"Ahhhhhhhh! Doh!"

A thud was heard as Jaune laid upside down against the tree. This wasn't the first time this had happened. Tangerine held her sword in her right hand, blade pointing towards upwards (although it seemed down due to the position he was in) as she walked towards him. "It's a good thing your bones aren't brittle. Otherwise, you would have broken several of them by now. This is third time you've ended up against a wall upside down. Or in this case, a tree. Are you sure you want to continue?"

He groaned as he gave his response. "Ugh... Don't remind me. And to answer your question, yes."

His legs lurched forward, flipping him backwards until he was sitting on his butt, his head disorientated from being flipped upside down. He held his hand to his head, trying to stop it from spinning. Tangerine looked at him, slightly annoyed. "Come on, boy, you got 30 more minutes to go."

He got his weapon from the ground once more, breathed to calm his nerves, and shouted his battle cry as he charged towards her again. Another night, he was shown fighting against her with a two handed sword.

"Is that all you got?"

Another night, Jaune fought against her again, this time she was wielding a battle axe.

"Come on!"

Another night, he was facing her as she wielded her signature spear.

"Is that all you got?"

Jaune smirked. "Bring it on!"

A wave of fire from her spear came at him. The next night, she was using her other signature weapon.

"Come on, Jaune! Are you holding back?!" Tangerine taunted as she cracked her whip.

With the whip in her hands, Jaune was having a hard time trying to find an opening. One move and she could easily take his sword. As he dashed backwards, he tried to think of a plan to get behind her and pin her down, but she did just what he predicted she would do-steal his sword, force him to shield for a while, dash forward to the strike and then kick him down from behind. After she did these actions, Jaune groaned as he laid on his side.

"I knew what you were trying to do."

"So you saw through my plan? That's good. Being able to predict your enemy's intentions is a sign that you're thinking ahead. Stopping them from fulfilling their intent is another matter however. And do be forewarned, not every enemy will be easy to predict. Let's try that again." Jaune retrieved his gear, inhaled to reassure himself and charged towards her again, slashing his sword through the air quicker as he tried to attack her. "Better." Another quick slash. "Watch your form. Put more elbow into it!"

Soon enough, the combat session, and the lesson, ended and Jaune had been sitting in the kitchen wiping sweat off his forehead with a glass of water in the other hand. The shadow of a familiar hourglass figure lurked in the doorway, causing the exhausted student to turn his head in the direction of the shadow and he groaned when he saw who the shadow belonged to.

The eldest Arc sister looked at him curiously. "Is there a reason you're still continuing this?"

He set the glass on the table angrily, almost breaking it. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're not getting anywhere fast. You should just give up." Rouge said to him. "You'll never get anywhere in life with these combat lessons. Heck, I'm surprised that Tangerine agreed to this. Oh and by the way, since you're here, make me a cup of lavender tea." He sighed softly. "Hey now, don't complain."

The young blond turned away and clinched his teeth. "I'm not."

Rouge snickered under her breath, but Jaune heard it too. He carried out her command, poured her cup of tea and then sped off to his room, his glass of water in hand. He set the glass on his nightstand and collapsed face-first onto his bed, some sweat soaking into his sheets as he slammed his fist against the mattress.

Am I wrong for thinking out the box from where I stay? For choosing another way? For for trying to reach what I can't see? Jaune thought to himself.

Although tired, he got up from the mattress and went for the showers, thinking about how far he had come.

Five days had passed since Blake heard about the White Fang meeting in Kana. She had reached the city on the opposite side of Patch as the night. Normally she would have taken off the bow and tried to disguise herself as a new recruit, but she had already used that trick for the White Fang meeting in Vale. She couldn't turn out the lights to get away like she did last time either. She needed a new plan if she wanted to get information on where Adam Taurus.

She stood on the rooftop, looking at the city of Kana down below her. It was similar to Fiti, but it wasn't a coastal city, so there were no beaches and there was more space in between buildings and apartment complexes. She turned her head directly down below her, looking at the white warehouse with big grey stripes on its side, and, if she squinted, the mark of the White Fang nearby the entrance. As she stood there, Blake breathed in, gathering her thoughts on how to proceed.

My old friend would be able to do this easily. She internally sighed. If only I had the ability to blend in with my surroundings... Hmm... Maybe I don't need to camouflage. Maybe I just need to hide. Hide where they can't see me, and wait for the right moment to strike.

Hide and wait for the right moment to strike, or take action. This wasn't the first time she did that. Wanting to scope out the lay of land and plan out her strategy appropriately, she jumped down, landing on her feet without fail and entered the warehouse. As she slowly walked forward, she saw that the first area looked like a lounge, complete with two sofas parallel to each other, a wooden rectangle table in between and a white carpet underneath it and that same setup on both sides of the room in the upper. The white walls were bare, although judging by the wall marks, it looked like there were once pictures hanging on the walls.

About 25 feet in front her, the walls closed in form a thinner hallway with less room, with wooden doors on both sides in the hallway. She went down that said hallway and saw a more open area with a dark grey canopy hiding the white wall and a wooden stage had already been built about 50 feet in front of her. To her right and left, she saw vertical white marble columns, one in each corner of the room. She looked up and saw a bunch of metal rails with spotlights above her, in between the wooden moulding and the ceiling. She smirked as her plan came together. In two days, her plan would be unfurled.

Perfect. If all goes well, Adam's days will soon be numbered.

In the meantime, Jaune was doing a lot of chores, butler related tasks, and combat practice.

Rouge, you are horrible. You're the wor...

"Alright, Jaune." As his mind returned to the present, Tangerine stood over by the weapons table. "Once again, we will be working on dodging exercises. This time, you will be dodging arrows."

"Wait? Arrows?! Isn't that kinda dangerous?"

"No, silly. These are plunger arrows." she said as she got them out along with her bow. "This is what I first used for target practice when I began archery about a year ago. Also, if you have the dodging reflexes of a deer, I would rather not have you impaled in a vital organ. If you can dodge these, you should be able to dodge the real deal. Do be forewarned, you'll be going through multiple waves of arrow dodging."

"Alright then."

"Your objective is simple; evade the arrows. Your time begins now."

The dodging exercise began as Tangerine slowly drew back the string, putting an arrow onto it before releasing it and letting it fire at Jaune. The speed gradually sped up after each string release of the arrow. Soon she was firing arrows, one rapidly after the other. With quick reflexes and moves, he dodged them all.

"Was that it? That wasn't nearly as hard as you said it would be."

The street fighter chuckled. She then started to fire two arrows at a time at the same. Jaune widened his eyes in realization as one plunger arrow got him in the lower part of his stomach. As the speed increased and the double arrow round ended, a plunger arrow landed right in the center of his forehead.

"If that was the real thing, you would be dead!"

The arrow dodging rounds progressed to be harder and harder. As another one got him in the neck, she screamed, "You'd be dead!" She said, "You'd be dead!" again as the plunger arrow got him in the heart.

As time went on, he was trying to dodge the arrows as they were flung at him at rapid speeds, trying to dodge three, four or even five at a time. He got several of them stuck on him in various places, including his arm (mainly the right), one on his thigh, multiple in various parts of his torso, and even some on his rear end. One got him in hard part of his skull on his right side, one got him in the back of his head, and another one got him where his liver would be if it was on the outside.

"Dead! Dead! Dead!"

He moaned and fell to the ground. "Oh... god... That was rough."

"Man, you need to work on your dodging arrow skills. If that was the real deal, you would be dead several times over. No wait, you would have been dead a long time ago!"

He sighed and got up. "Can you help get the arrows from my backside?"

She sighed, "Sure."

The teacher started removing arrows on his back and then proceeded to remove the arrows from his behind. "Well, well, looks like training isn't going very well, is it?"

The fashion model leaned against the glass door, her arm bent to place her hand near her side bun. Jaune turned his head away, his face burning from further humiliation. Tangerine gave her an annoyed look as he pulled the last arrow from Jaune's butt. "Rouge, what did I tell you about trying to take Jaune away for butler tasks during training?"

"I wasn't going to assign him to any butler related tasks, but... I am curious, why are you continuing to fight?" Tangerine was about to speak, but Rouge held up a finger. "I'm not talking about you Tangerine, I know you have a reason to continue fighting, it's part of your job. Even if it is just hunting down lowly criminals and turning them in for cash." She turned to her younger brother as he removed the last arrow from his elbow. "But you, Jaune? Beacon has fallen to its knees, you're not attending another huntsman academy, you're nothing. You have no reason to continue fighting. So give it up."

He felt anger boiling underneath the surface slowly rising up. It didn't help that she laughed at him as she left him to muse over her words. And then, he snapped. "Aurgh!" He punched the nearest tree, tearing a hole right through it. There was a brief glow around his right arm as did this, the wooden core and bark flying over the yard. The white glow disappeared, but he was still seething with rage. He panted as his eyes maintained that fierce, fiery look. "Damn Rouge... Damn her..."

Tangerine stood there all wide-eyed screaming, "Holy crap! How did you do that?!"

He snapped out of his rage and then found himself caught in a state of bewilderment. "I... I don't know... All I felt was... pure rage."

She examined the damage done. "I've punched trees before in anger, making a dent out of them in the bark, but you just tore right through it like it was nothing! How?!"

Jaune shrugged. "I... I... I got nothin'."

"Hmm... We will have to ponder this mystery later. Now then, back to our lesson."

"What do you mean you lost it?"

Dr. Watts was standing before a displeased Salem, showing her annoyance and anger by folding her arms and glaring at him. "I know you're angry. And you have every right in the world to be angry with me." He slowly dropped to his knees and bowed before her. "I have failed you, your grace. I made a promise to you and I failed to keep it. I apologize for not being able to keep my word."

She sighed loudly. "This is a setback. One day, we will find the other three. It's just going to be harder without the tracking device you made."

He looked up in curiously. "The other three? Last I looked there were four and a half if you count Cinder being able to steal half of Amber's power."

"So it seems no one has informed you of Cinder's progress. Cinder has completely assumed the mantle of Fall Maiden."

Watts slightly smiled. "I did not know this. This is excellent news."

"Unfortunately, she was knocked and extremely injured by a silver-eyed warrior."

His expression turned to a satisfied look. "That's not good. At least, not for us as a whole. And did you say a silver-eyed warrior? I thought all of them were dead or couldn't use their powers due to injury."

"Oh, they're not dead or disabled, Dr. Watts. Quite far from it. They're just hiding, keeping themselves secret. But there's one that can't hide themselves anymore..."

After the lesson ended, Jaune was about to head to the showers to soak away the sweat with cold water, a habit he had gotten into to help relax him after his harsh training sessions. He put his gear back in his room and was about to head for the shower when...

"Oh, Jaune!"

Oh boy... he thought.

Rouge approached him quickly. "Jaune, there you are. I need you to..."

"Rouge, I just got out of combat practice that started 20 minutes late." Jaune interrupted. "Just leave me alone, please."

The young warrior turned away, but he felt Rouge grab his left wrist. "Don't you remember the terms of your punishment? You have to do what I say."

He yawned and took his wrist back. "Rouge, I'm tired. I'm exhausted. Whatever task you want me to do can probably wait until morning. Also, shouldn't you be asleep by now?"

"You're right. I can't do a fashion show horribly sleep-deprived!"

The eldest Arc sibling swiftly left and Jaune sighed in relief, glad to have her off his back. Without hesitation, he went to the bathroom and shut the door. He quickly took off his clothes and turned on the water, letting the near-freezing water soak his sweaty skin. As the cold water cooled him down, his anger still simmered underneath him as he folded his arms and looked at the wall with a scowl.

Why does she treat me like this? Jaune thought as he was soaked in the cold water. She treats me like dirt. Like shit. Like I'm nothing. She is the worst. Even worse than Cardin! And I have to live with this overconfident, vain bitch... Why won't she just leave the family fold? He raised his eyebrows when he remembered... Oh yeah, right. She agreed to help finish paying off the massive debt before moving out. If it weren't for that, she would have left a long time ago. But until I'm released from this punishment, which will probably be never, or until the debt is paid and she moves out, I'm stuck here. Because I'm stuck here with this punishment, I can't get out and prove myself worthy. And since I can't prove myself worthy, I'm still stuck here suffering this punishment. Locked in a catch 22. This totally sucks. Rouge... You are the worst! For suggesting this punishment, for getting me into this punishment, for treating me like I'm a waste of space and oxygen... He let his arms down and clinched his fists, breathing to release the hot anger. But no matter what breathing exercise he did to calm down, he still felt rage inside. Someday, you're going to get what you deserve.

Meanwhile, the Arc sisters (minus Rouge), were gathered around in the living room. Azura, Acacia and Amethyst were all sitting on the couch, the purple haired girl holding a small handmade doll of herself. Tangerine sat down on the big red reclining chair while Indigo, being the slight rebel she was, sat on the edge of the table nearby Azura's legs. Normally, they would have told her to get off, but this time they didn't feel like it. Emerald stood next to Amethyst, smiling and holding a big book in her hands.

"So how's training going?" Azura inquired.

"It's going. He's improving, albeit slowly, but it's better than nothing at all." Tangerine answered as she cranked out the chairs footrest. "Unfortunately, I fear that his temper could get the better of him."

"And how so?" Emerald questioned.

The tough tomboy folded her arms. "Guess who interrupted our training session and told him he has no reason to continue fighting?"

"Rouge?" Acacia guessed. Her older sister nodded. "But weren't you super short-tempered for several years?"

"I know, but with Rouge's horrible treatment of Jaune and the fact she has practically enslaved him with him being butler, underneath that guilt-ridden, calm exterior is a pot of water slowly heating up and beginning to boil." She put her arms on the armrest. "If nothing changes, that pot of boiling water will eventually boil over."

"Somehow I doubt things are going to change." Indigo said, leaning back with her arms behind her. "Rouge has been treating him horribly even before he took Crocea Mors as his own, created fake transcripts for Beacon and attempting to hide his arguably immoral yet clever plan to become a huntsman." She sat up, pushing herself up with her arms. "But with these events, the Fall of Beacon, his return and punishment, Rouge is trying to get the most out of it and humiliate him as much as possible."

"If that's the case, I suppose the real question is 'When will he finally snap?'" Emerald noted.

Tangerine told the committee, "To me, it probably won't be too much longer."

"I give it a day." Indigo replied.

"No way! It'll be less than that! Probably twelve hours or less!" Amethyst answered.

"Three days." Acacia responded.

Azura added, "Depends on how much Jaune can take of Rouge's bad attitude. I think it could go either way."

"At least a week. It's going to take a lot for Jaune to snap, but when he does, it's going to escalate very quickly." Emerald remarked.

Amethyst looked at her worryingly. "You really think that'll happen?"

"Yeah, I do."

Acacia touched her chin with the tip of her right index finger. "So, if he's slowly building up anger, what's going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back?"

Emerald sighed. "That, my dear Acacia, is what I don't know."