The (Mis)Adventures of Team JPTR

by GenericUsername3846

You know when you have a really bad idea that seems better the more you think about it? This is one of those. Jaune Arc, Peter Parker, Ben Tennyson, and Rex Salazar together in the RWBY universe to form team J.P.T.R. And they said Infinity War was the most ambitious crossover in history. Updates will come fairly regularly if my schedule allows for it.

5. Bad First Impressions

Alright everybody, listen up! It's time. No more backstories, no more dimension hopping, no more huge, mandatory explanations. This right here is the meat, the good stuff, the true beginning. I'll admit, there's a lot going on in this chapter, so it might feel sort of rushed in some places, but I don't think it's terrible overall.

Not a single person here wants to wait, so let's get this chapter going.

I don't own RWBY, Spider-Man, any version of Ben 10, or Generator Rex.

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"Bleergh!"

It was a beautiful day in the city of Vale. Not a cloud was in sight, allowing the sun to shine unreservedly upon the world, bathing its inhabitants in warm light. Humans and Faunus could be seen walking the streets, going about their business in high spirits.

"Blargh!"

… Everything was right with the world on a day such as this. Even the airport, which was normally so full one could barely take a step without hitting somebody, was now relatively empty, allowing every person on their way into the city to move about with no problems.

"Uuuuugh."

"..."

Yes, everything was well for every person in the city, everyone not named Jaune Arc.

"Right. Motion sickness. Forgot about that." The blonde shakily wiped his mouth. He had spent the better part of the last five minutes vomiting into a nearby trash can. Luckily, he had done a good job holding it in until his Bullhead landed, though a mad dash was necessary the moment he stepped off. It was definitely not how he wanted to start his journey to Beacon. Sadly, his oldest enemy still had power over him, a fact that was unlikely to change anytime soon.

Grabbing his suitcase, Jaune left the airport and stepped out into the streets of Vale. It was his first time ever being here, so there wasn't a single thing that looked familiar. The stores, the people, the location, all of it was foreign to him. It was enough to make him sweat a little.

"Okay, what's first? Uh, the term doesn't start for another two weeks, so I need a place to stay. A cheap motel's probably the best option. After that, I can work on Beacon."

With his next move decided, Jaune set off in search of the cheapest place he could find. It was a good thing there were apps for this kind of thing, so he didn't have to spend an entire day looking for a decent place. Skimming through all the options, Jaune passed on the absolute cheapest places that looked like they were crawling with rats and cockroaches, eventually settling on a slightly run-down motel that only charged 30 Lien a night for a single person. For such an unbelievably low price, it was clearly the best option available, and so Jaune hailed a taxi and rode straight to the outskirts of the industrial district.

Apparently, the motel in question was located in a sort of shantytown. Most of the buildings in the area looked like they had been constructed of spare sheet metal and moldy wood, though there were a handful of buildings that actually looked like they were made by a professional construction crew, even if they had obviously seen better days.

The next thing Jaune noticed was that everybody here was a Faunus. Some had wings, some had tails, some had extra ears atop their heads, but every single person in sight was unquestionably not human. He couldn't help but worry that he was intruding on some kind of Faunus-only district. Nobody had come to angrily remove him yet, so it seemed that wasn't the case.

Reaching the motel was a simple affair. There was no sign to give it a name, it simply sat alone in a 50x50 lot. The elderly woman running the front desk, probably a lizard Faunus based on the patches of green scales on her face, was very sweet to him and gave him a room with no trouble. It was hardly a five-star establishment, but then, Jaune had been going for cheap over quality. For the extremely low price, it was actually pretty nice. The blankets on the bed had a few holes in them, the walls had probably been used to put out more than a few cigarettes, and the bathroom looked like it belonged in a gas station, but it really wasn't awful. For two weeks, it would serve its purpose.

Sitting down on his bed, Jaune pulled out the few things he had brought. Enough clean clothes to last four or five days before they needed to be washed, roughly twenty comics, the green beret Vert had forced him to take, and, of course…

Jaune pulled the glimmering gold and white treasure from his suitcase. Crocea Mors, the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Rather than remove the sword from its companion shield, he set it on the bed beside him and reached back into the suitcase to retrieve the final item. His parents did not want their children to ever become Hunters, and the reason for that had been that they wanted them to be safe. So, while weapons and training were never afforded to them, there was one thing every Arc child received when they turned sixteen, more as a precautionary measure than anything else.

From the suitcase came a white and gold chestpiece, the sort of armor that wrapped around your body, but offered no protection to the stomach or lower back. Next came two thin shoulder guards that would extend down to just above his elbows, and brown, fingerless gloves with metal bars stitched into the backs. Jaune's parents gave all of their children a similar set of armor once they reached a certain age. It was a dangerous world out there, and if something bad were to ever happen, having some kind of defense ready was never a bad plan.

Still, it was far from perfect. Jaune had no armor for his lower body at all, nor a helmet to protect his face, but he didn't really care. All his focus was directed to the fact that he would finally get to wear the well-made armor, something none of the Arc children ever seriously thought would happen. Saphron, out of respect, kept hers in a display case. Rouge's was tossed in the back of her closet piece by piece. Merigold had probably eaten food off the shoulder guards more than once. Vert stood hers in the corner of her bedroom on a wooden stand and polished the armor weekly to keep it free of dust. Bleu did something similar minus the polishing, causing the armor to be caked in a layer of brown, its former shine lost. And Violette and Indigo were still fifteen, so they had yet to receive their own sets of armor.

"Alright. I guess… I should probably try these on." Somehow, Jaune began to feel nervous at the idea of wearing the armor, like it was something that wasn't meant to be put on. Forcing down those illogical thoughts, Jaune grabbed hold of the chestpiece, taking a few minutes to figure out how to strap it on. The shoulder guards came next, then the brown gloves, which he slipped over his detached orange sleeves. Finally, his attention shifted to Crocea Mors. His hands actually began to shake as he picked up the sheathed blade and attached it to his belt.

Like a switch was flipped, just equipping his family's weapon made Jaune feel… better. Stronger, tougher, like it was a protective charm. He felt confident, like he could take on every Grimm on Sanus and win.

Stepping into the disgusting bathroom, Jaune used the large mirror above the sink to observe himself. He hardly looked impressive, armor thrown on over his hoodie, blue jeans adorning his legs instead of greaves, his hair uncombed after spending the night on a Bullhead. Despite this, he felt better than he ever had before.

"Whoa! I look… I look like an actual knight! This is so cool!" The next several minutes were spent striking numerous poses in front of the mirror, like he was competing in a bodybuilding competition. He even pulled Crocea Mors from its scabbard and unfurled the shield, holding them in front of him like he was facing down a Grimm at this very moment.

Jaune didn't care that he looked like a little kid playing around, this was the best day of his life. Seeing himself like this in the mirror only made his motivations burn brighter. He felt more confident than ever facing down his own reflection. No matter what happened, he would enter Beacon, and he would become a great Hunt-

"Young man?" A dull knocking came from the entrance to his room, surprising Jaune so much he jumped, nearly dropping his armaments in the process. He had to fumble around for a few seconds to catch the now airborne sword, barely grabbing hold before it touched the floor.

"Y-yeah?!" Throwing Crocea Mors onto the bed, Jaune wrenched the door open, revealing the old innkeeper, looking amused.

"I just came to see how you were doing. I try to visit all my new residents and see how they're settling in. If you have any problems, make sure to tell me." The old woman closed her eyes and smiled gently.

"O-oh, yeah, right. Thank you, I will." Still rattled a bit, Jaune couldn't think of anything better to say.

The old Faunus woman left Jaune alone. For some reason, he slumped his forehead against the closed door and sighed in relief, like he had just narrowly avoided death.

"Wait, why am I so embarrassed? Agh, you're supposed to be a huntsman, Jaune. What're you gonna do if you can't handle being seen with your gear?" He failed to notice that he had conducted that entire conversation with his armor still on. If the old woman cared, she did not make it known.

The Bullhead had arrived around 2PM, and with the time it took to get out here, unpack, and get out of the armor, it was now almost 7PM. Deciding it was too late to visit Beacon today, Jaune settled on making his visit tomorrow. It was probably better like that, anyway, so he had time to think of a good cover story.

"Why don't I have transcripts? Uh, because I was so good, they told me I could skip straight to Beacon? No, nobody's gonna believe that. Uh… I lost them? No, no, no! Who would want somebody who can't even keep track of their transcripts? Let's see… Ugh, I got nothing." Jaune slumped his head in defeat. The past hour had been spent reclined on the bed, wracking his brain only for nothing to come of it. Whatever the answer was, he would think of it tomorrow.

Pulling out his scroll for the first time since he landed, Jaune wasn't exactly shocked to see that he had almost a hundred missed calls from various members of his family. That could hardly be considered surprising. Doubtlessly, they had dashed down to the airport the moment they found his note, only to learn they wouldn't be going to Vale anytime soon.

Jaune observed the dozens of missed call alerts before flicking his scroll off. He didn't have the guts to face his family, not yet. He could send a letter in the morning to let them know he was safe, but a video call was absolutely out of the question. For now, all his attention was on tomorrow. He would go to Beacon, he would talk to the Headmaster, and he would earn a place in the school.

Tomorrow would be his day.

The Next Day:

Today was not his day.

He couldn't even make it near the school grounds, let alone enter them. The large gate barring the way between Beacon and the rest of Vale had a sign posted on it, explaining that the school was currently between terms and would remain closed until the term began. For willing applicants, transcripts could still be sent in with three days left at the latest.

Nothing more was posted on the sign. From what Jaune could see beyond the gate, the school was empty. No cars were in the parking lot, no Bullheads occupied the landing platform, and no lights were on in any of the windows. Even if he hopped the gate and marched into the Headmaster's office, there probably wasn't anybody there to talk to. He'd obviously known the school was between terms, but he figured he'd still be able to get inside to talk to somebody. Apparently, that wasn't the case.

Resting on a bench just in front of the gate, Jaune held his head in his hands, desperately trying to keep from freaking out.
"Okay. Okay, okay, okay, stay calm, Jaune. There's still two options here. Walk in on the first day of school and hope nobody stops you… or somehow get transcripts in the next week."

The amateur knight was well aware that option one was doomed to fail immediately. Of course a high profile school like Beacon wouldn't miss some idiot just strolling past the gate. But, it wasn't like the second option was any better.

"Vert, what do I do?" Jaune hopelessly leaned back into the bench, tilting his head straight up to look at the sky above him. Like the world was mocking him, it was totally cloudless, allowing the sun's light to shine over everything, just like yesterday. The glorious weather did not care at all for his gloomy mood.

"Transcripts… how am I supposed to get those? I don't have time to finish three years worth of combat school in a week. I know I can't give up, but… what am I supposed to do?"

Nothing answered him. Not even a warm breeze came to fill his ears with the sound of rushing air. Jaune sat in silence, thinking harder than he ever had to find a solution to this problem. So many ideas ran through his head, his brain hurt. Sneaking in, somehow locating the Headmaster for a private interview, everything except quitting. Did Beacon accept entrants who were older than seventeen? Was this his last chance? Even at a place as cheap as the Faunus woman's motel, his savings would only last about twenty days. If he wasn't accepted, he would have to survive on the streets for at least another ten days after that before his family could even come to Vale to search for him.

Jaune was so desperate, he began to seriously consider every single possible option. Every. Single. One.

"If I can't figure this out, I really am screwed." Jaune sighed deeply, closing his eyes and hoping the warm sunlight on his face would make him feel better.

"Hey, kid. Hey!" Jaune's eyes snapped open. He quickly raised his head, not expecting somebody to speak to him so suddenly. He had thought he was alone on the street, but it seemed that somebody had approached him while his eyes were closed.

"Y-yes?"

The man standing before him looked far from normal. From his fedora to his suit to his shoes, everything he wore was black except for his red tie and sunglasses. The man looked so much like a street thug it hurt. Jaune started to feel a little nervous. He wasn't wearing his armor, and Crocea Mors was safely hidden beneath his bed. As much as he would have liked to bring both with him, you needed to at least be a Huntsman in training to legally carry weapons through the city.

"You look like you're having some trouble. Transcripts, was it?" The man had a disturbingly friendly voice, like he had spent years practicing just for the sake of appearing as a kind soul.

"Um, yeah? Why?" The obvious thing to do was leave and not look back, but Jaune was desperate. If this guy really had a way to help solve his problem, he wanted to at least hear what he had to say.

"Yeah, I thought so." The man looked up and down the street, confirming nobody was nearby before leaning in close, his mouth beside Jaune's right ear.

"Listen kid, my boss has got some guys for this kind of thing. We can talk more at his place, if you're interested. As long as you've got the cash, he'll take care of your little problem, no trouble at all. Sounds good, right?"

Yep, definitely illegal. Even a child would know something was wrong here. When the man leaned away, that disturbingly friendly grin was still plastered on his face. He was probably a pretty low-ranking grunt making rounds to fill some kind of quota. Jaune was such an easy target, it was impossible to pass him up.

"U-uh, I really don't want to get involved with-"

"'Transcripts, how am I supposed to get those'?" The man cut Jaune off, parroting what he had said to himself a few minutes ago. "'If I can't figure this out, I really am screwed'. That's what you said, right?" The suspicious man sat himself down on the bench next to Jaune, laying an arm across his shoulder like they were old friends.

"Listen kid, you seem like a pretty smart guy, so I'm gonna level with you. None of this is exactly legal, but so what? You're desperate, yeah? You need those transcripts so bad, you'd do anything for 'em? Then why not come with me? Have a chat with the boss, discuss the price, and maybe you'll come out better for it. If everything goes well, you won't even have to hear from us again. If it's a scam you're afraid of, relax. The boss takes a lot of pride in bein' a 'clean' criminal."

This guy… he wasn't even pretending to be a law-abiding citizen anymore. That stupid, friendly grin, that sweet, comforting voice, it was all there as he admitted so casually to being a criminal.

"Listen, I appreciate the offer, but I really don't want to do anything illegal. If I get caught-"

"Kid, kid, kid, you worry too much. Forging documents is such a petty crime in Vale, you know. Even with something like this, the most you'd get is a couple years in the slammer. From one man to another, it'd be in your best interest to take me up on this offer. Just one meeting, all your problems go away. And if you still don't like it, you can walk away." Before Jaune could refuse again, the man reached into his breast pocket and withdrew a black business card with red font. "I don't need an answer right now. It's for Beacon, yeah? You've got about eleven days until the deadline comes up. If you've got the cash to afford the boss' best guys, they can get you some good-looking documents in four days, maybe three if you're lucky. When you change your mind, give us a call."

Without thinking, Jaune accepted the card. The mysterious man withdrew his arm from the blonde's shoulder and stood up, brushing himself off and walking away. Watching as he left, Jaune could clearly see the hilt of a weapon, probably a baton or some kind of hand-axe, peeking out beneath his suit. Only when the man turned a street corner and disappeared from sight, did he allow himself to breathe.

Turning the card over in his hands, he could see a Scroll number written in large font. It probably belonged to a disposable, used model that could be tossed out at any moment. There was also a name, "Mr. 7," above the number. The name was clearly fake. No goon had his own business cards to hand out. They were probably handed to him so anybody he approached could get in contact with him later.

Jaune knew he should throw the card away. Just holding it was enough to make him sweat nervously. Even if he gave it to the cops, a grunt's business card was unlikely to lead anywhere relevant. The best option was to find the nearest trash can, tear the card to shreds, and go on with his life. Even if it was his only option, that didn't matter. Lying to be accepted was one thing, but getting fake documents from an actual criminal? That guy kept saying he had to go through his boss for this, so it was probably some kind of organized crime syndicate. All of this was going way over Jaune's head. The sooner he washed his hands of all this, the better.

"..."

"... Why can't I do it?" Despite all his perfectly logical arguments, Jaune still tightly clasped the card in his hands, unable to rip it in half like he had planned to. His hands trembled, trying to pull in opposite directions, to complete the simple motion that would destroy the cheap card, but he couldn't.

"If this doesn't… If I can't get accepted, what then? I go home, I take my punishment, and spend the rest of my life without even getting another shot at this? That's if I don't get stabbed in an alley after I run out of money."

To be frank, there was a time limit. Jaune had 617 Lien left. It was 30 Lien a night to stay at the motel. There were two weeks until the term began, and 11 days until transcripts could no longer be submitted. The best documents he could possibly afford needed at least 3 days to be finished. He would have to pay for those fake documents, and the longer he waited, he would have less money, less time, and any service he could afford would net him lower quality documents than he could have afforded the day before.

The sooner he made a decision, the better.

"... There is no other choice, huh?" No matter how Jaune looked at it, this was his only option. As much as he would have liked to do something, anything else, a simple solution that would solve all his problems wouldn't just appear. The world wasn't that kind. It was impossible to finish combat school in a week. It would be impossible to meet with Beacon's Headmaster, let alone convince them to let Jaune into their school. It was impossible to get the necessary documents through legal methods.

The one possible option was right here, presenting itself on a silver platter. All that was left…

Jaune gritted his teeth, glaring at the business card. He hated this. It was far from his first choice, but… it was his only choice.

The man who had approached him, Mr. 7, peered at the blonde teen from around the corner, smirking at his angry expression.

"So obvious. Easiest sale of my life."

An hour later, Mr. 7 received a call on his burner Scroll.

"Where do I meet you?"

?:

Loud club music blasted into Jaune's ears. There was a disco ball casting multicolored light down on a lit-up dance floor that could barely be seen through all the people on it. Glass pillars lined the corners of the dance floor, and tables were arranged in the outer edges of the club, where some patrons were relaxing with meals and drinks instead of dancing.

"This way." Mr. 7 stood beside Jaune at the entrance to the club. He no longer pretended to be friendly, and was now all business as he led Jaune to the back of the club, where a massive bar counter rested. Hundreds of bottles adorned the wall behind the chest-height counter, and a few wooden barrels were visible underneath the shelves holding the expensive bottles. A single man was behind the counter. He was very large, easily a full-head taller than Jaune, with very broad shoulders to match. His hair was cut short and he had a full beard cut as short as his hair, as well as a mustache to go with it. His clothes looked fairly average for a club setting, being a black suit vest and a red tie worn over a white dress shirt.

The bartender was speaking with a man settled on one of the bar stools. Jaune couldn't see his face, but the man was wearing a fancy white coat and black pants, along with a black and red bowler hat, under which orange hair was poking out. A cane rested at his side.

Before Jaune could hear what they were saying, the man with the bowler hat grabbed his cane and stood up.

"A pleasure as always, Junior. I'll be in touch next week." His voice was smarmy and annoying to listen to, yet also charming. When he turned around, the first thing Jaune saw was a handsome face and green eyes. He paid no attention to the blonde, pushing right past him and walking straight to the exit.

"Evening, boss. I've got a new one for you." Mr. 7 made his presence known. Junior raised his head, looking like whatever the other man had told him was greatly annoying.

"Good, I needed something to brighten this crap night. Man the counter, I'll be back soon." Junior waved a hand at Jaune, wordlessly ordering him to follow him through a door behind the bar counter. Mr. 7 raised the divider for Jaune to pass through, taking his boss' position as Jaune nervously walked through the door. Junior was already seated at a table in the center of the small, dark room, two men dressed in the same outfit as Mr. 7 standing behind him. Rather than greet Jaune, he fiddled absently with his scroll.

"Do they just stand there all day until he comes inside?"

"So, 7 told me you're in the market for some forged transcripts. For Beacon, no less. I hope you know that won't be cheap." Junior looked relaxed, feeling totally safe in his current position. Jaune couldn't blame him for that as he sat down in the chair across the table from the crime boss.

The best move… would be to act comfortable. Like he was used to this sort of thing. If Junior thought of him as somebody who had dealt with crime syndicates before, he wouldn't try to beat him up over prices.

"U-um, yeah. But, I really don't know what I'm, uh…" And, that plan went out the window immediately. Surprisingly, Junior actually laughed at how nervous his customer was.

"Oi, relax kid, you're worrying too much about all this. I get plenty of requests for this kind of crap. I don't expect kids your age to be rolling in cash, so there's no money to be made asking for thousands of Lien. I don't do installments on jobs like this. You'll pay me the full price all at once. If you can't afford that right now, come back when you've got some cash." That sounded… fairly reasonable. There had to be a catch.

"That's… it? It's that easy? I don't have to pay extra for you to keep quiet?" Jaune slapped a hand over his mouth, cursing himself for saying too much. The last thing he wanted was to give Junior ideas. But, again, the huge man just laughed at him.

"Let me explain something to you about organized crime, kid. There are two kinds of criminals, the violent kind, and the smart kind. The guys who always ask for more, charge extra fees for protection and silence, who break your legs if you miss payments, that only works if you're the top dog, or if you want to make a name for yourself." Junior leaned back in his chair, chuckling slightly.

"This family ain't what it used to be since dad died, and I couldn't be happier about that. Managing a crime empire just ain't my thing. But an information network? Contacts, spies, eyes everywhere, all making sure I know everything? Now that's more my speed. Let Torchwick stay at the top for all I care, I'm fine with my spot at the center of the food chain. If I catch wind of you trying to snitch, my boys'll bring you back for a little chat. If you miss a payment, I double the next one, not that you'll have to worry about that. Chasing after a customer who's already finished his business with me, going for extra payments, death threats, it's all just begging for unnecessary trouble. As long as you stay in line, we're done the second this deal is finished. I don't see you again, you don't hear from me again. Not unless you've got some more business to discuss."

Junior put his hands on the table. His expression was neutral as he stared directly into Jaune's eyes, sizing up his newest customer.

"Before we start negotiations, how much you got?"

"Oh, uh, around si-six-hundred Lien." Feeling a bit rattled from the lecture on crime, Jaune shakily responded to the imposing man, who looked a bit unhappy.

"Hm, not a big sale kind of day, huh? Well, whatever. 600 Lien won't get you anywhere near the best my boys can do. For that much money…"

"Uh, hang on a second! I've got 600, but I still have to pay to sleep somewhere until the term starts. All I can afford to pay with is… 180 Lien." Jaune suddenly felt very small as he admitted how little money he had. Junior huffed in annoyance at the painfully small number.

"Ugh, definitely not a big spender. Fine, we can still get you in order for that much, but don't expect premium quality. For pocket change like that… we'll throw something together for you and you can collect it in six days. But if the examiners see through it, don't come crying to me. If all you can afford is low-quality, low-quality is all you'll get."

Junior had his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised, waiting to see if Jaune would argue with him. These kids always tried to pull a tough guy act once they heard how little their money would actually get them.

"... That's perfect, thank you. Really, thank you so much!" Jaune stuck his hand out across the table, hoping to shake Junior's hand. He only received a cold look.

"Save the handshakes for after the deal's finished. If you don't have the cash, we've got nothing to talk about."

"Oh, uh, right." Jaune stuck a hand into his back pocket and withdrew a handful of Lien cards. Counting out 180, he handed them to Junior. He, too, counted to make sure it was the correct amount. Only then did he smile and grab hold of Jaune's hand, shaking it hard enough to make his shoulder hurt.

"Pleasure doing business, kid. Stop by if you ever need information or some more documents. Also…" Suddenly, Junior tightened his grip on Jaune's hand and yanked him across the table, bringing them face-to-face. "I am a very, very well-connected man. Keep that in mind in case you plan on running to the cops. I see everything in this city, kid. Don't forget it." Jaune nodded his head so fast it felt like it would separate from his neck. Satisfied, Junior released him.

"Go have a talk with 7. He'll get you in order."

Jaune felt like he could better understand Junior after their brief conversation. He may have preferred to stay out of the more violent side of things, at least in these particular business ventures. But, if an idiot like him decided to be a hero and report his operation to somebody, all bets were off. He would die. It was that simple.

Both men left the back room, Junior resuming his post at the bar while Mr. 7 took Jaune to a table in the corner of the club. He grilled the teen for the information necessary to put together the transcripts, such as his name and where he lived. It was eventually decided that Jaune would have allegedly graduated from Signal Academy and was now hoping to be accepted into Beacon. With what he could afford, the transcripts would paint him as an average student with no outstanding accomplishments, and only the most basic of measures would be taken to ensure the story would be corroborated should the Beacon staff make an inquiry with Signal.

"Right then. Everything's taken care of here, so you're free to go home. Don't call us, we'll call you."

No pleasantries were exchanged, no goodbyes were said. Jaune got out of the club as fast as he could, leaving all of it behind. He stood on the street just outside the nightclub, still able to hear the loud music even through the closed doors.

"... So, that's it?"

He felt… uncomfortable. It wasn't that Jaune wasn't happy, it just didn't line up with his ideas of what dealing with a crime boss would be like. He expected far more death threats, far less reasonable conditions, and much more violence. And yet, it was all done. His payment was made in full, his business was settled, all that remained was to come back and pick up the finished transcripts. After that… after that…

"... WHOOOOOOOOO!" Despite knowing how bad this situation was, Jaune couldn't stop himself from throwing his arms in the air and cheering. This was finally it. Everything was settled so nicely, it was unbelievable.

"Six days." He whispered to himself as he walked home. "Just six days, and I'll be free to enter Beacon."

After factoring in his payment and the money he would have to spend to continue living at the motel until the term began, Jaune had left himself 17 Lien. He would have to get a part-time job or resort to dumpster diving to feed himself, and he absolutely needed to make sure he could afford a trip to the laundromat before he went to school. It was fine. He could, no, he would make it work. Everything would work out perfectly, he would make sure of it.

6 Days Later:

"Whoa… so that's Vale huh?"

In the evening hours of the day, a large transport ship had pulled into the main dock of Vale. Despite its large size, only about twenty passengers disembarked, one of which was a young boy with messy brown hair, effortlessly lugging two suitcases behind him. He curiously looked all over, taking in every sight available to him. Humans and Faunus were milling about on the docks, either boarding or disembarking from vessels, and behind them lay the main city. It looked like the kind of place you would see a European city, maybe London or perhaps Trondheim. None of the buildings in sight were particularly tall, except for a single tower that was so far away, it was partially shrouded by the limits of even Peter's enhanced vision.

It wasn't exactly dark yet, but the sky was more black than blue. Peter did have some money gifted to him by Kali, but he was hoping to save it for when he really needed it. Of course, most would consider not having a place to spend the night grounds for parting with some cash, but Peter saw it as nothing more than a golden opportunity to be frugal, given his… particular experiences.

"Let's see… I could always crash on somebody's roof, or behind a bakery. Those places are always weirdly warm. Ooh, maybe I'll get lucky and find an empty water tower." The self-conversation was hardly normal and would probably make any who heard it feel no small degree of pity for the seemingly homeless boy, especially given his shredded clothes that looked like they were pulled from a dumpster. However, he was smiling brightly. It wasn't that Peter liked sleeping like a hobo… he just didn't really care after doing it so often.

Money saved was money that could be used later. Why shell out cash for a hotel when there was a perfectly good, relatively clean dumpster calling his name from behind a grocery store?

Before settling down for the night, Peter decided he may as well take the time to look around. It was a new city after all, not to mention it was a new world entirely. Who knew what all he would find here that wasn't back home? Well, not that he actually had any plans for where to look. After walking around the city with his luggage in tow for nearly an hour, Peter had seen plenty. From ordinary butcher shops and bookstores to admittedly strange places, like weapon stores and forges. He had expected guns, but a curious peek inside revealed swords, axes, spears, and other primitive weapons with a modern look to them.

"No wonder they're not doing so well against the Grimm. They're still relying on weapons like that." He wasn't trying to be insulting, he was merely stating a fact. Peter was well aware of the damage that could be done with basic weaponry, but if you put a gun in the hands of a random civilian, they would surely bring down more Grimm than another civilian holding a sword. Or so he thought, anyway. Maybe there was more he had to learn about this world before he could truly make those kinds of statements.

Eventually, the foreign visitor decided to take a rest at a bench illuminated on both sides by street lamps. There was a park behind it and a few different grocery stores across the street in front of it. With nothing else to do, he whipped out the scroll that had been bought for him by the friendly cat woman. One thing he noticed very quickly was that absolutely everything here was nicer than what was in Menagerie. While he did appreciate having a cellular device, objectively speaking, it was probably outdated by more than a few years compared to what was available here.

Not that Peter was complaining. As long as he could make calls and play a game or two, he didn't need much else.

"But seriously, what am I supposed to do for six days? Ghira already sent everything to Beacon for me, so do I just hang out until the term starts? I guess there'll probably be some crime to stop, so that should keep me occupied."

Throwing aside the topic, Peter got up and walked straight into the grocery store directly in front of him. He hadn't eaten anything for nearly eleven hours and his stomach was starting to eat itself. Being a super-powered teenager had the negative side effect of massively increasing his appetite. Who knew being bitten by a radioactive spider could be detrimental to your health?

It wasn't a large store by any means, only about the size of an average gas station. A few stands held fresh fruit and vegetables, a rack in the back held different kinds of breads and pastries, and the entire left wall was made up of fridges with glass doors to reveal the chilled products inside. The strange thing was that everything looked familiar. There were peaches, donuts, and various kinds of milk. In a way, it was comforting, but also kind of boring.

"Oh well, there goes my interdimensional fine dining experience. I suppose I'll settle for bringing some bread and cheese back to my fine establishment under a bridge." Peter smirked to himself as he pulled a loaf of sourdough bread from its rack and grabbed a palm-sized block of cheese from one of the fridges. For good measure, he also grabbed a plastic case of strawberries and, just to spoil himself, a few cookies. Why not, right? It's not like he needed needed to save the money for any big purchases.

The store was mostly empty, save for a handful of customers and the young human woman working the register. By the looks of her, she was only slightly older than Peter, maybe 17 or 18, probably a high schooler slogging through a part-time job. She was currently busy with a burly Faunus man whose fingers ended in sharp claws. She did not look happy to be dealing with him.

"Look, all I'm asking for is a fair price. The sign says 5 Lien each, so I'll pay you 5 Lien for each, nothing more." The Faunus man was no happier than she was, arguing about the price of the apples in his hands. The human girl just sighed like she had been asked to take his place for jury duty.

"As I've told you, sir, those signs were put out for a sale this morning, and my incompetent coworkers still haven't switched them back out. I'm sorry, but the sale has ended, and the normal price is 10 Lien each.

"Don't lie to me. You only charged the lady in front of me 5." Interestingly, the man remained fairly calm, not even raising his voice in spite of the clear double standard.

"Oh, really? My mistake then." This girl wasn't even trying to lie convincingly. She looked more bored than anything, as if the customer were an annoying fly that she had given up on trying to swat away. None of the other customers in the store seemed to care about what was going on, save for the one other Faunus, who only growled quietly as they continued their shopping.

"I guess this is what the Belladonnas meant when they told me about Faunus discrimination. I can't say this kind of stuff doesn't happen back home, but they usually try to hide it a little more than this." Peter huffed in annoyance at the woman's attitude. Was she really so put out by the Faunus, she was willing to risk scaring off half her paying customers?

"... Fine. You win. But don't expect to see me here again." The Faunus man resigned himself to the unfair price, digging through his wallet for the extra cash cards.

"I see. I'm sorry to see you go, sir, but I understand." The regretful apology had so little emotion in it, a rock could have put more thought into its words. Peter watched the man dig for extra money and decided now was the best time to step in. But how to play this?

Turning to his side, he could see that the only other Faunus in the store, a middle-aged, red-haired woman with a stubby tail peeking out from under her shirt, had finished her shopping and was taking deep breaths on her way to the line.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" The Faunus woman faced him, scowling slightly at the "human". If it's alright with you, I can pay for your groceries. You don't have to worry about paying me back." Whatever barbed comment the woman had been expecting, this strange offer clearly caught her off guard. Her grip loosened on the small shopping basket filled with groceries. "Sorry to ask so suddenly, but, well..." Peter subtly flipped his arm over, showing the patches on his wrists to the lynx Faunus. "You don't want to pay extra, right?"

Realizing what the young man was suggesting, she gratefully handed the basket over to him. He accepted it gently and padded over to the register.

"... Excuse me, I couldn't help but notice this gentleman here grabbed the last of the red apples. Would you mind if I took them instead? I really do need them, my Aunt's making pie tonight." Striding confidently up the register, Peter made his rude request not to the Faunus man, but to the cashier. She looked him up and down and, finding no animal traits, responded with a smile and an "Of course sir, they'll be 5 Lien each."

Naturally, the Faunus customer was outraged, though he did his best to maintain his calm facade. Through gritted teeth, he "calmly" demanded an explanation from the human boy stealing the groceries he was about to buy. The apple thief just handed over the cash for the apples, then for the lynx-tailed woman's items, and then bought his own groceries, all for the normal price. Peter patiently deposited his items in a plastic bag one at a time, using a separate bag for the apples, all while paying no mind to the growled questions being sent his way.

"Thank you for your patronage, sir. I hope to see you shopping here again." The girl gave a brilliantly practiced smile and delivered her scripted thanks in a beautifully kind voice. Whoever hired her would surely be proud of her customer service abilities. "Preferably sooner rather than later." Well, maybe that last part wasn't in the script. Her voice noticeably lost some of its fake pep and became more natural, as did her expression.

"Oh, thank you, but I was really just passing through. I've got some business to take care of, so I probably won't be back for a while." Pretending to be nervous, Peter scratched the back of his head with his left hand, leaving his "Faunus trait" on the underside of his wrist in full view as he handed the bag of apples to the Faunus man without ever taking his eyes off the girl. Her eyes widened immediately, then narrowed soon after. She looked ready to hiss at him, but settled for huffing and walking away to another part of the store.

"Here, you go ma'am." Peter paid no attention to the fuming woman as he handed the basket to the lynx Faunus, who gratefully accepted it with a "thank you" and left the store. "And you? You did want these, right?" Now able to see his face, Peter could tell that the man had gleaming, cat-like golden eyes and sharp sideburns equally as black as his hair. He slowly reached out and took the bag, looking extremely confused by what had just transpired.

"I-I, I didn't- Um, I'm so sorry, I wasn't expecting-"

"Hey, it's cool dude, I get it. You don't have to apologize, really." This time, Peter really did nervously scratch the back of his head. The tall, black-haired Faunus looked into his bag with a broad smile, still processing what had just happened. Raising his head, his eyes rested on the white patches on Peter's wrists.

"You're a Faunus too, huh? Strange, you don't smell like one of us. My nose must be going bad. Well, never mind that. Thank you, really. I swear, there aren't any good stores around here for us. Ah, where are my manners? The name's Tukson. And yours?" Tukson extended a clawed hand, which was gladly accepted by his helper.

"Peter. Peter Parker."

"Peter, huh? Well, far be it from me to deny a thank you to somebody who lends me a hand." Tukson reached into his grocery bag and withdrew one of the twelve apples inside. "Here, take it. You paid for it after all, so they may as well be yours. And don't even try to argue, I'm not leaving till you accept it." His polite decline shut down before he could even speak, Peter gratefully took the glistening red apple with a smile.

"I'm just sorry I didn't get here sooner. I can't believe she charged you extra, shouldn't there be laws to stop that kind of thing from happening?" The panther Faunus just sighed and nodded his head. Yes, it seemed there should have been laws against that, not that any officers would actually enforce them.

"Well, Peter, it's important for us to look out for each other, especially out here. I always pay back my debts, no matter how small. If you're ever in the neighborhood again, I've got a bookstore nearby, Tukson's Book Trade. Stop by if you're ever in the market for something to read." For the first time, the tall man noticed Peter's sorry state of dress. "Or, if you ever need a place to stay the night. It might not be too comfortable, but I've got a back room you can stay in, if you ever need it."

Receiving a simple head shake and a "Thank you, but that's not necessary" in response, the grateful Faunus waved goodbye and walked off alone into the streets of Vale. Peter watched him go and turned to walk in the opposite direction.

"That's how it is, huh? I guess I can understand why the Faunus would be angry. Still, terrorist attacks over boosted prices? It just feels like a bit much." The young man hungrily gnawed on his newly acquired bread as he walked, pondering what had just occurred. His full shopping bag bounced around as it was hit by his leg, the plastic case of strawberries making a crinkling noise with every impact.

He had no specific destination in mind, he only walked all around while slowly eating through his groceries. The bread was gone in two minutes, and the entire block of cheese followed shortly after. A trip to a nearby public water fountain washed it all down, and the case of strawberries was the next to fall victim to Peter's hunger.

While Tukson's offer was very tempting, he didn't want to inconvenience the man. If the events at the grocery store were a common occurrence for him, he was probably fed up after a long day and had only made the offer to be nice. Still, having some books on hand was tempting considering the homeless boy didn't have much by way of entertainment. Without the large expense of renting a room for a week, he would have plenty of cash to burn even after factoring in food costs, so maybe he would stop by his bookstore in the next few days.

"Alright, it's probably about time I look for a place to stay, preferably somewhere that'll last. It'll be a pain to have to move around every night for the next six days, so… no cardboard boxes, no dumpsters, and no apartment rooftops. How about… eh, I'll just go with a good old web hammock. There's probably a high-rise somewhere I can-"
His footsteps stopped. Peter stood stock still, the half-eaten pack of strawberries still clasped in his left hand. Every hair on the back of his neck was standing straight up, and a tingling sensation was running through his skull.

"The spider sense? But, there's nothing here. Where's-"

Boom!

The sound of an explosion tore through the night streets. With his enhanced hearing, the distant noise just barely reached the pauper hero's ears. He flicked his head in the direction the explosion had come from, groaning slightly.

"Perfect. Even in another dimension, this stuff still happens." Closing the case of strawberries and tossing them back in his plastic shopping bag, Peter was about to duck into the nearest alley to change into his Spider-Man costume when he suddenly remembered something important. "Oh, yeah, no more costume, no more alter ego. That's… gonna take some getting used to."
Turning away from the alley, Peter vaulted straight onto the nearest rooftop, not caring if anybody saw him, and located the telltale orange light of a fire. Taking a moment to stretch his arms, he began casually hopping from building to building, taking them two at a time like a child racing up the stairs.

"What'll it be this time? Bank robbers? Lightning strike? Somebody leave the stove on? Oh boy, the mystery's killing me!"

15 Minutes Earlier:

"..."

Somehow, Jaune was much more nervous now than he had been six days ago. At that time, he was still wary, but also more excited than he had ever been in his life. The idea of getting his documents so easily, so readily, in such a convenient way had allowed his eagerness to overtake the warning sirens.

Now, with the benefit of hindsight, he found himself soaked in sweat as he stood in front of the familiar nightclub. While he still didn't want to risk bringing Crocea Mors with him, he didn't feel confident enough to go without some kind of protection, so his light armor was slung on over his Pumpkin Pete hoodie. It didn't too much to stop his trembling.

"This… H-hey, isn't this really bad?" He whispered to himself in a panic. Sweat dripped off his pale face, and his pupils had noticeably shrunken.

No matter how you sliced it, he definitely hadn't gone down the brightest road. Crime bosses? Literal shady backroom deals? Forging transcripts? Oh gods, forget not being accepted into Beacon, if this got out, he'd be arrested. The full weight of his actions had slowly pressed down on Jaune these past few days, and now that he stood before the place where everything would either begin or end, all of it crashed down on him all at once.

It felt exactly like having a panic attack, and Jaune would know. He had had dozens of them over the course of his life, and this was one of the worst. But… even still…

"I… I can't go back. Not now." Fear was once again not the dominant emotion. At this juncture, with only five days remaining before the deadline for transcript submissions, there truly was no other option. Only a heaven-sent miracle could possibly bail him out of this hole and still land him a spot in Beacon's student registry…

Unless he went in there and accepted the documents.

"... Mmmm… uuuuuu… rrrraaaagggh!" Growling in annoyance and cursing his stupidity, the hopeless hero wannabe pressed his palms on the nightclub entrance and roughly shoved them open. He could not totally ignore his brain's warnings to turn around and leave, so he blocked them out by forcing his legs to move, walking deeper into the club even as every fiber of his being said it was a bad idea.

"Just keep walking. Find Junior, grab the documents, and leave. The sooner you leave, the better."

Fortunately, the man himself was right at the bar counter, just where he had been last time. The orange-haired man with the bowler hat and cane was also there, and, just like last time, their conversation was finished before Jaune got close enough to hear what they were saying. The well-dressed man left without a word, slinking off into a corner of the club, leaving Junior alone with the handful of patrons slumped over at his counter. He was busy cleaning a glass and had yet to notice his most recent customer standing in front of him.

The plan was the same as last time, act tough and try to avoid being pushed around. "H-hey, man. You, uh, get everything finished for me?" To absolutely nobody's surprise, the plan bombed instantly.

Junior looked up from his glass polishing task, expression unchanging as he took in the sight of the lanky blonde. Almost as soon as he looked up, he looked back down and began wiping a new glass.

"Same room as before, 7'll get you sorted out. Take the documents and leave, this ain't a place for a kid like you." Without taking his eyes off his task, Junior reached over and pulled up the counter divider, allowing Jaune access to the other side. As the trembling boy made to push the familiar door open, Junior suddenly grabbed his hand, eyes still on the glass.

"Remember, I've got eyes and ears all over this city, and I keep a little bit of everything in my back pocket. If you don't want to do business again, that's fine, but don't forget, we'll be watching you from now on." Finally, Junior faced him, expression softening ever so slightly. "Like it or not, violence is part of the job, but it's still a pain in the ass to clean everything up. Don't give me a reason to kill you, kid."

The beefy crime boss released Jaune's hand, allowing him to push open the door to the back room. His hands were slightly trembling after the intimidating warning. But, somehow, it didn't feel as scary as it could have been.

"As crime bosses go, he doesn't seem all that bad. Not that I've got much to compare him to."

"Well, well, well, look who's here." Mr. 7 was alone in the dark room, seated by himself at the familiar square table. There was a black briefcase laying open in front of him, revealing multiple important looking papers. The official seal of Vale was stamped over most of them, and Jaune could clearly make out Signal academy's logo on one of them.

"Thanks for spending so much, by the way. I was really counting on a fat paycheck. What's with all these kids getting their documents the legal way? I remember the good old days, when every street corner had some hopeful, hopeless dumbass trying to get to Beacon the easy way. Ah well, guess life really does get harder as the times continue." Mr. 7 complained endlessly to himself as he slid the briefcase over to Jaune, allowing him to personally inspect everything inside. "You should really be grateful to the boss. He made me put in some calls with our boys at Signal and make sure the Headmaster'll play along if he gets any phone calls from Beacon. Normally, that little safety net's only thrown in for the high rollers. Guess the boss likes you, then."

Even though he looked everything over himself, it wasn't like Jaune could tell a forgery from the real thing given he had never actually seen legit transcripts before. He would just have to trust in this final lifeline, that everything here would be good enough to earn him a place in a Huntsman academy.

"So, that's really it? I don't see you again… ever? You don't come to threaten me or anything? We're just… done?" Mr. 7 had lit a cigarette while Jaune observed his prize. He leaned around the cloud of smoke he had just breathed out, looking annoyed by the repetitive questions.

"Didn't the boss explain to you how this operation works? There's no money to be made shaking down teenagers. Besides, it suits us better to only step in when somebody gets cute and tries to run to the cops. Like that would work, anyway. Keep your mouth shut and we'll leave you alone." The suited man clamped the cigarette in his teeth and smirked deviously. "Not that I'm worried about you running your mouth. I'm sure we don't have to explain why you should just stay quiet."

… Because you'll ruin yourself if you talk.

The unspoken threat was there. They knew Jaune wouldn't talk because if he did, he would destroy his own life without even scratching their crime network. Supposing he did try to tell somebody about all this, even after outing himself as a cheater, what was there to link the forged documents to Junior and his men?

It was a simple but tremendously effective security measure.

"... Right. Well, uh, in any case, thank you." Mr. 7 raised an eyebrow at the clueless kid's misplaced thanks. "I really wouldn't have had any hope without you guys. I can't agree with what you're doing here, but I guess it saved me here, so… thank you."

A sarcastic comment or words of gratitude forced out through gritted teeth were hardly uncommon in this line of work, so the hardened salesman was honestly unsure of how to react in the face of genuine thanks.

"... Just get out of here, kid. This ain't the place for touchy feely 'thank yous'. The sooner you leave, the better."

That was surely true. Even if the documents were perfect, if a member of the Beacon staff happened to be a patron of this club and witnessed Jaune step out of the backroom with a briefcase in hand, they would definitely be suspicious when his information appeared among their hundreds of entrant applications.

Jaune gave one final nod to his dark savior and grabbed hold of the doorknob, ready to leave this crime den once and for all.

CRASH!

Releasing the knob, Jaune jumped back in fright when the frighteningly loud sound of broken glass filled his ears, like all the windows in the club had been blown out. Mr. 7 tossed his cigarette aside the moment he heard the noise, reaching up the back of his suit and pulling out a small black and red hand-axe. He pushed Jaune aside and threw the door open, revealing the chaos taking place in the main club area.

One of the decorative glass pillars that extended from one corner of the illuminated dance floor had been shattered to pieces, and amidst the wreckage of broken glass, Jaune could see Junior slowly picking himself up. Every person in the club was sprinting for the exit, causing no small degree of chaos as they all pushed to be the first one to leave. The only ones who remained behind were Junior's men, all dressed identically to Mr. 7. They flooded the dance floor with axes and pipes in hand, facing down one person.

It was a girl, probably the same age as Jaune. Her golden hair was so bright it practically glowed, and despite looking messy and wild, there was a certain beauty in the waist-length locks that paired well with her round face and purple eyes. A pair of golden gauntlets matched her hair, racks of shotgun shells visibly held within. Her way-too-short shorts, low-cut tank top, and midriff-baring brown jacket gave her a wild, confident look. She was the dictionary definition of the kind of girl your mom would warn you to stay away from.

The lone girl just smirked as the armed men surrounded her before leaping high into the air and delivering a ferocious punch straight to the ground. The impact was so great, the dance floor rippled like water, knocking down all of Junior's men. She wasted no time dashing to the nearest man - who happened to be Mr. 7 - and unleashing a barrage of unnaturally fast punches. An elbow to the face sent him reeling, a kick to the left knee unbalanced him even further, and a punch to the face accompanied by the telltale sound of a shotgun firing sent him flying into the racks of bottles behind the bar. Jaune flinched again as many of the bottles broke loudly, dumping various alcohols onto the unconscious man.

"H-hey!? Are you alright!?" Jaune all but threw himself at his partner in crime, not sure how he could help here. Nervous and not thinking straight, he gently slapped his left cheek repeatedly to no avail. Panic setting in, he pressed his fingers on the man's neck, heaving a relieved sigh when he felt a pulse.

"What's going on here!?" Turning around, Jaune planted his hands on the bar counter and nervously raised his head just enough to look over the top. Whoever this girl was, she had no trouble dispatching her dozens of opponents, effortlessly moving from person to person as though she were dancing instead of fighting. The sound of a shotgun firing was constant, accompanying nearly every punch she threw. Junior's men were thrown all around the club by the ferocious attacks, all while Jaune could only watch.

"WHAT DO I DO!? IS SHE A HUNTRESS!? DID SHE COME TO BUST JUNIOR'S CRIME RING!? OH MAN, WHAT'LL SHE THINK IF SHE SEES ME!?" Jaune's mind raced a mile a minute. He barely noticed as two well-dressed girls stepped over the fallen bodies of Junior's men and began double-teaming the blonde brawler. More of Junior's associates? Not that it really mattered.

Jaune looked all around, trying to take in whatever he could. The vicious battle taking place on the dance floor was getting even crazier now that two new combatants had stepped up. The girl wearing a white dress had blades attached to her shoes that she used to knock away the glowing energy blasts fired from the blonde girl's gauntlets. It bounced into another glass pillar, shattering it into a thousand pieces. More blasts were countered the same way, being deflected off the side and blowing apart sections of the building. Holes formed in the walls and chunks of concrete fell from the ceiling, raining down on the already hopelessly damaged dance floor.

Unconscious men were slumped on the ground, slung over upturned furniture, and a few had even been blown through walls. Most were unconscious, but some were still awake, groaning loudly and nursing their injuries. They all seemed to have the luck of the devil considering they had yet to be crushed under falling debris or caught by a flying blast of fire Dust. Jaune blinked, registering this information.

"..."

Without thinking, he slid his hand through the briefcase handle so that it rested in the crook of his elbow, grabbed hold of the knocked out Mr. 7, and slung him over his shoulder. He peeked over the counter again and, after confirming the club's intruder was still locked in combat with the identical girls, he raced out from behind the bar, going straight to the entrance.

"Oh gods, what am I doing!?" He shouted under his breath, not daring to say it loudly enough to bring attention to himself. By some miracle, the sound of gunshots and clanging metal muffled his footsteps, and he went totally unnoticed. His heart beat so loudly in his ears he could barely even hear anything else as he dragged the man straight to the entrance and rammed his shoulder against the double doors. The blonde knight lost his balance and fell onto the street, landing on his back. He was vaguely aware of the bright yellow and orange motorcycle parked nearby that hadn't been there when he arrived earlier.

It hadn't really been that insane, truthfully. The fight wasn't anywhere near him and no Dust blasts were even fired in Jaune's direction. All he had really done was run through a particularly loud room and crash through the front entrance. As far as his nerves were concerned, though, he had just strolled straight through a warzone while hundreds of Grimm chased him down. In the wake of his "courageous escape," Jaune smiled stupidly. Mr. 7 was slumped next to him, face down and unconscious, but he was safe.

"... I made it outside. I got out!" First came relief. With his heart beating in his ears and a wave of nausea crashing over him, Jaune couldn't help but react accordingly to his unbelievable luck. Whatever that madness inside was, it was none of his concern. He had his documents, that was all that mattered. Now that he was outside, he was free. He could… he could…

"..."

Oh no.

Jaune looked back at the club. The sounds of fighting were so loud he could hear them from out here on the street. Not just the gunfire and traded blows, but the collapsing walls and failing support beams.

This place… not to state the obvious, but it was not safe in the slightest. Those guys... they were all still in there. Jaune hopelessly looked on, his happy smile shrinking down to a nervous frown. Then, slowly, it upturned again, becoming a determined glare.

What kind of hero would just run away?

"... Rrrraaaaagggggghhhhh!" For the second time that night, Jaune growled so loudly it was nearly a scream of rage and annoyance as he turned around and shoved through the club doors. He couldn't do it. All those guys in there may have been criminals, but they were still people. The battle raging inside was tearing the club apart, and it was only a matter of time before somebody was lost in all that destruction. With their injuries, there was no way any of them could get out. So then…

"It's my job, huh?... Fine, I'll do it! I'll save 'em all!" Jaune charged back into the club, no longer caring if he was spotted. Sneaking around meant taking more time, and taking more time meant people could die. Throwing caution to the wind, he sprinted straight through the doors and ran to the first man he saw. Realizing the battle was taking place on the other side of the club, he slung the passed out criminal over his shoulder and ran back to the entrance. Soon, he was deposited next to his fellow lawbreaker, but Jaune took no time to rest. As soon as he set him down, he was going back for somebody else.

Once more, he returned. Once more, he came out carrying somebody with him. Then another, and another. Turning back once more, Jaune slammed through the double doors for the seventh time in the past few minutes. The club was worse than before. By some kind of miracle, the twin fighters were still up and kicking, but they had obviously taken a beating. The brawler, on the other hand, barely looked tired. Almost as a test, she fired one last shotgun blast at her opponents. That was the last thing Jaune noticed before grabbing hold of the next man. Unlike the others thus far, this guy was actually conscious, albeit bleeding from a head wound.

"Hey, you okay? I'm gonna get you out of here." It was a strange phenomenon. The more Jaune went back and forth, the more confident he felt, the more he felt like this was natural, right, even. He fell into a rhythm, charging straight in without even paying any mind to the battle raging nearby.

"Lo… look out!" The injured man thrust a shaky finger forward. Jaune followed the finger and barely twisted his body away from the ball of ignited fire Dust coming straight at him. Throwing himself to the ground barely put enough distance between his body and the red ball of death as it sailed over him so close to his face it singed off the miniscule amount of facial hair he had managed to grow before smashing into the wall directly behind him and exploding.

Not thinking twice, Jaune didn't hesitate for a second to throw himself over the injured man, shielding him from the explosion. Dust and small chunks of stone collided with his back, bouncing harmlessly off his gleaming armor.

"Oh, thank you, me from two hours ago!" Suddenly very happy he had taken the time to throw on the armor, Jaune grabbed the concussed goon and helped him to his feet. Together, they hobbled to the entrance, Jaune adjusting his pace to match the wounded man.

As one, they pushed through the doors to the street and the bleeding criminal joined his unconscious comrades slumped against the outside wall of the club. Jaune bent forward with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily.

"This is insane. There's still so many left, and I don't even know where Junior is. Somebody has to have called the cops by now, right? I can't do this, not by myself. I need…help…"

Jaune paused, even halting his breathing for a moment. An annoyed scowl formed on his face right before he angrily slapped himself across the cheek.

"You're supposed to be the hero, Jaune! A hero doesn't complain about everything being too hard! They'll get here when they get here, you just need to hold down the fort yourself until then!"

Standing up straight, Jaune prepared to race back into the warzone when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him. Whipping his head around, he saw another teenager, a guy with brown hair, probably a few years younger than he was, with clothes that looked like they belonged to a homeless man. A grey, plastic grocery bag was slung around his left elbow. He had just fallen onto the street and rolled to his feet, like he had jumped off a building to get here.

This kid did not look scared, nor confused, nor nervous. His face revealed nothing but determination, eyes narrowed at the panting blonde standing in front of him.

"Did you help those guys?" Jaune nodded at the question, earning a smile from the newcomer. "Good job. Are more people still inside?"

"Yeah, I still need to go back for the-"

VREEEM!

Both boys covered their ears when a horrible screaming sound filled their ears, followed by yet another explosion.

"Was that a rocket!?" The brown-haired boy yelled at his fellow hero.

Jaune answered honsetly. "I don't even know what's going on anymore!"

Several other explosions followed soon after, shaking the very street they stood on. After continuous ground-shaking booms, there was a strange pause as all the loud noises stopped.

His question going unanswered, the homeless-looking kid was about to shove through the club doors and see what was going on himself when a rage-filled scream ripped through the night air. The sound of one final explosion was far louder than all the others that came before it rang out. Pure white light flooded through the large studio window ten feet above the main entrance just before a figure crashed straight through it, arcing through the air and bouncing off the street a couple of times. Broken glass rained down on the hobo boy, but he just absently brushed the shards off himself like they were little more than annoying bugs.

"JUNIOR!?" Jaune ran straight to the fallen crime boss. Somehow, he was still conscious, but there was a fist-shaped imprint on his left cheek and he probably had more than a few broken bones. The newcomer knelt beside him, worriedly checking the man for any visible injuries.

"What happened here?"

They were both made aware of a new presence by a girlish voice curiously asking such an innocent question. Two heads were raised to locate the source of this voice, finding it barely five feet away. There was another girl there, wearing a mostly black dress with red highlights, a red cloak drifting in the wind behind her. Her hair bore a similar "mostly black with red highlights" color scheme, and her silver eyes gleamed in the moonlight.

Neither of them had a chance to respond, any response they could have given being cut off as a loud bang was heard at their backs.

"Oh, hey sis! You just missed the party!" Jaune stiffened at the sight of the blond brawler proudly strutting out of the club she had just destroyed, easily carrying a dozen unconscious men over each arm. She unceremoniously dumped them on the street in a pile and dusted her hands like she had just finished taking out the trash.

"You… what happened in there? Do you know this guy?" The brunette boy stood up and pointed down at Junior, not quite interrogating the bold girl, yet not being gentle with her either. He had a sneaking suspicion that he already knew exactly who was at fault for all this.

"Oh, him? I was hoping he would have some information for me, but he didn't know anything. This whole thing was a waste of time." It was such a carefree response, delivered with a haphazard hand wave.

"So you destroyed his club and nearly killed him?"

"Hey, his guys tried to attack me! I just defended myself."

"... No you didn't." Against his better instincts, Jaune looked the blonde girl straight in the eyes and called out her lie. "I saw his men. They came running out after you attacked Junior, not before. You were the one who hit first."

Jaune had no idea why he was feeling so bold or why he stepped up to somebody who could easily break him in half. Perhaps… no, he did know. It seemed his previous assumption that this girl was a Huntress was incorrect. She came looking for information, and when she didn't get it, she destroyed Junior's club and attacked everybody inside.

By no means, did Jaune feel so close with Junior that he felt a need to protect his honor or take revenge for him. It was just, now that he was face-to-face with another criminal, he felt strangely irked. So many people could have been hurt in there, and she didn't even seem to care.

Whoever this new guy was, he seemed to feel the same. He had stood up beside Jaune, staring down the aggressive girl.

"What, you want a go, too?" With a confident grin, she smashed her gauntlet-covered fists together, producing a shower of sparks. "You work for him, too? Great, maybe you know something."

All his confidence dissipating at the thought of a fight, Jaune cast a worried glance at the kid standing beside him.

"Hey man, you know how to fight, right?"

"Don't worry, I can handle myself."

"Well, that makes one of us. Wait, what about the other girl?"

Jaune turned around to see if the other girl was still there and nearly did a double take from what he saw. That innocent looking girl had somehow pulled out a massive red and black scythe. She held it behind her back, hands gripping different sections of the shaft, looking cross.

"Yang! Stop leaving me out of fights! I can help!" It was like a small child whining about their sibling not giving them candy.

"WE HAVE TO FIGHT HER TOO!?"

"Sure, sure Rubes. You can have the blonde guy."

Everything about this night just kept getting worse. Jaune didn't know about this other guy, but there was no way he could handle either of these girls. He didn't even have a weapon, save for the briefcase still looped around the crook of his elbow. He couldn't think of a single plan to get out of this as the two girls closed in on them. At the very least, there was no way the situation could get any worse than it already was.

"WHICH ONE OF YOU WRECKED MY CAR!?"

"SERIOUSLY?! GIVE ME A BREAK!"

Jaune didn't want to turn around. He didn't want to discover yet another horrible addition to this already insane problem. Painfully, he forced his neck to turn to the side, and what he saw once again threw him for a loop.

Two boys were running at them side-by-side from down the road. One looked fairly normal, with short brown hair and green eyes to match his bright green jacket that had the number 10 emblazoned on the front. The boy beside him, on the other hand, looked like he was made of shiny green metal. He looked absolutely murderous. That furious scream had probably come from him.

The both of them stopped short ten feet away. A U-shape had been formed by them and the two girls, with Jaune and the homeless kid at the center of all of it. Nobody present knew what was going on anymore and nobody was sure who was on whose side. Were these guys with the girls, or were they here for their own reasons? There were so many questions, and no answers to go around. Jaune could do nothing but shut his eyes as tightly as possible, blocking out everything around him.

"Please, Oum. In the name of everything that is good, please, please, no more crazy interrupt-"

CRASH!

Something large smashed into the street directly behind Jaune, dashing his last hope.

"Somebody call in the cavalry? No te preocupes, the star of the show has arrived." From the dust cloud emerging from the newly formed crater, a new figure stepped out. He was a teenager like everybody else, with black hair and tanned brown skin. A set of orange goggles were stretched over his forehead and Jaune could have sworn he saw blue lights fade away from his black pants.

There was now a diamond shape formed around him and the homeless kid. The blonde knight truly couldn't even hope to understand what was happening anymore. So much had happened in the last two minutes, he had given up hope of finding answers.

"... Wait, Rex!?" Suddenly, from one side of the diamond, the guy wearing the green jacket called out to the newest arrival.

"Ben? Tambien estas aqui?"

Oh, good. One question was answered. Apparently, those guys knew each other.

"Yippee." Jaune hopelessly muttered to himself. He was not feeling confident in his chances of surviving the next few minutes.

Rex:

"Oh, finally! My legs were about to fall off! Sweet ground, I've missed you so much!"

In the dark of night, a greenish-blue hoverboard coasted into Vale. It briefly floated above the street before seemingly disappearing into the legs of the one riding it, allowing him to drop a couple feet onto the ground with a dull thump noise.

"So much flying… I can't believe I'm saying this, but I don't want to fly again for a long time." Rex flopped onto his back, rubbing his aching legs. Seventeen hours of maintaining the Sky Slyder and standing straight up while powerful winds blew against him had murdered his lower body. With the benefit of hindsight, he probably should have stopped somewhere and continued his trip tomorrow, but he had been so eager to just finish the trip, he forgot to factor logic into his actions.

His screaming legs were only one of his problems. The next problem made itself known with an awful rumbling sound.

"... Ugh, I should have asked them for some money before I left. Sooooo hungryyyyy." The pitiful moaning did not bring to mind a hero who had saved the world, rather, it seemed to fit a petulant child whining about not receiving the present they had asked for. Ignoring the protests from his sore legs and hollow stomach, Rex pushed himself into a sitting position, taking in his surroundings. Having money probably wouldn't help much, seeing as most of the stores in the area were closed for the day. No lights illuminated their windows, leaving the entire street barren and lifeless aside from the streetlamps set far apart.

"Okay, what's the plan, Rex? I'm not hungry enough to go dumpster diving, but I'm definitely getting there. Ugh, this sucks." With his stomach as empty as it was, just standing up made Rex feel like he had to vomit. Suppressing the bile rising in his throat, he sighed in resignation.

"I don't have the energy to walk around right now. No more Sky Slyder for a long time, so…"

Groaning loudly, Rex's back lit up with blue light. Two large wings ending in propellers jutted out from his spine and a metal harness clasped over his arms, securing his body to the wings.

"Okay, no more flying after this, I mean it this time!" Hoping to find a place that still had its lights on, Rex flew straight up and observed the deathly quiet city from far above the streets. Nothing. No shop lights, no people milling about, nothing. Just his luck, he had arrived at the perfect time for the whole city to be shut down.

"This just isn't my day, is it? Dumpster diving sounds pretty good right now." The starving hero was about to give up his search when a faint orange light caught his eye. Feeling hopeful, he twisted around to get a better look. Unfortunately, it wasn't a shop light. Instead, it looked like there was some kind of fire going on roughly a dozen blocks away. Figures, just when it looked like his luck might be turning around, it turned out to be just a stupid…

"Fire?"

Rubbing his tired eyes, Rex confirmed there was indeed a fire. So far away it was difficult to see, a faint orange glow licked at the night sky. It was very clearly a flaming building. Groaning loudly, Rex shoved the pain in his legs and the emptiness of his stomach to the back of his mind and rocketed forward to see what was going on.

"The excitement never dies down, huh? Not like I can complain, I did ask for all this." Sighing in mock anger, Rex set his face in a smirk, ready to face whatever problem needed fixing.

With the Boogie Pack's tremendous speeds, the large distance between Rex and the flaming building didn't even take a minute to close. Observing the scene from above, there was a pile of bodies laid out next to the crumbling building, and beside them stood six other people, all looking like they were ready to throw down with each other at any given moment. Seeing his opportunity, Rex disengaged the Boogie Pack and morphed his legs into two massive orange boots, allowing gravity to pull him down to the street.
The extra protection afforded by the Punk Busters safeguarded Rex from the heavy impact of crashing straight into the street. After landing safely, they, too, were disengaged, and the goggled boy confidently stepped out of the crater he had made in the street.

"Somebody call in the cavalry? No te preocupes, the star of the show has arrived."

It was an odd scene, to be sure. Two guys, a blond dude dressed like a knight and a brunette who looked like a hobo stood back to back in front of Rex. In the two directions they were facing, there were two girls, one wearing red and black and wielding a giant scythe, and the other with shining golden hair, powerful-looking gauntlets strapped to her wrists. Finally, beyond the two boys in the center were two other guys. The one made of metal was unknown to Rex, but that other guy… wait.

"... Wait, Rex!?"

"Ben? Tambien estas aqui?" Yep, there he was, Rex's interdimensional friend whom he had teamed up with six months ago to defeat the Alpha nanite. Whatever all this dimension hopping stuff was about, it looked like he had been pulled in as well.

Was that good or bad?

Jaune's POV:

With the situation getting worse by the second, Jaune was desperate for something, anything to defend himself with. There was nothing lying nearby and the weapons Junior's men had been carrying were abandoned inside the destroyed club. Looking down at his feet, he saw the one thing that might help, a manhole cover. With only one option available to him, Jaune jammed his fingers underneath the heavy steel plate and pried it up, holding it with both hands like it was a shield.

"You called in more friends? I understand if you're scared to fight me, but this is a little much, boys." Yang smirked to herself, utterly clueless about the severity of this gathering of heroes. She still believed that more of Junior's men had turned up to take her down, not that it mattered to her. Anybody could see she was totally, 100% confident she could handle everybody here, especially with the girl named Ruby backing her up.

"Big talk over there. You the one who smashed up my car? You better be ready for a poundin' if it was you!" The guy covered in shiny metal pointed a finger at the cocky girl, his menacing glare promising nothing short of murder if she was the true culprit of the unforgivable crime that had taken place five minutes ago.

"Don't talk to my sister like that!" Next, the scythe girl jumped in, pointing her oversized weapon at him. Some kind of gun was built into the shaft, and its barrel was aimed straight at his chest.

"Looks like catching up will have to wait, Rex. We've got bigger problems here." Ben ran his finger over a green, holographic wheel above his watch, tapped one of the icons that appeared, and held his hand above the green and black cylinder that popped out of his watch's faceplate, carefully observing everybody in front of him.

Tensions were rising quickly. If something wasn't done soon, all-out war would erupt between the seven teenagers.

"Okay, wait, time out everybody!" It was Jaune who boldly stepped up, crossing his arms over his head to draw attention to himself. All eyes were on the trembling knight.

"... Now what?" The heavy manhole cover hung loosely in Jaune's hand. He had no idea what to do now. How did he calm down a bunch of pissed off, battle-ready teenagers? The blonde girl and the guy with the green shell looked like they would start tearing up the street at any second. The red girl and the guy who fell from the sky didn't seem to fully understand what was happening, but both of them looked ready for a fight if it came down to it. The only ones who still looked relaxed and not like they would start throwing punches in a heartbeat were the homeless kid and the green jacket guy.

Was it a better idea to appeal to the rational ones first, or should he prioritize the ones who were ready to explode? After years of dealing with an ungodly amount of sisters, Jaune had all the experience necessary to quickly find the answer once he really thought about it.

"Look, obviously we're all a little excited. A lot of crazy stuff has happened tonight, but that can all be over now. None of us have any reason to fight each other."

That was bullshit, they most definitely did. He was still 99% sure the blonde girl was a criminal, so was the armored dude, based on his demeanor. Still, this matter of diffusion called for calm lies, not harsh truths, so Jaune prepared himself to spit so much bullshit, it would make Rouge proud.

"For starters, I don't know any of you. We got off to a rough start, but that doesn't mean we all have to throw down, right? We can still talk all this over, and that can start with introductions. We just have to get to know each other. That'll solve everything, won't it?"

What the hell? Was he defusing the situation or making friends with these crazy people? Was it both? Was that better or worse than sticking with one or the other? Not bothering to deliberate over it, Jaune's brain bypassed his mouth as he continued to ramble without really thinking about what he was saying. Operation: Spit Bullshit was failing. Quickly, he flipped around and stuck out his right hand to the homeless kid, doing the first thing he could think of.

"The name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The homeless kid just stared at the outstretched hand, genuinely not having a single clue how to respond to this.

"... Gods, strike me down now." Jaune refused to let his charming smile crack even as he sobbed and screamed on the inside. On the bright side, his painfully awkward comment seemed to have erased all the dangerous tension. On the other hand, a different kind of tension took its place. Every single person present looked at Jaune with odd glints in their eyes. Some were pitying, some were unimpressed, all of them were obviously in physical pain from the second-hand embarrassment they were currently experiencing.

All except one.

"... Snrk! He… he-he-he." The sound of quiet giggling reached Jaune's ears. Behind the bewildered hobo boy, the girl wielding the massive scythe was covering her mouth with her hand in a vain effort to suppress the amused giggles forcing their way out.

"Ruby!?" The blonde girl seemed actually hurt by the other girl's amusement. Her expression was one of absolute betrayal for some unknown reason.

"Wh-what? It was just… so bad! I couldn't help it. Snrk, ha-ha-ha-ha!" The girl, Ruby, took both hands off her scythe, its curved blade planted into the street to keep itself upright, and leaned against it with her hands over her stomach, full on laughing now. Jaune had a feeling he was seconds away from being pointed at by the laughing reaper, so he gave up on maintaining his cool facade and turned away, once again looking at the blonde girl.

"Anyway!" He was quite happy to pretend nothing had happened, completely ignoring the laughter behind him. "See that? That's good, that's productive! Why fight when we can laugh and talk this out instead? We can all just be friends here, nobody has to get hurt!" Jaune felt his shoulder being nudged. The young hobo leaned forward and whispered into his ear.

"Didn't you say she just started attacking the people in that club? I don't want a fight either, but it'd be better to-"

"N-not now, dude! I'm just trying to make sure I survive tonight! Worry about arresting her later!" Jaune whisper-shouted right back, silencing the other kid's indignant remark.

"As I was saying, this is good! We can all just set aside our differences and laugh about this, right?"

Everyone assembled remained confused. What was this blonde wimp even saying right now?

"I knew comin' to another world was a bad idea, Tennyson. You're such a doofus, you're making everybody here stupid just by bein' in the same universe as them." The guy covered in green metal crossed his arms, huffing ruefully.

"Wha-!? Why is this my fault!?" His friend immediately reacted with indignation, already forgetting what was going on around him.

"H… hey, Yang…" Ruby had finally finished her laughing fit and was in the process of wiping a small tear from her eye. "Why are we fighting, anyway? Do you know these guys?"

Yang huffed in annoyance, scratching the back of her head and downturning her eyes.

"I don't know who they are, Rubes, but I'm pretty sure they're with that guy." Yang pointed a finger at Junior, who had slowly begun to sit up and nurse his busted face. "They've got information and I want it. Whether you like it or not, somebody's telling me what I want to know." The threatening sound of a shotgun cocking filled Jaune's ears when Yang thrust her elbows backwards, assuming her fighting stance. "If you don't wanna tell me, I'll make you talk.

"Uh, hang on, remember everything I just said about friendship and talking things out!? We can still do that! And I'm not with this guy, this whole thing is just a huge misunder-!"

Yang had no interest in her fellow blonde's waterfall of words. If this guy wasn't going to talk, she could always visit him in the hospital. That was the plan with Junior, anyway, so what did it hurt to have a backup source in case he still tried to stay quiet? No way was she buying this story about not knowing her original target. She had seen him from the corner of her eye running in and out of the club, carrying his guys out. No normal person did something like that unless it was their job or they wanted to gain something from it. There was the possibility he was just a hopelessly stupid, selfless guy, but she wasn't really thinking of all the possibilities now that her brain had locked onto the idea that he was one of Junior's lackeys.

Thrusting her gauntlets behind her, a shotgun blast went off and a small explosion sent her flying forward, straight into the lanky knight. The freaked out look of utter distress on his face was honestly kind of funny. If Yang had time, she would have pulled out her scroll and taken a picture. Not that she enjoyed beating on the weak, but this guy was a criminal, so, meh.

The guy looked completely useless in a fight, not even carrying some kind of weapon to defend himself with. When Yang threw her right fist forward, she expected to be met with the soft sensation of her hand connecting with his cheek. What she did not expect was the clang of metal.

Right at the last moment, Jaune had managed to raise the manhole cover he pried out of the street and defended his face with it. Yang's fist carried so much force, it very nearly drove straight through the thick, steel plate. An indent the same shape as her forearm protruded from the other side of the manhole cover, very nearly connecting with Jaune's face even through his makeshift shield. He stumbled quite a bit and very nearly fell over, but he managed to stand his ground.

Yang, for her part, did not strike again. She tugged her arm back, but could not free it from the warped metal prison, and Jaune had no plans to let it go anytime soon.

"... S-s-so about my friendship offer. Should we try introductions again? The name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet-"

Before she had to listen to that god-awful introduction again, Yang cocked back her other arm and prepared to swing forward. She was not the only one taking action. Both the homeless kid and the armored guy were stepping towards her, albeit for very different reasons. Rex's arms were glowing blue, Ben was in the process of slamming his hand down onto his watch, and Ruby was reaching out to pick up her scythe. In just a few seconds, the entire street would be enveloped in an all-out battle, and Jaune could do nothing to stop it, all the while that gauntleted fist came ever closer to his face.

"FREEZE! GET YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!"

At the drop of a hat, everybody froze. Yang's left fist stopped an inch away from Jaune's face, his eyes scrunched shut. Rex's arms stopped glowing, and Ben and Ruby halted their respective actions. Even Ben's companion and the junior hobo paused mid-sprint to see who had shouted a command at them.

Flashing lights. Sirens. Dozens of police officers pointing handguns at all of them. Such was the sight they were greeted with.

… No matter how you tried to defend it, this looked absolutely awful. A bunch of teenagers, two of them carrying weapons, were clearly about to duke it out in front of a flaming, wrecked nightclub, all while dozens of unconscious, injured men were slumped nearby, some still groaning in pain. Junior especially was painfully aware of how bad this all looked and released a frustrated growl from the back of his throat. This would be a long night.

The stern-faced officers stood at the ready behind the opened doors of their cruisers, ready to fire their handguns if the situation did not calm down.

Every single one of the brawling teens broke out in a cold sweat, some chuckling nervously, looking from side-to-side like they were hoping somebody else would come to explain all of this.

Naturally, every one of them was put in handcuffs and carted to the station.

2 Hours Later:

If Jaune was being honest, he was probably the only one who had no choice but to surrender himself. The two girls looked like they could have easily gotten away if they wanted to, as did the guy who fell from the sky and the armored thug who kept ranting about his car being murdered.

The homeless kid was the first to surrender himself, not looking worried in the slightest as he offered his hands to the cops for them to cuff him. Perhaps following his example, the others awkwardly followed suit, allowing themselves to be restrained and driven here.

He didn't know it, but they all had their reasons.

Peter and Ben simply didn't want to make any more trouble than there already was and figured it would be easiest to just go along with everything. They were both pretty sure they could just talk their way out of this, and if all else failed, they could always just break out of their holding cells. It wasn't as if they had done anything wrong anyway, so if anything, the cops would be at fault for holding them. Or so they told themselves.

Rex was just exhausted and starving after his long flight and didn't want to deal with the hassle of running from the cops. Even if the conditions were terrible, he would be happy to spend the night in a holding cell as long as he got some food and some rest. He was not pleased at all to be stuck sitting at a table for an hour straight. This was not what he had been kind-of not-really promised.

Kevin just didn't care. If anything, it made his life easier. All the possible culprits for his baby's murder were here. If he got lucky, maybe he could snag a statement from everybody here and find out exactly who caused the explosion that sent debris flying everywhere. Though he remained silent when the cops cuffed him, he was laughing evilly on the inside.

As for Ruby and Yang, they panicked. The start of Beacon's term was coming up and neither of them wanted to completely ruin their chances of being accepted by running from the cops, especially Ruby, who was accepted only yesterday by pure chance after helping Beacon's Vice-Headmaster apprehend a Dust thief. Even though he escaped, her skills still impressed Headmaster Ozpin and earned her a spot in his school. She desperately prayed to the gods for the first time in her life, hoping she would be able to explain everything.

For reasons Jaune did not know, the girls had been taken to a different interrogation room than the one he shared with the other four boys.

"So, if I am to understand correctly, you were spending a night at the club, hoping to enjoy yourself, when Ms. Xiao-Long suddenly began to destroy everything?" Ozpin calmly recited what Jaune had just told him, processing the information.

"Y-yes. I still don't know exactly why she was there or what she wanted, I just wanted to get out of there." So, maybe Jaune's story wasn't entirely truthful. As far as the grey-haired man knew, he was just a regular guy with some cash to burn, hoping to enjoy some of Vale's nightlife when Junior's club was suddenly invaded.

Speaking of Junior, Jaune wasn't exactly surprised that he was released from the station almost the second he stepped into it. If the man was as well-connected as he claimed, it only seemed natural that no police station in the city would hold him for more than a few minutes.

"It is certainly quite the tale. Ms. Xiao-Long is a curious case, one I've sorted out before, but I'm not interested in the events leading up to the destruction of Mr. Xiong's property, I'm interested in what came after. His club sustained quite a bit of damage. One could only assume there would be casualties, but I've been informed there are no confirmed deaths as of now. There were, however, quite a few men resting safely outside. By any chance, would you happen to be responsible?" Ozpin did not unclasp his hands from in front of his face, keeping his mouth hidden from Jaune and his fellow tablemates.

"U-um, yes? I mean… yes, sir. I made it outside but, it just felt… wrong to leave after that. I knew there were more people in there and I was the only one who could do something to help them. I just… ran in without really thinking about what I was doing. Before I knew it, I had pulled eight guys out of there." Jaune was once again breaking out in a nervous sweat, fearing he was saying all the wrong things. A comforting hand was pressed on his shoulder, the hobo boy to his side giving him a reassuring smile.

"I see. There are not many who would do the same as you, Mr. Arc. Most would have taken the opportunity to get as far away as possible. On behalf of those men, I offer my thanks for your selfless courage. What you did tonight may very well have saved their lives." Ozpin lowered his hands just enough to reveal his warm smile. Jaune was caught off guard, but he had no chance to say anything. Ozpin's attention was already shifting away from him.

"I had come here in the first place because I'd been informed that two of my soon-to-be first year students had been detained. I hoped to sort everything out quickly and resolve the matter, but I must admit, I was rather intrigued when I was told of the others that had been brought in. After some basic descriptions, I found I recognized all of you."

Ozpin reached inside his jacket and withdrew a thick stack of letters. He unceremoniously plopped them onto the table and picked up the envelope on top of the stack. It had already been opened, so Beacon's headmaster had no problems pulling out the letter held inside.

"Mr. Parker, was it? Peter Parker?" To Jaune's left, the boy wearing torn clothes nodded his head. "It was only a few short hours ago that I received this letter via Bullhead delivery from Chief Ghira of Kuo Kuana, informing me you possess both tremendous strength and a desire to learn at my school. Along with it, I was sent a personal letter of recommendation, a small video file proving your abilities, and, of course…" Ozpin picked up and set aside each of the articles he mentioned, finally picking up a large square package, which he dumped out to reveal countless letters. "Dozens of signed statements from the citizens of Kuo Kuana personally vouching for you, both as a fighter and as a person."

Peter was stunned by the sight of the letters. He could see they were written by all different kinds of people. Some had neat handwriting, others were messy. Some were meticulous and proper, others were scribbled childishly and riddled with spelling errors. He had no idea how to respond, not that it mattered, since Ozpin was already moving on.

"And you, Mr. Salazar." It was Rex's turn to perk up. "Around the same time these letters arrived, I found myself receiving a call from General Ironwood of Atlas. According to him, you had been visiting to take a tour of one of Atlas academy's offsite training compounds, only to change your mind and grow a strange construct from your body that granted you the gift of flight. According to one of his students, you hoped to see what Beacon had to offer. Ah, yes, and he would like the student scroll you were gifted to be returned at the earliest convenient time."

Rex wasn't sure what to make of that. If he had to guess, Ironwood had too much pride to admit he had appeared inside his compound and easily left, so he fabricated a story about a college tour gone wrong. Not that he was complaining, since it sounded better than "I technically sort of broke in by accident, stole some precious cargo, then left." Also, Penny apparently told him that he was going to Beacon, not that he was upset about it. It didn't really matter, anyway, and for all he knew, she had some kind of program that prevented her from lying to the General.

Or she was just naive and excitedly told everyone about her cool new friend's plan for the future. It was a 50/50 split, really.

"And you, Mr. Tennyson and Mr. Levin." Ben slightly raised his head while Kevin went right on fiddling with his fingers, not looking up when Ozpin spoke to him. "Three days ago, I received application forms directly from the Headmaster of Oscuro Academy. It seems the two of you joined her combat school only a few months ago, yet have already excelled so much she saw fit to send you straight to the next level of Huntsman training. She had nothing but good things to say about you both. Despite starting many years later than most, you were easily at the top of all your classes, especially combat."

Kevin just smirked with undeserved pride while Ben nervously smiled and scrunched his eyes shut, a small bead of sweat rolling down his face.

"Laid it on a little thick, huh Paradox? Now they'll expect us to be geniuses or something!"

"Y-yeah, that's right." Ben shook off his annoyance and responded as naturally as he could. "We never really stayed anywhere before Oscuro, we just wandered around. At some point, we decided we wanted to do something about the Grimm terrorizing the world."

"Headmaster Whatsername took us in pretty quick. Too bad her classes were so easy. I was bored outta my skull the whole time." Kevin picked up Ben's slack, laying the self-praise on thick. Ozpin just smiled thinly.

"It is rather impressive to graduate from combat school in just six months. That aside, even you, Mr. Arc, are familiar to me." Jaune stiffened, sitting straight up as the focus was on him once again. The blonde woman who had come in with him still said nothing, the permanent glare on her face doing nothing to ease his stress.

"Of course, I am familiar with your father, as is most of Remnant. I had heard that he had settled down and planned to keep his children away from the Huntsman lifestyle. I met your mother as well, long ago. I was surprised to learn her son was picked up from a nightclub. Surely she would not approve." Like a mischievous child, Ozpin teasingly smirked at Jaune, who said nothing. "If you don't mind me asking, I have a feeling you aren't in Vale for a family vacation. Is there a reason for your presence here?"

Jaune's throat suddenly felt bone dry, yet his palms were uncomfortably sweaty. His voice cracked and broke apart when he tried to speak to the patient man. This was the best possible opportunity. Nerves be damned, they wouldn't stop him from saying what needed to be said.

"I came to apply to Beacon, sir. I brought my transcripts with me to hand in, but the gates to Beacon were closed, so I wasn't sure what to do." Half-truths were the best kind of truth at a time like this, that was what Rouge always said when she tried to teach her siblings how to lie.

Unfortunately, the forged documents were not currently with him. They were still safely tucked inside the black briefcase Junior had given him, which was confiscated as soon as he stepped foot in the police station.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued by the unexpected answer.

"Oh? When last I visited Jonathan, he told me he would never allow his children to follow in his footsteps." Jaune's nervous sweat was back with a vengeance. The statement was neutral, no trace of accusation within, yet it still felt dangerous somehow.

"H-he changed his mind. I begged him every day to let me be like him and I guess I finally wore him down. I was really happy I got to him in time. Pretty soon, it would have been too late." A nervous laugh detracted from how believable Jaune's statement was.

"I see. In that case, Glynda? If you would?"

The stern woman at his side turned around and picked up two items off the ground, a plastic shopping bag and a black briefcase.

"I was able to convince the officers here to give me your personal items. Purely to return them, of course." Glynda remained silent, letting Ozpin do the talking while she reached across the table and handed Peter the groceries that apparently belonged to him. The briefcase, on the other hand, was placed in front of Ozpin. "Of course, there simply isn't any time to mail your transcripts in before the deadline. So, if it's alright with you, Mr. Arc, I can inspect them now."

For the first time in this conversation, Jaune did not have to force himself to speak.

"Yes, please do!" Ozpin smiled lightly at the young man's energy, politely nodding as he opened the case.

One at a time, he removed each of the papers, observing each one carefully. Glynda scanned each paper with her eyes from over his shoulder, wanting to see everything for herself. She knew better than anyone that the serious-looking man was rather lax when it came to this part of his job and could not be trusted to catch every small detail.

Minutes ticked by in silence that was only broken by the sound of swishing paper. One document after the other was picked up and looked over, only to be set aside with no change in expression from either of the professors. Jaune felt like a weight was being pressed into his chest as the long seconds crawled by. The tension was killing him and their inexpressive faces didn't help at all. The other boys said nothing, staring up at the ceiling or at their feet while they waited for the conversation to resume.

"Please, please let it be enough. Don't let everything up to now be for nothing. Whatever gods are listening, please let this work!"

After what felt like hours, the final document was set down right in front of Ozpin. He and Glynda shared a contemplative look. While the Headmaster looked pleased, his fellow professor only scoffed, shaking her head at her boss.

"Mr. Arc, I have to say... these are quite unremarkable. Most students have at least one field they excel in, but you seem to possess very average skills across the board. To sum it up in one word, I would be inclined to choose 'mediocre'." Jaune sunk into his seat, fearing the worst after such a brutally honest verbal beatdown.

"However, the downside to these tests is that there are certain things that are not examined in combat school. A shame, really, seeing as they are often the most important things in a Huntsman's line of work. In any case, your papers all appear to be in order. While I admit I would have likely passed you by had they been sent through the normal means… the events of tonight have led me to a different conclusion." Like a rocket, Jaune bolted upright, his momentary descent into depression and hopelessness no longer relevant. In a single heartbeat, he flew right back into the world of light.

"I do not believe these results accurately depict who you are, Mr. Arc. I believe there is more to you than can be explained on a slip of paper. A kind soul, a selfless soul, one who will put himself at risk. Those are the kind of Huntsman Remnant truly needs. What I see is a young man with unpolished talent, talent that can be refined and brought to its fullest potential... provided the proper care and training is provided."

For the first time since he entered the room, Ozpin rose from his seat, taking his cane in his left hand and extending his right to the stunned knight.

"I would be honored to welcome a bright young hunter into my school."

Jaune stared at the hand in disbelief. He… he had said yes. Inexplicably, unbelievably, the man carrying Jaune's fate in his hands had actually said yes.

His heart was beating unbelievably fast. All his blood went to his head, turning his ears and face bright red. Unable to contain his happiness, Jaune quite literally jumped out of his chair and snatched the Headmaster's hand with both of his, shaking it vigorously.

"Thank you, thank you so much, sir! You have no idea how much this means to me!" If Ozpin was bothered by the manhandling of his appendage, he did not show it. Another warm smile was his only response.

As Jaune continued to shake his hand, Ozpin turned to the other four boys.

"Of course, the same offer stands for all of you. Mr. Parker, Mr. Tennyson, Mr. Levin, you all received such glowing letters of recommendation I would be a fool to deny you entry. And you, Mr. Salazar, had General Ironwood himself so interested, he personally gave you a tour of his training site. That alone is all the proof I need that you deserve a place at Beacon. If you so desire, all of you are welcome in my school."

Naturally, a chorus of "thank yous" followed. Jaune released Ozpin's hand long enough to allow him to receive a handshake from Peter and simple fist bumps from Ben, Rex, and Kevin. Surprisingly, the relaxed man seemed quite happy to bump fists instead of shaking hands.

"Now then, you should all be returning home. The term does not begin for another five days, so there is still plenty of time before-"

"Actually, uh…"

"Well, about that…"

"Er, the thing is…"

Everyone except Jaune began nervously rubbing their hands, looking anywhere but the old Headmaster.

"""I, uh, don't have a home right now."""

"..."

Ozpin had no words. He truly hadn't expected this.

"I flew straight from Atlas. I don't even have any money to rent a place."

"We just got here in our cars, and we don't have money either."

"I'm… between homes right now."

"... Hm, well then. Glynda, how soon can-"

"I'll make the arrangements." The stern woman sighed deeply, pulling out her personal scroll to put in a call to her coworkers.

"Officially, the school will not be open for another few days, but it wouldn't do to have my future students live on the streets until then. The dorms are still being furnished, but we have bedding available and more than enough room in the auditorium if you require a place to sleep."

Nobody, not even Peter, the professional hobo, turned down the kind offer.

Outside:

"WHOOOOOOOO!" Now standing in front of the police station with his new companions, Jaune hollered with joy, both arms stretched towards the sky.

"Tone it down, will ya?" Kevin jammed a finger in his ear and twisted it a few times. He wasn't so sure he liked this blonde guy, he was too loud and too wussy.

"I still can't believe we're all here to be Beacon students. I mean, what are the odds of that?" Peter stretched his tired body. He was way past his bedtime, all the night's excitement exacting its toll on him.

"Oh, yeah. You gonna be alright, Jaune? Ozpin probably won't care if you come stay at Beacon too." Ben worriedly turned to the slightly older teen, who just shook his head.

"It's alright, I've got a motel I'm staying at. I wanted to see more of Vale before I got to Beacon anyway, so it's all good." As exciting as it sounded to be allowed early access to the academy of his dreams, part of him felt like the charm would be ruined if he didn't see it for the first time when he walked through the doors to begin his life as a student. Waiting would suck, but Jaune could be patient for another five days.

"But, there's something I still don't get." Walking slightly in front of the group, Jaune faced each of the four boys, curiosity written all over him. "Back there, you guys kept going on about portals and alternate universes and aliens. What was that all about?" Peter, Ben, Rex, and Kevin, all strange names Jaune had never heard of. Faced with the odd accusation, none of them looked particularly distressed or nervous. If anything, their faces were expectant. "Don't tell me, are you actually-!"

"HEEEEEYYY!" A familiar voice cut off Jaune's question. From the police station, two familiar girls emerged. The shorter of the two was excitedly waving as she ran over while the other one walked over with her arms crossed and a frown on her face.

"Ruby?" Peter was the one who asked, turning around to face the red reaper.

"We finally finished explaining everything to Headmaster Ozpin! I was so scared he was gonna kick us out, but he was so nice about everything! And you guys! He told us you were also going to Beacon! We're gonna be schoolmates!" As if the events of the nights had never happened, Ruby was chatting the boys up like they were old friends.

Yang lingered behind, still looking cross. She clearly wanted to say something but was having trouble forcing it out. Biting her lip in frustration, she whipped her head up, facing the large group with a bright smile.

"Hey, you, the blonde guy!" Not expecting to be addressed, Jaune pointed at himself, earning an amused laugh from Yang. "Yeah, you, lady killer. I just wanted to say, you know, sorry for trying to kick your ass earlier. I thought you were one of Junior's guys and well… I guess I might've gotten a little too much 'Yang' for my buck!"

"..."

"..."

"..."
Something about this scene was familiar. Painfully familiar. A single cough was heard, though it was unclear who the culprit was.

"Aw come on, you guys are just a tough audience! That one was gold!" Yang was the only one laughing at the terrible joke.

"So… you're also going to Beacon?" It seemed Jaune was wrong on both counts. Yang obviously wasn't a fully fledged Huntress, and he doubted Ozpin would have allowed her into his school if she really was a criminal. Whatever all that stuff at the nightclub was, there must have been a reason for it all. She couldn't be a truly bad person, she had personally carried all those guys out of the nightclub. After she knocked them out, of course. Jaune wasn't totally sure how he felt about her yet, he only knew that the last thing he wanted was to do something that would earn her ire.

"Oh yeah, fresh from combat school and ready to kick some butt!" Yang excitedly crashed her fists together, smirking viciously.

"Maybe we'll get to be on the same team!" Ruby jumped up next to her sister, latching onto her side like a koala.

"Teams? I guess it makes sense for those to be a thing. You think maybe we'll all end up together?" Ben considered the little Reaper's statement. He would like to be on the same team as Kevin, if possible, but it could be nice starting over with new people. It had taken a while to get used to Rook, but even he had become a welcome presence after a while.

"Don't expect me to hold back when it's time for sparring. You still owe me a good fight." Yang lightly smacked Jaune in the arm and rested her elbow on his shoulder, leaning in close to his ear. "You're not getting away next time. I want to see what you can do."

Not used to having such an attractive girl so close to him, Jaune flinched away like he had just been shot. Once again, Yang laughed at his enjoyable reaction.

"Oh relax, lady killer. You're not my type, anyway." Somehow, the rejection hurt more than a bullet, even if Jaune wasn't interested in the first place.

While the pair of blondes had their own discussion, Ruby had wandered over to Kevin and was excitedly asking him about how he coated himself in metal. Unfortunately for her, he wasn't so willing to share information about himself. When Ruby pouted over his noncompliance, Ben chuckled and started teasing his best friend. Rex jumped in, using his limited knowledge of Kevin to mock him further. As a fight threatened to break out, Peter nervously stepped in and defused the situation, while Ruby was already bugging Kevin again.

"These guys… I don't think I'll hate spending the next few years with them." A smile grew on Jaune's face as he watched the chaotic scene play out. It reminded him of home, of the fights his sisters would have when their parents weren't there to mediate. It all just felt so… warm.

"Grrrrghgll."

A strange, inhuman noise put a stop to all conversation.

"Ah, sorry about that. I haven't eaten since yesterday." Rex apologized half-heartedly. In response, Peter pulled a half-empty plastic case filled with strawberries from his shopping bag.

"Here. You probably need 'em more than I do. I've got chocolate chip cookies, too, if you want those." The good-hearted hero offered up his food with kind eyes. A grateful Rex accepted it with a "thank you", and a certain reaper noticeably perked up when she heard her trigger words.

"Did you say chocolate chip cookies!?" It was more of a demand than a question. The short girl jumped in front of Peter and leaned in close to his face, her eyes hungry. Even with his vast experience with women, he still couldn't remain totally calm when somebody jumped straight in his face looking like a starving wolf.

"U-um, yeah? You want one?" Feeling uncomfortable, Peter reached into his shopping bag and pulled out one of the individually wrapped cookies he had bought. Ruby snatched it up and tore the plastic wrapper open like she hadn't eaten in days. Yang sighed at her sister's actions while the boys all looked on in wonder as Ruby inhaled the entire cookie like a vacuum cleaner.

"... Now that's just not right. Make sure she doesn't roll over any loose nails." Kevin commented sarcastically, earning a chuckle from Yang and an indignant "Mmrgh!" from Ruby, whose mouth was still full of cookie.

Peter looked into his bag and realized cookies were all he had left. The bread and cheese were long gone and Rex had already devoured the entire box of strawberries. Well, it wasn't like those cookies were meant to be emergency rations, so… why not?

"You guys all want one? I've got enough for everybody."

After such a long night, all the assembled teens were feeling pretty hungry, especially Ben and Kevin, who hadn't eaten anything but gumballs for the past twenty hours.

After a round of thanks, everyone sat on the front step of the police station with a cookie in their grasp, even Ruby, who had received the extra cookie Peter had. Realizing this would be her last one, she ate it much more slowly.

Jaune felt pretty damn good about himself right now. Everything was going right. He had been accepted by Headmaster Ozpin himself, in person no less! After a rough start, he'd made some new friends, and, with any luck, they'd be waiting for him at Beacon when the term began. Everything was coming up Jaune Arc.

He didn't notice that he had begun to tune out the conversation around him, his mind beginning to wander.

"Oh man, Vert. I've got so much to tell you. You're gonna be so proud of me when you find out I got accepted. I promise, I won't let this be the end. It's just the start of everything. Step 1: Beacon. Step 2: Graduation. Step 3:... Be a hero."

Finally breaking free from his thoughts, Jaune shook his head and leaned down to take a bite of his cookie.

"..."

There was nothing in his hand except a few loose crumbs scattered on his fingers. He was only confused for a moment before he remembered who he was sitting next to.

"... Ruby…"

"Yeth Jwuan?" Yep, mouth full of chocolate chip cookie. Her own? Probably not.

Right then, having sisters prepared him for this. Time for a well-placed noogie.

"NOOOOOO!" Even her semblance of speed could not save Ruby from the death grip Jaune locked her in, struggling in vain to escape the feeling of his knuckles pressing into her skull. She helplessly reached a hand out to her sister, wordlessly begging for help. She received none.

"Sorry, sis. I told you your cookie obsession would screw you over one day. Consider this a learning experience." That stupid, mischievous grin irked Ruby. Now she was in pain and she was angry.

"TRAITOR!" The angry, adorable shout was followed by the sound of multiple people laughing at the red reaper's undesirable predicament.

Interrogation Room:

"Ozpin, what are you planning?" Glynda was not happy. She glared coldly at her boss, standing in front of the only door leading out of the room.

"Why, what could you be referring to, Glynda?" Ozpin just smiled at her and tilted his head to the side like a curious dog.

"Don't act clueless. You and I both know there was clearly something wrong with those transcripts. I don't believe Mr. Arc has completed the proper training to be granted access to Beacon, and you don't either. Accepting him would be not only dangerous, but irresponsible. Explain yourself."

"..."

"Ozpin." Glynda pressed further, her eyes narrowing even more.

"... Let's just say I have a feeling. Don't worry Glynda, I'm sure Mr. Arc will be fine. Perhaps he'll surprise you. Only time will tell." Ozpin said no more. He walked to the door and Glynda stepped aside to let him through with a sigh. Her old friend was irresponsible, unreasonable, and baselessly optimistic... but he tended to be right about these things.

"... Fine." Growling to herself, Glynda followed him out of the cramped interrogation room, shutting the door behind her.

.

.

.

I'm gonna be honest, I was thinking of Earl and Randy's motel room from "My Name is Earl" when I was describing Jaune's living situation. Such a good show, I miss it so much.

Somehow, these chapters just keep getting longer. I started this one 3 days ago and I kept passing out trying to finish it. I considered breaking it into smaller chapters, but I decided against it. The only things that really needed to happen were Jaune meeting Junior, Yang's club invasion, and the boys meeting Ozpin. It seemed silly to break that up, so I just threw it all in one chapter. Some parts were kind of rushed, like Rex meeting up with the others, but I think it's pretty decent overall. Not a masterpiece chapter, sure, but it serves its purpose of completing the prologue.

With that, we can get started. With the main series begun, we can start building up the plot, the world, and the relationships. And I know Ruby fought Torchwick after the Yellow Trailer, but it was better for the story to reverse the timeline a bit, so I went for it. The real question here is what Kevin will do when he puts two and two together and realizes Yang was the one who blew up his car. She better keep Bumblebee close, that's for sure.

Now, it might be a bit before the next chapter comes. I haven't updated my other story in 4 months, so I should probably drop a chapter or two before I come back to this one. At most, it'll be… I want to say 8 days before I can get back to working on this story. I haven't decided on exactly how I want to publish between the two yet. I was thinking I'd just update one story, then the other, and just go back and forth, but we'll see.

In any case, when we return, it's time for entrance exams. Remnant isn't ready for this many main characters to be in one place. Let's hope the world doesn't blow up.

Thank you for reading and remember to leave a review.

Aren signing off.