Grimm Reaper of Remnant

by Storm VII

Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long have completed their BEACON entrance exam to officially form Team RWBY. Fate has much in store for them as two especially menacing teams were also accepted in Ozpin's evaluations; Team JACK led by the cold Jin Kisaragi... and Team RAIN led by the enigmatic Ragna the Bloodedge. [RagnaxHarem] ARC TWO FINISHED!

16. Time Off

Volume 2 Prologue

Crimson XVI: Off Time

It had been a while since Ragna had found himself in the outland woods while it was still light out, but here he was; outside and resting his back against a giant tree. The Reaper didn't even have Aramasa or Clarent on his person. Instead he carried a long and wide blade that looked similar in size to Kagura's sword. The weapon wasn't in the best condition and it even carried some light rust on it, but it would serve its purpose here.

Despite the presence of a large weapon, you might've been forgiven if you thought the setting was peaceful. The tree cast a relaxing shade over the area which was only broken in a few places by the bright morning sunshine that shone through the branches which would bend and sway in the breeze. Aside from the rustling of the wind, the chirping of birds was the only thing that broke through the quiet serenity of the outside area. There wasn't even a Grimm beast for miles… but Ragna was expecting something much more dangerous.

"Huh… this feels a little out of the way," Azrael noted as he walked into the clearing and looked around. "Are you sure that this is the spot you wanted?"

"Couldn't have us wreaking the Academy or causing property damage in town; might've gotten stuck with mop duty again," Ragna explained, thinking of how many times he's already been in trouble with Goodwitch for property damage back in the academy.

"So we're really doing it today?" Azrael asked as he smiled fiercely while cracking his knuckles, a sound so powerful that it echoed across the forest. "Didn't think you were serious when you said we'll settle this at breakfast. So… what made you ready to do this now?"

"Are you complaining?" Ragna returned before shaking his head. "And here I thought you'd be chomping at the bit."

"You have no damn idea," Azrael said, his expression suggesting he was doing everything he could to hold himself back in the moment. "But I didn't come this far just to see you wuss out. If we're doing this, I want to know that your heart's really in it."

"You don't have any reason to worry then; I'm ready to kick your ass... but you're not getting a fight to the death," Ragna told him. Azrael scowled, feeling robbed of what he really wanted. The Reaper only smirked. "Come on, exams were already murder enough and I'm not ready to see my team ripped apart. I already had to work on fixing things with Tsubaki before she left… be kinda stupid if we broke the team now."

"Then why bother fighting me in the first place? Doesn't look like you've got a lot to gain from this match up," the mad dog demanded.

"Team RAIN still needs some serious changes and as its leader it looks like the job's going to fall to me one way or another. I already got the hard part out of the way with my partner, so now it's your turn," the Reaper said, his smirk quickly vanishing and his eyes set in a deathly serious scowl. "It's high time somebody stepped in and curbed your damn bloodlust, Mad Dog."

"...In that case," Azrael said, before seemingly disappearing from sight. An instant later he was in front of Ragna, unleashing a massive forward jab.

(Cue Final Fantasy XV Episode Gladiolus: Battle Theme)

Had Ragna's reflexes been even a split second slower, Azrael's sudden attack would have pulverized him. As it stood his last second dodge barely saved him by leaping out of the way and finally bringing his sword up with clear intentions to fight. That lone strike was enough to blast a huge hole in the tree he'd been standing in front of and the whole area trembled as the massive evergreen began falling to the ground. The blue haired giant turned back to face Ragna, with a face full of nothing but bloodlust and excitement.

"YOU BETTER BE SURE I GET MY FILL, GRIMM REAPER

Taking his chance to attack, Ragna leaped at Azrael with a powerful overhead swing. The Mad Dog didn't even try to avoid the massive blade as he managed to block the strike with his bare arms alone, though the ground beneath him still cracked from the force. Azrael came out with a harsh downward spike, forcing Ragna to the ground and causing him to slide back. Driving his fist into the ground, Azrael hurled a massive chunk of the earth at the Reaper with and upward swing. Ragna brought his sword down and carved the rock in half and just barely brought it back up in time to counter Azrael's rushing Gustav technique. The impact from both attacks sent a dust cloud flying around them with the shockwave they created.

Both fighters then turned into powerful roundhouse kicks, causing powerful sparks to fly as their metal plated shoes clashed with one another. The Mad Dog then unleashed a sweeping upward kick which Ragna counted with a downward swing before Azrael unleashed a powerful clothesline forcing Ragna to guard with his sword, though Azrael's power was still great enough to send him flying back off of his feet. Twisting his body to flip backwards and properly land, Ragna plunged his sword into the ground to quickly stopped his slide back. Tearing his sword out of the ground with a great upwards swing, Ragna sent a harsh wave to debris straight at Azrael.

'This won't hurt him, but at the very least it should stun him or get him to move,' Ragna thought to himself tensing his muscles to get ready for the Mad Dog's move to escape his attack, only to see Azrael glowing red. 'Crap, is that-?'

All of the debris that Ragna was hoping to turn into a distraction was absorbed the moment it reach the dark red aura surrounding Azrael. It wasn't only the larger rocks or chunks of dirt either, when the wave passed Ragna didn't see a speck of dirt on his teammate's body. Receiving an ugly smirk from the berserk fighter, Ragna watch as Azrael dropped the aura before waving his hand and firing off an inexplicable fireball at the Reaper. The thing was deathly fast, and Ragna barely had the chance to cleave it into two halves before he was struck by it.

Ragna didn't have the time to catch his breath or think about what happen, hell the two titanic explosions from Azrael's attack behind him was the furthest thing in his mind as the Mad Dog continued his assault. He guarded against an overhead stomp only for Azrael to retract his feet before trying to get Ragna's legs with a double kick under the blade's guard. Ragna was forced to leap into the air in order to avoid the attack. Capitalizing on his positioning, the Reaper swung his blade downwards to try to inflict an actual hit on his opponent. Azrael was the one who was forced to more fast this time, unleashing a risky uppercut with his fist that just barely managed to counter Ragna's own move as the two attacks clashed.

"HAH!" Azrael shouted with joy at the conflict as he drove his fist down, catching against Ragna's bladed guard in midair. The Reaper was sent to the ground and forced back into a powerful slide as he fought hard to keep his footing. Azrael disappeared from view, and Ragna was forced to trust his instincts as he shifted his guard behind him. "FULL-!" Azrael shouted from behind Ragna, forcing him off of his feet with a titanic upward kick before launching him into the air with a devastating uppercut uppercut. The Reaper had guarded the attack, but he was still sent flying high into the air… right where Azrael was already lying in wait with his finishing attack. "-SPARTAN!" Ragna forced his blade behind him and forced it to guard him from damage. While took the bulk of the force, he was still sent flying though the sky over the speed of sound.

Grunting as twisted his body around in the air to regain whatever control he still managed to have, he cleaved through any obstacle in his way in his forced flight through the forest. Breaking out of the thick treeline and into a large clearing, Ragna flipped himself forward just in time to stick the landing and return to the earth.

'Damn… He wasn't kidding around when he said that he wanted this,' Ragna thought to himself now that he had a literal second to himself to think. That 'second to think' would turn to be quite literal as he became completely covered in shadow. Looking up with dread, he saw that a storm of uprooted trees, huge chunks of unearthed ground, and giant boulders were flying towards. '...Kay, now there's this.'

Focusing on making his movements fast instead of powerful, Ragna made four rapid sword swings before the debris was even within physical range. Each of his attacks carried enough power to send deadly shockwaves through the air, carving chunks of the fall threat to pieces. Holding his ground as the threatening objects fell to the ground, Ragna unleashed a multitude of powerful sword swings as he cut through everything that even got close to him. Cutting through one of the pieces however, he saw Azrael diving through the torrent of his own attack.

Dodging Azrael's fist as it struck the ground where he'd been standing the instant before, Ragna retaliated with a slash be diving to the side to dodge a falling boulder. With deadly debris falling all around them, the two continued to clash within the maelstrom. The two exchanged three rapid blows between sword and fist before Ragna was forced to dodge Azrael's heavy kick, shattering the tree falling directly behind him into toothpicks. Clashing once more before winding up two powerful haymaker attacks, Ragna and Azrael collided and caused a massive explosion of energy to burst around them. The shockwave tore through the remaining debris and the grass on the ground, reducing both to shreds.

As Azrael went for another high stomp, Ragna maged to deflect the attack and for him back just a few feet. The Reaper then guarded again the Mad Dog's clothesline lunch before backstepping as Azrael tried to grab him. Ragna brought his sword down with a mighty slash, right before Azrael shifted from sight and left him to carve a deep indent into the earth. Turning around just before Azrael appeared directly behind him, bare fist and blade clashed sending both fighters sliding back a few feet from the impact. This didn't stop each of their assaults for long as both charged back into the fray. Ragna's sword clash against Azrael's arm before the Mad Dog through a wild kick out which was countered by one of Ragna's. Putting his hand together, Azrael went for a meaty overhead spike, only to have the blow parried by the Reaper's sudden upward slash. Azrael then tried to catch Ragna with a vicious uppercut, but he'd stepped back at the last moment before turning into a great slash. Azrael was forced to guard against the attack, and though he didn't take any forcable damage from the blow it did send him sliding back a solid fifteen feet.

"Hah… WONDERFUL!" Azrael shouted at the top of his lungs as Ragna kept his borrowed blade ready. "You're fighting just as well-! NO! Even BETTER than your match with Goodwitch! This is what I've been waiting for! A match that I can finally take seriously!"

"Well I'm glad one of us is happy," Ragna responded sarcastically, even though he'd quite literally asked for this.

"But still… why don't you use your own blade!?" the Mad Dog demanded. "If you're really serious about fighting me you should have brought a weapon you'd trust with your life! Fighting with that piece of rust is just an insult to us both!"

"Is it? Then why haven't you broken the damn thing yet?" Ragna bit back with a challenging smile. "Come on Mad Dog, you're not impressing me just yet!"

"Oh… I'M JUST GETTING STARTED!" Azrael roared as he flew through the air and Ragna responded in kind. The Mad Dog reeled his fist back as Ragna readied an equally destructive slash with his rusty blade. The two warriors roared as the distance closed, finally unleashing both of their attacks in a brilliant collison.

(End Theme)

Substory Five: Check In

"...And to think it just keeps going," Professor Ozpin said with an air of concern as he looked over his scoll, mulling over the information it was presenting him. The tremors that were being reported had a nearly unheard of intensity, and never had they occurred so frequently as this. Had ground zero been any closer to walls or not seeming to move further away as the tremors continued, the residents of the city might've been in great danger.

"Is everything okay?" Yang Xiao Long asked as she stood in front of the headmaster's desk. Her arms crossed as she waited to finally be addressed after being called here by the man currently ignoring her.

"I'm sorry, I was just checking on a different situation to make sure it hadn't become serious," Ozpin said as he closed the screen and set his device back on his desk. Yang looked at him expectantly, apparently not in the mood for having secrets kept. "...At the moment it's too early to say one way or the other."

"Right… So what did you want me in here for?" Yang asked, ready to get down to business. "I already saw my scores, so you're not here to give me a lecture about my exams."

"No, I likely would've just sent you a letter for that… or send Goodwitch to give the lecture, should the situation have been severe enough." Yang gave an involuntary shiver. "Consider that encouragement to do well on the next round of testing as well."

"Right, I'll be sure to study up with Ragna," she assured him, knowing that whatever punishment Goodwitch would prepare, chances were slim it'd be at all lenient.

"Speaking of this academy's Grimm Reaper, that's actually the subject I called you in to ask about him and the situation with his team," the academy head explained, finally revealing what the purpose of this small meet up was.

"...You couldn't just ask him that in person?" Yang asked, feeling she'd been needlessly called in here.

"I might have… if I had some way of reaching him on his scoll; at the present I have had little luck in getting in touch with him," he infomed. "That and… I don't think I could get a completely honest answer from him; that's why I'm relying on your observations."

"Then there's not much to say; he and Tsubaki seem to have things more or less patched up and he hasn't had any real beef with Noel," she explained. "I think the biggest problem he still has is with Azrael, but he's already been talking about finishing that off. In fact, I think he might be doing something about that right now."

'And if I haven't been able to get in contact with him...' Oz considered seriously. 'But to think that scale of damage could be caused by only two students… I certainly hope Ragna knows what he's doing.' He quickly returned his attention back to Yang. "So… you think he's ready to move back into his room with his own team then?"

"Probably, but I think he must've liked having that place all to himself," the blonde admitted.

"Well I can't make exception for any students. The only reason I gave him that room in the first place was to give him the time he needed to handle his issues with his team and I gave him an agreed time limit to do so. He'll likely have a few days left in his own quarters, but I assure you'll he'll be back with his team before the next semester begins." Ozpin then folded his hands patiently. "...Meaning you're free to do what you want."

"Isn't that what I always do?" Yang shot back with a cocky smirk.

"Oh? Care explain what that means?" a stoic Ozpin questioned.

"It means that even though you asked me to make sure Ragna wasn't going to be going all dark and brooding 24/7, I only gave him that one win when you first asked." Yang didn't look directly at her teacher. "Truth is… I'm only hanging out with him because it's what I want to do; to spend time with my friend."

"...Is that so?" the headmaster questioned before waving his hand away. "In that case, far be it from me to interfere with such a friendship. Have you already told him about my request?"

"Not yet, haven't told my team either. You want it to stay that way?" Ozpin nodded. "I don't like keeping secrets, and I still want to tell them eventually."

"You'll get your chance, I promise," he assured her. "Better yet, I'll tell them myself when that time finally comes."

"I'm gonna hold you to that one, but if you don't mind I think I'll drop this here; Ragna and I have a movie to catch later tonight and I want to be looking my best," Yang told him matter-of-factly before turning and heading off without waiting to be excused by the professor. Ozpin didn't say a word in rebuttal (though it he find it a touch excessive that she was getting ready now if it was still morning), only watching her leave his office and waiting a few moments to make sure she was gone.

'...Going to her was probably the right move at the time… but he's still spending far more time with Team RWBY than his with his own group, even now. I suppose I might've expected this outcome, but to think its actually gone as far as it has…' He let out a lengthy sigh, before smiling softly to himself. 'He's managed to take it this far with minimal interference, I suppose it's only right that I stay to the side and let his situation take its natural course from now on… whatever way that may be.'

Substory Six: Copycat Reaper

"Why won't… you… go… UP!?" Ruby screamed as she puffed her cheeks out and growled, her face turning red as she tried to raise the massive Aramasa blade. Her arms were shaking as she could barely raise the sword a few inches off of the ground and only for a few seconds at a time. Letting the metal blade fall to the ground with a dull clang, she fought to catch her breath.

"Is it really that hard to lift his sword?" Blake Belladonna asked as she stood off to the side. The cat Faunus had wanted to come into the training room to practice, but upon arriving she'd instead found Ruby with Aramasa and Clarent, seeming to try and investigate every nook and cranny for the former. "You do fight with a sniper/scythe, don't you? That doesn't seem like the lightest thing either."

"I know what I use! That's why I'm trying to pick this thing up!" Ruby shouted as her entire body began shake just trying to raise the thing off of the floor once more. "How dense is the metal on this thing!?"

"...I feel there's an obvious joke to be made at Ragna's expense, but I think that's more of Yang's thing," Weiss Schnee said as she stood off to the side and watched her leader. The young Schnee had also come into the practice room in the hopes of refining her skills against some of the dummy targets, but seeing Ruby with Ragna's weaponry had piqued her interest more than she'd wanted to admit. "Hard to believe he left his sword with you for today, especially after what you tried to do with his coat."

"Says the person who tried it on just after I did!" Ruby reminded harshly as she continued to struggle to raise the sword. Finally at wits end, she let go of the weapon and let in fall to the floor. "Seriously, how does anyone even use this? And he even swings it using one arm most of the time!"

"He's probably had to undergo harsh training in order to use it," Blake reasonably guessed. "Even still, I wouldn't be surprised if he was where you are when he first tried to fight with that thing."

"You mean a young Ragna trying to using the oversized blade?" Weiss thought as she tried to visualize the idea. A much shorter Ragna with shorter silvery hair (Ruby hadn't let it slip that used to have blonde hair yet) and a slightly more rounded race. She could imagine him struggling and growing frustrated as he tried to raise a sword twice his size his both hands, his face growing red and his cheeks puffed like Ruby's had been, showing small dimples and… Weiss stopped herself there, realizing how adorable she was making him seem when in reality his was far from such an innocent figure.

"Something wrong? Your face is turning red," Blake asked, leaving Weiss to wave her friend off as she tried to retain appearances. "...Anyways Ruby, Ragna left you the Clarent didn't he? Why not play with that instead?"

"I'M NOT PLAYING WITH IT!" Ruby denied as she looked to the other sword. "Besides, Ragna and I already uncovered all of the secrets in that thing when he first got it, remember? Aramasa is the real mystery here and Ragna won't even tell me how it transforms into a scythe!"

"Probably because it has something to do with his Drive," Blake again guessed, thinking back to when Ragna had told her just how dangerous his semblance could be. Even if she didn't know specifically what form of semblance her friend had, his continued reluctance to even delve into using that ability made it clear it wasn't something to treat lightly.

"I still don't know why you're so obsessed with that oversized hunk of steel when you already have the Crescent Rose to use," Weiss commented as she looked Ruby's weapon which had been set off to the side. "Isn't one scythe weapon enough? Or are you hoping to trade with Ragna?"

"Well… maybe I would borrow it for a little bit if he'd let me," Ruby admitted with a big goofy smile, thinking of taking the giant weapon into battle. Maybe she'd even do a small trade like Weiss had brought up, so she'd see Ragna using her Crescent Rose at the same time. Both of them fighting through hordes of Grimm with their respective weapon, almost like a Huntsman/Huntress duo. "Maybe if I try to convince him later…"

"He'd never go for it," Blake reminded.

"I've got my eyes," Ruby countered.

'...She's right, so very very right,' both Blake and Weiss thought to themselves nervously as the young huntress-in-training giggled, knowing full well the powerful trump card that she held.

Substory Seven: Teacher's Recreation

"Now isn't this an interesting gathering? I never thought that I'd be called out by you of all people during our vacation," Amane Nishiki comment joyfully as he stood with Professor Goodwitch in one of the lecture halls of the Academy. The colorful dancer had been asked here by a message on his scroll from the instructor and with a lack of current commitments had decided it would be in his interest to comply, if not to just keep himself entertained. "I have to say though… something about the setting you've chosen seems very off."

"Does it? I hadn't noticed," Goodwitch said in response, adjusting her glasses with an index finger instead of the usual wand she carried. While Amane was dressed in his normal pink kimono, Goodwitch had changed her regular outfit for a teal colored track suit, something Amane had no idea she owned and had a feeling that anyone else in this academy would be just as clueless about this particular addition to her wardrobe. When Goodwitch had come in she'd been ever more cautious, gently closing the door behind as not to make a sound and only after she'd been absolutely sure that she hadn't been followed.

"...I suppose I must be making astute observations of nothing more than figments of my imagination," Amane decided, waving off the idea like he hadn't thought of it in the first place. "Might I ask what it is that you've brought me here for?"

"I was hoping with your assistance in something; after searching throughout a few of the businesses I have yet to find the proper Yoga instructor. Every single one of them I've only been able to attend a single training session with. Either they're unable to focus on said lesson or they claim that they won't be able to teach me… I'm starting to think I'm unteachable."

"You? I find it hard to believe that the great instructor Goodwitch would let herself be considered unteachable in anything, much less something as universal as Yoga." Goodwitch had the sneaking suspicion that Amane might've been making fun of her. "If it's a lesson in Yoga that you're searching for you've certainly come to the right person, though I am surprised to see this side of you. This is the first I've heard of your pursuit of Yoga."

"Up until recently I hadn't even considered taking it as a pastime, but when a number of my colleague said it was a good way to… to…" Goodwitch seemed to be biting her tongue. "To relieve stress, they seemed rather insistent that I give it a try. To middling results of course."

'In short someone said that she was too stuck up and this is her way of proving them wrong,' Amane quickly deduced. Even as playful as he was, even he could see that it would be a poor move to bring that to the attention of his teacher at the moment. "Well you shant get middling results from me, my dearest teacher. I should have you know that I take my work seriously enough. Now… let's start with a basic stretch. I assume that you know downward dog?"

"Of course, my teacher's managed to teach me that much," Goodwitch told him as she set down a yoga mat and got into the the position atop it. "How's this?"

"Oh… oh my," Amane said, pressing his finger tips to his lips.

Goodwitch's tracksuit had already been plenty form fitting when she had first put it on, but with her trying to perform that that basic pose it was the fabrice seemed to be what was being stretched. With her arms fully extended in the front it was easy to get a good view on how big her chest cleavage actually was. The angle at which she had curved her body was great at showing of her hip curves and her… backside seemed to be completing the package. Amane said nothing for a long while as he watched on and Goodwitch remained in her… provocative pose.

"So… what do you have to say about this?"

"Only that I understand why your instructor's might've had a difficult time teaching you or rather why they thought that you were unteachable," Amane told her… "Your form is completely off! Your backside isn't high enough in the air, you're putting too much weight on your dominant hand and your supposed to be resting on the balls of your feet not the tips of your toes!" Amane gave a lengthy sigh. "Adjust yourself and we can begin stretching in earnest. I'll make a proper Yoga master out of you yet!"

"Perhaps I was right coming to you after all…" the instructor considered right as there was a knock on the door. "Who is it?"

"It is I! Pro… It's Peter; Bart and I wanted to apologize," the door then opened revealing Professors Port and Oobleck. "Glynda, we didn't mean to push you into stretch…" Neither instructor could continue as they finally got a good look into the room, looking straight at their colleague's hindquarters raised high in the air. Port gave a lengthy cough as he tried to get some support from the fellow instructor… Oobleck seemed suddenly interested in wiping off his glasses. "...Right then… carry on." The door closed, leaving the two red faced instructors in awkward silence as they parted ways and silently promised to never speak of this again.

"Hmm, I wonder what that was about?" the dancer said mostly to himself with a knowing smile upon his face.

Substory Eight: Odd Acquaintances

"I'm super surprised that you decided to ask me out," Nora said as she walked beside her partner Lei Ren. "I mean, well not like a date ask out, more of a going out. Unless you thought you were asking me on a date, in which case I'm fine with that. Or are you asking me because you have a lot of stuff to grab and you need my help. What about-?"

"Nora, I think that's enough," Ren told her trying to get his partner back to reality. "I just felt like we could use some fresh air after finals week."

The two were traveling through the streets of the city, taking in the sights and getting some fresh air much like Ren had claimed. To commemorate that they were just out for a stroll, both had left their weapons back in the academy and were even wearing more casual clothing. Nora was wearing an orange midriff tank top that matched the color of her hair and showed off her belly button along with a pair of white cargo shorts and sandals. Ren himself was dressed in pink t-shirt with a black graffiti logo on the front, dark blue jeans, and brown loafers. The shirt had actually been a gift from Ragna who given it to him for letting borrowing his plant. It felt like a strange reason to give a gift as Ren had felt like Ragna was the one doing him the favor by taking care of it, but maybe the Reaper had gotten some actual peace from taking care of it.

"So what did you want to do first?" Nora asked Ren excitedly. "Walk through the park? Grab a bite to eat? Oh! I know this really good crepe place near here that just opened up! They're supposed to have these really awesome fruit topped ones!"

"I guess crepes sound good," Ren admitted, trying to hide that fact that he actually thought it sounded like an amazing idea. Nora smiled as she was able to cox him into going. "But you're paying for yours."

"Fine…" Nora said with a nervous sigh. Ren only allowed him the smallest of smiles as he was used to dealing with his partner like this since they'd been kids.

Luckily the shop that Nora had suggested was close by and double luckily they didn't have to worry about a long line to wait in since the store was relatively new like Nora had said. They'd only had to wait through a few groups of people (one of them and obvious couple on a date) before they reached the front and the worker at the front to their order.

"Time to get the crepe started!" the cutesy maid said as she took the money and began working, singing each step as she did so. "Mix up the batter…! Throw it on the pan…! Whip cream, chocolate, bananas, and looooooots of strawberries! Wrap it up and… Viola!"

"Oh man, that thing looks amazing," Nora said as she quickly went to grab the crepe, Ren busy shifting though his wallet to get funds for his own. Hoping to enjoy it while it was hot instead of waiting for Ren (he honestly didn't mind anyways) Nora was about dig in before she heard a low grumble coming from beside her from a cat… something in a hood. It was a sound that she was a little too familiar with; a hungry stomach. Smiling, she held it out in offering. "Want it?"

"Meow? You're really giving this to Tao?" they asked. It was quite clear from her tone and her drool that she was having a hard time keeping herself from snatching it for herself right then and there.

"Really, I can always get another one," Nora told her with a bright smile. "Besides, I know how hard it can be to go with an empty stomach."

"Wow, you're good people!" Tao said as she took the crepe and began tearing through it an a nearly absurd rate. Nora could only laugh at how much Tao seemed to be enjoying herself.

"Easy, you're going to choke if you don't eat that thing a little slower," Ren ask as he came up holding a crepe in each hand. Shaking his head as Tao showed no sign of slowing, down he offered one of them to Nora. "Here, since you paid for one already."

"I thought you said you weren't going to treat me," she said in a knowing tone while giving a flirty wink. She'd been trying to get a reaction out of Ren, but he didn't say anything and only held the crepe out for her to take, which she eventually did.

"Tao! Hey Tao!" came a voice. It's owner was Sun Wukong, evidently searching the city streets for Tao because of sigh of relief he gave when he finally spotted her. "There you are, do you always have to run off when you smell something?"

"Meow, but Tao was hungry!" she protested with a full mouth before finally swallowing the crepe.

"Geeze," Sun said with a sigh before turning to Ren and Nora. "I'm really sorry about this…"

"Don't worry about it, our pleasure!" Nora told him as she gave him a confident thumbs up. "You want one too?"

"I… We ate already, but thanks," Sun said, still giving the smallest of glares to Tao. "So… you guys students from Beacon?"

"We are, and you must be those stowaways we heard about from Blake," Ren said, leaving Sun to grow relieved that it hadn't been Makoto to tell them that. "You're here for the tournament then?"

"Yeah, I'm here a little early but that's plan," Sun told before smirking and tapping his chest. "Call me Sun, that hyper one you've obviously met it Taokaka."

"Ren."

"And I'm Nora! Nice ta meetchAAAAAAAAAA!?"

If there was ever a chance of breaking Ren's needlessly stoic exterior, seeing Nora be suddenly groped by Tao's jacket paws would certainly be one way to do it. Sun himself seemed shocked that the cat would try something like this in public. Nora's shock started to wane away as she started to become dangerously angry. Ren was about to step in… but decided Tao had earned this one.

"You… little…" Nora began as she winded up a punch that could break through cement.

"Mewow! These are really good!" Tao said honestly as she smiled at Nora. "Big and bouncy!"

'SHE'S DESCRIBING THEM!?' Sun thought with horror as he started fearing for his friends life.

Nora paused for all of a moment before bringing her fist down, leaving both boys to close their eyes in a deep wince as they expected a shattering blow… only for nothing to come. Slowly opening them, they saw that Nora had instead putting an hand firmly on Tao's shoulder which had been enough to get her to let go. She was looking at her straight in the face with an expression that was plenty serious, but oddly not very angry.

"You really think they're good?" she asked. Tao nodded again in earnest. Nora's face seemed to light up as she gave Tao a big smirk. "Well, that's nice of you to say!"

"Yep! Really good!" Tao said, both of them seeming to have forgotten the gaping Sun and the frozen Run they had been accompanied with.

"Heh! You're all right Tao," Nora said with an honest smile.

"Meow? But you haven't even felt Tao's," the young cat said, tilting her head to the side.

"...What… the hell?" Sun could only mutter, not making any sense of the scene before him.

"...Hmm," Ren said, before finally beginning on his crepe by taking a large bite out of it. 'Given how they both act, it's a match made in heaven really… And here I thought only Ragna met the strange ones.'

Meanwhile

'I expected him to be a pain in the ass… but I wasn't expecting this kind of hell.'

Ragna the Bloodedge's little spar with Azrael had lasted for several hours already and the area around them was starting to reflect that; tree's had become either completely uprooted or torn to shreds, the grass had been blown away from the forest's floor, there were deep cracks in the earth spreading all through their arena; everything several miles across was in pieces… understandably, the Grimm had decided their mind their distance around these two. While there wasn't any noticeable scars or bruising since neither fighter had yet to get a clean hit in, both of them had gotten a fair bit of dirt on them in the fight so far.

'Glad I ate a big breakfast,' Ragna thought to himself as he leaned back to dodge Azrael's haymaker attack before responding in kind with his sword, knowing full well he'd have to be fighting both Azrael and a growling stomach right now with all of the calories they'd been burning in their lengthy fight. The both of them then made an additional powerful swing which connected and sent both fighters sliding back on the floor. Readying his blade for the next clash, Ragna noticed that Azrael wasn't rushing back at him in much of a hurry. "What? We done already?"

"Not even close…" Azrael said with a growling temperament as he looked at Ragna's large blade. The chips and cracks on the weapon had already grown considerably worse, but the thing was still in one piece with no exceptionally large chunks of metal missing from it. "That should be in pieces by now… you're doing something with your Drive powers to keep it together, is that it?"

"So you picked up on that then," Ragna decided as he impaled the blade in the ground next to him while keeping a solid grip on the handle. "What about it?"

"We've been fighting for hours, and that's all you've got to show for it?" Azrael asked with a small snarl. "I'm insulted."

"'Cause I don't like relying on my Drive, what's your point?" the Reaper said with a scowl. "You're blaming me for holding back here, but you've barely shown off your own Semblance since we've started. Who's really holding back between the two of us?"

"...Actually, that little field around me isn't my Semblance so I haven't really shown you mine at all," Azrael admitted, his scowl slowly shifting to a small smirk. "Let's fix that…" Ragna wasn't sure what the Mad Dog had in store for him… until the entire ground around him started to quake violently.

"Oh, you've got to be shitting me!" Ragna shouted as he felt the force of his shaking and had to make an effort to keep on his feet with its intensity. "Your damn Semblance is an Augmentation Type!?"

"The opposite; the Enchanted Dragunov is a Suppressor that keeps my real power under lock and key so I actually enjoy my fights!" Azrael told him with a feral gleam in his eyes, standing completely at ease in the chaos he was unleashing. "But don't feel too bad, I can't remember the last person that fought me hard enough that I had to release this first level."

'First level?' Ragna thought to himself with worry. 'If it were anyone other than that monster I'd think they'd be lying, but if it's Azrael…'

The shaking then came to an abrupt stop as a powerful dust crowd erupted around the two. As the wave dissipated, a ghostly calm was felt by both warriors as they faced each other unmoving for a long minute. Their eyes locked into a harsh scowl between the Mad Dog and the Grim Reaper.

(Cue Final Fantasy X Otherworld Extended)

Azrael then gave a short snarl before reeling his fist back into a titanic charge while he was still a good distance from Ragna. The Reaper's eyes grew wide as he felt the change in the air around him from that short movement. Roaring, he tore his sword out of the ground and made a desperate swing just as Azrael unleashed a massive attack with just the shockwave of his fist. The resulting clash result in a release of kinetic energy that bended the trees in half against its raw power. Chancing a glance behind him, Ragna saw that even though he'd split the attack right down the middle, the enraged had dissipated behind, resulting in two deep chasms that stretched out far behind him into the forest and were so deep that even with his enhanced sight he couldn't see the bottom of either of them.

"Thinking about showing me that Drive of yours now?" Azrael taunted with a shifty grin. Turning back to his teammate, Ragna scowled at the Mad Dog. His opponent's face gave off the very definition of the word feral now, lacking not the physical but also the mental control that the full power of his semblance had obviously provided. Ragna's own glare at Azrael was something fierce… but nothing obvious about the Grim Reaper had changed. "Tch… I'LL BEAT THAT HESITATION RIGHT OUT OF YOU!"

Vanishing from sight, Azrael appeared in the air above Ragna and drove himself downward faster enough to create a sonic boom. Even if Ragna was wise enough to dive out of the way, pillars of earth were uprooted in a circle around the Mad Dog. Swinging his leg into a roundhouse kick, he blasted the rocks at the Reaper leaving Ragna to cleave them to pieces before making a reckless swing with his sword at a great distance from Azrael. He'd hoped that the shockwave he'd created from that slash would have sent his opponent off balance or at the very least phased him. What he got instead was Azrael raising that red aura around his body as he absorbed the unseeable attack.

'Dammit, he can still use whatever the hell that thing is,' Ragna thought as he rolled to the side to closely avoid the fireball the Mad Dog returned before leaping back to avoid his crater creating stomp. 'I don't usually keep my distance in most fights, but the one time I'd like to do that my opponents not going to give me that chance. Just my luck.'

Azrael then soared through air with and overhead kick that blasted Ragna back as he guarded against it. Regaining his footing, he was then force to guard against Azrael's rushing Gustav Buster technique and only back held his footing. Seeing him charge up a double handed uppercut to send him up into the air, Ragna leaped back and avoid the attack at the last second before jumping at Azrael with a powerful leaping slash. His opponent not only sidestepped his attack with ease, but managed to catch Ragna's shirt collar.

"GOT YOU," Azrael taunted before whipping Ragna around and forcing him to the ground. The Grim Reaper could only struggle to land on back of his feet and he was slammed down, feeling the absurd stress put on him from the force of the attack. Raising his free hand as he held the Reaper down, he brought down a devastating punch that might've spelled the end for Ragna right then and there. Swinging his sword as hard as he could, he managed to counter the attack and blast himself out of Azrael's grasp as his front collar tore itself in front of him. He'd be annoyed with his ruined outfit if he wasn't too worried with trouble Azrael was giving him.

In an instant Azrael was behind him again, throwing devastating kick out. Ragna barely managed to raise his sword to block the attack in time, but was sent stumbling back as a result. Azrael once again vanished and went directly behind Ragna to send a haymaker straight into his head. Ragna was forced to swing his own blade behind him as fast as he could, but once more the shockwave blasted him off of his feet. Rushing forward, Azrael held out his index finger and stopped just as the tip touched Ragna. One thing was for certain, this close range punch was going to hurt.

CLANG!

"Hah! Looks like I got you to bring it out after all!" Azrael shouted with a victorious smile as Ragna glared back, a glowing barrier erected between the two and the only thing that had prevented him from taking the devastating blow. The Mad Dog was continuing to put heavy pressure upon the barrier like he was trying to force his way through it with his overwhelming might. Instead, Ragna dropped it and left Azrael to stumble forward as he leaped up to avoid the attack. Bringing his sword around in a deadly arc, Ragna's swing might've cut off the back of Azrael's neck had he not guard instead back was sent flying before again disappearing from view.

He attempted another clothesline on the Reaper, but this time Ragna unleashed a Golden Burst of energy around him, sending Azrael flying back. The Mad Dog hadn't even touched the ground before Ragna caught up to him. Roaring, he swung his blade down with both of his hands. Azrael was force to guard against the heavy black but he felt the painful impact against the ground against his back. He was sent deep into the earth, several powerful cracks showing against the impact point. He tried to grab Ragna's blade and finally get his weapon out of the picture, but the Reaper brought it back before he could get it.

From where he was lying on the ground, Azrael tried to counter with a double leg blast, but Ragna's heavy upward swing sent him back into the air. Able to retain his ability to fight while airborne Azrael instead kicked off Ragna's slash and blasted himself back to gain some distance before rushing forward with another Gustav Buster. Ragna countered the attack with a slash of his own as the two continued to trade harsh blows with one another, each impact tearing the ground around them and causing them to sink even further into the crater their attacks were causing. After one exceptionally powerful clash, both fighters leapt back to gain some distance.

"Still no Drive from you yet, eh?"Azrael demanded an excited grin on his face. "You know, bringing it out here might just save your life!"

"As if, you'd just drop another level of that Restriction and we'd be right back to where we started," Ragna told him. "You'll have to do better than that if you want to fight against my Drive."

"That right… HAVE IT YOUR WAY!" Azrael roared as he rushed forward with a feral look in his eyes.

'Crap… this getting tougher,' Ragna thought to himself, starting to worry about how their exchange was turning.

(End theme)

Substory Nine: Pastimes of Noble Men

"What the hell…?" Kagura Mutsuki swore as he accidentally spilled some of his green tea onto the table. Glancing around the room nothing seemed to be amiss, but looks could often be deceiving. "You feel that?"

"Trying to come up with excuses for your clumsy hands?" Jin questioned curtly as he sat across the Black Gale, reading an old and tattered looking tome through his reading glasses.

"My hands are as skillful as they come; just ask the ladies back at the academy," Kagura bosted, an action which the Kisaragi heir fully decided to ignore. The two were currently at the Kisaragi estates for their break away from Beacon. It had been a long flight to get here and the two were sitting down for some small R-and-R after their week of finals. "So… mind telling me why you're reading those musty old stories?"

"None of your business," Jin told him off trying to resume his reading. He didn't get far as Kagura quickly reached across the table to snatch the book out of his hands. "Honestly…"

"Huh, the story of the broken old man and the four maidens that healed him… Kind of weird that you'd be interested in a children's book of all thi…" He paused as he got it, slowly shaking his head as he handed the book back to Jin who harshly snatched it away. "Does this have something to do with your brother?"

"So you're not a complete idiot then," Jin said as he continued reading. "I'd like it if you'd dropped that issue here."

"You should know me well enough by now to know that's not going to happen, especially with how bored you're keeping me," Kagura said before sighing. "Honestly, I know meeting up at our estates is tradition at this point, but are we going to keep doing this when all you do is ignore me?"

"Maybe you'd actually have someone to speak to if you hadn't purposefully informed Hibiki that we were meeting at the Mutsuki estate this week," Jin reminded.

"Eh, he'd just be grilling me on what I've been up to anyways," Kagura decided as he went to sip his tea.

"Then you'll have to settle for silence then, I'm busy," Jin said as he continued to read over his book.

"But I can't say that I approve of using Team RWBY to get at your brother for something, that's just a line you shouldn't cross."

"I'm not using them for anything, I'm just trying to stay prepared for when nature finally takes its course," Jin told him as he continued reading. 'He said that he's going to try to keep both his cause from the past and his relationships in the present… could his past really push him that far? If it can, I'll have to double my own efforts after all.'

"Well I'm sure you know that nature's course is going to have one major bump in the road, but I guess that's why you're planning now aren't you?" Kagura was expecting Jin to say something, but his standing silence was actually worrying him. "Wait… you do know… right?"

"Know what? Either be out with it or hold your tongue," Jin demanded as he continued looking through the pages of the original writing of the fairytale.

"Promise you won't stab the messenger first," Kagura told him seriously. Jin didn't say anything as he continued reading. "Not liking that respond much. You know how at dinner last night you kept getting asked if you'd met Weiss Schnee, if the two of you had ever partnered up before, things like that?"

"Hmph, my family was likely wondering if I'd pursue a friendship with the Schnee's family heir. I'm sure any relations that I could manage with her now would be invaluable in future engagements."

"Yeah well… what if engagement was the key word here?" Kagura said, though it was clear that he didn't care much for the term. "I told you that my family had met the Schnee's at that gathering a little before finals week, right? I didn't know it at the time, but apparently the head of your family was there also. It sounded like Weiss's father was really interested in you; especially if you had a girlfriend…"

"I'll grant you that certainly sounds suspicious, but I still doubt I have anything to concern myself with," Jin told Kagura as he eventually set his book down before reaching for his own cup of tea. He paused as he was about to grab it, discovering a deep crack in a set that was usually seen as polished and perfect. "Hmm… though I suppose even if we're not businessmen, my family does have a couple of minor dealings with important companies throughout all four kingdoms."

"That's what I'm getting at, and the first person that would want to use those dealings would be the head of the Schnee Dust Company," Kagura said as Jin took a long sip of his tea. "Speaking strictly as friends here, how do you feel about Weiss in the first place?"

"I don't, positive or negative. She's just a classmate and that's the extent of which that I see her." 'That… and one of the four main points that's keeping my brother anchored in reality.' "Though maybe if I treated her poorly on the surface that might be enough to dissuade her father's attempts."

"Wrong, very wrong," Kagura said with a sad look in his eyes. "When was the last time you ever saw him with his wife in public? It's clear that Jacques Schnee would never let something like his daughter's unhappiness get in the way of a business venture."

"I'm surprised that you've given this so much thought," the Kisaragi heir admitted, giving Kagura a genuine compliment. "But enough beating around the bush, if you have an idea for how to get me out of this predicament I want you to say so."

"Well… there's Tsubaki." The small hiss from between Jin's teeth clear up how he felt at that idea. "I'm just saying that it might be for the best that you two be a little more open to each other from here on out. If Jacques found out that he was trying to wedge himself between an already blooming relation between two of the high houses it might just be enough for him to back off and look elsewhere."

"You're ignoring the fact that there's no such relation between Tsubaki and I," Jin reminded. "And if you're about to suggest that we fake something I would never ask that from her… And it wouldn't be believable because-"

"Hey, we don't need to go into that right now. Tsubaki's family secrets are safe with me and I'll keep it that way," Kagura genuinely promised. "Although… you know that out of everyone you're probably the highest up on the current Yayoi head's 'potential Son-in-law' list."

"You can't possibly say that for sure," the blond told him, his scowl tightening as Kagura continued to step over the line. "Any other options?"

"Just to take things in stride if you're going to be so stubborn," the Mutsuki heir decided, giving a disappointed sigh and facepalm. "I'll let you know if I ever hear word of Jacques planning to make a move or to have him force things between the two of you, but past that I-"

"Thank you."

"...First you actually bother to hear me out and now you're thanking me, you're just full of surprises today," Kagura told him, though he actually managed a small smile. "Is Weiss who you're pulling for then?"

"I'm not pulling for anyone or anything to happen on that matter, drop it," Jin said as he raised his cup to once more. It was then that there was a small knock at the door. Curious on who would be hoping to see them, he rose to his feet and headed to open the door as Kagura sat and sipped his tea. Opening the doorway, Jin actually allowed himself the smallest of smiles as he saw who was on the other side. "Nice to see that you made it."

"Kind of you to say. I did have to go through two long flights to get here."

The very sound of the voice was enough to cause Kagura to spew the tea he'd been drinking. He looked at the doorway with dread as a familiar boy with a bowl cut headed into the library, his eyes narrowly fixed on Kagura as he gave a calm but somehow sadistic smile.

"When I informed your parents of your mistake they gladly provided me with funds for a second trip… taken out of your savings of course," Hibiki said, only seeming to twist the dagger with his words. "Now then, how have you been getting along this last semester?"

Substory Ten: Reflecting Habits

"Gods above, I got rid of sore points and pops and didn't even know I had with that bath," Makoto said with a deep sigh as she entered Tsubaki's bedroom. She was currently wearing a light orange bathrobe (which of course had a cutout for her tail). Heading towards the other girls that were all sitting around in a circle wearing their own bathrobes, she took a seat between Mai and Noel. "I miss anything good?"

"Not too much, just talking about studying and finals," Noel said to he friend. Her bathrood was skyblue and she had hair done into a bun after her own lengthy bath. She gave a giggle as Makoto groaned at the topic. "Come on Makoto, you did pretty well on the test scores this time around."

"Only because my physical tests managed to keep me out of the lower percentiles for our year," she admitted with a harsh groan. "If Tsubaki hadn't stepped in and helped me out with her study guide I probably would've flunked no matter how high those were."

"Not for lake of trying, you were up past midnight study all week and you-"

"I don't want to talk about it! I don't even want to think about studying right now!" Makoto shouted as Mai giggled nervously beside her. "Let's talk about something else, anything else."

"Like what? You've already caught up and talked plenty back at Beacon," Celica said as she laid back in her pure white bathrobe.

"...We could talk about boys," Makoto said with a mischievous grin as she turned to Tsubaki. "So how have things been between you and-?"

"If you refuse to talk about studying then I refuse to talk about our relationships or lack thereof so casually," Tsubaki said, quickly putting her foot down… which might've been hard for anyone else to pull of in scarlet red bath robe.

"Spoilsport," the demi-human sighed. "But then what are we going to talk about while we're waiting for dinner? We haven't had a lot of free time with finals and everything."

"...What if we combine the two?" Mai strangely suggested in her bathrobe that was the same color of her hair. "Since we don't want to talk about boys or studying, what if we actually talked about how the boys usually study? I haven't seen how Jin usually studies for a test anyhow."

"You know that actually sounds kinda interesting," Makoto admitted as she turned to Tsubaki. "So? When you weren't studying with us it was usually you and Jin working together, what was that like?"

"It was… mostly for my benefit actually," Tsubaki admitted as she thought back to the two working together. "Jin has a policy of whenever he begins studying for the test he always has a first night cram where he studies hard like he has a test the next morning. The rest of the time is usually used for small review sessions to keep the knowledge fresh."

"Coulda figured that one, Jin's always been to very picture of responsible," Makoto said with a sigh as she remembered how rigid he had been back at Flare Academy. "What about that dork Kagura, he do what he usually does; get into a group of female students and trying to put the moves while studying with them while he practically steals their study sheets?"

"You can bad talk Kagura all you want, but he actually got decent marks in all of the subjects," Mai admitted as she remembered looking over the result sheets. "He's probably flirting with them because that's the one of the few ways he can actually sit down and focus."

"Hmph, I still say if he spent half as much time studying as he spent skirt chasing he might actually be at the top of the class," her partner insisted, patronizing the Black Gale like she usually did. "What about that big beasty guy, Azrael or whatever his name was?"

"He's...kind of a mixed bag," Noel had to admit. "It can actually take a lot for me to tell him to sit down and study. He'll always say something like 'why do I need knowledge when I crush any problem to pieces' or something like that." Her impression of Azrael as she puffed out her chest made all of the girls laugh (sadly, Azrael's chest is likely much bigger than Noel's). "Once you actually get him down to studying though, he actually treats it really seriously, it's like he always wants to finish what he's started and won't make any exceptions."

"Hehe, I could kinda tell just by looking at Azrael," Celica said with a giggle. "I had a studying session with Amane and it was a ton of fun! We kept doing Yoga stretches together while quizzing each other about certain parts that we'd studied to up until that point. He's really smart when it comes to answering stuff and he doesn't ever get distracted."

"That certainly sounds like Amane," Tsubaki said as she thought about the flowery dancer and the joyous laugh he always seemed to have.

"Which just leaves one last guy," Makoto said as she looked at Tsubaki. "So? Ragna the Bloodedge anything like the responsible Jin Kisaragi or is he more of a delinquent and holds off all of his studying for the last minute?" There was a pregnant silence as neither Tsubaki nor Noel said anything. "Huh?"

"He's… sort of an odd one whenever it comes to studying. Whenever we had a quiz or smaller exam coming up, he'd usually insist on studying alone." Tsubaki realized that a part of this might've been the tension that she'd created between the two, but consider that this behavior had continued after their supposed 'make-up' she didn't bother commenting that. "He studies hard though, and he's spent some nights studying until classes the next morning even. And he's not what you'd call a quick learner… he's just one of the types that's truly ready to put work in, no matter how much he complains about it."

"Doesn't sound so unusual so far," Mai noted. "We knew someone back at Haven that was just like that."

"Right, well… add in Team RWBY and things start to get complicated," Noel said. "When Tsubaki said that we could almost never convince Ragna to study with us, that other team was always a whole other story. After studying with them the first few times he'd try to say that he wasn't interested and try to study on his own, but they'd never have it as they practically dragged him off by force to study with them."

"Huh? They were forcing him?" innocent little Celica replied, too young and naive to have seen such things even in plain sight.

"You have no idea, sometimes he'd even be put in a chokehold by Yang as she dragged him off to the library," Tsubaki said, though she did consider that Ragna never seemed to fight as much as he'd shown that he could once he was in said chokehold. "Eventually though, he stopped fighting all together and simply went with them to the library to study, though he'd still mutter a crass complaint or two under his breath. Even the few times we did get him to come with us to the library, that team wouldn't be too far behind us and would join our group out of nowhere to study… and I got the feeling that they were being protective of Ragna."

"More often than not that protection would go both ways," Noel said as she thought back to one such event when the two groups were studying for midterms. "There was this one girl… I don't know what her problem was, but she seemed to have a serious bone to pick with Ragna. She kept making one off handed remark after another at Ragna's expense for the whole library to hear and she was saying some particularly nasty things. I expected Ragna to get upset, but mostly he just sat there unimpressed. After a while she started to realize that so she started to insult Team RWBY and that was what started to get under his skin. I was about to leave to grab a teacher because she was going so far over the line, but then she compared that friend of Makoto's to... a stray cat in heat."

"...And here I thought Beacon was supposed to be a Fanus lenient academy," Makoto said, a deep venom underneath her words at the insult. "So… Ragna responded?"

"He did," Tsubaki said as she slumped her head forward. "He sent that girl straight to the infirmary… literally… through eight walls."

"Hah! Nice," Makoto said, her attitude turning a bit more cheery as she realized that Blake was putting her trust into someone much more moral this time around. "He seemed to be a hard nut to crack when I first saw 'em, but I'm starting to like this guy."

"Well don't like him too much; he did get stuck with mop duty over the weekend for his overreaction," Tsubaki said as she shook her head… before remember the full story. "And there was RWBY again, still coming to his defence, even though in the end he convinced everyone that it was his fault he'd flown off the handle."

"He's really got something special going on with them then," Mai said as she thought back to how'd they'd been acting even when they'd first met. There was then a small knock at the door.

"I beg your pardon ladies, but your dinners will be ready soon," said one of the Yayoi estate maids from outside the room. "If you all could get ready and join us in the dining hall soon, we would delighted to get the meal started."

"We'll be ready," Tsubaki called before turning to the others. "Let's get dressed then, bath robes don't seem to be the proper things to be wearing to dinner."

"Speak for yourself, I could practically fall asleep here and now in this thing," Makoto said as she stretched out in her attire, only to see her with a clear look of disappointment. "What's wrong with you?"

"It's just… I kind of wish Noel had made something, I've been dying for some of her cooking and I didn't even get a chance to try some back at Beacon."

"I know Mai, just hold on a little longer," Tsubaki tried to insist to her friend. "Tell you what, try to eat something at dinner and if you're really hungry afterwards I'll let Noel use the kitchen for a little bit tonight."

"You mean it!?" Mai said as both she and Noel looked at the redhead with sparkles in their eyes as Makoto cringed at the thought of cooking. "You're the best Tsubaki!"

"It's nothing, really," the hostess tried to downplay. 'Note to self: provide cleanup crew with hazmat suits.'

Substory Eleven: Arc of the Family

'I get the distinct feeling that Ragna was trying to warn me about something like this,' Jaune thought to himself as he sat the dinner table with his family. Much like he'd told his classmate during his late practice, he had headed home for the vacation to visit with his family. Having meeting Pyrrha had been a slightly nerve wracking prospect at first, but she was certainly getting along well with his own family… almost a little too well.

"Who does your hair? That ponytail you have is fantastic!" one of his sisters said as she looked at the scarlet locks kept perfectly together.

"I just do it myself, it's probably a little undone after such a long trip to get here," Pyrrha said, staying composed around the eager collection of Jaune's sisters.

"I wish my hair was as pretty as yours. I mean I love having blonde hair, but do you think I'd look good in red?"

"Oh, I'm sure that you'd look great in just about anything," she told the other sister with a sincere smile on her face.

"It's so awesome to be meeting a celebrity for the first time! I still can't believe we're actually eating with you!"

"I'm not that popular…" the huntress in training tried to dissued. Jaune didn't say anything, relieved for the moment that all of the attention was off of him.

"So Jaune, have you been eating alright at Beacon Academy?" one of his sisters asked, turning the attention back onto him. "You're not just hiding your vegetables and heading straight for the desert like you tried to do with us?"

"I-! I never did that!" Jaune shouted in his defense, only to notice Pyrrha tilting her head as this was a conversation that the two had already shared. Now thanks to his sisters, he was going to have to make an extra effort with the vegetables.

"What about that raggedy hair of yours? Aren't you taking any time each morning to style it like we had practiced?"

"I mean… I try to make time for it, but I sort of have a busy routine," Jaune tried to say, quickly realizing that no one was believing him. "Ugh…"

"All I'm really worried about is that sweater that you're wearing," came the voice of Jaune's mother. The only Arc son went pale; no matter what his sisters would ever manage to do to him in front of Pyrrha, his mother could be a thousand times worse. "I've always said that you need a new change in attire, but all you've ever worn is that Pumpkin Pete shirt that you won in that raffle."

"...Your shirt has Pumpkin Pete on it?" his partner asked, causing a strong blush on Jaune's face. "I think I'm with your mother on this one Jaune, you definitely need a change of attire."

"But Pyrrha-"

"How many times have you done laundry at the academy only to wash that one sweatshirt that you're always wearing?"

"...Et tu, partner?" Jaune demanded, a reasonable response in his eyes as he was mercilessly backstabbed.

"Lucky for you, everyone here has chipped in to make you something you can wear," his mother said, reaching under the dinner table and bringing out a small gift bag which she brought over to her son. Looking at the bag in awkward fear, Juane didn't offer a word of thanks. "Well, go on and open it!"

"Here and now?" Jaune asked nervously, looking over to his father and hoping for some kind of desperate support. He didn't get it as his father only shrugged, likely that he'd chipped into the present as well. Slowly opening the gift bag, he brought out the content from inside… and struggled not to gag. "Oh… a sweater."

It was a sweater all right, but since it had been made by his family it was the kind of present that you'd say you've worn it, but at the most you've worn in private or when there was nothing else to wear and you needed to do laundry. It was a long sleeve turtleneck shirt that was a combination of yellow on top of black, hard on the eyes and likely to make Jaune look like a bumble bee.

"It looks… great," Jaune saud, tried to keep his tone natural and forcing himself not to shoot his partner the stink eye as she was trying her hardest not to laugh. "I'll try it on la-"

"Try it on now!" one of his sister's told him, apparently excited to see Jaune in his the new clothing. "You shouldn't even be wearing your armor at the table!"

"I-! Uh… This is our family armor!" Jaune protested, trying to find reason to keep his armor on. "It's only right that I keep wearing it! Besides, Pyrrha's still wearing her armor!"

"Because she's a guest and pulls the look off better," one of his sisters told him bluntly. "Now come on, we all want to see how you look in that sweater!"

'Here goes any respect Pyrrha hasn't already lost for me,' Jaune thought with a sigh as he listened to his sisters, starting by taking off his breastplate armor. He could hear the knowing giggle from his sisters as he unveiled the Pumpkin Pete logo on his shirt, though Pyrrha tried to stay quite. Taking off his sweatshirt, he braced himself before trying on the bumblebee sweater.

"Wait, hold on a second," one of his sister's said as she tried to get a good look at her brother. "Jaune… did you put on some muscle?"

"Eh?" he asked, looking down at his arms which he could actually do in his short sleeve t-shirt. While he still couldn't say that he was ripped, his arms certainly looked like they'd gained some serious volume in the months he'd spent at the academy. Pyrrha certainly seemed to notice this and was sending Jaune a proud smile, silently praising him for his efforts. "Y-yeah, I have. Had to get something after all of that work I've put in." His celebration was short lived as he knew he still had to try on the infernal sweater. Trying to put it on once he'd put it on over his head proved to be a struggle as he tried to pull it down. "Mmmmmph!"

"Stop! Stop! You're going to stretch it!" his mother shouted. Jaune was only too quick to comply. "I can't believe this, but it seems that you've outgrown it before you've even tried it on thanks to your muscle… I was wondering why our armor didn't look as baggy on you this time around."

'I can't believe I'm saying this, but thank god for the murder training,' Jaune could only think as he looked at the sweater that he actually got out of wearing before his actual sweatshirt. He was finally at the top of the world and maybe now his family would start taking him a little more seriously.

"Wait, how come his Pumpkin Pete shirt still fits him? He's already been wearing that for years before he even took off for Beacon," one of his sisters asked.

"Probably because he's worn it so much that he's already stretched it out," another said. "He probably doesn't even fit into anything else… which means-!"

"...Mercy," Jaune could only beg.

"SHOPPING TRIP!" his family all called out as one, leaving him to slump in his seat. Pyrrha tried to send him and encouraging smile, but it was clear Jaune was too slumped in his own seat to notice it. With all of his family going rapid fire with each other coming with outfits that they could dress their brother in she could kind of get it… but at the same time she was actually a little jealous.

Back to the Battlefield

By this point the terrain the two titans had started their fighting on wasn't even recognizable; it had been flattened, ripped up, and flattened again several times too many. Deep creates and canyons littered the few miles that the two were using to contain their fighting and not a single sign of life was left in the area. Despite any negativity Azrael might've been producing due to his battlelust, any Grimm and wildlife that were supposed to be anywhere in the area had been scared off long ago, some probably thinking their scuffle was some high end earthquake. Ignoring what had transpired though, Ragna and Azrael were facing each other in what was one of their their quieter moments. They weren't stopping due to exhaustion… only because even in his released state Azrael had wanted to stop fight for a few minutes and Ragna was taking that chance.

"...I've got something going on after this," he told Azrael, his hand still tightly gripping his sword. Even with him protecting the armament using one of his Drive's granted abilities it was a wonder how Ragna was still using his sword. In the daylong combat the blade had been horridly cracked, lost chunks of its metal, and had a horridly dulled edge. But what else was Ragna going to be using here? "...I want this finished."

"That's fine with me, but you're an odd one to fight," Azrael told him, scowling in the Reaper's direction. "Something about the way you fight and move is becoming... unnatural. I can't put my finger on it, but you're no normal student are you?"

"Wow, and the award for the biggest 'NO SHIT' observation goes too…" Ragna told him crassly, though he actually managed a cocky smirk despite himself. This expression was returned by the Mad Dog in full.

(Cue Crisis Core" Final Fantasy VII Soldier Battle Extended)

The two started slowly walking in a circle, staring each other down as they readied themselves to resume their duel which was quickly heading towards its climax. There was obvious tension in their staredown like there always was… but now it was different, almost like there was a bizarre form of respect mixed into there as well.

"So you're not going to be dropping another level of your semblance?"

"No, if I did I'd pulverize you before I actually got a chance to enjoy myself. Now what would the point of that be?"

"Tch, if that's how you want to play it. Let's go then."

This time Ragna took the first rush forward and swung his sword against Azrael's guard. The Mad Dog easily blocked the strike with only a single arm before throwing his other fist in a downward spike, crushing the ground as Ragna leaped into the air and spun forward. Blocking the overhead strike, Azrael went for a powerful skyward kick and would've hit the Reaper dead on it he hadn't activated his Barrier and allowed himself to be blasted back.

Landing to the floor, he dodge Azrael's jab before countering his kick with his heavy sword. As Azrael's clothesline came in for the final hit of his combination, the Reaper guarded against the attack with only his arm.

'He blocked that one without his sword or barrier!?' Azrael thought before seeing Ragna raised his sword. He readied himself to dodge, but perched at the sudden pain at behind roundhouse kicked in the rips. 'And he can brawl without a weapon now… Interesting.'

Quickly, shaking off the hit he had taken. Azrael then charged up a powerful kick, gathering energy before as he held the move right in front of Ragna. The Reaper of course slash him across with his sword, but even though it made direct contact the Mad Dog didn't seem to take damage with the state he was in. Before the Reaper could counter the attack, he was blasted in the chest by the heavy kick and sent flying back. He couldn't even regain his footing as he skidded across the ground, leaving a long trail of earth behind him.

Azrael didn't bother waiting for Ragna to get up from that impact, driving his hand deep into the earth brought up a total wave of uprooted earth which head straight for the Reaper. Ragna managed to propel himself back to avoid the attack as it passed him by. Running forward toward each other, both warriors continued to clash. Ragna still utilized his sword but by this point he was reluctant to use it for every attack here. Most of the time he countered Azrael's strikes with some unarmed combat of his own… though maybe trying to overpower him with a headbutt was a bad idea.

Digging his fist into the ground again, Azrael tried to raise a pillar of earth just as Ragna stepped back to avoid it. Breaking through it with his first, he force Ragna to call on his barrier to guard himself from the attack. Hurling the rock upward, he watched as Ragna cleave through it before landing in front of him. Both fighters unleashed wicked hooks with their first which connected and a created a powerful shockwave. Swinging his black around, Ragna managed to deflect Azrael's kick to the side. As his opponent prepared a double armed uppercut, Ragna brought his blade down in a vicious overhead. The two attacks clashed and sent both force back from the collision.

"HAH! YOU'VE REALLY GOT SOMETHING THERE!" Azrael called out as both warriors stopped in their slide. "I NEVER THOUGHT I'D FIND SOMEONE LIKE YOU WHEN I FORCED MY WAY INTO THIS ACADEMY! I THOUGHT MY ONLY HUNT WOULD BE OZPIN AND THE TEACHERS!"

"That's all this is to you, right? One big fight…" Ragna muttered as he tried to keep his sword up. The truth about the Reaper was that there wasn't a part of his body that wasn't crying out in pain. This fight had gone on for so long and he hadn't managed to kill a single Grimm during the entire encounter. His blade was going to fall apart any second now and he knew that… but damn him if he wasn't starting to see why Azrael was so excited at fighting. "...You ready to finish this?"

"OF COURSE! SHOW ME WHAT YOU'VE GOT!" Both fighters charged a powerful final charge forward, readying themselves for the a final blow. Around Azrael the ground started to give way as he twisted his entire body back, charing all of his power into this final onslaught. "BLACK HAWWWWWWK-!"

On Ragna's side of the field, Ragna brought his borrowed blade up and pointed it behind him, the ground also cracking around his own terrible power. A sort of black aura started to flicker around the Grim Reaper, but he looked like he was trying his damndest to keep it down. It couldn't get in the way… not now. "CARNAGEEEEE-!"

A final explosion of power as both fighters launched themselves.

"STINGER!""SCISSORS!"

The haymakers struck and Ragna the clash was echoed across the forest. Azrael watched on with feral satisfaction, watching as he final finished destroying Ragna's sword. The Reaper stared in horror as the giant and broken blade finally broke free, leaving him holding just a bit of chipped blade on the hilt as the rest of the sword sailed high into the air. Azrael reeled back for the final strike and

"IT'S OVER!" Ragna shouted as he leaped into the air after the blade, narrowly missing Azrael's fist. Roaring, he hit the broken blade with an axe kick and spiked it down at the Mad Dog. Azrael barely had time to raise his Growler Field to absorb the launched projectile… but he didn't have enough to dodge Ragna's dive downward, cutting him across the chest with all that remained of his sword.

(End Theme)

"GAH!"

As Ragna finished his slash with the decimated weapon there was an uncomfortable silence between the two in the middle of the open field. Azrael didn't fall over the damage he had taken, in face he didn't even give a shout of pain or slump forward. He just stood there there in front of Ragna, almost like a statue if it weren't for the bloody gash on his chest that was continue to bleed profusely. As terrible of a weapon as it still was, Ragna made a quick swipe with chipped hilt to clean it of the blood and held it at his side as he tried to stay ready should the encounter continue.

"...Heh….Heh heh heh..."

"Huh?"

It started off light and small, just a regular chuckle as if Ragna had made a joke that Azrael had found mildly amusing. Then it slowly started to grow louder and more intense, then even further still. Eventually Azrael was roaring with laughter, the powerful sounds echoing across the ruined landscape. Ragna didn't say anything, just standing their with his chipped blade in a sense of awe.

"When was the last time I've been hurt?" Azrael asked as he looked up at the orange sky. It would be dark soon enough and Ragna would be late for whatever he'd wanted to finish the fight for earlier. A part of him was worried that now Azrael couldn't stop himself from continuing the fight… but evidently the Mad Dog had more control than that as he slumped forward and begun to relax. "Trust me, I'd love nothing more than to get you to keep going… but I guess you've won this round."

"Good, glad to see even you know something about self control," Ragna muttered as he looked at the chipped blade he'd been using. Giving a sigh he tossed the small piece behind him, no longer having a use for the armament. "So we're good then?"

"For now… one of these days I'll be getting that real fight out of you… but until then I can play the part of a Tamed Dog," Azrael told him, cracking his knuckles despite the fight already being well past over. "The next break we get though… we'll do this all over again. That should keep me satisfied."

"We'll see if I'm feeling up for it," Ragna reclusively before glancing at Azrael's chest. "...You should probably get that looked at."

"This scratch? Don't worry it'll heal quickly, you shouldn't go and give yourself too much credit now," Azrael informed with another laugh. Shaking his head, Ragna started his treck back to Beacon with Azrael following shortly behind him. "One thing I want to know though, what was you just had to use to cut our fight short? It had better be something good."

"You're probably going to be disappointed then," Ragna admitted as he scratched the back of his head. "I've just got movie plans with the girls tonight. No idea what we're seeing, but Yang would murder me if I was late." Another chuckle from Azrael, something had made him more humorous than usual tonight. "What're laughing at?"

"Nothing, just…" he sent Ragna a nasty grin. "Maybe I'm starting to be content with the fact that I'm not the highest power you'll be answering to. There are some thing even I know not to get between."

"...Shut up…" Ragna muttered at as Azrael continued a hearty laugh. The Grim Reaper didn't even bother trying to hide his smile this time.

Substory Twelve: The Approaching Threat

"I'm not far outside of Vale city, I should be there within a few more days or so," a young woman in a crimson hood said into her scroll. "Just do your best not to draw attention to yourselves until then; I don't want any hell to be raised while I'm not there." Chatter on the other line. "Yes, you my permission to slap him if he tries anything funny. I'll see you then."

Soon, she could only help but think wickedly. Soon that city would be brought to crushing ruin. Soon the powers that she'd sought would become fully hers. Soon she'd have her revenge against the upstart who caused her to flee. There was chaos on the horizon, lots of it… and she wanted it all.

Glancing around the forrest around her, she took note the Grimm who were slowly approaching her giving low growls as they came near. She didn't falter against them, nor did she prepare to slay said creature. She just sat near her small campfire and stared them down, knowing full well that it was she who was in charge here. Eventually the Grimm backed down and retreated.

"Hmph, stupid beasts," she said, almost disappointed that they didn't have enough spine to try and fight her.

"You're telling me."

That voice came so sudden and out of nowhere that she couldn't help but get to her feet and bring out her flaming weaponry. Once she had though, she nearly swore at herself at the reflex. This man… he'd wanted to get that jump out of her. It almost like it seemed like his main goals was to annoy the hell out of his allies instead of trying to actually make any real plans around their enemy's movements.

"Jumpy, aren't we Cindy?" the man said as he brush off his black fedora, calling the young lady by her pet name.

"...That's Cinder you snake," Cinder finally told him, too annoyed to not let his pet names bother her. Even if this man was technically on her side, that didn't mean that she trusted him one bit. As such she kept her weaponry out and kept it ready to use it on him should he ever decide to turn on her. "What are you doing here?"

"Aw, don't tell me that you're not even the slightest bit happy to see me? And here I thought we had something special here," he told her gripping his chest like he was actually hurt by her accusations.

"Did you think you had something special with Torchwick or did you just purposefully screw him over?" Cinder demanded trying to keep her tone even.

"Screw him over, you completely misunderstand my reasoning," he tried to tell her. "I had valuable information, such valuable information and I passed it along without asking for a thing in return. I gave him the chance to prepare for the road bump and attempt to save face, but he completely lost that chance. I even called in some help to get him out before he was torn to bloody bits… now why would I ever screw over a friend like that?"

"These games of yours are starting to annoy me," she told him as she gathered flames to her hand, preparing to cast it onto the man in front of her with one hand while holding her flaming weapon in the other. "Back off or I'll turn you to ashes!"

"Oh, and how many times have you given me that threat?" he asked, apparently not amused by her powers. Cinder's eyes narrowed as she held strong, wondering if this time things would finally come to blows. It would prove not to as the enigmatic man merely adjusted his hat. "Lucky for the both of us I'm move of a lover than a fighter."

"Don't you dare lie, I know that you're clearly neither of those things," she said, reluctantly dropping her weaponry. "You know something, I'm actually happy that I'll have to go to that blasted academy if it means that I no longer have to deal with you."

"Don't say that! Think of all of the visits I can pop in for!" he offered. "I'm sure that I can find the time in my busy schedule!"

"You damn demon…" she swore at him. She stared that man down who's hatred almost seemed to be a necessity for him. There was something about him that had pissed her off even upon their first meeting he'd only tried to aggravate her further by his words and actions. She sometimes thought that he was the main focus of his spite… but that was meant for someone else… "Actually…"

"Hmm? Do you have something to say?"

"At Beacon… that boy that you have such a focus on. The one that you need to hate you." Her look began to get cocky. "He's there, isn't he?"

"Need? Pft, I don't need that thing for anything. I just happened to pass him by on my road here while I've been doing my job," he informed her, keeping a solid poker face at her claims. "But yes, I guess that he might be there, what's your point?"

"If you need him so much, Hazama, what if I decided to keep him off of the playing field?" His cocky smirk fell as he looked at this upstart in front of him. She'd gotten to him, she knew she had. "Or better yet, what if I gave something to actually hate. Something that consume his rage so much… he'd just up and forget about you."

"...Huh… heh… heh heh…" Hazama chuckled to himself as he shook his head, a more gentle smile upon his face this time. "You're more than welcome to try, but you'd never manage no matter what you tried to do to him." He smiled. "What I've already done to him… he'll never forget."

"Then you've got nothing to lose," she bit back. "Maybe this time you'll be the one hurting."

"Maybe, best of luck Cindy," he said, calling her again by his pet name for her as he began walking off. "Just know that you've got a lot riding on you this time; I'd hate for this to be another Torchwick."

With him finally gone, Cinder turned her attention back to her fire and stared deep into its flames. Maybe she'd only said that at first to shut him up… but now such prospect was starting to interest her the more she thought about it.

Substory Thirteen: Hiding

"...Been a while since I've last worn this old thing, glad as hell it still fits I guess," Ragna muttered to himself as he looked at himself in the mirror. "Almost takes me back… heh, what am I? Some old man?"

After his 'little spar' with Azrael had finally ended, he'd needed to get himself with an outing with Team RWBY. Knowing what they were like, he'd ended up showering beforehand (though even he could admit that he was probably smelling pretty rank by this point). He'd only recently gotten out of the showers so his hair wasn't nearly as gravity defying as it usually was. That alone would have been enough of a change, but this was perhaps the first time in a while that Ragna was going without his classic red coat.

The coat he wore had some special properties, like being able to repair itself from damage as long as Ragna was wearing it, but it wouldn't be fully repaired in time of his little outing after all of the wear and tear it had gone through in this battle. Ragna had instead grabbed an old out fit of his. A sleeveless red and black vest along with a spare pair of baggy black pants. This only thing that he was still wearing was his metal plated shoes and even those he'd needed to polish so that they'd look decent after the scuffle.

"Gotta say, this thing still looks pretty good on me," the Reaper had to admit with something of a smirk as he looked over himself. "Maybe I should start wearing this thing again." He tried to keep smiling, but it he couldn't keep it up as he looked to his right arm. "Maybe I would, if I didn't always have this thing to hide."

Where flesh should have been was a collection of dark, nightmarish wrapping that when all the way from his elbow down to his apparently gloved hand. Looking at this thing brought back memories of how he'd gotten it… bad idea. Gritting his teeth, the Reaper tried to focus his power into the arm. He winced harshly as his arm glowed with a powerful back flame. He felt himself flare up with pain as the flames continued to harshly consume his arm… until finally they faded away and all that was left was a normal looking right arm. He hadn't changed the appendage so much as he'd hidden its true form, containing some of his power to try and appear human… with all of the benefits and pain that it brought him. He couldn't managed this very often, and twisted the human looking arm around to get proper feeling back into it.

"God dammit, I hate looking at this thing." Seeing his arm like this only served as a constant reminded to what he'd lost, how he'd been wrong… and that the man responsible for it all was still out there. Ragna tried to clear his mind from these negative thoughts, but they were hard to ignore when they were out in the open like that. As a dark aura formed around him he tried to remember his master's teaching and-

There was a sudden knock on his door. The aura around him flickered.

"Ragna! Come on! The movie is starting soon!" came Ruby's voice on the other side of the door. "We've gotta going if we're going to grab good seat and plenty of popcorn!"

...Ragna smirked as the aura around him faded. Maybe, just maybe there was something here to distract him after all. Stepping outside he saw Weiss, Blake, and Yang waiting for him.

"Huh, where's Ru-?" He couldn't finish as he felt a small weight latch onto him from behind. "...How am I stuck as your friggin' mode of transportation? You've even got a Speed Semblance."

"Just luck I guess," Ruby told him with a cheerful giggle.

"Luck, eh? Is it that same luck that's the reason why I still haven't gotten my gear back from you?" Ragna demanded, though he still carried a small smile upon his face. Figuring he'd deal with it, he started following the other girls out of the academy. "So tell me what we're going to see."

"Per Blake's insistence, we're heading out to see the newest romantic comedy," Yang told him, only smiling brightly as she noticed Ragna's cringe. "Hitting a little close to home buddy?"

"No… I'm just starting to wish that I'd let Azrael pulverize me after all," Ragna muttered, only to receive a light bop to the head from Weiss. "Kidding, I'm kidding, let's go see a movie."

"Good, because I'm the one who had to go and buy you ticket," she told him. "Promise me you'll at least enjoy yourself this time and it won't be like the last movie was watched."

"...I promise to try not to cringe?" he told her with a guilty smile. She rolled her eyes, but gave a small smile despite herself. "So Blake, is this based off of one of those books you have?"

"I-! …I have no idea what you're talking about," she denied, a harsh blush forming on her face as she realized that Ragna had actually paid attention to the kind of things she was reading. Hearing him give a small chuckle, Blake felt Ragna give her ears a small pet at her embarrassment… and oddly enough didn't protest.

"Well, guess we'd better enjoy the damn vacation while it lasts," he told them all with a smirk. "But next, time I chose the movie."

"That means you'd have to buy all of us tickets," Ruby happily reminded from the Reaper's back.

"Seems like a small price to pay…"

Author's Note:

PHEW! That there took some work, but at least I finally managed to do this. Anyways, a long interlude chapter with a lot of developments planned for later down the line. I hope you guys enjoyed and leave a comment if you did.

Review Responses from the last two chapters.

Chapter 14

Dread Alpha Prime: New Years, huh? Jeeze.

Treyalexander: That's a discussion to be had for another day.

Draus6: Partner… not sure if he considers anyone a partner.

Pally111: Glad you enjoyed it.

K1NG and JOK3R: Good so far, but I haven't gotten too far into it.

ArmantusCunPinnae: Eh, I'll over it.

MechaDragon99: Not yet, we'll get there.

Wlyman2009: Eh, she's at least starting to like him a little here.

Star'sKeyblade4114: Ever Ragna's fate.

Lovnag: Triple caps for Bang at least.

The Unplanner: Nice summary, always great to hear from you.

RedBuringDragon: He might be able, but Ragna's a stubborn bastard if nothing else.

Guest (1): Maybe he could use that mop to smack Salem around.

Jallan: Hah, Kagura wishes he could get that much.

Bismark Alexander: That's a… tricky situation to bring up at the moment, but he could have it… maybe.

Anon and Vanitas 50: It's been update just before this one.

WideBrimmedHat: You again.

Fernandonoguera99: Sorry that Mai didn't pan out the way you wanted her to, but I'll try to give her some screen time.

Chapter 15

Dread Grim Reaper: Next season has arrived!

Ragriz: I'M BACK BABY!

The Unplanner: Heh, that's going to be an interesting adventure to be sure.

Wlyman2009: When there's no room left in hell, I shall walk the… whatever this is.

Guest (1): Soon enough, soon enough.

ImmaNumber1: Sooner or later for certain.

Guest (2): Here's to hoping I keep your interest.

Marmar123: I'll… find a work around, trust me.

Siversean24: That sounds like a reluctant nickname.

Star's Keyblade4114: Wait no further, it's here!

Paladin9800: With Torchwick and Hazama, it's clear who's the top dog (or snake) here.

Bismark Alexander: Cops in RWBY have always seemed pretty useless, but that's why they have the students getting involved.

Fpinheiro96: I'll have something else out soon, just you wait.

Darkhearted86: Let's see if I can somehow top it.

Until the next update. This story is probably one of my favorites to write for at the moment. Take care everyone! Ciao!