Giant-Slayer (Volume 1)

by NeoNazo356

Because a universe without stories is just empty space, I offer you this one-of-a-kind epic saga about love, life, loss, and everything-in-between; with heroes, villains, and everything-in-between THAT. In loving memory of Monyreak "Monty" Oum (Born June 22nd, 1981; Died February 1st, 2015). Like so many others, I will keep moving forward "for there is no futility even in death."

26. Fallen Far

I just want to state for the record, that when Jack shouted "Thirty-Percent Full-Cowl!" last-chapter, that was not Jack USING "One for All" (Boku no Hero Academia). It was simply the whole "shout-out-your-attacks" thing that anime protagonists use as a Focii; like the Pre-Shot Routine in Toriko only it's done with words. In case you haven't read the Author's Notes in previous chapters, or I simply haven't said it outright, Jack's Semblance is the "Kaio-Ken" in the same way that Yang's is turning "Super Saiyan". However, I'm not going to have him shout "Kaio-Ken" because, for what reason would he shout "World King Fist" in another language?

Just wanted to get that one out of the way since I got complaints about it. Also, since I haven't done this in a while, and I need to give credit where credit is due, a brief disclaimer.

DISCLAIMER:

I do not own RWBY, Halo, Attack on Titan, Durarara!, Destiny, Mass Effect, Dragonball Z, Metal Gear, Mahou Sensei Negima!, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer, Terminator, One Piece, Hajime no Ippo, UQ Holder!, Final Fantasy VII, Agent 007, Cyborg 009-1, Shimoneta: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn't Exist, Tales of (Franchise), Inuyasha, Katanagatari, Killing Bites, Triage X, DEATH BATTLE!, Gate – Thus the J SDF Fought There!, The Boondocks, Toriko, Boku no Hero Academia, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Deadman Wonderland, and/or any other Intellectual Properties used and/or references used in this story. All Intellectual Properties are the property of their respective IP-Holders. All musical cues and scores are owned by their respective owners and/or creators. All Original Characters are property of either myself or those that conceived them.

Please support the official release.

*GIANT-SLAYER*

"Jack, are you sure you're okay?" Ruby asked the next morning as Jack proceeded to remove the bandages from his arms.

"I'm fine. See?" Jack asked as he removed the bandages. Lo and behold, they were good as neeeeeew…? Okay maybe not "good as new", but at least there weren't any more scars then there were before. The ones that "exploded" were just a bit red, while most of the bruising on the rest had gone away.

"How can you even move after doing that to yourself?" Weiss asked as she brushed her hair. "Most people with injuries that serious wouldn't be able to lift their arms for weeks, yet you claim to be "good as new" after not even a day has passed," she said making air bunnies.

"I haven't been "good as new" since I was nine years old," the Faunus deadpanned.

"Oh… right… Since your mother died-I mean, was murdered," the heiress corrected, not wanting to downplay the gravity of that event. Sure, she'd had people she'd known get killed, but after thinking back on their involvement with her father's company without any bias… she was willing to contemplate that maybe… some of them had it coming. That didn't make it right, but she could understand how Jack felt about his mother being murdered simply because, instead of for a reason.

"Yes… Then…" Jack said in a tired tone, Yang flinching at the dead look in his eyes.

"So… um…" Ruby said trying to break the ice as she fixed her bed-head. "We should probably get cleaned up. Big day ahead of us."

"Right. I'll get out of your hair," Jack said grabbing his toiletries. Making for the door, Yang's hand suddenly clamped around his wrist, holding him in place.

"Can you even clean yourself with the way your arms are now?" she asked looking him in the eye.

"I promise to only try," Jack answered.

" . . . I'm going with you," Yang said grabbing her own clothes and toiletries, much to Weiss' abject shock.

"What?!"

"Oh don't have a cow Weiss. It's not like I haven't seen it all before," Yang waved her off.

"She is right you know," Jack said without an ounce of shame.

"I did not need to hear that!" the heiress yelped.

"Look at it this way. Now only three of you have to use the ensuite before we can leave for breakfast," Yang reasoned. "And it's not like anyone else uses the public showers."

"Yeah, but still-"

"For someone who's always insistent on getting to class early, you're sure wasting a lot of time," Yang said linking her arm with Jack's and dragging him off.

*GIANT-SLAYER*

"I still can't get used to seeing that," Yang said as she watched Jack disrobe, the collage of scars draped across his back coming into view. "All those scars… the proof you used to be a slave…"

"Speak up, Yang. I don't think they heard you in Vacuo," Jack bit out.

"I'm sorry. I just… I guess I'm not used to it yet."

"Yes, Yang, I get it. You're shocked. You're horrified. Get over it."

"Hey, what's your problem? I'm trying to sympathize with you here!"

"I don't need your sympathy!" Jack growled as he rounded on her, blood-red eyes fading to amber before going back to a soothing jade. "I need… I need a friend… Someone who I can trust watch my back when I can't do it myself," he said withdrawing into himself.

"Jack… I'm so sorry, I didn't know…" Yang said putting a hand on his shoulder. "Didn't you have any friends before coming here?"

"A few… Though I can't exactly call them up on speed dial," Jack said making his way to the far-left shower, Yang right behind him. The two hanging their robes on the hooks, Jack stepped under the water and let it fall on him. Yang made to enter, but Jack held up a hand stopping her. After a minute he finally waved her in, Yang standing under a warm shower of water instead of rushing headlong into cold.

"Well, how do you get in touch with them?" Yang asked as she stood back-to-back with Jack under the hot water. Jack was definitely muscular, front-to-back, but the scars gave it such a weird texture when her skin was flush against his own.

"Carrier pigeon."

" . . . You can't be serious," she said looking him in the eye. " . . . You are serious, aren't you?"

"The pigeons I use are smarter than you'd think," the Faunus replied as he put some strawberry-scented shampoo into his hands.

"Where do your friends live then?" Yang asked as Jack began working it into her hair.

"Here… There… Everywhere," he said brushing it down her long mane, the girl working over her body with a bar of soap. "Like I may've said before, I've been all over the world, but I never stayed in any one place for more than a couple months before work took me elsewhere."

"Did your work as a Sweeper and Bishoku-ya really move you around so much?"

" . . . Yes."

"You sounded like you hesitated for a second."

"Yang… Someday, I'll tell you everything… but that time simply isn't now," he said as he finished Yang's hair to an acceptable level, the girl turning him around and putting some of his own head-and-shoulders into his hair, the Faunus working over his own torso with a bar of soap. When he tried to work the suds up his arms, Yang took the bar from his hands and set him down before going to work on him. The blond seemed to get some satisfaction over running her hands slowly over the muscles on his arm, before slowly working over each of his fingers. "Yang, stop playing with my fingers," the Faunus deadpanned as Yang's movements became more sensual. "A raging boner's the last thing I need before finals."

"Sorry," the blond said as she relented. On the inside, she marveled at the amount of self-control the guy had to stay flaccid before the temple that was her bodacious body. Thanks to the inter-web, she was very intimately aware of what certain aspects of the more-masculine sex looked like, so it wasn't like she'd never seen one before.

Of course, Sex Ed at Signal had nothing on showering with a hot guy with a troubled past and a fairly-large penis.

"You're thinking about my penis right now aren't you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"You're staring right at it."

" . . . I deny nothing."

"Of course you don't," the Faunus sighed as he began to run suds along his legs as Yang took the other arm.

"You know… We could probably make this our spot," Yang said looking around the stall, thinking of other things they could do there other than get clean. "Maybe put a plaque with our names on it over the door. Keep out the unworthy."

"Somehow I doubt Glynda will want you making this a habit," Jack said rinsing the suds off his body.

"Hmmm…" Yang hummed as she crossed her arms, which accentuated her voluptuous chest. "I think there's a clause in the Roommate Agreement that says you can't go into our bathroom by yourself as long as the dorm showers are available."

"Right, but what does that have to do with-"

"We can be bathroom buddies. You wash my back, I wash yours. Among other things~" she purred as she rubbed shoulders with him.

"I'm not sure if I should fear for my chastity or not."

"Oh like you ever had that to begin with. It's really obvious you've "stormed the trenches" more than once with how you carry yourself. That and you aren't blushing and stuttering like a cherry-boy after seeing these babies," she said making her chest bounce.

" . . . Fair point," Jack said with a shrug.

*GIANT-SLAYER*

The breakfast menu in the cafeteria that morning was all about the brain food. With finals only minutes away, mental acuity was what everyone was in desperate need of. They had roasted beets drizzled in honey, for circulation to the brain; there was sage to prevent the breakdown of acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter involved in learning and memory; grass-fed beef for iron; sardines chock full of EPA and DHA, supercharged with omega-3 fatty acids to bolster communications among braincells (Blake had a field day with this); eggs for choline; yerba mate herbal tea for short-term brain power and caffeine; oats for carbohydrates and all-day energy; lentils brimming with folate, a B vitamin shown to help boost brain power; ground flaxseed to improve the workings of the cerebral cortex to help with the process of sensory information; walnuts for a synergy of antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids; and then there were spinach and other leafy green vegetables.

There were also the more savory options like bacon, sausage, pancakes, bacon, hash browns, and bacon, but clearly whoever planned the menu for the morning was thinking all about brain power.

*GIANT-SLAYER*

"Uuuuugh…" Ruby groaned as she let her head rest on the table. "I can't feel my cortexes anymore…" she groaned, her head flushed bright red and pulsing like a giant vein.

"The plural of cortex is cortices, and quit being such a baby," Weiss sighed as she drank a cool ice water. "Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck's finals weren't that hard."

"Easy for you to say. You don't have a life like the rest of us. We don't study twenty-four-seven like you do," Yang groaned as she placed a bag of ice atop her head.

"Hey!"

"Relax, Weiss, she didn't mean anything by it," Jack said as Blake continued to stuff her face with sardines, sardines, and, you guessed it, more sardines! "If it makes you feel any better, I think your brain is nice and sexy."

"Oh stop…" Weiss flushed slightly. "You're embarrassing me."

"That isn't the only thing he's doing to you," Yang deadpanned.

"Oh eat a baguette of dicks!"

"Maybe I will while I'm here," Yang said grinning cheekily. "Hey Jack, can I talk to you in the bathroom for, like, ten minutes?"

"Perhaps we should hurry up and eat," Pyrrha said between bites. "We may only have one final and a field trip left, but we shouldn't get complacent."

"Speaking of which…" Jack said, only for the red-head to level a glare at him, his finger currently pointed to the vacancy among their ranks. "Shutting up."

*GIANT-SLAYER*

Professor Peach's final played out much like the rest did. Several pages of multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions completed with #2 pencils as-provided. There wasn't anything new or exotic about the nature of their questions, all of it was stuff they'd gone over before.

Once the last student had finished their written final, everyone was herded out to the airfield in front of the school for their trip to the Foreverfall Forest via a mixed fleet of Bullheads and Pelicans. Peach himself had said that what was going to be asked of them wasn't too extreme, but that the nature of their trip was more like a reward for all the hard work they'd been putting in. Due to the resurgence of interest in foraging for Ingredients, he announced that students would be free to gather whatever nature's bounty they wished. As long as doing so didn't interfere with the forest ecosystem.

As the airships landed in a large clearing, everyone in the freshman class, and a few from the sophomores, disbanded. Most were wearing their combat attire, while Jack was wearing his Gourmet Hunter uniform, a fresh set of bandages around his arms so nothing would get on them. As Professor Peach guided the sophomores in one direction, Glynda guided the freshman the other way.

" . . . Okay, I know we just got here, but where are Jack and Nora?" Weiss asked noticing two vacancies in their group a minute into the walking later.

"I don't know. They were here just a second-" *GRAAAAAAWRRRR* "-ago…"

Leaves and bushes rustling, everyone turned to the shadows in the forest off to their right, everyone collectively going for their weapons as an Ursa-like shadow began coming their way, a familiar hammer-wielding shadow riding it bareback. However, when the creature suddenly came into the light, it was revealed not to be a Creature of Grimm, but a giant bunny rabbit covered head-to-toe in thick brown fur, massive fangs like a sabertooth tiger instead of bucked rabbit teeth sticking out of its mouth. Nora was whooping and hollering as she swung her hammer around, swatting the Leporidae in the tuckus and spurring it forward.

Leaves up above rustling, Jack emerged from a flurry of red autumn-colored leaves in his Bishoku-ya attire. His right hand held out, those watching could see him brandishing some kind of tool. It had a black rectangular handle that fit inside his hand, a smaller yellow block slotted into the bottom, while a pair of silver tongs not unlike those of a tuning fork sticking out the top, a silver band of metal binding the tongs together an inch away from where the plastic handle stopped.

"Don't let go, Nora!" Jack shouted as his left arm wrapped around the Saber Rabbit in a half-headlock. Twirling the weapon in his right hand until he was holding it reverse-grip, he then jabbed it into the meat of the creature's neck. A loud *CHWING* noise sounded out as something fired from the tongs of the device, the giant rabbit suddenly seized up, its eyes rolling up in the back of its head before it suddenly fell forward with a loud *THUD*. As the leaves on the ground shook from the impact, Jack and Nora both came tumbling off its back, rolling across the ground before coming to a stop, Nora's body flush against his, their lips mashed together.

At that point everyone stopped and stared, Yang gawping while Weiss was trembling for some reason as the two's lip contact went on for several seconds. When the orange-haired girl began probing Jack's mouth with her tongue, Pyrrha flushed as red as her hair, while Ren seemed strangely nonplussed about it. After a minute, Nora took hold of the Faunus' shoulders before sitting up, straddling him and separating their lips with a loud *Pop*, a strand of saliva breaking between them.

"Has anyone ever told you that you taste like honey before? 'Cause it's really sweet," Nora said cheekily.

"I've been told that once or twice," Jack said as Nora pulled him to his feet. "Has anyone told you that you taste like syrup before?"

"Well, one time Ren said that when he accidentally-"

"Nora!"

"Coming, Ren!" Nora said in a chipper tone as she skipped along, leaving Jack to hoist the Ursa-sized rabbit onto his back. Ruby was about to ask him how he was hoisting something so large like it was nothing, only to retract her question when she saw that in his Gourmet Hunter uniform, he was no longer wearing his weights that went with his Huntsman-in-Training uniform.

"That… is one big rabbit," Blake gawped taking the sight in. Right now the thing looked like a giant, over-sized stuffed toy from the fair.

"When the hell did that happen!?" Yang squawked as she pointed between Jack and Nora.

"Nothing happened. It was a complete accident," Jack stated plainly.

"My scrawny white ass it is," Weiss huffed under her breath.

"Seriously. It was a complete accident," Jack repeated. "Sure, Nora's hot in a short-and-curvy kinda way, but our relationship is strictly non-platonic."

"And the tonsil tennis you two played a minute ago?"

"I'm sure her short attention span made her curious, nothing more."

" . . . It'd better be," Yang huffed as she turned around, a crate tucked under her arm.

"Hey Jack, what's that you got there?" Ruby asked pointing to the weapon in Jack's breast pocket. "And how'd that little thing kill that rabbit in one shot?"

"This? It's a Knocking Gun," Jack said taking it out for the girl to see, Ruby holding it with all the reverence one would a baby bird. "And no, it's not dead," he elaborated.

"Oooooh… How does it work?" Ruby asked as they went back to following the group.

"It uses biodegradable needles to deliver electric shocks to primary nerve clusters," Jack explained as he adjusted the giant rabbit onto his back. "It's like a taser, but much more effective. Since the needles are biodegradable, it doesn't cause any permanent damage to whatever it's used on, though this thing's going to be made into cuts of meat long before it'll have to worry about that."

"Hey Jack!" the hammer-wielding girl called out.

"Yes, Nora?"

"Can I have the skin when you're done with it? I wanna make a rabbit-skin rug!"

"I'm sure we can find a craftsman back at Beacon who'll be willing to tan the hide."

"Yaaaaay!"

"Wait, you can actually eat that thing?" Blake said looking to the monstrosity Jack had hoisted on his back.

"Yep. It eats well from nature's bounty, so it's got lots of nutrients packed into it. Plus it counts as white meat and nothing else. Should go great with a berry dressing, especially if we take ingredients from its natural habitat."

"And you two just happened to find it minutes after we left?" Yang asked suspiciously.

"Well, Nora thought it was an Ursa at first, but then she saw that it wasn't and she pestered me about what it was. After that we formulated a plan. Once she got it under the tree I was in, I dropped down from its blind spot and brought it down."

"And you're sure this thing won't get back up or anything?" Weiss asked putting a wary glance at it. The size of that thing bordered on ridiculous.

"I hit its primary nerve cluster dead-center. It won't be moving again for another twenty-four hours," Jack said adjusting it on his back.

"Can we use this on Grimm?" Ruby asked looking at the "gun" in her hand. "It would be way easier to kill them if they couldn't fight back."

"Grimm evaporate when you kill them, or when you start cutting them open for a biopsy, so there's no way of knowing where their primary nerve clusters are, or if they even have any," Jack answered.

"Won't anywhere work?" Yang asked, hearing the taser comparison.

"If you don't hit a primary nerve cluster, all you'll do is numb a few inches of tissue, nothing more," Ren stated.

"Oh," Ruby hummed.

"Ahem!" Glynda coughed getting everyone's attention. "Yes, students, the Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. However, we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked you all to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so."

The group coming to a stop, Jaune grunted as he carried a large case filled with jars and tools. Bumping into Cardin, the bully scowled at him, the blond attempting to feign innocence by whistling tnelessly.

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of Red Sap at the minimum. That being the case, if you have auxiliary jars or other carrying cases, you're more than welcome to collect extra for your own culinary use. As… some of you have already done," she said turning her attention to the Saber Rabbit that Nora was now treating like a giant stuffed toy, making it hug a neutral-faced Ren. "But be wary that this forest is full of the Creatures of Grimm. Be sure to stay within visual range of your teammates, and rendezvous back at the clearing to leave at four o'clock. Above all else… have fun," she said shifting uncomfortably.

"What's her problem?" Yang asked as Glynda walked off.

"Probably still sore from the spanking I gave her yesterday," Jack shrugged.

"Both literally and metaphorically," Ruby stated. "But mostly literally."

"Her being sore, or the spanking?" Jack asked back.

"I still can't believe you did that," Weiss blanched. "And in front of everyone no less!"

"All's fair in love and war," Blake said as she watched Nora set the Saber Rabbit down, a little pink flag with her emblem sticking up out of its thick fur.

"I claim this land in the name of the Pancake Empire!"

"Nora, please treat the Saber Rabbit with a little bit of dignity."

"So… How do we know if we've drilled into the right spot, again?" Ruby asked looking at the trees.

"Didn't you pay attention in Professor Peach's class?" Weiss asked.

" . . . Yes."

"Liar."

"I think you're all forgetting we have a bona-fide Gourmet Hunter in our ranks," Yang said linking arms with Jack. "All we need to do is point this handsome specimen in the right direction, and we'll be swimming in Red Sap!"

"I have no idea how to harvest this stuff."

" . . . What?" Yang asked as she felt her plan crumble.

"Red Sap is completely unique to the Forever Fall Forest, and I've never been here before," Jack answered. "That being the case, I did ask some of the other Bishoku-ya about this place, and they gave me some tips," he went on to explain as he reached into the kit the Team was given. "First off, the Forever Fall Forest's climate is perpetually autumn, regardless of what season it is, so sap flow conditions are going to be good all-around. Next, we need to drill the hole," he said taking out a manual hand drill. "It's important to avoid previous tapholes and the associated stain columns, like this one here," he said pointing to a dried stain of red sap on the side of one of the trees, "as well as any other defects and rotten areas on the trunk, large seams and wounds the easiest to identify." At this he pointed out other such flaws on the trees. "Also, you need to avoid old tapholes. The most-important part of this is to drill into clear, white sapwood. Everyone pick a tree that meets the above criterion, and start drilling," he said passing out drills to his Team, Pyrrha leading the charge with Ren and Nora while Jaune was god knows where.

"So… Do I need to drill at an angle, or what?" Ruby asked as she looked for a good spot.

"If you paid attention in class, you'd remember to drill up at a very slight angle. Also, we need to be sure that the drill bits are both clean, and relatively new," Weiss said looking over her instrument. "After you pull the drill out of the tree, you need to examine the shavings to make sure they're pure white. If you get brown or dark-colored shavings, you've drilled into a bad part of the tree, and your sap will have off-flavors imparted in it."

"Pretty much, yeah," Jack said from on high as he hopped between tree branches, sniffing the leaves in a few places before moving onto another tree.

"What're you doing up there?" Ruby asked.

"I'm trying to see if there's some kind of discernible pattern between the good-looking trees or the bad-looking ones, as well as their scents," the Faunus answered. "How're things on your end?"

*GIANT-SLAYER*

A while later in the Forever Fall Forest, Team CRDN was lazily loafing about, hands behind their heads as they took in the scenery, the fresh air, and the clear blue skies. Eventually, the team's newest flunkie, Jaune Arc, came stumbling into the clearing. Armfuls of Red Sap jars in his arms, he teetered on his feet before falling flat on his face, the aforementioned jars clattering across the ground.

"Hey, great work, Jauney boy! Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Cardin asked.

"I think I'm allergic to this stuff…" Jaune groaned cross-eyed.

"Yeah that's great," the red-head waved off. "So! Jaune. I bet you're asking yourself, 'Why did my good buddy Cardin ask me to collect seven jars of tree sap, when there's only five of us?'"

"That is one of the many questions… I have asked myself today… yes…" Jaune groaned, exhausted from the effort it took to find a good spot to drill for seven different trees, as well as getting the taps in just right.

"Well come with me, and you'll find out," Cardin said leading the others along, Jaune moaning and gulping in worry. Their short walk took them to a hilltop overlooking the other students a few minutes later. High enough they had a good view, but low enough they could get down in a hurry. Team CRDL+1 snake-crawled to the edge of the ridge, Jaune squeezed between Cardin and Russel as they took in the sights below them.

The only thing disturbing the majestic scenery of Forever Fall were the Beacon students happily collecting sap. Ruby, having finished her tap, stuck a finger into the crimson-colored stream and brought it to her lips, an appreciative smile on her face before she stuck her head under the stream and let it pour into her gaping mouth. Weiss, marginally unused to physical labor, had a tired but satisfied look on her face as her tap began producing sweet sweet sap. Blake looked nonplussed as she read from her book, occasionally looking up to check the progress on her tap, while Yang had an unfolded lawn chair of all things as she oversaw several other taps, Jack off to the side making markings on the sides of their auxiliary jars. Ren had just finished collecting a full jar of sap from a tree, passing the filled bottle to Nora and swapping it out with another, only for a loud slurping sound to turn him around, the red-head now sporting a large syrupy stain across her grinning face as she hid an empty jar behind her back.

"Cardin. Wh-what's going on?" Jaune asked worriedly.

"Payback," Cardin growled at the unsuspecting group sharply.

*Gulp* "Payback?"

"What, am I speaking French here?" Cardin asked as he grabbed the back of Jaune's head before pointing him towards the only visible Faunus out of the group. "Jack… I fucking hate that guy," he growled. "Guy's so smug, walking around Beacon like he owns the place… biting the hands of his betters, not knowing where he belongs…" he said as he pushed a jar into Jaune's hand. "And I know you feel the same way."

"Wh-What?"

"C'mon, it's just us guys here. No need to hide it, you hate the guy as much as we do. That dumb animal's been giving you a hard time too. So here's me, as a good friend, giving you the chance to give him his comeuppance," he said giving Jaune a pat on the back as he stepped back. "You know you want to."

"Go home you worthless sack of dog vomit!"

"You don't have what it takes to be a Huntsman!"

"Weiss would never love a gutless loser like you!"

"You're no hero and you never will be!"

"I knocked your mother last night!"

Okay, so maybe Jack didn't say those things… but the blond knew if Jack had the chance, and the opportunity, he'd say those things to him. Probably.

So, furrowing his brows, tightening his grip on the jar of Red Sap he'd been given, the blond reared his arm back as he readied himself to deliver sweet sweet "justice" to the Faunus who tormented him just as frequently as Cardin. However, before the blond could chuck the jar of Red Sap at Jack's head and sate the feelings of vengeance he felt towards the Faunus who continued to berate and ridicule him with his every waking action, his Scroll began to ring in his pocket. Setting down the jar and looking into his Scroll, he saw a recorded message awaiting him, Jack's mugshot waiting for him.

"Don't. Fuck. Me. Ever."

"Cardin… I'm pretty sure he's onto us," Jaune said as though he were actually part of that plot, forgetting that for a few seconds there, he was perfectly alright with racial discrimination of that nature.

"Ugh, fine, I'll do it. I've got something special for you to do later," Cardin said cryptically as he snatched the jar from Jaune's hand. Drawing his arm back and raising his leg like a baseball pitcher, arm alight with his orange Aura, the muscular teen sent the jar screaming through the air toward the Faunus' head.

"Hey look, a penny," Jack said suddenly leaning forward, the jar sailing harmlessly through where his head once was before the Faunus returned to a standing position, a small copper-colored coin in his hand. Said jar bounced on the ground before rolling around the tree Jack was standing in front of, coming to a rest at his feet. "Sweet. Red Sap," Jack said with a smile as he popped the lid in two places with a claw before chugging down.

" . . . Jack's drinking it-"

"I can see that," Cardin grumbled as he hefted Jaune by the waist band of his pants and walked to another part of the ridge. "Now tell me. What do you see?"

"Pyrrha…?" Jaune asked as he stared at his teammate, who was a few meters away from the rest of the group so they didn't over-tap the same plot of land. "Cardin, wh-what are you-?"

"That's the girl. Red-haired know-it-all, thinks she's sooo smart. We're going to fix that," Cardin said pulling out a buzzing cardboard box with a large W sloppily scribbled onto the side. "Last night, old Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps. And now, we're going to put them to work," he said as Russel grabbed the blond's shoulder, Jaune barely laughing in nervousness. "Now, according to one of the essays you wrote for me last week, these nasty things looooove sweets. I'm thinking it's time we… remind Pyrrha of that little fact."

"You're-you're going to hit her with Red Sap and sic those… things on her?" Jaune gulped, remembering all the anti-inflammatory cream he burned through just trying to collect the damn things.

"No, nononono, Jauney-boy. I'm not going to hit her with this," Cardin said holding up aforementioned jar.

"Oh good, because for a second I thought-"

"You're going to do it."

"…Wha-?"

"And if you don't, I'll have a chat with Goodwitch, and you can swap out that hoodie of yours for an orange jumpsuit," Cardin said forcing the jar into the blond's hands. "…Well? I'm waiting."

Even though the jar of Red Sap only weighed a few pounds, to Jaune, it felt like he was holding a lead weight. Looking down the hill to Pyrrha, a satisfied smile on her face as she took a taste from the stream of Red Sap, he thought back to all the times she tried to help him, only for him to be so self-absorbed in his own shit that he brushed her off. If she truly did overhear his talk with Jack from a window or a door, he could only imagine how betrayed she must've felt then. After that, Jack's smugly smiling face appeared in place of his own reflection in the Red Sap, mocking him as he punched holes in his argument with completely unfalsified logic.

Jaune looked back down to the bottom of the hill, Pyrrha capping her jar of sap before setting it aside and taking another for her own use. He thought about everything that Jack, and Cardin had said to him over the last week, and what it would mean for him if his secret got out. Looking to the left, he hoped that maybe Jack would move into save Pyrrha and bail him out, only to see the Faunus lazily napping into the side of the paralyzed Saber Rabbit, using it like a giant pillow with Ruby tucked under his arm and lightly snoozing away with her hood over her eyes.

It was at this moment that Jaune realized he was at a crossroads. He could either hit his unsuspecting partner with the Red Sap and let Cardin sic the box-full of Rapier Wasps on her, gravely injuring her before the others could help, or he could not, watch as Cardin hit Pyrrha with the Red Sap, and then reported his sorry pale butt to Goodwitch and make good on his promise. Either way, the only person he could count on was himself, and regardless of what he did, he was utterly screwed. Damned if he did, damned if he didn't.

Closing his eyes, Jaune clenched his buttocks as he finally steeled himself for what it was he had to do.

"…No."

"What did you say?" Cardin asked.

"I said…" Jaune growled as he angrily gripped the jar. "NO!"

*Crash*

Jaune gulped after having thrown the jar of Red Sap at his tormentor, his breastplate covered in bright red sap. The majority of the opposing team was struck speechless, but Cardin… Cardin began laughing darkly.

"Oh, you've done it now…"

Jaune humorously laughed once more, hands raised in an attempt for defense as Dove and Sky each grabbed a shoulder, hauling him off his feet and dragging him into the forest.

*GIANT-SLAYER*

"Hey Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know why Jaune's hanging out with Cardin?" Ruby asked looking up at her brother-figure. The guy tucked her in at night, told her stories, and helped her out with her homework. If that wasn't the actions of an older brother, she didn't know what was. He even hurt himself doing stupid stuff like Yang did. Blood or no, the guy was practically family. If he didn't have anywhere to go next vacation break, she could probably convince her dad to let him use the guest room.

"Maybe. Maybe not," the Faunus shrugged.

"…Can you tell me?"

"It's one of those stupid macho guy things… It'd be bad form to tell you about it unless he wants to talk to you about it."

"Oh… I see," Ruby hummed. "Do you think he'll be okay? He looked really miserable when Cardin dragged him off."

"That's all on him," Jack shrugged. "Do. Or do not. There is no try."

"Huh… That was really deep. Where'd you hear it?"

"A little green-skinned ghost-man told it to me when I chewed on some really weird roots in the middle of a swamp after my rental aircar crashed. Last time I use that rental service, I'll tell you that much."

" . . . Huh," she said as she processed the absurdity of that story.

"Yeah."

" . . . "

" . . . "

"Hey Jack?"

"What is it now?"

"Something's poking my leg," Ruby said shifting uncomfortably.

"Oh, sorry. Let me fix that," Jack said pulling his waistline and reaching into his pants, much to Weiss' abject shock as she came back at that exact moment.

*Clunk*

"…Is that a blunt pipe?" the team leader asked looking at the lead pipe now laying across the ground, a small elbow-pipe screwed onto the end.

"Nothing wrong with a guy kicking ass and recycling."

"Is that blood on the end of it?"

"This forest has some really aggressive squirrels."

"Oh," Ruby said as though that answered everything. For the single-minded girl whose first thought in the face of anything new and unusual was "Let's kill it.", that one sentence probably did.

"How did you even fit that in there?!" Weiss gawped at the three-foot blunt instrument.

"Really deep pockets," the Faunus answered. "That and ancient packing techniques that survived the passage of time."

"Huh…" Blake hummed as she came into the conversation. Her curiosity had been piqued when Ruby said something was "poking" her leg, a Flag if she'd ever read one in bro-con or sis-con stories, but knowing it was Jack, it probably wasn't that cut-and-dry. It was not.

"Cool pipe. What else you hiding in there~"

"Yang, gross!"

"Someone kill me now."

"I'll get to you in a minute. I'm almost done with this chapter."

'Oddly enough, this isn't even close to the weirdest conversation I've ever been part of.'

*GIANT-SLAYER*

Elsewhere, Jaune had just gotten the stuffing kicked out of him by Cardin, the rest of Team CRDL sitting by and watching.

"You know that wasn't very smart, Jauney boy," the red-head said picking him up. "I'm gonna make sure they send you to butt-pounding lockdown in teeny tiny pieces."

"I don't care… what you do to me…" the blond said leveling a glare at Cardin. "But you are not messing with my team."

"What? You think talk like that makes you so tough? You think you're a big strong man now?" Cardin growled, the blond cracking a grin in defiance. Of course it may've also had to do with how a pair of maple leaves had stuck to the red-head's breastplate over his nipples, making him look really fucking stupid. Thank you, mother nature.

Those thoughts were interrupted as Cardin raised his fist again. However, right as it connected, a radiant light briefly shone through the clearing, no one beyond their little group noticing as Cardin yelped. Dropping the blond, he held onto his hand which was now throbbing, whereas Jaune was now completely healed, looking confusedly at his hands which pulsed with a white light. Before he could contemplate if that was maybe his Semblance, Sky kicked him in the back, forcing him onto his stomach.

"Let's see how much of a man you really are after some big sweaty guy makes you his prison bitch," the red-head glowered at the blond, a low growl causing all of them to jump. Looking over their shoulders, they saw a huge Ursa with dozens of jagged bone-spines jutting out its back lumbering out of the forest towards them. Stopping a few feet from them, it rose up onto its hind legs before sniffing the air, its flame-red eyes settling solely onto Cardin's honey-soaked breastplate.

Suffice it to say, Cardin's team heroically… ran away with their tails between their legs.

"That isn't the only thing between their legs."

I get it. They also peed themselves. And now it's running down their legs.

"That was actually going to be a small-penis joke, but that too."

Cardin standing his ground when all else fled, the giant Ursa easily slapped him aside with its paw. Jaune trembled as the Grimm sniffed at him, but it promptly ignored him in favor of the teen who smelled of Red Sap. The teen getting up and raising his mace, the monster swatted it away, leaving it at Jaune's feet, the blond conflicted whether to fight, run away… or as a darker part of him suggested, let the only person willing to torment him over his secret get eaten, lie about fighting tooth and nail to save Cardin's life, and make himself out to be some sort of hero.

Decisions, decisions.

What? Paragons can do Renegade shit too.

*GIANT-SLAYER*

Elsewhere, again, the bestial roar perked up the heads of Teams RWBBY and JNPR, who were almost finished collecting their required and auxiliary food. Ren even collected some forest mushrooms and herbs for later.

"Did you guys hear that?"

"I could taste that," Jack said in response to Ruby's question. "Though then again, that might've been the Red Hair Boar jerky instead," he said holding up a dried strip of meat, which Nora snatched out of his hand with her teeth like some kind of dolphin.

"Ursa! Ursa!" Russel cried as he ran through the group, bumping into Yang who hoisted him off his feet with a loud- "What?!" "Back there… It's got Cardin!"

"Jaune!" Pyrrha gasped, dropping her sap had Nora not slid to the ground and caught it.

"Yang! You and Blake, go get Professor Goodwitch!" Ruby said brandishing her scythe.

"You two, go with them! There could be more!" Pyrrha ordered at Ren and Nora, leaving herself, Ruby, Weiss, and Jack running towards the sound of the roar.

*GIANT-SLAYER*

"Oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap…" Cardin yelped as he tried to run away, only for the massive beast to hop over and in front of him before swatting him back into the center of the clearing.

"Oh no!" Pyrrha gasped… for whatever reason. Watching as the Ursa loomed over its helpless victim, it raised a massive paw into the air before swiping down, only for a loud *CLUNK* to sound out as it met resistance in the form of Jaune's shield, the blond's muscles burning and aching as he struggled to remain standing. "Wait!" Pyrrha said right as Weiss drew her Myrtenaster.

Jaune deflected the paw away from himself and slashed at the Ursa's stomach, causing it to lash out and try to crush him with a falling paw drop, only for the blond to roll out of the way. Jumping over its next swipe at his feet, but unprepared for the mid-air strike, the blond rolled to the ground, but was quickly able to right himself and get back in the fight, passing by Cardin as he headed right into the bear's jaws. Jaune tried for a leaping attack, only for the Grimm to swipe at him in mid-air, sending him tumbling over the creature's shoulder. Looking down into his Scroll, which was mounted inside his shield, Jaune saw his Aura now in the red growling angrily as he once more ran at the Ursa.

The two moments away from clashing, Pyrrha saw that Jaune had left himself completely open to the Grimm's attack which was going to hit first. Lifting her hand out towards him, a black aura enveloped her arm, a like-aura appearing around Jaune's shield and lifting it up to block the swipe. The Ursa's claw scraping against his shield with a loud *SHREEEEEEEIK*, Jaune leaned toward the ground as he pushed the shield back up, getting right inside the Ursa's guard and bringing his blade through its neck.

"Uhhh… What?" Ruby asked as Pyrrha's hand stopped glowing.

"How did you…?" Weiss asked as the Ursa's head bounced across the ground.

"Semblance," Jack cut off the heiress, answering her question. Off to the side, Jaune had pulled Cardin to his feet, and by the looks of things, finally decided to stand up for himself. The look of understanding on Cardin's face probably meant he'd leave the blond alone, since he saved his life and all.

"Oh," Weiss replied, quickly realizing that Pyrrha's Semblance allowed her to control magnetic fields. It did seem awfully weird that she could push herself away from his axe swings when they fought, now that she thought about it. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Yeah! We gotta tell them what happened!" Ruby said as Pyrrha began to leave.

"We could… Or perhaps, we could keep it our little secret?" the red-head asked with a smile, feeling like everything had been wrapped up with a nice red bow.

"Hate to break up the Saturday morning cartoon end-of-episode love-fest, but Papa Bear had friends," Jack said poignantly as the bushes at the end of the clearing rustled, the unmistakable crimson eyes of Grimm glaring out at them through the darkness.

Moments later the bushes parted, around a dozen smaller Ursa waddled into the clearing, growling angrily as they looked at the slowly-evaporating corpse of their decapitated comrade. Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha readied their weapons to deal with the small fry, only to pale as a pair of Ursa like Jaune had just killed appeared as well, the odds further stacked against them.

"I'm sorry guys… I'm completely spent…" Jaune sighed as he tried to lift his sword from the ground, only for his arm to feel like granite.

"Don't worry, Jaune. You sit back and rest," Ruby said reassuring the blond. "We've got this."

"All we have to do is wait until Professor Goodwitch arrives," Weiss added. Knowing a teacher was on the way, filled her with confidence in the face of the many foes before them.

"After all, it's not like anything else can come out of those woods, right?" Pyrrha asked with a smile.

*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR*

"Dammit, Pyrrha! You jinxed us! You fucking jinxed us!" Jack raged angrily at Pyrrha's poor choice of words that tempted fate itself.

Birds leaving their roosts in the distance, the unmistakable sound and sight of felling trees echoed their way, a massive black shape making its way towards them, massive crimson eyes glaring at them from beyond the darkness. The unmistakable contours of an Ursa-breed Grimm making itself known to them, the three Huntresses-in-training steeled themselves even further for battle as the shape got larger. And larger… And larger… And LARGER!

Moments later, the trees across from them were violently wrenched from the ground as a massive shape punched a hole through Forever Fall and ripped it a new one. Seeing it in the light, and the trail of ruin left in its wake, at first the three girls thought it was a much fatter Ursa, one that had finished eating the population of a small Frontier town, as much as the thought upset them.

Any misconceptions about it merely being fat were quickly thwarted as the Grimm reared up on its hind legs. A massive shadow looming over them as it rose to full height, slowly, ever so slowly, their eyes widened inside their skulls and their jaws fell impossibly low as the Grimm rose to full height after several seconds, completely dwarfing over the surrounding trees as it let out a loud bellow that shook the ground.

If the Ursa that Yang punched in the Emerald Forest were eight feet tall, and the one that Jaune had just killed was around twelve in height, then the one that had appeared now was… It was really, fucking, big! Larger than most buildings, the top of its head eclipsed the sun at its back, the crimson lines across its mask glowed a baleful red through the shadows, giving it an even more terrifying visage than before. This breed of Ursa was so large, it made the smaller ones that Yang punched look like literal chew toys.

Like all others, this Ursa had midnight black fur, and had the same general shape as them, only it was way larger. Its claws were so big they could pluck soccer vans off the road like cubes of cheese on a platter. The thick plates of bony armor on the tops of its arms, the sides of its legs, and around the shoulders and knees looked like they rivaled that of a Deathstalker. Wrapped around its chest was a set of eight wide rib-like bones protecting its vitals, and the entirety of its head was encased in a thick bony mask, the armor on the outside of its jaw giving it large teeth that jutted upward. The spines jutting out of its back looked like a forest of petrified trees, and at the base of them there were clumps of grass and even some flowers.

Later surveys into the Forever Fall forest would discover that one of the large hills in the distance was now missing, a large crater in its place as though the entire thing had just gotten up and walked away.

Oh wait…

"Oh…"

"My…"

"God…" Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha gawped in succession as the massive Grimm seemed to chuckle at them from on high, the smaller Grimm following suit.

"Holy crap! That thing's even bigger than the one I killed!" Jaune gawped, Jack rolling his eyes.

"Of course that thing's bigger. The one you killed was only an Ursa Minor. That thing's an Ursa Major."

"Bu-Wha- I thought that was a major!" Jaune yelped as he pointed at the decapitated corpse evaporating at his feet.

"Nope! Common mistake!" Jack said as he mercilessly popped Jaune's bubble with a hail of automatic gunfire. "The small ones are Ursa, the medium-sized like the one you killed are Ursa Minor, and the papa-bear you see before you is an Ursa Major, which looks really fucking old. If you'd gone up against a Major, you'd be dead in a heartbeat. One-hundred percent guaranteed," Jack deadpanned as he gestured to the massive Grimm towering over them. Literally towering over them, like something straight out of Shadow of the Colossus.

"You don't have to sound so sure of yourself," Jaune whined as he backed away in fear. That thing was even larger than the Giant Nevermore and Deathstalker from initiation put together. The blond didn't even think Grimm could get that big. He'd thought Port was joking!

"Alright, alright," Jack said waving his hands down. "I'm ninety-nine percent sure you'd be dead in a heartbeat."

"Gee, thanks," Jaune deadpanned.

"What do we do? I don't have nearly enough ammo for a Grimm that big, let alone all of them!" Ruby squawked as she literally stood in the Ursa Major's shadow.

"Professor Port told us stories about Grimm that big… but I thought he was just blowing smoke out his ass," Yang gulped as the horde of Grimm slowly approached them.

"The little ones we could all handle, but the big one… this is too much. We need to fall back, get help from Beacon," Weiss reasoned only for Jack to grab her by her ribbon.

"Running's exactly what that thing wants us to do. We start running, and that thing'll just hunt us down like some kind of game. And I doubt I'll go back to sleep until it's satisfied with the nearest livable settelement."

"Then what do we do?" Jaune asked nervously. He just barely beat that Ursa Maj-Minor, and that took everything he had. No way he could stand up to something that big, even if they did manage to fight their way through the small fry.

"The moment I move forward and draw its attention, the rest of you fall back."

"What?! No! You're injured!" Weiss said grabbing his wrist.

"Don't worry, princess. I've fought stronger than this. I almost died back then… but that's beside the point."

"I won't let you go out there! Not without help!" the white-haired girl asserted as she held the back of his hand to her chest.

"Yeah! All for one and one for all!" Yang asserted.

"Did you pack spare ammo for the field trip?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, of course I… shit…" Yang bit out realizing her ammo belts weren't there. "I didn't think I needed them, so I left them back in our room."

"Then you need to hold onto your ammo and cover the retreat," Jack said pushing the blond back.

"You sure one of your pick-me-ups wouldn't help?" the heiress asked, the gears in Jack's head turning before a lightbulb went off above his head.

"Weiss!" Jack said putting his hands on Weiss' shoulders and looking her in the eye. "I need you-" *Gasp* "-to give me some Dust!"

"O-Oh!" Weiss returned, flushing bright red, thinking he'd meant… something else. "Well, I've got several types," she said holding out her pouch and opening it. "What do you nee-" she said before Jack reached in and snagged a vial of Red Dust, some of her most-potent stash. The more-refined a sample she used, the more mileage she could get out of each granule.

"Thanks for this. I'll pay you back later."

Without really thinking about it, the Faunus planted a kiss on the heiress' cheek, the girl flushing as red as Pyrrha's hair as the Faunus turned around and slowly walked forward. Off to the side, Pyrrha's hands went to her face as she thought about the scandalous nature of whatever dirty images suddenly came to mind. Yang's jaw dropped, Ruby had no idea what was going on, while Jaune's thinking ability was completely destroyed as the heiress' hands went to her flushed cheeks and she let out a demure, and uncharacteristic- "G-G-Good luck." –to the Faunus as he pulled the cork from the vial with his teeth.

"Alright, tough guy…" Jack said as he peeled away the bandages from his left hand with his teeth, before pouring the contents of Weiss' vial on to it. "Who wants some," he said clenching the Dust in his hand with a knuckle-whitening grip. As though he were holding an extremely valuable locket, given to him by his lover's grandma's ex-husband's mother who made it and died protecting it from bandits.

Cue One Punch Man OST – Genos Fight Theme (BETA)

A thin crimson aura glowing around his hand, as Jack inhaled and tightened his grip, that same aura suddenly shifted to a bright shade of orange. That same orange outline slowly traced its way up his arm, wrapping around his torso before spreading to the rest of his limbs, before tracing its way down every stand of its hair giving it a bright fluorescent glow. His hands suddenly snapping open, gouts of flame spewed out of his palms and his bandages were lit aflame, the medical wrappings blackening and falling away from his arms, which had now become a galvanized shade of black. Steam beginning to rise from his body, the grass at his feet browning and flaking away in the wind, jagged veins of fire coursed their way from inside his jumpsuit before racing down his arms. Galvanized skin cracking and giving way, his palms were now alight with white-hot pits of fire, tongues of flame curling along his fingers as the Faunus flexed his muscles and fingers.

"Whoa…" Ruby gawped as Jack made a "come at be, bro" motion with his fingers. "Is this his Semblance too?"

"No…" Weiss breathed out. "Well, yes. Technically. Kind of. But also no."

"Speak English already! Nobody here knows fucking German!" Yang growled out.

"I think we're about to see first-hand," Pyrrha said as she pointed back to the fight.

"I'm all fired up!" Jack shouted.

A loud *BREEEEEN* piercing the air, the centers of Jack's palms glowed even brighter before he was suddenly shot forward, coronas of flame propelling him like a rocket towards the dozen Ursa that lumbered towards him. The Faunus approaching at break-neck speed, the rocket-propelled spin-kick that followed literally broke one's neck as the blow connected, white-hot lances of fire leaping from his hands and cauterizing fist-sized holes through the chests of the next two Ursa that tried getting close. Slamming his palms into the ground, the forest floor at his feet darkened before bursting into flames like magma, arcs of lightning dancing off his hands as he slowly rose from the ground.

A deafening *BOOM* ringing out as he screamed upward into the air, the Faunus cut the flow of Aura to the flames spewing out his arms after soaring more than a hundred feet into the air. Gravity slowly taking over, the Faunus's back faced the ground before he began falling in a nose-dive, flames once more belching out of his palms as he careened towards the ground like a rocket, comets of ash and flame trailing behind him before he struck the ground, the forest shaking from the earth-shattering force as though a bomb had gone off, rock, fire, and ash alike scattering the nearby Ursa in all directions, a few of them completely immolated, while others shakily got to their feet, the three that had managed to avoid the blast entirely running at him from behind.

Looking lazily over his shoulder, the whites of his eyes now pitch black while his irises glowed and iridescent gold, the Faunus spun on his heel before planting his feet on the ground and facing his would-be attackers. Throwing his head back, he visibly drew in the nearby air into his gullet, his chest expanding to an impossible size. The Grimm a few meters away, Jack threw his head forward, cheeks puffed out before he puckered his lips and shouted out- "Flame Arte: Scarlet Grudge!"

The gout of flame that spewed past his lips started out in a small stream, until it greedily drank the oxygen before it and turned into a raging inferno. The cone of destruction washing completely over the three Ursa like a raging flood, the torrent of fire screamed until it hit the treeline, everything in its wake blackened and turned to ash, only a few embers dancing around. In the wake of the attack, three charred-black skeletons frozen mid-charge were all the remained in the wake of Jack's cone of destruction, small cracking sounds echoing out before they crumbled under their own weight into piles of ash.

A single empty skull left intact, void sockets looking up at him, Jack crushed it into powder with his foot, three more Ursa, half their fur burned off and their bone masks partly melted away, stumbled towards him as fast as they could. The now black-eyed Faunus clicked his tongue before throwing out his hands, white-hot daggers of flame leaping out between his knuckles as he ran forward, the grass and leaves under his feet becoming alight, ash and embers dancing around him as Jack leapt over the first swing, a cross-slash severing the first Ursa's arm and cauterizing the wound. Leaping onto its back and stabbing his flame-daggers into its back, he made the Ursa swing its limbs about, lashing out at the other Ursa who got near. Ripping the flame daggers free, Jack then stabbed them into its ears, its face reddening before flames belched out of its mouth and its eyes, the Creature of Grimm dropping dead moments later.

The Faunus lazily brushing some dust from his shoulder as the tenth Ursa evaporated, he heard the last two growling, leveling a blank stare their way. Blackened eyes of gold staring into the fire-eyed eyes of the Grimm, the two were smart enough to realize they'd been beaten, and decided to run away, if only to fight another day. However, before they could retreat, a wall of flame lanced its way across the ground and barred their path, another doing the same on their right. The source, were Jack's hands which were down on the ground, a wicked smile pulling at his features as he strolled towards them, no avenue of escape left other than through him.

From the outside, the fight's impromptu spectators could only watch from behind the bushes as shadows danced within the wall of flames. It was almost like watching a puppet show… if the puppet show was on fire… and two of the cast were being tortured to death. By the time the flames died down, there were only two limbless lumps of flesh left, moaning pitiably as Jack ground his foot into their heads, a wicked grin plastered across his face as he piled on the pressure, a crack forming in one's mask, the soulless creature utterly powerless to stop it. The other Grimm trying to worm its way over and bite at his ankles, the Faunus lazily conjured a ball of flame in his hand before opening its mouth with the other, pinning its jaw to the ground with his foot.

"I've never said this, but don't swallow," the Faunus said as he lobbed the ball into its mouth, before proceeding to sit down atop its head, locking its jaw shut as he lazily picked at his nails. The Ursa uselessly struggled against its tormentor, the heat inside its head beginning to radiate until a sloppy ring of fire burned its way through its neck. The other Grimm growling angrily at the flame-armed Faunus, he grinned maliciously as he raised his foot, wreathing it in flame before stomping the Grimm's head flat with a loud *THUD* that shook the ground. "And then there were three," he said turning to the two Minor and one Major, the prior growling angrily while the latter seemed nonplussed by the carnage. "What, you don't wanna go?" he asked patting his chest at them. "Okay then. I'll go first," he said with a manic grin as he drew both arms back.

A loud *BREEEEEEN* sounding from his palms, the two Ursa Minors began to run forward, independently of the Major which continued to watch. Shooting himself toward the Minor on the left, which raised its paws to slap him down, at the last possible second Jack shot himself between its paws and over its dumbstruck expression. Throwing his arms forward, he turned the powerful jets of flame upon its exposed back, white hot flames and bone shards spraying into the air off its back, the Minor roaring as it was slowly cooked. A manic look on Jack's face as he brought the first Minor to its knees and cooked it alive with a continuous stream of fire, the second rushed at him from the side. Golden eyes snapping to the left, he leaped away from the second before slamming his palms onto the ground, a red-hot line of fire zig-zagging its way across the ground before a geyser of fire exploded from the ground, charring all the fur off the second Minor before lifting it off its feet and throwing it into the air, flesh aflame.

The second Minor juggled within a flaming geyser like a beach ball over a water jet, the first managed to get back to its feet, backhanding Jack off his feet and sparing the second from death by immolation. Rolling to his feet, Jack coughed up blood before wiping it away from the corner of his lips, a cocky grin on his face as the second Minor shakily got to its feet, moaning and groaning as it found half its flesh cooked away and its bone spikes blackened. Visibly mustering its strength amidst the waves of pain racking its body, Jack drew his right hand back, conjuring a white-hot ball of flame in his hand as he raised his left leg perpendicular to the ground. The Minor roaring with all its strength, refusing to die quietly, Jack brought his left leg down in a flaming arc and pitched that son of a bitch as hard as he could, the white-hot fastball screaming through the air and into the Ursa's open mouth mid-roar. The light from its maw radiating brightly, its head was blown clean off its shoulders moments later, shards of bone and viscera splattered all over its compatriot, who had a seemingly horrified expression on its face.

"Aaand you're outta there!" Jack cackled like a deranged umpire. "Now as for you… How 'bout we play some dodge ball?!" he asked/cackled as he raised both hands, larger balls of flame conjured in his open hands. The first Minor, most of its bone spikes either blown off or melted away along with the flesh on its back, took a step back in terror. "Rush the new guy!" Jack cackled as he chucked the first dodge ball-sized orb of flame forward, the ball of fire impacting its shoulder and splashing fire over its body. A second orb of fire followed the first, then a third, before a veritable deluge of flaming dodge balls flew through the air at it under a constant barrage, fur, flesh, and bone cooking in large chunks until the Grimm went up in a column of black miasma like the first, two smoldering corpses left in the middle of a charred battleground, which now smelled of smoke and burning hair. "And then there was one," Jack smirked cockily at the remaining Grimm, an angry growl on its face as it lowered itself onto its fore paws, shaking the leaves in the trees at its footfalls. "Come at me bro!" Jack cackled as he pat his chest, taunting it.

*GRAAAAAAAWR*

"All your attention on little old me? I'm sooo FLATTERED!" Jack yelled, the ground exploding into flames behind him before he ran at his opponent, the Ursa Major thundering across the burned wasteland towards him. A single paw raised up mid-run, a horizontal swipe that could fell a building flew Jack's way, a burst of flame sending the Faunus leaping over it. Running up along the armored foreleg, the Major stood on its hind legs, taking Jack high into the air with him, left paw raised to swat him down. Twisting in mid-air with gouts of flame burning, the Faunus corkscrewed between massive claws that slammed on bony armor with a deafening *CRACK* that shook the air. Landing atop the Ursa's nose, Jack drew his arms back, white-hot balls of fire in his hands lighting up like miniature suns. "SOLAR FLARE!" he shouted as he brought his palms together, the two balls of white-hot flame exploding into a massive corona of light that all around it had to block their eyes from. A few seconds later and the light faded, but what Jack had waiting for him, he was not expecting.

What he expected, was for the Grimm to be a flailing, screaming mess right about now. He expected it to be blinded from the point-blank flash of light, and if nothing else, have the fluid in its eyeballs brought to a boil. However instead, lowered over its eyes from its helm like some kind of ancient reptile, the Grimm's eyes were now covered in bony plates completely hiding its eyes from view.

"Armored eyelids? Seriously?! What the fuUUUUUUCK!" he yelped as the Ursa flipped its snout upward. The Faunus sent tumbling through the air, at the apex of his flight the Ursa had leaped up, maw wide open before comping down on him with a loud *CRUNCH*, the Faunus disappearing from view as the Grimm landed from its jump with a powerful *THUD* that shook the ground

"Holy shit! We have to do something?!" Yang squawked as she watched her teammate get eaten.

"Like what? We might as well be shooting spitballs at it!" Jaune cried as he waved his arms at its massive girth.

"Well we have to do something! We can't just leave him there!" Weiss shrieked.

"I think Jack has this covered," Pyrrha said pointing at the Grimm. Its mouth was clamped shut, it blinked rapidly. Shaking its head, tears of all things began to leak out of its eyes, followed by wisps of smoke trickling out the corners its mouth. Its face reddening, its maw suddenly opened, a plume of flame gushing out of its mouth like an old cartoon where the character ate something spicy. And screaming out the top, whooping like a madman, was Jack sailing through the air with pillars of fire gushing out of his hands.

"YA THOUGHT YA COULD EAT ME, YA FAT BASTARD!?" Jack growled. "WELL I GOT A NEWS FLASH FOR YA!" he said making a rapid series of arm movements in front of himself, his arms crossing around his body too fast to see. "HONEY BADGER! AIN'T ON! THE MENU!" he shouted as he brought his hands forward, his thumbs and index fingers forming a diamond shape. "Flame Arte: Burning Attack!" he shouted as he fired a bright yellow sun-like projectile was fired from his hands. The Grimm tilting its body to the side a the last second, the attack exploded in mid-air and blew off its right ear, cauterizing the wound and causing the Grimm to roar out in pain from the high-pitched whine filling its head. "I ain't done with you yet!" he said as he dove at its back. The veins on his arms glowing white-hot, he sent out a flurry of blows, bone spikes shattering and giving way under the machinegun-speed blows, bone fragments sent in all directions and causing the Ursa to recoil. Jack landed on the ground with a *THUD*, the pits of fire in his hand whining before he whirled around and launched a red-hot column of fire right into its asshole, the Grimm's eyes widening impossibly large as it ran around, forepaws struggling to put out the fire on its ass before it began dragging its but along the floor like a dog with tapeworms. After a few minutes of the last thing the fight's spectators thought they'd ever see a Grimm do, it growled angrily and rounded on its attacker, the Faunus now standing at the other end of the field in the middle of a ring of fire on the ground, right arm drawn back with fingers opened.

"Let's see how you like this one!" Jack growled as tongues of flame began to snake their way from the ring on the ground, coiling and weaving above his head until they attained the shape of a massive ten-foot broadsword, dragon-like wings furled down the middle of the blade. "Flame Arte: Flame Lance!" he shouted as he threw his arm forward, the flaming broadsword screaming through the air like a lance toward the Grimm's heart. Raising its paw, the Grimm swatted the attack out of the air, an eye quirked seeing the flame lance had actually stabbed through the armor on its paw. The implement radiating brightly, with a loud *FWOOOOOM* the flame-borne sword detonated in a fiery explosion, the smell of charred flesh filling the air and plates of bony armor were scatted. "Yeah…" Jack whooped before he began coughing blood, steam rising out of his mouth as he wiped the blood away. "That all you got!?"

*GRAAAAAAAWR*

"Guess not…" Jack broke out into a fit of coughing, blood staining his fingertips before he looked up at the Grimm. 'I've only got a third left… better make this count…' Jack thought to himself as he drew his right arm back. His hand tightening in a knuckle-whitening grip, the black galvanized armor over his bare arms began to flake away, the white-hot veins across his body beginning to fade as the last of his Aura was concentrated into a single point within his right hand. The Grimm ignoring the pain from its first fight in decades, rushed at the Faunus, the heat radiating off his body soon surpassing that of a burning crucible, a brilliantly-glowing plume of flame dominating his right hand. "MYSTIC ARTE!" Jack shouted as his emotions reached fever pitch, his presence washing over everyone around him causing the visage of his crimson eyes to appear before their own like a banner. "REEEEEED…" he bellowed as he ran forward, dodging the paw swipes and snapping jaws of his adversary. "HAAAAAAAWK!" he roared as he threw his right arm forward with all his might, the Grimm grunting at the loud *WHAM* that shook the air. For a moment the forest was quiet, until suddenly a brilliant plume of red fire exploded out the Major's back with a loud *FWOOOOOOOOM*, blood and spittle flying out its mouth in a soundless bellow as the trees behind it exploded into flame.

END OST

The Grimm beginning to topple backwards, Jack kicked off his opponent, backpedaling as quickly as possible. The massive Grimm striking the ground with a devastating *THUD-UD-UD-UD-UD* that made the forest shake, the countless bone spikes on its back turned the burning trees into so much timber, smoke rising from under its body. The Faunus coming to a stop before his friends, he hid another fit of blood-coughing behind his hand, the last of the galvanized ashen armor falling from between his fingertips.

"That… was… awesome!" Ruby squealed as she looked at the carnage Jack's literal show of firepower had wrought.

"Hoooooly fucking shit…!" Yang gawped as she took in the destruction all around. There were scorched craters in the ground, molten dirt, trees that were aflame slowly petering out, and cones of destruction in every direction. "That was HOT!"

"That was not awesome," Ruby pouted.

"Aw c'mon, that was a good one!" the sister argued.

"That was… incredible," Weiss breathed out in awe.

"That was… definitely something," Pyrrha nodded.

"That was… I mean… There are no words…" Jaune gawped.

"C'mon guys, don't drag your feet. Let's get out of here and go the fuck home," Jack huffed as he walked up to them, irritatingly scratching his head like something was bothering the hell out of him.

"What's with your eyes?" Yang asked pointing to Jack's black sclera. The iridescent gold was new too, much more… malicious than his eyes' mid-tier color of golden amber.

"The eyes are the gateway to the soul," the Faunus said cryptically, an unfamiliar edge in his tone as he tapped his temple. "Got it memorized?"

" . . . Huh?"

"We should probably get going while the going's good," Weiss stated, now that the fighting was over.

"What're you worried about, Snow Angel?" Jaune asked, trying to sound manly as he tiredly threw an arm over her shoulder. "Everything out there's dead. D-E-A-D deaaaa…" he spelled out before a massive shadow loomed over them, everyone gawping to see that the Ursa Major had gotten back to its feet. Instead of being dead like everyone thought, a hole had merely been burned through its body, entrails falling and beginning to plug up the hole, its spine momentarily visible as the viscera began to settle around it.

"MOVE!" Jack shouted as the Ursa Major raised its arm over its head. "Go! Go! Go! Go! G-" he shouted as he shoved his dumbstruck peers into a running start right before its paw came down. The massive paw bodily striking him with a loud *KA-SHHHH* like breaking glass, the last traces of his Aura were completely exhausted, the blacks of his eyes turning white and the iridescent gold fading back to jade as he was sent screaming through the air past his friends. The loud *CRASH*CRASH*CRASH* of trees being violently felled echoed through the forest as the Faunus sailed past Glynda and the others, bodily crashing into three more before coming to a stop at the seventh with a deafening *CRUNCH* of bark. A pained gasp leaving his mouth, the Faunus slowly fell out of the tree before landing in a bleeding heap on the ground coughing up blood.

"Run for your liiiives!" Jaune screamed as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, his feet carrying him past Glynda, Blake, Ren, and Nora, Weiss and Yang slowly rolling Jack onto his back.

"Jack! Jack can you hear me?" Weiss shouted as she opened his eye, the pupil dilating as it pointed towards her.

"Yeah… Why do you ask?" the Faunus asked as he rose into a sitting position, his bones protesting at the motion as he coughed up another glob of blood.

"Because we've gotta haul ass!" Yang said throwing an arm over her shoulder, Weiss doing the same as Ruby backpedaled towards them, Crescent Rose spitting out rounds at the approaching Grimm as Pyrrha added her own gunfire, one paw guarding the gaping hole in its stomach, the Grimm not even noticing the other gunshots that pelted its frame. Raising its other paw into the air, ready to crush them, Ruby flinched as the paw came down with a deafening *THUD*. However, when she realized she wasn't dead, she looked up to see a familiar spinning Glyph blocking its paw, the red-haired girl turning to Glynda who stood coolly in front of her students, adjusting her glasses with her free hand.

"Students, are you alright?" Glynda asked as she held the massive Grimm back.

"M-Mostly…" Yang croaked out nervously, having never been so glad to see Glynda in all her life.

"That's good. It'd be a shame not to be able to berate you for doing something so FOOLISH!" the blond shouted as she threw her riding crop out, sending the Ursa Major stumbling onto its ass with a deafening *THUD*.

"Professor, I think they've already left," Blake said coming up to the professor before turning tail and running herself, joining her teammates who were returning to the clearing for the safety that was their ride home.

"Good… At least now nobody will be in my way," Glynda said as she stared down the angry Grimm shakily getting back to its feet. "I wish I had more for backup than Peach. And I'm not sure I can take this thing on by myself without risk," she said leveling her riding crop at the massive Grimm in front of her. Even though she was a huntress and it was part of the job description, she was still afraid to die, but if it meant giving the others time to escape… that's a sacrifice the woman was willing to make.

Cue Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 Soundtrack - Battle for Survival

*GRAAAAAAAWR*

"Hmph," Glynda huffed as she fixed the hairs the Grimm's roar had disturbed from place. "It's rare that I get to cut loose like this," she said as she began to bend and twist her implement, her eyes sharpening until they became cold as ice. "I'll make you regret coming out of hibernation," she said coolly as she suddenly leaped into the air, soaring upward until she was eye-level with the Grimm, a purple Glyph appearing beneath her feet and acting as a platform. "Come along now. It isn't proper to keep a lady waiting," she said making a beckoning motion with her fingertips, a series of motions made in the air with her implement.

The Ursa Major growling at the Human woman's continued interference, it ran towards her in a lumbering gait, leaves falling from the trees with every step. A smirk pulling at the woman's lips, she swiped her riding crop in an upward slash across her body, a full-grown tree crashing against the right side of the Grimm's face a moment later with the force of a freight train, the Grimm toppling onto its side while the tree used had exploded into a shower of splinters. Shaking its head, the Grimm looked up to see an entire line of trees floating in mid-air like some kind of multi-sectioned staff, bound together with Glyphs like links on a chain. Another motion of her riding crop and Glynda's giant-sized weapon whirled through the air, each section of her bludgeon exploding into splinters as they slammed into the Grimm's armored body with each swipe, a cascade of splinters and leaves filling the air. Blinking debris out of its eyes, the Grimm stormed forward and slashed at eye-level, only to find nothing. Looking into the forest at its feet, a deep rumbling sound echoed from behind it, the Grimm looking over its shoulder.

A series of Glyphs arranged concentrically before her, a bead of sweat ran down Glynda's temple, she brought her riding crop up with a loud- "HRAAGH!" -, a massive geyser of water suddenly spewed forth from the earth, another Glyph meeting the pillar of water halfway and redirecting it. The fountain of water slamming against the Grimm's face, it fumbled backwards as it blocked its eyes. However, a few moments later, it found that its movements had become sluggish even as the waterworks stopped. Looking down, it saw that the ground at its feet had now become saturated, and that it had begun to sink into the marshy ground. Struggling to pull itself free, it looked up in time to see a tree being driven into the gaping hole left behind roots-first, the beast letting out a blood-curdling bellow as the roots scraped at its insides. Falling forward but stopping itself with one paw, its other set of claws wrapped themselves around the tree jammed into its stomach, a deep bellowing spilling past its lips as it ripped the object free, blood and viscera spewing into the air anew.

Shaking the red from its eyes, the Grimm looked up to see the woman from before now running along a series of quickly-disappearing mid-air platforms, an array of horizontal Glyphs ten across and three high now facing it, the woman hopping higher before running the other way and adding a fourth row. Trudging its way through the muddy ground, it began storming its way towards her, the woman having completed a fifth row and back-flipped off her final platform, a loud *SNAP* from her fingers echoing through the forest air. At that very moment, a horizontal deluge of purple auric spheres began being belched from the wall of Glyphs before it, each one striking its body and exploding with the force of a small bomb. The bombardment forcing it back as purple smoke choked its senses, by the time the smoke abated, the woman had already woven another Glyph into the air, larger and more intricate than the last.

As Glynda finished weaving the runes into her Auric Construct, she saw that chunks of the Ursa Major's armor had been blown off, smoke beginning to rise out of its injuries. For any other Grimm this would mean death, but for larger Grimm like this, it merely meant that it was hurt, but it was still possible to recover. Not wanting to give it the chance to attack, or worse yet, run toward the students, the final rune in place, concentric rings within her runic circle began moving like tumblers in a lock, the runes rearranging themselves into several different radiating configurations before settling into one final form, a massive symbol depicting the sun consisting of three concentric rings with isosceles triangles in the four cardinal directions, a slightly smaller triangle arranged between each one completing the look of the sun-like symbol.

The massive sun-like rune beginning to spin at mind-boggling speeds, massive amounts of air were drawn into the center of the runic circle, a pinprick of light appearing within its center as the ambient Dust and energy within the atmosphere was drawn into a singular point. The air rumbling as what could only be described as a miniature sun was suddenly compacted together, beads of sweat began to roll down her temples before she finally shouted, with all her might- "Mystic Arte: Terra Force!"

Her presence washing over the Grimm and her fleeing students, the visage of her bright green eyes appeared before theirs like a banner. At the moment those words left her lips, the massive high-energy sphere of energy shot through the air, a cone of the forest immolating in its path as a massive yellow ball with a white-hot core half its size screamed towards the Ursa Major. Raising its paws, the Grimm attempted to crush it, only for the Arte to literally explode in its face, a wave of heat rushing away from the pillar of fire, the light from that attack momentarily visible to all who looked northward in Vale.

END OST

Shielding her eyes from the wave of embers that washed over, when the dust settled, she let out a sigh of relief as she saw the Ursa Major laid out on its back, massive columns of black smoke rising off its form, signifying its eventual death. The woman dusting off her clothes, she made her way back to the clearing, a sigh of contentment leaving her lips as she left the battlefield.

What she didn't expect, was for the Grimm's eyes to snap open, the beast suddenly rolling over before lunging at her with speed that completely bellied its girth. The woman pinned down by one of its massive claws, the Ursa Major, half its face melted away by the heat of the blast leaving cooked muscle and most of its right eye visible, glared down at her with flame-colored eyes. Most of the flesh on the front of its body burned away, bands of muscle and bone were barely holding its insides within its body, the loud *LUB*DUB* of its still-beating heart ringing in her ears as it let out a rasping bellow on its death throes, its mouth falling open causing a black miasma to spill out of its maw, the black mist washing over her like a flood.

'D…Dammit…' Glynda cursed as she put a sleeve over her face, eyes squinting as darkness began to encroach on the sides of its vision. 'I got… careless,' she swore as everything turned dark, her body growing cold. 'I'm… sorry…' she gasped out, breathing her last. 'I messed up… everyone… I guess… this is the end for me…'

Resigning herself to her fate, body growing weaker by the second, her only regret, was that she wouldn't see the honest-souled Ruby graduate.

'Goodbye…' she choked out, a tear falling from her eye as the Grimm continued to smother her.

"SNAP OUT OF IT GOODWITCH! THE ONLY ONE YOU'RE ALLOWED TO LOSE TO IS ME! AND NOBODY ELSE!"

Cue Mega Man Zero 2 OST - Departure [Mythos Version]

"J…Jack…?" Glynda muttered out at the voice that pierced the darkness. "What are you…?" she wheezed out as the tide of miasma suddenly abated. Looking up, she saw the Faunus fisting what was left of the Grimm's left eyelid, a glint of yellow shining off his other wrist, the Grimm swinging its head to get him off and no longer focusing on her.

"Hey ugly! There's blood in your eye!" he said as he cocked his fist back, a single Dual-Ranged Shot Gauntlet transforming to full length across his arm before he began unloading it repeatedly into its eye, the Grimm roaring and throwing its head from side to side, the miasma from its mouth spewing in all directions but on her.

"HOLD ON GLYNDAAA!" Ruby shouted as she came up to her, grabbing the underside of the massive bone claw and struggling to life it up, Weiss, Blake, and Yang moments behind her and doing the same.

"What… What're you doing here…? I told you to run…" Glynda coughed out, her light no longer being snuffed out.

"We would've, but Jack clocked me upside the face and ran back here, said something didn't sit right with him," Yang said as she tried to lift the claw pinning her down. "Good thing we did. Barfed on to death by a big Grimm? Bad way to go."

"Daaayum big guy! I thought you were ugly before, but Glynda fucked your shit good!" Jack cackled as he continued to hang on, the Grimm's ocular organ now a soggy pile of flame-colored slop, black smoke spilling out all over him.

"Jack! Get out of there!" Glynda shouted. "Your Aura's gone! You'll-"

"I can't quit! I won't! You're coming back to teach us whether you want to or not! I don't care how much you hate grading papers!" Jack shouted as he continued firing, despite the miasma choking his lungs. "Ruby!" *COUGH* "Is she out of there yet?!"

"Not yet! This thing's really strong!" Ruby shouted as she strained against the load.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Jack growled as he suddenly jumped down and landed right behind Yang. Snaking his fingers through her hair, the Faunus jerked his arm back, much to the shock of the Team. A trio of golden hairs curled within his fingers, Yang's eyes flashed red and a corona of fire exploded around her, a blood-curdling yell spilling out of the blond's lips as she suddenly jerked the claw completely backwards, the Grimm bellowing and drowning out Yang's screaming. Ruby and Weiss grabbing Goodwitch by the arms, Blake taking her legs, Jack threw an angrily-flailing Yang over his right shoulder, the five of them running like their lives depended on it.

Turns out it did, because not even moments after they left the clearing, the Ursa Major burst through the trees and chased after them. A wall of black smoke rising from its body, combined with its half-immolated form, gave it an even more terrifying visage, looking like something out of a horror flic. Rolling waves of black miasma rolling towards them, Yang stopped seeing red long enough to cock her left Ember Celica back and sent a round screaming into its face, stunning it and buying them precious seconds.

"Ruby! Run ahead and tell the pilots we need to leave now!" Weiss shouted.

"Got it!" Ruby replied as she handed Glynda's other arm over to her teammate, disappearing in a storm of rose petals.

"Run… Run away… Save yourselves," Glynda choked out, her body still numb.

"Not on your life!" Jack shouted as he ran over to the desperately-running forms of Blake and Weiss. Snaking his left arm around Glynda's stomach, he lifted her out of their arms, momentarily leaving the two behind before they caught their stride alongside him.

"How many fucking times do we have to kill this thing?!" Yang growled as she unloaded more rounds into the Grimm chasing after them. Half of its flesh was melted, and you could see its heart MOVING for Pete's sake.

"I don't know! Just keep shooting it!" Jack shouted as he adjusted the two in his arms, tightening his grip on them.

"You are freakishly strong!" Blake shouted as the Faunus ran pace alongside them, even while carrying two people.

"NOT NOW BLAAAAAKE!" Jack screamed as he poured on the heat, muscles pumping as they cleared the final line of trees and entered the clearing they started in. The only airship left was the one they came in, hovering only feet above the ground, Ruby and Team JNPR waving them in, terrified looks on their faces as the Ursa Major burst through the treeline.

"Run guys! It's right behind you!" Jaune shouted at the top of his lung.

"I DON'T NEED THE FUCKING PLAY-BY-PLAAAY!" Jack shouted, veins bulging in his neck as he ran.

"Shoot the damn thing!" Blake shouted, Ruby, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren unloading everything they had at the Grimm, a few rounds almost grazing their heads. "Hey! Watch where you're shooting!"

"Sorry! This isn't really the most-stable platform to be shooting off of!" Ruby cried out as she took aim, a shot flying wide and missing it entirely.

"How could you miss? That thing's literally as big as the broadside of a barn!" Jaune raged.

"I don't see you doing anything, so shut the fuck up!" Ruby raged at the blond as she lined up another shot.

"Enough of this!" Weiss growled as she shot forward on a line of Glyphs, rounding on her heel before thrusting her Myrtenaster forward, a quintet of the largest Glyphs she could muster appearing in the Grimm's path. The Ursa Major crashing into all five of them was momentarily stopped, the recoil of the Glyphs' destruction caused Weiss to let out a shrill shriek, the heiress sent flying backwards. Jaune seeing what was about to transpire, valiantly leaped out of the Pelican, arms outstretched to catch her. However, the blond undershot his jump and wouldn't be able to reach her.

At the last possible second, Jack jumped in out of nowhere, the sun at his back as he carried two hot blondes in his arms like some valiant hero of old. His teeth biting down around Weiss' ribbon, his eyeballs bulged in their sockets as he reared his head back to not fall forward, sweat pouring off his body. Moments later the sole of his boot found home atop Jaune's head, the Faunus kicking off of him and sailing into the back of the airship, him and his passengers rolling to the floor in a pile of bodies.

"Oh come OOOOON!" Jaune cried as he fell to the ground in a heap, Blake hauling him up by his waistline before whirling around like a shot put and throwing the blond with all her strength, leaping in moments later, Ruby and Pyrra moving forward to grab them so they wouldn't fall as the airship rose.

END OST

"PUNCH IT!" Nora shouted at the pilot once everyone was in.

"I can't! The Blood Tray's not closed yet!" he shouted as the back of the ship barely closed.

"THEN TRY KICKING IT!" she raged at him.

"It's no good! BRACE FOR IMPACT!" the pilot shouted out, everyone grabbing the nearest person they could as the half-immolated Ursa Major nearly closed the gap.

"Hey ugly! Wish on these fireworks!" a new voice shouted, a pair of missile screaming into the Grimm's side and detonating with a violent *KRA-KROOOOOM!*, the half-immolated monster sent tumbling away from the ascending Pelican.

"Sazh? Holy shit is that you? Man, you're a sight for sore eyes!" the pilot asked out as he slumped over in relief. "What're you doing here?"

"Oz asked me to run this old bird through some "training exercises". Said I might find something more exciting to do out here than drills."

"Of course he did," the pilot chuckled, the door to the Blood Tray finally closing, some of the students pressing their faces against the blast shield window.

"How much ammo… do you have?" Glynda coughed out as she rolled her legs under herself.

"Enough to finish the job you started. You guys go on ahead. It's time for this bear to hibernate," the pilot of the other airship said, Ruby gasping loudly with stars in her eyes as it finally came into view.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" Ruby squealed in excitement practically fluttering in the air. "That's an AC-220 Gunship! Also known as the Vulture, it was considered the premier aerial combat vehicle for extended air-to-ground battles! Due to immense combat loses from recent bouts of infighting in Atlas, and because its usage is viewed as unethical due to the immense firepower it carried that could level entire cities, this form of death-from-above slowly faded out of use until the Vale council had purchased the rights to produce their own! Albeit with the newest tech and improved materials," she said calming down a bit as she fangasmed over the flying war machine before her with all the zeal of an adolescent girl talking about boy bands. This one still sported its original drab green paint job, albeit with Beacon's insignia slapped onto the sides and the bottom.

"Ruby! Come here, quick!"

"In a minute, Yang! The Vulture's about to fire its Argent V missiles!" Ruby said waving her sister off as she pressed her face to the glass. "Eeeee! And I think its A-74 Sylver Vertical Missile Launchers are moving into their attack configuration!" she squealed as its twin GUA-23/AW/Linkless Feed Autocannons belched out more 30mm rounds at it to distract it.

"It's Jack! Something's wrong with him!" Weiss shouted, the color draining from the girl's face as she whipped her head away from the glass right as the real fireworks began.

*GIANT-SLAYER*

"Uuuuugh…" *Cough*Cough* "Bluuuuugh…"

"What's happening?" Ruby asked worriedly as she slid to a stop at the front of the Blood Tray. Glynda was leaning against the wall recovering her strength, Pyrrha kneeling in front of her, everyone else blocking her view of Jack. Pushing her way past Blake and Jaune, Ruby gasped at the state Jack was now in.

Despite the fact that his head was resting in Pyrrha's lap, something most guys would kill for, it was obvious that the Faunus was suffering. His skin was an unnaturally pale shade, clammy, with dark bags under his bloodshot eyes. He was sweating buckets, his hair matted down against his head as his clothes soaked through with perspiration. Nora and Yang were desperately holding the Faunus' shoulders down as he flailed about, coughing and moaning as Ren threw himself and Jaune over the Faunus' legs pinning him in place. But what stood out most of all was that atop his chest, the skin over his sternum had become an unnatural shade of jet black, like she were staring into a bottomless pit.

"What… What is this?" Ruby gaped as she peered into the black spot on Jack's chest, which was slowly growing.

"When you… came to get me… Jack was exposed to…" *Cough*Cough* "Black Dust," Glynda coughed out.

"What's Black Dust supposed to be?" Jaune asked as he fought against the Faunus' flailing shins.

"It's the black miasma that comes off of Grimm as they evaporate, you boob!" Weiss shouted at the blond before taking her handkerchief and dabbing Jack's forehead. The moment he coughed, wisps of black smoke passed his lips, which were now turning blue.

"What's happening?!" Ruby demanded, everyone clamming up as they looked between her and Jack. "Someone get to the fucking point dammit!" she shouted, Yang's hands going to her mouth as she gasped, Jack's clawed hand flailing out until she wrapped her arms around it and brought it down to the floor in an arm bar.

"All people have Souls, but not all people have Aura," Glynda started as she struggled to sit up. "If people that don't have their Aura unlocked are exposed to a Grimm on its death throes, the miasma they emit, Black Dust, will enter the body and expel the Soul from it… This is called Hollowing. If a Huntsman with their Aura unlocked is exposed to Black Dust, the only danger is having their Aura slowly depleted, but as long as you keep your distance, there's normally no risk. Jack however… He got exposed to Black Dust once his Aura had been completely exhausted… There was nothing protecting him from its corrosive effects on the spirit."

"What's it doing to him? And what's that black spot?" Ruby asked pointing at the black mark on Jack's body. It was like a hole, only you couldn't see the other side of it.

"That's the Black Dust… pushing his spirit out of his body… If we don't purge the Black Dust from his system… he will die," Glynda choked out.

"I got it. Stand back!" Ruby said brandishing the non-crescent-shaped blade of her Crescent Rose at his chest. "Everyone! Cover your eyes!"

"That won't work, Ruby!" Weiss shouted before the girl could give Jack the worst kind of appendectomy. "The Black Dust has become immaterial. Cutting his body open won't do anything!"

"Well what do we do? Jack's dying!"

"We need to give him an Auric Transfusion. It's his only hope," Ren said holding Jack's thighs down. Holding down legs was way harder.

"And how do we do that?" Jaune asked.

"We have to give him spirit energy… through the lips," Nora said cheekily, though the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"The lips?!" Jaune yelped out as he jumped back, one of Jack's flailing legs slipping out of Ren's arms and kicking him upside the head.

"Nora, Pyrrha! Hold him down! I'm going in!" Yang shouted as she lowered her face to Jack's.

"It's not that simple…" Glynda panted, stopping the blond mid-kiss. "Your Auric Control has to be very precise. Not enough and it'll be pushed out. Too much… and you'll kill him faster."

"Then you do it!" the blond shouted. "You're a teacher, so your Auric Control should be loads better than ours!"

"I can't…"

"Waddya mean you can't!" Yang raged, the Blood Tray lit up as embers danced off her hair.

"I'm too weak… Both from fighting, and from my own exposure to the Black Dust," Glynda coughed out. "I'm sorry…"

"No…" Ruby cried as she slumped forward, tears streaming down her face.

"Mama… Mama is that you…" Jack wheezed, looking up at nothing as he tried to reach for something above him.

"Jack! Jack don't go into the light!" Pyrrha said holding down his shoulders.

"There's gotta be something we can do!" Blake shouted, looking around the Blood Tray for… anything they could use.

"How long until we get to Beacon?!" Ruby shouted at the cockpit.

"I'm flooring it, and I've already called the paramedics, but… I've seen this before… I don't think we'll make it in time…"

Cue Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep OST - Tears of Light

"No… Nonononono!" Ruby cried as she fisted her hair.

"Ruby… I'm so sorry… This is all my fault…" Glynda coughed out as she tried to crawl over to them, only for her arms to give out from under her, her body still too damn weak from the Black Dust that had almost completely overwhelmed her. Sure, they'd saved her life by coming back for her, but at what cost?

"Wh-Wh-What're you t-talking about, Glynda?" Ruby asked nervously as tears spilled down her face. "Jack's going to be fine… and we're going to go back to class… and everything's going to go back to normal… Right…? Right?!" she pleaded as she watched the black spot on Jack's chest grow slowly larger, denying all that was happening before her.

"Dammit… Dammit, we were so fucking close!" Yang cried as she pounded her fist on the floor. She wasn't about finesse, so she never bothered to work on Auric Control. And it wasn't like you could just do it with a little guidance, it took weeks, sometimes months of training to get it to an acceptable level.

"Hey… C'mon Jack… You'll bounce back from this… won't'cha?" Nora asked with a shaky grin as she began to cry too.

"Don't do this… This wasn't how today was supposed to end…" Ren said trying to hold back his tears.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" Glynda cried out as her student died right in front of her, his flailing becoming less and less energetic, his breaths slowing down.

"Jack…" Weiss whispered as she looked down at him, her eyes watering as he let out smaller and smaller coughs, his arms slowly falling to his sides. "Please…" she said as she went to Pyrrha's side, taking him from her lap and raising him into a reclining position. "Come back to us…" she said as she slowly lowered her face to his, her body becoming alight with a soft white glow.

"Weiss… don't-" Jaune tried to say as his heart cracked, his hand reaching out for her only for Nora to pull him into a full-nelson.

"Jaune! There's a time and place for your creepy-stalker-fanboy routine, and right now isn't that time. Someone's dying over there," Nora hissed.

"Don't die on me… you hear?" she asked as her lips ghosted over his own, closing her eyes as she closed the gap entirely. Wrapping her arms around his body and holding him close, the glow of her Aura began to radiate brightly, illuminating the Blood Tray as the heiress scrunched her brow in concentration. After a few moments, a white light was suddenly visible within Jack's body, trickling down the inside of his throat like water before spilling out across his chest. Black specks beginning to slowly dance out the dark mark on his chest, the heiress put more emotion, more feeling into it, the light glowing brighter as she moved her lips over his, tilting her head for a better fit. Then, suddenly, a geyser of black and white particles like snow mixed with mountain ash exploded from Jack's chest, spilling out into the air before harmlessly dissipating. This went on for several seconds, the black mark on his chest growing smaller and smaller until the last specks of energy dissipated into the air. Weiss separating from the Faunus with a gasp, she collapsed backward into Ruby's arms, almost all of her Aura now gone. "Did… Did we make it in time?" she asked looking at Jack's sleeping expression. "The black spot is gone, so the Black Dust should've been purged from his system… right?"

There was a palpable silence in the Blood Tray that seemed to stretch on for eternity. No one breathed, so the only noise was the hum of the Pelican's engines. Glynda, having finally scooted her way over to them, went to his wrists and his neck looking for a pulse. Glynda's hands falling back, the woman shook her head, fear seizing the teens' hearts before Jack started a fit of coughing. Everyone looking down, they saw that he was gripping at his chest as he coughed, the color slowly returning to his face.

"Jack! You're okay!" Weiss said with tears in her eyes as she hugged him tightly. "I thought we lost you! Do you have any idea how worried you made me-" she said as she nuzzled her face into his muscular chest, before feeling everyone's eyes on her. Suddenly leaping back, leaving the Faunus to fall back into Pyrrha's lap, the heiress coughed awkwardly with a flush on her cheeks. "I mean… Of course you're alright… Auric Control's old pat for someone like me…" she said making a tiny Glyph appear as she twirled her finger. "You were never in any daaanger or anything, heheheh…" she said facing away from everyone else, delicate fingers going to her lips. 'He tastes sweet… Like honey, and Red Sap,' she realized as her tongue ghosted out across her lips.

"Yes! We're going home!" Ruby cheered now that everyone was okay, throwing her arms into the air, tears of joy, instead of sorrow, streaming down her face unimpeded.

"Oh thank god!" Yang sighed as she collapsed onto her butt, releasing a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

"That was much too close," Blake sighed as she fell back, lazily spreading herself out full-eagle. "Adult literature" had nothing on real-world drama playing out in front of her.

"I'm so relieved," Pyrrha sighed as she wiped some sweat from her brow.

"We did cut things rather close, though," Ren sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Who knew Weiss was willing to bite-the-bullet like that?" Nora asked with a shrug of her shoulders, Jaune sitting in the corner as he hugged his knees to his chest.

"Ruby… Weiss… Blake… Yang," Glynda spoke up as she made to stand, leaning against the wall for support, before giving up and settling herself into one of the Blood Tray's seats. "I never got the chance to say this… but thank you… for saving my life," she said as she pulled the torso-bar over her head. "If you… all of you," she said casting a look Jack's way, "hadn't come back for me, then that's where my story would've ended… So from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I owe you my life."

"No prob, teach," Yang said with a smile as she settled Jack's head into her lap, idly stroking his bangs out of his face.

"Yeah! What're comrades for?" Ruby said with a chipper smile.

"We wouldn't be Huntresses-in-training if we left one of our own behind," Weiss said with a satisfied smile. What she'd gone through was way more terrifying than when she fought the Possessed Armor, but the rush of adrenaline as she ran for her life, her every future moment on the line… It felt really good, actually.

"That was terrifying beyond the capacity for rational thought, though," Blake stated as she settled herself into one of the Blood Tray's seats. "Can we expect extra credit for this toward our next semester?"

"Blake!" Weiss squawked indignantly.

"What?" the black-haired beauty asked.

"Too soon!" the heiress shrieked.

"Is it? Is it really?" Nora asked conspiratorially.

"Yes!/Yeah!" the heiress and the brawler blurted out at the same time, sharing a good-natured laugh before letting out tired sighs, the day finally catching up with them.

"Pilot," Glynda said toward the front. "Let the medics waiting for us know… that everything's alright on our end. We'll still need a couple of beds waiting for us when we get there, but for the time being… none of us are in immediate danger."

"You got it," the pilot returned with a smile as he got Beacon back on the horn, glad he didn't have to watch another student die on his watch.

END OST

*GIANT-SLAYER*

The moment their airship landed in the airfield, paramedics were already waiting for them; apparently the Helipad at the infirmary wasn't rated for a full-blown Pelican. As soon as the Blood Tray opened, Jack was placed atop a gurney, the doctors checking his vitals as they loaded him into the on-campus ambulance. The whole of Team RWBBY tried to pile in, but the medics said they could only fit in two teammates.

"You guys go ahead. I'll catch up," Blake said stepping back.

"Jack…" Ruby whispered, her hands practically glued to his arm the entire time they'd been loading him in.

"I…" Weiss said with a flush on her face as she looked between Ruby and Yang. "I should leav-"

"Weiss…" Yang said putting a hand on the heiress' shoulder, looking her in the eye. "You saved his life… when the rest of us couldn't. You made a miracle happen, and I think it's only fitting you see him all the way through… Okay?" she said pushing the heiress back into her seat.

"Tha… Thank you…" Weiss found herself breathing out.

"Hey, don't worry about it," the blond brushed her off. "We'll catch up to you at the hospital, so-" Noticing the paramedic telling her to wrap it up, the blond leaned forward and whispered into the heiress' ear. "As soon as we meet up, I want details about the kiss, you dig~?" the blond said in a sing-song tone, the heiress suddenly blushing as bright as Ruby's hood. "After all, that must've been sooooome kiss if he made our little Ice Queen all hot and bothered~" she whispered huskily into the girl's ear. "Makes me wonder what would've happened to you if he kissed back~"

Weiss, her mouth opening and closing like a fish, raised a finger to rebuke the blond, only for Yang to close the door in her face. Banging her fist on the side of the ambulance, the driver got the message and drove off, the blond brawler letting out a sigh as she laced her fingers behind her head.

"Wow Yang. That was really mature of you," Blake said to her partner as soon as the ambulance disappeared from sight. Obviously, she didn't hear the more risque topic they were discussing.

"Yeah, Yang. I thought you would've been all over that!" Nora said, much more chipper now that Jack wasn't dying right in front of her. "In-"

"In more ways than one, yes," Ren cut in, in good fun.

"Jaune… Jaune is something wrong?" Pyrrha asked her teammate, shoulders slumped and hands in his pockets, the blond quiet as a grave up 'til now.

" . . . It's nothing… I'm fine," Jaune sighed tiredly as he brushed her off. He didn't do it to be mean, but he was just exhausted. Both physically, and emotionally. "Just… a little drained. I'd rather be alone right now."

"I think Jaune's a little upset that Jack got to live-the-dream. And all he did was lie there," Nora said after the blond had walked away.

"We really should be getting to the hospital, though," Ren stated.

"It wouldn't hurt to get a pick-me-up though," Blake suggested. "I'm sure that almost dying gives a guy quit an appetite."

"I'm sure he'd appreciate that very much," Pyrrha said with a smile.

*GIANT-SLAYER*

"And you're sure he'll be okay?" Ruby asked Dr. Katt outside room 356 after Jack had been wheeled in, the doctors inside relieving him of his clothes as they placed him in a hospital bed. Seriously though, why was it always room number 356 he was sent to? This was three times already. Was someone making some kind of joke or what?

"Yes, Ms. Rose. Jack's going to be just fine," the Faunus waved off. "You're fortunate you were able to give him that Auric Transfusion when you did. Any longer and the damage from his Soul de-synchronizing with his body would've been permanent."

"That's good to hear," Weiss said with a relieved sigh. Soul de-synchronization was more of a spiritual condition, and thus modern medicine barely understood how to rectify it. All that was truly understood was that over-exposure to a Grimm's "miasma" upon death could cause it. Survivors said there was darkening of vision, they felt cold, but more over they couldn't move on their own until rescued.

"I am curious though, who made the miracle happen? From what I'm told, the Hollowing had progressed pretty far before you saved him." Ascertaining the size of the "hole" before purging had been one of the big questions asked on the way there.

"That would be me," Weiss said with a smile as she held a small Glyph in her hand. It wasn't as powerful as a full-sized one, but that she could get it as small as a saucer was testament to her skill level. Nowhere near her sister's, but it was a start. Ever since Jack repeatedly punched her in the face while trying to Summon, she'd been training in her off-time to make her Glyphs more-powerful.

"I see," the woman said raising a brow in surprise. Based on how the two had sent one another to the infirmary a while back, she'd assumed Weiss was the last person who wanted to save Jack. "Mind if I ask the method?"

"I gave my Aura to him through… through the lips," she whispered as she flushed slightly.

"…Oh," Dr. Katt blinked after a couple seconds. "That seems rather personal, but I'm glad it worked."

"What do you mean "rather personal"? It was the only way to save him, wasn't it?" the heiress asked.

"Well, there are multiple ways to perform an Auric Transfusion. Conducting it through the lips is the easiest I suppose, and there were more extreme methods you could've used instead."

"More extreme? Like what?" Weiss asked, wondering if Nora had known about these other methods or not, and had made her k-k-kiss Jack for giggles. 'It was my first one,' she realized before Dr. Katt leaned forward and whispered into her ear. Ruby wasn't sure what the doctor was saying, or why Weiss' face was flushing brighter and brighter as the seconds ticked by, but by the time she finished, Weiss looked like a tomato up to the roots of her hair.

"You could've also pushed the Aura straight into his body through the skin, but the end-result would've been the same," Dr. Katt said adjusting her glasses. "From what I know of your Team, you really are the only one who had the control necessary for that to work. Though I'm curious why Glynda didn't do it instead, method regardless."

"Glynda got hit really hard by whatever that thing was doing to her. She was really cold and clammy by the time we got to her," Yang answered.

"Ah, drowning by Black Dust. Bad way to go," Dr. Katt said with a shake of her head. "It's fortunate you got to Jack as soon as you did. I can only imagine the Horror he would've turned into after that if you didn't," she muttered to herself too low for them to hear.

"How is she by the way?" Weiss asked, also worried for her instructor.

"She lost most of her Aura, but she had enough left over to avoid Hollowing altogether. She's just a little weak right now is all. She should be back on her feet after a good rest and a nice hot meal."

"Can we see them?" Ruby asked. The teachers' rooms were on the next floor, so they'd have to make a separate trip to visit her.

"YOU CAN'T HAVE MY BOOTY!"

*CRASH*

"Looks like he's awake," Dr. Katt said without missing a beat, sounding like someone crashed into a cabinet. "Episodic flashbacks of… various natures, are common side-effects of having Black Dust purged from your system, so you should probably go in there and tell him he's alright-and they're gone…" she said realizing they'd already left.

"Jack! Jack it's okay! You're safe now!" Ruby said coming into the room, the nurse sent crashing into a cabinet rubbing the back of his head. Expense reports for damaged furniture were most-common when it came to teenagers with super-strength. Thankfully all the nursing staff had some Auric ability to draw upon, so legitimate injuries were much less common.

*Pant*Pant*Pant* "I… I see…" Jack said realizing he was in a hospital room, lying down before reclining his bed, the hospital staff filing out now that he was settled. "Did everyone make it out okay? What happened to Goodwitch?"

"She's going to be fine. We got to her just in time," Weiss said with a smile.

"That's good," Jack said with a smile as he coughed. Reaching over for the pitcher of water, Weiss was quick to pour him a glass, which he drank heavily from.

"So um… Jack?"

"Yeah, Ruby?"

"What was that about 'You can't have my booty'?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

"Just a flashback. Some girls can be really grabby," Jack shuddered as he made upward-grabby motions with his hands.

"Oh… I thought you meant… something else," Weiss said awkwardly.

" . . . You've got a dirty mind if that's the first thing you thought of," the Faunus deadpanned, the heiress slapping him over the back of the head. "Ow! What was that fo-"

"What were you thinking, rushing in with no Aura like that!?" Weiss shouted at him now that he was awake. "Don't you realize you could've died?! Or worse!"

"My body just moved on its own," he said trying to play it off. "Happens all the time."

"Yes, well, if you're going to be part of this team, you can't just rush headlong into danger like that! You got lucky this time, but next time you really could get yourself killed. And how do you think we'd all feel then?!" she pleaded as she put a hand to her chest. "Ruby was utterly beside herself, as was Yang and everyone else! Do you know what we went through, watching you die right in front of us, thinking we'd lost you!?"

"I… I'm sorry…" Jack sighed as he slumped back in his bed. "I just didn't wanna let Goodwitch die. Not after she joined the list."

"What list?" Weiss asked.

"The list of people I want to fight again someday," Jack said cracking a smile, even as he flinched and grabbed his ribs. "I could practically taste the beat-down Glynda gave to the Major, and I knew if she came at me like that, things would've turned out way differently when we sparred. I bet it must've hurt her pride to almost hit the red from a student if she had that kind of stopping power."

"Yes, well, I don't think it would have looked good on the end-of-year review if she wound up destroying her own building," Weiss sighed.

"We're just glad you're okay," Ruby sighed as she reached forward and hugged him, nuzzling into his chest.

"I'm glad I'm okay too," Jack chuckled as he stroked her hair. "What's wrong? You look like you swallowed a lemon," he said turning to the heiress.

"Nothing… Nothing's wrong…" Weiss said as she crossed her arms and turned away.

"You know… I noticed the inside of my mouth tasted like peppermint ever since I regained consciousness," the Faunus said aloud, the heiress whipping her head around to face him. "I take it you're the reason for that?"

"…Yes," Weiss admitted after a couple seconds.

"…Thank you. I owe you my life," Jack said bowing his head. "And that isn't something I say casually. I really mean it."

"Well, you know… What are friends for?" the heiress asked turning to him with a smile.

"Eeeeeeee! I'm so happy the two of you are finally getting along so well!" Ruby squealed as she wrapped her arms around the two and brought them close for a group hug, their faces touching.

"Please don't squeal so loud. My ears are still ringing from that tree. I'm pretty sure the one that stopped me hurt the most," Jack groaned as he rubbed his head, Ruby embarrassingly clamming up as she let the two go. A moment later and the rest of Team RWBBY came in, followed by JNPR with exception to its leader.

"Hey guys!" Yang smiled brightly as she came in. "We have cinnamon buns~" she sung as she and Blake held up bags from one of the bakery-businesses on campus, a little specialty store by the name of CinnaBlast.

"And pancakes!" Nora whooped as she held up a to-go box. "Those bite marks were toootally already there, though."

"We would've gotten here sooner, but we had to ensure our Red Sap got to Professor Peach," Ren stated.

"Hey, what happened to that Saber Rabbit I caught? Did you leave it behind?" Jack asked, eyes narrowing on the last part.

"Nope! I passed it along to the school butcher, Butcher. He got really friendly when I dropped your name for some reason," Nora said with a smile.

"Well, it's rare that fresh Hide and Cherreeks with almost all their flavor intact come onto the market. I guess Jack built up some consumer confidentiality here at Beacon with that little stunt he pulled," Ren theorized.

"Oh good. Something to look forward to when they let me out of here," Jack said as he tried to sit up, only to wince as he sat back down. "Urgh…"

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked.

"Nothing… Just a couple aches," Jack sighed as he leaned back into his pillow. "Letting that Grimm get the jump on me… I got a little careless."

"Or maybe… hot-headed," Yang chuckled, the others staring blankly at her. "Oh come on, that was a good one."

"No, that was just too easy," Ruby groaned.

"Don't be too hard on yourself. Glynda made the same mistake too," Blake saw fit to comment.

"Yeah, but Glynda turned that entire field into a smoking crater. She earned the right to get cocky," Jack said crossing his arms. "All I did was torch some grass and burn down a few trees," he huffed to himself.

"Speaking of smoking…" Ruby started. "What was that thing you did earlier? You know, the one where you clenched your fist around Weiss' Dust as though you were holding an extremely valuable locket, given to you by your lover's grandma's ex-husband's mother who made it and died protecting it from bandits?" she asked, the others trying to wrap their heads around the super-specific nature of her metaphor. "You were all breeeeen, and whoosh, and fwooooooom, and calling out the names of your attacks like something in Gunvolt!" she said making grand motions with her arms, "when last time I checked, your Semblance gave you super-strength."

"Well, my Semblance is called Polarity," Pyrrha believed. "I believe Jack called his Burst, after the explosive burst of power it gives him. However, I believe what he did is called Dust Synergy."

"Dust Synergy? What's that?" Ruby asked with a tilt of her head.

"I suppose it's understandable that you don't know. Dust Synergy is a highly-advanced technique that isn't taught at most schools, due to the inherent dangers behind it," Weiss stated.

"O…kaay… but what did Dust have to do with giving Jack superpowers?" Ruby asked, remembering back to all the awesome flame-based attacks he did. They'd also chewed up a ton of his Aura, because she'd been monitoring him on her Scroll as he fought, but the fight was wicked intense she almost forgot about it.

"A possible application of Dust is the ability to modify the properties of your Semblance on-the-fly to adapt to varying battlefield conditions," Blake stated. "For example, if you gave me Red Dust, my clones would become like bombs of fire. Slate Dust would petrify them into solid cover, while Cyan Dust would turn them into statues of ice when disturbed." During her time in the White Fang, she'd done a little experimenting. The only problem was, using Dust so frivolously for those purposes took away most of their stopping power while they were still in the mag, and it was expensive to boot.

"Yeah, but Jack doesn't make Shadows like you. This time around, he was the one that was on fire," Yang said crossing her arms.

"That's because Blake's Shadow is an "External Manifestation Type", or External-Type Semblance, while Jack's Burst is an "Internal Manifestation Type", or Internal-Type Semblance," Weiss explained. "External-Types like Blake and Pyrrha's are characterized by the ability to alter the world around them, like with clones, or constructs, or the ability to move objects with your spirit. Internal-Types like Jack and Nora's have the ability to augment the body in a more direct fashion. All Semblance are divided into these two overarching categories, and from there branch off into countless other sub-types. New and more-unique Semblance are catalogued all over the world every year, but they all still fall within these two categories."

"Of course… Internal-Type Semblance users are exposed to greater amounts of danger while using Dust Synergy, in exchange for the bigger payout," Ren stated.

"Greater how?" Ruby asked.

"Well… Try to think of the inherent dangers of Dust Synergy with these two different types as the difference between a flamethrower and a rocket fueled by old-timey oil," Jack said coming back into your conversation. "First, think of your Aura as gasoline, and then think of your Semblance as the gasoline once it's been ignited. Now, imagine that Blake is using a flamethrower, while Yang is using a rocket strapped to her back, but the flamethrower and rockets represent their own bodies. Blake's "Aura" is only ignited outside of her "body", and thus the risk to herself is minimal because the "ignition" has been externalized. However, for Yang, because rockets work like a controlled explosion, she needs to control the rate at which she discharges the explosion in a very precise manner, otherwise she'd be a veritable pipe bomb," he said making an explosion gesture with his hands. "While you get more raw power out of a rocket then a flamethrower, the inherent risk of igniting your "Aura" are much greater."

"So… If Yang tried to use Dust Synergy with Red Dust… she'd explode?" Ruby asked, the image of her sister comically exploding like in an old cartoon appearing in a thought bubble over her head.

"The explosion isn't that literal, in most cases," he muttered to himself, "but it's used to get the point across about how dangerous Dust Synergy can be if done too early in your training, where your Auric Control isn't at a high-enough level."

"I somehow feel like if he were here, Jaune would ask, "Uh, what's Auric Control, dur?"," Weiss pantomimed exaggeratedly. "Honestly, how that boy ever made it into Beacon is a mystery to me," the heiress sighed, Pyrrha uncomfortably rubbing her arm. And it wasn't like Weiss was wrong, Jaune probably would ask what "Auric Control" meant, which was essentially "control of one's Aura". And the word "Auric" meant "of Aura" or "relating to Aura". It honestly surprised her how lovestruck she was that she never noticed all these little signs that something was "off" about him, other than being "different" from the rest of the boy.

"Enough about Jaune," Jack waved off in dismissal. "Anyway, people who use Dust Synergy incorrectly don't always explode. Literally. Sometimes they cause internal damage to themselves that can be just as bad if not worse."

"But wait, don't people mix Aura into Dust for Nature's Wrath?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, but the dangers are different. If you catalyze Dust with too much Aura, the manifestation of Nature's Wrath could spiral beyond one's ability to control, and swallow them up, literally and/or metaphorically. However even then, the Dust Reaction is only in the environment," Weiss explained. "If an Internal-Type Semblance performs Dust Synergy incorrectly, the catalyzation of Dust could wreak untold damages upon your body. While it's still being heavily debated if Aura flows through the body like an auxiliary circulatory system, or circuits on a motherboard, or that the bodies themselves are merely vessels for Aura, the fact of the matter is, catalyzing Dust within the body is, like Jack put it before, lighting a pipe bomb if done incorrectly. The consequences could range from immolation, to electrocution, to even having your internal temperature drop like a lead weight and freeze yourself solid," she lectured, those with Internal-Type Semblance shuddering at the imagery that came up.

"But wait a minute, doesn't Dust Implantation do the same thing though?" Yang asked. She'd always contemplated having Red Dust added to her knuckles for literal flaming punches, even when she wasn't using her Ember Celica, or maybe even because she wanted to add a little more "kick" to her punch.

"Not exactly," Weiss answered with a shake of her head. "While the comparison between Dust Implantation and Dust Synergy have been the subject of heavy debate over the years, especially with recent advances in Aura reading technology and Dust's applications in the medical field, the level of immersion between Dust that is Implanted or Synergized are like night and day. When Dust is implanted, either surgically within the body and allowed to heal around it and assimilate it, or just below the skin, the physical distinction between the Dust and one's Self are still readily apparent, and the influence of Dust on the body as a whole is minimum, limited solely to the site of the implantation itself. However, when Dust is synergized with Aura as it circulates through the body, it enters a pseudo-immaterial state, spreading throughout every part of the body. What's more, because it bonds to the soul itself, alteration of one's Semblance in the case of Internalized-Types can cause certain… complications."

*Gulp* "C-Complications?" Ruby gulped.

"That's right," Jack said crossing his arms. "Ruby, do you remember how I acted when I used Fire-Type Dust Synergy?"

"Uh yeah. You fought without care for what you destroyed, and in some cases you were just needlessly cruel to your victims," Ruby shuddered as she remembered those two limbless Ursa he'd tormented up until the very end.

"Like a fire attacking everything in sight?"

"Y… Yeah…"

"Well, the reason for that is kinda obvious when you think about it," Jack said with a shrug. "Aura is the Soul's power given form, while Semblance is the expression of that form. If you take Dust into your Aura, if you change the Soul's expression, then you're basically imparting changes to the soul itself. This can cause personality changes ranging from subtle shifts in how you carry yourself, to a complete exacerbation of a single or multiple aspects of your personality. In my case, because I used Red Dust, I became cruel and uncaring like fire. In essence, I'd literally become a different person, if only for a few minutes."

"Huh…?" Yang asked trying to wrap her head around it.

"People are who they are because of their Souls, so it goes without saying that if you go around changing your soul, you change yourself as a consequence," Weiss lectured. "The greatest danger that Dust Synergy has on Internal-Type uses, is that if you use it too long, or too many times in a short amount of time, or you just let the power control and overwhelm you, the person you were before will slowly disappear, until there's no trace of the original personality left. While it's true that the body will live on, the person inside it will not be the same."

"Try to think about Yang's personality, and her Semblance as a response to that," Jack said to the confusion on Ruby's features. "Yang is bright and sunny, always smiling and making you feel at home. However, if she were to synergize Cyan Dust into her body, she'd probably become a dead-inside emotionless broad who you'd more likely mistake for Weiss' next-of-kin instead of your own sister."

"Hey!" Weiss yelped as Ruby and Yang desperately hugged one another.

"So suffice it to say, over-using Dust Synergy is both dangerous, and highly irresponsible because it'll hurt the people around you as you watch someone you know basically disappear before your eyes, and all you're left with is a stranger that knows you, but you barely know them anymore," Jack went on to explain.

"But wait a minute, doesn't that mean you ran the risk of becoming someone else?" Ruby asked worriedly.

"One of the key requirements for Dust Synergy is an incredible degree of Auric Control. It can come from many long hours or practice, but the best users of Aura learn to accept both the Light and Darkness inside of themselves. What essentially equates to a state of enlightenment."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"Well for starters… I'm an asshole, I'll admit it," he said causing everyone to lurch at the admissal. "I enjoy the feeling of lording my strength over those weaker than me as I turn my nose up at them, sometimes literally, sometimes metaphorically. I enjoy the rush of adrenaline in battle as I contemplate how to hurt and/or emasculate my opponents, and deep down I enjoy the crunchy sound of breaking one's legs accompanied by the sound of their screams."

*GAAAAASP* Nora gasped widely, her eyes the size of saucers before she got on her knees by Jack's bed and held his hands in her own. "It's like we're soulmates…" she breathed out as she looked deeply into his eyes. Not in a romantic way per-se, but a super-creepy kinda way. Like, the kinda creepy you find on a blind date that reminds you how only minutes before, your best friend told you over the phone- "Don't ever stick your dick in crazy."

"I have no idea what that means."

I know, Caboose. I know.

" . . . Know what?"

Ugh.

"I think anyone who's watched you for more than five minutes would probably see that, but what does accepting that part of yourself have to do with Auric Control?" Weiss asked.

"If you don't accept your Dark and only see your Light, it's like you're basically ignoring half of yourself, and only chosing to control one aspect. Like you only know how to change the station on the radio, but ignore the volume because it's "too loud" if you change it," Jack said making air quotes. "Shaping your Aura is a key factor in performing Artes like you've seen me, Nora, and even Ren use, as well as Nature's Wrath like you've seen from Glynda; but in order to do that, you need to understand yourself. That comes from a spiritual understanding that you can't get out of a textbook, only when you learn and grow as a person, and realize who you are, not how you think you are. This can be a big help in life, because if you can ration your Aura, you won't waste it as you use your Semblance or other abilities, but only use as much Aura is necessary without waste. Weiss," he said turning to her. "Since we began talking to one another, has it become any easier to summon your Glyphs?"

"Actually… it kind of has," she admitted, remembering how easy it was to stack multiple Glyphs on top of one another to slow down that Ursa Major. It didn't work completely, but the five did slow it down, whereas a single Glyph wouldn't have slowed it down in the slightest.

"That's because you realized how much of a racist bitch you were being for profiling me the way you had; just because I was a Faunus, and because of what my parents may or may not have done in the last war. More importantly, you learned that thinking that way was bad, and unfounded in addition to being unfair to the latter party," he said curtly, the heiress pouting his way. "That you're taking this so well is just a sign that you're growing up. That you're learning to accept that part of yourself and grow past it to become a better person, as well as accept criticisms from others."

"Maybe…" Weiss hummed. It was only after talking with Professor Port and learning how much of a spoiled brat she was being just because she couldn't lead Team RWBY, that she began to grow past the "spoiled little princess" phase of her life. Especially when she was no longer being pampered in the lifestyle to which she'd become accustomed.

"Back onto the topic at hand. Yes, while the risk was lessened because I accepted both my Light and my Dark, and had a better grasp of who I was that I could better hold-on to that sense of self, the risk was still there," Jack explained. "Even if that Ursa Major hadn't broken through my Aura, I'd have still had to "purge" it completely from my system because there were still traces of Red Dust in there."

"Couldn't you just purge only the Aura that had Red Dust in it, instead of all of it?" Ruby asked.

"Have you ever tried getting the chocolate powder out of milk after you mix the two together? It doesn't work that way," Jack said before she could answer. "Once you mix Dust into your Aura and take it into your body, Internal-Type users will have to purge it all from their systems. External-Types like Blake and Weiss don't have to purge all their Aura, because the catalyzing of Dust that they synergize happens outside their bodies, instead of being taken in; once again, the difference between a rocket and a flamethrower," he said, causing Ruby to drop her fist into her hand in understanding. "Of course, that doesn't even count the stresses that using Dust Synergy imparts on your body, which can be quite large for Internal-Types, so you also need a certain constitution for it."

"But wait, I'm confused," Yang said. "If you change your Aura with Dust, wouldn't you change as a person anyway, even after expending your Aura in the case of an Internal-Type Semblance user?"

"Not exactly," Weiss cut in. "Aura comes from your Soul, but it isn't your Soul itself. If you run out of Aura, you won't die, but if your Soul is extinguished, either by something soul-shattering happening to you, or over-exposure to Black Dust, then you will die because independent of biology, your Soul is what makes you alive. While science and medicine have become able to measure Aura, the Soul is still completely intangible in both of those realms, and still solely exists within the domain of philosophy, spirituality, and religion, because in those doctrines, you don't need proof that it exists… only faith."

"Uh…" Yang hummed, still confused.

"Try to think of your Soul like a match that won't go out. Now, imagine your Aura as the kindling used to make that fire burn brighter. Even if you take away the kindling, the mach will still be there, and can light a fire again," Jack summarized, Yang nodding her head in understanding.

"You know, I was really confused at first, but after all these metaphors, I think I'm starting to get the difference between Dust Synergy for Internal and External-Types," the blond hummed.

"Talks about the Soul and the Aura that comes from it, as well as the Semblance which is the expression of that, can get a bit jumbled when everyone is thinking of different things," Weiss stated. "There have been theories about what would happen if you were to bond Nature's Wrath to the Soul itself, but such a thing has never been successfully implemented because the Soul is still unknown in that we don't know what binds it to the body, or even if it's truly there. However, Aura and Semblance have to come from somewhere, so that in itself is still credence of the concrete existence of a Soul even if no other evidence exists."

"Think of it like the Devil's Proof. You can't prove that the devil exists, but at the same time, you can't prove he doesn't exist, because the subject matter is completely intangible," Ren stated sagely.

"So then… Internal-Type Semblance uses will have to flush out all their Aura from their bodies after using Dust Synergy to change the properties of their Semblance, while External-Type Semblance users don't need to because the "synergization" happens outside their body away from the Soul itself?" Ruby asked.

"Very good, that's exactly it," Jack and Weiss said together, the latter blushing. "Another thing to remember is that the quantity and quality of Dust both impact how much and how long you can use Dust Synergy for," Jack went on to explain. "The more Dust you have, the longer you can use it for, while at the same time, the more pure Dust is, the more kick you get out of it. Essentially you could catalyze a lot of impure dust, or a little near-pure Dust to get the same time. The Red Dust I got from Weiss was a small vial of super-high-quality product, so it had a lot of kick to it before I exhausted it."

"And you were able to "stretch it out" because you have more control over your Aura?" Yang asked.

"Think of it like turning a faucet for a sink," Jack said pointing to the open bathroom door. "It's the difference between being able to change the pressure up and down in really small increments so you don't overfill a cup, or only being able to turn it on and off and you overfill your cup anyway."

"Is that a metaphor for waste emissions in Aura?" Ruby asked.

"That wasn't the intent, but yes, that sounds about right," Jack said with a shrug before he began coughing, Weiss rushing to his side and pouring him another glass of water. "Wow, we've been talking a really long time," he said looking down at his Scroll.

"Well what you did back there was pretty cool," Ruby said with a smile. "Hey! You think if I used Red Dust and mixed it into my Aura inside my body, I could do a Flame Tackle? Or would it be a Flare Blitz?"

"Ruby, you might be a prodigy for coming here two years early, but the amount of control you'd require to make that work safely is still out of your grasp," Weiss said crossing her arms. "You're an Internal-Type like your sister, so Dust Synergy will be harder for you than it would be for Blake or myself. However as a consequence, the "kick" that comes out of an Internal-Type it isn't as great in comparison."

"So then it's a trade-off? Higher risk, higher reward?" Yang asked.

"Yeah… but Yang, come here for a minute," Jack said, the blond coming over to his bedside. "Yang… Don't ever change," he said taking her hands in his own. "Changing your Semblance is like changing yourself. Sure, you get a power boost out of it, but before you ever decide to even try it, you have to be sure it's even worth it. And before you even practice, you need a partner there with you to remind you to purge your Aura afterwards, otherwise you won't even notice the change, and by the time you do… it'll be too late… and when the you you were is gone, that'll make everyone around you really sad because in a way, you did die, and you were replaced with a stranger wearing your face."

"…I understand," Yang said with a soft smile as she reached out and hugged him. "Don't worry. You won't have to say goodbye to the awesomeness that is me for a good long time," she said with a broad grin as she pressed her forehead against his own, enveloping him in a curtain of sunshine. Pecking him on the lips while no-one could see, she stepped back in time to appreciate the red tint on the Faunus' cheeks. "So Jack, it's getting close to dinner-time. You wanna join us?"

so quickly that no-one could see through the curtain her mane of golden blond hair made around their faces,

"I would… Ngh. But I'm tied down to this bed by medical Red Tape," Jack grunted as he tried to get up, only to flinch. "If anyone needs me, I'll be meditating until I'm well enough to sneak out," he said lacing his fingers over his chest and closing his eyes.

"It looks like you're sleeping," Blake commented.

"Meditating," Jack returned as he cracked open an eye before closing it again, the others chuckling as they began to file out.

"Man. Today was really tiring," Ruby sighed as she felt the day's events catch up to her.

"I'll say. I didn't think we'd see a Grimm that big today," Yang sighed with her hands behind her head. "Seriously, that thing was big enough to have its own zip code!"

"It was rather large, yes," Ren stated. Nora opened her mouth, possibly to make a penis joke because the girl had practically no speech filter, but the magenta-streaked teen was quick enough to put a hand over her mouth before she could say something inappropriate around the faculty walking by.

"I feel like an early dinner. Who wants to join me?" Blake asked, getting enthusiastic nods all around. Her Scroll vibrating in her pocket, Pyrrha looked down at it before saying-

"I'll catch you all later. There's someplace I have to be," the champion said as she ran off.

*GIANT-SLAYER*

Cue Sword Art Online OST - In Your Past/A Tender Feeling

Rushing back to her room as fast as she could, Pyrrha screeched to a halt before the door to her dorm. Swiping her scroll across the lock, the door clicked open, and the red-head rushed in. The first thing she saw was Jaune sitting on his bed, his sword and shield at his side, his chestpiece in his hands as he looked down at it. The blond looked ragged, and didn't even notice she came in until the bed springs creaked as she sat across from him.

"Oh… Hey Pyrrha…" Jaune said with a weak smile as he set the last of his armor pieces aside before looking at her. "I'm surprised you showed up… considering how I've been treating you guys the past week."

"Jaune… We're teammates. Of course I'd come if you called," Pyrrha said with a soft smile. "I notice you aren't hanging out with Cardin tonight. I thought the two of you were best buds?" she said in good humor.

"We uh… were talking about forming a boy band for the past week, but we broke up today after… creative differences," the blond joked weakly. 'Wow, that sounded even weaker after I said it out loud.'

"Hmhm. I see," Pyrrha chuckled. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"There's… a confession I need to make," he said twitting his thumbs. "You were there with me since day one. You saved my life for Pete's sake, and I should've come to you first, but I had all this stupid macho guy stuff floating around in my head that I-"

"Jaune," she cut him off putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. I'm here to listen. So take things at your own pace. We're in no rush. The others went to dinner, so we have a bit of time to ourselves before the others return."

" . . . Pyrrha," he started off after a couple minutes. "I… I didn't earn my way into Beacon into Beacon like you and the others did. I got my hands on some fake transcripts… and I lied. I'm exactly the type of worthless garbage Jack said I was at lunch the other day. Of course, you probably already knew that. Cardin heard me flapping my lips from his room, so maybe you heard it too. But even if that's the case… I blurted it out to Jack, instead of coming to you first, so what I want to say is… I'm sorry. I know that no amount of words will ever make what I've done right, and you're free to walk right out that door and tell this to Ozpin, but before you do any of that, I just want you to know… that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for lying, but more importantly, I'm sorry about how my absence affected he team. I was your leader, and I left you on your own. I failed you… and I'm sorry."

"…It must've taken a lot for you to admit that," Pyrrha said after a couple seconds. It was one thing to hear it through a crack in the doorframe, but it was quite another to hear it towards herself. The confession and the apology.

"I should've come to you first," Jaune sighed. "And even though Cardin won't mess with us anymore, that doesn't change facts. I lied my way into Beacon, did all those things Jack accused a worthless slacker like me of doing. Even if, by some miracle, you don't decide to turn me in… I'm not sure where I'm supposed to go from here. Everything Jack said about gutless losers who lie their way into Beacon… guys like me… it was one-hundred percent true, and I have absolutely zero arguments to deny that sentiment with."

"Jaune… I think there's only one thing you can do," Pyrrha said getting his attention. "You train. You work hard. You become strong. You can't give back the time and effort that was put into your education here, so I think that all you really can do, is do all you can, and become worthy of your place here at Beacon. Stolen or not."

"Maybe… Maybe you're right," Jaune realized. "But… before I can think of any of that… there's one last hurdle I have to overcome, or I won't be able to move forward with my life."

"What's that?" Pyrrha asked.

"An apology. Well, another apology at least. I went to a very dark place today, and I need to apologize to the person I almost wronged on two fronts," Jaune said wringing his hands together.

"Oh. I see," Pyrrha said, realizing he was dead set on this. He probably wouldn't be very receptive to her offering to train him until he got this last piece of business done. Guys could be really stubborn that way. She'd seen it first-hand over the past week. "Who do you need to apologize to?"

"Jack…" the blond sighed. "But right now… I just want to rest. I'm really tired after today," he said as he tossed his armor pieces under the bed.

"I'm sure you are," Pyrrha said as she watched Jaune crawl under the covers, clothes and all. "I'm going to go get dinner. Do you want anything?"

"No… No, I'm fine," Jaune sighed as his eyes drooped shut. "Oh, and Pyrrha?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you… for giving me the benefit of the doubt," Jaune sighed as he laid his head into his pillow, Pyrrha offering a warm-hearted smile as she left to rejoin the others.

END OST

*GIANT-SLAYER*

It was the middle of the night. There were crickets chirping outside, leaves rustling in the wind, the moon high in the night sky. The hospital was almost quiet as a grave, and without it being flooded with artificial light, the whole place looked really creepy. As all in it slept, a set of quiet footsteps moved through the empty halls. Stepping before room 356, a hand glowing with green Aura clasped the door handle, a force field of sorts expertly enveloping all the parts connected to it as the handle was turned, any noise silenced as the door opened and closed.

"It's the middle of the night, and I'm really tired after the day's events," a tired-sounding voice said from the end of the room. "So you'd better have a damned-good reason for waking me up, or else the next one getting a hospital bed in this place will be you?" Jack said as amber eyes glinted through the darkness.

"That's quite a warm reception, Jack," a man with tousled gray hair and brown eyes said as he stepped into the moonlight. "Glad to see you're in such high spirits after what happened this afternoon."

"Oh. Hey Ozpin. Why're you here? In my room? In the middle of the night?" Jack asked, growing quickly irritated he'd been woken up. "Unless there's someone dying right now, this isn't important-enough that it can't wait until the morning."

"What if I told you there was someone dying right now, and that the only thing keeping them alive was an array of top-of-the-line life support systems? Would you be willing to listen then?" Ozpin asked.

*SIIIIIGH* "Walked right into that one," Jack groaned to himself. "Alright Ozpin, you have me. What do you want?"

"Before any of that, I just want to let you know that Glynda was worried about you, and that she asked me to check up on you for her. However, something came up, and this is the soonest I was able to come," the man replied as he took a seat on the opposite bed, Jack glowering as he drummed his fingers on his arms. "Me, personally… I want to offer my thanks."

"It was a team effort. I couldn't have done it alone," Jack replied. "If it were Dominic, I definitely would've hesitated. But I genuinely like Glynda enough to put my life on the line for her."

"As someone with your unique… disposition, I can only imagine how hard it must've been to trust again. Especially after your old team gave you such a bad showing of humanity's potential."

"Yeah, no shit," the Faunus groaned as he closed his eyes. "Listen, I get it, someone's dying right now. Maybe they're in the ICU at this very moment. But I don't see how any of that relates to me, and why you telling me that Glynda wanted you to check in on me couldn't have waited until the morning."

"Very well then. I'll get straight to the point," Ozpin said as he adjusted his glasses. "I need your help."

"…You… need my help?"

"That is what I vocalized, yes."

"…You know, Ozpin, I'm going to level with you here," Jack said putting his fingertips together. "When I looked at you with my third eye that day, when all it took was an ounce of willpower for you to cow an entire room of headstrong people from all over the world into line, for a brief moment, I saw it… I saw it… Your presence, was completely overwhelming, a veritable wellspring of power that felt bottomless. Now, I have no idea if you could fight that man to a standstill or anything, but if anything I imagine it'd be a pretty close call to make," he rambled on before turning to face the headmaster. "Suffice it to say, if someone like you is worried about what goes bump-in-the-night, well… I think that warrants one's undivided attention, don't you think?"

"You're very observant, young man. Most wouldn't have been able to glean all that from a single moment's glance. I go to great lengths to keep my true power hidden," Ozpin said pulling a mug of hot chocolate from… somewhere.

"Yeah, well, you were dealing with a bunch of rookies who all thought they were hot shit. I don't think the concept of someone right in front of them being that powerful ever crossed their minds," Jack shrugged. "Suffice it to say, you have my attention. So let's hear it. Why does someone with your power, both literally and metaphorically, need my help?"

"There have been recent… movements, that are cause for concern," Ozpin began taking a sip from his mug, while offering another to Jack, which he took after a few moments. "Dust thefts all over Vale putting everyone on edge and causing prices on product to go up, the emboldening of a certain cult-like organization into more direct action, among many others that few would think are interconnected, but are instead isolated incidents."

"Uh, yeah, I know all that. I keep an eye on the news and an ear on the ground. What you're telling me isn't anything new."

"That's true. However…" Ozpin hummed as he looked around, stretching out his senses for anyone who might be listening in. "We have reason to believe that all of this is being controlled by the hand of a single organized group, and if not that, then a very influential individual who is moving through the shadows, pulling strings from behind the scenes."

"We?"

"Hopefully things don't get so bad that you have to meet them, but I'd feel a little better knowing there was someone with your… unique skill-set on this."

"What aren't you telling me? Something must've changed if you're even contemplating bringing a student in on this."

"…A few days ago, there was a massive wave of thefts at a number of cold storage facilities in Atlas. All of which were highly classified with only a very select group of people knowing their exact location, with even fewer knowing what was in them," Ozpin began. "Before I could dig deeper into the exact nature of these thefts, or rather, what was stolen, an old friend of mine," he said not naming names, "put out a cease and desist order, and I became stonewalled. The availability of information on that incident has been cut off, and even the public at large isn't aware that anything even happened."

"Ozpin, I said I'd listen to what you'd have to say, that you had my undivided attention… but espionage is the sort of thing that people get killed over, no questions asked. So if that's what you're about to ask me to do, I'm going to have to respectfully decline your call to aid."

"Oh no, there's no need for you to go that far. I already have… someone else, looking into it," he said once again not naming names. "What I require of you is something a little… different."

"Different how?"

"…Jack… You've bonded deeply with Ruby Rose over the past couple of weeks, have you not?" he asked, the Faunus nodding his head in admission. "Do you believe she's ready for access to the Mission Boards?"

"Well…" Jack hummed as he crossed his arms. "A little real-world experience would do wonders for her training. Some things you can only grasp in the midst of combat instead of the classroom, as I'm sure you're aware," the Faunus stated after a couple seconds. "I've seen a few scythe-wielders in my day, and while I could make one walk, she can make one dance."

"So you actually know how to use a scythe?" Ozpin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Only enough that I won't chop my own leg off; a week of lessons a practitioner does not make. Like I said, I can make a scythe walk, but Ruby can make it dance. I certainly won't be changing weapons any time soon," Jack stated. "Anyway… Yes, I do believe that with her Team behind her, she could handle access to the Mission Boards. Obviously she'd have to start at the D-Rank missions like everyone else, but she can definitely handle it, though it may take a couple goes before she can call out paradigm shifts in the midst of combat and not break her rhythm. Why do you ask?"

"Well, first off, I'm thinking of granting this years' freshmen early access, given its exceptional number of prodigal students in the crop," Ozpin began. "I'm thinking of limiting it to D-Rank missions for the time being, something for them to get their feet on the ground, but I might broaden the scope of what you all have access to before the Vytal Festival for a little more intensive training."

"Are we going to be paid for this?"

"Small sums of your pay will have to be returned to the Hunter Union for the sub-contracting, but yes, this will also be a way for students to be able to make money if they aren't on a parent's bankroll," Ozpin answered.

"Alright… but what does this have to do with what you want from me?"

"From time to time I might decide to send certain missions Ruby's way. The locality of those missions may coincide with certain activities that warrant… investigation, that requires a degree of subtlety that fully-license Huntsmen no longer possess due to notoriety. Before one goes to war, one must first send the scouts, not the troops."

"Shouldn't you be telling this to Ruby then? Ruby might see everyone equally, but I'm still the New Guy. Bottom rung on the ladder. I don't exactly have sway in how we run things on our ship, and I doubt Weiss would take kindly to being led along the nose by a Faunus. Sure, she's getting better, and she's growing up without her old man breathing down her neck trying to make her into another him, but old habits die hard, and we still argue from time-to-time. Honestly I'm surprised it was Weiss who saved my life instead of someone else," Jack stated.

"What I'm asking is a little… off-the-books, and Ruby doesn't need the added pressure so soon into the start of her career. She still has time to be a child, before becoming a Huntress."

"Sooo you decided to come to me because I haven't been a child since I was nine years old? Because I already know what we're walking into?"

"In essence, yes," Ozpin replied with a nod. "You've been all over the world if your history with the Mission Boards has anything to say about it. You know the state of things better than everyone on your Team, because you don't draw knowledge from a single location."

"Then you're going to need to be a little more clear in what you're asking of me. You want me to do things off-the-books behind Ruby's back, while I'm still running missions alongside them? How is that supposed to work exactly if she isn't in-the-know about this?"

"I don't need you to be a private investigator or anything like that. If anything, I only need you to keep an ear to the ground, and an eye to the shadows, as you conduct yourself with Team Ruby like normal. In addition, I'm also asking to borrow your strength for what's coming, should I need it. There may also be other errands that require your attention, but I won't deliberately endanger your life. I'd like to stay on the Demon of Whitechapel's good side, after all," he said. If Jack was surprised he was known by that title, he certainly didn't show it. It wasn't exactly state secret or anything, but very few people would know that he was the "Demon of Whitechapel". Most assumed it was "a real fucking monster" like his uncle, or his "uncle", or even his father. Not someone who, at the time, was "just a kid" setting out for the first time.

"What is coming?" Jack asked as he got the gist of what Ozpin wanted. He basically wanted an extra set of feet on the ground, with eyes and ears fishing for any information that could provide a clue as to what he was worried about. The man was being really sparse with details, though that was likely so he'd have a degree of plausible deniability and not be made a target.

"I am not entirely certain, but I see the ripples in the water, small as they are. There's a storm on the horizon, but I don't know from where it comes, or when it will reach our borders. All I know is, this time of peace we've had since the Great War… someone wants to bring it to an end. And I don't think they'll do it gently."

"Hmmm… I see…" Jack hummed. "Alright. As long as these investigations of yours don't put Ruby anywhere she can get seriously hurt, I'm not opposed to doing a little legwork for you. That being said… I'm not going to do this pro-bono. That's just good business sense."

"I'd be disappointed if you did," Ozpin replied. "Those who agree to do something for nothing, are always the quickest to walk out when things get tough because there is nothing in it for them."

"It's a shame that people don't realize just how shady people who do things for "free" are," Jack shrugged. "People whose motivations are guided by coin, you know how far their loyalty goes. Heroes who do things "out of the kindness of their hearts", well, they aren't completely trustworthy when their life is on the line and they'd rather be elsewhere instead of dying for no reason."

"So then… What is it that you want?" Ozpin asked, knowing he now had Jack invested in this. "Money? Power? Influence? I could put in a good word for you but I can't exactly give you women."

"Most of Column B. I figure I'll get a little out of Column C just by working for you, even if it's by proxy and off-the-books. I can always get plenty of Column A on my own, there's more being printed every day, and it isn't like there's any shortage of work on the Mission Boards," Jack explained. "Also, I don't need any help of getting women. I can do that by myself."

"It would help if you were a little more specific in what you wanted. As long as it's reasonable, I'll compensate your services to the best of my abilities."

"Hmmm… How do I word this," Jack hummed as he drummed his fingers on his arm. "Beacon's home to the biggest library in the entire Kingdom, correct?"

"Yes. It's one of the largest information repositories in the entire world, actually. Why do you ask?"

"I want in. And I'm not talking the stuff you can get with any old library card," he said cutting off Ozpin before he could make a joke. "I want access to your top-shelf brand. Ancient secrets. Forbidden knowledge. The Devil's Arithmetic. If I'm not being clear enough… knowledge is what I seek. Knowledge that with time and effort that can become strength. Strength that the Council might not be comfortable ceding control of to someone else. You can keep your politics to yourself. What I want… is knowledge I won't find anywhere else."

"Why that specifically?" Ozpin asked. Most when approached by an authority figure for aid would've asked for gratuitous amounts of money, or influence that could make things go their way if they went accost with the law. Very few would've gone straight for knowledge because the benefits weren't as immediate and you had to put your own time and effort in to cultivate it.

"I felt it when Glynda fought that Ursa Major, I could practically taste it. And I know that kind of stuff isn't something most people have access to, because the Council still needs an edge to keep the Hunter Union in line. If things are even half as bad as you allude them to be, then that can become a problem for what little family I have left in this world," Jack said crossing his arms. "Suffice it to say, that's a problem for me, and if I have a problem, then that means you have a problem. Do I make myself clear on that?"

"Your motivations have been crystal clear to me since I admitted you to my school, regardless of any lack of formal education," Ozpin replied sipping from his mug. "Very well, I'll grant you access. Please hand me your Scroll," he requested, Jack reaching over to his nightstand and passing his Scroll to the headmaster. Opening up his own Master Scroll, which gave him access to everything in the Academy without restriction, he placed Jack's atop it, the two synchronizing before a number of icons showing wirelessly downloading programs appeared around it. After a couple moments, a light blinked, and the process was complete. "There you go. I've slav-er, synchronized, your Scroll to mine," he said stopping himself from saying "slaved". "You now have special access to the part of the library normally reserved for faculty. When the lock on the door scans your Scroll, any records will show my own access codes, so unless someone sees you yourself enter, no-one will be aware of your access to such materials."

"Excellent," Jack hummed as he took back his Scroll. "I'm sure I can find a couple things for the rest of my Team as well. Hmmm… Maybe something to augment Ruby's cloak… I suppose I could find a couple things to give Weiss' Glyphs some extra kick… Maybe a way for Blake's clones to move independently of herself… And maybe some strengthening Artes for Yang," he muttered to himself before turning back to Ozpin. "Am I allowed to actually check any of it out, or does it have to stay in the room?"

"It'll have to stay in the room I'm afraid, but you are allowed to take notes for your own uses," Ozpin replied. "All I ask is that when you access the more… unique materials, that you exercise a degree of discretion in your movements. If it got out you'd been given special access to faculty-only sections of the library, that could make things… complicated."

"Don't worry, Ozpin. I know how to keep a secret."

"Oh, I'm sure you do… Jack the Ripper," Ozpin said making his way to the door.

"…Heh…" Jack chuckled after a momentary widening of his eyes. "Should've figured you'd know about that… Oz the All-Seeing."

"I honestly prefer 'The Great and Powerful', but that works too," Ozpin said in good humor as he cracked open the door. "You have a good night."

"Ya huh," Jack hummed as he rolled over in his bed.

*GIANT SLAYER*

In the original draft, there wasn't the huge landscape-altering fight between Glynda and the Ursa Major, instead she smacked it back a couple times before the Vulture appeared as though Ozpin had known exactly when it was needed. Suffice it to say, I decided to majorly overhaul that, adding more fights and tension-following to it, since in the original draft, no-one almost died at the end. I also didn't think to add Ozpin's talk with Jack until later, but seeing how this topic was of a rather sensitive nature, it only made sense for Ozpin to approach him when he's alone. There's a GIANT library at Beacon, yet they didn't learn anything THAT new when they had all year to access that sort of stuff; that's why Virgil wants in through the "secret door". In short, pretty much everything after Jack's "boss fight" was re-written, and I'm pretty glad I did because this is much better.

On note of the Grimm that Jaune killed being an Ursa Minor, while the (bigger) one after that was a Major INSTEAD, while (again) in canon the one Jaune killed at that point was a Major… Not gonna lie… That idea came from My Little Pony. You got me. I'm a brony. I admit it. Not a hardcore brony, I'm actually way behind on the episodes, but I'm willing to admit that in a nostalgic kinda way, I enjoy the show. Reminds me of when cartoons did not cater to the "shortbus kids" with their crappy animation and over-OVER-simplified storylines.

Stepping away from Hasbro's Deceptacon-slaying ponies and back to the AN…

On note of the "Hollowing", and "spirit energy through the lips", yes, those were Bleach and Yuyu Hakusho references respectively. Didn't get too far into Bleach before I lost interest altogether, while Yuyu Hakusho is one of my favorite anime from my youth (wow I sound old). These aren't being shoehorned in, I had planned for these kinds of references and story-elements to be introduced to the Giant-Slayer Lore prior to publishing the first chapter, I just never thought I'd introduce them this soon to the story. I'm pretty stoked about how things turned out, though, and I wonder if anyone will figure out the third reference to the set I've made.

As for what Jack did where he modified the "elemental properties" of his Semblance, and turned his "Kaio-Ken" into... something else... THAT was inspired by what Blake did in RWBY Volume 2 Chapter 11 "No Brakes", where Blake used Dust Ammo to turn her "Shadows" into clones of additional tangibility with properties like Fire, Stone, and Ice; The biggest difference of course, was alluded to by the "Blake has a Flamethrower, Yang has a Rocket" metaphor I discussed earlier. As for the form that Jack's usage of Red Dust for Dust Synergy took, that was inspired by a character from One Punch Man, one of the funniest/most-awesome anime of last year by far, and one of the best ongoing manga I've read in a while. I find it very hard not to enjoy the inner turmoil of a man who's become so powerful he kills everything with one punch, as well as the "politics" of a hero-for-hire economy where superheroes (with varying literal and moral degrees of "super") are commonplace.

Unlike Superman who's a total bullshit character, Saitama worked for his power, and though he lost his hair, the man's got GODS living inside his clenched fists. Not literally, but it definitely seems that way when he 1-Hit-KOd what was essentially the Colossal Titan in episode 1. Also it's in the song, much like how "Super Saiyan" is part of Yang's theme song.

Now I'm rambling...

Anyway, I hope this rewrite of the chapter is well-received, and that you leave Comments, Questions, and even Concerns in the Review window down below.