(A/N) I am so sorry this is almost a week late, you guys! I'd like to say that life got in the way and I just distracted with something like finals, or like I was having surgery or something, but… well, the truth is much worse. Ya see, when I wrote the first draft, I made a copy and labeled it "edit" for the second draft that I would later publish and I just ended up forgetting about it? I made the copy that I would edit, and never actually edited it… Yeah. So, naturally, when I went to publish this on the 31st, I opened it up and realized, "wow! This is a pile of crap!" so I've spent the last few days sitting at my computer editing this chapter. I'm so sorry, guys.

Either way, I hope you enjoy this.

Act 2

Chapter 1

"I don't think this is right," Ren told his three comrades as they set the table in the most romantic setting in the entire school, the botanical gardens, "Manipulating others into doing something they're not ready for just doesn't seem like a good idea." Nora jumped down from the nearby archways after setting up a spotlight and rigging the sunlamps to respond to the touch of a button on her scroll.

"Oh come on, Ren!" She whined, jumping onto his shoulders lithely but being too light to make him falter in his mission, "You know nothing is going to happen if we don't push them towards it. They're just too… mellow."

"That's right," Grey affirmed, stepping in with a special meal he had cooked just for the occasion and setting it in the middle of the round table but making sure not to mess up the pink tablecloth, "Jaune is completely clueless when it comes to Pyrrha's feelings, so he's not going to make a move, and Pyrrha is just too… Pyrrha to do it herself. The only way they're going to end up together is if we help them. As Nora said, we just need to give them a little push. Just a little nudge is all it's going to take."

"I don't think this qualifies as little," Ren questioned.

"Hey, trust me," Grey grinned, wiping his hands on his apron, "This will work. I know my cousin. The only thing I'm worried about is Jaune. The guy is as awkward as a penguin renting a tuxedo, so he's definitely the wild card in this plan."

"Psh! It'll be fine!" Nora said casually, waving off Grey's concerns, "He's not that big of a dope."

"Key word being," Ren said, crossing his arms after he finished setting the table, "'Not that big' of a dope."

"Let's be honest, though," Grey said, leaning against the table, waiting for the race to start, and knitting his eyebrows in a serious expression, "Jaune is one of the best leaders I've ever seen. He's smart, he thinks, he observes and he can make plan according to any situation. Not only that but he can change anything he has on the fly as if it were nothing. He's an exemplary tactician, and honestly, despite his lack of combat ability, he completely terrifies me." Running his hand through his hair, he thought for a moment before rubbing the grizzle that had formed on his chin, unaware of the nervous glance Nora and Ren shared between each other as they remembered that they were talking to a walking nuclear weapon. "Actually, that's not even the best part about him. What makes him one of the best team leaders in the school, if not the best, is how treats people. He's a great guy, really nice and quirky and easy to get along with, but it goes beyond that. He knows exactly what to say to anyone to keep your spirits up, how to comfort you, inspire you, motivate you, and I'm pretty sure he could completely psychologically destroy you if he wanted to but come on. That won't happen. What makes him a great leader is that he's just… he cares about everyone, no matter what, and I'm sure both of you can agree with that."

Ren and Nora looked at each other, thinking about what Grey had said. Sure, Jaune was quirky and awkward and not that great of a fighter, nor was he entirely confident in himself, and maybe he backed down from anything too difficult, but thing is, the utility pawn was right. Grey had perfectly explained everything great about Jaune. Ruby and Weiss had been having issues, as always, a few weeks ago, particularly when they first moved into the dorms, and he since Grey was on a mission for Glynda at the time, Jaune stepped in with a firm voice and ended their conflict peacefully. When Cardin had been bullying him, Jaune put himself in danger to protect his team, and then risked his life just to protect his tormentor. Team JNPR was also considered to be the happiest team at Beacon, having no issues because Jaune could resolve them as soon as they came. When in battle during any kind training exercise, Jaune coordinated every one of his teammates perfectly to take down every single weak point in the enemy's lines. Even beyond that, he coordinated his own efforts to provide immediate aid to any other team that was in danger, then head back to the front lines wherever it was necessary. He was a tactical prodigy and a relational saint. It was safe to say that he was friends with everyone at Beacon. All except for Team CRDL who were known as the school bullies, but with a team like them who only valued strength and seeing such a weak man become one of the most beloved personalities in the academy, their hatred of him was to be expected.

Then, there was Pyrrha. As the group waited for their cue, Grey explained to them that when they first met, Jaune was an overbearing, occasionally inappropriate and audacious flirt with almost every girl he saw, and Pyrrha was no exception. Perhaps with her celebrity status, men hitting on her could be expected to be a daily occurrence, but the thing that attracted her to Jaune, not in spite of his shameless attitude but because of it, was that he didn't even know who she was and treated her the same as he did everyone else, like she was a normal person and not a goddess among men. Even when Jaune figured out who she was after Weiss referenced Pyrrha's cereal endorsement, his moment of fan worship only lasted a brief moment. He just didn't care about her status. Pyrrha was used to being an idol. She was a very prominent public figure, twice as kind as she was attractive, and average citizens and celebrities alike fawned over like a divine relic that had to be worshiped, and Jaune stood out to her because he treated her genuinely, just like he would anyone else. As Pyrrha's big brother figure, Grey noted pleasantly noted that.

They were the kind of people who you know they should be together, but never actually took that step, so Grey had taken it upon himself to try to push them towards one another. They were perfect for each other, but they clearly needed help. Nora shared this thought, so when she caught Grey making plans to ambush them with this date, this spontaneous matchmaking, she didn't hesitate to join him, even dragging a reluctant Ren into the mix.

A blast of wind suddenly shot through the gardens, followed by a small cyclone of rose petals. The trio could see the mist of crimson causing the gust, stirring up the petals in an organized direction, leaving a trail of them leading from the door to the table and peppering the floor around it. When the mist had finished its artwork, the mist surrounded Grey's head until the visual effect died down enough to reveal Ruby mounting Grey's shoulders like a champ, admiring her work as she rested her chin on her fist on top of her friend's head.

"I think I did a-okay!" she said confidently, "What do you guys think?" Ren was the first to speak up.

"It's going to be a huge mess to clean up," he groaned. Nora smacked him.

"Don't be a buzzkill, Ren," she admonished, then waved her hands in his face hypnotically, "Just sit back and enjoy the romance as it commences. We will NOT leave here without someone getting smooched. Let them snog in peace, Ren! You don't want to be known as the guy who's against love, do you? Huh? Mr. Anti-Cupid?" The quiet boy looked like he was about to argue, but before he could complain, an alarm like a fog horn went off on all of the group's scrolls.

"Places everybody!" Grey commanded harshly. Everyone sprinted to where Grey had planned for them to go without a moment's hesitation, even Ren who although he hid his true feelings well, was deeply invested in Jaune and Pyrrha's relationship, and even though he thought this was the wrong way to go about it, he wasn't about to fight it.

Nora was the first one to hit her mark. Her hammer was hooked up to the fuse box and her semblance would allow her to control each and every electric mechanism in the gardens with a flick of her wrist. Ren hid himself in the back of the greenhouse where more mechanical tools would be used to aid in their mission, being the best one to stealthily applicate their uses. Ruby and Grey on the other hand, hid behind the nearest wall. Ruby was delegated to record the new couple's date so someone could turn it into a romantic dvd to show them afterwards, whereas Grey used the position as a vantage point to give orders over the group's scrolls when necessary. They waited for a moment, quietly. Everyone's heart was pounding as they waited for the call to arms, feeling as if they were going to war instead of managing their friend's date. It was the calm before the storm. Then, Jaune walked into the gardens. The poor farm boy had no clue exactly what was going on as he examined the area, the rose petals scattered around him, the dimmed lights, and the candle lit dinner before him. His face was as red as Rubies cape.

"This is… a little much," he said incredulously, pulling a folded piece of paper out his pocket and reading it again for probably the thousandth time that day, "Why would they ask to meet me here?"

"What did you put in that letter, anyway?" Ruby asked Grey, her voice just barely above a whisper.

"Oh, just stuff Pyrrha would say if she wasn't such a pansy," Grey explained in an equally quiet voice, "Stuff like how she fell for him the moment they met, how he loved the way he treated her, how he was an amazing friend… Sure, I had to leave Pyrrha's name out of it, but obviously I did my job right since he came. Now we just have to wait for my baby cousin." As if on cue, Pyrrha crashed through the door shortly after Jaune, brandishing both her sword and her shield like she was about ready to challenge the armies of Hell.

"Grey," Nora's voice came over his scroll, "What exactly did you tell Pyrrha?" He grinned psychotically when he answered.

"I used my private communication link that Glynda gave me to pretend I was a rogue hunter that had kidnapped her crush," he explained with a cheeky tone to his voice, "Just watch, dangit." Pyrrha's eyes darted throughout the garden, seeking out any potential threats to destroy, until her eyes fell on her team leader. She didn't sheathe her weapons or even let the famous Arsen-Nikos glare drop from her face as she backed up to him, covering him from any attack from any angle.

"Jaune?" she asked urgently, "Are you alright? Where is the mercenary that kidnapped you?" Jaune blinked at her, now beyond confused as to what was going on.

"Pyrrha?" he stammered, "What are you talking about? What's going on? What are you even doing here?"

The guardian of Team JNPR blinked back at him, possibly even more confused than her leader was, enough so that her guard dropped slightly when she heard Jaune's perplexity. It took her a moment to gather her wits. Since she arrived, she was so deep into battle mode that she didn't take complete stock of the area, and just then decided to observe, and she finally saw the romantic setting. The roses, the candles, the smell of roast duck and alfredo pasta hit her senses like a round from a military tank, and a blush that coordinated well with the fiery red of her hair crept up to her cheeks.

"Oh… OH," she sputtered, "Oh my god, this is… wow. OK, um… Jaune, what is this?" The two stared at each other for a long moment in silence, unsure what to do, clueless as to what to say, both of their faces burning on the brink of tears. The tension was so thick that if anyone moved an inch, they felt the earth would swallow them up. Jaune broke the silence with a loud and awkward laugh.

"OK guys," he called out to the emptiness of the area, not truly knowing if anyone was there but accurately assuming the possibility, "This was a good prank. It was fun while it lasted but you can come out now." Pyrrha looked like she wasn't sure if she should be hurt or embarrassed. He didn't set this up? Even if he didn't, did he really not want to go along with it?

"If any of you move," Grey growled over the intercom to his team, hopefully quietly enough so the group's prey wouldn't hear him, "I will personally make you learn ten thousand ways to say 'sorry' and 'thank you sir may I have another." The four heard Nora giggle on her end.

"Kinky," she joked.

"Shut up, Nora," the other three snapped at her.

The group watched in silence as their friends shifted uncomfortably in each other's presence. They wouldn't meet one another's eyes. The group of four who had devised this encounter gritted their teeth in frustration as they watched Jaune continue to prance around and call out to anyone who may have been watching, preferably who this setup was really meant for. He knew he wasn't likely to get an answer, but he kept calling anyway. His crush on the other hand, now calmed down from her earlier murderous intent, closed up her body and rubbed her shoulders nervously, probably feeling ignored and unnoticed by the man she desperately wanted the attention of. She was thinking, like she was trying to push herself towards something. Grey knew almost immediately what that was.

"Nora?" He asked.

"Already on it," she confirmed, then flickered a spotlight on and off over the table to try to boost her confidence. Jaune and Pyrrha glanced at the fine dining, to each other, then the realization that this environment had been made specifically with them in mind made their eyes go wide. Jaune rubbed the back of his neck bashfully, and smiled uncomfortably at his teammate.

"So…" he stammered, "I… I think I know what's going on, Pyrrha…"

"Well…" she said quietly with a large amount of hope and nervousness in her voice, "While this dinner is here, we might as well not let it go to waste, right?" Jaune looked at her, more stunned than anyone else in the room felt at the warrior's sudden outburst of confidence. A wave of tension in the onlookers' chests had been removed, now replaced with anticipation. How would Jaune react? Pyrrha had just taken the bait and officially asked Jaune out, so would he say yes and start their relationship, or say no and break her heart?

"I… I guess we can…" he said quietly.

"Guys, do your thing!" Grey commanded. Things were pushed into motion then, Nora and Ren both fulfilling their roles. Nora sent her biological electricity through the fuse box, controlling all of the lights to dim so low they were almost shut off, except for a single spotlight over the couple's table. At the same time, on a separate system, Ren flipped a few switches on a hijacked soundboard in the very back of the garden. Grey had come to the gardens the day previously to set up a specially made system designed just for the occasion and hooked it up to a spare generator he had found, and thanks to Ren, the best romantic music playlist ever devised started to play.

Grey watched with a grin breaking across his cheeks as he gave commands to his three companions, keeping his eyes on his cousin and her soon to be boyfriend as they slowly grew closer and closer. It took a few minutes, but Jaune finally came to grips with what was happening. While their favorite song played over the air, the blonde shakingly poured his woman a glass of sparkling cider, to which she gratefully took, crossing her legs casually and leaning forward with a bright smile. Things were finally going her way. A blush creeping up her cheeks, she watched joyously as Jaune returned her expression and they began talking as something other than friends and allies, Jaune at once treating her not as a teammate, but as a woman, and Pyrrha suddenly able to take that one terrifying step outside of the friend zone. Grey, on the other hand, was doing everything he could to make this movement as perfect as he could. The garden operated on its own clockwork schedule, so with Ren having done his part on the sound system, he used his dexterous skills as a huntsman and focused on discretely taking care of the plants while Nora shut down the sprinklers and humidifiers as they began to operate, trying to avoid any distractions the couple might have, while still taking care of the plants. The poisons and medicines made from them were very important to the school, so they couldn't let them die just so they could play matchmaker.

It didn't take long before Jaune and Pyrrha were laughing in one another's arms. After they finished up their dinner, Ren switched the playlist to a more playful sound, and the pair began dancing with each other, holding their arms around their partner and allowing their bodies to mold into one. They partied to a few songs, but at a suggestion from Ruby, Ren switched to a slower, more affectionate tone, which ended in Pyrrha wrapped up at Jaune's chest, her head buried under the crook of his neck, with the dreamiest grin she had ever worn breaking out across her lips.

"This is just perfect…" she declared, "But what is that beeping…?"

(...)

Beep… Beep… BEEEEEP! A second ago, the room had only been filled with groaning as the most annoying response to one of the most grating noises human and faunus kind will ever know began repeating, but what made everyone jump out of their skin was the sound of the alarm clock hitting the wall and shattering into pieces.

"Are you kidding me?!" Grey yelled, his aura spreading across the dorm so aggressively that the furniture shook like an earthquake, rousing the rest of Team RWBY from their sleep. Yang had fallen from the top bunk of her bed and face planted on the ground, yet somehow managed to stay asleep, Blake had leapt from the covers and was now hiding underneath her own bunk, peeking out behind the mesh bedskirt, Ruby was flailing behind her curtain while shouting a tirade of angry curses, and Weiss was doing nothing more than glaring at him from across the room, holding the covers up to her chest almost protectively.

"What's the matter with you?!" Weiss was the first one to shout. The B and Y of Team RWBY were too incapacitated to do anything and the R was still fumbling with her drapes.

"I was having the most pleasant dream you could ever imagine…" Grey grumbled, rubbing his dry eyes stiffly.

"I swear if it was about Glynda again…" Weiss let the threat hang in the air. Everyone on the Team, particularly Yang who took an invested interest, knew about Grey's recurring dream about the school's naughty teacher, but the other three had expressed how much they didn't want to hear about it. To respond to the accusation, Grey gave her a deadpanned look and checked under his sleeping bag.

"Uh, nope. All dry down here." He looked back up and could only smirk satisfyingly at the rich girl's embarrassed blush, but before she could throw something at him from her nightstand, probably a knife since she had enough of them to make Ruby, the team's self proclaimed weapon's addict, jealous, Grey stood up in his briefs and white tee shirt and explained what had happened with Arkos in his unconscious mind and how to try to make it happen for real. To make up for making them panic, though, he decided to make the girls' morning coffee and tea as he explained. Blake, the ever despondent goth child of the clique, decided to stay silent and try to listen in from behind the bathroom door as she brushed her teeth. As soon as Grey got to the part about the rose petals, Ruby woke up fully and jumped out of bed to listen more closely, but Weiss waited patiently in bed for Grey to bring her a mug of coffee- milk and two sugars which he memorized quickly -but even though this seemed like he was waiting on her hand and foot, this special treat wasn't unique to her. Even though he did this for her every morning, he made it clear that he would do for it literally anyone else if they asked for it. Weiss just the only one who had taken advantage of the claim.

After living with him for a few weeks, the girls were surprised at just how caring of a personality such a dark presence like Grey could be. Even though he was a demon on the battlefield, often being compared to a living nuclear warhead, he was a complete angel everywhere else. He was the kind of person who always took someone else's point of view and feelings into account before he made any decision, and tailored his approach depending on what he felt that person needed and what would be best for them, refusing to push his own standard on them if they didn't want it. For Weiss, he let her do her own thing, but always paid attention to her, talked with her, brought her something if she asked for it, but always put his foot down if he felt he was being taken advantage of, knowing she needed a bit more attention than most others regardless of how the attention was expressed; she was lonely. For Ruby, he would be more energetic in the mornings by making the routine fun for her. This would mean fast paced music, throwing discarded clothes at her face, maybe wrestling with her on the floor to keep her entertained; she was affectionate. For Yang, who often slept in too late like today, he kicked her a few times until she woke up. When that didn't work, he started fondling her hair, pretending to style it, which infuriated her and would be the only thing that would wake her up most days; she was lazy. For Blake, he was even more hands off than he was with Weiss. He would just set a cup of tea on her nightstand, maybe a textbook they would need for homework later or a fictional one he thought she would enjoy, and ignored her until he felt she needed something else. If that were the case, he'd ask, but mostly he'd wait for her to say something.

In some ways, he was the team's mom, but he just felt he was just doing what a good friend should do. Is listening to someone really that outrageous?

The dorm was surprisingly big, even for five students, but with everything the girls and Grey, the unofficial fifth member, had brought from home, it was noticeably much smaller than it should have been, to the point of being uncomfortably stifling. To alleviate this, Ruby had the idyllic and foolish plan to make bunk beds that would never pass any safety codes. Ruby's was tied to the ceiling with an elaborate system of hooks and lashes, covered in a curtain to give her a bit of privacy and make the space her own, and would probably break the ceiling eventually. Yang's was atop Blake's using an unstable pillar of books precariously placed on each of the bedposts, making the bed most likely to crush the girl underneath with the slightest breeze, and yet both of the top bunks were surprisingly stable. Who knew breaking the laws of physics was so easy?

Aside from the prominent safety hazard every night, living together wasn't all that easy at first. It went without saying that every roommate has their own quirks, behaviors, and wants to live in their own space their own way, but most of the gripes that came from the arrangement showed them just how incompatible they were to live together. They were all so different that every minor gripe usually exploded into a full blown war. Across the hall, Team JNPR, whom had transitioned rather nicely, tried to help their hallmates but with no success and often with the other Team's anger ending up directed at them. When Ren tried to ask Yang to turn down her music so Weiss could study, Yang burned him. When Jaune tried to ask Ruby to try to be quiet when playing her games so Yang could hear her music, Ruby launched him back into his own dorm with crescent rose. When Pyrrha tried to convince Weiss to allow her compatriots to maintain their right to be messy, even she got a stern lecture on cleanliness and efficiency. Nora probably had the best luck when talking to Blake about not mixing her books with Ruby's video games, but Blake still turned on her with the violent fury of an alley cat. Nora just responded in kind, but the problem with that was that forcing the other person into submission wasn't going to be healthy for the team in the long run.

Eventually, the girls were able to compromise so they would be able to live peacefully. It wasn't any secret that for the team to actually be successful, they would have to be able to get along, and that meant trying to find some way to pull their battlefield chemistry into the dorm room so they would find some way to settle arguments peacefully. Of course, considering Beacon was combat school, peace wasn't an option. The physical education of Beacon was meant to train the students to be effective warriors, so instead of using diplomacy to settle a dispute, they used trial by combat. They were being trained to be huntsman, to be able to take down grimm and humans alike, so whenever the occasion came where the class would be sparring each other instead of a training simulation, whichever pair of the girls was having problems would go at each other until a victor emerged who would then be get to decide how things in the dorm would be run. It was a clearly the best way for these passionate individuals to relieve stress.

Grey didn't end up moving his sleeping bag into their dorm until after they learned not to try to kill each other every hour. The only issue now, was trying to make it to classes on time.

(...)

Professor Goodwitch wrote down a few notes with a swish and stepped over to the officiator's seat, Yang and Grey stepping over to different sides of the arena to set up for the fight. This had been the first time the pair had ever fought, only having been picked for this match after running in after the class was half over since Yang took too long in the shower and Grey didn't want her to be the only one to get scolded, so they analyzed their opponent carefully. Grey saw how she was light on her feet, switching her stance carelessly, without thought, with one hand up and the other by her ribs, symbolizing her mastery as a martial artist. Unfortunately, it didn't come naturally to her. It was clear by the way her back hand, her dominant one, was practically bouncing up and down, instinctively trying to guard her jaw, that she had problems with her defense. As for Grey, he had the opposite problem. Whereas Yang was agile and lithe as a brawler, Grey style had him rooted in place, only moving to avoid something he couldn't defend against, like a last resort. The two of them were the top two unarmed fighters at Beacon Academy, but if they were ever compared to the professional or graduate level, this sparring match would seem like little more than an intense slap fight, every flaw and mistake in their technique being noticeable to real huntsmen.

With a ding of the bell, Yang sprinted forward. Grey thought she would use her concussion shells to get a burst of speed forward, even giving a bit of leverage behind her first punch, but Grey was wrong, because she had waited until her opponent was just within striking distance before she used that technique. With a blast behind her, she shot forward. The shield bearer reflexively brought up a wall to guard against a punch towards his head, but that was just a feint and he was rewarded immediately with a knee to his stomach. He was propelled backwards from the force, but used a shield to stop his momentum, landing on his feet, only to get hit by a series of concussion shells from Yang's gauntlets. Yang had create distance, a fatal flaw for boxers, and Grey mistakenly refused that advantage. He had to get the upperhand.

With no small amount of effort, he expanded a bubble a force from his body in all directions. Creating the three dimensional barrier wasn't that difficult. The hard part was actually trying to keep it in place and still be able to fight with it. Yang tried to punch through it, but Grey held his own. For Yang, with the current power she possessed, trying to break through his aura guard was like trying to punch through a concrete pillar, since as long as he wasn't moving or fighting back, he could focus his effort on strengthening his defense and repair the damage to it faster than Yang could cause it. The problem was that with his barrier around him, Grey couldn't fight back. That meant that things were at a stand still. Turtling through an assault wasn't going to defeat your opponent, so he examined Yang's moves and waited for her to open her guard, and suddenly, his patience was rewarded. Yang put all of her power into one aerial strike, so Grey turned off his semblance, and when her strike missed its target, Grey made his move. He grabbed her arm, pushed against her elbow, and slammed her into the ground beneath him. From here, he launched himself into the air and went to slam a shield downward where she was pinned to the ground, but she had quickly moved outside the range of the blast, and connect with him again, returning to her barrage of attacks from earlier.

Yang was too slow, though. Grey righted himself quickly enough to put up his guard before she returned to the offense. She threw a few punches, a few jabs and a cross followed by an uppercut, stepped forward to stomp his foot which he back stepped from, turned to elbow him, and he managed to block everything. He refused to use his shields. Yang was able to stay on the offensive, but she wasn't as effective against him at this close of a distance, so he wasn't about to give her the opportunity to shoot him again. When she threw a kick to his jaw, Grey saw an opening and began his own attack. He parried the kick and landed a jab to Yang's nose, then to her stomach, headbutted her, then uppercutted her with a series of shields adding to the impact. Yang was airborne now, unable to breath, unable to think, completely dazed. Blinded, she felt Grey land a powerful kick on her that sent her flying to the ground, followed up the same semblance technique as before, creating a crater in the stone tiles underneath her.

Grey was too slow. The minute his feet hit the ground, he charged her, knowing he had only a limited window of opportunity to win, but when he charged, Yang's fiery golden aura knocked him off his feet.

It was Yang's biggest advantage. The more of a beating she took, the more of a beating she could return, and she wasn't about to waste this strength her opponent granted her. If he was on the ground, then she could easily beat him. Pushing herself forward, she pulled her fist back and put everything she had into one punch that Grey wouldn't be able to block. He tried. He planted his feet and put up the thickest shield he could manage, but the wall shattered like glass against her might, the punch landing easily and sending him back against the wall. Grey wasn't done yet, though. Because of his semblance, he had one of the strongest auras in the school, and one punch even from Yang's super form, her hair glowing like the sun, wasn't enough to take him down. He righted himself for another attack, and thrust his arms forward. A loud ratatatata sounded across the arena as 5mm shells tore at Yang's aura, but they only served to make her stronger. Grey cursed himself. As Yang grabbed his fist and began slamming him around like a ragdoll or a bullwhip, he could only think about how using a machine gun to try to slow her down was a really bad idea while consciousness slowly left him.

"Miss Xiao-Long, that's enough!" Professor Goodwitch shouted at the girl, "Yang!" The brawler stopped when she heard Professor Goodwitch use her first name, a familiarity she always avoids. Her aura left her in waves at the woman's panicked face. It was a slow process for Yang to come down from a super form that potent, but when she was finally able to process the other students running around in fright, grabbing first aid kits and calling up the infirmary, when she saw Grey's broken, bloodied body inches away from death, she realized how badly she messed up. She couldn't move, she couldn't breath. She fell to her knees in shock, and Ruby and Blake had to pull her to her feet and keep her from losing her mind once more.

A few hours later, Grey was sipping on some chicken noodle soup, made special by Ruby, while being bedridden and surrounded by teams RWBY and JNPR as they doted over his injuries. His right arm was in a sling, his ribs covered in medicinal herbs, a brace around his neck, one leg propped up by a hospital pulley, a cast over his left arm, and the majority of his face was covered in bandages. Pyrrha was glaring at Yang, who was in tears over the development and promising to make it up to Grey. The champion, unable to process her frustration over her cousin's condition, had made it a mental note to take Yang down in the practice arena next chance she got, even if that meant her own expulsion. The team leaders, Jaune and Ruby, tried to keep the peace.

"At least you know what works, right Yang?" Jaune said good naturedly even though he worried it would spark more conflict.

"That's right," Grey affirmed, giving the farm boy a frustrated look since that was the opposite of what he should have said, "You do that in a real fight, and you'll easily secure a victory. Although, if it's a tournament bout, you just have to make sure you know when to stop, or else…" he gestured to his face with a joking smirk, and Yang managed to laugh through her tears and wiped her face.

"Yeah, I guess so," she agreed, laughing through her quiet sobbing and wiping her face.

"I still think Grey should have won," Nora said, wearing a sultry nurse's outfit and playing with a syringe so big it made Grey's breath hitch in his throat, "The only real mistake he made was using a machine gun attachment instead of something stronger."

"I still don't think I would have won Nora," Grey mused, "With Super Yang being an issue, the only thing that would really help me would either be to keep her at a distance which would only make her stronger because I would have to use my guns and semblance to do it, or getting in close and not allowing myself to be hit once until I take her down which isn't that good of an idea either considering she's a close combat expert. At best, all I can really do is wear her down slowly and pray."

"And that's even if her aura has a limit to it," Blake spoke up, putting down her medical textbook, "If she gets more powerful the more damage she suffers, to me, that sounds like she can't be defeated because no matter how much damage she takes, she'll still be able to fight. It's like the only way you'll be able to ever beat her is to hit her so hard that even her semblance can't withstand it."

"YEAH!" Nora cheered with a gravely voice, pumping her arms up to flex her biceps in preparation for her next fight with Yang. Jaune nodded thoughtfully. If anyone in the school would be able to take her down, it was probably going to be Nora.

"Guys, stop! You're making me blush!" Yang pleaded, turning around and covering her burning cheeks. Pyrrha scoffed, having been silent up until that point.

"Oh, yes. Please stop, guys," she complained sarcastically, "You have to remember that if she's not careful, she might get angry enough at you to put you in the hospital. Oh, hello, Grey! When did you get here?" She turned to her cousin with a dangerous smile, but recoiled when he turned to her with a look of pure fury in his eyes, his eyes shifting a bit to resemble his other half. He wanted to tell her off, but with the tension that was already in the room, he decided to play things a different way.

"Hey, Jaune, do you think you could go to Team RWBY's room and get my notebook for Professor Port's class?" He said, leaning towards the boy so he could hear him better but not taking his eyes off of his rude cousin. "It's all kind of cluttered so you'll have to take Pyrrha with you so she can help you navigate through everything."

"Yeah, sure. Let's go Pyrrha," he agreed, knowing full well what his friend was doing. Jaune's partner looked like she wanted to argue, but the girl looked between everyone, judged the mood of the room, and realized she was only making things worse so she decided to leave with her friend. She wasn't normally able to process strong emotions like this one. Having spent years in the spotlight, she had to remain restrained and dignified, keeping up the perfect little warrior princess motif, so seeing her best friend almost die during training made her lose her normal composure. When she understood exactly what impact her frustration was having on everyone, she felt terrible. She would have to apologize to Yang later. The guilt would kill her otherwise, if the burning pain of regret didn't do it first, or the rejection at Grey trying to get rid of her. She looked over her shoulder briefly, a sad look in her eye, before following Jaune outside of the hospital. Once the door was closed, Grey remembered something in the following silence.

"Wait a minute…" he said to himself, thinking back on earlier that day, "Hey, guys. I have an idea." Grey put on one of the deadliest, most conniving smirks anyone in the room had ever seen on him, and Ren could immediately understand what was going through his mind judging by that potent, very specific feel of his aura, a feeling that was worrisome enough to make him speak up.

"This has to do with Arkos, doesn't it?" Ren asked, his eyes opening widely. Grey only answered the phrase by widening his grin and pulling everyone into a huddle.

"So here's the plan…"

(A/N) Now, be honest here. Was this everything you expected or not? Did I build it up properly? Did I blow your socks off or make you prepare to have your socks blown off? Am I going to receive death threats for screwing with your heads on Arkos?

Besides that, the school setting and redoing it the way I have has given me a lot of ideas on how to better what I had planned previously, how to redo the events I put in, how to make the character development and relationships more believable and just BETTER, as well as filling in some plot holes I couldn't answer from the original script. Some of these ideas I have will be in the next chapter, some will be sprinkled throughout Act 2 and others within the rest of the book, but just so I can sate you with some kind of ambiguously stated plot details to keep your interest, a new major character will be introduced in Act 2 Chapter 2 that I had originally debuted halfway through Act 4, but made no sense that far in the story. She, and her character's backstory, and her relationship to the main RWBY cast are all not only plot relevant, but explain a huge half of how the story is supposed to work, the lore behind it, etc. BUT just so we're clear, next chapter will only be her debut. Very little, if any details of what I just listed about this character will be explained next chapter.

For now, be satisfied that I can promise you a good story. The first version of Act 2 was so poorly written that it was even shorter than Act 1 and started out on a point of major conflict that should have come only after the story had, ya know, progressed. Last time, what I did was just start the Act off with a failed concept and ran with it, making the entire Act rely on that one idea instead of diversifying it and progressing an actual storyline. Basically, there was no plot in the first version- just conflict that ended with a poorly resolved premise. All of Act 2 was literally nothing more than an exposition dump, and my Beautiful Hunters deserve more than that. Believe me, I know I pissed off a lot of Arkos shippers, myself included, by making the most romantic scene imaginable for the pair a dream sequence, but this actually opened up the door for proper plot progression, better plot progression. Granted, I could have just made Arkos canon in this chapter, but no. Considering how the story is going to progress, this is much better, and you're going to have to trust me on that until certain events happen later for you to see that for yourself. Arkos will be canon, but not yet.

Have a pleasant month, Beautiful Hunters! May the favor of the gods be with you.