"And...done!"

Ruby smiled as she dropped the needle and thread and admired her masterfully completed costume. Every burn, tear, and scratch had been removed and replaced with perfectly clean fabric. The hardest part was figuring out how to remove the bloodstains, apparently, seltzer water and lemon were good for that. It took a good few hours to clean it all out too. She would have to make sure she had a spare ready to go in case this happened again.

"Who knew being a superhero was 50% boring labor, 30% getting your ass kicked, and 20% kicking ass?"

In the comics, Ruby would always read about how the hero always saved the day with a smile on their face. Of course, sometimes they would struggle, but the good guys always won in the end. Well...real life isn't like a comic book. When Ruby went into battle, there was always a possibility that she would die. The thought made her shiver.

Ruby knew that being a huntress was dangerous, but she accepted that risk because she wanted to be a hero. But now, she actually had the power to become more than a hero, she could do more than anyone else, but the thought of failing in spite of that was a scary one. What would her family think of her if they discovered she had died while behind the mask? She didn't want to think about that.

Ruby quickly took a shower to wash off all the sweat from a hard day at Signal, then slipped her costume underneath her regular clothes. It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world but it was necessary if she needed to suit up later.

Ruby jumped out the window because the front door was boring, and made her way to Vale.

Vale was always so lively, and the people were always so nice to her. Yes, there were a few occasional creeps that would try to mug a young nieve innocent girl like herself. Crescent Rose normally convinced them that trying to mug her was a bad idea. By way of a blunt smash to their face.

No one would look at a 15-year-old adorable girl like herself and assume that she was a Huntress-in-training. She was always happy to grant them that information. Most people were smart enough to notice the giant weapon strapped to her back though, that was enough to scare away most potential muggers.

After several minutes of walking, Ruby arrived at her favorite Ice Cream parlor, 'Mikey's Ice Cream.' The parlor was very small, but that gave it a lot of charm. They didn't have as much variety as the other more popular shops had, but they more than made up for it because the ice cream was freshly made.

Ruby had a lot of fond memories of this place, this was the parlor that her mother would always take her to. She could vividly remember coming here all the time with her family on a very hot day to cool down with her favorite ice cream.

The bell above the door chimed as she opened it, signaling her arrival to the man behind the counter. He looked up from his notepad and smiled brightly upon seeing her face.

"Ruby! Long time no see!" Greeted the smiling old man. Mikey was a 73-year-old man with short white hair and a magnificent mustache.

"Mikey! I'm glad to see you! Sorry I don't visit often, I've been so slammed lately with school and studying for Beacon."

"Don't even think twice about it, I'd much rather you be hard at work than slacking off to visit an old man like me. But enough about that, what can I get for ya?"

Ice Cream is a very versatile food. Lots of different combinations of flavors combined with different toppings could produce something truly special, not to mention the multitude of ways that it can be prepared. Some people preferred soft served on a cone, some preferred an ice cream sandwich, and some liked ice cream popsicles. But Ruby preferred something different.

"I'll just have a chocolate milkshake, you know how I like it." Ruby threw some Lien on the countertop and made her way to sit down as Mikey got to work. Ruby was here to meet with Jaune so he could explain how he got into Beacon despite not having any training. She was only worried about him, he was her friend and she wanted to make sure he was safe.

After a few minutes, Mikey came over and set her milkshake in front of her. She thanked him and dug into her delicious treat. The ice cream was rich and chocolaty, but not overly thick.

Ruby was about to pull out her scroll to play some mind-numbing puzzle game when the bell above the door rattled and chimed, and a familiar mop of blond hair came walking through. Ruby was about to call him over before he approached the counter to place his order. Ruby couldn't help but notice how nervous he looked, his eyes were darting around like a lizard and his posture was very stiff. He was fidgeting and couldn't seem to stand still.

Eventually, he noticed the young silver-eyed girl watching him with curiosity. Somehow, all of his tension seemed to dissipate in an instant when he saw her. His posture visibly relaxed and he smiled at the girl. "Ruby, I'm glad to see you," Jaune called out to his new friend

Ruby stood up and enveloped Jaune in an unexpectedly tight hug. "Jaune! I missed you." Jaune wrapped his arms around the short girl and returned her hug. "I'm sorry this is so sudden," She apologized to the boy.

Jaune was quick to ease her worries, "Don't worry about it, it's really all my fault anyway, I shouldn't have done what I did anyway." Ruby was about to question him on his actions before he interrupted her. "I'll tell you everything, I promise."

Ruby and Jaune sat across from each other while waiting for Jaune's ice cream. Jaune's nervousness returned when they sat down, he had clearly done something that he shouldn't have done. Ruby's enhanced hearing allowed her to hear Jaune's frantically beating heart.

After taking a moment to calm down, Jaune started to speak. "Ok, I'll make it short. I grew up in a big family, Mom, Dad, and Seven sisters. My dad is a huntsman, his father was a huntsman too, and his father was before him. You could say that it's the family business. I come from a long long line of hunters, the Arc family name is pretty well known for the warriors within it."

"So obviously I wanted to be a Huntsman too, the only problem was that I couldn't do it on my own, I needed skills that I just didn't have, and I don't have a single talented bone in my body. Luckily for me, my father is a great huntsman, so I was sure to get to an acceptable level if he would be willing to help me. That's where everything fell apart. My father straight-up refused to train me, he didn't even let me plead my case." Jaune's hands tightened into fists, his knuckles turned white from the pressure.

"That was five years ago, there are no prep schools near home, so that was out of the question. I couldn't get the skills I needed by myself, and my village is very small, so my father is the only huntsman there that isn't retired." Jaune took a bite of his ice cream to calm his nerves. "Becoming a Huntsman was my dream, for my own father to not support that dream really hurt me. I understand he didn't want me to get hurt, but it's not his decision to make."

"So when the time came to apply to Beacon, I stole my father's sword and ran away from home." Ruby gasped. "I didn't earn my place here, I didn't pass that exam because I'm some skilled warrior." Jaune took a deep breath. "My transcripts were forged, that's why I was allowed to take the exam."

Ruby's mouth refused to work, and all of her questions were caught in her throat, her vocal cords refused to comply with her demands. Jaune had just admitted to forging his transcripts, that was a very bad idea. Lying about being skilled enough to get into a school designed to teach already trained warriors how to further their abilities was incredibly dangerous.

"I thought that if I could prove myself in Beacon then my father might finally accept and support my dreams. I don't want to be the worthless Jaune Arc anymore! I don't want to be the damsel in distress, I want to be the hero!"

"Everyone always says that a hero has to be strong, or confident, or fearless, but I don't think that's true. I think that person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real hero."

Ruby's heart skipped a beat at Jaune's words. Jaune has so much determination, he just wants to help people, not for fame or glory, but because it's the right thing to do. That's what it means to be a hero.

Jaune continued, "I'm sorry, but I have to do this, I need to prove to not only my father but myself that I'm not a weak little kid anymore." Jaune clenched his fists even tighter. "I need to get stronger."

After a few more moments, Jaune relaxed his grip on his ice cream cup and took a few deep breaths. "So yeah, that's my story. I'm not strong, fast, smart, skilled, or anything good. I'm just a worthless loser that's trying to make himself better. So what now?"

The two sat in silence as Ruby pondered Jaune's question. What now? Well, he obviously can't go to Beacon with no combat training, he'll actually die. But at the same time, he's my friend so I can't just destroy all his dreams by bringing this information to the administration. Really, I think there's only one thing I should do.

Ruby's eyes hardened as a look of pure determination entered them. She pushed herself up on her feet and looked directly at the blond in front of her, her shimmering silver eyes met his dark blue ones. "I'll do it!" She said with no hesitation.

Jaune had never looked so surprised. He seemed to stop breathing for a few moments and had apparently forgotten how to blink. It was as if someone had pressed pause on Jaune's body. "Uhh.." He finally managed to get out. "You'll do what?" He asked.

A big smile formed on Ruby's face. "I'll train you!"

Jaune's eyes widened so much that it was quite impressive that they didn't fall out. "Y-You will? Really?" Jaune looked very excited that he would actually be getting real combat training from someone with experience.

"Yep! I hope you're ready to get whipped into shape because I won't go easy on you. I'll push you until you can't move and even beyond that. If you want to be a Huntsman that badly then you gotta work harder than anyone to achieve that dream." The silver-eyed-huntress said with fire in her eyes. "I won't lie to you Jaune, this is going to be very difficult. You have no training and we're on a time limit considering how close Beacon is from now. If you want to survive then we have to get you up to an acceptable level."

Jaune didn't hesitate for a single moment. "I'll do it, whatever it takes! I won't let you down, I promise!"

Ruby smiled. "I'm glad to hear it. Common, I have the perfect place to train." Ruby began to walk out of the parlor.

"W-Wait...Now?" Jaune asked surprised

"Yep, right now! Let's go!" Ruby didn't let Jaune argue, she just kept walking.

"O-Ok! I'm ready! Jaune replied with enthusiasm before joining her.

Mikey called out to the two teens before they could leave the parlor. "Bye Ruby, have fun on your date!" He said with a sly smile.

It was a miracle that all the ice cream didn't melt instantly from the heat that radiated from the girl's cheeks. "I-It's not like that!" The girl desperately tried to convince the older man that it wasn't a date. "We're just training I swear!" Ruby pleaded.

"Ahh, training. Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" Mikey said with a smirk. "Well make sure you don't have too much fun while 'training'."

Somehow Ruby's cheeks got even redder at Mikey's choice of words. Even Jaune was a bit flustered at the teasing.

"Noooo! Stop teasing me!" Ruby's pleas only caused Mikey to laugh even harder, which in turn caused Ruby to get even redder.

"UGH! Common Jaune, let's go!" Ruby grabbed Jaune by the hand and pulled him out of the parlor.

Mikey was laughing on the floor.


Ruby never went to the gym, she always preferred to train alone so that she could go at her own pace without anybody watching her. There were some exceptions when she would go with Yang and they would spar together. Sparring without aura readers was dangerous unless it was just some light sparring. Ruby had no idea where Jaune stood in terms of strength and skill, so starting at the gym would be for the best for now.

"Ok Jaune, first I need to know how good your aura control is. It's quite tricky for a beginner, but you can master it enough to do it in your sleep with enough practice. Just show me what you can do with it."

Jaune appeared to have no idea what she was talking about. His face was a mix of confusion and curiosity. "Uhh, what?" He asked.

"Your aura." Ruby clarified.

"Gesundheit." Jaune said.

Ruby desperately hoped that Jaune was just pulling her leg, but she had to ask anyway. "Uh, Jaune? Do you know what aura is?"

"Pshh! Of course, I know what aura is. Do you know what aura is?"

Oh my god, he has no idea. Forget surviving through Beacon, there's no way he'd survive the entrance exam without aura.

It's been a while since Ruby had been taught what aura is, but she was fairly confident that she could explain it thoroughly enough for Jaune to get a good enough grasp on the concept. It wasn't that hard to understand. "Aura is the manifestation of our soul, it is very versatile, but its greatest use is as a shield that can block deadly attacks and heal our wounds. Every living creature has aura, humans, faunus, and animals."

"What about the monsters?" Jaune asked. It was a good question, it was one that she had when she was first learning about aura herself.

"No," She replied, "Aura is only possible with a soul, the creatures of Grimm do not have a soul and thus do not possess any aura," Ruby continued, "Every tool that we use, we use along with our aura. Without aura, we wouldn't be able to fight the Grimm."

Jaune appeared to be listening intently. "Ok, I'm starting to get it now. So where do I get this aura? Do I have to place a special order online or something? Is it expensive?" He asked with complete seriousness.

Ruby giggled at his cluelessness. "No silly. Your aura is already inside your soul, it just has to be unlocked. I'll have to unlock it for you." Ruby walked up to Jaune and placed a hand on his cheek. Jaune blushed a little at the close proximity.

...Damn...I've never done this before, I really hope he doesn't blow up or anything.

Ruby took a deep breath before she and Jaune both began to glow and Ruby began to chant.

"From the deepest recesses of your soul, where power lies dormant and untapped, I beseech you to awaken. Let the aura within you shimmer and surge, casting away the shadows of doubt and fear. Embrace the untamed flame that burns within, for it is your essence, your strength, your will. Unleash its brilliance upon the world, a beacon of light in the face of darkness. With every breath, let your aura ignite, radiating resilience, courage, and boundless potential. Rise, as the guardian of your own destiny, and let your aura illuminate the path ahead. By my hand, I grant thee this great power and this greater responsibility."

A wave of blinding white light washed over Jaune, as his aura was finally set free from his soul to serve its purpose. Jaune examined his hands and the new power that was flowing through them.

Ruby promptly dropped to her knees almost passing out from the force of Jaune's aura.

H-Holy s-s-shit...He has so much! I have never even come close to seeing an aura this massive. The largest aura I've seen is my own, and I thought that was impressive compared to everyone else's. Jaune has at least five times more aura than I do! How is this possible? With an aura this massive, there are virtually no limits to what Jaune can do! If he has a powerful semblance to back it up, then he will be unstoppable!

Jaune seemed to notice Ruby struggling to breathe on the floor and quickly came to help. "Ruby! Are you ok?" He grabbed hold of her shoulders to prevent her from collapsing. "Is something wrong? Do you need a doctor?" Jaune asked.

"N-No..." Ruby responded, "I just wasn't expecting your aura reserves to be so massive. I've never seen an aura that big before." Ruby shakily stood to her feet and tried to gather her breath back.

"R-Really? Do I really have that much?" Jaune asked hopefully. It was clear that he wanted to stand out in some way, he wanted something about him to be special.

After a few seconds, Ruby regained the ability to stand up by herself. "Absolutely! Your aura reserves are at least five times greater than mine, and my reserves are already twice as big as normal. That means your aura is ten times the average. That's insane, there are only a handful of people alive today with that kind of aura."

Jaune scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed look on his face. "Well, I'm glad I'm good for something. I always wanted to be special, I suppose I am now."

Ruby finally regained the rest of her energy. "You have a large aura, but that doesn't make you a good fighter. All that means is that your opponent can beat you up for longer before you can't fight anymore. That also means that I get to push you even harder during training." A sadistic look washed over Ruby's face. Jaune seemed to notice this as all the color in his face was washed away in an instant.

"Uhh...be gentle...please."

The look on Ruby's face got even eviler.


"Much better," Ruby said to a panting Jaune currently sprawled out on the sparring mat. He was covered in sweat and all his muscles were twitching in pain. "The most important thing you have to remember is that your opponent will always take advantage of the opening you provide if you don't get back up." Ruby proved this point by leaping above Jaune as she prepared to land feet first directly on top of him. She made sure to give him enough time to get out of the way though.

Jaune forced his sore body to stand up and pushed himself out of the way of Ruby's stomp. He brought his shield up just in time to block a punch from the Huntress but was unable to defend against her sweeping his legs out from under him. Jaune hit the mat with a loud thud and a pained groan. He brought his shield up to defend himself from the inevitable strike that was sure to follow, but to his surprise, Ruby didn't throw anything else at him.

"I think we can take a break. It's late but we're not done yet. Get something to drink and sit down for a little while." Jaune was more than happy to listen to the girl. He accepted the water that was offered to him and took a few deep gulps. He would've drank the entire thing if he didn't need to desperately come up for air.

"Do...do you have to be so brutal? Jaune asked. His father had never trained Jaune himself, but he did mention how his own training went. According to him, his father was very patient and gentle when he was just starting out. He would teach him the basics and allow him to get a feel for it at his own pace.

This was nothing like that. Ruby was merciless, she never gave him a second to breathe or even get back into the basic stance that she had taught him. She kept the pressure on him every second. The worst part was when he would be knocked on his ass, she would always be right on top of him ready to deliver more pain onto him unless he moved out of the way.

It was actually quite effective, poor techniques and poorly executed dodges would lead to further pain so he was motivated to learn to prevent it. He just wished that she didn't have to hit so hard.

"Nope," Ruby responded not at all sweaty or even winded. "But you have no skills at all, so in order to get you as strong as possible in as short amount of time as possible, I gotta be hard on you," Ruby explained. "Besides, beating you up is fun." She chuckled.

Jaune would've tried for a cheap strike if he wasn't positive that she was gonna break his hand for trying.

"Now is the perfect time to train your aura control," Ruby said with a smile. "If you push your aura to certain parts of your body, then your injuries will heal faster. You have a lot of it, so you will heal very fast." Ruby explained to her student.

Jaune finished his water before responding. "Ok, how do I do this?"

"It's simple, your aura is always centered in your heart, so you gotta focus on the energy that surrounds it, and push it around your body to soothe your limbs," Ruby explained.

Jaune nodded in understanding. He closed his eyes and focused all his energy on his heart. It took a few minutes, but eventually, his entire body started to glow white as a sign that it was working. Immediately, all the pain in Jaune's body was cooled under the wave of his soothing aura. The minor injuries that he had failed to defend against were sealed up, and the soreness of his muscles was reduced. "Wow, I think it worked."

"Wow, I've never seen anyone pick it up that fast, you're really talented." Ruby complimented the blond knight. She stood up and got back into her battle stance. "I hope you're ready for some more."

Jaune shivered beneath the girl's gaze. He was much taller than her, but it seemed like she would always be above him.

Jaune grabbed his sword and shield and stood in a basic fighting stance. He decided to make the first move by charging at the girl. He knew that swinging wildly wouldn't amount to anything, so he threw a curveball by launching his shield at the girl.

Ruby caught the shield with no effort but that was all part of Jaune's plan. In that brief moment of distraction, Jaune swung his sword in a horizontal arc in an attempt to cut off a chunk of Ruby's aura.

In a feat of almost impossible agility, Ruby ducked under the blade without even looking causing Jaune to be thrown off balance. Ruby took advantage of this by rocketing her feet into Jaune's stomach, launching him across the sparring ring. He skipped along the ground before falling out of the ring with a loud and probably painful crash.

Ruby walked over to make sure he was ok. Peaking over the side of the ring, she saw Jaune sprawled on the ground against the wall groaning in pain. Ruby almost felt sorry for him. "Maybe that's enough training for today."

"Y-Yes please." Jaune pleaded. Ruby helped the exhausted student to his feet. He had to lean on her for support.

"You did well today Jaune, I'm surprised by how fast you're picking up my teachings. Your father has no idea what he's talking about, you're really talented, and I know that you'll become a great huntsman with some hard work."

Ruby felt something wet drop on her head. Upon looking up she noticed Jaune was crying softly. "T-Thanks R-Ruby. No one has ever said that to me before, I guess I'm just really happy that someone believes in me now."

Ruby smiled at Jaune's words, motivating someone can come in many forms. For most people, it was the promise of results in the end, but for Ruby and Jaune, it was the knowledge that someone believed in you. "No problem Jaune, what are friends for?" She said with a bright smile.

Jaune smiled back at the short girl before continuing, "I have another goal to work toward now. You're putting in all this work to see me achieve my true potential, now I have to be sure to make you proud of me."

Ruby blushed furiously at the sincerity of Jaune's words. "Ahh, w-well j-just make s-sure you don't push yourself too hard. Lots of rest along with a balanced diet is important for training too." Ruby said in a desperate attempt to steer the conversation away from herself.

Jaune chuckled, "Don't worry, I won't." Jaune forced himself to stand by himself. "Alright, I need a shower, I probably smell like death, how can you stand it?"

Oh, Ruby had noticed his smell. How could she not with her enhanced senses? Still, she made an effort not to comment on it because of how hard he was working.

"I probably don't smell the best either, I just got used to it. But yeah, you smell terrible." Ruby laughed along with Jaune before they went into separate locker rooms to clean off the sweat and grime from a hard day's work.

Ruby allowed all her muscles to relax as the hot water washed over her muscles. She hadn't taken a single hit from Jaune today, but the hot water felt nice. The fact that the entire gym was empty at this time of night allowed her to wash in peace and quiet.

I still have some energy, I think I'll go out as Spider-Woman tonight, maybe I'll be able to gather some information on Roman and his gang. The streets will always be more dangerous as long as he's allowed to roam free. It will take a while but I'll make my way up the ladder until I knew where his base is.

Ruby finished her shower in relative silence, washing every nook and cranny of her body to rid herself of the smell that she had accumulated while training with Jaune. After getting into a change of clothes, she waited for Jaune on a bench by the entrance. He was likely enjoying the hot water flowing down his sore body.

After waiting for 20 minutes, Jaune emerged from the locker room with damp hair and a change of clothes. "Oh, you're still here? You didn't have to wait for me." Jaune said.

Ruby smiled at the blond boy, "I know, but I wanted to walk with you." Jaune's cheeks heated up as Ruby said that. He was always a loser in school that never got any attention from any other students, especially not girls. The fact that a cute girl wanted to walk with him made him happy.

"O-Oh, ok. Thank you!" Jaune replied enthusiastically. "I rented a motel room for myself while I stay in Vale before I go to Beacon. It's not too far from here." Jaune explained.

"Ok, let's go then." Ruby allowed Jaune to take the lead as they left the Gym. Both of them fell into a comfortable silence as they walked side by side. There was the occasional pedestrian that they would pass, and a few crosswalks that they had to cross, but the walk was mostly uneventful.

It was Jaune to break the silence. "Hey, Ruby?" He began, "Why are you putting in all this effort to help me without the promise of getting something in return? Why waste your time helping a pathetic loser like me?"

Ruby didn't hesitate for a second before responding. "Well, first of all, you're not pathetic. Untrained, yes, but not pathetic. Second, it's because we're friends. Friends help each other out when we need them most."

Ruby hesitated before continuing. "My mother died when I was five," she admitted which caused Jaune to stiffen. "She was a Huntress who left on a mission and never came back. She was basically Super-Mom, slayer of Grimm, and baker of cookies."

Ruby's eyes started to water. "But she was more than just a mother to me, she was my hero. I wanted to be just like her, I wanted more than anything to make her proud of me."

Ruby took a deep breath to compose herself. "She always looked for the good in people. Believed that everyone had the potential to be greater, to be themselves. I've always taken that advice to heart and tried to be a good person to everyone. When you told me that you wanted to be a hero despite having no training, I thought of what my mother would've done in that situation."

"My mother would've dropped everything to help you. That was just the kind of person she was and the person I want to be."

Ruby turned to Jaune. "Because with great power, there must also come great responsibility."

There was a comfortable silence that once again washed over the two friends. When Ruby looked at Jaune, he was looking directly into her eyes with a wide smile on his lips. "Thank you Ruby, you're the best friend I could've asked for."

Ruby playfully punched Jaune on the arm. "Hey, what are friends for?" She laughed along with him.

A few more minutes passed in relative silence before the pair arrived at their destination. The hotel wasn't particularly fancy, but it had all the basics that someone would need for a short stay. It was also in a particularly nice part of town, so Jaune didn't have to worry about getting robbed.

"Thanks for walking me back, it's always nice to have someone to talk to," Jaune said with gratitude, "I do have to keep this momentum up though, so when will we meet for more training?" Jaune asked.

Ruby rubbed her chin in thought, she hadn't thought that far ahead. She obviously wouldn't be able to train Jaune for long, considering he would either get into Beacon and be trained there, or fail the practical exam and go home. But Ruby had Signal classed and homework, not to mention her duties as Spider-Woman. But at the same time, she also had no friends to hang out with, so it's not like her schedule was packed. She doubted Jaune had much going on these days either.

"I'm a little busy this week, but I'll call you to set up a date when I'm ready," Ruby responded. "But just because I won't be able to train you every second doesn't mean that you shouldn't do some independent training," Ruby explained.

Jaune scratched his head in thought. "That makes sense, any ideas on what I should do? You're the expert so I'll take your advice to heart."

People always said that it was best to focus on minimizing your weaknesses, rather than strengthening your strengths, but in this case, that was a really bad idea. Jaune didn't HAVE any strengths in combat, so the best course of action would be to give him some. If there was one thing that Jaune had going for him, it was the sheer size of his aura. With an aura that massive, actually hurting Jaune would be difficult when he got skilled enough. That means that his greatest strength will be his defensive capabilities.

Jaune had a large figure and once he builds some muscle it will only get larger, so focusing on speed was out of the question, as was his agility. The best training right now would have to be aura control, but it was hard to train aura for defense unless you had someone to beat you up all the time. Also having good control of your aura doesn't make you a better fighter, it only means you can take more of a beating.

So the best training that Jaune could do solo would have to be strength training. With aura reserves like Jaune's, his muscles will heal much faster than normal, especially if he gets a good grasp on how to use it.

"Right now, just focus on basic strength training. We need to put some muscle on you if you want a chance at getting into Beacon. Just hit the gym as often as possible. You can also just do push-ups when you have a free minute if you want to grow faster," Ruby explained. "But the most important thing you have to remember is that you can't use your aura when working out. If you do, then your muscles won't tear, and thus won't grow back stronger. You can only use your aura to heal your muscles after a workout," Ruby explained to the blond boy.

Jaune nodded in understanding. "I understand, I'll have to work harder than anyone anyway, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes." Jaune pumped his fist into the air to hype himself up. "I won't let you down."

Ruby smiled in response. "I'm glad to hear it." Ruby pulled out her scroll to check the time, it was already 10:30, and her father was probably worried about her. She had set her scroll to silent while in the gym, so she had missed a few calls from both Yang and Taiyang. "It was fun kicking your butt Jaune, but I gotta go." Ruby chuckled.

Jaune laughed along with her. "Yeah, me too, I'm gonna go make sweet love to my bedsheets. I'll talk to you soon." Jaune waved goodbye as he started up the stairs.

Ruby waved after him. "Bye Jaune!"


"Ugh. What a day..." Ruby wasn't particularly tired after today, but learning about Jaune's past had left her emotionally drained. Unlocking Jaune's aura had been difficult as well, she almost passed out after she did it. Maybe she could catch a few hours of sleep before she went out as Spider-Woman.

She was surprised to find that the front door to her house was unlocked. That's weird, Dad always locks the door before he goes to sleep, Ruby thought to herself. Twisting the knob and pushing the door open revealed a completely dark living room, with no signs of life anywhere. I guess he just forgot. Ruby brushed it off before heading to the kitchen to grab something to eat.

Before she could reach the fridge, a small lamp flickered on in the living room and a swivel chair spun slowly revealing her sister Yang giving her a very suspicious gaze. No one said a word for the longest time, Yang was just looking at her like she suspected Ruby ate every cookie from the cookie jar again.

"You're home late." It was Yang to break the silence. "You didn't return our calls."

This wasn't the first time that Ruby had come home later than normal, but it was the first time that she didn't tell Yang or her father what she was up to or why she got held back a bit.

"Uhh...yeah...you know that I silence my scroll whenever I'm training," Ruby explained.

"Yeah, I know. But you always call back right after and you're never out this late. Care to explain?" Yang asked as she took a sip of the tea that had somehow appeared in her hands.

Yes, explain, that sounded nice. Except no it didn't, Ruby was hungry and really didn't want to have this stupid conversation right now. Alas, the fastest way to end this conversation would be to answer Yang's questions.

"It's really not a big deal, I was just training with a friend today," Ruby explained

PPPFFFTTT!

Yang proceeded to spray her tea all over the hardwood and furniture as she began choking on the warm liquid. She desperately tried to form words with her gaping mouth, but all that came out were pained coughs and dribbles of tea.

After a few moments of suffering, Yang eventually managed to force out a single word through her coughs. "F-FRIEND?" She yelled through her pain.

Ruby would be very offended at how surprised Yang acted at the prospect of her having a friend if it weren't for her surprise to be completely expected. Ruby Rose didn't have friends her entire life, for her to suddenly make a friend that she was willing to train with must've been surprising.

Yang finally managed to remove the rest of the flavored liquid from her lungs and began to speak with much more clarity. "Since when did you make a friend?" Yang asked.

"A few days ago, we met when we were both doing some community service. We got to talking and discovered that we have a lot in common. So we exchanged numbers and became friends," Ruby explained to her sister. There was no point in lying, she hadn't done anything wrong. Also, if she lied and her sister found out, then she would assume that Ruby had been doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing.

"Oh, I uhh. T-That's great!" Yang brightened up upon hearing her sister's explanation. "Yes, that's fantastic! I knew you could make friends," Yang said with pride in her voice.

Ruby smiled at her sister before she began rummaging through the fridge in search of something tasty. Her sister began to clean up the tea that she sprayed everywhere.

"Why did you wait this long to say anything about your new friend?" Yang questioned.

"Because I knew that you would make a big deal out of it, and I was right," Ruby explained. "I just don't like having attention drawn to me, you know that." You'd think that growing up without friends or even a mother would make someone starved for attention, but in Ruby's case, the opposite was true. She treasured her alone time.

Yang nodded in understanding as she finished cleaning up her mess. "I'm just glad that you're opening up a little more. I always thought that you'd be an old lady with 40 cats before you ever made a friend." Yang laughed as Ruby pouted at her joke. "Just be careful, you never know how people will try to take advantage of you by pretending to be your friend," Yang said as she took another sip of what remained of her tea.

Ruby shrugged off Yang's concerns immediately. "It's fine, he really isn't the type to take advantage of anyone."

PPPFFFTTT!

CRASH!

Once again, her sister sprayed her drink on the hardwood floor and furniture and began coughing furiously. However, this time a door crashed open and her father tumbled out with no color present on his face.

Taiyang appeared as if he was having a hard time getting air into his lungs, he looked about ready to pass out at any second. Yang was desperately trying to expel the tea from her lungs and stay on her own two feet at the same time. Her father's mouth was moving so fast but no words were coming out. His face was sweaty and his eyes were glazed over.

Eventually, after several seconds of trying to speak, her father managed to force out one word.

"HE?!"

Only then did Ruby realize her mistake. She was so hungry and desperate to eat something that she had let it slip that her friend was a boy. She had just provided Yang with teasing material for the next four years. Her father, on the other hand, looked about ready to beat someone to a bloody pulp.

"Y-Yes. He's a boy. B-But he's just a friend, I swear!" Ruby said with her cheeks colored light pink.

Yang had an evil smirk on her lips, no doubt planning on how she was going to use this information to tease her younger sister.

"Who is he?" Demanded Taiyang. He seemed to be able to copy Yang's semblance due to how blood-red his eyes had gotten.

Ruby was no fool, she had no intention of telling them Jaune's name. If she did, then Yang would search for him and interrogate him for five hours about his intentions with her sister. Her father would skip all that and just kill him. She needed a decent excuse to get them to back off.

"H-He's just a boy I met while I was doing some community service! We started talking and we became friends. That's it!"

That didn't seem to calm her father down at all. "Then why were you home so late?" He asked.

"We were training! That's it! We were training, and we lost track of time," Ruby explained.

Yang's evil grin only got wider. "Training eh? I bet you were training really hard." Her sister teased.

Ruby was no fool, she knew exactly what her sister was implying. Every drop of blood in her body somehow managed to make its way into her face, it was a wonder she didn't pass out. "NO! That didn't happen!" Ruby screamed to her sister. "We just had some ice cream and trained for the rest of the day."

Her father collapsed to his knees, the red in his eyes had completely vanished and he appeared to have stopped breathing. The only sound that escaped his throat was garbled nonsense.

Yang wrapped her arms around her sister and pulled her tight to her chest. Ruby squirmed in her sister's grip in a desperate attempt to escape the suffocating hug. "That sounds a lot like a date to me, Ruby," her sister teased. "I'm so happy for you. When are you gonna introduce us to your new boyfriend?"

Ruby managed to use her super strength to overpower her sister and escape her grip. She emerged from her sister's chest with flaming red cheeks and desperate protests. "He's not my boyfriend!" she screamed. "UGH! Forget it, I'm going to bed!" Ruby dashed to the stairs in a desperate attempt to escape the teasing.

Yang called out to her as she was making her way up the stairs. "Make sure to use protection!" she yelled.

Ruby rocketed up the stairs in a flurry of rose petals signifying the use of her semblance. She made sure to lock her door and push her heavy dresser in front of it to ensure that no one could enter easily. She then collapsed on the floor as her legs gave out. She knew full well that Yang believed her when she said Jaune wasn't her boyfriend, but Yang only cared about the teasing material that was so graciously provided.

Her father was a different challenge entirely. He had always been way too overprotective of his daughters, and she really didn't blame him. After the loss of two of his wives, he would do anything to ensure that no one had to experience hardship like that again. He knew that they would grow up eventually, but that didn't stop him from trying to keep that from happening as long as possible.

The worst part was that she was still hungry! She never got to eat due to her dumb family teasing her. Her enhanced metabolism made her hunger even more intense.

"I'll just grab something when I go out tonight, maybe they'll give Spider-Woman a discount. That'll be nice."

Ruby only had to wait for an hour for Yang and her Dad to fall asleep, she then proceeded to jump out her window clad in her red and black costume.


Swinging through the city in the dead of night was an amazing experience. Just getting lost in the wind while she let gravity do the work for her was something to behold. Not just for her, but for all the onlookers that were watching the Spider-Woman swinging in the moonlight.

But now she didn't just have to swing from the buildings to get travel the city. After her costume got destroyed in that explosion, she decided that it would be a good time to upgrade her costume.

Spider-Woman climbed to the top of a particularly tall building, she was so high up that she could see Beacon in the distance. Approaching the edge of the building she prepared to test her costume's new enhancements. "Let's see what I can do with this."

Spider-Woman bent her legs and launched herself off the tall building at incredible speed. Gravity took hold of her small form as she plummeted to the asphalt below. Normally she would shoot a web line at a nearby building to save herself before she came in contact with the hard street below, but she had no intention of doing such a thing this time.

Instead, Spider-Woman extended her arms and activated something in her costume that caused a thin yet durable fabric designed like a spider web to spring to life under her arms. Immediately after opening up her wings, the wind pushed up against them and slowed her fall by a considerable degree. Instead of falling to her death, Spider-Woman was gliding safely to the ground with her new wings.

"Who says spiders can't fly?" Spider-Woman chuckled to herself. Her Web-Wings proved to be a complete success, they caught the wind perfectly and she could control her direction without any difficulty. It wasn't really flying, she was just falling with style.

Buildings whipped passed her as she rode the wind through the city, she could see the surprised looks of civilians below her with her enhanced vision.

Her Spider-Sense buzzed faintly, to alert her of the approaching ground. She retracted her wings and shot out a web line to the corner of a building to regain her lost altitude. Using her Super Strength, she pulled on the web to launch herself even further forward. "I think I'm getting the hang of this," she said to herself.

"Help! Thief!" Shouted a feminine voice from below. Swinging around the building to her left, she was quick to spot a figure dressed in all black dashing down the sidewalk with a woman's purse in hand. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was happening. Spider-Woman shot two web lines to the parallel buildings to her left and right and pulled with all her might.

The result was Spider-Woman being slingshotted at super speeds directly toward the thief. Spider-Woman knew that she could really injure or even kill someone if she collided with them at this speed. She intentionally overshot her target and slammed into the ground hard enough to crack the concrete sidewalk.

The mugger tried to maneuver around the hero in an attempt to escape, but Spider-Woman was much faster than him. She swept his legs out from under him and grabbed him by his collar before he could react to the situation.

"P-Please! D-Don't hurt me!" The mugger begged. Spider-Woman pulled the man terrifyingly close to her face, it appeared as if she was deciding what to do with him. Spider-Woman was at least a foot shorter than the mugger, but the difference in power was clear to both of them. She could end him in an instant if she decided to.

Thankfully for the mugger, Spider-Woman didn't kill her enemies. Instead, she tossed him to the side and allowed him to painfully have the wind knocked out of him as he collided with the wall to her right. A net of sticky webbing trapped the man to the building, preventing any further attempts to escape, she webbed his mouth shut for good measure.

Spider-Woman picked up the stolen purse from the ground and cleaned up the items that had fallen out. She finished just in time for the woman to come rushing around the building to the hero.

"Spider-Woman! Thank you so much for helping me." The woman was breathing heavily from her sprint and needed to take a second to catch her breath.

"It's no trouble at all miss," Spider-Woman said as she handed the purse back to its rightful owner. "I'm just glad I could help. Can you call the police for me though? I'm sure that they would like to have a few words with this guy." Upon hearing those words, the mugger kicked and thrashed in his web prison, but the webbing held strong and showed no signs of breaking.

"Of course, I will. Thanks again Spider-Woman," the woman said with a bright and happy smile on her face.

Spider-Woman saluted the civilian before she jumped as high as she could and swung away from the scene of the crime.

I'm getting better at this hero thing," Spider-Woman thought to herself. "Granted, I haven't been doing this for very long but we all have to start somewhere. Ruby knew that her life would only get harder the longer she kept this up, but she would grow stronger as well, she just knew it. New stronger enemies would no doubt challenge her eventually, but they better be ready to face the might of Spider-Woman.


Spider-Woman spent the next hour swinging through the city stopping any crime that she happened upon. There were a few muggings, a break-in, a carjacker, and even a drunk guy trying his luck with a woman who was clearly not interested. It was a pretty uneventful night all things considered.

"I hope all nights will be this easy, the less work I have to do, the safer Vale is," Spider-Woman said to herself. The position of the shattered moon communicated to her that it would be bright in a few hours. She could catch a few hours of sleep if she went home now.

Spider-Woman swung around a building and prepared to swing home.

Until the familiar tingle of her Spider-Sense pushed her in a different direction. "Ugh...Me and my big mouth." Heading in the direction that her Spider-Sense was pointing her in, Spider-Woman spotted a large abandoned warehouse in the distance.

Perching on a nearby light post, Spider-Woman began to survey the large structure in front of her as she formed a plan. "Ok, let's see. All the windows are boarded up tightly, not exactly unusual for homeless people to seek shelter in places like this and board up broken windows to protect them from the elements. What is unusual is for the light posts near the warehouse to still function. If this place is truly abandoned, then all the power would be shut down to save money and dust."

Spider-Woman immediately felt suspicious upon realizing that the expansive structure might not be as abandoned as she had once assumed. This would no doubt be another stealth mission. She would have to eavesdrop on conversations of anyone inside to get the full story of what was going on behind the scenes.

Spider-Woman jumped from her illuminated perch and soared through the air until she reached the building. Climbing around the exterior for a few minutes, she spotted the vent that she had been looking for. Ripping the metal grate off the wall and webbing it next to the opening, she crawled into the tight dusty aluminum prison. This place definitely hadn't been abandoned for long. The vents were dusty, but they were in pretty good shape. So either this warehouse was recently abandoned, or it wasn't abandoned at all.

"I get the feeling that vents are going to be my best friend when I'm Spider-Woman. I'm lucky I'm so small, otherwise, the vent wouldn't be able to handle my weight.

Spider-Woman saw light leaking through the end of the aluminum maze and quietly approached. She peered through the grate and surveyed the interior of the building.

What she saw was not what she was expecting. Inside the building, she spotted at least a hundred men and women all working hard moving various crates, operating machinery, giving orders to others, and operating large box trucks.

But what was odd about all these men and women was that every single last one of them had some distinctive feature on them in the form of an animal appendage. Some had cat ears resting on the crown of their heads, others had tails from various animals, a few had feathers, and some others had horns.

They were all faunus, of that Spider-Woman was certain.

"The White Fang," Spider-Woman whispered to herself. "What on Remnant are they doing here?" Every single crate in the warehouse was shut tight so she was unable to see the contents within, but it was clear that they were in possession of something that they shouldn't have.

"This is going to be hard, I need to call the police so they can escort these guys to jail, but there's no way they can handle this without a few huntsmen. But if I try to help the huntsmen, they'll undoubtedly attack me for being a vigilante. I could just fight them all by myself, taking them out all at once would be a difficult challenge that I really don't have the time for. What to do? What to do? What to do?"

Spider-Woman couldn't risk doing anything dangerous unless she was certain that nothing would explode when she tried, so she would need to know exactly what was in these crates before she tried anything that could get her killed.

She climbed back through the vents and took a different route to get closer to the pile of crates in the corner of the warehouse. Thanks to her perfect night vision, seeing in the vents was no trouble. It was a well-known fact that many types of faunus had almost perfect night vision.

Almost.

Their night vision wasn't perfect, they could still see in pitch blackness but it was very difficult to do so. But for Spider-Woman, she could see perfectly no matter how bright it was. This caused her problems quite often too. She bought a sleeping mask woven with an incredibly dark fabric just so she could get a good night's rest.

A few minutes of climbing later, she happened upon another vent cover that was closer to the floor. She was about to hop out and find a place to hide before the familiar warning of her Spider-Sense saved her before she could do so. Multiple sets of footsteps passed by her hiding spot along with the sounds of idle banter between friends.

Once her Spider-Sense calmed down, Spider-Woman jumped from her hiding spot and took cover behind a stack of crates along the wall.

"Ok, so far so good." Spider-Woman then carefully ripped off the top of a nearby crate to investigate its contents. She expected quite a few things upon opening the crate, weapons, drugs, White Fang masks, and money. The White Fang are terrorists, thieves, and murderers, they had no standards when it came to the evil they committed. She half expected the crate to be filled with bombs they were going to use to end many lives

Examining the interior of the crate, she was surprised to see it completely filled to the brim with dust! "What the hell?" She whispered to herself. Ripping off the lid to another crate revealed similar contents to the first, the third crate was the same story. She wouldn't be surprised if every single crate in this place was filled with dust.

"They could cause some serious damage with all of this dust. Where the hell did they even get all of this? There's no way they could steal this much dust without someone taking notice and I doubt that the White Fang has access to the equipment to refine all this dust as well. So how did...they...oh."

It took a few seconds, but eventually, Spider-Woman came to a very likely conclusion. There was a well-known figure that was in the news recently for lots of dust thefts. It's possible that the White Fang is working with him. "Roman Torchwick," she growled to herself, her voice filled with hate.

She hadn't forgotten the little stunt that he pulled during their fight, detonating a highly explosive dust crystal right in front of her, damn near killing her in the process. Things just got a lot more complicated now that she knew he was working alongside the White Fang. "Why would the White Fang resort to working with a human? They hate all humans with a passion, and I bet Torchwick doesn't exactly play nice with them either."

Spider-Woman had a lot of questions, but they would have to wait for later, right now she had more pressing concerns. She needed to take these guys down before they could hurt anyone, but that was easier said than done.

"What are my options? Now that I know these crates are filled with dust, I can't start a fight, or else I risk this entire place going up in flames and me with it if a single bullet struck a crystal. I can't just wait here all night for them to leave, that will take too long and there's a chance they won't leave at all. I can't take them all down silently, there are at least a hundred faunus here so someone is bound to notice their dwindling numbers. I can't call the police due to the risk of a fight breaking out. Talking them down is a stupid idea for obvious reasons. What to do? What to do?"

Spider-Woman was struggling to come up with a suitable plan for taking these guys down, she didn't have a single safe option. All she had were several crates filled with dust.

"...Wait...That's it!"

She had no idea if this would work, one wrong move and it was game over, but she had to try, what kind of hero would she be if she didn't give it everything she had?

Spider-Woman began rummaging through several crates worth of dust, gathering a specific type that was vital for her plan. She made sure to grab extra just in case she needed it. Arms filled with dust, and a stupid idea all ready, Spider-Woman prepared for battle.

I'm gonna die, She thought to herself before leaping into the air as high as she could, she soared over the massive stack of crates and dove toward the center of the room. Before she could reach the ground, Spider-Woman popped the lid off of one of the dust canisters and shot a net of webbing toward the crates. As the sticky webbing was making its way to its destination, Spider-Woman poured the dust directly above her wrist.

The chemical reaction was instant. As soon as the dust came into contact with the webbing, it immediately began to solidify in the air as it flew from her wrist. The webbing continued to harden as it continued its journey. As the webbing wrapped around the stack of crates, the dust-infused webbing began to grow larger and harder as stone started to form on the surface of the webbing. After just a few seconds, the webbing had completely turned to stone and completely engulfed the stack of dust. The stone was hard enough to protect the dust from any stray bullets, exactly as she expected.

Spider-Woman continued this onslaught of rock webbing upon all of the dust crates. It wasn't long at all before every spec of dust in the warehouse was completely protected from any and all inevitable gunfire. Satisfied with her work, Spider-Woman swept her eyes along the entire warehouse. Predictably, every Faunus had stopped working and gazed at the Spider-Woman with eyes wide. No one dared move an inch, terrified that she might kill them for moving at all.

Spider-Woman took advantage of the distraction and fired multiple web bullets toward several unsuspecting Faunus, webbing up their faces, and jamming their guns. It was this action that set everything else into motion. Her Spider-Sense warned her of approaching gunfire, and she dashed forward at incredible speeds. The bullets whizzed by her and struck the rock wall that had formed from her webbing. The wall held strong and protected the contents entombed within.

I can't forget that I need to pull my punches against these guys. I could easily kill someone if I lose focus. With a small fraction of her strength, Spider-Woman delivered multiple quick punches at several unprepared faunus, they were all knocked out instantly from the force of her blows.

Spider-Woman jumped backward and performed a backflip at the command of her Spider-Sense. Multiple bullets passed underneath her harmlessly, but it wasn't long before the Faunus readjusted their aim and fired at her new spot in the air. Twisting her body in all sorts of impossible ways, Spider-Woman heard all the bullets whizz by her as she prepared for a landing.

Firing multiple globs of webbing in every direction, Spider-Woman managed to gunk up a fair amount of the weapons being used by her enemies. Now that it was easier to move around due to the sudden drop in gunfire, Spider-Woman quickly got to work cleaning up the webbing up the doors so her opponents couldn't run, she dashed forward to a crowd of White Fang grunts.

Calling it a fight would've been an insult to her, it wasn't a fight at all, it wasn't even enough for a warm-up. Spider-Woman danced through her enemies with incredible ease, not a single bullet managed to connect with her. She threw one devastating punch after another, each blow knocked down the grunt it was aimed at rendering them unconscious.

"Guys, I appreciate the free target practice but I'm a little busy right now," she spun around at the commanding tingle of her Spider-Sense, Spider-Woman saw a row of Faunus all armed with powerful ranged weapons pointed straight at her.

"Hey look, punching bags with feet!" She joked once more.

"KILL HER!" One of the goons yelled. Bullets were fired from their weapons with poor aim but in vast quantities. She flooded her aura to every inch of her body just in case a stray projectile made it to her.

She dodged each projectile with ease, ducking, jumping, spinning, and twisting away from everything launched at her. It wasn't until her Spider-Sense buzzed louder than before did she know she was in trouble. Looking above her, she spotted a masked Faunus on a catwalk with a rocket launcher in hand.

"Oh shi-" The rocket flew straight at her as it was released from its chamber. Thinking quickly, Spider-Woman shot a web-line at the exploding projectile and twisted her body with all her might. The result was the rocket being driven off course. She kept spinning the rocket before she released the web line and the rocket began flying straight at the group of Faunus on the ground below.

The Faunus ran in every direction in a desperate attempt to escape the inevitable explosion. The rocket struck the floor and detonated with a thundering boom. The grunts managed to escape the worst of the blast and instead of being blown to smithereens, they were only blown backward and knocked out cold. The explosion shook the warehouse and blew the entrance door straight off its hinges.

"I like fireworks as much as the next girl, but this isn't what I had in mind." The police would definitely be here soon, she needed to finish this fast.

Spider-Woman took care of the last Faunus that had fired the rocket before gathering all the White Fang members in a pile and wrapping them all tightly in webbing. She left a note attached to the face of one of them.

Spider-Woman was here. :P

Her work wasn't done though, she needed to search for evidence of where more White Fang bases might be. If she could make her way up the ladder, then she might be able to take down the one in charge of this whole operation. Her Spider-Sense was buzzing faintly, alerting her that the police were approaching, she likely only had a few minutes to search.

She quickly ran through the warehouse looking for an office of some kind. It wasn't until after she found the bathrooms, a janitor's closet, and a storage room filled with more dust that she managed to locate an office-looking space. The room had many scattered pages littered around the room, and a computer sitting on a desk was still powered on. Glancing over the scattered pages, Spider-Woman decided to record her findings so that she could examine them later. She couldn't steal the documents considering that the police needed to get involved with the White Fang issue too, if she stole them, then they would have nothing to go off of.

Pulling out her scroll, Spider-Woman activated her camera and began to run the lens along all of the scattered pages. The quality of her camera was quite good, so she wouldn't have to worry about not being able to read the documents from the video later.

Her Spider-Sense buzzed even louder, she didn't have long now. Opening every drawer on the desk, she was greeted with a bunch of office supplies, blank sheets of paper, and some money.

Spider-Woman didn't like the idea of taking money from anyone, even if that person was a terrorist, but the police would likely just pocket the money themselves. Instead of taking the money for personal gain, Spider-Woman vowed to donate everything to charity to help those in need. That way the Lien would still be put to good use. After looking through every available drawer, Spider-Woman didn't find anything else worth taking. The buzzing in the back of her skull was getting louder, she had to leave now.

Opening a small window, she jumped out and stealthily made her way past the police and escaped without issue.

"Time to head home."


Spider-Woman quietly entered her window and set foot into her dark room. Removing her mask, Ruby took a deep breath and collapsed to her knees.

"Ugh, what a night." Tonight was the most productive by far, she managed to uncover a secret White Fang hideout and take it down in the same night, she might've got some useful information on the White Fang's next move too. She would go through her scroll tomorrow at some point to review the video she had taken and possibly figure out what to do next.

Grabbing a quick shower and slipping into her Pajamas, Ruby tucked herself into bed and fell asleep within seconds.


Roman Torchwick was not happy.

Not at all.

Things hadn't been going particularly well for him the past couple of months, but tonight was a particularly bad one.

The day started out like any other. He talked to a few of his goons to give instructions for the following few days and had a conversation with Junior regarding some information he needed, he always made sure to pay him well.

It was right as he was about to fall asleep that everything went wrong.

His scroll on his nightstand rang and vibrated as the screen glowed in the dark room. Roman picked it up and looked at the caller ID. It was one of the more trustworthy goons that he had under his employ. He never gave his number out to anyone he didn't trust. This was to ensure that he would always remain hidden.

Swiping on the answer button, Roman brought the scroll to his ear and spoke to the caller.

"What is it?" He asked impatiently. It was late, and all he was concerned about was his rest. But his goons knew not to call him this late unless it was an emergency.

It took a few seconds for the goon to respond, it was as if he was trying to find the exact way to break the bad news to Roman. Eventually, he just released a big sigh and told him bluntly.

"The warehouse on Coal Street was taken down sir."

A sense of dread immediately washed over Roman. That was one of their larger places, this would set them back quite a bit. There was a few million Lien worth of dust in that place, for it to be taken down would easily set them back a few weeks.

"Did a group of Hunters take them down?" It was the only logical conclusion. One hunter could take down some auraless goons with little difficulty, but to take down that many would be a tall order for a single person.

Which was why it was such a surprise to hear the response that the goon gave. "No sir," he said defeated. "There was only one."

...

There was silence for a good 30 seconds on both ends, neither of them said a word for the longest time. Roman was the one to break the silence.

"Who?" He asked.

Roman's blood turned to ice when he received his answer.

"Spider-Woman."


This chapter took a while, not due to how hard it was to write, but due to my laziness and busy schedule making it hard to dedicate time to it.

I'm sure everyone can tell by this point but I'm just making this all up as I go. Don't be surprised if there are a few continuity errors in the story.

I probably shouldn't be staying up this late to finish these chapters.