Just a heads-up for those who aren't aware of it yet. If you downloaded the fic using the site's mobile app and keep getting notifications about the fic being updated when there are no new chapters, then it was just me updating some chapters. This was because it was letting you know that it was re-downloading edited chapters into their recent versions. Meanwhile, the desktop/site version, you don't get any alerts every time a published chapter is updated. You only get them when one of the stories you followed gets a new chapter. I'm telling you this because one reviewer said that he was getting notifications when there were no new chapters. After researching why, it turns out that he probably just downloaded the fic in the mobile app and it updated after I made a few edits.

Now with that out of the way, in the next chapter.

Chapter 12

Funky/Monkey Business

Oh Mirror, Mirror on the wall

Would you like to shatter and fall?

-A spoof of a song by yours faithfully.

"Millions in the arena, witnessing the greatest battle yet. Ladies and gentlemen, the violence, speed, and momentum are just too much!"

At least that was what Nora was thinking with her wild imagination or with whatever was going on inside that whimsical mind of hers. I might even go as far as to call her a role-player if I didn't value my own legs that much. Like most of her random ramblings, what actually happened was less impressive than what she described it as.

It was an intermission day for the tournament, these days takes place in between rounds so the participants can take a breather where they could practice and enjoy the festival while they're at it. So obviously I wasn't in any sort of a serious match despite Nora's babbling. In reality, we were in the academy's combat hall practicing for tomorrow's match by having a friendly spar while being spectated by a grand total of zero people. Not exactly something worthy of being called a grand, ultimate, climactic battle if you ask me.

The rooftop where we usually practice hardly provided enough space to let us exercise our more ostentatious feats at its fullest. Not to mention, it was too open that it would be visible to everyone who was outside during the festival and it would have been too distracting. Luckily, we managed to convince Miss Goodwitch to let us borrow the arena for a couple of hours so not only were we able to practice comfortably with a wide-open space, we were able to spar peacefully too. I don't know if this was the extra-credit paying off or because it was too much to decline the offer from someone who was now overwhelmingly renowned, but regardless, I was glad that we were able to use it so the question never bothered me again.

It was me and Pyrrha versus Ren and Nora. The two do a great job of showing what kind of duos we should expect. If we could beat them, then it means we have a good chance of beating whoever is pitted against us. They were holding back slightly, but even then, they were still some pretty tough nuts to crack.

I parried away Ren's slashes with my sword, sliding my feet as I sprung back. I pulled out my pistol and opened fire. He stormed toward me as he zigzagged through the lasers. I quickly holstered my gun back before expanding my shield and swinging my sword at him. I was able to overpower him enough to make him fall down the floor. He then aimed his guns toward me and fired as I blocked his bullets with my shield in time.

Like Yang, the best way to deal with Ren was to drain his stamina. And since he was known to wear out the quickest among us, this should have been easy. Unfortunately, he was aware of this method and made sure no one would be able to take advantage of it by making sure all of his moves count. Looks like all the meditation he took is paying off.

Meanwhile, Pyrrha was dodging strikes from Nora's hammer. Nora then tried to swing her hammer upward only for Pyrrha to hop on it and sprung to the air. Pyrrha fired at Nora with her weapon's rifle mode as she descended to the ground, causing Nora to dart back when she landed. Since she mostly had to rely on her hammer, the lack of grenades thanks to the combat hall's rules made the spar easier, but the downside to this is that I won't be as prepared to deal with explosives when the real thing comes.

I continued to clash blades with Ren as we moved around the stage until I got him standing right where I wanted him: behind Pyrrha as she was facing Nora. Nora charged at Pyrrha as she firmly gripped her hammer. With a single whistle to signal Pyrrha, she used her magnetism on Nora's hammer to swing it toward Ren as she got out of the way. Ren was sent flying to the arena until he hit the wall.

Needless to say, this made Nora go berserk. She aggressively twirled her hammer to hit both of us as we surrounded her. She turned back and used her weapon's momentum to swing it at me. I was able to block it with my shield, but the impact created a shockwave that almost made me tumble onto the floor.

Pyrrha went on to strike at Nora, only for her to deflect her attacks in time. Nora then bounced on Pyrrha's shield doing a backflip before trying to clout me as she landed back onto the floor. I was able to dodge it by rolling to my side before it could hit me. Pyrrha threw her javelin at Nora before unfortunately missing. She then dived past her to retrieve her weapon and blocked another swing of Nora's hammer, slightly being pushed back.

Nora's back was open, so I took this opportunity to fire at her. The laser fire was just too fast that it was able to hit her the second she turned her head and noticed it. The shot took a significant amount of her aura. It was all over after Pyrrha swiped the floor with her spear as Nora fell to the ground.

"Alright guys, that's a wrap." I clapped my hands, turning the lights around the room back on before facing my teammates as Ren and Nora got up while they recovered their aura. "Good fighting, everyone. If we keep this up, I'd say this championship will be a walk in the park."

"You did great too, Jaune. You won't be having much trouble for the next round either." Pyrrha warmly remarked.

I couldn't help but smile back. "It was nothing. In fact, I think you're the one that's carrying the show."

She looked down as she sheepishly blushed. "Well, if that's how you see it then." She looked back up. "Still, it doesn't make your most performance less superb. With our skills combined and with your direction, we are unmatched."

"Yeah," I muttered,internally struggling to push back my cynicism so I didn't have to think that she has low standards or were saying it because she had to.

"Feels good getting my butt kicked by you guys," Nora chirped as she cracked her back, "I can't wait to see you two fight tomorrow. You'll knock em' dead for sure."

"Heh. Not literally, of course." I snickered.

"Looks like you two don't have much to worry about then," Ren said.

"The only thing we had to worry about is who we would be facing," I said. The brackets won't be revealed until tomorrow when the matches start. I mused on the prospect that Pyrrha and I could be matched by someone who may be able to ruin our victory streak but it's best for me not to think about that now. "Aside from that, I think we're good."

My team followed me as we left the combat hall and headed to the cafeteria to take our lunch. When we arrived, Team RWBY was already there. Ruby waved at us as soon as she saw us entering the cafeteria while happily eating some strawberries. Weiss was sipping her tea, Blake was reading another book per the norm while eating tuna, and Yang was munching on her sandwich. I ordered some meatloaf while Pyrrha and Ren ordered an omelet and ramen respectively. Nora, meanwhile, just bought a whole bucket of chicken for herself.

We sat and ate alongside the girls. I brought my tanna tea bags, and put them in my cup and drank it once it was ready. I made a refreshed exhale as I tasted the blissful flavor of my drink. Weiss stared at me for a moment. She was still unsure about the tanna since I introduced it to her when we had cake and tea the other day. She once told me that she was interested in trying it, but she still wasn't sure if she could appreciate it as I do.

"Hey there, Blakey the Kitty. Whatcha reading?" Nora suddenly asked as she leaned forward from her seat, apparently not noticing the title on the book's front cover despite its large font.

"The Destiny of the World," she answered, never turning her eyes away from the book.

"So, is it any good?"

"No."

"Okay then." Nora sat back down.

"So, who would be representing you for tomorrow?" Pyrrha queried after swallowing a piece of her omelet.

"The ice queen and I would be doing the honors," Yang stood up and patted Weiss' head. "Her brains and my brawn means a trophy for Team RWBY."

"Ohh! Fire and Ice. I like it!" Nora chirped.

Weiss did her best to repress her infuriation from Yang's antics. "We've been practicing together a lot recently. Hopefully, pairing me with someone as audacious as Yang won't be a mismatch."

"Don't worry, your highness. I won't let you down." Yang pinches both of Weiss' cheeks as the latter tries to maintain a straight face. "The only ones that need to worry are the unlucky shi—, I mean, schmucks who are going to get matched against us."

"You two will do great together, I'm sure of it!" Ruby chimed in, encouraging her teammates like what a good leader/partner/sister would do.

"I hope you're not wrong," Weiss murmured before taking another sip of her tea.

As I was nearly done finishing my meal, I felt my scroll vibrate. I pulled it out and saw that I got a new message from Rouge, meaning that she and Rose finally arrived in Vale. You can tell it was from her just by reading the way she texts.

'just got 2 Vale, lil bro. b sure 2 c us if u have time. well keep our location open 4 u. nor & blanh gona c see us 2'

I have been familiar with Rouge's texting lingo for a while now so I was able to read all of that straight, even then it felt like doing so still costs a few of my brain cells. I wished anyone good luck to all the innocents out there who are about to cross paths with them for more than ten seconds. Anyone familiar with them should know why.

Pyrrha gave me a look of concern. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's nothing. It's just that two of my sisters just got to Vale. "I put the scroll back into my pocket and went back on finishing my lunch.

"Let me guess… Rose and Rouge." Ren reckoned correctly. I told my teammates about my sisters enough that they were able to identify which one I am talking about even if I didn't mention them directly.

"You got that right," I replied before taking another sip of my tanna leaf tea.

"That figures," he said. Ren and I tend to bond over the prominent female figures in our lives. Like I said a few times before, he is the closest thing I have to a brother.

A few minutes passed, Sun and Neptune finally appeared in the cafeteria. "What is up, everybody!" Neptune said. I immediately picked up the scent of his recognizable men's body spray. Smells like he still thinks that those things would win him some girls, but if anything it would probably drive them away, especially if he keeps trying hard like he always does.

"Hey there, guys!" Ruby greeted. Everyone smiled and waved at them, except Weiss who looked away because of a certain someone. Neptune frowned when he noticed this. Looks like it's officially over for them, isn't' it? Eh, not my problem.

This is funnier if you saw that Blake actually let go of her book for a moment to flash a smile on Sun. It looks like the tables have turned for these two.

"How are you two lovebirds doing?" Yang quipped as the two boys approached near our table.

"Oh please, Yang, you're starting to sound like our fangirls." Sun chuckled at her playful, if juvenile remark.

I'm still surprised that you two even have fangirls to begin with. Though I can relate to how some fans like to push you into a relationship with someone specific, regardless of how you feel about it. It's annoying but it's something you'll get used to.

Yang gave them a teasing, asymmetrical smile. "Are your fangirls at least attractive?"

"Well, we can't say they're ugly, that's for sure," he replied cheekily.

"Fair enough," Yang chuckled.

"Good afternoon, Sun," Blake warmly greeted, much to the contentment from her friends that she's finally happy to see someone.

"Afternoon to you too, Blake," Sun replied before turning at everyone. "Since we just ate, would you guys mind if we just sit down next to you?"

"Of course. Your company is always appreciated," Pyrrha replied.

Well, to most of us at least, I thought as I looked at an agitated Weiss who was still trying her hardest not to acknowledge one of their existence. I guess she was no longer one of Neptune's fangirls, to put it nicely.

The two delightfully sat down on a vacant seat that was next to me. "So you're ready for that thing?" Sun asked me as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

His mention of that 'thing' with the lack of explanation made me raise my brow in confusion, "What thing?"

"Yeah, what's this 'thing' you guys are talking about?" Yang curiously leaned on the table.

"That thing," Neptune repeated.

I remembered the favor these two asked for the previous day and I presumed that was what they were referring to. But I still don't know what it was exactly. "Oh, that thing."

"Seriously, what are you boys up to?" Yang asked.

Trust me, Yang, I don't know either. I just realized that I'm gambling with what I'm putting myself into and I'm starting to regret it.

"Oh, nothing, just some stuff between us boys," He answered.

"Sure…" She skeptically narrowed her eyes. "Anyway, just do what you're gonna do. It's not my business."

"Thank you, Yang," Neptune hen turned toward me. "So, you coming or what?"

"Well, I was planning on going to Vale later, so I might as well come with you guys."

They both beamed. "Great!" Sun exclaimed, "We'll make it worth your time."

I sure do hope so, I thought. I'm still not sure why I'm even agreeing with this.

"Is this okay with you?" I asked Pyrrha for some reason, probably out of compulsive habit, mostly because I usually turn to her for questions.

She gave me a confused look. "Why did you have to ask me? It's not like I exist to keep you away from other people," she answered. With that answer, it made me wonder why I even asked. While she would make a pretty decent big sister (who just happens to have red hair… among other things), it's not like she's my mother or something.

"So does that mean if Jaune dates another girl, you wouldn't interfere?" Yang asked with a teasing grin, followed by a chuckle from Ruby while Blake curiously turned to her partner; Weiss made a faint blush as she looked away once again and continued sipping her tea. Adding to the awkwardness, I felt a little embarrassed with that question so I tried not to think about it.

"What?!" Pyrrha exclaimed as the color of her face became closer to that of her hair. "No! In fact, I'd be hap—"

"Not on my watch!" Nora stood up, with Ren putting a hand at his face. "I will not tolerate anyone who dares to get in the way of true love!"

Naturally, we all just ignored her; everyone already knows that there was no sense in trying to challenge her exceptional insanity.

"You mentioned that it's only between boys?" Ren suddenly asked. "If that's the case, can I come?"

"Never even thought of that. But you could if you want," Sun said.

Nora ate an entire chicken leg thigh with a single swallow and made a loud burp. It was then that Ren made his decision final. "I'm in!"

"Well, the more the merrier!" Neptune remarked. "Welcome to the crew."

I was actually also glad that he would accompany us. I needed someone else I could trust while keeping my rear guarded just in case. Naturally, it made me more confident with whatever I'm about to do for these two.

I patted his shoulder. "Good to have you with us buddy." He then smiled back at me.

"Aww, I wish I could tag along," Nora whined. "Oh well, I hope you guys have fun together, whatever you're up to."

Ren quietly cheered with a 'Yes!' as he faintly pumped his fist. Looks like someone's happy that he wouldn't have to babysit a chaotic redhead for a short time.

When Ren and I were done with our lunch we both stood up with Sun and Neptune and made our way out from the cafeteria.

"Take care, guys!" Ruby waved before we left. We waved back at the girls as we left the building. I hope Team RWBY doesn't mind hanging out with Nora for a bit.

The campus was still fairly crowded with the ongoing festival. As we headed to the Bullhead docks, I finally decided to inquire about the situation as I've been in the dark on this for long enough. "Alright, can you now tell me what this is all about?"

"Well, to start off, let's just say it involves detective work. We still have our junior badges," Sun answered.

I remembered the two shadowing crime specialists back when everyone was taking their first mission. I'm guessing this had something to do with that. Though, I was a little more curious about how they get to keep their badges when they should have expired by now. "You still have them?"

"Hey, we had a lot of fun then and they thought we did a good job, so they offered us some part-time work for a few weeks. We get to do more detective stuff and get paid for it," Neptune stated.

"And we kinda need your help with this one."

So far, that doesn't sound bad. Helping out police investigations sounded pretty tame compared to most other jobs for Huntsmen [1]. The worst thing you could get into was to look at decaying corpses and get into brawls with some thugs (who usually use knives and bats, given that it's hard to get a hold of guns in Vale unless you're a licensed Huntsman). The more serious cases like serial killers and conspiracies are quite rare, and if there happens to be one, they are usually reserved for the more experienced detectives, something I doubt that these two Huntsmen-in-training are assigned with. "So, what's the case?"

"We were investigating a drug trafficking case that involves this gang, and… let's just say we're going to need some extra muscle." Neptune answered.

And that's where they lost me.

"Not to mention, extra brains," Sun added.

The gang they were referring to better be a bunch of criminally inept idiots trying to act tough and that my fears better be exaggerating. Otherwise, I should pinch myself for blindly accepting their favor yesterday. "Did you two get yourselves in trouble?"

"No…" Neptune muttered as Sun glared at him into admitting it. "Okay, maybe a little."

"I'm pretty sure we kinda pissed off their boss for digging too deep."

"Couldn't have you asked for help from the police department?" Ren asked, stating the simplest solution at the time. "Especially if that gang is suspected of trafficking illegal goods."

"We could, but I don't think they'll be happy to hear that we kinda screwed up, which is why we asked for your help." Sun reasoned. "We thought you could sort this out. You guys were able to stop a train and got that friggin' Torchwick guy arrested on the same day for crying out loud. We could use some of that. We've been doing this for weeks now and it would be a good time to finish it once and for all so we can enjoy the festival without any more worries."

Well, I know how he feels with that one. I guess it's too late to bail now. I'd end up looking like a cowardly jerk if I refuse now. I really should have seen this coming and excused myself yesterday. And I thought that meeting Rose and Rouge again would be a challenge, but when I thought about them, it gave me an idea. If I could get their help, then this should be as easy as pie. So I accepted the task. "Fine, I'm no miracle worker, I'll help you out, but just this once."

They both made a relieved sigh. "Thanks, man, we really owe you one," Neptune said.

"You kinda owe me a lot, if I'm honest," I said in a rather playful way so it wouldn't sound like I was annoyed.

"Yeah, but we'll try to make sure that will be worth it," he reassured.

"Sorry if this bothers you." Sun apologized.

"I'm helping out my friends, I can't really be mad at that," I sighed to myself with concealed agitation.

"Are you sure about this?" Ren asked me. If I'm honest, I don't know myself either. But if there were any reassurances, it wouldn't involve international racial supremacists or rogue scientists trying to empower Grimm. At worst, I'll be dealing with serious criminals, which I could just shoot in their faces for all I care and no one would care because vigilantism committed by a celebrity isn't as looked down as police brutality or something. I don't even think that Sun and Neptune could put themselves in situations worse than that.

"Let's just say I found another way to practice for tomorrow," I told him. Ren remained skeptical but assured that his reliable leader would take care of everything.

I really hope this works, it's probably the only reason why I haven't fully regretted agreeing to this. I'd honestly rather have Nora figure out what my semblance was using whatever death traps she could think of.

=o=

1. That is if you ignore more mundane jobs such as courier work in short distances; guarding laborers in an already secured area, or even gathering dust and herbs for an alchemist.

While the city streets of Vale were still bustling with the festival taking place, even then, it was still another average day for most people where they still have their own jobs to fulfill. So most of the celebration took place in downtown central while other parts of the kingdom remained relatively quiet despite a huge party happening around the corner.

Unsurprisingly, thanks to my fame, it was much easier to count the pedestrians that didn't recognize them than the ones that do, especially with my face broadcasted on television the previous day, and because I didn't bother wearing anything other than my usual clothes and armor. I had to stop for at least every two minutes so I could be nice to my fans; take pictures, sign autographs and stuff like that. As annoying as it sounds—and trust me, it really was for the first couple of days that I couldn't describe how exhausting it was—I have gotten used to my celebrity status ever since it stuck with me for the past few months that being recognized by almost everyone and having to spend a few minutes to deal with them feels like another daily chore.

Sun and Neptune were noticeably jealous of the attention I was getting, especially if cute girls are involved, but it more or less reminded them that they have the Hero of Beacon on their company. Besides, at least they were able to get some recognition by having to encounter a few fans of their own, even if they were more focused on me. Ren, while far less recognizable with the public (not that he minds at all), was still able to his share of admirers. He was indeed grateful for them and their support, but he doesn't appear to feel anything beyond that. Must be because he couldn't imagine being with someone besides Nora, who, speaking of which, was thankfully not there to drive away his fans. Ren deserved some appreciation from anyone outside his friends.

"You seem to be more awfully cheerful than usual," I said to Ren after we left our last batch we took photos and signed autographs for. We've been in the same team for the past seven months and I still wasn't used to seeing Ren in a jovial mood.

"It just feels so gratifying to be away from Nora for once," He answered. "Don't get me wrong. She will always be someone important to me, but I still need a break from her every once in a while."

I gave him an understanding nod. Everybody needed some time from someone they're entangled with for the sake of their health and sanity after all. "I can definitely see that, buddy."

"Besides, I needed to spend some time with you and other boys," He added. Good thing we were there for that.

"So where are we heading first?" Sun asked me.

"We're going to meet up with my sisters. If there is anyone who could help us deal with a bunch of criminal tough guys, it's them," I looked at my scroll map which had their location marked. "They're waiting at Joe's Diner."

"Your sisters huh?" Neptune made a perverted smile before wiping his hair. Sun noticeably rolled his eyes over that. There is definitely no stopping this guy from chasing women, especially since it's pretty much the reason why Weiss broke up with her. If he doesn't grow out of this soon, I doubt he'd last long in a serious relationship.

"How did you and Weiss work out?" I asked Neptune. Even though Weiss' repulsion towards him earlier should have already answered that. I just wanted to hear from his side of the story.

He sighed for a bit. "I told her that we're not exactly working out. To be honest, everything between us was just a stupid fling. Don't get me wrong, she's really smart and pretty, it's just that I realized that she's not really my type. Besides, a girl like her deserves someone better."

"I see." It was all that I could say at the moment. I couldn't exactly quip at that especially since he was being frank with me as well as making a self-deprecating remark just to show that he's not proud of how he handled her. As obnoxious Neptune's lady-chasing persona can be, you got to give him credit for his transparency, which was one thing I lacked.

"You know, I really don't like talking about this. So let's change the subject a bit." He cleared his throat. "I looked up your laser pistol the other day."

That managed to capture my curiosity. "Oh?"

"Yeah, it's an Accatran Mark I Laser Pistol. It said that those things are still prototypes for the Atlesian military with only a few of them reaching into the public's hands. So if that's the case, where did you get it?"

I gave him a conceited look. I wasn't able to show the gun at the moment because I left it on my rocket locker while I still don't need it yet, same goes for Ren. Sun and Neptune, however, brought both of their weapons since their badges gave them the authorization to carry them in public while they still don't have an official Huntsman license. "It's a trophy I got from one of my encounters with the White Fang," I answered. I was still curious about how I was still able to buy ammo for this gun in stores at a relatively cheap price when it's supposedly rare. [1]

"Nice. Just a suggestion, if you get the chance, you should try upgrading red lasers to blue. Because not only they would look cooler, they'll grow even more powerful too."

I lifted one of my brows. "How so?"

"Remember that grade science classes taught you that blue stars and flames are warmer than the red ones? Well, the same goes for lasers. It's because cooler colors like blue and purple possess the highest energy among the spectrum. In layman's terms, the higher the energy the particles have, the more powerful they are."

That was actually a very useful piece of advice. With all the moments where he made a fool out of himself, I almost forgot how smart Neptune actually was. He wasn't really bragging when he calls himself 'intellectual'. "I'll consider that. Thanks for the idea. Thinking about it, doesn't your weapon fire blue energy particles too?"

"My weapon?" His brow raised. "The Tri-Hard?"

"Wait, what?" There was a brief pause afterward as I tried to contemplate what on he just said. "You actually named your weapon 'Tri-Hard'?" It's actually a quite fitting name if you ask me.

"Nah, technically it was me," Sun answered before Neptune could. "He thought it sounded cool and clever for a trident. He didn't realize that it's because..."

"I'm a tryhard," Neptune groaned. "Har har, we all get it, Sun." He then cleared his throat before going back to answering my question. "It technically does, but as you know, it uses electrical beams; rather than lasers. Still, it packs a punch."

"Alright then," I said as I was slightly befuddled that someone as supposedly smart as Neptune never realizes what the name meant until after a period of time [2]. Not gonna lie though, that weapon comes in handy when used right, derogatory name or not. Yesterday's match made that clear. It would have been funny if he ends up getting matched against Nora at one point.

We continued to walk for a few more minutes as we got closer to our destination when Ren suddenly spoke. "So I've been thinking about our temporary team name while we're together; Team AWRN (Aquamarine)"

"Aquamarine?" I asked.

"Arc, Wukong, Ren, and Neptune," He clarified.

"Hey, that doesn't sound bad," Sun remarked. I'll have to second Sun on this, it's a very plausible name if we're grouped together. That, and I can't think of anything else better myself.

Neptune begs to differ, of course, because of what he's recently infamous for. "Dude, is there another name for us that isn't related to water?"

"It's the best one I could think of at the moment as far as having Jaune on the lead go," Ren explained.

Neptune groaned before taking a deep breath. "Okay. It's just a name. It's just a name. Don't think about water. Just don't think about water." He muttered to himself.

We all stared at him. For someone who is trying to be part of the cool kids, I don't think we'll see him in any pool parties soon.

"He'll be fine. He always goes through this," Sun reassured.

"By the way, who'll represent you two for tomorrow?" Ren asked.

"Sage and I got it. Neptune would have gone with me if he had stopped freaking out that he might be on another stage that has water on it," Sun answered as he glanced back at Neptune who was still trying his best not to think about water over our unofficial team name. "And the fact that Sage really needs to make up for getting knocked out in the last match that quickly."

Neptune finally exhaled and snapped out of it before chiming in. "Yeah, he wasn't happy about that."

"I really wish you guys luck then," I said to them.

"Thanks, we really appreciate it."

We finally arrived at the diner. You can tell that my sisters were here because Rose's cruiser bike was parked in front of the building. The diner had a very classic style of aesthetic, both inside and outside while having a streamlined design. Entering the diner, there were stools mounted on the checkered floor; in front of the counter where the waitress (who was said to be Joe's wife) was preparing food for the customer.

It only took half a second to find Rose and Rouge sitting at one of the tables. Noire and Blanche were there too; they were wearing clothes that concealed their recognizable appearances from the general public, something that I sometimes do. Aside from them, the diner wasn't that much crowded with the only other customer being an old lady on the other side of the diner.

"Yo, twerp!" Rouge immediately noticed me when she saw me and the boys enter. She waved at me, prompting the others to turn around now that I was there.

We walked over to them. I saw that Noire was wearing a black baseball cap and a coat of matching color while Blanche wore a white dress and a sunhat; they both have shades resting on the table.

Rose and Rouge, on the other hand, were still wearing their usual clothes. Rose's plate contained steak and some eggs while Rouge was eating some nachos. The twins meanwhile settled for a milkshake and chocolate cake respectively.

"Good to finally see yer face again, little brother," Rose greeted. It was nice hearing her homely accent in person again. "Friends of yours?"

"They sure are," I replied, "Rose, Rouge, Noire, Blanche. I'd like you to meet Ren, Sun, and Neptune."

"Howdy," Rose tipped her hat at my friends.

"It's nice to meet you," Blanche greeted.

"How do you do?" Noire followed with a bright smile.

"What's up, dorks." Rouge greeted in her own Rouge-ish way as I expected of her.

Sun raised a brow, "Did your sister just call us dorks?" He turned to me and asked. I was only able to answer with a snicker.

"Yes, I did," Rouge said candidly. "Got a fuckin' problem with that, monkey boy?" Sun was slightly flinched by her response that may or may not be racially offensive against primate faunus all while Neptune continues to ogle at them. Typical.

"Oh, don't you fellers worry 'bout her," Rose reassured. "That's just her way of greetin' new people."

"I'm still glad we have her to scare the press away for us," Noire quipped, causing me to share a laugh with her and our other sisters. Rouge seemingly took that as a compliment as she didn't appear to be offended at the slightest.

"Eh. You know what, I still think you're a bunch of dorks especially since you're hanging out with the biggest nerd I know. But because you're all pals with him, you're all fine by me for now," Rouge said and it's probably the nicest thing she said to strangers for a while now and the boys should be quite proud of that achievement.

Neptune made an impressed whistle at all of four of my sisters, "Hello to all of you too,"

I narrowed my eyes at him, under the impression that he would try something funny. My sisters gave him some weird looks which was an expected outcome, but other than that they didn't react much to his transparent attempts at flirting.

"Our little hero here told us a lot about ya, Ren," Rose said to him, earning his smile. "Just so ya' know, any friend of Jaune is a friend of mine. Thanks for lookin' out for him for all these months."

"It was my pleasure," he nodded. "Rest assured I have his back when he needs it."

"Ya' just keep doin' that," Rose said. "It's nice to see we could count on folks like you. He always needed some friends, especially someone who can act as a brother to him. Glad he finally found that again."

"I haven't let Jaune down yet and I don't intend the same to you," Ren said as I smiled at him while patting his shoulder.

"That's what I like to hear," Rose said before going back on eating her steak.

"Hey, you two are Blanche and Noire Arc, right?" Sun queried. "The not-really-Huntresses-but-might-as-well-be popstar twins?"

"Correct," Noire nodded.

"Not to spoil the surprise, but expect us to be there for Jaune!" Blanche said.

"Nice. It's just that… I just wanted to say, I really like your songs." Sun complimented.

"Why thank you," Noiresaid.

"You're welcome."

Though I'm still not sure if it was necessary to do a concert at the tournament for my sake, I'm happy to see the twins again, even if their stupid semblance motivated me into accepting my invitation to Beacon, as if the pressure I got from Dad's encouragements weren't bad enough. [3]

"I just realized, aren't the two of ya' fellers from the team that electrified those girls on the water yesterday?" Rose asked.

"Yes, that would be us," Sun confirmed.

"Boy, that was some fucking match," Rouge remarked. "I expected Team Igloo or whatever to kick your boyband-looking asses. But I gotta admit, I was really impressed to see you actually win when it looked like they were about to dom ya'."

"That's right. That victory wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for yours truly," Neptune bragged as he made a seductive grin to show off his pearly white teeth to my sisters.

"Right, and aren't you the one who was also freaked out over water?"

"Uhh…" Neptune lost his cool as he made an embarrassed chuckle.

"Well, good job facing your fears to earn that victory at least," Rose said.

"Thanks, I really… risked myself back there." He cleared his throat. "For the team."

"Ya' sure did."

"So we've heard that you're the Hero of Beacon now, baby bro," Rouge said to me. "It's got a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"I feel like 'The Least Insane Person in Beacon' sounds more appropriate," I deadpanned before turning back at the boys who I might have slightly offended with that remark. "You guys are okay though." Well, sorta but I still found them to be more tolerable compared to most of the hectic student body who we call the next generation of Huntsmen, which was why I'm even hanging out with them.

"Have you finally gotten laid yet?" she then asked, causing Sun and Neptune to lean in curiously while giving me perverted looks.

I sighed before answering. Here we go with her again. Oh Brothers, I couldn't imagine the girls meeting her in person. "Still working on that."

"Huh. You literally have swarms of fangirls that are head over heels before you. I thought you'd be too nice and perverted enough to let them play with your sword," she teased.

"I'm not like that, Rouge," I glared at her. "Look I admit, some of my fans are really hot. I'd go with that if I wasn't uncomfortable with the idea of having my first time through my reputation. I'd have to be very careless."

That, and I didn't need some entitled bimbo or a group of them to take advantage of me once I entered that certain unwanted phase of my career all of a sudden even if I didn't do anything to my fans outside their consent. It'll be more likely to happen once my reputation goes to the drain as it's credited to carrots that they won't take kindly to learn that they slept with a fraud. They would surely repay me by making my already-miserable life a living hell. I'm going to have to help my own case by not doing anything raunchy to my fans. Giving them high fives and hugs was already risky for me.

"Of course, he won't, Rouge," Rose chimed in. "Especially since he's savin' all of that for Pyrrha."

"Uh, no." I corrected, "Our relationship is nothing like that yet."

All four of my sisters gave shocked expressions. "Wait, you two are still not dating?" Noire asked before I answered by shaking my head. Like seriously, can't anyone perceive us as good friends for once?

"Well, that's a bummer," Rose remarked. "What the blazes are ya' waiting for, Jaune? Just go for it already!"

"Yeah, I'm still looking forward to Pumpkin Pete's Special Love Breakfast with you and Pyrrha on the box," Rouge jibed. [4]

"By the Gods, knock it off, I've been hearing this millions of times on the streets and especially on the web already," I grumbled. This reminded me of that one time when Rouge suggested that I bone Bleu's wife so she could have a baby that possesses Arc genes. Bleu wasn't fully opposed to the idea and I would have loved to get laid. But in the end, she ultimately rejects it and sticks with alternative methods to get a child. Besides, as much of a horny teenager I was, I still wasn't keen on the idea of fathering my eldest sister's child at that age and leaving him or her because I did what I only came for (no dirty pun intended). It was a line I didn't want to cross.

"Oh please, all of you, go easy on Jaune. He's trying to wait for the right time." Blanche said before sipping on her sundae once again.

"Thank you, Blanche," I said.

"Jaune, if you don't man up and eat Pyrrha like you eat her cereal after the tournament ends, I'll show your friends pictures of you in ballet class," Rouge threatened. "Mark my godsdamn words."

"Ballet isn't necessarily girly! How many times do I have to tell you that?! I willingly took those classes to exercise my flexibility!" I exclaimed. I would have been lying if I didn't say I wasn't embarrassed when I first took ballet class because it's usually treated as a girls' thing, but I began to appreciate it for what it is. It's one of the contributing factors to why I even got decent training and I would have been less agile without it. Dad knew what he was doing when he suggested that I take those classes and I knew he wasn't trying to embarrass me.

Rouge folded her arms skeptically. "Yeah, sure."

"Is it bad I kinda want to see those pictures?" Sun asked before I glared at him, making him look back at me awkwardly. "Sorry."

I turned back to Rouge. "Say what you about it, at least I didn't have to wear a freaking tutu!"

"He's not wrong though, trust me," Ren said, backing me up. The implication that he also did ballet classes wasn't surprising. If anything, it explained why he was so nimble. "But let's not forget why we're here."

"Oh, yeah, right. As much as we're enjoying all this casual talk. We're here so we could use your help for something," Sun said.

"With what?" Rose asked.

"We were doing some detective work and we could use an extra hand in dealing with some serious criminals."

"You must have pissed off some really serious criminals if you boys came here to ask for our help," Rouge stated.

"Pretty much," Neptune said. "All of our investigations on a drug trafficking case point toward the Silverlock Street Triads. This was confirmed by an informant and interrogations from arrested members. I think they want our heads now. I don't think the PD is going to give us the back up we need to take them on, so we could use all the help we could get right about now so we'll be able to solve this case and not get killed."

"Wait, the Silverlock Street Triads? Why does that name sound familiar?" Rouge rubbed her chin as she began to muse.

"Aren't they those Mistrali guys who wear hats and red shades?" Rose inquired.

"Not exactly Mistrali, but they do come from an Animan region. That aside, that's pretty much them," Sun confirmed.

"Oh, those guys. So, we get to beat those fuckers up? Sounds good to me!" Rouge finally stopped slouching from her seat. Good, the more familiar they are with what we are about to face, the easier this is going to go. I knew I was making the right choice by approaching my sisters for help.

"Well, there aren't any interesting missions available right now, so count us in!" Rose said. "It's the least we can do to help out some of our lil' brother's friends."

I was put at ease knowing that the next few hours of my life will be made easier now that two of my more rowdy sisters have joined us in our mission to take down a crime organization.

Sun made a sigh of relief. "Thanks. We're really grateful for your help."

"Anythin' for my fellow enforcers of the law," Rose said. "Where do we come in?"

"We'll have to discuss it later in a more secluded place," Neptune said, glancing at few of the other customers at the diner.

"We can talk about it in the motel room; it's not really that far from here," Rouge said.

"Then that's where we're going next, Sun nodded. "After you're done here, obviously."

"What about you two?" I asked Blanche and Noire, "I know you aren't Huntresses but you do know how to fight. Maybe you could just provide moral support if you don't feel like engaging in combat."

"Sorry, we're still busy with rehearsals for tomorrow," Blanche answered, "Good luck helping your friends clean the streets though."

"Just please don't get hurt enough that you might not be able to take the match," Noire added.

"Trust me, I'll be careful." I said, "Besides, you know me, I'm not going to let some city thugs beat me up that easily."

"You better be, little brother," Blanche said.

"Finally, we got something to do in this fancy town," Rouge remarked, giving a fire dust crystal a toss. "Looks like I don't have to wait for tomorrow to see something exciting."

"Rouge, if that drops into my coffee, Ah swear I'm goin' to make ya' drink it until you choke on it so hard ya'd be breathing fire like a sick dragon!" Rose said.

With siblings like these, I'm still amazed that we were able to live with each other for the majority of our lives.

After the girls finished their meals, we all left the diner. The twins put their shades back on before someone was able to notice them. They took a cab to their hotel room while Rose and Rouge drove away on the former's bike. Their motel room was only a short walk away so we'll be able to catch up in no time.

"Man, with all the women living your life. I'm surprised that you've still managed to maintain your masculinity," Sun remarked as we proceeded to walk once again.

"I have a very good father-figure, Sun. I think it's important for everybody to have at least one." I said, "I don't mind being a little feminine, but you gotta balance things out." With that, I can cook, sew, and do all kinds of domestic stuff while staying reasonably masculine. Dad said these traits should complement your masculinity rather than conflict with it, contrary to what some may tell you.

"I hear you, man. I hear you," he nodded.

"So are any of your sisters single?" Neptune asked. I was rather unsure about his obvious intentions to pursue my sisters but I decided it was none of my business and I'll just let things happen naturally as they go for now. Besides, he only has himself to blame if he shows that he learned nothing from his date Weiss and screws up again.

"Yeah, everyone you just talked to is single. Only two of my older sisters are taken." I told him.

He was delighted to hear that, "Nice! I'm going with the cowgirl and the punk chick first. I'll show them a good impression once we start facing the Triads."

"Good luck with that," I said to him, especially with Rouge. There's a good reason why her exes are making sure they live far away from her after breaking up, literally—in one case.

And the Triads will sure learn why.

=o=

1. The dust cells the laser pistol uses as ammunition are quite versatile and were usually used as batteries for different types of machinery. Hence why they are commonly sold despite laser weaponry being rare at the time.

2. I consider theoretical knowledge to be separate from wisdom. While Neptune indeed possesses an aptitude for technology and other technical subjects, I wouldn't exactly call him wise.

3. The Arc twins' shared semblance allows them to strengthen a person's positivity and willpower through their own music as well as drawing out negative emotions that attract Grimm. The effect only applies to a live audience within a two-hundred meter radius. Due to this, they are often in collaboration with charities and humanitarian organizations to bolster the morale of their clients.

4. Velveteen, the company behind Pumpkin Pete, actually proposed a limited edition variant for Marshmallow Crunch called 'The Arkos Special' featuring both Jaune and Pyrrha on the box, prior to the idea being dropped after a certain event. It was planned to have a primarily strawberry flavor, which supposedly alludes to the relationship between the two. The company planned to offer Jaune collaboration (and by extension, sponsorship) with Pyrrha after they've confirmed that they were in a relationship before beginning production with the variant.

When we arrived at the motel, Rose was waiting for us in front of her room's door, telling us to come on in. The room was about as simple and ordinary as you'd expect; a humble motel room with two beds, a couch, a table, a T.V. and bathroom, and not much else to it. Even though the two were fairly wealthy from all the bounties and missions they took as well as taking advantage of the family treasury. The two were only planning to stay in Vale for a few days and they only needed a place that was good enough for the time being while they spent their money on other things. Not that I'm complaining. For all I know, they could have got lower standards and picked the crappiest, sleaziest motel in the kingdom to rent, but thankfully that wasn't the case.

The boys and I (or Team AWRN, unofficially) sat at the bed while the other girls sat at the other as we began to brief and discuss the next phase of Sun and Neptune's investigation. If there was anything bothering me at the moment, it was that Neptune was still dazing over my sisters and I was almost tempted to smack the back of his head.

"So to recap; the two of you were doing detective work for the police the other day and ended up snooping around with the Triads that made them want to kill you because you're plannin' on shutting 'em down or something. So you asked Jaune for his assistance, who in turn, asked us to help out with the problem?" Rose began, sitting on her bed with her foot on her knee.

"Yep," Sun popped as he nodded.

Neptune stops dazing on the two as he speaks up. "We were thinking about visiting their club called the 'The Crimson Panda' or something and talking to their boss so we can come to some sort of compromise. We thought we'd ask Jaune to help us out so the odds could lean in our favor for a bit. But since we now have enough manpower to turn their place upside down, we can now coerce them into admitting that they have been pushing drugs, among other things like racketeering and harboring goods so we can finally arrest them. That place was burned down to the ground before, it can happen again," He explained, finally acting like an intellectual he always claimed as even though I am not exactly keen on their idea of meeting a mobster in person because of my stature.

"So, you're going to the Crimson Panda? Good luck because that shithole of a club is where all types of the lowest scum hang out: conmen, thieves, murderers, rapists, drug lords, social media influencers, you name it. It's no wonder why that place got blown up before," Rouge gave input in a way in what she does best.

Yeah, that definitely made me feel better about having to visit the place after mentioning what kind of people that place attracts. It just made me want to have the place blown up again and be done with it, proper protocols be damned.

She continued, "Luckily, you have us at your back, so what's the plan?"

"We'll still go with our plan on confronting their boss with Jaune on our side. Neptune told me these guys once made a deal with Torchwick. If the guy who's responsible for arrest was with us then it's easier for them to give in our demands," Sun proposed.

Or maybe it'll piss them more off since another person on their shitlist showed up to disrupt their operations which will only add to the potential body count on our side if this doesn't go well. On the other hand, I don't think they would risk killing one of Vale's rising stars at his prime; it will give them more unwanted publicity that it would get them shunned for doing that. I should take advantage of this, it's one of the few things I'm actually good at.

"I've been in the place before and trust me, it's a lot less scary if you're with someone they're afraid of," Neptune added.

"We should still remain prudent," Ren said. "The Triads are still one of the biggest criminal organizations in Vale. [1] If they are aware of this investigation then they're prepared to confront us as well."

"And while you'll be able to handle the goons who might or might not have an aura, you still have to watch out for the twins that bodyguards the asshole that owns that place," Rouge advised.

"Oh, right. Those two," Neptune said. Aside from Rouge's description, I had no idea who the twins they were referring to but if Neptune's blushing was anything to go by, they were obviously attractive girls.

"Twins?" I asked.

"The Malachite Twins. Those two thugs have Huntress-level training just like our other sisters. If you want to grab their boss by the balls, you'll have to get rid of them. They're the only reason why he even acts so tough in the first place," Rouge said.

Well, this just got a little complicated. I would have been fine with just threatening the big guy with the power of my fame. It's like Torchwick's pint-sized accomplice all over again. It made me glad that I actually called for these two's help, otherwise, we wouldn't last with this.

"Thanks for the warning. We'll make sure to be prepared to face them," Ren said

"Not gonna lie, I think they're pretty gorgeous," Neptune said.

"Here he goes again." Sun rolled his eyes, "Just save the flirting for the girls on our side and don't get distracted, will you?"

"So, where do we come in?" Rose pulled out the Lustita, her trusty modified hunting rifle, and cocked the bolt, much to the perverted dazzlement of Neptune that I still find to be unsavory.

We then discussed the rest of the plan for an hour or two, planning on how to approach the boss who was apparently named Hei Xiong, mostly known as 'Junior'. Getting him to admit that he was behind a drug trafficking ring; get rid of his bodyguards especially the twins until the cops arrive and do the rest so we can all go home and call it a day. We even looked up The Crimson Panda on the holonet to study its exterior as well as the few pictures of the inside; and for what they're worth, we also checked some blog posts about the club especially regarding the gang, Junior and the twins.

Additionally, Sun and Neptune showed me evidence that confirms the Triads' activities, just to dispel any doubts that we might be pursuing the wrong gang. Some examples would be a photograph of a Triad member dealing narcotics with someone and transcripts of interrogations from apprehended Triads provided by the PD. All we needed to do was interrogate Junior and find a way to arrest him. Destroying the club was optional, preferably with little or no civilian casualties.

We decided against bringing the others. As much as I want to send an army to the club for a higher chance of success, the six of us were already good enough. It would be less chaotic and easier to manage, and also because Sun and Neptune won't have to get anyone else into any more potential trouble because of us. Though, we could have at least gotten Yang involved to maximize the pressure on them. Neptune told me that she's apparently responsible for its previous destruction and it definitely sounded like something she would do, given her record. But it was already decided that the party was full.

While not entirely that complex because of our limited information and resources. The plan was elaborate enough that we even have backup plans prepared just in case things don't work out very well.

"You think this is going to work?" Ren asked.

"It has to, Ren," I answered him. It's one of the most meticulous schemes I ever thought of and I made sure that if anything happens, we'll still be able to bail out and see another day. "It's the best we could think of for a situation like this."

"Well, I like it!" Sun chimed in, slightly bouncing off from the bed. "I don't know about you, but as a fellow team leader, I'm very positive that this is going to work." The vote of confidence wasn't really much but it at least gives me assurance that this would at least go well.

"The stakes aren't actually any higher than the ones we faced before," Ren exhaled. "As long as everyone remembers their roles, then this has a very good chance of succeeding."

"Then it's settled," Rose loaded both of her revolvers and twirls them before putting them on her holsters. "Let's show these hooligans how it's done."

"I can't fucking wait," Rose said, tapping her baseball bat.

"Then I should start preparing now," Ren said as he stood up.

"Great idea," I said, picking my stuff up from the table as everyone else followed suit.

As we all left the room. I took a deep sigh as I leaned on the balcony and stared at the streets below the fairly bright afternoon sky as a few cars passed by, still contemplating whether this was going to work or not while the others headed downstairs.

"So, are you still planning on bailing out of Beacon?" Rouge suddenly asked, leaning on the balcony beside me.

"Beacon's fine actually. It's Ozpin and his stupid assignments are what's bothering me. Besides, I'm almost done with this year and I'm eligible enough to skip every written exam so I might as well finish it," I told her in a somewhat disgruntled tone.

"I don't like the Great & Powerful Ass-pin either. He is a puppet for The Man[2], no doubt," she said. Everyone in the family has something to say about him, I guess that's another thing to bond over. "At least he isn't in charge of this one."

"You tell me," I sighed.

"You seem to be doing alright for someone who got dragged in and unwittingly became his favorite pawn."

"I still can't believe I'm alive after all of that. Thank The Brother Gods I'm almost done. I already have enough extra credit to pass this year even if I do nothing beyond this point aside from keeping my image." I stared at the sky without looking back at her.

"Lucky you. I would have killed to skip the stupid exams and ace school by doing those assignments."

"Yeah, life's pretty unfair sometimes. Now I went too far that my friends are counting on me to carry them out of this mess," I murmured.

"They chose you for a reason. And by the looks of it, those two boneheads made the right choice. If you didn't want this kind of attention, then why do you still keep trying to impress everyone?"

I looked at her with tired eyes, "It's not as simple as it sounds. It was either this or stain my own name along with the family. There's almost no third option to this."

"So it still sucks to be you, what else is new?" she said, it still definitely is despite supposedly living the dream of every naïve boy who needs to spend less time watching movies that might cause them to get killed. Some things just never change. "At least you're brave enough to go through all of this."

"Question is, how long can I keep this up?" I asked, raising my voice slightly in uncertainty and frustration.

"Gee. I don't know. I'm still not the best person when it comes to advice. Just keep doing what you're doing, I think. If that's the reason why we aren't mourning at your grave yet, then why should you stop now?"

I could do nothing but stare at her and think about what she said. She wasn't actually wrong, the status quo was the double-edged sword that was keeping me at the complicated situation where I was, but at the same time, it keeps me away from dying. I'm obviously not fond of it, but I still don't have any other situation other than to let it flow until I can figure out a better way of getting out this mess without having to ruin my name.

"And remember, we're Arcs. Our auras are bigger than our enemies' egos combined. They'll break themselves before they'll break us," She added, reciting one of our unofficial family mottos. And these are one of the better-sounding ones, mind you.

I sighed before deciding to get this over with before I end up worrying about it too much that I would lose concentration on my plan. "Alright then. C'mon. Let's just get this thing started."

"That's the spirit."

We both exited the motel and caught up with the others as we began to make our preparations for our would-be assault. We have a few hours to prepare so we had to make use of all of it.

=o=

1. Mainly because there weren't a lot of criminal organizations in Vale at the time.

2. A slang phrase that refers to people in power. Usually used as a derogatory term against an oppressive authority. Rouge and other Arc children were not fully aware of Ozpin's position in the council that time, making Rouge's word to be accurate without knowing she was actually correct with that notion.

Hours of surveying, supplying and practicing have passed and nightfall has arrived. The Crimson Panda was open for business and it was time for us to initiate our operation.

When we entered the crime-ridden streets of Vale's underbelly, I was anxious upon seeing its deprived atmosphere. It was basically the city's own mini-Mantle, the buildings in the area appeared either impoverished or dilapidated with half of them being covered in graffiti; the smell of smoke filled the air while most people on the streets looked like they were one step away from stabbing you and taking all your money. And I thought Downtown Vale was bad; mind you, that's a place where seeing a poor schmuck bleeding with seventeen or more stab wounds in the middle of the street is considered normal and a part of the city's culture. Thankfully we were riding on a cab when we traversed through the place as walking through it would be difficult without any weapons for self-defense with the exception of a few dust crystals since we were all unarmed after I put Team AWRN's weapons in my locker as part of the plan a few hours ago.

We left the cab as soon as it arrived beside the entrance of the alley near Silverlock Street, where we would rendezvous with my sisters. As we got off the vehicle, we went inside the dark and smelly alleyway. The ground was littered with papers, garbage and beer bottles with a few rats crawling around. Clearly, traversing through it with barely any tools for self-defense wasn't exactly something you call a pleasant experience. Thankfully we reached the assembly point where Rose and Rouge were waiting before an unwanted encounter could take place.

The two were leaning behind the back of the building that was facing the Crimson Panda with Rose's bike parked at the side. "Good, y'all are here. Ready to get this thing started?" Rose asked when she saw us arrive, her familiar voice with its rural accent soothed us from the fear we were having.

"I'm ready when you are," I said before taking a deep breath, instinctively looking at my side for anything worthy of prudence, only to find nothing but a cat leaving a dumpster before facing them again. "Don't forget your cues."

"You worry too much, we'll always have your back, baby bro," Rouge reassured as she pumped the barrel of her dust cannon.

I nodded before giving my scroll to Ren as he would be doing the honors by sneaking it in, fooling the guards into thinking they have everyone's individual scrolls confiscated so we could call for backup or summon our weapons. Rose handed me her scroll to pass off as my own, using it as a decoy for the guards to take away while Ren sneaks my actual scroll inside. We're going to need it to send the signal and get all of our weapons while it records everything inside.

"You are going to owe me a new one if something happens to this," Rose grumbled.

"Oh, don't worry, you'll get this back in no time," I waved it at her.

Rose just frowned at me, noting that I didn't make any promises but was confident nonetheless, mainly because she had a high chance of getting it back anyway. "Be careful, there are civvies in there just trying to have a good time. Among the lowlife sons-of-bitches that hang out there."

"I haven't forgotten that." Innocents at the club were one of the obstacles we expected during the mission. Luckily we prepared something to keep them away from the incoming crossfire.

We faced the direction toward the club. I still had some doubts, thinking that this might not even be worth it. But I already made up my mind. Besides, it wouldn't be my fault that the club gets trashed again. Trafficking illegal drugs while threatening adamant investigators was already a recipe for disaster and we're just there to deliver. Even most crime bosses know this hence why they stay away from the stuff despite their value on the underworld.

"Here we go," Sun puffed.

"Hope this works," Neptune urged.

Ren tried to sway any more doubts that could hinder our operation. "Just remember your places and everything will go as intended."

"Thank you, Ren," I nodded at him with approval.

"You're welcome."

We left the alley and saw the club across the empty street near the infrastructure. The electronic dance music that was playing inside could be heard outside the entrance, albeit slightly muffled. For a night club, the exterior looked relatively inconspicuous, barely looking different from other buildings in the area. There was only a single small red neon sign depicting a bear's head with the club's name below it as well as two men wearing dark suits, accompanied with a fedora and red tie, guarding the entrance. And it was definitely something you'd expect from a shithole nightclub that attracts criminal low lives.

With a single gulp, we went through the streets and approached the two bouncers. To say that they weren't happy to us, particularly the two pseudo-detectives they were told about, was an understatement. "You two have a lot of nerve showing your faces here," The first bouncer said before they took a good look at me, "And who the hell is th—?" Their faces then shifted to nervousness. "Oh." I could feel fear on their eyes behind those red sunglasses that they were still wearing during night time for some reason.

"Hi," I greeted laconically. No need for further introductions since evidently my face and my clothes were enough to give them an impression of who they are talking to. The trepidations I've been hiding internally wasn't thankfully a part of that and I made sure of it.

"We just want to talk to your boss," Sun said with a forced grin.

"Don't worry, there is nothing on us. We don't plan on starting something." Neptune lied as I hid a crossed finger behind my back and gave the two bouncers a reassuring smile.

"Oh, of course, he was expecting you clowns," One of them said. "Let me search you just to be sure. Obviously, guests aren't allowed to bring any weapons."

We stood still as they proceeded to search our bodies. They found nothing from us aside from Sun and Neptune's junior detective badges, much to their mockery, and of course our scrolls. As predicted they forbidden us from bringing one of them inside in fear that we might use it to snitch their location.

"Since your friends have been snooping around, I don't trust you to bring any of these in so we're keeping them until you leave."

"Fine by me," I said, shrugging with a smile.

They then proceeded to confiscate all four of the scrolls they found from us, not knowing that the one I passed off as my own actually belonged to my sister. Ren gave me a wink, indicating that they were not able to get a hold of my scroll that he was hiding, much to my satisfaction. The lack of any resistance from any of us should have made them suspicious but it looks like they weren't paid enough to bother with that. They also failed to check if the trackers were off which made this club's downfall more inevitable especially since Neptune mentioned that the PD was monitoring their location while they're both active with the case. Good job fixing it, lazy bums.

"Okay. You're all clear to go," The bouncer stepped back after he finished searching our pockets. "You're the boss' problem now."

Indeed he is, I thought, feeling smug underneath my friendly face.

"You're a lifesaver." Sun grinned at him. He was confused with what he meant by that but he immediately dismissed it as a weird compliment.

Ren briefly pulled my scroll out of his sleeve to assure me that it was safe. I smirked knowing that things are going well so far. Who knew the magic tricks Ren taught me for that stupid talent show would come in handy.

We finally got into The Crimson Panda. The music became much more audible as I got my first taste of the interior. The colors were mostly black and white with red being the most colorful thing the club has. The lights, walls, and floors change to one of those colors from time to time. I guess this is why they call it that.

Although it was prettier than what was outside, it was… aesthetically unpleasing if I were to be frank. My eyes felt like they were being assaulted by the place's ugly use of the color scheme, especially when it fades to white, it blinds me just by looking at it. I couldn't tell if it was a nightclub with an overly-grim theme or if I somehow made it to the fucking Grimmlands which is said to be hell's rooftop. I know that decadent clubs like this tend to have this sort of motif but I'm pretty sure they don't even look this stupid. The fact that everyone was wearing the same colors including the DJ with his stupid ugly-ass bear mask that makes the Ursae less of a pain to look at did not help. If terrible aesthetics was a crime then consider adding this to the lists of felonies this gang has committed. It made me want to trash the place and beat everyone up even more which was just the motivation I needed when I got myself into this heaping pile of crap.

Almost everyone stared at us, most of which were the thugs in uniforms who were fidgeting upon seeing the so-called Butcher of the White Fang or whatever walking around, stepping back when I went near them. Other civilians were awed and were chattering that the current white knight of Beacon was before them, that is if they weren't whimpering in fear along with the Triads. Good, while I'm not one to brag and while I'm actually far from the scariest person hiding under bad guys' bed, I'll give them a good reason to be scared at me, just so I don't have to be scared of them myself.

We found 'Junior' when we saw him on a bar, sitting on a stool between his pretty bodyguards who admittedly look too good for this place.

It wasn't that hard to identify him. His relative appearance made him stick out from his men even though he only lacked a hat and wore only a vest on his shirt. The twins sitting next to him made it blatant that it really was him.

"Hei Xiong?" I asked when we approached him. All the nearby henchmen faced us. We were perturbed by this but we were able to hide it especially since we were aware that they were just as, if not more scared than us, courtesy to my presence. I could have gotten Ren to use his semblance on me so my heartbeat doesn't have to race during this, but none of us looked like we were about to panic so it wasn't really necessary.

Of course, the first thing Neptune did was flirt with the twins. "Hello again, ladies." He greeted, winking. Unsurprisingly, the two looked away in disgust. I'm not going to stop him if that's his way of coping away his anxiety so long as he focuses on the plan.

Junior gave me a good look before he spoke, "Hey, aren't you the kid that has been making moves a lot recently? What are you doing here?" He asked before he looked at Sun and Neptune. "Oh great, you two. Still snooping as usual I see. And I thought you wouldn't show up. Guess I'm wrong." He looked back at me, "Need a drink?"

"No thanks, I'm good." Besides, I'm still too young to drink. Even if I'm old enough I still wouldn't be a big fan of alcohol. I like my lever just the way it is. [1]

"Are you still accusing us of hiding shit?" He said before rubbing his face with his palm. "How many times do I have to tell you dumbasses? I run a perfectly legitimate business here. You'll find nothing that you're looking for."

Yeah, right. Because a place full of armed thugs wearing the same colors doesn't give you the impression that this club was owned by a gang that had a record of involvement in illegal activities. I have been lying a lot myself to know that someone is hiding something from us. I could see it on his face no matter how much he denies it. You can say I've grown a lie detector inside of my mind. "Prior evidence says otherwise. You might want to fess up. They might even give you a more lenient sentence and they don't have to raid this place."

"Like I said before, we're not hiding anything. Even if we are—which we're not! Then what are you going to do about it?" He bellowed.

"We have a warrant," Sun pointed out. "Can't show it right now because my scroll was confiscated. We can search the place if we have to, like or not."

"You can wipe it with your own ass for all I care!" Junior slammed the bar's table, almost making hos glass' spill. He then looked around and noticed that a few of his guests stopped whatever they were doing to watch them with unmistakably frightened looks. "Let's take this upstairs before you scare my patrons away, shall we?"

I'm pretty sure some of them already are since I noticed a few that left in a hurry when I started to show up. Considering what I've heard about what happened to this place before, they know what's up and I'll give them credit for being wise enough to ditch the place.

The upper floor he was referring to was the VIP floor. The floor was just a balcony with leather chairs that overlooked the dance floor. It barely conflicted with our plan so we didn't object and followed him there. Besides, the chairs were quite comfortable. Not to mention, the room space was relatively small which means it could only fit a few thugs for us to worry about especially while we still don't have our weapons yet.

Junior sat on the sofa with the twins between him. We sat on the chairs in his front while a handful of guards stood around. "Let me get this straight; you two brought in this guy because you think you could use him to scare me?" He said before making a chuckle. "If that's the case, try harder. You might as well have brought your mommies with you."

A confident one huh? He'd be happy to know that we were barely even starting. "I remember Torchwick giving me that look," I asserted as phlegmatically as I could, staring at his eyes, remembering that Neptune told me that he once made a deal with him.

The mention of that name made his smirk upside-down. Meanwhile, the twins looked somewhat impressed, simpering at me over what they just heard. "Perfect, another annoying blondie, and it's a guy this time," Junior complained.

"Wait, wasn't I the other annoying blondie?" Sun wondered.

Junior did not answer him, though by the looks of it he might as well be one to him. "It's really a shame because I kinda like you. You got balls, I'll give you that."

As much as I'm used to compliments such as these, it felt weird hearing this from a gang leader who I was planning to arrest.

"So what will it take for you to scram and leave us alone? Money? Women? Booze?"

I'm already low-key rich; I already have too many girls chasing after me that asking for more would be self-harm, and as I said before—I wasn't the drinking type yet. If anything, he was only digging himself deeper. "Now you're just bribing us. I don't think you'd offer me anything if you don't have anything to hide."

"Look, we don't do much. Outside of managing this club, we mostly just sell protection and export cheap, LEGAL porn. That's it." He claimed.

Well, now that he mentioned it, I wouldn't have hesitated to loot the latter once I was done if the police didn't need as much evidence against the gang as possible, provided that he wasn't lying when they claimed that they were legal.

"If your businesses are about as legitimate as you claim they were, then why did you threaten these two to stay away?" Ren pointed out, slightly raising his voice from his usual tone.

"Because your brats won't leave us alone!" Junior snarled.

"And there's a reason why they won't," I said. "You're the go-to guys for organized crime in this town. Almost everyone knows this. It's an open secret."

"For crissake, even if that's true, we're still not hiding any drugs around here. We don't touch that shit because we know it is not good for business. We're just a club of gentlemen who want to give people a good time."

Right, and I'm not some secretly-wimpy country boy with a fixation for northern tea. If he truly was aware that drugs weren't good for business, then we simply wouldn't be here. Sun and Neptune showed me enough evidence for the contrary which is why I haven't bought his adamant denials of harboring narcotics.

"Like, feeding them illegal drugs?" Neptune asked in an attempt to sound clever. He ended up being too successful with that, to say the least.

"Now you're just pissing me off," Junior hissed as he stood up. "I'd be happy if you get out of here now. I'm giving you twenty seconds before I have to beat your asses up myself."

"Look, we're not here to cause trouble." I lied, "If we wanted to, we could have easily got in here with guns blazing. We just wanted to hear what you have to say about these accusations. If that's what you'll want then we'll leave. We got what we came for."

He leaned from his chair. "Good because you're not going to get anything from here, maybe aside from some ass-whopping if you keep bugging me. Now get lost."

We were about to stand up and initiate Attack Plan Charlie (send the signal, make as much damage as possible until he confesses, then let the police do the rest.) Even if we complied and left like he said, it won't stop the Triads from hunting us down because of how we confronted them.

Suddenly a Triad member arrived upstairs with some news for Junior, which happened to be very convenient in our favor. "Hey, boss. Just so you'd know, the latest shipment of obscura[2] just came in."

After hearing that, we stopped and stayed there for a moment. It felt just too contrived and the timing was just too perfect that I have to thank whatever Gods for that we were able to hear this at the right place and the right time.

"Right, right, right. Now buzz off, will you?" Junior insisted, faintly but noticeably panicking. The thug remained, much to his annoyance.

"Speaking of which, one of our girls said that she needs more of them. Her name, Stacy, I think. She said she can't keep servicing any more clients without them," the thug continued to prattle, thus giving us everything we needed to confirm that Junior and his Triad playmates are indeed guilty.

Junior's face turned so red that he was almost close on having steam come out of his ears. "Alright, I get it!" By the way, my scroll was still recording everything that was being said.

"Oh, and some guys complained about the smell at the backroom gambling den." The thug kept spilling the beans that Junior lost his patience. He stood up and marched toward him. "We found out it was the rats that were hiding in the—"

Before he was able to finish, Junior pulled him by his tie. "I already fucking know about that, Zhou. Now take a break before I break you myself." There was a short pause there before 'Zhou' obeyed his word.

"Okay, boss," he said with a hint of fear in his voice.

After Junior let him go, he left and went downstairs. I have to thank this guy sometime. Too bad he must have ended up like any other thug in the area because he's probably the most cooperative gangster we encountered that day, even if it was unintentional. This guy should get a shorter sentence for accidentally snitching his gang, assuming if he's still alive.

The boys and I all looked at each other before nodding with a few smirks. "Okay. That was something. We're leaving now just like you wanted us to do." Sun said as we tried leaving the room.

"Hold on. How much did you hear?" Junior asked.

"Uh, you telling us to go away for the umpteenth time? We get it now. We're out of here." I jeered, technically speaking the truth. We tried to head for the room's exit only for some thugs to abruptly block us.

Junior chuckled. "Not so fast. Maybe I have something to do with you first."

"Oh, and now you want us here," I said sarcastically while maintaining my smug demeanor beneath my apprehensions, darting glances at any potential escape routes from where I was at.

"I admit maybe, we do have drugs. How about I invite you to try them out," Junior continued as the twins stood up and they walked slowly toward us. "It'll help you forget."

My heart rate was beating fast that I swear I almost reached for my holster out of instinct even though I was well aware that my gun wasn't there. Made me wonder whose idea was this—before realizing that it was mine and I have no one but myself to blame. It made me think that I should have refused when I had the chance.

"Whoa, hey, go easy on me, girls," Neptune said to the twins as they walked closer and rolled their eyes on him. It almost tempted me into using him as a human shield just so the twins would stay away out of repulsion for Neptune. I'm pretty sure he'll be okay with it as long as he gets their attention; it would have been a win-win for us both.

"You know. It's a good thing you were nice enough not to bring any of your toys," Junior chuckled again while giving a sinister smile. "Look, kid, I like you. I really do. It's why I haven't killed you yet. In all honesty, I'd hate to do that to you. Because I made a ton of money betting on your team and I feel like I should at least thank you for that."

You should have stuck with that as your source of income then. This could have all been avoided and we didn't have to ruin your business, and I wouldn't have been in this mess.

He continued, "But as long as you have Pyrrha Nikos on your team, I don't need your blond ass. Sorry, hero, but I don't think you won't be able to take the match tomorrow."

That was when I decided to take action, besides, even though I felt threatened, he was talking too much that it was getting annoying. Before this could get any worse, I looked at the dance floor to see if it was clear and I saw that there were only a couple of people dancing at the side. I turned to Ren and finally gave him the nod. He got the message and entered my locker's launch codes on my scroll while hiding it behind his back, without even looking at it. Sorry Junior, but we're about to crash this party.

I heard a beep that indicated the locker's launch, something the Triads failed to notice. I looked at the dance floor from the balcony to find the red beacon lights where it would drop at, only to find nothing even though the dance floor was fairly empty and we intended to aim it there when the drop radius was free of civilians. I assumed that it was because the lighting of the club made it less visible but after a few seconds—I found out why. And I felt very stupid…

There was a loud thud on the ceiling as a crack appeared while the ground shook slightly. The lights flickered and the music stopped, alerting everyone inside the club. Not a single locker dropped into the floor. When I realized that the locker actually landed on the roof because it wasn't strong enough to break through it, I lost my smug expression and held a palm at my own face. No wonder why I couldn't see the beacon.

While the Triads were befuddled at what just happened, I leaned to my companions and whispered, "Why didn't you remind me that the lockers can't get past hard roofs?"

"You sounded like you knew what you were saying," Ren answered with a shrug.

Yeah, well, it turned out that I wasn't. Dammit all, I'm really dense sometimes. [3] Not noticing that one critical flaw that would essentially botch the plan. Thankfully, this setback wasn't that bad. At least we could knock out the thugs and take their weapons in the meantime. Rose and Rouge would still get the signal and will eventually come in.

"What the hell was that?!" One of the thugs wondered.

"I don't know. Check the rooftops. It might be because those damn snowmen dropped something from their ships or something," Junior ordered. The thugs obeyed and left the room, giving us less of them to worry about when the assault begins.

Before a few of the thugs could go outside from the back door. Rose kicked the door open, knocking out the first thug behind it. She twirled her revolvers as she whipped them at the other thugs. One of them tried to shoot at her, only for Rose to shove his arm upwards, making him aim and fire at the roof before his forehead got clouted by the grip of Rose's revolver. Rose uses the thug's shot as a warning for the remaining clubgoers inside. "Everybody out now!"

No need to call the cops. At least one of them would presumably do it for us. Even if they don't, the police would still inevitably come since they were tracking Sun and Neptune's scrolls after all.

Guests began screaming as they ran toward the nearest exit while the thugs started panicking as well. Sun summoned his light clones which he used to help us knock out the thugs in the VIP lounge before taking their pistols. In my case, I turned to the thug behind me before he was able to draw his pistol. I grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm as I pointed his gun toward him before pushing him down with my foot and swiping his pistol. One of Sun's light clones did the rest by punching his face out cold.

Everyone was now armed after taking a weapon from an unconscious thug. Ren, of course, was still dual-wielding, holding two pistols he took from two different thugs. We aimed at a very furious Junior. "Gods-dammit, it's happening again! Get them!" He commanded the twins who both nodded and stepped in front of us.

We opened fire at them as they began deflecting bullets with their weapons that were respectively attached to their arms and legs. While we were at it, Rouge barged in from the front entrance, creating an explosion that knocked out nearby thugs.

"Yippee-ki-yay, motherfuckers!" she cried out before swinging a thug, making him fly across the room, breaking through two glass pillars until he crashed to a wall before falling off of it. "Home run! That's right. Run home to your mommas!" A few of them were actually smart enough to take her word while the rest were provoked by her.

Eventually, Ren managed to lure away the twins while Sun and Neptune went downstairs to help my sisters deal with the hostiles. It was then I noticed Junior aiming his rocket launcher toward me. I jumped away from the balcony and into the white tiled dance floor as his rocket missed me upon firing.

When I landed, I looked up and noticed the crack on the ceiling where my locker landed. It was about to crumble while the medium-sized disco ball was barely hanging. Junior caught up with me and faced me with his weapon turned into a baseball bat.

Without another word, I fired two rounds on the crumbling roof without looking up. Despite my blind firing, one of my shots was able to hit the disco ball's mount.

Junior was baffled, thinking that I was shooting aimlessly. "Was that supposed to scare me or someth—?" he spoke up before the roof crumbled and the disco ball fell on him, knocking him out unconscious on his own club's dance floor. That's gotta hurt.

"Now that's what I call a disco fever," I snarked. [4] With him knocked out, it made a significant effect on the Triads' morale. I noticed more of them routing to the exit after witnessing that their boss got knocked out. I didn't forget to take all of the contents of his wallet. He was carrying a lot, I presumed that they were drug money but it didn't matter. Money was still money and I could buy myself some new combat boots. The shoes that I was still wearing for some reason were starting to wear out. I don't think I'll get any bounty money after this but at least I know that I'll be leaving this place a rich man.

Along with some debris, my rocket locker dropped as its impact cracked the tile it fell into. It opened, showing off all the weapons stored inside.

"Oh, thank Gods!" I dived in and grabbed my sword, its sheath and my laser pistol. I put my sheath and holster at my belt before spotting two thugs charging toward me with the intent to kill. I threw the pistol that I took at the first thug and it hit his head hard, making him fall to the ground as his hat fell off, his forehead visibly bleeding. I took my laspistol from my holster and shot the other one in the face.

Ren, Sun, and Neptune shortly came in and grabbed their respective weapons. They used their ranged function to fire at any thugs who were trying to shoot us down. One of the thugs even fell from the balcony and landed on another thug after getting shot at. I turned and saw that the shot was from Rose's rifle. She gave me a single thumbs up before going back to shooting.

My companions spread out, continuing to clear out other parts of the club. I looked at my front and saw two hostiles approaching me, only that it wasn't your regular run on the mill thugs but the dangerously attractive Malachite Twins themselves.

"Looks like Junior got beaten up by a pretty blond again, Miltia," said the white one with the bladed heels. For a couple of murderous henchmen working for a criminal organization, they sounded like conceited high school cheerleaders. I wouldn't be surprised if Yang actually hung out with these two before. "I'm honestly impressed. Too bad we still have to punish you for making a mess, cutie."

And just when everyone split up. Perfect.

"Indeed, Melanie." the red-colored twin said to her sister as she readied her claws. "Nothing personal, handsome, but we have a job to do." she stormed toward me while Melanie, the one in white leaped above me and toward my back. I parried the strikes coming from Miltia's claws as I aimed my laser pistol toward her behind me. I fired my laser pistol as she avoided it by sliding down, trying to sweep my feet on the way. I jumped above her and tried thrusting my sword downwards while she was on the ground, but she was able to slide past me before I could stab her. In situations like this, I would have used dust to my advantage, but unfortunately, I came here without anything in my pocket and there wasn't much I could weaponize in the environment against them so I was stuck with the good ole' hack n' gun.

I switched my pistol with my shield. I began swinging my sword and shoving shield at them as they deflected it with their respective weapons and vice versa. While the fight was taking place, they were arguing on who gets a piece of me.

"He's mine!"

"No, he's mine!"

You're kidding me, right? Girls fighting over me was something I'm still trying to process, but fighting over me while I fight them takes it to a whole new level. I would have actually appreciated it if they did actually fight over me rather than just argue who gets the most of my attention; I might not even have to deal with them. On any other day, I would have been happy to have these two attractive women serve me, but at the moment, I was making sure that I don't get scratched or get stepped on by a bladed heel in a painful and unsatisfying manner.

I parried away Miltia's claws before Melanie leaped toward me as I raised my shield, pushing me back slightly. I collapsed my shield and drew my pistol, firing at the white twin. It prompted her to make backflips as she dodged the laser fire. I used my sword to block off the following scratches from Miltia. I raised my pistol and aimed at her face, only for her to duck as she tried to sweep off my legs and make me fall to the ground. I needed these two to be at a distance. Their fighting style has a huge emphasis on close-quarters combat so it means that fighting in range wasn't their best suit. Unfortunately, I think they were noticeably aware of which was why they were trying to keep me close to them as much as possible. If the others, particularly Rose, weren't so busy, I would have asked for help.

Melanie ran in and jumped with the intention of landing toward me on her heels. Thankfully I was able to grab my shield and expand it as she lands, making her flip back to the floor.

I stood up and faced the two. Sun and Neptune then came in beside me with their weapons drawn. "We'll take care of this for you, go!" Sun said to me.

"Aww, we were just having fun with him," Miltia whined.

"Another time, ladies," I gave the two boys a nod before leaving the center of the dance floor. Sun was swinging his nunchucks against Miltia and her claws while Neptune was whirling his trident (which I was tempted to call by its name) as Melanie flips around while trying to hit him with her heels.

More thugs with terrible life decisions approached me with pistols, hatchets, and cleavers. I sprang toward the first person, pummeling his chest with my shield before using it to bash his face and knock him down. I switched my left hand with my pistol while the thugs charged around me. I whirled my sword around, slicing down the thugs that tried to come near me while I blocked their weapons, simultaneously shooting the hostiles that were in range. The laser fire blended well with the club's aesthetic so not many noticed it before it hit them. Blood began to paint the white dance floor red, not that it made much of a difference to the overall design of the interior. One of them tried to throw a cleaver behind me. I ducked right on time and it landed on the face of the thug that was on my front.

Ouch. I was wondering when they will try to throw a cleaver. You can't say you're facing Animan gangsters without at least one of them throwing some kind of knife at you.

To show that knife thrower my gratitude, I turned back and shot him in the leg so he would visit a jail cell instead of a morgue unlike some of his unfortunate comrades. It was the nicest thing I could do to a member of a criminal organization who attempted to kill me with a knife in a dire situation.

I parried the thug's hatchet before slashing his torso, thus disposing of the last thug of that group, the DJ then ducked out from his table with a machine gun. He opened fire at me as I slid through the cover behind the pedestal of one of the glass pillars. I ducked behind it as the DJ fired at the pillar. Splinters of the glass rained above me while I remained in cover. Once his magazine ran out, I was clear for a shot. I stood from cover and fired at his head. Thanks to the ridiculous size of the mask/helmet, it was easy to hit him and he was killed with a single shot. He fell to the ground with a hole on his head. Can't imagine dying while wearing that.

I looked to see what the others were doing. Rose was still shooting gangsters left and right, sometimes simultaneously, getting rid of the last groups of Triads; Rouge was standing above the bar's table swinging thugs away with her bat before picking up a bottle and then smashing it in an unfortunate goon's head. Ren was facing a bigger, fatter thug with a stature slightly taller than me. The fat thug tried clobbering him with his silver brass knuckles, only for Ren to dodge every single one of them. He managed to climb onto his back, making him walk around the place uncontrollably. Ren hit his head with one of his machine pistols repeatedly until he was knocked unconscious.

He gave me a nod as he reunited at my side. The club was running out of the thugs, with most of them either dead, unconscious out or have taken the hint and left. Rose and Rouge approached me as they were also finished with their respective fights; I gave the former back her scroll. The only thing left to deal with was the other pair of sisters who were still engaging with the junior detective duo. The fight looked like it was stuck in a stalemate, with neither side having any advantage, as if the fight was going nowhere. So I decided to speed things up for them, in my side's favor of course.

"Rouge, you know what to do."

She gave me a smirk before changing her baseball bat into its dust canon form, unfolding the charging handle from her bat as the muzzle opens. "Hey, Nep Nep!" she shouted.

Yeah, well, we really needed to work on our callouts, but it worked out so well so I didn't think about it much.

Neptune turned to us and nodded, acknowledging that he got the coded message. "Sorry, darling," he said to Melanie after swinging against her boots while she was on mid-air as Rouge fired a round of ice dust behind her and created a thin, icy puddle.

"Ugh. Don't you call me that, you ne—!" Melanie retorted before stepping back after seeing Neptune lunged toward her, not noticing the ice puddle that was behind her. She slipped and then slid across the dance floor before getting shocked by a blast of electricity from Neptune's blaster.

"It's intellectual, darling," Neptune said in a relaxed pose.

Now with her out of the way, it's time to finish off the other twin. "Rose, Ren," I said to them.

"Hell yeah, brother!" Rose cried out as she and Ren moved into their positions.

Sun was blocking off a series of attacks by Miltia's claws using his staff. Ren dashed to the other side until the two combatants were in between him and Rose. Miltiawas puzzled upon seeing this. Before she could do anything about it, Ren and Rose opened fire at her.

Rose fired with one revolver and then switched to the other after its chamber ran out of bullets while Ren was shooting with both of his pistols at the same time. Miltia's fighting style gave her very little room for defense so it was easy to overwhelm her with numbers that were more than she was expected to face. Miltia was pinned down, engulfed in gunfire coming from both of her sides that it gave Sun an opening. Sun repeatedly struck her with staff while pushing her back. He then swiped his staff at her face, knocking her towards the floor along with her remaining aura.

Seeing as there were no more hostiles on the premises. We all panted. The club was now in shambles. Bodies of gangsters were lying almost everywhere, blood decorated the floor along with some walls, and all but one of the glass pillars were shattered. One of the spotlights on the ceiling above the dance floor even fell as we examined the aftermath of the fight.

"That's all of them," Ren wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Sun rested on his staff. "That was some party."

"Told you we'd make a mess," Rogue said, going back to the bar to pour herself a shot.

"The chief is going to yell at us, won't he?" Neptune asked.

"Ya' gotta send every lawless bastard a message though. The police will be thankful at least," Rose said before putting his elbow on my shoulder, "And besides, now that your reputation is gonna grow again, you can make every criminal wet their pants when they see ya', baby brother, which means less trouble for ya' for the future."

I exhaled deeply at that remark. "I hope you're right."

We heard sirens coming outside the club. A few seconds later, cops stormed in from the front entrance with their guns drawn. Thankfully I looted almost everyone here before they could arrive. "Freeze!"

"Oh shit, five-oh is here," Rouge groaned. "Great. And I wanted to party in this place after we're done."

"Better late than never," I put away my weapons while preparing to converse with them.

"Don't do anything stupid this time," Rose told Rouge as she holstered all of her weapons and instinctively put her hands up while holding her scroll which was displaying her Huntsman license. She was the only one among us who has one; this wouldn't be the case if Rouge didn't act so careless after graduating. It was enough to convince the cops that we're on their side.

"Whatever," Rouge replied.

The cops examined the area for a moment and saw the mess we caused. "Bloody hell! What happened here?"

"Junior Detectives!" Sun and his partner flashed their badges at them. "We're on a case. You can say it's more or less solved now."

"Did you blokes cause this?"

"Yeah, but we couldn't have done it without the help of these brave citizens," Neptune gestured at the three of us siblings.

"Oh, we're not exactly citizens," I corrected. "We're from the Gallics and he's somewhere from Anima," I gestured at Ren. "But you're welcome."

One of the coppers recognized my face. "The Brothers' crotches, are you that lad from Beacon? Me daughter's been talking a lot about you."

"Yep. That's me," I said rather unenthusiastically before forcing a smile. "Just warming up for tomorrow."

"Didn't know you were this much of a nutter to actually take on this whole club. I can see why kids like you now."

"As usual, you hicks caused quite a ruckus in here," The police sergeant stepped in. "There's going to be a ton of paperwork over this no doubt. I hope this is all worth it."

"Oh trust us. Not only there will be fewer drugs on the streets, but we also put a huge blow to one of the major crime syndicates in the kingdom!" Sun reassured. The sergeant was slightly impressed but wasn't fully convinced.

"Aside from the drugs they're hiding somewhere here, they also mentioned an illegal gambling den somewhere in the backrooms," Neptune added.

"We'll look into that, thank you. Good riddance I won't be hearing much of these triads from now on. They've been bothering me for a while now." The sergeant looked at the cops surrounding an unconscious Junior who was waking up.

The first thing Junior saw after regaining his consciousness was cops pointing their guns at him. I don't know about you, but I think that he wished he remained unconscious. His hands were immediately cuffed afterward as the cops did the same to the other surviving thugs.

"We're going to need a lot of handcuffs and body bags for this," the sergeant murmured.

Another officer suddenly came from the front entrance and called us. "Oi. Detective Huntley wants to see you. We'll take it from here."

I made an exasperated sigh. "Here we go again." The good news is that I'm finally done with that place. The lights in there are going to haunt my dreams but I'll feel better knowing that place is basically gone now.

=o=

1. Given his taste for amasec that some of his comrades have taken note of in his later years, this did not age like the brand wine that grew to his liking.

2. An addictive hallucinogenic drug that puts the user in a dream-like state that lasts for a few hours before wearing off. Once the effect fades, the user will suffer into a deep depression until they consume another dose of the drug. The drug's strong addictive substance made it strictly banned in all kingdoms but is still being used by certain cults as part of their rituals.

3. Well, that took him long enough to notice that.

4. I swear, you're worse than Yang sometimes.

We took our scrolls back before leaving the club through the front door. Ren gave me back mine. After entering a code, my locker launched back to Beacon. Thank the machine spirit that the locker even came here, otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to do this ploy properly. And yes, I just praised a piece of technology's supposed spirit according to Ren and Nora's techno-religious dogma they were once part of. You can thank their contagious babbling and my dwindling sanity for that.

Cop cars were parked around the entrance of the club with their sirens still active. Ambulances and police transports arrive as they begin shoving dead/unconscious/captured gangsters inside while barricades were being set around the perimeter. A familiar dark-skinned man in a brown trench coat was waiting for us in the middle; the very same cop I expect to meet after involving myself in a crime scene in the city. I kept my fingers crossed, hoping that this third strike won't mean that I'm out. Although he was lenient with me so every time I had to talk with him, this guy still means business and it was my job to expect the worst.

"Nice to meet you again, Mr. Arc," Detective Huntley greeted. "Still picking fights with the kingdom's biggest troublemakers even during the festival I see."

"And to you as well, Detective Huntley," I responded.

He turned to Sun and Neptune, who was slightly shivering at him. "Mind telling me what happened here?"

Sun gulped before he stepped in to explain, "We decided to confront the Triads concerning the drugs they were trafficking. We got helped with Jaune Arc here and brought his sisters to assist us. We're able to get the boss to spill the beans before threatening to have us drugged for knowing too much. And then this happened…"

Neptune followed. "We got our conversation recorded and also discovered other activities the gang has been hiding." Mainly thanks to that one idiot who wouldn't shut up. "It confirms everything concerning the Triads and I don't think they'll be able to carry on their activities after this."

"Well, that's one unorthodox way of solving it. This would have all been avoided if you simply just called for backup and informed us of the gang's aggression toward you," The Detective pointed out, making the duo step back in shame before the detective continued, "But if there's any consolation, it would have costed more police resources to get the same result as this. Property damage was inevitable and fellow officers could have risked their lives. We would still be doing a boatload of paperwork and endure the chief's temper either way. So I'm somewhat glad you didn't pick the obvious solution. I don't fully condone your action, but I don't believe the alternative would have been better,"

The two exhaled out of relief. After all the work and planning we put on, it's gratifying to know that we'll at least won't get punished for this. If the drug problem in Vale was as serious as I was told, then the police really owe us this one.

He shifted his gaze toward mine. "And thank you for assisting these two, Mr. Arc. Looks like they picked the right person for assistance."

I guess this was the part where I play my modest hero routine again. "Just here to give a hand to those who need it, especially my friends," I responded in my most typical Jaune The Hero way possible without sounding arrogant. I could see Rouge trying to keep a straight face after hearing that as they were already aware of what I actually thought about this.

The detective gave me a content look. "We appreciate the help. The police department could really use more people like you."

"Joining the police is a possibility for me, sir," I said. If you think about it, being a police officer actually wouldn't be that comparatively bad. I know the job would be underwhelming for a Huntsman but that's the point. In case my heroic rep doesn't go away for some shit-flipping reason, I should consider becoming a cop, it's much easier wearing a uniform around Vale and catch people up to no good than going to the wilderness to face a major threat which I have seen more than enough for someone who's still training in his first year.

"Then I look forward to you joining us," he said before turning to us all. "By the way, all of you still have to visit the precinct and discuss the chief in regards to this event. You still have a few things to clarify before we let you go. I'm sorry, but those are the rules."

Sun sighed, crossing his arms. "What else did we expect?"

"That includes you, Mr. Arc," He said before turning to Rose and Rouge. "And I assume you're his sisters?"

They both nodded. "Rose Arc. Pucelle County Sheriff Department," Rose flashed a badge on her vest.

"Rouge Arc, at your service," Rouge introduced herself. "I'm definitely still a certified official Huntress with absolutely no record of any misdemeanors."

Here she goes again. Although she looks quite sober, that better not be the alcohol speaking out.

Rose glared at her in annoyance and stepped in before she could make things worse for all of us, "I know I'm outside local authority as a sheriff, sir, but as a Huntress, it was my duty to protect the kingdoms from any potential threats. And we did just that, didn't we?"

"Fair enough," Detective Huntley nodded, "At least I know that you can get things done."

We saw an officer dragging Junior toward a squad car. Junior noticed us as he turned his head toward me, blood was noticeably leaking from his forehead. "Damn you, kid! You ruined my club. I hope you die a slow and painful death, you blond son of a bitch!" He snarled at me.

"Your club looked as bad before this, we just gave it a little decoration." I retorted dryly as he was getting shoved into the back of the car before the door slammed in front of him. Since this was apparently the second time this happened, he should have seen it coming.

Another officer approached the detective, carrying what seems to be one of the drugs the Triads were hiding wrapped in packaging. "Sir, we have confirmation that the Triads were indeed trafficking narcotics in their club. Mostly obscura and frenzon[1]" he reported before presenting one of them.

"Obsucra? I thought the kingdoms would make sure the production of those things would be impossible, and just where the hell did they get the frenzon from?" Detective Huntley rubbed his chin. "This is more serious than I thought."

"Not only that, sir, but we also found this letter hidden along with the stash." The officer handed the piece of paper to Detective Huntley. His calm expression was almost broken upon reading it.

"What does it say?" Neptune asked before the detective turned the piece of paper and showed it to us.

Although it was short, the cursive handwriting on the letter took me an additional amount of time to read in order for me to understand what it was trying to convey, and that's not even mentioning the cryptic nature of the message.

'Here's your next supply as provided. Our furry friends need some motivators and some cold professionals could use some relaxation.

You know what to do from here on out. I don't care how you handle this. Just get the job done and be discreet. If you get caught, you're on your own.

Remember, we're paying you good money so you could put your wretched club back to its former glory. If you do a good enough job, we might even provide you an even better one.

Vale is going to have one hell of a time.

-Miss F.'

There was a mark of red lipstick next to the name of the sender, making it crystal clear that the writer of this message was a woman apart it's rather elegant handwriting. The implications that the letter revealed that someone has been sending the Triads drugs and have only been using them as seemingly expendable pawns was enough to raise some concerns. It appears that this case was still far from solved, much to my dismay.

"Looks like this is not over yet. The Triads got their stock by an unknown supplier," Detective Huntley said.

"What do they mean by this?" Ren asked, "The message appears to be cryptic, the first paragraph in particular,"

"We'll find out soon enough. For now, we're going to have to dismiss you after you're all debriefed. You have obviously done more than enough." Detective Huntley said, putting the note on his coat's pocket. "Once again, good job. It may not be the ideal solution as it was possible to avoid a bloodbath but what's done is done. The Silverlock Street Triads will no longer be a problem from now on."

"You're welcome, sir. If you still need some help with a case, you can always count on us!" Neptune said proudly.

"Fuck the police, I hate 'em." A rap song suddenly played out of nowhere. "Shit, I'm gonna skate 'em." [2]

Everyone was wondering where that song was coming from before tracing it near Neptune who looked frozen while it played. "Oh, my bad."

"Gotta fucking have sex with their wives after I've given them knives." The ringtone continued to play until Neptune pressed the 'Accept Call' button.

"Hello," Neptune greeted the caller. "Oh, Scarlet. Don't worry we're done with our mission. We just need to go to the precinct to get debriefed and we'll be heading home," He told his teammate on the scroll, pausing afterward for a brief moment before it was his turn to talk again. "It's fine. See you."

"Interesting choice of a ringtone, Mr. Vasilias," Detective Huntley remarked.

"Yeah, it's a pretty nice song," Neptune said sheepishly before chuckling.

"Stay here. I'm going to take a look at the mess you caused. I'll return shortly and then I'll take you to the precinct," He said before walking away from us and went inside the club.

"That was so fucking fun," Rouge said as suddenly put her arms on Rose's shoulders and mine. "We showed 'em that crime doesn't pay, didn't we?"

That's not exactly true though. Just ask any politician. Many of them were able to reach retirement and get away with all their corruption.

"I hope you don't forget that lesson yourself," Roselooked at her with narrowed eyes.

Rouge giggled before turning back to me. "By the way, can you now tell me where you hid the scrapbook?"

"Still haven't found it? I'm such doing a great job," I sassed.

"You can't hide it forever, you twerp. I'd turn the house upside-down if I had to."

"I like to see you try. I was planning on living alone anyway. Good luck with Dad's wrath."

"It would be all worth it."

Rose put on a smile and giggled. "I just remembered how we miss you, Jaune."

"Yeah. Me too," I said to them. Bantering with my sisters again months after in Beacon made me feel nostalgic, as well as a little homesick, but I was nonetheless satisfied with having them here with me.

We finally left Silverlock Street after the detective came back and took me and the boys for a ride in his car to the precinct without any further incident. Rose followed us with her bike along with Rouge. We were still a little tired from the party we just crashed so we took our time to unwind on the way there.

Looking back from all of this, this was evidently the stupidest idea I ever thought of that somehow worked so far. Fortunately, I don't think the Triads would bother me after this. They pretty much got the message. My only problem was the supplier the triads were working with. Hopefully, they would take the hint and realize that I'm not worth it. I already crippled two organizations because they tried to kill me and I'm not looking forward to doing it again. They should know that I wouldn't bother unless I'm forced to.

=o=

1. A term for a psychological control drug manufactured by an unknown Vacuan tribe that puts the user in a fanatical mental state. They were once treated as combat drugs by several militaries before becoming prohibited in all four kingdoms by the United Councils Committee. Like obscura, it hasn't stopped certain cults from possessing it and making them a part of their dogma.

2. The song was 'Fuck Tha Police' by the late infamous rapper, Yung Dab (real name: Maximilian Thoroughbred) featuring Alabaster Slim of the now-defunct Cop Killa Records.

We spent half an hour of having our ears listen to the police chief while yelling at us in a volume where the soundwaves would be reaching above the precinct's roof (not that it made any difference to Rouge) over the stunt we pulled—and then praising us for our efforts, noting that the success in apprehending Triad operations made it worth it. The lack of civilian casualties and property damages outside the club helped. Besides, they plan to demolish the place after they are done investigating it anyway. Looks like Vale's underground is going to need to find another seizure-inducing dance club now that the Crimson Panda will be no more.

They dismissed us after Sun and Neptune turned in their badge and received their payment. Ren, my sisters and I also received compensation for our assistance, which was nice even if it was only a third worth of the two's rewards, it was Sun and Neptune's mission after all. Besides, I already got enough by looting the place anyway.

They also told us if we're looking for work, we can always volunteer to assist the police. Yeah, they're going to have to wait for a while for that one. I'll still keep it in mind since I would rather stay close with the local police once I become a Huntsman.

They let us off pretty easy for all the trouble we caused, I know. Am I complaining? Of course not. Getting rid of us was the most sensible option and it might as well count as a reward for helping reduce the crime rates and we didn't need another week of community service to pay the debt of the damages while the tourney was still ongoing.

After leaving the police station, Rose and Rouge bid us farewell at the Bullhead station. stating that we'll still see each other tomorrow as they would watch me during the doubles rounds along with the intermission with Noire and Blanche. The only thing I'm praying for is that Rouge and Nora (and by extension, Yang) don't spend too much time with each other when they meet. Beacon is not going to last a week with them hanging out.

Before they left, Rouge approached me for something. "Hey, twerp. Here's a little gift from your big sister," she said as she handed me a vial of ice dust. "You could use some of this. It's not much, but it can save your life."

"A vial of ice dust?" I wondered. I wasn't expecting much, especially from her, but I can't just decline it because I'm getting free stuff from my sister. I could use some dust for a rainy day anyway. "Uh, sure, thanks."

"No problem. If you liked it, you can buy more of it at your local dust shop. Each of them costs like five-hundred lien or something." She nodded before heading to sit on the back of Rose's motorcycle. "See you later, alligator!"

The two drove away, leaving a trail of smoke coming from the bike's engine. We took a cab on the Bullhead stations that would take us back to the academy.

When we arrived back to Beacon around eight in the evening. It was fairly early so the campus was still crowded but there were only a handful of people on the Bullhead's docking station nonetheless. There was still an hour left before the campus' fairground closed but after a long day, all we could think about was grabbing a bite and rest. Maybe even practice for a bit while there's still time and energy for us to spare.

"I'm going to head straight back to the dorms. The girls should be preparing dinner by now. I'll meet you there." Ren told me. I nodded before he proceeded to the dorms.

Sun and Neptune also had something to say before they departed. "Hey, Jaune. We can't thank you enough back there. I know we owe you a lot but this is the only way we can repay you for now."

Sun then gave me what appears to be a limited-edition calendar for the current year which was also a Mistrali exclusive. A rather trivial gift for all the trouble I went for them but I didn't really expect anything more. "You might like it a little too much." He winked, much to my confusion.

"There's more where that came from," Neptune added. "Thanks again. We couldn't have done it without you and your hot sisters."

He just had to say that, didn't he? "Don't mention it. I'm always here if you need me" Now I'm just encouraging him. I'm tempted to slap myself for that.

"Anyhow, we'll be off. See ya' tomorrow," Sun said. The two then went straight to the exchange student's dorm building.

I opened the calendar to see what was in it aside from the obvious. In hindsight, it was a good idea to check it out once I was alone because it turned out that it was a premium bikini calendar with pictures of girls from Mistral. Not only that, but one of them was also Pyrrha, posing on a beach wearing a red swimsuit with a smile on her face. My nose almost bled upon realization. I guess that her contract with the family-friendly Pumpkin Pete didn't stop her from going into risqué photoshoots for her older fans to enjoy. I'm going to keep this hidden. I wouldn't want my friends to get the wrong idea when they see this. I gotta thank those two sometime; to their credit, they actually have a good taste in calendars.

I proceeded to make my way through the campus. It didn't take long for me to find Weiss sitting on a bench, contemplating at her scroll. Judging by the expression she bore, she appeared to be conflicted with something.

I decided to approach her to see how she was doing. "Hey there, Ice Queen." Not particularly an ideal way to call her when trying to stay at good terms but she didn't look like she was offended, a bit of a far cry from what I've known of her over these months. Did cake and tea really mellow her out?

"Oh," she put down her scroll as she looked at me. "Is there something you need?"

I shook my head. "Not really. I just wanted to see if you're alright. You look down there for a second."

"I'm fine. Thank you," she said with a smile that was too warm to be worn as someone as infamously cold as her even if she did become a lot more warmer recently. "How was your day?"

"I just met my sisters, helped Sun and Neptune serve the community and had a party at a club. It was nice," I answered, without going through much of the details. A lot just happened and I wasn't in a mood in explaining everything to her when all I wanted was to settle down.

"Okay…" she said with a hint of skepticism but she thankfully didn't provide any further inquiries concerning it. "So care to talk for a minute?"

I wasn't in a hurry so I saw no reason not to. "Yeah, sure."

"Alright then. Let's take this somewhere else. Follow me."

She took me to the gardens. The gardens looked no less beautiful at night. Though it was dark, the lampposts illuminated, providing light to the garden while it was under the dark blue night sky. In the middle of the garden, stood a pavilion. We seated at one of the tables inside it. The pavilion was open to the air with a fountain placed at the center. There was no one else in the gardens save for the two of us, giving the place a peaceful ambience. I remember this place since we had cake and tea together, it's been only a week since then.

"So what do you want to talk about?" I asked.

"Alright. Please answer this honestly," she said before asking, "How would you describe me?"

Even though it was an easy question, it still took me a few seconds to think before answering. Would have been easier if I were to be frank, but I had to tone it down a little to maintain the amicable atmosphere. "Smart. Pretty. Elegant." I began, with her getting pleased so far. "Kind of a snob." Her smile inverted after hearing that part. "But a nice enough friend once you get to know her." And with that statement, she felt a little more satisfied.

I continued, "She's the heiress of one of the biggest companies in the world, who also makes a good Huntress. And from what I've seen, a great teammate as well despite her attitude at times. Why did you ask?"

She sighed, glancing at her side before returning to my gaze as she responded to my question. "I just wanted to check what's going on between us. We didn't exactly have the best first impressions, have we?"

My thoughts went back to our first day in this academy, recalling the time when she basically yelled at me for being too cozy with Pyrrha while not knowing who she was. Not to mention, my attempt at saving her life back when she was falling during the initiation the following day. I feel my arms hurt just by thinking of that. "Yeah, you don't have to remind me."

"I know I wasn't the nicest person then. I was cruel, arrogant and I was just so full of myself. I wanted to apologize for that. To you; to Ruby; to Blake; and to everyone else I looked down on," she woefully stared down at the table below her. "You know, I came to Beacon because I had a legacy of honor to uphold, just like you, but that's not the whole story."

She met my eyes once again. "Ever since my grandfather passed away, the SDC was on the verge of declining. My father was able to save the company after taking over as CEO and as the head of the clan. But it cost the good name of our family through his questionable practices; he brought others down just so he could get to the top. And because of him, my family and the company were no longer held in high regard."

She looked at me regrettably and I could only stare back at her with genuine pity. "When I look at families such as yours, I feel envious of how they are so respected. I knew I had to do something. I didn't want my family to go down in history as villains. I wanted to restore their honor and show the world that the Schnees are so much better than how most of the world sees us. I thought that maybe as a Huntress, I could actually help people and bring back the once-esteemed image of my last name." She then took a deep breath before finishing. "So I'm sorry again for the way I acted before, it certainly didn't help my image nor my family's."

I gave her a reassuring smile. Sure, she still has that haughty attitude that would have her infamous ice-themed nicknames be stuck with her for a while, but she didn't feel like the same conceited shrew I had the misfortune of meeting on the first day and she genuinely has become more affable over these months. If she keeps this up she'll actually be able to succeed in her pursuit of wiping the stain off her family's name. "You don't have to worry about that anymore. You've come so far, Weiss. I'm sure you'll be able to get your family's honor back. I believe in you."

Her expression brightened. "Thank you, Jaune. I appreciate your support and understanding. I'm glad to know that I am truly bettering myself."

"Speaking of your family, how's your sister been doing?" I asked.

"She just left. It turns out, she was only here to watch over some assets being transported to Vale. Aside from that, we conversed about our family and state of the company. I also had some lessons learned from her."

I raised a brow in interest. "What kind of lessons?"

"Something about my semblance. I don't want to talk about it yet. I hope you can respect that." She answered, leaving me in the dark with whatever that for now.

"Okay then. Whatever makes you comfortable," I uttered before moving on to another inquiry. "So, about you and Neptune…"

"He told you, didn't he?" She presumed, sounding more inquisitive than surprised. I admit that really wasn't a good question to ask after declaring my consideration for her comfort.

"Well, I asked him about it so it wasn't his fault."

She let out a brief sigh before she answered my question. "Yes. We did break up. At least he was honest about what he felt. I just wished he told me sooner."

"I'm sure he didn't mean any harm. Sure he can be unbearable at times, but at the end of the day, he's just a screw-up like the rest of us,"

"Figured as much. Maybe I acted a little too harsh on him. I'm just glad we got our closure. We were better off in a platonic relationship anyway," she stated after a deep breath. "Anyway, you seem to be following your family's legacy better than I do. I'm just curious about how you are able to do it."

Here come these types of questions; I was worried when she would start asking for them. Luckily, I had some half-truths prepared just in case. "I really don't know, but I can tell you that it's not as easy as it looks. Trying to save a family's legacy is one thing but trying to be worthy of something as great as my ancestors is a hard act to follow. I'd have the Gods to thank that I'm doing well so far," I answered without making a technical lie so far.

"I see," she said before bringing up another question, and it was something I did not anticipate. "Now answer me this; do you really see yourself as a hero? Or are you doing this because it is your obligation as a member of your family?"

That question shocked me. The way she suddenly brought it up made my heart race as I tried to uphold my composure while hastily finding an answer, which proved to be difficult to an extent when under pressure. I thought of what the public's perception of myself would answer. And let's just say I tried. "W-well… A lot of people like to see me that way, and that's fine. But I just like to see myself as some guy doing my best to become a Huntsman, like doing what our duty tells us what to do while also doing the right thing. It's why people see us as heroes."

She nodded, but even then, she remained skeptical, shown by her sharp, narrowed eyes despite doing my very best to make the claim as convincing as I could, "Alright, not bad. But something doesn't add up. I know that there's something you're not telling me. Come on now, Jaune. I already told you why I'm here, so please be honest with me."

Her suspicions made my internal panicking even worse and I didn't know what else to do aside from continuing in acting innocently stupid. Maybe I shouldn't have approached her when I saw her alone at a bench. "W-what are you talking about? How am I not being honest?"

My attempt was done in vain as she managed to see through it. "Jaune, I can tell that you're playing dumb. You can't trick me like that anymore. I already know how you actually act like when you're being yourself; you don't need to play that lovable idiot routine. It's not like you have anything to hide now. Do you?"

Her words felt like she hammered the last nail in the coffin. There was no point in playing charades with her anymore. If you have been reading my memoirs for a while now, then chances are, you already know that my amiable exterior was just a front to maintain a good relationship with my schoolmates but I was becoming more comfortable with their company that I couldn't tell if I'm still lying when I give them a friendly face anymore. She already knew that I wasn't exactly the wide-eyed goody-two-shoes everybody knew and loved. On the bright side, she's still unaware of the fact that I was too self-absorbed to do anything sincerely heroic and most of the time, I've only done them to escape something.

The best way to get out of this was to keep giving her half-truths while being more convincing. I didn't necessarily have to tell her my more surreptitious secrets to be satisfied. "It's just that—I'm actually kind of scared."

Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I wanted to be a hero," I explained. Emphasis on 'wanted', by the way. "I'm trying my best to be one so I could be like my ancestors before me. When people think of heroes. They think of someone humble and brave. And I have been trying to enforce that image ever since then because I might not live up to my family's name."

"But why?" she asked, looking convinced so far. Good, I thought. Keep this up, and I'll be able to sway her away from this topic. She already knows too much.

"It's because either you fulfill your legacy or you're nothing but a disappointment, and I was afraid that I might not live up to it. So I'm trying to live the image of an ideal hero as possible, and I started by acting as idealistic as I could. I guess you could say I'm trying too hard then."

"In other words, you're just a screw-up like the rest of us," she remarked, echoing my words about a minute ago.

"Pretty much. I just hope you understand," I said. It was one the least of my problems, so it wasn't a big deal but thank goodness it's no longer a problem. For a second there, I thought she might be able to find out my actual motivations. If there was anyone who might start unwanted rumors, it was her. [1]

"Look, Jaune, whatever your motivation is, you have done a lot to earn everyone's respect here. I'm sure your family would be proud of you. I wish my father would do the same for me."

Except I didn't earn anything. Everyone just foolishly heralded me because they thought I was being heroic, not knowing what my ulterior motives were. In any case, I wish her the best with her family. Being spoiled by doting parents myself, I can't imagine being raised by a self-centered ingrate. "I hope you get what you deserve, Weiss. You've done a lot since I first met you."

"I appreciate that," She went back smiling at me. "Just remember that sooner or later, you have to show everyone who you are. You can't hide it forever. But you're not a bad person, Jaune; you don't have to act all that idealistic because you're already as good as you truly are, so why even hide it? They'll understand."

You don't know half of it, I mumbled. I'll just stick with my plan into letting them adjust to my more sardonic nature. That way, they wouldn't be surprised to learn of my cynicism despite my idealized image and I don't have to expose myself as a cowardly, selfish fraud.

"Is there still something bothering you?" She queried.

She was still noticing my apprehensions, and I knew I had to act quick. I looked back up and met her gaze again. "Oh sorry. You know how it is. Sharing one of your secrets to someone and all that."

"I see," she remarked. Well, that's a relief. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. It's just that you didn't have the most consistent personality as far as I could tell. It felt like I met a different person when you dropped the lovable idiot act."

Yeah, I was worried that someone would notice. "I was only in a bad mood then," I argued.

"You sounded pretty normal. Don't worry, I'm going to keep this conversation between us. I trust that you'll do the same for me?"

"Hey, you're respecting my secrets; I'd have to be very despicable not to do the same," I grinned.

"Good to hear." She said before pushing her chair back and standing up. "I think this is enough. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me and hearing me out. It was nice."

"You're welcome, Weiss. If you need something to talk to about, just let me know," I said, standing up from my seat as well.

We walked out of the pavilion and were about to go our separate paths before calling me again. "Oh and Jaune." I turned back to hear what she has to say, "Best of luck for tomorrow,"

"You too," I gave her a smile.

She smiled back at me before turning back and going to her own path. I was happy that I'm able to have a friendly conversation with Weiss again. It shows how far we went since our initial meeting.

But I couldn't help but feel reprehensible for not being completely transparent with her. She opened up to me on a personal level and I repaid her by continuing to exploit her limited awareness of the truth about me, just so I could guarantee the safety of my own well-being. That's not something a good friend would do, would they? Maybe we shouldn't have been friends to begin with; that way, I wouldn't have to lie to her like that after she gave me her trust. This is why I didn't want to get too close to the people I call my 'friends', but sometimes I have no other options but do what I had to do, for the sake of myself, my family and everyone I have deceived.

I shook my own head and went back on concentrating on returning to the dorms while saving my worries for the match on the following day. Whatever I just did cannot be undone for now, no matter how wrong it was.

As I arrived at my dorm, Ren was already fast asleep on his bed. I promptly took my dinner before taking a shower and then going to bed. I'm either going to sleep immediately because I was very tired and a lot happened today or I'm going to end up thinking about the events that unfolded until they eventually leave me alone and let drift into slumber. Regardless, I was going to bed earlier than usual, even if I wouldn't be able to sleep after lying in bed for a few hours, I'm not letting my insomnia ruin my performance for tomorrow. So even if I sleep in and wake up late, I'll still have some time before the second round starts. It's a win-win, if you ask me.

=o=

1. Just another example of Jaune's usual paranoia. He underestimated my ability to keep secrets especially for those who deserved to have their secrets respected.

I was right, I did manage to get enough sleep. I usually end up oversleeping or undersleeping, but last morning I felt like I woke up just right without my alarm clock having to wake me, which is a rarity.

It was the day for the doubles round. According to the tournament bracket, Pyrrha and I would be facing Flynt Coal and Neon Katt from an Atlesian team called Team FNKI (Funky) Not exactly a team name you'd expect from Atlas Academy but weird names are inevitably common if you have a tradition includes naming important things after colors or anything related to it, making some unfortunate ones getting stuck with a joke of a name as if they did something to piss off the system and ended up getting humiliated as a result.

My team and I were walking through the concourse of the coliseum. Nora dressed like our number one fan, ignoring the fact that she does act like it while being officially our teammate. She was wearing a guzzler that had the letters 'JNPR' written on it while carrying two cans of diet soda as she wore a large foam finger. She was also wearing a navy-blue T-shirt that has a print of a picture of me and Pyrrha between a pink heart with a text that says 'Arkos' written below it and I'm just going to leave it at that. I think it was one of the clothes that Nora herself commissioned from someone. Ren was also wearing the shirt but it doesn't take a genius to sense that Nora forced him to wear it.

Those shirts kinda made me less worried about my upcoming match with Pyrrha and more concerned with whatever Nora is planning to do with the two of us. The only reason why I even tolerated this nonsense is that it hasn't hurt anyone yet.

On our way, I got a text from Blanche. The message contained nothing but a single smiley face and it was enough to tell me that they were ready to perform their songs and that I should brace myself when it starts to play.

A certain redhead who has the same hair color as Nora approached us cheerfully. She was also being followed by a dark-skinned Atlesian girl wearing a blue beret with a gold marking on her forehead.

"Salutations!" Penny greeted, still speaking with typical Atlesian formalities along with her contagious enthusiasm. "It's so good to see you again, Jaune Arc!"

"Oh hey, there Penny. Ready for the next match, I presume?" I responded.

"I sure am!" she bounced before turning to my partner. "And I am so pleased to have your acquaintance, Pyrrha Nikos, the four-time consecutive winner of the Mistral Regional Tournament!"

Pyrrha gave her a humble smile. "And to you as well. I've heard nothing but good things about you, Penny."

"Oh, and I would like you to meet my teammate," Penny gestured to her companion.

"Ciel Soliel. It's a pleasure to meet you both," she greeted. "May you fight well for your match. Team FNKI is one of our finer, if aberrant teams, so I look forward to seeing how you perform against one another."

"Thanks. I hope you do great too," I replied. "By the way, who are you facing against again?" I only reviewed the upcoming matches that only concerned me and my friends at the bracket and I did not bother checking for the rest.

"Penny and I are matched against Russel Thrush and Sky Lark of Team CRDL," Ciel answered. "Since they're also from Beacon, I assume you're in the same class?"

Oh yeah, those guys. "Yep. In fact, you can say I'm a little too familiar with them," I stated. It'll probably be fun to watch. The best thing I could say about Team CRDL as a team is that they're passable, and seeing that I once saw Penny defeating a whole group of White Fang soldiers and pull a Bullhead down all by herself with my very own blue eyes, it's quite clear to see who the odds were favoring.

"Speaking of which, their team leader is right behind you!" Penny said, making all of us turn around and see Cardin walking toward us.

"Hey there, twerps." Cardin greeted with a grin. Knowing what Cardin is now, he was likely saying that in a playful manner, otherwise, he would have given us a far more punchable face.

"Cardin!" Nora alarmingly darted in front of him and began to point her foam finger at his face. "I have a foam finger and I'm not afraid to smack it on your head!"

Cardin backed away slightly. "Now, now. We're cool." His gaze turned to mine. "Isn't that right, Jaune?"

I nodded. "He's not lying, Nora. Cardin's fine now. He's hardly the same guy that tried to bully me anymore."

And just like that, she put down her foam finger and stepped back. She harrumphed and still kept a distrusting look at him, however. But I got her under control and that's what mattered, something I should actually commend myself for considering this was Nora we were talking about. Ren wished he could control Nora the same way I do.

"Nice to see you doing well, Arc," Cardin said to me amicably. "Sorry if I have to kick your own ass again if we both win the round."

I was still not used to seeing him act like this but it was a welcome change in tone. First an egocentric snow princess and now one of my former arch-nemesis (or the closest thing I had then) is also being chummy with me. I can almost forgive him for causing me to accidentally have my first encounter with the White Fang.

"You're not doing bad yourself either, Winchester," I smiled at him. "You've come a long way since then, but two of your friends still have a lot to learn."

"Yeah, sorry about them. But trust me, they'll get better. Just give those morons a chance." He said. That's going to take a while, it took a match and several detentions to get Cardin to reform and two of his teammates still have a grudge against me. In Russel's case, I'm pretty certain that the only way to get him to humble is if someone shaves his dumb mohawk if you can even call it that.

Cardin turned to Penny. "And so, you're that Penny girl I've been hearing about. You're a lot more… cuter than I pictured but whatever."

"It's good to meet you too. I hope there will be no hard feelings when we defeat your team," Penny said.

"It'll be fine. Never really cared much about for a trophy. It's just a stupid decoration to me. So long as I can keep clobbering Grimm, I don't care. Anyway, I can't wait to see your match against my teammates," Cardin said. "Go easy on Sky though, he's a good chump. But do whatever you want to Russel, just please don't tell him I told you that."

"Acknowledged!" Penny chirped. "And may the best competitor win!"

"Penny, we have to go now. The second round is about to begin," Ciel told her after checking her watch.

Penny nodded before turning back to us, "I wish everybody good luck!" Penny cheerfully said before departing away from us with her teammate.

Cardin shifted toward me and Pyrrha once again. "Good luck, you two. I'll be cheering for you. Make Beacon proud."

"Thanks, Cardin. That means a lot coming from you," I remarked.

"Don't get too carried away with it, Jauney-boy. You're still a chump but at least you've proven yourself to be a cool chump." He said, bringing back the familiarity of the classic Losechester that infuriated me, but in a friendly and playful manner. "Anyway, your welcome. I hope I can make it up to you."

"I'd say you're doing great, Winchester," I replied smugly. "Keep it up."

"I will." He nodded. "See ya later, you blond doofus!" He said as he walked away from us.

"Would you look at that," Ren remarked. "It seems Cardin did really learn humility."

"I'm just glad he's no longer looking down on others. It shows that even people like him have hope." Pyrrha said. I don't know if it's my growing reputation or if he learned his lesson after multiple detentions, but I'm glad Cardin managed to better himself and be friendly in his own way, even if I can't say the same for teammates not named Sky yet.

We proceeded to the arena. The seats were already filled with spectators eager to see some 2v2. Like yesterday we sat near the front, besides Team RWBY.

Dr. Oobleck began his announcement in his usual rapid pace of speech. "Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen to the 40th Biennial Vytal Tournament. Now it is now the time for the doubles round. Two competitors of each team will be facing one against another! Contesting on who will reign supreme and proceed to the singles round where they would eventually become champion!"

"Now we know you are all eager to find out, which is why we will now begin immediately!" Professor Port followed as the matches began afterward.

One of the first matches on the round was Mercury and Emerald vs. Coco and Yatsuhashi. A battle between coffee and cinnamon. You can tell that it was going to be a sweet fight.

Being one of the most popular and toughest students in Beacon even in their second year, everyone expected Coco and Yatsu to win while the other team was almost unheard of until their performance yesterday that some described as 'brutally entertaining', whatever that means. Hell, I probably wouldn't even be that much familiar with Team CMEN had I not bumped into them the other day and had Mercury pick me for a match that only got himself forfeited because I was 'too good.'

"In this corner, stands a combination of strength, deadliness, and style! You already know who I am talking about. Ladies and gentlemen. From Beacon Academy, Coco Adel and Yatsuhashi Daichi of Team CFVY!" Professor Port proudly presented. The crowd cheered. Some of her fans even mimicked her sunglasses-beret combo.

"And from Haven Academy; representing one of last round's unexpected underdog of a team that shows a surprising amount of cunning. Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai of Team CMEN!" Professor Oobleck announced, his rapid speaking made his pronunciation of their team name sound like what its spelling is suggesting. Speaking of the team name, it was displayed in a large text on every scoreboard in the arena, much to the team's embarrassment.

The team's name and especially its spelling provoked laughter around the arena while being passed off as an applause, which was quite generous for a fairly obscure team like theirs against one of the most popular teams in Beacon.

"I love you too, Amity!" Mercury waved at the crowd. I can notice Emerald rolling her red eyes away from him.

To put it nice and simple, Mercury and Emerald were surprisingly able to have Coco and Yatsuhashi's asses handed to them in the end despite all odds being against while being accompanied by an embarrassing team name, much to the upset of Team CFVY's fans with some of them even booing. The livestream viewers were also spamming 'RIGGED' on the chat accompanied by some angry emotes, others were complaining that they lost their bet while that one person who bet on Mercury and Emerald took everyone's money and ran.

You gotta give them some credit. Coco and Yatsu were one of the toughest students in the academy that even got Pyrrha's respect for their prowess. These two being able to beat them was an achievement that I thought was unattainable. They even broke Coco's sunglasses and managed to get away with it, and keep in mind that Coco is known for taking her clothes so seriously. Not bad for a team named after cinnamon.

The following matches, in summary, involved Weiss and Yang putting two Haven guys in ice cubes before getting knocked out by a flaming fist, proving that these work well together despite their contrasts. I still feel bad for Weiss getting knocked out again though. [1]

Meanwhile, Sun and Sage put some of my classmates in a beatdown and won. The funny thing about this one is that Sage ended up being the last man standing for this match.

Penny and Ciel made Russel and Sky cowering into submission as expected. That match ended with those two getting crushed by rocks, with Penny awing the audience with fighting prowess that only a few can match. She'd even steal the spotlight away from me and my undeserved reputation, which I would actually be grateful for. My modest image would also help should that be the case. Hopefully, Cardin would be able to put his team in their place this time.

After a few more matches, ours were next. I took a deep breath, reassuring myself that I won't have much of anything major to be concerned about once after this is done and that Pyrrha would make sure there won't be a problem. We were sent to the lockers backstage to prepare ourselves for the next fight.

We looked at one of the screens where it shifted to the announcer's booth with Professor Port and Dr. Oobleck. "Before we start this next match. We would like to give you a special presentation featuring none other than the idols Blanche and Noire Arc themselves!" Professor Port announced, followed by cheers from the audience.

"Which is appropriate considering how their brother is going to be involved in the next match," the doctor added.

Yeah, and I pretty much have them to blame for that. I hope all the money they paid for this was worth it because I will also be paying with my own sweat. It's a good thing I was at the backstage when all of this occurred. No one but Pyrrha was able to see my face during their show, and even then I was composed enough not to show much emotion while looking visibly impressed enough at the performance my sisters did because of me.

About half a minute before their act started, Blanche sent me a message saying 'This one's for you, little brother.' I put on a smile as I put down my scroll. When the two appeared on the stage of the arena, they were greeted with applause from the audience around the arena before singing.

The lyrics were thankfully more subtle than I feared, to the point that you won't recognize that the song is actually about me even if you pay attention to it. I doubt that most people if anyone at all noticed the meaning of those lyrics as it'll probably be interpreted as another endearing pop song about someone. Even I had to wonder if the song was really a tribute to me that I wouldn't have found out if it weren't for a few clues.

Ramblings aside, it was still a song from my favorite twins so it was nice to listen to. I can feel the lyrics and the melody lift up my spirits. Then again, it's probably the effects of their semblance acting out. Regardless, I appreciate them doing this for me. I feel uplifted listening to the song and it was enough to clear my mind of insecurities that it helped me focus on my following match.

And there's also something funny about having your twin sisters sing about you the day after fighting another pair of twins that also tried flirting with you.

The song ended with roaring applause as Blanche and Noire bowed to the audience before disappearing into a cloud of artificial smoke.

"That was beautiful." The screens showed Professor Port wiping a tear from his with a napkin. He cleared his throat, "And on with the show!"

"It's time," Pyrrha's emerald eyes locked into mine. "You ready?"

"Knowing me, knowing you, there is nothing we can't do," I said cheekily.

Pyrrha giggled at my remark, "Well, let's get going then."

We passed the tunnel and stepped on the platform that would take us to the arena. Our opponents were already there. They were… not what I was expecting, not as Atlas Academy students.

Penny's partner was right when she described the team we were facing as aberrant by Atlesian standards. When you picture a student from Atlas, you think of someone akin to a stoic, professionals and disciplined soldier. Well, these two don't fit that description. For starters, one of them was in a semi-formal attire; wearing an untucked white dress shirt beneath a dark-gray vest, along with a fedora and sunglasses with his cyan necktie wrapped around his collar. He was almost similar to that of a typical Triad Goon I faced yesterday. Now that wouldn't be bad enough as Atlesians are known to flex around with sophisticated appearances if it weren't for the fact that this guy uses a freaking trumpet with some dust vials built into it as his weapon of choice. What's next? An archer who uses a violin as a bow? You know what, I wouldn't be surprised because someone must have already thought of that idea.

His partner is about as un-Atlesian as she gets. First off, she's a faunus. Okay, that itself isn't exactly strange despite Atlas being rather infamous for being the least-faunus friendly kingdom on the planet. Believe it or not, it is still possible to have a decent life there as one, provided you're not working or living under a bigoted asshole. The increasing acceptance toward them over the years certainly helped, even though it was often done for blatant tokenism. Being familiar with Atlesian nationalism myself, they still see their faunus to be better than most other faunus in the world even if they are treated as second-class citizens at best.

What caught my eye about her is that she looked like a retro pop star who got lost and somehow ended up on the highly-militaristic Atlas Academy. Her bright outfit, being a cyan cropped tank top and a pink mini-skirt[2] with her tail exposed is far from the combat fatigues Atlesian soldiers usually wear. She wore roller-blades and uses nunchucku-glowsticks (or whatever you call that) as her weapons for crying out loud.

I almost thought that we walked into a music video shoot, albeit empty.

"Why, hello there!" Neon, the colorful cat faunus greeted. I was still trying to process the oddities of my opponent to make a response.

"Hi," Pyrrha waved.

"You look so much prettier outside the cereal box!" Neon gushed. "Can you sign mine after this match?"

"That's… fine by me. And thank you for the compliment."

"No problem! But don't forget that I am not losing to you!" she cheerfully grinned while swing around her nunchaku.

"That, I can't promise," Pyrrha r went to her fighting stance.

"Yo, so you really are Caiaphas Arc Junior, aren't you?" Flynt the trumpet guy asked me.

Oh, I dunno, he sure has plenty of daughters but I heard he also had this kid called 'John' or something; not that I'm familiar with him at all. "More or less," I answered after I stopped spacing out.

"You're kind of cool from what I heard from. My dad used to tell me stories about your father; maybe one day, I'd be telling stories of you to my kids if I ever get one."

I wouldn't count on it if I were you, and by the way, you heard wrong. "Well, I hope you don't mind telling your kids that I beat you in a tournament at one point," I quipped with a cocky smile. Not really something you'd hear from a modest hero but let me have my fun. I am trying to give my public persona a little bit of my actual personality after all.

He chuckled. "Maybe. Either way, I'm going to have a great story to tell. Hell, I'd probably write a song about it."

"Oh, we'll see, we'll see, the winner gets tea, that's for sure," I assumed my fighting stance as well.

"By the way, Jaune Arc. Were those twins really your sisters? Their song was soooo beautiful," Neon said to me.

"Thank you, and because of that I'm in a good mood for some winning.".

"Is that so? How cute. Sorry that we have to get in your way," Neon said as the elevator began to ascend toward the stage.

"Don't beat yourself up about it. Allow us to do that for you."

"Oh, it's on!" Flynt said as he readied his trumpet.

Neon giggled, "I like you! Maybe we should hang out sometime. You wouldn't mind that, would you, Pyrrha Nikos?"

Great, here comes another member to my fan club.

"Oh, uh…" Pyrrha muttered as the platform finally arrived at the stage with all of us being welcomed by the sound of a cheering crowd. "Oh look, the match is about to begin!"

We faced our opponents, ready to engage once the cue had been given. But I can't help but be distracted looking at Nora at the seats ordering five people wearing individual letters on their T-shirts that all spell 'ARKOS' to stand up for us to see. I gave a questioning look to Pyrrha who gave me a look that was no different from mine. I knew Nora was up to something.

Four holograms depicting a banner for the stage's environments shuffled. The biomes that were chosen were a desert, what appeared to be a geyser, an urban area in ruins, and that gods-forsaken volcanic biome from last round, but aside from that, it wasn't too bad. It was manageable enough for me.

"Three. Two. One. Begin!"

The match started with Flynt blowing his trumpet, unleashing a powerful soundwave as it pushes both of us back, with its sound being so loud that it was irritating enough to keep us from thinking clearly. Blocking it with my shield didn't do any good to it. I could use some of Rouge's semblance by then. I take back everything bad I said about her immunity to loud noises since I thought it was comical compared to most other semblances. This was when I started to see why that semblance wasn't entirely useless after all.

Pyrrha was able to hold her ground while I was struggling to stay still. Neon used the soundwaves to push herself toward me, effectively knocking me back after she kicked my shield. My back fell at the ruin's ground. After a quick glimpse, I saw that Neon was skating toward me with a trail of rainbows behind her, so I quickly drew my pistol and fired at her. The straight laser blast the pistol unleashed proved to be swift even to the likes of her. She was lucky enough to have managed to deflect it by spinning her weapon. Knowing that the lasers were fast enough to get past her weapon eventually, she decided to engage with me on melee.

She sprung toward me, attempting to swing her nunchaku toward me. I rolled to my right before I thrust myself toward her, swinging my sword. She was nimble enough to avoid every single one of them, leaning and stepping away from the steel of my weapon. Her rollerblades made her even a harder target. I aimed and fired at her as she began to duck away from the lasers as she began twirling her weapon again.

I altered between swinging my sword and firing at her while our melee weapons occasionally meet. She then stepped back and cracked the glowsticks on her weapon. Her weapon began glowing light blue as she went back at flailing it at me. I darted back, avoiding her attacks. My instincts instructed me to throw a pebble from the ground and see what would happen if it made contact with her glowsticks while they were activated. When I did so, the pebble was frozen as it rebounded from the nunchaku, thus confirming my assumption that ice dust was active on her weapon. I kept her dodging her swings, making sure not to parry my sword as it will only become frozen if it touches her glowsticks. I attempted to aim my weapon at her, but unfortunately, she was able to hit the barrel of my gun, not only making me miss but also freezing the front of my laspistol with the muzzle being encased by ice.

I holstered it in the meantime and switched to my shield, going on defense as I tried to figure something out. The shield was barely getting frozen upon being hit by Neon's glowsticks, with glazes of ice falling off from the shield. Upon realizing that The Désir Ardent was practically immune to these types of attacks, I shoved my shield at her, pushing her back. I began to rapidly bash her with my shield while I continued blocking her attempted swings.

It was enough to force her to change tactics. She fled and began skating near the ruined buildings on the biome. "Catch me if you can, cutie!"

I took out my pistol and held the trigger as the laser cut through the ice that it was encased into until it was shattered and a laser blast burst toward the ground I was aiming at. Seeing how my laspistol has returned to a functional state, I began shooting at Neon as she skated around the wreckage. Although her rainbow trails made it easy for her to track down, I still found myself missing her even with the speed of the laser blasts. She desperately dodged the laser fire, leaping into one of the ruined buildings and then jumping down.

"Never miss a beat, never miss a beat," she audibly uttered to herself whilst repeating them.

Meanwhile, Pyrrha leaped back to the center, away from Flynt's range when he was blowing flames that were leaking from the volcanic ground toward her. She noticed Neon rushing towards her position. Pyrrha spun back and swung her spear at Neon as she attempted to pass through, tumbling her to the floor. As Neon got up, the two girls began trading swings as they dragged their fight elsewhere.

I stepped into the center and found myself confronting Flynt. And from what I've seen he was about as tricky as Neon in his own way. Instead of running around with agile attacks, he mostly remains stationary with the use of his trumpet and the dust it utilizes. Although it doesn't seem much and from what I gathered, even Pyrrha had difficulties fighting him.

He once again used his trumpet's sound waves to hurl me away before I had the chance to fire at him. I landed on the sandy surface of the desert biome. As I got up I saw him walking toward me. I got up and pulled my pistol's trigger as I aimed it at him. He zigzagged away from the gunfire, stepping from side to side before blowing on his trumpet again, only this time it was aimed at the sand and the soundwaves unleashed a sandstorm in front of me that not only pushed me back, it also fogged my field of view with clouds of sand. The loud resonance of the trumpet didn't help either.

I closed my eyes and covered them with my left arm. I had difficulties moving forward with the sandstorm forcing me back. The next thing he did was to summon three copies of himself. The copies respectively wore yellow, green, and magenta in the place of the original Flynt's cyan color on this trim and tie to make themselves look distinct from one another. They surrounded me from my back and both of my sides, blowing their own trumpets and multiplying the effect of the sandstorm.

"What's this?" asked a shocked Professor Port from the announcer's box.

"It appears young Flynt has just activated his Semblance! And quite a remarkable one at that. Ladies and gentlemen, feast your eyes on Flynt Coal's Killer Quartet!" Doctor Oobleck answered.

I was pinned down in the center with soundwaves coming from every relative direction that they were becoming sharp enough to drain my aura. I was able to realize that the original Flynt remained somewhere on my front. I didn't even have to make a quick peek to look for the cyan color that gave away the original body. My arm fought the force of the sandstorm until it was able to aim straight in front of me. I blind fired at my front until eventually hit him. His copies all merged back to the original body upon being shot at and the sandstorm faded away.

No, I don't think so, I thought.

"Looks like our hero just made a heroic recovery!" Professor Port remarked followed by cheers from the crowd along with audible squealing from my fangirls.

Once I was free to move again, I promptly sprung next to him. I swung a flurry of slashes at him with my sword before kicking him back and then using my shield to bash his face hard enough that it knocked him back to the center of the stage. Flynt got up as he flipped back. He adjusted his glasses before attempting to blow me away with his trumpet, only this time—I was quick enough to fire back before he could, even hitting his trumpet that it almost flew out of his hand.

Neon then fell to the center while her weapon was tangled up in Pyrrha's javelin as she was holding it. Pyrrha caught up and she retrieved her weapon using her polarity as she reunited by my side.

"Let's go get FNKI." I said to Pyrrha, uttering a one-liner so bad it would make Yang blush. [3]

She made an affirming nod as we turned back to our opponents. Neon swung her nunchakus once again as Flynt flipped his hat. I looked at the scoreboard and saw that our opponents only have half of their auras remaining while I still have most of my aura and Pyrrha only suffered a very minimal amount of damage so far. The tides of battle were shifting to our favor, we just needed to keep it that way and end this once and for all.

"You're on!" Flynt called out, reading his trumpet as his partner continued to skate.

"Pyrrha, toot!" I signaled. Not my best impression of an elephant but she got the message so that didn't matter.

As the soundwaves approached us Pyrrha rolled to her left and out of its range while I got engulfed in the gush of wind. Although the pressure of the soundwaves kept pushing me back, Pyrrha held my armor with her polarity as she used it on aiding me to move inside the soundwaves while she around the corner, avoiding its range as Flynt turned around in an attempt to tug her in it.

Neon went inside the soundwaves and once again engaged with me on melee. I parried away her the flails of her weapon and resorted to using my shield when I noticed her use elemental dust before bashing her with it.

"Never miss a beat, never miss a beat, never miss a beat!" she continued her mantra as we battled inside the wave of Flynt's trumpet.

I noticed that the dreaded volcanic biome was behind me. I knew there was an opportunity to knock her out with it so I took it. "Pyrrha, now!" I ordered. Upon hearing that, she let go of my armor, allowing the soundwaves to push me back to the volcanic biome. I landed on its surface with my own two feet as my gaze continues to focus on Neon, who was still focusing on me. "I hope you enjoy ice-skating too, kitty cat." [4]

As she rushed toward me with her rollerblades. I grabbed the vial of ice dust Rouge gave me the previous day from my pocket and threw it on the ground in front of her.

"Never miss a beat, never miss a beat, never miss a—OW—WOAH!" Her mantra was interrupted when she lost her balance on the puddle before slipping. She uncontrollably slid into a pool of lava as it erupted. The blast of lava launched her to the air before falling to the volcanic surface, now covered in ashes with hardly enough aura to continue.

"Should've missed that beat," I quipped at her as the match declared her as K.O. [5] She groaned and lied her head down to the igneous ground. Thanks, Rouge. I really should use dust more often from now on.

"Neon Katt has been defeated by aura! Be careful when skating, children, or this might happen to you!" Professor Port announced before reminiscing about his youth like he usually does whether stories about them are true or not. "Ah, I do miss skateboarding back in the day… But that's a story for another time!"

The audience cheered in applause for my victory, but it wasn't over yet. Pyrrha still had to put Flynt down before we could call it a win.

Pyrrha was holding her ground inside Flynt's soundwaves with her shield raised. She used her weapon's rifle mode and fire at Flynt, halting him from using his trumpet. She then threw her shield, hitting his head, before pulling it back to her as she stormed at him. Pyrrha changed her weapon into a spear and swiped him upwards into the air. She sprung toward Flynt and rapidly sent slashes at him before throwing him to a geyser spout. Flynt gets caught on the top of the geyser before falling to the ground with his aura on the red, a second before Pyrrha landed.

"And the match ends on a high note! Flynt Coal has been defeated! Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos win this match!" Dr. Oobleck declared.

The audience began exclaiming screams of joy before chanting both of our names. I walked back into the center with Pyrrha and gave her a high five for a job well done. Flynt slowly got up and Neon trudged toward us, still covered in ashes.

"Oh… my… gosh…" Neon muttered before her expression became jubilant. "That was awesome! We just got our butts kicked by Pyrrha Nikos and her handsome hero of a boyfriend!"

"Whoa-whoa, we're not dating yet!" I exclaimed as both Pyrrha and I blushed. I really need to do something about our relationships so these increasingly common remarks become less awkward to us.

"Aww, you two are so cute together!" Neon remarked, "You guys really are the duo of the year."

"Well, I'll guess I'll be writing a song on how you beat me," Flynt said.

"You did a good job too," I told him, "It's nice knowing Atlas will have talented Huntsmen like you to keep them safe."

"Coming from someone like you, that's a lot. Thanks." he gave me a friendly tip with his fedora. "You won't be disappointed."

"No problem. I should listen to your songs sometime. I like listening to a little jazz myself." Besides, I needed something to listen to that isn't the sound of a trumpet when he 'attacks' us. That sound is going to be stuck on my mind until I replace it with something more pleasant.

Neon zoomed between us, putting an arm on our shoulders. "That was the best fight I ever had! I totally should throw a party after this! Want to come?"

"Sure, why not?" Pyrrha replied.

"Yay!"

Well, that settles it for round two. Knowing that Pyrrha would automatically represent us for the final round, this was my last match. Finally.

Was the fight tough? Of course, it was. Was it worth it? Most definitely. No need to worry about fighting anymore. I can now slack off the remaining school year and just do my own thing. The Hero of Beacon's work is finally fucking done for this year. Now it's time for him to take a much-needed break. A long one preferably.

=o=

1. Although it was true that I was knocked out during that match, I still contributed a major factor that eventually led to our team's victory. My sacrifice did not go in vain and Yang can thank me for that.

2. It's a combat skirt—in the same vein as mine and Ruby's, so it is still technically suitable for combat despite its appearance.

3. My thoughts exactly.

4. Not again.

5. For the sake of my health, I'm going to stop sipping wine every time he makes more of these awful one-liners and I advise everyone to do the same.

Pyrrha and I sat at the edge of the rooftop where we usually practice, drinking the shakes we bought from the fairgrounds after the round was finished. Neon invited us for a party later that night, but first, we chose to spend some time together and contemplate our recent victory.

"For a second there, I thought we might never even win," I took a sip from the straw on my chocolate shake, "Those two were wilder than I thought."

"Yeah, I know that feeling," Pyrrha glanced on her drink. "I don't lose a lot anymore so I have kind of forgot to know what it feels like, but the fear of losing never seems to leave you no matter how used you are to victory."

"Pretty much. I'd say you should try losing sometime. You'll learn to be humble and more accepting of defeat. Of course, I'm not telling you to lose the next match. I'm just saying that while having the title of being undefeated is nice and all, you shouldn't get too used to winning or else your ego might get the best of you. And besides, you learn better from losing than you do winning." I answered, even though the truth is that I mostly got my knowledge through experience itself and I tend to avoid battles I know I can't win. Even in instances where I'm supposed to lose, I usually wind up getting saved by one of my allies or by some sort of fortuitous intervention from the Brothers above that helped win the fight for me.

"You're right," she looked down and gave a poignant look. "You know, it's been a while since I lost a fight."

My lips left my drink's straw as I stared at her curiously. "Which is?"

"I don't remember anymore. All I know is that it happened a long time ago and that my winning streak began after that."

"Oh, well, okay then," I said. That answer was already good enough for me.

"To be honest, Jaune, I envy you," she admitted, catching the fullest of my attention. "You are able to be this successful and live what many dream of, yet you are still able to remain as one of the humblest people I know. How?"

I looked away from her for a moment. Thinking of an answer befitting on what she just described me as. "I don't know. Maybe I just feel too modest that I think about those who aren't as lucky as I am and I just wanted to know that at the end of the day, I'm just like them and that they can be like me too."

But anyone who has been reading these knows that it's because I'm not actually proud of my own success, to begin with, if you could even call it that. The glory I have could have been given to someone who is much more deserving than I do. But no, it all has to go to some idiot who tried to run away from bank robberies he supposedly foiled at least twice so far. Because of me, no one is giving enough credit or attention to those with actual merits, and I genuinely feel bad about it.

Pyrrha smiled warmly at me. "Well, whatever the case, you do make a great role-model for everyone; not just Huntsmen or those who are seeking to be a hero."

If that's what you think, then I can't really stop you. I sighed internally before returning the expression. "I'm glad I have someone like you to talk to about things like this, Pyrrha."

Her cheeks reddened for a moment, "Me too. It was my pleasure, Jaune."

It just shows how much we truly care for one another and it was enough to tell me that I should stop betraying her trust. I knew that if I really do care for her, then I should be sincere to her. Weiss was right; I can't keep hiding my secrets from her anymore. She deserved to know the truth, my own selfishness be damned. I've been wearing a deceiving mask for too long now that she deserved to see the genuine Jaune Arc beneath it.

"Pyrhha…"

"Yes, Jaune?" she turned and her emerald eyes met with my own.

Despite my persistence to tell her the truth about myself, I regrettably hesitated. There was a nagging feeling that prevented me from confessing to her. Maybe it was too soon? Perhaps, but I decided that I wanted to spend more time with her and tell her about it for tomorrow. I just felt like I wasn't ready yet.

"Do you want to hang out tomorrow? You know just the two of us."

Her eyes widened in uncertainty as her blush became stronger. Awkwardness inhabited the atmosphere between us. "As partners of course," I added to dispel any doubts she was having.

After a few seconds, she finally answered. "I would love to."

"Oh, great." I beamed. "So, tomorrow then?"

She nodded in agreement. "Tomorrow."

We spent the next minutes in silence. Just enjoying the orange sky; watching the birds fly into the sunset, feeling nothing but peace and the comforting presence of a friend I trust. But the tender moment vanished when I felt an anomaly intruding the peace between us. My senses pointed me toward the rooftop's door and I almost immediately identified the cause of the disturbance. "I know you're there, Nora. You can come out now!"

My suspicions were proven correct when I found Nora along with a few other people wearing the same shirt as her rudely eavesdropping on the stairs behind the door. "Oh, crud! Abort the mission!" She exclaimed. One of them slammed the door close. I could hear them stomp the stairs as they rushed down.

Oh geez, no wonder why I hesitated. I'm actually glad that I didn't fess up then. Would have certainly ruined the moment in more ways than one.

Pyrrha and I both stared in befuddlement over Nora's recent antic before shrugging it off. It was just Nora being Nora, something we have grown accustomed to since day one.

Pyrrha's scroll ringtone resonated. She took it out from her pocket and read the message she received before standing up. "I have to go."

"What is it?"

"It's something important. I can't say for now. I'll tell you about it soon enough." She headed for the door downstairs.

"Okay then. Take care."

"You too," she said before closing the rooftop's door.

After that, I was alone on the rooftop, finishing my chocolate shake as I watched the view, thinking about tomorrow and not to mention updating the very thing you're reading.

Without any more matches or assignments to worry about, I finally can go easy now. I thought I'd never see this day. The problem that remains is that I still need to confess to Pyrrha about myself and hope that it wouldn't ruin our relationship because I'm doing this for our sake. My other problem would be the Triad's drug supplier. I can only pray that the police would be able to do something about them before they get a chance to hunt me down. I just want to spend the last days of my first year in peace.

I've been playing this game for too long now. Whatever awaits me, I'll be ready for it.

Fall is coming…

By the way, Neptune's ringtone is an actual rap you can listen to by MOONMOON_OW when he was roleplaying on GTA. You can listen to it on soundcloud. It's glorious.

soundcloud,com / yungdabtherapper/fuk-tha-police-feat-slim

As for the twins' song, sorry, I'm not exactly a songwriter myself so I don't have any lyrics written. All I could say that it's a lighthearted pop song about encouraging someone especially while their down, the rest is left to the reader's imagination.

Speaking of music, the Spotify playlist mentioned in previous chapters updates after every new chapter. Give it a listen if you haven't yet.

Without spoiling anything much, Volume 7 is pretty great so far. I'm still having mixed feelings about the character's new designs. Seriously, Jaune and Ruby's ship might as well be renamed as 'The Bad Hair Couple'. Who the hell taught this was a good idea? But overall, I'm enjoying this new volume. I hope they don't screw it up, RT have already embarrassed themselves enough this year.