Mika sighed as she trudged back through the dorms of Beacon. She had just finished her night shift at the café. It was nice that students were allowed part time jobs since Mika needed some source of income. However, the night shift was brutal, there were so many people.
Mika finally reached her hallway, but stopped when she heard voices. She hid around the corner, eavesdropping on their conversation.
"-And now Pyrrha won't even talk to me…I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea….I'm a failure." one voice said.
'Jaune?' Mika thought.
"Nope!" the other voice said simply.
'And Ruby?' Mika continued.
"Nope?" Jaune asked.
"Nope!" repeated Ruby. "You're a leader now Jaune, you're not allowed to be a failure."
"But, what if I'm a failure at being a leader?" he inquired.
"Hmmm, nope!" Ruby said again.
"Heh, you know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff."
"Nope! Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid, and you might have even been a failure the first day we meet. But, you can't be one now. You know why?"
"Uhhh, because…."
"Because it's not just about you anymore, you've got a team now Jaune. We both do! And if we fail, we'll just be bringing them down with us. We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second."
"She's right" Mika said stepping out into the hallway.
"Mika?" Jaune and Ruby said in unison, as they both thought they were previously alone.
"Right now, you're bringing your team down completely" Mika lectured. "Team JNPR can be so much more if they just follow the path to success. But it's the job of the leader to pave that path."
Jaune looked down in self-disappointment.
"You've got a good team Jaune, and they've been carrying your butt since the day were named team leader" she continued. "You need to start pulling your own weight, no matter how bad of a hunter you are."
"Thank you" Jaune said "Both of you"
"Also" Mika said grasping Jaune by the collar. "If you tell any of them about what I just said. I'm coming for you." She let go and walked down the hall giving a two fingered wave. In the distance she heard Ruby say. "Well, have a good night Jaune."
Mika opened the door to her team's dorm to reveal Tyran sitting in bed reading his scroll. She scanned the room and saw that no one else was there.
"Where's Sunny and Cye?" Mika asked.
"They went to go get a book from the library" Tyran replied with a smile. "How was work?"
Mika looked at him quizzically. "It was…alright. But, I have a question for you."
"Shoot" Tyran said jovially.
"Why is it that you always act to distant and apathetic towards everyone else except me?" She questioned.
Tyran's expression quickly changed. He looked down, avoiding eye contact with her. "I…I don't feel safe around humans, only faunus do I feel comfortable."
"Well that's too bad isn't it?!" Mika said sarcastically. "Cause they're your team and you're going to have to live with it."
"You don't understand!" Tyran defended. "You don't know what I've been through!"
"Whatever, you have been through it isn't bad enough to take it out on your teammates!" She countered.
"I lost my family! And I've been searching for them night and day!" He said. Mika then thought back to all the classes and lunches he slept through.
'I thought he was just lazy' she thought.
"I don't expect you to understand something like that!" Tyran shouted standing up to confront her.
"…You're right….I never knew my family…" Mika replied softly, crossing her arms. Tyran's previously angry demeanor changed to one of sympathy and pity.
"Mika….I-I'm sorry…I didn't-" he began.
"No. It's fine. It's just, your teammates don't deserve this." She said placing her hand on his shoulder. "Well I'm beat!" Mika said, quickly changing the mood as she collapsed on her bed. "Night Tyran!"
"Good night Mika" he replied quietly.
'Jeez, I should become a teacher with all these speeches I'm giving' she thought as she closed her eyes. Sleep quickly overtook her due to her long day.
The next day….
The endless sea of red that was the Forest of Forever Fall was breathtaking.
"Yes students, the Forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But! We are not here to sightsee" explained Glynda. "Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so. Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates! We will rendezvous back here at four o'clock. Have fun!"
Mika looked down at the large jar in her hand. She gazed over to Jaune who seemed pretty distraught as he walked over with...Cardin? Why Cardin? Is he that poor of a leader that he doesn't even go with his team?
'Did he even listen to me?!' she thought as the rest of team MSTC walked off. After walking for a short distance, the reached a nice looking clearing, perfect for extracting sap.
"Here, Sunny, let me help you. Tyran offered as he walked over to Sunny who was currently trying to figure out how the spigot was supposed to fit in the tree.
"Thanks Tyran!" she replied cheerily, patting his ears. He smiled as he pushed the tool into the tree, causing sap to immediately flow. Cye looked over to Mika completely confused by Tyran's new demeanor. Mika simply returned a smirk.
It only took the team a couple of minutes to finish, and four o'clock was still a long time away. In the meantime, Cye relaxed against trees while Sunny and Tyran were sparring together.
Mika smiled. It seems like things are looking up for team MSTC. She produced a cloth from her black apron and began to clean her gunblade. Every nook and cranny was finally going to be free of dust. Once she was finished, Mika looked up at the red trees. Red leaves fluttered through the air, and the atmosphere was so calming.
That is, until the sound of glass shattering broke the silence of the forest.
"What was that?" Cye asked getting up.
"Meh, probably nothing" Mika said walking towards where the sound originated. "I'll go check it out, you guys stay here."
She began to run towards the sound. Hopefully it wasn't something too bad. Suddenly, Jaune and team CRDL came into view. Not wanting to aware them of her presence, Mika jumped up into a nearby tree and looked down at the current situation.
Cardin picked up Jaune by the collar after punching him to the ground. "I'm gonna make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny tiny pieces." Cardin threatened.
'Well, Jaune had a good run' Mika thought. 'Actually, on second thought I guess it wasn't that good….'
"I don't care what you do to me. But you are not messing with my team." Jaune stated looking Cardin in the eyes.
"What? You think talk like that makes you tough?" Cardin said. "You think you're a big strong man now?"
Jaune merely smiled in response, causing Cardin to become even angrier. He reeled back and punched Jaune directly in the face, but there was a sudden flash of bright light.
'What is that?!' Mika thought covering her eyes.
"Ahhh!" Cardin said holding his hand in pain.
Jaune looked down at his hands in disbelief but was soon knocked back to the ground by one of Cardin's teammates.
"Let's see how much of a man you really are" Cardin said stepping towards Jaune. But suddenly a low growl erupted from the bushes. A gigantic ursa stepped forward and roared. It looked down at Cardin and noticed the sap that still stained his armor.
"That's a big ursa!" shouted Russel as the team ran away, leaving Cardin behind. The ursa swiped its paw at Cardin and knocked him to the side. Jaune cowered in fear, but the ursa paid no attention to him, as all it wanted was the sap. The ursa towered over Cardin as he crawled backwards. Cardin put up his mace in defense but it was merely knocked away like a twig.
Cardin got up quickly and attempted to run away but the ursa intercepted him by jumping in front and knocking him back down on the ground. Cardin cursed at his futile attempts to run away or defend himself. The grimm rushed towards him and brought its claws down, prepared to finish Cardin off. However, Jaune rushed forwards and defended Cardin with his shield.
'J-Jaune?' Mika thought. 'But why?'
Jaune overpowered the ursa and pushed back, delivering a slash across its body in the process. The ursa retaliated, but Jaune was quicker as he rolled to the side. The ursa tried again, but Jaune merely jumped over its claw swipe. Unfortunately, as Jaune was falling he could not protect himself, so the ursa punched Jaune square in the torso.
He immediately got back up and rushed towards it again. Jaune leapt forward but the ursa just knocked him back down again. The ursa ran forward to Jaune and roared at him. Jaune unleashed a battle cry as well as he dashed forwards one more time. The two met, both in the middle of attacking, but Jaune was defenseless since he lowered his shield. But…something happened. His shield was immediately brought back up, but it didn't seem by his own doing. He blocked the ursa's attack and sliced it across the neck, decapitating it.
'What was that?!' Mika thought. She then looked down from her perch and saw Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha holding out her hand.
'Wait a minute' she continued. 'How did she…unless she can….HER SEMBLANCE IS POLARITY! That makes so much sense!'
Mika smirked at her new discovery. 'This means that the next time we fight, I'm gonna have the upper hand.' She then looked back down to Jaune who held his hand out to help Cardin to his feet. 'I should probably congratulate him. I was wrong, he'll make a great leader.'
Mika prepared to jump down from the branch of the tree, but she suddenly felt something wrap around her leg. "Wha-?!" she began but stopped as it quickly pulled her deeper into the forest.
She was dragged into a clearing, but nothing was there. Suddenly, she heard someone chuckling came from somewhere. Mika jumped up and circled around looking for the source of the noise.
"Who's there?!" She demanded.
The laughter suddenly ceased as she now heard a male's voice. "You know" they said. "Maybe if you had won, you would survive this" Suddenly, a huge metal ball came crashing down from the sky. Mika jumped back and it slammed into the ground, forming a large crater.
Once the dust settled Mika asked again. "Who's there?!" However, her only response was more chuckling. Mika angrily flicked the chamber of her revolver and pulled back the hammer. Blindly, she fired all six shots into the forest.
The voice came once again. "It's that kind of temper that made you lose the first time."
"Show yourself! Or are you too much of a coward?!" She taunted.
"Mika!" called a different voice. It was Sunny's. Suddenly, the rest of her team burst into the clearing.
"What happened to you? Where'd you go?" Cye asked.
"That's not important! We're under attack right now!" Mika informed. The team all readied their weapons all facing different directions, so they could not be surprised.
"You kids aren't worth the effort" said a new voice, a woman's voice. Cye's eyes widened and his muscles locked. After about a minute, with no attacks, Mika spoke. "Alright guys, let's head back, carefully…."
Later….
"Soooo, are we just gonna talk about what just happened in the forest?" Sunny asked the rest of the team MSTC. They had made it back to the school safely and were currently in their dorm.
"I don't know what to talk about, it was weird" Mika answered leaning against a wall.
"Hey Cye, you alright?" Tyran asked to the distressed teen. He was currently looking out the window and had not said a single word on the way back.
"Huh? Uhh, y-yeah, I'm g-good" he said shakily.
Tyran gave Mika a quizzical look but she just shrugged. "So what do you think this is about? Why would we be targets?" Sunny asked changing the subject back.
"I have no idea, but we should all be careful…." Mika warned.
Meanwhile….
Pyrrha and Jaune stood atop the roof of Beacon as she shoved him to the ground.
"Hey!" Jaune said.
"Your stance is all wrong. You need to be wider and closer the ground" she explained.
Mika opened the door to the roof to reveal Pyrrha standing above Jaune who was currently laying on the ground. The duo looked back at her.
"I'll, uhh, I'll come back later" she said closing the door.
"No! Wait! Mika, it's not what you think!" Jaune shouted.