A few days ago. Frustrated. That's the feeling Cinder was having. The leader of the Vale branch of the White Fang refused to work with her any longer. The Grimm that was once festering around the walls of Vale, gone.
A few bombings were heard not long ago outside the walls of Vale. When Huntsman and Huntresses went to take a look, they saw a few more bombs going off and killing the older Grimm and making the younger ones flee. This was due to Jaune tossing the bombs from the train.
Another portion of Cinder's plan is gone. Without the Grimm surrounding Vale, it would be impossible to cause enough panic to awaken the sleeping Grimm in Mt Glenn, and the White Fang that's meant to bring the Grimm to Vale through a bullhead is gone as they were either captured or dead.
Then there was the issue of hacking the CCTS, which failed for unknown reasons. The program was even deleted. Nothing was going Cinder's way. And if that was not bad enough, it turns out that the man that stopped the White Fang in Mt Glenn was the same man that prevented her from receiving the full Fall Maiden's power.
"Cinder," Emerald said. "What are we going to do?".
"For now, we do nothing," Cinder said. "Our identity hasn't been compromised, and we're keeping it that way. There is nothing we can do now. I'll have to return to my Mistress and plan a new course of action. We don't even know where the Fall Maiden is".
"So, all we've done is for nothing," Mercury said. "Great! When are we leaving this place?".
"At the end of the Vytal Festival," Cinder said. "With Leonardo Lionheart's help, we are students of Haven. If we are to leave early, it will cause suspicions".
"Wonderful! I thought that since the plan was shot, we could finally leave this place," Mercury said. "Everyone here always seems happy and cheery. It sickens me".
"Mercury," Cinder called. "Have you found the person that helped tip off the Mt Glenn operation?"
"Nothing," Mercury said. "No one from the underworld knew about it in the first place. How he found out is a mystery".
"How about the identity of the person that helped Qrow fight the White Fang in Mt Glenn?" Cinder asked. "There are a lot of witnesses. Surely, there must be one of them that saw something useful to us".
"I can't get into the prison cell," Mercury said. "It was well guarded and had lots of cameras too, making sneaking in impossible. They're protecting the White Fang quite a bit".
"A bit? Are you crazy?" Emerald said. "They're being watched 24/7, that's not a bit. Cameras are facing each of the White Fang members, that means I can't use my semblance to help you sneak in. There are no blind spots".
The reason for this much surveillance is due to Jaune's suggestion. He told Ozpin, Qrow and Glynda about his suspicion of Roman working for someone else, and the same goes for the White Fang. What their objective is, Jaune doesn't know.
Jaune showed them evidence of Torchwick's erratic behaviour for the past few months, which doesn't correlate to his usual M.O. Ozpin looked at the data Jaune gave him, and he concluded it to be true. Hence, he took Jaune's advice of keeping an eye on all the White Fang members in case the person giving the shots came back to release them or question them of the incident.
People who came to the Vytal Festival Tournament were currently taking their seats. Jaune's entire family took their seat. Looking to their seatmate, Noah and Joan were shocked to see Summer Rose alive.
"S-Summer?!" Joan said. "I thought you were dead! We went to your funeral and all".
"Joan! It's good to see!" Summer said. "As you can see, I'm alive and kicking. But the funeral wasn't a lie! I swear! I was brought back to life by someone!".
Luckily no one was around to hear anything that Summer said, or people would think she was crazy.
"Brought back to life?" Joan said. "That's sounds crazy and unbelievable".
For some reason, a thought came to Noah's mind. Something crazy, someone brought Summer back to life. Jaune is capable of crazy things, impossible feats even. It was a stretch for sure since he had no proof, but he had to ask.
"It was Jaune, wasn't it?" Noah asked. "I know that he is capable of crazy things".
"I-I…I can't tell you that," Summer said. "I made a promise to never tell anyone of how I came back to life".
"I understand," Noah said. "Besides, I can already tell from the way you're acting what the answer is".
"Noah? What are you talking about?" Joan said. "How would our boy have such power?".
"I'll explain everything when we get home," Noah said. "For now, we're here to clear on Jaune and his friends".
A few minutes later, the colosseum was filled with people. Doctor Oobleck and Professor Port were in the commentator's booth. He welcomed everyone to the Vytal festival and called for RWBY and ABRN on stage as the system picked them up.
"Go! Ruby! Go! Yang!" Summer shouted. "Show them what you girls are capable of!".
"Go get them, girls!" Tai shouted as well. "Show them the strength of the Rose/Xiao Long family!".
"You guys are energetic as ever," Joan said. "Then again, we are even more so when compared to you".
"Don't I know it," Summer said. "Your family is one of the most insane people when it comes to supporting your children. I still remember the time that Saphron was on a play, and you guys wouldn't stop shouting, so you got kicked out".
"Pfft! We've only got worst from there," Joan said. "There was a time when Rose went to a dance competition, and we nearly got arrested".
"I don't think you should be boasting that you got worst," Summer said. Though, she was used to Joan and her family's antic, even after not seeing them for a long time. "It's really good to see you guys again".
The match between RWBY and ABRN started, and it ended. As Jaune predicted, RWBY blitzed ABRN and gave them no room to adjust their pace and no chance to even analyse their opponent's capabilities.
"Oh-ho! What a great match!" Port said. "Such a fine movement technique!".
"I agree, Peter," Oobleck said. "The movement technique used by RWBY was praised by the strongest Huntress of Vale, Glynda Goodwitch. She stated that the movement technique was so fast that it was nearly impossible to counter. However, according to her, RWBY's technique is mediocre at best compared to someone that has truly mastered the technique".
"Ah, yes," Port said. "Glynda stated that the mastered version shows no dust being displaced, and no blur is seen. This shows that even with RWBY's strength, they still have room for improvement. And I, for one, can't wait to see how far they can go".
"One thing vexes me, though," Oobleck said. "Who was it that Glynda met that has mastered the movement technique? She refuses to name the person".
"Well, no matter," Port said. "People have the right to keep certain things a secret. Maybe the person that mastered the technique is her boyfriend".
In one of the booths that were prepared for the Beacon Professors, Glynda spat out her tea. She couldn't believe that Port would say something so scandalous in a live broadcast. Jaune wasn't her boyfriend. She merely asked him to help her with her semblance after seeing that he could use telekinesis. She just happened to witness Jaune use Shundō to a higher degree than what RWBY and NPR were capable of.
"Whoa! Glynda, you're dating a student now?" Qrow said teasingly. "I didn't think that you were that kind of person. You know, the ones that go after younger men".
"I'll have you know that I have no such relationship with Jaune," Glynda said. "We have a professional relationship. He is merely helping me advance my semblance to a higher degree. Besides, what do you care who I go after?".
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Qrow said. "No need to get angry, it was just a joke. Besides, I think the guy is interested in that purple-haired girl. Then again, I do see him sometime staring at you".
That was a lie. Jaune has never once checked out Glynda, consciously. It just happens from time to time that he would admire her beauty which is a different type from Scáthach and Haruhime. Scáthach is a mature type of beauty, Haruhime is an innocent type of beauty, and Glynda is a more cool and business-like type of beauty. Each has their own excellent quality.
Noah and Joan were surprised at Port's words. Because only one person they knew could use the movement technique RWBY used, which caused no dust displacement or blur to be seen.
"Do you think what Port said is true?" Joan asked her husband. This was noticed by Summer. "It would be quite interesting".
"I don't know," Noah said. "But I don't think so. I think Jaune is interested in someone else".
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Saphron said. "According to Haruhime. The person Jaune is interested in doesn't mind him having multiple women, as long as she was his first".
"Huh? Those types of people actually exist?" Noah said. He then murmured. "Lucky bastard! Living the dream of every man".
"Hmm? What was that, honey?" Joan said. "Did you say something?".
"I did not," Noah replied with sweat in his head.
"What are you guys talking about?" Summer asked. "What does Jaune have to do with this?".
"Because Jaune is the only person we know can perform Shundō to a higher degree," Noah said. "Oh, and Shundō is the movement technique that RWBY used".
"Oh…Ooooooh!" Summer realised. "I get it now. You were thinking if Glynda actually has that relationship with your son".
"Yup," Noah said. "Except we knew that he was interested in someone else. But after what Saphron said. It might be possible".
While talking about Jaune, it was his team's turn to have a match. Pyrrha, Ren and Nora asked Jaune to let them fight without him joining in since they wanted to have fun. Jaune agreed since they told him they were sending him to the singles match. As anyone would expect, JNPR dominated the opposing team.