The Name of the Game

by literalsin

A man from Earth wakes up to find himself stuck in the body of a fictional teenage boy with an ability that turns his life into a video game and foreknowledge of events to come. What could possibly go wrong? A take on the RWBY/Gamer crossover niche with an SI twist, a focus on world and character building, and fleshing out some of the details RT missed. Rated 'M' for a reason.

18. Into the Fold

The Name of the Game

a RWBY/The Gamer crossover, SI.

Arc 5: Bent Penny

Chapter 18: Into the Fold

---

My head rang. Not in the sense that I'd been hit, but in an actual ring tone—specifically, This Will Be the Day, one of Ruby's many image songs. Slowly cracking open one eye, I was met by a floating display asking whether I'd like to answer or hang up. 'Oh, right. Scroll in Inventory or equipped means my Semblance can access its functions.'

Cracking a yawn, I focused on the green 'answer' icon. "Mm yellow."

"Um… Jaune? Hi, sorry, it's Ruby. Ruby Rose. We met yesterday—well, last night really… Uh, did I wake you up?"

'What time is it?' I wondered, glancing at my HUD clock. Noon. Normal people are awake by noon, usually—even teenagers. Remembering that she was expecting an answer, I stifled another yawn and rolled over enough to pull the warm, lithe body next to me closer—Melanie, I think. It didn't particularly matter overmuch, considering both the twins and Neo were there at the moment. "Yes, but that's okay. I was going to get up soon anyway. What's up?"

The girl on the other end chuckled once, sounding almost embarrassed, before she seemed to perk up. "Well, you said if I was in town and wanted to hang out, I could call, sooo… Want to hang out?"

I didn't need Observe to tell me what she was feeling—she was hiding it well, but I could hear the tint of loneliness in her voice. Well, at least she wasn't yet so afraid of rejection that she'd stopped reaching out. Ahh, I knew the whole 'social awkwardness' thing, and its bigger, meaner sibling 'social anxiety.' Stretching out, I felt something pop in my back and let out a quiet sigh. "Sounds fun. Let me get showered and dressed and I'll meet you in an hour."

"Ah! Wait! You don't know where I am," she blurted as I was about to hang up.

I snorted once, quietly. I could've just pulled up my map, but I didn't need to. "Want to bet?"

"Okay, then. Where am I?" she asked, her voice taking on a challenging, amused lilt. No, growing up with Yang hadn't made her competitive at all…

"That's easy," I grinned, closing my eyes and bringing up Listen. "Wind. Traffic sounds quiet… So you're perched on top of a building, but it's your surroundings that give away where you are. You're in the Commercial District, center, just north of the river. The tallest building on that block is a red brick building, two down from a Chinese place. In fact, if you look… behind you, you could probably see my apartment from there."

"How did you know?" Ruby asked a moment later, curiosity plainly evident.

Chuckling, I could picture the street in my mind. "The Chinese place? They've got their little girl out there during lunch hour, ringing a bell and shouting off the day's lunch special. Today's special: orange chicken."

There was a long pause, followed by a shuffling sound and then footsteps. After a moment, the footsteps stopped and Ruby hummed. "Huh. I guess you're right. So, an hour?"

"Yep," I agreed, hanging up. I made to roll over, only to be grabbed from behind.

"So," Miltia asked from behind me, a grin evident in her voice. "Is she cute?"

I turned enough to shoot her an amused look. Before I could answer, however, Neo beat me to it. "Adorable, really. See for yourself," the ice cream themed girl answered, holding out her scroll to Miltia as, in front of me, Melanie rolled over to have a look herself.

"Positively saccharine," Melanie rolled her eyes. "But is she strong."

I met her eyes and grinned. "Oh, yeah. Ozpin invited her to Beacon himself. Last night. After we had a nice little spar."

"How much were you holding back?" Neo asked, raising an eyebrow.

I rolled my eyes. "That's not a fair question, really. So, with only the stuff I typically use as Shiro… not much. But then, she was holding back too, for one thing. For another, it was a horrible match-up. Speed verses speed always comes down to a few deciding factors: acceleration, strength, stamina, and reach being the most important. She had me on acceleration and reach, and she hits like a bus… but I've got her by a mile on stamina, and our movement options are opposed. She's straight-line fast but kind of sucks at changing direction quickly over distance, but she's smaller and way more agile than I am. At short range, she can get little bursts of speed but nothing like what I can pull at a moment's notice with Haste and Flash Step, and I'm a little more maneuverable due to various elemental magics at work. Instant short range speed verses instant long range speed. In other words, it turns into a battle to see who misses dodging first, and then who can take the most hits. I've got a good feeling she'll overcome that weakness shortly."

"So, cute and strong," Miltia mused aloud before a smirk spread over her lips. "I want to meet her. Tonight. Invite her over."

Shaking my head, I dug myself out of the pile of bodies and made for the shower. "You're not going to get her into bed like that," I warned.

I watched the girls exchange an amused look before Miltia continued. "I'm not going to scare her off, Jaune."

"I never said that," I denied.

Three eye-rolls were the response to that. "You were thinking it," Melanie countered.

"Don't worry Jaune," Neo grinned. "We'll be gentle."

I ignored the jibe and regarded Miltia. "You want to invite another girl over on your date night? Are you certain?"

"Absolutely," the twin nodded. "It'll be fun."

Knowing a losing argument when I saw one, I sighed, nodding in concession. "Fine. Now, I need to shower."

The three girls traded looks before throwing out their hands. Three shakes later, the results came out as: paper, rock, rock. Miltia smirked, hopping off the bed and taking my hand, dragging me towards the shower. "Well, what are you waiting for? A shower sounds nice right about now."

I rolled my eyes and allowed myself to be dragged away. Behind us, I heard Neo laugh quietly and Melanie sigh. "I swear she cheats."

---

"That is kind of cool," Ruby admitted, eying my line launcher as I touched down. "Where'd you get it? Or did you make it yourself?"

A small grin pulled at my lips as I answered, "No, I didn't make it myself. My older sister got it for me for work. It just turns out that it's really useful outside of work, too."

The small girl raised an eyebrow. "You have a job? What do you do?"

"Part-time," I agreed. "As for what I do, well… I suppose you could say I started out as a glorified delivery boy, but now I co-run a small company. The old owner was kind of a jerk and ran the business into the ground before he skipped town, so we've kind of got our work cut out putting it back together and making it into something Vale can be proud of."

"Wow," she blinked, then shook her head. "I thought you were going to be a Hunter. I mean, Professor Ozpin did invite you to Beacon, and you accepted..."

Nodding, I moved across the rooftop and looked down towards the Chinese place, where the girl was just putting away her bell and heading back inside. "I am. There's no rule that says I can't do both. Besides, I trust my partner to keep the place from falling apart while I'm busy. But even if I didn't, Vale's a ten minute Bullhead ride from the academy, at most. I can check in when I need to." Deciding to change the subject before she made me a liar, I asked, "So! What are we doing?"

The redhead took on an embarrassed look, rubbing at the back of her head as she hemmed, "Uh… I don't know?"

I rolled my eyes. "So, you were bored and wanted company?" She nodded, sheepishly. "Fair enough. Okay, then. Have you had lunch yet?"

"Not yet," she shook her head. "I forgot to ear breakfast, and when I called you I thought to myself, 'Well, why not wait and see if Jaune wants something too?' But… I'm not sure what I'm in the mood for."

I grinned, waving towards the street below. "How's Chinese sound? I hear the lunch special today is orange chicken."

"Ha ha ha. Ha. So funny," she stuck out her tongue. A moment later, her stomach rumbled loudly enough that I heard it from where I stood, over the sounds of wind and traffic below. "Actually, that sounds good."

Ruby, despite her tiny size, ate more than I did—by a lot. Three plates of chicken, rice, vegetables, the works. And then the fortune cookies. I have no idea how, but she sweet talked the owner of the store into parting with a bag full of the things when we made to leave. Since Ruby had had no specific plans in mind for the rest of the day beyond 'hang out,' I decided to pick the venue myself. Silently pulling up my map, I flipped through a few filters before finding what I was looking for. Adding the filter for local flight paths, I spotted a marker for a Bullhead heading in the general direction I wanted to go.

"So," I began as Ruby happily munched away on a fortune cookie, "I've got an idea of what we can do to kill some time."

The girl paused long enough to discard her small handful of fortunes and asked, "What did you have in mind?"

"It's a secret," I grinned, glancing at my minimap and seeing the Bullhead coming up. "The ride over should be fun, though. Hold onto your cookies."

"Wha—?" she began, only to blush as I stepped beside her and wrapped a hand around her waist. "Hey, wait a minute…" Ruby protested, only to cut off in a squeal as I fired my line launcher, snagged the passing Bullhead, and yanked us up over the buildings to dangle just below its underbelly. "Gah! Noo! My cookies!"

Looking down, I spotted the cookies in question tumbling through the air to land in amongst the pedestrians walking by. "I warned you," I smirked, resisting the urge to laugh.

The girl at my side growled, digging one pointy finger into my ribs. "You owe me cookies, mister!"

"I'll make up for it later," I promised, watching the markers for our destination on my HUD.

A short flight later found us dropping down in front of a large, domed building in the older sector of the Commercial District. Ruby looked around in curiosity before spotting the sign hanging over the main entrance to the old stadium: Vale Hunter's Association Proving Grounds – Weapon Range, Dust Experimentation, Combat Arena. Ruby 'squee'd!' and disappeared in a burst of rose petals, reappearing at the door, bouncing from one foot to another. "Come on, come on, come oooon!"

Smirking, I actually slowed my pace. "Patience, grasshopper," I teased. A moment later, I found her reappearing in front of me, a small hand wrapped around my own, and the world shifted as she dragged me to the door at speed. "Okay, I suppose patience is too much to ask."

We made our way inside, quickly finding what looked like the front office. From behind the counter, a receptionist looked up from a pink magazine before stowing it under the desk and beaming a smile our way. "Hello! Welcome to the Proving Grounds! What can I do for you today?"

Stepping up, I eyed the list of goods and services displayed on the wall behind the girl. "Two for the rifle range, first. Tell me, that combat arena, is that for sparring?"

The brunette grinned, shaking her head. "Not just for sparring, sir. While it has all the same functions of stadiums like those used for various official tournaments—having been a venue for such activities in the past for the city of Vale, before being phased out—it can also provide simulated environments and enemies using Dust powered hard light constructs to the user's specifications. If you decide to use that part of the facility, simply sync your scroll with the controls at the door and you can manipulate the settings as you see fit. There are various competitive modes, as well as team modes, and basic practice modes. All environments are procedurally generated, so no two matches will ever be quite the same."

"That actually sounds kind of cool. What do you think, Ruby?" I asked, turning to look at the girl.

The future Huntress in question had stars in her eyes as she nodded. "Can we?"

"Sure," I agreed, turning back to the receptionist. "Two for that, as well. Also, we'd like to buy some rounds—call it 1000 rounds of .338 and the same of… Ruby, what's your weapon chambered in?"

Calling attention to her weapon broke the slight trance the younger girl had been in. "The main rifle is chambered in .50 and the AR is chambered in .308."

I blinked, looking the weapon over again. "Wait," I asked, stepping closer and looking it over. "So this thing has three fire modes?"

"You noticed?" Ruby beamed, pulling her weapon into a hug against her chest. "Yeah, I may have went a little overboard. Fully deployed, Crescent Rose is a bolt action sniper rifle—I've even got a scope—in addition to a combat scythe. But I'm kind of small so recoil was a problem, until Uncle Qrow suggested I use it to my advantage. So, if I want to fire it in that mode I usually anchor her blade in the ground—otherwise, I can use it to throw myself around… but you saw that on the footage last night. Anyway! The second mode is actually a mid-range, bolt action rifle firing from my .50 caliber magazine and the same barrel, just in its compact form. Here, look," she put the weapon on the counter and began pointing out features.

"That's the .50 cal mag well there," she pointed towards a large magazine situated forward of her scope, under the bolt action. "Bolt action for the .50 there, trigger assembly down here," she patted the rear of the weapon. "The magazine well for the .308 is here," she pointed at another section, where I could just see it peeking out. "Ejection port actually doubles as the recessed area for my scope, so if I want to fire her in semi-auto, burst, or automatic I have to flip out the scope. And don't get me started on how much of a mess it was having to clean my scope every time I fired her and then folded her down into her compact form—it's why I have built in scope covers now… and I still have to do maintenance and cleaning every time I fire her." She looked suddenly apologetic, reaching down to pat the weapon. "Not that I mind though…"

Chuckling, I asked, "So, does the barrel for the .50 change bores or something to fire .308?"

"No, absolutely not!" Ruby shook her head vehemently. "That's entirely too likely to break, especially given the way I swing her around in close quarters." Sliding the weapon around, she pointed towards the end, where I could see the ends for not one but two barrels, the larger on top and in line with the large bolt action. "Now watch," she grinned, picking up the weapon and allowing it to expand into its full scythe configuration.

I nodded, looking at the bottom of the scythe where the second blade resided, connected to what I'd assumed was a handle. "So, the second barrel is the lower handle."

"Yes! Isn't she awesome?" Ruby gushed, once more pulling her weapon into a hug.

I couldn't resist this time. Reaching out, I mussed her hair, earning a pout as she began attempting to straighten it. "She's awesome. How much do you need?"

"Uhh, about 200 in .308 and 800 in .50, please," Ruby answered, smiling up at the receptionist.

The woman read off a number and Ruby winced and began reaching for her wallet. I shook my head and pulled my own out, pulling out a couple of large denomination bills. Seeing the smaller girl looked ready to say something, I decided to cut her off before she could start feeling guilty. "I chose the place, so don't worry about it. Besides, these are all fairly low-priced range rounds—likely grade 1, Burn, right?"

"Yes, sir," the brunette answered with a smile. "We have higher quality rounds if you'd prefer, but firstly, if you wanted anything above grade 1 I would have to ask for your student I.D.s, to make sure you're authorized for anything above that. Secondly, well…"

I finished for her. "It's a range, and we're going to be burning through a large volume of rounds. No point wasting expensive stuff on targets that don't bleed." Still, that bit about not being allowed to use certain grades of Dust was news to me. I'd have to ask someone later. I mean, I could see why it would be that way—Dust is dangerous stuff. In all likelihood, prospective Hunters probably gained access to higher grade Dust as they advanced in their schooling or something like that—which meant that I was shortcutting the system by using high-grade Dust, and it was probably illegal to some degree… which would explain both Ruby's hesitance and eagerness to accept the Dust I'd given her the night before. After all, if she wasn't technically allowed to use it yet, then getting her hands on some would have been a pretty big thing.

"It's not fair to you, though. I mean, you paid for lunch, too," Ruby pointed out, still looking unsure, and drawing me back to the present.

"And?" I rolled my eyes. "It's just lunch—20 lien ain't going to break the bank. Now, come on." Grabbing the two bags of ammunition, I began following the signs for the rifle range. "I want to see what your baby there can do."

We spent the first ten minutes or so chatting, mostly about Ruby's time at Signal, while we unloaded a few of our current magazines, stored our normal rounds, and replaced them with the rounds we'd purchased. I had long since grown inured to the mindless, repetitive action of reloading magazines or swapping out ammo to use practice rounds—I'd spent countless hours doing just that on Earth, after all—while for Ruby, it seemed to be just another facet of life. I suppose for someone who had been in a Hunter school for a couple of years, and who must've trained extensively with weapons even before that, it would have been a part of routine life after all.

Once we were done swapping out ammo, we took a few minutes to run a few magazines downrange to make sure everything was still as it should be—that nothing jammed, hung, failed to feed or eject, that our optics were still sighted in properly and hadn't come lose from some shock, and the like. It took me twice as long, since I had to do the same thing with both my rifles, but Ruby didn't complain—nor did I, really, given the fact that since they were actually targets, I was gaining experience for my Firearms Mastery and Dust Manipulation skills. I was mildly surprised that I could even gain EXP off of paper targets for Firearms Mastery, but I supposed it could be attributed to the fact that I was still familiarizing myself with the Blazefire Sabers.

After that, we had fun having a few short matches against each other, seeing who could score the highest. Ruby hit dead center every time, as I'd expected, but I was faster to switch targets and didn't have to manually cycle rounds—the benefits of a smaller rifle with semi-automatic fire, over a larger rifle with a bolt action. Still, speed didn't mean everything when precision was required, and while a 10% drop in accuracy would be perfectly fine in the field as it would still kill a grimm—and I would be able to kill more than her, in a shorter period of time using rifles alone—it allowed her to kick my ass as far as the score was concerned. I wasn't too terribly worried, however—I had more options than my rifle to kill grimm, after all, and if I had to use it no one would be complaining about my shots being an inch off of center. Besides, the look on her face at winning was worth the cost of a little pride at being bested by her, and she didn't go out of her way to rub it in.

"So, what are they named?" Ruby asked, gesturing towards my stowed rifles, as we were taking yet another break to reload.

"Blazefire Saber Alpha and Beta," I said, tapping each hilt in turn as I named them.

Ruby snorted. "Pfft. That's not a name," the girl rolled her eyes. "That's more like a weapon type designation. It's not… personal, you know?"

Finished stacking another magazine, I hummed as I thought it over. She was right, really. There was no effort in it—it was the epitome of impersonal. And I'd done the same with my shield. Picking up another magazine, I conceded the point. "You're right."

Where she sat, Ruby blushed for a moment before picking up another empty mag. "It's not until we name them that our weapons become something more than just… tools. You really start seeing it as a weapon ages, they take on a life of their own. You could probably say it's due to being exposed to Aura and Dust for years, but I'm not entirely sure that's what it is. Crescent hasn't been around for years and years, and yet she has a personality of her own."

I raised an eyebrow at that. 'Who am I to say it's not possible? After all I've seen to date, semi-sentient weapons or weapons with spirits of their own isn't really that far fetched.' Finally, I nodded. "Maybe you're right. In that case, I should probably put some thought into naming them." Seeing that she was finished loading, I slapped in the last few rounds and dropped my last mag into my side pouch before standing and gesturing towards the door. "Come on. I don't know about you, but I'm getting bored with just shooting static targets. Let's go see what that arena area was all about, shall we?"

Following the signs lead us to the large double doors leading into the Combat Arena and I pulled out my scroll as I approached. Holding it to the green circle beside the door, I watched as the word 'SYNCING…' flashed across its screen. A moment later, my eyes narrowed as I got a notification. Several, in fact.

New hardware detected. Scanning…

Updating…

There was motion at the corner of my vision and my eyes were drawn to my Spirit Meter quickly draining. About a third of it drained away before it stopped.

Update Complete. Would you like to view the Change Log?

'An update while I'm conscious? Shit.' Looking at Ruby, I smiled. "Hang on just a minute."

"Sure," Ruby shot me a confused look before leaning back against the wall beside me and waiting. Opening my menu, I began to read.

Change Log: The Gamer Semblance v. 1.5.3

1. Updated Create ID.

1.a Added Challenge Mode to Create ID. You may now fight solo, with a team, against others, or as a team against other teams against waves of Grimm. For more details, check the 'Challenges' section of the Journal.

1.b Added Scenario Mode to Create ID. You may now engage in scenarios, either alone or with a team, to complete certain goals and earn rewards. For more details, check the 'Challenges' section of the Journal.

'Okay,' I sighed in quiet relief. 'Nothing too bad. Hell, that may even be fun. I'll have to look into it later though.' Looking at my scroll, I saw that it was waiting for acknowledgment. Clicking the 'Yes' button, I blinked as options appeared on my HUD as opposed to my scroll. Shrugging, I began making selections. "Do you prefer any sort of terrain?"

"Nope!" the girl behind me chirped. "I'm fine with whatever. Well. Almost whatever. Desert would be boring and hot, and Uncle Qrow says swamps aren't fun for anyone… Oh, and caves would kind of suck unless they were big, cause close quarters isn't good for acrobatics."

Nodding, I began inputting details. 'Forested area, hills, night, overcast, windy, medium Grimm population: beowolves, ursa, nevermores… I think that's good enough. Oh, a section for boss-level stuff. Let's see… Ursa Major and a couple of Beowolf Alphas. That should be fun. Difficulty rating? Uhh…' I glanced at Ruby a moment before checking my options. The choices were listed as: Easy, Normal, Heroic, Legendary, and Mythic. They sounded familiar and, after a moment, I placed them as the typical settings from Halo—though I was fairly sure Mythic was actually not an official thing. Deciding we could handle it, I picked Heroic. Confirming everything, I saw the word 'LOADING…' appear on my scroll for a moment, before it disappeared and my scroll reverted to its normal background image. Before me, the doors opened onto a quiet night-scape and I grinned.

"Ready?" I asked of the girl beside me, who had pushed off the wall and stood looking out at the land before us.

Ruby grinned, unsheathing Crescent Rose and shifting it to its scythe mode. "Oh yeah. This is going to be fun. Let's go!"

I followed after the enthusiastic girl with a chuckle, stepping into the area and looking around as the door closed behind me. A second later, I felt a skill activate of its own volition—Create ID came alive and I felt a draw on my mana, but no Instant Dungeon formed around us. All around us, however, the scenery briefly flickered once. From somewhere above us, I heard something electrical explode and a flash of light washed over the area briefly. I frowned as Perception and Detect Bloodlust pinged and an overall feeling of wrongness settled in the back of my mind. "Ruby," I said quietly, trying to get her attention without alerting the enemies I could sense and see on my minimap now beginning to circle us. "Ease back towards the door. Something's wrong. We should leave now."

"You feel it too?" she asked, equally quiet, and I nodded as I backed up a step until I bumped into the unlit door.

Turning around I attempted to open it, only for nothing to happen. Fishing out my scroll, I held it up to the door with an equally negative result. "Fuck," I grunted, softly.

"That's bad, right?" Ruby asked, and I nodded.

Above us, speakers crackled to life as a male voice I didn't recognize spoke. "Okay… we're sorry but we are currently experiencing technical difficulties. It seems as thought the door controls have stopped working and we are unable to disengage the projection system. Likewise, the systems controlling enemy deployment and AI are also non-responsive. As it stands, the system is currently stuck running the last scenario programmed into it. We are working to restore these systems now, but considering there are active enemies on the field… well, you have two options. The system was built with player safety in mind, so every field has a hidden safe room accessible via a cave entrance—it's marked with the logo for the Proving Grounds so that you won't mistake it for a Deathstalker nest or something. Unfortunately, with the system non-responsive, I can't just lead you to it. However, it's a fixed point on the map, because it's part of the stadium itself. It should be in the northwest corner of the area. You can make your way to the safe room and sit it out until we fix the system, or you can fight through the scenario you programmed in, which should end the scenario and cause the projectors to shut off leaving you in a bare room. If you make it to the safe room, there should be a small cache of food and water, along with beds, sanitary, and medical facilities." The man on the other end sighed, before adding, "All I can tell you is we're sorry, and good luck. I'm going to go help where I can."

Sharing a look with Ruby, I drew the Alpha Saber and spun it around into rifle mode. The glow from the red Dust crystal powering it was irritating for a moment, but after the last time I'd had another read through the manual. As it turned out, the weaponsmith who'd created my weapons wasn't a moron—there was a button to toggle that feature, which I hit now. I reached up the hit the switch for the light attached to the side of the rails that had deployed as well. "There are a few around us," I whispered, moving to cover Ruby's left side and activating my shield, which threw off a faint white glow of its own until I likewise hit the switch to kill the glow. "Group of five moving in. You ready?"

"Yeah. I just wish I had a light of my own. I'd use my scroll, but I need both hands for this," she acknowledged.

A moment later, the brush around us erupted with activity as the beowolves that had been circling us decided to attack as a group. Beside me, Ruby blasted away and cleanly bisected one, flowing through the spin to move onto the next, and that was all the time I had to split my attention. Picking my target, I flipped my fire selector to burst and opened fire. Five glowing red rounds streaked across the distance, punching into the first grimm and setting it on fire, where it dropped to the ground thrashing and howling. The second closed in with a leap, both its arms swinging down to try and drive me down, which I caught with my shield. I hadn't replaced any of my shotgun rounds, so I was using my own stock when I opened fire. There was a brief flash of red and white and the grimm's head disappeared in a spray of black ichor and chunks of flesh and bone and clumps of hair. 'So, that's what Purity White does to grimm if you shoot them with it set as a power crystal.'

Spinning with the momentum imparted by the shotgun blast, I leveled my rifle on the third beowolf, which was already airborne, claws extended and jaws wide open. Trusting my instincts, I sighted it down one-handed and opened fire again, most of the rounds hitting it low but the elemental effect imparted by the grade 9 Burning Crimson crystal instantly causing it to burn. There was just enough momentum from the combined recoil to finish my turn and level my shield at it, allowing it to fall against the barrier. Not wanting to waste shotgun rounds, I shoved it off my shield with a Shield Bash and flipped my rifle around into saber mode, quickly stepping forward into a jab that caught it just under the chin and exited at the back of its head—the fur around the wound catching fire immediately and the wound smoking as it cauterized around my blade.

Yanking my sword back, I winced at the smell as the blood, flesh, and hair on it burned off. "I really need to know how you do that," Ruby commented, walking up from behind me. "It'd be so cool if I could make Crescent Rose glow like yours was earlier. That, and set things on fire."

"You can live without the glow, trust me. As for burning things, I can show you later. For now, we have a problem," I grunted, kneeling down and examining my most recent kill as it dissipated… leaving behind drops. Not just that, but it had a level. Specifically, level 40. "They said these things were hard light constructs, right?" I asked, and Ruby nodded. "Does this look like a hologram to you? Does it smell like a hologram?"

"Ugh. No," Ruby wrinkled her nose. "So they're real grimm?"

Reaching down, I began collecting drops. "Seems that way."

A flicker of motion caught my eye as Ruby knelt down, reaching out and snagging a health potion before I could stop her. "I've seen one of these before."

Resisting the urge to sigh, I asked, "Oh? Where?"

She hummed, eying me sidelong as she stuffed the potion in her pouch. "On Patch."

"That's vague," I teased softly, moving to pick up another batch of drops and wishing I could just open my Inventory and grab it all with Telekinesis.

"Well, there was this guy there," Ruby added, mirroring my actions in moving to another pile to collect. "He was kind of a jerk. He even burned down part of my school."

I shot her a raised eyebrow. "Don't most people cheer when they hear their school has burned down?"

Ruby snorted. "Not when it's as awesome as Signal. Or when their dad and uncle work there." I winced and she nodded before continuing her story. "But… he was also kind of cool. He had a lightsaber, can you believe it?! I mean, not an actual lightsaber like in the movies, but close enough!"

"Sounds cool," I admitted, hiding a grin.

The girl's head bobbed in a nod. "It was. But yeah, he's why I was out in Vale last night. Almost every night since it happened, actually," she admitted, sounding a bit sheepish. "I know he's still out there, but I think he's just taking a break, or maybe planning something."

I shot her an incredulous look, both eyebrows heading for my hairline. "And you thought, what? That you'd just run across him randomly?" Well, technically, she'd been right…

Ruby sighed, but nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. I've had no luck, until now," she grinned, picking up a mana potion and wagging it back and forth. "I am almost positive his Semblance creates these. Do you know what this is?"

Humming, I picked up one of the red potions on the ground and pretended to inspect it while hiding a grin. "Pretty sure it looks like a potion, from a video game."

"Exactly," Ruby beamed, standing and dusting her combat skirt off. There was a tone to her voice that I recognized—she was either plotting something or had figured something out. "Say Jaune, have you figured out what your Semblance is yet?"

"Actually, I have," I admitted. "I think it's kind of cool."

"Oh?" She asked, looking curious. "What is it? If you don't mind telling me, that is. I mean, they are kind of personal and we've only really known each other a day or so, so I don't really expect you to tell me…" Ahh, social anxiety strikes again.

"It'd be easier to show you, but maybe not right now, huh?" I asked, standing up as we finished collecting the last of the drops. Glancing at my minimap, I oriented us on where I figured the door to the safe room was before shooting a glance at Ruby. "What do you want to do? Kill everything or head for the safe room?"

The red-clad reaper shot me a look as if wondering why that was even in question. "We came to kill things, right? So, the doors stopped working and it's a little creepy 'cause they're real grimm now—that doesn't change much, really. I say we just kill them all and end the program."

A grin crossed my lips and I nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me. Let's go hunting."

Still, as we moved through the artificial forest, I couldn't help the nagging feeling that I was missing something here. Some detail about the grimm we'd eliminated bothered me, and it wasn't until we came across another group of them that I figured out what it was. 'They were weak. Ruby cut through them like butter, but even the ones I fought went down with only a couple of rounds. Even if all of them crit, they should have had more HP than that. I mean, yeah, there are some allowances for bullshit where HP verses damage numbers don't mean anything—obviously, a bullet to the head kills most things so long as it penetrates deep enough, I've seen this before. But those… if this were a dungeon, an actual video game instance, I'd say they were trash mobs—not even regular dungeon mobs.'

As we came across a larger group of beowolves—a pack of ten—I realized I had been right. Beside each of their levels was a small emblem—a silver beowolf head. Checking them over with Observe caused me to wince, and I motioned for Ruby to halt and retreat back the way we came. 'They have skills. They have passive skills. It's like the Prowler template, minus the rage and immunities. Grimm Fortitude, Strength and Reflexes gives them 2.5 times the normal amount of STR, DEX, VIT, and HP as a normal mob their level. Grimm Reflexes allows them to make reflex saves against melee attacks for from anywhere from full to half damage if they succeed, which is some serious bullshit… but at least it's not hit or miss like AC in D&D. And, oh yeah, Grimm Fervor means they all do double damage. What. The. Fuck. I haven't even seen mobs in Illusion Barriers this strong.'

We came to a stop far enough away to keep the grimm in sight and have a whispered conversation and Ruby asked, "What's wrong?"

"They're stronger than usual," I began, watching a couple of them shift around and begin sniffing the air. Odds were good they'd just caught our scent, given that the wind had just changed directions. I only had a minute or so before they started pursuing us, so I had to make this fast. 'More important than the enemies being a little stronger, I'm limited in what I can do here, unless I want to let Ruby in on some things. I was planning to anyway, once we got to Beacon, but… maybe sooner is better. She needs to know at least some anyway, if we're going to be working together, and it would go a long way towards getting her to trust me fully.'

The girl brought up her rifle and planted it, sighting down one of the beowolves that had decided to start coming our way. They weren't charging yet, but they weren't taking their time about it either. "How bad is it? Should we avoid them?"

"No, I think we can take them. Just… don't get hit." Sighing quietly, I added, "So, I'll make you a deal. I'll show you my Semblance if you promise to hold all questions until we either get out or get to the safe room. Deal?"

"Deal," she agreed. "But whatever it is you're going to do, you might want to hurry. They're starting to charge."

Shifting my eyes to the focus icons over her head, I selected the option for Party, which should simply send a party invite and create a generic, unnamed party as in many MMOs as opposed to forcing me to name it. "Hit accept," I told her, and couldn't suppress a smirk when her eyes went wide. One hand tentatively reached out, tapping the 'Accept' button, and her portrait appeared on my HUD, under my own. She turned an incredulous look my way and I shook my head. "Later. You might want to start firing."

"Right," Ruby nodded, sighting down a grimm and opening fire as I did likewise, switching from burst to semi while they were still far enough out to try for precision. Beside me, Crescent Rose spoke and downrange, a grimm head exploded. Not to be outdone, I sighted down my own first pick and opened fire. My first round ran downrange, catching my target in the muzzle as I'd intended. I did not intend for it to shear off the top half of the beowolf's muzzle and cauterize the wound, as opposed to punching straight through to the back of its skull. Frowning in annoyance, I wasted another round finishing it off and moved on to the next. In the time it took them to close, Ruby put down another two with head shots while I put down one more with a round through the eye, and then the remaining five were on top of us.

"Don't get hit, right," the younger girl muttered, hauling Crescent Rose up and behind her and firing, launching herself forward to intercept the three that had lunged from the front. The first caught the scythe under the neck and bought it instantly as its head came flying off. The second in the line of her swing stopped running and jerked back, the tip of the blade tracing a deep cut across its chest, while the third hit the deck, entirely dodging the tail end of Ruby's initial swing.

I was more worried about the remaining two as they swept around in a pincer attack, intending to hit us from the sides. Spotting me, they decided to let the other three deal with the smaller target and focused on me instead. I caught the one on my left with a Shield Bash as it lunged, stunning it momentarily but not managing to knock it down. Pulling the trigger for my shield's shotgun, I let it eat a round of Purity/Burn double-ought to the face where I saw one of its eyes destroyed and spun to level my shield at the one on my right as I backstepped to put both of them in front of me. The second one came in with a swipe that I caught on my blade. Forcing the weapon up, I used my shield to block its view of my lower body and raised an earth and wind enhanced kick into its crotch. It loose a quiet, high pitched whine and collapsed to its knees. 'So, can't really dodge if the situation wouldn't allow for it, if you don't see it coming, or if you're incapacitated.'

Spinning my saber once, I flicked it down into a Coup de Grace, sending the grimm's head rolling as I stepped past it to finish off the one that had recovered by now. A Flash Step put me directly in front of it, crouched low as I brought my blade up and rammed it home in the beowolf's sternum. "Stop dodging!" Ruby yelled nearby, which was followed by a yelp as I watched her fly past me. A glance at my HUD showed she had taken some damage, but would be fine as it was Aura damage and not HP damage. Shifting my focus to where she had been fighting, I found the problem immediately—right around the time Detect Bloodlust leveled as they noticed me. There were more grimm—a glance at my minimap showed we were surrounded by what had to be a pack of at least forty more, with more streaming in behind them.

"You okay?" I called to the girl as I heard her roll to her feet.

"Peachy," Ruby called, chambering a round. "This was more fun when half of them didn't dodge and then try to come in from my blind spots. It's like they're coordinating."

"That's because they are," I agreed, my eyes on the large pack of grimm now cutting us off from all sides. "Beowolves get smarter the more of them there are. Got any ideas?"

I could have opened up on them with magic, but I wanted to see what she came up with. Ruby did not disappoint, as she took in the numbers around us a moment before grinning. "Maybe one. How much line does that thing have?" she asked, gesturing towards my left arm, where my line launcher sat under my shield.

"Enough," I answered, having some idea where she was going with this. "Combo attack?"

"Mhmm," she beamed, nodding. "Give me the end of it and some slack."

I triggered the release for my launcher, spooling out a few feet of line and flipping it over to Ruby as the grimm decided to stop wasting time and attack. Spinning my saber around into its rifle mode, I thumbed the fire selector up to full auto. "Any time now."

"Got it!" she announced. A moment later, she fired and launched herself at the oncoming mob. The force as she reached the end of the line I'd given her was nearly enough to pull my arm out of socket, but I doubled down on Reinforcement and yanked hard to the side, at the same time she fired again. Ruby's voice went up in a yell as she began firing rapidly, little combat boots impacting grimm faces and building up speed as I reeled her in slowly and drew the circle she was making closer, meaning she would be going faster.

I wasn't standing idle while the smaller girl was turning us into a bladed top. Leveling my rifle, I opened up on the crowd of grimm, shooting and setting fire to those that Ruby either hadn't kicked or sliced yet or finishing off those she had. My first mag ran dry and I spun the rifle through its transformation to its storage form, stuffing it back in its holster. At the same time, I unholstered the one on my left using Telekinesis, holding it in place long enough to eject the current mag and slap in one of the 100-round drum magazines of my own stock of grade 3 freeze rounds as opposed to the 30-round mags of grade 1 burn range trash I'd been using. The Saber glowed blue and I smirked, flipping the fire selector to full-auto and holding down the trigger. The difference was noticeable as the higher grade rounds began punching holes into and through grimm. More than that though, I'd changed rifles—switching Burn effects for Freeze. Those grimm that weren't frozen outright suffered frozen limbs, heads, or were chilled and slowed, making them easy fodder for Ruby on her next pass to alternately shatter or cut down.

Seeing the crowd beginning to thin and back away, I spotted a couple of larger forms in their midst. Focusing on them, I saw that the silver Beowolf icons beside their names had been replaced with gold icons of the same, marking them out as bosses—or at least, more advanced than what we were currently fighting. Triggering another Focus command, I painted them both with a crosshair above their heads any marksman or anyone who had ever played an MMO would be familiar with and could interpret on sight. "Ruby, those two!"

Reeling Ruby in closer, I spun hard and flung her upwards, hitting the button to allow line to spool out since I had no idea how she'd rigged my line launcher to attach to her Crescent Rose. Ruby did not disappoint, as I heard Crescent Rose go off above me, targeting the Beowolf Alpha to my left while I picked the one on the right and opened up on it, a stream of full-auto Dust rounds drilling a hole through the grimm between me and it, freezing some in place and shattering them and freezing parts of the Alpha.

Ruby stayed up for what seemed like an impossible time, before I realized she had positioned herself to alternate her shots between targets—a shot at one would produce enough recoil to throw her back up to the end of her tether, switch targets, and repeat the process. Her own Alpha went down before mine, but not by much. Once they were both down, we focused on eliminating the rest of the crowd. One complication came up as Ruby dropped down beside me, flipping Crescent Rose down into her compact form and opening up with what I recognized as the .308. "I'm down to one .50 magazine!" she announced, her back pressing up against my own as we took up a defensive formation.

"So, does that mean I should stop holding back?" I asked, a hint of a grin pulling at the corners of my lips.

The shorter girl elbowed me in the ribs. "What do you mean, 'holding back?' You've been holding back?! Yes you should stop holding back!"

"Well, if you insist," I chuckled. "Un-tie me."

"I am untied!" the girl all but growled, emptying a burst into a grimm that had gotten too close.

I collapsed my shield, retracted my line, and spun my saber down into its storage mode before dropping it into its sheath. "Pick your targets," I called, focusing on Telekinesis. While what I had told Neo was the truth, in that I couldn't fly with the skill, I could damn sure hover just fine. Yanking us a good twenty feet up off the ground, I anchored us to a couple of nearby trees. "Flash Freeze, Fireball," I intoned, tossing off my biggest AOEs into the biggest cluster in front of me. Those grimm that weren't instantly frozen to death were alternately immolated and perforated with ice shards and frozen chunks of other grimm as those that had been frozen exploded on contact with Fireball.

"Holy crap!" I heard from behind me and grinned, spinning us around to repeat the combo a second time. For those grimm that hadn't fallen already, I called up AP Round—which, at level 15 now, produced eight rounds—and sent them shooting off individually, each at a separate grimm before repeating the process. We spun in place slowly, allowing us to pick off the survivors. Once we were sure there were none left, I lowered us to the ground. "That was… kind of cool." She paused, and I swear I heard the mischief in her tone as she added, "Chilling, even."

"Your sister's a bad influence on you. You should probably cool it with the puns," I laughed, using Telekinesis to grab up drops and divide them evenly between us.

"Yeah," she agreed, opening up her side pouch and stuffing in Lien and potions. "Wouldn't want her to give me the cold shoulder if she found out I was better at it."

Shaking my head, I brought up my map and began scanning the area for red dots. "There are still a few Urase left, otherwise the simulation would've shut down. Reload a few magazines along the way while we track them down."

By the time we tracked them down, I was getting tired of being stuck there, and with the promise of having to explain things to Ruby looming over my head, I wasn't exactly at my most… patient. To the point that I just stood there and spammed AP Round until they died—which, given how much damage AP Round did at this level, meant that as minor boss level mobs they had considerably more HP than anything I'd run across before. It was almost disappointing, however, in that despite being labeled as 'bosses' and having a large HP pool, they were pretty much like every other mob we'd fought in this simulation. They weren't kaiju class in terms of size, nor were they exceptionally strong. They were more like mini-bosses, really. Their drops were interesting, at least.

"Is that…?" Ruby asked, regarding the lump of cloth I held suspended before her by Telekinesis.

I nodded. "Yeah, it is. Looks like it's meant for you."

"It could be for you," she countered, and I shook my head.

"Nah. It's red—clearly it's for you. If it were for me, it'd be white, or blue." Taking the long scarf in hand, I pushed back the girl's hood and spent a moment settling it around her neck. "See? It looks good, and it matches your cloak."

Ruby hummed, nodding after a moment. "It does. But we're only just coming into fall, so I won't be able to really use it for a while…"

"And?" I asked, rolling my eyes as the terrain disappeared around us, replaced by an empty white room. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't keep it. Besides, it's not just a clothing accessory, it's a magic item."

"Eh?" The girl blinked, pulling it off and looking it over. "What's it do?"

Hitting it with Observe, I hummed as I looked it over, before reading off the pertinent details. "Scarlet Scarf, level 40. Passively increases Charisma if it's equipped with matching clothing—which yours do. Also, apparently it doesn't matter if it's summer or not because the description says it always stays just the right temperature."

Humming, Ruby put it back on and left it. "Okay, you've convinced me. Think they've got the doors open?"

I shrugged, turning and making my way towards the door we'd come from. "If not, I'll have to cut them open."

"But those doors were like… two feet thick steel. Are you sure you can?" she asked, eying my sabers speculatively as I nodded. The Repository had had thicker walls, doors, floors, and ceilings and was hardened against forced entry attempts, and I'd still cut through it with ease.

As it turned out, the doors had started working again the moment we finished the scenario. Coincidentally, I'm sure, that's when my Create ID skill had disengaged. We made it outside and the owner apologized profusely, issuing me a full refund and promising to look into the source of the malfunction, and should we ever decide to return all future trips would be half off for both activities and ammunition. Considering I was pretty sure it was my Semblance that had broken it to begin with, I almost felt bad letting him agree to all of that… but then again, I was really too annoyed about it to care. My Semblance was screwing with me again and I was not amused.

---

"So," Ruby began hesitantly as we left the Proving Grounds, trailing off and looking up at me expectantly, scuffing one foot against the ground under her. Looking up, I saw that we'd gotten out just in time for sunset. Humming, I checked my map and set a waypoint. Beside me, Ruby jumped, looking around momentarily before focusing in the direction the waypoint was pointed. "Is that… a waypoint?"

"Yep," I agreed, starting off in a jog. "Come on. I know a nice place where we can have our talk uninterrupted."

The top of the CCT tower, tucked away on its own little campus, provided a nice view out over Vale—and I had to agree with Jane, it was a great place to watch the sun go down. Sitting down on the edge and letting my legs dangle over the side, I patted the spot next to me. A moment later, Ruby dropped down on my right. "Nice view," she murmured, and I nodded agreement.

We spent a few minutes simply taking it in before I finally broke the silence. "What would you like to know?"

"Everything," she answered immediately. "But the biggest question I have right now is, why not just tell me? I mean, it's a Semblance. It's not like they're secret or anything. Sure, yours is a little weird, but so what? No one's going to really care." She hummed, cocking her head to the side before correcting herself. "Well, no, they'll care, but it's not like you'd get locked up in a lab somewhere, right?"

Chuckling, I shook my head. "Maybe, maybe not. I mean, the things my Semblance can do… some of this stuff, individual abilities, other people have as a Semblance by themselves. It's like a… meta-Semblance."

"Okay, I get that. I mean, if I found out my Semblance was something that strong, I suppose I'd be worried what other people would think too," she agreed quietly. I could see the insecurity there again—Ruby's 'normal knees' thing.

"It's not that. Not really," I denied. "It's more… I don't want everyone knowing the full extent of what it's capable of. You never let the enemy know the full extent of your ability, resources, knowledge, and so forth otherwise he will plan to counter all of that. You always keep something in reserve, just in case. A trump card."

"What enemy?" Ruby turned to send me a confused look. "The grimm? It's not like they talk to each other."

"That we know of," I interrupted.

She opened her mouth to deny it, before slowly closing it as a thoughtful expression crossed her face. "Okay, that's a horrible and creepy possibility."

Nodding, I sighed quietly before admitting, "And no, not just the grimm. Even discounting that possibility, there are still other threats out there. Human threats." My mind immediately brought up the White Fang and their local leader, and I added, "And Faunus."

Ruby rolled her eyes, blowing out a breath in exasperation. "Psh. And here I was, worrying if I'd ever get to go on a date now that I'd been accepted to Beacon, because people might think I'm special 'cause I got in early. Little did I know, the fate of the world already rested on our shoulders."

'It does,' I thought, but dared not tell her. "Ruby?" I asked, catching her eye and deciding to try my hand at helping push her into the self-confident person I knew she would eventually become. "You are special. You just don't see it. Trust me, the rest of us do. I do, I know your sister does, even Ozpin does—otherwise he wouldn't have asked in the first place. There's nothing wrong with special." She declined to respond so, I shot her a teasing grin. "So, a date, huh? I see where your priorities lie. You've never been on one?"

"Don't change the subject," she blushed, turning away so I wouldn't see it. "We're talking about you."

"Oh, no. You opened that can of worms, so you can just bear with me here," I countered, grinning wider at the opportunity to tease the younger girl. "So, this supposed first date thing you want so bad—what do you imagine it looks like? What sort of things would you want to do on a first date?"

The redhead shot me a mild glare before turning her gaze out towards the city below us, her hands beginning to fidget in her lap. A moment later, she reached back and pulled up her hood, probably to further hide her blush. She seemed to do that a lot, really—more than any other woman I'd met in Remnant to date. "Well, Yang says a good date should start with a guy buying your dinner… and then I guess we'd go catch a movie, or go to a fair or something fun. Then take a walk somewhere nice, like a park with a pond and… and ducks… and just sit and talk for a while. Then he'd walk me home and…" she trailed off, making a little gesture with her hands that I interpreted as 'you know.'

Nodding, I stroked my chin in contemplation, seeing her tilt her head just enough to look at me from the corner of one silver eye. "Is that so?" I asked, and she nodded. "Let's see, then. Orange chicken for lunch, I paid," I began, holding out a hand and counting it off on one finger. "Took you to a shooting range, since I figured you'd get more out of that than going to some movie," I added another finger. "Killed a bunch of grimm together," another finger. "Nice view of the sunset," I ticked off, gesturing out at the view before us, watching as she turned towards me, eyes getting wider at each point. Looking around, I smirked and pointed off down and to our left. "Pond." I ticked off another finger before adding, "Also, ducks."

Ruby spluttered, turning to squint down at the pond I'd pointed out. "I don't see any ducks," she denied, voice skeptical. She blinked, flinching back slightly when I pushed a pair of sun glasses under her nose—the only pair I owned.

"Put them on and look again."

The redhead did so, 'Ooh'ing as she looked around with the glasses. After a minute of playing with them, she pulled them off and handed them back, allowing me to put them back into Inventory where I'd gotten them. "Okay. So there's ducks. Still, not a date!"

"No?" I asked, holding up six fingers worth of points I'd ticked off.

She smirked, her look saying she had me beat. "Nope, not a date. You forgot one. A successful date ends in a kiss." At this point, I knew she was arguing just to argue, because she was having fun… but still, it was too easy to disprove. Besides, the lure of the look on her face was too much to pass up. Reaching forward, I grabbed the front of her hood and pulled it down over her eyes. "Hey, that's not nice!"

The moment her hood was up out of her eyes, I kissed her forehead, a small smirk crossing my lips as I did so. "Congratulations on the success of your first date. You were saying?"

I pulled back to find the girl's eyes had gone very, very wide. "You…"

"Mhmm," I nodded.

A second later, her hand stretched out, one finger pointing at me. "You!"

"Me?" I asked, putting on my best innocent look. It was a calculated risk I was taking, but if it paid off, the results would be worth it.

There was a sound I was growing to associate with Ruby's Semblance, or her speed, and a cloud of rose petals exploded in my face. I didn't get a chance to complain as a small body had slammed into my own, pushing me back and away from the edge to land on the roof below. Looking up, I found the smaller girl straddling my chest, her expression shifting between hurt, annoyed, confused, and angry. Her tiny hands wrapped around my throat and squeezed as she began to shake me—not hard enough to hurt, but I could tell she was not amused. "You burned down my school!" she accused.

Humming, I pretended to think it over. "Did I?"

"Yes!" Ruby glared, loosening her grip but not releasing me. "Oh god, you really are him. I mean, I'd suspected, with the whole approachable thing, and the item drops… Why did you burn down my school?! I liked you! Why did you lie to me? I liked that school!"

"I had a good reason," I began, drawing an incredulous look from the future Huntress.

"A good reason for torching the place where my dad and uncle work, and where I was training to become a Huntress?" She shot me a deadpan look, crossing her arms. "Okay, let's hear it, mister."

'Well, at least she's willing to listen,' I mused. Still, I had to resist the urge to laugh at being scolded by a girl two years my junior, at the lowest count possible if I used Jaune's age of 17 and not my own. I was mostly successful, limiting myself to only a grin. "Remember what I said about human and faunus threats?" She nodded, once. "How to put this…" I murmured, thinking it over a moment. "Okay. A bunch of guys were up to no good there, that night. They'd been ordered by their boss to steal some data from your school. Well, no. They were actually members of one gang, whose boss rented them out to the leader of another gang, who ordered them to steal the data, who himself had been ordered to get it by his new boss, who is up to no good. A couple of friends overheard these plans and sent me a heads' up. I thought to myself, 'what could a school have worth stealing?' Data, as it turns out. The woman in charge of it all wanted a list of students graduating from Signal and going on to Beacon this year. There were probably planning thefts at Siren and the other school here in Vale, but as far as I know, getting stopped at the first one put the kibosh on that."

Humming, Ruby nodded in understanding. "But why burn the school?"

"I set fire to the servers with that data on them. I… did not expect my fire to spread like it did, however," I admitted. "Thankfully, it was contained to the one building and no one was hurt. And, if you're wondering, I stole the copy of the data the thieves took and gave it to Ozpin—so it's not like I was stealing it for myself."

"So you were, what, stealing for a good cause?" she asked, amused.

Chuckling, I nodded. "Well, I was stealing from bad guys. Stealing it back, to give to someone who would know what to do with it since returning it would just leave it vulnerable to theft again. Assuming it were physical and not, you know, copies of data… You know how they say 'two wrongs don't make a right?' In this instance, I'd say they're wrong."

Humming, Ruby held out both hands, seemingly weighing the sides of the argument there, an expression of concentration on her face that I found somewhat adorable for all its intended seriousness. "So, you have the bad guys stealing it, and that's a negative. And then you steal it, and that's another negative—but it's not like a double-negative, so it doesn't cancel out, it's more like negative two… then you give it to Ozpin, so count that as a positive, which leaves you at negative one, and then you also burned down my school which is like negative five…" Finally, she tossed up both hands and shrugged. "Eh, the bad guys didn't get what they wanted, so I'll call that a win. Though…" She turned a speculative look my way, narrowing her eyes as she looked me over. Holding up one hand, she blocked her view of the bottom part of my face and squinted, taking on an unamused look after a moment of contemplation. "You're the guy in black too, aren't you?" I blinked, for once genuinely surprised. Something in my expression must have upset her as she asked, "Are you going to lie to me again?"

I shook my head, asking, "How did you make that leap of logic?"

"Well," she hemmed, "It makes sense when you think about it. You told me you were making copies of the Dust, last night. Item duplication, especially of money or crafting materials—which Dust is—is a classic RPG exploit, which would fit with your whole 'video game' Semblance. We fought, but I could tell you weren't actually trying to hurt me, even though at the time I just assumed it was part of some test—you liar. It wasn't until I got home and thought about it that I realized you were working with the people stealing the Dust in the first place—otherwise, how would you have even known they were there? Question is, why did you let me beat up your own guys like that? Jaune… what are you doing? Who are you?"

"I never actually lied," I countered, earning an incredulous look for it. "In fact, I haven't lied to you once. Misdirected, refused to answer, and did a merry little jig around the truth? Certainly. But I've never lied to you."

"But you've been dishonest," Ruby pressed, and I nodded. "Why?"

"I have, and I'm sorry. I couldn't just tell you. I mean, what was I going to do, just bring someone I didn't know in on all of… this, because she seemed nice? That goes against everything I know about operational security and information compartmentalization." She looked disappointed and I felt her shift, moving to get off me. Reaching out, I took one of her hands and held her in place. "But I'm telling you now. So I suppose it'd just be easier if I told you the whole story from the beginning," I sighed, and the girl nodded. "Fine. It began about two weeks ago…"

And so I told her. I told her about waking up with 'amnesia,' since I couldn't very well tell her I was from another world—and in doing so, told her the only lie I ever had. Mostly, though, I told her about Cinder and my suspicions that she herself was working for someone. And finally, I explained how I was working to figure out who that was and attempt to mitigate anything Cinder attempted before it could get too bad. I did leave out a few details—she didn't need to know the intimate details of my relationships with the girls, or my sister. By the time I finished, the sun was just barely still peeking over the horizon. Atop me, Ruby had been mostly quite save to ask the occasional question for clarification. When I finished, she sat in silence for several long minutes, taking the time to think it over. I gave her time, knowing it was a lot to process in such a short time.

Finally, without meeting my eyes, she asked, "Why are you trusting me with all of this? What makes you think I won't just tell my dad, or my uncle, or Ozpin?"

"Other than the fact that I could just mind-wipe you?" I asked, rhetorically.

Ruby rolled her eyes, calling my bluff for what it was. "But you won't. Why is that?"

"Ozpin is scouting for talent, that much is clear—otherwise neither you nor I would've made the cut. You for age and me for forged papers," I pointed out. Before she could ask what that had to do with me trusting her, I continued. "You deserved to know most of that. No, rather, I should say you need to know. You needed to know that there are threats out there other than the grimm, and that you're going to be put at or near the center of it, because of who you are and what you can do. Ozpin clearly knows your uncle and your dad both—I mean, think about it: Headmaster of Beacon, two teachers at Signal. Yeah, they probably talk officially at least once a year. He's seen what you can do. He sees what I see: you're good. Very good. More than that, you're a good person, a natural team player, and a natural leader. You proved that much today, to me if not to him.

"I trust you not to tell anyone what I'm doing because I believe you can see the value of information security. I have a very short list of everyone who knows everything, and a shorter list of those who know bits and pieces. Everyone on that list, I trust with what they've been told—I know it's not going to leak. Ozpin… I won't say I don't trust him, but he sees himself as a chess master and to him we're all pieces on his board. More than that, I can't guarantee that everyone he would tell is also trustworthy, or that any equipment he uses to record anything I tell him is secure. Besides, if he knew, he'd either worry or interfere, or both. I can operate freely outside of his oversight and get more done, faster, because I'm not constantly having to check in with someone for approval."

Smiling at the girl, I added, "And those are all good reasons for why I don't believe you'll tell anyone, but they're not why I trust you. You say I'm 'approachable,' I say you're 'trustworthy.' It's part of your character, really." Literally, maybe. "So, are we good?"

"Just answer me one thing," she began, hesitating a moment before finally meeting my eyes. "Do you like me or not? You're confusing, and it's hard to tell, and you're almost as bad as Yang about flirting…"

Reaching up, I mussed her hair, earning an attempt to swat my arm away. "I think you're very likable—and, yes, dateable. Eventually. I was teasing about that. I'm not going to answer that question, though. Instead, how about we get to know each other better first, as friends, before either of us answers that question?"

"I… I'd like that," Ruby nodded slowly, taking the hand that had been playing with her hair and holding it briefly, before releasing it. "I suppose we're good, then," she allowed, hesitantly. "It's still a lot to take in."

"I know. I'm sorry, but the storm is coming, and you're in it whether you know it or not. If you know, then that opens up several possibilities for me, too. For instance, training—we can help each other get stronger. Moreover, if you know, then I can cut loose and use my best stuff without worrying about being exposed or having to hide it from you. That, and if I need to disappear for a while to take care of something related to Cinder, you can cover for me." I wouldn't ask her to help me with Cinder's criminal escapades, but at least she would know what I was doing and we could avoid the whole running and sneaking around behind my friends' backs thing. Almost as an afterthought, I added, "If you don't want to be friends, I understand. I hid the truth from you and there are things I can't tell you, for your own safety and that of others. Even if you don't, I'll still have your back at Beacon. It's unavoidable that we're going to have to work together for a while."

Ruby threw me a deadpan look. "You're kind of a jerk," she accused, and I nodded. "Still… underneath the jerkish exterior, you seem like a decent person, trying to do what you think is right—even if it's not necessarily legal at times. Then again, that pretty much describes uncle Qrow to a 'T,' so you can't be all bad." She turned away, though I caught a glimpse of an amused smile on her lips as she did. "Well, I suppose I wouldn't mind being friends…"

"So," I decided to change the subject, "How'd your sister take you getting 'arrested?'"

Ruby winced. "Well, she wasn't happy. Neither was my dad, or my uncle. But then I explained what happened and uncle Qrow made a call—I think he called Professor Ozpin, actually. Then he talked to my dad and they decided everything was okay again, so Yang wasn't too upset." Giggling quietly, she added, "By the way, Yang said your puns were horrible."

"So bad they looped back around to good, right?" I joked.

Ruby rolled her eyes, nodding. "I think she's just happy someone else plays the same kind of games she does. Also, what's 'pulling pigtails?' Uncle Qrow laughed when Yang told us what you'd told her about her bike and called it that, and dad got this sort of mortified look…"

I couldn't help the snort that slipped out as I fought back laughter. "It's when someone intentionally antagonizes someone else, because they're interested in them and don't know how to express it. Young boys pull the pigtails of the girls they like. It's a good guess on your uncle's part, but it wasn't intentional. No, I kind of figured with what you said about your sister going to Beacon this year, and how we both are now as well, we'd probably wind up seeing a lot of each other in the near future. I thought it'd be a good way to break the ice. Yang seems like a decent girl and if you and I are going to be spending time together, what are the odds she's going to leave you alone for long? I have six older sisters and one younger one—trust me, even with the whole 'amnesia' thing I've quickly discovered, or rediscovered, that the only privacy you get from your siblings is what you take for yourself. Especially if they're as invested in your personal life as mine are, or as yours seems to be. And if she's going to be hanging around to make sure I'm not getting handsy with her baby sister, we may as well make nice and be friendly."

"Pfft, I don't think Yang's worried about anyone getting handsy." Under her breath, she added, "Like I'd ever get that lucky."

I decided to pretend I hadn't heard that last bit—she'd grow out of it, eventually. Besides, once she met the twins I had a feeling she wouldn't be quite so self-conscious about her body—the Malachite twins were nearly the same build, after all, and neither of them lacked for self-confidence. I suppose I couldn't really count Neo in there, because while she may be tiny, she was also stacked at about Yang's proportions for her size. Reaching up, I poked one finger into her forehead, directly between her eyes, causing her to go momentarily cross-eyed. "All older siblings worry about somebody getting handsy with their younger siblings. It's our prerogative."

Refocusing her eyes on mine, she nodded. "I guess." Tucking her head down, she broke eye contact as a small blush crept up on her. "I think… that would be nice."

I raised an eyebrow, reaching down to tilt her chin up so she would look at me. "What's that?"

"You, and me, and Yang all… friends," she smiled, though the blush remained, and I raised an eyebrow.

Gears turned in my head and I came to the most obvious conclusion given what I knew of Bizzaro Remnant. 'So, it's like with the twins for Ruby? She wouldn't want to be parted from her sister? …No, this is Ruby we're talking about, not the girls. I must be reading too much into it. Way too much.Besides, she's entirely too young. …And on the off chance I'm not misreading it… well, best to let her figure it out for herself.'

Deciding it wasn't worth asking about and further embarrassing her, or using mental spells to cheat, I asked, "So, she wasn't pissed about the bike thing?"

Ruby took on a confused look, shaking her head. "No, actually. She was smiling the entire time last night. And this morning. It was kind of weird."

"Eh, who knows?" I shrugged. "So, you ready to go?"

"Are you going to walk me home, too?" she asked, around a giggle.

I put on a thoughtful look. "Well, if that's what you want. I was actually going to say that a friend wanted to meet you. She wanted to spend some time together tonight and didn't really care what we were doing, and when I told her you called she told me to see if you wanted to come over. I figure I'll pick up a couple of movies, stop at the store and get the makings for pizza, and we could spent the night doing a marathon of something old. What do you think?"

"You can cook?" she asked, taking on a somewhat awed look. "Yang is pretty much the only person in my family that can. Dad doesn't handle instructions with measurements well, so he tends to use a tablespoon of salt instead of a teaspoon… and uncle Qrow insists that everything be cooked with alcohol—which makes for really great grilled steak, or chicken, or burgers but he was banned from cooking anything that didn't come off the grill. I don't really remember why, but any time someone brings it up my dad, Yang, and uncle Qrow all kind of laugh so I have an idea or two. And I… well," she pushed her fingers together, blushing. "Yang says I get a little too enthusiastic. But it's cooking and you're supposed to experiment!"

'Okay, Akane,' I rolled my eyes. "Sure, you can experiment. Except, if you don't know what each individual ingredient adds to the whole, then you're going to have variables. Think of cooking like… math. Most people go with chemistry, but roll with it. You have a sum you want to arrive at. You have an equation to follow. A amount of B ingredient, plus C amount of D ingredient and so on, prepared at Y degrees for Z time will give you cake. You change one thing and everything changes. Some changes are good—you can substitute heavy cream for milk, or whole eggs where it calls for egg whites, or add cinnamon, brown sugar, or confectioner's sugar to change how it tastes and all of these things will still give you cake, just a different cake than the recipe told you to make. If you start making random deviations, however, you get a random result. What I'm saying is, until you know the recipe by heart and know what each individual ingredient does, you shouldn't be too adventurous."

Seeing she looked a bit skeptical, I sighed. "If I suggested taking apart Crescent Rose and replacing the springs on your firing pins with smaller springs, because I wanted to see what would happen…"

The shorter girl's eyes narrowed and one hand went to her weapon protectively. "I'd hurt you."

"And it'd screw up your careful plans and calculations, wouldn't it?" I asked, earning a nod in answer. "There you go. So, are you coming? 'Cause I don't know about you, but I'm getting kind of hungry."

---

Holding the door to the apartment open, I showed Ruby inside and followed after, closing the door. Turning around, I found that we'd been ambushed as the twins and Neo were waiting for us, all three standing side by side near to the door—likely, we'd come in as Neo and Melanie were leaving. I moved up beside her as Ruby cocked her head to the side, shifting her gaze between Neo and the twins for a moment before her eyes narrowed and Ruby abruptly pointed at Neo. "You!"

"Me?" Neo asked, indicating herself, an amused look crossing her face.

"You're the girl from last night, with the grenade launcher!" Ruby accused, and Neo hummed, putting one finger to her chin and turning her face up in an overly thoughtful expression.

"Am I?" she wondered aloud, then mimed a look of sudden realization before snapping her fingers. Abruptly, Neo's regular outfit changed to an all-black copy of the same, her hair also going black, and her eyes turning mint green. "I suppose I am."

I recognized the disguise of course—she'd clearly borrowed the twins' general theme. Though, on the other hand, I'd seen her eyes cycle that color before… "That's where you got it from," I mused aloud, gesturing between the twins and Neo.

Neo smirked, nodding. "You like?" she asked, and I shrugged. Her smirk went just that much wider and her face shifted to match the twins as she suggested, "I thought we could go for triplets at some point…"

"…Yes," I managed to get out as the image burned itself into my brain, drawing giggles from the triplets.

Beside me, Ruby sighed, dropping her hand. "You're a meanie," she muttered, low enough that I could barely hear it standing next to her, followed by something about being ignored I think as she started subvocalizing at that point.

Neo blinked, the illusion around her dissolving. "What's that?"

Ruby flushed red under the sudden scrutiny and I could pretty much see the moment social anxiety won and she panicked. She flailed a moment, flapping her arms once in almost-laughable rage, before throwing her hands up in what I recognized as one of those universal 'fuck it, I give up,' gestures. I say almost-laughable, because while her overreaction would've been amusing under other circumstances—had someone, say, eaten the last of her favorite snacks—it really wasn't here. From her perspective, she had a legitimate grievance.

"Aren't you going to apologize? For, you know, trying to shoot me with a grenade launcher?!" She lost a bit of volume control at the end, voice going up high and panicky, and I realized that, oddly enough, the thought of getting shot at didn't bother her as much as being put on the spot—but she was committed now and couldn't back down. I put a hand on her shoulder in a gesture of support and an effort to calm her down a bit.

Humming, Neo traded a look with the twins, who shrugged, before meeting my eyes. "Am I?"

Rolling my eyes, I nodded. "Yes."

"Okay," Neo chirped, taking on a mischievous glint to her eyes and turning her attention back to Ruby. "I'm sorry for shooting a grenade launcher loaded with trash grade two rounds at you as part of a plan to solidify Jaune's 'work' and civilian identities as two separate people, at his request, and because we needed to make a fast getaway before Goodwitch could knock us out of the air."

"You should also apologize for your part in the plan that, incidentally, lead to her being accepted to Beacon early," Melanie added, with a small smirk.

Ruby's hand dropped, before going back to rub at the back of her head in embarrassment. "Well, when you put it that way…"

Miltia cleared her throat, drawing our collective attention. Turning an unamused look on her sister and Neo, she raised an eyebrow. "Play nice. She's a guest."

Melanie sighed, taking on a look of contrition. "Fine." Turning to Ruby, she held out a hand. "Sorry. I'm Melanie Malachite."

"It… it's okay," Ruby attempted a smile, accepting the offered handshake. "Ruby Rose."

Melanie elbowed Neo in the side and Neo turned an unamused look on her, before turning her attention to Ruby. "Neopolitan. I can't apologize for last night and mean it. It was a good plan, it worked, and no one was hurt—and you yourself benefited from it. It would just be empty words." She spared a look at me for a moment before extending her hand. "But… I apologize for being a bitch about it and jumping down your throat."

"No," Ruby shook her head, "It's my fault. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that and now I've made a bad impression."

Neo snorted, rolling her eyes and sending me an amused look. "Is she always this adorkable?"

"Hey—" Ruby began to protest.

I cut her off with a grin. "Pretty much."

"Hey!" she whined, turning a glare my way.

Miltia cut in again. "Okay, you two, out. Go on. I want my date night."

Melanie rolled her eyes, briefly hugging her sister. "Fine. Have fun."

"Date night?" Ruby asked quietly as Melanie disengaged from her sister. "Am I interrupting? I.. I can go, if you want."

Shaking her head, Miltia pulled the smaller girl to the side, leading her towards the couch and out of my easy hearing range unless I wanted to snoop. Meanwhile, Neo took a moment to stand on tip-toe and give me a peck on the lips. "I have some things I want to take care of, so I'll probably be busy the next few days. If you want me though, feel free to call."

"I will," I promised, and the little minx scampered away as Melanie took her place.

"You know," the girl said, leaning in to whisper in my ear, "Too many more and we're going to need to start double-booking date nights. Scheduling could be an issue."

I gave her a quick kiss as she pulled away. "You two are the ones who suggested nine. We'll figure something out. Are you working tonight?"

"No, we took the night off. Mom wanted me to help with a few things. I'll tell her you said 'hi,'" she chuckled, following Neo out the door. Somehow, I got the impression there was more to that than she was saying. Though, considering I was dating her daughters, I probably shouldn't be too terribly surprised that Melody Malachite had taken an interest in me in that way most parents do over the people their kids date.

Locking the door behind the pair, I made my way back towards the couch. I caught Miltia's eye and she sighed, turning to send Ruby a smile. "Sorry about that. We're kind of… protective of each other, I suppose you could say. Don't worry, though—you didn't really ruin any first impressions with my sister. Neo…" Miltia shot me a questioning look.

"I'll talk to her, but probably not," I agreed. Clapping my hands, I grinned as I dug out a couple of DVDs from my Inventory. "So, I'm going to get started cooking if you'll get things set up in here."

Accepting the boxes, Miltia looked them over and hummed. "Sure. In a few minutes. First, though, if you don't mind I'm going to go drag our new friend off for a chat."

Raising an eyebrow, I shot the twin a suspicious look. "Really."

"Girl talk," Miltia beamed, putting on an expression so innocent I almost bought it—and that's how I knew it was entirely false.

"Uh huh," I nodded, with a look that clearly said I knew she was full of shit. "Sure. Go ahead."

Grabbing Ruby by the hand, Miltia dragged her off towards my bedroom. Shaking my head, I moved into the kitchen and began taking ingredients out of my Inventory. I'd been in the mood for pizza and, given that cooking was now a skill—and one I was fairly high-leveled in—I wanted to give it a try and see if it was any better here than it would have been on Earth. Moving about the kitchen as I began preparing things, I activated Listen out of curiosity. "So, wait," Ruby was saying, "you're his girlfriend?"

"Yes," Miltia answered matter-of-factly.

I could almost picture the puzzled expression on Ruby's face as she continued. "And your sister?" She paused, and I assumed Miltia nodded as I heard no reply. "At the same time? I mean, I know that sort of thing happens, I'm not dumb or blind… but, it isn't… weird?"

"Wow, you are really blushing," Miltia teased. "Got something you'd like to share?"

"No!" Ruby denied, in that entirely too quick manner that pretty much announced to the world that she was lying. She sighed and I heard someone get up and start moving about the room—probably pacing. "And the other girl, Neopolitan? She's also…?"

"Neo. And yes, she's also his girlfriend," the red-clad twin answered.

"Oh," Ruby murmured, almost too low for Listen to pick up. "So then he's not really…"

"Available?" Miltia suggested. I didn't hear an answer from the little reaper, so it must have been a nod. "Well," Miltia drawled, and I could almost see the smirk. "I didn't say that."

I shut off the skill and rolled my eyes. 'That approach isn't going to work,' I thought, shaking my head as I moved on to dicing onion and bell pepper for seasoning. Sure, I could see myself going after her in a few years, but as of right now she seemed too… skittish, which likely came from both her age and obvious social anxiety. Given her history—one mother dead, the other abandoning her family for some unknown reason—the constant fear that any friends she makes would ditch her was understandable. Really, that made all kinds of sense given what I remembered of the series and how she'd occasionally reacted to situations where it looked like she was being ditched. Which is why, personally, I'd rather play the long game there—get to know her while we go to Beacon and see where things go.

'Of course,' I hummed, moving on to the dough, 'If Yang ever leaves her for any reason, one of two things will happen: either she'll break and that'll be it, she'll give up and lose the will to go on. Or she'll break the other way… and isolate herself intentionally, in an effort to become 'strong' by not relying on anyone. Both of those are bad in different ways.'

All I could really do in either case was be there and be her friend—which I intended to do anyway. If Miltia wanted to let her in on the situation then so be it—she'd find out eventually, and it wasn't like I was trying to hide it. At this point, I was coming to accept it as normal, for Remnant. In fact, it was better she knew up front—that way, there could be no accusations that I'd hidden or misrepresented anything. 'Actually, yeah, I see what you're doing. Clever girl.'

And it was brilliant, really—about what I'd come to expect of Miltia's tactical mindset. By letting Ruby in on the 'secret' we had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Not only was everything I'd thought about letting her in on it true, but in doing so, Miltia was putting the idea in her head. Sure, Miltia probably thought there was at least a ten percent chance Ruby may jump at the idea given the information she knew already—but given what I knew of the twin, Miltia was likely banking on the ninety percent chance that after planting the seed of the idea in her mind, Ruby would go home, think it over, and the idea would eventually bloom at some point while we were at Beacon. By what I could guess of Miltia's reckoning, there were really only a few possible outcomes here: either Ruby would jump at the chance and ask to join immediately, or she would think it over and ask to join later, or she would think it over and decide against it entirely. With sixty percent odds in her favor, Miltia's plan was a fairly safe bet. 'Damn, even I almost didn't see that for what it was. Smooth. Very smooth,' I shook my head, chuckling quietly as I focused on the task before me—I still had meat to season and cook while I waited for the dough to rise.

That night, I finally got to check something off my list I'd been meaning to for a while now. I'd suspected some things from Earth had found their way to Remnant in various forms, and that night I got to see what the local version of Star Wars was like. Their local version of Lucas was a woman killed a few years back during a collapse, or so the story went—a collapse being the local term for when a population center gets overrun by grimm and slaughtered down to the last man, woman, and child. I suppose 'collapse' was simply more palatable than 'extermination.' Still, with her death, that was the end of Star Wars. No one wanted to tarnish her legacy by producing any more movies—the fact that Remnant wasn't doing much in the way of movie production notwithstanding. There was maybe one big release a quarter, with the majority of entertainment efforts being focused on smaller, cheaper-to-produce movies (such as anime adaptations), new series, or small, independent projects.

Without Remnant's Lucas around, nothing aside from Episode IV, V, and VI had been created—so no Jar Jar, no teen angst, and none of the idiocy surrounding Episode VII and Rogue One and whatever would have come after that, should I have remained on Earth to see. 'And nothing of value was lost,' I remember thinking, on that front. As for the movies themselves, there were some major and minor changes—some I had expected, others I hadn't really. For instance, Luke was female in the Remnant version. I was, initially, not amused at this development—I'd liked Mark Hamill in that role, after all. Not that it would have been Hamill here anyway, but the point stood. Still, the actress had played the part well. Also, amusingly enough, Han ended up with both Luke and Leia. The twin thing was kind of a big deal in the movies, really—especially the romance angle. And yes, Han shot first.

The pizza was a resounding success, and while Ruby enjoyed the chocolate chip cookies I'd made after that more, when she found the tub of Neo's strawberries in the refrigerator she had practically begged. I couldn't roll high enough to save against that level of cute, so she wound up devouring the rest of them over the course of the night. Some time into the early hours of the morning, the small girl fell asleep curled up on my couch, her head resting on my arm. Miltia had proceeded to take pictures and send them to her sister and Neo, a smirk on her face the entire time. Thankfully, I'd convinced Ruby to call Yang and let her sister know she'd be staying late. I did not, however, think Yang would appreciate her staying the night. Then again, I had sort of thought Ruby would get tired and decide to go home. No, as it turns out, she really was a huge Star Wars nerd and had wanted to stick around through them all.

Once the movie ended, I carefully fished Ruby's scroll out of her belt pouch, unlocked it using the lock code I'd memorized by force of habit when I'd seen her unlock it the first time, and dug through her contacts for her sister. Several rings later, the scroll on the other end picked up. "Ruby?" Yang's sleepy voice asked around a yawn. "It's like 2:30."

"Yeah, sorry about that, Yang," I apologized.

"Jaune? Why are you using my sister's phone?" she asked, and I could hear her beginning to come more awake.

I rolled my eyes and resisted the urge to answer like a smartass. "Well, Ruby didn't quite make it through all three movies. She passed out and she's currently drooling on my arm here on my couch. Do you want me to bring her to you, or do you want to come get her? Alternately, I have a spare bedroom she could borrow for the night."

"I don't know," the elder sibling hedged. "It is really late, and I'd hate to make you run all the way out to Patch and back. Hell, I'd hate to do it myself. Oh, wait," she yawned again. "Ugh, sorry, still mostly asleep. Ferry service between Vale and Patch has shut down for the night, hasn't it?"

I hummed, pulling up my map and checking the flight paths. I really probably should have thought of that before calling—then again, I didn't know they ever shut down. "I believe so."

"Well," Yang drawled, breaking into another yawn mid-way through. "I don't think you're the kind of guy who would molest my sister, so I guess it's okay if she sleeps over and heads back in the morning if she wants. Can you put her on?"

I smirked, this time unable to resist. "Sure."

Reaching down, I held the scroll to Ruby's ear and brought up Listen. "Hey, Rubes?"

"Mm.. Yang. Strawberries," she smacked her lips once and promptly went back to snoring.

Taking the scroll back and dropping the skill, I asked, "So, what'd she say?"

"You're a really funny guy, Jaune Jaune," Yang deadpanned. Sighing, she conceded to the obvious solution. "Fine. Just have her call me in the morning, okay?"

"Sure," I agreed readily.

She hummed a moment before adding, quietly, "And Jaune? Thanks. For calling. And… for looking out for my sister."

"You don't have to thank me for something I'd have done anyway, Yang. Ruby's good people. She just… seems like she could use some more friends," I shrugged, though I knew she wouldn't see it. "Anyway, go get some sleep. Night."

"Good night, Jaune Jaune," she laughed, hanging up.

Beside me, Miltia chuckled. "She seems nice."

I rolled my eyes, already knowing where she was going with that. "She is. And yes, to answer Neo in absentia, she's hot. She's also off limits until and unless Ruby says otherwise."

Miltia shifted to meet my eyes, raising an eyebrow as she took on a speculative look. "Jealousy issues?"

"Eh, a bit," I allowed. "Rightfully so, in this case. It's not Yang's fault, exactly, but Ruby told me she's feeling kind of neglected because boys tend to ignore her when her sister's around. Add to that the usual physical insecurities and you get the idea," I said, using my free hand to motion towards my chest, indicating a pair of large breasts, after which Miltia's expression shifted to one of understanding and she nodded. Calling up Telekinesis, I carefully lifted the girl at my side and stood. "Come help me get her to bed, would you?"

"Sure," Miltia agreed, moving ahead of me and getting the door, then turning down the covers. I spent a moment relieving Ruby of her boots and cape, while Miltia undid her belt before softly lowering her down and releasing my hold on the spell. The belt and cape found their way onto a chair near the bed, the boots going under the chair. "You know," the twin began, a thoughtful tone to her quiet words as she watched me pull the covers over the little reaper. "You're really kind of sweet, when you want to be."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I denied, easing her out of the room and closing the door behind us. "I've been no more sweet with her than I have with any of you."

"Yeah, that's what I mean," Miltia smiled, and I shot her a questioning look. "You already treat her like one of us, whether you realize it or not."

I rolled my eyes. "It's called 'being nice,' dear."

"If you say so," she shook her head, stepping forward and grabbing me by the front of my shirt. "Come to bed, lover. I want to feel you inside me."

"Well, I'm not going to argue with that," I smirked, leaning down a bit to meet her lips as she stood on tiptoe to kiss me. Reaching around her waist, I picked her up and carried her towards the bedroom. "You know you're going to have to be quiet. Don't want to wake our guest."

Miltia pulled back enough to smirk. "Oh, really? Where's the fun in that? Besides, if she hears something interesting, she might come to investigate… and decide to join in."

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head, toeing open my bedroom door. "Miltia, behave. Ruby's not that kind of girl."

"Pfft. That's what you think," she chortled, looking suddenly very smug in her amusement. "She was sneaking looks at the two of us all night. I don't think she's nearly as innocent as you want to believe she is, mentally. In fact, I'd say she's got us figured out already and was making comparisons. After all she's about Neo's height, with my and Melanie's build as far as assets goes. If anything, she was looking at me and thinking, 'If he would with her, why wouldn't he with me?' Her age is really a non-issue, except to the two of you apparently—and probably not to her, for much longer."

"A 'non-issue,'" I chuckled. "She's fifteen."

Miltia rolled her eyes. "And you're seventeen. It's only two years. Besides, she's legal already." She looked, for a moment, like she wanted to say more but shook her head and instead said, "Eventually, one or both of you will run out of patience and stop circling the issue. In fact, I'd bet on it. Knowing you though, it'll be her that makes the first move."

"Oh?" I asked, making sure the door was closed before tipping her forward over the bed, my larger body covering hers entirely—not that she seemed to mind, given the way her legs immediately wrapped around my waist. "You're willing to bet on it, huh? What sort of terms?" I'd be a fool to take any bet there, given that I knew Miltia had already set the field to her advantage to start with, but I at least wanted to hear her out.

"If I win, I want to watch you deflower her," Miltia grinned up at me, lust visible in her eyes.

I nodded, reaching down to undo her dress. "Uhhuh. And if I win?"

She hummed, pretending to think it over. "You can tie me up and make me watch you deflower her, when you eventually get around to it. We both know you will. It's only a matter of when."

I captured her lips in a kiss for a moment, easing her dress down off her shoulders, before breaking apart to ask, "Somehow, it seems like you get what you want either way that goes. And what if she doesn't want anyone else there for her first time? She may want it to be special."

"If by 'special' you mean she wants her sister there," Miltia deadpanned.

Blinking, I pulled back enough to look her in the eyes, my eyebrows climbing towards my hairline. I could see it as being possible, sure, but not entirely likely. Then again, given what I'd heard the two of them talking about and the way the smaller girl behaved, maybe I was wrong. "Really? She told you that, huh?"

"Not in so many words. Trust me—if anyone would be able to see that, it would be me or Melanie. Or should we ask Joan for a second opinion?" she smirked. "As for how, you've got mental spells," Miltia pointed out, arching her back and thrusting her chest up a bit further in a bid to entice me to play with her nipples. "Figure out how to share the memory. Now, less talky talky, more hanky panky."

Given an invitation like that, I wasn't going to refuse. Still, I had to get the last word in. "Hanky panky, or spanky spanky?"

"Both!" she growled, grabbing my shirt and pulling my lips down to hers. So much for the last word.