8

Chapter 8: Combat Ready

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

"Ready to head out?" Jaune checked his combat gear. Pyrrha nodded at him.

"You guys going out for some partner practice?" Nora shouted from her bed, her headphones down.

"Yes, we should be back in a couple hours. We could grab dinner together afterwards?" Pyrrha asked. Nora looked over at Ren, who nodded in approval.

"Sure! Don't keep us waiting too long you crazy kids!"

"We won't!" Jaune called back to her as the two of them left their dorm. He turned to Pyrrha. "Seriously though, we better not. Nora can be crazy about her food." Pyrrha gave a light laugh. She had noticed as much about Nora during their first week at Beacon.

Together the two of them headed over to their team's favorite training room, which Jaune had reserved in advance. Neither of them were planning on training today, but it would be some place private.

No, today would be the day when Jaune told Pyrrha just how he already knew her before they both arrived at Beacon. Ever since she had asked Jaune about it, she had been wondering how he could've known her. She was nearly positive she had never met anyone like him, yet how else could this be explained?

Originally, Jaune had asked to discuss it all the previous night, but RWBY invited them all out to party for the end of the semester. Jaune offered to skip the party so they could talk, but Pyrrha could put off questioning for at least one more day.

"Guess this is it, huh?" Jaune said nervously as the pair arrived at their destination.

"We don't have to do this today if you aren't ready yet." Pyrrha assured him. She wanted answers, but forcing them out of him could do more harm than good, for either of them. Jaune shook his head.

"I've already kept you waiting too long." Jaune replied. The pair took their seats on a bench next to the wall. "Okay, so, uh- There's… a lot to cover, about what happened and how I know you, and I wanted to say some things upfront.

"I'm not going to tell you everything—not because I don't trust you, but because knowing some of this stuff is dangerous, and I don't want to put you in unnecessary danger." Pyrrha frowned and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Dangerous?" She asked. Jaune nodded. What from their past could be dangerous? In a way, fighting in tournaments was dangerous, but Pyrrha had the distinct impression that wasn't the type of danger Jaune was talking about.

"Yeah. That being said, I'll answer any question that you ask. I don't want you to think I'm keeping anything from you. Last, what I'm going to tell you is going to be unbelievable, and you won't offend me by being skeptical. Is—is that all okay by you?"

Pyrrha took a moment before responding. It was… strange, for him to say all that. What was this going to be that would require so many caveats? "Yes." She replied.

"What's your favorite fairy tale?" Jaune asked. Pyrrha blinked twice. Fairy tales? Had she heard him correctly?

"I'm—sorry?"

"You know, fairy tales. Stuff you read when you were a kid. Did you have favorites?" Sure, she did. Her mother had read them to her when she was too young to read them herself.

"I—I always enjoyed the shallow sea, the gift of the moon, the infinite man-"

"What about the tale of the two brothers?" Jaune interrupted.

"Oh, of course, the brother gods, responsible for the creation of humanity." Jaune nodded. But why was her partner bringing it up? "Does the story have something to do with how we met?" Jaune rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"In a round-about way… But, right, the brother gods. What do you know about them?" Pyrrha tried to remember what she could of the old tale.

"Let's see… The older brother created while the younger destroyed, and together they created humanity, giving them the power to create and destroy, giving them knowledge of the world around them, and the power to choose."

"Yeah, that's the essence of it. There's probably one story you haven't heard though.

"Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in a small town with seven sisters. He dreamed of becoming a hero, of fulfilling his family's legacy. His father had been a warrior, and his grandfather before him. He wanted to be one too. But… he was never good enough.

"So he trained and trained, and when he was old enough, he applied to the most prestigious school in the entire world. Despite his training, he wouldn't get in. Instead of letting that be the end, the boy lied about his grades, and attended the school.

"But it was really tough. He lagged behind his classmates, and struggled with even the basics. Fortunately for him, someone noticed his plight. A girl, one of his teammates, offered to help him. The boy, too prideful to accept this help, pushed her away."

Jaune paused to gauge her reaction. Pyrrha had her head tilted slightly and a half frown on her face.

"The boy kept struggling, and people around him took advantage of his weakness. Eventually, he realized that what he was doing was stupid, and asked the girl to help him. She agreed, and together they worked hard. Harder than the boy had ever worked in his life.

"Slowly, he improved. And as his skill with a blade grew, so did his affection for the girl who had helped him. They made a good team, went on adventures together, and always watched each other's back. Then, one day, something happened. The school where they both trained, it… was destroyed, and they were separated.

"The boy kept going, despite the fact that his partner wasn't by his side anymore. He tried to find those responsible for the destruction of his school, and bring them to justice. He spent years, got so close, so, so many times. But in the end, he failed."

That was enough for the pieces to start to click in Pyrrha's head. The boy… this wasn't just a story. It was their story? Had- had she and Jaune…? But how then…?

"And it was during that failure that he met the brother gods." Jaune sighed. "At the end of his story, the gods offered him a choice. To go back and get a chance to do things right. The God of Darkness offered the boy that choice, while the God of Light offered one his friends the same choice. They both accepted, and so they got the chance to live their lives again." He concluded his story with a wave of his hands, pointing at himself.

So that was how Jaune knew her? He had met the gods and lived his life twice? Pyrrha spoke up. "That boy… and that boy is you, Jaune?" Her partner nodded. "A-and the girl who helped you, is me?"

"Yeah. That's how I know you. Because this isn't my first time at Beacon." The words Pyrrha understood but their implication… my gods their implication! The brothers weren't real; they were just an origin story for humanity. Yet, Jaune was sitting right in front of her. Had she not felt with her own senses the shape of his soul?

"You've… met the brother gods… they're real? That's… they're supposed to just be a story. That's impossible." Jaune shook his head and tried to reassure her.

"They are real. I've seen them with my own eyes. They took me to their domain when they gave me the choice to go back in time. How… what do you think of all of this?"

What did she think?? On the surface it made sense, but what was it all supposed to mean? If the gods were real, where were they? Did they control the grimm? Why would they let them roam free? But more importantly, Jaune mentioned at the end of his story that he wasn't the only one to live his life anew.

She only had to dwell on that question for a moment before the answer to who else was sent back became apparent. The two of them had been friends from the moment they had first spoken to one another (though now Pyrrha realized that they must've known each other far longer).

"Was Ruby the other person who the gods offered the chance to go back to?"

"Yeah. She was." Jaune gave a small laugh.

"How long have you known her?"

"It feels like it's been a lifetime, but only a few years."

"Can—can I confirm this with her?" Jaune nodded.

"You should. She wanted to be here, but I wanted to tell you personally." That was probably for the best. Ruby's energy, while wonderful in its own way, was not exactly what Pyrrha needed at the moment.

"I… see. That's how you two know each other then. And your combat skills, too?" Jaune nodded. Yet another mystery about her partner solved, it seems as though today Pyrrha was getting all the answers.

"We retained all our skills, honed through years of fighting grimm." Pyrrha put a hand to her mouth and laughed quietly. "What?" Jaune asked.

"It seems hard to imagine you needing my assistance with training. You train harder and more than I do."

"I have you to thank for that. You made me who I am today. Trained me from the ground up."

"I must have been a good teacher."

"You were the best." Jaune said, the emotion clear in his voice.

"And what about Blake?" Pyrrha asked. She had seen her skills first-hand, and they were nothing to be trifled with, the same as Ruby and Jaune.

Jaune puzzled at the question. "What about Blake?"

"Well, she's the only one who seems to be on the same level as yourself and Ruby, I only thought…" Pyrrha gestured as she trailed off.

"Blake's… um, Blake's story isn't for me to tell, but she grew up outside the kingdoms. That's how she learned." Growing up outside the kingdoms could explain some of her combat experience. After all, learning to kill small- and medium-sized grimm was a requirement of living outside the kingdoms, but the skills used to fight human opponents was markedly different, and yet Blake displayed those too in spades.

Still, Pyrrha decided not to press Jaune on the issue, clearly seeing how uncomfortable it made him. Besides, there were other far more concerning questions.

"What happened to Beacon?" She asked, dreading the answer.

"Someone attacked it. They caused a massive grimm attack, and brought grimm into the school. They unleashed a massive grimm dragon from Mountain Glenn, and that attracted even more grimm, so the school couldn't be cleared. It… become lost. No one could enter. I spent years pursuing those responsible along with Ruby."

How was Pyrrha supposed to even process such an event? That would've had massive and far-reaching consequences on the rest of the world. If the tower fell, then the CCT network could've even been broken, bringing global communications to an abrupt halt, not to mention the loss of lives and devastation. "Why would someone do that? Why attack the school?" What could have ever motivated someone to commit such a heinous act?

"The school had something they wanted. Beacon, the other academies, they aren't just schools, they're fortresses. Guarding powerful artifacts, called relics, created by the god of light. The people who attacked, wanted that power. Their plan worked the first time, but Ruby and I are working to make sure it doesn't happen again. They've already started working to bring out Beacon's fall, but we're planning on fighting back. That's why I need to ask you for a favor, to help us." Pyrrha tilted her head. Help him?

"They're stockpiling dust, which they plan to use to build bombs which will help unleash grimm into the heart of downtown Vale. Their last major dust robbery is happening soon. Ruby and I are going to fight them, and we want to bring along our teams. Would you come with us?"

Pyrrha was already primed to say yes. The safety of the entire kingdom could be at stake. She would be remiss to not at least try. But, what he said… Just what were these relics that would make someone want them so badly?

"Would I-? Fortresses? Relics? … If what you're saying is true, then stopping them is incredibly important. I'll help you if I am able. But—what happened between us? Why didn't we keep working together after Beacon was destroyed?"

Jaune winced at the question. "You went down a path I couldn't follow." Jaune said cryptically. Had… had Pyrrha sided against him? There, there wasn't any way that would've happened, was there?

"O-Oh, I… see. Did we ever meet again?"

"Yeah—yeah we did. I wanted to stay with you, but I couldn't. I couldn't stay with you and find the people responsible for all of this. So I said goodbye, for what I thought was the last time. But it wasn't." Jaune laughed weakly.

"And… us. What were we?" Pyrrha asked quietly. She had to know.

"… You were the first person to ever believe in me. You showed me what it meant to be a huntsman. You were my best and closest friend, my partner in everything. You were always there for me, and I did my best to always be there for you."

"We were that close?"

"Yeah, but we don't have to have that again, if you don't want to-" Pyrrha interrupted Jaune.

"No! I- I mean, I'm happy that were friends, Jaune. It's just- it's a lot to understand all at once." That was an understatement. She just needed… a bit of time, to digest it all.

"Right. How about some sparring after all, to take your mind off it, or give you something to do while thinking about it?" Jaune asked. Pyrrha thought about the offer for a moment before accepting.

"Yes… yes, that sounds lovely. And Jaune, thank you for telling me about this." She was thankful. He could've lied, but he didn't. If he had wanted to lie, he would never have come up with something so unbelievable.

"You deserve to know." Jaune replied, he let his gaze drop. "You all do."

---

"In lieu of our usual board game night with Team JNPR, I propose we travel into Vale today in order to observe our counterparts from the other kingdoms as they arrive for the Vytal festival." Weiss announced to her sleepy teammates over breakfast.

Their usual social activity had been cancelled since it was finals week, but they still would need something to give themselves a break. Traveling into Vale to greet the students arriving from other kingdoms would be a splendid way to spend an afternoon.

"Sure, I'm game. I'm tired of studying anyway." Yang stretched and none too subtly put her arm around Weiss' shoulders. Not that she needed to be subtle, Weiss wouldn't mind either way.

Ruby grinned excitedly from her seat across from Weiss. "I'm coming too!! What about you, Blake?"

Blake stared impassively at Yang. "You guys go ahead without me. I want to cover some of the notes I missed for Peach's class." Weiss frowned at the response from her teammate. Was Blake excluding herself because of what had happened between them?

"Aww, but it won't be the same without you!" Ruby tried to give Blake her best pair of puppy dog eyes, but wisely Blake chose not to look. Weiss decided to interject.

"If… if this is about what I said, I told you that I was sorry. It wasn't fair of me to jump to conclusions, and I'm glad you're my teammate, and my friend." Weiss looked at Blake directly.

"No, it's, I- I appreciate it, Weiss. But don't apologize. I know my past wasn't right, and it's why I'm here now."

"But I overreacted, I should've let you explain before I-" Blake shook her head.

"You didn't. What I told you was upsetting. You weren't wrong for being angry."

"If something was wrong, you'd tell us?" Weiss asked. Blake nodded. "If I did something wrong, you'd tell me?" Blake nodded again. "Okay." Weiss smiled at her teammate.

"Aww, group hug!!" Ruby said as she and Yang awkwardly squeezed the four of them together across the table. Weiss couldn't help but roll her eyes and smile fondly that somehow, out of all of the teams at Beacon, this was the team she got stuck with.

She couldn't have been luckier.

---

Ruby was practically bouncing off the walls of the bullhead that was taking them down to Vale. Weiss glared at her several times over the course of the trip, but she couldn't help it!! The other students were arriving for the Vytal festival! And that meant that one very specific robot girl was going to be arriving!

Oh, Ruby absolutely couldn't wait to see Penny again!

As they got off the bullhead, Ruby wasted no time in rushing out. She was pretty sure that if she went any faster she would start shedding petals, but there was no time to waste. She dragged her sister and Weiss down towards the docks where all the students were arriving.

"Come on!! You guys are so slow!!" Ruby waited at the end of the street, as the two of them slowly, oh so slowly, approached.

"What's the big hurry sis? It's not like we gotta see the first one off the boat." Yang said, walking slowly next to her partner. Little did she know, Ruby really, really did want to see the first one off the boat, just in case it was Penny.

"She's just has too much energy. Really, it's remarkable you're able to sit and study for as long as you do with all of that." Weiss said. Ruby gave a nervous chuckle while Yang laughed. It was kinda funny, since Weiss was the one who taught her how to have that kind of focus in the first place.

"If you need to do a few laps to burn off some of that, we can catch up with you." Yang looked at Weiss, who nodded.

"You sure?" Ruby didn't want to leave her teammates behind. Yang though didn't even look up from her partner to respond.

"Yeah, we'll catch up." She said as Weiss hooked her arm around her partners.

"Well, alright. Don't take too long!" Ruby zipped away with her semblance and torn through downtown Vale towards the docks. She was at least nice enough to stay out of other people's way, but more than one surprised gasp was directed her way as she moved at lightning speed.

In record time she found herself down by shore where passengers were just starting to depart in droves, among them the first wave of students that would eventually flood Vale in preparation for the Vytal festival. She looked around for her favorite orange-haired girl. Fortunately, she stood out, and in no time Ruby was able to locate her. Smiling, she rushed down with her semblance and introduced herself.

"Hi! Welcome to Vale! I'm Ruby, I go to Beacon!" She pointed at the tower off in the distance. If Penny was startled by the sudden appearance of someone talking to her, she didn't show it.

"Oh! Salutations Ruby! My name is Penny, and I am from Atlas." She rocked back and forth as she spoke and smiled happily.

"Hi Penny!" She beamed at her friend. "What brings you to Vale?"

"I'm here to fight in the Vytal festival!" Penny declared triumphantly.

"Wow, you must be combat ready then." Ruby said. Penny gasped.

"How did you know??" She whispered to Ruby, who couldn't help but giggle a bit. She had missed Penny.

"I like to keep tabs on my friends." She replied.

"Your friend?"

"Yeah! Do you want to be friends?" Penny considered the question before replying emphatically.

"Yes!" She declared.

"Awesome! Then as my friend, do you want to accompany me as I find my teammates?"

"That sounds sensational!" Penny pumped her arms. "Do you know where they are?"

"Um, not really. I kinda ran super-fast to get down here so I could-"

"There you are!" Yang called out behind them. Ruby turned around to see her sister and Weiss, who was still holding onto her sister's arm.

"Who's this…?" Weiss asked.

"This is my friend, Penny! Penny, these are my teammates Yang and Weiss!"

"Sal-u-tations, teammates Yang and Weiss! It's a pleasure to meet you!" Weiss looked at Penny skeptically.

"Um, it's nice to meet you too, Penny." She turned to her leader. "Ruby, you were out of our sight for like, ten minutes. How did you make a friend?" Weiss asked. Ruby shrugged.

"Hey the more the merrier. So… what're you doing in Vale?" Yang asked.

"I'm here for the tournament!" Penny responded.

"Wait, you're fighting in the tournament? Forgive me, but, you hardly look the part." Weiss asked. Ruby and Penny both responded at the same time.

"She's combat ready!"

"I'm combat ready!"

The two of them dissolved into a fit of giggles as Yang and Weiss looked on with some confusion.

---

Sun whizzed down yet another street as he ran circles around Vale's finest. He was pretty sure he'd lost them at this point. A little bit of a chase was fun, but he was definitely getting bored with it all. Taking a quick look behind him, Sun slowed his pace as he took in downtown Vale.

Without a goal in mind, he just kind of walked down street after street. Heading over to Beacon wasn't really a choice since he wasn't supposed to be here yet. Doubt they'd just let him crash on a couch or something. What he'd do for the night was something for future Sun to figure out. Right now walking around till something caught his eye sounded just fine.

For the most part, the people of Vale just seemed to be going about their business. Decorations were being hung in preparation for the start of the Vytal festival, customers milled around in the numerous outside cafes, and delicious smells emanated from the many different sugar shops that littered every corner.

Sun went in any store that caught his eye. He didn't buy anything, but still managed to walk away with a few trinkets for his troubles. He was munching on an elegantly decorated bite-sized banana crème pie when he spotted a girl peeking out from one of the alleyways, facing away from him.

Her long black hair cascaded down her back, and a neat bow was affixed on top of her head. What was she looking at? And why was she in an alley? Sun popped the rest of his mini-pie in his mouth and walked over to see what the girl was up to.

He got right behind her before alerting her to his presence. "What are we looking for?" The girl nearly jumped out of her skin and a hand went to her weapon as she turned around. Upon seeing him though, she let her hand drop. "Whoa, sorry, didn't mean to scare you like that! Man, you're kind of jumpy."

"Do you always sneak up on people you don't know?" The girl leveled a glare at him.

"Nah. Just expected you to hear me before I got that close." Sun pointed to the top of his head. "What with those and all." She raised an eyebrow.

"The bow isn't working for you?" Sun let his tail wrap around him.

"Nah. It's good enough to fool humans, but I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you."

"Guess it's no use protesting then." Sun paused.

"Why wear the bow if you're just going to admit you're a faunus right after meeting someone?" He asked. The girl seemed to go to some length to conceal it, and yet here she was admitting it to a total stranger.

"… Why indeed." She looked back down the street and hissed. "I've lost them now. Follow me." Sun didn't even have time to ask where they were going as his new friend took off down the alleyway and launched herself from wall to wall until she was on the rooftops. Sun smiled, this was going to be fun, he could just feel it. Eagerly, he followed.

The pair jumped from roof to roof, the girl always one step ahead. Sun would almost catch up to her whenever she paused occasionally to look down at the street below, scanning it before moving again, leaving Sun in the dust.

Eventually though, she found whatever she was looking for and slid down the roof and back into another hiding spot. When Sun followed, she quickly pulled him into cover. "Whew, okay, that was a workout. I'm Sun, by the way! Sun Wukong!"

"Blake. Belladonna." Blake kept her attention on whatever she was tracking.

"So, uh, Blake. What'cha looking for? Gotta be pretty important if you're willing to jump over roofs for it." No sooner that he had finished, a group of four girls came around the corner. A girl with redish-black hair led in the front, animatedly talking and laughing with a more reserved girl with orange hair, who just looked happy to be there. Behind them, a taller girl with long blonde hair interjected occasionally, while a girl with white hair clung to her.

Like, really clung to her. Sun had never seen heart-eyes in a person before.

"Who're they?" Sun asked.

"My teammates. Three of them, at least." Blake answered.

"Huh. If they're your teammates what're you doing over here instead of being out there with them?" Blake sighed.

"What indeed."

Sun scratched his head at the response. "You really like being mysterious, don't you?"

Blake glared at him. "Don't push your luck, Sun."

The gaggle of girls passed over the street they were hidden in, and Blake got up from her spot, ready to pursue.

"More parkour?" Sun asked.

"If you can keep up."

"Pfft, you know I love a challenge." Blake gave a light chuckle.

"Yes, yes I do." With that, she was off.

---

Pyrrha watched as the eight members of RWBY and JNPR squeezed themselves into her team's dorm. They had all gathered at Jaune and Ruby's insistence, and Pyrrha would be wondering along with everyone else what this was all about if not for her earlier talk with Jaune.

It was… so much to process. Jaune was from the future. A future? One he was apparently trying to prevent from coming true a second time. Ruby too, though Pyrrha had yet to discuss it with her. Though her presence in leading this meeting seemed nearly proof enough, along with her previous actions.

But by far the most disturbing of what Jaune revealed was the fact that Beacon would fall. Jaune was not incorrect in his observation that the schools were fortresses, always surrounded by trained huntsmen. How would someone be able to overpower them, under any circumstances? How many grimm would be required to cause such a catastrophe? How would those responsible even control a single grimm, much less such a large group?

Jaune had made it clear that she could ask questions as she thought of them, but for now she just wanted to think. All that he had said was enough to confuse anyone. Jaune gathered everyone's attention.

"Thanks for uh, thanks for gathering on such short notice, but Ruby and I have something important to tell you guys. So uh, Ruby-?" Jaune did his best at trying to sound formal.

"Right, Jaune and I found evidence that the criminal I ran into, Roman Torchwick, is planning a huge robbery at the docks in Vale, tomorrow. He plans to steal all the dust of Vale's last shipment for the year, which will seriously hinder the kingdoms ability to fight grimm. We are going to stop him." All eyes turned to Ruby after she finished her announcement, a mix of emotions on their faces. Confusion and bewilderment from those who weren't told ahead. Calm determination from those who already knew.

"You… found evidence…?" Ren asked.

"What on remnant are you talking about?" Weiss asked. Jaune spoke up.

"I was down at the docks when I found some equipment they left behind while they were planning. I showed it to Ruby and she recognized it from when she fought Torchwick the first time." He explained.

"That's pretty convenient." Nora quipped.

"He was at the right place at the right time." Pyrrha commented. She understood why the fabrication was necessary, but hoped in due time Jaune would be able to explain it properly to the rest of his team.

"Regardless, how do you even know when this robbery is going to take place?" Weiss asked. Ruby fidgeted in place nervously.

"Well, um- I heard someone talking about when the shipment was coming in."

"That isn't really much to go on, sis." Yang chimed in. Ruby and Jaune's scheme to convince their teammates seemed to be sinking fast. Pyrrha considered speaking up to corroborate their story, but fortunately she was saved from having to do so by Blake.

"I heard about it too." She said. "When I was down in Vale, I ran into someone who stowed away on a ship. He heard the dock workers talking about how much trouble it would be to offload the shipment that was coming in soon." Ruby immediately looked quite relieved, but Blake wasn't finished. "And he gave me reason to believe that the White Fang might be involved."

Pyrrha immediately turned to Ruby and Jaune to see their reaction to the new information. If they were surprised by it, they hid it well. Mostly though, their attention seemed firmly fixed on Blake.

"How did you…?" Ruby started, only to quickly shut her mouth. "I think you could be right, Blake. Which is why-"

"Okay, hold on for just a moment." Weiss interrupted. "Putting aside for the moment how you uncovered all of this; why not go to the authorities with all this 'evidence'?"

"We can't be sure they'll act in time. Torchwick has to be stopped, and we can stop him." Ruby responded seriously.

"And that's why we wanted to ask all of you for your help. So, will you guys help us?" Jaune asked.

Nora was the first to speak up. "Why not? Getting to smash stuff with Magnhild sounds downright therapeutic after finals."

"If nothing is done, the kingdom could be at risk. I'll gladly help you, Jaune." Pyrrha added.

Ren nodded his head in agreement. "It would appear to be irresponsible for us not to at least do what we can to prevent this."

Ruby turned to her team. Blake seemed to agree with her about the urgency of the situation, and quickly signed on. "I'm coming too."

Yang chuckled to herself. "Well, I can't let my little sister rush off without making sure she's okay. Guess that means I'm in too. What do you say Weiss?"

Weiss still looked skeptical. "You're serious about this?" She leveled her gaze at her team leader. Ruby nodded stoically.

"Fine, but if this goes poorly and we get arrested, I don't know any of you."

"You'd forsake your own partner??" Yang brought a hand to her mouth in mock outrage.

"Please, I'd be more concerned for the police than for you." Yang gave an easy smile. "So, what's our plan of attack then?" Weiss asked her leader. Ruby clapped her hands and got down to explaining the details of their plan.

Notes:

Early morning upload!

I'm not totally satisfied with the first and last scenes, but not everything can make me as happy as every freezerburn-centric scene.

Thank you again to everyone who comments. It's always a joy to hear your thoughts, theories, and ideas, and a major motivator in getting every chapter out each week. Extra special thank you to my beta reader Andzinsan for being willing to hear my crazy ideas about this story and suggest ways to make them a reality.