Heya guys! Wow, two updated stories in a day... Incredible. Anyway, next update will be Viewing The Sins of the Past since I've been commissioned the second chapter, so don't expect DarkerShade to be updated as well. And after Halloween I will actually start my translating job so things might get busier. With that being said, onto the chapter!

"Perfect, he says we can go outside."

Everyone turned to the Writer, who hadn't moved from his couch since the last viewing. He clapped his hands and stood up, heading for the door. Only after he noticed how all eyes were on him, and no one had moved to follow him, he stopped and turned around. "Err… What?"

"You haven't spoken with anyone, nor moved, nor received any sort of message," Yang pointed out. "How can you know what he said? 'He' didn't even come here to tell you personally."

Phoenix blinked and gestured to himself. "Ehm… godlike entity with the mind of a man, remember?"

"I'm starting to wonder how could I become a Writer…" Blake mumbled.

"Remnant can go without your fanfictions of Ninjas of Love, thank you," Phoenix murmured under his breath, unnoticed by everyone. "No matter, I've spoke with the houseowner and he said that there is a spot he cleared from debris and that will be your new watching spot."

"Debris?" asked Ruby.

"Yep, he briefly told me why. This entire fortress is built in the crater of a massive volcano. Active volcano." Everyone looked down in worry. "We will move outside and into the crater. Don't worry, the magma will be several hundreds yards underneath. Unless one of you literally falls off, somehow manages to bypass the barrier the houseowner put underneath just for that, and goes down to take a swim in the lava, none of you should be harmed."

"Well, at least it's something…" grumbled Cardin. "Are you going to teleport us there? We haven't seen any exit from here."

"That's because my friend concealed the doors. Without a Writer's protection, you would probably die out there. The sheer heat would be enough, and that's without talking about the creatures living there." He rubbed his hands together. "And now that I've spooked you into expecting a horrible place, let's go. I'm pretty sure you'll like it. Khor even gave Jaune the permission to fly around the crater, as long as he doesn't fly too low or too high. Come on, we don't have all eternity."

Slowly, the Watchers got up and followed him, passing through several empty halls and corridors before reaching a door they knew hadn't been there before. As it turned out, it led into a giant forge. Everyone was shocked as a myriad of sounds assaulted their ears. They hadn't heard that?

"These are Vlakha Naroak's forges. Please don't touch anything, especially the equipment on the wall. It's not yours. Maybe in the future you'll be able to visit this place but as of now, we don't have time," instructed Phoenix.

Cardin, though, had his eyes on a little ash-coloured bottle on a table. The label read 'Hydrofluoric Acid'. 'This is perfect for my little revenge,' he thought with a smirk. 'Hydro should mean water so it's probably watered down. Good, I don't want to cause permanent damage to her… just to her freak ears.'

He pocketed the bottle with a grin and hurried after the others.

After a few more forges, where Yang had to literally drag Ruby to prevent her from running to the exotic weapons on the rackets, they finally found a larger hall, the Atrium. A huge, double door towered over them, but it was enough for Phoenix to push it slightly for it to open. "This is a secondary entrance. The main one is on the roof, and doubles as landing place for visitors. I suggest you don't look down, because while the bridge itself is made of obsidian, there is a chasm of several hundreds yards underneath. Not pleasant, if you are afraid of heights."

True to his words, the black bridge was indeed the less intimidating part of the sight. The crater's wall went up for at least a mile, lit with coals and grey with ashes. Unnoticed by everyone, on each of them's forehead appeared a small sapphire. As they looked back, Vlakha Naroak stood it all its magnificence, a citadel built in the volcano. Its lower levels sank into the lava, heedless to the heat, several hundred yards below. They could see moving shadows down there, apparently the 'creatures' Phoenix mentioned.

Phoenix led them down a narrow path until they reached a flat balcony over the chasm. At first glance, it looked stable enough, and several pillows laid around for them to use or to lay on. The pillows were peculiar, as they looked like to be made out of still burning lava, and yet they also appeared soft. A small fountain stood in the middle, full of fresh water.

The fountain itself was made out of sapphire carved into a rose from which three water spouts poured water into the fountain. The basic itself was had carvings of dragons and phoenixes, for obvious reasons, and was supported by what appeared to be flaming rose branches. The sapphire blossom of the fountain also had green and blue flames surrounding it, and they could see the same flames dancing underwater, as impossible as that might've been.

"You might've noticed that you all are under a hydration enhancement that keeps you from turning into dried shells of people. The heat here is unbelievably high." He gestured to the sapphires on their foreheads, and only then the stones detached and fell off, disappearing into dust. "This fountain will have the same effects on this area. Leave it and… well, you'd be lucky if your Aura resists for more than five minutes. There is a reason the walls look semi-liquefied, that's rock."

Then he gestured to the screen attached to the wall. "That's magic too, so the screen doesn't liquefy from the heat. We'll continue watching the Swordsman from here."

"Why here?" asked Ruby.

Phoenix just shrugged. "I guess Khor was just tired of being the only one to know what's around his fortress. I wasn't the one to make the decision, although I did suggest a few places I'm pretty sure he has in his fortress. And as you can see, those are my flames in the fountain." Then he sat down and conjured up a cup of coffee. "Don't be afraid of drinking hot beverages, though. Here it's just perfect. You don't need to go below zero to enjoy a good coffee."

A few others chose something to eat or drink as well. Just like it worked in the Watching Hall, there too the orders appeared in front of them, on low coffee tables. Everyone sat or laid down, and then screen started up shortly after.

Blake and Jaune left the café not long after their little heart to heart. They were walking down the street in a comfortable silence, each feeling a bit better by sharing their burden with someone similar to themselves. They walked for a few more blocks until Jaune decided to speak up. "So, what now?"

Blake was quiet for a second, "You're going to go back to Beacon. The others are worried about you."

Not even three seconds into the viewing, and already people spoke up. "You know saying that will only make him want to stay more?" Yang asked the cat Faunus.

"It also makes you look like you're about to do something he wouldn't want you to do," Jaune pointed out. "Although if it goes like it went in our universe, then I guess that really wasn't your brightest idea."

"I was... I was too full of mistrust for humans to ask my team for help," she confessed, looking down a bit. "I didn't want to get humans involved."

Cardin sneered. "What did I say? Once a terrorist, always a terrorist," he grumbled. "Mistrust for humanity… last time I checked, the White Fang was the terrorist organization, not humanity."

"Then you're not counting the Blood Fist, the Black Sword or Humanity First," Sun shot back, angry. "People who mistreat, abuse of and even kill Faunus just for the fun of it. Just because of some twisted belief that humanity is better."

"Except that the White Fang is all over the news, while those groups are just small ones!" Cardin growled.

"That's not because of what they do, but alas what they are," Weiss cut in. "If you tried to watch FaunTV, or Menagerie Radio, or any other Faunus channel, you would see that the roles are turned around. Each race accuses the other and covers up what its own organizations have done. Just three days ago… or rather, three days before we were kidnapped… Black Sword's members killed fifteen Faunus in a Faunus clothing store, and set the shop on fire. Nevertheless, it didn't make it to the human channels."

Cardin scowled. "I'm not saying they deserve to die, but neither do humans, and the White Fang is even applauded by Faunus for what they do. If even the daughter of Menagerie's leader joined it in a time of peace, while she could've remained home and be spoiled for the rest of her life, it's obvious the White Fang has support among the Faunus leadership!" As everyone looked at him, he scoffed. "What? You think I didn't know who rules those freaks? 'Belladonna' is not exactly a common name, either."

"The Faunus do not condone what the White Fang has done, but the oppressed will always fight back when possible," Blake retorted angrily. "As well, the Faunus have been oppressed for decades, maybe even centuries. They are snapping, and they are snapping at everyone because it's easier to snap at a race than at the specific ones who did the crime."

Cardin scoffed and crossed his arms. "Animals."

"They're worried about you too, Blake. Both of our scrolls going off nonstop proves that. Besides, I have a feeling you're gonna do something crazy and/or stupid. That's my area of expertise, not yours. So I'm staying with you for the foreseeable future."

"Jaune, listen-" Blake tried to convince him, until Jaune cut her off.

"No, you listen, Blake. We left Beacon together and that's how we're going back. No ifs, ands, or buts. Also, Yang and Ruby know I'm with you and it'd be suicide for me to go back without you." He smiled at her, "Face it, you're stuck with me until then."

She stared at him for a bit before she sighed with a small smile. "Looks like I have no choice. I'm not convinced these robberies are caused by the White Fang. They've never needed that much dust before."

"So, your plan is to try and catch the actual criminals behind these robberies to prove the Fang's innocence?" Blake nodded. "Lucky for you that I'm sticking with you then." She turned back to him with a quizzical look. "Yesterday at the park, I overheard some off duty dock workers saying that a huge Schnee Company freighter of dust is coming into the docks today. And I do mean huge. Guarantee that the criminals will be there, it'd be too good to pass up."

"Strange, last time it was Sun who told me this, why is the Swordsman the one to know?" asked Blake.

Phoenix silently whistled innocently and looked up, avoiding the other's curious gazes.

Blake's eyes widened slightly, "Guess we're going back to the docks."

"You sure you don't wanna tell the rest of our teams? I know we can handle ourselves but back up never hurt." Blake gave him a slight glare, Jaune just sighed and shrugged, "Was worth a shot."

Later that night, the two of them were on a rooftop overlooking the docks. They'd been there for a couple of hours already and Jaune was getting slightly stir crazy. He looked over to Blake to ask her something but stopped when he noticed her. The fragmented moon was shining on her in a way that made her usual mysterious beauty turn into something almost irresistible. Guess she felt his eyes on her because she turned to face him, she was surprised by the look he was giving her, "Jaune, why are you looking at me like that?"

Most people chuckled at that. Even Ruby, Yang and Pyrrha giggled a bit. Sure, they all had feelings for Jaune but that was a can of worm they would open later, after he had sorted out his feelings, ordered them alphabetically, and realized if he loved them or not.

Sun just gave a wolf whistle and winked at Blake. "Don't worry, Blake, I know you're taken. Just appreciating the view," he said. Blake smiled. Sure, Sun might've been a little silly at times and annoying at others, but he was a good friend and had the heart to allow her space when she needed to.

Phoenix had a different reaction altogether. He chuckled and leaned down to whisper on Jaune's ear. "This is what you're currently missing out on. I'd say it's worth to give it a thought or two, right?" With his usual sleight of hand, the Writer wiped some drool from Jaune's semi-open mouth. "But don't tell my girlfriend I've said this."

Jaune quickly looked back at the docks with a slight blush, "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare. You just looked stunning in the moonlight." He didn't notice her blush and look away as well. At that point, the wind started to pick up and a bullhead descended in the middle of the cargo containers. They then saw White Fang members start to file out of the ship and start gathering the dust.

Blake stared wide eyed, "Oh no."

Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, Blake. I wish it wasn't the case."

She shook her head slightly, "I think deep down I knew, I just didn't want to believe it." They were interrupted again when they saw Roman Torchwick come out of the bullhead and start to issue commands to the members of the White Fang. "This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human. Least of all, one like that."

Cardin was about to say something, but after most Watchers glared at him, he just closed his mouth in silence. It wasn't a perfect solution, far from it, but at least they didn't have to put up with his stupid insults once more.

Before Jaune could stop her, she had already drawn Gambol Shroud and jumped off the roof. "Blake! Damn it!" Jaune quickly pulled out his scroll and switched his GPS on and sent an SOS to his team and RWBY. He drew Suikiri with his right hand and followed after her. By the time he got to her, she had Roman at sword point with her bow off and surrounded by the White Fang. The wind picked up again and several bullheads had also shown up. But Jaune's attention was immediately brought back to Roman as he fired at the ground and sent Blake flying. He was about to fire at her again but Jaune managed to use his aura to get between them and created a water wall in front of him. "Dumbass, you shouldn't be sending out explosives around this much dust! Do you have a death wish!?" Jaune got into his combat stance as he stared him down.

Everyone blinked and Blake nodded slightly. "I… didn't think of that. Torchwick was really incautious back then. If anything had gone wrong…"

"The whole Valean dock area would've been blown up, and the fireworks would've been seen in Atlas," Qrow finished for her. "You'd better remember that, 'cause shooting yourself out of the sky is not so rare of a death cause among Hunters. You wouldn't believe how many idiots kill themselves 'cause they can't handle some fucking Dust."

"Thanks for the tip, kid. Get him!" The White Fang members charged Jaune and he met them halfway. They were good with swords but Jaune was a master. He was able to deflect all their attacks and drop them with either the broadside of his sword or by using his water whips to toss them about. Roman growled in annoyance and fired another shot at Jaune. Jaune kicked away another grunt and fired a water blast to counter it. That's when Blake ran past Jaune to start attacking Roman again. Jaune was about to back her up but more White Fang started dropping out of the other bullheads. The numbers were starting to get to him and he was forced on the defensive. He was only able to dodge most of the attacks due to his enhanced reflexes from using water enhanced aura. 'This is bad. I can't use my other swords; I could accidentally set off the dust and any Advance Elements would be just as dangerous. But at this rate, Suikiri is gonna run outta dust.' He then used his Semblance to use the water he had summoned to create miniature waves to push the grunts back slightly. His eyes widen in realization. 'That could work! But I need time to focus!"

Jaune was surrounded by a dozen White Fang now but luckily for him, one of them got hit with a banana peel before he got kicked in the face. The newcomer then backflipped over Jaune and stood behind him with a bo staff, "Sup, Jaune?"

"Sun?!" Jaune said in shock before he slashed at another grunt. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

Sun knocked out a grunt with his staff before answering, "You know, was in the neighborhood! Heard the explosions and it sounded like a fun time!"

Everyone sweat-dropped and looked at Sun, who just grinned and waved back.

With a sigh, they returned to look at the screen.

"You need to reconsider your definition of fun!" Jaune sent a blast of water to knock a few of them away. "Hey, Sun, I'm cashing in that 'you owe me'!"

"What do you need?" he asked still fighting.

"I have a way to wrap this up but I need a few minutes. Think you can keep them off me?"

"No problem!" Sun separated his staff into its gunchuck form before charging forward. Jaune jumped back, he then hed Suikiri horizontally in front of him and placed his hand on the broadside of it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before focusing his mind and aura. He started to focus his Semblance to manipulate the water around him. He could feel all the water he had summoned so far but he kept pushing his Semblance further, reaching for more. He could feel a slight pull just outside of his senses, he kept pushing, feeling his Semblance reaching its limit. With a grunt of pain, Jaune gave one final push and felt his Semblance connect to a huge mass of water. At that moment, Jaune's now blue aura flared and a massive water spout could be seen right next to the docks. Everyone stared in shock at it. Jaune raised Suikiri with his eyes still closed and the water spout angled towards them all before flying at them. It miraculously stopped barely ten feet from the tip of Suikiri and it shifted into a giant water sphere right above all of them. Jaune opened his eyes and everyone besides him could see that his right eye was glowing a brilliant blue, the ye itself surrounded by blue flames.

Jaune flicked his blade towards Sun and the White Fang he was dealing with. A massive water whip broke away from the sphere and struck at them. The water parted around Sun and slammed the grunts into a container knocking them out instantly. Several more grunts appeared on top of the containers and opened fired on him and Sun. Jaune put his hand in front of him and pointed his sword and Sun, water walls appeared in front of both of them and the water started glowing the same blue as his eye. The water somehow stopped all the bullets inside of it. Sun and the grunts were stunned until Jaune flicked his wrist and sword at the grunts. The water condensed around the bullets and fired back at the Fang members. The bullet reinforced water knocked out the grunts. Jaune walked towards the remaining grunts before turning to Sun, "Thanks, Sun, mind giving Blake a hand?" He nodded dumbly before going to help her. The last dozen or so White Fang looked at Jaune in terror. "Last chance. Surrender or else." To prove his point water tendrils broke off from the main sphere and started whipping near them. They quickly dropped their weapons and raised their hands. Just to be safe, he still had the tendrils knock them out.

Everyone looked in awe at the Swordsman's Semblance. Phoenix just sighed. "Right now, you see this as something wonderful, don't you?" he rhetorically asked. "But think what would a normal person think."

"Awesome?" offered Ruby.

"Incredible?" added Yang.

"So very overpowered?" Neptune chipped in.

"Fearsome. Scary. So very terrifying," Ironwood corrected. "Such a power would make people fear him to their very cores. Fear creates anger. Anger creates hatred. Hatred creates violence."

"If people were to find out his full capabilities, he would be done for good," finished Phoenix. "Everyone would be after him, either to adore him, recruit him or kill him. He would never have peace any more."

He turned back to Roman to see him shoot at a suspended container and it started to fall towards Blake and Sun. Jaune quickly punched the air and simultaneously, a massive water stream shot off from the water sphere and sent it into one of the bullheads, bringing it down. At that time, they heard a familiar voice shout their names and the sound of sniper fire. Jaune turned to see Ruby on a nearby rooftop with the orange haired girl from the other day and he waved. He saw Roman take another shot towards them and Jaune raised his hand in their direction and more water broke off from the water sphere to form a shield for them. As he was doing that, a few more bullheads flew in and started opening fire. Jaune turned the water sphere into a giant water shield above all of them and it started to shine blue to stop the bullets.

"Well, at least I wasn't taken out so quickly," grumbled Ruby, still sore about that hit.

"I was wondering, though… how is it that Arc there is always the one to do everything?" asked Neptune. Everyone looked at him. "I mean, seriously, ever since we've started to watch this thing, it has always been Arc here and Arc there, Arc up and Arc down, Arc left and Arc right… he does everything! In combat he's a demigod at the very least, academically he's just slightly worse, and then we have the other events!" He pointed at Ruby and Weiss. "During your fight at the start of the year, Arc was too busy being an idiot to help you out. The Swordsman pops out of nowhere and gives you advice." He turned to Cardin. "While you were picking on Arc, he was too weak to fight back and too moronic to ask for help. The Swordsman fights back everything you throw at him." He then turned to Blake. "And then you. You run off, meet Sun, and the two of you fight Torchwick. The Swordsman jumps through a window, meets up with you, the two of you stay in Vale and then fight Torchwick. Miraculously, Sun arrives just in time to help the Swordsman." He then held up his hands and started counting. "Plus during Initiation he basically did everything by himself. In Port's class, he fought instead of Weiss. He's the one who stops Cardin from bullying Velvet. And now he just blocked the shot Ruby should've taken. Really, he seems to do everything!"

"Too bad Jauney Boy is the exact opposite, eheh," Cardin chuckled.

Phoenix just shrugged. "It's an alternative universe. It's not that the Swordsman is doing everything. It's just that with his powers, he has a different attitude. Self-esteem sucks, I know from experience, and that's the main difference between the Swordsman, and our Jaune." He waved a hand in the air. "Sure, power is handy at times, but it's mainly self-esteem. That, and the differences between universes."

"So Jauney Boy just needs some more confidence, uh?" sneered Cardin. 'Well, then I guess I'll add him to the prank. Better not to let his confidence rise too much, right? It's just gonna be more painful when it falls back down!'

Jaune was starting to breath heavily and heard someone land next to him. He turned to see the orange hair girl standing next to him with swords floating around her. "Salutations!" was all she said with a smile.

"Penny!" exclaimed Ruby.

Jaune raised an eyebrow, "Hey. Any chance you can help me with the bullheads?"

She nodded before she hit her chest, "I'm combat ready! You also saved my friend so I am obligated to help." She said with a smile.

Jaune just went with it, "Hey, any friend of Ruby's is alright in my book. Now let's do this!" He raised Suikiri and the water shield broke apart and surrounded the bullheads in a water bubbles He swung his sword toward the edge of the docks and sent them flying into the sea. He missed two of them but Penny was able to bring one down by using a giant laser from her swords and the other with her swords pulling it to the ground. They were about to celebrate until Jaune noticed a bullhead trying to fly away with Roman inside of it. "Get back here!" Jaune shouted and started to swing his sword towards the bullhead. He was intending to bring the bullhead down with the remainder of his water. But halfway through his swing, a massive spike of pain went through his head. It made him drop Suikiri and he stumbled forward. His vision started blurring and he heard people shouting his name along with a large amount of water falling. He saw Blake running to catch him before everything went black.

Jaune slowly opened his eyes to the sight of a white ceiling. He was lying in a bed and had no idea how he got there. He started sitting up but as he moved slightly, a pain shot through his head and his hand shot up to his head. "Ow, that's an element hangover if I ever had one." Next thing he knew he heard several people shout his name and felt three people jump on top of him. He looked down and saw Ruby, Pyrrha and Yang on top of him, hugging him. He looks around to see Blake and Sun standing on one side of his bed and Weiss on the other side. Along with Ren and Nora a few feet away from his bed. "Where am I?"

Blake was the one to answer, "Beacon's Infirmary. You passed out at the docks and we had no idea what happened. So we brought you here and the doctors said you were fine. But they want to keep you until the morning to make sure."

Jaune groaned slightly before looking down at the girls hugging him, "Can you three get off, please? It's kinda hard to breath." Ruby and Yang gave him pouts but stood up next to their partners. Pyrrha refused to get up though. "Pyrrha?"

"Uh oh, why do I feel like Jaune just got into serious trouble?" asked Sun.

"It just means your Woman-Rage Radar is working alright," shrugged Phoenix. "The supernatural ability to tell when a woman is pissed off is something blessed by every male and female on Earth."

"Earth? What does soil matter?" asked Ruby.

Phoenix laughed. "Not earth, Earth. Uppercase first letter. Like this planet is called Remnant, my home planet is called Earth. Ironic since only twenty-one percent of its total surface is not covered by water. Seas and oceans make up the eighty percent of the surface, I guess it should be called 'Water', not 'Earth'." He chuckled a bit more. "I guess the Woman-Rage Radar is blessed by everyone in the Multiverse."

"That is very sexist," scoffed Winter.

"Of course, excuse me. The Woman-Rage Radar is just one little ability of the vast range of skills usually known as 'empathy'," Phoenix drawled sarcastically. "I am not sexist and I will not tolerate being insulted like that. I abhor any kind of discrimination, be it based on gender, religion, physical traits, beliefs or sexual orientation." He then glanced at Cardin and Neptune. "My dislike for a few people here is not due to discrimination, but rather to my natural dislike for jerks and douchebags."

Winter glared at him for a few more seconds before she sighed and her aggressiveness went away. "Fine. I apologize for having offended you. It was not in my intentions to do so."

"You're an idiot." Everyone was shocked by this. "You disappear for two days and when you return you are unconscious. Do you know how worried you made us?" Her voice was shaking slightly and she refused to take her face off of his chest.

Jaune gently returned the hug, "I'm sorry, Pyr. I'm a terrible friend, partner and leader."

She shook her head, "I wouldn't go that far." was all she said before she looks up at him with a small smile. "I'll forgive you this time." She said before she got off of him.

He returned with his own small smile before he started to sit up. His head started to ache again and he groaned, "Definitely an element hangover." He said.

"How do you know what a hangover feels like?" Yang asked jokingly.

"Your Uncle is a bad influence." He replied. He looked over at Sun, "I owe you one, Sun."

"Yes!" cheered the Faunus.

"Man, what's gotten over you?" asked Neptune.

"Oh, come on, I just got a debt from him!" Sun grinned as he looked around. "A favour from the Swordsman, who's quite possibly on a fast track to become a demigod or something like that!"

"Nah, man. We're even. Just call me if you need a hand or just want to hang." He held out his hand and Jaune took it.

"Awww…" Sun slumped down on his chair, and Helios jumped on his lap to comfort him.

"Deal." Jaune said with his usual smile.

Sun gave his own smile before he rested his hands behind his head. "Well, I think I should leave you guys alone. Don't wanna be a third wheel. Or ninth wheel in this case." He chuckled slightly before he left.

There is an uncomfortable silence before Jaune sighed. "I have a lot to make up for." He looked over to Weiss, "I want to apologize, Weiss. I shouldn't have shouted at you like that. I was out of line."

Weiss looked at him in shock before she gave him a softened look, "It's alright, Jaune. I said a lot that I shouldn't have. You set me straight, again, and I hope we can move on from this." She gave him a small smile and then gave the same smile to Blake. They both smiled and nodded.

Jaune looked over at Nora and Ren before he looked done. "Guys, I can't apologize enough. I brought up those memories and reopened those wounds callously. You have every right to be mad at me. But I just want you to know, I'm truly sorry. I would never intentionally want to do that."

Jaune sighed. "Really, am I fated to mess up in all universes?" he asked to no one.

"Ehm-ehm, if I may," replied Ren. "I'd say you did all but fail, Jaune. Those two large white appendages called 'wings' are the proof of that."

That brought a smile on his face, until someone else decided to disrupt it. And quite brutally, too. Neptune scoffed obnoxiously. "Ren's wrong. If I may, I think your assessment is quite correct." He grinned as he gestured to Phoenix. "After all, no one of us had to have a God offer us a deal in order to get strong and do something right. Phoenix here must pity you so mu-"

He was interrupted by the Writer himself who, with a smile on his face, stepped behind him. He had moved so fast even Ruby had barely seen him. His smile now turning down into a frown, the godlike entity grabbed the back of Neptune's shirt, and threw him in the air.

Right off the edge.

Everyone gasped as the blue-haire… no, sorry, ash-and-soot-haired boy disappeared from view. No one dared to say anything as all eyes were drawn to Phoenix. "I really wanted to do that," he confessed. "Kinda hard to do it in the Watching Hall. Besides, he should be back in two… one… zero."

With a flash of orange flames, a still-screaming Neptune was dropped on over their heads, connecting hard with the ground. Sun quickly checked him over, but aside from the scare he had no wounds.

Phoenix darkly chuckled, and everyone found themselves leaning away from him.

There was a silence in the room until Jaune was tackled again, but this time by Nora. He looked down to see her holding onto him tightly. "It's okay, Jaune. We know you didn't mean to hurt us. So, we can forgive you." She looked up at him with her usual smile. "You are our Fearless Leader after all." Jaune was shocked but smiled and hugged Nora close. He gently kissed her on the top of her head and Ren made his way over to hug Jaune as well. After a minute or so, they broke apart.

"So, where'd you guys go after you left?" Yang asked them.

"I paid for a room at a hotel and we stayed there." Jaune said with a shrug.

Yang gave him a teasing smirk, "So, did you guys share a bed?" They all looked at the two of them with looks of curiosity.

Jaune sighed, "No, Yang, I slept on the couch. And before you say anything, we both were dealing with a lot. Emotionally. I thought it'd be best if we didn't sleep in the same bed, in case we did something that we'd regret later."

Everyone understood what he meant and they all nodded. Blake gave Jaune a small smile before Ruby brought up a question, "Jaune? How did you do all that with the water? You've never done that before."

"Oooh, this is gonna be interesting," oohed Nora. "We get to see more of his Semblance! It's like a videogame! The more we go on, the more powers we get to see!"

"Odd analogy aside, I agree with Ms Valkyrie," noted Goodwitch. "Given how unique is Semblance is, it would be interesting to see his new powers."

"Nothing special, Ruby. It was just a part of my Semblance. The more of an element is around me, the more potentially powerful it can be. Earth and air are always around so they are usually very strong. Fire and lightning are usually slightly weaker but I make up for it by learning to create them. Water is by far my most...temperamental element. But because we were at the docks, my water abilities were at their peak. The only problem is the more of an element I use at one time, the more stress is puts on my Semblance and body. I can also send my aura into an element to make it more potent. That's why the water started glowing blue and could stop bullets. I passed out because I reached my limit. And why my head feels like I went ten rounds with Yang." Everyone laughed at that.

"Okay, is there a limit to how powerful his Semblance can get?" Weiss grumbled, a bit envious.

"Well, if he has no Dust, then he has no powers," Jaune pointed out.

"Weiss is right, the Swordsman's Semblance is indeed powerful," agreed Phoenix. "But think about it: with enough training, your own Semblance could create a literal tornado. Now, which one's the overpowered?"

"A-A tornado?"

"A big, tall, wide, mean freaking tornado," Phoenix grinned as, for a second, the screen showed a EF5 rank tornado destroying a house. Then it went back to the Swordsman. "All you need… is training."

'Okay, I really want to train right now…'

They were all quiet for a while. Jaune noticed that Ruby, Weiss, Yang and Pyrrha were sharing looks with one another. Jaune sighed again, "Girls." They looked at him. "If you have something to ask me then you should do it before I doze off again." He said with a smirk.

They looked at each other and Pyrrha spoke up. "Well, Jaune…...you brought up a bit about your past…. And we were wondering…if you could tell us more. If you're up to it that is."

Jaune thought for a second before he looked to Ren and Nora. They looked at each other then nodded before nodding to Jaune. Jaune took a deep breath and pulled his shirt up. Yang and Ruby gasped, seeing his scar for the first time. Pyrrha's mouth opened in shock, she saw it before but never this close. "It all starts with this scar." Jaune then told them all everything that he told Blake. It was a little easier this time with Ren and Nora's support. By the end of it, Pyrrha and Yang were crying, Weiss was trying to hold back her tears but failing and Ruby had her head down.

She went over to Jaune and gently grabbed his shirt sleeve. Jaune looked over to her and she slowly raised her head. He saw her crying, more so than anyone else. "I'm sorry, Jaune." She was shaking. "Yang and I lost our mother too." Everyone looked wide eyed at her, even Yang. Ruby rarely talked about Summer, especially with anyone besides family. "I know that the pain never really leaves but I want you to know, that I know how you feel and I am here for you." Ruby started to losing the little control she had.

Jaune, who was still side-hugging Blake, felt a tug at his sleeve. Turning, he saw what was probably the cutest and most heartbreaking sight he had ever seen in his entire life. There stood Ruby, with her wide misty eyes looking up at him, her lower lip trembling ever so slightly. He understood immediately.

Moving away from Blake, he allowed Ruby to climb onto his lap and hugged her tightly, as if to ward off any bad memory. Since she wasn't looking at the screen, instead pressing her face into his chest, he unfolded his wings and encircled her with those as well. In a few seconds, Ruby found herself in a safe, warm and comfortable cocoon. She could get used to that treatment.

"Ruby." Jaune wrapped his arms around her and she held onto the front of his shirt as she buried her face into his shoulder to finally let go. Jaune looked at Yang for permission and she nodded after a second or two. Jaune pulled Ruby onto the bed and held her close. He moved one hand to the back of her head and slowly started to stroke her hair. "Shhh, it's alright, Ruby. It's alright." Jaune just held her like this and kept repeating those words. He also had a few of his own tears from seeing his best friend hurt so much. Eventually, Ruby calmed down and she fell asleep holding onto Jaune. Yang then took her sister from him.

"Thank you, Jaune. I'm glad she has you as a best friend." She said with a small smile.

Jaune nodded with his own small smile. Everyone decided it was late and started to leave. They wished Jaune a good night and promised to come by in the morning. Everyone left besides Blake. She stood right next to Jaune and smiled at him. "Thank you, Jaune. For everything this weekend. I really needed a friend like you."

Jaune smiled, "No problem, Kitten."

"Kitten?" repeated Blake, red tinting her cheeks.

"It's better than Blakey," Yang offered helpfully.

"That's not exactly saying much, Yang…"

Blake blushed at the nickname, "Kitten?"

Jaune nodded, "Yup. It's your nickname." Blake looked worried until Jaune spoke again. "Don't worry. I'll only call you it when it's just us or when we're with our teams. Unless, you hate it that is."

Blake thought for a second, "I guess it's not terrible." She said still with a blush. "I still want to give you something for what you did."

"Blake, it's fine. You don't need to. I would do it again in a heart-" Jaune was cut off when he felt her hand on his shoulder and her lips on his. Jaune's eyes widened in shock. He wasn't expecting this at all. It was a chaste kiss but it still blew Jaune's mind. It only lasted a few seconds but it felt like years to him. Blake pulled away, looking at him with a gleam in her eyes and that same smile. Jaune didn't say a thing.

Jaune's jaw dropped somewhere near the lava, several hundreds yards below, as his mind uselessly tried to compute what the actual hell had just happened. In his head, Jeyin just lifted a mini-mug of coffee and cheered weakly. Her job was almost done for Blake.

The cat Faunus was blushing profusely herself, especially when she felt the glares of Yang, Pyrrha, Ruby and for some reason even Weiss. Wasn't she the one who had rejected Jaune all along?!

"Con-gra-tu-la-tion," Pyrrha mechanically said.

"I am really happy for you, Blake," added Yang, and she managed to make it clear she was not happy. Not at all.

"You are lucky…" Ruby forced out between gritted teeth, making it perfectly known that she would've preferred to have been the lucky one herself.

"I wish you good luck with your relationship," Weiss stated, although the temperature around them dropped with each word.

Blake glanced at Phoenix, begging for help, but he was just laughing to himself.

"I know you aren't emotionally ready for a relationship, Jaune. But I want you to know, I could easily see myself with you and being very happy. So, please. When you're ready, give it a thought." She slowly went to leave and when she was about to go out the door, she turned back around and gave him one last loving smile.

When she left, Jaune collapsed onto the bed and looked up at the ceiling. Trying to comprehend what just happened. Finally, he sighed and closed his eyes. 'Things just got complicated.' Was all he thought before he fell asleep.

Blake coughed into her fist. "Err… S-See? Nothing came out of it!" She laughed nervously. Very nervously. "Not yet, at least. It's not like I claimed him, right? Eh eh… eh… eh…"

Little by little, the four's glares lessened until someone actually remembered Jaune was still in shock. Ruby gently pinched one of his feathers and pulled it off, the pain sharp enough to wake Jaune up. "Ouch! What the hell, Ruby? What was that for?"

"You were unresponsive," she smiled innocently, sneakily hiding the large feather under her cape. "Besides, it's just a feather…"

"A feather today, one tomorrow, in a few years you'll have taken them all," he childishly pouted. When Ruby giggled, his eyes narrowed. "Oh, this is your game? Fine… let's see how you fare against me…"

Before she could defend herself, Ruby found his hands on her sides, tickling her mercilessly.

They stopped ten minutes later.

"Uff… Ugh… That… That was… tiring…" panted Ruby.

"But… uff… so very… satisfying…" Jaune smiled back.

Phoenix grinned at their little scene. Ruby had been trying too hard to be mature, not knowing that Jaune liked her the way she was. This would've restored the status quo. But it was time for him to leave. "Well guys, as much as I loved hanging out with you, and pulling a couple of pranks-" A few scowled at him. "-I fear my time here is up. I have much to do, plus I can't remain here forever. Just so you know, the spell that brings people back up from being thrown is still there. Throw Cardin, Neptune and Idiotwood for me a few times, okay? Also, I'm leaving Helios with you, treat him well." He stepped over to the edge until he was at the very brink. "This is not a goodbye. Think of it as a… see you later!"

With that, red flames burst from his figure, shaping into a gigantic fire phoenix. With a keen cry, the phoenix descended down into the volcano. Everyone ran to the edge, just in time to see it diving straight into the lava. The disturbance disrupted the lava's already unstable balance, creating a massive lava burst. A column of pure magma shot up, so high it could be seen even from outside the volcano.

When everything calmed down, there was no sign of Phoenix.

Whoops, Neptune got back up. D'Arvit! (reference to the series Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer, if you haven't caught it.)

So... Cardin's preparing his prank, and his ignorance is going to cost Blake and Jaune quite dearly. Hydrofluoric acid is not watered down acid, it's HF mixed with water. And it's a potent acid that doubles as deadly contact venom. Look it up on Wikipedia if you want. It also damages the nerves so you don't even feel you have acid in your body. It permeate through the skin and reaches the bloodstream, possibly causing cardiac arrest.

And the "EF5" is a real scale (the Enhanced Fujita scale) for tornado powers. It has been theorized about the EF6, but no tornado yet have been truly ranked 6. The legendary Tri-State Tornado ranked 5.

Until next time,

Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh