Sometimes I wish my stories were less story driven and more one-off-ish. I've yet to watch a single episode of volume 8 as of writing this, and frankly I haven't been invested in the story of canon RWBY for a while, mostly just it's characters. That's the joy of the other story I'm working on; it's more slice of life that occasionally breaks out into action.
That being said, I am happy with this story, and I'm glad to see that you all reading this seem to enjoy it as well. Maybe when this story is complete I'll draw up a series of more one-shot type stories.
Anyways, enjoy the story and I'll talk to you all at the bottom!
When they had all returned to Beacon that night, nobody had been waiting for them at the bullhead docks. There weren't any teachers from their landing to their dorms. They had all made it back quietly and, to their surprise, unimpeded by any sort of authority figure.
They bid each other a goodnight and a promise to discuss in the morning when they all had a chance to rest. Penny promised to give Adam his jacket back in the morning, and he had grunted an affirmative before closing the door, turning about face, and immediately passing out face first onto his bed.
In the morning they met and talked about the insane night before. There wasn't much to discuss in actuality, they just talked about what happened on each other's ends.
The day went about as normal and passed before they even realized it. So did the next day. And the day after that. With the weekend out of the way and the fresh school week beginning, they all believed that they were in the clear.
It was the fourth day after their romp through the city streets that something finally happened. It happens after combat classes, as students dispersed. Glynda stopped both teams YSTR and PAVL before they could leave. Penny, Weiss, Flynt, and Neon stopped behind them as well.
"You are all to report to the headmasters office immediately," she commanded, no room in her tone for argument. No time either, apparently, as she turned immediately after saying that and walked away.
"Crap, and I thought we were in the safe zone," Yang crossed her arms.
"Evidently it took them a few days to go over the incident, and once they ran their damage control it was traced back to us in some way," Weiss reasoned.
"I suppose it's better we just get it over with," Adam grunted.
"Yes and I'm sure it'll be easy to explain how we used your terrorist codes to locate and destroy two White Fang operations at once," Weiss said through narrowed eyes.
Ah yes, that particular conversation had taken place the day after, when they were all discussing their raids. Weiss had asked Adam, in front of everyone, what his relationship to the White Fang was.
I'm their number one fan, Adam had said.
That hadn't been as funny to everyone else as it had sounded to him, so he had ended up grunting and explaining his past instead.
The reactions were varying. Neon hardly seemed to care, likely because the girl had it bad for the man, Penny looked very confused but in no way apprehensive of the same man that had taken her own secret so we'll, Flynt regarded him a little carefully but not like a criminal, and Weiss had tried to murder him outright.
Whitley had to restrain her and tell her that it was okay and that if Adam was still in that line of thought, the younger man would probably be dead in his sleep several weeks prior. Adam didn't bother responding to that.
Since then, Weiss had been testy with the man, but was begrudgingly trying to get past it.
They all made their way to Ozpin's office, having to take two trips due to their large party size. When the second half of their group arrived and stepped into the office, they were faced with four figures.
Three of them were well known, being the headmaster, Goodwitch herself, and General James Ironwood. The fourth, however, was an unknown.
Well, unknown to all but two of them.
"Mom!?" Yang yelped, hiding behind Ruby.
"Raven!?" Ruby was shocked, not expecting her pseudo second mom to be staring her down in the headmasters office.
"Hello brats," Raven rolled her eyes, "what, no 'hi mom' or 'we missed you' or 'we're sorry we haven't called'?"
"Those last two have to be true for us to want to say them," Yang pointed out. Raven glared. Ruby elbowed her sister in the face.
"What are you doing in Vale?" Ruby asked instead, always the polite one.
"Ozpin had me here, apparently for the same reason you were all out the other night, wrecking the streets."
"Students," Ozpin cut in, preventing any further familial spats, "do you know why we have called you here?"
"I have the right to an attorney!" Ren shouted.
"You're not in trouble," Goodwitch snapped, thinking for a moment before adding, "Well, not legal trouble... I hope."
When nobody said anything she untensed. Mostly. There was always the chance their silence was a confession, not a denial.
"It seems you all were involved with some fairly heavy ordinance recently," Ironwood stated, stepping forward, "I would commend you all, my own students especially for taking care of any loose ends from Atlas."
They all stood a little taller at the praise.
"However, I do wish you hadn't completely destroyed the Paladin's in the process," he added with a small frown.
They all slumped again.
"What did I teach you about causing trouble in populated areas!?" Raven shouted, bringing her own issue up and silencing anyone else.
"How," Yand rectified with a flat glare, "You taught me how."
"I also taught you how not to get caught!" Raven chastised.
"We didn't even cause that much damage!" Yang bit back.
"The massive footprints in the street say otherwise! How's a car supposed to drive down a road made up of exclusively potholes!?" Raven questioned.
"If it's any consolation," Jaune piped up from his place, "I was the one who destroyed the first warehouse."
"It's not and you know that," Raven drawled.
"It's not like we're in Mistral! A little property damage in the desolate parts of Vale isn't hurting anyone!" Ren said, waving his hand. He barely noticed Raven's glare.
"That's beside the point," she growled.
"Oh please," Adam rolled his eyes, "you destroy a restaurant in Vale and at worst it's fixed in a year. You wreck a restaurant in Mistral and you destroy the orphanage built under it, the bar built above it, and both retail stores on either side."
Everyone stared at the man and he blinked.
"That's... What I've been told happens, at least," he coughed.
"The reason we've called you here," Ozpin raised his voice slightly, garnering everyone's attention again, "is because we want your accounts on what happened and what you think the White Fang was planning on doing with the Atlesian Paladins."
Unfortunately none of them knew what the White Fang was planning on doing with several multi-ton fully armed war machines.
"Raven, I understand there was a third location," Ironwood clarified.
"There was. I only found one Paladin there, though," Raven lied.
She didn't need it coming out in a room full of people that she may or may not be working against Ozpin. Especially not when her family was in the room and could potentially be used as hostages.
"Three locations and they had at least one Paladin at each one," Ironwood growled, "just how on Remnant did they do all this under our noses?"
"I have similar questions," Ozpin sighed, "unfortunately there isn't anything that can be gained by sitting in this office. Raven, you are to continue sweeping the city. It's been doing you well so far."
She didn't mention that she hadn't really swept the city to find where the paladins were being kept and, in fact, was told by the people who they would all assume had stolen them in the first place.
"The rest of you," Ozpin turned an eye to them, "please leave this our hands. Your help, while appreciated, is not required. The military and our own hunters have this under control."
"But we—!" Yang was cut off by Raven's glare.
"Rest assured," Ironwood stood tall and straight, "we have this handled. Atlas thanks you for your assistance but we rather you do not get injured fighting our battles for us. That goes double for my own students."
"Yes sir," the Atlesian students nodded.
"Very well. That settles that," Ozpin leaned back.
"So we're not in trouble?" Neon asked.
The glint in Goodwitch's eye had them all freeze.
"Oh, make no mistake," Ozpin smiled just a little too smugly, "we thank you for your help with this matter and are glad you are all unharmed. But what you did on that night was not only vigilantism, but you caused no small amount of property damage, settle down I am aware that one was not all your fault, and this was all done without the notification of any of the staff."
The students were all silent. Nobody moved a muscle, but Ren kept eyeing the window in what was obviously his escape plan if things got hot.
"As such," Ozpin nodded his head at the deputy, "Glynda, you have the floor."
Ren attempted his window escape. Tower be damned, he was willing to take the risk now.
He was held back by an invisible force however.
"Does anyone else have any bright escape ideas?" Goodwitch asked.
They all shook their heads.
"Them let's get down to business," her glare promised no mercy.
And no mercy was given.
"Cinder?" Mercury poked her cheek, "are you okay?"
"Leave me alone," she mumbled through her pillow.
"Is this because the White Fang disobeyed your orders?" he asked, rubbing her shoulders.
"... Maybe," she mumbled, groaning as he pressed down on a knot.
"Hey don't worry, we took care of them—"
"It's not fair!" she huffed, turning over and flinging the assassin's hands off of her.
"What's not fair?" he asked.
"Why does nobody respect me as the mastermind that I absolutely know that I am?" she asked.
"Well—"
"Do I need to be more threatening? Or less attractive? Oh gods," she shot upright, "do people see me as more slutty than cunning!?"
"That's a complicated question—"
"But I'm on the right side! The... Ugh, the good side. Don't people always want to help the good side?" she spoke aloud, pretty much ignoring everything around her as she stood and started pacing.
"Cinder I think—"
"Maybe I'm coming off as too evil," she hummed, cupping her chin, "that's not really my fault though. Working with Salem makes everything I do look like an evil plan."
Well that and the White Fang definitely didn't care at all for actually trying to save the world like she had told them. Also her forcing and threatening them to help her with her plan to steal from Ozpin and Beacon probably wasn't too endearing. It wasn't like she could just up and tell the White Fang 'the headmaster of Beacon is actually an ancient wizard who stole powers beyond imagination straight from my spirit'. Not only was that none of their business, it was also hard to believe.
"Should we just cut the White Fang from the plan?" Mercury suggested. She whirled on him and stared him down.
"What?" she hissed. He shrugged, used to the woman's temper.
"I'm just saying. They're clearly going against your plans and just doing their own thing if the giant warsuits were any indication. Maybe it's time to cut our losses with them and try something else," he claimed.
"But we were going to use them as scapegoats! Ozpin would be none the wiser that we had a presence in his city and we would be able to pin it on the bloodthirsty terrorists!" Cinder bemoaned the fact that such a good idea had to be wasted.
"Yeah well, it seems like they may be trying to do the same with us. I mean, it only takes that crazy cat girl running to Ozpin and throwing us under the bus for a pardon before we're in the deep end," he reasoned.
Cinder took a deep breath, counted to three, and then released it. She did it three more times before sighing. Mercury was right. He always managed to give her a reason why she kept him around.
That and the hot, messy, stress-relieving sex. That was a plus too.
"Perhaps you're right. But then, we still need a plan to steal the Fall maiden's powers back," she mused.
"Well maybe it's time to let our new friend in on a few more secrets?" he probed.
"She already knows more than I had intended to tell her, and had hardly done us any favors in return," Cinder grumbled.
"Well if she wants her kid safe she'll probably jump at the chance to screw over the old man," he shrugged, "you could always try being genuine."
"She doesn't seem like the type to appreciate a heart to heart," and she wasn't wrong. Raven seemed like the kind of person to fall asleep while you confessed your love to her.
But maybe what Mercury was saying had some truth to it. The White Fang hadn't ever trusted her, and she never gave them a reason to. She fully intended to use them and they knew that but were willing to take the risk if it meant furthering their own goals. Once it became clear that they had a different way to reach their goal they'd immediately gone behind her back and stolen Atlas property.
Maybe the way to reach Raven was by just telling her everything. It had been obvious by their first meeting that she wanted to know what Cinder was hiding, but if she had told Raven everything immediately then it would seem like she was lying and making up a story to convince her.
No, she had to withhold information at first because nobody would believe the whole truth all at once. She gave Raven something to think on, and she had no idea if Raven had come to any conclusions yet.
"I will keep working on Raven," Cinder decided, "but we shall do it piece by piece. As for the Fang, we are done with them. They can flounder and get themselves killed on their own time."
"That's the spirit!" Mercury laughed, "you never told them what the next phase of the plan was, right?"
"No. All they knew was that I wanted them to steal dust. The plan was for them to turn it into bombs and ammunition so they could cause an uproar through Mountain Glenn. While the huntsmen and Ozpin were distracted keeping Grimm out of the city, she would sneak in and steal back her power.
Of course that left one major problem. The White Fang still had all the dust they'd stolen, not to mention that they were in too deep now to just give up and do something else. The fanatics that made up the Fang would want some form of retribution.
"Notify Torchwick and his little twink. And get in contact with Raven, we need her help with this," she said, eye closed as she schemed.
"You got a plan in mind?" he asked.
"Hmm," she smirked, "something like that."
"Ugh, that was the worst," Yang walked out of the classroom with the rest of her team and friends.
"Yes but it's over now," Pyrrha said in relief.
A long and very silent detention was what awaited them all after Glynda had finished her verbal assault on all of them. They hadn't so much as heard her words as felt them. Somehow her angry ranting was more deadly than most weapons they had.
"So are we really just leaving it to them now then?" Ruby asked.
"I refuse," Adam said.
"No offense Adam but nobody was asking you."
"Offense taken," he grunted.
"The point she's making," Whitley stressed, "is that we have now been explicitly told not to go out and fight terrorists. Maybe we shouldn't for now."
"That's weakness talking," Adam growled.
"You sound like my mom," Yang rolled her eyes.
"What was that brat?"
Yang hissed as she was smacked up the back of her head. She rubbed her head and turned to glare at her mother, who tossed the empty water bottle into a recycling bin.
"Hi Aunty," Ruby waved.
"Rubes, how many times have I told you, you can just call me Raven. You're out here fighting monsters, you earned that respect," Raven walked up and tousled the reapers hair through her hood.
"Why can't I!?" Yang huffed.
"Because you're a brat," Raven shrugged. Yang ground her teeth and tried swiping at the woman but she stepped out of the way easily.
"Oh! Aunt—" Raven glared, "Er... Raven. These are our friends!"
"I see."
And then she said nothing else. Nobody said anything actually. Yang coughed and Raven just stared at her.
"Are you going to ask us to introduce you?" Yang put her fists on her hips.
"Not at all," Raven shrugged.
"Ugh," Yang continued to argue with her mother while Ruby turned to the rest.
"Uh, sorry about her. Raven is cool, she just... Well," they all watched Yang try to land a bit on the woman, to no avail. She eventually got bored and tripped the blonde, walking over to stand next to the reaper.
"Yeah... That," Ruby laughed awkwardly.
"You all make quite the colorful bunch," Raven noted, letting her gaze wander across all of them.
"We've been told," Ren said proudly. Nora's palm met her face.
"Is there any reason you're undressing our friends with your eyes?" Yang questioned. Raven pinched her cheek and held it in a vice grip, much to the brawler's chagrin.
"I'm simply observing. Don't be a nuisance," Raven groused.
In truth she was doing what Cinder had suggested and trying to find some anomaly within the students at Beacon. She was making sure that none of her girls friends were anyone of interest that would draw them into trouble. So far she couldn't figure anything of note out, other than the sheer amount of power that they all seemed to have.
The only one that stood out, that she knew was actually a Beacon student and not one of Ironwood's child soldiers or whatever he called them, was the redhead. Something about her was off. She stood differently, openly even. It wasn't the same stance the others all seemed to have, ready or relaxed. It was more... Complacent. Like she hadn't really had the same senses that the others had.
But that couldn't be true, right? Why would Ozpin accept a student that wasn't ready for combat school? It was a near suicidal task to take on, and liability aside there was also the fact that she would drag down the reputation of other students and her team.
Was this what Cinder meant by finding a student that seemed out of place? If so, why was that important? Cinder herself admitted she didn't know anything about the school as of now, so Raven didn't have much to go by. Was she looking for someone incredibly powerful? She knew the championship fighter that stood in front of her, and Ruby was no slouch either. Ozpin had told her that the first years this year were some of the strongest he'd ever seen, but if that was the case then this girl, who stood like she didn't know how to fight, was the only outlier.
But why would Cinder care about weaker students? What purpose would that serve anyone?
"Eh," she finally stopped her profiling, "I've seen more awkward groups of students before."
She turned and started to walk away.
"You're not gonna stay or anything?" Yang asked. Raven turned over her shoulder and stared at her daughter.
"You heard Oz. I have a job to do. Hopefully you lot will stay out of it, yeah?" she raised an eyebrow. Ruby laughed nervously and Yang whistled and scuffed the floor with a boot. Raven grunted and rolled her eyes, strolling off and offering a wave as she left.
"That was your mother?" Whitley asked, "She was... Far more tame than I was expecting. Crude, but tame."
"Yup, that's Raven," Ruby laughed. Yang just huffed.
"Yeah she can be a bitch," Yang winced when the same water bottle from before somehow soared through the air and smacked her in the head once more, bouncing and landing back in the recycling again.
"That doesn't change what I said!" Yang shouted down the hall where her mother flipped her off.
"Sorry about them," Ruby flushed slightly, "they're always like that."
The others laughed, not used to seeing Yang so easily riled up. Yang for her part grit her teeth and blushed, crossing her arms and hunching.
They all went off, some departing in different directions to sleep, eat, or train. That left team YSTR alone as they returned to their dorm. Upon arriving, Yang announced she'd be showering and locked herself away in the bathroom.
"I don't like doing nothing when I have the option to act," Adam was bouncing his leg, antsy and aggravated that he was being kept from the White Fang now.
"I know you feel like you're being held back," Whitley sighed, "but realistically speaking there's nothing we can do now. We didn't even know what they were planning to do with the mechs, let alone what they're planning now that we've destroyed them."
Adam grunted but relaxed a little. Whitley was right, and despite how much he wanted to do more there simply wasn't anything they could do right now.
There was a knocking at the door and Ruby went to open it.
"Oh. Hi, Velvet," she said, greeting the faunus.
"Hello Ruby. Do you mind if I borrow Adam?" she asked. Ruby turned and looked at the man, who was frantically shaking his head no.
"Uhhh," she turned back and Velvet was staring at the man, unamused and unimpressed.
"Get your ass out here you jackass," she shook her head. Whitley sent him a smirk as he left. He scowled back but his heart wasn't in it. He closed the door and stood before the girl.
"Hello Velvet," he greeted.
"Hello yourself," she rolled her eyes, still sending him a small smile, "I had a question for you."
"Go on then," he grunted. She scoffed.
"Don't sound too excited," she mumbled.
"Is this going somewhere?" he wondered aloud.
"I'm getting to it!" she hissed. She took a breath and calmed herself.
"So there's a dance coming up and my team has been asked to handle the planning," she started.
"Okay..." he said, dragging the word out. He had a feeling he knew where this was heading.
"And I was wondering if maybe you wanted to join me—"
"Stop right there, you matador! I was just coming to ask him!" Neon shouted, bolting down the hallway.
"Get lost! I was here first!" Velvet growled, sticking her leg out and tripping the skater as she passed. Neon went sailing, but as she did, grabbed Velvet's arm, sending both toppling.
The door opened a moment later and Ruby came back out, a small combat knife held at the ready.
"Adam! I heard shouting! Is everything—" she stared at the tangled brawl on the floor in front of him. Some would call it a catfight, but those generally didn't involve fists, knees, and elbows.
"Save me please," he begged, "they want to take me to a dance."
"Uh," it was clear Ruby was out of her depth with that one, "I... Don't know how."
Adam stared at her, hoping an answer would come soon. After a moment his eyes shifted and she noticed his body straighten a little too. She didn't like the look on his face, nor did she appreciate that it was directed towards her.
"Ladies," he called, gaining their attention.
Neon took the chance to punch Velvet in the solar plexus one last time, making the girl wheeze and her ears curl.
"Really, I'd love to join you," they all noted that he didn't specify which of them he would join, "but I'm already going with someone else."
"I'll kill her!" Velvet was up and ready in a second.
"Who!?" Neon pouted, ignoring the murderous look in Velvet's eyes.
Adam threw out his arm and hooked it around Ruby, flicking the knife out of her hand as he did so.
"Ruby agreed to go with me as a friend. I can't just break a promise, can I?" he asked, looking less confident in his lie than he wanted.
Eh?
EH!?
"EHHH!?" Ruby blushed and sent Adam a terrified look.
"Et tu Ruby?" Neon looked betrayed.
"Yes!" Adam said too quickly, making both girls scowl, "so I'm sorry, but I'll have to take a rain check on that!"
"And when will that be?" Neon narrowed her eyes.
"Uh," he checked his wrist, devoid of any type of watch, "never. I'll be dead after the dance so you'll just have to find someone else, bye!"
He stepped back into the room, dragging Ruby with him. The door was slammed a moment later and he slumped in relief.
Yang was still in the shower, and he was pretty sure that she was having a concert in there with all the noise she was making and the occasional chorus to a pop song he could hear being belted out with no sense of tone. Whitley looked upset by the noise and didn't even turn to look at them.
"Aaaaadaaaaam!" Ruby cried as she began wailing on his arm. It wouldn't have mattered if she wasn't a huntress, so each strike whittled his aura down a little.
"Ah! Ow! Ruby! Argh! Quit it!" he pushed her away.
"Why would you say that!?" she huffed, red faced and pouting.
"I'm afraid of them!" he said as if it was a good answer.
"Don't drag me into it! Now they're gonna try and kill me during the dance! It'll be poison in the punch, or a chandelier will get dropped on me!" she continued her assault on him.
"It was the first thing I could think of besides rejecting both of them!" he tried her off of him again, this time she kept trying to swing at him.
"Why would that be a problem?" Whitley asked, turning a page in the book he was reading.
"Because I like living?" Adam retorted. Whitley rolled his eyes.
"Please, how bad could it be?" the boy asked.
They were all silent for a moment. Whitley winced as he thought.
"Well, maybe this wasn't the worst choice for you," he rephrased.
"But it was for me!" Ruby hissed.
"A necessary sacrifice," Adam nodded solemnly.
"LIKE HELL IT IS!" Ruby socked him in the jaw.
The reaper continued to pelt him with her soft fists, attempting to harm him in some way. It became clear to him that he wasn't making any effort, so instead he sat down on his bed and allowed her to vent her frustrations on his arm. After a minute or so of this, there was another knock at the door.
"Whitley, do you mind? I'm preoccupied right now," Adam nodded towards Ruby, who glared at his lack of care. She increased her efforts tenfold.
"Ow! You son of a bitch!" he hissed as she laid into him faster.
Whitley ignored their squabble and answered the door. He tilted his head up and nodded at their neighboring champion.
"Hello Jaune, is there something you need?" he asked.
"Uh, we heard yelling and Pyrrha told me to check on you guys," he said with an awkward smile. Whitley grunted and leaned to the side, allowing them both to watch Ruby try and suffocate Adam with a pillow.
"Oh you know, a normal day in my life," he deadpanned before grimacing, "and saying that aloud fills me with existential dread."
Jaune laughed and shook his head. He could understand that to some extent. After all, there was only so much one could hold onto their sanity when living with Ren. The man knew how to make the people around him question everything they knew.
"Is that Jaune!?" Ruby called.
"Hello Ruby," he greeted. A pillow sailed over and landed at his feet.
"Take that and kill Adam for me!"
"Uh," the blonde gently pushed the pillow aside with his foot and stepped in their room, "I don't think I should do that."
"But you're the only one who can beat him!" she paused, "And everyone else too, for that matter."
Jaune let his eyes meet Adam's, who had his arms trapped at his sides and Ruby straddling him. He looked anything but happy, and if the glint in Ruby's eyes meant anything, the girl wanted blood.
"What exactly did you do?" Jaune asked. Adam scoffed.
"It was just a white lie," he claimed. Ruby Shoved another pillow over his face. Where was she getting all of them!?
"He told Velvet and Neon that we were going to the dance together so they wouldn't bother him! Now I have to make it look legit or they'll kill him! And maybe I should let them," she growled that last part into Adam's face.
"Ruby please," he begged, "women are scary and bad at communication."
Foot, meet mouth.
"I'll say some nice words at your funeral," Jaune dipped his head somberly, Whitley nodding along.
"Wait—" Adam was not given a chance to plead his case further as Ruby started a flat out brawl with the man then and there on his bed.
"I should separate them before they break something," Whitley sighed, walking towards them to stop their fighting. Unfortunately he was pulled in when he got close enough, Adam shouting something along the lines of 'if I go down so do you'.
Jaune watched silently, standing there awkwardly as the three fought on the floor. Yang chose that moment to exit the shower.
"Hey guys what's all the noise for— oh, hey Jaune!" Yang waved. He sent a shot wave back.
"Adam is taking your sister to the dance... I guess?" Jaune filled her in. Her eyes lit up and she ran over to her team's place on the floor.
"Ruby! Since when have you and Adam been like that!? You always said you weren't interested in boys and now you're—" Yang didn't get any further as Whitley grabbed her ankle and she fell into the brawl.
She, unlike the others, looked like she was enjoying the fight though. With the four of them kicking and jabbing at each other, Jaune felt it was his duty as their friend to separate them himself.
"Okay, enough of this you guys," he sighed, stepping in and lifting Whitley out first.
The boy looked scuffed and rustled. He was also clearly disgruntled and didn't quite seem happy that he was being held like a kitten right now if his glare was any indication. Jayne smiled sheepishly and set him down behind him.
Reaching in again he lifted Yang next, who immediately tried to deck him in the jaw. She succeeded, but immediately winced and hissed.
"Goddamn! What the hell is up with your aura man!? You're like a wall!" she groaned, shaking her fist. He set her down and finally stepped between the other partners of team YSTR.
"Save me Jaune! Women are scary!" Adam hid behind the champion's back. Ruby jumped into Jaune's front, reaching over his shoulder and past his head, trying to claw at Adam.
"You're the worst Adam! You're supposed to be romantic when you ask a girl to a dance! Not lie about it because you're bad at saying no!" Ruby hissed.
"Priorities, Ruby," Whitley rubbed the bridge of his nose as he spoke.
"Ruby, do you mind not using me as a fulcrum to attack your partner?" Jaune asked politely.
She flicked Jaune's temple and continued trying to kill Adam.
"Right, do you mind getting Ren?" Jaune asked Yang. She shrugged and left the room to knock on his team's door. Shortly after the rest of team PAVL joined him in team YSTR's room.
"Ren, do you mind getting Ruby to ease up?" Jaune asked. Ren beamed and pranced forward, laying a hand on Ruby's shoulder.
"What are you... huh?" Ruby blinked. Then blinked again. Then a goofy smile spread over her face and the colors on her seemed to become... brighter. She slowly slid off of Jaune onto the floor. Ren kept his hand on her the whole time.
"What..." Yang and her team stared at the giddy Ruby who giggled on the floor, "What just happened?"
"It's my semblance silly!" Ren booped Yang's nose but kept his finger in place. Yang's own colors also brightened and she grew a large smile.
"I'm... Happy!" she said, slightly confused but mostly optimistic.
"Ren's semblance allows him to make others feel happiness and suppresses negative emotions in place of positive ones," Nora explained.
"That's... Something," Whitley stammered out. Useful for sure, especially when one considered that Grimm hunted through negativity. Ren essentially became Grimm repellant with his semblance. Ren took his hand off Yang and she dulled a little but retained her smile.
"Speaking of semblances," Yang smirked, feeling the residual effects of the ninja's powers, "how are things coming along Pyrrha?"
The redhead slumped a little, frowning. She hadn't discovered it yet, and it was becoming increasingly frustrating. There wasn't even anything she could do to make it come out, so for all she knew it had already come out and it was something useless like being able to smell colors or eat rocks!
Her thoughts were cut off when a hand landed on her arm and she smiled. Ren hummed happily, one hand on Pyrrha and the other on Ruby.
"Don't worry Pyr," Jaune nodded confidently, "I'm sure you'll find it soon. These things take time."
"Hmm," Yang stared at her fellow blonde, "what about you, Jaune?"
"What do you mean?" he tilted his head.
"What's your semblance? Nobody knows! Can you tell us at all!?" Yang rattled off, getting closer with each word.
"Er," he looked around but now everyone was looking at him, his teammates included.
"You haven't even told us," Nora pointed out.
"I bet it's craaaaazy!" Ruby laughed from the floor. Still under the influence of Ren.
"It's... Nothing special," he tried to laugh it off, waving his hand and hoping they'd all drop it.
They did not.
"Spit it out man," Adam shook his head.
"It's... Not the easiest to explain," he deflected.
"Is it dangerous?" Whitley asked. Jaune shook his head, holding a hand to his chin.
"It's not. It's just... Easier to show, I guess."
"Then show us!" Ren finally let go of Ruby and Pyrrha, leaping up to stare intensely at Jaune.
"I... Guess I could," he relented finally, earning a whoop of finally from Ren.
"Should we do this inside?" Adam asked. Jaune shook his head.
"Let's go to the Emerald Forest," he suggested. They all looked confused at that but he assured them it would make sense. They all left for the Emerald Forest, some of them grabbing their weapons in case Grimm tried to scale the cliff.
On the cliffs overlooking the Emerald Forest, Jaune looked around to make sure they were all alone. He generally kept his semblance a secret for competitive reasons, but his friends probably should know what it was if they were to work together on missions or the like.
"Okay, well, first things first it's what let's me do this," he pulled his lance from his back, pointing Crocea Gardien out across the vast expanse of the forest. It closed back and he grasped the handle that sprouted from the top, holding it minigun style.
The blast of aura from the cannon form soared across the sky, dropping at one point and exploding in the forest.
"Your semblance let's you shoot aura?" Ruby looked confused. He shook his head.
"My semblance gives me heightened control of my aura for one. It's how I'm able to take so much damage and use it both offensively and defensively with such dexterity," he explained, stowing his weapon away after his demonstration. They all looked impressed, but that wasn't the part that he brought them out here for.
"There's another part to it though," he pointed at Whitley, "Whitley, you mind helping out with this part?"
The boy looked confused but nodded and stepped forward. He stood beside Jaune and turned to look out over the forest with him.
"How many glyphs can you make?" the champion asked.
"It depends on the type. I can make as many as I need truthfully, but all Schnee's glyphs work differently. Weiss can make quite a few and they all retain their strength but don't last very long. I can make more than her but the more I make the less powerful they become as a whole. On average mine last longer however," he explained.
"So what's the most difficult to create?" Jaune asked. Whitley scowled.
"The summoning glyph. Weiss has it mastered but I do not. It takes a considerable amount of concentration, time, and space for me to even try it," he groused. Weiss had tried helping him grasp it, but he hadn't yet. He hadn't practiced at all since leaving for Beacon.
"Try now," Jaune urged. Whitley looked unhappy to do so and fail in front of everyone but Jaune had been polite enough to show them his own semblance and apparently this had something to do with it.
"Very well," Whitley sighed, stepping forth. He held Pistolblume in front of his face, the barrel pointing straight up and centered between his eyes.
The glyph appeared before him, spinning and growing slowly. His face tensed and he was clearly trying hard not to lose focus.
"I'm going to put my hand on you now," Jaune spoke slowly so as not to break his concentration. Whitley grunted an affirmative. The taller teen walked up and stood behind the boy.
The others watched as Jaune gently laid two fingers on the boys temple. His fingers glowed white, his aura shining as it seemed to mesh with Whitley's own aura.
Whitley's eyes shot open at the feeling.
The glyph grew twice as large as it had been. Three times. Four times. Six times. Eventually it was nearly ten times as large as before, easily large enough for them to all stand in comfortably if he desired.
Now for the hard part. He thought of foes he'd slain, thinking on which ones meant more to him. One came to mind and he nodded, raising his revolver into the air.
A massive tentacle shot up, followed by three more. It was very clearly a Cephaloscorn. Although, u like the one they'd all watched Whitley fight in class on their first day of school, this one was the size of a house.
"WHAT ON GOD'S GREEN REMNANT!?" Yang shrieked as the giant construct lashed around for a moment, before it's eyes landed on Whitley.
Whitley stared up at it in shock. It stared back, tilting its bulbous head to the side as it stared at him. He held a hand up slowly and it met his hand with its giant spiked tentacle.
"How..." Whitley was at a loss, "I've never been able to summon before... what is your semblance, Jaune?"
The champion let go of the boy and Whitley immediately felt the impact. Instantly the Cephaloscorn faded away and the shorted boy dropped to a knee. It felt like his aura had just grown weaker for a moment, but when he checked it was still full.
Wait, full? After summoning something that large and for so long after never being able to do it? How was his aura full!?
"My semblance," Jaune had everyone's attention, "allows me to amplify not only my own aura, but the aura of whoever I touch. This not only increases the speed and efficiency of auras healing properties, but also boosts the effects of the receiver's semblance as well."
"My god," Adam, normally composed, was shocked.
"Imagine the devastation he could cause with someone like Goodwitch," Ruby murmured. Everyone shivered. She'd likely be able to pull the damn moon and all its pieces from the sky!
"At first I couldn't do it too well," Jaune laughed, "but after a lot of time practicing with it I was able to boost people's abilities like how you just saw with Whitley, and even learned to reach out with my own aura and shoot it as a projectile through a catalyst."
"Hence the aura cannon," Nora finished. Jaune nodded.
"No wonder you keep that a secret," Yang whistled, "You'd probably be fought over like a real life miracle worker if everyone knew this!"
"And that's why this stays our secret," Jaune smirked. They all nodded, vowing not to let the champion's secret weapon become public information.
Meanwhile, they all had no idea that a camera watched them, hidden within the cliff side.
"Glynda," Ozpin stared at the monitor on his desk.
"I saw, Headmaster."
"Get James here quickly," Ozpin brought up Jaune Arc's student file.
"Of course. You believe he can help?" she asked.
"I believe that it is worth a shot," he amended. She nodded and left to contact Ironwood. Ozpin rewinded the footage and listened to Jaune's explanation of his semblance again.
Interesting. Very interesting.
He took the time to look at his partner and leaders file as well. Ozpin was no fool, he knew the Ms. Nikos' transcripts were forged. One may think he had a bleeding heart, and that he was trying to give her a chance.
Behind his eyes, images flashed of a woman, far below him right now, contained in stasis in a pod.
While it was easy to write Pyrrha's acceptance to his school off as giving a girl a chance to follow her dreams, Ozpin always stayed ahead of the game. After all, as much as he wanted this newfound knowledge of Mr. Arc's semblance to work, there was no guarantee it would. In that event, the original plan still stood, and he'd need someone willing and desperate enough to get stronger for it to work.
As he stared at Pyrrha's file he narrowed his eyes.
Someone naive, who would be easy to control.
A bit of a rest chapter. Last chapter was long and full of action, and this one needed to be the falling action.
I explain some semblances here for both convenience and plot devices. Ren's semblance in the show is fine and all, but I figured if he were always happy in this universe, then he'd be better suited having a semblance to match it.
Jaune's semblance is essentially the same, but I made it more extreme because he's supposed to have trained with it here already.
Oh whoever could Ozpin be swapped with? Who could possibly be a reversal of Ozpin here?
Am I laying it on too thick?
At any rate please follow if you want to see more and leave a review for me! Much like a sacrifice, they give me strength to feed the people of my lands.
Stay safe and have a wonderful time!
Omake: Fun with Jaune's semblance
"This seems like a poor idea," Jaune said, watching Ren march back and forth like a drill sergeant.
"Nonsense! This'll be great!" Ren got in his face, making him lean back.
"I just don't know if people will appreciate it the way you want them too—" Jaune was cut off as Ren held a finger to his lips.
"How could this possibly go wrong?" Ren asked.
Jaune had a list of reasons actually.
"Exactly!"
Unfortunately Ren didn't allow him to say any.
"C'mon! Let's do this! Let's go let's go let's go let's go let's go!" Ren shouted.
"Okay okay!" Jaune relented, laying a hand on Ren's shoulder and letting his semblance flow through him and infuse the boys aura.
Ren started glowing and his eyes lit up.
"I. Have. The. POWER!" he started glowing like a lighthouse, almost blinding Jaune.
The champion only hoped this wouldn't have too many dire consequences.
Team YSTR alongside Nora, Pyrrha, Neon, Weiss, Penny, Velvet, and Coco all sat around a table in the dining hall. Nothing in particular was going on, a lazy afternoon for everyone.
Suddenly, every person in the hall seemed to brighten.
"Heh," Neon giggled into her hand. The others all smiled. Then they too were laughing. Then everyone else in the room was laughing.
Beyond the dining hall, everyone in Beacon academy was howling with hysterical laughter. Many were falling in on themselves, slamming fists on the ground at some untold joke.
Why the hell were they all so damn happy!?
Jaune heard the noise from the window and paled.
Okay so everyone was insane with happiness, but that was fine, right? Happy was good! Laughter was good!
Until you realized that the laughter was growing louder and that it wasn't likely to stop unless Ren made it stop. Chancing a look at the ninja, the manic look in his eyes said that was unlikely.
Jayne sighed and tried to remove his hand. Tried being the keyword as it didn't budge. He struggled and pulled but it wouldn't move at all.
Ren smiled at him, looking truly insane in this moment, and shook a bottle of super glue at him.
Jaune's hand was currently stuck to Ren's shoulder.
"Pyrrha's gonna be so upset," he sighed, letting Ren have his fun until he could cut his hand free.
The event would go down in history as one of the most terrifying incidents of Beacon academy.
