I pushed the door of the building open with the ringing of a bell. To their credit, both of them stared at me incredulously as I made a beeline for the veritable horde of skill books.

"Thought you locked the door?" The red haired one growled.

"I thought I did too." Tukson muttered, before calling out to me. "Hey kid, we're closed right now, get lost!"

I looked at him flatly. "It's…. 2:23 PM on a Saturday. From what I know, you'd be hard-pressed to find a store that's closed at this time. You guys up to some private business, that's fine, I just want to grab a few books and leave."

They shared a wary glance, and Adam began to walk slowly towards me as Tukson made for the door, likely to lock it. I sighed. "Sorry kid, you've seen us together. We can't have that."

"Hey, whoa now, I won't tell anybody you're gay, I swear!" I backed up a step as Adam laid a hand on his sword. His movement caught and he briefly let out a snort.

The windows turned slowly into shaded, and the door locked with a click.

"So you're saying you have no clue who I am?"

I glanced above his head.

Adam Taurus

LVL 65

The Devil's Advocate

"No idea, but you look pretty tough. If it's between me leaving and a fight against you, I'll leave." It almost physically hurt to admit that, but Adam had the highest level I'd been able to see. Coincidentally, without my team or any sort of advantage, I would likely die in seconds.

"At least you aren't stupid." He pointed out. "But we aren't gay."

I glanced over to where Tukson had been to see him now gone. "Okay. What are you then? Werewolves? Vampires? Assassins? Part of a continent spanning plot to overthrow the men and install Faunus as the superior race? I had to deal with that shit before except with elves."

I couldn't see his face past his mask, but his whole body tensed up.

"That's where I recognize you!" A voice said loudly from behind me. I jumped and whirled around, and instantly found myself with a red blade at my neck. I did not want to see how much damage a decapitation from a level 65 enemy would do, so I stayed absolutely still.

Tukson, who had snuck up behind us, was holding out his scroll with… I sighed at the picture of me and my team. "Yes, I'm Torga. What of it?

Adam's sword slowly retreated from my neck, and with what seemed like a twitch, was back in it's sheath.

"Look, kid, whatever you want, just take it and leave. We don't want you here, we don't want the camera's here, and we certainly don't want to kill you." Tukson almost pleaded.

"Not so fast. Torga's going to do a little something for us, first. Tell me, what do you know about the White Fang?"

I shrugged. "Not much. You're a group of Faunus that want equal rights. My suggestion would be move to somewhere where you're all Faunus, and start segregating the humans. Then you can negotiate terms with whoever's in charge from neutral ground."

Adam let out a short laugh. "You humans are all the same. 'Ship them off to Menagerie, what could go wrong?'"

"I'm assuming my guess that you were a part of this organization was correct?"

He froze for a brief second then relaxed again. "You were correct."

"Cool. Do you know where I can find Jeremy? He's about yea tall" I held up a hand "and carries around a Dust halberd."

"Friend of yours?" Tukson asked.

I scoffed. "Asshole almost killed me. I want to pay him back for his efforts."

Adam muttered something. "He's part of the White Fang, I can't just tell you where he is."

I reached into my pocket where I had opened my inventory, and withdrew a stack of cards. "Not even for 5000 Lien?"

Adam glanced at the money, then back up to my face. Faster than I could process, the money was out of my hand and Adam was counting through it. I made a mental note to raise my speed somehow, then waited.

Tukson wasn't waiting though. "By the moon, kid, with that kind of money you could have bought your books anywhere! Why the hell did you decide to come here?"

I shrugged again. "I saw some books I liked through the window. How much does a book go for these days?"

He looked at me oddly, which I was used to at this point. "I guess it depends on the book… comics and manga go for about 15L, while textbooks and rarer issues can go upwards of 500L. I'll give you any three books, for free, and in exchange you promise not to come back, ever again. Fair?"

I laughed. "No. I'll keep coming back, whenever I please, as I please, until you refuse to serve humans. At which point, I'll use my friend, who's a cat faunus, to come in and buy my things for me." I narrowed my eyes and lost the light-hearted tone. "Or, you can attempt to bar me from your store, and find out just how powerful my semblance is. Your choice."

He glared at me, no doubt remembering the inferno I had launched at Cardin. "Fine."

"It's all here." Adam finally finished, clearly not giving two shits about what was going on between me and the owner. "Jeremy's holed up in the warehouse district, in an apartment off of 8th and Queen. I presume you're going to try and kill him?"

I stared at him as if he were stupid.

"Right. Well, try not to get caught on camera. If he knows you came from here, he'll know I sent you."

"Which he can't tell anyone if he's dead."

Adam grunted.

Tukson spoke up. "What's your beef with Jeremy? I know he's a bit rough around the edges, but nobody's gone after him like this before."

"He messed up my friends store." I said, hoping that would be enough.

"He was behind the attack at Gale's?"

I nodded. "Yea, him, a couple of thugs, and a few robots."

"Elaborate."

So I did. By the time I had finish Adam had his head in his hands and Tukson had vanished to a back room.

"I'll deal with Jeremy. You know the issue with open recruiting? We get the most racist people showing up at our door thinking our plan is to kill all the humans. Fucking amateurs."

Ping!

[Quest Alert:] Fucking Amateurs!

Adam Taurus has expressed distaste with the recruiting system and operations of the lower-caste White Fang. Help him get things back under control!

[Main Objectives:]

Join the White Fang without being found out by Ozpin.

Reform the lower-caste

[Side Objectives:] ?, ?

[Reward:] 1000000XP, 100000L, +1000 REP with White Fang

[Failure:] Death, Scattering, Eradication.

Accept? [Yes] [No]

Curiously, I poked the word eradication.

Eradication: Your very soul is utterly destroyed, leaving absolutely no possibility of an after-life or reincarnation.

Beyond what that implied, I immediately pressed no on the quest. I give no shits about XP or money when my soul would have a chance of being destroyed. Right now, I know that if I fall in battle, I will go where I know, Sovngarde.

[Quest Alert:] Kind of Amateur!

The White Fang could use some outside, non-affiliated help.

[Main Objective:]

Deliver the package in 15 minutes without being detained by police.

[Side Objectives:] ?, ?

[Reward:] Skill Book 'On Aura and Weaponry', Skill Book 'Dust for Dummies', Skill Book 'Dust and You!', Skill Book 'Flight of the Valkyries', 5000 XP

[Failure:] -500 REP with White Fang

Accept? [Yes] [No]

This one I immediately pressed yes on.

"Look, kid, I'll give you a few books if you can get this to the post office in the next 15 minutes."

I nodded, grabbed the package, then made to sprint out the door.

The locked door.

The locked, glass door.

I was told that was the second time I was defenestrated that week. I disagreed only briefly, until seeing the definition.

I made it to the post office in 7 minutes, out of breath but pleased. It took me 20 minutes to figure out what to do and how to do it but the timer had stopped as soon as I had set foot into the building. Regardless, I made my way back to the store, took out the books that my quest said I would get, and Tukson merely nodded and made a shooing motion. Adam had left shortly after myself, it seemed.

I decided to wait until I was in my room to consume them. It turned out to be a great decision as my math teacher was furious as to where I'd been, and 'lost' wasn't a great answer when he pointed out that I had a scroll with a map of the city and the ability to call them at any time. I tried to play it off as still not being used to technology but at this point he had seen me make a call before and it fell on deaf ears.

We got back to the school, and without a word I hurried up to our room, team in tow.

"Slow down, Torga! What's the rush?" Pyrrha called.

I pulled a book out of my inventory and flourished it with a grin, then continued my light jog onwards. We got to our room soon enough.

I placed all four books onto my bed, then turned over to my team. "From what I hear, this is the most incredible part of my power. I can absorb the knowledge found in these books, and use it to create a skill that I can then use and perfect. For example…"

I picked up one of the books.

You have obtained the Skill Book 'Flight of the Valkyries'! Would you like to learn this skill?

[Yes][No]

I tapped the yes button, and another pop-up appeared.

ERROR!

You have insufficient AGI!

You have insufficient STR!

You have insufficient VIT!

You have an insufficient level in the skill "Elemental Affinity (Air)"!

You cannot learn this skill!

Requirements:

20 AGI

30 STR

30 VIT

50 WIS

Elemental Affinity (Air) +15

"Damnit." I muttered.

"What's wrong, Torgaga?" Nora asked, leaning towards me. Ren had sat down on his bed but the girls were watching avidly.

"Not high enough stats for that one." I grumbled. "Let's try this one."

You have obtained the Skill Book 'On Aura and Weaponry'! Would you like to learn this skill?

[Yes][No]

This time, the book disappeared in a flash of golden light, and I felt the knowledge flow into me. My sword was in my Rocker, the rocket propelled locker, but I picked up a pencil and with a brief bit of concentration, felt my aura encompass it. I grinned, throwing the pencil at Ren, who wasn't paying attention.

"Ow." He muttered, pencil hitting him with the force of a ice-ball and shifting him slightly over on the bed.

I grinned and picked up the next books.

You have obtained the Skill Book 'Dust for Dummies'! Would you like to learn this skill?

[Yes][No]

You have obtained the Skill Book 'Dust and You'! Would you like to learn this skill?

[Yes][No]

I clicked yes for both of them, and felt the skills take hold, even as a new, grey bar appeared over top of my AP.

I threw open the profiles for my new skills to figure out just what it was.

You have obtained the skill 'Dust Mastery'!

Dust Mastery (Passive) LVL:1

Through the usage of Dust, mankind rose above the darkness, and fought back the Grimm to carve a home for themselves on Remnant. This skill represents your experience with dust, and your ability to do more with less.

Dust Efficiency +1% per level

Dust Power +5% per level

You have obtained the skill 'Dust Battery'!

Dust Battery (Passive/Active) LVL:1

A skill only available to those with a predisposition towards Dust, this skill allows the user to take Dust into their body to either store the Dust, or to activate it in the way of the ancients. Can absorb any 2 Basic or 1 Lesser Dust Type.

Grants Dust Bar

Dust Capacity 0/100 (+1 per level)

I frowned. "Hey, does anyone have any Dust with them?"

Nobody said anything, so I assumed it was a no.

I quickly made up my mind. Seeing as my level didn't actually contribute to anything besides my shout points and stat points, I could train my stats and skills and still become the most powerful Level 20 alive. What did it matter if I was level 20 if all my stats could be at the level of someone that is level 70? I needed to figure out a training schedule for myself, for during the night. I'd learned that while sleeping restored my body, it was ultimately a waste of time. My HP and AP regeneration was high enough to simply sit down for an hour or two, hours I could spend studying to raise my INT.

"Can we throw you out the window again?" Nora asked. I ignored her, walking across the hall and knocking on the door there with a rap.

The door soon opened to an odd scene. The first thing I noticed was genius: They stacked their beds vertically. There was so much floor space, so much room for training and other activities.

"I'm stealing your idea." I told Ruby, who had been the one to open the door. She pouted for a second before seeing the beds I was staring at.

"You'd better, it was a great idea that was… idea-ed by yours truly!" She announced.

"Mind if I talk to…" I glanced inside and used a silent observe. "Weiss, just for a moment?"

Ruby looked back at the white-haired girl for a second, then turned back to me with a sigh. "Weiss Schnee is concentrating on her school work and has no time for romance, sponsorship, attempted sabotage, or any tomfoolery that might result in associating with common men." She spouted out, clearly scripted. "Save me." She whispered shortly after.

I shrugged. "Sure thing Ruby. I had a few questions about Dust, want to go for a walk while I pick your brain? As team leader you probably know more anyways."

She recoiled with a grossed out face. "Is that anything like picking your nose, because my dad told me guys that do that are just bad news."

I snorted before I could help myself. "Nothing like it, I just want to ask you questions."

She still looked hesitant, and would have been kind of cute if I wasn't sure that she could lop my head off before I drew a sword, were we to fight.

Yang made up her mind for us. "Oh c'mon sis, you've already seen his ass! Least you could do is talk to the poor guy."

"Yaaaang!" She shouted, pulling herself out into the hallway and slamming the door behind her. Her face flushed red and she crossed her arms in front of herself. I glanced back over to my room to see that the door had closed. My scroll was still in there, so I couldn't exactly get back in.

"Let's go for a walk, yea?" She was silent and motionless. I sighed. "Look, Ruby, doesn't matter that you saw my arse. I've had much weirder people see much more embarrassing things, I haven't even thought about it since."

Ruby quickly dropped out of the weird, embarrassed funk she'd been in. "Okay, let's go to the cafeteria. We're almost down to our last bag of cookies so I was gonna go anyway."

We set off. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, I was going to ask Weiss a few questions about Dust, see if I can't start incorporating it into my combat style, but now I'm pretending to ask those questions to you because I think it would really bug her."

Ruby snorted out a laugh. "Oh yea, she won't be too pleased. She's got only herself to blame though, I don't understand why she wouldn't want to make as many friends as possible. I still remember what you told me that first night. Strangers are just friends that you haven't met yet."

"Indeed they are. The only question I've actually got is what the difference between the different types of dust is. I know that there's basic Dust, but what does that mean?"

"I know this one!" She exclaimed as we started walking down the main stairway. "Basic Dust is essentially the building blocks of nature. Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, and Lightning. Water dust is a bit rarer so people consider it halfway between basic and lesser, but it fits in still. Why do you ask?"

I shrugged. "I heard about a guy that can absorb dust into his body, but only Basic Dust. Hey, wanna see something cool?"

She stopped and stared at me. "Are strawberries the fruit of the gods? Of course I want to see something cool!"

I grinned and ran back up to the top of the staircase. It was one of those staircases that was meant mainly for show as it was incredibly wide and had no turns, just a grand way to get from floor one to floor two. When I got to the top, I turned, took three steps, and leapt off the top, activating Featherweight as I did. The end result was me soaring through the air until I hit the other wall, bouncing off, then plopping to the ground. I managed to use the skill again before I hit the ground, so it didn't hurt, but I still wound up having to pick myself off the floor.

Ruby was at my side in an instant, reminding me that I really should get to training my AGI. "Cool! You were like, floating! You could probably learn a bunch of kung-fu moves and they would actually work!"

Ruby ran me through the concept of kung-fu, a martial art that apparently nobody could actually use in real Hunter vs Hunter combat, or against the Grimm. She then started on a rant about the various weapons used by the kung-fu masters, giving comedic if not wholly accurate demonstrations of each.

"Hey, Ruby?" I said, once she was done a particularly acrobatic re-enactment.

"Yes?"

"Want to help me make my own weapon?"

Ruby Rose REP+1000

"DO I?!"

She proceeded to explain exactly how much fun we would have designing and building it using the school's omni-foundry. When she told me that we could make whatever part we needed in mere minutes, the admittedly primitive ideas that had been coursing through my head since I got the quest were all thrown out.

Nevertheless, we soon arrived at the cafeteria. "What do you mean it's closed!" Ruby exclaimed, pounding at the large, sealed doors.

"I mean it's closed. Locked. Not open. Currently not providing us with delicious food."

"We're going to starve! My family will be so sad, they'll go to Professor Ozpin and say 'Why, professor! Why didn't you just give cookies!' Then my Uncle Qrow will be like 'woosh-bam-pow!' and cookies will rain from the sky and-" Her stomach grumbled. "Aw man, I really am hungry. I blame Weiss, she said we didn't need to go for dinner until later."

I stared at her. "Dinner is literally always at 7. Why would that have changed?"

"I don't know!" She seemed truly upset.

"I know how she can make it up to us, at least." I said, pretending to muse.

"Break her legs!" Nora shouted, and I whipped around. I hadn't noticed at all, but both of our teams had followed.

As a group.

I felt like we were somehow in trouble. That is, until Yang happened.

"Soooo, did he kiss you?" My face went pale at the very thought. She's a bloody child, what kind of horrible fucking person did she take me for?

"Yang, gross!" Oh, right. They took me for a 17 year old boy.

"No." I said flatly. "I did not. Weiss didn't know enough about Dust to answer my questions, so Ruby helped me out."

"Didn't know enough abou-" The white girl spluttered. "Do you have any idea who I am, where I came from?"

I shrugged. "You're Weiss, and I'm guessing you're coming from your room." I knew full well that she was the heiress to the biggest company in the world, one that also is the leader in production, distribution, and research related to all things Dust. I also knew, because of that, she is rich and well-connected. She was also, as her title said… well.

Weiss Schnee

LVL 37

The Loneliest of All

"I'm also going to take a guess and say that you are all here for the dinner which Weiss promised us."

"I made no such promise!" She declared.

"You said we could eat dinner later, and now it's later and I have no cookies!" Ruby shot back.

"You did say we could eat later." Yang said in whisper-speak.

"I.. You.. Ugh. Fine. I'll order us some food."

"Not a chance, Snowflake. Last time you ordered food it was a single salad with fish eggs." Yang wagged her finger. "This time, it's my choice."

I cut in. "Hey, where's Blake?"

The present members of team RWBY got a little glum at that. "She ran away to join up with those other scum in the White Fang."

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted. "She didn't do anything like that! She just needs some time alone, that's all."

"No need to argue, I was just curious. She's an adult, she'll come back if she wants to come back and stay away if she wants to stay away."

"We should still be looking for her!" Yang insisted.

"We might be able to stone two birds at once here." I pulled out my scroll, fumbling with the interface for a bit while the others chatted.

It rang twice, then picked up. I was greeted with the sight of Richard Mavis.

"Torga, I'm kind of busy here, what do you want?"

"You still around Beacon?"

"Yea kid, just trying to replace the Dust inverter but this fucking spot is too small for my fucking hands."

"Cool." I said, completely and utterly unfazed by his unmatched technical jargon. "Listen, is the Bullhead ready to fly?"

He scoffed. "You got a chaperone?"

"I can." I said.

"Then we can leave once I get this part in. You know where the Vehicle Bay is, right?"

"Sure thing. Thanks Richard, I appreciate it."

He scoffed once more. "This is my job, kid, no thanks are needed."

"Well fucking take the thanks anyway." I retorted. "Or not. But they're given."

"This is getting stupid." He replied. "See you in a few." At that, he hung up.

I turned to the assembled group. "Show of hands, who wants to go out for dinner instead?"

Everyone save for Ren shot their hands into the air, and with a nudge from Nora he also put his hand up.

"Awesome, just need to make one more call, everybody hush up."

I made another call, and this time, the face of Velvet greeted me.

"Torga, hey! I was wondering when I'd hear from you."

"Not soon enough, I think." I said with a small smile.

"Definitely. What's up?"

"I need a bit of help with something, and I also have to go into Vale. We missed dinner so I figured we'd abuse the Bullhead and get Weiss Schnee to pay for our dinner. You in?"

"I…" She glanced off to the side. "You called at a pretty bad time, Torga. Any other night I would be all over the oppurtunity to go for dinner with you, especially on the SDC's dime, but something's come up and my team needs me here."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

She grimaced. "It's… uh.. Well our leader is having personal problems." Her attention was taken by something off screen. "It- It's not like that!" She stammered, a blush creeping up her face. "Coco you-" With a deep breath she sighed and turned back to the screen. She spoke dejectedly. "I would be delighted. I'll be ready in 10 minutes for you to pic- I know where the Vehicle Bay is, he doesn't need to get me!" She shouted that last part off screen again.

I laughed. "I can if you'd like?"

Her blush faded, finally. "No. Please, for both of our sakes, stay away from my room. I'll meet you down there in 15, alright? Should I dress up?"

I held my phone out so she could see I was still wearing my armour. "I'm not."

"Alright, see you in a bit."

I hung up.

"Alright, Team Juniper, Team Ruby, Operation Schnee Dinner Company is a go!"

Ruby Rose REP+100

Yang Xiaolong REP+100

Pyrrha Nikos REP+100

Lie Ren REP+100

Nora Valkyrie REP+100

Weiss Schnee REP-100

Velvet Scarlatina REP+200

I briefly wondered why Velvet's reputation went up more than the others did, but only briefly. I was interrupted by my second Quest of the day.

[Quest Alert:] Black and White!

Blake and Weiss have had a row. Help them reconcile.

[Main Objectives:]

Find and help Blake clear her name.

OR

Help Weiss find Blake and have her arrested.

[Reward:] Increased REP with RWBY, 10,000XP, Dust

[Failure:] Decreased REP with Weiss, Decreased REP with Blake, 500 XP

Accept? [Yes] [No]

I shrugged and hit yes.

[QUEST OPTION]

[HELP BLAKE]

[HELP WEISS]

Given as I would get the increased REP no matter what I did, and one of those options didn't end with a colleague in jail, I made the decision to help Blake.

[Quest Alert:] Objective Update!

Black and White!: Meet Blake on the roof of Warehouse 3C at the Port by 0100.

That left more than enough time for us to do what we needed to do. Namely, feed the masses.

Velvet wasn't there when we arrived, but that was fine. Richard was the only one in the hangar bay, cursing at the Bullhead from his spot up on one of the wings. He had pulled a panel off of the roof and had his arm jammed in up to the elbow. Ruby sped over as I learned that her fascination with weapons extended somewhat into ships. She was quite vocal about it, really.

Yang dragged Weiss off with an arm around her shoulders. Ren and Nora followed, leaving me with Pyrrha.

"It's time for that talk." She stated simply, and I sighed.

"It is." I agreed, not sure where to start.

"I'm sorry, Torga."

"I'm not, and I'm slightly disappointed that you are." At her look, I continued. "I was fully ready to kill that man. I'm not going to lie, if I see him again, I still might. But I won't go out of my way to make sure it happens. I know how you feel about the matter, and you know how I feel."

"You can't just kill people, Torga! They'll lock you away, and it's not just about you anymore. There's people that look up to us now, kids that want to grow up to be like us. Do you want to teach them that murder is acceptable?"

"Hunters murder thousands of Grimm every day."

"It's not-

"The same? Isn't it? Because they seem pretty fucking alive to me. This entire world runs off of a kill or be killed society. Hell, the biggest corporation in your world is one that makes weapons."

She was silent for a moment. "It's your world now too."

I sighed. "Maybe so. But I won't be a perfect role model, no matter what I do. I can't be a paragon of the law, but I can be someone to teach them what's right. That man forfeited his right to life the second he tried to take away mine. I could forgive him. It would be a foolish mistake. I could have vengeance. That could also be a foolish mistake."

"You could move on, alive and well."

"I could. There's a lot of things that I can do, and at the end of the day it's really my decision to make. But I won't make it based on someone else's values, I'll make it based on my own. I hope you can understand."

"I don't agree, but I understand. Just because you're in a different place, it doesn't make you a different person. Just… be careful, alright?"

I sighed again, nodding to the Bullhead where Richard had gotten Ruby to fit the part in and was now showing her the weapons. "We should get going."

She put her hand on my shoulder as I took a step away. I turned back around to see concern in her eyes. "We may not see eye to eye, but I still respect you."

I nodded as a weight I hadn't noticed lifted off my shoulders. "You too."

-.-.-

Velvet had shown up soon after Pyrrha and I had finished talking, accompanied by our film crew. I was surprised to see them, though they said Ozpin sent them.

We set off soon after, and Yang picked out a bar. Without any teacher present, I told Richards to set the Bullhead down on the roof, which he outright laughed at and did immediately. My Rep with him went up for that.

The bar's owner or manager or something had come up but I'd intercepted him, telling him that we would be sure to give his restaurant glowing reviews in our next episode, which he couldn't complain about I guess. That, and Weiss showing him her admittedly shiny credit card.

I'd waved the rest of them on, though Pyrrha lingered briefly until I assured her I would be down there soon.

That was a relative truth, of course. I quickly told Richard to keep the engines hot, and had taken off towards the docks, directed by my minimap.

It took a bit of practice to get used to, but soon I was leaping from rooftop to rooftop, with the help of both my new cloak and Featherweight. I found it much easier to keep myself oriented when I had the cloak equipped, likely due to the Air Affinity.

It took me about half an hour to get there, during which Pyrrha had simply texted me once, saying be careful again. I assumed that she was then covering me. I fired off a message asking the pilot how long it would take him to get here as I reached the docks.

I got to the correct warehouse and saw Blake's prone form on the other end. I also saw a man with a tail sneaking up the warehouse behind her. I snarled lightly, pushing off with a foot and casting Featherweight soon after, sending me at the Faunus. In a quick scuffle I found myself with him in a headlock and myself with a staff pressed to my throat. Then Blake made her way over.

"Torga? What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. What are you doing here?"

"Ugh. Fine, but be quiet and let Sun go before he shoots you."

Sun coughed and bounced to his feet as I released him. "Relax, big guy, I wouldn't have shot you."

I got to my feet as well, ignoring Sun. "Need I ask again?"

She huffed. "Need I ask why it's any of your business?"

I paused. My team knew about my ability, but did I trust this girl who was apparently affiliated with an alleged terror organization?

No, I decided, I didn't.

"Your team's worried about you."

She turned away from me to observe something over the edge of the roof. "They're better off without me."

"Who told you that?"

"Nobody told me, I figured it out on my own." She snapped. "Now quiet."

"You're wrong."

Sun butted in. "I'm with tall, pale, and armoured over here."

"Yea?" She shot back. "Where's your team then?"

"Hey, I left them a note!"

I cut in. "Yang seemed quite upset. In fact, they're coming out to try and find you again tonight I believe. I could tell them exactly where you are. Or, I'll help you out with whatever it is you're doing, and we can go to them together. God's know Pyrrha will be pissed I bailed on them for this."

She frowned and glared at me. "Fine. We believe that the White Fang is behind the recent Dust robberies, and we think that they'll be moving it tonight, right here. I'm just hoping we're wrong."

I sat next to her on the roof. Sun sat on her other side. "I stole a few apples, want one?"

"Sure." I said, taking it when it was thrown. I was missing dinner for this, after all.

"Do you always just steal whatever you want?"

Sun shrugged, biting into one of the fruits. "Nah, I wanted bananas but the clerk was right there so I grabbed these instead."

She sighed and dropped her eyes. Only for a brief moment, raising them up to the sky with a gaze I'd seen in many. They were the eyes of someone scanning the sky for an enemy. They were eyes I imagined I'd often made.

Sun and I didn't hear a thing until about ten seconds later, when not one, not two, but seven Bullheads flew in low over the water. My eyes went wide. Beacon only had 3, and that was including Richard's!

I started to get a bad feeling in my gut, one confirmed by the disembarking of at least fifty White Fang Grunts between the levels of 8 and 12. The issue here was that a lot of them had guns. Guns did a fixed amount of damage no matter who pulled the trigger. Meaning it didn't matter if they were level 1 or level 100, a pistol could only do so much damage. Dust rounds changed that, but it was largely a constant rule.

My bad feeling multiplied as I noticed Blake had vanished from our side. A bit of searching saw her creeping up on one man, a man that seemed to be directing the operation. I paled slightly and whipped my scroll out.

"Hello?"

"Richard, get everyone that's ready for a fight into that plane and get here right fucking now. I count fifty footmen and 7 Bullheads."

"Shit. Fucking shit. I can't do much against 7, Torga. Just leave the area, wait for backup. I'll call the police, they can handle whatever this is."

"You said your job is to keep us safe. I'm heading down there. Please, be quick." I added as I hung up, waiting with nervousness and glancing at the sky.

"You've got friends coming?"

I grinned as I spotted a light making it's way through the sky. "Yea, should be here in five minutes or so."

The man's face set into a frown as he glanced down to where the White Fang had finished loading up one of the Bullheads. It hadn't taken off, though, due to Blake having their leader by the throat. "Looks like we may not have that long. Can you fight?"

I grimaced. "Against that many? Hopefully."

He looked at me sideways. "It's not too late to leave."

With a clang, my locker sunk into the roof behind me, door sliding open to reveal my sword and shield. I quickly grabbed the sword, and with a groan grabbed the small shield. With that many guns, going in without a defensive option was tantamount to suicide.

I snapped around as I heard an explosion, and Blake went flying into a crate. The man with the orange hair lifted his cane and another explosive bolt shot out, hitting the ground near Blake as she tried to roll away and sending her tumbling once more.

"I've got cane guy, you help Blake!" Sun shouted, jumping off the roof with a series of flips and coming down onto his opponent with a barely blocked strike. I jumped down myself, and raced to Blake's side. A group of Grunts approached us as the rest of the group frantically loaded boxes into the next Bullhead.

"Helps on the way, we just have to hold out long enough." I assured her as I held my shield in front of my torso and myself in front of her. "You're good fighting these guys?"

She grunted then took off, faster than I could see, not that I had much time before they were upon me.

The first came at me with a overhand strike from a sword. I beat his flimsy weapon aside with one hand on my sword as the other punched him in the face with my shield layered with Power Strike, sending him staggering. I had to dance back to avoid a sweeping axe blow, though I leapt forward before the axe man could get his weapon back. Using a familiar combo, I slit the tendons behind his knees then cut cleanly through his neck as he fell.

The men paused in their advance. "Come, one by one, and let me send you to your Gods!" I bellowed out, firing a Grapple at a man that caught him through his shoulder, and with a yank and a press of a button sent him flying into the water. I laughed, a cold, cold laugh, and began laying waste to my opponents in whatever way I felt like.

A dismembered arm here, a broken face there, snapped knees and cut tendons. They came, one after another, and they died in the same way. After about 12 had fallen, they become wary and grouped up, the men with swords standing before those with guns as they attempted to line up a shot. I was peppered with gunfire as they forced me behind a crate. I was stuck there for only a brief second before the gunfire ceased.

Blake was an invisible specter of defeat among them. Where her and her ghost images travelled, men fell unconscious. In a way I was impressed in how she was able to take them out without killing them. Had I not been fighting for my own life, I would have considerex doing the same.

I rushed into their confused ranks and continued my slaughter, levelling up Longsword Mastery in the progress. I heard the annoying voice of the man in charge.

"Having fun, I see. Well as we can all see this has been a blast. Mutt, you're supposed to be security, go bite him. I'll take care of the girl."

I whipped my head around to see Sun on the ground groaning. "Blake, Sun's down!" I shouted, even as I narrowed my eyes at the man that stepped out with a particular Dust Halberd.

He laughed. "Knew we'd see each other again. You got lucky with me being injured last time. You have one chance to walk away."

I glared at him and walked right at him, even as the rest of the Grunts got back to loading. The second Bullhead had departed, and the third was quickly becoming filled as well. We were running out of time to stop this.

Jeremy's laugh bothered me as it continued. I rolled my eyes and lifted a leg as I opened my mouth.

"WULD!"

I flew forwards, my kick slamming into his chest with the force of a whirlwind behind it. I felt something crack beneath my boot before he was flung across the dock and into the water. I turned to the man with orange hair, finally casting an Observe.

You have levelled up!

Roman Torchwick

LVL 48

The Opportunist

I briefly hesitated. As it stood, right now I had no way of defeating someone of his level. None of my skills would let me match him, and he'd already taken out Sun, a level 41!

With a clink, I saw a crystal, a red one, bounce to a stop at my feet. I also saw Roman fire a shot at the exact same time, and without knowing what I was doing, I threw myself in front of the crystal, grabbing it with both hands as I took the shot to the back.

I took some AP damage, but with a careful application of Featherweight I managed to avoid the worst of it. Best of all, I got to try my Dust Battery skill. I absorbed the Fire Dust and felt heat sear through my veins for a brief second before being numbed, like most damage. My HP took a slight hit, but my AP was restored to full. The gray bar was also filled about halfway, and was coloured a bright red.

You have gained the status effect 'Charged (Fire)'!

I grinned and got to my feet, feeling as the changes took hold.

"Look kid, you should just stay down. It would make both our lives a lot easier."

I opened up my status menu, placing a single point. I then pulled a skill book out of my inventory and devoured that as well. As Roman took aim, I closed my menus and prepared myself for what was to follow.

A few things happened as he fired. I jumped, turned on Featherweight, and soared up into the air. I gathered energy into my sword with the effects of Aura Enhancement, mildly surprised as that energy took on a flaming appearance which I quickly chalked up to the Fire Dust. I then fired off the skill I had just learned, a skill called Air Slash, though with my other skills added it became something much more.

Air Slash (Active:30AP)

Fires an arc of compressed air that knocks back the target. Used with a weapon, will apply base damage + INT.

See, when I absorbed a skill book I learned how to do the skill. It wasn't just me going through to motions and shooting off an effect, I absorbed the knowledge of the ancient technique and knew that what I had created was not what was in the book. It was something far greater.

A thin red arc shot from my sword, flying through the air towards Roman, who easily dodged it. Neither he nor I predicted the large explosion that followed, sending him bouncing across the gravel, though he was on his feet before he stopped moving and firing those glowing shots at me as I fell. I managed to control my descent somewhat using my Air Affinity, even though I wasn't actually doing anything different, it was just that what I was doing had more of the desired effect. At least, enough for me to get down without getting hit.

I hit the ground running at Roman and opened up with a slash, which he batted aside before hitting me three times in the legs then unleashing a point-blank shot at my chest that sent me flying.

"He's mine!" Blake shouted as I flew past, something I didn't disagree with. I was nowhere close to able to beat Roman, I knew that from our short little bout. Luckily I didn't have to, I just had to keep the small fry off of her back while Blake took care of it. I grappled to a position where the majority of them were between myself and the water.

"FUS RO DAH!"

They scattered as they always do, if not more so. I'd say about 5 got knocked into the water.

Then Blake tumbled past me. I grit my teeth as I ran at Roman again, knowing full well that this was going to hurt.

He was blindingly fast, though his technique was slightly sloppy. I started with an underhanded cut, which he stepped to the side of before whacking me in the stomach with his cane. While I was bent over he smashed it into my face, knocking me on my ass. I rolled back to my feet, dashing forwards with an Air Slash followed by a stab, but he simply ducked under the horizontal arc which tore a hole in the container behind him. He stepped back just outside the range of my stab, but was unprepared when I launch the harpoon at him. It struck hard and sent him skidding back, though I saw no blood.

He'd gotten his aura unlocked at some point.

It was enough for Blake to recover and slam her sword into his stomach, this time lifting him off his feet and rolling away from us.

I spared a moment to share a look with her. A look cut short by her shout of alarm. I looked up to see another crate, a very large metal one, get dropped on my general area.

With a shove, Blake pushed me out of the way and dove out of the way herself. It took me a second to reorient myself, but when I did, I almost wished I'd stayed under the container.

Roman Torchwick held the smoking end of his cane up to my face with a chuckle.

"Hey!" A voice called from the roof we had started on, and I saw Ruby with her scythe in hand. We were going to make it, she'd gotten here on time. Which means that any second now…

The roar of engines and the steady explosions of guns sounded as I saw Richard pull over the top of the warehouse, sending Ruby's cape flapping in the wind. A larger explosion sounded as a White Fang Bullhead exploded courtesy of a missile, wreckage falling into the water.

Unfortunately, Roman wasn't as distracted by this as Ruby was, and managed to land a surprise shot in her abdomen.

Then a girl with orange hair flew off the top of the warehouse, incapacitated the rest of the grunts in less than 3 seconds using 8 floating swords, shot down a Bullhead the next second with a giant green beam of light, and then narrowly missed the last Bullhead with another shot of her attack. I was running very low on AP, and wouldn't have enough for an Air Slash for another few seconds, long enough for him to get away. I looked to the side to see Blake getting up, glancing around as I did the same, looking for targets.

She spotted Sun and raced for him, while the orange-haired girl apparently took for Ruby.

[Quest Complete:] Black and White!

You have levelled up!

Team RWBY REP+100

A call from my scroll interrupted me from my screens. I quickly picked it up as I saw Sun slowly get back to his feet with Blake's help.

"Torga, we have to go, right now."

"But they might still need help." I said. Just because the quest ended doesn't mean that the fighting is over.

"I don't give two shits, you will get on the plane or I will get you on this plane, but if you're not gone by the time the police arrive, I'll have to leave you to it." Richard spat. "I can fly in no-fly zones, but I don't have permission to fire missiles within city limits, not even the Huntsmen are supposed to do that."

I groaned, then accepted it.

"Soo... " I was seated awkwardly between Pyrrha and Velvet, both of whom were unhappy. "I take it you guys are mad."

"You only invited me because you had to." Velvet stated flatly, her ears tilted slightly back.

"You ditched us to go play hero." Pyrrha cut in.

"Isn't that what we're being trained for?"

"Yes, Jaune, being trained. You aren't ready to fight the White Fang yet, there's few fully trained Huntsman that would even consider it. You don't know what you're dealing with, not in the slightest." Velvet scorned. "You could easily have been killed!"

"Which would have been my choice to make." I stated with narrowed eyes at her.

"Not anymore it isn't!" Pyrrha exploded, guaranteeing our silence. She looked mad. "You're a leader now. Do you know what happens if you die? Do you know what happens to us?"

I paused, having never really thought about it. "I don't know, they give you a new team-mate?"

"They split you up." Velvet said quietly. "They split you up and send you back home until next year. Then, if you even make it back in, you're stuck with a new team that you don't know."

"I don't want to be split up. I like you guys." I said feebly.

"Then fucking act like it." Lie Ren said with an uncharacteristic growl. "No more walking around ignoring us, no more running off alone for some stupid reason. We're a team, Torga, so let me just tell you what that means because you can't seem to figure it out on your own." He took a breath as he glanced over at Nora. "We stand together. We fight together. If the time for it comes and we have to fight until we die, then we do it, but we do it together."

"Ren, we won't-" Nora tried as she put a hand on his shoulder.

"We will." He said with utter certainty. "Hunters don't get to die of old age."

"I never thought I would die of old age." I tried to respond.

"Quit being so goddamn stupid." Ren said, simple as fact. "Next time you decide to go run off and play hero, take us with you. We can help, hell, we can probably do better, at least for the next month or two. You've grown, Torga, but you aren't what you apparently used to be. Do you know what would happen to us if you died?"

"The team would be split up." I answered, having just heard what would happen.

Ren scoffed. "This is exactly what we mean. I meant us as people. Nora and I would be hurt. Pyrrha would be crushed."

I waited for her to protest, but she just glanced down and wrung her hands together.

Nora looked at me with something approaching pity, which instantly got me defensive. "Just… next time you do something stupid, don't assume we won't back you up. It hurts, wanting to protect the ones you care about and not being able to."

I grimaced. There was quite few times that I could have used the help of my team.

I took a deep breath in and sighed. "I've lost many, many companions. The places I went, the things I had to fight to keep my world standing for just another year… Ordinary people can't keep up. Eventually I just started going alone, tired of having to bear the anger of families dealing with loss. I… There was a time I didn't care if I lived or died." Pyrrha's eyes went wide.

I raised a hand in protest. "It isn't like that anymore. I know you are the furthest thing from ordinary. And Velvet, I'm sorry for the deception. If you want to do this over and go get dinner some time, I'd be more than happy to do so."

"Why?" She asked.

I shrugged. "You're interesting and I want to get to know you better. Why else?"

She was silent.

I took another deep breath. "Alright, team. If we do our stupid things together, then let's kick it up a notch, shall we?" I stood and walked up to the cockpit. "Richard, sorry to keep you out like this. We need you to drop us off somewhere, and it will be dangerous from what I hear."

"Are you kidding?" He laughed. "I'm having a blast! Find me a target and watch it die."

I grinned at his attitude, one reminiscent of the Nords. I turned back to the people in the Bullhead.

Lie Ren, Nora, Pyrrha, Velvet. Diana and Alan had been left behind at the crime scene, at my insistence. "Velvet, we're going somewhere dangerous. If you want to come, you can. If not, Richard can drop you off back at Beacon."

She glared at me. "I'm coming."

I nodded, happy despite not knowing how strong she was.

Or did I?

Velvet Scarlatina

LVL 43

The Mimic

I nodded my assent. "Richard, next stop is Forever Fall Temple."

He turned around to look at me. "Shit kid, you aren't fucking around. You sure?"

I glanced at the quest I'd gotten, seeing only three objectives left. Clearing the Temple was one of them.

I turned back once more, seeing nothing but looks of determination.

Another metaphorical weight lifted off of my shoulders. I wasn't alone anymore, I didn't have to be the savior for my whole race. All I had to do was be with my team, and get stronger. That, that I could do.

"We're sure."

Bam, motherfucker. Two chapters in as many days. Who's good at this shit? I'm good at it. Be proud of me.