Hey everyone, I altered the writing style a bit to help. Enjoy

Say what you will about having a big family, Jaune was glad for it. The constant buzz of activity and questions helped keep his depression from fully sinking in. Maybe they knew that too, or maybe they didn't care and were just happy he was still alive. Harmony, the youngest, was currently poking his nub of an arm with a curious expression. It was the eight-year-old's first time seeing something like that. "Does it hurt?" She asked, still poking at the jagged scar.

"It feels… Weird, I guess? It's like my arm is there, but it's not." He said, moving the nub back and forth. Harmony kept poking it in different spots out of morbid curiosity.

"But it feels so squishy!"

"Harmony, stop poking your brother." Juniper chastise from across the table. His family were in the hospital's cafeteria, eating mixture of mediocre hospital food and Mistralian takeout. Nurses and patients meandered around the place, talking, gossiping, crying, and everything in-between. It was sobering to see that people who were attacked by Grimm weren't as lucky as him. "He has his surgery today and he already feels bad enough that he can't eat." Harmony stopped her prodding but still stared at the nub, making him feel even more self-conscious.

"Why can't he eat again? It's sounds so stupid if he's having surgery on his arm." Auburn asked. She was one of the twin's that was younger than him by two years. Cinna was the other. "I mean, if he was disemboweled and left for dead in a ditch, I could see it. But to attach a fancy-dancy arm? I don't get it." She also wasn't one of the brightest kids in the Arc household.

"It has to do with chemistry, Burny." Cinna informed from next to her, not looking away from her kung pao chicken. "If he eats within the twelve-hour period before surgery, it could cause the anesthesia to react negatively with the body, possibly causing a heart attack, abnormal blood pressure, hyperventilation, or even him waking up in the midst of surgery itself." She rattled off like a textbook in between bites. Studying medicine tends to cause people to sound morbid.

"Dumb it down for use normal people please." Auburn asked with a stick in her mouth. Cinna sighed then turned to face her.

"Eating food causes bad things to happen with drugs."

"See? Now I understand. Sucks to be you Jaune." He could only sigh as he watched everyone else eat. His stomach was begging for the delicious MSG filled substance that was currently in front of him. The temptation was strong, but he would go to great lengths to get his arm back, hunger be damned. Also, it turned out getting that arm wasn't free either. The papers he signed from Ozpin was a contract to work off the debt by going to Beacon. And being employed for the headmaster for five years afterward, with good behavior. Any abandonment or neglection of the contract would have the arm repossessed by the Headmaster.

It turns out, hunter-class arms are expensive with a capital E. It wasn't in his nature to talk smack about good fortune, but this might be pushing it. He was glad he got the chance to be a hero, but it literally cost him in arm. And another one on top of that if the current eyewatering prices he found on the scroll-net could be trusted. Seriously, how did he get one on such short notice? The headmaster must know Someone that worked on prosthetics. A pair of snapping fingers interrupted his thoughts.

"You with me son? Don't get lost in your head, bad things happen in there." Nicholas said, rousing him from his thoughts.

"I'm fine dad, just wonder how Ozpin got an arm like that anyway. That thing is literally top of the line." His father just looked down and sighed at the comment.

"Yeah. That man regularly pulls miracles out of his ass like it's a Tuesday for him. Almost always comes with a catch though. As you are finding out yourself right about now." Nicholas could only grin as he shoveled more food in his mouth. "Don't say I didn't warn you." He said before Jaune could talk back.

"You know the Headmaster?" Saphron asked, still chopstick deep in rice.

"Yeah. He was a teacher at Beacon when I attended. An absolute monster with his cane and was one hell of a philosophy professor. Bastard always asked the hard questions and never let anyone slack off." His dad chuckled to himself. "I remember when me and my old team replaced his coffee with decaf. I can still remember that face as he took the first sip. Priceless. After he found out it was us, he promptly assigned us to be 'assistants'." He said with air quotes. "All he did was make us do his paperwork for the rest of the semester."

"That doesn't sound so bad." Jaune said, trying to get a feel for his new employer. Nicholas Arc shook his head at his naïve son.

"I don't think you understand. He gave us ALL of his paperwork. Tax documents, employment records, medical records, registrations, even tests! It. Was. Hell. And the man just sat behind his desk drinking coffee! We never forgave him for that."

"You had a team?" Violet asked, plate empty from where her food used to be. Nicholas took a deep breath before patting her head.

"Yeah, I did. We…" He paused, trying to find the right words. "Had a few rough missions and the toll caught up with us. Life of a huntsman can be like that sometimes." He then leaned over and deeply kissed his mother, causing a mass of gags and 'eww's from the siblings. "But I have my beautiful wife and family now. So, no more questions about that, alright?" That earned a timid nod from everyone as they continued eating, making small talk to pass the time. After their meal, the Arc family drifted back to Jaune's room where they waited for the staff to take him away. They didn't have to wait long.

An aged doctor came into the room with two nurses and a gurney. "Are you ready Mr. Arc?" she asked, holding out a clipboard for him to sign surgery papers. How much paperwork do I have to put up with? The son thought and signed.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Jaune hoped onto the mobile bed and waved at his family. "See you guys in a few." He spoke. His family waived back at him as he was wheeled out the door.

A pounding sensation inside his skull made him to stir in his bed. Instinct caused him to rub the pained area in attempt to soothe it. Instead of a warm hand, a metallic one impacted the side of his skull, creating a meaty thump immediately followed by a pained groan. "Looks like you're awake, son." His father's voice entered his brain. Jaune opened his eyes and slowly sat up. The anesthesia was kicking his ass and taking names, but something else sidetracked him.

He had a left arm again. A metal one, sure, but still an arm. It felt a bit muted, but he could still feel with it. Jaune moved it back in forth, swinging it. The lag time was noticeable from command to action, but he could move it. Looking thoroughly at his new appendage, he could see it traveled all the way to his shoulder. Where his nub of limb used to be, there was now a connector, covered by the metal, directly into his shoulder.

"They had to take off the rest of the arm to attach it." His father answering his unasked question. "It goes directly into your shoulder blade and collarbone. Neat part is, you can take it off and work on it for maintenance. Though, they recommend doing that after a bit of physical therapy."

"It feels kinda slow." Jaune said, practicing his range of motion and bending his new joints and fingers.

"Let me call the doctor quick." Nicholas said, pressing a call button on the wall. Fifteen minutes later of Jaune moving his new arm around, marveling at the intricacy of it, the doctor came in.

"I see you're awake Mr. Arc." She said strolling into the room with a clipboard in hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Groggy, my head hurts." He replied giving the honest truth. It felt like someone to a jackhammer to the back of his head.

"That might be anesthesia wearing off." She wrote something down on her clipboard. "It's hit or miss with its reaction with patients. How about your arm? How does it feel?" Jaune continued flexing his hands, watching the digits curl open and closed.

"It feels a bit slow, and everything feels muted. Is something wrong?" He asked. The doctor gently shook her head.

"No, that's quite normal. It takes time for the body and prosthetic to adjust to one another." She pulled out a bottle of pills and handed it to him. "These are neuro-stabilizers, it'll help with the bonding process. Take two a day, and the symptoms should be gone within a month. Though it might be faster, depending on how strong your Aura is." Jaune gently shook the bottle of green pills.

"Neat."

"Any other questions?"

"No. Thank you."

"You're welcome." She flipped to another page on her clipboard. "In my opinion, it looks like you're stable enough to be discharged today. If you have any more questions, feel free to contact one of the nurses." She said, turning away and walking out the door. Probably busy with other patients. Jaune assumed as kept flexing his new arm.

"That's good news. Able to get out and stretch your legs." His dad said standing up and stretching. "Get up son, we've got work to do." Jaune stopped his new arm's movements to look up at his dad.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, a feeling of dread creeping over him. Nicholas turned to look at him in the eyes.

"Beacon starts in one week. That means I have one week to depart all of my wisdom and experience onto you see you don't end up needing more replacements. I don't care how good Beacon's insurance plan is, this is not going to happen again." Jaune's dad gave him a vicious smile. "I hope you're prepared."

Jaune was not prepared.

Tear me from the skin.

Tear me from the bone.

Tear me from myself.

Does it make you happy, now?

Ruby hummed to the newest song form Blud-Vayne, gently tapping her foot while reading a magazine on dust weaponry. There was a new release for a hatchet/revolver mechashift weapon that promised a 1.3 second lag time between shifting and took .44 caliber rounds. It promised to be a great sidearm for Huntsman and Huntress who were out in the wilds hunting for months at a time. The newest release by Smithatics was a good weapon, just not for her. Crescent Rose was a baby of her own design and she would rather die than replace it.

She placed the magazine back and continued to peruse the collection of catalogues the Dust store had until she found something that caught her eye. An image of a woman sporting a prosthetic new hand caught her eye. Grimm Gear was the catalogues name. Ruby was familiar with it, being a popular place to find armor, equipment, and tips for beginning Huntsman and civilians who just liked to read the stuff. What really caught her attention was the prosthetic. It was unbelievably awesome how if people lose a limb, they could just put on a new one and keep fighting. But that wasn't the best part.

The best part is that the new limb could have weapon attached to it, and it would always be with you. Ruby would be the first to tell you that she hates the thought of self-mutilation, and any injuries should be taken care of as best as possible. But if she did happen to lose a limb, she wouldn't say no to having Crescent Rose permanently bonded to her. Just the thought of her shooting her high caliber bullets from her arm at Grimm, then extending her arm into a deadly scythe just made her giggle in excitement.

As she reached toward the catalogue to find out more about the fascinating technology, a gloved hand bumped into hers. Ruby looked over to see who intercepted her hand to see a blonde guy with blues eyes look back at her. He was tall, probably over six foot and had this mop of a head of hair. He was wearing a black jacket with white armor plates on his chest and shoulders. His jeans held two belt buckles with an ivory sword and sheathe on his hip. Words were coming from his mouth, but she couldn't hear them over the music. She took off the headphones, music blaring in between them.

"What?" Ruby asked, looking up to the man.

"I said 'do you need this?'" He held up the catalogue they were both reaching for.

"No, I just wanted to look at the cool stuff in there."

"There is?" He asked, looking at the magazine incredulously.

"Of course!" Ruby near shouted at him. How could there not be cool stuff in Grimm Gear? "The cover draws you in with that awesome looking limb replacement that makes there hands a bona fide weapon." She took the catalogue out of his hand and started flipping through the pages. "There's also a section here for boots that hold up well for Huntsman life and combat. I'm wearing a pair right now." Ruby angled her legs so that he could see the shin-high black combat boots. "There's also another section for durable camping equipment. I've read reviews that said it was like having a portable kitchen and I want one so bad! Last issue, there was this one pro-"

"Hey! Hands in the air!" Ruby was rudely interrupted. Both her and the man turned around to see what looked like a discount movie henchman from one of those action films she saw as a kid. The henchman had red tinted glasses and was wearing a cheap black suit and was currently waiving a red scimitar in their direction.

"Say again?" The blonde man asked putting himself between the goon and Ruby. It was honestly cute.

"I said hands in the air! We're robbing you!" The discount thug said again.

"Huh." Both of them said at the same time. The blonde man in front of her looked confused and the henchman looked irritated by the lack of co-operation. The thug started advancing toward them. Well… Ruby thought, if it's a bad guy I shouldn't get in trouble…. Right?

Roman was a smart man, recent past experiences aside, he still believed that to be true. His current predicament could be explained by one heist going terribly wrong. He got an anonymous tip saying a high roller strolled into town, bought the penthouse suite of the Ultra, and had plans for and expensive dinner. Naturally, Roman followed up and did his research, checking guess lists and receipts at the place, further validating the claim. What he expected was him to catch the guy before dinner, rob him blind in his suite, then walk out merry like, via Neo semblance.

What he was not expecting was a very attractive looking escort named Cinder to be waiting for him. Also learning that she wasn't an escort, but the high roller. That was a painful lesson if the burns had anything to tell him. Seriously, who names themselves Cinder, dresses like she down to fuck at the drop of a hat, and not be called a high-class hooker? Then again, he wears mascara and hangs out with a pint sized sociopath, so who is he to judge? Thoughts aside, he was now roped into this absolutely insane plan to topple Vale and cripple it's economy by stealing as much Dust as possible.

It was going well, believe it or not. Grab a few of the local gang's men and start hitting shops fast and hard. No property damage, just straight Dust grabbing. The insurance will resupply the shopkeepers free of charge, and the dust will keep coming his way. His current target was being robbed by some of the new hires as he examined a Dust crystal over the display counter. The good mood he had was momentarily dimmed as one of the extras flew into the wall beside him, sliding down with and audible grunt.

Well, my good streak had to end sometime. He thought as he motioned for some more of his lackeys to take care of it. Not ten seconds later, a red bolt flew through the window, sending one of his goons tumbling down the street. "Gods damnit." He sighed, standing up from the counter and pocketing the crystal. "Stay here, old man." Roman pointed to the shopkeeper, who nodded frantically in response. Him and the rest of his henchmen walked to the outside of the shop to see a little red girl with a flowing red cloak. What was with women's fashion these days?

"Better run Red, it's past your bedtime." Roman commented to get the little scamp to go away. He wasn't keen on killing kids. Her response however was to pull out a scythe seemingly twice her size. Okay, where the fuck was that hiding? The gentleman thought. It was time to make like a tree and leave in Roman's opinion. "Well?" He asked the henchman around him. "Go get her." Reluctantly, they made their way towards the girl. Roman turned around and started grabbing a briefcase full of dust that they extracted. That probably bought me two minutes, tops, If the current sounds of combat outside could be any indication.

"Excuse me, sir? What are you doing?" A voice asked beside him, breaking his concentration. Roman looked up to see a kid as tall as him with blonde hair and a black jacket with armor plates.

"What does it look like? I'm taking Dust, you idiot." He responded, closing the case packed with Dust.

"What you please put that back? If you don't, I'd have to cal-" The kid didn't get any farther as Roman backhanded the boy's skull with his cane, toppling him to the floor.

"Sorry kid, I don't got time for this." He stepped over him and started walking. Something latched onto his ankle, causing him to trip and fall. The briefcase skidded across the floor from Roman's grasp. Roman was pretty sure if he didn't have his aura, his ankle would be crushed by now.

"Can't… Ughhh, that hurt. Can't let you go." The boy mumbled, still on the ground. His left hand was putting Roman's ankle in a steel vice that made the thief wince in pain. The crook's response was to beat his hand with his cane to make him let go. The first swing made a metallic clang as it contacted the kid's hand. This gave Roman pause.

"What the…?" He asked, only to hear the chambering of a round come from behind him. It turns out, little Red can take care of his goons in one minute.

"Freeze!" She said, leveling her scythe towards him. Alright, Roman, use that clever brain of yours. He leveled the cane at the boy's head.

"Drop it or splatter the kid's brains all over the Dust shop." He stated, looking Red in the eye. There were a few tense moments before she slowly lowered her weapon. "Good, now walk backwards, hands up." She complied. "Good girl." Roman said, giving a few kicks to the kid's face to make him let go. After the sixth kick, the grip slackened enough for him to scoop the briefcase and stand up. "Thank you for your co-operation, Red. Be a good girl and run along now." Roman advised, kicking the scythe away and bolting to the nearest fire escape. After cresting the ladder and hoping onto the roof, Roman could hear the girl chasing after him.

"Persistent little bugger." He sighed to himself, running across the roof, only to be met with his employer in a bullhead. Well, at least one thing went right. Jumping off the roof and onto the bullhead, Roman turned around to taunt the little huntress. "Farwell, Red." He tossed a Dust crystal at her and aimed his cane at the highly volatile substance. "It's been a blast."

Before Ruby could react to the crystal approaching her, the criminal fired a shot at the airborne object.

Uh oh, was her only thought as she attempted to shield herself behind Crescent Rose. The explosion came, but instead of pain, a figure dropped in front of her. Shards and debris from the blast were quickly manipulated by the Huntress in front of her, forming a fragmented spear of concrete and scrap. Hurling the weapon at the bullhead, the vehicle dropped altitude and angled the spear to ricochet off the top of the metallic body. Between the sounds of screeching metal and the wind buffeting around her, she heard someone yell from the bullhead.

The thief disappeared and the silhouette of woman came into view, launching literal fireballs at her and her savior. Using some sort of semblance or Dust manipulation, the Huntress in front of her was able to redirect the attacks and launch more makeshift objects at the bullhead. Ruby began firing off potshots at the woman, hoping to be of some assistance. She was a Huntress in training after all. This woman was able to keep the Huntress at bay and block Ruby's shots with her bare hands, before deciding that she had enough.

A fiery nova exploded outwards from the aircraft, disintegrating the impromptu projectiles, and knocking both Ruby and her savior back. The bullhead pulled away, both assailants fleeing into the night. A moment passed before Ruby broke the silence. "That. Was. So. Cool!" She cheered happily, animating movements. "You were all like, wha! And I was all like, pew, pew, pew! You were so awesome! Can I Get your autograph?"

Her silver eyes met a cold emerald glare.

Yay! We're finally at the starting line! See you next time.