Axle roughly tugged at the collar of his school uniform, loosening its stranglehold around his neck. After wiping his forehead with his sleeve, he got back to his task of rebuilding the carburetor of another junk vehicle that had been delivered the other day. He had done the task enough in his life that he had no difficulty paying attention to Port's lecture, or at least, making it seem like he was.

By the end of the first week of class, Axle had grown accustomed to the Professor's tall tales and corny jokes, just as Port did with Axle bringing in automotive parts to work on. Although the graying man questioned the admittedly rude behavior on Tuesday, Axle explained, and by now had proven, that it helped him stay alert, as he was part of the third of the class who remained awake. In fact, he was one of a small handful of people who could actually answer questions when they were called on. So Port permitted his actions, however messy.

He was seated with Penny on his left, who, if somewhat disturbingly, sat stone still for the entire three hour lecture that started at nine in the morning. They both were situated in between team RWBY and team JNPR. Of their group, Weiss was the only other person who paid absolute, undivided attention. Even Pyrrha had given up by Wednesday. Ruby doodled and wrote jokes down with her sister, Blake read, Ren was preoccupied with controlling Nora, who had once again began to vibrate in place after the two and a half hour mark. Jaune, who had fallen asleep on the first day, would now focus on what Axle was doing, since the boy sat next to him on his right, taking notes down when Axle or Pyrrha (Who was on Jaune's other side) would do so. Though Axle's notes were hardly on par with the gladiator.

Jaune was shy at first, most likely because he was intimidated by Axle, but he now spoke to him every once in a while, either about the subject matter, which Axle wasn't much better with than he, or about what Axle was doing. He tried his best to return what he thought were sufficient replies, but if Professor Port caught you talking during one of his stories, he would hit you with a series of difficult Grimm terminology and behavior questions, and if you failed to answer, you would be given detention.

When Port finished another of his stories, he explained how he was victorious due to a blindspot that Griffons had. Axle picked up his pencil and wrote down the information. His notebook was a mess, both because of his poor handwriting, and his grimy hands leaving smudges on the paper.

The bell rang far too late for any of the students' taste, and everyone was practically dashing for the door. As the Professor wished them all a good lunch, Axle stored his partially cleaned car part in the toolbox he had taken to carrying with him, which drew odd looks from many of the student body. By the time he slung his backpack on, everyone else had already made it to the classroom floor and were waiting for him.

Rwby was in a joyful mood, he could tell, and it seems it was her idea to wait for him. "Hey Axle, wanna eat lunch with us today?"

His first instinct was to tell her no. He had made a habit of eating by himself in his garage so he spent less time away from his work. The schedule he had been given had him beginning classes at six, and since Ozpin replaced all his electives with 'Automotive', lunch was pretty much his last hour of the day. The only exception being combat class at three, because he had to take it with everyone else. But since the girl went out of her way to ask him, he figured he should give it a try. He had yet to have the school's lunch yet, anyway.

For the first time he had seen, The vast cafeteria was bustling with students. It was very strange to see so many people in one place. CFVY, who had first lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays, were on their way out of the cafeteria and heading towards their next class. After a quick greeting, they informed them that today's menu items were Roast beef and potatoes, pulled pork sandwich, and the ever present pizza. Axle was the last to sit at the table, teams RWBY and JNPR, plus Penny, participated in small talk amongst themselves. He was busy finishing the Carburettor with one hand, taking bites of his generous helping of roast with the other.

His focus was interrupted by a heavy hand landing on the table down the way. Axle peeled his eyes away from his part to find none other than Cardin Winchester, the towering ginger thug that led team CRDL looming over Jaune, the rest of his compatriots lounging at the empty table next to theirs.

RWBY and JNPR had all gone silent, faces turned sour at the events about to unfold. Penny somehow didn't understand what was going on. Cardin leaned forward more, a cocky grin on his face. "Hey Jauney boy, what's on the menu today?"

"Uhh, Pizza." Jaune replied honestly.

Cardin whistled, looking at the tray. He laid his hand on Jaunes shoulder, the contact setting off warning signals in Axle's head. "Looks mighty tasty. Me and my team haven't eaten yet, and that looks like it'll hit the spot."

"Okay?" The blonde knight was unsure of why Cardin was telling him this. He knew it wasn't going to end well, but he couldn't predict how.

It quickly became revealed what Cardin had been aiming at. "Thing is Jauney boy, We all forgot our wallets back at our room. We were hoping a friend could cover our meal for us."

"Oh, uh, sure. No problem Cardin." Sighing, Jaune pulled a couple cards from his wallet, enough to get four trays, however, Cardin snatched Jaunes wrist and pulled out more.

Axle, having seen enough, stood up calmly from his seat. When Cardin was about to put the money in his clearly not-forgotten wallet, Axle grabbed his wrist and twisted it in a way that made Cardin yelp, causing the Lien to fall to the floor. Axle would grab it in a moment. Right now, he had to deal with the ugly mug in front of him.

Cardin rubbed his wrist, finding no real damage. He then put on a sneer and got right in Axle's face. "You have a death wish, Asshole?"

Axle remained silent, expression hard but unchanging. His eyes were locked on to Cardin's and he flexed his fingers, eager for a fight. Cardin, realizing his intimidation wasn't working, threw on a smirk. "Acting tough won't help you here, we all saw you get whooped during initiation."

"Then you know how hard I hit." Axle spoke calmly, not perturbed by the insult.

They stood there a few moments longer, Cardin trying to think of a comeback. Axle got impatient. Crossing his arms, Axle taunted him. "How about you stop being a chickenshit and actually do something, the quicker this is over with, the quicker I can get back to my grub."

Cardin scowled, His eyes darted around to find the large number of students watching them, knowing that if he reacted now, he alone would be given punishment. He walked back to his team, glaring at Axle the whole way. "I'll get you back for this."

It annoyed Axle to no end that he couldn't just lay the punk out, but Ms. Goodwitch drilled into him that if it was even questionable that he instigated the fight, he'd be serving detention or doing whatever the disciplinarian deemed a suitable punishment. Axle turned and picked up Jaune's money and tossed it back on the table before he silently sat down to finish his meal.

It took him a moment to realize that the conversation failed to pick up again. He cast a curious glance to the side, finding everyone at the table staring at him. "What?"

"Wow, Axle. You showed Cardin who's boss!" Ruby exclaimed gleefully. "I didn't think you'd be brave enough to stand up to him."

Axle grunted a response, focusing instead on his meal. Yang rested her chin on her hand, looking at Axle with a bemused look. "Y'know, that stunt may come back to bite you."

Axle shot her a questioning look, which she was quick to answer. "We got combat class in a few hours, and Cardin isn't exactly a pushover. That's if he doesn't try to jump ya sometime between now and then. I hear he is a real menace where the school doesn't keep a close watch."

"What a brute." Weiss spat sharply. "You'd think that a huntsman of his age would be past his 'king of the schoolyard' mindset."

Axle presented his feelings plainly. "I'll just kick his ass then. If he jumps me… well, I'll figure it out, but he won't be showing up to class."

The tone with which he spoke made them question whether he was being serious or not.

"Why won't he show up to class?" Penny asked obliviously, earning her some deadpan looks from the rest of the table.

He opened his mouth to respond, but Weiss interrupted Axle before he could. "It's best to leave that question unanswered. I'd prefer to keep my appetite."

Though conversations of violent natures were a common occurrence at Beacon, Ruby had another topic in her mind, and Weiss's interjection gave her the opportunity to bring it up. "So Axle. Have you given any more thought to your weapon?"

"Weapon-s, I have been thinking about a couple to use, not one of em' being the canon." His words disappointed the gun nut greatly, her face giving way to a pout.

She propped her elbow up on the table, pointing a finger at him in a mock attempt at looking tough. "I'll get through to you yet. But, I'm talking about your personal weapon, not your support stuff."

Axle had forgotten about the tradition of huntsmen in training during the busy first week. He still hadn't decided on a weapon, though he had narrowed it down to either a shotgun or rifle of some sort. Being silent for too long let Ruby know everything she needed to. "Axle, you gotta have one soon, If you don't get yourself a unique weapon people will start to think you're weird."

Ignoring Yang's hushed joke that drew a snicker from Nora, Axle thought on the girl's words. Though he personally didn't think he needed a special weapon, He did think that he could learn a lot by consulting with an expert on the topic. He relented. "Tell you what, You pick a time, and we'll set about getting me a weapon."

Ruby was glowing with joy. That is, she was until he made a deal out of it. 'There is one condition. You have to catch up on your reading."

The sudden reminder of her neglect of club responsibilities caught her unawares. Yang winced, as she was in similar standing as her sister. Ruby laughed nervously. "Come on Axle, let's be reasonable. We all study so much as it is, can't you give me a little slack?"

Axle shot her negotiations down with cruelty. Leniency was not his style. "You and your sister are far enough behind that you can't competently do actual jobs, which means no pay."

In a show of defiance, Ruby countered his demands with her own. "Fine, if that's how you are gonna be, then you'll have to read some of my magazines about weapons and educate yourself too!"

"Deal."

She didn't expect him to agree so easily. Ruby slumped in her seat, utterly defeated. Axle thought the behavior a little childish. It was only reading after all.

They all soon returned to their idle chatter, until the bell rang, that is. They all bid their farewells. While the others made their way to their next classes, Axle aimed to head back to his garage. He was mulling over some potential mods for his car when a familiar voice halted his steps. "Hey, Axle!"

He looked back to find Velvet waving him down. She reached him in no time, her demeanor vibrant with excitement. "Didn't expect to catch you here! What're you up to?"

"Heading back to the garage. Still a few hours before combat class, figured I could get started on that cruiser we got in." Axle held up his toolbox, which by now Velvet could guess the contents.

Continuing down the hall, Velvet sighed tiredly at Axle's answer. It was as if Axle was a broken record. "Figures. Honestly, do you ever think about anything else besides cars?"

Axle tilted his head up in thought. The first thing that came to him was his experience back in his world, but he wasn't too eager to share those memories. He fell back on an easy answer. "Fighting. and when my next meal is. Not much beyond that."

Velvet shot him a disapproving look. "What about classes? You are keeping your grades up, aren't you?"

Axle grunted his answer, which didn't seem to please the girl all too much. "Axle, You can't shirk off your school work, Ms. Goodwitch will put you into detention in a heartbeat. I am starting to think she enjoys it."

"Makes sense, you don't have to ask someone who loves their work to do their job. Prolly why Ozpin hired her."

His response earned a small laugh from the girl. "I don't disagree, but don't try to dodge the point. If you get put in detention, you won't be able to tinker on your cars."

"Stop worrying, I get enough done to keep the heat off me. Besides, even if she wants to give me detention, she'll have to catch me first." Velvet gave him a deadpan look, not doubting that he really meant what he said, however idiotic.

The conversation went back and forth between them easily, and unusual for her, Velvet did most of the talking. Likely due to how reserved Axle was. As they walked down the stone path through the trees, Velvet studied Axle's face. No matter what she told him, whether it be jokes or 'shocking' gossip, Axle always held the same expression. Eyes slightly squinted, likely from the sunlight, and a permanent scowl. Though he gave basic responses, he seemed mentally distant. Velvet had a sneaking suspicion he was half ignoring her. "Hey, I hope you're actually liste-"

Velvet froze, Her ears standing ramrod straight and swiveling rapidly, she looked around with mild panic. Axle picked up on the change immediately. Something was here with them. Axle started looking around in a similar fashion as she. "What's got you spooked?"

Velvet was silent for a long moment. "I Don't… Axle, we need to leave."

She suddenly turned to him and grabbed his sleeve, she started to pull him forward, continuing their original path. Her eyes were glued to the ground, ears plastered flat down against her head. Axle wasn't sure what she could sense, so he complied. Their pace was much more hurried this time around.

Axle made to ask her again what had startled her, but a voice cut through the trees before he could. "Well I guess surprising you is outta the question. Figures an animal would sniff us out first."

From either side of the path, two figures emerged from behind the cover of the foliage. One with a tall stature, and the other with a very spiky mohawk. The tall one stepped forward to reveal himself, but Axle recognized Cardin's voice as soon as he spoke. Cardin had an ugly smirk that held nothing but malicious intent. "I can't believe our luck, boys! Not only did we find our man of the hour, but our favorite stray is with him."

On cue, the other two members of team CRDL flanked them. Axle felt that familiar tension build within him as the thugs closed in on him and Velvet. Axle flexed his fingers, trying to stave back the twitchiness. Cardin stopped in front of them, hands clasped behind his head in a relaxed manner, a contrast to his mace hanging on his hip. Axle saw with a glance that they were all armed. Velvet was still in her school uniform and was without her camera. Axle had his knucks, but had reluctantly forgone his gun and knife at the incessant demands of Goodwitch. A prospect he will be sure to tear her a new one for if he was still able when this was all over.

"What do you want Cardin?" Axle spat out coldly, stepping forward into swinging distance.

Cardin let his hands fall to his hips. He put on an innocent tone as he spoke. "Well, to teach you some manners of course! Ya see, you so rudely interrupted me and my good friend Jaune's conversation in the cafeteria, and we just want to make sure you don't make a mistake like that again."

"So what's the plan? Jump me and leave me black and blue all over? Tell me, what will you do when someone finds out?"

Cardin sneered, he made a show of cracking his knuckles. "Oh, but no one will find out. A little pain should keep you both quiet. And with us being all nice and out of the way, we don't have to hold back."

"Y'know that goes both ways, don't you?" Axle said confidently.

Cardin let out a confused 'huh', apparently not expecting that reaction. Axle elaborated for them. "Since we're out of the way and all, we don't have to hold back either."

"News flash pal, your pet there doesn't look like she'll do too well in a fight." Cardin countered amusedly.

Unsure of what he meant, Axle looked back and was surprised at the state Velvet was in. Her eyes were downcast and her face was fearful. Skye and Dove, if Axle remembered their names correctly, had gotten far too close for comfort to her, yet she wasn't doing anything to stop them.

Axle was careful to hide his gritting teeth. Now was not the time to freeze up, but he also wasn't in the position to snap her out of it. He faced Cardin again, his confidence unchanged despite the circumstances. "Last chance Cardin. You can still do the smart thing and leave."

Cardin reared his head back and laughed, as if hearing a good joke. He made his decision clear by resting a hand on the handle of his mace. "Think you can win? Against all of us? You're not the brightest, are you?"

"I don't need to win." Axle's words wiped Cardin's grin away. With adrenaline beginning to boil over in him, What Axle had to say next made team CRDL uneasy. "I just need to hurt you."

Velvet, who had finally processed what Axle was planning to do, again, made a desperate attempt to avoid a fight. In a pleading voice. "Leave us alone, Cardin."

Cardin shot a nasty look towards Velvet before nodding at Sky. "Muzzle her."

Axle inhaled sharply and spun to face Velvet, who yelped as Sky grabbed her by the arm. Axle, moving faster than any of them expected, hurled the heavy toolbox he held towards Sky's head. With no time to react, the object connected with a loud crashing of the tools inside being tossed around and eventually thrown out as the latch came undone from the impact.

There was a near blinding flash of aura that illuminated the shaded path around them. The effect that his toolbox throw had on the punk, even whilst dulled by aura, filled Axle with sick satisfaction. The boy had fallen to his knees with only a groan escaping him as the side of his face immediately began to swell. Sky's grip on Velvet had disappeared.

Before Axle could decide his next move, Dove charged Axle in an attempt to save his teammate. With a shout of 'Bastard!' The golden haired boy threw a haymaker and hit Axle square in his nose, a loud crack and the sudden odor of iron signifying the appendage as broken. A strange feeling of turbulence filled him, and Axle felt the pain dull. He concluded that it was his own Aura at work, but spared it no more thought as he blocked another strike from Dove. He made to counter, but instead winced in pain as he felt a heavy impact against the back of his head.

Ignoring his current target for a split second, Axle threw a blind elbow into the shoulder of Russel. While the attack did little in terms of damage, it did make him stumble. While Axle was distracted, Dove took the liberty of driving his fist into Axle's stomach. Axle, having the wind driven out of him, grappled onto Dove and used his size advantage to overpower Dove and force him to fall to the ground. Now with Dove pinned beneath him, Axle furiously drove jab after jab towards the boy's face. Dove desperately tried to ward off the blows with his arms, his aura becoming a lightshow around them.

Axle briefly felt a hand grab tightly onto his shoulder, likely an attempt to pull him off of Dove, but there was only a light tug before the hand disappeared and was replaced with a meaty thud and a pained wheeze. Axle looked back to find Russel on the ground a few feet away and clutching his abdomen. Turning his head further, Axle found Velvet fists up and standing on one leg, the other raised in a manner that suggested Russel was on the receiving end of a well placed kick. Velvet herself had a stern focused look on her face, none of her prior fear present. However, that only lasted until Cardin shouted 'You Bitch!' angrily and marched towards her. Velvet, seemingly having processed what she had done, now backpedaled fearfully.

Axle decided to leave Dove be for the moment and stood up to face the biggest thug of their group. Cardin saw Axle immediately, and decided he took priority. They approached each other, both eager for a chance to inflict harm on the other. As Axle passed Velvet, he gave her a request. "Keep an eye on the rest."

He didn't give Velvet a chance to answer, for only a moment after, He was in swinging range. What ensued for the next few minutes could only be described as a bloody, messy, dirty brawl. It was clear that Cardin had little skill in terms of unarmed fighting, he made up for it in aura usage and size, not to mention his armor. Axle Wasn't concerned however. He'd much rather have his current advantage of offensive capability.

As they took turns taking jabs at each other, Axle noticed something. While he went through the trouble of blocking and evading, Cardin simply tanked the blows. The small collection of dents and scratches on his breastplate made enough sense, as he probably felt very little from being hit there. But he wouldn't even bother protecting his head. Axle threw an experimental hook, and sure enough, Cardin just grimaced as a bright light enveloped a portion of his face. Not a single blemish to be found. Axle recalled that practiced aura users could consciously manipulate their aura to bolster their defense in specific areas.

Axle thought about how he had hit Sky earlier, and while protected by aura, He still got busted up pretty good. The only difference between now and then was that he had taken Sky by surprise. With this information in mind, Axle changed up his strategy. Axle would wear himself down too quickly this way. Although he couldn't focus it, Axle knew he had an aura. So he decided to ignore defending himself and focus solely on attacking. This fight was a matter of who would run out of aura first. Focusing all his attacks on Cardin's head, Axle put as much power as he could into his arms.

Even with his aura focused, Cardin was starting to feel the hits being dealt to him. Reflexively, Cardin went on the defensive, which was a boon for Axle. With less attacks heading towards him, the time between Axle's strikes decreased as he fell into a rhythm. It was when Cardin's attention wavered for a moment, and one of Axle's bolts dug a gouge into his cheek, that Cardin bellowed in pain and tackled Axle. Cardin's strength showed as he picked Axle off the ground and ran him right into a tree. From there, they wrestled each other, both digging nails and biting as they struggled against each other.

As they fought, The rest of team CRDL recovered to find Velvet nervously standing watch over them. Russel made to stand and get some payback against the girl, but Velvet returned to the very stance she had hit him with earlier. Russel hesitated and looked to his teammates, who both were equally unsure of what to do themselves with their leader preoccupied as he was.

Soon the fight between the two boys came to an end as Axle managed to wrap an arm around Cardin's neck. Using leverage, Axle was able to keep Cardin in an awkward position to prevent him from escaping as he was slowly being choked out. When Cardin's face began to turn red, he tapped Axle's arm as a sign of yielding. Axle didn't let go quite yet. He wanted to get Cardin's face a little discolored in order to dissuade him from future incidents.

This wasn't in the cards however, as the sound of shifting metal and air combined with a panicked 'what are you doing?' from Russel fell on Axle's ears. Looking up, He saw the restless form of Sky wielding a very lethal halberd rifle combo, pointed right at Axle. His voice was shaky and uncertain. "Let him go. Now."

Axle noticed that Dove and Russel were just as scared as Velvet. Axle, for his part, dropped Cardin on the ground. The leader of CRDL was too focused on breathing again to care about anything happening around him. Axle knew why the boy was hesitant, He used that uncertainty to approach slowly. "You know that threatening another student with a weapon is a big no no. Especially if that student is unarmed."

"N-not when I'm defending myself." Sky lowered his stance, preparing to strike Axle if he got too close.

Yet Axle crept forward, his eyes locked not on Sky, but the head of the halberd. "I'd like to see you explain to Ozpin how you were defending yourself after your attempt at jumping me backfired."

"Whatever! Just, give up." Sky was getting more agitated with every moment.

"Just put the weapon down, and you all can walk away. If you don't, things won't end well for you." Axle reasoned. Hoping that he might lose his nerve.

"Not a chance! Sky, hit him!" Cardin shouted, evidently having recovered.

Sky shot his leader a fearful look. "But-"

Cardin cut him off, screaming hard enough to send spit flying. "DO IT! OR I'M BOOTING YOU OFF THE TEAM!"

Either too stupid or too scared to realize that Cardin didn't have that authority, Sky thrust his weapon towards Axle's chest. Which was what Axle was expecting him to do.

Axle reflexively turned his body while sidestepping. He grabbed the shaft of the weapon and Yanked it backwards as hard as he could, forcing Sky off balance and even losing grip of his left hand to try and steady himself. Axle latched onto Sky's right wrist and twisted it before pulling it to the side, forcing the weapon to drop. With Sky off balance and facing Axle's right, Axle buckled his knee with a light kick. Finally, Axle braced his left hand on Sky's elbow and snapped his arm back with a loud pop and a brief flash of aura.

The forest was filled with the agonizing cries of Sky Lark. Russel, Cardin, and even Velvet watched in shock and horror, whilst Dove lost the contents of his stomach at the display. The maneuver was executed so quickly that if one was to blink, it would mean to miss it entirely. As the tearful boy languished on the ground, Axle grabbed the appendage that was hanging loosely and set it painfully back in place, earning another animalistic sound from Sky. Unperturbed, Axle watched curiously, unbothered by the injury he inflicted. His attention was fixed on the glowing aura running like waves over the area. Sky was healing scarily fast, to Axle anyway. Sky even seemed to be feeling very little pain anymore. Having answered some personal questions, Axle capitalized on the shocked state of his attackers.

Axle marched towards Cardin, heart still full of rage, and grabbed him by his collar and slammed him against the tree. Axle glared furiously at Cardin as he held the stunned boy. With a snarl, Axle threatened him with the typical wasteland punishment for losing a fight. "You ever think of pulling something like this again, I'm going to kill you, and use your FUCKING skull as a hood ornament. You understand me?"

Cardin held his hands up in surrender, nodding his head in affirmation. The scene was quite striking to the four spectators. Not only was Cardin the larger of the two by quite a margin, Axle was in much worse shape over all. While Cardin was bruised and dirtied up a bit, Axle's face was swollen in places and covered in blood, his school uniform was torn to shreds and his long hair was a tangled mess, giving him a wild, crazed look.

Satisfied, Axle let go of Cardin (much to his bewilderment) and marched towards the rest of his gang, who grew more fearful with every step of his. Though his threat was meant for all of them, He got in Sky's face for going as far as he did. "And to make damn sure this doesn't happen again. If your jackass leader bothers me again, I'm kicking your asses too. We clear?"

They mumbled their answers, not daring to look Axle in the eye. Axle looked around the area, eyes eventually landing on his scattered tools. Nervously, Russel moved towards them, likely thinking that Axle wanted him to pick them up. Oh how wrong he was. "If you touch those, I'm shoving that toolbox up your ass. Now fuck off!"

In a panic, team CRDL hastily walked in the direction of Beacon, Russel picking Sky off the ground, Cardin lagging to shoot Axle a hateful glance.

As his adrenaline faded, Axle started to feel his own wounds. He leaned down and started to pick up his tools. He did find it somewhat difficult, as his vision was obscured by blood, sweat, and dirt. Wiping his eyes helped some, but only time would take care of the swelling. He heard footsteps stop beside him and could just make out the form of Velvet in his peripherals. "Here, let me help you…"

Once they finished picking up the tools in silence, and storing them back in Axle's now dented toolbox, they made their way to the garage. Not a word passed between them for the remainder of the journey. For Axle, it was because the pain dulled his mind. For Velvet, it was processing the whole encounter.

They entered the shop, and much to their relief, it was empty. Neither of them were in the mood to give explanations. Axle dropped his toolbox inside the door and plopped onto a barstool at the counter, after getting a glass of water. A split second later Velvet took the stool next to his, a first aid kit in hand. With practiced ease, she began to clean and disinfect the various cuts he had received during the scuffle.

Velvet tsked partway through her work and made a half joking, half concerned remark. "This seems to be turning into a pattern, and I don't think I like it."

"I've been hit harder before. This ain't nothin'." Axle replied, remembering a lot of the small scraps he had been in. Though, most of them he couldn't remember too clearly. He wasn't sure how he should feel about the thought.

Velvet sighed disapprovingly, but refrained from commenting. Quickly enough, Velvet put away the kit and walked around the counter to get herself a drink as well. "I won't even bother with bandages, your aura's just about patched you up. But you might want to change, and get cleaned up."

Axle grunted in a tone that she had since learned meant 'agreement', but he didn't get up right away. Velvet sensed that something was wrong. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah." Axle uttered, falling silent again while taking a long draught from his glass. He eventually turned towards her, deciding bluntness was the course of action he knew best. "Are you?"

Velvet was taken off guard by the question. Others' well-being is not usually something Axle kept on his mind. "Well, yeah. I'm not hurt in any way."

Axle shook his head. "Not that. You seized up. What happened?"

"Oh." Velvet said, her whole demeanor becoming downcast. "I, um… I…"

Velvet stammered on, not knowing how to put it into words. Axle did not want her to find a way to dodge the question. "When those punks showed their faces, you completely stalled. For a moment, I doubted whether you were going to be able to defend yourself. I thought it might've been that they were some dangerous fighters, but that wasn't the case when you sent Russel flying. They feared you more than they did me, but only after you put up your dukes."

Axle stood up, finished his drink, and walked over to his personal locker he requested to be installed. While he retrieved his personal attire, he pressured Velvet a little more. "You're afraid of them, but you're clearly a helluva better fighter than they are. So I want to know what's going on."

Velvet strained to keep a level voice but it still came out quiet. "Well, they kind of… pick on me. A lot."

"For being a Faunus?" Axle's straightforwardness startled her, but she nodded. Axle had his suspicions after the very pointed remarks Cardin made. "Why don't you fight back?"

Velvet was starting to get agitated, the current conversation resurfacing a lot of bad emotions. "Because if I do, other people will see it as justification for hating Faunus."

Axle stayed silent for a moment. He tried to wrap his head around the idea of just letting yourself be harassed for the sake of appeasing others who may or may not already think negatively for you. "So what do you think other people are thinking of you when they see you getting bullied?"

"I don't know! But at least it isn't 'oh look, that animal is attacking that guy'." Velvet shot at him, a painful look in her eye. Clear that Cardin's insults had hurt her more than she let on originally.

Axle didn't expect that response from her. He could tell she had definitely thought about retaliating, but it seemed that others' opinion of her was important to her. He decided to stray away from making her justify her actions and instead wanted to get a clearer understanding. In a softer voice, he asked a less criticizing question. "Does team CFVY know?"

Velvet blinked at the question, losing her fire. She nodded, thinking about the many arguments she had with her teammates last year. "When I told them, they wouldn't let me go anywhere unless one of them was with me, but then the rumors of me being weak started, or that I was dragging team CFVY down."

"So you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't." Axle was unsure of what to tell her. He knew what he would do, but it was clear that the opinion of others was more important to her than he had imagined. He tried a different angle with his advice. "I hate to break it to you, but you can't just sit and do nothing when someone is harassing you. There are people a lot worse than Cardin who will do a lot worse things."

"Don't you think I already know that!? Honestly, it's like you think I am entirely helpless. I handled myself just fine against those brutes just a second ago. The difference is that they had actually attacked us. The rest of the time they're just being bullies. I can't exactly beat them senseless over words." Her anger trailed off at the end, leaving only bitterness. It wasn't like she accepted her situation for what it was without complaint.

"But words are enough of a reason to knock teeth out. A few targeted rumors can lead to a lot of problems." Axle countered.

Velvet shook her head. "It doesn't work that way, Axle. Fighting over pretty much anything is frowned upon. The only reason that we might escape trouble for this fight is because we were defending ourselves."

Axle rolled his eyes. "That's stupid, Cardin has been asking to be taught a lesson, and some people only learn by getting their ass kicked. I bet those punks will leave both of us alone now. And if they don't, I'll just break some arms again."

Velvet winced at the thought, frantically waving her arms. "Oh please no! That's just barbaric. Please don't ever do that again."

Axle shrugged. "It seemed to stop Sky."

"Yes, well it was pretty animalistic of you and I don't think that even that situation called for it." Velvet tried to reason.

"Maybe, but they'll find out that being called an animal will have no effect on me." Axle's remark was met with a horrified expression from Velvet. It took Axle too long to realize how his words might be interpreted. "Wait, no. That's not what-"

"You ass." Velvet let out, but her face slowly shifted from that of shock, to mirth. She began to laugh as she spoke. "I'm beginning to think that you're saying things like that on purpose."

Axle fell silent, slightly relieved that things didn't become much worse. Velvet laughed to herself a moment more before pushing Axle towards the bathroom door. "Go on and fix yourself, preferably before you become more of a pain."

Axle shut the door behind him, finally glad for some time to himself. It seemed that conversing was still as challenging as ever. He laid his change of clothes on the counter and began to undress. He soon activated the shower which had been added very recently to the garage facilities. At first he complained about not having the space anymore, but his opinion was vetoed after his friends pointed out that he basically lived here and he wouldn't go out of his way to trek to CFVY's room to shower. However, Now he considered the device a boon.

Friends. At least, I think that's what I can call them. Friends were never a common occurrence before, but everyone here just seems chummy.

In four minutes, he had adequately washed himself and got his hair under control, as Coco would put it. Once dried off, he made to put on his fresh clothes, but sighed as he found that Coco had snuck another turtleneck into his wardrobe. He put his pants on and folded the unworn garment back up and exited the bathroom. He was then met with a striking scene.

Velvet was sitting at the bar, back towards him, humming along to 'Into the Mystic' by Van Morrison as it softly played on the radio. Her sharp hearing had caught the sound of the bathroom door closing. It seemed as though that was what she was waiting for, as she spoke not too long after. "Hey Axle. I… wanted to say thank you. For all the trouble you went through back there. I just-"

She had spun around to face him, but lost all momentum as she saw Axle as he was. Thinking she paused out of nervousness, Axle waved a hand and took the gratitude in stride. "No need. They would've been there to jump me whether you were with me or not. In fact, I might've been worse off if you weren't there."

Axle walked over and tossed his battered uniform as well as the turtleneck into the bottom of his locker and had to settle for another of Coco's Fashion decisions. A tank top that was supposed to be 'form-fitting'. Axle just called it being too small. He also snagged his other weapons that he would never again leave. He walked over and set the bundle on the counter and proceeded to strap the holsters for everything where they belonged. He noticed that Velvet was looking away from him, a strange blush in her face. "Something wrong?"

Velvet still refused to look at him directly. "Um, Axle? Why don't you have a shirt on?"

Axle figured Velvet's strange behavior was because she already knew that Coco had been trying to get him to give in to her sense of fashion, and she was trying not to laugh. Axle put an emphasis on his displeasure. "Well, your leader decided to take all of my shirts and swap them with her idea of clothing. I mean look at this thing, who's it for, a kid?"

Axle had sat down and displayed the article for her to see, but as Velvet looked at it, she could also see Axle's well formed upper body. "I see. You know that it is made to stretch, right?"

Axle scrunched up his brow, disbelieving that it could expand to such proportions. He decided to try it, much to Velvet's relief, as that's what she was hoping he would've done a while ago. He pulled it over his head and straightened it out. "You call this stretching. It feels like it's trying to suffocate me."

Velvet's blush increased tenfold. She had to admit, Coco knew how to pick clothes for people. The black tank top was crafted with such fine fabric as to practically accentuate the muscle definition of whoever wore it. The bottom hem was cut a little higher than usual, allowing the very bottom of Axle's abs to be left uncovered. Every groove could be seen. Velvet could hardly believe that Axle didn't understand the purpose of the piece.

Axle pulled the garment off again and raised it up to throw it in the trash. Velvet shot up partially out of her seat, shouting. "No, don't!"

Bewildered, Axle lowered his arm and questioned her. "Why not? It's way too small"

"No it's not! It's supposed to fit that way. Besides, it's still a gift from Coco." Velvet was satisfied with her explanation.

Axle just shook his head, more confused than ever. "If you say so."

Velvet fell back into her seat. Feeling relieved…

What?

Of all the things to feel, Velvet wasn't expecting relief. For what? Not losing the shirt? She thought to herself that it made sense, it was a high quality shirt, and Coco would be quite angry if Axle just tossed it. It would be a waste. Perhaps she could get him to wear it instead. Afterall, he did look quite-

NO! Who am I to decide what he should or shouldn't wear? Why do I care so much?

These thoughts plagued her mind, and Axle's current shirtless body didn't help. She decided that he should at least wear it now to cover up his scars. Actually, now that she thought about it, Axle never talked about his scars. Some of them looked pretty nasty. Like the long one running from his right pectoral to just above his belly button. "Hey Axle? How did you get that scar?"

Axle's eyes snapped up from the shirt in his hand, his face full of surprise from the sudden question. Velvet was about to take it back when Axle began to answer. "Uh, which one?"

"This one." Velvet answered, pointing at the scar that had caught her eye.

Axle, upon seeing it, understood why it could be alarming. "Ah, probably five or six months ago, I raided a fuel depot. One of the goons guarding it caught me with a knife. Don't look too alarmed, it was a very shallow cut, but I didn't have the proper gear to treat it. That's just how it healed."

Velvet took his word for it, but she felt there was more to the story. She then focused on another one that was faint, but covered a large area. "And this one?"

"That's from a burn I got when I was first learning to wrench on cars. Got a little too friendly with a hot exhaust header and touched it for a split second, it stung for a long time, even after It was taken care of." Axle explained, resting a hand on it subconsciously.

Velvet scanned the mish mash of deformations, her eyes falling on a series of ridges that started on his chest and went past his shoulder and part way down his upper left arm. She ran her fingers over it, feeling where the flesh had raised and created a strange texture.

Axle didn't even need her to ask the question. "That was a bad day. I ran into some road raiders, the majority of em' were pushovers, but the one had made whips out of barbed wire strung through chains. I didn't have my jacket on and he wrapped one of them around my arm and played tug o' war. Tore me up pretty bad as you can see."

Velvet could feel how tough the scars were, signifying that it took a long time to heal. She leaned closer, studying them sympathetically. "Does it hurt?"

"It did… But not anymore." Axle responded quietly, that fuzzy feeling appearing once again as he realized how close she was.

"Uhh, Is this a bad time?"

Both of their heads snapped to Mr. Skye standing in the doorway. Velvet took a moment to process how they might look with her hand on his chest and Axle's music on. She shot away from Axle fast enough to nearly trip over her seat as she stood, she turned to the elder mechanic, face as red as an apple as she rapidly tried to defend herself. "Mr. Skye, this isn't what you think! We were just- I was just, um, treating Axles' wounds."

Skye heard her explanation and scanned Axle's appearance. "I won't ask how he got busted up, but I'm pretty sure the damage is on his face, not his body."

Velvet's expression seemed to crack Skye up, he grabbed the door handle and made to step outside, but not before giving the reason for his visit. "Well, I just wanted to stop in and tell you that you got a customer, but I'll wait for you to get a shirt on, Axle. Oh, and Velvet, You best lock the door from now on. You don't need a customer, or worse, a teacher to walk in on this."

With that, he shut the door. Velvet was absolutely mortified. She dared not think about what Mr. Skye thought of her now. she snapped towards Axle, an accusatory finger pointed at him while he dug through his locker for a shirt he would be comfortable wearing. "This is your fault."

Axle gave up, as Coco had pillaged ALL of his own shirts. He begrudgingly put the tank top back on, as it was the closest thing to his typical wear. He began walking towards the door, swinging his jacket on while giving his confused look to the girl. "Whatever that exchange was between you two, don't bother blaming it on me, I have no clue what either of you were going on about."

Velvet closed her eyes in frustration, and partially to ignore that he put the shirt back on. Axle was clueless about most things, she had to remember. She then thought about how little he knew on the topic, if he couldn't put together what Mr. Skye had insinuated. Pushing all of those thoughts out of her mind, she waved Axle towards the door. "Never mind. You just go out there and do business."

Axle compiled without a word and they both stepped out to find Mr. Skye standing next to a beautiful convertible and talking to the driver. The driver was a gentleman in his thirties wearing a brown pinstripe suit and a fedora. He was meticulously clean shaven and his green hair was neatly trimmed short. He had the look of a businessman, a wealthy one at that. Beside him sat a pretty woman, presumably his wife, with dark red, shoulder length hair in a pink sundress with cherries printed on it. In between them sat a girl of about four or so years of age who wore a red dress, her hair a striking combination of half being green like her father's and the other half red like her mother's and falling in ringlets down her back.

Axle and Velvet approached the group. As they got close, the man stepped out of his car, surprising them with his incredible height of around six foot eight while still being thin. He held out a hand and introduced himself and his family with a smile on his face and clear voice, though his eyes lingered on Axle's bruises. "How do you do? I'm Spruce Wood. I'm an old friend of Bleau. This is my wife Cherry and our daughter Holly."

"Axle." Was Axle's short reply, taking the man's hand.

Spruce placed his hand towards Velvet, who hastily returned the gesture, not expecting it. "I'm Velvet, it's very nice to meet you."

"Well I'm very pleased to meet you both. Bleau has told me a bit about you Axle, specifically your skillset." Spruce had taken off his hat by this time and stepped aside to wave a hand towards his car. "You see, I've been having some car trouble, and Bleau pointed me in your direction."

It was now that Axle took in the vehicle, his eyes alight with appreciation. It sat at what Axle could best tell was 19 feet in length and colored a beautiful flake baby blue. The lack of a top revealed the cream leather interior. Large chrome rims and bumpers as well as numerous accents adorned the convertible. It was very clearly an older model and would've fit right in with a line of sixties Cadillacs or Lincolns. Axle was walking a circle around the car, taking in the whitewalls and the ornate spare tire case on the tail.

A chuckle from Spruce drew Axle's eyes away from the piece of art on wheels. The man put his hands in his pockets and had an amused smile upon his face. "I appreciate the compliment, but your reaction tells me you're not used to working with cars like this."

"To be perfectly honest, I ain't. It looks perfect, what could possibly be wrong with it?" Axle asked.

The older man scoffed. "Come on Axle, You're a mechanic. You should be able to guess that the problem's internal. It's got a severe lack of power. The thing barely hit forty coming up the mountain, not to mention the mileage tanked. Thing is, it sounds like it always has, and I already had all the filters and pumps replaced."

Axle listened to the symptoms and knew this wasn't gonna be a simple fix. "Well then, Let's pull her in bay 2 and bust some knuckles."

Spruce was starting to like Axle's attitude. He turned to his family. "Alright crew, it's time to hop on out."

Axle felt a tapping on his shoulder, finding it to be Velvet grabbing his attention. "I'll show everyone in the lobby. Good luck."

Velvet hurried over and started to converse with Cherry. On her departure, Bleau approached and challenged Axle. "Well, think you can figure this one out? I'm stumped."

"Without a doubt. Your specialty is anything that flies. Best leave everything else to me." Axle boasted before going back to open the second garage.

Spruce whistled and clapped Bleau on the shoulder. "Well the kid's confident, I'll give you that. You gonna play supervisor for him?"

Bleau considered the idea, but declined with a shake of his head. "I wanna see if he can manage by himself. He may not be used to dust engines, but he is a gearhead through and through."

Once the large door finished retracting, Axle stepped out of the shade and waved to Spruce. With a single maneuver, the businessman backed the town car in.

Axle, running the symptoms through his head, opened the door and reached down by the pedals to pop the hood. Underneath lay the heart of this land yacht. Similar to what was in the Earl, except larger. A lot larger. It was the familiar round shape of the combustion chamber of a dust-jet engine, except nearly three times as big as the current models. At least all the ones he's researched so far.

He scanned the engine bay for any obvious problems, but nothing stood out. To Axle, that didn't bode well, mainly because the compartment was meticulously cleaned, so any cracks or wear should be plain to see. "Have you taken it anywhere else?"

"Yeah, to the dealership, but after the third time they still can't figure it out, and I'm sick of paying four grand just to have it looked at."

"Four grand!? To look at it?" Axle exclaimed.

His words made Spruce crack up. "Because it's old, rare, and expensive. It was my Grandfather's, he bought it fifty some years ago when these Schnee Cruise liners were new. Top of the line and saw a limited run. They charge that 'cuz no other shop has the spine to even get near the thing. They screw it up and I get one fat insurance check."

"Cowards." Axle said plainly.

This time, Spruce let out a hearty laugh. "Man, you and Bleau are cut from the same dirty, oily shop rag. I swear he's said that before, except it was about some Atlesian bigshot's private airship."

Axle, deftly maneuvering around the shop to grab a few basic tools and prep a cart, took the bait. "Are you and Mr. Skye close?"

"Friends since we could first stand. Grew up in the same town, went to the same school, and fought in the same war."

Axle stopped dead in his tracks, looking at Spruce with a surprised expression. "I didn't know he was a vet."

"Oh yeah. served as the engineer on our gunship crew. Makes sense he wouldn't tell you though." Spruce said with a sigh.

Axle nodded his head in understanding, returning to the task at hand. "I take it there's some bad memories there?"

Spruce waved a hand. "Nah, he just won't ever tell ya anything unless you explicitly ask him about it. No, luckily for us, we made for one unstoppable crew, no living thing could beat us, be it Grimm, Faunus guerrillas, or resistance fighters. If you want proof, the flagship of the Beacon airfleet is ol' Shieldmaiden, our assault class we served in."

Axle listened intently as the minutes dragged by, drinking up all the stories Spruce had to tell him. Methodically, disassembling the powerplant, which didn't take long at all due to the simplicity of it. However, even after taking it apart, the five-decade old motor was in immaculate condition. All the seals were good and there were no stiff or broken parts. In desperation Axle also dismantled the transmission, but it was equally bulletproof. He opted to research the engine. Though documentation was limited, he did find it was essentially a small version of the high torque, industrial engines of the period. Though that didn't help him diagnose his problem.

As a last resort and nearly two hours into the repair, Axle was in the midst of observing the motor while Spruce revved it, just to try and see if it was some sort of gremlin sabotaging it. His frustration was beginning to show in the return of his earlier headache. While the engine was held in the middle of its rev range, Axle's attention was drawn to the sound of a high pitched noise that wasn't there before.

He couldn't dwell on it further as he saw in his peripherals the opening of the side door and the familiar silhouette of Velvet, who was holding her ears to try and muffle the noise. She waved an arm to get the pair's attention and Spruce let off the throttle. Her voice sounded strangely quiet after all the racket. "Mrs. Wood wanted me to tell you to stop wasting all the dust."

They both unknowingly gave her the same incredulous stare, making her laugh. "I'm kidding. I brought you two some sodas. I just wanted to see how you were coming along, it's been nearly three hours. Team RWBY are back from classes and Ruby is trying to teach Holly about weapons."

Axle tossed his wrench in the cart beside him, his voice reflecting his frustration. "I've pulled everything apart and put it back together, but the damn thing seems perfect. All except for the weird revving."

Velvet stepped across the floor, offering a soda to Spruce, who politely declined, before coming to stand beside Axle and observe the idling engine. Spruce leaned out and tried to reassure Axle. "In all fairness kid, not even the guys at the dealer have done as much as you have. It may just be that it's run its course."

"Not a chance, there's still plenty runnin' left, we just gotta find what's holding it back." Axle said. He leaned down to better inspect the block, searching for cracks and warps he had already confirmed to not exist. Starting to doubt himself, Axle decided to see if a fresh mind could find what he was missing. "Velvet. What do you make of it? What would you check first?"

The question caught her unawares. She stared blankly at him before thinking back to the handful of meetings of the club. "Uhhh… Is it the fuel pump? If the motor is fine."

Axle shook his head. "Pumps have been replaced already."

"What about the injector?" She followed up.

"Also fine, as well as the fuel line, carb, and air intake." Axle responded.

Velvet gave up, handing Axle his drink while teasing him. "Then I got no clue. Aren't you supposed to be the expert here? Why are you trying to pass off your work to a novice?"

Axle grunted at her in his usual fashion, not even taking his eyes off of the vehicle. Velvet noticed that he was tapping the ends of the soda can he was holding against his leg in a twisting motion. Quite rapidly as a matter of fact. It dawned on her that she had a golden opportunity to prank him.

"Y'know, it may just be that your brain is fried, it might do you good to take a quick ten minute break." She walked over and sat on one of the wheeled stools that was lined up against the wall, cracking open the soda she still had to make the offer more enticing.

Axle shot her a quick glance. "I don't think Spruce wants to be kept waiting any longer."

Velvet was doing flips in her mind to try and convince him without becoming suspicious, but by some small miracle, Spruce backed her up. "The lady's right Axle. If you take a breather, you may just as well find out what's wrong when you're not pushing yourself. I don't care if you take a quick break, just as long as I'm not paying for the time."

Axle considered their words before relenting with an annoyed sigh. He walked over and slumped down in a stool beside Velvet. "Just doesn't make any sense."

"Well, don't worry about it right now. Just take a minute to yourself and enjoy your soda. I doubt you've had anything to drink the whole time you've been out here." Velvet consoled, keeping an eye on the primed can in his hand.

Taking her suggestion, Axle was about to pop the tab, but hesitated. He turned to her, showing her the top of the can. "Can you open it? My hands are covered in grease."

Velvet fought to get her heart rate under control, having thought that Axle figured her out. She tried to come up with an excuse to keep her away from the explosive. "Well I don't want to get my hands greasy, you've already covered it in filth."

"You do realize I'm holding the can for you? Just pop it open." Axle said incredulously.

Velvet was put on the spot, she had one more excuse she could try. "How do you open them when you're here by yourself?"

"I don't drink these when I'm by myself, I drink water." was his immediate response. He could now sense that something was off.

Velvet was beginning to panic. She knew if she refused now, Axle would not fall victim to her scheme. She feigned being annoyed like Coco usually did when something was asked of her, which came a little too naturally for her liking, and reached over to open the can. At the last second, she turned away from the can and moved as far from it as she could while still being able to crack it.

Seeing Velvet brace herself was all Axle needed to know he had been plotted against. Before he could escape, however, The loud snap of the tab being cracked followed by hissing reached his ears and he was struck in the face by a torrent of very fragrant, very bubbly, liquid. He coughed and sputtered as he had accidentally inhaled some of the substance. The wave of sweet drink was only outdone by the wave of expletives being strung out of his mouth. He dropped the can without thinking, hearing a yelp beside him as the culprit became victim of her own trap.

As the stream died down, and he had wiped his face enough to see again, Axle was now aware of the cackling laughter coming from the bunny eared hooligan. Axle observed the mess that was the floor and his stools, as well as his jacket. He shot an angry glare at Velvet, bearing a diagonal dark streak across her stomach from where she got sprayed, but the girl was too busy rolling on the floor laughing to notice.

Axle picked up the mostly empty can and tossed it at the girl, earning a 'Hey!' along with her attention. He angrily demanded an explanation. "What the hell did you do to it!?"

Velvet propped herself up on her elbows, a few stray giggles escaping her as she caught her breath. "I did nothing to it. You were the one who shook it up."

Axle was perplexed by the answer. His anger was dulled by his own curiosity. "Shaking it up makes it explode?"

Velvet now came to the understanding that Axle hadn't tried soda before. She forced her giggles down to give Axle a rundown on soda. "Well not exactly. It's a carbonated drink. They pump it full of CO2 to give it a little pizazz, but if you shake it up the CO2 gets mixed with air and that increases the pressure inside the can. That high pressure caused it to spray everywhere when I popped the tab."

"Then why would they make the drink?" Axle asked heatedly.

Velvet picked her own can that she hadn't drank from yet and handed it to Axle. "Try it and find out."

Axle shook his head, peeved by her enjoyment of the situation. He did, however, do as she said and brought the can to his lips. Once the liquid hit his tongue he was struck by the sweetness of it, as well as an alien sizzling feeling on the inside of his mouth. When he swallowed the mouthful, he grimaced as the substance went down his throat like acid. He looked at the can, which claimed the flavor to be grape, but he knew that this beverage held no real resemblance to fruit.

"Judging by your reaction, I take it you're not a fan?" Spruce asked with a chuckle.

Axle couldn't get the aftertaste out of his mouth. "This is what I imagine drinking carb cleaner is like."

"Come on, it's not that bad. You just gotta get used to the carbonation." Velvet said whilst using rags to try and soak up the soda off her clothes.

Axle grunted and studied the object in his hand, Axle committed the prank to memory to ensure he would never fall for it again. Yet, for some strange reason, his mind was stuck on the initial eruption of the can, Velvet's explanation of the phenomenon seeming to strike a chord.

The other two occupants of the room watched curiously as Axle froze, all his prior irritation abandoned as he practically ran to the computer, startling both her and Spruce. In a zealous frenzy, he typed his question into the search bar. Spruce came up beside him to investigate Axle's sudden change.

"What's got you all fired up kid?" Spruce inquired, He scanned over the pages on the screen. "Changes to fuel dust in the last fifty years?"

Axle's eyes danced over the text, only answering the man's question when he found the information he was looking for. "Ha! There you are. Spruce, the problem isn't that the engines busted. Here, hop in and I'll prove I'm right."

Axle rushed around to watch the idling engine. Spruce and Penny shared a questioning look, the former shrugging before climbing into the driver's seat. Axle called instructions to him. "Alright Spruce, I'm gonna need you to floor it and hold it there for a few seconds."

Spruce's voice turned to one of worry, losing some confidence in the young mechanic. "Are you sure? I thought that wasn't good for the car?"

"Engine's already warm and it's a heavy-duty block, it can handle it. I'm more worried about the damage to your wallet." Axle quipped back.

Spruce couldn't help but crack a smile. "Well let's try and keep that to a minimum if we can."

Spruce slowly pressed the pedal down until the throttle was wide open. Axle watched the engine with a scrutinizing eye, listening all the while for anything that may be undetectable to the naked eye. When the engine neared its peak speed, a faint pop sounded, followed by a persistent hiss and the engine speed dropping notably before leveling out at the mid to high range.

Axle, just to confirm his theory, held his hand above a particular spot on the block, where he felt a torrent of hot air. Cursing, he snatched his arm back, his aura being the only thing that saved his hand from being scorched. Spruce, upon hearing his distress, let off the throttle and shot out of the car. "You alright kid!?"

Axle waved him away, a triumphant gleam in his eye. "I'm fine. More than fine. I just figured it out."

Spruce blinked in surprise, casting a glance at the engine to see if he could work out what the boy saw, but he gave up. "What is it?"

Axle bore a half grin on his face, full of himself after proving himself right. "It's the fuel. This big block was built when Dust was mixed with other things to stretch out supply. When high-pressure dust engines became the standard about twenty years ago, pure unfiltered dust was preferred since it had better combustion characteristics and would provide more range than any alternative, though it's pricier."

"The problem with your car is that the pump is injecting the amount of fuel it would for the less potent stuff, and considering it's not a high pressure block, The burning fuel blows by the seals. As you're revving the pressure builds and builds until a vent is forced open, which doesn't close again until you hit idle. It's basically sending all your power out the top rather than to the transmission." Axle finished by tapping the crook in the seal where he found the vent.

Spruce rubbed his chin, finding the sense in Axle's explanation. "Huh, Who woulda thought. But wait, If that's the case then why did the problem show up only recently?"

"Do you drive it easy?" Axle inquired.

Spruce nodded. "Yeah, I want to keep it in good shape, in case one of my kids wants it. Plus, Dust ain't cheap."

Axle snapped his fingers, cracking out a lightning fast explanation. "Since you've been driving easy, the pressure wasn't enough until you fed it a lot of gas. What were you doing when it first happened?"

Spruce thought a moment before throwing his hands in the air at the revelation. "I was getting on the highway! And of course when I noticed the problem-"

"- you started to be harder on the gas pedal because you needed more power. But that only made the problem worse." Axle concluded.

Spruce shook his head and clicked his tongue. "It all makes sense now. But now what are we gonna do about it? This doesn't seem like a usual 'find what's broken and fix it' situation."

Those were Axle's exact concerns. He tapped his hand on the fender while he thought about what the car needed. "The block is a scaled down version of an industrial engine, so it's plenty strong enough. The seal is the area of failure, but they don't make replacement parts anymore, much less updated ones. The only thing I can think of is getting a custom seal. One that has higher operational temp and is stiffer as well. But I haven't a clue who would be in that business."

"Nor how much it would cost." Spruce dreaded the thought of how much overtime he needed to pull to replenish his account.

Their thoughts were interrupted by the interjection of Velvet's own suggestion. "Umm, I believe I know someone who can help."

The Men looked at her expectantly. "Who?"

"Thanks Axle, You're a lifesaver. How much do I owe you?" Spruce said joyfully while shaking Axle's and Penny's hand.

The orange haired girl had rushed to complete her classwork early and asked permission to leave class as soon as she received the message from her partner. In no time, she scanned the old seal and used the fabricator to make a new, stronger one.

Axle, who had just finished buttoning up the car, now stood beside it, the Wood family (as he came to learn) sitting inside of it. "Well, I won't charge you the time to diagnose it since it was such a unique problem, but between the materials spent and the effort, plus the assistance of my lead fabricator-" Penny gave a wave when she noticed them cast her a look. "-I'd say it will come around to… "

He looked at Bleau for assistance. The man huffed and shook his head. "You really need to set some prices, Axle. 1,500 is a good number."

Axle nodded his head in agreement, but internally he was annoyed at the fact that he couldn't judge whether it was a fair price or not.

"Really? Not bad, I'll definitely be coming back. Here you go kid." Reached out and handed him a stack of the different Lien cards. Not knowing the denominations off the top of his head, he had trouble trying to count it. Spruce didn't give him time to think though "Hey Axle, One last thing I wanna tell ya."

"Yes?" He responded.

Spruce pulled a card out of his breast pocket and handed it to the boy. "You got talent kid, and you have a pretty good team too. Blue told me about your skillset and I think we can help each other out. If you're interested, come see me at my office."

Axle scanned the business card, the logo at the top reading 'Vale Highlands Raceway. It also listed Spruces name and scroll number as well as his title of Event Organizer & Recruiter. Axle tucked the card in his pocket. "What's this all for?"

Spruce smiled as if he told a good joke. "I want you to see you on the track, Axle. You'd be promoting your business, and I'll be getting more publicity and ticket sales."

"You understand that I'm a student, right?" Axle argued.

Spruce shrugged. "Most races are on the weekends. You also get holiday breaks. Whatever the case, give it some thought, will ya?"

With a wave, the Wood family pulled away and headed towards the city. When they were out of sight, Axle turned to penny. "Well, not a bad first job I'd say."

"I think so as well." she replied happily. She pointed to his chest, or rather, the pocket with the business card. "Are you going to take the offer?"

Axle rolled the thought around his head. He was surprised to find how much he had to consider. "I'm not sure. Between classes and working, it doesn't seem like there'd be time for it."

Velvet nodded sympathetically. Her general workload dropped significantly when she became a second year student, but she still remembered the grueling experience that Axle had yet to fully undertake. "Right. Not to mention your grades are already unsteady."

Axle hummed, only partially hearing the words. "I do like racing though. Maybe I'll give it a try."

Velvet shook her head, not even bothering to argue since she already saw first hand how much he liked to drive fast.

Hi Readers, I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. I changed the format of my story slightly. I decided to forgo the spaces between paragraphs. I had forty one pages worth of empty space and I hope it leads to less scrolling on your part. If this leads to issues, please say so, and i'll adjust accordingly.

I am happy to announce that I am launching a new fic. For any Transformers fans, specifically of the prime series, I am starting a new fic that is NON-CROSSOVER. I won't say to much about it now, except that it takes place after Cybertron is restored, and focuses solely on Cybertron content. However, it is a Jack and Arcee bond continuation. The first chapter drops the same night I am posting this, so stay tuned if you're curious.

Final note. As I have gotten more comfortable with writing, I have decided to start another personal project. I'm writing my own book series. From scratch, all original content. I will not be posting it on fanfic, period, end of story. But once the first book is done I intend to publish it, and I will announce it's release here. Thank you for your patience.