7

.

I moved frantically, struggling to keep up with my teammate as our battle continued.

"Fight on Jaune!" Pyrrha called from behind us.

"Kick his ass Ren!" Nora cheered loudly, no doubt waving her hands around as she did so. I don't even have to turn around to see it, I know Nora that well by now.

Wait, C'mon Jaune focus, you're getting your ass kicked out here. How was I supposed to know Ren would be this good?

Got to keep moving fast or I'll be left behind.

Focus.

Left.

Left.

Right.

Forward.

Back.

Forward.

Forward to the right.

Forward to the left.

Left, right, right, right, back, forward, left, back.

Ren grinned at me, his movements matching mine as our battle continued. "Looks like your struggling there Jaune." Ren noted, his body a flowing stream of movement as compared to my jolty steps.

"Bite me." I grunted back, before I bit back a curse as the battle accelerated to an even more frantic level than before.

Forward, Back, Left, Right.

Forward, Back, Jump, Spin.

Back to the left, Forward to the right.

Then I felt my right foot catch on my left ankle as they crossed paths sending me tumbling off the stage.

Damn it.

I looked up to see Ren finish with a flourish, his feet slamming down on the stage.

GAME OVER.

REN VS ARC

REN WINS.

PERFECT!

I bowed my head and sighed.

I lost. Again. Seriously how much does Ren play this thing? I have to actively struggle to keep up with this thing and Ren can dance while doing it and still get a perfect score.

Stupid Dance Downfall Rebirth machine. What kind of name is that anyway?

A stupid name that's what.

A hand reached down to pull me up. "Almost had it that time Jaune." Ren said with a smile, as his name was entered into the high score list again.

I grabbed my teammate's offered hand with a weary grin. "Aside from that part where I tripped over my own feet?" I asked sardonically.

Ren helped me to my feet and took on a thoughtful expression. "Well yeah aside from that small utter failure you were great." Ren informed me with a sly smirk.

I punched Ren lightly on the shoulder. "Jerk." I informed him with all the dignity my pride could muster. Then I looked over Ren's shoulder and a smirk of my own started to appear. "Oh Nora?" I sing-songed loudly, my hand locking into a tight grip around my agile teammate's wrist.

Ren saw my smirk and then froze as he caught on to my train of thought. "Don't you do it." Ren whispered as he stood there trapped by my fingers holding his wrist in place.

But it was too late. It had arrived.

"VICTORY HUG!" Nora exclaimed loudly as her arms locked tight around Ren's chest before they started squeezing as she lifted Ren from the ground.

Ren's legs kicked in the air as Nora crushed the air out of his lungs with one of her patented 'VICTORY HUGS'. This looked like a…let's see…variation seven? No he's still conscious so clearly it isn't a seven.

I walked back to Pyrrha, who was holding onto a large plush tiger she had won after systematically annihilating the various light gun games, with a little help from the rest of us in the cooperative games, and earning herself a small mountain of tickets, as Ren waved for help towards us. Nice try Ren.

The only thing more dangerous than being caught in one of Nora's VICTORY HUGS is trying to stop one.

Defenestration is rarely fun when you are on the end which has you thrown through a window, rather than throwing someone else through a window. Then we had to fix the window as well. And deal with Goodwitch in the wake of another bout of Nora's infrequent cases of property damage.

Again.

"Is that a variation eight or three?" I asked Pyrrha as I observed Ren starting to claw the air.

Pyrrha hid her smile behind her hand, poking her head around the fluffy toy as she did so. "Variation Three. Her arms go below the rib cage on an eight." Pyrrha said, laughter fighting to break free as she did so.

I fought back a laugh of my own. "Ah yes, should have remembered that one."

Suddenly there was a loud crash, and Nora skipped towards us, the twitching form of Ren groaning feebly on the floor.

Pyrrha looked at him with a touch of concern in her eyes. "Should we help him?" She asked hesitantly, trying to determine the severity of Nora's death grip induced injuries.

I was much less…subtle.

"You dead Ren?" I asked dryly.

Ren groaned. "You…ass…" He forced out of his oxygen starved lungs.

"He's fine." I said with a smile pulling him to his feet. "Now you two have your turn." I mock ordered, saluting as I did so.

Pyrrha giggled. "Yes fearless leader." She said as she stepped up onto the DDR machine, setting the large plush tiger she had won aside as she did so.

Nora snapped her heels together and saluted. "By your command fearless leader." She chirped happily before vaulting the slight barrier to land on her own DDR stage.

Ren smirked at me from where he had pulled himself up beside me, still wheezing slightly. "Nicely done…fearless leader."

I glared at Ren.

Touché Ren. You win this round.

"Stop calling me that." I growled half-heartedly.

My blasted nickname.

Upon realising how much I didn't like it Ren spent a great deal of effort to ensure that everyone was aware of this fact.

Thus ensuring that the blasted thing stuck.

Damn it.

Admittedly I have kind of given up on getting them to stop calling me that. I mean it could be much worse than that.

Just hope he never finds out.

I'll never hear the end of it.

I shook my head clearing it of my runaway thoughts to watch my remaining team members proceed to utterly dominate my score on the rhythm game. Pyrrha glided with the natural sure footedness that seemed present within everything she did. Whereas Nora…

I looked up to see Nora's shoes swaying in the air as she pressed her hands into the flashing arrows, her dress somehow not flipping up despite her constant handstand. Well Nora has been playing this game with Ren ever since they were kids. And Nora gets bored very easily. So instead of learning to Dance and play like Ren did, she just decided to use her arms instead of her legs.

And still utterly demolish my own shoddy attempts.

…

I can still beat her at air hockey, so I'm not a complete arcade failure.

"It's okay Jaune. One day you too will be able to finish a game of Dance Downfall Rebirth without falling off the stage." Ren mocked with a grin.

I glared at him for a bit before a grin of my own appeared.

"Just like you'll eventually get a score in bowling without bumper rails?" I asked innocently.

Ren's laughter cut off at that and he gave me a half-hearted glare of his own.

Check and Mate. Game, Jaune Arc.

I was decent at bowling, as was Pyrrha. Nora was damn near godly her worst score being something in the range of two hundred and fifty.

Ren?

Ren is an unmitigated disaster at Bowling.

He didn't hit a single pin until we put up the rails for him.

Not even one.

He is the Undisputed King of the Gutter Ball

The game finished with Nora tapping in her high score before flipping back up to her feet with a "Woo!" high fiving Pyrrha as they stepped off the stage.

"Okay guys," I started before hastily adding "and girls," after a death stare by Nora and Pyrrha. "What should we play next?"

"Car racing!" Nora roared pointing at the mock racing seats and steering wheels set up in front of a set of monitors.

I felt my stomach groan in protest.

Seriously? You can't even stand a virtual car? It's not even real you stupid stomach.

GURGLE

Alright you win stomach, I'm shutting up, no need to get crazy here.

"Uh, maybe not for me." I stammered, chuckling hesitantly, stepping away from the virtual death machine.

Ren bit back a laugh at that. "Not even a real car, and he still gets motion sick." He chuckled quietly.

I threw a squeaky mouse toy at the back of his head, which he caught with a loud SQUEAK sounding out as his hand started crushing it.

Nora's eyes lit up. "I love this game! My turn!" And with that she grabbed Pyrrha's stuffed tiger that was sitting on the floor and threw it at me.

The oversized plus flew through the air at a rapid pace, but thankfully since it was plush and not an actual tiger I was able to catch it awkwardly.

I laughed evilly. "Fool, your tiger is nothing before the power of the dark side." I finished as I cackled loudly holding the toy in a choke hold.

THOCK

With that I felt something lightly strike me in the centre of my forehead. I turned to see Pyrrha twirling her foam dart revolver with a giggle, sliding it back into its holster. "Your reign ends here lord Jaune." Pyrrha said fighting to keep the serious tone as she did so.

I reached up and pulled the foam dart to where it had stuck to my skin with a 'pop' clutching at my heart with my other hand. "Alas, I am slain, betrayed by my own partner!" I wailed loudly before collapsing to the floor, sticking my tongue out of my mouth as I did so.

The others burst out laughing and I started too as well, enjoying our little bit of spontaneous fun.

Suddenly my scroll started letting out its loud ring tone, as it buzzed away in my pocket. I placed the oversized doll down to my left and pulled out my scroll, extending it while I was still on the ground.

"Hello." I said brightly, expecting a member of team RWBY, or Sun or maybe even Velvet. I hadn't seen her in a while, I wonder what she's doing for her last day of the holidays?

What appeared on the screen however, was not any of these people. And they were glaring at me imperiously down their glasses.

"Mr Arc." Ms Goodwitch said lightly, the tone of her voice contrasting greatly with the look in her eyes.

Uh oh.

What did I do?

Uh…

Think Jaune, think.

Wait no first, reply to the teacher, then scramble for answers.

"Yes?" I ventured dragging out my answer so it sounded like a question.

"I do hope you've finished that book review, I told you to complete by this afternoon."

I felt the blood drain from my face. "Uh, sure, I mean, of course I have Ms Goodwitch, because if I hadn't you'd be very displeased with me."

"Extremely so Mr Arc." Ms Goodwitch agreed with me, pushing up her glasses lightly as I did so. "I'm so glad you've completed your assignment Mr Arc. This means I won't have to use you as target practice." She finished politely, her eyes still locked on to me with her stare.

I swallowed.

That's not good.

That is not good at all.

"Have it bought to me by the end of the day." Ms Goodwitch finished a silent threat of 'or else' visible in her eyes, before she terminated the connection.

I let out the breath I'd been holding the entire conversation and sighed, letting my head hit the floor with a 'thunk'.

Pyrrha stared down at me with a look of concern. "How much do you have left to go?" my partner asked concerned.

I thought back to the blank pieces of paper lying next to my bed. "Uh, not that much."

"You haven't written any of it have you?" Ren said dryly.

"Not a word." I admitted with a groan. "I just can't find the book she assigned anywhere. None of the bookstores have any copies, and it would have taken too long to order one in."

"Why don't you try Tukson's book trade? They might have it." Nora said, bouncing lightly on her toes as she did so.

My eyes lit up at that. I hadn't gone there so I might be able to find the blasted book. "Where exactly is uh…" I trailed off.

C'mon Jaune you heard it not five seconds ago.

It started with a T…

Tuk-something or other.

"Tucker?" I guessed blindly.

"Tukson." Pyrrha corrected me.

I snapped my fingers. "Best two out of three." I said jokingly, "Where is Tukson's book trade?"

Nora shrugged but thankfully Ren came to my rescue as he pulled me up from where I was lying on the floor. "It's on 27th street, number two hundred and seventy-something. Two I think? You can't miss it, has 'TUKSON's BOOK TRADE' written all over it."

I nodded thankfully. "Cheers Ren." With that I passed of the giant plush to Pyrrha and gave the rest of my team a wave. "We'll meet up at the cafeteria at lunch. I'll have finished it by then." I called out behind me as I sprinted off to the store.

I am not going to be spending all of my last day of holiday doing an essay!

Ren was right, Tukson's book trade was pretty hard to miss, what with the book shaped sign, the store's name above the store and printed on the windows.

I stepped inside as I pushed the door open to reveal a dimly lit shop, absolutely bursting at the seams full of books, ever wall a bookcase reaching up to the ceiling with small little island bookcases placed intermitted between the door and the counter. My eyes scanned the books around the store, lighting up as I spotted a few novels that I read back home that I'd left in the library. I'll have to come back here later. But for now the book review takes priority.

I walked up to the empty counter and presses the silver bell lightly, the bell chiming loudly as I did so. "Just a minute." A deep voice called from the room behind the counter, out of which stepped a tall barrel-armed man, dressed in a simple collared shirt with long pants, his hair in neat sideburns, with a large heavy looking stack of books held in his arms. "Welcome to Tukson's book trade, home to every book under the sun." The man said with a happy tone clearly present in his voice as he placed the stack of books to the side of the counter. "How may I help you?" he asked pleasantly, opening his arms as he did so.

"Hi I was wondering if you had," I stopped and sighed as I remembered the name, "'The proper conduct and decorum of a patient' by Dr. Swineheart in stock?"

The man raised a brow at that. "Now that takes me back." He mused absently before smiling at me. "Just wait there, I think I've got a copy out the back."

With that he walked to the back of the store, where the sounds of him rummaging around echoed out to me before a loud "Aha" sounded out.

The man walked back out, with the small book in hand. "Here we are, one copy of Dr Swineheart's few texts."

I clapped my hands together as if I was praying, "Oh thank you so much, you are a lifesaver." I said thanking him holding on to the book tightly as I held on to it. "How much do I owe you?"

The man gave me a price and I let out a sigh of relief. I can afford that. I removed the lien from my pocket and gave it to him. "Thanks again. I'm Jaune." I said introducing myself to the man who had saved me from being used by Goodwitch as a twitching target dummy.

"Tukson." Tukson said politely, grasping my hand with a firm shake. "When you're done with the book feel free to bring it back and trade it towards your next purchase." He suggested as he handed me my change.

I smiled at that. "I'll do that. I'll probably be back by this afternoon then." I said heading towards the door. "Thanks again Tukson." I called out as I stepped through the doorway.

"A pleasure." Tukson's deep voice called back as I walked briskly away. Need to make it back to the team JNPR room to write up this stupid essay, so I can meet up with the others.

I quickly found myself observing the street out of boredom as I walked briskly towards Beacon.

I still couldn't believe how much technology there is in the city of Vale. I'd never even seen holographs until I'd stepped onto that first dust plane but here they were everywhere, they indicated street crossings, they directed traffic, acted as signs, even in Tukson's book shop there was a holographic till for the register.

Although I have to wonder, did we as in the people of this age make this technology, or did we simply copy it from the Lost Age artifacts?

Would we have even have made technology like this without the Lost Age artifacts as foundations to start from?

Eh, it's not like the answer to that is going to pop up anytime soon.

I was glad that Cardin had gone home to visit his family during the break, as the time I would usually spend sparring with him would work perfectly for me to finish my essay. And start it as well.

Eh, semantics.

Suddenly my eyes narrowed as I caught sight of something up ahead. I doubt anyone would have noticed it at first glance but when you have Sun as a rival/best friend for most of your life, you learn to keep a sharp eye out at all times or he'll lift your wallet from your pocket when you aren't looking.

And use all the money you'd saved up for the past three months at the arcade.

Damn kleptomaniac monkey.

Just like that dark skinned green haired girl did to that old shop keeper, when she lifted him from the ground. It was a clean take, standard draw attention with one hand, act with the other tactics but done so smoothly that she had to be as good as Sun. Maybe even better.

She was waving the stolen wallet in front of the face of her companion who was smirking at her as she talked. Eventually she stopped pulled the money from the wallet, and chucked the now empty wallet into the adjacent alley off-handily.

She was walking towards me now, alongside the person she'd been talking to, a tall fellow with dark grey hair, who was dressed in a similarly grey and black tracksuit with some kind of greaves slightly visible at the bottom of his legs. Her red eyes were staying on her companion as she got deeper into their conversation.

I felt a smirk tugging at my lips.

Turnabout is fair play, girly.

I maintained my pace but opened my book, miming reading with intense concentration as I steadily approached the thief and her tall friend. Still distracted.

Perfect.

Without warning I had my right foot catch on my ankle sending me bumping into the thief with a crash. My book flying out of my right hand into the air, drawing the eye as only a flying projectile does as my left hand reached out for support and lightly brushed her, the feather-light pull lost by the heavy collision of our shoulders.

"Watch it!" Green hair snarled, her eyes flashing as she looked at me.

I acted sufficiently cowed and nervous. "S-sorry, wasn't looking." I stammered before doing my best impersonation of fleeing away from them.

I heard the tall one laughed. "Nicely done there." His voice said sarcastically. "Seriously you have outdone yourself Emerald."

I couldn't see it but I swear I could almost feel the scowl newly named Emerald was making. "Shut up Mercury."

I kept up my pace, keeping up my frantic persona till I rounded the corner into the alley where Emerald had disposed of the wallet.

I dropped the act like the mask it was and picked up the wallet, sliding the, shall we say… creatively, reacquired lien inside of it.

Along with a little bonus donation that had been just sitting there next to it for the old man's troubles.

The shopkeeper was still patting down his pockets frantically, trying to find the wallet that he'd left in there.

"Excuse me sir," I asked, drawing his attention to myself, "Did you drop this?" With that I extended his wallet towards him.

The man's worried expression washed away as relief became apparent on his features. "Thank you, young man, I must have dropped it when I was putting up my sign."

I nodded. "Happens to the best of us." I said agreeing with him. Wait Jaune, you've got an essay to complete remember? Now is not the time to stop and indulge in idle chit chat. "See you later sir."

Now then, time to get moving and finish this blasted punishment essay.

I bit back a sigh as I sat at my desk in team JNPR's dorm room, slowly reading through the Dr Swineheart's text.

I felt my eyebrow twitch as I read over the latest passage of the text.

I'll give Goodwitch this much, when she assigns a punishment she's certainly gets her message across.

Not in the most subtle of ways mind you.

Allow me to illustrate what I mean by this.

The section I'm currently reading deals with a particularly stubborn patient of Dr Swineheart's who has been injured, but instead of following the doctor's orders and staying in the hospital has instead gone out to finish the job he was doing previously.

Resulting in him getting the crap kicked out of him, before the person who did so decided to shoot him a few times for good measure, due to the fact they were still hampered by their yet to be healed wounds.

If only the patient had stayed in the hospital, they would have recovered and most likely have gone on with their lives instead of having to be worked on by Dr Swineheart so he didn't die.

Again.

I had been asked to compare the patient in Dr Swineheart's text to myself and make note of the parallels between the two of us as well as an explanation on whether these parallels were a positive or a negative characteristic for one to have.

As I said a truly subtle approach.

Akin to a brick through a glass window, or Nora on a sugar rush.

I shuddered briefly at the traumatic memory that accompanied that thought.

We didn't talk about that weekend anymore.

Those poor, poor people.

Now where was I?

Right ironic punishment. Okay here we go...

…

What is making all that noise?

Sun burst into the room, his feet still sliding as he spotted me before diving over the bed with a thump.

Uh…

What?

"Sun, what are you doing?" I ventured, staring down at him with an eyebrow raised from over the cover of my textbook.

Sun raised a finger to his lips letting out a loud 'shh' as he did so. "Hiding. Act casual." He said stiffly, his body hugging the bottom of the bed as he tried to wriggle beneath it.

I felt my other eyebrow join its brother in my hairline. "Hiding?" I repeated incredulously, "Why are you hiding the contingent from (SUN'S SCHOOL/COUNTRY) just arrived her…" My voice trailed off as a thought struck me.

He didn't.

He wouldn't.

The door flung open to reveal three very familiar male forms that were not from Beacon.

I sighed.

He did.

I cradled my head in my book.

Every time Sun. Every damn time.

The first guy had a shock of light blue hair, shaved short on the sides leaving a kind of Mohawk on the top that hung over the yellow tinted goggles that never seemed to leave his head his light blue eyes that matched the colour of his hair sparkling with humour. He had some standard black sneakers, a pair of dark navy blue jeans with two large pouches strapped to the top of each leg. On his chest was a smart looking red jacket, an armband over his left arm with a white button up shirt and black tie being visible beneath it. He was also wearing a pair of fingerless gloves, held tightly in place by twin belt straps over his lightly tanned skin. His moth opened to reveal glistening white teeth, the light shining off them as he smiled.

Neptune. As always the coolest damn thing in the room.

The second had very dark skin, well beyond that of a tan as a natural skin tone. He was wearing his standard full length white and green long coat with one arm cut off. He had a piercing stare with his golden eyes, his dark green hair and dark skin proving to be a sharp contrast to the gold of his eyes as well as the golden cuff around his left wrist and the gold shoulder pad on his right. He also wore a pair of dark pants held up by a white and gold belt. He also had tattoos circling his neck, with a glimpse of more tattoos beneath the edge of his jacket. Sage. The one who said more with a raised brow than most did with a dictionary.

The final member of the team had red hair that was styled forward, his right eye hidden behind it with the remaining visible eye having a tattoo circling its left side. He wore much longer boots than his teammates that extended up to his knees, the laces following them up. He wore jeans a few shades darker than white, a variety of rips and tears on them, although I was never sure if that was from combat or simply cosmetic, with two different belts holding them up. He wore a fingerless glove on his right hand, a half tucked in shirt, and a thin black scarf wrapped around his neck. Scarlet. The one with more money than sense. Though that's not me saying he's an idiot, far from it. He's just that rich.

"We're looking for our village idiot." Neptune asked, his eyes scanning the room as he did so. "He's a blonde monkey faunus. Kleptomaniac. Allergic to clothing." His voice deadpan as if he was a detective reading a criminal's rap sheet.

I laughed at that. I waved to him silently, before pointing under the bed, my face still slightly hidden by the book.

Neptune nodded before he smoothly drew his rifle extending it with a twirl. Then he dropped to his knees and fired the gun, a bolt of electricity arcing out.

"Hrrk." Sun let out as he flailed about from the tasing, my bed shaking slightly from his sudden convulsions before he stopped, his tail twitching slightly as smoke began to waft out from under the bed.

The other two reached under the bed and dragged a comatose Sun out, hauling him to his feet. He had a small ring of smoke circling his head and his eyes crossed out. Yeah, well, getting shot by Neptune will do that to you.

"Thank you for your assistance in retrieving our comrade." The dark skinned one said before he actually looked at me. His eyes widened. "Jaune." Sage gasped, shock evident in his expression.

I raised a hand. "Hey guys. Been a while." I said politely a grin on my face.

They dropped Sun to the floor with a thud, who let out a muffled "Ow" as they did so.

"Jaune!" Neptune exclaimed with a laugh pulling me from the bed into a one armed embrace. "How's our favourite nature boy?"

I chuckled at that. "Good to see you too Neptune. Still eating poison ivy?"

Neptune scowled at that as his teammates bit back laughter. "It was one time! Once!" Neptune grouched before his expression brightened again. "Still what are you doing here man? I mean you at Beacon? How does that happen?"

I shrugged. "I owed Professor Ozpin for fixing the town defences after they were broken by a Grimm assault. He asked me to come to his school to pay him back."

Scarlet looked at me. "You know if that's all it took to get you to join, I would have just paid for the thing. It's not like we're low on lien you know." He said with a sigh.

I laughed at that. "Yeah but we all knew that wouldn't get past the bigger obstacle." I said with a sigh thinking back. "That was certainly a…painful session."

You see, when I had first run into Sun's team who had tracked him down to the orphanage after he ditched classes to spar with me, we got to know each other after I had to help stop Neptune from accidentally killing himself from eating a few cloves of poison ivy.

They asked me to come back with them to their academy. The old Bastard wasn't going to let me leave without having finished my own training, so he laid down an ultimatum.

If we could beat him in a spar I could go back with them.

Not one-on-one.

Five-on-one.

As in the five of us, together, fighting against one old man in a wheelchair.

We all winced at the memory of that. Even in a wheelchair the old Bastard was no slouch. He took on all five of us at once.

And utterly annihilated us.

Crushed us completely and utterly.

Ran over us.

Literally.

Oh and painfully.

Very.

Very.

Painfully.

Neptune shook his head lightly as if to shake off the memory before he made a show of looking around the room. "So Jaune," Neptune started, "where are your teammates? I mean you do have teammates right?"

"They're off doing their own thing. I had to come back and finish an assignment by the end of the day."

Sage silently raised a brow at me. His eyes adding an obvious 'why?' in regards to the assignment during break.

I sighed. "I snuck out of the infirmary again. This is punishment in response to that." I said rubbing my head awkwardly.

Scarlet bit back a laugh. "Raise of hands, who saw that one coming?" he asked with a smirk.

Sage and Neptune immediately raised their hands.

The still twitching form of Sun also raised a hand.

I narrowed my eyes at them. "Hilarious." I said in a deadpan, Neptune laughing silently at my reaction.

Neptune waved his hands in surrender. "Okay, I can see you busy, we'll catch up later Jaune." With that he reached down and grabbed Sun by one leg and began bodily dragging him out of the room.

Sage and Scarlet did their own goodbyes following after Neptune and the dragged Sun was still semi-conscious from Neptune's barrage before the door closed leaving me with blissful silence once more.

Then I looked back at Swineheart's book and sighed.

May as well finish the blasted thing.

Now where was I?

Oh yes, from the life of Dr Swineheart…

'Take one more wound like that and the only place I'll be visiting you is the morgue.'

Charming fellow.

I rolled my neck as I approached my teammates at our usual table, a symphony of wince worthy cracks ringing out as I did so.

Essays suck.

Especially when you have less than a day to do them.

But it was over!

Freedom is mine!

GROAN

And more importantly, so is lunch.

I sat down with my tray, which held a few sandwiches, two apples on the side along with a glass of water. I looked at the rest of my team. Nora was happily using her spoon as a catapult to launch grapes at team RWBY. Ren was massaging his temples with one hand as if to stave off a headache while vainly attempting to eat the lunch that Nora had commandeered from him, trying to hide the smile that was forming from Nora's antics. Pyrrha on the other hand had no such reservations and was giggling lightly with each grape lobbed into the air.

"So how was the rest of your morning?" I asked honestly curious as to what the others had been doing when I had been finishing my essay. "Who won on the car races?"

Nora launched a grape across the table at Yang who caught it in her mouth and swallowed it without looking, still in conversation with Blake and Weiss, team leader Ruby being conspicuously absent. Pyrrha turned to me with a glint of amusement in her eyes. "Nora stood tall over the opposition." She informed me, laughter audible in her voice.

I leant round Pyrrha and nudged Ren, a slight smirk on my face. "I'm not even there, and you still lose. Looks like we know it's not me."

Ren rolled his eyes. "Nora drove around the track backwards and rammed everyone else off the road. She only won purely by the fact there was no one else left." Ren informed me with a sigh. "No idea how that isn't cheating." He muttered briefly.

Nora turned beaming before contorting her face into a superior look that reminded me entirely too much of Weiss. "You're just jealous you didn't think of it first." She said with an arrogant sniff, before she dropped the facade and launched another barrage of fruit into the air.

I laughed at that, Ren letting out a short chuckle and Pyrrha letting out her own giggle as well.

Suddenly there was a loud crash as something heavy was dropped on team RWBY's table the plates and cutlery shaking slightly.

I looked up. Huh. I guess I know what Ruby was doing.

The young prodigy of team RWBY had plonked down an absolute brick of binder onto the table, with random loose sheets of paper sticking out from the sides.

Ruby cleared her throat theatrically to draw our attention. "Sisters! Friends!" Ruby proclaimed loudly gesturing to her table and ours. Almost as an afterthought she gestured back at her table. "Weiss."

I bit back a snort at that as the Schnee heiress let out an indignant "Hey!" at Ruby's addition, but the scythe wielder continued on regardless.

"Four score and seven minutes ago I had a dream." Ruby stated drawing on all of the charisma she could muster.

I barely restrained the urge to hold my head in my hands. Really Ruby? You are not fooling me in the slightest that this speech is entirely yours. And you're butchering two of the greatest speeches of all time with your own in a single sentence.

"This ought to be good." Yang stage whispered to Blake, with the knowledge that only an older sibling can hold, before she turned her head back suddenly to catch a baby tomato that was thrown by Nora's spoon catapult.

Damn she's got good aim.

"A dream that one day the four of us would come together, as a team, and have the most fun anyone has ever had, EVER!" Ruby exclaimed at first holding her hands together before throwing them apart as a way of expressing her excitement.

Weiss however appeared to have something else in mind, as her eyes widened in recognition at the large binder in front of her. The large white binder in front of them. I sighed exasperatedly. I'm guessing that isn't yours Ruby.

Weiss quickly confirmed my suspicions. "Did you steal my binder?" Weiss said with both her hands coming down to rest on her hips.

Uh oh, indignant Weiss mode, brace for impact!

Ruby instantly bought both her hands up in peace signs. "I am not a crook." Ruby promised shaking her peace signs slightly.

I chuckled a bit at that.

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked as she turned to Ruby, her typically stoic expression betrayed by a hint of laughter at her team leader's antics.

"I'm talking about kicking off the semester with a bang." Ruby replied pointing at Blake as she delivered her reply.

Yang rested her head on her upraised arm and grinned. "I always kick my semesters off with a Yang." The brawler punned badly.

My team and I groaned at the pun. One other thing that had become readily apparent over the mid-term break is the fact that Yang is without a doubt makes the worst puns in history. I swear if I hear the term 'bowl appetite' one more time…

"Hey, guys? Am I right?" Yang said looking to her teammates for validation only to find Blake doing her level best to ignore her existence, Weiss cradling her head and Ruby turning away in disgust.

Nora displayed her reaction to Yang's crimes against humour in a different manner, quickly grabbing my apple and tossing it at the unsuspecting Yang, crying out "Booooo!" as she did so. Yang glared back at our table for the attack. I was rather poorly attempting to hide my laughter at this.

"Look guys, it's been a good two weeks, and between more exchange students and the Vytal festival at the end of the year, our second semester is going to be great. Classes start back up tomorrow, which is why I've taken the time to schedule of wonderful events for us today." Ruby finished with a grin.

"I don't know whether to be proud or scared of what you have in store." Weiss said dryly as she looked at Ruby. Yang on the other hand had stood up, picked up the apple and pelted it back at our table. We all ducked slightly, leaving the apple to soar through the air and crash into the centre or another table sending everything on it flying, causing the guy who was hit by the apple to let out an indignant "Hey!". Nora let out a laugh at that.

"I don't know." Blake said her voice quiet but still clearly audible to our table. "I…think I might sit this one out." She finished with a sigh.

"Sit out or not. I think however we finish this last day we should do it as a team." Weiss said decidedly. I nodded, that certainly sounds nice. Then I felt my heart drop out of my chest as I saw Nora pick up a pie and hefted it back to throw.

No Nora don't you even thi…

"I got it!" Nora exclaimed throwing the pie. Yang shaking her hands, clearly telling Nora not to do it as the pie soared through the air, her eyes tracking the pastry in flight.

"I for one think that I..." Weiss was cut short by the pie striking her directly in her face. The remaining members of team RWBY stared at the pie in shock before turning to see where it had come from.

We're doomed.

The pie hung there for a brief moment before sliding off her face leaving a frosting covered face behind, Weiss' eyes opening and quickly lasering in on us.

I was frozen in place, my arm still supporting my head, the sole reason I hadn't smacked my head on the table. Pyrrha had a hand raised over her mouth in shock, also frozen watching the disaster unfold. Ren on the other hand was holding his face in his palm in the long suffering manner that I had often witnessed by Nora's best friend. Whereas the pie thrower in question? She remained frozen in place, her arm still extended from the throw before she sat down and pointed at Ren, a look of innocence on her face.

Weiss' eyes narrowed.

We are so doomed.

Weiss stood up calmly, slowly wiped the pie from her face, and picked up the sauce covered plate in front of her. Then she stood up on top of the table and threw herself through the air with a loud battle cry.

At me.

Then things really got crazy.

I honestly couldn't make out most of what happened through the sudden dust cloud that arose from our food brawl. A sandwich smacked me in the face and I felt something grab me by the ankle and lift me bodily into the air.

What the? When did Yang grab me? I looked down to yell at her only to feel my eyebrows raise in shock. That was not Yang.

"Weiss?" I yelped before Weiss screamed incoherently at me and started spinning me for a full on hammer toss. Then she let me go flinging my spinning body across the cafeteria.

My yell was cut short by the glass window I collided with, my face pressed up against the glass by the force, a groan slipping out as I did so. A prolonged squeak filled my ears as I slid down the window, my eyes catching sight of something walking by outside for a moment.

Was that Sun and Neptune? I mean there aren't many people who look like that.

But enough of that, the war has begun!

"Guys!" I called out weaving through the various students seeking to escape the carnage, "Formation Fort Castle!"

With that I jumped on top of one of the tables and began running to the other end of the hall, bypassing the oncoming throng of people entirely.

The rest of my team quickly followed suit but team RWBY was held back by the oncoming crush of people.

This may be one of the strangest fights I have ever been in, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up without a fight. Not even if I am wearing this stupid ass tie.

We quickly set to work flipping and stacking tables until we had our mock 'Fort Castle', Nora quickly taking pride of place at the top with Ren and I as the vanguard and Pyrrha taking up position between Nora and us.

Two close range fighters, one mid-range fighter and a final long range fighter from the high vantage point. Due to the fact that my weapons were a sword and shield instead or something like, well you know, a gun I was always the close range guy. Pyrrha was a better mid-range fighter than Ren was, and Ren was utterly horrifying if you let him get close to you. And Nora…

Well to be honest she was a bit, shall we say absent minded regarding little details like the plan so if we kept her at the back she couldn't just berserker charge the enemy and have us go running in after her crazy hammer swinging ass.

Not exactly how I imagined the first implementation of formation 'Fort Castle', but hey just like the Old Bastard says, roll with it laddie.

By now the final stampeding students had ran out the main doors, leaving a deserted hall behind them, food and cutlery strewn at random across the area. Team RWBY caught their bearings and I smirked as I saw Ruby's jaw drop slightly as she gazed upon our impromptu fortress.

Nora let loose a cackle of laughter. "Ahahahaha!" before she started singing the same thing she had when I had run into her in the Emerald Forest. Something I quickly came to realise had become Nora's personal victory song. "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" She sing-songed looking down upon team RWBY like the queen she claimed to be.

I looked as well. First serve Nora, let's see if you can return it Ruby.

Ruby stomped her boot loudly on the table sending the various items that had been lying upon it flying, pointing a shaking finger at us dramatically. "Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful!" Ruby proclaimed before crushing the carton of Udder Satisfaction milk, sending streams of milk everywhere, "It will be delicious!" She finished her battle cry pumping her fist up into the air, the rest of team RWBY playing along and jumping atop the table pumping their own fists, pulling a variety of faces as they did so.

Ruby are you really trying to out ham us?

Us?

I found myself chuckling darkly.

You know nothing of the power of ham side.

Looks like Nora agrees with me. "Off with their heads!" Nora ordered before jumping down from the table.

Time for the first salvo then. Ren ran forward flipping sideways onto the edge of a tray and launching the three melons atop it into the air. Ren drew back his leg and smashed it into them, hard enough to send them flying towards our opponents yet not so hard that they exploded into chunks of fruit. I could have slid over and thrown the melons but there was no way I was backing down from the 'ham-off' that was occurring and I dived forward grapping hold of the melon in front of me as I flipped and pelting it at team RWBY. Beside me Pyrrha threw two melons, one from each hand, into the barrage we had assembled. Finally Nora landed and flipped a table laden with melons up into the air, sending the final additions to our opening volley.

Ruby snapped her head towards her sister. "Yang, Turkey." She ordered quickly and with that Yang blurred forward preforming a flip of her own as she stuffed her hands in two stray cooked turkeys laying scattered on the ground. Upon landing on her feet she set her stance and slammed her fists together, just like she does when she's wearing Ember Cecilia.

I raised an eyebrow.

Turkey gloves?

Not exactly how I remembered any of my previous food fights going but I'll roll with it.

Yang stared up at the oncoming barrage an instead of defending went on assault of her own, landing devastating punches with her makeshift turkey boxing gloves reducing any melon that came near into nothing more than fruity mist.

With the way now clear Blake flipped over Yang and scooped up two baguettes as she charged forward towards our position. She sliced at the oncoming melons with her bread and somehow cut through them, most likely through a judicious application of aura. Then Yang leapt over her partner's crouched form, crushing an incoming melon with a swift kick before she launched her fists forward sending the cooked poultry flying towards me.

I flexed my fingers before I caught the first turkey inches away from impacting with my face before using it to deflect the second one. While I did deflect the blow, the force also sent my impromptu shield spinning out of my hands and my feet scrambling for purchase.

Pyrrha while untouched by Yang's unconventional attack jumped back as well to avoid the form of a descending Blake who stabbed her two pieces of baguette where my partner had been previously. Pyrrha cool as always stepped forward, her own baguette spinning around her body with a twirl, and bought it down to engage Blake who blocked the deadly dough with her own baguettes the sounds of the loaves cracking filling the air.

But me? I had my own problems, specifically the still charging form of Yang heading towards me. C'mon weapon, weapon I can use…My eyes locked onto to one melon that hadn't been thrown forward by Nora's table flip.

Bingo.

Just need to make a few additions…

I forced my thumb into the melon three times, leaving three holes in the otherwise perfectly spherical fruit.

Perfect.

I placed my index and my middle finger in the two top holes while my thumb slotted into the final space available.

Let's go bowling. I jumped up on the table my eyes catching the distracting sight of Blake making use of her semblance to leave afterimages constantly before I bought back my arm, melon in hand before bending and powering my arm through in an underarm bowl, the melon rocketing along the table towards Yang, the white glow of my aura giving it a bit of added kick. It was at this point Pyrrha sent Blake soaring backwards with a picture perfect thrust of her baguette before grabbing one of the loaves that had been knocked loose from the faunus' hand and throwing it like a javelin at the blonde brawler of team RWBY.

Yang's arms came together and cleanly blocking the unlikely projectile but in doing so blocked her vision from spotting my melon bowling ball that struck her cleanly on the left ankle. The strike sent her spinning to the side and the next baguette javelin caught her dead centre and knocked her onto her back.

At that Ruby dashed forward, far swifter than one would think possible for a girl of her age, flicked down a food tray with a twist of her feet and jumped on it her own momentum sending her makeshift board sliding across the table, the scattered array of food, plates and glasses being knocked flying.

While Pyrrha assaulted her from a distance with more baguette javelins, my eyes scanned my surroundings for another weapon.

Nope,

Nope,

What even is that?

Bingo!

I picked up my new weapon with a grin and hid it behind my back. After all it wouldn't do to reveal the punch line before the joke is delivered now would it?

I looked up to see Ruby masterfully dodge one spear before jumping into the air and using the tray to essentially backhand the next back at Pyrrha. Pyrrha rolled forward to avoid the reflected projectile but clearly hadn't expected it, her foot sliding out from under her as she tried to come to her feet. Ruby landed on her tray again, glided the last few feet across the table and leapt into mid-air, no doubt to land an attack on the staggered Pyrrha.

Too bad I was there first.

I slid in front of Pyrrha, my spare hand reaching behind my back to join its brother and gripped the thinnest part of my newest weapon like it was the grip of a club. I pulled back the weapon a tad more to add a bit more oomph for my swing and then locked eyes with Ruby.

I grinned. "Let us commence in the ham-to-ham combat!" I roared as I smashed my leg of ham into Ruby's tray, knocking her flying backwards but the momentum from Ruby's own attack sending me skidding back into one of the vending machines that made up the base of our fort.

Ren charged forward even as I slid back seeking to capitalize on our new found momentum when Weiss slid under the tumbling form of her captain, wielding a tomato sauce bottle of all things. Weiss spun and stabbed at the ground with the sauce bottle, a loud 'pfft' sounding out as she did so, a layer of sauce spreading across the messy floor.

Ren stepped on the new found hazard and slipped onto his back, the slick ground and his own momentum sending him crashing into a pile of upended tables with a sound akin to a set of bowling pins being knocked over. I may have laughed at that.

Nora was also sprinting forward and when the tables got in her way she simply used them as a new path, running up the airborne table jumping off at the end to rip a metal pole from the wall. I winced at that.

Somehow I know I am going to have to pay for that. While I was commiserating on the no doubt scathing lecture to come from Goodwitch Nora had jammed her pole into another melon and was now wielding a remarkable likeness to her own hammer. She bought the hammer down at Weiss, only for Ruby to blur in front of her teammate in a bout of semblance assisted speed sending her flying backwards with a yelp once more crashing into another pile of food and plates. The melon hammer gave off an aura of pink energy that told me that Nora may be giving her melon hammer a bit of boost in regards to its power.

At this point Weiss stood up from where Ruby had pushed her back now wielding…I felt my jaw drop slightly. Really? Since when did we have swordfish as part of the cafeteria menu? Maybe because of the transfer students? Eh.

So yes, Weiss using a swordfish as a rapier. That is actually happening right now. The Schnee heiress flourishes her fish and soars forward delivering a thrust with such power that Nora was blown of her feet. Nora recovered in mid-air and upon landing leapt forward once more, her melon hammer twirling around her body as Weiss tried to parry and thrust her way past Nora's new onslaught. Finally Nora at the end of her latest hammer twirl grabbed it with both hands and slammed it into Weiss' stomach sending her rocketing away to slam into a pillar at the end of the hall with such force that it actually cracked into pieces.

I felt my hand come up to massage my brow almost instinctively. "Damn it Nora. There is such a thing as taking it too far you know?" I half asked half stated as I stared at my teammate with a twitching eye.

Nora rubbed the back of her head. "Heh, heh, sorry." She said apologetically, absentmindedly twirling her hammer as she did so.

I sighed. Well it could have been worse. And from the loud "NOOOOO!" at the other end of the hall it looks like Ruby has Weiss taken care of. At that point the cracked pillar promptly gave out and collapsed into the hall sending debris flying everywhere.

I winced.

I am not cleaning that up.

Then Yang mantled over one of the upturned tabled, acquiring a new pair of turkey boxing gloves as she did so and started sprinting towards us. I raised my leg of ham and made to intercept her when someone else blew past me and blocked Yang's kick with a battle cry of their own.

I bit back a laugh as I looked at Ren. Of all the things he could have chosen as a weapon he went with leeks? This won't end well. Yang drew back her still raised leg and engaged in a fast paced flurry of close quarters combat with Ren. Now normally this would be quite the fight to see. Yang's is undoubtedly an incredibly hand to hand fighter and Ren is able to actually counter her movements as opposed to my own method of simply blocking until the right opportunity arises. However the fact of the matter is that Yang's turkey gloves are a lot hardier than Ren's leeks as shown by the way she's blowing through his block's or attempts to parry. Yang then emphasized the point by catching him with a crushing spinning backhand that knocked his head down which then led into an uppercut with enough force that it lifted his feet of the ground.

I winced in sympathy at that last one. When Yang's hits you cleanly, by all that is, you feel it. With your entire body. Luckily Ren is a bit hardier than the standard mook and recovers throwing his leeks like throwing daggers at Yang's form below. I ran forward towards the air-borne Ren. My teammate was not only in mid-air and thus unable to move he had also just thrown away his only weapons. He was a sitting duck, and Yang was not about to let such a gift go unrecieved. I came to a stop, drew back my arm and pelted the ham at Yang as she rose into the air to strike Ren.

Unfortunately I was a bit too late, with Yang slamming Ren into the ground with a massive swing just moments before my own attack knocked her backwards. Not that I saw much more after a table came spinning by and clipped me cleanly on my temple as I tried to dodge out of the way sending me spinning to the ground.

I couldn't get to my feet until the world stopped spinning but I saw one blur that my mind identified as Ren collapsing to the ground, while another blur jumped forward to attack the blonde blur that was Yang. The battle cry from the other blur helped me identify it as Nora.

My vision cleared to see Nora's melon disintegrate from the force of the swing that sent Yang spiralling towards…CRASH…scratch that, spiralling through the roof, leaving a large hole in her wake. "DAMN IT NORA! What did I just say!?" I roared, my eyes glaring at my suddenly nervous teammate, looking very much like a child being caught with their hand in the cookie jar. As someone who has witnessed both of these events, the resemblance is quite uncanny.

My chastising of Nora was cut off when a link of sausages slammed into her, knocking her backwards towards our makeshift fort. I blinked at that, my mind trying to make sense of what it had just witnessed and turned to where the sausages had come from in the first place. Standing there was Blake, twirling the chain of sausages around her as if it was a whip her eyes locking on mine.

Uh oh.

As Blake drew back her arm to deliver a blow with her latest weapon I frantically scanned the ground for a weapon or shield of some kind. And I found one. I stepped down hard on the edge of the tray flicking it up to chest height where I grabbed it and moved it forward to block the faunus' attack the flickering white of my aura reinforcing the tray's form. The link of sausages slammed into my makeshift shield and sent me skidding back slightly but I was otherwise unharmed. I moved to block the next attack when the sound of an explosion met my ears.

Please don't let that be Magnhild.

I am begging here, do not let that explosion be caused by Magnhild.

I looked up to see Blake flipping backwards from the brightly collared explosion, stumbling backwards as more objects were lobbed forward and detonating in bright blasts of colour.

Nora was throwing the cans of soft drink from the vending machine, the containers detonating the moment they made impact with the ground. Suddenly movement caught my eye and I turned my head to see Pyrrha slam her hand into the ground with a blast of her aura, the cans lifting themselves into the air. Ah, an abundance of metallic objects within range of a polarity user. This is going to be good.

Pyrrha flew her hands forward sending a torrent of cans flying towards her, the sheer volume of the attack preventing Blake from dodging knocking her back and forth between each new explosion of soda. With a flourish of her hands the cans shot forward, not in the blanket attack of before but now in two separate twisting streams, the concentrated attack slamming into the stunned Blake, slamming her into a wall before the combined explosions sent her tumbling through the air to crash to a symphony of breaking plates.

Wait where's Ruby?

I looked up to see a missile of red and black racing towards us with what seemed to be the entire hall being drawn behind in it's wake. I just was able to make out the sprinting form of Ruby before she leapt into the air, her cape spinning around her until I could no longer make her out. But then my attention was once more drawn to the oncoming avalanche of food, cans, plates and cutlery.

I bought my arms before my face and braced, dropping the tray as I did so.

This was going to hurt.

The scarlet rocket blew past us, the hurricane like winds picking me us and sending me spinning through the air, my other teammates twirling alongside me before we slammed into the wall at the end of the hall.

Ow.

Then I opened my eyes only to shut them again as I saw the onslaught of debris about to strike us. Food splattered, plates shattered and drinks splashed all over me and undoubtedly my teammates as well. When the bombardment finally ended and I opened my eyes I saw that our outfits as well of ourselves looked like we had been hit by one of Nora's P3 grenades only with every colour instead of just pink. We slid slowly off the wall to land with a thump, before slowly getting to our feet.

Okay, considering Ruby just threw and hit us with essentially everything in the hall, I think I can safely say that she's won this round. Or at the very least made up for her teammates negative scores. Speaking of teammates, I turned to Ren a grin on my face. "You see Ren if you just threw yourself at the pins I'm sure you would have gotten a strike like you did with those tables!" I said brightly, a grin on my food splattered face.

Ren let out a laugh as he wiped his face clean, purposefully splattering me as he flung it off his fingers. "I don't want to hear anything out of you Mr Ham to Ham combat." Ren said dryly, a smirk of his own on his face. I looked back at the wall and let out a whistle as I saw the large cracks surrounding it, as well as the outlines of ourselves on the splattered wall.

"A familiar sight is it not?" Pyrrha said, her own outfit still dirtied from the food fight as she wiped what appeared to be tomato sauce off her face. I nodded silently, threading a hand through my hair in an attempt to remove the gunk within it before it got too solid. Nora on the other hand had done nothing to clean her face or outfit, wearing every stain as if it was some scar from an epic battle. "Eh, I could do better." Nora said, her fingers bought together as if she was viewing the wall through a camera lens.

Suddenly the door slammed open and we spun to see Professor Goodwitch set a determined stride forward, stop a backsplash of food with a wave of one hand before her riding crop slashed with the other. Suddenly the tables, chairs and various other items began lifting off the floor and rearranging themselves to their proper position once more, the last table bouncing down the line before falling into place with a flick of Goodwitch's wrist.

I gulped. It was moments like this you realised just how far beyond you the Professors were from you, when they did acts like this with an air of nonchalance, a perfect combination of both power and precision given form.

"Children please." Goodwitch said through slightly gritted teeth. "Do not play with your food." She commanded pushing her glasses up as she did so.

I looked down at myself and the condition of my teammates and friends around me. Yeah we were a lost cause when it came to trying to compose ourselves into some form of civility. And aren't we missing someone? There's me, Pyrrha, Ren, BURP…Nora, Ruby, Blake, Weiss and …

The sound of the roof breaking apart once more filled our ears and Yang fell to the floor amid the rubble with a cry, crushing the table she landed on as she did so, everyone else jumping away slightly.

Oh yeah that's right, Nora knocked Yang through the roof.

As Yang got up with a dizzy grin, despite Goodwitch being right there I couldn't help myself from breaking down with laughter, the bizarreness of our situation finally getting to me.

The others started laughing as well as Yang gave us all a thumbs up, and I saw Ozpin speaking quietly with Goodwitch before he walked away. Goodwitch looked at us with an indescribable expression for a moment before she sighed and the tension eased out of her.

Then her eyes locked on me and her gaze narrowed. "I better have that report on my desk by the end of today Mr Arc." Professor Goodwitch with an arched brow before she turned and stormed off.

As Goodwitch walked away I caught sight of Neptune striding out the door as well, his previously spotless outfit marred by the scattered projectiles of the food fight, a laughing Sun trailing after him.

I'll probably run into them later.

I turned to my team, our stained outfits being rather obvious as we looked at each other and gave a small grin to them. "How about we go get changed out of these clothes before we head to the Library?" I suggested shrugging my shoulders.

"Agreed, fearless leader."

"Sounds like a plan, fearless leader"

"I could use a nap fearless leader!"

I sighed a smile still tugging at my lips as I did so.

Not what I mean Nora.

"And stop calling me that!"

(Meanwhile in an abandoned looking warehouse.)

Emerald and Mercury walked confidently through the garage door as dozens of White Fang members went about their own business, removing crates from parked Bullheads, transporting other cargo and preforming maintenance on their vehicles and weaponry.

One of the plane's engines was just idling down as they passed by it, fresh shipments being taken off the ship to be stored with hundreds of others like it already within the warehouse.

They came to a stop before a very recognizable face, the notorious Roman Torchwick still resplendent in his usual outfit turning and coming to a stop as he saw the new arrivals.

"Oh look she sent the kids again." His disdain for the two readily apparent in his voice as he approached them. "This is turning out just like the divorce." He quipped sarcastically pulling the two into a half-hearted head lock with each arm.

The two quickly brushed his arms off, Mercury shuddering at the thought of Torchwick's last statement, Torchwick walking back towards where he was before.

"Spare us the thought of you procreating." Emerald said with a glare.

Torchwick rolled his eyes. "That was a joke. And this," He informed them dryly, examining a card in his hand before waving it turning back to face them. "Just might just tell me where you've been all day."

Emerald's eyes widened in recognition at the card. "What?" She breathed reaching for her pouch, before gasping as she realised the orange haired professional criminal had lifted it during the impromptu grab he'd done earlier.

"I'm a professional sweetheart, pay attention and you might learn something." Torchwick said with an insulting half bow as he did so before he looked at the address on the paper and his expression darkened. "Why do you have this address?" He said firmly, his tone no longer that of the joking conman. Now it was that of the crime boss who had just had his business interfered with.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Emerald said rudely, stepping towards Torchwick and pointing towards him.

Torchwick began approaching them as well. "Yeah, I would. Now where have you been all day?" Torchwick asked again his tone making it seem more of a command than a question.

Mercury stepped forward confronting as well "Cleaning up your problem." He replied, putting emphasis on the 'your' as he pointed at the man in the bowler hat. "One of them at least."

"I had that under control." Torchwick replied through gritted teeth, his glare narrowing as he did so.

"Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise." Mercury flung back, his confident face never flinching.

Torchwick's barely restrained temper sparked. "Listen you little punk, if it were up to me I would take you and your little street rat friend here," He threatened pointing at Emerald with his cane, before drawing it back as if to strike Mercury with it. "And I would…"

"Do what Roman?" A female voice echoed out from above the three. They all turned to seen Cinder Fall approach from above, her signature glass heels letting out a distinctive 'clink' with every step she made stepping on the platform which then lowered her to the ground before them.

Roman laughed nervously. "I'd, uh." He said dragging out the words as he frantically searched for the answer that wouldn't result him ending up as a pile of ash. "Not kill them?" he ventured his voice becoming higher as Cinder stepped off the platform and steadily approached.

"Cinder!" Emerald cried happily making her way towards the formidable woman, who walked by her without so much as an acknowledgement.

"I thought I made it clear you were to eliminate the would be runaway." Cinder noted quietly coming to a stop in front of him, her stance making it clear she was awaiting an explanation from Roman.

"I was going to…" Roman explained, gesturing with his cane before Emerald cut in.

"He was going to escape to Vacuo." Emerald stated, Mercury moving beside her. "Mercury and I decided to take it upon ourselves to kill the rat."

"I think he was some sort of cat actually." Mercury disagreed, taking the conversation to a different

"What like a puma?" Emerald said with the hint of a laugh.

"There you go." Mercury agreed with a grin.

"Quiet." And with that Cinder Fall erased all sense of frivolity with a single word, sending the room back into a serious silence as Cinder gazed upon the now fidgeting teens. "Did I not specifically instruct you two to keep your hands clean in Vale?" Cinder asked with slightly glowing yellow eyes trapping the two beneath her gaze.

Roman on the other hand was making the most of the teens roasting, miming shock at their mutinous actions, laughing at them quietly.

"I, just thought…" Emerald trailed off, scratching her head embarrassed as she averted her eyes from Cinder's own fiery glare. Mercury remained silent, not moving an inch, trying to avoid inciting the wrath of their boss.

"Don't think." Cinder interjected immediately before laying out her command. "Obey." Behind her Torchwick pantomimed his throat being slit with audible cutting noise, his eyes rolling into the back of his head exaggeratedly.

"Yes ma'am, won't happen again." Emerald stated, bowing her head in apology. Mercury remained silent, but lost the rigidity that once plagued him.

"And you." Cinder said turning on Torchwick who felt the laughter die in his mouth as that terrifying gaze focused on him. "Why wasn't this job done sooner?" Cinder asked gesturing with her hand as she did so.

"Ahh." Torchwick dragged out before gesturing to his left with an "Eh." Pointing to the large stockpile of stolen goods there, pointing to his right with an even louder sound at an equally large pile of contraband and finally letting loose the loudest sound yet as he threw out both his arms at the packed warehouse.

"Sorry if I've been a little busy stealing every speck of dust in the kingdom." Torchwick spat sarcastically, walking forward as he cursed.

Mercury it seems was not impressed. "You're an inspiration to every punk with a gun and a ski mask" he deadpanned, Emerald muffling her snickers at Mercury's quip.

The career criminal however brushed aside Mercury's insult like it was nothing but Dust in the wind. "Look around kid, I've got this town running scared. Police hanging out at every corner, dust prices through the roof, and…" Torchwick jabbed his cane slightly at each point he illustrated before walking away from the three towards the crates lining the wall. "We're sitting pretty in an old warehouse with more dust crystals, vial and rounds than we know what to do with." Roman stopped before spinning back to face Cinder, hands and cane behind his back, keeping a pleasant polite look on his face. "Speaking of which, if you guys wouldn't mind filling me in on your grand master plan, it might actually make my next chain or robberies go a little smoother." He finished with a slight snarl his gloved hand clenching into a fist at having being left in the dark.

"Oh Roman, have a little faith." Cinder said, stepping forward towards him, raising a hand to caress his face. "You'll know what you need, when you need to know." She explained her thumb tracing his cheek gently, her eyes staring directly into his.

What would normally be such an intimate act, sent fear racing through Roman's heart. He knew the flames that this woman could conjure in an instant, hand seen a man's skull be reduced to ash, not even bone remaining, with a single touch. Despite the considerable heat behind her touch, to Roman it was like the icy cold embrace of Death itself.

Roman broke eye contact with a grunt, conceding this victory to Cinder. "Besides," Cinder said dropping her hand and walking back to her other accomplices, "We're done with dust." Cinder said suddenly stunning Torchwick.

They weren't stealing any more Dust? Than what was next? What was the plan?

Suddenly a White Fang operative ran up to Roman, his breath heavy as if he had ran. Roman rolled his eyes. Now what? "What?" he growled, the masked White Fang member flinching back as the man turned on him.

"T-the surveillance photos of the subject, sir." The man stammered his hands shaking slightly as he handed the sealed envelope forward.

Roman snatched the package from the courier's hands, who went scurrying into the background the moment his task was complete, wishing to stay no longer than necessary around Torchwick, Torchwick's boss, and Torchwick's boss' enforcers.

Torchwick ripped open the package, pulling the oversized photos from inside, palming through them as se examined each one. Then his eyes widened and a mocking laugh escaped from the corner of his new smirk. "Looks like I didn't have to ask you where you were the rest of the day sweetheart." Torchwick said disdainfully tossing some of the photos in Emerald's direction.

They scattered at random on the ground but the subjects within them were plain to see.

And very familiar at that.

Jaune Arc walking down the street.

Jaune Arc bumping into Emerald and Mercury.

Jaune Arc placing money into a vaguely familiar wallet that was not his.

Jaune Arc handing the wallet to the owner of 'From Dust til Dawn'.

Mercury added up the clues first and immediately started roaring with laughter. "Well done Emerald, you've sure shown me just how much of a 'master thief' you really are."

Emerald took a bit longer to join the dots but when she did, shock and disbelief were present on her face. "He couldn't have. I still have the money right he…" Her disbelieving rant trailed off as she reached into her purse only to find it completely empty of any lien. "Oh that son of a…"

Whatever no doubt expletive swear was going to come next was cut short by Cinder's questioning. "Why do you have nothing from inside Beacon?" Cinder asked, one brow arched inquisitively.

Torchwick threw up his hands in exasperation. "Hey I'm good, but I'm not a god. Ozpin's got that placed locked up tighter than Fort Castle. And my employees don't exactly blend in with the locals."

Mercury was still laughing at the photos, picking one up which clearly had Jaune removing the money from Emerald's pouch. "I am going to frame this photo and keep it forever." He said reverently.

There was the sound of a blade slashing through the air, and suddenly the photo was cut neatly through the middle, coming apart in Mercury's hands who let out a disappointed "Aw."

Emerald sheathed her weapon, her face red, her whole body shaking in apocalyptic anger. "I am going to murder him." She declared, her knuckles popping as she grasped the hilt of her weapons tightly.

"No you are not." Cinder disagreed, staring down at one of the photos with a peculiar look on her face. Roman couldn't place it, couldn't put a name to it but he still shuddered all the same looking upon it. "The Arcs have always had a rather annoying ability to see through falsehoods."

Thirteen years.

Thirteen years she'd searched for him, scoured the globe for him, only for him to turn up in plain sight in the one place she couldn't simply take him. Cinder's eyes narrowed. She wasn't one to believe in coincidence. And certainly not in a higher power. Other than herself.

First the mother, and now Ozpin. The boy certainly had quite the collection of protectors, even if he wasn't aware of them. But Ozpin can't protect him forever, and by his 18th birthday she'd know if he was the one she'd been looking for.

The key to the final phase of her plan.

And if he was?

A ball of crackling fire consumed the photograph, sending ash and cinders spiralling to the ground.

Well, she didn't need him alive for him to play his part. Just his blood.

All of it, to be precise.

And there were plenty of other things to be acquired within Beacon as well. Some of particularly more importance than others.

"We're moving." Cinder said suddenly cutting off all speculation as to the photos of Jaune Arc and began walking away from Torchwick, Mercury and Emerald quickly falling in step with her. "Have the White Fang clear out this building. I'll send you details and coordinates tonight."

"Coordinates?" Torchwick repeated quietly trying to make sense of what had just passed.

Cinder came to a stop turning back towards Roman. "We're proceeding to phase two." She finished with a small smile, before starting to walk away once more Emerald and Mercury following after her leaving Roman alone with his personally altered map of Vale.

He pulled a cigar from his coat, held it in his mouth and began patting himself down for his lighter. Suddenly the distinctive sound of a lighter being lit was heard Roman looking up to see Emerald holding his personal lighter in her hands. She stuck her tongue out at Roman before flipping the lighter shut walking after Cinder and Mercury.

Roman growled quietly but pulled a second lighter from an inside pocket and lit his cigar, inhaling the calming smoke and letting it out with a sigh as he stared silently at the map. One question consumed his thoughts.

What the hell was she planning to do in Beacon?

(Meanwhile back at Beacon Academy)

Ozpin looked down at the heavily armoured dust planes touching down at the landing pads of his school through the windows of his office with a slight twitch at his lips but nothing else giving away his opinion. A squadron of fighter dustplanes zoomed by in formation and he took a sip of his coffee, placing it on the desk behind him as he heard the distinctive step of Glynda approach.

"Ironwood certainly loves bringing his work wherever he travels." Glynda said dryly as she gazed out to the spectacle before them.

"Well, running an academy and a military makes him a busy man." Ozpin said considerately before he added his own opinion "But yes, those are a bit of an eyesore." Ozpin turned as he heard the light beeping of the access requested alarm, allowing them inside with a standard "Come in."

The door opened to reveal the form of General James Ironwood, commander of both Atlas' military and hunter academy as well as an old comrade of Ozpin. He wore his standard white overcoat over a grey undercoat with a red tie completing the look. His signature white glove remained firmly placed upon his right hand and his distinctive metal strip above his right eye drew attention away from the grey that was slowly appearing in his once pure black hair. As always the entire outfit was spotless as befitting his position as a general.

"Ozpin!" Ironwood called out heartily, throwing his hands out in greeting.

Ozpin's response was far more measured. "Hello General." He said simply his hands behind his back and his feet placed firmly together, like a soldier at attention.

Ironwood waved him off and the two approached each other "Please, drop the formalities. It's been too long." He said with a chuckle shaking Ozpin's hand with both of his own. Then he turned to Ozpin's side and his face brightened, a smile spreading across his face. "And Glynda! It has certainly been too long since we last met." Ironwood finished, a hint of humour in his voice

Glynda's response was glacial to say the least. "Oh, James!" she said waving a hand limply before turning to Ozpin, "I'll be outside." She informed him matter-of-factly and walked outside without a second glance at either of them.

"Well, she hasn't changed a bit." Ironwood remarked in the wake of Glynda's abrupt exit.

Ozpin turned back to his desk and poured Ironwood a cup of coffee before extending it to him. "So, what in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas? Headmasters don't typically travel with their students for the Vytal Festival.

Ironwood took the cup with an appreciative nod, adding a little liquor from his hip flask before he took a sip. "Well, you know how much I love Vale this time of year." He said lightly as he approached Ozpin's desk, Ozpin himself going to take a seat behind it. "Besides, with you hosting, I thought that this might be a good opportunity for us to… catch up."

Ozpin sat down pouring himself a cup of coffee as he did so. "I can certainly appreciate the quality time between friends," Ozpin said in agreement before he continued on. "However, the small fleet outside my window has me somewhat concerned." Ozpin finished silently asking James the obvious question.

Ironwood's answer was hesitant "Well, concerned is what brought them here." He admitted his gaze meeting Ozpin's.

Ozpin gestured with his cup. "I understand that travel between kingdoms has become increasingly difficult." He began but Ironwood cut him off.

"Oz, you and I both know why I brought those men." Ironwood stated, his tone making the fact of the matter readily apparent between the two.

Ozpin took a sip of coffee and put down his cup with a sigh. "We are in a time of peace. Shows of power like this… is going to give off the wrong impression." Ozpin informed Ironwood his tone now one that was very serious.

Ironwood remained unconvinced. "But if what Qrow said is true…" James ventured his hands coming down on the desk before Ozpin intervened.

"If what Qrow said is true, then we will handle it, tactfully." Ozpin said bluntly, raising a hand to silence Ironwood for the moment before he bought his hands together in front of him. "It's the Vytal Festival. A time to celebrate unity and peace. So I suggest that you not scare people by transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across the continent." Ozpin may have said this lightly but the air of command in his words was unmistakable to both of them.

"I'm just being cautious." Ironwood said defensively, his hackles raising slightly.

Ozpin nodded in agreement. "As am I. Which is why we will continue to train the best Huntsmen and Huntresses we can." He finished definitively.

"Believe me, I am." Ironwood promised walking towards the exit before stopping before the door and turning back to Ozpin. "But ask yourself this:" Ironwood questioned, "Do you honestly believe your children can win a war?" he asked rhetorically before walking out the door.

Ozpin remained silent, his eyes unfocused before his answer came out, almost as if he was speaking to himself. "I hope they never have to." He said quietly his eyes staring out at the battlefields of his own memory.

Suddenly his introspection was cut short by a knock at the door, and a wizened old voice calling out dryly, "Hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

With that a man walked in with a skip in his step. The man was not an especially tall fellow, although his shock of frizzy white hair made him seem a few inches taller than he was. He wore a lab coat over a simple pair of black paints with a light green stripe down the sides, a blue button up shirt and light brown slip on shoes. His lab coat may have once been white, but it now was stained a rainbow of various colours, looking very much like he had been a target at a paintball range. His eyes were the same light green as the stripe on his pants, and they sparkled mischievously with an air of excitement and wonder in the world around him. He may have looked and acted like a lunatic that had been struck by lightning but behind the seeming insanity was a cunning rivalling his own, and without a doubt one of the greatest scientific minds in all of Remnant. Which was to be expected considering that he was the leading mind in reverse engineering Lost Era technologies as well as his own creations as well.

"Sounds like Jimmy hasn't changed since the last time we spoke." The man said idly cleaning out one of his ears with a finger.

Ozpin raised a brow at this as he pushed himself up from his desk and onto his feet. "Last I checked weren't you working alongside Atlas academy?" He asked lightly.

The strange man rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Eh, semantics." He said half-heartedly before his eyes gained a focused gleam once more. "So, is the Bastard here yet?" he asked with a cheeky grin.

Ozpin let out a small laugh at that. "No not yet. He's bringing the rest of the children along with him, so I sent a Dustplane to pick them up." He said lightly before his tone became more serious. "But still, what brings you to Beacon? I thought you were going to be at the dig site for the rest of the week?"

The man grunted and brushed a bit of his hair out of his eyes. "Dead end again I'm afraid." He said bitterly, his bright eyes darkening for a moment before regaining their childish gleam. "I'll give them this much, they were very thorough at erasing the records about it."

Ozpin walked over to the dejected man and placed a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "It was a long shot anyway old friend." The headmaster said consolingly, before smiling softly. "Still it has been quite a while since we've all met up again face to face. A few years in fact."

The man with the wiry hair laughed at that. "Well I heard you're getting the band back together, so I'm not missing out on the reunion Ozzy." He finished with a cocksure grin, reaching one hand out for a handshake.

Ozpin smiled extending his own hand to shake. "Good to see you too, Geppeto."

AN: I AM ALIVE!

Let's see and…woah.

311 favourites and 324 followers!

Wow…I am speechless guys, I mean cheers, greatly appreciated.

Welcome and greetings readers! But first an apology is in order. This chapter was meant to come out about a week ago, but due to the fact the place we've been staying at has absolutely no internet, I had to wait until I got back home to post it. Yeah.

So, good news! Got the GAMSAT results back and I passed! Somehow! But that just means I qualify for stage 1 of 4 so I'm not really expecting all that much.

Plus I saw Guardians of the Galaxy. Oh my lord. So. Much. Win. My new favourite Marvel movie.

So in the wait for Volume two I bounced around a few ideas, reworked a few others and have one beast of a volume two ending coming your way! Though fair warning that looks to be a ways of yet.

Now onto this chapter! We got to see a little bit of how team JNPR has been spending their mid-semester break as well as the introduction of the rest of Sun's team. Also we meet the brand new character I mentioned last time, the one and only Dr Geppeto, Genius Inventor. For an image of what the good Dr looks like, imagine a shorter Dr Brown from Back to the Future with the mannerisms of David Tenant's take on the Doctor and you'll have a pretty accurate view.

Plus a few more hints as to the mysterious plans taking place on both sides of the board but no clear goals as of yet, or the reasoning behind Jaune having to do anything with Cinder's.

Just as planned, MWHAHAHA!

(Cough), ANYWAY! Onto the reviews!

Jozern: Cheers mate. I've got a few fight scenes coming up that are looking to be extra special. Keep an eye out for them!

Mirum Scriptor29: HELLO TRAVELLER! And in regards to your question…well if you look at it from a certain perspective it could be seen as something like that. But if it is…no comment.

Ventusblade: Ha, cheers mate, always glad to hear it. And this is not the last we shall see of the P3 grenade, oh no sir. It returns…SOON.

Kuro kaze no aka kira: Thanks mate. Glad to hear you enjoyed it, always the sign of a good idea when people like it. Let's just say that these things have stayed around this long for a reason and leave it at that for now.

chad001: Hey good to see you again mate. Always glad to see returning readers! Glad to hear you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope to keep up the level that you've witnessed so far.

IceBoi: Well spotted! That was part of the inspiration, although a few other things were included as well from other fiction as well as a few ideas of my own.

Slenderbrine: Glad to hear it mate.