Yup these 12hr shifts are a killer but at least I can somehow find the time to keep writing these chapters in that fridge I call a job. At least that was the case until a few days ago. My dog has been getting really jealous lately and has been doing things that...hurt, in more ways then one. The whole week has been him head butting me from my eye, to my chin or just right in my tender parts whenever I show a little affection for Tali. Trust me when I say it grows less endearing by the day.

Even then, all those painful hits were nothing compared to what happened a few days ago though. When he pushed me off the porch. I kneeled down and gave him a hug and a kiss on his head like normal when I got home but as soon as I did the same to Tali, my other dog rushed in, booted her out of the way and headbutted my knee. From my crouched position there was just no way I could catch myself when I fell. If that wasn't bad enough I ended up having a Mufasa moment where I fell back, sprawled out and reaching for the sky above me. I say that to lighten the mood a little but I ended up landing on a wooden container that had a tree branch on top of it from the day before when it rained pretty badly.

In that moment if I had the ability to catch my dog I'd have probably done something even worse to him then he did to me and wouldn't have regretted it. As it stands though he's alive and well...for now. But being who he is he's given me a wide berth and has remained outside for the past several days because he's well aware that he did wrong. As for yours truly I've had to skip a few days of work because standing has been quite the painful experience for me. As I write this now I'm actually getting a bit better thanks to a mix of medication that I strongly do not recommend for anyone who doesn't want to run the risk of getting addicted to pills.

Once I'm better though...punishment will be dished out, but I swear it will be nothing he can't recover from. He'll be grounded for sure and definetly won't be getting any treats for a while. (sigh). But that's enough of me venting a bit when we got a chapter to get to so here we go, chapter 24.


There was so much work to do and he had to do it alone because he gave Winter time off after the ordeal a few days ago. It's why it slightly annoyed him when she appeared at his office door dressed in her uniform and ready for work. "You were given the week off you know. It doesn't mean much if you don't even take a day to rest and relax after what you went through".

Winter side swipped through a large scroll until she found the Generals schedule. "With all due respect General, the Grimm incursion was handled mostly by the soldiers from Shelter and the two teams of hunters in training that I was assigned to. I barely did anything to warrant the time off I recieved".

"On that I'm going to disagree with you whole heartedly". Ironwood picked up his mug with his left hand and brought it to his lips as he typed away on his terminal with his right. The cup of coffee was just as he liked it, a unique shade of black that was strong enough to energized his soul with each sip. Now if only he had some Vacuo desert whiskey, that would definitely hit the spot after pulling an all-nighter like he did. It's smooth spicy taste was perfect, unfortunately he was too embroiled in paperwork to restock that delicacy at the moment.

Ironwood placed his mug on the table but kept his eyes on his terminal as he continued to work. "My sources tell me that you manned the wall on your own, using ice dust along with your semblance to keep the Grimm from entering the town". The General stopped typing and turned from his terminal to look at his Specialist. "Dust may have played a part but we both know that an ice wall alone couldn't have been able to keep out those Grimm. Not without proper reinforcement, from say...a glyph"?

Winter refused to meet his gaze and kept her eyes firmly on the large scroll in her hands, hoping he'd change the subject.

There was no such luck.

Ironwood leaned back in his chair and joined his fingers tips together. "Maintaining a glyph to reinforce your ice wall would be ideal, but using your semblance like that requires immense concentration. Then there's the aura usage that comes with activating ones semblance like you did for long periods of time. Why, one would think that you'd be drained mentally as well as physically for holding an army at bay like that alone". At that moment Ironwood leaned forward on his elbows and raised a brow in question to see if she would deny it.

She couldn't, and that was the point.

When Winter couldn't answer, Ironwood sat up straight and went back to work. Things were quiet for a few minutes before Ironwood sighed when it was clear the Schnee wasn't going to fold despite being beaten. "I understand where your coming from specialist" the General said, "and if I was in your position I probably wouldn't be able to sit still either after what you just went through". After a long pause the General had an idea that could work in his favor. "Which is why if your going to be doing any work at all it will be minor work, nothing too challenging or would require combat of any kind".

Winter had a sneaking suspicion that whatever the General was planning she wasn't going to like it. Of course the alternative was her being bored out of her mind and possibly trying to sneak in some work without him knowing, at least until she was escorted out when the General eventually did find out. With the Generals idea at least she'd have permission to do something so that was an upside if nothing else. "What did you have in mind, sir"?

Ironwood pulled an envelope out from his drawer and lightly tossed it on the edge of his desk for her to take. Winter picked it up and opened it to draw out the contents within, eyes scanning over the cursive language. Ironwood watched quietly as Winter's expression went from casual stoic to simmering anger. When his Specialists eyes shot up to him, Ironwood raised a hand to stop her, knowing her training would keep her in check so he can explain himself.

"I know how you feel about your father Winter, but after what happened in Shelter the people need more then just our military presence. Your father has connections we can use which is why I personally asked him to help with this fundraiser event. Although it took a little convincing I was able to bring him around to the idea. Whether we want it or not the teams under your command are going to be put front and center for this. Convincing Jacque was easy enough when I mentioned you were in command of the operation in Shelter".

Winter flinched at the absolute lie that was. Sure she was in charge of the two teams but she'd mostly been there to watch as they took charge of the whole situation. Jaune was even the one who took it upon himself to bring an end to the crisis without her knowledge. She could understand the Generals line of thought though. The funds from the rich would definitely help those in Shelter who needed it, but even still it just didn't sit right with her. Winter clenched her jaw and loosened it a few times, trying to put words to her thoughts.

"Even if I agree with you, what does this have to do with the job you want me to take care of"? Her eyes met his and hardened a little, "I hope your not planning to have me work with my father to set this up".

"Ha"! Ironwood took a quick drink from his coffee, "even I am not that cruel. No, what I need you to do is help the two teams get ready for this ball and what comes after. They are going to need suits and dresses for the evening, as well as dance lessons so they don't look like a bunch of fools on the dance floor. Then their going to need uniforms designed and tailored for the after part of this. You'll also need one as well so I'll leave the design choices to you. Forward what you have to me by the end of the day and I'll pass them on, but keep in mind you only got until the end of the weekdays so do what you can".

The one thing that caught her attention was the mention of uniforms for them all. What was going to happen that would require them all to have custom made uniforms by the end of the weekday. And dance lessons?! What did she look like? A professional dance instructor? She just couldn't wrap her head around it all but knew she didn't have much time to waste and needed to start working on those designs before the day was done. The hardest part of the assignment though was the dance lessons. It took months of practice to learn how to dance correctly, and the General wanted it done in a few days?! Impossible.

Winter struck a salute, "I'll get right on it sir".

Ironwood nodded once and dismissed her to get started. It wasn't a surprise to see his Specialist speed walk her way out of his room. The assignment he gave her required a miracle to take place, but there was nothing he could do about it but hope to the heaven's that she could pull something off in the small bit of time he gave her. If there was one thing he learned in watching Jaune and his team working under Winter, was that you really couldn't count them out till the last moment. Even then they sort of had a way with surpising you when everything was said and done.

Flynt and his team though, that was something he was a little more worried about. They had proven themselves in the past, but compared to team AASP's accomplishments they were average at best. Team FNKI was going to have to pull out all the stops to keep up with their juniors, even more so if they hoped to keep up with them in the coming days. Ironwood turned his focus to his terminal and continued where he last left off. After all there was just too much to get done for him to sit idly by.

/

It was a free period now and Jaune found himself sat in the militaries research facility, waiting patiently for Doctor Polendina. He looked up at the clock and counted the seconds until another door on the opposite side of him opened up. The backroom where Pietro had his workshop hidden opened up, allowing the good Doctor to pass through to meet him.

"Ah, Jaune" the elder man said with a smile as his robotic chair brought him around the table that separated them. "I heard you've gone through quite the ordeal since last we chatted" Pietro shook his hand and smiled up at him, "so, tell me what's brought you down to my lab". Jaune nodded and pulled Crocea Mors from his waist before placing it in the old man's hands. Pietro was confused at first until he noticed the burn marks on the guard and unsheathed the blade to see the full extent of the damage. "Oh my"! The Doctors eyes widened in surprise at the state the blade was in.

He turned away from the blonde and placed the blade on his desk, fully removing the blade from it's sheath to get a better look at it. The burn marks were one thing but the cracks in the blade were something else entirely. Huntsmen gear were usually built to last unless something with incredible force made contact with them. But even then the aura that coated the blade should have protected it from something like that. Pietro stared at the cracks in the blade and noticed that some of the metal looked like it had been pushed out of place by something within the sword.

The Doctor pulled some tools out of his robotic chairs arm rest and quickly removed the handle from the blade. Jaune shuffled his feet nervously when Pietro turned to him with a raised brow after inspecting the handle. "Jaune, I'm going to need you to explain to me what exactly happened to your sword for it to end up like this". The blonde took a deep breath and went into detail about what happened when he and his team were in Shelter. He explained about the unique Grimm and the Grimm forces that threatened the town, all the way to what he unleashed in desperation to save everyone.

He figured since the Doctor was Atlas's top scientist and was already knee deep in national secrets, that it would be fine if he spilled the beans.

Pietro thought all of what was said was fascinating to be sure, but what really caught his attention was the mention of unleashing an aura slash strong enough to wipe out all the Grimm. Such a feat was unprecedented in all of history as far as he knew. But it also explained just what he was looking at when he saw the aura tech hidden within the blade. The cracks looked like something was trying to push its way out of the blades containment, or exceeded how much the blade could release at one given time.

Pietro pulled out a new pair of glasses and replaced his casual ones. The new ones had magnifiers that allowed him to zoom in on an object to give him the best view possible. Tapping on the frame of his new glasses had his view zooming in and he gave the blade another once over before doing the same with the hilt where the aura absorption device was at. A sigh escaped his lips as he pulled back and removed his glasses. The bridge of his nose needed massaging and that helped him collect his thoughts.

"Think you can repair it Doctor Polendina"? Jaune asked with a nervous look on his face.

Doctor Polendina turned to him and gave him a nod. "The damage is substantial but manageable, the real problem is going to be the aura tech for the handle. The General has approved of it's use for your weapon but that was before we knew of the danger it posed to our way of life". The Doctor looked Jaune in the eyes, "what you can do with this poses a problem to our national security. Imagine what would happen if you became an enemy to Atlas or any other kingdom on Remnant? You'd become the most dangerous person to walk on this planet with the power you could weild".

Jaune made to argue that he would never do something like that but Doctor Polendina stopped him before he could. "It's not that I believe you would do something like that but it's what others would see and say that is the problem". The Doctor gave him a small smile and a comforting pat on his arm to show he was only looking out for the boy. "Now, getting back to this" Pietro held up the aura tech, "I can repair this easily enough but if what you did happens again, the next time you might end up blowing yourself to smithereens".

Jaune chuckled and scratched the back of his head until he noticed the pointed look the Doctor was giving him. "Wait your for real"?

Pietro ran a hand over Jaunes blade, "look at this and ask me if you think lying to you". The blonde didn't need to, after all the blade looked like it was one step away from breaking apart just from the Doctors touch. Pietro pulled a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped his regular glasses with it before putting it on. "During you mission you performed two miracles that day. One being the destruction of the Grimm you faced but the other was being lucky enough that the aura tech built into your sword was durable enough to take what you gave it".

There was a question there that needed to be asked but judging by what he did to the Grimm army he could easily make an educated guess. "So if it exploded-".

"Then none of you, or Shelter would be here" the Doctor finished for him. It was like a punch to the gut for Jaune, only because instead of the Grimm doing it, he could've been the cause of his friends deaths. That would have been too much for him to bare, and so in that moment he promised himself to never use such power unless there was absolutely no other option for them. All of which was a pretty big deal since members of the Arc family were notorious for keeping their promises after all.

The two turned from the heavy topic to a much lighter one when the Doctor asked how his classes were going. He was glad for the change and vented a little. He complained about Ciel and how she was merciless to them once they got back. Turned out a life and death struggle wasn't enough to make his teammate forget the little problem they had before they left. As for the classes they all had...well, it was taking a little time to get things together what with training and mission's. Honestly it felt like they were learning more on the job then in the classroom which made sitting through lectures even more boring then ever.

When asked how Penny was getting along with the others Jaune gave the honest truth that she seemed to be getting on with her teammates well enough. They chatted like that until Jaunes scroll beeped, letting him know that his free period was nearly over.

"Thanks again for looking over my weapon Doctor Polendina" Jaune said as he got ready to leave.

The Doctor smiled up at him and nodded, "it's no trouble at all Jaune, and thank you for looking out for my daughter. She's still learning a lot about the world and having a few people she can count on will go a long way to helping her. Oh, and speaking of helping". Pietro pressed some keys on his chair and a large container on the opposite side of the room let out a small hiss as it opened. The Doctors chair carried him across the room and he motioned for the young Arc to follow. Once they reached the container Jaune looked within and saw a bunch of weapons stored inside it. "These are prototype weapons I've created over the years, none with aura tech but may still be useful to you in the meantime".

There was one weapon of almost every shape and size sitting in this one giant box that had the blonde wondering why they were even there in the first place. When asked, the Doctor professed that he had actually heard from the General about the state of his weapon before hand. As such he took steps for the young Arc's arrival and was prepared for the occasion. Hence the weapon storage unit he saw before them. With all that he was already given, the General needed to be thanked personally or he'd never feel just how much gratitude the blonde had for the elder man.

Inside the storage unit there was so many weapons to choose from. A short sword was the first thing to catch his eye, and the staff was next after that. Like a kid in a candy shop he inspected each weapon and there designs, struggling with what he should go with until a pair of gauntlets caught his eyes. Sure he was more used to using a sword but he also had some training in hand to hand combat thanks to Winter and Harriet. More the former then the latter. Plus it would give him and Ciel a chance to bond a little if he asked her to practice with him.

That one thought in mind had him choosing his weapon. With a little adjusting thanks to the good Doctor, Jaune was ready to get back at it and square some practice away when he had the chance.

/

Practice came sooner then he thought because the very next class on his schedule just so happened to be combat class. His palm's were sweaty and his knees felt weak while he sat in the bleachers with his team. It didn't take long for the others to notice his change in weapons, and it took even less for them to start fretting over his choice. Honestly his hand to hand fighting capabilites could use a little bit of polish before going into actual combat, but no else knew that. He just had to hope the teacher wouldn't choose him for today.

"Jaune Arc"!

Well there went that shred of hope. Jaune got to his feet and walked down the closest set of stairs to the combat arena where the teacher called out another name.

"Isaac Quinn, please join us".

The name felt distant, like he'd heard it before but couldn't quite remember who it belonged to. Jaunes eyes scanned the bleachers until a guy with dreads that were dyed red at the tips stood up and walked down to the stage. The teen nodded to the teacher once he was on stage and looked down his nose at the blonde. In that moment things clicked and he remembered why his opponent seemed so familiar. Isaac offered him a fake form of friendship in exchange for something. The what, he never found out about on account of not sticking around to find out.

Isaac smirked and pulled out a blade around the size of his forearm and held it at his side without taking much of a fighting stance. "Well well, this really is quite the honor mister hero. To think I'd have the chance to face you one on one, here in the ring in front of all these people. Must be kinda nerve-wracking to have all these people watching, scrutinizing your every move and pointing out your every flaw".

Every word spoken was easily designed to make Jaune feel the pressure of looking inadequate in front of everyone. And under normal circumstances it probably would have worked, that was until he learned to focus on the task at hand then letting himself get sidetracked. In the field if you didn't take things seriously people could get hurt or worse. Jaune just kept that mindset up while in the arena and blocked out the onlookers to focus on the person opposite of him. His eyes working to take in every opening in his opponents stance.

Isaac's smirk faltered slightly before he turned to the teacher. "I'll make this quick so be ready to call it when you see the chance". The teacher watched the boy for a brief moment before nodding his head. When the exchange was over the teacher took center stage and looked to each one of them, asking if they were each ready. A nod from the both of them and the teacher raised his hand before dropping it and yelling for them to begin.

Isaac made the first move, activating his semblance and moving at incredibly speeds to close the distance between them. In his mind the battle would be over in an instant as he moved faster then the blonde and would easily chip away at his aura as he flashed by. That was until he found the world upside and gravity pulling him up...or down in this case. His back slammed into the ground and he felt the air forced from his lungs. It wasn't a pleasant experience. Isaac's eyes caught the shape of a shadow moving towards him and used his speed boosting semblance to quickly move out of the way.

Jaune landed on the spot where his opponent once laid, fist crushing the spot where Isaac's head would've been. After failing to follow up his counter the blonde got back up and held his hands in front of him with his fists loosely clenched.

Any semblance of a smile was wiped from Isaac's face and he took to using his speed to zigzagging his way to the blonde. At the last minute he broke of from his zigzagging and quickly moved to take Jaunes back before the blonde could launch a counter attack. He was positive he had him...and then he took a hard hit when Jaune turned and kicked behind him. The young Arc's foot didn't so much as move as quickly as Isaac was moving, but more or less swung at the open air which happened to be in the direction Isaac was running.

The dark skinned teens head snapped back while his bottom half still moved forward, ending up with him doing an impressive forward back flip in the air. Isaac dropped and landed on his back, having the common sense knocked out of him as he stared up at the ceiling. His mind had a little trouble piecing together what had happened to him, but as soon as he started to get up he soon realized that he had made a fatal error in what he should have been focused on.

Isaac rolled over on to all four and was nearly up when a pair of hands wrapped around his waist, picked him up and German suplexed him back into the floor. There was no time to do anything because Jaune, with incredible strength, completed the flip and then lifted his own legs over and back on the ground. It was a move only a few wrestlers could pull off. Jaune centered his stance and the pulled Isaac off the ground again and released him halfway through another suplex.

The dark skinned teen flew through the air and landed outside of the ring long before he could bring his senses back under control. It didn't help that he hit the edge of the arena on his way out but luckily he still had plenty of aura to protect him on that front. The teacher called the ring out and yelled out the winner before calling them both back to the center of the arena. After a brief review of their fight the teacher sent them back to their seats to rejoin their teams.

/

Isaac sat next to his girlfriend as she attended to him.

"So, you think the dossier was wrong about that guy"?

Isaac turned to his girlfriends half brother and stared at him for a good minute. "Possibly" he eventually said, "unfortunately the match didn't last long enough for me to get a good read on his skill level".

Zack nodded, "but doesn't that also tell us something? Like the fact he could end the match so quickly. If it had been a real fight he could have snapped your neck instead of going for the waist. Even in the beginning when you tried to work your mind game, the kid was still in control from start to finish. You can't tell me you still think the info was correct after that? Not to mention he didn't even fire a single shot at you with those gun gauntlets".

Isaac conceded the point and winced at the headache he was starting to get. "Fine, we'll scrap the info of his training and assume that he's received formal training from his father. We have to make sure everything is put together well before we turn in our reports to the boss". His crew agreed and sat back to watch the next fight.

/

Jaune sat in his chair a let out a sigh.

"Way to go mister leader, way to represent team Aspire with a glorious win" Ilia said with a large grin plastered on her face. It was embarrassing to be praised like that and he ended up nervously scratching the back of his head because of it. Still pulling off a win against another student made him feel like he had actually gotten that much closer to his goal. Even if that one kick hurt like hell. He really should have taken into account what stopping someone moving that fast would do to his own body.

"How did you win anyways"? All eyes turned to Ciel who was looking behind her with curious eyes that demanded the answer from him. "The way your opponent moved was far too fast for anyone with your amount of training to stand up against, especially with those new gauntlets you were sporting. So how could you defeat an enemy clearly out of your league"?

Jaune winced at her jabs to his skills. She wasn't exactly wrong per say but she could've at least had some nice things to say about him to lessen the blow. "Well" he started, "I've actually got a fair amount of practice facing off against someone with a speed base semblances before. Harriet Bree from the Ace Ops has one and...let's just say she doesn't mind giving people a first hand experience of what she can do with it". Just talking about it brought back bad memories of that time Harriet gave him a right cross at full speed.

Knocked him out right then and there and almost made him think that something might have been broken when he woke up in pain. If she had used her weapon Fast Knuckles...well, then something might have broken for sure. Probably his neck if not his jaw. "Besides that Harriet was way faster then that guy, and she didn't just rely on her speed but knew to mix it up with her martial arts. Isaac used his semblance for everything in our fight, from his first attack to his diversion which made him far more predictable".

Ceil nodded in understanding, "and you not firing a single shot from your weapon"?

Jaune chuckled, embarrassment coming to the forefront. "I don't know how to use those yet. Maybe you can help me later"? Ceil stared at him wide eyed. She couldn't believe this guy, first going into a fight with a weapon he only just got but also didn't know how to operate, and still coming out with a win?! Madness, that was all she could chalk it up to, pure madness.


Madness indeed. Too bad for Ciel but that is what she signed up for when she decided to give her team a chance. It's supposed to be a few days of R&R but there just ain't no rest for the wicked. And Jaune with a new weapon until he gets his old one back?! Yes please. Next chapter there's gonna be more Flynt so for the person wanting to see more of him in the comment section, you can thank me later.