Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY and Angry Birds
Today was combat class, currently a one-on-one spar between Jaune and Cardin Winchester. So far, it did not appear to be going in Jaune's favor as he already appeared exhausted while Cardin doesn't seem to even break a single sweat, evident by his chuckle as he held his mace, the Executioner, over his shoulder.
"Come on… come on…" Jaune muttered to himself as he picked up his sword once again and charged at Cardin with a battle cry, only for him to jump out of Jaune's way. Jaune looked back in surprise, just as The Executioner's impact with his shield sent it and himself flying across the ground. Now only armed with his sword, Jaune continues to go on the offense, but Cardin blocks his strikes effortlessly. Their weapons locked, Cardin forces himself up, towering over a struggling Jaune.
"This is the part where you lose." Cardin told him.
"Over my dead-" Jaune was cut off as Cardin knees him in the gut, causing Jaune to drop his sword and fall to the ground in pain. Cardin raised his mace to finish him off, but the sound of a buzzer stopped the match.
"Cardin, that's enough." Glynda told him as she stepped forward onto the stage, tapping her scroll to reveal the status of Jaune's and Cardin's Aura on a holographic screen above them.
"Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match." Glynda said before addressing Jaune directly.
"Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf now, would we?
Jaune can only give an exhausted sigh, sparing a glance towards Pyrrha as she looks at him with a concerned expression.
"Speak for yourself." Cardin muttered as he picked up his weapon and proceeded to step off the arena.
"Remember everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away!" Glynda reminded the students, which got them, especially Team RWBY, excited. "It won't be long before students from the other Kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament, will be representing all of Vale!"
The bell then rang, signaling the end of the class, allowing the students to pick up and leave, all except Jaune who could only hang his head in shame.
Meanwhile, The Flock had seen the whole thing from the ceiling, and away from the view of the students. "That tournament sounds like fun." Jake said with a smirk.
"Jake, you do know that's for the students only." Bomb told him.
"I know that, Uncle Bomb. But we have been fighting Grimm for days! A sparring match against someone else would be nice for a change."
"But it would be unfair if we went into the tournament." Hal commented.
"Maybe Ozpin can pull some strings and let us fight some professional Huntsmen, it could be a good learning experience for all of us and for them." Chuck suggested.
"Or we could duke it out together, like in the arena tournament with the banners that Terry held previously back in Piggy Island. What do you think, Red? Red?" Jay asked Red again before noticing that he and Silver seemed to be deep in thought.
"Um…hello? Red? Silvy? Ya hear me?" Jay repeated as he tried to get their attention.
"What? Oh, sorry Jay. It's just that…seeing Jaune's fight, something doesn't feel right there." Silver stated.
"Yeah, even with a sword and a shield to back himself up, he still struggles to fight against someone with a single weapon. Heck, he doesn't even try to use his shield to defend himself or even use a Semblance of his own!" Red added.
"Maybe yellow boy is still learning, this is a school after all. Since we have time, we can even help him out. Red can teach him how to use his weapons since he has a lot of experience, and the rest of us can teach him something! If he's willing to, that is."
"Yeah, great idea." Silver said as everyone else nodded in agreement. But Silver couldn't help but think about what Jaune is currently going through.
(Some time later in the cafeteria)
"So! There we were, in the middle of the night…!" Nora began her story in a dramatic fashion to Team RWBY, The Flock and her teammates of JNPR as all of them sat together for lunch.
"It was day." Ren corrected his friend before sipping a coffee mug.
"We were surrounded by Ursa…!" Nora continued, with Yang, Red, and Bomb listening intently to her story, while Blake seemed more interested in reading her book and Weiss was busy filing her nails. Jaune doesn't seem to be paying attention to anything, just sadly picking at his food, much to the concern of Ruby, Chuck, Silver and Pyrrha.
"They were Beowolves." Ren corrected again.
"Dozens of them!" Nora exclaimed as she stood on the table.
"Two of them." Ren said yet again.
"But they were no match! And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa-skinned rugs!" Nora finished proudly.
"But since Grimm disintegrates upon death, how were you able to sell the skin of it?" Red asked Nora.
"Killjoy!" Nora stuck her tongue out at Red before getting off the table and sat down at her seat next to Ren.
"Sorry, She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now." Ren apologized to Red.
"Eh, It's fine. Friends are unique in their own ways." Red replied.
"Speaking of which, where's the green cloak guy and The Blues?" Yang asked.
"Hal and The Blues are in the Emerald Forest helping me with something." Silver answered. "I wonder how they are doing right now…"
(Emerald Forest)
"So let me get this straight…" Hal said as he put on dark green gloves before whipping out his pistols.
"You guys are telling me that this wacky world has Grimm everywhere, and this school teaches kids here to fight them because there's no military here except for the kingdom of Atlas?!" He exclaimed as he blasted several Beowolves with fire.
"Yep." Jim said as he shot an electric Dust powered arrow to a Boarbatusk before it could start rolling, scoring a headshot as well.
"Correctamundo" Jake said while viciously beating the skull of a Ursa with his bow.
"Absolutely." Jay said as he pushed a frozen Nevermore into an empty cage.
"But the kids must be highly trained before they are enrolled here, which means they know what they are doing. So don't worry about them." Jay continued as he locked the cage containing the frozen Nevermore.
"Alright then. You kids got the Grimm samples for Peter?" Hal said as he spun himself into a tornado to disorient the remaining Grimm before stopping and whipped his head back to see the blue brothers all giving a thumbs up.
(Back to the Cafeteria…)
"I'm sure they are fine. Who knows? Maybe they just finished what they are doing." Bomb assured Silver as he gently placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Jaune… Are you okay?" Pyrrha tried to get his attention. Jaune didn't seem to notice at first, that is until Silver, who had been sitting next to him, gently nudged his arm.
"Huh, what? Oh, yeah. Why?"
"It's just… that… you seem a little… not okay." Ruby said.
"Yeah, you are definitely not okay man." Bomb told him.
Jaune saw that nearly everyone around him was giving him concerned expressions, and he tried to put on a brave face. "Guys, I'm fine. Seriously! Look!" He gave a thumbs up and a forced smile.
"You're really not convincing anyone." Silver said seriously. "We all know that Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school."
"Nah, he just likes to mess around, ya know? Practical jokes." Jaune tried to dodge the topic to no avail.
"He's a bully." Ruby said bluntly.
"Him and his entire team." Red growled.
"Oh, please. Name one time where he's 'bullied' me." Jaune said.
"He knocks down all your stuff when you pass by in the halls." Ren answered.
"There was also the time he put up your shield and got you stuck in the doorway." Nora answered.
"And that one time he shoved you into your locker and launched it." Even Yang added.
"Chuck and I have to run out and get you out of it." Bomb recalled.
"That's still not the reason for you to throw me like a javelin in the Oinklympics…" Chuck annoyingly muttered to Bomb, in which Bomb gave an apologetic smile.
"Jaune, you can ask us if you need help." Silver offered. "That's what friends do."
"Guys, really! It's fine!" Jaune tried to insist. "Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me. He's a jerk to everyone."
"Ow! That hurts!"
They turned to see Cardin and his whole team harassing a female Faunus student with rabbit ears, pulling on them and laughing.
"Please, stop!" She pleaded to no avail.
"I told you guys it was real." Cardin laughed to his team.
With a grunt, Red stood up from his spot. "Excuse me one second. I'm gonna let off some steam."
"I'm right behind you." Yang said as she also stood up.
"Me too." Bomb said too as he stood up and punched both of his fists with his ponytail starting to produce sparks.
"Let's go break their legs!" Nora cheered.
"Wait-a-minute-guys! Let's not blow a fuse here." Chuck stopped them as he used one of his gloved hands to pinch out the sparks from Bomb's ponytail "fuse". "I got a better idea." Chuck smirked before vanishing in the form of a yellow blur, one that zipped all around Team CRDL, out of the cafeteria briefly and back to his seat. Before anyone could ask what he did…
"What the hell?!" Cardin looked down and found that his pants had vanished, exposing his boxers. And it wasn't just him, his whole team had their pants missing, exposing their underwear to everyone. "Where are my pants?!"
A whistle caught their attention, turning toward Chuck, who gestured with his thumb to the nearest window, where they could see all their pants hanging from a nearby lamp post, waving in the wind like flags on a flagpole. The entire cafeteria had already erupted into a roar of laughter as Team CRDL ran out of the cafeteria to try and retrieve their lost clothing, while the rabbit girl had shielded her innocent eyes with a face of red.
Yang, Silver, Nora, Bomb, and Ruby had also burst into laughter, the blonde and Bomb both slamming their fists on the table repeatedly, even Red, Blake and Ren couldn't help but smirk along, though Weiss just rolled her eyes slightly. Pyrrha gives Chuck a nod of approval while Jaune has shock on his face.
"Okay…! Okay… that… that was too good…!" Yang said in-between laughs.
"Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" Chuck then looked towards the rabbit girl. "Hey! Why don't you come sit with us?" He offered as he moved over slightly to give room. The girl walked over and sat down with her food.
"W-Was that you?" She asked.
"Yep." Chuck confirmed with a smile.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"You're Velvet, right?" Ruby asked.
"Yes." She replied as she slightly nodded her head. "Is this alright? Me sitting with all of you?"
"It's fine, don't worry about it." Ruby assured. "Sorry about what happened to you."
"I'm used to it…" Velvet looked away slightly with a sad expression, which caused Blake to scowl inwardly.
"I'm sure those jerks will change their ways soon enough, because it's not just their missing pants to worry about…" Chuck said with a mischievous grin.
"What else did you do?" asked an intrigued Yang.
Chuck said nothing but smirked as he pulled out two items from his pockets and placed them at the table: a small bottle of a green slime-like liquid and a small empty orange packet with a picture of an ant, casing Silver to giggle uncontrollably with Red looking at Chuck with an impressed expression and Bomb gave Chuck a thumbs up.
"Why would they be worried over some green slime and an empty packet?" asked a confused Ruby.
"This "green slime" is Sticky Goo, which acts like super glue. This empty packet here once contained itching powder, I'm sure you guys know what it does." Chuck explained.
"Which means that not only they are going to have a hard time getting their pants off the lamppost, but they are going to have the scratch of their lives when they put them back on!"
Silver said loudly while trying to recover from her giggles to little avail.
"See, Jaune? Standing up to bullies isn't that hard and or bad." Chuck told him.
"Yeah, well some of us don't have super speed." Jaune replied somewhat harshly.
"You still have your body, weapons, armor, Aura and Semblance." Red pointed out.
"There are always multiple weak points to strike at when fighting someone, even Cardin himself has weaknesses. Next time you fight him again, you can strike the head, the neck, the face, the arm and the legs. Heck, even striking the groin is a good strategy."
"Yeah! Hit him in the groin!" Nora cheered.
"Guys! It's fine! Don't worry about it!" Jaune still insisted as he stood up with his tray and walked away, much to the group's concern, especially Silver and Pyrrha as they shared eye-contact with one another.
(Night, Silver's Lab)
"Are you getting used to Remnant here?" Silver asked as she reviewed the map of Remnant on her computer.
"I've traveled to countries and islands beyond Piggy Island. I'll be fine. I'm sure everyone else is too. " Hal said as he tuned his beloved banjo.
"Makes sense. I mean, some of us went to a different country, some of us went to space, but everyone experienced the Eggspark incident, and now this. " Silver sighed.
"I just hope the rest are ok, I miss the girls."
"Don't worry I'm sure they are all right." Hal assured Silver as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, What's that little island over there?" Hal asked as he pointed to a small island located in the west of the map of Vale.
"That's Patch, the place looks nice." Silver said as she made a few clicks for various photographs of Patch to fill up the monitor. "We could visit the place when we have time in the future."
"Speaking of which, how are the gloves and upgrades I gave you and the Blues?"
"The Blues and I think that the glove's non-slip feature is neat, thanks to your upgrades to Doubletwister, it's now more aerodynamic. The Blue's Dust clips worked like a charm, I'm still getting used to Dust though. One time I threw my gun while it had a fire dust chip inside it, it shrouded itself in flames as it hit a Grimm creature! It stopped being on fire when it came back to me, but it's hot to the touch." Hal remarked.
"So when you equip the fire Dust clip that I gave you, your weapon not only has incendiary rounds, but also acts like a flaming boomerang? Interesting… " Silver muttered as she recorded Hal's observations on the computer.
"Did the Blues say anything about their gloves and weapon upgrades?" Silver asked again.
"They never said anything, you'll have to ask them when they come back from the Emerald Forest with the rest of our friends that are also testing the new upgrades you gave them."
"By the way, how were you able to utilize Dust? Last time I checked, the guys said that you have trouble with it." Hal asked Silver.
"Well yes, at first. But later on I found out that Dust can be ground into powder, which makes weaponizing it so much easier than just using the crystals directly." Silver explained as she typed something in her keyboard to open up a file to show her progress with dust. "So far, I've got fire and lightning Dust clips for our weapons since we used fire and EMP before . Though I'm thinking I can also use hard-light dust as a shield… but keeping it up constantly would be trouble considering Dust pretty much has a one-time usage before it runs out of juice, so I'll look into it later. Right now, Pyrrha is helping me with Dust since she knows the structure of it better than I do. Weiss also offers her help since according to her, she's the heiress of the largest Dust producers in Remnant, the Schnee Dust Company, which means she knows a lot about the manufactured Dust."
"That's nice. Hey, is your transparent phone ringing?" Hal pointed to Silver's humming scroll on the workshop table.
"For your information, that's a scroll. Silly name, I know. Please excuse me." Silver said as she got out of her computer swivel chair to her workshop table to pick up her scroll, pressed on the green pick up button on her screen and brought it close to her ear.
"Silver, are you busy?"
"I've got time, what's up Pyrrha?"
"I could use your help with something. Can you meet me at the rooftop of the student dorms later?"
"Sure thing, see you there!"
"Someone wants to see you?" Hal asked as he got off the workshop table stool just as Silver hung up.
"Yep. You'll be okay by yourself?" Silver asked as she opened the window of her lab.
"I'll be fine. I need to see Ozpin later anyway." Hal replied.
"Alright, stay safe friend." Silver said as she activated Stormfall.
It took Silver some time to use Stormfall to climb to the top when she saw Pyrrha leading Jaune to the rooftop.
"Hey guys!" Silver got up to greet the pair as she got up and deactivated Stormfall.
"Um… what's going on?" Jaune asked.
"Jaune, we know you're having a difficult time in class, and that you're still not the strongest of fighters…" Pyrrha began. "So, we're here to help you."
Jaune doesn't seem enthusiastic about the idea.
"You and I can train up here after class when no one can bother us." Pyrrha offered. "And Silver here can help you with classwork."
"I know I've only been on this planet for like a short time, but I've gotten a pretty good idea of how things work around here." Silver added. "So if you need any help, I'll be more than happy to."
"Y-You think I need help…?" Jaune asked, sounding somewhat offended.
"N-No! No. That's not what I meant." Pyrrha responded.
"But you just said it… both of you."
"Jaune, listen. Even the strongest people need help from time to time." Silver told him. "Look at Red. Although Chuck is faster than him, I'm smarter than him, Bomb's stronger than him and The Blues are crazier than him, none of us lead better than Red, since he is always willing to help us in our time of need. Even Red will admit that he needs our help from time to time. There's nothing wrong with asking for help, that doesn't mean you're weak or anything. And for the record, I know what you're going through."
"No… you don't…" Jaune tried.
"I actually do." Silver insisted. "When I was a young hatchling on my first day of school, everyone thought I was weird. I got bullied and picked on all the time for that. It didn't matter how smart I was, if anything, it made it even worse. Everyone thought I was a weirdo for that. I know what it's like to be pushed around and looked down on, but I got some help and managed to get out of that hole. You don't have to stay in it, we can help you get out of it."
"That's right, you made it to Beacon." Pyrrha insisted. "That speaks volumes of what you're capable of."
Jaune turned around, not facing them with a face of shame. "You're wrong… b-both of you. I-I don't belong here…"
"That's a terrible thing to say, of course you do." Pyrrha stated.
"No! I don't!" Jaune exclaimed as he turned back to face them. He looked away as both Silver and Pyrrha looked at him with confused and concerned expressions. "I wasn't really accepted into Beacon." He said as he turned around again.
"What… What are you talking about?" Silver asked slowly.
"I didn't go to any combat school! I didn't pass any tests! I didn't earn my spot at this academy!" Jaune shouted as he faced them again. "I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied!"
"What…?!" A shocked Pyrrha questioned.
"But…why… would you do that…?" Silver also questioned.
"Cause, this is what I've always wanted to be!" Jaune began. "My father, my grandfather, and his father before him, they were all warriors! They were all heroes! I-I wanted to be one too…! I was just never good enough…"
"Well, you can be now." Silver told him. "You can get stronger… and we can help you with that right here and right now!"
"I don't want help!" Jaune exclaimed. "I don't want to be the damsel in distress or the sidekick! I want to be the hero!"
"Jaune…" Pyrrha tried to talk to him.
"I'm tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck in the tree, while his friends fight for their lives, don't you understand?!" Jaune sounded like he was breaking down into a mix of anger and sadness. "If I can't do this on my own… then what good am I?!"
Pyrrha tried to reach out to him, but Jaune pulled away from her.
"Just… leave me alone… Both of you. Okay?"
"If… that's what you think is best." Pyrrha said with defeat as she turned around to walk away.
"I hope you know what you are doing. It's never too late to change your mind." Silver turned to Jaune before walking away and leaping off the rooftop.
Jaune looked down dejectedly, feeling a sense of regret for pushing them away like that. But he wanted to do this his way. However, his thoughts came to an end with a chuckle as a familiar but sinister-sounding voice rang through his ears.
"Oh Jaune…"
"Cardin!?"
"I couldn't help but hear you and your little friends from my dorm room." Cardin revealed himself with a grin. "So, you snuck into Beacon, huh? I gotta say Jaune, I never expected you to be such a rebel."
"Please, Cardin! Please, don't tell anyone!" Jaune begged.
"Jaune, come on. I'd never rat out a friend like that." Cardin replied, confusing Jaune.
"A… A friend…?"
"Of course." Cardin pulled Jaune in with his arm around his shoulder in a friendly expression, unless somehow you think squeezing someone tightly around the neck until they can't breathe is your term of "Friendliness".
"We're friends now, Jauney-boy. And the way I see it, as long as you're there for me when I need you, we'll be friends for a long time." He let him go, letting Jaune fall to the ground and catch his breath.
"That being said, I really don't have time to do those extra readings Doctor Oobleck gave us today. Think you can take care of that for me, buddy?" He ruffled his hair with a sadistic grin. "That's what I thought." He said as he climbed back down to his dorm. "Don't worry Jaune, you're secret's safe with me."
Jaune doesn't need to be a genius to realize he was being blackmailed. But there seems to be nothing he could do about it, causing him to sink down in his own self-dug pit of despair.
However, unknown to everyone else, there had been someone else on the rooftop that had been listening to the entire conversation. And that figure is not going to let this slide.
(Two Days Later…)
It was already late in the evening as Pyrrha glanced out the window with a gloomy expression while Ren sat on his bed to polish his weapon and Nora absentmindedly bounced up and down on her bed.
"How come Jaune's been getting home so late?" Nora asked curiously.
"He's become rather scarce, ever since he's been fraternizing with Cardin." Ren answered, putting StormFlower away.
"That's weird." Nora looked down, still bouncing on her bed. "Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow? We need our rest!" She stopped bouncing as she flopped on her bed.
"I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing." Pyrrha said rather bitterly, causing Ren and Nora to look at each other with concern.
"I guess so…" Nora sulked.
Outside the dorm room, Jaune had overhead everything. He wanted to go in there and talk to his friends, but with everything hanging over him, he wasn't ready to face any of them. He even wondered if he could face them at all. With a sigh, he began to walk away, but just as he turned around the corner, he gave a yelp in surprise as he saw something tall and red appear right in front of him.
"H-Huh…? R-Red…? What are you…?"
Slowly looking up, he saw that the figure was a muscular man with bright maroon hair while sporting a hairstyle similar to Red. The man also wore bright maroon shoes and a sleeveless vest, along with black long pants. He also felt a chill running along his spine when he looked into the man's glaring black eyes.
"A-Aren't you…Terence?" Jaune asked, remembering the introduction briefing by Silver in the previous chapter.
The only response He got was a moment of silence and staring, until Terence took out a large burlap sack from somewhere and covered Jaune with it.
"W-what is this?! Let me out! Ouch!" Jaune pleaded as he struggled to get out of the sack before he was tossed by an upwards force.
"..." Terence said as he carried the muffled panicking sack over his shoulder and ran off to who knows where.
(Emerald Forest)
"I… I'm in the Emerald Forest again?" Jaune muttered after a brief struggle of getting out of the sack to see Crocea Mors on the floor right next to him.
Poor Jaune did not have enough time to process what happened when he heard growls, howls and snarls coming from the darkness within the forest. He could not believe what he saw next.
Waves of multiple Grimm, Ursas, Nevermores, Beowolves, Boarbatusks, Death Stalkers and even Goliaths, basically any idea Grimm you can think of that lives in the Emerald Forest,
came pouring out of the darkness and surrounded the yellow boy, making escape impossible.
Activating his fight and flight response, he quickly picked up his weapons and pointed his sword to any Grimm who dared to approach while holding his shield near him in a futile attempt to keep the Grimm away from him as the sea of Grimm crept closer and closer, until…
All hell broke loose.
An Ursa lunged and swiped at Jaune's behind, he barely managed to block the attack with his shield just to have a rolling Boarbatusk knock him away, causing him to lose his sword and land on the stinger of a Death Stalker. Annoyed, the Death Stalker shook Jaune away from it, causing him to roll on the ground as the Death Stalker tried to attack him with its stinger but missed. A Beowolf then slapped the rolling Jaune away from it to another Grimm, basically the group of Grimm seems to be playing with its prey/food, aka poor yellow boy.
"Help! Please! Somebody!" Jaune shouted in desperation as he barely managed to miss the talon strikes of a Nevermore and landed on the ground, only to see Terence sitting on a tree branch glaring at him with his arms crossed.
"Why do you need help?" a deep voice rang through Jaune's ears.
"W-What…?"
"Why do you need help?" Terence repeated. "You rejected your friend's help. You even said it yourself. You don't want to be the damsel in distress or the sidekick. You want to be the hero, just like your family. So I shall bear witness to you taking on all of them by yourself and you can be hailed a hero.
"B-But I can't take all of them by myself!" Jaune shouted as he raised up his shield above his head to avoid an aerial attack by a Griffon but not enough time to avoid being scratched in the back by an Ursa, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Then perish like the weakling you are. You are not a hero, just a little boy that cares for only himself."
"You're right…" Jaune admitted, salty tears temporarily blinding him. "Everyone… even my own family… didn't want me to become a Huntsman… but… they were just so cool… and my family… they were all heroes… I wanted to be part of that… but… I'm not. I'm a failure." He hung his head down in acceptance and landed on his knees, his spirit being broken by Terence's harsh words of reality and accepting his fate as a Death Stalker's stinger was about to strike him in the back.
Then there was silence.
Confused and surprised he was still alive, he slowly looked up only to see Terence kneeling down and staring right up in his face, surprising Jaune as he quickly stood up and backed away from him. Turns out, all of the Grimm around him were gone. No sounds of retreating or pain or even disintegrating Grimm, as if they suddenly vanished into thin air.
"So, do you admit you're weak?" Terence asked as he stood to his full height, his eyes still locked onto Jaune's.
"Y-Yes…" Jaune admitted weakly.
"But do you intend to stay weak?" Terence asked while pointing to Jaune, causing Jaune to look up in surprise. "Every person and being is weak at one point in their life and there is no shame in that. The true shame is knowing you are weak but choosing to remain that way. And that's what you've done. By refusing aid from your friends, people who can help you become stronger, and by submitting to that bully, you have chosen to remain weak."
"Y-You know?" Jaune asked.
Terence only nodded his head in response.
"You want to be a hero? Don't focus on yourself, focus on those you need to protect. Being a hero means you have to be responsible to protect others who can't defend themselves. Do you have a team?"
"Y-Yes?" Jaune answered.
"Are you the leader of your team?"
"Yes…"
"What I said also goes for your teammates." Terence continued his lecture. "You need to look after them, be there for them, help them whenever you can because they are also your responsibility, especially when you are the leader. Because if you continue to be more focused on yourself, all those people that you are responsible for will pay the consequences for your actions, sometimes with their lives, and that would be your fault and yours alone. Do you want that to happen? If not, then I suggest you get stronger, even if it means asking for help. Identifying and admitting you are weak is the first step to getting stronger. So, let me ask you one more time. Do you want to remain weak?"
Jaune, having listened to the lecture, shook his head. "No… I don't want to stay weak…"
"Then go to your team." Terence told him. "They are your responsibility, not that idiot."
"But Cardin knows I used fake transcripts!" Jaune protested. "If I stand up to him… he'll have me expelled."
Hearing that only makes Terence deepen his glare. "There is an alternative. You can tell the truth then leave."
"W-What…?" Jaune questioned, not quite sure what he meant by that.
"Tell your headmaster about what you did." Terence explained. "Tell him you used fake transcripts to get into this school, and then leave. At least you can walk away with some dignity and respect."
"L-L-Leave Beacon…? B-But, my team…!" Jaune stammered.
"I'm certain your headmaster could find a suitable replacement." Terence simply told him.
"When you are weak, you are faced with two decisions. The first decision is getting stronger. Second, if you feel you are unable to do something, find someone else to act in your stead. There is no shame in stepping to the side if you are unable to complete the task. If you are still worried about your team, let them know in advance. At least they can respect your decision and have time to adapt to the situation. "
Terence said as he handed Jaune his sword back, which he slowly took. "You have a choice to make. Make it soon." Terence said as he turned to leave.
"Hey wait-" Jaune was about to stop Terence but he had already disappeared, and in a literal blink of an eye, somehow he was back in the entrance door of his team's dorm, like all of this was just a nightmare, but the searing red pain on his back told him otherwise.
Jaune was left alone with his thoughts, but was interrupted by the ringing of his scroll. He picked it up and answered, seeing the caller was none other than Cardin.
"Hey. It's your buddy, Cardin. I know you're probably busy with that Dust project I gave you, but… I'm gonna need you to go out and get me a bag of Rapier Wasps. And make sure they've got some really big stingers. It's important, so don't screw this up."
Jaune hung up on his scroll with a tightening grip and clenched teeth.. After the harsh lesson that was just beaten into him, He decided it was time for a change.
"Oh, you want Rapier Wasps, huh? Fine. I'll get you some. Real nasty ones, too."
(Next Day)
Teams RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL and their classmates were all led by Professor Goodwitch through the bright red forest, also known as the Forever Fall Forest. Several of the students, particularly Ruby, couldn't help but look in awe at the beautiful forest around them.
"Yes students, the Forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful." Glynda told all the students. "But we are not here to sightsee. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest. And I am here to make sure none of you die while doing so."
She continued before stopping, causing the students to stop behind her. Except for Jaune, since he cannot see ahead as he is carrying all of team CRDL's supplies, bumped into Cardin. Jaune looked away with an innocent whisper as Cardin glared at him and Glynda gave the students their instructions.
"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the Creatures of Grimm. Although an advance team has been sent in to clear them out, you can't let your guard down and stay by your teammates." Glynda said as Ruby and Yang exchanged knowing glances, having a good idea who this "advance team" is. "We will rendezvous back here at four o'clock. Have fun."
As Glynda left, the students began to split off into their respective groups, all except Jaune as Cardin pulled him in the direction away from his own team. "Come on buddy, let's go."
Jaune ended up following him, much to Pyrrha's displeasure as she caught up with the rest of her team.
Glynda had met up with the group consisting of Red, Silver, Hal and Bomb some distance away from where all the students were.
"There are considerably less Grimm here than expected, I would like to thank you for your assistance in this matter." Glynda told them.
"No problem. Helping people and fighting threats is what we do." Red replied.
"Anything for a little peace." Hal agreed.
"But I suspect you called me here for something else." Glynda said.
"Yes, we did. This way please." Silver said as they led her to where they wanted her to go.
The group eventually came to their destination, a large puddle of a black tar-like substance that laid in the middle of a small barren clearing that completely contrasted the lively forest surrounding it.
"I see, you have found a Grimm Pool." Glynda observed.
"Grimm Pool? Do they host pool parties here?" Bomb asked.
"They don't." Glynda said simply with narrowed eyes.
"These pools are scattered all throughout Remnant." Glynda explained. "We are uncertain as to what their origin is, or how they are able to produce the Creatures of Grimm, but this is where they emerge."
"And the fact that they're still around suggests you don't have anything that can deal with it, right?" Silver assumed.
"That is correct." Glynda admitted reluctantly as she pulled out her crop and used her Telekinesis to pull out a large rock from the area nearby and dropped it over the pool. The rock sank into the pool completely, leaving nothing of it left.
"Blimey! Just like quicksand..." Hal noted.
"Everything that enters this liquid is broken down and destroyed." Glynda said. "Even Dust can't seem to stop it."
"There might not be anything that can stop it naturally…" Silver said as she set down the black backpack she had been carrying and began to rummage through it to pull out a small transparent cube-like container. "If I can extract a sample from this liquid and get a proper analysis, maybe I can develop a way to counter it. Can you lift some of it up with your telekinesis and into this prototype Energon Container?"
"I can try, but I must tell you that our most advanced scientists have been trying to study the Grimm and the pools they originate from for years, and have yet to find a concrete answer." Glynda told her. "By the way, what exactly is this, "Energon"? "
"It's sort of an alien power source in our world. '' Silver explained "There was an incident some time ago that provided our home with it, allowing us to fight against The Pigs and a greater threat. A blueprint of this one was planned so that we can store Energon more safely for longer durations since Energon is volatile if misused, but the fight was over before it could be made. Since all of the Energon vanished after the fight, the blueprint for this was archived until now."
"Yep, Silver's been working with a lot of stuff that has helped us over time, even with alien technology." Red chimed in.
" If anyone can find a scientific breakthrough, it's her."
"You flatter me, Red, but I will try my best, as always." Silver looked away with a slight blush.
"Very well, if you insist. I'll help." Glynda offered, aiming her crop at the Grimm Pool and concentrating her powers on a small portion of it. Red, Bomb and Hal stood ready, with weapons out, to whatever Grimm that may emerge from the pit as Glynda was able to extract a small batch of it, roughly the size of a basketball, and lifted the nasty black substance into the air.
Silver immediately opened the empty Energon container. "Put it in here." She requested, allowing Glynda to carefully place the substance into the container, not even spilling a single drop before Silver closed it shut. " Thank you very much, Ms. Goodwitch."
"You're welcome." Glynda nodded as Silver put the newly collected sample safely into her backpack. "If you are able to find a solution… we would all greatly appreciate it."
"Alright, mission accomplished." Bomb breathed a sigh of relief.
"Wait a minute…" Red said as he noticed something on the other side of the pool and made his way over.
"We got some tracks here." Red revealed, feeling his hand along the ground. Hal quickly joined him and inspected it too.
"You're right there. These footprints are fresh. Pretty big too."
"Judging by the size of it, it must be an Ursa." Red assumed. "And given how fresh these prints seem, it must have emerged very recently."
Everyone got serious at the thought of that. Though each of them could take on one Grimm easily enough, it could cause a panic among the students and that could attract more Grimm nearby, and there could be much more trouble.
"Alright. Spread out and try to find that thing and any potential friends it might have." Red told everyone, including Glynda, as they began to split up around the area. "Hopefully we'll find it before it becomes a bigger problem."
Meanwhile, Team CRDL is lazing around as Jaune has gathered all the tree sap for them, six jars in total before dropping them on the ground in front of them and falling over.
"Hey, great work, Jauney-boy." Cardin congratulated him in a mocking tone. "Now that wasn't too hard, was it?"
"I think I'm allergic to this stuff." Jaune said, his voice sounding somewhat hoarse.
"Great, great, great." Cardin stood up without a care. "So Jaune, I bet you're asking yourself, "Why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect six jars of tree sap, when there's only five of us?" "
"Pretty sure it's not for extra credit." Jaune said as he picked himself up.
"Nope, something better. Come with me." Cardin smirked as he led his team and Jaune a bit closer toward some of the other students, perched behind some cover where they saw that the others appeared to be handling themselves well in gathering tree sap, except for Nora who is currently drinking a whole jar.
"C-Cardin, what's going on?" Jaune asked nervously.
"Payback." Cardin glared. "Since that yellow bastard who took my pants is nowhere to be seen, I'll just have to settle for one of his little friends that he hangs around with. That red-haired know-it-all who thinks she's so smart, she'll do."
"You're kidding?!" Jaune exclaimed. "You want payback on her for something she didn't even do?!"
"I don't recall asking for your opinion!" Cardin stated as he pulled out a box with a W on it that emitted several angry buzzing noises. " Now, according to that one essay you wrote for me, these nasty things love sweets. I'm thinking it's time we teach her a thing or two." He pulled Jaune up and forcibly gave him the jar. "And you're going to do it."
Jaune was fuming with anger, something that Terence noticed as he concealed himself on a nearby tree among the red leaves. But it wasn't just anger toward Cardin. It was anger toward himself. Pyrrha, as well as Silver, had both wanted to do nothing but help him. They treated him with respect and compassion, even after revealing he forged his transcripts, still offering to help. And how did he repay them? He pushed them away and let himself become someone's own patsy.
"You want to be a hero? Don't focus on yourself, focus on those you need to protect. Being a hero means you have to be responsible to protect others who can't defend themselves."
"You need to look after them, be there for them, help them whenever you can because they are also your responsibility, especially when you are the leader."
"Identifying and admitting you are weak is the first step to getting stronger. So, let me ask you one more time. Do you want to remain weak?"
"You have a choice to make. Make it soon."
The more Terence's words replayed in his mind like an echo, the stronger his resolve became. He already knew what he had to do, and Cardin's demand of him just sealed the deal.
Jaune's expression went hard as he tightened his grip on the jar. "I have a better idea." He said as he quickly threw the jar at Cardin's face, unleashing the red sap on his face before grabbing Cardin by his shoulders and shoved his face into the box of Rapier Wasps.
Jaune stepped back as Cardin screamed, pulling himself up as the vicious insects stung him all over his face. Even with his Aura protecting him, it still hurt like hell. As Cardin tried to wave his hands and swat the Rapier Wasps away, Jaune couldn't help but smirk at what he had done.
However, the rest of CRDL grabbed Jaune and forced him to the ground as Cardin, who had managed to swat away the Rapier Wasps, glared down at him.
"That wasn't very smart, Jauney-boy." Cardin growled.
"No… me submitting to you wasn't the smart move." Jaune talked back, causing Cardin to kick him in the face before the rest of his team kicked Jaune too.
Pyrrha was slightly startled and turned around while holding tha jar of tree sap, thinking she heard something behind her.
"Pyrrha, are you okay?" Ruby asked.
"Y-Yeah…" She replied, even though she couldn't quite shake this feeling that something was wrong. But being lost in her thoughts, she had somehow missed the sound of slurping until she noticed her jar of tree sap was now completely empty.
"Nora!" Pyrrha scolded the girl in pink as she hid behind a tree with a guilty smile and sap all over her face.
Cardin hoisted Jaune up, his face covered in bruises as the rest of his gang surrounded him. "You think you're funny, Jauney-boy?" Cardin questioned. "You think you're tough? Well let's see how tough you are when I tell Goodwitch how you cheated your way into this school!"
"Not if I say something first…" Jaune winced, surprising Cardin before he laughed.
"Seriously? You'd just walk out of this school? On your crappy family legacy?" Cardin mocked. "Wow, you really are a loser!"
To Cardin's surprise, Jaune laughed back. "I'm a loser? I'm not the one who lost his pants in the middle of the cafeteria. Or trying to humiliate somebody else who had nothing to do with it. You want to take it up with those guys, do it yourself. Or are you too weak to do it? So, who's the real loser?"
With every word, Cardin fumed even more. His face was so flushed with rage that he didn't even bother replying with words before punching Jaune in the face again. But when his fist made contact, there was a brief flash of yellow light around Jaune's body as Cardin felt his fist hit something harder than expected, forcing him to drop Jaune, who looked more than a little shocked himself.
A roar got everyone's attention as a large Ursa entered the area, having been drawn in by all of that negativity. Jaune and the rest of CRDL were shocked to say the least.
Most of the students ran for their lives while the Ursa set its sights on Cardin, knocking him down with its claws. Cardin tried to defend himself with his mace, but the Ursa smacked it out of his hands. Just as the Ursa was seemingly about to end Cardin's life, Jaune was already in between Cardin and the Ursa, using his shield to block the killing claw strike.
The roar was heard around the forest, catching Hal's attention first as he skidded to a stop from his search. "There you are." Hal muttered as he zoomed to the direction of the noise.
Across the forest, Red, Silver, and Bomb had also heard the roar from their respective locations and quickly made their way to its source.
"Did you guys hear that?" Ruby asked her friends, having heard the roar as well. But they were surprised to see most of CRDL running for their lives past them.
"URSA! URSA!" Russel screamed before literally bumping into Yang.
"What?! Where?!" Yang questioned as she picked him up by his shirt.
"Back there! It's got Cardin!" Russel pointed behind him.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha knew he would be there as well, leaving her greatly worried.
"Yang, you and Blake go get Professor Goodwitch, try and find Red too!" Ruby commanded.
"Ren, Nora, go with them. There could be more!" Pyrrha added.
"Weiss, you're with us!" Ruby told her partner, as she and Pyrrha drew their weapons.
"Understood." Weiss nodded.
Red and Silver arrived at the scene first. Just as Red drew out his sword…
"No, hold on." Silver told him. She then looked past the scene to see Hal and Bomb arrive on the other side of the clearing. Silver raised her hand and shook her head to them, silently telling them not to do anything yet, to which Hal and Bomb nodded.
Behind Red and Silver, Ruby, Pyrrha, and Weiss had just arrived. Ruby and Weiss were also about to intervene, but Pyrrha stopped them. "Wait."
"What? But why…?" Ruby questioned, but Red nudged her arm to get her attention. "Trust me." Red told her. One look from his eyes said that it was going to be okay. If things go for a bad turn, they would step in, just not right now.
Pyrrha and Silver exchanged glances as they both nodded to each other before spectating on the battle.
Jaune ducked and rolled underneath the Ursa's claw strike before slicing at its side. He moved quickly on his feet, slicing around the Ursa's back and sides, making sure to avoid its front as it tried to turn around and swipe at him.
But the Ursa was faster and turned around to swipe at Jaune again. Though he did protect himself with the shield, the force was still strong enough to knock him down. But he was quick to get back up and charge the Ursa again, trying to slice at its side once more, but the Ursa proved to be surprisingly adaptable as it smacked Jaune down again.
Jaune picked himself up before glancing down at the scroll within his shield, seeing his Aura was already in the red. According to Professor Goodwitch, now would be the appropriate time to fall back and take a defensive strategy. But there was no time, the Ursa was already on him. He had to end this now.
Jaune gave a yell as he charged at the Ursa, pulling back Crocea Mors for a final slice while the Ursa swiped its claw downward. Everyone watching knew this was a fatal mistake as Jaune's shield was being held down. The Ursa would strike first and it could be a near-fatal injury. However, before anyone else could intervene…
Pyrrha had lifted her hand and focused her Semblance on Jaune's shield to raise it up just as Terence used his strength to flick a small sharp rock on his hand to the back of the Ursa's head, causing Jaune's shield to protect him from the Ursa's strike just as the strong force of the flicked rock threw it off balance, leaving it open for Jaune to swing his sword and decapitate it. He was so caught up in the moment, he didn't notice anything else.
Ruby, Red, Weiss and Silver looked towards Pyrrha in surprise, witnessing her Semblance in action.
"Uh… what?" Ruby questioned.
"Was that your Semblance?" Silver asked, having seen it for the first time.
"Yes. My Semblance is Polarity. It grants me control over Metals." Pyrrha confirmed with a smile.
"A living magnet? Interesting…" Silver thought out quietly to herself.
"Very impressive, indeed." Weiss nodded with approval as Pyrrha turned around to walk away.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"Yeah, we gotta tell them what happened." Ruby added.
"No, I think it's best to leave it alone." Silver shook her head with a smile, to which Pyrrha nodded as they walked away, followed by Ruby and Weiss. Red looked to the other side to see Bomb and Hal leaving as well, coming to the same conclusion. Red walked away briefly at first, before stopping just to catch one final peek of Jaune helping Cardin to his feet.
"Holy crap… Jaune…" Cardin sounded genuinely impressed, but that smile faded as Jaune looked him straight into the eye and spoke in a firm tone of finality.
"Don't ever mess with me, my team and my friends, ever again. Got it?"
With that, Jaune walked away, leaving Cardin alone to think about what had just happened in this short amount of time, along with a smiling Red leaving the scene.
(Later That Night)
Jaune stood on the dormitory rooftop, waiting for a certain pair of people to arrive so he could give them a proper apology. Almost on cue, Silver climbed up to the rooftop and deactivated Stormfall just as Pyrrha walked out from the door.
"Got your text that you wanted to say something." Silver said to Jaune.
"No Cardin tonight? I thought you two were "best buds"." Pyrrha added.
Jaune gave a sigh, turning to face them. "Pyrrha, Silver, I'm sorry. I was a jerk. You guys were only trying to help and… I had all this stupid macho pride stuff in my head and…"
"Jaune, it's okay." Pyrrha stopped him, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, don't worry about it." Silver also assured. "Trust me, I've met way more stubborn people before."
"Thanks…" Jaune smiled.
"But I will confess, I was surprised at how quickly you came around." Pyrrha said.
Jaune chuckled nervously. "I had some sense beaten into me… literally. Still sore in some spots…"
"Hey, speaking of… look I… I know I don't have any right to say this after what happened but…" Jaune began. "Would you guys… still be willing to help me… help me train and… even study? I want to become a Huntsman and… would you help me out with that?"
Pyrrha only responded with a teasing grin as she walked up toward Jaune and pushed him down.
"Hey!"
"Your stance is all wrong. You need to be wider and lower to the ground." Pyrrha told him as she offered him her hand, which he accepted with a smile. "Let's try that again."
"And when you're done, you and I are going to have a long chat in regard to physics and history, because you seem to be struggling there the most. Oh, and Chuck is also very eager to teach you. Feel free to visit my Lab if you want more training." Silver added in a similar teasing fashion.
Jaune couldn't help but laugh. "Thanks guys."
"I'll let you guys have your fun. See ya later!" Silver said as she opened the rooftop door and climbed down the stairs, leaving Jaune and Pyrrha to their training session.
Just as she was climbing down, she suddenly stopped in her tracks after seeing a familiar figure leaning against a wall and staring intimidatingly at her.
"..."
"Oh… Hey Terry. Where have you been?" Silver asked.
"..."
"Oh…Ok."
"..."
"But… Do we have to…?"
"..."
"Alright, I'll go ask him. Follow me." Silver continued to climb down as she motioned to Terence to follow her.
(Ozpin's Office)
"Hey Ozpin, You in?" Silver asked as she knocked on the door.
"Come in." Ozpin said within his office as Silver opened the door and walked inside, followed by Terence.
"I see you have found another friend of yours. Terence, I presume? Welcome to Beacon. I am Ozpin, Beacon's headmaster." Ozpin stood up and offered his hand to shake, in which Terence nodded his head and accepted his hand.
"Is there something else you want to tell me besides the return of a friend?" Ozpin asked Silver as he sat back down.
"You knew that Jaune Arc used forged transcripts to enter this school at the beginning, didn't you?" Silver asked.
"I wasn't aware the very second he enrolled." Ozpin answered after a brief moment of silence. "But upon seeing his performance in the Emerald Forest, it wasn't difficult to figure it out. After teaching at this academy for years, in which many have pulled similar stunts, you tend to notice a few similar details that would lead to that conclusion."
"..." asked Terence.
"Does he have something to say?" Ozpin asked Silver with a raised brow.
"Why do you do it? This school is meant for students to fight monsters so that they can protect themselves and others better. If you allow that to happen, those who only care about themselves would not only pay with their lives, but others as well." Silver translated to Ozpin.
Ozpin gave a sad sigh. "You're not wrong about that. Even those that do enter this school through legitimate means fall into that same trap, leading to… unfortunate ends for themselves, for those they are meant to protect, and even their own teammates."
"But why allow it?" Silver asked.
"I don't." Ozpin answered. "As I said, many have tried to sneak into this school for one reason or another. Many of them, I was able to find and expel."
"It is true that young Mr. Arc's combat methods… leave much to be desired." Ozpin admitted. "But I wouldn't say he is not completely hopeless or lacking in potential. If that were the case, I would have expelled him without hesitation. I'm certain you've seen it as well, otherwise you wouldn't have come to me now." Ozpin said "With the proper training and guidance, I believe Mr. Arc will grow into an outstanding Huntsman as well as a better person. He could be the first who snuck into this school for their own personal motives and came out with a much better outlook on life."
"Is that all you two wanted to see me for?" Ozpin asked.
"Yes. That is all." Silver said.
"It has been some time since you and your friends have arrived at Beacon, and yet we have not seen or heard anything from your enemies, The Bad Piggies, or their leader, King Pig." Ozpin asked. "Do you have any ideas why that may be?"
"I can't make a reasonable hypothesis yet." Silver replied while tapping her chin. "But I am certain they could be preparing something big, and most of the time it's never good. All I can say is that you have to get ready for whatever they throw at us. Good night and good luck." Silver said with a bow in front of Ozpin before grabbing Terence's hand and dragged him out of Ozpin's office, leaving Ozpin to do whatever he was doing.
"Come on, Terry, lemme show you where you'll be sleeping."
"..."
"Of course! The lab has a computer you can use." Silver answered.
One friend found, three more to go!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to everyone in advance! (But if you are reading this not in December, feel free to ignore it)
In case you were wondering… and as a little early Christmas present for you all, here's what Chuck and The Blues were doing when the rest of The Flock were in the Forever Fall Forest.
"Is everything set up yet?" Chuck asked while tapping his scroll while The Blues were busy setting up several two large red speakers near the entrance of the Emerald Forest.
"Almost done setting up the Soundblasters." Jay reported as he plugged some wires in.
"Can someone mind telling me why we are doing this again?" Jake asked as he used a pair of black binoculars observing some Grimm in the vicinity.
"You forgot already? Remember, Silver wants us to test out those prototype speakers that she made. Chuck is here to make sure we are ok." Jim reminded his bro.
"But why test it in the Emerald Forest? Can't we do this in the Lab?" Jake asked again.
"It's a weapon, so we have the opportunity to see how strong this is against the Grimm." Jay explained.
"Oh boy!" Jake said with excitement. "What ear hurting horrors are we going to unleash?!"
"This one." Chuck said with a smirk as he tapped his scroll to open a video that Silver sent him and showed it to Jake, causing him to laugh like a cackling maniac.
"Soundblasters armed and ready to fire!" Jay shouted as he pushed the "On" button of the speakers, causing them to hum to life.
"Excellent, put these on." Chuck instructed as he handed out three small yellow noise-canceling headphones to The Blues, before also putting one on that suits his size.
After ensuring that The Blues and himself are ready to go, Chuck plugged the audio cable to his scroll and pressed the triangle button.
I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
And I…!
Don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree
I don't need to hang my stockings there upon the fireplace
Santa Claus won't make me happy with a gift on Christmas Day
I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know
Make my wish come true!
All I want for Christmas is you!
"Man, It's been so long, I keep forgetting how lethal Red's singing is." Chuck chuckled and removed his headphones just as the singing ended, silencing the speakers.
"Especially when it's so freaking loud!" Jake said as he viewed footage of the Grimm in the Emerald Forest, which showed several Grimm retreating from the horrible noise. Some of the flying Grimm were plunged to the ground like shot down ducks in the Duck Hunt video game, and the unfortunate many that were too close to the noise or couldn't escape in time had their minds blown literally.
"Well, that was a brilliant success!" Let's pack up and report to Silver once she comes back!" Jim said.
(In an airship that is on its way to the Forever Fall Forest)
"A…A…Achoo!" Red sneezed suddenly.
"Gesundheit." Hal said to Red.
"Why do I have an unnerving feeling that someone is bad-mouthing me?" Red said as he wiped his nose with a piece of tissue provided by Bomb.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure nobody's bad-mouthing you." Silver assured Red.