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.

10. A Beautiful Day of Sadness

I'm on the grind now. I've finally gotten over the annual sore throat, so I'm on top of my game. Maybe next year, I won't have to deal with it at all. … Actually, nah, what am I talking about? The yearly sore throat is iconic. Winter wouldn't be complete without it. Leaving that aside, this is sort of the second half of the last chapter.

Not gonna lie, this chapter's kind of all over the place. Splitting it up across multiple chapters would put a lot of unnecessary delay on the story, but putting it all together makes for kind of an awkward read, so I had to choose the lesser of two evils. It's a little disjointed, but maybe that's not a bad thing in this case.

Our poor boys aren't feeling too great right now, so maybe they need a nice distraction. Or two. Or however many come up. Let's see how they feel after just getting through the day.

I do not own RWBY, Spider-Man, and version of Ben 10, or Generator Rex

.

.

.

Sunlight filtered in through the window, staining the carpet yellow. The curtains were pulled aside, nothing to block the powerful glow except Peter's uniform hanging in the window, leaving it free to disrupt the sleep of the resting boys. Some of them groaned in annoyance, rubbing their tired eyes or flipping over to avoid the light.

"Ggh, already? It feels like we just went to sleep five minutes ago." Peter sat up in his bed, digging the rheum out of the corners of his eyes to help his body wake up. A quick look at the clock hanging above the doorway revealed it was currently seven in the morning. "Guys, wake up. We have class in fifteen minutes."

His tired voice was barely above a whisper, but it was enough to stir his resting teammates. Ben and Rex made it clear they were not happy, pointedly burrowing their faces into their pillows in a final show of disobedience before slowly lifting themselves out of bed. Jaune took a moment to yawn, then practically threw himself out of bed and dashed straight to the bathroom. The leader of the newly-formed team emerged a few seconds later with a toothbrush in his mouth.

"Alright, come on guys, up! We've got a big day ahead of us. The sooner we're up and moving, the better. Team JPTR can't be late on the first day." His voice was loud and excited, a sharp contrast to his haggard appearance. The circles under his slightly red eyes and the slur in his speech did not match his pasted-on excitement.

"You say that, but you look like you're about to pass out, dude." Ben sent his leader a pointed look as he slung his legs off his bed. He could clearly see the blonde boy swaying drunkenly from side-to-side, his own exhaustion threatening to bring him crashing to the ground even as he was brushing his teeth and pulling on the dress pants that were part of Beacon's uniform.

"Let's just get this over with. Whose idea was it to put first period before breakfast. Is that a crime? That's definitely a crime, it's gotta be." Rex complained loudly while he pulled open one of their dresser's drawers and extracted his own uniform. He didn't like the idea of ditching his signature look for school of all things, but he disliked the idea of being kicked out of class to go back to the dorm room and change even more.

The walls were relatively thin, allowing the boys to hear the loudest of their neighbors as they slowly began to pull themselves out of bed and get ready for the day ahead of them. Bits of pieces of slurred conversation, the opening and closing of dresser drawers, and childish complaints just barely filtered through the walls.

Honestly, forget class before breakfast. Who was the one that seriously thought it was a good idea to hold classes the day after a major event like Initiation was over? That was the real crime.

In any case, it was obvious nobody was happy about this situation. Rex and Ben were seriously dragging their feet, slowly pulling on their uniforms at a rate of one piece of clothing per minute, and for all his obviously fake excitement, even Jaune was clearly longing to crawl back into bed.

"Come on, you guys are being too negative. It's just school, you know." Peter seemed the least put-out by their early rise schedule. There was no pause in his movements as he climbed out of bed and stretched his body a few times. After bending over backwards to crack his back, he looked completely refreshed, no less awake than he had been yesterday. "It'll be the same as any other school day. We'll sit through a few math and history lectures, maybe a couple science classes, and then we're free. Maybe we can go on that shopping trip we planned."

Peter reached a hand out to the uniform he had hung in the window the night before. As he hoped, doing so had done wonders for the wrinkled fabric, though there was a thin layer of dust covering the soft fabric. Not like that was anything to worry about. A bit of dust never hurt anybody.

"But, I have to admit, I've never worn a school uniform before. Heh, maybe it'll be kind of fu-"

*CRASH*

With no warning, the door leading out of their shared room suddenly exploded, spraying hundreds of wooden shards everywhere. Whatever blasted through the solid hunk of wood smashed straight into Peter's uniform, crashed through the window, and sailed into the courtyard outside surrounded by a rain of glass shards and wood chips.

In the brief moment of excitement, Peter backflipped out of the object's trajectory and stuck to the ceiling above Jaune's bed, Ben dived under his own bed and popped out the Omnitrix's code cylinder, Rex instinctively pulled out Block Party and shielded himself, and Jaune just about had a heart attack when something large flew by an inch in front of his face, almost knocking the toothbrush from his mouth as it went.

Silence hung over the entire dormitory. Not even the occupants of the other rooms were moving anymore. Team JPTR's door was blown apart, their window was destroyed, and all four of the members were trying to figure out what just happened.

"... Eh-he-he, oopsie?" A guilty chuckle came from their ruined door. The boys turned their heads towards the sound, spotting a head comically poking out from the side of the frame. Ginger hair topped the face of a smiling girl. Right underneath her was another head, this one belonging to an exasperated looking boy.

"Nora, no more 'cool tricks'." Ren sighed dejectedly, like he was far too used to saying that exact line.

"But Renny, I was challenged! He bet me I couldn't land a triple spin flip off the bed." Nora's heated protest came as soon as her partner was done speaking, with a raised fist and everything. Quickly, though, the fist was lowered along with her voice. "Not my fault it slipped out of my hand on the second flip. I'm not at my best unless I have pancakes in me."

"No more, Nora."

"But whyyyyy!?"

Ben was the first to move towards the hall. It was not only their door that was destroyed. Directly across the hall, the door leading to Team PVRL's room was also broken apart, giving him an unobstructed view of a frazzled Pyrrha frantically looking around for a solution to the problem. The poor girl hadn't even finished getting dressed or doing her hair yet. Her gorgeous red locks were messy and frayed, and she was only half-dressed in the school uniform, the blazer of which did not match very well with the green shorts she evidently slept in.

While she apologized profusely to Team JPTR and Ren negotiated peace with Nora, Kevin was nonchalantly getting dressed in the corner of their room like nothing had even happened.

"... Kev, why do I feel like this is your fault?" Ben sighed as his best friend pulled his uniform's pants on with a satisfied smirk.

"What? She pulled out this giant hammer, sayin' she was the 'Queen of the Castle' or somethin' like that. Isn't it only fair the Queen has to prove she earned that name? What kind of ruler can't even do a trick?" Kevin shrugged off the baseless accusation cruelly forced on him by his old acquaintance.

He had never been a fan of mornings or school, but the seasoned thug seemed perfectly happy to throw on his uniform and get ready for class, like something had put him in a good mood. He was even the first one to leave, throwing a small bag over his shoulder and humming to himself while the rest of his team dealt with the damage Nora had caused. He paid no mind to the half-destroyed door before him, calmly stepping over it like it was a mere stone in his path before strolling down the hallway to his first class of the day.

"Ah, w-wait! We need to clean this up before-!" Pyrrha tried to get him to stop, but Kevin wasn't listening to his leader at all. He happily marched down the hallway, ignoring other students coming out of their rooms to ask what was going on as he made his way to class. The Spartan girl groaned with displeasure, running a hand down her face tiredly. This was not how she wanted her first day at Beacon to start.

Peter wasn't at all focused on the damage in the hallway. Instead, he was slumped against his dorm's window frame, staring with dead eyes into the courtyard. His brand new school uniform was now covered in dirt, buried under a giant hammer, and marred by rips and tears after experiencing a shower of broken glass and wood chips.

"... Guess I'm back to only having one outfit, then." The poor boy glanced down at the clothes he was wearing, the ones he had been wearing for nearly two weeks now.

And he really was looking forward to trying on a school uniform, too.

Jaune had not moved ever since Nora's hammer had flown past his face. He was still trying to calm his beating heart and come to terms with the fact he had almost died before even making it to his first class.

"This… is fine. This is fine. We had a rough start, but everything will be better going forward."

Pulling the toothbrush from his mouth with a shaking hand, Jaune went back to the bathroom, washed his mouth out, and finished getting dressed. If he just looked at the positives, things weren't as bad as they could be. At least… at least nobody got hurt, and there wasn't too much property damage. At least it could be worse.

A bad start didn't mean anything. He would fix this problem and then carry on with his day. He was sure that once they got to class, everything would be much better. They just needed time to get into the swing of things, then everything would be a breeze.

Four Hours Later:

"The core facet of Remnant's history lies in the relations of its people dating back to the period before the Great War, when the king of Vale…

"..."

.

.

"Some studies suggest the Grimm are a hivemind sharing memories and experiences, while others suggest they are each capable of individual thought. Recently, a study comparing the habits of Boarbatusks and Beringels concluded that…

"..."

.

.

"It is very important that you keep your lightning and fire Dust vials separate until the control compound has been purified fully. Only then will you add the fourteen grams of the base solution and then mix in three drops of 0.1% ice Dust concentrate. After you have run the new solution through the centrifuge rotor…

"..."

.

.

"... No."

"That wasn't too bad. As first days go, I guess I can't complain too much."

It seemed that even a prestigious academy like Beacon actually did respect just how little its students would be capable - and willing - to pay attention in class after such a major event as Initiation. And so, the first day of class was loaded down with concessions to make it easier on the first-year students.

"No, no, no…"

In the first place, classes ended several hours earlier than they normally would. And, as for the classes themselves, even just calling them "classes" was being incredibly generous. Every lecture was more like an extended review of old material that every student should have already known before arriving at Beacon. Even the professors blatantly admitted that their classes would be glorified review sessions.

"How can this…"

The biggest mercy was that combat class was cut out entirely for the day, which was met with mixed feelings. Some, like Peter, were perfectly happy to put off having to fight their classmates. Others, like Yang, were very much displeased, and they made sure everybody knew it.

Still, overall, it had been an extremely easy day. Most hadn't even taken it seriously, instead deciding to sleep through every lecture and plan out what they wanted to do once they were free. Today was Saturday, and tomorrow would be Sunday, the only day of the week no classes were held. Evidently, Beacon reserved Bullheads every weekend for students who wished to spend their free time in Vale. The only rule provided was that anybody who chose to pass the day in the city must return to the school by 8PM.

Rough beginning aside, it really wasn't all that bad as long as you could handle a bit of boredom.

"... I'm screwed."

Although, while the day was easy on paper, there had been a few… complications. Namely, a few select students felt the burn of these minor disasters.

"You know, you could have stuck around, Kev. It was your fault anyway."

"Good luck provin' that in court, Tennyson. The hammer ain't mine, and I didn't even touch it."

Naturally, the matter of destroyed school property had caused problems for the two teams involved. Professor Goodwitch had made sure every member of Teams JPTR and PVRL, save for one, picked up every last fragment of wood and glass themselves before she used her semblance to repair the doors. Kevin was long gone before she arrived, and Team RWBY had rushed to class the moment they saw the stern woman stomping furiously down the hall, leaving Team JPTR and most of Team PVRL alone in being forty minutes late to class.

Of course, Kevin, ever the model student, was waiting there for them with his feet kicked up on the seat in front of him. How appalled he had been, when he realized his trusted friends and teammates had slept through most of their first class.

Thankfully, Professor Port was more than happy to restart whatever long-winded story he had been telling before their arrival.

"Can we stop talkin' about school already? I just want to get this trip over with so I can get back to the library. Ugh, Gwen would have a stroke if she heard me say that."

Furthermore, Peter learned that Beacon was conveniently experiencing some kind of delivery issue with spare uniforms, and a cosmically elaborate combination of spontaneous electrical fires, inexplicable moth swarms, and rat nests bizarrely appearing overnight in the supply closets made all of the spares in his size and his size only unusable. It would be at least a month before he would be able to get a new one, leaving him no choice but to come to class in his hobo clothes, AKA, his only clothes.

"..."

Lastly, there was Jaune, who was left in an even worse state than he had been in the night before. Despite telling himself all night as he was falling asleep that he would stay positive, and despite how committed he had been to staying true to that self-made promise when he awoke, it was simply impossible.

It was difficult to remain positive when one was faced with the reality that they understood absolutely nothing.

History with Doctor Oobleck went over his head. Grimm Studies with Professor Port left him utterly baffled. Dust Lab was filled with strange words and terminology he didn't even recognize. Even the free session in the workshop was wasted on him with his complete lack of experience with doing work on weapons.

There was a certain point in many students' school careers when they knew beyond a doubt they were done in one class or another. There would be no final push, there was no extra credit to save them, and there was no hope of crossing the "pass" threshold even if they got a perfect score on their final test. All that was left was to patiently wait to be told that they had failed.

This was that point, before anything had even begun.

"You could at least pretend you aren't dreading this, Kev. Come on, we can finally take some time to explore while we're gone. Maybe we'll find some cool stuff."

At the rate the knight was going, standing out was a pipe dream. The best he could hope for was to simply not fail, and they hadn't even gotten to any real lessons yet, let alone combat class. It wasn't as if Jaune had thought everything would be a cakewalk after getting into Beacon, but… he had at least hoped it wouldn't be this bad! Surely, there was no way he could be faring this badly! He might not have been an actual Honors Student, not before and definitely not now, but his grades hadn't been terrible in the public school back home.

"... I guess that's just the gap between us. Everybody else here has been preparing for this for years. Of course I'll be stuck playing catch-up."

"Hey, Jaune? You still with us?"

The leader of Teamp JPTR was vaguely aware of fingers snapping in front of his face. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he found himself momentarily surprised by his surroundings. How long was his body running on autopilot? Apparently, he had ended up outside at some point, on Beacon's landing pad surrounded by Bullheads.

"Y-yeah, sorry, I was just spacing out a little." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and gave his team an apologetic smile.

"Freaking out already, Lady Killer? Don't panic just yet. You still owe me a fight once combat class starts up." Unaware of how close she was to the truth, Yang clapped a hand on Jaune's shoulder as she good-heartedly teased him.

Yeah… he definitely needed to stop running on autopilot. Not only was he, along with the rest of Team JPTR gathered on the landing pad, they were also accompanied by Team RWBY, as well as Team PVRL. Now that he thought of it, he wasn't even sure why they were there.

"Right, I'll… keep that in mind. … H-hey, weird question, but… what are we doing here again?"

"You forgot? We were telling you about it yesterday, we need to get some clothes." Peter glared down at the ripped shirt and tattered pants he was wearing. "Aside from our uniforms, we don't have any spare clothes. And I don't even have a uniform anymore!"

"As much as I love the jacket, I at least want to grab some extra pairs of underwear." Ben added. "A quick shopping trip in Vale is exactly what we need."

"You've been wearing the same underwear this whole time?" Blake grimaced at the JPTR boys.

"Savages." Weiss joined in on the public shaming, her disgusted expression making the boys feel small.

"S-shut up. Why are you coming, anyway? We didn't invite you to come along." Rex pointed an accusing finger at Team RWBY. He came off ruder than he meant to, but it was rather important he and the others remained alone once they reached the city.

"Team building exercise." If anybody else had said it, those words might have been convincing. For some reason, though, coming from Yang's mouth, they felt like a lie. What were the odds she just wanted to slack off and had talked her team leader into letting them evacuate Beacon for the day?

There was no need to ask why Team PVRL was there. They probably just tagged along with Kevin, who actually was invited.

"That… might be nice actually. Maybe some time to just relax will help me calm down." Jaune began to consider the benefits of spending a casual afternoon in the bustling city of Vale, doing something mundane as shopping for clothes. Was it better to relax now, or would that only be a pointless waste of time? Hm, this was a difficult problem.

The only girl not grimacing was Ruby, who seemed preoccupied with something else. Her eyes were fixed squarely on one person.

"What's wrong Pyrrha? You look worried." The little reaper had noticed early on that the famous fighter had been anxiously rubbing her arms, like something was bothering her.

The redhead looked surprised that somebody had noticed her behavior. "O-oh, it's nothing. I'm just not used to going out with so many people. That, and, well… I didn't expect to be going out so soon. I had planned to spend the day studying old material to make sure I haven't forgotten anything. I'm sorry if I worried you."

"For real? Girl, you need to calm down. The books will still be waiting for you after we're done kicking back." Yang wasted no time reprimanding her foolish classmate for daring to think of studying while time off was available.

Weiss instantly pounced on the opportunity to reprimand her teammate. "Of course you would say that. It never hurts to spend time bettering yourself, no matter how confident you are."

"Really? They both looked pretty sure of themselves the whole time we were in class. If anybody would be fine without studying, I figured it would be Pyrrha and Weiss. Isn't studying kind of pointless for people like them, especially this early in the year? Hm… bettering yourself, huh?"

Normally, Jaune would have been perfectly happy to just panic. His usual strategy of allowing himself to panic until he sat down for an adrenaline-filled, stress-fueled study session the night before a test hadn't steered him wrong so far, if his mostly consistent record of B's and C's were anything to go by. He had even landed an A- a few times. Only once or twice, but they were undeniably on his record.

Using the past as proof of credibility, it was fair to say that method of doing things could technically make everything work out.

But…

"... Not this time. Good students, good leaders don't wait until the last minute. People who are so incredible they stand out from everybody else don't panic over tests. Studying all the time sounds like it'll be rough, but so what? If that's what it takes, I'll do it. I need to catch up with everybody as soon as possible. I can't lose my mind this easily before I've even started trying."

Maybe this was a sort of sign, a message even. He still had no idea what made her special, but, for some reason, everybody else seemed to think very highly of Pyrrha, like she was some kind of celebrity, and Weiss was obviously a very smart girl. If even they were taking care to set aside spare time for studying …

"'Some time to relax will be good for me'. Yeah, right. Nice excuse."

It was starting to become clear to Jaune what he had to do. There were so many things he would rather do instead, but he was beyond the point of being allowed the luxury of having a choice in his actions. There was only one true - and awful - option. By all measures, the next few weeks would be hell. Catching up on several years worth of material in a few weeks was unheard of. But, it was necessary.

"... 'Stuff I haven't considered', huh? I guess I have to give you that one, Rouge. I really should have considered how far behind I'd actually be." Jaune muttered so quietly, there was no way the others could have heard him. He sighed pitifully. "No choice, I've got to fix that myself. Feeling sorry for myself won't take care of anything."

There wasn't a single easy way out of this. He couldn't ask for help learning what should have been basic knowledge among his classmates without drawing suspicion, nor could he risk sparring with any of them. He certainly could not ask for tutoring sessions with the teachers, lest he directly show Beacon's educators how hopeless he was. The only real option was to do it all himself. Study, train, work himself to the bone under the guise of a diligent student.

To this end, he was about to be alone.

"Jaune, what's the holdup? You coming, amigo?" Rex waved his leader over. The blonde boy had spaced out once again without even realizing it.

The others were already starting to board the nearest Bullhead. Apparently, the shopping trip was beginning. It was probably a safe bet to say that wasn't where the day would end. A bunch of guys getting clothes? They would be done in thirty minutes, tops. That left several hours to explore the city, hitting up any stores that caught their interest. With a large group, something as simple as that would probably be a lot of fun, a welcome distraction from school and responsibilities, as well as a good chance for the new teams to strengthen their bonds.

It sounded like so much fun.

"... Sorry guys, but I really want to hit the ground running, you know? I think Pyrrha might have had a point about staying sharp. I can't slack off just because I made it into Beacon, or I'll start to slip." Jaune could see the disappointment in Rex's eyes. Behind him, Ben and Kevin exchanged a look and Peter was already beginning to get out of his seat, no doubt to offer to stay so his leader wouldn't be alone. "B-but! I know you guys were looking forward to going back to Vale, so don't let me stop you. I'd feel bad if you stayed behind to study with me." Jaune hurriedly continued, pausing Peter's inevitable invitation to keep him company, doing an uncharacteristically good job hiding his frantic inner thoughts.

Regardless, he could tell his friends were disappointed. Complaints would be coming his way in just a few seconds, no doubt accompanied by logical statements like "There's no need to work so hard this early." How badly he wanted to agree.

It wasn't just them, either. Ruby also looked like she wanted to say something, as did the usually reserved Pyrrha.

"Come on 'leader', your team's morale is getting low."

"Seriously, it's fine. I'll be okay by myself, I promise. I'll be waiting for you in the dorm when you get back. I've got to work hard, y'know? What kind of leader would I be if I slacked off so easily?" Jaune cracked an intentionally exaggerated smile and threw on a dramatic voice. "As leader of Team JPTR, I hereby order you to go and have some fun today. We can all get back to work together tomorrow."

At least Rex didn't look disappointed anymore. Now he only looked exasperated. The tanned boy groaned loudly. "Tomorrow? But Sundays are our days off!"

"Not for Team JPTR. Have fun today, because we'll be working hard tomorrow." Before any protests could be made (read: before his leader-like attitude could vanish) Jaune waved goodbye to his team and made a hasty retreat. He feared if he stuck around any longer, he would cave in and find himself unable to resist the comfortable retreat of a day in Vale. While he still looked like a cool, responsible leader, he had to get out of there. Peter, Ben, Kevin, and Rex quietly stared at him as he went. They shared a confused look before Kevin let out a displeased grunt and leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed. Ruby made a small noise of disappointment, but still took a seat with the rest of her team without complaint. The only one not sitting yet was Peter, who lingered a moment longer, a complicated expression on his face.

"So much for our plan, then."

Spending the day in Vale getting to know his team better really did sound amazing. In fact, there was very little else Jaune would rather do. A large part of him was busy calling the rational section of his mind an idiot for passing up such an opportunity.

Even still, rationality won out. He simply didn't have time for such things. The sooner he got to work, the better. Years of schooling had to be crammed into his head. There was no sense in putting it off, no matter how appealing that sounded.

There would be time later. After he caught up, after he learned the lesson material, after he stopped being useless, there would be time to have fun with everybody.

Jaune continued planning out his next move as he gathered what he would need. What he had told the others wasn't exactly a lie, they would find him in their dorm when they returned, but that wasn't where his day would be ending. After asking around a bit once classes ended, the foolish knight learned that Beacon, surprisingly, did not restrict its students from using the library after curfew. Perhaps the generous exception existed so that students could study as much as they liked before important tests. The reasons weren't really important. All Jaune knew was that he had an opportunity.

He had already planned to spend the entire night studying in the library. Today would be Grimm Studies, the next day would be History, and after that he would find a secluded place to practice fighting by himself. Maybe the roof of the dorms would work. With any luck, he would learn enough in the first week to at least stand on the same level as the lower performing students in the first year, and then he could begin working more closely with his team and classmates without fear of looking completely incompetent.

The very loose, shaky plan was taking shape. It had only taken about five minutes to come up with, but instead of seeing this as a point of concern, Jaune saw it as a good thing. To come up with a plan that was even half-way decent so quickly meant there was plenty of time to think up improvements while he worked with what he already had. The underprepared student forced himself to grin despite how much dread he felt for his pending, backbreaking workload.

"That's the Huntsman life, huh? Better get used to it, Jaune."

After twenty minutes of gathering supplies, he was back in Team JPTR's dorm room. Closing the repaired door behind him, he set down a tall stack of books on one of the humble, wood desks provided for every room. A quick trip to the library yielded a great many textbooks that would hopefully assist him in his quest to catch up with the other students. The foolish knight's long day of studying would begin with "A Modern Record of Grimm Species". That sounded promising enough. When classes resumed, he would make sure to talk to each of his teachers to find out what books they would personally recommend.

"Hard to believe everybody else already knows this stuff." Jaune cautiously flipped through the book, already feeling light-headed from the great many diagrams and anatomical breakdowns on every page. His confidence was already slipping away from him. "I guess that's what I should've expected from a bunch of Huntsmen-in-train-"

Pausing, Jaune shook his head in disappointment.

"Stop using that as an excuse, Jaune. It's not like the others just knew this stuff right from the start, they had to learn too."

Not putting his fate off any longer, Jaune flipped open one of his notebooks and turned to the first page of the book of Grimm.

"This is gonna be a long day."

Vale:

Vale was quite literally next door to Beacon, so it was difficult to understand how it could possibly take nearly forty minutes to reach the capital city by flying. Even if there was some kind of airspace bylaw restricting how fast Bullheads could travel when in close proximity to cities, it still felt like the trip took far too long. After finally disembarking the cramped vehicle they had been trapped in for so long, the large group of students now stood before a relatively busy street debating where they should go first.

The word "debating" was used very lightly here, of course.

Ruby was practically bursting with excitement. "It feels like it's been so long since I was in Vale. Ooh, I barely even got to look around last time! Where should we go first?"

"Clothes shopping." Ben replied evenly.

"We could go to an ice cream shop, or a movie theater, or a-"

"Clothes shopping." Rex cut in.

"Or what if-"

"Clothes." Kevin stated with finality.

"You were actually serious about that?! Uuuuuuggghh, you sound like Yang! Come on, we've got a whole day in Vale, we could do literally anything else! Ooh, ooh, what about a wea-"

If you suggest we go to a weapons shop, I will go right back to Beacon without you." Weiss held up a hand to silence her leader, putting a stop to the terrible idea before it could be shared. In response, Ruby pouted childishly.

"But Weeiiiisss! Weapon stores are the coolest places ever! There's so much to look at, so much to explore, you can spend hours there without getting bored! Come on, you have to be a little excited!"

Weiss met her leader's gaze evenly for exactly one second before reluctantly averting her eyes.

"Well… I do need to stock up on spare parts for Myrtenaster." Her voice was quiet, like she didn't want to admit to needing a stop at the proposed destination. "However, I will be leaving as soon as I have what I need!"

Weiss gave her stern warning with finality, intending to get across how serious she was to her jokester of a leader. Ruby couldn't have cared less, she was already celebrating her success.

"Yay! Let's go, we can stop there right now!" The little reaper snatched her partner's arm and began to drag her down the street.

"I thought you said you haven't spent much time here!?"

"I'll sniff out the closest weapons store, no problem! Those beauties can't hide from me for long!" Ruby turned a corner and disappeared from sight, cackling like a witch the whole time. Her helpless partner never stood a chance against the younger girl's unnatural strength.

"... I am a little surprised though. I figured you guys were joking before." Paying no mind to what just happened, Yang tilted her head at Ben and the other boys, who were checking their scrolls to find the location of the nearest shop that would suit their needs.

"Nope. We need clothes. I'm tired of wearing the same thing every day." Peter once again grimaced at his ratty old outfit. "I don't think it'll take too long, but I doubt shopping with us will be much fun, so if you'd rather do something else-"

"I would." Blake wasted no time using the out Peter gave her. She turned straight around and walked away from the group. Wherever she was going, only she knew. With that, only one member of Team RWBY was left. She smirked with amusement and shrugged her shoulders, as if wordlessly saying "Well, what can you do?".

"Don't get into too much trouble, alright boys? Mama Yang won't be around to watch you." The wild blonde bid them farewell before following her team, walking at a calm, even pace despite being so far behind. "Gods know if I leave Ruby alone, she'll just stare at weapons all day."

"Ooh, I want to go! Magnhild needs some love! Come on, Ren!" Without waiting for a response, Nora effortlessly picked up her partner, slung him over her shoulder, and charged down the street. The quiet boy didn't resist in the slightest as he was manhandled like a sack of potatoes. His expression remained neutral even while he was carried off by his partner.

Not even five minutes had passed since they stepped off the transport shuttle, and the off-worlders were already alone, save for Pyrrha.

"... So, uh, what are you going to do?" Peter inquired, curious as to the redhead's plan for the day.

"Um, it was Ruby's idea to come, so I believed she had somewhere in mind for us all. Though, if I'm being honest…" Pyrrha frowned in displeasure. It seemed she was too polite to admit she did not want to pass the day staring at diagrams and display models. Wiping away the small frown, she gained an inspired look in her eyes, like she had found a new source of energy.

"But, I'm sure we'll find something to do after you've finished shopping. I haven't spent much time in Vale before, but there has to be something. A park, perhaps? Or… a restaurant?"

She looked so excited to share those simple ideas, the boys found they didn't have the heart to tell the girl they would probably be leaving the city once they were done, or that they actually wanted to be left alone. In fact, having no real ideas for her beyond getting new clothes, they said nothing at all.

"... If it's alright, I have a few other suggestions of my own." Pyrrha nervously addressed the group again, taking it upon herself to move the awkward, one-sided conversation forward. "I thought it might be nice if we all did something as-"

"Actually, we were plannin' to check out after we finished." Kevin unapologetically cut-in, his barely-guilty expression revealing a sliver of the genuine regret he felt for cutting down the kind girl's hopes. He was the only one who had the heart to tell the truth.

"I do have somewhere else I'm planning on going, but I don't think any of you would have much fun if you went with me." Peter stayed busy on his Scroll, busily scrolling through addresses in search of a particular name.

"Yeah, it's not that we don't want to hang out, It's just that we only came out to do this one thing. We weren't expecting all of you to come along with us. Sorry chica, maybe next time." Rex was glancing over Peter's shoulder to look at his scroll, which had a map of the local area pulled up. He only barely shot a look at Pyrrha, giving her a sheepish smile.

"O-oh, I see. W-well, that's alright, I don't mind if that's all. I wouldn't mind picking up some new clothes myself." Pyrrha, ever hopeful, pressed on, taking hold of her last chance to spend time with the only remaining member of her team.

"Nah, don't worry about it, Pyrrha. This is supposed to be a day to relax, you shouldn't have to spend it shopping for clothes with a bunch of dudes." Ben politely waved off the generous offer. "Seriously, you don't have to give up your day for us. There's probably something way more fun to do around here."

"B-but, I don't…" Pyrrha looked lost. The whole reason she agreed with Ruby's proposal to visit Vale instead of studying was because she thought it would be a good chance to get to know her team. Nothing was going according to her plan to strengthen the bonds between Team PVRL's members. Even if she went to the weapons store, a single morning was enough for her to know that Ren would be busy looking after Nora, who would be busy running around finding cool parts to upgrade her hammer. There would be no bond-strengthening to be had there. As for clothes shopping, how was she meant to connect with Kevin while he tried on clothes?

The Invincible Girl had suffered a total defeat at the hands of her closest allies. The boys had had utterly crushed an incredible opponent without even trying, let alone realizing they had done so at all.

It was plain to see just how dejected the leader of Team PVRL was. She wasn't happy about how everything was turning out, but saw no decent alternative. The poor girl resigned herself to her fate and began to debate whether it would be a better use of her time to explore Vale herself or return to Beacon for studying.

The sight was painful to look at, to say the least.

"... I mean, if you really do want to come, we won't say no, but don't force yourself, all right? I'd feel bad if you went shopping with us just so we'd feel better. I understand if have better things to do than hang out with us." Peter put away his Scroll and offered a lifeline to the Spartan girl.

"... N-no, that's alright. Thank you for offering, but I'd hate to be a bother." Pyrrha gave the boys a big smile. "Like you said, there's plenty to do in Vale. I'll find another way to pass the time."

It was difficult to decide what to make of this. Looking at the girl, her smile seemed genuine, and her voice had no cracks to suggest she was pretending to be happy. Looking at things objectively, though, she went from deeply disappointed to… this… strangely fast.

"Well… alright, if you're sure. If you see the others, tell 'em not to wait up if they finish before us." Ben bid farewell to Pyrrha. Peter gave her a wave and led the way down the street towards the store he had located with his Scroll.

"... You did it again, Pyrrha." The lone Beacon student berated herself quietly. It would feel unbearably awkward to go back to the boys and ask to join them after turning down Peter's offer, and she didn't even know where the others were. She should have asked for their Scroll IDs before they landed.

"But... 'if I have better things to do'? Even you all...?"

Peter:

Ben prodded his old friend's face with a finger to get his attention. "Kev, you should probably hang out with her when we get back to Beacon. She seemed pretty disappointed."

"Throw it in the suggestion box, Tennyson." Kevin shrugged away his companion's concern. "How close are we?"

"It's not too far, maybe a few minutes away on foot? Why are we the only ones who thought of using a map? It beats just wandering around blindly." Rex used a single finger to scratch his cheek, trying and failing to understand his companions' actions.

"Meh, maybe they're just in it for the adventure. They'll probably use their Scrolls to get back to the Bullheads if they get lost here." Ben took one last look at Peter's own Scroll, which was marking a path to a second-hand clothing shop that boasted low prices. Since the youngest among them would have to pay for everything, given he was the only one with any money, it only seemed fair to let him pick the place.

"Yeah, bet they're real jealous of our adventure to the thrift shop. Let's just get this over with. I gotta find an auto shop to check out before we head back." Kevin trodded off in the opposite direction Ruby and the others had gone. The shop they had in mind was only a few blocks away, so it wouldn't take long to get there.

Not that there was a problem with that. Kevin fully intended to grab the first three pairs of pants and t-shirts he found that fit him, check out, and go straight to the nearest commercial garage. With any luck, he'd be able to talk Peter into sliding him a little extra cash. Now that his baby was gone, he needed to get to work throwing together some new wheels as soon as possible.

So maybe he lied to his leader about going straight back to Beacon after getting new clothes. It wasn't because he disliked the girl, Kevin simply hated browsing for parts with other people breathing down his neck. Even Gwen never received an invite to go shopping for parts with him. That, and he needed some proper alone time with his fellow dimension-hoppers, without any other Beacon students listening in.

... But maybe he could spend some time to actually hang out with his leader at some point. Hardened though it was, Kevin did have a heart, contrary to popular belief. Seeing somebody so obviously hurt was bound to make even him feel a little guilty.

He'd spar with her once or twice. She could take it or leave it.

"Actually, you guys can go on without me. There's somewhere else I need to go first." Now that he was sure his friends knew where the thrift shop was, Peter cleared the location from his Scroll and began inputting a new one. "I'm not sure how long I'll be, so don't worry about meeting up with me before you go back to Beacon."

Pulling out his wallet, Peter took stock of how much money he still had. 1,328 Lien waited inside the humble scrap of leather. Pulling out the majority of his fortune, Peter handed 250 Lien to each of his fellow heroes.

"That should be enough. Don't worry about giving back what you don't spend, just use it for yourselves."

"Thanks, but, where are you going? I thought we were supposed to talk about our plans today?" Rex inquired, pocketing the money he was handed. He sort of remembered his teammate saying something about having somewhere else to go earlier, but he had no clue what the destination could be.

"... Just visiting somebody." The high-class hobo waved goodbye to his team and wandered off alone. "I'll see you guys later."

"Wait, I was gonna tell you about-"

"Later, I promise." Peter hurriedly cut off Ben's protests and fled down the street. After the bomb Paradox had dropped on all of them the day before, he really didn't want to have another heavy conversation already.

.

.

This part of the city, about an hour's walk away from where Peter had left his friends, was a lot like the airstrip where the students had split up. Vale was a very lively city, and everywhere you looked, there were plenty of people walking around and enjoying the warm sunlight. The only exceptions were the airstrip, which was occupied only by a handful of other students, and this odd stretch of the city, which seemed to be totally empty.

Nobody, Human or Faunus, walked the streets, giving the whole place a lifeless feel. It felt strange to describe a frankly nice area in such a way, but no other words came to mind. The buildings looked well-maintained and the streets were clean, as one would expect. The location itself was objectively nice, there was just something about it that felt… off.

"I didn't wander into a bad neighborhood, did I?" Peter glanced all around, as if expecting somebody would jump out and try to mug him if he dropped his guard. "Well, this is definitely the place, so I guess it doesn't matter."

In front of the young man was a fairly nice-looking store. Two large windows inlaid with gold lettering rested on either side of the oak front door. The sign above the door was painted emerald green, the name of the shop done in a gold font that contrasted nicely with the greens and browns of the storefront. It felt rustic and old-fashioned, like it belonged in a movie set in the early 1900's. Was that the popular style? Peter couldn't say he hated it.

"It's not weird if I just show up, right? He did say I could stop by whenever. Ugh, what am I even worried about? It's a store, of course people will turn up randomly."

Peter shook his head, pulled the front door open and stepped inside the shop. There were bookcases everywhere, all of them loaded down with merchandise. Books of all shapes, sizes, and colors filled the small space. It felt chaotic, yet controlled. The tinted windows dimmed the sunlight streaming in, leaving the bookstore slightly dark, but not to the point it was hard to see.

All in all, it felt comfortable, safe, like the kind of place it would be easy to relax in. The only off-putting part was that the store was just as empty as the streets outside.

"Wow, this really is a nice place. Maybe I should have agreed to crash here for a while." Peter's thoughts slipped out as he looked all around the cramped space.

"I'm glad you like it. Most people don't appreciate humble shops like this one."

As if summoned by Peter's comment, a door behind the checkout counter was pushed open by a large man with impressive sideburns that paired well with his sharp eyes. The man set down a box full of books beside him and gave his only customer the sort of welcoming smile one would expect from a businessman.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun. What are you in the market for today?"

It was clear the man recognized Peter, based on the familiarity in his tone. The young hero found himself smiling, though he wasn't sure why.

"I'm not too sure, to be honest. I really only came here to visit somebody."

"That so? They must be pretty important, for you to come all the way out here. Handsome guy, I'm sure?" Tukson pulled up a stool that was tucked underneath the checkout counter, settling down comfortably without taking his eyes off Peter.

"Nah, just somebody I ran into a little while ago. He was pretty tall, a little rough-looking, but I think he was a good guy. He looked a lot like you, now that I think about it."

"..."

"..."

"Heh. Good to see you're still alive, kid. Finally remembered to stop by?" Tukson let out a humorous chuckle, finally putting an end to their game. "Though, it looks like you're still not doing too well. You sure you don't need any help? I can't promise a warm bed, but I've at least got a couch in the back room."

Peter waved off the concern without a second thought and did his best to ignore the dig at his outfit.

"Me? Nah, I'm doing alright. Beacon feeds us for free, so I think I'm set. Well, aside from the obvious. B-but, I'm working on it! I'll have it taken care of before the end of the day."

Tukson looked mildly shocked by this information. The man even rose from his stool and stepped out from behind the counter to get a closer look at the boy.

"Beacon? You mean you… Huh. No kidding."

"You don't seem all that surprised."

"What can I say, you seem like somebody who can handle himself. Still, good job. Most people can only dream of making it into Beacon." The burly man chuckled a bit. "Even if you don't look the part. What, they didn't give you a uniform?"

Peter moaned pitifully. "Don't ask me that, please."

In spite of his saddened behavior, Peter felt pretty happy, which in turn made him feel confused.

Something about all this felt uniquely comfortable. Any way you looked at it, the man standing before him was barely more than a stranger to Peter. There was just something about him Peter couldn't quite place. Maybe it was his calm demeanor or just the general atmosphere of the store, but speaking with Tukson felt a lot like chatting with an old friend.

"But thanks, I appreciate the vote of confidence." Peter took a quick look around the store. He noticed, and not for the first time, that there was nobody inside other than himself and the shop's owner. "Slow day?"

Worried it might have been a sensitive subject, Peter was caught off guard by Tukson's light chuckle.

"Oh no, nothing like that. This is normal, see. Nobody ever just wanders in here. All of my customers are regulars. I see the same people on the same days at the same times. You just missed the last one, about ten minutes ago. If you stop by every now and then, you'll probably run into her at some point. She visits me more than any of the others."

"No wonder it feels so comfy in here."

Moving from his spot for the first time since entering the store, Peter took a closer look at some of the books being sold. There really was a wide variety of options, from fantasy to history, romance to horror, and even a few comics here and there. Tukson covered his bases well, there was a little something for everybody.

"So, what's a kid like you doing here all alone? Shouldn't you be hanging out with friends instead of passing the time with an old man like me?" Tukson had gone back to sitting behind his counter, sorting through the box of books he had brought out.

"I did come out with some friends, but we all had different places to be. Besides, this doesn't seem like a bad place to hang out."

Peter couldn't explain why he was checking the shelves so carefully, like he was actually looking for a book to read. He hadn't had any intention of doing so beforehand, wanting only to drop in to visit one of the few familiar faces in this world. However, now that he found himself inside the comfortable shop, enjoying the atmosphere, and chatting with Tukson himself, he felt inclined to buy something, as though the experience would be incomplete without doing so.

What that "experience" was, he didn't really know, nor did he know why he wanted to complete it in the first place. Maybe this store was actually magic. There was some kind of spell in place to coerce anybody who wandered in to buy something. It would explain why Tukson's only customers were regulars.

"Yeah, right. It's just… a nice place, is all."

"So, a bookstore, huh? What made you decide on this? You like reading?"

"... No, nothing like that. I just wanted something quiet and relaxing. After all the excitement I got up to when I was younger, the simple life started to look pretty appealing. It doesn't get much quieter than running a bookstore. Also… yeah, reading's always been a hobby of mine." Tukson continued sorting books as he responded to the question, frowning slightly in the process.

"Oh. I think I can understand that. It's nice to just do something relaxing instead of looking for excitement. Plus, it looks like you're doing pretty well, so I guess it all works out."

Whoever those "regulars" were must have been very good customers if they could support this whole place by themselves. The sheer volume of books, the tasteful design and decorations both inside the store and out, not to mention the location all had to add up to an impressive amount of money. Those regulars had to be buying a staggering amount of books every time they came in. That or Tukson had some other source of income.

For a time, the two remained silent. Peter browsed through the shelves quietly, pulling out a few titles that looked interesting, while Tukson patiently worked through his new stock, slotting them into empty spaces on his shelves and putting up new labels for each of them. The man clearly possessed extensive knowledge of each and every book he sold, because he lovingly went the extra mile for all of them. Alongside price labels, small notes handwritten by the man himself summarizing what he personally felt made the titles worth reading were stuck onto the shelves underneath each book.

Also, though he probably believed the boy didn't notice, Peter was aware that Tukson kept shooting him looks. The man's eyes were always inquisitive, like he was searching for something. It was a tad off-putting, but Peter didn't care enough to ask him about it.

After what felt like only a few minutes, Peter made his way to the counter to buy the four books he had selected. Out of everything in the beautiful store, they stood out to him the most. Tukson's small notes helped convince him that they were worth the purchase.

The store's owner turned around the moment his customer began walking to the counter, as if he already knew he was on his way. A customer-friendly smile stretched across his face, adding to the welcoming feeling the man exuded.

"Did you find everything alright today, young man?" The question was so exaggeratedly full of kindness, it hurt.

"I suppose it will do for now." Peter returned with just as much exaggerated politeness, like they were a pair of rich gentlemen conversing over golf. "Although, these won't last me too long, so I'll probably be back pretty soon."

"I see. Well, I won't complain about having another customer." Tukson took the small stack of books and quietly began to ring them up. There wasn't anything particularly special about them. Just your typical, everyday stories you could find anywhere. One was a fantasy story set in an alternate Remnant, one was historical fiction based during the Great War, and another was a story about a group of scientists inventing Time Travel.

There was, however, one book on the bottom of the stack, that made the man pause. It was the only one with a layer of dust covering it, a testament to the story's long stay in his shop.

"... You want this one?" It was a genuine question. There were no playful strings or games attached to the inquiry.

Peter did not notice how shocked Tukson looked.

"Yeah, it looks pretty interesting. I thought the premise was pretty cool, and the note you wrote for it just made it sound better." The young man responded brightly.

"..." Tukson squinted balefully at the dusty book.

Objectively speaking, it was a simple story. It was a hopeful story, written by an idiot whose expectations for the world were far too high. Finding this book placed on his checkout counter, Tukson didn't exactly know what to do. For a moment, he did absolutely nothing.

It was a story that did not have any heroes, any villains, or any major crises. There was nothing to add any excitement to the story at all. It was little more than a very long journal filled with dreams, a four-hundred page slog filled with one man's baseless hopes for a world he longed for.

Mundane topics, unexciting storylines, and basic characters, that was what awaited readers. Even Tukson's most loyal and supportive regulars had never bought a copy. It was one of the few books in his shop he had never been able to sell.

"... You really want this one?" He asked again, just to make sure.

This time, Peter did catch on. Confused, he tilted his head to the side.

"Yeah? I mean, it's probably not all that exciting, but I thought it could be interesting, And, like I said, your note made it sound really good. It sounded like you really love this story, so I wanted to try it."

Like every other book in the store, Tukson had shared his thoughts on a small card slotted into the shelf underneath it. Most of the time, they were rather simple, explaining two or three aspects of the story or writing the man enjoyed. This one, however, was noticeably more detailed than the others. The small notecard was filled with words of love and praise, proving just how much the humble shop owner truly loved the boring story.

Peter didn't understand why his desire to buy the book was met with confusion.

After another minute of thought, Tukson finally settled on a course of action. "... You really are an interesting person. Hm, you know, I still owe you for before. As luck would have it, this book is just about the same price as those apples."

The other three books were scanned readily, but the fourth book was carefully deposited into a bag without being priced. Peter was about to protest that he had already received an apple for free and that the book was more expensive than the groceries he paid for, but the look Tukson gave him made it clear he had no intention of charging him for the final book.

"Thank you." Instead of fighting, Tukson's only customer handed over enough Lien to cover the discounted price.

"Don't mention it, it's just good business."

The transaction was finished and all four books were handed over in a sturdy, paper bag. With his business finished, Peter prepared to leave the warm shop.

"It was really nice to see you again. I should probably spend tomorrow studying, but I'll make time to come see you again next weekend. Thanks for the free book." The young man waved goodbye as he stepped out the door.

"Take care of yourself, kid." Tukson returned the wave with a smile. As Peter pulled open the door leading outside, he spoke up again. "By the way, are you feeling alright?"

Peter paused midstep, one foot already outside. "... Huh?"

"Maybe I'm just being a nosy old man, but you look… out of it, like your mind is somewhere else. Every time I talk to you, it's like you're only half-listening. Everything alright?"

"... Y-yeah, of course. Sorry, I think I'm still getting used to settling down at Beacon. I'm sure I'll start feeling better once I find something to keep me busy." The weak reply was delivered with far too much tension to be convincing.

Tukson raised an eyebrow. "You'll feel better? So there is something wrong?"

Peter face-faulted, realizing his mistake. "U-um, well, that's…"

"... Never mind. It's none of my business after all." The middle-aged man shrugged carelessly. "Be careful on the way back to Beacon. This place might not look like much, but there's a lot of crime in this neighborhood. Assaults, pickpocketing, the works."

Peter was confused by the warning. "There is? But I didn't even see anybody on the way here. I figured this place was a ghost… town…. Oh."

That explained that, then. Of course there wouldn't be many people in a crime-heavy neighborhood. Why would anyone step outside unless they had to? Anybody who was outside was probably lurking out of sight.

"Got it. Thanks for the heads up, but don't worry. I can handle myself pretty well."

Peter did not wait for Tukson to say anything else, he was already impatiently pushing his way out the door again. All the burly man had time to do was wave goodbye one final time. As the door clacked shut, he frowned slightly.

"That look never means anything good." Left alone in his shop, Tukson retrieved a certain book from one of his shelves and sat back down on the bar stool behind the checkout counter. "... I can't believe somebody actually bought this garbage." He muttered dryly to himself.

It truly was an awful story, no matter how you looked at it. There was no nuance, no conflict, no struggle, no drama, no nothing, not even comedy. It was like somebody writing a diary of their everyday life, with nothing exciting to break up the monotony.

A story with no heroes, no saviors, no revolution. A story where none of that was necessary because everything was already right with the world. Everybody was already treated fairly, everybody was already happy, everybody's problems were already solved.

It was stupid. It was far too idealistic. There were no mentions of crime, of sickness or death, of racism or discrimination. Even a child would be capable of understanding such a perfect world could not possibly exist. How it was even published in the first place was beyond Tukson.

"... Heh. Nice taste, kid." Tukson set down the book and resumed his work, patiently sorting through all of his new inventory. "You'll get better. Whatever's bugging you, I know you'll beat it."

Ben:

The store Peter selected was a run-of-the-mill thrift store. Old, banged up clothes were piled carelessly on folding tables, and the wooden shelves lining the walls were loaded down with dusty trinkets. The only illumination came from two creaky ceiling lights producing an ugly yellow glow. It looked like the kind of place retired seniors would frequent for fun.

There were a few decent options here and there. There was also a separate section of the store reserved for donations, filled with unopened packages of food and clothes offered for free for the owner to pawn off for low prices.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Naturally, the three boys shopping in the dirty store had gone straight to the donation section. Poor or not, they still had their limits. There was absolutely no way any of them would buy thrifted underwear. If it wasn't in a package, they weren't even touching it.

Kevin had already finished his shopping. An old pair of engineer's coveralls, two t-shirts, a pair of pants, and a four-pack of underwear had only cost him seventy-eight Lien. He was checking his Scroll for any nearby auto-shops he could buy car parts at while the others finished up. It was for this reason he kept his purchase modest, to save up as much as he could for something important.

Rex was going for the "camper's suitcase" kind of setup. He had seven pairs of underwear, one pair of pants, three shirts, and was finishing up by tracking down a decent pack of socks.

Ben was just grabbing whatever looked like it would fit without much regard for design. Aside from underwear, he wasn't really expecting to change his outfit except for when his usual attire needed to be washed. As long as it would keep him warm in the freezing laundry room while he waited for his usual jacket to be washed and dried, it would be fine.

The boys had been shopping quietly for about fifteen minutes, silently sorting through piles of clothes to find whatever worked for them. There was nobody else in the store aside from the elderly woman manning the counter, who was currently waiting in a back room until somebody summoned her with the bell next to the cash register.

At last, Kevin turned off his scroll and shoved it in his back pocket with a dissatisfied grunt. "Are we just not talkin' about last night?"

It was like a switch had been flipped. Rex paused his search for a pack of socks and sighed tiredly. Ben's mouth betrayed his wishes and morphed into an uncomfortable grin. He didn't even want to smile, it was just an automatic reaction.

Both of them knew the question had to be raised at some point. It was their idea to talk in the first place, after all.

"Do we have to? It's not like everybody's here, anyway, so we'd just have to have the same conversation again later." Ben reasoned, looking for any excuse to put off the talk he had a hand in planning.

Kevin scoffed, unimpressed. "Right, Peter. 'There's somewhere else I need to go first, I'll see you guys later'... dude prob'ly just wanted to run away from talkin' about it. Bad enough Arc bailed on us before we even got here, then Parker had to ditch us, too."

It was very much grinding the older boy's gears that he was the only semi-responsible one present. Of course he didn't want to have to confront the painful reality, but at least he was making an effort. The youngest in their group had run away as soon as they had an opportunity to talk in peace, the Remnant native hadn't even joined them in the first place, and the other two boys were flat-out ignoring the subject.

"Since when am I the mature one around here? Ain't you supposed to be the big hero, Tennyson? Give a heroic speech or somethin'. Get us hyped up already." Ben chuckled at his best friend's careless comment.

"Sure, Kev, I'll get right on that. Let me just cook up a speech right here, right now." The verdant hero placed his palms on the table in front of him and groaned. "Look… there's no reason to do this now. We need to talk about this stuff eventually, with everybody. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not have to go over all this any more than we have to. And it's not Jaune's fault he isn't here. It's not like any of us actually told him we wanted to talk today."

The pain of reality had not lessened after a night's rest. The weight of the situation had been given time to fully set in, and the off-worlders were feeling it more than ever. Ben couldn't even blame Peter for making an excuse to put it off until later. He was doing the same thing.

"... Fine," Kevin conceded ruefully. "Can't you at least let us know what happened after you turned into that giant monster dog? That was the whole point of comin' out here."

"... I definitely don't want to talk about that any more than I have to. I'll wait until everybody is here." Ben said with finality. Realizing how serious he was, Kevin backed off.

There was no point having the same conversation twice. Half the reason for coming to Vale was to talk about all the things they couldn't bring up at Beacon, surrounded by other students, but Peter decided to chicken out at the last second. Even if he did have somebody to go see, couldn't it have waited? Not to mention they needed to start sharing more details with Jaune, who wasn't even in the city with them.

In any case, they would have to have their conversation later.

Recognizing how heavy the atmosphere was becoming, Rex cleared his throat and tried to restore his friends' mood. "H-hey, come on, maybe this is a good thing. We're all still tired and confused, so we probably wouldn't get anywhere even if we did talk now. Since we're out here to relax, why don't we just try to have some fun?"

Finished with his shopping, Rex walked to the counter, summoned the old woman, and paid for his new threads. Ben did the same soon after, and the boys left the shop together.

"Fun, huh? Eh… you might be right." Ben checked the time on his scroll. It was only 1PM. They had several hours left until they needed to return to school. "What are we supposed to do, though? It's not like we know this place, and we don't have a whole lot of money, either."

The thrift shop might have been cheap, but clothes were still clothes, and they were more than capable of taking a chunk out of the boys' wallets. They had started with two-hundred and fifty Lien each, but now their combined fortune totaled up to only four-hundred and seventy-six Lien. It wasn't a small amount, but it was all they had, and it was unclear when - or if - they would be getting any more anytime soon.

There would be many more weekends to come, and blowing through all of their savings right at the start of the school year would put a major damper on their already dwindling morale.

Still, Rex refused to let his good mood fail. If the other two insisted on being downers, he would bring the mood up himself. "Ah, that's part of the adventure, amigo. We can scope this place out, maybe find a cool place to hang out on our days off. Who knows, maybe we'll find some criminals running around. Beating up bad dudes is always fun."

"You nerds do whatever you want. I'm hittin' up the auto shops around here. There's gotta be somebody sellin' good stuff." Kevin coldly tapped out of the group and walked off with no further comment.

Ben watched him go with mirth in his eyes, trying not to laugh at Rex's betrayed expression.

"Dude, we're supposed to be having fun! Shopping is over, now's the time for relaxing!" Rex shouted after the older boy to no avail. He did not even receive a second glance. Slumping over and dragging a hand down his face, the defeated student forced his mojo to come back. "Fine, we'll just make our own fun then. Maybe we can find an old skate park or something, or a-"

"Sorry dude, Kevin talking about car stuff reminded me I've also got somewhere to be." Ben cut in apologetically. Rex gave him the most offended, appalled stare he had ever seen. "If I don't grab it in the next few days, the cops will keep it and sell it off. This is my only chance to get there in time, so I've gotta take advantage of it. Actually, will I even have enough money to get it out of impound?"

Ben checked his wallet, confirming his riches were just as modest as ever. "Hey, Rex, wanna go on a trip to the DMV with me? And… maybe… loan me some cash if I need it?"

"... I hate you." Rex breathed out resentfully, though he did not refuse the "invitation".

"Aw, come on, buddy, where's your positivity?" Ben patted his friend on the shoulder, boldly stealing his smile in the process. "An adventure's an adventure as long as you make it exciting. It's all about feeling the magic or something, right?"

"I didn't believe in magic until my dog turned into a snake." Rex glared pointedly at his treacherous companion who so callously betrayed his expectations for a fun outing. "... Where is the DMV anyway?"

Jaune:

"Somebody please kill me."

Jaune's strategy for studying was to shut off all the nearby clocks and keep his Scroll shut inside a desk drawer. He thought that maybe if he couldn't see time passing, it would be easier to study for an extended period of time without ever being haunted by thoughts such as "It's only been thirty minutes!?".

The strategy was failing. He could confidently say it had been at least four hours, and he didn't feel any closer to his goal. All these complicated diagrams were going over his head, and memorizing the anatomical differences between an Atlesian Boarbatusk and a Mistralian Boarbatusk was something his brain refused to do. The information simply would not stick in his head.

His notebook was full of notes he barely remembered writing, and hardly any information from the past sixty pages of the textbook he spent hours reading was sticking in his mind.

Jaune was fully prepared to write this day off as a failure. Hours of studying just for one or two things to make sense for him. This was not what he would consider progress.

"... Maybe I just need a break. All this reading is frying my brain." Jaune rubbed his tired eyes, hoping it would ease the faint burning sensation. Scanning tiny words for so long was seriously draining him mentally and physically.

He remembered Saphron studying for her own college a few years back. She was so caught up in studying and preparing, their parents actually had to keep her books locked up so she would take a break. A single day off did wonders for her. She made a point of lecturing her siblings on not repeating her mistakes back then, telling them they would only be worse for it if they took studying too far.

"I just need thirty minutes. I can get back to it after that." Jaune absently flipped through his half-full notebook. When he returned to work, he would put down the textbook for a while and focus on reviewing what he had already noted down.

"Is this what it was like for everybody else? Is this a hard subject, or am I just stupid? I'd feel so much better if I at least knew that much."

Shaking his head, the miserable student decided he wouldn't think about studying at all until his thirty minute break ended. Studying was over, now was the time for sustenance. The cafeteria was calling his name.

Pushing himself away from his desk for the first time in four hours, Jaune went to the door and pushed through to the hallway.

"Maybe I should grab some extra food for later. There's no way I'll be able to pull an all-nighter in the library if I'm hungry the whole time. Wait, do they even allow food in the library? Should I sneak it in? Mmm… better not, I don't want to get kicked out. I'll just eat a lot right now and hope it lasts me."

The cafeteria was only a short walk away from the dorm building. After picking up a downright gargantuan amount of food from the counter, Jaune set himself down at one of the massive tables and prepared himself. There were four full plates of meat, eggs, and beans in front of him, more food than he had ever eaten all at once.

"... Remember Jaune, this is your last meal for the next sixteen hours. Suck it up and get through it."

If you asked him how, he wouldn't be able to give you an answer. All Jaune knew was that he somehow managed to get down all the food he ordered without throwing it right back up. It would... hopefully be beneficial later, even if his stomach did not appreciate being strained and stretched.

Consuming the massive meal took up nearly all of the thirty minutes he allocated himself. With no time for anything else, he began slowly trekking back to his room.

"Maybe I should try going one section at a time. Beowolves didn't look too complicated. If I just start by memorizing their biology, I can do Beringels next, then Taijitus, and go from there." The entire way over, Jaune had not stopped thinking of the best possible way to get through the immense amount of material he had to cover. With his thirty minutes of relief passed, it was time to start thinking about how to best hit the books again.

Naturally, he had plenty of time to think, courtesy of his bloated stomach. Moving too quickly was asking for trouble.

Given that it was the weekend, it did not surprise him that he hadn't seen anybody in the halls on his trip to or from the cafeteria. Everybody was either relaxing in Vale or in the training rooms brushing up on their combat skills. Even now, there was nobody wandering the halls of the dorm building, a fact Jaune did not expect to change as he rounded the final corner to reach his room.

"... Pyrrha?"

"Hm? Oh, hello Jaune!"

Contrary to his expectations, there was one person standing in the final stretch of hall leading to Team JPTR's space. Jaune's fellow team leader was right in the middle of opening the door to her room when he called out to her. The girl was carrying her sword and shield and was dressed in her moderately revealing battle attire, her exposed skin covered in a thin layer of sweat.

"Are you okay? You didn't get in a fight did you?" Amazingly, if you wanted to use a kind word, Jaune's mind did not draw the obvious conclusion. His first thought after seeing his tired, sweat-covered classmate was that she had been jumped while wandering the streets of Vale. Forgetting his own situation for a moment, he felt genuine concern for his fellow team leader.

"What? Of course not! I just finished a round in the training room, I swear!" Now, why in the world did the redhead look embarrassed by Jaune's outrageous suggestion?

Once again, his mind was not where it should have been. Jaune continued to think only about off-topic details.

"Training room? Weren't you in Vale with everybody else?" Over the course of their "conversation", Jaune had hobbled over to his own room while clutching his stomach with one hand. Given Team JPTR and Team PVRL were right across the hall from each other, this left the pair of students fairly close to each other. Closer than they were at opposite ends of the hall, anyway.

Pyrrha's expression darkened a tiny bit, her mouth set in a thin line.

"I… thought it would be better if I returned to train, as I planned. Everybody else seemed to have a plan in mind and I… didn't want to intrude." Pyrrha suddenly took notice of the fact she was still holding her sword and shield. As if this, too, embarrassed her, she hastily tossed them inside her room and shut the door, clapping her hands together as if cleaning off dirt. She looked so awkward it hurt. "A-anyway, I was thinking I would review the material covered in class before dinner now that I've finished training."

"So she left? Hold on, how long has she been here? Was I so focused on studying I didn't even hear her get her stuff? Wait, forget that for now!"

Was this the time to offer sympathy? The spartan girl didn't seem all that uncomfortable, but it probably wasn't a pleasant feeling to be the only one to come back early.

Awkwardly, Jaune decided to take a swing. "... Hey, Pyrrha, are you… okay?"

The question clearly confused her. "'Okay'? I… think so? I'm sure I'll feel better after a shower, but I can't say I'm unwell as I am. Though, I admit I am dreading studying a bit. I know it's necessary, but I don't think I've ever enjoyed it." Laughing a bit, recognition dawned on Pyrrha. "Oh, that's right, have you been studying this entire time?"

Yes.

Jaune had indeed spent a solid four hours forcing himself to read a textbook, and he would spend many hours more doing the same thing. He just barely managed to stop himself from answering with a long, drawn-out groan.

A model student wouldn't crumble so easily.

"You know it." And so he answered with pasted-on confidence, something he was getting a little too used to doing. "I've been hitting the books all day. Gotta stay sharp for my team, right?"

He was hoping his performance was good enough to fool his fellow team leader. That was how an Honor Student behaved, right? A little studying wasn't enough to make them lose their positive attitude. Maybe this would be easier if he had somebody to base his act on, but there were never any Honors Students back home in his village's tiny public school.

Luckily, Pyrrha did appear to be impressed by his attitude.

"I see. That's a rather admirable way of thinking. I admit, I wasn't thinking of my own team when I decided to study, I only hoped to keep my own mind fresh."

"She bought that!? No, Jaune, this is good! Keep it going!"

"Oh yeah, I'm all about my team. How could I call myself their leader if I started slacking off. No rest for me, I'm always trying to be better than I was yesterday."

"Not that far! Who says stuff like that!?"

Pyrrha's eyes shone with admiration. "That's… a wonderful point. Maybe I should take after you. Truth be told, I have no idea what I'm doing. I've never had to lead others before." The girl's eyes narrowed slightly. She seemed to be quietly pondering something. Her lips quivered, like she was actively trying to keep them shut.

"S-say…" She lost the battle. Or maybe she won it. The details were unclear, but in any case, she was speaking again. "I'm not sure when our teams will be returning. Since we have the same plans… i-if it isn't too much trouble, could I ask to study with you? We could both make substantial progress if we worked together. Perhaps the others could even join us when they return."

"Say yes."

It actually frightened Jaune how quickly his mind responded. Instantly, with no hesitation, he knew he wanted to accept the offer. He was floundering by himself, and, if anything, this was the perfect opportunity. Pyrrha mentioned she wanted to cover old material, which meant she wouldn't question him for starting with the basics. Any way he looked at the situation, it was totally perfect.

"... Sorry… but I think I'd rather work on my own. I think I handle this kind of thing better when I'm by myself." He responded with an apologetic expression.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Pyrrha looked hurt by the rejection, but also resigned, as if she had expected it. She nodded her head in acceptance and smiled politely. "I see. Well then, I'll leave you to it. Good luck with your studies, Jaune."

Again, she unlocked her door and stepped inside.

"I-it's nothing against you, I just-"

"You don't have to explain, I understand." Pyrrha smiled through the gap in her half-closed door. "Sometimes it's easier to work alone. I know that feeling quite well."

In the empty space of the barren hallway, the sound of Team PVRL's doorway closing sounded like a cannon firing. Jaune remained immobile for a moment longer, then entered his own room and sat back down at his desk. It took a few minutes before he flipped open his notebook.

"DUDE, WHY!? THAT WAS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY! WE'LL NEVER HAVE A CHANCE THAT GOOD AGAIN!"

"... Shut up, me." Jaune carefully read through his notes, doing his best to retain the information this time. "We're not… supposed to need help."

Peter:

"How… long was I in there!?"

Something had to be wrong here. Peter was only in the store for ten or twenty minutes, maybe thirty at most. Sure, he had gotten a little lost in thought as he browsed the shelves, but… but this was just…

"N-no, no way. My eyes are just… playing tricks on me." Slinging the paper bag into the crook of his elbow, Peter reached into his pocket and pulled out his scroll. "My eyes are just a little messed up after being in there for so long. Once they get used to the lighting, they'll clear up, and everything will go back to looking… like…"

6:30PM

"... Crap."

It… wasn't dark, per se, but the world was beginning to turn grey. A blanket of clouds had rolled in, blocking the sky from sight and shutting most of the sun's light off from the city.

There was still time to make it to the Bullhead and get back to Beacon before curfew, so there was no issue there. What was problematic was that the airstrip was several miles away and it would take a long time to walk there, meaning he had to head straight over if he wanted to make it in time.

Which meant the professional hobo would remain in his dumpster-quality clothes for another week.

On top of that, he was probably alone. There was no way any of the others were still in the city after so much time had passed, assuming they were telling the truth about their plans to leave as soon as they obtained new clothes.

"How did I spend five hours in a bookstore? It's not even a big one! … Seriously, that place is dangerous. It does something weird to me." Peter sighed repeatedly, cursing his weakened senses. He could not comprehend how so much time possibly could have passed without his knowledge.

"Just… forget it. I don't have time to complain." Peter glanced at his scroll again. He had no missed calls or messages. "Come on guys, you could at least send a little 'you good?' or something. Even I'll feel a little hurt if you leave me out to dry."

Resigned to his fate, Peter started walking. The neighborhood was still empty. The passing of time into the evening was not enough to fill the vacant streets with pedestrians or vehicles. Coupled with the cloud-covered dusk sky, it gave off an uncomfortable feeling of emptiness.

"Seriously though, this city really does remind me a lot of European architecture. It's cool that it's familiar, but I kind of figured another world would have more… unique cities. This just feels like London or something." Peter cracked an empty smile. "I'm not about to get jumped by Jack the Ripper, am I?"

It really was an eerie section of the city. There were just so many questions. Why was nobody around? Everything looked well-maintained and clean, and there were plenty of shops and apartment buildings. The district was indistinguishable from anywhere else Peter had seen, places where people were everywhere. So, why? Tukson mentioned it was a bad neighborhood, but was it really so bad nobody wanted to walk around? Shouldn't he have at least seen a few of the people responsible for its reputation as a "bad neighborhood" by now?

Left alone with his thoughts, Peter found himself unable to crack jokes about the dreary place. He wasn't even really paying attention to his surroundings. His eyes were glued to his Scroll, his legs following the blue line leading the way to his head home.

"... Something bugging me… am I really that obvious?" The young hero rubbed his tired eyes. Tukson's worried comment was bugging him more than it should have. "I thought… I was handling it pretty well. Maybe wearing a mask for so long threw me off my game. I'm too used to easy mode."

Truthfully, visiting Tukson was only in part due to a desire to visit the kind man. Half of Peter only wanted to be somewhere far away, somewhere he didn't have to be alone with his teammates. It was almost certain they would have to talk if they were together, about Paradox, about their future steps, all of it.

He wasn't ready. No part of him at all was ready for that.

"Two years… I'm so sorry, May. If I knew I'd get pulled into all of this, I would have at least said goodbye." Peter numbly apologized to thin air. It didn't make him feel any better, not that he expected it to. "... I just need something I can do. Something to build, something to work towards, anything I can occupy my time with. Just waiting for something to happen is killing me."

The first thing he had tried immediately after speaking with Paradox was telling himself it was "only" two years, that after the long wait was over, he would go home. It wasn't as if he would never see his friends or family again, he was merely taking an extended vacation. That had helped a little bit, if only for a few minutes. Relief quickly dissipated into regret, though, and all that remained now was a feeling of emptiness.

It was strange, feeling isolated while surrounded by so many people. Unable to do anything meaningful, unable to communicate with anybody back home, unable to find something to devote himself to, it was a feeling similar to being trapped. Thus, before leaving Beacon several hours ago, Peter convinced himself he simply needed a purpose to devote himself to while he was stuck waiting, but what was that meant to be?

He had yet to be struck with any inspiration for an engineering project, even with several labs, forges, and workshops available to him at Beacon. His creative heart was not pumping with as much fire as usual. There were no supervillains to battle, either, so that was out as well. The brilliant young man hardly considered doing well at school a purpose he could devote himself entirely to when getting good grades wasn't typically something he had to try hard to pull off. For once, he cursed his latent potential for learning and knowledge.

What were the odds he, a first-year, would be sent on some kind of expedition to a town in need of help? Maybe saving people from soulless death monsters would distract him until he could put his thoughts together and stop feeling so lost.

No sooner than the thought crossed his mind did Peter's thoughts grind to a halt. He felt disgusted with himself for thinking like that.

"Hoping people will be in trouble just so I'll have something to distract myself with… this really is messing me up." Again, Peter rubbed his eyes. He was feeling more tired than ever. If he didn't find something to take up his time soon, there was a good chance his mental state would take a turn for the worse.

Taking a proper look at his surroundings for the first time in a while, Peter found he still had not left Tukson's neighborhood. It was still dreary, quiet, and empty. Nothing at all had changed in the past ten minutes of walking.

"... A bad neighborhood, huh? It looks pretty nice, but I guess there could be more going on in the background. Still, I haven't seen a single person here. Can it really be that bad?"

Just then, he felt a tingle in the back of his neck. For the first time since entering the neighborhood, he heard footsteps that were not his own coming from directly behind him.

"Ah. Never mind then." Peter thought to himself with a total lack of concern. If anything, he was more annoyed than worried. Even when he felt the small point of a knife blade press into his back, he found himself unable to muster much of a reaction.

"I don't want any trouble, mister. Just give me your wallet and I'll be on my way." The voice that came from behind sounded a tad high-pitched, just enough for it to be impossible to tell whether the speaker was a man or a woman. They must not have been used to mugging people, because their attempt to sound threatening completely failed. It came across as a child throwing on a deep voice to imitate their father.

"Guess I've gotta deal with this now. Heh, is it weird that I feel kind of better? My first criminal in a new world, yippee." Peter faintly smiled to himself, resisting the urge to laugh at his own messed up thoughts. Playing the part of a fearful victim, he raised his hands in surrender.

"Oh no, whatever shall I do? I'm just a poor, helpless citizen! I sure do hope nobody takes my wallet out of my back pocket." He failed to keep the humor out of his voice. Anybody who heard him would think he was playing a game with his friends, but the mugger did not seem to pick up on his sarcasm.

Assuming his odd behavior was simply a way of going along with his demands without fighting, the mugger huffed and stuck a hand in Peter's back pocket in search of the promised wallet. It was then that Peter made his move.

In one fluid motion, he spun his entire body around and grabbed hold of the hand pressing the knife against his back. With one hand in his pocket, the mugger was pulled off balance by the sudden spin and was unable to defend himself from being pinned to the ground, the pocket knife slipping out of his hands. It wasn't until he was already face-down on the sidewalk when he finally realized what was going on and began to struggle, but it was too late. Both his skinny arms were already held behind his back by only one of Peter's hands.

"First mugging? Word of advice, don't get so close. Makes it a lot easier to grab hold of you." Peter carelessly rolled the rusty pocket knife around in his fingers while pinning his assailant down with his other hand. Whoever it was, they were very small, only tall enough for the top of their head to reach his collarbone. They were also very thin. Even through the thick, ratty hoodie they wore, Peter could feel just how skinny they were. It was honestly rather pathetic.

In fact, the more he looked at his attacker, the less joy he felt in taking them down.

"GET OFF ME!" The hood the mugger wore had slipped off, allowing Peter to see his face. It was a young boy, probably only thirteen or fourteen years old. His face was gaunt and covered in dirt, and his teeth were crooked and yellow. His thin, stick-like arms struggled against Peter's grip, but could not produce enough strength to even budge him. He was acting like a wild animal, desperately thrashing around and growling at his captor in an attempt to escape.

The boy was very obviously homeless. If Peter were to wager a guess, he probably dug the pocket knife out of a trash can and used it to secure cash for meals, or maybe he was paying off somebody else. Whatever the case was, nothing about any of this brought him satisfaction.

Only then did Peter finally notice the matted, dog-like tail sticking out from under the boy's hoodie.

"... A bad neighborhood, huh?"

The gloomy hero let out a long, dramatic groan. Very slowly, he eased off the boy, allowing him to at least stand, though he did not release his arms. Surprised by the small amount of freedom offered to him, the young boy momentarily stopped struggling and glared at Peter, once again trying and failing to appear intimidating.

"... What are you doing?" He asked, suspicious of the small act of kindness.

Indeed, what was he doing? Peter wasn't quite sure of that himself, actually.

"You know, I don't mean to lecture you. I'm sure you've had it rough out here, but that doesn't mean you can just rob people." The older boy decided to at least try to open a dialogue. But, unsurprisingly, his new friend was not very open to the idea.

"Give me a break. Don't act like you know what it's like out here." The boy scoffed in disgust. "I don't need a human to tell me how to live."

"... Well, about that." Going through the motions, Peter raised his free hand, showing the boy the white patch on his wrist. Flexing his fingers a few times, he sprayed a couple of tiny web strands into the sky. They dropped back down to the ground a few seconds later, splattering onto the pavement harmlessly.

Unfortunately, this did not improve the situation. The revelation that it was another Faunus holding onto him only seemed to worsen the boy's mood.

"You… you should know what it's like out here! You should know this is my only option! Who do you think you are, telling me to live another way?!"

Peter accepted those snarled out words. He couldn't really refute them. If he was being honest, it was getting a little tiring using his "Faunus" status as a way to get people to listen to him. It wasn't as if he actually knew what it meant to be a Faunus. All his knowledge came from textbooks and word-of-mouth. Being hated as Spider-Man was one thing, being mistreated for his race was an entirely alien experience to him.

"..."

Quietly, he released the boy's arm. He did not look grateful to be free, but he didn't run away, at the very least. Instead, the homeless Faunus took a few cautious steps back, trying to figure out what Peter's angle was.

"... Look, kid, I won't pretend to know what you've been through, or how hard it is to get by. I won't lie and say I can relate, because I can't." Peter gave the child a faint smile. "I don't know anything about that. But, I do know it's not okay to hurt other people to help yourself."

Turning his attention away from the boy, Peter glanced at the pocket knife in his hands. Turning it over a few times, he placed it in his pocket and pulled out his wallet.

"Sorry, but I'll be holding onto this. Don't worry, I'm not out to rob you. Fair's fair, after all." Reaching into his wallet, Peter pulled out one-hundred Lien, roughly half of his remaining cash, and held it out for the boy. "Just… try to find other ways to get by, all right? There's a guy around here named Tukson, runs a pretty nice bookstore. I'm sure he'd be willing to help you out if you went to him. You didn't hear it from me, but word is he's got a pretty nice couch you can crash on."

Understandably shocked, the homeless Faunus stared disbelievingly at the stack of Lien. Perhaps thinking he was being tricked, he approached slowly, one step at a time, before tenderly reaching out to the cash like he was trying to grab a live snake. As soon as the cards were pinched between his fingers, he jerked his hand away as fast as he could. Peter did not so much as flinch as the cash was yanked out of his grip.

Still under the impression he was being toyed with, the child took a close look at the cash he was given before placing it in his pocket. He stared at Peter with a mixture of curiosity, apprehension, and gratitude.

"... Th-thanks, mister." Thoroughly confused, he turned around and fled as fast as his legs would carry him. Eventually, he turned down an alley and disappeared from sight.

"..." Peter quietly watched him leave. He continued staring down the empty street even after the boy disappeared.

"Was that the right move to make?" He scratched his cheek thoughtfully. For the thousandth time that day, his face fell and he released a quiet sigh. "A bad neighborhood, is it? So that's what you meant."

He was beginning to grow disillusioned with Vale. The history books he read all made a point of saying that treatment of Faunus was slowly but surely improving, and Vale especially was known for its nearly equal treatment of all its citizens. But, between his first encounter with Tukson and now this homeless boy, the pseudo-Faunus was finding that hard to believe.

Though he would never dare claim to be in an entirely similar situation himself, he knew very well what the boy was implying when he snarled at him about not having any other options. Furthermore, he was willing to bet he could guess the reasons behind the boy finding himself living on the streets in the first place with near-perfect accuracy.

Looking back, maybe it was more than a little insensitive to ask the young boy to try and find other ways to live. Hopefully, Tukson really would offer him a helping hand. If he did, Peter would definitely need to thank him profusely when they saw each other again next weekend.

"... No time to worry about that now. If I don't get back to the airstrip now, I won't make curfew."

Pulling his Scroll out of his pocket, Peter was about to open up the app he was using to find his way back to his ride home when he noticed somebody had sent him a message while he was dealing with the junior thief. Curious, he swiped down and opened up the contents of the brand new text.

Sender: Ben

Yo, dude! It took forever, but I finally finished up at the DMV. Had to stand in line for like, six hours, but I was able to get everything sorted out. If you're still in Vale, lemme know where you are, I'll come pick you up."

So, he wasn't the only one still in Vale. If Ben was still around, Rex and Kevin likely had not left yet either. With that question answered, Peter found himself with a new one to take its place.

"Pick me up?"

Beacon:

"I think… that'll do it for now."

The time was 7:26 PM. At long last, Jaune finally felt like he had made progress. It had taken another three hours of reading and rereading his notes, but it all paid off. He could confidently say he was starting to remember the material, his stubborn brain finally caving in and committing the notes to material.

After six hours… he understood the basics of Beowolves and Beringels, from their habits and habitats to their anatomy and hierarchy.

"..."

O-okay, so it wasn't a lot, but this was only the first day! Even if it was only knowledge pertaining to two specific Grimm, at least he could say with confidence he understood them. That was better than nothing, right?

"Oof. I think it's time for another break." The blonde boy's eyes were burning after spending so much time scanning his messy notes. Not only that, but after doing something so boring for so long, he was exhausted. The past thirty minutes had been a desperate struggle to stay awake.

Regardless, he felt good. He was taking steps in the right direction, even though it was painful. Spending the day in Vale may have been more fun, but he would almost certainly regret wasting time later. The day was undeniably boring, but at least Jaune felt accomplished.

Deciding to reward himself for his diligence, Jaune picked up his Scroll for the first time in hours. He had a few new messages, all of them sent by his teammates within the last twenty minutes letting him know they were exiting Vale and were heading up the path to Beacon. As Jaune was wondering why on Remnant they would be trekking up the long path instead of just taking the Bullhead back, he received another message from Rex letting him know they had just pulled up to the school grounds. For some reason, he wanted Jaune to meet them in front of the school, saying there was a surprise waiting for him.

Intrigued, the blonde boy pushed himself away from the desk and exited the dorm room.

"I hope you guys had fun. I wasn't joking when I said we'd all be working hard tomorrow," he said to himself. The idea of studying around people who definitely knew more than him made him nervous, but he remained committed to the idea. Whether they were more knowledgeable than he was or not, good students stayed on top of their schooling. His plan wasn't so much for all of them to help each other study, but more something along the lines of his team individually studying whatever they wanted, as long as they were doing work. As the leader of Team JPTR, he would take advantage of every opportunity for himself and his teammates to improve themselves.

That was the mark of a good leader. Or, it probably was, anyway. It sounded like something a good leader would do.

Before reaching the courtyard in front of the school, Jaune made a quick stop at one of the bathrooms beside the front entrance. He hadn't realized until after he left the dorms that he hadn't actually gotten up to use the bathroom any time in recent memory and his body was reminding him of his failure to attend to its basic needs.

While washing up at one of the sparkling clean sinks, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He didn't look like a nervous wreck anymore, though his face was a bit more pale than usual. It wasn't bad, but he still wasn't satisfied.

"... Think of it like this, Jaune." He muttered to his own reflection. "Nobody here knows what they're doing. Even Pyrrha said she doesn't know how to lead a team, but she's still doing her best. Just be confident. Make sure your team can look up to you. Let's... make this the last one, alright?"

Satisfied with his self-given pep talk, Jaune exited the bathroom and pushed through the double doors leading outside. To compensate for the darkening sky, the lampposts lining the cobblestone path leading out of the school were activated, bathing the courtyard in warm light. On the nearby landing pad, a Bullhead was just landing, likely dropping off the final batch of students returning from Vale.

That was not what grabbed his attention, however. Instead, he was focused on a group at the very end of the cobblestone path, waiting right at the crest of the hill where the road to Vale began. Even from this distance, he could tell it was his team standing there. And, true to Rex's word, they brought a surprise with them.

"Is that… a car?!"

Sprinting over, Jaune felt his eyes grow wider with every step. Ben was leaning on the hood of a black and green sports car, posing like a magazine model. He was not being subtle in his boasting, nor did he have any intentions of appearing humble. He was actively trying to show off his baby as dramatically as possible.

"You like it? The cops impounded her way back when we all got arrested. I finally managed to get her back before we left." Dropping his smile, Ben's eyes were flooded with sadness. "I still think it's stupid I had to pay to get my car back even though they know I didn't do anything. Even with Rex giving me money, I still didn't have enough. I had to call up Kevin and get a little extra from him."

"A little extra? You took the last of my money, Tennyson! There was a converter on sale that I had to pass up 'cause of you!" Beside him, Kevin retorted angrily. There was a large cardboard box full of what looked like car parts in his arms. "At least you've still got a car. My baby got turned into a pancake and the cops didn't even bother keepin' her parts. I've gotta start from scratch all over again with a bunch of junk they had on sale!"

Jaune did vaguely remember Kevin screaming something about a car way back when they first met outside the nightclub. He didn't realize Ben had a car of his own as well.

"Look at the bright side, Kev. You can still work on my car." Ben tried to point out a silver lining for his depressed friend. "You did build it for my birthday, so she is kind of your baby also, isn't she?"

Just barely perking up, Kevin inspected the beautiful car carefully.

"... Guess so. I do still gotta rework it to run off Dust instead of gasoline." The mechanic hefted the box of parts he obtained in Vale, excitedly poring over its contents. "Should be fun for a day or two."

"That's the spirit, Kev. Come on, you can ride with me while I find a place to park. We'll catch up with you guys later." Ben hopped into the driver's seat of the car and Kevin took the passenger seat. Waving goodbye, he drove the car down the stone path in search of a good parking spot.

"Does Beacon even have parking spaces? The only cars I've seen here are the ones at the bottom of the hill." Jaune watched them go, praying his team wouldn't get busted for bringing a vehicle onto school grounds.

"So, how was studying, jefe?" Breaking his silence for the first time since arriving, Rex greeted his leader with a friendly wave. "You have fun reading books all day?"

"Not even a little bit."

"... It's not about being fun, it's about being a good student. I can't afford to take it easy just because I got accepted, can I?" Jaune answered smoothly, hoping he sounded like a cool, responsible person.

"Fair enough, but maybe you can ease up on yourself a little." Peter cut-in, grinning at the blonde boy. "You're starting to sound like Weiss."

"And is there something wrong with that?"

Peter's head snapped around the moment the familiar voice reached his ears. The white-haired girl was staring, unimpressed, with her hands on her hips. The rest of Team RWBY was right behind her, along with Ren and Nora. Apparently, they were the ones who had been departing the final Bullhead earlier.

"... No?" Peter offered weakly.

"That's what I thought." Satisfied, Weiss showed mercy and dropped her dead-eyed glare. "Your leader is right. As students of Beacon, we cannot shirk our duties simply because the first step of our journey is complete. It's nice to know one of Beacon's Honors students has some sense."

Caught off guard by the off-handed praise, Jaune's brain blew a circuit.

"Did she… did she just compliment me?! YES! I knew that was a good line!"

"Uh, didn't you also hang out in Vale all day?" Rex pointed out, fixing Weiss with his own version of her trademarked, unimpressed stare.

Flustered, the haughty girl scrambled for an excuse. "I-I was planning on doing the same, but my… leader… insisted we spend the day in Vale. Besides, I wasn't simply hanging out, I was gathering necessary materials for my weapon!" To prove her point, Weiss thrust out a large bag with a snowflake embroidered on it. Inside were nearly a dozen vials of brightly colored powder, along with a handful of tiny machine parts that looked so delicate, a careless touch could probably snap them in half. The rich girl was clearly unconcerned with such a possibility, based on her careless manhandling of the ornate bag.

"Exactly!" Suddenly, Ruby jumped into the conversation, holding out her own bags full of dust and mechanical components. "We got to spend time together as a team and got stuff to upgrade our gear! You see Weiss, I am a good leader!"

The short girl heaped praise on herself, not realizing there was a brutal attack coming her way.

"Rubes, I love you, but we all know you just wanted to go to a weapons store." Yang bluntly shut down her little sister's attempt to sound like she had planned on doing anything productive.

Blake nodded her head along with her partner's words. "When I joined you, you were just running around Vale yelling at each other. We only spent thirty minutes inside any stores." You didn't even know how to get to a Dust shop or a forge. Weiss had to lead the way."

Ruby deflated instantly. The heartless betrayal she faced at the hands of her precious teammates left her floundering.

"I-it was… I planned some of… I KNOW YOU GUYS HAD FUN!" Ruby childishly stuck out her tongue. Under no circumstances would she admit the only reason she wanted to go to Vale was to escape Weiss' plans to waste the day studying. It was TOTALLY so her team could bond together! Anybody who said otherwise was lying!

Rex and Peter blatantly laughed at the poor girl, finding her desperate struggle strangely adorable. They were beginning to realize that being around Ruby was a lot like being around a hyperactive golden retriever.

"Wait, what happened to you guys?" Yang turned around to face Ren and Nora, who were being strangely quiet. "We didn't see you at all after you ran off."

Ren sighed painfully while Nora laughed gleefully. Neither of them explained, and neither of them needed to. The disparity in attitudes was enough. The gathered students sent their hearts out to the poor boy.

"Ahem." Clearing her throat, Ruby regained her place as the center of attention. "Our next mission as a team is to get some food! Team RWBY, to the cafeteria!"

Not waiting for an answer, the little reaper dashed off in search of dinner. Yang followed without question, Blake close behind. Only Weiss remained where she was.

"I swear, Headmaster Ozpin must be going senile, making her leader instead of me." Shaking her head, she noticed Peter's eyes were glued to her bag. "What is it?"

"Hm? Oh, sorry, I was just curious about the stuff you bought. I was thinking about getting back into making stuff in my free time, but all the materials at the forges here are just spare parts. It's not bad, but I might try getting my hands on some better quality stuff too. Did you get a good deal for all this?"

Weiss almost laughed at the question. Instead of answering directly, she pulled a receipt out of her bag and handed it to Peter.

"It was a relatively small shop, but it was still a branch of the SDC. Still, I suppose I would consider it a good deal."

"I guess that's rich girl-talk for 'Cheap by my standards, but not yours'. At least I can get an idea of how much this stuff costs and get something cheaper at a… smaller… WHAT THE FU-?!"

"THREE-HUNDRED LIEN FOR A PACK OF BATTERIES?! THAT'S HIGHWAY ROBBERY!" Peter nearly passed out when he saw the insane price attached to a mere twelve-pack of Dust batteries. Buying four whole books hadn't even cost him that much!

He expected Weiss to be unfazed by his shouting, but even Ren and Nora were unperturbed. The only ones who looked shocked were Jaune and Rex.

"Isn't that normal?" Nora tilted her head like a curious dog.

"Dust products have always been incredibly expensive. Even at a smaller store, that same product would cost around eighty Lien," Ren explained helpfully.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Peter took a closer look at the receipt. Like Weiss said, her goods had been purchased from a Schnee Dust store. If memory served him correctly, the history books he read in the library explained that the massive company was the original distributor of Dust products. They held a veritable monopoly over everything Dust related and crushed any rival company that dared to challenge them.

Supposedly, smaller stores could only exist if they remained stagnant. Branching out and opening new locations was a good way to get noticed by the SDC as a potential competitor, which was a death sentence. Because of this, small Dust businesses had no choice but to charge exorbitant prices, something the SDC already did as a way of taking advantage of their status as the only major Dust company on Remnant.

Peter could understand why the prices were so high. He realized why even small businesses had to go so overboard on their pricing…

He understood, but… eighty Lien for a few batteries…

"Oh, forget this!" Peter handed the receipt back to Weiss and stomped over to the cafeteria. "If I need batteries, I'll just make them myself!"

"E-excuse me!?" Weiss looked appalled by his incredible statement. "W-wait a moment, what do you mean by that!?"

Shoving the receipt back in her bag, she ran after Peter, abandoning her image of a refined lady as she sprinted full-tilt after him.

Rex watched her go with confusion written on his face. "What's her deal? Is making batteries really that big a deal? One of my buddies back home told me he had to make some for a school project in seventh grade. It shouldn't be that hard."

The normally inexpressive Ren actually laughed quietly at Rex's question. "Your friend must be very incredible, then." Thrusting his arm to the side, a green pistol slid out of his loose sleeve and into his hand. "Creating and repairing weapons is one thing. Building actual Dust machines and power sources is far more complicated. I've heard only experienced mechanics are capable of making even simple Dust-powered machines."

"Yeah, yeah!" Nora agreed. "I'm like, suuuuuper good at making grenades for Magnhild, but even I can't make a working battery."

"For real?" Rex breathed out apathetically. He didn't really care all that much about the finer details now that he had an answer for Weiss' reaction to Peter's statement. "Well, guess we'll see if Peter can pull it off or not."

Clapping his hands together, he gave Jaune a smile. "Whatever, let's forget that for now. Vamanos, boss. I haven't eaten in seven hours." Rex led the way to the cafeteria. This time, he was followed by Ren and Nora.

Jaune paused briefly, then followed after them. Someday, he would have to remember to ask Rex what all his strange words meant. Remnant only had one language ever since the Great War, so he wasn't sure where any of the odd phrases were coming from. Had his teammate invented his own language?

"... I'm glad you're all feeling better." Jaune smiled as he made his way to the cafeteria. The lanky knight was still pretty full after his king-sized meal, but he could at least sit with his friends while they ate. His team had worried him when they came back to their room last night looking saddened, but it looked like they were doing better now. A day in Vale really had done wonders for them.

"Rest up, boys. We're all going to work tomorrow." Jaune despaired internally when he remembered his plans to stay up all night studying in the library. Without his friends around to see, he felt comfortable audibly groaning one last time.

Leading the small group to the cafeteria, nobody could see that Rex was no longer smiling. His eyes were downcast, a frown on his face. His team was separating, and he didn't know how to pull them back together.

Doing his best to fend off Weiss, Peter was having trouble keeping the glumness he felt out of his voice and expression. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't erase Tukson's neighborhood from his mind.

Having successfully found a secluded space to park his car, Ben and Kevin made their way back to the main school building, neither of them speaking. They were too busy deciding when the best opportunity to discuss all the things dragging them down would be.

""""What are we supposed to do?""""

"I wonder if I should try reading a book on leadership." Jaune absent-mindedly ran a hand through his hair. "Mmm, maybe after I'm done studying."

.

.

.

Jaune is that one American student doing a semester abroad in the UK and realizing he's been playing on easy mode his whole life.

Yeah, despite my best efforts, it still feels like a pretty disjointed chapter. Like I said, it was either throw all this stuff together, or stall the story by spreading all this out across multiple chapters, which I really didn't want to do. On the plus said, absolutely every single thing that happened is important, so I can finally kick off a lot of the subplots I've had planned for a while now. Honestly, this might just be the most important chapter in the story so far, and I'm glad it's over with. For the time being, I have no more plot lines to set up and I can finally start working on the 50 different storylines I've been preparing. I've completed th puzzles outline, now I just have to fill it in.

Oh boys, why can't you just be honest? We've gone from one guy isolating himself to five. Meh, I'm sure it won't have any negative consequences on the team's cohesiveness.

Next chapter should be ready soon. I promise it won't be as all over the place as this Frankenstein of a chapter.

Thank you for reading and please consider leaving a review.

Aren signing off.