Chapter Five: Body of a Bruiser! Mind of a Strategist! Onee-san of Burning Victory Emerges?! Striking Fist of Vengeance Cradles His Heart! Eh?! Love Turnabout is Fair Play?! Tuck and Roll, Jaune-kun!
Jaune woke up very, very quickly. That's because someone grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him off his bed, then threw him out the window. There was an ear splitting crack and though the broken glass, he saw a wild mane of blonde hair and glowing red eyes glaring at him.
He screamed as he fell from the fourth story. Wind rushed past him and his dorm room shrunk in his vision. He braced for impact with the pavement. Then he bounced.
Jaune gasped. His impact onto the hard, cold concrete was way softer than he expected. Jaune blinked and saw blue fabric on all sides. He was on… a trampoline? How did—? He turned to see Weiss in her nightgown, glaring up at his dorm window.
By this point, their classmates from all over the building were looking out their windows to find out what was all the commotion. Weiss sighed and shouted, "You're so predictable, Yang!"
She turned to him and said, "This was merely a message, not even the opening move."
Then, Weiss walked away.
Jaune looked up to see Yang, staring down at him. He gulped.
Breakfast was awkward that following morning. Jaune stayed quiet and tried to avoid Yang's further ire, while Ruby glared at her sister on the opposite side of the table.
"Yang, I told you a dozen times, we broke up as friends," she said through grit teeth, "It was mutual, I'm not hurt. It just didn't work out, like with Pyrrha."
At the sound of her name, Pyrrha awkwardly waved at them. She then tried to shrink into the background with Jaune. It did not work. She was terrible at being inconspicuous, no matter how much Jaune and Weiss tried to teach her.
"And I told you, sis, that this isn't about that. It's something much more," Yang said, pointing her fork at Ruby. She then raised an eyebrow at Weiss, who sat next to Ruby. The heiress was listening to some music through a pair of earbuds, eyes closed.
"And I don't believe you," Ruby grumbled, "It was one bad break up. Jaune isn't a player or whatever it's called," she took an angry bite of her sausage.
"Oh he's a player alright, just not the right one. I don't really care about him."
"Then why did you throw him out a window?!"
Yang shrugged, "You wouldn't understand," she had tried to get Weiss' attention for days now, but the Schnee was always busy and out of their dorm room. She also wasn't responding to messages or scroll calls. Even at breakfast, Weiss was not having a conversation with her.
"Yang Xiao Long and Weiss Schnee, meet me in my office immediately," Professor Goodwitch announced on the loudspeaker to the entire cafeteria. Everyone heard, and by then, everyone knew about what happened the night before. Over a hundred pairs of eyes looked at their dining table.
Weiss took off her earbuds and handed her leftover food to Ruby, who grumbled. The heiress turned to Yang and smirked, "Well then, let's get this over with, shall we?"
A raised eyebrow came from Yang, "Not yet. Why don't we explain to everyone here first about what's going on?"
Ruby raised her hands up, "Actually yeah, I'd like to know what the heck is happening."
"It's simple, Ruby. Your dear older sister has declared war on me. Why exactly is beyond my understanding, but I will persevere nonetheless," Weiss explained. She faced Yang, hands on her hips and right foot on the seat, "I accept your declaration. For I am Weiss Schnee, Goddess of Dating Sims!"
A wide predatory grin spread across Yang's face, "So Blake was right, you do have balls. Very well then, 'goddess'," Yang made air quotes with that word, "Let me make this formal. I, Yang Xiao Long, Empress of Grand Strategy, officially declare war on you. I will make you regret what you're doing."
"And what have I done?" Weiss asked.
"Yang Xiao Long and Weiss Schnee, if either of you are not in my office in the next five minutes, you will both face a suspension," Professor Goodwitch uttered across the academy.
They left the cafeteria with haste. The cafeteria returned to normal, whispers of conversations could be heard, gossip over the hamminess of Team RWBY. The two teams themselves just ate in silence.
Jaune then spoke up, "There's an Empress of Grand Strategy?!"
"You two have a lot to explain," Glynda Goodwitch paced back and forth in front of her desk. The two teens sat in front of her, heads tilted down.
"Professor Goodwitch?" Weiss raised her hand, "I didn't throw Jaune out a window, I stopped him from hitting the ground with my trampoline."
"Yes and I thank you for that, Miss Schnee," Goodwitch gave both of them a very grave face, "Even so, your trampoline indicates prior knowledge to Miss Xiao Long's assault."
"To be fair Professor, I also anticipated Yang throwing him through a wall. It was a fifty-fifty chance," Weiss explained, "But I'm sorry I didn't inform anyone about my suspicions."
Goodwitch nodded, "See that you do next time. You are dismissed."
Weiss curtsied and left. Yang began to move as well, but a quick glare from the professor made sit up straight instead.
The professor turned to Yang and sighed, "What am I going to do with you?"
Weiss called Jaune as she walked back to the dorm, "We need to coordinate."
"Coordinate how?" Jaune said from a different wing of the academy, "Actually you know what? Scratch that, I am not doing this with you. I literally just flew out a window."
"It was unfortunate but inevitable. We can't do this alone," Weiss said, "We need allies in this next route. We need wingmen, and I know just the ones for the job."
"Sorry Weiss, as much as I want to help, I can't," Ren said apologetically, "Nora was vassalized half an hour ago, and we're a package deal."
"I may be a vassal now, but just you wait, an assassination here and there and I'll be empress! Mwahahaha!" Nora cackled.
Ren sighed and Jaune gave him a confused look. Ren raised his hands in exasperation.
Weiss grumbled at the obvious betrayal in their ranks while Jaune sighed. Ren gave them both an apologetic smile. Weiss harrumphed and dragged Jaune out into the hallway.
"She's planning something. I don't know what, but it's going to be big," Weiss crossed her arms and glanced at Jaune, "And you are my instrument. Yang doesn't know yet, but she's going to fall for the blonde noodle."
"Oh? I don't think so," Yang walked up to the two of them. Jaune instinctively held his hands up, which Yang waved off, "I'm not doing anything to you, Vomit Boy, as long as you stay out of my way. Weiss Cream is mine."
Jaune gulped and stepped back.
Weiss rolled her eyes, "Can't get decent help these days," she turned to Yang, "So Goodwitch let you off easy. I wonder why."
Yang shrugged, "You can guess if you want. Our battles have only begun."
"Indeed," Weiss said, "I would like to remind you that I have something you don't have: resources. It's going to be a long battle."
"You think so?" Yang smirked, "Try buying something with your credit card."
Weiss raised an eyebrow at that, but still pulled out her scroll. She searched for a figurine of the main heroine of Raburesa Redux 3, dressed in her top-tier racing uniform, complete with removable clothes and under-lingerie. The attention to detail was astonishing for an affordable price of 60 Lien.
She pressed "Buy". Then, a message popped up on her scroll. Her card was rejected.
Weiss' eyes went wide, "Impossible… Unless…"
"The power of connections," Yang smirked, "My Uncle knows General Ironwood, and General Ironwood knows your dear old dad. A little message from me has him concerned."
Weiss narrowed her eyes, glancing down as her father left a voicemail, "I see we're not playing nice."
"I'm not playing though," Yang said, "Life isn't a game, and yours is over. I can Schnee the ending, and in it, you lose."
Weiss grumbled as she tossed away her credit and debit cards. Her checkbook too, and stuffed them underneath her bed. She was out a few hundred thousand Lien that came with her allowance as heiress, but she can make do. Her father wasn't her only source of income.
She pulled out another checkbook from an account under a false name. She had just a bit under eight thousand Lien from the bets she placed at Ruby's underground fight club. It wasn't as much as before, but it was enough for the time being.
Things had changed completely. The game was no longer a standard dating simulator, no it had become Player versus Player. Well, it was time to brush up on the other player's profile.
She pulled out a copy of Reclaimer Queens II and walked to the library.
A few hours later, Jaune waited for Weiss outside the library. Apparently she wanted complete concentration to speed run through the game. Since the game was open ended, Weiss was probably going to be stuck for a while.
He sighed as he munched on the tart Ren made as an apology for not being a wingman. Jaune wasn't sure what Yang was using them for, but he hadn't seen them since breakfast.
Jaune closed his eyes and thought. It was the same old thing with Weiss, once again. The fourth time already that she decided to drag him around, teaching and pushing him to woo women.
That's how it's been. But now he felt tired. Exhausted. Hell, if what Weiss said was right, that falling out a four story window was the opening act to the route, then he was in for his toughest ride yet. And that's including the time he fought a terrorist.
Maybe it was time. Maybe…
"Hey Jaune."
"Hey Yang," Jaune said. Then he realized, "Yang!?"
"Oh hush," Yang grinned, "I'm not going to hurt you," her wide grin did not make him feel better.
"Somehow I don't believe you," he snarked before realizing his mistake.
Yang snorted, "I didn't know you could be this sarcastic. That said, I really am sorry," she said, her head bowed down ever so slightly, before bringing it back up, "Does it make you feel better if I told you I knew that Weiss knew?"
"No. No it does not."
"Oh," she scratched her arm, "How about if I told you I aimed for the trampoline?"
"Barely any better," Jaune sighed, "Why are you here? Weiss is… I'm not entirely sure what Weiss is doing."
Yang put her arm over his shoulders, "I'm not here for Weiss, I'm here for you," she pointed a finger at his chest.
Jaune frowned, "Why?"
"Simple. You know Weiss better than anyone else here. Even more than Ruby," Yang shrugged, "It did take Rubes forever to realize that Weiss was a gamer. Hell, it took her a year to find out I was one."
He blinked, "Ohhhh so that's what you meant by 'Empress of Grand Strategy'!"
Yang snorted, "Yeah, what did you think it meant?"
"Ruby said it was something you won in a contest."
Yang laughed, letting go of Jaune's neck, "Not even. I'm just the girl with the best streams and playthroughs, according to most of the people on the forum. And the highest score by an ironwoman game's end."
"I don't know what that means."
She lightly slapped him on the arm, "Come on, why don't I explain this to you over dinner? It's past nine already."
Was it really? Jaune felt the gnawing pit in his stomach and smiled, "Sure."
He didn't need to join in this fight. He didn't want to get on Yang's side only to date her. Jaune was tired.
Maybe it was time to stop playing games with Weiss.
Weiss grumbled as Team RWBY got ready for bed, untying her hair and and brushing her teeth.
"What's wrong?" Ruby skipped up to her, pulling out her own toothbrush.
"RQ2 is annoying," Weiss mumbled as she spat into the sink, "Vassals are confusing, war requires a convoluted system of claims and raising armies to work, and people keep stabbing me in the back. I also can't advance technologically at all."
"Yeah, Yang's hobbies are weird," Ruby brushed, "I still don't know why she even likes it so much. All she does is be a medieval jerkwad for thirty hours straight."
"Where is she anyway?" Weiss asked.
"Dinner with Jaune," Ruby said.
Weiss gave an unsure look, "Are you… okay with that?"
"It feels weird, but I think I'll be fine," Ruby frowned, "Did you ask Blake when he started seeing me?"
"... No, I'm afraid. I focused all my efforts on you and Jaune that I forgot to even think about her," Weiss sighed, "My plan to romance you was rushed and full of holes but, Jaune was just so sad."
"Yeah," Ruby said, "It was the same for me. I wanted to help both of them stop feeling bad, no matter what."
Weiss smiled, "And that's why I pegged you with the Rebound Queen modifier. You're too sappy."
"Hey, what about you? You're the one who turned up at a fight club to get Jaune a girlfriend," Ruby smirked.
"Schnees don't get sappy, we work quickly to fix the problem," Weiss said as she exited the bathroom.
"Schnees, hmm?" Ruby shook her head and went off to bed.
The next morning, the two teams ate breakfast together again, although things were odd, to say the least.
Once Jaune sat down, Yang came in and muscled her way to sit between him and Pyrrha. Weiss meanwhile sat glumly with Ruby. Ren and Nora meanwhile sat by Blake.
"And that's why puns are a genius art form, and not liking them is for those who simply don't enjoy the rush one gets for making a great connection between two words that sound the same!" Yang slammed her fist on the table.
From the other side, Weiss glanced over to see Jaune laughing as well. She grumbled to Ruby, "And to think, all the good I did for him."
"Didn't you drag him into it?" Ruby shoveled scrambled eggs into her mouth.
"He wanted advice on romance, and I got him to date three of his classmates. Need I remind you he's kissed Pyrrha Nikos and an actual princess?"
At those words, Nora pulled Blake's hand up and waved it at Weiss, who waved back.
"For the last time, I'm not a princess!" Blake bemoaned.
Weiss ignored her, "And now he's hanging out with Miss 'Armies and Political Intrigue'. How is any of that even remotely useful in everyday life?"
"We are hunters. And maybe Jaune one day will lead an army," Ruby pointed out.
The heiress scoffed, "And here I thought my own partner would side with me. I would like to remind you that Yang threw him out a window."
Ruby shrugged, "Blood is thicker than water."
"Blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the womb. Get your ancient quotes right."
"I'm surprised Jaune hung out with you as much as he did," Ruby bemoaned.
Weiss crossed her arms again and grumbled. Ruby patted her on the back, "It's alright, it's just a bad breakup."
"We weren't even dating. And you were his last girlfriend!" Weiss threw her hands in the air.
"Shhh shhh it's alright," Ruby whispered.
Weiss grumbled some more.
The next few days were odd for Jaune. He hung out with Yang every day, and it that time they joked, chatted about stuff, and she taught him the intricacies of large scale tactics using her favorite board game: Remnant: The Game. With Ruby and Nora, they had a full set of players.
Jaune took to the game like a fish to water.
"I play Cross Continental Ballistic Missile," he placed a card down.
"And I'm dead," Ruby threw her cards on the table. She grumbled with Nora at the unfairness of it all. Nora herself lost after Yang led an army Grimm into her capital city while a riot overtook her people.
Nora decried her traitorous peasants as Ruby bemoaned her apocalyptic wasteland. Now Yang and Jaune were alone to duel, a battle of wits that would surely culminate in something—
Yang grinned, "I play Ancient Towering Statues that Walk."
"Um… I already used CCBM, I've got no counters."
"Not to mention your armies are exhausted from your campaign against Ruby, your navy is no match for mine, and my people's culture is subsuming yours. Game, set, and match," Yang laughed, "That's 267 lifetime wins in a row."
"Wow," Jaune said over Ruby and Nora grumbling, "How come you're not a team leader?"
Ruby rolled her eyes, "Here it comes."
"Why is the question, and also the answer," Yang grinned.
"I don't get it."
"Y not? Why aren't you getting Y I'm not the first letter in RWBY?" Yang nudged him in the shoulder.
"Ohhh," Jaune blinked, "Wow that's a lame reason. Really?"
Yang shrugged, "It's fine. I'm a big picture gal, my tactics in the arena are 'punch, get punched back, punch harder'. It's simple and it works."
"Yaaaannng, you're gonna fail one day. Not everything can get punched," Ruby chided, "When all you have is a hammer…"
"Everything looks like an explosion!" Nora jumped up.
"Close enough!" Ruby agreed.
Yang rolled her eyes, "Come on Jaune, you agree with me right? As a team leader, surely punching is a great all-round strategy, right?"
Jaune paused to think deeply. Eventually, he inhaled and said, "While hitting things really hard definitely works like 90% of the time, sometimes you have to change things up. Because some people have really weird abilities," he looked at his three friends, "I fought a really powerful guy at that White Fang rally, who stored the energy of people that hit him before shooting it back out as an energy beam. Like, if you punched him hard, you'd be dead after he hits back."
Yang raised an eyebrow. At the look, Jaune nodded.
Ruby said, "Yang's the kind of person who plans before a fight. She only fights people she knows she can beat, which I think takes the fun out of matches."
"Hey! I do not!"
"Now that I think about it," Jaune scratched his chin, "When you went up against Pyrrha, you did know about her polarity, somehow, but you didn't really capitalize on it."
"It was going to come to me," Yang said.
"She's beaten you four out of five times," Ruby retorted, "And that one time you won, it was because Pyrrha tripped."
"That counts!"
Ruby rolled her eyes while Jaune patted Yang on the shoulder, "The fact that you won at all is great. No one else comes close to touching her. She really likes that about you."
Yang turned her head, "Really?"
"Yeah, it's also good for me as team leader since I can actually measure her," he waved his hand, trying to come up with a good word.
"Difficulty rating?" Yang proposed.
"That sounds right," Jaune smiled. Yang and Ruby laughed as Nora began setting up the pieces.
"Anyone want to play again?" Nora smirked.
Ruby, Yang, and Jaune shrugged and nodded.
On the other side of the library, Weiss glared into her class notes. Opposite to her was Ren, who was copying his own notes for Nora. After twenty minutes of doing so, she pulled out her scroll and began playing the incredibly dumb but also mildly enjoyable Gurintara no kudamono.
Gods, the main character's backstory was just one edgy dark bad thing after another. His sister's backstory was also incredibly stupid. Everyone involved had to make the worst decisions to create the sad backstory. Maybe it was just how colossally idiotic everyone acted, but Weiss found it charming, in its own strange way.
She needed a pick-me-up, something to tide her over until…
Bah! Weiss needed to do something! With a quick glance, she left her seat and waltzed over to Ren, "What are you doing?"
"Studying the notes for Professor Port's lectures and giving them to Nora."
"I see," Weiss said, "You're missing the part where he explained the weakness of Lox Grimm."
"He mentioned that?"
"Thirty minutes into his story about his journey to the Invisible Castle of Wondrous Snow and Ice, it came up. They can be toppled over and they take a few minutes to get back up."
Weiss spent the next hour going over Ren's notes, supplementing them with her own knowledge. It did well enough to ease her mind for the rest of the day.
As Weiss made it back to her dorm room, she decided to do a quick cleaning for Myrtenaster. As team leader, Ruby drilled into her head the practice of prudent weapons maintenance.
When she got there, she found Nora whistling nonchalantly. Weiss glared at her, "What did you do?"
"Nothing~" Nora said in a singsong voice.
Weiss raised an eyebrow and entered her locker combination. It was obvious that Ren was used as a distraction while Nora did… something. She opened her locker to see nothing was missing, modified or moved. Curious. What was Nora after?
She looked back to see Nora humming to herself. Weiss cleaned her weapon and left the locker room, with Nora following suit.
"Hey Yang," Jaune bounded up next to her, "Want to catch a movie with me? I've got early showing tickets to Bombshell 4 this weekend."
"No way," Yang gaped.
"Yes way," Jaune grinned, "My dad knows one of the actors through his work, and he sent them to me. How about it? It'll be my way of thanking you for helping Pyrrha, and apology for teasing you."
"Count me in," Yang rubbed her hands together, "Who else is coming?"
Jaune sighed, "As it turns out, no one else wants to come with. Blake and Pyrrha aren't fans of action movies, Nora has very strong and negative opinions on the main leads, Ren thinks movie popcorn is too unhealthy, and Ruby is doing something else," he counted off on his fingers while carefully leaving out Ruby's hobby.
"Just the two of us, eh? Well well, thanks for asking me out on a fun date," Yang gave him a shit-eating grin.
"No way," he shook his head, "I'm done dating for now. Can't a guy ask the girl who threw him out a window to watch a movie with him, as friends?"
Yang rolled her eyes, "Sure. You're just lucky Bombshell is the best action franchise. And that you got tickets."
"Definitely," it was crazy actually. He received the message from his dad, congratulating him for following his advice and dating someone. It was weird how he knew about any of that, but it probably was…
Damn it Weiss. He pursed his lip slightly. But it was Bombshell 4: Spirit Order! It would be an absolute waste to not use these tickets. It's fine, all he has to do is keep things platonic between him and Yang.
Things were not going platonically. While they were watching the movie, both he and Yang must have subconsciously got closer together. By the time they got to the climax, their shoulders were touching, and they'd entwined their fingers together.
Yang didn't seem to notice, and just cheered as the protagonist crashed his Bullhead into another Bullhead into a raging waterfall. Well, it was nice.
She's probably just into the awesome action. Yeah, that was it.
Things were going according to plan. Oh sure, Yang got excited and definitely liked the movie, but it wasn't a jaw dropping experience. No, the real event was the doofus sitting next to her.
She pegged him as the sort of innocent goofball who wanted to be a knight in shining armor, but simply didn't fit the role. She understood that feeling. Yang wasn't like Ruby, who wanted to be a hero and was already halfway there. Yang wasn't a hero.
No, she had to be subtle, hidden in plain sight. Fame and glory could be hers, but it was never going to be the main goal.
Her current goal was stopping Weiss Schnee. To stop her, she needed to know more about her. To gather information on her, what better way than the guy she trained in the art of seduction? It wasn't like Jaune could seduce her.
That's why Yang wrapped her arm in his. A subtle move that implied much more. In the corner of her eye, she saw him staring at her. She inwardly grinned as she drank it in. All according to plan.
Wait was that Geoff Ramsey and Jeremy Dooley?! Holy shit it is them! And they're playing a song! Best cameo ever!
After the movie, they stopped by a diner. Both of them got double cheeseburgers with fries and shakes. Yang raised an eyebrow at his order, "With all the cooking you and Ren do, I didn't think you'd go for this."
"Sometimes you want something large, greasy, and weirdly filling," Jaune shrugged, "And Ren's the health nut. I on the other hand want to try a bacon-wrapped steak at some point."
"Sounds fun," Yang said, "So you and Weiss…"
"We never got together, first," Jaune said as he took a bite and swallowed, "Second, I'm not betraying her. I'm tired of all this stuff we're doing, but I'm not going to spill her secrets or anything. Not like she has any," he took another bite.
"Right," Yang raised an eyebrow, "What exactly do you two do? Because all I see is you dating girls and leaving them before moving on."
"Weiss was adamant about that. She only helped me get together with them, not keep the relationship. Something about how matchmakers only worked in the beginning, and if a relationship needed maintenance by outside forces beyond family, it probably wasn't going to work out," Jaune sighed, "You satisfied?"
"I was expecting a bit more explanation into how you guys chose your targets," Yang slurped her milkshake.
Jaune shrugged, "Pyrrha's my partner, and Weiss was certain she had a crush on me."
Yang frowned, "She didn't? I could have sworn she did."
He threw his hands up in the air, "I don't know what you guys were seeing, but it's something Pyrrha and I didn't. After that was Blake, who happened to be in the library the same day I broke up with Pyrrha."
"'Happened to be', sure," Yang made air quotes.
"Blake and I had a falling out. It was a mutual falling out, that much we agree on. Then Weiss dragged me and Ruby together because she wanted me to be less sad. Something about the Rebound Queen?"
She tightened her fist, "I see," she said tersely as her eyes flickered red.
"Yang?" Jaune asked carefully.
"Sorry, it's just, that phrase she used, it's something my uncle used to describe my mom," Yang shook her head, "Of all the things to call Ruby."
"I heard about what happened to her. I'm sorry for my word choice."
She shook her head, "It's alright. My mom was the best, she raised me and Ruby, even though I wasn't really her kid," Yang whispered, "Ruby idolized her, and so did I. There was a dark point in my life after she disappeared, and I spent a lot of time trying to fill that gap."
Yang sunk into her seat, "I tried to find my birth mom, and after that, I tried to be like my real mom. Let's just say I've got mixed results."
Jaune nodded, "It's tough living up to legacy. I've tried to live up to the Arc name for an ancestor I never met, against my dad's wishes."
"Parents want what's best for their kids," Yang said, "Being a hunter isn't always the best."
"Yeah. But it's what I want to do, even if it's dangerous."
"Heh, it's the same for me," Yang stretched, "My dad has his concerns with what I've chosen, but he's supportive."
"Really? Ruby said your dad was all for you two being huntresses."
"Well, I didn't mean that."
"Ah, your gaming then," Jaune ate a fry, "How did that start?"
"Saw a game on a shelf, it looked interesting, asked my uncle to buy it," Yang munched her burger, "It's like that for most people really."
"Huh," Jaune scratched his cheek, "That does sound normal."
"That's me, normal girl here," she jerked her thumb at herself.
"You're not normal, you're awesome."
"Daw, is that something Weiss taught you, or is it just your awkward self?" she gave him a grin.
"All me, she's been off the radar for a bit now," Jaune frowned.
"She's probably sucked into RQ2, I know I was for a while."
Jaune felt his scroll buzz and pulled it out, "Why is Nora calling me?"
Weiss stared at Nora. She stared back. As it turned out, the wannabe queen was not sabotaging any of her equipment. Rather, she was following Weiss everywhere. And it was definitely everywhere. The locker room, the bathroom, the cafeteria, their classes, even her dorm room when Yang wasn't there. Weiss had severely underestimated Nora's attention span.
Well no, she didn't, because every ten minutes Nora would wander off in another direction before running back to Weiss. Then when she tried to contact Jaune, Nora just dialed his number at the same time, making him busy.
It was like that for days, days she could have spent working to figure out why Yang wanted her to stop, and how to stop Yang first. In that time, Yang hung out with Ruby, Blake, and Jaune. Things were still awkward between the latter two, but at least they spoke to each other. Weiss wouldn't know, Nora kept dragging her off to do things with Ren.
Weiss frowned as she watched Ren meditate, "How long must this last?"
Ren shrugged, eyes still closed and hands in his lap. To his right was Nora balancing a pencil on her nose.
She sighed. Those two were dutiful in their work, making progress reports to Yang and even keeping track of Weiss' movements. With the two of them, it was going to be impossible to get any plans in order to boost Jaune and Yang's relationship meter. It had to be careful too, since Jaune was probably suffering from fatigue. Such was the perils of pairing with a casual gamer.
Something must be done before Yang finishes with him. If only Weiss could get away from her stalker duo. Then, epiphany.
Weiss wrapped an arm around Nora's shoulder, "What can I do to convince you back to my side, hmm? My success rate speaks for itself. Perhaps after all this is over, I can be of service to you."
Nora tapped her chin and made her 'thinking face', "You drive a hard bargain, Goddess of Dating Sims. Huh, the acronym for that is GODS. It's better than Yang's: EOGS. If I join your side…"
"Anyone in Beacon that's not already taken. Think of the possibilities," Weiss said. She then blinked and looked over at Ren, "Aren't you going to stop Nora from committing treason?"
He shrugged, "Technically I never swore allegiance to Yang."
"Very well, man of no faith," Weiss declared, "So, what's your choice, Nora?"
"Yes!" she pumped her fist in the air, "Let's do this!"
"After this route is complete," Weiss smiled, "Now if you'll excuse me, I must make some calls."
"That is a huge crowd," Jaune said to Yang. She wanted to go the recently announced, impromptu concert by The Achieve Men, Yang's favorite boy band. Pyrrha balked at the idea of a large crowd and went with Blake to a book signing elsewhere. Ruby, Weiss, Ren, and Nora were apparently going to the arcade.
Either way, everyone else was missing out. It was The Achieve Men! Over two thousand people had gathered in the streets of Vale, surrounding the giant black stage as personnel got ready.
It was a strange event, taking place at sunset in the middle of the shopping district, no tickets required. There were official vendors selling souvenirs, at discounted prices too! Yang got herself a t-shirt and wore it proudly. Also posters. One can never have too many posters.
"This is going to be awesome!" Yang rubbed her hands together.
"Yeah!" Jaune agreed. He didn't really know any of the band's music, but he did want to attend a concert at least once. It was hard to go to them when you grew up in the middle of nowhere.
As the speakers turned on and an instrumental track began playing, the crowd cheered wildly as the lead singer, Jeremy Dooley, stepped out on stage and yelled out, "Hello everybody! Let's rock!"
Cheers rang out across the square. Jeremy spoke into his microphone, "Tonight it's time we talk about love," the other members arrived onstage and picked up their instruments, "A fellow singer taught me about love. Love is something that builds slowly. Love is something that just pops out of nowhere. It comes in many forms, but the one we're gonna talk about tonight is!"
The song started and Yang started yelling at the top of her lungs along with half the crowd. The love ballad they played pumped them all up. Jaune enjoyed that song, and the song after that, and the one after that. He had to admit, they were good.
An hour in, and the band finished their first set on a resounding note, their most popular song: "Thanks to You". Yang cheered as she grabbed Jaune's hand.
They locked eyes and Yang pressed up close to him. At the same time, he stepped closer to her, his mouth right over her ear.
"Hey, thanks for bringing me!" Jaune yelled.
"Thanks for the movie!" Yang yelled back.
"I like this song so much! I love it!"
"I love y-it too!" Yang tried to ignore that slip up.
"Thank you everyone!" Jeremy spoke to the crowd, "'Thanks to you' was always my favorite song. And it really encapsulates what I always say. We gotta be thankful. We should be happy with what we got, because what we got isn't all bad, it's usually great!"
The crowd cheered again, "And let me tell you. I'm grateful and thankful for my friend, fellow musician, singer, and the organizer of what we have here today. She's a strange girl, but a fun one. Let's all be thankful for Weiss Schnee!"
Everyone went wild. Weiss Schnee? The heiress-turned-famous-singer-turned-huntress? Here? Singing with The Achieve Men? It was a miracle! Everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs, all except two.
Jaune and Yang gaped at first. Yang recovered first and immediately scowled.
As Weiss stepped onto the stage and took a microphone, she smiled at the crowd, "Good evening, everyone! It's actually a long story as to why I brought this event together, but I'll keep it short. I came up with this concert because one of my teammates is a big fan of Achieve Men."
"The Achieve Men. The 'the' is part of it," Jeremy added.
"The Achieve Men then. She's probably here somewhere, but I can't make her out. I'm also thankful for my other friend, who really needs to answer his scroll some time. I know you're tired, but come on. Either way, thanks you two!" the crowd clapped and whistled, "Now then, I believe I owe you all a song?"
"Whoo!"
"Yeah!"
"Sing sing!"
Weiss smiled and curtsied, "How about M-m-m-mirror? It's my personal favorite."
Jeremy smirked, "You betcha. How 'bout it everyone?!" he was met with raucous cheers.
As the two sang a heart wrenching duet about two loved ones trapped on opposite sides of a mirror (or mirror universe? It was always hard to tell with the lyrics), Yang couldn't help but growl.
Then Nora ran up to them, breaking her way through the crowd, "Yang! Weiss ran away from us, talked to Goodwitch, and was able to sneak away! I couldn't find her— oh hey M-m-m-mirror! I love this song!" her head and body swayed with the beat.
Yang sighed and turned to Jaune, who was nodding to the song, despite himself. He looked to Yang and held out a hand, "Come on, let's not let Weiss win. Wanna dance, as friends?"
She raised an eyebrow, "You dance?"
"Seven sisters," he smiled, "Or are you nervous?"
"Hah!" Yang barked out, "No way! I may not be good at dancing, but I'm not nervous," she took his hand. And they danced to the duet.
Later that night, Yang slammed her hands down on Weiss' desk, which was filled to the brim with financial documents. To save money, she decided to do the accounting herself.
"What the hell was that?"
Weiss looked up from the revenue table she was adding up, "The culmination of several business deals, all in an attempt to prevent my own father disowning me and giving the SDC to my brother, all thanks to you."
Jaune stood at the doorway, but asked, "Really? Yang's influence really caused all that?"
Weiss nodded, "Yes. My father takes the word of General Ironwood with caution, and whatever Yang did, it seriously damaged my position politically. Of course, that was her intention all along, to destabilize me while she did something with you," she rolled her eyes, "If you wanted to date Jaune without me interfering, you could have just asked."
"I am not dating him," Yang huffed.
"Sure you weren't. Listen, I've got to finish this and hope I turn a good profit. If I do, my impeccable business sense will make father think twice and consider his options," Weiss chewed the tip of her pencil, "Oh! Also I got you something."
She gestured to the bag to the side of the desk. Yang reached for it and pulled out a The Achieve Men t-shirt. Signed by all members of the band with her name on it?!
"Weiss!? You— what—I don't."
"Don't worry about it, I got these shirts cheap from a manufacturer I met through Ruby."
"No, I mean…" Yang didn't know what to say.
"Like I said, don't worry about it. Luckily The Achieve Men owed me a favor for writing M-m-m-mirror and Thanks to You."
"You! Wrote?!"
"They're about my sister, actually, but I had the lyrics changed to be more romantic," Weiss glared at Yang, "She must never know."
Yang was still gaping as Ruby exited the bathroom, "Yang, you know I love ya, but even I wouldn't write a love song for you," she giggled, "Man I can't wait to meet Winter."
"Never," Weiss glared at Ruby, only to show a puppy dog eyes, "Please? As fellow younger sisters?"
"I dunno, you are a middle child," Ruby smirked. She relented as Weiss' expression became even more desperate, "Fine, fine. You owe me like, a bunch of gravity dust though."
Weiss sighed in relief.
Yang shook her head, then walked to Jaune at the doorway, "Well, good night. It was a fun day."
"Yeah," Jaune said, "Want to do it again?" his smile was so bright and—
She smiled, "Yeah, definitely."
Damn it Weiss.
Yang was largely silent the rest of the night, and into the next day, her mind too busy thinking of… things.
"Professor Goodwitch?" Yang asked as the entire class packed up and got ready to leave for lunch. Yang bit her lip and pawed at her bicep.
"Yes Miss Xiao Long?" Glynda Goodwitch asked as she put her papers into her bag.
"I've got something important I want to talk about. Something, well, about you-know-what."
"Ah," Goodwitch nodded, "Would you like to talk to the headmaster about it?"
"No it's… well, something about Weiss and stuff."
"Well then, come by my office in half an hour. Get something to eat beforehand."
"Okay," Yang said shyly.
Glynda raised an eyebrow at that, but decided to wait.
"Have a seat, Yang," Glynda said as she passed the younger blonde some hot tea, "Please tell me it's something new, not involving throwing Jaune out a window, or about Weiss taking over Remnant, because I've assured you, there is no such threat," Glynda had made sure of it.
Yang relaxed slightly as she took a sip. Then her gaze hardened and she looked at Glynda, "You don't know that. She already has business deals in the criminal underworld, and the fact of the matter is, except for Velvet and Coco, Weiss has wormed her way through most of the potential maiden candidates."
"Who are unneeded, since Autumn is fine," Glynda pointed out.
"Yes, you saved her," Yang whispered, "But she's still being threatened by an unknown player."
"And we're dealing with it. Listen Yang, you're still young, and only waist deep in all of this," Glynda waved her hand.
"Ozluminati," Yang supplied.
"No. For the last time, we are not naming ourselves that," Glynda sighed, "I know you're not here just because of Weiss. Tell me, what's actually on your mind?"
Yang squirmed in her seat for a minute. Glynda just sipped her tea. Eventually, Yang said, "I think I'm in love."
"Well, it happens," Glynda blinked, "It happens to everyone, that is. Who is it and why are you so ruffled?" she took another drink.
"Jaune," she squeaked.
To her credit, Glynda did not spit her tea in Yang's face. She did spill her tea all over her clothes, however.
Yang reached for napkins, but Glynda waved her hand away, "It's fine."
The tea in her clothes suddenly moved into the air, tiny globules of pale liquid floating out of her clothes, leaving it dry. The tea drops flew into the nearby sink in the adjacent bathroom.
"Wow, that is incredibly convenient."
"It is indeed," Glynda smirked, "Back on topic. What's the problem? You should give it a try."
Of all the girls Glynda could have as an in-law, Yang was nowhere near the worst. Not that she would be thinking that far ahead, but with how the current timeline was going, it could happen.
Yang sighed, "But, all this, and… Blake."
Glynda put hand on Yang's knee, "She's a strong girl. It's been weeks, and I'm sure that, in time, she'll be ready to move on. She wouldn't want you to sacrifice your happiness for her. Furthermore, our… group, is always looking for more exceptional and heroic huntsmen to join our fold."
That word. Heroic. It made Yang's gut twist. Glynda saw that and added, "You joined our order because it was the same one your mother was a part of. Both of them. Summer was a hero to the very end."
Yang mumbled, "So why did she leave us? Why did she have to die?"
Glynda bit her lip, "It was my fault."
Yang looked up at her teacher, "What?"
"My semblance can do many things. Its versatility is unprecedented, because despite only being one ability, it can do wondrous things," Glynda paused, then added, "Your birth mother, she can create portals to those she's bonded with."
"Yeah, I know," Yang grumbled.
"I can create portals too, but not just to people I care for, but to anywhere, without limit. I could have saved Summer, all those years ago. But that day, I was hungover from a party."
A party with General Ironwood of all people. It was a sour end to what could have been something…
"Y-you couldn't have known," Yang trembled.
"No, I-I was supposed to protect her. It was my job, my job specifically, but by the time I realized, it was too late. All it would have taken was a little bit of concentration, and in a snap, I would have been there. But I couldn't concentrate. Not then."
Glynda shook her head, "What I'm trying to say is, Summer was a hero, through to the very end. She saved so many lives, and wanted to protect everyone, no matter what. Her only fault was she didn't have support when she needed it. She didn't abandon you, I abandoned her."
Yang stared at the empty wall for for a few minutes. Eventually, she got up and sighed, "Thanks for the advice. I'll think on it."
She left and the door closed.
Glynda sighed, "An Arc never goes back on her word. But I did. I promised to save everyone. I'll never be an Arc again, and that's my punishment."
She took another sip of her tea.
Yang slumped against the wall outside in the hallway and sighed.
Could she be a hero? She was seventeen but she's seen too much and done too many unsavory things to protect the maidens and relics. And it was only going to get worse. She knew Uncle Qrow was doing the worst stuff for her.
It made everything seem petty. Hell, it made everything she did to Weiss seem petty.
And then there was Jaune. Could she come to love him? She said she did, but it was probably more like a crush than anything else. Her mom loved her dad, even if things ended up like it was. Her dad was never deep into it like mom and Uncle Qrow were.
Maybe Jaune could be like that? Yang shook her head. She was getting ahead of herself. She wasn't even sure she loved him. It was probably just infatuation.
Probably. She needed to talk to him and confirm it.
"Wait… You knew I would date Yang?! Without your help?" the two of them were in an empty classroom after Weiss dragged him in to talk.
"Hey I got you that dance, remember that," Weiss griped, "But yes, I did. For you Schnee!" she pulled out a cork board with red string. Jaune raised his hand.
"What?"
"Why did you randomly replace 'see' with your last name?"
Weiss tapped her foot, "If Yang can do it, so can I. Anyways, Yang is the first disk boss. You had been preparing for this route the entire time. It was just as I anticipated."
"How?"
"Think about the three women you've dated before Yang. First was Pyrrha, someone who was against the idea of starting a romantic relationship. Then there was Blake, a woman with many secrets and a chip on her shoulder. And third was Ruby, Yang's own sister, bare knuckle fighter and clueless about romance. Yang was right that I was strategically choosing the women you dated, but she was wrong with the reasons," Weiss explained.
"You told me it was because of the difficulty levels. That Pyrrha and Ruby were more likely to date me," Jaune said.
"While true, as luck would have it, they also prepared you for another target. Your true target, assuming you kept going with my game of course, you could have left anytime you wanted. Yet you still came back each time."
Jaune frowned. Weiss continued, "No, the true goal was Yang herself!" Weiss grinned at the perplexed look on Jaune's face.
"Think on it. I told you that Yang was overprotective of her sister, correct?"
He nodded.
"And we have established that Yang is more perceptive than she looks. I've also told you that it was obvious that Ruby was secretly an underground fighter, correct?"
Jaune nodded again. Then the realization struck, "Wait a minute…"
"Exactly. It was obvious then, that Yang must have known of Ruby's extracurricular activities. The question becomes: why was she not interfering?" Weiss stroked her chin, "Think on it some more.
"There have been threads of something deeper, lying in wait around us. That White Fang rally, where Professor Goodwitch appeared at just the right moment. Yang getting off free after throwing you out the window, despite the fact that Goodwitch clearly has a soft spot for you—"
"She what?"
"Nothing important for now, it'll probably come up later. Back on track, Yang and Goodwitch have a deeper connection than we know. Yang and her uncle, the one Ruby described as 'really awesome super cool drunkle', have a connection to the General of the Atlesian military. Not only that, but Yang called in a favor to him. Clearly, the truth is revealed."
"What truth?" Jaune whispered.
"That Yang Xiao Long's title of 'Empress of Grand Strategy' is merely a smokescreen for her role in a shadowy conspiracy across Remnant!" Weiss turned and pointed at a shadowy corner of the room.
Nothing came out from the shadow. Weiss frowned. Jaune frowned too. Then they turned towards the door as it creaked open, revealing Yang.
"I knew you were a threat. I fu—"
"Oh shut it, Yang," Weiss snapped, "I don't care about your secret cabal to take over the world or whatever."
Yang paused, "You don't?"
"No! I am not going down this insane rabbit hole. I just want to play games, hunt Grimm, and take over the SDC. No way am I tacking on a fourth thing," Weiss rolled her eyes, "When we found Blake after she ran away, I told her I didn't care about her time in the White Fang. Same applies to you."
Yang and Jaune frowned.
Weiss waved her hands in the air, "I already have enough influence! I don't need to rule the world, or become richer, or do evil things or whatever it is you think I'm doing! I'm just playing a game with my buddy Jaune here," she stuck a thumb at him.
"I'm just here to teach this blonde idiot how to date women, and considering how he's got you smitten with him, I dare say I am a great teacher. Done! Capiche! Just leave me alone, alright?" Weiss' scroll rang. She looked at her messages and smirked, "Now if you please excuse me, I have a figurine to buy."
The heiress began walking out of the room when Yang muttered, "Damnit, Goodwitch was right."
"Lalala I can't hear you! Here's me living in ignorant bliss!" Weiss plugged her ears and left.
Jaune and Yang were now alone.
He scratched the back of his neck and gave a nervous chuckle, while Yang pinched her right arm.
Eventually, Yang spoke up first, "I like you. I'm not sure what it is, I've never dated seriously before, like, really seriously. Just hanging out with guys and stuff. The thing is, Weiss is right, I am deep inside something shady, and I don't think we can date unless…"
"Unless I join in too, but you don't want me to, because if I do, I can never leave," Jaune said, "Here's the thing, I don't know either. I have literally dated three girls and none of my relationships have lasted long. So… I know you're in something, and that makes things easier. You don't have to lie to me unless I pry for answers. Can we… try things out? See if we end up serious, and if it does, you can tell me and I'll join you?"
Yang smiled, "You don't have to join, just be supportive, like my dad."
"Well if we get serious, I'd want to join, if you'll have me in your group," Jaune smiled back.
"That sounds good. I think I like that," she drew him in for a hug.
Jaune wrapped his arms around her. Then he asked, "Are you a secret villain though? Because I feel like I should get a general sense of things first."
She laughed, "No, no. It's the opposite. I fight villains as my shadowy occupation."
"And protect the weak and innocent?"
Yang laughed, "Yep, when we can."
Jaune grinned, "So you're a hero."
"Yeah, that sounds about right."
Blake was in her little nook in the library reading a new Ninjas of Love, when Weiss sat down in the bean bag next to her.
A few minutes passed, with Weiss idly staring at her scroll before she spoke, "I want to say I'm sorry."
"Okay," Blake blandly said while flipping a page.
"Wow. Um, do you know why I'm saying sorry?" Weiss leaned forward.
"Yeah."
"Oh. Do you forgive me?"
Blake placed her bookmark in her book and closed it, "Weiss, I'm fine. Jaune and I broke up. We just didn't work out. He didn't betray my trust, I didn't break his heart. It's awkward and we don't like each other right now, but in time, we'll probably be okay. I mean, he's dated Ruby and is probably making out with Yang right now."
"You know about that?" Weiss scratched her arm.
"You held a concert with Yang's favorite band. She has a t-shirt with all of their autographs that you gave her. I'm offended you didn't think I knew."
"You haven't really hung around the dorm in a while."
"Fifty percent avoiding Jaune, fifty percent hanging out with Sun."
"Hmmm…"
"Weiss, no."
"Weiss, yes," the heiress blinked, "You want some help getting a date?"
"... I'm going to read now."
"Then I'll see you at dinner."
Blake nodded, "Save me some fish."
Weiss sighed in relief.
Yang and Jaune were totes making out in that empty classroom, by the way.
ROUTE COMPLETE
Dragonslayer End Achieved
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A/N:
Bacon-wrapped steaks are actually pretty good, but it's one of those things you should eat sparingly, both to preserve your health and the novelty. On a related note, I think people eat food in this fic way too much. Sadly, meals are the only time in the day where all eight members of RWBY and JNPR are together without doing something detrimental to conversation like class. Point is I've noticed this and later chapters I'm going to try to avoid it. Except for that one girl darnit.
In non-food related news, I've put up a poll to see which DLC characters you guys want. DLC will be standalone chapters taking place outside of normal continuity. If I do any of them, and it's a big 'if', it'll be after the story is complete. There are 6-ish more chapters in this story, and I have the "main" girls locked in. The DLC choices will reflect characters not on that list and I think I can write.
So go vote for who you want to see as a DLC route, but again, no promises.
