Multiplayer

by NeoShadows

Life is a game. In an attempt to save a friend during the Breach, Jaune Arc died. Brought back to life with powers of a Gamer, he must now attempt to beat the game called life. He's not alone though. Every win or lose ends in a Reset, so how will he beat a game that never ends?

24. Chaos Theory

Damn, how long was I gone this time? A month? Come on, NeoShadows! Ya got to get your shit together, man.

Okay, now hear me out for a sec. There's a perfectly good reason why this chapter took so long to come out. . . .It's because of Persona 5. I honestly didn't think I would so drawn into the game when I first pre-ordered it months ago out of curiousity. But damn is a good! That and plumbing issues and yadda, yadda, yadda, kept me from completely focusing on this chapter.

And what a chapter it was! After hearing your feed back on the last chapter that reached over 30K+, I decided on splitting it in half! So, I give you the first half of the original chapter which if I was honest with myself with wasn't completely finished. Good thing it was split, I suppose. Lucky for all of you, I've stopped myself from playing Persona 5 until I've got this story done with, and just as I got to the Final Palace too. We're getting there, don't you worry about that.

So, some Reviews!

Crocea Neputo: Thank you for the support and love! Glad to have made a fan out of you. And I hope you learn a thing or two from my story.

Saint Danielle: Well, ain't this a nice little gift for ya? Happy birthday bud, you've helped spread the word of my story out, a chapter on your birthday is the least I could do. You're are right, the beginning of this little Arc isn't action packed, but I'm happy to keep my audience reading without it. Honestly, my previous works had an action scene in each chapter, mostly because I didn't know how to write scenes without them. I've really grown since then and I'm happy to see you all appreciate it. Ah, that DLC piece was one I had been thinking of for a long time but didn't know how exactly to write it out. In the end, it came out better than I had hoped. Good eye on that very subtle reference to that Western manga about love chocolate, I thought I was the only one to have read it. As for the Soul's identity, that will finally be answered today! 'Jaune' robbed of his fate has his powers set, but damn did that bastard figure it out, that's all I'll say. And again, spot on! Professor Pitho's weapon was based on Honey Lemon. Let's see what else you'll find out.

A Fan1204: Shut up! I'm off my meds! You're lucky I took them this time. And I'll struggle all I want, damn it!

L337 M4n: You caught that reference? Nice. I should honestly make a DLC based on that.

DragonManMax: I'll be sure to keep this up, my fellow writer! Igni is something special, something I can't reveal just yet. But oh, is it good. Now for Jaune's Semblance, that is something I can not talk about. Not yet at least but Gamer's do have them. I will touch on that some other time, so just wait and see. Ha! Yeah, Persona is a hell of a drug, it's amazing. Ya poor bastard.

Benthino: Ah, my humble fan, your words of praise always please the Great Shadow! But, I must confess, I have no idea what Warhammer 40K is. I've always heard about it, but I haven't looked into it. For now, your plea will go unanswered. I hope you take solace in the latest chapter, my loyal fan.

Ssjzohan: I realized that too once I actually played a Persona game. And it's only given me more ideas. I'll try not to make you all wait forever again. No promises!

James317: Certain DLC's, like Lost Fairy Tale's are connected to canon. And some are connected to each other but have no affect on canon, like the Summoning DLCs. I've been meaning to correct the confusion, but I'm sadly lazy. I'll be sure to fix that soon.

Ultimate Pervy Sage: Cardin's character was my favorite to play around with. Having so little information about him actually help to shape into a somewhat decent guy. He's still an asshole and a bit of a racist, but it's work in progress for him. Glad you like the character development. Speaking of Ann, well, I won't say nothing. Just keep reading.

Ghost Angel14: But is that any fun?

Phantom Stranger: Thanks for letting me use those names! Don't worry, it's their meaning which got me wanting them for the weapons I created. The Dark Jaune's name is a secret for now, but thanks for the suggestion. Now, for your two ideas for the future of the story. I already have something planned out for the Fall of Beacon, something I can't divulge, so I can't really go that route for reasons. And for Jaune and Player One, well, you'll see why that won't be happening during this chapter. Don't know who Priscilla is, I'd have to research her to see if she would work out as a DLC. And Summoning DLC isn't canon to the story. I do encourage more ideas though!

Azure Megacyber: Glad you loved the development, bud! I'll keep up with the Bio's, so be sure to write me something good! Keep up the good work!

The Immortal Doctor Reid: Yup, I've been shanghaid and I fucking love it! And NO! Kawakami is Bae, heathen! This is war. And my boy Ryuji has my back!

Azalmega: Happy you liked. I admit, had my doubts about it, but came to love it as it finished. The pacing is something I try to improve on, trust when I say a lot has been cut out. And with Persona, it's only matter of time indeed until I do something with it n a DLC.

Enigma1995: Good idea on the Wizard, but I already have something planned out with that.

That Guy: I like your reviews, too bad you don't make an account. But I will answer yours. I like your suggestions on Title, but I already got something planned out.

Harutora75: The Multiplayer Journal will be posted after the two month break where I will finish it up. As to where it will be, I don't know. I'm honestly thinking of posting here on the site in the forums.

God Emperor of Gar-halla: Sorry you feel that way. The next DLC I have in mind won't be too much like that. It involve lawyers, that's all I have to say. I look into the Drakengard franchise sometime. I could always use more inspiration.

SonicFanFlame: Boy, I am slick! You'll all get more info on Tsuki, don't you worry. The gods are gods, but they are limited in some aspects by The Game, a forced reality/being that will be explained at some point. Ciel is best waifu, you are my boy. And the penalty will be explained after the evens, you'll see. Trust your shadow.

The climax of this little Event is here! But it's been split. More on that at the end. For now, just enjoy the chapter!

---

Disclaimer: I do not own the right to RWBY, all rights belong to RoosterTeeth. I am a dirty boy, or was. After four days of no water, I am clean! Well, physically speaking. I ain't proud of what I've done. I blame anime, that's all I got to say. Sexy, sexy, anime.

---

Chapter 24: Chaos Theory.

"All right! Will search teams please call out their team names so that we can get a good idea of who's searching where, please!"

Weiss rolled her eyes as she along with her team watched their young leader make a fool of herself in the center of Vale's busy streets. She eyed the so-called search teams that had agreed to join in to help them look for their missing teammates with disbelief. Why did they have to play along with Ruby's game? It wasn't a good idea to encourage that speedy brat.

Pyrrha waved back to her with a polite smile as she stood with Ren and Nora, waiting patiently to begin their search. Not only did Blake not return last night, but the leader of team JNPR hadn't either. Which was awfully suspicious if you asked her. So today after some planning from RWBY's own little leader, Ruby had decided that enough was enough and that they were going to search for their missing friends. Which Weiss supposed was the right thing to do after they had been both missing for two days now. But this was just overdoing it in her opinion. Her icy blue eyes moved over to the only other available person in their circle of friends that had jumped in to help in their search efforts.

And right now, that person was in a glaring match with Yang as the two butted heads. Despite Tsuki's cold and stern demeanor, she was a rather spiteful person.

Tsuki Yumi was an oddball to Weiss. Not in the sense of social norms or anything like that, but in the sense that she was a huntress that Weiss couldn't really understand. She was beautiful, breathtaking really with raven hair that looked like silk and red eyes that reminded her of rubies. Tall and slender with a waist and bust that made Weiss want to call shenanigans, she was a second-year huntress that many first years looked up to as an example. Add her cold and uncaring expression along with strength and she was everything you'd want to find in a professional huntress. Except one little thing.

Tsuki was obsessed with Jaune Arc of all people. Weiss had no idea how it had happened, the two had never met until that day in the cafeteria where they met Hera's team. But since that day, she had been leaving the blond knight Anima lunchboxes, little love notes, wishing him good luck with banners and flags of his face during combat class, all while she had a passive look on her face. That and the comment she made offhandedly about her bearing his child. How Tsuki could say such a thing with a straight face as if it wasn't a big deal, she would never know.

Like the rest of them, Tsuki was dressed in her combat wear. She wore a slim sleeveless trench coat that reached to her kneecaps that was buttoned down the middle by odd raven like feather buttons. Red spaulders protected her right shoulder along with a hunter's wrist brace. And like Yang, she wore a black tight fitting yet flexible black short with a belt of shell cases tied around her waist and black heeled boots with black feathers decorating the sides. Red beads hung around the raven girl's neck along with a yellow ribbon tying back her ponytail top. And from the looks of it, her weapon of choice was an elegant bow on her back along with a high tech looking quiver.

"Team Search and Destroy is right here, oh great red leader!" Nora saluted with a bubbly grin beside her team consisting of Pyrrha and Weiss.

Weiss slapped her forehead as Pyrrha chuckled nervously, "We are not destroying anything, Nora! This is a simple search, not a military operation! And put down your hammer! This is a civilian zone!"

"You have to expect some casualties in our line of work, Weiss! It's for the greater good."

"What greater good!?"

Taking Nora's outburst as enough, Ruby moved her eyes to their second search team. Ren gave the little reaper a dull stare from his position in the middle of two glaring busty beauties. Who the hell came up with the teams?

"Team B is all accounted for." he said with a sigh.

Yang was in the same boat as Ren. She didn't like how the teams were made up. Or more specifically, she didn't like who she was going to work with.

"Why are you even here, Cow Titties? Don't you have a widow to bring down with your sour philosophy? Or a kindergarten class to call weak and throw to the wolves?" she said with a growl.

Tsuki's eyes narrowed further, "What a weak-minded view you have. You're all talk and little bite behind those utters of yours. Having you on the team will only slow us down. Why don't you go find a homeless man to entertain for a few hours with those gorilla hands of yours?" she said coldly with a smirk.

"You'd like to see that wouldn't you, you stick up your ass bitch! Maybe that's why you can't get some? You can't stuff anything up there with that mile-long pole that is your bitchiness in the way!"

"Is that all you got? I'm disappointed, I would have thought you had something more scathing in store. Even in wordplay, you're weak."

Ren raised his hand up meekly as Yang cocked Ember Celica with a snarl, "Can I request to switch teams?" He had no plans to be a casualty in a cat fight. Not again.

Ruby shook her head with pity, "Sorry, we got to have at least one right minded person with a calm head per team. Except Nora's team, she needs two." For good reason.

"Why are you even here?" Yang huffed, reigning in her anger for the moment. She was this close to exploding in a column of fire. No need to lose her cool right now. They had a job to do and friends to find. So, she settled with a glare as Tsuki looked away from her to the streets.

"I had gotten word that Jaune was missing since Friday night. Hearing that, I decided to lend a hand in searching for his whereabouts. I can't have that man gone from my sight when I still have use of him." she said simply, turning her narrowed eyes back to the girls and Ren with disappointment, "I would have thought that his own team would be able to find him by now, but clearly I was wrong."

The older girl's words rubbed Pyrrha the wrong way as she walked to stand beside Yang with a frown.

"We had planned on looking for him yesterday, but he said he was fine. We believed he was fine and decided against going as far as actively searching for him when he didn't want us to. But we haven't gotten a response back since then. We are only looking for him since we are also helping in finding another friend of ours, Blake. It's not as if we didn't want to find him." she said tersely.

"Either way, I am only here to make sure he returns to Beacon. That is all." Tsuki scoffed as she turned away from the group to begin her search. She didn't wait for the others to follow as her body blinked with blood red energy and vanished from sight. The action only put Yang over the edge and as she pulled her precious lock of hair in anger at the nerve of the older girl.

What was it about her that pissed her off so much?

"Get back here, bitch! You ain't running away from my fist! I'll pull that crappy weave that you call hair off that dumb head of yours!"

A thin blurring streak of red suddenly whizzed past Yang's cheek, just narrowly missing a lock of her hair. Everyone found their eyes falling on an elegant arrow buried deep into the pavement behind the stunned brawler. If Yang's anger wasn't already visible, then the flaming aura leaking from her body would help in signaling her fury. She cracked her neck with a mad grin, catching sight of a black streak jumping across the top of the buildings.

Ain't no one ever escape Yang Xiao Long's knuckles of wrath.

Ren's shoulders slumped as Yang shot off the spot to follow her prey. He looked back to Ruby, hoping she would understand and let him join them. Again, she shook her head with a sheepish chuckle as he cursed. Great, now he had to make sure they didn't kill each other. And here he had been hoping to stay out of the events of today and sleep Sunday off before school tomorrow. He could never get his way. With a quick scan and look up on his HUD, he followed his temporary team members reluctantly.

The sad part was that he already knew the exact location of Jaune's stay. But he didn't feel like sharing that piece of information after getting a discreet message from his fellow Player to not find him. Which he understood since Jaune most likely began the Black and White Event. But the silent Player was this close to throwing his leader to wolves if he had to put up with this shit all day. Worse part was, even though he said he wanted no part in the Event, he was now part of it officially. With the two working together now, Ren was no including in Events like this if his leader accepted them. He really should have thought twice about helping his leader out.

Ruby waved good-bye to the Jaune search party with a nervous smile. She should have thought about the teams better. But with their skill sets combined, she was positive that they would be able to sniff out the leader of team JNPR in no time. As soon as they regrouped and stopped fighting with each other that was.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to put Yang and Tsuki in the same search party?" Weiss questioned, sighing as she caught a distant Yang like shout of fury, "Those two don't seem to get along. And adding poor Ren into the mix doesn't seem to add much to the team dynamic."

"Weiss, Weiss, Weiss." Ruby chided with a bright smile, "Your great leader has everything planned out perfectly! The Jaune search party is made up of a huntress whose head of the Hunting Club, a powerhouse girl who won't take no for an answer, and someone who's basically a ninja! With their skills, I'm sure they'll be able to find Jaune in no time!"

That actually didn't sound like a bad team setup. Weiss had to give her partner some props, she was actually paying attention in school. Tsuki was probably the best tracker out of everyone present and her obsession for Jaune made her the ideal person to hunt him down. Yang was the muscle; her strength would prove useful against any resistance they may run into and Ren was very agile and stealthy, blending into the shadows just like Blake, making it easy to sneak up on his leader. It was hard to believe that Ruby had thought it out so carefully.

"What about us then?" she frowned. Wouldn't it have been better for team JNPR to look for their leader with Tsuki?

Ruby shook her head, "Our team is perfect for finding Blake. With my super speed, I can cover more ground and search for any signs of her. Pyrrha here is our polite and kind diplomat, she'll help in keeping everyone's emotions in check and making sure no fighting breaks out with her magnetism!" she gestured to the waving red haired champion.

"Just say the word and I'll cuff her!" she said brightly, raising her magnetized right hand in the air to levitate several pairs of handcuffs.

Weiss stared at them with wide eyes of disbelief. Was this a search team for a friend, or search team for a criminal on the run? Well, with Blake's history it wasn't exactly wrong. 'I don't see anything diplomatic about this.'

"And dare I ask what Nora is for?" She was afraid of the answer to that.

"She's our muscle and a wild card!"

Said orange haired hammer girl was bouncing on the tips of her toes with giddiness, "Ooooooooh! I love the sound of that! I'm basically a ticking time bomb of surprises!"

Weiss's deadpanned stare met back with Ruby, "I am now more terrified then I have ever been in my life. And mind you, I have a target on my back aimed by genocidal terrorists. Think about that clearly for a second."

Ruby thought about it for less than second, "Have some faith in Nora, Weiss. She hasn't blown up the school yet. She can totally handle this."

The Schnee heiress highly doubted that. Looking back at Nora, she felt those fears only confirmed as the bubbly girl began loading several grenade shells into her hammer with a menacing laugh.

"And what of me? What's my role in all of this?" Weiss asked confused after turning her eyes away from Nora. She understood the roles for everyone else, but that left her out.

At that Ruby scratched her head awkwardly as she stood in front of her partner.

"Well. . .your role is just to talk."

Weiss blinked, "Talk?" she said unsure of what she had just heard.

Ruby nodded her head, her eyes firm, "Right, talk. This whole mess began because we were all keeping things from each other, important things. And because you and Blake never got to talk about these things, she's run away and you've been ignoring the matter." she said sadly as she rubbed her arm.

"I miss Blake. I know she's only been gone for two days, but it feels like a lifetime has passed. She's my friend, one of my first real friends since coming into Beacon. I know she's quiet, secretive, moody, and would rather read books than talk with people, but that's what makes her my friend. And I don't want to lose her because she thinks we will only see her as a White Fang agent."

Blake was scared. For the first time since meeting her, Ruby had seen Blake terrified. She never thought such an emotion could exist within her stoic teammate's eyes. She was terrified of their reactions to finding out she was part of an organization that hated humans to the point of aiming for their extinction and had run away.

That was all in the past. Ruby chose to believe that as fact. She just couldn't see her book loving friend continuing with such anger and hate when her own team was human. And she would believe that until she had heard otherwise from the mouth of her friend.

"We can't be RWBY without Blake. I don't want our team to be broken up because of some fight we could have resolved if we had all talked with each other. I don't think I can make it as a huntress without all of us together."

Weiss sighed, struggling to find anything to say back to Ruby. Truth be told, she had already made up her mind the other night. She had plenty of time to think about it all. And it was true, if they had all simply gotten to know each other better when they first started off then none of this would be happening.

If all she needed to do was talk, then that was what she would do. Just as long as Blake was willing to do the same.

With that in mind, Weiss smiled at the small little leader of her team. To think she had doubted her once before. Ruby sure knew how to prove her wrong. But Weiss raised a brow as her gaze went over Ruby to someone else.

"Alright, I'm in understanding of my position and the rest, but how does Penny fit in all this?"

Still, Weiss questioned the greatness of her leader? Ruby rested her hands on her hips and shook her head slowly with an amused laugh, "Silly Weiss, Penny's role is-,"

Ruby paused, her bravado withering as her mind registered what Weiss had said. Did she just say-

"Salutations!"

"GAUGGHH! My ribs! Why god, why!?"

A bone cracking hug suddenly took Ruby by surprise as she found herself lifted in the arms of one Penny Polendina. The orange curled hair girl with green eyes and monstrous strength grinned widely as she greeted her friend in a gentle embrace. That was what humans did, right? Greet their friends with hugs when they saw another after a long time? Though it made her wonder if such action was healthy for them. It sounded as if friend Ruby's bones were threatening to shatter with just a little hug. They must not be made of durable material.

Ruby's head lulled to the side, her body dangling in Penny's grip as her life flashed before her eyes. Her only regret in life was that she hadn't taken enough pictures of herself and Crescent Rose when she had the chance.

"I leave you for one second to grab a coffee, and I find you strangling some girl on the street? You know that's harassment and physical assault, right?"

Ears perking up at the sound of the annoyed voice, Penny relented and let her friend free from her hug. Aww, she just wanted to say hi. Was that so wrong?

"Are you all right, Ruby?" Weiss asked as she helped her leader up with the help of Pyrrha. Ruby nodded her head slowly, shaking away the edges of unconsciousness as she got back up and cleaned the dust off her skirt.

"I'm fine, I think." Did she just taste metal? Cracking her back with a wince, she turned back to the apologetic smiling Penny with her own smile.

"Penny! What are you doing here? Last I saw you, you were chasing some tumbleweed around."

The mention of said anomaly caused Penny to search around for it. It was the oddest thing, it just appeared out of nowhere during the strangest times. Almost as if it was being set up just for such occasions. She needed to document it for further study. Her Father would love to hear all about it.

"I still can't believe you lost your teammate because of something so stupid. You're lucky we found you when we did or who knows what could have happened to you."

The new voice who had stopped Penny's embrace caught Ruby's attention as she looked past her new friend to the stranger behind her.

A woman with red hair falling over her shoulders wearing the same suspenders and slacks as the Vale Police Force greeted the four girls. The dark shades on her face hid her eyes as she stood with a cup of piping hot coffee in hand, eying the girls with interest before smirking. A pair of purple headphones rested on her neck, faintly playing rock music before she turned off with a click of a button.

"Seems you've found some friends, Penny. Guess I can report back to the station that you're in good hands. Which is a great for me, I was getting sick of playing babysitter." Why the hell did Church have to hand her the lame jobs? So she was a trainee, that didn't mean they could dump the crappy jobs on her.

Penny nodded happily to the woman, "Thank you again, Officer! Though, Ruby is a new friend I made yesterday. I've yet to find my partner, Ciel yet."

The 'officer' grunted, dropping her head as she sighed, "Damn, and I was hoping to head back to download the newest album by Jeffrey Will at the Vibe Cafe. Knowing how thin the ice between me and the chief is, I don't think he'll be satisfied if I haven't helped you find your partner. Tch, sometimes I wish I was back in the streets." she grumbled to herself.

"I'm terribly sorry for the trouble, Officer. If I hadn't misplaced my scroll, we would have found partner Ciel by now." Penny apologized to the grumbling redhead.

"You lost your partner?" Ruby asked with surprise. Was that why she had been wandering Vale two days ago by herself? Now she felt bad for ditching the strange girl.

Penny nodded, not all upset about it as her smile stayed intact, "I was entranced by what you all call a tumbleweed passing in the wind when I lost sight of her! And with no scroll to contact her, I have had trouble locating her. The hotel we have been residing in has unfortunately given up our rooms after missing the renewal deadline, leaving me very little in thought as to where she may be!"

"For someone who's lost, she's awful energetic, don't you think?" Nora whispered to Pyrrha.

Penny craned her neck past Ruby, finding two fellow redheads beside the Schnee heiress. Her green eyes lit up as her smile grew, "Friends~?"

From behind the odd orange curled girl, Ruby shook her head furiously to warn Pyrrha and Nora as well as the red head officer mirroring the reaper. Nora being Nora didn't listen, "Sure, we can be friends, what's your name!" she grinned widely as her fellow orange head tried to suppress a squeal of joy. No sooner had those words left her mouth did Penny lift her up in a bone crushing hug in excitement.

But again, this was Nora.

"Ohhhh? Trying to out hug me, are ya? Well, we'll see about that! Have at you!"

"This can't possibly be healthy." Weiss muttered, trying to understand what she was watching as the two girls continued to add more pressure behind their hugs. Forget about how Nora was still standing, how was Penny able to withstand Nora's strength? The bubbly hammer girl was a beast.

The officer sighed, "Just give 'em a moment. Penny's bound to tire out some time." Turning her head to the shorter redhead in their group, the officer addressed Ruby, "By the way, you all wouldn't know where this girl's partner is by any chance? I've been tasked with helping her find her teammate today and I haven't had any luck. Seeing as you're all friends, I was hoping one of you might have a clue."

"Sorry, but we all just met Penny yesterday. I didn't even know she had a partner with her." Ruby said back sheepishly, wincing as she heard two separate cracks. It sounded like Nora and Penny were getting a little carried away.

The officer nodded and massaged her head tiredly, "It's all right. I apologize for bothering you all. I'm sure you're all busy as well from the looks of it."

"Pretty much. We're actually looking for two of our missing friends right now." Curiously, Ruby asked, "By the way, have you seen a black-haired girl with yellow eyes, cute black bow, looks like a ninja pass around here?"

The officer quirked a brow with a flat expression, ". . .No, I don't think I've seen such a girl before." Though the description did bring back a sense of deja vu.

Ruby pouted. Darn, she was hoping for some clues.

"What about a messy blond haired boy with blue eyes, scar on his forehead, wearing a Pumpkin Pete's hoodie jacket?" she asked, the description causing the red-haired officer's eyes to widen and freeze.

The woman opened her mouth, grimacing as she decided to refrain from speaking. She shook her head sadly.

"S-Sorry, but I haven't seen him either." she apologized before turning her sights back to her charge, "Look, I can't stay in one place too long. It's not like we're going to luck out and stumble upon this girl's partner like this." That and the longer they stayed, the longer she ran at the chance the other weird orange haired girl would break Penny. The hell was up with their strength anyway? From the looks of it, the spartan themed girl was having a hard time pulling her teammate off the other girl.

Ruby nodded in understanding. They weren't going to get much searching done if they continued to stay here. She was sure that Yang and the others were making more progress than them by now.

"It's alright. We got to get going too. But if you see anyone by the description, their names are Blake and Jaune. Let them know that their friends are looking for them."

The officer nodded and gave Ruby a small smile, "Don't worry, little Red. I'll be sure to let them know if I see them." she said kindly, ruffling the younger girl's hair before craning her neck back to Penny, "Penny! Let's get a move on. We ain't going to find your partner anytime soon just standing here."

Hearing that, Penny dropped her embrace and smiled widely as she turned back to the officer, "Yes, ma'am!"

Nora thanked Pyrrha for catching her as she was released, "I don't think I can feel my legs." she grumbled with a pout. To think, she would find her rival in Vale. Well, she would show that chick who was the stronger hugger when next they met!

Waving good-bye to her new friends, Penny fell in line with the nice officer as they continued their search. Besides losing Ciel, Penny was very happy that she had arrived in Vale. Everyone was so nice and she even made even more friends! She was going to have to thank Mr. Ironwood for allowing her to visit the kingdom so early. She could only tell that this was the start of an amazing adventure. Just like in those books her father would read to her. Oh! Maybe she'd even meet a knight, just like in her stories!

"Where shall we search next, Officer?" Penny asked her fellow redhead happily. She grew curious, finding the older woman in deep thought as she stared off ahead.

Ann sighed, a headache growing in her forehead. It seemed that the idiot was always causing problems.

'What the hell are you doing now, Blondie?'

---

Valeside Corner.

"Bread sticks!"

"Are you fucking out of your mind!? Cheddar Biscuits are the way to go!"

"Who the hell mixes cheese inside a biscuit?! Nothing beats the simple stuff! Bread sticks goes with everything and anything, plus it you can customize it!"

"Bread sticks are the dime a dozen whores you find outside the street in the food world. Cheddar biscuits are exotic, they're nice and classy compared to boring old, limp dick, breadshits!"

"No, no, NO! That shit just falls apart in your hand, you can breathe on it and it'll turn to vomit goo! Bread sticks are nice and simple, you can customize it with whatever you want! And they're a staple with pasta! Who want's cheddar biscuits with their spaghetti and meatballs? NO FUCKING ONE!"

"No one goes out to a restaurant for the bread sticks! I don't even like this restaurant, I'm pretty sure the're racist, but they serve cheddar biscuits, so I'll stay! And if I have to stay, then you have to stay! YOU WILL NEVER GO TO A RESTAURANT JUST FOR THE BREAD STICKS! NOW, SHUT UP AND SHOVE THOSE CHEDDAR BISCUITS DOWN YOUR HOLE, YOU FAT FUCK!"

Blake and Ciel hid their faces behind their hands as Sun jumped up on the seat of their shared booth across from them and furiously began to stuff Jaune's face with cheesy biscuits despite the angry protests and flailing hands. The other patrons within the nice outside patio restaurant stared at the four with judgmental stares, and shockingly in some cases, support for their favorite appetizer. The whole scene was embarrassing to the two huntresses.

After last night's talks in where Jaune introduced Blake to Ciel and convinced her to share a room for the night, the four hunters had decided to all meet up for breakfast the next morning. Sun was happy to be invited, appearing sheepish as Blake apologized to him for her behavior the other day. She even promised to tell him about herself if he was willing to listen seeing as he only wanted to help. The monkey faunus was ecstatic about that. It seemed he was right to listen to Jaune's advice. Blake wasn't as bad as he had first thought. And he even got to meet another cute girl too, Ciel. It was just too bad that the other girl had demanded that he button up his shirt. Spoil sport.

With everything in order, they had gone out to a nice restaurant that served food outside a nice scenic patio. It was called Valeside Corner, or something like that. Sun didn't care, all he cared about was the fact they served his favorite appetizer, Cheddar Biscuits. But then Jaune had to go and ask for bread sticks instead. The damn heathen. At that point, they had fallen into a nice little, pleasant debate about their favorite little side snack that quickly evolved into a heated shouting match. At least Sun had some of the people eating in on his side. Unlike those bastards backing Jaune up.

"Personally, I'm fine with either." Blake sighed, shaking her head in disappointment at the two blonds. It was like they were children fighting over their favorite super hero. She did wince watching Jaune find the bread sticks they had delivered to the table and begin viciously shoving them down Sun's throat, after dipping them in all the spreads he had ordered.

Ciel had enough of the childish antics abound. Her brow twitched madly as she shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Her annoyance was only further tipped as the two idiots wrestled out of the booth and rolled around the floor, never letting up as they shoved whatever food their supporters handed them to each others mouths.

"Sit your asses down, NOW."

The silent, cold, commanding voice immediately stopped Jaune and Sun's squabbling as they paused mid chew of the food inside their mouths. They shivered, finding Ciel's frozen tundra colored orbs glaring at them with such ferocity they nearly whimpered in fright. How such a small girl was capable of such an expression, they didn't know. But they were smart enough to comply as they nodded furiously and sat back down with their hands on their laps and looked down like children being scolded. Blake was impressed.

Nodding her head, Ciel turned back to the waiter who had been standing by patiently for their orders. The man, despite his cool and uncaring expression, was sweating lightly as he found the authoritative girl's eyes on him. He couldn't help but gulp.

"Thank you for patiently waiting. We'll all have the Morning Special, short stacks, one topped with bananas, blueberries, strawberries, and the last one with. . .fish." Ciel said the last part slowly, peeking back to a sheepish Blake who couldn't face her back. Ignoring the odd topping, she continued, "We'll also take a pitcher of milk and orange juice as well, if you don't mind."

The waiter nodded hastily, writing down the order before bowing and running off to hand the order in.

"Is it me, or did the guy look like he was about to piss his pants?" Sun mumbled, going back to eating his basket of cheesy fluffy biscuits. Jaune shrugged, dipping his bread sticks into tomato sauce. The two glared at one another, ready to throw down again before a subtle glare from Ciel stopped them. Reaching for some tea brought beforehand, Sun turned his attention back to Blake. "Sooooo, are you finally going to talk? For the last two days, all you've done is give me these funny looks which aren't as flattering as you would think."

Blake glared at him with annoyance.

"See? That's what I'm talking about."

"I'm not sure I should be talking about that right now." Blake said with uncertainty, subtly gesturing to the newest member in their group. It wasn't wise for others to know about her secret, especially someone who had contact with a general/headmaster of a country.

"If this is about your identity as an ex-White Fang member, I am already well informed." Ciel said plainly, never taking her eyes away from the hologram screen displayed by her watch. She didn't give the alarmed and panicked look in the secret cat faunus girl's eyes much thought, "I've worked alongside General Headmaster Ironwood in handling information gathered in the aftermath of the fall of the Friends of Faunus as an assignment. Among the reports, I found your file attached to the event along with your past records. You didn't honestly believe that an ex-White Fang member would have been able to smoothly slip past the Headmaster's watch, did you?" she asked skeptically.

Blake appeared sheepish. It did sound hard to believe that she had entered Beacon with no trouble considering her past. She just never thought much about it when Ozpin allowed her to enter his school.

"That still seems rather convenient, don't you think?" Sun mumbled over a mouthful of biscuits before suddenly choking as he fully processed what Ciel had said, "Wait, ex-White Fang!? You were part of those lousy bastards making us look bad!?" he gaped.

'That's The Game for you.' Jaune thought dully. It was the Deus Ex Machina of the world. Things that didn't make sense or seemed convenient could automatically be chalked up to The Game.

Sighing in defeat, Blake told her life story, at least the parts that mattered at the moment. It was just too bad that she wasn't revealing all this to her team first. Something she would have to fix at some later point.

"It seems you already know of the White Fang from your reaction. But we weren't always as bad as you believe." she glared subtly at Sun, "The White Fang started off as an organization that fought for faunus rights in all the kingdoms of Remnant. We were a peaceful organization at first, wishing to get along with humans and cooperate with them on an equal ground. But nothing was working, we weren't gaining much ground on that end. Not until our old leader stepped down and a more forward leader stepped up with radical movements."

"Radical? Their actions were anything but radical. I would say cruel better suited them." Ciel scoffed lightly.

"Didn't they set fire to shops who didn't serve faunus or something?" Sun asked curiously. The White Fang's name was widely known, but he didn't have much of an idea to them other than word of mouth.

"It was more than that. The White Fang is responsible for several acts of terror including bombing an entire city square with both faunus and humans present. Murder is not something they shy away from."

"Really? Man, I always thought they were a bunch of thugs. I never knew that they would go as far as killing people." Sun frowned. And Blake had been a part of them once? Did that make her a murderer?

"Unfortunately, yes." With some struggle Blake answered, feeling more ashamed of what she had once been part of. Seeing the look on Sun's face, she elaborated on her part, "I was just a child when all those events began, so I never had a hand in those dealings. I was kept unaware of the White Fang's true intents until they announced their plans of genocide. By then I discovered what we were doing and left after gathering my courage. I didn't want to be part of any of that, no true peace could come of it." she said sadly with regret, "I became a huntress to make better use of my skills, and maybe, make a small difference in my own way.

"At least you grew a brain and left. Not a lot of people can do the same." Sun said softly, "From what I've heard, the White Fang doesn't take kindly to faunus leaving their cause."

"If you leave the White Fang, you're marked as a traitor and hunted down. That's why I'm always careful when I'm in Vale. The FoF incident only confirmed my theory that there are members hidden in the city."

"Which would explain the rise in Dust robberies." Ciel said, thanking the waiter for dropping off their meal to them, "It's to the point that the sale of Dust has escalated to 15% in the city of Vale. It's become difficult for others who specialize in fighting with it to even restock their supply."

"That doesn't make any sense to me though." Blake frowned deeply, "I know for a fact that the White Fang has no need for that much Dust. For the last two years, they've found a contact that has been supplying them with the necessary ammunition and Lien to never need to rob anyone other then sending a clear message. If this was an act of the White Fang, then those Dust shops would have been in flames. Something like that would spread a better message then simple robbery."

The White Fang was above petty thievery on such a small scale. All their actions had a reason and a message to the world about their cause. Whenever they did need a large stock of Dust, they would turn to shipments from SDC and rob them of everything they had and leave behind a trail of destruction and carnage. And while she wasn't their biggest supporters anymore, it just felt wrong to hear people automatically accuse them, as if everything wrong in the world was their fault.

"Is that why you're out here by yourself? Are you investigating the robberies to see if they're the ones behind all that junk?" Sun asked.

"Not. . .really." Blake said weakly as she took a moment to bite down on her fishy fluffy cakes. "I got into a fight with a teammate of mine about the faunus. And in the shouting, I accidentally let slip my past involvement with the White Fang and ran away. I was too scared of their reactions to stay with them any longer. Which is how I met you and Jaune." Remembering the second the blond in their little group, Blake turned her eyes to the silent knight passively eating his meal. "Which reminds me, why are you here, Jaune? Did you get into a fight with your team too?" she couldn't but ask curiously.

All eyes seated in the table fell onto Jaune, pausing his hand from shoving another slice of pancakes into his mouth. He sighed, setting down his meal as he scratched his head in thought. Now it was his turn to talk it seemed. He had to think of an excuse for running away from his team that wasn't connected to his father's condition. But what reason did he know to lie to them about that? Now that he thought about it, his bullet scar was actually a blessing in disguise. From what he had learned as of late, not all of his memories matched this world's Jaune perfectly. There were bound to be inconsistencies in his memories and this would perfectly explain why he didn't remember them. Just as long as he didn't mention anything involving The Game, he was sure he could make something up.

Gingerly, he parted his hair to fully reveal the faded bullet scar that would have killed him on the spot if it weren't for his body resembling a video game character, "I didn't get into any kind of fight with my team. I was actually out visiting the CCT to talk with my mom face to face after months of not seeing her. She said she had something she wanted to talk with me about, and it turns out it had to do with my involvement with the FoF." he said tiredly, recalling the worried and angry expression on his mother's face, "My home doesn't have much access to the outside world, we don't rely on technology too much and only use Dust for practical uses, so news takes some time to reach us. And around the time that my family found out about what was happening in Vale, Headmaster Ozpin had called my mom to talk about my medical records. If you know my mom, then you know you can't keep a secret from her for very long. So, it was no wonder she had found out about my involvement with the Vale City Police and the FoF." he couldn't help but chuckle with some mirth. It didn't matter if you were the strongest nor the most influence person on Remnant, his mother would talk down to you until you listened.

"Medical records? Wait, is this about your scar?" Blake said with some worry, her eyes falling to his chest were the ugliest scarred tissue resided.

Jaune shook his head, tapping his forehead instead with a bitter smile, "Nope. I would have been more relieved if that was the case. No, it turns out that the Headmaster was concerned about the headshot I survived, courtesy of the Friends of Faunus leader."

"Duuuuuuuuude." Sun breathed in awe, his eyes drawn to said scar, "You took a bullet to the head and lived? That's metal."

Ciel found that hard to believe as she leaned over the counter and inspected his forehead with scrutiny, much to Jaune's embarrassment, "That can't be possible. For you to have suffered such an attack and gain a visible scar and live, the bullet would have had to broke the skin with explosive force and. . .well, I can't think of anything that could explain the science of what would have stopped the bullet at that point from shattering the bones in your forehead and exit the back of your head." she said with a sense of frustrated disbelief. A story like that couldn't be true. There was no logic to it.

"How did you survive?"

"I dodged, really, really, really, fast." Jaune said plainly as if it was as simple as that. His answer only brought more skepticism on Ciel's part. It was even more difficult to accept when she found no notation of lies in his eyes or words. He was speaking the honest true and it was giving her a headache.

"So, if I was shot in the head, all I have to do is dodge incredibly fast like you?" Sun asked Jaune, getting a dry look back from the knight.

"I don't recommend you doing that. I'm pretty sure that luck was on my side that day."

"That's beside the point. Why would the Headmaster want to see your medical records and why does it have to do with your bullet scar?" Blake asked with worry, feeling an uneasy sensation at where this was all leading to.

Jaune rubbed the old wound as he looked away from Blake's yellow eyes, knowing that she wasn't going to like the answer. These past months had revealed to him that despite her attitude, Blake was the worrying type.

"The thing is, I might have, sorta, kinda lost some of my memories?" he smiled weakly as he chuckled nervously.

"WHAT!?"

"Shh! Keep it down, Blake!" Jaune whispered, pressing a finger against the girl's lip as she glared at him. He gulped under her gaze and sat back down as she got a hold of herself, "The Headmaster believes that I suffered some brain damage because of the wound. Apparently, the trauma had caused me to lose portions of my memories from before I arrived at Beacon. The damage couldn't be seen at the time when the doctors were checking up on me due to my aura healing all the damage it could. That's the only explanation I could think of anyway." he said with a sigh.

"But the doctors said you were fine! The only lasting damage would be a few scars and a broken arm. How could they miss something so serious like that?" Blake growled. That was just incompetent of them.

"It's not their fault. They did the best they could and it's because of them that I'm even alive after the thrashing Holt gave out. I didn't even notice the affects till two days ago." Jaune looked down at the memory of his trip to the CCT, "Talking with my mom had revealed a lot that I can't remember. Things that nearly broke my resolve to stay in Beacon any longer. If I didn't meet Ciel at the time, I was sure that I would have given into my depression." he smiled, his blue eyes falling to meet the calm face of his surprise savior.

"I did nothing special. Whatever conclusion you came to was of your power." Ciel replied calmly as she poured blueberry syrup over her stack of pancakes.

Turning back to her friend, Blake was still worried about his mental state. Memory loss was a serious problem. It could grow worse as time passed. And he wasn't panicking or worried about it? She found that hard to believe.

"What memories did you forget?" she asked curiously. Jaune flinched back at the question, finding it hard to look back at her as his father's condition came up. He shook his head stubbornly with a frown. Now wasn't the time to be sinking back into that hole. Besides, right now wasn't about him. This was an Event to repair Blake and Weiss's friendship. He could deal with own problems once this was over with. He just had to grit his teeth and bear with it until it was safe to reveal to them his father's state.

"I rather not say. Not right now anyways. What I'm here to do is bring you back to Beacon." he said stubbornly, reaching across the table for Blake's hand. The action took her by surprise, "You have to talk with your team about the whole White Fang thing. That, and I think it's time you told them you were a faunus. You can't keep hiding behind that bow forever. Not with your friends at least."

Blake knew that. Carefully, she played with the bow on top her head that hid her heritage from the world simply enough no one ever noticed. But it was still hard to believe that they would welcome her back so easily. Even after her heart to heart with Cardin, she was still unsure. But maybe it was time she faced her fears. She couldn't run away forever. If she wanted to actually make a difference in this world, she had to come to terms with who she was and trust in others.

First though, there was something that had been bugging her for some time now. The robberies in Vale had been blamed on the White Fang or faunus that supported their cause. It wasn't right to blame them for the sake of placing blame, no matter how horrible they were. To do so was to shine a bad light on her people. And what need would they even have for that much Dust? It didn't make any sense to her and she couldn't let it go.

Making up her own mind, Blake voiced her decision to Jaune, "I won't run from them anymore. But. . .there's something I have to confirm with my own eyes. I can't go back to them until I've found the true culprit behind the Dust robberies. It can't be the White Fang, or some 'no-good' faunus as Weiss had said. It just can't." she said resolutely with a firm nod.

"How are you going to do that? It's not like you can conveniently find the one's behind all those robberies in one night." Jaune said with some doubt. He tried to recall his conversation with Ruby of the event from his first life for an idea where they would need to head to. And he had to make it seem as if he conveniently figured out the location without it seeming as if he already knew. He was going to need another lie to cover that up.

Fortunately, there was no need for him to make up a lie. Thanks to one Sun Wukong. The monkey faunus ears perked up at the mention of Dust robberies as he paused midchew of stuffing his face to turn to Blake. But whatever he had to say was hard to understand as with his full mouth he spat some crumbs of his breakfast onto the table. Ciel looked at him with some disgust while Jaune shook his head with mirth as Blake glared at her fellow faunus at his lack of table manners.

"Sun, chew and swallow."

Nodding, Sun gulped down his meal with a pleased grin before going back to the matter, "Actually, I think I might know of a way to find the one behind all those robberies you were speaking about. While I was stowing away in that ship to Vale, I heard a couple of the guys up top talk about a large shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas today. If you really think the White Fang aren't behind all those crimes, then why don't we go check it out?" he suggested with a wide excited grin. Just thinking about it was pumping him up, "We could find out who's behind all the robberies and even stop them ourselves! What better way to spend the night then fighting some baddies?"

"You can't be serious." Ciel said in disbelief as she noticed Jaune and Blake consider the spiky blond's idea, "Do you forget that you're all just students? We are trained to fight monsters, not stop criminals. Matters such as this should be left to the police. Not children." she sighed, rubbing her forehead as they all looked at another in understanding, "You're not even listening to me, are you?"

"Sorry, Ciel. But it doesn't look like this is something we can just turn away from." Jaune apologized, "If it is the White Fang, then I can't let them do as they please. Whatever they may be up to, I will stop them myself." he said bitterly as he felt his scar flare up. He already knew that it was them behind the robberies. And foiling their plans messed up Adam's schemes in some way. He did feel sorry for dragging Ciel along. All she wanted to do was find her partner. Now she was in the middle of them discussing plans to stake out a burglary. She was just a normal Atlas student, she didn't deserve to be caught up in their mess.

"You don't have to come along with us. I know you must be worried about your partner. We can split from here so you can continue your search."

Ciel didn't respond, choosing instead to close her eyes and sip her tea peacefully.

What a situation she found herself. All because she chose to accept the hand of a stranger. The Headmaster General always said that the best laid plans never lasted, even simple ones such as walking the streets of a foreign country. Her thoughts turned to the odd robberies centered in Vale. So much Dust had been stolen to the point the price of it had risen. And it wasn't just Vale that was suffering such an incident. Several towns and cities had their supplies of Dust stolen to the point they would have to raise the price they were selling their supply at. It was odd, something even the General was starting to look into out of suspicion.

Discovering the culprits to the crime would be a good way for the General to see her in a good light, especially after losing Penny. General Ironwood favored Penny for some reason, so he wasn't going to be happy that she had lost sight of her. And she trusted her partner enough to keep out of trouble. Penny may act like a child at times, but she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Not to mention she had also talked of making some new friends in Vale, if she was lost then Penny could simply go to her new friends for help.

Ciel's dark blue eyes glanced back at the blond huntsman in training. For some odd reason, she was drawn to him and his problems. Like some force was pushing her into following along. And she was finding it difficult to argue with the idea even though common sense told her to leave them be and focus on her original task.

She sighed and set down her drink. Well, it looked like she was going to be taking part in some childish stake out to find criminals today.

"I suppose I could lend my services to you as thanks for helping me." she said simply, crossing her arms as she began planning how they were going to go about their venture, "I also can't believe that you'll be able to pull this off without giving yourselves away." her eyes pointed out to Sun. The blond monkey faunus pouted, his tail tipping his milk into his mouth like a waterfall from over his head.

"Are you sure? I don't see much reason for you to help out." Blake said carefully. She didn't want to involve someone who wasn't comfortable in what they were doing. Hell, she didn't like dragging Jaune into her problems and she had just met Sun and Ciel.

"It's alright. I'm actually trained in these types of scenarios. Training in Atlas is unlike that of Vale. We're taught in much more than fighting Grimm, we're taught as soldiers. I believe that I can contribute enough to help your operation run smoothly." she said with some confidence in her voice.

Sun grinned, pumping his fist in the air. Sweet, now they had a four-man team! Now all they needed was a name.

"Then how about we all finish our breakfast and get ready! From what I heard on the ship, the shipments supposed to arrive sometime this night. So, we got enough time to prepare ourselves for some action!" he said energetically.

"Shouldn't we be hoping not to have any confrontation with an enemy?" Ciel asked dryly. She didn't have her weapon on her at the moment. It had to go under some repairs, so the only thing she had on her was her watch and it wasn't suited for any type of heavy combat.

"Hopefully it won't come to that." Blake said with a small smile.

Leaning back into his seat, Jaune began to switch his abilities and skills around via scroll. He knew for a fact they were going to meet some opposition. The Game and The Will loved a good fight. And there was another reason he was carefully preparing his abilities as well.

The Fourth Player, or as Ren had said, The Original Player to have endured the curse before any of them. Ren had warned him that he would most likely encounter them during this Event. Why, he didn't say, choosing to let Jaune figure out himself. And knowing his luck with the other Players in The Game, Jaune had to watch himself unless he wanted another Player wishing him death.

It looked like he was going to have to visit Husk before they began their little mission. He was going to need to stock up on items.

---

Vale's Dockside.

Night had quickly arrived sooner than Jaune would have liked. After the four of them had gathered what they felt would be necessary for their stake out they had followed after Sun to the location of the SDC shipment dropping into Vale. The docking bay was where they found themselves hiding out, the smell of the bay water hit Jaune's senses as they waited atop one of the building's rooftops close by. They had a good view of the entire docking bay but they had yet to find any sign of the White Fang to steal the massive crates dropped off. And if he was honest with himself, he was starting to grow bored.

Propping his head to rest on his arm, Jaune idly brought up the map of the docks. It was times like this he wished he had Ren's Scan: Grandscale. The ability only lasted a minute, but it gave a complete scan of the area along with the location of any enemies. Sighing, he turned his eyes to Ciel and Blake resting on their stomachs beside him, looking out for any signs of activity with patience and diligence. Maybe he should have gone with Sun for snacks when he had offered.

Speaking of the monkey faunus, Jaune felt a presence dropped by them. Sun munched on a green apple with little care, staring at the large crates with barely concealed boredom as he settled himself by Blake's side.

"Still nothing, huh?" Sun said through a mouthful of apple, offering one to Jaune with the help of his tail. Smiling in thanks, Jaune accepted the fruit and bit down on as Blake glared at the blond faunus.

"I thought you didn't have any money on you? Where did you get those apples?" she said with suspicion.

"Okay, so a fruit vendor might be missing a few apples right now. But! In my defense, who sells fruit late at night? That's just begging someone to rob them blind."

Blake didn't know what more she could say to Sun. Did he not understand that his actions made their kind look bad? Come to think of it, it was because of him that she had gotten into a fight with Weiss defending him. It must have been nice to be as oblivious as him. She looked to Jaune and Ciel to hear what they thought about his actions, but found herself smacking her head onto the floor of the roof as she found them both nonchalantly eating the stolen goods. Jaune, she could maybe understand, but she would have thought someone who acted so cordial and professional like Ciel would have something to say.

"Odd question, but you wouldn't have by chance stolen some Everybody Love Grape Soda while you were out?" Jaune asked Sun, only causing Blake to groan in disappointment.

"Nope, all they had was Everybody Loves Orange Soda."

Jaune stuck his tongue out in disgust, "Who the hell loves orange soda?"

Ciel raised her open hand in the air, queuing Sun to throw her one of said sodas. She didn't give Jaune's look of betrayal any mind as she popped the can open and took a sip.

'Am I the only one taking this seriously?' Blake felt a headache coming on, but found herself accepting one of Sun's apples in the end. She huffed, taking a grudging bite. Well it wasn't like they were going to get much done worrying over nothing. She was too tense. She just needed to calm down and relax.

But sadly, the moment she eased her shoulders and shut her eyes for a moment of peace, the loud roaring jets of an airship entered her ears. She winced along with the rest as they felt a strong wind hit them from their hiding spot. The large metal body of an airship slowly came into view from above their location, setting sights on the middle of the docking bay where the crates of Atlas Dust rested unguarded. Her heart sped up at the sight as she watched the aircraft touch ground and lower a ramp. It wasn't long until someone stepped down the ramp and her thoughts were confirmed.

The familiar bone like masks of the White Fang was a dead giveaway.

Seeing members of the White Fang steadily walk out of the large ship, Sun was actually bummed out that the rumors were true. It would have been nice to discover the culprits as ordinary humans. In his opinion, all the White Fang was good for was dragging the faunus name in the dirt. But Blake still had hopes for them despite what they had done. He didn't understand why with all that he had recently learned, but he guessed she still had some fondness for them. She did say she was born into it.

"You really thought it wasn't them, didn't you?" he asked softly. To his surprise, Blake shook her head with a bitter smile.

"No, some part of me kinda knew it was them. I just didn't want to believe what the others were saying. I guess I was just trying to fool myself and hope it was all some humans doing."

Jaune patted Blake's shoulder in support. She may have left the fang, but she still saw them as family. To hear them bad mouthed without any evidence must have hurt her. The White Fang was still a part of her even if she left them behind.

"What do you want to do now?" Ciel asked as they watched the masked grunts connect cables to the Dust containers. They could simply settle for taking pictures of the scene and hand it the authorities and be done with the matter. Better than confronting a group of terrorists.

Blake clenched her fists. She wanted to stop them. Make them see that there was a better way than this. But she found herself frozen on the spot.

"What's the hold up? Don't you boys know that we ain't exactly incognito right now? You think no one's noticed a big old ship over the dock by now? I know you're all animals, but I didn't think you'd be as dumb as one."

The ears hidden by Blake's bow perked up at the sound of a new voice echoing in the air. Her eyes then spotted a well combed orange haired man wearing a stylish white suit and bowler hat casually stroll down the ramp. The man's green eyes twinkled with amusement watching the grunts nod their heads with nothing to say back. His name suddenly came to mind having been displayed many times by the major news outlets.

"Roman Torchwick?" Blake whispered in confusion, growing angry at the idea that someone like him was working alongside the White Fang. That didn't make any sense. The White Fang didn't work with humans, period. Adam would never agree to something like this.

Ciel found it odd as well. Records showed that Roman Torchwick was a master thief with a record that stretched several pages ranging from petty theft to cold blooded murder. But none of their records showed that he was the type for something this big. What would someone like him have to gain from working with the White Fang?

Standing up, Blake reached for Gambol Shroud and readied herself to jump down. She needed answers and doing nothing would get her nowhere.

Jaune moved his hand to stop Blake but found her slipping past him and stealthily jumping below. He cursed, giving a signal to Sun and Ciel to follow after. Why did she have to be so gung-ho? Wasn't she a ninja? Doesn't charging in go against their code or something?

With her skills, Blake was able to carefully hide in the shadows and sneak close to Roman as he busied himself talking down to one of the grunts. From behind one of the large crates, she grit her teeth as he demeaned the tusked faunus. He was the type of person she despised, using them as work animals for their own gain. Why would they aid him of all people? It didn't look like any of them enjoyed it.

"Do you not understand? Hook it up to the crate once the rest have secured the hooks onto the top surfaces. This is not a leash." Roman pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration as the faunus tried to untangle the large steel cable on hand, "I swear only one of you animals doesn't get on my nerves. Do you idiots need a translator or something? I should just get Perry to handle this." he sighed in annoyance. Amateurs the lot of them.

Falling beside Blake, Jaune stopped her from making another move with his hand on her shoulder. Her angry yellow eyes glared back at him, commanding him to let her go. He shook his head. "We shouldn't go charging in like this! Think clearly for a second; do you think this is a good idea? Running into the wide open with enemies armed and ready to kill?"

Blake shut her eyes to calm herself. He was right, she couldn't let her emotions get the best of her.

"Pick up the slack! We're burning night light here! Either you hurry up, or I'm going to have to show you animals my bad side. And trust me, you don't want me to do that. I'll neuter the lot of you."

That smug, proud, arrogant voice! Blake couldn't stand a man like that. It was like a trigger. Brushing off Jaune's hand, she utilized her Shadow to fling herself to stand behind the loud speaking thief. He didn't even seem to notice her, allowing her to easily draw Gambol Shroud's blade to his throat.

The cold, deadly steel of blade against Roman's throat wasn't anything new. Calmly he nodded and glanced back to the furious yellow eyes of a raven-haired girl. He motioned his hand to the surrounding White Fang members to not move as they raised their guns.

"Well hello there! I don't believe we've met, Ms. Sword-to-my-Throat. By the way, do you think you can lower that thing? I'm afraid you might nick my scarf and its fine silk for your information." Roman said cheekily. The blade pressed harder against his throat, his aura being the only thing stopping it from drawing blood.

Despite Roman's urging, the grunts locked their sights on Blake. Seeing that, Blake reached for her bow and undid its bindings, showing off the cat ears adorned on her head.

"Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum!?" she shouted, disappointed that they would forsake their pride to work with a human that treated them like dirt.

"Hey! I'll have you know that scum does not dress as finely as I do! You feel that fabric? It's cashmere."

"Shut up!" Blake growled, growing closer to slitting Roman's throat.

Roman pouted, "Now, that's not very nice. Don't you have any manners? And I'll have you know that your brothers and I got a little thing going on here." he smirked, gesturing his head to the grunts. They nodded, raising their guns to aim their sights on him.

"What are you talking about? Why would they help someone like you?" she hissed.

So feisty! Roman chuckled in amusement as he raised his hands up.

Blake never changed.

The roar of jet engines took Blake by surprise as she turned her eyes up. From above several airships just like the one on the ground appeared out of nowhere. Their bright searchlights scanned the area before falling onto her. The lights were blinding, hitting her eyes and making her lose sight for a moment. And that was all Roman needed.

"Fire, boys!"

Roman's body vanished from Blake's hold, leaving her wide open to the gunfire aimed at her. Thinking fast, she let her Shadow take the shots and ran for cover. Their guns followed after her, their bullets whizzing past her as she dodged. Having enough, she made a bee-line for the grunts and jumped high above them. Gambol Shroud's blade switched to its kusaragi form and she swung it around herself by its elastic ribbon. The motion of her attack spun it around her to create a barrier of swinging steel that struck the White Fang members. It was more than enough to knock the few of them down.

Landing on her feet, Blake turned her eyes in search of Roman. She let her guard down at the worst possible second. Where could he have disappeared to?

"Cat got your tongue?"

An amused chuckle tickled Blake's neck. She stopped dead as she felt someone just appear behind her. She growled, swinging the bladed sheath from Gambol Shroud for Roman's chest only to hit thin air. Again, she felt him drop behind her. She moved to attack him but found the bottom of his cane jabbing into her stomach. She coughed, her breath robbed in a single strike as he leaned his head down to stare into her eyes mischievously.

"Naughty kitty. But, I suppose you still deserve a treat. Here, it's got quite a kick to it!" he grinned as his finger gripped the trigger to his cane. He laughed, firing the cannon like flare in his cane into Blake's stomach. It was like a firework had gone off, the force of it carrying her off her feet and flying towards one of the nearby crates. Raising his cane again, he fired off a couple more shots to finish her off before she hit the crates.

Sun didn't waste a second jumping in from the shadows. Running behind her flying form, he grunted as he caught her in his arms. He cursed loudly, seeing the twinkling flares come too close to dodge.

"Reflect!"

Appearing in a blur, Jaune got in the way of the fire with Ciel held close beside him. A mirror like dome of pixels surrounded them, protecting them from the deadly shots. The flares were enveloped by the magic making up the spell, encasing them in a shell and firing them back to their owner.

Roman watched the flares bounce back at him. He frowned deeply, simply craning his head to the side before his shots could hit him. Several large explosions created by his flares hitting the combustible Dust shipment behind him detonated, bellowing a tower of pluming smoke into the air. He gave the fires of elements little thought as he turned his curious eyes to four hunters appearing out of the dark of night.

Were his ears playing tricks with him?

Jaune sighed in relief, thanking Gale Speed for the save. That was too close for comfort. Turning his crosshair sights onto Blake, he was happy to see her HP was still in the green. But it was edging close to half.

Blake Belladonna, The Shadowed Beauty.

7,500HP/13,000HP.

"Are you alright, Blake? Can you stand?" he asked worriedly.

Blake grimaced, smiling in thanks to Sun for catching her as she turned back to Jaune, "I'm fine. He just caught me by surprise is all." she grunted, gingerly pressing her hand against her stomach. A red burn marked the skin along with blood trickling down her white shorts.

"You should have known better than to run in like that." Ciel scolded as she walked over to her. From her pouch, she handed the cat faunus an odd smooth round rock. It almost looked like a candy.

"Take it. It's an Aura Booster created by an associate of General Ironwood. Despite its appearance of a sweet, it helps one's aura to recover faster and heal wounds. But you will feel some fatigue in an hour or two."

"Thank you." Blake said weakly with a smile before popping the booster into her mouth. It tasted like lemon-lime, almost like it was a candy. No sooner did she eat it did her wound begin to mend itself.

Now that Blake was healed up, Jaune turned his eyes back to the enemy in front of them. He frowned, finding it odd that Roman wasn't doing anything other than staring at them curiously. It would have been a perfect time to strike, so, why didn't he?

'Doesn't matter. I can't let him hurt Blake like that again. He nearly took out half of her health with one shot! What kind of Boss are we facing here?'

Above in the opening doors of the bullheads, several of the White Fang prepared themselves to lend a hand. But they were stopped by Roman as he raised his hand in wait.

His eyes never left the hunters in training, narrowing as he tapped his cane.

"I know we're fighting and all that jazz, but if I may, a question if I might?" he asked curiously.

Sun glared, "What would you wanna know? If you're trying to stall, forget about it!" he shouted before dashing off the spot towards Roman. The well-dressed criminal didn't make any move to dodge Sun's attack. Reaching behind his waist, Sun brought out Ruyi and Jinju Bang and brought them together to form his staff. His swung for Roman's head but found the criminal's cane blocking his swing. The cane's hook snatched his staff and slammed it down to the side. With his free hand, Roman backhanded the faunus monkey, kicked him back and then fired the handled hook of his weapon to snag his open vest. Spinning on his foot, Roman then swung Sun around before releasing him and sending him slamming against a crate.

"Sun!" Blake yelled in alarm before setting her sights back to the grinning orange haired man.

"Hey now, I just wanted to ask you a question is all. That's what an animal gets for snapping at someone like that." Roman chuckled before his eyes strayed past Blake to Jaune and Ciel. He tapped his chin in thought.

Jaune unsheathed Crocea Mors and raised its shield, "What do you want to know?" he asked as the man grinned widely.

"Nothing too personal. I just want to know who was responsible for that little fancy trick that sent my own flares back at me is all." he said with a chuckle.

Anxiety filled Jaune's being. That was an odd question. And that look in Roman's eyes sent shivers down his spine. Something about him wasn't right. Gulping, Jaune formed a crosseye to scan Roman.

What he saw shook his core.

Roman Torchwick, Soul of The Gamer.

69,600HP/69,600HP.

Roman grew even more curious as he noticed Jaune begin to shake visibly and his eyes grow wide in shock. Oh? That was an interesting expression. A grin grew back on his face before he vanished from their sights. Their heads swiveled, looking for any signs of the incredibly fast thief. They didn't need to wait too long as he appeared in the middle of them as if he was always there. Melodic Cudgel was quick to block the slash aimed at his side courtesy of Blake before his free hand found itself aimed at her face. A warm orange glow lit up his face as his palm burned brightly, "Firebolt." his lips curled as the girl tried to step back and dodge. He tsked, firing the grappling hook of his weapon to catch the girl mid-step as he did with Sun before reeling her in. A bolt comparable to lightning flames blew Blake back, sending her carried off by the magical spell and smacking into Sun just as he recovered. He chuckled, turning his eyes back to the other two hunters in time to see an all too familiar ancestral blade swing for his face. Roman went to bat the attack but found a high kick from below his cane swing knocking it upwards. He sighed, turning his eyes down to find Ciel responsible before Jaune's sword met contact with him.

"Barrier."

From thin air, a see through emerald green bubble surrounded Roman at least a yard in diameter. Its appearance said nothing about its durability as Jaune's sword clanged in resistance.

"Hmm? Is that surprise in your eyes, boy?" Roman asked with mirth. He could see the blond knight's teeth grit visibly and his eyes narrow. But he could see it, the shock he tried to hide. Snapping his finger, he dropped his spell and spared little attention to the dark-skinned girl running into his guard and jumping up high for a lashing kick to his head. He caught her ankle easily and tossed her aside with little effort. Again, Jaune swung his sword but found Roman grabbing onto the blade instead of blocking or dodging it. The stylish thief leaned over carefully, whispering.

"Tell me, can you hear the words of The Game clearly, Jaune?"

That confirmed the status Jaune was reading from Roman. It was something Jaune hadn't thought about much until Ren had begun explaining the workings of The Game to him, but it's said that those who don't possess the title of Gamer were deaf to the words needed to activate their abilities and skills. To them their incantations sounded like shouts of determination or battle cries.

And Roman had used his name. Jaune had never even met Roman until today and the guy was saying his name with familiarity.

Silence was more than a good enough answer for Roman. He whistled, finding himself laughing out loud as he kicked the knight back with his foot.

So, this was the so called newest Player in their little party? The one Adam had cautioned him about? Oh, he just had to see what the boy's title was now.

"Scan."

Jaune Arc, Heart of The Gamer.

8,000HP/8,000HP.

The Heart? Roman found himself agreeing with the Title. From what he recalled from his meetings with the Arc boy in his many playthroughs it fit him to a T. Easing his laughter, he gave Jaune a welcoming smile as the blond boy glared at him.

"Well, isn't this surprising? I would have never thought that you of all people would fall into this little world of ours. Now I'm even more curious." he chuckled as he spun his cane around with his finger. He sighed though, catching the eyes of the other three hunters recovering from their blows and run at him. "What annoyances. Seems I've got to clear the room before we can talk freely."

Jaune didn't like the sounds of that, "What the hell are you doing?"

Roman smirked and decided to let his actions answer for him. With a flick of his right wrist and a snap of his fingers, four body sized poker cards surrounded Blake, Sun, and Ciel before they could close in on him. From the back of the cards his moniker could be seen as the cards spun around them and prevented them from escaping. They became a blur, tussling the wind before slowly coming to a stop. The cards folded, revealing to Jaune's shock his friends vanishing.

"Local Shuffle."

"You!" Jaune seethed in anger before spinning his head around, "Blake, Sun, Ciel, where are you guys!?"

"Calm down, kid. You act like I killed your dog or something." Roman said, rolling his eyes as he found Jaune back to glaring at him, "What you saw just now was a little Ability, Local Shuffle. With it, I've simply sent them to another area of the docks where they can't disturb us." And to make sure that they didn't get in their way, Roman reached for his scroll and made a call, "Let the boys know that we got a couple of rats roaming the place. Take them out if you feel like it and if they prove to be a hassle, let Perry know that he has permission to use 'That'. I'm sure he'd love a chance at busting out his new toy."

"Air Slash!"

Roman sighed as he ended the call and batted away several blades of air pressure. Did the kid not know any manners?

Seeing his attack easily blocked, Jaune raised his sword high above himself as its blade gained a dark purple tint, "Lunar Divider!" Slashing his sword downward, he released a large tearing blade of purple energy after Roman. It tore the ground to pieces, gaining speed before it met the smirking man head on.

"Barrier!" Calling on the same bubble shield as before, Roman watched as the attack's force fought his defense. That was a new Ability he'd never seen. Barrier shattered suddenly and left him to suffer being hit by Lunar Divider. He grunted as the blade exploded against his aura. Curiously he found his body weakened a bit by the attack. 'Defense Down? Isn't that a nifty trick.' he grinned as he found Jaune prepare the same move again. He moved his feet forward, vanishing from sight to stand right in front of Jaune just as his mouth opened to shout the incantation.

"Steal Wonder."

The power running through Jaune's being died away, robbing him of the strength to use his ability as Crocea Mors lost its energy. His mind went blank, the feeling frightening him as Roman snatched a bubble of luminescent light from his chest. The bubble flickered, popping to form a playing card of his own design in his fingers. Jaune stumbled back in confusion, frowning as he tried to recall what he had just been doing. He was using an ability, right? What was it called again?

Roman smirked smugly, raising his cane in the same manner Jaune had done with his sword as the card in hand sank into his body, "Have you forgotten what your ability was called, kid? Don't worry, here's a reminder! Lunar Divider!"

Purple malicious energy released from Roman's downward swing, forming a tearing blade that collided with its original owner. Jaune gasped, his breath stolen as the energy detonated and left his body weary. He gripped his forehead in pain as the memory of his ability returned.

Lunar Divider, an Ability granted to him from his Friendship with Blake. It fired a blade of energy that dealt decent damage but also inflicted Defense Down; a status ailment that lowered Defense for a short period of time. How the hell did Roman use an ability only he could use? Firebolt he could understand, it was spell that all Players could learn along with Reflect and Power Strike. But Lunar Divider was unique, Ren had even said so himself that he wouldn't be able to learn it. So, how did Roman learn it?

And why had he forgotten?

"Confused? I bet you are, most usually are when I use Steal Wonder on them for the first time. Boy, was Adam pissed." Roman laughed. The horned boy had lost his patience and tried to end him with one lightning fast slash when he had revealed to him their shared status. But found himself stumped as his mind went blank and suffered the very ability he was about to use. Seeing Jaune glare through a grimace, Roman decided to be a good sport and explain, "Steal Wonder is an Ability unique to the Master Thief Class, it allows me to steal just about any Ability my opponent is about to use and leave them confused. They are unable to use said ability until I've used it myself. Ain't that a useful move?"

Useful? More like terrifying. An ability like that created an opening that left him to suffer an attack. And he wouldn't be able to use the ability he forgot? That was cheating. Fighting the weakness spreading across his body by his own attack mirrored back, Jaune raised his shield in front of his body for any more attacks. Last time he hadn't been prepared to fight Adam, but this time would be different.

Roman sighed in exasperation, slouching his shoulders at still finding the blond knight on the offensive. Did the kid not know when to take a hint? Did it look like he wanted to fight? If that was the case, he would have ended him as easily as he sent the other brats away.

"Kid, let's calm down for a second here. There's no need to fight right now." he said honestly, trying to ease Jaune's tension. He even sent his beloved weapon into its inventory space as a sign of good will.

But Jaune wasn't falling for it. Roman was known as a trickster by the media and even Ren had warned him to stay on his toes if he ever had to face Player one.

"No need? You hurt my friends and sent them who knows where! And you're working with the White Fang." the grip on his sword tightened audibly, his mind drawing up the arrogant smirk belonging to Adam, "If you're working with him, then that means whatever you're doing is no good. And I won't fall for anymore of his bullshit!" he roared, dashing off the spot as Crocea Mors slid back into its sheath. He locked his blue eyes with Roman's blank green eyes before his body blurred.

Jaune appeared a few spaces away from Roman's back in a gust of wind, his sword partially drawn before clicking back into pace.

"Sonic Line!"

Idly, Roman's eyes peered down at his stylish coat to find a nick spreading from the center of his chest and running to meet his back. A small amount of blood leaked down the white of his clothing, much to his annoyance. Now that was just rude.

Roman Torchwick, Soul of The Gamer.

69,150HP/69,600HP[DEF-D].

Only 450 Damage? Even with Defense Down active that was all the damage he could inflict? Sonic Line dealt damage by multiplying his Speed by 50. His attack should have done a thousand or more. And Roman treated the wound as if was a bug bite rather than a blade slash.

Roman was not happy with the small cut. Now he was going to have to wash out the blood when he was done and the material he was wearing didn't handle in certain washers very well. He sighed as he turned his head back to meet Jaune.

"You're lucky you're a fellow Player otherwise you'd be dead before you hit the ground." he glared with annoyance before reaching into his coat. The action put Jaune on guard, causing him to roll his eyes. He didn't even have a weapon on him! The kid was really jumpy. Finding what he was looking for, Roman downed the vial of red colored liquid in one gulp. The small wound was quickly healed a second later. "Got to love potions. Much better than your average band-aids, don't you think?" he asked with a smile. But to his ever-growing annoyance, Jaune refused to lower his guard.

"Give me a break kid! Here I am trying to make some small talk and have a conversation, and you're looking at me like I killed your dick or something. What do you have against your fellow Player?"

"You're a criminal and you work for the White Fang for starters." Jaune scoffed, "And let's say that every time I've met a Player I found myself either dead or dying."

Dead or dying? Roman whistled lowly, "I take it Addy-boy and Renny didn't take your arrival very well. Especially Renny, that boy has a hateful bone for you. I'd put down 30,000L that he was the one to kill you on the spot." he grinned knowingly.

"Addy-boy? Renny?" Jaune said slowly in confusion. Subconsciously he found his guard lowering as he tried to understand the man in front of him. Roman acted completely different from the other two Players in The Game. Where Adam was cruel and vicious, and Ren was lazy and unmotivated, Roman acted cheerful and full of spirit. This was the Original Gamer? The one who had endured countless lifetimes of Reset with little change other than that occasional Remix?

When Jaune had thought of the first one to inherit The Gamer, he had honestly pictured a broken man, a mix between Adam and Ren. Roman was none of that. If it weren't for the fact he had effortlessly thrown his friends around and was a dangerous criminal wanted in the kingdoms, Jaune would have thought of him as pleasant.

Seeing Jaune ease up a bit, Roman continued, "Those are my nicknames for the kids, I did teach them about The Game after all. I like to think of those brats as little brothers, we're all blessed with the same power, or curse if you would prefer, so why not think of each other as family? Unlike those two, I have no feelings of animosity for my fellow Player. In fact, I welcome you to our little party!" he said with a cheerful smile, bowing elegantly to the stunned blond, "Welcome, Jaune to The Game of Life! A world of true freedom where you are free to do as you please."

Jaune didn't know what to say. This was unlike the time his status was revealed to the others. Usually he would be struggling to breath out of his dying lips. But this? This was a little jarring. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly as Roman grinned at him, showing no signs of wanting to harm him.

"Thanks, I guess?" he said after trying to find something to say back. He shook his head, frowning in confusion, "But aren't I in your way? I'm here to stop whoever is responsible for the Dust robberies and your connected to the White Fang, right? Shouldn't it be your mission to stop me?"

Roman shrugged his shoulders, his face showing boredom as he leaned on his cane, "I suppose that is what the Quest I've taken says I should do. Its details say that I must steal at least five cargo shipments of SDC Dust before the clock hits midnight. I am to expect opposition and will receive several bonus rewards if I'm able to steal more than five. But I've done this quest so many times now! If it wasn't a Story related mission I would have skipped it." he grumbled before taking a moment to whip out a cigar. He lit it, waving away the magical flame on his finger used to light it and dragged in a deep breath of the sweet nicotine. At least the flavor of his favorite habit would never change. "Well at least I got the chance to meet a new member of our merry little family." he chuckled.

"So, you're not going to stop me?" Jaune tilted his head to the side, his confusion evident, "Does that mean you can bring back my friends?" he said hopefully.

Again, Roman shrugged with little care, "I can't bring them back, but they are close. I really don't care if this mission goes well, I won't catch any heat from the boss lady. The little girl still has use for me." he laughed. Oh, if only Cinder knew how easily he could have their roles switched. But that would be no fun, not anymore at least, "Of course there is still the matter of the White Fang actually doing their jobs and attaching the cables to the ships, so you'll still have to deal with them. Animals they may be, but they're rowdy bunch. And I can't say that your friends are safe either, especially if my buddy Perry already busted out the little toy I gave him for being a good boy."

That didn't sound good. Jaune spun his head around, trying to listen in for any signs of battle already in progress in the large dock area. Faintly he could make out the sound of gunfire before his eyes caught the sign of a massive column of black smoke rise to the sky from overhead. He had a good guess that he had just found their locations.

If Roman wasn't going to fight him then he had little reason to stick around any longer. Turning his back to the man, he was ready to run to them.

"Leaving already? Come on, stay and chat a bit, Jaune-Jaune! Let the NPC's enjoy themselves, you shouldn't worry much about the non-important. If they die, they'll just respawn in the next life."

Jaune stopped cold in his steps. His knuckles popped, shaking as the mirthful tone in Roman's voice hit a nerve. So, he was like the others. For second, he had thought he might have found someone who wasn't uncaring. He couldn't help it, he turned his head back to meet the older Player's amused green eyes.

"They're not NPC's, they're people. I would have thought you understood that with how long you've been in this game." he said with disappointment.

Roman blinked, caught off guard. Did the kid just call them people? He erupted with laughter, holding his gut as his eyes teared up. The reaction made Jaune's blood boil.

"Oh, Oum! That-That was a good one, kid! I swear, I think I nearly choked on my own laughter there." Snickering as he tried to get a control of himself, Roman sighed in relief, "But seriously, they're just NPC's. No need to worry about trash." he smirked.

"They're human! I don't understand what part of that you all don't understand! They're living, breathing; they're alive!" Jaune shouted, throwing his hand out in anger. But Roman didn't seem to think so, his expression still amused at what he was saying. It frustrated Jaune to no end to see them think so little about the people around them. "Surely you understand that? What about the White Fang members you're working with? Don't they have any meaning to you?" he said solemnly. Even if they were the enemy, couldn't Roman see that they too were alive.

"Meaning?" Roman hummed at the word. He grinned mischievously at that and raised his cane to the sky. Taking out his scroll again, he made a quick call to one of the bullheads to draw closer. The pilot nodded in understanding and settled itself to hover above the two. The mounted artillery locked their sights on Jaune, waiting for Roman's command to fire.

"What are you doing?" Jaune asked, finding himself uneasy as Roman simply smiled.

"Magnum Flare."

To Jaune's horror, a sparkling orange-red flare shaped like pointed bullet slug shot up from Roman's cane and streaked upward to the airship. The faunus inside could do nothing as the projectile pierced its body and detonated in a dazzling bonfire of flames. For a short moment Jaune could hear the chilling screams and cries of the burning White Fang members before the flaming wreckage fell to the earth behind Roman. Then nothing but the cackling flames met his ears.

+12,200EXP! +14,000Lien! +(x7)Standard Katannas! +(7)Standard Pistols!

Roman made a noise of satisfaction as he read over his rewarded experience, "Well they do serve a purpose in earning exp, Lien, and some items. So, I suppose that gives them meaning." he mused with little care in his voice. Not even enough to fill up his EXP bar by 5%. What a bummer. The money was good enough for some pocket change too.

A sick lump grew in Jaune's stomach as the faint smell of cooking flesh hit his nose, his eyes watching in horror as the flames behind Roman cackled and filled the sky above with smoke.

"W-Why?" Jaune asked faintly as his shoulders trembled.

Suddenly remembering why he had done what he had, Roman turned back to Jaune with a casual wave, "Eh, I suppose it's because I felt like it honestly. That, and the guy behind the control of the bullhead had given me a funny look just because I may have accidentally scuffed up his shoes in our last heist."

The answer brought Jaune's anger over the edge to the point a vein throbbed visibly on his forehead.

"Oh, what's with the anger? They're NPC's, they'll come back to life in the next reset. Who knows? They may even resurrect following a path that doesn't lead them to the White Fang. Which means I technically saved them and steered then down a brighter path!" he said cheerfully only to frown as something caught the leg of his pants. Looking down he was irritated to see the burning hand of one of the NPC's gripping his pants for dear life and the suffering eyes pleading for help. Melodic Cudgel's barrel greeted the annoyance and put an end to that with a boom. Charred brain matter and smoking blood splattered the ground.

+1,000EXP! +200Lien!

Bile rose up Jaune's throat and spilled out from his lips, his stomach unable to withstand the atrocity he had just witnessed. He grit his teeth openly as his eyes glared hatefully at the carefree expression on Roman's face as he kicked away the burning corpse. What the hell kind of monster was he?! How? How could he do something so vile with little care?

Sensing the hostility aimed at him, Roman scratched his cheek with a coy smirk, "Right, almost forgot about your self-righteous soul. Doesn't something like this just tickle your nerves?" he drawled musingly. He threw his hands up and shrugged with an amused sigh, "Seems you still don't understand how this world works. How sad, I'd thought Renny would have showed you the ropes at least. Then again, it would probably take you a few runs before you understood that. This is your first life, so your still naive as a schoolboy going out with his crush."

Spinning his cane continuously by his finger, Roman couldn't fight the excited grin spreading on his face. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't recall the last time he had a good fight. Not since his last little heist in Atlas. And it didn't look like Jaune was going to be going anywhere after that fireworks show. He could already see the kid's body strain itself from attacking him.

It seemed that old little Adam and Ren had failed to teach the kid the ways of the world. Well that was alright, that's why good old Roman was here! He properly taught the others, might as well teach the green horned knight whose world he now resided in.

A dark shadow grew over his face as he fixed his bowler hat. His visible green eye was filled with mischief and a sadistic glee. The very air around him twisted along with the flames and smoke behind him.

From above the two Gamers, a single pixel unseen by the world radiated in the night sky. It blinked before rapidly spreading to form a dome like bubble around the two, cutting them completely off from the real world. To those blind to The Game, their sense would turn them away from the area for reasons they could not understand or fight. As if something deep in their being forcefully steered them away from whatever forces were at bay.

"Let me enlighten you to the ways of my world, little hero." Roman chuckled deeply, "And in exchange, you can relieve me of my boredom. I never did like standing by while the others had their fun, it's about time I show you what lays ahead of you!"

Jaune felt his anger consume him as the stylish man readied his cane. He forgot about his friends and focused his sights on the amused Player just as the fires twisting around him were blown back into a light shower of dancing embers.

'Roman Torchwick, Soul of The Gamer has formally challenged you to a battle! Will you accept?

Yes/No?'

The scraping sound of his blade drawn from its sheath was Jaune's answer.

---

Player One is here. The man with class and mischief, a free Soul that runs rampant to his hearts content. Heart, Soul, Mind, and Body. What reasons have you for madness? It's just a game.

Why so serious?

Chapter 25 of Multiplayer is almost done! Can you believe it? We just might have it out by next Tuesday if my beta finishes it by the weekend when I finish it by Friday. Honest, it's at its climax. Which means Volume 1 is now wrapping up. One more Free Event and the Entrance Exam. Oh, I can't wait to write that out! Let's see if Jaune prove his worth against what Ozpin's been planning.

Now, let's talk about the Multiplayer Journal. I've been working on it here and there, and I've decided to plan on making it as a forum on the site. I haven't place for it yet, so I thought why not? The story is here, why not keep its Journal here? I'll just need to see how Forums work and when it's complete, you'll all be able to read it! And even make up your own conversations about the story. So, look forward to that.

But what about the last Fairy Tale DLC!?, I here many of you cry. To that, I laugh with a grin on my face. The final LFT DLC is a special one, that's all I can tell you. It will be unlike the others in size as well. Just look forward to it. It will shock and awe you!

For now, that's all I got to say. Just keep reading and reviewing! Honestly, I appreciate all the support and words of advice. We're almost done and I feel like I've really grown as a writer since my days in Fairy Tail fandom. And I got you all to thank. Please look forward to my future releases, I got some great stories in store.

Read and Review! It's common courtesy.

NeoShadows fading in and out.