Private Carmine stared at the hospital room ceiling silently, his eyes were red and puffy, most of the night he spent sobbing more than he ever had in his life. The pain of his injuries made it worse, so he was thankful the nurses upped his dosage of morphine. He felt like a failure to his squad, to his family, to the COG. He wasn't certain if this all real just yet, despite his initial thoughts from the previous day, this was just too outlandish. The leading hypothesis was that he was dying in reality, that the stomach acid fumes must've had some sort of hallucinogenic effect that his respirator wasn't able to stop.
His guts must be mush right now, those parasites were eating him, something in their saliva or some sort of venom put him in a coma and it was only extending the last moments of his life in a hallucination, that's what it had to be. Something smart and scientific, something Daniel would say.
The dull pain from his wounds told him otherwise though, he felt the IVs in his arms, they were so distinct, but could that have been a side effect of the hallucination? Piecing together old sensations and memories to make it seem so real so he wouldn't fight back? Maybe he had been watching too many scifi and superhero shows, maybe he was over thinking a situation he could not explain. In either event, he had to think of something to say to the grey-haired man and the blonde hottie, something, anything that didn't sound batshit crazy.
"Fuck." Carmine muttered to himself, wiring his eyes shut,
His stomach flipped and flopped, nausea washed over him like a high tide. It took a great deal of reservation to not puke. The anti-nausea medicine only did so much for Ben, his stomach grumble but he wasn't too excited about puting food in it just had yet. He had half a mind to try and escape the hospital room but he was without his uniform and weapons, safe to say he wouldn't get far with his bare ass exposed to the cold air, without a gun, or a destination.
His hand tenderly touched the stiches beneath his gown, along his leg and waist. When he was struck by the giant scorpion, Ben had failed to notice that he was impaled by small branches and slashed by small rocks, coupled with a few broken ribs, he was lucky to even be awake right now.
The clicking of heels brought his eyes back up to the nurse, Miss Yarrow Blanche, she was a sweet older woman that gave him a puke bucket after his midnight vomiting episode, he gave her an apologetic smile, "I'm really sorry about last night."
"Its alright mister Carmine, you just rest now." The woman's smile reminded him of Mama Carmine's, she must've been a mother herself to be tentative and have such a familiar smile, "Do you feel like you could keep anything down?"
"Bacon?" He asked redundantly, there was no way in hell he could keep something that greasy down.
Tenderly she adjusted his pillow his pillow with a soft smile on her lips, "I was thinking more along the line of porridge with a bit of honey in it."
"I'll try it, please, ma'am." Benjamin was the most polite son out of his brothers, despite his occasional cursing, something he picked up from Clay and basic training in general.
Nurse Yarrow patted his arm softly, yet stopped short of leaving, "Oh, Headmaster Ozpin will be down soon to ask you some questions, something about the initiation from yesterday."
While Ben nodded and thanked the woman, his blood ran cold, he had no idea what he was going to say to the man, 'Hi, I'm Private Ben Carmine of the COG, please don't throw me in the looney bin.'
The young Gear lied down in dread, he supposed that the truth was the only thing he could tell him after all, Ben Carmine was no liar. Clay pointed that out whenever he tried weaseling his way out of things, Anthony was better, Clay and Dan however had the best poker faces, none of them could withstand Mama Carmine's glare.
Time flew by and before he knew it, the Headmaster was walking towards him with a mug of coffee in one hand while his opposite hand was occupied with his cane. Though he was green as grass, Ben noticed how fit the older man was, he highly doubted that the cane was wholly necessary and decided he'd keep his eye on it just in case.
Without his helmet to cover his face, Ben knew how pensive if not scared he must've looked to the older man, because he gave a friendly, almost disarming, smile before sitting down at his bedside. Ozpin set his cane aside, within arm's reach, and cuffed the coffee cup with both hands. Benjamin was not all to certain about interrogation techniques, but he feared what a hot cup of coffee to his face might do.
"Now that you've had time to rest, with no adrenaline muddling your thoughts," He tilted his glasses back, focusing directly on Ben's wide youthful blue eyes, "perhaps you'd like to start from the beginning, young man."
Benjamin swallowed hard, his throat stung from the sobbing and the vomiting from last night, but he held onto his COG tags and met the man's gaze, "Private Benjamin Carmine, CSID 83B186-22AO3-SF."
Ozpin's eyes betrayed nothing, "Yes, I know that Private Carmine. What I'm interested in is why you were in the Emerald Forest during Beacon Academy's annual initiation?"
Ben didn't have a clue about what the hell he was talking about, "Private Benjamin Carmine, CSID 83B186-22AO3-SF."
"Young man, you're not in any trouble, yet." Ozpin stressed the last word, watching Ben's pupils dilate, his hands balled into fists despite knowing he was in no condition to take anyone on, let alone a fighter like Ozpin, "I am simply trying to understand your situation, why were you in the Emerald Forest?"
"Private Benjamin Carmine," His eyes went up to nurse Yarrow, who stood a few feet back from Ozpin, holding his tray in her hands with a concerned look on her face, "CSID 83B186-22AO3-SF."
Ozpin sat back in his chair, his resolve was not remotely shaken or in the least bit deterred, "Private Carmine, while I admire your dedication to whoever your people are, I am trying to help you."
Benjamin was not completely certain about the man's intent, he wasn't certain about anything anymore, one thing was clear though, this was not the COG and he did what he was trained to do when captured by human forces, "Private Benjamin Carmine, CSID 83B186-22AO3-SF."
"Hmmmm…" Ozpin narrowed his eyes, it was pretty brave that this young man was being so resistant to someone of his authority, though it was also doing him no favors in the Headmaster's eyes, "very well, then perhaps you will sit and listen then."
Benjamin refused the urge to grip the helm of his blanket and met the man's stare with a held breath, reciting the Austere Canon ideals, the words drilled into the minds of every Coalition civilian from the day they entered the educational system, 'Order, diligence, purity, labor, honor, loyalty, faith and humility.'
"I am Headmaster Ozpin, though I do answer to professor, Beacon Academy is my combat school where we train the finest Huntsmen and Huntresses in the world to fight the creatures of darkness, the Grimm." The man's spectacles flashed when he leaned forward, resting his elbow on his knee, "The very same creatures you fought yesterday."
'Boy I sure wish I had my helmet.' If the look on Ozpin's face was anything to go by, Benjamin was telegraphing just how much that revelation shocked him. Military academies and basic training were the only places outside of gyms where you learned how to fight, that and schoolyards too, what this man was saying fell into neither category.
"I'd like to thank you for the heroic effort you put into saving Miss Rose's life, I'm sure she appreciates it too."
The warm smile Ozpin gave him made Ben uncomfortable, he couldn't tell if this conversation was going to devolve into a good cop all the way to bad cop scenario. He looked past Ozpin to nurse Yarrow, the woman looked concerned, it was twisting a knife in his heart to see her worry over him, stranger, or foreigner, she reminded him too much of Mama Carmine.
"I-I don't know." Ben yielded, covering his mouth, his voice cracked, and damn him, his eyes were starting to water again, "I just don't know, sir."
Ozpin carefully rested his hand on Ben's forearm, gently patting him as his stare softened. Tears started to flow freely down his cheeks, shame, guilt, confusion, fear. He shamed the Carmine family and the Coalition, breaking down in tears in front of these foreigners, possible enemies of the COG, he was raised to be a Gear, trained to be the most effective soldier he could be to fight the Locust Horde and drive the Human Race away from the cliff of extinction.
And here he was, crying, in the presence of possible foes.
"I don't know-" Ben tried wiping his eyes, only for more tears to flow. Now he could only imagine Clay and Dan's disappointment in him, crying, like the little squirt he was. Anthony faced his death like a man, fighting for his species, his family, for the COG, and here he was dishonoring his memory.
"Its alright, you're not in any trouble Ben," Ozpin said, honestly surprised that the young soldier had broken down so violently, in a fit of shaking sobs.
Nurse Yarrow had set aside her tray and started patting Ben's back, she knelt down and brought the young man's face against her shoulder, letting him cling against her. Ozpin kept quiet as the woman shot him a look. The old Headmaster had been somewhat familiar with the head nurse of his academy, nothing outside the realm of their professions and signing her paychecks, what he was certain of though is that she had a son who went to Shade Academy years ago and paid the ultimate price that many Huntsmen paid when performing their duties. He doubted that Benjamin looked like her son, but he could sense the protective glare that only a mother could have.
Benjamin started to come down from his sobbing fit, bashfully glancing up at nurse Yarrow, his cheeks burned bright red. He wiped his eyes, feeling more like a foolish child instead of the gear he should've been. Ben shut his eyes tight, nodding his head, "It was my first day."
Ozpin set his coffee aside, listening intently, "Your first day of what Ben?"
Private Carmine opened his eyes, he was too tired, too confused, too scared, "My first day, my first day as a Gear in The COG."
/
Private Carmine told Ozpin everything about his first day; Sergeant Fenix, the raid on Jacinto med, Operation Hollow Storm, Stromson Forest, Landown, the Inner Hollow, and of course Illima. That damn worm. He doubted that either Ozpin or nurse Yarrow believed him, if Ozpin had any reservations, he did not state them. The only time the man spoke was just for clarifications of events and names, such as the COG, the Locusts, Sera itself.
Finished with his story, he lied back, uncaring if they believed him or not. Benjamin knew that he would be shot if he ever returned home, for his negligent desertion in the field of battle and for espionage, telling these foreigners his secrets instead of repeating his rank, name, and serial number. After all, how could he even defend himself in court? Well, that's if he ever returned home to Sera, he supposed that's the real reason he broke down like that. The realization that Sera, Tyrus, the COG, Mama Carmine…he would never see them again.
"Your story is fascinating, to say the least," Ozpin seemingly humored the young man, somewhat disappointed that his coffee was reduced to cold bean water, "do you have anything that could help with confirming these events?"
Carmine stared up at the ceiling, hating himself and the whole world, "You've got all my stuff."
"True, but you must understand how extraordinary this whole situation is to us."
Ben could've snorted if he was more like Anthony, "You got my Lancer, my Longshot, the damn helmet record- THE HELMET RECORDING!"
Ozpin recoiled as Benjamin suddenly sat up, both of Carmine's hands slapping against his own face in wide eyed realization, he however fell back with a strangle yelp, clutching his abdomen. Nurse Yarrow was immediately trying to keep the Carmine from thrashing around too much, her brow creased with concern, she did shoot Ozpin another dirty look, one that made the Beacon Headmaster flinch, "Professor, you've excited my patient enough for one day, if you'd please show yourself-"
"Wait! Wait!" Ben managed to wheeze out, waving Ozpin closer, "The code, access code- Charlie-Omega-Gold, number 186-22, Ben Carmine never lies! I'm telling you the truth, sir!"
Suddenly, Benjamin grabbed the bucket by his bedside and unleashed hell into it, furiously gagging and heaving, his stomach acid and blood mixing together in the bottom of the container. Blood seeped through his hospital gown, the stitches had sprung loose.
Without wanting to further risk the ire of the head nurse, Ozpin wrote down the code Benjamin had told him, on his way out of the infirmary he snorted, then chuckled softly, "Charlie Omega Gold. COG 186-22, how original."
"I'm sorry Ben, but I've got to put you under, all that jostling around opened up one of your wounds." Nurse yarrow gave him the best apologetic look she could muster, her heart ached for the poor boy, "I'll get the doctor and see to fixing your stitching."
"Its okay," He grunted feeling the cold liquid flow through his veins, instinctively he grabbed her hand after she had adjusted his dosage, pleading as he met her eyes, "don't go-"
"I won't, don't worry, I'm right here." She cuffed his hand, squeezing tightly as he shivered and shook, tenderly, she brushed his hair to the side. Just as Ben was starting to drift back to sleep, Yarrow started to hum softly, caressing his cheek with her fingers, tears brimming in her eyes as she thought of her son.
/
Ozpin inwardly cursed himself, he shouldn't have been so demanding of the young man. The logical side of his mind told him to send Benjamin Carmine to a mental hospital in Vale, some place where the young man could get proper treatment for whatever mania he was suffering from and investigate the origins of his armor with a friendly call to Atlas.
Though he hoped for a reasonable, logical, more grounded explanation, he had a sinking feeling the answer was not so simple. Magic once existed on Remnant, gods once existed on Remnant, he himself was a participant in his past lives. Desperately, Ozpin hoped his logical side would pan out, but he wasn't ready to start filling out admission forms for the asylum just yet.
After a silent contemplative ride up to his office, Ozpin joined his most trusted professors as they examined the recovered weapons and armor Carmine had in his possession. Combi-weapons like a chainsaw-assault rifle was not particularly unique on Remnant, the serial numbers however signified the weapon wasn't custom made, nor did it have any SDC or other recognizable logos. The oddest thing about Benjamin's weapons were that he had three of them, something that wasn't common with the Huntsmen of Remnant. Most aspiring Huntsmen and Huntresses would focus on a single weapon that may transfigure into another weapon, they would hone that style to complement their semblance and do their best to serve the people of Remnant.
Benjamin Carmine was no Huntsman in training, this much Ozpin could confirm. The chainsaw-assault rifle was the most unique weapon in his arsenal, save for the flail-grenades he also possessed, everything else seemed carbon copied, mass produced. Though he would still put in a call to General Ironwood, Ozpin had a feeling the blue and black armor wasn't going to be Atlas' latest uniform trend.
Professor Port finished setting up the projector, Oobleck was still trying to understand the origins of the blue book labeled, "Citizen's guide to Jacinto", no such town existed on registry from the CCT, and if Benjamin needed a guide to navigate this supposed city then it was obvious, he was no native to it.
Ozpin glanced at Professor Goodwitch, his Vice Headmistress was tracing her finger along the crack of Benjamin's armor, pure luck saved his life as he had no Aura. Military grade equipment, military training from outside of Atlas, no registry of a town named Jacinto, and no registry of the name Benjamin Carmine. The asylum seemed to be a less sound option the more he examined the recovered items, insane ramblings would be one thing, these items were far too complex for a singular mentally disturbed young man could produce. Ozpin was still holding out for a much more reasonable explanation, preferring it over what he was suspecting the truth was.
"Ohh, blast it," Professor Port muttered, his finger hovering shakingly over the numerous functions for the projector on his scroll, "Bart, how do you work this confounded thing?"
Doctor Oobleck glanced over Professor Port's shoulder, he selected the option that connected Port's scroll to Ben's helmet and would allow the recording to be viewed on screen, snorting lightly as Port bristled with irritation.
"Hmph!" Professor Port fixed his collar after setting down the scroll, "in my day we only had-"
"Two sticks and a rock, and you had to share the rock." Oobleck finished with a snicker.
Ozpin hid his smile with his coffee mug, Glynda herself cracked a small smile as Port exaggerated his outrage, trying to not break his spurred character with a chuckle, Oobleck had managed to win one over Port. Their friendly banter was something that many staff members of Beacon enjoyed as it made their professional careers of teaching students less stale. Finally came the code that Benjamin had told Ozpin before he was forced to rest again, with his colleagues taking their seats, Ozpin typed in the code and unlocking the video hud.
Ozpin felt his stomach flip.
On a blue background there was a white cog with a pair of wings flanking its sides greeted the professors of Beacon, beneath the insignia was the title of Ben's presumed organization, "The Coalition of Ordered Governments."
"What in the world," Doctor Oobleck muttered, his mind began racing through the years of studying of archaeological adventures he participated in throughout Remnant. He had never met such an organization, much less a government, that bore this name or emblem.
Whatever comment Professor Port or Goodwitch had, they kept to themselves, their faces however conveyed the same confusion that Oobleck had. The Kingdoms and Menagerie were the only governments active on Remnant, independent communities that did not recognize the authority of the Kingdoms existed, some perished, others were dens of criminals, and even the most defiant of these communities traded with the greater Kingdom government reluctantly.
None of these independent communities had manufacturing power to create Ben's armor or weapons, the technological resources or skill to utilize recording technology in full functioning recording helmets.
Ozpin picked the first recording that was labeled, 'Welcome to Delta.'
/
Benjamin groaned when he came to, like in the morning he lied in silence, staring up at the ceiling. He wanted to take the Lancer bayonet to his face, how could he break down in tears like that? Was he a kid or a Gear? The whole time he fought alongside Delta, going from the hospital to the Hollows, to the surface, to that damn worm, he did not come close to crying.
'Deserter, deserter, de-fucking-serter.' Ben slapped himself, this was not desertion, hell, he wouldn't even call it AWOL, he got teleported to another fucking universe. How the hell was he supposed to be blamed for that?
Slowly he forced himself to sit up, he felt the new stitches and they were tender like hell. He glanced out the available window, watching students in their school uniforms walk along the pathways, almost like there was no E-Day, no Locust Horde to worry about. Ben chuckled softly, nodding his head, this was just not happening, it just wasn't.
"Sergeant Fenix will kick down that door," He muttered to himself, eyes wound shut, "and he'll shout at me, going, 'Damnit Rook! What the fuck are you doing sitting on your ass? Get back into formation-'"
"It certainly sounds like something he'd say."
Ben jumped and shook in his bed, eyes wide as Ozpin stood next to his bed, arms crossed, still holding his coffee mug. With his heart racing in his ears, he saw the serious look in Ozpin's eyes.
"Private Carmine, we need to talk."
/
'I'm a Gear, y'know?'
Ruby did not know, she didn't understand what Ben meant by that. Despite her initial anxiety of being made team leader, her issue with Weiss that was thankfully resolved, she had been mulling over that single sentence for almost three nights and two days.
Before she could get any deeper in thought, her scroll pinged with a message, her silver eyes wide, Ozpin was requesting her presence.
"Hey, who's that? Some boyfriends I don't know about texting my little sister for a late night date?" Yang teased, lilac eyes flashing with amusement at the look of horror on Ruby's face, turning to mild disgust.
"Ewww, Yang! Don't say that so loud, its from Ozpin, he wants to see me in the infirmary." Ruby's frown only grew deeper as Blake and Weiss, of all people, snickered at her indignant response, "What's so funny?"
"The impressive high octave, the rosy red cheeks, or your fists on your hips," Weiss listed off with a smile, "Personally it's the frown you're trying to pull off."
"Hmmph!" Ruby tried frowning harder, arms crossed with her cheeks puffed out, sliver eyes glimmering with fury.
Blake nearly spat her food out, coughing as she tried to swallow, "Please- just stop, its too adorable."
"Grrr," Ruby saw the futility as her sister busted out laughing, even JNPR thought her attempts of looking angry were hilarious. Pyrrha was politely trying to cover her mouth as she laughed, Ren smiled for the first time Ruby could recall, Nora was shameless in her chuckling, and Jaune could only offer an apologetic look.
Jaune's eyes suddenly popped when his scroll chimed, "Hey, I got one too."
Yang's eyes took an almost feline quality, "Ohhh, so is Ozpin playing matchmaker now?"
Now it was Jaune's turn to show off his bashful side, his cheeks turned red as Ruby's, gasping, trying to come up with a witty retort but fell flat with a shake of his head, "C'mon Ruby, let's go see what Ozpin needs from us, before we die of embarrassment."
Despite her ribbing, Yang did take care to watch the two team leaders leave the dining hall together, out of the corner of her eye though, she saw Pyrrha doing the same thing. When their eyes met, Pyrrha looked away, cheeks flushing red like her hair, glancing back at Yang as the blonde's lips pursed back with a grin that sent chills down the young Mistrialian's spine.
Yang didn't ping Pyrrha as the jealous type.
/
"Ohhh, I hate it when Yang does that!" Ruby fumed, her cheeks still puffed out, red like roses.
"Don't let it get to you Ruby, she was just doing that as a joke, even though it sucks being the butt of that joke." Jaune sighed, head leaning back as the drudged forward to the infirmary, "You get used to it, I guess, y'know, seven sisters and all."
Ruby patted Jaune's shoulder, smiling softly, "Sisters, you can't live with them or without them."
Jaune snorted, smiling back at her, feeling a little bit less like the biggest dork on Remnant. He swallowed hard however, his anxiety was playing tricks on him, after all, why would Ozpin call him and Ruby to the infirmary over his forged transcripts?
'Unless…he wanted to beat me up in from of Ruby to prove a point on why you don't forge your way into Beacon!'
The blond boy nodded his head, Ozpin wouldn't be a sadist like that, he would've pried him away from his team in the early hours or the afternoon, so he could take the next airship back to Vale, "Sooo, do you have any idea what this is about?"
"I dunno," She chirped, "maybe it has to do with Ben."
"Bennn, oh yeah," Jaune nodded seemingly satisfied, then his brow creased as he looked off to the side, then tapped his chin, "Ben? Ben who?"
"Carmine, the guy in the helmet that got hit with Pyrrha." Ruby said matter of factly, completely casually as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, until her hand went up to her face with a snicker, "Sorry, I forgot that I didn't tell anyone I went to thank him for sticking his neck out for me."
"You did? So how was he?"
Ruby hissed softly, rubbing the back of her neck, "He looked pretty hurt, I think his ribs were broken or bruised really badly, his Aura must've been shattered when that Deathstalker hit him."
"He's lucky, just like me," Jaune nodded with a disgusted shudder, "the bug threw me like a baseball- but I did get to save Weiss from her fall~"
Ruby snickered at the dumb happy look on Jaune's face, she did not understand what a goofball like him saw in Weiss to make him swoon so hard but whatever it was, he was sticking with it.
/
"Wow, it looks brand spanking new!" Ben checked the Longshot's scope with a critical eye, the glass was replaced with expert craftsmanship, setting the rifle aside he examined his Lancer, "You even stripped the Lancer and cleared out the worm gunk? Wow! Oh my gosh, that's just awesome! Thank you so much sir! You're the best!"
Professor Port covered his bashful chuckle with a fist, masking it as a cough, blushing with rosy cheeks. Watching the young man fawn over his items, "Well, your field manual was helpful, and I figured it was the least I could do for you, young man, after your ordeal with those terrible beasts."
Benjamin was a kid in the candy shop, his weapons were all cleaned, and his gear was fixed, the combat school's expert armor craftsmen were delighted, astonished even with the Gear armor set they were given. Considering their lack of orders, they had fixed the integrity of Carmine's armor and even the dents in his helmet.
Ozpin had a thin grin splayed on his lips, it was refreshing to see the young man in high spirts after his short breakdown, he certainly had the same cheerful energy he had from the video they watched. He felt a great deal of pity for the young man, his nation was besieged by an enemy more intelligent, possibly more deadly than the Grimm and now, he was unable to help them.
The Locust at first seemed like the Faunus, as separate from Mankind but similar, Benjamin's combat footage however showed that there was no comparison between the two races. Genocide was the Locust creed, and Humanity could only respond in kind for its very survival. He dreaded the idea of Locust appearing on Remnant, the devastation and fear they would usher Mankind's doom on this world.
Ozpin could tell Glynda did not approve of his shenanigans, first with Ruby Rose, then with Jaune Arc's transcripts, and now with allowing Private Carmine to enroll in the academy. Perhaps in her point of view it was inappropriate for allowing a child soldier from another world the opportunity to enroll into Beacon, maybe she felt that he was taking advantage of his authority, stepping over its limits even. However, Ozpin saw that it would be better to have Ben Carmine use the skills he had, improve on them, and lend a hand into defending Humanity on Remnant just as he did on Sera. There was little reason to waste talent when he found it, no matter how unorthodox its origin, he certainly did not want to abandon Carmine to the authority of Vale's Council to deliberate over, his life would be held in less than empathetic hands.
Private Carmine tested the Lancer bayonet with a chuckle, she purred like a good death kitten, sharp bladed teeth ran like a blur of pain. Satisfied, he let the engine die out and rolled his shoulders, Ben's newly repaired armor felt like a second skin with his Longshot locked securely to his back. He honestly did not expect his armor to be repairable after taking the hard swipe from the Deathstalker, as he now knew the big bug to be. The Grimm threw him off, they were basically demons that could die from bullets, from his understanding at the very least.
There was a lingering bit of envy in his mind, Sera was dying due to the war with the Locust, yet Remnant was in a state of status quo with their monsters. Hundreds to thousands were dying each week on Sera whereas on Remnant they were only in the dozens per month with the Grimm. Despite not being able to serve the COG, Ben could at the very least try to understand how the humans of this world could keep such monsters at bay, just in case he ever returned home, he'd have something useful to offer and try to excuse his absence.
Just before Professor Port started to spin one of his tales from his tenure to the young Gear, the hospital doors sprung open. Ben stifled a gasp, he immediately recognized Ruby and recalled the blond boy being at the initiation, all except his name. Ruby's silver eyes lit up like stars, jumping up in the air by a foot, she used her semblance and stopped short of smashing into Carmine as she hopped in place on her heels, "BEEEEN! YOU'RE OKAY!"
Benjamin's face lit up under his helmet, the young girl's wide smile and glimmering silver eyes made his heart race, it wasn't often a girl his age took much notice of him and he was unsure of how to really process it, "Yeah, just a little banged up, nothin' serious. How-ah- how about you? How're you doing?"
Ozpin hid his smile behind his coffee mug, feigning a sip, the young Carmine boy was being bombarded by Ruby's lightening fast rambling, the poor soldier was not prepared for the onslaught.
Private Carmine regretted his words, the young girl paced and moved his arms rapidly to the sound of her own voice, illustrating her words with gestures and funny faces. Ever thankful for his helmet, he stared silently with a confused look on his hidden face, completely lost and unsure what the conversation was even about in the first place.
"Ruby, hey, timeout." The blond boy said with a smile, "I think you lost him."
Ruby's cheeks flushed red, giving an apologetic smile to Carmine, "Oh! Sorry, was I rambling Ben?"
"Ehhh," Private Carmine waved off her concern, "its alright, my brother Dan, now there's a guy that just loves to ramble on and on about science, and politics, and boring stuff. Say, you were one of the guys I saw at the initiation."
The blond held out his hand, "Jaune Arc, short, sweet, the ladies love it."
Ben snorted, gripping Jaune's hand with a manageable embrace instead of attempting to crush his hand, "Private Benjamin Carmine, Gear of the Coalition of Ordered Governments."
Benjamin decided the best way for him to get this lie out of the way was to rip the band-aid off, strike fast so that they could not detect his deceit, "We're this collective of towns and villages outside of the main Kingdom of Vale, Gears are the foot soldiers of the COG."
Ruby and Jaune nodded silently, their faces were of stark astonishment, utterly surprised to hear of such a government outside the Kingdoms. Despite the initial shock, they seemed to have accepted that as reality, much to the relief and disappointment of Professor Oobleck. While it saved Benjamin from having to explain the outlandish truth, it showed him that his students knew next to nothing of their own kingdom and its geography.
"I never knew there was another government on Sanus, and with an army?" Jaune looked over to Ozpin with a curious look, "I thought only Atlas had an army?"
Ben took the initiative again, "The COG has been cut off from the Kingdoms for almost a century, this type of Grimm called the Nemacysts, they're these Grimm that jam radio signals and release this toxic gas. They surround the COG's borders, so its really hard to get out, and instead of using huntsmen we just train a lot of soldiers to protect our towns."
Ozpin was honestly impressed that Private Carmine was so fast in making his story seem all the more plausible, Grimm did at times isolate settlements with their numbers, and certain breeds did have powers that effected the area they inhabited. The looks on both Ruby and Jaune's faces showed that they bought the spun tale, despite how unlikely it seemed, it was certainly more plausible than the truth.
"So that means it's a big deal that you're at Beacon, right!?" Ruby's eyes fell upon the Lancer, greedily devouring the weapon's industrial design with her excitable silver eyes, she circled the young Gear with her semblance, covering he confused soldier in a flurry of rose petals, "Is it because you have three guns!? ARE YOU LIKE A SUPER HUNTSMAN!?"
"Miss Rose!" Glynda chided, sending a chill through the young girl, "It would be appreciated if you didn't make a mess with your semblance."
"Sorry Miss Goodwitch!" Ruby squeaked, offering the stern professor an apologetic smile.
Professor Goodwitch softened her stare, folding her arms, she glanced at Ozpin and felt her lip twitch into an instinctual frown, he knew that despite her harsh exterior that she often presented she genuinely cared for her students. Ruby was a special case as she had stopped a Dust robbery, and with Glynda's assistance, nearly captured Roman Torchwick, despite her outward annoyance, she was flattered that Ruby wanted her autograph. Since was two years younger than most of her peers Glynda made sure to monitor Ruby's progression in her combat class, so that she can make up for the two years at Signal Academy that she was now missing.
"Actually, I'm just here to train Ruby, I'm a newbie like you." Ben said somewhat sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, "I'm actually a straight up rookie."
Ruby's silver eyes shimmered in realization, her hands slapped against her cheeks with an exaggerated gasp, "YOU'RE A ROOKIE!?"
Benjamin looked between the little red reaper and the blonde knight, "I don't really understand why you're surprised."
"Well, its hard enough mastering one weapon and style," Doctor Oobleck said, pushing up his glasses as his eyes darted between his students, "Miss Rose built and has spent years mastering her technique with her weapon, Mister Arc has inherited his weapon set, and even then, its just one set. More tenured Huntsmen may take up more than one weapon and style, whereas your weapons have three completely styles, not counting your combat knife."
"Ohhhh, so you guys actually thought I had skills?" Benjamin chuckled loudly, slapping his knee, nodding his head, "My brothers have skills, I'm literally the new guy! Green as grass rookie!"
Ruby's bright silver eyes were alight with curiosity, she just had to know where Benjamin had forged or bought his weapons, where he had trained before coming to Beacon, and why he was seemingly so lost. Now that Ben was in a better condition, he seemed much more friendly than she thought he'd be, given how icy things were with Weiss, she hoped he'd accept being a friend.
"Well, its good to see you're doing alright dude," Jaune held his hand out with a friendly smile, "Jaune Arc, short, sweet, and the ladies love it."
If the blond student had seen the look on Professor Goodwitch's face, one of disgust mixed with pity as she realized the boy was sincere, whilst the male professors held back their laughter, Professor Port's mustache bouncing slightly as he covered a chuckle with a cough.
Benjamin however snorted with a chuckle, meeting Jaune's hand in a firm shake, "Private Benjamin Carmine, say that's a sick sword dude."
Jaune shook his hand feeling like he and Carmine were going to get along, he felt like he was meeting a kindred spirit, "You had us all worried for a minute Ben, Pyrrha wouldn't sleep much for the first night after the initiation."
"I'm sorry, who?"
"Pyrrha, she's my partner, the redhead girl with her hair tied back?" Jaune pulled out his scroll and brought out his contacts, showing a picture of Pyrrha, "The two of you were running from the Deathstalker."
Ben bobbed his head, snapping his fingers as he pointed at the picture, "Oh her! Yeah dude, I remember her, was she the one that let out that really loud scream?"
Jaune's cheeks flushed red, Ruby covered her mouth with both hands to smother her snicker, the blond team leader hissed softly and swallowed his pride, "That…was me."
"…oh, bro, sorry."
"Heheheh, well in my defense, I got flung like a paperclip," Jaune said, trying to salvage his pride.
Ozpin cleared his throat, getting the attention of the team leaders and the Gear, "Now that the three of you are properly acquainted, let's get down to the reason of why I called you two here."
Ruby and Jaune gave Ozpin the utmost attention, Benjamin had changed his stance to at attention, eager to receive new instructions. He had a guarantee from Headmaster Ozpin that he would help Ben find his way home, but until then he had to stay at Beacon with a cover story, being the worst liar in his family Ben had decided he'd need to sprinkle in the truth within his lies. Benjamin didn't like it one bit, but he had to integrate into the school otherwise they'd put him in the looney bin.
"As you know, Huntsmen in training teams are usually put into groups of four, unfortunately for Private Carmine there are no open groups of three for him to simply join. Seeing that your teams, JNPR and RWBY, have in the very least cooperated with Private Carmine in the initiation, I thought it best to ask one of you to take him into your team."
The weight of decision was now on the shoulders of both team leaders. Ruby mulled the thought in her mind, she and Weiss were just now starting to get along, Ruby had a feeling that her partner would not be onboard with the idea. Blake was a naturally reserved girl, she no doubt would have an issue of having a boy in the room like Weiss, especially considering that they had very limited space to begin with. She had no issue, Ben was cool in her opinion, she wouldn't think Yang would be upset about it usually but she seemed pensive about Carmine, him being "crazy blue guy" in her older sister's wording.
"I'm sorry, Ben, Headmaster, but we don't have the space." Ruby offered Ben an apologetic smile, "Sorry Ben."
Jaune seemingly perked up with an excited grin, "We could defiantly take Ben! I mean, Ren and Nora didn't bring a whole lot with them, and Pyrrha has like only one bag. Would that be alright with you Ben?"
"Heck yeah brotha," Benjamin offered out his right fist, he and Jaune bumped their knuckles in a display of manly machismo, the masculine energy foretells of a brotherly bond that will be steeled by the trials ahead of them, "I'm at your command sir."
Ozpin was relieved that the young team leaders were so welcoming to the idea, he was thankful that for the time being they weren't prying too deeply into Carmine's background. The Headmaster wasn't entirely certain that Benjamin would be able to keep up his story, but he trusted him to do his best, "Now that everything is settled, would you please take Private Carmine to his locker, other than that, you may return to dinner."
Jaune nodded with some refined confidence, no longer afraid of being called out for his forged transcripts, "Yes sir, coming Ruby?"
Ruby was already half-way out the door before looking over her shoulder, "Sure Jaune, lets hurry up before everyone else finishes!"
"Sweet, I could go for some real food too," Private Carmine stopped before leaving the infirmary, "thanks for everything you've done for me, I won't let you down sir!"
Headmaster Ozpin had for once, in a very long time, felt a little bit of hope. Private Carmine was in no means extremely special or remarkable save for his untimely arrival to Remnant, but he felt that his good nature might actually do some good, especially for Jaune Arc. The boy had some audacity forging his transcripts, enough to impress Ozpin on his resourcefulness, enough to give him a chance.
/
Private Carmine made sure to do a proper weapons check before storing them away in his school locker, he could snorted, the schoolhouse he went to was no Beacon Academy. He was ranked tenth in a class of twenty, with the encroaching Locust Horde they had to relocate closer to Jacinto a year ago, and that's when he did it. There was lingering shame in his soul, but he couldn't just wait around another couple of years to join the COG, Anthony had just died, and he couldn't just sit around. He deeply hoped that Mama and his brothers could forgive him, he was just doing what a Carmine was meant to do.
Though now, considering he was on this alien world populated by Humans and these Grimm monsters, he hated himself for being so selfish. Benjamin was going to do everything possible to return home one way or another, set things right, kill some grubs, and beg forgiveness from his family.
"Hey Ben? I think the barrels clean."
Benjamin shook himself, glancing up at Jaune, the young Carmine had lost himself in his thoughts, polishing the Longshots' barrel so hard it's a wonder why the cleaning cloth didn't catch fire.
"Oh, sorry, I just have this habit of losing myself while cleaning." Benjamin set aside his cleaning rag and reassembled the Longshot, despite Professor Port having already cleaned the weapons he as a Gear had to ensure everything was clean before putting it away, "Ruby, think I can get that back?"
Ruby had convinced Benjamin to allow her a closer look of his Lancer MKII, she most certain had a weapons fetish given the glazed look in her silver eyes, she blushed and reluctantly handed the weapon back to Benjamin. The young Gear appreciated a fellow connoisseur of fine weaponry, it made the cute red hooded reaper all the cuter to the socially awkward Carmine. Clay and Dan were ladies men, whereas Anthony was the brother with cheesy one-liners.
Ben was however seventy percent doofus, twenty percent spineless jellyfish, and ten percent shy giggling. Ruby wasn't the only cute one either, her whole team was just absolutely gorgeous, in a way he was glad to not be in their dorm, it'd be awfully difficult for to concentrate. Then again, the sight would be to die for, they'd probably kill him too if he was ever caught looking.
Alas, that would be another life.
"So, Ben, do you have a spare set of clothes?" Jaune asked though he already suspected the answer, it seemed like his team consisted of people who travelled light, not that he was one to judge.
"Oh, no actually," Benjamin weighed the option of putting his armor in the locker too, he'd be more comfortable, yet he had this queasy feeling of being without it so soon, it felt familiar and comforting now that it was all clean, "Headmaster Ozpin said my uniform will be ready early in the morning, so I'll get it then."
"Cool, lets go see everyone else," Ruby's eyes bugged slightly when an audible growl came from Benjamin's stomach, she covered her mouth with a giggle, "and get you something to eat."
Benjamin could've died of embarrassment, his last meal on Sera was a short breakfast in the morning, a ration bar for lunch before the invasion down in the Hollows. He never did have Nurse Yarrow's oatmeal, he was too busy having his Aura unlocked by Ozpin and going over the details of their agreement.
'Imagine that, magic shields and super powers, Ant would immediately be testing it out with me. Heh, Clay would want me to punch him as hard as possible to see if it worked, Dan, he'd be going over the how and the why on Aura is impossible. I sure do wish you guys were here.' Benjamin's self-reflection was interrupted by a stomach grumble that sounded eerily similar to a grub warcry, he could chow down a Brumak.
/
'This is Heaven, it is, it well and truly is.' Benjamin never in his life saw a more pristine canteen, he mused that pre-E Day Tyrus had school lunchrooms like this. The Gear suspected that the upper-class children in the COG's academies wore such pristine uniforms like the ones Beacon has, he was almost driven to tears seeing fresh food in vibrant colors, Benjamin honestly could not remember when they had anything aside from rations.
Hallucination, dream, nightmare, alternate world, it was utterly irrelevant to Benjamin as he filled his plate. The Gear wanted fruits, veggies, and especially the bacon they had available. Benjamin soon realized just how much he stood out compared to the rest of the students, some wore their combat clothes but not even the team of guys wearing plate armor looked anything near the size of armor the COG standard uniform was.
Private Carmine took a quick deep breath and exhaled slowly, Ruby's teammates had spotted him, they looked surprised at first then somewhat pensive. The blonde he most certainly remembered that mane of golden locks and ample...plot, was hard to forget, Ruby had said they were sisters, half-sisters apparently. The golden eyed girl with long black hair, and a little bow, Blake, he remembered her as the girl that eyed him with suspicion the second she laid eyes on him. She must've been very smart or looked like it. Finally came Weiss, snow white hair and blue eyes reminded Ben of calm seas. Her scowl however did not look calm in the slightest.
"Hey guys, sorry it took so long," Ruby took her next to Weiss, "we'd like to introduce a new friend!"
"Hi, uh, I'm Carmine, Ben, uh, Private Benjamin Carmine," Fuck, fuck, his tongue was starting to get twisted, shit, his brain just dumped all the files, fuck, "uhhhh, uhhhh, hi?"
If the looks on everyone's faces told Benjamin anything, he just made himself look like a complete moron. If Sergeant Fenix were here, he'd sigh with a growly grumble, and Dom would snicker. What a great noble heroic soldier of the COG, so brave that he could face down the Locust Horde and get dropped down the throat of a giant worm, but Heaven forbid he have the confidence to introduce himself to a bunch of girls and another guy. Complete wet towel.
Jaune hissed softly at the awkward silence, "Soooooo, Ben's our new teammate."
That drew an even more daunting silence, the members of JNPR and RWBY looked towards their leaders for confirmation. Benjamin sat, awkwardly drumming his fingers against his kneepad, "Uh, I think I should start out with a bit of an apology…I'm sorry for freaking every out back that there, heh, I uh, I had a momentary bit of ama…amneeea…amnesia! Yeah, I had my block knocked really hard and it had my eggs all scrambled."
Ruby and Jaune had no issue with Ben's explanation, teammates like Yang, Nora, and Pyrrha seemed to accept it solely because it seemed reasonable enough. Weiss, Blake, and Ren however had looks of suspicion, despite how exhausted and beaten up Ben had looked, he didn't seem like he was out of his mind.
Weiss was the one most suspicious, mainly due to her personal beef she had, "Then why weren't you at the initiation like everyone else? Or at the landing platform, would you care to explain that?"
"Weiss!" Ruby whispered yelled, looking at her partner with exasperation, worried she offended Carmine.
"That, oh yeah, you see, I couldn't make it that way because we didn't have any King Ravens available, the COG I mean."
Blake was the next one to voice her suspicion, even Ben had his helmet on, he could very much feel her staring him in the eye, "COG? What is the COG?"
Suddenly, Private Benjamin Carmine felt a sense of patriotic pride burn through his spirit, for a moment he reflected upon the greatest civilization that was ever gifted to Sera, "The COG is my home, it stands for the Coalition of Ordered Governments, we're a proud and strong nation that fights with the greatest soldiers the world's ever seen."
Benjamin quickly arrested his tongue, he saw the looks of confusion, oddly one of insult on Weiss' face, "We're uh, located very far down south of Sanus, though we call it Sera. The Grimm, or Locust as we also call them, have this species called Nemacysts, they pretty much have us trapped behind our border. Instead of Huntsmen, we have guys like me, Gears, because we acknowledge our place in the machine and the coalition we serve."
'Is it me, or is my nose getting longer?' Benjamin thought disparagingly, his quick answer seemed to satisfy enough curiosity, except for Weiss', the girl's eyes were on him like beautifully blue Tickers…well…she was just very suspicious.
"Since you apparently are unfamiliar with the rest of the world," Weiss said, though she didn't intend it, the rest of the table could almost cut through the thick snobbery, "Atlas is the strongest military on Remnant, so strong, that we employ the strongest Huntsmen along with the only standing army. Fleets of warships, mechs, and knights. If the COG possesses any of these abilities, or even exists, then I'm quite certain we would've heard about it."
Suddenly her beauty was irrelevant, if his ass didn't count on giving out limited information, or wouldn't be absolutely handed back to him, he would've given Weiss a piece of his mind, "What can I say, we're pretty spent after fighting the damn Indies of the UIR, and the Locust, we'd have no trouble showing Atlas a thing or two."
…..
'AH FUCK! Nice going Carmine, your dumbfuck, fucking, fuckwad pride got the best of you and you opened up a nest of grubs.' Benjamin could honestly just have his head shot through by a sniper, him and his damn mouth.
"What's the UIR?" Ren asked, his oddly pink eyes rested upon the blue eyepieces of the now panicking Gear, "You seem to hold animosity towards them."
Benjamin hated himself almost worse than the grubs, "The UIR, heh, well, they were the Union of Independent Republics. The COG and UIR were fighting each other over Imulsion, uh, Dust, and it went on for a really long time…"
Yang could see plainly Carmine was getting nervous, "How long?"
"Umm," Ben had to soldier, he couldn't just stop now, "seventy-nine years, we call it the Pendulum Wars, because we were both kinda matched... we were fighting the uh, Locust, Grimm, Grimm what you guys call 'em."
"Why were you guys fighting?" Pyrrha was surprisingly the one who held the most curiosity, both teams seemed appalled by the idea of there being a war, but Pyrrha seemed the most vocal, "Especially when the Grimm have your country trapped?"
Ben racked his brain for answers, already feeling the weight of his lies, "Well, it uh, was about the Imul- the Dust, Dust…yeah, our government wanted to control all the deposits, their government wanted to do the same…so we beat them, well, when I was a kid. Now we are concentrating on the Grimm."
Benjamin did not intend for a grim atmosphere to suck the join out of the dinner table, little did Ben know, the last war on Remnant was waged eighty or so years ago, it had been known as an unprecedented time of peace. The idea that just down south two small nations waging a hidden war between each other was absolutely world shattering, he might as well have just told them the truth, then they'd at least call him a liar.
"Ummm, hmmm…I'm sorry for ruining dinner," Ben cleared his throat, drumming his fingers on the table, he looked to Weiss specifically, "You know what, I actually owe you an apology, miss Weiss."
The Heiress of the SDC met the Gear's eyepieces incredulously, yet quite curious, "Excuse me?"
"I was awfully rude just a second ago, my personal pride in the COG made me say something I didn't mean, I wouldn't want my government to fight yours," He called upon all the memories of Dan's extensive use of 'high class' vocabulary he tried tutoring Ben and Ant on, "I also wish to amend an insult I made a few days ago, I didn't mean to call you a witch and point in your face, that was inexcusably impolite, concussion or no concussion."
Weiss Schnee couldn't believe her ears, for the past three days she's had to grow up a great deal, only a few days ago she had apologized to Ruby for being a bad teammate, and tolerated the ribbing she got from her team about her status. Now her she was, getting an apology from a fellow student who in a state of delirium insulted her, and had insulted the might of Atlas. Instead of trying to egg her on like Yang or strike a sharp nerve like Blake, he showcased the humility and behavior of a gentlemen, being so bold as to address the issue immediately. Weiss couldn't remember the last time an Atlesian had apologized to her.
"Do you…think you could forgive these transgressions?"
Weiss' cheeks flared red, feeling the eyes of her new friends on her, Ruby's elbow unnecessarily nudging her arm, "Well…I…of course, I could forgive that…I'm also sorry for being, well-"
"Snobby~" Yang chimed in.
"Crass." Blake snuck in with a smirk.
"Mean." Ruby said with a small smile.
"Kinda bitchy." Nora said, Ren's hand immediately cuffing her mouth.
"Alright! I get it!" Weiss icy glare lessened in its severity as she turned back to Ben, "I'm sorry for being rude, and giving a bad impression of Atlas."
'Score, score, fucking score one for Squirt! Where's Cole when you need him to do a touchdown dance?' Benjamin held his hand out to Weiss, satisfied when she accepted his hand in a respectable shake.
"Awww," Ruby cooed, hugging Weiss' arm with a grin, "you're getting better Weiss! That's another new friend!"
Weiss stared at Ruby with a blank expression, "Ruby, let go please."
"Heheh, sorry."
Seeing that the teams have lost their suspicion temporarily, Benjamin took up his fork and prepared to take a bit, his first meal for days, and he was plenty hungry. Even before his first day in Delta Squad, the rations that Gears had to eat were bland or stale, very rarely would they get a real warm meal in Jacinto, nothing comparable to pre-E Day, he'd be the envy of a lot of Gears and stranded from back home-
Clink, clinkclink-
'Fuck.'
Wearing COG armor day and night made Gears forget that they needed to remove it every once and awhile. Benjamin set down his fork, leaning back on the lunch tables bench so that when he pulled off his helmet he wouldn't splash the RWBY girls or the food with his sweat, "Whoo, man, sometimes you forget you're even wearing one of these. This one time, in basic, they made us wear the helmets even when we…uhh, guys?"
Benjamin sat rigidly as he was the immediate attention of the four girls. Ruby fidgeted in her seat, cheeks flushed like little roses, silver eyes flickered up and down from the table to Ben. Weiss uncharacteristically had her elbow on the table, covering her mouth with one hand, looking off to the side. Blake's cheeks were dusted much like her teammates, however she wasn't trying to cover her face. Yang propped her elbows on the table, staring directly at Benjamin.
"Now, why would you hide that pretty face from the world Benny boy?" Yang winked suggestively to the Gear, delighting in the way he shyly averted his eyes, trying to concentrate on his food.
'I think I might like this place, absolutely extraordinary food that I'd kill two giant worms for, and a bunch of really cute girls! Damn this is awesome!' Benjamin thought happily, using a great deal of restraint to keep from scarfing his food down like a heathen, something that'd get his hand smacked by Mama Carmine.
/
After enjoying the best dinner he's had in years, Benjamin followed his team back to their dorm, wishing team RWBY a good night as well.
Benjamin waved to team RWBY as he "I'll see you guys in the morning, for class!"
"See ya there Ben, goodnight!" Ruby called before closing the door to her team's dorm.
Benjamin rolled out a sleeping bag Jaune had let him borrow, using the pillow he had brought from home to use, he was even kind enough to loan Ben, 'X-Ray and Vav' to read by the moonlight as everyone else slept. Back home Ben and Anthony were into comics, such as 'Commander of Tyrus Guard' or 'The Coalition's Avenger', these books however went out of print only a few years ago.
The brothers entertained themselves for hours, thinking of how their stories would've ended, how they would save the day and get the girl.
"Anthony, you would've loved it here." Benjamin muttered, he hadn't seen Clay or Dan for years, Anthony was the last brother he saw, and he was dead. Private Anthony Carmine, Hero of the COG. He wouldn't mind having him or Delta here, hell, even Baird.
"Did say something Ben?" Jaune whispered, looking over the foot of his bed.
"Uhh, its nothing," Benjamin sat up as Jaune took a seat next to him, seeing that it wasn't just anything, "I was just thinking about my bros is all, hmm, I'm the youngest out of them."
"Heh, I get the feeling," Jaune leaned forward on his knees, staring out at the broken moon, "seven sisters for me. Sure they can get on your nerves but they were good to me, I mean some people are lucky to have one sibling."
Benjamin nodded, whole family bloodlines were destroyed by the Locust, deep down, he feared the Carmine line might also be put up on the chopping block, "Clayton, Clay, he's the biggest and the baddest out of us. Fearless, just like dad was. Daniel, he's the smartest and most cultured out of us, took an interest in politics. He's part of this elite group called The Onyx Guard, he personally protects our leader, Chairman Prescott. Anthony…"
Jaune noticed the pensive look on Ben's face, the subtle glimmer of tears forming in his blue eyes, he placed a comforting hand on Ben's shoulder.
Ben took his tags from his neck, staring down as the moonlight reflected off the steel, "Ant's a hero now, his medal goes right next to dad's, and uncle Will…a bunch of heroes."
"Well, I'm sure you'll do them proud Ben," Jaune said with a confident tone, patting Benjamin's shoulder, "my stuff all belonged to my relatives, and I want to do right by them to, trying to be a hero and all."
"Hmmm," Ben offered out his fist, "we got a lot of work to do and a long road ahead."
Jaune bumped his fist with a smile, "Let's go down that road together then, my friend."
Why the hell dod this take months to write, ugh, being an adult sucks ass.
Anyways I hope you enjoyed Ben's latest adventure on the world of Remnant, where he establishes a manly friendship with everyone's favorite wet paper bag, Jaune Arc. I also wanted to explore more of Ben's memories of the least developed Carmine, the very first one, Anthony. Drama still awaits the young Gear as he must keep up his half-lies from the still curious members of team RWBY and JNPR, find some way to return home to the hell he calls home, and try not to get in over his head by being the hero he is expected to be.
Til next time, ;)
