7

Jaune was prepared for many things when he returned from abandoning his friends to that world's view, harsh words, owing odd favors and even preparing himself to tell embarrassing tales of his childhood as reparations. However thankfully none of those were necessary, after all his teammates and team RWBY were reasonable, fair friends.

"How Dare You Make Me Watch That!" Weiss thrusted Myrtenaster forward only for Jaune to maneuver out of its way. With a swift movement.

"Stand still and let me impale you!"

"T-that seems a bit much…" Weiss ignored him and attacked again Jaune managing to avoid each and every strike from her. Yang however…

"Ahh!" The Blonde Brawler slammed her fist into him sending the Arc flying away, he understood why they were angry. Weiss was a very proper lady and Yang wasn't mad she'd been forced to watch… no, she was angry Ruby was, as a big brother he could certainly empathize.

Nora however…

"Super Smash!"

The ginger slammed Magnhild into the flying Arc sending him crashing to the ground, however to their surprise he quickly stood up none the worse for wear.

"Nora… why are you attacking me? Are you mad too?" Nora tilted her head.

"Why would I be mad?" Weiss slapped her face her irritation clear.

"Why, WHY? We were just forced to watch utter filth! Why wouldn't you be mad!" Nora shrugged.

"I mean… I've read Blakey's books and besides I got a few good notes from it so…" A very upset Blake spoke next.

"So why are you helping Yang and Weiss?" Nora smiled brightly.

"Cause it looked fun!" The other sighed at the response Yang, Weiss and Blake feeling stupid for thinking the Valkyrie had a legitimate reason.

"Besides if Neo's not angry why should I be?" The others paused at that looking over to said assassin who hadn't left her seat instead sitting there looking at Jaune with an analyzing gaze that gave no hint to her true feelings. Jaune for his part stood back up looking to the pair attacking him and Blake.

"If you wanna keep going I'm not gonna stop you, even I feel guilty about you having to watch 'that' but, like I said before its useless with Jinn is here. Your attacks won't do anything otherwise." The heiress shook while Yang grumbled to herself her flaming hair beginning to die down. Jaune coughed into his hand.

"Listen, if it were up to me that kind of views would never be seen, but that kinda thing is out of my hands… For what its worth, I really am sorry, If there's anything I could do to even begin to make it up to you then just name it." The eight looked to him before Blake spoke up.

"I think that'd be unfair." The others looked to the Belladonna shocked, Weiss especially.

"You can't be serious?!" Blake nodded though.

"I am, despite the… 'shocking' final act to that world we've received valuable information." The faunus's teammates looked to her surprised.

"We did?" Blake nodded to Ruby.

"We now know Neo's association to Torchwick and that her semblance can disguise her." Neo went wide eyed looking to Blake shocked dozens of plans of how to take out the girl racing through her mind.

"We also know Roman's not in charge but someone else most likely a woman." Neo ceased her train of thought at the girl's words as she looked to her a bit of hope.

"A woman?" Blake nodded,

"Fire Bitch, that's what you called her right Neo?" Realizing the faunus brat was talking to her Neo's eyes narrowed on the girl she was surprised to see the black cat had deduced this much. After all it increased the chances of Fire Bitches plans falling through but even so she was cautious. She nodded but gave no hint of being willing to speak further, however this hardly seemed to bother Blake who nodded.

"See?" Weiss and Yang still looked with suspicion clear in their eyes so in response Blake pulled out the final piece.

"The Breach." All eight instantly knew it was important, but not because of Blake but Jaune who stiffened at the mention of it. Seeing him act so abruptly to a name alone sent warning signals through their minds.

"The what?"

"It was something Jaune said near the beginning remember? About falling in love with Emerald?" Pyrrha sent the brunette a glare earning a cold sweat from the faunus as she spoke.

"Remember he said he fell in love with her during this incident, he said Grimm were inside Vale." This earned a pause from the others who looked to her while Blake herself smiled when she saw Jaune do the same at her figuring it out. Turning to see the Arc smiling relieved they all felt the impact of the information. The seven sat they're at a loss for words until ruby finally spoke.

"C-could that be what the White Fang and Roman are getting ready for?" Blake tucked her lip at the idea, stealing dust was one thing but loosing Grimm into the city.

"T-that can't be it… Roman, he has to be manipulating them into it, him or that 'woman'!" She spoke with such confidence, such earnest belief in her former kin of the Fang, but when she saw expression, the pity in his gaze directed towards her she knew. She looked to Neo their eyes meeting.

"Roman, he's in charge of the Fang, right?" Neo rolled her eyes at the statement.

Romans a thief, not a terrorist…

Blake went wide eyed.

"Th-that's not! We're not, I mean they aren't terrorists!" Neo snickered at that.

Oh, so it's only wrong when we kill and mistreat your kind, got it…

Neo shot the faunus a thumbs up a smug smile on her face.

You know, Roman may be a thief, and I'm certainly a killer, bit at least we're up front about it, we don't use our daddies cause to kill people.

Blake sucked in her breathe at the pint size killers thoughts and struggled for a retort only to find, she had none. Hadn't what they've been doing just that, using the organization her father built up to bring equality to kill and terrorize people in the name of it. Isn't that why she left! So why had she been so adamant against calling them terrorist? Before she could think further on these thoughts' realization struck. Blake looked to the girl.

"How do you know who my father is?" Neo quirked a brow?

Do you seriously think you're the only one looking up info on your enemies? Roman's cautious, he asked a few of the animals at base about you kitty. Load and behold our surprise when we learn you were Edgelord's bitch. If I'd known you were that asshole who helped Fire Bitch track us down when she 'recruited' us I'd have buried, you ten feet under.

The Neo's eyes narrowed her irises flashing white showing her intent however her threat went straight over the faunus's head as she shook now wanting to believe what Neo said. Because if she was right then…

"Adam, he, he was under your leader thumb before she found you and Roman?" Neo blinked surprised.

Huh? Aren't you supposed to be the smart one? Didn't you leave cause you boo was fucking fire crotch after she slutted her way to making him turn the fang on Vale?

Blake shook her head, not believing what she was hearing, The White fang had be allied with the person in charge of Roman before them and was even there to threaten Neo and Roman to their side. While Blake was freaking out over the mere idea of such Ruby spoke up unsure of her question.

"So then… You and Roman aren't doing this cause you want to? Your being threatened?" Neo looked to Red surprised, she'd thought Kitty and Bug Bites were the brains of the operation, so why was Red the only one making any sense.

Duh, what, you think me and Roman somehow benefit from killing civilians and robbing for someone else. We're a robber and a hitman not terrorist.

Ruby paused act that, she'd never considered that roman and Neo could be victims, none of them had. All seven teens looked to them shocked once said out loud it was so obvious. Yang spoke up.

"Why didn't you tell anyone about it? You know get help." Neo sighed frustrated utters would actually ask such a stupid question. However, before she could do anything Ren spoke up.

"Roman's a criminal, and Neo his accomplice, I doubt they could tell the authorities, or huntsman for that matter without incriminating themselves." Neo nodded glad to see at least one of the seven dimwits could use common sense. All seven sat back disbelief clear in each's eyes but Ren who was struggling not to do the same his only salvation from losing it being the aid of his semblance dampening his shock.

"Uh-hmm." Drawing the eights attention, they turned to see Jinn floating before them clearly irritated as the tiny figure glowered at them.

"Okay brain trust as fascinating as your talks are going, I can't hold out much longer and we still have two of these views, so top heavy, bug bites got any argument against fancy feast. No, good then shut your yaps, plant your ass and let's get to the next view so I can rest!" Jaune sent a disapproving gaze to his little comrade but she shrugged it off, at this rate she'd be running on empty at the last world If they didn't hurry soon.

Yang and Weiss were clearly angry and flustered but couldn't refute the blue Chibi and begrudgingly sat down much to Jaune's relief. He looked over to his partner again apologetically realizing her point before nodding and looking to them.

"'ahem' Once again, sorry about that last world, I wouldn't mind letting you let out your frustrations but as Jinn said we're on a tight leash so we'll be starting the next world now." Ruby was the one to speak up her cheeks pinking.

"Um, w-will it be another like that?" Jaune blinked before looking over to Jinn curious himself and a bit scared only to receive a shake of the head from the blue genie earning a sigh of relief.

"No Craterface, it looks like we'll only have to deal with one this time around." Blake caught that.

"So then, we'll be coming back?" Jaune looked to her and nodded.

"'sigh' I'll explain at the end of this session Blake I swear, but for now." He gestured to Jinn who manifested another sphere and took it in his hands. With but the squeeze of his hand he crushed the glowing sphere into dust that shot towards the screen.

(Anger Management by WithOneVoice)

"Oh so this one will focus on sis, neat."

"Hey!"

Chapter 1

On the roof of Beacon's dormitory, the sound of steel on steel reverberated through the air. Heavy grunts and war cries flowed freely, and the odor of sweat, grime, and forest pine scented shampoo arose from the scene. Yes, this combination of sensory overload was only indicative of one thing. Jaune Arc was getting his ass kicked – again.

The knight hit the ground hard, his breath leaving his lungs upon impact. He lay on the ground for a few seconds before painfully rising to his feet. He slammed his shield into the ground with a frustrated growl, his arm aching from the exertion.

"Jaune?" His partner called. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Pyr. It's just – never mind," he said.

Pyrrha could hear the defeated tone in his words, and quickly moved to place a hand on his shoulder. "Jaune, you know you can tell me what's wrong. I won't judge you."

The blond sighed. "Thanks. I'm just annoyed, I guess. Yesterday I could get at least a few good hits, but today I can't even scratch you. It's like you were on a whole different level today." He looked at her just in time to see her avert her eyes in guilt. "Pyrrha! Don't tell me you've been going easy on me!" he accused.

Pyrrha winced, after all she was but maybe never telling Jaunes that might not have been the best idea, something to note.

The redhead met his gaze, albeit with shame. "I'm sorry, I know you wanted me to go all out but it's not what's best. Fighting against someone at your level is the fastest way you can improve."

Ren sighed.

"Perhaps you should've explained that beforehand." Pyrrha sighed nodding, she would have to.

"But that doesn't mean you have to let me think that I'm better than I really am! It hurts to think I'm actually getting good, just to find out everyone else is still miles ahead of me!" He knew it was unfair, but the knight was tired of not getting results.

Neo frowned, it really did suck for him.

Seriously, he ain't garbage at fighting considering blondie only gots several months of training under his belt with aura. But he's stuck with you all.

"Hey what's that supposed to mean!" Neo rolled her eyes.

Seriously, your all like the the best in your school right?

All seven paused, she wasn't wrong, there was Pyrrha of course but even Ren and Nora got ion on scholarships alone. Ruby was a prodigy and Yang was the valedictorian od Signal. Blake had experience from her past in the Fang that no school could teach while Weiss was a genius.

Compared to you lot honey there would have a hard time in comparison to you even if he did have aura before.

The truth was from what she'd seen he was a bonafide natural himself, nobody fought a Alpha without aura and several Beowulf without some talent let alone a Ursa or even the twins once he'd had it for a few months. The Seven looked down not feeling guilt about their strength but more so about how they've always thought their blonde friend not quite up to their standards… In hindsight nether were team CRDL a team with actual hunter training.

"But you are getting better!" she protested. "You're stronger every day Jaune, and it's showing! Just last week you won both matches against Cardin and Sky. You may not see it now, but you'll be a great huntsman. You just have to be patient."

"Wonderful. Maybe by the time I graduate I might even be able to scratch someone who knows more tactics than 'swing wildly and hope for the best'!"

Yang winced.

"I guess it would be kinda hard to consider beating Cardin something worth bragging about."

"You know that's not true. Your strength lies in your ability to lead us on the battlefield. Just because you're not the best fighter doesn't mean you won't reach our level. Your team is here for you, just as we've always been."

"That's just it Pyrrha. I need you guys. But you don't need me. Even after all this training, I'm still a liability."

Again Ren winced, he never said it but Jaune's combat skills did at time leave much to be desired, though he'd never consider his leader a flat out liability.

"Each of us has a role to play Jaune, even you."

"Easy for you to say, it's not hard to feel important when you're the 'Invincible Girl'!"

They both froze after that. He knew she hated being called that. Just as he knew that it was a title that she'd hoped he would never use for her. And if the look of betrayal in her eyes was any indication, Pyrrha was just as hurt as he thought she'd be.

"Pyr-" he began.

"Jaune, please. I'll… see you back at the room, alright. I need some time alone." With that, the champion walked off, leaving the knight to his thoughts.

Nora patted her back.

"Its okay Pyr-Pyr, Jaune-Jaunes was just…"

"I know Nora… It just difficult to hear that." Neo rose a brow.

Your moniker, seriously?

Pyrrha looked to the micro killer.

"Yes, perhaps you might not understand but that title has brought me nothing but isolation and very irritating fans."

And enough lien to live off of your whole life, oh the horror…

Pyrrha frowned at the pint size bruiser's deadpan.

"I understand my title has benefitted me a great deal but that doesn't make it only good." Neo shrugged what was she expecting from some celebraty other then to complain and whine over their status. But she wouldn't let her have the win, not without a final jab.

Yeah well, I'm sure the noodle would love to be called invincible boy over Vomitboy, useless or deadweight.

How could he have been so careless? She'd been training him for months on end, never once complaining about how much time he took. And yet he, Jaune Arc, hurt her more than any other student at Beacon.

He sighed deeply. "Damnit Arc, you really know how to be a great teammate," he muttered.

If she needed time alone, he'd give it to her. It was the least he could do. Welp, guess I can go to the sparring area. Maybe get rid of some of this frustration before I blow up at somebody.

"Yep that's I deal with it." Blake deadpanned at Yang.

"That or beat up an entire club."

Jaune made his way down the stairs into the dorms, checking his aura levels before he resumed training. Ok, note to self. Training with Pyrrha is a surefire way to end up in the red.

Pyrrha smiled.

"It does take a good deal to bring him down there though, he has just too much aura."

As he passed through the hall, he heard rapid footsteps approaching behind. "Hey Jaune! Jaune! Guess what?" The eternally cheerful face of Ruby Rose suddenly appeared in front of him, rose petals circling around the two. "Team RWBY is having a truth-or-dare game, so you're all coming too!"

"Ruby," he said, "I'm really not in the mood. Can't we do this another night?"

Weiss sighed, seeing where this was going.

"Hm… nope! You guys have to come!"

"I'm serious, Ruby. Now's not a good time. Tell your team we'll be over tomorrow." He was beginning to feel his head throbbing.

Weiss nodded, she understood completely Ruby at times could be annoyingly stubborn.

"C'mon Jaune, it'll be so much fun! Please?"

"No. I'm going to train and that's final. Go back to your room."

Blake now joined her teammate thought, Ruby really didn't take no for a answer at times and it would seem her timing couldn't be worse.

"But Jaune," she pleaded, doing her best puppy-dog eyes. "We're all gonna have a fun time. You can bring Pyrrha too!"

"Ruby I said NO!" he snapped. "I'm not going to your sleepover! Why is that so hard to understand? If I tell you no, just assume I mean no!" With that he stormed off, leaving a tearful reaper behind.

The seven stared at the screen, it was rare to see Jaune snap and even on those rare occasion it was towards Nora in which cases ren usually was there to give his leader a pick me up via his semblance. Nora giggled at it begin on someone else for once while Weiss sighed supposing he handled it better then she usually did since she didn't insult the their leader. Yang however glared at the screen eyes red but air not yet flaming.

Yang heard the commotion outside the room but couldn't make out who was yelling. She didn't suspect anything was wrong until her sister came in, eyes wide and brimming with tears. "Ruby?" she asked softly. "Are you okay? What happened?"

The silver eyed girl stared at the ground before nodding slowly. "I'm okay Yang," she said shakily. "Jaune just has to go train. I should've listened when he said he was busy…"

Without warning, Ruby ran forward and wrapped her arms around her sister, burying her face in Yang's chest. Though she was silent, the wet spots forming on her shirt and the subtle shakes told the older girl all she needed to know.

Oh Hell no. That asshole did not just make her sister cry. Jaune Arc was going to pay.

Blake sighed.

"Looks like you were right Ruby."

Yang guided her sister over to Weiss' bed, and motioned for the heiress to take over. "Weiss, I gotta go hit someone, think you can cheer her up for me?"

"What do you think I am, a nanny?" Despite her protest, the girl didn't hesitate to bring her crying leader into her arms. "Just, don't do anything drastic. We don't need another issue to deal with."

"Don't worry about me. Worry about that Arc punk once I find him."

Nora's eyes narrowed; she was starting to think she might not like where this was going.

Striding through the halls of Beacon, the blonde brawler quickly made her path to the training room, where she spotted her target. Jaune was currently working on a punching bag, seemingly taking out his frustrations against the world.

Yang's hair flickered golden fire.

"Hey Arc!" Yang yelled. "Get over here right now!"

"Yang, I'll apologize to your sister as soon as I'm done here. I was out of line, and I'll make it right."

Nora sighed.

"Jaune-Jaune really does calm down fast." Ren sighed it truly was a godsend, one minute he be mad at Nora for well… Nora and the next he'd apologize and they'd hug it out, usually with Jaunes in utter pain after a backbreaking hug.

The boy sounded exhausted. Unfortunately, she was too pissed off to notice.

Yang nodded never agreeing more with her counterpart.

"Not good enough vomit boy. You're not leaving here without losing an eye first."

As she approached the boy, he seemed to pale in fear. "Wait, Yang, I don't have any-"

Ren's eyes widened.

"Wait his aur-"

Whatever the end of his sentence was going to be was replaced by a scream of agony, when his shoulder was impacted first by a shotgun shell, and then an aura-enhanced fist.

"Oh grow up," she mocked. "You've taken much worse than that."

Yeah Vomitboy was built like a tank his aura levels made sure of that so he should take his lickings like a man!

She swung again, this time at his face. She felt his jaw shatter, and blood coated her hand.

Six of the Seven froze on the spot at the sight, all except Yang who was very much in tune with her counterpart in the beatdown.

Weird, I could've sworn his jaw just broke. But that's impossible his aura would've stopped it. She paused for a moment before looking up at his aura gauge in horror. It read zero.

Glancing down at the boy, she finally saw the damage to its full extent. His shoulder was a mess, the entire right arm seemed to be hanging limply on the floor. His face was even worse. Nearly half of his teeth were missing, and the gashes where his jawbone was now protruding from his skin were seeping blood.

golden flames ceased as crimson retracted from her lilac orbs, Yang looked to the display with shock and then horror. Beside her, her team shook no more than Ruby.

The entire world seemed to stop. She could vaguely hear cries for a medic, while others rushed to try and stop the bleeding. For Yang, all she could do was stare at the crippled form of her sister's first friend.

The only tell was when Blake shoved her out the way as no sooner a hammer crashed down on the faunus before she faded into shadow as the couch broke in half. The next was when a glyph manifested beneath her before flinging her back just in time to avoid Miló piercing the floor where she'd been. Yang stubbled from the quick pushes and flings before righting herself in time to see Miló return to its wielder and Magnhild lifted high. Before her emerald and Turquoise burned and smolder as they regarded the blonde.

Ruby stood beside her very much confused while Weiss and Blake came beside her.

"Pyrrha what are you doing?" The spartan ignored the reaper in favor of glaring at Yang.

"Again I've seen it… You attacking Jaune." Ruby shot up.

"That wasn't her though that was-"

"Shut it!" Nora yelled shocking the them as the usually cheerful Valkyrie glared.

"She attacked Jaune-Jaune too! And that Yang didn't seem any different from our own either!" Pyrrha directed a cold gaze towards Blake and Weiss.

"Ruby I can forgive but you two as well… Wasn't it enough when you killed him before? What have to help another threat to him take her shot?" Weiss visibly flinched at the scathing words, but she didn't care and the fact that ren wasn't stopping them meant he wasn't in disagreement however shook her head.

"You can't be mad at sis for something she didn't do! And Weiss, Weiss's mistake didn't turn out that way." Pyrrha frowned.

"But Yang did do just that didn't she? Striking Jaune for upsetting her, or have you forgotten too… And Weiss's choice regardless of the outcome was still just that, her choice." Ruby visbly retreated inn on herself, her eyes showing a great deal conflict.

"But, Jaunes okay…"

"Oh I suppose that makes everything okay then! I suppose knowing my partner could've, no should've died or been disfigured by his friends on a whim is completely okay!"

"I didn't mea-"

"If it where that hero world where the Grimm had retreated or even that bias version of Beacon I 'could' rationalize it! But not those two worlds! Not ones that are so close in nature to our own. Where Yang and Jaune look no different than today! Those aren't far away worlds Ruby! There worlds that could've happened! Aren't they Jinn!" Jinn sighed hating that things were going down this path.

"Yes… either event could've happened in your world." Pyrrha shook.

"See I wa-"

'thunk'

Pyrrha abruptly fell to her knees hands on her head a expression of pain clear on her visage with Nora no different behind the two Jaune sighing whiling looking down on them hand on his hips.

"Seriously, this is the worst part of showing universes so similar to your own."

"Jaune-Jaune what was that for?!" He deadpanned.

"Seriously, you just tried to attack your friend and you're asking that."

"But she-"

"Did nothing." Nora shook her head.

"But she would! And I don't wanna see you get hurt like that." He chuckled,

"Its fine Nora, Yang hasn't done that, and hopefully after seeing this she won't even consider it." He looked over to Pyrrha who looked away from him.

"'sigh' Pyrrha…" The spartan stiffened at his tone to which he smiled ruefully.

"Yang didn't do anything."

"Yet…" He paused at the tone.

"He already attacked you over Neo, what's to say she won't do 'that' to you, I-I already let Cardin bully you, I refuse to do so again."

"We both know Yangs not like Cardin."

"Your right, Cardin wouldn't put in a inch of your life for upsetting somebody." The glare she shot the brawler was telling.

"Pyrrha, that's not fair."

"And what she did was?"

"'sigh' It Yang… come on she our friend." Pyrrha visibly shaked, he knew this was eating her up inside, she wasn't the mean sort.

"Can you please try to forgive her? For me, for your Jaune wo knows Yang as his friend, I doubt he'd be very happy seeing you too at each other's throats." He knew it was a low blow but he really had no other choice and slowly Pyrrha complied. She turned to Weiss, Blake and Ruby.

"I'm sorry." Turning away she made for their seats. Nora pouted sparing Yang a glance.

"If you do that to Jaune-Jaune I won't miss next time, but… sorry." She didn't bother waiting for a response instead turning away and zipping to the seats. Jaune looked back to the sole member of their team who'd not rose form his seat.

"You good Ren." Said boy nodded, his eyes held a measure of anger but little more, taking a calming breath he recomposed himself.

"I should apologize Xiao-Long, I could've held back Nora…" Despite his words no actual apology came forth as he made way to sit beside the two girls. Jaune could only smile ruefully.

"I always seem to be dragging you all into doing troublesome things regardless of the universe huh?" He turned to Team RWBY then and stepped towards them.

"I apologize for them, I hope you can understand how important our teammates are to us." Ruby nodded her face still sullen, he reached out ruffling her hair.

"Don't let what Pyrrha said get to you Ruby… She di-" He shook his head.

"She was wrong to imply you'd side against me." She looked to him her eyes wide and tearing and honestly it broke his heart.

"You mean it?"

"'sigh' Yeah, just give her a while, she's had to see her partner die, suffer and be beaten within an inch of his life… I doubt she's holding up to well. And Nora's always been overprotective of her family." Ruby took a deep before slowly exhaling.

"Okay… But, you believe in Yang right? That she wouldn't do that." Her eyes were pleading and when he looked over he saw Yang looking to him to the second their eyes met she looked away almost fearful.

"It's because I trusted her so much and became close to her that I 'know' she would." Ruby froze as did the others and ignoring his best friend he moved towards the brawler nether Weiss nor Blake intervening his stride. Yang visibly closed in on herself but after several moments of silence she looked up to him nervous Lilac meeting calm Azure.

"You've always had issues with your anger, in fact you could say it's as bad a weakness as how much you rely on your semblance. If you'd stopped to think, to take in the scene this wouldn't have happened." She'd ready to speak up, to retort but he'd have none of it.

"You attack first and ask questions later, in that regard you might even be worse than you mom." She looked to him shocked to hear her mother's name but Jaune sighed.

"You need to learn to reign in that anger… losing it like that, going off the handle without thinking… it 'will' cost you one day, maybe your life, or someone else's." How many worlds had Adam not gone for the arm but the kill… how many more did Blake breakdown seeing her partner dead and soon followed by the spiteful man's blade. In a way imparting this lesson was so much more vital then Weiss's glyphs or Ruby's eyes…

"I know you'd attack me if you thought I'd hurt Ruby…" She looked down pained.

"But I also know you're the type who'd risk your life to save me." He'd seen it after all, where'd she jumped in between him and Cinder… He rose a hand patting he girls head his rough palms in her golden locks, in any other situation she might strike him down for it but all she could do right now is stare pained tears forming at her eye's corners.

"If you could only recall one thing from all this let it be this, that your anger is your greatest weakness." It took several long moments before the brawler nodded and he could only give a half smile in return before turning away. He passed Weiss and Blake.

"Please help her out right now, I doubt she's feeling to great at the moment."

"'exhale' I can hardly fault her, after all hers was an honest mistake… She didn't uncaringly leave him to die." He could see the guilt as she made way to the brawler. He looked to Blake who looked away from him.

"I… I want to believe her… but."

"Adam…" Amber eyes widened as she looked to him meeting his sad smile.

"Remember that even he was a mere child once upon a time… It was only once the world turned against him that he became the way he is… Please don't let the same happen to her." Blake looked back to Yang and nodded running to her partner. He smiled seeing the four talk Weiss seeming the most insistent on speaking before surprising the lot of them by hugging the brawler.

"Come out now…" Slowly Neo appeared from seemingly nowhere Hush drawn clearly for Yang's throat.

"I told you you can't kill someone here." The pint size bruiser looked away annoyed earning a chuckle.

"Never thought you'd react so 'violently' for me… Was Politan that cute." Neo expression quickly changed to one of joy as she nodded the biggest smile on her face.

"'heh' Well, you should go sit down… The view isn't done yet." Neo rolled her eyes before making way to said seats leaving Jaune to chuckle. She'd already grown this attached huh. He supposed it made sense to an extent. Neo did only have Roman, when she grew attached to something, she was the clingy type after all. So no matter how small her affection for him was to her that still made him the second most important person to her in a way she was more loyal then even him.

Chapter 2

The night had not been good to Yang. After Jaune was finally able to be removed from the training area, Goodwitch had sent everyone back to the dorms under enforced curfew to keep the news from spreading. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to stop her team from finding out.

The members of RWBY still very scared to see their reactions to Yang's actions… After all they had the benefit of their friend not actually doing it.

Weiss got to her first, slapping her across the face. "You're a disgrace, Xiao Long. What did I say? Don't do anything drastic. And then you go do this? I hope you realize that no matter what happens, even if you are by some miracle not expelled, you have ruined this team. So you better pray that Arc survives, because I will not be associated with a murderer." She stormed out of the room, leaving the brawler to face the others.

Weiss winced wanting to speak against her counterpart but not bringing herself to, not for this and as much as it hurt Yang to see she slowly nodded.

"Yeah, if I did something like that I'd be kinda mad if you actually sided with me…" Weiss response was to grab the brawlers hand to her surprise.

"At least you didn't actually do what your counterpart did, I on the other hand…" The heiress visibly shook at the memory.

"If you could look past something I did do surely I can do the same for something you merely could've done…" She emphasized the past-tense, this would not occur! She make sure of it even if she'd have to restrain her teammate to do so.

If the heiress didn't have such a well-mannered upbringing, Yang suspected she would've said much worse. Even still, the words hurt. Much more than Weiss hitting her.

After her, Blake approached. The faunus said nothing, merely shoving Yang out of her way and exiting the room, the whole time glaring at her with disdain.

Blake sighed, truthfully she felt a bit like doing just that right now, seeing Yang lose it like that… reminded her far too much of Adam… But after what Jaunes said… she leaned in taking the brawlers other hand. She didn't speak merely nodding to her parent and apparently that was enough.

However, the last, and undoubtedly the worst, was Ruby. The short leader said nothing for a while, just staring at Yang, with a mix of fear, pain, and anger filling her eyes. "Ruby, I'm- " Yang tried, only to get cut off by her sister hurling a lamp at her.

"How could you?" The reaper asked. "Jaune was my friend! You know how hard it is for me to make friends here! Nobody talks to me outside of our teams, they all think I'm some weapons nerd that gets special treatment from the professors! Juniper is the only other team I get to be normal around, do you know how hard that is? You've had your friends here since day one, remember? When you ran off because you wanted me to make my own? Well I did, and then you had to go and ruin it Yang!" Ruby finally ran out of air and started breathing heavily. Though she visibly calmed down, the blonde could still see she was angry. "As your team leader I'm ordering you to stay here. The rest of us will be over in Juniper's room. We'll talk in the morning, but until then, don't bother trying to call. That applies to all of us."

With her final piece said, Ruby left the room, leaving Yang alone to her thoughts.

Ruby glomped into her sister, eyes teary at the sight, she felt bad, bad that she'd say that to Yang and worse for agreeing to her counterpart's feeling. She was angry to after all…

Initially, she tried to fall asleep, but quickly realized that wasn't an option. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Jaune lying on the floor, and she heard her team over and over. All of the words they said – and in Blake's case, didn't say – kept replaying. There was nothing she could do to forget about it, or to distract herself for even a moment. So, she sat down on her partner's bed and stared at her blood-stained hands. She couldn't even find the energy to wash them. No tears fell, no sobs broke. She suffered in silence, alone and afraid. Given what she had done, Yang figured that was probably how it should have been. She deserved every moment of that pain.

Yang shook at the sight.

"That's a good thing." She paused before looking over to find Ren between a shocked Pyrrha and Nora.

"Wha?" Ren sighed.

"This clearly weighs on you. had you felt nothing or worse try to reason why you were justified I wouldn't be able to forgive that." Yang nodded as did Jaune with a slight smile on his face, Ren would be the first to extend the olive branch, even if he didn't know it yet.

Sometime during the night, Yang had finally fallen asleep. She had no idea when or how the exhaustion had overtaken her, but it was not a restful sleep. She was plagued by nightmares of blood and tears, and when dawn finally came, she woke feeling more drained than before she had slept. She checked the clock, and saw that it was only 4 AM. The cafeteria wouldn't be open for another hour, and the infirmary not for another two after that. As she finally came to her senses, she noticed a blinking light on her scroll – a new message.

Yang Xiao Long,

You are hereby summoned to the headmaster's office at 1 PM to discuss punishment for your actions against Jaune Arc. Failure to show will result in you branded as a fugitive of the Kingdom of Vale and charged with attempted murder. It is in your best interest to appear before the board. While I would normally wish you good luck in this meeting, I do not feel you deserve it.

Glynda Goodwitch

Headmistress of Beacon Academy

Neo blinked surprised, how the hell could someone infuse so much sternness into a message, still fugitive yeah she certainly liked the sound of that. It was no death sentence but she supposed Politan wasn't born yet so this Jaune wasn't that important… huh? That last thought didn't make her too happy.

Any chance her day had at getting better instantly went out the window. Attempted murder. That's what she had done. It didn't matter if she had meant to hurt him or not, because she had come damn close to killing him. And Juniper certainly wasn't going to tell her if Jaune was okay, they probably hated her too much to even look at her.

Said three members looked to the screen, did they hate the Yang of that world. Maybe, at the very least they wouldn't forgive her and knowing that theirs could be just as capable of it didn't help.

Swallowing, the lump in her throat, she quickly typed up a message to her sister.

Hey Rubes. Let me know if you still want to talk today. I understand if you don't. Please tell Juniper I'm sorry, I never meant for any of this to happen.

Yang's fist clenched, how was that all she could say… She never meant for this to happen! Seriously that was the best she had… Was this how Weiss felt after seeing that world.

She pressed send before collapsing on Blake's bed again. Yang looked at her hands again, but to her chagrin they were still red. Even worse, she had stained her partner's sheets while she was asleep. Finally standing, she pulled the comforter and sheets off of the bed before inspecting the mattress for any hand-prints. Luckily, it seemed to be all in the sheets. The blonde tossed the sheets in the washer before starting up the shower, putting it on the hottest setting. The scalding water rolled off her back, the basin at her feet slowly turning pink. She wasn't sure how long she stood there, but it was certainly long enough for there to be no more hot water. She flipped off the shower and grabbed a towel to dry herself. Normally, she would use her semblance, but that required some form of emotion. Right then, she only felt empty.

Yang sat there watching her counterpart, her eyes were so… cold.

On her way out of the bathroom, the brawler switched the sheets over to the dryer, and added a few extra dryer sheets just to be safe. If there was any leftover odor, Blake would sense it, and the last thing Yang wanted was to cause her team more trouble. She already had given them plenty.

After cleaning the room for every possible speck of dust, the clock finally reached 7, and Yang left for the infirmary. As she crossed the courtyard, she noticed how the other students moved away from her, each one eyeing her warily. She might have been impressed at how quickly the students had found out what happened, except being at the center of it all made it feel much less impressive. Luckily, the infirmary was close, so she only endured the glares for a minute or so.

The members of RWBY watched their teammate both on screen and between them, she seemed so… empty, as if her usual fire was missing.

Upon entering, she looked up Jaune's room, and saw he was on the 4th floor. Her heart dropped. The 4th floor was intensive care, but for hunters it had a whole new level.

Yang swallowed at the sight while Ruby visibly tensed, even Blake and Weiss looked uncomfortable.

Intensive care was only for those who were so close to death they could feel the reaper's scythe. And that's not even counting the time Ruby traversed the hall on rollerblades tapping each patient with her sweetheart. So yeah, 4th floor was bad.

Neo looked over to team RWBY seeing them support the bimbo for her counterpart.

Well, aren't you just the world greatest pal, I guess you helped blondie skip classes if nothing else.

Yang didn't respond but the glare her team sent hate filled glares t which Neo smirked challengingly, she called bug bites on her shit why wouldn't she do the same to bimbo.

But she couldn't back down now. Yang stepped into the elevator and ascended to the floor, luckily alone. One of the perks of being here so early was that few people visited at this time. She made her way down the hallway, finally arriving at the door and raising her hand to knock.

"Here to finish the job?" The voice was scathing, and she knew exactly who it belonged to. Yang looked over her shoulder to see Pyrrha Nikos standing behind her, weapons at the ready. "You're dumber than you look if you think I'm letting you anywhere near my partner." With a sharp pull, the champion yanked the blonde backwards and positioned herself between Yang and the door.

All the teens in the room felt a chill run down their spine at the tone of the usually sweet champion even Pyrrha herself looked somewhat surprised.

"Pyrrha please, I just need to see if he's okay. You have to believe me, this was an accident," she begged.

"I wish I could Yang, I really do. But right now, Jaune's laying in that room, barely clinging to life, and all I can think about is how it's all your fault. The doctors say if we're lucky, he might wake up in a month."

Yang let out a shaky breath, her fault… could she have really doen something like that to VB? She knew the answer… and it burned to know.

"Just let me see him Pyrrha, I need to know he's okay."

"Give me one reason why I should let you through this door, Yang." She knew Pyrrha had every right to deny her, but she had to see him.

"Please. I need to know."

"Know what?" the Spartan asked. "What in the world is so important?"

"I need to know I'm not a killer!"

They all heard it the desperation in her tone, the pain and sorrow and searing regret. Ren visibly tensed he couldn't forgive this Xiao-Long, not for what she'd done… but his own.

There it was. The one thing she dreaded above all else. If Jaune survived, maybe she could live with herself, eventually. But if he died, because of her stupid, immature choice? She could never face her team again. She could never face her sister again. The frustration was slowly boiling inside her, and she could feel her semblance heating the air around her.

Yang hands rose her hands to her face as hot angry tears formed, why the fuck was she having to watch this!?

Her blood began to boil – until she felt something sharp press against her throat. She glanced to her left, and saw Ren next to her, with one of StormFlower's blades pressed against her throat.

"Leave now, and I'll give you the courtesy of not telling Nora you were here." The normally stoic boy still held a straight face, but his eyes were filled with unbridled anger.

Nora looked to her Renny's counterpart, his eyes were so mean and angry… she didn't that, even if what she did was horrible, unforgivable even she was still there friend. She hadn't noticed how her anger had seeminbgly vanished all she did know was that Jaune-Jaune wouldn't want this.

She nodded slowly, before finally turning to leave. Pyrrha might hurt her, but Nora? If the hammer wielder found her, Yang doubted she'd ever walk again. She glanced back once more at the champion. "I know I have no place to say this, but, take care of him, alright? He's a good guy, and you all deserve better than a crappy friend like me. I'll see you around."

The walk back was just as bad, if not worse than the one earlier. It didn't help that most teams were up and going to their weekend activities by now. Every student had apparently heard of her loss of control, and each stare reminded her of just how right Pyrrha was. It really was all her fault.

Memories of her dad talking to her about her anger came to mind, of drunkle Qrow and even Rubes… Why the hell had she never taken them seriously before now?

When she finally reached her room, Yang found that it wasn't empty. Ruby sat on her hanging bed, lightly rocking the frame back and forth. When she noticed the blonde, she jumped down and approached. "Hey."

"I… I'm so sorry." Yang couldn't bring herself to look her sister in the eyes. "I never wanted to hurt anyone. Especially not you. I know it's no excuse for what I did, but I want you to know that."

Ruby gave her a weak smile. "I know Yang. I talked it over with Blake and Weiss, and I'm sure you were just trying to protect me. But you went too far."

Ruby felt conflicted on one hand she was glad they didn't hate Yang but on the other she couldn't help but feel guilty considering how quickly she was willing to forgive.

"Ruby, is he gonna be okay?" She wasn't sure she wanted the answer, but the dread was cutting into her like a knife.

"I think so, yeah. He might not wake up for a while, but Jaune's tough, right? He'll get better, and then we can all be friends again."

"That's good," she replied. "And… what about us? Can you forgive me?"

Ruby's smile faltered, and for a moment she didn't reply. "I don't know, Yang. Maybe eventually. You're my sister, and I'll always love you, but this hurt. More than you could imagine."

It hurt both sisters to hear, but worse was neither felt she was wrong for saying it.

"I guess I'll have to live with that then, huh?" Yang was glad that her sister would even consider it. She didn't deserve someone like Ruby, not after everything she'd put the girl through. "Hey Rubes?" she asked, finally meeting her gaze. "I'm about to go see four of the scariest people in the world, and I understand if you're not comfortable with it, but I could really use a hug right now." She practically whispered the last part, not wanting to hurt her sister anymore.

The reaper heard it though, and she quickly moved to wrap her arms around the blonde. "Of course, Yang. I love you, even if I am still pretty angry with you."

Ruby quickly repeated her counterpart's actions hugging her big sis.

Yang pulled her sister against her chest, gripper the red cloak tightly. "Thank you, Ruby. I love you too. And I promise, somehow I'm gonna make it up to you." She gave Ruby one last half-hearted smile before opening the door and turning down the hall.

Most of the student body was at lunch, so she had a fairly quiet trip, though it was hardly peaceful. The entire walk, her mind was racing with possibilities. She had never heard what punishment was for something like this, but she knew from Goodwitch's many lectures that it was bad. Not only had she broken Jaune's aura, but she had continued to hit him after that. Even something as simple as a courtyard brawl was punishable by a week's worth of detention, so she couldn't imagine what she would get. Maybe if she was unbelievably lucky, they would just suspend her the rest of the year. Worst case scenario, she could be spending a long time in jail.

Weiss frowned, Yang was greatly underestimating their potential punishment.

The thought frightened her. It wasn't that she'd do poorly in jail – in fact prison's for hunters were often more rehabilitation centers than anything else. No, what truly scared her was the knowledge that if Ruby or anyone else she cared about was in danger, she couldn't rush to their side and help. Instead, she would be locked in a cell, useless and powerless.

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, she reached Beacon's Tower Elevator before she could think of the terrible things that would happen to her friends in her absence. She entered the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. She took a few more deep breaths, doing her best to calm her nerves.

As Yang entered Ozpin's office, the first thing she noticed was the people. Goodwitch, Ozpin, Port, and Oobleck all were present, and for once none of them had a smile. Even Port, who was famous for his bravado and infallibly high spirits, seemed to be watching her with a careful eye.

all seven students tensed up, had their professors always looked so intimidating. Hell even Neo admit piggy and caffeine addict actually looked a bit menacing for once.

"Welcome Ms. Xiao Long," said Ozpin. "I wish we were calling you here under better circumstances. Unfortunately, the task to determine your fate falls to us. Now, I first would like to ask you: do you in any way deny the actions you are being charged with?"

The blonde took a deep breath to calm herself. "No. I take full responsibility for Jaune's condition. I lost my temper and failed to check his aura levels."

Pyrrha tried to maintain her glare but honestly it was hard to… she could only see Yang so distraught for so long before she couldn't help but worry for her. It didn't help that Jaune was standing beside them, given an older Jaunes but Jaunes none the less.

The board remained stone-faced, each member analyzing her statement. Finally, Goodwitch broke the silence. "Ms. Xiao Long, I want to make this clear. Assaulting a student without aura is no different than assaulting a civilian, and in most cases it will receive the same punishment. However, given that you were unaware of Mr. Arc's aura levels, your actions will be seen as assault against a hunter, not a civilian. I hope you understand just how lucky you are. Had this been any other way, you would be facing jail time."

Neo though held no such sympathies like the bleeding heart amazon, she glared at goodbitch for the statement.

"That being said," Ozpin continued for her, "we have discussed this at great length, and we must always keep the safety of our students at the forefront of our decisions. Because of your actions, Ms. Xiao Long, it is obvious that you are a threat to my students. Therefore, this board has decided that there is only one possible course to take. Yang Xiao Long, you are expelled from Beacon Academy. From this point forward, you are to relinquish all rights as a huntress in training, and will refrain from taking any jobs that require a hunter license. You have 3 days to arrange for transportation from this campus, and after you leave, you will not return. Due to the nature of your relationship with Ms. Rose, you will be allowed to visit on days when family is welcome, but outside of these instances you are banned from entering. While we cannot force you, we strongly recommend that you cease all contact with your former team, with the aforementioned exception of Ms. Rose. Do you understand these rules, Ms. Xiao Long?"

All four members of the team froze on the spot shocked to hear the verdict, for a moment they were about to speak against it before the image of Jaunes came to mind. Even the members of (J)NPR looked to the screen shocked, did they think Yang deserved such, absolutely but still…

The brawler sat stunned. This was it; she was gone. In an instant, all her dreams of adventure, the possibilities that awaited her, they were all taken away. She heard Goodwitch repeat the headmaster's question but could only nod. She was too shocked to speak. She knew her actions were going to have consequences, but it all seemed so far away, until it actually happened.

"Child, I know this must be a lot to take in. I would recommend spending your last days here with your team and doing your best to make amends with any you feel you can." Although Port's face seemed cold, his tone was empathetic. No teacher ever wanted to see their student's dream taken away. "If you feel the need to discuss anything, all of us here will be available over the weekend. Please, do not hesitate to confess your strife to us."

All seven felt a warmth at the plump teacher's words, usually they'd spend a great deal of time trying to ignore his words yet now they could only feel comfort.

"I understand." She barely managed to choke out the words. There was nothing left to say, so she nodded in acknowledgement to the board and quickly left the room. She wanted to visit her team, but first she had to make a call.

After a few seconds of ringing, a soft voice answered. "Yang? What's going on?"

The brawler's heart froze at her father's voice.

"Hey dad." Her voice was trembling, barely containing her emotions.

"Yang, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

She shook her head as her eyes began to tear. "I messed up, dad. I messed up real bad."

As the view faded Yang finally let her feelings take hold as she buried her face into her palms and cried as if she was the one who'd committed the act because as far as she was concerned she was.