Disclaimer: Brotherhoof12 doesn't own RWBY or Spider-Man, the two belongs to their respective creators.
(Chapter 33: The dance. Part 1)
"I know this is sudden, but let me explain." Jaune sat across from someone at the table, his face serious as he started talking. "I have so much now, really for the good rather than the bad. Let me back up a bit so you can understand better. In the beginning, I had no one when I got here in Vale, but a nice couple took me in when I was at my lowest. They put me back on my feet and I felt that I needed to pay them back, even though they didn't want anything in return for their efforts."
Soon, his expression shifted into a somber look. "I wanted a job, any job that can help me get more independent, so I can finally show that caring couple that I've fully recovered. Then, well… I got a job, but I stayed to help after a bad incident that left a big hole in someone's life. Anyway, one job became two, then two to three, and now another thing that's happening at my school-oh, yeah. I'm in school too thanks to them, so that's another good deed in the long list they did for me."
"Jaune," The person who Jaune was talking to is revealed to be Mr. McCarran, the owner of the dust store. They were using the back room to talk about why the 17 year old needed to speak to his boss. "You don't have to tell me all this, I'm friends with the Parkers."
"Sorry." He winced at how lost track of why he was talking to his boss. "I kind of got carried away there. The reason I'm talking to you now is cause I'm quitting, Mr. McCarren. Not because you're a bad boss or that I don't like working here, you're one of the kindest and understanding boss I know, and I have my share of terrible bosses."
"I see, so is it just school work catching up to you or…?"
"Not just that, but I'm also doing a major project that requires me to talk to some important people for an article I'm in charge of."
"Sounds like you really do have a lot for someone so young." The older male scratched his chin and closed his eyes in thought. "...Alright, I understand, Jaune. From now on, you no longer work for me. But I got to ask you this, does May know you're doing this?"
"Told her a day before," Jaune told his now former boss. "I wanted to talk to you rather than call you. It felt more professional if I talk to you rather than letting her break the news instead."
"That's good to hear." He nodded his head in approval of the teen's maturity. "It's sad that I'm losing one of my employees, but I'm happy to know how much you've started to branch out, Jaune."
"Thank you, Mr. McCarron." Jaune was extremely grateful for his kind words. "Even though I'm no longer working for you, I'll still come by just to talk! I'm sure Amy and Joe will cover most of what I do, so much so that I doubt you need my help at all."
"Still," The man get up from his chair. "I know that it would eventually happen, sooner or later. I'm just happy to know that your hard work is finally showing."
"Thank you, I really am grateful for the help." Jaune stood up as well and walked around the table before wrapping his arms around his former employer. "Take care, Mr. McCarren."
"Don't worry about me," He patted the teen's back. "Just keep your head up and stay focused. Don't get distracted with what life throws at you, understand?"
Releasing the hug, Jaune nodded his head at the sound advice given to him.
With the talk over, the two walked to the front of the store and saw the early morning sun starting to rise, signaling them that it was almost time to open. "I should start heading over to the diner to talk to Ms. Charles."
"You're going to talk to her about your termination too?"
"Ms. Charles is always grumpy when she's at work, so I honestly hope that when I tell her about quitting, it will go by quickly."
"I'm sure she will, Jaune." Mr. McCarron assured the blonde teen.
"You're fired!"
'Oh, wow, it seems I don't really have to explain, after all.'
Jaune entered his second job not two minutes before Ms. Charles, the manager of the establishment, opened the door from her office and just told Jaune Arc he was fired.
"But I didn't say anything yet!" Jaune replied not a second later to her outburst.
'Did Aunt May call and tell her? No, I told her the same day I said I would quit my other job that I would talk to them.'
"You didn't have to say anything, I can read you like a book." Her usual cranky self was starting even before the diner was about to open. "You barely show up and also call a day or so to let me know you can't make it to your shifts. May was the one who asked me to have you serve tables and now that you keep being absent, I have no other choice but to let you go."
Jaune winced, each jab was just a reminder why he needed to quit, but it seems he didn't really have time to explain when Ms. Charles suddenly tossed an envelope at him.
Seeing that it was nor sealed, Jaune opened the envelope and saw a check inside.
"What's this?"
"Your severance pay." She answered him. "It's your final paycheck from me."
About to say something again, Jaune's 2nd ex-boss cut him off again, only this time, she talked in a more professional tone then her usual loud self.
"You still performed far better then the usual teens who work here. You don't complain about your shift, you show actual kindness than the fake smiles most of us show to the customers, and you're getting much more in this check than the other ingrates I've fired."
'Should I really be hearing that last part?'
Walking past the now fired waiter, the manager opened the front door to the diner and motioned him to leave.
"I can already see that a kid like you has better places to be than just wasting it here cleaning tables. If you have just a decent shred of confidence, you can see like everyone else around you that you don't belong here."
Speechless to hear kind words from her, Jaune didn't argue as he walked out of the diner and heard the door close shut behind him.
"Jeez," He couldn't help but feel a little bit of pride knowing that both Mr. McCarron and Ms. Charles thought so highly of him. "I really am thankful for such great people looking out for me."
Jaune would be lying that working at both a dust shop and a family diner was easy. Each had their level of difficulty since he never really worked back at his home village. He was just another kid more worried about playing games, dreaming to be a Huntsmen, and trying to look cool in front of others.
Truly, Jaune had to shake his head to stop thinking about how ignorant and childish he was back at the village. Living in Vale has given him a new perspective of how he should be living.
"Hmm..." J. Jonah Jameson, editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle read the incomplete story Jaune handed to him. Sitting across from his boss's desk, Jaune waited patiently as J.J. looked over what Jaune accumulated over talking to team RWBY including some of their friends about their time at Beacon.
"It's decent." The cigar smoking adult tossed the papers haphazardly on his desk. "Not great, but I really didn't expect much from a green horn like yourself."
"Thank you?" Jaune was caught between from feeling hurt of such blunt honesty or content from knowing that his work are not too bad. "This isn't everything, though, and I'm planning to complete it soon."
"Fine." J.J Pulled out a cigar from his desk and started to light it. "Just make sure to remember why you're doing this, Jaune. You're the same age as them, but they're training to be real heroes. Not like that clown brainwashing Vale with his colorful charade. Our work will wake them up from their little fantasy of trusting masked wannabies and put faith into Huntsmen."
"I'll make sure not to forget." Claiming his papers from the desk, the newly promoted reporter left his boss' office.
Closing the door as he left, Betty, who was typing away on her keyboard at her desk saw Jaune and started to talk to him.
"I didn't hear yelling, so I can assume that it went well?" She asked to teen.
"Far better than I had in my head." Jaune walked to her desk and leaned on the edge. "He liked it, in his own asinine way, but he liked it nonetheless."
"Don't worry," She gave him a knowing look. "You're doing fine for someone so young at this line of work. Some of us feels kind of threatened because of that."
"Really?" He gave her a flat look that made her chuckle. "Others more experienced, and even better reporters feel threatened by me?"
"You did just get promoted from photographer to a reporter." She pointed out. "You also landed a solid, newsworthy, and even top tier info regarding the SDC and get into Beacon without much hassle when some of us find it hard to even get a few moments in that academy."
"Don't remind me." The blonde groaned. "Every time I go there, I see them always trying to get to the student's dorms to find… actually, I never really found out who they were looking for, I was just annoyed that they were there."
This time, Betty looked surprised at hearing Jaune say that he doesn't know the reason for why so many appear at the school.
"You don't know? The reason is that there is a famous young student who is a fighting savant studying in Beacon…."
Betty couldn't finish her sentence, when her scroll that was placed on her desk began to ring.
"Hold on, Jaune." Picking up the scroll, the secretary for J.J.J did her usual greeting and listened to whoever was talking on the other call. "Sorry, Jaune, I got to take this, you have a nice day."
"Thanks, Betty." Waving her a short goodbye with a single hand, the blonde reporter left her to her work and made his way to the elevator.
'Today is pretty slow,' Jaune pressed a button to take him to the first floor and soon, the doors closed itself and the elevator started to move downward. 'I settled all of the problems that could affect me. Now, what's next is for me to start planning my next move.'
What Vale's web-slinger meant is how he was going to deal with the most glaring issue he has ever since stepping foot in Beacon.
Cinder and her gruesome twosome impersonating as students in Beacon academy.
"Hey, Ruby." The secret hero was talking though his scroll. "I hope I didn't call you at a bad time."
"It's ok, Jaune." Ruby said to him through the scroll. If Jaune listened a little bit more, he could also hear Yang saying something followed by laughter. "You're not really interrupting anything. It's the weekend anyway, and my team and I are just about to hang with Pyrrha's team soon to get some food."
"Ok," Jaune smiled, already seeing his mind working out a way to use this opportunity. "Well, I just called and wanted to know if it's ok if I swing by and just see you guys. I know we see each other through the week, but that's just in the weekdays, so I thought it's ok if I can just hang with you all today."
"I don't see a problem, Jaune." More muffled sounds that soon turned loud when he heard things being thrown. "Sorry if you heard some weird noises, I just saw a… um, a fly on my sister's hair and I just had to get rid of it somehow. I need to warn you that Yang and Weiss might be a bit busy, due to them setting up stuff for a dance our school is having."
"Do I have to ask another time?" While Jaune was talking to Ruby, he was also just walking to the bus stop a block away from the Bugle. Taking a seat on the only bench, Jaune checked the time to see that it was already lunch time.
'I have all day to plan this out.' He assured himself. 'But right now, if I can just get more time around them. Then maybe, just maybe, I can get to know why they want to risk themselves being in Beacon.'
What Jaune had in mind for today was things that had too much of his time, both being his normal life and his hero life. His small-time jobs of working at a dust shop and waiting tables had to end, they were taking too much time that could help him with being Spider-Man and how both don't really pay much compared to his newly promoted status at the Bugle.
That's why he needed to quit, and in doing so, he gave himself an opportunity to start a plan he had in his head for quite some time now.
'Jaune Arc is helping team RWBY clear their names, but Spider-Man is using this opportunity to learn more about Cinder and her crew.' The vigilante went over in his head on how he must play this out to make sure all of this will go down. 'Just like them, who are impersonating as students from another school, I will use that to my advantage and see if I can get close to them and try to learn more about them.'
Jaune may have stopped robberies and the like from Roman who is working with her, but what he really wants to know is why this much dust and why go to such lengths as to stay in a school where her enemies live.
All these can be given light, if he can just worm his way into their group. Luckily enough, they seem very close to Ruby and her friend, much to Jaune's dismay.
"No! No! It's fine, you can definitely come over." Ruby hurrie said, causing Jaune to smile.
"That's great, I'll be there in a couple of hours." He checked the time to see how much he needed to get ready. "I'll be there around 4pm."
"Ok, I'll also message Pyrrha and her team and see if they want to join."
"What about that other team?" He added his questions, throwing that in the conversation to see if she will take the bait.
"I can ask if Emerald and her friends want to hang." She didn't seem confused by the questions and just went along with it.
'Perfect.'
Why they decided to be 'friends' with Ruby's group is something that bothered him. Was it because Ruby foiled Roman's men from a dust robbery? Was it because of the rally?
'None of it makes much sense to me, because 'Spider-Man' was the one who did most of the foiling.'
Spider-Man did the most damage to their dust thefts, Spider-Man was the one who stopped Cinder's goons from killing some book store owner, and above all, it was Spider-Man who ruined the White Fang's rally.
'Cinder is at Beacon working undercover, all the while making sure to give out orders to Roman who is working alongside the White Fang. It all adds up, Sandman once worked for Roman, he was working with those two killers, and now I see them here with Cinder leading said team.'
If they were trying to hide in plain sight, then it was working seeing as how both blended in with Beacon's students. Still, it was a two-way street for them, since Jaune was also using the same tactic as them.
By using his civilian persona as a worker from the Bugle, he can talk to them and keep tabs on while in Beacon. It was a flimsy plan, at best, he can at least hope to keep his eyes on them for the time being.
"Ok, Ruby." The sound of the public bus getting closer told Jaune to get ready to board. "I'll see you soon!"
"See you soon, Jaune." After saying their goodbyes, both teens hung up at the same time as the bus stopped in front of Jaune. The door hinges were opened by the driver to allow Jaune to enter.
'Just need to make one more stop before I go to Beacon.' Jaune sat in the middle of the bus. 'Need to tell Aunt May about the news regarding how I quit my other jobs. Not to mention, I also need to get some of my stuff so I can at least take some 'notes' just to make appearances. Wait, no, I actually need to take notes since it's still part of my job.'
[Parker's residence]
The buildings and people passed by through Jaune's eyes as he stares out from the bus' window. Each face and place he saw soon vanished as the next thing replaced it within his view.
Soon, the bus stopped at his destination making him walk out of the public transit and head just a block back to Mrs. Parker's house. Stepping up the front porch stairs that leads to the entrance, Jaune pulled out the spare keys she gave him, unlocked it, and entered inside.
"Aunt May, I'm home!" He announced. "I talked to Mr. McCarren and Ms. Charles this morning, it went a lot better than I expected. Are you here?"
"Yes, Jaune! I'm in the kitchen!" His landlady spoke.
Heading to where her voice was, Jaune saw her on the house scroll talking to someone.
"Welcome home, Jaune." She greeted him and went back to talking to whoever was on the other side of the call. "Yes, he's here now. Have a nice day yourself! And take care."
Hanging up the call, Aunt May turns to him.
"I'll be making lunch soon, so if you can set up the plates, that would be much appreciated."
"Right." Jaune nodded and started doing at what he was told. It doesn't took long for him to finish. "It's all set, Aunt May."
"Thank you, Jaune. You can go to the living room to relax now. I'll call you when the food is ready."
"Thank you, Aunt May." Just when he was stepping out of the kitchen, Jaune turned around and remembered what he was here to get.
"Aunt May, is it possible I can take some to go? I kind of made some plans."
"Plans?" This made Mrs. Parker look at her tenant in confusion.
"Yeah, I'm going to Beacon to talk to with Blake and her-"
"Oooh!" Aunt May's confusion now morphed into giddiness. "Are you planning to ask her to the Midtown dance?"
'Right, the dance,' Hearing that word made Jaune wince for forgetting that it was just around the corner and closing. 'Shouldn't be surprised if Aunt May would think I was going to ask Blake. She seemed smitten when she visited.'
"No, Aunt May." The spider hero rolled his eyes. "She's a huntress going to a different school. The dance is only for those who are students, so she won't be allowed. I'm going to visit Beacon to talk with Blake and her friends, you know, since I can focus more about the job I have at the Bugle."
"Right, you did say you needed to quit working at the Dust shop and the diner." She bent under the kitchen counter to get a topper wear from one of the drawers. "I really did like that Blake girl, though."
"You've only met her once, Aunt May."
"Yes, but I can tell she was someone I could like." She pulled out a clean plastic case. "After all, me and Ben met you and we were right to think you were a kind boy."
That stopped his thoughts dead in his tracks. Whenever she mentions Ben, he knew that it was best to shut his trap and let her dwell on the good times he was still around.
"He had always had a good eye for people, and I think he would also extend the same kindness to Blake. You both do have some things in common after all."
"Me and her have things on common?" He shook his head. 'No way, I doubt we have anything really in common. I think the only one I can relate to any of them at Beacon is Ruby, but I don't want to tell Aunt May that. She's already has thoughts about Blake and I, so adding Ruby to this will just make Aunt May more dead set on playing matchmaker with any cute girl I meet.'
"Appearance wise, yes. But deep down, she holds some secrets that resembles yours."
Thinking about what she meant, Jaune imagined if Blake had the same dilemma he was going through.
'Did she run away from her family too? To prove something? Well, it seems that she did prove herself, because she made it in while I'm here.'
Jaune didn't want to sound jealous, he was sure that compared to him, who could barely put a good fight with a sword and shield, Blake had trained far more than he did.
'Guess we both wanted to go to Beacon, but she wanted it more.'
"You only met her once and you can already read her like a book?" He sounded skeptical.
"A lady's intuition never dulls, Jaune." She gave him a knowing smirk. "Now, go get ready to leave. I'll have your food ready by the time you're finished."
"Thanks, Aunt May." Jaune headed up the stairs. "You're the best!"
Reaching his room, Jaune looked for what he needed for Beacon, stuffed it in his school backpack, and walked out. Walking down to the first floor, he caught sight of Aunt May holding his lunch including a fork and spoon wrapped in paper towel.
"Here you go, Jaune!" She handed it to him. "Have a safe trip there!"
"I promise." He pecked the side of her cheek. "I'll text you when I arrive there."
"Ok!" Suddenly, she stopped him by calling out his name. "Jaune, I nearly forgot to tell you something. It's about the dance your school is having."
"Aunt May...!" He groaned.
"It's not about Blake this time." The owner of the house slapped his arm. "I was talking to one of my friends who lives nearby about you and how your school is having a dance. She just so happens to tell me that her niece also attends that same school as you and she doesn't have a date to go dancing."
"Uh-huh." Jaune didn't like where this is going.
"Well, since you both go to the same school and how you can't ask Blake out 'cause she isn't a student there..."
"I never said that I would, Aunt May."
"I told her that both of you could go dancing! It would be perfect, Jaune! She showed me a picture of her niece, she told me she also has a nice personality."
"A nice personality, you say?" He smiled, but he could not hide his true feelings due to how his voice didn't sound too convinced.
"Yup," Another thought appeared in her head and she soon walked back to the kitchen to get something. "I think I have a photo of her saved on my scroll let me show you, Jaune."
"Uh, you know what, Aunt May?" Using this opportunity, Jaune slowly opened the front door and started to leave. "I think that sounds nice and all, but I should head out now."
"It will only take a second!" She told him.
That second was all he needed, as Jaune closed the front door and started his trek to Beacon Academy.
"A great personality?" Harry Osborn repeated the complement Aunt May described this mystery girl. "Brrr, you know that should blare some warning to you, Jaune."
"Trust me, Harry. Asking someone out for the dance is the least thing on my list of priorities today."
"Need I remind you that the dance is literally coming in just a few days. You have yet to even try to talk to any girls from our class, let alone any in the school."
Jaune flinched at how Harry called him out on his hesitance of asking the opposite gender out for the Midtown dance. It wasn't like he was trying to avoid them, he's just really awkward when it comes to things like this.
"I'm busy with the Bugle," Jaune told his friend. "And don't tell me that I'm having a hard time. I don't see you putting in the effort!"
"Jaune," Harry chuckled, laughing at something his best friend wasn't aware of. "I'm simply conserving my energy, scouting the terrain, laying the foundation for my… for my… ok, I've been ignoring this for some time now, but I got to ask why I'm hearing so much wind in the background."
"Oh, I kind of opened a window of the taxi car I'm using to get to Beacon." Jaune lied casually as he swing from building to building using his web.
"Can you close the window?" He asked Jaune.
"Kind of stinks in here, I feel like the driver doesn't really care about how his car smells."
"Sure, I understand why you need some clean air."
Jaune seriously doubted that but kept his mouth shut.
"Back to what I was saying earlier. My plan for getting a date is simple, Jaune. Just wait for tomorrow and see me in action."
"You're not going to tell me now?"
"Telling you will just be a waste right now, plus I can't really stand how much wind is coming through this call."
"Alright, then." The teen hero stopped his web travel and landed on the side of a large billboard that had some scroll number and a location to some law firm. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, Harry. And hey, maybe when you do get that plan of yours in action, can you also try and help me? Cause if I don't, Aunt May might set me up with Ms. Great personality."
"I got you, Jaune. Have fun going to Beacon, and tell Ruby and Blake I said hello."
"Sure." Ending the call, Jaune released his hold on the big law firm sign and plopped down softly onto the rooftop. "I think this should be just enough distance for me to walk."
Unzipping the bag, Jaune pulled out his normal clothes and began to change. 'Can't bring this with me. As much as I want to carry it in case someone needs help, I can't risk the chance having one of Ruby's friends stumbling upon this my accident.'
Back to his normal street clothes consisting of his usual style of a faded navy-blue pair of jeans, and his favorite sleeveless hoodie with a bunny on the center. Jaune did the next best thing by neatly folding his suit and webbed it on the back side of the advertisement board.
"Ok, I just need to remember where I placed it." He took the time to pay attention to every detail it showed. "Or maybe I'll just take a picture instead."
Taking a photo with his scroll, Jaune saved the photo, grabbed his backpack, and started his walk to Beacon.
"And here is where we will be holding the dance in." Ruby Rose, leader of three other young women gave a tour to Jaune who was looking at everything like a kid going to a theme park.
"This place is enormous!" The normal teen couldn't help but compare the size of their ballroom to his highschool gym. "You can fit four pep rallies here!"
"Yup, I know this is a lot to take in," Ruby couldn't help but feel a little pride knowing that this was but one of the many areas in the school that was open for use to the students in Beacon. "There was also another room just like this one, and that was for holding all of the first years! It was like one large slumber party!"
"Everyone?" The blonde tilted his head at hearing about what Ruby said. "So... when you said all of the first years sleeping in one large room, do you mean….?"
"Yup, we all had to sleeping bags and everything."
Cheeks turning red, Jaune pulled the collar of his hoodie as if to cool himself off.
"You guys may be the same age as me, but you guys must be really mature enough to have the faculty trust you guys."
"Well, most of us were mature." She started to recall how her first night here was. "It was really awkward for me since Yang wanted me to talk to people. It was also weird when most of the boys were just wearing the pajama bottoms and started to wrestle one another."
"Ugh," The blush on Jaune's face was gone and was replaced with shock. "Was that normal? Did any of the teachers stop any of that?"
"No," She shook her head. "Yang didn't mind though, she seemed happy, actually."
"Get out of my head, get out of my head." Jaune mumbled quiet enough that Ruby couldn't understand what he was saying. As he did both of his hands rubbed the side of his temples like he was getting rid of a brain freeze. 'Will it be weird if I ask Ruby if she liked seeing that? No! Stupid idea! Focus on the task at hand!'
"You ok, Jaune?" She sounded concerned for her friend.
"I'm fine, Ruby." Jaune said to her. "Just happy to spend time with you and everyone here. With all the crazy stuff I have at school, I just wanted to do something nice for a change. Oh! Before I forget, I want you to know that I'm no longer working at the dust shop and the diner."
"What? Really? Why'd you stop working at Mr. McCarren's shop? You could read all the weapons magazines you want and fiddle around with all the cool equipment!"
'Of course she would say that. Ruby makes it sound like I quitted the best place to work at.' Unable to hold in his laughter he wiped a stray tear from his eye and controlled his breathing. "I know, I just lost the best job ever. That still can't really help with me having two other jobs, one of them being part of the Bugle. With the other two jobs being small in comparison I just thought it was better to let them go now that I have a job more stable."
"Yeah, I see your point on how having three jobs would take its toll."
'Jaune works so hard, yet I never see him look tired.' Ruby never could see Jaune working himself to the bone with how healthy he look.
Either because he found a good schedule to work his time or he was getting used to being overworked. Ruby still felt admiration for someone the same age as her sister to be so mature. 'I'm glad he has more time for himself. Maybe I could ask him if he wants to stay a little bit longer, so I can show other places Beacon has to offer.'
"I remember Mr. McCarren telling me you have an Aunt you're living with. How is she doing?"
"She's doing good. Trying to push me to get someone to dance with me at my highschool."
"Oh my gosh! I forgot you have your own dance!" The silver eyed huntress bonked the side of her head for being forgetful. "When does yours start again?"
"Same time and day like yours, at the end of the week." A sigh left Jaune's lips. "It's kind of hard to ask someone to the dance with me."
"Yeah, same here. Maybe we can send pictures of each other and how our school dance experience was?"
"You know, that doesn't sound bad. Anyway, I'm blown away at how you guys are getting prepared with the dance."
"Yes, both my sister and my partner are already planning the design and where the entertainment will be set up." Just to reinforce her statement, Ruby's scroll started to sound off. "That should be them, let me go reply to what they sent me."
"Take your time, Ruby. I'm not going anywhere."
"Thank you." As Ruby looks at her messages, Jaune used this time to write down some notes on his notepad.
Currently, it was only just the two of them, with Ruby giving him a quick rundown of places where her and her friends usually hang out at. Like Ruby told him, both her sister and her partner were part of the committee to help set up the dance. He didn't mind, Jaune would make sure not to get in their way if they were too busy.
'I wonder how their dance will be like.' In his mind, the secret hero could see their party being far better then their local highschool dance. Better lights, better food, and probably better everything with how much the headmaster is putting in so much Lien. 'I feel like the students here are just flaunting their status here. Even though Ruby and her friends don't, I still find it hard to believe that this is a school for kids.'
"Nice to see you, Jaune. Liking where we'll be setting for our school party?"
Turning to where he heard that familiar voice, Jaune saw Yang and Weiss with each holding larges boxes.
"Yeah, this place is real fancy looking." He said honestly. "Way better than any highschool gym."
"Yes, I agree that Beacon hires great architects," Weiss entered the conversation. "But when we're done decorating how the ballroom should look like, the staff will see that they were right to add us to the committee."
"I thought we were voluntold to be part of the committee." Yang side stepped out of the way when Weiss tossed her box at her.
"They were still right to pick us to be part of the dance committee!" She squawked.
Not even showing any effort, Yang used her right arm to hold her box of decorations and used the other arm to catch the thrown object before it could land on the ground.
"Sure, why not." Yang couldn't help but laugh at every opportunity she could get to burst Weiss and her posh attitude. "Delusions aside, it's been kind of boring staying within Beacon grounds cause of the accident still fresh in everyone's mind. I was honestly bored out of my skull that I almost started pulling my own hair until we got slapped with helping some of the students set up all of this glitz and glamor."
"If you guys oversee setting this stuff up, what else are you in charge of?" He asked them.
"We aren't really in charge per se." The other blonde teen explained to Jaune.
"We are in charge of the dance," The heiress clarified. "It's just that someone decided to abuse the school's trust and tried to get some uncouth band to perform here."
"Still felt like they would have been here if the headmaster just forked over a couple more zeros." The close-range fighter of the team pouted. "It would have been even awesomer if Spider-Man met them and they would make a theme song for him!"
"For the last time, Yang. 'Awesomer' is not a word." The white-haired huntress pinched the bridge pf her nose. "And I seriously doubt there will be even a chance Spider-Man would meet the... what were they called again? Achievement people?"
"They're called: 'Achieve Men', Weiss." Yang started to walk to put the boxes next to the other pile that was stationed at a long table with other equipment carried by the students besides them.
Walking back to the group, Yang started to talk. "Your brother seemed to like them. Anyway, you at least need to know that you can't be a hero without your own theme music."
"You're mistaking childish cartoon shows for real life people doing dangerous things while wearing bright colors."
"Hello again!" Pyrrha Nikos and her team of other brightly colored teens strolled inside and greeted Jaune and the rest of her friends. "it's nice to see you, Jaune. Hope you see everything to your likings."
"Hey, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora." Jaune waved at each one of them. "Nice seeing you guys again."
"Sorry if we took to long to get here." The red ponytailed huntress apologized. "We just needed to take a few detours."
"Yup, you can't believe how many people Beacon has!" Nora told Jaune, but her main attention was messing around and opening the boxes that held streamers and confetti.
"Ruby did say you wanted to talk to all of us some more." Ren stepped behind Nora and pulled her away from the mess she was making. "We would be happy to talk some more, though I hope you would also help setting these up as well."
"You mean you three are also part of getting all of this set up?"
"No, they're not, they just wanted to help." Ruby explained to him. "They thought it would go much faster if friends helped with all this. You wanted to be here to see everyone, so I thought it would knock two nevermores with one bullet if everyone pitched in."
"I think you're missing one person, though." Jaune began to count. "I don't see Blake anywhere."
"Ms. GrumpyBlake is just off doing her normal thing," Yang waved it off, yet, Jaune could see some worry in her eyes. "Just her usual complaining about the Fang, Roman, and Spider-Man. I mean, Ruby we can handle with Spider-Man, but Blake seems even more obsessed with the webhead."
"I'm a fan." Ruby clarified. "I like superheroes and comic books! Seriously, is no one else here not think it's cool to like real life superheroes? I mean, Atlas has one now too!"
"You mean, Iron Man?"
"You heard of him too, right? Isn't he just cool!" Ruby was glad Jaune was here, otherwise she would just be the only one who in the group liking heroes. "He's from Atlas and he helps people wearing a cool suit that flies! Flies! I never even thought it was possible, but apparently it is, and Iron Man is proof that more heroes are definitely happening."
'I do remember Whitley saying how we are just the start of something big.'
It was nice to hear how well his friend's status at Atlas is now getting some popularity in his kingdom. Jaune may like how his hero person is getting more and more popular. However, he did like how Whitley's alter ego was creating some much needed change in Vale.
"Iron Man." Weiss grumbled under her breath. "Can we please change the subject? I feel like I can't walk ten paces without hearing about supers."
"Come on Weiss," Her partner used her semblance to close the distance between them. Ruby was no right next to Weiss and placed an arm over the girl's shoulder. "He's from Atlas, did some cool village saving, busted up arms dealers, he's practically getting to Spider-Man's level of fame."
"Spider-Man's level?" That seemed to set her off, but not in rage. "I read my kingdom's news, Ruby, about this man. What makes you think he isn't above Spider-Man's status?"
"That's the spirit, Weiss." Ruby's arm wrapped tighter around Weiss. "Stand up to your hero! Kingdom represent!"
That made everyone laugh at Ruby's quirky antics, even making Weiss drop her scowl and replaced it with a small mirth of joy. Still, jokes all aside, Weiss did try to pry Ruby's arm off her, not really getting too comfortable with the close contact.
'This is nice,' Looking at how the atmosphere was full of laughs made Jaune almost forget that he was here for more then just meeting with friends. 'I wish I could tell them what's about to happen next.'
Passed his friends who were having fun, he could see two familiar faces getting closer and closer to them. Both teens, one girl with dark skin and green hair, the other a boy with grey air and having the opposite skin tone.
"I see we missed out on the jokes." Mercury casually walked into the group, followed by Emerald who smiled sweetly to everyone.
Everyone greeted them like any other friend would, yet Jaune was the last to acknowledge them. Jaune made an excuse about how he should last since he was the one visiting and all. In the bottom of his stomach, Jaune could feel it twist when he sees Emerald standing close to Ruby who was oblivious about how Emerald could easily harm her.
'Deep breaths,' Suddenly, the air left Jaune's body making the report remember to breath. 'Don't jump the gun. They won't try anything with so many witnesses, it would be even suicide if the try to harm the witnesses since all of them are trained to kill monsters.'
Feeling the dull sensation of his spider sense, Jaune payed attention to where it was telling him to look at and stopped his gaze when Mercury started to walk up to him.
"How've you been, man?" He smirked, holding a hand up. "Sorry if you don't see our team leader with us. She has to talk with our fourth member about when she'll arrive from our school."
That smirk that was on the assassin's face made the secret hero want to wipe it off with a powerful right hook. How Mercury oozed confidence and showed a laid-back attitude may have seemed normal and gave him a look of your usual cool guy.
For Jaune, it was like everyone here were all fools being played by him and Emerald's fake enthusiasm. Acting the part, making friends, feigning emotions, it turned Jaune's hesitation of them into plain hate.
'I don't see any weapon on him,' Jaune saw nothing out of place other then him wearing his usual cloths the first time he met him at Tuskon's book store. 'He has boots that fire actual dust bullets. I can't just up and check, otherwise I would look rude and paranoid.'
"I've been having a good day so far." Jaune answered, shaking the hand offered to him. 'You and Emerald ruined it though.'
"I know this is sudden when I ask Ruby if you guys can show up, even though it's the last day of the weekend. I'm sure you guys had plans you wanted to do."
'Like world domination!' Jaune accused in his head.
As much as he can trust his spider sense to tell him danger was close, he could only just sit by and let the two villains be part of the group.
"It's no problem, Jaune." Emerald stepped next to her partner and beamed the brightest smile she could muster. He could bet Lien that if she was at his school, all the boys would be falling for her. They would also be wondering where their wallets had run off to.
"Well, since everyone is here." Not wanting to be the only one doing nothing, the blonde reporter opened a box to show wires and a sound system. "Let's get started."
'God, my mouth hurts for doing this.' Emerald complained as she kept her smile wide as Jaune peppered her with questions such as how being in a team and staying in Beacon is like. 'I swear, this guy looks as timid as he is pathetic looking. Yet when he gets to talking, I don't know when or how he has to energy to say so much.'
Blending in to this school was easy for them just as Cinder predicted. A few Lien there, some fake transcripts here, a bit of help from some loyal followers who work in some other Huntsmen school later, and you have yourself an easy access to be a student.
"How long have you been a team?" Jaune asked her, while at the same time helping her place some speakers on top of a long table that will be used for the DJ. "Forget it, that was a stupid question- What I meant to ask is how long have you known each other?"
'Isn't that the same question only with different words?'
"I've known them for close to a year." She lied of course. 'I feel like I know this guy from somewhere.'
"I see," He bought the lie and moved his sight on her partner who was preoccupied untangling some long extension cords. "How is your teamwork with Mercury? I'm sure you guys must train hard to do cool combo attacks. Ruby told me she came up names with her teammates, like 'Freezer burn' and 'Ladybug'."
'Stupid names for stupid kids, I suppose.' She mused. "We don't really speak our attacks outloud. Kind of makes it easier for our opponents to read our intentions."
"For the festival, right?"
"Yeah, that's what I meant."
Jaune started to write something down on his notepad, she couldn't see what he was jotting down but she didn't really care. What she really wanted to do was go out and start doing something, yet Cinder benched them after their failure to kill some turncoats and that bank heist.
'I swear, that spider guy got lucky.' She couldn't accept how she failed her boss not once, but twice in such a short amount of time.
That was the main reason why the two underlings stayed in the academy, to cover for Cinder as she makes some contacts with Roman and someone else they don't know about.
'I should be out there helping, not acting like I'm friends with these losers.' She seethed, only to come back to her senses and fix her problems to the person responsible for her losing Cinder's trust in her.
Spider-Man, a guy who's desperate enough to dress up like a fool and claims to be a hero.
'If he was right in front of me right now, I have no doubt I'll wipe the floor with him.'
"Emerald, are you listening?"
"I'm sorry," Emerald apologized, focusing back to the nobody in front of her. "Were you saying something?
"I just asked about your chances at winning the festival. I don't really know much, so Ruby filled me in one some of the event you guys will be participating in."
Placing a finger on her lips, Emerald acted like she was thinking hard about her team's chances at winning.
"There's a lot of tough competition this year. I'll be lying if I said that I'm not scared, yet I know we'll come out on top. As a matter of fact, I'm sure everyone will be surprised when they see us win the Vytal Festival."
"Bold words," He laughed. "But I'm positive Ruby and her team will win."
"Agree to disagree?" The green haired huntress didn't want to waste her breath in arguing on something that will never happen. Already Cinder has laid the ground work for her plans to ruin Beacon that by the time they reach the one versus one stage it would already be too late.
"I suppose," Jaune dropped the subject. "Hope to see your fourth member of your team soon."
"You'll see her, just don't expect her to be the talkative type."
Time began to blend in to the background as everyone helped unpack everything needed for the end of the week. The teachers came by and told them that they were thankful for the extra help even when they had enough students from the committee.
Finishing what they had planned a lot sooner gave Jaune more time to do his usual duty of being a reporter and made some good notes on what he learned today.
Afterwards, Weiss and Yang needed to go to a meeting about further plans, Pyrrha's team headed to the training room, and Emerald and her partner went back to their room. Leaving only Jaune and Ruby all by themselves as the silver eyed huntress walked him back to the front gate.
"Sorry again for Blake's absence." Ruby apologized for her teammate. "She's actually getting better at being more open towards us."
"I believe you, Ruby." Jaune knows that Ruby is trying her best. He just wished that they wouldn't blame themselves. "Blake's just really sore about how Roman is still working along her old organization."
"No, it's something completely different."
"What do you mean? Yang did say that Blake still has some hang ups."
Shaking her head, Ruby's face scrunched up as she recalled something involving Blake.
"Blake vocally tells us about the White Fang, but lately she doesn't seem that interested anymore. I think she's just telling what we want to hear and doing something different."
'She's lying about learning more about the White Fang? That does sound concerning.'
"Blake keeps saying that she'll be at the library doing some research and one time when I decided to check on her I saw she was looking up Spider-Man."
"That's good, right? He is popular with everyone in Vale. Maybe she's finally getting a hobby by knowing more about Spider-Man."
"I mean, yeah, who doesn't want to know about Spider-Man?!" That seemed to put her in a better mood. "Which makes it odd that she lies about what she's doing. Is she embarrassed about being a fan? If anything, I'm jealous she got to work alongside him!"
"Don't worry, Ruby." The blonde reporter placed his hand on her shoulder for encouragement. "You'll get your chance I'm sure of it."
"Thanks, Jaune," Walking a head of him she turned around to face him. "Looking at the bright side, I'm still glad that Blake is opening up more. Even if she's lying about what she's doing I'm just glad that she's hiding an innocent hobby."
'Me too,' Jaune was relieved to know that Blake was taking her friends in account now. He was worried he would have to be Spider-man and talk some sense in to her. 'So she's focusing more on Spider-Man now. She did seem more interested in him more often then Roman stealing Dust. Is she also looking into Iron Man too? Doesn't matter, so long as she keeps her head down and let the heat dies down.'
Walking together in comfortable silence, both students from different schools reached the main exit. Their bodies standing next to each other as they stayed in place as the outside world moved in front of them.
"Hey, Jaune. Can I ask you something?"
"Ask away, Ruby."
"Do you really think people will forgive us for making so much trouble at the highway?" How she asked that made her seem vulnerable and meek. "I keep thinking in my head that this will all be over soon, but I also think that people will still talk about it behind our backs and I makes me wonder if people will see us as screw ups rather than huntresses."
"Have you said anything about this to your team?"
"No, I can't possibly do that." Her hands grabbed parts of her skirt. "I always tell them that with your help we can fix this misunderstanding. We all told each other how we felt about it, so I don't want to keep falling into that rut again."
Thinking long and hard about what to say next, the vigilante could only look back at the large clock tower-like castle and decided to tell her his secret.
"You told me about how your family learned to be Huntsmen here remember?" Her reply was a nod from her head. "And I already told you that half of my family are Huntsmen. What I didn't tell you was that I too wanted to be a Huntsman and even tried my luck at joining Beacon."
"You applied for Beacon?" Her funk immediately disappeared. "But you're not a student here, and that means-"
"They denied my transcripts and I never got to be a student. I never told anyone other than my Aunt and my two friends at Midtown."
"Jaune…" She couldn't comprehend what Jaune was going though. If she was in his shoes, then she honestly wouldn't what to do with herself. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I don't want to see you sad, Ruby." Looking back at her, Jaune made sure to stare right at her piercing set of silver eyes. "Yes, what you guys did might not be forgotten. Yet you're all still here rather than getting expelled, which means the headmaster sees something in you that is worth keeping."
'Something way more important then a guy with fake transcripts.'
"It's fine to feel what you feel. You just need to make sure that it won't define you. You're going to be an amazing huntress when you graduate, Ruby. Even when you have people say mean things about you, know that I'll always be the one cheering for you."
"Jaune," Words couldn't describe how she felt at this moment, so the only thing her mind could do was simply wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you."
"No need to thank me," Jaune hugged her back. "Like I said, I'll always be the one to cheer for you."
Night time rolled in and as usual, Jaune took the backseat and allow Spider-Man to take the wheel. Swinging to buildings varied in size and height to running on the side of walls with ease, Spider-Man performed feats of acrobatic stunts as he watches over Vale and her sleeping citizens, all while having most of his thoughts still thinking about a certain group who shouldn't be in Beacon.
Especially one tidbit he believes to be important.
'A fourth member of their team.' Jaune pondered on who it could be that will fill in the space. 'Cinder left her team and is outside of Beacon. That alone is sending alarms in my head. I can't simply brush off Emerald's remark, there was at least some truth behind what she told me.'
How he could trust the mint-haired illusionist's words was fairly simple. Looking into their school history, it was deemed that their students will be in a four-man team just like Beacon, meaning that if Cinder really is planning to recruit her fourth member, it would be someone already working for her.
'She can't possibly get someone this late in the game, meaning she must already have someone in mind to fill in the ranks. It can't be Roman, no amount of make up can make him look like a teenager. Perhaps someone from the Fang? Or maybe Roman's silent partner with the mismatched eyes?'
Body and spider sense worked in tandem as Spider-Man weaved past tight corners as he instinctively swung from one roof top to the other. As his final swing sent him high in the air his hands let go of the webline, leaving him floating in mid air before gravity sent him curving downward.
By now, he would have already ejected another webstring, only Spider-Man didn't intend to shoot one. His trajectory between his descent and a tall glass window tower in front of him had enough distance to stick onto the building. Not a second after, he latched on and reached the top of the tower in less than a couple of minutes.
Standing on the edge, Spider-Man scanned the streets below him for anything out of the ordinary. His spider sense also did its work to pick up anything that is a threat.
"I can't really think of anyone other than that quiet girl. Neo was her name, I believe Roman call her that? She is a pretty skilled fighter, her semblance is a nasty piece of work, too, and I don't think Cinder would be the picky type."
'Does this mean I should try and put my sights in Neo? I could take down a potential candidate, making it harder for Cinder to find another one. It's been getting slow these past few nights, but I'm at least not lost objective wise.'
"Hm?" Moving his head to where he felt his danger sense spiking, Spider-Man fell off his perch and felt gravity pulling him to the ground floor. Halfway down, he aimed his hands upward and shot two web that reached the top of where he once stood. Both arms jerked from the sudden tension from the elastic lines that sprung him high into the sky.
"Where is my spider sense telling me?" Crossing his arms, he twirled his body to do a full 360 degree turn. "There!"
Diving back down, Spider-Man swinged past a couple of apartments, dropped lower on to street level, and eject another short line to make a sharp turn to where he last sensed danger.
"A dark alleyway with no one else in sight." Dropping onto the sidewalk, the wall crawler looked around to if any person was in the vicinity. The entire street had no one in sight, that included cars, and even the sound of the city was a distant echo from where he was standing. "This definitely doesn't feel like a trap."
'On the off chance that someone is in danger though…' Spider-Man wasn't really worried about it being a trap. Not a lot of people can harm him, and he's been knocked down by a lot of things that should have killed him. No, he was mainly worried about if this was a trap, one that would have an innocent bystander be the bait. "You're over thinking it, Spider-Man. Just do what you do best, and everything usually sorts itself out."
Entering the smelly path, his night vision already fixing his sight, Spider-Man kept walking deep and deeper when he finally heard struggling. Being more specific, sounds between a man and a female.
"Ok, trap or nor trap, I don't care anymore!" Alarms setting off inside him, he picked up the pace and found who was making said noise. "You've got to be kidding me!"
"Huh?" A familiar drunken older man turned his head to see who the new arrival was.
Spider-Man sighed deeply. "Of course this would happen."
The hero would have talked about why he was here in the first place. Yet seeing the second person underneath said drunkard mattered more.
The second person, a female, if the grunting coming from her pointed out, was thrashing about underneath the red eyed man who laid on top of her. One arm was folded behind her as the other was outstretched scraping the floor with Qrow's giant butcher of a sword next to her head made the scene in front of Spider-Man even more incriminating.
"Would it be corny to say that this isn't what it loo-"
(POW)
It was at this moment Qrow Branwen knew, he messed up.
"Gah!"
The force of the punch knocked him off his target's body and caused him to skid across the dirty gutter floor.
"Guh!" Moving his lower jaw, Qrow winced in as every small motion he made him feel pain. "That hurt."
He can't really say he was blind to not notice the signs that should have been easy to spot when chasing this girl. Qrow was just minding his business, doing what he does best… getting brick faced wasted.
Doing a secret mission for Ozpin, getting drunk, saving some maiden from three pawns that work for Salem, getting drunk, trying to track down Spider-Man, getting drunk, going to a bar, and then drinking for the fun of it.
Because at times, Qrow just wants to drink just for the fun of it.
'Didn't know he could punch that hard.' Moving his tongue to make sure he didn't taste copper. The veteran Huntsmen realized another thing that came from Spider-Man strike. 'Did he just smack the buzz right out of me?'
"You know, I would have preferred if this was a trap, be it from Roman, the White Fang, or some other group of people that doesn't smell like they drowned in a distillery."
Years of training and experience made Qrow evade a downward strike from the webhead. His fist causing the solid concrete floor to crack from his sheer strength. Not liking how close the spider was, he made a half forward roll, landed in a crouching position, and placed his sword between himself and the vigilante.
"Got to say, kind of feel disappointed that you would go straight to the punching without giving me time to explain. Going all white knight is not a good look for you."
"Oh, you are the last person I want to hear that from!" Shooting web strings to capture him, Qrow made a quick swipe from his sword and destroyed the projectiles with ease. "Any normal person would think rationally that seeing a person wielding a freaking weapon holding down someone should immediately get punched in the face!"
"Well, we can see how we both have a different perspective of what 'stranger danger' means."
"There is no difference!" Having enough of his nonsense, Spider-Man shot another set of webs at Qrow. "You're a stranger! And having you free is a danger!"
Getting ready for another attack, Qrow was just about to swing his sword when suddenly both ropes of webbing went right past him.
'Don't get distracted, focus on the one shooting the webs!'
Having his sights set on Spider-Man's next move, what came next was exactly the chance Spider-Man to finish his plan.
Both webs connected to the walls that were on both sides of Qrow. Crossing his arms in front of him, Spider-Man used his strength to pull the webs back to him with some of the bricks still connected.
"Oof!" Having the huntsman in front of Spider-Man all the bricks that were connected to the web lines smacked Qrow on the back of his head, causing him to look down.
That was the chance Spider-Man needed to close the gap between them and sent Qrow flying with a high kick that hit Qrow right on the chin.
'God! Even his kicks feel like getting hit by a car!'
Fixing his body in midair, Qrow safely landed on his feet, weapon in the ready, while using his free hand to cradle his throbbing chin. "I like to think I'm drunk enough not to feel that," He spat a small glob of crimson in front of him. "And I'll also be lying if that hit didn't hurt like a mother-"
"Do not finish that sentence!" Shooting a barrage of web globs, Spider-Man mixed in his own Dust created webs to see if those will work too. "No matter how many times I hit you silly, you're still standing. Augh! I'm starting to really hate Aura right now!"
Swiping at the normal webs was the easy part as each swing sliced each web ball with ease. But when Spider-Man began to shoot webs that had Dust properties in it caused Qrow to think that turning into his other form might be a better chance for him to gain more distance.
'This is getting nowhere fast!' Taking a chance to look away from Spider-Man, Qrow looked back at where his target was and saw she was getting back on her feet. 'Ugh, me and just my freaking luck!'
"Can we pause for just a second! That lady stole something from me and need to get it back."
"Sure, I'll make sure to ask her some questions about how you two met as soon as I put you in webs and also behind bars!"
"You're trying to arrest me? What did I do?!"
Finally stopping his attacks, the wall crawler extended his arms out in front of Qrow.
"Remember assaulting that couple a few of nights ago?!"
"They're fine, no one was hurt." Qrow brushed off his accusation. "It was a misunderstanding, honestly, I'm sure you had the same situation when you go crusading at night."
"Like how this moment right now?" Spider-Man made waving motion with both arms. "Is this also a misunderstanding?"
"No, there is no misunderstanding. That chick over there stole someone's bag, I prevented it, gave bag to said person, and realized that my scroll was taken."
"And I'm sure that will be a believable story when I take you and her to the police."
"Oh for the love of-" Finally having enough, Qrow placed his sword back to it's home and charged straight at the hero.
Getting ready for any attack Qrow would make, Spider-Man's vision was soon obscured when out of nowhere feathers started to appear from think air.
'Wait, why am I shielding my eyes? I'm wearing a mask with protected lenses!'
Spider-Man looked around his surroundings and found no trace of Qrow. Moving his head to look back at the alleyway, he could see the same feathers scattered at the spot where that girl was last seen.
"There you go!" Qrow dropped the girl on her back on top of some random rooftop a block away from where he ditched Spider-Man. "Ok, I think you know the drill the first time. Give me back my scroll and I promise not to leave you here on the roof."
"…" No reply came from the girl, her face obscured by her hoodie and hair made it hard for Qrow to see what she was thinking.
He was fine with that, Qrow was a patient man when he needs to be.
"Look, kid." Qrow was only assuming since he can't really see her face and every time, he tried to look at her face she just pushes her hoof further down. "You can't fool me and say that you don't have my scroll. Not an hour ago I saw you rob some poor schmuck's wallet."
Qrow was doing his usual scouting when he spotted the thief running from that man. Be it cause the nameless was someone who owed her money or some other personal business that Qrow didn't want to think about.
Regardless of whatever the cause was, only thing that mattered was that stealing was wrong. As much as Qrow would like to think he was some dashing rouge, he was still responsible enough to be a good role model to his nieces.
"You got props for fooling me. Letting me think that you gave up and handing me the wallet you stole. Too bad for you, I've dealt with enough thieves and scum to know when I got played."
(TWIP—TWIP)
Feeling something sticking to his back, Qrow looked behind him and saw web lines from a familiar hero on the other end.
"Wait here." Qrow used both his hands and pointed his index fingers down before he was violently pulled off his feet. "Hey, Spidey."
A punch to the face was the only greeting he got from the wall crawler.
"Gufuaw!" Landing on his back, the red eyed Huntsman springd back on his feet a second later. "Ugh! Again, with the face!? Do you know how long it'll take me to be drunk enough not to feel the pain? A lot! A very, very absurd amount to get me to not feel this."
"Maybe you shouldn't have did that weird magic trick where you leave all those feathers behind."
'Dang it, I did a Ruby!' Qrow always did tell Ruby to pick up her rose petals in the house. Guess this is just karma biting him in the butt. Probably it was his semblance biting him in the butt cause of how it affects everything around him including himself. "Look, Spider-Man, I can understand why you're angry at me. I too would be mad if someone made me look like a fool. Those punches you gave me should be enough to forgive me, right?"
"Trust me, this will not be enough for me to forgive you or even like you as a person." Spider-Man is usually the upbeat and positive guy that everyone sees. Now, he was like a different person, though to be fair, Spider-Man still holds a grudge about Qrow vomiting all over him.
"You said you have a boss that knows what the heck is happening to my kingdom."
The wall crawler leaped to push Qrow down only to miss when the swordsman sidestepped out of the way.
"Saying that I stumbled upon something bigger than just Roman stealing Dust, that there is some shadow organizatio like one of those conspiracy theories in movies," Spider sense flaring, the Spider hero's legs instantly reacted to the warning by kicking Qrow who tried to strike him from behind. "God, I was an idiot to even think that you were telling the truth!"
"Believe it, kid!" Shaking the kick off, Qrow swiped low to the ground only to swipe air as Spider-Man jumped over the blade. "Roman, White Fang, Sandman, all of them are just distractions! A genius should see that these villains of the week aren't amounting to anything except more people behind bars that the council themselves are considering making new ones. My boss is putting a hand of friendship to you, so you can further help Vale. Help Remnant! That's what heroes do right? So be a hero and help us!"
Performing a downward strike, the webhead was planning to catch the blade with his hands.
'Gotcha!'
Changing the angle of the blade to aim at Spider-Man's shoulder, Qrow let his right hand off the handle and made a fist to hit his opponent in the right temple.
'Sorry in advance, Spider-Man! Hope you have enough aura to handle this!'
Qrow's fist whizzed past Spider-Man face, missing the marke and touching nothing but air. Spider-Man and his inhumanly fast reaction was able to deflect the blade with the back of his hand and moved his head to not get hit.
"Wah!" That didn't leave Qrow completely out of options however, as his swing missed the mark, Qrow's body shifted from the amount of force he put in that punch making his shoulder collide with the hero. Sending both tumbling on the floor with both opponents getting tangled in each other's limbs.
They both stopped rolling with Qrow being ontop of Spider-Man.
"I never thought it was possible to see Vale this peaceful, Spider-Man. People are actually showing actual kindness to one another thanks to you compared to Huntsmen who risk their lives to defend the kingdoms and villages that barely even thanks them."
"Maybe because they don't want their kids to have role models like you as a hero?" Spider-Man stopped his squirming and fired off his insult to the man.
"Hero or Villain, it doesn't matter if the Grimm overwhelms humanity. You have pull in Vale with how so many are rallying behind you even more so to the likes of politicians! That'll make you an even bigger target when our enemies decide to set their sights on you. If not them, then the council or other more powerful figure who might still be lurking. So can you stop your preaching about being the good guy and just let my boss talk to you?!"
"And that's another thing I like to talk about." Having enough of Qrow's liquor infused breath, Spider-Man lifted his legs above Qrow's head, wrapped it around him, and with his super strength tossed the man a good distance away. "Help would be really nice to have, yet I can't believe your boss or anyone for that matter hire someone like you!"
The webhead aimed his web shooter to restrain him in webs infused with ice Dust when he heard the distinct noise of his cartridges out of web fluid.
'I ran out already?!' Thinking quickly, Spider-Man reached down to replace the cartridges only to feel his belt that held his pouches no longer strapped to his wait.
"Looking for this?" Spider-Man looked at Qrow who was holding his web belt. "Was wondering how you had webs that had Dust properties. Must be some real egghead to make these. My niece will have a field day when I show this to her. But..." Dropping the belt on the ground, Qrow flipped his giant blade to point downward at Spider-Man's belt. "Too bad I'm not here to take souvenirs. Tip for you, Spidey, don't look at the mouth look at the hands."
Stabbing the belt, Qrow thought that without the belt, he could remove Spider-Man's toys from him, leaving the fight a little bit more even. His semblance thought otherwise when Qrow's weapon punctured one of the small canisters. Air invaded the small crevice making the web and Dust to activate and release violently into random directions thanks to Qrow puncturing it.
A blast of air was the first sign for Spider-Man to see that Qrow pierced a wind Dust canister. As webs carried by the small gust tangled everything it touches with Qrow getting most of the webs.
Landing on his back, Qrow's arms and legs were ensnared giving an impression that someone hogtied him. Only that someone was himself and his broken semblance doing most of the work.
Sighing in defeat, the huntsman banged the back of his head on the hard roof top. 'Yup, should've expected this would happen.'
No longer seeing any reason to fight thanks to Qrow capturing himself. Spider-Man moved his eyes to his next priority regarding who Qrow was dealing with.
"Ma'am, are you hurt?" As he asked as he turned his body to face where he last saw her. What he saw was no one else on the rooftop other then him and a tied up Qrow Branwen. Leaving the hero to speculate that she escaped while both men duked it out. "Crap."
"Great job, hero." Qrow couldn't help it but laugh at this new development. "Now, she's off somewhere with my scroll and is probably going to hack into it or something."
(Ring—Ring—Ring)
"You're kidding me right now?" The sound of his ringtone made the veteran swivel his head to follow the sound of where his scroll was. "When did she...? Ugh, she must have placed it back when I caught her in that alley. Guess she wasn't trying to reach for Harbinger after all. Hey, Spidey, when you're done dropping the ball, can you reach for my pocket?"
The black suited spider didn't really have any obligations to assist Qrow, yet he decided to do just as he asked. Walking to the downed man, Spider-Man reached inside the pocket and pulled out what was inside.
What he retrieved was not the scroll, and was instead Qrow's flask.
"Thought I had that thing attached to my belt? Oh well, do you mind to just open it and waterfall it in my mouth?"
Spider-Man tossed the flask over his shoulder, not even caring to look where he chucked the thing.
"Why you gotta be like that?"
"What? You mean helpful?" Reaching into his other pocket, Spider-Man retrieved the scroll and looked at the caller's I.D. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't drag you to the police? Just one good reas-RUBY?!"
"My niece is calling me?"
"Your niece?! Looking at Qrow and then at Ruby's picture on the call. "Uhh..."
'Should I answer or should I not? If I don't answer the call, will she worry about her uncle? I really should think this though.'
Not even thinking it through, the wall crawler hit 'answer' and heard the other end of the caller.
'Aahhhh... shi-'
"Hi, Uncle Qrow!" Ruby's voice echoed out of the scroll's speaker. "You feeling ok? Are you drunk and laying somewhere? Make sure to at least lay somewhere clean this time!?"
Afraid to reply to her on the off chance she thinks he stole Qrow's scroll. Spider-Man shoved the scroll to Qrow's ear to answer the call.
"Hey, kiddo," The red eyed Huntsman spoke nonchalantly. "I'm fine, I was just talking to a new friend I made. Nice guy, kind of gets punchy when having a couple of shots given to him."
"Well, if he's your friend, then I don't see any problems with that. Oh, speaking about friend, Jaune came by today! I really wished you were here, Jaune was really helpful setting stuff up in the ballroom even though he didn't have too."
"Yeah, you did tell me about him. He sounds like a good guy, sorry if I didn't get to see him today. I want to meet the guy that seemed to catch my little niece's attention." Spider-Man loosened the scroll in his hand but caught it before it landed on the ground. Qrow raised an eyebrow at how strange he was acting. "So yeah, I had to do some things around Vale that had my hands tied. I swear I'll meet him when I get the chance, ok?"
"Alright, I'll talk to you later. Goodnight, Uncle Qrow!"
"Night, Ruby." Lifting the scroll up from Qrow's face, Spider-Man ended the call. "Well, glad that was over. Now, about this we-woah, what do you think you're doing!?"
Qrow squirmed in his binding when he saw Spider-Man lifted Harbinger and swung right at him. Only Spider-Man wasn't going to end his life, rather, he just slashed the webs right off Qrow setting him free.
Not yet finished with his sudden act of kindness, Spider-Man lifted the grown man back on his feet and dusted off any web strands and dirt of Qrow's shoulders.
"I think we started on the wrong foot, sir."
"Sir?" Qrow found it odd why Spider-Man was acting so formal to him.
"My name is Spider-Man," Said spider themed hero stuck his hand out for a handshake. "It's nice to meet you, sir."
This chapter was the longest one I have made in some time and I'm kind of glad that I was able to finish it. This is the start of the dance arc and right now I wanted to start changing the pace of Spider-Man.
The jobs are indeed too much for him and so I decided to cut the middle man and have Jaune see how both the dust shop and serving as a waiter cannot compare to working at the Bugle and getting a better amount of lien from Stane.
This will make him more time working alongside RWBY and other characters in Beacon for both their benefit and his as he keeps a better eye on Cinder and her team. They don't see anything wrong with Jaune, they just see an annoying civilian bothering them as they try to blend into the school. Which is why it will give Jaune a better advantage to keep a close eye on them and even stop them in any future sabotages (I.E- Cinder using the dance as a distraction).
Some of you also voiced how you didn't like the football arc and how it was overplayed both in the main canon of Spider-Man and other stories. I know, it has been overplayed and I do want this story to be kind of like the original. To be honest, I sometimes doubt I can make something original without the help of using the base of Spider-Man. That's why I used it as a base and built from there making it somewhat mostly Jaune.
I also felt like Jaune should have more background as a student, cause in the show we really didn't see much development with all the characters RT used and never spoke about again.
For Qrow and that mystery person he captured. I was kind of making it like a brawl and a comedy between the two since one is kind of a cynical/realistic person compared to Jaune who is naive/hopeful. Don't know if I played it right or if I overplayed it wrong, comment if you think it was just the right amount. It's also true that the person who stole Qrow's scroll set him up to try and take it from him. Why you may ask will be revealed next chapter.
Because right now, Spider-Man/Jaune must try and make peace with someone's Uncle he just fought.
(Spoiler: I dropped an easter egg in this chapter and if you found it make sure to leave a comment!)
Like always, shout out to my Beta and to also check his stories and fav, like, and comment about it. Don't forget to do the same after reading this chapter too. Thank you!
(Stuck)
"Kitty cat!" A small little boy no older than six kept calling out to his pet who was on top of a tree. "Come down."
The feline meowed and continued to stay in place on top of one of the branches. It's tail lazily swing back and forth as the calm winds and warm sun pierced the dense tree leaves and bathed the cat, leaving it sleepy.
"Please, we need to go back inside." The boy continued to urge the cat to come down with little success.
Not seeing the car budge from its spot, the young child was about to call help from his mother.
(TWIP)
"Huh?" Hearing a strange sound behind him, the child turned back around and faced a pair of reflective lenses. "Waah!"
"Careful!" Spider-Man, who was hanging upside down using a web line, quickly caught the boy who was about to fall from being caught off guard by his sudden appearance. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you! Usually, I scare guys trying to steal from ATM's and convenience stores."
"M-mo-"
"Before you do that, just let me help get your cat down." Spider-Man put both his hands together in front of his face.
"O-ok," The boy agreed, more so in fear if he did try to call for help. "I tried to get my cat down, but I think she's either stuck or just sleepy."
"I got her don't worry." Climbing the line that's attached to the tree. It took little less then 5 minutes for Spider-Man to coax the cat out of the tree and jumped off the tree to land feet first onto soft dirt. "Here she is! Nice and calm!"
To show he was telling the truth, the cat rose her head, looked at her owner, meowed, and went back to napping in Spider-Man's arms.
"Thanks, mister!" The boy no longer feared the stranger and reached for his cat which Spider-Man happily gave back to.
"Happy to help!" Seeing that his work was done, Spider-Man shot a web line, but looked back at the kid to give him his name. "It's Spider-Man by the way!"
With a pull from his arm, the hero sprung into the air and began his usual good deeds throughout the kingdom.
[Somewhere else]
"See? Disgusting." Deadpool plucked the cat off the tree and handed it back to the owner.
It was a king gesture from the merc with the mouth, to help an innocent girl get her cat from the tree.
Now, if only said little girl didn't hold two massive pistols that Deadpool handed to her due to how heavy they were.
"Thanks, mister!" The girl started to hear her parents faint voice coming from somewhere. "I hear my parents calling me. Thank you so much!"
"Any time!" The red and black suited merc waved the kid back as she ran to her parents.
"...Crap… she didn't ask me my name..."