Chapter 28

Author's Note: Almost at 10,000 views! Thank you all so much for sticking by, this story is progressing very nicely indeed! I have much planned for the future, so don't forget to follow the story! It's absolutely free to do so (and yes, I know this isn't youtube). Until next time, enjoy!


Teams RWBY, JNPR, and SSSN all slept until 10 the next morning, a testament to how much strain their investigations had actually taken on them, and they all soon returned to lessons with more focus and more energy than before.

Meanwhile, the Crew continued their normal shenanigans - making videos, recording streams, and doing their usual fooling around in school.

The Vytal festival was rolling in, a new discussion topic for all, the festival a mark for world-wide unity of all four kingdoms. A major event, with a large floating stadium - the Amity Colosseum - to boot.

That last detail was the one thing that caught the attention of the Crew.

"How much does it cost to keep it afloat?" Geoff wondered aloud as they watched the Colosseum being towed above the Academy, sipping an enormous mug of coffee.

"Not much, actually." Weiss explained. "It uses a massive Dust Crystal to keep afloat, supplied by Vale, that is able to generate enough power to last for years. It actually costs more to run the lighting than to maintain it."

"Imagine the people it could hold!" Jeremy stared at it, before nudging Gavin, who looked up from his mug of Cocoa. "Think your dance group's ready for a performance?"

"Why not?" Sun grinned, clearly thinking of the fun, as was Gavin.

"NO!" Neptune, Jaune and Ren yelled, at the exact same time with the same horrified expressions.

"Aww, c'mon!" Jeremy shrugged. "You guys made a killer performance! Think about it, after this you can go on tour, or make this one your new album!"

Everyone started laughing while the three red-faced boys immediately started yelling at him. Gavin and Sun laughed and tried to convince them, but to no avail.

"Why not?" Sun grinned, nudging Neptune. "You still have the dance clothes Coco made for us too!"

"Yeah, Jauney and Renny haven't thrown theirs away either!" Nora giggled. "Maybe you DO like wearing them?"

"NO!" Jaune exclaimed. "It's just… It's… uh… Expensive! Yeah, expensive!"

"Yes, they're made from fabric imported from Vacuo." Ren nodded, somewhat vigorously. "It would be a waste to throw them away."

"Then you should wear it!" Ruby's eyes sparkled. "You were so cool!"

"Ruby, trust me, we weren't cool, we were funny." Neptune sighed as he pushed a hand through his hair. "And I'd rather be cool than funny. Sorry, we're not wearing those… uniforms again."

"You could." Yang grinned. "I'm sure a few girls are gonna love it!"

Immediately, two hands from either side of her punched her, and she rubbed her shoulders with a grin as Blake and Weiss looked away, faces red.

Eventually, the Crew left to their room, taking their rather sugar and caffeine-heavy drinks with them and leaving the two and a half teams to themselves.

"Let's change the subject." Ruby coughed. "So… We need to practice. Right?"

"We have to." Weiss nodded. "There will be fierce competition, and unless we plan to lose early we must prepare."

"Weiss, we literally saved Vale, fought the White Fang to the point where they are now hiding, and are officially the greatest students in Beacon." Yang grinned as she leaned back, arms crossed with a cocky smirk. "How are we NOT prepared?"

"Last I checked, Grimm don't use semblances or weapons," Blake spoke up from behind her book. "We'll be going against other huntsmen and huntresses in training of equal, if not superior skill."

"Always a killjoy, eh?" Yang nudged her. "But hey, I think we should be fine."

"We can still benefit from a bit of practice." Jaune chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "Especially me…"

"If we step up our training, we should be ready for the tournament." Pyrrha smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, Sun, you and your team came for the festival, right?"

"Yep." He grinned, leaning back.

"Why did you come so early?"

"Uh…" He seemed to wonder, before shrugging. "I don't actually know. Something just told me to come early, and in a way, I'm glad I did. Made some great friends, went on many adventures, even saved a Kingdom!"

"That's not something many can claim to do." Neptune grinned. "But I'm sure we can do with some training now."

"We've still got the mandatory homework to complete." Weiss sighed.

The others minus Sun and Neptune groaned at that. Glynda had been positively clear that they would not be exempt from the missed assignments, and the pile of homework sitting at their tables in the morning had been a dampener to their moods. And even though it had been four days, they still hadn't finished.

"We should be done by the weekend if we're quick," Ren spoke up from the side.

"But I don't wanna do work~!" Nora groaned, grabbing Ren with a look of despair. "My brain's going to melt if I have to write another essay! I wanna beat up Grimm and Terrorists!"

The others looked at each other before sighing. They really wanted to… but they just couldn't deny that, while not taking part of the investigation had lifted a form of weight off their shoulders, they could admit that they might have been more reluctant to quickly let it go.

"I wonder how the Crew is doing?" Jaune leaned back in his seat. "I mean… Are they really going to take over our investigation?"

"I want to check if it's in good hands before I really step back." Blake stood up.

Ruby grabbed her before she could go. "Promise that if they are, you'll really give up?"

"Yes…" She replied reluctantly, before tugging her arm. "Let's go."

"Pinkie promise." She held out her little finger.

She seemed torn about it, but then sighed and quickly hooked her finger. "Fine. Let's just go."

Even as they stood up and put away their dirty plates, they couldn't help but doubt that the Crew could do anything serious such as this. This WAS the AH Crew they were talking about...


They were wrong. Quite so.

"Sixteen bank transactions in Vacuo, fourteen in Mistral, two in Atlas and one in Vale, each over fifty thousand Lien." Jack handed Geoff a pile of reports. "Chief of police in Atlas is on the line in a few minutes."

"Good, and see to it that the Mistral authorities are warned of the attack next week." Geoff's fingers flew over the keyboard in his hand before he took a swig of beer. "And get me a refill."

"Coming right up!" Michael tossed him a beer, before turning back to the board he, Ray and Ryan were looking over. It was sitting with an entire map of Remnant with sticky notes, markers and photos taped around, with the far wall holding a complicated mess of locations, photographs of individuals and red string hooked between them. "Right, see any patterns? They seem to be centered around here, between the four kingdoms, so we should probably keep an eye out for activity there."

"Got it." Ray nodded. "Maybe get some search parties, if the Grimm don't get attracted. Think we can get the Titan or Avenger up and running? It's a pretty long way."

Ryan nodded, holding up two fingers, then flashing five.

"Two to five days. Good enough." Geoff stood up and grabbed his scroll. "Hang on, no one interrupt me unless it's life or death."

"Uh… Wow…" Sun blinked from the door, where he and the rest of the group were watching with wide eyes. "Didn't expect this."

"Hey, guys." Ray nodded, rubbing his eyes before putting on his glasses. "Yeah, we've been up for a few days now."

"Don't pull a Blake on us." Yang smiled. "You really are taking this seriously. Couldn't have guessed from this morning."

"Hey, we used to own a business," Jack spoke up as he sat down at another desk, where a mountain of paperwork sat. He just adjusted his glasses and grabbed the first file, reading through it and writing notes. "The Fake AH Crew was a legitimate company Geoff created, so we all took our part in running it. I was his personal secretary, Michael and Ryan security, Jeremy and Ray were transporting control and Gavin was public relations expert and chief advertiser."

"Where's Gavin?" Weiss looked around. Sure enough, there was an apparent lack of a certain Bird Hybrid in the room.

"He's doing a Livestream for his other channel, the Slow Mo Sibs." Ray grinned. "He's doing that since we need new content for the channel. Plus, he needed some time to chill, he almost burned himself out."

"Did he?" Blake stared at him.

"We literally had to slip sleeping pills into his tea, he worked the moment we got back. And he planned to work for longer." Michael sighed as he walked up. "Look, Blake, just… go and be a teenager in school. We've got this, as you can see, so just rest assured that your investigation is in capable hands. Worry about homework, training, and the constant denial of your love."

Blake seemed to be annoyed and embarrassed at the final comment, but they all looked at each other and nodded. The Crew was clearly invested in the White Fang's removal and their methods were admittedly more effective.

"Well… Good luck!" Nora grinned before stepping back and stretching as they headed back down the corridor. "Ahhh! It's so good to be free with the knowledge our work shall continue in safe hands!"

"Wh… What?! You didn't even take part!" Yang protested.

"Yeah, we did. At the Breach, remember?"

"By your logic, then everyone at school took part in the investigation!"

"In a way, they did! Huh, I guess you just got unlucky to be slacking on homework."

Yang growled before leaping at her, and they all laughed as they fought.

"Wanna check out how Gavin's doing?" Ruby asked after they settled down.

"Sure, let's just delay the homework." Jaune chuckled.


"Ready!" Gavin yelled, pulling down the face mask. "TALLY HO!"

In a heartbeat, six dozen water balloons full of paint slammed into him, knocking him down with a large splash of color that covered him, the floor and the wall. He hit the ground in a soaking heap but started laughing, as did the crowd of students who started cheering.

"Uh… Wow." Jaune blinked. "Didn't expect that. Again."

"Hello, guys." Velvet grinned as they walked up, looking up from a video camera where she'd been filming the spectacle. "You just missed out on the Paint Balloon Barrage test."

"Really? Darn, should have been quicker." Nora muttered.

"Thank you all!" Gavin yelled to the crowd, who continued cheering, before walking up to them in a multicolored mess. His lab coat, pants, shoes, and wings were covered in paint, and the only part of him that was clean was his face as he pulled off the mask, which was covered in green. "Man, they scored a direct hit, innit?" He chuckled, wiping paint from his ears.

"Right to the gob." Velvet giggled, tilting the camera towards him. "We got it, it looks spectacular."

Paint slowly flying towards Gavin, bursting into paint-filled droplets as they impacted, some bursting in midair and splattering him, others missing. All in a varying range of colors, and a very comical scene of Gavin falling back as a specific green balloon slammed right in his face.

"Ooh, right in the noggin." Gavin chuckled.

"What does that mean?!" Sun exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "Innit, Gob, Noggin, where do you two get the same accent?!"

Velvet and Gavin shrugged helplessly, the latter pointing to him. "Well, why do you have the same Jersey accent as Michael, then?"

"I dunno! And I just realized now that you sound exactly like Scarlet!"

The others looked at each other and chuckled at the exchange.

"Alright, that's a wrap!" Gavin grinned as he waved to the disbanding crowd behind them, before looking down at his body. "Uh… so does anyone have a hose I can use?"

"It'll probably take more than that…" Velvet winced. "I think some of them might have used industrial paint, it's a pain to remove."

"Great." Gavin sighed, holding up a dripping wing. "Now I'm gonna be a pink and orange Eagle type Hybrid."

"Hey, could be worse." Yang grinned. "You could have been painted purple and orange. Then Lil J would probably call you Gavvy Tim."

"God damn it, Yang!" They all yelled. Yang just laughed in reply.

It felt good to finally go back to being regular, boring old students. Well, as regular, boring and old as can be in Beacon Academy.