They were right there in front of him. Jaune poured on the speed, because once he grabbed it, he was basically home free. Just a little bit further…
"Ruby, wait!"
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
The rook relic disintegrated a few steps away from arm's reach.
The shock caused Jaune to stumble into the pedestal. "What? No! No no no no no." He scrabbled for the pieces, but it was no use. The relic was beyond repair.
"Hey! What was that for?" Ruby cried out.
Jaune looked up and saw that it wasn't just his relic, but the other remaining relics as well.
"My sincerest apologies," said a voice that didn't quite sound apologetic, "but I'd rather not chance that you take pity on Master Jaune."
Jaune turned to see Sheffield staring down the smoking pistol, her face lined with subtle frustrated tells. She was flanked on either side by Newcastle and Sirius, the former actually looking apologetic and the latter simply waving while keeping an eye out for trouble. Minnie was nowhere in sight, but Jaune had a good idea where she might be. Maybe.
Whoever the Vietnamese were, their forest hunting tactics were absolutely unfair.
"You couldn't have just shot his piece then?" Weiss asked. "Now how are the rest of us supposed to get into Beacon?"
"I'm sure a charitable donation from the SDC would help your case, Miss Schnee."
"Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean?"
"I am merely suggesting using a standard SDC negotiation tactic." Sheffield's face was impassive and her tone was factual as if talking about the weather, but there was a ghost of smugness about it.
Weiss looked like she had been shot as everyone else looked upon in awe. "I- You-!" She turned to Jaune with a furious gaze. "Jaune, can't you keep your maids under control?" Weiss yelled.
Dropping the pieces from his hands, Jaune drew his sword and shield. "You're making a lot of assumptions there- Hey!" Jaune raised his shield up as several rubber bullets pinged off in automatic fire. From behind his shield, Jaune shot Weiss a look to say 'See what I mean?'
"With all due respect, Master Jaune, be quiet," Sheffield said curtly, raising her smoking gun up. "You've caused enough trouble already with this wild goose chase of yours, and it's time to put an end to it. You're outnumbered, outgunned, and there's no escape now. Your best option is to come quietly and pray we find your mother in a good mood."
A part of Jaune quailed at the thought of being brought before Mom again, but his resolve was kept firm as Newcastle's words echoed in his mind. "And if I say no?"
Sheffield's eyes narrowed. "Then we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice."
'Isn't me surrendering supposed to be the easy way?' Jaune thought. His eyes flicked to Newcastle to Sirius and back to Sheffield. The hard way definitely involved fighting Sirius, no doubt. He wouldn't stand a chance. "What's the easy way?"
"Just a spot of nightcap, really," Newcastle said. She put a hand to her lips and let out a piercing whistle. Jaune felt his aura go up out of reflexive caution.
And not a second too soon as something pointy jabbed at his neck, the tip dulled by the aura, before bouncing off like a lawn dart.
Aura is awesome.
Every maid's eyes widened in shock. There was a distant "What the fuck" followed by the sound of a hunter falling out of a tree.
Jaune looked down at the object, then up at Sheffield. "Did you just try to use a horse tranquilizer on me? Seriously?"
"Dude, are you sure she's not a former assassin or something?" Yang asked.
"She's ex-military as far as I know," he replied. "My money was on former Atlas Specialist."
"I guess that makes her a Commando, then?" Yang's suggestive tone was lost on most of the group, but Jaune gave a resigned sigh.
Sheffield ignored their comments. "It seems you are full of surprises, and far more resourceful than I gave you credit for, Master Jaune. Perhaps those comics haven't completely rotted your brain yet."
"Thanks, I try to be a nuisance for you," Jaune said dryly.
"You are, as always." Sheffield began to professionally swap out her rubber pistol ammo for live rounds. "Unfortunately for you, this just means we don't have to hold back as much anymore to capture you."
"Then it's fortunate that I don't have to hold back as much either to stop that," Pyrrha said as she stepped forth. She leaned into a defensive stance, shield forward and sword at the ready behind it. "This is my partner you're trying to take away. If you want him, you'll have to get through me first."
As emasculating as it was needing to be saved by her, Jaune knew without a shadow of a doubt he wouldn't be able to save himself. Aura couldn't fix his lack of sword skills. 'I really need to find some way to repay these girls,' he thought as he tried to mimic her form.
"You go girl!" Nora cheered. "Fight for your man!"
Was it just him or did Pyrrha's face get a bit red? It has been sunny today. She probably forgot her sunscreen.
"Sirius, deal with this interloper."
"Fear not, Honorable Master, I shall reclaim you from this amazon!" Sirius proclaimed as she bouncily skipped forward. She then began to reach into her cleavage.
"Ren, don't look!" Nora said, covering her partner's eyes.
"What's she going to do? Polish Pyrrha's shield?" Weiss snarked rather irately. Jaune couldn't tell, but her eye seemed to be twitching a lot.
As if to answer her question, Sirius finally pulled out her hand. And pulled. And pulled. Until she finally got the tip of her massive gilded greatsword out from the cavernous valley of her bosom.
"WHAT AND HOW?!"
Yang's outburst made up for the silent, gobsmacked expressions from every female (Ren missed the reveal thanks to Nora).
Jaune, on the other hand… he was just confused about their confusion. He wasn't sure what was so surprising about it. Every girl he knew could do that trick.
"Here I come, Master! Please grant me strength!" With surprising grace that belied her weapon, Sirius leapt forward, ready to strike at Pyrrha.
Pyrrha moved to block, but it was unneeded as Sirius was halted in mid air by a black glyph.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Arc," Weiss said, pointing her rapier at the maid, "but your maid destroyed our relics and insulted me. Consider this my repayment." With a flick of her wrist, she sent Sirius flying backwards.
Sheffield started to point her pistol at Weiss, but Newcastle moved in front of her, her umbrella expanded to block the sniper rounds Ruby fired at them.
"Yeah! We're gonna kick your butts so hard, Ozpin will have to let us pass," Ruby said.
"Cheeky brats." Sheffield started to move again, but had to jump aside as buckshot tore up the ground in front of her.
"Oh no, we're still not done dancing, Commando Maid," Yang said with an eager grin. "No frilly bitch is gonna stop my sis from getting into Beacon with me."
"Yeah! Let's break some legs!" Nora said, pulling up alongside Jaune.
Jaune gave her a confused look. "What's your stake in this?"
"You two were going for the Rook piece, like ours," Ren said, holding up his relic. "It's logical to assume that you would have been paired with us as a team. Also, Nora really likes fighting."
Nora raised her hammer over her head. "Less talking, more breaking!"
"Oh. Thanks for that then." Jaune wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
The air was thick with tension as both sides waited for the other to make the first move. Feet shifted around, eyes glanced between targets, and some people planned out their approach while others would simply charge right in. Jaune was going to just start swinging and hope for the best.
'Pride of a nation, a beast made of steel~'
The loud, obnoxious song emanating from Jaune's scroll cut through the air like a heated knife, dispelling the tension like a slashed tire. All eyes turned to him and he flushed with embarrassment.
"Sorry, let me just…" he fumbled around with his pocket, the sudden attention making his hands jitter until he could pull his scroll out. He still almost dropped it.
'Bismarck in motion, king of the ocean, He was made to rule the-'
Jaune didn't recognize the number, but it wasn't a telemarketer call. Still, anything to delay the inevitable. He pressed the button. "Hello? This is kind of a bad time right now."
"On the contrary," the Headmaster's voice filtered through, "I think it's best I stepped in now. Put me on speaker, please. I'd like to speak with the maids."
Jaune pressed the button, but with no small amount of trepidation. As glad as he was for the interruption, he couldn't help but feel he was about to get in big trouble, one way or another. "It's for you, Sheffield."
"Greetings. Miss Sheffield, is it? I am Headmaster Ozpin. While I would have preferred to speak in person, I'm afraid my duties keep me elsewhere. My apologies for that. I must say, you and yours have certainly made this initiation the most entertaining in years. All for one wayward boy."
"What do you want?" Sheffield asked curtly.
"Just a few things. I would like to finish this initiation testing without any further interruptions. I would prefer to not handle the paperwork that might come of this. I'm also in dire need of a coffee refill. The first two, I'm sure you will cooperate with me."
"And why is that?"
"Didn't I mention the paperwork? Technically speaking, you all have already committed quite a list of charges that could be pressed should you keep being uncooperative. Including, but not limited to, trespassing, destruction of property, and public indecency. My deputy has been writing them up and it is becoming harder to keep her from simply calling the police. I'm sure neither of us want to deal with that headache."
Sheffield's pout looked like she just ate the world's most sour lemon. Newcastle had the decency to look ashamed. Sirius tried to pretend she wasn't a part of all this, but Newcastle hooked her arm with the umbrella handle before she could sneak away.
"No. No we wouldn't," Sheffield said, as if each word had to be extracted from her without painkillers. "We're only here for Jaune, not these other pests. If you don't want any more interruptions, then simply let us leave with him."
"I'm sorry, but it's not that easy." Ozpin didn't sound very sorry though. "According to my records, Mr. Arc is of legal age in Vale, thus his decision to become a huntsman is his own and so I cannot give him to you unless he happens to fail this initiation."
"Somehow, I don't think it'll be that difficult to do," Sheffield said, shooting a scathing look at Jaune.
"I made it this far, didn't I?" Jaune shot back.
"With a generous handicap and some devil's luck."
"What about personal skill and merit?" Ozpin interjected. "This initiation is meant to test our prospective students and weed out the weak and fraudulent, and as I understand, his transcripts are quite glowing. If he lives up to them, then he should be able to pass quite easily."
It took every ounce of control Jaune had to keep a straight face as Sheffield's piercing glare bore into him with each word.
"Since the relics were destroyed, the mission will need to be changed." Ozpin hummed in thought for a moment. "Ah, I know. A VIP Escort mission. Not far from here is a bridge that leads back to Beacon. Miss Sheffield and her group will defend the bridge while the VIP and escort tries to cross it. Mr. Arc will be the VIP, of course, and the escort group will include his partner and any who volunteer."
"We volunteer!" Ruby cheered out almost immediately, grabbing Weiss' hand and raising it with her own.
"If my sis is doing it, then so am I," Yang said. "Plus, I got a score to settle here."
"This looks like fun! Count me and Ren in," Nora added.
"I fail to see how this would challenge Master Jaune's skills if he's being carried across the finish line," Sheffield cut in.
"I was getting to that," Ozpin said. "Mr. Arc, as the VIP, your job will be to plan out, command, and execute the assault. You shall have thirty minutes to prepare. If you succeed, I shall argue for you to stay in Beacon. If not, I'm afraid that's the end of it. Will this challenge suffice, Miss Sheffield?"
Sheffield took a moment to respond, her face unreadable. "Yes, it will. We shall go make our own preparations." Sheffield and the other maids curtsied and started to leave. Before they went too far, Sheffield paused and turned her head back. "Now that you have your chance, try not to be a disappointment, Master Jaune. Your punishment will increase on how poorly you perform."
Once she was gone, Ozpin said, "Your time begins now. Good luck, Mr. Arc" He then hung up.
Jaune stared at the scroll. He had been right. He dodged a bullet, but fell into the deep end with an anchor tied to his feet. This was definitely the end of the line of his huntsman career. Minnie and the others may have taught him a lot, but he was far from ready to face them like this. It would take a miracle to pull out a win.
Before he could fall deeper into his despair, a bright voice jostled him back to reality. "So what's the plan, Fearless Leader?"
Jaune looked up to see Nora smiling at him with her hammer across her shoulders, her partner standing right beside her waiting for orders. The others, after a quick glance, showed similar, expectant expressions, but some were a bit happier than others.
They were all complete strangers, and yet, in a way, it felt like Jaune never left home. That meant he needed to live up to their expectations, surpass them, and do it five minutes ago. But this time, they were working with him.
"Well, first off, I just wanna say I'm really sorry for dragging you all into my problems," he said. "I wasn't expecting things to get this bad. I promise to make it up to you after this."
"You can start by getting us into Beacon," Weiss said, crossing her arms.
"I want your cousin's scroll number!" Ruby added.
"I want to know where the hell that maid was keeping her sword."
"I have… questions for Sheffield."
"I will take payments in Maid-made pancakes!"
Only Ren and Pyrrha stayed silent, content smiles on their faces.
Jaune nodded. "I'll see what I can do." He took a deep breath, and started to recall the lessons that were hammered into him. Though his family's company operated on cargo shipments, it was still fundamentally militaristic and thus many of his lessons involved tactics and strategies on protecting those shipping lanes. Even though he wasn't operating a fleet, many principles were still the same.
It was kinda funny, really. That little Mistralian book they made him memorize never seemed to apply to anything until planning his escape and right now.
"If you know your enemy, and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles."
"Okay, show me what you have. I need to know what I'm working with."
Let the games begin.
Just a little bit more until the end of this arc, and then I may take a bit of a break to organize things for the next one. I may also take some time to work a bit more on my Salem fic, and perhaps put out a rather silly oneshot crackfic idea I had. I do want to make more stories than just these two.
I just hope that work won't drive me into the ground before I do.