Chapter 6

Grimm infested cave

The machine that Torchwick had awakened was currently marching inside the cave that Torchwick wanted him to clear out. It's various detection equipment was searching for any of the things that Torchwick had told it to exterminate. Upon remembering the organic, the machine felt a hint of gratefulness. Most organics it had seen during it's long operating time had tried to deactivate him permanently or strip him for parts. This organic didn't do that. Rather, he saved it and brought him to operational capacity. That was something it was grateful for and it was eager to return the favor. When the organic offered him an opportunity to repay the organic, the machine instantly complied and did what the organic requested, though it did wish that it was provided with information on the enemy. For all it knew, the enemies he will be facing will overcome his defenses and armor and tear him apart. Still, it wouldn't have mattered. It was programed to obey orders and that was what it will do. Upon hearing the sound of falling rocks, the machine turned around and fired at where the noise originated from, lighting the whole cave in green.

The weapon it had, a rather odd design, didn't fire a traditional projectile, rather it fired a beam of green energy that almost instantly hit its mark with insane amount of destructive force, completely obliterating the area and creating a sizeable crater from where it impacted. The resulting blast caught the attention of the inhabitants of the caves and they began to growl and hiss at the large machine. Detecting large amounts of movement on its radar, the machine instantly got ready for a fight while silently calculating the odds of survival and success based on the number of foes, which were a lot. The consensus was finished as soon as it started and the machine concluded that it will not survive this fight. Nevertheless, it will die trying to complete the debt it had with the organic. When it saw the enemies that was rapidly approaching it, it blinked in confusion, processing the new information it had on its opponents as they clawed, bit, or tackled his legs, which were enormous compared to them. The beings he saw right now were significantly smaller than what it predicted they would be. Heck, the largest didn't even reached it's knee. With this new information, along with the fact none of them were doing any real damage to his shields or armor, it concluded its chances of success were in the 99.99 percentile.

After those calculations, the machine took aim at the creatures surrounding it and began a one-sided match between it and the creatures of Grimm by firing, taking out a large amount of Grimm.

Beacon Academy

Jack was currently studying for a Grimm history lesson. However, it was going bad as he couldn't help, but think about that group that came to the party. All of them, including the one called Sona, seemed off to him. Their names, the ones he knew about anyway, had very little, if any, association with color like his. You could defend it with the possibility that their parents wanted to give them unique names out of everyone else, but he wondered if that was really the case. Sighing to himself, he slumped down on his bed. While staring at the ceiling, Jack's thoughts wondered to the girl he had danced with. After the dance, the two had a heart-to-heart conversation. Well, he was doing all the talking, she just nodded, smirked, etc. It was a rather normal conversation. They talked about interests, hobbies, and what they plan to do after they graduate. Honestly, despite her being seemingly a mute, she was nice to be around. But then it steamed up when she brought out two tickets for a movie. They weren't for one of those cliché romantic movies, no, they were tickets for the newest entry for the critically acclaimed Sarge movies. He'd seen the first two and they were rather awesome in his point of view. She then, rather forcibly, gave him one. She then kissed him on the lips and waved goodbye. With that thought, Jack pulled out the ticket the girl gave him. Seeing that the girl was eager to go, he decided to indulge her. Besides, he wanted to get to know her more. There was something about her that seemed…interesting. According to the information on the ticket, the movie will air soon, so he should probably get ready now. Sighing to himself, he brought out his combat armor, put it on, and left for the dining hall to get a bite to eat. As he was walking, he began to see various pairs of students walking around, holding hands. He gave a smile at this, but he had a feeling of loneliness, especially since it seems he was the only one in the area without a partner.

All his life he never managed to find a girl that wanted to be with him. He was average in terms of attractiveness so no one really went to him just for his looks, especially since most of the boys in his year were far more handsome. He recalled dating a fellow student for a few weeks, but she broke it off due to her feeling that they weren't meant to be. He was down for a few days, but eventually he got over it and began to focus more on his studies than anything else. Hearing his stomach growl, he resumed his trek to the dining hall. From there, he got himself a sandwich and a glass of water. While he ate, he overheard a conversation about last night's entertainment.

"You missed the performance of your life!" Said a student as she gossiped with her friends. "There was this woman, who played this amazing song. It was divine!"

"I know!" Said another girl. "That song made me explode with emotions. It was like hearing my favorite musician playing his most famous song, but times a thousand!"

"If she's so awesome, then how come no one had ever heard of her?" Asked another student skeptically.

"I don't know. Maybe she gave only private concerts and that this was her first public gig?" Suggested the first girl.

"Or maybe Haven academy kept her a secret, so that they'll have a surprise this year." As the three girls continued to discuss this, Jack chewed his food thoughtfully, processing this information. Is this Sona a native of Mistral? It would make sense because her affinity with music indicates this. If so, then why wasn't she publicly known. Her music seemed to be very pleasing to her and her natural beauty was a bonus as well. Whatever the reason was, he had no right to get involved in her personal life as she was a stranger and he barely knew her. After taking another bite from his sandwich, the speakers in the dining hall activated and the voice of miss Goodwitch came out of them, telling the first-year students to come to the amphitheater. Since he wasn't a first-year student, he didn't need to go so he ate his meal in silence. After finishing his meal and placing his tray away, he went out of the building. As he was walking back to the dorms, he spotted several bullheads landing on the docks. Curious, he decided to walk over to the docks. To his surprise, as he was nearing the bullheads, he spotted team CFVY getting off one of them. Eager to meet Coco again, he walked up to them and greeted them.

"Well, well." Said Coco with a grin as she watched Jack approach. "Can't get enough of me, can you?"

"I guess." Said Jack. "So, how was your mission? From what I heard, it went longer than expected."

"It did." Commented Coco while walking with her team to the dorms to get some rest. "There were a lot more Grimm than expected. It took some time, but we pulled it off. Though I could use a shower right now." She then frowned distastefully. "There weren't any proper showers, especially ones with hot water." With that, Coco walked away with her team. As Velvet passed him, Jack tapped her arm to ask a question.

"Is she always this narcissist?" Asked Jack, pointing at Coco's retreating figure. Velvet just chuckled nervously before nodding.

"Just for her looks." Said Velvet. "She's gets real protective whenever her appearance is in danger of getting damaged or filthy."

"Huh? Then that must be a pain then since she's a huntress and all. Why did she want to become one anyway? A huntress's job will always get dirty." Said Jack, wondering why Coco choose such a dangerous career if she cares about her looks.

"Well she never gave a definite answer to us." Said Velvet, cupping her chin. "But I know that she's a thrill seeker, so maybe that's why. Anyway, I got to go, see you later." With that Velvet began to walk off with her team. Jack waved good bye before walking to the various bullheads so he can ask the pilots for a ride to the city. After a tedious time of asking various pilots for a ride, he finally managed to find one that gave him a lift to the city. After a long walk, he finally managed to reach the theaters. Once there, he ordered some popcorn and a soda before turning his ticket in and walking into the correct theater. As the movie began to start he wondered when the girl that invited him to this would come. The movie was half-way done when he felt his hand being squeezed. Turning his head, he saw the girl squeezing his hand with her own while taking a fistful of his popcorn and throwing them into her mouth. Blinking in surprise, he watched as she crunched the popcorn, giving him a seductive look while doing so. She then sat on his lap, straddling him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He gulped out of nervousness as she bats her eyelashes at him. He was about to protest to this when she bopped him in the hand with her middle finger before seating in the seat on his left. He looked at her in annoyance, who just smirked at him, before resuming to watch the movie. As he watched, he grew annoyed as the girl next to him brushed his hand intentionally or rubbed her leg with his own. But the coup de grace was during the movie's end when she kissed him on the forehead while giving him an eyeful of her cleavage, making him glow red. So much so, that the girl had to carry him out, giggling all the way. Unfortunately for him, while he was recovering, she brought him to a lingerie store, making him go pale. After fully recovering, he took a seat somewhere without any lingerie in sight. Unfortunately, he still got stares from all the people inside, disgusted at seeing a boy in the store. To make matters worse (In his opinion), the girl began to wear various revealing lingerie and began to show off to him, making him want to throw up. After the fifth set, he began to wonder if he should knock himself out in order to avoid all this. He was about to do it when the girl showed up with a sixth set, when he heard a gasp.

"Jack?!" Said person looked and was shocked to see Coco in the store. She then placed a hand on her hip before examining the scene before her. She then huffed in amusement. "Got someone to show off to you?" Jack spluttered indignantly as the girl before him smirked in amusement.

"You got it all wrong, Coco!" Yelled Jack. "She just dragged me here!" Coco just rose an eyebrow.

"Really?" Asked Coco, eyeing the woman before her. "She doesn't look like she can carry you."

"Believe me she did." Said Jack as he looked at Coco, not wanting to see the near naked girl behind him. He was a healthy young man, but he had no intentions of seeing a woman naked just yet. Especially after Winter gave him a lecture about stuff like this after he managed to catch her naked once. Well…more like beating him to a pulp and scolding him right after while he was barely conscious. He flinched at the memory as Coco looked at him with an impassive face. A few moments before she smirked deviously.

"So you're getting tired of her flashing at you?" Asked Coco.

"Yes." Said Jack, wanting to leave now. Meanwhile the girl behind him rose an eyebrow, wondering what Coco was planning. She got her answer when Coco flashed a grin.

"So how about seeing a different body?" Asked Coco as she teasingly lifted down her shirt, giving him a view on one of breasts. Jack spluttered again as Coco laughed at him while the girl behind him scowled, angry that her source of amusement was being distracted by this bimbo. She then dragged him away to a dressing room while Coco continued to laugh.

"Looks like someone else wants to tease the hell out of that guy." Thought Coco as Jack began to yell out in embarrassment in the dressing room. "That's alright thought. I enjoy having competition."

Meanwhile

Mountain Glenn

Torchwick sighed to himself as he lit a cigar. Neo, for a reason that made him shake his head in annoyance, decided to go out and have a date with the one called Jack. When he asked why, she merely smirked at him and teleported, or whatever she actually does, out of the cave. Now he was left dealing with all the incompetency of the White Fang grunts alone with no one to insure him that there was at least one person with any sort of skill. He was about to inhale the contents of his cigar, a loud rumble made him drop it, followed by more in a consecutive rate. Turning around in annoyance, he saw the large robot the White Fang found coming back without a scratch. To his shock, he saw it carry a large Death Stalker by the tail. The thing was flaying around, trying to use its pincers against the machine to no avail. The machine stopped before him, it looked at Torchwick for a long while before grabbing the head of the Death Stalker and then ripped it in two, the sounds of bone armor being ripped apart echoed throughout the room. It's eye flickered a little before it let go of the remains, both landing with a thud. It then spoke in a language Torchwick couldn't understand. However, judging by the dissolving remains of the Deathstalker, he guessed the job was done.

"I take it that you did your job?" Asked Torchwick, a bit disturbed at how there wasn't even a scratch on the machine. It nodded it's head before bowing with it. At first nothing was said, but eventually Torchwick began to laugh out loud. "*Laughs* Oh boy!" Yelled Torchwick as he rubbed his eyes. "If what you're saying is true, then you've just earned yourself a spot in this little operation of ours. How about it? Stay for a little while longer?" Torchwick just smiled when the machine just bowed it's head again. He clapped for short while before speaking again. "Perfect! Now, would you be so kind and help those morons carry that thing." Torchwick then pointed to a large container full of dust. The machine bowed before walking to the container, it's footsteps making deep thuds, and grabbing the large container. "And be careful! One drop and boom!" Warned Torchwick before walking away, lighting a new cigar. After taking a breath of the cigar, he smiled as he exhaled the resulting smoke.

"Fortune is now favoring me." Thought Torchwick as he began to enjoy his cigar. "If anyone tries to stop us, they'll have to deal with the big lug. But, just in case" He then pulled out his scroll and began texting his assistant.

Vale

Coco was watching Jack as he waved goodbye to the girl he was on a date with. After getting a call, the girl frowned before telling them that she had to leave. However, just for the spite of it, the girl kissed Jack on the cheek and telling him that she'll call him before giving him her number. Coco's eyes twitched at that. She also felt relief when the girl left in a hurry. As Jack looked at his wallet in sorrow, he brought it along as usually the guy pays for everything in a date, Coco began to wonder why she was feeling this way. She wasn't stupid, she knew what these feelings are and why she's feeling them. What she didn't get was why they were happening right now and with Jack. She only met the guy a couple times and only really talked with him just to tease him. If anything, it should be Jack feeling them for her because of how many guys she's acquainted with or even dated. For her to have feelings of jealously for someone she barely knew, surprised her. Still, she couldn't help but try and justify it. The guy was reasonably handsome, not as handsome as other guys she knew, but still good-looking. He was also, based on her first meeting with him and the date she watched, he was nice and wasn't even remotely perverted. All those were good points in her book. Humming to herself, she began to wonder if she should get to know him more. The guys was alright in her book and interested her with his different attitude compared to the usual attitude people from Atlas had. Plus, it's been so long since she had some competition in her non-combatant life and fighting for the attention of a guy would most certainly prove to be a worthwhile challenge for her. Smirking to herself, she walked over to Jack, who was too engrossed in his wallet to register her presence.

"So, interested in hanging out with me?" Asked Coco as she smacked him on the back. After yelping from the sudden smack, Jack turned to see Coco with a grin that made him nervous.

"Uh…I don't have any money with me anymore." Said Jack before showing her his empty wallet, making Coco whistle.

"Wow." Said Coco. "That girl really made you burn through your money. Almost as much as me."

"You?"

"Yup." Said Coco with a smile. "If you were dating me, you would have burned through so much money that you'll literally cry and complain over how much I made you spend." Hearing that made Jack flinched, making Coco chuckle. "Relax, I wouldn't have you go bankrupt. Just really poor."

"That doesn't help your argument." Said Jack.

"True." Agreed Coco. "Still, since you're out of money, I'll cover the cost for everything else for the rest of the day. C'mon," Coco then grabbed his wrist and began to drag him away. As he was being dragged away, he wondered what Coco would subject him too.

"Please be something pleasant." Thought Jack as he braced for the worst.

Later

"Huh. This is actually quite alright." Said Jack as he ate his burger in peace while Coco drank a chocolate shake while also grinning.

"Told you so." Said Coco after a long sip. "You really should trust me more."

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry about doubting you." Said Jack.

"It's alright." Said Coco. "Based on the rumors that I'm a shopping freak, it's no surprise you'll be intimated on going a date with me. Right?"

"Yeah. You started those?" Asked Jack as he recalled a few of the rumors about Coco. Most were how she literally purchased a clothing stores entire supply of clothes and then returned them the next day after she deemed them unfashionably or not to her tastes.

"Some of them." Said Coco simply. "Now, enough about me, what do you have on your belt?"

"Well, it's really nothing special." Said Jack before telling his entire story while at Atlas academy. Thankfully for him, he only really had a few embarrassing moments worth mentioning.

"You grouped her!?" Said Coco between fits of laughter. "How did you survive? Winter, from what I hear, is a real hard-ass and doesn't take kindly to that kind of things."

"Fortunately for me, she knew it was an accident and only chastised me for it along with a slap." Said Jack, rubbing the cheek that Winter slapped.

"Still, you were extremely lucky." Said Coco after wiping a tear. "So, are you dating that girl?" She asked casually. Jack nearly did a full spit take of his soda when he heard that.

"Wh-what?" He stammered trying not to choke.

"I was just wondering." Coco said offhandedly. "You two seemed tight for her to flash in revealing underwear to you."

Jack just rubbed his head in embarrassment. "Yeah, but honestly, I have no idea why she does so. The first time we met, she tackled me and kissed me."

"Really?" Coco asked already becoming more interested. "Then how come you're with her on this date?"

"She forced me." Said Jack simply. "Still, I guess I have a thing for her," Coco's eye twitched at that. "But, I'm still not sure if I want it to continue. It'll probably fade in a while." Coco just grinned at that. Seeing this made Jack raise an eyebrow. "Why are you grinning?"

"No reason." Said Coco, waving her hand nonchalantly. "Besides her, did you date any other girl?" Seeing him shake his head, made her raise an eyebrow. "Really? No other girl dated you? Why?"

"Well, there was usually some more handsome guy or some other popular guy that usually sweeps them away." Explained Jack. "There's also the fact that I'm not the strongest hunter in training out there, nor do I have anything special that made me unique. Why are you asking this?"

"Well you're nice, funny, and kind of cute." Said Coco as she riddled off while counting on her fingers and reveling at how much she was making the boy blush. "If you ask me you're only real problem is your confidence."

"What?" Asked Jack. "What's wrong with my confidence?"

"You were bumbling and blushing like an idiot when that girl flashed at you." Said Coco.

"Yeah, but any guy would do that when a girl does that to him." Said Jack, trying to defend his actions.

"Not with men with confidence." Said Coco. "And I can help you with that." She then donned a grin that scared Jack to the core.

"Um, just curious, how would you do that?" Asked Jack. Literally afraid on what she's going to do.

"Just meet me tomorrow." Said Coco with a grin. "We'll start small and go from there. I promise not to do anything rash or crazy tomorrow." Jack looked hesitant, but sighed. He had nothing to do and his father said to always grant a woman's request, no matter how unreasonably and stupid it was. Besides, this could help him get to know Coco and benefit him as well.

"Alright, name the time and place." Said Jack. Coco smiled at this. She then looked at her scroll, her eyes widened at the time. It was nearly time for her next shopping spree with Velvet. She had to get ready for it.

"Whoa! We should really start heading back, but y'know we have the day off tomorrow so how about we meet up and have your first lesson then?" Said Coco. Jack sighed again before nodding his head. Coco then paid the bill and the two left for Beacon. Jack winced as he saw some of the people that saw him with the girl from before stare at him as well as glare at him, thinking he was a two-timer.

"Relax." Said Coco upon seeing him tense up, figuring what was going on. "I'll try to diffuse the whole situation tomorrow." Jack was about to tell her to do it now because, by then, the rumors would have spread to Beacon and he'll won't hear the end of it, but Coco turned away and held a hand up, showing she didn't want to talk about it. He mentally cried at this and quietly wished his social life goodbye. The trip back to Beacon was silent as Jack tried to figure ways on how to salvage his reputation while Coco just smiled at this, though she did her best to try and comfort him. Once they got off the ship, Coco looked at Jack and spoke.

"Alright, meet me here tomorrow at 9 and we'll see if I can't help you improve." Said Coco, giving him a thumbs-up. Jack just nodded as he shakily went to his room. Sighing to herself, Coco smiled at the shaking teenager. She'll have to work fast to salvage his reputation if he was going to recover. She also made a note that she should help him ignore what people think about him. Tomorrow was looking like it would be a real fun day. A very fun day.

Mountain Glenn.

Night

Meanwhile, team RWBY was currently wiping out the Grimm presence in the ruined city of mountain Glenn. However, unbeknownst to most, they were also there, on their own discretion, they were actually looking for a White Fang hideout. They knew that a major hideout was somewhere in the Southeastern part of Vale, but they didn't know exactly where. So, they just decided to wing and hope they get lucky, which is why they're here, performing a job that shouldn't' be in the hands of a first-year team, but Ozpin, deciding to trust them, gave them the job. Of course, they had professor Oobleck with them as support and in case anything went wrong, the fact that Ozpin trusted them on this mission meant that he had a lot of faith in them. However, after fighting for the whole day, they could understand why this wasn't meant for a first-year team. Never before had they've been completely exhausted before. Sure, they won all they're engagements, but if they kept coming and coming, they would surely be dead eventually. Still, they're spirits were high and they were certain that things would go smooth sailings now. How wrong they were.

As Ruby, the current lookout for any danger, was doing her job, a hooded figure was looking at her, hidden within a ruined building so well that Ruby couldn't see her. The figure sighed to herself as she took a bite out of a ration bar.

"What's the point in watching over them?" Asked the figure to herself as she summoned a feather and threw it on a makeshift bullseye, scoring a perfect ten. The ears on top of her hood twitched as she sighed to herself.

"Because they took an assignment they're not prepared for." Said Irelia as she looked at the figure, who turned around to reveal that it was Xayah.

"You mean, an assignment that happed to be where we're at." Said Xayah. "And an assignment that they're headmaster, in an act of stupidity or cockiness, gave them despite knowing the dangers," She then went back to watching Ruby doze off. "Honestly, what is wrong with that man? Doesn't he care for the lives of his students?"

"I have a feeling he does." Said Irelia as she sat next to Xayah, careful not to allow herself to be seen by anything due to her bright outfit. "He just has too much confidence in them. Something that can be fatal." Xayah agreed as she glanced at Irelia.

"Where's everyone else?" Asked Xayah.

"Solaris and Ahri are keeping an eye on Beacon while Sona with Eliza is back at the ship, no doubt talking with Tourette." Said Irelia, saying the last part with amusement. Xayah chuckled quietly before shaking her head.

"What about Chief?" Asked Xayah. Irelia bit her lip before speaking.

"He's talking with Zorah." Said Irelia, making Xayah frown. She then threw multiple feathers into a wall, piercing the stone clean through and flying away from the city.

"That son of a bitch." Said Xayah with venom in her voice. "Why the hell did the Council assign him as our handler?"

"Don't know." Said Irelia. "It doesn't sound good from what I heard."

"Wish Solaris was here." Said Xayah before going back to watching Ruby sleep. Meanwhile the giant man in armor was currently breathing in and out as he tried to calm down. The talk with Zorah left him with a want to punch someone. He was about to go and find some Grimm to kill when his helmet notified him of a call. Seeing the I.D., he returned the call.

"If it isn't my main man." Said a metallic voice. "How's it going? You need some back up? Some money? Some weapons? How about a…"

"Listen, Strayed, now's a not a good time to call." Said the man in armor as he looked around his surroundings in case any Grimm tried anything sneaky. "Call me back later."

"*Sighs* Always so serious. Alright, but listen, I called because I'm worried about you." The man in armor noticed that there was some emotion backing up the voice. "You haven't reported in several months and most of your activities are so air-tight that I'm perplexed in the amount of security, even for someone like you. What's going on?"

"It classified." Said the man in armor.

"Your favorite word, John. Right up there with affirmative and no." Said Strayed. "Listen, if you need help, just ask. I'll be there as soon as I can. And don't even try to stop me. You know how important you and your team is to me. You all are some of my greatest friends. Don't tell any of them that, I'll get in trouble with some of them."

"Damn right." Thought John. "I'll keep it in mind. Just don't go in guns blazing when I do ask for you're help."

"No promises." Said Strayed with a nonchalant tone before disconnecting. John, having heard that, just shook his head in amusement before looking at the moon before him. He had a feeling that things were going to get complicated soon.