Weiss gave Winter a hopeful look after she looked at the new notification her scroll gave her. She returned the look with a slight nod, "Go Weiss, I'll be here in Atlas in case they may need me. Go and help out Mantle."

With the permission given, Weiss dashed out of the room, remembering her way to get out. She could feel Jaune's own determination.

'I guess we're doing this?'

Weiss smiled widely as her legs carried her towards the bullheads, 'You said you wanted to be a hero right? And I did promise we would be a team! So it's up to us to go help Mantle!'

She could feel Jaune's warmth as she ran, taking that as his own acceptance of the idea. Of course, she made sure to pick up extra dust as she passed by her room. Even with her side trip, she still managed to get to the bullheads ahead of other Huntsmen that had taken up the same cause. Jumping into the first one she saw, the bullhead took off immediately. She could see the Grimm as they flew in and out of Mantle.

'All this happened because of that spark Father gave…'

Even with her mood souring, Jaune was immediately there to help. Just like he usually was. Their emotions seemed to be broadcasted to the other, then again with their souls constantly in touch, it was hard to imagine a reason why that wouldn't be true.

'Then we need to do our best to make sure the people are safe. Sparks of flames can lead to fires, but that fire can also make light.'

Weiss could feel his pride at that statement, rolling her eyes and resisting the urge to laugh at him, and looked to her right, regarding him.

'Where did you even get that from?'

She could tell with Jaune's embarrassment, he didn't want to say, but she had an idea about where it could have come from. There was only one thing she knew about Jaune that could possibly give him a corny line like that.

'What issue?'

'What?'

'What comic book and what issue gave you that line? You certainly don't talk like that, so it had to come from elsewhere.'

She could picture Jaune's face as he messed with his hair.

'Issue twelve of X-ray and Vav…'

Weiss applauded herself for being right, even though with Jaune everything was simple and straightforward. It was honestly comforting how straightforward Jaune was.

'Jaune?'

'Yes, Weiss?'

'After this, show me one of these "comic books". I want to see what other corny lines you have in that head of yours because of your reading material.'

"Well, to be fair, I stopped a while back ago, but I think I know where you can read them for free. Also, if you want to read a comic book, you can always ask me directly! I don't mind."

Of course, he would think that, but it wasn't for that reason. She never really had any interest in reality-escaping worlds of fiction. She just wanted to know what else to expect from her new partner.

'Of course not, it's only to make sure you don't give off any cheesy lines like that fire bit again.'

'But-!'

Jaune was about to protest, but with the bullhead landing, she got off, thanking the pilot and rushing towards the city rather than listening to the man inside her head.

As they entered Mantle, they could see the damage, the fire coming from rioters tossing things into the lights fueled by fire dust, several people scrambling to get away from the airborne Grimm. Some of the people kept rioting in an attempt to show their displeasure with the political events. Every roar of the Grimm waves also introduced even more fire into the mix as the Grimm threw their fireballs at the people, causing more panic and working as a beacon for even more Grimm to invade the city. It was a self feeding circle between the Grimm and the riots.

'Ready Jaune?'

'Summon me!'

Weiss nodded, pushing the tip of Myrtenaster into the ground, her glyph coming alive. Much like before, the sword symbol that adorned it was gone, a shield taking its place. Weiss did imagine Jaune holding the Armas Gigas' own sword. Remembering the times she practiced with her knight kept coming back until she saw her glyph bringing him out. Jaune's figure came alive before her, this time holding his "super" sword form.

'You can change my weapon?'

'I guess…?'

She shook her head, not wanting to think of that, considering what was happening around them. Both of them dashed in, Jaune immediately going to work on calming the people. It was then that they both realized another problem. No sound came out of Jaune's mouth, but his movement was very visible. The civilians moved towards Jaune, looking for a way to escape the Grimm attacks.

Weiss could see that Jaune was going to have problems without his voice so as Jaune gathered them, Weiss took a deep breath and decided to join in. After all, there was more than one way to help Mantle.

"Everyone stay together! Mantle has shelters for this reason! We'll escort you to a safer place! Anyone that can help it, stay indoors! The Grimm won't enter houses when they're chasing us."

Jaune motioned for everyone to follow him, and Weiss stayed put watching the small crowd move. Once everyone was assembled and moving, Weiss brought up the rear of the group, ensuring that no one was left behind. She watched as several of the people that were in the group kept looking back at her, quickly averting their eyes when she would match their eyes.

Weiss couldn't make sense of it until she heard one of the less subtle people.

"Why's a Schnee helping us? I thought they didn't care about us…"

Of course, her damn reputation thanks to her tyrant of a father. Even now, being a Huntress and in the middle of saving these people, they were more concerned with her name rather than her actions.

All of their questions and wonders stopped immediately as when the group turned the corner, they were all face to face with Manticores. Some of them screamed, drawing Grimm's attention to them. It was because of this moment that some started to rush over to them. The only thing that stopped them was the interception of a Knight.

As they ran in, Jaune responded almost instantly. He placed both hands on his greatsword and charged in. With one swing, the Manticore that was in front of him was dissipating. Using the momentum of the first swing, he spun the sword over his head and the sword came in another deadly arc, this time swinging down. Much like the first one, it ended the other Manticore's life instantly.

Meanwhile, a roar called everyone's attention from the few Grimm that had been in front of them. By the time that Weiss was able to react, the Manticore launched their fireballs. Weiss jumped into the center of the crowd by doing a small backflip, Myrtenaster spinning its chambers.

By the time she landed, her gravity dust was chosen. Her glyphs came alive, placing it over the crowd's head, stopping the fireballs from hitting their targets. Weiss was even able to throw them back at another Manticore that was circling them. To add to the fight, she could hear Jaune.

'Weiss, we need to move! We stay here with the people freaking out and we're just asking for a swarm to hit us!'

Turning her attention back to the Knight, there was a small pack of Sabyrs advancing on them. It certainly wasn't helping, but Jaune motioned for everyone to follow him, as he was advancing towards the Sabyrs. The people stayed put, not following him. Weiss understood their hesitation. It looked like suicide to rush a Grimm as a civilian.

Weiss was curious about his plan as well until Jaune released some sort of singular aura wave that crashed towards two of the Sabyrs. Weiss could have sworn Jaune hadn't been able to do that before.

There was only one left, running towards Jaune with all the anger and force Grimm would have. The only thing that stopped its leap towards him was when he shoved the giant sword down the throat of the Sabyr, the Grimm disappearing before it could even crash into Jaune.

After finishing off the Grimm, everyone looked at the glowing Knight as he turned back to the crowd, his face filled with determination and confidence. He looked like a true Knight at that moment. Weiss' heart seemed to skip a beat.

'Follow me!' Weiss watched for a moment, about to follow him forwards until she remembered their little problem.

"Follow Him!" Weiss shouted at the crowd, the people following him. Even though Weiss had mentioned she would take them to the shelters, she could vaguely remember where exactly it was. Jaune seemed to remedy that as he took the lead in both combat and guiding them.

'Weiss, can you take care of any aerial Grimm or anything trying to attack us from the back?'

As she looked over to him, Jaune had managed to lock onto her eyes. Weiss nodded, double-checking her dust to ensure she had the proper amounts of dust. The group started to move once more, several of them scared of the enclosing Grimm, but Jaune kept leading them forward while Weiss watched for any stragglers. Then the roar of Sabyrs hit them all. Jaune seemingly ignored it, or so she thought. Jaune didn't bother to look back as their connection helped them.

'Weiss double time! We can't be out in the open with the civilians when they strike! The bunker is just another block ahead!'

Was this really the same Jaune from Beacon? He seemed much more focused and coordinated now. Maybe it was the time apart or maybe it was the severity of the mission, but he wasn't the bumbling dolt he used to be.

Several Sabyrs started to run towards them, and Jaune once more sprang into action, launching more of those aura arcs of his to thin out the hordes. Weiss pointed to the bunker where a number of Atlas military robots were calling people over. "Go! The bunker's right there! We'll cover you!"

The crowd immediately rushed towards the robots, trying to escape the Grimm attack. Weiss started her attack with a barrage of ice chips, pinning down or killing several of the Sabyrs. Jaune, meanwhile, was slashing them apart from his two-handed sword style. The Sabyrs caused them little problem until they heard the roar of the Manticores, throwing fireballs onto the streets. Weiss noticed they weren't aiming for the two Huntsmen but were flying towards the crowd of people half a block away from the shelter, screaming in fear.

Jaune seemed to notice this as well, almost yelling in her mind, "Weiss, Pomegranate!'

For a brief second, Weiss questioned what that meant, until she saw it.

Pyrrha in initiation, launching a barely met Nora into the air.

Jaune during the Vytal Festival, throwing up Pyrrha to protect a climbing Nora.

Nora, having jumped from Jaune's shield to bash in some Sabyrs head in after they had barely reached Atlas.

Immediately she understood the move and leaped into the air. Jaune held out his greatsword length-wise, giving Weiss a place for her feet to find some sort of purchase. Almost immediately, her body was launched forward towards the Manticores with the help of Jaune and her own legs.

As the manticores launched more fireballs, Weiss' speed won out, letting her get to the group first. As the fireballs crashed down, the smoke obscured her vision, but with Myrtenaster in the ground, she could see the slab of earth that she had conjured for their protection. Switching her dust, another glyph was summoned under her. As she pointed her rapier out, four little lights flew at the two Manticores, their light halting their advances. With a slight jump back, Weiss summoned another glyph to launch her towards the Manticore, Mrytenaster ending all of the Grimm's existences. As she landed, Jaune quickly caught up with her, the earth slab slowly eroding from its place.

'That was great work, Weiss!

Both of them smiled at each other, until they heard the firing of more robot guns, snapping them back to their situation. The two of them quickly matched their eyes. Nodding to each other, they both moved towards the shelter, seeing how their group of people had made it inside. Likewise, another pair appeared with their own group: Nora and Yang. Both of them looked at the approaching duo, and Nora saw the Jaune summon once more, a slight smile coming across her face.

Yang, on the other hand, remained focused on the mission. "Hey Weiss."

Weiss nodded to the pair, all four of them making a strange mismatch of their teams. All of them grouped up, finally paying attention to their surroundings. They needed to make sure that everyone was safe, while also trying to calm down any riots in the area. They were about to take off into the fray once more until one of the robots managed to stop them by grabbing Yang's robotic arm.

"Hey!" shouted Yang. Drawing everyone's attention, Yang yelled at the robot. "What's the big idea?!"

The robot quickly let go of Yang's arm, an automated voice coming from it. "The Mantle Police will assist you in clearing the riots. There are several units out in the streets, but it would be appreciated if you can clear the Grimm for them."

Yang rolled her eyes, "Bold of them to assume we wouldn't."

Nora, on the other hand, had already started moving towards the sounds of people and Grimm. Weiss quickly, Jaune and Yang following closely behind her. Turning the corner, she saw their first swarm as just like before, the people rioting caused negative emotions to the surface which drew Grimm towards them.

As soon as Jaune saw the Grimm that were flying around, Weiss could hear him once more.

'Weiss, tell Nora to use Pomegranate!'

Weiss just jumped towards the Knight herself and launched himself off of him once more. Once Nora saw what just happened with Weiss, she quickly jumped back with Jaune herself, "This was our thing Ice Queen!"

Weiss saw Nora as she sped past her, having presumably launched faster than she had, making her an orange bullet that knocked a poor Manticore out of the sky. Meanwhile, Weiss used her graceful motions to swing at the necks of one of them, before jumping off one Manticore for another in the vital moments the previous Matincore was disappearing. She managed to find her way onto the floor, Yang catching both of them on their way down. Meanwhile, the Knight dashed his way in, putting his sword aside to one hand and raising it. He started to use it more as a flag rather than a sword, catching the attention of the people around him.

Weiss caught onto his antics without him having to speak this time. "Girls, cover the Knight! He'll start leading people back!"

Yang smiled, "Sounds like a plan!"

Weiss could hear Nora yell as she used her grenade launcher on the Manticores, "Hurry up then Jaune!" Weiss' eyes widened, and quickly looked around, no one else seemingly noticing Nora's statement. Did she know the Jaune summon was actually Jaune?

The people, once they saw the Grimm immediately stopped their outburst of rage and came along hurriedly. Weiss wouldn't blame them, protecting them was their job as Hunters and Huntresses. Yang fired off several rounds from her gauntlets, while Nora was keeping any Sabyrs from advancing on them. Meanwhile, Weiss kept switching her dust in order to not use up all of it, while using her glyphs to channel said dust into the small projectiles she could launch.

Giving Jaune a bit of a head start, the girls started to fall back towards the shelters. They quickly caught up with Jaune, moving the crowd along. All of them noticed that he wasn't alone any longer. Jaune and the civilians' new additions were a small unit of Atlas AK-200 robots escorting them along. Thanks to them, it was a pretty quick trek back to the shelter, the robots essentially telling the team where the Grimm was coming from so they could finish them off.

Once all of them had arrived, the robots saluted the Huntresses and Jaune a small message from Ironwood appearing in their displays.

"Thank you for all your help. We can handle the rest. Most of the Grimm was already taken care of. The city of Mantle thanks you as well. You are free to return to the Academy."

Weiss relaxed as she read the message, hearing what could be considered an exhale from Jaune as well.

'Not gonna lie, that was nerve-wracking…'

Weiss smiled, putting a hand on the Knight's shoulder, despite the height difference. The dolt bent his knees to become shorter when he noticed the hand.

'You did admirably Ar-Jaune. You should be proud. But I do have to ask, how did you manage to launch the aura things?"

'Ever since we were in Mistral, I had noticed that my swings were becoming stronger. I trained every night to make sure I was strong enough, but every now and again I noticed that I could move leaves and tree branches with the force of the swing. I figured I could use that as a sign of my progress. When Vine asked me to visualize me extending my aura, I kinda put two and two together. I was trying it out recently, before our big mission, and it seemed needed here so I tried using it. Honestly, I'm glad it actually worked.'

'Yes, I was surprised that you could do that. The last time I witnessed you fight was in Beacon. Back then you didn't really know that. In Haven, we were all too busy with our other fights so I couldn't see you then.''

The whole team started to move towards the bullheads, dealing with a few stragglers of Grimm that everyone else had missed. Weiss kept her pace and double-checked the roads in case there were more people rioting in the streets.

Thankfully there weren't any more people going around with the spark Jacques had apparently lit. The people that had been found by the police were being loaded up into police vehicles. Each member of the Mantle Police force that she passed saluted them. While she didn't salute them back, she felt for the police that had to be here because of her father's words. Somehow nothing her father was doing made sense.

Closing down non-essential businesses would certainly be something that small businesses would do, but this was the SDC they were talking about. There were almost no non-essential branches of the business as far as she knew. So why would he do something like this? It nagged at her mind, but thankfully Jaune was able to get himself in-between her thoughts and her worries.

Both of them sat in complete silence until they made to back to the Academy. Weiss left the rest of the group, the Jaune summon long having disappeared to save space in the bullhead. It wasn't until Weiss was almost in her room that Jaune spoke up once more.

'Weiss, I don't suppose you have any comics out here we can read, right? My idea could work, but if you already have some it would be better'

'Of course not Jaune, I never even understood why you would even read those books. They contain no useful knowledge about anything.'

'Books are more than just holders of knowledge Weiss, they can do anything we need them to be, so long as you look in the right places.'

'That right there? This is exactly what I want to prevent. What comic book was that from?'

Jaune seemed to nervously laugh, 'Uhm, that one was from my dad."

'Oh.' Well that was mildly embarrassing.

'It's okay Weiss, you didn't know.'

'Well can you blame me for thinking you got it from another comic book?"

She could hear Jaune laughing, but it didn't seem to be directed at her. That still didn't help as her curiosity got the better of her.

'What's so funny Jaune?'

'You.'

Weiss threw down a glyph on the floor with her fingers, channeling Jaune's aura once more, bringing the Knight summon back to life. While she could feel his emotions, sometimes it was better to actually see him.

'Explain.'

'It's an added bonus Weiss, you're beautiful, graceful, and talented in singing, dance, and probably any other thing. To top it off you're kind and dedicated to those you like or love. So finding out you're also funny is a plus.'

Just like that, she was speechless. She had figured that Jaune had given up his silly crush on her, given the time and severity of the situation, but given his own words, it didn't seem like it went away. In fact, it seemed like it was just as strong as then, but like everything else, it changed. He had changed. She had changed.

Now she looked at the Knight, still looking as bashful as he could. Before she would have quickly made a point of her being perfect, as Schnees were expected to, as she was raised. But now? Hearing those words caused a slight warmth to fill her heart. One that she knew wasn't her aura or his.