Author's Notes

When I started publishing this, I was unsure how I'd deal with whatever review I got. Would I answer them? Comment on it at the end? Serial publications like these bring an interesting dynamic where the story should speak by itself, but it doesn't have to thanks to author's notes.

Whatever the case, I realize that I, personally, can't just ignore reviews. Especially with so little of them. Based on my past experience as someone with a youtube channel (not a youtuber. It wasn't my job) with a small, dedicated audience, I should have expected it since I was the same back then.

Anyhow, I'll address reviews in my end-of-chapter A/N now, after the rundown, if I have anything to say. At least for now. There is an upper limit to my community engagement.

Chapter 16: Team Leaders, Unite!

GV was a man with a mission. For the longest time he merely existed as a tool, an agent of chaos through which others achieved their goals. Not anymore. He had his own goal now. A call. A raison d'être. A destiny. And with resolute, single-minded determination, he took another step towards this one, singular goal.

"Nora, fight me!"

"HAHAHAHA, no."

Damnit! Foiled again. Unless…

"Jaune, order Nora to fight me."

A loud clank echoed across the training arena. Jaune looked away from where he was weathering Mytyl's flying kicks. In fact, even while distracted, Mytyl simply switched to use his shield as ricocheting practice, ensuring to always land right in the middle of it, before rebounding and trying again. Jaune definitely had the Aura to simply stand there and hold his shield steady.

The knight looked at GV, then at Nora, who was currently cackling. Understandable. For the last two weeks, after GV found out he had no chance whatsoever to beat Nora in a 1-on-1 fight, he has been trying to spar against the eccentric hammer wielder to work on that weakness. And Nora agreed… after their match in Combat class. She was not risking throwing away a surefire win.

And make no mistake: Nora was going to win that match. GV, while hardly incompetent fighting without his Semblance – he wasn't Ruby-levels of inept at hand-to-hand combat – was far from the monster he was with his entire kit. Plain and simple, Nora could overpower him with ease.

He knew this. Nora knew this. Miss Goodwitch probably knew this. Everyone in the know knew it. It was going to be the match of the century. The Goliath was going to be brought to his knee by the humble Beowolf. More like a Beringel, really, but who was alluding to Grimm? And who was going to tell Nora she was comparable to an ape?

So now, Jaune found himself in a crossroad: help the man that saved his life thrice or stand by his teammate that will probably save his life down the line. An impossible choice doomed to failure from the very beginning.

Jaune Arc was not a man to easily accept failure as the only option.

"My most benevolent Fairy Queen!" he called, standing taller and straighter as he addressed the fairest of all. Mytyl impacted his shield, but quickly grabbed and kept herself hanging from it. Anyone else and Jaune would have fallen forward due to the added weight. Mytyl was not anyone else and Copen once mentioned she weighted 'nine pounds soaking wet'. That was a lifetime ago, but Mytyl was still pretty light, all things considered.

Blinking at the sudden and unexpected request for a royal audience, Mytyl gave a radiant smile worthy of her title and asked, "How may I be of assistance, my most Gallant Knight?"

"You guys are still doing that?" Kohaku asked from where she stopped sparring with Ren.

"O, fairest of all, I can't help but be humbled in presence of your radiance," Jaune gave a half-bow, ensuring to keep his shield hand firm to prevent the girl from losing her footing. "However, I've come with a galling request, in the hope that you, in your abundant wisdom and generosity, might award your grace to this unworthy servant."

By now everybody in Team KVKC and JNBR had stopped their individual training. Jaune's and Mytyl's histrionics demanded their attention, having never gone to these lengths.

Mytyl dismounted Jaune's shield, granting the boy, who was beginning to struggle with her weight, a reprieve. "Quite vexing words, those you bring to me, my Knight, but you have served me well despite your primary loyalties. I shall allow you to voice your request and I shall take it into consideration."

Had Weiss been present, she would have murdered them both and plead insanity in court.

Jaune did a proper bow. "One of the officers of your court requested the head of the funniest and most politically acclaimed jester of my kingdom…"

"I shall allow it," Nora exclaimed in the background.

"For my jester, flippant in her delivery and quick-witted with her tongue, offended your Lord."

Mytyl brought a finger to her chin and close her eyes, contemplating Jaune's words. "Quite troubling, to offend a member of my court. May I ask what, exactly, she said?"

Jaune nodded. "Of course. She said your officer is as bright as a dim lightbulb, as useless a dead power plug, and as harmless as a machine-dried blanket."

All of that was true. Nora had said GV was stupid if he thought she was going to throw that advantage, his electric powers were completely useless against her, and, when describing how her semblance felt, it was like a machine-dried blanket. Harmless and comforting with a tinge of static to tingle her senses.

Then there was the rush, but given Nora permanent state of high-octane insanity, maybe she didn't notice.

Mytyl laughed, a high-pitched 'ho ho ho' one would associate with the caricature of a noblewoman. "What a splendid description of Lord Volt. Is that really all? Rest assured, I shall not allow a single finger to be laid on your jester."

Jaune knelt before Mytyl. "You truly are the most gracious of all, Queen Mytyl."

"And you the bravest, Lord Jaune."

Silent reigned as their little show ended.

"Wooooo! Encore!" Nora whooped.

"Have you guys considered writing a book? If we could add some mature themes…" Blake trailed off.

Copen inched away from Blake. "I rather not know about mature literature featuring my sister."

"Did you really need to do all that just to tell me I cannot fight Nora?" GV deadpanned.

"Yes!" Jaune and Mytyl answered.

"Yes… to what?" Kohaku asked. She only received knowing smiles as her answer.

"Wait," Lola interceded, "if everyone in KVKC are officers of Mytyl's court, what does that make Lumen and me?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Mytyl told the pod. "You are sprites!"

"Did you hear that, Boss? I am a sprite!" Lola excitedly told Copen.

Copen made a motion to respond but thought better of it and simply shook his head.

"Hey, GV?" Jaune approached the spiky blond with a nervousness more fitting to him than the knightly act he performed with Mytyl, "you are still going to help me train… right?"

GV sighed and nodded. "Yes Jaune, don't worry about that. I'm not going to abandon our training… even if you backstabbed me."

That was the whole reason KVKC and JNBR were spending their sparring time together. Jaune had approached GV about helping him get up to par with everyone else. Mytyl and Kohaku leapt at the idea, both feeling they were middle and bottom of the barrel, respectively. RWPY was also invited, but their team's overall skill was not as lopsided as either KVKC's or JNBR's, so they opted to sit this one out and focus on improving their teamwork.

As such, twice a week KVKC's and JNBR's sparring sessions were spent with primarily GV and Blake helping Jaune, Kohaku, and Mytyl improve, while everyone else sparred on their own. It was slowly but surely bearing fruits.

An alarm went off, with Mytyl picking up her scroll to turn it off.

"Jaune and I have to get going. There's some team leaders' meeting in half an hour."

"This is a good time as any to call it a wrap," GV shrugged. "I need the time to figure out how to poison Nora without looking like I did it, anyways. I was thinking about her pancakes."

Nora laughed. "Wow, GV, I didn't know you could joke like that."

GV didn't laugh.

"GV?"

GV turned around and walked towards the exit.

"GV!? You're joking, right? I'm warning you, do not touch my pancakes! GV!"

-o-

"Why did you convince me of this!?"

The first-year leaders were currently waiting on a classroom for someone to take them to the dinner. And Ruby was panicking. Courtesy of Cardin and Marina, who thought it would be funny to take advantage of Ruby's naiveté and convinced her that the team leaders' welcoming dinner was actually a hazing ceremony. To be fair, it was an inoffensive prank and it was kind of funny to see Ruby freaking out, but Jaune and Mytyl were the one left to calm the girl. Therefore, they were only half-amused.

"Chill, Ruby, this is an activity sponsored by the faculty. There's no way they would allow the higher years to bully us like that," Mytyl attempted to calm the fifteen years-old. That was another thing, even if this WAS some kind of mean-spirited initiation, Ruby was two years younger than everyone. That alone was enough to give people a pause. Add Yang's increasingly notorious reputation as a mama bear…

Ruby didn't seem to agree. "We are talking about the same faculty that catapulted us off a cliff to a Grimm-infested forest!"

When she puts it like that...

"Miss Goodwitch would not allow it?" Mytyl tried again.

Ruby didn't look convinced. "Have you seen Miss Goodwitch's weapon? It's called The Disciplinarian! The 'The' is part of the name!"

Mytyl blinked. "How do you know that?"

"I bet she initiated the whole thing. Oh god, Yang warned me about this. She was right. I should have allowed her to come instead."

"Wait," Cardin interrupted, "Xiao Long told you the same thing?"

"Ruby, that should have been a dead giveaway that Cardin and I are screwing with you," the leader of MRNN facepalmed in disbelief.

"LISTEN UP, SHITSTAINS!"

"NOOOOOO, I AM TOO YOUNG TO BE HAZED!" Ruby screamed to anyone who cared to listen.

"Congrats, Coco, you haven't even started, and you already broke the first one. You truly are the best of us."

The newly named Coco glared at the still unnamed female fox faunus, whose tail swung lazily behind her and whose smug grin tormented anyone who stared for too long.

"Shut up, Paps," Coco said, before sighing. This was supposed to be her moment, her chance to torment the cute, little first-years. And it was ruined by Red. And she was making sure Red knew it.

"You!" She pointed at Ruby.

"Not me!" Ruby recoiled.

"I was supposed to scare you until either one of you broke or called my bluff. You ruined my moment," Coco lowered her sunglasses and narrowed her eyes, "how can you even sleep at night?"

Ruby, seeing no humiliating task on the horizon, calmed down. "Umm… on my bed? Horizontally? With my eyes closed?"

"Disgusting," Coco sneered.

Another second-year intruded, this time a tanned boy with an easy-going smile and a little stubble that had many wondering where the guy hid during combat class that Miss Goodwitch hadn't demanded him to shave.

"Alright, greenhorns, we'll be moving to the leaders' lounge where we'll have a nice dinner, laugh at Coco's expense," – the girl in question responded with an indignant scoff – "introduce you lot to the Beacon experience, and assign your sister team for the year."

-o-

The walk to the leaders' lounge was a short one and soon the first-years were introduced to one particular perk of being saddled with the responsibilities of a team leader: a room exclusive for them, with several amenities that would otherwise require the students to go to the cafeteria, library, or other public spaces. A couple of entertainment devices in the form of a video games, a pool table, and more.

"I can't believe we get all of this to ourselves," Ruby said with starry eyes, taking in everything the room had to offer from her spot at the table that was set to host the dinner.

"Makes sense," Mytyl shrugged, "what's the point of being a leader if there are no benefits to it?"

"I can't believe half the stuff that goes on in Beacon," Jaune commented, "they have a betting pool! How the teachers allow that?"

"Old enough to die, old enough to get into crippling debt. Not that it happens. You will be stopped before it gets to that point."

The trio of first year turned towards the new arrival, a second year that was looking at Ruby like if the girl was a fascinating, grotesque bug.

"Will you stop that?" Ruby whined, unnerved by Coco's disgusted glare. "I already said I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your speech."

The second year was unimpressed. "I didn't intend having the misfortune of meeting you and having my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to mess with the first-years be crushed under your squealing heels. Yet, here we are."

Ruby despaired. Why was she so good at making enemies? It happened with those two kids that liked Yang back in Signal. It happened with Weiss (even if she got better), and it's now happening with Coco. She needed help. An expert in the field of frenemies.

"Mytyl, how can I stop making enemies left and right?"

"Why do you ask me?" Mytyl eyed Ruby with suspicion, unsure of what the red-cloaked girl was implying.

"You are good at making friends AND enemies. At least according to Copen." Ruby clung to Mytyl's dress and pleaded, "You have to help me. At this rate it's only a matter of time I piss off someone important."

"Brave last words," the newly appointed 'unimportant' Coco deadpanned.

"Relax, Ruby. Enemies are just friends you haven't convinced yet!"

Ruby could do nothing but gawk incredulously at that tidbit of questionable pseudo-wisdom. It was a solid ten seconds before she was able to formulate a coherent sentence.

"What was that!? Did you pick it up from Jaune's family's book on seedy life advices?"

"Hey, mom's and dad's life advices are national treasures!"

"Nope, I came up with that bad boy all by myself. It's for my book parodying the Arc's Book on Life and More."

"I feel attacked," Jaune voiced.

Defeated and resigned, Ruby turned towards Coco. "Here goes nothing," she mumbled, before putting the most saccharine and sickly smile she could muster. "Hi there, Coco. We started on the wrong foot. I bet we can be besties if we give us a chance."

Words could not describe the expression of sheer disgust in Coco's face. Not that she would ever admit to that particular moment of weakness, quickly setting her face back into a façade of apathy.

"Thrilled," she flatly stated. "Anyhow, you two, scram," Coco said while pointing at Ruby and Jaune, "Morpho and I have some sisterly bonding to do. And I'm sure Aurelion and Botan have some brotherly knowledge to impart to the both of you." Coco raised her voice towards where the trio assumed where the aforementioned second years. "As soon as they stop flirting with the new meat."

That got a reaction from the boys, who were quick to escort Ruby and Jaune away to… do whatever the sibling leaders were supposed to do.

"Morpho? Haven't heard anyone just spout the genus of a butterfly to refer to me." Mytyl voiced betrayed a tinge of amusement at the reference to her combat dress. "It does have a nice ring to it."

"I'm a fashionista. And your dress is eye-catching. It doesn't take a genius to figure out it's a butterfly of some sort."

"But a morpho butterfly?" Mytyl asked quizzically.

Coco shrugged as she too3k a sit and waved her scroll in response. The entire collective knowledge of humanity in one's hand. Indeed.

"Right. So, your team is supposed to be sister of mine. What does that even mean?"

"Not much. Beacon can prove overwhelming to the unprepared. We get students from all walks of life and not all of them are used to formal education. While students from combat schools have some level of guarantee regarding their preparation, those who enter via sponsorship or the entrance exam are a varied bunch. And Beacon, or any of the other academies, are not in a position to turn their nose up at Hunter candidates just because they didn't learn their ABC's.

"We're supposed to help you guys ease into the so-called 'Beacon Experience'. And yes, that includes the gambling pool." Coco added before Mytyl could give a smartass remark that was already leaving her mouth.

"So, what is the prestigious name of our blood-bonded team." That didn't stop Mytyl's smartass remark from morphing into another beast.

"You sassy brat," Coco responded with a smirk, "It's Team C-F-V-Y. Coffee. And you're Team Kaleidoscope, right?"

"It is. But shouldn't you-"

"Just confirming," Coco halted Mytyl line of questioning. "You have to admit that pronouncing K-V-K-C as 'Kaleidoscope' is a bit of a stretch. Frankly, those letters look more like Team Cavalcade."

Now that the idea was implanted, Mytyl couldn't not see it.

"Or perhaps it is Ozpin's new avant-garde way of spelling Caffeine," Coco added to her explanation.

Mytyl chuckled at that. With a name like CFVY, she could believe the Headmaster twisting, turning, and mangling the word caffeine into KVKC.

"We should organize a sparring session between our teams," Coco suggested, "get to know each other. Maybe even a nice dinner in Vale. Have you and Kohaku join me and Velvet on a day at the mall."

Coco's suggestion has its merits. While KVKC had carved its spot with RWPY and JNBR, Beacon was much bigger than simply their three-teams group. Having an older, more experienced team actively help them could do a lot for each of member of KVKC individually. It also sounded fun.

There was one thing Mytyl didn't miss, though. "You know Kohaku?"

"Yeah, met her on the train ride to Vale before classes started. Bonded over fashion. To be honest? Main reason I fought tooth and nail to get you as our sister team."

Coco leaned closer, her voice lowering and her eyes looking at Mytyl over the sunglasses. "Don't let this get to your head, but KVKC and RWPY are currently considered the top first-year teams. You were a hot commodity for this 'sister team' thing. Between the two boys in your team, the blonde in RWPY, and Pyrrha, you guys are on everyone's radar. Especially with the Vytal Festival later this year. Continue at the pace you're going, and you will be considered as dangerous as any second year in the tournament.

'So, no pressure then. Thanks, Copen. Thanks, GV. And I'm sure Ruby also appreciated Yang and Pyrrha. Still…'

"Only those four?" Mytyl couldn't help to ask, considering their little circle of friends was more than that. In fact, GV, Copen, and Pyrrha were among the quietest in their group, Yang notwithstanding. "What does the grapevine says about everyone else? And Team JNBR while we're at it."

"Fishing for some gossip regarding your friends?"

Mytyl didn't bother defending herself and just shrugged. She preferred to think of it as investigating the masses' perception of them. But, honestly, that was just a matter of semantics. If nothing else, she was sure her team would gladly welcome any information she gathered.

Coco leaned back. "Not much to say, honestly. Most of the interest is in your fighting skills at the moment. It's not like you have gone out of your way to do something crazy like setting Vale's dockyard on fire. You, Rose, and the Schnee are all considered competent. Ruby's age in particular caught the attention of several students. Kohaku," Coco winced, "is not exactly considered strong. From what we saw in Initiation, raw fighting skill is not where her strengths lie. She's not bad, but not noteworthy either.

"As for JNBR?" At this Coco's eyes searched for Jaune among the students in the lounge. "Arc is considered the weakest first-year. The other boy and the black-haired girl are remarkably average. And Valkyrie is seen as a wildcard. Too early to tell where she falls in the food chain. Even if she ranks among the top, as a whole, nobody thinks JNBR's strengths is direct confrontation. Again, not a bad thing, but in this particular year? It does them no favors."

As far as the Vytal Festival went, direct confrontation was half the battle. In a tournament setting, it is just easier to overwhelm your opponent with raw strength, skill, or team synergy than any other useful Hunter skill, like stealth or reconnaissance.

A resounding slap halted all conversation in the lounge. Attention was drawn to where a second year faunus, the same fox girl that fetched the first years alongside Coco, stood. She towered over Cardin, a frigid scowl on her face and her hand still extended from where she had slapped Cardin. However, calling it a slap was short selling it. Civilians slapped. Huntresses gave open-handed strikes and Cardin's sprawling body on the floor after toppling over his chair was exhibit A through Z regarding why that was the case.

Without a single word, the faunus rushed out of the room, leaving the convalescing Cardin and the stunned audience behind. It wasn't long before chatter gradually built up. Cardin, the object of the gossiping, be damned. Once the boy got his bearings and noticed his unenviable position, he made a hasty retreat, barely contained rage seeping through his expression.

Mytyl attention was caught by a close by whistling.

"I have never seen Paps livid like that," Coco said, "what do you think he did?"

Mytyl didn't know, but she had a niggling feeling they'll find out soon enough.

Author's Notes

Bleh, this chapter. I thought it was a better idea when I thought about it. It was a balancing act between being serious and being a crack fic, since I reference ideas brought more prominently in a crack fic I'm also writing. Still, it serves the purpose of introducing CFVY as well as informing what the general perception towards the protagonists is. (Me from the future doing the final revision: I feel better after I changed a couple of things. More experience writing and such.)

On a completely random note: FFnet tracks the US and Puerto Rico as two different countries and that bothers me more than I care to admit.

Rundown!

Jaune and Mytyl: Maybe I'm laying this joke a bit too thick. I promise to tone it down when the plot gets going. Or not.

OCs: Paps (actually Paprika) and Aurelion are OCs from another fic in the making at the time of this writing (not published), where they play a more prominent role (RCRDL if you look at the list in my profile).

In this fic (KVKC), OCs (a.k.a. any characters that isn't canon in RWBY OR Azure Striker Gunvolt) are only there to fill up the void that is RWBY's Volume 1-3 supporting cast.

Morpho: This is actually a reference to Lumen, whose Japanese name is Morpho. I originally thought that was a reference to Morpheus. Given how Lumen was introduced in Gunvolt, it just made sense to associate it with sleeping and dreams. But no, she's actually named after a butterfly genus with several butterfly species that resemble the heavy-handed butterfly motif she has going.

Reviews' (Feedback :p) responses:

AKAAkira: Big review. And only one too, so I can tackle it all here:

Yeah, I don't quite remember when it dawned on me Nora would obliterate GV in a straightforward battle, but I couldn't let it pass my notice.
As for Pyrrha, I already know how that fight would go (and it is something inspired by the game's mechanics). We'll have to wait and see, though.

I will say this about Polarity: I see it more as Pyrrha being able to polarize metals and then control them (akin to how Cinder can superheat stuff, then control them). She is not restricted to ferromagnetic metals (it makes no sense otherwise, based on real world logic and what we see in the show), and it's not like other things aren't affected by magnets (a stream of water will bend slightly given a sufficiently strong magnet). I do play a bit loosely with some of the canon Semblances later on, since Semblances are one of the big plot points in this story.

As for your questions regarding Gunvolt… in due time. While I don't have a hard, detailed plan of how the story will go, I do have plot points that I must check. I know how it will "finish" and what important events must happen before we get there. Similarly, I have a document with miscellaneous info to keep my thoughts straight, including a timeline for things that happened before the story proper.

As for Prevasion, I would look at it more like a systematic change. To me, Prevasion being tied to items (at least in the first game) is more of a game mechanic than a story plot point. It is tie to items because the gameplay requires it, not because it is accurate to the story. At least that's how I'm looking at it. A good essay could be made about Story-Gameplay segregation when translating to another medium. Outside GV's gun and bullets, I'm avoiding leaning too heavily on his in-game equipment. We don't need him triple jumping/dashing in this story.

This is an aside: Your interpretation of Copen's and Mytyl's observation is good, although not strictly my intention XD

They know Azure Striker as a hypothetical Semblance. A "what if" somebody had the ultimate electric-type Semblance. I assure you, if I were to drop, say… Ace from One Piece into Remnant and make his Devil Fruit a Semblance, the twins would recognize his Mera-Mera-no-Mi as the strongest hypothetical fire Semblance and call it Flare.

If you recall, they didn't know "Prevasion" is called "Prevasion" and GV had no name for his Semblance. Their father is the expert in Semblances and his knowledge rubbed on the twins. It was also their father who came up with the name Azure Strike (to the twins' dismay) and their mother who named Mytyl and Copen (to the twins' delight).