"...Alright, Chief. Just send us the bill. We'll cover the damage done." Yang sighed, getting a stern talking to from the chief of police for her nephew's actions for the umpteenth time. "I hope it won't happen again either. Trust me." she added before hanging up, stepping back inside her family run business, the Flamin' Frets bar and grill, a popular pub catering to Huntsman with a bulletin board of jobs that need doing out in the kingdom, sparring rings for training or settling arguments, and cheap drinks.
She stepped back inside, ignoring the "Closed for Family Emergency: Sorry!" sign she had hastily written up to settle this intervention she had planned. Inside, Rocco, her husband of about fifteen years was hand washing glasses at the counter as Thorn sat on the other side from him...drinking his third pint of beer. "You gave him booze?" Yang asked, annoyed enough by Thorn's behavior for one day already.
"He said he was thirsty." Rocco shrugged. "I asked if he wanted something."
"Alcohol wasn't what I was hoping you'd get him." Yang facepalmed.
"Aww, c'mon, Auntie." Thorn groaned rather animatedly, already showing signs of tipsiness. "I can handle it."
"You're 22, Thorn. Your tolerance for alcohol isn't that strong yet." she responded, picking the glass out of his hand. "And neither is my tolerance for the bullshit you caused today." she added, sliding the full glass out of his reach.
"Hey, I stopped those crooks, didn't I?" Thorn asked.
"You also sent two of them to the hospital, destroyed a fire hydrant, caused property damage to a cafe, and mentally scarred another crook for life." she listed off. "Speaking of which, all of that was covered by our vacation fund."
Rocco sighed, grumbling something incoherent as the door to the kitchen at the end of the bar opened. Stepping out was a dirty blonde teen with gold-rimmed glasses over her lilac eyes. She looked just like her mother at seventeen: peak physical condition, a tank top over a black jacket, and black short shorts with an orange skirt over them. "Seriously? I was looking forward to visiting Xion Village this year!" she complained.
"Roxie, I'm not a fan of it either, but paying for the damage is the only reason your cousin isn't in police custody right now." Yang explained to her daughter, before turning back to her nephew. "And even still, that finale you almost pulled off? You're lucky I stopped you. Murder isn't something I can get you out of, Thorn!"
"Like I was actually gonna off him." Thorn shrugged, making the motion of slitting his throat with an imaginary knife as he spoke. "Quit being so upset."
"Upset? You had the perfect kill lined up!" Yang growled. "I know it from seeing your mother make it on countless Grimm!"
"I was gonna stop just before it was too late!" Thorn growled back, starting to get annoyed. "I know how to hold back!"
"Do you?"
All heads turned to the doorway as the owner of the new arrival's voice made her presence known. Ruby pulled down her hood as she let the door close behind her.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" Thorn glowered.
"I called her, Thorn." Yang responded as her sister joined the group. "Your behavior is starting to get out of hand."
"You haven't been the same since you dropped out of Signal." Roxie commented. "We're all worried."
Thorn cast a glance at the four people around him. "What is this, an intervention?" he squinted.
"We were going to hold off for another week or so, but today's events changed our minds." Ruby explained. "Thorn, what's going on with you?" she asked her son, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Thorn cast a leer to the floor as he looked away from his mother's gaze. "You of all people should know why." he responded.
Ruby slightly retracted her hand, secretly afraid that was the reason. "That's not a fair reason." she spoke, eye turned toward the floor.
"Neither was keeping it a secret from me for so long." Thorn glowered, reaching over and picking the glass pulled away by Yang back up.
"Thorn, we've been meaning to tell you for years." Ruby tried to explain. "We've just...never had the right time to do so."
"How hard is it to say 'your dad's the guy who raped me 20 years ago'? Huh?" Thorn asked, rising from his seat to full height.
"That's where my name came from, right?" he asked. "From being a thorn in your side? What else would you name a kid you never wanted?" he growled.
"Thorn, that's enough-" Yang started, moving towards him.
"You stay out of this, Auntie!" he roared, surprising everyone in the room, before turning back to Ruby with a sneer. "And why should I take an order from a mother that didn't want me in the first place?"
With a snort, he turned away and began to finish his drink. Yang and Rocco turned to each other in shock and awe. Although the three older people in the room knew the truth about Thorn's father to full extent, all knew the young man had blown it out of proportion. Roxie just looked on between her parents and relatives with worry prevalent on her face. She watched as her aunt's face contorted from shock and surprise to one of determination.
"Alright, Thorn." Ruby finally huffed. "You're going to play that card? I'll play mine. Step outside."
The son raised an eyebrow as he turned to face her. "What for?" Thorn asked in return.
"You and I are settling this argument right now. We're going to duel." Ruby answered, her eye narrowed. "If I win, you re-enroll at Beacon with no complaints."
"And if I win, you'll drop pressuring me into this?" Thorn asked, narrowing his eyes and putting his empty glass on the bar counter.
"It'll never be spoken of again. Cross my heart." Ruby nodded, waiving her hand in a straight line over her chest as a symbol of intent to keep her promise.
Hesitantly, the Faunus man locked eyes with his mother as he sensed the fire in her eye. "Alright then." he finally smirked. "You're on."
With a collective sigh, Yang shook her head as Rocco turned to his daughter. "Rox, go clear out the practice arena out back. They'll need the room." he ordered.
"Wait, this is seriously happening?" Roxie asked. "We're really just letting them fight it out?"
"If there's one thing I've learned from how much time I spent around your mother and aunt, it's best to just let them have their way." Rocco shrugged, earning a set of squints from the two sisters.
If it wasn't the drinks or the place to unwind after a mission that brought Huntsman to Yang and Rocco's bar, it was the sparring arena out back behind the building. What was once a worn-out basketball court that even local kids stopped playing at had been annexed, and decked out with top of the line energy barriers, donated from a friend in Atlas, to allow combatants to go all out, but keep stray shots from hurting passing bystanders.
Even so, Roxie, her parents, and the few civilians that had stopped to watch couldn't help but flinch as each sniper round or buckshot missed rebounded off the energy shielding. The mother and son had been going at it for a solid three minutes, and the whole time, Ruby clearly had the upper hand, even after a few slashes from Thorn put her on the defensive for a moment. Each slash from both halves of Crimson Shades were reflected and countered by the gleaming blade of Crescent Rose. "Thorn's getting creamed in there..." Roxie thought before she turned to her mother. "Mom, we're just letting this play out? What if one of them gets seriously hurt?" she asked.
"Don't you worry about that, Rox." Yang smirked. "While your cousin may not have much restraint, Aunt Ruby definitely is the more merciful one."
"She won't rough him up too much, kiddo. Trust us." Rocco agreed, before turning back to the fight. He watched without flinching as Thorn got slammed into the sidewall once again, this time after being sucked into a dark red tornado whipped up by Ruby's semblance. The only difference from the previous two times in the bout was that instead of raising his weapons again, he let them clatter to the floor as he dropped to his stomach. "See? He'll live." Rocco gestured to the holographic scoreboard on the outside of the arena. Ruby's aura level was barely below 80, while Thorn's was completely drained. Plus, the young man hadn't raised his head up as Ruby walked up to him as he stirred back into consciousness.
As he craned his head up, Thorn came face to face with the tip of Crescent Rose rested against the ground in front of him. Further up, his mother stared down at her twenty-two year old son in a mix of triumph and pity. "I'll claim my victory here. Wouldn't want to hurt you too badly for your initiation next week." she smiled with a wink.
"Ugh..." was all Thorn could grunt out as he let his head drop back onto the pavement.
One Week Later...
A set of dark lavender eyes looked out across the view from the coastal docks of Vale as the airship to the academy. "Isn't this exciting, Coz?" Roxie asked as she turned to face her older relative. "Can you believe we finally get to train at Beacon Academy?"
"Yep. It's truly, unbelievably horrifying." Thorn huffed as he stood behind her, hands shoved in his pockets.
"Horrifying?" the blonde teen asked, turning to face him. "What could be horrifying about being a Huntsman, learning new skills, and making new friends?" she asked.
"Well, for starters, most of this class is people we already know." Thorn started. "And second, I'm not here to make friends, Roxanne. The only reason I'm being sent here is because I lost that bet with my mom."
"Speaking of which, don't you still live with your mom?" she asked. "Why come all the way to Vale when you live at our destination?"
"Well, it's not because I lied about going to shop for school supplies and catch this ferry on the way back just so I can sneak out the emergency exit in the engine room and avoid being stuck at this fuckin' nightmare of a school for four more years." Thorn explained, talking almost as fast as a certain history professor. "Not that example at all."
"Hey..." Roxie paused as she squinted at him. "Watch your language!"
"Oh, go suck a-" Thorn started to retort before headlock from a warm, metallic arm choked him out of saying that final word.
"Aw, c'mon, kiddo!" Yang chuckled as she lightened her grip so she wouldn't strangle her nephew. "You're not the least bit happy you get to go back to school?" she asked with a toothy grin.
"I find it hard to believe I'm related to more than one overly-optimistic person in this family." Thorn sighed, before the sound of the news reports playing on the holoscreens around the ship caught their attention.
"Authorities at the Vale Supermax Security Prison have not discovered exactly what has been tripping alarms that have warranted noise complaints in New Glenn, however they have put fears to rest that the causes aren't because of any jailbreaks or intrusions to the facility. This is Shari Chartruse, reporting live for VNN at New Glenn." one reporter on screen spoke before the feed cut back to an older Lisa Lavender behind the studio news desk.
"Thank you, Shari." Lisa thanked as she went on to her story. "In other news, the White Fang has begun talks with the King of Vacuo and his governing council to discuss the writing of a bill that will guarantee Faunus equality in the kingdom. The once-terroristic organization that has gone back to its peaceful roots thanks to its new co-leaders..."
The news report slowly faded out as the feed was replaced with the image of a young woman in a grey and green outfit, with orange hair and green eyes. "Salutations, prospective students!" the girl smiled.
"Who's this?" Roxie asked, looking at the screen.
"I am Beacon Academy's resident artificial intelligence personality, Penny." the girl answered. "During your time at this academy, I will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for any assistance at kiosks throughout the campus, as well as all devices connected to the school's wireless network. Isn't that sensational?" she giggled.
"Please, Monty, just end my life now..." Thorn groaned in disinterest, only for an elbow from his aunt to shut him up.
"In a mere few moments, you will be landing at our airship docks." Penny informed, gesturing to a map of Beacon's layout that appeared next to her, a dotted line leading from the docks to a building deeper in the campus. "From there, you shall meet in the auditorium where Headmistress Rose will give you an orientation speech. Afterwards, you shall gather in the ballroom, where you will be sleeping there until your teams are assembled tomorrow evening. She paused as the ship came to a slow, stopping at a dock berth with a great view of the castle that was Beacon out the window beside them. "I hope you enjoy your time here! Welcome to Beacon Academy!"