Crimson V: House of Cards

" Rrr..." A low growl. Eyes focused harshly and trying to remain on the paper in front them. An intense and quick rhythm of a pen writing, its movement both precise and enraged. "RRRR..." A much higher growl. A quickened rhythm, words being written at a pace that would be too quick for nearly anyone else. The strain bending the-

SNAP!

"I think that makes the third pen you've broken since we got here," a whimsical dancer notes with a joking smile upon his face. Amane's joyful expression doesn't falter against Jin's harsh glare.

"It's okay Jin, I have another pen you can use," Celica said with a smile as she handed Jin-

SNAP!

"Dammit. Celica, do you think you could give me another pen as well?" Kagura Mutsuki asked as he scowled at the two halves of his own metal pen. "I think I'm off today."

"Really, I wonder what on earth could be causing that?" Amane asked, continuing to smile as he looked over at the table of five a short distance across the library.

"Ugh... Average Grimm species weights..." Yang muttered as she rested her chin on the table and tried to read the upright book. "And we need to have thirty of them memorized by tomorrow? What's the point of it?"

"Because it can give you a good idea of how to approach 'em," Ragna explained as he read a book in his left hand while he made notes with his right. He then took a potato chip from his snack bag... AND ATE IT. "Weight can usually translate to fat, and fat on Grimm can usually mean it's harder for your attacks to get through, but it can make 'em slower. It's all about changing up your approach to a fight. Blasting those gauntlets of yours nonstop won't solve everything."

"Says the guy who we've only ever seen punching things," Yang retorted, but kept reading.

"Well I don't see the problem of it," Weiss told the others with a proud smile. "It's all about form and finesse, something that the Schnee family has had mastery of for generations."

"And you turn into an Ice Queen because of it? Lousy trade off," Ragna said with a smirk, catching the book Weiss crossly threw at his face while Ruby giggled at the display. "What about you Blake; you've been characteristically quiet."

"Maybe because we're in a library," the hiding Faunus said to Ragna who merely gave her a guilty shrug. She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but sniff the air. "Do I smell... fish?"

"Yeah, these chips I got as a snack," Ragna muttered before taking another one out of the bag and showing off its pinkish texture. "This was the only one the machine had left. Some sort of salmon flavor to 'em; they're not great, but-"

"CanIhavethemthen?" Blake abruptly questioned. Everyone turned to stare at the usually more reserved girl as her face slowly became lit with a blush at her insistence. "I mean... only if you don't want them."

"...Here, all yours," Ragna muttered as he tossed the bag to Blake, who merely nodded before biting into a chip, her blush not fading in the slightest.

"...How does he get to study with four girls?" Kagura muttered back at his table. "C'mon, he's clearly got no charm and he's not even trying any pick up lines."

"Um... Well maybe they're just friends?" Celica offered.

"Either way, I don't like it," Jin said in partial agreement with Kagura. "They're not even part of his team." 'And he's avoiding me...'

"Have you considered that he's simply trying to build a steady relationship with the other teams?" Amane Nishiki suggested, trying to remain the voice of reason. "As a team leader, it would only make sense that he'd want to seek out an teams that could work well with his own and-" SNAP "...Jin, I think Celica will run out of pens rather quickly if you keep breaking them at that rate."

"Mind your own business," the blonde snapped coldly before looking down at his report. "...I've just finished writing anyways." 'brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother,brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother.,' read the report which Jin immediately pocketed.

"At least our first day off isn't too far off," Amane said with a sigh at the behavior of his teammates. "That'll give the both of you a chance to pursue whatever obscure goals you want and I'll be able to... get a break from the both of you. Perhaps use the time to catch up on my Yoga."

"Can you teach me, Amane? I've always wanted to learn yoga," Celica asked.

"Certainly, I'd be more than delighted to help you," Amane said before he heard a book close. Glancing upwards he saw that Ragna had been the one to close the book and was currently stretching with a heavy yawn. "Oh? Perhaps he's done working."

'And not a moment too soon,' Jin and Kagura both thought in unison.

"There's that done," Ragna muttered right before he pushed out his chair from the table.

"Aw, you're leaving already?" Yang said, sounding disappointed. "C'mon we could still use your help."

"I'll be back, I'll be back, just wanna grab some water," the Reaper promised as he rose and got a few pops out of his neck. He then headed through the library to hit the drinking fountain out in the hallways. "...They're a hell of a group, I can say that much."

"Hey, did you see that Ragna guy in the library with an all girls team?" he overhead one student whispering to another. "Wasn't he the one that was struggling against that Boar Grimm in Port's class?"

"Yeah, I heard about him too," a female student responded. "Apparently he even fell asleep in the middle of it. He's sounding more and more like a total loser."

'Go figure,' Ragna thought to himself. 'Cause of Jin and Kagura I have to wrestle through two restless nights and I get blamed when I fall asleep in class... Tch, so what if people are talking? I've never given a damn before; I got no reason to start now.'

"Then again he was at the table with four girls, and all of them were from a completely different team," the guy said. "That and he protected that Faunus girl in the lunchroom."

"So you're saying he's a player," the girl summarized. "Well I guess it could make sense."

'And now I'm getting confused for Kagura? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?' he shouted in his mind while his scowl sharpened.

"I'm just saying it sounds like he's been getting pretty chummy with all of the girls at this academy, I mean you never see him with a guy do you?"

"Shit, just when I had enough on my mind I've gotta deal with this," Ragna muttered aloud before he turned back, his thoughts of grabbing water from the drinking fountain abandoned. Heading back to the table, he saw that the books were being cleared away to make room. "...I thought you wanted my help to study."

"We just wanted to take a quick break," Ruby tried to tell him with a smile. "Yang brought cards, so she thought we could play a short game."

"Of what, poker?" Ragna asked as he looked at the cards. They didn't look like any playing cards he'd ever seen before; there were two piles of cards of red and blue.

"Not exactly," the blonde told him. "This is actually a sort of watered down version of a game that Ruby and I used to play with our dad and uncle. C'mon join in, it'll be fun."

"Good grie..." Ragna paused as he laid his hand back on his chair. It might've been the comments he'd heard just then, but now that he glanced around, he was starting to notice that a large portion of the students were staring at him from afar. He doubted that it had anything to do with... that idea, but there was still a chance. "...Mind if I opt out of this?"

"Aw c'mon, I'll go easy on you," Yang promised. Though her smile seemed bright and cheerful, Ragna could practically taste the competitive and sadistic edge that accompanied it. Glancing around once more, he realized that the other students were now whispering among each other.

'Dammit.' "Well if you insist... can I bring someone else in too?" Ragna asked. "Card games usually do better when there's an even number of people, right?"

"Go ahead," Yang told him as she continued to shuffle her cards. "This game's max is six people anyways." Glancing around at his options, Ragna sighed when his eyes landed on team JACK's table. Walking over, he quickly considered his next move in his head.

'Nice as Celica is, she's out cause that clearly goes against the point I'm trying to make. Amane's too... Amane, so if I bring him along I'd just be sending a ton of mixed signals. Kagura's too big of a womanizer and I'd rather be sent straight to hell than be mistaken for his wing man. That leaves... well this had to happen sooner or later.'

"Oi, Jin," Ragna said. The blonde looking up from his report which he'd been pretending to be focused upon. "Up for a card match?"

"That depends, what are we playing?" Jin said in response, testing out the waters... that or mistakenly playing hard to get.

"Damn, I dunno... We need another person to play cards, so are you in or what?" 'I'm not going to beg to you Jin, you can damn well be assured of that much...'

"I can join you, Ragna!" Celica said happily as she began to rise from her seat. Only to be stopped as Jin stood with more force than Ragna had wanted. "Um..."

"Well if you insist my dear brother... then how can I possibly say no?" he told Ragna in a tone both as cool and cruel as ice.

"...Just get your god damn cameras out of my room," he muttered under his breath as they headed back to the table. "Everyone, this guy is my little brother, Jin. Jin, this is team RWBY."

"I'm well aware, both of our teams were at the entrance ceremony, brother," Jin told him before analyzing the seating arrangements. Unfortunately for him, it didn't appear that any two chairs were next to each other meaning he wouldn't be able to sit beside his dear brother. This irked him slightly, but he knew that if he changed the seating arrangement his brother wouldn't be pleased. Currently the only two open seats were either between Yang and Weiss or between Ruby and Blake. Seeing how cheerful Ruby already was around Ragna and remembering that Blake had been seen earlier chasing after his brother, he abruptly sat in between the two of them, leaving the others somewhat surprised.

"Guess I'll change seats then," Ragna relented as he sat between Weiss in Yang. "So, what's this game we're playing anyways.

(Author's Note: The rules for this game are based loosely off another card game called 'Munchkin.' You may or may not have played this game before, but it's fun enough and I'll explain the rules.)

"It's called Grimm Hunter Junior," Yang told them as she started passing out cards from one pile while leaving the cards in the other pile completely. There are a couple of different cards types of cards that you can get. You can get equipment cards that you can wear, semblance cards while will give you certain boosts, and effect cards that you can use to turn the tide of battle."

"Seems straightforward so far." Jin said as he looked over the five cards he'd been given. "So in summary we take these cards, apply them to our character, use our effect cards to boost us when needed, fight off whatever we draw in the other pile, and take another treasure card to add to the pile."

"Yep, that's the basic gist of it... except for the twist. Even if it isn't your turn you can still play effect cards on your opponent and your opponent's monsters. You can curse your ally so that it will be harder for them to win a battle or you can make the monster stronger, but they'll get more rewards if they win the fight. Also, you can choose to help an ally if the both of you agree and the helper will get their treasure reward."

"Alright, it sounds basic enough," Ragna admitted. "So what's the point of this game anyways?"

"To get to level 10," Yang explained as she got out a stack of paper and wrote everyone's name down along with a '1' next to them. "You get a level every round you win, so theoretically you need to win 9 fights and the game's yours."

"So you you have to manage how often you help your allies... and how often you back stab them so that you reach victory first," Weiss summarized, a dark smile appearing on her face. "...Perfect."

'Good lord, I'm screwed,' Ragna thought before glancing down and realizing he'd yet to look at his cards. 'Well, let's do this...'

"I'll go first," Ruby declared as she started putting her cards down, showing the equipment she was going to be using. It made sense for her to start since she was sitting to the left of Yang, the dealer. This would make the order her, Jin, Blake, Weiss, Ragna, and the finally Yang. "Alright, looks like I'm set up."

Glancing at Ruby's set of... equipment, Ragna quickly got the tone that this game was going for; completely nonsensical. Per example, her main weapon was 'The Rubber Chicken Club.' Her armor was consisted of 'Plaid Plated Armor' and 'Dynamite Footwear.' Even her given semblance was called 'Stinking Suppression.' As expected, each of these cards had a ridiculous illustration of said item or ability. Drawing the monster card from the pile, Ruby's opponent for this would be... 'The Drunken Rolling Boar; Threat Rating 10.'

'Seriously, what did they get me into?' Ragna thought to himself.

"My equipment plus my level puts me at a 9, but my semblance boosts me two ranks since the monster doesn't have a smell resistance, so I've won the match!" Ruby declared proudly as Yang changed her sister's level from a one to a two and Ruby drew her Treasure card from the pile. "Okay, that's my move. Your turn Jin."

"Don't speak to me with such familiarity, woman," Jin ordered harshly, causing Ruby to freeze while Yang and Ragna gave him heated glares. Ordering his cards around, Jin's score actually reached a higher 14 score. Drawing the monster card, the rank 8 'Scaredy Leo,' stood no chance as Jin drew the treasure card. "...I can still play a card after I've done my combat phase, correct?"

"I guess you can?" Yang told him with an odd and confused expression expression. "I mean it would make more sense to hold on to your card, but do what you want."

"...Oh brotherrrrrrrr," Jin said as an all too creepy smile grew on his face. "I'll attack you with my trap card... THE CURSE OF SURPRISE SEX CHANGE!" The table felt awkward as nearly all pairs of eyes in the library were directed at them.

"...Come again?" Ragna said as he took a look at the card of a cartoon hunter, understandably confused as they appeared to have sudden grown breasts underneath their clothing. Ruby was dying trying to contain her laughter at Ragna stared at the card blank faced. "You... son of a..."

"Wow, that's a bad card to get," Yang said as she looked over it. "You take a minus 5 for the next round of combat AND you lose a level since you're so off guard."

"So what? I'm level zero now?" Ragna demanded.

"Actually, the rules say you're dead," the blonde girl informed him.

'I'm starting to like this game,' Jin thought sadistically as he looked at the cards in his hand.

"So I can stop playing?" Ragna asked hopefully.

"No, it means you lose all of your cards and have to draw a new set, restarting at level one," Ruby told him. Ragna's disappointment was all too apparent as he switched his cards out. "You know I was going to play this later, but I guess now will do. I'll play my Charity Fortune treasure card on you which will automatically give you a free level."

"...You've got to be kidding me," Ragna muttered as he threw a card from his new hand onto the table; 'Explosive Gift.' This cursed card meant that if anyone ever gave its holder a gift, they'd lose two levels. "...So I'm dead AGAIN."

'Stay out of my way woman, only I can kill brother!' Jin thought furiously. "I'll end my turn there."

'And not a moment too soon,' Ragna thought. 'I haven't even gone yet and I've already died twice.'

Organizing her armor and cards, Blake saw that she was at a 12 which was 10 below the powerful 'Demonic Chicken' monster card that she drew. Looking closely, Ragna made now that the stronger cards could give strong boons, in this case an extra level was promised.

"Need a hand?" Yang offered. Blake nodded, bringing the total up to 25 with Yang's power involved. Now Blake reached the third level and was in the lead while Yang added an extra treasure card to her hand.

'Okay, I didn't die that time,' Ragna thought to himself. As it then moved to Weiss who was sitting to his right. The Shnee heir's equipment only put her at a nine, but it was still enough to tie with the 'Dancing Ursa' monster card she drew.

"What happens if I tie with the monster?" she asked Yang, looking at scorekeeper for the rules.

"Nothing really; you don't get the level or the treasure, but you don't take the penalty of losing either," the blonde explained

Using this opportunity to her advantage, she decided she'd tried to strengthen the bond between the two here with the strongest families.

"Jin, could you lend me a tiny bit of-?" Weiss words died at Jin's fierce glare at the woman for even thinking to say his name. Nervously glancing around the table, no one was willing to step in. "I... I-!"

"Y'all are heartless," Ragna muttered organizing his cards (which weren't great, but they did the job). "I'll help her." Jin's glare only seemed in increase at that statement. Weiss gave him a thankful smile as she got the level and Ragna drew his treasure card. "...A lose a level curse card... ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" he shouted, only to get smacked on the back of a head by a book.

"You're in a library, keep your voice down," a passing Goodwitch ordered as she used her semblance to bring the book back from smacking the Reaper. Ragna scowled at her, but merely grumbled under his breath as he switched out his cards from the hat trick death. He then set his equipment cards up for the next phase of the fight.

"Your turn, brother," Jin informed him before slamming a card down. "And this one is just what I need to confirm your end!" The card read Giant, meaning when it was applied to a monster their threat increased by five levels. You'd get two extra levels if you managed to beat the thing, but it was large challenge to tackle on.

"I didn't even draw the monster, idiot," Ragna muttered as he drew the monster card. 'Great Winged Shark,' with a challenge of 20, boosted to 25 due to Jin's boost. 'I might be able to pull something off,' Ragna thought as looked down at his equipment cards, leaving all of the girls surprised at his high numbers. 'I actually managed to get three pretty badass equipment cards, so I'm already at a 24 since this monster is weak to a lot of their effects... All I need to do is use this 'Dice Power' card, roll between a two and a six, and I'll get four levels and a treasure off this thing! If I roll a one, all that happens is we tie... Come on.' Ragna then grabbed his dice power card put it d-

"Ruby to the rescue!" the youngest huntress-in-training declared proudly. "If we both work together there's nothing we can't stop!"

"..." Ragna's hand then went to the other card he held before placing it down. Everyone looked over it and saw that it was a curse card that had been activated. 'Deadly Pride: If another player even offers you help while you hold this card, you lose to whatever monster you were about to face. Since it's too busy snacking on your corpse, the other player can flee unscarred.' The image was even a crude one of someone holding knife to their throat while another person appeared to be bartering with them.

Translation: Ragna just lost his chance to gain four levels at take the lead, lost some of the best cards in the game... and died for the fourth time in the first round.

"Um... Sorry?" Ruby offered weakly.

"STOP HELPING ME!" Ragna shouted, only to get whacked in the back of the head by one of Goodwitch's books once more. "Guh!"

"I won't tell you again; be quiet," Goodwitch ordered once more with a scowl as she recalled the second book. Ragna meekly nodded and began drawing a new hand.

"So now it's my turn," Yang said as she drew her monster card. 'Rider of Fright' appeared to be a jack-o-lantern based monster at only a challenge of 15, but that was still two above Yang's total.

"Do you want some help?" Blake asked, offering her assistance to her partner to return the favor.

"Nah, I've got this," Yang said with a bright smile, right before sending an evil one Ragna's way. "Or should I say he's got this?"

"Say wha-?" Ragna questioned as Yang brought her card down. 'Unwilling Meatshield: Using the lowest leveled player at the table, you can force them to lose in your place. Then add three to your total power and fight the monster yourself.' "...I hate you."

"Aw, you don't really mean that," Yang told him with great snark as Ragna died yet again. Re-drawing his cards (and dying a sixth time due to yet another curse card), Ragna was currently at his wits end.

Meanwhile across the Kingdom

A traveling rouge paused in his walk as he glanced up to the sky. He was dressed in gray clothing and had dark spiky hair with a short five-o-clock shadow. He held his well sized sword over his shoulder while his short red cape fluttered in the light breeze. His gaze at the horizon wasn't directed anywhere particular, but it was intense.

"What's wrong with ya?" another voice asked. This one belonged to a much smaller figure, a cat of all things. It had an orange coat along with a double katana scabbard on its back. An old feudal styled eye patch covered its right eye, while its left appeared yellow and intelligent.

"Just a feeling I'm getting..." the man said with an enigmatic tone. "That right now somewhere and somehow... there's someone out there that currently has even worse luck than I do." Giving a chuckle he continued walking on. "And something tells me it's your apprentice."

"Yare yare, I'd be surprised if it wasn't," the cat muttered as he leaded the two onward.

Later -Beacon Academy-

"And with that bonus card I take my tenth level," Yang proudly declared as she looked over at the written totals.

"Thank god... It's over..." Ragna muttered as he slumped his head on top of the desk.

"So, what's the final result?" Ruby asked excitedly.

"Let's see... after me is Blake who managed to get up to level 7." Aside from the few times Yang had lent her assistance, Blake hadn't been on the receiving end of any attention, hence how she avoided any back-stabs. "Ruby got to level six." Not too surprising, she had gotten some lucky draws, but she'd been more focused on helping everyone beat down the monsters and having fun instead of winning. "Tied at level five is Jin and Weiss, though Weiss did gain and lose more levels." Not too surprising, Weiss wasn't all that lucky and Jin was more focused on... other things. "And then we have-"

"I get it, I'm in last and I never gained a single level," Ragna muttered under his breath. "I couldn't even make a damn move in the first place."

"...True... but did you also know that you had 74 total deaths in this game?" Yang asked, leaving Ragna to pale.

"...That's it, I'm never playing cards again for as long as I live," the Reaper promised as he rose and grabbed his books.

"Oh brother, don't say that," Jin taunted. "Think of how strong we were able to bond over this. It makes me look forward to when the two of us can finally participate in mock battles."

"Tch," Ragna growled. "Yeah, guess I'll see you there." Jin only smiled at him and walked back to his own table.

"Sorry things turned out like this," Ruby apologized. "You... you came kind of close to being able to make a move at the end though... right?"

"Maybe," Ragna admitted, making sure Jin was out of earshot. "So... same time tomorrow?"

"Huh, you want to come back with us?" Yang asked. "Even after all of that?"

"Believe it or not, that still doesn't come close to the crap I've had to put up with from my own team," the Reaper explained. "So, we studying together or what?"

"That might not be the best idea," Weiss informed him as she glanced over her shoulder. "If you keep spending all of this time with us instead of your own group people are going to start gossiping."

"They're already gossiping," Ragna informed with a growl, much to Weiss's horror. "I've just decided that it isn't worth listening to. Let 'em say whatever the hell they want, I know what's really going on."

"...Guess we'll see you tomorrow then," Blake said as she gave the Reaper a small smile. This was the first time Ragna had actually seen her smile, it seemed... genuine.

"See you then," he promised as he headed out.

"...My sister is going to kill me when she find out about this," Weiss said to herself completely terrified.

"Aw, you'll be fine," Yang assured. "Come on, it's not like any of us is coming anywhere close to flirting with him."

"I dunno sis, you seemed to be coming close a couple of times," their team leader informed.

"It's called teasing Ruby," Yang protested. "But I mean, he's not a bad person... we can let him stick with us until he figures things out with his own team, right?"

"Given his situation, it would feel rather cruel to turn him away," Weiss admitted before sighing. "Why does it feel like we're adopting a stray puppy?"

"Stray kitten," Blake oddly protested.

Outside

It was already mid-evening as he made his way out of the library. Trying to keep his distance from the other students, he made his way over to the park bench for a brief respite of relaxation.

"I heard you caused quite the ruckus in the lunch room," Professor Ozpin said as he approached the Reaper. "...And just recently in the library."

"So... I'm getting detention then?" Ragna asked with more annoyance than worry.

"No, not today," Ozpin told him before giving a small chuckle. "Though I'd mind the way you act around Professor Goodwitch, I doubt that she's been enjoying your rebellious streak."

"Don't remind me," Ragna groaned. "So what are you here for then?"

"Just to extend an invitation," Ozpin told him. "I'm joining a few professors tonight for a small poker match and I was wondering if-"

"Yeah, no, thanks for asking," Ragna muttered. "I'm not letting you steal my money that easily."

"Simply a joke," Ozpin smirked.

"Would you have given me my money back if I'd said yes?" the Reaper demanded with a scowl.

"...I'd have taken it as a payment for the lesson," the headmaster informed as he walked away. "Luckily it seems that you learned this lesson the first time."

"You'd still be robbing a student blind," Ragna countered, but Ozpin didn't appear to have heard him as he was far too busy with his own thoughts.

'This isn't good... His attitude needs too much improvement,' Ozpin thought as he headed back to his office. 'I was hoping he could heal naturally given time, but with his brother's actions, his insistence to keep Tsubaki Yayoi in his team and the hell it brought him, not to mention his developing outcast status this could start turning into a problem; for all of us... At least I still have an idea on how to handle this.'

Author's Note: (Review responses are back!)

Well that was a bit of a longer chapter than normal. All the same I'm pleased with how it came out. My rules of the card game I made for the RWBY-verse might not match exactly with Munchkin (it's been over a year since I've play), but I rolled with it. Here's the review response reboot, woo woo.

EpicLinkSam: YouTuber Ruby was spur of the moment, but I thought it would fit. I'll admit I can see where you got the Persona vibe, and I sort of had myself while writing the chapter. As far as the DLC, I thought it was a bad move for Arcsys to announce it so early, but I'm going to stick with it and hope for the best.

fernandonoguera99: Yeah, I've been making this story further and further humor based, and I think it's been working for the most part.

Star's Keyblade4114: I decided I'd add a bit of their character interaction this chapter, but I don't know when I'll do a JACK focused chapter.

Black sun 123: You seem to be on Team Ragna x Blake. Well, I think the dynamic could work. At this point, everything's just in a testing phase.

Medblare: A god? You're not giving Azzy enough credit...

The Unplanner: Wow, you make a lot of good points, thanks for the lengthy review. As far as the Human/Faunus thing goes I wasn't including genetics or anything like that and as of yet we've never seen a Beastkin with two different animals as parents. I just wanted to make a comparison ration.

TheMadDog: I'm aware, that was why he didn't step in against Cardin... though I can still think of Azrael as something as a bully at times. I dunno.

Travis Moon: Sad to say I've never gotten into that games series and I've already got a lot on my plate. Thanks for the idea, but you may want to search elsewhere.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter cause I had some fun writing this one. I'll see you in the next chapter. Ciao!