Whitley's shoulder's stiffened as he felt a hand firmly pressed against his shoulder. He turned just enough to see the face of someone he truly loathed. Jasper Steele, one of the many ignoble fools his father insisted he should keep within his orbit. Leave it to his "father" to come up with the brilliant idea to send him to a private academy filled to the brim with sociopaths. He hated them, all of them, yet the show must go on.

The grey haired boy grinned, "Whitley! Buddy, we should skip lunch today and head to the arcade. I missed our outings during break. Earl and I tried to reach you, you know?"

Whitley's mask slipped into place, "Jasper, it is great to once again make your acquaintance. Are you insisting we should make this outing at this exact moment?"

Jasper applied pressure to Whitley's shoulder as he looked around the school hallway, "Come on, Whitley. Lighten up, will you? You're going to make me look bad here. Are we not friends? Friend's hang out you know, so we're going."

It was tempting, incredibly tempting, to let the truth roll off of his tongue. Unfortunately, he knew such a response would cause him more harm than satisfaction. Jasper and Earl were both fifteen, two years older than him. They were physically stronger and their father's held important government positions within Atlas. Relying on the influence of his father or an alcoholic of a mother to deal with these fools was a pointless endeavor.

Whitley nodded his head, "We shall go then."

Jasper's hand moved from away from his shoulder to mockingly pat Whitley's head, "Good boy. Why should we bother to stick around for dumb lessons? We're not learning anything important here. Not like we'll get in trouble. You're treating today to make up for forgetting about us."

Whitley had to hold back his scoff. The nerve of Jasper was astounding. As if he wasn't forced to treat those two every time he was forced to go with them. Lien was never the issue, rather the sheer disrespect from the two was irritating. Forcing him to pay was a petty power play by the two older students.

A false smile grew on Whitley's face, "Very well, contact Earl and lead the way."

The duo became a trio as they exited the school grounds. Whitley buttoned his academy issued blazer closed in an attempt to ward off some of the cold. He followed closely behind Earl as Jasper trailed behind him. Earl's red hair poked out from underneath his tuque as he confidently marched the group to the side of the road before pulling out his scroll.

Earl spoke with sickening confidence, "Worry not gentlemen, I contacted my driver as soon as I got your message. He should be here any moment."

Jasper clapped his hands together, "Good call, man. I'm freezing my ass off here. Should have brought some gloves."

Earl looked at his scroll for a few moments before speaking, "Indeed, you should have. It's a miracle you even remembered to wear socks. You are utterly hopeless, Jasper. How was your break, Whitley?"

Whitley reached into the pocket of his blazer to pull out a pair of black gloves, "Enlightening. Father spent much of it continuing his tutoring of the inner workings of the company."

There was no reason to entertain Earl's question any further. A simple reminder of who Whitley represented would hopefully be enough to keep the manipulator content. The last thing he wanted was for Earl to dig any further into his life.

Earl pocketed his scroll before standing in front of Whitley. Earl reached out and brushed the snow out of Whitley's hair as he spoke, "I'm happy to hear that. You must be ecstatic to have the opportunity to learn more about your family business. Perhaps, you shall be the heir of SDC after all? A beneficial position, to be sure."

Whitley kept his gaze on the road as Earl continued to brush the snow out of his hair, "I do not know my father's intentions. I can only speculate the meaning behind such a move."

Jasper grunted as he rolled his shoulder, "It's pretty obvious. Your dad must be scared you'll run off like your older sister, right? Stupid bitch gave up a life of luxury for the military. Figure your dad's just trying to keep you around in case that other sister of yours gets any funny ideas."

Whitley was internally seething at Jasper's observations. The fool was far too accurate in his assumptions. Winter's flight from the SDC to embrace the military unnerved his father. The man who had ignored him all those years suddenly saw him as secondary to be groomed if another failure presented itself. Knowing Weiss, she would likely embrace becoming a failure just to follow in Winter's foolish footsteps.

Earl hummed, "There are a multitude of possible reasons. Yet, we will benefit regardless. We should be happy one of our own is finally getting the attention he deserves."

Whitley took a step away from Earl, "I will not forsake the opportunity to learn. To shirk one's responsibility is the epitome of foolishness."

Jasper scoffed, "Man, why do you talk like that around us? Are you some kind of Atlus Tech invention? Beep boop."

Earl put his hands in his blazer pocket as he looked down the road, "You should learn something from him. You sound like a crass peasant far too often, Jasper."

"I resent that! I'm not some dirty peasant. I just don't see the point in formal talk outside of boring functions. I want us to have fun, dammit."

Earl held up his hand as a car turned the corner in the distance, "Shush, I believe my driver has arrived. I assume we shall be going to the usual place? I did miss the Exalted Corner during our time away from campus. I am rather fond of my high score and wish to see if it is maintained."

Much of the short drive was filled with silence as the three basked in the warmth of the heated car. Heated seats made being in the presence of Earl and Jasper much more tolerable. The two spending much of the ride tapping away at their scrolls was an even greater benefit. Jasper and Earl had the luxury to post as much as they wanted about their private lives to the public as they did not have a giant target on their back.

Whitley would never dare to do such a foolish thing. Those dirty White Fang terrorists would capitalize on such a mistake. No, Whitley was not the type to take such risks. Thankfully, the two older students were not malicious enough to leak details concerning him.

The car came to a smooth stop just outside of the arcade. Blinking lights and wide usage of glass dominated the front of the large complex. The three story building was certainly entertaining, if a little gaudy. Whitley waited for the driver to exit the vehicle and open the back door for the three to make their way out.

Jasper sprung out of the car while Whitley and Earl slowly followed after him. Earl stayed just a few steps behind him as Whitley followed after Jasper. The three entered the building and headed to one of the token machines right at the entrance. Whitley unbuttoned his blazer as he reached for his wallet.

The arcade's heater was rather high for his tastes. Perhaps, it was his long sleeve dress shirt underneath the blazer. Regardless, he inserted his card into the token machine and tapped the 500 tokens for 100 Lien option. One hundred Lien hardly dented his allowance and gave more than enough tokens.

Jasper was holding his token cup under the machine as it spit out fifty tokens at a time, "50, 100, 150! You're up, Earl."

Earl waited as the counter on the machine increased in increments, "200, 250, 300, 350, 400."

The two waited for Whitley to receive the final one hundred tokens before Jasper spoke, "Man, I'm going to go play some Big Grimm Hunting first. Anyone up for it?"

Earl shook his head, "Apologies, I wish to go check on my score. Bullhead Ace is clearly superior and should be our first stop. Your thoughts, Whitley?"

Whitley looked down at his token cup, "I am rather taken with air hockey, myself."

"Yeah, well air hockey and Bullhead Ace are for dipshits. You don't get tickets for either."

Whitley rolled his eyes at Jasper's response, "If I wished for prizes, I would simply buy them. Are we not here for entertainment?"

Earl clapped his hands, "Well, I believe we have reached an impasse. We shall split up for the time being. We can meet up and order something to eat in thirty minutes or so."

Without a word, Jasper took off. Earl spent a few moments looking at Whitley.

"Are you sure you don't wish to come with me?"

Whitley shook his head, "I will be fine. You have your duties to attend to, correct? I have no interest in Bullhead Ace."

Earl walked off, Whitley was finally free. Whitley's interest in air hockey was rather mild. He simply wished to do away with the two cretins. No, his real goal was the Remnant Defense Force booth. The two older students had poor taste in games. Killing big bugs with robots was the epitome of entertainment.

Whitley closed the curtains of the RDF booth as he took one of the two seats inside of the machine. A preview video flashed on the screen as he inserted five tokens. Five tokens would mean five lives for his mech. He hoped it would be enough to get through the first mission at least. The game could be rather brutal in his experience.

His hands settled on the control sticks as he selected the bulky Atlesian Knight. Fighting at close range with a huge shield and sword was his preference. The other options just did not fit his particular play style. He felt giddy as the twelve foot tall white and black trimmed machine tapped its sword against its shield in the select screen. It was definitely the coolest option.

Whitley immediately gravity dashed towards the nearest giant insect. It was essential to shield bash it before it could get an acidic volley off against his ground reinforcements. Beating the level without those reinforcements would be an absolute nightmare. His shield bashed through the antenna of the ant before slamming directly into the head of the creature.

With the stunned status effect applied, Whitley was given free reign to decapitate the creature. The Knight was truly the best choice, for stun lock was the most optimal strategy. Whitley leaned forward with intense focus as he continued to G-dash into his stun combos. The ground reinforcements were doing their job of keeping the weak flying fodder enemies from getting too obnoxious. Whitley grinned as he easily cleared the first level with zero lost lives.

He was sent back to the character select screen for the second mission. This one is a lot different than the fist. A mission held completely underground in some type of dark cave complex. It was one of the stages he routinely lost the most amount of lives in. The developers of the game were cruel. Their idea of difficulty was randomly generated trapdoor spiders throughout the caves.

Whitley banged his hand against the control panel of the machine as he died once more to the impossible to see trapdoor spiders. They were absolutely the worst. As soon as the G-dash ended and he slowed, there was a possibility of falling into one of the traps. It just so happened he fell into the clutches of four different trapdoor spiders.

Trapdoor spider stun lock was a very real threat. The mechanics of the spiders angered Whitley enough that he internally promised to one day buy the company responsible for the game just to force them to remake it. Eventually, he wrapped up the second mission with one life remaining. The life drain of the second stage was such an obvious token sink, yet he found himself inserting a few more tokens into the machine to keep stocked up on lives.

Stage three was a mix between the enemies of stage one and two in an urban environment. Spotting the trapdoors was much easier with it not being an indoor pitch black location. He only lost two lives in stage three. Whitley continued his crusade against the bugs, ignoring the clock.

Whitley wiped at his eyes as he wiped out on stage ten once more. The final stage of the game was a culmination of every mechanic the game ever threw at him. Between escorting civilians, avoiding traps, and the various enemy mechanics it was absolutely ridiculous. Token after token was eaten by the RDF machine, Whitley refused to admit failure. Today would be the day he finally beat the game, he would make sure of it.

Whitley was down another twenty tokens when the black curtain on the empty side of the machine was pulled open, "Hey, you up for some co-op? You've been here a while now."

Whitley turned to his right to see a blonde guy wearing a jumpsuit with the Exalt Corner brand insignia on it, "I would appreciate the assistance. I find myself struggling with the final stage. Are you familiar with it?"

The blonde took a seat next to him, inserting a token and reaching for the empty controls, "I have a few runs under my belt. This is one of my favorite games here."

Whitley selected his Atlesian Knight as he watched the stranger pick the ten foot tall green Valean Wyvern, "You are an Aerial class player? I never enjoyed the play style myself."

He nodded, "I like the freedom flying offers. Plus, wings are pretty cool. You're a tank, so I'll cover you from the sky. I'll do my best to keep the flying types away from you. Mind focusing on the anti-air ground types for me?"

"I shall endeavor to do so. Please call out any trapdoors you spot from above."

With both of their character selections made, the tenth mission restarted. Whitley took a deep breath as he focused on the mission before him. The civilians needed to be escorted through an infested urban environment. Every enemy type the game had would be thrown at them. Ants, trapdoors, centipedes, flies, dragonflies, and more would be gunning for them.

"Trapdoor! North five, east three. Check your grid, I've tagged it."

Whitley looked at his mini-map as he did his best to keep the tanky centipedes away from the civilian vehicles. The position marked on the mini-map was only a little ways away from the designated point the civilians automatically followed. This particular trapdoor spider was a player trapper for those who decided to go off path slightly.

"Understood. Keeping my eyes open for any anti-air," the beetle type units were notorious for their ground based anti-air attacks. It made playing the Aerial class obnoxious.

The stranger kept most of the flying units at bay as Whitley continued to tackle the ground units. It was incredibly easy to stun lock the beetle types when flying units no longer posed a threat. His earlier irritation at the game was slowly drifting away as the two dominated the final mission. All that remained was the final boss fight with a giant mutated moth.

"Alright, here's the plan when we get to Mothdrop. You start by grabbing it's aggro. I'll take my chance to get close enough to shred it's antenna with my rifle. Hopefully we can get lucky enough to put it into a chained stunned state."

Whitley nodded, "A sound plan. I should be able to distract it for at least thirty seconds with my shield bash aggro. I believe rotating aggro may be in our best interest should we fail to keep it in a stunned state."

"Not a problem. I've pretty much tried out every class type. I can tank if need be, just keep in mind the Wyvern is a little low on hit points compared to the Knight."

The two turned towards their screens as the final boss flew towards the city from the mountains. It was the largest creature in the game, being comparable to a fourth of the size of a skyscraper. Whitley's palms were sweaty as he waited for the cutscene to end. They were so close to victory, he could feel it.

As the cutscene came to a close, Whitley G-dashed to apply his shield bash to the monster. It was unfortunate the stun status could not be applied with just a shield bash, but grabbing the aggression of the creature was enough for their plan. The yellow moth flew towards his mech as he rapidly gravity dashed backwards to avoid it's acidic wrath.

He watched the Wyvern pilot rapidly ascend with gravity boosts towards the antenna of the boss. Whitley kept applying his shield bash, occasionally taking acidic damage, as his teammate took position. A volley of high caliber rifle fire struck the antenna of Mothdrop, severing both appendages at the stem. Whitley leaned forward in his seat as the boss went into a stunned state. Now was the perfect opportunity to deal as much damage as possible.

"I'll pepper the wings until it descends! Get ready to go for it's eyes!"

Whitley reversed course and began to gravity dash forwards with his blade at the ready. True to his teammate's word, rapid peppering of the boss's wings eventually forced it to descend. Whitley went right for the head of the boss and immediately stabbed his sword into both of the creature's eyes.

Whitley smiled as he spoke, "Eyes destroyed. Stun timer reset."

His teammate was smiling right next to him, "Good stuff! Going to head down there and unload as much rifle fire into its head as I can. Keep swinging!"

Whitley listened to the advice of the older male and kept stabbing away at the head of the creature before being joined by the Wyvern. Between the firepower of both mechs, the creature let out a final death wail. Whitley completely ignored the ending cutscene as the sheer joy of finally beating the game distracted him.

"High five man! You did some good maneuvering there. I've seen a lot of guys panic when it comes to dodging the acid pools."

Whitley didn't even hesitate to meet the stranger in a high five, "I could not have done it without your assistance. You are an excellent Aerial player."

"Thanks, the name's Jaune by the way. I've seen you around here a few times now. This your favorite game here?"

Whitley looked at the insignia of Jaune's outfit, "You are an employee then? I am Whitley, pleased to meet you."

Jaune nodded, "Yeah, I'm a janitor. Was on break when I decided to check up on how you were doing. I have a lot of hours in RDF and thought you could use a hand. Game is nearly impossible to solo."

Whitley couldn't keep the surprise out of his tone, "Is it truly impossible to finish the game alone? I believe I got pretty far and could have potentially won given enough tries."

"Well, maybe not outright impossible. I just think it's unreasonably difficult to do it solo. RDF is a token munching game," Jaune pointed towards Whitley's token cup.

"You make a fair argument. I may have spent a rather excessive amount of tokens this run," Whitley looked down in his token cup and noticed at least half of it was gone.

Jaune stretched his arms as he spoke, "Well it was nice to co-op with you, Whitley. My break is just about over. We should do a run together at some point. I'm interested in finding out how you tank guys solo some of these stages."

"Ah, I will look forward to such a time in the future. I would appreciate the opportunity to see an experienced Aerial player. It is the class I have the most difficulty controlling with the lack of hit points it has."

"Alrighty, take care. It's a little past noon, so I would grab something to eat if you haven't had anything at all today. I have a preference for the Exalt Corner's calzone myself," Jaune left the booth.

Whitley leaned into the chair of the booth as the machine returned to playing preview videos. He would take the janitor's food recommendation under advisement. Leave it to him to cooperate better with some public servant over those in his own wealth class. It was a rather novel experience in a way. To think he would not only complete RDF, but enjoy doing so with a stranger.

Whitley opened his scroll to verify the time. Jaune had been correct. It was a little past noon, which meant he had been at the arcade for an hour and a half. It also meant Whitley was thirty minutes late when it came to meeting up with Earl and Jasper. Hopefully, one of them also spent an excessive amount of time at their preferred machine. Whitley exited the booth and headed towards the dining section of the arcade.

When he arrived, Jasper waved him over to a table booth in the back of the diner. Earl was sitting across from Jasper while some type of stuffed animal sat right next to Jasper. As Whitley approached the table, Earl scooted over to make room for him.

"You are awfully late. We have been ordering appetizers to kill time," Earl pointed towards a large bowl of salad on the table.

"Yeah, what the hell man? You get lost or something?"

Whitley sat next to Earl and spent a few moments staring at the stuffed animal near Jasper before speaking, "My apologies, I was rather engrossed with my chosen game. I see you have had a successful day, Jasper."

Jasper grinned, "Hell yeah! I spent all my tokens on Big Grimm Hunting and won this giant ass bunny. Going to give it to my little sister, I think."

Earl sighed, "A partial truth. Not only did he spend all of his tokens, he ransacked some of my own. How can you enjoy such a game with your terrible accuracy?"

"Hey! I'm not that bad. I won this thing after all!"

"Jasper, it took you 200 tokens on a two tokens per play machine. One hundred tries, one hundred."

"Alright, maybe I was a little rusty. It was a long break after all."

Whitley ignored Jasper's asinine excuse as he reached for the menu, "I believe I am ready to order the main entree when you two are prepared to do so."

"Then allow me to call over the waitress," Earl raised his hand as he put on his idea of a charming grin.

Whitley glanced between him and an approaching employee of the diner. She was some brown haired woman he didn't recognize at a glance. Whitley raised his eyebrow at Jasper who simply shrugged.

The waitress reached the table, "Aww, you guys have an adorable little friend with you now. Is this the one you've been waiting for? Can I get you guys anything?"

Earl smiled at her, "It was indeed. He got distracted with winning some childish claw game, I'm sure. You know how people his age get. We're ready to order."

The waitress raised a small notepad as Jasper spoke first, "Hamburger with a side of onion rings. Chocolate shake too."

Whitley gathered the menus as the table before placing them on the edge near the waitress, "I would appreciate one small pepperoni calzone with a glass of water."

Earl grinned, "I'll take whatever you recommend. I can already tell you have good taste at a glance."

The waitress awkwardly laughed as she collected the menus, "Uh, thanks. I'll mark you down for a cheeseburger, fries, and a strawberry shake."

After she walked away, Jasper started laughing, "Holy shit, Earl. That physically hurt me to hear. I can't believe you're the one who accuses me of being crass."

Earl's grin fell, "What? Was it a poorly thought line? Her hair was very pretty."

Whitley placed a napkin in his lap, "If Jasper believes it was poor, it was worse than dreadful."

Earl cupped his face with his hands, "I'm a fool. I should have spent more time watching those tutorial videos over break. Why can't I talk to women at all? Am I cursed?"

Whitley tuned out of Earl's mental breakdown in favor of mentally reviewing his RDF gameplay. The janitor had asked to someday see how he runs through some missions as a tank class. Off the top of his head, Whitley could only assume the older teen was referring to the sixth and seventh levels. Those levels included a staggering amount of enemy air units, a direct counter to the tank class. Both levels required careful strategic play to guard enough friendly forces to automatically kill off most of the air based threats.

Whitley ran through a multitude of scenarios in his mind for both stages before the smell of food interrupted his thoughts. He saw the waitress approaching the table as Jasper stared at him.

"Man, I was wondering when you'd come back from your daydream. Was getting bored over here with you and Earl zoning out. Least the food's here now."

The waitress placed their meals in front of them, "Let me know when you three are ready to check out."

Jasper dug into his meal as Earl silently ate his. Whitley cut a small piece of the calzone with a knife before eating it with a fork. It was surprisingly alright for such a cheap establishment. It was nowhere close to the level of cuisine he had at home, but it was better than the grilled chicken burgers he normally ordered. The three continued to eat in silence.

Whitley finished his calzone long after Jasper and Earl finished their burgers. He placed down his fork and knife when he suddenly felt something splash against his chest.

It was the first time Whitley heard Earl curse, "Fuck! Sorry, Whitley. I wasn't paying attention. Knocked my shake over when I was reaching for a napkin."

Whitley looked down at his long sleeved white dress shirt framed by his black blazer. It was no longer the pristine white it once was. Strawberry milkshake covered much of his shirt. He wanted to scream, he really wanted to scream.

Whitley's mask slipped into place as he wiped at the trailing spill with his napkin, "I understand. Please excuse me, I have to go to the restroom."

He didn't spare either of them a glance as he took off to the restroom. His shirt was surely a lost cause, yet he needed to fully assess the damage with the assistance of a mirror. His vision blurred slightly as he stood in front of the bathroom mirror. He tapped at his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Why am I crying?"

He couldn't quite comprehend. Was it the humiliation of having the shake spilled on him? No, no one important witnessed what had occurred. Rather, this small event ruined what was an enjoyable day at the arcade. He had finally beat RDF and found someone competent enough to play cooperatively with. He finally found a new favorite dish at the diner of the Exalted Corner, only to have the entire day end in ruin through such careless behavior.

Whitley was idly wiping at his shirt when the door to the restroom opened behind him. He looked in the mirror only to see a janitorial cart get pushed into the room by a familiar face. Whitley wiped at his eyes once more as he heard the voice of the older teen he met earlier in the day.

"Hey, Whitley. Didn't expect to see you again today. Got called over to clean up a shake spill. Your waitress told me you've been in here a while. You need anything?"

Whitley took a small breath as he slowly turned around, "It should be rather evident, my shirt is beyond ruined. Do you know where I can obtain another in a reasonable time frame? Part of my blazer is stained as well. I would rather not walk around like this if I can help it."

Jaune crossed his arms, "I think I can handle it. I have a spare change of clothes here in case something goes wrong during work. Might be a little big on you, but it should work out well enough. I'll go grab you a long sleeve and a jacket to bundle up."

"I would be extremely grateful. You have my word, you shall be rewarded for your service."

Jaune waved him off, "Don't worry about it. Try not to let this mess ruin your day. This is just a small incident in an otherwise fun day you should be having, right? Let me get you your change of clothes and you can get out there and play some more arcade games. Turn that frown upside down."

Whitley didn't realize he even had a frown as he spoke, "I will attempt to do so if it will repay at least some portion of your assistance."

"Good, give me a minute and we'll get you out there earning tickets as soon as possible," Jaune left the janitorial cart in the bathroom as he took off.

Why, why did a stranger care so much? Whitley was left pondering alone in the bathroom. He was a nobody to Jaune, yet the older teen went out of his way to lend his assistance. He cared enough to check up on him, to cheer him up. What did he have to gain through his behavior? Regardless of Jaune's previous words, Whitley promised himself the teen would be rewarded handsomely for his assistance.