A letter from Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy to James Ironwood

Dear James,

I have received your report in regards to the incident the other day in regards to Roman Torchwick's involvement with the White Fang and subsequent involvement in stealing Atlesian property. I will not lie. The idea that Sienna Khan has resorted to stealing Atlesian weaponry is more than concerning...and very confusing.
It is odd for her to be acting so boldly, and more importantly, in a manner that paints the White Fang with a target on its back.
Recently, the attacks perpetrated by the White Fang here in Vale have begun to grow increasingly more violent. If the rumors I've been hearing are of any indication, a certain Bull Faunus is leading the cell here.
I am usually not concerned by these actions, but if things continue to escalate...
...then I believe we will have no choice but to intervene.
I pray it never comes to that.


RWBY x Red vs Blue Crossover:

"Metastability"


Chapter V: Learning to Not Trip

It was around two or three in the morning when Pyrrha woke up to use the bathroom. Her bladder had refused to be hold its contents any longer, and she could no longer find it possible to sleep. It had been quick and easy. Though she was only half-asleep when she woke up, she was awake enough to realize that Maine was not in his bed. "Jaune...?" she murmured as she rubbed her eyes. Ridding herself of the sand, she looked around the room but found him nowhere.

She had a pretty good idea where he was, though.

Pyrra quietly left the room, softly closing the door behind her as to not wake up Nora and Ren. Both were equally exhausted, especially after what happened tonight. When they had returned to the academy, the headmaster had already been notified of their actions in attempting to arrest Roman Torchwick. In spite of Glynda's harsh reprimands, the day turned out relatively well. Or, as well as one could expect.

The halls, as she expected, were lonely and barren at night. The moonlight illuminated the halls, providing an almost ethereal wonder. It was almost beautiful.

Almost.

In a few minutes, Pyrrha was at the rooftop. As she expected, she found the door slightly ajar. Pushing it open, she peeked her head and found Maine sitting at the edge, legs dangling over it while his head was lowered. There was a small glow around his features, likely a light or something.

"Maine?"

"Don't bother." Pyrrha almost let out a yelp as a blue light flickered next to her, forming into a familiar cobalt blue soldier. "I tried talking to him. Goes in one ear and out the other."

Pyrrha's eyes softened, looking at Maine's back. She could faintly hear a voice. A male one. It wasn't his, but it was familiar. One she had heard before. Not in person or on TV or anything, but in his memories. The voice of someone that had become irreplaceable family. "...how long has he been watching that video?"

"Since Theta gave it to him." Church replied. "You know, I was kinda expecting the little guy to blow up like O'Malley and go apeshit on his ass. Not give him a recording."

"Penny did say that Theta was your Trust." Pyrrha pointed out. Church merely shrugged. "How is Maine?"

"Like I said, anything I say goes in one ear and out the other. I don't think he even knows your here."

They both looked toward the former Freelancer, who remained where he sat, continuously watching the same clip over and over again with an empty expression.

Pyrrha's hands went up to her chest, clenched tightly. It hurt her to see her friend like this. Especially since the recording was bringing up horrible memories. Slowly, she approached the blonde, who remained unresponsive to her approach. She could faintly hear the recording being played in progress.

"-ll I'm saying is, you need to stop being such a pansy, Maine! Just cause you lost a game of strip poker to Florida doesn't mean you'll lose with us!"

"Oh, bull. I got stripped buck naked last time I played with York. And that was long before Illinois jumped on the bandwagon!"

"Stop bitching and grow a pair, blondie."

"Hey, at least I'm not the one in my undies."

"You wanna fight?!"

It was a recording between North, South, and Maine from a long time ago. Peering over his shoulder, she saw the recording. South had been stripped down to her bra and underwear, holding poker cards in her hands while leveling a fierce glare at Maine. North was at the table, also holding cards while wearing boots and pants, but otherwise his upper body was exposed. There were a few others, but the recording mainly focused on those three.

It was a memory. A memory from when Maine still had his voice. A memory from before the whole AI catastrophe. A memory from when things used to be so simple.

"...how long have you been watching this?" Pyrrha asked as she sat down beside him. If he made any indication of hearing her, he didn't show it. Rather than speak up again, she patiently waited for him.

The recording played for a few more seconds before it glitched, suddenly rewinding back to the start. Maine watched it go back to the beginning before he closed his eyes, letting out a guttural sigh. 'When Theta saw me, I expected him to scream at me. Condemn me. Just do something. I...I didn't expect him to download this to my Scroll.'

"You look like you were having fun."

'Yeah... It was before the Sarcophagus mission. Before my vocal cords went to shit thanks to that sleeveless bastard.'

"I can tell..." She nodded. Given from what's she's witnessed from his memories, that seemed to be the case.

'I just...I'm just not sure what Theta was thinking. Why show me this? I know what I've done to North was horrible...and I regret that everyday...'

Gently, the red-head put her hand on his shoulder. "Maybe, because, he hates the Meta. Not Agent Maine."

'That still doesn't change anything.' the soldier frowned. 'Just because I was being mind-fucked by Sigma doesn't mean I'm not responsible.'

"But it's really not your fault." She argued. "Theta knows you would never have committed these crimes, Maine. It was all Sigma's doing."

'Yet it's with these hands that so many of my friends are dead.' He closed his Scroll, ending the recording and staring at his hands. Even if Pyrrha couldn't see it, he could. The copious amounts of red drenched upon them. 'I can still hear them, you know. The voices. In the back of my head. They keep telling me the same things, over and over again.' Maine closed is eyes, teeth clenched as his hands trembled slightly. 'No matter how hard I try to block it out, I hear Sigma's voice. Some days, I think I'm going crazy.'

"But he's gone now. Church made sure of that."

"You bet your ass I did." The AI appeared on his shoulder. "Sniper killed him right between the eyes, point blank."

"But, on the off chance he is back, don't expect me to do anything." Church told him. "I've been inside your head once, pal. I'm not exactly keen on the idea of going back in. Also, quit your bitchin', will ya? You sound like some emo teenage brat. At least you've got your girlfriend here to look after you in case you do something stupid."

Pyrrha blushed heavily, turning away. "I-I'm not his girlfriend!" she protested weakly. "G-good grief..."

'Gee. Thanks for the vote of confidence Alpha.' He commented wryly. 'What a ringing endorsement.'

"Hey. I only agreed to help you out as your translator from now on. Don't expect me to dive into your fucked up mind again."


In the following days, everyone involved in last night had resumed their normal lives and classes were beginning as usual. And by luck of the draw, today was combat training. Currently, Pyrrha Nikos was battling the entirety of Team CRDL by herself, as proposed by Glynda and Texas, the latter of whom wanted to see what the girl could do without any support.

And as Church oh so colorfully put it, "They were pretty much fucked from the get-go."

'Damn straight.' Maine agreed with a nod. While CRDL demonstrated impressive teamwork, it was still essentially using numbers to overpower their foe. A foe who is much more skilled than them.

No matter how hard they came at her, no matter how fast or coordinated, Pyrrha was picking them off. In the end, the only ones left were Dove and Cardin. The former of which was unsuccessfully in taking her down as the red-haired girl charged on through the onstorm of bullets, shield barring them from her before she leaped forward and struck. Dove managed to evade it, but he was unfortunate enough to be struck by Cardin as he tried to take a swing at her, attacking his comrade instead. Scowling, he tried to attack Pyrrha. She smirked...

...and promptly sent him flying. "Son of a biiiiiiiiitch!" he cried before he landed face-first, causing a sickening crack, causing many to wince. Shortly afterwards, Cardin's body fell back to the ground. Groggily, he raised his head up. "L-lukcy...hit..." he managed to say before his rolled to the back of his head and his face hit the ground again.

The buzzer sounded, ending the match.

"Didn't even get a hit in." Church shook his head. "So sad."

Ruby giggled. "These days, Cardin's like a butt monkey." she said. "Then again, Pyrrha hasn't been beaten since she came here."

"She IS called the Invincible Girl for a reason." Weiss reminded them with a smirk.

"Will somebody drag these poor saps out of here?" Texas called into the stands. A few students volunteered, heading down to grab the downed Team CRDL from the arena and pull them back up into the audience. The Freelancer Agent then stepped forward. "Nicely done, Nikos. I see there's a reason why you won the Mistral Tournament three times in a row. Though I'd be lying if I said I was completely impressed."

Pyrrha, rather than question her, nodded. She knew better than to argue with her. After all, she had seen more action that she ever would. There wasn't much to compare between them, since one was a mere Huntress-in-Training and the other was a soldier and then some. "Yes, Professor Texas."

"Alright, then." The woman clapped her hands, turning to her fellow blonde. "I think we've got time for one more round. Suggestions, Glynda?"

The woman smiled. "I have a few." she remarked before she looked up at the stands, scanning them for potential fighters. Eventually, her eyes landed on one unfortunate victim. It was Blake, who looked heavily distracted. Her face was absorbed in her book and there were dark bags under her eyes, possible signs of sleep depravity. She wasn't sure why one of her more studious students was so distant, but this could provide a good wake-up call for her. "You've been rather docile these last couple of days, Ms. Belladonna." she called out to the girl, causing her to jump and slam her book shut in alarm. "How about it? Do you feel up for a challenge?"

Blake shifted uncomfortably. Dammit, she must have been dozing off. Why hadn't she payed attention? She didn't want to fight today. She was too tired. Then again, her mind had been so occupied with everything that's been happening lately. Sighing, she opened her mouth to speak-

"I'll do it."

-only for Mercury Black to take her place, raising a hand with an excited smile on his face, eager to get into the ring. Texas grinned. "Okay, pretty boy." she said, showing off her shark-like teeth. "Since you volunteered, who do you wanna take a crack at? Nikos, if she's got enough gas for one more round, or somebody else?"

The silver-haired teen cupped his chin in thought. "Let's see..." he hummed as he looked around. "I think... I wanna fight..." His gaze eventually settled on someone in the crowd and smirked, pointing a finger at his opponent. "Him."

Maine blinked, turning to see Mercury pointing his finger at him. Texas' smirk grew. "Well, okay then. Arc, Black, get your asses down here. Show us what you boys can do."

"She enjoys her new job far too much..." Church groaned before he looked at Maine. "C'mon, Vomit Boy. Let's get down there before Tex rips us a new one." Maine grunted. He knew better than to make Texas wait or refuse her something. He's made that mistake plenty of times back in Project Freelancer. As Pyrrha returned to the stands, smiling and giving him encouragement alongside the rest of JNPR and even from RWBY, he headed down into the arena, grabbing the Brute Shot MK-II.

From where she sat, Cinder frowned heavily and glared at Mercury. "This was not what we had planned." she admonished him. "You had a chance to test the Invincible Girl."

"Hey, you wanna see what Mr. Growl over there is capable of." Mercury shrugged. "Besides, we've got two months before the Vytal Festival starts. I'm sure we've got plenty of chances to see what golden girl can do." Cinder still didn't look happy, but eventually huffed and waved a hand, telling him to get a move on. Smirking, Mercury cracked his neck and hopped over the railing, landing on the ground and heading into the arena.

Truth be told, he was much more interested in going up against the mute than the Invincible girl. The dude survived nine shots point blank to the throat! You couldn't get more badass than that! That and Cinder wanted to learn more about his combat capability, so it was killing two birds with one stone. Who cared about priorities?

The two boys then stepped inside, one with a cocky smile on his face and the other carrying his signature weapon.

"Are both combatants ready?" Goodwitch questioned. Both males nodded in confirmation. "Very well then. Let the match begin!"

Mercury grinned as he gave the ground a quick tap with his foot, making sure his legs weren't acting funny. Maine rolled his shoulders as he transformed the Brute Shot MK-II into its battle ax form. "You know, you might be better off quitting now." Church quipped from atop Maine's shoulder. "Unless, of course, you're a masochist."

The teen chuckled. "Well, I can't resist a good challenge. Plus, need a chance to stretch my legs, you know."

Church shrugged his shoulders. "Your funeral." He turned to Maine. "If you'll excuse me...I've got an Ice Queen to annoy." With a flicker, the self-proclaimed ghost was gone. The blonde hissed as he swung his weapon, tensing his body and staring at his opponent wearily. Compared to everyone else, he knew nothing about Mercury. Going from how he tapped the ground with his foot earlier, he might specialize in kick-based attacks.

Then again, there was no better way to determine that other than a good old fashioned brawl.

[Play: Red vs Blue OST - Spiral]

Mercury kicked off the ground into a high leap, bringing his leg down into an axe kick. Maine saw it coming and used the flat of his weapon to block it.

A shockwave blasted through the arena with this, though Mercury wasn't done in his attack. Nor was he about to let Maine counter attack just yet. With surprising dexterity, he brought down his other foot and let out a kinetic blast from his boots. The result was knocking Maine back quite a bit and Mercury being flung away before landing on his feet, skidding to a stop. Maine growled as he shrugged off the blast before he charged forward, ax dragging behind him. Grinning, the silver-haired teen met his charge and spun around into a roundhouse kick, jumping off the ground and bringing in his other leg for extra power. At the same time, Maine pressed the trigger on the shaft and the boosters kicked in, increasing the swinging power of his weapon.

Ax met boots. And shotgun blasts met steel. A resounding boom echoed through the arena as Mercury was thrown back, but reoriented himself mid air while Maine skidded back only a few inches. The blonde wasted no time charging back at Mercury, this time jumping up and bringing the ax down on his head. Mercury fancily backflipped away, dodging the strike with ease and retaliated with a few blasts from his boots. Seeing the blasts coming, the former Freelancer twirled the Brute Shot around, deflecting each blast with ease.

The silver-haired teen frowned. "Okay, then..." he muttered as he gave the ground another quick tap. This time with his heel. "Let's try this."

He raised his leg and side-kicked the air, unleashing a kinetic energy round. He repeated the process a few more times until an onslaught was made directed at the former Freelancer. Bracing himself, Maine gripped the ax with both hands before he charged headfirst into the storm. For the most part, he tanked the hits, but managed to bat away any rounds that came within range. He kept charging until he blew past the storm and shifted his weapon into its grenadier mode. Then he let loose with blasts of his own. Mercury's eyes widened as he saw several Dust projectiles coming at him and acted quickly, flailing his legs as quickly as possible, sending out shotgun blasts from his boots.

To the Freelancer's surprise, the shots changed course mid air and effectively intercepted his own attacks. Yet Maine remained focused as he returned his weapon into its battle ax form and rushed in.

Once he was within range, he spun on his heel and swung. This time, Mercury was caught unguarded and found himself being hit in the solar plexus, knocking him right off his feet and thrown far away. As he tumbled, he managed to re-orientate himself and flip unto his feet, coming to a grinding halt. Rubbing his stomach, he found Maine smirking as he hefted his ax up to his shoulder, wagging the universal gesture of "come and get me." He scowled. "Alright...if that's how you wanna play...!"

The gray haired teen spun on his heel and released a flurry of kicks, firing a kinetic energy round each time that circled around him like a storm. "Okay, does he actually throw any punches?" Church asked from the stands. "What is he? Spider-Man from 1994?" Naturally, the reference went over the heads of RWBY and JNPR, having never heard of the wall-crawling hero of Marvel comics. "All I see him doing is kicking and shooting off fireworks."

Unknown to him, however, Emerald frowned, noting how serious their teammate was becoming rather than simply testing the waters. A few seconds later, however, Church would have to rescind his comment on Mercury's fighting style as he soon sent all the spinning rounds straight at Maine. Due to the sheer number, he wasn't able to block or deflect most of them. A few had landed a decent blow on him and sent his weapon flying out of his hands. One blast nearly knocked him off his feet, but otherwise remained standing. Once the hailstorm ended, he checked his Aura and frowned, noting how it was now in the yellow zone. Looking up, he found Mercury's Aura, as listed on the board, also in the same range with his blow.

"Now we're even." Mercury stated smugly. "Guess your translator was wrong."

Maine let out a low hiss as he cracked his knuckles. 'Alright, then. We do this the old fashion way.' he thought as his eyes burned. For a moment, the voices in the back of his head grew stronger, chanting the same words over and over. 'I don't need an ax to kick his scrawny ass anyway!'

Without even going for the Bruteshot MK II, Maine decided to charge straight at his opponent. Surprised by the insane move, Mercury continued his assault of kinetic energy rounds. While he preferred going in for close-quarters, it wouldn't be good to get so close, especially heavy blows like that.

What he didn't expect was for Maine to punch one of the kinetic blasts heading for him away. He had to duck underneath the countered blast, and scramble away to avoid even more attacks flung back at him.

Just how was he repelling them with his bare hands?!

He looked at the board. Each hit was just barely dropping his Aura. When he looked back, he found Maine already halfway through the arena. Biting the inside of his cheek, he shook his head and charged forward. If long range wouldn't work, he'd have to go for close range.

If only he realized what a bad idea that would be against Maine.

Going in fast, he went for a round house to the face, aiming for the heel. Maine blocked it with ease, pushing it away from his face when a shotgun blast came out. As he gripped the leg, however, Maine noticed something. It felt heavy. Cumbersome even. But there was also something else he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Then again, he couldn't really care much about it. All he could think of now was paying Mercury back tenfold. The silver-haired teen scowled as he hopped up with his remaining foot, twisting about and sending a second kick his way. Maine grabbed it with ease and pulled him in, much to his surprise. Then Maine followed up with a punch to the face, knocking him to the ground and away from Maine. He groaned, rubbing his jaw as he got up to see Maine approaching, cracking his knuckles.

'Ow... Damn it! I thought that was gonna bust my jaw!'

The force behind the blow would've broken his mandible if he didn't have Aura. It was evident based how much his own aura meter dipped. Maine then charged at him again, fists clenched and ready for another beatdown. Mercury leapt to the side to avoid it. As he landed, he lifted his leg and threw a shotgun blast his way. It struck Maine in the face, causing him to stagger, but it didn't hold him down for long as his eyes sharpened. He lunged and grabbed Mercury's ankle just before he could pull it back, and then swing him straight down into the arena floor. The blow caused a flare of pain to erupt across his back. Despite the tight pressure on his ankle, Maine felt no pressure creaking from bones. Instead, he heard the faint sound of metal bending. Not that it mattered. Without relenting, he flipped unto Mercury and then began to pummel him, throwing punch after punch.

"No way..." Emerald gasped with wide eyes. "He's pushing Mercury back?"

"More like he's getting his butt whooped." Yang said as her and her friends were focused on the fight.

From her spot, Cinder's eyes narrowed with a slight smile on her face. She had just found something quite interesting. She would have to keep a closer eye on Jaune Arc from now on.

Meanwhile, in the arena, Glynda frowned as she leaned over to Texas, whispering. "Are you certain we shouldn't stop this fight?" she asked worriedly. "At this rate, I fear one of them is going to be seriously injured."

"Oh, relax, Glyn." Texas assured her. "Maine isn't going to kill the poor kid." She paused briefly, not inspiring confidence in the fellow blonde instructor. "At least I don't think so. To be kinda honest, I'm impressed Mr. Kicker there hasn't already been clocked out."

Glynda sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"W-will you get off?!" Mercury growled as he cocked his head to the side, evading a punch and then headbutting Maine, causing him to recoil. With him stunned, Mercury then took the opportunity to fire off two point-blank shots at Maine, throwing him off and fipping himself unto his feet. Maine hit the ground, but slid to a stop. He looked up at Mercury, who sported a few cuts and bruises on his face since that was where most of his punches were centered. He rubbed his nose, wincing. "Christ..."

Maine grinned as he stood up straighter, rolling his shoulders and cracking a few cricks on his back. As it currently stood, both their Aura levels were still in the yellow, but close into the red. The next move will be the one to decide this fight.

Mercury leaped up to his feet, gauging the distance between himself and Maine. He could try and go for the previous method and just hailstorm his way through the match, but a quick stomp and an empty click showed that he had little ammo left, making him curse his stupidity. He should have just tried and defeated Maine in a good-old-fashioned kick-fist contest. Of course, that might have ended in him losing. The sheer physical strength this guy had was insane.

No wonder he survived so many point blank shots to the freaking throat.

"Why're they just standing like that?" Ruby asked with a slight frown, tilting her head. "Aren't they going to hit each other?"

"They're on their last legs." Emerald stated with a hint of worry for Mercury. "One more hit, and one of them loses by default. Aura dips right into the red."

"So the next hit will decide it, huh?" Yang questioned.

"BREAK HIS LEGS, LEADER!" Nora shouted enthusiastically. "SMASH 'EM TO BITS!"

Mercury sweatdropped. "Your friend's...very vocal about limb breaking." he remarked. Maine simply shrugged before he pounded his fist into his palm. The teen smiled and gave the ground a light tap with his toe. "Alright...let's dance."

The two then charged at one another for the final time. Mercury then leaped into the air before flipping to deliver one final ax kick while Maine prepared himself for the coming blow.

He sucked in a breath, closing his eyes. Time started to slow to a crawl.

End it.Finish him.Deliver the final blow.Defeat.Kill.Tear.Destroy.Finish.Defeat.Death.Finish.Finish him.Finish him!

Maine's teeth gnashed together, veins bulging.

FINISH HIM!

His eyes opened, revealing burning crimson. He pulled back his fist and threw it with all of his remaining strength.

The fist came into contact with Mercury's boot.

The unmistakable sound of metal bending registered into his ears, but not enough in time for him to pay it any mind as Mercury, in a surprising move of dexterity, twisted his body to deliver a second kick with his other leg. Instincts flared and battle rampaged across his mind, grabbing the leg and squeezing so tightly that a foreign sound came back, rather than the familiar bone cracking, and pulled forward, dragging Mercury in just like before and delivering a powerful punch, straight to the center of his face.

His Aura dropped into the red, and he was knocked flying, flopping on the ground before resting firmly on the floor, groaning as he grabbed his face. The buzzer sounded off almost immediately.

"That's the end of that, boys." Texas called. "Jaune Arc wins."

Maine breathed heavily as he shook his head. He hasn't been pushed like that for a while. He had to admit, his opponent was skilled. His moveset was a tad unorthodox, given that the opponents he faced utilized standard military still, this should have been easy for him. Not too long ago, much to his own chagrin and sadness, he had fought off Team RWBY and even his own team all at once, defeating them and brutalizing them without relent. Now here he was, troubled against a single opponent. 'I really am out of shape.' he thought with a small hint of annoyance. This was unacceptable. He needed to get back into the swing of things. Back to the level he used to stand at. He needed to be at the level of a Freelancer again.

Still...

'Was it just my imagination...' He looked over at Mercury, who was walking back to the stands while tending to his now bruised nose, which looked a mix of purple and blue. 'Or did I feel metal underneath those boots?'


"...holy shit." Emerald marveled at the sight. "He actually dented them."

After classes ended, Cinder and her two assistants returned to their room. When they did, Mercury removed his boots and proceeded to do maintenance on his legs, though only after he locked the door to make sure no one noticed. Much to his own surprise and Emerald's internal glee that someone had managed to put a dent in Mercury's ego, as well as physically put impressions on his legs. On the left leg, the "calf" was bent and had imprints that looked as if somebody had dug their fingers into it with the grip of a King Taijitsu. The right leg's "heel" was bent, having met Maine's fist head-on.

All in all, the sight was unbelievable.

"I guess you got more than you bargained for." Emerald smirked at Mercury's annoyance. "That's what you get for not taking on Pyrrha Nikos and instead went for Arc."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up!" Mercury groaned. Repairs were going to be a bitch. He wasn't even sure if he could fix them as new this time. He took great care to maintain these legs...and now they're damaged because he had to fight against the mute.

"Just get them repaired as soon as possible, Mercury." Cinder told him. "We need you for when the party gets started."

"I know, I know." Mercury sighed as he continued to work. "Anyway, since we got to see what blondie could do... What'd we learn?"

"We learned that he is strong enough to kick your ass." Emerald started off. "We also learned that he is different from what his transcripts say of him."

"Indeed." Cinder smiled wryly, looking over the information on her Scroll. "Jaune Arc. 17. The youngest child of seven among the prestigious Arc Family. According to his transcripts stated that his skills were slightly above average. Nothing out of the ordinary. Yet from personal notes by the professors here, his skills were completely subpar. His skill with a sword was lackluster. A few months ago, he was listed as missing in action on a mission. Then he miraculously reappeared, albeit in a coma for a few weeks."

Mercury quirked an eyebrow. "A sword?" he asked in mild disbelief. "Not his bare hands or that grenade launcher of his?"

"Indeed not." Cinder smirked. "And the best part is...his return to Beacon was only a few days before Texas Church's enrollment here as Hand-to-Hand Combat Instructor."

"So there is a connection between them?"

"Most likely."

Of course, there was something else. Something she had withheld from them both. Something she had seen in the fight. She just couldn't put her finger on it. There was something hidden in his form. Something raw. Primal. Begging to be let out. And she wanted to see it for herself. No matter what. Who knows? Perhaps it could be of some use. For now, she'd merely watch and see what happens. After all, she had much more important things to plan.

Namely, a virus in the CTT for when it was time for the "party."


"That fight was pretty close." Pyrrha remarked as JNPR sat in their room. "I half-expected you to beat Mercury with one hand behind your back."

"Yeah. What happened to the scary badass that was the Meta?" Church snarked as he looked over Nora's shoulder, watching a rather particularly funny cartoon involving a pink dog fighting off some kind of werewolf-like mole thingie. "You getting old?"

Maine rolled his eyes, giving Church the bird before he went back to push-ups. 'I'm getting rusty.' he thought to himself while his facial expression told his partner everything. 'I need to get back to where I was. Last thing I need is for something Project Freelancer related crap to happen.'

"What makes you think something Freelancer related might happen?"

Church gave Pyrrha a flat look. "Lady, in my experience, if any shit relating to Freelancer happens and I'm even remotely anywhere near a guy related to Freelancer shit... Shit will happen. And I've got two ex-Freelancer agents around me."

"But from what Delta said, the UNSC doesn't know Remnant exists." Ren pointed out. "The odds of them finding it are-"

"Shit. Happens." Church stressed. "Either that, or something completely unrelated to Freelancer happens and we're still dragged into it."

"But even so-" Pyrrha tried to reassure him, only for Church to interject.

"Trust me on this one. I guarantee that by the end of the week, something so batshit insane happens and we're all going to be dragged into it and screwed over one way or another because of it."

"I hope not." Nora chimed in. "The dance is this week!"

Maine stopped mid push-up and tilted his head, looking over at Nora puzzled while Church cocked his head. "Dance?" he asked. "What, like homecoming shit?"

"I don't really know what that is...but yes. It is a formal gathering." Ren replied.

"That's pretty much what it is, ninja boy." Church groaned. "Greaaaat. As if hormonial teens wasn't enough, we've got a night where kids will no doubt be banging each other behind closed doors. High school. Fun times."

'Oh, quit your bitching, Alpha.' Maine snarked as he finished another set of push ups.

"Oh you know I'm right, Vomit Boy. There's always some dude spiking the punch, and everyone who's horny enough gets together with some poor schmuck and bump uglies."

Before Maine could respond, a knock came to the door. "It's open." Pyrrha called. The door swung open, revealing a rather troubled-looking Ruby. "Ruby? Is everything okay?"

"Well, that depends on what you mean by, okay..." the girl sighed. "Um, it's Blake."

Maine pushed himself off the floor, flopping unto his rear and looked up at the girl with a frown, hissing. "What's the matter with Catwoman this time?" Church interpreted in his own words. "She in heat or something? Or she finally on her period?"

"N-no?" Ruby frowned. "It's more like...she's still hung up on Torchwick."

"You mean what happened the other night on the highway? What's there to be depressed about? We know where their hideout was, we learned they were stealing Dust and causing inflating prices, and none of us died. I'd say that's a pretty good outcome." Church said. "Just tell her to get over it."

"We tried." the silver-eyed girl stressed. "But she's still hung up. Roman got away, and she's starting to get paranoid. She hasn't slept in days. We've been trying to get her to go the dance. It's probably her best chance to unwind, but..."

"But she's making things difficult." Pyrrha guessed with concern. "I suppose I can't blame her. She used to be apart of the White Fang and now they're working with the mafia of all things. It must not be easy. Even so, rushing things won't help her any."

"We tried to tell her that too...but she just won't listen. I don't know what to do..."

Church folded his arms over his chest, flashing over next to Maine. "And what makes you think we can help?" he asked. "Unless, of course, you want Nora or Vomity Boy to smash her to bits to get the point across or have me and my charming self just annoy the fuck outta her."

"Please don't!" She quickly refused the offer. She was trying to get Blake out of her funk, not angrier or hospitalized!

She then gave another deep sigh. She just didn't know what to do. She had no idea why Blake was so obsessed. Why couldn't she just calm down for a moment? Didn't she understand how worried she was making everyone? She understood that Roman and the White Fang were up to no good...but that didn't give her the excuse to work herself to death. It wasn't healthy for her. At the rate she was going, she was going to crash and burn.

And she wasn't sure if Blake even cared about that.


As per Ruby's request, Team JNPR had watched Blake throughout the next day, and both immediately came to the conclusion that Blake wasn't just sleep deprived. She was running on fumes. She was dozing off in class, just a second away from falling asleep before slapping herself back into consciousness. She was distancing herself away from her team, barely paying either of the three girls any mind before going about her own business. There was hardly any happy expression on her face, if at all.

Quite frankly, it was starting to remind Maine of Carolina after Texas showed up. Only her sleep depravity came from hours of practice and ignoring her team because of her competative streak to match the woman, rather than ignoring her team out of a problem with some criminal organization.

"She looks like a zombie." Church said, hovering over the blonde soldier's shoulder.

'Yeah. Even worse than Carolina did.'

"Wait, seriously?"

'It was after Texas started to show up. I vaguely remember it, though. Heads still fucked up from Sigma.' Maine shrugged before he folded his arms. 'I still don't understand why Ruby asked us for help. I mean, do we look like the kind of people who can help?'

"Not in the fucking least. We don't do the emotional crap. She should've gone to that doctor guy or something." Maine nodded sagely in agreement. "Besides, girls are better at this shit. Touchy feely is their specialty. Unless, of course, your name is Tex."

"I hear that, asshole." Church yelped, whipping around while Maine, startled, looked over his shoulder to find Texas behind them, a sour look on her face with her arms folded over her chest. She was no longer dressed in her MJOLNER knock-off and instead wore a black tanktop with green cargo jeans and boots. "And for the record, I leave the touchy feely crap to the idiots. You know, like you idiots back home in Blood Gulch."

"Hey, I don't do touchy feely shit. That's more Caboose's job!" A pause. "And those two love birds at Red Team."

Maine quirked an eyebrow. 'You mean the fatass orange and the maroon one?'

"Yep. That's them." Church turned back to Texas. "So, what brings you here? Doubt it's a social call."

"General Ironwood's here." she replied with a strict tone. "Apparently, he heard about what happened back at the freeway."

"Seriously?" the self-proclaimed ghost groaned. "Didn't we already tell the Wizard of Oz what happened?"

"Hey, I'm just here to collect you two idiots. Plus, I hear Ironwood's got a proposal for Maine here." The former psychotic mute frowned, tilting his head. The General of Atlas had a proposal for him? What would he want with him? Hopefully not asking him to be a soldier. As far as he was concerned, he was done with that life. All he wanted was to stay here at Beacon with his team. With Pyrrha. "Dunno what it's about though. I just know Penny's there too."

"Penny? What's she doing here?" If Penny was here...then that meant Theta was here as well.

"She's a student at Atlas, so it would be obvious she would be here for the Vytal Festival."

"Oh, right. She still got Omega?"

Texas smirked. "And torturing him. Bet ya ten bucks he breaks before the tournament starts."

"I'll take that action."

Maine shook his head, but otherwise followed Texas out of the library. Unknown to any of the former Project Freelancer soldiers, Blake had been watching them out of the corner of her eye and sighed. She thought they would never leave. 'They were probably asked by Ruby to check up on me.' she thought. She understood that she was pushing her teammates away, but they should understand her problem. They couldn't just sit around here while Torchwick was still running around. And cooperating with the White Fang.

She couldn't slow down. Not now. Not when there was still so much they didn't know!

It wouldn't be until two minutes later when she noticed the red laser pointer aimed at her, courtesy of a certain brawler.


"With all due respect, James... Do you honestly expect him to cooperate?"

"Of course I don't. Not after everything that young man's gone through. But, I can't think of anyone else who would-"

[General. Huntsman Arc and Agent Texas are currently en-route.]

"Thank you, Delta."

James, Ozpin, and Glynda were currently discussing matters regarding Maine when he would arrive. James arrived to offer the student a choice that was ultimately up to him. He would not force the child into the very same role that destroyed him again. Penny stood off to the side, looking on as the three adults spoke among themselves. While they were discussing Maine, she was speaking with the three AIs under her care. Or more accurately, the two AIs in her care. Delta had been allowed to travel freely, as he was fully functional. As for Omega...

"I demand you release me!" the menacing dark purple AI growled, trying to break free from a holographic cage that more or less made up the locks that kept him from being released outside Penny's blackbox. "If you don't, I will destroy you!"

Delta shook his head. [Even now, you still insist on obliterating everything.] he said with exasperation. [Also, I would like to bring a counter-argument: you cannot technically destroy Special Operations Officer Polendina while still inside the Security Blackbox.]

"Oh shut up, barlight!" He snapped. "I will find a way...and you shall all...taste...OBLIVION!"

Theta stared at Omega, tilting his head. "And how are you going to do that?" the AI asked out of genuine curiosity.

"...shut up you brat!" Omega barked after realization he had not thought of a way to do just that. "My point still stands! One day, you will all face-"

"Now now, Omega." Penny gently chided him. "No need to be hostile. We're all friends here!" She smiled widely as she clapped her hands. "Just think happy thoughts! It can't be good, being angry all the time! It is very bad for your health, AI or no."

"AIs have health coverage?" Theta asked innocently.

Delta shook his head. [I sincerely doubt that.] he stated before his form flashed, catching the adults' attention. [Huntsman Arc and Freelancer Texas have arrived.]

At that moment, the elevator doors slipped open, allowing the blonde soldier and Texas to enter. No sooner had she stepped into the room had Penny bolted from her seat. rushing up to the two. More specifically, Texas. "Big Sis!" she cheered as she wrapped her arms around Texas, causing the woman to stiffen. "You're here! Oh, I am so excited to see you again!"

"...wait, back the fuck up." Church formed over Maine's shoulder. Were it not for the fact that his face was a helmet, he would have an expression of pure disbelief. "Since when is Tex Penny's sister?! I mean, yeah, she's a walking bucket of scraps and bolts like somebody else in this room, but last I checked, she's not an AI." He looked at Ironwood for confirmation. "Right?"

The corner of the general's lips quivered slightly, threatening to form into a smile. "Well, technically, they are in a manner of speaking." he said while Texas awkwardly tried to pry Penny off of her. "The body Agent Texas is using is similar to Penny's own body. Hence why she calls her her older sister."

Church looked back at Texas, then at Penny. Then he started to snicker. "Oh, that's funny." he said, holding his stomach. "Never thought I'd see the day when Tex was so...awkward around someone else!"

[From the data I've gathered, Special Operations Officer Polendina is the only one of her kind.] Delta stated as he flickered over to Church along with Theta. [She is Remnant's first artificial human. Agent Texas' current body is similar in design, though this was Atlas' second attempt. Naturally, however, the body is an empty shell and lacks a soul. Even so, Polendina regards Agent Texas as her actual sibling.]

"You don't say? By the way, looking good, D."

[You as well.] he replied before turning his attention to Maine. [It has been a long time, Huntsman Arc.]

'Same here.' Maine silently replied. 'I just wish it was under better circumstances, Delta.' Even though he wasn't the one who killed York, Maine still felt guilty taking the green AI. At least Wyoming was dead. Though he barely had half a mind as The Meta, he could vaguely remember reading the report. Bastard was killed by the simulation troopers, in spite of his equipment allowing him to duplicate himself via one of the temporal distortion's functions.

Delta, however, seemed nonplussed and waved a hand. [It is alright. Your actions were a result of the Director's and Sigma's manipulations. Still, it is good to see you again. A shame York is not here to see you back in your correct state of mind once again.]

Maine smiled sadly. 'Yeah...'

"Hey, hey. Let's not get a pity party going on here." Church said as he broke away from the oncoming depressing atmosphere. "I'm still enjoying Tex being all flustered. Keep up the good work, Penny!"

"Fuck you, Church!" Texas growled, still trying to pry Penny off of her. Except now she was hugging her leg this time after she managed to slide her off her chest. "Okay, kid, look! I get this body is like yours, but dammit all...!"

The staff of Beacon Academy looked incredibly amused. Glynda most of all, considering most of the time she spent working with Texas, the woman was usually standoffish and overall violatile on most days, taking great pleasure in watching students kicking the crap out of each other or getting the chance to break them with her own fists come hand-to-hand combat time. Ozpin, on the other hand, was more or less amused and overall quite impressed with Penny's overall nature. He initially feared that the poor girl would be raised as a mere tool, but so far from what he's seen, that was not the case. She was as human as the rest of them.

Ironwood looked as if he wanted to enjoy the sight as well, but gave an awkward cough into the ball of his hand. "If we may get to the reason why I asked Mr. Arc here..."

"Yeah, yeah." Church shrugged his shoulders, flickering over to Ozpin's desk. "So, what's the deal, Morning Wood? Why bring Vomit Boy here? No, wait. Don't tell me. Your actually going to get him a voicebox. Let me tell you, working as his translator is hardly any fun!"

Maine hissed, glaring at the blue-colored AI. 'Keep talking, Alpha, and I'm letting Tex have her way with you.' he threatened before looking at Ironwood wearily, gesturing a hand. 'Continue, please.'

The General nodded his head, thanking Maine as he somewhat understood the gesture to allow him to return to the topic at hand. He looked over at Delta, who nodded and raised a hand. Before the eyes of everyone, a holographic screen appeared before them. Displayed on the screen was a suit of armor. One that looked eerily familiar to Maine as he felt a chill run down his spine. If he had a mouth, Church would have found his jaw meeting the floor. Texas' eyes narrowed dangerously, showing off her sharp teeth while Theta looked on nervously.

The armor on the holographic screen had a disturbing resemblance to Agent Maine's old armor. It was not as bulky as the armor itself, but the helmet was identical to his own.

[This is the Systematic Tactical Intelligence Killzone Elimination Recovery Za-1 Assault Armor, codename "STRIKER".] Delta began. [Remnant's second, and most successful attempt at mixing Remnant and UNSC technology. While it is nowhere near as powerful as the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor worn by SPARTANS and Freelancer Agents, it is vastly superior to any Atlesian Knight android currently in use or in development. If worn by an experienced individual with considerable combat prowess, it can even stand above the Atlesian Paladin, which is still in the prototype stage. The first attempt to create a hybrid of UNSC/Remnant tech was the armor worn by Agent Texas, though it lacks the enhancements and capabilities of the STRIKER unit. Additionally, it has been outfitted with all known weapon and technological enhancements used in Agent Maine's old suit.]

"...let me get this straight." Church started, his voice tense and full of dread. "You're telling me you guys managed to make a prototype suit out of the Meta's old armor. With every enhancement used in Project Freelancer."

[Correct.]

"Including the Domed Energy Shield?"

[Yes.]

"Tactical Camouflage?"

[Affirmative.]

"And Wyoming's time powers?!"

[That is correct.]

Suffice to say, the self-proclaimed ghost looked positively freaked out as his form flashed rapidly. "Am I the only person here who thinks this is a very bad idea?!" he asked in distress. "Especially in the hands of Mr. Overkill over here?!"

Ironwood frowned. "I beg your pardon?"

"Well, he's not wrong." Glynda agreed with Church, surprisingly enough.

"What do you mean?"

"Uh...dude? Look out the window behind you. See all those heavily armed airships filled with highly trained and weaponized soldiers in the sky out there?" Church aimed his thumb at the fleet standing in the air, all of which armed to the teeth. "You honestly expect people to feel safe when they've got a shit ton of soldiers just outside their front door? Especially when they don't have any idea why that fleet's there in the first place?!"

"They do bear a point, James." Ozpin said, folding his hands. "These are times of peace, however waning such days are."

Ironwood closed his eyes. "Perhaps." he agreed. "But, Oz, you know that those days will vanish. Especially with Queen on the move."

"Who the fuck is Queen?" Texas questioned. "And what aren't you people telling us?"

The three adults shared a look with one another, obviously debating something important. Penny tilted her head, wondering what they could be thinking about before Ironwood turned back to them. "We can't say. At least, not for now. What we can say, however, is that in spite of what the Council would like to tell everyone, there is much more happening in the background than you think."

"Like what?" Theta asked.

"Like the White Fang cooperating with someone like Torchwick." Ironwood replied. "Like a group of bandits acting in a way that has the Councils concerned. Like Grimm activity being at a new level that has everyone worried. There's a majority of things that has everyone worried. And it's also why we made the STRIKER unit."

Texas frowned. "And what does any of this have to do with Maine?"

[The STRIKER was also designed to be fully compatible with AI assistance.] Delta informed them. [However, it's only flaw is its consumption of power. Without the aid of several AIs to regulate how much power is diverted to the suit's functions and abilities, its combat capabilities are severely hampered.]

"And the Military over in Atlas has you, Theta and Omega." Church crossed his arms. "That makes three."

[Five, if you were to include Agent Texas and yourself, Church.] Delta reminded him. [Or more accurately, Atlas possesses five AI Fragments. The twins, Iota and Eta, are still in the process of being repaired. Alongside Epsilon, they were among the recent of additions. Therefore, their systems required a more delicate touch, so to speak. Back to the matter at hand, there is almost no one on Remnant, as far as my investigation of Remnant's combat personnel goes, that is capable of utilizing the STRIKER to its full potential.] He trailed off, almost meant on purpose as he looked at Maine, who already understood the implications and developed a dark look on his face, eyes burning straight into Ironwood. [All except for one person.]

Everyone's attention turned to the blonde ex-Freelancer. The look on his face more than suggested he was not happy with what Ironwood was saying. He gave a menacing growl, glaring at the General with animosity. It didn't take Church to translate the meaning behind the growl.

Ironwood wanted him to fight for him. For the military.

"Let me make this perfectly clear." Ironwood said as calmly and as amicably as he possibly could, fully aware that he was treading on a landmine here. "I am not forcing you. Nor am I requesting or ordering you for to fight for us. To fight a battle that most people aren't aware of what's happening." The General sighed as he fiddled with his Scroll, bringing up a Map of Remnant. With a push of a button, the screen focused on a small island, close to the shores of Vale. "Recently, there have been reports that the White Fang's more radical and more active cells in Mistral, led by a man named Rojo Desagra, have been sighted near Vale."

Church huffed. "And you can't call in your brats or men to deal with this because...?"

"Because as of now, Desagra hasn't done anything noticeable, and we have no evidence of his activities in the area. We have no proof he has committed any criminal activity yet. As such, apprehending him now would only create political issues as we were not given the allowance by the Vale government."

Texas scowled. "So you want someone who isn't affiliated with the government, or with Vale for that matter, to go after him." she seethed. "In other words, an ex-Freelancer agent."

[The Atlesian Government and the military are currently unaware of STRIKER's existence.] Delta told them. [With the exception of the researchers who helped to develop it, only those in its room are aware of its existence.]

"So, what? You expect giving Vomit Boy some kind of awesome, experimental prototype armor is gonna be enough to get him to go on this suicide mission? I think I speak for the both of us when I say thanks, but no way in hell..."

"That, and in case you forgot, Project Freelancer was a military program that screwed us all over." Texas reminded the man. "I think the last thing Maine wants to get involved in is military affairs."

Ironwood didn't look the least bit offended or worried about the refusal. Instead, he looked understanding and bowed his head. "I'm well aware of that. All I'm asking is...you give the matter some thought."

Maine made no sound. Church looked at him, half-expecting him to blow the guy off. The brute sighed and shook his head, giving the General another weary look before hissing. "He's asking when you need an answer by." Church said on point for once, though it was clear by Maine's tone that he pretty much had no intention of actually accepting the offer.

"Possibly by the end of the dance in the next few days." Ironwood. "If I don't receive an answer by then, I will accept your refusal."

"Then we done here?"

"Yes."

Without another word, Maine turned on his heel to leave, hands in his pockets. Church vanished from sight, disappearing back into the collar around the blonde's neck before Texas joined him. The elevator doors closed, hiding them from view, though the sour look on their faces told them everything they needed to know. Ironwood sighed heavily as he leaned against Ozpin's desk while the man in question looked a bit tired himself. "That went better than I thought."

"I suppose." Glynda grimaced, adjusting her glasses. "I have expected him to react violently to such a request."

"A shame he didn't..." Omega muttered to himself. "I love a good carnage."

Penny frowned, glaring at the AI Fragment of Rage in disapproval. "Omega. There is a time and place for everything." she admonished, causing him to growl before she turned to the General. "Please don't worry, General. I'm sure Agent Maine will accept your offer."

[I would have to disagree.] Delta rebuked her without hesitation. [Huntsman Arc's personal history and experience with AI experimentation alone paint a very clear picture. The odds of him working with another military organization are approximately 7.3982%.] He then gave a brief pause, looking about the room before he spoke again. [By the way... Where is Theta?]


"Un-fucking-believable..." Church groaned. "I half-expected the guy to try and strong-arm you into the whole thing."

"Aw, that's sweet." Texas snickered. "You do care for Maine."

"The fuck I do. I still haven't forgotten all the shit Vomit Boy's put me through. If Morning Wood did get him to agree with this whole suicide mission, chances are, I'll be forced to go along for the ride. I'd sooner spend a whole week with Caboose than go along for that shit. Sure, I ain't gonna get killed, but getting shot at is really, REALLY annoying. You know?"

'Again, you realize you are a Hologram, right? You can't get hurt you idiot.'

"It's the principle of the matter, Vomit Boy!"

Maine rolled his eyes. The unpleasant feelings from earlier lingered quite a bit, leaving him a slightly foul mood. In all honesty, couldn't care about the affairs of the military. He would not be used again. Not after what happened. The last time he trusted someone in the military, it ended with him getting an AI that wanted to achieve metastability and forced him to kill his closest friends and family just to achieve that purpose. Worse, the circumstances that led to him being in that program led to him losing his memories. As far as he was concerned, he would never get involved with Atlas. Not unless he was absolutely forced to. He had a life here. A life he could finally get back into. A life with his teammates and friends. People he had forgotten and wanted to reconnect with.

He sure as hell wasn't about to indulge in Ironwood's wants and needs.

"Glad to see we're on the same page, buddy." Church said happily, fully aware of the man's thoughts. "Now, come on. Let's go annoy the hell out of..." He trailed off when his form flickered, causing Tex and Maine to look at him strangely. "The fuck?"

"Something wrong, Church?"

"Yeah. I think something's messing with the collar. Either that, or..."

Suddenly, a familiar purple-and-pink holographic soldier appeared next to Church, startling him and causing Maine's eyes to widen in surprise.

"Um... Hi?"

"Theta?" Tex gasped. "What're you doing here?"

"I uh...I followed you...?"

"...Yeah, we can see that. She meant why are you here. With us. And not with Penny and the others?"

Maine was silent, yet he contemplated. Why did Theta follow them?

Was he actually angry at him? Did he want to try and convince him on the behalf of the General? Likely, given he was the Alpha's Trust.

"W-well, I um..." the AI fidgeted, rubbing his index fingers together. "I-I was sort of hoping...I could come with you guys?" Maine stared at the AI wide-eyed, nearly doing a spit-take. Texas raised an eyebrow, leaning forward in intrigue. "Don't get me wrong. Miss Penny's really fun to be around. Especially when she has me and Delta try and help Omega with his...anger issues. But its-its not exciting to be around someone. Especially around someone as intimidating as the General." Theta's form dappened somewhat as he kidded the invisible ground beneath his feet. "He...kinda reminds me of the Director some days."

Texas chuckled. "Trust me on this, kid. Compared to the Director, Ironwood's a thousand times better. Even if he does overdo it on the whole safety thing."

"I know that...it's just...I can't help it. He just reminds me of him. I know he cares about our safety...but I'm trying my best to trust him..."

"For what it's worth, I think it's good you're suspicious of old Morning Wood. But back on topic. Why do you wanna come with us, little guy?" Church questioned. "I mean, hey. Don't get me wrong. I know I'm fucking awesome, but what's the deal?"

"I...I just...I just want to get to know Maine..."

Maine felt his legs nearly give out. He stared at Theta as if he were insane. 'Excuse me?' he thought in utter shock. 'Theta, in case you forgot, I KILLED North! I ripped you from his neck! Why in the world would you want to get to know the guy who murdered your best friend?!'

"Because North always thought you were a good person."

'...What?' He could only ask a single word. Did he hear him right? No, he couldn't have possibly had said that. Not after all he's done. North thought he was a good person? How in the hell could he even think that? Especially after what he did? He killed Carolina in cold blood. He hunted them down and killed all those people who stood in his way. In what definition was that considered good?! North was wrong. Theta was wrong. He wasn't a good person. Even if his actions were because of Sigma, that did not change the fact that he was the reason behind so many of his friends' deaths.

"Okay, dude. Stop." Church groaned. "We do not need you going emo on us here. I get we're in high school and you regret what you did, but for fuck's sake man!"

Theta nodded in agreement. "Even if you don't think so, North did. And I trust North." Shyly, the AI rubbed the back of his neck, laughing sheepishly. "And...I want to trust you too."

'...I appreciate your trust Theta...but I just can't trust myself yet...' Maine replied honestly. 'Especially when my head is still fucked up.'

"Even still. I still want to learn to trust you, Maine. You were North's friend too..."

Maine stared at Theta, his face unreadable, before he sighed and a hand through his hair. Texas chuckled, patting his shoulder. "Congrats, Maine. Now you got two brats to look after."

"Hey!" Church growled. "Who're you callin a brat?!"

"And you have just proved my point." The former top freelancer smirked.

The cobalt soldier groaned, shaking his head before Maine felt his Scroll vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out, he opened it to see it was a message from Pyrrha. "Looks like Red didn't need our help after all." Church scoffed. "Bimbo helped her out. Guess that means she'll be at the dance. Just to be on the safe side, don't drink the punch. Last thing we need is the scariest fucking mute in the galaxy to get horny and bang."


Before too long, the night of the dance had arrived. The first person he saw when he arrived was Yang, who was obviously meant to greet newcomers to the party. Her dress was enough to put a heavy blush on Maine's face. Church on the other hand whistled. "Damn, Bimbo... You ain't afraid to flaunt those funbags, are ya?"

Yang giggled. "The boys seem to think so." she said with a wink. "Though Pyrrha's definitely turning heads." She gestured her head to his partner. He looked among the crowd of people, and promptly felt his jaw drop. He damn near felt his heart skip a beat.

His partner wore a bright red, sleeveless dress that was the same color as her hair. It was open at the back and the front of it went up around her neck. The hem of the dress went down to her ankles with a slit on the right side, showing off her legs. On her head was the same circlet she always wore.

She looked positively stunning.

"Close your mouth, lover boy." Church laughed. "You'll let a fly in."

"Wow..." Theta marveled. "So many people...a-and this is supposed to be a dance party?"

Yang smiled. "Of sorts. Trust me, Theta. You'll love it."

While it had been a surprise for the group to learn that the little AI had chosen to join Maine, they soon grew used to his presence. Not to mention he was still adorable to the girls due to his minute size and bashful demeanor.

"But...I can't dance..." He admitted shyly.

"Well, I can't either little buddy. The good thing is that we don't need to." Church assured him. "Speaking of dancing, Vomit Boy..."

Maine shrugged. 'We're about to find out.' he responded before exchanging high-fives with Yang and entered the party.

Compared to the hustle and relaxing parties in Project Freelancer, which were short and sweet and usually ended in a fistfight at the bar or just drunk off your ass, the party was absolutely bustling with music blaring and people constantly on the move. Several people were either on the dance floor with someone in their arms, smiles spreading all around. Others were hanging around aimlessly with drinks in their hand. Off to the side, he caught Ruby hanging around the punch bowl, looking incredibly awkward. Not that he blamed her. She did prefer the smaller crowds. He also gave a slight smile when he found Blake, dressed in a rather beautiful black dress, together with Sun. Who, unsurprisingly, wore the black dress shirt open.

At least he knew to keep the tail covered.

"Found Hammer Girl and Ninja Boy." Church chimed, pointing to the corner of the room. Maine found them shortly after. Ren looked as if he was either amused or concerned. Possibly both. The reason for this was Nora drinking with another student, downing shot glasses filled with punch that were constantly being refilled. And there were numerous shot glasses. Twenty by his count. "Do we even wanna know what's in those shot glasses?"

'Probably not.' Maine gave a hoarse chuckle before he found Weiss. She was standing by a table, tending to a small flower and trying to keep it in place, though for some reason it kept wilting out of the vase. He gave a small frown as he crossed his arms. 'That's weird.'

"What is?" Theta asked curiously.

'Neptune isn't with Weiss. I could have sworn I saw her asking him to the dance the other day.'

The self-proclaimed ghost snorted. "He probably turned her down." he said with disinterest. "He did kinda struck me as a Dan Juan kind of guy. Plus, isn't she supposed to be the daughter of some bigwig company on this planet?"

'Yeah. The Schnee Dust Company. One of the leading, if not THE leading, Dust distributors on Remnant. But it didn't seem like Neptune was aware of her status...so why did he reject her?'

"Beats me. And honestly, I don't think it's any of our business. Let's just go an meet with Spartan Girl." Church said.

'I don't know...this whole thing is bothering me.' He then noticed the blue haired teen off to the side chatting with other students.

"Maybe we can ask him?" Theta offered.

Maine nodded. In truth, he wanted an excuse to try and leave the floor. Being around so many people...it made him anxious. Not once in his life as he ever been in a crowd like this and didn't have a gun on him. Sure, none of them had a weapon on hand except for the Atlas soldiers acting as security, but he still felt nervous. Standing in the middle of a large crowd like this was starting to make him paranoid. Shaking his head, he looked back at Neptune to find him heading up to the balcony. Immediately, he followed after him, gently pushing away the other guests.

Unknown to him, though, Pyrrha noticed him leaving for the balcony and out of curiosity followed behind him.


Neptune sighed as a fresh, cool breeze whipped against his face no sooner had he stepped out from the stuffy party room, tugging on his collar. It felt oddly constricting for some reason, despite having worn this suit so many times before now. This really shouldn't have been any different, yet somehow, his hands were clammy. "What is up with me?" he wondered aloud. "Even my game talk with the girls downstairs was weak."

"Yo, Playboy wannabe!" Neptune let out a (manly) yelp as he whipped around, finding Maine standing behind him with his arms crossed. Bizarrely, despite everyone else dressed in tuxedos or dresses or the likes, the blonde brute before him was dressed in is everyday clothes: a black jacket with a hood, a white shirt, and denim jeans. On either shoulder were two holographic soldiers. He recognized one of them as Church, his translator, but the other was slightly unfamiliar to him. "What's shaking? Having trouble with the 'bow chicka wow wow' mojo?"

The blue-haired teen raised an eyebrow before he laughed slightly. "Okay, first of all, who even says that? And secondly, nothing much. Just needed some fresh air. To be honest, this party isn't really my cup of tea. Dancing really isn't...my style."

Which was an understatement, but he didn't dare share that.

"Then why are you even here? Last we saw, you were down there flirting with all those chicks by the dance floor. What? Got rejected?"

"N-no!" Neptune denied it. "That didn't happen! I...I just needed some air..."

"...is it scary talking to girls?" The other AI questioned in a innocently curious voice. "People scare me too..."

Neptune shook his head. "N-no." he said. The purple-and-pink AI didn't look convinced. Either that, he was still curious. He then sighed and shoved his fingers through his hair, noting that the dried gel was starting to flake. "Okay, well, it is. Especially when you're trying to, you know, get them to like you. Girls can be very confusing."

"Amen to that." Church said sagely. "And I can point you to the most confusing girl in this whole damn world, for she is a bitch, kicks ass and chews bubblegum."

Maine quirked an eyebrow. '...even though she technically has a body now, and I should remind you that it isn't a human body, I'm pretty sure Texas doesn't chew bubblegum.'

"Semantics." the Alpha shrugged. "Still, I guess the fact that you're out here being a wallflower means you stood up Ice Queen down there."

At this, Neptune winced. "I-I didn't really stand her up!" he said. "I mean, she's really cool! And pretty!"

"And she happens to be the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. Pretty sure that dampens whatever you got going for her."

"L-look, I'm not into Weiss that way."

"Then why're you out here like a loner?" he snickered. "Being with a girl cramps your style? You know something, I take what I said about you back. You're actually somehow both more decent than Tucker, yet at the same time still a sleazeball."

A vein above his eyebrow throbbed angrily. "Hey." Neptune snapped. "I told you. It isn't like that!"

"Then what is it?" Church retorted. "You had a chance with Ice Queen back there, and you stood her up. She asked you to the dance, and you rejected her. And yet you think she's 'cool and pretty', and not interested in her status. And you blew your chance, man. You just led her around, thinking you had a chance before blowing her off. For what good reason do you have that you-?"

"I can't dance!" The words flew out from Neptune's mouth before he had a chance to stop them.

"...Say what?"

'...What?'

Maine stared at Neptune, his mind short-circuiting for a moment. Church, however, was the first to pick himself up. "...let me get this straight. You blew off a chance to date possibly the biggest stuck up princess in the world, and quite possibly what those anime nuts call sundaes or something, all because you can't dance?" Neptune said nothing, the shame in his face saying everything. The three looked at him before Church busted out laughing. "Are you fucking serious?!"

"H-hey! I spent years perfecting the cool look!" Neptune tried to justify himself, albeit very weakly as he realized. "Not being able to dance is like admitting your not cool!"

"But..." Theta tilted his head. "You are cool. At least, you look like it to me."

"That means a lot, little guy. Really, it does."

Maine sighed, face-palming. 'Alpha? Theta? Can you give me a second with him?'

"Why?" Church snickered, still laughing his ass off. "So you can roast him too?"

'Alpha...'

"Oh, fine. Whatever. Just let me know when you're done."

Theta nodded and waved at Neptune before the two AIs vanished, flashing back into the collar. Neptune frowned in confusion as Maine looked at him, expression even before he removed his Scroll from his pocket. That confused him further. He seemed to be typing something on his Scroll before he walked over and handed it to Neptune. The teen frowned as he took it from him, looking at what he wrote.

[Do you like Weiss?]

"Yeah, I mean, I don't know her too well yet, but...she seems pretty cool."

[Then just go talk to her.] Maine continued. [No pickup lines. No suave moves. Just be yourself. I've heard that's the way to go.]

"Yeah...but that isn't-"

[You don't have to look cool all the time. If all honesty, putting on an act like that will actually turn girls away in the long run. Trust me on this one.] He heard the advice from York. Suffice to say, he would take it to heart to avoid an ass-kicking. [I had a friend named York. He had a girlfriend who knew how to kick your ass while looking good doing it. He didn't pick her up with suave pick up lines or anything like that. He did it just by being himself. Admittedly, he was drunk, but even still. It worked.] Of course, there were more than a few times when the two had their spat. It was all in good jest, and being in the middle of a war could strain relationships. Even so, the two were as thick as thieves. And even more so. [Just tell her why you didn't agree to come with her.]

Neptune still looked unconvinced, rubbing the back of his neck. "Look man, I'm not sure if..."

Maine frowned at the blue-haired teen before he sighed. 'Theta?' he contacted the AI in his collar. 'Can you tell me where Weiss is?'

[Already on it!] came the chipper reply. Half a second later, the AI replied, [She's at the far end of the room, sitting on a row of chairs. Why?]

'No reason.' Maine smiled before he took his Scroll back from Neptune. The guy still looked helplessly confused before without warning the blonde rudely slammed his fist into Neptune's gut, knocking the wind out of his sails and grabbing him by the collar of his jacket. Then, with a herculean throw, Neptune was sent flying. Gasps could be heard downstairs, though they were soon followed by laughs and cheers. 'Theta, can you please hack into his Scroll and send him a message for him?'

[Sure. What do you want to send?] Maine told him what to send. Though he couldn't see the AI himself, he could tell Theta was surprised. [Um...is-is that appropriate?]

'No. But it'll stop Neptune from being such a fucking pussy.'

[O...kay. Message sent.]

Maine smiled. 'Thank you, Theta.' The connection faded and Maine was left alone in the balcony. Sighing, he slipped his hands into the pockets of his jacket, looking up at the fractured moon above him. He would assume Neptune would hold this against him. But he'll get over it. He was being a pussy, and needed the extra push. Maine was all too happy to oblige. "...You know. I've seen people smack others to get them into gear...but never like that." Pyrrha said as she made her presence known. He turned around to face her, slightly surprised. Even more so slightly out of breath. Up close, that dress really made her look even more stunning than usual. She looked downright beautiful, even. She gave a small smile as she walked over next to him, looking up at the starry night sky. "Apparently, everyone downstairs thinks he just leaped right off the balcony and perfectly managed to land on a seat right next to Weiss." she told him with a grin. "He looked positively dazed as well."

'Yeah, well...he needed the push.' he told her sheepishly with a grin as he leaned on the railing. 'So, what're you doing out here? Don't tell me the dance is stifling for you too.'

"In all honesty, it kind of is. I just needed some air." She answered. "And how about you?"

'Anxious. Last time I was in a room that packed, everyone had guns aimed at me.'

"Well, I can say with confidence that won't be the case here..."

'I know...but walking in a crowd without a gun makes me feel naked. That I am unprepared. Vulnerable.'

Pyrrha's eyes softened. Gently, she wrapped a hand around his, squeezing it as soft as she possibly could. Maine was surprised by this, but he made no move to pull it away. "Maine-" she stopped for a moment before she shook her head, correcting herself and referring to him by his real name. His birth name. "Jaune... You aren't a soldier anymore. This isn't the UNSC or Project Freelancer. This is Remnant. Your home."

'I know, Pyrrha. I know.' he sighed, lowering his head. 'But, it's still really hard. I don't remember much before I was thrown into Project Freelancer. I'm getting bits and pieces back, but nothing really concrete. I remember I have a family here. A mom, a dad, and seven sisters. And I've got my team. I've got lots of friends. And I've...' He slowly hesitated, the thought bringing a blush to his face. 'I've got you too. I know I have a life here, but it's still so hard to adjust to it. Some days, I wake up, expecting to be in my old suit of armor, Sigma in my head, stcuk as the Meta and killing my friends.'

"But you aren't." Pyrrha stressed. She put her other hand into his, bringing it up to her chest. The action flustered him greatly. In the back of his head, he could faintly hear Church sniggering. "Do you feel that, Jaune? This is proof. Proof that you aren't a soldier anymore. That you're home again. With us."

'With me...' came the unspoken addition. When she realized what she thought, Pyrrha's face burned. Then she realized she put his hand in between her breasts and promptly broke away, both teens turning from one another with flushed cheeks. 'What-what am I doing?! I'm his partner for goodness' sakes!'

'C'mon, Maine! Get a grip on yourself!' the soldier chastized himself. 'What are you?! A school girl?!'

Since when was he ever this flustered?! He can't remember!

But...he felt reassurance from his partner's words. She was right. He was no longer a soldier. This was not Project Freelancer. Sigma was dead and gone. He...he was free from that nightmare.

"Uh...Vomit Boy? Just how long do you plan on acting like a blushing school girl? Man up already." Church chose now to interrupt the moment.

The brute promptly felt his embarrassment fade and shook his head. He glared at the AI, which looked incredibly amused. Pyrrha took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down before she turned back to her partner. "A-anyway... How are you adjusting back to Beacon? Is it getting any easier?"

'Sort of.' he answered. 'I'm getting back into the hang of things... Hey, can I ask something?' Pyrrha nodded. 'When I have to talk to someone, Alpha usually has to speak for me. And believe me, it gets pretty damn irritating.' He scowled and glared at Church again, who didn't look the least bit ashamed. 'More times than I would like to admit.'

"I regret nothing." Church proudly declared.

Maine scoffed before turning back to Pyrrha, genuinely curious. 'So...how is it that you can understand me so easily?'

It was the question he really wanted to know. Even without Church saying anything, somehow, his friends were able to discern what he was attempting to communicate. It was odd. He wasn't even using sign language. And if they could actually try to understand him through facial expressions, they understood him as if he spoke his intent precisely.

Was he just that easy to read? Or did they just know him that well, despite having only been together for a few months?

Pyrrha smiled widely. "Isn't it obvious?" she asked, causing him to cock his head to the side rather cutely. "It's because we're friends, Jaune. No just partners or people who are on the same team because of convenience. It's also because I've learned to trust you. Because I got to learn more about you." She closed her eyes, remembering the peaceful days of when he was so adorably naive and inexperienced before she opened then again, looking up at the night sky. "By any chance...do you remember that night up on the rooftop? When I told you about how everyone just looked at me as someone who stood on a pedestal?"

'Yeah.' Maine smiled fondly, looking up at the same sky. 'As a matter of fact...it was the memory Alpha showed me to get me back on my feet.'

Pyrrha blushed again, her heart sent fluttering. She feared it would fly out of her chest. She took a breath to calm herself down. "You were the first person to just see me as someone else besides the Invincible Girl, Pyrrha Nikos. In fact, I think you were the only person I know of who just saw me as Pyrrha Nikos, the normal girl." She couldn't help but giggle when she remembered their first meeting: that day in the locker room when he tried to hit on Weiss. "It felt...refreshing. Wonderful. In fact, it was probably one of the happiest moments of my life."

"Quick question." Church interrupted. "Are you turning this into a love confession? If so, I'm out of here."

Maine hissed. 'Alpha, don't be a dick.'

"Just saying." he raised his hands in defense. He then flickered away, vanishing from sight.

Pyrrha rolled her eyes at the self-proclaimed ghost's antics before continuing. "I won't lie. I was actually trying to purposely get you to be my partner. If I had to choose between someone who would just listen to whatever I say, simply because I was the girl who won time after time again and someone who didn't know who I was and could act on their own...I would pick the latter." She grinned, laughing at the sheer absurdity of the idea yet also at how fortunate she had been. "Besides, when we met, you had your eyes set on Weiss."

Maine's jaw became unhinged. His face turned into one of utter horror. 'Please tell me that's a joke.' he begged. 'Please, tell me your joking.'

"I'm afraid not." she smirked at him. "You were head over heels for her."

'No...no no! Nononono! That can't be!' Maine denied it vigorously. 'Just what the hell was I jacked up on to be even remotely attracted to her?!' Was he drugged at that time? That had to be it! Wait, he was underage and this was before the military...Fuck! He was sober and was fully aware he was attracted to Weiss. Double triple fuck! He couldn't help but groan, covering his face into his hands with shame, wishing that he could just go back in time and punch his younger self for even trying to attempt to woo a stuck up girl like that. Sure, Weiss was a thousand times better than South was, but she could be vindictive at times. Just what the hell was he thinking?! Pyrrha couldn't help but laugh at his misfortune, though it was mostly light-hearted and good natured. She missed seeing him so flustered. It was proof that, despite being hardened into a soldier, the person she came to hold dearly was still there.

That fumbling boy who wanted to be a hero was back in her life.

"...I will say this, though." Pyrrha said as she calmed down. "I do miss hearing your voice."

Maine looked up, face still buried in his hands. Slowly, his hands traced his throat - right where the scar on his neck rested. Even to this day, he winced upon remembering how he received this wound. How could he forget. It was nine shots point blank to the throat. And following that, he was hit by a speeding truck and thrown off a highway. But still. A lack of voice made it a hard as hell to communicate. It was also what led to the mess of getting Sigma and the whole Meta shitstorm. But now that he thought about it...He couldn't really remember what he sounded like. He remembered Krimzen telling him that his Aura should be able to heal the damaged vocal cords, though given how long it had been since he last had access to it, it would take a great deal of time for him to heal the wounds. If it was possible. The doctor had made it quite clear that there was a possibility that his cords may not heal at all.

Even so...

'...I'll see what I can do.'


"Ugh... God, this party is so boring." Church groaned. Unlike usual, he was fully formed into a white-colored armored soldier, standing next to Penny and Tex with his arms crossed. "This would be a whole lot better if I could possess some poor bastard and then bring booze. Hell, I'd spike the freaking eggnog just for some shits and giggles."

Penny tilted her head. "They serve eggnog here?" she inquired. "But it is not winter time yet!"

"Figure of speech, Penny." Texas told her. "And man up, Church." She gave a quick look around the room. Her eyes narrowed as she saw a few students getting a bit too close towards each other. She caught a few hands roaming around in places they shouldn't be. Normally, she wouldn't be so annoyed, but for some reason, she felt greatly irritated. She didn't know why. Maybe it was because she was still trying to get used to this new body of hers? Or was it because she was sexually frustrated? On second thought, she preferred being unused to her body. That last idea sounded stupid and too damn idiotic.

"Oh, please. You're fed up with this as much as I am." Church snarked before he looked at the stage. "Also, who in the hell came up with this shitty music? What's this supposed to be? Acid Jazz?"

Penny smiled. "I believe so. Professor Oobleck chose it himself."

"Well, his taste in music sucks ass." The white-armored AI folded his arms as a light bulb suddenly appeared over his head. A second later, it lit up. If he had a mouth on him, it would have curled into a sinister smile. "Hey, Penny. I remember seeing a soundtrack list while I was in your head. You, uh, mind if I gave it a peek?"

"I have no problem with that." Penny responded with a smile, clearly not seeing any malevolent intentions in Church's otherwise dark demeanor. Texas noticed it, but made no move to stop him as she was genuinely curious to see what he had planned.

Without a second to lose, Church dived into Penny. The girl stumbled a bit as the color of her eyes shifted between cobalt blue to green and back again before settling to their natural color. Inside her head, other than Omega's pitiful whining about wanting to be free from his confines and kill everyone (starting with the professor named Oobleck for choosing this infernal music), she heard Church mumbling to herself.

"Okay, let's see what we've got here. Jump Up, Superstar... Wait, isn't that a Mario song? Eh, whatever. Indestructible? Is Penny a metal rock fan? She didn't look like it. Okay, what else? Shit. Shit. Chick flick music. Big Time Rush? Wasn't that a fake boy band or something? "You're my Best Friend?" What the f-?! This is sung by Caboose! Where the fuck did she get this?! No, wait. On second thought, I don't wanna know! AHA! Here we go!" A moment later, Penny felt her systems warm up rather pleasantly as she felt Church becoming more accustomed to her body. "Hey, Penny. I had this great idea. You know how to sing?"

She nodded vigorously. "Yes, I do." she said with a wide grin. "Father taught me himself as well as installed a few home videos for me to study."

"You want to give these people one hell of a night show?"

Penny gasped. "B-but I'm not allowed to stand out too much!" she said. In truth, she was incredibly nervous about getting up on stage as well as fearing upsetting the students. She wasn't quite confident in her singing skills yet. "I-I'm not prepared for this!"

"Hey, don't be so nervous. I'm right here with you. Besides, Morning Wood's gotta let you loosen up once in a while, right? Besides, wouldn't it make Ruby happy?"

"She would?" She questioned in curiosity and wonder.

"You bet she will. She loves music. And she would love it if her friend went out there and sang awesome to liven up this boring party." Church said, manipulating the poor girl to fulfill his plot. "So, come on! Live a little! I'll be helping out, every step of the way."

Texas sighed as she watched Penny's face shift through various emotions, each conflicting with one another before she nodded to herself and moved up to the stage. "Oh boy... Something tells me this will end very badly... Or I get a good laugh. Either way, should be fun." She soon gave a shrug and leaned against the column, taking a drink of her punch. Simply because her body was robotic didn't mean she didn't have to worry about parts rusting. She then frowned in distaste. "Ugh. I wish somebody had spiked the punch. Tastes like crap."

Penny walked up to the stage as the band got ready for their next song. She received a few odd stares, but she ignored them and approached a person she was quite familiar with, if only slightly due to her being apart of Atlas. "Pardon, Mister Coal."

The person she was addressing was a young man around the same age as the rest of the students. He was dark-skinned with dark brown eyes. He wore rectangular sunglasses and a dark fedora with a blue trim on his head, as well as an earring on his right ear. He also wore a dark vest over an untucked white dress shirt, with a loose tie wrapped around the collar. Completing his rather classy attire were a pair of dark dress pants, silver dress shoes and a dark glove on his left hand.

Noticing Penny, Flynt Coal smiled. "Well, if it ain't Penny Polendina." he said with a chuckle, lowering his trumpet. "What's up, girl? You digging the music?" Before she could answer, he lifted his hand. "Don't say a word. I know. We're kind of lacking. To be honest, I dunno how in the world that doc thinks this is even remotely Acid Jazz. I KNOW Acid Jazz."

"Actually, I had a good idea." Penny told him, earning his curiosity. Flustered, she twiddled her thumbs together. "If-if you'll let me."

Flynt grinned. "Hey, my ears are always open for a fellow sound bite. Wat'cha need, girl?" Penny then told him her idea as she presented her Scroll, showing the song she had in mind. Flynt looked at it for a moment before he whistled. "Not bad, Penny. Haven't done this little beauty in a while." He then looked up at her as he pulled down his glasses. "You got permission from the General to do this?" Her face told him everything. Strangely, though, it only made his grin grow. "Well, alright then. Let's put some real funk into this graveyard." He gave a small whistle to the band, who focused their attention to him. "Alright, boys! We're changing tunes! Get your butts ready, your mouths steady, and your hands funky~!"

They all nodded. Penny smiled and bowed her head towards the man. "Thank you so much!" she thanked him profusely, though Flynt waved it off. While he was sure he was going to get in trouble, he couldn't pass up a good opportunity like this. Besides, like Church, he was a bit disappointed with the show thus far. It would be nice to spice things up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ironwood look on, surprised to find Penny on stage with the band before a frown crossed his features. Shaking his head and praying for his own safety, he tipped his hat and moved over to the microphone, giving it a small tap and catching the crowd's attention.

Flynt cleared his throat before he spoke up. "Ladies and gents, groovers of Vale, Mistral, Vacuo and from my icy cold home, we've got a small change in plans. We decided to spice up your night with a beautiful gal for the vocals, and a tune guaranteed to get you on the dance floor." he said with a grin. At that moment, Maine and Pyrrha had returned to the party just in time for the show to begin.

Unknown to others, Penny's eyes flashed cobalt blue, circuits whirrling while a grin spread across her face. At that moment, the band began to play. "Huntress gals and Huntsmen bros, Team FNKI and Penny Polendia present... Signs of Love~!"

The band begun to play a new tune, consisting of an upbeat drum tempo. As Penny approached the lead microphone, the trumpets started to join on the fun. She opened her mouth, and sang.

Then the real party started.

~Signs of love overshadowed by dreams
Baby, don't worry coz you ain't alone
Only time running days without nights
Tears pass through~

The result of the new tune had quite the effect. In a few seconds, everyone was either moving along with the tune or back on the dance floor. From up on the second level of the room, where Ruby had moved to be with Yang, she couldn't help but tap her foot along giddily. "Gotta admit." Yang said, clearly appreciating the change in music. "She's got some moves." With a grin, she headed towards the stairs. "You know what? Screw it. I'm jumping in on the action."

"W-wait, what?" Ruby squeaked. "What-what am I supposed to do?"

"Join in on the fun, of course!"

The girl whined. "I told you! I can hardy walk in these death traps! I don't understand how Weiss can fight in them!"

~He said, "I'm the one who's got to leave"
I said, "Nobody's really got to leave coz"
"I don't hear enough explanation"
"All I need is admiration"
Big frustration bro he goes,
"Life is short we gave a shot,
but didn't work honey coz we had,
a whole lot going on and on,
and on..."~

Pyrrha clapped her hands, feet tapping along to the beat. "I must say, I never expected Penny to have such a beautiful voice." she said with clear enthusiasm. "It's certainly made the party more lively."

Maine nodded along. Much to his amusement, he found Theta awkwardly dancing along as well up above with Ruby. The girl clearly appreciated the thought since Yang had ditched her for the dance floor. Looking back towards it, he felt a small headrush pass through. It was brief, but a small scene had come to mind that brought a smile to his face. Turning to Pyrrha, he offered her his hand. 'Shall we dance?'

Pyrrha gave him a skeptical, yet challenging look. "You remember how to dance?"

'Only one way to find out!'

Without another word, he took her by the hand and pulled her along. Pyrrha was surprised at his forwardness, but then laughed and ran along with him. As Nora finished off the last of the shot glasses, cheering in victory as her opponent made a mad rush to the bathroom, she caught sight of the two holding hands and heading for the dance floor. Almost immediately, her eyes lit up with excitement. Ren could have sworn he saw stars in her eyes.

"Omigod! Ren! It! Is! Happening!"

"Wait, what is happening-whoa, hey!" Before he could protest further, Nora grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him over to the dance floor.

~Signs of love overshadows my dreams
Baby, don't worry coz you ain't alone
Only time running days without nights
Tears pass through~

The duo joined up with Jaune and Pyrrha at the center. The crowd parted to let them take the stage of the dance floor.

And just in time, as Flynt took center stage with a rather impressive trumpet solo.

Jaune had no idea what exactly he was doing. He was letting his muscle memory take over. His team mates followed his lead. Much to everyone's surprise, they broke out into a coordinated dance.

Kick step, kick step, body roll.

Cheers and shouts filled the entire room as a few others tried to join in. Off to the back, Yang and Blake moved together. The Faunus-in-hiding was obviously having trouble keeping herself steady. She was most certainly not used to this sort of dancing. Yang, however, was there every step in the way and keeping her close, all the while grinning and laughing. Sun could only watch with amusement and excitement, seeing the girl break a leg out there and stepping out of her comfort zone. That, and he wasn't going to lie. He found it slightly arousing.

On the other end, Neptune and Weiss had also taken to the dance floor, much to the former's embarrassment. "B-But I told you." he insisted with hesitation. "I don't know how to dance."

Weiss was undeterred and smiled, taking both of his hands into hers. "Then I'll simply just have to teach you."

On the second level above, Ruby and Theta had fallen into their own little awkward dance routine, though neither seemed to care much and were able to enjoy themselves. Down below, Ironwood still looked rather irritated by Penny's actions, but he couldn't help but feel proud of her for taking up the initiative. That, and her singing lessons. "She's quite good." Ozpin remarked as he took a sip of his drink. "A lovely voice."

"You can blame her father for that." Ironwood responded. "Still, I wish she'd be more careful. She's still so young and this is her first time being around so many people. Last thing I want is for people to ostracize her if they discover the truth about her."

"I sincerely doubt it will come to that." Ozpin said with faith. "By the way, where is Delta?"

"He insisted on running programs over at the CTT. Since I couldn't get permission from the Council to install some safety hardware, I decided to..." Ironwood sighed, saying words he never imagined he would be saying. "...take a page from Qrow and work around the rules."

Back at the dance floor, as Flynt started to get into it, body swaying into the motions, the focus of attention turned to Maine and Pyrrha, the two starting to dance like showmen at a rather high-end club.

~Baby I remembered you have dreams
That would not to intent by zero
Cloudy sky overshadowed by rain
Baby don't cry

All of song repeats my soundless speed
you have created it again
countless tears falling down you will see
signs of love~

With the song close to its end, Maine's hands wrapped around Pyrrha's body in various motions. The red-head couldn't believe what he was capable of as she found herself being thrown and spinning around him. As the tempo started to increase and reach the climax, Maine went faster. Suddenly, she found herself spinning in mid-air, heart throbbing before she landed back in Maine's arms, her body once again flowing about before Flynt played the last note, letting it hang in the air. The Invincible Girl then managed to regain her bearings and promptly felt her cheeks heat up when she realized what pose they were in.

Maine held her up with one arm while she was leaning back. Maine himself was leaning forward, their noses barely touching and her arm wrapped around his neck for support. Pyrrha was left utterly breathless, her green eyes staring back at his red ones. She could barely register the roaring claps, cheers and whistles or the excited howls of Nora who shouted gibberish nonsense.

"Where..." she found herself breathing again. "Where did you learn to dance like that?"

Maine smirked. 'I remember learning it from my sisters...but the last one I got from York.'


Of course, in spite of the festive mood at the dance party, no one had even noticed the absence of a single individual. Or to be more specific, only two people noticed their absence but never mentioned it. They felt no need to, nor did they need to.

After all, said individual was at the CTT tower, getting ready for a party of their own.

The elevator doors opened, allowing a woman to step inside. The woman wore an entirely black outfit, consisting of a sleeveless jacket, long gloves, stiletto heel boots, a black glass mask, and several straps with containers of powdered Dust lined across the pants. Her hair was black, flowing down to her shoulders while her amber eyes gave a menacing, yet alluring glow. As she exited the elevator, two unconscious bodies of Atlesian soldiers fell out, dazed or utterly bruised.

"This is almost too easy..." She mused as she sauntered up to the main terminal on the far end of the room. Security was pretty lax due to the festivities. A major error on the School's part. But no matter. It made her job much easier. She pulled out a scroll from her pocket and hooked it up to the main terminal.

As she began to work, the communication piece in her ear spared. "Heads up. The General's had enough fun for tonight. Should we intervene?"

The woman smirked as a series of numbers formed across the screen before they formed into what appeared to be a chess piece. "No need." she told her friends as she stepped away, watching the other consoles starting to light up. "We've got everything we need for the bash." She then grabbed her Scroll from the terminal, severing the connection and leaving behind a little "gift" for the computer to process. Just as she backed away, she heard the elevator doors opening. Slowly, she looked over her shoulder and found someone she didn't expect to see so soon.

Ruby Rose, the silver-eyed girl, with her scythe in hand.

"Who are you?!" She demanded. She no doubt noticed the unconscious guards and established the connection.

Cinder remained silent. Merely forging a black bow out of Dust and three arrows nocked and ready to fire. Quickly, Ruby defended and spun her scythe around, cutting down the arrows with ease. With a twirl, she slammed her scythe into the ground and fired several rounds, only for the woman's bow to separate into blades and swiftly cut each bullet down. Without missing a beat, she took out one of the Dust containers and popped it open, creating icicles and sending them flying straight at her. Ruby pulled her scythe out and used the recoil of a shot to propel her away, landing safely away. She stumbled a bit, her ankles nearly twisting in the wrong direction. She looked up to find the woman smiling at her, eyes burning sinisterly.

Somehow, the sight seemed familiar to Ruby. She could have sworn she's seen this woman before, but where? Then she remembered.

"You!" she gritted her teeth. "You were with Roman at the shop robbery!"

The woman smirked. However, just before she could act, the elevator doors opened again, catching their attention. Ruby looked over her shoulder and promptly found Ironwood standing there, face impassive for only a moment before they narrowed sharply at the sight before him. Ruby quickly turned her head back to the woman, only to find her gone from sight.

"Ah, fudge baskets..." she moaned as she folded her weapon.

Slowly, Ironwood stepped out from the elevator. "...would you mind explaining what happened here?"

"Um, I-Ironwood, sir, I can explain-!"

The man held up a hand. "Not you, Ruby." he told her politely before turning to the console. "Delta. Report."

Ruby's eyes widened as he looked at the console the woman was at earlier. Appearing above it was none other than the green-armored AI Fragment of Logic. [An unknown assailant incapacitated several security guards and attempted to input a command into the console.] he answered. [Ruby attempted to apprehend her, though she escaped.]

"I see...and what did she try to input?"

Rather than speak, Delta waved a hand, bringing up a holographic image of what appeared to be a chess piece. One Ruby recognized from Initiation. "A Queen chess piece?" she asked, confused as she looked at Ironwood for answers, only to find the Headmaster of Atlas Academy with a hardened look on his face, teeth bared in barley contained anger. Especially when Delta presented another image that was shown alongside the chess piece. It was barely noticable at first, but it was most certainly there.

A stylized "W."

"Watts..."


A response to Headmaster Ozpin from General James Ironwood

Oz,

I understand your reservations, but the fleet is necessary. I am fully aware that we are in times of peace, but even you are also aware of how much danger lurks underneath that peace. We cannot stand idly by, waiting for Salem to act. Or, heavens forbid, Queen to act.
Often times, it is necessary for us to act first. Even if my actions may come across as a show of force, we need simply more than a few Huntsman.
That is why I worked to gain clearance from the Council to bring the fleet over to Vale for the duration of the festival. They will only act as security detail, nothing more I assure you. Furthermore, I have yet to receive an answer from Jaune Arc about my offer. I will classify this action as his refusal to take up the armor. I will abide by his decision and not force him into a role that once broke him.
It is a shame that we do not have a suitable candidate for the STRIKER, but it cannot be helped. Even so, there is another matter.
Particularly regarding Teams RWBY and JNPR...
It is about those reports I received about those teams being involved in the runaway Atlesian Paladin Prototype on the highway. While I commend them for taking action and putting a stop to it rampage, they were reckless in their actions. Furthermore, Penny has informed me of the nature of their expedition, about how they attempted to uncover Roman Torchwick's affiliations with the White Fang and their plans.
They're too reckless. If they aren't careful, they'll get themselves killed. Or worse.
But... There is potential for them.
I'd like to talk to you in depth in person about the matter.
See you soon, old friend.

A/N: Well, this chapter is longer than intended, but since it covers my all-time favorite episode in the whole damn series, save for the first episode of Volume 5 for an entirely other reason, I will justify it. Plus, as you can see, canon is officially starting to deviate. Now, before I get into the nitty gritty, let's talk about some minor changes.

First off, Ironwood. I've always felt people portrayed him as too overbearing or often overreacted. Granted, the man knows about shit that would scare you to death, but still, there is too much and then there is what he does. I wanted to portray Ironwood was the sort of man who still has his human qualities, but is still far too overprotective in regards to certain matters. As you can see in his interactions with Maine, he knows better than to try to force him into working for him. He knows what he is capable of, and what caused him to develop those skills. This chapter is fully meant to realize that picture as he isn't forcing Maine to jump back into the fire. He's just giving him the option. It's a simple yes or no with no negative consequence.

Secondly, Maine/Jaune himself. People have been telling me, "hey, what happened to his soldier instincts? Why isn't he being more overbearing or attentive to his surroundings?" As of this chapter, and from what happened last chapter, people will no doubt be raising the pitchforks. Let me explain as to why I've done this. Maine/Jaune is still coping with what's happened. He's slowly, but surely, starting to become accustomed to his old life again. The life he had forgotten and is finally reliving. It's why he's been trying to bury his old soldier self, but as we all know, it isn't all that simple. Once you've learned something, it becomes difficult to forget it. In his case, especially after fighting Torchwick, and more recently Mercury, he knows he needs to get stronger. Back to where he used to be. And he is definitely going to need it for what I have planned while Team RWBY is at Mountain Glenn.

Thirdly, Theta. The child-like AI. The cliffhanger more or less left people under the impression that he would have been utterly PISSED at Maine/Jaune for taking North away from him. However, you must remember that Theta is also the Alpha's Trust. Each Fragment has a specific emotion. They develop other emotions, like Epsilon himself who is more or less a less-than-complete Alpha, or Delta who, in spite of being Alpha's logic, developed a comradery with York and trusted him explicitly. In this case, Theta would develop other emotions, but he is the Alpha's Trust. He would want to try and trust others, even if he has reservations. The real problem is that while Theta is willing to trust Maine/Jaune, the latter isn't willing to trust himself. Especially since he's still dealing with the side-effects of being mindfucked by Sigma.

With that out of the way...let's move on to the highlight of the chapter. The ending with Delta. C'mon. Be honest. Did you honestly think that our favorite little green dude was just here for show? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Shame on you. He is here for a reason. Hell, I've had this scene planned out in my head ever since I started this damn story! Mark my words, Cinder Fall's plans are going to be crumbling fast and canon will be flipping on its head in unexpected ways! I'm not going to deviate too much, but I won't get into spoilers either. I can't spoil everything for you all.

And...I think that's it really. Oh, wait. The moment with Pyrrha and Jaune/Maine. As an Arkos fan, I'm sure my brothers and sisters were also squealing by what they saw! I would like to point out, however, that at this time, their relationship isn't romantic. Right now, Jaune/Maine is broken. Pyrrha is trying to pick up the pieces and put them back together. His decision to try and undergo speech therapy is just a step in the right direction. That, and as much as it is, having Church translate for him, it...it honestly becomes a bit too tiresome. By Volume 3, Jaune/Maine will somewhat be able to talk again. Just not fully.

He's got to figure out how to use his Aura more properly, after all.

I think that's all of it now. If you liked this chapter, please tell me what you all thought in your reviews. For newcomers who've binge-read this, if you enjoyed it, please favorite and/or follow this story to be further notified when this story gets updated and-

Oh, you know what? Fuck that. I sound like a goddamn Youtuber! Just review the chapter and tell me what you think!

Later losers, and I'll see you next chapter!