106 Team MAEL's First Mission

"So let me get this straight…"

Currently, Magna was tidying himself up. He had just finished showering and was wearing a nice set of casual clothes.

He was currently decided whether he wanted to take a jersey or a jacket.

"Not only did you get to skip class today…"

Magna softly nodded while putting on a grey jersey, "Yup."

"But you also managed to snag yourself a date with Pyrrha."

"Not a date, Em."

Argo and Luna were oddly silent as they calmly watched Magna from the top bunk.

Emerald scowled and said, "Bullshit! It's totally a date!"

Lightly sighing, Magna turned towards her and said, "Emerald, it's really not a date. I owe her this. We might not have known each other long, but she watched me get kidnapped and she couldn't do a thing to stop it from happening. What's worse is the fact that I didn't even try and tell her that I was fine after I escaped."

Magna walked towards Emerald and grabbed her shoulder, "Please try and imagine yourself in her shoes."

Emerald's shoulders sagged as she let loose a long sigh, "…Fine. I guess you do owe her one for that. Just…"

Seeing him patiently waiting for her to finish, her eyes darted away from him as she said, "…Never mind."

Magna softly shook his head and headed to the door. Opening the door, Magna was shocked to see Pyrrha's fist hovering a few centimeters away from the door.

"Pyrrha?" Asked Magna, "How long have you been there?"

"Oh, not very long." Replied Pyrrha, a light shade of pink dusting her cheeks, "We're neighbours, remember?"

Magna nodded, "Sorry, I forgot. Anyway, let's get moving. I found this delightful little noodle place and you'll never guess who's running it."

With a cheeky smile on his face, Magna quickly took Pyrrha's hand and took off towards the airship port.

Watching the pair leave in a hurry, Luna's face unconsciously formed into a scowl as she growled at the two leaving figures.

Or, more specifically, at Pyrrha.

Argo karate chopped Luna on the head and said, "Down girl. You need to calm down."

The scowl on Luna's face quickly disappeared but the fire in her eyes showed that she wasn't as calm as her appearance portrayed.

Heck, Argo's ears were flat atop her head, something that only happened when she felt uneasy. Emerald was more… direct with her emotions.

An illusion of Magna slowly appeared in the room, only to be smacked into the air by a pillow as Emerald muttered, "Stupid dense idiot…"

Needless to say, a negative aura enveloped the room, causing both teams RWBY and JNR to avoid them.

***

"Alright, here's the place."

With a small smile on his face, Magna let go of Pyrrha's hand and finally took a good look at her casual clothes.

She was wearing a bright red shirt that said, "DREAM COME TRUE" on it with a black undershirt beneath it. With her signature red sash around her waist, she was rocking a pair of black waist high, side lace, skinny jeans.

Topping it all off was a pair of short high heels. In short, she looked really… normal. Like a teenage girl should be.

Honestly, Magna has seen Yang and Emerald wear side lace jeans before, and Weiss always wears high heels.

However, there was something about Pyrrha that made it all… different, somehow. Instead of trying to look more grown or sexy, Pyrrha appeared more normal.

Shaking away his confusing thoughts, Magna scratched the side of his face gently and said, "You look nice, Pyrrha. Like, really nice."

A smile broke out on Pyrrha's face as she practically lit up, "T-Thank you, Magna. You look nice as well."

Magna looked down at himself and chuckled, "Pyrrha, the only thing you can see is the grey hoodie I'm wearing."

"Well, I still think you look nice~."

Magna shook his head and smiled, "Anyway, let's go inside. Remember, today is on me."

The two of them quickly headed inside. As they approached the counter, Pyrrha couldn't help but feel like she'd been here before.

As she moved to asked Magna, she spotted a certain figure behind the counter and froze.

It was the old man that fed them after their fight. Stunned, she sat in her seat in a daze and unconsciously said, "Sir… do you remember me?"

After regaining her focus, Pyrrha was expecting the old man to shake his head. Instead, the old man nodded with a gleam in his eyes as he pointed to the right.

Following the old man's finger, Pyrrha's eyes widened as she saw a wall, filled with pictures surrounding a plaque that said, "Rumble Ramen Champions".

And right underneath the plaque was a photo of Magna and Pyrrha that said, "First ever champions."

What made Pyrrha speechless though was the fact that a picture of Nora and Ren was underneath a clearly defined label that said, "BANNED!!!"

Magna snickered when he saw Nora and Ren's picture. Leaning towards Pyrrha, he whispered, "Apparently, Nora came here while high on caffeine and-"

Pyrrha quickly placed a finger on Magna's lips and wryly smiled, "I… I think I get the picture. Let's just order some food."

After ordering a few dishes, Magna and Pyrrha started talking. Pyrrha, the poor girl, talked about how she's been pushing her body over the years.

Even though they hadn't known each other for very long, Magna's kidnapping scarred her.

And extreme amounts of training was the only way she could push forward. She explained in a tired tone how she became even more distant with her peers due to her quickly growing strength and skill.

Hell, she gave a low chuckle when she told him how she became the strongest person in Argus. Literally.

In hopes of finding a challenge, Pyrrha abandoned her previous mindset of laying low and directly challenged the huntsmen and huntresses in Argus.

After repeated victories against the strongest huntsmen and huntresses, Pyrrha received the moniker, 'Invincible Girl'.

'Huh… So she became famous anyway…' Mused Magna as he started recounting what happened to him.

He told her about the bandit camp and about June. Though he didn't tell her about June's magical abilities.

Speaking of June, she actually changed alot. Under Amber's training, June became a competent fighter and she unlocked her semblance.

With her semblance, she could now 'imbue' her aura into things. Now, that might sound lackluster but it really suits her.

Maiden magic, unlike Magna's magic user clusters, doesn't use aura. According to Amber, she absorbs ambient spiritual energy to use magic, not aura.

This means that June can add her aura into her magic to make it stronger.

She actually sent Magna a video of her sending a Beowolf into the stratosphere using amplified wind magic.

Anyway, Magna continued recounting his adventures. After an hour of talking and eating, Magna and Pyrrha left the ramen shop.

Turning towards the owner, Pyrrha smiled and waved, "Thank you for the delicious food!~"

The old man nodded with a small smile before refocusing on his grill.

Magna rubbed his stomach and whistled in satisfaction, "That old man really knows how to cook."

Pyrrha brush her hair out of her face and looked towards Magna, "So, what do you want to do now?"

Right as Magna opened his mouth to answer, his scroll started beeping. Pulling it out, Magna looked at the message and fell silent.

Pyrrha, seeing him focusing on his scroll, couldn't help herself as she went behind Magna and started reading the message.

[Team MAEL, you are to report to me tomorrow at 6am. We have a mission. The details will be explained to you tomorrow.

From Glynda Goodwitch.]

Pyrrha blinked, "Uh… why do you and your team have mission tomorrow?"

Magna sighed, "Due to the abilities of my team and I, Ozpin gave us the responsibilities of second years while still being first years."

He told her that his team, while being first years, had to take actual missions. Unlike first year missions, second year missions happened outside of Vale.

This meant that he and his team could end up in Atlas or Vacuo.

Pyrrha sighed after processing everything Magna told her and said, "Guess we have to end today here. You need to prepare for your mission."

"Sorry Pyrrha," Sighed Magna, "I really wanted to catch up some more."

Pyrrha waved him off, "No no, it's fine. We are huntsmen and huntresses in training. This is to be expected."

"Plus," Pyrrha smiled, her arms linking behind her back as she looked towards Magna, "I had a really great time, Magna. To be honest, I haven't hung out with a friend in years."

Magna's heart clenched a little. He could see the loneliness and melancholy in Pyrrha's eyes when she spoke.

Reaching forward, Magna grabbed her and pulled her into a tight embrace as he whispered into her ear, "I'll always try and make time for you, Pyrrha. So, if you want to hang out, I'm only a text message away."

The young huntress-in-training trembled in his arms as she softly sobbed into his chest, her arms tightening around Magna's body.

---

"Everyone ready?"

Magna looked over all the members of his team before nodding towards Glynda.

As the airship slowly lifted off the ground, Magna caught a small glimpse of red from the corner of his eye. He turned and saw Pyrrha waving at the airship with a big smile on her face.

He knew she couldn't see him but Magna grinned as he waved back.

"Ahem…"

Pulling away from the window, Magna focused on Glynda as she tapped her scroll and said, "Team MAEL, I'm sending the mission briefing to your scrolls. After reading through it, we will have a brief Q and A regarding the specifics."

After saying her bit, Glynda sat down and strapped into her chair before seemingly falling asleep. Emerald and Argo looked at each other before pulling out their scrolls.

Luna opted to just sit next to Magna and read the briefing off his scroll.

[Mission: Search and Destroy.

Description: The first year student's trip to Forever Fall forest is in two days and all dangerous grimm in the outer perimeter need to be destroyed to ensure a safe yet mildly challenging learning environment.

Target(s):

Any and all Alpha grimm, regardless of species.

Any grimm that appear to be mutated.

Beringel.

Deathstalker.

Geist.

Griffon.

King Taijutsu.

Lancer.

Nevermore.

Side Note: The grimm have shown an increase in activity and aggression. Extreme caution is advised.]

After reading the briefing, Magna looked towards Luna and whispered, "Did you finish reading or do you want my scroll?"

Luna shook her head and gave him a thumbs. Eyeing the other two members of his team, Magna saw that they were finished reading the brief as well.

"Miss Goodwitch-"

Suddenly, Glynda opened her eyes and said, "Glynda. For the entire duration of the mission you will now refer to me by my name and I will do the same."

Magna stalled and dumbly nodded. Shaking off his shock, Magna continued, "Mi- Glynda, we've finished reading the brief."

Glynda nodded and scanned the faces of Team MAEL and said, "Anyway questions?"

Emerald raised her hand and spoke, "We're not splitting up, right? Cause, considering the target's, I don't think that'd be smart."

"No," Replied Glynda, "You will not be spitting up. Though rare, these grimm do show up in the outer perimeter of the Forever fall."

After half an hour of questions, Glynda straightened her blouse as the pilot informed them that they were right above the drop zone.

As the cargo door slowly opened, Glynda turned towards Team MAEL and said, "Children, please be careful. This isn't a drill, nor is it a mission in a controlled environment, one mistake here will cost you your life."

Magna somberly nodded. Since he couldn't switch off of Eri's cluster yet, he used his second semblance and embodied Ruby.

'Since Eri's ability actives on touch, I need speed over power' Mused Magna.

Glynda merely raised an eyebrow before leaping off the airship. Magna grabbed Emerald's hand before disappearing in a flutter rose petals.

A red and green blur raced towards the ground. As it was about to slam into the ground, the blur stopped and hovered in the air for a bit before changing back into Magna and Emerald.

Letting Emerald go, the slightly disoriented mintette shook her head before cautiously eyeing the surroundings.

Glynda softly nodded seeing this as Argo and Luna softly touched down, riding down an ice slide.

Suddenly, Argo and Luna's ears perked up as Argo screamed, "SCATTER!!!"

Magna grabbed Glynda's hand and took off, narrowly slipping under a huge boulder.

Argo and Luna eyed the forest warily as Emerald yelled, "IT'S A GEIST!!!"

The grimm stomped towards the group. It's body was an amalgamation of stones, trees, dust and irradiated crystals.

"SHIT!" Cursed Magna, "This is bad! It's mutated!"

Once.

Magna has only faced a mutated Geist once. And he honestly prayed to never fight a mutant Geist ever again.

A mutated Geist, unlike it's normal counterpart, has the uncanny ability to integrate dust and use elemental powers within the crystal.

In other words…

*BOOM!!!*

IT CAN SHOOT FIREBALLS!!!

Magna let go of Glynda's hand and unfurled his scythe, dashing towards the mutant grimm.

"Emerald! Argo! Run distraction! Luna! Defense and support!"

All three girls nodded and moved. Emerald and Argo circled the grimm from a distance, laying down a barrage of bullets and flames.

The Geist shook as it turned towards Emerald and hurled a ball of fire at her. However, Emerald merely smirked as a pillar of ice blocked the fireball.

Suddenly, Magna dashed up the mutated grimm's stone legs. Even as bullets passed through his petal-covered body, he charged towards the mask, hoping to end the fight before it became annoying.

As he reached the mask, Magna wasted no time as he forcefully slashed towards the grimm's true body.

Watching it's coming demise, the grimm mask glowed in a dim green light as it forcefully threw it's body backwards.

'Tsk…' Seeing the grimm dodge his attack, Magna activated Ruby's semblance. Using the momentum, he flew higher into the air before coming to a stop.

On the ground, Emerald managed to snare the Geist using her chain sickles and a couple nearby trees. Though it was apparent that she was struggling to hold it in place.

"Emerald," Glynda's calm voice spoke from behind Emerald as she tapped the mintette on the shoulder, "Allow me."

Taking out her riding crop, Glynda simple waved it downwards. Suddenly, the ground surrounding the Geist caved in as the Grimm's stone body cracked.

Then, a loud boom resounded from above them as a streak of red petals flew straight towards the grimm. As the figure collided with the grimm, a cloud of dust exploded outwards.

"*cough* *cough* *cough* Hey! You guys alright?"

As the cloud of dust faded away, there stood Magna. From head to toe, he was covered in dirt and there were leaves in his hair.

Patting himself off, Magna smiled and gave the gawking girls a thumbs up, "Great teamwork girls!"

Ignoring his stunned teammates, Magna turned back towards the Geist's 'body'.

Pulling his weapon out of the stone remains, Magna saw a grimm mask slowly breaking apart. Reaching towards it, Magna gently laid his hand on it and activated Eri's quirk.

The green marks on the mask slowly receded. Suddenly, the grimm mask shook as it tried to fly away.

Luckily, Magna grabbed hold of it at the last second. He grinned and said, "So you were playing dead. Too bad, I've actually fought a mutant Geist before."

Reminiscing back to the first time he fought a mutated Geist, Magna could only sigh.

Not only did it gain the ability to utilize dust, but it also gained the ability to 'fake' it's death.

What it would do is, when it feels the threat of death, it will assimilate it's mask into it's body. This allowed the body to take most of the damage.

Then, it would fake it's death by releasing black particles that usually symbolise a grimm's death.

From there, it would either fly away or assimilate itself into the ground to run away.

Anyway, Magna quickly sped up Eri's quirk, causing his horn to grow longer. After half a minute, the grimm's body became unstable and turned into a puddle of black water and a purple orb of light.

Watching the orb slowly dissipate, Magna quietly studied it before turning back towards his team and his teacher, who at some point were watching him with rapt attention.

"So…" Said Magna, "What now?"