Chapter 3

All Aboard the Arkos Train (I'm Not Sorry That I Tricked You)

CRASH!

The window to the Team JNPR dorm shattered as a lean figure came bursting through it. A boy with black clothing and spiky gray hair caught his footing and rose in attack position.

Isn't that… the guy Yang injured in the Tournament?

Jaune felt Pyrrha tug him to the far side of the bed and into cover. "Nora, Ren!" she called out.

"Hey!" Nora jumped up from her bed, still in her pajamas but Magnihild gripped tightly in her hands. "Team members only, jerkface!"

"You're outnumbered!" Pyrrha had found her weapons as well and circled around to the door.

"We don't want any trouble," Ren aimed his StormFlowers at the boy's head. "Just leave quietly, and you won't get hurt."

Jaune pulled Crocea Mors from its hanging place behind his bed and readied up with his team. They had the kid surrounded.

"Four on one isn't very sporting, is it?" the invader replied smugly.

"Uh, you broke into our dorm room!" Nora shouted. "Fair fight my ass, now we're gonna break your legs!"

"Probably not."

The loud buzzing of a Bullhead swarmed the room as wind began to blow in from the outside. Someone had pulled the vehicle right outside the dorm window.

"Mercury!" a female voice shouted over the whirring, "Quit messing around!"

His back was turned and he was distracted by his accomplice outside. Pyrrha made the first move, dashing in with Miló for a quick strike. Mercury spun rapidly and delivered a kick to her head that sent her reeling backwards. Ren fired a salvo of bullets while Nora prepped a swing of her massive hammer.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune cried as she hit the ground and struggled to get up. He could feel the heat beginning to burn inside him once more.

Mercury's agility was inhuman, spinning his legs low to trip dodge Ren's shots while tripping Nora up, who's swing went straight for her beloved friend.

Jaune slashed with Crocea Mors, but Mercury effortlessly blocked it on his way back up, leaping into the air and shooting a powerful blast from his boot. Jaune got his shield up in time, but the blast sent him back tumbling over one of the dorm beds.

As he got back up, he saw Mercury's cold eyes staring him down. Ren and Nora, on the other hand, were busy swatting and firing at nothing.

"What do you want with us?" Jaune asked through gritted teeth as he readied for another assault.

"Us?" Mercury chuckled, "No, no, we just want you Jaune-y boy. You killed Cinder, and now we're gonna kill you. Sound fair?"

Cinder? The woman from the previous night; the one who tried to steal the Fall Maiden's powers.

Just outside, Jaune could see the Bullhead and a green haired girl standing in the open bay door. She was heavily focused on Nora and Ren, who were still engaged with an invisible combatant.

"You two were at the Tournament," Jaune said, stalling for time. He could feel his power building up, but he didn't think he could take Mercury all by himself.

"Yeah, and?"

"Jaune…" Pyrrha moaned, now on her knees but still unable to stand. "Ja…"

"This is the broad who got the Maiden's powers?" Mercury laughed heartily. "Such a waste." He bent down and took Pyrrha by the chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. "Hey, I'm gonna killed your boyfriend, but you can come with me. We'll have some fun before we extract those powers outta you, eh?"

"You bastard!" Jaune screamed, his body erupting in light. "Get your hands off her!"

Mercury tried to stand in time to counter, but he was too slow. Jaune swung Crocea Mors low, slicing through Mercury's right leg, cutting it clean off.

"Ugh," Mercury stammered backwards, bracing himself against the dorm wall. "You're lucky it's supposed to do that!"

Jaune picked up the dismembered leg from the floor; it was completely robotic. Still enraged, he took the fake limb and smacked Mercury with it. First he hit his stomach, then his head, and as Mercury hunched over in pain, Jaune slammed his fake leg into his back a few times for good measure.

"Mercury!" the green haired woman cried from outside; Jaune had one more target to take care of.

He picked up Mercury's limp body and walked over to the window, tossing it out and into the jet engine of the Bullhead. A loud bang sounded as Mercury's body was digested, and series of sparks flew from the engine.

The green haired girl fell to her knees in shock as her accomplice was shredded, blood and oil splattering across the Bullhead's near side and into the cargo bay. She looked back at Jaune and their eyes met.

"This isn't over!" she shouted, her voice cracking. She turned back to the driver's seat. "Get us out of here!" The pilot obliged, and soon the Bullhead had vacated the Beacon campus, leaving the cool night air and plenty of confusion in its wake.

"You guys just can't catch a break." Yang's word rang true as Team JNPR and Team RWBY surveyed the destroyed dormitory the following morning. The glass from the smashed window had been cleaned, but two of the beds had broken frames, not to mention the bullet holes that dotted the walls. There was also a sizable indentation where Pyrrha had crashed into the wall; she was the only member not present.

"I hope Pyrrha's doing okay," Ruby sighed.

"She took a hard hit to the head," Jaune recited the previous night's events. "Probably a concussion, hopefully nothing serious."

"Forget about Pyrrha!" Nora exclaimed. "Jaune, what has gotten into you?"

Jaune felt his cheeks flushing. "What… do you mean?"

"You beat a man with his own leg," Ren explained. "Then you tossed him into a jet engine."

"You did what?!" Ruby and Weiss both exclaimed together.

"That sounds bad ass!" Yang fist pumped.

"It doesn't sound like Jaune," Blake interjected.

"That's my point!" Nora said. "Ever since you got these fancy glowing powers you've been much more violent than usual."

"Nora," Ren added, "Jaune was never violent. This is a complete one-eighty."

"I don't know how to explain it," Jaune sighed. "When I saw Cinder threatening Pyrrha, or when Mercury touched her, I just lost it. It's like I wanted nothing more than to see them suffer."

Woah, okay," Weiss said. "That's pretty dark. Are you sure you're okay?"

"The stress isn't going to help," Blake agreed. "Maybe you should take a week off? I'm sure acting Headmistress Glynda would allow it after all you've done."

A vacation. That sounded exactly like what he needed. Just him and Pyrrha, and not a care in the world. No Grimm, no White Fang, no Maidens.

Just the two of them.

"Beach party, yeah!"

"Who's up for volleyball? I call team captain!"

"Oh you're so going down."

Jaune slumped into a long beach chair laid out under the shade of some trees, closing his eyes and sighing deeply.

"This resort is gorgeous," he heard Pyrrha's angelic voice next to him. "It was so nice of the Academy to send all of us here for the week."

"Yeah," Jaune grumbled, "Fantastic."

"Oh hush, you," Pyrrha giggled. "It doesn't matter how many people came with us , this is our time to spend together.

A smile crept up on Jaune's face. He opened his eyes again and let his eyes drift over to Pyrrha. As he took her in, he felt an electric sensation run throughout his entire body.

Her long red hair hung loosely, flowing elegantly down her shoulders and behind her back. When they had left the hotel she had worn an overly large white shirt that had gone past her waist. Despite the other girls donning their swimsuits, Jaune hadn't stopped to think what might lie underneath Pyrrha's shawl.

A sleek red bikini top wrapped around her neck and curved down around her breasts with golden accents and a knot tied in the middle. Jaune's eyes continued down her elegant skin until they reached the bottom half of the bikini, the same red and gold colors sat low on Pyrrha's waist, tied at both hips.

In the entire time he had known her, he had never seen this much. He felt his blood going hot.

"Lookin' hot Pyrrha," Yang's voice pulled Jaune out of his gazing stupor. She stood over him in her equally revealing yellow two piece. "Jaune's been staring at you since you sat down."

"H-hey!" Jaune retorted. "I was… just thinking about something."

"Thinkin' about how to get the rest off, huh?" Yang gave a playful punch to Jaune's arm, which hurt like a regular punch.

Pyrrha chuckled. "He can stare all he likes, Yang. Just no touching until later."

Until… later?

"Oh ho ho!" Yang cackled. "You lucky bastard, Jaune."

Before Jaune could make sense of anything, Yang was called off by the others who were preparing for a game of volleyball. As she walked away, all Jaune could think about was Pyrrha's tantalizing statement.

"Just no touching until later."

"You sure you're feeling okay?" Jaune asked Pyrrha. "You're saying some strange things, Pyrrha."

"Jaune," Pyrrha's tone was more serious than he anticipated. "We've been through a lot in the past few days. You saved my life, twice. I used to wonder if you felt the same way about me, as I do about you, but now I'm certain."

"Pyrrha, I…" Jaune tried to find the words. Pyrrha didn't like his indecision, sitting up and turning her back on him as she sat on the edge of her chair with her head hung.

You idiot! Jaune fought the sinking feeling in his gut, standing and moving to Pyrrha's side. He sat on the chair, giving some space between them.

"I'm still not used to this," Jaune started, his voice shaky. "When you kissed me that night, it was the most amazing feeling I'd ever felt. But immediately after that, I thought for sure you were going to die."

"I was trying to save…" Pyrrha's voice cut off as it cracked.

"I know that!" Jaune replied, a bit more passion in his voice. "But for me, all of my dreams had just come true, only to turn into a nightmare. It's how I got these… these powers in the first place. It's like the gods told me what was destined to happen, and I told them 'No.'"

A touch. Pyrrha had slid over, closing the gap, and they now sat shoulder to shoulder. "And when that Mercury creep said he was going to… to take you away. There was no way I was going to let that happen."

Stop beating around the bush. Just say it.

"I…" Jaune's entire body was shaking, his nerves on high alert. Then, the heat came back, starting in his feet and working all the way up to his chest, then outwards to his fingers and back again.

Jaune reached towards Pyrrha and took her head in his hands, turning her to face him. Her eyes were sparkling with fresh tears, a solemn look upon her face.

"I love you, Pyrrha."

This time it was Jaune who brought their lips together, with Pyrrha gladly accepting through her resumed tears. She tried to inch closer, but was practically on top of him already.

"I love you too, Jaune" Pyrrha managed to say between kisses.

"Hey," Jaune asked, brushing a tear away from Pyrrha's eye. "I think I left something back at the hotel. Wanna come with me?"

"Absolutely," Pyrrha smiled, taking Jaune's hand.

"Where are they going?" Weiss asked, seeing Jaune and Pyrrha head off back towards the resort hotel hand in hand.

"They probably want some alone time," Blake replied.

"Aww yeah," Yang grinned. "You know what that means."

"No…" Ruby pondered. "I don't know what that means."

The others all exchanged wary looks before returning to Ruby.

"I'll tell you when you're older," Yang blushed.

"They're gonna have sex, aren't they?" Ruby said.

"Ruby!" Blake spat out her drink. "Don't be so lewd!"

"Who cares?" Ruby replied. "This is their story, nobody's even gonna know what we're talking about."

"She's got a point," Weiss continued. "Not a great story either, if I say so myself."

"I think it's cute," Blake said.

"Needs more humor," Yang added. "It's just a bunch of mushy romance crap."

"You know, humor is subjective."

"Your face is subjective."

"Whatever."

Emerald swallowed hard as she entered the vile threshold into a chamber with high windows and a long table flanked by many empty chairs. At the very end, staring directly into her soul, was the nightmare she had only heard rumors of.

"Come, sit." Salem beckoned. Emerald walked forward briskly, afraid that if she took a second too long the ghastly woman would do something horrible to her. She sat in the closest chair to Salem's right, looking straight ahead at the empty other side.

"Cinder was my protege," Salem spoke. "Her death was… an unfortunate occurrence. Somehow this lowly Arc boy took the life of a Maiden and my precious Wyvern."

"He killed Mercury too," Emerald growled, looking to Salem for some sort of comfort. The demon's gaze immediately met hers, and Emerald felt her bones quicker. Had she spoken out of turn?

Salem's eyes softened. "You poor child," she cooed. "That boy has taken something from both of us it seems."

The door to the chamber opened once more, and Emerald watched as three sinister looking figures entered. One was a giant of a man, the next a lanky moustached man, and the third was a Faunus with a scorpion's tail and feral looking eyes.

"Gentlemen," Salem addressed the group. "We have a new addition to our cause. She was one of Cinder's underlings, but where Cinder failed, I believe she will succeed."

"Good," the giant man said in a surprisingly calming voice. "We're departing for Vale shortly."

"Why are we going to Vale?" Emerald asked.

"To kill Jaune Arc."