Chapter 25

Ethan had his head on his desk as he eyed the clock. He was in 4th hour biology and it couldn't have been going slower. The teacher kept going on and on about cell structure, while majority of the students had either fallen asleep or lost focus. Ethan's friend Darren was sitting next to him in the class.

"You alright?" Darren asked him

"I'm just tired. My mission last night took longer than expected. Plus I had to write that stupid essay for english." Ethan sighed as he moved his hand through his medium length brown hair

That day Ethan was wearing a black jacket with a red undershirt, jeans, and his black and red vans. He usually wore that outfit, mainly because he would get home pretty late from missions to be too tired to change. His friend had on the same black jacket but with a blue undershirt, he was wearing black slacks, and dress shoes. Ethan looked across the class at a girl named Phyrra. She was wearing a leather jacket with a black shirt underneath, and brown jeans. She also had on a pair of heels. Darren caught him staring at her, while she twirled her red hair in her hands.

"You do realize she's applying to Beacon right?" He nudged his friend

"She also doesn't even know I exist." Ethan replied sitting up "I dropped off the face of the earth after freshman year."

"Hey, how's Blake doing? She's at Beacon right?" Darren asked him

"She's home for summer break. When we would start back up here she goes back to." Ethan replied

"Thank god it's our senior year and we're almost out of here." Darren told him

Ethan started paying attention to another group of kids at the table next to him. He heard them talking about Faunus in a negative way.

The Faunus are humans with animal parts. A prime example was his sister Blake Belladonna. She had cat ears, and since their family adopted her, he was always on the offensive when someone started to badmouth the Faunus. Even though she was older than him, she taught him to care for others.

"They should all be thrown in jail if you ask me." One of the kids said

"Why not we just move them all to a separate island?" Another kid said

"That's it." Ethan said standing up and walking over to them

Blake was at home washing dishes when the phone rang.

"Hello." Blake answered the phone

"Is this Miss Belladonna?" The caller asked

"Yes, is something wrong at the school?" She asked

"We need you to come get Ethan. He fought some kids in his biology class for making Faunus remarks. He thinks very highly of you." Blake heard

"I'll be there soon. Thank you for calling." Blake said hanging up the phone

She walked to the garage and grabbed the car keys, then hopped in her car and drove to get her brother.

Ethan sat outside the principal's office as Blake talked to the principal. She had stopped wearing the bow around her ears last year. He heard the door open and Blake walked out.

"You ready?" She asked

"Yeah." He sighed standing and following her out of the office

He got in her car and they drove back home.

Ethan went to his room and dropped his backpack off. He removed his jacket and saw the wires running across his body, he flicked his hands and Imperial Arms Cross Tail appeared on his hands.

"Grandpa Lubbock would be proud of the improvements you've made." Blake said from his doorway

He flicked his hands again and the metal fingertips attached themselves to the circular portion of the contraption. He had a spool located on his lower back, then wires ran up his back and arms to the circular divider that was on Lubbock's gloves. Attached to the top were pointed metal fingertips that the wires ran through when during use.

"If only he was still around to see them." Ethan sighed

Blake continued to look at him, he looked back and smiled.

"So what were the boy's saying that you beat them up?" She asked crossing her arms

"They said some negative comments and said you all belong in jail. So I beat them up, I would have used Cross Tail but I opted not to." He told her

"Thank you for acting, but next time do it when you're not in class or school." She said

"You know I can't do that. If I see someone in trouble or hear someone make remarks about the Faunus, I'm going to act then and there." He said walking over to her

She hugged her brother, then looked him in the eyes.

"You really are a good person." She said smiling at him

"Well, you trained me to be like that." He said smiling back at her

"I'll make lunch." She said leaving his room "Don't be late."

Ethan stood there before hearing his phone ring. He looked over and saw it was Darren, immediately answering his phone.

"Yo, what's up?" Ethan asked him

"I got some good news buddy." Darren said

"I swear if we have a test tomorrow I'm going to kill somebody." Ethan said

"No, we don't have a test. But Phyrra finally talked about you." He said "And don't you already have someone to kill?"

"Now is not really the time dude." Ethan told his friend "And no I don't have anyone to kill yet."

"Relax, her boyfriend won't kill you or anything. He wouldn't even be able to." Darren laughed

"I'll see you tomorrow." Ethan said hanging up the phone

He walked out and saw Blake in the kitchen. Sitting down at the table he saw a magazine on the table.

"Is this yours?" He asked her

"I got that for you actually. It contained some stuff on wires so I thought you would enjoy it." Blake told him

"Thanks Sis!" He said reading the magazine

He finished the article on strengthening wires, but realized that his wires were already stronger than the ones in the article. Blake placed a plate of food in front of him, he waited for her to sit down before starting to eat. After Blake sat down, they began eating and talking.

"So you going to apply to Beacon?" She asked

"I might." He told her "My grades aren't good enough to get in though. Does Ozpin still have that deal for me?"

"Yeah, he kept asking me about whether or not you'd take it." She told him "So will you?"

"I'm thinking about it. Do we have any missions as of late?" He asked his sister

"I just got one this morning. You'd never believe who the target is." Blake told him

"I'll hold off on it then. I'll wait until school is over. These assassination missions have been keeping me up." He sighed

Blake laughed as he said that. Ethan finished eating and put his plate in the dishwasher, Blake was done too so he took her plate and did the same.

"What are you going to do for the rest of the day?" She asked him

"I might go to the park, or hang with Darren." He told her

"That's good. I'm going to go take a nap. I'll see you in the morning." She said walking to her room

Ethan waited outside with his jacket on, and Cross Tail hidden underneath it. Darren approached him, his backpack still on. He approached Ethan, and the two walked to the park.

"You armed?" Ethan asked him

"Always am." Darren said showing him the pistols he kept in his sleeves "You planning on fighting?"

"You can never be over prepared." Ethan smiled

They arrived at the park and saw Phyrra with her boyfriend there. The boys he also beat up in biology were there too.

"What do you have in store for today?" Darren sighed

"We're just walking through. If anyone messes with us, release your weapon and take them out." Ethan told him

They began walking again, passing through the park. The two boys from biology approached him again. Ethan stopped and looked at them.

"You guys in for another ass kicking?" He sighed

"We were just wondering where your sister is." One of them said

"I wouldn't tell you that in a million years." Ethan replied as he continued walking

One of the guys put his hand on Ethan's shoulder.

"Bad move." Darren told him

Ethan grabbed the boy's arm and threw him over his shoulder. The other swung at him, but Ethan blocked it and punched him in the gut. The other guy was up and produced a knife, he swiped at Ethan. Ethan jumped back and flicked his hands, producing Cross Tail. He landed and stared at the two. The other boy also produced a weapon. Ethan laughed and stared at the two of them. They ran at him and Ethan saw a flaw in their strategy. He dodged the first attack and then the second. He rolled in between the two boys, wrapping their legs up in wire. He pulled and they fell down. He retracted his wire and stood up from his kneeled position. Darren clapped as he walked over to him.

"Kept it hidden huh?" He asked

"Tried my best." Ethan responded

The two were back up and re-armed. One of them ran at Ethan and went to stab his back, he spun around and kicked the knife out of his hand. Before jumping and kicking him in the head. The second boy came at him again, he spun and tripped him. The original boy was up and threw the knife at Ethan, he raised his hand and caught in between his fingers. His expression changed to shock as he looked at Ethan with the knife caught in between his fingers. He flipped the knife and caught it, the second boy was back up and looked at Ethan too.

"Just give up already." Ethan said throwing the knife back at their feet

The boy picked it up and looked at his friend, the nodded and ran at him again. Ethan stood there while they rushed him, he looked up and saw them close to him. He did a backflip and kicked them both in the chin, he then used his hands to spring him onto a light pole. He then pushed off and spun in mid air, kicking them both again in the head. The two boys fell onto the ground and remained there. Darren walked over and produced a mirror, he placed it in front of each boys nose.

"They're still breathing." Darren told his friend as he stood up

"I had to tone it back a lot." Ethan said fist bumping his friend

Both of them were too occupied with each other to notice that Pyrrha was looking at them. She walked over to them, leaving her boyfriend behind.

"That was some good fighting." She said

Ethan froze and slowly turned around to face her.

"Thanks Pyrrha." He smiled at her

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" She asked him

"My family mainly, Blake taught me a lot too." He said

"Blake's your sister right? Isn't she a Faunus?" She asked

"Yeah, she's my sister and also a Faunus." Ethan replied

"Well we should spar sometime, I would like to further see your techniques." She said leaving them

Ethan and Darren began their walk back home. The fight had taken longer than expected and the sun was starting to set. They reached Darren's house first, then Ethan began his walk back to his house.

He was walking when he saw someone come across his path and stand in his way. Ethan had his headphones in and looked up to see the person in his way. He paused his music and looked at him.

"What do you want Jake?" Ethan asked removing his hands from his pocket and crossing them

"I want to know what you and Pyrrha talked about." Jake said

Jake and Ethan were the same height, both 5' 7". Darren was an inch shorter than him and Pyrrha was also the same height as Ethan and Blake.

"She just said she wanted to spar sometime. Now can I go home?" Ethan asked him

Jake drew a gun and aimed it at him. Ethan flicked his hands and Cross Tail emerged on his hands. He threw some wires at Jake and they wrapped around his hand that was holding the gun.

"Back off, or your hand comes off." Ethan said slightly tugging on the wires

Jake dropped the gun and Ethan retracted the wires.

"Now get out my sight before I actually decide to kill you." Ethan threatened

Jake ran away and Ethan stood there, he flicked his hands and hid Cross Tail. He put his hands in his pocket and closed his eyes.

"I know you're there Pyrrha. You can come out." He said opening his eyes and seeing her in front of him

She was wearing her battle gear, he'd never seen her wear it before. She had her spear and shield out.

"Who are you Ethan?" She asked him

"I'm the same Ethan you've always known." He said "Oh wait, you didn't even know I still existed until today in biology."

She opened her mouth to speak then closed it shortly after.

"I'm sorry." She said

"What?" Ethan asked

"I said I'm sorry." She repeated

"Why are you sorry?" He genuinely asked

She put her shield and spear on her back, then looked at him.

"I wanted to talk to you sooner, but I never got the chance. Then it doesn't help that Jake barely lets me see my own friends." She told him

"Well I guess I'm here for you if you need me. So is Darren and Blake." He smiled at her

She smiled back and walked closer to him.

"I should get back home soon. Blake is probably wondering where I am and I'm exhausted." He said running off "Bye Pyrrha!"

"Bye Ethan." She sighed

He got home and saw Blake sitting at the kitchen table, a cup of tea in her hands. In front of her sat a manilla envelope. Ethan sat down and she slid the envelope over to him.

"This is the assignment I was talking about." She said sipping her tea

Ethan opened the envelope and looked at the target, he dropped the paperwork and looked at Blake.

"No way this is true." He said

"It is. They want him dead by the end of the school year. You only have a couple months left." Blake said

"I'll have him dead by tomorrow." Ethan said repackaging the envelope and sliding it back

He stood up and went to his bedroom. Blake walked past his room a few minutes later and saw him sleeping sound asleep. She went into her own room and fell asleep, shortly after laying down on her bed.