The students of Beacon were in the auditorium, where Ozpin was wrapping up his announcements about the upcoming holiday the students would be getting during the end of the year.
"Finally, I'd like to remind everyone that although you are on your winter vacation, I expect you to continue with your studies. With that said, enjoy your break, and I'll see you again next year."
As the students filed out of the auditorium, Ruby was jumping with excitement. Ruby's favorite holiday - the holiday to end all holidays - was only a few days away, and this year was going to be her first time celebrating it at Beacon.
By the time Team RWBY got back to their dorm, Ruby could no longer contain herself.
"I can't believe it's almost Christmas!" shouted Ruby. "This year just seemed to fly on by, huh?"
"I'm pretty sure it took as long this year as any other year," said Blake matter-of-factly.
"Oh you know what I mean! Also, not only is it almost Christmas, this is going to be our first Christmas together as Team RWBY! Aren't you guys as excited I am?"
"I am!" said Yang, just as excited as Ruby. Weiss was looking over her notes and tuned out Ruby as she usually did, while Blake simply shrugged her shoulders.
"With that said, as our first Christmas together as Team RWBY, we should totally do something big together to commemorate this!" said Ruby.
"Did you have anything in mind?" asked Yang.
"I did write down a few suggestions, but I haven't quite decided yet."
Ruby pulled out a scroll from her desk and rolled it out. The list turned out to be as big as the room itself.
"That's a lot more than a few," remarked Yang.
"Wow Ruby," said Blake. "You must really love Christmas."
"Do I ever!" said Ruby. "Every year I'd get to spend it with uncle Qrow and decorate this HE-YOUGE tree he always got and we'd go sledding and watch Christmas movies and have snowball fights and eat Christmas cookies until I barfed! What's NOT to love about it?"
"I guess..."
"C'mon Blake, where's your Christmas spirit?" asked Ruby.
"Honestly, I...don't like Christmas," said Blake.
"DON'T LIKE CHRISTMAS?" said Ruby. Hearing this was the most shocking thing Ruby has ever heard since...ever. "That's...that's...how can someone not like Christmas?"
"My family never celebrated it," said Blake. "Not like we could anyway, being a Faunus and all."
Without having to explain, Ruby realized Blake's disdain for the holiday. Blake had recently told them about formerly being in the White Fang and the trouble her kind went through.
"Oh. I...I'm sorry Blake. Tell you what. I am going to make it my personal mission that we make your first Christmas the BEST. CHRISTMAS. EVER!"
As over-the-top as Ruby was acting, Blake smiled at the suggestion.
"Thanks," said Blake. "So, what should we do?"
"First of all," said Ruby, "we DEFINITELY need to build a snowman! Maybe even a snow team! Team SNOW!"
"That sounds like fun," said Blake.
As the team were brainstorming ideas, Ruby noticed that a certain team member wasn't joining in the conversation. Ruby turned to Weiss, who was still looking over her notes from class.
"How about you Weiss?" said Ruby. "Any suggestions?"
"Oh, what?" asked Weiss.
"Did you have any ideas what we should do for Christmas?"
"Oh," said Weiss. "I don't care."
"Figures," said Blake.
"Figures what?" asked Weiss.
"It figures that someone like you wouldn't care about Christmas either," said Blake.
"For your information, I happen to like Christmas," said Weiss.
"See Blake? Even Weiss is in the Christmas spirit!" said Ruby. "So how do you normally celebrate Christmas?"
"How else? By getting presents," replied Weiss. "I don't much care for all those other activities you've mentioned."
"Really?" asked Ruby. "That can't be the only reason you celebrate it."
"Why not?" asked Weiss. "Isn't that the whole point of Christmas?"
"For a spoiled brat like you," said Blake.
Hearing those two words come out of Blake, Weiss suddenly stood and turned to Blake.
"What did you call me?" demanded Weiss.
"You heard me," said Blake. "SPOILED. BRAT."
"I think you're just mad you didn't get any presents!" said Weiss.
"How can I with your kind discriminating against mine?" replied Blake.
"That's enough!" pleaded Ruby. "Weiss! Blake! This is supposed to be Christmas! This fighting is NOT the way to get into the Christmas spirit!"
"Did somebody say Christmas spirit?" said Nora as she suddenly burst through their door and caught everyone off guard.
"Nora?" asked Ruby. "What are you doing here?"
"Team JNPR decided to do a secret Santa, and as dorm neighbors and comrades in arms, we wanted Team RWBY to be a part of it!" said Nora.
"What's a secret Santa?" asked Blake.
"Allow me to explain!" said Nora. "Secret Santa is when we put all our names in a hat, and then whoever's name we pull out, we have to buy them a present!"
"Any present?"
"There are some rules however! Rule number one: You can NOT, under any circumstance, reveal your secret Santa to anyone! Rule number two: The limit of buying a present is set at twenty lien! Finally, rule number three: You can't just buy a gift certificate or simply give them the twenty lien! You have to buy them a REAL gift!"
"As leader of Team RWBY, we gladly accept your invitation!" said Ruby.
"Speak for yourself," said Weiss. "You expect us to buy presents at that paltry amount?"
"Surprise surprise," said Blake. "The spoiled one-"
"Blake!" interrupted Ruby, shooting a death stare at Blake.
"Think of it as a challenge Weiss," said Yang. "You're not going to back down from a challenge are you?"
"Of course not!" said Weiss. "Challenge accepted."
The eight of them met up in Team JNPR's room. After a shuffling of the names, everyone drew out a name one by one. Weiss was scanning everyone's faces to see how they reacted to the name they pulled, hoping to find out who drew her name so she can secretly convince them to not buy her a lousy gift. The moment Nora pulled out a name, she looked as if she won the lottery and tried hard to contain her excitement. Even though she didn't say a word, it was obvious she pulled Ren's name. Everyone else was giving off a poker face. So much for finding out who had her name. Now she faced her second problem: What name she was going to draw.
"No big deal," she thought. "Nobody here seems picky about what they receive, especially Ruby. If I draw her name, I can get her just about anything."
"Your turn Weiss!" said Nora. Weiss reached down and pulled out the piece of folded paper.
"It'll be fine as long as I don't draw..."
Weiss unfolded the paper to reveal the name Blake written out in all caps.
"You have GOT to be kidding me!" thought Weiss. "Of all the names I draw, I get HER?"
"Alright!" said Nora. "Now that we've got our secret Santas set, we'll meet up tomorrow at the Vale Grand Mall!"
The teams went back to their dorms, thinking about potential gifts to buy for their drawn names. All of them except for Weiss, who was starting to regret being a part of this.
"Worst. Christmas. Ever," she thought to herself.
#
The Vale Grand Mall towered at five stories high and contained just about every kind of store you can imagine, and had an outdoor area the size of an amusement park. At the center square of the mall was the big Christmas tree, with people lined up to meet Santa. The parking lot was jammed pack with Christmas shoppers. On the outer edge of the parking lot waited several delivery trucks. One of the drivers, completely covered by a green hooded jacket, stepped out of one of the trucks.
"Remember, do not unleash the contents until I give the command," said the hooded man.
"Understood sir," replied the other man in the truck. The hooded man pulled out his phone and called someone.
"I have arrived. Have everyone get into position."
As soon as the teams arrived, they split up to various stores. Rather than go shopping though, Weiss headed straight to the food court and bought a hot apple cider. She sat by herself and pondered on what she was going to do.
"It's bad enough she thinks I'm some spoiled brat, but now I have to buy her a present? What am I supposed to get someone I truly know nothing about - aside from being a former member of a damn terrorist organization - who doesn't celebrate Christmas, and hates my guts? I should just give her the money and call it a day."
As Weiss was drinking her cider, someone was suddenly shouting her name. Weiss looked up to see Jaune running up to her.
"Jaune?" said Weiss. "What's wrong?"
"Listen Weiss, I REALLY need your help!" said Jaune.
"You need my help? For what?" asked Weiss.
"Okay, I know we're not supposed to be revealing our secret Santas to each other, but I don't know what else to do!"
"What's wrong? Drew a bad name?"
"The worst!"
"It can't be worse than my draw. Who did you get stuck with?"
"Ruby."
"Ruby? She's the easiest one to shop for! How can you have trouble finding something for her?"
"Because I can't decide what to get her! I mean I know she really likes weapons so I thought maybe I'd get her a subscription to a popular weapons magazine, but THEN I also know she likes listening to music, so I thought maybe I should get her a CD instead, or something she can use to recharge her headphones, but THEN I remember she also likes-"
"That's your problem? Having too many options? At least you HAVE options dimwit!"
An awkward silence followed. The way Weiss reacted sounded as if she was having a harder time than Jaune. Jaune took a seat across from Weiss.
"Sounds like you're having trouble as well," said Jaune. "If you don't mind me asking-"
"I drew Blake," quickly replied Weiss.
"Oh. So...how can you not know what to get her? You're teammates aren't you?"
"Teammates in name only. Besides, what am I supposed to get with a mere twenty lien?"
"Well, people always say it's not the value of the gift that matters. It's the thought that counts. As long as you get her something thoughtful I'm sure-"
"That's just my problem. Even if I could get something thoughtful, why should I? She thinks I'm some spoiled brat who got whatever she wanted for Christmas."
"But you did, right?"
Weiss shot a death glare at Jaune, who realized he said something he wasn't supposed to say. Jaune quickly tried to cover up his mistake.
"Uh, I mean...spoiled? You? How dare she!" said Jaune sympathetically.
"You think I'm spoiled too don't you?"
"Yes," said Jaune, once again realizing he said the wrong thing. "I mean-"
"You don't need to lie. I get it. Listen, Jaune...can you do me a favor?"
Jaune's nerves were starting to tense. He was starting to get worried about what Weiss would want as a favor.
"Uh...sure?" said Jaune.
"Promise me you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."
"Hold on," said Jaune. Jaune quickly looked around to make sure nobody else would overhear them. The last time Jaune got involved with secrets being shared, he wound up being Cardin's slave for a while.
"Okay, your secret's safe with me," said Jaune.
"Everyone thinks that just because I come from the Schnee family I had it easy; that I had the best Christmas' ever. I didn't. With my family constantly at war with the White Fang, every year our family grew wider apart. Christmas just made everything more stressful. Friends and relatives I celebrated with Christmas one year would be dead by the next. The only thing that made Christmas different from any other day was getting presents. I didn't get to go sledding or build snowmen or bake cookies or any of that Christmas stuff, but at least my family could afford to get me presents. That was the one solace I can take from Christmas, because by the next day, it was back to the same old turmoil as usual.
"This is my first Christmas away from my family, and I was hoping it could be the one Christmas I can enjoy. But then Blake has to go call me spoiled, just because she never had a good Christmas either. Now I have to get her a present that's supposed to be both thoughtful and cheap."
Weiss finished the rest of her cider, and then turned to Jaune.
"What do you think I should get her?"
Jaune began to think about what to suggest. It was hard enough he couldn't find a gift for Ruby, but now he had to help someone else find a gift.
"Um...what about..."
Before Jaune can give his suggestion, a mistletoe on a string was suddenly being lowered between them. They noticed the plant and turned to see Ruby dangling it above them.
"Look Weiss," said Ruby, "a mistletoe! You know what THAT means!"
"Knock it off!" said Weiss, grabbing the mistletoe away from Ruby. Weiss crumpled the plant in her hands while Ruby was laughing.
"What were you two talking about?" asked Ruby.
"Nothing!" quickly said Jaune. "Absolutely nothing! Listen, I need to get back to shopping! See ya later!" Jaune quickly bolted out of there.
"Were you two-?"
"No!" said Weiss. "We were just talking about...the weather."
"Right...anyway, I came to look for you. Me and the team want to go get our picture taken with Santa. Want to come?"
"Aren't you a little old for that kind of thing?" asked Weiss.
"You're never too old to hang out with Santa!"
"Fine, I'll go. I can use Santa's help."
"Help?" asked Ruby. "Help with what?"
Weiss got up and headed to where Santa would be, ignoring Ruby's questions.
#
In a hardware store on the top floor of the mall, the man covered in his green hooded jacket was looking over one of the megaphones. He held on the trigger and tapped the mic to make sure it worked.
"Be careful with that sir," said one of the sales reps. "Those things can be very loud in here."
"Would you say they'd be loud enough for the whole mall to hear?" asked the man.
"I guess you can say that."
"Good. I'll be taking this then."
"Alright, that'll be-"
For the sales rep can finish, the man began to walk out of the store.
"Excuse me sir! You need to pay for that!"
The man walked out of the store and triggered the store alarm. Mall security quickly surrounded the man.
"Too cheap to pay for one item huh? Drop the goods and come with us."
"Make me," said the hooded man.
"You asked for it."
The cop got out his club and swung at the man, but the man blocked with his forearm, then grabbed the cop with one arm and hurled him into the store window. The other cops tried to get involved but were quickly knocked out. Afterwards he pulled out his phone and gave the signal to the drivers of the trucks outside.
The commotion caused by the fight was catching the attention of all the people below, including Team RWBY.
"What's going on up there?" asked Ruby.
"Just our luck," said Yang. "Some jerks are probably fighting over some discounted merch."
"I hope they don't get too crazy," said Blake.
After the mall security had been dealt with, the hooded man stepped over the guard rail and looked down at all the people waiting to meet Santa. Everyone looked up and saw the man standing close to the edge.
"He's not going to jump is he?" asked Ruby.
"He's probably doing it for attention," said Weiss. "Watch, he'll climb back-"
Before Weiss can finish, the man jumped off and headed to where Santa and the tree were. People were panicking, wondering if the man was trying to commit suicide or pull off some stupid stunt. The man landed on top of the tree, then jumped again and landed a few feet away from Santa. The kid on Santa's lap quickly got off and ran back to his parents. Some people cheered thinking it was some kind of elaborate stunt, while the rest were confused as to what was going on. The man stood up and faced Santa.
"Can I...help you sir?" asked Santa.
"As a matter of fact you can," said the man. He approached Santa and threw a hard right at Santa, causing him to fall out of his chair. Some people tried to run up and help Santa, but suddenly a burst of gunfire echoed in the mall. Appearing on the upper floors were masked gunmen aiming at anyone who got close to the green hooded man, while the people on the bottom floor were getting surrounded by other gunmen. Only those on the far end of the lines were able to run away, while the rest were forced to stand still or be killed. Luckily Team RWBY was able to get past the gunmen and watched from a distance.
The green hooded man held out one arm and released a burst of fire from his hand at the tree, causing it to quickly go up in flames. The pine needles quickly burnt to ash and left a pale, empty tree standing. The man then kicked the tree as hard as he could, causing it to fall down.
"Who is this guy?" asked Ruby. "And why is he ruining Christmas?"
"I think we're about to find out," said Yang.
The man undid his hood and revealed himself to actually be a dog Faunus, surprising everyone looking on. Much like his hoodie, he had a tuff of green fur on top of his head. He lifted his hoodie to reveal his green dog tail as well. After showing himself, he held up his megaphone to make his speech.
"Greetings shoppers of Vale Grand Mall. My name is Brunswick Nezer, and Christmas is about to get a whole lot jollier."
Brunswick held out his arms, as if he was expecting the audience to cheer for him. Brunswick frowned and went back to his speech.
"What's wrong? Why are all of you suddenly afraid? I thought this was Christmas time! You know, the time of the year where you filthy, racist scum spend your hard-earned money to fulfill your selfish desires? The time of year that you claim is about spending time with the family and promoting good will towards your fellow men, but it's just another excuse to further drive your prejudice and hatred against the Faunus? Well? Are you people not happy? ARE YOU?"
The people were too afraid to say anything in case he suddenly went after them or pulled something even crazier than torching the tree down.
"Come on now, there's nothing to be afraid of! I'm not here to kill anybody, even if that's what all you humans deserve. I'm just here to make a point."
As he was talking, he noticed one of the people on the ground floor trying to run for one of the exits.
"Ah ah ah! I see what you're doing back there!" The person running suddenly stopped, scared into moving another inch. "Nobody leaves until I'm finished talking. Besides, I wouldn't go outside. There's been a sudden forecast of rampaging Grimm in the parking lot. Unless you want to take your chances fighting those things, I'd remain put if I were you."
"That's just great," thought Weiss. "First I get dragged into doing this secret Santa nonsense, and now I'm being taken hostage by some nut job Faunus. How can things POSSIBLY get any worse?"
"Now, back to my point," said Brunswick. "First, let me clarify that I am not officially associated with the White Fang, although I admire the work they have done for us Faunus within the past few years. I am here to settle a problem I have had this man."
Brunswick pointed to the man in the Santa outfit.
"Problem with Santa? What is he talking about?" asked Ruby.
"You humans promote Christmas as the most wonderful time of the year, yet for us Faunus, it's just another day of unprovoked racism and murder. You create the idea that every year, this man - Santa Claus, was it? - comes to all your homes and gives you presents for being such good little boys and girls. Yet Santa never came to visit us Faunus."
Brunswick approached Santa, who was too scared to make a move.
"Tell me Santa, are you just another human scumbag like everyone here?" asked Brunswick.
"Look man, what do you want from me?" asked Santa. "I'm just a guy who works here-"
"ANSWER THE QUESTION SANTA!" asked Brunswick, furious at Santa. Santa kept pleading for his life, further pissing off Brunswick. Brunswick picked up Santa by the collar and punched him out again, causing Santa to start bleeding. The kids started screaming and crying while the adults were begging Brunswick to stop.
"I was a good boy all my life, and what did you bring me? Nothing!" Brunswick ripped off the man's Santa suit and started to stomp on his ribs. While Brunswick was going nuts, Team RWBY were trying to figure out what to do.
"We need to put a stop to this," said Ruby.
"And what are WE supposed to do?" asked Weiss. "He's got hired guns all over the place. We make one move towards him and we won't live to see Christmas."
"We have to do something!" said Ruby.
While Ruby and Weiss were trying to come up with a plan, Blake looked on as Brunswick continued to pummel the innocent man without mercy, constantly yelling at him and blaming him for all the things humans have done to Faunus. She couldn't stand it anymore.
"I've got to stop this!" said Blake.
Before the team could say anything, Blake suddenly rushed towards Brunswick. She shot her gambel shroud to the second floor and use it as a swing to attack Brunswick.
"That's enough!" shouted Blake. Brunswick stopped beating Santa and turned to see Blake, who kicked Brunswick right in the gut and sent him flying several feet. As Blake helped the mall Santa to his feet, all the gunmen surrounding them had their sights aimed at Blake. Blake didn't make a move as Brunswick was getting back up.
"This girl's scent!" thought Brunswick. "She's a..."
Brunswick brushed himself off and cleared his throat.
"Well well, who would have thought we would come across a huntress of all people? You're pretty brave to stand up to a guy like me. Just for that, I'm not going to kill you right away. I'm going to give you a fighting chance."
Brunswick removed his hoodie and revealed his weapon. Attached to his forearms were gauntlets, with crystal orbs poking out of his palm. The gauntlets had tubes that were attached to what looked like a two foot tall container strapped to his back, measuring about an inch thick. Upon seeing his weapon, Weiss knew immediately what it was.
"I've seen one of those before," said Weiss. "It's a dustpack!"
"Dustpack?" asked Ruby.
"See that thing on his back? That carries various kinds of dust, which he can use to shoot from his gauntlets attached to his wrist."
"Well brave one?" asked Brunswick. "Do you accept my challenge?"
"If I win, will you end this charade?" asked Blake.
"I'm a Faunus of my word!"
"Fine then. I accept."
Blake got into her fighting stance as the mall Santa finally ran off. Brunswick got into his stance and dared Blake to come right for him.
"You don't really think he's going to give her a fair fight, do you?" asked Weiss.
"Not for a second," said Yang.
"So what should we do?" asked Ruby.
"I've got an idea," said Weiss. "Here's the plan..."
Blake charged at Brunswick at full speed. Brunswick shot his arm forward and launched a flamethrower at Blake. Just as the flames reached Blake, Blake suddenly disappeared. Brunswick quickly looked up to see Blake coming down on him, and held his arms up to block Blake's sword with his gauntlets, then pushed her off. Blake continued to strike quickly, with Brunswick using his gauntlets to block every slash. As he was dodging Blake's sword, he create a long block of ice and used that as a sword against Blake. The two continued to clash swords at an amazing speed. The two clashed one last time and tried to overpower the other, then both quickly jumped back after the match was too even.
Brunswick grabbed a large branch of the fallen tree, then set the tip on fire, creating a torch. Brunswick then charged at Blake and swung the torch as a sword. Blade kept dodging all of Brunswick's swings, then at the right moment, swung her blade and cut the branch in half. With Brunswick caught off guard, Blake separated her blade from the hilt and began to use both on Brunswick. All Brunswick could do was block Blake's attacks as he began to stammer back. About to lose his footing, Brunswick quickly jumped back to regroup. Blake turned her weapon into a scythe and was about to throw her scythe at Brunswick, but suddenly stopped when she realized Brunswick was standing right next to the crowd. If she made one false throw, she could fatally hurt an innocent bystander. With Blake suddenly stalling, Brunswick took advantage and held out his right arm to fire several energy bullets at her, while having his left arm behind his back. Blake dodged the bullets using her shadow clones and tried to attack up close, when suddenly Brunswick pulled out his left arm and revealed a ball of electricity. Blake was too late to react and took the hit straight to the chest, creating a small explosion that knocked her down. As Blake tried to get up, Brunswick quickly got in front of her and held his arm close to Blake's head. Brunswick smirked as he thought he had Blake cornered, but realized something didn't feel right. Brunswick suddenly turned around and saw the real Blake trying to slash Brunswick, but Brunswick turned around in time and blocked the attack.
"Faking getting hit with one of your shadow clones," remarked Brunswick. "I would have been impressed if my superior sense of smell didn't give you away. Face it huntress, you clearly don't stand chance against me. Even if you could beat me, did you honestly think I was going to keep my word when I have my men ready to end this the moment-"
Before Brunswick can finish, he suddenly heard the screams of one of his men above. He looked to see one of them falling his way. Brunswick jumped out of the way to avoid getting by his henchmen.
"What the hell's going on?" yelled Brunswick. Looking up, he saw his men fighting off more hunters. While Brunswick and Blake were busy fighting each other, Teams RWBY and JNPR had surprise attacked his men and started taking them out. The only ones that seemed to be left were the ones left on the ground floor. Brunswick was furious that he was losing his advantage.
"So that's how you're going to play?" yelled Brunswick. "Change of plans boys! Kill every human here!"
Before any of his men could obey his command, Blake suddenly got behind Brunswick and held his sword to his neck, pressing it against his throat. The rest of Brunswick's men immediately took aim at Blake. Once RWBY and JNPR had taken out the rest, they gathered just above the fight to see what was going on.
"You said I had your word you were going to stop this if I won," said Blake.
"Except you haven't won yet!" said Brunswick.
"Give it up Brunswick! These people have done nothing to deserve this. Call off your men!"
Brunswick thought about his options, then decided to raise his arms in the air.
"Fine, you win," said Brunswick. "I give up. Lay down your arms men. It's over."
All of Brunswick's men suddenly dropped their guns and raised their arms as well. Surprised by his submission, Blake put away her sword.
"Does anyone think that seemed a little too easy?" asked Jaune.
"He's got to be up to something," said Weiss.
"Now that we've settled that," said Blake, "you said that there's creatures of Grimm surrounding the area?"
"Yeah, about that?" said Brunswick. "That's...not exactly true."
"You mean you faked it just so nobody got out?"
"Oh no, I meant it when there was creatures of Grimm afoot."
"Then what are you talking about?" asked Blake.
"They won't be surrounding the area much longer."
Suddenly, one of Brunswick's gauntlets opened up and launched a missile into the air. The missile exploded, releasing a large amount of a weirdly scented red gas in the mall.
"What was that?" asked Blake.
"Oh, that?" said Brunswick. "It's just a gas I made with the sap of Forever Fall trees."
"Did he just say from the sap of Forever Fall?" asked Weiss.
"Is that bad?" asked Ruby.
"Hello? Sap from Forever Fall can attract Grimm!"
"But that would mean..."
Just then, they heard the roars of Grimm creatures emanating from the mall entrance.
"That's not a good sign," remarked Yang.
Before they knew it, a horde of Beowolves and Ursas burst through the mall entrance and were making their way to the center. Everyone ran away in a panic to avoid getting trampled.
"Like I said huntress!" said Brunswick. "You haven't won yet!"
Teams RWBY and JNPR jumped to the ground floor and began fighting off the Grimm.
"And that's my cue to leave!" thought Brunswick. "But perhaps I should get some insurance, just in case."
He quickly scanned the floor to see a couple and their child hiding in a store to avoid the fight. Meanwhile, the two teams were trying to fight off the Grimm, but was nearly impossible to do it in such a closed environment, not to mention all the casualties they had to protect from danger. As they were fighting, Blake heard someone screaming from behind them. She turned around to see Brunswick grab a child, then launching a grappling hook to make his escape to the upper floors. Ruby turned around to see Brunswick making his escape.
"He's getting away!" said Ruby.
"Forget about him," said Ren. "We need to focus on getting everyone out of here safely."
"Agreed," said Jaune. "Pyrrha and I will get everyone to safety. Ren and Nora, you keep the Grimm busy in here."
"10-4 captain!" said Nora, before going after the first Grimm in her sights. Ren shook his head and followed suit.
"Weiss and I will help out as well," said Ruby. "Yang, you and Blake...um, where's Blake?"
Team RWBY turned around to realize Blake had suddenly disappeared.
#
Brunswick made it to the roof of the mall, holding on to the child he kidnapped. He pulled out his phone and made a call for his escape.
"Get to the roof ASAP, and hurry. I've got huntresses on my tail."
As he waited for his escape, Blake arrived on the roof.
"So, Fido decided to follow me up here, has she?"
"Who are you calling Fido?" asked Blake.
"I'm calling you a Fido, Faunus In Descent Only!"
"You knew I was a Faunus?" asked a surprised Blake.
"How could I not? You have a scent only certain breeds of Faunus can omit. You know what's worse than the human scum who have mistreated Faunus like us? Sympathizers who betray their own kind!"
"I never betrayed my own kind!" said Blake. "I just got sick of them deciding to take such violent actions against the humans. I know how we've been mistreated, but that doesn't give you the right to start attacking innocent people!"
"Why not? It's either their blood or ours! If you are going to side with them, then you are nothing more than a Fido!"
"Let the kid go Brunswick!"
"You care about the humans that much? So be it!"
Brunswick suddenly threw the kid at Blake. Blake ran up to catch the kid safely and didn't pay attention to Brunswick, who ran up and sucker punched Blake. The kid quickly ran for the door leading back to the mall. A big bruise started to form on the side of her face.
"You want to sympathize with the humans, then I'll kill you like one!"
Brunswick formed an ice pick and tried to stabbed Blake. Blake rolled out of the way and took out her scythe. She fired multiple shots at Brunswick and distanced herself away from Brunswick, who formed a magnetic shield to block the oncoming bullets. Once she had gotten far enough, she tossed her scythe at Brunswick. Brunswick dodged to the side, but Blake pulled the scythe back and used it to trip him. Once he fell, Blake quickly went in to slash with her hilt. Brunswick quickly slammed his palms to the ground and caused earth spikes to pop up, preventing Blake from reaching him. Once Brunswick got back up, he fired a blast of ice where Blake was standing. Blake dodged the blast as the two continued to fire at each other while running past their foes attacks. Brunswick had fired so many ice blasts that the roof was now covered in icy stalagmites. Brunswick then fired bursts of flames at Blake. With not enough to room to run, Blake took to the air and began slashing down all the stalagmites. Rather than fire at Blake while she was in the air, Brunswick kept firing towards the ground level. Soon all the stalagmites had been broken or melted by the flames. Blake then launched her scythe towards Brunswick's feet, tied it around his ankles, and tripped him. Blake held on tightly so Brunswick couldn't get back up.
"Can't fight so well without any hostages on your side, huh?" asked Blake. Brunswick responded by laughing at Blake. "What's so funny?"
"Think I can't fight?" replied Brunswick. "Look what you are standing in."
Blake looked down to see she was standing in a puddle. In fact, the entire roof was covered with a small of layer of water caused from him melting all the ice.
"Did you really think I was missing all my shots? I was simply setting things up to fry you!"
Brunswick held up his arms and began shooting electricity out of it. Blake looked around and realized she had no chance of dodging the attack.
"This game of cat and dog is over!" shouted Brunswick as he slammed his arms into the ground. Just when Blake thought she was about to be electrocuted, a barrier suddenly surrounded her, preventing the electricity from touching her. Blake turned around and saw Weiss create the barrier that was protecting them.
"Weiss? What are you doing here?"
"What else?" said Weiss. "Helping my teammate of course."
After Brunswick's shockwave passed, Weiss used her rapier to create a strong gust of wind that blew the water off the roof. Brunswick untied the knot he was in and stood up.
"Well well," said Brunswick, "if it isn't one of Fido's human scum friends, and a fellow dust user at that!"
"Please!" said Weiss. "I've seen the way you fight. Compared to me, you're nothing more than an amateur."
"An amateur you say? And I suppose you learned how to fight at some big expensive academy for spoiled human children!"
That word again. The moment she heard that word again, Weiss's blood was starting to boil.
"WHAT did you call me?" asked Weiss.
"Hard of hearing human? I called you A SPOILED. HUMAN-"
Just before he can finish, Weiss suddenly shot a line of fire at Brunswick. Brunswick avoided it at the last second, nearly having his pants catch on fire.
"I am SICK of everybody calling me SPOILED!" shouted Weiss. "And I am definitely not going to take it by some whiny mutt trying to ruin Christmas!"
"Mutt?" said Brunswick, about to snap at Weiss' comment. "MUTT? Did you just call me a MUTT? I am going to rip your tongue off you spoiled human scum!"
Brunswick charged at Weiss and started throwing wild punches. Weiss used her glyph to block his punches, then started swinging with her rapier. Brunswick blocked the strikes with his gauntlets and shot a flamethrower. Weiss used her glyph to dodge quickly and strike immediately. Outmatched by her speed, Brunswick held his arms down and fired a propulsion blast from his arms to take high into the air, then fired several dust energy bullets at Weiss. Weiss jumped in the air, then jumped again with her glyph and attacked Brunswick. Brunswick and Weiss blocked each other's attacks as they landed on the ground, then jumped back from each other. Brunswick held out both his arms and unleashed a stream of dust energy bullets at Weiss. Weiss swung her rapier and countered Brunswick bullet for bullet. As Brunswick was firing dust, he smelled Blake trying to attack from the side and ducked just before Blake's scythe can reach him. Weiss and Blake quickly regrouped.
"We're not going to beat him fighting alone," said Blake.
"Agreed," said Weiss. "If one of us can get behind him, we can take out that dustpack of his. Think you can distract him?"
"Leave it to me," said Blake.
Blake charged and attacked with her two blades. Brunswick used his gauntlets and blocked Blake blow for blow. Weiss got into position and charged at Brunswick from behind. Brunswick quickly turned to Weiss and palm thrust the ground, causing spikes to pop up and stop Weiss before she impaled herself. At the same time, he used his other arm to shoot flames at Blake, causing her to back off as well. Blake charged again and used her shadow clones to attack from all sides. Brunswick created two ice swords and blocked all of Blake's attacks. As Brunswick was blocking Blake's attacks, he suddenly couldn't move his legs. He looked to see he stepped on a black glyph created by Weiss.
"Now Blake!" yelled Weiss.
Blake got behind Brunswick and was about to attack his dustpack when Brunswick fired a burst of energy at the ground, creating a hole and falling through. Blake looked down to see where Brunswick went.
"I don't see him anywhere," said Blake.
Suddenly, the ground burst open near Weiss, causing her to lose her footing and fall. Brunswick shot up from the hole and shot a burst of flame at Weiss. Weiss rolled out of the way in the nick of time, then Brunswick fired multiple dust energy shots at Weiss. Weiss got up and started running from the blasts. While Brunswick was focused on Weiss, Blake threw up her scythe and starting swinging at Brunswick. Brunswick started blocking all the slashes until the scythe suddenly cut off one of the tubes attached to his left gauntlet, causing a portion of dust to suddenly start leaking.
"Now's my chance!" thought Weiss. Weiss glyph jumped into the air and fired a dust energy bullet where the pile of dust was next to Brunswick. The bullet caused the dust to explode, knocking Brunswick face down. Brunswick tried to get up but was woozy from the explosion to move. Blake placed her foot on Brunswick's back so he couldn't get up, then got her katana ready to impale him.
"Wait!" said Brunswick.
"What now?" asked Blake.
"I give up! I give up!" begged Brunswick.
"You seriously think we're going to fall for that?" asked Weiss.
"Please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry for trying to hurt the humans! I was just so mad, you know?"
"How do we know we can believe you?" asked Blake.
"I swear I'm sorry! I was just lashing out for all the pain I have been through as a Faunus! I will not hurt any more people!"
Blake was starting to have second thoughts of what to do. Weiss couldn't believe what she was witnessing.
"He's lying Blake!" said Weiss. "He's trying to trick you by bringing up this Faunus excuse! You saw what he tried to do!"
"Please!" begged Brunswick. "Are you really going to kill a fellow Faunus?"
Blake gripped her katana tight and tried to convince herself to finish him off, but she couldn't go through with it. She sheathed her blade, placed her foot off Brunswick, and helped him up.
"What are you doing Blake?" yelled Weiss.
"I'm sorry, but he's right," said Blake. "I can't kill another Faunus."
"Thank you!" said Brunswick. "Thank you...FIDO!"
Brunswick suddenly threw powdered dust into Blake's eyes, blinding her. Without being able to see, Brunswick sucker punched Blake again, and while she was down, stomped her hard in the ribs.
"That will teach you to betray the Faunus," said Brunswick. "Now it's just you and me princess!"
"I won't need any help to finish you off," said Weiss. "You're already down one gauntlet. It won't be long before I disable your other one."
"Whoever said this one was disabled?" said Brunswick, holding out his gauntlet. "I just can't use any dust with it. I've still got plenty of tricks up this sleeve!"
A missile sprang from the side of the gauntlet and quickly launched at Weiss. Weiss used a glyph to block the missile on impact, but the force of the explosion still knocked her back. As she was getting up, Brunswick charged with an ice sword and began slashing at Weiss. Weiss blocked all of Brunswick's attacks. She kept moving back until she suddenly felt her feet hit the edge of the roof. Weiss turned to see she was one misstep away from plummeting several stories high. Brunswick wound up his arm and made a giant swing at Weiss. Weiss jumped back off the roof, created a glyph to land on, then used another glyph to jump over Brunswick and get on the roof. The two continued to clash swords until Brunswick held out his right arm and shot flames at Weiss. Weiss created a glyph to protect herself as Brunswick kept getting closer, still shooting flames from his hand. Weiss kept backing up until she was near one of the holes Brunswick made, preventing her from moving. Brunswick continued to use every bit of dust he had left as Weiss still held up her glyph, depleting her energy rapidly. Weiss eventually fell to one knee, at which point Brunswick ceased his flames and made an upward strike with his sword. The force was too much to handle for Weiss, causing the glyph to be shattered and her rapier to fly out of her hand.
"I've got you now human scum!" said Brunswick, attempting to impale Weiss his sword. Weiss rolled out of the way and tripped Brunswick using her legs. She got up and ran after her rapier. Meanwhile, Blake was starting to regain her vision and saw Weiss going after her rapier, while Brunswick had pulled out another missile and was about to fire.
"Weiss!" yelled Blake. "Behind you!"
Brunswick fired his missile as Weiss was about to grab her rapier. Weiss grabbed her rapier and turned around to see the missile coming straight for her, with barely any power or time to block. Realizing Weiss was not going to react in time, Blake used her shadow clones to run as fast as she could to get her out of the way. The missile less than a foot away from Weiss, Blake tackled Weiss out of the way as the missile snagged Blake's bow and missed her head by less than an inch. The missile flew off until it hit a tree far away from the mall.
"Are you okay?" asked Blake.
"A little weak, but fine," said Weiss.
"Save your strength. This time I'll finish him off."
"Oh please!" said Brunswick. "If you didn't have the heart to kill me before, what makes you think you'll kill me now Fido?"
"Because you are something even worse than the human scum you hate so much," said Blake.
"And what would that be?" asked Brunswick.
"...A filthy mutt!" replied Blake.
Hearing that word caused Brunswick to snap and charge after Blake with just his fists. Blake pulled out her katana and started to slash at Brunswick. Both of them dodged every move the other was throwing.
"I'll show you!" yelled Brunswick, starting to foam at the mouth. "I'll show all of them! I'm not some damn mutt to be kicked around by humans or traitors!"
Brunswick had gotten so enraged he started to lose focus. Blake turned her sword into a scythe and started to swing it at Brunswick, who was too angry to block properly and kept getting slashed by Blake. Brunswick ignored the pain and continued to charge at Blake like a man pocessed.
"You may be a Faunus, but you're just bad as the humans of this planet! Your scent...it's full of their disgusting odor!"
Brunswick held out his working arm and fired dust energy bullets all over the place. Weiss got out of the way as Blake dodged Brunswick's random shots. Blake charged into Brunswick with her two blades. Brunswick started blocking with his gauntlets until he suddenly grabbed Blake's katana with his left hand, then punched her in the stomach.
"I've got you now Fido!" said Brunswick, grabbing Blake by the throat and throwing her across the ground. He tossed Blake's sword away and ignored the deep gash across the palm. As Blake got up, she saw Brunswick stare her down in full rage, building electricity in his arm to finish her off. Behind him, Weiss was in her stance, signaling to Blake that she was ready to strike. Understanding her plan, Blake stood up to distract Brunswick.
"Die for the traitor that you are!" yelled Brunswick as he charged at Blake. As Brunswick made his move, Weiss used her glyph to charge as well. Just inches before Brunswick can reach Blake, Weiss drove her rapier into his back and out of his chest, stopping him in his tracks. After Weiss pulled out her rapier, Brunswick started bleeding from his chest and losing dust from his dustpack. Brunswick fell to his knees, grabbing his chest to stop the bleeding.
"Thanks for your help Weiss," said Blake.
"We're teammates Blake," said Weiss. "We're supposed to help each other. Now let's get back to-"
Just then, an aircraft carrier was making its way to the roof of the mall. The carrier started firing at Weiss and Blake. The two started dodging the carriers bullets. The carrier ceased firing and landed on the roof to pick up Brunswick. Instead of heading to the carrier, Brunswick got up and signaled for the carrier to go away.
"GO!" yelled Brunswick. "I'm not leaving until I've killed these two!" The carrier went back to hovering above them.
"Give it up Brunswick!" said Blake. "You've lost!"
"I will NOT...be DEFEATED...by a damn TRAITOR!"
Brunswick held up his right gauntlet and attempted to fire something, but the leak in his dustpack caused the dust to malfunction and explode, causing Brunswick to catch on fire.
"I knew he was an amateur," commented Weiss. "He doesn't know the first thing about handling leaking dust."
Brunswick rolled around to put himself out, only it made it worse from all the dust on the ground. While trying to put himself out, a missile suddenly popped out of the side of his right gauntlet. Before Blake could warn Brunswick of what he was doing, Brunswick accidentally fired the missile at the carrier. The missile made a direct hit against one of the engines and caused it to spin out of control. Weiss and Blake realized the carrier was going to crash on to the roof.
"We need to get out of here!" said Weiss.
"Hang on!" said Blake, grabbing Weiss and jumping off the roof. Blake launched her gambel shroud to a nearby tree, swinging safely to the ground. Meanwhile, Brunswick put himself out and was trying to get up, but kept slipping on his dust. The moment he got up to his feet, he slipped and fell on his back. The last thing he saw was his aircraft crashing on top of him, causing an explosion that could be felt from everyone inside. Weiss and Blake ducked behind the tree to avoid getting hit by oncoming debris.
After the explosion wore off, Weiss and Blake looked back to see the crashed carrier on the roof, with no sign of Brunswick anywhere.
"That's the end of that grinch," said Weiss.
Blake was about to reply, when she suddenly realized she wasn't wearing her bow.
"Oh no, my bow!" Blake looked around to find her bow, but no luck. She figured she lost it in the fight against Brunswick, and now without it everyone was going to see she was a Faunus too. Seeing Blake freak out about losing her bow, Weiss took off her jacket and handed it to Blake.
"Here," said Weiss, "use this for now."
Surprised by Weiss' act of kindness, Blake took the jacket and covered her head with it.
With the beasts taken care of and everyone evacuated safely, the police force completely shut down the mall as the cleanup crews went to work. Weiss and Blake met up with the rest at the entrance.
"Thank goodness you're alright!" said Ruby. "What happened up there?"
"Let's just say Brunswick won't be ruining Christmas anymore," said Blake.
"Blake? Why are you wearing Weiss' jacket?"
"I lost my bow," said Blake, "so Weiss gave me her jacket."
"It's the least I could do after you saved my life," said Weiss.
"I think we both saved each other's lives," replied Blake.
"This was AWESOME!" said Nora. "Team RWBY and Team JNPR have saved Christmas! People at Beacon are going to be talking about this for generations! This is going to be the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!"
Despite the hard day they all had, the rest couldn't help but smile along with Nora.
#
After going back the next day to get their presents, on Christmas morning everyone was in Team JNPR's room to exchange their secret Santa gifts.
"My secret Santa was Ruby," said Jaune. Jaune handed Ruby's gift, who quickly ripped it open. It was a teddy bear with a rose stitched on to its stomach.
"A teddy bear?" said Ruby.
"You don't like it do you? I knew it was-"
"I LOVE it! Look how cute he looks! Thanks Jaune!"
"Oh, I mean, of course! I mean, thanks! I mean, you're welcome!"
"Okay Weiss, you're up!" said Nora.
"Before I reveal my gift," said Weiss. "I've got something to say...to Blake."
Everyone got a bit uncomfortable when Weiss mentioned Blake, considering the fight they had a couple days ago.
"What is it?" asked Blake.
"Blake...I'm sorry."
"Sorry? For what?"
"When you called me a spoiled brat, and then I said you were just mad for never getting anything good for Christmas. I shouldn't have gone off like that on you, and for that...I'm sorry."
"No Weiss...I should be saying sorry. I shouldn't have called you a spoiled brat to begin with. So for that, I'm sorry."
"Awwww," said Ruby. "I think I'm going to cry."
"Apology accepted Blake," said Weiss, handing her present to Blake. "Merry Christmas."
Blake took Weiss' present and opened it. It was a black bow, much like the one Blake had before losing it.
"Wow," said Blake. "A new bow."
"The best bow twenty lien can buy."
"...Thank...thank you, Weiss." said Blake, drying a tear from her eye.
"Alright!" said Nora. "It's your turn Ruby!"
"My secret Santa...was Weiss," said Ruby.
"Me?" said Weiss.
"Yep! I hope you like it."
Weiss took a deep breath and opened the present Ruby got her, hoping it would be something at least tolerable. It was a little box with a ballerina inside.
"It's a music box," said Ruby. "You twist it at the bottom and it plays a song."
Weiss twisted the bottom and set the box down. The ballerina started slowly turning as a jingle began playing.
"Well?" asked Ruby. "Do you like it?"
"Do I like it?" said Weiss. "...I...I love it!"
"Really? You're just not saying it to be nice, are you?"
"No Ruby, I...I really like it. Why wouldn't I like it?"
"I thought you didn't like getting cheap gifts."
"So what how much it cost? It's the thought that counts right?" said Weiss, turning to Jaune. Jaune and everyone else smiled.
"I officially declare secret Santa a success!" said Nora. "Merry Christmas everyone!"
"Now that we're done handing out gifts," said Yang, "who's up for a snowball fight?"
"You're on!" shouted Ruby. They quickly ran outside, with everyone else following suit.
#
After an exhausting day of Christmas fun, Team RWBY were getting ready for bed.
"I can't believe Christmas is already over," said Ruby.
"It had to end some time," said Blake matter-of-factly.
"So Blake, how did you enjoy your very first Christmas?" asked Ruby.
"I loved it," replied Blake.
"Whoo-hoo! Mission successful!"
"We'll definitely need to do it again next year," said Yang. "Merry Christmas everyone."
"Merry Christmas," said everyone else as they went to sleep.
A few minutes had passed, and everyone was sound asleep but Weiss, who was still wound up from the day to get to sleep. Having trouble sleeping, she reached under her bed and pulled out the music box Ruby gave her. She twisted the box and placed it on the desk next to her as it began playing it's song. Listening to the jingle, Weiss couldn't help but smile and began to fall asleep.
"Best. Christmas. Ever."