A/N: If you're complaining about a possible pairing that might / might not happen in the story, I got an idea. (READ THE STORY) Some of you are killing me I swear. If you don't want to waste your time based on a simple pairing, why bother reading any story that's in progress if you don't know how it ends. And for the guest, nothing I do is unnecessary. I wouldn't just throw Pyrrha in there for unnecessary drama, nor will I just kill her off to be rid of her either. I would argue that Jaune did show interest in her but by then it was too late. As evidenced by how broken he was in volume 4 when team RNJR traveled. And like come on now, a harem would require 3 or more I'm pretty sure right? Isn't that how it goes. Anyway I'm glad some of you are enjoying the story anyway. Regardless, I'm not going to come out and say every resolution of every problem that arises in the story that's just dumb. You can make educated guesses by what's been written already, either in the story through character interactions, descriptions, A/Ns, the tags, etc, or just read the story and figure out how it happens. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway this chapter came together way too quickly as I sat down and it just wrote itself almost so, enjoy two updates within the span of what like a week.

CH 15

It was sunny out and light filtered through the bedroom window as Councilman Grayson got out of bed after going to bed early last night.

He walked into his kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee before turning and switching on the TV to watch the morning news, and on said news he saw Lisa Lavender with a big chyron that read "Torchwick robbery thwarted."

"Well that's good news, I'm glad they finally caught him." Grayson said as he brought the mug up to his mouth.

"Unfortunately, even with the heroic efforts of Beacon student Jaune Arc who happened to be dining at the restaurant Roman chose to rob, Roman was able to escape before police could apprehend him." Lisa said.

"Aw dammit. I knew it was too good to be true. Wait, did she Arc? Oh for the love of. Please don't tell me." Councilman Grayson moaned as he reached over to his scroll to find several email notifications.

"Oh man, that's not good." He groaned as he clicked on his email. *EMERGENCY MEETING. GET TO THE TOWN HALL ASAP* Read the subject line of several of them.

"Well, I guess I better go get ready for this shit show." He said with a sigh as he looked at his mug of coffee before grabbing the largest cup he had in the kitchen and pouring it full of coffee. "I'm gonna need this." He said bleakly as he grabbed the mug and went to get ready for the meeting and all the insanity that would ensue.

Meanwhile a certain blond knight had finished getting ready for the morning and said goodbye to his team as he made his way to Headmaster Ozpin's office.

Jaune pushed the button and waited before the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Stepping inside he pushed the button for the headmaster's office and patiently waited as the elevator began its ascent up the tower.

After a little bit the elevator doors opened and Jaune saw Headmaster Ozpin sitting at his desk. "Ah Mr. Arc, it's good to see you. Come, come, I have something to discuss with you." Ozpin said as he motioned the blond knight to walk over towards him.

With a nod Jaune did just that and walked over to the desk and sat down in one of the chairs. He looked up to see Ozpin looking at him, almost as if attempting to figure out something, before the man leaned back into his seat with a sigh.

"Uh, Headmaster?" Jaune asked, trying to start some conversation to clear the air.

"Apologies Mr. Arc it seems I lost myself in my own thoughts there for a second. Tell me, have you ever played chess before?" Ozpin asked as he pulled out a chess board and sat on his desk in front of him and Jaune.

"A few times. There was a librarian back home that played and I learned from him when I would sneak off to the library during school." Jaune said with a smile, as he recalled the memories.

"Well then let's play a match then while we talk about why I called you here." Ozpin said as he began setting up the chess pieces.

After each person played a few moves, Ozpin moved one of the pawn pieces and asked Jaune, "What is your favorite fairy tale?"

"My favorite fairy tale?" Jaune asked as he moved one of his knight pieces. Getting a nod from Ozpin he thunk while Ozpin moved another of the pawn pieces before he moved one of his own and answered.

"Well I'd have to say any of them really. All the fairy tales of the hero helping save people just like my forefathers did before me. Those are my favorites and that's someone I hope to become." Jaune said with confidence.

"So is that why you faked your transcripts to get accepted here?" Ozpin casually asked as he moved his rook in striking distance of Jaune's queen.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about professor." Jaune said, trying to deny any knowledge of that as he accidentally moved a pawn into being captured.

"Oh please Mr. Arc I'm not mad, I am surprised though you managed to make it past Glynda with those transcripts. She's usually pretty good at catching those. Check by the way." Ozpin said as he moved his own queen into check against Jaune's king.

"You're not upset? I'm not being expelled?" Jaune asked as he haphazardly moved his king out of check.

"Far from it actually, I'm making your transcripts official. I'm also ending this game, checkmate." Ozpin said as he moved his knight forcing a checkmate.

"Aw man." Jaune said as he knocked his king over. "I appreciate the transcript thing though but I have to ask what's the catch? There's always something like that with this stuff."

"I'm glad you asked." Ozpin said as the elevator pinged and Ironwood stepped out of the elevator.

"Ah James, right on time as usual." Ozpin said as he noticed General Ironwood before facing Jaune again. "The catch Mr. Arc is I'd like you to try using your semblance on a friend of mine. She got extremely hurt on her recent mission and is in critical condition." Ozpin said as he gave Ironwood a nod as the General pulled a picture out of his coat.

"This is our friend, she is a huntress we had recently dispatched on a mission like Ozpin said, and we would appreciate it if you could use your semblance on her." Ironwood said as he showed the picture to Jaune who gasped in shock at the extent of the injuries to the girl.

"I can't say for sure my semblance will be able to heal her though." Jaune said as he looked down, before he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Ozpin staring at him.

"All we ask is that you try Mr. Arc because as she is now she will not survive." Ozpin said seriously.

"As long as you know this isn't 100%." Jaune said as he stood up and looked at both of them. "So when do we get started?" Jaune asked as both men smiled and began walking to the elevator while gesturing to him to follow.

As Terra was getting ready for work that morning, her scroll beeped with a message from Klein. After picking it up and unlocking it she saw the message said there was a private bullhead being sent to the Argus landing dock to pick her up and she is more than welcome to bring her family along as they will be given a hotel room for they can use for tonight and tomorrow.

Seeing this Terra almost dropped her scroll before rushing towards Saphron who was in the other room feeding their son Adrian.

"Saph, cancel your plans for today!" Terra said excitedly as she came into the room.

"What?" The blonde woman responded as she looked at her wife confused.

"We're going to Vale!" Terra excitedly told her.

"Did you win a trip or something?" Saphron said as she tilted her head confused by her wife's actions as Adrian mimicked Saphron and tilted his head as well.

"No dear," she said as she approached Saphron and Adrian before ruffling Adrian's hair and then turning to her wife. "The SDC is flying us out to Vale for my interview as that is where Mrs. Schnee and the hiring manager apparently are right now." Terra said with a big smile.

"Isn't that inefficient? Like shouldn't they just interview you via scroll?"

"I think I'm the top candidate so they want to invest and show that they value me?" Terra answered/asked herself before continuing. "Plus they did say they'd cover the move if all goes well so they might want us to see some of the available property so we convince ourselves more that we want to move there."

"It would be nice to go and see Vale. Hey, do you think we could see Jaune while we're there?" Saphron asked.

"Oh I'm sure we could squeeze it in dear. They're even offering to pay for a hotel for tonight and tomorrow. Let me see how far the hotel is from Beacon." Terra said before pulling out her scroll and going to input directions.

"I wonder how he's doing. I hope he's alright." Saphron said idly as she talked to herself as Terra gasped in shock.

"Honey? What's wrong?" Saphron asked as she looked at her wife in concern.

"It looks like Jaune is doing just fine." Terra said as she regained her composure and turned the scroll screen around to face Saphron.

Letting out a gasp of her own Saphron looked at the picture of her baby brother locked in battle with renowned thief Roman Torchwick who apparently had tried to rob a restaurant her brother was dining at.

The article was calling him a hero who saved the possessions of several diners from being robbed.

"I had no idea he had gotten good enough to hold off Roman Torchwick. I mean that's a thief with huntsman training." Saphron said before she sat Adrian down and popped up out of the chair.

"Alright, time to pack. I'm gonna give him hell for fighting someone like that. As a big sister should." Saphron said with a smirk as she looked at Terra.

"Why do I put up with her Adrian?" Terra said playfully as she picked up the toddler.

"Because you love me." Saphron said as she booped Terra on the nose.

"Yes, yes I do." Terra said with a laugh. "Now go quickly pack and then afterwards I'll pack and then we can head to landing docks to head towards Vale.

"Oh I can't wait." Saphron said as she headed towards their room to pack.

Vale Town hall

As Councilman Grayson arrived at the town hall, the scene playing out before him was one that could only be described as chaos.

Council Members were arguing, some screaming at each other as to what to do now that a person who was looking to invest heavily in Vale was held up literally on their first night of the business trip in vale. At a fancier restaurant on the better side of town no less.

"We have to bend the knee here! This investment by the SDC will eventually give way to thousands of jobs in Vale. If we shrug off her literally being held at gunpoint, we could end up costing the citizens of Vale the economic opportunity of a lifetime." One councilwoman argued.

"Especially the tax revenue this will bring in." Someone said a bit quieter.

"The SDC is already going to invest here anyway. There is no need to give anything to that company." Someone argued back.

"Are YOU prepared to go out and explain to all the voters why YOUR influence cost them jobs and the city of Vale tax revenue that could be used to upgrade our infrastructure?" The councilwoman fired back.

"Well I-" He tried to say before being cut off by the councilwoman.

"If not mistaken Councilman Brown, aren't you up for reelection later this year? This could put quite the damper on your campaign if your opposition happens to find out you did or could have cost the people of Vale so much." The councilwoman said with a smirk.

"You're as despicable as always, Councilwoman Noir." Councilman Brown said with a very displeased look as he sat down in his chair.

With a smirk, Councilwoman Noir turned to everyone else. "Well does anyone else wish to jeopardize the silver platter we have literally been handed? Anyone? Anyone at all?"

Taking a breath, Councilman Grayson stepped forward towards the center of the room as he spoke. "I actually have something to say that would speak to both sides of the fiasco right now."

As all heads turned to him, Grayson took in another breath before he continued. "I would simply like to remind everyone here, and I mean EVERYONE that while I met with Mrs. Schnee yesterday to show her the property, nothing was signed. I repeat NOTHING was signed. No ink was put to paper." He said trying to heavily emphasize the point that all it was was simply a tour.

"AND?" Someone yelled out from the back of the room.

"And that means that she could get on her airship today or tomorrow while flipping off all of us and go back to Atlas with only her time and little money wasted and WE would all be the butt of the joke. Worse yet she could tell other businesses about how bad Vale's crime is and convince them not to invest any more or to pull out all together." Grayson said as he heard several gasps from around him.

"Then what are you proposing we do?" Councilwoman Noir asked.

"I'm not proposing anything, I'm simply stating she is not contractually bound in any way to this city, nor any of us." Grayson said with a sigh as he turned back to the door and went to open it.

Standing on the other side of the door was a short middle aged man standing around 5'0". He had a thick pair of square glasses adorning his face and wore a blue suit with a white dress shirt and a red tie that had white diagonal stripes.

The man was also carrying a black briefcase with silver latches. After being motioned in by Grayson the man looked around the room before walking into the center of the room and setting his briefcase down.

"Good morning everyone. Now I am sure some of you may recognize me and know who I am but for those who don't my name is Milton Greensman. I am a professor of economics at the University of Vale and have been of assistance in the past with economic planning for the city of Vale." Milton said as he opened his case and began to pull out numerous packets of papers.

"No this isn't a pop quiz, I prefer to save those for my students." He quipped with a chuckle. "What really no one? Man tough crowd. Anyway, what I'm taking out right now is a proposal that I was requested to draw up for the council when the SDC first expressed interest in starting an operation in Vale." He said as he gestured to the packet he was holding.

"Now I don't expect all of you to read this but I'm handing out as it's been written up and all you have to do is approve the damn thing and we can use that as a roadmap for the SDC." Milton said as he saw a few nervous looks fade at hearing they aren't "required" to read the proposal.

"Anyway I'll sum it up though for the incentives that were laid out. In the packet you'll find the reasons and studies that were conducted but for simplicity here are the terms I was able to find that will be mutually beneficial." Milton said as a person walked up and handed him a remote.

"Ah thank you, young man." He said as he turned around and faced the screen that had now dropped down.

"Now I would encourage everyone to remain quiet throughout the reading and keep in mind these numbers are maximums and grow or decline based on the amount of lien that the SDC spends here in Vale. They spend more, they get more tax credits, they spend less and they get less. Everyone understand?" He asked as he looked around and saw several heads nod.

"Good. Now then Incentive 1: A 10 million lien job credit over the course of 15 years. Now this is a cash rebate of sorts that is based off of the payroll tax. They hire more people and they get more of a discount on the payroll tax."

Milton clicked the remote and the next incentive appeared.

"Incentive 2: A 20 million lien investment credit over the next 20 years. Basically this will be applied against their utilities. As you all know a bunch of employees operating sophisticated computers, and the high tech security system they'll no doubt be operating will be quite energy consuming. Not to mention the lights, water, etc that the rest of the building will use to operate."

Milton once again clicked the remote, transitioning to incentive 3.

"Incentive 3: A 2.5 million lien sales tax abatement along with a 1.5 million abatement of property taxes that don't go to funding education in the city. This way they get a bit of a break and we still get their tax money in the early years to fund the schools around the city. While the majority of this money will stay in Vale, a portion of this money will be used for Beacon where I'm sure you are all aware, Mrs. Schnee's daughter is currently studying. These credits would run out after being used up. There is no time period for these incentives."

And with a final click of the remote, the next incentive appeared.

"Finally the last incentive. Incentive 4: A 3 million dollar training program to help recruit and train more capable workers so as to help fill jobs for the SDC and encourage them to expand."

"All in all this proposal is going to give out up to 37 million in tax credits and incentives over the next 20 years. Now I know what you're all thinking and to save you from digging furiously through the packet I had handed out the city of Vale would take in roughly 40 million of tax revenue over the same amount of time. This includes income taxes from the workers, sales and property taxes once the offered ones run dry, and the revenue from any projected renovations the SDC might need to do. There are others of course but I figured I'd point out the main sources of income from the incentives."

With a sigh he said "Okay now, and I can't stress this enough, calmly raise your hands or push the buttons at your seat so we can talk about this in an orderly fashion."

As soon as Milton had finished chaos erupted of people agreeing or disagreeing with his proposals.

"And this is why I hate politics." The short man said as he rubbed his temples.

Meanwhile back at Beacon, Ozpin, Ironwood, and Jaune had arrived in the basement of the headmaster's tower and exited the elevator.

"Woah." Jaune said as he looked around and took in the sights.

"Indeed, it is impressive but I would like to ask you to focus on the task at hand Mr. Arc. We can save the sightseeing for later." Ozpin said as he stepped out of the elevator and followed after the blond student.

"Indeed. This is an urgent matter I would like to remain focused on." Ironwood said as he followed behind his fellow headmaster.

"Well where is she then?" Jaune said as he turned to face the two men.

"Right this way Mr. Arc." Ozpin said as he led them to the pod containing Amber.

"Woah this looks really high tech." Jaune said as he saw the pod and the surrounding technology.

"It is because she is a very important person." Ironwood said firmly.

"Must be. Alright so how do I get to her to use my semblance. I'm pretty sure I have to be physically touching the other person to activate it." Jaune said, looking between the two.

With a nod from Ozpin, Ironwood popped the pod open and told Jaune to be quick, she hasn't much time.

Sensing the urgency in Ironwood's voice, Jaune quickly placed his hands on Amber and began activating his semblance trying to pump the woman full of aura.

As the light around Jaune's hands began to glow before the glow spread over the body of Amber.

The beeping of machinery was heard as the two headmasters looked at each other with smiles seeing it was working.

"That's it, keep going Jaune!" Ozpin said, dropping the formal tone.

Slowly as Jaune began pumping more and more of his aura into her the beeping from the nearby machines began to stabilize.

As Ozpin pulled out his scroll he checked the aura status of Jaune and saw that the knight was at just under half of his aura left. "Things seem to be working out for me this time Salem. Too bad for you and your minions." Ozpin thought as he moved towards the machines to look at them closer.

Suddenly a frantic beeping was heard that steadily kept rising.

"Oz…" Ironwood said as he panicked and looked towards the machines.

Ozpin quickly looked closer at the machines before yelling towards the other two.

"OZPIN WE'RE LOSING HER!" Ironwood shouted before turning to Jaune. "GIVE HER EVERYTHING YOU HAVE JAUNE. KICK YOUR SEMBLANCE INTO OVERDRIVE!" Ironwood shouted at the boy with increased panic riddled in his voice.

With a grunt the two headmasters watched as the light surrounding Amber began to glow brighter, and brighter.

"Yes, it's working, keep going Jaune." Ozpin said as he made his way back over towards the pod.

"Come on, come on." Ironwood mumbled as he watched the Knight's aura continue to envelop the Amber as she laid in her pod.

Suddenly as the glow began to dissipate, Jaune stumbled forward a bit before seemingly being repelled back by some force as he was thrown several feet from the pod.

"SHIT!" Ironwood yelled as he closed the pod quickly and pushed the buttons to reactivate the sequence before rushing over towards Ozpin and the downed student.

Seeing Jaune flung back Ozpin quickly rushed to his side while pulling out his scroll and dialing Glynda.

"Ozpin I'm in the middle of teaching class-" Glynda tried to say before being cut off by the panic stricken headmaster.

"Glynda I don't care what you're doing I need Tsune to prepare a bay immediately and I need you down here in the basement. Mr. Arc has suffered severe medical injuries."

Professor Goodwitch's eyes widened at the panic in Ozpin's voice before she rushed out of the classroom towards the vault. "I'm on my way." She said as she raced through the halls and yelled at Professor Port, who was walking to his classroom to have Tsune prepare an ICU bay now.

"Get here yesterday!" She heard Ozpin say as she closed the scroll mid stride.

Meanwhile a group of students were on their way to get lunch when one of them started wobbling. "Guys, I don't feel so good." She said as her vision briefly brightened before it became blurry and she collapsed onto the floor of the hallway as she faintly heard her friends screaming out her name.

A/N: So this is what it's like to be on this side of a major cliffhanger. Guess you know what the V is now huh? How will resolutions be made if at all? Will Terra get the job? Just what has happened to our blond knight and who is this mystery maiden who just suddenly fell down? All these answers and more in the next chapter! Till then.