"Come in."

Team ECQA marched into Ozpin's office in an uncharacteristically formal way, stepping in a straight line from shortest to tallest with the exception of Cammo. Though she was taller than Ahab, even if just by a little bit, she walked in front of him with her chest puffed out proudly. She smirked and gave the headmaster a little wave.

"Oh dear," Ozpin muttered under his breath. That was not a good look to be getting from such a snarky troublemaker. What did she have planned this time?

Goodwitch walked in behind her students and presented the headmaster with a folder full of papers. The thing was practically an entire ream thick and considerably heavy, judging from the audible *whump* it made as it hit his desk. Ozpin flinched as he noticed a little crunch and remembered where he had laid his fountain pen. That was not coming out unscathed.

He tried to smooth over the sudden intrusion and took a sip of coffee. By Monty, would he be needing it. It wasn't just team ECQA who would be a problem; Ms. Goodwitch looked considerably pissed for some reason or other.

"So, what brings you to my office?" he began conversationally. Immediately, Goodwitch jumped in, bursting forwards as if she had been bottling up her anger in search of a listener.

"Headmaster, you have to talk some sense into these students!" she begged. "Their demands are outrageous for their current level of combat training, and the very idea is just... absurd!"

"Calm down, Glynda," Ozpin soothed, careful not to sound too patronizing. If he pissed her off now, who knows what might happen? He was not truly afraid of Glynda Goodwitch, but he definitely respected her power. "If one of you," he said, gesturing to the group, "could explain what is going on, that would be appreciated."

"Well..." Ahab started weakly. Cammo jumped in.

"We're looking to take on a team mission. Hopefully before the dance. Tomorrow at the latest."

Oh dear.

"And what would be the... reasoning behind this?"

"We're bored. Kind of want to let off some steam."

"..."

Oh dear. He could see Goodwitch trembling from rage as the short Huntress-in-training prattled on casually. "To be honest, classes have been getting kinda boring recently. We just thought, y'know, some variety would be nice. Like they say, bloodlust is the spice of life."

"You mean 'variety'," Quincy mumbled.

"I said variety," Cammo hissed back.

Ozpin, at a loss for what to do, pinched the rim of his nose.

"And? What kind of mission would you want?"

"No supervisor. Some minor sightseeing. Perhaps a little... okay, a lot of fighting. Send us on a mission like Team RWBY."

"Team RWBY isn't going on missions, and neither are you," Goodwitch declared. "The risk is just too high, and we can't simply let students run around the city with weapons!"

"The city? Oh, that's a good idea. Send us to Vale or something, we'll complete the mission and get ice cream."

"Can you t-t-try to be serious for a second?" Ahab sighed. Ozpin imitated his defeatist attitude, slumping in his chair ever so slightly and shrugging. He could simply turn Team ECQA away, right? If it came down to it, the right decision would be to keep his students safe. Then again, Cammo was bouncing on her heels in anticipation. The girl knew that she could win, but why?

He fingered the threatening mound of papers lightly. "And what is this?"

Eido spoke up this time. "I took the luxury of compiling some reference documents, recommendations, et cetera. I just thought I should come prepared for the meeting."

Ah, of course. The boy genius, Mr. Pitch. He had probably pumped all of these pages out in less than an hour to overwhelm him with evidence. The boy knew that Ozpin didn't have the time nor the patience to go through all of this paperwork. What he was gunning for was shock value, without a doubt.

And he got it. The sheer size was certainly intimidating, but the first few papers were all sound research. Eido had prepared for any location they might be sent to, and the faculty was already aware that each team member here could handle large Grimm alone, no problem at all. In all honesty, he could not see why Glynda would be upset. These were capable Hunters, albeit first years, who could literally survive through anything.

Of course, Glynda herself was the issue. How would the rest of the school see this? A challenge to low level students to throw themselves into danger? A mockery of the training and mission systems which all of the older students had thus far obeyed? Simple negligence on the part of the administration?

He shook his head. Since when did that matter to him? If his students were ready, they might as well go for it. That wasn't necessarily his motto, but it was somewhat of a secondary or tertiary commandment for him.

"Glynda, what are these students' combat scores?"

"Well, all above average, but-"

"And their grades?"

"They range from perfect to exemplary."

"And work ethic?"

"Rather low, actually..."

"Perfect. Why don't we do it?"

Cammo jumped for joy, her hair ties clacking around jovially. The boys exchanged high fives.

"Wait, but there is one more issue."

"Hmmm?"

"While Ms. Deuce has been improving, she and Mr. Omobi are still in the supplementary class for ranged combat."

Ah, that was a problem. Not a huge problem, but a definite detriment nonetheless. He would be sending students into close quarters with their enemies, a considerably more dangerous task.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on. I've been doing just fine in that class!"

"That's not the problem... you don't need the grade, you need the capabilities."

"I can use the tommy gun just fine! Like, who aims with those things?"

"That may be true," Goodwitch sighed, "but Mr. Omobi is still, well... somewhat inept with ranged weaponry. We still cannot consider your suggestion."

Cammo smacked Ahab across the chest. The boy stumbled, and Ozpin winced at the blow. His video feed had clips of the girl tearing through metal at full force, so that backhand could not have been very gentle.

"Do it."

What?

Ahab coughed and spluttered, composing himself. Then, without warning, he thrust a straight kick to the side. There was a horrible sound, like saran wrapping tearing, and the boy's shoes were run through by a protruding harpoon. As he extended his leg, the weapon launched with a metallic clunk and soared through the air, leaving a bloody trail in its flight path along with a length of wire. The harpoon struck against the clock face behind Ozpin's desk, clanging off of the tip of the hour hand.

There was a deep indent in the metal.

"I think this will be sufficient for marksmanship purposes," Eido spoke, containing his laughter at Goodwitch's expression.

Ozpin shoved the now blood-spattered stack of paper off of his desk into a waste disposal bin. "Yes, that will be enough. I believe we can give you the details by tomorrow morning."

Ahab, hobbling slightly and reeling the harpoon back in, was picked up by Quincy as the team turned to exit the office. Goodwitch looked on, horrified, as the team casually left the room. She waited until they were all through the door.

"Why are you letting them go... in that condition?"

Ozpin smiled. "Mr. Omobi is a rather interesting student. His fighting style hurts himself, but he's willing to go that far for the smallest things. It's because he cares so much about his team that he can mangle himself as he does without a care."

"It's preposterous."

"It's what he does. Perhaps it's not so healthy, but he believes that what he does is right. And as teachers, shouldn't we support that?"

"Scandalous. You're advocating his suicide."

"He will live through it. If he truly thinks he is on the right path, it is our duty to comply. Didn't he just show you his conviction?"

She bit her lip nervously. Ozpin always did what he wanted, and this was no exception. Did the man just no realize how dangerous it was? A strong student is not the same thing as a strong Hunter.

"Alright, you guys are getting off here."

Ahab thanked the driver again for his service. The bullhead pilot only tipped his hat at the team and smiled. Nice kids, he thought, turning around his opinion from their first meeting. At least they knew their manners.

"So, are you going to let us down?" Cammo inquired, cocking one eyebrow.

"Nope. Have fun with the drop." The pilot gave them a wide, unprofessional grin and opened the hatch door remotely, welcoming in rushing air currents that threatened to whisk the smaller students away.

Ahab was the first to jump. Well, fall, but it accomplished the same thing. Eido dove after him, whipping his weapon into gear, followed by Cammo and Quincy. The green girl drew breath. She didn't want to be the last one out of the airship, but she didn't have a fool proof landing strategy this time. The landscape was far more open, the nearest handhold at least 50 meters away from her landing site.

Well, at least she got moving before Quincy.

Why didn't the school supply their students with parachutes? Was that just not considered necessary? Not everyone could be put back together as easily as their team leader.

The wind screamed past her cheeks, cutting into them, and she grit her teeth. She blinked the tears from her eyes and turned her back to the earth below, trying to think of a plan. That's when she looked up and saw Quincy, arms outstretched to catch her.

"Spread out your weight," he called amiably as he drew his own body into a streamlined rocket and shot towards her. Cammo, understanding immediately, flung her arms to the side and let the air resistance slow her fall. The distance between them shrunk until the giant could put his hands around her waist, and he swiftly pulled her into his chest and aimed his weapons at the ground.

"Now hold on tight."

The explosion reverberated through Cammo as they turned into a backwards comet, a trail of fire blazing between their bodies and the cold, hard ground. Their descent eased. A few tense seconds of constant firing later, Quincy touched his feet to the earth, still holding Cammo in his arms.

"There we go."

"Good job, Quince," Cammo said, praising him like an obedient dog.

Eido nodded, expressing his approval of the giant while attempting to sweep pieces of Ahab into one pile and speed up the regeneration. The result of the boy's fall was, as usual, a bloody mess. Cammo averted her eyes casually, and Quincy focused very intently on Eido alone.

"So where will we venture from this point?"

Eido shrugged. "Why are you asking a blind man for directions?"

"I'd say just over that hill over there," Cammo muttered. "There's supposed to be some ruins that are serving as gathering places for Grimm. That's why the Bullhead couldn't be brought too close; we'd alert them to our presence."

"Then let's get going."

I'm tired. My schedule is messed up. I'll just leave this as is.

Yeah, turns out Ozpin is really lax with persistent students. Like Dumbledore with Gryffindors. Or Camp Half-Blood and the Power Trio. Come to think of it, main protagonists can pretty much ignore the rules as they please. I mean, if it happened with RWBY, it can happen with ECQA.

Thanks for reading my drivel. Good night. I need to sleep/read shoujo manga. Mostly the latter.