K didn't know how a place that felt like it was boiling him alive could suddenly turn to bitter cold in just the span of a few hours, and at this point he didn't care, it was just another reason for him to hate this Brothers' forsaken desert. He'd waited until the dead of night to go into the auto shop he'd given the address of, never could be too careful with these things, though a warning about the godsdamned cold would've helped. It wasn't any of the big chains he was familiar with, simply adorned with neon blue lettering that read 'Azure's 24 Hour Auto Repair', not that he was surprised, seeing as it was just a front for a chop shop and black market dealings anyway. From what he'd been told, there was no password or other etiquette needed, the man he'd be doing business with was apparently expecting him, so he just walked in and made his way to the back. Even at this hour there was a skeleton crew working on the vehicles, though he couldn't tell from a glance if they were legitimate repairs, or simply refurbishing some poor sod's stolen car for resale. The workers ignored him, save for one, what looked to be the supervisor, who spotted him immediately, leaving the car they were working on as he wandered the garage. He didn't look like much, certainly not weak by any means, but any intimidation factor he had was ruined by a pronounced beer-gut offsetting his larger frame. The nametag on his partially opened overalls, smeared in grease and oil, read 'Azure'.
"Are ya armed?" he asked bluntly, confusing his client, as he hadn't been warned of any policy against weapons. It especially stood out considering he could see the clear outline of a handgun stowed away inside the waist of his jumpsuit.
"Would you really believe me if I said no?" K saw no reason to lie, raising his left arm and lightly shaking it to emphasize the shackle. Seeing this, Azure laughed and motioned for the man to follow him as he headed back towards one of the cars that was currently lowered on one of the hydraulic lifts.
"Can't say I would, no." The casual answer confirmed his suspicions that it was some sort of honesty check rather than any actual concerns over a weapon on the premises. It was a strange practice in his eyes, he'd never fully bought into the whole 'honor amongst thieves' mentality many of his fellow less than ethical mercenaries and criminals displayed, but if it made doing business easier, then he could bite his tongue and let the man think whatever he wanted. "The boy said you were looking for something for a ranged attachment, or something along those lines?"
"Does he always run his mouth so easily?" K asked, fairly irritated by the pilot's continued lack of discretion. While he'd made finding this dealer easier, it was becoming apparent that he was more trouble than he was worth. He'd cut ties with the man and send a warning to his friend who'd recommended him as a courtesy, but if he pushed his luck past that, he'd just kill the pilot and be done with it. He wasn't going to deal with someone with so little common sense.
"Unfortunately, yeah. He's been warned there'll be problems if he keeps it up, but that's not our problem at the moment." Azure muttered, sounding similarly displeased with their associate. He pressed a button on the lift, raising up not just the car, but the slab of concrete beneath the lift, revealing a hidden stairway. It wasn't particularly deep down, maybe ten feet at most, and upon reaching the bottom, K was met with a room filled from wall to wall with weaponry and components for custom equipment. Most of it wasn't even illegal by Vacuo's standards, but considering the healthy bounty hunting scene here thanks to the near complete absence of traditional law enforcement, it was better to avoid any sort of paper trail, no matter how small. "So, what're ya buyin'?"
"A laser emitter, one of the 8000 series if you have them, without the built in dust lenses."
"Ah, the recalled model. Hate to tell ya', but that little oversight was caught long before they shipped any to Vacuo." Damn it, he knew it was a long shot, especially since those particular pieces had been getting rarer and rarer. The specific make he was looking for had been equipped with a higher grade prototype emitter that was more powerful than the standard variant being sold to Huntsmen. Unfortunately, it was also a highly unstable piece that broke rather easily, hence the rarity and coveted status. "Y'know, if you're looking to boost your fire power, plasma casters are stronger. Sure, it's kinda hard to beat the speed of light, but if you're against something that quick, it probably won't make a huge difference."
"Plasma Dust burns out too quickly, extra firepower won't do me any good if it overheats in the middle of a fight." Nodding along, a smile broke out on Azure's face, seeing an opportunity.
"Looking for something strong but more reliable than plasma, huh? Well if that's the case I do have something better, but it's gonna cost you a lot more." Walking over to one of the tables that dotted the room, he grabbed one of the tarps, pulling it off of what was unmistakably an emitter. However, it clearly was never meant to be used as a personal weapon, the singular part being about the size of a small dog. "One Atlesian military grade emitter. I'd be willing to part with it for twenty million Lien."
"Never had my hands on one like that, what are they typically used for?" K did his best not to appear too interested in the piece, but he just couldn't keep from looking at it, already thinking of how to rework the Thanatos cannon to work with this thing.
"Other than punching through the armor of a Goliath? This particular model was taken off one of those fancy new mechs Atlas made to replace the Paladin series a few years back." Despite being unfamiliar with the part, he was very eager to change that. With the proper adjustments, a much weaker laser could still be devastating, and he could only imagine what he could make this monster into. "Of course, if you'd like to have it built into your weapon, we can do that too, for an additional fee of course."
"With all due respect, I prefer to make adjustments to my weapons myself." And including this piece would absolutely require adjustments, but he'd already decided it was more than worth it. He took out the amount asked for and handed it over, in turn receiving the part in an unassuming black backpack.
"No problem, if you change your mind or decide you need any other parts, you know where to find us." As they reached the top, a familiar face was coming in, or rather, being dragged in as the pilot struggled against two larger men dragging him, one of them punching him square in the temple for his troubles. For a brief moment, he went limp from the impact, dangling from the thugs' arms until they passed K and Azure. Seeing the mercenary, he jolted towards the man, desperately trying to get away.
"K! K help! Tell them I didn't blab, tell them I only told you, that there was no one else around, I swear!" His desperate cries were met with apathy by the mercenary, who stared blankly after the group as he was dragged down the stairs.
"Sorry about that, really. I hate to do this, but we take discretion quite seriously here in Vacuo. We can't have Bounty Hunters or Huntsmen snooping about. You understand, don't you?" The implications were obvious, and while K wasn't intimidated by Azure's poorly veiled threat, he didn't move to help or even speak for the man as he was dragged past them and down the stairs, the section of concrete lowering back itself into place behind him. This wasn't his problem, nor was it his fault. No one had made him act like an idiot, this was just a reality of the job, that most people weren't cut out to be criminals, and those who tried anyway were dealt with quickly.
"Of course not, it's terrible for business." K said, shaking Azure's hand as a pair of muffled gunshots emanated out from the hidden room below.
"Mama said they were somewhere around here…" Jin mumbled, squinting over the crowd he watched carefully for the familiar faces of his family, or if nothing else, Mommy's long golden mane or Mama's distinctive cat ears. Typically, it was easy to spot the two of them out of a crowd, given their rather unique features and how they contrasted with one another, but he saw nothing. Glancing down at his Scroll, he double-checked to make sure everything was fine, that they hadn't changed plans or anything, but found nothing different, just the same text inviting him and his team to meet up after classes at the strip mall across from Azure's Auto Repair that he'd received an hour or so ago.
"Well help us out then, what do they look like?" Jet asked, glancing around, though not actually knowing what he was looking for aside from a pair of women around his own parents' age and a pair of twins Lupin's age, who, like Jin, were monkey Faunus.
"I'm imagining one of them just looks like Jin, but as a chick with a huge rack." Scarlet added. She said it in her usual way, looking around the group like it was meant to be taken as a joke, but Jet noticed that, whenever her eyes rested on him, that playful smirk faded from her face. At first, he dismissed it, but then again, she had been pretty moody around him ever since that weird interaction they'd had at the food court a few days ago, clearly still mad at him despite claiming she was 'cool'. It was a strange feeling, given that they'd rarely ever fought in the past. The last time he could remember was a few years ago, bickering over something stupid about swords versus guns, Scarlet had been trying to get him to get some sort of melee weapon and their debate had devolved into personal insults. He couldn't remember which one of them crossed the line first, but it had ended with them not talking for a couple of weeks. They'd made up, of course, just like they would over this, it wasn't like he was blowing her off for nothing, and besides, since when did she care about stuff like dances anyway?
"That's… not too far off actually." Lumi begrudgingly admitted as she similarly looked around, having even worse luck due to her tiny stature rendering her unable to see over most of the crowd. Jin just shrugged, not worried in the slightest, they were probably just running late again. It wasn't too unusual for them to fall behind, Mommy had a bad habit of running late, often procrastinating until the last second and subsequently getting sidetracked by everything that she'd put off crashing down on her at once, which, when paired with his and the twin's natural curiosity and tendency to get distracted, it really wasn't hard to see why they were almost never on time for things.
"Hey Imma go grab some pizza, they're probably just running late because of the twins. You guys want some too?"
"Oh hell yeah I do! I'm coming with, I gotta make sure they don't try to screw me over with the extra cheese." Scarlet said, lighting up at the sound of food, especially since her favorite ingredient was an option. Her teammates didn't miss the change in mood, Jet adopting a minor frown at her response. It was something he never thought he'd do in response to her cheering up, but the key detail lay in that it was seemingly a result of her being able to get away from him. Logically, he knew it was just her being a cheese fiend, but for some reason, he just couldn't shake the feeling, no matter how hard he reminded himself. Lumi noticed as well, but just scoffed at her childish glee over some over-processed dairy.
"What is it with you and cheese?"
"What is it with you not liking cheese?" Scarlet shot back, pouting at Lumi for being so judgemental before she and Jin left the pair to go grab food.
Scarlet let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding in as she entered the pizza parlor. As usual, life had decided to pile her problems one after the other in a pattern that was growing worryingly common. Firstly, she was still pissed at Jet, she'd thought the trope of a dumb boy missing all the signs when a girl hit on him was only something that happened in those poorly written but weirdly good soap operas she and her mom watched together, but Jet's dense ass broke that misconception for her. Secondly, Mom had left another voicemail, more or less the same as before, which felt odd. She was never much of a caller as far as she could remember, but then again, maybe being so far away made her anxious. She'd almost called back and had even written out multiple texts, but could never bring herself to hit send. As for her current predicament, she'd be meeting Jin's moms today, two more people Dad had wronged, this time in a much more intimate and personal way. Jin had, of course, assured her that there wouldn't be any problems, but a nagging voice in her head said otherwise. At first, she planned to just stay off to the side and hope they ignored her, but that plan was thrown to the side when she remembered that Miss Rose had recognized her almost immediately, so now her plan was to hide behind Jin in hopes that neither of them would give her hell. Speaking of Jin, she realized that, in her moment of contemplation, she'd somehow lost the six foot five beefcake. Looking around, she searched for any sign of the boy, eventually seeing a familiar tail and mop of blond hair already waiting in line.
"Hey Jin, c'mon, you can't just walk off on me dude." she said, walking up to the Faunus and grabbing his tail to turn him around, only for the owner of said tail to suddenly jump and spin around to face her in shock, quite rightfully so, as the sunglasses-wearing boy in front of her, while looking rather similar, was certainly not Jin, though the similarities in their appearances were uncanny. Realizing her mistake, she let go of his tail and raised her hands up in front of her chest to try and disarm the situation. "Oh, sorry. I thought you were my teammate."
The boy's family turned to see what was happening, revealing two women and one girl, who looked the same age as the boy whose tail she just pulled. On a closer look, they were pretty clearly twins, having the exact same dark yellow shade of hair and almost the exact same facial shape, to the point that she'd bet money that the boy's eyes were the same purple shade as his sister's past his sunglasses. Of the two women accompanying them, one was a Faunus like them, though with a set of feline ears perched atop her head, rather than some flavor of primate-derived trait, and the rest of her followed suit with this,not really looking like the kids at all. If anything, she looked more like Mom, hair black as midnight with striking amber eyes, fair skin, and a slender and lithe build. The other woman, presumably her partner, was the exact opposite, with the same long blonde hair as the two kids, eyes just a few shades lighter than her children's, and a top-heavy build that practically screamed that she spent at least an hour each day punching something. However, the part most striking about her appearance was her right arm, or rather, the lack thereof, replaced by a prosthetic. The base prosthesis itself appeared to be a standard issue combat model like her mother's, but more modern if the sleeker shine was anything to go by, but what was really eye-catching was the golden shine of the armor plating along the forearm and the fist itself. Put simply, it was easily the most badass prosthetic she'd ever seen. The women both reacted with surprise at seeing her, the blonde instinctively pulling her son back from the newcomer, but the Faunus did a double take, seemingly in disbelief at who she was looking at.
"Scarlet?" Blake asked, shocked to see the young woman in front of her. She'd been mentally preparing to see the girl with Jin, not randomly bumping into her. While she could see the clear influence of her mother's genetics, there was no denying that crimson hair or those ebony horns. She was unmistakably Adam's child.
"How do you know my name?" As soon as she asked the question, it clicked. Two moms, and a set of twins with monkey tails. This was Jin's family. Frankly, she felt stupid for not realizing it as soon as she laid eyes on them. A familiar anxiety crept its way into Scarlet's mind, the cool golden arm on the blonde suddenly shifting into a dreadful reminder of the bloody history between their families. The arm's owner gave her a once over, her gaze landing on Wilt before going stock still. With a blink, her soft lilac eyes bled into a fierce crimson that literally glowed with a mixture of recognition, fury, and a hint of fear that shook the girl on the receiving end to her core. Scarlet took a step back, not ready to be on the receiving end of the woman's wrath. Seeing her wife's reaction, Blake reached over and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze that brought Yang out from her haze, her eyes growing softer in their gaze, but maintaining their glowing intensity and color.
"I met you once, when you were... three? Maybe four? You… look just like your father." Blake said, attempting to take Scarlet's attention off of Yang as she got herself under control. Unfortunately, she'd put her foot in her mouth with the mention of Adam, as Scarlet flinched away, obviously used to a negative reaction to come after those words. The silent staredown continued for a few moments, the other patrons not paying attention to the small scene, however, the gentle giant known as Jin finally stumbled across his teammate and moms having some sort of weird staredown and tilted his head in silent confusion. He didn't stay silent for long though, quickly finding something about the scene to be very wrong.
"Guang, quit staring at her boobs." The unusually scolding voice of Jin suddenly spoke from behind her, alerting Scarlet and his family that Guang's gaze was pointed slightly downward at her exposed cleavage, which she immediately raised her arms to cover, shooting the boy a dirty look in response. The blonde's concentration on her was broken as she snorted, gently swatted her youngest in the back of his head using her less damaging left hand.
"Guang Belladonna-Xiao Long! We raised you better than that!" Despite scolding her son, Yang couldn't help but to laugh at his antics. "Sorry about him, boys and hormones and all that."
After the initial amusement had run its course, Jin embraced his moms, easily pulling them both into a tight embrace which they happily returned. After a long moment, he turned to his siblings, getting a similar reaction from his sister, but once he went to hug his brother, he was instead met with an outstretched fist looking to be met with another. This caused a line of teasing at the fifteen year old as Jin asked if he thought he was too cool to get a hug from his big brother, which he then proceeded to take by force, much to Guang's dismay and Liang's amusement. Scarlet similarly watched with a quiet chuckle, but the anxiety wasn't all forgotten as she looked back at Yang. The woman met her gaze a moment later, not having forgotten about the less than stellar first impression she'd left on the girl, though this time, she was just happy to be met with the soft lilac of her eyes instead of the violent red she'd initially been met with.
"We're cool?" Scarlet asked, obviously more worried about the answer than the casual tone she failed to maintain was meant to show.
"Pft- over this?" Yang raised her robotic arm, casually popping it off and shaking it over her head for emphasis in a way Scarlet couldn't help but to giggle at, seeing the fancy metal flop around at the wrist. The woman smiled at seeing the anxiety melt from the redhead, thankful that she hadn't intimidated her oldest son's friend too much. "Nothin' to do with you kiddo. C'mon, your team's here, right? You guys can come eat with us."
Gathering the rest of SJJL was easy, Lumi similarly embraced the family as they met, warmly greeting the pair as her 'aunties' which made sense considering she wanted to jump Jin's bones, but considering she called Emerald her aunt as well, she thought better of making fun of her over it. It all felt… normal, sitting down with the rest of them under the umbrella covered table provided by the pizza parlor. No lingering animosities, no getting judged for her mom and dad's actions, just her friends and one of their families chowing down on pizza.
"Thanks for the food, we appreciate it. I'm Jet by the way." Seeing as Yang currently had her mouth stuffed, it fell on Blake to do the introductions, lest her beloved blonde start talking with her mouth full and get wet pizza chunks everywhere.
"It's nice to properly meet you two. I'm Blake, and this is my wife Yang. Jin's told us a lot about you both." she said, reaching out and shaking his hand. So this was her Jinzi's partner, hm? So far he fit the description, polite and right to the point. Of course, this information was filtered through Jin, who typically didn't have a bad word to say about most people, so she was sure there was more to him, but so far, she could see why Jin was happy to call him his friend.
"Holy crap, you're Mercury's kid!" Jet and Scarlet flinched at the volume from Yang, something the others seemed accustomed to.
"His last name didn't tell you that? Besides, he looks more like Emerald to me." Blake responded dryly. She'd never been close with the woman, even when she was undercover trying to get close with team RWBY, but she certainly remembered the woman who'd backstabbed her and her friends, and Jet resembled her strongly.
"What, no way. Jet, get all smug for me, like you just kicked someone's ass after they ran their mouth." Confused, but nonetheless curious, Jet imagined himself standing over Alaska, the girl's Aura reduced to the red after trying to start more drama with his friends. As he did so, a smug, shit eating grin Yang and Blake had memorized well from Beacon and Haven manifested on his lips, and suddenly, Blake couldn't deny it as the sharper features from his father became glaringly obvious. "Boom, Mercury!"
"It's good to see you both again, how're you liking Vacuo so far?" Lumi asked, leaning forward as she spoke to the twins. Guang shrugged, mostly disinterested in the new location and culture he found himself in as he scrolled through his social media page. Liang's reaction was more enthusiastic, or at least, that's what Scarlet thought was going on, her hands and fingers moving in a way that almost looked like some sort of low energy dance to the horned girl.
"Did… she just throw up a gang sign at us?" Scarlet asked, getting another snort out of Yang, who nearly choked on her bite before explaining.
"Liang's hard of hearing, she can hear you if you're loud enough, but it's mostly easier to just communicate like this." Yang explained, making similar motions with her hands as she spoke so her daughter could follow along with the conversation. However, it didn't really click how the hand movements really changed that better than just speaking up, leaving Jet to snarkily explain it for her.
"That means it was sign language, hornhead." However, rather than fall into their usual banter, Scarlet shot him a dirty look.
"Well excuse me smartass." she said with an unusually high amount of bite that shocked Jet, especially as the response was entirely unprovoked from his eyes. Realizing that she may have lashed out a bit too much, she looked away, not yet ready to apologize, but also not wanting to see the mixture of how her reaction stung and confused him. Jin and Lumi both recoiled, never having seen her react so hostility towards her childhood friend. Seeing the attention coming onto her, Scarlet quickly deflected. "What did she say?"
"She said it's nice so far, she likes it here and that there was this nice scorpion girl who knew sign language who pointed this place out to them." Jin awkwardly explained, clearly not moving on from her previous outburst just yet. Liang just nodded along to the words being signed with a warm smile on her face, pleasantly reminded of how, in a rare instance, she was understood by someone outside of her family without the need of a translator.
"Oh, of course you guys meet the nice scorpion chick." For the second time in the same minute, the entire family was staring at her. Not really wanting to go over the whole incident with Lavender again, she pretended to shrug it off, yet again deflecting to a new topic. "Eh, don't worry about it. So, I gotta know, was Jin always fuckin' huge?"
"Believe it or not, he was tiny as a kid, smaller than Lumi." Yang said, willingly taking the bait and giving Scarlet an out for the awkward situation she'd put herself in, one she happily took.
"What? No way… Do you have pictures?" Yang smirked at the question, pulling her scroll out to show them off.
"Yup, gimme a minute to scroll through my pics."
Scarlet's plan of attack was never one Lumi would call complex, the girl was a clear example of the mentality that the best defense was an overwhelming offense, unlike herself, who's particular style of their mutual dual blades allowed her to maintain a balanced mix of defense and offense and be able to respond in just about any situation. Her partner, however, threw that idea away for the sake of a constant, unyielding offense that was damn near impossible to break through. Despite that, she wasn't an idiot, unlike Scarlet, which made her unfocused and predictable assault child's play to pick apart. One of her horizontal swings came at too wide an angle, giving the fencer enough time to deflect the blow with her dagger and land a series of jabs on the other girl's chest. In any other circumstance, she'd be proud of her performance, especially against the bovine girl she was currently sparring against, considering she was typically the one to fall short. However, with the girl very clearly not having her head in the game, it was a hollow and frustrating result. Thankfully, she knew exactly what was causing this behavior, and as such, knew how to command her partner's attention by now.
"So, what's going on with you and Jet?"
"The fu- oh my- now Lumi?" Scarlet sputtered at Lumi's words, not expecting her partner to call her out so openly, and in the middle of a sparring match no less. She tried to keep up the attack, thrusting Bleed towards her gut, only for Lumi to gracefully spin on the ball of her foot, the ballet lessons paying off as she gracefully twirled out of the way of the thrust and behind Scarlet. Using the redhead's own momentum against her, she landed a slash to the backside of her partner with Crocea Mors. Growing angry, the horned girl did a one eighty, turning her failed thrust with Bleed into a devastating downward strike onto her blonde partner, who had no choice but to blockAs she raised her dagger, she braced her grip and activated its newest function, causing a mint green hue to flow through the blade's fuller, bleeding into the rest of the metal and causing her to hit with no small amount of force thanks to the wind dust surging through the weapon. Steel met steel as the two locked blades, Scarlet still trying to overpower the smaller girl even while Wilt was ready to strike.
"You're less likely to be able to come up with an excuse if you're focused on fighting me." With a twirl of her wrist, Lumi reversed the blade bind, taking aim with an innocuous looking hole in the handguard that was, in reality, a hidden barrel for a handgun built into the new mechanism, feeding off the same energy that powered the wind blade function. Pulling the trigger, she sent a green bullet directly into her wrist, which, combined with the small but powerful explosion of wind that surged from the point of impact, ripped Bleed right out of her grip, and before she had a chance to respond, Crocea Mors was raised to her neck. "However, considering how easily I disarmed you there, it seems your mind is focused elsewhere."
Lumi lowered her family weapon, the victory, as empty as it was, was hers, and they both knew it. Scarlet sighed and sauntered over to Bleed, picking her katana up and examining the blade for chips as she spoke.
"I'm just pissed at him, he's blowing me off for these stupid upgrades we don't even really need." Scarlet sighed, seeing no point in pretending any more, since her partner was currently reading her like an open book. As pathetic as it sounded, she couldn't keep her mind off of the fight, Jet was her oldest, and for the longest time, only friend. Obviously, they fought and butted heads from time to time, but it was almost never something that left them with hurt feelings. She knew she'd get over it, and maybe that in itself was a sign that it wasn't that big a deal, but she couldn't help how she felt.
"Needed or not, they've proven effective so far." Lumi said, allowing herself to sound just a bit impressed as she held up her parrying dagger, now outfitted with a hybrid of a handgun built into the grip and a dust infusion system. In fact, she was certain it was a modified design for what he'd originally planned for Corocea Mors, which proved his statement of not modifying the blade an outright lie that subsequently ensured she'd never tell him how pleased with the weapon she actually was. Regardless, she had to admit it was excellent craftsmanship. She'd been worried that the pistol grip would require an adjustment period, but she took to it rather fast. "Nonetheless, you should focus on training, you're so out of it Belka could probably beat you."
"I'm standing right here you know." Belka muttered bitterly as she wiped her brow of sweat, having just finished her own set of solo training against the stupid and creepy buckets of bolts Vacuo used as training dummies. In her workout clothes, it was easy to see the contrast that was her skin to Lumi's, as while her darling niece had a perpetually light red tint to her skin from the sunburn, her own had taken nicely to the sun, sporting a light tan that reached her biceps, where it crashed back into its natural hue.
"And yet, I really wish you weren't."
"Has anyone ever told you two that hearing you bickering gets really fucking old? Because it's getting really fucking old." Scarlet huffed from the sidelines, but was mostly ignored by the girls, who continued to stare each other down. Belka's gaze bored into her niece, silently daring the woman to say another word, a dare Lumi immediately recognized and met head on.
"It's not like I'm saying anything untrue. Unless you're about to claim I'm being told you're spending more time in the training hall than anywhere else because you're satisfied with your status as a punching bag." Belka stomped forward with an honest to gods growl as she got into Lumi's face. Lumi took a step back instinctively, not expecting her words to be met with anything more than the usual bluster and excuses, but as it stood now, she suspected Belka may actually take a swing at her. Thankfully, Scarlet chose that moment to literally get between them, pushing them apart and holding her arms out to keep the two of them at bay from each other, really not being in the mood to play referee. If anything, she'd probably let Belka start swinging if Lumi wasn't her friend, the petite woman was certainly the one instigating, so maybe a case of 'talk shit get hit' was needed?
"Okay, what's up your ass this time? This is more than your standard weird family drama bullshit." Lumi huffed and crossed her arms over her chest in a weak defiance that both of the other girls immediately saw through. Seeing this, she conceded, albeit silently, that her taking her anger out on Belka was childish when, for once, she'd done nothing to deserve her ire.
"That little tramp from SABL kept pestering me, she correlated us with BGEL's performance." Lumi admitted, remembering how the girl had walked up oh so innocently, pretending to be concerned over how Beacon was teaching such soft fighters. She'd bit her tongue for a time, but the moment she started running her mouth about team BGEL, she let her hear it. The most infuriating part was that she'd actually gone through the trouble of doing the bare minimum of research and finding out that she and most of the team were related, making a snide comment about how if their fighting ability was genetic like their Semblance, then it would be an easy victory over both teams. She ignored the girl for a long while, eventually causing her to lose interest. "I wanted to write it off, but the more I thought about it, I realized she was right. We need to improve."
"Of course that stupid little bitch ran her mouth to you too." The girl had done something similar with her team, however, Elizabeth didn't just let the comments slide, arguing back and forth until eventually Alyx used the same little family comment, to which she then got an earful about how explained that Belka was not a Schnee and that she was lucky it was her she'd said that to, as others may have struck her over such an insinuation. Belka let the comment slide despite how it stung, but it had been festering since then. No one said anything about it, but she saw the resentful looks Elizabeth shot her way afterwards. She didn't know what to do anymore, if it wasn't her own shortcomings beating her down, it was SLVR, or Goose's stupid semblance, or her only blood relatives outside of her mother and father resenting her very existence. At this point, she didn't know whether to scream or cry, so she just collapsed back, bunching her knees up to her chest as she sat. "Great, even the foreign teams know we're a joke, well, at least Liz is happy, she'll get her way as usual and BGEL will have a new leader."
"Wait, what? That can happen?" Scarlet asked in complete shock, mostly shocked the prospect hadn't been brought up to her as of yet. considering the frankly colossal fuck ups that littered her own record. "What happened? Goose said you were getting better."
"Everything, my performance, the incident with SLVR, our lack of progress in working as a team... If we don't perform well in the tournament, I'm probably going to get replaced as leader by Elizabeth." The defeatist attitude didn't sit well with her fellow huntresses in training, both of their brows furrowing. Scarlet couldn't believe she was just gonna sit back and take it, to let Alaska, Glynda, hell, even Liz and Lumi be proven right without a fight was unthinkable to her. Lumi's thoughts were a bit harsher, of course. If she wasn't expecting adversity, then she should have just gotten her father to set her up with a cushy office job, but she wasn't a lost cause, not yet. Either way, they were in agreement, this wouldn't continue.
"Nah, that ain't happening." Scarlet declared, kneeling down to look the girl eye to eye.
"Huh?" Without much debate, Scarlet easily lifted Belka back to her feet, dusting her off and pushing her weapon back into her arms.
"You're not gonna prove that stuck up bitch wrong by moping about it. C'mon, we've still got what, a month and a half until the tournament?"
"You'd actually help me? Both of you?" A mixture of skepticism and hope could be seen in her eyes as she glanced between the other girls. Scarlet nodded readily while Lumi sighed, but after a moment of her usual dramatics, she joined in with a single curt nod.
"You're on a team with a boy who I've known my whole life, my cousin, and my aunt, you being a liability in combat simply isn't acceptable." The phrasing admittedly stung, it would have been far easier to not single her out, but she could understand the sentiment, she wouldn't like it if Whiskey, Goose, or Scarlet were stuck on a team where they were in danger due to another's ineptitude. And besides, if she hadn't written her off as a lost cause, then maybe the headmistress hadn't either.
"Where do we start?"
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. I brought Guang with me, hope that's cool, figured he needed a break from being the only guy around for once." Jin announced as he entered SJJL's temporary quarters at Shade. At his side was his little brother, who lifted his shades as the softer light in the dorm room compared to the hall allowed his photosensitive eyes to adjust without being instantly temporarily blinded, or worse, sent into an epileptic seizure. Nick had been locked in a tight arm wrestling match with Lao, as the second youngest in the group of boys he was eager to prove his recent growth. While he'd never been a small boy, having taken after his father height-wise, he was rather skinny, and while still a far cry from the walking tank that was his father, he'd bulked up a respectable amount in the military. Jet had tried to focus on his weapon, as evidenced by the disassembled Hephaestus lying on his nightstand, but had gotten swept up in the close competition. However, as soon as Jin opened the door, Nick looked up in surprise, giving Lao the window needed to force Nick's hand to the table. With their duel over, he also turned to Jin and Guang, the smaller boy's lips tilted upward ever so slightly at his victory.
"Okay, that does not count." Nick claimed, pouting over the circumstances of his loss in a very unsoldierly manner, causing both of the monkey boys, as well as Jet, to snicker. He looked around the room, trying to find some small amount of sympathy, only to find nothing, but after looking at Lao's usual complete lack of reaction, he quickly got over it, getting back to his initial point of discussion "Anyways, of course it is, it's been too long since I've seen you dude."
"Sup soldier boy?" The two youngest met with a fist bump, a refreshing change of pace for Guang after being publicly lifted off his feet by his big brother. He tried to transition into a handshake, but just ended up slapping the hand of his very confused family friend.
"Oh yeah, trust me, I remember what it was like with just Scarlet and my sister growing up." Jet said, offering a sympathetic laugh. Both Lupin and Scarlet were more on the tomboyish side, but every now and then, either when he'd made one of them mad or they just felt like ganging up on him, they'd decide to do something sickeningly girly to mess with him. In hindsight, it was actually pretty funny, considering they'd normally end up hating it as much as he did, but in the moment, he was typically furious.
"Pfft- try ten sisters." They shared a laugh, scarcely able to imagine what Nick must have gone through.
"The more I hear about siblings, the more I think I'm blessed as an only child." Lao interjected in his typical dry manner.
"Was… was that a joke?" Jet asked, looking between the three who knew him better, though that didn't really clear things up, as they were equally as confused.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Jin shrugged but held his hand out for a high five that Lao smacked after a moment of inquisitive staring. Even with the high five, most of the boys still weren't sure if it was an intentional joke, or if he was just happy to go along with Jin's contagious enthusiasm.
"So Jet, we didn't really get to talk much the other day but Jin tells me you're pretty cool."
"I dunno about that, I'm probably the most generic guy in the group, truth be told." Trying to avoid the awkward 'tell me about yourself' phase of the conversation that he dreaded oh so much, he looked Nick up and down, searching for anything to jump off of, ultimately landing on the peculiar looking holster at his side with a familiar looking revolver, one that, thanks to its considerable bulk, reminded him of Elizabeth's own. He'd noticed it before, but there hadn't really been a chance to say anything, as he had been pulled aside by Scarlet while Nick had caught up with his friends and sister. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask, is that gun the same model as Liz's?"
"Actually, it's an exact replica. It was a gift from my uncle, Due and Process were his weapons back when he was General. He gave Due to Liz when she started training, and gave Process to me later." Nick said, drawing the weapon out so Jet could have a better look. Checking to make sure the safety was still on, he handed the gun over, and upon inspection, the weapon was indeed identical in all but aesthetics, and even then, it was remarkably similar, sporting the same design and engravings, the only real differences between the two being the color in select areas. Whereas Due had a white barrel and grip, Process sported these pieces in black. He recognized the model, a classic Atlesian design, though clearly modified for higher calibers, given the firearm's remarkable heft and lengthened barrel. It was a solid weapon, one he'd like to take out onto the range at some point down the line.
"I'm not surprised, it's a good gun. I've always liked revolvers personally, I just didn't know soldiers were allowed to bring their own gear." he said, handing the weapon back over and noting the care and respect Nick handled it with, a refreshing change of pace from how his fellow students considered things like trigger discipline as suggestions rather than hard rules to be followed. It seemed in a lot of cases that Aura made them feel so invincible a stray bullet didn't seem like a big deal.
"Ooooh, you're the gun nerd Jin talked about." Guang said, suddenly recognizing Jet as the guy his brother had told him about, having forgotten that the gun nut who spent hours looking over his already clean weapon and Jin's partner were one and the same before now.
"Not a nerd, just someone who can appreciate a well made weapon." Jet said, shooting Jin a dirty look, not appreciating the way he's apparently been described. However, Guang took the refutation as a challenge, turning to his brother and asking.
"Speaking of weapons, what happened with The Golden Path, they look bulkier."
"Jet's helping us upgrade our weapons for the tournament, we're working on an aiming system for it. Well, he is, I'm just the tester." As he jumped to change topics, he didn't realize what he had done until a moment later it dawned on him that he'd sort of just proven his point, at least, his brother certainly thought so as he smirked.
"Neeeerd."
"Okay then, what do you wanna talk about?" Jet asked, crossing his arms, unamused at the little smartass's antics so far. Guang ignored the dirty look and rubbed his chin in thought before snapping his fingers with an idea.
"So, are there any hotties at Beacon?" The response likely wasn't what he'd expected as just about everyone gave him a deadpan look that would match Lao's most days as if to say 'seriously dude'. Ironically, the sole exception was Lao himself, who paused to genuinely think about it.
"Well, objectively speaking, I'd say most of the women we know would be considered conventionally attractive."
"What? C'mon, don't tell me you don't steal glances at the redhead on your team." Guang said in defense of himself, and to his credit he was right, Jet did, more often than he really tried to, but there was no way in hell he was going to admit that out loud.
"No, that would be weird."
"So… Do you think I have a chance?"
"After you stared at her chest like that? No chance bro." Jin stepped in before Jet could throttle the boy, playfully messing up his hair and making him pull away, quickly going to fix the mop on his head back to the way he liked it with a whine.
"How would you and Scarlet being together be weird?" Lao asked with a confused tilt of his head.
"That's… not what I said."
"It's what you meant though." Of all people to cut through the bullshit in such a way, it probably shouldn't have surprised Jet that it was Lao, yet he was baffled, it appeared as if he'd either underestimated the boy, or his feelings were even more obvious than he'd thought.
"I feel like I'm missing something here." Nick said, taking note of how Jet suddenly found the floor to be oh so interesting and the way his thumbs twiddled in a forced attempt to look nonchalant.
"Jet doesn't wanna admit that he has a crush on Scarlet." Jin said, similarly cutting right to the point. While he was typically happy to let Jet deny it, it was clear that this weird act of denying his feelings had done more harm than anything else, considering how obviously mad Scarlet was over it.
"Wha- that's bullshit!" The attempt to deny Jin's claims only painted a clearer picture, and while the blush on his face wasn't actually visible thanks to his darker skin, it was clear even to Nick how flustered he was.
"Ooooh, yeah, okay, I see it now."
"Guys, come on, isn't relationship gossip something chicks are supposed to do?" It was an admittedly pathetic attempt to deflect away from the conversation and they all knew it, none of them even dignifying his words with a real response. Seeing that no one was buying it, he caved. "It's not that I don't like Scarlet, okay? I love her."
"So, why did you turn her down for the dance then?"Jin asked after a considerable moment of silence. Jet was a smart guy, probably the smartest person in the room, at least in some ways, he had to know she'd felt a similar way, it was obvious!
"Because she's like my sister! We grew up together, we used to run around in the dirt and take baths together, it's… It would be weird."
"But… she's not your sister." Jet wasn't all that surprised that it was Gaung who had pointed this out, but the way he said it made him pause, like he was missing something about the obvious statement he'd made. Seeing that he wasn't getting it, Jin sat down next to his partner, patting his shoulder with his massive yet gentle hand.
"What Guang's trying to say is, do you look at her like a sister?" It didn't require the slightest bit of consideration, Scarlet and Lupin didn't even occupy the same idea in his mind, even if he could remember a time maybe about five years ago when the answer would have been yes.
"I… No, I used to, but not anymore. Doesn't matter though, it's not fair to her. So what if I feel differently now? To her, I'm still just like a brother." The flagrant stupidity of the usually smart boy bewildered Jin and Nick into silence. Guang even slapped his forehead in frustration, how could someone take a hint as strong as that from a woman as anything other than a clear sign of interest!?
"She wasn't that mad at you because she wanted to go to the dance as your sister." Lao said, once again cutting through to the facts of the matter. Logically, Jet knew he had a point, he wasn't blind to how comfortable she was around him, or how she looked at him, it was easy to see that her affections ran a tad deeper than just friendship… But he just couldn't help but to second-guess himself, after all he was just… well… him. He was nothing special, and Scarlet was a bombshell, especially when he compared himself to someone sculpted like an ancient statue of a god like Jin was. If he was wrong, then things would change, she wouldn't look at him the same anymore, and he didn't want that.
"Look at me and Lumi for example. Sure, we were close as kids, but we aren't related." Jet paused at that, glancing over to Nick, silently asking if they were going to mention the obvious crush Lumi had on the Faunus. The soldier just shook his head, knowing exactly what he was thinking and warning against it. Not catching the quick interaction, the Faunus in question stepped forward, a plan already forming. "You know what, I owe you for the Golden Path. Gimme your Scroll, I'll do you a solid." Jin said, grabbing the device before his partner could protest and opening the message app.
"Hey wait!" Trying to get the device quickly proved useless as the larger boy jumped, and spun around in mid air, quickly coming to a cross-legged position on the ceiling, speaking out loud as he typed.
"Hey, I've been thinking about it, and I changed my mind. I'd love to go to the dance with you." Jet winced hard at the words coming from the boy on the ceiling, wincing harder once he heard the send sound effect play out. With the task done, Jin dropped back down, landing on his feet and holding the Scroll out with a smile as a pair of notifications immediately came from it. Looking down, he read the pair of near simultaneous texts from his friend.
'OMG REALLY?'
'I mean for sure, bout time you wisened up :p'
He couldn't help but smile, that was just like her, trying to be all cool about it, even when she was clearly excited. He sighed, trying his best to sound annoyed, but unable to keep it up. Well, that was that, he guessed, he couldn't exactly back out now with Scarlet getting her hopes up this way. Screw it, the last time he'd overthought this stuff, she got pissed at him, may as well just go along with it and have fun, he'd just pull an all nighter for the upgrades and keep his schedule that way. For now, it seems he had a date to prepare for.
"How on Remnant are you still wearing your hood in this heat?" Ruby would have normally shrank at such a shrill and scolding tone, but coming from the woman who greeted her in the hotel lobby, she beamed with a toothy smile. Unable to help herself, she ran forward, wrapping her arms around the pristine cyan and white sundress, no doubt leaving creases and smears that the owner would have struck anyone else over making, but Ruby knew Weiss loved her too much to do anything more than scoff.
"Believe it or not, it's keeping my head pretty cool!" Weiss didn't believe that for a second, in her mind, it was equally, if not more likely, that her old partner had worn her signature cloak out of habit, but so long as she wasn't giving herself heatstroke, she figured there was no reason to kick up a fuss over it. Besides, she couldn't make herself sound mad, she was delighted to see her best friend after their busy schedules left them with almost two years of only talking over the Scroll. Wrapping her arms around the taller woman in return, Weiss let herself enjoy the moment. After a few moments of embracing, she pulled away, turning to meet the other professor who served as Ruby's little plus one to the meetup they'd set up upon making plans to attend the tournament, however, in comparison, the woman was much less enthusiastic to see one of the acting CEO's of the SDC.
"Weiss." Touko's lack of enthusiasm matched Weiss's own, her lips pursing into a thin well maintained line that refused to give away any sign of her less than pleased reaction to seeing her old classmate. It was nothing personal, they just didn't get along, Weiss had always been far too haughty for her liking, and she didn't let her little comments slide like others did.
"Touko." The flat greeting was about what she'd come to expect, along with the judgmental gaze up and down, taking in her appearance, no doubt making a mental note of how disheveled she was in her eyes. Hesitantly, Weiss sniffed the air, an eyebrow raising as a small yet familiar sneer appeared on her face. "What a pleasant surprise, you don't smell like a skunk for once."
"Yeah, it's nice, almost as nice as it is to see you've managed to avoid getting pregnant again, despite how worn out Jaune looks." Touko bit back, not really seeing how if she'd indulge in her herbs was any of the woman's business, especially since they'd been legal in Vacuo longer than in Vale. The blond in question flushed with red, covering his lower face with a sudden and obviously fake cough, though anyone could tell at a glance that he indeed looked rather worn compared to his usual self. Weiss, on the other hand, showed no shame at the comment, already deciding the best way to word the fact that, unlike Touko, she actually had a healthy sex life instead of a non-existent one. Before they could start bickering further, a sharp whistle interrupted them.
"Hey come on, at least let Mama get here before you two start the catfight." Yang announced from her spot next to Blake, the pair having watched the interaction up until now with silent amusement, eating one of the complimentary mints out of the little decorative bowls on the table. Any animosity was quickly forgotten as the friends and family greeted each other warmly, with Yang making sure she pulled everyone present into a bear hug before they went up to the penthouse Weiss had reserved. Setting the table up for her guests, Weiss poured just about everyone a glass of tea, except for Touko, who just helped herself to the complimentary coffee. Taking a seat, Weiss looked up, staring Ruby right in the eyes as she folded her fingers together.
"As much as I hate to start this off on a bitter note, I do have to ask about Lumi. How is she getting along with her team after what happened?" Guilt swelled up in Ruby's chest, remembering her failure to protect her student and god-daughter. She couldn't blame Weiss for being worried even after all this time, and while she knew for a fact Jaune gave her regular updates, she could understand her wanting to hear it from another person.
"Eh, they bickered a bit but they're getting along far better, I'd even say they're starting to act like real friends!" Ruby said chipperly. Really, it was remarkable how well Lumi had bounced back from the incident, even if it did take a while. After all, she was still the same girl she'd watched grow up into a fine young woman who took after her mother just a tad too much. Weiss's relief was visible as she let herself finally relax.
"Good. I'll be honest, I was ready to throw a fit when I heard about what happened, and to be frank, if it had come from anyone but you, I'd have gone and raised hell myself." Weiss said, and everyone there knew it to be true, while her petite and short stature was far from threatening, they all knew firsthand that there was nothing more determined than a mother defending her children, that determination paired with the legendary Schnee semblance would have been nothing short of terrifying. Yet, Ruby wasn't the least bit intimidated.
"Guess that's just a little sister perk huh?" Ruby teased, causing Weiss to choke on her tea, needing to do a double take, unsure if she'd heard that right.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." The thirty-six year old woman lied through her teeth, looking away trying to hide her flushed face, it seemed that even despite all these years some habits never changed.
"That's not what Lumi saaaid."
"So Touko, Ruby's told me you've gotten some upgrades." Yang asked her old friend, leaving her little sister to tease Weiss.
"Yeah, mostly just a new regulator, helps the life dust flow more evenly." Touko shrugged, not really having much more to say about it, it was a noticeable difference to her, but it was pretty hard to explain without actually feeling the dust that kept her cybernetics operational. Though she did appreciate what Yang was doing, as the only other person with prosthetics, she knew just how hard it could be to talk about them without coming across like she was looking for pity, a look she and the blonde both refused to wear.
"Think your arm can finally beat mine?" The challenging tone in Yang's voice stirred a competitive spirit in Touko, while it was rare for her to ever actually win, that just made her want to go at it even more, especially since this time she actually stood a decent chance, Yang had just squeaked out a win the last time they'd met and she was eager to get it back.
"Wanna find out? Vacuo's got plenty of training grounds."
"Let's at least get through lunch before you try to spar with everyone honey." Blake said, cutting them off before they could start heading to the nearest arena, already knowing where this was heading. Seeing that her suggestion was granted, or at the very least, that Yang knew she'd be spending the rest of the trip on the couch if she ignored her, she turned to the only man in their group. Having not seen him in years, she was curious about his recent career change. "So Jaune, how's counseling? It must be a pretty big change from Huntsman duty."
"Different, yeah, but not bad, I was worried the students wouldn't be open with me, but they've been pretty receptive for the most part." It was a bigger fear than he'd let on, remembering how stubborn he'd been about asking for help at that age. He was pleasantly surprised that most students were more open to the help they needed than he'd been. Blake nodded along with a small but genuine smile, remembering her own hardships and how opening up to her team, Yang especially, had helped her.
"Well, I think you're doing something great, a lot of people don't understand how important it is for kids their age to have someone to open up to without the risk of being judged or influenced."
"How about you Snowflake, anything new?" Yang asked, she, along with the rest of the table, half expecting another pregnancy announcement.
"With the company? Heavens no, it's just as droll as when I first took over with Whitley." she said, raising the teacup to her lips and sipping slowly in the most nonchalant way she could muster. However, Weiss's idea of acting ignorant was to act uncharacteristically aloof, she'd always had something to talk about, be it an upcoming charity event, or a new reform undoing an unfair policy her father or grandfather put into place, yet this time, she strangely had nothing to say. As she debated sharing the news early, glancing around, she knew her terrible poker face had tipped them off that something was happening, and really she did want to tell someone, so without much effort, she gave in, leaning in with a sly smile and stage whispering. "That being said, you didn't hear it from me, but General Polendina may just be becoming General Schnee soon enough."
"Whitley proposed?" Ruby practically shrieked in excitement while the others gasped, making Weiss very thankful for their isolated and soundproofed location; she'd never live it down if Whitley's plan was ruined over some gossip between friends, but since it wasn't a possibility, she was more than free to gush.
"Not yet, but he's planning on it on their anniversary in a few months. He had me come along ring shopping with him, it was adorable."
"So Rubes, when are you gonna propose to Touko?" Yang said suddenly, taking both women off guard just as she'd intended.
"Yaaang, not this crap again!" The blond woman couldn't help but laugh, taking childish glee in the fact that she could still make her baby sister whine in such a way after all these years.
"Well you gotta make a move at some point, she's sure as hell not gonna make the first move." Feeling challenged once more, Touko rose to her feet and slammed her hands down, unwilling to take such smack talk from the woman.
"I-I could make a move if I want to!" The silence at the table was palpable, Yang smirked up at the cyborg as she slowly realized what she'd just declared. Swallowing hard, she looked around, trying to find an excuse or someone to pivot to.
"Okay, then do it." Blake said, unexpectedly putting the cards in her hands with a mischievous grin. That traitor! She was meant to have her back! Suddenly, she froze up, looking over at Ruby, who's face matched the color of her cloak, unable to meet her eyes.
"So, Jin said you met Scarlet, how'd it go?" Jaune cut in suddenly, unable to watch anymore of such a painful display, the second hand embarrassment making him want to crawl out of his skin. Thankfully, his distraction triggered a similarly uncomfortable reaction in Yang, who ran a hand through her hair with a groan.
"Ugh, I was freaking the hell out. At first, I froze up, and then I didn't know if I was being too friendly or not friendly enough."
"Oh Gods, I did that too." Ruby bemoaned, her face going red once more, but for a much less embarrassing reason.
"You did fine dear, she's a nice kid." Blake reassured her wife, patting the woman's hand gently while ignoring the pouty glare from the cyborg across the table. "She's grown a lot since I last saw her."
"You've met Scarlet? When?" Weiss asked, not having known that about the woman, though mostly shocked at the implications of her also confronting Adam, a fact she wasn't privy to until now.
"After Qrow and I helped Adam kill Tyrian." Blake explained, she could remember it like it was yesterday, the only reason she'd even entertained the idea of meeting with the man was Qrow's assurances that he wouldn't be a problem, a fact she didn't truly believe until Adam walked out of his house holding the little girl who had become his entire world.
"I didn't know you were a part of that." Touko mumbled, chewing her lip at the implication. Her mind immediately jumped to conclusions, after all, the Goddesses Shadows knew of Adam's involvement, so it was just as possible they knew about Blake's. "Are you included in the report?"
"I think so? Why?" The Faunus answered, picking up on the shared worried glance between Ruby and Touko.
"We've just had some complications this year, I don't think it's a problem, but I need to check with someone." Ruby muttered, the unanswered messages to a certain RT making her more anxious with the decrease of crime in Vale coinciding with his radio silence. She hoped for both their sakes that it was just a coincidence.
"Right, all that cult stuff." Yang sighed, leaning back in her seat. She chewed her lip for a moment before turning to face her sister, looking her right in the eyes as she asked. "We're not in danger here, are we? We all know Salem isn't above high-profile targets."
"No, it should be safe. We're taking measures to strike first, cut Salem off before she can act." Ruby assured them, quickly switching to the same strong tone of voice RWBY recognized as their leader giving them her word. "She won't hurt anyone here so long as I'm here to do something about it."