"Hey, Jaune! It's been a while." I happily say as I enter his sweet shop again with Pyrrha. "I think I know how to get you to become a hunter. You have to just impress a hunter!"

Jaune looks down at the ground. "That was the second thing that I tried when I was rejected from Beacon. But nobody will take me."

"Maybe Pyrrha and I can give you some tips on how to use the sword. Maybe if we improve your swordsmanship, you may be able to catch the eye of a passing huntsman."

"Thanks, Ezra!" Jaune grins as the three of us goes to the back of the bakery. It is surprisingly empty, most of the baking utensils in a tiny cramped corner and a dummy on the other.

"I try to practice all the time." Jaune chuckles nervously as he raises his sword up sloppily. Oh, it is horrible. Pyrrha and I spent the afternoon tutoring Jaune. We had fun. It was full of clumsy accidents and lots of giggling. Around 5 pm, we manage to get him to at least swing a sword correctly in the proper stance.

-0-

"Did I tell you that Ozpin visited me in our dormitory while you were away?" Pyrrha says as I am about to take a sip from the coke. We had a nice steak meal at a restaurant in downtown Vale. I guess that the school really doesn't care about what their students do, or I guess that the cameras are that omnipresent. Also, what?!

"For what? And why the dormitory?" I choke out. Why the fuck would Ozpin go and visit a girl in her room unless… unless the timeline got accelerated and he had decided to pull the plug earlier than expected. Shit…

"He wanted me to be the Fall Maiden," she asks with a confused expression on her face. "I thought that they were myths?"

"I have a power that makes me perceive and manipulate reality as if its a video game and you are questioning the existence of myths?" I ask with a quirked eyebrow.

"But, this is about our history…?" Pyrrha sheepishly answers as she looks at her HUD, "Okay, maybe you're right. But this is still something that I always believed to be false. I can't even imagine having gamer powers, but most people believe that myths are false!"

I awkwardly pat her shoulder, "So what did you do?"

"I said that I'll think about it, obviously." Pyrrha shrugs before looking directly into my eyes, "Should I? Because Ozpin made a great point about how having the Fall Maiden incapacitated is bad for the defense of Vale, especially if they are as powerful as in those legends. Is it wrong to condemn someone to death in order to save the many? They had a woman in a coma in order to live, but if I take the power, then she'll die."

"It depends on who she is." I shrug, "Maybe I have an inner pragmatic, but if something can be used to protect more than it should be used. However, I also don't want to condemn someone to death just for the greater good. There is a chance that I can find a healing book in the Store that is capable of restoring her to full, but that depends on what status ailments she may have. Did you see it?"

"Yes. He let me down to the Vaults and showed her. In fact, I think that made me feel guilty now that she has a face to put it with. There were five different ailments." She replies as she looks over my shoulder at what I presume to be Beacon… I think.

"And what are they?' I prod. The ailments are probably stupidly hard, or just a coma.

"They are Comatose, Soul-Slashed, Grimm Corruption, Eternal Rest, and Fate-Bound." Pyrrha says as she thinks about the description. Most are self-explanatory. And that's not good. I doubt that I can change her because of the Fate-Bound status effect. But there is something weird.

"What's the difference between Comatose and Eternal Rest?' I ask. They seem about the same.

"Comatose seems to be physical while Eternal Rest says something about the soul being forcibly smothered to not act up."

"Oh. That status ailment probably seals our Aura." I realize as I then blanch. That will mean that Cinder and ergo Salem has a way to prevent the Huntsmen ability to tank most damage. "Shiiiiit. This is bad. I doubt that I can do much. Seeing as I bet that magic is out and having one's soul in tatters isn't good."

She looks down. "I assumed so as well."

"Sigh. So what will you do?" I query. There's not much time, seeing as I was asked whether or not our Team wants to shadow a Beacon Professor and/or participate in the Vytal Tournament. Obviously, I said yes to both.

"I'll do it." She responds with conviction. "If there is no way to save her…. Then it is probably better to not let her suffer, especially if it is her soul that is suffering."

Oh right. Souls are sacrosanct in Remnant because there is actual proof of it.

"I'll meet you later… I guess." I say as I notice her walk away from the table, leaving me to pay for the check. Sigh, I pull some Lien from my Inventory, place it on the table, and run out. "Wait for me!" I yell as I try to chase her.

-0-

"Okay. So all of you will be shadowing one of Beacon Academy's professor." Professor Goodwitch stares at all of us with a critical eye as Ozpin walks away from the podium. The dance had passed by, and let's just say that Yang really went through and spiked the punch.

Cough Cough. Now the mission. "Team RWBY, you will be with Professor ~~ Doctor Oobleck. Team SNRV, you will be with Professor Port. Team….." I ignore the rest of the assignments as Pyrrha starts to grip my hand much stronger. Oh right. Recap, huh? Please, game?

[...Fine]

(For enduring new limits, you have earned +1 VIT!) x2

Telekinesis is now Level 13!

Poison Resistance is now Level 15!

Pull is now Level MAX!

Vector Transformation is now Level 4!

For creative usage of "Increase Gravity", Increase Gravity is now Level 2!

Mana Manipulation is now Level 15!

Mana Whip is now Level 18!

Apparently, Ruby got "closer" to Team CRMN in her naive attitudes toward befriending everyone. I mean, it's good to have an open mind, but in many environments, that'll get her killed… or worse.

"Where are we going, leader?" Nora asks as she tries to peer over my shoulder, trying to look at my Scroll detailing the mission.

"We're going to… Mystery Island to explore and remove any mutated Grimm? They exist?" For some reason, the plot reminds me of something. A game?

"Ahh yes. The site of the unfortunate Merlot Industries." a meaty hand clasps on my shoulder. Oh. It's that. "The founder is a madman that researches Grimm quite enthusiastically. Our mission is to slay all of those foul Grimm and hopefully detain the malicious doctor."

"Hello, Professor," Pyrrha says as she takes the scroll in order to read it better. I think that she has been getting bolder, especially after gaining the Fall Maiden's Power. I guess that the Fiery Soul of Autumn (False) is affecting her own personality. Good for her.

"Anyway, we're going to embark on our trip in 2 hours. So make sure that you pack up." Port beams at the both of us.

"Wait….. Today?" I incredulously ask as I look behind me, where my Team is missing. Shit. "ByeI'llseeyousoon!" I shout as I run away.

"Why did you leave me..?" I breathe out as I stand at the doorway.

"Weiss, is that you?" Ren asks bemused as he looks up from a rucksack.

"Sigh. I'll be looking at my Store in silence." I respond as I start taking stuff outside of my Inventory to put inside of a hiking backpack.

-500 Gold! There goes some gold for a sleeping bag. I think that's enough. I still have a shit ton of Pocky Sticks and other stuff.

"Done!" Nora and Pyrrha say as they look at each other, before shrugging. Ren just tugs the bag over his shoulder and nods.

"Good!" I try to sound exuberant, but I have a feeling that some of the bosses in the game are going to exist. And that's not fun. A Deathstalker that is maybe 5 times bigger, can shoot earth spikes, have an obscene defense, and a fuck ton of health. Great, we're probably going to have to deal with it.

At the Bullhead launchpad, I see Team CRMN there standing with us. Well shit. I think the mission just became thousands of time worse. Cinder is just standing there smirking maliciously at me. Mercury and Emerald are standing by her sides, casually fidgeting a bit. Neo is twirling her parasol.

"Team CRMN from Haven Academy will be attending this mission. Headmaster Lionheart requested that the teams can come to join our missions. And having extra support is always good to have!" Port chuckles before the Bullhead's engines start to fire up.

"Let's hope that this'll be a peaceful mission," I say to Cinder, who chooses to smirk at me. Her eyes move Pyrrha as if pondering on something.

"Yes. Let's hope so." She answers as she saunters into the Bullhead, followed by her entourage.

-0-

AP preparation has sucked the living imagination from my brain. Send help….. Arghh…

~-0-~

Anyway, as you can probably see and many people say. Shit's about to go down in Merlot's island. In addition, I have to ask people, why do you continue reading this? I mean, it'll probably "improve" when we jump into Nasu-verse, while simultaneously worsening my mental condition as I try to patch F/SN canon with how I'm plotting it.

~-0-~

At least I hope so. Cough cough. Also, I have to start to actually write chapters for stories that I have, instead of writing chapters for stuff that I poll. Lel…. Anyways,

Tata!