Thanks for the reviews! Here's a new chapter! I put a little spin to it. More of it at the a/n at the end! Enjoy!
Later that day, Weiss was sitting with her sister at a elegant pavilion, sipping tea and snacking on a plate full of croissants and strawberries. Weiss had been happy to hear that Winter was at least staying for a few more days to watch her match. Winter decided it was best not to mention how it was Xanthe who had convinced her to do so. Winter was quite surprised that Weiss had actually talked to father for a bit while stating she had learned a lot at Beacon. When Winter asked about the summoning aspect of her glyphs, Weiss admitted she still couldn't summon. The last time she did, was back in Merlot's island, she had been unable to duplicate the results. Winter merely smiled and offered to help out, before showing her an example, summoning a white and blue Beowolf by her side. Weiss looked at in in amazement before resolving to try once more.
"You'll never beat me, old man!" declared Ruby.
Qrow scoffed before replying, "You're nothing but talk, kid!"
"You can do it, Ruby!" cheered Yang, pumping her fist up.
Ruby was playing a videogame with Qrow with Yang cheering at the RWBY dorm. Qrow won easily, decapitating Ruby's character with his. Ruby could only look down in shame before Yang pushed her away taking her spot and snatching the spinning controller in the air, "My turn!"
Qrow chuckled as he fought Yang before continuing his story about a time back in Mistral. As he narrated, he paused at a dramatic climax, saying he had been defeated...by the mere sight... of the innkeeper's skirt length!
Yang, much to her ire at the story and losing in the game, immediately threw a dog-head pillow at Qrow, who caught it easily.
"You are the worst!" growled Yang.
Qrow and Ruby just laughed at her anger while starting up another round. Ruby asked a few questions until bragging about how they were also pretty much professional themselves. At this, Qrow laughed at this, causing Yang to argue, telling him they had saved Vale.
"Funny, because I heard Vale suffered a Grimm attack after you almost managed to stop a train," replied Qrow before leaning in to rub it in her face, "But they don't give out medals for almost. Plus, that whole angel thing basically saved a lotta people. I doubt you know anyone with that sorta firepower."
Ruby and Yang glanced at each other before putting a stoic expression. Qrow didn't notice as he was stretching his arms.
"By the way. I heard something interesting," said Qrow, "A birdie told me that you have a boyfriend, Yang. My baby niece, all grown up."
At this, he faked out tears before putting a stern visage, "And I hear that it was Jaune Ryu-Long. Which makes it weird, as it clearly looked like he's dating Cereal Girl."
Yang sputtered, trying to find someway to put this gently on Qrow. As Qrow let her try to explain this, he decided he needed a quick swig of his flask. He didn't even expect an answer from Ruby, though.
"Yep. Yang's dating Jaune. So am I, so we're dating the same guy!"
Qrow spat out his drink in front of him before coughing and choking at this news. Outside the window of team RWBY was a raven who sounded like it was cawing in laughter.
"HE'S WHAT!?" shouted Qrow. In the distance, he thought he heard Winter yelling the same thing. "I'm going to castrate him now!"
He dashed out the room, grabbing his weapon, intent on finding Jaune Ryu-Long. He quickly sent a message to Taiyang, stating family emergency/boyfriend alert. He didn't notice Taiyang send in a reply, telling Qrow not to do anything rash as he already knew about it.
"Ruby! I told you that you can't just hand in news like that!" scolded Yang, "Now we have to save our boyfriend now!"
"I thought Uncle Qrow would handle it better," sulked Ruby before they dashed out to save Jaune.
Back at the pavilion, Weiss was trying to practice her summoning, with Winter coaching her. However, she couldn't get a clone of a Grimm to come out, just like her sister. Frustrated at this, she eventually dismissed it before throwing a tantrum, to which Winter immediately slapped her head and scolding her to stop doubting herself, and that if this was her trying, then she had no hope in succeeding as a Huntress.
Angry at that, she tried to summon a Grimm clone when she suddenly remembered Jaune's words. Does it have to be a Grimm?
"I am different," whispered Weiss before dismissing her earlier glyph. Before Winter could ask what was wrong, Weiss summoned another one, concentrating hard on it. Winter looked at it curiously, wondering what Weiss was attempting when she felt the winds start to howl around the glyph. A giant sword came forth from the glyph. Winter raised an eyebrow, thinking Weiss had just summoned an ice sculpture of a sword, but that changed to astonishment when she saw a hand grab the sword. The hand slowly grew, and an arm came forth. It was up to the shoulder before stopping. Weiss moved the sword and hand around, showing she had some sort of control before dismissing it, exhausted from that attempt.
"That was excellent!" praised Winter, "I knew you could do it! And to see that you summon something completely different!"
"It's a work in process," panted Weiss, slowly taking a seat on a chair and grabbing a croissant to eat. "I have Jaune Ryu-Long to thank for this idea. He told me if it had to be Grimm."
Winter nodded, "It's usually enemies that you have defeated. The ones that pushed you. For most of us with this Semblance, it's usually the Grimm."
Winter went to sit with her little sister, proud of her to be able to accomplish such a task. Truly, studying at Beacon had done wonders for Weiss. Then, she decided she needed to ask.
"Weiss. Tell me the truth. Are you really dating Jaune Ryu-Long? Because it seems to me that he's dating Pyrrha Nikos. And don't lie, I can tell if you are."
Weiss stiffened at this accusation, trying to find someway to deflect this. Winter asked one more time, giving Weiss no choice.
"Well... He is dating... both of us?"
"HE'S WHAT!?" shrieked Winter. A few seconds later, and she swore she heard Qrow yelling the same thing.
"Excuse me. I have a boy I need to castrate," said Winter before dashing out, weapons ready.
"Winter! Wait!" shouted Weiss, but it fell on deaf ears. She sighed as she quickly got up and started running after Winter, intent on saving Jaune.
Jaune had returned back to Beacon, along with Pyrrha. The two of them had taken the time to cuddle and watch some television at a private room. They were content just to hug each other without roaming hands while flipping through some channels. Quite a few of them were replaying the fight of Jaune against Aurelian, and how the 39th winner would not be going for a second win in a row. Junior had given them drinks as congratulations, and gave Pyrrha a bottle of whisky before winking at her, saying she could give body shots to Jaune. He was thrown out by a blushing Pyrrha, but she kept the bottle. Jaune was slowly walking back to the JNPR dorms when he saw Qrow and Winter, seemingly working together, to charge towards him, weapons drawn.
"I think they figured it out," whimpered Jaune before turning around and running for his life.
"Get back here brat!" shouted Qrow, firing a few shots at the fleeing Jaune.
"Stand your ground and fight back, Ryu-Long!" roared Winter, summoning and sending a few small Nevermores to chase down Jaune.
"Can I explain before you kill me!?" yelled Jaune as he sprouted his red-scaled wings to fly away.
"Maybe AFTER!" replied both of them.
It was another two hours of chasing before Pyrrha called in Xanthe and Saffron to help. Together, along with Weiss, Ruby, and Yang, they managed to calm them both down. By that time, they had accumulated quite a bit of collateral damage around Beacon, causing Glynda to scold all of them again for making her do more work. They were back in the RWBY dorm again. All of JNPR and RWBY were there with Qrow and Winter. While Saffron and Xanthe decided to guard the doors.
"So explain to me why you're dating... four girls all at the same time?" said Qrow, "Not that I'm not impressed. I do have a lot of inappropriate stories I could share, including twins."
His eyes became a bit foggy, remembering the past before getting slapped on the head by Winter.
"Please. Do explain Jaune. I did not take you as someone who would be so... willing to engage in multiple relationships. Nor take advantage of some girl's feelings," interrogated Winter, "I did not take you as Qrow."
"Hey!" said Qrow, to which Winter ignored him,.
"I think it's easier just to show you," said Jaune before taking both their hands. Before they knew what was happening, there was a flash of light. RWBY and the rest of JNPR had quickly touched Jaune to be included.
"Ok. I know I didn't have that much to drink," muttered Qrow as he looked around to see darkness. All he saw was everyone that had been in the room, except now they were standing on some grass.
"Where are we?" asked Winter, confused.
"Inside my mindscape. There's someone you guys need to meet. They're the reason why I need multiple... mates," said Jaune testily, "Look behind you."
There was a resounding thud as he said that. Qrow and Winter whirled around, ready to fight when they saw Ryo-Wo and Andusk, who decided to reveal themselves this time.
"Greetings," greeted Ryo-Wo.
Qrow and Winter just gaped at the two massive dragons in front of them.
"I know. We had the same expression when we first met them too," chuckled Yang, "The same with dad."
"I have no idea what I'm looking at," said Qrow, trying to find his trusty flask.
"What a majestic creature!" complemented Winter as she looked closer at Ryo-Wo.
"Well, now. Someone who finally admires me for my qualities," chuckled Ryo-Wo.
"Now I think of it, which dragon are we supposed to be bonded to?" asked Weiss.
Jaune pointed towards Ryo-Wo, telling that was hers. She looked at it and smiled. At least she had a majestic dragon. Jaune quickly explained to both of them about his dragons, the conditions, and the fact that he wanted this to remain a secret. He didn't tell them about his past with the Arcs, though. Winter seemed to agree to keep silent, but Qrow was hesitant. He felt like this should be brought to Ozpin.
Andusk, however, was eyeing Qrow. He leaned down to take a sniff, making Qrow stand very still. Andusk dismissed all that alcoholic scent on him, but deep down, there was something connecting him to both Ruby and Yang.
"Ruby, Yang, how is this man related to the both of you?" asked Andusk.
"That's our Uncle Qrow!" piped Ruby.
"He's my birth mom's brother," explained Yang, "No blood relation with Ruby, but he named himself honorary uncle for both of us."
"That can't be right," muttered Andusk. Qrow immediately felt his blood freeze at this. "I can smell it. He's her-,"
Qrow immediately rushed to Jaune, "Tell your dragon not to say anything right now!" Qrow pleaded/whispered to Jaune, "They can't know!"
Jaune nodded before waving at Andusk, shaking his head. Andusk raised an eyebrow but decided to remain silent for now.
"You're explaining this after," whispered Jaune. Qrow nodded, knowing he couldn't escape from this.
Soon, they were all back out. Qrow privately brought Jaune to a secure and private room to talk, telling Yang and Ruby they were not to follow with a serious voice. And when Qrow was serious, they listened.
"So, 4 girls, huh," began Qrow.
"Six, actually," blushed Jaune. Qrow looked impressed before raising his flask towards him in praise.
"Soo, what was that about?" asked Jaune, trying to switch the subject.
"Jaune," said Andusk, "I'm sure of it now. Qrow is not just some fun uncle. He shares the same scent in Yang and Ruby. Both of them are related to the Branwen family."
Jaune's eyebrow shifted before asking Qrow what relations he had with Ruby Rose in specific. Qrow sighed as he looked up at the ceiling for a bit before emptying his flask. He would need to get a refill soon.
"What information in this room stays in this room," said Qrow, finally looking back down at Jaune, "I won't tell Oz about your dragons, but you don't tell anyone about what I'm going to say."
Jaune nodded, promising on his honor as a dragon contractor not to say anything.
"It all begins... back with my old team. My first team. Team STRQ," began Qrow, "Taiyang and I were partners, while Raven was partners with Summer."
"Ruby's mom?" clarified Jaune. When Qrow raised his eyebrow, Jaune told him that he had taken Ruby to see her grave as a request before the tournament started. Qrow grunted before continuing his story.
"Summer Rose was our leader. She could do things nobody could. Including making my sister listen to someone. She was incredible. And I fell for her hard."
'What?' thought Jaune, 'Isn't she Taiyang's second wife? Taiyang said so.' Qrow didn't notice Jaune's confusion and continued with his story, staring up at the ceiling, as if to reminisce the old days.
"In the start of our years at Beacon, I was... quite the player. Going around, sleeping around and having fun. But Summer... was an unattainable goal for me. It was in our fourth year did we start dating. It took a damn mission where she almost died to make me see it. That I couldn't see a life without her. So, I went up and straight up asked her out. She laughed and agreed, saying that she had a crush on me since the beginning."
At this point, Qrow's eyes started to mist up a little before continuing, "At the end of our schooling, Raven was pregnant already with Yang from Taiyang. They had a small wedding before the end of our final semester. Then, it changed. After Raven had Yang, she stuck around for a few months before suddenly leaving, stating she was going back to her 'family'. It tore Tai up a lot. He was now a single father, who had no idea how to take care of a baby. Summer decided to help him out, and live at his place. I was still going on missions, as well as trying to convince Raven to come back. It didn't work, as you can see. Fast forward 2 years, and I married Summer and Ruby was born. At this point, Yang thought Taiyang and Summer were her father and mother. They didn't do anything to disprove it, and even kept the illusion of 'sleeping together' and other stuff. I had to go on long-term missions, going throughout Remnant to keep people safe. Do jobs most hunters didn't want to do. Jobs most hunters couldn't do."
"Couldn't you have stayed longer with Summer and your daughter?" asked Jaune.
Qrow frowned before taking a deep breath, "I won't say who, but we needed someone on the ground. Keeping ears open to things he can't hear. Summer understood, and promised to always be on my side. By the time I came back, Ruby was already 3, and thought Taiyang was daddy. Crushed me, but Summer always managed to say that they would fix that. Kept my spirit up. So, I became their fun-loving uncle. We were going to let Yang and Ruby know the truth... until that day."
At this, Qrow actually let a tear slip down his face.
"Qrow?" Jaune asked, trying to see if he was alright.
"Summer went out on a mission. It wasn't suppose to be big. Just a simple search and destroy mission. However, she never made it back. Ruby was 6, and Yang was 8 when Summer died. Death by Grimm was what the report said. I say bull. All of STRQ knew Summer wouldn't have gotten so careless and died from Grimm. Raven, in her rare moments, actually provided us with information, saying that she died from some sort of Faunus assassin. Of course, when I heard she died, I dropped everything I was doing and flew back home as fast as possible."
"Flew? You can fly?" asked Jaune.
"Crap," said Qrow, "Wasn't supposed to let that slip. I can transform into a crow, hence my name."
Qrow transformed in front of him into a crow before transforming back to his human form just to show proof before continuing with his story.
"When I got back to Patch, I saw Taiyang, just sitting there in an emotional wreck. He loved Summer like a sister, and to see another person he loved disappear took its toll on him. I would've taken pity, except I noticed there was absolutely no noise. I couldn't hear Yang or Ruby. No screaming, no crying, not even them breathing. I punched Taiyang back to reality before demanding where they were. We found a trail of footprints, leading into the forest, along with wheel tracks. Figuring what had happened, I rushed to track them, ditching Taiyang. The rest isn't important, just that I saved them in the nick of time. Got them back home, took Taiyang a secure location before beating the shit out of him for letting his daughter and my daughter go out like that. We discussed what to do next, and in the end, Taiyang promised to get his act back together and continue acting as both their fathers. I would be the uncle, but I still had to go on long-term missions."
"Couldn't you take care of Ruby? Couldn't somebody else replace you?" asked Jaune, "You couldn't have been so willing to abandon your child."
"Its... my Semblance that I was worried about," confessed Qrow, "I have no control over it at all. It's bad luck. The probability of something bad happening to anyone. And I couldn't take that risk with Ruby. Better for her to be safe than to know the truth and get hurt. So this facade of ours has been going on for pretty much their whole life."
"Is that why you drink so much?" asked Jaune, crinkling his nose. He could smell the alcohol on Qrow's clothes and skin.
"Na. I just love my drinks," grinned Qrow, "Although I drink a little more now, I suppose. Summer has been trying to make me cut down for years."
"Well, that's enlightening," sighed Jaune as he stood up to stretch, "Guess that's why Andusk had his suspicions. He is the one for Ruby, as well as the originator of the silver eyes, as he blessed them."
Qrow looked surprised for a second before looking at his Scroll, shocked to see how fast time had gone by. There was also mail from Taiyang, stating he already knew and not to do anything stupid.
"Huh. Maybe I should've talked to Taiyang first before trying to kick your ass first," mused Qrow, "Oh well. It was fun chasing you."
"You suck," deadpanned Jaune.
"Hmph. Well, gotta get going. You're cramping my style. Take care of my daughter and niece. And remember. NOT. A. WORD." growled Qrow. Jaune nodded before Qrow left.
As Qrow was heading towards Oz's office, he said his goodbyes to Ruby and Yang, before passing on some very important advice. Ones that would be engraved into their minds.
"Remember that you've still got a long way to go. And don't think for a second that graduating means you're done. Every day out there is worth a week in this place. You two, you're gonna go far. But only if you keep learning; if you never stop moving forward."
He left it at that, walking away. His daughter and niece never left their gaze from his back.
"Well, this is quite a surprise. I didn't imagine to see both my daughters at once," said Jacques as he received a call from Weiss. He was prepared to merely chat with Weiss, but was happy to see Winter sitting right next to her. He had planned to call Whitley over to him to have a family talk, but the boy refused, stating he had some important studies to go through.
"It's good to see you again, Miss Schnee, Miss Schnee," said Klein, their family butler.
"It's good to talk to you too, Klein," said the sisters.
"I saw the matches today," said Jacques, "And I must admit, it was a surprise to see Jaune Ryu-Long win against Aurelian Arc. It does make me feel good that Vlad Arc's bragging finally gets taken down."
"You mean for the fact you were celebrating with wine and canceling your meetings today while yelling as loud as you could, saying 'EAT IT, VLAD!' as your politest words while sprouting other words I dare not say in front of the ladies?" asked Klein.
"KLEIN!" shouted Jacques, embarrassed that her daughters now knew he had set free of his usual strict and rigid attitude when he saw Aurelian beaten. Winter and Weiss were starting to snicker at that, not really believing or being able to see their father do such a thing.
"I have proof," continued Klein, not even caring that Jacques was threatening him before pulling up a video of Jacques hooting and hollering, dancing around his study and sending it to them.
Jacque's usually pale face turned red for once, while Winter and Weiss couldn't hold it in and howled in laughter while Jacques was shaking Klein, trying to make him stop.
What Winter and Weiss didn't know that Vlad met with Jacques on some business deals, and would always slyly suggest an arranged marriage between the two families, or just rubbing it in his face that his daughter didn't fight, that she 'ran' away. Of course, they were subtle, but Jacques took it with a practiced smile. He was strict, and sure his practices were shady, but he loved his daughters. And there was no way he was going to have them engaged to Vlad's sons. He hated the man.
"By the way, I couldn't help but notice that Jaune's partner, Pyrrha Nikos, seems... rather close to him,"
Winter and Weiss exchanged glances before lying to him, saying that there was nothing between them and that Weiss was indeed dating Jaune, with Winter verifying her words. It was half-truths, but they really didn't want their father to know about his 'legal' harem. They had an idea what he would do, and it wasn't pretty.
While the family talks continued, in his own private study room, was Whitley Schnee. He was watching the fight again, with Jaune Ryu-Long in it. His fist tightened in anger as he slammed it down onto the table. That damn jerk! From what father told him, he was now dating Weiss. He couldn't handle having that ostentatious, pretentious riffraff actually having a chance on being his brother-in-law! He was lucky when that special group contacted him, asking if he wanted to get out of the shadow of his 'perfect' sisters and become the man leading the Schnee family. He jumped on that chance. He couldn't use glyphs like her sister, he couldn't fight! He considered it barbaric, that he should be directing others to do those jobs. And so, he poured all his ingenuity in creating that special program, using his connections to understand the CCT better so his program could work even better than before.
Whitley leaned back in his chair and grinned wickedly. If all went as planned, then he wouldn't have to worry about Jaune. He would most likely be among the causality, along with so many others. If his sisters died, then even better! Although he wouldn't say no to a couple of hot Huntresses he saw. Perhaps he could make a deal, have them capture some of them, and give them to him as his rewards.
"Soon, you'll all be nothing."
"That's him?" asked Adam Taurus, watching a video of Jaune Ryu-Long's fight.
"Yep. At first, we thought Blake was dating a monkey Faunus named Sun. However, our sources tell us that they have seen her with him, going into a private section of the library together," stated Ed, Adam's lieutenant with a chainsaw. He had managed to escape capture, but he really was sore from the beat down the Schnee and the 'Goddess of Victory' had served to him on a silver platter.
"They could be just studying together," mused Adam.
"Going into the private section with that book she usually carries? It might be possible, but our spies say that they leave the room sometimes, hands clasped together, or even slightly messy clothes," replied Ed. "A side note, though. Her partner is Yang Xiao Long."
At this, a photo of Yang appeared in front of them. Adam took his time to study both photos.
"Jaune Ryu-Long. The man who stole my Blake," growled Adam, "And Yang Xiao Long. Blake's current partner. Don't worry, my love. I'll take away everything you love before you come crawling back to me. I am irreplaceable."
He turned around and slashed a tree, cutting it in half.
The next day came, and the last set of matches for the Doubles round would end. Two fights went by, with Atlas and Shade winning a match each. The third match was Russel and Sky from CRDL fighting Penny and Ciel from CPPR.
"Why aren't you fighting?" Jaune asked Cardin, who was sitting diagonally from him. "No offense, but I would've thought it be you and Dove."
"That was the plan," said Dove.
"Yea, but I was a bit worried that Boyd might somehow steal my Semblance during the match," sighed Cardin, "I tested it out yesterday, and saw that it was working. However, I didn't want to risk him bumping into me today and taking it just to humiliate me in the match, so I opted for Russel to replace me. Russel works better with Sky than Dove, so we had to change that, too. A good thing, because I literally bumped into Boyd, and he didn't look happy."
JNPR and RWBY, who were sitting next to CRDL, nodded at his conclusion. The others had decided to seat with their school mates, while CFVY was sitting with their friends in the second year. They watched Penny basically solo and destroy them, with Ciel just looking at a watch. The match ended with Russel and Sky trying to take cover behind some boulders, only to have them be lifted into the air when Penny stuck her swords inside them. Being helpless in the air, Penny brought the rocks down hard to the floor, dragging her victims and driving their bodies into the ground.
"And victory goes to Penny and Ciel of Atlas!" announced Oobleck as the buzzers rang, signifying the elimination of Russel and Sky.
"Ow," said Yang with a bit of pity, "They never stood a chance."
"Yea, I'm not sure I would've done any better with Dove," admitted Cardin, "Those floating swords seems like hacks."
Penny had bowed down in respect to her opponents before leaving. Ruby, who was excited to see Penny again, left her seats to chase after her.
"Ruby? Our match is next!" shouted Weiss.
"She'll be back," replied Blake, "She probably just wants to go say hi to Penny. Seems like they're friends."
Ruby managed to find Penny and Ciel, just about to leave the stadium and towards the docking area and shouted out, "Penny!"
Penny turned around and replied back with glee before tackling Ruby into a hug, forcing them both to the ground and taking away Ruby's air.
"Why...," groaned Ruby in pain. Penny quickly got up before introducing Ruby to Ciel Soleil. Before Ruby could say anything, Ciel went through some data that she had already gathered about her slightly insulting her.
Ruby could only stay silent for a second before turning back to Penny and complimenting her. Ciel, however, interrupted them once again, stating that they needed to get going. Ruby could easily see that Ciel was really strict about managing time. Penny was able to convince Ciel to allow them to have a private conversation for at least a minute. With that time, Penny confessed to Ruby that she wanted to stay at Beacon. Ruby was worried, stating that it was obvious Ironwood wouldn't allow her, but Penny waved it off, saying she had a plan. With a minute up, Penny left with Ciel, but not before waving goodbye. As Ruby stood there for a bit, Port's voice rang through the stadium.
"Our next match will begin in 15 minutes!"
Ruby suddenly looked really excited as she clasped her hands together, "Oh my gosh, that's right! It's time for-"
Yang was standing with Weiss at the center of the arena, stretching her arms and warming up, "Well, now it's our turn!"
Weiss huffed a bit before replying, "Just don't go too wild. Remember to keep proper form. You didn't learn all those CQC techniques from Ren and Jaune just to throw them out the window.
Yang chuckled as she acknowledged the statement before changing her tone, "You're from Atlas. What could we expect?"
"Well, seeing as their Kingdom, Academy and armed forces are all merged as one, I think we can expect strict, militant fighters with advanced technology and carefully rehearsed strategies," listed off Weiss, "But… after seeing team DSCO…"
Suddenly, a rainbow zoomed past them before coming to a stop at the opposite of them to reveal a orange haired Faunus girl with pigtails as her hairstyle, roller blades, and a cat tail swaying about. She looked like she wouldn't be out of place at a rave, with her style of clothes. Her partner was a young black man wearing a fedora and sunglasses, while carrying what seemed to be a trumpet for a weapon.
"Yea…, thought as much," finished Weiss, staring in shock at these two fighters who didn't seem to fit the Atlas bill. Yang was also staring in shock. They both snuck a glance at the screen to see their names as Neon Kat and Flynt Coal. Then again, team DSCO didn't seem to fit the bill either, while the other teams from Atlas did. And according to team DSCO, their team and team FNKI were supposed to be among the top teams of the second years.
"Hey!" yelled Flynt, "You Weiss Schnee, right? The heiress." He was looking directly at Weiss with a smile. Weiss bowed her head in recognition, smiling. Flynt continued his innocent line of questioning, asking about if she was good with Dust, to which Weiss humbly acknowledged.
"Yeah, my dad was good too. Owned a little Dust shop of his own," said Flynt, nodding his head, his shades tilted down a little so they could see his eyes. "Till your father's company ran him out of business." At this, his tone changed, his eyes full of hate, and a scowl forming on his face.
"Oh no," said Winter, looking from the audience.
Ironwood didn't give her permission to stay as a vacation, but rather, ordered her to stay at Beacon as part of an independent security force. He said that having an Atlesian Special Operative patrolling the area would make the citizens feel more secure. So, overall, Winter was getting paid to spend time with her little sister, something she definitely wasn't complaining about.
"What's wrong?" asked Saffron.
"Flynt Coal. I've met the kid before," explained Winter, "His father was a Dust shop owner, but it ran out of business due to my father's... rather shady deals. He holds a grudge against the Schnee name, just like so many others. Grandfather Nicholas was well admired, but Jacques Schnee is rather hated. And people forget that Jacques isn't actually a Schnee, but rather married into the name. I remember back in the first semester of this year, when Ironwood had me head to Mantle to look for any potential recruits. Flynt kept giving me dirty looks until I confronted him about it. He scoffed and said I was a Schnee, and that was enough. Didn't stop me from kicking his butt, though."
"So you're basically inheriting your father's hate," said Xanthe sympathetically.
"I wouldn't worry," smiled Saffron, "Looks like Weiss has it under control."
"Are you seriously that childish and trying to pin that blame and hatred on me?" scoffed Weiss, rolling her eyes. Flynt actually looked surprised at her response.
"I am me. My father is his own man. I don't approve of his methods either, and do hope to change that," said Weiss softly, "Too many forget that my father isn't actually a Schnee, that he married into the name."
Flynt now had no response to counter that before looking away, embarrassed, before muttering, "I knew that."
"She got you good," laughed Neon.
"Looks like you Weissed over," said Yang, making them all groan at the terrible pun.
"Hey! Where'd you get your hair extensions?" Asked Neon suddenly.
Neon kept rapidly changing subjects while insulting her. Yang got annoyed and decided to just ignore her completely. When Neon noticed, she frowned.
"Am I boring you?" asked Neon.
"Yup. Neon of this sounds even remotely important, so I filtered it out," grinned Yang.
"Ohh, you're going down, you top-heavy punk," growled Neon.
The roulette stage had just chosen the lava, desert, geyser, and urban stage for their fight. Both of them prepared for the fight as Port started to count down.
Right as it started, Flynt raised his trumpet to his lips and blew, issuing forth a sound wave that forced Weiss and Yang back. Surprised by this attack, Weiss quickly summoned a glyph underneath her to stop from sliding back. Both of them didn't notice Neon riding the sound wave and smacking Yang away from Weiss and into the urban area, drawing the first attack. It was clear that Neon would be fighting Yang while Flynt wanted Weiss.
Flynt quickly blew on his horn to attack Weiss again, who quickly moved forward before summoning another glyph below her to stop her body from being pushed back. She slowly moved forward, straining herself a bit to get closer when Flynt suddenly stopped. Not ready for the sudden change, she shot forward towards Flynt.
'Gotcha,' grinned Flynt as he shifted a little to the left and tried to a round heel kick to her back.
Weiss, with all the extra training she had done with her team, was able to turn and block the hit, but she still shot off towards the lava stage from the kick, crashing right through a red Dust crystal formation.
'Hmm, didn't think she could actually block that,' thought Flynt, but still grinned when he saw Weiss laying on the floor while fire pillars were spewing around her. Weiss quickly got up, ready to attack.
Back in the ruined urban area, Neon was skating and grinding on railings, dodging all of Yang's ranged attack while muttering a mantra to herself, "Never miss a beat!"
Neon was leaving a colorful rainbow behind her still, much to Yang's confusion and irritation. She made a face at the very irritated Yang, who was getting more angered for being unable to land a hit. She suddenly skated towards Yang and whacked her with her nunchaku. Yang was unprepared for the attack and reeled back for a bit. Before she could do anything, Neon was skating by and hitting her every time, leaving Yang open.
'Dangit! It's like playing tag with Ruby!' shouted Yang in frustration as she couldn't do anything but take the hit. Neon stopped when she took some distance before smirking and cracking her weapon a little, causing them to suddenly glow blue. Yang quickly unloaded the spent shells from her gauntlets, hoping to lighten up her load a little. Neon skated forward again and ducked under Yang's punch before slamming her weapon at Yang's right leg.
Yang felt her right leg suddenly become weighted and cold, and looked down to see Neon had encased her right leg in ice.
"Hm-hmm! Look!" Neon giggled before smacking her butt for a bit of emphasis, "Now you're bottom-heavy, too!"
Yang was getting even madder when she remembered her father warning her about her fighting style, and when she was reminded again by Jaune, Ren, and Pyrrha. She could get angry, but she needed to control that anger, and release it at opportune moments, not throw a tantrum everywhere. That, and she needed to show Neon who the pun master was! She quickly slammed her foot down to the ground to free her leg from the ice. Just as she did that, though, Neon came charging in and swung her weapon towards her head. Yang quickly reacted, blocking the hit with her left arm before having it frozen. Neon was rollerblading on the rails and going through an archway, gaining some distance before speeding towards Yang again. She jumped to land a drop kick on Yang's stomach, using her momentum to blast Yang away and do some serious damage.
However, she didn't expect someone who was always moving forward and trying to force her way in to suddenly leap back and bend her body, lowering the impact onto Yang's stomach. It had taken Yang some time to learn this lesson, but sometimes in order to go forward, one has to take a step back. When Neon jumped, Yang was already in motion, jumping back a little. Upon impact, she didn't resist, but flowed with it, her body bending forward like a U shape. Her heels were slammed into the ground, keeping her flying away while keeping balance, and her arms quickly trapped Neon's legs Neon found her momentum lost and couldn't launch Yang away.
'My turn!' thought Yang as she did a pelvic thrust, launching Neon in the air for a bit. She quickly slammed her left fist into the ground to get rid of the ice before jumping up. She landed two quick jabs on the flying Neon before spinning and doing an axe kick right into Neon's gut, sending her down into the ground with a bang. Neon threw out some spit from her mouth at the attack, but quickly recovered to dodge the incoming Yang groundshaker.
"Geez, shaking up the party," muttered Neon before rollerblading around Yang, hoping to get an open hit while recovering from that attack.
Meanwhile, Weiss and Flynt were facing each other in the lava section. She quickly shot out 4 large ice chunks at Flynt, who looked down before spinning the air and landing onto his knees before blowing his horn again. A column of fire erupted right in front of him, and using the fire, he forced the pillar of fire to bend towards the ice chunks, melting them away.
As he got back up, he taunted, "Too bad all that money can't buy you skill," while twirling his trumpet.
Weiss looked at him with indigence and rage before revolving her hilt to use the wind Dust crystal. She aimed a stream of wind at Flynt when he blew on his horn again, creating a standstill. Flynt was frowning when he saw that they were at a deadlock, and he couldn't do anything. Weiss, however, was already conjuring multiple speed glyphs all around Flynt before suddenly disappearing from Flynt's sight. His eyes widened, and before he could do anything, he felt an ice block hit him on the back. He tried to turn around only for another one to hit his side. Weiss was using her glyphs to run circles around Flynt while landing hits with ice.
Getting frustrated, Flynt stomped his foot down to regain balance and started to play once more. Then, he multiplied into four of himself, each wearing different colors than the original with each sound waves color coordinated. They all combined in one direction, creating a bigger wave of noise. Weiss was still dashing around when she unfortunately got caught by it and was sent flying away, dropping her weapon in the process.
"Whoa. Didn't expect someone to clone themselves. His semblance is almost like mine," commented Sun.
"His seems... more solid actually," observed Neptune.
"Also less draining than yours," added Sage, "Usually, you can't sustain your clones for long, although the advantage is that they don't transfer damage back to you. Flynt might have that weakness."
'That was true,' smirked Sun mentally, 'But now... thanks to the mark, it's evolved to something quite special.'
"What's this?" announced Port, looking at Oobleck in shock at this sudden turn of event.
"It appears young Flynt has just activated his Semblance!" said Oobleck, "And quite a remarkable one at that. Ladies and gentlemen, feast your eyes on Flynt Coal's Killer Quartet!"
All the clones mimicked the original, flipping their hat around to the audience before looking at the scoreboard and slightly frowned. He had taken more damage than he thought, but at least Weiss was at 40% while he was at 55%. His shock was when he saw Neon at 50% while Yang was at 70%.
'Neon was suppose to be able to handle Yang, according to our data,' frowned Flynt, 'Either she's slacking off, or Yang's data doesn't match up anymore. Knowing Neon, it's the latter, even if she does seem lax.'
Meanwhile, Neon was still skating away from Yang, getting her rhythm back to pace. However, Yang was being more cautious now, and dodging Neon's attack to prevent herself from getting frozen. They managed to end up back at the center of the arena. Neon was very careful not to be forced into the desert area or geyser area, for it would be a horrible place to skate.
Weiss was slowly getting back up, and saw her sword a few feet in front of her, She reached out for it just to have Flynt step on the blade. He looked down at her and grinned until both of their attentions were drawn to Yang, who was yelling in frustration to stop running away.
Neon, however, was just skating around in a circle around Yang, teasing her, "I wasn't trying to say that you should go on a diet, I was saying you really need to go on a diet!"
Her plan was to frustrate Yang to make a mistake and charge forward for her to capitalize on it. And it seemed to be working. Not only that, she noticed Flynt had Weiss down and weaponless, so he could provide help.
"That's IT!" roared Yang in anger. 'I keep this body strong and sexy for myself... and Jaune!' she mentally added.
"You're fat," said Neon bluntly, hoping it would push her over the edge.
'Nice going,' chuckled Flynt before deciding to focus his attention at Yang, activating his Semblance once more. He made sure his foot was still on the Weiss's weapon just in case. He would send Yang flying back into the urban area, and maybe off the stage. If not, then Neon would still hold the advantage in there.
'You're ignoring me?' snarled Weiss inside her head. 'Who do you think you're looking down at!? I am Weiss Schnee! Heiress of the SDC! Huntress -in-training to carry the Schnee family name! And, most importantly, ONE OF JAUNE'S POTENTIAL MATE! I CANNOT, NO, WILL NOT BE LOOKED DOWN LIKE THIS!'
She opened the palm of her hand, summoning a glyph on the palm of her hand like her sister Winter did. She focused on it, and it suddenly expanded. An arm with a sword spawned forth above her head.
"Don't you dare look down at me!" roared Weiss as she slashed her hand horizontally. The sword mimicked her movements cutting from right to left.
"Flynt! Look out!" called out Neon, who noticed the sword. But it was too late.
The sword cut through the pink clone first, and kept going, slicing all the other clones before slamming into Flynt, sending him flying into the urban area. The buzzer rang as Flynt's Aura passed the threshold.
"Oooh, and Flynt goes down! He shouldn't have let his guard down like that," commented Port.
"Indeed! Just because a fighter is weaponless, doesn't stop them from being a threat," added Oobleck, " And it looks like he'll be paying for that."
Neon gulped, knowing it was now 2v1. Yang, however, grinned.
"Going somewhere?" Asked Yang as she slammed her fists together, activating her Semblance. Her hair became fiery, and her pupils red. She didn't get hit much, but the additional boost would be satisfying when she punched Neon. Neon immediately started to skate away when Yang suddenly accelerated towards her. She yelped in surprised and turned, going into the geyser area. Weiss had made a glyph underneath Yang to propel her forward.
Weiss quickly glided towards the geysers as Yang also gave chase. Neon was not having a good time, as the bumpy path made it difficult for her to skate fast. Yang saw this and grinned, firing shots near Neon, making it even more difficult to skate. It was over for Neon when her skates hit an uneven rock, causing her to fall and roll. Weiss took advantage of this and summoned a glyph, predicting where Neon would roll towards. Neon hit the glyph and was sent flying into the air by repulsion, straight into a waiting Yang. In Neon's view, she swore she was looking at a hungry dragon, waiting to bite down on her.
"This is for calling me FAT!" shouted Yang and punching Neon in the stomach, sending her flying out of the stage while also lowering her Aura pass the threshold.
"Weiss and Yang of Beacon win this doubles round!" shouted Oobleck as the buzzer rang.
Yang walked up to Weiss, giving her a high-five. Flynt was slowly standing back up after being hit by Weiss' attack, shaking his head to get rid of the sand as well as clearing his head.
"Not bad, Schnee," said Flynt to Weiss, "Guess I got cocky there."
"A good fight to you as well," curtsied Weiss.
As Flynt was walking off the stage to help Neon up, who's body was imprinted onto the stage, he stopped before calling out to Weiss again.
"Listen... Sorry about what I said earlier," apologized Flynt, "I guess... I'm a bit sour about my old man's business. Blaming it on you when you've had nothing to do with it."
Weiss just waved it off, saying not to worry about it. Flynt grinned before walking away.
Weiss and Yang were greeted by the rest of their team and friends, congratulating them on a victory well deserved. The decided to head back to the festival grounds to eat as celebration, or in CRDL's case, a pity party.
They passed by the registration booth, and made their decision on who would proceed to the singles round. For RWBY, it would be Yang, while for JNPR, it was Jaune. As they left, they didn't notice one of the employee inside smirk as her eyes changed colors to pink and brown. She told the other employee she would take care of it, and while typing up who was going into the singles round, changed Jaune's name to Pyrrha's. After all, they needed her in the finals to make this work, according to Cinder from earlier.
Few minutes earlier
Cinder had been scrolling through some documents that she had managed to gain access to when her eyes widened in surprise, before it was followed by a smile. Emerald noticed and asked what was up.
Cinder was scrolling through a blueprint with the title "P.E.N.N.Y." before grinning, "Oh nothing. We're just going to be making a slight, hmm... alternation in the plan."
Mercury stopped doing his push ups as he shared a look of concern with Emerald, "What does that mean?"
"It means that this will be even easier than we thought," smiled Cinder as she continued to look through the file, with it showing an outline of a very familiar girl who wore a pink bow and orange hair.
Back at Ozpin's office, he was facing the window, looking out at the sight of Beacon and the Atlas ships flying around when the elevator doors opened. Qrow Branwen stepped inside, approaching Ozpin's desk while carrying a coffee mug in hand. However, inside the coffee mug, was coffee that had been mixed with whiskey.
"You know, he's making you look like a fool," commented Qrow. It wasn't hard to figure out who he was talking about.
"His heart is in the right place. He's just... misguided," replied Ozpin distractedly.
"Sometimes, I'm not even sure he has a heart," scoffed Qrow before draining his cup, "So, have you chosen your guardian yet?"
Ozpin swirled his chair to face Qrow before replying, "Maidens choose themselves. I simply believe I've found the right candidate. Ever since the day I met her, I had the feeling she would be the one. She's strong, intelligent, caring... but most importantly, she's ready."
As he was listing the traits, Pyrrha was walking towards the elevator. She had been messaged by Ozpin to come to his office for something important. She shrugged and left after giving Jaune a quick kiss to his lips while the others weren't looking. She turned around and waited as the elevator took up her up to where Ozpin was, unsure what it was wanted. Whatever it was, she would tackle the challenge head on.
Next up! Discussion of the Fall Maiden! Hope you've enjoyed this chapter. Read and Review. Soon, we'll be hitting the epic moments! Also, I'm having trouble coming up with chapter names... DAMMIT! I can write the story, but coming up with names hurts...
Yep! I put Qrow as the daddy! I know that it's been... confirmed? Whatever, Ruby is supposed to be Taiyang's daughter, but I felt like putting a spin on that. Hope my 'explanation' I put was believable. To be honest, Ruby has more small factors that point her to him. The cross Qrow wears on his necklace can be seen on her hood. The weapons. Etc. This will play into the story later in the future.
Now to answer some reviews that I can't pm!
Review section:
MachinaWarrior: Can't really do that. I don't really have a set schedule of when I release, though I think I've been doing a pretty decent job of releasing chapters ranging around 7-8k words from the story alone once a week. Once I'm done, I also let my Betareaders go through it, and they have other things to do to. Still gotta thank them for going through and giving me ideas every now and then.
ME: Sorry, not familiar with the Star Wars universe. I'd have to go into deep research to write it out, and I don't want to do it with that. Any story I write, I try to research up on the universe so I don't make too many mistakes.
Guest: No, Boyd was forced into the toilet by a few friends of Jaune.
All other reviewers! Thanks for your support! I read them, and they help me with my muse!
On a side note, I just released a oneshot on the Teen Titans! No, not the cartoony Teen Titans Go, where their fanbase is for the humor. The original one with good animations! It's based off the 2nd to last episode of Teen Titans, Titans Together, and it's an AU. I had some things to pick with that episode.
Next one shot... will probably be a crossover about a certain key and some sort of league. That should be anough of a hint.