Hey everyone! Took me less than last time to get this out! I'm getting better! Although... watch out because this is going to shock many of you. Read at your own risk.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

Jaune sighed. Telling his team about his Semblance hadn't gone how he'd envisioned it to go. Not at all. Not even close. Not even in the same plane of existence. Not… okay he'd gotten his point across. Nora had believed him immediately, of course. That was probably something relatively normal for her. Ren had been harder to convince, but he eventually accepted his explanation. Weiss… she was another matter altogether.

The five of them were back in their dorm. Nora was laying on her bed with her headphones… although Jaune suspected the music wasn't there and she was just trying to eavesdrop on a non-private conversation. She was weird like that. Ren was sitting on his bed, cleaning his weapons Storm Flowers, not saying a word. Jekyel, now with a killer headache due to all the alcohol he'd drunk, was laying on Jaune's bed with an ice bag pressed to his forehead. Jaune didn't know if the ice was actually helping, or was just numbing him to the pain. Frankly, he didn't care. And then there was Weiss, who was standing in front of the knight himself, a full head shorter and clearly angry. Or disbelieving. Or irritated. Or any other emotion, she always had that expression so Jaune guessed it was her normal expression, like Ren's was a deadpan.

"Weiss, listen…"

"No, and this is final. I am not going to listen to the rambling idiocies of a bumbling dunce who thinks he can lie like that and expect me to believe it," she stated. "I don't care what Professor Goodwitch told you. I wouldn't have cared even had Ozpin himself told you. Not even Oum himself would convince me."

"But Weiss, it's the truth!" exclaimed Jaune. "I can ask Au-a-a-a-Professor Goodwitch to back me up!"

"I! Don't! Care!" replied Weiss. "It's impossible to have such a Semblance! Oum wouldn't allow that!"

"What is wrong with my Semblance?!"

"You can freaking resurrect people, that's what!" shouted Weiss, and Jaune froze. "That's what your Semblance does! It takes the soul of a dead one and brings them back to life! Can you give me an example of a more powerful Semblance?! Resurrection has never ever been recorded as a possible Semblance! Teleportation, Aid and Time Manipulation are currently the top three most powerful possible Semblances, not Resurrection! It has been theorized as an impossible Semblance and now you're telling me that you of all people have it?! That's a whole new level of idiocy!"

"Well, it doesn't exactly resurrect…" began the boy, but Weiss was having none of that.

"That's exactly what it does! It took that idiot's soul from the dead and brought him back! Like… a zombie or something!" yelled Weiss, pointing an accusing finger to Jekyel, who merely groaned as her voice hammered viciously spiked nails into his head. "The fact it somehow bound him to your sword means nothing! You! Resurrected! Someone!"

"So… yay for me?" Jaune offered weakly even as a vein in Weiss's forehead began to pulse, a tick mark clearly visible.

"You're not deserving of such a Semblance," she growled. "You're an incompetent, moronic, unskilled, weak, ignorant idiot! You can't fight! You can't study! You shouldn't even be the team leader! You didn't have your Aura unlocked! You barely know which edge is sharp in your sword! You don't use your shield for coverage! Your combat skills are six feet below the ground! On a scale from one to a hundred, you'd rate negative hundred!"

Jaune flinched at every insult as she went on, but when he tried to speak she immediately cut him off again.

"A Semblance like that should go to someone who's strong! Skilled! Smart! Knowledgeable! Someone who has trained!" she yelled at him. "I've trained all my life! I've trained to be perfect! The perfect heiress! The perfect daughter! The perfect Huntress! The perfect fighter! The perfect student! I should've been made team leader, not you! Ozpin made a huge mistake when he chose you! I should've had a Semblance like that! Not some unworthy imbecile!"

She stomped her foot at each remark before she stormed out of the dorm like an Angel of Wrath. Jaune followed her with his eyes but froze at the last moment as he spotted something silver at the corner of her eyes.

Weiss, the cold girl he'd learned to fear in just the two days of school he'd lived so far, was crying.

He reached out with a hand to stop her, but she was already gone, and his hand fell back to his side. That hurt. Knowing he'd made her cry hurt more than all her insults put together. Besides, it wasn't like she'd lied. She'd told the truth. A harsh one but true nonetheless. He could accept that. But somehow, for some reason, he had made her cry with his actions or words.

She was right. He didn't deserved a Semblance that resurrected people. He didn't deserve it when he got it, and he would never deserve it. She would. She deserved to have a powerful Semblance. Despite her bad attitude Weiss was indeed strong and smart, as opposite to himself. But somehow he had gotten it while Weiss had her glyphs… thing.

He sighed. "Somehow, I messed up," he stated wearily. "I don't know how, but I did."

"She's just upset, Jaune. And jealous, although she'll never admit it," Ren replied calmly. "It's not your fault for having the Semblance you have. And while I'll admit I am tempted to ask you to use it on… some people… I also know that lashing out like that was not something you can be blamed for." He set Storm Flowers down and looked at him. "You now have a great power, Jaune, and that means you have a great responsibility too. I do not envy you for that. Keeping that specific detail of your Semblance a secret might help, though."

"Wait, what does that matter?" asked Jaune. "We were talking about Weiss!"

Ren shook his head. "As important as she is at the moment, I fear I'll have to press the matter. Do not reveal that your Semblance resurrects people. Never. Say it builds Aura constructs and gives them a personality based off your own. Say whatever you want, but don't tell the truth," he stressed the word. Jaune opened his mouth to speak, but Ren stood up and glared at him, seriousness all that could be seen on his face. "People would be jealous. Most of Remnant would kill for such a Semblance. People would want you to resurrect their beloved ones. It would cause an uproar. You're lucky Weiss just got angry instead of reporting you immediately to people of power."

"W-What?"

"Jaune, to put it simply, you can resurrect the dead," stated Ren. "Do you know for how long humanity has been trying to do exactly that? Millennia. Sure, there are limitations, but that's not the point. If word got out… you'd be swarmed constantly. It's wiser to allow the dead to rest."

Jaune blinked at him. "But… if I can resurrect the dead…"

"No, Jaune, that's a destructive way of thinking and deep down, you know it," Ren shook his head. "Bringing back the dead is wrong, Jaune. Wrong. They've lived their lives and passed away. Giving second chances would destroy our civilization. You may think of it as a small thing, a little power of a young adult, but to Remnant resurrection is a dream become true. Keep it secret, or hell shall break loose."

"Come on, Ren, it's just a-"

"NO!" Jaune flinched at Ren's sudden outburst. Sure, with his current level of training anyone in Beacon would've been able to scare him, but there was something in seeing the usually so calm boy shout that he admitted he'd been close to pissing his pants. "Jaune, this is something extremely serious. This cannot happen. I may not have known you for long but I'm not going to allow you to make this mistake. No, no, no! Revealing such a Semblance is just going to cause mayhem!"

Jaune tried to step back, but Ren pressed on. "I… o-okay, I…"

"PROMISE!"

"Fine!" screamed Jaune, startled. "I promise! I won't tell anyone except for emergencies!"

Ren nodded and returned to his bed, sitting down and picking up Storm Flowers again. "Now, you should go find Weiss, Jaune," he stated, back to being eerily calm. "She's probably upset, and as team leader, it's your job to help her."

Jaune kept an eye on him as he exited the door. 'Note to self: Ren is scary and probably enjoys frightening me too.' he thought as he jogged down the halls, trying to guess where Weiss would be. The girl in white wasn't one to hide in a classroom and cry, nor she was one to run in the courtyard. The library wasn't even considered, and so was the main hall. He would need to search all of Beacon to find her. That was going to be a long day.

"Ms Schnee, first off I have to ask you to speak lower, I have a killer headache. And secondly no, I don't think I've made a mistake when I made Mr Arc the leader."

Bingo.

Jaune skidded to a stop, or at least tried to. He hadn't taken into account that Weiss and who seemed to be the Headmaster would've kept moving instead of remaining still. With a yelp, he crashed into both of them, sending them all to the ground. Ozpin's mug of coffee remained in the air for a second before coming down on the three, somehow managing to spill the hot liquid only on Weiss's pristine white hair and dress, staining the hair and ruining the dress.

Her expression, already displeased, turned murderous.

"Arc…"

"I'm sorry!" he blurted out immediately, raising his hands in defence as he tried to scramble to his feet. Unfortunately, he hadn't considered that also Ozpin had been trying to sit up, and the two ended up banging heads. Jaune yelped and grabbed his head to stop the ringing. Ozpin, who still had a headache, was just knocked unconscious on the spot. "Whoops…"

"Did you just kill the Headmaster?!" Weiss gripped her hair and almost pulled at it, shaking her head in disbelief. "No… no, not even you can do something as moronic as bang heads and kill the Headmaster. Oh Oum, why did I have to be saddled with someone like you?!"

"I-I… I wanted to talk," Jaune whispered, lowering his head in shame. "I… I didn't mean to give him a concussion… I made you cry and I wanted to solve that…"

"I was not crying!" shouted the heiress, somehow getting even angrier. "Why would I cry over something as worthless as you?!"

"Weiss, calm down-"

"NO!" she yelled, glaring daggers at him. He considered himself lucky looks couldn't kill, or he would've been killed much sooner. "You took from me the position of team leader! You took away my chance of speaking with Ozpin! And you have the most stupidly powerful Semblance I've ever heard of! It's not fair!"

"Weiss, please lower your-"

"No! I will not accept that!" Weiss's eyes were ablaze with unbridled fury. "You've done nothing to earn that position nor that Semblance!"

Something within Jaune snapped at that. He was usually a very calm person… or at least someone who wouldn't dare argue with people who could easily kill him without a second thought. It was said that the wrath of a patient man was something terrifying to behold… that wasn't completely true. Wrath or no wrath, Jaune couldn't defeat people with years of training over him. Maybe he would catch up eventually… maybe… but a mere emotion couldn't do that. What it could do, though, was to make him snap back. "Well, what have you done, then?! What have you done to deserve that position, aside from being an all around bitchy princess?!"

"How… how dare you!" exclaimed Weiss, turning on her heel to storm off, but Jaune grabbed her wrist and held her there. Despite the massive difference in training, Weiss's fighting style was more about speed, precision, Dust and Glyphs… not strength. And despite his lack of formal training, Jaune was stronger than the average person. Not enough to win against people like his peers, but enough to stop the heiress. He knew that, had she put any real effort in escaping, she would've succeeded, but he also knew that she would've never flailed around just to free herself.

"No! A `how dare you` is not a good answer!" he snapped. "Tell me, Weiss, I get that you're angry. But as Mom always said getting angry won't solve the problem. So be mature and tell me what the problem is!"

Weiss freed herself with a harsh yank, almost making him stumble. "The problem?! The problem is that you-" She was cut off forcefully as Jaune grabbed her again and pulled her in a tight hug, not letting her go even when she began to kick and flail. "What are you doing?! Release me immediately!"

"I'm doing what my sisters used to do with me when I was mad," he replied easily, his superior strength keeping her from doing anything drastic, like using Myrtenaster. Uh, he would need to remember that speedsters engaged in a brawl would be near-defenceless… Except Blake. And Pyrrha. And anyone who wasn't Weiss, now that he thought of it. "And I'm not going to let you go until you calm down and really tell me what's wrong."

For what felt like ten minutes, Weiss kicked and thrashed around, vainly trying to escape his embarrassing and very un-Schnee-like hug. Slowly, her efforts dulled until they stopped altogether, but Jaune didn't dare release her in fear of what she would do. Hers was an angry stillness, not a calm one. "Wanna talk now?"

"No," she growled. "But I'm guessing you're not going to let go until I do, are you?"

"Honestly, I'd have to be a fool to do that," replied the boy. "So… Why are you so angry? I mean… I get that I may not be the best leader. But about my Semblance shouldn't you, like… be happy for me? We are on a team together… plus there's the fact that a strong Semblance would help the whole team, no?"

Weiss stood silent for a second, her forehead almost comically pressed against his shoulder, looking down not in shame or embarrassment, but out of pure irritated resignation. "That's not what the problem is," she finally said. Jaune had to stop himself from groaning. She could have just said he was right on that! "The problem is who you are. Or rather, who you aren't. You're not special. You're just a normal person. A ridiculously incompetent person, too, but that's beside the point."

Jaune winced at the jab.

"You don't know who I am. Well, let me explain who I am, Arc, and then you shall see why you're undeserving of being the leader." Her words came out hard and bitter, one of her hands closing into a fist somewhere in the forced embrace. "I started training when I was thirteen, a year later than most because my father was against me becoming a Huntress. He only allowed me to train because by doing so I would be able to defend myself from assassins and terrorists." Jaune easily guessed she was talking about the White Fang. "I had to train harder than anyone to make up for the missed year. I had personal trainers and I studied every day. All the while, I had to follow my father's wishes, singing at his parties and being the perfect daughter."

She raised her head to look at him, and there was nothing but contempt in her eyes. "I am not the spoiled princess everyone thinks I am. I had to work harder than anyone to achieve what I have now, and I had to go against my father's wishes," she stated coldly. "But then an uncouth peasant steps in and is made leader, a position he doesn't deserve. And barely two days after he unlocked his Aura, he finds out to have possibly the most sought-after power in the entire damn world. Do you see the problem now?"

The sheer amount of sarcasm almost had Jaune shielding himself. Despite being still held by him, the girl was basically emanating killing intent. Normally, Jaune would've smiled nervously, stepped back, allowed her to go and then run very far away in fright. But that wasn't `normally`.

Because, to tell the truth, he was kinda annoyed too.

"Yes, I do see it," he replied, frowning more when she appeared partly satisfied. "It's you."

"Excuse me?!"

"You are the problem. Or rather, your problem. Not me, not anyone else." He released her and stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest. "You can go and wallow in your own self-pity at not having been chosen to be leader, now, or you can remain and listen. Your pick, it's not like I can force you to stay."

Weiss's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms, mirroring his position. A tense second passed before she huffed. "I'm not going to flee like a coward from a discussion. Besides, what could you have to say, aside from ridiculous excuses and unreasonable explanations?"

Jaune's eyebrow twitched as he looked at the girl. Under any other circumstance, he would've called her an angel fallen straight from Heaven. She was beautiful. But at the moment? At the moment he was stressed. The first two days of school had gone shittily. He'd thought that the future protectors of the world wouldn't have lowered themselves to insulting weaker peers. He'd been wrong. Thankfully Aunt Glynda had helped him out a few times, but offence and ridicule basically followed him like the plague. It wasn't constant, fortunately, but it was still shitty. To that he had to add the issue with his Semblance and the headache that followed. And on top of that there were Ren's reaction to his Semblance and Weiss's temper tantrum. At the moment, he didn't see an angel.

He only saw a little girl stomping her feet because she couldn't get what she wanted.

"I won't say you're being unreasonable because that would be underestimating your actions. You're angry because you couldn't get what you wanted, like a little girl. You've trained like a warrior yet all you've done so far has been whining about it. If you really wanted that position so much, then you would've tried to prove you're better at it than myself." Weiss's expression darkened at that. "And besides, from what you've told me you've trained alone. You're not used to teamwork. I'm not the best warrior around… heck, I'm worse than anyone else in here… and I've never led a battalion. Frankly I never played many war games. But I do know how to handle people. And warriors are just people who know how to fight."

"And that would be enough to make you the leader?" Weiss asked sarcastically.

"I don't know why Ozpin didn't make Ren the leader," replied Jaune. Honestly, Ren would've been the obvious choice, with his silent wisdom and calm. "But I do know why he didn't make you the leader. You've been acting against your own team for two days now. Just two days since I was made leader, and I already want to drop a truck on you. You may have trained, but you're not the right person to be leader."

"What does that even mean?!" shouted Weiss, throwing her arms in the air. "You're not making any sense!"

"I am and you know. You don't know how to lead. You're fantastic at making rules but you don't realize that sometimes, you need to relent and offer your team some space instead of filling everything with rules." Jaune's eyes narrowed further. "Leading people doesn't mean being the strongest, nor the smartest, nor the best student. But it does mean being able to interact with people and accept them. It's not by forcing them into your expectations that you create a good team. You've lived and trained on your own all your life: how can you expect to be able to lead a team? You may be our strongest member but you're not our leader."

Weiss looked ready to retort before Jaune stepped forwards and placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing not-too-gently. "I think you're expecting too much from yourself. You don't need to prove anything to anyone," he told her kindly but firmly, just like his sisters used to do with him. "You don't need to be the best if you don't want to. Believe me, being leader is just a bunch more stress and responsibility added to the total. Especially since we haven't gone on any mission yet, leadership is just a shitty but necessary position one has to take. You don't want to be leader to lead, but to prove you can. Well, newsflash, starting from right now you don't need to prove anything to anyone any more. We are your team and we are going to support you and be with you whenever you need us. Pay us back by doing the same." He gave her a gentle push. "For example, now go back to our dorm and ask Ren about my Semblance. He'll tell you our plan. Now go, shoo!" He exclaimed the last part with a joking voice, pushing her away.

Weiss didn't laugh nor smile, but she didn't retort, either. She seemed lost in her own thoughts as she slowly began to walk back to their dorm. Jaune didn't know what she was thinking about, but he hoped it wouldn't bring any more pain to his already stressed shoulders. He sighed deeply.

"You can come out now, Auntie. She's gone."

Immediately, Glynda Goodwitch turned the corner and walked up to him with a gentle smile, although she also held a small frown as she looked to where Weiss had disappeared. "Very well said, sweetie. I was about to step in myself but you really handled it well," she praised him. "Should I lower her combat score to teach her humility?"

Jaune sighed again. "No, Auntie, don't worry. I think I got this," he told her before looking down at Ozpin's unconscious form. "Now… what should I do with the body?"

Goodwitch looked down at Ozpin and sighed. "Don't worry, I'll take care of him," she said, using her Semblance to lift him off the ground and starting to walk away. "Just go back to your dorm, sweetie. After such an inspiring speech you must be thirsty. It's not healthy to stay thirsty so go drink some water, will you?"

"Of course, Auntie."

Goodwitch smiled one last time before she turned away and her expression changed. The smile shrieked in terror as a fearsome scowl murdered it mercilessly, and the light in her eyes left as sternness and discipline took over. In a little over a second, the smiling Goodwitch had turned into the demonic-scowling Goodwitch, and students parted before her. Just like usual.

She reached Ozpin's office without problems. Port had a laugh at seeing Ozpin unconscious, and she secretly agreed with the fat professor: seeing the old bastard being knocked out by a boy had been hilarious. But her stony expression hadn't changed even though she inwardly smirked.

Setting the Headmaster down on the floor, she moved to clear some space on his desk so to place him there until he came to. Doing so, she knocked some large red object aside, and it clattered to the floor with a metallic sound. She looked at it and then at the note attached to it. Her heart fell and even her expression melted into a grievous grimace.

/-/

BOOM.

Jaune and his team exchanged glances as the powerful explosion rocked their entire room. Nora raised her hands, showing her instant surrender and also informing them she hadn't been the cause of the explosion. The blond knight rose from his seat and went to open the door, peeking into the corridor. Smoke was coming from Team NBLS's still closed door, and he grew worried.

His team following right behind him, he nodded to the several students who had begun showing their heads from their dorms. He was going to take care of it, or at least he would've tried to take care of it. The only other student he knew who could cause such an explosion was Yang, but she would need to be seriously enraged to do it, and he wasn't sure he wanted to face an angry Yang. Sure, she wouldn't kill him, but she would most probably punch him. Hard. And in places he really didn't want to be punched in. The girl knew how to be ruthless when she wanted to, despite her bright personality and joking habits.

He rapped his knuckles on the door three times in a quick sequence. On the other side, he vaguely heard a couple of voices exchanging a few words, too soft to be heard by him. He didn't hear steps, but a few seconds later the door opened, allowing more smoke to exit, and a sad-looking Sky Lark appeared. He looked about to shoo them away, but then his head just fell and he stepped aside, allowing them to see the room.

The beds and most of the floor were severely damaged, but that wasn't what he noticed. Blake Belladonna and Pyrrha Nikos, two other members of Team NBLS, were hidden in the bathroom and wore the same sad expression Sky had. His gaze was immediately attracted to the kneeling beauty in the middle of the room, a red object held to her chest.

"She's gone… she's gone…" Yang Xiao Long looked horrible, tears streaming down her face as she rocked in place, cradling the object with enough force to make her knuckles turn white. Sobs wrecked her frame as she didn't even try to pull herself together. The cheerful, confident girl he'd always seen was gone and in her place there was a devastated and empty shell was left. A note had been left abandoned on the floor, and Sky pointed it to Jaune.

Picking it up, Jaune felt his chest constrict.

Ms Yang Xiao Long,

we regret to inform You that Your sister Ruby Rose was killed three days ago during a robbery in Vale. The police identified the infamous criminal Roman Torchwick to be the killer. The medics identified the cause of the death to be a terminal fracture in the cervical vertebrae. Death was immediate and painless.

We sent You the deceased's weapon, the scythe-sniper rifle combination named Crescent Rose.

We are truly sorry for Your loss,

Beacon's direction,

Professor Glynda Goodwitch.

Ouch. Ow. Stop thr-ow!-owing rocks at me! Let me explain!

I think we can all say that Jaune and Weiss's little argument was important but not as important as the last part.

Well, you should've expected this. Jaune's Semblance can only choose DEAD people's souls, so Ruby had to be dead, or to die. For some reason (Goodwitch having been too busy cooing Jaune over the phone) Goodwitch didn't arrive in time, and the explosion Roman caused on the roof actually hit Ruby. She was sent flying and hit a wall in the wrong way. Between explosion and crash, her Aura gave up and she broke her neck. Brutal? Yes, definitely. It's something I wouldn't never written, but I needed Ruby to be dead for Jaune's Semblance to work. So, I'm sorry Ruby, but you died.

Good news, she'll be back. I said she'll appear in Ch4 or Ch5 and she will.

Until next time,

Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh