So uh, this was a crack idea.

But, well, it's real now!

He made them laugh,

He made them cheer,

He made them smile.

And that was all he needed.

Huntsmen had many duties. At least, according to the vows Jaune took when Raiden thought he was good enough, they did. Huntsmen protected, they brought hope, they were nigh superhuman bulwarks against the darkness. Duties Jaune had faithfully attended to. Protecting settlements from Grimm, escorting shipments of food or other supplies, tending to the wounded, and burying the dead. All were within the realm of the huntsman. But also within their duties was the duty to bolster the spirit. While this was normally through simply appearing and having a distinctive look, to give confidence to the people in the darkest of times, this was also done through other, more direct means.

Things like tournament fighters and hunters who do things in entertainment where civilians cannot apply. Many hunters looked down on those who do stuff like that, essentially people who reaped all the benefits of being a huntsman while never actually taking the risks. And often, it seemed like they call themselves huntsmen for the sake of a market appeal. And while Jaune wouldn't deny that, he found a purpose in their profession and didn't hate them for it.

After all, the duty of a huntsman, beyond killing Grimm, is to make the people smile. That and protecting them. But those two go hand in hand. The Grimm feed off of hate and fear, after all, so what better way to fix that but with laughter?

That did bring to mind one positively horrific town, but Jaune waved that memory away. No use dwelling.

Anyways, why was he ruminating on the many, many facets of his choice of profession? Because he was taking part in a hit cooking show 'Grimm Kitchen.'

"And here we have our guest star, JAUNE ARC!" To be fair, the job description said that they had to be a huntsman, wear flashy clothes, and know how to cook. Anyways, this cooking show's gimmick was that all the contestants were hunters. It was being filmed in Argus, and that was actually an interesting tidbit at well. Because Argus was arguably the capital of entertainment. Thousands of TV shows, game shows, movies, games, books, and other forms of entertainment were made in Argus. That was because of its economic prosperity, the fact that it was a joint territory between Mistral and Atlas, and that it poured a lot of money into entertainment. Hell, there was even a (arguably propogandaistic) sentai show about a brightly colored version of the Colussus mecha protecting a fictional version of Remnant.

The other contestants were also very flashy, definitely veterans in this sorta thing. There was a samurai in purple name Kojiro, a martial artist in yellow named Chan, and a valkyrie wearing silver named Bryn. Meanwhile, there was him, a knight wearing white armor trimmed gold.

Oh yea, on the note of Valkyries, he remembered hearing rumors of a legendary band of hunters called the Valkyries, a trio of huntresses who seemingly fly in during the most dire of Grimm sieges right as things look hopeless. Neat trivia.

Anyways, yea, he was doing this. And it was being livestreamed! Did he mention that? He should've mentioned that.

Because all around Remnant, people were watching. Talos, coincidentally also in Argus, had noticed the face of his friend being broadcasted on television. Qrow spat his water (he promised Ruby) out as he stared at the cooking show Taiyang was watching as he made them lunch(the man was always the cook. Summer was kind of bad at cooking, like most huntsmen, while Raven was actually a surprisingly good one. But she wasn't accustomed to the ingredients in Vale like Tai was, so, well, he had to be the one to make stuff). Winter found Harriet cooking (Vine's food tasted like trash, Clover didn't know how, Elm didn't know how to control her strength, and Marrow? Ok Marrow was actually really good at cooking, but he was on a mission) in the barracks kitchen while watching and, upon seeing Jaune's face, decided to stick around and watch. In a bar at the edges of civilization, Amber, with new clothes and hair, smiled upon seeing the boy who saved her life having traveled so very far. Fior Marlon smirked, that brat really did get everywhere. Maria stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that huntsman from a while ago on TV. Oscar caught his Aunt watching the show and decided to stop when he saw Jaune's face, much to his aunt's amusement.

And the Arc family?

"Pffft! Get as many pictures as you can! This is soooo good!" Lavendar Arc was barely holding in her laughter as she took picture after picture with her scroll, fully intending on spamming her brother's messages with them in order to tease him. The others weren't exactly any better, as the whole Arc family had gathered in the living room to watch their wayward member participate in a show Sable happened to like.

And a few blocks away, a certain Terra Cotta-Arc just so happened to bring the fact that Jaune was in Argus, very close to them at that, to her wife, Saphron Cotta-Arc.

"Now, hunters, your goal here is to create a series of dishes for us. Now, you'll have to scavenge for ingredients in the no man's land-" The facility they were operating in was huge. While the kitchens themselves were fairly well equipped (there was a tool for anything you could imagine), the ingredients were missing. And that was because those were scattered around a built in ruins. No real Grimm though, Grimmsports was made illegal a long ago. "-before going back to your kitchens and preparing the dish. The rules are simple, you may not use your weapons to attack each other, but you may use them in other capacities-" Raiden did sometimes call Crocea Mors an overglorified bread cutter, Jaune noted. "-any you may not steal the meals of others as your own. You may also not mess with the kitchens of the other contestants while they're not in them."

Jaune thought about the design of the no man's land. It was made to be extremely hazardous. With temperatures going to the extreme, nigh unclimbable terrain, and a variety of other threats. Very little of it was actually lethal, though. The areas with 'poisonous' gas actually just has tear gas. Trapdoors simply lead to oil slicked pits that were hard to get out of. And the rogue knights they put out as obstacles were programmed with the directive to merely incapacitate. And they wielded dull blades and shot rubber bullets.

"Now, for your first round, you'll be cooking a full course. There must be a soup. Creamy, runny, chunky, whatever, as long as you can call it soup, it's soup. There must be a main dish. And finally, you must make a dessert. Now, we'll judge on three criteria: The look of the food, the taste of the food, and how well it was made. Anyways, the ingredients you'll find in the no-man's land will be useful to the creation of your entry. But beware, the loser of the bunch will be eliminated. Now, everyone, on your marks!" Everyone tensed up all at once as soon as the words were spoken. "Get set!" The eyes of his competition were shifting, they were planning, they were plotting. "GO!"

And to the races they went.

Jaune's legs carried him to one of the routes the other contestants didn't go to. While it would've made for entertaining television, he didn't exactly feel like competing for ingredients. His eyes zipped around, scanning the area for any low hanging fruit to pick.

And there were plenty. Tomatoes, celery, carrots, onions, basic, apple cider vinegar, some assorted herbs, a bag of flour hidden in a conspicuous crevice, and garlic. He wasn't worried about finding things like oil or salt, the kitchen came with a few basic things like those. And it would be pretty sadistic for them to force the contestants to look for those as well. And that made Jaune think about what Darling would do if she ran the show, which was obviously to make it a thousand times more deadly and entertaining, for her of course.

"TARGET ACQUIRED!" And there was the challenge. A repurposed and repainted Atlesian Knight whose hands were replaced with sabers (dulled, thankfully) was charging towards him. Jaune's arms were full of produce, so all he could do was use his legs. And while he wouldn't say he skipped leg day, what with his entire life nowadays seemingly being an endless exercise of the stupid things, he wasn't exactly a master of kicking.

"Ow!" Jaune stumbled and spun as he blocked a swing of the saber with an aura enforced knee. As he did, the ingredients he oh so carefuly gathered up were spilled, giving him access to his arms once more. But before Crocea Mors could choke on metal, the knight cut off the strap that attached the sheath to his side, making it fall to the floor as Jaune spun to avoid another strike. He scowled as his hand met his side and found cloth.

"Ooh, what are you going to do?" Tai was very concerned over why Qrow was obsessively watching a teenage boy on TV.

A dull saber struck the dirt once more as Jaune backed up wildly to avoid being battered. He flailed about on the ground as the knight took the initiative, earning chuckles from his friends and pictures from his family.

Then, his hands gripped on something. It didn't matter what, so Jaune gripped on it and filled it with his aura before swinging it at the knight's head.

And he knocked it clean off with an aura enforced day old baguette.

The metallic corpse slumped to the ground and Jaune was left blinking.

"Hah! That's a classic." Maria earned fewer peculiar glances, to be fair, she was fairly old, so it didn't look odd for her to watch this sort of thing.

"Well, not going to complain." Jaune picked up his new weapon, his actual weapon, and the ingredients he had dropped. He looked at what he had so far and thought about it, was this good enough?

Yes it wa-

Wait no, the tomatoes were gone. He caught a glimpse of the martial artist's bright yellow clothes as they ran away in the distance with his tomatoes. Well, at least he had the other stuff.

So, plan B. He had an idea for what to do and he needed two more items to make it. And luckily, the areas where he could find them were marked. For one, he needed beef bones. And secondly, he needed cheese. And according to the signs, he could get both of those by slaying the Minotaur. Not the Grimm Minotaur, no, Grimmsports were still illegal, a mechanical recreation. Not nearly as strong or deadly and programmed specifically not to kill.

Anyways, destroying it would mean getting the items he needed. The only problem was A: getting to it first, and B: not losing all of his ingredients immediately.

Well, whatever, he had to try anyways.

So, Jaune sprinted to where the map said the Minotaur would be.

Oh yea, the making and technical details of animatronics (Grimmtronics?) was quite the interesting thing. Jaune rubbed his chin as he stared down from his spot by a window over where Bryn was fighting the faux-Minotaur. While its fur and eyes were incredibly detailed, it was obvious that it wasn't the real deal. For one, the movement of its legs and how it swung the axe was incredibly stilted and mechanical.

For two, it wasn't literally shaking the earth with every strike. But that was just a technical limitation, Jaune supposed.

Anyways, Jaune could really only use his legs. He could risk leaving his stuff here, jumping down, killing the minotaur, and then coming back up to pick up his stuff. He could also just go back to the kitchen, but by then Bryn probably would've taken what he needed. No, he needed a way to quickly dispose of the Minotaur while also carrying all of his items.

Jaune suddenly got an idea. He took off his armor and hoodie (he was pretty sure he was cleared for that) revealing his fairly toned body. He stuffed all his ingredients into the hoodie before putting that sac into his chestplate. He did that right before leaping out of the window, activating the jets on his greaves as he did so.

"Look! Look! I have those too!" Penny suddenly smiled as she put the footage on a monitor for Pietro. She had been consuming human media for a while, as part of her goal to truly understand that of which she is given to protect, and saw that some human had something similar to what she did.

Anyways, while he rose, Jaune flipped in the air, finally standing upright. And then, he turned the jets off and let gravity do the work. Gravity and wind dust blasts spurted out of the sides of his legs as he adjusted for where the fight was going. And when he landed on the minotaur, he poured aura into his feet to negate the impact, which also created a blast of force under his feet that crushed the minotaur and flung Bryn away.

Using his feet, he kicked open the Minotaur's body and with his free hand, he took out a bag of cow bones and some gruyere cheese wrapped in a plastic bag. Though both of them were slightly squished.

"Oh well."

Carrying his ingredients and still with a bit of time on the clock, Jaune rushed towards the kitchen and laid out everything. He was planning to make Valean Onion Soup, but that required him to make Beef Broth first. And he didn't have a day to just let it simmer, so he couldn't make it traditionally. Thus, he had to rush it.

He lazily slathered the beef bits in oil before tossing them into the oven to brown while preparing the rest of the broth ingredients. He skinned carrots, chopped up some of his onions, poured water, put a bit of apple cider vinegar, put the herbs, and then placed the browned beef. But now he needed some gelatin. And he found the perfect source as he looked to Kojiro's kitchen.

Chicken fingers, five of them, perfect for the taking. So, taking care to slide on and lock the pressure cooker, Jaune bolted towards Kojiro's kitchen, yanked the chicken fingers, and ran back before the samurai could notice. At his table, he sliced off the talons on the fingers before tossing them into the pressure cooker. Then, he began to slice up the baguette to use for the soup, while also cutting up the rest of the onions in preparation. But just as he was finishing up dicing the onions, he heard an announcement.

"Huntsmen! Your cooking has garnered the attention of the Grimm. Be sure to protect your food, because they're hungry!" While the minotaur's make was custom, the Beowolf horde that they were unleashing wasn't. They were just Atlesian Knights equipped with black fur, claws, and Beowolf heads. Jaune wouldn't fault whoever made them, they served as good enough replacements. Plus, they had to be made in the nigh hundreds for the show.

Crocea Mors took a breath of fresh air as Jaune kicked a 'Beowolf' straight in the chest, holding onto the counter as he put a lit of aura into his armor to make the kick extra powerful. He then shoved one away from the pressure cooker and towards the kitchen of one of his opponents, who was also doing the same thing to the others.

"Wooh! Get 'em little bro!" Sable yelled from her seat on the couch.

Looking at the clock, he had about an hour and a half to make dessert and a main course. Some of the other contestants had also ventured off into no-man's land to gather more ingredients. And, well, he had to as well.

So, he ventured back in.

He took a more vertical path, using his armor to hop through a window and traversing some of the rooms, looking for any of the goods. He eventually stood on rotten flooring and fell down into a butcher's. And while most of the meat were either props or rancid, there were a few pieces that were evidently fine to cook. Specifically, a flank steak. Jaune's mind sifted through recipes, some of which he had to throw out on the basis of time, and others on the basis of he didn't remember the recipe. As he exited the butcher's with the wrapped up piece of flank steak he continued to look for ingredients.

As he ran, he came to a stop when he noticed mushrooms that were growing in a corner. Jaune took a moment to look at them thoroughly before confirming that they were shitake mushrooms. Jaune swiftly plucked them out as he settled on a recipe to go after. The kitchen should have skewers, right? Ah, whatever.

"Huntsmen! The Grimm are coming!" Oh, crap.

Quickly, he ran back towards his kitchen and laid out his ingredients. He placed his items on the counter before unsheathing Crocea Mors and beheading a Beowolf that had tried to tip over the pressure cooked. He leapt over the counter to deliver a jet-powered sideways spinning kick to another, and generally fend off the second wave. In between slashes, he slathered both sides of the flank steak with salt and pepper.

Jaune honestly thought that the set designers of the place deserved an award and a raise for how realistic and detailed the no-man's land was. Honestly, it was probably way too much effort for what was used in only about half of the runtime. He dashed towards the more plant filled area, grabbed whatever spinach he could find, and then ran back towards his kitchen. He pulled out a frying pan and began to cook the shitake mushrooms. Meanwhile, he cut the spinach up into individual leaves, rubbed the garlic on the baguette slices, shoved those into the oven to brown, and then moved onto dessert.

Hmmm, that was a pickle. Cakes were out, obviously. Wait! He got an idea He took out a frying pan, extra flat, and laid it on the countertop. Then, he went to the fridge, which really wasn't doing anything, and took out some ice dust, and poured it into the frying pan. He shook it a few times for it to even out before putting a slightly smaller pan, non stick and very flat, on top of the thin layer of ice dust.

As he was doing that, he had to block attempts at sabotage from his fellow contestants. Little things like trying to sneak by and unplug a few things or steal an item or two. He slapped their hands away, which was enough for them to leave.

A few moments later, he noticed that the shitake mushrooms had lost a ton of water by then, so Jaune put the spinach and began stirring, his eyes switching from watching vigilantly to make sure he wasn't interrupted and keeping an eye out for when the spinach fully shrunk. He crushed some garlic, added it in, and then let the whole thing fully cool.

"Oh no! A rainstorm has started, what will you do?" And on cue, the rain began pouring. Jaune revealed his shield and protected the mushroom/spinach mix and flank steak. He left his shield covering them, though he had to use a few pans to properly hold it up.

The rain (and appropriate moody lighting) weren't bad enough to blind the contestants, however, mostly because the cameras wouldn't be able to pick anything up that way.

The other contestants often left their stations to go try and sabotage the others. It was typically little stuff, stealing ingredients, opening ovens, and other such things. But with the rain, it more became an effort to expose the in progress meals to the elements. And Jaune had to fend others off. He pushed and punched and kicked, but he consistently found that he was quite weak in comparison to the others.

And he knew why. While yes, he had to shape up a lot in order to even consider his current path in life, he also wasn't very strong, at least according to huntsmen standards. He often made up for that in trickery and dust usage against the Grimm, which evened out the playing field a bit, but he didn't have that at the moment. The only thing he did have was his aura-powered jet boosted kicks, but the more he used it, the more aura he lost. And if he got to the red, he'd be disqualified on the grounds of being too injured to work.

His aura kept strong, though. His semblance was frankly a lifesaver in that regard.

But the others noticed his relative weakness as well. And, well, he quickly found himself in a bad situation.

"Heheh, isn't this funny?" Jaune nervously chuckled as he felt he back of his neck. The four other contestants were running straight towards his kitchen. Might as well get rid of the weakest link, Jaune supposed.

"Get him!" Bryn yelled. Jaune had noticed that most of the contestant to contestant fighting used hand to hand. And that was another thing, he wasn't the best at that either. Sure, he could overpower regular people, but other huntsmen? He was probably screwed.

It was safe to say that Jaune lost that fight, hands down. It ended with the pressure cooker's insides spilled upon the floor, the flank steak waterlogged, and the mushroom-spinach mix totally ruined.

And as the others fought within themselves, satisfied to see that the contestant who seemed to be making the most progress (Jaune noticed that the others were mediocre chefs at best) thrown down from their throne, Jaune stood in the mess of his own kitchen.

"Well, fuck." Qrow had luckily noticed the weird looks he was being given and explained the context to Tai. And now, they had to watch as it seemed that Jaune was on the verge of a breakdown. Or that might just be the rain.

"It's a shame." Winter sighed, the tension of seeing such a one sided fight may have been released, but a sense of dread crept into her. She knew that there were literally no stakes besides ego, but she felt for the loss of her friend.

"Damnit." Amber's fist gripped. Scenes of her attackers from so long ago flashed in her mind. She really didn't like one sided fights. But then again, that was reality.

"Would've been nice to see your meal." Fior sighed as she chewed. It was painful to watch that fight.

"No." Oscar watched in dread as he saw his idol? Surrogate big brother? Friend? Friend. As he saw his friend lose so badly.

But as the rain began to clear, other thoughts sprung to mind.

"An end? Not likely, not with him." But Talos wasn't so sure of the finality. There was still time on the clock. And Jaune wasn't very good at lying down dead.

"C'mon nino! Get up! You can still do this!" Maria didn't survive to her old age to watch the youngsters just take it like that. Jaune had hit rock bottom, at least in this competition, but there was still time.

"You can do it Jaune! We believe in you!" Amber Arc was yelling from her place in the couch, with the other members of the Arc family similarly adding in cheers for their wayward member.

"You can still do this." Saphron whispered. Her brother, if anything, was determined. And if having only a year to train for Beacon didn't stop him from trying to become a huntsman (though he never went to Beacon), well, then, this sure wouldn't stop him from trying to win.

And similarly, those who knew him from his travels all whispered as the knight stood in the new dawn.

And everyone saw as a wide smile engulfed his face.

What was he trying to do? Win? Why did he care? Glory? He could've become a tourney fighter. Money? There was no prize either way, he got paid regardless. Pride? Why fight for something so pointless? No, he fought to entertain. His job was to make something that made all the viewers at home entertained. And what was he doing, standing around?

No, he had to keep the show going. Hell, he needed to kick it up a notch. The sweetest of candies tasted all the better after the most bitter of chocolates.

So he left to no-man's land like madman running through paradise. He wore his armor and hoodie proudly as he bolted through the faux-ruined alleyways and scrounged through broken cars they brought in. He picked up carrots, celery, tomatoes, spinach, brocoli, baguettes, and all manner of fruits, vegetables, meats, and grains.

And when he stepped into the kitchen area, he didn't put them down, no.

He threw them everywhere.

He wasn't going to win, but he might as well change the tune to be more entertaining.

It was as if the music stopped when he did that, because everyone looked to see the brightly smiling and chuckling knight as he ran up to Kojiro. Normally, Jaune would've been trounced on in hand to hand, but he had new weapons.

Picking them up, Jaune threw aura infused carrots like throwing knives at the samurai's face with enough force to stun the heavily armored contestant for a moment. Jaune then picked up the man's frying pan off of the stove and slammed its face right into his chest. Luckily, the armor covered for the heat. Unluckily, Jaune had put enough force in that so that he went flying over the countertop.

The other contestants stopped as they watched on.

"This, can't be allowed, right?" Chan spoke up.

"Uhhhh, no, it's perfectly allowed. I guess food can be weaponry. Huh." One of the judges seemed stunned as they realized the loophole Jaune found. Sure, he couldn't use Crocea Mors, but he could use Comed Mors.

When Kojiro got up, he saw Jaune wielding a daikon radish like a sword.

And he laughed. He threw off his helmet and stared at the knight, barely containing his mirth.

"Yes!" The man spoke in a highly exaggerated western Mistrali accent, likely for the sake of playing a character. "I am impressed, I may be given a tough fight. Well, I shall do you the honor. Let us fight like men!" Laughing all the while, Kojiro grabbed a large sausage and wielded it like a sword.

"Let's!" Jaune wasn't interested in a fair fight, no. He was interested in using as much of the food in the kitchens as possible in order to create the biggest mess of all time.

So, they fought. Radish met sausage in a glorious battle of meat vs plant as the samurai and knight duked it out. Jaune ducked and let the aura infused sausage spill piping hot soup onto the floor, while Kojiro leaned to the side and let the radish absolutely smash the plate he was going to use for his food. With the usage of the gravity dust in his sabatons, he grabbed a tomato and slammed it into Kojiro's chest, splattering red all over it.

In the background, Bryn and Chan were also duking it out with similar food weaponry. Bryn wielded two lamb chops tied together as a pseudo waraxe while Chan put carrots between their fingers to serve as spikes. And with aura, they hurt as much as spiked knuckles.

And all the while, the actors were smiling. While yes, they were all mainly performers who utilized their skills and strength as actors, it had been a while since something so unexpected had happened. The sheer surprise of it reminded them all of their days in the academies. Sure, those were stressful and often things were never as big as they seemed, but those were the days when the stresses of everyday life weren't there, even if just for a moment. All they had to worry about was homework and getting strong for the future.

And, well, this was just a reminder of that.

"Hey, you're pretty good with that sausage." Jaune said as he sliced a few slices of starfruit in an instant before chucking them like ninja stars at Kojiro, who deflected each and every one with the precision and force as expected of someone in his outfit.

"And you're not half bad with a radish yourself. Even though it's remarkably more stout than what I notice you usually wield." At that point, Jaune had gotten a good grip on the thing.

"I pride myself on being good at improvising. Speaking of." Jaune reached his hand towards his kitchen, where the frying pan/ice dust contraption he had created earlier was. There weren't any ingredients on it, so it had been left untouched. With the time afforded to him with a kick (Jaune internally thanked Marlon for the extra kick the armor added), Jaune picked up the frying pans, tossed the upper one away, and grabbed a few cans of cream.

And then he poured them into the pan.

And then his aura reacted.

Massive amounts of control let him reshape the ice cream into something cohesive, something sharp.

And with a blade the width of the pan it was made of, Crema Mors stood tall and resolute, kept together with Jaune's aura.

"That's your weapon!?" Kojiro, reeling from the kick, widened his eyes upon seeing such a thing. He smiled even wider he tossed his sausage away before grabbing a large chain of them. Wielding them as if they were metal, Kojiro swung the chain around. There was no sickle at the end, but that was fine. This was a weapon fine enough to fight with.

Meanwhile, Bryn had created a spear, made of a very sharpened bamboo shoot stuck to a pole. Chan, however, was using the power of fire. Their fists and feet were covered in fire dust fuelled by high proof alcohol and very flammable oil as she unleashed a furious and very good smelling barage of punches and kicks to Bryn, who used every tool at her disposal to outlast the flury of blows delt to her.

Meanwhile, while Jaune had created a blade that really only worked because Jaune's aura held it together and made it sharp, that didn't keep him from using every single fruit at his disposal to fight against Kojiro. After overcharging it with aura to keep the blade intact, Jaune let go of Crema Mors as Kojiro blocked a strike from it to grab two fishes. Wielding them like daggers, one with a reverse grip, Jaune spun and slashed and smacked the samurai, using the jets from his legs in order to make each comically loud slap extra forceful.

He picked up Crema Mors once more, letting the ice dust feed off of his aura once more as he thrusted towards Kojiro, who himself bent backwards so well that Jaune was half sure his spine had broken.

"But wait! A new challenger approaches! The Grimm have sensed all the food wasted and are brewing with anger. What will our contestants do!?" And they were all so blinded by the fury of food fighting that they hadn't noticed the small army of mechanical Grimm that had built up and were now coming by.

And what did the four hunters do when confronted with this? When they had only fish and cucumbers as weapons?

They helped each other up, dusted off their clothes, and ran straight towards the Grimm as a team.

All competition was forgotten in this moment, they were now huntsmen against the Grimm, through hell and high water, with metal or with flesh, they would fight the Grimm to protect that which they care about. Even if it was a messy place.

"Go! Go! GO!" Jaune used his semblance to boost his companions, giving them a sensation akin to an adrenaline rush, though multitudes more powerful. He wielded Crema Mors with delight as he hacked and slashed at the mechanical Grimm. Would his milky weapon work against actual Grimm? Hell no, their flesh was way tougher than metal. But would it work against these bare bones animatronics made to be mass manufacturer? Hell yea it would.

And it went on and on. Kojiro handed Chan the sausage chain, which they split apart to make two pairs of nunchucks that they wielded with deadly finesse as they knocked head after head down. "HAHAHA! I haven't had this much fun in a while!" They used their semblance, the power to bend and slip unnaturally like a spring, to practically dance through the horde.

"May the hunt begin!" Bryn wielded her shortaxe-spear combo with deadly efficiency. She smacked a Beowolf's head in with the aura infused mutton chops before piercing through the core of another with her bamboo shoot spear.

"A worthy weapon indeed." Kojiro had gone from using the sausage chain to grabbing a swordfish and wielding it with deadly efficiency. Though he could only stab or whack, he got enough use out of it. He thrusted and parried and kicked and punched, occasionally throwing tomatoes or handfuls of spices to blind the visual receptors of the animatronics.

And Jaune?

"RAINBOW SHERBERT!" Jaune screamed as he swung himself around with the oversized Crema Mors. At the Arc family home, Coral laughed to herself. "VANILLA!" Jaune slashed from above with both hands using the most standard, yet undoubtedly effective form, getting a snort from Nicholas Arc. "ROCKY ROAD!" Jaune stabbed Crema Mors into the floor, spreading half melted ice cream for a moment before it crept into the bodies of the Grimm and froze at his command. "ORANGE GELATO!" Fire dust was added to the mix as what was left of Crema Mors somehow lit itself aflame, breaking all logic for a moment as Jaune rapidly slashed the frozen Grimm. A certain redheaded thief tipped his hat, the man knew the finer things in life. "NEOPOLITAN!" And then, it all came bursting apart. First, the fur broke, then, the ice cream did, and then, the metal beneath it all shattered as well.

In case it wasn't apparent, Jaune was having a lot of fun. Usually, he wasn't able to name his attacks. But now? He could do it as much as he liked, and on the spot as well! He really should've branched into ice cream as a theme, shouldn't he?

A certain vertically challenged (or short, as anyone with a deathwish might say) girl was taking notes, this guy had a neat idea. And like any good thief, she'd steal it. Though, she supposed it might be a pain to carry signs to convey the names.

And in the end, the four contestants sat upon a small army of destroyed Grimm. They were covered in scraps, their kitchens and clothes were a mess, almost everything was covered in some form of food. Even the judges engaged in a little fun as they threw fruits and veggies at each other.

But all had to come to an end, the hour was over, and none of them had anything to show.

"Well, this is unexpected. This has been quite the episode of Grimm Kitchen." A brief pause was left as the judge surveyed the scene. "I'd like to say that this was a very fun experience." The judge smiled brightly. "And, well, none of you have anything to enter. Well, except." The judge stepped down from the stage he and the other judges had been standing on, bent down, and used a finger to wipe off some of the messy residue from the fight.

He then licked his finger.

"Yes, such a poignant taste. Salty, yet with a sweet aftertaste that doesn't leave your tongue wincing. The presentation is superb as well. And the sophistication? Very unique, extremely experimental. I'd say this meal is one of a kind. Don't you agree?" He turned to the other judges, who all gave various affirming nods as they tasted the 'meal' the group had prepared. "This is unprecedented, but, we must hand you all the victory here."

And to that, everyone cheered.

"Impressive." Talos found himself nodding. "Yet expected of Jaune."

"Yea, the guy just kinda does that." Terra found herself getting some groceries as Saphron watched the show live. They were recording it and Terra was getting some food so they could watch it properly, with a good meal and with Jaune. "Wait, you know him?"

"HAHAHAHA! The brat actually pulled it off!" Qrow had been laughing so hard for the past ten or twenty minutes that Tai was legitimately worried that Qrow would have to get stitches for his lungs.

Winter merely smiled enigmatically, joyful that her friend had managed to earn such an ending.

Amber cheered, ordering a round for the entire bar in her jubilation (though she'd regret that the morning after, her wallet really needed a break).

Fior smirked as her grandkid cheered, stories like this were just her thing.

Maria smiled proudly. She didn't have any kids, but she could feel proud of this one all the same.

Oscar pumped his fist, he knew Jaune could pull himself out of that.

And the Arc Family were laughing and cheering and smiling from their places. From Ansel to Argus, they all laughed and cheered on their wandering member as he smiled with the other three contestants as they all held the trophy.

"Way to go, Jaune." Saphron in particular teared up as she saw how far Jaune had come. He had truly grown up, hadn't he? Even if she wasn't his mother, she felt an intense pride as she saw him standing there.

From there, Jaune had been treated to an after show snack and a few rounds of drinks, courtesy of his coworkers for the day. They grew fond of the boy knight who turned their days upside down in the good way. After that, he walked the streets of Argus for a bit as he munched on a good burger he bought.

Until he was found by Saphron and Terra, who dragged him to their home, where a freshly cooked meal and Talos awaited him. Apparently, Terra met Talos in the market and brought him along after learning they were a friend of Jaune's. Talos was also wearing a concealing hoodie, mask, and shades to keep their heritage a secret. He and Adrian had also taken a mutual liking to each other. Talos was infinitely fascinated by the infantile form of humans in all their fragility, while Adrian just liked how Talos played games with him.

"It was nothing." Jaune sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as Saphron and Terra babbled on and on about how exciting watching the show was. Hell, they watched it again just to see how embarrassed Jaune could get at his actions.

"And those attack names? Hilarious." Saphron was chuckling as she showed how she had recorded those clips on her phone. "Those are being memorialized. We're getting pictures of each attack in the scrapbook mom has."

"EHhh." Jaune was melting in his seat, face burning.

"Jaune, it seems like your face is excessively warm, is that normal?" Talos poked at Jaune's face, making him blush even more.

"Nah, it's something really neat you can do. Just mention Indigo Par-" Jaune swiftly interrupted Saphron before she could embarrass him further.

"W-w-well at least I didn't ask my younger sibling for dating adv-"

"What was that little bro? Huh?" Saphron shoved a chicken leg into Jaune's mouth before he could say anything. "I was a teen at the time, don't listen to him." She laughed awkwardly as she turned to face her wife. She would take to the grave the fact that, when she was 19 and in her first year of college, she had asked Jaune for advice on dating Terra. To be fair, it wasn't like she was clueless and looking for general advice, no, that actually had some backstory.

"Jeez, reminds me of when you decided to do a raid by yourself. And actually pulled it off." Jaune and Terra had actually known each other longer than Saphron and Terra. They had met on a MMO and hit it off, mostly because Jaune was a very good Tank who didn't constantly need babysitting from Terra as she played support. So, when Saphron learned that her little brother actually knew Terra, who she was half sure that she liked, she decided to ask for some advice. You know! Normal stuff. Like her favorite color, favorite food, what she was looking for in a girl, if she was even into girls. After Jaune had a good laugh about how the tables were turned, he gladly gave her all the advice he got. And in true Mistralian fashion, there were so many misunderstandings.

"Thorns, vampirism, and healing buffs for the win." Jaune smiled cheekily at the memory. That was a while ago, but it was definitely quite funny when the guild realized that Jaune had somehow managed to do what normally required like dozens of people to do by himself by using a few exploits and having a lot of patience.

Mom chewed him out for not sleeping that night.

"Thank you for indulging my tastes, Cotta-Arc." Talos ate an unholy combination of ingredients and waste products (egg shells, to name one), briefly opening his mask to reveal jagged and a layered mouth. Terra just assumed he was a shark faunus or something like that, because Talos had been nothing but a kind, if not a bit eccentric guest. Plus, Jaune had went on about how helpful he had been to the boy, so that earned the odd visitor a lot of points. It really wasn't a big deal when they borrowed the kitchen to make the worst food unknown to man, mostly because she didn't have to eat it.

"I am so glad it doesn't smell like anything." Jaune had been exposed to Talos' unique tastes only once. But only once was all he needed. Talos liked unique and stimulating things, so he often tried to create the most stimulating and odd meals to create unique experiences for their tongue. To be fair, his brain didn't exactly function like a human's, he didn't do this for sustenance and he couldn't be poisoned, so what was 'bad' was entirely subjective.

But still, Talos was eating a charred steak fried in egg white with a bone-egg shell smoothie poured on top of it.

"Anyways, how are you?" Jaune turned towards his nephew, Adrian, with a bright smile.

"H-h-h-hewo!" Adrian eventually stumbled out the words as he waved to the friendly figure.

"Aw, reminds me of his first words." Saphron and Terra smiled sweetly, the two parents cooing over their precious child.

In the middle of having another bite of Saphron's cooking, Jaune had a thought. "Oh yea, now that I think about it." Jaune had turned to see the recording of the episode of Grimm Kitchen he starred on. "How do you think the rest of the family reacted?"

"Uh, don't they have your number?"

Jaune's eyes flashed, as if a revelation had struck him. Terra facepalmed. Even though Saphron and Jaune could be really smart sometimes, they could also be total airheads. He pulled out his scroll and went to his texts, revealing that he had hundreds of them from his siblings and parents. Jokes, commentary, encouragement, and praise.

Jaune smiled, even so far away, home was always with him.

Just a short and sweet thing.

This is just Volume 2's food fight, isn't it?

Also, stealing a few recipes from Binging with Babish

Anyways, I realized something in regards to what I want Jaune's fighting style to be. Essentially, he's an opportunistic environmental fighter, like how Jackie Chan is in his movies. In a lot of his fights, he's absolutely fucked. He's outnumbered, outgunned (well, outsworded or outstaffed, but point still stands), and isn't a fucking god at dodging. But, in his fights, he constantly uses environmental tools in order to turn the tides. Or just, you know, stacks the deck in his favor. And, well, Jaune uses items instead of innate skill, strength, or conventional weaponry a lot whenever his usual way of fighting isn't useful. Mostly in regards to dust.

Also: Next chapter will be May