting the world than those who possess no destiny to speak of.

"Now, the general here has already informed us of the events that transpired last night," I said. "But now that you've rested, we were wondering if you had anything to add."

"Was anyone else with her?" Glynda stepped in. "Did she look familiar to you at all?"

"I...I don't know. She was wearing a mask, and she never said anything to me. But I know she fought with glass [1]. I don't think that was her semblance, though. Her clothing lit up whenever she attacked." she answered, hence bringing us the mysterious figure on the Bullhead during our initial meetings with Miss Rose.

"Save for the glass, that sounds like the woman I fought the night we met Ruby." Glynda pointed out.

James was rather sceptical, however. "Imbedding Dust into clothing is an age-old technique. It could have been anyone."

"Wait. You think this girl is connected to Torchwick and the White Fang?" Ruby asked.

There was a short pause for a moment. While I am not going to deny the possibility as Salem is known for using proxies and scapegoats for her schemes, it is yet to be confirmed that those criminals have any sort of connection to her and her inner circle. "It's possible. But we still lack the required evidence to link the two together."

"Actually, I-I think I remember her saying something about a hideout or something… in the southeast. Just outside the Kingdom."

Although it did contradict her claim that the assailant did not mouth off a single word for her, I cannot be helped but be intrigued by her statement. Southeast outside Vale? That is where Quadrant 5 is located, the region containing Mountain Glenn. "Interesting."

"I thought you said the intruder never—" Glynda attempted to point out before I interjected.

"Thank you for your co-operation, Ruby. Why don't you go and spend some time with your team? You have a big day ahead of you."

"Any time," she smiled before making her way to the exit.

"And Miss Rose…" I called her out before she was able to leave. "Please try and be... discreet about this matter."

"Yes, sir." She nodded and left immediately.

Once she was no longer on the premises, Glynda and James turned back and faced me. "Well, there we have it. We send as many troops as we can to the southeast, find out exactly what's going on, and eradicate any forces that stand in our way." James proposed.

"Why must your answer to everything involve a triumphant display of military bravado!?" Glynda huffed. "You treat every situation like it's a contest of measuring di—!"

"Glynda!" I raised my arm and cut her off amid her sentence before she could induce her unprofessional and unladylike vulgarity, which is especially unbearable when she is influenced by alcohol during a certain special day.

"Well, he does." she hissed, which I cannot deny. Despite his best intention, James can be very reckless. Even if he was not wrong, regular humans have no place in a Huntsman's business, I have known that fact for far too long now and we are not to be denied of our duty.

"She's right. As much as I too would love to end this situation once and for all, we must remember that this may go beyond Vale; Beyond Beacon. And if this truly is part of some master plan for which we know not the final move, we mustn't be so bold. Nor can we risk the spread of panic."

"I have served you faithfully for years..." James uttered. "But if you mean to tell me that your plan is to hold the defences, and wait—!"

"It is not!" I asserted, standing from my chair. "You're a general, James. So tell me, when you prepare to go to war, which do you send in first? The flag bearers, or the scouts?"

He sighed and crossed his arms. "Are we going through this again? Even if I do send in my own scouts, I know you would still insist that they would be nothing more than rabble that can neither be trusted nor counted on. I'm guessing you want one of your Huntsmen to investigate the scene?"

"That is correct. Because today is the day when the first-years are available to receive their first missions. In a stretch of coincidence, there is a mission at Quadrant 5 that is yet to be accomplished, the same region where the Southeast outside of Vale is located. And I know a team suited for the job, and you wouldn't need to risk the lives of any of your feeble lackeys, you should be thankful for that." I smirked as he glared at me with indignation.

James and I had always had conflicts over non-Huntsman combatants, he placed too much trust over them when I knew better. They have done nothing but disappoint and die around me for all these years I was convinced that they have no place in our sacred mission other than to be protected. A Huntsman already exists to do things that an ordinary man cannot do, and it infuriates me to no end that some are attempting to undermine that, including James. Nevertheless, he is still a good ally in this war against Salem, if only he could see the truth in this.

"But isn't that mission restricted to upperclassmen?" Glynda reminded.

"I'll be taking advantage of a loophole within the school's system," I said with an affirming nod. "I know that this mission is dangerous for freshmen, but it is not ordinary freshmen I will be sending."

Glynda puffed. She already knew which team I was referring to as they made spectacular performances in her class. "Wouldn't we be violating protocol?"

"Remember who you are talking to, Glynda." I firmly reminded her. "As you know, I have done far worse deeds in the past to meet ends. And being the headmaster, the rules I made and dictate cannot be above me. I'll change them for myself if I have to."

"I only hope you know what you're doing."

"I'll agree with your proposal for now." James conceded but his demeanor remained stern. "But remember, just because you are putting your trust in talented students, it does not change the fact that you are gambling the fate of the world with the lives of children. Pray that this does not go out of control, Ozpin. We've already lost many lives because of this war."

Both of them gave me doubtful expressions, but despite this, they knew that all they could do was comply. "I can assure you. Neither of you would be disappointed."

Nor would they disappoint me. So Salem thinks she made some progress, doesn't she? Well, it is time to make ourselves even then.

=o=

1. While it's possible to create glass through dust—specifically fire dust, the investigatory report of the attack actually indicates that the infiltrator used ice dust, which was proven after it melted minutes after.

To Survive and Prosper

CHAPTER 12

As much as I want to deny it but unfortunately today's the day every blood-thirsty student was looking forward to. It had been bugging me since the moment the dance was over, being the first thought that came to me even before I heard my alarm and woke up. I even had a dream of it, one that I have trouble recalling how it goes. I wonder why they made our first mission take place immediately after a party that could end with us getting too exhausted to take a mission the following morning. It just didn't make sense, not even aura was going to get all that energy back in one night. [1]

I went to the bathroom to clean myself up. I washed my face before gazing at my reflection in the mirror and convinced myself to relax and that I have formidable teammates that have been preparing with me for this moment, and I didn't necessarily have to pick something particularly risky. First missions are usually made to be tame for us freshmen who are barely old enough to drink. Not to mention I heard that some experienced Huntsmen would be accompanying us so there wasn't much to worry about.

After leaving the bathroom to take my breakfast, I went for a round of tanna and florn cakes. While I was trying to enjoy my drink, I almost spilled it when I heard Nora suddenly scream when she learned that her box of pancake mix was empty. I glanced to my side and saw Ren rubbing his belly with a satisfied look. He immediately stood upright and changed his expression back to its usual stoicism when he noticed me staring at him. Unfortunately for our friend, if Nora's face was any indication, she wasn't buying any of it.

So this is how they both start this morning after their totally-platonic night together and even winning the award for Best Couple. Thankfully, I was done eating before things got heated between the two. It wasn't any of my business anyway, the only thing I ask was that this wouldn't affect their performance for our mission.

I immediately went to pack my bags for the journey ahead of me. We plan to travel light, so we only carry what we need; it would be a pain in the ass to carry a stockpile of items while hunting for Grimm on a glorified errand that could last for days depending on how unfortunately long our assignment ends up becoming.

I gazed away from my bag for a moment and looked at Pyrrha, she looked at me back and sported a blush at me, remembering the wonderful night we had recently. "Good morning." I greeted her.

"Good morning…" she replied sheepishly, glancing back at her bag for a moment

"So… big day ahead of us, huh?" I said while I was in the process of organizing my bag.

"Indeed it is," she nodded before giving a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, we'll be right behind you.

I brightened up knowing that my teammates are still down with me, even though I still intend to use them to carry me out of unwanted trouble.

I zipped my bag closed and stood up. "Alright, is everyone all set?"

"I'm ready," Pyrrha stepped in, now wearing her sling bag.

"We're all geared up and ready to go!" Nora said, looking like she's finally cheered up, though she's noticeably infuriated at Ren for eating her last batch of pancakes.

"Will all first-year students please report the amphitheater?" Miss Goodwitch's voice announced on the dorm building's P.A. for everyone to hear.

"That's our cue," I led my team out of the dorms and navigated our way out of the residence hall.

"Hey guys, is it just me, or do you guys hear barking?" Nora randomly asked while we were walking down the hallway before making a shrug. "Eh, it's probably just me."

"Speaking of animal noises, you guys still remember our codes, right?" I reminded them.

"Yes, we do." Ren nodded. "Everything's the same, but if you haven't heard by now, my team attack with Nora are bear roars henceforth."

Yeah, bear roars. That totally brings back good memories. "That settles it then." I opened the building's door and left the building. "Okay, here we go." I breathed out.

We went to the auditorium and saw it was packed full of students in their combat outfits, looking all eager for their upcoming field trip. We dropped our bags on the corner so we wouldn't have to stand in one place for minutes while carrying that much weight.

We stood behind the crowd of Beacon students, few of whom glanced at us upon recognition, especially me and Pyrrha. I glanced around when I spotted Nebula and her team among the throng of Shade students who were beside the column of Beacon's students. She waved at me as I waved back since I had a pleasant time with her and her team yesterday. It was rude not to and kind of like those girls.

The murmuring faded once Miss Goodwitch spoke up. "Quiet! Quiet, please. Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin."

The Great & Powerful Ozpin came to the podium and began his speech. "Today we stand together—united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four Kingdoms of Remnant. On this day, nearly eighty years ago—the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began…" Blah, blah, blah. History. History. Colors. Colors. Freedom. Freedom. Freedom. Peace. Harmony. Despotism bad. You're all gonna be Huntsmen and it's almost time for the Vytal Fiesta amigos.

What, you really thought I was going to write his whole speech word for word about things your history teacher already told you countless times now?

"…As first-year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission." He continued his speech as holographic boards containing missions began appearing around the sidelines. "Some of you may be taken out of the Kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."

Well, that speech was a lot longer and less harsh than the one on our first day, that's for sure. Not that I'm complaining, I'm glad he didn't make any subtle messages directed at me this time around.

The audience clapped at his enlightening words of encouragement as he walked away from the podium. Once the prefatory remarks ended, everyone in the crowd began to disperse as they went to a board so they could select a mission.

"What are we waiting for?! Come on, let's go!" Nora excitedly squealed before dashing to the nearest board, prompting the three of us to quickly follow her.

I only needed to pick the least dangerous mission I could get. I should also stay away from missions that take place inside Vale, knowing that White Fang hit squads are still looking for me over everything I did to them so far. When we browsed the board, we were met with three options and it felt like looking at a video game's difficulty selection that disregarded order. [2] The board made it perfectly easy for me on which to pick.

Search And Rescue:

• Missing Supplies
• Quadrant 4
• Mission Start: ASAP

Search And Destroy:

• Moderate Grimm Activity
• Quadrant 5
• Mission Start: ASAP

Village Security

• Increased Grimm Attacks
• Quadrant 5
• Mission Start: One Week

The second one sounded simple enough as all we had to do was clear an area out of any Grimm and then we'll be done. Although the first one sounded trivial on paper, it'll probably be an annoying, dragged-out scavenger hunt, it would involve trekking through the wilderness which is densely packed full of Grimm, and who knows how large the search radius would be if we were going to look for several missing supplies. As the saying goes, 'It ain't easy when it's hard'.

The third one—Village Security wouldn't be bad if it wasn't for the label 'Increased Grimm Activity', plus it doesn't start until next week. its credits to carrots that the village would have been destroyed by the time we get there if someone recently requested for a Huntsmen when Grimm are already multiplying in that location.

Search And Destroy appeared to be less complicated than the other two that they were barely even a choice for me.

"All of these sound boring," Nora sounded disappointed for the lack of missions that would have caught her excitement, meanwhile I was pleased with the straightforwardness and the near-absence of complexity from the second one.

"I suggest we take the first one." Pyrrha chimed in as she took a step forward. "We only needed to look for supplies while dealing with only a few Grimm."

Normally, I would agree with Pyrrha's proposals, but this wasn't one of them. "Thank you, Pyrrha."But I believe we should start with the second one—Search and Destroy with moderate amounts of Grimm. I know we trained ourselves for this but we should start with something nice and simple for now. We just need to warm ourselves out before we take on something more challenging."

"Sounds like a reasonable choice, I don't mind at all," she said; thankfully, without any further objection. This was not something I was in the mood to argue about.

"That's good enough for me!" Nora cheerfully complied. "The only thing I wanted is to smash Grimm with you guys again!"

"I don't know." Ren skeptically uttered. "Don't you think that this mission sounds a little too easy to be true?"

"What do you mean by that, Ren?" Pyrrha asked, looking as confused as I did.

"The mission says it only has moderate Grimm activity, but Village Security takes place in the same quadrant while stating that Grimm attacks were increasing."

Now that he mentioned it, it did seem odd that the region said that the Grimm attacks were growing, yet only said it had moderate Grimm activity. But I thought he could be worrying too much and I wasn't going to waste an opportunity into taking an easy mission. "You're overthinking it. It probably says Grimm activity would only increase if the threat wasn't dealt with by now."

"Then why is the mission being placed along with it? It doesn't make sense." Pyrrha pointed out.

Gee, I don't know. I just wanted to take the relatively safest mission we could get before someone with a similar idea could take it for crying out loud.

"No, maybe you're right." Ren shook his head. "I'm overthinking this. Being in the same quadrant doesn't mean it's in the exact same area. Let's just take what you're going with."

I sighed. "Search and Destroy it is then." Without further ado, I reached the selection with my finger. I typed in my team's name and entered it when a message popped up saying that we accepted the mission and gave us instructions on what to do next. I turned to my team and nodded at them. "Alright, our Huntsman would be waiting for us at dock 13. Let's get to it."

"I can't wait! I've never been this excited since we got to Beacon. May the rise of Team Awesome commence!" Nora pumped.

Yeah, hopefully, it won't involve any stupid large-class Grimm that complicates things nor would it become an annoying mishap like that time with Forever Fall. I have been through enough misadventures for the past week and the week before that I hope that this will be over before I know it. With the training I've been giving my team these past months, I hope it pays off.

And was it just me or was I being watched all of the sudden? Either way, I didn't want to think about it.

Since the missions begin the moment we accepted it, we picked up our bags and immediately left the amphitheater and traversed through the courtyard that was populated with students who were also heading to the Bullhead docks after getting their respective assignments as well as uniformed upperclassmen who were either watching the freshmen or were minding their own businesses. Among these were Coco and Velvet who were taking a snack at a bench, with the former still wearing her signature beret and sunglasses combo even with her school uniform. Coco noticed me and shot me a finger gun gesture with a smile as her way of giving her regards.

We made our way to dock thirteen, with the Bullhead and the Huntsman waiting for us. His stature was somewhat lanky, he was wearing some sort of safari gear that contained a brown long coat and a pith helmet. We did not notice who it was until he turned to face us. Much to our surprise…

"Why, hello my good students!" Our history and humanities teachers pumped up, with all of us confounded at this unexpected revelation that even Nora was baffled.

"Professor Oobleck?!" I exclaimed. Having my jabbering teacher of mine was not exactly something I anticipated.

"Yes, I'm afraid those bags won't be necessary, children, seeing as you've opted to shadow a Huntsman on what is now essentially a reconnaissance mission. I can assure you, we will not be establishing a single base of operations; rather, we will be traversing several miles of hazardous wasteland and making camp in any defendable locations we may stumble upon. I packed all of our essentials myself, plotted our air course, and readied the airship." He rambled, walking back and forth in front of us. By some sort of enigmatic miracle, I somehow managed to record everything he said despite his chattering being so rapid, it was borderline incomprehensible. He then leaned in front of my face to remind me of something I should have thought when I was in his presence, at least he spoke comparatively clearly this time. "And it's Doctor Oobleck, I didn't earn a Ph.D. for fun thank you very much."

He got off my face and I remained unsure of what to think of this. "Come now, children! According to my schedule, we are already three minutes behind...schedule!" he said for the lack of a better word dashing to the Bullhead within a second.

Well, I didn't know what to expect. I'm aware that every professor here is a fully-trained huntsman but with all due respect for the guy, pro—Doctor Oobleck wasn't exactly the first person that came to mind when you picture a seasoned fighter. The thought only made me think about him killing Grimm by utterly babbling to them with history and philosophy.

"That was a surprise," Pyrrha said, giving us a flabbergasted look as she was noticeably grasping that our eccentric history teacher would be our chaperone for this task.

"Well, he did manage to be qualified enough to become one of Beacon's teachers," Ren stated.

"But still, who would have known we'd be saving the world with him of all people?" Nora asked rhetorically, and this was his fellow member of the motor-mouth club.

"You guys are going to save the world without us?" Another high-pitched voice said. We all turned back and saw Ruby and her team approaching us. "Sounds like you got an exciting mission. That makes me a little jealous, but I'm really happy for you."

"Don't sweat it, Ruby. We're all working on saving the world. Our mission isn't really that much of a big deal." I reaffirmed warmly. "Speaking of missions, where are you guys going?"

"Oh, just outside the kingdom. We couldn't get our hands on the mission we wanted so we just decided to go protect a village. The Huntsman we are shadowing is some kind of sheriff, I think."

"Unfortunately for us, the mission does not start until next week." Weiss irritatingly murmured.

Protecting a village that starts next week, sounds like the other mission on our board. Though it's pretty weird why they would wait a week for a defense mission. From my personal experience with them, these girls aren't exactly the type I'd expect to take on that kind of task as their style leaned more on the offensive side.

"How about you? Where are you going?" Yang inquired.

"Oh, just somewhere outside the kingdom like you guys," I answered. "Nothing really special, just going to get rid of the Grimm lurking around the area."

"Search And Destroy, right?" she replied and gave an envied expression. "Lucky you, we were considering that ourselves, but we ended up with this because the stupid board says the one we were picking was not for first years and it was already taken, bah."

"Aren't there any other Search and Destroy missions you could find?" Ren asked.

"Not really." Blake shook her head, looking like she reverted to her disinterested demeanor after the dance last night. "We decided to go with Village Security because Ruby wanted to help some locals. Not exactly the mission we wanted, but it's the closest to what we were aiming for."

I hummed for a moment. For whatever reason, my internal lie detector kept on telling me that there was something they weren't telling. It didn't bother me that much so I dropped the thought.

"Yo, a little birdie told us that you girls won't be leaving till next week," Sun and his partner suddenly jumped in.

"Then you can party with us tonight!" Neptune proposed.

"Sounds cool. Anything to keep me busy while I'm stuck here." Yang assented. "Where are you two off to, by the way?"

"We're shadowing crime specialists. All inner-city detective stuff. We get junior badges." Neptune answered.

Looks like Sun kept his word about assisting the police, that's nice. I always wanted to be a detective; solving mysteries, fighting crime, saving the day, all that kind of stuff. If I wasn't fretting about White Fang assassins, I would have certainly chosen to go on a mission inside the safety of Vale's walls and do missions that involve minimum fighting such as that.

"We normally go to the city with you guys, which means stuff's always exploding and junk, so we thought this might be a better way to check out the kingdom when it's, you know... normal." Sun shrugged at the last word. Like I previously said, I would have done the same if I wasn't trying to lay low from those terrorists after facing them exactly three times, especially when they had a homicidal killer on their side.

"Well…" I tried to speak when Doctor Oobleck hollered to us from the Bullhead, reminding us about the task at hand.

"Four minutes, children!" He instantly returned to the Bullhead afterward.

"Sorry, guys." I apologized to the girls. "Duty calls."

"You and your team are going with Professor Oobleck?" Weiss raised her brow and looked at us disbelievingly.

"Don't worry about him. The doc is completely transparent with us. We may not catch up to whatever he's saying but I'm sure he means well," I told them with a reassuring smile as I silently hoped that I wouldn't be wrong about this.

"Well, suit yourself," Yang said. "Good luck out there."

"Stay safe, everyone!" Ruby cheerfully waved her hand.

"Kick some ass for us, Jaune. We wish you luck." Sun encouragingly said, leaving as well with Neptune.

"You too, guys," I smiled at them before turning to my teammates. "Alright, let's not keep the doctor waiting."

"Search And Destroy, here we come!" Nora enthusiastically pumped as we went to embark on the Bullhead.

Staring at the Bullhead. I gave an agitated sigh as I have to travel by air again and to think I would have gotten used to it by now considering how many times I went back and forth between the city and Beacon for months now.

And I forgot to bring some promethazine[4] with me.

=o=

1. Jaune misunderstood the schedule regarding first missions, they become available the morning after the dance but you don't necessarily have to choose missions that begin immediately once they're chosen. A majority of the missions given to us after the school dance did not actually begin until after a few days, allowing most students to unwind after the party.
2. Missions Variety is limited for students at combat academies. While higher-level missions are restricted to upperclassmen and other more experienced Huntsmen-in-training, many other high-tier missions are outright unavailable to students. Granted, these types of missions require full-huntsman training before they become available.
3. To anyone interested, Team RWBY's aforementioned mission is chronicled in the extras section titled 'Another Side, Another Story' when it gets released.
4. A drug used to treat motion sickness and allergies. Back when Jaune's motion sickness was more severe, he would usually bring one of these with him. As stated by himself, this was not one of those times.

Chapter Text

To Survive and Prosper

CHAPTER 13

The ride to our destination only took fifteen to twenty minutes, but for me, it felt like it took hours. I have spent these minutes trying to get a hold of myself while I try to endure my stomach's abysmal relationship with air travel. At least the air is open this time, I hope Mother Nature doesn't mind getting puked once... or twice.

"I recommend you inhale the fresh air, Mr. Arc. It would help you tolerate the flight slightly longer." Doctor Oobleck advised loudly enough so I could hear him while we were traveling on the Bullhead, which would have been helpful if I wasn't doing that because the open air was right in front of me for the entire duration of the flight, it was why I even lasted that long.

I got to the point where I couldn't hold it for much longer and decided to just throw it outside to the woodlands on the outskirts of Vale. There go the florn cakes I just ate. It made me feel a little better but the headaches I received during the flight persisted.

"It was a surprise to see you accompanying us, Doctor. We didn't see you as much of a warrior." Pyrrha remarked.

"I do not blame you for your perception, I do fancy myself to be more of a scholar. But I can assure you, as a Huntsman, I've had my fair share of tussles."

"Tussles? You mean like the mushrooms?" Nora said after mishearing the doctor's uttering.

"I'm sure they're truffles, Nora." Ren corrected.

"Like the sprout, right?"

"Those would be brussels."

"Whatever. You still owe me food, Ren." Nora growled. Ren just sighed and looked away from her.

"Besides, given my expertise in the field of history as well as my dabblings in the archaeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw fit to assign me to this particular... assignment!"

I finally caught my breath and spoke. "So, not only we are on a hunt for Grimm, but we're also on a history tour."

"That's one way to put it! The southeast quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forests and deep caves, but it is also the location of one of the greatest tragedies of this Kingdom's history!"

"Mountain Glenn..." Pyrrha uttered.

"Huh?" I did hear about Mountain Glenn but unfortunately, I haven't been paying attention enough to know more beyond its name, appearance, and location.

"Mountain Glenn was an expansion of Vale before it was overrun by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city," Ren explained.

"Precisely, Mr. Ren! And now it stands abandoned as a dark reminder." Doctor Oobleck added.

I gulped upon learning about it being overrun. In hindsight, I should have avoided this quadrant but I was so attracted by its apparent simplicity on paper I didn't think of how eerily dangerous this region was.

"Don't freak out," I mumbled to myself. There wasn't much time to panic and it was too late to convince the pilot to go back because we already had gotten past its walls once I found out that going here may not be a good idea. The place looked as bad, if not worse, as Ren and Doctor Oobleck described it to be.

It was a ghost town, with nothing but defunct roads and dilapidated buildings everywhere, along with an eerily monotonous atmosphere, containing almost no color aside from shades of black, white, and maybe brown; even the sky looked like it was desaturated the moment we entered the area. I spotted a few Grimm in the area too, hopefully, those would be the only Grimm I would encounter in this wretched hive.

I also noticed the wall in front of the region had its text crossed out with black paint along with the large words written 'KEEP OUT'. Wonderful, I felt like I won a ticket to what could be the worst vacation spot in Vale. That paint might as well say 'Abandon hope all ye who enter.'

"We're in the pipe, five-by-five!" the pilot's female voice announced. No turning back from this, unfortunately, so my only option is to make sure this would be a quick tour.

The Bullhead descended and hovered above the empty street. We all leaped off the Bullhead before it flew away. We all had our weapons ready—except for the prof..erm..doctor, who just took a sip from his container because even during a mission, the guy still can't let go of his coffee. I would have brought my tanna too if we didn't leave our bags at Beacon due to his instructions and because we want to do this with as little weight as possible.

We scanned around the abandoned ruins of a city, armed and ready, only to find nothing but maybe a few tumbleweeds at a distance despite this place being said to be overrun. It was a relief, honestly; a place with little Grimm was somewhere I wanted to take as my first assignment. Maybe this place wasn't as bad as I thought.

Doctor Oobleck broke the silence and called for our attention. "Alright! You four may still be students, but as of this moment, your first mission as Huntsmen has begun! From this point forward, you need to do exactly as I say! Do you understand?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Nora saluted.

"Just call me doctor, Miss Valkyrie. No need to be so overly formal now. I may be far above your ranks but I still prefer my humble title as a doctor," he replied.

"Ja, Doktor!" Nora exclaimed, speaking in a fake Mantlian accent this time.

"So, what do we do now, doctor?" I asked.

"Ah, yes, straight to the chase; I like it! As you've been informed, the southeast area has been marked as a recent hot spot for Grimm activity. Now, there are several possible explanations for this behavior, one of which being... Grimm."

"Of course," I muttered as we looked at each other confused at his redundancy.

"Grimm. A creature of Grimm approximately one hundred meters from us at this very moment." This prompted us to quickly turn around to spot a single Beowolf coming emerging from a corner.

We went to our combat stances and prepared to attack before Doctor Oobleck ordered us to halt. "Stop!" We lowered our weapons and stared at him puzzlingly. "There are a number of reasons why Grimm will congregate in this particular area, the most likely of which will be their attraction to negativity. Sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred, having a disregard for higher education. All qualities that are likely held by our hidden group harboring ill intent."

I immediately got what he was trying to convey, making me rather glad that we didn't storm the Beowolf the second we saw it as it would undoubtedly attract a horde. "So... what do you suggest we'd do?" I asked.

"We wait. We track. If this specimen leads us to its pack, that pack may subsequently lead us to our prey."

"How long do we wait then?" Pyrrha inquired.

"It's uncertain. Hours, days, weeks. Why lone Grimm have been known to stay isolated from the pack for months."

That long? Now I know why Team CFVY's mission took almost a week.

"Waiting, schmaiting. Couldn't we just blow them up?" Nora impatiently suggested.

"That would be a foolish move, Miss Valkyrie. While Grimm is known to be attracted to negativity, they can sense noise as well, similar to that of an animal, and let's not forget about their reaction to the sound of an explosion," He explained. Nora calmed down after his lecture but still noticeably her aggressive self per the norm. Doctor Oobleck then noticed a disconcerting sight. "…and there's the whole pack."

We alarmingly looked back and saw more and more crawling out shortly before they turned in our direction and growled at our presence.

Oh crap, I thought. I gripped the handle of my sword firmly as they stared at me with their red eyes as they began charging in our direction.

"And now they've seen us," the doctor said, stating the obvious.

Yeah, we could see that, I thought. "I guess tracking them won't be necessary." I aimed my pistol at the pack that was getting near us by the second. "What should we do now, doctor?"

"You topped combat class last semester with flying colors, did you not? I'm sure you already know it by now, Mister Arc!"

I started to ponder hastily what to do with this horde while trying to calm down and not feed more fear to the incoming Grimm. Fleeing was simply not the option; I'm supposed to be a fearless leader, after all. I managed to make the coin drop before the pack was able to get close to us. "Nora, smoke."

"Without another word!" Nora expeditiously changed her hammer to its launcher form and fired a smoke grenade within the pack.

The Beos went to a halt as pink smog began taking over their surroundings. I turned over to Pyrrha and nodded to her. I expanded my shield before Pyrrha got on it and I threw her into the pack as Pyrrha began spinning with her spear. Ren, Nora, and I charged in, clearing the area of remaining Grimm.

Thanks to our weapons being slightly upgraded, the Grimm fell quicker than they were before. My laspistol managed to shoot down the Beowolves with only one or two shots, this pistol was made to cut down aura and since the Grimm lacked any of them and Beos were one of the weakest, they were barely a threat.

A distant growl was heard as another batch of Beowolves began rushing toward us. We all switched to our range weapons and opened fire, running a third of the wave before switching back to melee once they got close (also so I could save ammo. Laser ammo packs are not cheap, especially since I wasn't able to loot anyone recently.) With our coordination and combined strengths, they never stood a chance.

"Fear us, soulless creatures, for we are Team Awesome!" Nora smashed the head of the last Beowolf flat. "All your attempts to destroy us are in vain."

If the Grimm wasn't soulless, they'd be wetting themselves by now that they would run away, not because of Nora's cheesy boasting but on how effectively we operated.

"Excellent work, students, as expected from a team with the likes of yours." Doctor Oobleck remarked. "But let us not celebrate yet. This is without a doubt, the first of many of the Grimm encounters we will be having inside this desolate community. Let us move forth."

My teammates all nodded and followed him while I panted for a few seconds before complying as well. Our weapons remained unsheathed as Grimm could be around every corner.

"I have a bad feeling about this," I said. It's pretty obvious that I don't like this place; I already wanted to get out and I've only been here for a few minutes.

=o=

1. The quadrant was not in the city itself but considered itself as a part of the kingdom prior to being overrun and becoming too inhospitable.

To summarize what we have been doing for the past couple of hours, we have been doing the same routine of wandering around the ruins and killing every Grimm we come across as I look around and scour for things I could use. We have been racking kills off a dangerously substantial amount of Grimm and it is still said that the Grimm numbers here are still far more than plentiful, making me question the actual degree of Grimm activity around this area.

That aside, it was honestly refreshing to fight the Grimm again. I almost forgot how easy it is to take out the more common, lower-class Grimm, especially with teammates at your side.

"Alright, now. That's it for the duration of the morning! Let's take a short break and have your midday meals. We cannot afford to have empty stomachs during a hunt; we have a morale to maintain. So sit down and rest! I have brought food for us to eat." Doctor Oobleck announced.

"Oh, finally!" Nora said before turning to Ren. "You better not hog the food this time, she growled. He replied by rolling his eyes.

I pulled my sword from one of the Beowolf's decaying corpses and went to catch up with the others. "Hey, Doctor. Correct me if I'm wrong. But isn't this area supposed to only have moderate Grimm activity?" I questioned. "This is literally the one-hundred fifty-seventh Grimm we just killed; I know this because Nora was keeping track of our total kill count. I don't know exactly how many Grimm defines what's high or low, but I'm pretty sure that number is not moderate."

Doctor Oobleck took a few seconds to stare at me and be baffled by my statement. "Moderate Grimm Activity? On Mountain Glenn? Is that what the mission briefing told you? Surely there has to be some error on the mission board. Mountain Glenn has been destroyed for more than a decade, it's ridiculous to think that it would contain only a moderate amount of Grimm after years of infestation! Come to think of it—this mission was not supposed to be available for freshmen, which makes it strangely suspicious that you managed to take this assignment despite how hazardous it is. Then again you are considered to be one of the most exceptional freshmen we had in the long run and you have been doing spectacular so far. So regardless of what the answer is—this is our mission now and we are not going anywhere until it is completed or if there is a particularly dire situation that would force us into a retreat."

This pretty much confirmed my fear of this being a more dangerous mission than it was presented. If I were aware that this would be a high-risk mission inside one of the worst places in the kingdom I would have been searching for missing supplies in the woods like crazy by now. Hell, maybe I'd even wait for that stupid settlement defense mission for next week that takes place on the very same quadrant. I was terrified but I also was curiously suspicious at what made the board label it as something easier than it is, it made me think.

I also realized something—Yang mentioned earlier that they were trying to sign themselves up for a Search And Destroy mission but said that since they were first-year, it was restricted from them and that it was already taken. I might be wrong, but this could be the very same mission that she was referring to but for some reason ended up being allowed to my team whilst representing itself to be a relatively simple mission. Something or someone wants me here and I intend to find out. I don't know why Team RWBY would want this particular mission [1], but whatever the reason, I'd kill to switch places.

I silently groaned and decided to go and take my lunch. I lost my breakfast earlier on the Bullhead, so my stomach could use some more food.

"Sounds a little scary, but I'm okay with it! More Grimm means more fun for me!" Nora cheerfully chirped. "We shouldn't have too much trouble because we're like the best of the best!"

Thankfully, even with years worth of achievements on her belt, Pyrrha wasn't overconfident. "We should still be more careful. If it's true that this mission is actually more dangerous than what was presented to us, then it's best if we stay alert.

Ren chimed in. "Pyrrha's right, Nora. While we may be recognized as one of the most, if not most remarkable, first years of the academy, we cannot afford to be reckless at something more serious than we anticipated, especially while we're still on our first mission."

"I couldn't agree more," I uttered before settling down and taking my lunch. Nora frowned before nodding at the acknowledgment of how rigorous this mission could be. At least, some sense is knocked into her.

We were all sitting down in a circle, taking our respective meals that the doctor brought for the trip. All I ate was canned soup, which wasn't much but at least I got something to eat; beggars can't be choosers, as the saying goes.

Luckily for Nora, the doctor for whatever semblance of reason brought a turkey which Nora was able to have most for herself. It wasn't cooked when it was shown to us but there's nothing a little fire dust won't do. She did share a few of the pieces for us, (Well, Ren got the smallest there is but he didn't seem to mind, at least it made Nora let go of her grudge.) but she ate almost the entire thing within four seconds. I kid you not, four seconds. I counted. Makes me wonder why she still wasn't fat.

In the middle of our break, something went to Pyrrha's mind and decided to ask Doctor Oobleck about it. "Excuse me, doctor. I ask this with all due respect and forgive me if I offend you, but shouldn't you be assisting us in combat? You're an experienced Huntsman, are you not?"

She did bring up a good question. For the past couple of hours of wandering around this place looking for Grimm to kill, I haven't seen him take up arms and fight so far. He only stood behind the sidelines while occasionally providing instructions if necessary—something I wished I was doing instead—and analyzing anything anomalous that caught his attention. I know that the Huntsman you are shadowing isn't exactly here to hold your hand and it's more rather that we are here to assist him, but I haven't seen him do Huntsman stuff yet.

"Ah, but I am in action! Scouring the ruins of this once-great city for any signs of irregularity! Not every mission is filled with daring and heroism, children. Sometimes it's just a heightened form of extermination!" Doctor Oobleck answered. "Remember, this is a job, and you all signed up for it. I do hope you understand that."

Except this was not exactly what I signed up for. I muttered to myself as the good doctor finished eating before he picked up his belongings and began leading the way.

We caught up and finished our lunch before going back to following whatever we were doing for hours to come.

=o=

1. Few days prior to that mission, we discovered that the White Fang was holding a hideout somewhere in the southeast of Vale. When our attempt to take the Search and Destroy mission failed, we decided to take the Village Security since it was located in the same quadrant. We were hesitant to choose that mission since it begins within the following week and Blake wanted to stop the White Fang as soon as possible, but it was the only alternative we could make. We planned on scouting the area in the meantime but we would later discover that it was unnecessary thanks to a certain someone's actions.

I don't think it's necessary to write down what I did the whole afternoon in exquisite detail. All we did was trek around, find some Grimm and then kill it, take any items of value, rinse and repeat until dusk.

Much to my relief, despite being a place that was supposed to be extremely hazardous, it wasn't as exciting as I worried it would be. We just fought the same Beowolf pack with a few Scavers and an occasional Ursa. It was actually less dangerous, if a bit longer, than the missions I took at Pucelle during the break. I don't know if it's because of my team's cohesion or is it because the quantity of Grimm in the area was just so high that it was classified as difficult, but in actuality, this mission didn't feel that bad at all.

"Alright students. I believe that will have to do for today. It's going to be dark soon." Doctor Oobleck finally announced, removing his backpack after we finished dispatching the last group of Grimm. Everyone was panting for air out of exhaustion while wiping off their sweat. "You three, set up camp in that building." he threw his bag to the group before Pyrrha caught it. "Oh, and please do make sure there are no more of those... creatures. Your leader and I are going to secure the perimeter. Come, Jaune." he walks forth, motioning me to follow him.

"You're the doc, doc." I nodded as I trail him to wherever he is taking me.

He took me around the edge of the mountain that overlooks the forest. There I witnessed six mammoth-like Grimm—Goliaths, to be exact—all lined up marching through the forest, one of them making a howl loud enough to be heard from where I was.

Knowing that these Grimm were far too much for us to handle, it goes without saying that it was better to keep them unprovoked. "I'm guessing we're only going to watch them until they go away, right?"

He nodded "Correct, and since even the strongest of our combined attacks will do nothing more than agitating Grimm of those sizes, there is no reason for us to induce their wrath."

I made a relieved sigh. "So, what'll we do if they come here and attack us?" I asked for good measure. In case they could feel our emotions and aura from our location, it was better to stay prepared.

"Fret not, Jaune. Those Goliaths are not concerned with us," he responded before giving me another lecture. Unlike most of his history lessons, this one was engrossing enough that I was able to perceive every word. "Not every Grimm is mindless, or rather not every Grimm is currently mindless. You see, the Grimm you see before you are so powerful, so superior to the Grimm you fought, that they've undoubtedly lived hundreds of years, and in that time between killing humans and attacking our borders, they have done one important thing: They've learned. They've learned that when they attack our borders, they're likely to die, and what we lack in strength, we make up for with will and that killing one human will only bring more."

So what he was telling me is that the Goliaths have lived long enough to gain the ability to think, not that it makes them less monstrous, if anything, they have smarter predators and that's never a good thing. Someone needs to get rid of those things and that person is sure as hell won't be me. As much as I wanted them gone like any other sane person, Doctor Oobleck was right about them being too dangerous to provoke.

"What do you think they're doing near the city anyway?" I asked.

"Waiting," he answered.

I widened my eyes and turned my head to him. "Waiting for what exactly?"

"Their next prey; the meaning of their existence; maybe even death. All we know is that they're waiting for something." He stood firmly at the group, one of them facing right toward the city before turning back to follow the rest and continued to follow the others.

Since the Goliaths were leaving and had no apparent intent on going to the city, at least not for the moment, Doctor Oobleck decided we were done watching over them and left the post.

"So… doc." I began uttering as I followed him back to regroup with the others.

"What is it, Jaune?"

"Mind if I ask you something?"

"Let me guess, you are wondering why I've been interrogating your teammates all day?" He stopped as he turned toward me.

Wait, you have? I thought as I paused seeing he hadn't questioned me yet before going back to ask him. "Actually, I just wanted to ask what made you become a Huntsman." I mean, he could have just chosen to be a regular professor—I mean doctor or whatever, but I was curious about what made him follow the life of a professional monster-slayer.

"Look around and tell me what you see," he said.

"A ruined city beyond recovery that is filled with monsters?" I answered. Hey, don't judge me, I only did what I was told.

"In a way, that is correct. It's true that this ruined city was once a prosperous community. But you have to ask yourself, what if it was never successfully overrun by Grimm? Of course, the answer would be that this place would still be full of life and no one would have fallen victim during its fall. But that's the point, to think about the lives that could have been saved during that tragedy." he said, continuing to walk as I followed and listened.

"As a Huntsman, it is my job to protect the people, and although I am capable of doing it with traditional weaponry, I believe I can make a much larger impact if I do it with my mind. As a teacher, I'm able to take knowledge, the most powerful weapon of them all, and place it in the hands of every student that passes through my classroom." We stopped and he looked at our surroundings. "I look at this wasteland, and I see lives that could have been saved, but I also see an opportunity—an opportunity to study these ruins and learn from this tragedy, and therefore become stronger."

The doctor briefly walked away from me as I stood to ponder his words. When he mentioned what could have been of this city, I only thought of something that I didn't want to think about as I had been trying to bury that memory for years now. It may have been his motivation for becoming a Huntsman, but to me, it was why I gave up on my old dream of becoming one. I'm just not cut out for this job, no matter how many people say otherwise.

"I am a Huntsman, Jaune, because there is nothing else in this world I would rather be." He halted shortly afterward to ask me one more question. "What about you?"

"What about me?" I looked back up to face the doctor and answered firmly as I masked my own insecurity. "Not only do I want to live up to my ancestor's greatness, but I also want to help those who couldn't help themselves. I couldn't just stand there and watch people suffer, I have to do something. Hence why I'm here." I answered. If I was talking like my younger self, I wouldn't be lying. But I am no longer the boy that I used to be. Now I'm just some guy who was unfortunate enough to be living his childhood dream who is just afraid of losing his life and dignity.

"I hope you're being sincere at what you just said." The doctor smiled at me before he turned his back to return to the others as I stood there for a minute, gazing at the sky before the sun sets.

Sadly, I'm not.

Hours have passed and it was already night. We all sat around a campfire inside one of the city's crumbled buildings that were fortified enough for us to stay the night. Somehow, it wasn't that uncomfortable. The temperature was adequately warm and there weren't a lot of mosquitos unlike most other times I went camping with my family. I also didn't have to worry much about the Grimm because the surrounding area was devoid of them since we spent almost all day clearing the ruins. I still kept my pistol under my pillow as I could never be a hundred percent sure.

"Here's a meal you children look like you could use." Doctor Oobleck tossed a pack of marshmallows that was caught by Nora.

"Marshmallows!" she cheerfully squealed as she tore the plastic open.

"There's more food in my bag. Feel free to have them. Now, eat your dinners and hurry to bed. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow and we'll need you to take turns keeping watch over our temporary abode. Any volunteers for the first watch?"

Pyrrha raised her hand. "I'll do it, Doctor."

"Splendid! I'll be upstairs if any of you need me for anything, and if you do, do not hesitate to call me. Have a pleasant night, children!" Doctor Oobleck said before bolting away leaving only us four around the campfire.

We all unfolded our sleeping bags around the fire. Before going to bed, we all gathered around to roast our marshmallows. In retrospect, I would have brought my guitar and played some acoustics to add to the camping feel and make the atmosphere of this wasteland less ominous. But then again, Doctor Oobleck said that we don't need to carry anything unnecessary so the only thing I could do was whistle. It did its job of lightening the mood so it was better than nothing.

Nora munches on her marshmallows once it was roasted enough, meanwhile Ren approached me to ask about something. "Hey, Jaune, did Doctor Oobleck ask you why you wanted to become a Huntsman earlier?"

While I was rather surprised by that question, I was rather glad that I wasn't the only one that was interrogated. "Yeah, why?"

"Nothing. Just checking to see if the doctor interviewed everyone regarding that."

"So what did you tell him?" I asked out of curiosity. While I've been with Ren for months now, I didn't know much about him aside from his fighting style, his companionship with Nora, and the fact that they were both orphans who just go wherever fate takes them. We rarely go on lengthy conversations so I was interested in what he has to say."

"Nothing much. I just told him that aside from because I was good at it, I also don't want people to suffer the same fate as mine."

I raised my brow at his answer as more questions began popping up in my head. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's a long story—even if it was shorter, I don't feel comfortable enough to tell you," he said. I saw Nora frown after she heard our conversation. Seeing their expressions and knowing how it feels to have something in the past haunting you, I decided to respect his decision to digress.

"It's alright Ren, you're not obliged to tell me about it if you don't want to," I assured him.

He gave a friendly smirk. "I'll be sure to tell you someday. Right now, I just want to rest. It's been a long day of exterminating the area of Grimm that I could use a good long sleep." he said as he went to lie down on his sleeping bag.

"Yeah, you do that."

"There's still a few more marshmallows left," Nora showed me the remaining marshmallow on the pack. "Want some?"

"Thanks." I smiled at her as I took two marshmallows and impaled them with my stick. Nora took the last three of them before we hovered them near the campfire.

She went and sat at my side. It was mostly silent, with the only sounds being the chirps of a few crickets, the campfire crackling, and even a Beowolf howling at a distance. It wasn't until I decided to speak up that I found myself in a conversation again.

"So, the doc asked you too, didn't he?" I asked, with my eyes gazing at her.

She silently nodded without a word, which was a little strange given her talkative nature. I made a hum and went back to watching my marshmallows heat up.

"You know, before I went to Beacon, I never had any friends apart from Ren," she suddenly spoke, getting my attention as I turned to her again.

"Why is that?" I inquired, surprised upon learning that. Girls like her normally tend to be more outgoing, so I find it weird for a bundle of joy and energy to be lonely if it wasn't for someone who she has been sticking with for half of her life.

"I wasn't always like this. Y'know the happy-go-lucky gal who likes smashing Grimm," she began. I leaned in and listened closely to her while she cleared her throat. "Before I met Ren, I was just a lonely little girl with no friends, no family, and no home. I just wandered from place to place looking for someone to take care of me. That's until I met Ren. I found out that he was also alone and that we only have each other," she spoke in a tone that was much calmer than her usual self. "So we became best buds for life and we went from place to place, looking for whatever adventure we could find. We eventually found ourselves hunting for Grimm and I started enjoying it. I was loving the feeling of excitement and the satisfaction of slaughtering Grimm and breaking bones that I started savoring all the fun I had and told myself to stop worrying and be happy."

So this is where her zany personality came from? That's a little dark, but otherwise, it was heartwarming to see that she was brightening up, no longer alone, and found her identity as a Huntress.

"Adventuring and killing Grimm became our life. So we went to every academy where we could get ourselves into so we could become full-fledged Huntsmen. [1] Ren was my only family until I became part of this team. For my whole life, I never knew what it felt like having a family until now." She turned to me and gave me a heartfelt smile.

I rested my eyes on her and was touched by what she told me and it made me more regretful of secretly treating her as a meat shield while still not letting go of my intention to keep using her as one. But even though I'm using her as a glorified bodyguard for these school years, she was still a good friend that I'm grateful to have. "Well, I'm happy to know that we have you here with us. We'll stick together until this is all over."

"I hope it never ends then."

I could only keep my gaze on her and just smile, feeling ambivalent about the thought of staying with this team until I'm done with Beacon. I stayed like this until I noticed my marshmallow suddenly started burning after neglecting it for too long. I flinched before hastily blowing away the flames until it was extinguished. My marshmallow was now burnt black and it was barely edible anymore, much to my disappointment.

"Here. You could have mine," she handed me her stick that impaled her three roasted marshmallows. "I'm full anyway."

"Thanks," I took her stick and munched the soft, warm marshmallows.

"I'm going to bed now. Goodnight, Fearless Leader. This day has been fun, and I hope tomorrow will be more exciting!" she chirped as she went to her bedroll and laid down on it.

"Goodnight, Nora," I said while hoping that wouldn't be the case, at least not for me; I don't mind Nora doing her own thing and having her fun as long as it doesn't put me in grave danger.

I remained seated near the campfire for a few more minutes before going to bed as well while asking myself one thing that has been bothering me for a while again.

What am I going to do with these people once this is all over? Who knows? I'll just have to live with it and see.

=o=

1. There were some minor Huntsman academies that did not require formal education and accepted orphans. Hence, why Ren and Nora were able to attend such academies despite lacking any guardians or having not attended any schools prior.

Chapter Text

To Survive and Prosper

CHAPTER 14

I couldn't sleep that night. Either because I was thinking too hard about the future, or because I was not comfortable sleeping somewhere in the ruins of a dilapidated civilization even if the place was wiped clean of any Grimm and one of my teammates was watching over us, or it was simply because of Nora's loud snoring.

Regardless, I decided to get up and check on Pyrrha and see how she is holding up. I thought that it could kill off the insomnia that was bothering me then.

I went to her post and saw that she was watching over the streets, holding Miló while it was in its rifle form. "You okay there, Pyrrha?" I carefully approached her.

"Oh, Jaune," she turned her head to me. She looked fine for someone who was assigned to look out for a fourth of the night. "I'm doing fine. What do you need?"

"I couldn't sleep. I thought you could use some company," I said.

"Fine by me," she nodded. I went next to her side and sat as she continued to guard our camp.

We both sat there, just watching the ruins for any potential Grimm that comes near. I did my best not to feel perturbed since it might attract Grimm into coming here, but thanks to Pyrrha being at my side, I was a little more at peace.

The sky was starless and cloudy but despite that, the ruins look slightly better at night. It's probably because the night sky offered a little more color than the dull, almost-gray color the sky in this place had during the day.

"Hey, Jaune. About last night..." She suddenly spoke.

"Heh. I was waiting for you to bring that up." I chuckled. I was so busy doing the mission for the entire day that I almost forgot to ask her about that. "That night won't be something that you're going to forget, will it?"

"I definitely won't. It was just as fun as the food fight we had last Monday. It was one of the only gatherings that I enjoyed so much that I didn't want it to end," she remarked, watching the stars with a beautiful smile on her face.

"It was a pleasure to make your night, and I intend to do it again if you don't mind," I said.

"I would love to have more nights like that." She happily said before turning back to watch the area. "This week is off to a good start, don't you think?"

"Yeah…" I muttered before being reminded about Doctor Oobleck's inquiry about our decision to become Huntsman. "So, Doctor Oobleck asked you about why you chose to become a Huntress, did he? What did you tell him?"

Pyrrha briefly frowned before answering. "Well. I told him that I chose to become one because I wanted to make good use of the training that I had since childhood rather than just use it to uphold my family's tradition of being a warrior." She then looked down and sighed as her tone became noticeably downtrodden. "But the truth is a lot more complicated than that. I wanted to see if becoming a Huntress would make me more than just a mere warrior, so I trained hard while doing my best to honor my family. As you know, I was so good at it that I won Mistral's Regional Tournaments four times in a row. But I never wanted to be this good, I just wanted to make my family proud. Now that my friends have abandoned me, I was afraid of disappointing my family that I could not afford to lose a single competition. I have become so fixated with winning that I almost forgot that I was finding why I chose this way of life."

She bobbed her head upwards and her face brightened as she turned back to me. "But thanks to you, Ren and Nora, I think I now have my answer."

I continued to gaze back at her silently and kept listening. "I have forgotten what it felt like to have friends until I became part of Team JNPR. As I follow you and do my part as a teammate, I have grown to care about my newfound friends. That is when I began to realize the meaning of why I became a Huntress. To fight, not just for honor and glory, but for those you care about."

She finally finished explaining her motivation and she suddenly felt something disturbing her. "Oh, Brothers above!" she blushed, putting a palm on her face out of embarrassment. "I'm sorry for making you hear me ramble again. I think I have gotten too ahead of myself."

"Don't be," I reassured her, chuckling. I appreciate her for opening up; I always wanted to learn more about her personally. "It's nice to learn what you are fighting for and know that there is more to you than just winning," I said. "We're not that much different when it comes to upholding my family's honor. I'm still doing my best to live up to my ancestor's legacy and all that."

"I don't think you need to worry about that. From what I've seen from you, I could say that they'll be proud of you." Pyrrha replied as she tried to comfort me back.

Sure, it does look that way but little did anyone know that I wasn't keen on becoming like them nor do I believe myself to be that much of a great hero, especially when my so-called 'heroic acts' were only done to keep my dignity intact and to keep me out of harm's way.

"I can't really say that for myself, but I appreciate it," I looked back at her. She took the time to open herself to me, so it was only fair that I do the same even if it's only to a small extent. "You know, you're not the only one who considers themselves to be lonely in this team. I just learned that Ren and Nora had no one but each other until they went to Beacon and as for me…"

I hesitated for a moment, but I still managed to get her to say it without exactly ringing out something that I have been dodging for all these years. "I didn't have a lot of friends outside of my sisters. Most people I called friends back at home felt more like acquaintances at best."

She then put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm glad we have each other then,"

I smiled at her, "You're right on that one."

We returned to gazing over the ruins, satisfied with being comforted by one another. There was no denying that Mountain Glenn was a desolate wasteland, but as long as we were together, there was nothing to be scared of.

"So, Jaune… Do you have anyone particularly special in your life?" she suddenly asked. That question caught me off-guard. I did my best to not look surprised when she suddenly asked me that.

"No, not yet," I answered, taking a deep breath. "I did date a lot of different girls before but I haven't got anywhere with them. Soon after, I just decided to stop dating for a bit since I decided that it wasn't worth it."

She looked at me with pity. "Oh. That must have been hard for you."

"Don't worry about that; it's in the past. Besides, I was better off not staying with some of them." I reassured her. "I may have stopped but I haven't given up yet."

"That's nice to hear," she said before taking a brief pause. "So… you don't mind if we spend more time together. Just the two of us? As partners?"

I took a few more seconds to ponder what she just asked. "I'll be glad to, Pyrrha." I smiled at her as she looked back with a satisfied look.

However, the peaceful atmosphere between us partners was short-lived when we started hearing footsteps around the area that I started to wince at the sudden sound.

"Did you hear that?" Pyrrha asked as she stood up tensely and gripped her weapon.

"Where's it coming from?" It couldn't have been Ren or Nor or even Doctor Oobleck because I assume all of them were asleep, and even if the latter was awake, it still couldn't have been because his footsteps sounded more distinct. These footsteps, on the other hand, sounded like they were coming from two people.

She looked around before spotting something, making her hunker down and dragging me down with her.

"What's going on?!" I almost shouted at her abrupt action.

"Shh," she hastily shushed before going to my ear to whisper. "You might want to see this."

She let go of me and I slowly went up to peek from our cover to see what she spotted. What I saw was a sight that almost startled me—two armed White Fang troopers on the road, and their familiar accents made that clear.

"Ye' hear somethin'?" one of them asked.

"I thought it was ye', must be a Beowolf then," replied the other.

The first member puffed. "Let's just get back to base, I don't like patrollin' this shite-pile one bit especially durin' the night."

"Ye' tell me."

Oh great, not those extremist assholes again, I thought. I was almost close to avoiding those terrorist pricks for a full week. I just had to wonder what the hell were they even doing at an awful place like Mountain Glenn.

I guessed that they might have managed to track me down in the mountain, or worse—have a base set up somewhere there, which was unfortunately the case as I would later discover.

"We should follow them." Pyrrha proposed, much to my shock.

"What?!" I shouted quietly, internally asking her why should I put myself in even more trouble with the White Fang.

"They may be up to something and we may never be able to stop if we wait," she explained. "We've defeated them before twice, we could surely do it again."

I wanted to tell her that we should leave them alone because they were unprovoked and they haven't spotted us yet but I didn't want to look like a coward in front of Pyrrha so I went with the insane notion of agreeing with her for the moment. "Alright. We'll have to follow them ourselves. Let's leave Ren and Nora for now, we can't be stealthy if all of us are trying to sneak."

"Good call." Pyrrha concurred before we left our safe haven and follow these two terrorists so that we may find their hideout.

I already have my weapons ready so we decided to quietly and inconspicuously trail the two members across the street. It wasn't easy because there weren't a lot of hiding spots aside from buildings, but we still managed to do so. Thanks to some miracle, our armors did not make any noise while we were sneaking behind them.

We came to a halt after we saw them enter an old sewer entrance, indicating that was where they were hiding. Since we now knew where they were coming from, there was no point in following them further.

"Alright, that must be the entrance to their hideout," I concluded before turning back to Pyrrha. "We must go back and tell the others so we could take care of this tomorrow or maybe even later." Or preferably never at all and that we should just let the authorities handle this. Getting into more trouble with the White Fang was one of the last things I needed.

Pyrrha was wise enough to nod in agreement, so we turned back and headed to where we camped. On our way back, I heard a cracking noise as I looked down and saw that there was a crack on the asphalt below me. Before I was able to throw myself out of there, the road collapsed open and I fell into its pit.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried out. I saw outlines around my armor before quickly disappearing within less than a second, indicating that she tried to pull me back out, but it was too late since I was out of her range.

I screamed for a few seconds before landing on my back. The fall slightly hurt my spine, but my aura thankfully prevented the impact from becoming too severe.

When I looked around, I immediately knew that I was somewhere underground, but strangely, this place also had the same desolate-looking buildings as the surface had. It looked like I ended up in some sort of abandoned underground city or something along those lines. [1]

I looked upward at the hole which was deep and dark enough that I couldn't see the surface. "Pyrrha!" I called out for her as loud as I could, hoping that she would at least hear my echo.

Shortly, I could hear echoes of her voice coming from up there. Before I was able to reply to it, two White Fang troopers suddenly barged in from a door and pointed their gun at me. "Freeze!"

Oh, fuck me with a stick, I said mentally.

I turned back at them, almost shrieking at the two goons barging in. But when they saw my face and realized who I was, they were immediately petrified.

"Wait a minute." One of them said before he dropped his jaw. "Oh fec—"

Without delay, I panickily pulled out my pistol and blasted both of their faces within a single second. After their bodies dropped to the ground, I panted heavily out of agitation that I was facing the White Fang yet again. Another squad of White Fang soldiers came from the door with their guns drawn. Since I had nowhere to go, I leaped from the cliff behind me before I was able to be hit by one of their gunshots.

An alarm began glaring as I hit the ground. I started running around the abandoned underground berg, going from cover to cover to avoid enemy gunfire while I desperately looked for an exit. I took out my scroll and tried to contact my teammates, but I wasn't able to due to the abysmal signal I was getting on that hellhole. So I was on my own until I somehow reunited with my team.

Sigh, I knew that this was a bad idea.

I kept running around while I covered myself with my shield as the White Fang tried to chase me down. I followed a trail of train tracks that led me into a tunnel. After going past the tunnel, I saw a few trains stationed on the rails. Little did I know, the tunnel led me to MORE White Fang members. Even worse, when I saw that they even had one of those fucking mechs that Team RWBY faced off last week, which dropped a container when it spotted me. The terrorists all turned toward me and began shooting. I raised my shield to deflect their gunfire before trying to run back, only to have the other White Fang members coming through there.

I went to the nearest cover and started blasting off the White Fang members trying to kill me as I try to figure out how I would be able to get out of this mess while I'm surrounded on both sides with one of them even having an Atlesian Paladin.

The gunfire stopped as someone began marching in. "Alright, who has been causing this ruckus?!"

I leaned out from my cover and saw that the voice belonged to Roman Torchwick, still puffing a cigar even at this moment. "You! You nosy little brat. You just couldn't leave us alone, could you?" he growled when he saw me and threw away his smoke. "At least, you don't have Red with you, that twerp was getting on my nerves."

I took this opportunity to look around to find something that I could use to my advantage. There, I saw a bomb in the open, with a few White Fang members around it. I took a deep breath as I changed the clip of my laser pistol.

"So they call you the 'Valish Defanger', huh? Fancy name but you're going to need more than that to scare me, kiddo." Torchwick snarled before turning back to his faunus goons. "What are you idiots waiting for? Kill him! You want him dead, right?"

The troopers pointed their guns at me again while that one Atlesian Paladin began marching forward. My eyes only focused on that one bomb, they made the mistake of placing there.

"No, I don't think so!" I aimed at the bomb and squeezed the trigger, firing a straight blast of laser fire toward it. The bomb instantly detonated, sending nearby White Fang members flying, if they didn't blow to smithereens.

Welp, it's time to become the White Fang's Angel of Death again. If there was something we both could agree on, it was that this wasn't a good thing.

Some of the remaining members became more furious while others started trembling before me. Regardless, I was determined to get out of this mess. So I holstered my pistol, transferred my shield to my left hand, and took out my sword.

I went out of cover, charging with my shield as they tried to shoot at me. I bashed at the first member before slicing the two other troopers he was with before taking him down as well with a vertical slash. I collapsed my shield and grabbed my gun again and began firing at hostiles at a distance while I clashed with nearby White Fang members. One such member tried charging me with an axe before I deflected it with my sword and fired his chest with my laser pistol then kicked him down to the ground.

After getting rid of most of the troopers in the area, left and right. Torchwick began firing missiles at me. I hastily dodged all of them until he started to command the Atlesian Paladin. "Get him!" he pointed at me.

The Paladin started arming its missiles and fired them at me as I quickly hunkered down and expanded my shield, managing to deflect the projectiles, but the impact of the explosion led me to fly away for a few feet before falling to the ground on my back. I faced the mech again and saw that it was readying its next weapon so I began rolling on the ground before standing back up. I knew that I had to run away because the way it was designed made little way for me to get rid of it without something to exploit.

"Enemies everywhere!" A White Fang member suddenly shouted. I looked at my back and saw terrorists begin running away as my teammates and Doctor Oobleck finally arrive when they mow down White Fang goons on their way toward me.

"The cavalry's here, Fearless Leader!" Nora shouted as she was rushing toward me in the distance.

"Oh, for crying out loud! More of you punk kids?!" Torchwick made an infuriated yell before turning back to the Paladin. "Get rid of these pests right now!"

I saw the Atlesian Paladin adjust and ready its missiles toward them. "Nora! Brr!" I bellowed, mimicking the sound of a bull. She fired her launcher at the Paladin, temporarily staggering it. She then blasted a grenade below her feet, making her fly toward the Paladin as she changed to her hammer and smashed it down as neat as you please. As the mech was lying on the ground, Nora repeatedly smashed through the mech's torso until the pilot was exposed and she violently threw him away.

"Oh, that's it!" Torchwick began to run toward the train. I tried to shoot him down, but I was only able to hit his hat and make it fly off its head. He was indeed irritated but didn't have time to retrieve it so he went straight toward the train. While I didn't know what was important about the train, my conscience intuitively told me that it has to be stopped at any cost or else my life isn't getting any easier. Sadly, this means I don't have time to loot again. I would have gone straight to the exit on this whole, but I figured that letting Torchwick go free won't exactly put me in a better position.

I can't believe I'm doing this, I thought.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha and the others finally got next to me. "Thank goodness you're alright. What's going on here?"

"I'll explain later, right now we need to stop that train!" I started leading them toward the train.

"What's on the train?" Ren asked candidly as he reloaded both of his machine pistols while following me.

"I don't know—all I know is it's nothing good!"

"Look!" Nora pointed to the open cargo on the other track, revealing items that they weren't able to load onto the train on time. They consisted of a few weapon caches and some stolen Atlesian machines but most disturbing above all—more explosives.

"Oh my Gods! A bomb!" Pyrrha gasped, followed by Ren.

"A bomb!"

"But these tunnels are sealed and the tracks lead to a dead end! If they're transporting bombs… then it must be…" Doctor Oobleck mused before getting to a seemingly terrifying conclusion. "Oh no…"

"Get to your places, we are leaving now!" Torchwick's voice announced via a speaker.

"Oh, dear mother of mercy…" Doctor Oobleck muttered before shouting suddenly. "Stop that train immediately!"

Without another word, we all dashed to the train at a much quicker pace as the train began to depart. Fortunately, we all managed to make it to the last car. Now, all we need to do is figure out how we would exactly prevent this train from reaching wherever it's heading.

=o=

1. Mountain Glenn once had a subway system where it would be able to safely transport citizens to the main kingdom. The underground project became so ambitious that it became its own district. When Grimm attacks increased, the civilians tried to use the lower city as an evacuation site. Unfortunately, the Grimm managed to breach the walls and the Kingdom had to desperately seal off the tunnels.

Chapter Text

To Survive and Prosper

CHAPTER 15

We went inside the first boxcar and saw a lone guard in it. Doctor Oobleck used his adjustable mace-slash-flaregun thingy—that also happened to be his thermos—to knock him out. It seemed that he didn't bring that thing just to carry coffee while on his travels. Strange choice of a weapon if you ask me, but considering the other dumb things people make weapons out of, it could have been worse. At least it doesn't have anything ridiculous like something sharp like the blade on top of it, just imagine him trying to drink with that.

"It really is those bandits again!" Nora examined the member's uniform. She made it quite obvious that she didn't link them to the terrorists I fought last Tuesday which was all over the news.

"I don't think they're bandits, Nora!" Ren replied while staying on high alert.

"Mr. Ren is correct. Judging by their uniform and emblem, they appear to be members of a White Fang. An organization that I already mentioned in some of my previous lectures that it would be unnecessary to elaborate them further." Doctor Oobleck informed. At least he described them quickly enough that we've only lost a trivial amount of time. I was worried we might have to listen to another history lecture while in a race against time.

"What do you think is going to happen if we don't stop this train, Doctor?" I asked.

"It would crash right somewhere in the middle of the city! So we need to make sure this train doesn't reach its destination while figuring out a way how to defuse the bombs."

I gulped, realizing that now I'm in the middle of what was essentially a bomb crisis. "But where do you think the bombs are placed? I don't see any of them here, and judging from what I've seen of them, they're not small."

"The hatches above the car!" Nora reckoned, saying something that makes sense for once. "They're probably hiding it in those places."

"You're a genius, Nora!" Doctor Oobleck commended. "Alright, children, everybody at the top of the car."

We all quickly climbed above the train's car and opened the hatch and found a bomb there, confirming Nora's guess. I admit, while Nora was infamous for being the most inhumanely insane female specimen I've ever worked with, she does have some decent ideas and surprisingly possesses a good amount of knowledge on technology when she's not talking about weird crap she was taught from a machine cult at least.

"Well, there it is. How do we defuse it?" I hastily asked.

"We could pray to the machine spirit to convert it to our side." Ren proposed, making all of us—but Nora—stare at him in confusion. He stared back at us and went with an alternative. "Or you could cut the wire."

I examined the bomb closely and saw that it has three wires—two blue and one red. "Which wire?"

"I-It's usually the red wire," he answered unsurely. "And even then, it's not guaranteed to stop the bomb unless the other wires are cut in a particular time or order."

Well shit, I thought.

"Enemies up ahead!" Pyrrha pointed at our front, showing a wave of White Fang soldiers climbing above the train as they were approaching us.

"Heads up, lads, we have company!" Doctor Oobleck exclaimed.

To make things worse, the bomb's screen began flashing red, indicating it was about to detonate. I decided that defusing this bomb was not worth it. "Forget it! Let's get out of here! Everyone to the next car! Ren, disconnect this car before it blows up."

"Good call, Jaune!" Doctor Oobleck remarked as Ren nodded.

We all leaped to the next car. Ren went down to the connectors to detach them. While they were detached, Ren wasn't responsible for it. "It decoupled itself!" he said.

"What?" Doctor Oobleck exclaimed out of bewilderment.

"That takes care of that?" I ambivalently, watching the detached car distance itself before exploding.

"There's more of them!" Nora yelled. The Doctor and I quickly looked back and saw another bomb on the hatch.

"No, no, no!" The doctor quickly went to the next car to find another bomb on its hatch. "They all have bombs!"

This day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it? By then, I wished that I was back to securing a Grimm-infested wasteland, even if it would take a whole day.

The car we were at also suddenly started detaching with the bomb on it about to detonate as well. With that, we quickly leaped to the next car.

"What do we do now?" Pyrrha asked as we turned back to Doctor Oobleck.

"We'll worry about the bombs later! Focus on the hostile individuals in front of us!" Doctor Oobleck said as the White Fang soldiers came to approach us from a few cars away.

I turned to the mob of White Fang soldiers I was about to face. Doing my best to restrain both my anxiety and motion sickness, I took up a confident face. "Alright team, you heard what he said. We just need to get rid of any fangies standing in our way. Remember, we're not fighting the Grimm, so don't give away your attacks." I said as I rallied them forward.

My teammates nodded and leaped toward the proceeding cars above the train. It felt a little nauseous moving around while the train was speeding, but it did not bother me that much since my motion sickness wasn't much of a concern since I had other more daunting priorities. We shortly got near a mob of White Fang soldiers. "Get the humans!" One of them cried.

We went to a formation with all of our weapons ready. Pyrrha still stayed at the front, she switched Milo to its spear mode and attached a wind dust crystal to create a powerful wave from a single horizontal slash that sent the terrorists on the front flying and then falling off the train. Nora leaped in and smashed the top of the car, stunning the nearby hostiles as Ren charged and slashed all of them down. Pyrrha and I went to the next car to deal with another batch of fangies. Pyrrha charged in and dealt with the group while I stay back and provide covering fire while striking down anyone who has gotten next to me, kicking down even one of the terrorists off the train.

Once it was clear, I checked the hatch to see if there were still bombs just in case. Turns out there wasn't any, the same goes for the previous car where the other three were at since Ren checked it himself. On the bright side, we didn't have to worry about those things blowing up anytime soon. [1]

Speaking of which, we looked back and saw the last bomb-attached car explode. The explosion made a hole in the walls of the tunnel, giving Grimm an entrance.

"He's leading Grimm to the city!" Doctor Oobleck cried out.

"What?!" I exclaimed as I went to look at the tracks and found a horde of Grimm coming from a distance.

"It's the cars! They detach and explode, creating openings for the Grimm!"

"But why would they do that?!" I asked, puzzled at the White Fang's decision.

"I don't know but I do know this: Since this train leads to somewhere below Vale, it would crash into the barrier between this tunnel and Vale itself, giving Grimm an entrance to the city. If that happens history could potentially repeat itself! Only worse!" He explained as quickly as he could.

Everyone gasped except me. "What?" I was confused about what specific part of history he was referring to.

"Oh right, you weren't there when I gave a brief history of this undercity." Doctor Oobleck said.

"W-W-Wait! You're telling me if we don't stop this train, it'll give the Grimm a breach toward Vale?" I said, straightening things out.

"Precisely! You know how horrible that would be so there is no time to discuss this further! With the train carrying fewer cars, it now has less weight and more velocity, meaning it has less time to reach the end of the tunnels! So we must hurry to the locomotive and stop this train at all costs!"

We hastily complied with the doctor's word, leaping from car to car in the effort to prevent a major terrorist attack from happening while I muse on how crazy the White Fang is for trying to go through this and mumbling about what I have gotten myself into.

Seriously, how is this going to tell people to stop mistreating the faunus? Have they ever thought that they'll wind up hurting innocent faunus too? What kind of psychedelic drug did they take that made them do this? They were indeed acting like animals.

As we were getting closer to the locomotive, a stolen Atlesian Paladin leaped up at our front, putting all five of us to a halt. I find it pretty odd that they stored Paladins on this train when they intend to use it to break inside Vale. It felt like a waste of good robots. [2]

"Stand aside, children!" Doctor Oobleck stepped in and hugged his thermos before transforming back into a weapon and firing a single flare which was enough to knock the Paladin off the train before crashing to the ground and blowing up.

While these mechs were normally formidable, it wasn't a good idea to pilot something two-legged and heavy above a speeding train, which was why I was barely threatened with the next Paladin. A single sweep on its legs with Nora's hammer was enough to deal with it.

We continued to go off ahead when suddenly a White Fang member appeared out of a hatch. He was no ordinary member by the looks of it. He was large, muscular and he carried a chainblade. He wouldn't be out of place in a slasher film of sorts.

"I will destroy you!" He said in a deep, menacing voice after making a sinister laugh. He swung around his chainsword as its saws revved.

However as scary as this guy looked, I didn't have time for showoffs. So I nodded to Pyrrha, prompting her to use her polarity to pull his weapon while he was still holding it. He struggled to control his own chainblade, and his refusal to let go of it caused him to be pushed into falling off the train, and he must have become Grimm food or something. Good riddance.

"There's more of them coming from behind!" Nora pointed at our backs and saw more Paladins and White Fang members coming out, late for the party."

"Nora, come with me! We're going to hold them off." Doctor Oobleck ordered. "The rest of you, keep moving! If my calculations are accurate, the train is halfway to its destination—so best for you to make haste!"

"You sure you'll be okay, doctor?" Pyrrha asked.

"You can trust me on this one, Miss Nikos, this isn't my first rodeo. I'll be teaching these deviants a lesson," he nodded.

"Be careful out there, Nora." Ren regarded, displaying off his more emphatic side which rarely happens.

"You too, Ren!" Nora cheerfully followed the doctor as she charged with him.

"We better get moving," I told them. Pyrrha and Ren both nodded as they accompanied me to the flatbed car containing a few Atlesian Paladins. I would have loved to take one of those bad boys home with me, but sadly I had to stay focused, especially since we were racing against the clock. Innocent lives were at stake and the disaster would be on me if I don't stop it.

We went onto the train. There were a few more cars remaining before we could reach the engine. We had our weapons ready as there won't be a single doubt that we would be facing Torchwick.

After getting in the third to the last cars, the first thing we saw was a hatless Torchwick standing in the middle waiting for us.

I couldn't take him seriously this time though. I wasn't used to seeing him without his hat; looking at him without it always gives you the impression that something is missing, especially with clothes like that.

"I'm gonna have to stop you right there, kiddos," he said. "This area is strictly off-limits to children. So why don't you all buzz off?"

I responded by firing a blast at him without a moment's hesitation, which he dodged by making a hasty sidestep. That sucked because I wanted this to be over with so we could focus on stopping a literal trainwreck from happening.

"I knew you were going to do that," he uttered before his tone became more infuriated. "You still owe me a hat, y'know? Do you even know how much it cost?! Bring it on, twerps!"

He pointed his cane at me and fired at a missile that was blocked by Pyrrha's shield when she went in front of me. Ren charged in and clashed both of his daggers with his cane. Pyrrha joined in and went to Torchwick's back and fought with his xiphos. Torchwick was noticeably having trouble dealing with two Huntsman back and forth, and it was a good opportunity to bypass him."

"You go on ahead, we'll handle him!" Pyrrha said, parrying all of Torchwick's attacks.

I quickly ran to the door of the car. Torchwick noticeably tried to fire a missile at me before I closed the steel door, slightly feeling the missile as it detonated behind it.

I ran straight through the last couple of cars before finally making my way to the locomotive as fast as I could. Looking to the front window, I could visibly see the dead-end from a couple of miles away. I quickly looked around the controls for a brake before spotting the lever.

I was overjoyed after seeing that I immediately went toward it. As I was about to pull it, someone from behind began to choke me with an umbrella and I was pulled away from the train controls. I tried struggling my way out while the umbrella was pulling my throat. I reached for my pistol and began firing at my back, making the assailant dance around until they were forced to let me go.

Gasping for air, I looked up to see my attacker. Horrifyingly, it was none other than The Neapolitan Butcher herself. She blocked the train controls and wagged one of her index fingers. I almost shat myself at the mere sight of her. There were a lot of things I wasn't looking forward to seeing, but she took the cake. I swear, I would rather charge at an army of Atlesian Paladins head-on with only a plastic spoon than be in the same room with her, never mind looking at her eye-to-eye.

Torchwick probably knew that he wasn't going to win this and was trying to hold off us for as long as he could. He only let me go because he knew that his pint-sized sidekick was waiting and I was too caught up with the stuff that was happening that I forgot to be wary of her.

There was no turning back from it. I had to get rid of her and pull that break before it was too late. I holstered my pistol, raised my shield, and charged at her. She dodged to her right and pulled me with her umbrella's crook handle so I could stay away from the controls as she shifted in front of it again. I threw quick slashes at her, all of which she managed to dodge and repel. She pulled her blade from the umbrella and tried to stab me with it but I was able to block it in time. She started fencing me with her blade, even occasionally trying to hit me with her umbrella sheath.

As I continued to trade blows with The Neapolitan Butcher, I suddenly heard Nora exclaiming through a speaker. "Conductor, we have a problem! Conductor, we have a problem! Conductor, we have a problem!" She kept repeating herself and I wondered what she was blabbering about in an intercom when she and Ren were still presumably fighting Torchwick. That was before I looked at the window behind my opponent and saw that the dead-end was only a mile away, prompting me to swing my sword around, desperately trying to hit the Butcher or at least get her out of the way.

She continued to parry my attacks before she began rapidly stabbing, pushing me back every time she hits my shield. Suddenly the door behind me opened and I heard Pyrrha call my name. With that, I stepped to my side as the Butcher was pulled to the last car when Pyrrha magnetized her weapon.

Without wasting another second, I moved toward the brake and pulled it as hard as I could. The rails began to squeal as the speeding train decelerated while its momentum pushed it to get near the wall within half a mile. I quickly looked back and saw the Neapolitan Butcher widening her eyes as she looked into the front window and suddenly disappeared when I glanced away for a moment.

Pyrrha and I watch the locomotive's window as it shows the tunnel's end getting closer. I slowly walked back as the train increasingly slowed down as it was reaching the wall within a few more yards. While the locomotive's very end touched the wall, the train fully stopped, with the barrier barely scathed.

I almost fainted as I caught my breath, panting heavily and wiping off my sweat, mumbling in disbelief that we were able to make it. "W-We did it..."

Pyrrha later entered the locomotive and rushed to check on me, no longer was she engaging the Neapolitan Butcher as she suddenly just vanished. "Jaune! Are you okay?"

"Yeah… we made it…" I puffed, mustering words with my remaining strength. I felt nauseous after holding it off since I rode this train and because of all the adrenaline that pumped inside me. "I think I'm going to throw up."

I exited the locomotive and vomited near the rails. After being a student at Beacon for almost half a year, this may have been the wildest event I have experienced, putting every other adventure in which I had the misfortune of being into shame, and I was not happy about it. Still, it could have been much worse, which is why I was glad that it came to this instead.

Pyrrha and I headed back to the preceding cars while going around, searching for items, and even breaking some crates in the process since I wasn't able to loot bodies in the rush. I found some ammunition and a few dust crystals, while they were underwhelming—they were good enough for me. At least I wasn't going to leave that mess empty-handed.

Strangely and also amusingly, I also found a well-hidden stash of human porn on the caches. This was rich coming from a group that despises humans. [3] I suppose it's true that people tend to fetishize what they hate. I decided to take it when Pyrrha wasn't looking, I needed something that would help me 'de-stress' after this anyway.

We reunited with Ren and saw Torchwick lying on the ground, cable-tied and handcuffed. I can already see that he ran out of aura. Good, at least he's not getting away this time. Pyrrha probably made sure of that.

Ren was leaning on the wall, panting. "Is it over?"

"Yep. There won't be any breaches at this hour." I asserted with a smirk.

"What a relief," he remarked after taking a deep breath, still panting off the excitement he had been having.

Torchwick just chuckled. "You only won the battle, kid, but not the war." He sneered before coughing. "You can't hold me like this forever! I've broken out of the joint before and I'll do it again!"

We decided to just ignore him, it's probably just ramblings of a defeated criminal after an operation he must have spent months planning was botched.

Nora and Doctor Oobleck arrived a few minutes later. Both of them looked just as tired as us, which was saying a lot since these two are known for having energy that's off the charts.

"You guys did it!" Nora bounced to Ren and hugged him while still holding her hammer in its full form with only one of her hands.

"We did it," I corrected Nora. Honestly, I mostly said that because I thought it would make sense for me to say it and because it was simply a fact. I doubt that I would have been able to reach the end of the train if it weren't for everyone's help

"You sure right we did!" She chirped, letting go of Ren, and pumped a fist.

"Outstanding work, children! Simply outstanding!" Doctor Oobleck congratulated. "I have accompanied students in my lengthy career more times than I could count, but this is easily the most remarkable one to date, which is especially more impressive when you consider that you are only freshmen on your first mission! So, I guess it is true that this generation of Huntsmen would be extraordinary." He looked over to Torchwick who stared at him back in disgust. "Not only that you were able to prevent a terrorist attack that would have resulted in a breach that would threaten the safety of the kingdom, but you managed to seize a major criminal who the authorities had been hunting for a long period of time.

"Good gods! Take a damn breath. Geez, Louise." Torchwick shook on the ground whilst still tied and cuffed. "This nerd here is your teacher? Holy crap, I can't imagine how you catch up with this guy. Now I remember why I dropped myself from school; teachers just don't know when to shut up."

Believe me, I know the feeling. But if there was someone who deserved to shut up, I'm pretty sure the answer is obvious and it's not the doctor himself.

"Fancy meeting you too, Roman Torchwick. Wanted for several accounts of armed robbery, racketeering, kidnapping, arms dealing, parole violation, possession of illegal items, hijacking, grand larceny, and more recently, being an accessory to terrorism." Doctor Oobleck replied.

"Why, I'm flattered with the recognition. Too bad I can't sign you an autograph when I'm tied like this." He scoffed.

The doctor smirked. "That wouldn't be a problem. I'll be more delighted to see you in a maximum-security cell."

I looked around inside the train car and picked up his cane after I found it. "Hey, don't touch that," Torchwick yelled.

Oh? Alright then, I'll just give it to Nora. I tossed it to her and when she caught it, gave a nod as she already knows what to do with it. She gripped it with both of her hands and bent it firmly until it snapped into two pieces.

Torchwick's reaction was what you'd expect. With that, he had lost his smug demeanor. "Gods Damn You! This is some Grade-A bullshit! That was my sweet little baby!" He threw a temper tantrum on the floor. "Neo! Neo! Where is she?! What have you done to her?!"

Being reminded of his midget sidekick made me a little more cautious, knowing she was still likely alive and could ambush us off-guard at any moment. But to my surprise, she thankfully didn't appear at all when I expected her to.

"Do you even know what you're up against?!" Torchwick continued to snarl. "I work with pretty dangerous people, you damn white knight. When you find out who they are, you'll be wishing you had stayed at home today. Mark my words!"

I faced away and took a few steps. The thing was, I already wished I stayed at home, and it's true that I have no idea who is even behind Torchwick, but I do at least know that he lost and I threw a wrench on his works and I couldn't be bothered to listen to him babble. While I was indeed terrified of whoever Torchwick is working for, they could use a hint. As shameful it would be, I am the Hero of Podunk, after all; so maybe they should be reminded of that.

"Nora." I gripped my fists and turned to her, making her stand upright as she waited for her order. "Break. His. Legs."

For a second she paused, unsure if I was serious but then she made an affirmative smirk and readied her hammer. "With pleasure."

Torchwick froze in fear and prayed to himself that I'm bluffing. "You wouldn't!"

"No brakes on the pain train!" Nora said as she slowly walks to a tied and panicking Torchwick.

"I don't think I want to see this..." Pyrrha calmly, yet nervously remarks as she turns away from the impending violence.

"Trust me, you haven't seen the worst of her yet," Ren responded.

I looked away too; the thought was already terrifying enough that I'd rather not think about it in my sleep by witnessing it with my very own eyes. The sounds were no less haunting, with Torchwick screaming as his bones break while a large hammer thumps. If this wasn't someone who committed numerous crimes and almost made Grimm leak to the city while giving liars and cheaters like me a bad name, it would have been a million times more uncomfortable.

"Is this necessary, Mr. Arc?" Doctor Oobleck commented, looking genuinely surprised. In hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have done it while my teacher was still in front of me.

"It's one way to keep him out of trouble next time, he did say already broke out of prison before," I replied in a matter-of-factly tone. He's already seen us crippled, if not outright killed, several faceless White Fang goons a few minutes before this. Why should he even bother that I broke the bones of a wanted criminal who has been outrunning the law for who knows how long?

He stared at me for a few more seconds still looking unsure. I must have shocked him so much that he didn't speak fast or say something drawn out. "You are indeed an Arc…and maybe I should leave at that," he said, followed by more silence. I don't know what he meant by that, but as long as this isn't affecting my grades too much I honestly couldn't care less.

Nora was finished turning a crime lord into a cripple. With that, it was safe to turn around and look at him again. "That… was uncalled for! Arg!" he grunted, weakly shaking his upper body as his lower body remained numb.

"Like bombing the tunnels to summon Grimm trying to crash a train so they could get in the city?" I snidely retorted.

"Screw you, kid! My employers are going to kill you and they are dead serious about it."

"I looked forward to seeing them then. Your boss could use a message." I feigned confidence to give him an impression of the hard-as-balls hero I've been pretending to be since the beginning. I admit, it felt cathartic giving this guy what he deserved, but I hope his employers would just buzz off and realize that I'm not worth it. Really, they'll be doing both of us a favor.

"Yeah, tell 'em, Fearless Leader!" Nora cheered. "Whoever they are, we'll be ready for them!"

He groaned. "I knew working with those stupid fucking sheep wasn't worth the pay," I heard him mutter to himself.

"Alright, that's enough." Doctor Oobleck stepped in and took everyone's attention. "Now, we have good news and bad news. The bad news is that the Grimm are still in the tunnels, and given the amount of negative energy within this train coming from the defeated opposition, they will arrive shortly."

Oh, crap we almost forgot. While they were a couple of miles away with the bodies for them to play with, which gave us time, there was still a massive horde that would overwhelm us and which we wouldn't be able to handle because we used almost all of our energy and resources on the previous battle.

"The good news, however, is that there's an emergency exit nearby that would lead us to Vale's sewers. After getting through that, we'll be home in no time."

"The sewers? Eww." Nora repulsively said.

"It would be worth getting through that if it means getting back to Beacon," Ren stated.

"I agree, after everything we've been put through, I'd say the stench of the sewers is the least of our concerns." Pyrrha chimed in.

No objections. It was easier to endure the smell of shit for a relatively short moment than hold a line against the Grimm in a long tunnel. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go home before the Grimm catches us."

Everyone went to get off the train. Nora carried Torchwick while he was still tied. We could already see the emergency exit from a few feet while hearing growls of incoming Grimm from the tunnels.

"At this point, I just want the Grimm to just kill us all already!" Torchwick yelled. I had a feeling that he was just going to keep talking until we put him out of his misery. Not a chance, he's going back to jail with broken legs and we're going to get paid for it, one way or the other. Just need to make the trip back to civilization a little more bearable. I wasn't going to have him throw a fit my whole way out here. I prefer that he saves it for the unfortunate coppers who would be babysitting him.

"Somebody, please shut him up," I demanded. Nora complied and tapped his head hard, putting him out cold and decreasing the negative energy in the area to feed off the Grimm in several ways, one of them being that it gave us peace and quiet now that we don't have to listen to his whining anymore. "There, that'll knock some sense to ya'."

Once we made it to the exit, it was pretty much over. Traveling through the sewers felt like a walk in the park compared to what we had to go through.

That was one hell of a first mission. I knew that a mission labeling itself as having moderate Grimm activity sounded too safe and easy to be true. I needed sleep; I haven't slept that whole night. That would be a good enough reward for me.

=o=

1. The White Fang was only able to make a few bombs since they weren't able to gather enough resources to make a sufficient amount, their previous failed robberies being one of the few factors. That is not even mentioning the bombs that were not able to be loaded due to Team JNPR's abrupt entrance.
2. They were supposed to be unloaded but due to Team JNPR's discovering one of their hideouts, Torchwick had to depart the train early.
3. Additionally, they are staunchly against interracial relationships, viewing them as much of an act of degeneracy the same way their human counterparts hate it.

Chapter Text

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To Survive and Prosper

EPILOGUE

"So let me get this straight: You subdued an entire base of a terrorist cell, captured one of the kingdom's most wanted criminals, and prevented a breach that would have at least cost hundreds of thousands of damages—all because they were blocking your way to the exit?" The Great & Powerful Ozpin asked with his brow raised after I told him the whole thing. While he appears to believe it for the most part—he was having trouble being convinced that I was trying to escape to save my own skin. I thought that trying to stop the train was one way to do it, which it was, judging that I was able to make it back here.

"That pretty much sums all of that up," I answered.

It was seven hours after we arrived back in Vale. After going through the sewers, we left Torchwick to the nearest police patrol and have him taken to the precinct. We also informed them of the White Fang's presence on the subway to Mountain Glenn, and they better give me a bounty reward soon; capturing one of Vale's most wanted while clearing a terrorist base is no small feat. After all the bullshit I went through, I deserve a vacation that I can pay for with my own money.

We took a Bullhead back to Beacon; all exhausted and stinking from the dirt we got during the fight and after making a trip through the sewers that everyone was staying at least ten feet away from us. Doctor Oobleck patted all of our backs and then we went back to our dorms. Each of us took a quick shower before plopping ourselves to bed for a well-deserved sleep.

After waking up at the start of the afternoon, we were all told to be summoned to Ozpin's office with Doctor Oobleck. He commended us for our work after hearing Doctor Oobleck's remarks about our performance. He then lead my teammates out, leaving me alone so I could have another private chat with the Headmaster about my recent exploit.

"If that's ever truly the case, then it's certainly astonishing to see what you'd do just so you could make your leave," Ozpin stated. "So far, you are the only person I have known that truly earned the right to brag about preventing an outbreak and having a wanted criminal apprehended on their first mission as a freshman—yet, you chose not to. Choosing to instead refer to your success as a result of sheer luck."

That and mostly because my teammates were there. Honestly, I shouldn't be getting most of the credit here, most of what I did was pull a brake. Granted, we were racing against the clock and it took some blood and sweat while we were on Hell's Railroad with terrorists and psychopaths on board, but let's be honest, anyone could pull a brake. [1]

"Professor... Please be honest with me." I took a deep breath and began inquiring about the question that had been bugging me since I took the mission. "Did you manipulate the mission board so I could pick that one particular mission?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny the possibility, Mr. Arc," he remained firm and still.

I begged to differ, there was no smoke without fire and all of the smoke seemed to be coming from him. "Sounds like a 'yes' to me."

"And assuming that's even true, what would happen if I did not set the mission up for you? What would have happened if you did not intervene with the White Fang plot? Do you think that the situation would have ended well?" He asked as he calmly retorted.

"Maybe. Maybe not. I mean, there's always Team RWBY." I pointed out. "I mean, we're not the only option you have."

"A welcome alternative if you ask me. However, I would have been skeptical considering Team RWBY—while there is no denying that they are exceptionally skilled especially when they truly work together, they are currently too problematic to be trusted with something within this scale. Especially considering that one of them is a former member with a personal history with the organization and another is on probation," he responded. "I prefer for them to take time and overcome their own issues first."

"Is that why you picked me instead?" I narrowed my eyes slightly at him.

"You should look back and observe what you've managed to accomplish, Jaune. You just need to put some faith in yourself and you will understand," he said before he grabs to finish his mug. "Because regardless of what motivated you, a breach would have been a huge problem. It would hurt the kingdom economically with the potential damages, civilian casualties, and lawsuits while negatively impacting the upcoming festival as the kingdom's safety would be questioned."

That would have been a tragedy for sure, my problem was that he just had to make it my responsibility for whatever reason when I'm only a freshman who wanted a straightforward mission. "I guess you're right if you put it like that," I admitted. "But still, I did not appreciate going through all of that." He should have sent fully-trained Huntsmen instead, they would have done it smoother than we did. The only reason why that disaster was so successful was that my teammates were competent enough to carry me out of it alive.

"Then be glad it resulted in this instead of your funeral. Like I mentioned previously, I would never send you on tasks I know you cannot accomplish and you were able to handle this efficiently." Ozpin asserted.

"Whatever," I said, rolling my own eyes, having enough of his sugarcoating of the incident. "Just let me celebrate for not dying in the suicide mission you sent me."

"As you wish, then. Just remember what you managed to fulfill," he declared as he continued to stare at me stoically. "You now have my permission to leave. Thank you for your time, Mr. Arc."

"You're welcome, Ozpin, the Great & Powerful," I scoffed before turning away and leaving his office.

I took the elevator, descending back to the ground floor before exiting the Beacon Tower. I reunited with my team who was waiting for me in the courtyard. Team RWBY was also there with impressed looks on their faces. I guessed that they heard about everything we went through that morning.

"Oh look, he's finally here!" Ruby pointed at me and chirped. I noticed that she was wearing a backpack for some reason when her teammates didn't seem like they were carrying anything else, not even their weapons. So it was not like they were going on their mission yet.

"Here he is, our knight and shining armor who made all of this possible!" Nora cheerfully gestured to me as I approached them.

"Is it true? Did you really get what Torchwick was coming to him?" Yang excitedly asked.

I sighed internally, knowing that I had to put up with the humble hero act yet again. It has been barely a few days since I've barely escaped that bank robbery. "Yeah. Let's just say you won't be hearing anything from him in a long while." I said. And I hoped that I wouldn't have to confront the White Fang ever again, I had more than enough of those morons.

"Serves that jerk right," Ruby remarked.

"And did you really break his legs? I would do that myself but it's good to know that he'll be spending time in a wheelchair." Yang remarked. It seemed to me that there was no point in keeping secrets now that they know about that.

"Ya' darn right we did. Ain't that right, Fearless Leader?" Nora chirped.

"Yeah, you could say we did," I told them. That surprised them greatly, my rather indifferent tone didn't help. Ruby meanwhile widened her eyes, Blake took a nervous step back, and Weiss looked like she started to regret disrespecting me since the first day.

"Woah. Holy—" Yang recoiled in genuine shock, nervously glancing to her side while remaining impressed. "Remind me never to get on your bad side then."

"Sure, whatever. Does anyone else know about this?" I asked, hoping that they would say no but unfortunately…

"Uh, yeah. A word about it just spread recently." Ruby answered. I just stared at her with a straight face while shouting a million cries internally that would have been so powerfully loud that I could make both of the gods' divine ears bleed. This will guarantee that I would find myself in another scenario that would put me in harm's way. I don't know who started it, whether it was Doctor Oobleck, Ozpin, or someone from my team, I'm definitely going to have less sleep these days.

"Hey, Jaune. You guys were at Quadrant 5, right?" Blake suddenly asked.

"Yeah, why?" I replied with a curious brow.

"Have you, by any chance, encountered a bull faunus with a red sword among the White Fang?"

While what happened was a little blurry, I don't recall seeing anyone with a red sword of sorts that is not Pyrrha's weapon. It would have stuck out like a sore thumb if there was one. "No, I can't say I have."

"That figures," she said, slightly disappointed. "At least, Torchwick won't be causing trouble in a while. I doubt that this will be the end for the Fang's Valish cell though."

"Maybe not but this is a huge blow to them," I said to her. "Especially if you consider that this is what they've been trying to work on ever since they started robbing dust stores."

"What do they even seek to accomplish by causing a breach?" Blake muttered and asked rhetorically. "I know that the White Fang was a far cry from what they are, but I never thought they would stoop this low."

"We may never even know. All that matters is that we stopped them from harming innocents." Pyrrha said.

"It's for the best, Blake." Weiss put a hand on her shoulder before she hesitantly looked back at me. "Good work, Arc… that is all that I could say."

"Uhh, thanks," I replied, not knowing what to think of her rare compliments. It was then I was reminded of something. "Wait, I've been thinking. I realized that the mission we took doesn't actually have moderate Grimm activity, and you girls said that you've tried to take a Search & Destroy Mission but you couldn't because it wasn't available to students."

They all widened their eyes and glanced around in embarrassment before reluctantly admitting it. "Heh! Well, you got us," Ruby confessed. "We thought that we could use it to help Blake out to stop the White Fang but obviously we couldn't so we just went with the other mission because it's on the same quadrant, we just have to wait it out."

"Well, good thing we were there to stop them ourselves then," I remarked, upholding the illusion that what happened wasn't a result of a dumb accident that would have cost my life.

"Yeah, it's pretty convenient," Yang commented. "Looks like we don't have to go snooping around the place for the hideout then."

"I'll have to disagree. We would still have to check to see if there were any remaining White Fang posts there. There might be some info that they weren't able to dispose of last morning," Blake insisted. It appears she hasn't dropped her White Fang obsession yet but at least she'll be continuing her crusade against them through an actual mission, one of which doesn't involve me. I've been there and done that.

"Then it begs to ask, why were you able to get the mission when we couldn't? And why does it label itself only saying that the Grimm activity there was moderate?" Weiss inquired to us with clear bewilderment and suspicion.

"Gee, I have no idea," I said as I glared back at the top of the tower. One day, I'll get back on The Great & Powerful Ozpin. For now, I'll let him savor the success of another one of his schemes.

Before we could discuss this further, a creature jumped out of Ruby's backpack. It was a puppy—a corgi to be exact with black and white fur.

I sighed upon seeing a dog. I'd be happy to see one if it wasn't for my terrible history with them. I could still remember one biting me hard as a kid that I had to be sent to the hospital like it was yesterday.

"Zwei, I told you to stay in the bag!" Ruby told the dog. "You know we'll get in trouble if people here see you." Fortunately, the courtyard wasn't that populated. You'll get a few students passing through but that was it. It probably has something to do with most first-years being away for their mission. [2]

"This is your dog?" Pyrrha looked at the dog as it chased its tail and barked.

"Aww~ it's adorable!" Nora squealed as she leaned toward it.

"I thought Beacon doesn't allow pets. How did it get past security?" Ren inquired.

"Oh, Dad snuck him in via mail." [3] Yang answered. I can't imagine how dark that creature's journey was then. I remember Bleu telling me that Beacon has rather mediocre security, maybe that had something to do with it.

"Can't be worse than a cat," Ren remarked, making a certain faunus narrow her eyes at him, causing him to quickly apologize and rephrase his statement. "Sorry."

"Look, Zwei, these are our friends from Team JNPR," Ruby said as she turned it toward us. "There's Ren, Nora, Pyrrha, and their leader, Jaune!"

Zwei pants while it happily looks at my team until it turned toward me. I nervously took a step back as it stared at me for a couple of seconds. It then snarled and pounced toward my feet as it began to bite off my pants.0

"Zwei! Get off him!" Ruby rushes in as she pulled it away from my pants. "Bad dog! Say sorry to Jaune!"

Zwei whimpered at her before turning back to growl at me again.

"That's weird, I haven't seen Zwei act like that to anyone," Yang remarked, noticing how Zwei seemed to dislike me for whatever reason.

"I think that animals just don't like me," I responded. Seriously, just go ask Verte and she'll be recounting all of the times when her pets attacked me starting from the week when I was born.

"Why would they? You're such a nice guy," asked a puzzled Ruby.

It's maybe because they could sense me being a fraudulent bastard, I thought. "Beats me."

Nora's stomach growled. "Hey, guys, I'm hungry. Let's get to Vale and get ourselves something to eat."

"Sounds good. We could use it to celebrate our recent success," Pyrrha nodded.

"Let's come with you!" Ruby suggested as she puts Zwei back in her backpack. "We still haven't got our lunch. Oh! We should go for tacos, it's Taco Tuesday, after all," she then playfully poked her elbow at Weiss. "Guess who will be paying."

"Don't get too used to it," Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Tacos would be nice." I nodded in approval.

"Okay, tacos it is—!" Yang chirped before remembering something. "Aw crap, I almost forgot. I can't go with you guys, I'm still not allowed to go to the city for a few more weeks." She frowned.

As much as I was tempted to have her team ditch her and go to the taco place anyway, the thought of doing so didn't sit well for me. Everyone is praising me for the things that I apparently did while they are still being condemned for their mistakes when I have done worse myself. Even if I insist, I don't think her team would abandon her like that, and I'll just end up looking like a selfish jerk. "Well we can't just go out with your team without you, this is supposed to be a time for all of us. So how about we just eat in the cafeteria?"

"That's fine. Are there any tacos there?" Ruby gave a curious look.

"They have burritos, and I think that's good enough for me!" Nora smiled, of course, she would know these things.

"Well, the cafeteria it is then!" Ruby bubbled, raising one of her arms.

"I hope it's not gonna end in another food fight," Blake jested with a light smile followed by laughter from the group.

"You guys are really sticking around for me?" Yang looked at us in amazement. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

I smiled, knowing it made her day better. Sure she was being taught a lesson because of her devil-may-care attitude but at least she had friends that weren't going to leave her behind just so they could have a good time. "Alright, let's not dilly-dally around here any longer. My stomach is killing me," I said.

So we all went to Vale with Team Ruby, Weiss, and Blake. Yang was still not allowed within city grounds for a few weeks so she had to stay. It was one hell of a first mission we had and I was still recovering from that. The following missions should be less complicated, I figure this one was only wilder than it was due to unfortunate circumstances that I could have avoided. The good news is that I won't have to worry about Torchwick and his White Fang slaves for a while.

Unfortunately, I think I might have pissed off his employers. So unless I scared them off with how I handled Torchwick, I may have extended the list of people who want to kill me now. And since Ruby mentioned that people heard about what I did, then I might have also made my undeserved reputation even worse.

Way to go, Jaune.

[On that note, this extract from the Jaune Archive has finally come to its natural conclusion.]

=o=

1. While not exactly false, this is blatantly just another example of Jaune attempting to downplay his achievements to make himself look selfish and less heroic. Remember that his leadership is what led to making his victory possible as I doubt that other people would be even able to reach the brake, considering what he had to face.
2. Although they began the operation early, the White Fang intended to start the breach during that week, when most of the Huntsmen were away doing their missions.
3. Speaking of which, Ruby did consider mailing all of us to Mountain Glenn when we realized that its mission was not available to first-years. I personally am glad we didn't since we would have a lot of trouble breathing inside boxes. On the topic of Zwei getting past security, it's very likely that Taiyang was able to get him in because of his connections with the Beacon staff.

Editorial Note:

Before I close this volume, I will once again add an excerpt from a White Fang report, detailing the aftermath of their failed operation, to give you an impression of the impact Team JNPR left on the organization that day.

It should be noted that the author of the previous reports was killed in action during the train battle, it is unknown if his death was caused by Team JNPR or the Grimm. Whichever may be the case, this report was written by a White Fang member who remained in the Mountain Glenn outpost when the train departed and managed to avoid being arrested when it was raided by the military. The differences are quite an apparent judging how the writing is less eloquent (although less pretentious) than in the previous reports.

The White Fang Reports: Trouble at Mountain Glenn

Alright, where do I start?

Do you remember the operation that we've been working on for months ever since Adam made a deal with some mysterious people?

Well, to put it lightly, it all went to shit.

Sorry, if reading this sounded a little unprofessional to you, the guy who was supposed to write these things died that day. I'm in charge of these reports now and I'm not really much of a writer, so please bear with me for a moment; I'm still trying to get used to this.

Here is everything I could recall during that day.

The truth is that we actually had to take the train leave earlier than expected because The Valish Defanger came in and started fucking everything up so much that the train departed before we were done loading and unloading stuff. Hell, there were some bombs that we haven't been able to load inside it and that's not even mentioning that we were missing some of them because we didn't get enough money to reach our quota.

While we managed to blow up some holes in the tunnels for Grimm to enter, the train wasn't able to reach the barrier towards Vale. None of our members on board were able to come back from the tunnels alive—even Vandyke Fawkes was reportedly killed by the Grimm. But somehow the Defanger and his followers managed to make it out with Torchwick captured.

The Grimm later ended up infesting our underground base at Mountain Glenn, forcing us to move out. VDF and Atlesian forces soon arrived and started shooting and arresting every one of our comrades they saw. I was one of the few that managed to escape to the woods and reach one of our hidden outposts.

Soon after, we learned that Torchwick was taken by the Atlesians and was put on death row for his crimes. I know that none of us liked that asshole anyway but everything we worked up for was all for nothing. Why are we even working with these stupid humies anyway, and what was the point of it? This was their idea, and we lost half of the cell because of it.

Adam was so furious that we had to give him a new office. In spite of that, he told us to stay focused. Although this cell is now crippled, we still haven't lost everything yet. There is still hope and we could build our way back, he told us to think of all the oppressed faunus we are fighting for. He is someone all of us look up to. I believed in him and I only hope that he is right and that we will soon have our vengeance.

I guess this is the part where I write: The Revolution Will Not Be Humanized!

Update: We just found out that Torchwick's companion—The Neapolitan Butcher, or Neo, I think—has survived. I don't know how she was able to get out of the tunnels alive when none of our own was lucky, and she wouldn't tell us because she won't say a damn thing to begin with. But we do know that she'll continue to aid us in our mission and plans to break Torchwick out of prison somehow. If Adam could still trust this mute human, then maybe she could be beneficial to us.

Chapter Text

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

The Jaune Archive

The Phantom Grimm-ace

Editorial Note:

Normally, standalone entries like these are to be assigned to the Extras section as they are considered to be too trivial or too disconnected from other entries to be a part of a larger coherent volume, but I believe this particular record holds too much relevant information for later entries and is proven to be worthy of our attention that I have decided to use it as a bridge for the next volume after the previous one.

This was written three weeks following Team JNPR's first mission, detailing his second Huntsman mission as he was preparing for the Vytal Festival, accompanied by none other than my team, Team RWBY. As usual, I will continue to provide relevant additional information and commentary on certain details that Jaune might have neglected.

Weiss Schnee

Chief Executive Officer, Schnee Dust Company

It's been a while since the disaster that was my first mission, a mission that any other freshman would have died from. Following that nightmare, the news began to report that Torchwick was incarcerated; an attempted breach was prevented from reaching the city, and an entire White Fang base was raided by the military. Then someone spat out some rumors that I was the one behind all of it. It wouldn't be so bad had not the Great Powerful Ozpin decided to add fuel to the fire once again and confirm that my team and I were indeed responsible for all of those things, making my popularity go from ridiculous to ludicrous.

Word started spreading like a wildfire around the kingdom that it would have burnt down the entirety of this part of the continent if it was an actual fire. I'm now hailed as a modern national hero, being the partner of the Invisible Girl of Mistral made it more or less worse that I wouldn't be surprised if they would make us Couple of the Year even though we haven't even officially dated yet.

Swarms of journalists and fangirls were all over me when showing myself to the public that I took a page from Pyrrha's book by going incognito every time I had to go to the city just so I could prevent the godsdamn paparazzi from getting anything out of me. [1] I always hated those professional stalkers; journalists were always detective-wannabe pricks who make easy money by spouting their slanderous bullshit context be damned, but the paparazzi are an exceptional breed of them. My private life is called 'private' for a reason, you fucking degenerates. I mean, who the hell cares about the color of some famous person's underwear? A wise man once told me that there were no people on this planet that were more annoying than those who work in the media, and he couldn't have been more right about that.

I'm serious, my fame is getting out of control. I lost count of how many autographs I had to sign and how many girls fainted because I simply touched their hands. I had no choice but to accept this. The only thing I could do was be humble about it and try accrediting Ren and Nora for their roles while not freaking out. Sadly, they'll only be known as the duo who just happened to be teammates with Mr. Podunk and Ms. Mistral. The worst part was despite all this, I haven't gotten laid yet. Where's my father's seductive charm when you need it?

I found out that Valish White Fang's recruitment rate dropped significantly after that incident, thanks to fleeting morale, military raids on their bases, and the fact that they had become terrified of me as if I turned into their boogeyman. Hopefully, the remnants would be taken down quickly so I don't have to cross paths with them anymore, I've had enough of those racist hypocrite terrorist dickheads.

My family called and they told me that I was all over the news recently. They were pretty much proud that I was making the next steps as I carried the Arc family torch that I was too scared to let go of. Noire and Blanche said that they were even working on a tribute song about me for their concert this festival. Not really something I asked for, but they assured me that they are not including my embarrassing childhood moments in it, because as much as they like to playfully bully me as much as my other sisters, they wouldn't want that to ruin my dignity and image. That's the only good thing I could say about this.

At this point, I'm convinced that the Gods truly exist and they just love to toy with me. Some people would beg to differ and say that gods only exist if good things happen to you and bad things happen to people you don't like because they feel like the gods owe us everything. Now, I've personally never been one to have strong feelings over whether they're real or not despite my rather religious upbringing but the fact that I'm still not dead yet despite what I had to go through proves that there are bored higher beings that want to suck some fun out of me while making sure I live to see the next adventure they'll set me up with.

To be fair, I kinda deserve all of this aside from giving me my unearned reputation, but then again it could be just another punishment knowing how much I don't want this kind of attention and that they see it as a way to spice things up.

Anyway, I was having such a nice day to the point that I'd almost forgotten the things that had been bothering me for the past months, my only remaining concern was helping prepare for the Vytal Festival which was coming within less than a week.

Culture clubs have opened for freshmen who are interested in certain hobbies and for additional festival activities. None of the clubs interested me so I didn't join any of them. I had nothing to do but train for the tournament while helping with the decorations once again. Indeed, even if we were done with community service, there was still some work for us to do. Some things just never change.

It wasn't much of a sweat, all we did was make props out of paper or cardboard, place decorations and arrange some tables. I honestly wouldn't mind doing this until the preparations were complete, and I would have certainly chosen this over the mission that I was going to if only I had any idea that it was going to be another one that happened to be more trouble than it was worth.

It all started when Team JNPR and RWBY were taking our lunch breaks after a morning of training and organizing, [2] when suddenly, The Great Powerful Ozpin announced in the P.A. that he wants all eight of us in his office. We had no idea why he specifically called us so we finished our lunch and then headed to his office at the Beacon Tower.

"Ah, good. You're all finally here." Ozpin turned away from the office's window as he faced all of us coming from the entrance, Miss Goodwitch was beside his desk, still carrying her tablet per the norm.

"Is there something you need from us, Professor Ozpin?" Ruby asked. Under that curious expression, I could also feel that she was very excited to get involved in another daring adventure that would ruin the perfectly adequate peace we were having.

I was hoping that Ozpin had a good reason for why he was calling for both of our teams because otherwise, he was better off only sending Team RWBY or getting someone else to help them. "I do, Ruby, and I very seldom call students to my office for a special assignment. Consider yourselves to be the fortunate few who had the privilege of being in one."

He can word it whatever he liked but there was no changing the fact that it was bad news for me. I've just barely recovered from my misadventures in Mountain Glenn. Not half a minute in and I was already shuddering with what Ozpin's been trying to allocate me with. I've been glancing at the office's door, thinking about bailing and launching myself out of the kingdom and never be seen or heard from again.

Everyone looked at each other, befuddled in disbelief that Ozpin had just abruptly sent us here for an unexpected task. Ruby meanwhile, squealed excitedly as her eyes sparkled. "A special assignment?!"

"This is a bit sudden. Why choose us for this particular task, Professor?" Pyrrha questioned.

"I'm glad you asked, Miss Nikos. Both of your teams have proven to be quite remarkable, not only among the freshmen but to the entirety of the school as well, surpassing even some of the most prodigious of your upperclassmen, that I noticed some of them being envious of you."

"It's what we do best, professor," Weiss proudly boasted.

"And we couldn't have done it without our fearless leader!" Nora chirped, making some of them look at me with satisfied expressions as Yang bumped my shoulder.

I grinned back at them in modest satisfaction when in actuality I was doing my best to hide my embarrassment and the slight grimace on my face. Attention like this was what I was trying to avoid as my increasing fame was becoming more turbulent with my every move.

Stepping forward, I made my inquiry so we could get this over with and sway everyone's attention away from my reputation for the moment. "What do you have for us, professor?"

"Before I brief you on this special task. I would like to inform you that this is of utmost importance and I am trusting both of your teams with it." Ozpin stated bluntly. "If you manage to handle it well, you will be exempted from this semester's exams as you have already proven to be suited for another year at Beacon, a written examination won't be necessary for your grades."

"Oh yeah! Now we're talkin'! This will be a piece of cake." Yang pumped. One of these days, she is going to be the first to get herself killed or at the very least seriously wounded, I could feel it. Thank The Brothers she has a semblance that makes her a nightmare every time she's hit (and also gives her the ability to utter real swear words too.) Meanwhile, I still had to wait for Nora to get electrified or find a way to cast electric dust on her without being caught so she could use hers. Because even if it's quite clear that she idolizes me, I still don't want to take the chance of pissing her off that she'll break my bones without thinking.

"Sounds like I don't need to tutor you three anymore" Weiss commented with a smirk. "Whatever this is, I'm up for it."

"You can count on us, Professor!" Ruby chirped.

"Good to hear, Team RWBY." Ozpin nodded to them before turning to me. "What about you, Jaune? What do you and your team have to say about this?"

All eyes moved toward me as they waited for my answer. While finishing a mission so I could automatically pass this semester's exam and finish this year without much of a hassle sounded like a win-win—something told me that I should go to the trouble of studying for the exams instead. But I could not afford to refuse the offer in front of my own team and Team RWBY, it would have left a bad impression.

So my only choice was to accept this, I just hoped that whatever I was about to go through would be worth it to pass the semester. On the bright side, I no longer needed to cram for nonsensical dust sciences that make algebra and geometry look like a kindergarten class and I get to rub it on everyone's faces. I could always rely on my team to carry me out of unwanted situations.

"We're up for it," I said confidently in a faux-asserting tone. "Whatever we need to do, I'm sure we can handle it. We didn't get here for nothing." I glanced at my teammates and saw Pyrrha and Ren expressing approval while Nora was squealing excitedly.

"That's the spirit," Ozpin beamed, looking glad that he made me say something he wants to hear from me again. "Now, do you acknowledge that the information I'm about to provide you is confidential and that whatever is said in this room, stays in this room?"

We all silently nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, I was increasingly getting nervous when he made it clear that this won't be an ordinary walk in the park. Not a minute in I was already questioning if it was a good idea to accept this so I didn't have to study.

"Splendid," he said before turning to Miss Goodwitch. "Glynda, if you will."

Miss Goodwitch tapped a few prompts on her tablet that folded the tower's window blinds, making the office almost completely dark until a blue light source came from a holographic screen on a wall, which all of our attention turned to.

Ozpin got up from his chair and stood next to the hologram as it displayed an area map of the Emerald Forest with some landmarks crossed. "A few days ago, the security network at the Emerald Forests had mysteriously shut down."

Though, considering that it failed to stop a Nevermore and a Deathstalker from entering, I doubt it would have made much of a difference.

"I sent Professor Port along with a few senior teams to investigate what was causing the disturbance. While they were able to successfully repair the security control centers back to working condition, they also made an interesting discovery." The hologram then displayed a photo of crates with a symbol of a hexagon with three bond lines at its angles and a stylized 'M' inside of it. The clearer image of the logo was displayed in a separate image. "This insignia was the logo of Merlot Industries; a once proud research company before it collapsed after the tragedy in Mountain Glenn."

"I heard of that company before." Weiss uttered, "I remember my father going on meetings with them."

"Aren't they the ones who conducted experiments that were so unethical they made your family's company look tame in comparison?" Blake snidely asked.

Weiss narrowed her eyes at her. "Hey, I was young and naïve then! I didn't know much about Merlot Industries but I do recall my father being infuriated by them for whatever reason."

"Now settle down, we'll discuss the company's ethics or lack thereof at another time. But right now, this is very important and I need you all to stay focused," Ozpin intervened, calming down the monochrome duo. "The devices that were used to disable the control centers and lure the Grimm bore this symbol, along with the crates, as you can see here. Now, it begs to ask, why are these objects carrying the logo of a now-defunct company? One would say that they were taken from their headquarters in Mountain Glenn. So I have requested General Ironwood to send some men there to investigate. Alas, this is what they found."

The holoscreen started playing video footage of an Atlesian Soldier somewhere under the tunnels of Mountain Glenn. It was a little hard to watch as the camera was constantly shaking and there were static everywhere. "This is Sergeant Wilhelm of Epsilon-7. We're witnessing a type of Grimm that we've never seen before. We need backup as soon as—Oh Gods, help me!"

It was then followed by screaming with the camera turning to give us a very brief look at the creature that attacked them. The camera shook, falling to the ground while it was tilted with some blood splattered on its lens. The soldier's screaming continued as the Grimm growled. Once the growling stopped, the hind legs of the mysterious Grimm trudged through the camera as it lay there.

Ruby and Pyrrha covered their mouths at the footage while the others looked no less shocked. Miss Goodwitch halted the footage and rewind it before pausing to a blurry frame of the Grimm that attacked them. It was blurry enough that we couldn't make out what the Grimm was and what it exactly looked like. Its shape resembled that of an Alpha Beowolf and we would have left to that conclusion if we didn't notice something green glowing on its back. If this was an Alpha Beowolf, it was no ordinary one, and this was very worrying since Alpha Grimm was already terrifying in their own right. The fact that it managed to wipe out a squad of technologically advanced trained soldiers made it more concerning.

"What is that?!" Blake questioned with her eyes widened.

"I don't know…" Ruby leaned in and squinted her eyes. "It looks like an Alpha Beowolf—except there are green things on it."

"While it's very likely to be a Beowolf, we cannot fully verify. It could possibly be mutated as no normal Grimm bears any green skeletons on its biology," Ozpin responded. "Two-thirds of the forces sent were later wiped out by an explosion from a bomb that was planted on the premises. Unless one of the soldiers were behind it, this tells us there was someone that was orchestrating all of this. We went to the conclusion that the person responsible for this was also behind the mysterious Grimm and the security breach at Emerald Forest. Someone has been tampering with Merlot Industries resources and whoever this is must be stopped before they can cause further chaos."

Perfect, another kingdom-wide case, I muttered to myself. How the hell do I keep getting myself into these? "What do you think we'll have to do then?" I asked.

"Both of your teams will be deployed on Forever Falls. Grimm Activity has increased above the norm, and there have been sightings of anomalous Grimm in the area. We presume these to be the same mutated Grimm on Mountain Glenn. Your mission is to scout the area, eliminate any opposition and find anything that could be used to track down the perpetrator behind this."

"We won't let you down, Headmaster." Ruby nodded followed by her teammates.

"You will be conducting this mission on your own. However, Doctor Oobleck will assist you via the school's communication network. He will watch over you as you carry out your task." Ozpin finished his mug of coffee and remotely unfolded the blinds, putting the light back in the office. "Good luck, students, and may the Gods watch over you." Ozpin turned off the screen and returned to his chair.

I'm sure they'll be watching, just don't expect them to make things easier for us, I thought.

"A Bullhead will be waiting for you within ten minutes, use this time to prepare and arm yourselves. Stay safe and fight well. This is a moment you have all been training for." Miss Goodwitch said as she went in front of the eight of us.

Without another word, we exited the tower and went to our respective dorms and lockers to gear up for the special assignment given to us.

"And I thought today will be relaxing." I heard Weiss murmur, sharing my thoughts exactly.

I guess I'll just have to do what I usually do then. Stay behind everyone, let them do most of the fighting, don't do anything stupid and I'll be fine. It's pretty much why I was even breathing today.

=o=

1. A fairly common practice used by high-profile individuals such as politicians and celebrities to avoid public recognition. Success usually varies depending on how well the user handles the disguise and how recognizable the person is. I can confirm that I also use this method myself when traveling alone without bodyguards.
2. During the week before the festival, all regular lessons were temporarily put to a halt so students may spend time preparing for the festival, whether it be training, organizing, maintaining their equipment, or preparing activities with their respective clubs.

Ah, the woods of Forever Falls, the magical place where I had been chased by rapier wasps and an Ursa Major, and also the place where I had begun my relationship with the White Fang.

We were dropped off somewhere north of the forest after another nauseating flight that made one of the paper bags I brought come in handy. We split away from Team RWBY as we went around the area, searching for anything out of the ordinary while killing the Grimm along the way while Doctor Oobleck acted as Mission Control. They were right when they said that there were more Grimm in the forest than usual, and there was something that has been causing the sudden increase, and it was our mission to find out why.

With my rural upbringing, I should have little trouble trekking through the grassy greenlands—eer—redlands of Forever Falls, but the increased number of Grimm attacks prevented this from becoming an ordinary stroll. However, it wasn't really that bad since most of the packs were Creeps, which are one of the weaker Grimm, and the holes they leave help you prepare for them. They're still pretty infuriating to handle on large packs especially when Creeps were known for constantly digging to the ground and making holes everywhere. I have to constantly check my feet to see if they might come out of it. At least Beowolves and Scavers know how to stand still even for a few seconds and make my life easier.

We kept searching for anything anomalous in the forest, while Nora whistled the tune of 'The Valish Grenadiers', which slightly lightened the mood but wasn't enough to make the Grimm any less aggressive.

Believe it or not, I was at a point where I hoped that something interesting happens because walking around, killing the same pack of Grimm over and over got annoyingly tedious real fast.

I pulled my sword from the Creep I slew from the last Grimm horde we dispatched when Ren found a pavement leading to somewhere, it was tempting enough not to follow. After noticing the pattern, it was unlikely that these things lead to nothing.

"Let's follow this path. Maybe it could take us to wherever our culprit is hiding." I said to my teammates who agreed without a question.

"Did you guys find something?" Ruby's voice asked on our scroll's channel.

"Just a path that could lead us to our target. You?" I replied.

"Nothing yet. We're still trying to look for the train tracks from Mountain Glenn, it might give us any leads."

"Well, whatever you're doing. I wish you luck," I replied. They were going to need it, the train tracks in Mountain Glenn weren't exactly a very pleasant place from my experience in it. My mission there was still fresh in my mind.

"You too," she said before suddenly singing after a big pause. "I've been working on the railroad. All the livelong day~ Wait, is this thing still on?"

I chuckled and put the scroll back in my pocket. It sounds like Nora isn't the only one singing a tune during a mission.

We found ourselves going uphill as we followed the path, we started noticing ruined stone columns appearing as we passed through them, indicating to us that this was more or less the right path. "We're heading somewhere, that's for sure," Ren commented. It should be, otherwise, it would be silly if they just paved the way for something that led to nowhere.

Once we finally went to the top, we saw that it stopped at the cliff, however, the road continued below the edge while there was a tall and large tree standing on a black square pedestal in the middle of it. We dropped ourselves down and decided to spend a quick break and take time to appreciate the large tree as we rest below the shade. A person with a dirty mind would say that whoever planted that tree is compensating for something.

"Wow..." Pyrrha stared at the tree, awestricken by its enormous size. "That tree is magnificent."

"It's so pretty!" Nora said before she took out her scroll. "Do we have time to take a picture?"

I looked around and took the time to admire the red forest. The scenery was admittedly nice to look at. It would have been a nice place for a picnic if it weren't for the Grimm lurking almost everywhere. Case in point, the peace was short-lived as we saw another Beowolf pack approaching us just a minute in.

"Pyrrha!" I turned to my team and issued the order. She nodded as she tossed her javelin around the Beowolves while using her semblance to swing them around midair. Nora took care of hammering the others while Ren and I stayed back and opened fire.

Creeps started popping from the ground, ruining what was otherwise a beautiful scenery with their burrows. I swung my sword towards them, slicing them off one by one as I blasted the others. Ren spun around the area, dispatching the other creeps by both shooting and stabbing at them.

Pyrrha was blocking a strike from an Alpha Beowolf's claw before swiftly rolling to its back. She grabbed the claw and stabbed the Alpha's torso until it fell dead and vanished away.

The area was cleared for a few minutes before Pyrhha spotted more Grimm hurtling toward us. "More Creeps!"

Could these things just give up? I irritably thought I turned around and pointed my gun at them. To my surprise and horror, I saw that these Creeps were larger in every aspect and they glowed green while having spikes of the same color on their back. "Wait a minute. Those aren't ordinary Creeps."

"Green spikes! It's those mutated Grimm we were told about." Ren reloaded both of his pistols and aimed at them.

"Ho-hoo sounds fun." Nora gave a slasher smile and gripped her hammer. "Let's crush 'em into paste!"

Being Grimm that we never have seen before, they were rather unpredictable unlike most of the mindless Grimm we fought, along with the mutations that could make them do something who knows what regular Grimm can't do. "Be careful, we don't know what these could do!" I warned them.

Pyrrha changed Milo to its rifle form and fired at one of them. With only two shots, the mutated Grimm exploded into a green substance. Ren only took fewer bullets than usual to dispatch one and it exploded just like the ones Pyrrha killed.

"They die quicker than regular Creeps, but they blow up once they're dying." The coin dropped as I figured out what to do with these mutants. "Everyone, switch to range weapons and keep your distance!"

We fired our weapons at the mutated Grimm, all of them erupting into green sludges almost effortlessly. A few more of them came out of their burrows as we rolled ourselves away from them before they exploded. I took out the last one with a single blast from my laser pistol. Afterward, the area was finally clear, with a few green liquids spluttered around the concrete pathway.

"I've seen plenty of Grimm in my life with varying shapes and sizes, but I've never seen anything like that," Ren remarked, and we could all say the same. We may be able to study different types of Grimm, regardless of they are common or rare, little or large, but these Grimm are different, as a result, we almost know nothing about them, it was fortunate that we managed to find out that Mutant Creeps explode by will or upon death, otherwise someone would have been seriously hurt if not dead.

I took some time to celebrate that we might be the first group to encounter these types of Grimm and live, which was relieving, if haunting, but otherwise I don't know how to feel about that.

"I know they look like Creeps but what kind of speshimen was that?" Nora asked, mispronouncing the word 'specimen'.

"I think it's pronounced 'spi-see-men', Nora," I replied except I think I was also wrong because I put too much emphasis on the second syllable.

"'Spe-seh-men', actually." Ren corrected.

"Potato-Tomato, what exactly are those things?" Nora inquired.

"We don't exactly know for sure, let's just say they're mutated Grimm like the ones we saw in the video during the briefing," I answered. "We need to notify Doctor Oobleck about this."

I took out my scroll and immediately heard the good doctor's voice. "Team JNPR! Are you alright?! Grimm activity was detected around your area and your aura levels were on alert status."

"Yeah, we handled them, doc. We even came across some mutated Creeps which could be the ones from Mountain Glenn. We were lucky enough to have them dispatched almost unscathed."

"You did? Could you describe them for me then?"

"They're like the regular ones, only that they're bigger and they glow green. They die quicker but they also explode on impact; they'll also do the same if they're too close to you." I explained.

"This is indeed concerning. Those mutated Grimm the poor soldiers found on Mountain Glenn were no fluke. This will require further study. It's fascinating... but very, very troubling. Excellent work, Team JNPR. Keep following those tracks, your encounter with them proves that you are going in the right direction. Be quick now, the longer we pursue who is behind all of this, the more mutated Grimm that will spawn."

I shuddered at that last statement; I was hoping I'd never meet these green exploding assholes again, but unfortunately, this was only the beginning. By the way, I have yet to meet that mutated Beowolf-looking Grimm back at the briefing that managed to kill a whole squad of soldiers. If these are mutated Creeps, I cannot imagine what other mutated Grimm would be like, aside from the obvious details like the green, glowing spikes.

"You guys found the Grimm with those green thingies?" Ruby said on the other side of the channel.

"Yep. When you find them, whatever you do, don't get too close to them. Those things blow up when they die or when you get too close," I warned them.

"That's a bummer, I wanted to punch whatever those things are head-on." Yang made an aside.

"We'll remember that," Ruby responded. "We found the tunnels to Mountain Glenn; we're going in, wish us luck."

"Ditto," I muttered before putting my scroll down and turning back to my team. "Looks like this is the way, guys, if this it's not, then who knows where these things are coming from."

"We should be careful, I'm sure there will be plenty more mutated Grimm we'll come across," Pyrrha added.

"Just remember what to do if you see it glow green," Ren stated.

"Don't worry, guys, we'll be poppin' those things before they could ever lay a claw on us." Nora bragged.

I sure hope so, I thought. "Right let's get back on track," I lead them into following the path uphill, with all our guns ready in case more mutated Grimm come. I felt like this was going to be a long journey.

And I had no idea how right I was.

We spent another few minutes treading the path uphill and there was a structure that was getting increasingly visible the more we got close to it. We later found an ancient stone building—a temple, if you will.

I made a subtle groan as I'm starting to get reminded of the initiation. At that point, I wouldn't be surprised if we found chess pieces inside that building and got chased by a Deathstalker or a Nevermore again. That got me thinking; if Creeps can get mutated, does that mean Deathstalkers and Nevermores could too? I hoped not and said to myself that I have to stop that maniac before he'll be able to make it possible.

"This must be the place," I said, momentarily gazing at its admittedly impressive architecture before pulling out my scroll to update the Doc. "Doctor Oobleck, we have arrived at the point of interest."

"Excellent. You know what to do now. I'm sure we are one step away from solving this mystery. Remember to remain cautious; we don't know what our mysterious adversary has in store for us, so expect the worst. Good luck, team."

"We shall take over this stronghold and I will declare myself the queen of this castle!" Nora said before cheerfully bouncing towards it as she sang her signature song.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" I glanced at my teammates as I checked my ammo, in case more mutated Creeps came.

"Ready," Pyrrha readied her rifle while Ren nodded with both of his machine pistols raised.

Pyrrha and I faced the front of the large temple doors while Ren and Nora pushed them open. I stood behind Pyrrha while pointing my pistol as she crouched and aimed her rifle toward the door with her shield raised. Once the doors were opened, it was clear of any hostiles but there were some transparent cages of different Grimm—mostly Creeps and Scavers.

On the bright side, it didn't take that much trouble getting here; imagine the door being locked that we would need to search the entire area, smashing pots like madmen to find a key, that would have been tedious and annoying.

"Dr. Oobleck, this is no ordinary temple," Pyrrha said on her scroll as we carefully walked through the temple's hall while glancing at the trapped Grimm. One of them almost startled me when it tackled its cage right beside me that I almost would have shot the cage out of shock and accidentally freed it. Hell, I noticed that most of them are staring at me, likely because I had the most negativity among the four.

"Look those wittle cweeps trying to break out of their cages." Nora gestures to one of them. "Isn't it adorable?"

Please don't point at them, Nora. They hate it when you do that, I nervously thought.

"Someone's been busy collecting Grimm," Ren said.

"Which reminds me, I would have got one if you'd let me!" Nora yelled at him. "Now I'll never get my own Ursa and name it Fuzzy Wuzzy!"

"For the last time, Nora. Grimm cannot be domesticated." [1] He replied with slight irritation while maintaining his usual composure.

I never understood why some people want to tame Grimm and keep them as pets. I'm already having trouble with real animals, so why should I even bother handling Grimm that doesn't involve shooting or running away from them or both?

"You're just worried that you think I'm going to replace you with something. Don't worry, you'll always be my one and only Ren, but just let me have a pet for once! I promise you'll still be my number one!" she pleaded, to which Ren just rolled his eyes and kept on moving.

"It appears that this temple looks like it's being used as a temporary storage facility—for Grimm of all things!" Doctor Oobleck said through the scroll's channel. "This is quite the discovery. Keep searching, students. I'm positive that we are getting close to one of our objectives. Keep me notified if you find something particularly noteworthy."

I noticed there were a few supply crates scattered around the area, I quickly dashed toward them and took everything I could use. Most of them were useless junk, but there were some worth taking such as dust and tools that were used to capture Grimm, both of which could be sold for a valuable price at the pawnshop while coming in handy for a rainy day.

One of the random things I found was a black bishop chess piece that resembled one of the 'artifacts' we took during the initiation. I groaned for a bit. I was only joking when I thought that we might find chess pieces in the temple then it made me worried that a Nevermore is going to come over.

While I was aware that not all chess pieces are automatically tied to Ozpin, I couldn't help but ask just to be sure.

"Uh, doc? This doesn't belong to the headmaster now is it?" I queried, showing the piece on the scroll's video feed.

The doctor answered with faint amusement. "Oh, fear not, Jaune, it's just a mere chess piece; nothing more, nothing less. Your days of searching for those types of 'artifacts' are over. I'm not going to make you collect chess pieces throughout the mission, don't you worry."

"If you say so, Doc." I put my scroll down. I don't know why I even brought it up, it's not like I wanted to go hunt for more stupid so-called 'artifacts' for a useless bonus.

I went around looking for more items to scavenge. Unfortunately, I got too caught up in looting the place that I did not notice a loose Grimm nearby. I thought the growling was just my stomach since I had a feeling that I didn't eat enough and it wasn't until I heard it roar loud enough that I turned around and saw it charging toward me that my reflexes got me to dive away from there just in time as I almost panicked. I got a good look and saw that the Beowolf was larger and mutated, resembling an Alpha, but like the mutated Creeps, they were glowing green and had green spikes on their back.

I screamed while making sure I made it sound more like a distress call instead of a pathetic shriek. Please tell me that you go down quicker like your smaller cousins, I silently begged as I took out my pistol and blasted it without thinking.

While there were some noticeable damages, I only managed to anger it further and it pounced right toward me. I dodged to my left and collapsed my shield as it swung its claws to clobber me. I was able to deflect it but it was strong enough that it managed to push me back, which was something even Alpha Beos and Ursa Majors couldn't do even with their full strengths. The mutant Beo was no pushover and was proven to be stronger and quicker than its normal brethren, not to mention, their claws appear to be sharper than normal.

"Guys!" I yelled for help as I did my best to avoid the Mutant Beo's attacks. I decided to run away from it while pointing my gun at it, looking like I'm still trying to fight it when I was actually trying to make a retreat.

"Angry mutt! Angry mutt!" Nora shouted as she and the other two came out with ANOTHER mutated Beowolf, with Ren and Pyrrha trying to shoot it down while they were at it.

"This one's worse than an Alpha Beo!" Pyrrha stated.

Two of them? Great. My problems just got needlessly doubled, I cursed to myself before turning back to the mutated Beo I previously fought. While these abominations were tougher than any other Alpha-Grimm we had to face that I considered ditching this temple, they were still shown to be just as vulnerable as I could see them getting damaged after my teammates used their weapons against them. This meant that just like any other being, we could still kill them if we hit them a lot enough, thankfully.

"Ren, Nora, you take care of that one, Pyrrha and I will handle this one!" I ordered.

"What are we supposed to do, then?" Ren inquired before backflipping away from the other mutant Beo's claw.

"Don't let it hit you, their attacks are much stronger than the regular ones that you die in a hit or two," I instructed, dodging one of its attacks before I went close to it to bash its face. I slashed it a few times before it roared that it was about to pounce on me. It was distracted by Pyrrha's gunshots on its back, making it turn. I gave her additional fire support by shooting on its back until it was stunned by the gunshots from both directions.

Pyrrha leaped toward it, kicking it as she flipped back, and then throwing her javelin towards its head before pulling it back to her as she changed to its xiphos form. The two of us charged in and slashed the mutant Beowolf back and forth until it was finally finished off. Unlike the Mutated Creeps, this one didn't explode, it just vanished like any other Grimm, except that the same green substances dropped away from its corpse. I'd say that's a good thing, those things were already enough trouble as they were.

Meanwhile, the other mutant Beo was trying to get near Nora who was pushing it back by firing grenades at it, not aware of a tranquil Ren rushing towards its back before proceeding to stab it and slash its hind legs. It cried out in agony as it shoved away Ren, throwing him to a wall and Nora wasn't happy about that. It then proceeded to smash the ground, summoning a line of crystals coming to Nora for her to leap off and changing to her hammer as she smashed the mutant Beowolf's head with it.

She went to Ren and helped him up, the mutant Beo charged toward them only for Ren to hold one of Nora's hands and use his semblance to mask them both, making it lose sight of the two's negative energy. Ren proceeded to grab Nora's arm and threw her at the mutant Beo, she swung her hammer and smacked it at impact, sending it crashing to the other. Nora got out unharmed and finished it off with another thump.

"Holy moly, I just killed a Grimm that's big and glowy!" Nora remarked with a mix of surprise and joy.

"Did you guys notice it brought spikes after it smashed the ground?" Ren turned to us and asked while panting for air. "That's not something a Grimm could normally do. Who and what's causing all these mutations?"

"No idea, but I'm very sure that anyone who would modify a Grimm to be stronger must have some pretty loose screws," I told them before bringing out my scroll to contact Oobleck about the latest discovery. "Doctor Oobleck? We may have found the mutated spi-see-men—"

"Spe-seh-men," Ren corrected. At this point, he might as well be our walking pronunciation guide.

I guess I'm going to get that a lot until I manage to pronounce that correctly, am I not? "Whatever. We're here to confirm that the creature that attacked the soldiers on Mountain Glenn really were Mutant Beowolves. We've encountered a couple of them just recently."

"Mutated Beowolves, hm?" The doc pondered. "What can you tell me that makes these Mutated Beowolves deviate from their normal cousins?"

"Unlike mutant creeps, these things don't explode. They're like Alpha Beowolves—only worse and they have this ability where they bring in green crystals after smashing the ground."

"I see. It appears that our fugitive seems to be making different experiments on each kind of Grimm. I'll inform Team RWBY of this. Keep searching—there must be some sort of lab somewhere if we are truly this close to uncovering the mystery."

"Roger." I nodded before putting the scroll back in my pocket.

We went around the temple looking for a lab or some sort of testing ground. So far, we managed to find nothing save for more storages of caged Grimm and some items which I took, of course, but we were able to find an exit somewhere at the back of the temple.

"Maybe we should head out there," Pyrrha suggested, pointing at the exit. "Might lead us somewhere."

"I guess we already searched every nook and cranny of this place," I said. "Alright let's go."

We headed out and followed the path from the exit. Shortly we found what seems to be a port, albeit abandoned judging by the rusty textures of the containers if you look at them closely enough, along with a stationary crane. There was also a ship parked there that doesn't appear dilapidated but it possesses the logo of Merlot Industries despite the company being no more. Not only that, but a few of the containers carry the insignia as well.

We stayed behind a rock that was overlooking the port on a slope. We can't risk going in there without being sure yet.

"A shipping port in Forever Fall?" Pyrrha asked in a puzzled tone. "Who else knows about this?"

"I see the ship with the same symbol as the cargo containers." Ren pointed out. "Someone was indeed using Merlot Industries's assets despite the company now being defunct."

"Doctor Oobleck…" I said at the scroll's channel after sending him some visual references, "Are you seeing this?"

"Is that a port?" He paused for a bit, undoubtedly taking time to study the photo I sent to him. "Judging by the condition of that ship, it doesn't appear to be abandoned from something belonging to a company that hasn't operated for a decade—meaning that somebody has been using it recently."

"Whoever this baddie is, just say the word and I'll give Torchwick a fellow cripple in prison!" Nora said to me.

"Remember whoever is behind all of this managed to break into Emerald Forest's security network and successfully mutated Grimm that killed several well-armed and well-trained soldiers, so you'll have to take some extra precautions." Doctor Oobleck advised. "Furthermore, Team RWBY is done investigating the subway tunnels and will rendezvous at your location within half an hour. I want you to stay put and watch over the port in the meantime. You might need some extra manpower for this task. Call me if you see something suspicious or if the ship is about to depart."

Staring at some cargo. Oh boy, here we go again. If I'm right about a pattern here, I could see what's going to come and that better not be the case. Luckily I'll have the joint forces of RWBY-JNPR should things go wrong, we might be even able to win without me doing anything.

=o=

1. Grimm can be collected for research, or in some cases, use them as live test subjects during training such as Professor Port's classes.

For around thirty minutes or so, we waited while watching over the docks. Nora was getting impatient with her trigger finger twitching; Ren was keeping watch of the docks for anything anomalous, and Pyrrha was blowing off steam and meditating, probably to maintain the right amount of aura for this mission. Meanwhile, I was checking my inventory, examining what I'd looted as I decided which to use and which to sell. I could feel my skin shudder as I sense that something perilous is afoot.

Team RWBY arrived, aside from looking ragged and somewhat sweaty, for the most part, they looked fine for people that had to explore a train tunnel and had likely encountered their fair share of mutated Grimm.

"We're here. What's this all about?" Ruby was the first to ask as the four of them approached us.

"There's cargo belonging to Merlot Industries. We suspect that whoever we are going after is using the defunct company's assets and they are likely to be very close." Pyrrha got up and answered, cocking the handle of her rifle.

"Notice that the ship bears the same logo." Ren pointed out. "If someone has been using the ship, then it must be the same person responsible for the security breach and the mutated Grimm."

Yang smirked. "Alright, let's go pay that guy a visit. Whoever that chump is, they're going to pay for making the mutant Beo that sliced up my hair."

"Your hair looks the same as it ever was." Nora of all people pointed out. Her hair was unkempt indeed, but it was always that way. Then again, this was Yang we are talking about.

"It's still a golden rule not to touch my totally gorgeous and perfect hair!" Her eyes briefly turned red before immediately cheering up and chucking. "Geddit?! Golden! Cause my…" Everyone turned to glare at her, even Ren who was focused on watching the docks. "I think you all caught my drift."

"As much as I want this person to pay for the abominations they created, I'd prefer to have them arrested. They'll have to answer for what they've caused." Weiss chimed in.

"Can I still punch them in the face?" Yang asked, followed by a grinning Nora.

"Or break their legs?

"Just make sure they'll still be able to talk," she sighed. "I'm curious about someone who has the audacity to strengthen a Grimm when they're already enough of a threat."

Because they're freaking insane, that's what. "That's one of the things we're trying to find out," I said.

The doctor once again spoke through everyone's scrolls. "Alright, everyone. Now that you're all there, I'm going to need you to get a closer look to see what kind of cargo they're carrying. But be careful not to be spotted. Who knows what kind of security they have."

"Doesn't look hard," Yang remarked. "At least after having to deal with exploding Creeps and things that I would like to call Double-Alpha Beowolves."

Checking the view again, I got the impression that the port was too suspiciously empty. If it does provide something significant on this mission, then it was too convenient to find it unoccupied. "Why do I get the feeling that it only looks that way so they could catch us off-guard?"

"So this is the port," Blake gazed at it. "Didn't know the Forever Falls had one."

Ruby used her sniper's scope to survey the area. "Looks abandoned."

"Probably because it is," Ren replied. "It looked like it hadn't been used since the company shut down."

Weiss scanned the crates. Some containers were green and had the emblem of the Kingdom of Vale, others were Orange and had the Merlot Industries logo, but what got her attention was the blue crates with a very familiar logo. "Wait a minute, are those SDC crates?"

"Old SDC crates, I think," Blake replied. "They're about as rusty as the other crates on the pier, and I'm very certain that the SDC likes to pride themselves on their pristine containers."

Weiss glared at her, looking irritated by that statement, but ended up more or admitting it. "Well, you're not wrong."

"What's the plan?" Pyrrha turned to me and asked.

They all stared at me as they waited for the word of their resident hero. I made a brief glance at the dock, thinking of a plan within less than a couple of seconds before sharing it with everyone, "Alright, Blake and Ren will go in first and scout the area to see if it's fully clear. Ruby and Pyrrha will stay here and provide overwatch and fire support, seeing as you're both marksmen. Everyone else including me will position ourselves before the entrance to the port until Ren and Blake say it's clear then we go in and find everything we need. Did you guys get all that?"

They all nodded and proceeded to cock their respective weapons. I was a little anxious that some unwanted repercussions might happen and that this might not work out right, but I was confident that it'll get the job done while keeping me out of harm's way. I gave them a smile as I ordered them to move out.

Ren and Blake entered the docks while everyone save for Ruby and Pyrrha followed and went behind cover near the dock's entrance, all weapons—pistols, hammers, rapiers, and gauntlets— were ready, while occasionally peeking out.

Blake reported the status of the area a couple of minutes later, "The place is clear. We checked the ship too, it seems that no one is on board. We haven't checked the containers yet, but so far, there's no sight of anything hostile."

"We found nothing on our sights either." Ruby added, "I guess you could say it's safe. We'll keep a lookout just in case."

"Alright then," I responded before glancing back to my other teammates, "Move out and check the cargo."

And so went in and spread out, opening every cargo to find something that could be the key to solving this mystery. Some containers contained cages, empty or otherwise. Others contain barrels of what appears to contain the serum that was probably used to mutate Grimm; we took some samples of it to bring back to Beacon for study. Most other containers just contain mundane things such as crates full of tools and parts, medical equipment, some minerals, and a few crates of dusts—which were particularly stored in the SDC crates. I could make a fortune selling these as well as getting a significant supply of dust for us to use, so I took all that I could carry.

A few more containers opened, aside from the aforementioned barrels of green liquid, we haven't been able to find anything until we heard Nora's sudden screamings and the crashing of metal. "DIE, CLANKERS!"

We quickly rushed toward Nora's position, only to see her crushing what appears to be an inactive robot next to a crate filled with red humanoid robots with rather oversized torsos. They were all inactive and sitting in a tucked position save for the one that Nora was breaking. "Nora, what are you doing?!" I asked her.

"What's it look like?!" She responded as she continued to hammer the dead robot like the psychopath she was while it was already in pieces.

"Nora, calm down!" Ren yelled, speaking at a volume three times higher than his usual tone. I don't know how he did it, but it was enough to get her to stop. "We need to examine these first before destroying them, I don't think I have ever seen this model of a machine before."

"Sheesh," Yang grimaced as she looked at the shattered robot all while making sure she'd distanced herself from Nora. Say what you want about Nora, but it's quite an achievement for her to somehow manage to frighten a fearless thrill-seeker that was Yang.

"It looks Atlesian. But at the same time, it doesn't feel like it." Blake pondered as she scrutinized the robots that were still standing.

Ren looked closer at the machines. "By the looks of it, these robots appear to be brand new and they must have been delivered here recently."

"If that's the case, then this person we're after, must have ties to Merlot Industries or at least had worked there before it collapsed, seeing as how they were capable of mutating Grimm and possessing these robots," Weiss chimed in.

The more I think about it, the more I'm starting to question who we're after. We're either after a lone evil genius or a group of people planning something not good. If it's the latter, one could guess that they were ex-employees of the company, or maybe the company never actually shut down. "I don't know, guys, but maybe we're after more than one person here. I couldn't grasp that only one guy could do all of this."

"You might be right," Blake replied. "We're very likely witnessing a scheme of an unethical organization that was able to gain access to resources for an unknown yet undoubtedly vile purpose."

"Well, that, or one person was determined enough to do all of this," Weiss remarked.

"Either way, the question is—where is all of this coming from?" Ren pondered.

"We'll be sure to find out. If we could get into the ship's system, we could trace the route back to where it came from." Blake proposed.

"I have experience with such technology, I'll be sure to examine once we're done checking every cargo," he assured.

"Speaking of which, we need to get back to securing this place," I said, I would have been more surprised if Nora didn't trigger some sort of alarm after destroying one of them. We should be more grateful that this place wasn't properly guarded. "Someone will have to keep an eye on the 'bots though."

Blake nodded and went back to survey the docks while everyone else stayed to examine the robots for another minute. Yang suddenly stepped in and went in front of the dormant robots and waved at them. "Ohayou, Mr. Roboto! Aren't you guys going to wake up and avenge your friend over here?"

Weiss glared at her. "Are you trying to provoke them just so you could satisfy your need for adrenaline?"

"Hey, I'm just trying to lighten the mood," Yang responded. "Besides, I doubt these tin cans could stand a chance against me."

"Can I break more of them now?" Nora asked.

"Just watch over them in the meantime. There might be something worth salvaging inside them. You can destroy these unholy abominations later," Ren answered before leaving, reminding me that he's not above hating robots as well. After all, these two were part of some sort of weird technocratic (yet robophobic) cult that I would choose to worry about another time so I could focus on my current task that was at hand.

"Whatever, I'll have my EMPs ready." Nora rotated her launcher's chamber. Good to know she brought those just in case, I've been worried about eventually fighting robots. I knew Nora's fear of robots would end up becoming useful at some point.

Everyone returned to their respective activities. I went back to whatever I was doing—taking all of the dust I could get. Unfortunately, I wasn't being considerate nor conspicuous when doing it around the others, so Weiss found me looting from an SDC container.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked suspiciously.

I looked back at her and answered somewhat nervously. "Uh, scavenging for supplies."

"Are you? Because it looks to me that you are stealing property—belonging to my family's company no less!"

Great, here comes Lady Nags-a-lot, I thought. This is what I get for not being careful when collecting dust in front of the dust princess. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure your family lost this by the time this port was abandoned. The SDC must have already replaced this cargo a long time ago." I calmly defended myself.

"It does not change the fact that they're still Schnee Dust Company assets, and by stealing them, you are stealing from the company, and by extension—ME!" She was becoming increasingly infuriating to deal with that I dropped the nice guy charade. I admit, I found her aggravation of me to be quite refreshing after receiving a whole lot of blind praise these past months, but I've been enduring her attitude since day one I'm still wondering how her teammates were able to put up with her crap for an entire semester.

I pretty much had it with her being stuck-up and spoiled-rotten that I decided to respond to her in her own dialect—'Entitled Atlesian'. Being from an Atlesian-Gallican family, I'm somewhat of a rich snowman myself so I was rather fluent in this type of speech and it felt cathartic expressing myself this way after having to spend two months acting like a lovable nerd toward everyone for the sake of gaining everyone's trust.

"We're in a fairly capitalist society, princess. Someone bought this cargo a long time ago, and once someone buys it, it's no longer yours, simple as that. I thought you already knew this, seeing as you're the company's heiress. Now I see why the headmaster never chose you as leader of your team." I sardonically replied, going back to taking all the dust I could get my hands on.

Yang passed through and patted her short teammate's head. "Woah-woah, what did you do to tick off Vomit-Boy so much for him to burn you that hard, Ice Queen?"

"Don't worry, he does this sometimes," Nora said to Weiss as she passed through her.

"And you're okay with this?!" Weiss exclaimed at her before turning back and stomped toward me. "Desperately taking someone's bike to get somewhere quickly was one thing but this is just outright thievery!"

For Brothers' sake, I always knew rich girls like her were entitled, but she's being unreasonably zealous over dust that was abandoned for a while now. "Weiss, you practically live in dust, this should be nothing to you. This doesn't belong to the SDC anymore. Finders, keepers. Now, please go bother someone else." I finished gathering the dusts and went inside the next container.

I sliced the crates open and took everything I could carry while being careful enough not to trigger any of them. Unsurprisingly enough, Weiss followed me, still being as stubborn as ever. "I'm not stopping!"

I sighed in annoyance. "Seriously?"

"I demand you to hand me over the dusts you've taken, and take back what you've said, or else I would never forgive you for this!"

I rolled my eyes. At that point, I decided that this was not worth the trouble I would be facing. "If I follow your first request, then would you shut up?"

"Just give them to me and maybe I'll be a little forgiving!"

"As little as what? Your temper or your bust size?" I snidely replied.

Her face turned red in anger as she growled. "Now you're just being insufferable! Since when were you like this? Don't tell me you're not actually a goof with a thick skull, are you?!"

Well, she's starting to see through the cracks, that's the side-effect of acting out of my known persona. I still wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of acting meek and letting her have what she wanted. It's not like anyone would believe her if she try to tell anyone about it anyway. "Trust me, I'm still there. There are just a lot of things you don't know about me, Weiss-Queen," I answered. "Now can I at least keep a third of the dust I took or am I going to keep being stingy? I promise I'll even give you my crappy apology if I have to."

She tried making one step closer. "You're not getting a single—!"

"AHHHHHHH!" Nora suddenly screamed, interrupting our heated moment.

We both tried to rush out of the container, only for an android to block the exit and suddenly shut the doors, trapping us both inside. We suddenly found ourselves collapsing to the ground as the container began to be lifted. I tried to aim at the door to shoot it open with a laser blast but Weiss grabbed my pistol down before I was able to do so.

"Don't! Trying to fire an inside of an SDC container with your laser would only make it ricochet back to us and kill us both! You can't cut this container down without special equipment!" Weiss chided, her voice echoing inside the container, and the same thing happened to me.

"Was it really necessary to make your containers extra tough?!"

"Yes! So it could prevent thefts!" [1]

"Great, now it's preventing us from getting ourselves stolen!" I yelled now that we were trapped there.

The ground and walls rumbled as we felt the container drop. I could hear gunshots, destruction, and screaming outside, telling me there was a fight going on. We got up and took out our scrolls to contact our teammates to get us out.

"Ruby! Are you there?" Weiss called.

"Pyrrha! Ren! Nora! I'm in a container that's in the ship—I think!" I reported them to my scroll.

Sadly, all we got was static. We did hear some transmissions from Doctor Oobleck from the others but they were all undecipherable; I was sure that they couldn't hear us either. We kept trying to contact them to no avail until we were forced to accept that our network was disrupted.

"They've somehow jammed our communications!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Oh no, no, no, no, no!" I went to the side of the container and began banging the wall and screaming as loud as I could. "Guys! Help! We're trapped in here! Can you hear me?!"

"This can't be happening. This cannot be happening!" Weiss panicked back and forth and joined me in banging the container for distress.

But because of how loud the excitement was outside and they seemed to be too occupied fighting those robots, I don't think they heard us nor were they aware that we were trapped in a container.

To make this nightmare worse, we could feel the ship set sail as the sounds of fighting became more distant the farther we got. We were officially screwed.

Needless to say, neither of us was very happy about that. "No! No! No! NO!" I began panicking as I kicked the wall of the container.

"I can't believe I'm getting involuntarily smuggled—with you of all people!" Weiss squawked.

I held the wall and panted heavily. I noticed that I was already sweating and that I need to calm down and conserve my oxygen if I'm going to stay here for who knows how long.

"So…" I turned back to her and saw that she was folding her arms and scowling at me. I winced at her for a moment before attempting to smile and extenuate the situation…rather pathetically. "Maybe you can have the dusts now."

She winked at me before growling and punching my gut, something which my aura decided not to protect me from. I saw it coming and I still made no effort to dodge it, probably because I felt too guilty for being partly responsible for putting both of us in this mess that I allowed her to take it out on me.

I fell to the ground and groaned in pain. "I deserve that…"

"This is all your fault! If you just decided not to be greedy or just listen for once, neither of us would be even trapped in here!" She accused.

"And we wouldn't be if you just left me alone," I got up and retorted, suppressing the urge to slap an annoying heiress of a multibillion-lien company on the face, something I wanted to do for a long time. But I suppose the situation I was in was already heated enough—literally; it was pretty hot inside the box, with only a little ventilation to barely provide enough air inside. "But does it matter whose fault it is? I'd say save your breath because you'll need it while we're both stuck in here. So let's not freak out and hope that this will be a short trip!"

Her narrowed eyes stared at me for a few seconds before she groaned and went to the other side of the container and faced the wall. I decided to lean back at the side and sit down. I stared at her back before looking up to the vent above me.

The worst part about this was I could sense my motion sickness acting out again. I did my best to hold it back so I could avoid making a puddle inside this claustrophobic hellhole and being stuck with it for minutes if not hours. This was not what I had in mind when I said I wanted to go sailing the other day.

If only I took a hint and not gone overboard with looting. I would have even preferred fighting those robots with a broken stick if it meant avoiding this.

I'm on a boat… and I hate it. Where the hell is this ship heading to, anyway? I thought.

=o=

1. And to keep slave laborers—particularly faunus—loaded inside, admittedly. Prior to the establishment of the Vytal Treaty, companies would occasionally transport faunus prisoners and some laborers by putting them inside containers. Thanks to faunus receiving equal rights among several other social reformations, this practice has been banned and discontinued but the resilient build of containers remains in the SDC even after this.

Chapter Text

Forty minutes passed since we'd been trapped in the container, being stowed to Gods know where. We've been trying to contact the others, but all we got was static due to the signal being almost nonexistent. Occasionally, if we're very lucky, we would sometimes receive a brief transmission and even hear them albeit they were inaudible due to them being obscured by the loud and rampant static.

The container has been dark, damp, and hot, with the only light source coming from a small vent where light was glaring from the outside. And if it wasn't for the vent, I would have suffocated as I had a hard time breathing inside the container. I'm instantly reminded of the time Cardin and his goons locked me up in my locker last semester, so this wasn't the first time I've been trapped inside a steel cage with limited ventilation. Hopefully, this would be the last—and not for the fatally wrong reason.

I was staring at my scroll's clock, Weiss was still in the other corner, sitting and looking down. We've been silent to each other ever since this ship started to sail. The only time we made contact was an occasional stare until one of us decided to look away. I wiped away my sweat, breathing heavily out of dehydration. I was becoming desperate enough that I considered biting off one of the ice dusts for water—but even I knew that ice dusts didn't work that way. I even thought about casting some ice dust and suck the water from it, but I decided not to risk it. [1]

Suddenly, Weiss stood and went toward me. She offered me a half-empty water canteen that had her family's emblem on it. While I could feel that she was still pissed at me, she doesn't seem to be in the mood for more bickering, "Here. It's not much but it'll last you longer."

I was in a state of shock, denial, and disbelief, but I was happy that she decided to put aside her vexation with me and do this for my sake. "That's awfully generous of you. Thanks." I took the canteen and drank until I found myself to be refreshed.

"Don't mention it. I only did what I thought was the right thing to do, even if it's for an unbearable dunce like you," she said, sitting down next to me as I handed back her canteen.

I smirked at her over that remark. "I see that being with someone like Ruby has helped you endure dumb idiots like me."

She gave me a somewhat dirty look. "And I'm starting to suspect that you're not actually an idiot at all. You're probably just a wide-mouthed jerk who likes to pretend that he's one."

Well, crap. I pretty much lost all my patience with her at that point that I blurted out and blew a part of my cover. Shouldn't have been much of a smartass. I still wasn't in the mood for playing nice and dumb, so I might as well keep being myself then, "Maybe I am. Are you implying that I'm smarter than I look?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I know you made yourself a leader and a decent tactician, but that doesn't stop you from being a dimwit—even if you just happen to be some caustic buffoon all along."

"Aren't I already ridiculous?" I replied in an attempt to look coy.

She growled, "You said it yourself then," she remarked before pausing for a moment and then speaking in a cordial tone in contrast to the cold nature of hers that I was used to. "You know, I haven't properly thanked you yet."

"For what?" I asked, feeling a little confused.

"For getting Neptune to dance with me during that night. I was surprised he suddenly asked me out after he shot me down. He said I have you to thank since you were the one who convinced him to have the courage to partake in a dance with me."

"Oh, that was nothing. He just needed a little encouragement, that's all." I don't think I deserved that much praise. I only did what any decent human being would have done at the time, and even then, I believe her other friends would have done a better job than I did. [2]

"Don't be too modest. I wouldn't have danced with anybody that night if it wasn't for you," she said, pausing for a moment before noticeably blushing. "You know, you could've danced with me if you wanted to."

I chuckled in disbelief, finding the concept of Weiss accepting an idiot like me to be ridiculous. I have never done anything that truly makes me worthy of her, while Neptune can be somewhat over his head sometimes, at least he had the good looks to make up for it. "Somehow, I doubt it."

"I think you're doubting yourself too much. I mean, how bad can it be?"

It won't be that bad, I thought, but it'll be worse than what she's thinking. "Would you still be okay with me if I wasn't some sort of Huntsman superstar?"

She gave me a confused stare. "What made you say that?" she asked as she continued to think about it. "Maybe. I don't know, it all depends, I guess."

"Figured as much" I stated before moving on. "By the way, how are you and Neptune doing so far?"

"We're getting along. You could say we're dating, but we haven't made much progress."

Better than nothing, I suppose. I'm just going to leave it at that. I only helped Neptune out that night because I only felt bad for Weiss, but now she's his responsibility, and he should be aware of that. So whatever happens to this relationship is none of my concern. "I'm just glad you two have settled."

"Thank you, I really appreciate it," she smiled at me warmly "I still haven't forgiven you for abandoning me with the records the other day though."

"Yeah, sorry. I had some questions and I wanted some answers from Penny. If it weren't for that, I would have stayed and helped you out." In hindsight, I wish I did, because the decision to follow Penny eventually roped me into the White Fang's bank robbery. If I just stayed with Weiss and examined boring records, I would have accompanied her to Torchwick's highway rampage with the Paladin or I probably would have gone straight back to my dorm. Either way, it would have meant that I wouldn't need to steal a bike and go the wrong way, eventually making my ignominious reputation worse.

"At least you stopped a White Fang robbery because of it," she replied.

"My thoughts exactly." I puffed, concealing my frustration with that turn of events, that was the same misfortune that brought both of us here. Thinking about it, her company was actually enjoyable when she was not being a grumpy ice queen, it made me compelled to learn more about her so we could learn to get along better. "Tell you what, when we get out of this, maybe I could invite you for cake and tea when we get home to make up for our rocky relationship."

"Are you being serious?" She asked. I shrugged and left the answer ambiguous, which earned me a slight glare from her. "Whatever. I'll consider it then. You're not a bad guy, Jaune, you're just really strange. I think it would be a good idea to know you better; that way, maybe I'll understand why people even like you so much."

I flashed her a smile, "I look forward to it, then."

Weiss stayed silently on my side for a few more minutes, only this time, there was barely any antipathy between us, which was comforting since I kind of missed the amiable demeanor she displayed during the night after our first day of class and I kinda like seeing her being nice.

We suddenly felt the ship go to a halt as we heard the engine stop. Alerted, we stood and readied our weapons. We both kept still and quiet to listen for any sudden movements since we can't be sure if whoever is going to open this container is hostile or a friendly unarmed civilian but seeing as we were essentially being kidnapped, the former was to be expected.

Those robots made the mistake of letting us keep our weapons, surrounded by loads of dust on the floor.

We later heard stomping approaching the cargo. Listening to it carefully, we confirmed that the sound was metallic, telling us that it is one of those robots. If they weren't going to try to disarm us and take us prisoner, then they would obviously try to kill us.

"They're coming, get ready," Weiss said as she went to her combat stance.

Pointing my pistol at the exit, preparing for one of the robots to open up and show up, I looked at the dust crates and felt the coin drop. "Grab a few dusts, I have an idea. You might not like it though."

She turned to me and looked skeptical but quickly complied. I had a feeling that being Ruby's teammate meant that she's no stranger to plans that sound dumb, but this one would surely remind her of when they first met. "Well, whatever it is, I'm trusting you with this."

We were about to conduct an experiment that Professor Peach told us to avoid. We took some dust vials, mixing them together as we spilled their contents into a small pile next to the door. Now, I know that I'm not the brightest guy when it comes to dust use, but even I knew that we should only use a small amount because having one too many would have been lethal to us while having too few won't make much of an impact. Once we're done we rush back to the other side.

"Stay behind me, wait until I say go," I instructed. She nodded and went behind my back with her weapon drawn as she waited for my signal.

I raised my shield with my right hand—keeping my sword sheathed in it, and pointed my gun at the door. The footsteps were becoming more audible before we heard the container's door about to be open. I readied my trigger finger as I focused on the door and the pile of dust placed on the floor near it.

"Ready?" I asked Weiss, I did not turn to see what her answer was, but I was sure that she was ready. The door finally opened and the robot showed itself with its eyes glowing red. [3] "Now!"

We wasted no time firing our respective weapons toward the small litter of dust crystals near the entrance. As I planned, it created an explosion, slightly pushing back the container and the both of us while I blocked incoming projectiles on my shield—and to some extent—the impact of the explosion. While I fell above Weiss, she didn't appear injured, and neither was I thanks to our auras, she does look a bit irritated but it was the least of her problems at the moment.

It seemed to have done the trick. The first thing I saw after getting up was seeing pieces of the robots scattered on the ground. They still have most of their parts attached to each other since the explosion wasn't that big since we've only planted only a handful of dust or less—otherwise, it would have killed both of us. Just like before, there weren't any craters. That figures.

I collapsed my shield and placed it back on my belt before picking up my sword from the ground. We ran out, embracing the fresh air with my breath as I vowed never to take oxygen for granted ever again.

We saw that we were at a platform on a ship, which was docked ashore in an unknown location. The place can be described as a deserted island with some traces of industry. I assumed that the structures here belonged to Merlot Industries. The island wasn't a tropical paradise, if anything it looked more like a desert wasteland in the middle of the sea. There were no palm trees and the weather was almost dull. Not a place you'd want to go on vacation.

There were four more robots on the ships. They carried double-bladed polearms as their weapons. While Weiss handled the other side of the killer robots, I charged toward the other two, rolling from one of their swings before I fired my laspistol on its back. The other robot attempted to swing its weapon vertically toward me, but I managed to block it with my sword. While doing so, I blasted its chest with my laser pistol before slicing its head off. Once I was done with the first tin can, the other turned around. I shot its head and then shot its torso twice. The robot fell headless with a chest full of holes like Helvetican cheese.

Apparently, energy weaponry is effective not only against organics but against machines as well. Further proof that taking this pistol from some White Fang rando was the best decision I've ever made.

I turned to Weiss, who was surrounded by dismantled robot parts after pulling her rapier from a metal body. We looked around our surroundings and saw that there were no more robots on the ship approaching, so it was safe to say that it was clear for now.

"Where are we?" she asked after glancing around the area for any clue of our location.

"I don't know, but we're about to find out," I answered.

Weiss pulled out her scroll to check her communications, we were still only getting static. "Unbelievable. Still nothing."

"I see a radio tower just up ahead," I said, pointing toward it on the island. "Maybe we could use it to transmit Beacon's signal. Let's be careful, I don't like the look of this place."

"Well, let's go with that then! I don't have any better ideas at the moment." Weiss responded. "Since we're in a desperate situation—I'm letting you take some of the dust. We're going to need everything at our disposal."

I grinned at her for accepting me to take the same dust she tried to take away from me, it really had to take getting kidnapped for her to finally allow me to have them. "Now you're talking." But sadly, if I were to be realistic with this, most of the dust I took would have been used on the way to escaping the island, so it was still for nothing, I would have rather not touched them if I knew that would lead me to this.

"Don't get too comfortable with my generosity, Arc," Weiss warned. "I still find your 'scavenging' to be objectionable."

"Whatever, Schnee. Let's focus on getting out of this." I replied. She rolled her eyes at my remark but she complied and chose to continue our verbal sparring for later.

Before getting off board, we roamed around the ship to check if it was clear. We went to the bridge, armed to the teeth and ready to engage with anyone, only to find out that it was empty. We discovered that no one was piloting the ship and it was being controlled remotely.

There were a few file drawers nearby so I went to check to see if there was something I should know, however, I found nothing that intrigued me aside from a sticky note that is written as 'Lusus Naturae', [4] I found it odd why a note with a particular set of words was left here so I took it as I thought it might help me somehow.

It was then we decided that there was nothing for us here and set foot on the island's shore, we proceeded to head toward the visible tower not far from where we were at.

=o=

1. It's actually possible to manipulate a dust crystal by using a bare minimum of its element, with some precision and steadiness required, but due to Jaune's limited knowledge of dust use, he was not aware of that.
2. I doubt it since Neptune wasn't exactly the greatest communicator with the opposite sex outside of flirting, especially if Yang was the one that attempted to persuade him; who would have likely threatened him, making Neptune's decision to change his mind to be forced and ingenuine.
3. Jaune is misremembering details here, the red androids' eyes lights were actually blue. To be fair, the hostile nature of the machines makes it easy to mistake them for more alarming colors. The gunner androids do have red lights, however.
4. Translates to 'Freak of Nature' in Old Imperial.

It wasn't even five minutes into the island yet, but it was already made clear that I was right about it being a dreary, solitary dryland with some buildings that indicated that the place used to have some sort of establishment. Also since it was around five in the afternoon, the sky was getting darker, which ended up making the island's atmosphere a whole lot worse. Notably, this made both of us extra vigilant, as the people who established a base here may possibly be the ones responsible for all the chaos that led to us here.

However, we never found a single soul while heading to the communications tower. The first place we stumbled upon after exiting the shore was a warehouse. The place looks abandoned, with nothing but tumbleweeds passing by. There were symbols of the Merlot Industries logo placed almost everywhere, more or less suggesting that this place used to belong to them and that our target(s) may have ties to the company prior, otherwise there was nothing else that could explain why they have access to this company's resources and use it against us.

I was tempted to raid the warehouse stashes for supplies, but Weiss kept giving me suspicious looks that I decided not to do it to prevent more annoying time-wasting arguments from Beacon's resident Ice Queen.

The island wasn't free from Grimm. Shortly after we visited the warehouse, a few Creeps and Scavers and a couple of Boarbatusks popped out. I wasn't surprised—in fact, I was wondering when they would show up considering that our target was experimenting with them. Not to mention any abandoned establishment far away from the kingdoms is guaranteed to have Grimm at one point or another.

Despite only being the two of us with little cohesion, we didn't have much trouble dealing with them since we trained hard enough for the past months that we were sure to handle an entire pack alone. While Huntsmen work better on teams, they are still expected to have the ability to take care of themselves individually and take on a number of Grimm without backup.

This was why I thought I was screwed if I didn't have a magical regal-looking, dust-savvy, ice skating, fencer of an Atlesian heiress with me. Aside from that, I stabbed one of the Boarbatusks on its ass before I could confirm its kill, I've only managed to kill a handful of the other weaker Grimm, which is nothing impressive, as it's just Huntsman standard. Weiss meanwhile managed to slay several of them at the same time, thanks to her Glyphs and the effectiveness of the dusts she uses.

It's a good thing we brought a lot of dust. After we were done with the Grimm, she said that was allowing me to scavenge as long as we are taking necessary supplies such as dusts and ammo, she'll be fine with it, which I was actually pretty happy to hear about.

We went straight to the communications tower after we were done checking the warehouse. Thankfully, there weren't any further obstacles when we were going up the tower, unfortunately, we discovered yet another obstacle that hinders us from escaping the island.

"Oh, great." Weiss muttered after attempting to access the tower's terminal, "It's password protected."

I thought we were both doomed as there was barely an alternative and neither two of us had any experience in hacking, that was before I felt the coin drop and remembered the piece of paper I picked up back at the ship. "Hold on,"

Weiss stepped aside as I took over the terminal and typed in 'Lusus Naturae'. I was skeptical at first since I thought that a random note wasn't going to be convenient enough to provide me with a password that I would need, but it worked, much to my joy and surprise. While my looting tendency arguably put both of us in this mess, it was also going to help us get out too. Brothers bless whoever left that convenient note there.

I've wasted no more time connecting the tower's signal to our scroll's channel, the only thing we had to do was wait a few minutes for it to reach Beacon's signal, hopefully, quick enough before the opposing force discovers us. If I was desperate and had gone crazy enough, I would have gone as far as to add holy machine oils and then sing hymns to its machine spirit just so it could reach our transmission sooner.

"Bada bing, bada boom. Now we wait." I faced Weiss and turned away from the screen which says 'Transmitting Signal' with a progress bar under it.

"Finally some progress," she said with audible relief despite her lack of enthusiasm, her face was still as flat as her breasts [1], which was still preferable to her nagging at me as if she was the less patient version of my mom.

The process took a little while. Both of us went on the lookout in the meantime, but all we got was ambient silence, even when I briefly scouted the area with some caution, there weren't any Grimm or robots, so I guessed it was a good time to relax for a bit that we ended up sitting it out, but this only made me more worried as it felt too peaceful and empty that it was suspicious. Something surely was lurking around the area waiting to strike. A place like this can't be fully peaceful.

After five minutes passed, I checked the screen and saw the progress bar was half-finished, meaning all we had to do was wait for five more minutes. I gritted my teeth and trembled as I continued to wait while my Huntsman senses kept telling me that something sinister was afoot which was why I was holding my pistol for the whole duration.

"So, how's Pyrrha?" Weiss's sudden question startled me for a bit while I was on the lookout for something potentially dangerous, but I was able to settle down and respond.

"Why ask that all of a sudden?"

"I'm just curious how she's holding up in your team."

I was still hesitant to give her an answer. Even if we're starting to get along, I'm still not sure to trust her that much. For all I know, she might be just looking for a topic to gossip about. "There must be a reason for your curiosity."

She rolled her eyes, "Just answer the question. Do you really want to make this harder for the both of us?"

I groaned and decided to spit it out. It was a harmless question and I didn't want to vex her again, it was best for her to keep her composure and I didn't need any more of her whining especially if I'm going to be stuck with her for a while.

"She's doing fine. She's comfortable enough and she's glad she's with us. She wouldn't have it any other way." I answered. It was straight to the point and it didn't provide any specific information while it satisfied Weiss's curiosity, so it was rather a win-win.

"There, that's all I wanted to hear. Simple is it?" she dryly said.

"Yeah, she deserved some company outside her fans and the press while still trying to be the perfect warrior or something," I added. I couldn't imagine the pressure she goes through and I'm a rising hero who is increasing with increasing enemies and responsibilities.

She stares at me for a bit before commenting, "I can relate."

Story of our lives, I thought. I took my turn to ask my questions, "What about you? How are you holding up with your team?"

"They're…okay," she away for a second.

I raised my brow. "How so?"

"They can be very troublesome sometimes, but they're my teammates, and we have to look out for each other even if they do like to test my patience. Over time, I began to appreciate them for what they are despite our problems together."

Sounds like me and my sisters, no wonder I was able to handle everyone's antics. It's a good thing they have someone like me to balance things out. "I see."

"You know you people aren't actually bad. It just takes getting used to being in a rather crazy circle of friends," she remarked.

"Glad you're getting along with us then," I chuckled, "You know, you're pretty likable when you're being nice. Why can't you act more like it? Did Vale's warm weather increase your temper or something?"

"It's because all of you like to get on my nerves. If you people would only make yourselves more bearable, I would have been nicer." She defensively replied and crossed her arms, "And please tell me Jaune. Are you really like this? Because I don't get you, it's like you're a different person from whom I met the first day."

I sighed to myself. This better not be the last day where I'll be recognized as a friendly dork who happens to be one of the most popular students in the academy. It was going well ever since my attempt to pretend to be some wimp who was somehow qualified for Beacon failed miserably. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Her eyes glared at me. "Oh, and now you're playing dumb. This is exactly what I'm trying to point out!"

I groaned. Unless she miraculously forgets all of this, I've really screwed up. I sincerely hoped that she was assuming that I was just in a bad mood and that she won't find out that my public personality was all just a façade because I was careless enough to lose control of myself and acted too out of character. "Look. It's not as simple as it sounds. Why don't you just go with the notion that people aren't as one-dimensional as they look?"

Weiss just groaned and continued to stare at me with her piercing glares of those ice-cold blue eyes. I just stared at her back because I had nothing else on my mind that wouldn't 'explain that my behavior when someone was around was bullshit and have it end up becoming Beacon's number one gossip and ruin my rep.'

Despite that, it's a good thing we had this conversation, it at least made the time go quicker than it should almost be done by now so I could get out of the staring contest that followed.

While we were at it, I suddenly noticed something odd on the landscape on her back. I squinted my eyes and scrutinized the object and immediately recognized it as another one of those hostile robots. I did not hesitate to aim my pistol and shoot it down in front of her face, startling Weiss into turning back and seeing the wave of robots approaching us.

"Couldn't you have warned me?!" she pulled out her rapier and went to her combat stance as she rotated her dust chamber.

"We'll argue later!" I said, aiming at one of those robots and then firing at its chest, filling it with blast holes.

As much as I hate it every time something's trying to kill me and ruin the peace, this pretty much saved me from getting Weiss from fully cracking the code, at that point they were less threatening than something that would ruin my reputation that I despise yet still ensure to avoid a fate worse than death.

"How much longer?!" Weiss asked, casting ice dust on two of those walking tin cans that were a foot from each other, causing them to be frozen and break in the process.

Blasting another robot's head clean off, I ran to the terminal and checked the screen, "Almost there, just hold on for a couple of minutes!"

The two of us held the ground and continued to clear the area of the robots whilst preventing them from ruining the transmission. Thanks to the laser pistol and the amount of dusts we were carrying, we had little trouble getting rid of them since these robots were apparently vulnerable to energy weapons and the right use of dust. The only thing I had to worry about was managing our ammunition and supplies.

One of the last of the robots tried sweeping the floor, only for me to jump from it and I thrust the Crocea Mors to its head, impaling its face. Weiss meanwhile finished hers by crushing it with her glyphs, squashing them into pulverized pieces of flattened scraps. By this point, the signal was successfully transmitted and the area was clear making it safe for us to contact Beacon.

I wasted no more time reconnecting ourselves back to Doctor Oobleck's channel and notifying him of our status and location. "Hello? Come in. Mister Arc? Miss Schnee? Is that you?" The doc asked, the transmission was initially full of static but quickly became clearer. It was almost nice hearing his rapid voice again.

"It's us, Doctor," I responded. "Look, we don't have much time to explain all I could say is we were shipped into an unknown island and there's plenty of Grimm and those robot things here. Luckily we managed to find a communications tower and used it to receive your signal. Please send help as soon as possible."

"Well, it's good to hear from you again, it would be a huge blow for us if we lose both of you. Worry not, we'll do our very best to track your location as quickly and efficiently as possible," he said, which was very reassuring. Suddenly a mysterious transmission was suddenly heard from the channel and it wasn't from anyone we're familiar with. "Hold on, I'm receiving feedback from an unknown frequency! Who is this? Identify yourself!"

An unfamiliar voice responded on the frequency. "Ah, that's better. Sorry, but the reception is always so bad all the way out here. I hope you're enjoying your stay on the island. You're the first visitors I've had in, well, you are the first."

"That…voice." Doctor Oobleck muttered, apparently familiar with the mysterious caller.

"Doctor Oobleck, who is this?" Weiss inquired concernedly on her scroll. I was no less puzzled or disturbed.

"Oh, where are my manners? Allow me to introduce myself. My name's Doctor Merlot. You don't know me, but I most certainly know who you are. Nevertheless, I'm thrilled you're here. You might be exactly what I need for a very important...experiment."

"Wait…" While I already had a hint of who he was the moment he said his name, I still glanced at the company's sign at the nearest building which has his name on it just to be sure. "Doctor Merlot? As in this Merlot Industries Merlot?!"

"Of course, I am the Doctor Merlot. What else am I going to name my own company that I spent years building from the ground up?" He replied. I don't know, something more corporate-sounding name that involves enrichment, I guess?

"I thought you died with your company!" Weiss said to him.

He chuckled sinisterly. "Reports of my death were greatly exaggerated," he remarked, it appears that even formerly-renowned scientists aren't above using clichéd phrases stolen from bad action novels. Go figure. "And it was a mere speed bump on the superhighway of scientific progress. You couldn't possibly imagine the ramifications of my latest research. For such terrific students as yourselves, this should be an easy test, right?"

"So we meet again, Doctor Merlot." Another voice coming from the doctor's (well, our doctor's) comm said, except it wasn't Doctor Oobleck who spoke but Ozpin himself.

"Ozpin? Or shall I call you Oz like old times, chum?" the evil doctor responded. Weiss and I were shocked, but I wasn't that much surprised considering how Ozpin knows everyone and everyone knows Ozpin at this point. Besides, these shady old men being familiar with each other didn't sound far-fetched.

"You should have perished in the Mountain Glenn disaster, a tragedy you played no small part in. The world was a much safer place without you."

At that point, I now knew who to blame for what Mountain Glenn had become, and it made me more desperate to get out of there. Because if he was truly behind the fall of Mountain Glenn then it meant he could do the same to that island and I didn't want to get caught by it.

"You're calling me the reckless one? Sending your students out on an excursion like this?" Merlot retorted. I'd say he's spot on if he wasn't making the Great & Powerful Ozpin look sane and more likable by creating mutated Grimm and adding more problems in a world that are already dominated by monsters for whatever senile reason, not to mention, being responsible for Mountain Glenn's destruction if Ozpin is to be believed.

"They're more than a match for your mindless robots," Ozpin argued. It's nice for him to speak for us but I'll be the judge of that. "What you're doing here is wrong, Merlot."

"Trying to make the world a better place is wrong? Say what you will about me, it won't change the fact that you're powerless to stop me."

I fail to see how making a more horrifying version of the leading problem of this would make it a better place. Thousands of these Grimm die every day yet they still keep on growing and outnumbering us and you expect us to think that this will somehow improve the planet's condition?

"You'll botch this somehow. You always do." Ozpin replied.

"Well, let's agree to disagree. I tell you Oz, it has been truly a pleasure catching up, but unfortunately, it's time for me to run. Farewell, old chum."

I was so befuddled that I was prompted to ask Ozpin about the situation, but Weiss beat me to it. "What's going on professor?!"

I could hear him sigh from his side of the channel. "Mister Arc, Miss Schnee. While we're able to get your transmission, I'm afraid we still haven't got your location. Merlot is using some sort of firewall that it would take some time for us to pinpoint your location. Stay put. In the meantime, search the premises for information about Merlot's current scheme so the authorities would be able to review them before he destroys them. Rescue and backup should arrive shortly after we're able to breach Merlot's firewall."

Explore the islands and check the facility which undoubtedly contains mutated Grimm and advance security measures? I would rather torture myself with school lectures and study for the finals by now. "Please hurry," I told them while keeping a stiff upper lip and trying not to sound like I was pleading.

"We're doing everything we can, Jaune. Just hold on. You will make it through this," Ozpin responded before ending the call.

Weiss and I turned to each other. "You heard him. No point trying to stay on this spot. There's no doubt that they'll just keep sending waves of robots until they know that we're dead. Might as well uncover more of this case." I said.

"I trust that you know what you're doing. Pyrrha can't consider you to be an effective leader for nothing." she said, "So lead the way."

I really couldn't promise that though, but I had no intention of dying here so she was able to count on me on that one. She proceeded to accompany me out of the tower and into the facility.

Pursuing an evil scientist on an isolated island, the only thing missing was an active volcano. I felt like I was in a bad spy flick; I wouldn't have been surprised if Merlot also happened to have an evil pet cat he would stroke on his lap while he twirled his mustache.

And this was supposed to be nothing more than a scouting mission. Nothing is ever simple, is it?

=o=

1. This is the second time he compared something with my chest during this mission. What is it with men and their fixation with female breast sizes?

The deeper we went, the more disturbing the island was appearing as the sky was growing darker. On the path to Merlot's lab, we found pipes harvesting something from the island's surface as well as puddles which is very likely the same substance that was carried by the mutated Grimm.

Weiss and I overlooked the area on a slope. "Ugh, look at this place. What is Merlot doing here?" I asked.

"A refinery, by the looks of it. It appears they're gathering the substance that was used to create the mutated Grimm back at Forever Fall."

"So you're telling me that this island contains the stuff that mutated the Grimm. Have you by any chance, heard or studied about this stuff before?"

"No, I don't think I have," she answered, "But I suspect that it's one of the rare substances found on certain specific areas on Remnant, this island being one of them."

"I've got a bad feeling about this," I muttered. I was fine with this being another indistinct, boring island that just happens to have a corporate establishment, it turned out to be rich in the same liquid that made the world's living nightmares twice as worse, guaranteeing that I will be facing quite a lot of them. I was praying that I would only encounter those one-shot exploding mutant Creeps and not much else, or maybe I should shut up because it's giving my omnipotent tormentors some ideas and making them do the opposite of what I'm begging for.

Looking back at the area, there were puddles of the green liquid on the ground while there were a few Grimm lurking around and some of them were approaching the puddles. "You think those puddles contain the mutagen?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure. For all we know, it might be just regular acid or something else. This is a research facility after all. Let's wait and see." Weiss responded, "You should be aware that Mutant Creeps are less bothersome than they look, especially within this distance."

She got that right. Thank goodness for that because I'll be able to save ammo if I were to shoot fragile, two-legged suicide bombers from afar while it satisfies our curiosity, otherwise if it was a Beowolf or a higher-tier Grimm we would be doing our best to keep them away from those.

One of the Creeps went near the puddle and drank from it. Seconds later, I witness it go through its somewhat disturbing transformation process. The Creep made a raucous cry as its eyes and mouth were filled with a green light. Its skin began slightly tearing, revealing a glowing layer. The other Creeps went in and drank from a puddle, putting them in the same process. No green spikes yet and their skulls were still the same, presumably because their mutations were still in the early stages or something along those lines. [1]

I was still rather perturbed but I immediately remained calm when I realized that it wasn't that bad and mutant Creeps were elementary compared to their cousins anyway. "I guess we have our answer," I said. It was already a minute after the Creeps started drinking from the puddle. They remained immobile during the transformation, so it was a good opportunity to get rid of them, whether they were fully transformed or not.

I fired my laser pistol at them, almost instantly erupting them into nothing but the same liquid they consumed from. I was careful enough not to hit the pipes, otherwise, they would leak the serum and it might even lure nearby Grimm while giving them free power-up drinks when there are already puddles of them all over the place.

Weiss followed suit and cast a few fireballs from her rapier, helping me clear the area out of the remaining Creeps that we're unable to retaliate against due to being in the middle of their transformation.

Once we were done, we both lowered our weapons. "We should inform Professor Ozpin about this," Weiss said to me. Without any objections, she pulled out her scroll and contacted Ozpin.

"Students, have you found something?"

"There appears to be equipment extracting the green serum that was used to create the mutated Grimm, and it's being pumped elsewhere," Weiss answered.

"This is also said to be one of the few places that have this stuff," I added.

"This confirms my suspicions. I knew Merlot was on this island for a reason. Keep searching. I want you to follow the pipeline. With any luck, it would lead us right to Doctor Merlot. Try to slow down this sinister operation if you can. By the way, after a long and arduous process, we are finally able to locate your signal. Your fellow team members are en route to the island and should arrive as soon as possible."

Finally, some relieving news—I never thought I would hear one again. "Will do, just don't take too long," I responded before putting my scroll back in my pocket.

Leaping off from the short edge. We began trailing the pipes to where it was coming from and sabotaging anything that would make progress of an evil scientist's twisted plan just so I could complete my mission, letting me pass this year while skipping all of the bullshit studying and sleep peacefully at night knowing that there would be no superpowered Grimm to worry about.

The main facility became visible and we were getting close to it the further we followed the pipeline. On our way, we received a transmission from a friendly voice. "Hellooo! Can anyone hear me? Weiss? Jaune?"

"Ruby!" Weiss happily exclaimed at the voice that would normally annoy her, and me to some extent, as if my sisters weren't able to train me into handling hyperactive girls like her. "I can't believe I'm saying this—but I'm glad to hear from you again!"

"Weiss, thank gosh you're okay! Is Jaune taking care of you?"

I felt my cheeks heat up momentarily while Weiss's also turned pink and did her best to hide it. She tried to scowl at me to sway any thoughts, but if you ask me, she ended up looking rather adorable when attempting to glare at me while embarrassed, it kind of reminds me why I even had a short crush on her when I first looked at her in the eyes—if only her looks matched her personality. "Well, he is a tolerable companion—to say the least."

"Umm, what she just said," I replied, enforcing the awkward atmosphere further.

"Are you trying to make Pyrrha jealous, Weiss-cream?" Someone said on the line, anyone who's familiar with my friends can already guess who said that with the way she speaks alone, so I didn't find it necessary for me to spell out their name.

If you somehow weren't able to recognize this person by the way they spoke because you might have presumably skipped to this entry or are just bad at determining someone through their personality, then let Pyrrha's embarrassed stuttering help you out. "Y-Yang!"

"You stay away from him, Weissy-Dicey!" Nora yelled on her end. "You're not good enough for someone as honorable and caring as Jaune!"

I wouldn't say that I'm above her in terms of morality though. At worst, she's probably in the same league as mine, and even then I still think she's more of a saint when compared to me. At least she's being honest about who she is.

"Does it look like I want to be stuck here with him?" Weiss retorted, yelling at the scroll in front of her.

Ditto, Frosty Flakes. "Don't worry about me, Nora," I told her. That wasn't really good advice, if anything, they should be worried because their leader is in a grave situation. "This is not the first time where I have had to fend for myself, remember?" And I hoped it wouldn't be the last either.

"We know, Jaune. We just couldn't imagine what must be going through right now." Pyrrha responded, and boy, was she right about that one. "Stay put, we should be there in just a few minutes!"

"Look, just hurry it up. I am getting increasingly sweaty, tired, and dirty and I refuse to die in this state, especially on this nightmare of an island!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Don't worry, we're coming! Just keep on doing what you're doing. You're doing great from what I've heard," Ruby said.

That put me in a better mood, but I almost forgot that Merlot was still on the same channel as ours. I was beginning to worry that he might be listening. And unfortunately, he was. "Might I remind you that I can hear everything that is being said on this channel?"

Ruby shrieked. "Gah! Who's this?!"

"You must be the baddie who's behind all this!" Yang said. "You better not have harmed our friends!"

He chuckled evilly. "I wish I have already done more than that. Your friends are more stubborn than I anticipated but I should have expected it from the Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company and a nominee of Vale's Junior Huntsman of The Year."

Oh, come on! Not this again, I thought. A mad scientist like him who has been stuck on the island and doing questionable experiments for more than a decade should have been the last person to be in touch with dumb phenomena such as my misunderstood exploits.

I didn't bear any ill feelings toward this guy despite being a delusional prick whose creations could screw up an already doomed world but after he mentioned that I'll be more than glad to give him an idea of what it's like having an ancestral sword on your stomach or what having a blast of laser on your face feels like.

"I can remember the other professors at Beacon saying the same thing about you, Merlot, though the word they chose was less kind," Ozpin said.

I'm almost thinking the same, except it involved a little more profanity.

"Ever since you got it in your head that experimenting on Grimm was a good idea," Ozpin once again came in to talk to a former colleague of his. "Your obsession has and will continue to be your downfall."

"The Grimm are a superior species, fascinating in their biology, their unbridled, raw aggression and lack of sentience make them the perfect vessel."

And that was when I was convinced that he was beyond insane. Even the White Fang have better justifications and this is a group where even most of their target demographic wouldn't buy their shit because of how extreme and hypocritical they are.

"That line of thought illustrates exactly why you could never be trusted, Merlot." For once, I see something eye-to-eye with the Great & Powerful Ozpin. "I still find it amazing that you survived the disaster in Mountain Glenn, Merlot. Was it sheer luck or part of your master plan?"

"Would you believe me if I told you it wasn't my fault?"

"I believe that you wouldn't take accountability for your actions."

I heard Merlot's faint chuckle. "Admittedly, Mountain Glenn is a bit of a sore spot for me. Decades of hard work, countless research projects, not to mention all of the specimens I'd collected over the year… all lost without a trace."

"Let me get this straight... you're upset that you lost your research?" Ozpin presumed.

"The work done at Merlot Industries was critical in the advancement of artificial intelligence and genetics. Without it, Remnant would still be in the dark ages."

And now, you're making something that would send Remnant back to the dark ages. How ironic, but then again, he was making it pretty obvious that he lacked self-awareness.

"You've missed the point. An entire city was laid to waste. Countless lives were lost. My only question is how much of the damage were you personally responsible for?!"

"Well, how else was I supposed to conduct my research? Our supply of test subjects was running thin."

"And when the Grimm came back, the city's population was driven underground where it was safe. No thanks to Merlot Industries."

"Do you believe things happen for a reason, Oz? I mean, two of your little prodigies practically washed ashore here on my island, and it appears that you are sending more of them."

"I'm not sure what you're getting at," Ozpin responded sternly before shifting back his attention to us. "Carry on, Mr. Arc and Miss Schnee. As for the others, make yourselves prepared. Merlot is not the type of individual that goes easy on us. Remember your training and expect heavy resistance."

Good thing I have been expecting the worst since the beginning then.

After trailing the pipes for a few minutes, we were able to find what was presumably the laboratory building where all of his operations are being conducted, much to our joy after everything we'd done to get this far.

There was a walkway that took us toward its entrance to the main facility. We began to move hastily, but we remained prudent, knowing that there was always a threat around every corner. Doctor Merlot liked keeping his establishments secured and he wasn't going to let us inside that easily.

Of course, there were security robots waiting for us because on this island, there has to be an obstacle to something as simple as trying to enter a freaking building, otherwise where would be the fun in that? But for anyone who has read my ramblings for long enough, it's already made crystal clear that I hate certain types of 'fun' and I'm doing my best to avoid them as humanly possible.

I grabbed my pistol and hastily fired at the robots, within less than five shots I'd already dispatched at least three of them. Weiss used her glyphs to put the other robots in close proximity and then used electric dust to overcharge all of them at once, next thing I know is that some of them simply shut down and fell while the others exploded. I sliced down the ones which were still whole so we could be sure that they're never coming back unless Merlot gets a chance to glue them back to working condition, an opportunity that we're not willing to give.

"If Merlot is going to torment us on this wretched island. He could at least give us a worthy challenge than sending the same pieces of walking scrap metal he keeps throwing at us," Weiss bragged.

Please don't give him any ideas, I irritably thought.

When we thought the area was clear and it was safe to press forward, two more robots appeared. These weren't the regular models we fought before, they were painted white and were much larger, enforced by their bulkier appearance. They appear to use Gatling guns rather than the polearms the red androids use.

You just had to say it, didn't you, Ice Queen?

Widening my eyes, I quickly expanded my shield, prompting Weiss to get behind me when we both noticed their guns rotating and firing seconds after.

I blocked the robot's barrage of bullets while moving to the nearest container for cover with Weiss hunkering down behind me. When we got to the container, we waited for them to stop firing. They presumably cannot shoot forever since they would either run out of ammo or their guns would overheat, thankfully the durability of the SDC's containers was used in our favor for once.

Once they stopped firing, I hastily tried to tear them down with my laspistol the same way I tore down the army of robots that tried to kill me previously, but to my dismay—these models apparently have reinforced armor that is able to counter laser fire. While laser pistols are pretty good against both organics and synthetics alike, shields and aura be damned, there are still some things that they cannot penetrate against.

"Dammit," I murmured, reloading my laspistol's clip after using most of it in an attempt to dispatch the Heavy Gunner Androids.

Weiss made her move and tried to use the same trick she did to overload the robots' circuits. It was just as ineffective as it had almost no effect on the robots and they kept moving slowly.

"Well, there's the 'worthy challenge' you wanted. Happy now?!" I yelled under the barrage of gunfire behind the container.

"Oh, I'll consider being careful about what I wish for next time!" She snarled back.

"Good idea, because rich snots like you need to learn how to wish better for things that money can't buy!"

"How about I wish for you to put your leadership skills to good use and make sure this won't be our last conversation!"

"Uhm," I looked at the ground and thought of a solution. While the heavy robots were so durable that even or most effective attacks against the androids didn't seem to work—it had cost them their mobility, being heavies and all, which gave me time to think while they moved too slowly.

I realized that these models were designed to dispatch enemies that were in range, the best way to deal with these things was to get close to them while they try to push us back and keep that from happening. So we just needed to find a way to temporarily suspend them from their attacks so we would be able to take them head-on in melee, which was presumably their weakness. They are supposed to be gunners after all.

Thinking of a way that would get them to stop shooting for long enough for us to get close to them from the knowledge I received from watching Team RWBY coordinate in combat. I eventually got a figurative lightbulb light up above my head. "Your wish is my command then. What is your and Ruby's duo combo? White Rose?" I asked her.

She looked pretty annoyed at what I just said, but then again, she always was by default. "It's 'Ice Flower', you dummkopf! Since when have we ever called our attack that?!"

By the Gods, there she goes again. It feels like no matter what I do or say, I'll still end up pushing her buttons. "What? You don't like white roses?"

"Oh, we do love flowers as much as other girls but we know not to name our attacks like that!"

Says the person whose team has a combo attack is named after one of their user's favorite tuna brand, [2] but at least they are not combining their names together. "Okay, okay, sorry. Do you remember that Ruby shoots through your glyphs to make a special dust shot?"

She looked at me with interest. "What are you getting to?"

"If we can't take them down with lasers and dust, then we'll have to use an ice beam that would freeze them long enough for us to get near them and cut them down. These are gunners, they can't take us in very close range, that's what their red cousins are for."

"That's not actually a bad idea. I recall this working against Torchwick's Paladin. It should work against these robots," she replied.

"Then let's not waste any more time."

She rotated her chamber and readied her rapier. "Say the word when you're ready, just don't call it something stupid like what you referred to it earlier or even dare to think about it."

I nodded, I already drew a line from making corny team-attack names anyway. There's just something that just irks me about it.

I noticed that the two robots halted from moving forward and remained stationary, likely because they can't afford to have hostiles get near them even for a few feet. Once their next batch of ammo was out, we rushed out of our cover and faced a few feet away from the gunners.

Weiss summoned a glyph in front of us as I crouched down and aimed my pistol with both of my hands toward one of the two droids behind Weiss's glyph. Last time I checked, lasers and dust work fine together so long as you aren't directly shooting the source, unless you needed improvised explosives as we used back at the ship.

I squeezed the trigger and fired a blast as it went through Weiss's glyph. For a split second, I could notice that the laser was colored light blue instead of red. The ice beam penetrated the first gunner's right arm before it froze. For good measure, I shot its legs twice while being careful not to shatter them. I proceeded to shoot at the second one, freezing its gun and right hand, then its torso and left leg next.

Holy crap, it worked, I joyfully said to myself. Weiss unsummoned the glyph and stormed toward them. I followed as I unsheathed my sword and then shaved off the head of one of the gunners, making it fly toward the nearby cliff. Weiss meanwhile, dealt with hers by using her glyph to shatter the other robots into pieces. The walkway towards one of the facilities' entrances was then clear.

"Well, that went better than expected," Weiss remarked, staring at the droids' pieces on the ground and turning to me. "You may not be as imbecilic as I thought you to be. I think I'm starting to see why your team and my teammates respect you as a leader and a Huntsman."

"Thanks…" I muttered. "I try, you know. You're not bad yourself either."

She made a faint blush for a second before shaking it off and going back to the classic Weiss everyone knows and loves. "Now don't get too captivated by my compliment! I still think you're a despicable dunce and you should be treated as such. I haven't forgotten about your recent insolence towards me!"

Of course, I was wondering where her icy demeanor was hiding during this. I was at a point where I think it was becoming kinda cute and less damaging the more she bad mouth me. I swear, if I ever had a lien every time I heard her call somebody an idiot or something synonymous with it since day one—I would be rivaling her family's company in terms of worth. I figured that this day alone would be enough to purchase this whole shithole of an island.

"Are you really going to keep acting like a tsundere every time I'm stuck with you?" I huffed. Her being pleasant in one second and verbally abusing me in another were really giving me the impression.

"Oh, you must have the nerve to call me tha…!" she grumbled before looking perplexed and stopping. "What's a 'tsundere'?"

I sneered at her obliviousness. "Why a tsundere is a perfect, proper, and ideal lady that is wanted by men and envied by women," I answered sarcastically. I prepared for her to be offended by that remark and insult me back. But to my surprise, she actually took that as a compliment.

"Are you trying to flatter me now, Jaune?" She answered smugly and then spoke in a proud manner. "If that's the case, then maybe I am a 'tsundere', and I will continue to act like it because it is what I am. I'm glad to know that even a blockhead like you could acknowledge that."

I did my best to hold my laughter with all the self-control I could muster. I didn't expect her to actually fall for that. It didn't even sound like she was snarking back. I hope she doesn't get too pissed when she finds out what it really means. [3] It's like the nicest thing I ever called her especially if you compare it to the other things I labeled her as. After all, The 'dere' part implies that there was still hope for her.

"Right…" I muttered, still in disbelief at her reaction. "Let's just not waste any more time and get in."

She nodded as we both went across the walkway to finally get into Doctor Merlot's lair.

=o=

1. The length of the mutated Grimm's transformation depends on the specimen's size and the complexity of their biology, which explains why most of the Mutated Grimm were Creeps as they are much easier and quicker to mutate.
2. He was referring to 'Bumblebee Tuna', since Blake and Yang's combo is named 'Bumblebee', despite it having its name because bees contain the colors black and yellow, representing Blake and Yang respectively. Coincidentally, Yang also nicknamed her motorcycle 'Bumblebee' but she made it clear that she had given it its name long before she was paired with Blake.
3. The term actually meant to describe a person—usually young females—who is considered to be pleasant and caring (dere) beneath a sour exterior (tsun). It is usually used to refer to the character archetype associated with Mistrali pop culture. When I looked up the actual definition myself, I didn't know whether to feel insulted or flattered.

Chapter Text

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When we entered Merlot's facility, we found ourselves in a dark, almost pitch-black room. I turned on my scroll's flashlight and saw that we were in some sort of storage room where barrels of the serum were shelved. If I didn't know any better I would have smashed everything here to lessen Merlot's supply of mutagen, but I was warned that the serum attracts Grimm just like negative emotion, and I wouldn't want to do that if we were to avoid the Grimm as much as we could.

I called Ozpin for our status update, "Headmaster, we're finally in the building."

"Good. I want you to locate Dr. Merlot and put him in custody while you wait for rescue and reinforcements which should arrive shortly. Search for a map or anything that would provide us insights into the facility's layout to make the navigation of that building less troubling. Destroy anything that progresses Merlot's experiment if necessary, but be careful, while we are now aware of what the mutagens could do, we don't know everything about them. Above all, be wary of the security. Take care," he responded.

We proceeded to skip this room since there wasn't much to do, and we still had some things to do first before blindly destroying every piece of equipment we saw. When we exited the storage room, lights suddenly turned on by themselves, revealing a corridor filled with white walls with screens while the floor was black and tiled hexagonally.

The screens show Doctor Merlot's face. This was the first time we saw what he looked like since his profile icon on the communications channel was blank. He is revealed to have medium-gray hair with a mustache and beard, with eyebrows that were no less thick. What was the most disturbing part about him was his left cybernetic eye which was glowing red. Apart from that, he appears to be wearing a scientist's gown, overall, giving in the appearance of the evil scientist he was.

"Greetings, and welcome to Merlot Industries, where we're building a better tomorrow—today!" Merlot on the screen spoke, proving that he has no originality when it comes to quotes. We assumed the screens were playing pre-recorded footage that was played every time someone visited, so we ignored them for now and wandered around the facility until we found something. "Here at Merlot Industries, we take pride in innovation. Together, with your help... and a little of your special spark, we will build a better tomorrow!"

"For you, Merlot, there won't be any tomorrow to 'restore'." Ozpin sternly responded to the messages from our scroll's speakers.

We later would find ourselves in the atrium, according to the label on the wall. There were a few boxes scattered around inside the facility, most of them were empty though, however, some of them contained a few dust shards and some sellable items that could fill my pockets with lien after taking them to the pawnshop.

After walking through the hall for a couple of minutes, we can't help but notice that the facility was empty, containing almost nothing but the same screens on every wall. All we could do was keep moving forward.

"This place looks abandoned, where is everyone?" Weiss asked. I guess that it was only Merlot, his metal slaves and some Grimm are everything we're up against. Not a single soul appeared to be working for him, probably because he didn't need them and no one was insane enough to be under his wing. I wouldn't be surprised if he did purge his employees.

"Making yourselves at home, I see?" Merlot said on a screen, except this one wasn't pre-recorded. He was looking directly at us, startling me for a second. "I want my guests to feel welcome, but unfortunately, my security team rarely feels the same. Still, there's a good reason why they behave that way to you."

There was a security camera placed near the screen. I wasted no time and replied by firing at the security camera, detaching it from the wall, and then shattering it to the floor. "I would have preferred if you refrain from vandalizing the security cameras so we would be able to properly monitor our visitors and employees for the sake of their security and safety," he remarked.

"Sorry, I get pretty shy in front of the camera!" I shot the screen as well, that would be enough of a message for him. For the sake of our security and safety, my ass.

Turning away from the broken screen that now has a hole in it, a turret came out from the ceiling. I quickly expanded my shield and blocked the gunfire as Weiss ducked behind and cast ice shards toward the turret until it was frozen. It then fell to the ground before shattering into pieces.

More of the red robots appeared. We fell back as I threw some ice dusts on the floor, creating a puddle of ice. A few of the robots slipped and fell to the ground as I finished them off by stabbing them as they slid. Weiss dealt with the others by overloading their systems with electric dusts before pushing them away to a wall where they shatter, one of the screens even falling to one of them for an added insult.

We noticed a nearby elevator opened and we noticed after dispatching the androids. We quickly rushed to it and activated it before more security androids arrived to make our day harder.

The elevator's doors closed and it descended to the lower levels. It's probably the worst elevator I ever took because of how fast and shaky it was that one could easily mistake that it was crashing. It was a miracle that neither of us lost balance and fell, not even Weiss who was wearing heels. Thankfully, it was very brief but I wonder how many lawsuits this company used to receive from visitors and employees for their uncomfortable elevators. [1]

When it finally opened, we were greeted with a sight of a large room filled with tanks containing and harvesting the serum from the island's soil. "Here before you are Stage 2 processing tanks," Merlot announced on the laboratory's P.A.

The room was leaking of Scavers and some Creeps that appeared to have dug out from the earth, a few of them were even mutated. They were trying to scratch the tanks of the serum that they were so attracted to, but their attention turned to us once we arrived.

It was pretty tempting to destroy the tanks, but until I was sure that the Grimm would stop leaking in the area, it wouldn't be practical, it would only just give them free mutations. This wouldn't be so bad if all of them were just Creeps since we would only just stand back and let the fireworks happen, but there were also Scavers in the room, and we weren't sure what a large mutated Grimm rat exactly does, so it would be better to study them with one of the two Mutated Scavers present there. If I recall correctly, the military was going to blow up this island once we were out of here anyway, besides I didn't want to become an even worse Grimm magnet by having the serum spilled on my clothes, my shoes have already stepped on enough of them.

The regular Creeps dug near to us, Weiss and I did the pleasure of slashing and stabbing them to oblivion. The mutated ones followed—Weiss and I sprung back and used our respective range attacks, creating green explosions between us.

The Scavers charged toward us, I fired my laser pistol at those overgrown rodents because I was not taking the chance of them poisoning me. They were still one of the weakest common Grimm so it wasn't much trouble getting rid of them, what worried me was the Mutated Scavers since this was our first encounter with them. They were only two and they didn't seem to be more threatening than a Mutated Creep but we didn't know what mutations they were given aside from their new appearance and slightly increased size.

"Ugh, why do these rats have to mutate when I already loathe their normal forms?" Weiss grimaced, repulsed at the sight of her least favorite Grimm specimen and the animal it was based on.

"Probably because regular Scavs' weren't bad enough for him. Whatever these things would bring, it obviously won't be good," I said, readying my gun. "Get ready. We wouldn't know until we see what happens after I damage them."

I fired at one of them. Much like the regular Scavers, they are just as fragile, going down in one or two hits. But it turned out, it actually wasn't a good move because killing a single Mutated Scaver caused it to collapse and multiply into a swarm of miniature glowing rodents that raced toward me.

"Oh, rats!" I panicked. I hastily holstered my gun and grabbed Weiss's hand before making a run from them.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Weiss asked, blushing at me abruptly holding her hand as we were both chased by the swarm.

"Saving our butts from being poisoned! Don't worry, this isn't going to mean anything; we're not in some crappy rom-com!" I quipped in hopes of coping with this madness.

Once we were far enough, yet the swarm was quickly catching up to us, Weiss made a proposal. "Let me go, I have an idea." I looked at her for a moment as I did so, hoping that she knew what she was doing. "You might want to hold on."

Weiss then summoned a glyph for us each to launch us into the air before the swarm of Scavers managed to reach us. Weiss summoned another couple of glyphs to keep us elevated in midair, I kept myself balanced, holding onto the glyph below me as Weiss casted a fireball to the ground, burning the swarm and the three-feet radius around it, even igniting the other Mutated Scaver which eventually burned down along the swarm that spawned from it.

She then casted ice dust to extinguish the fire below us, making it safe to put us down. "Gods, I hate those things."

I pushed myself up and saw that the area was clear of Grimm, for the moment at least. One of the screens flickered on with another announcement from Merlot. "Thank you for getting rid of those pests. I would have sent my androids to dispatch them, but this saves me trouble. This way please." He said, opening another elevator.

"Is it just me, or is he a little too welcoming?" Weiss asked suspiciously.

I can sense that there was something sinister that he had stored for us, but we had nowhere else to go so there was nothing else we could do but move forward and prepare for the worst. "Oh, he is definitely not sending us to a trap," I sarcastically remarked.

"It's either that or facing an endless horde of robots upstairs," she said as we both headed to the elevators.

"Might want to warn the others about the mutant Scavers." I took out my scroll. There would have been huge trouble if it weren't for Weiss fire dusts, and I have to make sure the others were prepared to handle them, otherwise, it might take them longer to get here. "Professor, you might want to tell the others to watch out for Mutant Scavers. They multiply into a swarm of small rodents when killed. Tell them to have some fire dusts ready."

"Duly noted. Thank you for the warning, Mr. Arc. The mutated Grimm is a rather new adversary for us that we appreciate every piece of new information. Continue your expedition and notify us if you find a new threat. Your team should be arriving any minute now." Ozpin responded. The others better get here shortly, I thought, because this mission was getting worse by the minute.

I braced myself for another bumpy elevator ride and boy was I right. I swear, if it didn't last for less than five seconds I would be puking on the floor and Weiss would nag me as long as we're stuck with each other. I know that Merlot hasn't gotten any visitors until we came along, but couldn't he fix this crap in his spare time?

The door opened to a hallway to the next section. We were greeted by more screens of Merlot. "Here we have the Engineering Wing—the so-called 'brains' of the operation if you're not counting my own intellect," he said before laughing at himself. I doubt that's the case as I was convinced that he lost his mind a while now. "Don't be so timid. There aren't any traps here… yet," he continued before the screen transitioned back to showing just his company's logo.

"Thanks for the heads-up," I said dryly.

"Showing gratitude to the man that's trying to kill us now, huh?" Weiss snidely remarked.

"Old geezer needed some compliments after being alone on this dumpster fire for so long. Your parents told you to respect the elderly, didn't he?" I replied.

"How thoughtful of you," she glared at me. "And yes, in fact, I've shown more respect toward the elderly than what my father expected from me."

"Good to know you sympathize with your fellow white-hairs," I teased.

She raised a brow. "I take it you don't do the same, judging on that remark."

"Oh, I didn't mean any offense in that, it's just that you act like a grumpy old lady sometimes," I shrugged.

She remained defensive as always. "That only shows how I'm too mature for the likes of you."

"Right then, grandma," I said, making her roll her eyes out of annoyance.

We pressed forth, there was time for bantering later anyway, and I wasn't going to make this trip longer by stalling, although it did assure me the others are going to arrive any moment now.

The engineering wing was full of computer terminals and workbenches. Aside from that, there wasn't much to make out for it other than I took some parts that may find to be useful—particularly dust and weapon upgrades.

It didn't take long for us to find a row of computers with a terminal in the middle of it. We concluded that this is where they store their data and information.

"That's a lot of computers," I remarked. I felt like I was in a room of a space station that needed several supercomputers and a lot of processors and bandwidth to get its operations working. [2]

"We appear to be in some sort of data processing center," Weiss uttered. "We should be able to gain access to every info we need for this mission."

She headed to the terminal and booted it on, only to be greeted with a screen asking for a password to gain access to it. "Ugh, of course, it's password protected."

Remembering the password I used on the communications tower, it could work here but it was also just as likely that it might now work because not every computer in the facility uses the same password, but the one I got apparently was an admin code so it was worth a try.

"Let me see if this could work," I said. Weiss moved aside before I typed in 'Lusus Naturae'. I was prepared to receive a text saying that it was the wrong password however it managed to work again. "Would you look at that?"

Weiss breathes out. "Thank The Brothers for your compulsive scavenging then and whoever wrote that convenient note." [3]

I know, right? It feels like I'm at their mercy at the moment, I thought.

Browsing through the terminal's contents, I navigated through an index containing records of the company and the facility itself. I've managed to find a document containing a map that not only covers the very laboratory we were at but the rest of the island as well. It has everything we needed to navigate the area and it could help the others when they arrived. I quickly sent it to our CCT server, the computer estimates the upload to be completed after five minutes. Well, it did contain legends, blueprints, and additional information about the island rather than just showing you the layout, so the file itself was bigger than expected.

While waiting for the computer to upload the map, in the meantime, I decided to check out other things on the computer for anything else that could be of some help to us. What got my attention was a folder named 'Projects,' I checked it to see if there was anything that could tell me about his current experiments on the mutating Grimm and what the evil plan he has used for them.

Entering the folder, I saw several more folders containing projects that were either labeled as 'Cancelled', 'Failed', and 'On Hold', but what stood out that wasn't labeled as any of those was the most recent folder on the very top called 'Project: Grimm Eclipse'.

Aside from sounding like a title for a mediocre video game, it was without a doubt that it concerns the Grimm mutations, so I was about to enter the folder the moment I realized what it was. But before I was able to go further, Merlot was able to catch up with what we were doing.

"Ugh, I should have expected this. The moment I found out that you somehow managed to gain access to my network, I feared that you might be able to leak information critical to my experiment." Merlot grumbled, "Since you children are so curious about my works, allow me to introduce one of my finest creations."

Weiss and I readied our weapons for our next adversary. Loud metallic stomps were heard from the nearby manufacturing room. We quickly turned toward it and saw a silhouette leaping toward us. It revealed itself to be a silver, twelve-foot robot clad in armor that appeared to be thicker than the ones carried by the android gunners, it was wielding a war hammer in its right hand and a tower shield in the other.

This is going to be one tough nut to crack, I said to myself.

"Behold, the 'Dust-Immune Prototype Securidroid & Hostile-Intercepting Terminator' or simply called 'The Terminator' in short. Now, I would have changed the name because it was apparently trademarked, but that's not relevant now, is it? As its name suggests, this machine is immune to all sorts of dust attacks, so forget about ever trying your clever abilities, Miss Schnee." [4]

"This is not good..." Weiss winced. I was about as terrified as her, this robot already appeared threatening enough and it was made worse when we heard that it was resistant to any form of dusts. I know I don't over-rely on dust in the first place, but it was still useful in making fights easier. I just needed to find a way to bring this down and I didn't expect it to be a walk in the park, seeing how this was one of Merlot's finer creations.

"I've managed to create the design before that fool Polendina could copy it. The Kingdoms would have done everything they could get their hands on if I had revealed it to them, but I thought it was better to get rid of pests who attempt to ruin my vision. I've always wanted to use it against Huntsmen, now it's my chance!" Merlot finished, now prompting the Terminator to swing its hammer to the floor.

Weiss and I leaped back as the floor shook from the thud. I tried to fire a few laser blasts at it but it was able to deflect them with its shield. Weiss bolted towards its torso and spun around as she tried to damage it, only to make a scratch out of it at best. The Terminator darted back and tried to swing the hammer at her vertically as she was still in midair, but Weiss quickly managed to quickly elevate herself to the ceiling and push herself back to the ground again.

The Terminator raised its hammer to swing it, Weiss summoned a large glyph and attempted to block it and maybe even knock it back, only for it to be broken by the hammer. Weiss made a slight painful grunt and dashed back to avoid the hammer. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"

It looked like we needed to find a weak spot or this robot wasn't going anywhere because it had more protection than a sacred cow with overzealous worshippers. If Professor Peach was able to see this stupid thing, she is going to roll on the floor so hard, that it would break her goggles.

The Terminator began swinging its large hammer around vertically, I barely managed to duck it while Weiss used a glyph to jump from it, she summoned another glyph to launch herself towards it, only for her to stop when it starts facing its shield at her, causing her to land it on her feet and flip back to the ground.

With the Terminator facing Weiss, it was now open on the other side. I aimed at its head and fired a shot. While it did make some damage, it appears that it has head protection as well. The shot managed to anger it which made it shove its shield toward me before it tried to hammer Weiss with its weapon, I had to roll back and keep a distance just to be safe.

While it was tougher than any robot we face, it was so noticeably slow that Weiss managed to dash near below it as she dodged the strike from the hammer. It appears as if she doesn't want to believe that it was fully dust-resistant, so after scraping its leg a few times, she tries to plant an ice puddle below it to see if it might slip. It didn't work, a single stomp from the robot's foot was enough to shatter and break the solid puddle on the floor. Well, that's a way to demonstrate its anti-dust features. He really did think of everything, I'll give that evil old coot credit for actually managing to counter dust and I really hated it.

The robot kicked Weiss back, throwing her to the wall of computers, slightly damaging it and causing the upload (which was almost complete) to be put on a halt for a second before continuing. That was close, it almost gave me a heart attack and it would have been problematic for us to lose that map. I was sure that Merlot didn't want to destroy his own data unless he had a backup somewhere.

Weiss appeared to be fine, unfortunately, the damage absorbed a lot of her aura that she wouldn't be able to use her semblance as much. This robot's anti-dust features were really getting the best of her. She'll be okay, she'll just have to suppress her reliance on glyphs during combat.

What's taking the others so long? I wondered. If there was a situation where we need both of our team's combined strengths, now was a perfect time. Since they should arrive within a few minutes by then, I was thinking that we stall this thing for long enough until they came to our rescue, but Merlot was determined to destroy us with this 'fuck you dust users machine' and we'd be dead or out of aura within less than a minute, so I wasn't going to risk it.

"Stupid anti-dust. I fought a foe like this before, this is not supposed to be as hard as it is!" [5] Weiss bellowed, moving at my distance which was several feet away from the Terminator's range at the moment. "Any ideas?"

I looked at the Terminator to study its design but it was also when it began to charge at us with its shield on the front and we had to quickly dodge to the side away from each other.

Now that it was on the other side of the room and was facing backward, I had a brief moment to discover that—like a knight's plate armor—it didn't fully cover the wearer's body. Some parts of its arms and especially its thighs were the most noticeable, with the latter being the least protected. Reinforced armor plating aside, it's pretty obvious that it's vulnerable to normal attacks.

"We hit it where it hurts!" I declared, giving my sword a twirl. "The robot has some gaps in its armor, we just need to get near them!"

The Terminator then began to leap with its hammers raised. Weiss and I hastily spread out to get away from its attack radius. The second it smashed the ground, we both leaped to avoid the shockwave caused by the impact, Weiss mounts the hammer and runs up to the Terminators right arm and slices its open elbow pit then slashed through the next, meanwhile, I ran towards below it and slashed the back of its thigh. Sparks were coming out, telling us that we were able to damage it.

It then slammed its tower shield on the ground, causing me to fall to my bottom. I quickly crawled back to keep a distance away from one of its upcoming attacks. Weiss jumped to a wall and grabbed it as she summoned a glyph that launched her toward The Terminator's neck in an attempt to slice it. However, it swung its hammer and managed to hit her to the ground, with her aura almost shattering.

"Weiss!" I was so alarmed by her getting hit, that I didn't realize that the Terminator shoved its shield and knocked me back for a few feet until it was too late.

Weiss was struggling to push herself from the ground, having only a few of her aura left that one more successful strike would mean the end of her, but I still had plenty of mine left so I was able to recover and ran toward her as the Terminator was about to deliver another blow in an attempt to finally kill her.

I hurriedly expanded my shield and ran to Weiss's front; I infused my shield with as much of my own aura as I could as I blocked off the robot's hammer. I was slightly pushed by its strength, but I did my best to stubbornly push back to give Weiss enough time to recover and get her rich heiress butt out of there. I groaned as my arms continued to wrestle the Terminator's weapon, struggling even with the aid of my own aura. At that moment, I knew I shouldn't have half-assed my workout and lifted more weights.

Weiss saw me pushing back the robot to save her from getting crushed. Instead of moving away as I expected her to, she abruptly took my laser pistol from my holster after getting up—much to my shock and bewilderment. I was about to ask her what the hell was she doing, that is until I saw her aim towards its unarmored gaps in what would be its thighs and fired a couple of blasts, making the robot flinch back and pull away its hammer.

It was now my chance to strike back. Taking a few breaths, I folded my shield and put it on my belt and stormed toward the Terminator, and leaped to its upper body. I held its shoulder with my left hand as I thrust my sword to its neck repeatedly. The Terminator tried to shake me off and swing its hammer repeatedly, but I was out of its range and held on tight.

To finally top it off, I finally sliced off the neck and jumped away as it fell on its back, making a loud thud across the room with its metal body.

I panted as I went to the computer's monitor and saw that the upload was complete. That's another android down and another objective completed. Good freaking riddance, I thought.

Weiss walked toward me, she was holding her side and was somewhat stumbling. She tossed me my gun as I caught its warm barrel that was currently cooling down. "Not a fan of firearms myself, but I'd say this one is pretty neat. Atlesian tech, is it not?"

"Thanks, I'm proud of it too. Atlas makes the best stuff, not gonna lie." I gave it a few twirls before holstering it. Got to thinking, I used my gun too many times in this mission that I was running short of laser ammo. Better prepare myself into selling my loot so I could have money to buy more then.

I took my scroll and notified Ozpin. After dealing with this specialized elite robot, it was best to get out of this as soon as possible. This mission was getting too ridiculous and our supplies are being exhausted; I have lost count of how many robots I killed since arriving on this island. "Professor Ozpin, I got you your map."

"Yes, I know. I have now begun scrutinizing it. Excellent job, students." Ozpin answered, "I also heard that Merlot sent an advanced anti-dust android. You haven't encountered it, haven't you?"

"We did. It wasn't easy, but let's just say that Weiss is free to use most of her spells again." I looked at Weiss, who just rolled her eyes at that quip but didn't seem to be offended. Understandable, there were worse things to worry about.

"How? Just how?" Merlot's voice bellowed on the scroll channel. "I worked years on that machine to protect my work from puny Huntsmen such as yourself. To see it defeated by a couple of schoolchildren while my information is getting leaked. How are you so determined to get this far? I have clearly underestimated you rascals, you turn out to be more trouble than you're worth."

Yeah, well, I'm not enjoying this either. Maybe you shouldn't have trapped us in that crate and sent us here, we wouldn't have been determined to screw up your facility in an effort to leave, I muttered.

"We have the location of your island and evidence of your experiments. Your safe haven will be bombarded once my students have reached safety. You've already lost, Merlot. Let my students go and surrender yourself, maybe you'll find yourself at the mercy of the authorities." Ozpin responded to him. Listening closely I could hear him take a sip from his mug—like he always does.

"Absolutely not! I refuse to let myself get captured after watching years of hard work simply get wasted by children! If this ought to be my downfall, then I am taking your two precious prodigies with me! Bring me your worst, I will be waiting."

Of course, being absolutely insane, he still chooses not to give up, abandoning all reason and logic when he was inevitably screwed. I really can't wait to finally meet this guy face to face for all the trouble he put me through. He has been giving me the motivation to capture him when all I wanted was to finish the job so I could take the reward, leave and prepare my vacation plans when the school year is over.

"Still as stubborn as always. This path has led to your undoing before, it will lead you to it again." Ozpin sighed before shifting his attention to us. "Mister Arc, Miss Schnee. You'll be happy to know that your teammates are now deployed on the island and are heading to your position. Judging by your aura levels, I advise that you take a short break as you wait for them to arrive. You're doing quite well, keep it up. You're guaranteed to pass this year."

I took a huge breath and sat at the wall of computers, with Weiss following beside me. If the next room is going to be as exciting as this, then we need to be in better condition and let our auras regenerate first. We just need to keep a lookout for another wave of Securidroids unless Merlot is saving them for later instead of using them to attack us while one of us has wavered.

=o=

1. None. From what I could gather, the laboratory's elevators were stable when the company was still active. The lack of maintenance over the years may probably be the reason why the elevator performed that way.
2. Jaune was, of course, referring to fictional space stations from sci-fi media. As of this writing, space travel is still impossible as there is still yet a solution to maintain the powers of dust after they leave the planet's atmosphere.
3. According to a recovered log by Merlot's chief engineer, 'Lusus Naturae' was the master password of anything connected to the island's main network. Said programmer planted the note on the ship, hoping that someone who opposes Merlot would use it against him before was killed by his androids.
4. While anti-dust technology wasn't exactly new at the time—in fact, it has been around years prior—it was rare, expensive, and barely reliable. Over the years, it would become increasingly common, albeit slowly due to nobody being able to salvage Merlot's anti-dust tech and reverse-engineer them to have a breakthrough. If things have gone differently, Merlot's invention would have pioneered anti-dust tech and it would have been mastered years earlier.
5. I was referring to my battle with an Arma Gigas prior to attending Beacon, it was the one where I received the scar on my left eye. While that battle was indeed challenging at the time, the major difference was that the Arma Gigas lacked anti-dust technology that would have made it more difficult to defeat, especially for a dust specialist such as myself.

A few minutes after we defeated the anti-dust droid, we stared at the wall, and occasionally the ceiling, rarely making eye contact with each other. I decided to break the silence and compliment her for helping me kill the robot—the same time when she decided to also open her mouth.

"Hey, you did pretty great back—"

"You know, I really should thank—"

We both flushed and looked away at each other, still contemplating the fact that we are getting comfortable with each other when this series of events was the cause of arguments over dust ownership.

After a moment of awkward silence, I turned my head back to her. "You were saying?"

"I want to thank you for defending me when I faltered. I barely had enough aura left to protect me from another strike from that machine," she said to me rather warmly, contrasting her usually cold demeanor since she was in a good mood.

"I didn't expect that you'd actually show some gratitude." I smugly replied.

She pouted at me over the remark. "Of course, I would. Imagine almost dying and not thanking your lifesaver at least once. I admit, I know I'm not exactly the most pleasant person around but at least I know how to be grateful.

I still don't believe I deserved to be thanked for doing something that I was supposed to do as a Huntsman. I mean, we'll be saving each other a lot in this line of work. "Aren't our lives always in danger ever since we chose to become Huntsmen?"

"Brothers above, you really are an idiot. Put yourself in a near-death experience and maybe you'll understand," she said.

Been there way too many times, I'm afraid. "Well, I have a reputation to uphold. It's not like I'm being selfless or anything." I said in a rather insincere tone to mask despite the volume of truth behind hat statement, that way she wouldn't believe it.

"Sure, you keep telling yourself that," she sneered.

Trust me, I definitely will. "So, what do you want me to say? Tall, blond, and scraggly is at your service?"

"That's still better than your shallow attempts at denying the fact that you just saved me, even if it sounds stupidly cheesy."

I made a faint chuckle. "You know, Weiss, with that smart mouth of yours, you'd fit right into my family."

"What's that supposed to mean? I can't exactly imagine myself sharing your last name," she remarked. That I could agree with. While she sorta has the attitude, I couldn't imagine her being in the same family as mine either. "Can you tell me about them though? I'm rather curious, I've heard about them before, I even read about some of your ancestors."

"Well, everyone knows my father, Caiaphas, a Huntsman that was so renowned for his skills that the Atlesian council made him a Commissar, and my mother was some country girl that became some sort of paladin. After they met, they went on adventures saving the world one baddie at a time. Then they decided to marry, have eight kids and go was their work so they could keep raising and looking after us. Not to mention, both of them are where all of our sarcasm came from, we like to think that their quipping is what got them married in the first place." I chuckled, "Anyway, they left me some pretty big shoes to fill."

"I can relate to that, upholding a family's legacy is never easy," she remarked in an understanding tone. "What about your siblings? I have a couple of siblings myself, but I can't imagine living with seven of them while they all apparently inherit their parents' sarcasm".

"I guess you know who to blame for all the quips I threw at you," I sneered. "To put it simply, my eldest sister is a sapphic egghead who does all of our homework, my other elder sister is a seamstress who once murdered a Beringel over fabric; [1] then there's tree-hugging hippie; a gun-obsessed bounty hunter; a grunge fan who bullies me but is also my best friend and lastly; twins that are pop-stars that also has my parents' training. I'm the youngest and the only son. Do the math."

"Sounds like a wild household, and I thought the three of us were complicated."

I took my turn to ask. "What can you tell me about yours then?"

"To start, there's Winter, my elder sister who I have looked up to since I was little. She is brave, strong, and wise; she would have made a better heiress than I did."

I was rather surprised by Weiss displaying humility when I have known her to be a usually pompous, cold, and arrogant brat, but now I find myself becoming sympathizing with her.

Her tone noticeably becomes more downtrodden. "But she refused the position—even if it did suit her, preferring to work for the military instead, much to my father's disappointment. Now I'm trying my best to be something like her, but thankfully she's willing to help me, even mentoring me a few times," she said, cheering up.

It's nice to see that Weiss has a role model of her own, seeing older brothers and sisters guide their younger siblings always puts a smile on my face. "Then there's my brother, Whitley. In all honesty, I can't talk much about him since we aren't that close. I don't believe that he's even fond of me. Nonetheless, he's still my brother, and whatever he is up to, it was my duty to look after him, and sometimes he may even help me out in return."

"That's siblings for you; sometimes they help you, sometimes they don't," I said.

"That's true."

We sat there for another couple of minutes when suddenly, a distinct voice belonging to a hammer-wielding teammate of mine was heard across the room, making both of us stand. They were finally here.

"Ugh, those elevators make me want to barf!"

"I wonder what Jaune must have felt when riding those."

Yang, I can hear you, but yeah, those elevators suck; can't really blame Nora.

"Weiss! Jaune! Are you there?" A high-pitched voice called, undoubtedly Ruby's.

"Might want to tone it down, the androids and Grimm might be able to sense us." Another voice said, which sounded like Blake.

"The area seems clear to me," Ren replied.

"The professor said that they were last seen on this floor, they should be around here," Pyrrha stated.

Shortly after, the six of them stepped into the data-processing room and found us. "Weiss! Jaune!" Ruby promptly dashed in with her semblance and within a flash, she was now hugging both of us.

"Not too hard! I'm still trying to recover." Weiss told her.

"Oh, sorry!" Ruby apologized as she let go of us and stepped back. "I'm glad to know that both of my besties are still okay!"

Pyrrha walked up to me and smiled. "Glad to see that you're okay, Jaune. I knew he wouldn't be able to break you that easily."

"The journey here took some sweat, but I wasn't going to let him get to me that easily." I boasted, putting my hero face on.

"Of course, you wouldn't. You're not going to let that evil scientist get what he wants, now would you?" Nora inquired.

"Yeah, foiling the bad guy's plan is all in a day's work for me," I said, slightly giving an impression of some sort of superhero. And so was making sure I look good when getting out of a hairy situation.

"That's our leader!" she chirped up.

"Good to see you that the ice-queen and the bike-stealer are alive and well," Yang said.

I faintly narrowed my eyes at her. "I thought we were over that, pie-face."

"Hey, I'm sorry, but your indiscriminate yoinking is what got you here. Not that I'm complaining, you two are still alive and you're able to lead us to find Doctor Badguy's lair," she defended.

"Excuse me, I do not steal indiscriminately! I only take from our enemies and stuff that no one owns anymore!" I agitatedly corrected her.

"Sure, whatever," she dismissed. I was getting called out by someone who has a record of several offenses and enough misdemeanors to get the worst punishment last month, making me wonder what has my life become.

Pyrrha held my shoulder. "Jaune, maybe you should start being more careful the next time you go scavenging. I was really worried about what might have happened when you were abducted."

"Trust me, I think I've already learned my lesson." I hesitantly nodded.

"I hope it's worth the wait, Fearless Leader! I'm really sorry that we weren't able to save you before, we knew we could have done something." Nora shamefully apologized.

"Hey, it's okay, Nora, don't worry about it. What matters now is that you're here and I can't be any happier than that," I reassured them as I gave her the encouraging words like the good leader they thought of me as, as always. "Now, we can finish this mission together."

"So, I heard that you two fought a large anti-dust robot," Yang said, "Are there any more of them?"

"I think he only has one model for it… hopefully," Weiss answered.

"That sucks. I would have loved to fight it, should have waited for me," she disappointedly muttered.

Weiss shook her head over this. "Trust me, if we expected something like that, I would have left it to you. That thing almost killed me, you know!"

"…And it should have!" Merlot suddenly said as a screen suddenly flashed open in the room, revealing a live camera of his portrait.

"Would you mind? The grownups are talking," I sneered at him. At that point, I was so tired of him that just hearing his voice alone made me sick.

"Hey! I thought I was the one who's supposed to make the wisecracks here." Yang remarked.

You're not the only smart-mouthed blonde here, Yang, I thought. "Mind if we share the role then?"

Merlot then started speaking, "How precocious of you. I just want to let you know that my ambitions aren't the only thing that is going to be destroyed today! Now that your whole team is here, you can all die toge—!" His feed abruptly ended after Pyrrha fired a single round at the screen.

"Good job, Pyrrha," I said as she gave me a nodding smile.

Ozpin began speaking through our scrolls. "Students, I'm glad to see that you've finally reunited, but let's not waste any time now. According to the map that was sent to me, it appears that the facility contains a self-destruct sequence that Merlot would be able to trigger as a last-resort option."

Self-Destruct?! Please, tell me you're joking, Ozpin! I thought as I panicked.

"You can use the map yourself in this channel. Merlot's workplace is up ahead. I suggest you advance immediately." he said before ending his call.

"I think I got all the aura I need. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Weiss said.

"Alright, everybody, let's move out! Let's give this evil doctor the taste of his own medicine!" Ruby said.

"Please don't tell me you're planning on mutating him." I quipped.

"Don't worry, the mutagens will probably just kill him," Weiss assured, keeping her face straight. "And yes, I'm aware of the joke."

Well, fair enough.

=o=

1. For context, a caravan containing supplies Viola Arc bought due to a shortage of fabric was blocked by a Beringel that was terrorizing the trade route to Acadia. There were multiple attempts to dispatch the Beringel but they all failed, leading her to successfully take down the Beringel herself after becoming too impatient. She declined the reward and simply took the supplies. She would later find her business has an increase in customers within the following day. It should be noted that unlike Jaune or half of her sisters, Viola Arc never attended any Huntsman academy.

We then all proceeded to the Manufacturing Wing. I had my sword prepared for the worst of Merlot since I got the impression that this was the final stage of the mission, or at least I hoped it was. We didn't know what type of mutant Grimm we had to face next.

"Team, be warned that there's also an android assembly and a confinement of Grimm on the way there! Do not forget that we need Merlot alive so that he can be questioned for his crimes. A Bullhead will be waiting for you at the landing pad near his workshop. Remember that prudence is of the essence!" Doctor Oobleck said.

Just what I was afraid of.

As we went further into the manufacturing wing, we began to wonder where all the robots and Grimm were when Merlot was preparing to destroy us. We arrived at a three-way junction, with the left path leading to the android assembly being guarded by an army of robots, with expendable red androids on the front and four heavy gunners on the back; The other path leading to the biological lab which was blocked by Mutated Grimm—mostly consisting of Mutated Creeps with a couple of Mutated Beos and for the first time—a single Mutant Ursa.

Oh, crap, this is going to be one hell of a party. This place is going to be a mess once we're done, I told myself.

"Oh-ho! This is going to be a whole lot of fun!" Yang said, readying her weapons, along with everybody. Team RWBY was facing the Grimm while my team was focusing on the robots on the other side. I took a deep breath and thought of a way to defeat both of them without any casualties from our side.

"You still have the EMPs, don't you, Ren?" Nora asked.

"Of course," he said,

"Thank the Brother Gods for that," I puffed, I wouldn't know what to do without them. "Give 'em some blue screens."

Ren threw the EMP grenades and disabled the red androids, the gunners were stunned for a few seconds or so but it appeared as if their circuits were also protected so they were able to recover quickly from the EMPs. Nora charged and smashed away all the overloaded androids, some of them being thrown to the heavies as they attempted to fire their weapons at us.

Ren, Pyrrha, and I helped clear the path from the red androids. The gunners began to fire their weapons at us, prompting me and Pyrrha to raise our shields and for Ren and Nora to take cover behind us.

"Nora, smoke!" I ordered.

"That won't work! The androids are equipped with sensors that allow them to target us even when hidden behind smoke," Ren told me, and Nora was pretty aware of this too, judging that she didn't comply immediately like she always would.

With that, I had to look for another way to get close to them while being able to avoid their fire. I realized that while they were resistant to EMPs, they were not fully immune to them. It would at least buy us some time. And also there's this other thing. Gulp. Here goes nothing. "Ren, throw more EMPs at it; Pyrrha, cover me; and Nora…" I faced her, and she was more eager and prepared for my orders than ever. "Get me closer, I want to hit them with my sword."

Nora smirked and gave me a two-finger salute. I know this sounds like something too crazy for something for me to do but I refused to waste ammo and I thought this was the best way to get in close range to them.

Ren threw a handful of EMP grenades at the gunners that were still firing their weapons. The grenades ignited, briefly stunning them, giving me a window of fewer than three seconds to get close to them. I collapsed my shield and put it back on my belt before Nora grabbed my left hand and flung me toward the heavies. I raised my sword before grabbing one of them in the chest and thrusting my weapon through its head, making it fall back into the floor.

The other robots recovered from the EMPs and faced me. I expanded my shield and used it to shove away one of its guns and sliced off its arm. They were so preoccupied with me that the next thing they knew, Nora jumped in and completely crushed another one of them with a single strike of a hammer. Pyrrha's spear was thrown into one of the heavies' necks—the one which I sliced the arm off from. She then leaped in and grabbed it and pulled it out as she bounced off its chest. Ren remained at the back, providing cover with armor-piercing bullets.

Meanwhile, on Team RWBY's side of things while they were fighting the mutated Grimm. Ruby was zooming around one of the Mutant Beos while trying to slice it down with her scythe; Weiss was gathering Mutant Creeps and contained them with glyphs suppressing their explosion as they blow each other to smithereens; Yang was giving jabs to the Mutant Ursa's stomach before dodging right from its claw; Blake was handling the other Mutant Beo, which smashed the floor, only for its green crystals to go through to one of her shadow clones as she stabbed its back a few times and then got out. One Mutant Creep tried to sneak behind her but she was able to notice and used her weapon's whip to hurl it at the last Heavy android standing before exploding along with it.

Now that the robots were no longer a problem, we were able to give our sister team a helping hand. Pyrrha fired her rifle at Ruby's Mutant Beo, distracting it away from Ruby as she was able to cut it down in half. Pyrrha then shot the remaining Mutant Creeps who were a distance away from Team RWBY and tried to storm at us. I put away my shield and held hands with Ren, masking my emotions with his semblance as I help Blake slay the other Mutant Beowolf by slashing it with my sword. Ren proceeded to shoot it with his gun in his free hand while the Beo was not able to sense the two of us. Nora shot some grenades at the Mutant Ursa before Yang climbed on its back and pinned it down just before Nora stepped in and smashed its head into nothing.

"Woo! Alright, who's next?!" Yang stood away from the Mutant's Ursa's corpse. It's a good thing I have adrenaline junkies like her and Nora to leave the more suicidal stuff to. I'm glad I don't have to engage another angry bear.

"Is everyone alright?" I asked, checking everyone's status.

"We're all good!" Ruby gleefully reported, giving a thumbs up. She looks pretty cheerful for someone who just fought a more advanced version of an Alpha Grimm.

"We should keep moving. Ren, Nora, go to the robot assembly and make sure there will be no more robots to slow us down. You guys still have EMPs and there shouldn't be too many robots waiting since we wrecked most of them here."

"Roger that! You can always leave the purge of the corrupted machine spirits to us!" Nora said. Ren silently nods as they both make their way into the other path.

I faced the others and continued. "The rest of us will have to go to the biolabs, it should be where all his experiments are. The map says that Merlot's workshop and the airship landing are through there. The sooner we catch Merlot, the better. So, let's get moving."

The girls agreed and accompanied me to the biolabs. We entered with our weapons drawn, in case another hostile showed up. It was just as bad as I expected, only that the room was brighter than what I pictured it thanks to the lights and the white walls. It contained a room full of glass tanks filled with the serum with unconscious Grimm floating inside—it was something straight out of a horror film, a zombie film, to be exact, except it has jars of Grimm instead of humans or faunus.

Aside from the Grimm contained in test tubes, there were also some computers that are calculating the Grimm's stats and biology, and a few workbenches containing some chemist's lab, some dust, and vials of mutagen.

I grabbed one of the tablets hanging on the bench to check what was inscribed on it. The title confirmed that this was Project: Grimm Eclipse. The tablet contained stats comparison of the Grimm before and after mutation, as well as a list of specimens and their augmentations.

It stated that only Creeps, Scavers, Beowolves, and recently Ursas were the only specimen deemed to be successfully compatible with the mutagen as the tests with other specimen either failed or were in early stages of development, explaining why those were the only mutated Grimm we were able to encounter. Though, what caught me the most that really disturbed me was that there was an update saying that he managed to get a hold of an unspecified Large-Class Grimm and its test was near-complete.

Despite all of this information, I was still in the dark about Merlot's motivation. What did he exactly plan to do with this? Destroy a kingdom that he loathes so much? I wondered

"I don't like this place, can we go now?" Ruby suggested, gripping both handles of her Crescent Rose.

"Looks like there's nothing else of use for us here, apart from files we could give to the Professor. We just have to find Merlot and we'll be out of here." Pyrrha stated.

I took out my scroll and reviewed the map. "Merlot's workplace is right around the corner. If he's not hiding there, then I don't know where."

Suddenly one of the blast doors opened. Curious, we all walked toward it. It led to a huge open space with several screens on the walls with some of the serum spilled on the floor, and there was a large door on the side. We all went through the door for a closer look.

Upon closer inspection and some quick thinking, I knew that this was a trap. I rushed back to the previous room when the door abruptly shut with everyone but me inside.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha yelled out my name and began to slam at the door. I even noticed some black outlines surrounding the door, suggesting that Pyrrha tried opening it with her magnetism but it was too strong that it remained closed tightly.

"Pyrrha!" I said, also slamming the door. Worried at what might happen to her and the others now that they were trapped there.

One of the screens behind flashed open and Merlot made another announcement. "Welcome to the testing grounds, students. Since you are so curious about my research on the Grimm, then you will be thrilled to know that I have synthesized the perfect combination of the serum. So why don't you go and get acquainted with my latest experiment? It may still be in a testing phase but I know you love challenges and this one could use the exercise."

The screen cut to one of the cameras in the testing ground where the girls were trapped at. Merlot dropped a large Mutated Grimm in the middle of the chamber. The worst part was that it was a DEATHSTALKER.

A Deathstalker… it had to be a freaking Deathstalker, didn't it? As if regular Deathstalkers weren't horrifying enough.

"Don't be shy, students. You could learn a lot from this enhanced specimen. They don't teach lessons like this in Beacon." Merlot said before cutting his feed into simply showing his logo.

Thank Brothers for their standards then. I realize that even the academy's more brutal tests aren't as bad as this. With that, I am never going to take their tests for granted ever again.

Well, that made me almost glad that I bailed out when I had the chance, but I still needed to get my friends and partner out of there. As much as I just want to rush to the exit and get in the airship early, it would only warrant unwanted questions about that decision and deny me of the reward. Besides, all I had to do was find and capture Merlot and find a way to open the test chamber's door so that the others could escape; that doesn't sound hard on paper, but given how stubborn this guy was, I expected it to be anything but easy.

I found out that I don't have a lot of options, so I had to go to Merlot's workplace myself. The map also indicated that it was also near the exit where the landing pad will be waiting, so I'll be able to escape quickly in any case. Apparently, it was designed that way so that the most important personnel was able to leave the facility within a short period of time in case of disasters.

I went to the door of Merlot's personal workplace only to find out it was locked. There was some sort of handprint scanner that could be used to unlock the door, but I don't have anything to bypass it. Luckily, the lock allows you to conveniently use the master password instead, in case the scanner was unusable due to malfunctions.

I typed in the same password I used to gain access to the island's communications and the laboratory's files—and much to my joy, it worked. I readied my pistol as the door opened, and I saw him facing me on his back. He was watching Team RWBY and Pyrrha fighting the Mutant Deathstalker on multiple different screens, each providing different camera angles on the testing grounds.

He heard his door slide open and turned back to see me step in with my pistol pointed at him. He quickly grabbed his pistol on his desk with his right hand (which turned out to be robotic, just like one of his eyes) and turned to me as he began hovering his index on a red button while his robot hand aimed his pistol at his own head.

"Hold it right there, Arc! Another move and I will either pull the trigger or initiate the lab's self-destruct that would detonate within less than a minute which won't be enough for you to get everyone evacuated. I'll even do both if I have to! Regardless, I'm not allowing you to take me alive."

Normally, I wouldn't care much if he killed himself; it's not like I wanted him alive. But Ozpin made it clear that he prefers Merlot to be captured and breathing cause he still had a lot to answer for. "You wouldn't, you sure you don't want to see the result of your latest experiment first?"

He smiled sinisterly. "You know, I admit, I kind of like you, Arc. You and your family have some sort of determination that has always intrigued me. I was wondering where you were since I thought you'd be in the test chambers with your teammates. I've been curious about the moment you gain access to my communications network. How are you able to bypass the network's security? I don't go around telling everybody my password."

"Maybe it's because one of your employees left a piece of paper containing your super-secret master password on your ship?" I replied in a mocking tone.

"How inconvenient, one of my former employees might have hacked to get my password. I had the suspicion they would try to access my files after the company's decline."

Yeah, well, I should also thank you for not programming your robots into finding and destroying papers that could be vital to those who are hunting you down.

"Look, just give it up. If you want to make the world a better place like what you'd claim, you're going to answer for threatening Remnant with your experiments. You already know that I'm not going anywhere without you in my custody." I continued to aim my gun at him.

"You're berating me for threatening the world? Tell me, how many people did you kill to get your status, both directly and indirectly? How many widows and orphans have you made because someone's family member in the White Fang wasn't able to get home?"

I think about that sometimes, and they would occasionally even haunt me, but I have probably killed plenty enough that I have reached the point where I really couldn't care less about it anymore. The people I killed would have eventually died because of their pathetic life choices anyway. It's not the best justification but it does help me sleep at night. "Does it matter? Even if I did kill some people, it was only so that fewer innocents would die. Can you even say the same with what you're doing?"

Merlot chuckled. "Perhaps not, but as a matter of fact, my original plan for this research was far more altruistic, little did you know."

"Huh?" I uttered, widening my eyes in bewilderment.

"It should be no surprise that I have a deep fascination with Grimm, but it wasn't my initial intention to strengthen them into becoming more terrifying monsters everyone already perceives them as. The original purpose of this research was to find a possible solution to the Grimm's hostile nature. The substance that I'm currently using was said to be scientifically possible to remedy the Grimm's perpetual hunger for souls, and perhaps uplift them into something more."

"I take it that it didn't go so well?" I remarked, keeping my gun pointed at him.

"The substance was dangerous by default as it accelerates a specimen's development to the point that they are able to reach beyond their established evolution, thus giving them forms that were never before seen. But with a little science, it can be modified into only enhancing the Grimm's intelligence and even removing its blind thirst for negative emotions once and for all. Thus, pacifying them that they're no longer a threat."

He took a breath and continued, "We once thought that the project was a success since all tests and experiments that took years have passed and were proven to be successful. It was a revolutionary discovery that could have solved the biggest problem in Remnant since the dawn of the Grimm. After the completion of the project, we gained the approval of The United Councils Committee to begin taming the Grimm with the modified serum, starting on Mountain Glenn. It worked, The Grimm did not attack a single living being after being stuck with the serum, not even the animals. The road that linked Vale and Mountain Glenn became one of the safest routes in all of Remnant and it was reopened to the public. The Committee was very impressed by my work, news around the globe began to circulate about my innovation, and the company was growing bigger than ever my name has become something to be reckoned with. The Committee considered giving me an award; the project was a scientific breakthrough that was changing the world…or so we thought."

Call me pessimistic, but although pacifying the Grimm was a great, if an overly-ambitious idea, that I could finally roam around the woods without much worry—it was doomed to fail from the start. I don't know about you, but nature is very persistent when it comes to change

"And then what happened?" I asked, being compelled by this information that I almost drew my gun down. Speaking of which, there were a couple of times when he kept his pistol away from his head and his robotic hand away from the button. In those instances, I would have normally taken the opportunity to put him down if not for the fact that I was engrossed in what he had to say.

"We were then supposed to carry out another operation to pacify Grimm on another region, it was when I got urgent reports that the test subjects we spent ages experimenting on were not only reverting back to its savage aggressive state but were becoming stronger too, and so was the Grimm that we injected on. We realized that the serum was far from perfect and the effects were only temporal, and it was far too late to pull the plug. The Grimm went back to their feral state and attacked settlements around Mountain Glenn the least everyone expected it. The military and Huntsmen were having difficulties handling them due to the serum making them more powerful and everyone kept helplessly asking me what to do. The military pinned the blame on me and tried to have me in custody, but I refuse to have any of it. I went into hiding in a safe place where no one would find me. Days later, I would find Mountain Glenn to be obliterated into oblivion, Vale being on temporal lockdown, and me being presumed as dead."

I almost pitied him, I can't imagine how difficult it was being held responsible for an entire disaster. I feel kind of sorry for this guy but I have to focus on the task at hand and I still remember what he intends to do with his creations and that he told me all of this while still pointing a freaking gun at his own head.

"When I heard about this, I expected everyone to pay their respects for everything I did to give the world a brighter future despite my shortcomings, but instead I found everyone spitting on my name and blaming the whole incident on me. They shut down my whole company and took everything away from me. They called me a madman, a failure, and a fool who thought he changed the nature of Grimm. I could never show my face to the public ever again and I allowed them to believe that I was dead. I've chosen to embrace the image they gave me and carried on my project with a different goal. I always liked the Grimm, there is potential inside them that they cannot unlock for themselves that makes them more than just mindless beasts, so I believe it is my calling to help them receive it. If they chose to see me that way, then so be it."

Well, that was a rather interesting tale of someone's fall from grace and descent to madness that explains some things but it sure did leave some questions. "Why all this? Couldn't you have apologized and proven them wrong by doing better?"

"That is what I am exactly trying to do, except that I have nothing to apologize for. Humans and Faunus are both weak and pathetic excuses for species. As I continue to watch them, I can understand why they cannot dominate their own world despite their so-called intelligence. They are destined to live in fear, because they are full of it, whereas the Grimm knows nothing about fear and I'm only trying to put them in a place they deserve."

I carefully stepped into the room closer. "You really lost it. What about making the world a better place? Are you letting yourself be remembered as a monster forever?"

"I am making the world a better place. Salem was right about the world being better off ruled by chaos."

That one left me puzzled. I would have passed it off as another name that was simply mentioned, but I had a feeling that there was more to that name. It felt like it wasn't the first time I heard of it. "Salem? Who's Salem?"

"I see that neither Oz nor your own father told you, maybe you could ask them." He sneered. "Assuming you'll be able to leave this place alive."

There were a lot of things going on and more questions just popped up in my head while I did my best to repress this thought and focus on finding a way to capture him without getting himself or everyone killed.

I glanced at one of the screens behind Merlot and found Yang getting thrown into a wall. Merlot kept standing there, smirking, not entirely aware of what was going to happen, I could even see her hair glowing on the screen.

"Your efforts to rid the world of Grimm as Huntsmen will be a pointless failure. Grimm will continue to slowly but surely consume every space of Remnant, with or without my gifts to them. If there is anyone who should give up, it would be—" His taunting was interrupted when a cylinder-shaped object was tossed inside the room, and it turned out to be an EMP grenade. "Is that—?"

Once it detonated, his robotic right arm began to malfunction and he dropped his pistol. I took this opportunity to jolt myself toward him and have him pinned on the ground to keep him away from pressing the button. Merlot tried to resist and pushed me away. I whipped my pistol on his forehead, knocking him unconscious so that his cybernetic arm stopped shaking.

"It appears that would be still you then." I quipped, rising from the floor. Looks like he wasn't enough of a genius to outsmart us dumb kids. Better luck next time, Doc.

I stepped away from his unconscious body and saw Ren appear in the doorway with both of his weapons drawn. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I thought his brains would have splattered on my face. Anyway, good job. Wouldn't know what to do without you."

"My pleasure." Ren nodded before going to Merlot's body and having his hands cuffed.

I went to the screens and watched the girls struggle with the Mutant Deathstalker while an enraged Yang pushes it back. "Guys, we got him!" I told them on the scroll's channel.

"Wonderful news, Jaune, but we still have a Mutant Deathstalker in our hands," Pyrrha responded.

"Hang on tight. I'll have the door unlocked for you." I put my scroll down and looked around and noticed that someone was missing. "Hey, where's Nora?"

"She's waiting for you to open the test chamber's door so she can help. And by the way, she's been electrified."

"So does that mean…" I looked at the screens and saw one of the cameras showing Nora waiting outside the testing ground's door as she was visibly engulfed with electric bolts.

"Let me in, Fearless Leader! Imma 'bout to give this giant bug some good ole' squashing!"

I smirked and then I went to the controls and pressed the button that opened the door when I found it. "Knock em' dead, Sparky."

She smiled devilishly at the camera before swiftly flashing inside the room and then hitting the Mutant Deathstalker hard enough that it was sent crashing into the other side of the room, giving the wall a huge crater.

It got up rather angrily, but before it was able to do anything else than screech, it was then hit by a flurry of powerful punches thanks to her semblance being active. Yang went over to the Mutant Deathstalker's body and grabbed its stinger then violently pulled it with almost all of her strength that it was torn off from its body with green liquid squeezing out like blood.

The Mutant Deathstalker could now barely stand, with its legs failing and its body falling to the floor. Yang bolted away from it when Nora finished it off by bouncing into the air and using one last strike to slam it into nothing but green liquid and a crater on the ground.

Not really a good day to be an enhanced scorpion Grimm, now, was it? Merlot should be thankful that he did not witness another one of his precious babies meet their demise, I bet he would have even dropped tears from the cybernetic eye of his.

With the last hostile dead and the target captured, it was safe to say the mission was complete. The only thing left to do was get off there, and I was getting sick of being in the facility for much longer.

"Good work, everyone. We've done everything we need to do. Let's go home." I announced it to everyone after taking a deep breath. Afterward, I contacted Ozpin to tell him that we'd finished our mission, "Professor, the deed is finally done."

"Excellent work, students. I knew that you were able to handle this. You truly are worthy of being Huntsmen. Now make your way to the landing pad not far from your location. The Bullhead will take you back to Beacon. I'm very proud of you."

"Right ahead of you." I put my scroll down and helped Ren carry an unconscious Merlot out to the landing pad nearby.

It didn't take long for the Bullhead to arrive, it's because it was waiting somewhere about the island when they dropped off the rest of our teams. Ren and I got into the Bullhead and we put Merlot on a stretcher with his hands cuffed. The girls then caught up and hopped on in. The Bullhead then departed, taking us away from the island.

I finally sighed and sat down, still not believing that I was able to see the end of this mess. I'm finally able to relax now that I don't have to worry about this anymore.

"That was... awesome!" Ruby suddenly chirped up, surprising those who were trying to unwind after a long, arduous mission. "We get to fight Grimm that nobody has seen before and we don't have to study to pass the semester anymore!"

"Heck, yeah, sis! Nothing says 'best day ever' like fighting killer robots, evil scientists, and super-Grimm!" Yang pumped with her sister.

"At least you two had fun," Weiss wiped the dirt off her dress, probably grumbling about my journey with her, which I couldn't blame her for.

I'd say the reward was worth it, but this is something I would rather not go through again. Studying might have been less trouble than what I have just recently experienced.

"So, this is the infamous Doctor Merlot. I never thought I would meet him in the flesh like this." Blake examined him on the stretcher in the middle of the Bullhead.

"What does he need the robot arm for? Looks to me that he just wasted a perfectly good arm." Yang said.

"Either he lost it at one point or he willingly replaced it in favor of cybernetics," Ren explained.

Cybernetic implants are cool and all, but if I learned something today then I found out that they're not always better than normal limbs as a single EMP can screw them up. Now, I could be wrong but even if you use cybernetics to restore an amputated body part, I'm pretty will still feel like there's something missing from your body. I don't think I'm going to saw off my own arm anytime soon, I'm content being a pure meatbag.

A holographic screen emerged on the Bullhead's interiors, it shows Ozpin commending us for our efforts on the mission. "Students, I am glad you are able to make it with no casualties with Doctor Merlot captured alive. It speaks volumes about what you are capable of. Don't worry about the island, we'll handle the rest. Rest assured that you have completed your mission and that you have earned the extra credit that we promised you."

That's good to hear. I would have hated being denied my reward just because I missed something. Now I'll be able to spend my days on the final exam taking a comfy, relaxing vacation away from Huntsmen responsibilities.

The holo-screen then withdrew, and we went back to unwind ourselves from the adrenaline rush of confronting Merlot and his pets on green steroids. Weiss suddenly approached and reminded me of an offer I made earlier, "So, are you still up for cake and tea?"

To be honest, I wasn't being serious when I said that and neither was I expecting her to accept it, but it worked for me so I might as well take it. "Can't see why not."

We may not be the best of friends, but we still try to give each other a chance since we have proven that we were able to get along when we want to. Our teammates just need to get used to seeing us doing anything that doesn't involve annoying or ignoring each other.

"Did a handsome knight in shining armor melt that cold heart of yours, Ice Queen?" Yang teased as she grinned at us, with Ruby being just as amused while Blake didn't know what to think of it.

Weiss rolled her eyes and turned to them. "Oh, don't you dare go there."

I giggled for a bit before looking at my teammates. Ren was just as disinterested as he always was and was too busy lying on his seat; Nora was glaring at me as she didn't seem to like the idea of Weiss and I getting too close, and Pyrrha looked like she was trying to keep a straight face beneath her slightly reddening cheeks.

"Easy, now. It's all just friendly stuff. Just relax." I said to Nora to quell any negative thoughts and prevent her from starting unwanted fights with the Bullhead.

"It better be," Nora growled before turning to Pyrrha. "Right, Pyrrha?"

"Uh, yeah! Right..." she attempts to respond as she stammers.

I shrugged off everyone's antics and lied down as I waited for this ship to take me back to school. There were a lot of things I had to clear from my mind that it just forgot to make me feel nauseated during the flight. I just had to make a trip to Forever Fall to investigate some strange stuff and then find myself shipped into an island filled with super-powered Grimm and killer robots that were led by an insane scientist with a fixation on evolving the Grimm evolution. I hope whoever is in charge of keeping watch on Merlot is doing their best of making sure he doesn't try anything clever again.

One thing that continued to bother me about that journey was Merlot mentioning someone by the name of 'Salem' who once stated that Remnant was better off living in chaos, and Ozpin and Dad seemingly know about her and that I should ask him if I want to know more. I'll ask about it sometime, but not today. It might rub Ozpin the wrong way and I've already been through enough trouble that I just wanted some R&R. Maybe I should ask Dad instead, I obviously trust him far more than Ozpin. I'll bring it up once I'm ready.

This started as a simple mission, just scout out and investigate sightings of mutated Grimm and how Merlot industries are related to it, and it ended as a demented escapade that resulted in me capturing a mad scientist who was presumed dead. All I could do was be grateful that we'd managed to win in the end and get some extra benefits on top of that.

Thank goodness it's all over. I can't believe I spent five hours on this crap.

[And thus conclude this extract from the archive as we move on to the next volume of Jaune's memoir in Beacon.]

Chapter Text

Volume III

To Thrive and be Victorious

Editorial Note:

This is the third and final volume of this extract from the Jaune Archive that chronicles his year at Beacon Academy. It centers on the 40th Biennial Vytal Festival, an event that went down as a very major episode in modern history and changed the lives of many Huntsmen and civilians alike, for better or worse, and Jaune and his fellow students at Beacon were no exception. In fact, this was a significant turning point in his life, and I was personally there to witness it.

I will keep this brief and let Jaune's writing speak for itself. As with previous volumes, his accounts remained mostly self-centered so pertinent footnotes and excerpts from other records will continue to be included to provide the reader with a wider perspective of this historical event.

Without further interruption, let us proceed to the end of the beginning of this chapter in Jaune's life and career.

Weiss Schnee

Chief Executive Officer, Schnee Dust Company®

PROLOGUE

Ah, the Vytal Festival. Nothing says peace between nations than celebrating with fun activities such as parades, dances, contests, games, and a tournament that has students of the world's top academies fighting each other for martial supremacy. And some people take it very seriously to the point that it occasionally even results in brawls if disputes get heated enough; thus contradicting the festival's purpose of promoting peace and friendships. Basically, it's just sports in general—except the players are school children whose goal is to basically crush their opponents. Once these few weeks of partying are all over, the kingdoms will inevitably go back to bickering at each other over dumb, petty politics until the next festival arrives.

To the surprise of literally no one, we made it to the tournament as there was absolutely zero reason for them not to put us in there. Ren and Nora are very competent fighters that complement each other perfectly; Pyrrha is the four-time, back-to-back, consecutive champion of the Mistral Regionals; and everyone is calling me the latest Hero of Beacon for stopping the breach while Vale is hosting for this year. We are pretty much celebrities at this point. Of course, why wouldn't they put us in the tournament?

I'll give The Great & Powerful Ozpin some credit for keeping the Merlot situation confidential. Nobody needed to know that the person behind Mountain Glenn's demise was still alive even if he was incarcerated. Or that he was able to mutate Grimm. And most of all, no one needs to know that I was one of the people responsible for his capture. It might cause public hysteria when the festival begins and Ozpin wouldn't look good if people find out that he sent first-year students on a very dangerous mission no matter how exceptional they consider themselves to be.

Come to think of it; if it went public, it might have been kind of nice if it would have deemed me and my team overqualified for the tournament, with my partner already being famous for being near-untouchable and thus, saving us some trouble. Then again, it's probably just wishful thinking and that they would still put me in the tournament anyway since everyone would still want to see me in action regardless of what I do. My status as a breakout celebrity is already overbearing; I don't need to make it worse for myself, especially if I intend to get far in the tournament and not spoil Pyrrha's winning streak.

The tournament was held in the floating arena that was hovering above Vytal—the Amity Colosseum, an acrophobia's least favorite place to visit. Everyone who had tickets or an invitation had to ride an aircraft to get there [1]. Thankfully the ride there was very brief since the coliseum remained in Vytal's airspace when Vale is hosting the festival, so it wasn't that far from Beacon and I didn't have to hide much of my motion sickness to avoid showing signs of weakness, especially to potential opponents.

It wasn't the first time I visited the Coliseum, I remember my last visit here about six years ago. My father brought most of the family to watch Rouge's participation in the tournament during her first year at Beacon. I also remembered being so terrified of the airship ride, not only because of my motion sickness but also because I had never been that high before. It was one of the last moments in a simpler and happier time of life; I even dreamed of competing in the tournament myself. That was all before it took a more cynical turn. Ever since then, I never even thought of seeing the Coliseum in person again.

Well, here I am once more. If I was my eleven-year-old naive self, I would be dying of joy right now and cherish every second of this, but instead, I feel like I have to play some stupid games because everyone wanted me to.

Airships loaded with fans from all over the world gathered around the arena, and of course, the Gods-forsaken press was also there. All the tickets were sold, explaining the dense population of the Coliseum. Let's just be thankful that this coliseum was able to support this many people. There were plenty of well-known teams and fighters that were anticipated; Pyrrha was one of them, especially for her fellow Mistralis as this was the first time she participated in a tournament outside her home region. And of course one of the other acclaimed prodigies they were waiting for was me.

That gods-awful video of me during the incident of Podunk just hit over a million views on PruneHub. [2] I feel bad for everyone who had to watch that shaky, vertically recorded mess that serves as the quintessential example of everyone's misunderstood perception of me. I was advertised as one of the most popular upcoming fighters in the tournament and this was only my debut. What made me nervous the most was I had to perform in front of thousands of people. Doing stuff to perpetuate my image was one thing, but doing my best to maintain my composure in front of a large audience was something else. The best thing to do was focus on the match and ignore the audience as best as you could. The problem is, that their constant cheering will keep reminding you of their presence, which makes ignoring them impossible.

The first round consisted of entire teams, followed by doubles and singles. The winners will be able to decide which of their teammates would participate in the following round. For this round, we were matched against Team ABRN (Auburn) from Mistral, consisting of Arslan Altan; Bolin Hori; Reese Chloris; and Nadir Shiko, if I remembered their names correctly.

Like some of the exchange students I observed, I've seen them fight before, and while they do have a few quirks that made them slightly stand out from the others, they didn't seem to be much of a problem. That said, I reminded myself that they were not planning on holding back as they are aware that they were facing one of the most incontestable freshmen teams on Beacon.

After a few matches from the other contestants passed, it was our turn. Checking to see if all my equipment is functional and in place, I held a deep breath and faced my teammates in the locker room. They all bore expressions of eagerness and determination. "Alright team, are we ready?"

"We're all set," Ren nodded. Nothing odd there aside from his voice sounding somewhat different. I don't think it's anything serious; it's probably just the effects of the weird plants he consumes somehow.

"Let's put Team JNPR in the history books!" Nora pumped beside him. Hopefully not for the wrong reasons if I wind up doing something stupid that would put a stain this team's reputation, I thought. She then checked the tournament's livestream on her scroll. "Online chat is pretty pumped up. Let's give 'em a show!" She had to remind me that a third of the world is watching us right now.

"Here I go once more…" Pyrrha sighed, listening to the waiting crowd upstairs as she prepared for yet another tournament round she needed to win to please everyone.

"Hey," I motioned to Pyrrha and comforted her by holding her shoulder. "It's going to be alright. We're all in this together."

Her face brightened up, with a small blush visible from her. I smiled back and let go of her as I led them out of the locker room. "Remember, guys, this was all we've been training for the past weeks. Let's show them how far we went to get ourselves here," I told them. Well, we all know that the real reason why we were qualified was that we had a champion and a so-called hero on our team, but that doesn't sound too inspiring, now would it?

"Don't worry, what's the worst that can happen? Pyrrha's a world-renowned champion, Ren's basically a ninja, I can bench five of me, and you're the biggest hero his kingdom has in a while! And after everything we went through, these guys will be like moles ready to be whacked!" Nora boasted.

"Even if the odds are with us, we're still up against serious competitors, Nora. They're well aware of our feats, so we should prepare for anything we might not expect." Ren pointed out.

I nodded at him in agreement especially when my plan mostly boiled down to: 'throw some relevant commands, look good, and hope that my team pulls it together.' Constant practice was the best way to keep us prepared for the tournament as no one knew who their first opponents would be until the tournament officially started, and having an undefeated champion on your side can only take you so far if you don't stay sharp. "He's right, Nora. We can't underestimate these guys. Who knows what clever tricks they might have in their sleeve that they could use just so they could beat us?"

"I'd still say it's great that we're back into participating in friendly matches with actual guidelines rather than confronting more dangerous criminals who would not hesitate to kill us." Pyrrha chimed in. That, I could agree on. It was honestly kind of refreshing to be back in 'honorable' duels with fellow students after dealing with plenty of crazy psychopaths I had the misfortune of crossing paths with.

But even though I could rest knowing that my opponents won't try to kill me no matter how threatening they are, I can never rest when my reputation is on the line. Undeserved I may be of it, it was still something I need to maintain to preserve my dignity so I might as well put on a show.

Well, here goes nothing, I thought as my team and I exited the locker room.

=o=

1. The Amity Coliseum was stationed on the Lancaster Airfield on Vytal when inactive. It was originally a ground structure located in the middle of Amity's city—hence the name—prior to being modified to become an aircraft after several riots and attempted terrorist attacks since the twenty-seventh biennial tournament.
2. A popular video sharing platform in the holonet where various types of videos are shared or streamed by both professionals and amateurs. It is occasionally infamous for copyright-related controversies and its questionable treatment of content creators.

Chapter Text

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To Thrive and be Victorious

CHAPTER 1

We made our way through the player's entrance tunnel to the stage where Team ABRN was waiting for us. I was almost blinded by the daylight as it shined on us when we got out. A colorful abundance of an audience in the seats began to cheer once we emerged, with some cameras visibly flashing. My fans, in particular, were waving signs of me, my name, and my team, eager to see their dear heroic knight in action. The same thing goes for Pyrrha's fans, although she doesn't appear perturbed by it since she was more accustomed to this kind of crowd.

I also noticed a few medics hanging around at the side, waiting in case of unexpected injuries, one of them even winking at me. How assuring, as if I wasn't stressed enough already. I gave a faint smile as I waved at the crowd, doing my best to suppress my apprehensions before deciding to shift my focus on my opponents as we got into the stage with all our weapons ready, doing my best to keep my composure intact and not let the pressure get the best of me.

Pyrrha noticed my visible anxiety so she turned to me and shot me a comforting smile. "You'll get used to it."

I beamed at her, feeling a little better as I saved my worries about winning this thing. The crowd should be the least of our problems, after all since we're supposed to be humble heroes and not glory hounds so I didn't have to try too hard to impress them.

We stood on one side of the page, facing our opponents. After seconds of silently staring at each other, the dark-skinned blonde leader—Arslan—decided to speak. "It's an honor to fight against you and your team, Pyrrha Nikos," she bowed slightly at her fellow compatriot.

"May the best team win," Pyrrha warmly replied.

"Hey, no hard feelings, right fellas?" Reese—the tomboyish looking one with a hoverboard—asked with a cocky grin. I always wanted to have one of those things as a kid. Hell, I'd still kill to get my hands on one of those even if I was already past my skateboarding phase. Of course, I'm speaking figuratively here, I have no intention of murdering her and stealing her board despite my kleptomaniac tendencies especially since I am forbidden from doing both of those things during the tournament. Maybe I'll do that when the match is over.

I'm kidding obviously.

"We'll see, we'll see, the winner gets tea that's for sure," I said, assuming my sword & shield fighting stance, feeling slightly nervous.

Professor Port began announcing to the audience, "Here it is! What many of you have been waiting for! One of this year's most remarkable breakout teams in Beacon Academy—Team JNPR! A contender for Team of the Year. Featuring the world-renowned Invincible Girl of Mistral herself—Pyrrha Nikos! And of course, their leader, the Hero of Beacon—Jaune Arc!"

I internally sighed as I put on my heroic smile and waved at my admirers while they chanted my name and Pyrrha, who was doing the same. Nora also joined the audience in chanting both of our names while Ren just gave us a faint smile of approval. The Professor continued. "Are they enough to outmatch one of Haven's finest? Or will Team ABRN prevail and beat all odds against them? Let's find out!"

Doctor Oobleck then took over. "Of course, before we begin we would like the arena to select the stage's environment where our brave competitors would engage in."

I almost forgot the random selection of habitats for us to be put in to give an extra twist to the fight. I hoped it would be something rudimentary like a forest or a rocky mountain. Heck, even a desert and a ruined city would be desirable. I only wanted them to put me in something that doesn't look and feel like a preview of the pits of hell or a frozen wasteland.

Holographic screens appeared on one half of the arena as they began shuffling icons for one of the stage's environments. The screens stopped showing an icon of a volcano with a red light glowing behind it.

Oh no…

Half of the stage opened as a volcanic body emerged. I faintly groaned in frustration. It was just something I didn't want. I could only hope that the backdrop on the other side wouldn't be as bad and I'll just stay away from this half of the stage. That was when screens on the other half of the arena shuffled until stopping at an icon of an iceberg in front of a light blue glow. An arctic body of an icecap filled with a few glaciers then surfaced to that half of the stage. I could even feel the temperature drop dramatically as the cold air brought by its environment breezes through us.

Gods fucking dammit.

"Imma 'bout to put the 'burn' in ABRN!" Nora said.

"Bring it on!" taunted Nadir—the pink-haired dude while he cocked his assault rifle. This is how it's going to go, huh? Alrighty then, I thought as I put my focus back on the fight once more.

The screens began showing the three-second countdown before the match began as everyone made themselves ready, narrowing their eyes at their opponents. "Three… two… one… Begin!"

Since I didn't have much time to plan ahead, I ran straight toward Arslan. Normally, bladed weapons like swords are effective against primarily unarmed combatants like her so it was the safest bet, I just needed to watch out when she would start to pull out her dagger.

I charged at her with my shield raised. She kicked it with both of her feet and then flipped back before charging toward me. She slid to sweep my feet but I was able to sidestep out of the way. I made my way to the arctic setting as I thought that fighting on an overgrown ice cube was somewhat better than standing on a volcanic rock, at least I knew that my shoes weren't guaranteed to burn. Note to self, buy proper combat boots already. I can't believe it's been a while since I realized I needed those and never bothered to get one yet.

When Arslan stormed at me, I parried her strikes while blocking the others. I raised my sword in an attempt to slash her, however, she was agile enough to avoid every single one of them. She retaliated with a powered punch which I was able to block with my shield but it was still strong enough to knock me back, not helped by the slippery surface of the environment I was standing at.

Knowing that a sword & shield combo won't do much good against Arslan and her fighting style. I drew my pistol from my holster and began firing lasers at her. She cartwheeled away to her right, dodging my gunfire before whipping out her knife and throwing its blade toward me as it was followed by a white string. The rope wrapped through my left arm and I was dragged to the icy ground. I slid as she pulled me towards her. She then tried to stomp me so I blocked her foot with my sword and used it to push her back as her weapon's rope unwrapped away from my left hand.

I fired more lasers at her while at close range. She was still able to block them with both of her aura-infused palms, which slightly cost some of it but it minimized the damage against her nonetheless. She held her dagger in a reverse grip. We both found ourselves avoiding each other's slashes as I was firing my pistol at her. One of the lasers that flew around went toward Team ABRN's staff wielder, Bolin, who was engaging against Nora. He noticed the laser proceeding near him so he deflected it with his staff, which distracted him long enough that he didn't avoid getting frozen by Nora's incoming frost grenade.

Speaking of the other competitors while I was busy with Arslan, Ren was trading clashes with Nadir and his katana in the volcanic setting. Meanwhile, Pyrrha was firing at Reese as she glided around the arena before approaching her, hitting her shield with her board-blades (or whatever you call them) and then getting off it, splitting it in half as it turned into twin revolvers with bayonets. Reese struck Pyrrha while the latter deflected them with her shield and spear.

Both of the opposing team members on the volcanic setting noticed one of their teammates frozen in ice so Nadir took a shard of one of the nearby fire crystals and threw it at Reese. Reese continued to swing her bayoneted pistols at Pyrrha before merging them back and catching the fire crystal. She then placed it on her board, changing its lights' colors from green to red. She flew her way to Bolin while Nadir's blade shortened and was placed somewhere on its handle as his weapon changed into an assault rifle. He provided covering fire for Reese, forcing Ren into cover and Pyrrha to block the gunfire with her shield. Reese hovered Nadir and freed him by melting the ice.

Nora noticed two of our opponents in one place and launched a grenade toward them. Bolin jumped out as Reese flew away. Arslan began swinging her rope dart around me as I quickly dodged them while continuing to fire at her. I leaped at it when she tried sweeping me to my feet.

Time to show them what we have on our sleeves, then. I imitated a frog's croaking as loud as I could, bewildering our opponents for a split second, which was enough time we needed. Pyrrha got my signal and used her polarity to tug Arslan toward her. Arslan pulled her blade back to its handle to put it away from Pyrrha's range. Pyrrha threw her javelin as she rushed toward her.

Arslan jumped and dodged the incoming javelin. Pyrrha pulled the javelin back to her and changed it to her xiphos. Arslan used her dagger to deflect Pyrrha's incoming slashes before doing a hook kick that Pyrrha managed to duck under in time.

Ren was still getting suppressed down by Nadir, only barely being able to return fire. I aimed my pistol at him and shot his bicep. He grunted in pain before turning his attention to me. I charged toward him while I continued shooting, slightly disgruntled that I'm letting myself fight on an igneous surface that tests my aura. Nadir was avoiding the lasers as he adjusted the blade of his weapon's sight, changing his weapon back into a katana. I swung my sword toward him, interlocking our weapons together, with sparks coming out of our blades.

This allowed Ren to finally leave his cover and face his next problem. Reese drifted to the magma environment and jumped away from her board, changing it to dual revolvers before firing at Ren. Ren began rushing toward her, zigzagging through her line of fire while shooting back. When they got near each other they kept trading shots with their two guns as they circled around, more often than not missing. Bullet cases rained on the ground until both their guns ran out of ammo almost simultaneously, forcing them to continue the battle with the blades attached to their firearms.

Meanwhile, Bolin was engaging with Nora again. This time, his staff's blades on the edge of each side were unfolded and he used them to push back Nora as hard as he could. Nora tried falling back and launched a volley of grenades at him. Unfortunately, he managed to deflect each one of them by swinging and twirling his staff before they detonated around him. Nora changed her weapon back to a hammer and used the handle to interlock with Bolin's staff.

I was still having a sword fight with Nadir, our steel blades clashed every time they collided with one another. I would step back and fire lasers at him, causing him to desperately block them away with his katana. Once I stopped firing, he changed to his assault rifle. The moment I saw this, I hastily holstered my pistol and expanded my shield the second he started shooting at me. Bullets bounced off from my shield before I dashed to him. I shoved his gun away and slashed away most of his aura.

He was only a few hits away from being knocked out of the match so he started backing down the first chance he got. "I could use some help over here!"

Reese was twirling her revolvers to counter Ren's attacks when she heard her teammate fall for help. Ren quickly reloaded his pistols when Reese reassembled her board and used it to block Ren's gunshots in close proximity. She then hopped on her board and propelled herself out of there, pushing Ren back with the force of its thrusters.

I saw her speeding towards me. I took out my pistol and tried to shoot her down. Despite the laser's speed, she was moving so swiftly that she missed every shot. She bounced off as she flipped the board before grabbing it and trying to swing it horizontally to my face. I blocked with my sword and pushed it back with all the force I could muster, grunting as I held my ground.

"Y'know. You're pretty cute, so don't let me ruin your face." She grinned as she increased the force of her push, putting me back for a few inches.

I admit, she's quite pretty for a sporty chick with black facial markings, I'd even say she'd make an eligible date if I was the kind of guy that enjoyed getting stepped on by a tomboyish skater as if I was her board. But since I'm not a submissive masochist with weird perversions, I doubt you'll ever see me in that position especially since I prefer to handle things unscathed while coming out on top. [1] "Wouldn't want to do the same, sweetheart, but a man's gotta do what he's gotta do."

It was then a good opportunity to use the wolf's call. "Awoo!" I howled. Pyrrha heard my call so she tackled Arslan back with her shield then used her polarity on Reese's board and levitated her to midair before throwing her toward Nadir.

Both of them fell to the ground as Reese collided with her teammate. Nadir winced in pain after his bottom touched the volcanic surface. "Ah! Hot! Hot!"

It was time for the next phase of our offensive. Pyrrha turned back to Arslan just in time to block a roundhouse kick coming behind her. I lunged in and pushed Arslan back with my shield. I looked back at Pyrrha and she nodded as she left.

"Now, Nora!" I yelled. Nora began to strike back at Bolin, pushing him back before swinging him at Reese and Nadir who both got up, only to get knocked back down when Bolin crashed into them. With three of them in one place, Nora smashed the volcanic surface and sprung a large piece of ground. Pyrrha leaped in and drop-kicked the large rock toward our three opponents. It was strong enough to push them away from the ring before falling to the ground, effectively defeating three out of four of our opponents at once. "Striiike!"

"Why would you look at that! Not one, not two but three contestants from ABRN have been eliminated by ring-out. And of course, because Nadir Shiko's aura is now below the amount needed to continue forward," Professor Port remarked.

Doctor Oobleck followed, "Now the question that remains is what is their leader going to do now that the rest of her team is out of the match? It's going to take a miracle for her to achieve victory at this point."

I gave Nora a thumbs up and she responded by bowing in pleasure before going back to business. Arslan froze when she noticed all of her teammates getting knocked out of the match at the same time. The state of her being baffled gave me an opening to push into a glacier with my shield. Pyrrha ran toward me before nodding at each other. We fired at the glacier above Arslan until the glacier broke and a piece of it started dropping to her, prompting Arslan to dive out of there.

Arslan fell in front of us. Ren and Nora caught up and joined us in finally defeating our remaining opponent. The first thing Arslan saw after looking up was all four of us pointing our guns at her. Knowing that her chance of winning this thing was thrown out the window, she was wise enough to put her hands up and surrender.

The audience roared with applause. Professor Port went on to announce our victory. "And there you have it, folks! Arslan Altan has conceded defeat! Team JNPR wins the match!"

I gave a relieved sigh as I wiped the sweat away from my forehead. Well, we're off to a good start, I told myself. At least I now know what type of opponents I should expect now that I've gotten past this round. Part of me is tempted to shout at the audience and say 'Are you not entertained?!' but I didn't want to encourage them any further and besides, I needed to perpetuate my image as a modest hero.

"Well fought." Arslan pushed herself up as Pyrrha helped her stand.

"You did great too," Pyrrha assured.

Arslan's brightened at us. "I wish you all of you luck in the next round."

"Thank you," I said. I looked out of the ring and saw the others.

Outside the arena, Reese and Bolin were waving their hands while Nadir looked like he was giving a thumbs up. "Hey, no hard feelings, remember?!" I shouted at them, echoing one of their remarks before the match began. Reese, the girl who said that, responded by giving me a two-finger salute.

Ren was panting and breathing heavily when Nora bounced and abruptly raised his arm along with hers as the audience cheered. Ren kept sporting his usual lukewarm expression, but deep down, he was noticeably happy that we were able to get through this. "We're the best around! Nothing's going to ever keep us down!" Nora bubbled.

The audience began chanting our team name as we waved back at them. We left shortly after we were allowed to leave since I was getting a little disturbed at everyone cheering for me, and I didn't want to make my discomfort more apparent to them.

That's it for round one. Things are going great so far. Better not get ahead of myself, though. I should remember that my next opponents did something to get them to win in their respective rounds so I should be prepared for just about anything.

=o=

1. And yet he also said that there was only one room for a woman in his life that has the privilege to dominate him. Not that I'm complaining.

Chapter Text

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To Thrive and be Victorious

CHAPTER 2

Heading to the fairgrounds back at Beacon was also somewhat of a challenge itself. I had to deal with the press, and answer their questions while doing my best not to get blinded by their flashing cameras. I also had to sign autographs for some fans, take pictures with a few of them (though I won't lie, the fan art of us they asked to sign was really cool and mostly well-drawn even though nobody could get my stature right), and take another Gods-forsaken flight for a few minutes just so I could get to back on Beacon grounds.

The lines at the fairgrounds were also another thing. Thankfully, being well-known heroes and victors of the recent match has given us some special treatment so everyone insisted we skip the line. As a result, we got a couple of large boxes of pizza in a matter of a few minutes when the booth had the longest line because it sold pizza. It's nice to feel the upsides of my reputation every now and then after enduring the burdens that came with it ever since I killed that stupid bandito and that stupid Ursa.

"All of this fightin' and poundin' is making me hungry!" Nora blurted, unsurprisingly looking just as lively as if she never fought. "Itadakimasu!" [1] Aside from the fact that all of my teammates came from different parts of Anima, that's pretty appropriate to say after beating up a team from Mistralis and rewarding ourselves with some good ole' food. I humbly receive indeed.

We were all sitting at a round table where we placed our food and drinks. I pleased myself with the fragrance of the pepperoni pizza before taking a bite. Pyrrha was enjoying the pizza too, Nora munched on her first few pieces after removing the pepperonis while Ren finished his fourth bottle of water, still refreshing himself after the fight. "Be careful Nora. We need to keep you fit in case you are chosen for the next fight," he panted out before taking a piece of pizza on his own.

"You worry too much, Ren. You know I always keep myself in shape. It's not like I plan to be the first fat girl in Beacon or something," she reassured after finishing the crust of her last piece.

"Now that this round is settled. Which of us is going to represent our team in the doubles?" Pyrrha asked after swallowing her food.

It was agreed that Pyrrha was obviously going to be present in every round since she's our key to winning the tournament. Normally, I would have loved to sit all the following rounds out and have but as I thought about it, I still had a reputation to uphold. Otherwise, people will be suspicious that the so-called Hero of Beacon has only competed in one round and chickened out with the rest. I can handle one more fight, it'll be the last one at least.

If it really was up to me, I would have picked Nora to accompany her in the doubles. The combined power of those two—along with some electric dust—could curb-stomp the following match with almost no effort. If only it wasn't for the fact that Noire and Blanche want me to participate in the next round because that is when they are scheduled to perform the tribute song for me and it will sound awkward if I don't compete in the match after that.

So, it looks like it's going to be me Pyrrha then. If there is some consolation, I can always count on her at my side. I'll just have to endure for one last round and then let Pyrrha handle the rest. One more show and then I no longer had to worry about doing any more combat-related tasks for the rest of the remaining school year. Pyrrha hasn't lost a single fight yet and she's a stubborn enough fighter to keep herself from making her first defeat, so there was no reason for me to doubt her.

"Pyrrha and I will take care of it. Pyrrha's the key to this, and she's going to need someone she trusts and works well with for the next round. Besides, we're crowd favorites; who doesn't want to see more of The Hero of Beacon and the Pride of Mistral in action together?"

"The power couple of the year to represent Team JNPR?" Nora then stood up and raised a fist. "No objections on that one!"

"I thought you and Ren were the power couple of the year," I teased, remembering their reputation as a pair.

"Well, we're the runner-ups." Nora embarrassedly glanced at her side. "I mean, I know while we are inseparable—not that it means we're more than just besties than anything. You two make a much more awesome duo. Not to mention, cuter."

Pyrrha and I awkwardly looked at each other and saw both of our faces reddened at that remark. As much as I am doing my best to get close to my partner, I still have yet to decide if I wanted to go to that level. It still felt too soon in my opinion.

Ren came to rescue us by bringing up something I haven't thought about in a while, "By the way, have you found your semblance yet?"

Honestly, I almost forgot about that. Don't get me wrong, I'm interested to see what kind of underwhelming superpower I might have, but I might have already gotten to the point where I'm starting to believe that I am perfectly fine without one and that having one might cause more trouble than it's worth. "Not yet. I'm still figuring out what it could be."

"Maybe it's already awakened and we just don't know it yet?" Nora pondered.

"That's possible. Some people theorize that everyone already has their semblance unlocked, they just need to discover what it is and how to use it at will." Pyrrha chimed in.

Nora giggled before saying a seemingly random word. "Heh. Potato."

I did not know what she meant by that until Ren replied to her. "You really need to spend less time on Skimdat, Nora." That was when I realized it was just that dumb holonet term used to refer to whatever nonsense people pull out of their hinds.

"Don't worry, I will. The people there aren't even funny anyway," she reassured. "But I'll keep moderating our board."

I raised my brow when I heard that. "Your board?"

"Our board! Someone made a board in Skimdat about you! It's like the closest thing you have to a fansite right now. Pyrrha has one too!" Nora answered as Pyrrha chuckled and blushed when she mentioned her fans' message board. I felt the same way, doing my best to hide my grimacing.

"She got moderator privileges after she verified that she was one of your teammates," Ren added. I'd say that's probably the biggest mistake that board administrators ever made. I'm not even joking, what they did is like giving a knife to a raging toddler in a tantrum.

"And I even banned everyone who dared to criticize you!" Nora grinned brightly as if doing holonet janitorial work for no pay is something to be proud of.

"You should do a Q&A there sometime. They'll love it," Nora then proposed.

"I'll keep that in mind," I murmured, not that I will actually do that. I find the chances of me even visiting that place, let alone making a Q&A there to be very slim. I would rather eat one of Nora's grenades than even bother with them. I just find that board to be a scary place because I'm not particularly comfortable being in an echo chamber that worships me and I'll probably get myself ironically banned if I post honest opinions about myself anonymously. The only good thing I could say about that travesty of a community is that unlike certain other boards on Skimdat, its users are not wasting time moaning over politics their underdeveloped frontal lobes barely understand or have unhealthy obsessions over supposed sexualities of cartoon characters, or something as equally dumb as those things.

I took a sip from my soda and put us back on topic, "Anyway, I wouldn't say I have a semblance until I know for sure."

"We should bring back the exercises where we try to awaken your semblance. I'm still excited to see what it would be!" Nora said, leaning from her chair with a wide grin.

I'll be frank with you, I do not miss those exercises. My experiences with them were nothing short of unpleasant. Although putting me in tests courses and throwing everything not nailed on the floor at me was kind of fun for the first few times, I quickly called them off when I started to realize it was becoming less about getting my stupid semblance and more about me being a glorified lab-rat inside danger rooms. The last time I had those exercises was with my family in between the first and second semesters since they had the same idea. To make a long story short, I almost got a trip to the hospital.

"Maybe after the tournament, Nora." Or preferably never again, I silently added to myself. "I can't be too distracted trying to unlock my semblance right now."

"Understandable, dear leader," Nora said before slurping her straw on a can of diet soda. We were careful to make sure we didn't mix it with regular soda again, otherwise, the fairgrounds would have been closed early, to put it simply.

My scroll suddenly began ringing in one of my pockets. I took it out and discovered that it was a call from Mom. It's been a while since I called her, we did exchange e-mails every once in a while. In fact, I just messaged her the previous week. Whatever she wished to discuss on the phone, I wanted to make the most out of this call so I stood up from the table and walked away a short distance. "Excuse me for a minute," I told my team.

I accepted the call then and a video feed of her popped up. "Hi, sweetie! I saw you won your first round. You're doing great, keep it up."

Although I felt a little awkward since even now she is treating me as if I was still a child, I couldn't help but smile to have seen her face again, it alleviated the homesickness I'd been having for a while. My mom can be very sweet and doting at times that it's almost easy to forget that she used to be a ruthless Watcher agent who made a living off of brutalizing death cults or something along those lines. "Good to see you too, Mom. I guess you could say Noire and Blanche don't need to worry about me not showing up tomorrow anymore."

"Oh, they never had to worry about that, they were confident you're going to win that round," she replied.

Well, that was unsurprising. They always gave me more credit than I usually deserved as they were obligated to keep encouraging their idiot brother. "That's quite a gamble, but I appreciate it," I shrugged.

"My baby boy has grown up and is leading a team in the tournament. I always knew you had it in you," she said. I was having rather mixed feelings about her encouragement, I still don't believe I deserve to be in this position but I was glad she was happy, and maybe that's what mattered. "Oh by the way, where are your teammates? Is it okay if I talk to them?"

"Uh sure, Mom," I said. I trust her enough that she wasn't going to embarrass me too much. I went back to the table and held my scroll horizontally so I could show her my whole team. "Here they are, Mom. These are the guys who helped me get to where I am now."

"Hello to you all! You must be Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren! I cannot thank you enough for accompanying my son this year and being such good teammates to him."

"Hello there, Mrs. Arc!" Pyrrha waved her hand at the scroll's video feed. "You're quite welcome. Your son has been a great leader to us too."

"I'm delighted to meet you too, Pyrrha. My son told me a lot of great things about you." Mom chirped, "Still doing your best to win another tournament, are you not?"

"I've done that too many times, ma'am, but I'll be happy to do it again for my team," she nodded.

"That's great to hear. It's nice to know that you and my son are working well together like a well-oiled machine."

"Indeed, I sincerely couldn't think of a better partner," Pyrrha said, which flattered me for a bit.

"How sweet," Mom remarked before asking a question Pyrrha and I didn't need. "By the way, you don't happen to be single, are you?"

I turned my scroll away from my teammates. "Mom… please." I sighed to her as I hid my blush while she smirked at me. You know that the shipping between you and your partner is getting out of hand when even your own mother is doing it.

"She still is, but not for long!" Nora answered with a wide grin on her face.

"Nora!" Pyrrha stressed with her face almost as red as mine.

Mom laughed, something which I missed since I left home. "You know I'm only kidding, cher. But you have to admit, she'd make a good daughter-in-law."

My flustered state was getting worse and I had to quickly change the subject before it escalated. "Alright, alright, we get it. So, how are the others?"

"It's still just me, your father, and Verte here. Rose and Rouge should arrive there soon," she answered. Looks like Viola is still busy at Acadia even during the festival, probably designing some outfits for some performers or something; and Bleu still has some business to take care of in Mantle. This could only mean Noire and Blanche are my only sisters that are in Vale so far, and word told me that they were preparing for their performance tomorrow.

"May I see them?" I asked.

"Of course!" She then turned to her side to call the others, "Cai, Verte, Jaune's calling from Beacon!"

Footsteps were heard on the other side of the feet as Dad and Verte approached Mom's scroll. Mom adjusted the camera of her feed so they could be visible. "Good to hear from you again, Jaune! We just saw your match. You did a great job!" Verte waved.

Dad was wearing some 'casual dad clothes' as I liked to call them—specifically a simple black polo shirt and shorts, his signature hat was most noticeably absent which is something most people are not accustomed to seeing. I was reminded that I still had to ask about the Salem person that Merlot mentioned, but I didn't feel like it was the right time to ask that question so I'll have to inquire about it on another date.

"Well, if it isn't the Hero of Beacon. You really have been making moves there, haven't you?" He said, partially talking as if he was a stranger.

Sadly, I was. In another life, I would have been proud of it, but right now I don't think I'll ever know peace again because of it. "I'm just doing what a Huntsman is supposed to do."

"Sounds like something I would say. Looks like you're growing to become like your old man." He warmly replied. It was something I have been hearing since I was a kid and I have always feared that it might come true. And unfortunately for me, I seem to be heading that way whether I like it or not. And I don't know what else to do at the moment. Trying not to stain the Arc family name in the process was the least I could do.

"Thanks, Dad. I couldn't have done it with my team though. Speaking of which, here they are." I adjusted the camera to show my teammates.

"Oh, it's Caiaphas Arc! The guy single-handedly defeated Harvesters and Tyrants." Nora squealed. I should have seen this coming, everyone was familiar with my dad, and if there were anyone Nora would fangirl over aside from me, it was him. It was part of the reason why she was worshipping the ground I walked on.

"Yep, that's me." Dad nodded as tried to put on his famous 'Hero smile', a smile that I have been trying to imitate ever since I attended military school. I wasn't as charismatic back then, and I was convinced that my classmates only listened to me because of my last name, but those days were able to teach me how to control people and get them to do what I want.

My dad continued, "You guys put on a good show, keep it up. You're the future Remnant needs right now."

"It is an honor, Mr. Arc," Pyrrha said. "Your son is hard at work to lead us to our best."

"So I've heard. I worked hard to get where he is now, and I'm glad it's paying off greatly," he replied. It was the reason why I am even playing along with all of this. Because otherwise, I would be slacking off around my room in Arcshire by now and be apathetic about the tournament.

Nora turned to Ren. "You heard that, Ren?! Caiaphas Arc told us we did great!"

"I heard, Nora," he replied and faced the screen. "Thank you, sir. It's not every day we get a compliment from a living legend."

"Don't sweat it." Dad smiled modestly. "One day, you'll become living legends yourselves."

Nora made an excited shriek while she looked like she was suppressing an explosive burst of exhilaration after being complimented by her idol's father who was also her idol. Ren noticed this and used his semblance to calm her down before her excitement could destroy the pizza parlor. After she settled down, she faced back at my scroll and saw my sister, "Hey, you must be Verte. Is it true that you really have that many pets?"

"You're Nora, right? Man, you really are a bundle of energy." Verte went closer to the camera. "Yeah, but I wouldn't call them pets. They're more to me than that, even if they hate Jaune. One thing is for sure, he won't have to worry about them while he's still there."

I still have to worry about a certain dog unfortunately, I've been extra cautious on the corridors ever since it arrived on Beacon. Sure, it usually stays in Team RWBY's dorm and it's probably not allowed to go outside, but I can't be too sure nowadays especially since pets tend to wander off whenever they feel like it.

"Which reminds me, I still have to feed Bibi. It's really nice meeting you all! Take care!" Verte waved at us before leaving.

"I should go too. Good luck tomorrow, squirt. Tell your sisters I said 'hi' when they get there and remind Rouge to behave." Dad nodded at me.

Eh, Rouge being Rouge, that's asking a little too much for her, but I've been living with her for most of my life so I at least know that I can handle her. "Of course, Dad."

"Keep up the good work, we're rooting for you here." He continued before walking away as well, leaving Mom the only person left in the field.

"I won't let you guys down," I assured her.

"I know you won't. Good luck out there, cher," she said before ending the feed.

"I still couldn't believe that he is your dad. I'm under the leadership of the Hero of Beacon who is the son of Caiaphas Arc himself! I've been aware of this for months and I still couldn't stop gushing about it!" Nora bubbled. She can thank my family's nepotism for that.

We finished our meals and took a stroll around the fairgrounds. There was a colorful assortment of people around the vicinity—mostly students in their combat gear, either eating, chatting, playing games at one of the booths to win some prizes, or simply just hanging around doing their own thing whatever it may be.

I managed to recognize a few girls there from the day I was helping Sun and Neptune get a partner for the dance—including those two cute Atlesian girls that Sun rejected. I gave them a wave and they excitedly returned the gesture before giggling and covering their own blushes. That gave me a pleasant feeling, though I don't think I could say the same thing for Pyrrha. [3]

Occasionally, some fans would approach us asking for photos and autographs. While they can be annoying sometimes, I am grateful for their support. I kind of enjoy being on a pedestal even if I don't feel like I deserve it. Some fans would even offer me food, though I would either decline or throw them away the moment no one is looking. As much as I adore them, I don't trust them to feed me; there are chances that the food they offer could contain poison or something harmful. 'Fans' can be that deranged sometimes. I advised my teammates to not accept food from fans, and since we had already eaten recently, we had an excuse not to eat.

We suddenly stopped after being called by Emerald, known for being a member of the unfortunately-named Team CMEN. "Hey, you dropped this." We turned back and saw her holding Ren's wallet.

Ren checked all of his pockets to find out it wasn't there. "It must've fallen when I was sitting and I did not notice it," he stepped onto Emerald and took his wallet. "Thank you, I'll be sure to be careful next time."

"I told you they would slip out from pants like those!" Nora remarked, "Imagine what would happen if she didn't get it, we'll get broke and we won't be able to pay for more tickets ourselves!"

This is pretty much why I keep my wallet in my front pocket and attach it with a hook string that is affixed to my belt hoops. That way, not even the cleverest thief would be able to successfully pick up my wallet. Though it was rather suspicious that Emerald was able to pick up Ren's wallet that conveniently so I couldn't help but slightly narrow my eyes on her.

Emerald looked at me back and showed some noticeable apprehension. Her face went back to donning a more positive expression after she was greeted by Pyrrha. "Hello again, Emerald! How are you doing today?"

"I'm having a great time, the festival has always been my favorite. By the way, you guys did great back there."

I stopped glaring for a moment to give her an amicable reply, "Thanks, it was quite fun." Well, at least as defined by your average thrill-seeking Huntsman. "How about your match? Sorry, we weren't able to see it. How did it go?"

"It went really well, thank you for asking," she answered proudly, smirking for a second.

"That's great, it appears you will be proceeding to the double rounds with us," Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, I look forward to it. Merc and I would be representing our team, we've been practicing hard for this."

"Cool, Jaune and Pyrrha would also be the pair that would be for us in the next round." Nora chimed in.

"Really? Shucks. Oh well, I guess second place won't be bad then." Emerald jested.

We all shared a laugh. Given Pyrrha's stature along with mine, almost everyone expected us to win so much that I wouldn't be surprised if our opponents ended up forfeiting, believing their efforts to fight us would just only be in vain. But the thought of everyone literally betting their money on us has made me more anxious. Because not only do I have to preserve my family's honor and image, but I also have to save the finances of some gamblers depending on us. Hopefully, Pyhrra's winning streak would carry us out of any problems as always.

"So, how are your teammates?" I asked.

"Cinder and Nico are busy planning for something really big. As for Merc, well..." she glanced at her back where Mercury was standing in front of a stall selling boots as he sniffs one of them. "He's being just... Merc." [4]

Mercury put the boot down and moved next to his partner, "Yo, I saw that you guys won. Not really that surprising, is it?"

Gotta live up to a name. "It took a bit of sweat, but we showed them what we're made of," I replied before taking note of his subtle voice change. SoundS like Ren wasn't the only one. "And is it just me or do you sound a little different since we last spoke?"

"Yeah, you kinda sound like Ren if he was a dark and brooding ninja," Nora commented.

"Wait, what?" Ren blinked at her.

Mercury coughed, "Now that you've mentioned it, I knew something weird happened to my voice."

"It's probably because you finally passed your late puberty." Emerald gibed.

"Ha-ha, good one, Em," he snidely replied. Emerald smirked at him before he turned back on me to ask more questions. "So, when are you going to do more hero stuff?"

I shuddered a bit with the question, but I remained calm and composed and answered confidently as he expected from someone of my stature. "When there's trouble nearby. I'm just around the neighborhood in case somebody needs help."

"I see," He cupped his chin. "You're like a real-life superhero. No wonder why everyone's gushing over you. Man, people would kill to be you now."

Yeah and I'm certainly not one of them. Dreams have a weird way of becoming true to an extent, and this one chose to become a reality far after I gave up on it. Since I couldn't do anything about it, I might as well capitalize on it. No dumb capes and speedos though; give me a peaked cap and a long coat any day. As much as I love X-Ray & Vav as the next nerd, I wouldn't want to dress up in public like them.

"Well, I feel a lot safer with people like you around," Emerald remarked. "Anyway, we're going to go catch some more fights, see you!"

"Bye now, and thank you for giving my teammate back his wallet!" Pyrrha said.

"Don't mention it," Emerald said before turning back and walking away with her partner.

My conscience remained unsure about the two. I feel like there's something odd about them like my cheeks feel itchy when I'm around them. I continued to stare at them as they walked away. Emerald glanced back and noticed me looking at them. They kept moving until they suddenly disappeared when someone passed them by. Then I thought that I was thinking too hard about this and that I'm worried about nothing.

"Jaune, are you okay?" Ren asked, prompting me out of my paranoid musings.

"I'm fine. I was just spacing out." I answered as I let go of those two from my thoughts. "Let's just keep moving."

We resumed walking around and explored the fairgrounds until we spotted Team RWBY at a noodle stand called 'Simple Wok Noodles'. They were part of the next match, so we approached them to wish them well.

There were large bowls of noodles on their table; and in Blake's case, she got a huge bowl full of fish. The shopkeeper of that stand looked oddly similar to the pawn shop owner I sold my loot to, and I also remember seeing him near the crashed car during the day we investigated the White Fang. Either many of Vale's businessmen are skinny old men in aprons or I'm looking at the same person who has a lot of different jobs. [5]

The shopkeep suddenly threw back their credit card and pointed at his cash register that it had been declined, much to the girls' disappointment. "What? How can my card be declined?! I was barely into my monthly allowance." Weiss said as the shopkeep took Blake's bowl of fish away from her. Blake laid her head on the table and lamented over it.

Looks like our friends need our help again. Pyrrha and I looked at each other before I gave her a nod. We all stepped in as she pulled out her own card. "Maybe I could help?" Pyrrha asked, making them turn their heads to us.

"Hey, guys! Why am I glad to see you!" Ruby chirped, slightly bouncing off her chair.

"Oh, you don't have to. You might have done enough for yourselves back there." Yang said.

"But she could!" Blake said frantically at her partner before turning to us. "Please, I'm begging you. From one Huntress to another, I really need that bowl!" Cats do love their fish, huh? Either it's something hardcoded within every feline's instinct or she's perpetuating a stereotype, I'm not really sure. Regardless, it's not every day you see Blake like this, considering that everyone is too used to seeing her frown and be disinterested in everything that doesn't involve the White Fang or pieces of literature that involve a flowery title and cover.

Pyrrha gave a short chuckle as she went to pay for their meals. "Alright, but we're doing it because we wanted to. That's what all friends are for, right?"

"So, are you gonna eat with us too?" Ruby asked.

"Nah, we just ate a bunch of pizzas but we'll hang around for a bit," I replied just as Nora stepped forward.

"Well, I'm still not full from the pizzas I just ate. One large bowl for me please!" Of course, she was still hungry even after eating almost half the pizza box; her stomach was deeper than a bottomless pit. "Okay then. You're the queen of your own castle Nora." I said as she happily sat down and grabbed her bowl once the shopkeep slid it to her.

After minutes of Team RW_Y plus Nora eating noodles from their ridiculously sized bowls while Blake ravages a bunch of fish on hers, they finally finished and were left with satisfied expressions from their meals. However, Weiss meanwhile kind of looked like her small stomach was trying to grasp everything she just ate, let's just hope it doesn't affect her performance for this match.

The four of us were sitting at the side of the stand, with Nora rubbing her stomach and then suddenly making a burp from all the noodles she ate, making me grimace in repulsion.

"Are you sure it's wise to eat this heavily before a fight?" Ren decided to ask.

"Maybe, but you can't fight on an empty stomach either," answered Yang.

"Right, but this much?" Ren gestured to the bowls which were being gathered by the shopkeep as he took them away from the tables.

"Relax, we ate a lot, sure, but not enough to give us stomach aches during the fight," she reassured him.

"So, are you girls ready?" I asked them.

"Of course we are! After everything we faced before, this will be a piece of cake." Ruby enthusiastically asserted.

"You're not wrong," Blake said before she counted the adversaries we faced with her fingers. "High-level Grimm, violent extremists, a destructive sociopath, a mad scientist, his robot army and experiments..."

"And that's all while we're still in training! Oh, imagine what we would fight after we graduated!" Ruby excitedly gushed.

That is something I have been trying not to think about since the first week. With all the increasingly ridiculous threats I'm forced to deal with, I won't be surprised if I end up facing something worse but I'll be VERY annoyed. I just hoped the payoff is worth enough to fund my own worry-free vacation from all of this nonsense. I only have a few more months until the school year ends, so I just have to hold on for a bit. On the bright side, I no longer have to worry about passing written exams since I was able to complete a mission that no freshmen deserve to be put through.

"Maybe then I'll be able to pay for a meal." Weiss mumbled, "I'm just glad we're back to participating in friendly matches like normal students. It's refreshing to take on people who aren't criminals for once."

That's what we thought. Pit me with dumb kids over any type of ruthless killer any day. This might be why I wasn't that bothered about putting myself to the double rounds even though I prefer to avoid combat whenever possible. "You have no idea…" I sighed.

All of our attention was then grabbed when we all heard Professor Port's voice on the academy's P.A. "Would Team RWBY please report to the battlegrounds immediately!"

"Here it goes," Ruby stood from her chair as her teammates followed.

"Good luck and fight well," Pyrrha said, giving them all an encouraging smile.

"You betcha, P-Money." Yang nodded as she slightly adjusted her gauntlets. "This is what we've all been waiting for."

"Show 'em no mercy, you guys!" Nora shouted at the four as they left for the arena, Nora then felt her stomach hurt after everything she ate. "I think I need to use the bathroom," she then quickly bolted away.

Nora was able to get back after a few minutes and we all lined up for an airship to the coliseum. The line was packed full of students, with some of them eyeing us, particularly me and Pyrrha. A few of them even greeted me, congratulating my team on our recent win and I recall one of them uncontrollably squealing my name. I politely greeted and smiled at them, they all seemed to be very delighted to have been waved back by their idol that I swear that one of them almost fainted.

Such life as the Hero of Beacon. Gotta enjoy it until it eventually dies down. If only these people found someone else more deserving of this to fawn on.

=o=

1. A phrase used before eating in the Mistrali language and customs. As Jaune mentioned shortly after, it is commonly translated as 'I humbly receive.'
2. Pronounced 'sha'. A Gallican term of affection, derived from the Bretonnian word "cherie".
3. I can definitely sympathize with her here.
4. Actually, sniffing footwear is a perfectly legitimate way of determining their quality and value. I admit that I'm also guilty of doing this since I care about the value of the clothes that I wear, including the shoes.
5. The latter is correct. Said shopkeeper only had one or two part-time jobs at a time but had to constantly move businesses due to continually being victimized by incidents that cause his businesses to close down or simply cause him to leave them. It was reported that he returned to working in From Dust Till Dawn soon after the festival.

Chapter Text

ㅤㅤㅤ

To Thrive and be Victorious

CHAPTER 3

After minutes of flying that almost made me lose my lunch, we arrived at the Coliseum. We entered the arena and proceeded to the seats so we could watch our friends fight. I noticed Mercury and Emerald walking to the other side of the arena, I still had a weird feeling about the two but I thought it was just being paranoid so I carried on and sat down beside my team.

The stage was still empty and some seats were still vacant, so there were still a few minutes to spare before the match began. "You know, I've been thinking." Nora suddenly began, grabbing all of our attention. "Maybe we should sell the movie rights about us after we graduate."

Ren curiously raised his brow at her. "Movie rights?"

"You heard that right! Since we are getting more and more famous, we should get someone to make a movie about us! It would be about our exploits in Beacon. There would be drama, action, comedy, and romance!"

I wasn't sure what to think of that. I feared that someone would actually do that if I go too far since I plan on fading into obscurity once I graduate. By then, I already had my fun and I don't think anyone would want to watch a movie about me when we reach that point. Plus, I think our fans might focus too much on the romance aspect a little too much…

"Sounds like an okay idea. Who would play us then?" I asked, masking my doubts about it.

"Uh, us maybe? Why don't we just play as ourselves?" she shrugged.

"It might be a little fun, but acting is actually more taxing than everyone thinks." Pyrrha pointed out. "It takes more than just talent to act, you also need patience and willpower as you will have to endure hours of doing the same take repeatedly. Trust me, I have been in enough commercials and made a few movie cameos to know that. [1] A thirty-second clip can even take forever to shoot, I have lost count of how many take my last commercial took."

So I've heard, Noire and Blanche would tell me some horror stories that happened on sets. Let's just say that after they told me those, I crossed out acting as one of the professions that I planned to pursue. I was also rather surprised by Pyrrha actually making appearances in movies. I know it should be expected because she's a celebrity and all, but it was still surprising to hear. "You've cameoed in some movies?"

"Yes. It still feels strange seeing myself in one, even if it's only for five seconds or so."

Nora rubbed her chin and contemplated. "Hmm. You might be right about that. But still, someone's gotta make a movie about us. It would make a ton of money putting the Hero of Beacon on the big screen. Wait, scratch that, forget Hero of Beacon, Jaune will be the Hero of Remnant by then!"

Geez, I hope not because being the Hero of an academy is already more trouble than it is, I thought. I couldn't even imagine how much of a nightmare that would be. "Someday, Nora. Maybe someday." I mumbled while I hope it never happens.

Minutes passed and there still wasn't a match. To pass time, Pyrrha filed her nails, Ren took a nap and Nora was playing games on her scroll and I just sat waiting for the match to start. I eavesdropped on some of the audience out of boredom but I couldn't make out what they were saying because they were muffled by the chattering around the arena. What I did hear was a nearby hotdog vendor who was trying to sell some hotdog sandwiches.

"Hotdog! Hotdog! Get your tasty, juicy, thick, foot-long hotdog here! It also comes with a special sauce! My wife loves eating em' every morning and every night, and I know you will too!" He was a slightly-overweight balding man in his thirties to forties wearing a red-collared yellow polo shirt, beige shorts, and an apron while a tray full of hot dogs was strapped to him. He then spotted us as he walked down the stairs. "Hey, aren't you the guys who won the last match? I heard victory can make you hungry. How 'bout some hotdog?"

"No thanks, we just ate. But we'll consider it some other time." I politely declined.

He looked disappointed but he seemed to understand my decision. "Well, that's a bummer. But I'll be sure to come by then." He left and went back to wandering around the arena for potential customers.

Finally, after waiting around for a little longer, Doctor Oobleck and Professor Port began appearing on every screen around the arena and started to announce the match to the excitement of the audience.

"Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen; civilians, huntsmen, and huntresses alike, to the Vytal Tournament!" Professor Port announced as the crowd cheered. Nora in particular, shouted more loudly than most of the audience that she woke up Ren.

"Previously, fan-favorite Team JNPR defeated Team ABRN with a dashing display of skill and synergy; they will proceed to the double rounds! Now will their fellow schoolmates from Beacon be able to do the same, or would the honor go to the opposing team from Vacuo instead? We shall find out."

Doctor Oobleck then followed, "And before we begin, we would like to thank Crunch Bite for sponsoring us. You can purchase a monthly subscription to their channel for only a hundred lien a month[2] and be the first to see their upcoming show, Rator Kings! Do not miss out when it premieres. Here's an exclusive trailer!"

Naturally, I heard a few annoyed moans from some of the audience near me, including Nora. Couldn't blame them, I almost groaned myself. It seemed like the posters and banners advertising it on the coliseum's corridors weren't enough but it beats sitting through boring generic pop concerts (no offense, Noire and Blanc.)

"Oh no, not these ads again!" Nora grabbed her hair as if she was ready to rip it off.

The roof of the arena closed, shrouding the arena in darkness as a holographic screen appeared in the center and began playing the trailer. I looked around and saw a mixture of boredom, disinterest, and maybe a few who actually looked interested in the show. Not sure if I'm going to see it myself, but if I was to watch this myself, then it would be because ads like these annoyed me into seeing it. Don't get me wrong I love mecha action as much as the next person, but I'm not in the mood to see one especially since I already saw too many robots in real life, some of which even tried to kill me. That, and I didn't like how shoddy the frame rate was.

The lights went on back as the roof opened, and the screens went back to showing Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck in the press box. "And on to the match!" Professor Port announced.

The audience became excited again as competitors began emerging from the player tunnels with their weapons ready as the professor announced their presence. The crowd cheered at whichever team they were rooting for, with some boys audibly whistling on Team RWBY and girls squealing at the sight of the guys of Team BRNZ (Bronze).

Team BRNZ consisted of three guys and a girl. The boys—namely Brawnz Ni, Roy Stallion, and Nolan Porfirio, were all using melee weapons. Some claws, saws, and a cattle prod respectively to be exact. I remember Roy, the guy with the saws on his gauntlet, he was that guy who lost to Sky Lark because he was having trouble fighting with someone with a polearm.

The girl, May Zedong, meanwhile, was carrying a sniper rifle that looked straightforward and simplistic in a world where having flamethrowers and chainsaws installed on Helvetican army knives is the norm. What I found strange about her is that she is wearing attire that wasn't appropriate for a place like Vacuo. I'm guessing that she started wearing those once she got to Vale as she isn't used to places that aren't warm such as the desert or something.

The screens around the arena began focusing on Team RWBY. "From Beacon Academy, we got the most-acclaimed all-girl freshman team, showing what a sisterhood of Huntresses should be like. Ladies and gentlemen, Team RWBY!"

"Don't let their attractive looks fool you, folks. These girls are known for their exceptional skills combined with their harmonious teamwork. There is a good reason why they are viewed with high regard in Beacon, including the staff and their upperclassmen. These are the kind of Huntresses that let the emotionless Grimm experience the taste of fear." Doctor Oobleck added.

"Good luck girls!" Pyrrha shouted to them as the four waved at us.

"And from Vacuo. We have one of the roughest, toughest quartets of Shade Academy. Known for bold close-quarters combat whose combined strength was enough to break a Beringel. Give it up for Team BRNZ!" Professor Port said as the Team BRNZ's fans started cheering for them. "Two offensive powerhouses against one another. Which of them will prevail?"

Both teams went into their combat stances as the screens began shuffling off the arena's environment. It landed on an icon of a tree with a green glow and what appeared to be a mountain on the other.

A mountain with a few trees littered it began emerging one half of the arena while a short forest surfaced in the other, it had a lighter shade of green compared to the other biome. Seeing how relatively simple the environments were compared to what we got, these girls were pretty lucky in my opinion. You could even say I envied them.

"Three… two… one… Begin!"

The competitors engaged against their opponents. Meanwhile, May Zedong the sniper girl ran to the forest to provide sniper support for her teammates. She sprung to a tree, using her rifle's stock which also functioned as an axe-head to swing her to a branch.

Yang engaged in a fistfight with the opposing team's leader, Brawnz. She blocked his claw strikes with her gauntlets as she stepped back before firing a few shots which he dodged. Weiss was meanwhile fencing with Nolan as they avoided their opponent's swings. Blake and Ruby both took on Roy, who was doing his best to hold off both of them. He leaped away from Ruby's scythe before strafing back and firing one of his saws at her. Ruby spun her weapon, deflecting the saw away as it flew back into Roy's vacant gauntlet. Roy proceeded to focus on Blake, who was blocking his melee attacks with her sheathe and katana. She stepped back and used her weapon's whip to sweep the floor and have him fall to the ground.

Professor Port provided commentary as usual. "Team RWBY is now battling against the close-range combatants of Team BRNZ, but where is May?"

Suddenly a gunshot flew near her and hit a nearby rock, breaking it into pieces of rubble. I forgot to mention that May's weapon was actually an anti-material sniper rifle that used fifty-caliber bullets, meaning it could ignore things such as armor and aura that a single hit would be an instant knock-out. Never underestimate the power of rudimental weaponry, as if my choice of weapons hasn't made that clear enough.

Blake managed to quickly detect the source before nodding to Ruby who used her semblance to soar to the mountain. Blake flipped back and stood still. May fired at a seemingly idle Blake, only for the bullet to fly through her as the shadow clone faded away. Ruby stood in the middle of the mountain and folded away her scythe before firing at May. The shot unfortunately missed and hit the trunk behind her, and May began to shoot back. The two then engaged in a sniper duel, trading shots with each other as May jumped from one branch to another while Ruby zoomed around the mountain.

"Ho, ho, looks like the snipers of both teams have found themselves in long-range combat against one another." Professor Port remarked.

"But wait, look at this!" Doctor Oobleck suddenly interjected as he spotted something that caught his attention in the arena.

It turned out that the sniper duel was actually a diversion to keep May's attention away from Blake as she sneaks into the forest. Blake used her weapon's ribbon to grapple herself to the tree where May was standing on.

Blake snuck up behind May and the latter did not notice anything until she looked back and saw Blake swinging her weapon toward her. She quickly blocked it with her rifle but she was then pushed out from the tree. May fell on her back and saw an image of Blake leaping toward her. She hastily began firing, only to find out that it was another decoy. She glanced at her side and saw Blake aiming her pistol at her from another branch. Blake fired at May as she began rolling away while changing her weapon's magazine.

Blake jumped down from the tree and stormed toward her while she continued to shoot. May stood up and returned fire, forcing Blake to zig-zag around as she ran. When Blake got to her range, May started treating her weapons as an axe and she deflected Blake's strike before the two began clashing in melee.

"That was an interesting turn of events, folks!" Doctor Oobleck commented. "It appears that Ruby Rose and Blake Belladonna stopped May Zedong from providing sniper support. Now she is being occupied in engaging in close combat with Blake Belladonna."

"Speaking of close-range combat, how are the others doing?" Professor Port asked.

Both of the commentators shifted their attention to the others who were in the mountain biome. "Yang Xiao Long appears to be engaged with both Brawnz Ni and Roy Mustang in a two-on-one battle. I was curious to see if Yang would reign as the superior brawler or if the combined strengths of Brawnz and Roy prevail." Doctor Oobleck said.

Despite being outnumbered by those who are supposed to be proficient fighters from a high-temperature hellhole, Yang looked like she had the upper hand. She jabbed Brawnz, staggering him before she spun and delivered a kick to Roy behind her. Roy stumbled back, so he launched his saws toward her. Yang blocked them away with her gauntlets before ducking away from a hook punch from Roy. She turned back and the two went back to trading punches with each other.

Weiss was still engaged with Nolan. She darted back and summoned a glyph as he rushed towards her. Turns out, that glyph ended up launching him to the air before Ruby flew in and slashed him away across the arena. While Blake continued fighting against May, she saw Nolan falling toward them. As May raised her axe and was about to strike, Blake bolted away and left still a clone made of stone[3]. May ended up hitting the stone before she stepped back when she saw Nolan falling toward it. He landed on the stone decoy and broke it into pieces.

Ruby could be heard audibly yelling "Ladybug!" as she descended toward the two with her scythe ready. Blake came out behind a tree trunk and dashed toward her opponents. May hastily aimed at Blake but before she had any chance to pull the trigger, Blake managed to slash her while running through. When Nolan got up, Ruby did the same to him. Blake and Ruby slashed May and Nolan back and forth until their aura gauges reached below fifteen percent and the two could barely do anything other than getting helplessly sliced down.

"May Zedong and Nolan Porfirio have been defeated by aura!" Professor Port announced.

"And who can blame them? One would have to possess significant reflexes to avoid or counter such team-attack by two agile huntresses with the likes of Ruby Rose and Blake Belladonna."

"What will the remainder of Team BRNZ do now that two of their own have been defeated? This fight already feels decisive for Team RWBY unless they find a way to turn the tide of the battle!"

While Yang was still having a fistfight with Brawnz, Roy shifted his focus to Weiss. He tried throwing both of his saws at her as she summoned a barrier in front of her that reflected them back toward him. Roy simply caught his own saws with his hands and dashed toward her. He flailed his saws around toward Weiss as she swung her weapon to block them. Roy jumped and managed to knock her back after performing a dropkick to her face. Putting his saws back to his gauntlets as he starts revving them up he hopped toward her. However, Weiss was able to summon a black glyph and propelled him to Yang and Brawnz while they were still fighting. Yang rotated back and punched him away to the ground along with his remaining aura, effectively knocking him off the match.

Brawnz was the only one left, and he understandably did not take that well. He suddenly roared to the sky and activated his semblance—Berserk. Yang turned back to him and struggled to block his attacks as they became faster and stronger. After several blows to her stomach, Brawnz hit Yang's face and knocked her off to the ground with only a few of her aura left before she was out of the match.

He stepped in an attempt to finish her off, but before he was able to do so, Weiss began absorbing lighting dust as a golden clock appeared below her. He then turned and saw Weiss storming toward him with inhuman speed. Weiss blurred as she rapidly thrust her rapier at Brawnz as sparks followed her. But despite her speed, he still was able to retaliate with a strike that was just quick enough to promptly disable her time dilation. Branwz then lunged at her and tried to clobber her with both of his claws. Weiss strafed back and raised a glacier of ice only to be broken almost effortlessly by him. He punched her in the stomach knocking her back until she hit the mountain's base behind her. I don't know why, but I feel somewhat enraged after witnessing that, and made my support for Team RWBY stronger when I normally don't put much investment into tournament matches that don't involve my team.

Blake and Ruby tried to rush in and help but stopped once they noticed Yang rising from the ground with her hair glowing. She began to march toward Brawnz. He turned to her and saw her crack her neck. Brawnz foolishly charged toward her and tried to throw a punch. Yang ducked down and threw an uppercut to his jaw. And with that one single punch, Brawnz was sent blasting out from the stage until he hit the arena's hardlight ceiling.

"And that's the last of Team BRNZ. Team RWBY is victorious!" Professor Port declared, followed by cheering from the audience.

Brawnz started falling to the ground. Since his aura was dangerously low, emergency drones flew in and caught him mid-air with a net. They then flew down and dropped him next to his teammates that were staying in the corner after being defeated.

Better stay prepared for Yang then, especially with my plan to counter her dangerously overpowered semblance. There's a small chance that we might end up being matched against each other. I should remember that even Pyrrha struggled against her, even though they've only fought in a food fight with no real weapons.

Team RWBY gathered together in the middle of the arena, celebrating their victory as they waved at the cheering audience. Yang's semblance deactivated and gave her sister a high-five before the latter bounced into the air. So they're going to the doubles round with us. Good for them. While I wish my sister team nothing but the best, I also wish for them to never compete against us and this exactly showed why.

Who could be next then? I asked as I checked the bracket on my scroll to see the contestants of the next match. The answer was… pretty amusing to say the least.

'Team SSSN of Haven vs. Team NDGO of Shade'

Oh brother, aren't I in for a treat, I thought.

=o=

1. A few notable movie appearances of Pyrrha include: The Clash of Class, The Grimm Brothers, Praying With Fire, Mistrali Valentines, and Pumpkin Pete's Adventure Burrow.
2. That was before their infamous decision to increase the prices, and I shall leave it at that.
3. Blake's weapon—The Gambol Shroud—contains a module that allows her semblance to create elemental clones through the use of dust. It produces its substance after determining Blake's posture through her aura.

During the intermission before the next battle, Team RWBY sat beside us. Yang, in particular, was drinking a bottle of water to cool her head down from the temper she had from her semblance, as well as having an unopened soda can on her seat's cup holder.

"You guys really showed them back there, huh?" Nora asked the four.

"Yeah, to be honest, I was worried about what I did to that Brawnz guy. I think I must have hit him a little too hard. Thank The Brothers for those drone thingies, his aura wouldn't be enough to save him from that fall." Yang said with a chuckle before opening a soda can and taking a drink. "But hey, at least they'll get a medal with their team's name on it."

"You know that victory feels so good when Yang makes a joke that isn't atrocious for once," Weiss remarked and I found myself agreeing with her on this one. Its clever use of wordplay rather than just making puns for the sake of it makes it one of the better quips she made

The screens emerged once again as it shows Doctor Oobleck and a montage of knockouts from the previous match before it transitioned to a still picture of the victors. "Ah, well, Vacuo fans are sure to be hurting after that one, but this one will have them on the edge of their seats!"

The feed cut to Professor Port as he began announcing the new challengers. With a picture of Team NDGO. I have to admit, I never got tired of seeing their pretty faces, even if they themselves being huge fans of me made it a little awkward. "Team NDGO of Shade is certainly a crowd favorite, but these lovely ladies are going against some of the toughest, testosterone-filled teammates we've seen so far! I'm of course talking about... Team SSSN!"

Yeah, as a friend of two of them who had once tried to flirt with all of the girls on the opposing team the other day, I was not sure who to root for here. Even though Sun and Neptune tend to act like buffoons, they're actually pretty okay guys, and there weren't a lot of reasons for me to hate them. But I wouldn't say I want them to win this match nor did I wish for them to lose.

"Sun Wukong and his team are certainly a force to be reckoned with, and although he'll be representing the Mistral Academy of Haven, I'm sure his friends and family back in Vacuo will be cheering him along!" Professor Port remarked as high-pitched squeals of girls (as well as a few boys) roared around the arena, some of them even holding signs and posters, as Sun and his team entered the stage and faces their opponents. I almost forgot that Sun, Neptune, and their teammates were actually popular enough to have adoring fans. It begs to wonder where their admirers were when they needed them back at the dance.

"Good luck, Neptune. I guess…" Weiss cheered unenthusiastically as Neptune waved at the crowd, even sending some flying kisses that made some of his more adoring fans faint. He then turned to his opponents and noticeably started to flirt with them, despite making it clear that they weren't interested

Weiss' expression went from lukewarm to spiteful in a matter of seconds. "BREAK HIS STUPID FACE, NDGO!" She stood up and pointed her finger at him, with some of the viewers beside us staring at her in bewilderment. So, I have to give the guy some advice to ask out a girl he likes and finally start dating her, only for it to come to this in the end. What a shame.

I noticeably saw Team NDGO roll their eyes at him. They looked back at the audience and began happily waving when they spotted me. I smiled and waved back. I could even see their faces turn slightly red for a moment. We both kept waving until Pyrrha cleared her throat and I went back to sitting upward.

The selection of environments shuffled until it stopped with an orange icon of the sun above a desert. Dunes that stood on a sandy surface began emerging behind Team NDGO's half of the stage as the artificial sun began shining above the arena's transparent hardlight ceiling. Some viewers pulled out and wore their shades while others who did not expect it were blinded by the light. I guess Sun and the girls are going to feel at home with this one.

"Would you look at that? Hot gals going at it against hot guys under hot weather. I guess you can say this is going to be… hot!" Yang jested, who was wearing her aviators. She was already back to making bad jokes, and I'm pretty sure that quip also made some people's heads hot because of how terrible it sounded.

The ice queen beside her was still lamenting about her 'boyfriend' if she could still call him that. "Ugh, I still wonder why I even dated someone who is afraid of water."

"Neptune's afraid of water?" I raised my brow.

The environmental roulette on the other half of the stage then selected an environment represented by an icon of a palm tree and a wave behind it. Neptune turned his head toward the images and appeared to be frozen in horror.

A small beach with a pirate ship wreckage appeared on that side of the arena, and Neptune was on the brink of almost fainting, which he didn't luckily for his team as it would have knocked him out from the match even before it started, but looking at Neptune, he looked like he wished he was knocked out.

I stared at him beyond belief with a hint of faint amusement. "I see now…"

Neptune Vasilias. Hunter of Grimm. Self-proclaimed genius. Inventor of weapons. Robber of some hearts. Victor of board games. A musician with a synthetic singing voice…is frightened by bodies of liquid. It was when I thought that the match was going to be more entertaining than I expected. It's not that I hate Neptune, I think he's a decent guy beneath that obnoxious BMOC-wannabe persona, I just find this to be quite amusing.

In fairness, the sea isn't exactly our friend. Don't get me wrong, I like swimming on the beach as much as the next guy, and I don't need to wear any dumb floaters to do so. I just have to remember to NOT venture far out into the ocean, that's when you start encountering sharks and aquatic Grimm. The kingdoms made some parts of the ocean restricted from civilians for a good reason.

That still does not make whimpering over bodies of water that have more than a gallon less ridiculous.

"Three, two, one, begin!" Doctor Oobleck announced with all the contestants in their fighting stances, except for you-know-who who has his body pressed together as he stood. Glancing at his fans, they seemed very confused at his sudden anxiety.

As the match began. Neptune began dashing towards the highest rock on the biome behind Team NDGO and climbed at its peak at a pace that could possibly even rival Ruby's semblance. He was quick enough that it took a moment for Team NDGO to realize that he had already run past them and stared at him in confusion.

"Neptune, what are you doing?!" Sage yelled at him loud enough for the audience to hear.

"Uh, you know, just gaining the higher ground!" he answered, barely hiding his frightened tone.

"On the enemies' side?!" Sun shouted while remaining puzzled over whatever his teammate was doing.

"They would never expect it!" Neptune replied, To be fair, no one did.

Team NDGO shrugged it off and the battle carried on with Neptune staying on the rock. I'll keep this brief, the battle initially started seemingly in Team NDGO's favor—with Sage getting knocked away from the ring less than thirty seconds after the match started. It was one of the quickest KOs in the tournament. The reason why it wasn't exactly the quickest of all time was that it was nothing compared to the current record holder where the match ended as soon as it even started. [1] Scarlet would later get knocked out as well—after a coconut hit his own coconuts as it drains his remaining aura. Ouch, calm down ladies.

Team SSSN was able to make a comeback, however. Sun was able to put Octavia on a beatdown and convince Neptune to stop whimpering above the rock and make himself useful. Neptune was even able to eliminate the rest of Team NDGO by electrocuting all of them as neat as you please while they were still in the water, which might or might not have given them a good reason to fear pools of water as well.

"Ma' man!" Nora cheered as she witnessed Nebula, Dew, and Gwen getting electrocuted.

"That has got to hurt," Ren said, nonchalantly as always.

"Luring your opponents to a body of water and then electrifying them. Not bad," Pyrrha remarked. Not bad indeed. I only hope this doesn't get dumb kids to copy them after watching this.

"And with that, Team SSSN moves on to the doubles round!" Professor Port declared. "You know what I call that victory?"

"Shocking?" Doctor Oobleck answered. Of course, someone would say that, what a shock. No wonder why Yang gets along with Professor Oobleck.

"No, well earned. What you said is stupid," Professor Port replied.

Well, after all the shenanigans with Neptune and sUN, I guess they really earned it. If you think about it, Neptune would really have been the smooth MVP of this match had it not been for his fear of water. He would have looked far cooler when he defeated his opponents the same way without the whimpering.

Sun and Neptune waved at the audience before celebrating their team's victory by dancing to the upbeat music in the background, with Sage and Scarlet giving thumbs up at the side of the arena, the latter was still holding on to his injured crotch. Looks like he won't be making babies for a while. [2] Meanwhile, emergency drones lifted Team NDG_ out of the water before drying away the electrified water from their bodies and escorting them out.

And that was the match. This day might not be a good day for Vacuans since Shade two of their teams had just lost a couple of matches in a row, but at least they still have other teams to represent them.

"That was close," Ruby as she sighed for air.

"Looks like the dorks made it to the next round!" Yang remarked.

The two victors were still dancing on the stage, being watched by an amused audience. Looking at Neptune doing an awkwardly eccentric dance made me understand why he was too embarrassed to dance that night, but it appeared that he could no longer care less. Good for him, I guess.

"That concludes the matches for today. Please leave the coliseum…" Doctor Oobleck ordered before suddenly raising his voice, scaring the blazes out of unsuspecting viewers. "In a calm and orderly fashion!"

"Come on, let's go congratulate them," Yang stood up and led everyone out of their seats.

After a minute or two, we arrived backstage where we saw Team SSSN being congratulated by fellow students and even a few staff members.

"Thank you, thank you, you're all very kind," Sun said to them while being surrounded by his fans

"Team SSSN is on a roll, folks! Everyone should give it up for us 'cause we're untouchable!" Neptune bragged.

"Yeah, that's what the ladies also call you," Sun cheekily grinned.

"Isn't that ri—" Neptune's smile disappeared after he realized what his partner meant. "Hey!"

"Hey, guys, great work out there!" Ruby complimented them as we approached them.

"Yeah, I love how you zapped them all at once while they're in the water!" Nora chirped.

Neptune scratched the back of his head. "Yeah… I did."

"Aww, gee, thanks. I really hope everything we did back there was worth it for you guys," Sun said.

"Oh, trust us, it was." I nodded, it reminded me of the effectiveness of combining the right elements to win in combat. It was one of the few things I paid better attention to in dust class as I actually wanted to know more about elemental combinations that I could use to my advantage.

"Congratulations, Neptune." Weiss stepped with a smile on her face.

"Oh, that was nothing, Snow Ang—" His ear was suddenly grabbed by Weiss as she pulled his head next to her eye level.

"Be honest with me, am I not good enough for you?!" Weiss furiously asked, fuming with anger. Well, this is going to be painful to watch, I thought as the others looked either confused or as equally uncomfortable as I was at the drama that was unfolding before them.

Neptune just stared in confusion, "Wha—what?"

"You know what I'm talking about," she glared at him.

"Okay, okay!" Neptune said as Weiss let him go so he would be able to explain himself. He then cleared his throat. "Look, I really like you, okay? But as a ladies' man, you know I have to give the other girls some appreciation."

Good grief, he was only digging his own grave. I felt terribly sorry for him, especially since he had to deal with an aggravated Ice Queen. Her teammates and I can definitely tell you how it is. That being said, he was not helping his own case here.

Weiss's right eye twitched. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Neptune stuttered over his abysmal reply. "I—I mean, to be honest. It's just… We're not exactly… uh."

"Not exactly what?" She put her fists on her waists as she leaned toward him.

"It's… uh…, it's really hard to put it nicely…" Neptune nervously said, "Especially with all the people watching."

"I think I already know what you're trying to say," Weiss sighed disappointedly, "I always wondered why you left me on our date to flirt with another girl, now I know why." [3]

"Did you really have to say that in front of everyone? Look, Snow Angel, I'm really so—"

"Don't 'Snow Angel' me! If we're really going to be transparent with each other, then I'll let you know that it actually infuriates me when you call me that!"

Neptune nervously glanced to his side. "Look, can we discuss this later? I want to be honest with you, I really do, but this isn't exactly the best place to talk about us."

"Fine, but not because you said so, it's because I'm about to meet with someone who is more important than you, you unfaithful hydrophobic worm!" She yelled before marching out of the exit.

Ruby followed her partner out. "Hey, wait for me!"

Neptune just stared frozen at Weiss dumbstruck along with everyone in the room. Once Weiss was out, everyone was looking silently at Neptune with bewildered expressions. It wasn't until Sun decided to comment on the matter that the silence was broken. "Ouch."

"That was… certainly something," Pyrrha said.

Nebula and her team stepped in to make a half-mocking remark before leaving as well. "I hope you enjoy being part of the Champion's Club, water boy," she sneered.

"Ugh, I knew this would happen," Neptune murmured before he started hitting his own forehead. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

At least some of his fans would be happy to learn that he's probably single again, I silently quipped. I tried to cheer him up while patting his back. "We all make mistakes."

He covered his face for a moment. "It's just… I should have told her sooner. It would have hurt her a lot less, and not to mention, this would have been a lot less embarrassing."

"You should have told her what?" I asked, even though it was already obvious what was going to happen with their relationship. I thought I'd just ask.

"It's nothing. Just something between the two of us," he sighed.

That was completely understandable. Although I was curious about how they were doing, I wasn't too interested in other people's personal relationship issues anyway. "Oh, okay."

"Hey Jaune, you're not busy tomorrow are you?" Sun suddenly asked.

I turned to him with a curious expression, wondering what they would need me for this time before giving him my answer. "Aside from practicing for the doubles round, I don't have anything else planned. Why?"

He took a sigh of relief as if I just saved his life or something. "Oh, good. We're going to need you to come with us to the city tomorrow for something. It's very important."

More favors, I thought. I decided that whatever it was, it couldn't hurt. At worst I'll probably just end up babysitting these two again. "What is it then?"

"We really can't tell you right now, so we'll tell you about it tomorrow," he said with a slight grin on his face.

More suspense and secrecy, things that I didn't need at the moment. Whatever this was, it better be worth my time because I was getting really tired of playing hero just so everyone could keep kissing up to me. If only I wasn't at a point where refusing wouldn't put me in a good spot. "Alright…"

"Great!" Sun smiled before turning to everyone, "Well folks, I think we've put on enough of a show for today. So we'll be going now."

Sun and Neptune then left the room. Since there was nothing else for us to do in the Coliseum we left as well.

I wondered what Sun and Neptune needed me for. Get another date for Neptune I guess? Whatever it was, it shouldn't be that bad since these two are too harmless (or too dumb) enough to put me in trouble. The day during the investigation didn't count because it was mostly the girls' fault that I got dragged in there.

=o=

1. The record holder during that time was the singles match between Zahra Azar and Cole Whittaker during the 34th Biennial Tournament. It was infamous for lasting for only 0.81 seconds with Azar coming out as the victor. This was due to Whittaker being vulnerable to fire, the element of Azar's weapon.
2. Given the type of man Scarlet is, he never has and never will, and not because he doesn't want children, mind you.
3. We went on a date to Vale's pier area. He once left me on a bench, claiming that he'll return because he needed to distance himself from the sight of the sea for 'a few minutes.' When I waited for too long, I went to check on him only to find him trying to flirt with a random girl at a sushi stall. I returned to Beacon immediately after witnessing that.
4. The Champions Club was the moniker of the fanbase of the two-time Vytal Champion Raul 'The Doc' Gilette who was later exposed to be an adulterer, which lead to the name Champions Club to be associated with infidelity.

Chapter Text

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To Thrive and be Victorious

CHAPTER 4

Ren and I went straight to the dorms after arriving back in Beacon to take a break from all the excitement of the first day of the festival. Pyrrha and Nora, meanwhile, wanted to continue roaming around the fairgrounds for a little longer. It's good that they'll have each other there, Nora would need to protect Pyrrha from her own fans while Pyrrha would want to protect her fans from Nora. It's as chaotic and confusing as it sounds, I know, but that's what happens when you're teammates with both of them. As long as it does not concern me though, it's not my problem.

Ren went to his bed and reviewed some notes before taking a nap while I relaxed at my desk, Updating combat notes and this very journal as I listened to rock music that was decades older than me. I eventually fell asleep on my desk when fatigue finally caught up. My nap only lasted for about half an hour as the sky was still bright as I woke up. It was then I decided to take a short stroll outside.

Opening the team dorm's door, I saw Zwei standing in front of it as if it was waiting for me for whatever reason. Knowing Zwei from what little interaction I had with it, I braced myself as I expected it to pounce the moment it saw me. But strangely, it just stared at me. As relieved as I was, there was just something off about Zwei not trying to attack me on sight.

Adding to my confusion, it suddenly trotted past me and inside the dorm. "Hey, what are you doing?"

It sat in the middle of the room before turning around to stare at me. "What do you want boy?" To be more appropriate, I should have asked what he was up to instead.

It tilted its head as it continued to stare at me. Rolling my eyes, I opened the dorm's room and showed it out.

"Look, there's nothing for you here and I think Ruby wouldn't want you wandering around so…" I turned back and saw that it suddenly was on my desk, standing on the chair with its hind legs. "Hey! What the—!"

It grabbed my journal with its mouth and then left the room. My exclaiming woke up and alerted Ren as he leaped up from his bed. After I shook my head out of being baffled while wishing that Zwei painfully bit me instead of doing this. I really wanted to like dogs, I really did, but this wasn't making it any easier for me.

I grabbed Ren's hand and bolted out of the room. "Ren, we got a canine committing a four-eight-seven and I'm going to need some backup."

Ren looked befuddled; understandable given the oddity of the situation. "Four-eight-seven?" [1]

"Just help me get Zwei!" I went straight to the point. Ren didn't even answer despite his confusion, probably because he was used to nonsense like this courtesy of the redhead he's glued with, so he just complied and helped me chase down a maliciously mischievous puppy.

I wasn't going to let my undeserved reputation go down the drain all because of a stupid mutt. Attacking me randomly was one thing, but trying to expose my secrets was another, and I wasn't having any of it.

We pursued Zwei through the residence hall as a few students watched in confusion, mostly because there was a dog in the vicinity when pets weren't allowed, and it being chased by the boys of the famed Team JNPR while holding someone's journal only added to the oddity.

Zwei went through a door in one of the rooms, unfortunately, that door was the entrance to the girl's locker room. Ren and I hesitated, staring at the door and at each other. With no other options, we sighed simultaneously before barging in. I thought I was going to lose some girls' respect over this but it was better than getting shunned by everyone after they found out that I wasn't being truthful and sincere about my stature at all.

The locker room was thankfully fairly empty, aside from Sandy Graves who was shocked to see us suddenly enter. Fortunately, she was fully clothed as it seemed that she was only there to pick something up and she was too confounded by the appearance of a dog roaming with a journal to be infuriated by two boys entering the girl's locker room.

After I found Zwei. I sprung toward it only for me to hit the floor as it darted away and leaped through a hopper window. This wasn't good as it meant I had to chase a dog on the campus where everyone is outside for the festival.

I got myself up. Ren and I then quickly made our way to the locker room. "You didn't see any of this," Ren told Sandy, who appeared as if she was still processing all of this. Good riddance, I thought. I didn't need to hear anyone calling me a pervert when I didn't see anything revealing during a dire situation such as this.

We went through the back door, which was the nearest exit from where we were. I bashed the door open before Ren and I made our way to the campus. It wasn't difficult to spot a black and white corgi running in the open like a sore thumb while students step aside to make way for it, especially feline faunuses with one of them even hissing at it.

He managed to enter the school building as someone left the door open. We pursued him around the corridors of the school, avoiding the passersby who just happened to be in the place. Zwei was heading down south to the front entrance, giving us an idea of where it was planning to go. Since we walked around the school enough times to know the different paths that can be taken, I ordered Ren to take a shortcut that was right around the corner as I continued to follow the dog. He nodded silently before splitting up.

"C'mon, boy, just give it back. What did I ever do to you?!" I yelled at Zwei as I kept on following him in hot pursuit. As he continued to make his way to the hall. He tackled one of the students and made her drop a vial of ice dust, causing a frozen puddle on the floor. When I saw the puddle I quickly leaped toward the wall and jumped above the puddle before landing on the dry, concrete floor and moving forward.

Zwei went past my two least favorite classmates, Russel and Dove. The two were bewildered seeing a dog running around in the hallway, but when they turned to me, they began to smirk and started blocking my path.

Pricks. I thought. I continued to streak straight as I charged toward Russel since he has less body weight compared to his shut-eye midget of a friend. Predictably, he collapsed to the ground. Dove turned back and tried firing a spitball at me, convincing me that they'd run out of ideas at this point.

Sensing it and also because of how predictable they are, I tilted my head away from the spitball and it ended up hitting an Atlesian student wearing an eyepatch with scars on his face instead. The Atlesian was unamused and cracked his knuckles as he went on to approach the two idiots who began whimpering in fear. I would have loved to watch it if my rep wasn't currently at stake then.

Shortly afterward, Zwei was getting close to reaching the front door. Ren appeared, sliding into his front. He attempted to grab the dog when it ran past him through his legs, resulting in him tumbling to the floor. I helped Ren get back to his feet before going back to chasing the dog again. Ren groaned, being a little displeased that the chase was still on. I couldn't blame him, I wanted this to be over with too.

We left the building as Zwei kept on heading south, where the fairground was located. I figured that I needed to stop him before he winds up causing more chaos than he should. We continued to push forward. I sprinted as hard as I could that a normally agile Ren was struggling to catch up along with his fleeting stamina. Ren eventually ran out of steam and stopped as he held the nearest wall.

I noticed that he was no longer accompanying me. "Ren!" I stopped and exclaimed at him, keeping my legs jogging in place to maintain my momentum. "C'mon buddy, we ran further than this!"

"Look, just go. I'll try to get the others to help if they can," he replied. There wasn't any time to argue, so I just let him be and carried on. I ran as quickly as I possibly could to make up for the short distance I lost after stopping for a few seconds.

I later found myself in the front garden of the school with a large pond in the center. It was the place that was rather notable to me as it's where Ruby introduced her weapon, but now I'm going to remember it as the place where I had chased her pet in circles. Zwei might as well be a weapon used to annoy enemies while it snatches their stuff. If only it didn't recognize me as the enemy, that would have been nice.

After revolving around the pond a few times, I turned back and continued to see if I could catch it on his front while it was still circling, however, it was able to notice this and turned around as well.

When the path that led to the fairgrounds was located, I focused on that particular pathway since I knew that the dog was likely going to head there and try to expose my secrets to my friends. Surprisingly, Zwei didn't take that route when I expected him to. Instead, he continued to head south toward the academy's courtyard.

The courtyard was packed full of people as there was some sort of commotion going on, but I was too occupied with saving my secrets to caring about what was happening in there.

A few more people went in to see what was happening. I kept my sights on Zwei who passed through the crowd, startling those who suddenly felt fur below their legs.

Rushing in, I did not notice Mercury leaving the scene in an apparent rush. We ended up colliding and knocking each other to the ground. Since I was in an urgent situation, I quickly got up to my legs and helped him up. "Oh, Mercury. I'm sorry. I didn't see you there."

"Hey, no biggie. I'll be sure to watch out for you next time," he replied.

"Thanks. I really appreciate that." I nodded.

He smiled before leaving. "See ya'!"

Getting back to business, I went through the crowd before seeing what all the fuss was about while looking for Zwei. There were two adults in the center of the courtyard, a woman who appeared to be an older version of Weiss down to the same color scheme, wielding two swords; and a middle-aged-looking man with a large sword who seemed to have a similar aesthetic with Ruby.

While it was quite apparent, I didn't find out they were actually related to them until shortly after. That's not even mentioning a destroyed Atlesian Knight laying on the ground with its head ripped off. Why these two were fighting in the middle of a campus full of people during the festival was beyond me.

I found the dog running onto the stage while the two combatants raised their weapons as they were about to strike one another. However, they both stopped as if they were frozen in time after seeing Zwei stand between them. Zwei barked, letting go of my journal before jumping into the man's free arm.

"Zwei?" The man gave a puzzled look at him, unsheathing his weapon, and held Zwei with both of his hands. Zwei then started affectionately licking his face, which only confused me. Talk about a sudden mood swing.

"Zwei, what are you doing out here?!" Ruby shouted from the front of the crowd; Weiss was with her too.

"Ruby?" The man turned before Ruby zoomed in and hugged him while he was still holding Zwei.

"It's good to see you too, Uncle Qrow![2]" Ruby said, revealing her relation to the man in question. I genuinely would have mistaken him for her father had I made assumptions earlier, he looked like he fit the bill. [3]"Did you miss me, did you miss me?!"

The white-haired woman who Ruby's uncle battled a few seconds ago—just stood there, contemplating and not knowing what else to do. That is until she saw my journal laying on the ground and nosily picked it up.

I panicked after seeing this, so I rushed in and swiped my journal from her hand the second she opened it to a random page, not caring that she was some sort of elite soldier girl for Atlas so long as my secrets were safe. I would have asked her to just hand it to me politely but I went all this way to retrieve it from a dog that was bullying me and I couldn't calm down until it was in my hands again. "I'm sorry, but this is mine! And it's private!"

She frowned at me but she didn't do anything to retaliate. Weiss meanwhile, wasn't pleased in seeing this as if she was entitled to snoop around a random student's personal belongings without a warrant just because she's a high-ranking official from an influential family. At least she referred to me with my first name; she wouldn't have if we didn't make any progress in our friendship a couple or so weeks ago. "Jaune! You have such a nerve to disrespect my sister like tha—!"

"Stand down, Weiss," she raised her hand at her younger sister, silencing her and prompting her to step back. "I would have done the same if I was in his position. The secrecy of one's memoirs should be respected."

Though I would have preferred if she didn't bother with them, I appreciated her understanding of my situation. "Uh, thank you."

"I apologize for that. My curiosities can get the better of me at times. Rest assured that I was barely even able to read a word from your private accounts," she said, speaking with professional Atlesian eloquence as expected from a woman like her.

"Well, that's a relief," I said, taking a reassured sigh as I put my journal in my pocket.

Now that pretty much settled how I am still able to write the very thing that is currently being read and why I haven't been burned at the stake yet since no one was still able to find out that my acts of heroism were either false or embellished. I sincerely hope that it stays that way because my life already has more problems than it should.

She stood elegantly. "In any case, you must be Arc. The Jaune Arc, I presume."

At this point, it was that difficult to meet someone who doesn't recognize me, especially if they were from Atlas. "Yes, that's me." I nodded.

"Then it's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Winter Schnee. I hope my attempted intrusion into your private memoirs did not leave a poor impression on me. I wasn't aware that it was something personal and sensitive."

Yeah, this is why people put unlabeled memoirs in secluded places where no one else could find them. Some nosy idiot reading into this very journal because they had no idea what it was something I feared might happen one day. "Don't worry about it. It's nice to meet you too, Winter. Your sister mentioned you a few times." I said, noticing her sister make a flustered blush behind her.

"Ah yes, of course. And Weiss writes highly of you in her letters in addition to what I've heard from the news coverages about your exploits."

"Hey!" Weiss shouted, her face visibly becoming as red as her partner's cloak.

Winter continued with a slight smile while maintaining her professional military attitude. "With that, you have earned my respect. Not many boys her age are treated with such regard from her."

"Winter, please!" Weiss ran in and grabbed her arm. Looks like she is losing her cool in more ways than one.

"I believe I have said enough," Winter smirked while her sister pouted at me.

Speaking of the others, Ruby's uncle approached me, with Ruby herself holding Zwei while I noticed it glaring at me angrily. At least in her hands, it wasn't going to try anything funny.

"So, this is really the kid everyone's been telling me about?" He stared at me with his red eyes beyond belief. His voice was somewhat rough and I swear I could smell alcohol on his breath. "The one which everyone keeps saying who'll win the award for Junior Huntsman of the Year?"

"Yeah, pretty much…" I said uneasily. Though, I wasn't planning on winning any awards since I didn't want a trophy or medal reminding me of the crap I've gone through and all the people who have been deceived by it. Not that it will stop certain people from giving them to me though.

"You know, I pictured you being beefier; you would have made a nice clone of a certain friend of mine."

I gave him a confused look the second before I responded with a quip. "Your friend must really be a handsome guy."

He chuckled, "You're definitely Caiaphas' kid alright."

"Like father and son, I guess," I murmured. It wasn't just me, to be honest, a smart mouth was something shared by almost every Arc. An average household conversation can sound like it came from an insufferable superhero movie script sometimes.

"That's what they say. And just so you'd know, I wasn't talking about him. No offense, but your Dad's not blond enough to look like the friend I mentioned." He smirked and patted my shoulder before going back to face Winter, much to my confusion on who he was talking about if he wasn't referring to my father in terms of my looks.

Winter left her sister's grasp and walked toward him until they were a couple of yards away. "Don't think we're done yet, Qrow."

"Oh, I was just getting warmed up, Ice Queen," he replied.

I stood beside Ruby and Weiss as I watched their relatives continue their battle—verbally, this time. I was wondering what was going on, especially after chasing the very dog Ruby was carrying. And that dog was still growling at me but it eventually stopped after Ruby petted him.

"What's with them?" I asked the two.

"Your guess is as good as ours," Weiss answered while Ruby just shrugged.

It was bizarre witnessing your friends' relatives argue like an old married couple, [4] especially if they went as far as to start a brawl with some collateral damage as evidenced by the few cracks on the ground while everyone watches. Thankfully, no one appeared to be hurt. Well, no one with flesh and bones anyway. Someone was going to pay for that broken Atlesian bot.

The two kept going at it that they were close to grabbing their weapons, but before they could go for round two, an authoritative voice boomed in the courtyard. "That's enough!"

Everyone turned their attention to General Ironwood as he stepped into the scene, accompanied by some Atlesian Knights and most interestingly—Penny. Ruby seemed pretty happy to see her again. Meanwhile, I found myself standing upright upon seeing the General in person again. Old habits die hard, I suppose.

"General Ironwood, sir!" Winter stood upright to her superior.

"What in the world do you think you're doing?" The General interrogated.

Winter pointed at Qrow. "He started the altercation, sir!"

"That's actually not true. She attacked first," Qrow retorted nonchalantly.

"Is that right?" The general stared her down. Winter wasn't able to make a response apart from looking down shamefully. He looked around the area with everyone watching silently before making a glance toward me, recognizing me not only as Commissar Arc's son but as one of his former cadets as well. I was able to keep a stoic expression and conceal my anxiety while his imposing eyes stare at my own.

"And you," he turned to Qrow, prompting him out from his relaxed stance as he approached him. "What are you doing here?"

"I could be asking you the same thing," Qrow responded.

General Ironwood was about to say something before The Great & Powerful Ozpin interjected with Miss Goodwitch following her. Of course, he still has his coffee[5] with him. "Now, now, everyone. There is a sanctioned fight happening just around the corner at the Colosseum, that I can assure you has better seats... and popcorn."

"Break it up, everyone!" Miss Goodwitch ordered the crowd before glaring at the three. "We will take care of this mess."

After a brief pause with nothing to be heard aside from a few murmurs from the crowd. General Ironwood finally decided to leave. "Let's go."

The general led his subordinates out as he quickly glanced at me with a quick nod. "Arc."

"General." I nodded back as I made a concealed gulp. I haven't felt that moment ever since I graduated from military school in Atlas. He's not a bad guy per se; from what I've seen from him, he's actually a pretty cool guy for someone who leads the most powerful military force in the world. But given how he was quite a fan of my father and had worked with him several times in the past, there was a high chance that he will try to recruit me or something, so I should keep watching my back for him.

Winter, Penny, and the Atlesian Knights followed him out of the courtyard while Penny turned back to wave at us. Ruby happily waved back before Penny caught up with her superiors. The people in the crowd murmured for a bit before dispersing back to their respective businesses as well.

"And Qrow…" Ozpin called, grabbing his attention. "A word please."

"I think I'm in trouble," Qrow whispered above Ruby.

You think? I mentally snarked as I watched Miss Goodwitch pick up a large piece of the ground that was lying around and placed it back where it came from. Whatever just happened could have been easily avoided if everyone simply acted like rational human beings. But apparently, The Brother Gods decided that there wasn't enough craziness today even though there were already a few bones broken at the tournament.

"You did kinda tear up our courtyard," she replied.

"Yeah, I did." He winked at her and they gave each other a fist bump before leaving. "Catch ya' later, kid."

"And suddenly, your recklessness makes sense," Weiss remarked to Ruby, who simply grinned as if it was a compliment to her.

Ruby petted Zwei before a thought suddenly came to her mind. "Hey Jaune, why did Zwei come here with your diary-thingy?"

I gave a nervous chuckle as I tried to think of an answer. I looked at Zwei who still had the urge to pounce on me. I gave it a subtle glare before sorta answering Ruby's question. "Err… I think he was just playing around." Aside from that, all I could answer without mentioning animals' hatred for me was a simple shrug.

"Some games he play," Weiss remarked. That I can agree with.

Pyrrha, Nora, and Yang then suddenly rushed at the moment I was about to leave and forget about everything that led me here.

"Jaune, Ren told us that you needed some help!" Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, what's the situation?!" Yang asked before raising a brow at Ruby carrying Zwei. "And what's Zwei doing here?"

Better late than never. They were better off missing most of what just happened, otherwise, things would have been a little more awkward. "Don't worry, everything is fine now. Sorry if I scared you," I said.

All of them sighed in relief, except for Nora who was aching for some action. "That sucks, I was hoping to smash something when I heard you were in trouble." With that, I sensed that she was banned from playing Whack-A-Creep again.

"I believe there's been enough of that for today," Weiss stated.

"So what's…" Yang looked around and saw some of the fractures on the ground that came from the recent battle. "…cracking?"

"Just a little family reunion," Weiss replied nonchalantly as if nothing disastrous just occurred, like that terrible joke Yang just made.

Ruby, meanwhile, answered candidly. "Uncle Qrow is here, and so is Weiss' sister."

"Uncle Qrow is here? Really?!" Yang burst a grin. "Where is he now then?"

"He went with Ozpin to talk about something, but don't worry, I'm sure he'll come by when he's done," Ruby answered. "You should have seen him fight Weiss' sister. It was so cool! But then they had to stop when Zwei suddenly came in."

At least, she left out the part that involved my journal. Trying to explain that to them was something I didn't need especially after what I had to go through.

Yang was rather surprised to hear about that. "Hold on. He fought Weiss's sister?!"

"Well, he provoked her," Weiss said. I still thought it was avoidable. No offense to them or anything, but I expected the Schnees to know better than to start fights in a place full of bystanders. "Don't worry, it wasn't too serious, at least for the most part."

"Don't tell me he's still drunk," Yang grumbled.

"He was drunk?!" gasped Weiss. As I recalled the way he moved and spoke, I realized I would have been more surprised if he wasn't. The destruction that happened a minute prior made sense now.

Yang raised her brow. "You haven't noticed that, Ice Queen?"

"No wonder why his breath smelled terrible!"

"It's also funny how Uncle Qrow calls her Ice Queen too," Ruby added.

That seemed to have disappointed Yang. "So you're telling me she's an older Ice Queen? Can't really imagine that. I thought she'd be cool to hang out with, bond about being big sisters and stuff."

"I mean, she's kinda cool actually," Ruby admitted. "She fights with two swords and even has the same semblance as Weiss!" That slightly raised my brow. I never got the chance to witness the fight to see Weiss's sister use the same glyphs she has but it was an interesting revelation nonetheless.

"So your glyphs were inherited by your family? I gotta admit, that's pretty neat especially since your semblance is pretty handy." Yang said to Weiss.

"I agree. Family-Inherited semblances are quite rare." Pyrrha chimed in. "The fact that your family is possessing a remarkable one is a blessing in itself."

"It's all in the family." Weiss proudly said.

"Or judging by what happened recently, it's brawl in the family." Yang grinned, followed by a few groans.

Weiss raised her brow, understandably unimpressed by that travesty of a pun. "Can you even call that a joke?"

"Hey, you gotta admit, that was good," Yang felt proud of her own joke as she always was.

Weiss remained unamused. "If you think that was good, then consider raising your standards."

"Tough crowd," Yang muttered. Not really, we were just maintaining our good sense of humor.

"Hey, Jaune." Nora called, "Doesn't it make you think that you might have the same semblance as your parents?"

As much as I would love to have my instincts make me sense imminent danger or be basically fireproof, there is a very slim chance that it's the case. "I don't know, Nora. All of my sisters have theirs unlocked and none of them remotely resembles either of my parents."

"Maybe it's a different case for you. We should try it out!" Nora smirked, grabbing a lighter.

I restrained her before she was able to do something. It's already proven a long time ago that I'm not immune to fire unlike Mom, and it was a moment I prefer not to recount. "No-no-no-no-no, Nora. That would be for another day."

At that point, I needed to find a way how to make Nora forget all about

Suddenly, something popped up in Yang's mind. "So Weiss. If I remember correctly, your sister's name is Winter, right?"

"Yes," Weiss's eyes remained narrowed toward her. "What are you trying to say now?"

"It's just that, you can now say that Winter is in Vale," Yang answered with a slight smirk.

I heard crickets chirp as everyone stares at her dumbfounded while she waits for someone to laugh at her sorry excuse of a joke. I just had to respond with something that couldn't be as horrendous as whatever that was. "It hasn't gotten any cooler, Yang. And by the sound of it, neither did your jokes." It was a little harsh, but someone had to say it.

The others giggled, I even made Weiss chuckle at that quip. Yang laughed it off like a good sport before grabbing me by my collar as I saw her eyes turn red. "If that wasn't so clever, I would have ravaged you for that."

If we were being honest, she was totally jealous that I was better at making witty remarks than her. Hell, I think everyone is a comedic genius compared to her by default. But of course, that wouldn't be a smart thing to say under the circumstances I was in. "Noted."

Her eyes blinked back to their normal lilac colors as she let me go. Nora, who was ready to lunge at Yang for abruptly seizing her 'fearless' leader, stepped back after that, which was a relief because I'd seen enough fights for the day.

After it was decided that there was nothing left to do there, we went back to our separate businesses. Zwei looked back and gave me one last growl as Ruby carried him out followed by her teammates. I responded by pointing my own eyes with two fingers before pointing at him, telling him that I will keep watch of him and remember this. After that, Pyrrha and Nora went back to the fairgrounds while I returned to my dorm and filled out what just happened.

For a time that should be fun and peaceful barring a competition that makes schoolchildren spill each other's blood as the world watches, there are still plenty of things to look out for. It just shows that I will never truly rest until I'm done with this whole mess. The worst part is, judging by my actions, I am not making it any easier. But hey, what else could I do?

=o=

1. The Gallican police code for grand theft. Jaune's other entries indicate that he learned police codes from Rose Arc and his father, both of whom worked with Pucelle's sheriff's department.
2. Humorously, earlier spellings of Qrow Branwen's first name in Jaune's raw writings including the ones in this very chapter are all misspelled as 'Crow'. This is coming from someone whose name was commonly misspelled until becoming much more renowned that such errors became increasingly rare.
3. Despite the resemblance and the close relationship between the two that spawned several rumors (or nonsensical hearsay if I were to be blunt), Qrow had stated multiple times that he did not father Ruby and he had no intimate relationship with Summer Rose…
4. …Let alone my sister, Gods forbid.
5. They're still hot chocolate, in case anyone forgot.

Chapter Text

ㅤㅤㅤ

To Thrive and be Victorious

CHAPTER 5

"Millions in the arena, witnessing the greatest battle yet. Ladies and gentlemen, the violence, speed, and momentum are just too much!"

At least that was what Nora was thinking with her wild imagination or with whatever was going on inside that whimsical mind of hers. Of course, what actually happened was less impressive than what she described it as.

It was an intermission day for the tournament where the participants could take a breather where they could practice and enjoy the festival before the next round. So obviously I wasn't in any sort of a serious match despite what Nora's babbling may tell you. In reality, we were in the academy's combat hall practicing for tomorrow's match by having a friendly spar while being spectated by a grand total of zero people. Not exactly something worthy of being called a grand, ultimate, climactic battle if you ask me.

The rooftop where we usually practiced hardly provided enough space to let us exercise our more ostentatious abilities to their fullest, and it was too open that it would be visible to everyone who was outside during the festival, which would have made it too distracting for us. Luckily, we managed to convince Miss Goodwitch to let us borrow the arena for a couple of hours so not only were we able to practice comfortably in a wide-open space, we were able to spar peacefully too. I don't know if this was part of the extra credit paying off or because it was too much to decline the offer from someone who was now overwhelmingly renowned. But regardless, I was glad that we were able to use it so the question never bothered me again.

It was me and Pyrrha versus Ren and Nora. The two were a shining example of what kind of duos we should expect. If we could beat them, then it means we have a good chance of beating whoever is pitted against us. I could notice them holding back slightly, but even then, they were still challenging foes nonetheless.

I parried away Ren's slashes with my sword, sliding my feet as I sprung back. I pulled out my pistol and opened fire. He stormed toward me as he maneuvered through the lasers, so I quickly holstered my gun back before expanding my shield and swinging my sword at him. I was able to overpower him enough to make him fall to the floor. He then aimed his guns toward me and fired as I blocked his bullets with my shield in time.

Like Yang, the best tactic against Ren was to drain his stamina. And since he was known to wear out the quickest among us, this should have been easy. Unfortunately, he was aware of this method and made sure no one would be able to take advantage of it by making sure all of his moves count. Looks like all the meditation he took paid off.

Meanwhile, Pyrrha was dodging strikes from Nora's hammer. Nora then tried to swing her hammer upward only for Pyrrha to hop on it and sprung into the air. Pyrrha fired at Nora with her weapon's rifle mode as she descended to the ground, causing Nora to dart back when she landed. Since she mostly had to rely on her hammer, the lack of grenades thanks to the combat hall's rules made the spar easier. The downside to this is that I won't be as prepared to deal with explosives when the real thing comes.

I continued to clash blades with Ren as we moved around the stage until I got him standing right where I wanted him: behind Pyrrha as she was facing Nora. Nora charged at Pyrrha as she firmly gripped her hammer. With a single whistle to signal Pyrrha, she used her magnetism on Nora's hammer to swing it toward Ren as she got out of the way. Ren was sent flying to the arena until he hit the wall.

Needless to say, this made Nora go berserk. She aggressively twirled her hammer to hit both of us as we surrounded her. She turned back and used her weapon's momentum to swing it at me. I was able to block it with my shield, but the impact was strong enough to get me tumbling onto the floor as it creates a shockwave.

Pyrrha went on to strike at Nora, only for her to deflect her attacks in time. Nora then bounced on Pyrrha's shield doing a backflip before trying to clout me as she landed back onto the floor. I was able to dodge it by rolling to my side before it could hit me. Pyrrha threw her javelin at Nora before unfortunately missing. She then dived past her to retrieve her weapon and blocked another swing of Nora's hammer, slightly being pushed back.

Nora's back was open, so I took this opportunity to fire at her. The laser fire was just too fast that it was able to hit her the second she turned her head and noticed it. The shot took a significant amount of her aura. It was all over after Pyrrha swiped the floor with her spear as Nora fell to the ground.

"Alright guys, that's a wrap." I clapped my hands, turning the lights around the room back on before facing my teammates as Ren and Nora got up while they recovered their aura. "Good fighting, everyone. If we keep this up, I'd say this championship will be a walk in the park."

"You did great too, Jaune. You won't be having much trouble for the next round either." Pyrrha warmly remarked.

I couldn't help but smile back. "It was nothing. In fact, I think you're the one that's carrying the show."

She glanced down as she sheepishly blushed. "Well, if that's how you see it then." She looked back up. "Still, it doesn't make your performance less superb. With our skills combined and with your direction, we will be unmatched."

"Yeah," I muttered, internally struggling to repress my cynicism so I didn't have to think that she had low standards or was saying it because she had to.

"Feels good getting my butt kicked by you guys," Nora chirped as she cracked her back, "I can't wait to see you two fight tomorrow. You'll knock em' dead for sure."

"Heh. Not literally, of course." I snickered.

"Looks like you two don't have much to worry about then," Ren said.

"The only thing we had to worry about is who we would be facing," I stated. Just as before, the next bracket won't be revealed until tomorrow when the matches start. I mused the prospect that Pyrrha and I could be matched by someone who may be able to ruin our victory streak but I was better off not thinking about it at the moment. "Aside from that, I think we're good."

My team followed me as we left the combat hall and headed to the cafeteria to take our lunch. When we arrived, the girls were already there. Ruby waved at us as soon as she saw us entering the cafeteria while happily eating some strawberries. Weiss was sipping her tea, Blake was reading another book per the norm while eating tuna, and Yang was munching on her sandwich. I ordered some meatloaf while Pyrrha and Ren ordered an omelet and some ramen respectively. Nora, meanwhile, just bought a whole bucket of chicken for herself.

We sat and ate alongside the girls. I brought my tanna tea bags so I put them in my cup and drank it once it was ready. I made a refreshed exhale as I tasted the blissful flavor of my drink. Weiss stared at me for a moment. She was still unsure about the tanna since I introduced it to her when we had cake and tea the other day. She did tell me that she was interested in trying it, but she still wasn't sure if she could appreciate it as I do.

"Hey there, Blakey the Kitty. Whatcha reading?" Nora suddenly asked as she leaned forward from her seat, apparently not noticing the title on the book's front cover despite its large font.

"The Destiny of the World," she answered, her eyes never turning away from the book.

"So, is it any good?"

"No."

"Okay then," Nora said, sitting back down as her grin slowly faded.

"So, who would be representing you for tomorrow?" Pyrrha queried after swallowing a piece of her omelet.

"The ice queen and I would be doing the honors," Yang stood up and patted Weiss' head. "Her brains and my brawn mean a trophy for Team RWBY."

"Ohh! Fire and Ice. I like it!" Nora chirped.

Weiss did her best to repress her infuriation from Yang's antics. "We've been practicing together a lot recently. Hopefully, pairing me with someone as audacious as Yang won't be a mismatch."

"Don't worry, your highness. I won't let you down." Yang pinches both of Weiss's cheeks as the latter tries to maintain a straight face. "The only ones that need to worry are the unlucky shi—, I mean, schmucks who are going to get matched against us."

"You two will do great together, I'm sure of it!" Ruby chimed in, encouraging her teammates as a good leader/partner/sister would do.

"I hope you're not wrong," Weiss murmured before taking another sip of her tea.

As I was nearly done finishing my meal, I felt my scroll vibrate. I pulled it out and saw that I got a new message from Rouge, meaning that she and Rose had finally arrived in Vale. You can tell it was from her just by the way it was written.

'just got 2 vale, lil bro. b sure 2 c us if u hav time. well keep r location open 4 u. nor & blanc r gona b ther 2'

I have been familiar with Rouge's texting lingo for a while now so I was able to read all of that straight, even then it felt like it still cost a few of my brain cells to do so. I wished anyone good luck to all the innocents out there who are about to cross paths with them for more than ten seconds. Anyone familiar with them should know why.

Pyrrha gave me a look of concern. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's nothing. It's just that two of my sisters just arrived in Vale." I put the scroll back into my pocket and went back to finishing my lunch.

"Let me guess… Rose and Rouge." Ren reckoned correctly. I told my teammates about my sisters enough that they were able to identify which one I was talking about even if I didn't mention them directly.

"You got that right," I replied before taking another sip of my tanna leaf tea.

"That figures," he said. Ren and I tend to bond over the prominent female figures in our lives. Like I said a few times before, he is the closest thing I have to a brother.

A few minutes passed, and Sun and Neptune finally appeared in the cafeteria. "What is up, everybody!" Neptune greeted. I immediately picked up the scent of his recognizable men's body spray. It smelled like he still thought those things would win him some girls, but if anything it probably drove them away, especially if he keeps trying hard like he always does.

"Hey there, guys!" Ruby chirped. Everyone smiled and waved at them, except Weiss who looked away because of a certain someone. Neptune frowned when he noticed this. It appears as if it's officially over for them but it wasn't much of a concern for me. Funnily enough, I noticed that Blake let go of her book for a moment to flash a smile on Sun. It appeared as if the tables had turned for these two.

"How are you two lovebirds doing?" Yang quipped as the two boys approached our table.

"Oh please, Yang, you're starting to sound like our fangirls." Sun chuckled at her playful, if juvenile remark.

I was still surprised that those two even had fangirls, but I can sympathize with them with how some fans like to push me into a relationship with someone specific, regardless of how I felt about it. It's annoying but it's something you'll get used to.

Yang gave them a teasing, asymmetrical smile. "Are your fangirls at least attractive?"

"Well, we can't say they're ugly, that's for sure," he replied cheekily.

"Fair enough," Yang chuckled.

"Good afternoon, Sun," Blake warmly greeted, much to the contentment of her friends that she was finally happy to see someone.

"Afternoon to you too, Blake," Sun replied before turning to everyone. "Since we just ate, would you guys mind if we just sit down next to you?"

"Of course. Your company is always appreciated," Pyrrha replied.

Well, to most of us at least, I thought as I looked at an agitated Weiss who was still trying her hardest not to acknowledge one of their existence. I figured she was no longer one of Neptune's fangirls, to put it nicely.

The two delightfully sat down on a vacant seat that was next to me. "So are you ready for the thing?" Sun asked me as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

His mention of that 'thing' with the lack of explanation made me raise my brow in confusion, "What thing?"

"Yeah, what's this 'thing' you guys are talking about?" Yang leaned on the table with a curious grin.

"That thing," Neptune repeated, still not elaborating on what it was.

I remembered the favor these two asked for the previous day and I presumed that was what they were referring to. But I still don't know what it was exactly. Regardless of what I thought it was, I played along and humored them. "Oh, that thing."

"Seriously, what are you boys up to?" Yang asked. It was a question I couldn't answer myself because I didn't know either.

"Oh, nothing, just some stuff between us boys," Neptune replied with a vague answer.

"Sure…" She skeptically narrowed her eyes. "Anyway, just do what you gotta do. I ain't gonna stop you."

"Thank you, Yang," Neptune then turned toward me. "So, you coming or what?"

I contemplated for a couple of seconds before deciding to accompany them with whatever they were up to, especially since I had more or less accepted it the previous day. Even if I wasn't interested, it was too late to say 'no'. "Well, I was planning on going to Vale later, so I might as well come with you guys."

The duo beamed. "Great!" Sun exclaimed, "We'll make it worth your time."

I sure do hope so, I thought. I still wasn't sure why I was even agreeing to this. If anything, I was gambling with what I was putting myself into that I was starting to regret it.

"Is this okay with you?" I asked Pyrrha for some reason, probably out of compulsive habit, mostly because I usually turn to her for questions.

She gave me a confused look. "Why did you have to ask me? It's not like I exist to keep you away from other people," she answered. With that answer, it made me wonder why I even asked. While she would make a pretty decent big sister (who just happened to have red hair… among other things), it's not like she's my mother or something.

"So does that mean if Jaune dates another girl, you wouldn't interfere?" Yang asked with a teasing grin, followed by a chuckle from Ruby while Blake curiously turned to her partner; Weiss made a faint blush as she looked away once again and continued sipping her tea. Adding to the awkwardness, I felt a little embarrassed by that question so I tried not to think about it.

"What?!" Pyrrha exclaimed as the color of her face became closer to that of her hair. "No! In fact, I'd be hap—"

"Not on my watch!" Nora stood up, with Ren putting a hand on his face. "I will not tolerate anyone who dares to get in the way of true love!"

Naturally, we all just ignored her; everyone already knows that there was no sense in trying to challenge her exceptional insanity. Maybe it was a good thing to leave her company for a bit.

"You mentioned that it's only between boys?" Ren suddenly asked. "If that's the case, can I come?"

"Never even thought of that. But you could if you want," Sun said.

Nora ate an entire chicken leg thigh with a single swallow and made a loud burp. It was then that Ren made his decision final. "I'm in!" He said as leaped out of his seat.

"Well, the more the merrier!" Neptune remarked. "Welcome to the crew."

I was glad that Ren would accompany us. I needed someone else I could trust while keeping my rear guarded just in case. Naturally, it made me more confident with whatever I was about to do for these two.

I patted his shoulder. "Good to have you with us buddy." He then smiled back at me.

"Aww, I wish I could tag along," Nora whined. "Oh well, I hope you guys have fun together, whatever you're up to."

Ren quietly cheered with a 'Yes!' as he faintly pumped his fist. Looks like I wasn't the only one happy about not having to babysit a chaotic redhead for a short time. Then again, I would still have to babysit two boneheads and a mischievous sister who was supposed to be older than me.

When Ren and I were done with our lunch we both stood up with Sun and Neptune and made our way out of the cafeteria. "Take care, guys!" Ruby waved before we left. We waved back at the girls as we left the building. I hope Team RWBY doesn't mind hanging out with Nora for a bit.

The campus was still fairly crowded with the ongoing festival. As we headed to the Bullhead docks, I finally decided to inquire about the situation as I'd been in the dark on this for long enough. "Alright, can you now tell me what this is all about?"

"Well, to start, let's just say it involves detective work. We still have our junior badges," Sun answered.

I remembered the two shadowing crime specialists back when everyone was taking their first mission, I thought this had something to do with that. Though, I was a little more curious about how they get to keep their badges when they should have expired by then. "You still have them?"

"Hey, we had a lot of fun then and they thought we did a good job, so they offered us some part-time work for a few weeks. We get to do more detective stuff and get paid for it," Neptune stated.

"And we kinda need your help with this one," Sun said.

So far, it didn't sound too bad. Helping out police investigations sounded pretty tame compared to most other jobs for Huntsmen [1]. The worst thing you could get into was to look at decaying corpses and get into brawls with some thugs (who usually use knives and bats, given that it was near impossible to get a hold of guns in Vale unless you're a licensed Huntsman). The more serious cases like serial killers and conspiracies are quite rare. And if there happens to be one, they are usually reserved for the more experienced detectives, something I doubt that these two Huntsmen-in-training are assigned with. "So, what's the case?"

"We were investigating a drug trafficking case that involves this gang, and… let's just say we're going to need some extra muscle," Neptune answered.

And that's where they lost me.

"Not to mention, extra brains," Sun added.

After hearing that, I was hoping that the gang they were referring to better be a bunch of criminally inept idiots trying to act tough and that my fears better be exaggerated. Otherwise, I should pinch myself for blindly accepting their favor yesterday. "Did you two get yourselves in trouble?"

"No…" Neptune muttered as Sun glared at him into admitting it. "Okay, maybe a little."

"I'm pretty sure we kinda pissed off their boss for digging too deep," Sun slightly grimaced.

"Couldn't you have asked for help from the police department?" Ren asked, stating the simplest solution at the time. "Especially if that gang is suspected of trafficking illegal goods."

"We could, but I don't think they'll be happy to hear that we kinda screwed up, which is why we asked for your help." Sun reasoned. "We thought you could help us sort this out. You guys were able to stop a train and got that friggin' Torchwick guy arrested on the same day for crying out loud. We could use some of that. We've been doing this for weeks now and it would be a good time to finish it once and for all so we can enjoy the festival without anything to worry about."

Well, I know how he feels about that one. I guess it's too late to bail now. I'd end up looking like a cowardly jerk if I refuse now. I really should have seen this coming and excused myself yesterday. And I thought that meeting Rose and Rouge again would be the most challenging task I had to take for the day.

Then I felt the coin drop. Thinking about my sisters made me realize that they could help us deal with this gang especially since this was a task befitting for trained and experienced Huntresses like them. If I was able to convince them to, then this should be as easy as pie, I thought. So I accepted the task. "Fine, I'm no miracle worker but I'll see what I can do, but just this once."

They both made a relieved sigh. "Thanks, man, we really owe you one," Neptune said.

"You kinda owe me a lot, if I'm honest," I said in a rather playfully snide way so it wouldn't sound like I was annoyed.

"Yeah, but we'll try to make sure that will be worth it," he reassured.

"Sorry if this bothers you." Sun apologized.

"I'm helping out my friends, I can't be mad at that," I sighed to myself with concealed agitation.

"Are you sure about this?" Ren asked me. To be honest, I wasn't. But if there were any reassurances, it wouldn't involve a cell from an international terrorist group or rogue scientists trying to empower Grimm. At worst, I'll be dealing with serious criminals that I could just shoot in the face and no one would care as vigilantism committed by a celebrity wasn't as looked down upon as police brutality or something. I didn't even think that Sun and Neptune were capable of putting themselves in situations worse than that.

"Let's just say I found another way to practice for tomorrow," I told him. Ren remained skeptical but was assured that his reliable leader would take care of everything.

I hoped this would work, it was probably the only reason why I haven't fully regretted agreeing to it. But at the same time, I felt like I would rather have Nora figure out what my semblance was using whatever death traps she could think of.

=o=

1. That is if you ignore more mundane jobs such as courier work in short distances; guarding laborers in an already secured area, or even gathering dust and herbs for an alchemist.

While the city streets of Vale were still bustling with the festival taking place, even then, it was still another average day for most people with jobs to fulfill. So most of the celebration took place in downtown central while other parts of the kingdom remained relatively quiet despite a huge party happening around the corner.

Unsurprisingly, thanks to my fame, it was much easier to count the pedestrians that didn't recognize me than the ones that did, especially with my face broadcasted on television the previous day, and partly because I didn't bother to wear anything other than my usual clothes and armor. I had to stop at least every two minutes just so I could be nice to my fans. I had to take pictures, sign autographs, and stuff like that. As annoying as it sounds—and trust me, it was for the first couple of days that I couldn't describe how exhausting it was—I have gotten used to my celebrity status ever since it stuck with me for the past few months that spending a few minutes dealing with them feels like another daily chore.

Sun and Neptune were noticeably jealous of the attention I was getting, especially if cute girls are involved, but it more or less reminded them that they have the Hero of Beacon in their company and that they were under the impression that they had nothing to worry about. Besides, at least they were able to get some recognition by having to encounter a few fans of their own, even if they were more focused on me. Ren, while far less recognizable to the public—not that he minded at all—was still able to his share of admirers. He was grateful for their support, but he didn't appear to feel anything beyond that. It must be because he couldn't imagine being with someone besides Nora, who was thankfully not there to drive away his fans. Ren deserved some appreciation from anyone outside his friends.

"You seem to be more awfully cheerful than usual," I told Ren after we left the last batch we took photos and signed autographs for. We've been on the same team for the past seven months and I still wasn't used to seeing Ren in a jovial mood.

"It just feels so gratifying to be away from Nora for once," He answered. "Don't get me wrong. She will always be someone important to me, but I still need a break from her every once in a while."

I gave him an understanding nod. Everybody needed some time from someone they're entangled with for the sake of their health and sanity after all. "I can definitely see that, buddy."

"Besides, I needed to spend some time with you and other boys," he added. Good thing we were there for that.

"So where are we heading first?" Sun asked me.

"We're going to meet up with my sisters. If there is anyone who could help us deal with a bunch of criminal tough guys, it's them," I stated, I remember that they were able to clear a ship full of Mistrali gangsters with only the help of a few marshals a few weeks after my fateful visit to Pucelle, so I thought this should be a cakewalk for them. I looked at my scroll map which had their location marked. "They're waiting at Diner 9." [1]

"Your sisters huh?" Neptune made a perverted grin before wiping his hair. Sun noticeably rolled his eyes over that. There was no stopping this guy from chasing women; if Weiss breaking up with him didn't cause him to knock that behavior off, I don't know what else will. If he doesn't grow out of this soon, I doubt he'd last long in a serious relationship.

"How did you and Weiss work out?" I asked Neptune. Even though Weiss' repulsion towards him earlier should have already answered it, I still wanted to hear his side of the story.

He sighed for a bit. "I told her that we're not exactly working out. To be honest, everything between us was just a stupid fling. Don't take this the wrong way, she is really that smart and pretty, it's just that I realized that she's not really my type. Besides, a girl like her deserves someone better."

"I see." It was all that I could say at the moment. I couldn't exactly quip at that especially since he was being frank with me as well as making a self-deprecating remark to show that he was not proud of how he handled her. As obnoxious as Neptune's lady-chasing persona can be, you had to give him credit for his honesty, something which was one thing I lacked.

"You so you'd know, I'm not exactly comfortable talking about this, so let's change the subject a bit." He cleared his throat. "I looked up your laser pistol the other day."

That managed to capture my curiosity. "Oh?"

"Yeah, it's an Accatran Mark I Laser Pistol. It said that those things are prototypes for the Atlesian military with only a few of them reaching into the public's hands for now. Which makes me wonder, where did you get it?"

I gave him a conceited look. I wasn't able to show the gun at the moment because I left it in my rocket locker while I didn't need it yet, the same goes for Ren. Sun and Neptune, however, brought both of their weapons since their badges authorized them to carry them in public even if neither of them possessed an official Huntsman license. "Well, it's a trophy I got from one of my encounters with the White Fang," I answered. I was still curious about how I was still able to buy ammo for this gun in stores at a relatively cheap price when it was supposedly rare. [2]

"Nice. Just a suggestion, if you get the chance, you should try upgrading red lasers to blue. Because not only would they look cooler, they'll grow even more powerful too."

I lifted one of my brows in genuine curiosity. "How so?"

"Remember when science classes taught you that blue stars and flames are warmer than the red ones? Well, the same goes for lasers. It's because cooler colors like blue and purple possess the highest energy in the light spectrum. And the higher the energy the particles have, the more powerful they are."

That was surprisingly a very useful piece of genuine advice. With all the moments where he made a fool out of himself, I almost forgot how smart Neptune actually was. He wasn't really bragging when he calls himself 'intellectual'. "I'll consider that. Thanks for the idea. Thinking about it, doesn't your weapon fire blue energy particles too?"

"My weapon?" His brow raised. "The Tri-Hard?"

"Wait, what?" There was a brief pause afterward as I tried to contemplate what he just said. "You actually named your weapon 'Tri-Hard'?" A silly name for a weapon, but with all due respect to Neptune, it was actually quite a fitting name for someone like him if you asked me.

"Nah, technically it was me," Sun answered before Neptune could. "He thought it sounded cool and clever for a trident. He didn't realize it was because..."

"I'm a tryhard," Neptune groaned. "Har har, we all get it, Sun." He cleared his throat before going back to answering my question. "It technically does, but as you know, it uses magnetic beams; rather than lasers. Still, it packs a punch."

"Alright then," I said as I was slightly befuddled that someone as supposedly smart as Neptune never realizes what the name meant until after a period of time [3]. Not gonna lie though, that weapon comes in handy when used right, derogatory name or not. Yesterday's match made that clear. It would have been funny if he ended up getting matched against Nora at one point.

We continued to walk for a few more minutes as we got closer to our destination when Ren suddenly spoke. "So I've been thinking about our temporary team name while we're together; Team AWRN (Aquamarine)"

"Aquamarine?" I asked.

"Arc, Wukong, Ren, and Neptune," He clarified.

"Hey, that doesn't sound bad," Sun remarked. I'll have to second Sun on this, it's a very plausible name if we're grouped together. That, and I can't think of anything else better myself.

Neptune begs to differ, of course, because of what he's recently infamous for. "Dude, is there another name for us that isn't related to water?"

"It's the best one I could think of at the moment as far as having Jaune on the lead go," Ren explained.

Neptune groaned before taking a deep breath. "Okay. It's just a name. It's just a name. Don't think about water. Just don't think about water." He muttered to himself.

We all stared at him. For someone who is trying to be part of the cool kids, I don't think we'll see him at any pool parties soon.

"He'll be fine. He always goes through this," Sun reassured.

"By the way, who'll represent you two for tomorrow?" Ren asked.

"Sage and I got it. Neptune would have gone with me if he had stopped freaking out that he might be on another stage that has water on it," Sun answered as he glanced back at Neptune who was still trying his best not to think about water over our unofficial team name. "And the fact that Sage needs to make up for getting knocked out in the last match that quickly."

Neptune finally exhaled and snapped out of it before chiming in. "Yeah, he wasn't happy about that."

"I wish you guys luck then," I said to them.

"Thanks, we really appreciate it," Sun smiled.

We finally arrived at the diner. I could tell that my sisters were there because Rose's cruiser bike was parked in front of the building. The diner had a very classic style aesthetic, both inside and outside. Entering the diner, there were stools mounted on the checkered floor; in front of the counter where the waitress (who was said to be the owner's wife) was preparing food for the customer.

It only took half a second to find Rose and Rouge sitting at one of the tables. Noire and Blanche were there too; they were wearing clothes that concealed their recognizable appearances from the general public, something that I would sometimes do myself. Aside from them, the diner wasn't that crowded with the only other customer being an old lady on the other side of the diner.

"Yo, twerp!" Rouge immediately noticed me when she saw me and the boys enter. She waved at me, prompting the others to turn around now that I was there.

We walked over to them. I saw that Noire was wearing a black baseball cap and a coat of matching color while Blanche wore a white dress and a sunhat; they both had shades resting on the table.

Rose and Rouge, on the other hand, were still wearing their usual clothes. Rose's plate contained steak and some eggs while Rouge was eating some nachos. The twins meanwhile settled for a milkshake and chocolate cake respectively.

"Good to finally see yer face again, little brother," Rose greeted. It was nice hearing her homely accent in person again. "Friends of yours?"

"They sure are," I replied as I smiled at them, "Rose, Rouge, Noire, Blanche. I'd like you to meet Ren, Sun, and Neptune."

"Howdy," Rose tipped her hat at my friends.

"It's nice to meet you," Blanche greeted.

"How do you do?" Noire followed with a bright smile.

"What's up, dorks." Rouge greeted in her own Rouge-ish way as I expected of her.

Sun raised a brow, "Did your sister just call us dorks?" He turned to me and asked. I was only able to answer with a snicker.

"Yeah, I did," Rouge said candidly. "Got a fuckin' problem with that, monkey boy?" Sun was slightly flinched by her response that may or may not be racially offensive against primate faunus all while Neptune continues to ogle at them. Typical.

"Oh, don't you fellers worry 'bout her," Rose reassured. "That's just her way of greetin' new people."

"I'm still glad we have her to scare the press away for us," Noire quipped, causing me to share a laugh with her and our other sisters. I know how pesky those guys can be that they can make someone like Rouge look more bearable in comparison. Rouge seemingly took that as a compliment as she didn't appear to be offended in the slightest.

"Eh. You know what, I still think you're a bunch of dorks especially since you're hanging out with the biggest nerd I know. But because you're all pals with him, you're all fine with me for now," Rouge said and it was probably the nicest thing she said to strangers for a while now and the boys should be quite proud of that achievement.

Neptune made an impressed whistle at all four of my sisters. "Hello to all of you too,"

I narrowed my eyes at him, under the impression that he would try something funny. My sisters gave him some weird looks which was an expected outcome, but other than that they didn't react much to his transparent attempts at flirting.

"Our little hero here told us a lot about ya, Ren," Rose said to him, earning his smile. "Just so ya' know, any friend of Jaune is a friend of mine. Thanks for lookin' out for him for all these months."

"It was my pleasure," he nodded. "Rest assured I have his back when he needs it."

"Y'all just keep doin' that," Rose said. "It's nice to see we could count on folks like you. He always needed some friends, especially someone who could act as a brother to him. Glad he finally found that again."

"I haven't let Jaune down yet and I don't intend the same to you," Ren said as I smiled at him while patting his shoulder.

"That's what I like to hear," Rose said before going back to eating her steak.

"Hey, you two are Blanche and Noire Arc, right?" Sun queried. "The not-really-Huntresses-but-might-as-well-be popstar twins?"

"Correct," Noire nodded.

"Not to spoil the surprise, but expect us to be there for Jaune!" Blanche said.

"Nice. It's just that… I just wanted to say, I really like your songs." Sun complimented.

"Why thank you," Noire said.

"You're welcome."

Though I'm still not sure if it was necessary to do a concert at the tournament for my sake, I was happy to see the twins again, even if their stupid semblance motivated me into accepting my invitation to Beacon, as if the pressure I got from Dad's encouragements weren't bad enough. [3]

I went in to sit beside Noire and Blanc as Ren, Sun and Neptune sat on the red bar stools in front of the table. "I just realized, aren't the two of ya' fellers from the team that electrified those girls on the water yesterday?" Rose asked me.

"Yes, that would be us," Sun nodded.

"Boy, that was some fucking match," Rouge remarked. "I expected Team Igloo or whatever to kick your boyband-looking asses. But I gotta admit, I was really impressed to see you actually win when it looked like they were about to dom ya'."

"That's right. That victory wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for yours truly," Neptune bragged as he made a seductive grin to show off his pearly white teeth to my sisters.

"Right, and aren't you the one who was also freaked out over water?" Rouge snidely remarked.

"Uhh…" Neptune lost his cool as he made an embarrassed chuckle.

"Well, good job facin' your fears to earn that victory at least," Rose said.

"Thanks, I really… risked myself back there." He cleared his throat. "For the team."

"Ya' sure did."

"So we've heard that you're the Hero of Beacon now, baby bro," Rouge said to me. "It's got a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"I feel like 'The Least Insane Person in Beacon' sounds more appropriate," I deadpanned before turning back at the boys who I might have slightly offended with that remark. "You guys are okay though." Well, sorta but I did find them to be more tolerable compared to most of the hectic student body who we call the next generation of Huntsmen, which was why I was even hanging out with them.

"So, have you finally gotten laid yet?" she then asked, causing Sun and Neptune to lean in curiously while giving me perverted looks.

I sighed before answering. Here we go with her again. Oh Brothers, I couldn't imagine the girls meeting Pyrrha in person. "Still working on that."

"Huh. You literally have swarms of fangirls that are head over heels before you. I thought you'd be too nice and perverted enough to let them play with your sword," she teased.

"I'm not like that, Rouge," I glared at her. "Look, even if some of my fans are hot, I'm not exactly comfortable with the idea of having my first time through my reputation. I'd have to be very careless."

That, and I didn't need some entitled bimbo or a group of them to take advantage of me once I entered that certain unwanted phase of my career all of a sudden even if I didn't do anything to my fans outside their consent. It'll be more likely to happen once my reputation goes down the drain as it's credited to carrots that they won't take kindly to learning that they slept with a fraud. They would surely repay me by making my already-miserable life a living hell. I'm going to have to help my own case by not doing anything raunchy to my fans. Giving them high fives and hugs was already risky for me.

"Of course, he won't, Rouge," Rose chimed in. "Especially since he's savin' all of that for Pyrrha."

"Uh, no." I corrected, "Our relationship is nothing like that. At least not yet anyway."

All four of my sisters gave shocked expressions. "Wait, you two are still not dating?" Noire asked before I answered by shaking my head. It made me wonder if there was anyone who could perceive us as good friends for once.

"Well, that's a bummer," Rose remarked. "What the blazes are ya' waiting for, Jaune? Just go for it already!"

"Yeah, I'm still looking forward to Pumpkin Pete's Special Love Breakfast with you and Pyrrha on the box," Rouge jibed. [5]

"By the Gods, knock it off, I've been hearing this millions of times on the streets and especially on the web already," I grumbled. This reminded me of that one time when Rouge suggested that I bone Bleu's wife so she could have a baby that possesses Arc genes. Bleu wasn't fully opposed to the idea and I would have loved to get laid. But in the end, she ultimately rejects it and sticks with alternative methods to get a child. Besides, as much of a horny teenager I was, I still wasn't keen on the idea of fathering my eldest sister's child at that age and leaving him or her because I did what I only came for (no dirty pun intended). It was a line I didn't want to cross.

"Oh please, all of you, go easy on Jaune. He's just trying to wait for the right time." Blanche said before sipping on her sundae once again.

"Thank you, Blanche," I said.

"Jaune, if you don't man up and eat Pyrrha like you eat her cereal after the tournament ends, I'll show your friends pictures of you in ballet class," Rouge threatened. "Mark my godsdamn words."

"And what's your point? Haven't I already told you ballet isn't necessarily girly? How many times do I have to tell you that?! I willingly took those classes to exercise my flexibility!" I exclaimed. I would have been lying if I didn't say I wasn't embarrassed when I first took ballet class because it's usually treated as a girls' thing, but I began to appreciate it for what it is. It's one of the contributing factors to why I even got decent training and I would have been less agile without it. Dad knew what he was doing when he suggested that I take those classes and I knew he wasn't trying to embarrass me.

Rouge folded her arms skeptically. "Yeah, sure."

"Is it bad I kinda want to see those pictures?" Sun asked before I glared at him, making him look back at me awkwardly. "Sorry."

I turned back to Rouge. "Say what you want about it, at least I didn't have to wear a freaking tutu!"

"He's not wrong though, trust me," Ren said, backing me up. The implication that he also did ballet classes wasn't surprising. If anything, it explained why he was so nimble. "But let's not forget why we're here."

"Oh, yeah, right. As much as we're enjoying all this smalltalk. We're here so we could use your help with something," Sun said.

"With what?" Rose asked.

"We were doing some detective work and we could use an extra hand in dealing with some serious criminals," Sun answered.

"You must have pissed off some really serious criminals if you boys came here to ask for our help," Rouge stated.

"Pretty much," Neptune said. "All of our investigations on a drug trafficking case point toward the Silverlock Street Gang. This was confirmed by an informant and interrogations from arrested members. I think they want our heads now. I don't think the PD is going to give us the backup we need to take them on, so we could use all the help we could get right about now so we'll be able to solve this case and not get killed."

"Wait, the Silverlock Street Gang? Why does that name sound familiar?" Rouge rubbed her chin as she began to muse.

"Aren't they those Mistrali fellers who wear hats and red shades, tryin' too hard to look like Weissenburg from Criminal Elements?" Rose inquired.

"Huaxians actually, but Huaxia is still a part of Mistral, so yeah, pretty much," Sun confirmed.

"Oh, those guys. So, we get to beat those fuckers up? Sounds good to me!" Rouge finally stopped slouching from her seat. Good, the more familiar they are with what we are about to face, the easier this is going to go. I knew I was making the right choice by approaching my sisters for help.

"Well, there aren't any interesting missions available right now, so count us in!" Rose said. "It's the least we can do to help out some of our lil' brother's friends."

I was put at ease knowing that the next few hours of my life would be made easier now that two of my more rowdy sisters have joined us in our mission to take down a crime organization.

Sun made a sigh of relief. "Thanks. We're really grateful for your help."

"Anythin' for my fellow enforcers of the law," Rose said.

"What about you two?" I asked Blanche and Noire, "I know you aren't Huntresses but you do know how to fight. Maybe you could just provide moral support if you don't feel like engaging in combat."

"Sorry, we're still busy with rehearsals for tomorrow," Blanche answered, "Good luck helping your friends clean the streets though."

"Just please don't get hurt enough that you might not be able to take the match," Noire added.

"Trust me, I'll be careful." I said, "Besides, you know me, I'm not going to let some city thugs beat me up that easily."

"You better be, little brother," Blanche said.

"Finally, we got something to do in this fancy town," Rouge remarked, giving a fire dust crystal a toss. "Looks like I don't have to wait for tomorrow to see something exciting."

"Rouge, if that drops into my coffee, Ah swear Ah'm goin' to make ya' drink it until you choke on it so hard, ya'll be pukin' flames like a sick dragon!" Rose said. With siblings like these, I'm still amazed that we were able to live with each other for the majority of our lives.

The diner's waitress then approached us. "Oh, you must be that Beacon lad from the tournament. Do you have something to order?"

"I just ate, but some blue lemonade would be nice," I nodded.

Sun checked the menu and gave his order. "I'll have some banana split." Judging by that I could tell he glanced at the desert section and ordered the first thing that had the word 'banana'.

"A couple of grilled cheese and some onion rings for me," Neptune ordered, followed by Ren whose expression remained the same.

"Just some water would be nice."

"Alright then, luvs. This shouldn't take long." The waitress wrote our orders on her notepad before leaving and returning with our orders a few minutes later.

We took a short break to enjoy our respective meals and let the girls finish theirs. The twins were the first to finish and decided to leave early to make the most out of their rehearsals. They left a generous tip on the table and put their shades back, getting to a taxi cab before someone was able to notice them.

After the waitress collected the tip and cleared the cups and plates from our table, the boys moved to my seat as they continued to eat whatever food they have left. We eventually went back to discussing the investigation against the Triad. We gave Rose and Rouge a quick rundown of what was happening and why Sun and Neptune could use the assistance of us Arcs.

"Sounds to me like ya' boys bit off more than ya' can chew," Rose remarked. "So what d'ya think we could do to help?"

Neptune was the one to fill them in. "We just need more manpower and security, that's all. We plan to meet their boss at a club they own, The Crimson Panda. I've actually been to that place before and I'm pretty sure they use that club to launder money and stuff. We just need to coerce the Triads to a confession so the VPD would be able to bust them. If they won't cooperate, we threaten to burn the place down to the ground. I heard it happened before, and we can make it happen again."

He was finally acting like the intellectual he always claimed to be even though I am not exactly keen on their idea of meeting a mobster in person just because of my stature. "So what do you think?" He said.

There was one thing that bothered me. "Wait, if you needed a lot of manpower, couldn't you have the rest of my team for help?"

"Well, we thought you'd be enough to intimidate the Triads and we didn't want to burden your team too much," Sun answered with a slight shrug.

Well, that figures. As I thought about it, maybe it was for the best that we don't get Pyrrha, Nora, or Team RWBY involved. While their help would be very much appreciated, we didn't need to overcomplicate things by dragging more of our friends into it and putting them into potential trouble in the middle of an ongoing tournament, especially when Team RWBY had to do service the last time they tried doing something they were not permitted to do.

"The Crimson Panda, eh? Good luck because I heard that shithole of a club is where all types of the lowest scum hang out: conmen, thieves, murderers, rapists, drug lords, politicians, social media pundits, you name it. It's no wonder why that place got blown up before," Rouge gave her input in a way in what she does best.

Yeah, that definitely made me feel better about having to visit the place after mentioning what kind of people that place attracts. It just made me want to have the place blown up again and be done with it, proper protocols be damned.

She continued, "Luckily, you have us at your back, so what's the plan?"

Sun was about to put it into the discussion until we heard the door open and more customers came and took a table beside us. We figured that a public diner wasn't exactly an ideal place to discuss a battle plan against some gangsters especially when other customers tend to be very chatty. "We'll have to discuss it later in a more secluded place," Neptune said.

"We can talk about it in the motel room; it's not really that far from here," Rouge said.

"Alright then," I nodded. "You two turn on your trackers and go on ahead. We'll follow you and meet you there."

We stood up, leaving tips of our own before exiting the diner. Rose and Rouge drove away on the former's bike. The motel room they were staying in was only a short walk away so we were able to catch up in no time.

"Man, you sure have pretty nice sistas, Jaune. Are any of them single?" Neptune asked after crossing the street to our destination.

There he goes again, I thought. I was considering letting him date one of them just to see if he'll be able to last more than a week with them. That'll actually be entertaining to watch. "Yeah, everyone you just talked to is single. Only two of my older sisters are taken." I told him.

He was delighted to hear that, "Nice! I'm going with the cowgirl and the punk chick first. I'll show them a good impression once we start facing the Triads."

"Good luck with that," I said to him, especially with Rouge. There's a good reason why her exes are making sure they live far away from her after breaking up, literally—in one case.

This is going to be yet another long night, my least favorite type of night, I thought.

=o=

1. The number 9 in the diner's name is pronounced 'Niner' as it is used in the military, making it 'Diner Niner'.
2. The dust cells the laser pistol used as ammunition are quite versatile and were usually used as batteries for different types of machinery. Hence why they are commonly sold despite laser weaponry being rare at the time.
3. I consider theoretical knowledge to be separate from wisdom. While Neptune indeed possesses an aptitude for technology and other technical subjects, I wouldn't exactly call him wise.
4. The Arc twins' shared semblance allows them to strengthen a person's positivity and willpower through their music as well as drawing out negative emotions that attract Grimm. The effect only applies to a live audience within a two-hundred-meter radius. Due to this, they are often in collaboration with charities and humanitarian organizations to bolster the morale of their clients.
5. Velveteen, the company behind Pumpkin Pete, actually proposed a limited edition variant for Marshmallow Crunch called 'The Arkos Special' featuring both Jaune and Pyrrha on the box, prior to the idea being dropped after a certain event. It was planned to have a primarily strawberry flavor, which supposedly alludes to the relationship between the two. The company planned to offer Jaune collaboration (and by extension, sponsorship) with Pyrrha after they confirmed that they were in a relationship before beginning production with the variant.

Chapter Text

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To Thrive and be Victorious

CHAPTER 6

Rose and Rouge's motel room was about as humble and ordinary as you'd expect, consisting of nothing more than two beds, a couch, a table, a TV, and a bathroom, and not much else when they could have easily stayed in whatever hotel Noire and Blanche were staying in. But that's probably because they were only planning to stay in Vale for a few days and only needed a place that was good enough for the time being while they spent their money on other things. Not that I'm complaining. For all I knew, they could have gotten lower standards and picked the crappiest, sleaziest motel in the kingdom to rent, but thankfully that wasn't the case.

We discussed our plan of action at the hotel within less than a couple of hours. We thought about how to approach the boss who was named Hei Xiong, who usually goes by the moniker of 'Junior', and get him to admit that he was behind a drug trafficking ring until the cops arrive and do the rest so we can all go home and call it a day. While Sun and Neptune would be there for official business, I was the one who would do most of the persuading. Sun and Neptune figured that since I was responsible for Torchwick's arrest then maybe I could get him to give in to our demands.

There were also some bodyguards that we needed to get past one way or another, especially the duo known as The Malachite Twins who I was told were aura-users with Huntsman training. Get rid of them, if necessary. Learning about the twins made me realize this thing just got a little complicated since I realize I would have to do more than just threaten a big guy with the power of my fame. It's like Torchwick's pint-sized accomplice all over again. It made me glad that I called for my sister's help, otherwise, I doubted we would even last with this.

We also looked up The Crimson Panda on the holonet to study its exterior as well as the few pictures of the inside. And for what they're worth, we also checked some blog posts about the club, especially regarding the gang, Junior, and the twins.

Furthermore, Sun and Neptune showed me evidence that confirmed the gang's activities, just to dispel any doubts that we might be pursuing the wrong gang. Some examples would be a photograph of a Triad member dealing narcotics with someone and transcripts of interrogations from apprehended Triads provided by the PD. All we needed to do was interrogate Junior and find a way to arrest him. Destroying the club was optional, preferably with little or no civilian casualties.

While not entirely that complex because of our limited information and resources. The plan was elaborate enough that we even had backup plans prepared just in case things don't work out very well. Not to say there weren't things to be skeptical about. We were still making a huge gamble after all. I thought that even if we succeeded, we might get the attention of the greater Triad organization the gang is working for. I heard they were one of the most powerful criminal organizations around the world and they could put me, my friends, and my family on their hitlist after this.

But then again, being a large criminal organization meant nothing to my family so long as we maintain close ties with the Watchers and the Atlesian government. In the best-case scenario, the Triad higher-ups will realize that retaliating against us will not be worth it and they would have to accept the fact that their Valish division made a very big mistake and that they should just move on from it. Plus, I doubted that Junior and his buddies would risk killing one of Vale's rising stars in his prime. It will give them more unwanted publicity that would get them shunned for doing that. It was one of the things I was sure going to take advantage of.

We spent the other part of the afternoon surveying the area, supplying our gear, and practicing until nightfall arrived. The Crimson Panda was open for business and it was time for us to initiate our operation.

When we entered the crime-ridden streets of Vale's underbelly, I was anxious upon seeing its deprived atmosphere. It was basically the city's own mini-Mantle, the buildings in the area appeared either impoverished or dilapidated with half of them being covered in graffiti; the smell of smoke filled the air while most people on the streets looked like they were one step away from stabbing you and taking all your money. And I thought Downtown Vale was bad, mind you, that's a place where seeing a poor schmuck bleeding with seventeen or more stab wounds in the middle of the street was considered normal and a stale of the city's culture. Thankfully we were riding in a cab when we traversed through the place as walking through it would be difficult without any weapons for self-defense except a few dust crystals since we were all unarmed after me and the boys put our weapons in my locker as part of the plan a few hours ago.

We left the cab as soon as it arrived beside the entrance of the alley near Silverlock Street, where we would rendezvous with my sisters. As we got off the vehicle, we went inside the dark and smelly alleyway. The ground was littered with papers, garbage, and beer bottles with a few rats crawling around. Traversing through it with barely any tools for self-defense wasn't exactly something you call a pleasant experience. Thankfully we reached the rendezvous point where Rose and Rouge were waiting before an unwanted encounter could take place.

The two were leaning behind the back of the building that was facing the Crimson Panda with Rose's bike parked at the side, both were armed with their respective weapons. "Good, y'all are here. Ready to get this thing started?" Rose asked when she saw us arrive, her familiar voice with its rural accent soothed us from the fear we were having.

"I'm ready when you are," I said before taking a deep breath, instinctively looking at my side for anything worthy of prudence, only to find nothing but a cat leaving a dumpster before facing them again. "Don't forget your cues."

"You worry too much, we'll always have your back, baby bro," Rouge reassured as she pumped the barrel of her dust cannon before reciting one of our better-sounding family's unofficial mottos. "Don't forget, we're Arcs. Our auras are bigger than our enemies' egos combined. They'll break themselves before they could ever break us."

I felt more encouraged upon hearing those words. This is one of the examples of how Rouge can be a good old sister when she wants to beneath that troublemaking personality.

Before giving my scroll to Ren as he would be doing the honors by sneaking it in, fooling the guards into thinking they have everyone's scrolls confiscated so we could call for backup or summon our weapons. Rouge handed me a burner scroll to pass off as my own, using it as a decoy for the guards to take away. Neptune was able to put my ID in there so I could show it to the bouncers. Ren was going to sneak my actual scroll inside. We're going to need it to send the signal and get all of our weapons while it records everything inside.

"Be careful, there are civvies in there just tryin' to have a good time. Among the lowlife sons-o'-bitches that hang out there," Rose told me.

"I haven't forgotten that." Innocents at the club were one of the obstacles we expected during the mission. Luckily we prepared something to keep them away from the incoming crossfire.

We faced the direction of the club. I still had some doubts, thinking that this might not even be worth it. But I already made up my mind. Besides, it wouldn't be my fault that the club gets trashed again. Trafficking illegal drugs while threatening adamant investigators was already a recipe for disaster and we're just there to deliver. Even most crime bosses know this hence why they stay away from the stuff despite their value in the underworld.

"Here we go," Sun puffed.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Neptune said. "Hope this works."

"The stakes aren't any higher than the ones we faced before," Ren exhaled, trying to sway any more doubts that could hinder our operation. "As long as everyone remembers their places and everything will go as intended."

"Thank you, Ren," I nodded at him with approval. By that point, I already had enough encouragement to continue pressing forward.

"You're welcome."

We left the alley and saw the club across the empty street near the infrastructure. The electronic dance music that was playing inside could be heard outside the entrance, albeit slightly muffled. For a nightclub, the exterior looked relatively inconspicuous, barely looking different from other buildings in the area. There was only a single small red neon sign depicting a bear's head with the club's name below it as well as two men wearing dark suits, accompanied by a fedora and red tie, guarding the entrance. And it was something you'd expect from a shithole nightclub that attracts criminal low lives.

With a single gulp, we went through the streets and approached the two bouncers. To say that they weren't happy to see us, particularly the two pseudo-detectives they were told about, was an understatement. "You two have a lot of nerve showing your faces here," The first bouncer said before they took a good look at me, "And who the hell is th—?" Their faces then shifted to nervousness. "Oh." I could feel fear in their eyes behind those red sunglasses that they were still wearing during nighttime for some reason.

"Hi," I greeted laconically. Further introductions weren't needed since evidently my face and my clothes were enough to give them an impression of who they were talking to. The trepidations I've been hiding internally weren't thankfully a part of that and I made sure of it.

"We just want to talk to your boss," Sun said with a forced grin.

"Don't worry, there is nothing on us. We don't plan on starting something." Neptune lied as I hid a crossed finger behind my back and gave the two bouncers a reassuring smile.

"Oh, of course, he was expecting you clowns," One of them said. "You still need to show us some ID. Standard procedure and all."

We all complied, taking out our scrolls from our pockets and showing them our respective IDs. The first bouncer nodded. "Good. Now give them to me," he said before turning to me. "Since your friends have been snooping around, I don't trust you to bring any of these in so we're keeping them until you leave."

"Fine by me," I shrugged with a smile. It was just as we anticipated. They didn't want to bring any one of our scrolls inside for fear that we might use it against them, thankfully we came in prepared for this exact moment. We've let them confiscate our scrolls while they remain oblivious to the fact that I gave them a burner scroll that just has a fake copy of my ID in it. As I expected, they didn't even bother to check twice. I guess lawbreakers aren't just that good at enforcing their own rules.

"Don't worry, we promise you'll get it back once you're out. Now, all of you stand still for a second. We just want to make sure you don't have any other unwelcome hardware with you," the same bouncer said. We stood still as they proceeded to search our bodies for anything else. They found nothing from us aside from Sun and Neptune's junior detective badges, much to their mockery.

"Okay. You're all clear to go," The bouncer stepped back after he finished searching our pockets. "You're the boss's problem now."

Indeed he is, I thought, feeling smug underneath my friendly face. Ren gave me a wink, indicating that they could not get a hold of my scroll that he was hiding, much to my satisfaction. The lack of any resistance from any of us should have made them suspicious but it looks like they weren't paid enough to bother with that. They also failed to check if the trackers were off which made this club's downfall more inevitable especially since Neptune mentioned that the PD was monitoring their location while they were both active with the case. Good job fixing it, lazy bums.

"Oh, you're a lifesaver." Sun grinned at him. He was confused about what he meant by that but he immediately dismissed it as a weird compliment.

Ren briefly pulled my scroll out of his sleeve to assure me that it was safe. I smirked knowing that things are going well so far. Who knew the magic tricks Ren taught me for that stupid talent show would come in handy?

We finally entered The Crimson Panda. The music became much more audible as I got my first taste of the interior. The colors were mostly black and white with red being the most colorful thing the club has. The lights, walls, and floors change to one of those colors from time to time. I guess this is why they call it that.

Although it was prettier than what was outside, it was… aesthetically unpleasing if I were, to be frank. My eyes felt like they were being assaulted by the place's ugly use of the color scheme, especially when it fades to white, it blinds me just by looking at it. I couldn't tell if it was a nightclub with an overly-grim theme or if I somehow made it to the fucking Grimmlands which is said to be hell's rooftop.

I know that decadent clubs like this tend to have this sort of motif but I'm pretty sure they don't even look this stupid. The fact that everyone was wearing the same colors including the DJ with his stupid ugly-ass bear mask that makes the Ursae less of a pain to look at did not help. If terrible aesthetics was a crime then consider adding this to the list of felonies this gang has committed. It made me want to trash the place and beat everyone up even more which was just the motivation I needed when I got myself into this heaping pile of crap.

Almost everyone stared at us, most of which were the thugs in uniforms who were fidgeting upon seeing the so-called 'Butcher of the White Fang' or whatever walking around, stepping back when I pass near them. Other civilians were awed and were chattering that the current white knight of Beacon was before them, that is if they weren't whimpering in fear along with the Triads. Good, I thought. while I wasn't one to brag and while I was far from the scariest person hiding under bad guys' bed, I was going to give them a good reason to be scared of me, just so I don't have to be scared of them myself.

We found 'Junior' when we saw him at a bar, sitting on a stool between his pretty bodyguards who admittedly look too good for this place. It wasn't hard to identify him, his relative appearance made him stick out from his men even though he only lacked a hat and wore only a vest on his shirt. And the raven-haired twins clad in red and white respectively sitting next to him made it blatant that it was him.

"Hei Xiong?" I asked when we approached him. All the nearby henchmen faced us. We were perturbed by this but we were able to hide it especially since we were aware that they were just as, if not more scared than us, courtesy of my presence.

Of course, the first thing Neptune did was flirt with the twins. "Hello again, ladies." He greeted, winking. Unsurprisingly, the two looked away in disgust. I'm not going to stop him if that's his way of coping away his anxiety so long as he focuses on the plan.

Junior gave me a good look before he spoke, "Hey, aren't you the kid that has been making moves a lot recently? What are you doing here?" He asked before he looked at Sun and Neptune. "Oh great, you two. Still snooping as usual I see. And I thought you wouldn't show up. Guess I'm wrong." He looked back at me, "Need a drink?"

"No thanks, I'm good." I was still too young to drink, after all. I doubt I would be big on alcohol when I'm old enough. I like my lever just the way it is. [1]

"That's a very serious accusation you're making, kid." He said before groaning. "How many times do I have to tell you dumbasses? I run a perfectly legitimate business here. You'll find nothing that you're looking for."

Yeah, right, I thought. As if the armed thugs wearing the same colors didn't give the impression that this club was owned by a gang that had a record of involvement in illegal activities. I could see it on his face no matter how much he denied it. I have been lying a lot myself to know that someone is hiding something that you can say I've grown a lie detector inside of my mind. "Prior evidence says otherwise. You might want to fess up. They might even give you a more lenient sentence and they don't have to raid this place."

"Like I said before, we're not hiding anything. Even if we are—which we're not! Then what are you going to do about it?" He bellowed.

"We have a warrant," Sun pointed out. "Can't show it right now because my scroll was confiscated. We can search the place if we have to, like it or not."

"You can wipe it with your own ass for all I care!" Junior slammed the bar's table, almost making his glass spill. He then looked around and noticed that a few of his guests stopped whatever they were doing to watch them with unmistakably frightened looks. I was pretty sure some of them already are since I noticed a few that left in a hurry when I started to show up. Considering what I've heard about what happened to this place before, they know what's up and I'll give them credit for being wise enough to ditch the place. "Let's take this upstairs before you scare my patrons away, shall we?"

His suggestion barely conflicted with our plan so we didn't object to following him to the VIP floor. We continued our discussion in a room with leather chairs and a balcony that overlooked the dance floor. The chairs were admittedly quite comfortable and the room space was relatively small which means it could only fit a few thugs for us to worry about especially while we still didn't have our weapons yet.

Junior sat on the sofa with the twins between him. We sat on the chairs in front of him while a handful of guards stood around. "Let me get this straight; you two brought in this guy because you think you could use him to scare me?" He said before making a chuckle. "If that's the case, try harder. You might as well have brought your mommies with you."

Little did he knew we were barely even starting. "I remember Torchwick giving me that look," I asserted as phlegmatically as I could, staring at his eyes, remembering that Neptune told me that he once made a deal with him. "And you know what happened to him right?"

The mention of that name made his smirk upside-down. Meanwhile, the twins looked somewhat impressed, simpering at me over what they just heard. "Perfect, another annoying blondie, and it's a guy this time," Junior complained.

"Wait, wasn't I the other annoying blondie?" Sun wondered.

Junior did not answer him, though by the looks of it he might as well be one to him. He was probably referring to Yang, as I recall Neptune telling me that she was the one responsible for the previous destruction of the Crimson Panda. It sounded like something she would do, given her record. If that was the case, we should have got her involved to maximize the pressure but it was already decided by that point that the party was full.

"It's really a shame because I kinda like you. You got balls, I'll give you that," Junior said to me. As much as I'm used to compliments such as these, it felt weird hearing this from a gang leader who I was planning to arrest. "So what will it take for you to scram and leave us alone? Money? Women? Booze?"

I was already rich, I'm pretty sure my family makes more than how much the club was worth. And I already have too many girls chasing after me that asking for more would be self-harm. And as I said before—I wasn't the drinking type yet. If anything, he was only digging himself deeper. "Now you're just bribing us. I don't think you'd offer me anything if you don't have anything to hide."

"Look, we don't do much. Outside of managing this club, we mostly just sell protection and export legal goods. That's it." He claimed.

Well, now that he mentioned it, I wouldn't have hesitated to loot the latter once I was done if the police didn't need as much evidence against the gang as possible, provided that he wasn't lying when they claimed that they were legal.

"If your businesses are about as legitimate as you claim they were, then why did you threaten these two to stay away?" Ren pointed out, slightly raising his voice from his usual tone.

"Because your brats won't leave us alone!" Junior snarled. "I don't care if you have badges, I don't take kindly to those who wouldn't quit harassing me and my business!"

"And there's a reason why they won't," I said. "You're the go-to guys for organized crime for this part of town. Almost everyone knows this. It's an open secret."

"For crissake, even if that's true, we're still not hiding any drugs around here. We don't touch that shit because we know it is not good for business. We're just a club of gentlemen who want to give people a good time."

Right, and I'm not some secretly-wimpy country boy with a fixation for northern tea. If he truly was aware that drugs weren't good for business, then we simply wouldn't be here. Sun and Neptune showed me enough evidence for the contrary which is why I haven't bought his adamant denials of harboring narcotics.

"Like, feeding them illegal drugs?" Neptune asked in an attempt to sound clever. He ended up being too successful with that, to say the least.

"Now you're just pissing me off," Junior hissed as he stood up. "I'd be happy if you get out of here now. I'm giving you twenty seconds before I have to beat your asses up myself."

"Look, we're not here to cause trouble." I lied, "If we wanted to, we could have easily got in here with guns blazing. We just wanted to hear what you have to say about these accusations. If that's what you'll want then we'll leave. We got what we came for."

He leaned from his chair. "Good because you're not going to get anything from here, maybe aside from some ass-whopping if you keep bugging me. Now get lost."

We were about to stand up and initiate Attack Plan Charlie (send the signal, make as much damage as possible until he confesses, then let the police do the rest.) Even if we complied and left as he said, it won't stop the Triads from hunting us down because of how we confronted them.

Suddenly a Triad member arrived upstairs with some news for Junior, which happened to be very convenient in our favor. "Hey, boss. Just so you'd know, the next batch of obscura[2] just came in."

After hearing that, we decided to stop and stay there for a moment. It felt just too contrived and the timing was just too perfect that I have to thank whatever Gods for to as we were able to hear this at a very convenient moment.

"Right, right, right. Now buzz off, will you?" Junior insisted, faintly but noticeably panicking. The thug remained, much to his annoyance.

"Speaking of which, one of our girls said that she needs more of them. Her is name Stacy, I think. She said she can't keep servicing any more clients without them," the thug continued to prattle, thus giving us everything we needed to confirm that Junior and his Triad playmates are indeed guilty.

Junior's face turned so red that he was almost close to having steam come out of his ears. "Alright, I get it!" By the way, my scroll was still recording everything that was being said.

"Oh, and some guys complained about the smell at the backroom gambling den." The thug kept spilling the beans that Junior lost his patience. He stood up and marched toward him. "We found out it was the rats that were hiding in the—"

Before he was able to finish, Junior pulled him by his tie. "I already fucking know about that, Zhou. Now take a break before I break you myself." There was a short pause there before 'Zhou' obeyed his word.

"Okay, boss," he said with a hint of fear in his voice.

After Junior let him go, he left and went downstairs. I have to thank this guy sometime. Too bad he must have ended up like any other thug in the area because he's probably the most cooperative gangster we encountered that day, even if it was unintentional. This guy should get a shorter sentence for accidentally snitching his gang, assuming he's still alive as I write this.

The boys and I all looked at each other before nodding with a few smirks. "Okay. That was something. We're leaving now just like you wanted us to do." Sun said as we tried leaving the room.

"Hold on. How much did you hear?" Junior asked.

"Uh, you telling us to go away for the umpteenth time? We get it now. We're out of here." I jeered, technically speaking the truth. We tried to head for the room's exit only for some thugs to abruptly block us.

Junior chuckled. "Not so fast. Maybe I have something to do with you first."

"Oh, and now you want us here," I said sarcastically while maintaining my smug demeanor beneath my apprehensions, darting glances at any potential escape routes from where I was at.

"I admit maybe, we do have drugs. How about I invite you to try them out," Junior continued as the twins stood up and they walked slowly toward us. "It'll help you forget."

My heart rate was beating so fast that I almost reached for my holster out of instinct even though I was well aware that my gun wasn't there. Made me wonder whose idea was this—before realizing that it was mine and I have no one but myself to blame. It made me think that I should have refused when I had the chance.

"Whoa, hey, go easy on me, girls," Neptune said to the twins as they walked closer and rolled their eyes at him as we began to step back very carefully. His continuous attempts to flirt with the twins almost tempted me into using him as a human shield so that those girls would stay away out of repulsion. He would have been very likely to be okay with it as long as he gets their attention; it would have been a win-win for us both.

"You know. It's a good thing you were nice enough not to bring any of your toys," Junior chuckled again while giving a sinister smile. "Look, kid, I like you. I really do. It's why I haven't killed you yet. In all honesty, I'd hate to do that to you. Because I made a ton of money betting on your team and I feel like I should at least thank you for that."

You should have stuck with that as your source of income then. This could have all been avoided and we didn't have to ruin your business, and I wouldn't have been in this mess.

He continued, "But as long as you have Pyrrha Nikos on your team, I don't need your blond ass. Sorry, hero, but I don't think you won't be able to take the match tomorrow."

A couple of guards blocked the nearest exit behind us, trying to trap us. I knew what Junior was about to do to us which meant I had to take action. Before I try anything too dire, however, I attempted to put them into their senses first. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? Do you know who I am? I am an Arc! My great-great-grandfather has a statue in a park in this city! You lay a finger on me and you're going to wish you were never born! You hear me?!"

This seemed to have frightened the thugs, making them very hesitant to come forward, including the twins though only by a slight margin. Junior meanwhile remained adamant. "So what? If I'm going to get screwed over either way, I might as well teach you a lesson, you stupid brat! I have connections too, you know!" He aggressively growled.

"Not as big as mine," I replied, trying to remain comparatively calm to maintain control of the situation as we continued to slowly step back. "You're not thinking this through, Junior. The smartest thing you can do right now is to let us go and maybe we'll ask the cops to give you a shorter sentence."

"I would rather die than let your blondie ass humiliate me that easily and take me to jail!"

Your funeral then, I thought. He left me no other choice. His enduring tenacity would have been admirable if he weren't being so foolish and annoying, so I had to teach him his lesson the hard way.

Before the situation could get any worse, I looked at the dance floor to see if it was clear and I saw that there were only a couple of people dancing at the side. I turned to Ren and finally gave him the nod. He got the message and entered my locker's launch codes on my scroll while hiding it behind his back, without even looking at it. Sorry Junior, but we're about to crash this party, I thought.

I heard a beep that indicated the locker's launch, something the Triads failed to notice. I looked at the dance floor from the balcony to find the red landing beacon where it would drop to, only to find nothing even though the dance floor was fairly empty and we intended to aim it there when the drop radius was free of civilians. I assumed that it was because the bright lighting of the club made it less visible but after a few seconds—I found out why. And I felt very stupid…

There was a loud thud on the ceiling as a crack appeared while the ground shook slightly. The lights flickered and the music stopped, alarming everyone inside the club. Not a single locker dropped into the floor, and it's because the locker actually landed on the roof since it wasn't strong enough to break through it. I lost my smug expression and held a palm to my own face when I realized this.

While the Triad gangsters were murmuring about what just happened, I leaned toward my companions and whispered, "Why didn't you remind me that the lockers couldn't get past the roof?"

"You sounded like you knew what you were saying," Ren answered with a shrug.

Yeah, well, it turned out that I wasn't. I admit I'm dense sometimes. [3] Not noticing that one critical flaw that would essentially botch the plan. Thankfully, this setback wasn't that bad. At least we could still knock out the thugs and take their weapons in the meantime. Rose and Rouge would still get the signal and will eventually come in.

"What the hell was that?!" One of the thugs wondered.

"I don't know. Check the rooftops. It might be because those damn snowmen dropped something from their ships or something," Junior ordered. The thugs obeyed and left the room, giving us less of them to worry about when the assault began.

Before a few of the thugs could go outside from the back door. Rose kicked the door open, knocking out the first thug behind it. She twirled her revolvers as she whipped them at the other thugs. One of them tried to shoot at her, only for Rose to shove his arm upwards, making him aim and fire at the roof before his forehead got clouted by the grip of Rose's revolver. Rose uses the thug's shot as a warning for the remaining clubgoers inside. "Everybody out now!"

There was no need to call the cops. We knew that at least one of them would presumably do it for us. Even if they don't, the police would still inevitably come since they were tracking Sun and Neptune's scrolls after all.

Guests began screaming as they ran toward the nearest exit while the thugs started panicking as well. Sun summoned his light clones which he used to help us knock out the thugs in the VIP lounge before taking their pistols. In my case, I turned to the thug behind me before he was able to draw his pistol. I grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm as I pointed his gun toward him before pushing him down with my foot and swiping his pistol. One of Sun's light clones did the rest by punching his face out cold.

Everyone was now armed after taking a weapon from an unconscious thug. Ren, of course, was still dual-wielding, holding two pistols he took from two different thugs. We aimed at a very furious Junior. "Godsdammit, it's happening again! Get them!" He commanded the twins who both nodded and stepped in front of us.

We opened fire at them as they began deflecting bullets with their weapons that were respectively attached to their arms and legs. While we were at it, Rouge barged in from the front entrance, creating an explosion that knocked out nearby thugs.

"Yippee-ki-yay, motherfuckers!" she cried out before swinging a thug, making him fly across the room, breaking through two glass pillars until he crashed to a wall before falling off of it. "Home run! That's right. Run home to your mommas!" A few of them were smart enough to take her word while the rest were provoked by her.

Eventually, Ren managed to lure away the twins while Sun and Neptune went downstairs to help my sisters deal with the hostiles. It was then I noticed Junior aiming his rocket launcher toward me. I jumped away from the balcony and into the white-tiled dance floor as his rocket missed me upon firing.

When I landed, I looked up and noticed the crack in the ceiling where my locker landed. It was about to crumble while the medium-sized disco ball was barely hanging. Junior caught up with me and faced me as his weapon turned into a baseball bat.

Without another word, I fired two rounds on the crumbling roof without looking up. Despite my blind firing, one of my shots was able to hit the disco ball's mount.

Junior was baffled, thinking that I was shooting aimlessly. "Was that supposed to scare me or someth—?" he spoke up before the roof crumbled and the disco ball fell on him, knocking him out unconscious on his own club's dance floor. That's gotta hurt.

"That's a disco fever if I've ever seen one" I snarked. [4] With him knocked out, it made a significant effect on the Triads' morale. I noticed more of them routing to the exit after witnessing that their boss got knocked out. I didn't forget to take all of the contents of his wallet. He was carrying a lot, I presumed that they were drug money and thus count as evidence so I can't really touch them even if I wanted to. I had a lot of money anyway, and the bounty reward, if I were to get any, would be enough to get me to buy new combat boots.

Along with some debris, my rocket locker dropped as its impact cracked the tile it fell into. It opened, showing off all the weapons stored inside.

"Oh, thank Gods!" I dived in and grabbed my sword, its sheath, and my laser pistol. I put my sheath and holster at my belt before spotting two thugs charging toward me with the intent to kill. I threw the pistol that I took at the first thug and it hit his head hard, making him fall to the ground as his hat fell off, his forehead visibly bleeding. I took my laspistol from my holster and shot the other one in the face.

Ren, Sun, and Neptune shortly came in and grabbed their respective weapons. They used their ranged function to fire at any thugs who were trying to shoot us down. One of the thugs even fell from the balcony and landed on another thug after getting shot at. I turned and saw that the shot was from Rose's rifle. She gave me a single thumbs up before going back to shooting.

My companions spread out, continuing to clear out other parts of the club. I looked at my front and saw two hostiles approaching me, only that it wasn't your regular run-on-the-mill thugs but the dangerously attractive Malachite Twins themselves.

"Looks like Junior got beaten up by a pretty blond again, Miltia," said the white one with the bladed heels. For a couple of murderous henchmen working for a criminal organization, they sounded like conceited high school cheerleaders. I wouldn't be surprised if Yang hung out with these two before. "I'm honestly impressed. Too bad we still have to punish you for making a mess, cutie."

And just when everyone split up. Perfect.

"Indeed, Melanie," the red-colored twin said to her sister as she readied her claws. "Nothing personal, handsome, but we have a job to do." She stormed toward me while Melanie, the one in white leaped above me and toward my back. I parried the strikes coming from Miltia's claws as I aimed my laser pistol toward her behind me. I fired my laser pistol as she avoided it by sliding down, trying to sweep my feet on the way. I jumped above her and tried thrusting my sword downwards while she was on the ground, but she was able to slide past me before I could stab her. In situations like this, I would have used dust to my advantage, but unfortunately, I came here without anything in my pocket and there wasn't much I could weaponize in the environment against them so I was stuck with the good ole' hack n' gun.

I switched my pistol with my shield. I began swinging my sword and shoving my shield at them as they deflected it with their respective weapons and vice versa. While the fight was taking place, they were arguing about who gets a piece of me.

"He's mine!"

"No, he's mine!"

It was the most bizarre experience J had during this mission. Girls fighting over me was something I was still trying to process, but literally fighting over me while I defend myself from them took it to a whole new level. I would have actually appreciated it if they did actually fight over me rather than just argue who gets the most of my attention; I might not even have to deal with them. On any other day, I would have been happy to have these two attractive women serve me, but at the moment. I was busy making sure that I don't get scratched or get stepped on by a bladed heel in a painful and unsatisfying manner.

I parried away Miltia's claws before Melanie leaped toward me as I raised my shield, pushing me back slightly. I collapsed my shield and drew my pistol, firing at the white twin. It prompted her to make backflips as she dodged the laser fire. I used my sword to block off the following scratches from Miltia. I raised my pistol and aimed at her face, only for her to duck as she tried to sweep off my legs and make me fall to the ground. I needed these two to be at a distance. Their fighting style has a huge emphasis on close-quarters combat so it means that fighting in range wasn't their best suit. Unfortunately, I think they were aware of this which was why they were trying to keep me close to them as much as possible. If the others, particularly Rose, weren't so busy, I would have asked for help.

Melanie ran in and jumped with the intention of landing toward me on her heels. Thankfully I was able to grab my shield and expand it as she lands, making her flip back to the floor.

I stood up and faced the two. Sun and Neptune then came in beside me with their weapons drawn. "We'll take care of this for you, go!" Sun said to me.

"Aww, we were just having fun with him," Miltia whined.

"Another time, ladies," I gave the two boys a nod before leaving the center of the dance floor. Sun was swinging his nunchucks against Miltia and her claws while Neptune was whirling his trident (which I was tempted to call by its name) as Melanie flips around while trying to hit him with her heels.

More thugs with terrible life decisions approached me with pistols, hatchets, and cleavers. I sprang toward the first person, pummeling his chest with my shield before using it to bash his face and knock him down. I switched my left hand with my pistol while the thugs charged around me. I whirled my sword around, slicing down the thugs that tried to come near me while I blocked their weapons, simultaneously shooting the hostiles that were in range. The laser fire blended well with the club's aesthetic so not many noticed it before it hit them. Blood began to paint the white dance floor red, not that it made much of a difference to the overall design of the interior. One of them tried to throw a cleaver behind me. I ducked right in time and it landed on the face of the thug that was on my front.

Ouch. I was wondering when they will try to throw a cleaver. You can't say you're facing Animan gangsters without at least one of them throwing some kind of knife at you.

To show that knife thrower my gratitude, I turned back and shot him in the leg so he would visit a jail cell instead of a morgue unlike some of his unfortunate comrades. It was the nicest thing I could do to a member of a criminal organization who attempted to kill me with a knife in a dire situation.

I parried the thug's hatchet before slashing his torso, thus disposing of the last thug of that group, the DJ then ducked out from his booth with a machine gun. He opened fire at me as I slid through the cover behind one of the glass pillars. I ducked behind it as the DJ fired at the pillar. Splinters of the glass rained above me while I remained in cover. Once his magazine ran out, I was clear for a shot. I stood from cover and fired at his head. Thanks to the ridiculous size of the mask/helmet, it was easy to hit him and he was killed with a single shot. He fell to the ground with a hole in his head. Can't imagine dying while wearing that.

I looked to see what the others were doing. Rose was still shooting gangsters left and right, sometimes simultaneously, getting rid of the last groups of Triads. Rouge was standing above the bar's table swinging thugs away with her bat before picking up a bottle and then smashing it in an unfortunate goon's head. Ren was facing a bigger, fatter thug with a stature slightly taller than me. The fat thug tried clobbering him with his silver brass knuckles, only for Ren to dodge every single one of them. He managed to climb onto his back, making him walk around the place uncontrollably. Ren hit his head with one of his machine pistols repeatedly until he was knocked unconscious.

He gave me a nod as he reunited at my side. The club was running out of thugs, with most of them either dead, unconscious, or have taken the hint and left. Rose and Rouge approached me as they were also finished with their respective fights; I gave the former back her scroll. The only thing left to deal with was the other pair of sisters who were still engaging with the junior detective duo. The fight looked like it was stuck in a stalemate, with neither side having any advantage over the other as if the fight was going nowhere. So I decided to speed things up for them, in my side's favor of course.

"Rouge, you know what to do."

She gave me a smirk before changing her baseball bat into its dust canon form, unfolding the charging handle from her bat as the muzzle opens. "Hey, Nep Nep!" she shouted.

Yeah, well, we really needed to work on our callouts, but it worked out so well that I didn't think about it much.

Neptune turned to us and nodded, acknowledging that he got the coded message. "Sorry, darling," he said to Melanie after swinging against her boots while she was in mid-air as Rouge fired a round of ice dust behind her and created a thin, icy puddle.

"Ugh. Don't you call me that, you ner—!" Melanie retorted before stepping back after seeing Neptune lunge toward her, not noticing the ice puddle that was behind her. She slipped and then slid across the dance floor before getting shocked by a blast of electricity from Neptune's blaster.

"It's intellectual, darling," Neptune said in a relaxed pose.

Now with her out of the way, it's time to finish off the other twin. "Rose, Ren," I said to them.

"Hell yeah, brother!" Rose cried out as she and Ren moved into their positions.

Sun was blocking off a series of attacks by Miltia's claws using his staff. Ren dashed to the other side until the two combatants were in between him and Rose. Miltia was puzzled upon seeing this. Before she could do anything about it, Ren and Rose opened fire on her.

Rose fired with one revolver and then switched to the other after its chamber ran out of bullets while Ren was shooting with both of his pistols at the same time. Miltia's fighting style gave her very little room for defense so it was easy to overwhelm her with numbers that were more than she was expected to face. Miltia was pinned down, engulfed in gunfire coming from both of her sides that gave Sun an opening. Sun repeatedly struck her with staff while pushing her back. He then swiped his staff at her face, knocking her to the floor along with her remaining aura.

Seeing as there were no more hostiles on the premises. We all panted. The club was now in shambles. Bodies of gangsters were lying almost everywhere, blood decorated the floor along with some walls, and all but one of the glass pillars were shattered. One of the spotlights on the ceiling above the dance floor even fell as we examined the aftermath of the fight.

"That's all of them," Ren wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Sun rested on his staff. "That was some party."

"Told you we'd make a mess," Rogue said, going back to the bar to pour herself a shot.

"The chief is going to yell at us, won't he?" Neptune asked.

"Ya' gotta send every lawless bastard a message though. The police will at least be thankful," Rose said before putting his elbow on my shoulder, "And besides, now that your reputation is gonna grow again, you can make every criminal wet their pants when they see ya', baby brother, which means less trouble for ya' for the future."

I exhaled deeply at that remark. "I hope you're right."

We heard sirens coming outside the club. A few seconds later, cops stormed in from the front entrance with their guns drawn. Thankfully I looted almost everyone here before they could arrive. "Freeze!"

"Oh shit, five-oh is here," Rouge groaned. "Great. And I wanted to party in this place after we're done."

"Better late than never," I put away my weapons while preparing to converse with them.

"Don't do anything stupid this time," Rose told Rouge as she holstered all of her weapons and instinctively put her hands up while holding her scroll while it displayed her Huntsman license. She was the only one among us who had one, and this wouldn't be the case if Rouge didn't act so carelessly after graduating. It was enough to convince the cops that we were on their side.

"Whatever," Rouge replied.

The cops examined the area for a moment and saw the mess we caused. "Bloody hell! What happened here?"

"Junior Detectives!" Sun and his partner flashed their badges at them. "We're on a case. You can say it's more or less solved now."

"Did you lads cause this?" One of them asked.

"Yeah, but we couldn't have done it without the help of these brave citizens," Neptune gestured at the three of us siblings.

"Oh, we're not exactly citizens," I corrected. "We're from the Gallics and he's from Huaxia I think," I gestured at Ren. "But you're welcome."

One of the coppers recognized my face. "The Brothers' crotches, are you that lad from Beacon? Me daughter's been talking a lot about you."

"Yep. That's me," I said rather unenthusiastically before forcing a smile. "Just warming up for tomorrow."

"Didn't know you were this much of a nutter to take on this whole club. I can see why kids fancy ya a lot."

"As usual, you yanks caused quite a ruckus in here," The police sergeant stepped in. "There's going to be a ton of paperwork over this no doubt. I hope this is all worth it."

"Oh trust us. Not only there will be fewer drugs on the streets, but we also put a huge blow to one of the major crime syndicates in the kingdom!" Sun reassured. The sergeant was slightly impressed but wasn't fully convinced.

"Aside from the drugs they're hiding somewhere here, they also mentioned an illegal gambling den somewhere in the backrooms," Neptune added.

"We'll look into that, thank you. Good riddance I won't be hearing much of these Triads from now on. They've been bothering me for a while now." The sergeant looked at the cops surrounding an unconscious Junior who was waking up.