Team STIK (Strike)

by Aragon365

One born without the power to make a difference. Another gifted with an incredibly powerful dual semblance. One who wishes to live up to his elder brother. And a faunus whose anger makes him almost as brutal as the Grimm. At Beacon Academy, these four unlikely souls would meet, and forever change the face of Remnant. These are their exploits. (Discontinued)

24. Return and Relaxation

A/N: I felt as though I hadn't been using Team JNPR enough, so they're back in this chapter. I kinda feel like the ending was a little lackluster though. Oh well, enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or My Hero Academia. They belong to Monty Oum, Kohei Horikoshi, and their respective publishing companies. Please support the official releases.

I do not own the cover image

Chapter 24: Return and Relaxation

The Bullhead glided over the vast, lush forest like a runaway cloud, leaving the massive sprouts of foliage almost entirely undisturbed as it flew towards their current destination: the city of Vale. As they came above the overpass, the aforementioned city finally came into sight, with street lights flickering off as the morning sun began to rise over the open, now glistening ocean.

"The city is rather beautiful in the morning," Ren commented, his legs dangled from the edge of the open sliding door as an almost unnoticeable smile appearing on his lips, though it did reach his magenta eyes.

"Well duh, Renny! I totally told you it was pretty!" Nora added as she scooched closer to him with a slight blush on her face, "You've gotta see how it looks from the beach! It's freaking awesome!"

Pyrrha chuckled at her bubbly teammate's enthusiasm from her seat, saying, "I can't wait to see it! It sounds like a lot of fun."

"Maybe sometime later. Right now, we've got some people to check up on, and I've got a weapon to pick up! Oh! Thanks for the shadowing offer, Port!" Jaune said to the potbellied professor, who twirled his mustache as he responded with a bellowing laugh, "Ha ha! It was no problem at all! Although I don't really envy your position."

"What do you mean, professor? Our first mission is over, is it not?" Lancelot said as his helmet materialized a few inches from Jaune's head, and both were slightly inclined to show their confusion.

"Yes, it is. However, you're not going back to Beacon; at least, not right away. Your team is being transferred to an old teacher of mine. Gran Torino, one of the most renowned huntsmen to never receive a place in the Big Four. And, if the rumors from all those years ago were correct, All Might's personal mentor."

That got their attention. Jaune leaned forward, Lancelot's helmet floated closer, Pyrrha's eyes widened in shock, Ren looked back with interest hidden in his gaze, and Nora... well, ya know... this is Nora we're talking about. She zipped over to Port and immediately began bombarding him with questions, slowly becoming more and more ridiculous as they continued to come sprawling out without a filter.

"Now now, calm down miss Valkyrie. While he can be intimidating to many people; believe me, I know the feeling; he's actually one of the greatest huntsmen you'll ever meet. I would recommend not getting on his bad side though."

"… bad side?" Everyone else present asked with a hint of nervousness tinging their voices, and though Lancelot did not voice his concern, the now lifted visor that revealed the empty interior of his helmet spoke for itself.

"Yes. You know about the rumors of Goodwitch's detentions, yes?"

The whole of Team JNPR nodded in synch, almost robotically, and similar expressions of unease crept their way onto their faces. Port then continued, "Imagine the quietest, most boring and intimidating classroom in existence and multiply it by Grimm. And that's only five minutes. I'd only been in one of them, and it was the most harrowing experience of my life. About a decade after I first began my tenure as a professor, I was rather shocked to find that Goodwitch was always ending up in Torino's detentions. She was normally quite a remarkable student, and rather strict about following the rules. She and Torino had many disagreements on that front. If you think her detentions are bad, they were inspired by Torino's. I apologize for my language, but I warn you, don't fuck with him or you will live to regret it if you're lucky."

They were all surprised by the professor's choice of words. As far as any of them could recall, Port had never sworn at anyone or for anything. If he was using those kinds of words, he was being deadly serious.

"Well, the mood's gotten rather gloomy now, hasn't it?" Port said as he reverted back to his cheery self, easing the air to a happier one as he continued, "I'm sure you'll be fine. You're all quite excellent students, and I wouldn't have offered you this opportunity if I didn't think you deserved it. Oh, and Ms. Valkyrie, be sure to build up your stamina. Using that semblance of yours takes a lot of endurance, even if you do absorb electricity."

"You got it, sir!" Nora exclaimed as she bubbly saluted the potbellied professor, glad to change the subject to something that wasn't as scary as Torino's detentions.

(thirty minutes later, near Torino's apartment building, Jaune's POV)

The walk to Torino's apartment wasn't a quiet one, as the team tried to diffuse the tension of meeting their soon to be mentor. Ren and Nora were discussing when to see the city from the beach, Pyrrha tried to strike put a conversation with Jaune, though every time she tried she started to blush almost the same color as her hair. It wouldn't have mattered anyhow, as Jaune was currently having a conversation with Lancelot in his head, and completely oblivious to the conversations between his other teammates.

Well, what do you think we should do about Torino? If he's really as bad as Port made him out to be, I don't think we'd be able to survive. Well, Pyrrha would definitely survive, but the rest of us have pretty slim chances, especially me.

We simply have to, as you would aptly put it, 'not piss him off.' Besides, I do not believe we need to worry about that, at least for the time being. We should be focusing on perfecting this link we recently discovered. What did you call it again?

Paladin Mode.

Ah, yes, that ridiculous name.

Hey, it's not like you could come up with anything better!

I believe I might be able to do just that.

Then do it.

Right now?

This second.

.

..

…

...I see your point.

Thank you.

Although I still do not think that 'Flower Power' is a viable team attack name.

Then name one!

Thunder Lotus.

.

..

…

...okay, that one was actually pretty good.

Thank you. Now while I would like to continue this conversation, your team is currently calling for you. Good luck inside.

As is on cue, the sounds of the normal world rushed in like light into a pitch-black room, Nora in the middle of yelling to get her leader's attention, "-AUNE! REMNANT TO OUR BRAVE LEADER! HELLOOOOO?"

"Augh!" Jaune leapt up in surprise, falling rather painfully on his back, luckily not hitting his head. Pyrrha, concerned for her leader's immediate health, knelt down and helped the blonde knight to his feet, rubbing the back of his head as he chided, "Darn it, Nora! That hurt!"

In response, the copper-haired huntress laughed awkwardly while she scratched the back of her head, saying, "Sooorry," in her almost always bubbly tone, "but you were staring off into space again."

"I told her to get you out of your head," Ren said with his signature deadpan stare. "We've arrived."

The raven-haired ninja inclined his head to his right, where stood Torino's apartment building. Unlike what Port had told them on the Bullhead, it looked as though it had been recently repaired, and rather well at that. The sign hanging over the door said WELCOME in yellow, contrasting the red the rest of the sign was painted in. The oaken colored double doors were the most intimidating part of the setup, though it was more of the thought of what was behind it than the actual entrance.

...wait, why do I feel like something random and ridiculous is about to happen?

As if on cue-

CRASH!

-a rather frantic looking Tenya leapt out the rightmost window on the bottom floor of the complex, yelling an apology over his shoulder before he was soon after followed by a rather infuriated looking Bakugo, who shouted, "Gimme back my bacon, dammit!"

"Yours?! This is mine!" Tenya retorted before he sped behind the building, Bakugo following after him like his subspecies namesake, while their other two teammates rushed after them so that the latter wouldn't kill the former. Izuku, seeing Team JNPR with rather confused looks on their faces, said a brief greeting to the team before resuming the chase after his teammates.

"...what the hell just happened?" was all Jaune could ask before Torino kicked open the double doors with a surprising amount of strength, considering his height and age, and sped after Team STIK, yelling, "You could've used the damn door! I don't have enough Lien to pay for another Oumdamn window!"

"...I'm not sure we want to know." Ren deadpanned, which the rest of JNPR simultaneously nodded at.

A gasp came from the entrance to the complex. As they turned, it was revealed to come from a slowly smiling Ruby, who, after a few seconds, dashed at them with her arms spread wide, knocking all of them over with a trail of rose petals leading back to the doors as she exclaimed, "YOU'RE BACK!"

"Augh! Ruby... can't... breathe..." Jaune's face turned visibly blue for emphasis.

"Oh! Sorry!" Ruby lifted herself off of the group, helping them to their feet one by one. Well, she helped everyone but Nora, who'd jumped to her feet on her own and had already zoomed inside.

"Welcome back! How was your mission?" Ruby asked with a cheery look on her face.

"It went optimally." Ren curtly answered in his normal neutral tone.

"It certainly wasn't boring, but I prefer Vale," Pyrrha said with a smile.

"Ditto for me. Although I did find something out about my semblance." Jaune said with a hint of a cocky smirk at the edge of his lips.

"Wait, what?! You developed your semblance?! Without me?!" Ruby pretended to get offended at the notion.

"Well, it's not like I planned on it happening, it sorta just... did." Jaune tried to apologize.

"Pfft, ha ha ha ha ha! I'm just messing with you Jaune. Ha ha ha!" Ruby broke down, almost laughing herself down to the ground at her own joke. If the looks on JPR's faces were anything to go by, it wasn't really all that funny.

"LET'S TEST THAT THEORY!" Nora's declaration echoed from inside the halls of the complex, causing everyone outside to turn and slowly walk inside. They found Yang and Nora sitting across from each other with their right hands placed on the coffee table, an arm wrestling contest now ensuing between the two. With an audience nonetheless. On Yang's side was Velvet, Blake, and a rather disinterested looking Weiss, while Nora was backed by Fox, a stoic Yatsuhashi, and Coco, who were soon joined by the rest of Team JNPR while Ruby backed her sister. The two visibly struggled against each other's strength, and for the first few seconds, held each other at a standstill, neither gaining ground over the other.

"Well... you're... definitely... strong..." Nora said with a grin, her arm visibly trembling at the same pace as Yang's.

"Haven't... even... started..." Yang grinned as well before she upped the intensity of her push and, a short second later, managed to slam Nora's hand into the side of the table, visibly splintering the wood and almost breaking the table in half.

Nora almost visibly teared up before her expression completely changed and, with stars in her eyes, started shouting, "HOLY CRAP THAT WAS AWESOME! DO IT AGAIN DO IT AGAIN DO IT AGAIN!"

"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING, YOUNG LADY!"

They then turned to find Torino standing back at the entrance with a rather ashamed looking Tenya and a livid Bakugo, who the surprisingly strong geezer was dragging inside by his ear. Behind them were Izuku and Shoto, and the former, upon seeing JNPR back properly, waved hello again before the monochrome colored huntsman yelled in frustration and continued, "That's it! You're getting me a new window and a new table, or Oum help me I will make you work till you fucking drop!"

"Yessir!" At the exact same moment, everyone there, with the exception of JNPR, lined up military style. Just how scary was this guy?

"And you four!" He pointed his cane in the direction of Team JNPR, seemingly cooling off and continuing, "Welcome to my humble abode. Sorry for the mess." He then turned to STIK, saying, "You four, however, are gonna spend the entire day training!"

"But-"

"END OF DISCUSSION!" Torino said as he then lead the aforementioned team out of the building towards what would undoubtedly be their hardest training session yet.

Teams RWBY, JNPR, and CFVY stood in the lobby in an awkward silence for several seconds, with no idea what the hell just happened or what to do next. Then, slowly, Coco said, "Well... who's up for a shopping trip?"

"I'm game," Yang said as Nora nodded.

"Me too." Velvet answered with Yatsu and Fox relenting, both knowing how... enthusiastic their leader could be about clothes. Seriously, she spent more on her clothes than she did on ammo.

"I do need some new books," Blake commented as Ren and Pyrrha, now realizing they were going to be dragged along as well, both silently screamed and began to beam respectively.

"I need to pick up Crocea Mors anyway." Jaune said, causing Teams RWBY and CFVY to immediately snap their heads towards him with hints of either fear or excitement contained in their looks, Ruby saying, "Who'd you give it to?"

"I gave it to Mei. Izuku recommended her."

That was when Ruby and Velvet began to bombard him with questions and actually began to drag him towards the door, the two clearly excited to see the pink dreadlocked weapon smith again, while Pyrrha, Weiss, and Yatsu went along to make sure they didn't stay there too long. Well, the former two were just making sure Jaune would survive the trip over there.

"So, who's up for getting the stuff we need to see tomorrow?" Coco asked, causing a reluctant Ren, Fox, and surprisingly Blake, to silently raise their hands. Coco, knowing that she had enough money to cover them, gave them five hundred Lien for the purchases. "Just give me whatever's leftover, okay?"

"Got it. Thanks, babe." Fox thanked his chocolate themed girlfriend, giving her a chaste kiss on the forehead before he followed the stoic duo out the doors, causing Coco to blush ever so slightly.

"You two are dating?!" Nora yelled in surprise.

"Yeah. We don't brag about it, but it isn't exactly a secret." Coco briefly explained before she continued, "So, who wants to go on a shopping trip?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, Coco, but I'm pretty broke right now," Yang said, pulling out her wallet for emphasis.

"Ditto for me. I spent the last of my Lien on grenades."

.

..

…

"...what? Girl's got her needs."

Coco sighed at Nora's quirkiness (A/N: the social kind! Not the power kind) and pulled out her own wallet, saying with a cocky smile, "Don't you worry about it. I'll be paying this time, " as she opened it causing a golden light to shine out of it, causing those stars from before to reappear in Nora's eyes. This simultaneously caused Yang to question her friend's sanity.

(undisclosed location, around the same time, Dabi's POV)

"Why do I always have to deal with this crap?" Dabi muttered under his breath as Tomura daintily passed him a shopping list, the latter saying, "Because, while I would like to do this myself, I'm way too recognizable. Plus, you're already known to not show your whole face, at least as far as Beacon is concerned. It'll be easy, as long as you steer clear of Atlas."

"You almost sound worried about me," Dabi said in his deadpan tone as he pocketed the paper.

"I'm not," Tomura said as he turned back to his screen.

"I know," Dabi said as he exited his bosses room. He walked down the hallway with a hint of excitement in his eye, though it was rather minimal. He had a few things to pick up anyways, so, as the saying often went: two birds, one stone.

"Daaabiii..." Himiko called for the stitch covered boy with a singsong tone in her voice, continuing, "Where are you goooiiing?"

"I've got some shopping to do, courtesy of our boss." Dabi plainly stated.

"Can you take me with you?" Himiko tried to use her puppy eyes on the black haired pyromancer, though due to his emotional neutrality he was more than able to resist and simply respond, "No."

"But whyyyy?"

"You'd try to kill the first cute guy you saw."

"… no, I wouldn't!"

"That's not gonna work on me."

Himiko then began to wail dramatically, and Dabi, stoic as ever, left her to wail by herself, finding his way towards the exit of the base, a long day of shopping now ahead of him. Hopefully, he'd get to wreck a few AK's in the process, but that was unlikely at best.

(9:02 am, Maijima's Gadgets and Guns, Jaune's POV)

"Well, here we are," Jaune said as they stood outside the shop. The first thing he'd noticed was that most of the weapons were gone from the shelves, and a sign posted in one of the windows said HALF OFF ALL PURCHASES. Mei was currently manning the front counter while Maijima was likely elsewhere in the back, tinkering with a new weapon model of some kind.

"Ooooooo... this place looks so cool!" Ruby and Velvet squealed in synch, being the weapon nerds they were, and both had stars in their eyes. Jaune was actually pretty sure Ruby started drooling.

"But the shelves look rather barren, don't you think?" Pyrrha pointed out, getting an agreeing nod from Yatsu, both with worried looks on their faces. Weiss held a look of minor interest before shifting her attention back to the group.

"I'm sure it's alright, guys. Look, we'll just ask her about it. There shouldn't be any need to make a big deal out of it."

(two minutes later)

"You're moving to Mistral?!" Jaune, Ruby, and Velvet all synched in shock, while Pyrrha, Weiss, and Yatsu, though they remained quiet, were also visibly surprised, if their widening eyes were anything to go by.

Mei awkwardly scratched the back of her head, saying, "Yeaaaaaah. Sorry we didn't tell you."

Jaune, now over the initial shock, sighed to himself and said, "No, I'm sorry for freaking out. You didn't have a reason to tell me about that."

"But why?!" Ruby and Velvet synched once more. They really were scarily similar whenever it came to weapons.

"Well, Mistral is practically the trading capital of Remnant. I've always wanted to go there, I just didn't think I'd go there so soon. Plus, with some of the new smithing techniques I've been figuring out, we'll be able to make a ton more Lien once we're over there." Mei explained.

"Aw man. I really wanted to get some good pictures of your weapons, too." Velvet sighed in dismay.

"Well... you've been really fun to hang around. Call me if you ever feel lonely, okay?" Ruby said as she held out her hand to the pink haired engineer. Mei, after only a second of hesitation, took the rose-themed girl's hand and shook it, replying cheerily, "You got it, weapon buddy!"

I have a weapon buddy! Ruby silently cheered, pumping her fist into the air for emphasis of her joy.

"Well, are the repairs finished yet?" Jaune asked, trying to get the conversation back on track, to which the bubbly mechanic replied, "Yep! Just give me a second to go and grab it!"

She then zipped into the workshop, loud, clanging echoes emerging from within as she dug through the place to find Jaune's weapon. Pyrrha then stepped over to her leader and asked, "Did you make any major modifications to Crocea Mors?"

"No, I just had it repaired. It was tempting, but I don't think guns are really my thing." Jaune explained.

"A valid point, Arc. I mean, my Myrtenaster is mostly a close ranged weapon, it simply has the advantage of being able to channel Dust. Some people simply aren't comfortable with using a traditional firearm in their weapons," the platinum-haired heiress explained Jaunes reasoning.

"But would a ranged weapon not give a significant advantage?" Yatsu asked, Ruby backing him up with, "Like a machine gun! Or-or an SMG! Or maybe even a DMR!"

"Guys..."

"Here it is!" Mei came out of the workshop with Crocea Mors in her hands, placing it on the counter and consequently interrupting Ruby's weapon's craze speech. She unsheathed the sword and expanded the shield, emphasizing the work she did on it. All the chips and notches that once dotted the entire length of the blade were gone, with fresh polish and sharpening jobs to almost make it gleam as though it were made of platinum. The shield looked newer as well, the Arc symbol repainted in a contrasting, darker shade of gold, and there was even a slight curve to the edges to improve the defensive capabilities.

Mei then donned a serious face, continuing, "No offense, Jaune, but this thing was pretty old. You're actually lucky you got it too me when you did, otherwise the shield's transformation mechanisms might've been locked up permanently."

"Wait, what are you trying to insinuate?" Jaune said with a vague hint of hostility.

"Nothing. This thing was made back when the barest hints of mecha-shift tech started to be developed. It was bound to break down at some point. It happens to all weapons at some point or another, it's just a lot less common since most hunters know how to do maintenance on their weapons nowadays. If I were you, I'd study up on some basic maintenance procedures and memorize the blueprints. Oh, and one more thing!" Mei pressed the pommel of the sword, causing the edges to glow yellow, electrical lines occasionally, and quickly, running up the length of the blade to the tip, where they'd briefly spark off into the air before disappearing.

"Err... Mei, I didn't ask for any mods."

"Hm? Whaddaya mean? This was already there." Mei clicked the pommel again, deactivating the current.

"What?"

"Really, this was kinda just... there. This was a hand-me-down family thing, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, maybe one of your predecessors installed it and didn't tell the others. They're probably the ones who put a prototype gun in the hilt." Jaune's eyes widened in shock. "I know, right? It was really impractical, so I just repurposed what was already there. Here, I'll show you how it works," Mei then twisted off the pommel, revealing the chamber on the inside of the hilt, which contained a similarly sized tube of Lightning Dust. "Insert whichever type of Dust you want to use in here, preferably the powdered or cylindrically cut kind, and then twist it back on and press the pommel. Remember, if the blade runs nonstop it'll only last for about five minutes, so be mindful when you use it."

Jaune took Crocea Mors' sword from the pink haired mechanic, observing it tentatively before he sighed and said, "Well, I guess I've got a lot of questions to ask my dad once I'm home. Thanks for fixing my weapon up for me."

Mei then beamed, happy to not have upset a customer. "No problem! It was actually an interesting experience."

"How much do I owe you?" Jaune asked as he brought out his wallet, only to have Mei push it away and say, "On the house. Just be sure to kick ass in the tournament, alright?"

Jaune looked genuinely surprised at that. He thought he'd have to pay Mei through his teeth in order to pay for the repairs and was pretty relieved when he realized he didn't have to. "I will!"

It was also at this moment that Ruby and Velvet dragged him away to discuss the possibilities that his weapon now held, nerding out over it the entire time. And, as per usual, Ruby was now drooling over it. And Velvet took a few extra pictures of Crocea Mors, just in case.

Pyrrha, though she was annoyed by this, knew that neither of the girls were doing that because they thought of Jaune in the same way that she did. She wanted to spend time alone with him, but she also knew that Ruby was one of Jaune's best friends. Still, it would've been nice if she could have him all to herself for once.

"Hey, you alright?"

Pyrrha's head snapped left in surprise to find that Mei was standing right next to her and staring at her with what was either concern or interest. The redheaded amazon almost jumped in surprise, though her years of training, courtesy of her mother, let her calm down rather quickly, answering, "I'm fine. Thank you for asking."

Mei then glanced towards where Pyrrha's gaze once was, then back to her. Then again. And then a devilish smile crept onto her lips as she whispered in the redheaded warrior's ear, "You like Jaune, don't you?"

As if Pyrrha hadn't blushed enough already, she was now blushing so hard her face was somehow even redder than her hair, and she somehow lost her ability to speak in proper sentences for a little bit. "I-I-I... erm... w-well..." She breathed deeply to calm herself the best she could, which wasn't really all that much, and quietly said, "Yes."

"It was about time you admitted it. Seriously, you've been swooning over him for literal months." Weiss said in a minorly annoyed voice, mostly at the prospect of being dragged along before she rejoined the others to make sure Jaune didn't get killed.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Ask him out already." Mei said as bluntly as she could.

"It's not that simple." Pyrrha rebutted.

"Seems that way to me. Look I've never been in a relationship before, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but if you don't ask him soon, someone else is going to do it first."

"I just-"

"I'm just saying that you two have been friends long enough to maybe give the whole next step thing a try. So, why not?"

Pyrrha looked back at Jaune, who was currently talking sword types with Yatsu and enjoying every minute of it. Huh. Who'd have thought that Jaune could nerd out over swords. The redhead answered slowly, "I... don't really think he's interested in that kind of thing right now. I mean, there's just so much going on. Stain was recently captured and sentenced to life in prison, Torchwick is looking at a similar punishment, and Tomura and his League are still at large; not to mention the fact that there's the Vytal Festival Tournament coming around next week. I just think something like that would complicate things even more."

"And if none of those complications were there?"

"…"

"Well, that's your business, not mine. My business is weapons and trinkets of varying mechanical variety." Mei said as she walked back to the workshop, saying over her shoulder, "Good luck!" To the group, though Pyrrha was fairly sure it was directed at her. Whether it was for the Vytal Festival or her crush on Jaune, she currently did not know.

(ten minutes later, Vale Mall, Fox's POV)

"Thank you again," Fox said as he and Ren lifted the new window over their shoulders. About an hour or so ago they'd managed to buy a replacement coffee table for the one that Yang and Nora had broken during their arm wrestling match, being almost identical with the exception of being a bit larger and newer looking. Now it was just a matter of getting it back to the building without breaking it.

"Do you think Blake got her books?" Ren asked Fox, both of them currently unaware of the whereabouts of their feline eared companion. After they'd passed by a bookstore, she'd given a simple explanation and taken off inside, leaving them to get what they were tasked with retrieving.

"I dunno. I'd assume she has them, but we haven't seen her come out of that bookstore in the entire hour." Fox summed up, causing the magenta eyed ninja to nod in agreement. After a long walk, the two arrived back at the now empty apartment complex, opening one of the double doors and placing the replacement pane on the newly bought coffee table. Ironically enough, this was the time that Blake decided to show up with two armfuls of books.

A silence surrounded them, making the air grow slowly tenser as the cat-eared faunus noticed that the two had done their work without her, as did the disbelief on Ren's face. Fox, however, somehow managed to remain stoic through it all before he walked up to Blake, placed a hand on her shoulder, and said, "Are you always that much of a bookworm?"

.

..

…

"… wait, that's it?" Blake asked in relieved shock.

"What's wrong?" Fox tilted his head slightly.

"Nothing, I just... I thought you'd be angrier," she said as she placed her books on the dining table, not wanting to potentially crack the glass pane and pay for a new one.

"If I was a few years younger, yeah, I probably would be. But, I also overheard you were a massive book fanatic."

"Who told you that?"

"Yang may have let it slip during dinner last night."

Blake sighed and rubbed her face with her left palm, muttering, "of course she would do that," under her breath before saying, "I'm sorry. It's gotten to be a problem lately."

"I wouldn't call it that." Blake donned a confused look once more. "I'd call it more of a quirk."

"But it's not my quirk."

"The social kind, dummy." Fox was almost tempted to walk over and flick her in the forehead. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. I'm actually quite the bookworm myself."

"Wait, really?!" Blake exclaimed in a rare moment of enthusiasm, dashing over to the copper-haired boy as she continued, "Have you read 'Daylight Hunters?'"

"Have I?! It's my favorite series!" Fox too exclaimed in joy, the two now beginning to converse about various series they'd each read over the years, leaving Ren to wonder why the hell he was even there anymore. Then he realized they were getting pretty passionate about their common hobby and proceeded to wait on standby so that they didn't wreck the complex.

"Wait, how are you able to read if you're blind?"

"Braille, mostly."

(around the same time, Yang's POV)

"So, what do you think?" Coco said as she emerged from the dressing room once again with a brown leather jacket and tight-fitting blue jeans, brown dress shoes, and a brown infinity scarf to complete the outfit.

"Well, you certainly like the color brown." Nora said, earning her an elbow jab, courtesy of Yang, who smirked and said, "Looks good on you, Coco."

"Thank you. Now, who's next?" Coco asked the two. Nora and Yang then looked at each other, and though they wanted to settle it via another arm-wrestling match, they both knew that doing that in here would likely get them kicked out. So, as Coco went back inside to change out of her new outfit, the two settled it with a classic: rock paper scissors. After a few seconds, Yang had won and declared Nora to be Coco's first outfit model, something that neither of them were really looking forward to, evidenced by the fact that Nora cried when she was defeated by Yang.

Coco then came out of the changing room, walked over to a nearby bench, picked up two stacks of clothes, and placed them into the hands of the auburn-haired girl and said, "Try those on in the stacks they're put in, properly, or I swear to you I will come in there and I will dress you myself. Clear?"

"Crystal, mam!" Nora answered in a nervous voice before shutting the door of the dressing room and characteristically began to change rather loudly.

"Well... that was... intimidating." Yang hesitantly said, finishing with a rather blunt enunciation.

Coco turned and scratched the back of her head as she semi-apologized, "Sorry, I just get really worked up about these kinds of things. I'm really into the fashion of hunters. They all look so freaking badass! Plus, it kinda helps me forget..." Coco trailed off, a somber look now adorning her face.

Yang sat forward, now interested in what Coco was hesitating to tell. "C'mon, you can trust me. I won't tell a soul."

"Will you really?" The chocolate-themed girl gave the blonde brawler a disbelieving look.

In response, Yang mimed a lowercase t above the left part of her chest, saying, "Cross my heart."

And Yang meant this promise too. For some reason, she always had a knack for sensing whenever someone was going to say something that was rather important to them, and whenever she'd promised to keep those secrets, not once did she ever break it. Sure, she might've let a few, excusable secrets slip through from time to time, but not one that was likely as important as this one.

Coco breathed deeply and sighed, taking off her sunglasses and placing on the left side of her corset as she explained, "I was sixteen going on seventeen when it happened. I told my parents that I wanted to go to Beacon, become a huntress. They were... beyond angry. I mean, I'd seen them angry before, but this was just... I don't remember much of what they were yelling about, mostly just stuff about their company and money." Coco made a bitter, humorless laugh at that. "They tried to word it in a way that made it seem like they were concerned with my wellbeing, but all I knew they were just talking out of their asses to try and get me to stay. When I didn't back down, they... essentially disowned me. I mean, I've still got their name, but once I left for good they cut off all access to them and their money. And this year, they had the gall to offer me a chance to go back to them. On my fucking birthday!" Coco's fist clenched suddenly, and audible strain sounds could be heard from her now enclosed fist. She closed her eyes, took an even deeper breath than before, and exhaled, letting her fingers unfurl as she continued, "I was depressed about it for a while. But eventually, I decided that I didn't care. If they weren't going to help like parents were supposed to, then they could burn along with all that money they seemed to love more than their own daughter. I ended up living it pretty rough for about the next month or so. It taught me how important the little things were, how hard it could be to go without food, how hard it was to earn Lien with your own two hands," she rubbed her left palm with her right thumb, a reminiscent look briefly coming onto her face before she continued, "How hard it was to take care of your own clothes. Getting into Beacon was probably the best thing that ever happened to me, and my team was more of a family to me than my parents ever were. But... it's only because of them I gained the determination to get into Beacon at all. Don't get me wrong, I do hate them. I hate them a lot more than somebody should hate anyone. But if they never... cast me out, I never would've learned more things in a month than I had in my entire life. I never would've met Velvet, or Yatsu, or fallen for Fox. I wouldn't be who I am right now if it wasn't for them.

"So yeah, that's about it. My 'kind of' sob story. " Coco placed her sunglasses back on and asked Yang, "Got any questions?"

"Well... you said your last name was Adel, right?" Yang hesitantly asked, not wishing to push any of Coco's buttons more than they already had been.

"Yep. And yeah, my parents are those Adels."

"Then that means..." Yang's eyes widened in realization of the sacrifice Coco had made for her dream. "… damn. That's... wow. You gave up a lot for this life."

"Yeah, I did. But I don't regret it. It might be a dangerous one, but it's my life." It was at this moment that Nora emerged from the changing room in her new outfit, a pink t-shirt with a black lightning symbol printed on the stomach and a pair of skinny jeans the ran down to her ankles, where a pair of white boots with pink soles and laces adorned her feet. On her arms were two detached pink sleeves that ended around her mid-biceps and started around her wrists. It was so unlike Nora to dress that way, yet Yang also thought that the look kinda suited her in an odd way. She was also being uncharacteristically shy, holding one of her arms in a tight grip while her gaze found to floor oddly fascinating to look at.

"So, uh... not exactly the best looking, huh?" Nora asked hesitantly.

"Hmm... it does seem like something's missing..." Coco gave a quick look to a short-sleeved black jacket on one of the rack wheels, took it off its hanger and handed it to Nora. "Try it with this."

The auburn-haired girl quickly complied, slipping her arms through the sleeves and suddenly feeling much more comfortable than before. Maybe it was because she was showing less skin? Well, it didn't matter anyhow, she seemed much more confident with the jacket on than off. Actually, it brought the whole outfit together.

"Damn Nora! You look badass!" Yang cheered, causing her friend's slight smile to grown into a full-on grin.

"Of course I do! I'm me, after all!" Nora said with all the confidence a certified badass could muster, which, considering her, was likely a lot more than the average person.

"I'll admit, you pull that outfit off rather well. Okay, go and change out of it. Don't worry about the other one, I'll put it back." Coco said with a kind, satisfied smile on her lips. Nora gave a bubbly "Yes mam!" as she zipped back inside the changing room and coming back out a few seconds later with the stack of unused clothes and an unfolded pile of the ones she'd tried on. How was this possible? She's Nora, that's all you need to know.

"Well, it's your turn now, Sunshine." Coco handed Yang her own stack of clothes, the blonde brawler sighing slightly as she took them from her outstretched arms and opened the dressing room, stepping inside and closing off the outside before slipping into the new outfit the aviator sporting huntress had given her.

(a few minutes later, Dabi's POV)

"Thanks," Dabi said to the vendor, pocketing the three-meter lengths of chain that he'd just purchased for a certain, bubbly psychopath he knew and tolerated. He really didn't want to buy more flick open knives for her, so she was going to use these to keep track of the ones she already had or Oum dammit he was going to tie them onto her wrists himself.

Readjusting his hood and briefly snapping open his mask for fresh air before placing it back on, Dabi turned the corner of the stall and began to walk in the same direction of the hideout he'd come from. He'd have to check for tails in a few minutes.

And then he saw a familiar yet foreign face. A curled copper-haired, lightly freckled skinned, green-eyed girl with a pink bow in her hair. The bow that... he gave to her...

Penny!

Throwing all caution to the wind, Dabi almost ran to her, eager to see his friend again after so many months. But he restrained himself, carefully approaching her before lightly tapping on her left shoulder. Penny's form almost snapped in his direction, an infectious smile coming over her face as she said, "Salutations, good sir!"

Dabi was... startled. The Penny he remembered wasn't nearly this boisterous. Sure, she was very kind, but she was also very timid and shy. However, he simply wrote this off as a change in personality. A lot could change in nine months, after all. Hesitantly, he regained his voice and asked, "… Penny?"

The android in disguise tilted her head in minor confusion, replying, "Yes, that is my name. Why do you ask? And how do you know it? I do not believe I told you."

Dabi then asked the question he was dreading the most to ask. "Do you... remember me?"

.

..

…

"… I am sorry, but I have no memory of you."

That was a shot in the heart for him. Dabi's eyes lost the light they'd just barely regained. She didn't even remember who he was. "Sorry to bother you," was all he said before turning and walking in the opposite direction, now even more depressed than the day his mother died.

"… w-w-wait!"

Dabi glanced back as Penny grabbed the lower part of his jacket, her grip far stronger than that of the frail girl he remembered. Her dainty hand trembled as she continued, "I feel... like something is telling me that you are familiar. I don't know what it is, but it's insisting that I know you somehow. Who... who are you?"

That was the moment he realized it. This wasn't Penny. At least, not the one he knew. He did it. That crazy bastard actually went through with that crazy experiment. He turned back to Penny, a confused and oddly desperate look adorning her face, sighing slightly before he answered, "We... we were close, at one point. You likely don't remember, but I'm the one that gave you this." He pointed to the pink bow in the top part of her hair. "You were my friend. My only friend."

"But who are you?"

Dabi turned once more, walking forwards slightly before glancing back and saying, "I'm the guy who owes you his life," before continuing on, leaving an even more confused Penny in his wake with only one thought burning in his mind.

Stein... when I get my hands on you, you're gonna pay for everything you've done. To me and to her.

(4:46 pm, approaching Torino's apartment building, Yang's POV)

"Remind me again why you bought so many sets of clothes?" Yang asked as Coco somehow managed to balance all her shopping bags in one hand while carrying Cream & Sugar in the other. The beret sporting girl simply replied, "I liked the outfits, so I bought them. Besides, I've had a while to practice balancing bags. It was pretty hard at first."

"Well duh! That stack of bags is almost as high as a one-story building!" Nora commented on the height of Coco's current burden.

They then entered the building, briefly noting that no one was present before they placed their respective clothes sets in their rooms. They reconvened in the lobby to find a note placed on the door of the fridge, which read, WENT TO BEACH. TRAINING.

"Well, that's pretty vague," Coco said as she pulled the note off the fridge. It wasn't signed, though she recognized the rough and hasty handwriting to be Fox's. Yang, curious to see what the others were up to, said, "You wanna head over?"

"Sure, I'm game."

"Me too!" Nora bounced down the staircase as she said this.

"Although I would recommend bringing those swimsuits I picked out for you two. We are heading to the beach after all."

(seven minutes later, Vale Municipal Beach, Yang's POV)

What they found when they arrived there was... honestly both terrifying and confusing at the same time. What they expected to find were Team STIK and the other members of RWBY, CFVY, and JNPR, only to find that Team TAKT, as well as Sun and Penny, were there as well, helping to haul the trash that littered the once empty but beautiful sands off the beach. All of them, with the exception of Penny, were wearing either workout clothes or some form of swimwear.

To be more specific, Ruby, Weiss, Velvet, Tenya and Ren were scouring the beach for spare bits of trash, the rose-themed and spectacled members of the five being far faster and surprisingly more efficient about it than latter participants, while Yatsu, Kirishima, Penny, Jaune, Tokoyami, and Sun gathered the larger pieces of trash that the others couldn't lift, the former three using their raw strength while the latter three used their semblances. Actually, Jaune himself wasn't moving, instead sitting in a meditative stance with his hands clasped together, alongside Sun, as a now fully realized and armored Lancelot, assisted occasionally by Sun's clones, lifted large pieces that he otherwise wouldn't have been able to. Tokoyami did something similar with Shadow but remained standing and seemed to feel more of a burden from using his semblance than Jaune was at that moment. They seemed to have worked out a system, gather the larger portions at the bottom of the pile, then sprinkle the top with medium and smaller sized pieces.

As for the others, Blake was teetering the edges of the water with Tsuyu, both donning their respective black and light green one-piece swimsuits as they scanned for any trash that may have fallen back in the water. Pyrrha did the same, trying to use her polarity to sense any metal within the water as she wore her own red, two-piece swimsuit that showed more cleavage than her hunter outfit, though Yang had a feeling that was to get the attention of a certain blonde knight. Fox was in the water as well, his semblance giving him a searching advantage over the others there, even Pyrrha with her polarity. He wore a pair of burnt orange swim trunks, leaving his chest exposed and causing Coco to stare and practically drool for several seconds. As for the others...

"Dammit Deku, hurry up! I can't wait all day!" Bakugo stomped his foot impatiently as Izuku lifted one of the piles of trash over his head, the trademark signs of coiling green electricity and blackened whites of his eyes giving away the use of Full Cowl. She also noticed that the lower half of his face was covered by the half mask she'd given to him all those months ago. Though this was all she noticed before she started staring through his drenched short at his surprisingly muscular body.

"These things are really heavy, alright?" Izuku said as he set the pile down, deactivating his powers and placing the mask back onto his neck as Bakugo began using his explosions to compact the trash.

"Thanks for the hand, Shoto!" Mina said as she melted Shoto's pile down and together, which he'd dragged up there by turning gravity to his advantage. That and the ice pillars made it much easier.

"No problem." The half and half leader said with a smile on his face, melting the leftovers of the ice pillars he'd used.

.

..

…

"...what did we miss?" Nora asked out loud to no one in particular.

"A whole hell of a lot," Torino replied, almost appearing next to them. How was that physically possible? It didn't matter at the moment, as Torino explained just what had happened over the course of the day.

(7:09 am, Vale Municipal Beach, Izuku's POV)

"What the hell?!" Team STIK synched at the massive piles of garbage that now lined the beach. It was almost as cluttered as when Toshinori had originally assigned Izuku to clear the beach side, and that was done over the course of ten long, hellish months. The team was wearing their respective workout getups, Bakugo wearing a black tank top and crimson shorts, Tenya wearing a white tank top and bright navy-blue shorts, Shoto with a white tank top and black sweat pants and Izuku with a white t-shirt and black shorts.

"Huh. This place is a bit more cluttered than I thought it'd be." Torino commented as he stroked his short beard.

"A bit?!" Tenya yelled. "This place is absolutely filthy! And how?! It was clean a week ago!"

"Well, it doesn't really matter, anyhow. Now, you are all being tasked with cleaning this entire beach-"

"ARE YOU INSANE, OLD MAN?! WE'RE NOT GONNA CLEAN THIS ENTIRE THING IN A DA-" Bakugo yelled characteristically loudly before Torino zipped over and whacked him over the head with Shinboku landing as he continued, "Never call me that. Since this place is so damn cluttered, I have an idea to make the process faster.

"I'll let you use your semblances for this. It's about time you learned how to stretch them to their absolute limits, anyways."

This made STIK look briefly shocked before the look slowly trickled into joy and excitedness. If they could use their powers to speed up the process, possibly work out a system of use, then they'd be able to clean the beach by the end of the day. It'd be a killer workout, but it'd be worth it.

"Now then, let's get to work!"

(an hour later, Izuku's POV)

Come on, Izuku! You can do this. Just imagine the ocean and dive into it! Izuku tried the best he could to channel more power from One for All into his body. After his meditation dream, his view on what it One for All had changed from the microwave to an entire ocean's worth of potential and power, though he still felt unworthy of it. He found that 'diving' into the ocean he'd seen in meditation made the process easier and figured that if he did it enough it would eventually become second nature. He was currently pushing his upper limits, going from percentile to percentile. 18%. 19%.

"Full Cowl, 20%!" Izuku cried as his pupils burned a bright emerald color and the whites of his eyes turned black. He put his arms under the massive pile of thrash that was twice as wide as he was and three times his own height, and, after finding some stable grip holds, lifted the mass over his head before tossing it back onto the shoreline. He then promptly dropped to the sand back first, disengaging Full Cowl and panting incessantly.

"You sure you're gonna be alright doing that? We're supposed to be training, not killing ourselves." Shoto said as he slid his pile upwards, where Bakugo began to compact them both into smaller, more manageable piles. It gave his hands a workout, that was for sure.

"I'm not sure. I've tried pushing the upper limits, and I've managed to get to about 20%, but... it feels like if I go too fast, I'll break my bones just by moving." Izuku sat up he said this, now having regained his breath.

"Hmm... maybe make a physical trigger for you absolute strongest?" Shoto thought out loud.

"How would that work?" Izuku asked his leader, his interest now fully peaked.

"Well, you say that you're imagining yourself diving into an ocean to do this, right?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?" Izuku inclined his head in slight confusion.

"Maybe if you associate it with a physical action, the second nature process will become easier. Maybe use that half mask that Yang gave you?"

Izuku's eyes widened in realization. The mask had always been worn around his neck; he'd hardly taken it off since the incident with Stain finished. Why hadn't he actually used it the way it'd been designed? It had a built-in air filter, so actually putting it on wasn't the issue, but now he could use it properly!

"Thanks, Shoto!" The green haired boy said to his leader before hopping to his feet once more, now using his mask to trigger Full Cowl's current maximum capacity far faster than he would've otherwise. It didn't up the time limit, but it was starting to make the process itself easier.

(one hour later, Shoto's POV)

"Whoa, what're they doing? It looks so freaking manly and fun!" Shoto turned when he heard Kirishima bellow this, finding him and his team standing at the edge of the sands. They were all wearing street clothes, the aforementioned Wolverine faunus wearing a black tank top with a red R emblazoned on the front with a pair of jean shorts to complete the outfit. His leader wore a black, long-sleeved shirt and gray pants while his best friend and favorite prankster wore a black tank top with the word 'Pinky' emblazoned across her chest, accompanied by a pair of jean short shorts. Tsuyu simply wore a green jacket and white t-shirt with a pair of form-fitting sweatpants. They all carried a bag or two, showing that they had been shopping prior to this encounter.

"Training," Shoto replied, launching his next pile up the steps for Bakugo to compact.

"Cool! Can we join?" Mina asked in a bubbly tone.

"You may," Torino answered them as a sadistic smile crossed his lips. "But, keep in mind that once you do, I will not allow you to leave until the entire beach is cleaned."

"Okay." Team TAKT synched without a moment of hesitation.

.

..

…

"Huh. Thought you'd be a lot more terrified." Torino stated.

"We needed to train some more anyway." Tokoyami and Tsuyu said simultaneously, causing Kirishima and Mina to nod in agreement before they hopped down to the beach floor and began to help with the cleaning.

"Guess it's a good thing we bought those swimsuits." Tsuyu thought aloud, followed by her characteristic ribbit.

(two hours later, Tenya's POV)

Tenya, after three full hours of cleaning the beachside, was ready for a break. Even with the added help of Team TAKT, the day was still going by rather slowly, and he felt the need to rest his bones for a few hours, at least. Ironically, this was also the same moment that Torino decided to call break hour.

"That was exhausting. And we're not even halfway done yet." Tenya said as he sat against the stone wall at the back end of the beach, his legs crossed as he began observing just how much more they had to do.

"Shut up and rest up, four eyes." Bakugo simply replied as he sat back against the wall with his legs splayed next to his comparatively composed teammate. This was also when their stomachs decided to simultaneously rumble.

"Do you wish to acquire some food?" Tenya asked his partner.

"No need." They glanced up to see that Jaune, Yatsu, and Pyrrha were all carrying bags of food with them. Ruby, Velvet, and Weiss were doing the same, though they'd already dispersed to go and give food to the others.

"Torino called ahead, said to get you guys some food." Jaune landed next to the two partners, handing them each a bag of what Tenya confirmed to be fast food burgers. He ate his as cleanly as he could, though his direwolf partner simply didn't care for manners and practically inhaled it within two bites, then finding that there was more than one in his bag before he devoured that one as well.

"Thank you for the food." Tenya bowed slightly towards the blonde knight, who said, "No problem," before looking out at the work they still had to do. "Damn. That is a lot of trash."

"Yes, it is."

"Hmm... need a hand?"

"That would be much appreciated. Although, and I don't mean any offense by this, you're not exactly the strongest member on your team."

"None taken. Besides, I've got a way to lift some of the heavier pieces." Jaune crossed his legs and clasped his hands together, briefly flashing white before the ghostly, fully armored figure of Lancelot appeared kneeling before his master, then standing and asking, "What is your command, master?"

"We're gonna start helping to clean the beach in a bit. Just thought I'd give you a heads up." Jaune answered his Fable without opening his eyes.

"*Sigh* Did you really have to wake me up just to tell me that?"

"Well, you don't really sleep anyway."

"True enough."

Lancelot then faded back into the air, Jaune casually opening his bag and biting into his burger, never noticing that Tenya's jaw had practically hit the floor.

(a few minutes later, Ren's POV)

Why are they eating that food? It's incredibly unhealthy. Ren thought to himself as he observed the others eating the fast food hamburgers, currently munching on his own, almost entirely green salad.

(a few minutes later, Sun's POV)

"C'mon, Neptune! You've gotta get over it eventually."

"Look, I'm just... not... feeling it, okay? Also, I am not afraid of water, and have no idea what you are talking about!" The goggle-sporting boy objected.

"It's just a little-"

"No! I don't feel like going!" Neptune zoomed back towards Vale, leaving a very confused group of trainees behind him.

"So... need any help?"

(present time, Yang's POV)

"And that's about it." Torino finished explained.

"… well I guess it's a good thing we brought those swimsuits," Coco said as she walked towards the changing stalls at the far side of the beach. Yang and Nora glanced at each other, both realized they didn't have anything better to do, and followed Coco to the stalls, helping the others to clean the beach by dinner.

A/N: And that's about it. Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Also, there's this:

This isn't something I've ever actually done before, so forgive me if I make a few slip ups here and there. Also, SPOILERS! I am going to be talking about Volume 5 of RWBY and all its episodes. ALL OF THEM! If you have not seen the entire Volume and still want to go in blind, do that NOW! So, before any of you go and complain in the reviews, remember: YOU! HAVE! BEEN! WARNED!

Also, the entire Volume is available to watch right now on YouTube. Don't worry, I can wait. These are just words expressing an opinion on a page after all. I'm not offended. *sniff*

Now, with that out of the way, let's get to talking about the actual Volume. I will say that it's certainly been a mixed bag for a lot of people. There are plenty of good things about it, the fights are getting better, the characters interactions are very believable, and there was clarification and more information on Aura and Semblances that was either really vague or we simply didn't have before. The biggest complaint most people have about this volume is the fact that there's so much exposition dumping. And it's not all bad, either. Some of the information they gave actually had some much-needed context. But most of it was just stuff that we already knew or confirmation for things we inferred with the information that they already gave us. I mean, it's nice that they confirmed a lot of things, but they could've had it take up less time than it did.

The other thing most people had a problem with was the handling of Adam's character, which I can't exactly blame them for. He started out this Volume just fine, being the same cold, logical, sociopathic badass he always was. Hell, he killed Sienna Khan! I mean, it was a wasted potential plot point, and her voice actor gave an awesome performance, and a lot of effort went into her character design, but that's beside the point. Adam seemed the only villain who could do something that evil and make you wonder what the world of Remnant did to him to make him that way! Well, other than Cinder (speaking of which, Miles, Kerry, can we have some fucking context on her backstory please?!).

For the first few episodes, Adam was goddamn terrifying. And then RT seemed to just drop the ball for him during the Fall of Haven. I mean, come on! He might 'love' Blake, but I'm pretty damn sure he wouldn't be that stupid!

However, I loved Blake this Volume. Specifically, during the last episode. It's nice to see that she's not letting Adam control her thoughts like he used to. Plus, the fact that she knew him well enough to know that going after him was practically asking for death is definitely growth on her part. I really liked the interactions with her and Sun this Volume as well. I don't think they're gonna get together, at least not right now, but it's definitely a possibility. However, this does not mean that Bumblebee is out of the running just yet, though if it is planned for canon I don't think it'll be a thing for a while. And yes, the Menagerie Arc definitely had its fair share of problems, and it dragged a lot more than it needed to, but I will admit that the climax was pretty satisfying. Plus, that fight scene with Blake and Ilia was f* #ing awesome! Speaking of...

Ilia has quickly become a fan favorite, and I can definitely see why. Not only because she's the first confirmed LGBT character (yes!), but also because her struggle is genuinely relatable. Learning that something or someone you used to have faith in aren't as good as you might've thought they were can be pretty world-shaking, and she herself said that she wasn't sure what to do once she learned about that. She was torn between the organization that trained and raised her and her best friend who was trying to do the right thing while also being true to her own morals. That's not exactly an easy decision to make. She's not my favorite character, but she's pretty high up on the list.

The Haven Arc was... alright. I mean, it wasn't bad, but it could've been better. Oscar was probably my favorite out of the bunch (his interactions with Ruby were just so goddamn cute! Before you ask, yes, I do ship RoseGarden, and before any of you say that 'Oscar's too young for Ruby,' I will take it upon myself to remind you that Ruby is still two years younger than Weiss). I wish we had more time with him and less time with Ozpin. No, not Ozpin in Oscar's body, I mean the actual Oscar! And I get it, it's supposed to be a pretty big deal that Ozpin's alive again, but we know that now. There's no more shock value. So for the love of god, give the actual Oscar more screen time, please!

Yang's pre-Haven Arc was pretty good, probably the best after Weiss' pre-Haven Arc. I like that she was only trying to find Raven to save herself time in finding her sister, and the reunion with her and Weiss was really heartwarming and almost made me cry. Still, it would be nice to see that the loss of her arm affected her more than just giving her shakes. And yeah, she is fighting smarter than she used to, and not using her semblance nearly as much, but I don't think that even Yang can get over losing an arm that quickly. Four to six months is not that long to recover from something like that. Often times it can take a year at best or even longer or possibly never at worst.

Weiss definitely showed that she could kick ass without the rest of her team to back her up. The fact that they showed she could've broken out of that cage the Branwen bandits placed her in at any time shows just how much more independent of her father she's become, at least for me. She just decided to break out subtly. Also, who else thought that tiny knight summon was absolutely adorable?

Cinder and the rest of Salem's cohorts could've used some more screen time. I get that they're supposed to be creeping in on Haven, but that's not really what ended up happening. They stormed the castle, and, as Watts would put it, they did not do it quietly. Some more time with Mercury and Emerald would do probably do the show a lot of favors.

Also, holy shit that last fight with Cinder and Raven was fucking awesome! That was the type of fight that RWBY is known for! Let's see more of those in the future, please?

All in all, it wasn't the best Volume in the series, but it did what it set out to accomplish. I personally give it a 7.7/10.

Next Chapter: Feb 25th

Seeya in the next one!