Author's note: This begins the events of Vol.2.
A couple weeks had passed, and it seemed life at Beacon was somewhat as normal as it could be. Julius went through classes relatively well, all thanks to help from his new friends in Team RWBY as well as JNPR and CFVY, though he ended up spending most of his time with RWBY. Many believed that this was because he and Blake had begun dating, and, while both Julius and Blake denied it, it had become obvious that the two were beginning to develop some form of romantic affection to each other.
On this particular day, the group sat at a table in the cafeteria, doing their own things, JNPR sat a few tables across, with Nora shooting small bit of food into Yang's mouth. Julius was sitting in between Yang and Blake, and, while no one noticed, he and Blake were holding hands under the table. Suddenly, Ruby walked up, dropping a massive binder on the table in front of them. The words: Best Day Ever Activities were written in big red ink on the cover.
"Sister, friends, Weiss." She said,
"Hey!" Weiss protested.
"Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream." Ruby continued.
"Oh boy…" Julius said, knowing full well what was coming.
"This oughta be good," Yang added.
Ruby continued, "A dream that one day the five of us would come together as a team, with the exception of Julius as he's not really on the team,"
"Excuse me?" Julius demanded, but Ruby didn't seem to hear him and continued. "…and would have the most fun anyone has ever had EVER!"
"Did you steal my binder?" Weiss asked.
"I am not a crook," Ruby argued.
"No, she definitely took your binder," Julius said, "It was probably the only one big enough to fit all her crazy ideas."
"Hmph, please, not even ten of my binders could possibly hold all her ideas," Weiss replied.
"What do you mean, Ruby?" Blake asked.
"I'm talking about kicking our semester off with a bang." Ruby said.
"I like to kick my semesters off with a YANG," Yang said, "Huh? Anyone?"
Weiss just hung her head, while Julius simply cringed and groaned, "Did you HAVE to do that?" He knew full well that yang was skilled at saying terrible puns at this point, but he still cringed because they were THAT bad every time. Yang then got hit in the face with a red ball as Nora booed her.
Julius chuckled. "Serves you right…"
"Look guys," Ruby said, "it's been a good two weeks and with more exchange students coming and the tournament at the end of the year, our second semester's going to be great. But, classes start back up tomorrow, which is why I've taken the time to schedule a wonderful series of events for us today."
"I don't know whether to be proud or scared for what you have in store." Weiss said.
"As long as one of them involves kicking something's rear end, I'm down for it." Julius said, as Yang threw an apple back at Nora.
"Is everything about fighting to you, Julius?" Weiss said.
"Hey, I gotta keep my skills sharpened somehow," Julius argued.
"I don't know," Blake said, "I think I might sit this one out."
"Well, sit out or not," Weiss said, "I say however we spend today, we should do it as a team. I for one think…" but then she was cut short as a pie flew and hit her in the face, causing the others to lean back in surprise. As they looked towards JNPR's table, they saw Jaune and Pyrrha with shocked expressions while Nora pointed at Ren, who had his head in his hand. Julius noticed a change in the girls' expression and leaned back a bit.
"Uh oh…" he said.
Outside of the cafeteria, Sun was walking with his friend, Neptune, and was describing his fight against Roman and the White Fang alongside Blake and Julius.
"…they were both super-fast. Then I threw a banana at a guy, which sounds super gross, but it was awesome."
"Nice," Neptune said.
"Right?" Sun continued, "And the best part is; she's a faunus. But that's a secret okay?"
"Got it."
"And not one of those 'I'm gonna go tell Scarlet the second Sun turns his back' type of secret. I'm talking Secret secret."
"Woah, alright. Chill out, man, okay? I got it."
"You'd better. I just don't want to screw this up, you know. The people here are the coolest. No offense to you guys."
"None taken,"
As the two walked, they were unaware of what appeared to be a small food fight happening inside.
"Okay, they're right in here," Sun said, going to the door, "I'm really excited for you to meet them, so be cool, okay? You can be cool, right?"
"Dude," Neptune said, making a cool pose.
"Good point." Sun admitted. Neptune had a habit of being cool most of the time.
As the two walked in they saw most of the students running out. Just then, Julius noticed the two and teleported over startling Neptune.
"Hey, Sun." he said.
"Sup, Julius." Sun said, "This one of my teammates, Neptune," he said, pointing to Neptune. Julius nodded at Neptune, then turned back to Sun. "You kinda picked a bad time to come here."
Just then they heard Nora evilly laugh and sing. "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" while standing on a makeshift fort made from stacked tables, Team JNPR assembled in front of it.
Ruby stood at the other end of the room with her team, saying. "Justice will be swift. Justice will be painful. It will be DELICIOUS!" as her team issued a war cry.
"Off with their heads," Nora said, official launching the two teams into the most INTENSE food fight Julius had ever seen. Each one was using a food item related to their actual weapons and were using them surprisingly effectively; who knew getting hit by a turkey hurt that much.
"You're not gonna join them?" Sun asked.
"As much as I would LOVE to kick someone's ass right now, I have no idea whose side to choose, so I'll stay out of this one," Julius said. Then seeing both Weiss get slammed into a pillar so hard it cracked, then Nora slam Yang through the room with a watermelon hammer, widened his eyes in shock, saying, "Oh crap, I hope they're okay…"
Finally, Ruby shot forward with her semblance, creating a vortex that sucked up team JNPR, along with all the food, and slammed them against the wall, effectively ending the fight and dousing JNPR in food.
"I love these guys," Sun said, looking over to Neptune. Julius stood in front of Neptune, and, having shielded him from the incoming food, was covered in some purple…something.
"You okay, pal?" Julius asked Neptune.
"All good, here." Neptune said, just as the boor burst open and Professor Goodwitch stormed through, then used her semblance to put all the tables back where they belonged.
"Children, please," she said, "Do not play with your food."
Team RWBY and JNPR just laughed, which intensified when Yang fell back through the roof and hit the floor, only to stand up and give a thumbs up. Even Julius couldn't help but chuckle at that. Ozpin walked up behind Goodwitch and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Let it go." He said.
Goodwitch sighed. "They're supposed to be the protectors of the world."
"And they will be, but right now they are still children. So why not let them play the part. After all, it's not one they'll have for long."
Ozpin turned to leave, then noticed that Julius had been shielding Neptune from the food.
"He would not have been hurt if he had gotten hit, Mr. Rose." Ozpin said.
"I know," Julius replied, "But he is an exchange student and I just want to make the right impression on him."
"I see," Ozpin said, turning to leave, but all the while thinking that Julius was becoming more and more mysterious, yet equally as interesting.
…
In a warehouse on the other side of town, a large group of White Fang soldiers was hiding out. As they went about their duties, Emerald and Mercury walked in and headed for the other end of the building, where Roman stood at a table looking at a map. He turned around to see them.
"Oh, look, she sent the kids again." He said, then, walking up and putting an arm around their shoulders, "This is turning out just like the divorce."
Emerald shuddered. "Spare us the thought of you procreating."
"That was a joke," Roman said, holding up a small piece of paper, "And this…might just tell me where you two have been all day."
Emerald looked down at her pockets in surprise. "Wait, what? How…"
"I'm a professional, sweetheart," Roman said, "Pay attention, maybe you'll learn something," then, looking at the paper, "Why do you have this address?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Uh, yeah, I would. Now, what have you two been doing?"
"Cleaning up your problems," Mercury said, "One of them, at least."
"I had that under control." Roman said.
"Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise."
"Listen you little punk, if it were up to me, I'd take you and your little street rat friend here and.."
"And do what, Roman?" said a woman's voice. Roman looked up to see Cinder approach, coming down an elevator.
"Uhhh, I'd not kill them?" Roman said.
"Cinder!" said Emerald.
"I thought I had specifically told you to deal with the would be runaway." Cinder said.
"I was going to…" Roman said.
"He was planning to escape to Vacuo," Emerald said, "Mercury and I decided to take it upon ourselves and kill the rat."
"I think he was some kind of cat, actually," Mercury said.
"What, like a puma?"
"Yeah, there you go."
"Quiet," Cinder said, "Did I not specifically tell you two to keep your hands clean while we were in Vale?"
Emerald looked embarrassed. "I just thought…"
"Don't think; obey," Cinder said, while Roman stood in the back, dragging a finger across his neck in a mocking gesture.
"Yes ma'am," Emerald said, "It won't happen again."
"And you," Cinder said, turning to Roman, "Why wasn't this job done sooner?"
"Uhhhh…" Roman said, then gestured to the stolen crates behind him with sounds of surprise.
"Sorry, if I've been a little busy lately robbing every last speck of Dust in the kingdom," he said.
"You're an inspiration to every punk with a gun in a ski mask," Mercury said sarcastically.
"Look around kid, I've got this town running scared. Cops parked at every street corner, Dust prices through the roof, and here we are, sitting pretty in an old warehouse with more Dust crystals, vials, and rounds than we know what to do with. Speaking of which, if you would care to fill me in on your little grand master scheme, it might make my next string of robberies go a little bit smoother."
"Oh, Roman, have a little faith," Cinder said, walking up to him and placing a hand on his cheek, "You'll know what you'll need when you need to know."
Roman turned his head away from Cinder's hand.
Cinder turned around. "Besides, we're done with Dust."
"Ooookay, so, now what?" Roman asked.
"We're leaving," Cinder said, "Have the White Fang pack up everything in this building. I'll send you details and coordinates tonight."
"Coordinates?" Roman asked.
"We're proceeding to Phase 2," cinder said walking out of the building, Mercury and Emerald following her. Roman sighed and pulled out a cigar, then tried to find his lighter, only to see Emerald hold it up to him, sticking her tongue out. Suddenly, Neo appeared, snatching the lighter from Emerald and walking back to Roman, glaring at Emerald briefly. When she reached Roman, she tossed him the lighter.
"Thank you, Neo," Roman said. Neo smiled and nodded. Roman watched at Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury left the warehouse. Once he was sure they were gone, he turned back to Neo and said, "I need you to do something for me."
Neo cocked her head in interest and Roman continued. "I need you to send word to our…other friend on the outside. He'll want to know about this new change of plans. Can you do that?"
Neo excitedly nodded her head; she always enjoyed seeing Julius, especially since he was the one who had saved Roman in the past.
Roman smiled. "Good, go as soon as you can, and for the love of God, don't let any of those three pushy morons see you."
Neo smirked deviously; that was going to be both easy and satisfying.