Chapter 2

RWBYs Are Red and JNPRs Are Blue


The great dining hall of Beacon Academy was alive with activity as students filled their trays with a wide range of foods before sitting down with teammates to enjoy a healthy meal together. It was all about companionship, from sleeping in the same dorm room to sparring against each other with deadly weapons, it all had to be done as a team to build trust, teamwork, and an unbreakable bond between souls.

At two tables however, a somber mood was being shared by a few of their respective teammates, and for a certain heiress she was too busy rubbing her temples to notice as another grape flew past her ear and into the gaping mouth of a large blonde.

"Grryuummm!" She gave a thumbs up to the orange haired girl across from her who clapped in delight.

She nudged the boy holding his tea in the palm of his hand sitting beside her, who for once seemed fully awake for breakfast and was enjoying his partner throwing food at someone else for once. A tall redhead towering over them was in good spirits as she waited patiently to see which of the two hotheads would up the ante, and figured it wouldn't be long before they started throwing water melons at each other.

Her own partner was lazily stirring his bowl of cereal but seemed to enjoy the show despite nursing a sprained wrist and a dozen other bruises. The partners had been training nonstop during the school break and it had taken its toll on him. While his swordplay had improved dramatically to the point he could almost hold his own against his amazon-like partner, he was still finding himself struggling to control his aura.

Sometimes her weapons would harmlessly bounce off his aura shield leaving him stunned and drained but fully intact, and others he'd fly across the arena gasping for breath and seeing stars while she apologized profusely. She had told him not to worry about his lacking powers, but he was doing the exact opposite. The Vytal Festival was only months away and he was supposed to lead the undefeated Pyrrha Nikos along with heavy hitting Nora Valkyrie and her swift partner Lie Ren to the tournament finals, but couldn't see how when he couldn't even control his own powers.

'All the swordplay in the world won't help you if a gunshot sends you to the hospital...'

He sighed and from across from the table, an heiress was having a similar dilemma as another grape barely missed her.

"Hey Yang?" her polite voice asked.

"Yeah Weiss?" a mouthful of grapes answered, momentarily disgusting the other girl. Unfortunately, she'd grown used to the sisters' appalling table manners, which had actually improved somewhat.

"Do you ever wonder why we're here?"

Another grape landed in her mouth and she thought about the question while chewing.

"We're waiting for Ruby to show up and tell us the plan for today."

"I know that!" she cried. "I'm not dense!"

"Then why'd you ask?" Yang's wry smile was full of food making the heiress' face turn green.

"Oh never mind, forget I said anything," she grumbled.

Feeling defeated, Weiss went back to picking at her salad worried about what ingenious plan might be going through her partner's scatterbrained head. The last one had involved filling a few of the school's rocket propelled lockers with high grade red dust to create fireworks, which went about as well as one would expect. Perfectly according to Ruby and nearly killing them.

Glancing out the window, she recognized her kingdom's white bullheads flying above, causing her to set her fork back down. While her partner's excitement about the tournament seemed to grow by leaps and bounds everyday, so did Weiss' anxiety. Her teammates couldn't seem to understand that they weren't ready. That she wasn't ready...

Pushing her salad to the side, she noticed an open black journal with a drawing of a rose. At first glance she assumed it to be Ruby's symbol, but looking carefully she realized the rose was wilting, not scattering like her partner's. Below it was the portrait of a young man with his upper face concealed by a Grimm mask, and a chill to run down her spine.

She looked up and saw her feline friend Blake staring at the rose almost as if in a trance. Makeup was attempting to hide the deep shadows under her eyes but the lack of sleep was obvious, as was her lack of appetite.

Weiss cast her cold eyes back down at the man with the Grimm mask associated with the White Fang before finally having to look away.

'It's probably best that I don't ask...'

The monochrome pair had gotten along since coming to an understanding a few months prior, and she didn't want anything to jeopardize their already rocky relationship. Although they didn't have much in common in the way of conversation, they went out of their way to avoid the two topics that could instantly start a fight. Blake's history with the White Fang, and Weiss' relation to the Schnee Dust Company.

If the conversation ever got too heated, someone would quickly change the subject and hope the two sides would go back to their opposite corners. They were roommates, teammates, sparring partners, and most of all they were good friends. Which is why Weiss gave her the liberty of privacy.

Yang on the other hand didn't seem to understand what privacy was.

"Who's he?" she asked, still munching on grapes.

Blake closed the book and rested her hands atop of it. "No one. Just some notes for class."

"Uh-huh," the blonde muttered, noticing the way she guarded the journal. "And would these notes have anything to do with the White Fang?"

*twitch*

BOOOOOM!

Everyone but the faunus jumped in surprise as a cloud of roses appeared out of nowhere and a giant binder was slammed against the table sounding like a gunshot. Since their gaping mouths were too stunned for words, their hyperactive leader did the talking for them.

"Good morning, team RWBY!" her high-pitched voice shouted for the entire dumbfounded dining hall.

Being able to hear a pin drop, she coughed in her fist awkwardly.

"Sisters, friends." Ruby paused, pointing enthusiastically at everyone, but when she came to the heiress her finger drooped and her grin seemed forced. "Weiss..."

"Hey!"

"I stand before you a changed huntress!"

"Heh, this ought to be good." Yang rubbed her hands together in anticipation of her little sister's plan.

"In less than twenty-four hours we will return to the classroom where our enemy awaits."

"Grimm?" her partner asked worriedly.

"Torchwick?" Blake raised a brow.

"Weiss?" Yang's quip earned her an icy glare, but she was too busy now catching strawberries to notice.

"You all do realize I'm sitting right here?"

"Silence!" their leader commanded. "Tomorrow we face an even bigger threat than Grimm, Torchwick, and Weiss combined."

"What is this 'Pick on Schnee Day'?"

"No partner." Ruby posed dramatically and her cape shifted despite being indoors. "Today is the last day before school begins anew and we return to class. We will have homework, we have rigorous training in preparation of the Vytal Festival, but worst of all we will have hour long lectures from Professor Port."

At this revelation everyone groaned and covered their faces. Yang took it a step further however by beating her head into the table causing it to crack.

"But fear not! For in this binder I have planned the best day ever!" As if to prove her statement, Ruby lifted the giant binder above her head and in barely legible handwriting, 'Best Day Ever Activities!' was written in red crayon. Above it, the words 'Vytal Festival Activities, Property of Weiss Schnee' had been marked out.

"Is that mine?" its former owner hissed while everyone else snickered.

"As team leader I have commandeered the use of this binder for the good of team RWBY and it's allies." She flipped to page one. "We will begin by starting this day with a bang!"

"Good." The blonde jumped up. "Because I like to start my days off with a Yang. Am I right?"

She lifted her hand looking for a high five but instead received an apple to the face courtesy of Nora, causing her lilac eyes to flicker red.

Ruby lowered her head and her smile faltered. "After today we'll be too busy going on missions and training for the tournament to have fun. I don't want there to be any distractions, and thought 'The Best Day Ever' would be a good idea."

Weiss shook her head looking at just the first page.

"I don't know whether I should be proud or terrified that you actually planned something like this out. Your last so-called plan that actually worked involved a giant slingshot that beheaded a Nevermore."

Ruby crossed her arms. "Operation: Fire Dragon was also a complete success."

"Yes, and I still have the scars to prove it."

Blake looked on as the pair continued to squabble, unsure herself about the giant binder Ruby was now carrying like a trophy, and she completely ignored Yang as she grabbed her bowl of 'Pumpkin Pete's' and sent it soaring at the orange haired girl only for it to miss.

"Hah!" Nora taunted.

"I think I'm going to sit this one out guys," Blake said to her leader's disappointment.

The heiress took her eyes off her deflated partner and on the reclusive girl and her journal.

"Sit out or no we should spend our last day together as a team." She took a deep breath. "And I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I agree with-"

Whatever Weiss was going to say was cut off by a blueberry pancake covered in syrup striking her between the eyes.

The rest of team RWBY slowly turned their heads in shock at JNPR who all except Nora mirrored their expressions.

"Bullseye!"

When the pancake finally slid off her face onto the ground, team JNPR felt chills as the cold, heartless eyes of the Ice Queen looked straight through them. Picking up her salad, she sent it flying at her target, only for it to hit Nora's meat shield Jaune, whom she had pulled by the tie to intercept the missile with his face.

"Ow! That hurt!"

"Ruby?" Weiss asked calmly. "Is there anything on your list about chopping down junipers?"

"Um no?" The caped-girl looked confused.

"Then add it, because team JNPR is going down..."

And then all out chaos ensued...

The smarter students ran for their lives never looking back at the friends they'd abandoned as there might not be anything left. The slower or more peaceful students futility attempted to stop the war between two teams, but were swiftly and mercilessly dealt with. A few even tried to join in but were no match for either powerhouse.

Eventually they all began running for safety except for two young men wearing Haven Academy lanyards, who approached from the outside seemingly unfazed by the screams. The taller boy had blue hair and smiled confidently at every terrified female student who ran past, while the other wearing an open dress shirt and having a monkey tail spoke quickly.

"So we were fighting side by side against that bowler hat guy, and I totally threw a banana at him."

"Nice," said the blue haired boy in response to watching several girls run past.

"I know right! And the best part is she's a cat faunus." The boy with the monkey tail began chewing his nails. "But that's a secret, so you can't tell anyone okay?"

"Got it," said his partner for the thousandth time.

"And not a 'I'm going to tell Scarlet and Sage the moment Sun turns his back' kind of secret. I'm talking secretive secret."

"Relax fearless leader." He rolled his eyes. "Her secret is safe with me."

"I just don't want to mess this up Neptune. No offense to you guys, but the students here are the coolest."

"None taken," he agreed, still watching the girls.

A student covered in lettuce was thrown through the window but they paid him no mind and simply stepped over him.

"I'm really excited for you to meet them so please be cool. You can be cool right?"

"Dude," he said, clearly offended. "Look who you're talking to."

Neptune's trademark smile shined from all the hours he'd practiced is his mom's bedroom mirror.

"yeah okay, good point."

The dining hall doors flew open and their expectations of students studying and quietly eating breakfast were shattered upon seeing overturned tables, food covering the floor and walls, panicked students swarming past them, and something that was either ketchup or blood smeared across the ceiling.

For Sun, it was the most spectacular thing he'd ever seen and was grinning ear to ear, while Neptune on the other hand was wondering want kind of hell he'd stepped into at Beacon Academy.

A mountain of furniture had been piled up at the far end of the hall, and a short, orange haired girl stood at the top.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" she sang.

Below were her teammates with their arms crossed, standing shoulder to shoulder and staring menacingly at four girls on the other side of the massive room.

"Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful! It will be delicious!" The rallying cry of the caped-girl inspired her own teammates to charge the mountain and it's queen.

"Off with their heads!" she commanded her knights, who began sending volleys of cereal, salads, and even watermelons at their targets.

"I got this!" Yang shouted as she created a path by punching the projectiles out of their way.

Once a clearing had been made, Blake somersaulted over her head and charged Pyrrha and Jaune. The four time regional champion easily dodged the faunus' swift kick but her partner wasn't so lucky. Jaune received a boot to the gut then an uppercut from Yang that sent him sprawling on his back.

"KO!" Ruby shouted.

"Jaune!"

Seeing her partner fall Pyrrha swore revenge. Grabbing two metal trays, she forced the unarmed faunus to retreat before sending them flying at the girl who'd knocked out her friend. With ease Yang punched them down and pointed mischievously to her right.

Before Pyrrha even had time to react, a cloud of roses appeared. Her wide eyes could barely follow Ruby as she rode a tray as if it were a skate board powered by her semblance, and didn't have time to brace for the impact as the metal tray shot into her sternum, leaving her lying on the ground gasping for air.

Ren charged forward telegraphing an aura filled palm-strike, but a small ice glyph appeared on the floor causing him to lose his balance and crash head first into a table.

Ruby gave her partner a thumbs up who returned it halfheartedly.

The Ice Queen held a small vial of light blue dust in her hand and began preparing another weak glyph for the so-called Queen of the Castle.

Nora jumped off her mountain, but not before breaking off a pole that held one of Beacon's flags and fashioned a makeshift hammer with a watermelon.

"What in the world?" Weiss murmured in disbelief.

The impromptu watermelon hammer caught the heiress off guard, and she would have been crushed by a powerful swing except that a flash of red jumped in front of her and was sent flying instead.

"Remember me Weiss!" Ruby cried as she hit the back wall.

Her partner nodded and the two squared off looking each other in the eyes. While Nora's had an unhinged and wild look to them, Weiss' were cold and cunning.

Being ever so impatient, Nora charged swinging her hammer for her rival queen's head, but Weiss used the remaining dust to create an ice dagger causing the weapon to be deflected. The heiress lunged forward but the back of the hammer blocked her attempt, and she quickly retreated back.

Spinning her hammer as quickly as possible, sparks began shooting out of Nora's eyes, and again she charged the heiress whose semblance shifted the dagger into a shield. It shattered instantly on impact, causing her to fly across the hall.

*thud*

The back of her head struck the wall and would have hit it again if Ruby hadn't caught her unconscious partner.

Setting the fallen heiress down, Ruby surveyed the battlefield. Jaune was still out cold while beside him, Pyrrha was catching her breath. Ren's speed and aura manipulation was giving her sister's brute strength a fair test, but she knew better than anyone that Yang had years of experience punishing faster opponents as no one could compare to her baby sister.

She turned her attention to Blake who'd replaced Weiss in her fight against swing happy Nora, who seemed far too happy destroying everything in her path which included the faunus' shadowy lookalikes.

*ggrrssshhh*

Everyone turned as Ren's body was laying motionless in a crater while Yang blew on her smoking fist.

"Ren no!" screamed his partner as she charged the blonde.

Yang smiled and readied another right hook. Just as it seemed she would connect again, Nora's hammer swung around shooting pink sparks in every direction. On impact with the blonde's chin, the watermelon exploded and she was sent flying through one of the floor to ceiling windows.

Smiling at her small victory against team RWBY's juggernaut, Nora feeling exhausted forgot about Yang's partner and was sent flying herself by a kick to the back of the head.

Her going down however was just the distraction Pyrrha was waiting for. Using her semblance of polarity, she had amassed all of the stray cans from the vending machines and sent them soaring so heads had to tilted just to see them all.

Blake could only watch in horror as the swarm of aluminium was sent her way and barely had time to brace her aura shield as the cans forced her into the back wall where landed face down beside Weiss.

Ruby being the last member of her team still standing, saw she that still had a wobbly Nora and now Pyrrha to deal with, along with Jaune looking as though he was seeing stars while trying to help up Ren who was only occasionally twitching.

The caped-girl took a deep breath imagining this as the Vytal Festival and knew what had to be done.

This one's for you Mom...

Ruby activated her semblance and braced her muscles for what was about to happen. She disappeared in a cloud of rose petals and began doing laps around the dining hall, running faster than she ever had before. A violent gust of wind began blowing and she reached out with her aura to her surroundings. Pyrrha's aluminium weapons along with plates of food and even tables began flying in her hurricane of destruction, and soon the queen's castle became more like a mountain.

Team JNPR grabbed hold of each other, but the wind caused their feet to leave the ground and they hit the back wall along with the storm's debris becoming lost underneath the rubble.

From atop her mountain, Ruby was on her knees breathing heavily as she watched her teammates slowly get to their feet. Weiss was holding her head and Blake was on shaky legs but they both seemed intact. Yang was making her way through the window she'd broken, and showed signs she'd landed in a tree as there was a bird's nest in her hair.

The blonde glanced around the destruction, and finding her sister she frowned.

'You're not supposed to go that fast Rubes. We have a deal.'

The caped-girl reading her thoughts ignored the silent objection, instead focused her aura to heal her muscles as quickly as possible. She didn't feel any tears or pulls, but knew her sister was right.

*clap* *clap* *clap*

Sun started applauding and demanding an encore while beside him, Neptune was covered in grape soda looking murderous.

The doors opened and despite the warm day, a chill went throughout the dining hall.

"What is the meaning of this!" Professor Goodwitch shouted.

"They did it!" Sun and Neptune cried, pointing at the two teams.

"JNPR! RWBY! Here! Now!"

Blake, Weiss, and Yang appeared in front of her with JNPR only seconds behind. Their sister team was covered in a dozen different kinds of soda but their fear of the school's combat instructor brought them out of their daze and to attention. A moment later Ruby trailed behind, taking deep breaths looking exhausted. Yang took position by her side letting the girl lean against her for support.

"Look at what you've done," the professor hissed.

The teams looked at the battlefield not believing the mess they'd created. Broken tables, food, and spilled soda covered the entire dining hall, and they immediately felt ashamed for going so overboard.

"There are training rooms you may use if you desire to kill each other." They jumped as she pulled out her riding crop. "Now stand aside."

They moved out of her way as a purple glyph appeared around the professor. With the slightest flick of her wrist the mountain was toppled, tables began repairing themselves, and the garbage cans began to fill.

The first year students watched in amazement of the awesome powers of a full fledged huntress. Her eyes glowed purple like the glyph, and the air seemed to stand still as even Ruby's cape halted.

'I'll be able to do this someday.' Weiss thought to herself. 'We're both dust users who specialize in glyphs. Purple dust is the rarest kind and gives control over energy and matter, but it takes an immense amount of aura to use.'

She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. 'I probably couldn't even lift a table much less repair one...'

Once the task was done and the glyph dissipated, the students stood in awe with their mouths hanging open. All except Ruby that is, who applauded and demanded an encore. She even asked for an autograph.

"Why thank you miss Rose." She wiped the sweat off her brow. "Now let's discuss your punishment."

A collective moan came from the teams but no one argued.

"That will not be necessary Glynda," called out a friendly voice. "I'll handle it from here."

"Professor Ozpin!?" The students gasped at the rare sight of seeing the headmaster outside his office, especially so early in the morning.

"I see you have made a mess of my dining hall," he noted while favoring his cane.

The teams began apologizing but were met with the raised hand telling them he wasn't finished.

"Say no more, I understand. The reason for this exhibition was to prove yourselves ready for the Vytal Festival. You may have gone a little overboard but I can see your reasoning. I don't see any harm in a little friendly competition." He winked at his students.

"But that's not what ha-" Ruby bit her tongue as she received an elbow from her sister.

"That's exactly what happened!" Weiss said loudly for everyone to hear.

Their leader might be oblivious, but her teammates weren't.

"Well I should say the eight of you would do well in the Festival if this room is any indication. You also put every team of Mistral, Atlas, and Vacuo on notice." He cocked his head back to the crowd of foreign students peeking through the doors then at Sun and Neptune.

"Although Beacon has had the most victories in the Vytal Festival, the other academies have never taken our first year students seriously. After all, we've only ever had one freshman team win the tournament in its long history."

Ruby's face beamed as she knew which team he was talking about, and felt her sister's semblance warming her.

"But I plan on changing that this year." He looked back and forth between the surprised teams.

He was giving them his vote of confidence, and only Nora had the sense to speak.

"Yes sir!" She saluted.

"Very good. Now as for you two." The headmaster put his hands on the shoulders of the two team leaders. "I want the both of you to study this battle and observe what your teams' strengths and weaknesses are."

He pressed a few buttons on his scroll and in seconds the leaders' own devices let them know they'd received messages.

"That is a recording of the battle from the dining hall cameras. I would suggest you watch it thoroughly and take notes."

His eyes fell on Jaune who was obviously conflicted. It had been his team that lost, which meant they were his mistakes.

"Do not take this loss to heart young man," Ozpin said sympathetically. "There is more to be learned from failure than there is from victory. Take it from a man who never won the Vytal Festival. I believe in you Mr. Arc, which is why I personally accepted you into my academy. It's not everyday someone like yourself enters these halls."

Ozpin looked him straight in the eye but Jaune glanced down at his untied shoes.

"Now children," he released the leaders and used a handkerchief to wipe grape soda off his hand, "I must get back to my office. Good day."

The headmaster turned and began making his way back to the Emerald Tower, and the students began whispering about how cool the professor was being.

"Oh and by the way," Ozpin turned his head and grinned devilishly, "if you wish to get some sleep tonight then I suggest you hurry. Someone spilled grape soda all over my dining hall and even got some on the ceiling. There's also the matter of the broken windows, which I expect to be replaced by morning."

The only response was the open mouths of RWBY and JNPR, and Sun laughing.

"It will take quite some time and coordination, which is why I'm leaving Mr. Wukong and Vasilias in charge of this operation. Is that okay with you two?" Sun nodded then forcefully made Neptune do the same.

"Good. The cleaning supplies can be found down the hall to the right. Professor Goodwitch, could you escort me please?"

"Of course sir." She nodded.

"Good day children."

And with that the professors left the troublemakers to clean their mess. Sun had already found a place to observe while Neptune went back for a change of clothes.

Ruby felt as though her soul had been crushed being unable to finish the 'Best Day Ever Activities' from her binder and moped on the floor.

"Just be thankful we didn't get in bigger trouble," Weiss chided. "Let's just be done with this so we can actually get some rest tonight."

"Yeah, I bet you're tired after I sent you flying with my hammer." Nora laughed and was met with a sponge to the face.

And round two began to the delight of Sun.

"Best school ever!" he declared.


Ozpin leaned against his cane as he pressed the button to ride the elevator to his office.

"I can't believe you let them off like that," Goodwitch huffed.

"Hmm?."

"They're supposed to be the defenders of the world." She sounded more saddened than she did angry.

"And they will be, Glynda, but right now they're just children so let them act the part. They don't have many days like this left, so let them enjoy it while they still can."

Goodwitch nodded reluctantly. She remembered what it was like to be a first year without any missions under her belt.

"Ironwood will be here soon by the way," Ozpin said, changing the subject and as well as his tone of voice. "He wishes to take us out for lunch."

"Wonderful." She rolled her eyes. "You two have a pleasant time. I will be busy preparing children who play with their food to become the huntsmen and huntresses of tomorrow."

"Fair enough, but you're going to at least say hello. He will be stopping by my office for a quick chat." There was a glimmer of amusement in Ozpin's eyes.

"Fine, I'll say hello then I'll be on my way."

"Perhaps that's best. We wouldn't want another food fight. On the other hand, it could lighten the mood..."

She glared at him. "Don't even think about it, Ozpin."


(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. The food fight was a lot of fun for me to write and I hope you enjoyed the more serious approach taken. I also wanted to explain purple dust to some degree and show some of Weiss' insecurities. Being the support fighter on a team like her's can't be easy especially when she originally saw herself as being their leader and likely their heavy hitter. Once again thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the first of many action scenes. All credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who has made this story possible. God bless)