Chapter 6

Food Fight!

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Change

Downtown Vale

From Dust To Dust

The owner stood on a ladder as he hung a sigh that said 'Newly Re-opened.' He climbed down the ladder before he was knocked to the ground by a girl with green hair.

"Sorry." She said as she helped the owner up. "I'm not really from around here." She reached into her pocked and pulled out a piece of paper. "Could you point me in the direction of this shop?" The owner nodded and pointed the way. The girl thanked him and walked away.

"I knew you were lost." The girl turned to a man with silver hair who was standing behind a corner.

"Mercury, I will seriously pay you to shut up." The girls said holding a wallet to his face.

"That's not your money." He said.

"But it could be yours, for five minutes of silence." The girl said back, hoping he would take the offer.

"Hmm..., no deal." Mercury declined.

"Fine." The girl said as she pulled the money out and threw the wallet away before walking away.

"Whatever, you so want me." Mercury said as he followed after her. The two walked down the street for a bit, looking for the store they wanted. "How much farther?"

"A few more blocks." The girl answered.

"This city is so boring." He complained.

"Really? I kinda like it." The girl said back. "Tall buildings, diverse culture..."

"And lots of dopey, ignorant people who are super easy to pickpocket." Mercury finished.

"Those are in every city." The girl stopped and said.

"Oh, Emerald! Master Thief!" Mercury mocked. "Please don't take my money, I have but enough to get by." Emerald glared at his partner before walking ahead. "You're no fun today." The two walked further until they reached their target: a bookstore.

They walked in and, unsurprisingly, found it covered wall to wall with all kinds of books. Mercury stopped at a shelf while Emerald walked up to the counter and rung the bell.

"One second." The owner shouted before he backed into the room with his arms full of books. "Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade! Home to every book under the sun." He placed the books the books down and turned to Emerald. "How may- uh..." He cleared his throat when he locked eyes with her. "How may I help you?"

"Just browsing." Mercury said before closing the book he held open.

"Actually, I was wondering, do have any copies of 'The Thief and The Butcher?'" Emerald asked as she leaned on the counter.

"Yes, we do." The owner answered.

"That's great." She said.

"Do you want a copy?" He asked.

"No, just curious." She said as Mercury closed another book. "Oh, what about Violet's 'Garden', in paperback?"

"He's got it." Mercury said, making his partner turn around. "And in hardback."

"Ooh, options are nice..." She said before putting her finger to her chin.

"Needs more pictures." Mercury mumbled before throwing another book to the ground. "Got any comics?"

"Near the front." The owner said.

"Oh! No wait. What about 'Third Crusade'?" Emerald asked.

The owner raised his eyebrow in thought, catching the other twos attention. "I... don't believe we have that one in stock."

"Oh..." Mercury closed another book.

"What was this place called again?" Emerald asked.

"Tukson's Book Trade." The owner answered.

"So, I guess that makes you Tukson?" She asked.

"That's right." The now named owner answered.

"So then I take it that you're the one who came up with the catchphrase?" She asked.

"Yes." He answered.

"And it was what again?" Mercury asked.

Tukson sighed before looking up. "Tukson's Book Trade. Home to every book under the sun."

"Except the 'Third Crusade'." Mercury added.

"It's just a catchphrase." Tukson defended.

"It's call false advertisement." The gray haired boy said back.

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep, Tukson." Emerald said as Mercury shut off one of the window lights. "I heard that you're planning on leaving. Moving all the way to Vacuo. Your bothers in the White Fang won't to happy to hear about that." Mercury shut the door light off before doing the same to the last window. "And neither are we. You know who we are, don't you?"

"Yes." He answered as Mercury walked over.

"And you know why we're here?" She asked.

"Yes." He nodded.

"So, are you gonna fight back?" She asked.

"Yes!" Tukson unsheathed his claws and jumped on the counter. He jumped off and swung at Emerald, who ducked, before looking up as Mercury super kicked him in the neck, breaking his windpipe and killing him. The body of the Faunus flew into the back of the store, knocking a shelf over and covering it in books. The two walked out of the store, having completed their mission.

"What's with that?" Emerald asked Mercury who was holding a comic.

"I like the pictures, so what?" He responded before closing the book.

Beacon Academy

Team NVAR's Room

"Well, how'd she take it?" Ryuko asked as Natsu walked into the room.

"Better than I thought." Natsu answered as he walked over to his bed.

"What did you tell her?" Vergil asked raising an eyebrow as he leaned against the wall.

"I told my mom exactly what I told you." He said. "Me, Blake, and Sun staked out the dock and saw those White Fang guys try to steal that freighter box. Then that criminal, Roman Torchwick, stepped out of the Bullhead. We all fought, he dropped a crate on me, Ruby showed up, Penny beat the rest of the White Fang guys, Roman took off, and then you guys showed up."

"So, none of us are in trouble?" Aerith asked from her bed.

"Oh, no. We're all in trouble." Natsu answered, scaring them all. "Yeah, she wasn't happy with me running away all weekend and you guys not finding me."

"So, what's our punishment?" Ryuko asked nervously.

"Lots of extra training for us." He said.

"That doesn't sound so bad." Aerith said.

"Let me clarify." Natsu said. "She picks the level of training, the training robots, everything. And when she's in a bad mood, she is brutal with training."

"So, it's gonna be horrible?" Vergil asked and Natsu nodded. "We're in for a lot of pain, aren't we?" His leader nodded again. "What do we do now?" A growl came from Natsu's stomach.

"Anybody up for breakfast?" He asked. The others nodded and they headed for the cafeteria.

Cafeteria

Blake stared at her open notebook, looking at all the notes she had on White Fang activity. "Whatcha doing?" Yang asked as she leaned over.

"Nothing." Blake answered as she closed the book. "Just going some notes from last semester."

Yang turned and ate a grape Nora flung over. "Lame!" She ate another one and gave the girl a thumbs up. A giant binder was slammed on the table, making the girls look to Ruby.

"Sister, friends, Weiss..." The leader started.

"Hey!" Weiss shouted.

"Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream..." Ruby continued.

"This should be good." Yang said to Blake before catching a cherry flung her way.

"A dream that one day, the four of us would come together, as a team, and have the most fun anyone has had, ever!" Ruby finished.

"Did you steal my binder?" Weiss asked looking at the cover of the folder.

"I am not a crook." Ruby quoted.

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked.

"I'm talking about kicking this semester off with a bang!" Ruby explained.

"I always kick my semesters off with a Yang!" The blonde joked, hoping for a laugh. "Eh? Guys, am I right?" The others just shook their heads as Nora flung an apple that hit Yang, making the blonde angry.

"Look guys, it's been a good two weeks and with new exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year, our second semester is going to be great." Ruby explained. "But classes restart again tomorrow. So I've take the time to plan a series of wonderful events for us today."

"I don't know if I should be proud of your organization, or scared of what you have planned for us." Weiss said as Yang threw an apple back at Nora.

"I don't know." Blake said. "I think I just might sit this one out."

"Sit out or not, I think however we spend this last day we should do it as a team." Weiss said back.

"I got it!" Nora shouted, making Yang shake her head no.

"Hey, guys." Natsu said as his team walked over. "Mind if we-" A pie flew and hit Vergil in the side of the face, catching everyone's attention. As the pie tin fell to the floor, the eight looked over at Team JNPR as Nora pointed over to Ren.

Outside the Cafeteria

Sun walked side by side with a boy with blue hair in a red jacket. "Man, that's harsh." The bluenette said as Sun talked about the incident on the docks.

"So then the three of us were fighting side by side by side, and she was super fast, and he froze some stuff, and I threw a banana at a guy, which sounds gross, but it was awesome!" Sun continued.

"Nice!" His friend said.

"I know, right." Sun said back. "And the best part is, she's a Faunus." He covered his mouth having realized his mistake. "But that's a secret, okay!?"

"Got it." The friend replied.

"And I don't mean an 'I'm gonna tell Scarlet the second Sun turns his back' secret!" Sun clarified. "When I say secret, I mean secret."

"Dude, relax. I got it." His friend said. "I got it."

"You'd better." Sun replied as the two continued walking, unaware of the bedlam that was shown through the windows. "I just don't wanna screw anything up with this girl. The people here are the coolest, no offense to you guys."

"None taken." The bluenette said back as the two reached the door.

"Okay, they're just in here." Sun pointed to the door. "I'm really excited for you to meet them, so, just be cool okay? You're gonna be cool, right?"

"Dude..." His friend stared offended at the question.

"Good point." Sun nodded as the two stepped through the door. A mob of Beacon students ran pass them, shouting something about a food fight, making Sun smile and scaring the other boy.

Nora laughed as she stood atop a castle of tables and soda machines Team JNPR put together. "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"

Ruby slammed her foot on a table, sending food and trays up. She pointed at the other team holding a milk carton in the other. "Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful!" She squeezed her hand and the milk burst out. "It will be delicious!" She shouted as her teammates cheered behind her.

"Off with their heads!" Nora ordered as she jumped down behind of a table of watermelons. Ren jumped on a tray and kicked three watermelon forward while Jaune and Pyrrha threw three more. Nora flipped the table and sent all the watermelon on it flying.

"Yang! Turkey!" Ruby ordered as her sister charged forward. She flipped and stuck her hands into turkeys and slammed them together. She broke two of the melons before she was forced to flip back. She charged again and punched more as Blake jumped up from behind and picked up two baguettes before helping the blonde destroy the remaining melons.

Yang launched the turkeys at Jaune and Pyrrha, the latter of whom rolled out of the way while boy was pelted by the poultry. The red head grabbed a baguette as Blake jumped down and stabbed with the bread. Pyrrha charged and swung and the bow wearing girl blocked. The two glared at each other before Vergil jumped down and swung his loaf, catching the girls off guard.

He jabbed at Pyrrha who backed away, unwillingly letting Blake run off his back. Pyrrha swung her loaf and tried to hit Blake, but she hit Vergil in the head, as Blake had used her Semblance to get behind the red head. Blake swung again and Pyrrha backed into the swordsman, who tried to stab her again.

The two dodged strikes from each other as the third sword wielder jumped above Vergil before she threw one of her baguettes at him, knocking him to the side. Pyrrha charged forward and stabbed Blake, breaking her loaf before catching Blake's second one and threw it at Yang. The blonde broke two more loafs before a third got her.

Jaune stood up as Aerith and Natsu charged him. Aerith swung a baguette like her staff but Jaune rolled out of the way and grabbed a tray and held it like a shield as Natsu punched it. Aerith jumped into the air and slammed her bread staff down, only to have Ren block it with leek. They raised their legs and tried to kick each other, but their legs clashed with the others. She swung her bread and Ren caught it. With a flick of his wrist, the bread shattered into three pieces. Aerith held the end pieces before Ren threw the leek and hit her in the face, knocking her back.

Jaune held his shield before a hashbrown pierced it, missing his face. He looked over as Natsu brandished seven more hashbrowns between his fingers before he coated them in ice and swung vertically, launching them all at once. The tray broke after the fourth patty and the rest hit Jaune, sending him to the floor.

Ruby jumped on a tray and surfed across the tables. Natsu jumped and ran alongside her as the two dodged punches. Ruby jumped up and swung her tray, sending a baguette back at Pyrrha, who rolled out of the way. Ruby landed on the tray and kept surfing before she jumped again and sent the redhead backwards as Ren and Nora ran forward.

Ruby jumped out of the way as Weiss sprayed ketchup on the ground and Natsu froze it, making Ren slip and crash into a table, sending debris flying. Nora jumped over the frozen food and broke a pipe off the ceiling before slamming one end into a watermelon. She swung at Weiss as Ruby moved in front of the heiress, taking the blow for her.

Weiss grabbed a swordfish and charged forward, sending Nora and Natsu back. They charged back and as Weiss tried to stab them, Nora spun her weapon above her. Natsu fired more hashbrowns at the heiress before Nora slammed her 'hammer' at them both, sending Weiss flying back into a pillar, while Natsu had ducked.

He latched his tail around her leg and tripped her, sending her to the ground. He encased his fist with ice as he jumped up and tried to punch her, only to have his fist get stuck in the ground, as Nora rolled out of the way. She raised her 'hammer' and slammed it down, digging Natsu into the ground.

Weiss fell as the pillar cracked and started to fall behind her. Ruby saw this and rushed over, pulling the unconscious snow haired girl out of the way. "Weiss, Weiss, don't leave me. Noooo!" She melodramatically begged as the pillar slammed into the ground.

Yang recovered and ran behind the two, grabbing two more turkeys. Ren had also recovered and grabbed two more leeks before catching Yang's kick. The two traded blows before Yang gained the advantage and uppercutted him to roof. He flipped in midair and threw his leek into the ground as Yang jumped up and punched him to the ground, creating a shockwave.

The blonde landed and jumped back from Nora swinging her 'hammer'. Yang readied her punch and charged as Nora swung upwards. With her superior reach, Nora launched Yang through the ceiling, sending rubble down onto Blake, who flipped out of the way.

She grabbed a sausage link and flicked it at Nora, sending her back into vending machine. Blake readied to strike again when she felt something pulling on the link. She looked over as Ryuko pulled back on the link, sending Blake towards her. She used her Semblance to pull a box of Choco Cix into her arms and then squeezed it, unleashing barrage of the cereal balls.

Blake used her Semblance to move to the side, letting her swing the links around a pillar. Just before she could kick the girl, a soda can exploded beneath them, sending Ryuko towards the castle remains. Both looked up as Nora threw two more cans at Blake, who dodged.

Pyrrha noticed the soda water around her and used her Semblance to split the cans into two parts, half for burying Ryuko, and the other half at Blake at once. Unable to dodge, Blake was forced into the wall by the cans.

Ruby crouched into a sprinting position and took off, kicking up a storm of soda cans and other food items. The other eight stood up and stared in shock as Ruby spun; creating a cyclone that swept them up. Ruby stopped infront of the back wall with enough force to crack it as the other students landed against it. She jumped up as Natsu and Jaune looked in horror as the food items pelted them.

The storm died as Ruby landed, revealing a beautiful arrangement of colors along the wall before the other teams fell to the ground, defeated.

"I love these guys." Sun said as he turned to his friend, who was covered in soda.

The door behind them open and Glynda marched in, anger in her eyes. She waved her crop and slowly but surely, everything was telepathically moved back to its original place. As the last table rolled back into place, she turned to the students covered in food particles. "Children please, do not play with your food."

Nora let out a burp, shocking everyone as Yang fell back through the roof. "Let them be." Ozpin said, walking up from behind as the students started to laugh.

Glynda sighed as Yang stood up. "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world."

"And they will be." Ozpin replied. "But for now they're still children. So why not let them play the part?" He turned around and started to walk back towards the door. "After all, it's not a role they'll have forever."

Nighttime

Unknown Warehouse

Mercury and Emerald walked into a warehouse as White Fang members unloaded boxes of Dust from the Bullheads inside. The two walked to the back to Roman who was standing infront of a map.

"Oh, look, she sent the kids again." He walked over and wrapped his arms around the two. "This is just like the divorce."

The two shuddered before Emerald pushed his arms off. "Thank you for the nightmares of you procreating."

"That was a joke." He said as he walked away. "And this..." He held up a piece of paper between his fingers before spinning around. "Just might tell me where you two have been all day."

"Wait, how did you...?" Emerald asked as she searched her pockets.

"I'm a professional sweetheart. Pay attention, you might learn something." Roman bragged before looking at the paper. "Why do you two have this address?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Emerald asked as Roman walked over.

"Yeah, I would." He said. "Now, where have you been all day?"

"Cleaning up your messes." Mercury said back. "One of them at least."

"I had that under control." Roman growled out.

"Two bags packed and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise." Mercury said back.

"Listen to me, you little punk." Roman pointed his cane at the boy. "If it were up to me, I would take you and that street rat you call a friend here, and I would-"

"Do what, Roman?" A woman asked as the criminal looked up as a lift lowered to his ground level.

"I'd... not kill them..." He chuckled.

"Cinder." Emerald called out as the new woman walked forward.

"I thought I made it clear that you were to eliminate the would be runaway?" Cinder asked.

"I was going to..." Roman started to defend himself.

"He was going to escape to Vacuo." Emerald interrupted. "Mercury and I took it upon ourselves to kill the rat."

"I'm pretty sure he was a cat." Mercury said.

"What, you mean like a puma or something?" Emerald asked.

"Bingo." Mercury nodded.

"Quite." Cinder said to the two. "I thought I ordered you two to keep your hands clean while in Vale?"

"I just thought..." Emerald rubbed her head.

"Don't think. Obey." Cinder said as Roman mocked the two.

"Yes, ma'am." Emerald nodded. "It won't happen again."

"And you..." The woman turned to Roman, making him nervous. "Why wasn't this job done sooner?"

"Uh... Ehh?" He motioned to the crates to his right. "Ehh?" He motioned to the boxes to his left. "EHHH?" He motioned to the massive crates behind him. "I'm sorry if I've been busy stealing every speck of Dust in the kingdom!"

"What a motivation for every punk with a gun and a ski mask." Mercury said, making Emerald laugh.

"Open your eyes, kid." Roman said back. "This town is in the palm of my hands. Police are camping out at every corner; Dust prices are sky high, and we're sitting pretty in a warehouse full of more Dust crystals, vials, and rounds than we know what to do with." He turned around to the three. "Speaking of that, if you guys wouldn't mind filling me in on this grand master plan you have, it might make my next string of robberies go a little smother."

"Oh, Roman, have a little faith." Cinder said as she walked over, her heels clicking with every step. "You'll know what you need when you need to know it." She smiled before turning around. "Besides, we're done with Dust."

"Okay, then what now?" He asked.

"We're moving." She responded. "Have the White Fang clean out this building. I'll send you details and coordinates tonight."

"Coordinates?" He asked, making her look over her shoulder.

"We're moving on to phase two." She explained. Mercury and Emerald walked away as Roman pulled out a cigar and put it in his mouth. He felt around for his lighter and heard a click. He looked up at Emerald holding it. She stuck her tongue out before closing the lighter.

Volume Two has started, the poll is up, my job is starting up soon, and my birthday is this weekend. All is right with the world.

One word of advice, don't ever write about a food fight on an empty stomach.

Yes, I'm aware that some people went down to easy in the fight, but I tried my best. It's not easy thinking of battle scenes with food instead of weapons. The scene with Natsu's team in their room came from a reviewer named Shadow Joestar, so I thank them for that.

I've made a decision; the poll will end when this volume does, so please make all your choices heard.

Beta read by digemsmack.