Thank god, its Friday.

Here's another chapter of Criminally Good.

Enjoy.

[Chapter 24]

"Oh, come on. Is that the best you got?" Roman taunted me, spinning his cane in hand as he grinned, breathing heavily about twenty feet away.

I, too, was panting heavily, sweat pouring down my face. "Not even remotely." I responded, pulling the pin on one of my Dust grenades, one that I was pretty sure was supposed to be gravity. If I'm right, this'll slow him down enough for me to land a few solid hits – maybe even knock him to the ground.

I sent the grenade flying, leveling off Crocea Mors as I shifted it into its rifle form. I had learned from use of some of my previous grenades, that if I don't get his attention, he'll rather easily manage to shoot the grenade midflight, rendering it generally useless. I fired off several rounds, forcing Roman to dodge off to one side to avoid the impacts.

The grenade crashed down onto the concrete a few feet from him, and exploded. I had been expecting a gravity-based explosion, but instead I was greeted with an avalanche of ice flooding out, wrapping around Roman's ankles to lock him in place momentarily.

Well, not what I was expecting, but it does the same job. I thought as I started shifting Crocea Mors back into a sword and shield and rushed at Roman. It won't be done shifting before I get there. In that split second, I dropped the weapon, letting it clatter against the concrete uselessly as it shifted into its natural state. Instead, I drew the two daggers from their sheathes and crashed into Roman.

The impact sent both he and I crashing down into the concrete, though I knew better than to think the fight was over yet.

Roman was quick, noting that he was below me, and brought his knee up into my crotch, getting a grunt of pain from me as I took the blow in stride. I brought one of the knives around and made to stab at his shoulder, though found him gripping my wrist to stop the blow. I know I flat out lose in a battle of strength, so let's change that a bit.

With the other knife, I brought it around and landed a solid stab into Roman's side, though he didn't show much outward reaction other than a flinch and gritting his teeth. He hocked up a wad of spit and sent the liquid into my eyes, blinding me momentarily.

In that time, he threw me from him pretty handily, sending me skidding back over the small layer of ice that covered the outdoor courtyard we were fighting in.

I huffed and wiped the liquid from my eyes, looking up just in time to see the master criminal rushing at me, looking like he was going to use the hooked end of his cane to hit my head like a golf ball.

I bit on the inside of my cheek, and rather than dodge off to the side, I lunged forward at his legs. That caught him off guard, and he tried to redirect himself to avoid the haphazard attack. What he hadn't accounted for was that we were still on a thin sheet of ice.

Roman lost his footing and slipped, crashing down onto his backside.

I scrambled myself, struggling to find my footing on the slick ice as I closed the distance between the two of us. He wasn't keen on letting me close that distance easily, leveling his cane at me and firing off the last two rounds that he had loaded in it.

One shot wide, sailing over my head and crashing into the warehouse wall behind us. The second, though, impacted me square in the chest, sending me skidding back over the ice, and off onto the concrete.

I groaned and started to pick myself up, gritting my teeth as I trained my gaze on Roman.

Rather, where he was last.

The master criminal had vanished from view. Shit, okay, this is bad. He's going to have the drop on me whenever he chooses. I let my gaze shift to Crocea Mors lying inert and ready to be used not but ten feet away. It'd give me more of a fighting chance than these daggers do, but I get the feeling he knows that. He wants me to go for it so he can strike while my guard is down.

I bit down on my lower lip and thought as I eyed the weapon still. I glanced down at my bandolier of grenades. In the battle so far, I'd used one ice, both the fire grenades, and one of the lightning. I need a distraction. A smoke screen, something to flush him out or get his attention. The easiest answer would've been to use a fire dust grenade to send something up in smoke, giving me cover to recover Crocea Mors, but that wasn't an option.

I took a moment to survey the battlefield – there was still that sheet of ice, and while when I got Roman to chase me to this location, I had some clever traps set, he managed to avoid or escape them with ease after triggering them. There was still plenty of cover – the only issue was not anywhere near where I needed to be.

I heard something shift off to my right, and dove to the left, ducking down behind a collection of metal barrels that I prayed weren't explosive. Think, Jaune. There's only a platform of ice out there, as well as a load of cover. What can you do with that? I narrowed my eyes, glancing back over the cover I had.

I ducked back as I saw a flash of white rush past across the courtyard from me. I glanced back down at my bandolier of grenades. They had all since been painted a uniform black, so I couldn't tell you which was which. Granted, my opponent couldn't either, but that didn't help me if I was just as lost. Maybe, if I can get the lightning grenade and hit it on the platform of ice, it might go up in smoke? Lightning's blazing hot, so it might work?

I didn't have much of an option, and I was sure that I'd be running out of time pretty quickly here. I grabbed one of the grenades, holding it carefully in one hand as I sheathed my two daggers behind me once again. Well, here goes. Long shot, don't fail me now. I pulled the pin and tossed it back over the cover at the ice platform.

I heard the explosion, and without looking to see what grenade I'd thrown, I vaulted over the cover I had, diving forward towards Crocea Mors.

I had gotten lucky, throwing the lightning grenade. I was right, as well. While it wasn't as effective as I'd hoped, it still created a small smokescreen of sorts for me to work with.

I got my hand on Crocea Mors, pulling myself up and scrambling away from the scene and into the small smoke screen.

Behind me, I heard the rush of Roman's footsteps running at me. I ripped the sword from its sheath and spun, just barely managing to catch Roman's cane before it made impact with my back.

Roman threw me back with ease, though I didn't go far. Using the small distance he had created between us, I deployed my shield and charged him.

He caught my sword with the hook of his cane, stepping in closer to my guard. He delivered a solid sucker punch straight to my jaw. I growled lowly, and brought my shield around for a hit on him, similar to what I had done to Winter.

Roman, however, surprised me. He dropped his cane, and with expert speed, slipped behind me. My sword came slashing down through empty air with far more force than was needed considering the counter to that force was gone. My shield, too, hit nothing but air. Before I knew what had really happened, I felt the cool edge of two knives press to my throat.

"You're getting better, kid. A lot better." Roman commented from behind me, his breathing heavy. "Though you've still got a long way to go."

I knew I'd been beat, fair and square. It would be a gamble to see if my Aura would hold long enough for me to flip on Roman and send him down to the ground to win the fight. I wasn't willing to bet on it. I dropped my sword and relaxed. "Getting better, but still lose every time." I commented, barely able to get oxygen in my lungs it felt like.

Roman relaxed, pulling the blades away from my neck. "Think about who you're fighting, kid. I'm a professional. Huntsman trained, been living on this side of the tracks since before you were born. You're seventeen, and have been training for only about seven months, give or take." He grinned and held out my own two knives to me. "It's pretty damn impressive that you're able to hit me at all, let alone get some solid hits in like that."

I shook my head, taking the two knives back and sheathing them once again where they belonged. "I'd call it more luck than anything."

"Don't sell yourself short, Jaune. You pulled a few good tricks on me – things I wasn't expecting you to do." He commented, reloading his cane with bullets that he seemed to produce from nowhere.

I shrugged. "Still, calling that luck more than skill. I know you're a better combatant than I am, and will be for quite some time. Only way I'll stand a chance of winning is either drawing the fight out, letting you exhaust yourself and your Aura before mine, or getting lucky with some cheap shots."

He nodded, leaning on his cane now that it'd been reloaded. "And that's skill, right there. You know you're outclassed, so you assessed your opponent's win conditions, and your own. You decided which was more likely considering what you know, and made steps towards it." He paused for a moment. "Let me ask this – why didn't you try to just draw the fight out?"

I frowned. "Well, at first I was planning on it. My Aura reserves are larger than yours, I knew the layout of this battlefield, and had some traps set for you before we even started. You'd do massive chunks of damage to my Aura with each blow, so I set the traps, planning that those'd even out the field a bit." I paused for a moment, chewing on the inside of my cheek. "Things were working for a while, and while you beat me in strength, speed, stealth and basically everything else, I probably could out last you. It was my best win condition."

Roman inclined his head slightly, smiling a bit. "And what changed?"

I hesitated for a moment. "You pressed your ability to hide away – you leveraged your speed and ability to stay out of sight. I had no way of knowing where you were." I narrowed my eyes as I continued to think. "I knew that if I tried to just wait it out, you'd get the drop on me and nullify any Aura advantage I had, eliminating that win condition completely."

"So, because of that, I needed my primary weapons again. I'm not the best knife fighter, so trying that head on would've been a disaster. My sword and shield gave me more options, more defense and skill. Even if the gap between us is massive, the change from daggers to sword and shield would help." I blew out a breath, finding that my breathing was finally steadying again. "I didn't have an option, in the end. You forced me to change my win condition by pressing your advantage in both speed, and the first hit in whatever fight we started."

Roman nodded, his own breathing level. The only sign of him being tired was the sweat that still glistened on his face. "Right there. All that – the combat analysis? You did all that, and more while in the heat of battle. I'm not able to do that – not to that degree. I can see your weaknesses, and my strengths and act accordingly, but that's about as far as it goes." He paused a moment, producing his lighter and a cigar. "You've got the mind of a tactician, Jaune. There's no luck in that – it's all skill. Skill that you've got."

I frowned, rocking back on my heels slightly. "Hm. Maybe."

He rolled his eyes. "Quit selling yourself short, damnit." He said, taking a puff off his cigar. "C'mon, let's get moving."

I nodded, picking up Crocea Mors and sheathing the blade once again, strapping it back to my hip. I glanced down, noting that I'd used a load of grenades. They all seemed to do their jobs well enough, though I'd yet to see the gravity grenade in action. I assumed it would just increase the gravity in the radius of the explosion, but I didn't know.

My scroll buzzed in my pocket, and once I had dug it out, I found a message from Junior.

Junior: I've got what you asked for. Come pick it up when you've got time.

Jaune: Right. I'm going to head back, get a shower, and then I'll be there, probably with Roman joining me.

Junior: Works for me.

I hummed, pocketing my scroll once again. Part of me found it interesting that, even as a wanted criminal working closely with some of Vale's most wanted, we still just texted and called one another, connected through the CCT. Granted, Roman got a new scroll just about every day, but for the likes of Neo, Junior, and myself? We never really changed numbers. I suspected a lot of that had to do with how high Roman was on that wanted list in comparison to us.

Hell, I doubted that Junior was even on the wanted list. He very rarely did anything that could incriminate him personally, even running one of Vale's larger criminal gangs. As far as the VPD were concerned, he was probably an upstanding citizen who ran a very lucrative night club.

Roman and I walked back to the apartment in comfortable silence. That was something that used to bother me – long silences, especially when with other people. They always made me nervous, made me feel like I was being scrutinized and thought worse of because I just let conversation die. Now, it's just… I don't know, it doesn't bother me as much. It might be more social awareness than I used to have, or maybe I just wasn't ever comfortable enough with myself or the people around me to trust the silence.

I shrugged, shaking my head as I took a long drink from my flask. I paused a moment, simply studying the simple metal container. It was completely nondescript. Plain, stainless steel with no real identifying marks on it. Maybe I should see about getting it engraved – something to make it my own, more, well, me, I guess.

I let my thoughts wander back to the spar Roman and I just had. Things went relatively well, all things considered. The biggest issue was me not knowing which of my grenades was which. But how do I get around that? I frowned as I thought on the problem for a moment. The easiest way is to just not paint them at all, but that's obvious. Tells my opponents what they should expect. I narrowed my eyes. Maybe I could paint the lever the same color as the Dust it contains. Seeing as it comes off midflight, most opponents wouldn't be able to notice and react accordingly. Also lets me know what I'm throwing.

I nodded to myself as Roman led us into the apartment. He glanced back "I'm grabbing the first shower." He called out, making his way back into his room for a change of clothes.

I shrugged, wandering into the kitchen in search of more booze. Hah. If my mom saw me now; living with Vale's most wanted, stealing military tech, and day drinking on top of it. God, I can practically hear the shouting that'd come from that.

I shook my head, a slightly bemused smile on my lips as I went and sat down on the couch in the living room. In hand I had the bottle of vodka I had been using the fill my flask, topping off the metal container before electing to drink straight from the bottle.

I sighed, closing my eyes as I leaned back into the soft cushions. It was only now that I realized how sore I actually was. Say what you will about Roman, but he's no slouch when it comes to fighting. None of my friends are, really. Not even Junior who himself attests to the fact that he avoids combat most of the time.

I blew out a long breath through my nose, taking another drink from the bottle in hand. It's been months, well over half a year actually, since I last saw my family. I've got to wonder how they're holding up. Probably not well – mom is more than likely keeping a brave face, though is absolutely terrified. Dad, well… He's probably the same as ever. Absent, throwing himself into his work constantly. My sisters. God, my sisters. If they knew where I was, they'd probably gather up and drag me back, Roman, Neo, Junior, Qrow. All of them be damned, they'd drag me back and kill me themselves.

I opened my eyes, noting that Neo had finally decided to crawl out of bed, not that I could blame her. It's been a long couple nights. She was still dressed in her sleepwear, which is to say just one of my tee shirts that I'd never get back.

She yawned cutely, stretching her arms up over her head before trundling over and plopping herself onto the couch with me, using my lap as her pillow.

I nudged her slightly. "If you're just gonna go back to sleep, go to bed again. I'm not here for long."

She huffed, though made no sign of moving from her spot.

I sighed, glancing back at the end of the hall. Roman had emerged from his shower, freshly dressed. He had his scroll in hand, and snapped a quick picture. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Oh, ignore me. Pretend like I'm not even here." He commented, a slight smile tugging at his lips.

I shook my head, taking another swig from the bottle. "Yeah, yeah." I said, setting the bottle down on the table in front of me. I looked back down to Neo who looked like she was about halfway to going back to sleep. "Sorry, Neo. You're gonna have to let me up – I need a shower."

She huffed again, though sat up, pouting at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Hey, you've been asleep basically all day. I didn't come back just for you to use me as a space heater."

She grinned devilishly and waggled her eyebrows.

I shook my head. "No, Neo."

She stuck her tongue out at me as I got up to my feet.

"Like I said, no. I've got to go have a chat with Junior." I commented.

She shrugged and let me walk away in peace.

I sighed, wandering back into my room for a change of clothes so I could go take a shower.

I emerged from the bathroom about fifteen minutes later, feeling plenty refreshed and, thankfully, not sticky anymore. A warm shower was always nice after training – helped to relax my muscles that got either tensed up to hell, or just hurt after a load of use and abuse.

Roman was waiting for me, sitting in his recliner as per usual. Neo hadn't changed, though she was sitting on the couch with a tub of ice cream in her lap as she watched whatever awful sitcom caught her eye.

"Alright, you ready, Roman?" I asked, getting the master thief to nod as he pulled himself out of his seat. I came to stand behind Neo's seat, leaning down and gently kissing the top of her head. "Be back later." Neo nodded, tilting her head back to look at me with a smile.

I shook my head, taking the lead out of the apartment, Roman following behind.

"You know, Jaune, you've mellowed her out quite a bit." He commented, puffing on his cigar.

I shrugged. "Suppose I have, haven't I?"

"Mhm. Normally she's much more prone to, well, stabbing people on a whim. Haven't seen that lately."

"No, we really haven't."

Roman hummed quietly. "Think that has something to do with you wearing her out?" I didn't even have to see him to know he had a shit eating grin on his lips.

I felt a bit of heat creeping up my neck. I coughed, rubbing the back of my neck. "I've got no idea what you're talking about."

He arched a brow. "Oh? Are you sure? I thought I heard- "

"Shut up, Roman." I said, face now bright red.

He just chuckled and clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, nothing to be ashamed of. You're a hormonal teenager with an attractive girlfriend who sleeps in your bed. It's bound to happen eventually."

I coughed, shaking my head. If my face got any hotter, I think it'd catch fire. "Yeah, well…" I groaned, which only got him to chuckle again. "Just drop it."

He snickered. "So, what was it I heard, then?"

I glared at him. "Drop it, Roman."

He rolled his eyes, smiling in a knowing way. "Whatever you say, kid."

The two of us made our way to the Club, slipping in the back door as we made our way to Junior's office.

Junior was waiting for us, flipping through piles and piles of paper, occasionally taking a drink of whiskey or scribbling something down on one of the sheets. He looked up as we entered, though, nodding to us both. "Jaune, Roman. Good to see you both."

"Likewise, Junior." Roman said, slipping into one of the two seats in front of Junior's desk, kicking his feet up and leaning back in his seat.

"Right, I'd appreciate it if you didn't put your boots on my desk." Junior said, swatting at Roman's feet, though they didn't move. Junior just sighed and shook his head, opening a drawer in his desk and handing me a rather large manila folder. "Everything I could find on Mountain Glenn." He met my gaze. "I had to call in a few big favors to get that, so this had better be worth something."

I nodded, taking the folder and sliding into the seat next to Roman. "If it took big favors, it'll be good."

Junior nodded, looking back to Roman. "So, I hear you've got some business with me?"

I quickly tuned their conversation out, finding myself absorbed in the files I had just been handed.

[-/-]

I found myself pacing back and forth behind the stage, looking up at one of the many Paladins we'd managed to steal. I was never good at this – public speaking, being in front of huge crowds. It wasn't my thing.

It was made slightly easier on me thanks to the fact that I was masked, so my identity was completely hidden. That had come as a piece of advice from Junior once he knew I was going to be involved in this. In reality, it only made sense. What with the whole video clip that I'd be showing and all, being in the mask lent a bit of extra credibility to it.

Then, in a stroke of genius, he had come up with the idea that I not actually use my name. Then, of course, came the issue of if I'm getting a stage name, what was it?

That was when Roman pointed out that my mask has a name. 'The Virtuoso'. It fit, sorta. Personally, I wasn't a fan of it, but it definitely worked.

Junior, being as well connected and amenable to helping me as he is, saw fit to put a voice changer in behind the mask as well. I would be all but completely anonymous. It was more a precautionary thing, one that we put in place, again, thanks to Junior.

What with how large his crime family had grown, Junior was starting to get some inroads with the VPD. There, he had caught wind of a sting operation on the White Fang. There were no specifics, but it was the same day as our rally.

Due to that, Roman, Junior, and I set up some extra security in the form of the Twins and Not-Jerry. Would it be over kill? Almost assuredly. Did it make me any less nervous? Not even slightly.

Roman clapped me on the shoulder. "Alright, kid. We're just about ready to start. You good?"

I swallowed nervously, rolling my shoulders back. I rested a hand on the hilt of Crocea Mors to try and comfort myself. "As ready as I'm going to be." I said, eyeing the mask in my hand. It's go time, Jaune.

He nodded. "Alright, we'll get this show on the road then."

Remember. You're here to rile up the White Fang and unveil the Paladin. The goal is to get them ready and wanting to come with us to Mountain Glenn. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, slipping the mask on, activating the voice changer.

Before I really knew what had happened, I was called out to come up on the stage by Perry who quickly took a couple steps back so I could stand front and center. Behind me, I had Roman and Neo, both waiting and looking rather intimidating.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. Remember. You're not Jaune. You're The Virtuoso. Act like it.

I strode forward onto the stage, taking the center. I found myself smiling, much like my mask despite the fact that they couldn't see it.

"Boo!"

"Why is a human here?!"

I chuckled slightly, shaking my head. "You know, that's the same question I asked. After all, I am the epitome of what you all despise – a human. One with wealth and power, and the ability to hold it over your head."

"Get off the stage!"

"In your eyes, I may as well be the same as every other human – evil, rotten, vermin with only one goal in mind: to keep myself on top." I paused for a moment, taking in a breath. "Though, I ask only one thing: turn your attention to this." I said, clicking a button.

The video clip of myself and Winter fighting played, at least in part. By the end, the crowd was silent. "Atlas, those who have held their position of power over you and yours for decades. I fought their best – a woman you might know as Specialist Winter Schnee." There was a loud roar from the crowd at her name. "And I won. I may be human, I may have wealth and power, but she had more. Infinitely more. She trained almost her entire life for her position, and me?" I laughed. "I have only had my Aura unlocked for six months, and despite that, I stand before you today the victor."

The crowd seemed unsure, though they were far quieter than before. "I am not so different from you. I was a simple man before – a nobody. I had no real skills, not in combat, or anything else. Yet, after six months of training, I am able to battle toe to toe with an Atlas Specialist." I paused, surveying the crowd. "Imagine what you could do in that time."

There were murmurings amongst the White Fang, though I pressed on. "And, if that is not enough. Not only did I face, and beat Specialist Winter Schnee, I brought you this." I said, pulling back the curtain, with some help from Perry.

Revealed was a Paladin with the insignia of the White Fang painted in red on either side of the cockpit. "These are Atlas' new toys to fend off the forces of darkness, and I managed to nab a few before they hit the shelves, so to say."

There was cheering now, and I grinned beneath the mask. Time to bring it home. "Now, many of your brothers and sisters have already left the city to our operation in the south east. If you want to stay here, that's fine. But, if you'd like to prove yourselves, this is what awaits you."

There was cheering in the crowd now, people who wanted to fight, to come with us to Mountain Glenn. To their deaths.

The familiar voice of Not-Jerry picked up in my ear. "Heads up. We've got multiple incoming. Bullheads, police cruisers. At least two Huntsmen. Things are about to get chaotic."

Roman responded. "Got it."

He stepped forward, calling out over the crowd and asking for quiet, only starting to speak once he could be heard. "Now, I don't mean to alarm any of you, but we have just gotten word that the VPD are on their way here." There was some murmuring in the crowd.

I bit my lower lip. "Now is your chance. Prove yourselves. Prove your loyalty to the cause!"

There was a brief moment of silence before a loud cheer rang out. Roman looked over to me and nodded appreciatively. "Well done, kid."

"About thirty seconds, get ready." Not-Jerry said over the comms. I glanced over to Roman and nodded, drawing Crocea Mors and shifting it into its rifle form.

Thirty seconds. In TV shows, movies, and books, they always make it seem like a lot of time, but in reality? It came and went in a blink of an eye.

Windows were shattered, doors busted open, and VPD officers flooding into the meeting area. I found myself amazed, really. This must be the whole force, all gathered in one place. At least, that's what it looked like.

"Perry! Get in that Paladin. Show them what its capable of!" Roman shouted, leveling off his cane and firing several rounds at one of the ropes that officers were rappelling down onto the floor with.

The entire building quickly turned into a firefight of massive proportions, though we had the upper hand. Even though we weren't all armed, they only had so many ways to enter the building. Not to mention, inside we've got three Huntsman trained, or roughly equivalent people. Plus, a massive mech.

There was also the issue that many of the VPD officers didn't have their Aura unlocked, and so they were cut through like paper. The same went for many of the White Fang, though. Some clearly had Aura, and they were mostly alive, but those who didn't were being cut through just the same as the officers.

"The Twins were forced to retreat. You've got two huntsmen inbound on your location." Not-Jerry called, his voice backed by constant gun fire.

I had been firing down from the stage along with Roman, taking shots at whatever moved that didn't immediately look like White Fang. Part of me suspected I'd shot a number of our own along the way, but I couldn't dwell on that while I had the danger of being shot at myself.

Behind us, Perry got the mech running, and went charging through the crowd into the VPD officers who were slowly making headway into the building.

Shortly thereafter, I found my gaze drawn to the door, and I felt my heart leap into my throat.

Standing there, in the doorway was the familiar shock of blond hair, the same ocean blue eyes, and face set into an almost perpetual scowl.

Jason Arc had arrived.

And that, my friends, is where we leave this chapter off.

For all those looking to lodge a complaint, feel free to lodge them with our HR department, and I'm sure they will reach me... Eventually. Jokes aside though, Papa Arc is here, and oh boy. Truth be told, it was really hard for me to cut the chapter here, but the cliff hanger is nice, and since I'm gonna be gone for a while, it lets you guys stew and wonder so all kinds of good stuff.

That said, on we charge to the reviews!

Greer - Jaune is, as he said, afraid. He's afraid of having everything he's fought for and earned in his time as a criminal just ripped away from him. Be it Cinder, or another outside force threatening to do it, Jaune's going to do what he can to stand in the way of that.

Engineer - Well... It didn't exactly go as planned. Sure, he got the White Fang ready to fight, but well, there's always the issue of Papa Arc. Originally, rather than having the speech and Papa Arc showing up, I had Jaune reading through some reports from Mountain Glenn, reports written by people he knows. See, Qrow didn't know there were casualties on Jaune's side. Jaune never told him, and the Specialists didn't recover Jess' body, so they just don't know that they accomplished anything. And yes, that right eye is 100% gone, never to be seen from again. Aura is a powerful thing, yes, but the way I think about it is that it's not just a passive force field. You've gotta think about it. Winter was expecting him to hit her in the jaw, or perhaps the mouth, maybe try and break her nose. She wasn't expecting the corner of a shield into her eye, and so didn't have Aura up to cover that specifically. Jaune being comforted by Neo. God, if my muse wasn't so laser focused on Criminally Good, I could probably write a pure fluff story for Jaune x Neo, or Jaune x Ruby.

Nuclear Pen Strokes - Many, many more chapters in this story's future. Though I will say that the story, at least as far as I've got anything planned, ends at the end of Season 3. And, I think, we're like... Half way through Season 2 by now? Thereabouts? I dunno, I'm not super sure on the timeline.

Kaotic Overlord - Glad you're enjoying, my friend. SilentKnight isn't my all time favorite ship, but it's pretty high up on that list. Thing is, in general, I'm a sucker for fluff of any kind. Reading it, writing it. Either way, it's all kinds of fun and just makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

Luine Mercury - Well, Happy Birthday to you, friendo. I mean, yeah. It makes sense that it might be Ozzy, though there are other powerful figures out there watching from the shadows. Well... Jaune is going to avoid the Team RWBY + Sun and Nep fight... In exchange for a fight with Papa Arc and the second Huntress we've yet to see but should all be afraid of. If I had the choice, I'd take Team RWBY.

Josh Spicer - Well, let's say it is Ozzy. Qrow's seen some shit, and knows what Ozzy's turned him into. He also knows Jaune a bit now, and even if he'll vehemently deny it, likes him. In that situation, would Qrow want Ozzy to turn Jaune into another, younger version of himself? I'd gamble and say not - Qrow is loyal, but he's also got a heart of gold hidden underneath all that functioning alcoholism and dickish personality. Probably why he's my next favorite character after the criminal crew.

X3 - Well, Ozzy is known for his grand master 900+ IQ plays that make no logic to us mere mortals, so there isn't a single thing we can rule out. Not even him being the king of Grimm, and using Salem as nothing more than a mere puppet. (Crackpot theory with no evidence or substance, but if people can find evidence I want it. Now.) Well... Jaune isn't fighting a team, if that's good news. Bad news is, he's fighting something much much scarier. Though, a noteworthy thing is that Jaune isn't the only one with connections to Papa Arc. Roman's got some old ties himself.

Valerious Lake - So, like I've said, Jaune doesn't know who died at the docks. He never saw them, nor the bodies. Because of that, I've chosen to not disclose who's dead.

Nobody of Nowhere - Silent Knight is one of the better ships, at least to me. It depends on how both Neo and Jaune are written. I've said it before that the Yandere type for Neo and the spineless wimp for Jaune that I've seen a bit of really just irks me. Some people like it, and power to you, but it's not my deal. I prefer the slightly more natural relationship, other than my accidentally jumping the gun right at the start way back at the start of the story.

Javi Grace - I've been writing in the fluff because it's just fun for me to write, and it's been good for Jaune. It won't be every chapter, especially as things in the story start to ramp up to chaotic levels of shit show, but while things are quiet, we can have some cuteness.

Imperial Germany - Cough cough. Yeah, right. Well, uh. He didn't fuck it up too terribly. At least, he gave a half decent speech? I dunno, I can't write rousing speeches - that's something that despite my years worth of trying, I've always failed at. Jaune's fuck up came in the appearance of Papa Arc, and our as of yet, unknown other Huntress. Next chapter is gonna be fun.

Azrael Saint - Yeah, I can imagine that'd be a bit spooky, especially if I didn't say anything ahead of time. The Breach is looming, and Jaune still isn't completely in the know, so to say. The file on Mountain Glenn was helpful, but didn't tell him everything. Qrow is a troll, an asshole, completely insufferable, and an alcoholic to boot. Despite all of that, we love him. He just so happens to be Jaune's only real drinking buddy, so even if he irritates Jaune, he's gotta deal with it.

And that's all the reviews done.

Okay, so, I'm going to be putting another poll up on my profile before I leave on Vacation. Even though it's a ways off, once Criminally Good ends, I'm gonna need to start publishing a new story. I've got a few ideas rattling around up in my head, two of which are up on my profile, and those are gonna be what you have to chose from. Go check out the summaries and see which one catches your eye more. I'll be leaving this poll up basically until Criminally Good ends, but be sure to drop your vote early.

Next Chapter: Monday, July 22nd (I know, it's a long wait.)

Till next time, this is Valres signing off.